Seasons Greetings!!

As always, my friend Pull The Pocket, has a great blog post today, which completely shows how social media has taken over Christmas-Does anyone ever mail Christmas cards anymore!! 

Take a look:  Pull The Pocket

Here's wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year-And if you're an Atheist, have a great day and a pleasant tomorrow!!

If I Owned Trot Magazine......

I must admit, I'm an avid reader of Trot Magazine.  I think the format encompasses everything a harness enthusiast would like to read, and a great deal of the stories are quite heartfelt and hit close to home.  Each month I anxiously await the next issue and most of the time I'm done the entire magazine by the end of the night.  That being said, I always watch for which horse (or person) makes the cover, but sometimes my advertising/photography urges take over and I end up thinking, "Boy, I bet I could create a cover of Trot"!  Well, I did.  Except my covers end up being a little controversial and sometimes a bit too creative.  While these are only "mock" creations of the covers, I never do them in bad taste, or try to discredit the creators of Trot, because I truly LOVE the magazine.....But sometimes I think they should really "Tell it like it is" in some cases......

June 2011 Cover-We all know that rain and mud causes havoc on the farm...case in point:

December 2010 Cover-Race fixing:

July 2011 Cover-Drugs in the industry:

 September 2011 Cover-How many racehorses fall into the slaughter pipeline:

And finally...

October 2011 Cover-Ensure that however you get your horse anywhere....it's safe:

Seasons Greetings Everyone!!!

Ontario Sires Stakes History

I was recently given an Ontario Sires Stakes trophy which dates back to 1975, and as some of you may or may not know, the OSS began in 1974, so I was quite excited about receiving this little bit of history.  The trophy itself is for the "Two-Year-Old Colt Pace", which was held at Kawartha Downs Raceway, and the winning horse had a spectacular time of 2:08 4/5......Hmm, makes you wonder where all this new-found speed has come from nowadays??  That being said, I gently placed it atop my mantle (it's really quite heavy), and daydreamed about how great it must have been to have won something so sought-after. 

 
Well, a bit of time passed and just today I found myself rummaging through an antique and collectibles store and what do you think caught my eye??  Why yet ANOTHER Ontario Sires Stakes trophy!!  This one is much heavier than the above mentioned, but unfortunately the gold plaque had been removed, so I have no way of telling who won it or in what year they won it.

The base is made of polished, painted wood and the main part of the trophy is all glass, and yes, it's extremely heavy; I would say a good 5 pounds at least!  After getting some odd looks from the dealer as to why I would want such a thing, and after haggling a small discount on the price, I quickly took my treasure home and jumped on the computer.  I googled "Ontario Sires Stakes Trophies", and found not ONE photo or image of an OSS trophy-from today or since its inception in 1974!  I would really like to aim at collecting these if possible but it seems rather IMPOSSIBLE to even find what the other years look like.  So, if anyone has any information about the trophies I would be grateful to hear from you.  I'm guessing this is going to be quite tough-to try and collect one from each year-but this would be an awesome challenge for me!

You can e-mail me at newhorizonsequinecenter(at)gmail(dot)com 

Daylon Magician...Poof, He's Gone!

Yes, I realize its been a while since I posted but I've been bombarded with University courses that I just HAD to complete....UGH!!  Passing all my exams is a complete relief, but I've still been keeping up with all the harness racing action as well.  Hmm, let's see, what am I really ticked off at the most?  Well, I heard that See You At Peelers is retired (if true, its really no surprise to me-if racing compromises her health then better to be safe than sorry), and Daylon Magician is retiring to stud at Tara Hills.......REALLY?  This one I can't wrap my head around.  Let's break it down:  You have an exceptional horse that brings the industry to their feet while watching him race; he has a fan following; brings people to the track; seems to be sound, fit, and enjoys racing, has a lock on the Three-Year-Old Trotting Colt of the Year award, and his connections want to shuttle him off to a breeding shed????  Might as well get used to it folks, "There's more money as a sire than at the wire".  Hey, I should write a book..."From Wire to Sire"....I would need a thousand pages or so to tell the tale........Ok, granted, I'm not his owner, but as someone who's part of an industry that seems to be stagnate, do I not have a say?  Even a microscopic one?  He's THREE for crying out loud---His spine hasn't even completed its growth stage yet!  UGH!!  Just one of many more to be taken away from us way too soon...

On a positive note:  Monkey On My Wheel WILL BE RETURNING for a four year old campaign!!

The $5,500 purchase at the Spring Mixed Sale back in June of 2009 is money well spent and has earned over a million dollars thus far!  She is my favorite gal on the track!  Congratulations to all her connections and I can't wait to see her in 2012!

All Good Things Come To An End

In January of 2006, trainer Michael Matz, who was most noted for his presence in the show jumping world, had high hopes for a little race horse named Barbaro.  In May of that same year, Barbaro proved his weight in gold when he captured the Kentucky Derby, undefeated, and his owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, were ecstatic.  Matz, Barbaro's diligent trainer, was on top of the world, until it all came crashing down during the opening stretch-run in the Preakness Stakes, when Barbaro shattered his right hind leg.  Barbaro ultimately succumbed to his injuries in January of 2007, which left a large void in the racing world, as well as the nation.

Matz continued his training relationship with the Jacksons, sending Barbaro's full brothers, Nicanor and Lentenor off to the races.  Not quite as successful as their older brother, the colts moved forward in their racing program with great promise, and still remain on the track today.

We are now told that Michael Matz and the Jacksons have parted ways after more than 10 years of working together.  The details of the split are unknown to Matz, for not more than a couple weeks ago, the Jacksons sent him four juveniles to train.  "I was totally surprised; I have no idea what their reason was," Matz said.  "Obviously I did something wrong or they lost confidence in me.  I really don't know.  They called me in July to tell me, right after I ran three horses for them  - one ran first, the other second, and the third one was off the board.  When I sat down with them, two weeks later, I was told it was a business decision.  It was obviously something I said or did;  believe me, I just don't know."

Matz said he has nothing but fond memories of the time he spent together with the Jacksons, whom he called friends. 

You can read the article in it's entirety here 


Notes and Totes

*  More promise at integrating the rest of the world with harness racing  

*  Trying to schedule big races at appropriate times as to not lose the majority of the handle for the following races - Hey, why not schedule big races at the end of the cards?  Read it here 

*  Gold Cup & Saucer Field Set 

*  See You At Peelers will "See You At Harrah's Chester" on Sunday in the Valley Forge

*  Want A Free Pick 4 Ticket? 

On a side note, if you need a good laugh today, go to Pull The Pocket's blog and take a look at the horse racing video....Just don't be drinking coffee when you watch it!


Stay safe, keep your hooves on the ground, and keep reaching for the wire!

The Secret's Out!

Who said older horses can't put on a show? The Richard Moreau trained Secretsothernephew was in top form at the Little M last night as he made a late closing move to nudge by Dry Gulch (Jody Jamieson) and Bullet Speed (Randy Waples) in a wicked time of 1:49.3.  Driven by Sylvain Filion, the 4-yr-old son of Camluck won the eighth of 11 races with fractions of 12.3, 26.2, 54, 1:21.4, 1:35.3 - pacing his last quarter in 26.4 seconds!  Keep your eye on this guy in the future!

Running Circles Around The Competition

Here's a little filly to watch out for; The 2-yr-old sensation, Circles!  The daughter of Majestic Son and super-producer Merles Image won the $130,000 Ontario Sire Stakes Gold Final at the Little M on Monday evening by five lengths with a time of 1:57.0!  She has accumulated $190,000 in six races but will have to wait until Sept. 22 to defend her Gold Final title.  Monday's win was Circles' fourth in a season that has seen her capture all three of her Gold Eliminations and finish second in the first two Gold Finals of the season.

Notes and Totes

*  Pretty Katherine - Sold 
*  Summer Sizzler Catalogue Now Online 
*  Frenchfrysnvinegar Repeats 
*  Rocknroll Hanover to stand Down Under 



Stay safe, keep your hooves on the ground, and keep reaching for the wire!

Looking Beyond 2012

Brooklyn Backstretch blogged a great post regarding the Round Table discussion held to identify the problem areas in Thoroughbred racing.  Below are a list of 5 factors contributing to racing's decline (My comments are in red):

*  Competititon from other types of gambling (Yes, casinos!)
*  Brand perception (Stop sending race horses to slaughter!)
*  Dilution of the product ( Racetracks are in competition for business-Too many classes!)
*  The fan experience (What experience?  Racetracks want more people in the stands, yet do NOTHING to get them there - Grand River Raceway excluded, they try and involve all fans into their racing programs!)
*  Fragmented distribution (NA Cup, Confederation Cup, etc., should be picked up by NBC, ABC, or another main broadcasting company!)

McKinsey recommends (My comments in red):

*  Increased television coverage (Make it attractive for broadcasting sponsorship)
*  A Free-To-Play Website (Much like the free online poker-I like picking exactas and trifectas but am not seasoned enough to spend copious amounts of cash on betting websites)
*  Fewer, better races and better scheduling to increase field size and showcase the best product (Ensure all racetracks get their fareshare)
*  Creation of a social game (See above-A Free-To-Play website)
*  Innovative wagering platforms (?)
*  Track-integrated ADW (?)
*  Racing integrity reforms (Yes, yes, yes!)
*  Encouragement of ownership through greater transparency (Make sure all owners know the difference between a horse's head and it's rearend-No blaming the trainer for everything that goes awry!)
*  Dissemination of best practices from tracks around the country (A+ for effort!)

I would also add:

*  A unified governing body should be in place for the standardbred industry
*  A suspension should hold it's strength across the borders


Onward!


Stay safe, keep your hooves on the ground, and keep reaching for the wire!