Recap

- Spooky Mulder did it again. He may not be aging as well as The Tin Man or Perfect Drift, but he is the king of $100,000 claimers at 6 furlongs. The 3rd race at Saratoga on Sunday was his 28th win in 68 starts. He is up to $777,000 in career earnings and his 1:09 time shows that he is not slowing down much.

-Ah Day had a good win as well. He won the $75,000 Deputed Testamony Stakes at Laurel. This talented son brought Malibu Moon (the official favorite stallion of the Bug Boys) back up to 34th on the general sires list. It's pretty amazing what the Moon offspring have done considering the weak to mediocre Maryland mares that were bred to him early in his stud career. Next year we will see his first Kentucky foals race and I'm sure that his positive trajectory will continue. His new $50,000 fee will ensure that breeders send only fine quality mares his way.

- Speaking of Mailbu Moon, we are anxiously awaiting the story on Declan's Moon. Hopefully the poor race on Sunday was not the end of his comeback and career. Did he bleed? Was he just cranky? Give him some Lasix and a psychologist and let's get back on the track! Your owner just put up $150,000 to nominate you for the Breeders Cup program for goodness sakes.

- Did I hear Randy Moss say on Sunday that Jeanine Edwards was taking over hosting Wire to Wire? Permanently or temporary? I wonder what's going in there.

- Only two more racing days of "bug" status for Anna (f.k.a. Rosie) Napravnik. She will then serve a suspension relating to a Pimlico incident and get ready for the September 6 beginning of the Fall Laurel Park meet as a journeyman(woman). It has been an unbelievable year for her with 204 wins and 5 stakes wins so far. The only bad luck she has faced is being an apprentice at the same time as Julien Leparoux and Martin Garcia. Most other years, she would be receiving an Eclipse award in January. This winter she will have to be satisfied counting her money while Mr. Leparoux claims the prize.

- Our condolences to everone associated with Lost in the Fog. Many others have given elegant pre-eulogies and meaningful thoughts. I can only say Thank You LITF, and may your next few weeks be painless and joyful.

Justice Was Not Served

This kid's punishment should be to get kicked by the horse that he punched:

Ohio TE Logan fined $100 for punching police horse

ATHENS, Ohio -- An Ohio University football player who authorities said punched a police horse pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct Wednesday in Athens and was fined $100.
Corey Logan of Columbus also has been ordered to perform 20 hours of community service.
Police say that Logan, a 22-year-old senior tight end, punched a horse ridden by an officer outside a bar in April. Logan denied that he punched the horse, saying he put his hand on it when the animal's head ran into him.
Logan said that football officials told him the case wouldn't hurt his status with the team.

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press

The Solution

We all lament from time to time about the lack of popularity of our beloved sport. Many ideas have been floated to increase interest. My brother and I like the angle of marketing the jockeys and trainers but there are a lot of great (and not so great) initiatives out there for growing the sport.

As I researched the situation with the proposals for the New York franchise, I had one of those "Eureka" moments today. RUN THOROUGHBRED RACING AT NIGHT. There. I said it. Protecting Harness Racing in New York has been a sacred cow (or horse) for a long time but it is time to slay it. New York State racing law states:

"Races conducted by a non-profit racing association incorporated in
accordance with section two hundred two or two hundred two-a of
this chapter shall be permitted only between sunrise and sunset."

This time of year, when I get home from work, I eat dinner, spend time with the family and then settle down to watch baseball. If the Saratoga or Laurel races were running at 9pm, I would be watching and betting. I guarantee that others would too. There would be no more sneaking a peak at Equibase from work computers during the day and you would be able to actually enjoy watching the races live.

So New York Legislature, as you look at the proposals of the bidders for the franchise, please consider how great it would be to run thoroughbreds at night. I am watching the Red Sox v. Tigers game now on ESPN. I would much rather be watching a 2-year-old maiden race at Saratoga. Or you can just continue with the bobblehead givaways and hope for the best.

Welcome Home Rosie (Anna)

The Baltimore Sun wrote a nice article about The Bug Boys favorite jockey Anna "Rosie" Napravnik. Our little girl has come home, and she is all grown up.

She spent most of the summer fighting for mounts up in Delaware. Napravnik has had 29 winners at Delaware Park this summer, which ranks her seventh at the track, where she has won $776,644. Rosie is now ranked 6th in the nation with 194 wins.

According to the article, Rosie did a lot of growing up this summer. She received her GED, tried to buy a house (but did not have any credit), and increased her earnings this year to 3.7 million. She has also decided to go by her more adult sounding given name of "Anna", however The Bug Boys will still scream from the rail "Come on Rosie!"

Welcome home Rosie, and good luck at the Laurel and Timonium meets!

First Call Rider?

Can anyone tell me why John Velazquez was riding for Mike Trombetta today in the Troy Stakes at Saratoga when Todd Pletcher had a horse in the race? Johnny V. was on Trobetta's Weigelia while Fernando Jara was on Pletcher's Yes Yes Yes in the 8th race today.

Is there something going on here or did Velazquez merely have conflicting responsibilities and chose the favorite?

Web Sites

The web sites of the commercial breeding farms provide a lot of information and some good reading. Yes, they are fancy commercials for the sires standing at the farms, but I found the sites to be entertaining and informative. Here are a few links that are worthwhile to peruse:

http://www.threechimneys.com/
http://www.claibornefarm.com/
http://www.lanesend.com/
http://www.coolmore.com/
http://www.darleyatjonabell.com/
http://www.vinery.com/
http://www.adenastallions.com/
http://www.airdriestud.com/
http://www.overbrookfarm.com/
http://www.taylormadefarm.com
http://www.stonewallstallions.com/
http://www.pinoakstud.com/
http://www.hillndalefarms.com/
http://www.winstarfarm.com/
http://www.gainesway.com/

OK. I listed more than "a few", but I found value in all of them. Enjoy

Quick Hits

- Showing Up is awsome. He kicked some G1 turf tail today in the $400,000 Secretariat Stakes with a time that would have hypothetically crushed the older horses in the Arlington Million. His only loss was in the Kentucky Derby, he has won on dirt and turf and he is a millionaire after only 6 starts. Last week I wrote about Bernardini overshadowing Barbaro in the 3-year-old division, and Barbaro's stablemate may also as well.

Showing Up was a $60,000 2-year-old purchase by the Jacksons. His sire, Strategic Mission (Mr. Prospector), stood for $3,500 early this year and has only 19 foals of racing age so far. However, of 11 starters, he has 3 stakes winners including a Panamanian Champion. His recent success and the resolution of some fertility problems has Strategic Mission "movin' on up" to once again stand at Gainesway Farm in 2007 for an as-yet-unannounced fee.

- I really enjoy Kenny Mayne doing coverage of racing on ESPN/ABC. His sarcasm and comedy are entertaining and even refreshing during telecasts that can get a little dry. Last week, I think he had the most outrageous line ever when prior to the Matchmaker Stakes he said, "Masseuse, the 5 is getting the heavy action here. The backers of Masseuse (are) hoping for a happy ending here on the turf." Great double entendre. The three-man booth of Mayne, Bailey and Moss is a fantastic combination.

Broadening My Horizons

I'd like to think of myself as having an open mind when it comes to people. I guess that is a subjective concept but I tend to not be discriminatory based on religion, race, nationality, etc. My most judgemental moments typically target the lazy, the arrogant and the stupid. However, being a red, white and blue American, I may not have given the Arab/Muslim world and the French a fair chance. The title of this post is "Broadening my Horizons" because growing my knowledge of horse racing has in turn expanded my knowledge (and appreciation) of these cultures that I may have previously rooted against .

Who in their right mind can hear the story of Julien Leparoux and not root for this kid? He plead with Patrick Biancone to come to America and work with horses. He debuted on the big stage of Saratoga and began to win while he had to beg and borrow to find money to eat. And now he leads the country in wins and has the brightest of futures ahead of him. How could one be so shortsighted to hold his nationality against him when he sacrificed, took huge chances, works so hard and is using his wonderful talents to achieve "the American Dream".

Every story I read about Sheik Mohammed, Sheik Hamdan and the late Sheik Maktoum focus on their generosity and horsemanship. They seem to be genuinely good men and have the best interest of horses, the industry and people in mind. They have invested much larger amounts of money in racing and the USA than they have received in return. Americans may root against them because of politics but I have developed an appreciation for them because their commitment has earned them some good fortune.

I never thought that my new-found appreciation for racing would make me see the big picture of the world in a different light. I was so wrong. I just wish that the rest of the world could see that deep down we are all the same. We just want to see a great race and hit the exacta with the longshot.

Wow...I Agree with Andy Beyer!

I actually enjoyed reading Andy Beyer's column today. I even agree with most of the points that he made. It is not often that I agree with Mr. Beyer, but today he was right on.

In today's column Andy speaks about all the breakdowns at Del Mar, and Arlington. We keep hearing from the trainers that the track is bad, dangerous, or even neglected. The trainers bad mouth the track, the public starts to have ill feelings for the track, and it becomes a public relations disaster for the industry (not nearly as bad as it will be when Barbaro gets put down...A post for a different day).

The problem is not the track, its the trainers! The trainers are entering horses that are not sound, or drugged (legally, and illegally), and become surprised when they breakdown. The breeders are also guilty. The number of lightly raced stallions is incredible. If a 3 year old son of A.P. Indy or Storm Cat suffers a career ending injury, they send him to the breeding shed. Even if he only had 3 races and broke down. The breeders are guilty of breeding out soundness. Breeding is all about speed, and finding that magical nick. I would rather have a horse that can run for 6 years at the allowance/stakes level (like Spooky Moulder), than an unsound regally bred horse that COULD be pointed toward the Triple Crown . The success rate, and ROI would have to be much greater for the modestly bred sound horse.

Trainers.......STOP BLAMING THE TRACKS.....WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO RUN WHEN THEY HAVE TO SHUT DOWN THE TRACKS.

Breeders......I WOULD LIKE TO SEE A STALLION AD THAT SHOWS THE AVERAGE RACING CAREER OF IT OFFSPRING...NOT TOP BEYER THE STALLION RAN BEFORE HE BROKE DOWN!!!!