SPRUCK CLOSES GAP ON STARR
Eugene Spruck ($393) , who is the only Dime-A-Day Saratoga player to have collected an individual $1,000 daily prize so far this meeting, closed the gap on seasonal-standings leader Ellis Starr ($395) yesterday when Spruck tied four other players for the daily prize with earnings of $150 based on returns from a ‘live’ $10 win, place or show wager. The tied players earned $200 each in prize money as well as a $150 each return from their contest wager. The top earner throughout the season earns $5,000!
Dime-A-Day Del Mar action resulted in a seven-way tie for top daily honors as players earned $142.86 each as well as a $120 return on their live $10 win, place or show wagers. Richard Murray and Joseph Lamberger remain tied atop the leaderboard with $454 in total earnings. Top seasonal leader will earn $5,000!
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Race On!
On Track
RACHEL, ZENYATTA AND P-VAL
Last Saturday, Rachel Alexandra, reigning Horse of the Year, converted a gimme-putt in the Lady’s Secret at Monmouth and routinely disposed of six overmatched rivals.
How would one describe the victory?
Impressive? Hardly. Efficient? Maybe. Solid? Yeah…yeah, that’s the ticket. She did what she was supposed to do. She won.
For any horse in any race there are many possible poor outcomes. At 1-9 on the board there can be only one acceptable result: victory. The fact that her triumph didn’t explode fireworks or cause angels to sing isn’t important. It was hot at Monmouth Park and the track was dry and loose, according to jockey Calvin Borel. You know you’re in a tough spot when you’re expected to make excuses for a less than scintillating victory!
Should we deduct style points from Rachel Alexandra because she didn’t dominate a lackluster bunch in fast time? Maybe. Maybe not. After all, it’s difficult for any horse to follow in a legend’s hoofprints as Rachel must, ironically, in the shadow of her own 2009 accomplishments. Fans expect her to perform like the 3-year-old filly who demolished the Kentucky Oaks field by 20 lengths; wired the boys in the Preakness; romped in the Haskell and refused to lose in the Woodward—and those are just some of the highlights.
Perhaps we’re asking too much.
Apparently trainer Steve Asmussen got what he wanted out of the Lady’s Secret for his filly. According to the trainer, Rachel Alexandra took another forward step in the race. We’re guessing the direction of those steps is toward an eventual appearance in the Breeeders’ Cup. All Asmussen desired in the Lady’s Secret was another win, another forward move. Heck, after the way this season began for Rachel can you blame him?
Criticisms of Rachel’s incorrect or delinquent lead changes and tendency to drift in through the stretch are noteworthy. They sometimes signal a potential physical problem. Sometimes not. A certain positive in her performance is that she relaxed well for Borel, a versatile tactic that ought to come in handy down the road.
Of course, no discussion of Rachel Alexandra can occur without mention of Zenyatta. When either of them races Cyberspace chatter regarding a showdown between these turf talents erupts anew with sugarplum thoughts of a Battle Royale. That discussion usually resurfaces just about the time you become comfortable with the thought that you ought to just enjoy the game’s female stars’ accomplishments independently.
Truth is, if it can be avoided, neither the filly’s camp nor the mare’s is interested in a pre-Breeders’ Cup clash. Jess Jackson’s not shipping west of the Rockies to run his filly on “plastics” and Moss’ mare ain’t jetting east of the Mississippi until Breeders’ Cup. That’s just the way it is. Live with it.
A recent wrinkle in Zenyatta’s plans in the form of trainer John Shirreffs’ reluctance to expose his undefeated amazon to the recently troubled Del Mar racing surface briefly fuelled speculation that the mare might look for somewhere else to make her next start. But the Del Mar strip seems in good shape now and the cautious trainer hasn’t said anything publicly that might be construed as anti-Clement L. Hirsch Stakes—at Del Mar, August 7. However, alternative options probably are more than just passing thoughts.
What might those ‘alternative options’ be?
Well, Saratoga’s Grade I, $300,000 Personal Ensign would be an interesting one. After all, Shirreffs’ discomfort with NYRA’s detention barn policy is no longer an issue since that edict has been abandoned. Plus, the Personal Ensign figures to attract plenty of pace which could set up Zenyatta’s closing kick. Todd Pletcher’s speedy Life at Ten is planning to run there. Oh yeah, and that other filly might be headed there too…Rachel Alexandra.
Look! Can you believe it? Even I’m trying to engineer a Rachel v. Zenyatta pre-BC clash.
Ain’t gonna happen. It’s not in the best interest of either team.
Expect Zenyatta to run in the Hirsch followed by a start at Oak Tree before the Breeders’ Cup. Unless…
On another topic…
By the time you read this jockey Pat Valenzuela will be riding at Del Mar.
You read right…Pat Valenzuela. Yes, that Pat Valenzuela. P-Val! The guy the California Horse Racing Board banned forever just a few years ago. This guy’s the one and the same, only different, according to his attorney.
Indeed, it’s a new day, a new CHRB and a new life for Valenzuela who has more of them than a bag of cats.
Sort of.
The most recent CHRB ruling says he can return to the saddle if he promises to undergo about as many tests as a guy with one of those bacterial flesh-eating diseases.
You see, throughout his career, Pat’s made some mistakes. Wrong turns. ‘Poor choices’ in the current PC-correct lingo.
And he’s paid for it, too. I’ll wager dollars to donuts that Pat Valenzuela has given up more winning mounts on graded stakes winners by not showing up on race day than any other jockey in history. He’s also blown years of prime saddle time due to suspensions and other self-imposed exiles from the track.
Does he deserve another chance? Sure. We all do. Who cares if Pee-Val’s already used more mulligans than a shotgun tournament of inebriated hackers? I’d vote to give him another spin of the wheel. After all, over time he’s pretty much hurt himself the most.
Sure, give Pee-Val another try at giving it another try. Maybe he’ll get it right this time.
Maybe he won’t.
I know one thing for sure, at age 47 this comeback will be tougher than chewing a $2 steak with 99-cent dentures.
I know something else, too: Patrick Valenzuela is best natural riding talent I have ever seen.
Or, at least he was.
Horses used to run for him like they had been scalded with hot water leaving the gate. And in the stretch Pat Valenzuela could keep one going with the best of them.
Know how I know that?
Because chasing Patrick home most afternoons (when he actually showed up to ride) were guys like Shoemaker, Delahoussaye, McCarron, Pincay, Stevens and more—the best riding colony you’ll ever see, anywhere. And Patrick always finished right with them, neck and neck, year-in, year-out, as a 16-year-old bug boy and as a confused and tormented adult.
As one Hall-of-Fame rider screamed across the old Del Mar jocks room in the mid-eighties, “It’s a good thing you’ve got your head up your ass, Patrick or we’d all be in trouble.”
Through the ups and downs, the suspensions, the comebacks and the go-away agains, Valenzuela always had a smile on his face and a “let’s get lucky” for owners in the paddock.
He probably still has those. What might be gone is the talent. The passing of time does that to magicians. They end up ‘all hat and no rabbit.’
Do me a favor, please. If you’re young and you missed seeing Patrick Valenzuela perform in his prime, don’t watch him ride now and imagine that you’ve ever actually seen him perform. You haven’t. You’re now merely witnessing a man trying to catch a ghost--the ghost of his youth—an apparition as fleeting as this second.
Race On!
It's Post Time
CHART TALK
Back in the day, during the years I was a Daily Racing Form chart caller at tracks from coast to coast, I always tried my best to paint a word picture with my chart comments.
If you did not see a particular race, my goal was to describe what happened in such detail that after you finished reading the chart comments, you felt like you almost did see the race. At least that’s what I hoped.
These days, chart callers are not Daily Racing Form employees. The Racing Form disbanded its chart-calling crews after making a deal in 1998 to get its chart and past performance information from Equibase. Thus, now when you look at a chart or a horse’s past performances for racing conducted in this country, all of that information comes from Equibase.
When the Racing Form did publish its own charts, the chart caller was listed above the first race under the name “trackman.” Racing officials, such as the stewards and the starter, and the leaders of track management, like the president and general manager, also were listed.
I really liked being able to see who had the responsibility of calling the charts at each track. That’s because long ago I discovered that the charts at some tracks were more accurate than at others. How did I know that? I would take the charts with me from a newspaper and have them to refer to while watching the previous day’s replays.
The next-to-last “call” in a horse’s past performances, known as the “stretch call,” is always with an eighth of a mile left to run in a race, regardless of the distance. Whether it’s a 4 1/2-furlong race or a two-mile marathon, the next-to-last “call” in a horse’s past performance line is at the green and white eighth pole located a furlong from the finish.
While watching the previous day’s replays, I would check the leader at the eighth pole and determine how far I thought he or she was leading by. Let’s say that I thought it was two lengths. Then I would look at the chart. If the chart said it was 1 1/2 lengths, two lengths or 2 1/2 lengths, I’d feel that the chart caller was okay. But if the margin was under 1 1/2 lengths or over 2 1/2 lengths, then I felt the chart caller was off. And if a chart caller was frequently off at a particular track, I knew one should take all of the past performance information from that track with a grain of salt.
Typically, at the major tracks, the margins would be accurate. It was at the smaller tracks that I sometimes would find a less-than-accurate chart caller. For instance, there was one chart caller who really struggled with being accurate with his stretch calls at the eighth pole. Wherever that chart caller worked, horses frequently seemed to drop back early in the stretch run before coming back on late. It was simply a case of that chart caller’s “stretch-call” margins being inaccurate. They were too big. I will say in his defense, the call at the eighth pole does tend to be a challenge for a chart caller or a track announcer because it is a tricky angle at most tracks.
When I first started calling charts for the Racing Form in 1974, I was fortunate to break in under Bud Lyon, one of the best in the business. At that time, Lyon was the national supervisor of the Racing Form’s chart callers. He called many Kentucky Derby charts. This would be like an aspiring movie director learning the ropes from Steven Spielberg.
Nowadays, with Equibase responsible for all charts, the chart caller, racing officials and track management no longer are listed above the first race. So I do not know who is currently calling the charts at Saratoga. But whoever it is, I compliment the job they did in writing the chart comments for last Friday’s James Marvin Stakes at Saratoga.
Vineyard Haven won the James Marvin by 1 3/4 lengths. The margin certainly is misleading for those who did not see the race. I congratulate the Saratoga chart caller for painting a superb word picture of Vineyard Haven’s performance.
In the official Equibase chart, the Saratoga chart caller wrote: “VINEYARD HAVEN, off in good order, was lightly coaxed along to the front, set the pace well off the inside under a firm hold, with FLAT BOLD perched just off his hind quarters, got hooked up by that rival from the five-sixteenths pole to the quarter pole, going head to head with the rider keeping something in reserve all the while, shook free turning for home under mild hand urging, had the rider take a couple of peeks back, scouting for any potential stretch threats, and after correctly concluding none to be in sight, cruised the final furlong a handy winner.”
As I said on HRTV after we showed the replay of the James Marvin a couple of hours after it had been run, I especially liked the description of the rider “scouting for any potential stretch threats, and after concluding none to be in sight, cruised the final furlong a handy winner.”
The following day, in Saratoga’s Grade I Coaching Club American Oaks, Devil May Care proved a punctual 7-10 favorite under a somewhat similarly confident ride by John Velazquez. Johnny V. did an excellent Chris McCarron imitation by looking back a number of times during the race.
The Saratoga chart caller wrote: “DEVIL MAY CARE bobbled a jump out of the starting gate, bumped with BIOFUEL after being pressured inward by ACTING HAPPY, was placed under a firm hold soon afterwards, raced snugly reserved along the outside behind several rivals entering the backstretch, slipped into four path at the midway point, sat well poised from the four path during the run around the second bend, had the rider take the first of three peeks back at the competition turning for home, emerged from the furlong grounds holding a clear advantage, then drew off with authority during the last eighth under a hand ride.”
Again, I think the Saratoga chart caller did a splendid job in describing Devil May Care’s race in such detail. However, I am of the opinion that the chart caller was off in one respect regarding that chart.
I am puzzled as to why the CCA Oaks chart states that Devil May Care “won driving” when, according to the chart comment, she was “under a hand ride” during the last eighth. In my view, the chart should have stated that Devil May Care won in some other manner than “driving.” While I think the Saratoga chart caller did get that wrong, I believe the Vineyard Haven chart was correct in stating that he “won handily.” I think “won ridden out” probably is what the CCA Oaks chart should state for Devil May Care.
Definitely one of my favorite races in my role as a chart caller was the 1987 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Hollywood Park, which featured a showdown between Kentucky Derby winners Ferdinand and Alysheba. I tried my best to describe what an extraordinary ride Bill Shoemaker gave Ferdinand.
Ferdinand was a difficult colt to ride because of his tendency to pull himself up once he got in front. Shoemaker, in the twilight of his career while riding in a $3 million race with the Horse of the Year title at stake, showed remarkable patience aboard Ferdinand that afternoon. It took an absolutely perfect ride by Shoemaker for Ferdinand to win by a scant nose over Alysheba. If Shoemaker timed his move an instant too soon or too early, he quite probably would have lost.
For the official 1987 Breeders’ Cup Classic chart, I wrote: “FERDINAND, within easy striking distance early while patiently handled, moved up when used slightly nearing the far turn to avoid being boxed in, forced the issue on the far turn and in the upper stretch with the rider waiting as long as possible to ask his mount to go for the lead, responded willingly when asked to get a short lead leaving the sixteenth marker, then held on to prevail by a slim margin in an extremely game effort. ALYSHEBA, devoid of early speed and wide down the backstretch, advanced to menace with five-sixteenths to run, came into the stretch four wide, made a determined late run at FERDINAND in the closing yards and just missed getting up. JUDGE ANGELUCCI, a pace factor from the outset, resisted stubbornly through the final furlong but could not outfinish the top two. CANDI’S GOLD set or forced the pace to the last sixteenth, then weakened slightly. CRYPTOCLEARANCE lagged far back early, entered the stretch five wide while on the move, improved his position in the drive in a belated rally but found his best stride too late. GOOD COMMAND, close up early, was bumped going into the far turn, was boxed in on the far turn, continued boxed in through the upper stretch and weakened in the final furlong. NOSTALGIA’S STAR, devoid of early speed, was never dangerous. HE’S A SAROS, close up early and four wide into the clubhouse turn, was bumped going into the far turn and gave way. GULCH was outrun. AFLEET, close up early and bumped going into the clubhouse turn while three wide, faltered after six furlongs and was five wide into the stretch. BOLD ARRANGEMENT was four wide into the stretch. SKYWALKER, in an easy striking position to the final five-sixteenths, faltered badly.”
Chris McCarron rode Alysheba, who despite his loss in the Breeders’ Cup Classic was voted a 1987 Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old male. Classic winner Ferdinand was voted 1987 Eclipse Awards as champion older male and Horse of the Year.
Jack Wilson, now retired, was regarded as one of the great chart callers of all time. Wilson called the official chart of the 1973 Belmont Stakes, which Secretariat won by 31 lengths under Ron Turcotte to complete a sweep of the Triple Crown.
For the 1973 Belmont chart, Wilson wrote: “SECRETARIAT, sent along the inside to vie for the early lead with SHAM to the backstretch, disposed of that one after going three-quarters, drew off at will rounding the far turn and was under a hand ride from Turcotte to establish a record in a tremendous performance. TWICE A PRINCE, unable to stay with the leaders early, moved through along the rail approaching the stretch and outfinished MY GALLANT for the place. The latter, void of early speed, moved with TWICE A PRINCE rounding the far turn and fought it out gamely with that one through the drive. PVT. SMILES showed nothing. SHAM alternated for the lead with SECRETARIAT to the backstretch, wasn’t able to match strides with that rival after going three-quarters and stopped badly.”
The chart (correctly, I think) states that Secretariat “won ridden out.” Wilson’s comment that Secretariat won “in a tremendous performance” certainly was merited considering many believe it was the greatest performance by a Thoroughbred in the history of American racing.
Wilson also once wrote a chart comment for a race at a Florida track that became rather famous. Wilson wrote that at one stage of the race, the eventual winner had to avoid an alligator that had crawled onto the track.
One time while I was calling charts at Santa Anita, as I watched the replay, I noticed a horse that Gary Stevens was riding got smacked in the head by a bird on the backstretch. In my chart comments, I noted that a bird had struck that horse in the head on the backstretch. The horse, by the way, did not win.
A few days later, while I was in the Santa Anita press box, I received a telephone call between races from Stevens in the jockeys’ room.
“I’m calling to thank you for noticing that horse I rode the other day got hit by a bird on the backstretch and putting it in the chart,” Stevens said. “After the race, the trainer asked me, ‘What happened?’ And I told him. I told him that the horse got hit in the head by a bird on the backstretch. From the look on his face, I don’t think he really believed me. But when I saw the chart, there it was! It said right there in the chart that a bird hit my horse in the head on the backstretch. I sure was happy to see it right there in the chart.”
RACHEL WINS AGAIN
After losing her first two starts of 2010, Rachel Alexandra now has put together back-to-back victories. She romped to a 10 1/2-length triumph in Churchill Downs’ Grade II Fleur de Lis Handicap on June 12, then won last Monmouth Park’s Lady’s Secret Stakes by three lengths last Saturday.
Just how well did Rachel Alexandra run in the Lady’s Secret? I think it’s kind of hard to say. Visually, I did not think her performance was all that good. But then, in her defense, it was an extremely hot day (the type of day that does not make Zenyatta’s connections eager to ship her from California all the way to New Jersey or New York at this time of year). The temperature Saturday at Monmouth was in the 90s. Combined with the humidity, the heat index cracked 100. People and horses felt like they were in a sauna.
Even the Beyer Speed Figure people had some difficulty in evaluating Rachel Alexandra’s performance in the Lady’s Secret. Rachel Alexandra originally was assigned a 110 Beyer, but that subsequently was downgraded to 105. That’s a rather large adjustment.
Beginning with Rachel Alexandra’s first race this year, these are her 2010 Beyer Speed Figures: 100, 103, 109, 105.
Starting with Rachel’s first race of 2009, these are her figures for last year: 100, 103, 101, 108 in the Kentucky Oaks, 108 in the Preakness, 111 in the Mother Goose, 116 in the Haskell, 109 in the Woodward.
So Rachel Alexandra evidently still has not quite reached the same performance level as when she won last year’s Preakness, Mother Goose and Haskell. The Haskell comparison is particularly relevant in attempting to ascertain her current performance level because her 2010 Lady’s Secret and 2009 Haskell wins came on the same surface at the same time of the year.
Many would like to see 17-for-17 Zenyatta go to Saratoga for the Grade I Personal Ensign on Aug. 29. Indications are that Rachel Alexandra’s connections are seriously considering the Personal Ensign for the 2009 Horse of the Year.
But I doubt they will ship Zenyatta to Saratoga for the Personal Ensign. Like I said, I don’t think Zenyatta’s connections are eager to ship her all the way across the country at this time of the year when they could find themselves sending her into an sauna (which could really knock her out physically and/or mentally).
Another risk in sending Zenyatta to Saratoga is the possibility of some sort of wet track. Understandably, they probably would scratch her if that were to happen, just as they scratched her when they sent her to Churchill Downs in the spring of 2009 and encountered rainy weather. That would mean making the long trip to Saratoga would be for nothing.
And if they did send Zenyatta to the Personal Ensign, then she would have to ship all the way back to California, only to hit the road again for the Breeders’ Cup.
So I think we will see Zenyatta run in Del Mar’s Clement Hirsch on Aug. 7. Or if trainer John Shirreffs is not happy with Del Mar’s main track and decides to pass the Clement Hirsch with Zenyatta, then I think they might just wait and not race the big mare again until the Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita.
END
