Marchfield To Win The Queen's Plate

Queen's Plate prediction: I did pick the longshot winner of the Plate last year. Unfortunately, I'm not 100% with my selections. This year I like Marchfield. I liked him in the trial, but he took a failed run at Jigg's Cauz in that race in the stretch but flattened out, Jigg's Cauz stole it. I think Marchfield is a better horse and more suited for the mile and a quarter. I even think Cobrador (20-1) has a good shot at finishing second or third in the Plate.

Regarding David Clark; I reported on the tragedy on this blog as soon as I read it in the Daily Racing Form last year. I was kind of stunned, but not overly surprised that it didn't appear in the local newspapers (at least the association the Clark was in fact a regular jockey who rode at Woodbine). I think it could be successfully argued that Woodbine did not want this news out, and that there is a sort of coercion amongst the reporters who cover the sport daily not to upset the applecart. A shunned reporter at Woodbine might as well look for a new job. In other words, dirty little secrets at the racetrack have a good chance of remaining secret. News is news though. Curlin's owners were recently indicted, and it was reported nationally in the USA and Canada. The owners just pleaded not guilty. Yes, Clark and the owners of Curlin are innocent until proven guilty, but the facts on the ground should be reported.
If they were reported in a timely manner, Woodbine wouldn't be up for scrutinization right now. Jockey Rui Pimentel who was recently charged with luring a 13 year old girl over the internet got way more media coverage than David Clark did. And yes, the media associated Pimentel with his livelihood. Pimentel too, is innocent until proven guilty, but one has to wonder which is a more newsworthy or more horrific, allegedly luring a 13 year old girl, or allegedly killing a 34 year old teacher while driving over the limit.

I empathize with David Clark. If the allegations are true, he is not the only person to drive over the limit in Canada. The laws are weak when it comes to preventing drivers from getting in their cars after going to bars or restaurants. You can drink a bottle of wine in a restaurant, as many do (at least when sharing), pay the bill, and drive your car home. No questions asked.
Besides the guilt and shame of killing an innocent woman, the media secret must have weighed on him, wondering when the story would finally break. This could be a partial monkey off his back. Only he knows.
But I empathize more with the family, friends, and students of Suzanne Mizuno. If the allegations are true, she should not be dead today, and her family, friends, and students, shouldn't be asking themselves why.

I hope WEG learned a lesson from this. But WEG is a pretty thick organization. They insist on simulcasting Belmont on the Score instead of Fort Erie. They just don't get the big picture.

There is still a small question as to whether Clark will ride on Sunday because of a spill he took on Thursday. He booked off mounts yesterday, but the media is reporting he will ride today. I heard a few people say that he probably took the fall on purpose (a WEG conspiracy? which made no sense), but that wasn't the case. The horse he was on took a very bad step (possibly clipped heals), and he had a pretty bad fall. The horse ran off afterwards and appeared alright.

Magna Entertainment's recently appointed CEO Michael Neuman steps down. Dispute with Frank Stronach was the likely cause. Neuman stated he wasn't going to put any money in to fix Santa Anitas' and Golden Gates' tracks or backstretches, but Stronach chimed in and said he was going to commit $24 million for those projects.

Border passport rule gets delayed again. There is a chance that driver's licenses and birth certificates will be good enough to get across the border by land. Homeland Security Chief, Michael Chertoff to visit Buffalo on Monday.

Senecas buy more land near proposed Buffalo casino

Roger Brown appeal date set in regard to his positive test for Torsemide

ORC rules all tracks must accept entries by Aubrey Friedman

Claim pays off quickly for Daryl Ezra

Calracing is a great site for replays (No Fort Erie though). Woodbine races, for example are available around 20 minutes after the race is run. You can't search by track for Woodbine races, you have to search by horse's name instead. It is free to sign up.

This happens a lot, but this is the first time I've seen a disqualification over it:
Thistledown stewards DQ a winning horse because she was riderless (she froze) during part of the post parade. Owners of a losing horse protested after the race, and the stewards made the decision in the morning. This is ridiculous. The stewards should not have allowed the horse to run if they wanted to enforce the rules, but to take away the purse after the race was run and the bettors cashed their tickets in this case, is a terrible call. This is bad for the sport.