Down The Stretch has a two page interview with Chantal Sutherland. She reveals that after she did the Vogue layout she was contacted to do a spread for Playboy. Apparently, it came down to dollars; she wasn't offered enough.
Like a good friend once told me, everyone has a price when it comes to everything. Oh wait, that wasn't a good friend, it was me who said it.
She does want to get on Dancing With The Stars. I'd watch the show, if she got that gig.
Is there a Down The Stretch Jinx? Chantal is 0 for 13 since the article on her appeared on line.
Also in Down The Stretch, they found room to do an article on HANA by up and coming racing journalist Perry Lefko.
Speaking of HANA, the Saturday Pool Party at Hawthorne appears to have been the most successful one so far. Just look at the following comparison:
Avg. per race last 16 mos.: $268K
Avg. bet on a Saturday race last 16 Mos. : $302K
Avg. bet on a Saturday race this year: $248K
Saturday's Pool Party Race 6: $385,000
It sure looks like HANA wasn't affected by any Down The Stretch Jinx.
To join HANA click here. It is free.
For handicappers who may have tried Formulator, there may be something better on the market. Check out TrackMasterPro. I really don't like Beyer numbers used by DRF (Formulator). Their numbers are crap at times. Just take Bug's Boys Beyer number from November 30th. Beyer had it rated way too high. Equibase, like TSN and Brisnet, confirm my low number for that race. TrackMaster uses Equibase speed numbers.
On Friday Bug's Boy sure looked like a winner, until the point where it looked like he should have been worked on harder (and maybe GASP whipped).
BTW, I really like the fact that TrackMaster gives speed numbers for horses from overseas.
Don't forget to give Jennifer Morrison's article that appeared in Saturday's Star called Rescue Mission: Caring For Sick, Starving Thoroughbreds
Truth Or Rumours
Todd Kabel got a 15 day suspension? And it wasn't for weighing too much.
Fort Erie is not going to take wagers at the track in US dollars? This is just nuts. Here you have a track struggling to survive, and they are going the extra mile to turn off Americans, forcing them to exchange their US dollars to bet live at the track. I can see a positive if a bettor winds up with Canadian dollars when he or she leaves the track as they are likely to come back quicker. But with takeout rates that are over 25% for exactor bets, not too many people go home with money in their pockets.
Seems like a way for them to nickel and dime the customer. As the track may be hoping to make money on the exchange of dough each way. Contrary to what the track was doing last year at times, when they were literally giving money away as they allowed bettors (and employees?) to exchange Canadian into American and back into Canadian so that the person who flipped the money would come out ahead by as much as 4% many times. No wonder Fort Erie lost as much as they allegedly say they lost.
Did trainers sign out their horses at Woodbine last year so as to get them treated with an unknown pre-race by a non ORC licensed vet?, and then van the horse back to the track on the day of the race? And did many of these horses run very good races? And was there some sort of screw up which made it impossible for the ORC and RCMP to prosecute or go after the trainers who were using the vet's service?
How about forcing horses to be on the ground for 48 hours to any race they are entered to run?
Keeneland Handle Drops 19.2%
It isn't the takeout as they have one of the best in the business. Again, I need to point out that most people are not cognizant of takeout, so even if they bet a low takeout venue, they are likely to bet back at a high takeout venue without any realization. So they are betting the extra money they have cashed due to the low takeout elsewhere.
NOTE: They raced 15 days this year as opposed to 16 days last year, so average day handle was off by 9.6%.
I started a thread on Pace Advantage exploring the reason as to why Keeneland's handle is off so much.
Many forum members are stating it is the Polytrack. But it could be that racing is going to have a very lousy 2nd quarter, and Keeneland is just the first track to give 2nd quarter numbers. It could be the economy. It could possibly have to do with a peak in ADW customer and numbers, which is a reflection of the fact that racing has done nothing right when it comes to attracting new customers (by being non competitive in product pricing with other forms of gambling). So basically that would mean that existing players are betting less or dying or leaving and not being replaced by new blood.
Andy Beyer wonders if Churchill Down's success is going to hurt the horse racing industry even more down the road
Free DRF past performances for the Derby contenders
Free Brisnet PP's as well
Read Harlan Abbey's column about Fort Erie. Lots of bug boys and girls will most likely dominate the winner's circle there this year.
2 comments:
I rather enjoy that Down The Stretch publication. It resonates with atypical news and humour that enriches and nurtures the mind, something that is vastly lacking from most mainstream media and/or thoroughblog sites, though this site is something I often read for its unvarnished opinions.
Lefko was up and coming when you were in diapers.
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