Harness Edge Goes Online Only

In a first that I have seen in racing, a print magazine is going online only. The Harness Edge's first online edition will be on their site in early August. Some snippets from today's podcast that I found interesting:

Yearling ads for the sales will have embedded video of the little fellow or gal romping around. A brilliant idea.

Stud ads, when an offspring wins a big one, will have embedded video of the race won.

Of course, not unlike regular news items on many news websites, pictures and video can be added to every story.

Last of all, the online edition of the magazine will be free. Today's podcast announcing the change and what they have planned is here.

The One Man Gang

Horseplayers are a passionate lot. With judging, where judges are often times perceived to be too close to the participants, this is usually apparent. All you have to do is visit any chat board, thoroughbred or standardbred, for a glimpse of that. Usually, however, this never goes beyond a gripe or two, or maybe a letter.

Well on Harnessdriver.com, the preeminent chat board for harness racing, one man has taken it to another level. "Timebomb" a Windsor Ontario racefan has been on a crusade to get the judges of harness racing in the province to call infractions based on the rulebook. If it is in the rulebook and it is not called (the fines and suspensions are published via the web at Standardbred Canada) he is making sure people know about it.

Some snippets:

Well the ORC should have made a LOT OF CASH for whipping fines tonight

Race1....Tim Tetrick whips between the legs 3:01 on the replay

Race 3...JODY JAMIESON once again whipping away between the legs of FEDERAL FLEX
watch the replay at the 2:55 mark

Race 5 Jim Morril Jr at the 3:05 mark whipping between the legs of YELLOW DIAMOND

Race 10 Dave Palone at the 3:05 mark whipping between the legs GINGER and FRED

Race 13 Chris Christoforou at the 3:05 mark whip between the legs SPAGO HALL

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Those are the easy ones....a few others likely exist. Do any or all get called lets tune in tomorrow to see.

Want more?

JAMIESON,JODY C
ORC - EXCESSIVE USE OF THE WHIP
Date Issued : 07-JUL-2009
Total Due : 500.00
Violation Occurred : Race 1 at WOODSTOCK RACEWAY on 07-JUL-2009 horse LEXIS STAR
********************************************************************************

Where are his days? And I believe its another $800 due for the other two fines that were .....well lets say SET ASIDE.

Now if this was oh lets say AL CULLEN he would be out for a long long time.

Not only is he keeping tabs on, what he thinks are non-called fines, he is taking it a step further:

Well Rob wasn't in today so they put me through to RUSS FERNADES> We had a good 20-25 minute talk about what I perceived as the Judges not making the calls on WHIPPING BETWEEN THE LEGS. He asked for race examples so I gave him a few that I could remember off my top of my head as I sat waiting for my flight out of Pearson this morning.

He has also called two other judges by my count and has called the Ontario Racing Commission's head office several times to talk to whatever head honcho he can find.

It is fascinating to watch the thread if you are a harness fan. To read it you can at Harnessdriver.com, but you have to sign up first.

He has also gone so far to post videos of the races in question. I have watched many of the races he speaks about via his posts. He is absolutely right almost without fail. The use of the whip that is going on is not in the rulebook. The judges I believe do not call all of them because of two reasons 1) They are so voluminous they would be stuck in paperwork all night and 2) Drivers appeal fines and cost the ORC money.

My solution? I don't really have one, but for starters I would simply make the fines more penal, and I would also ask them to cover the cost of an appeal if the appeal fails. I have no idea if that would work, but $300 fines don't seem to work either.

Who knows, maybe Timebomb, "the one man gang", will achieve what the ORC and many others would like. Regardless I find it absolutely fascinating to watch a racefan try to change harness racing, one whip infraction at a time.

New Sites, More Racing & Lost Horses

New websites for racing that encompass media are springing up, and our very own TBA Blogs is one. It contains blog posts, news, twitter feeds and more. That is a damn good job Patrick P.

Saturday night harness was more than just Meadowlands races. At Mohawk, Shadow Play returned off a foot ailment and was second. He does not yet look like the old Shadow Play, but it appears he is heading in the right direction. A few years ago American Ideal, who was super-fast, raced in the shadow of Rock n' Roll Hanover and was brought back at 4. After a nice first effort, he suffered some nagging injuries and was retired. I hope this is not a repeat of that. I would love to see this big colt add his name to the list of Canadian Pacing Derby (which is shaping up as the best race of this year) at Mohawk next month.

At Georgian, Yellow Diamond was beaten soundly in an OSS final. The week before she took the lead and won, snatched up by driver Mark MacDonald. However, she was not pacing through the wire, like a good horse should. Sharp cappers could have made a score against her as she was 1-9, but with small pools (a pox on the harness racing house) it was difficult. There was clearly some sharp money in the pools, and despite YD running out, the exotics were not as they should be.

The saddest news on Saturday was that rock-solid pacer and $700k winner Stormaway had to be euthanized after an accident in the $100k+ Masters.

This is not your everyday story where a good horse who has a mishap is 'filled in' with other great horses from a conveyor-belt stable. Stormaway, the recent Molson Pace winner, was a homebred for a small stable which has had little success in the past. These folks had the horse since he was a baby - not as blue blooded breeders or something - just like you and me would. A lesson for me? Any horse I have who does well and gives me some thrills, appreciate him/her every day.

Stormaway finished his fine career with 19 wins in 46 starts and was well on his way to having his finest year to date. Allan has some thoughts and a post about Stormaway here.

Pace Elim/Haughton Recap

Shark Gesture, who is becoming a war horse, won the Haughton last night at the M, in a great effort (story and video here).

A few notes on the Haughton: i) Sometimes we need to be reminded, but speed wins races. Closing into the teeth of a 55 back half is tough to do with quality horseflesh on the front end. SG ran away from this field. You can never, ever, ever bet harness horses at 3-5 when they will get off seventh like Mr. Big did. You will lose your shirt and it is the worst bet a player can make, and arguably the worst bet in all of racing. ii) Bettor Sweet is a quality animal. Yes folks, 4YO's, even the ones who are left after all the best three year olds retire, can compete against older. iii) One can argue Mr. Big has lost a step, but I disagree. Bettor Sweet, Shark Gesture and others are all racing superbly. Larry Remmen has Shark better than he ever has been. Add in Art Official and a couple of others and Mr. Big will find it hard to dominate this year. iv) Speaking of Art Official, he has come back well, but I do not think he is ready to go the speed he went last year. If you remember, he sat behind Beach in the Cup after going a stout half and tipped off his helmet to run him down. I do not think even sitting behind a horse in extreme fractions for a half he is ready to win in 47 yet. It's early though and he looked good his last couple.

The Cup eliminations are in the books and it was the Well Said show. After two pretty horrible starts in his first two trips over the trap rock he has rebounded to dominate the division. He pulled first over from sixth and closed with a solid back half in a flat-out dominating mile. The result was never in doubt. For a handicapping lesson we can listen to Pierce. Almost all the time handicappers will ask for cover. We often hear announcers speak of a "monster first over journey". In slow fractions this could not be more wrong. In slow fractions, if you have the best horse and are behind, you want to be first over as quickly as possible. 20 times out of 20 a superior horse, like Well Said is, will grind out the non-superior animal to win easily. If cover is gotten with these trips, sometimes the cover can not go the speed needed to tow the horse into the race, they have to go three wide and the leader opens up daylight. We see this at least once a night in racing. Ron Pierce on wanting a first over journey instead of traffic: “I decided I’d better get a bit closer to the front; I didn’t want them to get away too cheap and have somebody pull and get in my way from catching them." This is why handicappers were left scratching their heads a few weeks ago when Lucky Jim won first over, grinding out Lansen in slow fractions, which prompted Bob Heyden to say it was one of the "top five trotting performances he had ever seen." It was not shocking to see Lucky Jim grind down a longshot off soft splits, it would have been a shock to see him not grind down a longshot in soft splits. Well Said's journey was impressive due to solely the blinding last half speed, and that he was well off the pace at the slow first panel, so it is apples to oranges - it was a true "monster first over journey". Full story and video here.

Art Colony seems to be better digging in this week. All last year he was a hanger and this year was too early on. Apparently they finally made an equipment change on the horse, cutting slits in the hood with cups. I guess that has made him better. Great idea by Campbell trying to park Well Said - if he limbs him out and wins he gets to pick his post and places a rival in the luck of the draw. No such luck, because AC is simply not in Well Said's zip code, but not for lack of effort.

Tough DQ for Drop Red huh? Too bad, the horse deserves to be in the final.

Elim Two was non-descript. Although I would never have bet him, I had a sneaky feeling Passmaster would be good as Burgess is a miracle worker with unsound horses. No dice, he was poor.

It seems like the final is Well Said's race to lose. 6-5 on the ML seems about accurate.

New Horizons & A Chance at a New Life

Often times we get a comment or two from "New Horizons" here and I neglected to check where that came from. Doing a twitter search today on twazzup I find that it is from a Wallaceberg, Ontario woman who has made it a passion to rescue standardbreds.

The Kitchener "sale", and I use that term loosely, is a place where unwanted horses go. They don't go for kids, or pony rides, the bulk of them go there to die. Claudette frequents that sale looking for horses she can save, on her own dime.

There are at least 25 Standardbreds on average going through their ring every Tuesday,” says Claudette. I’ve also taken two horses directly off the track, Yankee Buck, who has a fractured coffin bone that’s currently being treated, and the other, Whiter Than Snow, called Poppy, a grey 16.2 hh Standardbred mare, who just wasn’t fast enough. Then, I had one given to me, Grapes Magic Trick, who’s already trained in Western pleasure.

In addition she rescued another one recently - a yearling with a facial deformity. He could not sell, of course, although he was bred to by us to do exactly that. He was left at the sale to be discarded like yesterday's trash. He wasn't yesterday's trash; he was a horse. And thankfully she was there for him.



We can not save all the horses, but as owners we have to be responsible for them when we can. We breed them to use, and they deliver the best that they can. They should not be thrown away. If an owner's trainer asks for $2000 for vet work or surgery so an infirm horse can be entered to race, you bet the owner will pay for it. There is absolutely no reason that $200 or $300 can not be used to humanely destroy a horse too lame to find a home. Kill pens are not a product of too many horses, they are a product of irresponsible people.

People need to realize that owning horses is a big commitment, and if it comes time that they can no longer care for them or the horse is no longer enjoying a quality life due to an incurable injury or illness, then it’s their responsibility as a horse owner to take the time to do the right thing. Whether it be re-home them for a new career, or humanely euthanize them if their quality of life is hindered, the responsibility for that horse’s health, safety and welfare is theirs.

If you are a horseperson or own a farm, the New Horizon's website linked above has a list of items they need to keep the stable happy. She does not ask for much. Give it a whirl if you have some of these items hanging around the barn. Horses like Pickle will say thank you.

$688k Haughton - A Must Watch and Bet

Tomorrow night the Haughton Final goes at the Meadowlands. It is, in my opinion, the best race of the year thus far for bettors and fans. The field assembled for the tilt is stunning. About $10M of career winnings are represented with the field.

From the rail out:

1. Palone Ranger
2. Shark Gesture
3. Won The West
4. Bettor Sweet
5. Dali
6. Mister Big
7. Winbak Speed
8. Art Official
9. Dragon King

Looking at the field one could make the case for seven out of the nine to hit the winners circle. Shark Gesture was absolutely brutalized last week in a first over journey. Won the West closed from Chicago to win, Bettor Sweet probably used the race as a prep and should be better, Dali was scorched and did not give it up until late, Mister Big was awesome from downtown, Winbak Speed has been solid all year and Art Official raced very well in his prep, just missing.

I will be looking as always for value. I assume Mr. Big will be overbet, so I will look elsewhere. The trip that Shark Gesture endured last time and still hung around to talk about it has me leaning that way. He is as tough as nails, is not the now or wiseguy horse, and should he get any type of trip he should be heard from. Another one who should provide board value is Bettor Sweet. I have a feeling he will be better this week. The odds board will tell the tale on where I go in this fantastic race.

Also on tap of course is the Meadowlands Pace eliminations. They are good affairs, and although the betting opps are limited, are well worth the watch.

M Pace, Gold in the Hills & a Touching Tribute

The Meadowlands Pace elims are off and pacing this weekend. We will have some analysis over the coming days. Of note, Bob Heyden had Mr. Wiggles at number three heading into the race, but he is not entered. Anyone see why?

For a take on the Meadowlands and the apparent dancing on its grave (a good opine.... people who think Chester and Yonkers getting top quality horses instead of the Meadowlands is good for racing are misguided), check out Alan's post here.

The Gold Rush hits Georgian Downs this weekend with over $1M up for grabs. We'll see if Louis the whip, our resident B-track guru has any tips.

Last up, iron horse and $1M winner Daylon Trooper escaped from his stall, was injured and had to be put down last week. In a touching obit, Micheal Sweeney of Scarborough Downs lets his thoughts be known on the old champ who deserved a better end.

I met him only once, just days after he arrived at Scarborough Downs. I couldn’t wait to lay eyes on one of harness racing’s elite.

He was a fine looking animal, shiny and strapping, endowed with the presence and bearing that only those who have been to the big time could ever possess. He came to my hand as I grabbed onto his halter and he even allowed me to pat him on the forehead once or twice. His tolerance quickly gave way though as he tired of the attention and began a playful game of trying to chew off the newcomer’s hand. Apparently even star players can tire of the attention of their adoring fans.

His loss was felt deeply at Scarborough Downs this weekend.

“The only word that can describe this situation is heartbreaking,” said longtime Scarborough trainer Dana Childs. “It was a heartbreaking end to a brilliant career.”

What a career it was.

Has it Come to Cheering For Injuries?

I saw a recent post at Paceadvantage.com speaking of the minor injury sustained to thoroughbred Musket Man, who was a player in the Triple Crown. The poster (not meaning anything by it of course) said that the injury was unfortunate but that it would assure fans would get to see the horse race next year, instead of winning a race or two in the summer and be shuffled off to stud. What a sad commentary on the state of racing when an injury is looked at like that. It is like saying I hope Tiger Woods has a hamstring injury before each Major, because he will quit when he beats Jack's record, and it will assure we'll get to watch him golf for awhile.

In harness racing we had a year last year - one which thoroughbred racing needs. The presence of Somebeachsomewhere, as well as injuries, has given fans something to look forward to. Art Official, a talented horse, was hurt late last year and it assured that his stud career was placed on hold. Dali could not get a deal, other than a small one perhaps, because he could not win any big ones with the presence of Beach. Shadow Play had physical issues early, had to face Beach, and did not win enough to warrant a deal. Ditto Bettor Sweet, who recently set the track record at Mohawk in a stunning time. They are all four year olds, they are all racing in 2009, despite two of them setting world records, which any other year would have them off to some farm somewhere, playing with mares.

The breeding game has always been a game of three card monte with racing fans the marks. It is the last great insular fiefdom which has no one to answer to but horse buyers. It is unwilling to change, and unable to fix itself and most would say does nothing for the game of racing in the first place. Despite massive handle losses, despite lack of interest in racing, despite purses being down, despite yearling sales off, we know that nothing will change and it will be business as usual. As strange as it sounds, maybe a quarter crack or two might do more for the fan base and the sport of horse racing than any marketing program has ever done.

Notes:

Wagering is getting killed. Don't say we didn't warn you. Cangamble explores that issue in his last piece.

We're tough on milkshaking here in Ontario. When I see someone get caught with it in California thoroughbred racing it seems they are asked nicely to promise to never do it again. When they do it again, they are asked again to promise never to do it again, but they tack on a $400 fine and a 13 day suspension, so they can enter their horses in two weeks.

I am half done my driver change study, which I have been working on in my spare time. So far all I can selfishly say to those who bet driver changes, is please keep doing it.

It seems another past posting incident might have occurred in thoroughbred racing today. I think I can improve my ROI if I bet horses after the race. I am adding it to the arsenal.

A New York Post writer says racing is finished. Why? "1. Modern racing has no stars. They're all in the breeding shed. No sport can prosper without stars to engage and excite the base. 2. The modern racing program is an endless stream of small fields and short-priced favorites. No competition, no excitement. 3. If a product is not selling, check the price. Casinos and sports betting take an average 5 percent off the top. Racing's minimum take is 16 percent, stretching up to 30 percent. It is priced out of the market." I am not sure if the patient is ready to star in CSI, but the writer sure has the symptoms down pat.

Handicapping and Golf

Gamblers of other games, say sports betting, or casino gambling tend to flinch when looking at horse racing. "How can someone play a game where you lose so many more times than you win", or "how can you possibly play a game with 22% skimmed from the pot" are common questions.

I usually answer that horse racing is a great game to play because it is just like golf. No matter how good you get at it, you can never, ever master it. When Tiger Woods shoots a 61, he is mad at himself because two missed putts, three off-center iron shots and four missed fairways all occurred during the round. He promises himself he can 'do better next time' and he will practice to assure that he will. In any other sport, or any other vocation how many people think like that?

It is the same with handicapping. No matter how much you learn, there is more to learn. No matter how many bets you make, there is always a way to make them more efficiently. You can never master the game of handicapping the horses.

People have their passions and for some it is the previously mentioned golf. I used to play quite a bit. When the company I am involved with started there was but two of us, we both golfed, and we only had a couple of clients each. As an added bonus, winter was super-busy and summer not so much. Once a week or more rounds of golf happened regularly. I tried constantly to get better, and of course I never came close to mastering that difficult game. After some time work got busier, employees were added and time to play waned. I recently took a short vacation near Moncton, New Brunswick on the Amherst Shore of Nova Scotia where golf courses were everywhere but I did not even bring my clubs. What I did bring though was my computer, and while there, in my spare time, I worked on handicapping. Instead of going for a five hour tour of the links I toured questions and data mining of "if a horse is used in the second quarter quicker than a par time, how much does his final quarter suffer", "how many horses win with three hole trips", "if a horse is scorched in a quick pace what does he do the next race when on the engine in a proper pace?" Questions only a handicapper would want answered.

Handicapping and getting better at it is my current passion. Just like a few years ago when I worked on my golf swing like a total freak, I work on handicapping like a total freak. I know I will never master it; not even close. It is what keeps me coming back and it is what makes handicapping the horses the greatest gambling pursuit ever invented. We need to shout that from the rooftops, and get track management and horseman groups to realize that this game can grow rapidly, just like golf did if we treat improving it with passion like horseplayers do. It is often said, I think correctly, that track execs and horseman groups have no idea who their customers are. To get them to understand us we can tell them to look at their golf games. Handicapping is the same thing.

Saturday Night Fighting

Many harness handicappers like to criticize prep races for being non-competitive affairs. Tonight in the Haughton Prep at the Meadowlands it was anything but. Jody Jamieson drilled Dali hard from the get go and put the hammer down. Tim Tetrick in a pretty wild move, tried to quarter pole into the quick pace with Shark Gesture and was rebuffed. This tangle set the plate for the backfield and longshot Won the West swooped to take the win. This prep signalled a potentially tremendous final next week. Often the best 4YO's retire at three. This year it is not the case and that makes for some very good racing.

Drop Red won a conditioned race, taking advantage of a bit of a duel as well, proving that horses do not know what their birth certificate says, they just race. He made older horses look ordinary and won easily.

I took a stab at the Meadowlands Pick 4 tonight. I liked Doug's Fame in the sixth as I thought the speed try last week would sharpen him up if taken from off the pace. I was right on that one. Then I took "all" in the next leg, thinking that the chalk was vulnerable. I followed that up with an "all" in the last leg. I chose to key Casie Coleman's horse in the third leg. Of course the 4-5 fave won the first "all" leg, and a short short won my other "all" leg. I missed my key. Did anyone ever say this was a tough game?

I played Mohawk tonight as well. As is often the case there, non-competitive fields were the norm and several of the races seemed almost pre-determined. Any live horse was well bet, and there simply were not enough alternatives to try and take a stab at. I find that there are only two races a night there to bet. The Meadowlands was not much better. I think I found two I wanted to bet there and one horse who I did take a poke at was 7-2 at one minute to post closed at 2-1. Playing harness is getting very difficult if you are a pure value searcher.

I watched a little Georgian Downs tonight and I must say that the Innisfil oval is becoming one of the highest quality tracks out there. Next Saturday is a huge night there and if you are a harness fan it is worth watching. You can watch and bet on Georgian via HPI in Canada and Twinspires in the states.

Snow White is Gone

Whom I consider the greatest two year old trotter I have ever been blessed to see, Snow White, had to be put down today. As a two year old I wanted to see her be honoured with horse of the year. She should have been. I doubt we will see another like her.

Her World Record. God bless you hon.

Studies and Numbers

Being a big fan of Super Crunchers where the author says "don't tell me what you know, show me what you know with evidence", I have always given stock to numbers. If a coin flips a million times and you show me half the time it lands on heads I know you have a pretty good coin. One of the most fiery debates I have read over the years has been on lasix use in racehorses. Talk to ten trainers you get ten different answers. Some of them very militant when espousing that lasix does absolutely nothing to stop bleeding in racehorses. Finally a comprehensive study has been done on the drug. It showed that yes, lasix does reduce bleeding in racehorses. For a blog opine on the study, click here.

Secondly, blog readers know that I have been a fan of trying things new, especially on half mile tracks with regards to equalizing post positions. A couple of ways I have thought out loud about included starting the speed of the speed in trailing positions to encourage movement (posts assigned) and a more staggered starting gate. Being a horse owner at a place like Western Fair always comes with a caveat - it takes two weeks often times to get in, and if you draw the seven your monthly bill has zippo chance to get paid. The post difference in chances to win on a half is polarizing. A horse from the seven can be 20-1. Give that same horse, in the same field the rail and he might be even money.

Well the Meadows recently (a five-eighths track) went to a 14 foot stagger on February 9th. The numbers are pretty startling and you can read them here. The rail used to be 16%, now it is 11%. The 8 post used to hit at a 6% clip, now it is 11%. This is not a small sample. This works.

This is not only good for horse owners, it is good for bettors. On a half mile track, or even on a 5/8's at times you can eliminate half the field. A 9 horse field becomes a 3 or 4 horse field. With a staggered gate it increases field size for all intents and purposes as the bettor has more contenders to choose from. In thoroughbred racing an increase in field size by one horse increases the handle on a race by 5%. This should be done in harness in a big way, all over the world. Chris Roberts and Chuck Keeling, as well as Hugh Mitchell at Western Fair are folks who have the guts to give this a shot. I wonder if they have considered it. Just like the lasix study, the numbers are there, and if the numbers are there, the reason not to try it is nil.