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This
column dedicated to Don Wittman, the
consummate sportscaster.
Can you do perfect high-fives every time? Do you care?
Of course you do. There's
nothing worse than celebrating a race-track win with a buddy than clumsily
catching only a finger or two or, worse still, missing completely and
wrenching your arm. Very
unsatisfying. The secret to performing perfect high-fives will be
revealed below in a new "high" (some will say
"low") in this, the final column of the second year of The Insider.
It's
also a great time to reflect on the past year. So I've amassed below what I consider
to be the Top 10 events from my perspective which, of course, you're
perfectly entitled to dismiss as drivel and substitute your own.
But
the biggest story this week, polyunfortunately,
is an unhappy one and one which I know has gripped many of you with
concern. It's the crisis at
Santa Anita. Three days in a row
of racing--Saturday, Sunday and Monday--were cancelled because its synthetic
Cushion Track doesn't drain water and water can't be squeezed out as it
can on a conventional dirt track. Their predicament is unheard-of. What to do? How about returning to that quaint
stuff called dirt?
All
right, here we go, splashing through Santa Anita Canal above a
drenched bed of waxed silicone, rubber chunks and carpet fibres.....
CRISIS AT SANTA: "Dirt" is in the cards
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Santa Anita
canal
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Pity
Ron Charles. He's the president of North
America's
premiere racetrack, Santa Anita, and, through no fault of his own, he'd
been forced to cancel racing three days in a row--an unheard-of
event--which has had ripple effects at wagering sites all over the
continent. All because of Cushion Track, a synthetic mix of waxed sand,
fibres and rubber that doesn't drain rain
water, even though it's supposed to do so better than dirt. "It
couldn't have happened to a nicer guy," laments trainer Janine Sahadi. "It's
distressing that he put in all this time and energy (changing the track
surface to suit the requirements of a government board) and this is the
hand he was dealt."
Trainer
Mike Machowsky
was reported as saying the California Horse Racing Board, which
mandated the switch to synthetic surfaces in 2006, and board chairman Richard Shapiro "need to step up and take
responsibility. They mandated this, and it cost a lot of money. I feel
sorry for Ron Charles and the racing office." What's worse is that Santa Anita is
site of the Breeders' Cup in October.
But
recriminations aside, it appears Ron Charles will be making an
announcement today that the track will re-intall
dirt, a process that will take 10 days as long as there's no rain. Apparently, the call has gone out for
20,000 tons of dirt re-surfacing material. Racing will take place this weekend on a reduced bed of synthetic material and re-surfacing will likely begin this week but go to www.santaanita.com for updates.
The
most interesting aspect in all of this for me is this: The state board that forced them to
go to synthetics, the California Horse Racing Board, is now speaking
about being only a "regulatory" agency. That's what they used to be before
they became activists and forced California tracks to
spend a huge wad of cash on an experiment that has gone terribly
awry. Expect California taxpayers to
have to pick up a lot of the costs for their meddling.
HUMOUR IN THE
MIDST OF DESPAIR: Before Santa
cancelled its Sunday card, it announced it would still be racing but
all races would be 5 1/2 furlongs. Why? Because the
starting gate sank so far down in the synthetic slew at the 5
1/2-furlong marker, they dared not try to move it.
TOP 10 EVENTS OF THE PAST YEAR
10. CRAZIEST STRETCH DRIVE ANYWHERE: The zig-zagging
path of Numaany
at Aqueduct--on the lead, suddenly veering sideways and backwards,
stopping, reversing and almost sprouting wings to win. View here.
9. MOST HISTORIC WIN: Filly Rags to Riches beating the boys
for the first time in 102 years in the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of
the Triple Crown.
8. BEST EXAMPLE OF "PACE MAKES A RACE:" Weather Warning, at 34-1,
getting an easy lead in the $100,000 Manitoba Lotteries Derby to win
going away but finishing a distant last in the Canadian Derby at
Northlands Park when unable to get the lead.
7. BEST POSTER-BOY FOR "AGE IS ONLY A NUMBER:" Downs jockey Alan Cuthbertson, of course, at
60-years-old the oldest full-time jockey, scoring an amazing 106 wins,
handily beating youthful challengers..
6. MOST BIZARRE ATTEMPT TO FIX RACES: The discovery of
dart-shooting devices buried beneath a starting gate at Happy Valley
race track in Hong Kong--an apparent attempt to shoot drugs into the
bellies of favoured horses to slow them down,
permitting longshots to win.
5. MOST MEMORABLE "WOW" FACT: Revelation from
leading Downs trainer Marty Drexler that he is able to get by on only three
hours of sleep a night, giving him that much more time to tend to his
horses.
4. MOST "AMAZING" DEVELOPMENT
OF THE YEAR: Two dueling horses
carved into a 15-acre corn field near Stonewall, creating a maze that
broke all records for attendance and evoking expressions of awe from people
flying over the field. View here.
3. MOST MEMORABLE LOCAL INTERVIEW: International horseman Stewart Hyman of Shyman Farms emphasizing and re-emphasizing in an
interview with Downs paddock host Kirt Contois that the Downs is his
favourite place to race because it is so welcoming and so well
run. View interview.
2. MOST MEMORABLE RACE & RACE-CALL: "Are you kidding me...it's Jimmijazz!"
Those were the shocked words from announcer Darren Dunn as the reluctant
gate-loading horse who trailed the field way out of view for most of
the race exploded down the stretch to just catch the leaders at the
wire. View here.
1. BIGGEST STORY OF THE YEAR: Completion of common-pooling with all
U.S. tracks as New Jersey and Florida finally completed the sweep in
the fall after years of setbacks and roadblocks.
SECRET TO PERFECT HIGH-FIVES: It's where you look!
If you don't already know this trick, it's going to strike
you as amazingly simple. For a
perfect, full-palm high-five, simply look at the other person's elbow. That's right. Look at the other person's elbow
while you're moving the palm of your hand toward his/hers. Your hand will automatically find its
mark. Now get out there and win
a nice pick-4 with a friend so you can celebrate with the
most-satisfying full-palmed high-five you've ever planted.
"MY
MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT"
Jockey
with a heart of gold
As one might expect, veteran Downs jockey Tim Gardiner remembers his 1998
Gold Cup win aboard Gary Danelson's horse-of-the-year Smart Figure as a special
moment. "I wanted to beat
Smoky Cinder so bad," he recalls. "It
was an absolute whisker." But
his most memorable moment had nothing to do with a big race. It was winning a race on a horse
belonging to owner/trainer Vic Price who was down on his luck. "He's such a pleasure to be around. Lives by himself, hard
working, honest. I tried so hard
to win it for him." And
he did. "That meant so much to him," recalls Gardiner, showing
that a heart of gold can be more important than a Gold Cup.
TIP OF THE WEEK: Watch for "bridge-jumper" races
So-called "cinch" winners in races can attract
bridge-jumpers, people who bet perhaps tens of thousands of dollars to
show on the "cinch" winner with the hopes of turning a quick
five per cent profit. Losses by
those horses, of course, mean monster show prices on other horses such
as at Woodbine harness on Jan. 4 when the favourite in the eighth race
was disqualified from second and placed out of the money. The other
horses paid these show prices:
$34.60, $65.20 and $48.10.
And
here's something important to remember: Even if the favourite wins, you can
often get MOST and even ALL
of your show expenditures back at the windows because of the way show
bets are calculated now. Even if
a favourite pays $2.10 to show, the show prices of other horses are
calculated on their relative odds and NOT on how much money is left in
the show pool. In other words,
the race track must pay off the negative pool on the favourite and NOT
the person betting other horses to show.
COMFORT FOOD FEATURED TONIGHT! It's all-you-can-eat Irish theme night
in the Terrace Dining Room from 5 to 8
p.m. featuring such tummy pleasers as Sheppard's Pie, Braised
Corn Beef and Cabbage, Guinness Stew, Potato and Chive Soup with
scones and an appetizing salad bar and tantalizing dessert table. $14.95. Full menu.
Next
Thursday: German night.
QUICK BITS: Congrats to Dave Joss
who picked up $100 as the first winner of Death by Golden
Gate Saturday afternoon in a field of 16 entrants
..... Note
to patrons at the Days
Inn OTB
located on McPhillips: Betting windows on Sunday will now
remain open right to the end of the cards .... Local horsemen are working on a website which should
be up next week. Watch The Insider for their URL.
UPCOMING
EVENTS: 16 days to Tour d' Champs
Get your Tour d' Champs card stamped on Saturday,
Jan. 26, the first big stakes day in the countdown to the Kentucky
Derby featuring the best Florida and California-bred horses.
The more major days you attend, the more
chances you'll have of winning a trip to the Breeders' Cup.
No contest card? Pick one up at the Race Book kiosk in the
Clubhouse.
New track
begins tonight! The Downs picks up
races from Charles Town in West Virginia tonight at 6:15 p.m. It
was a favourite track in past writings by speed guru Andy Beyer.
Free $1,000 Texas hold 'em begins next Friday, Jan.
18 and continues every Friday in the Clubhouse.
Play "show parlay challenge" to get in.
First horseplayer tournament of the year happens Saturday, Jan. 19.
Deadline to enter is Friday, Jan. 18. More details here.
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