THOROUGHBRED BEAT
NOVEMBER 9, 2005
by James Scully
Hollywood blues – Churchill Downs dumped Hollywood Park from its
portfolio earlier this year, and the Inglewood, California, track recently
announced that it doesn’t have an adequate turf course, eliminating the Citation
H. (G1), Hollywood Derby (G1) and Matriarch S. (G1) from the calendar later this
month. Those races highlight the tradition-rich Turf Festival, which is the
centerpiece of the Autumn Meet and perhaps Hollywood’s biggest event of the
entire year, and they’ll be sorely missed along with the Hollywood Turf Cup (G1)
and Dahlia H. (G2), which were both scheduled for December. It appears that
management waited until September to install a new, scientifically enhanced turf
that didn’t take, leaving us with no grass racing in Southern California until
Santa Anita opens after Christmas. Hollywood Park’s future was already bleak —
Churchill sold it to Bay Meadows Land Company with a commitment for only three
more years of Thoroughbred racing — but we didn’t expect things to fall apart
so soon.
Congress helps – Jockeys made a huge mistake by removing John Giovanni
from the Jockeys’ Guild and installing Wayne Gertmenian as president and CEO in
2001. Many proceeded to lose their insurance as the Guild allowed a $1 million
on-track policy to lapse without notification, and the organization has
repeatedly alienated its members from track and state officials due to gross
mismanagement. Jockeys deserve adequate representation, but Gertmenian appears
to have served only one interest over the last four years, entrenching
himself in a near impossible-to-remove position while lining his pockets. For
the jockeys’ sake, Congress stepped in with hearings last month that could
finally remove the cancer. Another hearing is scheduled for November 17, and
jockeys will have the opportunity in the near future to reform the Guild or join
a new organization dedicated to their interests if they can avoid placing a
snake oil salesman at the helm.
Stars of Tomorrow – Saturday’s inaugural “Stars of Tomorrow” program,
an 11-race card exclusively for two-year-olds at Churchill Downs, proved very
popular with large, competitive fields entered for every race, and the exciting
concept will be renewed next fall. Sharing the spotlight were the Iroquois S.
(G3) and Pocahontas S. (G3), and both drew strong fields despite their close
proximity to the Breeders’ Cup. CATCOMINATCHA (Tale of the Cat) earned his first
stakes win with a gusty effort in the Iroquois, rallying boldly to catch High
Cotton (Dixie Union) inside the final sixteenth before gamely prevailing by a
head, and the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) runner-up returned $18.20 after scoring
with Rafael Bejarano. FRENCH PARK (Ecton Park) remained unbeaten and justified
her status as the 2-1 favorite with a front-running score in the Pocahontas,
drawing off to a 1 3/4-length decision after facing a serious challenge in upper
stretch. The Helen Pitts-trained gray filly is now two for two, following up a
12 1/4-length maiden romp in her career bow at Keeneland.
Can’t fool the brain trust – Would the 10-cent superfecta wager have a
negative impact upon handle at Churchill Downs? Management won’t fall victim to
the latest fad because they have serious doubts about its profitability.
Churchill hasn’t measured the impact upon their biggest bettors, and they’re
deeply worried about other exotic pools if this red herring is introduced on
track. Other racing venues like Keeneland, Arlington Park and Del Mar
have introduced the dime super and must be suffering huge losses with all the
extra churn generated through windows from more winning tickets. These tracks
haven’t taken an inane approach because they know bettors aren’t going to wager
less with the availability of the smaller wager. Years ago, the $5 minimum for daily doubles and exactas
was lowered to $2 in California, nearly driving
all the tracks into bankruptcy. Then, in another serious setback for the racing
industry, tracks nationwide began to lower the exotics minimum from $2 to $1. I don’t know how, but
they eventually
recovered. Reducing the minimum superfecta by 90
percent must be a recipe for disaster, and Churchill is nobody’s fool. They won’t get
duped on this one.