March 9 Venue Ideas

[JolyB]

Last Saturday's venue of Gulfstream was a no-brainer (something I've been told I'm good at). This Saturday offers a few more alternatives.

Aqueduct offers several stakes, including the Gotham, which probably will have a very full field. Tampa Bay offers its best racing card of the year, including the Tampa Bay Derby and the Florida Oaks. Turfway Park also has their best card of the year, although that may be a dubious distinction for a card highlighted by the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks (yes, that's the correct spelling).

The one that I think would be our best choice is at Santa Anita for "Big Cap" day, featuring the Santa Anita Handicap and including the Kilroe Mile and the Derby qualifying San Felipe. While the San Felipe will probably have a small field, it is projected to include the two top Baffert 3 year olds in Game Winner and Improbable. Jerry Hollendorfer's Gunmetal Gray is also expected. Santa Anita has cancelled its Thursday card in anticipation of heavy rains, but are planning to be ready to go on Saturday.

Right now I'm leaning toward selecting the full card at Santa Anita, but would welcome any comments you might have. I know that some might want to do every one of the Derby qualifying races, but I'm not excited about that choice - perhaps we could do that when we get to the 100 point qualifiers on the first weekend of April and the qualifying points really matter.

[RUFFIAN]

SANTA {THE TRACK NOT THE CLAWS} HAS MY PAWS UP

HOPEFULLY
THE RAIN AND BREAKDOWNS BOTH HAVE STOPPED

[cal828]

New York, Florida, California all good for me. I guess it's possible for a "monster" to come out of Turfway, but I don't think we've seen one that had much of an influence on the KD since Animal Kingdom.

[Real Quiet]

Santa Anita sounds good to me.

[Plenilune]

I'm going to admit that Santa Anita has me very anxious for both equine and human safety. At least they have brought back Dennis Moore to help bring the track back up to safe standards.

https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-rac...ack-consultant

[ElPrado]

Santa Anita has cancelled racing indefinitely, due to another fatality on the main track this morning.

[cal828]

Originally Posted by Plenilune

I'm going to admit that Santa Anita has me very anxious for both equine and human safety. At least they have brought back Dennis Moore to help bring the track back up to safe standards.

https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-rac...ack-consultant

I hope that Mr. Moore can get a handle on it and stop it from happening. Much as I love the sport, a catastrophic breakdown can make you wonder whether you should find something else to do with your time. I could never be a trainer. The first time it happened, I be off to find a new job.

[Plenilune]

Originally Posted by ElPrado

Santa Anita has cancelled racing indefinitely, due to another fatality on the main track this morning.

http://live.drf.com/nuggets/47243-sa...g-indefinitely

"Ritvo said racing will not be held this weekend, and declined to speculate on a date of resumption."

I am grateful they are taking this approach. The safety situation is out of control there and they need to do right by the horses and the jockeys.

[JolyB]

I'm so glad that management is doing the right thing to get to the bottom of the problem. For them to cancel one of their biggest race days of the year demonstrates how seriously they are treating this issue.

[DonGuido]

Tampa Bay with maybe 7-8 selected races and adding the SA Kilroe and San Felipe to keep the contest to 9-10 races. Just a thought??? Your call JB . . YOU ARE THE MAN!!! Well, didn't read the post on no racing at SA this weekend. Now it's really your call JB.

[ElPrado]

Where are they running the SA races?
Los Al?

[JolyB]

Originally Posted by ElPrado

Where are they running the SA races?
Los Al?

For the time being, the SA races have simply been cancelled. After Dennis Moore has completed his evaluation of the track, including the subsoils, I would suspect a determination would be made about the rest of the meet. In the meantime, the horsemen are just as much up in the air as the rest of us. Baffert had planned to run both Game Winner and Improbable on Saturday to get them on the road to Louisville. He may now need to think about shipping them to other venues for points earning preps.

[JolyB]

Originally Posted by DonGuido

Tampa Bay with maybe 7-8 selected races and adding the SA Kilroe and San Felipe to keep the contest to 9-10 races. Just a thought??? Your call JB . . YOU ARE THE MAN!!! Well, didn't read the post on no racing at SA this weekend. Now it's really your call JB.

What was once a relatively easy call now gets much more difficult. I'm going to wait until entries are out and Saturday weather reports are firmer before posting a contest menu that I hope you will enjoy.

[JolyB]

The cancellation of racing at Santa Anita made this week's venue selection much more difficult than I had foreseen. I hope this I've come up with a solution that our players will enjoy.

Saturday's weather in New York should be clear and a little milder than right now. The latter part of the Aqueduct card looks fairly good, but I don't think much of the first three races (a maiden race for 3 year old New York Breds, a $16,000 claimer and a $30,000 maiden claimer). I do like the rest of the Big A card better than the card at Tampa Bay, although I recognize that one of our regular players will be competing in the finals of a handicapping competition that uses the full card at Tampa - good luck to you Cruzan. The Tampa Bay Derby is one of the two remaining Derby qualifiers on Saturday with significant points on the line.

Having said all of that, I'd like to do:
Races 4 through 11 at Aqueduct (including the Tom Fool, Stymie, Gotham and Busher Stakes) and then
Race 11 at Tampa - the Tampa Bay Downs


The festivities would begin at 1:55 PM Eastern time (just before we all get to change our clocks for Daylight Saving Time), and we get to handicap both of the key Derby preps.

I think that Fox Sports' Saturday at the Races will include live coverage of a number of these races.

That's the best I can come up with.

[cal828]

Good choice. I think all the Aqueduct races are on dirt, but some of the Tampa races are on turf except for the TB Derby. I seem to have better luck on dirt so I am happy. Hope I can say that after they run.

[RUFFIAN]

“...The festivities would begin at 1:55 PM Eastern time

** (just before we all get to change our clocks for Daylight Saving Time)” **

*** THAT DOESN’T HAPPEN TILL 2 am SUNDAY

THE ALWAYS HELPFUL FERVENTLY FRISKY FACTS~FINDER FELINE =^,,^=

[JolyB]

Originally Posted by RUFFIAN-333

“...The festivities would begin at 1:55 PM Eastern time

** (just before we all get to change our clocks for Daylight Saving Time)” **

*** THAT DOESN’T HAPPEN TILL 2 am SUNDAY

THE ALWAYS HELPFUL FERVENTLY FRISKY FACTS~FINDER FELINE =^,,^=

Thank you for your help Ruffian. I think that most of us have been aware that the change of time occurs in the middle of the night. Those who frequent bars look forward to the opportunity in the fall for an extra hour of libations. All of us dread the loss of an hour's sleep in the spring (I'll be fetching my newspaper in the dark once more for a couple of weeks).

Can you just imagine the chaos that would ensue if the time change occurred OTHER than in the wee hours of the morning?

[RUFFIAN]

JOLY
You know I just couldn’t resist

For me { Opposite To You}
The Day the Clock SPRINGs Forward is my FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR

As a matter of Fact ~
there are many people who want daylight saving time year round
without this change in Clocks twice a year = Like Arizona

I LOVE having it get darker later on
which gives me more time to be out with My Horse!

Or Out Walking With My Dog

Or not having to drive in the darkness

The concept of people saying they are “losing an hour of sleep”
IMHO = IS NUTZ

If you do not change the clock until the next day on Sunday
when you go to bed Saturday night you’re still going to sleep
the same number of hours you normally do ...

Legislation has been brought up every few years to keep
Daylight saving time without changing the clocks
Unfortunately it has been voted down every time

We believe that is due to people with school-age children
Don’t want the kids at the bus stop if it’s not light out

My reply to that is this
Drive your kid to the bus stop and wait for the bus

The Lighter It Is Later On...
The LESS CAR ACCIDENTS AT RUSH HOUR!

[JolyB]

Originally Posted by RUFFIAN-333

As a matter of Fact ~
there are many people who want daylight saving time year round
without this change in Clocks twice a year = Like Arizona

The concept of people saying they are “losing an hour of sleep”
IMHO = IS NUTZ

The Lighter It Is Later On...
The LESS CAR ACCIDENTS AT RUSH HOUR!

We've drifted a long ways from Saturday's venue, but a couple of thoughts.

I've always thought that Arizona never went on daylight saving time. In the most populated parts of the state (Phoenix and Tucson metro areas) it gets very hot in the summer and the last thing they want is one more hour of misery after work. Most recently, the Arizona legislature again rejected a change to DST in 2014.

Perhaps people don't "lose an hour of sleep", but a cardiovascular study found that the number of heart attacks increased by 24% on the Monday following the spring forward, possibly linked to the time change.

We're in the eastern part of the Eastern time zone. Dawn comes slowly in winter. If we were on year round DST, there would be many more car accidents in the MORNING rush hour of December and January due to the darkness. I guess it's a matter of picking your poison.

[cruzan200246]

Originally Posted by JolyB

The cancellation of racing at Santa Anita made this week's venue selection much more difficult than I had foreseen. I hope this I've come up with a solution that our players will enjoy.

Saturday's weather in New York should be clear and a little milder than right now. The latter part of the Aqueduct card looks fairly good, but I don't think much of the first three races (a maiden race for 3 year old New York Breds, a $16,000 claimer and a $30,000 maiden claimer). I do like the rest of the Big A card better than the card at Tampa Bay, although I recognize that one of our regular players will be competing in the finals of a handicapping competition that uses the full card at Tampa - good luck to you Cruzan. The Tampa Bay Derby is one of the two remaining Derby qualifiers on Saturday with significant points on the line.

Having said all of that, I'd like to do:
Races 4 through 11 at Aqueduct (including the Tom Fool, Stymie, Gotham and Busher Stakes) and then
Race 11 at Tampa - the Tampa Bay Downs


The festivities would begin at 1:55 PM Eastern time (just before we all get to change our clocks for Daylight Saving Time), and we get to handicap both of the key Derby preps.

I think that Fox Sports' Saturday at the Races will include live coverage of a number of these races.

That's the best I can come up with.

Thank you very much. I will do my best to defend my crown.