Final Turn : evan hammonds

Moving Day - By Evan Hammonds

Blood-Horse Staff — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:49:00 GMT

In the spring all roads lead to Louisville, Ky., as the hopes of Thoroughbred owners everywhere center on having a runner good enough to compete in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I). This fall, however, most roads have led out of Central Kentucky…and the roads are filled with horse vans taking mares away from the “Horse Capital of the World.”

Where are they going? A sizable number of them headed east on Interstate 64 toward Pennsylvania. New Pa.-bred rules starting in 2008 state that in order for a mare’s foal to be eligible for Pennsylvania-bred registration—and the lucrative state-bred purses at Philadelphia Park, Penn National, and Presque Isle—the dam has to reside continuously in the Keystone State from Oct. 1 of the year of conception through foaling.

It’s highly likely a second armada of vans will head east after next month’s breeding stock sale at Keeneland. Pennsylvania rules also state that if the dam of the foal is purchased at a public sale after Oct. 1 of the year of conception, is brought into Pennsylvania within 14 days of the date of purchase, and resides in the state through foaling, that foal, too, can be a registered Pa.-bred.

It wasn’t long ago that the preferred choice of Thoroughbred breeders and owners was to have a Kentucky-bred.

Potential buyers of young horses are scanning down the catalog page quickly to see which state-bred program the horse is eligible for rather than the line that reads “Foaled in Kentucky.” Today’s Kentucky-bred doesn’t offer the buyer the same options that are available through some of the better-positioned state-bred programs such as the one currently in Pennsylvania.

One good example? On Sept. 19 at Philadelphia Park during “Pennsylvania’s Day at the Races,” a maiden special weight race was worth—drum roll please—$84,000. During Keeneland’s fall meeting, the top-end maiden special weight race goes for $50,000.

It’s no wonder that as the foal crops are contracting on a national scale, they are growing in states—such as Pennsylvania—that have crafted solid state-bred programs.

It’s also no wonder that a sizable number of mares, ones that used to reside in Kentucky throughout their lifetime, are now mere “seasonal” residents. After foaling in the state of their owner’s choice, they are shipped to the Bluegrass to be covered by a Kentucky stallion, and, once well in foal, shipped back out. Instead of providing a boarding farm with a whole year’s worth of income, the Kentucky boarding operator gets a few months' worth.

One such boarding operation noted it has recently added a few Pennsylvania clients, saying they’d shipped four or five mares out not too long ago. In fact, one left Sept. 30…

Northview Stallion Station has two operations, one near Chesapeake City, Md., and a newer operation 30 miles away near Peach Bottom, Pa. Business at the new facility is booming. Last spring co-owner Dr. Thomas Bowman indicated to breeders he would take “as many mares as we had the facilities to take care of, and our building program would be predicated on the response we got.”

Bowman built a second broodmare barn and is in the process of building a large shed.

“At the present time we have all the mares our facilities can handle,” Bowman said. “And I’m sure that we’re not alone. The mood in Pennsylvania is quite optimistic as opposed to many other areas in the country.”

While the state of Kentucky and the local Thoroughbred industry posture over slot machines and casino gaming to put the state’s purses on a “level playing field” prior to next year’s general session, our task should be to do a better job educating the general public about the depth of our industry. There is more to the big picture than just enhancing purses.

It’s more than just helping Turfway Park compete with Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort and Charles Town Races and Slots in West Virginia and Ellis Park compete with Hoosier Park in Indiana and Arlington Park in Illinois with fatter purses. It’s more than just the large stallion operators in Central Kentucky.

It’s also about the real bread and butter of the state’s signature industry—the small boarding operations that dot the Central Kentucky countryside. Their full-time clients are becoming “seasonal.”

Is Kentucky headed toward the new title of “Sometime Horse Capital of the World”?

Evan Hammonds is Executive Editor of The Blood-Horse.

Labor Day Pains - By Evan Hammonds

Blood-Horse Staff — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:07:00 GMT

I remember turning the dial—yes there was a real dial back then—to CBS Sports to watch the 1981 Jockey Club Gold Cup (gr. I). Jack Whitaker was there and so was Heywood Hale Broun. Besides the appeal of watching John Henry take to the main track that afternoon at Belmont Park was the fact the 5-year-old mare Relaxing was taking on the boys. Analyst/handicapper Jimmy “the Greek” Snyder told us John Henry couldn’t win because he was a turf horse; Relaxing couldn’t win because she was a mare, and Peat Moss was too slow. John Henry held off a late-charging Peat Moss. Relaxing was a gallant third.

Hey, he took a stand.

Taking a bigger stand is owner Jess Jackson, opting to send out his 3-year-old filly Rachel Alexandra in the Sept. 5 Woodward (gr. I) at Saratoga. It’s a bold move with America’s racing sweetheart. It’s too bad she won’t be performing on network television.

The Woodward will be shown on TVG and HRTV, networks known to hard-core fans of Thoroughbred racing, but it’s doubtful their reach is enough to grab the general sports fans that may want to see how Rachel stacks up against her elders. It would be a coup for the sport if the Woodward was available on a network or a beefier cable station, say one of the ESPN channels.

A tough break for Thoroughbred racing is the calendar—Labor Day weekend is the traditional kickoff to the college football season. During the afternoon of Sept. 5 when the Woodward is slated to go, ABC has a blockbuster game of pre-season No. 9 Oklahoma State hosting No. 13 Georgia. On ESPN, it’s Missouri and Illinois. The Labor Day weekend docket at CBS is third- and fourth-round action of tennis’ U.S. Open.

The schedules for CBS, ESPN, and ABC (the latter two are majority owned by the Walt Disney Co.) have been booked for months. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association would love to step in with a half-hour or hour package and find a slot somewhere, but the obstacles are too much to overcome.

Alex Waldrop, president and CEO of the NTRA, points out it’s a “challenge” to maneuver across the TV landscape on a few weeks’ notice these days. Networks—and advertisers—like to lock in six-to-nine months out with a financial commitment.

Another hurdle is the New York Racing Association has an exclusive broadcast deal with New York-based entertainment network MSG Plus. Getting clearance from NYRA, MSG, TVG, and HRTV isn’t easy on the fly.

There is also a little matter of money. Waldrop notes that to put on an hour of television, it’ll run you about a quarter of a million dollars, and it’s more to sit down at the table with a network. The chance of getting a return on that investment through advertising or sponsorships is highly unlikely. Last weekend’s 90-minute Travers show—one slate of stakes races negotiated in a deal with MSG months ago—on ESPN didn’t begin to bring in that kind of coin.

Of course, the coin that could have lured Team Rachel to the widest audience would be the $2-million Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic (gr. I) and a potential showdown with unbeaten Zenyatta. However, decisions fleshed out two years ago will keep racing’s No. 1 star from the World Championships. It was a marketing decision for the Breeders’ Cup to gain some traction and hold its event at the same venue—Southern California’s Santa Anita Park—in back-to-back years. That also made for the majority of Breeders’ Cup races to be contested over a synthetic surface in back-to-back years. On multiple occasions Jackson has made it clear Rachel Alexandra won’t compete on a synthetic surface.

In another marketing move, the Breeders’ Cup was split into a two-day, Friday-Saturday format, with the Friday races designated for females. That means that even if Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta met in the Ladies’ Classic (gr. I), it would take place Nov. 6, a Friday afternoon. Would Breeders’ Cup officials have the right stuff to call an audible and move the Ladies’ Classic to the Saturday, Nov. 7, program for greater reach?

For Labor Day weekend, the best-case scenario will be that the suits at ESPN will see the value of following Rachel and offer a similar treatment to the one that took place when she ran in the Aug. 1 Haskell (gr. I), giving an update after the race and positioning the results prominently on “Sports Center.”

In today’s programmed world, that’s as “front and center” as the industry can expect this time of year.

Evan Hammonds is Executive Editor of The Blood-Horse.

Plain and Simple - By Evan Hammonds

cdawahare — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:48:00 GMT

We can beat around the bush all we want, but the way the Thoroughbred industry does business needs to change. Right now, precious few in the business are creating any real income to outpace their costs. We are burning through reserves. We’re slowly bleeding out.

The term “cashless society” is taking on a different meaning than it did a decade ago.

The great recession we are currently in has changed the business landscape in America. This economic downdraft has already done more to shake out big business since the computer revolution of the late 1980s and early ’90s…and there’s no end in sight.

Beyond the financial and auto industry poster boys, nearly every sector is struggling to survive.

Macy’s, the nation’s largest department store brand, is fast-tracking a restructure labeled “My Macy’s.” Its plan is to transform not only how the store looks, but how the supply chain and management are structured.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal explained how the selection of certain products is shrinking on the shelves in Wal-Marts, Rite Aids, and other national retailers. This effect on the manufacturing sector may be yet to come.

The publishing industry is in near free-fall. While trying to maintain a “24/7” operation to keep content current on the Web (for free online), publishing operations are getting squeezed by a decline in their main revenue source: advertising.

Believe it, this hasn’t been avoided by employees of The Blood-Horse and other equine publications, nor have our readers escaped the pinch. The size of our weekly edition has shrunk dramatically while we attempt to retain some sort of sane ad-to-edit ratio.

In the Thoroughbred business, stud fees have been slashed. Racetracks are in foreclosure. Stakes races, and their purses, are disappearing around the country (except in “slots” states, but that’s another issue). Attendance and handle are anemic. The term “growth” has been mothballed.

How do we survive?

Pure and simple: We need to ban drugs from the sport, and we need to have less racing…a lot less racing.

Two key words in the recently released study in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association lauding the “beneficial effects” of furosemide (Salix) were “enhance performance.”

Last year’s state-by-state push by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association to get steroids banned was a major accomplishment, but was hopefully just the first of many steps toward getting all race-day medication banned from the sport.

It’s been more than 25 years since Salix, formerly known as Lasix, was first allowed on race day in some states. The diuretic was hailed as a medication that would help lengthen the careers of horses and allow them more starts as the racing calendars of many states were expanded to year-round circuits.

The proof is in the pudding: Horses today start less—a lot less—than they used to, and another PowerPoint presentation is not necessary. The Jockey Club Fact Book reports that in 1980 (furosemide sparingly used), the average horse started 9.21 times a year and the average field size was 8.70 runners. In 2008, with most horses running on furosemide, the average runner made 6.20 starts and the average field size was 8.17.

And that’s not the biggest concern with Salix and other adjunct medications that are injected into our star athletes on race day. Only after Thoroughbred racing is free of the medication issue can it grow as a sport. We can only expect public opinion to favor horse racing if not only the perception but also the reality, is that it is on a level playing field.

And once on a level field, there needs to be fewer fields. The successful meets of our day are the smaller, boutique meets: Saratoga, Del Mar, Keeneland. Not every jurisdiction can offer that quality, but tracks need to create the anticipation that what’s to come is something special. Fans need to have their expectations met.
One recent success has been Churchill Downs’ experiment with night racing. Sure, dollar beers help, but Churchill Downs has gotten people through the turnstiles. Is there more demand for night racing? We’re not sure, but empty grandstands are proving there is less demand for tracks across the country to be running on weekday afternoons.

Less racing means less demand for racing stock on store shelves. A popular notion among “commercial manufacturers?” Probably not.

The marketplace may decide for us.

Evan Hammonds is the Executive Editor of The Blood-Horse.

Decadent Derby - by Evan Hammonds

Blood-Horse Staff — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:09:00 GMT

(Originally published in the May 2, 2009 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)

One of Louisville’s favorite sons, the legendary (and late) Hunter S. Thompson, added his own flair to the art of news reporting and journalism in the 1970s with his “Gonzo” brand of writing. His books, essays, and columns continue to be must reading for those of us of a certain vintage.

One of his first major published pieces was a magazine article titled “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved,” a first-person narrative that chronicles his alcohol-soaked exploits in and around Churchill Downs at the 1970 Run for the Roses. And after 39 years, the story holds up remarkably well.

Thompson’s wild and wooly weekend in Louisville, full of fear and loathing and liberal doses of the “management’s Scotch,” is a rollicking tale not of the race, but of the event.

“And unlike most of the others in the press box, we didn’t give a hoot in hell what was happening on the track. We had come there to watch the real beasts perform.”

Thompson could capture the pop culture of his day in a paragraph. He was at his best when he was able to take a caricature of a stereotype and gallop it out another eighth of a mile past the finish.

While the actual results of the race are whittled down to a paragraph near the end of the piece, Thompson does note that jockey Diane Crump was about to make history as the first female rider to make the Derby field.

Churchill Downs and the Derby have come a long way since then.

The article, while once likely a sore spot for many top-level managers at Churchill Downs, now has a new home, proudly displayed on the kentuckyderby.com Web site. Shocking.

Marketing, branding, and corporate sponsorships have taken a lot of the individuality out of not only the Derby Presented by Yum! Brands, but all major sporting events in this country, from college football bowl games, to the World Series, to events like the Indy 500 and New York City Marathon.

“The grim reaper comes early in this league…” Thompson’s words carry an even heavier air in this era. While Thompson swilled a “double Old Fitz on ice” in 1970, today Woodford Reserve is a corporate and race sponsor.

To stay current with the times, selling major sporting events requires something edgier. The pomp, pageantry, and color of Thoroughbred racing isn’t going to bring people to the track these days.

Today’s Churchill Downs and Derby has been positioned a lot differently. Not only can you go to the infield and have a good time, you can hang with Churchill Downs’ “Chief Party Officer.”

We’ll likely catch up with Churchill’s second CPO, Nick “Rinickulous” Ferrara, during some backstretch hijinks during Derby week, but it’s doubtful he, or last year’s representative, Tim “Stymie” Snyder, could sprint the first six furlongs with Thompson.

Readers of The Blood-Horse are the insiders to this greatest of games played outdoors. At some point this week, we need to take a moment or two and step back and accept the Derby for what it is to the general public: a rite of spring; a long week’s party that just happens to have a two-minute Thoroughbred race at the end of it. Most patrons today would think My Morning Jacket is the best rock band to come out of the Derby city, not something they left at home on their way to watch the workouts.

We’ve been witness to a few things over the last decade in Louisville. During Derby week, we’ve chatted with all walks of life from grade I winner Penny Chenery to bottom-level claimer O.J. Simpson. We’ve marveled at the regal Barbaro, been smitten by the pint-sized Smarty Jones, and been stunned by longshots like Charismatic and Giacomo. We’ve seen thousand-dollar Mint Juleps (and talked with those who drank them), giant inflatable Juleps, and colleagues beaned with a full bottle of Budweiser in the parking lot nearing the end of what had to be a two-day bender for a group of guys in an RV.

Decadent and depraved? You bet.

And just like the final line of Where the Buffalo Roam, a film based on Thompson’s life starring Bill Murray, “It never got weird enough for me.”

Well…ask us again May 3.

...And Then Some By Evan I. Hammonds

Blood-Horse Staff — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:40:00 GMT

Michael Tabor strolled down the apron at Santa Anita Park, shielding the bright California sunlight with a baseball cap and a dark pair of shades. Peering out at the Pro-Ride surface the morning before the two-day Breeders’ Cup World Championships would begin, the Coolmore principal answered a simple question with a repsonse that was as clear as the day’s view of the San Gabriel Mountains.

“The more the merrier,” he said when asked of the new 14-race format for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships weekend. “It’s more opportunity for the owners to recoup some money. And at the end of the day, we’re the ones footing the bill…and then some.”

While the nation’s economy, and now the global economy, is retracting by the hour, the Breeders’ Cup great expansion of 2008 should be great news for the industry. In 2005, the yearly payout by Breeders’ Cup was $22.5 million. This year, the two-day program alone offered $25 million in purses and the entire stakes program’s payout was $31 million. What segment of any market can boast those kind of figures over the past three years?

With three new races added to the traditional eight grade I events last year, and three more tacked on this year, the theme for the 25th running of the Breeders’ Cup was one of expansion and experimentation. With that certainly came some growing pains, and those were clearly on display.

The draw for post positions on the Tuesday before the event was a case in point. Selecting the posts for 14 championship-caliber races with hundreds of horses requires some order and organization, which was lacking as owners, those who could fit in, were shoehorned into the racing office to draw 10 of the races. Left out in the hallway, many owners and trainers were unable to decipher the proceedings.

If an owner and a trainer have a horse running for $1 million or more in a grade I race, they ought to at least be able to hear where they’ve drawn. Four of the “big” races were drawn later in a made-for-TV event in Santa Anita’s Frontrunners restaurant, with hardly a mention of the other events. It was like relegating the others to the “kiddie’s table.”

The “more the merrier” theme didn’t play out that well for Tabor and associates, as they wound up on the short end of the stick on the track with no wins and three placings. But the European contingent has to be feeling quite merry following their domination of the U.S. horses throughout Day Two. Want more European participation? Wait till next year.

However, some don’t share Tabor’s view of the Breeders’ Cup’s expansion.

A lot of fans were overwhelmed by the volume and overlapping names—Juvenile Turf, Juvenile Fillies Turf, Filly & Mare Turf, Filly & Mare Sprint, Turf Sprint—you get the idea. If horseplayers are confused, it’s going to be a tough sell to the public. But what you can sell to the general sports fan is a great day, or two, of racing, and the athletes on the field over the two days more than delivered. From top to bottom, Breeders’ Cup ’08 was perhaps the best racing ever; dazzling and dizzying all at the same time.

Too much?

One owner/breeder looked away from a replay monitor late in the day Oct. 25 and said, “I’m about ready to pass out.” It wasn’t from excitement; it was from exhaustion. He suggested one less Breeders’ Cup race a day.

But if you took away one on day one, which would it be? From Ventura’s sparkling win in the Filly & Mare Sprint Friday morning through Zenyatta’s spectacular performance in the Ladies’ Classic (gr. I), the new Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Day format was top drawer.

A race from Saturday? There were bang-bang performances all day, from Desert Code’s strong close in the Turf Sprint to Goldikova’s reincarnation of Miesque in the Mile (gr. IT) to Midnight Lute’s spectacular repeat in the Sprint (gr. I). All of this was capped off by Raven’s Pass’ electric upset in the Classic (gr. I). With Henrythenavigator second, the pair turned Santa Anita into Ascot with a mountain view.

Time will tell if the Breeders’ Cup’s growth spurt is a move in the right direction. From what we saw over the weekend, we can’t wait until next year to find out.

Evan I. Hammonds is executive editor of The Blood-Horse.

Telling Time - by Evan Hammonds

Blood-Horse Staff — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:38:00 GMT

It’s amazing that six weeks can go by so quickly, yet also seem like an eternity.

Was it just last month, or was it last year when we saw Big Brown bound past us on the Churchill Downs backstretch during a chilly morning in Louisville? Was it just a few weeks ago, or was it a couple of months ago that we witnessed a coronation off the Northern Parkway in Baltimore? We’re certain about June 7 on Long Island, witnessing the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) in sticky, steamy Elmont, N.Y.

This year’s Triple Crown run had more twists than a New York pretzel, and was twice as salty.

When looking back over the ’08 run by Big Brown, here’s hoping the industry will have moved forward on a couple of horse health-related issues.

First, with the tragic breakdown of Eight Belles following her dazzling runner-up effort in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), industry leaders must not lose sight of the need to take steps to make our sport safer for its participants. Just as the breeding industry came together back in the spring of 2001 to unravel the mysteries of mare reproductive loss syndrome, the key is communication. We must share all information, good and bad, for the betterment of the sport. The newly formed Thoroughbred Safety Committee is a good start. So, too, are the conversations and research that must continue regarding synthetic track surfaces.

The issue of steroids in racehorses must be addressed, promptly, and on a national level. I can imagine few in the game who would like to see more trainers and owners interviewed on national television discussing the pros and cons of Winstrol.

Big Brown’s disappointing run in the Belmont, for the umpteenth time giving fans a handful of feathers instead of a Triple Crown winner, teaches us just how special it is to win the Triple Crown. We don’t want to hear any talk about changing the span between races. It’s supposed to be hard to win it.

While the five weeks puts three demanding races very close together, the three weeks between the Preakness (gr. I) and Belmont can slow to a crawl. As this season’s Belmont approached, and with Big Brown’s quarter crack getting better ratings than “American Idol,” one could almost watch the bloom come off the rose of Team Brown at Barn 2 at Belmont.

The finale was the colt’s five-furlong work June 3, a minute flat, followed by a six-furlong gallop out in 1:14 2⁄5. The drill left more than a few raised eyebrows. A 14-second eighth before the Belmont? Galloping out?

Secretariat wouldn’t have done that. Big Red worked a mile in 1:34 4⁄5, then blew out a half-mile the Wednesday before the Belmont in :46 3⁄5.<->Seattle Slew worked six furlongs in 1:11 3⁄5 the Tuesday before his Belmont, and blew out three furlongs in :35 4⁄5 the morning of the race.

Big Brown, in front of a curious crowd the morning of June 6, galloped slooowly around the Belmont Park oval and then headed back to the barn. It was at that point it became questionable as to how much juice was left in the lemon. We found out the next day.
A reflective Kent Desormeaux, who 10 years ago had come within the shadow of the wire of winning the Triple Crown with Real Quiet, addressed the media following Big Brown’s defeat.

“For him it was a slow pace,” he said. “When I got outside going into the first turn, I said, ‘That’s it; the race is over.’ ”

He, like the rest of us, was confident.

“Then, when I asked him to engage, I was done. I had no horse. Fortunately, there are no popped tires; he’s just out of gas.”
He then paid the Triple Crown phenomenon quite a compliment.

“The end result is I can’t fathom what kind of freaks those 11 Triple Crown winners were,” the Hall of Fame jockey said. “It’s unfathomable to me. I won the Derby with some pressure, I won the Preakness in an armchair ride, and for whatever reason he wasn’t resilient enough today. This is unknown to me because he’s supposed to be a mile-and-a-half-horse; he’s supposed to be a distance horse.
“With that being said, these occasions for me have only made me realize how awesome those horses were.”
That’s why we’ll be back next spring.

Feeling the Chill - by Evan I. Hammonds

Blood-Horse Staff — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:47:00 GMT

Cold lies the heart of Thoroughbred racing following Eight Belles’ untimely end after Kentucky Derby 134. The dark side of the toughest game in town showed itself once again on the national stage, this time in the nation’s biggest race.

Even prior to her tragic ending as the shadows began to lengthen May 3, there seemed to be a chilly vibe to this year’s Run for the Roses in Louisville. And by chill, we don’t mean a hip coolness desired by either Churchill Downs or NBC.

Two of the better story lines to this year’s Derby were both veteran performers. The tale of 70-year-old Bennie Stutts Jr. bringing Smooth Air—his first horse to the Derby—was a gem, as was the return of the New Orleans saints—Louie Roussel III and Ronnie Lamarque, back 20 years after taking two-thirds of the Triple Crown with Risen Star. While both delivered the goods to the media, sharing with us their great stories, they are closer to hip-replacement surgery than to playing to a targeted younger audience.

The weather was a major factor to the week, as on the Tuesday before the Derby, the temperature was a bone-chilling 38 degrees as a crowd gathered on the backstretch. Standing on a wooden stand by the main gap, IEAH Stables’ principals Michael Iavarone and Richard Schiavo took in the scene at the Downs for the first time as owners. They watched as Court Vision, the colt they co-own with WinStar Farm, galloped past, Iavarone in a borrowed coat, Schiavo trying to keep warm in a windbreaker.

While Schiavo told us, “we came here unprepared for the cold,” they did come prepared for the Derby with the right horse, Big Brown, who was in Barn 22, cordoned off behind a roll of yellow police tape.

The downpour midway through the race program on Oaks day—which was expected to come at midnight—threw a wet blanket on the six-figure crowd, most of whom had dispersed by the time Proud Spell ran off with the main prize. Leaving the friendly confines following the Oaks saw traffic that could be considered normal for a Friday afternoon. The wet conditions the next morning kept the usual call to the post to the infield until much later in the afternoon. Throughout the main facility, it seemed to take a long time for the crowd to get caught up in the Derby mood.

However, it may have been much more than the weather that kept a few people from visiting the Twin Spires or the Derby city last weekend. A downturn in many sectors of the nation’s economy—call it what you will—and unprecedented fuel prices taking a chunk out of people’s discretionary income may be to blame. More than a few people noted area hotel rooms weren’t as scarce as before and local restaurants seemed a little more accessible than in years past.

Away from Churchill Downs, many online players were forced to sit chilly with their advance deposit wagering accounts, which didn’t help matters either. The fans are finding it tough to play…and perhaps tougher to watch.

With Barbaro’s breakdown in the 2006 Preakness Stakes (gr. I), followed by his eight-month agonizing struggle for life, and George Washington’s tragic demise in the middle of the stretch at Monmouth Park at last fall’s Breeders’ Cup, racing faces thousands of disenfranchised fans and stares down yet another “code red” in the public relations department. The fact the organization PETA is joining in the fray is cause for major concern.

The Cold War of synthetic surfaces versus dirt tracks continues to rage. Last year’s Derby exacta of Street Sense and Hard Spun was filled out by horses that had made their previous start on Polytrack. This year was a reversal of 180 degrees, as the superfecta was void of a horse that had ever even started on a synthetic track.

One last chilling thought on the Derby is the closest a colt could get to this year’s winner at the finish was 8 1⁄4 lengths. About 48 hours after the Run for the Roses, none of them was likely to head to Baltimore to take him on again in the May 17 Preakness.

Could an undefeated Triple Crown winner help break the ice?