34 days out and it’s worse than I thought

Posted by noonante on December 12, 2016
Posted in: Political/Social commentary, Politics. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I did not have high hopes for a Donald Trump presidency.  He is the most manifestly unfit person for that office in my lifetime and, no, I have not forgotten about George W. Bush.  But I also thought that he was elected under our rules and that he deserved an opportunity to prove how he would govern.  We are starting to find out.

His picks for top positions have been, in my opinion, uniformly horrible and/or unqualified.  But I expected nothing less.  There are after all consequences to elections.  When you oppose someone strenuously on policy grounds, that person’s appointments are not going to be favorable to your views.

There are some noteworthy exceptions, however, that should be condemned universally.  Placing Steve Bannon, a supporter of white supremacist and anti-Semitic organizations, in one of the top positions in the White House is one of those.  While Bannon denies being a white nationalist –  he says he is an “economic nationalist”  –  he has unhesitatingly bragged about his efforts in bringing the antiseptically named “alt-right” to the foreground.

Then there is General Michael Flynn, Trump’s pick for National Security Adviser, who has trafficked in ludicrous conspiracy theories, including one saying Hillary Clinton was a leader of a child sex trafficking network that operated out of pizza shop basement.

It would be bad enough if the President-Elect had the maturity and wisdom that comes to most people when they hit 70, but he has consistently demonstrated the attention span and temperament of a pre-pubescent adolescent.

When I read last week that he was skipping the daily intelligence briefings on national security issues, I sarcastically tweeted that it was perhaps because he thought they concerned his own intelligence.  In an indication that we may be entering a post-ironic age to accompany the post-truth one we seem to be in, this is what the soon-to-be leader of the free world said in an interview:  “I’m, like, a smart person.  I don’t have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years.”

Every now and then I encounter other smart people.  To a person they acknowledge that the world is a static place and there is little value in even following the news of the day.

One of the matters Trump does not need to hear about is the conclusion of the CIA that Russia was involved in our election and that Vladimir Putin favored the Republican nominee.  He thinks it as likely that a 400-pound person in his mother’s basement may be as responsible for the hacking of Democratic and Republican data as the Russian oligarch.

He argues that he had one of the largest electoral margins in history  –  a statement, like so many others by him, that is not true.  (There are actually some facts that even in this post-truth age are undeniable.)  While many of his rants can be attributed to some perceived slight  –  in this case that he lost the popular vote by almost 3,000,000  –  he may also be reacting to what  he thinks is an attack on the legitimacy of the election.  Forget that he was the first person to claim the election was rigged  –  before he won.

There are, of course, those who think the only reason Hillary Clinton lost could have been Russian interference.  It’s not clear to me how that could be  –  absent evidence of hacking voting machines  –  and I can think of ten reasons why she lost solely attributable to her deficiencies as a candidate.

But a foreign country  –  particularly one with a long history of antagonistic relations with us  –  having any involvement in our elections would be a major crisis.

It becomes even more troublesome when one considers Donald Trump’s one-way bro-romance with Vladimir Putin and the close connections of some of his top advisers to Russia.  There was one-time campaign manager Paul Manafort’s close connections with pro-Russian forces that was a major factor in his leaving the campaign.  And now we have “likely” Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson, who actually received the Russian “Order of Friendship” personally from Putin.

I don’t understand this fascination with the autocratic kleptocrat by the Trump people.  I think back to George W. Bush assuring us that he “looked into Putin’s heart” and everything would be good.  Of course, nothing touched by Bush was ever good, but we seem to be entering another period when Putin has seduced a naive Republican President.

Have we lost our collective minds?

Posted by noonante on December 5, 2016
Posted in: Political/Social commentary, Politics. Tagged: , , , . 2 Comments

We have apparently reached a point in our democracy where any ridiculous conspiracy theory will be given currency.  There was a time when such theories were reserved for the denizens of the fever swamps on the left and the right.  But it appears that on January 20, they will have a prominent place in the White House.

The latest example is what is being dubbed “Pizzagate.”  On Sunday, Edgar Maddison Welch, a 28-year old with reportedly a history of arrests involving alcohol and drugs was able to bring his AR-15 assault rifle into a Washington, D.C. pizza shop and fire at least one round.  He reportedly told police he was “self-investigating” allegations that were wide-spread on a lunatic segment of the internet.  (This information is from Allegra Kirkland’s piece in Talking Points Memo.)

The allegations concerned the central role played by Hillary Clinton in an international pedophile ring that was being run from the basement of the pizza shop.  Seriously.  According to one writer on Facebook, his New York Police Department source (needless to say, unnamed) told him “Hillary has a well documented predilection for underage girls.”

Of course, if there was even a shred of evidence supporting these allegations, at least one of the myriad federal, state and local law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction would investigate.  And certainly no person with even a dollop of common sense would traffic in what, on its face, is a ludicrous assertion.

But then, we have this:

General Flynn

 ✔ @GenFlynn

U decide – NYPD Blows Whistle on New Hillary Emails: Money Laundering, Sex Crimes w Children, etc…MUST READ! http://truepundit.com/breaking-bombshell-nypd-blows-whistle-on-new-hillary-emails-money-laundering-sex-crimes-with-children-child-exploitation-pay-to-play-perjury/ …

10:18 PM – 2 Nov 2016
8,921 Retweets     7,963 likes

This is Donald Trump’s selection to be his National Security Adviser.  National Security Adviser.

We still have not recovered from the consequences of a President who ignored a briefing in 2001 that Osama bin Laden was prepared to strike within the United States, and now we are going to have a National Security Adviser who apparently will believe anything, regardless of how ludicrous, if it supports his political views.

Naturally the conspiratorial fringe has a new theory.  Alleged gunman Welch was not someone inspired by lunatic conspiracy theories, but rather a plant to discredit the websites pushing the Clinton conspiracy theory.  Perhaps General Flynn will take this on as one of his first assignments.

 

 

 

Election post-mortem

Posted by noonante on November 9, 2016
Posted in: Political/Social commentary, Politics. Tagged: , , . 1 Comment

I guess Hillary wasn’t the electable Democrat after all.  The next time someone uses “electable” as a reason for supporting a candidate, think of this election.  And also 2004 when that was a prime rationale for backing John Kerry.

It is a scant four years ago that the Republican Party conducted an “autopsy” to analyze why it had lost that election.  It proceeded to nominate a candidate this year who defied the recommendations from that review  –  outreach to women and Latino/a voters  –  in a campaign that featured contempt for both groups.

Before today, the commentariat was widely discussing the upcoming “civil war” in the GOP occasioned by the inevitable defeat of Donald Trump.  Trump had virtually no support from Republican leaders from the elites in Washington D.C. to state-level officials throughout the country.  Even those who publicly supported him  –  I’m looking at you Paul Ryan  –  could conceal their discomfort.

But Trump had the support of Republican primary voters and demolished a field of 16 of what was touted as a deep GOP bench.  He now also has the support of a broad swath of voters east of the West Coast.  They are being described as whites angry with the established political order.  It will be interesting to see how the established Republican order will be dealing with them.

But it is the Democratic Party that is more desperately in need of some serious soul-searching.  The Republicans at least control the Presidency, both houses of Congress and most state houses.  But the Democrats could not defeat a candidate who was the most unfit nominee in our history who often sounded like an unhinged lunatic.  He openly espoused racist views and discrimination against Muslims, made anti-Semitic speeches and TV ads, ridiculed a disabled reporter for his disability, and disparaged the parents of a soldier who gave his life in combat.  And he boasted of being able to sexually assault women because of his fame.

The Democrats have won the national popular vote in six of the last seven Presidential elections  –  and lost two of them in the electoral college.  It is a party that has been as ideologically unmoored as the Republicans now are, but the GOP at least has the unifying theme of anger.

The Bernie Sanders campaign brought progressive values and ideas to the Democratic contest.  While he pushed Clinton to the left, at least rhetorically, it was difficult to believe that she was committed to the same views as Sanders.  After all, she may well have been to the right of Trump on foreign interventions  –  although who knows what he really believes, if anything  –  and her coziness with Wall Street was disquieting.

The Democratic Party needs some spine.  I cannot forget when the George W. Bush Administration was lying its way into the Iraq war, he was supported in the Senate by many Democrats.  One did not have to disbelieve his false claims about Saddam’s intentions in order to realize it was a fool’s errand.  But two subsequent Democratic nominees for the Presidency voted to authorize the war.  After all, they had to maintain their electability.  Both lost.

I guess I should not be surprised by yesterday’s result.  When my brother and I went to New Hampshire the weekend before the primary, I was astonished at the people who said they had not made up their minds between Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump.  It’s hard to think of two more disparate politicians or personalities.  Yet, it evinced the opposition to politics as usual and maintaining the status quo.  And while there is frequent derision of the “low information” voter to explain the appeal of Trump, these were people who took time out of their weekend to go to hear the candidates, sometimes having to wait hours for an appearance.

If there is one eerie aspect to the election result  –  if “President Trump” isn’t enough  –  check out the cover of this week’s New Yorker.  While one could argue that it could apply no matter who won, the magazine’s editors had written a lengthy condemnation of Trump and an endorsement of Clinton.

Breeders’ Cup wrap

Posted by noonante on November 8, 2016
Posted in: Horse Racing. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

For those thinking the election “season” has gone on too long  –  and is there anyone beyond cable new outlets that doesn’t think so?  –  and for those of us with a constant sick feeling about what we will face Wednesday morning, there have been two wonderful respites.

The first was the World Series.  Both teams had great stories, not the least of which was that the most “recent” winner last won 68 years ago.

Then there were the two days of the Breeders’ Cup.  It was the best the sport has to offer, albeit marred by a catastrophic breakdown in the Distaff.

     Great races

There were the spectacular finishes, no fewer than six of which were decided by a half-length or less, and each had its own interesting storyline.

Could the grand dame Beholder, winner of two previous Cup races, summon up one more great effort and catch the undefeated three-year old Songbird (who only had one Cup win on her resume)?  She could, and did, by what was less than a nose.

Could Lady Eli, who last year was also an undefeated three-year old (and compared to American Pharaoh) overcome the life-threatening condition of laminitis and win a Cup race?  Alas, the answer was no, as Queen’s Trust closed strongly to nip her at the wire, again by a nose.

Could Obviously, running in his fifth Cup race, finally get the W?  He did it on the front end, holding off the wonderfully-name Om to prevail by  –  you guessed it  –  a nose.

The winner of the Juvenile Colts becomes the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby.  Yes, this is absurd for a race six months away, but we will be seeing lists of top Derby horses in early January.  At least the curse of being the Juvenile winner not wearing roses has gone the way of a fan not being permitted to bring his billy goat into Wrigley field.  So this year’s fav is Classic Empire who held off the fast-charging Not This Time to win by a neck.

Then there was Tepin, a mare who had beaten the boys in the turf Mile last year and also prevailed over European lads at Royal Ascot going for her second Mile win.  She closed dramatically but came up a half-length short to Tourist.

And finally, of course, there was the Classic.  California Chrome, who should be elected to the Hall of Fame unanimously, was six-for-six this year with three convincing Grade I wins including the Dubai World Cup, and facing the young upstart Arrogate.  The latter’s first stakes effort was in the Travers, where he not only won by 13, but set a track record in the process.  Chrome had everything his own way and seemed to be sailing to victory when caught near the finish to lose by a half-length.

Mike Smith really is the money man

No jockey won more than one of the thirteen Cup races  –  except for Smith who won three.  He also had three seconds.

But what about Todd Pletcher?

Pletcher has been one of the top money earners in racing for years.  He has an enormous stable, has wealthy owners and routinely buys a number of top horses at the major sales.  His lack of success in the Kentucky Derby is legendary, having only one winner from over 50 starters.  He entered nine horses in seven races for this year’s Cup.  Only one hit the board (top four finishers).  And that was Keen Ice who finished third, beaten by 11 lengths in the Classic.

By contrast, Chad Brown, the trainer rivaling him for supremacy on the New York circuit, entered 12 in seven races, and came away with a win, three seconds, a third and a fourth.

Europeans no longer dominate the turf

There was a time when my handicapping focused on horses from Europe in the turf races.  This year, they only had two hit the board in Friday’s two juvenile races, neither of which was a win.  They ran first and fourth in the Filly and Mare Turf, and came close to a sweep in the Turf race, and it would be one if you counted Flintshire as a European  –  he was bred there and began his career there, but has been in the U.S. this year.  But no one hit the board in the Turf Sprint, and remarkably not in the Mile either.

NBC (and NBCSN) do a really good job

We are blessed with interesting and informative coverage by the crew working for NBC.  There are the occasional fluff pieces, but they are thankfully limited.  I only pay attention to their handicappers for entertainment value and do not utilize them for selections.  If I were making picks on air, you would say the same thing about me except for the entertaining part.

In defense of locker room talk

Posted by noonante on October 17, 2016
Posted in: Political/Social commentary, Politics. Tagged: , . 3 Comments

My first time in a locker room was in 7th grade when I started junior high school.  We had mandatory gym class and had to wear a white T-shirt, blue gym shorts with the white stripe and a jock strap.

In high school, there were also some mandatory gym classes (same outfit), but I started going to locker rooms voluntarily when I began a totally undistinguished career as a cross country and track runner.

In college, I played lacrosse and various pick-up sports, but more often than not the locker room was my dorm.

I played rugby one summer when I was back home from college.  One time the “locker room” was the parking lot of the GE factory in Schenectady.  Rugby is one of those sports where the “after-party” with the other team is an essential part of the game.  There was, remarkably, a fair amount of alcohol, and also one team trying to outdo the other with NSFW ribald songs, all of which had to do with the possibility of relations with those of the opposite sex.

It wasn’t until I started working that I became a regular of locker rooms.  I belonged to a gritty club located in what had been Boston’s Combat Zone.  The members included an Attorney General, numerous lawyers, a judge, telephone company workers, letter carriers and government workers.  When I say “gritty,” I’m talking about rats running around while a construction project was underway.

I became friendly with a number of the members.  I guess when you are standing around naked or showering in a large public room, there is less room for pretense.  There was a camaraderie that became as much a part of the appeal as the chance for a mid-day workout.

There was the usual foolishness and talk about sports.  But there were also conversations about deeply personal matters including marriages, kids, work and health issues.  I haven’t been there for a number of years, but if I were to meet someone on the street, we would still have a real conversation about what is going on in our lives.

There were a number of truly stupid things I heard in this locker room.  There was the guy who talked about the conflict that had been raging in Beirut for several years, who observed, “Before you know it, there’s going to be a civil war.”  Another responded to a question about why he never took a vacation by saying, “I’ve got a routine.”

One day, there were reports of a local man who piloted a plane that he crashed into the home occupied by his wife.  Someone denied that this was an act of domestic violence.

While that last comment showed a remarkable obtuseness for what is domestic violence, in all of my experiences in locker rooms going back several decades, I have never heard anyone brag about forcing himself on an unwilling woman as Republic nominee Donald J. Trump did in the infamous recording about grabbing an unwitting woman “by the pussy.”

Part of the reason for that, of course, is that there are few men who would admit they need subterfuge or force for sexual satisfaction.

The other reason, however, is that there are few men, for all of our faults, who are the repulsive and repugnant character that Donald Trump has revealed himself to be during this campaign.  He has now demeaned women and men, which pretty much takes care of the entire population.

I realize it is hopeless to wish this, but he should stop blaming all men for his vile behavior and, for once, take responsibility for his words and actions.

Topics for next debate

Posted by noonante on September 30, 2016
Posted in: Political/Social commentary, Politics. Tagged: , . 2 Comments

Syria

North Korea

Iran

Iraq

Libya

Israel and Palestine

ISIS

Al Quaeda

Unarmed black men being killed by police

Police being killed in ambushes

Income inequality

Recovery from 2008 economic collapse

Tax policy

Wells Fargo

Opioid addiction

Health care inflation

Big Pharma’s price gouging

Flint water crisis

Hoosick Falls water crisis

But what does Donald Trump think is important?  Bill Clinton’s marital infidelity.

Clinton devastating in debate

Posted by noonante on September 27, 2016
Posted in: Political/Social commentary, Politics. Tagged: , , , . 1 Comment

I haven’t followed boxing for years, but early in last night’s debate, Hillary Clinton caused me to start scoring it as if it were a boxing match.  If memory serves, there is a “10-point must system” for scoring rounds.  The winner of each round must get 10 points and the loser a lesser amount.  I gave Clinton 10 points for each round.

I think it was the comment on Donald Trump’s father providing him with $14 million to start his own business that caused me to start thinking this way.  Clinton had wasted no time in getting under Trump’s notoriously thin skin, and he promptly responded defensively.

As someone who will be voting for Clinton as soon as my ballot arrives, I was worried that her debate performance would demonstrate her worst qualities as a candidate  –  overly wonky, evasive, defensive, etc.  It has been clear to me for some time that the way to go after Trump  –  apart from his ignorance, bigotry and manifest unfitness for the office  –  was to zing him with attacks on his self-perceived strengths, since he never fails to rise to the bait.

There was, of course, his discussion of the size of his penis in one of the Republican primary debates.  This was occasioned by Marco Rubio’s throwaway line about Trump’s small hands.  It would have been dismissed as a somewhat tasteless remark  –  if anyone even noticed it  –  had Trump not elevated it in a national forum.  Then we had the remarkable Trump speech following a primary victory in which the stage was surrounded by Trump steaks, Trump water and other branded merchandise.  All because Mitt Romney had criticized his unsuccessful business ventures.

Clinton kept it up.  At one point she speculated that Trump did not disclose his tax returns because he did not pay federal taxes.  Trump responded that makes him smart  –  I am sure much to the delight of those tax-paying low wage workers for whom he claims to be concerned.

Near the debate’s end, Clinton raised some of the numerous Trump comments derogating the physical appearance of women.  After saying that Trump “loves beauty contests, supporting them and hanging around them,” she noted that he referred to Alicia Machado, a winner of the Miss Universe contest, as “Ms. Piggy” and “Ms. Housekeeping,” an apparent comment on her Latina heritage.  Once again, Trump demonstrated his inability to pass the baited hook and proceeded to discuss his negative comments about Rosie O”Donnell:  “I said very tough things to her and I think everybody would agree that she deserves it.”  Yes, this is a statement by the nominee of a major political party in a debate about the future of our country.

While one might think that any sensible person would treat this as an embarrassing exchange akin to obnoxious drunken comments at an office party, Trump instead doubled down on his remarks on his personal news outlet, “Fox and Friends.”  In what Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo has called the “full Khan,” referring to Trump’s attacks on a Gold Star mother, Trump continued to deride Machado for putting on weight after winning the Miss Universe contest.

So Trump was his usual boorish and ignorant self, which should be no surprise to anyone who has observed his behavior since he announced his candidacy.  The surprise, to me, was the performance of the Democratic nominee.

I have often said that one of the maddening things about Clinton was that she does not come across in public settings as the person she is in smaller events.  I have found her to be knowledgeable, witty and personable.  I thought she was all of that last night, although the knowledgeable component was never in doubt.

The highlight for me came after Trump unleashed an unhinged rant in which he continued to perpetuate the demonstrable lie that he opposed the Iraq war from the start.  He supported it on the Howard Stern show, but now wanted people to call the trustworthy Sean Hannity to confirm that he was opposed to it despite the recorded proof.  Once he concluded his tirade, the moderator turned to Clinton for a response.  She laughed, said “Whoo,” and did what has become an internet GIF of “The Shoulder Wiggle.”  Kind of like “The Drive” or “The Fumble” of lore in the National Football League.

In the first Presidential debate in 2012, Mitt Romney did a number on Barack Obama.  The punditocracy concluded Obama was finished.  I do not recall reading anything in which Obama sought to blame anyone else or anything for his dismal performance.

Donald Trump, however, is never at fault.  So far, he has blamed a defective microphone, although I did not notice any problem in understanding what came out of his mouth.  He also thought moderator Lester Holt asked “unfair” and “hostile” questions.  This from the tough guy who is a great negotiator and will “Make America Great Again” by virtue of his powerful and commanding personality.

There was a compelling  –  and yes, Presidential  –  person on the stage last night, and it was not Donald J. Trump.

Start to general election campaign a major embarrassment for media

Posted by noonante on September 8, 2016
Posted in: Political/Social commentary, Politics. Tagged: , , , , . 4 Comments

NBC held a “Commander-in-Chief Forum” Wednesday night in which Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump appeared separately in half-hour segments.  Moderator Matt Lauer, whose credentials appear to be based on conducting endless fluff interviews on NBC’s morning program, demonstrated he is completely out of his element when serious conversation is called for.  As one commentator noted, even Ryan Lochte was able to roll over him.

Early in the Trump segment, Lauer questioned what in Trump’s life prepared him to make the decision to send American service members to war.  He repeated his frequent assertion that he opposed the Iraq war from the beginning, disputing Clinton’s statement that he had initially supported it.  This isn’t a “he said, she said” situation.  It is a demonstrable fact that he had supported the war at its inception in an appearance on Howard Stern’s show.  Given how frequently Trump’s claim has been refuted for over a year, it is unconscionable that a journalist would let him get away with an obvious lie.

Then we had Trump’s praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin as an effective leader with, according to Trump, approval ratings of 82 per cent.  Setting aside the validity of polling in Russia when Putin has reportedly had opponents and journalists killed, a valid line of questioning would have been to ask Trump about his reported financial dealings with the Russian oligarchy.  That, however, would have required Lauer to do some background work.

And we had the completely inane question to Trump about the confidential national security briefings he received upon becoming the Republic nominee.  (This after Lauer spent a third of his time with Clinton on the possible mishandling of classified information from the email issue.)  Lauer asked him if he learned anything alarming.  Step back for a moment and think about what could possibly be an acceptable answer.  It was a confidential national security briefing.  He obviously should not disclose any specifics  –  indeed Lauer said he did not want any.  So Trump, whose connection with the truth is merely coincidental, responded that he was “shocked” at a decision by President Obama and Hilary Clinton that was a “total disaster.”  Now we can expect weeks of speculation from the far-right fever swamps as to what this could be.  All because of Lauer’s incompetence.

Trump’s performance should give pause to anyone who thinks he is the most manifestly unfit candidate ever to run for the Presidency.  His answers were a rambling mix of lies and bullshit that had no connection to reality.  In a debate, Clinton will be able to call him on it.  Journalists, however, should be more than transcribers of unfounded nonsense emanating from a candidate.  Lauer demonstrated he was not up to that rudimentary standard.

Only 317 days until Opening Day

Posted by noonante on September 6, 2016
Posted in: Horse Racing, Political/Social commentary, Politics, Saratoga thoughts. Tagged: , , , , . 1 Comment

dsc_5543

The morning after Labor Day is a bittersweet one.  Entire barns are already empty and the energy level is down significantly.  But the Spa backstretch remains a magical one.  Beautiful scenery, the early Adirondack autumn air and, of course, horses make for an unbeatable combination.

Some final thoughts:

The total handle was encouraging.  Last year was a record and this year was close to the same level.  That despite last year having ideal weather, fewer races coming off the grass and, needless to say, the excitement created by American Pharaoh’s presence.  One major jolt was the late Pick 5 on the last four days.  I had never paid attention to the handle on the early Pick 5, which is also significant, but was staggered by the size of the late one.  The Saturday card generated $980,000.  The Pick 6 pool for the day was $200,000 (also an amazing number).  The Pick 5 also allows a 50 cent bet which has to be a major factor in driving the handle.  Here’s hoping NYRA continues with this experiment at Belmont.

Attendance figures are meaningless.  NYRA reported a figure of 1.1 million, an increase of 5.4 per cent over last year.  Since they count season pass holders as being here even if they are on a Cape Cod beach, and double count ticket holders with a pass who do show up, why bother even reporting a number?  It used to be the only questionable attendance figures were on giveaway days.

There were many complaints about field size and racing quality.  I am working on an analysis of field size, but there seemed to be a bunch of five- and six-horse (or fewer) fields.  Also, a seeming surplus of low-level claiming and 5 1/2 furlong turf sprints.  Yesterday’s opener, for example, was a $12.5 claimer that scratched down to four horses.  I think, however, that the NYRA Racing Office is not carding such races to irritate horse players but, like most of us, would prefer full fields of stake and allowance horses.  But where are they going to get them?  After all,the purse structure and state breeding program may well be the most generous in the nation.

Gabby Gaudet is a breath of fresh air for a stale product.  I stopped the automatic use of the mute button when NYRA added Gaudet to their team of broadcast analysts.  I’m not the only one who started to enjoy the on-air handicapping when she was paired with long-time analyst Andy Serling and was obviously not overwhelmed by his self-perceived genius.  There is also the hope that Serling will realize that his not-too-subtle and constant sniping at Gaudet is doing nothing to enhance his appeal.

There are good food options at the track.  The Shake Shack is hardly a surprise and a frequent choice.  On the last day I discovered the wood-fired pizza, which will also be a frequent choice if they return.  There are the Saratoga Chips.  Druthers has a small stand near the escalator and provides top-quality beer brewed about a mile from the track.

And the Spa is the Spa.  There is nothing better than a morning on the backside followed by a summer afternoon on the front side.  I think NYRA’s management is commendably trying to come up with new things, but sometimes it is just better to step back and realize what a priceless experience is already there.

Some thoughts on the Spa meet

Posted by noonante on September 2, 2016
Posted in: Horse Racing, Political/Social commentary, Politics, Saratoga thoughts, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . 1 Comment

The meet is inexorably winding down, but the last week restores a measure of peacefulness as outfits start to move out and traffic behavior returns to a more sane level (i.e., fewer NYC or Boston drivers).  Some observations:

DSC_5200

The “Big Day” concept took a hit on Travers day.  The notion of packing a bunch of Grade I stakes on a single day was designed to ensure a high handle even if a marquee star  –  a potential Triple Crown winner or actual winner  –  isn’t going to appear.  Last year, of course, American Pharoah won the Belmont and ran in the Travers.  With no superstar in this year’s Travers, attendance did not hit NYRA’s self-imposed cap of 50,000 and handle was down 9 per cent from 2015.

What NYRA loses when it loads Grade I’s onto a single card is the ability to promote other stars of the sport and grow fan interest.  When it’s the Travers, a Flintshire or a Lady Eli isn’t going to fit NYRA’s promotional agenda.  But you have a turf star and an undefeated filly who survived a life-threatening illness to come back after a break of over a year.  Each could have been the object of a marketing campaign that might have produced buzz on a day other than the Travers.

Speaking of buzz, the Travers had none.  Now when you have a Triple Crown winner drawing 15,000-plus for a gallop the day before the Travers, one cannot expect a repeat the following year.  This year, however, there was no danger of a sell-out.  Even hotels were available Travers week.  NYRA’s imposition of a cap may have deterred many who would have come had they not worried about being shut out.  (For last year’s Belmont Stakes, NYRA announced it would not sell tickets at the gate even if their self-imposed cap of 90,000 had not been reached.)

The Travers is an event that will draw a substantial crowd whether there are six other graded stakes on the card or none.  The handle from a stakes-heavy card, however, is going to be substantial when off-track bettors are added in.  NYRA is missing an opportunity to draw interest when the Grade I events are put on a single day instead of being spread across the calendar.  There was a time not too long ago when every day at Saratoga was a big day.

NYRA has done a great job improving living quarters for back stretch workers.  I guess I am paying more attention to the Oklahoma training track now that I have a couple of horses over there.  I knew about the new dormitories that were built recently, but missed the refurbishing of existing dorms.  I haven’t been inside them, but the exterior structures and the addition of air conditioning are a commendable improvement by NYRA to improve the conditions of those who are with the horses 24/7.

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NYRA needs to work on its treatment of trainers.

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This sign is along the rail at the Oklahoma Training Track in an area used by trainers and owners to observe their horses working out.  In late morning it becomes a parking lot for fans.  When I was there Wednesday at 9:30  –  as fans were arriving and training hours were coming to an end  –  there were all of eight cars that presumably belonged to owners or trainers.  The sign is obnoxious and rude.

Most trainers  –  not the Bafferts, Pletchers and Browns  –  have small operations and are struggling to get by.  They are often at their barns from sunrise to sunset.  If they could park closer to their barns, they rather obviously would, so the sign is not necessary.

There is another issue, however, that rankles trainers even more.  NYRA seemingly cannot produce timely condition books.  For those not familiar with the term, a condition book is a schedule of the races NYRA intends to run over a period of several weeks.  It is a most essential tool in planning the training of a horse since it enables the trainer to pick out a race and train his charge accordingly.  NYRA, however, is notoriously late in releasing them.  The Belmont meet is a week away.  The condition book was just released on Tuesday.

It’s time for Chris Kay to stop talking about his museum.  At this year’s Jockey Club Round Table  –  a prominent national forum  –  NYRA’s CEO was a featured speaker.  In describing NYRA’s capital improvements, the first two he identified were his own creations,  the so-called Walk of Fame incorporating the Red Jacket winners and the Durkin Replay “Center.”  The Durkin Replay “Center” is a monitor affixed to a pillar in a bar.  The Red Jacket ceremony is a superfluous event recognizing people who are in the Hall of Fame located across the street.  This year’s Red Jacket ceremony was an interminable production between races that delayed the start of the next race.  No one goes to the Walk of Fame.

While this presentation was embarrassing in its own right, it was particularly so when compared to the talk of Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, CEO of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, describing the remarkable changes brought by that organization’s management.  While Kay boasted of bringing the Goo Goo Dolls to perform after the races on Belmont Stakes Day, Hong Kong markets a Wednesday night card to attract a younger audience and draws 18,000 to one of its tracks.  It has also dramatically increased handle  –  or, as they refer to it, “turnover.”

Will NYRA start counting cats in the attendance figures?

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