LAS VEGAS – I’m trying to come up with a name for this soap opera that is the Minnesota Vikings.
As the Horned Helmet Turns.
General Viking Ship. The Old and The Restless (or are they resting-home bound?).
Zygi’s Hope.
Nothing quite fits, but this team hasn’t been this much fun to follow since the “Love Boat” scandal of 2005. Here are the twists and turns.
LOS ANGELES - The makers of the movie “Secretariat” hope to attract millions of viewers who weren’t yet alive when the great horse was racing in 1972 and 1973. Those members of the audience may wonder how much of the narrative is fact and how much is Hollywood gloss.
In terms of decibel levels alone, there is nothing quite like a Zenyatta roar. Deep in the belly of the beast last Saturday at Hollywood Park, standing near trainer John Shirreffs as the Lady’s Secret Stakes played out, there occurred once again what has become familiar as the singular arc of sound that signifies Zenyatta on the march.
TUCSON, Ariz. – They finally got the bear out of his cave in New Jersey last week, and he turned out to be more of a truculent brown bear than a snarling grizzly. Certainly not cuddly, but Jon Hanson, author of the controversial racing report bearing his name, was not in a biting mood in his public appearance at Monmouth Park. He made it clear, however, in a few growling answers, that he had big teeth if the occasion called for them.
INGLEWOOD, CALIF. - Zenyatta made history Saturday, scoring her 19th consecutive victory and equaling the longest winning streak in the modern history of U.S. horse racing. As usual, she didn't make it look easy.
After trailing her four rivals on the backstretch, she unleashed a surge in the final sixteenth of a mile to catch the pacesetter Switch and win the Lady's Secret Stakes at Hollywood Park by a half-length. It was typical of the heart-stopping rallies that have defined her career.
As this was written, opening day at Turf Paradise in Phoenix was unfolding, and part of the way through the Friday program a riderless lead pony wearing a saddle belonging to jockey Mark Anthony Villa would be taking the field to the post for the seventh race.
NEW YORK – The good news about the “Secretariat” movie, which opens nationwide Friday, is that it will do racing no harm. It is a generally positive and respectful portrayal of the sport and of the people surrounding the 1973 Triple Crown winner, and may introduce a new generation to the story of America’s most revered racehorse. The movie has been testing unusually well with preview audiences, especially among children. It won’t revitalize national interest in racing any more than “Seabiscuit” did five years ago, but it can’t hurt.
Of all the things wrong with California racing, the Oak Tree Racing Association is not one of them.
And yet here they are, orphaned and buffeted about, finally landing, after a spring and summer of rank discontent, at the doorstep of Los Angeles International Airport, as if the next stop is a ticket to anywhere but home.
NEW YORK – There are nine Grade 1 and three Grade 2 races around the country Saturday, a day-long banquet of high-quality racing featuring appearances by divisional leaders Blame, Blind Luck, Lookin At Lucky, and Zenyatta. Yet those four stars are all in different races because amid the feast there are only a few scraps of what once defined top-quality racing in the fall – showdowns between the nation’s best 3-year-olds and its top older horses.
With the calendar flipping to October, we have an overlapping of the four major team sports in North America as the so-called winter sports are in training camp, so let’s take a quick look at the betting landscape before concluding with the king of ‘em all, pro football.
Baseball