NEW YORK - A few years ago, Barry Schwartz named one of his homebreds Everydayissaturday because a friend had told him that's what life would seem like as he retired from business and turned all his attention to racing.
New Year's Day will be Schwartz's first Saturday since 2001 that he has not been the chairman of the New York Racing Association, ending a four-year term that was anything but serene. Running NYRA was more like an endless succession of Monday mornings in hell.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The votes are in, signed, sealed, and delivered to the Louisville auditors who, with green eye shades, gartered sleeves, and brows furrowed in concentration, are counting and recounting the Eclipse Award votes for 2004.
Can you stand the suspense? Didn't think so.
Never in the history of the Eclipse Awards has a vote been so important. No, wait. That was the general election last November. How about this: Never in the recent history of the Eclipse Awards has the vote for Horse of the Year been so difficult.
TUCSON, Ariz. - As a new year dawns, here is where things stand in Thoroughbred racing in North America.
In the West, we have a new edition of Wayne's World, the cast headed this time around by the wily Wayne Gertmenian. The entrenched leader of the Jockeys' Guild, Gertmenian, eying the grossly overpaid athletes of professional baseball, basketball, and football, hopes to add jockeys to their ranks. How? By having the industry pay not only for their accident insurance but also for their images on television and simulcasting screens.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Children of a divorce can be depressed and withdrawn, a real problem at school, often lashing out in desperate response to all sorts of helpless frustrations and inner demons.
Rock Hard Ten, on the other hand, seems to be adjusting quite well.
NEW YORK - I'm making a list and checking it twice, to see who was a champ and who was just nice in 2004. One man's Eclipse ballot:
Two-year-old colt or gelding: 1. Declan's Moon; 2. Afleet Alex; 3. Wilko. With reservations. Champion 2-year-olds shouldn't duck the Breeders' Cup, and it would be nice if they'd set foot outside California. Still, Declan's Moon beat Wilko and Proud Accolade, both of whom beat Afleet Alex, so that's that.
Two-year-old filly: 1. Sweet Catomine; 2. Sense of Style; 3. Balletto. If this one isn't unanimous, there should be an investigation.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - At the conclusion of the third race at Hollywood Park on Dec. 19, 2003, trainer Troy Bainum was pretty much convinced that he had just wasted $16,000 of owner Tom Metzger's money.
Black Bart, a 4-year-old son of Stage Colony, had just finished last at six furlongs for the $16,000 tag. Going in, Bainum figured he was worth the gamble, at least on paper, since there would be plenty of room for Black Bart to maneuver in the condition books back home in Arizona. But last place? Could it be he wasn't even worth $16,000?
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - There are a lot of unwritten rules around the racetrack. Folding money goes in the front pocket. Steer clear of ushers named Mugsy. And it if someone slips you an unmarked bottle of something guaranteed to move Old Sparky up five lengths, try it on the barn goat first. Or a jock's agent.
INGLEWOOD. Calif. - Tension was beginning to mount Wednesday morning as the countdown continued toward Saturday's cage brawl in the Hollywood Futurity. There was a considerable amount of pacing and fussing and pawing at the ground, nervous activity fairly typical of a race that is certain to determine the divisional champion.
Good thing the horses haven't noticed.
