DEL MAR, Calif. - If you've got a reputation, why fight it? As long as you're not known as the guy who bites heads off chickens, or owes money all over town, a little bit of a rep can be an advantage.
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DEL MAR, Calif. - The black stretch Hummer limousine blocking the perimeter road behind the mile and one-quarter chute of the Del Mar main track refused to budge. The windows were tinted. The brake lights were lit. And somewhere, deep inside, there was probably a driver, or a pilot, depending upon the skills required to operate such a large conveyance.
There was no use fighting it, though, because Hummers rule, especially on opening day at Del Mar, where conspicuous consumption and excessive behavior are both accommodated and encouraged.
NEW YORK - The announcement last week that Tim Smith is likely to resign as commissioner of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association to become the chief executive of the New York Racing Association says a lot about the recent history and future prospects of both organizations.
Smith had been widely considered a possibility to depart the NTRA for some time now, having accomplished his primary goal as the founding commissioner: gently herding the feral cats who operate American racing into at least tolerating a national marketing and lobbying alliance.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Deep into Tuesday night, at the end of a long, sad day, Trudy McCaffery was still sifting through scores of e-mails conveying heartfelt condolences.
"This is as sad as I have felt over a horse passing since Secretariat died in '89," read one.
"I am sure the Lord has a special stall, deep with straw, prepared for one of his finest creations," said another.
"Of all our horses, he was the one who gave me the most joy," McCaffery said, alone at home in Rancho Santa Fe. "He made me proud, and he made me laugh. I feel like I've lost a son."
NEW YORK - The elite yearling-sales season begins Monday with the two-day Fasig-Tipton July sale in Kentucky, followed by the Fasig-Tipton August sale in Saratoga on Aug. 10-12, and then the massive Keeneland auctions Sept. 13-25. The bidding will begin without Satish Sanan, one of the industry's leading buyers over the past decade, the master of Padua Stables, and owner of racetrack stars including Vindication, Cash Run, and Cajun Beat.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - It appears as if the starting gate will be less than half full - or more than half empty, if you are a pessimist - when the 65th running of the Hollywood Juvenile Championship takes place here on Saturday. But take hope. There could be a gold nugget among the chosen few.
At six furlongs, usually stocked with maidens and nonwinners "other than," the Juvenile Championship could be described as merely an early-summer sprint for 2-year-olds still wearing their training wheels. The purse of $100,000 doesn't exactly have the big stables flocking to town.
NEW YORK - Racing likes to think of itself as a highly affordable gambling game, with most minimum bets a mere dollar and a wide range of wagering pools from which to choose. In reality, though, some of the most appealing types of bets require buying so many combinations to have a fighting chance that the minimums may be too high by a factor of as much as 10.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Blame it on Horatio Luro, all these South Americans running roughshod over our poor, helpless North American Thoroughbreds.
Examples are endless, from the days of Kayak II way back when to just last weekend at Hollywood Park, where the Argentine mare Star Parade won the Milady Handicap and the Chilean stallion Total Impact took the Gold Cup.