NEW YORK - The inaugural Breeders' Cup Futures bet begins this holiday weekend, and it will be an adventure into thoroughly uncharted wagering territory. Such situations are treacherous and confusing but usually end up presenting an extraordinary opportunity of some sort.
TUCSON, Ariz. - It is going to be a very chilly Fourth of July for North American racing, wherever you are and whatever the temperature.
The big crowds will turn out, and handles will swell with simulcasting, as usual. But behind the facade of the Fourth is a world of trouble.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The early pace in last month's Acorn Mile for 3-year-old fillies - 22.20 seconds for the quarter, 44.50 for the half-mile - was much too fast, and Nonsuch Bay, who was up close, tired to finish a well-beaten fourth.
Trainer Frank Alexander wanted different tactics for Saturday's $250,000 Mother Goose at nine furlongs. He enlisted the aid of Jerry Bailey, got the waiting ride he sought, and the fast-closing Nonsuch Bay won by 1 1/2 lengths over the 6-5 favorite, Chamrousse.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Gary Tanaka, at home in London earlier in the week, had no trouble reading between the lines. When his trainer, Bobby Frankel, asked if he was coming to town for the Beverly Hills Handicap, Tanaka's next call was to his travel agent.
"I can't remember Bobby asking me that before," Tanaka said not long after his breathless arrival at Hollywood Park last Saturday, about five minutes before post time. "I got the message."
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Frank Stronach has lobbied long and hard for government to remove itself from the regulation of parimutuel horse racing.
He decries the restrictions placed upon racetrack owners by state racing commissions, especially when it comes to the allotment of racing dates.
Nothing that happened on Thursday changed his mind.
That is when the California Horse Racing Board voted 4-1 to deny Fairplex Park's request to run its 2002 Los Angeles County Fair racing dates at Santa Anita Park, the jewel in the crown of Stronach's Magna Entertainment.
NEW YORK - If you think this weekend has been a busy one in American racing, just wait until you figure out how many parimutuel ways there will be to celebrate the upcoming Independence Day holiday weekend. It's more than enough to make you proud to be both an American and a horseplayer.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Nobody liked her at the Keeneland September sales. She was big and growthy but not unattractive, and her reserve of $35,000 was modest enough. But she failed to excite prospective bidders and her breeder, Arthur Hancock of Stone Farm, took her home on a bid of $15,000.
The next morning, Hancock related the story to New Orleans sportsman Jimmy Stone.
"Do you want to race her?" asked Stone, a partner with Hancock in Menifee and other horses. "If you like her, that's good enough for me."
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The best Thoroughbred mare in America was curled up in a corner of a turn-out pen, basking in the sun like the family pooch. Her head was heavy. Her eyes were slits. A warm breeze tickled the tall palms standing nearby.
At the same time, about 30 feet away, the other best Thoroughbred mare in America was fussing on a wash rack, attacking the wooden shed row railing as her groom, Robert Morales, gave her a bath. She stomped her size-eight, pie plate feet. She swished her long, dark tail. She looked for trouble.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Another round of torch-passing.
We're more conscious of this during formal scheduled moments, such as Chris McCarron's remarkable retirement weekend. But as McCarron leaves the active scene, Edgar Prado is now second in the national standings for purses won, with $7.5 million during the first half of the season. Jerry Bailey, the perennial leader in this department, has on several occasions speculated he may be ready to pack it in after another couple of years.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - It would be hard to guess Richard Mandella's favorite holiday. The candidates would be Christmas, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, or whenever they run the Beverly Hills Handicap.
"Yes, the race has been very, very good to me," Mandella said.
For a change, he wasn't kidding.