And if have the mind of a twelve year old boy, which tend to do at exactly the wrong times, you’ll be pleased to know that the nominees include horses named Shafted and Well Positioned. Awesome.  

So it’s right nice that TVG is broadcasting the proceedings.   Problem is, though, it doesn’t much help those of us who don’t have TVG.  And, well, us uber- fan and writey- types?  We’d kind of like to know the results as they happen, because we are internet spoiled baby brats.  Plus, jockeys in tuxes is always a good time.

Last month ATR noted that the supermare was going on the block at Keeneland; today, she stood there.  And stood there.  And stood there.  No one met the reserve to start the bidding.   When no one’s stepping forward to buy a former Horse of the Year, you know your industry is feeling the economic pinch.

Then again, it probably didn’t help that said reserve was in excess of a whopping 4.4 million dollars.  True, she’s in foal to the mighty Ghostzapper, and it’s tough to put a price on that.  But still.  Have pity on the girl standing in the corner next to the punch bowl!

He had an explanation for the four year old’s first non win, place, or show finish of his entire raing life.  That took place last year at Santa Anita in the Breeders’ Cup, and Lukas is blaming the synthetic turf, which he characterized in USA Today as “a nightmare.”  Oh, and it will also cure gambling addicts as well as, I don’t know, create a disturbance in the Force:

“The synthetic track’s a nightmare. You know that hot line that they have … if you’ve got a gambling problem, you call it? Well, synthetics will take care of that. You can disband that line now. They’ll cure the gamblers… And it’s not doing what it’s supposed to do. The injuries are just changing a little bit. You get different kinds of injuries. … It is not the cure-all on the injuries thing. We’re always going to have that a little bit.”

The Daily Racing Form’s Joe Hirsch passed away this weekend at the age of eighty .  Just as the Form is considered indispensable to the Thoroughbred racing industry, so was Hirsch to the Form itself.

As Crist writes in the Form’s blog on January 9, “Always wear a necktie when you go into the paddock.”  Hirsch was a man who understood hard work and dedication to the industry.  His long running column “Derby Doings” was an essential aspect of pre- Triple Crown season for decades.  Struggling with Parkinsons, he retired in 2003, but not before leaving an indelible impression on the sport he loved.

And that’s a pretty good life.

I DEMAND AN EXPLANATION,  BREYER PEOPLE.  First of all, this chick ain’t riding any of my horses.  Not when her head is settled on her neck facing her back.  What th–  She’s either absolutely helpless in making her way any farther than the paddock, or she’s evil and that head is whipping back around in the proper direction when we least expect it.

Don’t even get me started on the whip.

Otherwise, you’re a Triple Crown race, or you ain’t nothin’.  There’s not even a great deal of attention played to the Breeders’ Cup in the mainstream media, because the MSM, it fears oddly placed apostrophes.

The signature event is the Sunshine Millions Classic, restricted to Thoroughbreds bred in California and Florida.  This one is for the big boys:  Four year olds and up.  The purse is one million dollars.

The ladies get two races.  Fillies and mares get a turf event.  Same as the gentlemen– mile and an eighth for Californians and Floridians.  The girls also get a sprint for six furlongs.

Last is a derby, the six-furlong Sunshine Millions Dash for three-year-olds.   TV coverage is on HRTV.

It is officially cool amongst racing fans, if not the general public, to dislike Big Brown, what with his corporate connections, his “multifaceted racing entity” owner conglomerate, and his “I (Heart) Talking!” trainer– not to mention the colt’s utter collapse in the Belmont after a previously perfect racing record.  Some were actually happy to see him fail to take home the Triple Crown.

Ziegel, however, runs against the grain thusly:  “Big Brown created buzz, excitement. He made people care.  Curlin was nothing close to Mr. Charisma. If there was buzz about him only a dog could hear it. He won five times, with two races coming in Dubai… He won four Grade I races in 2008. Same number as Big Brown. He’s the biggest money winner in this sport, $10,501,800. Does it always have to be about money?”

Well, no.  There was buzz about Big Brown, all right, but despite the horse’s talent, an awful lot of it sounded like backlash.

Yesterday’s grand entry into the 2009 live racing calendar saw about fifteen thousand fans through the turnstiles.  And despite the economy, wagering figures were actually up over last year’s total.

Every parking space was taken.  There were some renovations to the Jameson Jockey Club, and the patrons were witness to the Spectacular Bid Stakes for three year olds.  Notonthesamepage, ridden by Elivs Trujillo, grabbed his share of the hundred thousand dollar prize in 1:08.48.