As always, Frank D. gives a seminar wrap up sticking basically to the events
and dialogue as they happened, leaving only the necessity of some brief
supplemental annexations.
Length of Seminar: Epic. \"War and Peace\". \"Dr.Zhivago\". TGAB meticulously
dissected each of the 11 races, discussing almost every entry in each race,
plus I think a couple of horses entered on Monday and maybe at Penn that night.
I realize now that this was probably a strategy not to leave any dead air, to
prevent any sniping from Jimbo; if so the strategy was effective as Jimbo was,
for the most part, silenced.
[TGJB\'s seminars are more minimalist, more likely to focus on four or five
runners a day that he feels strongly (plus or minus) about. JB is also likely
to say \"I have no opinion\" about a certain race (though he will gladly discuss
that race if asked to). I am not saying long or short is better, its just that
I thought that we would have to break between the analysis of the Diana and
Jim Dandy to watch the first race]. [Obviously exaggerating a bit].[TGAB later
indirectly blamed the length of the seminar on a brief but distracting call
from TGJB]
I think Frank D may have neglected to mention that one of TGAB\'s strong
opinions was anti - Pianist, a short priced, arguably fastest odds on favorite
in race 8. When Jimbo and I pressed TGAB on this, he mumbled something about
life being to short to bet on favorites.
It also came out during the seminar that TGAB believes that Bernstein is the
best Jewish sire in America (topping I would imagine Freud and Mazel Trick),
and he later agreed with me that a horse sired by Bernstein, trained by
Jacobsen and ridden by Cohen would not race on Friday night or Saturday.
In Alphabetical Order:
Jimbo: My vote for Eclipse Award winning trainer: Ms. Jimbo. She\'s got Jimbo
on a new training regimen, and he\'s dropped what? 25-35 pounds? Less eating,
more running (5 times a week? It was exhausting for me just to listen to this).
Off the grey area meds, capping off the day at the races with a frozen yogurt
while Frank and I were comparing notes on the $2.00 Sabrett Hot Dog stand, etc.
Jimbo: keep up the good work. Jimbo\'s son, who I met for the first time, wears
his Ivy League education well, though I am inherently distrustful of anyone
who would voluntarily jump out of an airplane.
Maggie Wolfendale: If you are playing NYRA and have access to her paddock
reports, turn the sound up. The girl is good.
Magic Night: The man shows so much restraint. I mean if I had two screen names
and kept it concealed, my work persona and home persona would be locked in a
tremendous battle. You have to appreciate a man who works for a newspaper and
follows a sport that people love giving up for dead. Magic: My NYRA abstinence
plan was not to play any Sundays at the Spa; I played (poorly) yesterday. New
Objective: No Sundays in August, in order to protest the \"Belmontization\" of
Saratoga racing. What we are watching is downstate racing in a nicer setting
with more food options, part of NYRA\'s \"more is more\" business plan for racing.
Maryland Gang: Seem to see these guys each year and we always discuss how back
in the good days of Maryland racing (Bowie, Delaware, Laurel, Pimlico) the
trainers there were as sharp as any in the country, starting with the King,
and Delp, and Tricky\'s dad and to a lesser extent, Ron Alfano. I usually ask
after my old friend Vince \"Jimbo\" Bracciale, a very underrated rider who I
think is a steward now.
Rick B: Thanks to my similarly named pal from Chicago for the \"Steam\" horse at
Arlington on Friday. Easy as \"1,2,3\" indeed. Hope you scored well there.
Shanahan: Always great to meet a new face, especially when it is wearing an
iconic St. Louis Cardinals \"birds on a bat\" T- shirt. Like Bob, I loved the
story of how Shan and his wife kind of fell into racing at Arlington and are
now huge fans. Shan: get on the train to Monmouth one time this summer. NJ at
one point had 4 thoroughbred racetracks; go see the nicest of them while it is
still open. Hope to see you live at Belmont on one of the big racing days.
Steve Byk: As always, thanks to our host. The food gets better each year, and
I really think a Manhattan year round lunch truck would be well received. The
food at Carolina Cue is every bit as good as that at Mexicue, a wildly popular
truck which serves the same sort of fare.
Look at the length of that post. And to think I began it by criticizing TGAB
for the length of the Saturday seminar. Don\'t mind me Alan, I\'m an old man who
cant sit for too long without grabbing a beer or taking a leak...
Special Mention: Kindred spirit Frank D. Frank beat himself up over his
inability to accurately predict this weekend\'s weather, but nobody got it
right. I can imagine Frank had a bunch of conspiracy theories going when his
P4 payout was \"cut\" nearly in half, but thats NYRA being NYRA. Great to hear
that Frank\'s son will be progressing on to graduate business school.
The greatest compliment among my horseplaying buddies back in the 70s was to
say about someone \"They LOVE the game.\" Frank LOVES the game, and he reminds
me of some of my buddies in the 70s, when live thoroughbred \"doubleheaders\"
(NYRA/Meadowlands) were the order of the day.
