Bennie Woolley Jr.

[Dana666]

The following is reprinted from an e-mail I receied from the good folks (Bob Selvin) at National Turf.

\"As a true racing fan, I thought you might like to know the following about Bennie Woolley, Jr., trainer of $102 longshot winner Make Mine Bird.  The following is why this game is so fascinating, so tough and so perplexing.  

1) Had won ONE race this year with a thoroughbred...a maiden on Mar. 6 at Sunland Park...the ONLY race he has won this year with a thoroughbred.

2) His previous training win to that was back on DEC. 27 at Sunland Park.....with a $5,000 CLAIMER and previous win to that was NOV. 29 at Zia Park !

3) He had NOT won a race with a thoroughbred going TWO TURNS since April 13, 2008 (at Sunland Park). That\'s more than ONE YEAR since winning a route race.

4) As a trainer, he had won only two route races since Feb., 2007.          Woollery is now one up on Todd Pletcher (lol)!\"

[Michael D.]

Dana666 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The following is reprinted from an e-mail I
> receied from the good folks (Bob Selvin) at
> National Turf.
>
> \"As a true racing fan, I thought you might like to
> know the following about Bennie Woolley, Jr.,
> trainer of $102 longshot winner Make Mine Bird.
> The following is why this game is so fascinating,
> so tough and so perplexing.  
>
> 1) Had won ONE race this year with a
> thoroughbred...a maiden on Mar. 6 at Sunland
> Park...the ONLY race he has won this year with a
> thoroughbred.
>
> 2) His previous training win to that was back on
> DEC. 27 at Sunland Park.....with a $5,000 CLAIMER
> and previous win to that was NOV. 29 at Zia Park
> !
>
> 3) He had NOT won a race with a thoroughbred going
> TWO TURNS since April 13, 2008 (at Sunland Park).
> That\'s more than ONE YEAR since winning a route
> race.
>
> 4) As a trainer, he had won only two route races
> since Feb., 2007.          Woollery is now one up
> on Todd Pletcher (lol)!\"


TG data says the trainer does about as well in routes as he does in sprints. In his last 611 races, 159 of them routes, the win % is the same for sprints and routes. ROI is actually higher in routes (and that\'s before the $100 score), and % new tops is about even.

The guy just hasn\'t had a lot of starters recently.

[Dana666]

I will confess to not knowing much about him,
I\'d certainly be interested in finding out more. Perhaps some investigative journalist type will do some work. It could be a great story for racing, like a real life Rocky or something. I have some other ideas which are pointless and possibly very unfair for me to comment on at this time.

[NoCarolinaTony]

I Heard Sheik Mo wants to \"Buy\" Woolley now and replace Bin Suroor.....

NCT

[dehere]

Hopefully, the following attachment will work. This provides a pretty complete history of all of Woolley\'s races since about 2004 or so.

http://www.thorograph.com/phorum/file.php?1,file=94

[NoCarolinaTony]

He was a quarter Horse guy same as  Lukas and Baffert, maybe there is something to those guys. When will P Jones convert to TBreds at Los Al, and maybe there is more to that training at higher altitude. Works for humans in running and cycling.

NCT

[Boscar Obarra]

I don\'t think Borail is getting enough credit.

 Mysticism aside, the cosmic energy left over from the filly the day before may well have passed into the Bird.

 Only 1/2 kidding.

[imallin]

I think if there was a zero tolerance drug policy in America, most trainers would be just random barn workers and the horses would be the stars. No trainer would have a percentage of anything really over 15 percent, the weath would be spread around and we would all be talking about the equine athletes and not the humans.

This is horse racing not trainer racing.

A guy like Woolley wins a race and we\'re all shocked, but in a drug free world, Woolley would be just like any other guy. Its the cheaters that make him look incompetent when in reality, in America\'s most drug free race, he\'s on a level playing field.

[sighthound]

In other countries that have more stringent drug rules than the US does, trainers still stratify out by ability with the results they get.  The top trainers, and the rest.

Horses are living creatures.  Their performances cannot be explained solely by mathematical figures.

I think handicappers vastly overrate the impact \"it must be drugs\" play on the results of 99% of horse races.

[NoCarolinaTony]

Well said Sight!!!

NC Tony

[sighthound]

NTC, here\'s the real story about Mind That Bird (I heard it on another board).

This was a setup from the get go, over a year ago.  They purchased the Canadian 2-year-old Champion, and purposely took him to the southwest, to darken his form by losing local races, then trailered him to Kentucky.  Why do you think the win odds were no worse than 50-1?  Because they dropped huge money on the horse, a little here, a little there, to win. They know they have the Triple Crown winner, they\'ve kept it hushed.

The only thing that story lacks is the aliens from Roswell helping to train the horse ...

[Dana666]

Aliens from Roswell! I knew something wasn\'t quite right.

[Dana666]

Very well said. Sometimes the simplest explanation is the best. I still don\'t get why they can\'t publish all drug test results on website or something. Heck,
I\'m so jaded from playing California races so long, I think the seagulls at the track are juiced up.