Social media award to Adam Hickman

The Queen's Plate Stakes is the Albany Stakes of Canada with the added bonus of being called a "classic" and ten times the purse, but at the end of the day, it's a race restricted to three-year-olds bred in Canada just as the Albany is for three-year-olds bred in New York.

That hasn't stopped heaps of praise being being poured over Inglorious, the Hennessy filly who defeated 16 males to win Canada's most prestigious race. Some compared her to Rachel Alexandra, others salivated at the thought of an Inglorious showdown with top older females Blind Luck and Havre de Grace in the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic; many have already referred to her as "great"--a sensational reverie considering she has yet to win a graded stake and losses behind Kathmanblu and Daisy Devine don't inspire considering that duo is a combined 0-for-5 since defeating Inglorious.

But the point of this post isn't that a winner of restricted stakes is overhyped, it's that she's receiving any hype at all, and Adam Hickman of Horse Racing Nation deserves tremendous kudos for playing a large role in making that happen.

Adam Hickman has worked tirelessly in the social media universe to get the word out on the Queen's Plate. He sparked thought-provoking conversations on Twitter regarding class and handicapping the race, he got bloggers talking about the race well in advance, and discussed in an engaging way the fun Woodbine had in store for those on track.

I've been waiting for awhile for someone to really wow me with its social media concerning a single event. NYRA, Keeneland, and Del Mar each have tremendous presences on a day-in-day-out basis, but Hickman's concentrated campaign on the Queen's Plate was the first I can remember that produced such a noticeable spike in attention for a single event.

My only negative criticism is that Adam didn't sell himself well enough. When I originally wrote this post I thought Adam worked for Woodbine, but he's with Horse Racing Nation, something I should have known by now given that I've absorbed his tweets with a ravenous appetite the past week.

Woodbine should also work on its search engine optimization since a Google search for QUEEN'S PLATE STAKES does not return Woodbine in the top ten, though Queen's Plate Woodbine has the race's page right on top.

Life shows a broken down Ruffian in slideshow about cool horse names

As a journalist, I certainly respect the role photographs play in telling a story--a picture is worth a thousand words and all that.

Every photograph has the ability to tell a story, but that does not always mean it tells THE story. Maintaining balance in this symbiotic relationship is essential, yet things managed to get slightly off kilter in image 12 of Life's "Weird Wonderful Horse Names" photo gallery when a fun note about Foolish Pleasure's name included the macabre image of Ruffian broken down on the backstretch as the Derby winner raced into the far turn during their infamous match race.

It doesn't bother me that Sports Illustrated devoted a full-page spread to Go For Wand's broken leg or that publications published pictures of a broken down Barbaro fighting for his life or Eight Belles being euthanized on the track. Those images told the story better than "Barbaro broke down in the Preakness" ever could.

But the above just seems tasteless. If Life has any out here it's that the caption states that Foolish Pleasure is racing "in the Belmont" rather than at Belmont Park. It's entirely possible that the editor who put this together didn't even know what was going on in the background, but it's still a poor choice especially considering the subject of the photo won the Derby.

In defense of NYRA trying Empire State of Mind

Both then and now, the New York Racing Association was the subject of a verbal lashing for replacing "New York, New York" as the song that welcomes Belmont Stakes entrants to the track with a cover version of Alicia Keys' "Empire State of Mind."

As far as sins of the Turf go, this one was venial at worst. People complained more about NYRA changing the song than they do about its ridiculous 26% takeout.

Truth be told, I applaud NYRA for trying something new. Its heart was in the right place, but the execution fell flat. A move like this required a far bigger splash than Jasmine Villegas. Had NYRA secured the song's original singer, Alicia Keys, it could have provided a moment, but alas, Jasmine bombed. Her performance was so bad most wondered if she could make it anywhere, let alone the Big Apple.

But it's hard to imagine that Jasmine's selection was NYRA driven considering she was a Disney darling at the time, and the mouse corp. had its PR machine in overdrive trying to create the next teen sensation. Disney, of course, owns ABC/ESPN, the networks who broadcast the Belmont 2006-2010, so imagining the suits in Orlando drooling over the synergy isn't much of a stretch.

So, it's back to Old Blue Eyes singing "New York, New York" this year, and while I'm not as enamored with a recording as I am live singing, bringing back even a recording of NYNY will offer an opportunity for the whole crowd to provide live singing rather than the booing it provided during Villegas's tour de flop.

"My Old Kentucky Home" is the most famous song in American Thoroughbred racing, and part of its charm is that with the University of Louisville chorus providing vocals, it's easy for the crowd to sing along to.

Some advocated for a return to a more arcane "Sidewalks of New York," but I can't imagine choosing anything over a song that includes the lyric, "If I can make it there I can make it anywhere" (a turn of which "Empire State of Mind" includes).

Belmont Stakes lexicon, BANNED edition: Let's can the stamina talk

I had so much fun in spring 2010 writing a paean to the terms I wanted banished from the Kentucky Derby lexicon (e.g. "weak crop") that I thought I'd do the same for the Belmont Stakes this year.

If spring is when a young man's fancy turns to love, then Belmont Stakes week is when an old Turf writer's curmudgeonly ways turns to disdain, and Ray Kerrison of the New York Post began the litany on Monday by describing the third jewel of American Thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown as "the last surviving pillar of the days when horses were bred and prized for stamina."

Now banned from my Belmont Stakes lexicon (unless used in a quote by someone I'm interviewing for a story) is the word stamina.

Here's a little-known fact by those not in the know: Breeders, owners, trainers, jockeys, etc. rarely prize stamina. The Thoroughbred is about speed. The ability to carry speed over distances isn't stamina, it's speed.

Winning the Belmont Stakes in 2:24 as Secretariat did was not a display of stamina but of speed. Winning the Belmont in 2:31.57 as Drosselmeyer did was not a display of stamina but of attrition. Smarty Jones' loss to Birdstone--a Grade 1 winner at two who went on to win the Travers Stakes--may have hurt Smarty's esteem in the eyes of "stamina" lovers, but is there any doubt that Smarty Jones would have won the 2010 edition of the race by daylight?

Speed wins races, not stamina. The former is measurable: S/he who is faster is speedier. The latter is subjective--a term typically but foolishly assigned to horses who win "distance" races, as if carrying 126 pounds for six furlongs in 1:08 isn't a showcase of stamina.

The Thoroughbred tradition is one of speed, and its greatest races, including the Belmont, are run in that same tradition.

Call this photo

The photo for show in the fourth race on Saturday, May 28 at Belmont Park is as tight as any photo I have ever seen that wasn't declared a dead heat.

Looking at the image above (or at the link provided), it's impossible for me tell which horse had his nose on the wire first, so I have to think that placing judges have better technology than just a photo.

Well, I have technology to manipulate a photo, and I still couldn't tell who won.

I blew this up and rotated it to focus only on the noses on the line. The outside horse is at left, and the inside horse is at right.

Before you go looking at the results to see who won, try to guess for yourself. I've already told you it's not a dead heat, which I actually think makes the guessing game harder since I'd have said it was if given that as an option.

Good luck!

Doughnut Man shows holes in attitudes toward racehorse retirement

Despite Stream of Gold finishing seventh of eight (beaten 26.5 lengths) for a $5,000 claiming price in the seventh race on Monday at Fairmount Park (for a replay, click here), my stance has not changed. That is, all horses deserve a dignified retirement, not just the ones who won graded stakes races.

Doughnut Man, an eight-year-old Unreal Zeal gelding finished 7.75 lengths behind Stream of Gold in last. He has finished last in consecutive starts after winning three of his last four. Overall he has won 11 of 63 races and has earned $95,583 during six seasons. When has he done enough?

The winner of the race, the four-year-old Western Outlaw ridgling Boston Outlaw, is just getting started. He won four of 12 races to start his career but went on a nine-race losing streak before defeating Stream of Gold, Doughnut Man, and five others to increase his earnings to $84,488. When will he have done enough?

Older horses can still be competitive at top levels, of course. The top three finishers in the Metropolitan Mile Handicap were each six years old, and the eight-year-old Awesome Again gelding Awesome Gem continued to delight the West Point Thoroughbreds team with a gutty win in the Lone Star Park Handicap.

Racing needs a socialist retirement system. The good ones have to pay for the bad ones. Stream of Gold deserves a retirement but so do all the other Thoroughbreds who are no longer able to do what they were bred to do (race). And barring that, they should never be sold for meat.

It's easier said than done, of course. We can't pay for all the horses who need retirement now, but focusing on the winners rather than all horses is a disservice to the game.

Cot Campbell puts money where his dots are

What are fair odds on Aikenite winning either the Breeders' Cup Sprint or the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile?

If you said anything less than 11-to-1 then you have to think Cot Campbell got great value from Lucky's Race and Sports Book, which offered the Dogwood President 10-to-1 on ANY of his stable's horses winning a race a this year's Breeders' Cup World Championships November 4-5 at Churchill Downs.

Campbell accepted those odds to the tune of $5,000.

Having a stable star such as Aikenite, who already has a graded stakes win at the track at the "tweener" distance of seven furlongs, surely gave Campbell some confidence going into the bet. Reloading with a roster of 14 two-year-olds does not hurt either, especially considering there are four races for two-year-olds during North America's richest racing event.

Overall, Dogwood lists 40 horses currently in training.

The most shocking Derby-Preakness double since Charismatic

A $2 win parlay on the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners this year would have returned $595.68, the largest payoff since Charismatic swept the two classics in 1999 and returned $607.24 for a deuce to those who believed he'd back up his Derby win when 31.30-to-1.

According to bettors, the chances of Giacomo and Afleet Alex or Mine That Bird and Rachel Alexandra winning the Derby-Preakness were less than Animal Kingdom and Shackleford strining the victories together. Giacomo and Mine That Bird were both longer prices than Animal Kingdom to win the Derby, but favorites Afleet Alex and Rachel Alexandra won the Preakness those years to suppress the parlay price.

The least surprising Derby-Preakness double came in 2008 when Big Brown won the Derby at 12-to-5 and the Preakness at 1-to-5 to return about 3-to-1 on those who backed him to win both races. Smarty Jones, with wins at 4.10-to-1 and 7-to-10 comes next in the previous 19 years with a parlay price just short of 8-to-1.

Adding the Belmont into the mix still makes 1999 the least formful (according to win bettors) of recent Triple Crown races with Lemon Drop Kid completing an $18,672.63 parlay. This year's Belmont winner would have to pay $72.70 to win to pass that figure.

Mucho Macho Man is Preakness Payday pick (i.e., MMM for PPP)

The more I looked at the race the more Mucho Macho Man came into focus as a more likely winner.

Normally I'm a "think long, thing wrong" kind of guy, but this wasn't a matter of me trying to talk myself into liking a horse: a lot of the factors I use when handicapping a race of this magnitude point toward him.

• This is his second race off a six-week layoff. Yes, Animal Kingdom won the Derby off that same six-week layoff, but Mucho Macho Man trained and ran like a horse who would get a lot out of the Derby. If he sustains his closing run for a longer period in the Preakness (i.e., sooner), then he wins.
• I love that his connections have pointed to the Triple Crown series since early this year. This isn't a matter of, "Well, he ran OK in KY so we'll take a shot in Preakness." It's definitely been the goal all along to run in all three races, and his preparations reflects that. Thus, I don't see the two weeks rest as an issue.
• His two-year-old form is among the best in the field. Much has been made of Mucho Macho Man being the youngest horse by calendar days, but he strikes an imposing figure and has shown signs of moving forward.

It's no gimme, obviously. Animal Kingdom hasn't seemed to have lost any steps in the two weeks since the Derby, and while I was initially concerned with him shipping in the day of such a big race, it's just impossible to ignore the complete lack of criticism surrounding anything this horse has done in the past nine weeks going back to his impressive Spiral Stakes win. I think he has as much a chance to win as Mucho Macho Man, but at half or a third the price, the top choice is obvious.

Sway Away makes some sense, too, and is my favored "new shooter." His connections think a poor ride cost them the Arkansas Derby, and Garrett Gomez takes the irons in Preakness. A win by him would be ironic considering he lost the mount on last year's Preakness winner Lookin At Lucky following questionable rides in the Santa Anita and Kentucky Derbys. If I'm looking at the race from a pure trip handicapping standpoint, then the aforementioned three horses look to benefit most, and that they're the fastest in the race (except for Flashpoint, who might just be a sprinter), they're the obvious plays.

I have to use Norman Asbjornson a little bit because Real Quiet is my favorite horse, and missing out on cashing on a son of his in a Triple Crown race would be awful.

Enjoy the races!

Toward a dignified treatment of all racehorses

Stream of Gold ignited the Twitterverse this week when Alex Brown reported the Grade 2 winner returned from a 4 1/2-month layoff to make his ten-year-old debut in a bottom-level ($3,200) claiming race at Fairmount Park.

Then Liz O'Connell hopped on a few days later after Stream of Gold ran second off the layoff and finished fourth in a $5,000 claiming race. She developed the story further, noting that Stream of Gold's younger half brother is champion Breeders' Cup winner and Japan-based stallion Conduit.

Little brother ended up out-racing his predecessor out of the stakes-winning Irish River mare River Dancer, but Stream of Gold has still done well for himself, winning five of 32 races and earning $738,021. His wins include the 2008 Mac Diarmida Handicap at Gulfstream Park, establishing a course record for 1 3/8 miles in 2:10.87. He's also placed in a pair of Grade 1 races, but it's fair to say that his best days are behind him considering he has no wins from eight starts and just $4,749 in earnings from 2009 through his two starts this start at Fairmount.

The conventional wisdom on Twitter was that a horse of his stature should not be toiling in bottom-level claiming ranks—that his $738,021 in earnings had earned him a dignified retirement.

I disagree on the basis that all horses deserve a dignified retirement.

Stories like Stream of Gold's help sell papers. "Raced at Saratoga", "Grade 2 winner", and "half brother to a champion" certainly gets more attention than "lifetime maiden" or "Nebraska-bred son of Box Buster", but should they?

It is certainly a fair complaint that racing as a whole does not do enough to ensure a dignified retirement of its competitors. But to me, the job is not done until all of its competitors have that guarantee.

We worry for Stream of Gold, and I hope those same people worry for Bruisers Background, a four-year-old filly Illinois-bred by The Bold Bruiser who most likely has no residual value as a broodmare prospect considering she is winless in seven lifetime starts, including two last-place finishes by a combined 62 lengths in her last two starts.

The vast majority of Thoroughbreds are bred to race, and I have no issue when they do. If Stream of Gold and Brusiers Background and the thousands of other horses who populate our races on a daily basis are sound and able to run, then that is certainly their owners right to participate.

To me, if you have a problem with Stream of Gold racing then Bruisers Background should bother you too.

If Stream of Gold has earned enough for retirement then how much more does a horse like Big Drama have to do? He won the Breeders' Cup Sprint and was named champion. He's clearly had some issues this spring, not having worked since winning his five-year-old debut in January, but he'll be back and most people (including me) will celebrate it.

Granted, he won't be back in a claiming race at a perceived lesser circuit, but he'll be bringing enjoyment to his connections and all those watching and wagering on that particular race, just as Stream of Gold did for Annette Ellis at Fairmount with Stream of Gold.