"Preserving Our Past" at Saratoga Springs NMR

I'm crazy about museums, as you'll no doubt glean from my posts. Anyway, a very cool new exhibit opens in Saratoga Springs at the National Museum of Racing. It runs until the end of the year, but if you're headed to The Spa for the Shadwell Travers or any racing weekend, you'll want to take this in.

They've taken what is now becoming the usual approach to fundraising and brought it straight to the public. The exhibit, entitled "Preserving Our Past" is made up of items in the NMR's collection that are in need of conservation. Within each little exhibit is the cost of what it would take to properly save and conserve the object on display. Curator Beth Sheffer says that she was inspired in 2006 to mount this kind of display and it makes complete sense. Show the visitors what is in the collection, let them be inspired and sometimes saddened about the condition of an artifact, and hope they'll step up to help sponsor it. It really brings the issues front and center to visitors and asks for their help in conserving the various pieces.

Rachel settles in at The Spa

(ABOVE: A couple more photos from Belmont on Saturday. Calvin Borel up on one of his other mounts, Z Fortune, a lovely gray, as they head from the paddock to the track. Other photo is of Sam the bugler as he heads out to sound the call to the post for Rachel's big race.)

So a little to catch up on from the weekend. Like people who head upstate for cooler climes, Rachel Alexandra has decided to summer at The Spa. According to the article on Bloodhorse.com, she's in Curlin's old stall and is happily ensconced among Steve Asmussen's other horses at Saratoga. She deserves nice cool morning workouts after all she's done this season so up North is the place for her to be. If you didn't see her triumph in The Mother Goose Stakes (G1)...watch this.

While there's a lot of speculation on what her next race will be, it seems her connections are really focused on making sure she's a happy and healthy horse. Cheers to Mr. Jackson and all the co-owners for their genuine care about her welfare. We've seen that this is not always the case in horse racing, sadly, making it more impressive when the connections do things right.

As a small aside, if you've never been to Belmont or any of the NY tracks to hear Tom Durkin call the races live, he alone is worth the trip. You've no doubt heard him do the Kentucky Derby or any of the Triple Crown races, but even on a regular stakes day he is great to listen to. The guy loves horses, loves bettors and really gets into the races. He also has a great sense of humor. He was equally as excited as the other nearly 14,000 in attendance at Belmont on Saturday when Rachel romped to victory. He's a classic and I love hearing his voice come over the Tannoy at the racetrack.

Now all the way on the other side of the country, Zenyatta had her own big day, winning The Vanity Handicap (G1) for the second year in a row. Again, if you haven't seen her win...watch here.

And because it was all about the girls on Saturday, this post wouldn't be complete without some footage of the great Ruffian, from the Mother Goose Stakes in 1975. Interestingly, it was then held at Aqueduct not Belmont. Notice how Ann's Commander, the 7 horse, shakes her jockey almost immediately after exiting the gate. So scary...but the outrider does a courageous job of steering the horse away from the rest of the field. The move that Ruffian makes as she rounds the turn into the homestretch is gorgeous. She's pretty well with the pack for a good portion of the race, but once she hits that straightaway, she's gone. A great victory for one of the great racehorses--male or female.

One other small update from the weekend, Mine That Bird had a nice half-mile breeze at Churchill Downs this morning. With Calvin Borel up for the breeze it seems that MTB is pointed toward the West Virginia Derby (G2) on August 1. I was never really on the MTB bandwagon, but I think Calvin Borel deserves much success, so I'm happy to see he and the little gelding getting on so well together.

Big racing across the pond, too. The Irish Derby (sponsored somewhat oddly, I thought, by Dubai Duty Free) was one by Fame and Glory, and in style, too. His main rival, winner of the English Derby, Sea the Stars scratched from the race thus giving F&G a slightly easier go. He did face some competition from Golden Sword, but Fame and Glory garnered more of both, fame and glory. There seems to be a much more festive atmosphere at the meetings in the UK and Ireland than at US tracks. I'm not sure what that means attendance wise, but it looks like these race meetings are really festivals and fetes as much as horse races. Something here for US racing to learn from?

A feel-good story for Sunday night

A little busy today to do all I wanted to do, so I'm posting a story from the PioneerPress online, out of St. Paul, Minnesota, by Mary Divine.

It's nice to read a little good news on Sunday night, especially after such a great day at the races yesterday. Enjoy the piece and here's looking forward to a great week.

A Hope for Horses, Year-Round

Let's hear it for the girls!!

Above photos are Rachel Alexandra (with Calvin Borel up) as she comes out of the tunnel from the paddock to the track. Second photo is Rachel is after her dazzling win with the blanket of pink carnations trailing behind her.

It was a great day for racing, today, with Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta both adding to their already impressive records. I didn't get to see Zenyatta's race until I was home from Belmont, but she blew by her competitors with such style and grace. My proverbial hat is off to Zenyatta, she's undefeated and nearly unchallenged.

Rachel herself is something to see. I'll probably write more about my "day at Belmont" tomorrow, but just a little perspective on how good Rachel Alexandra is. And yes, she has been defeated, but not recently. And even though her victory today was only against two other fillies, she set a stakes record for the Mother Goose. How impressive is her time? The first 1/4 mile was in something insane like 22.55 seconds. The 1/2 split was an equally insane 44 seconds and change. Now I was standing by the finish line watching the backstretch on the jumbo-tron and worried that this pace was just too much for her. (I'll also say that as much as I adore Calvin Borel, and I do think the world of him, I was very glad to see that he had a couple of other mounts today which gave him a little more experience on those wide Belmont turns...but I digress) This is blistering speed here, folks, and it wasn't any too cool today, either. As the trio rounds the corner and heads down the home stretch, Calvin steered Rachel between the other two horses and that was it. You would have thought that he had a gear shift and just shifted down the way she moved. After that it was over. Rachel blew by them like they were standing still. And the crowd roared. There were over than 10,000 people at Belmont today, more than a usual summer weekend, and they cheered this lovely filly like a rockstar when she made her way from the paddock out to the track. Calvin, too. He was smiling and waving and you could just tell that both and Rachel were there to take care of business. And take care of it they did...and with style and grace, and they made it look easy. He eased her up before the finish line. So the final time? 1:46.33. In addition, the 19 1/4 lengths which she won by shattered the 13+ lengths record formerly held by the great Ruffian.

Rachel's in amazing company. Consider that the 9 furlong record for Belmont was set by none other than Big Red himself, the immortal Secretariat, at the Marlborough Handicap in 1973 where he ran a blistering 1:45.40.

This means she was a little less than a second away from Himself.

Other highlight of the afternoon? Walking over from the near the winner's circle I cross paths with Steve Asmussen (and a little girl I believe is his daughter) as he heads toward the winner's circle. He's a little past me and I turn and say "congratulations." He turns back and says, "thanks." Very cool :)

Other cool highlight was to see so many kids, especially little girls out for the race today with their parents. Most wearing pink (there was a lot of pink at the track today partly because the Jackson's are donating some of Rachel's winnings to The Susan G. Komen foundation) and one adorable little girl wearing a pink Rachel Alexandra hat and clutching her stuffed plush pony as she waited for Rachel to make her appearance.

It was a beautiful day in Queens and one certainly fit for a queen...one who wears the crown pretty easily, it seems. Drink a toast to Rachel on the the East Coast and one to Zenyatta on the West Coast--two classy dames who got it done today, and in splendid fashion.

Still wearing my Rachel Alexandra pink bracelet...

Cathy the stable cat in Steve Asmussen's barn loves Rachel, too. Adorable.

Paragallo cruelty case...plea deal???

The sheer numbers of horses that are involved in the Paragallo cruelty case are startling. This case seems to be dragging on forever in Upstate NY and has been postponed once again and incredibly there appears to be a plea deal in the works.

Quoting from Paul Post's article on Thoroughbred Times...

Paragallo, free on bail, faces 22 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty following the highly publicized April 8 raid of his Center Brook Farm in upstate New York. Authorities seized 177 starving, neglected Thoroughbreds. Three horses had to be euthanized.

Greene County District Attorney Terry Wilhelm is seeking a plea bargain rather than taking the case directly to trial, but terms have not been disclosed.

"We are in the middle of negotiating," Assistant District Attorney Sara Leggio said. "We’re waiting to hear back from him [Paragallo] and his attorney about what they’re willing to do and not do."

Paragallo made a personal appearance in Coxsackie Town Court on Monday. Proceedings were postponed by mutual consent between prosecutors and Paragallo’s attorney, Michael Howard of Hudson, New York.

Paragallo already has surrendered 76 horses that have been placed in new homes from Kentucky to Canada. Scores of other horses are still at the farm as they are nursed back to health.

"I’d like to see those animals moved off the farm to reputable places," said Ron Perez, president of Columbia-Greene Humane Society, which is monitoring the farm."

Boston's Mounted Unit Disbands

I'd heard rumblings of this happening a few months ago, but here is another equine victim of the economy. The mounted unit of the BPD has disbanded.

Here's a sad video of the horses and their last ride. The horses are apparently headed to various places, including to the NYPD. One older woman, who laments this loss, remarks that the horses don't want to go to NY. A fantastically Bostonian remark. I loved seeing this unit as I'd walk through the Public Garden or the Common and they will be sorely missed. One of the members of the crowd notes that for some kids, these are the only "live/in person" horses they get to see, and that's even sadder.

There's a nice article on WBZ that includes links to a petition if anyone out there is inclined to sign on as well as an organization called Mintformounts.org that is actively fundraising for the BP Mounted Unit.

Footloose & Fancy-Free-For-All Friday

Sorry about the header, once I got going with the alliteration I couldn't stop.

Since it is Friday (and honestly, doesn't it seem like it's been kind of a tough week?) I thought I'd just mix it up a little. What follows will be a potpourri, a veritable grab-bag, if you will, of some random thoughts.

So late last night while I was NOT sleeping, I was reading book reviews from the Boston Globe. One review, by Joseph Rosenbloom, was a critique of Charles Pierce's Idiot America. A kind of funny review overall, but one line from the book leapt off the page..."Nominating Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as the Republican vice-presidential candidate was 'an insult on a par with the elevation of Caligula’s horse.'" Whoa...back up...Caligula's horse?? After four years of high school Latin (sorry to disappoint, Mr. Jewison) and countless years spent reading books about the ancient world, how did I not know the deal with Caligula and his horse, Incitatus? (see image at top--and I'm guessing they mean a jeweled bridle, not collar, but I won't quibble...)

For those of you who know the story...BRAVO. Here, is what I learned from a clever website called The Straight Dope:

"Several of the ancient sources make mention of Caligula's favorite horse, Incitatus, and how the emperor pampered it with a marble stable, an ivory manger, a jeweled collar, and invitations to banquets. Though not mentioned in the 1979 film, there is a persistent belief that Caligula made the horse a consul. Even the Encyclopedia Britannica once repeated this claim as fact, but has since retracted it. There is no basis in the sources to support the idea that the horse was ever actually elevated to the position. Dio and Suetonius do claim he promised to make the horse consul but died before he could fulfill his plan. Among the modern fictional works surveyed, only The Robe has Caligula actually elevating the horse to a consulship. I, Claudius has him make the horse a senator and nominate him for the consulship. If there is anything more than baseless rumor behind the idea that he promised to make the horse a consul, modern historians are inclined to treat it as a joke on Caligula's part rather than a serious vow."

An historical fun-fact for Footloose & Fancy-Free-For-All Friday!

I'll try to take some pictures while I'm at Belmont tomorrow, assuming I still remember how to use the Twitpic function on my BlackBerry. (How embarrassing would it be to not be able to use Twitpic...wouldn't it make you a real twit?) It's also likely that I'll be tweeting, so you can stop by and see what's up on my Twitter feed, too. It's ThePaperTyger (all one word, no spaces) and as I say, barring technical difficulties, I'll hope to have some fun photos. Lower those expectations, though, it's a BlackBerry, not a real camera.

All that said, I'm looking forward to being at the racetrack tomorrow. I don't know what the race schedule is like for Hollywood Park tomorrow so no idea of when Zenyatta's race will be, but I'll have to watch the replay of it when I get home as I don't spend much time inside by the simulcast televisions. I hope both girls have great race and that all tomorrow's competitors (and their brave jockeys) make it across the finish line safely.

In case Caligula wasn't enough history for y'all today...here's Maira Kalman's wonderful essay Time Wastes Too Fast complete with her whimsical artwork and images of Jefferson's Monticello, one of my favorite places anywhere. Enjoy!

And a final thought, Requiescat in Pacem to Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Ed McMahon.

Happy Friday, wherever you are!!

Yes, the usual ps...

I missed this as I was off the grid most of the day today, but a very sobering article about the future of the Kentucky Derby by Gregory A. Hall of the Courier-Journal in Louisville.

*night*

Take me out to the racetrack...

There's been a lot of talk (maybe too much talk as Bono would say) the last few days about many aspects of the horse racing industry. I'm educating myself as I go here, trying to see all sides and understand why the opponents oppose, etc.

As I've said, I'm not ever going to be the one going to a racetrack to play video poker, or the slot machines. I'm there for the horses, the people, the characters, the atmosphere. I do, however, understand the need to add slot machines or other gaming devices to help make tracks more profitable. The "Racino" as I've seen these called isn't an inherently bad idea. I'm not a prude when it comes to wagering, obviously, and I regularly wager with my boyfriend on just about anything, so clearly I'm not the choir that the anti-slot/Racino lot is preaching to. It seems in many states, Minnesota and Kentucky are the ones I've read most about, it is a partisan issue as opposed to an economic issue. I've got to dig a little deeper to see what the horse industry brings in cash flow-wise, but at some point don't you want to keep this industry and it's workers employed? Don't you want to keep breeders breeding, trainers training, etc? How is this not just as important as keeping studios or other industries in your state? There are seemingly endless tax incentives for other industries (coal, tobacco, film, big-pharma) to stay afloat in their states, why is it different for the horse and racing industry?

Certainly part of the issue is that America has changed and going to the races isn't a part of many people's lives. Where I grew up there were no racetracks to visit, in fact, my first actual race was at a harness track in Montreal (by the way, I won enough on my wagers to buy an adorable stuffed squirrel that I still have...) when I was about 9 years old. Granted, I'd already been utterly infected by horses at that point, but still to be at the racetrack and watch it all happen was wonderful.

I didn't attend any horse races again until I was in my early thirties. I'd just moved to New York City and my boyfriend had scored tickets to the Belmont Stakes. We arrived at Belmont Park and it was magic. Even with the sea of people and the less than perfect weather, it was a great day. After that I often took the Belmont Special out to Jamaica and frequented Suffolk Downs in Boston. Racing had become part of my life again.

It amazed me the first time I went to Belmont Park on a slow day with no big stakes races to see how few people were there. Sure, it was nice not to have a line for the restroom, but it was a rude awakening. How then, to get more people out to the races?

I wish I knew. I think exciting horses and compelling stories like Mine That Bird or Rachel Alexandra certainly help. It's human nature to cheer for underdogs and those who have humble roots like our own, perhaps. We need and want heroes and distractions, as I've said before. I'm not a marketing guru (obviously) but I have to think that there are viable ways to get people out to the track, and I'm hoping I'll see a good crowd out at Belmont on Saturday. The NYRA has stepped up their marketing for the (G1) Mother Goose Stakes and we'll see if it pays off. And night racing at Churchill Downs had a successful first effort, so maybe that's a good option.

I'd welcome comments or a guest blogger to share their thoughts, too, as to how we can make horse racing more viable and more vital in the US. Or if you are one of the opponents of "Racinos" drop me a line and we can have a point/counterpoint discussion. I think good things can come from any productive discussions and ideas cost nothing, right?

In the meantime, I'm headed to NYRA's website to look at the undercard races for Saturday so I can start to plan my little wagers. (And I do mean little...)

Watch here for Rachel's arrival at Big Sandy...

And here for a transcript of Thursday's press conference with Jess Jackson and Calvin Borel. (Is there a better grin anywhere than that of Calvin Borel??? I think not!)