What happened to Hollywood?

[Not4Love]

Where is Bob Hollywood Hayden? New girl at the Big M., but she's not
"all that". What was the reason?

[grant miller]

he "retirered"(sp?)", wendy ross was the outrider at tioga downs whos the new "insider" ,you can probally auto-toss her selections! I love the big -m but please have someone in the tv that can sway me to a winner!!!!!

[Tempogain]

Strange that both he and brower are gone. I heard brower's not involved in racing anymore.

[Not4Love]

You can toss her picks. Talked me off of In Kenny's Honor in the first last night. I'm not even sure that she has picked a winner. In my (limited ) experience Shannon Diantonni really knows her stuff. She worked a couple nights last fall and did an excellent job.

[LottaKash]

Given the "chaotic-scenarios" these past 2 opening nites, I don't think that most people fared any too well, either, playing the Big-M...So, I wouldn't knock a Race-Selector picks, just yet....

Opening times at M1 have always been a bit of an enigma to me...Even after all these years......

My personal insights have led me to "sitting on my hands" for a bit, at least until some semblance of form begins to materialize as the meet progresses...

Unless you keep a strict log of the trainers (being creatures of habit), and how they prep for M1, we are really up against it in most races.....I mean, the "not knowing" of whose going or not....

My way, in the early going of a meet, especailly M1, is to find horses with plenty of "back class"....The ones who would dominate a race if they were in reasonably good form tonite.....

I offer this, not for vanity or such, but just to give you a glimpse of my personal insights into finding horses to play at M1, in the early season...

On opening nite, Fri. 1/6, my only play so far at M1, and luckily I was right in this one, and it was in the 3rd race, *9 - SLOMOTION, this girl was one of those types that I look for, and she had all the right things that I look for, going for her...Which included her being bet with confidence @4/1 from the 9-hole (I always like a lttle nod of approval on my picks, via the tote board, and she got it here)........They had stopped with her in Sep/11, and she was making only her 5th start since her return (suggesting, with those low amount of starts, something was definitely buggin' her), and, in her last 2 trys, one at Stga and the latest, at YR, she had shown that she was getting fitter with each passing race..she was asserting herself with good early intent in both of those races, especially her latest one, which wa vs. horses with better and classier credentials than the make up of this particular race....Before they stopped with her, she had managed to win almost a $100K, vs. some nice f & m's, but that was before she soured in Sep.....So, I had a horse with superior back class, numbers to match well, if not top any others in this contest, and a promise of better coming form, by her well meant recent tries....The play was topped off by having Geo. Brennan steering her....$10.80 & 7.00....

If not for these precious few finds, in early season, I am otherwise, just a "tourist", early-early, in the M1 startups....

Otherwise for me, too may iffy scenarios, like many horses in the same race, coming off of qualifiers, and many others with some form of back class, but with very dull and mostly unreliable form, not to mention trainer's intentiions on race day, of which I haven't a clue most times.....

You know it's funny tho, many years ago, some of my best scores were early-early @M1.....I was much luckier then..haha...!

best,

[pandy]

It almost seems like it's not the Meadowlands without Hollywood Heyden there. No one is going to be able to match the information he had at his fingertips.

[wilderness]

Bob,
I've not seen any announcement of either Heyden's retirement or otherwise-separation from the Meadowlands.
Perhaps it's a press release I missed?

I did make a submission in another forum (http://www.barntowire.com/smf/index.php?topic=46257.msg510651#msg510651) that Heyden had 29.8 years service with NJSEA through 2011, which should have been enough to retire and collect a pension, however I did not state directly that he'd retired.

Heyden despises the cold and has always missed some early days when the Meadowlands resumes racing. Hopefully the cold is just a normal delay and Bob will return.

[Dboomster]

Bob will be back in time. You will see him on air at the Meadowlands this year.

[LottaKash]

Bob will be back in time. You will see him on air at the Meadowlands this year.

Good to hear of it....:ThmbUp:

Heyden has been a fixture at M1 for so long....He would've been missed by some....

best,