Excellent segments on ATRAB this week

[Indulto]

Poster Derby Trail's coverage in his radio show of a variety of issues has been exemplary, particularly in his focus on the life of Bill Hartack; providing great insights and references. Thank you, DT.

http://www.thoroughbredracingradionetwork.com/

Steve Crist Nov. 26 (Hour 1 -- halfway in)

Great discussion. Crist’s willing participation -- along with Hegarty’s later in the week -- were refreshing; going well beyond the content of their articles. The fact that the NY Times maligning the image of horseplayers was accorded concern equal to Bloomberg's OTB utterances was particularly satisfying.

It would have been interesting to learn which racing secretaries were “guilty” of retaining the graded handicaps Crist wants to make weight-for age. DT did a good job in obtaining a contrary opinion the next day from Tommy Trotter.

Tommy Trotter Nov. 27 (Hour 1 -- halfway in)

In response to a favorable comment on “Exotic Betting," Crist replied, ”The whole idea is for everyone to have more fun playing the game.” This was Trotter’s theme in describing the popularity of handicaps from the period following the Civil War through the 1970s. It's hard to disagree with Trotter when the decline in diversity of race types is demonstrated almost daily.

Crist is correct that meaningless weight spreads and conditions that result in longshots carrying higher weights than favorites defeat their purpose, but the existence of exotics hardly eliminates the value of Grade I handicaps. A 3-5 shot is just as unappetizing in a vertical or horizontal exotic as it is to win, and owners will almost always avoid competition they have no chance against.

What does support Crist’s position (but wasn’t mentioned) is that
a) there are too few (if any) consistently outstanding horses that justify the huge weight concessions of yesteryear,
b) there are too many opportunities for black type available which -- combined with fewer average starts per horse -- decrease the likelihood of repeated encounters at the highest level,
c) increased awareness of the safety issue regarding today's horses (and their questionable soundness) creates the spectre of a champion breaking down under a "crushing impost," and
d) today’s racing secretaries are under too much pressure to attract the all too rare equine stars to scare their connections off with substantial burdens.

[Indulto]

The issue of black type opportunities was also addressed by DT and others with regard to the recent Graded Stakes Committee action:

http://www.thoroughbredracingradionetwork.com/

Graded Stakes Discussion Nov. 29 (Hour 1 -- midway)
Matt Hegarty Nov. 29 (Hour 3 -- beginning)

DT pointed out the glaring oversight in not conferring G1 status on the Arkansas Derby despite upgrading both the Rebel and Southwest stakes at Oaklawn. I share his reaction considering the subsequent G1 victories by winners Curlin, Lawyer Ron, and Afleet Alex. The Committee’s failure to do so apparently either escaped or didn't alarm the authors off both the following otherwise interesting articles:

http://msn.foxsports.com/horseracing/story/7504586

Florida racing heats up for winter

BY JERRY KLEIN

… For the second year in a row, the ranks of Grade 1 races have grown by three, continuing a four-year climb that has increased the number of top-level races by 10 percent. Moreover, there will be 481 graded stakes races in America in 2008, an increase of seven over this year. Since there were fewer eligible races this time, the committee's mandate means a two-percent overall increase in graded stakes — and graded stakes-winners — for next year.

The committee did demote eight races, including five Grade 3s that now are without a grade. … Moreover, while only three Grade 2s were reduced a level, seven Grade 3s moved up a notch.

The system, maintained by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, supposedly revolves around points earned by a race when its participants finish first, second or third in other graded events but only two of the upgraded races, the Rebel and Southwest Stakes, benefited from the presence of a 3-year-old superstar. In fact, 20 of the 28 ascenders were turf contests.

… Mind you, none of numbers generated by this arbitrary increase in our horses' ability factored in the three new Breeders' Cup races.

… BC officials offered no explanation but one can only speculate that the committee was poised to turn it down for a second year in a row Or, gasp, offer them a lesser designation. That continues to be an embarrassment to racing and the question remains: Why does the TOBA, whose members have a vested interest in the outcome, have the final say in these critical matters? It is like having students grade their own exams.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/news/story?id=3133604

Three new Grade 1 stakes for 2008

By Matt Hegarty

… Twenty turf stakes in the U.S. were upgraded, compared to only four downgraded. Turf racing in the U.S. has become more common over the past five years because they attract full fields and many horsemen prefer to run their horses over the surface.

… Currently, 110 of the 718 eligible stakes in the U.S. have been assigned Grade 1 status, or 15 percent.

…The committee made the upgrades and downgrades after reviewing 718 unrestricted stakes races in the U.S. with a minimum purse of $75,000, the criteria for a race being assigned a grade. The grading system was devised as a way to help buyers at auctions determine the class of races listed on catalog pages, but it has since evolved into a marketing tool for racetracks and an incentive for trainers and owners of horses destined for the breeding shed. …

[DerbyTrail]

I,

Thanks very much. Pleased to hear you enjoyed last week particularly. I tried to beat the bushes on all the recent hard news. Crist and Hegarty are like hot knives through butter on any serious issue. Did quite a bit on the Lou Raffetto situation too, and had more terrific Hartack memories from Mike Stidham and Tony Black later in the week...

[bigmack]

Steve-

You've really done a dynamite job developing your show into a nice place to spend some time. Great work

I don't know if you had any decision in using a JStrummer track for musica but I can vouch that he was one hell of a guy and one of the nicest cats you'd ever want to meet.

[JustRalph]

Let's get a server/bandwidth upgrade Steve! Takes forever sometimes to download the show.............................


either you are very popular or you need more bandwidth..........

Like the show..........hate the download time

[Tom]

Can you download the archives?
I would love to listen duringthe day at work.
The real time of the show is no good for me.

[BillW]

Originally Posted by Tom

Can you download the archives?
I would love to listen duringthe day at work.
The real time of the show is no good for me.

You can play the archives at any time - assuming no firewall lockout.

http://www.thoroughbredracingradione...ents&Itemid=35

[Tom]

Not at work.

[Zaf]

Tom,

You can download the archives !

Go to : http://www.thoroughbredracingradionetwork.com/

Click on the Orange PODCAST RSS Feed on the left hand side of the Page.

Then Right Click the shows you want to download (Save target as), then click save and you got it ! Works better for me with MIE rather than Firefox.

Z

[JustRalph]

http://www.thoroughbredracingradione...udio/index.xml

just right click on the shows you want (mp3 link) and choose "save target as"


bingo!

[Tom]

Zaf, Ralph, nothing shows up as a link on either page.
Maybe it will when I get home, but here, no.

[JustRalph]

Tom

just under the date you should see the Guest's name and just under that a link for the mp3.........see attached shot

[BillW]

Originally Posted by JustRalph

Tom

just under the date you should see the Guest's name and just under that a link for the mp3.........see attached shot

It's broken here too - Latest FF and IE 6.0. They must be using proprietary code. Replay works via flashplayer but no download links and RSS bookmark is null on FF and displays raw code under IE when selected from site.

[levinmpa]

You should also be able to download directly using the address below, without the quotes:

"http://www.thoroughbredracingradionetwork.com/images/stories/audio/110207c.mp3"

You will need to change the last part of the address to reflect the date and segment you want. The link above would get you the 3rd hour on Nov 2. If you wanted the 2nd hour on December 3, for example, change the mp3 filename at the end of the URL to 120307b.mp3.

[Zaf]

Bill & Tom,

Works very well with MIE 7.0.5730.11

Just as Ralph described above.

Thats a great trick Levinmpa.

Z