January 2008

posted Tuesday, 1/29/2008 10 AM; edited 4PM

Northfield Park’s Pick 5 Carryover for Tuesday, January 29 is $17,443.32 (Races 3-7)Here are early program changes to assist you:
Race 3: Scratch #7
Race 4: Scratch #7
Race 5: Scratch #2 and #8
Race 6: Scratch #3
Race 7: Clear at this time

This is a tough Pick-Five, but with $17K in the pool carried over, I have to take a shot. The first leg is a crap-shoot, so I am going four deep to preserve my bankroll. Swinging Carol looks good, and is helped by the scratch, but she hasn't won since 2006 --going five deep would kill my bankroll, but she is one of several horses here who don't like to win races. In the 4th, the 8, Bunnysexpresslane, may be the best, but I am not sure she can overcome the post, so I have to use the 3 and 4 as well. Things seem a little easier moving forward with Nuclear Cam and Drop Your Linen the two best in the 5th race and Krissy K and Ss Lady Luck the standouts in the 6th. But Prize Parable and R M Salsa worry me. Wrapping up, I may need to single #2 KCC Thunder due to budget constraints, but I don't want to leave the 1, Fly Fly Noser, off the ticket.
Let's play 2345/234/148/124/12, a $216 ticket...still more than I would like to play, but we need to stay live here! Good luck.


posted Wednesday, 1/23/2008 2:0PM
Our horsemen amaze me at times. In a good way . With so many of them struggling with our $2,000 purses, when the reports came out of abused horses in Brimfield, they mobilized and provided nearly $2,000 in aid to the Portage County Animal Protective League. Wow. Grain, hay, blankets and a check from management for vet care. The good deed was publicized in one of my press releases, but Channel 3 (WKYC) reporter Paul Thomas jumped all over the story, coming out not once, but twice, to film our horsemen and Amy Hollar. While nobody was worried about getting huge positive press from this effort, it sure is nice to see some positive things reported about harness racing. If you missed the story, here is a link to it. Take a couple minutes to watch it.

posted Tuesday, 1/22/2008 10PM
Sorry I have been away for a bit, I headed down to C-bus for the OHHA/USTA Ohio Night of Stars (and some meetings on Friday with the US Harness Writers as well. For all the negative energy in our sport, thanks to the inaction of our legislators (note- they work for you- call, write, e-mail, burn a message in their lawn and tell them what you think. Okay, not that last one), we have a great horsemen's community in the Buckeye State. Everyone who participated in the weekend should be applauded. And I will hold my loudest applause for several honorees with local connections.

Roger Huston did a great job as the emcee...he is the 2nd best emcee I have ever seen at the banquet. He kept the pace quick and got us out early! Matt Kakaley, one of the bright one talents in the sport won the Terry Holton Youth award and the Peter Haughton Rising Star award. He won the Peter Haughton from Florida's harness writers last year mad USHWA-Ohio was please to present it to him this year. Ryan Sthal won the Kaltenbach award as best Ohio Sires Stakes driver, and Eric Hamlet was there to pick up the divisional award for Osbornes Gypsy. How 'bout her dam, Myopia's Mop-- three OSS champ with a total of four titles!
But the highlight of the night was the Ohio Hall of Game Inductees. I got to accept Courageous Lady's award into the standardbred division of the Ohio Hall, and, rather than bore you wit her achievements, I will let you read this . Suffice to say that this is one of the gutsiest racehorses (not mares, but horses) I ever saw race. She was trained and driven by Lew Williams who finally was inducted into the Ohio Immortals Hall. I am on a bit of a crusade to get Lew into Goshen as well and received some positive news about that possibility today. I learned the business from Keith Harran, who was one of Lew's 2nd trainers, and was stabled next to Lew's brother Charles for many years. I paddocked horses for Keith and Lew at The Meadows and simply put, he was the best I ever saw. Next month, I will include an excerpt from my HarnessEye column this month about Lew. His cousin Larry accepted and told a great story of the first time Lew sent him out on his own, with two horses, to the Findlay Fair. Larry won three of four heats and didn't get back to the Cadiz for several days after celebrating. Lew was not amused. Last, was Ohio beer distributor, turned harness trainer, turned harness breeder, Robert O’Donnell, was named to the Hall. O’Donnell, who bred world champ Leah Almahurst, also campaigned great stars like Leather Jacket, Impatiens and Braless. In a poignant and humorous acceptance speech, O’Donnell mentioned his sons Mike and Kelly prominently. Mike is an equine dentist, while trainer Kelly won the 2005 Little Brown Jug with P-Forty-Seven. Bob, at age 83, is still wickedly funny and a hell of a guy. He is a hell of a dad, as well.
All in all, a great weekend. Talk to you soon.

posted Thursday, 1/10/2008 3PM
Sharon's Future. Aaarrgghhh! Bottom line, a $3 claimer cost me $4 grand. This mare has been such a dead runaway lately that I didn't think she could hold anybody off. So she scares everyone off with her early speed, takes no pressure and cruises. The real story though, was two favorites, two second choices and a third choice and even with over $30K in the pool, it paid over $4,100! And four combinations in the last leg were still uncovered. This Pick Five wager is gonna yield a big number to somebody one day very soon.

A bit off topic. Did anybody find it funny that the woman who asked Hillary Clinton the "How do you do it question," voted for Barack Obama in New Hampshire? She is apparently a bit of a political groupie grandma, having been photographed with Obama and hugging John Edwards so hard his security people were concerned. At least she had the sense to stay away from Dennis Kucinich. I love that the poles were wrong, but they often are in New Hampshire. See, in that state, you can walk in, say you are a Republican, vote for a GOP candidate and then reregister as Democrat on the way out. The Independentd often change their minds and many of them say they didn't decide until they got into the booth. So for Hillary's monumental win, she gets 9 delegates, the exact same number that Barack Obama gets, when you count the so called Superdelegates. The media is blowing these wins and losses out of proportion (shocking, I know). But ultimately, the popular vote wins in small states mean nothing. For a political junkie, it's gonna be a fun few months, especially on the Republican side. And if McCain and/or Obama don't win their party nominations, look for a Michael Bloomberg Independent candidacy. Ron Paul could be an ideal running mate.

posted Wednesday 1/9/08 1PM
Well, it looks like our two new wagers are successful early on in the experiment. The 10 cent super has increased our superfecta pools considerably and the Pick Five has finally accumulated a decent carryover, after being hit a couple days in a row. There's a carryover of $13K, and if you look at nightly wagering, the pool has increased as the carryover has. On Saturday, there was about $2850 bet; On Monday about $6500 and on Tuesday about $12,830. If the trend continues, the pot should more than double, tonight, meaning one correct Pick Five ticket could pay around $35,000. So, let's take a shot at it.

The Pick Five starts in the 3rd race and I really don't see any singles on the ticket, which hurts our chances. But, let's try a 348/25 (yes, I am leaving Sahron's Future off the Pick Five, although I think she will hit the 5th race ticket/5679, where I am throwing darts in the 5th race/13/24, a total investment of $96.

Don't forget, starting tonight our first race Wednesday post time moves to 6 PM as we offer 16 races in honor of the Norse God Odin (or Woden).

posted Wednesday 1/2/8 10:30PM
I hope you had a great holiday. I was able to use up a few vacation days (it's use 'em or lose 'em here) and haven't been around much. Now, back tot he grind. We have a Wall of Fame ceremony in spring, and a media guide due out March 31. The biggest news around here may be the new wagers and the change in Wednesday post times.

I am not a big fan of 10-cent supers-- in fact, here is what I wrote in Harness Eye last month: Now for some wagering news. In 2008, Northfield Park is adding a Pick Five and ten-cent superfectas. Ten-cent supers are fun to play and may get some people involved in pools who would not be otherwise. I confess to doing this myself. Back in the days before Ohio’s state government legislatively protected us from 2nd-hand smoke, I would sometimes head out to our television carrels and smoke I nice Dominican double corona and watch some racing action in the afternoon after finishing my regular work and while waiting for our live evening card. Since this was often t-bred racing, which I know nothing about, I might play a five-horse super box for $12 on a hunch. I even hit a few decent ones. Having said that, I do not like dime supers. Many of the people who wager them have no idea how much they are spending and then have to change their plays because they only have $4.60 in their pocket and have no idea what a bet calculator is. These folks refuse to use a self-bettor, for whatever reason, as well. Other bettors get shut out on this and other (simulcast) races. For the players who like to take down a whole pool (whether true whales playing offshore, or the dolphins who still actually still come to the track) it makes the superfecta a less attractive wager. For every guy we lose who normally dumps $100 into a super, we need to find ten small players to cover him. It will be interesting to watch what happens with our pools and with our patrons’ response.

E-Mail me at nfldpark@aol.com and tell me what you think about the new wagers. Disclaimer: I played a $12 ticket on the fourth race in order to be part of history. The 5-horse box hit and paid $31, enough to cover my other two losing bets on the night.

The other big news is that we are "going big," on Wednesdays with 15-16 race cards that will start at 6 PM. In the current marketplace, we need every advantage we can find and trying to get those two extra races in before The Meadowlands begins at 7 (and even Woodbine moved up to 7:30, which doens't help our early races). Who knows? We may end up being a 6PM start all the time... IO doubt it, but if the move helps handle, that's what drives our business (and pays my salary). It's gonna be an interesting year. I hope you come along for the ride!