Everyone seems to agree that the “Sport of Kings” is on a downward slide. The Triple Crown fared well in TV viewing and attendance, but the sport in general needs help. Is there something else that can be done to help raise new interest?

       Now that the Triple Crown is behind us, most of the attention has switched to horse racing’s feminine side.

      Undefeated Zenyatta and one of this year’s top 3-year-olds Rachel Alexandra is what everyone is talking about.

      Even the owners of both horses say they would like to meet, but then comes the stipulations. Rachel Alexandra’s co-owner Jess Jackson has the main one, which turns out to really be two.

      Jackson says he won’t race his Preakness Stakes winner on synthetic surfaces. And guess what the only surface Zenyatta has covered during her 11 straight victories?  All but won were synthetics.

     Then there would be the location for the two outstanding females to meet.

     Rachel is based in Kentucky and Zenyatta is in Southern California. Since California has only synthetic racing surfaces, that would mean she will be the one hopping a train or plane.

     But despite having to give up her perfered surface and home-track comforts, Zenyatta owner Jerry Moss says he’s very willing to travel.

       So which would be best for racing?

       Should the two brilliant females meet in a match race. How about a race that includes both, plus others? Or maybe, not meet at all, which would keep the buzz going about who would of or could of?

What do you think?

PLEASANTON BEGINS THREE WEEKS OF RACING TODAY

        According to Chuck Dybdal (DRF), the Alameda County Fair will be under close scrutiny when it begins its three-week meeting today in Pleasanton.

        It will be the track’s longest meeting ever and only the second time the fair meet has lasted for three weeks. The Alameda County Fair is picking up one week from the Solano County Fair, which will run for one week instead of two.

        In a sense, this year’s meeting is a trial for what could be a much longer meeting next year. With Bay Meadows closed, Golden Gate raced for nearly nine months straight, from last September into this June, and officials at the Pleasanton track say they would like to pick up racing dates next year to form an Alameda County Fair-Golden Gate circuit.

       “This could be a great opportunity for us,” said Rick Pickering, the fair’s CEO and director of racing. “We’re still working with the California Horse Racing Board, Thoroughbred Owners of California and California Thoroughbred Trainers.”

       To become Northern California’s second major racing center, Pleasanton would have to build a turf course. That’s a possibility, Pickering said, but the bigger stumbling block is the CHRB’s mandate that tracks running a meeting of more than three weeks must have a synthetic surface. The board made an exception for Bay Meadows before it closed, and Pickering is hoping it might do the same for the Alameda County Fair, which has a dirt track.

      “The [CHRB] recently showed a willingness not to require synthetic surfaces, and that had been one hold-up for us with the cost of $10 to $12 million for a synthetic surface,” he said. “We could add a turf course for $4 to $5 million.

      “Golden Gate fully believes it needs a break. We’re open, ready and willing, but we have to recognize the County of Alameda owns the property so we have to work with the board of supervisors and our directors.”

         Pleasanton will run five days a week, Wednesday-Sunday, through July 19. It will be the only Thoroughbred track running in California on Wednesdays, with Hollywood Park being closed that day.

        The Pleasanton track offers auxiliary stabling while other tracks are running and has added 100 portable stalls for fair racing. The track’s bridle path leading from the barn area to the track has been widened to more than double its previous width; there is a new on-off gap; and additional lighting, including emergency lighting to warn of loose horses, has been added.

DOUGLAS UPDATE

      Frank Angst of the Thoroughbred Times reports, in a letter to his supporters on facebook.com, injured jockey Rene Douglas updated his status and thanked well-wishers on Tuesday morning.

      Douglas suffered injuries to his spinal cord that caused him to lose feeling in his legs as well as injuries to his neck and ribs on May 23 in a spill at Arlington Park.

      The letter, in its entirety, follows:

       “I want to thank you for all your support, your prayers and all your messages. I’ve been trying to read all of your posts and little by little I will catch up.

       “I’ve been trying to start therapy but I’ve had a few issues with my lungs and that has prevented me from starting rehab in full. I’m getting stronger every day with the help of my family and friends and I will give my best once I go back to rehab.

      “The road ahead of me will be long and hard but I’m ready to face it and to do the best I can to complete it and to achieve the best results possible.

       “I would love to thank each one of you personally, but if I did that I wouldn’t have enough time to do therapy. Just know that I appreciate it and that your support inspires me everyday to continue and to give my all.

With Love,
Rene Douglas”

BOREL IS WAVERING AGAIN ON MINE THAT BIRD

        Mary McGee of the Daily Racing From reports that a potential conflict could lead to jockey Calvin Borel snubbing his Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird once again.

        Borel is tentatively scheduled to ride Mine That Bird in the $750,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park on Aug. 1, but there is a possibility Borel could vacate the mount in favor of Warrior’s Reward, a promising 3-year-old who runs Saturday in the $200,000 Dwyer Stakes at Belmont Park.

        Ian Wilkes, trainer of Warrior’s Reward, said he has received a two-race commitment from Borel and his agent, Jerry Hissam, for the Dwyer and the $500,000 Jim Dandy on Aug. 1 at Saratoga. Hissam said Tuesday he had no comment.

       Borel, widely credited for a sensational ride in guiding Mine That Bird to his 50-1 upset in the May 2 Kentucky Derby, got off the gelding to ride Rachel Alexandra two weeks later in the Preakness. Rachel Alexandra won the Preakness, while Mine That Bird, ridden by Mike Smith, rallied to be second.

       Borel then got the mount back on Mine That Bird for the June 6 Belmont Stakes. Mine That Bird, the 5-4 favorite, made a bold move at the top of the stretch before fading to third behind Summer Bird and Dunkirk.

      Chip Woolley, trainer of Mine That Bird, has been planning on Borel riding his stable star in the West Virginia Derby, and even had Borel breeze the gelding an easy half-mile Monday morning at Churchill Downs.

      Woolley said Tuesday morning at Churchill that he had not yet heard from Hissam or Borel about the Aug. 1 situation but that he intended to ask for a firm commitment, one way or another, “probably in the next day or two.”

       Woolley said he was “okay with Calvin getting on Rachel Alexandra for the Preakness because I really felt in my heart she wasn’t going to run, but she did, so we went along with it. This deal here’s a little different, though.”

       Warrior’s Reward, a Medaglia d’Oro colt owned by A. Stevens Miles, has won 2 of 5 starts and most recently finished a close second in the Grade 3 Northern Dancer Stakes on the June 13 Stephen Foster undercard at Churchill. In his previous race, Warrior’s Reward earned a 113 Beyer Speed Figure in winning a May 1 allowance at Churchill.

       Borel rides frequently for Wilkes, the longtime protege and business associate of trainer Carl Nafzger, for whom Borel won the 2007 Derby aboard Street Sense. Wilkes trains a large stable and therefore is the source of far more business for Borel than Woolley, whose stable is based in New Mexico.

       Both the Jim Dandy and West Virginia Derby serve as preps for the $1 million Shadwell Travers Stakes, set for Aug. 29 at Saratoga. Mine That Bird and Warrior’s Reward are both being pointed to the Travers.

SO WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE NEW BLOG?

      Please give me your opinion on what you like or dislike about my new blog format that we started a few weeks ago.

Tags Add new tag, Alameda County Fair, Chip Woolley, Dunkirk, Jess Jackson, Mine That Bird, Pleasanton Fair, Rachel Alexandra, Summer Bird, Zenyatta | Category Preakness Stakes