Robin Goodfellow’s racing tips: Best bets for Wednesday, August 5
Sportsmail's racing expert Robin Goodfellow dishes out his tips for Wednesday's meetings at Ayr, Lingfield and Newton Abbott.
Month: August 2020
Turf Paradise Facing Uncertain 2020-2021 Meet
Ongoing tensions between the management of Turf Paradise and Arizona-based horsemen is placing the upcoming 2020-2021 meet under a cloud of uncertainty. Last week, Turf Paradise released a press release detailing plans to push back its opening day from Oct. 17 to Friday, Nov. 27. The revised dates meant an overall reduction in live race days from 133 to 110.
“We are working with AZHBPA [Arizona Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association] president Bob Hutton as to a date when the horses can begin to arrive in the stable area,” said track general manager Vincent Francia, in the release.
According to Hutton, his organization emailed last Thursday the operators of Turf Paradise a list of 17 questions and concerns surrounding such issues as the multi-year agreement that the HPBA entered into with Turf Paradise, stable area renovations, and contingency plans in the event of a second wave of COVID-19 infections this winter, including a promise not to close the track prior to the end of the scheduled meet.
When Turf Paradise suddenly closed its doors earlier this year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, track management gave the horsemen days to vacate the premises–a move the facility later shied away from.
The response to the 17 emailed questions, however, failed to allay the Arizona horsemen’s concerns, said Hutton. As such, he said that he advised trainers “to make up their own mind” about whether to stable and race at Turf Paradise when the facility opens its doors once again.
“But my recommendation would be to, based on the track not being able to guarantee that they’ll run the entire meet, then you’ll probably need to make other plans,” said Hutton, who added that he’ll be sending his horses to alternate tracks this winter.
TDN attempted to reach Francia by email and by phone Tuesday, but did not receive a response before publication.
These developments form just the latest chapter in a protracted stand-off between the horsemen and Turf Paradise management. Earlier in the year, a simulcasting dispute led The Stronach Group’s Monarch to pull its signal from the state, dealing a sizeable blow to the industry’s coffers.
The crux of the issue surrounded Arizona Downs, one of three tracks in the state. When Arizona Downs reopened for live racing in 2019, Monarch sent its signal to the track itself but not to the track’s network of off-track betting sites (OTBs). In contrast, Monarch distributed its signal to Turf Paradise and its network of some 60 OTBs.
Near the start of March, the HBPA voted to withdraw the Turf Paradise signal from all Stronach Group affiliates. Before that could happen, however, the track was closed due to the onset of the global pandemic.
When Turf Paradise closed its doors at the beginning of May, track management sent the Arizona HBPA a letter giving the organization 30 days to “remove its belongings” from its Turf Paradise office and to “remove the trailer [medical trailer] from Turf Paradise property.” Ordinarily, all HBPA equipment would have remained at the facility during the summer, said Hutton.
According to Hutton, Turf Paradise failed to answer HBPA concerns about whether the organization would be permitted office space at the track during the upcoming meet.
The two parties appear to agree on some things, however. Turf Paradise’s proposed Nov. 27 starting date, detailed in last week’s press release, would have jeopardized the various sales stakes and Arizona bred races that typically occur at the end of October and the beginning of November, said Hutton.
But Turf Paradise agreed to a compromise, said Hutton–a Nov. 1 stating date for the meet. “That would be the only thing we agree upon,” he said.
The next Arizona Racing Commission meeting is slated for Aug. 13.
The post Turf Paradise Facing Uncertain 2020-2021 Meet appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
MSW Purses: $97K Derby Week, $75K Rest of Churchill Meet; $70K at Keeneland
Projected autumn purse levels for maiden special weight races on the Kentucky circuit were revealed during a video meeting of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory committee on Tuesday.
Ben Huffman, director of racing at Churchill Downs, said, “We’re going to have two [MSW] purses. We’re going to supercharge [GI Kentucky] Derby week, like we’ve been doing. And that maiden purse Derby week is going to be $97,000. The remaining nine days are going to be $75,000.”
Churchill had closed out its spring/summer season at the $79,000 level for MSW races.
The MSW races for the 17-day Keeneland Race Course meet will be $70,000, the same level as the July mini-meet.
Bob Elliston, Keeneland’s vice president of racing, said that his track will “basically give away the same amount of money this fall as we did last fall” in terms of overall purses.
“As we sit today, there will be limited participation of owners or fans on-track, so at this hour we are not projecting significant daily earnings from on-track wagers. We hope that changes,” Elliston added.
Both tracks had their requests approved unanimously for KTDF funding, which means a recommendation from the advisory committee to release that money will be forwarded to the full Kentucky Horse Racing Commission board for final voting at its next meeting.
Kentucky Downs MSW purse levels were not discussed on Tuesday because the track had already requested funding for its September season back in June. At that time, a track official said the MSW level projected to be $90,000.
The KTDF is funded by three-quarters of 1% of all money wagered on both live Thoroughbred races and historical horse race (HHR) gaming, plus 2% of all money wagered on Thoroughbred races via inter-track wagering and whole-card simulcasting.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down racing, the KTDF was not able to generate revenue via (HHR) gaming and on-track wagering between March and June. It has since been able to recoup some funding with the limited reopening of HHR.
“To give you a sense of how fragile this is…had the governor not taken the act that he did to permit historical racing to comeback online, for us it may be $200,000 to $300,000 a month in KTDF funds that wouldn’t be earned. So God forbid if we have a continuation of a problem or an escalation of a problem where we had to rescind the activity. It could really encroach upon the numbers that we had,” Elliston said.
Bill Landes III, the chairman of the fund’s advisory committee, who represents the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (KTOB), echoed that sentiment. “Our situation, as everybody knows, is in flux,” he said.
The post MSW Purses: $97K Derby Week, $75K Rest of Churchill Meet; $70K at Keeneland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
‘He Covers A Lot Of Ground’: Baffert Compares Travers Contender Uncle Chuck To Arrogate
Though the bottom side of Uncle Chuck's pedigree suggests he might prefer one turn, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert is sending the 3-year-old son of Uncle Mo east to contest the 1 1/4-mile G1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga this Saturday.
“One of the reasons I bought him, when I saw him, he's an Uncle Mo with all speed in there, but if you look at him he just doesn't look it,” Baffert said on Tuesday's NTRA teleconference. “He was big, tall, lanky, not like a typical Uncle Mo… He's got the body of a two-turn horse.”
A $250,000 yearling at the Keeneland September sale, Uncle Chuck went to Barry Eisaman for his early training. Baffert specifically told Eisaman not to rush the big colt, that he didn't plan to run him at two. In fact, Uncle Chuck didn't debut until June of his 3-year-old year, winning his first start over a mile at Santa Anita by seven lengths. In his second start, the colt posted a four-length win over stablemate Thousand Words in the G3 Los Alamitos Derby.
“A horse like Uncle Chuck, he would never have run in the (Kentucky) Derby, but now he's got a chance,” Baffert said, referring to Churchill Downs' decision to delay the Run for the Roses to Sept. 5. “We just let him grow into himself, the same thing that happened with Arrogate.”
It isn't the first time Baffert has compared Uncle Chuck to Arrogate, the record-setting Travers winner of 2016.
“I really think with his stride, he covers a lot a ground,” said Baffert. “The ground that he covers reminds me of Arrogate. He handles it well, doesn't get tired.”
There are questions left to be answered, however. Uncle Chuck will be shipping across the country to for the first time in his short career, and he'll be facing a tough group of more experienced rivals, including likely favorite, the Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law.
“I've been very impressed with (Tiz the Law),” Baffert said. “They have managed him well and picked the right spots with him. I think he has progressed perfectly. He definitely is the best 3-year-old in the country right now. I'll get an idea if I can run with him or not. It is going to be exciting, but we're hoping we are as good as he is, that is why we are going over there.”
The post ‘He Covers A Lot Of Ground’: Baffert Compares Travers Contender Uncle Chuck To Arrogate appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
