Pictures of Rachel

I used to wake up in the morning I used to feel so bad I got so sick of having sleepless nights I went and told my dad He said, "Son now here's some little something" And stuck them on my wall And now my nights ain't quite so lonely In fact I, I don't feel bad at all Pictures of Rachel made my life so wonderful Pictures of Rachel helped me sleep at night Pictures of Rachel solved my childhood problems Pictures of Rachel helped me feel all right Pictures of Rachel Rachel, oh Rachel Rachel, oh Rachel Pictures of Rachel And then one day things weren't quite so fine I fell in love with Rachel I asked my dad where Rachel I could find He said, "Son, now don't be silly" "She's been dead since 2039" Oh, how I cried that night If only I'd been born in Rachel's time It would have been alright Pictures of Rachel made my life so wonderful Pictures of Rachel helped me sleep at night For me and Rachel are together in my dreams And I ask you, "Hey mister, have you ever seen" "Pictures of Rachel?" Photos by Patrick Sheehan Lyrics by The Who

Rachel Does New Jersey

The Jersey Shore is unlike any other place on earth. Big hair and sub shops. Speedos worn by guys named Vinnie and mini golf. Traffic on the Parkway and slices on the beach. Skee ball and teeny-weeny bikinis. It takes someone special to thrive in these type of surroundings. Bruce Springsteen comes to mind ... and now we have Rachel. Get ready Jersey Shore-ites, Rachel is back! The New Jersey oval by the shore was able to pull off quite a coup thanks to a lot of hard work. After literally months of courting owner Jess Jackson, Monmouth Park filled their dance card with a big fish, or make that a big horse, in one Miss Rachel Alexandra. Saying no, much to the dismay of the good folks at NYRA, to the Grade 1 Ruffian next week, Rachel will return to the sight of her greatest performance, to run tomorrow in Monmouth’s Lady’s Secret Stakes. That’s right I said it, I consider her Haskell run of 2009 to be even greater than when she became the first female in 80 years to win the Preakness Stakes. It was more impressive to me, than when she became the first filly ever to win the prestigious Woodward. It was better than the 20 length thrashing she gave to her overmatched foes in the Kentucky Oaks, and I was more impressed by the Haskell than when she won the Mother Goose by 19, geared down late, and run in record time. The Haskell was the only race where she faced the top three-year-old male of 2009, Summer Bird. It proved to be no contest. Rachel ran away from Summer Bird that day as if he was just another jersey-bred hoping to cash a second place check. Calvin Borel gave a twirl of the whip at the top of the stretch, and “poof!” she was gone. In winning the meeting of soon to be champions by an easy six lengths, Rachel did the Jersey Shore thing that day the likes of which has not been seen in many a day. It is only fitting that she should make a return engagement to Monmouth and give her Garden State fans what they have been waiting for since 12 months before. With the field for the Lady’s Secret coming up decidedly weak, it is not so much a question of whether our heroine will win, but rather how she will do it tomorrow.  What will we see?  A winning margin of 10, 15, 20 lengths?  A time even faster than the 1:47 1/5 she ran in the Haskell?  Expect a show, I know I do. Rachel does New Jersey II … do not miss it!

Boutique Me

A day at the races should be something to look forward to. Like a child going to Disneyland, I want to be giddy with anticipation at the thought of arriving at the track, immersing myself in the day’s festivities, and watching exciting racing. But alas, there are forces at work that conspire against my idealistic notion. The United States is a nation that has not always embraced the benefits of moderation, and the horse racing world is as guilty as anyone. There is too much racing and at too many places. To say this ultimately dilutes the product of racing is a major understatement. Less quality, small fields, small attendance, and small handle go hand-in-hand with the over proliferation, and worst of all it takes away from the experience of the fan. How can we get back the thrill? I offer the answer of shorter race meets or less days of racing. Boutique racing is the norm in countries where racing is more popular than in America. Short race meets with less racing translates to higher quality. Attending the races at Royal Ascot in England is an event. Their extra short meets are memorable rather than ho-hum. Even in the U.S. the benefits of the boutique meet seem quite evident. Places like Del Mar, Keeneland, and Saratoga thrive because of their recognition of quality over quantity, although, I am worried that the special feeling of these tracks might be lost if they continue expanding dates. Could you imagine what would happen to these places if they started running there 200 days a year? You can also look at the current Monmouth experiment for a wonderful example of moderation as a step in the right direction. While not a boutique meet in duration, Monmouth has gone with the boutique idea weekly. Offering only three days of racing a week is accomplishing the goal of providing a better product. Shouldn’t that be what we all want? This matter is the topic du jour for the Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance. Please check out their main page to find numerous other points-of-view, and see if they agree with me that less can be so much more.

Appearance Fees in Racing?

Money, money, money. It happens in tennis, it happens in golf. In fact it happens wherever a person of celebrity desires to pocket a buck at the expense of an event organizer who is more than happy to make the expensive hand out in order to glamorize their show. Now we can add one miss Rachel Alexandra to the list of celebrity cash grabbers. Is it right, or is it wrong for the Rachel Alexandra ownership to run their star at a track, and at a race, only when the purse is significantly raised ? It seems to me the idea of appearance fees is Capitalism 101. If the celebrity, or in this case, the owners of the celebrity, are willing to decide where they will appear based on cash, and the event organizers, in this case, a racetrack, are grinning ear-to-ear with their agreement, who are we to say the agreement, rooted in American capitalism, is wrong? OK, so it is acceptable for a celeb to make some dough by availing themselves to their fans in our chosen form of economics, but what about on the athletic landscape? Doesn’t this smack of forgetting the competition just to assure the attendance of one of the competitors? Doesn’t this lessen the importance of the actual competition? Well, yes and no. In golf, when Tiger Woods is paid $2 million to play in a tournament, while the winner of the tournament gets a measly $650,000, then yes, I apply pressure with my thumb and index finger directly to both nostrils. When the appearance fee is paid regardless of performance, it belittles the event. Does Tiger Woods have as much to play for as Joe in-the-field Golfer? Of course not, he already got his. Is this a worry in racing? No. Two big reasons why it is different. First off, Rachel does not know of cash. She will run just the same regardless of her owner’s bankbook. Secondly, this appearance fee is the good kind in sports. Jess Jackson is not being paid only to show up, he is being paid when Rachel wins. Many would say, knowing her brilliance, that these two things are the same. Maybe so, but the truth is the extra purse money is out there for all. Who are the losers as a result of this deal? Not team Rachel. Not Monmouth Park. Not the fans of the sport. We now get to see Rachel, and know ahead of time where we can see her. Also with the purse hike, it should attract at least as good a field as we would have seen in the Ruffian Stakes. Perhaps the losers are NYRA and their elite meet of Saratoga. To them I say, check your Econ textbooks. Monmouth won, fair and square. Besides, Saratoga should still host another Rachel race before their meet is done. Perhaps the American Graded Stakes system is a loser. Monmouth’s Lady’s Secret is ungraded, now rich, but still ungraded. Saratoga’s Ruffian is a grade 1. This may actually only hurt Rachel’s resume, while benefiting the Ruffian winner. In the end, I am not against this devilish deal between the good people at Monmouth Park and Rachel’s owner, Jess Jackson. It takes nothing away from our sport, even if somewhere Gordon Gekko is smiling. This matter is the topic du jour for the Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance http://www.tbablogs.com/, please check out their main page to find numerous other points-of-view. Some not nearly so kind to JJ as I am.

Why Monmouth Will Succeed

Bold moves create big questions. Will the Million Dollar Meet be the future of racing? Or will the big plan not be what it’s cracked up to be, further weakening the sport on the East Coast? One thing is for sure, all of racing will be tuned in to watch Monmouth Park’s risky endeavor of shortening the race week to three days while offering 50 million dollars in purses over a 50 day race meet beginning today. My money is on Monmouth, I think their bold initiative will be a big success. Here are just a few of my favorite reasons for the prediction: ***The remainder of today's column can be found on Youbet.com*** Click Here

There’s Something Brewing on the Jersey Shore

I write today’s column from our temporary vacation spot on the Maryland Shore. As I gaze out on the Atlantic Ocean from our third-floor patio, my thoughts wander up the coastline about 100 miles. Monmouth Park for years was my second Summer home. I have countless great memories from the South Jersey oval, such as the 1987 War at the Shore with Bet Twice, Alysheba, and Lost Code. During my lifetime, Monmouth Park has attracted quality horses and horsepeople, and has been the second best track on the East Coast. It has held firm to it’s placing just behind Belmont Park in early Summer, and then Saratoga during the second half of the season. Nothing wrong with being second best, right? Well no, there is nothing wrong with being second best, but this year Monmouth Park has other ideas. In 2010 they will unveil the plan. ***The remainder of today's column can be found on Youbet.com*** Click Here