Showing posts with label Horse Racing Nation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Horse Racing Nation. Show all posts

  • Has the Breeders’ Cup Become Detrimental to Racing?

    POSTED Jan 11, 2014 By Derek Simon

    Since the Eclipse Awards were announced, many racing fans have been weeping and gnashing their teeth over the nominees.

    My friend Laura Pugh of Horse Racing Nation was so incensed by the Eclipse candidates that she even made a video about it… which, I suspect, will soon be screening at Cannes — only with Shia LaBeouf playing the part of Pugh.

     “It’s a list of Breeders’ Cup winners — literally,” lamented Pugh in her YouTube production. “If you won a Breeders’ Cup, you got nominated.

    “Is there something wrong with this?” Pugh continued. “No, if you had a good season to go along with it, of course there’s nothing wrong with it.”

     But therein lies the rub, according to Ms. Pugh and others. Some horses did not have a good season to go along with their BC success — horses like Ria Antonia, for example.

    (Click on image to enlarge)

    “Why in the heck is Ria Antonia on this list of nominees,” asks Pugh. “… She won one big race — one big race! And it was by a nostril — nose — excuse me, it wasn’t even by a nostril, she won it by [disqualification] … all her other races this year were dismal. Tell me how she is on here over Sweet Reason?”

    OK, I will tell you, as well as the others who feel likewise, why Ria Antonia has been nominated for an Eclipse Award: It’s because she won a championship race. After all, the Breeders’ Cup events are dubbed “World Championships” (in typical American sports fashion, “world” has a distinct U.S. feel).

    Yes, Yes, I know — that is precisely what irritates critics of the BC.  There are, after all, other races run throughout the year. Still, I don’t see anything wrong with acknowledging that certain events mean more than others.

    How else would one explain Orb being on the list of Eclipse nominees?
    (Click on image to enlarge)

    Let’s be real, outside of a tremendous spring, in which he captured four straight races, Orb was a complete bust. He was spanked in the Preakness, slapped down in the Belmont (by fellow Eclipse nominee Palace Malice), beaten in the Travers and buried in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

    But he’s an Eclipse Award candidate thanks to one race — the Kentucky Derby, which, as it turned out, was his last win of his career (Orb has been sent to stud).

    And this emphasis on big-race wins is not just a U.S. phenomenon. Guess how many Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winners have won a Cartier Racing Award (the European equivalent of an Eclipse Award) for Horse of the Year over the past 11 years?

    Try six.

    EUROPEAN HORSES OF THE YEAR THAT ALSO WON THE ARC
    (during the year in which they were honored)

    2013 – Treve
    2009 – Sea the Stars
    2008 – Zarkava
    2007 – Dylan Thomas
    2005 – Hurricane Run
    2003 – Dalakhani

    In fact, outside of Frankel, who was European Champion in 2011 and 2012, all the other Cartier Horse of the Year honorees won either the Arc or — are you ready for this? — a Breeders’ Cup race.

    Granted, Ouija Board (Horse of the Year in 2004 and 2006) and Goldikova (2010) had other big wins on their resume in addition to the BC events that they captured, but it’s worth noting that the former won just three of nine races in 2006 — and two of them came against restricted (female) company.

    Personally, I have no problem giving (much) greater weight to the BC races and other races of historical significance. What do you think?
     
    How important should the Breeders' Cup races be to Eclipse Award voters?




      
    pollcode.com free polls 

  • Know Your Simon’s Historical Investment Technique for the Derby

    POSTED Apr 27, 2013 By Derek Simon
    Thanks in large part to Ed Fountaine, I broke my Kentucky Derby handicapping maiden in 1984, the year that Swale gave Hall of Fame jockey Laffit Pincay, Jr. his first — and only — garland of roses.

    So, who is Ed Fountaine, some of you may be asking?

    Well, Fountaine was — and still is, for that matter — a turf writer for the NY Post. And, every year (or so it seemed), he published a system for selecting the Derby winner in American Turf Monthly, a magazine devoted to convincing horseplayers that handicapping can be broken down to a few simple rules and an insufficient workout of past plays. I’m kidding about that latter bit, of course, but there’s no denying that ATM loves its angles and methods.

    Fountaine’s system was a perfect example. It awarded points to Kentucky Derby entrants based on a host of criteria that the veteran scribe deemed to be important — and it was that criteria that pointed me to Swale in 1984.

    Naturally, the older and wiser I got, the more dubious I became of this kind of “race-ial” profiling, especially since Fountaine’s standards seemed to change every year. In ‘84, for example, he allotted 30 points to the winner of the Arkansas Derby; the year before, the victor got squat. Is it merely a coincidence that Sunny’s Halo captured the 109th Run for the Roses after first triumphing in Hot Springs?

    Still, there’s no denying that systems like Fountaine’s are a lot of fun, so, in my 2010 Kentucky Derby Guide, I decided to join the party by producing “Simon’s Historical Investment Technique” for the Kentucky Derby. And, lo and behold, Super Saver proved that my Simon’s Historical Investment Technique doesn’t stink, as he won the Derby just like the method predicted he would.

    Of course, over the past couple of years, the method has lived down to its acronym. However, like General Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn, I’m convinced this year will be different. I vow to get my Simon’s Historical Investment Technique straight.

    So, without further doo-doo, here are my S. H. I. T. picks for 2013:

    WIN: Revolutionary
    PLACE: Mylute
    SHOW: Normandy Invasion

    History of Simon’s Historical Investment Technique
    (using Brisnet data)

    (Click on image to enlarge)

    2013 Kentucky Derby Guide Now Available

    My 2013 Kentucky Derby Betting Guide is now available at Brisnet.com. For just one easy payment of $10, you’ll receive unique insights and analysis relating to the most exciting two minutes in sports.

    This year’s Guide features an in-depth look at post positions, pedigree analysis by Laura Ross of Horse Racing Nation, “Key Race Ratings” of the top Derby preps and important form factors and characteristics of past Kentucky Derby winners.

    What’s more, the Guide also contains Brisnet past performances — with my pace figures — for every likely (and a few unlikely) contenders.

    Pick up your copy at http://www.brisnet.com/derby today … or tomorrow… or any time before the Derby… whatever works for you.