SA Sunday

[BaroqueAgain1]

Possibly, and I'm sure the Santa Anita officials dread the idea that that may be true. But it's hard not to think that there will be enough rain to cause a LOT of scratches, especially in any races scheduled originally for the grass. That wouldn't make it much fun for bettors, so handle would also suffer.
Hard choice, but erring on the side of safety puts them on the right side of history for me.

[stark]

Possibly, and I'm sure the Santa Anita officials dread the idea that that may be true. But it's hard not to think that there will be enough rain to cause a LOT of scratches, especially in any races scheduled originally for the grass. That wouldn't make it much fun for bettors, so handle would also suffer.
Hard choice, but erring on the side of safety puts them on the right side of history for me.

All's I know is that I've been sitting on my couch watching races from Louisiana, Florida and New York in absolutely flooded race track conditions wishing I still kept up with my mudder sire list. Do you know if there were any catastrophic injuries due to the track conditions at those joints recently?

[Curtis]

Possibly, and I'm sure the Santa Anita officials dread the idea that that may be true. But it's hard not to think that there will be enough rain to cause a LOT of scratches, especially in any races scheduled originally for the grass. That wouldn't make it much fun for bettors, so handle would also suffer.
Hard choice, but erring on the side of safety puts them on the right side of history for me.

All's I know is that I've been sitting on my couch watching races from Louisiana, Florida and New York in absolutely flooded race track conditions wishing I still kept up with my mudder sire list. Do you know if there were any catastrophic injuries due to the track conditions at those joints recently?

I talked about it before but the day I went to Gulfstream in mid-December I saw a storm that would have caused Noah to pause. They just transferred everything over to Tapeta. The last three races were finally cancelled, one was a 16f turf stake that was tentatively moved to Tapeta and shortened to 13f. I’ve been to Santa Anita many a time when you could see lightning and hear the thunder almost simultaneously. The races down the hill were the most problematic. Of course the main track wasn’t sealed tighter than the 210 Freeway back then. I really think the sealing of the track is overkill. If rain is coming don’t write turf races for a weekend and just run on an old fashioned muddy or slow track. The way the schedule is, there is the better part of a week to get the track back to satisfactory levels. If this were next weekend, would the Santa Anita Derby be cancelled?

And stark. Many horses got an “*” in the form. A few got an “X”. Do you remember many with the “circled X”. I remember one in particular but those were few and far between.

[stark]

And stark. Many horses got an “*” in the form. A few got an “X”. Do you remember many with the “circled X”. I remember one in particular but those were few and far between

You mean like Relaunch or the "Reality" group or you're old enough to remember River Buoy?

Seriously, over the years, mainly back in the 70-80s my absolute favorite day of wagering with confidence was 2yo maidens first time out in the mud, and strictly look at the dads and moms.
Not much intel available in print, one had to do their homework but it was very rewarding! I miss those days.

[Curtis]

And stark. Many horses got an “*” in the form. A few got an “X”. Do you remember many with the “circled X”. I remember one in particular but those were few and far between

You mean like Relaunch or the "Reality" group or you're old enough to remember River Buoy?

Seriously, over the years, mainly back in the 70-80s my absolute favorite day of wagering with confidence was 2yo maidens first time out in the mud, and strictly look at the dads and moms.
Not much intel available in print, one had to do their homework but it was very rewarding! I miss those days.

I certainly remember River Buoy. He was claimed as an 8yo by Jack Look for 8k I think, and ended up placing in a graded stake. Just add water. He was an older half to a horse named Isle Bet who Frankel claimed for 16k, stepped him up to 25k and then won a stake with him. The year after River Buoy, Look claimed Curious Course who was another freak in the mud. As to breeding, sometimes you knew, sometimes you didn’t David LaCroix bred two full brothers; The Big T and Amanotherbrother. The former wouldn’t run if you spit on the track. The latter moved through it like a duck. Amanotherbrother also loved 6.5f down the hill. In terms of breeding, one of my biggest scores ever came on a rainy, ugly at Santa Anita. It was in the ‘80’s. I subscribed to the Blood Horse. The back cover of pretty much every issue had a photo of Silent Screen splashing through the mud making a holy show out of the Arlington/Washington Futurity. There was a horse in the 9th named Actor and he was by Silent Screen. He was 20-1 on the ML and had no mud form showing in his PP’s. I was getting killed that day and so I sat out several races and put $10. to win on Actor. He wired the field and paid exactly 20-1. Star of Kuwait, Soft Victory, Royal Owl, Stardust Mel, Crumbs, Hurricane Hec (who was by Soft Victory), etc. were terrific mudders too. Almost anything from South America not named Cougar II.

The only horse I can remember with the circled X was a horse named Brass who was trained by John Bucalo. Brass was a CA bred who for whatever reason was all but unbeatable in the mud.

[Diver52]

It's been raining steadily here for at 6-7 hours so it looks as though the upper estimates were correct. So proud of my dogs I took them to the door when we got up and yelled "Go potty!" and they did!

[Missbeholder]

I just checked the 7-day forecast and it looks like we're still going to get another little bout of rain in the Arcadia area toward next weekend! As of right now, it looks to be coming in sometime Thursday afternoon or evening and then into Friday morning. But it's probably going to be over by Friday afternoon/evening, making things pretty good to go as far as actual precipitation on Derby day Saturday.

With all the water we will have taken by then, the biggest question will be what will happen with the turf course over Santa Anita Derby weekend? The Classic Meet closes right after the SA Derby (not sure of exact closing date), but we still have another couple of months to go racing at the facility. Hopefully, our rain will be pretty much over, but we still have to protect that turf course until it thoroughly dries out.

It's been quite a winter out here, that's for sure!

[Diver52]

I've lived here all my life and can't remember a serious storm this late. I did run in the LA Marathon in about 2010+ or _ in mid March when it rained constantly. I had a Zenyatta cap and a plastic poncho so it wasn't too bad, but at the finish the runners couldn't get out because family and friends were clogging the exit. By the time I walked to my hotel I was convulsing with cold. The hotel had a runners' room and I was the only one there (sub 4) and I put on long pants and a jacket and got some coffee but my back hurt so I wound up lying on the floor when a manager peeked in and saw me. He fetched towels and pillows from the pool house, wrapped me up, and got me more hot coffee. I did have a nice conversation at the finish with a woman from Kentucky who saw my Zenyatta cap before the chill set in!

[Squeaky]

Wow Diver that’s a really good time- did you get an age-group award?

[Diver52]

Wow Diver that’s a really good time- did you get an age-group award?

Not that year but since you ask-- I did in 2013. Of course it was an upper age group but there were still 162 of us in it. The next fall I broke my hip and that was the end of my running career.

[stark]

Actually glad to see the rain this weekend, simply amazing that Belinda knew 6 months in advance to cancel racing this weekend, congrats!

[stark]

SA wants to offer a new wager (not approved yet)

A triple Trifecta, three races they pick out, you need to hit the Tri in each leg.

Could offer the Powerball and Mega Millions Lotteries a run for their money as far as difficulty is concerned.

[stark]

Anybody know if Santa Anita axed their Director of Publicity Mike Willman?

[Missbeholder]

Anybody know if Santa Anita axed their Director of Publicity Mike Willman?

I heard that a few weeks ago from another Santa Anita employee who I consider to be a reliable source, but chose not to post anything on it. I wasn't sure how much it would mean to anyone besides Willman himself. Mike is still doing the Sunday Thoroughbred LA radio 2 hours, so it doesn't seem to have affected that.

[stark]

Anybody know if Santa Anita axed their Director of Publicity Mike Willman?

I heard that a few weeks ago from another Santa Anita employee who I consider to be a reliable source, but chose not to post anything on it. I wasn't sure how much it would mean to anyone besides Willman himself. Mike is still doing the Sunday Thoroughbred LA radio 2 hours, so it doesn't seem to have affected that.

He got pretty choked up today when saying something like "I wish I was there to be involved in everything" while talking with somebody at SA.

[Curtis]

Anybody know if Santa Anita axed their Director of Publicity Mike Willman?

I heard that a few weeks ago from another Santa Anita employee who I consider to be a reliable source, but chose not to post anything on it. I wasn't sure how much it would mean to anyone besides Willman himself. Mike is still doing the Sunday Thoroughbred LA radio 2 hours, so it doesn't seem to have affected that.

He got pretty choked up today when saying something like "I wish I was there to be involved in everything" while talking with somebody at SA.

I know Willman a little bit. We know many of the same bodies and their burial sites. He’s a good guy and has been a constant in so. CA racing for 4 decades or more. No matter who owns Santa Anita they almost always fail to get the proverbial “it”.

[stark]

I heard that a few weeks ago from another Santa Anita employee who I consider to be a reliable source, but chose not to post anything on it. I wasn't sure how much it would mean to anyone besides Willman himself. Mike is still doing the Sunday Thoroughbred LA radio 2 hours, so it doesn't seem to have affected that.

He got pretty choked up today when saying something like "I wish I was there to be involved in everything" while talking with somebody at SA.

I know Willman a little bit. We know many of the same bodies and their burial sites. He’s a good guy and has been a constant in so. CA racing for 4 decades or more. No matter who owns Santa Anita they almost always fail to get the proverbial “it”.

Strictly a gut feeling, I want to document here so as not to be accused of redboarding, I'm thinkin' Willman lands a spot at TVG/Fanduel.

[Curtis]

He got pretty choked up today when saying something like "I wish I was there to be involved in everything" while talking with somebody at SA.

I know Willman a little bit. We know many of the same bodies and their burial sites. He’s a good guy and has been a constant in so. CA racing for 4 decades or more. No matter who owns Santa Anita they almost always fail to get the proverbial “it”.

Strictly a gut feeling, I want to document here so as not to be accused of redboarding, I'm thinkin' Willman lands a spot at TVG/Fanduel.

That’s where he was employed when whatever the Stronach’s called themselves back then hired him. If you’re right, he should be paired with Kurt Hoover for old time’s sake.