Sam Houston Posts Positive Gains Without the Aid of a Slot Machine

Last weekend Sam Houston Race Park concluded its 2012 Thoroughbred meet. And the Good News: The racetrack posted a 35% increase in handle and a 40% increase in average daily attendance.

This is a positive - and maybe hopeful? - sign for the slotless Texas horse racing industry. It was only a couple of years ago that Texas racetracks proposed consolidation; eliminating 48% of racing dates. SHRP was prepared to axe its 2011 Thoroughbred meet and transfer its purse monies to Lone Star Park in a bid to bolster foundering purses. Well, needless to say, a small faction of Texas horsemen thought the idea basically sucked and put up a fight. When the smoke cleared, racing dates were reduced but SHRP's meet was still intact.

And instead of barking the usual Texas racetrack battle cry, "We need our VLTs!", Sam Houston did something that I have been touting for years: Be creative!

The racetrack had a 31 day "boutique" meet to increase their purses. To the bettors' delight, there were rolling Pick-3's with 12% takeout and 50-cent trifectas. They revised their popular Texas Champions Day and turned it into a 2-day Texas Champions Weekend extravaganza. Friday night 50-cent beers! Camel races! Ostrich races! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

SHRP brass felt they offered the most competitive racing program ever, however they know that there is room for improvement. Apparently, their on-time performance for major races was poor, running as many as 22 minutes behind schedule. Their premier event, the $150,000 Maxxam Gold Cup has no business going off at 10:50 p.m.; that's not an attractive hour for your East coast bettors. However, SHRP is now on the Creativity Express so hopefully we'll continue to see progress.

Meanwhile, Lone Star Park is preparing for the start of their Spring Thoroughbred meet on April 12. I've already voiced my displeasure at their initial "creativity." One can only hope that the positive gains demonstrated by SHRP will serve as an inspiration to Lone Star Park and provide a much-needed energy jolt for Texas horse racing.

Tough Luck

So, HBO has cancelled Luck after its third horse fatality on the set. I've only casually observed a smattering of scenes from one or two episodes over the past several weeks that probably totals 20 minutes, if that much. But much of the horse racing world was watching - being a vanguard - to see if the promising and critically acclaimed series would serve as a proponent and initiate a fresh pack of racing fans.

Although Luck wasn't exactly considered a ratings bonanza, Matt Zoller Seitz at Vulture.com argues that HBO's success is not driven by ratings, but rather subscription renewals.

What made this case unique ... was the nature of the show itself. No drama in TV history has been built exclusively around horse racing and the daily life of a track. Hollywood has used horses during production for over a century. Horses have been getting hurt or killed in production for just as long, sometimes because of negligence or cruelty but more often because of simple probability. When a story is dependent upon horses, over time it becomes increasingly likely that one of them is going to be hurt.

However, this 20 Minute Critic is more aptly to agree with one of the comments posted following his article,

This was a weak show that had the unfortunate side effect of being harmful to its equine co-stars. It never engendered much passion, except from critics, and it won't be missed. [Heliotrope]

Meanwhile, HBO will continue showing completed episodes of Luck. And in an effort to provide closure to the series, a script is in the works that will see Dustin Hoffman's Chester "Ace" Bernstein nod off after a long day of conniving and wake up the following morning as a Red Panda only to find a fat Panda taking a shower, realizing that Luck was nothing but a dream.

Morning Line at Blowfish Park

Last weekend my husband, in his quest to relive his childhood, pulled out a dilapidated cardboard from storage. Scrawled across the top of the box with black marker, "MINE! TOUCH IT AND DIE!" A hush overcame the household as he opened his time capsule to reveal its precious contents: His collection of MAD Magazines.

As he lovingly perused through all the issues, he stumbled upon an unexpected treasure - his original 1978 National Lampoon Sunday Newspaper Parody.

We've had a blast the past few days reading all the news that's not fit to print. Interestingly enough, in this day and age as horse racing coverage continues to disappear from mainstream newspapers and media, the Dacron, Ohio, Republican-Democrat offered up a full page devoted to horse racing. And the Morning Line at Blowfish Park by Dugan O'Neill is some of the "finest" handicapping demonstrated.

Here's a sampling of the card at Blowfish Park on Sunday, February 12, 1978,

PAWN ME - Last ran well in Tijuana under different name.
JIMMY'S CART HORSE - Fits description of stakes horse stolen recently in Southern Calif.
DRAINAGE SLEW - Runs like it was on the deck of a freighter in a hurricane.

or in the 2nd race,

SIR BARTON - Won triple crown in 1919-aging.
MAJESTIC DRINKER - Out of Northern Drinker-could last till closing.
THE FUELER - Good chance - extremely long front legs and "special diet" will see a win.

And I found the 4th race especially intriguing,


The humor of P.J. O’Rourke and John Hughes has withstood the test of time. Unfortunately, the Sunday newspaper has not; its multitude of sections and inserts that required a couple of hours to read has vanished.

Where is All This Lovely Money Coming From?

Our good friends over at the Paulick Report were quick to announce that the New York Racing Association (NYRA) is boosting purses 27% for the 2012 Belmont Spring meet and the Saratoga meet.

27%!!

Twenty-seven percent!!

Vingt-sept pour cent!! if you are Jean Dujardin.

And here's some statistics that will leave you gobsmacked: Average daily purses will see a 44% increase at Belmont; 39% at Saratoga. Amazing!

My first reaction: "Wow! They must be raking in the big bucks at the new Aqueduct racino!" But wait a minute ... Hasn't the NYRA been caught up in a web of financial troubles for some time? Fiscal problems? Bankruptcy? Bailouts?

According to New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli,

"NYRA stands to squander significant revenue from the recently opened VLT franchise at Aqueduct." [Jan. 24, 2012]

Squander? Genius Restructure? A ginormous VLT windfall?

Un mystère intriguant...

'Luck' and Zen of Derby Futures

One of my best friends is a professional couch potato; she watches lots of TV. She can name all the contestants on The Biggest Loser and recite how much weight each has lost since their last weigh-in. She's irritated that Ben is besotted with the shallow, bikini-less Courtney on The Bachelor. ABC, CBS, PBS, HBO, TNT, CSI, and so forth - she's the original Bourbon and Coke swilling TV Guide.

A few days ago she asked me what I thought of the new series Luck. I told her I haven't seen it.

She just about fell off her couch.

"It's a horse racing TV show! And since you know all this horse racing lingo, you need to watch it," she reprimanded. "We have much to discuss!" You'd think we were a book club.

So, yesterday I sat down to watch the first episode. And I didn't get far. It was just too slow and heavy handed; it didn't hold my interest very long. If Dustin Hoffman had reprised his role as Master Shifu, it would've been a lot more entertaining.

And let's face it, the serious bettors, or "degenerates" that were so warmly portrayed in Luck, certainly could be enhanced by channeling inner peace.

For those of us "degenerates" channeling inner peace, our pal Gary West at espn.com provides his zen philosophy for this weekend's upcoming Kentucky Derby Futures Pool. For those who deride or resist the wager, Gary reminds us "it's all fun, even if a little foolish. But a Futures wager can be more wise than foolish." In his example, he demonstrates that a modest wager spread throughout various Future pools and 390 ± 20 possible outcomes, there is the potential of profitable awesomeness or dinner with Dennis Farina.

Inner peace ... inner peace ... Alpha 20-1 ... I'll Have Another 65-1 ... inner peace ... inner peace ...