“Making Claims” debuts in Arabian Finish Line

Another exciting chapter of my journalistic endeavors kicked off this month with the debut of my monthly column, “Making Claims”, in Arabian Finish Line magazine.

The column’s inaugural entry, which appears in the publication’s April issue, is split into two parts.

The first half introduces yours truly to the magazine’s readers, including anecdotes about my origins in the sport, a few of my qualifications and my experience in Arabian racing. Naturally, I throw in some anecdotes about Mount Pleasant Meadows, too. In the second part, I look back on the Darley Awards weekend, including my evening at Sam Houston Race Park, with the help of a numbered list.

This month’s issue also features several photos I took over the weekend, including ones at the races and a few on the cover.

And now, without further ado…

Click here to read the debut installment of “Making Claims”!

Like what you see? After this post, “Making Claims” will be exclusive to readers of Arabian Finish Line. To keep up with the world of Arabian racing, including my monthly commentary, click here to order a subscription to Arabian Finish Line.

Arabian Finish Line is a fine publication that provides insight on a sector of horse racing that often goes overlooked by the industry’s media outlets. The magazine features articles, commentary, stakes recaps and statistics on Arabian racing in North America and around the world. With detailed stats on every Arabian that leaves the gates in North America, the magazine is quite the useful handicapping tool, as well.

If the notion of reading my column every month is not reason enough to get yourself a subscription, hopefully something in the above paragraph will convince a few readers to give the magazine a try.

I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank the good people at Arabian Finish Line for allowing me the platform to express my views and spin some tales. I hope I can provide a consistent source of engaging and entertaining content for many issues to come.

Five reasons why Michigan’s Thoroughbreds should look west

As of right now, the Thoroughbred racing business in the state of Michigan is an industry without a home track to call its own.

While the clock ticks down to the summer racing season, the state Attorney General’s office is taking its sweet time deliberating on whether Pinnacle Race Course is worthy of its conditional racing license. Meanwhile, any immediate alternative (Mount Pleasant Meadows, one of the state’s three harness tracks) will take time to build up into the kind of facility needed to host a meet of the Thoroughbreds’ caliber. Until a decision is made, it is difficult for the decision-makers in Michigan’s racing industry to pull the trigger on either option.

From this writer’s perspective, Pinnacle is at best a 50-50 proposition for opening its doors in 2011. The Detroit-area track closed down all of its operations at the end of last year’s meet under a mountain of debt from municipalities, tax collectors and simulcast providers. Even the track’s website has been offline for over a month, now. A recent story by Crain’s Detroit Business about a looming job-creation audit by Wayne County only heaps more on the pile.

Perhaps it is too soon to simply give up on Pinnacle as a long-term home for Thoroughbred racing, but with the track’s unstable past, present and future, it is not beyond the realm of possibility to consider an alternative.

On the Michigan-Bred Claimer Facebook page, I asked readers where they thought the 2011 Thoroughbred meet would be held, where they would like to see it held and where the long-term future of racing may rest. When presented with the options currently available, the conversation quickly shifted to building a new track in a centrally located area – Grand Rapids or Lansing. Looking at the current situation, it is not hard to agree.

Clearly, this idea is little more than a pipe dream. Pulling it off would mean convincing another wealthy investor that horse racing in Michigan is worth the risk, which at this point is admittedly a hard sell. This, along with a litany of other factors, would make the idea difficult-to-impossible. The following discussion is strictly hypothetical. However, if done correctly, a move west could help drastically improve the health of the state’s industry.

Another aspect discussed in the Facebook conversation was combining the breeds at said centrally located track. From an exposure standpoint, the harness tracks are doing just fine in Detroit. Keeping them there keeps the simulcast dollars flowing in their area. However, it would not be difficult to transition the Quarter Horses and Arabians to this imaginary track, as well.

Before I continue, I realize this plan flies in the face of my 3,000-word manifesto against the contraction of small tracks, effectively shuttering the two tracks I was trying to defend. Don’t worry, I have a plan.

Pinnacle and the proposed track cancel each other out, so there is no loss there. Mount Pleasant would be gutted with the loss of Quarter Horses and Arabians. However, the track represents the only pari-mutuel outpost in central and northern Michigan, so it is important to keep around. Plus, with the track suddenly much closer, there may be more interest to watch the races via simulcast in Mount Pleasant by those who can not make it to the live races every day, but want to play and keep tabs on the track.

To keep the simulcast going, the new track would split itself into a spring/summer and a fall meet, divided with a short mixed breed meet at Mount Pleasant to coincide with the Isabella County Fair. Mount Pleasant gets exposure at a time when the most patrons are on the property, the simulcast can stay open all year, and there is incentive to keep the track up to code to use as a training center. Damage is minimized and everybody wins.

Want to keep Pinnacle in the mix? Give Pinnacle and the new track each one of those meets, then either give Mount Pleasant back the mixed meet horses to run their usual schedule or keep the county fair plan. That way, Pinnacle can continue to stay in business, it gets some time off to ease the cost of hosting a live meet and perhaps it can finally work on finishing the “Phase Two” construction.

Both Grand Rapids and Lansing are viable and acceptable options for such a venture, but there are a few factors that make the state’s capital city particularly attractive in this scenario. To illustrate this, I have outlined five reasons why a move to Lansing might be in the best interest of flat racing in Michigan.

Keep in mind, this is not a call to shut down any track, but simply a scenario to consider in the wake of current events. It’s always better to have a plan than not.

The five reasons why Michigan should consider a racetrack in the Lansing area can be found behind the jump.

The case for small tracks: A Top Ten

Small tracks are not the reason for horse racing's current situation. Shutting them down would only further damage the sport.

To help combat sagging business in the horse racing industry, a growing population of industry members have begun calling for a contraction of racetracks in North America.

In his keynote speech at the University of Arizona’s Racetrack Industry Program Symposium, Churchill Downs CEO Robert Evans presented a plan that would potentially halve the number of racetracks in North America. Evans said this plan would create “a business that is economically viable” that focuses on a “quality product” . That sentiment was echoed by superstar freelancer Claire Novak in a recent debate about whether fans or bettors drive the racing industry.

Allow me to respectfully disagree.

I make no bones about being a small track guy. My home course is a four furlong mixed breed oval in what one pessimistic message board poster called “no man’s land”. My state’s Thoroughbred industry has been in decline for decades, expedited by the addition of expanded gaming in other nearby states. If contraction were to happen tomorrow, there is little doubt Pinnacle Race Course and Mount Pleasant Meadows would be among the first to go.

But does it really have to come to that? Putting my bias aside, there are plenty of reasons why slashing the number of racing venues, especially those on the sport’s lowest levels, would only further damage the sport we love.

To help prove my point in an easy-to-digest manner, I have created a ten-point list, a “Top Ten” if you will, of reasons why contraction would eventually cripple horse racing in North America and why our small venues are worth standing up for against the will of the powers that be.

Please note, this is not a call for subsidization of failing tracks. If a track shows it is not viable and the ownership has no interest in keeping it afloat, then so be it. However, if the will to live among ownership and horsemen remains strong, then no one has the right to strong-arm them into shutting down.

From the top…

10. The Almighty Dollar
Governments typically don’t like to openly admit that they like horse racing. In fact, most are content to watch it rot on the vine as long as they don’t have to spend any money. However, it is no secret that they sure enjoy the tax revenue that racetracks bring in through wagering and other avenues. Threaten that cash flow with a “sweeping industry contraction initiative” and see how those governments, especially on the local level, respond to their track being on the chopping block. Nothing mobilizes an elected official like telling him he can’t make money.

But let’s keep it on the racetrack for now. Many small tracks run their meet for the sole purpose of keeping simulcast wagering in their plant. Not every state has off-track betting parlors or advanced deposit wagering as a source to bet on racing, and if their local bullring closes down, so does their chance to bet on the races. Mr. Evans has made himself the face of the contraction movement with his keynote speech. However, nothing will suffer more from people being unable to place bets than his all-sources Kentucky Derby handle. The Derby is the one day that casual fans brave the smoky simulcast rooms to bet on the horse they read about in the paper. These people probably aren’t going to sign up for TwinSpires or drive another hour and a half or more to go to the next nearest simulcast outlet. That money will vanish into the ether and likely never return.

The remainder of the countdown can be found behind the jump.

Catch Me Ridin Dirty named A.R.A.B. of Michigan’s Horse of the Year

The connections of Arabian Horse of the Year Catch Me Ridin Dirty celebrate the gelding's victory at A.R.A.B. of Michigan's High Point Awards.

Two years after a 5 1/2-length maiden score on a June afternoon in 2009, the Arabian colony at Mount Pleasant Meadows is still playing catch-up with Catch Me Ridin Dirty.

The gap got a little wider after Catch Me Ridin Dirty was honored with his second Horse of the Year title at last Saturday’s Michigan Association of Racing Arabian Breeders High Point Awards at Stanton’s Clifford Lake Inn.

The five-year-old Aransas HF gelding, who goes by the barn name “Louie” when away from the racetrack, made the most of a shortened 2010 meet, with wins in three of his four starts for earnings of $7,509.

Catch Me Ridin Dirty’s showcase win came in the July 11 Independence Open, where he led at every point of call and drew off in the stretch to win by 3 3/4 lengths over a muddy course.

Homebred in Michigan and trained by Nicole Holst, Catch Me Ridin Dirty was also named Horse of the Year as a three-year-old in 2009. Holst, who earned Trainer of the Year honors, said her gelding will return in 2011 to defend his title once again.

Jockey of the Year Nate Alcala has ridden Catch Me Ridin Dirty in all 10 of his career starts, all at Mount Pleasant. The pair won eight of those starts, including two in stakes company, to earn $19,134.

Catch Me Ridin Dirty finished the evening with additional awards for top four-year-old male and Michigan-bred male.

Leading the evening’s award-winners was Tom and Joyce Fritz’s Hickory Lane Farms, Inc. The Sidney, Mich. farm took home four equine awards, along with the prizes for top owner and breeder.

The standout horse to run under Hickory Lane’s neon green colors was three-year-old-male of the year Get R Done.

The Virgule Al Maury gelding finished a perfect two-for-two in 2010 by a combined 29 lengths. A 23-length victory in the Aug. 1 Michigan Arabian Juvenile Stakes helped Get R Done earn a Darley Award nomination for champion three-year-old colt or gelding.

Michigan-bred Get R Done is trained by Mario Fritz for owner and breeder Tom Fritz. He has amassed career earnings of $5,150.

Get R Done was a runner-up for Horse of the Year honors, along with Stars and Stripes Distaff winner Shestheone and award-winning older male Zanthus Fury.

Behind the jump is the full list of winners from Saturday’s awards and their 2010 statistics.

I Do One Two Three named World Champion Racing Paint Horse

I Do One Two Three held his own in some of the nation's biggest paint races to earn the APHA's highest racing honor.

Michigan-bred I Do One Two Three capped off a successful 2010 campaign by earning the American Paint Horse Association’s Running World Champion title for Regular Registry Paint Quarter Horses.

The announcement was made Jan. 15 at the Heritage Place Sale in Oklahoma City, Okla.

The tobiano four-year-old Judy’s Lineage gelding is homebred by Mount Pleasant Meadows president Walter and Carolyn Bay’s T-Bill Stables. A pair of trainers, Sleepy Gilbreath and Kasey Willis, sent I Do One Two Three to the post in 2010.

A winner of two of his seven starts in 2010, I Do One Two Three finished the year with earnings of $32,627. His overall career record boasts four wins from 14 starts for earnings of $74,375.

I Do One Two Three also earned divisional honors as top three-year-old gelding and overall champion three-year-old on the Regular Registry side of the awards. In 2009, he took home the award as the APHA’s top Regular Registry two-year-old gelding.

The APHA honors divisional champions in two separate registries – Regular and Solid Paint-Bred. According to the APHA, to qualify for the Regular Registry, as I Do One Two Three does, a horse must “exhibit a minimum amount of white hair over pink skin.” Solid Paint-Breds comparatively show very little color.

In the press release announcing the winners, the APHA describes its criteria for selecting champions as based on “level of competition, location, races won and earnings for the year”.

I Do One Two Three kicked off his 2010 campaign with a convincing win in his trial heat for the Graham Paint & Appaloosa Derby (G1) at Remington Park. A rough break, though, led him to a fourth place finish in the final. He finished fourth again in the Paint Stallion Breeders Association Derby (G1), also at Remington.

After a fifth place finish in the Texas Paint Horse Breeders Association Derby (G3) at Sam Houston Race Park, I Do One Two Three returned to Oklahoma to win the Lorelei Derby (G3) at Will Rogers Downs. He closed out the year at Will Rogers with a runner-up finish in the Talimena Handicap.

I Do One Two Three did not race in Michigan last year, but he does have experience at Mount Pleasant Meadows from his two-year-old season. In 2009, I Do One Two Three registered a trial win and a pair of second place finishes in the Great Lakes Quarter Horse Association Michigan Paint Horse Futurity (G3) and the GLQHA Stallion Service Sale Futurity.

The APHA’s inaugural Canadian champion, Paint Me A Bono, also has some experience at the central Michigan mixed breed track.

The four-year-old Bono Jazz gelding outkicked I Do One Two Three to win the 2009 GLQHA Michigan Paint Horse Futurity. He preceded that with a maiden-breaking score in his only other start at Mount Pleasant.

Bred in California by Theresa and Alan Reese, Paint Me A Bono is owned by Ivy Lane Racing and trained by Michigan-based conditioner Tom Dunlap.

Paint Me A Bono went one for seven in 2010, but he finished in the money in five of those starts. His earnings for the year totaled $24,972.

The gelding’s year started at Remington Park, with the trials and finals of the Graham Paint & Appaloosa Derby. He finished third in both races. Paint Me A Bono then moved north of the border, where he competed in the allowance ranks at Ajax Downs.

To view the full APHA press release, along with pictures of the champions and a list of other divisional winners, click here.

Michigan Notebook: January 19, 2011

- The Michigan Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association is hosting its annual Stallion Season Auction on Tuesday, Jan. 25. Bidding will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. This year’s auction features seasons from some of the best sires Michigan has to offer. Perennial leaders such as Demaloot Demashoot, Elusive Hour, Syncline and the state’s 2010 stallion of the year Equality will have seasons up for bids, along with up-and-comers like Fire Blitz, Comedy Show, Monetary Star and Gainango. The sale also features out-of-state sires from Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Loiusiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

For more information on the auction, and for a constantly updating list of the sires involved, click here.

- The Michigan HBPA board has voted to focus negotiations for the 2011 Thoroughbred meet on Pinnacle Race Course for the time being. From the Michigan HBPA website…

The Michigan HBPA board met Tuesday to discuss the 2011 live season, during the meeting the board took a “straw poll” as to what track they preferred to have the 2011 meet. The board moved to prefer Pinnacle and work through the issues until March 1, 2011 and pursue other options at that time, if necessary.

- MTOBA has rolled out a multi-pronged effort to increase its web presence. The organization recently opened up a Facebook fan page and Twitter account to go along with it’s redesigned website. Be sure to include Michigan’s Thoroughbred owners and breeders in your social networking endeavors.

- Voting for the Michigan-Bred Claimer Photo of the Year poll is still open and will remain so through the end of the month. The clubhouse leader is photo #18, titled “Affection”, depicting newly-crowned Horse of the Year Zenyatta and her groom Mario Espinoza in the Churchill Downs shedrow. If you agree with that outcome and want to lock it down, or if you think another photo is more deserving, the cutoff date is sometime during Feb. 1. Don’t get shut out!

Two Michigan-Breds nominated for Darley Awards

Get R Done and jockey Juan Delgado teamed up for two impressive victories in 2010 to earn the horse a Darley Award nomination.

Michigan will be represented by two Arabian divisional finalists at the upcoming Darley Awards.

Stakes winner Get R Done earned an invitation to the event in the three-year-old colts and geldings division and stakes-placed Ovour The Moon is a finalist for champion four-year-old filly.

The Darley Awards are the Arabian equivalent of Thoroughbred racing’s Eclipse Awards. The winners will be announced Mar. 5 in Houston, Texas.

Get R Done was the uncontested leader of Michigan’s juvenile division during the most recent meet at Mount Pleasant Meadows. He was a perfect two-for-two in 2010 for earnings of $5,150.

Arabian Finish Line magazine reports Get R Done ranked 12th in the nation by 2010 earnings among three-year-old Arabian colts and geldings. Because of their size and speed of development, Arabians do not begin their on-track careers until age three.

Get R Done kicked off his career on July 11, with a six-length victory in his maiden effort. The Virgule Al Maury gelding followed that effort with an emphatic 23-length romp in the Aug. 1 Michigan Arabian Juvenile Stakes.

Get R Done is homebred by Tom Fritz and trained by Mario Fritz. The gelding is also nominated for three year-end awards from Michigan’s Association of Racing Arabian Breeders, including the state’s horse of the year.

Other finalists for champion three-year-old male include multiple G3-placed Ovour The Top, G3 winner Rich Frynchman, stakes winner T M Fred Texas and G3 winner Venom.

Ovour The Moon competed at Arabian racing’s highest levels in 2010 and locked horns with some of the best in the sport.

The four-year-old Nivour De Cardonne filly spent most of her campaign at Delaware Park, arguably the breed’s marquee venue. She also participated in the breed’s highest-profile race in recent memory, the President of the United Arab Emirates Cup Stakes (G1) at Keeneland Race Course.

Trained by John Youngdale and homebred by Kathryn and Paul J. Smoke, Ovour The Moon won two of ten starts in 2010 for earnings of $22,079. She was last year’s third-leading earner among four-year-old females, according to Arabian Finish Line’s figures.

After a pair of unsuccessful tries in maiden company, Ovour The Moon earned her first win against a field of open claimers. A second-place finish in another claiming contest led to an off-the-board finish in the CRE Run Oaks Arabian Distaff Stakes (G2).

Ovour The Moon found the winner’s circle once again in an optional claiming race, following a third place effort in an allowance race. She then made the jump back to stakes company, with a runner-up finish in the Rosebrook Arabian Distaff Turf Handicap. Her year came to a close with a pair of unplaced finishes in the President of the United Arab Emirates Cup and teh Buzz Brauninger Distaff Stakes.

Ovour The Moon’s competition for divisional honors includes stakes winner Burning Fancy, multiple stakes placed Doranikaa, G2 winner Sand Witchh, and multiple stakes winner TM Super Bird.

In related news, Michigan-bred Quarter Horse Cold Cash 123 was a finalist for the American Quarter Horse Association’s Racing Champion two-year-old gelding, which was decided Jan. 12

The Oak Tree Special gelding won the Nov. 28 Southwest Juvenile Championship Stakes (G1) at Zia Park and drew away in the Sept. 6 All-American Juvenile Invitational, the consolation race for the All-American Futurity, after winning his trial race. He finished the year ranked seventh nationally among two-year-olds.

However, Cold Cash 123 did not receive a single vote in his division’s Racing Champion ballot, which was won by multiple track record-setter JLS Mr Bigtime.

A.R.A.B. of Michigan names finalists for 2010 awards

Catch Me Ridin Dirty and Nate Alcala are strong contenders to defend their respective titles as Michigan's Arabian Horse and Jockey of the Year.

The Association of Racing Arabian Breeders of Michigan has released the list of year-end award nominees from the 2010 Mount Pleasant Meadows meet.

The winners will be decided Jan. 22 during the organization’s awards dinner at the Clifford Lake Inn in Stanton, Mich.. For more information on the dinner, or to make reservations, click here.

Four horses lead all finalists with nominations in three categories a piece. Defending Michigan Arabian Horse of the Year Catch Me Ridin Dirty shares that honor with Michigan Arabian Juvenile Stakes winner Get R Done, Stars and Stripes Distaff winner Shestheone and stakes-placed allowance winner Zanthus Fury. All four horses are finalists for Michigan’s Horse of the Year title.

On the human side of the awards, Nicole Holst leads all nominees as a finalist for champion owner, breeder and trainer.

A list of nominees from each category can be found behind the jump.

Photo of the Year: 2010

This photo of Zenyatta and super-skilled photographer Jamie Newell is probably the photo of the year, but for the sake of competition, it gets a free pass.

As it was mentioned in previous discussions, 2010 was a big year.

I visited a lot of places, I took a lot of pictures, I’ve seen a million faces and I rocked ‘em all.

Okay, perhaps that last line is a wee bit exaggerated, but two and a quarter years of operation on this site is too long to go without a Bon Jovi reference.

The first two parts of the statement, however, are completely true. The last year afforded me the opportunity to visit racing venues and big events around the country, and I have tried my best to bring my readers along for the ride with my tales and photos.

That brings us to the annual display of my favorite memories from those travels: The 3rd Annual Michigan-Bred Claimer Photo of the Year poll.

Truth be told, my best photo is all but certainly the one shown above of super-skilled photographer Jamie Newell and Zenyatta the morning after the Breeders’ Cup Classic, titled “Consolation”. That projection is supported by the photo’s third-place showing in the Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance photo contest. If I have not said it before, allow me to take this opportunity to thank everyone kind enough to throw a vote my way. We’ll get ‘em next year.

For the sake of competition, we’ll consider that one the winner by default and conduct the poll as usual to determine a reserve champion. Unlike the TBA contest, this is one vote I can’t lose.

All of the photos included in this poll were shot with a Kodak EasyShare Z980.

Thank you all for reading, commenting, voting and otherwise being a part of what was a huge 2010. I look forward to providing a front row seat to my adventures in 2011 and beyond.

Behind the jump are the 20 photos I have handpicked as my favorites of 2010. Have a look, then vote for your favorite in the poll on the left side of the page. Comments are always welcome, too.

And now, without further ado…

Michigan HBPA to consider Thoroughbred meet at Mount Pleasant Meadows

Mixed breed track Mount Pleasant Meadows could play host to Michigan's Thoroughbred meet in 2011.

The Michigan Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association intends to “pursue the possibility” of conducting its 2011 Thoroughbred meet at Mount Pleasant Meadows.

From the Michigan HBPA website…

HBPA BOARD LOOKS TO 2011 SEASON: With the 2011 live racing season at Pinnacle Race Course looking more dismal everyday, the Michigan HBPA Board of Directors approved a motion, during a Dec. 29 conference call, to pursue the possibility of racing at Mt. Pleasant Meadows during the 2011 season. The board feels it very important to attempt pursuing the issue now, rather than being faced with the same circumstances that faced our horsemen last spring, when Pinnacle did not open for training, as provided in our contract.

Of course, there are many questions that need to be answered, but the possibility needs to be addressed now.

Mount Pleasant Meadows is a mixed breed track in central Michigan. While it plays host to Thoroughbred racing at its lower levels, along with Quarter Horses and Arabians, the track has never hosted a meet of this caliber.

Mt. Pleasant is a four furlong sandy loam oval with a six furlong chute for quarter horse races. The grandstand consists largely of aluminum bleachers, which are plentiful and offer adequate sight lines, with a few reserved sections for tables. It was built to host various county fair-related events on top of racing; including demolition derbies, rodeos and concerts.

Located on the Isabella County Fairgrounds north of Mount Pleasant, the track became a home for pari-mutuel racing in 1985 after previously serving as a fair circuit track. The move was also done to help replace racing lost by the shuttering of Glendale Downs in southern Michigan, which offered a similar level of racing.

Any updates on this story will be posted as they become available.