When Will American Pharaoh Run?

The suspense is killing me. When will American Pharoah run? Just tell me, please, when and where will he run?

The horse racing world is abuzz this week as fan speculation on the whereabouts of Pharoah’s next race is being fueled by a considerable amount of old-fashioned lobbying. Since thoroughbred owner Ahmed Zayat’s initial statement two days after The Belmont Stakes, the odds-on favorite for the Triple Crown winner’s next race was The Haskell at Monmouth Park in New Jersey. However, a June 18th social media posting by Zayat turned the racing world upside down when the horse owner cryptically tweeted, “right know Saratoga is in the lead. Head of Haskell.” (sic).

That post might have the folks at TVG, known as America’s #1 online horse wagering and TV network, scrambling for a PR flack re-write as the broadcaster had previously issued a press release, complete with Betfair odds on Pharoah’s next run, which stated:

4-to-5 - August 2 - Haskell Invitational, Monmouth Park (NJ)

4-to-1 - August 1 - Jim Dandy Stakes, Saratoga (NY State)

4-to-1 - August 22 - TVG Pacific Classic, Del Mar (San Diego, California

7-to-1 - August 29 - Travers Stakes, Saratoga 

16-to-1 - September 26, Awesome Again Stakes, Santa Anita

20-to-1 - August 29 - Mystic Lake Derby, Canterbury Park (Minnesota)

20-to-1 - September 19 - Pennsylvania Derby, Parx (Bensalem, PA)

33-to-1 - September 26 - Jockey Club Gold Cup, Belmont (New York)

10-to-1 - “The Field” also known as Any Other Race

View image | gettyimages.com

“American Pharoah won the nation’s heart when he crossed the finish line at the Belmont Stakes to end the 37-year wait for a Triple Crown champion,” said Kip Levin, CEO of TVG. “His time in the spotlight is hardly over, however, as he is expected to hit the track once again. The real question on everyone’s mind is, ‘Where will he race next?’”

As American Pharoah was shipped from Kentucky to California for a “promotion and appearance” at Santa Anita, the speculation swung mightily from Monmouth to Del Mar to Saratoga over a 24-hour span of time.

“I’m intimately involved with all the goings on,” said Dennis Drazin, advisor to the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horseman’s Association to Stephen Edelson of the Asbury Park Press. “It’s a lot of money. But at the end of the day, what I would say is that (trainer Bob) Baffert is a top horseman, and regardless of the money, you have to do the right thing for the horse. And the right thing for the horse is to run at Monmouth Park against straight 3-year olds. You don’t want to attack older horses at this point.

“The ultimate goal is the Breeders’ Cup Classic and you have to plan for him getting to that race,” said Drazin to the APP. “The Haskell, although it’s not a walkover, it’s the right kind of race. It’s straight 3-year olds on a track he’ll love. Baffert’s been a winner seven times (at The Haskell)."

Immediately after the perfectly-timed Zayat social media post, the twitterverse went wild with further speculation and Drazin declined comment to his Asbury Park pundit.

American Pharoah is now looking at his non-racing public appearance at Santa Anita in California for the track’s Gold Cup day on June 27. Importantly, the colt’s breeding rights have already been secured by Ashford Stud in central Kentucky’s bluegrass country and his stud fees will range between $175,000 and $200,000, placing a conservative $17.5 million for annual fees, according to numerous published reports.

The question for trainer Bob Baffert and owner Ahmed Zayat will remain secret as they field requests from “all kinds of tracks,” according to Baffert. Last weekend, American Pharoah returned to Churchill Downs, site of the colt’s Kentucky Derby win, and was applauded by 30,000, just for a stroll in the park.

“We won’t know for a few weeks,” said Baffert to the Asbury Park Press. “We want to do what’s best for American Pharoah, not what is best for the racetracks.”

Certainly, what is best for all, including the Triple Crown winner, is to continue to fuel interest in the sport of kings while his keepers fuel speculation and keep the industry in the national news. But, as they decide what is best, the victims of that campaign might just be race track ticket buyers who scramble for admission and attempt to make their summer travel plans, whether it be to Monmouth, Saratoga or maybe, Del Mar,

Get your rider’s up!

(This column is among those which regularly appear in The Daily Payoff. Please visit HERE).

High Stakes Game in TV Ratings

(This column regularly appears at The Daily Payoff)

By TERRY LYONS, Contributing columnist at The Daily Payoff

In recent weeks, we’ve paid our fair share of attention to American Pharoah’s run to the Triple Crown of horseracing, watching intently as the once-in-a-generation thoroughbred racehorse won graded stakes at Churchill Downs, Pimlico and Belmont Raceway. American Pharoah delivered on the track, but his Triple Crown win translated into only 18.6 million television viewers on NBC, down from the 20.6 million fans who tuned into California Chrome’s failed bid at The Belmont in 2014. When Pharoah had the Triple Crown on the line at The Belmont, you might’ve thought the stakes were as high as they’d get but, as spring turns to summer and stretch-run at Belmont is in the rear-view, there’s no higher stakes in professional sports than that of the TV ratings game.

Certainly the National Hockey League and NBC benefitted from a strong audience lead-in from The Belmont, as Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final calculated a tune-in of 6.6 million viewers for Game 2 of the series between the Tampa Bay Lightening and Chicago Blackhawks, the strongest non-clinching game TV audience since 1994. The data will improve as the Stanley Cup series, split 2-2 as of this writing, moves on to Tampa for a pivotal fifth game.

Meanwhile, after the longest break in NBA playoff history between the Conference Finals and the NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers are in the midst of a memorable NBA Finals series, with NBA MVP Steph Curry of the Warriors and the league’s best player, Lebron James of the Cavs doing battle on the court. However, the real numbers are being crunched, off the court, by the Disney Corporation, the caretakers of ABC Sports, cash cow cable entity ESPN and the NBA on ESPN property. As of this writing, the 2015 NBA Finals are the highest-rated ever on ABC with Game 4 delivering a 13.9 overnight rating to be joined with the league’s soaring numbers after the first three games of the Finals. Those ratings points translate to some 18.6 million viewers turning into the series, with the numbers — like the NHL’s — sure to go up as the league is guaranteed no fewer than six games to determine the champion.

Delving deeper into the NBA on ABC numbers, the Nielsen ratings in Game 4 were up 31 percent from the Miami vs. San Antonio numbers of a year ago with the ABC ratings averaging 13.1 (overnight), up some 26 percent over 2014. Of course, those are record-setting numbers for ABC Sports and do not factor against the record numbers the NBA did when NBC Sports carried the property and veteran broadcast chief Dick Ebersol put the pedal to the metal to promote Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls to the tune of a Game 6 1998 NBA Finals record rating of 18.7 when no fewer than 30 million tuned into the NBA Finals from United States households, alone, nevermind the growing and strong international audience for basketball.

To be clear, the television ratings game of the winter-spring sports, such as horse racing, ice hockey and basketball cannot and will not compete with the television audience for the NFL’s biggest game - The Super Bowl. Last February, the New England Patriots exciting victory over the Seattle Seahawks saw a Nielsen rating blockbuster of 47.5 that translated to a US audience of 114.4 million viewers for the NFL and TV’s biggest audience of the year. Quite simply, there will never be a sporting audience viewing a game on TV that is larger than the NFL’s Super Bowl audience.

The other interesting point of comparison in the high stakes ratings game for televised sports properties in Major League Baseball which saw an 8.2 ratings average and 13.8 million viewers tune into the 2014 series, according to Sports Media Watch. Between Jordan’s last game in 1998 and 2008, the World Series consistently out-rated the NBA Finals. But, over the past five years (2010-2014), the NBA Finals has out-rated Major League Baseball’s World Series and the trend is surely going to continue in 2015, unless October brings about a miracle story (Insert Chicago Cubs joke here!)

One other interesting factor in televised sports ratings is to look at the numbers from the competing local markets. In Cleveland, Game 4 of the NBA Finals generated a 45.7 rating for the 20+ point Golden State blowout of the Cavs. In the Bay Area (SF market), the broadcast delivered a solid 30.5 rating. Pretty amazing audience numbers for the NBA which was largely criticized, especially by NASCAR and Fox Sports tv executives, when the 2003 NBA Finals drew all-time ratings lows of 6.5 for the New Jersey Nets vs. San Antonio Spurs series.

That … was a long time ago.

Say GoodBye to Hollywood, 1938-2013

INGLEWOOD - The last day of racing at Hollywood Park

Today was the last day of racing at Hollywood Park, one of my favorite places on Earth. Sad to see it go, but such is the state of horse racing in 2013-14.

It made me think of more than just a race track closing.  It made me think of all the changes since 1938, all the changes since 1978 (when Billy Joel brought "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" to life). I thought hard about all the changes since 2007-08 and, really, the changes since  -- yesterday.

Said Billy Joel of Hicksville and the Town of Oyster Bay:

"Bobby's drivin' through the city tonight,
Through the lights, in a hot new rent-a-car
He joins the lovers in his heavy machine
It's a scene down on Sunset Boulevard
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye, my baby
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye, my baby
Johnny's takin' care of things for a while
And his style is so right for troubadours
They got him sitting with his back to the door,
Now he won't be my fast gun anymore
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye, my baby
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye, my baby
Movin' on is a chance you take
Any time you try to stay - together,
Whoa
Say a word out of line,
And you find that the friends you had
Are gone forever,
Forever.
So many faces in and out of my life
Some will last,
Some will just be now and then,
Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes
I'm afraid it's time for goodbye again
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye, my baby
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye, my baby"

*******************************

Here is the LA Times' coverage:

Hollywood Park is Closing

After 75 years of horse racing, (sponsor) Hollywood Park has reached closing day. The Inglewood track will close its doors permanently after Sunday's 11-race card.

The $200,000 King Glorious Stakes for 2-year-olds at seven furlongs is the final stakes to be run. The jockey champion could come down to the final race, with Rafael Bejarano and Joe Talamo in a tight competition. First post is 12:30 p.m.

Hollywood Park opened in 1938 and has seen some of the greatest thoroughbreds in history race on its track. There was Seabiscuit, Citation, Swaps, Ack Ack, Native Diver, John Henry, Landaluce and Zenyatta.

Bill Shoemaker and Laffit Pincay Jr. used to duel in the jockey standings. Legendary trainers Charles Whittingham and Willard Proctor did battle on the backstretch. There was Harry Henson and his memorable race calls and Hollywood celebrities who used to hang out in the turf club.

"I'm going to miss this place," said trainer Mike Mitchell, second all-time in training victories with more than 900. "A lot of memories."

The stable area will remain open for another month, and an auction is planned to sell off memorabilia and other racing assets.

Santa Anita will take over as the Southland's primary race track with its expanded winter meeting on the day after Christmas.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-hollypark-final-20131222,0,6240856.story#ixzz2oFvT7QCM

A little musical tribute from the Piano Man and Long Islander, Billy Joel:

America's Best Racing ... Fall Season

The fall season of horse racing is upon us and that culminates with the annual Breeders' Cup.  Here is a little "Sizzle Reel" to get you pumped up for the next chapter in the Sport of Kings ... Thoroughbred Horse Racing.

And, They're Off, starring Dewey Dreams

Check out "America's Best Racing" for amazing insight into the Sport of Kings ... Here is an example:

Year of 2012 in Review: Horse Racing

A look at the Year of 2012 for the Horse Racing industry, by Ken Adelson

Saratoga - Lifestyle Lesson 101 for JC

NEW YORK, DECEMBER 26, 2012 -- When you look back to review the year in the world of sports, the Year 2012 will stand as the beginning of something big for the horse racing industry as America’s Best Racing was born. The Horse Racing industry is cultivating a new generation of fans with a focus on lifestyle, entertainment, competition and gambling. Using the new ABR website, network television broadcasts, social media, extensive video production and on-site engagement, ABR is engineered to drive fan development and bring a fresh perspective to the sport.

I was privileged to be part of the launch team and help build the overall strategy. Of course, one of the most powerful tools in the social media age is video and the ability to reach people in ways unheard of just a few short years ago. We got out of the gate quickly with a series of vignettes designed to help introduce new fans to the game. They were used all year long on the ABR website, posted on many racetrack sites and aired on NBC during our "Road to the Kentucky Derby Broadcasts." We asked Joe Kristufek from Horseplayer Now to be our host and in one jam packed day at Gulfstream Park in Florida, shot a dozen segments we called  "Racing 101." 

For more, please see:  CLICK HERE

Fantasy Belmont

I'll Have Another

Let's hope this doesn't jinx "I'll Have Another" - who'll be bidding for the first Triple Crown in 34 years.  I can remember when my Dad had Canonero II in his office pool and the upset winner of the Kentucky Derby went on to win The Preakness but fell short at Belmont.

I love horse racing and always have since attending a few races at the old Roosevelt Raceway (trotters and pacers) but then seeing the real deal at Belmont (I used to work at the Elmont restaurant, called Barney's Seafood Restaurant at the Elmont Bowlaire - about a 1/2 mile from the track.  We made an occasional trip to Aqueduct and later to Saratoga for The Travers or the final weekend of Saratoga racing and The Hopeful.  A few years later, it was on to Hollywood Park - near the Fabulous Forum in LA and a few years after that, to horse-racing paradise - Delmar!

Belmont will always be my favorite, especially around the paddock area and in the back where Sunday Silence is impossible with all the families and kids enjoying the park-like atmosphere.
Saratoga a close second in terms of family fun.  Delmar - by far - the most beautiful.

I'd love to get to see some racing in Ireland and England.  But, now, let's concentrate on The Belmont and June 9th.

Here's the simulation:

Equine Influenza hits Oz ...

Tough news day in Australia, as the AFL scandal brews and horse racing is totally halted.

News reports from the Australian wire services estimate a $1 billion dollar loss in the total shutdown of nearly all the horse racing in NSW, Australia. The cause is a severe influenza virus that has halted racing in New South Wales and is restricting any movement of horses in all of Australia. Thirty of the top stallions were quarantined as the virus they are detecting was a virus originating in Japan.

In 1995, authorities in Australia were baffled by a rare virus which originated with the horses but killed two men.

The AFL and courts in Melbourne are still sorting out court orders trying to curb news reporting and public awareness of documents that contained medical and drug records for a top AFL team.

The Melbourne Herald Sun is reporting that the newspaper has filed to lift the court order. Ch 7 Australia obtained the records after a woman offered the papers for sale, claiming she found them outside an area clinic.

The web site ...

In mid-June, as my NBA career was winding down to its final days, I began the process of creating a Marketing, Communications and Sports Consultant LLC. I posted an inquiry to the NYC edition of Craig's list - Web Site Design for New Consultant Business - and within minutes, had a serious stream of web designers emailing me from all points.

The power of the web was evident as resumes and links came from all corners of the USA, including, New York, Los Angeles, NJ, Philadelphia and Seattle. International posts were right among the initial replies, including web designers in India.

I sifted through a number of talented web designers who all provided the items I asked for: A basic quote for a 20-25 page web site, samples of their work and a link to their portfolio or client web sites.

I interviewed a number of prospective web designers and decided to go with:

http://www.getmyownsite.com

I am currently in the "Construction" phase of the design.

Outlines have been completed, artwork has been in production. I have asked for some assistance from NBA Photos to gather material to be included. Funny, as so many shots were photographs that I shaped, posed or orchestrated or they are photos of events that I helped promote.

In some cases, I will be taking the photos myself.

See some examples of a photo that will be included, to show my expertise in the field of Thoroughbred Horse Racing.