Breeders' Cup 2026

Somebody's got to write about it.

(And I'm just getting around to composing my thoughts after being set back 20 lengths with a confirmed bout of Type A flu. Been feeling worse than missing a nice exacta by a nose.)

The outsourced sports pages of the New York Times to The Athletic (despite the NYT buying The Athletic.) didn't print a pre-race or post-race word on the two-day event. The New York Post printed the entries for Friday and Saturday, along with a needless puff piece on the trainer Cherie Deveaux on Friday. The New York Post didn't print any results from Saturday's races.

But to the true followers of racing these publications are not needed to absorb the results. All you need is to watch Fox Sports and NBC to know what's going on.

Certainly the winning horses and jockeys were the stars. But the human star was Aidan O'Brien, the Hall-of-Fame Irish trainer who has won more Breeders' Cup races than anyone so far. (But Chad Brown is hot on his heels.) Aidan added three to his total over the weekend.

Aidan, for some reason is mostly seen in wrap-around dark sunglasses, which give him a malevolent assassin look. He is a James Bond villain with a silencer who steps out of an elevator leaving three bodies crumbled on the floor surrounded by blood splatter. He's the Anna Wintour of the paddock.

He is a dynastic head of the racing connected O'Briens who dominate Grade I European and Breeders' Cup racing. His son, once a jockey, is also a top trainer as well. It's a family affair.

After Aidan's second win on Friday with Haffner in the Juvenile Turf he was interviewed by maybe Kenny Rice. Aidan spoke so fast with his Irish accent, thanking by naming what seemed to be every person who worked for the stable, that one might have thought he was doing a Gilbert and Sullivan soliloquy on the 'Very Model of a Modern Major General.' It was operatic breath control.  Afterward, the commentator Ahmed Fareed said that perhaps in the future they need to limit how many people Aidan can thank in one interview.

We can start with the first Breeders' Cup race on Friday, $1,000,000, 5½ furlong 2-year-old, turf sprint, won by the Irish-bred filly, Libertango, trained by George Bouley and ridden by a replacement rider Billy Loughnane. 

Twelve entered, 8 of which are fillies, getting a three-pound allowance in weights, having to carry 119 pounds vs. 122 for the colts. The weight assignment meant Billy had to sweat off some pounds to make the weight. Foreign jockeys are not used to riding at lighter weights.

With a 12 horse field, a surprise longshot winner would not be unexpected. Breeders' Cup races are famous for producing longshot winner who crawl up the rail and get their nose in front right on the wire and pay boxcar prices. The surprise to the 2026 Breeders' Cup was how formful the results were, and devoid of bombs.

LIbertango won with ease, pulling away in the stretch for a 1¼ length victory, as the favorite, paying $5.74 for $2. I love seeing the European-style of riding with the jockey pumping away high on the horse's back, rousing to the finish.

A near co-favorite won the next race, the $1,000,000 Juvenile fillies, Emphatic, for Brendan Walsh, ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, paying $7.92 for $2

The next race saw the first of Aidan O'Brien's three winners on the weekend,  the one mile, $1,000,000 Juvenile filly turf taken by the Irish-bred Sun Goddess, winning with ease, with a three-length lead as the $3.70 for $2 favorite in a packed 14 horse field. It was that kind of day. despite huge fields, the favorites were not taken out of the picture and they prevailed. And who was the winning jockey? Ryan Moor, of course, probably the best of the foreign jockeys at the moment.

Next, probably the marquee Juvenile race for fillies, the 11/16 mile $ 2,000,000, with the smallest of the Breeders' Cup fields, 8 horses, lead in favoritism and at the wire by Bob Baffert's highly regarded Hughes,  ridden by Flavian Prat, paying $3.64 for $2. The second most highly regarded filly, American History, trained by Todd Pletcher, finished second, as nearly 4-1.

Rounding out the day for the Juvies, was the $1,000,000 mile, turf race, won by Aidan O'Brien's Haffner, with, who else, Ryan Moore riding. But not as the favorite. That was the second place finisher the Irish=bred Folsom Blues at $2.52 to $1 in a 12 horse field. Trained by? Take a wild guess. Joseph O'Brien, Aidan's son.  

The Breeders' Cup has come a long was from its initial races in 1984. There used to be only one day of racing, 7 races. Now, virtually every gender, surface, and distance is covered. I'm not really joking when I say they need a $100,000 Starter Allowance race that lets in accomplished claimers. They have breeding too, you know.

Saturday's Breeders' Cup card is where the marquee names will be entered. Those horses that have been banging heads all season and taking down Grade 1s.

First up is the $1,000,000 Fillies and Mare Sprint, 7 furlongs, full field of 11, one of whom is Ways and Means, the expected favorite, and those who aren't scared off.

At just over even money, Ways and Means blows their doors off, with Flavian Prat, winning by what will turn out to be the widest margin of all the Breeders' Cup races. Chad Brown adds another win to his total and in a year or so will probably be the all-time leading Breeders' Cup winning trainer.

The ease with which Ways and Means wins makes even money seem like a gift for the New York Connections of Klaravich Stables. Most interesting to me is that two days after the win, Ways and Means is sold for $5 million.

In one of those interviews for America's Best Racing, Chad Brown is said to have rated Ways and Means as a 15 out of 10, and is one of the three horses he's ever just told the jockey, "don't fall off."

This kind of advice is reminiscent to me of the advice trainer Frank Whiteley Jr. told tell Jacinto Vasquez when he first climbed aboard Ruffian so many years ago: "Don't fuck up." 

I didn't think a 5-year-old mare, albeit a Breeders' Cup winning one, would even be put up for sale. But Klaravich Stable is headed by Seth Klarman, a financial guy, so to him it must make sense to make a sale of a horse he bred. He's got the mare who produced Ways and Means, so, what Seth worry?

Turf sprints are exciting, and a category of racing that didn't exist 20-25 years ago. So, up next, is the 5½ furlongs Turf Sprint, with a full field of 14 horses, won by Bacio at a gift of 2-1.

Bacio is a close second favorite with Comanche Brave taking the favorite spot at nearly 2-1, but dead heating for 4th. Turf fractions will always generally be faster than dirt fractions, and Bacio, for trainer Wesley Ward and Jockey J.J. Hernandez, the 211/5, 434/5 553/5 and 1:02.11 were no exception. Again, a large field produces a relatively short price of $6.36 to $2.

Bacio has defeated 56 other horses in their past 4 races and was clocked at 45 m.p.h. streaking down the stretch.

The Breeders' Cup dirt mile for $1,000,000 million attracted a field of 10, and a look at the chart will tell you the favorite, Further Ado, ridden by Flavien Prat and trained by Brad Cox won by a nose.  Another formful finish. But what a finish.

The chart writer is limited to how they record a "nose" victory. Further Ado finished an official nose in front of nearly 10-1 shot Owen Almighty. "no" is the chart shorthand for what was anything but a nose margin of victory. It was more like, "ts"  a tissue sample. 

The more elapsed time that the OFFICIAL result is not posted, the more the odds go up to in the belief it's going to be a dead heat. But, after not too long an interval of waiting, Further Ado's number 1 was posted, and Brad Cox has a Breeders' Cup victory.

You have to believe, or hope, that the air quality is free of dust when a photo like Saturday's is examined. Even when it is displayed, you need the mirror image to make a determination. If a speck of dust stays on the photo, a dead heat might be declared that is not a dead head. You need the sterile surroundings of a computer chip factory. "ts" best describes it.

Have we left out a permutation of distance, gender and surface yet? No when they run a 13/16 filly turf race for $2 million won by Kathynmarissa, trained by Chad Brown and ridden by José Ortiz.

Kathynmarissa is not the bottom  of-an-eye-chart soccer player for the Premier League. You have to be accustomed to the 18 space limitation for a horse's name, spaces included. As such, spaces are eliminated, and when we break the code we get: Kathy n Marissa, a horse named by the owner Michael Dubb for two young women who helped him secure financing for one of his construction projects on Long Island.

(Yesterday at Belmont, an unlikely named horse in the first race, a $30,000 maiden race, was named Boxajoe N Tootzrol, using every one of the 18 spaces allowed for a name. Boxajoe N Tootzrol will never make it  to list of entrants for even the lowest stake race. The owner however got their wish and was able to attach a most unique name to a thoroughbred.)

Michael Dubb is NYRA board member whose yellow with roses silks have put him in the winner's circle many times as a leading, or near leading owner. Dubb will immodestly tell any anyone he was responsible for building Anna's House, the NYRA day care center for backstretch employees. 

Kathynmarissa was not the favorite, but rather he third choice, despite three very good first place finishes over the summer and in the fall. We first saw Michael in the winner's circle with the real life Kathy and Marissa when the horse won the Grade 1 Diana turf race at Saratoga.

The Irish-bred Blue Bolt was the favorite, but never fired and finished 11th, an unusual disappointing effort for a Breeders' Cup Juddmonte hose.

Like sprint races? Want to see Englishman win and seal end-of-year- horse honors? You weren't the only one. The 6 furlong Breeders' Cup $2,000,000 Sprint is just the race.

One can be forgiven for seeing Englishman roll to such a lead in the stretch that they head to the windows to collect before the race is over. Because it's over, right?

José Ortiz sets Englishman, one of 13 entrants down for business: 213/5, 442/5, 554/5 fractions. Piece of cake, right? Should have been.

But the oddly named T O Elvis, the Japanese horse owned by Tomoya Ozasa is 4th in the stretch, ridden by Ryusei Sakai, who rides Forever Young. T O is back with the peloton until the breakaway that sees T O shoot out and look like a heat-seeking missile, rapidly decreasing Englishman's margin. Quickly.

You can't believe your eyes. Englishman's lead is disappearing as fast Frosty the Snowman left out in Miami's heat.  Second. A great race, and a stunning ending that only produces a win price of $7.58.

I have to think Cherie DeVaux, Englishman's trainer is pissed at Ortiz for cooking him on the lead. It reminded of when Arbees Boy closed the gap on the speed burning effort of Forego in the 1974 Metropolitan Mile at Belmont. Forego finished second, cooked on the lead by Heliodoro Gustines and there went my $50 win bet. Still never forgetting the race.

Ready for a mile at $2,000,000 on the turf? 13 horses in the gate. One thing about a Breeders' Cup day, the fields are filled with hopefuls, whose owners have paid a lot to get there and start.

If there can be a New York favorite son, it would have to be Deterministic, trained by Miquel Clement who took over from his Hall of Fame father Christophe Clement who passed away from cancer quickly at 59 years old.  Christophe is greatly missed.

But immediately after Christophe's passing, Deterministic wins a Grade 1 turf race. Miquel is not just filling his father's shoes, he's wearing them, and his own. He hasn't missed a training accomplishment yet.

The favorite is another foreign horse, the Great Britain-bred Godolphin Notable Speech, trained by Charlie Appleby. Foreign horses and Breeders' Cup turf races are expected to be money in the bank.

If Deterministic is a lunch pail horse hobnobbing with royalty, it is even more pronounced when you consider Kendrick Carmouche is Deterministic's jockey, a capable, highly likeable journeyman jockey who charms you with his New Orleans accent.

But Kendrick is not José Ortiz, Flavien Prat, or William Buick. Does Deterministic have a chance?

As Kendrick like to tell anyone who can hear him when he's in the winners' circle, "Louisiana in the House baby."

In an absolute, thrilling, front-running ride at 5-1, Kendrick guides Deterministic to a textbook win and earns Kendrick his first Breeders' Cup win. Notable Speech doesn't have enough words to catch him, and he finishes second.

The juggernaut St. Elias Stable and Vinny Viola flood the winners' presentation. It's turning into a New York rout on Breeders' Cup day. You gotta smile at this one.

Ready to breathe different air? That is the story about how Nitrogen got its name: she breathes different air.

The Breeders' Cup Distaff, at $2,000,000 and a mile and an eighth is for you. I think the smallest field of 7 fills the gate. At 4/5, Nitrogen seems like an overlay, winning by two lengths. 

If Nitrogen is breathing different air, she is breathing nitrous oxide as she staggers down the stretch and makes you wonder if she going to crash into a grandstand fence.  She's nowhere close enough to causing a collision with other horses, but if she was a car driven by a football analyst Tony Romo she'd be pulled over for a breathalyzer test.

For the penultimate race, do you like a classic mile and a half turf race with a full field of 14 horses, 11 of whom are foreign bred? It is exactly this kind of field that long ago made me give up trying to handicap a Breeders' Up card using the Daily Racing Form. I now pick one horse, in the Classic, from my own acquired handicapping data.

Do you like 3-1 favorites? I certainly would if I liked BenvenutoCllini, trained by the incomparable Aidan O'Brien and ridden by the best foreign jockey, Ryan Moore. For anyone who likes these connections and a 3-1 set of odds, it would be time to empty the bank account.

And you wouldn't be disappointed. Benvenuto is 8th at th stop of the stretch, and wins by ¾ of a length. You had it all the way, right?

The long talked about, heavily analyzed year-end honors deciding race, the Classic, at the championship distance of 1¼ is the appropriate finale.

The race is for 3 years-old and up, but is rarely won by a three-year old. In fact, two of the three 3-year-olds finished last and next-to-last. The Puma finished a decent second, and has gotten everyone excited.

The story line is running through last year's winner, Forever Young, the Japanese owned horse, Golden Tempo, the 3-year-old winner of the Derby and Belmont for Cherie Deveaux, Bill Mott's Knightsbridge, expected to take the lead and perhaps go wire-to-wire, and Sovereignty, last year's Belmont, Jim Dandy Travers, and this year's Whitney winner. 

Favoritism is basically shared with Forever Young and Sovereignty. My old school bet goes to Sovereignty to win, who wins decisively and pays $5.94, nearly 2-1.

Forever Young, who looked like he was suffering from too much saki when he won the Jockey Club Gold Cup against a cream puff field on opening day at Belmont in September, basically did nothing.

The winning time of 2:00.36 was a solid effort by Sovereignty, who will now be retired. No plans, other than back to Japan, for Forever Young were announced. Rest is needed, or retirement.

To demonstrate what an old fashion win or cold exacta bet can do, the story goes that the winner of  the Breeders' Cup handicapping contest went in big with a Sovereignty/Puma cold exacta, and took home first prize, as it paid $31.30 for $1. Way to go.

Thanks God it's over. We don't have to keep hearing speculation of who is going to win the Classic. However, NYRA can't stop telling anyone with ears that next year's Breeders' Cup is in New York, the first since 2005.

I'm sure by November 2027 NYRA will have the place ready to look like the Breeders' Cup should be there. 

The Breeders' Cup people take over the track and set the prices for all admission and concessions, parking, etc. NYRA still has to finish the place. The racing surfaces are first class right now. But there is a lot more work to do.

The seating in the stands is not finished, with only the second floor open. There is no formal looking entrance, like say Saratoga.

When Fred Wilpon wanted a design for the new Mets stadium, Fred wanted an evocative homage to his beloved Ebbets field. He got it. Belmont as it now stands doesn't evoke any sense of history.

The place lacks any ambience and nod to its heritage. The Peb mural is hoped to eventually be put somewhere, along with Wood Memorial and Belmont Stakes photos. There is no architectural touch that evokes a connection to the old place. Ivy covered brick is not evident. Red brick is not evident. The adjacent USB arena looks more like the old Belmont. Belmont looks like an arrivals building at an airport right now.

And NYRA needs to get their head out of their ass and realize that perhaps, yes, Belmont Stakes day and a Breeders' Cup day are special "marquee" days, but any other presentation of a card, no mater how many stakes races they jam into one, doesn't make he place worth a $50 General admission with a $25 allowance for food and beverage.

To spend $50 before making a bet (not counting parking) is hardly a winning business plan.

If still alive, I'll watch next year's Belmont, and Breeders' Cup on TV. Hope to see you guys in April 2027.

http://www.onofframp.blogspot.com

 

Phil Rizzuto

Coronavirus is so far back in the rear view mirror that I'm now tending to think it refers to Corona beer submerged in a tub of ice on a beach to be shared by many.

Dr. Fauci. Remember him? The man who looked like Phil Rizzuto who told an entire country to wear surgical masks over our mouths. And we listened.

At the time of the virus outbreak, Dr. Anthony Fauci was the longtime director of the Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases. Dr. Fauci had clout. He was a rock star.

Fast forward to 2026, and the good doctor is reduced to telling the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs that yes, Dr. Anthony Fauci is his name, but any further questions will not be answered by exercising his right to not incriminate himself, invoking the 5th Amendment over 100 times. Holy cow!

Anything that happens is because something else didn't happen. Enter Helen Branswell, a science reporter who saw Covid coming before everyone else. Ms. Branswell, at 69, has passed away, and is the subject of an extensive 6-column tribute obituary in the New York Times by Jeré Longman.

The above photo appearing in Ms. Branswell's obit, is of her, on the right, at panel discussion on Covid with others, including Dr. Fauci second from the right, in February 2020 at the Aspen Institute.

In the obit, Mr. Longman, recounts what to me is a baffling bit of conversation between Ms. Branswell and Dr. Fauci.

At the panel discussion, Dr. Fauci said that the risk of the coronavirus spreading was "relatively low," given that there were only 13 confirmed cases of Covid in the United States at the time.

Ms. Branswell is clearly skeptical. "Explain to me why the risk is low, somebody. Because to me, when I look at this virus spreading, it's spreading very efficiently. Like, there's no force field around China. It's not going to stop there."

Mr. Longman reports: This drew a blunter response rom Dr. Fauci. "Is there a risk that this is going to turn into a global pandemic? Absolutely, yes."

Huh? If that was his response, contradicting his earlier remarks that the risk of the virus spreading is "relatively low," Dr. Fauci should have taken the 5th then and there and saved us all a lot of trouble misunderstanding the virus.

Ms. Branswell was a highly respected science reporter, who had won the prestigious George Polk Award in 2020, and was cited by the judges for her "relentless coverage of all aspects of the pandemic that became must reading for the medical community and the general public." She was a 2021 finalist, with others, for the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting for their "prescient expert and accessible work." Ms. Branswell first article citing a coronavirus came out on January 4, 2020.

When something happens, it is because something else didn't happen.

http://www.onofframp.blogspot,com

Harry Houdini

In a few days time, it will be 100 years ago that Harry Houdini died on October 29, 30 or 31st, 1926, to be exact. The month and year are not in dispute. Not so much the date.

Robin Pogrebin, in the New York Times tells us cause of death is now being questioned. It has always been reported, and therefore assumed, that the great magician passed away from a ruptured appendix that occurred when a college student asked Harry if he could punch him in his fabled tight abdomen to test his claimed legendary fitness, received permission, punched Harry three quick times, and made Harry wince. That was on October 22. Nothing was thought of it at the time.

At least not until seven days later when Harry needed two abdominal operations. The first was on October 29, for the appendix that was thought to have burst. There was a second surgery on October 30 to alleviate the complications from the prior day's surgery. 

Recovery was not made after the second surgery and Houdini passed away. Harry doesn't escape death, and he certainly doesn't escape when it was recorded. The documents were manipulated to show October 31 as his date of death, to coincide with Halloween, a time of year when Harry was  particularly debunking mediums and Spiritualists. 

The eventual burst appendix, and October 31 date of death have held their place in history, at least until 2025 when a retired urology surgeon, Larrian Gillespie, wrote a book, "Houdini, The Man Who Died Twice" and reported on her review of the altered death certificates, and medical reports. Her timeline and series of events goes as follows:

The burst appendix was not the primary cause of death, but rather a "bowel obstruction brought on by a fibrous mass of chop suey that Houdini ate on October 28."

Harry Houdini was born Erik Weisz, (Weiss on his gravestone) in Appleton, Wisconsin, son of a rabbi. It's irrelevant that Chinese food, chop suey, might have been popular with Jewish people even in 1926. Dr. Gillespie has researched that this is what he ate on October 28. How it turned into a "fibrous mass" is not described. If it was takeout, I'm sure Harry didn't eat the paper container. Or did he? No matter. 

Emergency surgery was performed on October 29 to evacuate the bowel. Severe fever, muscle spasms, and unconsciousness set in. 

A second surgery is performed on October 30 from which Houdini died. The second surgery is not mentioned on the death certificate. Operations, plural, are however mentioned in the NYT obituary headline.

The date was made to be October 31 to make his death more mystical. Dr. Gillespie theorizes that the second surgery is not mentioned to avoid what might have been taken to be medical malpractice from  the first surgery.

The death remained classified as an accident in order to allow Houdini's widow to collect a double indemnity payout from his life insurance.

The Canadian university student who punched Houdini three times was vilified his entire life for causing the great magician's death, passed away himself from malnutrition in 1954 was buried in an unmarked Montreal grave.

Joscelyn Gordon Whitehead had an unusual spelling for a guy's first name. Google tells us, not unsurprisingly, it is Old French in origin:

archaic, medieval spelling of a historically masculine name derived from the Old French Joscelin and Germanic Gauzlin. While it was traditionally given to men in the Middle Ages, the spelling and name are viewed as predominantly feminine today.  

Dr. Gillespie's research and book have removed the stigma of attributing Houdini's death to some punches thrown by Mr. Whitehead. 

Larrian is seen in the photo standing over a headstone she ordered, paid for, and had installed where Mr. Whitehead is buried.

Standing to her right is George Hardeen, a great-nephew of Houdini; to her left is D. Whitehead, a relative of Joscelyn Gordon Whitehead.

The headstone reads:

WHITEHEAD
Joscelyn Gordon
November 25, 1896
July 5, 1954
Falsely Accused No More

Now if we can clear up the spelling of Houdini's birth surname.

http://www.onofframp.blogspot.com

Slinger Francisco

Who would write in an obituary that this deceased Calypso singer's renowned voice was, among other things...an example of extraordinary verbal prestidigitation...?

I found out when I looked up at the byline in yesterday's New York Times at what was the advance obit written by Margalit Fox.

Ms. Fox more completely describes Mr. Francisco's verbal charms as: "...Slinger Francisco—was renowned for his sonorous voice, unremitting energy and extraordinary command of the verbal prestidigitation and sly double-entendre..." I have to say, I still never heard of the guy.

Ms. Fox, as any long-time reader of NYT  obituaries knows, was one of the more than clever obit writers whose ledes and choice of subjects could nearly rival those of the now long-departed Robert McG. Thomas Jr.

Ms. Fox left the Times more than a few years ago to devote herself to writing works about ancient language and even a tale of Sherlock Holmes's author Canon Doyle solving a crime himself.

Margalit is missed, but somewhat like a corpse in the river, will pop up when the subject she was assigned to do an advance on finally passes on, and her obit floats to the surface to be retrieved by readers. Margalit is just not on the payroll anymore.

Based on all the names of the famous people who admired Mr. Francisco, I am surely nearly alone in never having heard of him, despite liking all kinds of music. I must say that my Calypso exposure has been confined to Harry Belafonte, who gets a brief mention in the obit.

Ms. Fox gives us the cultural origins of Calypso by telling us:

"Calypso, the most emblematic music of the English-speaking Caribbean, was born centuries ago among the African slaves forced to work on colonial plantations there. The calypso song became a potent form of social commentary—an amiable syncopated number with a sting in its tail." 

Every time I hear the recording of Harry Belafonte starting to sing "Day-O, Day-O" at ball parks I think that the crowd probably doesn't know it's called the 'Banana Boat Song' and the lyrics are about the nighttime loading of bananas on ships by the native, Calypso singing longshoreman.

They are singing "Day-O, Daaaay-O, Daylight come an' I wan' go home" to hurry up the end of the night shift, when loading the boats is easier because the night air is cooler.

As usual, when a singer passes away who I'm not familiar with, I go to iTunes and sample some of their songs. I have to say, Mr. Francisco's songs do not make me wish I discovered him sooner. They are loud, heavy on the horns, and with lyrics I can barely make out. Certainly in a live setting he would be entertaining to me, but not as a recording artist. I think I downloaded one or two, just to have them pop up on my iPod this winter when garage woodworking starts.

But the real surprise in Mr. Francisco's obit is when Margalit reveals that Robert Mitchum, the actor Robert Mitchum, recorded an album or two of calypso music. Does TCM know this? This is easily the first I've ever heard of this, and I only wish my friend Johnny M. were still alive to absorb this news along with me. THIS IS MAJOR STUFF.

Yep, iTunes, and there is a Mitchum calypso beat song, "The Ballad of Thunder Road" from an album "Calypso is Like So..." It's more a tale of a moonshiner and his last run, so it doesn't seem to fit an image of a Caribbean island, but Mitchum sings (talks?) his way through the lyrics. Think Richard Burton without a Welsh accent doing selections from Camelot. I bought the CD.

It is this kind of buried revelation that makes reading tribute obits a must read. 

http://onofframp.blogspot.com

The Reimagined Belmont

There is no better feeling than walking into a racetrack, betting the first race—and hitting. It's even better when the racetrack is the "newly reimagined Belmont" and you're there for its maiden weeks, sailing into history.

I was at Belmont yesterday for a nine race card. I got a seat, with a back, that was closer to the finish than I imagined it would be. In fact, I was in front of the "Secretariat Pole," the skinny, blue and white marker just inside the 16th pole that indicates where the second place horse was in the 1973 Belmont Stakes when Bid Red was crossing the finish line with a 31 length lead and record setting time. (I was there, standing on a seat in the last 3rd floor section, section screaming at my friend, "look at the time, look at the time." Ron Turcotte was caught looking at it too.)

I will say the new Belmont has vastly improved sightlines; a longer stretch, (the old Belmont stretch was shorter than Aqueduct's. It's true.) and from the second floor, a closeness to the track that you didn't have before.

Sitting at the Secretariat Pole and looking to the right at the finish line, I have to say it doesn't look like a great distance; but it is for a margin of victory. It is very nearly the length of a football playing field.

Not sure if I like the single, huge tote/replay screen dominating the center viewpoint. No possible exacta combinations are displayed, only the flashing of latest odds and the center video screen. Exacta, and double possibles are visible on any of the many televisions.

The place is not finished. The infield is a mess of ongoing construction, no doubt putting a lake in, and making what will be spectator accommodations for Belmont Day, and possibly the Breeders' Cup.

The upper floors are not open yet. I'm hoping there will be a 3th floor, and maybe even a 4th floor that will allow spectator viewing that looks over the many, many boxes below.

The paddock landscaping, outside of th ancient Japanese white pine, is in place to grow, but is hardy there yet. The place looks sparse for now.

The turf courses look lush, and the Tapeta looks ready to be put to use again when races come off the turf. Off-the-turf-days will no longer default to the main track, generating a slew of scratches, creating unwelcome small fields. Even though Tapeta is the closest thing there is to turf, handicapping adjustments will have to be made.

                                          

Only two of the Assembled made the outing; Bobby G. and Johnny D., a newly minted nonagenarian and a teetering, septuagenarian, who were somewhat pooped by the amount of walking there was to do, making the way from the Elmont-UBS arena LIRR station  (despite a welcome, and unexpected shuttle service) and the trek from one of the parking lots. 

Hopefully, the remaining third member of the Assembled will be available to come when the next outing is planned; as yet to be determined.

So, how did the rest of day go for Bobby G—who also hit the first race—and Johnny D?

Bobby G. netted a profit that added a Ulysses S. Grant to his wallet. Johnny D. continued his history of winning the last race—an uncanny ability that stretches back over 50 years—resulting in a net loss that represented the cost of two pepperoni slices. No major financial setback there.

http://www.onofframp.blogspot.com

The Straight Poop from the New York Times

I never know what I'm going to be writing about next. Obituaries can always be counted on for some of the inspiration, and in the case of the passing of Edward Lehner, Who Got New Yorkers to Pick Up After Dogs, Dies at 93 I was touched again by a muse.

The "pooper-scooper" law went into effect in 1978, so long ago that there is at least a full generation of city dwellers who have no idea what it might have been like to walk the streets, sidewalks, and areas of parks, with either skirting around do-do, or, if personal poop radar failed, to actually stepping it in. It was messy.

Sarah Lyall, a senior writer-at-large for the New York Times, who most recently has been on the book beat, was either thrown in the dog house to write the poop obit, or is accepting a new assignment like a pro and turning in a gem no matter what desk she's assigned to. Either way, the "pooper-scooper" gets a detailed narrative of its origins set off by the passing of the law's major sponsor, Edward Lehnar.

Mr. Lehner, center

We learn Mr. Lehnar was a lawyer, judge, and state assemblyman who grew tired of skirting city poop, or even finding he had stepped in it. There has to be a better way. There was. Legislation.   

The pooper-scooper bill was introduced in 1977 by Mr. Lehner in the state Assembly, and co-sponsored in the Senate by Frank S. Leichter. Ms. Lyall tells us "before the passage of Public Health Law 1310, as it was officially known, New York city was a minefield of dog dirt."

I remember the outcry from dog owners who were then going to henceforth have to pick up after their dogs when they crouched down to do their do-do—no matter on what surface they found themselves on. 

New Yorkers don't like to be told to do anything that they don't want to do. Ms Lyall doesn't tell us how often tickets were generated for the offence of not picking up after the pooch. My guess is there were certainly tickets, but an honor system slowly took hold over the dog owners who acceded to doing the pickups, and the sidewalks, streets and parks were eventually much, much cleaner. And they still are. 

In the mid-70s Mario Cuomo was not yet governor, he was a lawyer in Queens and eventually the state's Secretary of State. His oratorical powers wee not yet widely evident, but they were brewing. 

Ms. Lyall has unearthed an example of Mario's flourishes, when she tells us the story behind a memo he composed.

"The purpose of he bill is laudable, i.e. to require each pet owner to take care of their own," the future Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, then New York's secretary of state, wrote in a memo outlining his department's view of the bill. "But not only would an officer have to catch a dog and his owner in flagrante delicto to enforce the law," he added, "there would be the sticky problem of proving that a particular piece of evidence emanated from a particular aperture."

Well said, from a man who became a three-term governor of the state, who made a stirring speech with the lights out at a Democratic presidential nominating convention, and for whom the Tappan Zee bridge was renamed.

http://www.onofframp.blogspot.com

September 11 2001 and September 16, 2002

For the first time in many years, I missed posting this on the anniversary date of the shootings at Empire BlueCross and BlueShield. 

I didn't mean to forget what cannot be forgotten. I got distracted with something else on 9/16. 

But here it is on 9/21, not too many days after.

-------------------------------------

The following memorializes the terrorist events of 9/11/2001 at New York's World Trade Center and those of the executions at Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield on the morning of 9/16/2002 at 1440 Broadway, our temporary office space after losing our offices on 9/11.

The dates on the stones let you measure the time
Of the lives that lived in between.
The bracketed years reveal to the current
The joys and the troubles they've seen.

On any given day a person is born
You can record the date of their birth.
And on any given day a person can die
And you can record that they've left this earth.

And the morning we made our dusty descent,
An accomplishment undiminished,
We learned of the others and their bracketed date,
And our own, that remained unfinished.

So it is incredible to believe the end can be met
At the hands of someone we knew.
He put an end to life, he put an end to himself,
But he didn't put an end to you.
______________________________________________

September 16, 2002

Twenty-four years is not a so-called milestone anniversary, but no less memorable.

No one ever dies
Who lives in hearts
Left behind.

http://www.onofframp.blogspot.com