Tough times continue at Turfway Park

Horseracing Betting Lines

07/07/2010 - Florence, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In an effort to maintain daily purses equal to last year's, Turfway Park president Robert N. Elliston announced Wednesday that the track has asked the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission to approve a request to cut four Wednesday cards and all but one stakes race from the 2010 Fall Meet.

"We were forced to make deep cuts to at least stay even with last fall's daily purse averages and support our local horsemen as best we can," said Elliston. "We have to do whatever we can to maximize our field size, which means fewer race dates. And we are not alone. Churchill Downs ran four days instead of five except for (Kentucky) Derby week during their spring meet, and their average field size fell below eight. Keeneland cut more than $1 million from its fall meet purse structure and dropped two graded stakes. Except for Labor Day weekend, Ellis Park is racing only three days a week. Meanwhile, Indiana Downs just increased their purses by 30 percent and last month, on an ordinary Wednesday card, set a track wagering record."

Turfway is requesting to run Thursdays through Sundays from September 9 through October 3, a total of 16 days as opposed to last year's 20.

The lone stakes race to remain on the schedule will be the $100,000 Turfway Park Fall Championship at 1 1/2-miles, a Breeders' Cup Challenge race.

Eliminated from the schedule are the three Kentucky Cup Day of Champions races; $200,000 Kentucky Cup Classic, $100,000 Kentucky Cup Distaff and $100,000 Kentucky Cup Sprint.

"We are especially disappointed to have to drop the Kentucky Cup Day of Champions," Elliston continued. "Great horses came from all over for those races, and they've had a significant impact on the Breeders' Cup. If the state legislature allows us to level the playing field with surrounding states that enhance their purses with gaming revenue, the Kentucky Cup would be high on the list of races we would restore."

Additionally, Turfway has asked permission to move its Fall Meet post-time on Thursday and Friday up 90 minutes to 5:30 p.m. (et).

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission is scheduled to consider the request at the group's next meeting on Tuesday, July 20.

Turfway Park is the home of the $500,000 Lane's End Stakes, a major prep race for the Kentucky Derby.

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.