Wanted: Writers of any kind

The Racing Recap is looking for full-time, part-time, ANY-time writers. It doesn't matter what you write about... okay no love notes to Jim, Amanda, Bill, or Laurie - I don't care how much you love them (or want to steal their horses). But anything else PF related is a go.

If you want to submit the occasional article (FREE OF CHARGE) then drop me an e-mail at shahmat_amal@hotmail.com or to Nancy Newmarket via Amanda. And we will be happy to post it for you.

Don't worry about your article being too short or too fluffy or having too many mistakes. If you want an unprofessional-who-will-probably-miss-quite-a few-mistakes; then I'll be happy to look it over for you. But any article is better than no article at all.

Just write it in a word document, and attach it by e-mail and you'll see your name in print in a few days. It's that easy.

But, if you want to bypass that step, and want to become a member of the super-secret-super-exclusive-Recap-Staff then just apply by sending me an e-mail. The application process is pretty tough.... just send me an e-mail with your name and stable and e-mail address that you can be contacted at. And I will do the rest. Of course, you will have to go through a government-style screening... DJ and Amanda call tell you all about it. It was a tough process, but almost painless.

So just type of a few words. It's not too hard. If you want to remain anonymous that is fine too. Say what you really want to say without the threat of retribution.

So write. Review. Send.
You know you want to.

*I would like to extend a special invitation to the editors/writers of The Global Mail and The Undercard to become full-time staffers of The Recap.*

Good Luck. And Happy Racing.

Who is M. Schwartz?

Okay. I have been gone a long time, and most people probably (a) don't remember me (b) have never heard of me.

So I thought it was time to do a little introduction before the start of the season.

My name is Matt Schwartz Jr. I go by either Matt or Junior - take your pick I'll respond to either one.

I am 19 years old and I am going to a local community college in the middle of nowhere in Indiana. Although, I am a full time student, I have recently taken over my family farm, and am the unofficial manager. But, I plan on transferring to the University of Michigan in the near future (with no idea as to what I am majoring in)

I used to own the stable (in PF) Farees Ameer Stables. Most have probably not heard of that either. I only played for about a year the first time, and came back for a few months the second time. Most notably I owned Sumalo’s Charm, Secret Saint, and Fly So High. When I quit the first time I was on my way to the big times with Fly So High… alas my stables closed before she made a big splash.

Writing is a passion of mine, even if I am not great at it. Horses are my other passion. Managing The Recap, after the amazing Joe left, lets me blend those passions – and I hope it’s a little entertaining for you as well.

I try not to be politically correct. And now that I don’t actually have horses invested in the game, I feel I can remain impartial and perhaps give a different perspective.

So there you have it. I wasn’t a great player, but I have watched the game on-and-off for about 5 seasons now and had a couple decent horses.

If you have any questions... post them and I'll answer (to a certain degree of course).

Take my word as pure truth… or take it with a grain of salt (or brandy if you prefer).

Good Luck. And Happy Racing.

M. Schwartz

Kentucky Derby Hopefuls

Who are the early favorites to win the 2010 Kentucky Derby? Here is a list of horses that had PSR's of 90+ for 9 furlongs and up.

New Player's Guide: Racing Season

Racing. It is the heart of Photo-Finish (although some of our overzealous breeders may not think so). And with the new foals due within the next few hours or days, we are drawing ever nearer to it.

This is how most of the stables make the majority of their income. It is sets the tone for the Post-Season activities (auction, breeding season). A stable must succeed here and this is where many of the dreams of a stable come true: Winning a Triple Crown, Breaking Revenge’s World Record, earning Horse of the Year, a Year-long duel between two top horses, a juvenile bred and trained by you winning the Dubai Juvenile.

How do you succeed in the racing world when you only have 2 – 5 racers, and the big establishments are boasting well over 20 racers for this season? Some people may get lucky and get that multi-million dollar horse in their first set of racers. Most are not.

Here is how you succeed at racing.

First of all, you have in your line-up approximately 2 – 5 racers (unless you are a bigger stable… then round up to 20… the basics work for you too). If you followed my Auction tips you would have picked up maybe 1 or 2 proven G2/G3 older horses. If you did that then you are good to start building up that bank account. They may not win every time out, but 7 out of 10 times they’ll come home with a check.

First of all, don’t be tempted to race your horse just because you can. It is okay to go without a racer for a week or two. It may seem like some stables are racing a horse in nearly every race… truth be told they are. But they have 4 or 5 times as many racers as you, and even more money to spend.

Place your horses accordingly. Just because your colt or filly may be doing well at 9 furlongs on dirt in a $75,000 G2 race, doesn’t mean he or she will do as well in a $200,000 G2 race. Go where your horses’ strengths are. If you bought a solid money-maker try him or her at a few distances farther out of his or her comfort range, but if he or she is not doing well – GO BACK TO WHAT WAS WORKING.

Too many new players are hoping to get the next Secretariat. It’s not going to work.
Secondly, GIVE YOUR HORSE ENOUGH REST. I can’t stress this enough. These horses need their rest. Give them at least 14 days before his or her next race. They’ll thank you for it by giving more the next time out.

Most horses do best when they are rested between 14-21 days between races. And make sure that if your horse in injured or sore, that they get additional rest.
In addition, we’ve had a few weeks since the racing season. Our horses haven’t. Check the dates of their last race. Last year a few horses went to the post for the first time in the new season on only a couple of days of rest.

Thirdly, if your stable is getting threatening notes from your accountant that you are nearing the red, then maybe you should sell that foal or yearling that you are holding on to. Or perhaps that 2 year old that you are hoping will pan out at 4.

Sell them to a stable that has the time and money to manage them and wait for them to mature or become of racing age. All they are doing is eating up your finances and not bringing in any cash. IF you are getting low on funds, you will probably be able to find a sympathetic well-off stable.

For my final word of the day. Take a look at Amanda’s Past Performances. See how your horses are doing and have done. Check out those PSRs (hint: the higher the better). If you don’t have the game, those data sheets are your best friend.

Good Luck! And Happy Racing!

Blinkers, Rollers & Shadows

No its not a list from the local hair salon, they are just some of the choices players as trainers can face when trying to focus their runners to the game in hand, ie running as fast as they can for as long as they can! Whilst the game currently doesn’t allow trainers to put equipment on a horse, many trainers use them as workout or training aids, and my inspiration for this article is based on seeing the methods used by Amanda O’Brien of Bally Doyle who is trying to focus one of her 2yr olds debuting this season on the matter in hand – rather than his current game of “how much flesh can I get in one bite”?! The colt (what else!) in question is her regally bred A View to A Kill (barn name Killer) who is trying desperately to live up to his name.

Lets start with the simple choices – your horse carries his head a little high or has a tendency to lose concentration if he spies something on the track below. This easiest solution to this is to fit a "shadow roll” (or as its known in Europe, a noseband). Both are the same, being a roll of sheepskin strapped across a horse's nose on the bridle’s noseband. Its cheap, quick and simple and some trainers swear by them and in some countries, you can recognise a particular trainers horse simply by looking at its racing equipment. An example of this is the UK trainer, Andrew Balding who runs all his horses in “nosebands”, a habit he picked up from his father Ian Balding. So if you see “SR” or “NB” in the racecard, this is the explanation.

OK, so that didn’t work. What else can you try? Next stage is usually a visor or blinkers, which is made up of a headpiece to which are attached eye cups that limit the horse's vision to prevent distractions. The difference between a visor and blinkers is that visors have a small cut in them to enable the horse to have a little more vision for what is coming from behind than the blinkers which restricts the horse to merely seeing what is in front. There is a school of thought that horses fitted with blinkers are “un-genuine” but that is not usually the case, it merely focuses their mind on the job in hand. For many years, horses running with blinkers in the US have had the headpiece (and cups) coloured to match the jockeys silks. One of the most famous horses to have this in recent memory is of course Secretariat. (see below). And I doubt you will find many people saying that this horse was un-genuine! The shorthand in the racecard is “V” or “B” depending.

Mmmm, so you are still having problems but now it seems that the horse is making “gurgling” noises when he runs or is putting his tongue over the bit stopping him from making full use of his lungs? That’s OK – we have a couple of cures for that too! Lets fit the horse with a Tongue Tie, which is simply a cloth or leather band used to tie down a horse's tongue to keep it from interfering with breathing. Although it has been known for trainers to utilise something a little less “technical” and many a horse in the UK has been seen with one leg of the trainer’s wifes’ tights (pantyhose) wrapped around instead! The reason is probably because the nylon is lighter and gives a bit more and can be easily cut off if necessary. Some trainers also add a “figure 8” which does what it says – it goes in a “figure 8” around the nose and over the lips and keeps the horses’ mouth closed to stop it from taking on too much air or being able to take a pull at the reins. Its commonly noted in the race card as “F8” under equipment used. It can also be referred to as a "flash" noseband.

WHAT – you are trying to tell me that none of this is working?! What kinda horse do you have?! Oh, right its getting a bit vicious on the track and you cant fit the F8 as it drives the horse insane and you get nothing done. Drastic times calls for drastic measures. The last bit of equipment that I can suggest is a mesh nosecover, which clips on the front and back of the bridle and covers the horses mouth whilst leaving it enough space to “mouth” the bit but stopping it from taking chunks out from his opponents. Its not intrusive to the horse in any way and some horses in time learn not to bite and this can then be removed. So far “Killer” is responding well to this treatment but Amanda has advised me that he will be lead down to the start with this on him and it will be removed prior to the start of the race. So you have all been warned!

Phew. I hope that helps a little if you have a horse that you know can run but is a little, how can I say, shy of fulfilling his full potential.

Of course, each of the above can be tweaked, for example many horses in Australia run with eye shields rather than blinkers and this involves replacing the cups with solid mesh over the whole eye, and has now been adopted in the UK following the exploits of Choisir the Australian sprinting star who came over and won at Royal Ascot.

Sheepskin nosebands have now progressed around the bridle too and are commonly used on National Hunt (ie jumping) horses who don’t need their line of sight reduced with the application of blinkers but by adding the sheepskins to the sides of the bridles, trainers have found that horses are more focused and happier. Not sure it will catch on elsewhere but so far its working!

Yup that’s pretty much it I think in the way of training aids and equipment – and if you truly believe that none of this is working, then its off to the vets for the big chop for the colts or pack the filly off to the breeding shed!

Auction Numbers And...

Contains a bit of an editoral
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Not to step on the "stat man's" shoes.... but here are some early Auction Numbers from the first half.

125 - Racers sold
$156,510 - Average Price
$10,000 - Most Common Sale Price
$15,000 - Median (Middle) Price
55 - Racers sold for $10,000
60 - Racers sold for $10,000 or $11,000
104 - Racer Sold for $100,000 OR LESS
21 - Racers sold for MORE than $100,000
2 - Racers sold for $5,001,000
9 - Racers sold for more than $500,000

Okay... so those few high numbers are really pulling up the average. I took out the top four (2 @ $5.01 Million and $800K and $851K).

New Average: $65,378

But 104 out of 125 sold for $100,000 or less. That is 83.2%.

And I really wouldn't reccomond buying a horse for more than $70,000 if your a newbie... and 101 horses sold for $65,000 or less. (Although many older vets picked up some nice racers for pennies).

With too many horses being bred each year, with not enough stables or races for them, the world of Photo Finish is quickly becoming a buyer's market. The large breeding operations are simply breeding too many foals each year. And those who can not pay for the expansions at the end of each year they are forced to sell either their racers (which can be solid money makers, and those who have not hit their maturity yet) or their young prospects.

Simply put the demand for horses is not growing fast enough to keep up with the supply.

Here I was going to insert some data to back up my claim (and every good argument needs one); however, I don't have enough information to provide you with facts.

I can tell you that last year we bred 440 horses, which is down from the year before at 489. But the 2007 crop (year born) there are 422 horses. In 2006 there were only 273. And people wonder why this year (when 2007 was 2) the juvenile racers were so crowed.

In 2005 there was 251 horses born. 2004 boasted 175 foals. 2003 there was only 135 horses born. 2002 there was 109 foals. In 2001 a mere 103 horses born. And 2000 there was 100 even horses. Other than horses created only for breeding no other racers have been born.

But this brings us to problem number 2 with too many foals born. With more foals each year, that means more fillies and when they retire more broodmares. It is a circle that will continue to spiral until something stops it.

With that said, keep this in mind: Our stable numbers and races have increased. However, (though I do not have numbers... %racers/stable) they have not increased with the number of foals born each year.

So please keep that in mind as breeding season looms.