Racebook Insider: The World of Horse Betting

Friday, July 28, 2006

Pletcher's Scat Daddy Wins Sanford Stakes at Saragota

Todd Pletcher was honored to be the first trainer ever immortalized with a bobblehead, but his horse's win in the Sanford Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on Thursday was probably more satisfying. Pletcher's horse, Scat Daddy, was the 4-1 favorite in the $150,000, Grade II stakes race, but 13-1 Teuflesberg led the race all the way from the gate. It was only in the stretch - where he was trailing by 4 1/2 lengths -- that Scat Daddy, ridden by John Velazquez, bounced outside to overtake Teuflesberg. Scat Daddy is now 2-0 in his horse racing career.

Some 25,000 people took to the track for its opening day. The NYRA said this was just the robust turnout they were hoping for. Sadly absent was Mary Lou Whitney, a Saratoga racing staple who suffered a stroke earlier this year.

Some opening day guests that nobody should have recognized were several FBI agents hidden in the crowd. The presence of Federal Agents at big horse races this year are part of the Bureau's antiterrorism initiative.

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Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Arlington Park Chief Advocates Online Betting

According to a report in today's Daily Herald, Arlington Park chairman Richard Duchossois has told Illinois state regulators that online betting is the future of horse racing, and that Arlington Park will get left behind if it does not embrace the new technology.

Citing the decline in Illinois horse racing, 84-year-old Duchossois told members of the Illinois Racing Board that "If we don't get up with technology, we aren't going to exist anymore".

It is estimated that horse bettors wager up to $50,000,000 in horse racing bets on Illinois racetracks, of which track operators and racehorse owners don't see a cut.

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Monday, July 24, 2006

Saratoga Opens July 26

Saratogo Race Course will hail in another year of exciting horse racing action on 26 July. Opening Day will feature the $100,000 Grade II Schuylerville stakes race for 2 year-old fillies.

The Sanford (Grade II, $150,000) for 2 year-olds follows on Thursday, with the Lake George (Grade III, $100,000 added) for 3 year-olds filling out the week on Friday.

The opening of the 138th Saratoga Racing season will feature a number of exciting activities, including trumpet performances by Robert Earley and Jeffrey Curnow of the the Philadelphia Orchestra (they will accompany the "Call to the Post for the Schuylerville), and an appearance by the Budweiser Clydesdales.

On Sunday Saratoga threw open it's gates for its open house, which featured more than a dozed non-profit groups Ronald McDonald House and the Circle of Life Diabetes Camp.

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