The docu-drama which follows 8 jockeys on the rollercoaster ride of the highs and lows of racing is back August 21st . We will follow the trek of 6 returning Jockeys from last season and two new ones to the Kentucky Derby. Garrett Gomez and Corey Nakatani are joining the show and there is much more to look forward to!

Check back for insider information on season 2 beginning Friday August 21^st at 10pm right after Whale Wars!

A new satellite wagering facility is now open Wednesdays through Sundays at Barretts on the Fairplex Park grounds. It replaces the wagering area in the grandstand clubhouse.

Tracks across North America are on the betting menu.

Seating is available on an outdoor patio and indoors in the restaurant area or in the sales arena. The latter includes free electrical hookups and internet access.

The renovated food service includes drinks, salads, appetizers, sandwiches and desserts.

Parking and admission is free. Enter at Gate 12 on White Ave., south of Arrow Hwy.

Special dates:

• April 4: Santa Anita Derby Day, open 9 a.m.
• May 2: Kentucky Derby Day, open 7:30 a.m.
• May 16: Preakness Stakes Day, open 7:30 a.m.
• June 6: Belmont Stakes Day, open 7:30 a.m.

CLICK HERE for photos of a majority of the horses from the 2009 Barretts March Selected 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. (two pages)

Two larger than life Thoroughbred statues are looming on the horizon.

According to a Blood-Horse story, a 164-foot-tall statue of a grey Thoroughbred is going to greet England’s visitors when completed in three years. Artist Mark Wallinger won a contest to build next to the Ebbsfleet train station.

Though physically much smaller, a statue of Barbaro is not going to lack attention for its April due date at Churchill Downs . Alexa King is sculpting an airborne depiction of the Kentucky Derby hero. BarbaroStatue.com has all you ever wanted to know about making a statue.

-Marcie Heacox

I have held “reality” shows in low esteem for a while now. Unfortunately, the first two episodes of Animal Planet’s “Jockeys” series (which I got a sneak peek at online) did nothing to change that.

The six-week series premieres this Friday, February 6, at 9 p.m. Eastern/Pacific. The confirmed stars of the show are Jon Court, Aaron Gryder, Mike Smith, Alex Solis, Kayla Stra, Chantal Sutherland and Joe Talamo.

The lead-in to “Jockeys” is an episode of “Untamed and Uncut” about racetrack mishaps. Great.

I wonder if PETA is foaming at the mouth for this show to air and show people the “reality of horse racing.” Already there are calls to ban the show and boycott Animal Planet. If you went only by the commercials and/or first episode, most races have falls. If that were the reality of racing, I would not be writing this blog and would greatly dislike the sport. The reality is that falls are rare and an exception to the norm.

For your viewing information, I spotted these faults in Episode One:

• In the Ralph M. Hinds at Fairplex, they cut to reaction shots of people…at Santa Anita.
• There are shots of multiple races mixed into what is supposed to be the Ralph M. Hinds, and the shots from the Hinds are all mixed up and not chronological.
• In the race voice-over, it is Freesgood pushing Booyah, not Sensational Score.
• The horse Matto Mondo’s name is misspelled Motto Mondo on the graphic.
• The loose horse they show being caught at Santa Anita opening day is not the horse who fell (it was a turf race). Easy on the Eye was caught on the turf course.
• In The Morvich At Santa Anita, they cut to a reaction shot…at Fairplex.
• There is a staged race mixed into the title shots and other places. It seems the camera angles are from a truck driving alongside the field of horses, and that would never happen in a real race. Also…Gryder and Talamo throwin’ down on the track near the end - totally staged.

The mixed up time/location shots and staged racing shots continue in episode two. Hystericalady’s name is repeatedly misspelled (Hysterical Lady).

It appears that episode three will be on another rosy topic - eating disorders.

In an NTRA teleconference, jockey Aaron Gryder says, “Well, the one thing I would say to anybody that feels that way is make sure you watch all 12 episodes and not just, you know the commercial that you’ve seen…it’s very well balanced as far as not being just about spills.”

We’ll see. And I hope so.

To see the first two full episodes, go to this special link and go to “Footage.”

The official website for “Jockeys” is http://animal.discovery.com/tv/jockeys/.

- Marcie Heacox

While I love horse racing, especially the horsey side of it, I don’t think I love it enough to live the trainer’s life - to get up in the dark every morning and complete a full day’s work well before noon. That doesn’t even include coming back for the races in the afternoon and possible celebrating into the night after a win.

A friend of mine who is an assistant trainer recently showed me the alarm setting on his cell phone - 2:30 a.m. I had a day off today and fully enjoyed sleeping in until 10:30 a.m., which is the time that morning training is already done for many horsemen and women.

Aside from the unnaturally early hours, trainers and other horsemen and women face many other stresses on the job.

The reason for my posting is my recent discovery of Chuck Simon’s Training Days blog, “a year in a trainer’s life,” which recounts challenges with weather, shipping, track surfaces, jockey fees, and more:

“This blog is a look into the daily life of a thoroughbred horse trainer. There are a wide variety of horseracing related blogs covering a vast array of topics. What I want to do is cover the horsemans point of view, why we do what we do and sometimes how we do it. While we have to respect peoples privacy and tread lightly in certain areas I will not back down from discussing controversial issues as well as some seemingly mundane ones. Some days the posts will be long, some will be brief but I will do my best to post each day. I hope you enjoy it!”

As if training horses isn’t enough, Simon is trying to write a daily blog post on the happenings in his stable (though I may detect early difficulties with no posts the last two days…) There is one quote in particular that I like:

“Though some days being a horsetrainer is a seemingly ‘no-win’ job, it is still better than working in the white collar world of endless contracts and paperwork. “

So we get to sleep in and (hopefully) stay warm and follow along in the trials and tribulations of a racehorse trainer. As has been said before, training horses isn’t a job, it’s a way of life.

-Marcie Heacox

Here’s the Budweiser “Clydesdale Generations” commercial from the 2009 Superbowl:

Budweiser: Clydesdale generations

The racing scenes were filmed at Hollywood Park.

For more Clydesdale commercials and a behind-the-scenes look, see this entry in Fran Jurga’s Hoof Blog.

The PR paid off.

On Monday, Curlin was named the Eclipse Award Horse of the Year for the second year in a row.

No doubt he was aided by parades, gifts of specially-labeled wine (pictured), his owner’s never-ending praise, and the excuse that Curlin lost the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Classic because of a “false surface.”

The Curlin wine was sent just in time for Eclipse Award voting season with a DVD and card “signed” by owners Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke. Jackson is owner of the Kendall-Jackson winery, thus the choice of gift.

Here are the final vote tallies for all categories. The Male Sprinter, Male Turf, Owner, and Breeder categories were points of great contention. The Photography winner was also much-debated.

One category that wasn’t debated as much but really stands out to me is the Jockey category. Garrett Gomez, 210 votes, to Rafael Bejarano’s 11 votes!? Bejarano’s sweep of all five riding titles in the Southern California racing schedule is a rare feat. He also had more wins, places, and shows than “Go-Go.” Every meet that Bejarano and Gomez rode against each other, “Raffy” came out on top. Though Gomez had more earnings, I can’t help but feel that the bias towards Breeders’ Cup winners propelled Gomez to such a runaway win, especially from the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) voting bloc, which includes Breeders’ Cup Ltd. He won four out of 14 races and the Shoemaker Award for outstanding jockey of the event.

For a different look at the Eclipse Awards, I recommend Ray Paulick’s live blog.

-Marcie Heacox

Saturday features two notable racing debuts on opposite coasts, starting with Nicanor:

Nicanor is a 3-year-old full-brother to the storied Barbaro. Like his older sibling, media have focused a tremendous amount of attention on him. Nicanor runs in race 8 at Gulfstream Park in Florida, a $40,000 maiden special weight at one mile on the dirt. Post time is 4:43 p.m. Eastern, 1:43 p.m. Pacific. The race is sandwiched between the Holy Bull Stakes (Gr. III) and Donn Handicap (Gr. I). Like Barbaro, Nicanor is bred and owned by Roy and Gretchen Jackson, trained by Michael Matz, and ridden by Edgar Prado.

Sweet Thoughts is the first foal out of 2004 Champion Juvenile Filly Sweet Catomine. The 3-year-old bay filly is sired by A.P. Indy. Sweet Catomine was retired under less-than-ideal circumstances. After winning five straight races she ran against the males in the Santa Anita Derby (Gr. I). Unfortunately, she finished fifth, beaten by Buzzard’s Bay and eventual Kentucky Derby (Gr. I) winner Giacomo. What followed was an unforgettable controversy that ultimately ended with owners Pam and Marty Wygod and trainer Julio Canani severing ties and Sweet Catomine being retired and bred at age three. The Wygod’s also own Sweet Thoughts, but John Shirreffs is the trainer and Garrett Gomez the jockey.

Sweet Thoughts runs in the fourth race at Santa Anita at 2:02 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. The race is a maiden special weight at one mile on the turf. Free live video is available at Calracing.com.

-Marcie Heacox

The Sunshine Millions, one of the first major racing events of the year, is held jointly at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Fla. and Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. Each track runs four races that pit the best California-breds and Florida-breds against each other.

Ironically, the event coincides with Southern California’s wet season and is often an overcast day. There is a chance the seventh annual Millions will not contain sunshine. Weather.com predicts a 10 percent chance of precipitation and partly cloudy afternoon skies. Gulfstream’s outlook is a bit rosier.

A storyline involving Fairplex Park and Barretts Equine Ltd. is that of All Saint (pictured left), who runs in the Sunshine Millions Dash at Gulfstream. The gray or roan colt was bought by owner Eddie Gamez of Pomona for only $2,700 at the 2007 Barretts October mixed sale. He has now earned $122,400, easily paying for his purchase price and upkeep. He is coming off a victory in the California Breeders’ Champion Stakes, which was his trainer Triphon Dahl’s first stakes win. All Saint regularly trains on the dirt surface at Fairplex Park. For more of All Saint’s story, click here.

Todd Pletcher-trainee Icy Atlantic (pictured right) has run third and second in the Sunshine Millions Turf and is taking another stab at it. He was best known as champion English Channel’s “rabbit” before successfully branching out on his own. He is an 8-year-old un-gelded horse, an extreme rarity, especially for a stakes-level runner.

The Sunshine Millions Sprint boasts two grade I winners - In Summation and Georgie Boy. Georgie Boy comes into the race off of a third-place finish in the seven-furlong Malibu Stakes (Gr. I), and In Summation returns from a fourth-place run in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (Gr. I).

California-breds are poorly represented in the Florida races, with only seven horses total in four races. Trainer Barry Abrams has the lone Cal-bred in the Filly and Mare Turf, Bel Air Sizzle, and one of two Cal-breds in the Classic, Medzendeekron. Doug O’Neill-trainee and grade I winner Mistical Plan is one of two Cal-breds entered in the Filly and Mare Sprint. She won the 2007 Sunshine Millions Oaks.

The California-breds are once again the underdogs. There are less foals born each year in California than in Florida and less Cal-breds entered in the Sunshine Millions. It is also common for Florida-breds to be based in California, but not vice versa. Several Florida-breds who have always been based in California have good chances of winning their respective races, including Backbackbackgone in the Dash, Wild Promises in the Filly and Mare Turf, Dearest Trickski in the Filly and Mare Sprint, and Emmy Darling in the Oaks.

Past Performances:

Dash (pre-entries) (Gulfstream - 1:07 p.m.*)
Dash (nominations PP’s)
Filly & Mare Turf (Gulfstream - 1:36 p.m.)
Filly & Mare Sprint (Gulfstream - 2:05 p.m.)
Turf (Santa Anita - 2:23 p.m.)
Classic (Gulfstream - 2:45 p.m.)
Oaks (Santa Anita - 2:54 p.m.)
Sprint (Santa Anita - 3:26 p.m.)
Distaff (Santa Anita - 3:57 p.m.)

*All times Pacific Standard Time

-Marcie Heacox