Eclipse Awards Changed Southwest Field Redrawn
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2015 732-747-8060 $ TDN Home Page Click Here ECLIPSE AWARDS CHANGED GODOLPHIN GOOD AS GOLD DOWN UNDER The Eclipse Awards have had the rules and names By Kelsey Riley changed in two categories, the National Thoroughbred As Australia=s feature juvenile contests--the G1 Blue Racing Association, National Turf Writers and Diamond S. Feb. 28 and the G1 Golden Slipper Mar. Broadcasters and the Daily Racing Form announced 21--draw ever closer, the country=s most precocious Thursday. The Older Male 2-year-olds are hitting the tracks to put the finishing category has been touches on their preparations. This group includes an renamed Older Dirt Male almost astonishing brigade from Godolphin and trainer and the Older Female John O=Shea, which are responsible for eight of the top category has been 20 in the Golden Slipper order of entry; the co-favorite renamed Older Dirt and three others under 20-1 for that A$3.5 million Female. Starting in 2015, event and an overall 10 juvenile winners since the turn only the dirt and main of the Southern track performances of Hemisphere calendar in horses 4-years-old and August. Not bad, older will be eligible for considering it is now the 2014 Champion Older Male and the Older Dirt Male and equivalent of mid-August Champion Turf Male Older Dirt Female Northern Hemisphere- Main Sequence categories. Previously, time. Equi-Photo turf horses ages four and Likely at the top of the up were under list is ATDN Rising Star@ consideration to win both Champion Turf Horse and Ottoman (Aus) (Exceed Champion Older Male honors and the same went for and Excel {Aus}), the Ottoman their female counterparts in the Turf Female and Older current 6-1 co-favorite for Racing and Sports Female divisions. Synthetic surfaces will be considered the Golden Slipper main track races and fall under the Older Dirt Male and alongside the Gai Waterhouse-trained colt and fellow Older Dirt Female categories. Cont. p3 ARising Star@ Vancouver (Aus) (Medaglia d=Oro). Ottoman has been seen in the afternoon just once, SOUTHWEST FIELD REDRAWN FOR SUNDAY when she broke her maiden at Rosehill Dec. 20, but she Oaklawn=s GIII Southwest S., which was canceled finished third in a Warwick Farm trial Feb. 9 in a Monday due to a winter storm in Hot Springs, performance jockey James McDonald described as Arkansas, was redrawn yesterday and will now take Aawesome.@ Cont. p7 place Sunday, Feb. 22. The race still boasts a field of 11 with Toby Keith=s unbeaten Hillbilly Royalty (Langfuhr) taking the place of Todd Pletcher-trained ATDN Rising Star@ J S Bach (Tale of the Cat), who will run in Far Right Saturday=s Coady Photography GII Risen Star S. at the Fair Grounds. Trained by Donnie Von Hemel, who also trains Phenomenal Phoenix (Summer Bird), Hillbilly Royalty will break from the three hole. Smarty Jones S. winner Far Right (Notional), the morning line favorite on last Monday=s program, will now exit post six. Originally drawn in post 10, Mr. Z (Malibu Moon) did not fair much better this time around as he now exits the 11 hole. Field p3 IN THIS ISSUE Investment in the Ecosystem Will Help Racing Grow Dean Towers pens an op/ed on the signal fee controversy currently taking place President & Co-Publisher: Barry Weisbord between the Monarch group of companies and mid-Altantic tracks, resulting in bettors at [email protected] those tracks losing the ability to wager on venues such as Gulfstream Park. @barryweisbord Page 3 Sr. V.P. & Co-Publisher: Sue Finley Carasso Live From [email protected] @suefinley V.P., International Operations: Gary King Singapore [email protected] @garykingTDN Our very own Alan Carasso continues to provide a EDITORIAL behind the scenes look at Kranji racecourse leading up [email protected] to the CECF Singapore Cup Saturday. Up early Editor-in-Chief: Jessica Martini Thursday morning to observe the contenders during Managing Editor: Alan Carasso their morning gallops, Carasso gives us a detailed view Senior Editor: Steve Sherack Zululand Singapore Turf Club into a typical morning at Kranji. Racing Editor: Brian DiDonato Associate Editor: Justina Severni Associate Editor: Christie DeBernardis Page 10 Assistant Editor: Heather Likins Cladocera Remains Assistant Editor: Ben Massam Perfect at Meydan ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising: Alycia Borer G2 Cape Verdi S. winner Cladocera (Ger) (Oasis Art Director: Lia Kusch Dream {GB}) took her record over the Meydan turf Sr. Ad Coordinator/Dir. of Distribution: course to two-for-two yesterday with a stylish victory Sarah K. Andrew in the G2 Balanchine S. Her former compatriot Advertising Designer: Amanda Crelin Anahita (Fr) (Turtle Bowl {Ire}) finished Advertising Assistant: Amanda Foster Cladocera Social Media Strategist: Nichola Henry 1 3/4 lengths back in second. Dubai Racing Club/Andrew Watkins Page 12 CUSTOMER SERVICE [email protected] Dir. of Customer Service: Vicki Forbes INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Director of IT: Robert Williams [email protected] WORLDWIDE INFORMATION International Editor: Kelsey Riley [email protected] Assistant Editor: Alix Choppin Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing: Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s float Red Bank, NJ 07701 “Dancing Horse & Lions for a Prosperous Year” 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.thoroughbreddailynews.com in the International Chinese New Year Night Parade www.thetdn.com HKJC TDN P HEADLINE NEWS • 2/20/15 • PAGE 3 of 14 • thoroughbreddailynews.com Eclipse Awards Changed cont. from p1 "There has been a growing consensus among members of the three voting organizations to more clearly define the older horse categories in determining male and female champions on dirt and turf," said Keith Chamblin, Senior Vice President of the NTRA and a member of the Eclipse Awards steering committee. "Older male and female turf horses will continue to compete for the turf championships in their gender divisions, while the older male and female dirt horses will compete strictly against horses on the dirt or main track surfaces in their respective divisions. All are eligible for the Horse of the Year category." The 17 Eclipse Award categories for 2015 are as follows: 2-Year-Old Male, 2-Year-Old Filly, 3-Year-Old Male, 3-Year-Old Filly, Older Male Dirt, Older Female Dirt, Male Sprinter, Female Sprinter, Male Turf Horse, Female Turf Horse, Steeplechase Horse, Horse of the Year; Owner, Breeder, Trainer, Apprentice Jockey and Jockey. FEATURE PRESENTATION • GIII SOUTHWEST S. INVESTMENT IN THE ECOSYSTEM--NOT SPLITS--WILL HELP HORSE RACING GROW I don't think anyone has missed it. On an almost Sunday, Oaklawn Park, post time: 5:42 p.m. EST monthly basis there seems to be some sort of fight SOUTHWEST S.-GIII, $300,000, 3yo, 1 1/16m about signal fees. A signal fee--the amount a home PP HORSE SIRE JOCKEY TRAINER WT track charges others for showing their races--is 1 Bayerd Speightstown Vazquez Asmussen 119 negotiated between entities. Currently the Monarch 2 Majestico K Majesticperfection Thompson Lukas 115 group of companies are fighting with the mid-Atlantic 3 Hillbilly Royalty Langfuhr Quinonez Von Hemel 117 tracks about these fees, and some customers are 4 Private Prospect K Discreet Cat Birzer Campbell 119 having a tough time betting, for example, the 5 Bold Conquest Curlin Santana Asmussen 115 Gulfstream signal. 6 Far Right K Notional Smith Moquett 122 Just this past week in the Bloodhorse, Mike Rogers 7 Phenomnal Phoenix K Summer Bird Berry Von Hemel 115 from the Stronach Group said: 8 The Truth Or Else K Yes It's True Borel McPeek 115 ARogers noted the early simulcast model--still largely 9 Kantune Kantharos Bridgmhn Casse 115 in place in the industry--that rewards the receiver of a 10 Bold Animaux Lroidsanmaux (Brz) Ocampo Biehler 115 racing signal more revenue than the sending track is 11 Mr. Z K Malibu Moon Nakatani Lukas 115 problematic and should be reworked. "The days of the buyer importing the signal cheap and keeping most of the revenue (from wagering) are probably coming to an end. AThe Stronach Group will do everything possible to deliver a maximum return on the product.@ Cont. p4 TDN P HEADLINE NEWS • 2/20/15 • PAGE 4 of 14 • thoroughbreddailynews.com Dean Towers Op/Ed cont. In the racing press, and from a lot of casual observers, that narrative resonates. AThe home track deserves to get three quarters or more of the takeout. They=re putting on the show!@ is something we hear. In my view, this is much too simplistic. In today's world, changing systems and downstream investment fosters growth, not something like splits. In fact, squeezing the distribution lemon may be the exact opposite strategy of one that=s really needed. The movie business has been affected by disruptions for many years now. Pirated movies on the Internet, home theaters, DVD, Blue Ray, 3D home viewing, watching films on iPads and smartphones rule the day in some form. I have not even mentioned streaming services like Netflix and its 36 million customers. The movie house should, by all evidence, be suffering, badly. But so far, that has not happened. From 1995 to 2014, the number of screens at theaters grew by 37% across the U.S. Ticket prices grew at the rate of inflation, and total box office gross in 2000 was $7.47B, compared to $10.33B in 2014. Although total moviegoers have decreased, revenues have been solid. What disruption? Although there are many reasons for this growth (or holding their own), the most often cited is the fact that movie theaters as a distribution point to the public began investing and offering a better user experience.