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Almost all of the stories this week leading up to the Preakness which you can bet on Idabet.com has been about the state of racing in Maryland.  Before we go there, it appears most of the top handicappers are showing their respect to Animal Kingdom in the race tomorrow.  I’ll take a look at the race and offer my selections later today.

Since I grew up in Maryland and worked for many years at the Maryland tracks including as a kid at Bowie, Timonium, Marlboro, Fair Hill and of course Laurel and Pimlico as well as Freestate Raceway, I feel I can make some interesting comments about Maryland’s serious problems.

Today the two Maryland tracks are faced with short fields, depressed purses and antiquated facilities.  Unfortunately, the problems are deeply rooted and go back to the 1960’s as the heyday of racing came to an end.  Until then, Maryland was a benefactor of an East Coast circuit of racing that began in Florida in the winter and moved northward as the weather warmed.  The top horses, trainers and stables followed this circuit which brought fans in daily via trains and busses from Richmond to the south to New York to the north.  Meantime, the winter featured a meet at Bowie which ushered in off season racing for the mid Atlantic hardcore.

As the only game in town for legalized racing, racetracks were notorious for sticking it to the fans in those days.  You paid as many as three parking fees (general, preferred and valet), followed by admission, program, Racing Form or Telegraph, a Stable Boy tip sheet of course, a hot dog and a beer before you probably even made your first bet.  By the time the first race was over, you might be out $30 and now have to sit around and wait a half hour for the next race.  Oh yeah, in those days, your only exotic was the double so, it was just WPS from that point on.

Things began to change in the...

Northern New Jersey racetracks are no longer under state control as private operators will now run the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park.  You can bet both Jersey tracks with Idabet.com.  Morris Bailey, the new owner of the Resorts Casino in Atlantic City has taken over Monmouth Park which ran an incredibly successful meet last year when it cut racing days and more than doubled daily purses.  However, most of the purse money came from a major state subsidy from the casinos that is now being phased out.  Though scheduled for 141 days of racing on the Jersey shore, Bailey hopes to cut the meet to 71 which would allow for higher purses and better runners.

Jeff Gural, owner of two standardbred tracks in New Yorks is now driving the sulky at the Meadowlands, the premier harness track in the country.  Months of negotiations and contract revisions put the future of this track on hold until now.  Gural is off to a slow start as only 86 horses entered his first day of operations.  The Meadowlands which used to run both flats and pacers will now strictly be for standardbreds.

The five year agreements end three decades of operations by the New Jersey Sports Authority.  Once the bread and butter of the sports complex, the tracks have seen steady declines in business from growing casino competition and the unchecked battle for race days and horses throughout the Northeast and Mid Atlantic region.

SARATOGA TO GET NBC, CABLE LIVE COVERAGE THIS SUMMER

In one of the biggest television moves in years for horse racing, NBC and it’s cable partner VERSUS will broadcast 8 Saturdays of live racing from Saratoga beginning July 23.  The one hour shows will feature some of the biggest stakes of the year including the Travers otherwise known as the Mid Summer Derby.  Outside of the Triple Crown which NBC now broadcasts, it has been years since some form of regular racing has been telecast on broadcast TV and a few years since...

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all of our Idabet.com Moms/Players…like “student athletes” we know are mom’s are great mother’s first and then good Idabet.com players.

In this era of 20-horse Derby fields, I’ve never believe that the race really determines the top 3-year-old.  So many things can happen in such a race that you really don’t get a true trip.  Add the fact, outside of the Derby there isn’t really any other races with such depth that both horse and jockey can’t even get enough experience to maneuver such a crowd.  Of course, there’s also the old adages of many colts are still way too young and haven’t developed enough enough this early in their careers.

Nonetheless, Animal Kingdom got a great ride yesterday that was trouble free.  It’s not to say other horses could have had better races if not for a huge field.  Add this to the fact many colts have not fully developed yet and early May is still a tough time to determine our next superstars.

What is fun today is to look back at the various public handicappers yesterday to see their picks.  Congrats go out to Joe Draper of the New York Times who picked Animal Kingdom as his Derby pick.  Also to Robby Rodgriguez of the Sacramento Bee who picked the winner as his third choice and if you had boxed his 3 choices you would have hit the big exacta.

It’s back to business and you can BET THE PREAKNESS right here on Idabet.com as well as the Belmont Stakes.  Again, we apologize for the decisions by Churchill Downs and hopefully this racing industry of ours one day will get their act together.

SORRY STILL NO DERBY ON IDABET.COM

We regret to inform you as of today it appears we will not be having wagering on the Derby, although we will have THE PREAKNESS and THE BELMONT on Idabet.com.  Churchill Downs reserves the right to determine what ADW’s (online or phone wagering companies) can take bets on their racetracks.  At this time, they prefer to get as many customers for their ADW.  We have made every attempt as well as others in the same boat as us for them to consider then interests of racing fans across the country, but to no avail.  As you may be aware, Churchill limits the tracks they offer.  Of course for most of your other wagers, we look forward to working with you.

FORT HALL CASINO TURF CLUG OPENS IN IDAHO FALLS

Idabet’s parent, IdaRacing is pleased to announce to the opening of their new Turf Club in the Fort Hall Casino.  The Turf Club offers racing simulcasting daily from 11am until 11pm.  You can watch and WAGER on the Kentucky Derby at our Turf Club Saturday with advanced wagering beginning Friday.  The Fort Hall Casino Turf Club is located at Exit 80 of I-15.  For more information call 208-237-8774.

LIVE GREYHOUND RACING LIKELY TO BE CUT IN FLORIDA

The Florida Senate has passed legislation that would significantly cut the amount of live greyhound racing in the Sunshine State.  Final aspects of the bill are now based on what kind of tax credits tracks will receive that continue to race.  Fan interest and wagering has dropped for years as players have moved to horses, casinos and poker.  All the dog tracks operate poker rooms and would be allowed to end all live racing but to continue to simulcast and offer their poker rooms.

Some tracks say they would cut their live days but continue to race.  Current law virtually requires tracks to operate nearly daily all year just to simulcast or run the poker rooms.  The owner of the former Flagler track now...

As expected FRANKEL took the early lead and went on to a six length victory in Saturday’s G1 2000 Guineas at Newmarket Race Course in England.  The 3-year-old colt is now undefeated in six starts.  He is now listed as a  2-1 favorite if he goes postward in the G1 Investec Derby on June 4.  You can bet that Derby on Idabet as this colt goes for greater stardom.

Despite 13 days of rain over its 15 day meet, Keeneland wrapped up last week with the third largest attendance of a spring meet when over 240,000 fans poured into the historic track.  Once again, it proves quality meets with large fields can be most successful in today’s racing climate.

New York Governor Cuomo blasted a decision by the New York Racing Commission to farm out its online and phone wagering business to Twinspires owned by Churchill Downs.  Of course Twinspires currently prohibits many ADW’s including Idabet.com from taking wagers on the racetracks they own.  Those supporting NYRA’s decision say they are simply buying into an established system that will work for them while others question why the business cannot be operated in New York with employees living in New York.  The demise of the NYC OTB earlier this year prompted NYRA to make a move as it was not able to keep up demand with new online players.  Of course, Idabet.com says, If you want to bet New York or had a NYCOTB account, we are the friendliest and most caring service in the marketplace.  Just join us at Idabet.com

On the flip side, Finger Lakes will be forced to cut 9 of 13 stakes races this year as a result of lower income from the loss of the NYCOTB business.  That service provided Finger Lakes with its largest source of handle and so far has not been replaced resulting in the cut in stakes.  Once again, if you want in on the action at Finger Lakes, then head over to Idabet.com.

Parx racing has been shut down this week as live racing returns...

The Blood Horse reports today that Tom Durkin will no longer call the races for NBC, but will still remain active with the NYRA tracks through 2015.  I thought I use my time today reflecting on some of the announcers I’ve been associated with over the years.  Durkin of course is one of the best and hence that’s why he got a great gig on NBC.  Of course, prior to him, when ABC had the Derby and Preakness, it was the famed calls of Dave Johnson whose “Down the Stretch they come” is iconic to our sport.

The magazine reports the leading contender for the job is Gulfstream’s and Monmouth’s announcer Larry Collmus.  Like myself Larry is a Baltimore native and offers both a professional and entertaining racecall.  In my early years working at Laurel, I personally created the first Video Handicapping Library (until then we lived and died by the accuracy of chartcallers).  Though I had offered the idea to several others, it took the late genius Frank De Francis to implement the system for fans daily use.  Larry, still a teenager was hired to man the booth for customers to watch replays of previous races to enhance their handicapping.  Though it was last year’s crazy call of a couple of horses about the “two wives” that put him on the map.

As a kid, I grew up to the nasaly voice of Costy Caras at Charles Town for which I remember was adding the semi-word “ah” before basically every word.  “Ah number 5, Ah, two pounds, ah overweight.”  Since he was my first, I’ll always have a fond spot for him.  Working at the tracks by age 11 in Maryland brought me Dick Wolley.  Dick was as a clear as a voice as you will get.  He was far from exciting and his catch phrase unfortunately was “a gap of two” or “a gap of three” for each horse.  But he was a tireless promoter of Maryland racing and hosted numerous radio...