$100 MILLION ‘CASINO TRACK’ ON TAPETA: Daqman finds that trends to boost an ailing American racing scene are in direct contrast to legislation in Britain, with racecourse riches raised from slot machines. Even their Dirt racing surface is changing. Here’s his report on a $100million ‘casino track’ on Tapeta.
BETDAQ 22.0 BULL’S-EYE BET IN 600-MILE TRIP: Today Daqman bets on the Tapeta surface which has been so successful at Newcastle, hoping to strike at 22.0, thanks to a trainer making a 600-mile round trip from the South of England.
TRACKS TAP INTO CASINO CASH
Tapeta is key. It’s part of the route to revival for American racing, which has been paying such a heavy price in equine injury on Dirt, and through the habitual use of painkillers.
The bluegrass country of Kentucky was responsible for the lineage of turf giants in England and Ireland, yet is building a Tapeta empire.
One of the leaders in Tapeta is Pennsylvania and, says my US correspondent, Stacy Stark, ‘you never hear of breakdowns there’.
Note the name of Pennsylvania’s burgeoning track, ‘Presque Isle Downs and Casino,’ owned and operated by Churchill Downs, of Kentucky.
Now Churchill has transformed the Turfway track at Florence in Kentucky, striking gold while its state governor is a Democrat (the Republicans rejected the scheme).
He is backing the same casino-and-racing gambling mix. Churchill has invested $100million to reopen the Florence facility as ‘Turfway Park Racing and Gaming’. Again, note the name.
“Our team is poised to restore Turfway to its former glory, anchored by Northern Kentucky’s first historical racing-machine facility,” says Kevin Flanery, president of Churchill Downs.
‘The slots’, condemned as FOBTs in English betting shops, will be mainly ‘past-race video gaming machines.’
Says Stacy: ‘Churchill is not simply a racetrack any more but a casino. Purses are going up from $18,500 for a maiden to $46,000, thanks to slot machines.
‘Additionally, they’re going to change up the track from Polytrack to Tapeta. Horses weren’t born to run on Polytrack.’
The legendary Bob Baffert, trainer of two Triple Crown winners, has more of an enigmatic, perhaps even equivocal, view. He sees it like this: ‘Tapeta makes a good horse ordinary and an ordinary horse good.’
PLUNGE ON SEAFARER DOUBLE
1.55 Newcastle Degradation of the Polytrack was why Wolverhampton closed and reopened in 2014 as a Tapeta track. It can be useful for punting there and at Newcastle to relate a horse’s ability between the two.
In this class 2, prolific scorers Deja and Paths Of Glory have both won at Wolver, though Deja has not scored on the Newcastle Tapeta. No reason why he shouldn’t.
Deja has not been beaten in the two years and more since his maiden but this is his first try at this higher level.
Paths Of Glory has won four out of five, including over today’s CD, also climbing the class ladder without reaching today’s par. Who’s going to make the breakthough this afternoon?
Sir Chauvelin, a CD winner here at Newcastle, is a class 2 scorer at Goodwood on Turf. Spanish Archer has similar form, and Francis Xavier has CD success plus a class 3 on Turf at Ascot.
Then there’s the ‘hidden horse’. Around 22.0 on BETDAQ this morning, Seafarer hasn’t done a lot since winning this race last year but is sent on the 600-mile-plus, 10-hour round trip from deepest Hants to the Geordie shore by Marcus Tregoning.
By then he will have run Spirit Of Angel (8.0 BETDAQ offers in the 1.20 race). Just one win to his name but a decent effort, second, on the last day in a big field at Windsor.
URBANIST IS HIGHLY REGARDED
2.40 Market Rasen It will make me nervous if Sam Twiston-Davies has already landed a double with Guy (12.25) and Rocco (2.05) but I will wait for Urbanist, who is highly regarded by Dr Richard Newman.
This is only Urbanist’s second run over 3m, at which he was his most convincing at Exeter when he beat a big field.
4.25 Chelmsford Sir Michael Stoute hasn’t had a runner for two weeks or more. All of a sudden, he asks David Probert, with whom his yard gets results, to partner Plath, and they’ve been lucky with the draw.
But two gates away is a newcomer trained by Simon Crisford at one of his favourite tracks for two-year-olds (75% strike rate).
Corvair’s yearling priced quadrupled when he was sold in the summer. Both Corvair and Plath were around 7.2 this morning, so I will stake each one as if 6-1 chances.
DAQMAN’S BETS
1.20 Newcastle (win 20, and win 10 place)
BET 2.75pts win 5.25pts place SPIRIT OF ANGEL
1.55 Newcastle (win 50, win 10 place)
BULL’S-EYE BET: 2.4pts win, 3.5pts place SEAFARER
BET 3.25pts win (stakes saver) PATHS OF GLORY
2.40 Market Rasen (supernap)
BET 20pts win URBANIST
4.25 Chelmsford (win 20 each)
BET 3.25pts win CORVAIR
BET 3.25pts win PLATH
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