The connections of superstar pacing filly I Luv The Nitelife have publicly issued a challenge to pacing colt Captaintreacherous for a match race to take place later this month.
Joanne and Richard Young are proposing a race between the two three-year-old standouts on Opening Night at the New Meadowlands Racetrack, set for Saturday, November 23. The race would see all purse money donated to charity, with the winning horse's charity receiving 60 per cent of the purse.
I Luv The Nitelife (Rocknroll Hanover - Lisjune) is the top pacing filly in North America this year. Her win in the Breeders Crown at Pocono last month was her 12th straight, and so far this season she's 13-for-14 with more than $1.2 million banked for the Youngs. Chris Ryder trains last year's O'Brien Award winner as the best two-year-old pacing filly in Canada.
Captaintreacherous was also victorious in the 2013 Breeders Crown but recently suffered his second loss of the season. This past Friday, 'The Captain' was picked off late by Dedis Dragon in the Monument Circle at Hoosier Park in Indiana. Also last year's O'Brien Award winner in his freshman pacing category, Captaintreacherous is owned by Captaintreacherous Racing of Versailles, Ky. and trained by Tony Alagna. The son of Somebeachsomewhere boasts a sensational 12-2-0 summary from 14 seasonal starts and sits just shy of $2 million earned on the year.
The match race would have to be formally accepted by the connections of Captaintreacherous to proceed any further.
As MR. Carter said you have a
As MR. Carter said you have a nice horse Mr. Young, but be grateful they did not accept!!
while charities would be the
while charities would be the winner and thats a great thing the only loser here would be Tim Tetrick and having to choose who he would drive and would it upset the owners of the horse he did not drive and he lose that drive next year
Mr young what I meant is both owners put up $500,000 the winner getting $500,000 and the other $500,000 going to a charity of their choice
I get the impression some
I get the impression some people think I should put in money. One guy suggested I put up 500k. And if Nitelife was to win,what then, I get my money back? :) The idea was to promote a couple of charities, ours being "A Spring Of Hope" and have a match race that would attract attention. Putting up our own money does not accomplish the goal. Sorry folks they have not accepted. They said they don't do match races. What I think they really mean was, we have too much to lose and virtually nothing to gain. I can't say I disagree with them :)
Mr.Young has a great filly,
Mr.Young has a great filly, one of the best of all time. A horse that anyone would be proud to own but the captain is a great colt who is iron tough and if this match race took place and both horses brought their A game the captain would win easily every time in this format. Having said that, it would generate some excitement for the sport and i for one would tune in to watch it but it is unlikely to happen as there is no upside for the connections of the captain.
"Let's have some fun"???
"Let's have some fun"??? Heck, no...it's all about "upside", "protecting the investment" blahblahblah..."have some fun"??? Are you nuts, Mr. Young? Surely by now you must realize you are a lone wolf in that regard. God forbid anyone put on an attraction. Some people might actually show up to see it! Much better to never take a risk and play your cards close to your vest than do anything that might work to grow the business.
If they allowed wagering
If they allowed wagering would it be considered a Gift::)
Chris I agree there is no
Chris I agree there is no downside for this race for Mr. Young, however I feel he is doing it for the sincere reasons of wanting to benefit the public.
If you look at Put on a Show, the Young's decided to let her face the boys in the Breeders Crown which generated tons of attention to the sport. I didn't think it was a good decision financially, and obviously, turned out not to be facing all PREFERRED horses and not just picking a race with one or two of the top ones, but it sure had the attention of people.
The Young's may not have put up a million or $500 000 for that race but you could argue that they put up a couple hundred thousand as the mares race was a much easier task with a decent purse check almost guaranteed.
There does appear to be very
There does appear to be very little upside to the Captain's team to take the race at first thought.
However, his chances of receiving Horse of the Year honors may have gone down with his most recent loss so if the connections are still wanting that option to be able to beat one of the main competitors for that award in a match race followed up by a win in the TVG final the following week I think would be the only way to cement his name on that title. Also if he can't beat Nitelife in a match race then there is no sense in tackling the big boys this year as the match race would serve as a better set up to that race then a qualifier.
Very smart from your perspective too Richard because if Nitelife were to win it of course greatly increases her chance at HOTY with no real downside to losing.
With the phenomenal year that both horses have had, and neither one having a perfect unbeaten year, and both going to race next year let the public see this event, as both horses increase their chance (and probably only chance they have to beat Magician for HOTY honors), charities win, and it is an event to promote to get more attention to our wonderful sport.
Mr. Young maybe thats the
Mr. Young maybe thats the public's perception but there is no downside for you. If your horse loses it will be said it was a colt beating a filly. However if your filly were to win then possibly there would be a downfall in respects to syndication to CT. Just my opinion but if you were to put up $500,000 or a million dollars and race at the Meadowlands and the winner of the match race takes it all then maybe you would have a race on your hands. Then again thats just my opinion
I agree the connections have
I agree the connections have little to gain by racing Nitelife, Except to the public , it may appear that they are fearful that they actually think they may lose.A match race that excites the public,gets people talking,and benefits charity just may be worth it instead of just the monetary reasons not to.Lets have some fun.
There is no upside for the
There is no upside for the Captain's connections. I DON'T SEE THIS TAKING PLACE.