TobyTurrell

FINAL PREPARATIONS

In an effort to insure a top quality surface for the upcoming Santa Anita meeting, the track was closed for training on 12/09. Completely fresh material was mixed into the current surface that already proved it could handle 2 inches of rain last week. This is exciting news. Once the track proves that it came overcome adversity the guarantee that this upcoming meet will be perhaps the best in the nation will take hold. It will provide a platform for next year's meet to be perhaps the most anticipated ever, as several top barns are already at the Great Race Place. More will follow if the results are in line with the recently concluded Breeders' Cup in late October.

I checked in with my buddy Patrick Biancone Wednesday morning trackside and he said "we have what we need here". The presence of other top conditioners such as Grahm Motion, Todd Pletcher, C. Clement, Reade Baker, Mark Casse, as well as a loaded Bobby Frankel barn residing and training at SA for the first time, indicate an optimism that might be the tip of the iceburg for what is to come in the future. All the regulars are here as well including Richard Mandella, whom I spoke with last week on the morning of the rain. He smiled as the track proved to him that it could handle the water. We were standing near the rail gazing out in the cover of darkness at a track that looked dry and he said "people forget what this track would have looked like in the old days when it was still dirt". I remember all to well, and that is why I am hoping and praying that this surface handles the water just as well as it handled the first storm.

Bob Baffert, Carla Gaines, Jerry Hollendorfer, Doug O'Neill and Jeff Mullins, just to name a few, are seemingly loaded for the upcoming meet. I am trackside every morning scouting out tomorrow's winners and keeping tabs on what matters to us. I look forward to a huge meet of reporting on all fronts.

First things first, we have 2 big weeks left at Hollywood Park, and there is a carryover of about $145,000 on the dinner table for Wednesday.

Welcome to Southern California!!!!!!!!!

Now, lets make some money!!!!!!!!

Toby Turrell

As those of you who have been tracking my professional endeavors and schedule for the upcoming months already know, nothing stays the same for too long these days. I have done a 360 from Keeneland, Fairgrounds and Churchill, coming right back to my grass roots at The Great Race Place, a.k.a. Santa Anita.

I have been stationed on the west coast since early September. I arrived in California on opening day of Del Mar with the intention of leaving when the meet ended and head back to, in my opinion, the most classy of venues on earth for thoroughbred racing, Lexington's Keeneland Racecourse. 

However, as much as I love the midwestern circuit, which included Churchill Downs, Fairgrounds as well as Keeneland, there was little doubt that, in order to maximize my morning effort as a clocker, I needed to be at Santa Anita. The track had just installed a new surface that I am thrilled with, called Pro Ride.  Of course, the Breeders' Cup being there was the icing on a cake that was already baked by the time the Del Mar meet ended. Long story short, Del Mar, Oak Tree and now Hollywood Park have been the most successful meets I have enjoyed since starting full time in the information business, and I realize and believe that everything happens for a reason, because I could have never planned or charted this course. 

The final validation of this came when the most well-read sports columnist of the Los Angeles Times, Mr. T.J. Simers, wrote in his Breeders' Cup day column that yours truly was the absolute tops when it comes to California racing, and had me in the same breath as Joe Torre. It suddenly became real clear that I was in the right place for now, because this is one of the finest compliments and endorsements I will ever receive in the game. It doesn't get much better than this on any level of the sport, and now I will be more motivated than ever not to let T.J. or anybody else down when it comes to racing information from Santa Anita, Del Mar and, hopefully, Hollywood Park, where I have had some of my biggest initial success in the business. 

No need to shed any tears; I could do a lot worse than ending up another year back where I started as a kid in this game at the ripe age of 5 years old at old Del Mar, which is again as good as it gets in life as far as I am concerned.  So, topic matter for my weekly blogs will be written from California as my home base, but realize that part of me is still at the Fairgrounds, which recently started its meet, and with all the great people I became friends with there who are wondering where I am. This will help give me a unique feel to writing about the sport as a whole, as I will try to entertain, inform and provide insight that will make us all more memories (as well as a few extra winning tickets on the right horses). 

My first order of business will be on the new Pro Ride surface, which handled its first 2 inches of rainfall with flying colors on Wednesday of last week. I will relay my observations, and a bit of my conversation with Richard Mandella to start next week's blog out on a note that we want to maintain as being top-class and top-quality, not to mention topics that I will enjoy writing about hopefully as much as ya'll enjoy reading about. 

The "ya'll" is for all my friends in the midwest, who I miss but will remember until we meet again who-knows-when.

- Toby Turrell

I have been clocking at Santa Anita since Sept 5th and have gathered many thoughts about everything from the new Pro Ride surface to the Breeders' Cup which will be held here on Oct 24th and 25th. 

First, lets backtrack to Del Mar, which happens to be the new home of the Turrell family. Myself, my wife Kiersten and my 3 kids, Allison, Caitlyn and Tanner now reside trackside, just a mile away from Where the Turf Meets The Surf. Secondly, as anyone who visited the DMTC website will attest, we enjoyed as profitable a meet as anyone, posting a huge 200% flat bet profit, and a tick under 50% for a daily win rate. That's all history now, but I am happy to say that we are on the same pace on the Oak Tree website entering week three of racing.

I am thrilled with the consistancy of the new Pro Ride surface, especially in the a.m. where it plays the same nearly every day. The reliability of the surface has made it a joy to clock at Santa Anita, as most horses handle it beautifully during training. I think it will only get better from here. The track and surrounding counties reached 108 degree smoltering weather last week. Given the conditions, management could have panicked, but they didn't, instead placing trust their new surface and keeping maintenance down to the bare minimum. 

Zenyatta sure handled it well, as have many other top class horses. Speaking of the cream of the crop, Curlin officially kicks off our BC reporting. Those reading my blogs know that, by only the grace of God, have I been able to follwo him live every step of the way, with the exception of his New York trip.  He started his 4yo quest at Fairgrounds in Dec. working in tandem with Pyro, and then went to Keeneland en route to Churchill Downs. From there we parted ways -- I went to Del Mar and Curlin went on to New York. I give you all this background to let you know that Curlin traveled as nicely over the Pro Ride as he has over any surface he has been on.

It supposedly NEVER rains in So Cal in September, but we all remember one year ago, Sept. 28. The track got hit with the freak rains and those of us onhand realized there might be a potential problem with drainage. It was worse than we could have ever imagined.

Those of us present in the a.m. were waiting for a downpour to officially say the track will drain but it didnt happen. Stay tuned as I will update everyone to the minute as that reporting is still to come, once Mother Nature decides. You will have it first right here!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're back and will post more thoughts very soon!

Toby Turrell

Designs on The Ultimate List are On The Horizon

Just wanted to update everyone on my schedule for the coming weeks.

With the Churchill meet in the history books, I do get a little time to breathe, but rest assured, I will not slow it down when it comes to providing exclusive and invaluable information -- profitable, entertaining and flat out fun!

Case in point. How cool will it be to be alerted to the future stars of the game ahead of "everybody" else?

You like that, huh?

Well, good news. That's my newest quest!

It all goes back to mapping out some of the original ideas and plans that I discussed with my partner Jeremy Plonk before we even launched Horseplayer PRO. By the way, I have a track record already in the books from my involvement with The Daily racing Form as the author of "Baby Talk". The results of the columns, which were based on young 2yo horses usually working their 1st 1/2 miles, bared incredible results. The babies we scouted not only won, but many went on to become stakes winners and even stallions. 

Go ahead. Google "Toby Turrell" and look for the headline "Left At the Gate - Baffert determined to make a point". The beauty of this article is that I had nothing to do with writing it!!!!!!

The time has come to take my game to the next level, and Horseplayer PRO readers stand to benefit. We'll begin by inspecting and uncovering the top prospects of this year's Fasig Select sale which takes place on July 14-15. For those of you not familiar with the sale, you must realize that we are going to try to find the future stars of the sport at the yearling level. REAL babies indeed.

To add even further insight, I've once again partnered with Larry Zap. We have a track record here that you can count on. I hate tooting our horn, but together I think we have perhaps the most impressive resume in the market when it comes to isolating talent at the yearling level. 

Our initial attempts at this sort of scouting yielded Secret Of Mecca, Walts Wharf, Apache Wings and True Passion, all of whom developed into credentialled runners. Secret Of Mecca, ridden by Julie Krone, nearly defeated two of the best mares in recent times - Sightseek and Affluent, in Grade I events. 

The numbers further prove my point. We spent a total of $330,000 dollars on 13 yearlings, and they returned roughly $1.3 million the racetrack, competing on the toughest circuit in the nation-Southern California.

Stay tuned. If all goes well in the near future, you can cash in on some of this excitement at the ultimate levels. For now, you can read about it right here at Horseplayerpro.com. If you like what you're hearing, the opportunity to jump into PRO horse ownership, with talented babies who have a chance to compete at the highest of levels, may present itself to YOU in the VERY near future. 

Toby Turrell

Flying Under the Radar 

The recent introduction of synthetic tracks to the racing landscape makes "horses to folllow" lists more multidimensional, and potentially more pofitable in the long run. Many horses simply prefer one surface over another.

For example, Pyro is the poster child of a horse who is a star on conventional dirt but can't stand up on synthetics. There are many just like him of lower profile that we hope to identify as "watch" horses moving from one track to the next. 

I cover Keeneland, Fair Grounds and Churchill Downs for Horseplayer PRO on a year round basis, and many horses follow the same circuit, which is dirt, Poly, dirt and back to Poly.

As a full time clocker, I will also provide insight into young horses flashing their talents in the mornings. This is the category where I can provide the invaluable, "under the radar" type info. Horses who show they are ready to improve their form by tipping their hands in their morning works. These horses offer value. The public can't see this kind of improvement in the horse's form, or through their speed figures.

Our Winners Card value at the Churchill meet has been found in discounting  or over bet maidens in favor of hidden types. Take the first race on 6/26 for example. We nailed a $245 Exacta, a $510 Trifecta and $1,945 Superfecta with our top four picks, nearly cold.

This type of score wont be found in this format anywhere else in the marketplace!!!!!! 

The old school trouble horses, and extra sharp and ready to move up the ladder types will also be included in my personal PRO ALERTS, but the multidimensional tools we will apply are what separate this service from anything that's out there.

I look forward to delivering live horses to your mailbox on a regular basis.

Best of Luck!

Toby Turrell