The good
We have just concluded a great time of year for the thoroughbred community as well as for the folks that are fans just twice a year, Triple Crown time and Breeders’ Cup. We are receiving loads of positive vibes and we should all celebrate the time with enthusiasm.
The Triple Crown races are behind us, but there was quite a bit of positive energy thanks to Union Rags for picking up the slack after I’ll Have Another electrified the first two legs, only to succumb to an injury and the classy way Doug O’Neill and company ported themselves in trying times. If the positive atmosphere could be extended, it would do wonders in the thoroughbred world.
The bad
When you ask, “What’s wrong with horse racing?”, it is like asking someone, “Are you still beating your wife?” It is a no-win situation for the person who answers. Is there an answer? Probably many answers. Is there a viable solution? Probably not. The sport has been its enemy for such a long time that new people interested in the sport immediately look for a shady side – the backstretch, the smokey back room with bookies, the fix, the horse that is “pulled” and they think it is all there.
We had the Alydar incident long ago with no set answer and massive negative publicity to say nothing of the barbarian way the horse met his demise. We had the national TV exposure of Barbaro breaking down as well as national exposure for Eight Belles breaking down. Both of those tragedies, while being just that, cast a pallor on the entire industry that was highlighted by Matt Lauer (Today Show) showing his derriere by bashing Larry Jones, the trainer for Eight Belles and a first-class individual.
Horse racing is like a house that is built with many imperfect bricks and if the bricks are flawed, so will the house be flawed.
On the local scene, we have a huge fight within the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association, in Maryland the same thing, in California same thing, and in New York where things appear to be copious, but still, there is fighting, threats, and more negative output.
In the highest-profile two week period between the Kentucky Derby and The Preakness, we not only had accusations regarding trainer Doug O’Neill, we had other trainers wanting him to lose because if he wins, “it sends the wrong message” and we had reporters saying the very same thing. Too bad old Billy Shakespeare is not still with us, this stuff would make for great theater…I thinks.
Then we moved into Belmont week and closer to a Triple Crown winner and those three weeks between the Preakness and Belmont upstaged the weeks between the Derby and Preakness.
Overkill on the security for the entrants, more bashing of the trainer and by no less than Penny Chenery, the last person I would have thought was a secretariat of naysayers. Perhaps Joan Rivers should have been cast as her rather than the classy Diane Lane. The final blow came with the injury to the star, I’ll Have Another and the colt’s subsequent withdrawal.
D. Wayne Lukas gets kicked in the head and when reported on The Paulick Report, people come out of the woodwork to print their classless remarks. Old D. Wayne has been arrogant, haughty and at times, inconsiderate, but give him his due.
He was not just a great trainer; he imparted that knowledge to his disciples and they have become great trainers. Furthermore, he has aged and become a more humble man and we all have the right to change. Someone once said that “youth is wasted on the young” and no truer words were ever spoken.
The ugly.
You do not have to be on the national scene to cause havoc in horse racing. Two incidents that happened right down the road at one of my favorite tracks, Tampa Bay Downs, speak volumes for throwing water on threnthusiasm.
A well-known trainer had a couple along with their nine-year-old daughter and they were wanting to get into racing. The trainer showed them around the track and their enthusiasm brimmed. Going down to the rail to watch a race close up, they witnessed a horse being overcome by heat after the race. The trainer (a woman but perhaps not a lady) was screaming for some water to help cool the horse.
Now having a horse stressed with heat fatigue is not the prettiest of sights, but they knew that was part of the game. It was the trainer’s salty dialogue punctuated with F-Bombs that turned them off and turned their enthusiasm to disgust as they hustled their daughter away. When the trainer with the family reported the incident, the track censured the foul-mouthed trainer in a meeting which was also punctuated with F-Bombs and fined her $500.00…only to make her Trainer of the Week the following week.
On March 18, Wynn Jolley, one of the biggest cheerleaders and fans of the sport, claimed a three-year-old colt for himself and clients. The race, a 32k maiden claiming race on the turf was without event until Mr. Jolley got the colt back to the barn and discovered it was a gelding! He called a vet and the vet disclosed it had been gelded about fifteen days prior.
Track officials did not announce the error in the program, Daily Racing Form, etc. and they told trainer, Jolley, “You own it.” Jolley told his clients he would absorb the financial impact. The clients, however, wanted to know what kind of industry would perpetrate fraud and why would the track not make it good knowing that it was false information in the program and the bettors were given bogus information to calculate their wagers. Hey, is there not a parimutuel board involved somewhere here?
The most interesting ingredient here is the connections who entered the gelding as a colt, trainer Tom Proctor and owner Claiborne farm, who recently completed a national ad program regarding longevity and integrity. While I am not suggesting any hanky panky, you would think that those connections are experienced enough to do things right. The following is taken from the rules in the Tampa Bay Downs condition book.
#33 Alteration in the sex of a horse must be reported by its Owner or Trainer to the Racing Secretary or Horse Identifier in writing. Notwithstanding any designation of Sex in the racing program or any official Racing Publication, the Claimant of a horse shall be solely responsible for determining the sex of the animal claimed.
Nothing like an ambiguous statement that is designed to cover your donkey. What action was taken toward the owner or trainer in this case? Why must the claiming connections take it in the teeth? Well we are in July and this happened in March and nothing has or will be done.
There isn’t a court in this country that would not side with Mr. Jolley, but the cost to pursue would be prohibitive. What makes this so ugly is the “in your face” attitude that prevails in horse racing toward the little guy, along with the lack of a “let’s make this right” resolution to make everyone a winner.
When Jolley called the Jockey Club the same day as the claim, he was informed that the track had just called to change the papers from a colt to a gelding after the race and Jolley’s complaint. When contacted for their side, Tampa Bay Downs simply said to check out the rules 124.9 and said it is buyer beware. You can’t help but wonder how it would have been handled if the shoe was on the other foot and Jolley had entered the horse under pretenses.
What might just be an honest mistake should be rectified without the claiming trainer having to pay for the sins of those who erred.
Moving south to Calder, the squeeze is on for rent at that “luxurious backstretch”. Makes one wonder if it is a ruse aimed at getting rid of horse racing while retaining the slots and poker!
Wake up and smell the flowers and then the coffee, horse people. Enjoy the moment, but don’t lose track of the ball….keep your eye on it.
If horse racing is to survive, it will take all the king’s horses and all the king’s men. That means you and me!
