Dominguez Not at Fault
After reviewing the race, Maryland stewards determined that jockey Ramon Dominguez wasn’t at fault for the incident at the top of the stretch in the Preakness, when he struck Scrappy T and the horse veered into Afleet Alex’s path. “He hit him one time,” said steward Bill Passmore. “How many horses do you hit left-handed and they don’t move?” (Washington Post)
Dominguez apologized immediately after the race, and Jeremy Rose graciously accepted. Trainer Tim Ritchey was noticeably more upset that day and the next, but even he won’t say much more than, “My father said a long time ago that if you don’t have anything good to say about anybody, don’t say anything.” It was a display of good sportsmanship all around. Peter Schmuck thinks an opportunity was missed:
Everybody acts like it’s business as usual, and an opportunity to turn the moment into a week of highlights on SportsCenter vanished faster than the bankrolls of all the people who put their trust in my handicapping ability at The Sun’s snazzy tent party earlier in the day.
There is a reason that NASCAR is the fastest-growing major sport in America and horse racing is struggling to hold on to its audience. If this were a stock car race, there would have been a rumble on pit road and everybody would be talking about it for days….
Don’t they realize that we live in a sports world that thrives on conflict and controversy? Didn’t they get the memo about the importance of being orneriest?
The same kind of move in the Daytona 500 would have caused a 20-car pileup — and created the kind of emotion that can turn a sporting event into a passion play.
Rose and Dominguez took the higher road — and maybe that’s what makes horse racing the great sport it is — but it sure doesn’t sell T-shirts. (Baltimore Sun)
Conflict and controversy — doesn’t Schmuck follow racing headlines? The sport has enough of both. We need more displays of good behavior from owners, trainers, and jockeys like the ones we’ve seen post-Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
Posted by JC in Triple Crown on 05/23/2005 @ 12:15 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
