The US immigration bureaucracy is working hard to keep America safe — from pesky Canadian jockeys. Stewart Elliott, who won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness on Smarty Jones last year and is the rider of likely Derby contender Rockport Harbor, was arrested by the Customs and Border Protection office in New York and transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Elliott, a Canadian citizen, was detained in connection to a guilty plea in an assault case four years ago. He’s to appear before a federal judge today. (Detroit Free Press)
Related: Elliott talks with Dick Jerardi about his past. “I just want to tell everybody that I’m not proud of what I did. I have nothing to hide. I’ll tell everybody. I was a bleep-up, and now I just want to straighten out and ride good horses and do my job.” (Philadelphia Daily News)
3/4 Update: Elliott was released yesterday and returned to New York to ride four mounts at Aqueduct in the afternoon. “The jockey’s spokeswoman said she is confident the problem will be cleared up quickly.” (Boston Globe)
Posted by JC in Jockeys on 03/03/2005 @ 9:40 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter
– Derby preps get underway in earnest this weekend, with the Santa Catalina and Baldwin at Santa Anita and the Fountain of Youth and Swale Stakes at Gulfstream on Saturday. The Santa Anita Handicap is this Saturday too: A field of 11 — including Saint Liam, Rock Hard Ten, and Island Fashion — is set to run. (LAT)
– Funny Cide’s 2005 campaign is announced. He’ll race five times this year, starting with the April 28 Ben Ali Handicap at Keeneland and ending with another try at the Breeders’ Cup Classic. (DRF)
– Jockey Mike Luzzi gets the call on Galloping Grocer for the March 19 Gotham at Aqueduct. (NYDN)
– TVG and the group Thoroughbred Owners of California are partnering to offer a short film contest for filmmakers producing movies about Thoroughbred racing. “TVG and the TOC share a commitment to exposing the great sport of horseracing to non-traditional younger audiences and this Short Film Contest embodies that commitment,” said Ryan O’Hara, president of TVG. (BH)
– Send links, comments to railbird at jessicachapel dot com
Posted by JC in Miscellany on 03/03/2005 @ 9:00 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter
Vic Ziegel revisits Seabiscuit’s 1940 Santa Anita Handicap win:
One of sports’ greatest what-ifs took place 65 years ago today in the $100,000 Santa Anita Handicap, which was then racing’s richest prize. What if — and why didn’t — the jockey on Kayak II use his whip when he seemed ready to pass the leader near the finish line?
Kayak finished second and, the chart notes tell us, ‘might have been closer to the winner had he been vigorously ridden in the last sixteenth.’ Which is racing’s dignified way of saying, ‘You can smell it from here.’
Kayak’s owner didn’t complain, was thrilled in fact. He happened to own the winner as well. A 7-year-old, racing for the last time, named Seabiscuit.
Hm … Ziegel writes that owner Charles Howard was rooting for the win because it “would make Seabiscuit the game’s leading money-winner, and enhance his reputation when he went to stud.”
Posted by JC in Racing on 03/02/2005 @ 3:35 pm / Tagged Racing History, Seabiscuit / Follow @railbird on Twitter
