JC / Railbird

Racing Archive

Catching Up

Oh, hello. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? A few days off after the Breeders’ Cup turned into a few weeks away from Railbird. Like Foolish Pleasure, sometimes the year-round grind gets to me, not that I ever truly stop paying attention to racing. Google Reader doesn’t stop updating headlines and Equibase doesn’t stop sending stable alerts, which is how I learned that To Honor and Serve won the Remsen Stakes last Saturday at Aqueduct, giving trainer Bill Mott his most promising Kentucky Derby prospect yet. Mott told DRF that the Bernardini colt, who has no reason to get anything but better as a 3-year-old, could return in the Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream on February 26. If To Honor and Serve does start there, it sounds like he and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Uncle Mo won’t be meeting, with trainer Todd Pletcher telling Jason Shandler that the Tampa Bay Derby is a possibility for his freaky young star. Could it be? I’m feeling stirrings of excitement for 2011. I think the turn-out time is paying off.

Posted in Racing on November 30, 2010

“We Can’t Ignore It”

A strongly worded statement from Life at Ten’s connections questions the Kentucky stewards’ findings regarding last Friday’s incident.

Posted in Racing on November 12, 2010 / Tagged Breeders' Cup, Churchill Downs, Cindy DeBartolo, Kentucky, KHRC, Life At Ten

Sorry, Bettors

If you bet Life at Ten, officially eased in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic at Churchill after jockey John Velazquez told ESPN that his mount wasn’t warming up right, Kentucky steward John Veitch would like you to know:

… it was unfortunate but “there’s nothing we can do for [you].”

And forget learning in future televised races that you’ve been ripped off:

… under discussion is whether television interviews with jockeys when they are on their mount before a race should be allowed.

Tweeted Nick Kling: “Breeders’ Cup bettors hosed. ‘Stewards plan to take no action‘ in Life At Ten debacle. Is it time for horseplayers to quit the game?”

Not yet (at least for this one), but it would be good to get reassurances something similar won’t happen next year. An independent review, conducted by the Breeders’ Cup, as Ray Paulick suggests, seems reasonable, as does the BC and KHRC formulating a plan for dealing with such situations that doesn’t include shutting up jockeys who might utter unwelcome words publicly. What Velazquez said wasn’t the problem. The communications breakdown among the rider, vets, and stewards in the minutes leading to the race was.

Posted in Racing on November 11, 2010 / Tagged Breeders' Cup, Churchill Downs, ESPN, Kentucky, KHRC, Life At Ten, Stewards