JC / Railbird

Suffolk Downs Archive

Another Year Passes

Suffolk Downs’ 2005 meet ended on Wednesday before a small crowd and in cold, wet weather. Numbers on attendance and handle haven’t been released yet, but it’s a safe prediction that both will be down from last year’s modest increases, owing to the spring drizzle and chill that afflicted the meet’s opening weeks and the cancellation of the major stakes schedule. This year was certainly not the track’s best, what with the absence of the Massachusetts Handicap in June, the failed bid for slots, and the sad death of jockey Michel Lapensee in an accident in October. Despite the gloom that opened and closed the season, there were plenty of good moments during the past six months — I think of Stylish Sultana winning the African Prince Stakes in June by a neck on the outside after a strong late move mid-stretch, for instance, which was also the same day that jockey Winston Thompson won six races in an afternoon for the first time. The two-year-old races this July were also a high point. New York trainers Christophe Clement and Reynaldo Abreu shipped in several classy contenders, who were surprisingly well-matched by Suffolk’s own. Watching the baby races here was a nice prelude to watching them in Saratoga.
The meet title for leading jockey went to Thompson, who ended the season with 158 wins, and John Rigattieri, with 93 wins, was the leading trainer. Michael Gill was the leading owner, with 54 wins. Live racing is scheduled to return in May 2006.
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The meet may be over, but Suffolk horses retiring from racing still need help finding new homes.

Posted in Suffolk Downs on November 25, 2005

Suffolk Saturday

Another Suffolk Downs racing season is coming to an end. Originally scheduled to close next Saturday, November 19, Suffolk’s last day will be Wednesday, November 23, to make up for three racing days cancelled earlier this fall. Despite the short fields and tiny pools that particularly plague the track this time of year, there were several good plays on Saturday’s card and even a couple of long-priced winners. In the ninth, Dan’s Soldier, a three-year-old gelding by the same sire as Lost in the Fog, was sent off at 9-1 despite his improving form and a switch from route to sprint. Dan’s Soldier paid $20.60 to win. In the seventh, a three-year-filly named Starship Elaine paid $17.40 to win. I didn’t have Starship Elaine, but my friend Sage, making her very first trip to the track and her very first wager, did. Sage bet the filly because it shared her late grandmother’s name; I should have known not to play against beginner’s luck.

Posted in Suffolk Downs on November 12, 2005

Michel Lapensee, 1947-2005

Talk to a jockey about the dangers of riding and they’ll point out that they’re the only athletes followed by an ambulance. The statement is both fatalistic joke and stark acknowledgment of fact. No jockey gets through a career without injuries; an unfortunate few are permanently disabled or killed riding. Such was the fate of Michel Lapensee, who died last Friday from injuries he suffered in an accident at Suffolk Downs on October 24.

Hundreds of mourners gathered in a Providence church this morning to remember and honor the 58-year-old rider as a husband, father, colleague, and friend. The ceremony was simple and emotional, a burial mass followed by two eulogists. Lapensee’s niece read from a piece she wrote while her uncle lay in intensive care, in which she touched on the question that must have crossed the minds of many others when they heard the news of Lapensee’s death — “Was feeling at one with an animal … worth this?” She was followed by an old friend of Lapensee, who recalled his humor and graciousness, his love of fishing, and his passion for racing. “I can still hear his voice, from when he broke his maiden at Green Mountain. He was in front of me, yelling, ‘I’m going to win, I’m going to win!'” It was that thrill and joy that kept Lapensee at the track long after most jockeys have retired. Walking away from the sport was “never an option,” Lapensee’s son, Michel Jr., told the Boston Globe.

In his 38-year career, Lapensee won 2,678 races from more than 20,000 starts. “When my dad was working,” said Michel Jr., “he was one with the horse.” Lapensee is best known for riding Playing Politics, who in 1998, at the age of 16, became the oldest horse to ever win a race at Suffolk Downs. “He was the oldest racehorse of his generation and would not have achieved the honor without the help and companionship of one Michel Lapensee,” writes Paul Daley in his remembrance of the jockey.

“Mike got on the horse and gave his best,” said trainer Mario DeStefano. On October 24, Lapensee climbed aboard Mecke’s Money for that afternoon’s ninth race. On the far turn, the six-year-old gelding broke his left front cannon bone and fell, throwing Lapensee. It was a $4,000 claiming race. There was no glory to be had but that inherent in riding a thoroughbred at top speed, in doing his best on the racetrack. Lapensee’s dedication to riding kept him coming back, doing the only work he knew and loved, and in the end, it killed him. Was feeling at one with an animal worth a man’s death? That’s impossible to answer. But the presence of so many this morning testified that a life spent riding was not a life spent in vain.

Posted in Jockeys, Suffolk Downs on November 3, 2005

Lapensee Dies From Injuries

Jockey Michel Lapensee died at Massachusetts General Hospital late Friday night from injuries he sustained in an accident during last Monday’s ninth race at Suffolk Downs, in which the six-year-old gelding Mecke’s Money broke down on the far turn, throwing the rider. The 58-year-old Lapensee was a regular on the New England circuit for 30 years, winning 2,678 races out of more than 20,000 starts. He was honored with a moment of silence at the beginning of Suffolk’s Saturday card. In response to the accident, the racetrack has upgraded the track ambulance crew to include a paramedic, a move that won praise from Jockeys’ Guild representative Darrell Haire: “Suffolk Downs is doing the right thing.”
A funeral mass for Lapensee will be held at St. Edward’s Church in Providence on November 3 at 11 a.m. More information can be found on the Suffolk Downs news page.

Posted in Suffolk Downs on October 30, 2005