Bauer looks to end string of bad beats

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Phil Bauer ended his Oaklawn Park meet with three straight winners, but the trainer’s luck must’ve fallen out of his Dodge Ram truck somewhere on the way home to Kentucky.

Bauer not only entered this week winless with his first 11 starts at the Churchill Downs spring meet, but it’s the manner in which victory has eluded him that almost defies belief.

Played Hard appeared to have the Kentucky Oaks Day finale won for Bauer, only to be nailed on a head-bob. Likewise, Claytnthelionheart also got beat a zop on May 15.

Then came the coup de grace: The Bauer-trained Rubus appeared to have won an allowance last Friday by a head following a grueling stretch battle, but the race was declared no contest by the Churchill stewards because of a starting-gate snafu (the front doors of the five starters opened at different times). And as if that wasn’t enough, Singita Dreams was on the short end of a close photo for Bauer in an allowance on Saturday.

For statistical purposes, Rubus and Bauer are both being credited with a win by Daily Racing Form and Equibase, but the reality is that no purse money was paid out. The owners of all five starters were reimbursed $5,000 by Churchill, but a win by Rubus would have been worth about $60,000 to owner Richard Rigney.

“We finally win one, and it doesn’t count,” Bauer said. “Talk about a snake-bit meet.”

Bauer, a 36-year-old Louisville native who went out on his own in 2013 following a lengthy tenure as an assistant to Ken McPeek, knows his luck can’t stay rotten forever. After three scheduled runners here Thursday, Bauer has two more on the Friday card – Madison’s Luna is a main-track-only designate in race 3, a $104,000 allowance, while Claytnthelionheart figures prominently in a $102,000 allowance that occupies the traditional race-8 feature slot on a nine-race card that starts at 12:45 p.m. Eastern.

Claytnthelionheart, a 5-year-old gelding, will have Gabriel Saez up when he breaks from post 5 in a field of eight 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles. With a $175,415 bankroll from 19 prior starts, he’s the leading earner in the group.

“He seems to appreciate a route of ground,” Bauer said. “I thought he was a winner last time, but he was just short. This race might be a little tougher than the last one, but the horse is doing good and we’ll give it another try.”

Claytnthelionheart has earned Beyer Speed Figures in the low to mid-80s in each of his last three starts. Almost all of the opposition sport similar figures in what shapes up as a very well-matched feature, including Friar’s Road, Dack Janiel’s, Gigging, and Amani’s Eagle.

The earlier allowance is scheduled for 5 1/2 furlongs on turf, although it might have to be transferred to the main track, with a high chance of rain throughout the week here, including Friday. Madison’s Luna, entered for an optional $62,500 tag, would rate a solid chance if in fact the race goes on dirt. Otherwise, a rematch of the top three finishers from a key race held here May 16 – Gray Attempt, Souper Dormy, and Bad Beat Brian – could result in another wild scramble if it stays on the grass.

Incredibly, the no contest involving Rubus last Friday was the second of the card, surely setting or equaling some sort of bizarre record. In an earlier race, a horse crashed through the temporary inner rail shortly after the start of a two-turn turf race, necessitating it being ordered halted by the stewards as the field entered the backstretch. No horses or jockeys were injured in either race.