Watchmaker: Rock Fall on everyone's mind on slow stakes weekend

In a weekend largely devoid of major stakes activity, the sad news of the tragic fatal breakdown of Grade 1 winner Rock Fall in a training accident Saturday morning at Keeneland and the announcement later in the day of the passing of Grade 1 winner Talco following an arthroscopic procedure, the likes of which we have all come to accept as routine, were first on the minds of everyone in the game.

Rock Fall’s accident was pretty much THE topic of conversation Saturday for people gathering at Belmont Park. And even for folks who have experienced too many events such as these and have become somewhat calloused as a result, this one really, really hurt.

Rock Fall epitomized what we all look for in a good horse. He was obviously highly talented, reeling off seven straight victories after a loss in his debut. Rock Fall earned triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures in five of those seven wins, and his last three scores came in the Grade 2 True North, the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt, and the Grade 1 Vosburgh. That made Rock Fall not only one of the future book favorites for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint but also a top contender for the Eclipse Award for champion male sprinter.

Moreover, and perhaps most importantly, Rock Fall owned a fierce will to win. After taking most of his races by open lengths, he prevailed by a nose in the Vanderbilt and would not be denied in the Vosburgh, which he won by a neck. We see a lot of horses, even highly accomplished ones, who win big but fold when faced with a challenge. Rock Fall had the ideal combination of talent and heart. Even if you felt he fell short of being the best sprinter ever to look through a bridle, it was impossible not to admire him. That’s why his loss really stings.

The biggest stakes race of this holiday weekend by far was Saturday’s Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland. Fortunately, there wasn’t another tragic accident in this race, although we came too close for comfort. Unfortunately, the outcome of the Queen Elizabeth II was thoroughly inconclusive.

Full disclosure: I picked Miss Temple City to upset the Queen Elizabeth II in my Weekend Warrior column and bet on her at a very generous 8-1, so take that for what it’s worth.

Her Emmynency prevailed by a head over Miss Temple City, and the result was eventually made official. So no matter what, no one will ever be able to take this Grade 1 victory away from Her Emmynency, which is no small thing as her value as a broodmare now is exponentially higher. However, you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who watched this race and didn’t come away convinced Miss Temple City clearly was the best.

Her Emmynency turned for home in the Queen Elizabeth II with a clear lead off the temporary rail, with Miss Temple City hot on her heels right behind her. Florent Geroux on Her Emmynency gave Drayden Van Dyke on Miss Temple City an inviting opening on the inside, and once Van Dyke bit, Geroux slammed the door on him. That forced Van Dyke to take Miss Temple City up sharply and idle for a few strides to clear Her Emmynency’s heels before angling out for a clear run.

This incident completely stopped Miss Temple City’s forward momentum at an obviously crucial point in the race and cost her, conservatively speaking, a couple lengths. It is very much to Miss Temple City’s credit that she was able to regain her composure and stride and make it as desperately close at the finish as she did.

Now, a few thoughts on this incident:

Whether you think what Geroux did on Her Emmynency was enough to warrant a disqualification – as noted, I bet Miss Temple City, and I did not think there was enough for a disqualification, nor did I ever expect one to get put up – it is stunning to me that an incident so blatant in the stretch run of a Grade 1 race did not warrant an immediate inquiry from the Keeneland stewards, especially when the two horses involved wound up in a photo finish. In fact, a steward’s inquiry never was posted or announced. There was only an objection – and an owner’s objection, at that.

I am well aware that jockeys must make many split-second decisions during a race, so I’m not going to take Van Dyke to task for committing to the inside in upper stretch with Miss Temple City. After all, Van Dyke saw the opening on the temporary rail, but when he took the bait, Geroux took him to school. But the fact is if Van Dyke waited just a bit more – just a bit – he would have had all the room in the world to get outside at no loss of momentum or lengths, and Miss Temple City would have won comfortably.

That speaks to the jockey philosophy of going inside of one horse in the stretch. Some don’t have a problem with it. I frankly can’t stand it for the very reasons we saw in this Queen Elizabeth II. When you go inside one horse in the stretch, you still are threading a hole between that horse and the unforgiving rail. The chances for something bad happening are greatly reduced when you get out in the clear to go around a horse.