Greyvitos is not part of some racehorse witness protection program. It only seems that way.
From the moment he sparked interest last November while winning the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes at Del Mar, defeating a field that included Mourinho and Run Away, Greyvitos had the look of a colt with a future. What kind of future was unclear, but it figured to be an interesting ride.
It was only a flesh wound, but the memory lingered. Victor Espinoza’s right shoulder was laced with several red scrapes, souvenirs of the close shave he experienced earlier in a day that ended with a resounding victory in the Santa Anita Handicap.
“It was in the first race,” Espinoza began. “I was on a first-time starter for Peter Miller. The horse next to me – a Baffert horse – was moving around, but I was paying attention to my own horse, trying to keep him focused and calm so he’d break nice and clean.”
Wise Dan lets you lead him around and snap a photo. Declan’s Moon will stop goofing off with his mates long enough to take a carrot. Main Sequence lords over the paddock already made famous by a previous occupant. And among the peaceful herd at his owner’s Pennsylvania farm is the venerable ’chaser Mixed Up, nearly a decade removed from his glory days.
Okay, that’s a wrap. Everything that possibly could have been done to cut the legs out from under the Santa Anita Handicap as one of the sport’s great events has been done. Y’all can leave it alone now and let it wander along in peace.
First, in 1996, came the $4 million Dubai World Cup, dwarfing the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap with its proximity on the calendar.
Then, in 1999, the Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park was elevated in purse money to half a million bucks, encouraging owners and trainers to choose between the two domestic events.
The opening salvo of the recent letter crafted by the Water Hay Oats Alliance and signed by 64 trainers read like this:
“As trainers of horses we love, in a sport to which we have devoted our lives, we have taken a stand for clean racing by joining the Water Hay Oats Alliance.”
Strap on the oxygen and break out the comfortable shoes. Gulfstream Park is asking its patrons – both on and off the track – to consider for their gambling pleasure the intricacies of no less than 14 races on Saturday, with the Triple Crown-significant Fountain of Youth Stakes serving as the cherry on top.
It’s Oscar time again for movie fans, some of whom actually leave the house to watch movies in theaters, as the 90th Academy Awards ceremony unfurls this Sunday evening. Diehards have placed their pool bets, banking on a romantic science fiction thriller to blow both “Dunkirk” and “Three Billboards …” out of the water. It could happen, but then you never know what’s in that envelope. Really, you never know.
For people who grew up in Boston and are of a certain age, the 2018 Kentucky Derby will mark the 50th anniversary of a Derby that will always be steeped in controversy.
The 1968 Kentucky Derby was won by Dancer’s Image, who rallied from last in the field of 14 and scored by 1 1/2 lengths despite his rider losing his whip into the stretch.
Dancer’s Image was owned by the late Peter Fuller, the son of a former Massachusetts governor, a boxer in his youth, a highly successful businessman, and a sportsman of the first order.
