Believe it or not, it is okay to think about races other than the Breeders’ Cup events right now. I know, this is heresy. But life goes on both before and after Nov. 4-5 at Santa Anita, and Sunday’s interesting sport across the nation bears this out.
These two weekends end up being filled with regional festivals – Maryland, New York, Oklahoma – as well as a collection of minor stakes whose past glories have faded during the Breeders’ Cup era. This is no reason not to pay attention.
The heavy package in the mailbox the other day was a gift from a friend. Everyone should have such a friend.
The box was of surprising heft, suggesting it contained either an exotic car part or a bag of Boynton Beach sand. To my surprise and pleasure, the unwrapping revealed a 1963 American Racing Manual, which instantly filled a nagging hole in a collection dating back to a misspent youth.
Tepin is tremendous, and Lady Eli is sensational, but neither will remain on the racetrack forever. Tepin will be 6 next year, and Lady Eli is scheduled to be sold at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale (along with Stellar Wind, to mention another notable), so who knows what the future might hold?
All eyes will be on Toronto on Sunday, when Woodbine welcomes the world to its turf jewels, the $500,000 E.P. Taylor at 1 1/4 miles and the $1 million Canadian International over 1 1/2 miles.
The figures are in local dollars, of course, which run around 76 cents to the American version right now. But even at that rate, the money still spends, and the purses are more than enough to lure 10 handsome Europeans to the best grass course in North America.
Among the upscale, tailgating throng gathering at the Far Hills steeplechase meeting Saturday in central New Jersey will be Jack Doyle, the leading jump jock in the country this year and last and the winner of a healthy half-million dollars by his mounts in 2016.
This is the story of two retirements, one coming at the end of a rich, deeply satisfying career, the other not so much.
Unusual Heat, 26, has been pensioned, ending a 19-year stallion career that never ceased to amaze. Year after year, the Unusual Heats would come rolling down the line, winning races large and small in such numbers as to impress even the most casual students of the game.
Certainly the biggest shock of the day Saturday, the last big day of prep races for next month’s Breeders’ Cup, was Tepin’s loss in the First Lady at Keeneland. But it wasn’t just that Tepin could finish only second at 2-5 that was so surprising, it was also the manner in which the First Lady upset was sprung.
Time to fight the power, horse-racing style.
Out West, trainer Steve Miyadi had a horse test positive last December for meth and speed. The California Horse Racing Board wanted to suspend him for six months. After Miyadi and his employees were tested and two of the crew failed, the board cut the suspension to one month and a $5,000 fine, based on the wiggle room allowed in California’s version of the trainer responsibility rule.
Corey Nakatani’s first experience with the Breeders’ Cup Mile did not scar him for life, although he’d rather drink castor oil than relive the moment. That first Mile did, however, light a fire that made him one of the world’s most effective jockeys in a race that by all measures has been the most exciting, most satisfying event on the Breeders’ Cup menu.
“I was in the Virgin Islands once. I met a girl. We ate lobster, drank piña coladas. At sunset, we made love like sea otters. That was a pretty good day. Why couldn’t I get that day over and over and over ... ” – Bill Murray, “Groundhog Day”
Because you can’t, that’s why. Because it wouldn’t be good for you, just like eating steak and chocolate cake for every meal wouldn’t be good for you, or never being told no.
