Michael Beychok, the 2012 Eclipse Award Handicapper of the Year, was in Northern California earlier this week participating in a conference of crisis management experts on the topic of natural disasters. His mind, not surprisingly, kept wandering to horse racing, and the current crisis faced by the industry over the rash of equine fatalities this winter at Santa Anita.
“There are so many parallels,” Beychok said. “And the industry, as a whole, is handling this about as poorly as it can.”
Ponies.
A band of the famous Chincoteague wild ponies of Virginia’s outer banks had to be moved earlier this week because some of the tourists who flock to the island town each year were disregarding warnings to neither feed nor approach the herd.
Each spring, the 150-strong herd, driven by swimming cowboys, makes the five-minute low-tide paddle across the channel from their grazing ground on Assateague Island to the village of Chincoteague, where many are sold to generate revenue for the local volunteer fire department.
Because 22 Thoroughbreds were fatally injured at Santa Anita this winter – now 23 with the loss of Arms Runner on Sunday – there is a distinct likelihood that within a matter of months jockeys in California no longer will be allowed to strike their horses during the running of a parimutuel race.
Like cherry blossoms annually blooming in the spring, it has become a rite rather than an exception that the number of horses with designs on the Kentucky Derby exceeds the 20 who are allowed to start. Because of that, the system used to cap the starting Derby field – a points system first employed in 2013 – itself becomes critical and open to scrutiny.
So if I tilt my head just right, shade my eyes, and listen only to the birds in the trees, there is a chance to pretend that the past month really didn’t happen, and that all I need to do is click my ruby red boot heels together three times and chant, “There’s no place like Santa Anita. There’s no place like Santa Anita.”
Didn’t work.
When it comes to the rich grass races on the Dubai World Cup program, horses trained in North America are batting a big, fat zero.
Zero for the 21 runnings of the Dubai Sheema Classic at about a mile and one-half.
Zero for the 19 runnings of the Dubai Turf, formerly the Dubai Duty Free, at about a mile and one-eighth.
Zero for the nine runnings of the Al Quoz Sprint since it became part of the big night, formerly run at about five furlongs and now stretched out to about six.
Believe it or not, in the shadow of a darkened Santa Anita Park there is still racehorse training going on in Southern California, evidence of which was apparent last Saturday when Core Beliefs emerged from a six-month hiatus to win the Grade 2 New Orleans Handicap for owner Gary Broad and trainer Pete Eurton by three-quarters of a length over a stubborn Silver Dust.
In terms of stakes racing, Saturday was one of those weird, wacky days that come along every so often with the sole apparent purpose of keeping us humble. Here’s what I’m talking about:
* At Aqueduct, Workaholic was along in time to win the Cicada at 36-1, the longest shot in the field of six.
* At Gulfstream, Gladiator King won the Hutcheson at 12-1 as the longest shot in the field of four.
For those who are not able to make the scene in New Orleans and enjoy the Louisiana Derby festivities on Saturday, they can always rustle up a few po’ boys, dip into a tureen of seafood gumbo, and crank up Dr. John’s greatest hits on the box while they watch War of Will, Country House, and the rest of the fine young animals scramble for a spot in the Kentucky Derby field.
Or they can call Bob Fortus.
It’s been a rough few months for our sport – the sport we love. And some of the blows have come from quarters one would hope would know better. I mean, a major racetrack owner legitimizing PETA, whose stated mission is to end horse racing? Seriously?
But just when you’re about to start praying that things won’t get any more troubling and bizarre, events occur to remind you of all that is great about our game. And such a major reset occurred Saturday in the second division of the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn.
