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.

Tim Ritvo warned everyone, right there in his black-and-white Los Angeles Times interview with John Cherwa dated June 5, 2017:

“I can tell you that the facility is underperforming based on the property value,” Ritvo said. “This place is worth, at a minimum, half-a-billion dollars. We don’t get anything close to 4 or 5 percent back. They are not greedy people, they just want to get a fair investment so they can justify to future generations that it makes sense to race here.”

The fact that of the 22 horses fatally injured during the current Santa Anita Park meeting none of their riders was seriously injured speaks to the disproportionate dangers shared by man and beast in the acts of racing and training. The sadness is tinged with relief, but only a little.

Last Sunday morning, a group of about two dozen protesters gathered on the corner of Santa Anita’s Gate No. 8 and Baldwin Avenue, where approaching vehicles are tempted to veer either left to the racetrack or right to the Westfield shopping mall.

It remains to be seen how long it might continue, but it appears Gulfstream’s Fountain of Youth Stakes sparked a trend in Kentucky Derby prep races.

The Fountain of Youth made news in part because of its insanely fast early pace. One week later all three of Saturday’s Derby points races – the Tampa Bay Derby, the Gotham at Aqueduct, and, yes, even the Jeff Ruby at Turfway – also featured wickedly fast early paces.

The impact of the halt in racing at Santa Anita, prompted by the haunting spectre of 21 horses fatally injured this winter, has sent dominoes tumbling. Many of the owners, trainers, and jockeys who rely on the bounty of purses offered by the West’s most famous track have been sent scurrying for alternate plans, while others find themselves in frustrating limbo, awaiting word from track management for a green light to resume business as usual.

The first time the Santa Anita Handicap was canceled came in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor by the forces of Imperial Japan on Dec. 7, 1941.

If ever a race lent credence to the old sports saying credited to coach Lou Holtz that, “You’re never as good as everyone tells you when you win, and you’re never as bad as they say when you lose,” it was Saturday’s Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream.

The incidence of equine deaths at Santa Anita Park this winter - specifically the 14 linked to racing and training on the main track through the training of Thursday morning – became intolerable in the last week when four horses were fatally injured in a four-day span, Feb. 22-25.

Splash! went the local headlines and news shows, screaming about the carnage, as if someone had just that day noticed horse racing is a blood sport that requires the highest possible levels of safety precautions and regulation to simply make it through an average afternoon without a tragedy.

NEW YORK – There are nine graded stakes races on Saturday, and every one of them is at Gulfstream Park. The main event there is the Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth, with the Davona Dale and the Mac Diarmida stakes, which are also Grade 2 races and worth $200,000 each, being the most highly ranked supporting features.

Fountain of Youth Stakes