Media Star Wars

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY, June 17, 2013—Unfortunately--and not for the reasons you might surmise out of hand—the battle between various segments of the racing industry and the racing media in all its forms is alive and well.

The newspaper business is in as much trouble as the racing industry these days, but if racing doesn’t think it needs media coverage, pro or con, it is sadly mistaken: Any business that does not court media; traditional or otherwise, cannot expect to survive, much less prosper:

ITEM: New York Post Fires Racing Staff on Belmont Stakes Eve

It is no secret that the racing industry—and sports leagues to some extent—no longer believes it’s necessary to at least co-exist with mainstream media of which Internet coverage is now part.

The word blogger, whatever the industry, has become a curse. Yes, many bloggers do not feel it necessary to fact-check before writing. Indeed, shooting from the editorial hip can be highly counter-productive and in some cases patently wrong.

Chasing the Dream Is What Really Matters

ELMONT, NY, June 10, 2013—I don’t know why but at no point during the 2013 Triple Crown run did I experience some sense of urgency about how it would all turn out. I was content to allow it to wash over me.

I like 3-year-old racing for the excitement it brings to the sport, the good betting opportunities it affords, and the teachable moments about the process that helps to understand the contestants.

I like the fact that repetition and experience informs the process to better understand the practitioners themselves. I’ve trained hundreds of horses on this word processors over the years and never have lost a race.

I never won one, either, but I’m seldom in doubt. For some reason, But this Triple Crown season was different. It wasn’t gee whiz, wide-eyed business as usual.

But from the day after Orb’s Kentucky Derby to the day after Palace Malice’s Belmont Stakes, I’m not sure I’ve ever enjoyed a Triple Crown chase more.

We Are Family

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY, June 15, 2013—It’s a terrible irony that Ramon Dominguez, one of the game’s great family men, gets to celebrate Father’s Day on the ground when other fathers will be enjoying the races at Belmont Park.

Ordinarily, this would be a normal day for Dominguez, riding in about seven races on the nine race program, five or six of them favorites, half of those the public’s choice just because Dominguez is the jockey.

For fans of the sport in general and Dominguez in particular, Thursday’s announcement was not a major surprise but was as devastating as it was unwelcome. It was what insiders feared. His progress had been steady, but very slow and not good enough.

The brain injury happened at Aqueduct this winter, the result of a spill in which Dominguez was kicked in the head by a trailing horse. How badly was he hit? Hard enough to crack the helmet jockeys wear to protect themselves from serious injuries like this.

Dominguez probably should not have been at Aqueduct at all in January, but filling engagements on the good-horse circuits instead and maybe pick up a winning classics mount.

For all his dominance, he has only a placing in the Derby and Preakness and a show finish in the Belmont in what be any other measure is an astounding career. Fate’s finger is fickle alright, but this clearly was the cruelest cut, one he was fortunate to escape alive.

With Malice Aforethought

ELMONT, NY, June 8, 2013--After Wayne Lukas upset the Preakness with Oxbow, the Coach got a lot of credit for teaching his tough colt to get set for his best, relying on old partner Gary Stevens to help him find the hole card.

Stevens promptly put Oxbow to sleep right out of the Arkansas Derby starting gate and they learned something: They learned to let Oxbow use his high cruising speed, a tack that subsequently would work to perfection.

Meanwhile, one of the Coach's brightest pupils, Todd Pletcher, was doing some experimenting and learning of his own. He always thought highly of Palace Malice--and this guy's no cheerleader when it comes to assessing Thoroughbred talent---but the promise of morning never was realized in the afternoon.

When Palace Malice failed to show any speed going two turns in the Risen Star after coming out of a sprint, the effort left him shaking his head, even if the horse was a very willing third.

Pletcher soldiered on to the Louisiana Derby but the colt never had a chance to run, bottled up the entire length of America's longest homestretch.

And he needed graded points to get into the Derby so Pletcher, no big fan of synthetic surfaces, had to run him back in the Blue Grass--not that longtime patron Cot Campbell would mind. He came up a neck short but it was good enough to qualify for the Derby.

Breeders’ Cup good intentions zero out in Triple Crown

Not a single horse from last fall's Breeders' Cup Juvenile made it to the starting gate of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness or Belmont this spring. It's probably not coincidental that this was the first BC in which Lasix was not allowed in 2-year-old races. The result was an atypically small field. Moreover, the BC Juvenile Sprint drew only 5, an embarrassment that led to the race being discontinued. The same rule will remain in effect this November. The BC is to be commended for trying to take a leadership position but it picked the wrong spot. It probably has made another misstep in awarding Santa Anita a third straight BC in 2014 with the strong possibility the BC will be back on the West Coast in 2015.

One loss is no reason to jump off the Orb bandwagon

The Orb bandwagon emptied quickly after his dull Preakness but I'm staying aboard. All the factors that made the Derby winner look like a potential champion are still in place. He has the pedigree and style for the grueling mile and a half. Shug McGaughey is a master at getting horses good, then keeping them good. Joel Rosario is too fine a jockey to put in another ride like the one in Baltimore. What's more, there should be no walking on the lead in the third jewel of the Triple Crown. Orb's disappointing showing in the Preakness was a bummer for those yearning for a Triple Crown winner. But the upside is, he should be a generous 3-1 or so, rather than 1-2 or less had he won in Baltimore.

Top Three-Year-Old Has to be Oxbow

The three-year-olds have taken up half of our year, haven’t they? It seems like yesterday Itsmyluckyday upset Shanghai Bobby in the Holy Bull. Then, in a blink, it’s June. It’s fitting the sophomores take up most of our attention as they carry us through a winter wrought with despair and an extra ten pounds of “insulation

There was a momentary second when Oxbow beat Orb where the wind was knocked out of our lungs in Baltimore, but when we had a moment to catch our breath we realized it wasn’t all bad. There are silver linings around every turn. There’s always another race.

I might be in the minority here after the Triple Crown dust has settled and turned into mud that Oxbow is the top three-year-old.


There’s a molasses-like momentum around changing allegiance from Orb to anyone else. Being graced in roses has that effect. It’s time to breakdown, c’mon, now, give it to me.

There Will Be Blood

"DRRRAAAAAINAGE! DRRRAAAAINAGE, Eli, you boy!" yells Daniel Plainview, a fictional character from the great movie There Will Be Blood.

There’s a lot of Plainview in Massachusetts, a lot of Massachusetts in Plainview. It appears that the airplane that is horse racing in the Bay State has blown an engine and continues its maddening descent into national irrelevance. But, hey, the casinos are coming! The casinos are coming!

As a refresher, here’s the news. Suffolk Downs, the flagship of horse racing in Massachusetts, now withholds 5 percent of winnings from any bet that pays out $600 or more. This is, of course, on top of every other cream-skimming that turns a once delicious whole milk into watered-down drivel.

“If you have a milkshake … And I have a milkshake … And I have a straw. There it is,” says Plainview.