The conversation had been about this year's Eclipse dinner, which was held in Miami Beach. By most accounts, it was fairly well-attended (the drama surrounding Horse of the Year finalists Zenyatta and Blame accounting for 99% of the interest), but not there was Baffert, a Hall of Fame trainer and one of the game's most recognizable figures.
The Eclipse Awards this month collided with Baffert's Mexican celebration of his 58th birthday. Baffert told the Paulick Report that he never goes to the Eclipses when they're held in Florida, that he hadn't had a vacation in six years and he was concerned about burnout. His fine 3-year-old, Lookin At Lucky, was given an Eclipse Award at the dinner. Baffert himself was a finalist for best trainer, in an Eclipse category won by Todd Pletcher.
"Baffert is a dufus," wrote a blogger on the Paulick Report. "He portrays himself as an industry leader. Industry leaders should be at (racing's) most important awards ceremony."
Also missing in Florida was the Stronach family, whose Adena Springs farm won an Eclipse for the fifth time in the last six years. That Frank Stronach and his wife and son weren't there is really more egregious than Baffert's absence. Stronach's Gulfstream Park was just down the street from the Eclipse dinner, but then again Stronach seems to go out of his way these days to miss important racing events. He didn't attend opening days at either Gulfstream or Santa Anita, another of his many properties, and hasn't seen a race at Santa Anita all season. Traditionally, the meet openers at these tracks are the gala kickoffs to the racing year in Florida and California
Baffert going to the Eclipse dinner isn't going to sell one extra ticket, save the one he buys for himself. But his presence would have been welcome window dressing for an evening that was like watching an empty flagpole until Zenyatta's name was called out at the end. As for Stronach, his comments from the stage on behalf of Adena Springs have usually been trite and forgettable (and his attempts at humor just as regrettable), but what does it say about an industry that holds its equivalent of the Oscars and can't get its most prominent track owner to show up?
Baffert's elliptical remarks and Stronach's hackneyed observations are usually cause for pause and little else. But this year the Eclipses didn't even get that. It's a good thing there was an envelope with Zenyatta's name in it, or the snoring would have been heard all the way to Tallahassee.
27 Jan 2011 at 01:52 pm | #
Dear Mr. Christine:
This is Horserace Insider, and I’m dying to know what the “dust-up” was over, but of course that would be rude of me to ask.
By the way, what was the “dust-up” over; inquiring minds want to know?
TTT
27 Jan 2011 at 02:26 pm | #
I don’t mind sharing. I guess it was a crusher that Point Given got beat, and this was the next morning. I went to the hotel to meet friends for breakfast and Baffert happened to be there. I was doing my diary of the Derby, every day, concentrating on Baffert. It was around the time of Baffert’s book--he kept saying, if you want to know, buy the book--and I finally quoted some things from the book regarding Baffert’s family situation (the divorce, the next marriage). He cornered me in the lobby and the harangue started. He had one typically funny Baffert line: “If you were younger, I’d punch you out.” He took his index finger, jabbed me so hard in the chest that he knocked me back on my heels. I tried to explain my side, but he wouldn’t listen. He wasn’t getting a virgin. I used to cover baseball, and in those days I’d get something like that, without the finger, almost every day. One of the reasons I got off baseball.
27 Jan 2011 at 04:22 pm | #
Since you were kind enough to share, I guess I will as well. It was the basement of my home in Littleton, Colorado, a stone’s throw from the racetrack, in the early 80s, where a group of railbirds were playing cards and drinking after the races one Saturday, Bob was contemplating what he was going to do when Centennial closed down, which was impending. I remember pontificating in a scolding manner (I get that way when I drink), that he was crazy training quarter horses in goatroper country, and should train thoroughbreds, and do so in New York or California, where the big money is. Horse manure is horse manure, why not train for the big money. In essence, I was telling him there was gold in thum thar hills. At that moment in time, never dreamed he would accomplish what he has, not that he wasn’t a good trainer in those days; he was. Have not talked to Bob since that evening way back when.
TTT
27 Jan 2011 at 11:43 pm | #
Frankie and Bobby were lovers
Of limelight they don’t have to share
With the lucky all lookin’ at Zenyatta
They figured nobody would care
It was their game, but they were doing it wrong.
Frankie stayed away from Gulfstream
Once they ran out of energy drink
He couldn’t be seen at Santa Anita
Where boycotters made handle sink
They were his tracks, but one was doing it wrong.
Bobby headed South of the Border
A birthday pinatta to receive
No point in honoring Zanyatta
Without his own eclipse to retrieve
It was his choice, but he was getting it wrong.
Frankie and Bobby were horsemen
Among the best known in the game
If racing seems less like a sport
They and not gamblers are to blame.
They had their chance, but they keep getting it wrong.
27 Jan 2011 at 11:49 pm | #
Indulto, you are the one. A latter-day Porter and Berlin, all rolled into one.