I definitely won’t as long as she stays in her stall and away from the competition. It was reported on Saturday that “shortly after the weights were drawn” for the Grade 1 $500,000 Apple Blossom Handicap on Saturday and the Grade 2 $400,000 Oaklawn Handicap on Sunday.
She was withdrawn from the marquee events in Oaklawn Park’s glorious Racing Festival of the South even though she has been training over the track for one or the other since arriving in Hot Springs on April 1.
Daily Racing Form’s Mary Rampellini quoted owner Rick Porter as saying that now the Grade 2 $300,000 La Troienne at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Oaks Day (May 4) is her next likely start and that trainer Larry Jones was on his way to Arkansas to pick her up and take her to Kentucky.
The story went on to say that Porter and Jones were not happy when she was top weighted at 123 to defend her title in the Apple Blossom, and consequently, would be giving anywhere from six to 11 pounds to her rivals. With her gender allowance, she was assigned 118 for the Oaklawn Handicap.
Granted she is a filly and the racing industry has changed quite a bit since the glory days of Kelso and Forego. But the sporting aspect of the game never changes. In order to be the best, you take your assignment and then go out onto the track and show everyone why you deserve to be the Horse of the Year. That’s what the connections of Kelso and Forego always did.
For the record, Kelso was Horse of the Year an astonishing five times, an unprecedented and unequalled accomplishment, from 1960 to 1964. Afterward, Forego won the honor three straight years, from 1974 to 1976. And yes, they carried weight, plenty of it, as they set track records and racked up astonishing sets of Grade 1 wins in some mighty prestigious stakes.
Forego carried 134 pounds when he won the Carter Handicap and when the Suburban Handicap was contested at 1 ½ mile, he dragged 134 around the track again and still won. He toted 132 when he set a track record in the Brooklyn Handicap.
And in case you don’t remember the 1976 Marlboro Cup, he carried an impost of 137 when he was victorious, then went on to take the Brooklyn, Metropolitan and Woodward that year for Mrs. Martha Farish Gerry’s Lazy F Ranch.
Kelso carried at minimum130 pounds in 24 races, winning 13, placing five times and coming in third once. He set the world record of 3:19.1 for two miles in the Jockey Club Gold Cup and it still stands.
That was only one of his five straight Jockey Gold Cup wins from 1960-64, and he also won both the Suburban and the Woodward three consecutive years from 1961-1963 and the Whitney in 1961, 1963 and 1965. In 1960-61, Kelso won 11 straight races, and nobody ever gave him a break in the weights.
Nor did his owner Allaire du Pont of Bohemia Stable expect or want one. I had the pleasure of interviewing Mrs. du Pont before she died in 2006 and it was fascinating to hear her reminisce about her beloved “Kelly”. She was a racing purist with great enthusiasm for her horses, the sport, and the spirit of competition.
With Kelso and Forego, their connections knew they had the best, and they didn’t duck anybody come hell or high imposts.
Havre de Grace could very well be the best older horse this year, not just the best older female. But until she gets back in the starting gate, we really have no way of knowing that. She got my top vote again this week in the NTRA poll on the strength of her dominating win in the New Orleans Ladies Handicap on March 17 because the reigning Horse of the Year deserves respect.
But now her next race, and just her second of 2012, is at least a month away, and that is only provided that the weights are favorable. Since she is the defending Horse of the Year, she’s going to get high weight. What she isn’t going to get, though, is my vote for No. 1 again until she goes out onto the track proves to me that she deserves it.
09 Apr 2012 at 03:33 am | #
Reminds me of when I was a kid and somebody would get mad, take their ball, and go home.
TTT
09 Apr 2012 at 07:05 am | #
Lynne,
They just don’t make Kelso’s and Forego’s anymore. Todays thoroughbred for whatever reason(lasix?) is very fragile and races less often than years past. I can’t blame Rick Porter and Larry Jones(Eight Belles connections btw.) for being protective of their big gal. Maybe weight handicaps in stakes races should be stopped. Too bad if you are the lesser accomplished horse. Prove you are the best at equal weights I say. You don’t see weight handicaps on humans at the olympics for track.
09 Apr 2012 at 08:05 am | #
I, too, for the sake of posterity, love the idea of handicaps.
But maybe the time has come, like ridding the game of raceday medication only after all racing organizations contribute to a kitty that will pay to test samples for the newest designer drugs--much more rigorously than is done now--to write standardized stakes conditions based on previous reults for all graded added-money events.
However, let’s leave the weight-for-age fall classics just as they are.
09 Apr 2012 at 08:34 am | #
Everybody is aware that horses are not as strong or race as often as in the past, memories that is all we have left of the great ones....easy to sit on the side and say run them with the weight if they are the champion....When Ali was champion did he only get to fight with one hand? That’s all he needed but that’s another story..During the Yankee’s winning streak, did they only play with 4 players? If I have the champion horse in my stable,when you think you are good enough to beat him/her at equal weights call me,game on...I will not take a chance of my horse getting hurt with all that extra weight on him/her just to have some idiot quote(guess he/she was over rated after all...they had their chance to beat her last year...how did that work out? If they think they can beat her this year good luck.....maybe if they hook-up a wagon to her filled with all of the tears from the losers and winers.....some people don’t like to see a filly win at anything...not me,I would lead the parade for her.....
09 Apr 2012 at 10:43 am | #
If you put your ear to the wall, you can hear the sewing machine (in the adjacent room) making dresses for the both of them.
Rick Porter and Larry Jones,
Cry me a river…
09 Apr 2012 at 12:11 pm | #
I’m well aware that horses now are not like Kelso and Forego, but if the sport’s stars are kept behind the curtain and don’t perform in the spotlight, we’re not going to be able to attract and grown a new generation of passionate fans who can keep this great game going. Whether we like it or not, we live in a celebrity obsessed and driven culture and they want to see stars.
09 Apr 2012 at 12:39 pm | #
Niatross,
You are the greatest harness horse of alltime and I enjoyed watching you run at the Meadowlands but.... you know nothing about the flats. Porter and Jones wearing dresses? They ran Eight Belles against Big Brown in the Derby instead of the girlie Oaks. They ran “Gracey” in the Woodward and BC Classic against the big boys.
Cry me a river? How about tears of a clown!
09 Apr 2012 at 01:58 pm | #
Lynne Snierson: Quoting you, “… but if the sport’s stars are kept behind the curtain .... we’re not going to be able to attract and grow a new generation of fans ....”
Has Cigar, Smarty Jones, Curlin, Big Brown, Rachel Alexander, Zenyetta; and going back in time Sunday Silence, Unbridled, Strike the Gold, Lil E Tee, Sea Hero, Go for Gin, Thunder Gulch, Grindstone, Silver Charm, Real Quiet Charismatic, and Fusaichi
Pegas been kept behind the curtain?
This ‘great game’ is vitually dead because nobody in a position of authority, or that has influence,
will admit that it’s all about gambling; that they will not acknowledge that the ‘fans’ left in droves once casinos proliferated around the country.
Which reminds me. A few days ago, Mr. Pricci answered my comment that ‘fans’ left the racetrack once casinos came into existence with the reponse that the reason was simulcasting. I was like a baseball player taking a pitch right over the middle, belt high, without taking the bat off my shoulder. Today, I realized that sumulcasting came into existence around 1995, and the ‘fans’ departed in 1980!!!! Looks like fifteen years flew by as ‘fans’ flew out of the track to gamble elsewhere, before simulcasting finally came into being.
People already gambling on the ponies and potential newbies are not interested in ‘stars’; newbies will come back when they cash a winning ticket and leave the racetrack with more money than when they arrived.
‘Stars’ are turf writers’ creations created to give them something to write about. I am still waiting for someone to inform me, in detail, how a claiming race differs from a stake race in a) picking the winner, b) how the race appears to them as they watch, c) how the excitement, thrills, et cetera is different, and d) how the payoffs differ. I don’t have to wait for an answer, as I know the answer: there is no difference!!!
So, you readers out there. What do you remember about your visits to the racetrack, OTB, racino, or having used your ADW account recently? Do you remember the name of the horse that won a recent stake race, or the names of the plodders that gave you a pick three or trifecta win? Hummnn?
09 Apr 2012 at 03:40 pm | #
LS,
Loved your title.
wmc/OC,
As I’ve seldom “graced” the inside of a racetrack with my presence on a weekday, it’s always easy for me to remember not only recent stakes winners, but also those tremendous opportunities for non-exotic scores offered by graded handicaps in the 60’s and ‘70s.
Of course you won’t wait for an answer. Drive-by serial agenda mongers avoid meaningful dialogue the way Havre No Grace avoids meaningful weight assignments. LOL
09 Apr 2012 at 03:42 pm | #
#8- The use of the word “plodder” is a inappropriate salacious comment to my fellow horses.
To answer your question of remembering the name of horses. Yes I remember the names of horses I bet and watch. It is very important to remember trips and trouble they might of encountered, for the next time they run. It is also important to remember names for bloodlines of future horses for turf, dirt, synthetic, distance etc. reference.
You are wrong to believe the “game” is all about gambling. To the owners, trainers, jockeys and agents it’s about purses. To the grooms, tellers, vendors it’s about jobs. To the fans or handicappers it’s not all about gambling because 97% of them lose in the long run. It’s about entertainment and “romance” of the horses IMHO.
and the beat goes on?
09 Apr 2012 at 04:07 pm | #
#10: My good man, it is all about gambling to the people who enter a racetrack through the front entrance, having paid for parking and admission, then a program and perhaps the Daily Racing Form (now down at least $20). If any of those who have entered the front entrance perceive their being their as entertainment and ‘romance’ of the horses, then they are on the arm of a gambler, or they are on something.
#9: As usual I have no idea what you are talking about. All I can offer is that I have had numerous winners from non-stake races back in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s - to numerous to mention.
I am sorry that you have not ‘graced’ the inside of a racetrack during the week. I can’t remember when I did not back in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Of late, of course, I am wedged into a carrel at the local OTB joint or at the casino.
LOL
09 Apr 2012 at 04:38 pm | #
#11- On a DRF night school session Steve Crist said only about 3% of the people who enter a racetrack make a decent living gambling on horses, and of those showing a profit it was only because of rebate rewards. So if most people lose in the long run, there must be other reasons besides the gambling fixation. Thus my opinion of entertainment and romance. Of course there is also addiction and psychology issues.
and the beat goes on?
09 Apr 2012 at 05:01 pm | #
I miss the Great and Mighty One. I didn’t get to see Kelso but I felt privileged to have seen, up close and personal the Great Forego. Zenyatta deservedly received great praise for her accomplishments but you just cannot compare her to Forego let alone Kelso. We will NEVER see their like again.
My favorite call of all-time was Chic Anderson’s call of the Woodward of ‘77 when he excitedly blurted out that Forego was on the run. He had been castigated in the press as Over-The-Hill but he somehow summoned the incontestible heart that made him the great champion that he was. It was truly a historic moment at Belmont that day and it proved again that they don’t make them like Forego anymore. One only hopes that someday we will see something approaching his like again!
09 Apr 2012 at 05:23 pm | #
#12: I have a problem with Mr. Crist and his 3%; is his opinion backed up by empirical and statistical evidence? Following his Saratoga Diary where he wagers thousands on the pick six most meet days, I doubt he is in the 3%, more like in the red.
No, there are no other reasons why people wager on the ponies other than to make money, never giving up hope of making a score. Entertainment, maybe, to some degree, but if one couldn’t place a bet, he/she would be elsewhere gambling. Like perfume on a lady, entertainment is a secondary element to what one seeks.
09 Apr 2012 at 06:03 pm | #
#14- Why does Pricci recall his love for Kelso, Framarco for Forego? Why does Niatross the commentor call himself Niatross? Why does Indulto call himself Indulto? Why does TTT still have Secretariat’s winning $2 Belmont ticket? Why does Lynne say the public is obsessed to see stars like “Gracey”? There’s more to it than just gambling.
Why after you picked a winner, you want to show your buddies at OTB the ticket? Or tell everyone on this site that you had the pick 3 at Philly? That you are smarter than everyone? More clever perhaps? No one ever boasts about the losing tickets. It has to be about more than just gambling.
and the beat goes on?
08 Aug 2012 at 06:38 am | #
Bucks County, Pa., not far from Parx Racino.