Posts Tagged ‘Horse Racing’
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
By Ray Paulick
It’s a common belief that the court system gives a racetrack owner private property rights to exclude anyone it chooses from its premises. That doesn’t seem to be the case, however, particularly when the individual being excluded holds a state license to practice his profession on racetrack grounds.
Just last week, Judge Brian R. Hauser, in the Superior Court of Maricopa County in Arizona, issued an under-advisement ruling permitting jockey Enrique Garcia to continue riding at Turf Paradise after the Phoenix track had served him a “Notice of Exclusion” on Dec. 23, 2009. The court on Jan. 28, 2010, had already issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting Turf Paradise from excluding Garcia from engaging in his occupation as a licensed jockey, but the most recent order converted the restraining order to a preliminary injunction. Garcia will be able to ride until further notice.
According to Judge Hauser’s ruling (which can be viewed here), Turf Paradise management began to suspect in the spring of 2009 that jockey Garcia was also training horses at Turf Paradise without a license. Specifically, it was suspected he was training horses owned by A Double Monkey Stables, although the trainer of record for Double Monkey was someone named Leonard Espinoza. Turf Paradise management suspected Espinoza was merely a “paper trainer,” meaning he lent his name and trainer’s license so the stable owner could get stalls at the track.
The ruling said Turf Paradise took no action against any of the parties involved in this activity, nor did it report the apparent rules violations to the Arizona Department of Racing, which oversees licensing and regulations in the state.
In a $3,500 claiming race at 5 1/2 furlongs on Dec. 20, 2009, a horse named I Xcell finished first by 2 3/4 lengths for A Double Monkey Stable at odds of 31-1, with Jose Medina riding instead of Garcia, who had ridden the horse in six previous starts. Garcia rode the 8-5 favorite, Fire Talker, who was last for the first half-mile and passed three horses in the stretch to finish a non-threatening fourth.
Stewards disqualified I Xcell for alleged interference against the original third-place finisher. Equibase chart footnotes of the race said I Xcell “drifted in just slightly passing the sixteenth pole,” but also said the runner-up in the race “drifted out some” near the sixteenth pole, the area where the third-place finisher was “steadied.” Judge Hauser’s ruling said the disqualification became a “cause célèbre in the racing community for a time,” and I Xcell’s owner has appealed the disqualification.
The owner of Fire Talker testified that Garcia “did not deliberately restrain Fire Talker in the race” and does not “suspect any improper behavior” by the jockey in the race, according to the ruling. “No evidence was presented that Turf Paradise or the racing stewards have accused Garcia of misconduct affecting the race,” the Superior Court ruling said.
However, three days after the race, Garcia was served a “Notice of Exclusion” by Turf Paradise general manager Eugene Joyce, stating that the track is private property and that Garcia “had engaged in conduct detrimental to racing.”
Joyce, according to the court ruling, believed Garcia had hidden ownership in two horses owned by Carlily Ojeda (co-owner of I Xcell), and that Garcia and Ojeda were “romantically involved.” At a hearing, Garcia denied any relationship with Ojeda.As a result of the circumstances, Joyce testified that he had a problem with Garcia, A Double Monkey Stable owner Miguel Flores, trainer Espinoza and co-owner Ojeda. However, Turf Paradise took no action against anyone other than Garcia and, according to the court, “did not refer Garcia or the others to the (Arizona Department of Racing.).”
Judge Hauser wrote that “strong circumstantial evidence” suggested the exclusion was not based on hidden ownership or unlicensed training but on Garcia’s “riding in the Dec. 20 race, for which he has not been accused of anything.”
The court ruled Garcia “has a protected right to engage in business as a jockey as long as he holds a jockeys license. That right must be balanced against defendant’s private property rights.” It found “on the record developed so far” that Turf Paradise’s decision to exclude Garcia was “unreasonable under all the circumstances because it was pretextual. If defendant’s evidence is true, it was aware for over six months that Garcia may have been involved in training horses yet it took no action to exclude him or to report this illegal activity to the Department.”
“The balance of hardships tips far in plaintiff’s favor,” and Garcia’s “need to earn a living outweighs (Turf Paradise’s) need to preserve its right to control who enters on to its property.”
Finally, the court wrote, “The integrity of the racing industry is a matter of public importance. Given that (Turf Paradise)…was content to permit Garcia to ride in races over a seven-month period despite believing him to be training horses with the assistance of a ‘paper’ trainer, convinces the court that the industry can endure the issues raised in this case until final judgment.”
In other words, Turf Paradise screwed up by looking the other way at an alleged activity that violated racing rules over a number of months and by not reporting the alleged violations to the state’s regulatory agency.
Would it be that much of a stretch to suggest the disqualification of I Xcell from the Dec. 20 Turf Paradise race may have come not because of interference at the sixteenth pole but because track management believed games were being played by Garcia and possibly others? Disqualifying I Xcell would prevent any alleged conspirators from cashing a big ticket on the race. If that was the case, Arizona racing has a serious problem with integrity.
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Tags: arizona department of racing, carlily ojeda, double monkey stable, enrique garcia, eugene joyce, fire talker, Horse Racing, i xcell, miguel flores, notice of exclusion, Paulick Report, racetrack exclusion, Ray Paulick, turf paradise
Posted in Jockeys, Legal Issues, Regulatory Issues | 29 Comments »
Monday, February 8th, 2010
Barry Irwin, the founder and CEO of Team Valor International, has made no secret of his opposition to the racing industry’s reliance on revenue from slot machines or other casino games. The following piece not only cautions pro-slots advocates about the threat of a Trojan horse strategy by gaming companies but suggests racing would be better off in the long run by promoting the sport and not the financial aspects of horse ownership. While his proposals could lead to a reduction in the number of tracks, racing dates and Thoroughbred foals, Irwin says the industry needs to find a viable level at which it can sustain itself. — Ray Paulick
By Barry Irwin
David Greathouse once said to me "We made a big mistake telling people they could make money racing horses."
The "we" referred to by the bloodstock agent and partner in family owned Glencrest Farm of Central Kentucky were those folks that sold a bill of goods to newcomers by telling them that racing was a financially viable pursuit.
Greathouse made a very insightful comment, one that I have reflected upon for the last 3 decades.
As he pointed out, one only has to look at other equine sports to see how they have presented themselves. Trainers of sport horses, dressage horses and show horses rarely if ever promote their sport to participants based on how much money can be made. The ones that do are not around very long.
Yet, by and large, the cost of keeping a three-day event, dressage, jumper or show horse in training is not insignificant. Any parent of a son or daughter with a horse in training at a local riding academy or stable knows precisely what I mean.
Those involved in these disciplines, however, willingly pay the costs because they receive value from the enterprise. That value, in most instances, is not derived from the earning of prize money or the resale of their animals.
Not that these horses lack value. A top dressage horse or jumper or event performer or even a very good child’s pony can be quite valuable in terms of dollars. The best of these animals sell for prices in the hundreds of thousands to the millions of dollars, especially if they are World Equestrian Games or Olympic quality.
But somewhere along the line, marketers of Thoroughbreds shook the genie out of the bottle and promoted their horses as a means by which one could expect to make a buck.
And it wasn’t just the hardboots of Kentucky, the sharp-tongued bloodstock agents in Florida or the fast-talking middle men in California that focused on the dollars.
The scholarly Joe Estes, a staid, analytical and proper gentleman whose bent for statistical analysis made The Blood-Horse the must-read trade magazine of the Thoroughbred industry, in 1948 developed the Average Earnings Index as the measurement by which sires were rated and ranked. It was all based on how much money the offspring of those stallions earned on the racetrack in a given year.
Clever marketers grabbed the ball and ran with it. Racing, a prospective owner could read and see and hear, was a good way to get rich.
For sure, there is money to be made in the Thoroughbred industry. Owners of farms, especially the majors like Coolmore/Ashford, Darley, WinStar and Lane’s End, need to operate on a sound financial basis and they prosper.
Support staff for horses such as trainers, veterinarians, hospitals, rehab facilities, training centers, transportation and insurance companies all make money. Just as they do in all other equine disciplines.
But the people Greathouse was referring to are the consumers of the horses, and the notion that has been floated for the past century in the United States that owners of racehorses are involved in a money-making venture. We would be better off today, he said, if we had never introduced the notion that one should expect a return on investment in a racehorse.
Can and do some owners of racehorses make money?
Of course.
But the percentage is so small that anybody getting into the game must be realistic and understand that these successful owners are the exception, rather than the rule.
If the marketers of racehorses promoted the enterprise based on racing’s intangibles, rather than the tangibles, it would be better for all concerned. Expectations could be better managed and the inevitable turnover rate of owners would decrease. Also, a lot of pressure would be taken off of the marketers themselves.
So if one cannot count on making money by racing horses, where is the value? Where’s the beef!
NO. 1 REASON TO BUY HORSES? THE THRILL OF RACING
I have been forming racing partnerships since 1987, so I have learned a lot about why people want to race horses. Invariably, the prime motivating factor is the prospect of racing a good horse and experiencing all of the magic and excitement that goes along with it.
The thrill of racing is the number one reason why people buy a racehorse. Yes, there is a lot of posturing about wanting to make money and getting the best deal, but mostly, in my experience, those people making this type of chatter feel they must treat it seriously, because they fully realize (consciously or even subconsciously) that they are totally indulging themselves and find a need to justify their purchase of a racehorse.
I know that many reading this will scoff at what they have just read, but I know it to be true in virtually every instance. And here is another reason I know that money is not the primary reason that people buy horses: even if these folks that are so concerned with dollars are offered a reasonable profit, they invariably do not take it. They will come up with any number of sound reasons for not accepting the profit, such as the tax man’s bite or capital gains holding periods. But in reality, they do not sell because they bought the product to consume it, not primarily to profit from it.
For these people, who form the vast majority of racehorse owners throughout the world, the value is not in the vaunted and much ballyhooed ROI, but in the intangibles, such as pride of ownership and race day thrills.
Have I taken the time to write the preceding 1,000 words just to make a point that people buy racehorses just for the excitement of it all?
C’mon … gimme a break! This is just laying the groundwork. Now, here comes the good part.
Racing is at a critical crossroads in its history, much like it was a third of the way through the last century, when horseracing’s very existence was threatened by those seeking to outlaw it.
The pari-mutuel system of betting, despised by those who wanted to bet with bookmakers, changed the entire face of racing and offered a financial boon to troubled states at a time when the nation faced a worse financial crisis than it does now.
Today, three forces threaten to shut racing down or at the very least, reduce it to a pitiful sideshow. The entities are, in no particular order, racetracks, state governments and gaming interests. In some instances, the racetracks and the casino interests work together. In the future, all three have financial reasons to join forces and work against horseracing.
Right now, there are plenty of people inside of horseracing that see the way to stemming the downward slide and growing the sport is to get in bed with the casinos. There already has been enough evidence on record to indicate that the casinos represent a Trojan horse. They want access inside a racetrack in order to gain a foothold, which they can use to entice both the racetrack and the state to eliminate the expense of horseracing.
Horseracing interests have spent entirely too much capital, time and energy trying or getting into bed with interests whose ultimate goal is to snuff out the game.
Given that the people attracted to horse ownership find more value in the sport than the money involved, I would like to suggest that racing consider making two adjustments that can lead it on a different path, one that hopefully can go some way in establishing a more viable future for the game.
PROMOTE THE SPORT, NOT THE FINANCIAL REWARDS
If I am correct in my contention that the sport trumps the dollar, let’s start by reframing the goals of horse ownership by concentrating on promoting the sport and not the financial rewards to newcomers.
Those marketing horses can take a lead from the top racing partnerships like Dogwood, West Point and Team Valor International. When communicating with newcomers, these outfits stress the intangible aspects of the sport and let neophytes know right up front that if they are getting into racing with the expectation of making a fortune, they are being unrealistic.
Believe me, we are selling our sport short if we think that we must rely on greed and the false promise of life-changing riches in order to attract newcomers and keep them. People, guess what? This sport really is this good!
Secondly, and more importantly, if the sport does indeed trump the dollar and purses are not the end all and be all of the game as we have been told, I suggest that it behooves racetracks to stop pursuing partnerships with casinos and return to their original purpose, which is to promote the sport of horse racing.
I think the non-profit racing associations would be more receptive to this concept, as the for-profit groups seem bent on providing the most return to their shareholders no matter how adversely their actions impact horseracing. Some tracks right now act like they would like to stop producing a live sport altogether.
In the final analysis, the only way our game is going to prosper at a high level again is for the sport to thrive, because it is the sport that provides the driving power, not alternative gaming. Casinos are great for racetracks. They are not good for racing. In the short run, horsemen will be compensated. But in the long run, the casinos will drive them out of business.
MAKE PEACE WITH HORSEPLAYERS
Racetracks that want to stay in business should promote racing. Otherwise, they should not apply for a license and go into the casino business and leave racing alone, so that it can find others to promote it that have their heart in it.
High purses are good, but they are not critical. Racing for years has prospered in many locales where prize money has been very low. It is not ideal to have low purses. But one of the reasons racing in America in particular could use a high purse structure is that expenses to have a horse in training are too high. A lower purse structure, however, could have the benefit of giving a break to gamblers that have supported our enterprise for years.
For racing to prosper again, here is what needs to happen:
1. MEDICATION: racetracks need to take charge of all veterinary supplies to gain control over the use and cost, so that the public is better protected from unscrupulous practitioners and owners can have their horses treated by drugs at as close to cost as possible. Vets can make their money diagnosing and treating horses, like human doctors have forever. They should not look for their compensation from middling strapped owners on the difference in the wholesale and retail price of drugs such as GastroGard and hyaluronic acid.
2. FEED: racetracks need to buy the feed and make it available to horsemen at as close to cost as possible to lower the expense to owners.
3. TAKEOUT: it should be reduced on all wagers to 12 percent, with the state getting 2 percent and the horsemen and the track getting 5 percent each. The states have been greedy for too long and they mostly have budgets inflated by expenses for racing commissions that are woefully inept. Horseplayers have carried the game on their backs for far too long and we need to cut them some slack. It is more important to cater to the bettor than to have higher purses.
So by adjusting to lower purses, horsemen can accomplish a lot. They can make peace with horseplayers. They can keep the casino wolf at bay and improve the chances for the longevity of the sport. And they can concentrate on promoting the game, which in the end is the only thing that can offer it salvation.
In conclusion, racing needs to do whatever it can to concentrate on the core activity, which is racing. The sport must be promoted first and foremost. Secondly, the game must realize that contraction is its friend. By reducing the number of horses bred, the number of tracks in operation and the sheer number of races run, the concentration in quality will only aid the game. Bad horses, bad racetracks and lousy races help nobody. There are too damn many tracks that are nothing but an excuse to have simulcasting.
If by having lower purses the result is that the game contracts, so be it. That way, at least we will find a viable level at which the sport can be sustained. The subsidies from gaming are temporary, no matter what the law says, because as we have all seen, when state budgets get low, the legislators simply amend the law and grab what they need.
Racing must change its focus to promote itself, seek its viable level and send out the best product we can to the bettors that support our game. We need a new model. The present one is broken. It is time to get real.
Tags: barry irwin, gaming revenue, Horse Racing, Paulick Report, racehorse ownership, racing partnerships, Ray Paulick, Slot machines, team valor international, vlts
Posted in Medication, Slot machines, Thoroughbred Business, Thoroughbred Ownership | 99 Comments »
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
By Ray Paulick
Kentucky-bred horses dominated the Eclipse Awards handed out in Beverly Hills, Calif., earlier this week, but that’s no surprise. Of the 10 horses that won an Eclipse Award, eight were Kentucky-breds, including Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra and runner-up Zenyatta. The two others were Mixed Up, steeplechase champion, bred in Pennsylvania, and Goldikova, female turf champion, bred in Ireland.
The 80% strike rate by Kentucky-breds among the Eclipse Award winners was even more dominant than the performance in 2009 American Graded Stakes races by horses bred in the Bluegrass State.
According to Paulick Report records, of the 322 individual American Graded Stakes winners of 2009, 192 of them were bred in Kentucky. That’s a percentage of 59.6%. The state that bred the next highest number of AGS winners was Florida, with 35, 10.9%. California and New York bred eight AGS winners each, a percentage of 2.5%.
How do those percentages stack up with opportunity?
Well, Kentucky breeds the most Thoroughbreds (10,466 Kentucky-breds were registered in 2007, according to the Jockey Club), and accounts for 30.9% of all foals bred and registered in the United States. So Kentucky-breds are overachieving in American Graded Stakes at a ratio of nearly 2-to-1 (30.9% of foals compared with 59.6% of AGS winners). Florida is holding its own, contributing to 12.7% of the foal crop and winning 10.9% of the AGS races. California was ranked third in 2007 by foals, accounting for 9.0% of the foal crop but winning only 2.5% of the AGS races. Louisiana is fourth by foals produced, accounting for 7.4% of foals but had no AGS winners of 2009. New York is fifth by foals, with 5.3% of the foal crop and winning the same 2.5% as California in AGS races. (Click here for the ranking of U.S. states by foals born)
Who wins the most Grade 1 races? You only get one guess.
Of the 80 American Grade 1 winners of 2009, 58 of them were bred in Kentucky, or 72.5%. Four G1 winners (5%) were bred in Florida, three in California, and two each in Maryland and Virginia.
The state that did the most with the least was Virginia, which produced five American Graded Stakes winners from a foal crop of only 403 in 2007, the 14th largest breeding state in the U.S., and accounting for just 1.2% of all U.S.-bred foals.
There were 13 Irish-bred winners of American Graded Stakes, three of which won G1 races in the U.S. Great Britain produced the next-highest number of AGS winners, 10, with three of them winning G1.
Here is the complete list of American Graded Stakes winners by state/country where bred, with G1 winners in parentheses: Kentucky, 192 (58); Florida, 35 (4); Ireland, 13 (3); Great Britain, 10 (3); California, 8 (3); New York, 8; Maryland, 6 (2); Virginia, 5 (2); Argentina, 4 (1); Brazil, 3 (2); France, 3 (1); Canada, 3; Oklahoma, 2 (1); Germany, 2; Pennsylvania, 2; Australia, 1; Arizona, 1; Illinois, 1; Japan, 1.
The message is clear: Kentucky, while facing severe economic and competitive challenges from states with breeding and racing programs recently enhanced with revenue from slot machines and other forms of gambling, remains the clear-cut leader in the production of top-quality Thoroughbreds. How long it can maintain such a position of dominance remains to be seen.
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Tags: AGS, american graded stakes, american graded stakes brought to you be keeneland, Horse Racing, Paulick Report, Rachel Alexandra, Ray Paulick, Thoroughbred breeding, zenyatta
Posted in American Graded Stakes Standings, Kentucky | 5 Comments »
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
By Ray Paulick
Southern California-based trainer Bob Hess crystallized the often toxic debate over synthetic tracks as well as anyone I’ve talked with on the subject: “My horses are happy on it, and they’re lasting a lot longer,” said Hess, a 44-year-old, second generation horseman and a graduate of Stanford University. “My clients are getting more bang for their buck. But without gamblers, we are nothing: there are no purses and no owners. The reality is the gamblers hate this shit. They have no confidence in it. From what they tell me, it’s inconsistent and changes from track to track. Most gamblers tend to play speed, and if you play speed out here, you’re screwed.”
Maybe that’s why Sheikh Mohammed has installed a Tapeta Footings synthetic surface at the lavish Meydan racecourse that is due to open in Dubai later this month and will host the Dubai World Cup program in March. He apparently believes, after extensive testing, that it’s safer for his and other people’s horses. And, since gambling isn’t permitted in Dubai, the sheikh won’t be bombarded with emails and phone calls from unhappy horseplayers who may have had to reinvent how they handicap a race.
SYNTHETIC TEST TUBE
That certainly hasn’t been the case in California, which, for better or worse, has been the test tube for synthetic racetracks, even though the surfaces also are installed at Keeneland and Turfway Park in Kentucky, Woodbine in Canada, Arlington Park in Illinois, and Presque Isle Downs in Pennsylvania.
Ron Charles, the Santa Anita Park president who on Monday strongly hinted that the beleaguered synthetic track will be ripped out and replaced with conventional dirt at the end of the current meeting, called synthetics one of the most polarizing issues he’s ever seen in racing. The tracks have created a great divide among trainers, owners, track executives and regulators, and critics in the press and in online forums and blogs have made synthetics their perpetual punching bag and a principal reason for the industry’s troubles.
Santa Anita, along with Hollywood Park, Del Mar and Golden Gate Fields, was required by a California Horse Racing Board mandate to install synthetic surfaces by Jan. 1, 2008. However, recently elected CHRB chairman Keith Brackpool was quoted in published reports as saying the CHRB would no longer hold any track to the synthetic mandate, one that was championed by former board chairman Richard Shapiro in reaction to reports of an unacceptably high rate of injuries and fatalities occurring on dirt.
One thing the CHRB didn’t do was require all California tracks to install the same surface, a move supported at the time by Jerry Moss, a member of the CHRB and co-owner with wife Ann of unbeaten champion mare Zenyatta. John Shirreffs, Zenyatta’s trainer, is one of the most vocal critics of the synthetic tracks.
When the mandate was approved by Shapiro and the other CHRB members (Jerry Moss abstained in the voting; in the original version of this article, the Paulick Report incorrectly stated that Moss voted in support of the mandate), Hollywood Park and Santa Anita opted to install Cushion Track, manufactured by an Australian company. Del Mar went with Polytrack, a company owned in part by the Keeneland Association, and Golden Gate Fields opted for Tapeta Footings, a surface created by synthetic track pioneer and former trainer Michael Dickinson.
Santa Anita has experienced the most problems—not with safety of the horses—but with drainage. The all-weather aspects of the surfaces were hampered by drainage problems almost immediately during the winter of 2007-08, during the winter of 2009, again last fall, and most recently this week when the track was closed to training and racing on Monday after heavy rains hit California. (Golden Gate Fields, meanwhile, with its Tapeta surface, didn’t miss a beat during the recent storms that hit both Northern and Southern California.) The surface was altered in 2009 with polymers from another Australian surface known as Pro-Ride. It since has played host to two Breeders’ Cups in 2008 and 2009 without incident.
Sources said Ron Charles had his hands tied when he went shopping for synthetic surfaces for Santa Anita. Track owner Frank Stronach is said to have told him not to go with Polytrack because it was owned by the “old boy’s club” at Keeneland. Others confided to the Paulick Report that corners were cut in the installation process, especially in the selection of the sand that was used in the all-weather surface.
Santa Anita isn’t the only track that’s had problems. Hollywood Park and Del Mar’s synthetic tracks have been criticized by horsemen and jockeys, but adjustments in maintenance alleviated some of the concerns. Some trainers who were early critics took a c’est la vie approach, figuring that criticizing the synthetic surfaces was akin to complaining about the weather: that it wasn’t going to change anything.
However, late last year, the California Thoroughbred Trainers board of directors came under fire from a rival group of trainers who formed an organization called California Horsemen for Change, which wanted, among other things, to have the synthetic tracks replaced with dirt. CTT, under president Jim Cassidy, has been supportive of synthetics. The California Horsemen for Change threatened to petition to become the representative organization for trainers, a move that convinced the current CTT board to resign en masse, paving the way for new elections (which have just been completed). According to a source, the newly formed CTT board will be dominated by a slate of candidates backed by California Horsemen for Change, though the CTT has not yet made the election results public.
Supporters of the surfaces say many of the critics have short memories, reminding them that their protests over track conditions in part led to the CHRB’s mandate for synthetics. A return to exactly the same thing in place before synthetics is not going to make anyone happy. There needs to be serious work on a track’s base, cushion and drainage, no matter what type of material lays on top.
STATISTICS SUGGEST SYNTHETICS ARE SAFER
The criticism of the synthetic tracks by horsemen flies in the face of statistics showing they are safer than the dirt surfaces that preceded them, at least as far as fatalities are concerned. What hasn’t been proven or disproven in statistical research is the common belief by many trainers that horses are sustaining more hind end or soft-tissue injuries on synthetics than they were on dirt.
In addition, a growing number of jockeys are saying that synthetic surfaces are more dangerous than dirt if they are involved in spills. Two jockeys, Rene Douglas and Michael Straight, suffered severe spinal injuries on Arlington’s Polytrack this summer, and Julia Brimo suffered a spinal injury in a spill at Keeneland in this fall.
According to statistics compiled by the CHRB’s equine medical director, Dr. Rick Arthur, the number of equine fatalities per 1,000 starts has declined significantly at every track in California. Santa Anita Park, for example, had 2.81 fatalities per 1,000 starts in the four years prior to the synthetic installation; that number has fallen to 1.64 per 1,000 since the conversion. (Hollywood Park has gone from 2.87 to 1.57/1,000; Del Mar from 2.47 to 1.65/1,000; Golden Gate Fields from 3.90 to 1.84/1,000). Click here to see the complete set of statistics.
One Southern California trainer who supports the synthetic tracks said it’s his understanding Santa Anita has had 30,000 recorded workouts without an ambulance run. He said in the days of a sealed dirt track and the aftermath of sealing the track, it was difficult to even plan workouts because there were so many breakdowns during morning training hours.
Del Mar, which has studied results over its Polytrack surface extensively, has statistics showing an overall reduction in the number of post-race injuries, in addition to a reduction in fatalities. Click here to see Del Mar’s statistical report.
“We think we have achieved a measurable increase in safety,” said Craig Fravel, Del Mar’s executive vice president. “Has it done everything we had hoped it would do from the beginning? It probably has not lived up to that. Would we do it again? Yes. I don’t think we’ve done as good a job as we should have done in making the case for the tracks in this tradition-bound industry. But we are confident we did the right thing.”
Many horseplayers insist they are betting less on California tracks since the synthetics were installed. Craig Dado, Del Mar’s director of marketing, isn’t convinced. “There’s nothing we can point to that says the fans are betting less,” said Dado.
In fact, when synthetics were installed, they almost resulted in increased handle at some tracks, due to larger field size. But then came an economic crisis and a recession that saw wagering volume falling at most tracks around the country and fewer owners to fill races with horses.
“There has been criticism that the synthetic tracks are unpredictable,” said Fravel. “But winning favorites at Del Mar have been at 30-31%. There are a lot of differences: they are not as speed favoring as the old California tracks and some people have had to throw out their traditional handicapping methods. It creates issues for people. If they were winning money before and they aren’t now, I consider their angst. There are a lot of people who don’t like these tracks because they are different. But empirical analysis, an intelligent, thoughtful approach, has been lacking. I know handicappers who love the synthetics, partly because they are contrarians. Gamblers all over the world have been betting on that kind of racing for many years and doing so happily. Asking for people to do something different isn’t easy.”
Back to Hess’s belief, that synthetics are better for the horses but not as good for the handicappers, Fravel stood his ground. “We are going to make that choice in favor of what’s best for the horses,” he insisted. “At the same time, it’s incumbent on us to put out better information to make the handicapping issues less significant. I don’t think these are mutually exclusive. “
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Tags: bob hess, California Horse Racing Board, CHRB, craig dado, craig fravel, Del Mar, Frank Stronach, golden gate fields, Hollywood Park, Horse Racing, injuries, jerry moss, keith brackpool, Magna Entertainment, Paulick Report, polytrack, pro ride cushion track, Ray Paulick, richard shapiro, rick arthur, ron charles, santa anita, Synthetic surfaces, tapeta, tapeta footings, zenyatta
Posted in California, California Horse Racing Board, Synthetic surfaces | 75 Comments »
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
NTRA PRESS RELEASE
December 30, 2009
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers Association today announced that the Monique Koehler, whose tireless work saving retired racehorses through Thoroughbred retirement programs, will be honored with the 2009 Special Eclipse Award. The Special Eclipse Award, honors outstanding individual achievements in, or contributions to, the sport of Thoroughbred racing.
Koehler will receive her award at the 39th annual Eclipse Awards on Monday, January 18 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
A former advertising executive, Koehler, who resides in Middletown, N.J., became interested in the plight of racehorses that did not have “second careers” or could not be used for breeding after they were retired from racing. She founded the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation in 1982 and helped to transform it into the largest retired equine rescue program in the nation with more than 1200 horses in its care. Since its inception, the TRF has been providing lifetime care, retraining and adoption for retired Thoroughbreds at TRF-operated farms in Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Florida, Virginia, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Missouri, Vermont, Massachusetts, Indiana, Tennessee and New York.
In the early stages of or the organization, Koehler negotiated a milestone agreement with the State of New York Department of Correctional Services. In exchange for land use and labor at the state’s Walkill Correctional Facility, the TRF would design, staff and maintain a vocational training program in equine care and management for inmates.
The prison program was recently expanded at Wallkill and has been replicated at TRF farms located at the Blackburn Correctional Facility in Kentucky, the Marion County Correctional Facility in Florida, Wateree Correctional Facility in South Carolina, Putnamville Correctional Facility in Indiana, James River Work Center in Virginia, Sykesville Correctional in Maryland and the Plymouth County Jail in Massachusetts.
“I am very honored and humbled to have been selected as a recipient of this year’s Special Eclipse award,” said Koehler, who is board chairman emeritus of TRF. “When I established the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation nearly three decades ago, it was out of my personal concern for these noble animals and for humane causes in general. I was not involved with racing in any way except as a casual fan. However, as the years went by, the success of my personal mission became inexorably linked to that of dedicated members of the racing community including Penny Chenery, Allaire DuPont, Skip & Mary Shapoff, and many others. Without their support, understanding and guidance, my goals and those of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, could never have been accomplished. Through this award, I firmly believe that the Committee is recognizing all of us who have taken part in this life-enriching, life-saving quest.
“It has been a wonderful and fulfilling journey and I am able to take a large measure of satisfaction in what the TRF has been able to accomplish, and the thousands of horses we have saved, the many thousands more whose rescue, rehabilitation or adoption we have facilitated, and the men, women and children whose lives we have changed for the better through our pioneering vocational training programs.”
“I can think of no better honoree. Monique took a huge ugly problem and turned it into a life affirming, positive program in which racing, through its support and its horses, gives back to society”, said Diana Pikulski, executive director of the TRF and a volunteer for the organization since 1980. “Only someone as astute and resolute as Monique could accomplish this especially when she was so far ahead of the industry in her vision. I am thrilled for her and for the TRF.”
The Eclipse Awards are bestowed upon horses and individuals whose outstanding achievements in North America have earned them the title of Champion in their respective categories. The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and foundation sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies.
The 39th Annual Eclipse Awards will be held on Monday, January 18 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. For hotel accommodations and Eclipse Awards ceremony reservations, contact Michele Ravencraft at the NTRA’s Lexington office, (800) 792-6872, or e-mail mravencraft@ntra.com.
Tags: allaire dupont, daily racing form, diana pikulski, eclipse awards, Horse Racing, mary shapoff, Moniqiue Koehler, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, national turf writers association, NTRA, penny chenery, skip shapoff, special eclipse award, thoroughbred retirement, thoroughbred retirement foundation, trf
Posted in People, eclipse awards | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
By Ray Paulick
An article here last week on how probable North American 2-year-old male champion Lookin at Lucky was overlooked at the 2008 Keeneland September yearling sale because his radiographs were less than perfect brought an interesting response from a former California-based trainer now plying his trade in the bloodstock world of Argentina. If you didn’t see it, the article, one in a series on American Graded Stakes Standings Brought to You by Keeneland, can be viewed here.
Lookin at Lucky was a $35,000 RNA at the Keeneland sale, then was put in training by his breeders, Lance Robinson and veterinarian Jerry Bailey, and sold at Keeneland’s 2009 April sale of 2-year-olds in training for $475,000. He’s gone on to win three Grade 1 races for trainer Bob Baffert.
 John Fulton, pictured, left, cut his teeth working for the Hall of Famer Horatio Luro, a native of Argentina who trained Northern Dancer and dozens of other stakes winners during a long and colorful career. Fulton went out on his own in 1973, won the 1977 Hollywood Derby with George Steinbrenner’s Steve’s Friend (fifth to Seattle Slew in that year’s Kentucky Derby) and a few years later won the inaugural Japan Cup in 1981 with Mairzy Doates.
Fulton began visiting South America in 1983—first Chile and later Argentina—to purchase horses for clients, and in 1988 gave up training to concentrate on bloodstock work full time. He eventually moved to Buenos Aires, where he spends the majority of his time these days, except for occasional trips to sales in Kentucky and at Saratoga, where he also enjoys a racing holiday.
Fulton emailed to tell me the tale of a talented 2-year-colt named Vamos Pagando, who was an impressive eight-length winner in his recent career debut at Club Hipico in Santiago, Chile. Like Lookin at Lucky, Vamos Pagando (by the Storm Cat stallion Tumblebrutus) had some imperfections when he sold as a yearling. His original buyer turned the colt back because of a small chip in a hind ankle detected in radiographs, and Fulton’s good friend and partner Andres Vial, who was the auction underbidder, bought him at a reduced price. Vial’s trainer, Patricio Baeza, had his veterinarian son, Juan Pablo, look at the X-rays, and he determined the chip would have no effect on his racing soundness.
“He could be very special,.” Fulton said of Vamos Pagando.
Though Fulton’s partners benefited in this instance (much to the chagrin, no doubt, of the original buyer who turned the colt back), the retired trainer said the vetting process of both yearlings and horses in training often lacks common sense.
“This is an issue that is very important to me,” said Fulton, “as I export a number of horses from South America to other parts of the world, including the U.S. and Dubai, and at least one-third of the horses that we make a deal on fail the vetting.”
Earlier this decade, Fulton bought another South American horse, Avanzado, for Michael Cooper of Tiznow fame. “He had OCD in one of his hocks, but my vet in Argentina felt that it was insignificant,” Fulton said, “so we went ahead with the purchase, at a very reasonable price I might add.”
Avanzado went on to win the Grade 1 Ancient Title Handicap and ran second in the Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen.
“If it wasn’t for the fact that we had a vet who is a horseman, who wasn’t afraid to take a chance, we would not have made the purchase,” he said. “I see horses all of the time who are running well, come out of their races in good shape but are turned down by paranoid vets. It just requires common sense.”
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Tags: andres vial, avanzado, bloodstock agent, club hipico, horatio luro, Horse Racing, jerry bailey, john fulton, juan pablo baeza, Keeneland, Lance Robinson, lookin at lucky, michael cooper, ocd, patricio baeza, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, vamos pagando
Posted in South America, Thoroughbred Auctions, Thoroughbred Business | 29 Comments »
Monday, December 21st, 2009
By Ray Paulick
“If I had a rifle, I’d have shot him out of the saddle.” That’s how the late Hall of Fame trainer Charlie Whittingham responded when asked about the ride he got from another Hall of Famer, Sandy Hawley, when the Canadian jockey went to the early lead aboard the late-running Kentucky Derby winner, Gato del Sol, in a turf marathon at Santa Anita Park in 1984. The Bald Eagle was only kidding…I think.
Times have changed in this more politically correct era. These days, trainers are more likely to go to the stewards and complain when a jockey fails to follow their instructions in a race. That’s what John Glenney did when he was unhappy with the ride Joel Rosario gave him aboard a colt that finished fourth in a Del Mar maiden turf race on Sept. 6. Glenney told Rosario to keep Cedros in the clear; the horse ended up on the rail down the stretch. Glenney’s anger over Rosario’s failure to follow his instructions were exacerbated when Rosario’s agent, Vic Stauffer, made a flippant remark to him over the phone the next morning about whether or not Cedros was for sale.
But what happened next is a good example of how convoluted our game can be. Instead of looking into the complaint, talking to all the principles involved, and dismissing the case before it made headlines, the California Horse Racing Board rushed to file a complaint against Rosario, unfairly tarnishing the reputation of one of the brightest lights in California racing, and in the process giving the sport an unnecessary black eye.
How the complaint against Rosario–for not putting forth his best effort and conduct detrimental to horse racing–reached the point of a public “trial” in front of the stewards is only one of the questions that begs an answer. Why did the lead investigator in this case not talk with Rosario before a formal complaint was filed? And if Rosario’s ride aboard Cedros was deemed “questionable” by CHRB steward Scott Cheney, as he was quoted as saying, why was the accused jockey not called in by the stewards to review the film of the race, something that is standard operating procedure?
I called the CHRB to try and get answers to those questions but was told by Mike Marten, the agency’s public information officer, neither the CHRB nor its investigators would not talk about the Rosario case or how the agency’s investigations in general are conducted.
Some might say “the system worked” because the complaint against Rosario was dismissed by the stewards after a hearing. However, that was not until the 24-year-old rising star from the Dominican Republic had his name dragged through the mud on one of the most serious charges a jockey can face in the eyes of the betting public and the trainers and owners for whom he rides.
‘DOES YOUR JOCKEY FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS?’
The saga began in August, according to Stauffer, when Glenney approached the agent at Del Mar and asked, “Does your jockey follow instructions?”
“Yes, he does, who are you?” answered Stauffer, who said Glenney then identified himself and said “I can’t find jockeys to follow instructions, and I need a jockey who will do what I say. I should be winning, and I’m not because the jockeys aren’t following instructions.’”
Stauffer said he went over the horses in Glenney’s barn with the trainer and wasn’t interested in riding any of them with the exception of Cedros. “I liked his race the day Aaron Gryder rode him,” Stauffer recalled, “but Glenney said Gryder rode the horse like an ‘idiot.’” Cedros had finished second, beaten a head at 25-1, under Gryder on Aug. 9.
Glenney agreed to ride Rosario on Cedros and the jockey worked him once before the Sept. 6 race, according to Stauffer.
Rosario, who had been leading rider at Hollywood Park during the spring-summer meeting and was about to lock up the Del Mar riding title, rode four winners on Sept. 6, including the $350,000 Del Mar Derby aboard Rendezvous for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. Stauffer, who said he bet $250 to win on Cedros because he thought the nearly 9-2 odds were overly generous, approached the rider after Cedros finished fourth in what was the day’s final race.
“I greeted Joel on his way back to the jockeys’ room to congratulate him and he said he couldn’t manage the horse he just rode,” Stauffer recalled. “He said the horse had ability but had the wrong bit and that we had to tell the trainer to change his equipment. ‘If he doesn’t consider changing the equipment I won’t ride him again.’”
Cedros fought for the early lead on the outside from the nine post in the 1 1/16-mile turf race, setting quick fractions of :23.11 for the opening quarter mile and :46.62 for the half. Down the backside, two horses made a strong move past the dueling leaders, and Rosario let them go. He wound up on the rail at the top of the stretch—against Glenney’s wishes—and lost a photo finish for third. The winner came from dead last. Rosario raised the whip in his left hand in mid-stretch, but Cedros appeared to shy from it and drifted out, prompting Rosario not to strike the horse.
The next morning, while Stauffer was visiting trainer Hollendorfer and his assistant, Dan Ward, the subject of Cedros came up. Ward called a replay of the race up on his computer and, according to Stauffer, told Hollendorfer, “You ought to look at this. This is a nice horse.”
Hollendorfer, according to Stauffer, was not interested for two reasons: 1) he was heading to the Keeneland September yearling sale where he planned to be active as a buyer, and 2) he had a previous experience with Glenney and didn’t want to do any more business with him.
“Jerry said to Dan, ‘You like the horse, you call the guy,’” Stauffer said. “Dan said, ‘I’m not calling him, that guy’s crazy,’ then said, ‘Vic, you call him.’”
Stauffer said it’s his custom to follow up with trainers Rosario had ridden for and called Glenney from Hollendorfer’s tack room, putting the call on speaker phone. “I asked Glenney how he was doing and he says, ‘How am I doing? How do you think I am? Terrible. That was a horrible ride.’ Then he goes off for two or three minutes on a diatribe about how bad Rosario rode his horse and how could this kid call himself a leading rider.’ I thought it was a basic rant by a losing trainer. I hear it all the time.
“So at the end of his rant, I said to him, ‘So, I guess you don’t want to sell him, huh?’ That was designed to make Jerry and Dan laugh. It was said flippantly and benignly. There was no actual initiation of being mildly interested in buying the horse. Jerry had already said he wouldn’t buy the horse from the guy. So I said this thing that I thought was sarcastic and flippant. Glenney blew up. ‘Buy the horse…are you kidding me?’ I said, ‘Yes, I was just kidding.’ He then reiterated all the admonitions about Joel’s ride, this time more aggressively.”
Stauffer listed and after a few minutes more said he told Glenney, “OK, have a nice day,” and hung up the phone. “That was the entire conversation and the entire spirit of the conversation that I had with John Glenney,” Stauffer said. “Nothing before or since.”
A few days later, the day after a late-night bachelor party prior to his Sept. 12 wedding, Stauffer got an 8 a.m. call from CHRB investigator Rick Amieva, saying a complaint had been filed against Rosario for not putting in his best effort. Stauffer said Amieva asked about his conversation with Glenney the morning after the race and asked, ‘Who approached you?’
“(Amieva) said, ‘I’ve seen the videotape. It’s obvious that he’s guilty of what is being alleged.’ And I said, ‘Hold on there. Are you certified as a film analyst?’ He said ‘no,’ and I told him, ‘So you have taken it upon yourself to analyze this film and you are telling me it’s obvious Joel is guilty?’ He said, ‘Yes.’”
Stauffer said he was caught off-guard by the call and asked Amieva if he could go back over the questions the investigator had asked him. “I think the first thing I said was the ramblings of a sleeping person,” said Stauffer. “I asked if I could restate the answers to his questions, because I wanted to make sure he got all the facts.”
Amieva, Stauffer believes, is a “bitter” person who has been passed over for promotions by the CHRB. “I think he said, ‘Aha. Now we’ve got a conspiracy. I’ve got him changing his story. This is going to put me on the map as an investigator because it’s race fixing.”
After that conversation, Stauffer immediately called Glenney and “used every cuss word that I know. I asked how he could have the nerve to do this when his horse just didn’t perform to his expectations.” Glenney hung up on Stauffer.
One week later, after Amieva consulted with his superiors, chief investigator Rod Coulter and supervising special investigator Bill Westermann, the CHRB filed a formal complaint against Rosario.
STEWARDS HEARING, THEN A DISMISSAL
After several delays, a hearing was conducted in front of stewards Randy Winick, Kim Sawyer and Albert Christiansen, beginning Nov. 19, and then continued in early December. Attorney Roger Licht, a former chairman of the CHRB and a racetrack regular, was hired to represent Rosario. Deputy attorney general Kenneth Jones prosecuted the case for the CHRB.
Amieva relied on backup or safety steward Luis Jauregui to analyze the film of the race in question, but Jauregui’s comments, curiously, were not included in the investigator’s report. Neither did Amieva interview Rosario before the CHRB complaint was filed. It was only afterwards, and at the insistence of Licht, that Amieva interviewed the jockey. Both Licht and Stauffer said Amieva had declined to talk with Rosario because, the investigator had said, “I know what he was going to say anyways.”
“From everything I’ve been told, (Amieva) would flunk law enforcement 101 because he had the opportunity to interview the subject and he didn’t,” said Licht.
As previously reported here, Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens contacted Stauffer after he learned of the complaint and offered to testify on Rosario’s behalf, calling the charges against the rider a “joke” and analyzing in detail what he felt happened during the race. “Gary Stevens was a tremendous witness,” said Licht. “He was very thorough and credible. You couldn’t ask for a better expert witness. He said the charges were not warranted and also spoke about Joel’s integrity.”
Hollenderfer and Ward also testified, corroborating the conversation they’d had with Stauffer and his phone call to Glenney the morning after Cedros raced. They also talked about Rosario’s character and ability.
Glenney testified about his post-race conversation with Stauffer and an exercise rider for Cedros said she did not consider the horse “unmanageable” during training. Neither Jauregui nor steward Cheney would condemn Rosario’s ride in their testimony at the hearing, leaving the CHRB and Jones with a flimsy case, at best. In his summation, Jones said he was convinced there was no conspiracy, that the video tape was the principal evidence. No charges were ever filed against Stauffer.
“Jones never had his heart in this,” Stauffer said. “He knew he was pissing in the wind, and you could tell he was pursuing this because the CHRB insisted.”
On Dec. 13, two days after closing arguments, the stewards voted unanimously to clear Rosario of all of the charges against him. The witch hunt was over.
THE AFTERMATH
Stauffer said the damage to Rosario’s reputation due to what he called “negligence” by Amieva in investigating the case is “irreparable,” adding that “people all around the country have drawn their conclusions about his guilt. You can never fix that reputation. You can’t get it back. Believe me, Joel is the absolute antithesis of what they say he did.”
Stauffer said there are no plans at present to file a lawsuit, “but we are hoping the CHRB will take it upon themselves to investigate Amieva’s shoddy work. I will not rest until Amieva is held responsible, or whoever was pushing Amieva is held responsible for gross negligence.”
“The CHRB argued that they owe the duty to the industry to investigate everything that appears to be unscrupulous,” said Licht. “There’s nothing wrong with an investigation. The mistake was in bringing the charges prematurely.”
The case hasn’t slowed down Rosario’s success in Southern California. He won his third California riding title at the just-concluded Hollywood Park meeting, where Stauffer also serves as track announcer. On the final day of his hearing, Rosario went out that afternoon and rode six winners in eight races, equaling a record held by three Hall of Famers—Bill Shoemaker, Laffit Pincay Jr., and Kent Desormeaux.
“My heart is broken that he had to go through this,” said Stauffer. “He is such a fine young man. He really exemplifies everything that is good about jockeys.
“I also feel terrible about my contribution, which was stupid. How do you know when you’re saying something benign and flippant that it will morph into this? I wish I had been smarter.”
I wish the CHRB had demonstrated more intelligence, too. From all appearances, the investigation was shoddy from the start, and a formal complaint would never have been filed if the CHRB’s Amieva had talked with all of the parties involved. The case has unnecessarily tainted not just a future superstar, but the sport as a whole.
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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Tags: albert christiansen, California Horse Racing Board, cedros, CHRB, dan ward, Gary Stevens, Horse Racing, jerry hollendorfer, Jockeys, joel rosario, kenneth jones, kim sawyer, luis jauregui, Paulick Report, randy winick, Ray Paulick, rick amieva, roger licht, scott cheney, vic stauffer
Posted in California, California Horse Racing Board, Jockeys, People | 49 Comments »
Sunday, December 6th, 2009
By Ray Paulick
OSAKA, Japan—Espoir City made it look easy in Sunday’s $2.9-million Japan Cup Dirt at Hanshin race course, wresting the lead after a quarter from the lone American-based runner, Tizway, then coasting to a 3 1/2-length victory under jockey Tetsuzo Sato. The win was the fourth in a row (third straight in a Grade 1 race) and ninth from 17 starts for the 4-year-old son of the Sunday Silence stallion Gold Allure out of Eminent City, by Brian’s Time.
Espoir City paid 310 yen to win (on a 100 yen bet) after covering nine furlongs in 1:49.90 on a fast track. Silk Mobius was second and Golden Ticket third in the 16-horse field. Tizway, who broke on top, wound up 12th under Rajiv Maragh after getting shuffled back on the last turn and caught behind a wall of horses.
The winner is trained by Akio Adachi and is owned by the Yushun Horse Club, one of the oldest and largest racing clubs licensed by the Japan Racing Association and boasting about 10,000 members.
Espoir City is the sixth consecutive Japanese-bred winner of Japan’s biggest dirt race and the ninth Japanese-trained horse to win the event in the 10 runnings since being inaugurated in 2000.
Trainer Adachi, who sent Bamboo Ere to Dubai to contest the 2009 Golden Shaheen sprint, where he finished fourth, said he would consult with the head of Yushun Horse to discuss a possible trip overseas for the Japan Cup Dirt winner. Adachi credited jockey Sato for helping turn Espoir City around from a runner who was too eager in the early portion of his races to one who now is more settled and mature. “Mentally, he’s still a baby,” Adachi said of Espoir City. The colt began his career racing on grass but has been much more successful since being switched to dirt racing.
Sato, who won the 2003 Japan Cup in similar wire to wire fashion aboard Tap Dance City, said his plan was to let Tizway take the early lead and wait to see if the American horse drifted out while rounding the first turn on the clockwise course (all of Tizway’s races have been run counter-clockwise in the United States). “I knew Tizway would be the early speed and would probably go off the rail on the turn, giving me a chance to take over,” Sato afterwards.
ALSO ON SUNDAY’S HANSHIN CARD were the final two races in the World Super Jockeys series. Norihiro Yokoyama, who was tied for the points lead going into Sunday’s finale, locked up the title when he guided Taghano Premiere to victory in the day’s 10th race. Yokoyama ended up with 47 points, well ahead of Hong Kong’s Douglas Whyte (38 points) and Ryan Moore (37) of Great Britain. Calvin Borel, who won one of the two Super Jockey races on Saturday, along with Garrett Gomez, were blanked in Sunday’s competition, though Gomez won an earlier race on the program on Yamanin Chasseur, a huge longshot that paid 33,850 yen on a 100 yen bet (338-to-1). Borel finished fifth in the standings and Gomez was last of the 15 riders.
Several thousand of the 40,226 fans on hand for Sunday’s program stayed around for the World Super Jockeys awards presentation in the track’s walking ring. Each of the riders wore matching hats and warmup jackets and ran into the paddock under a spotlight after being introduced individually to the crowd. Following an Olympic Games type of ceremony, the jockeys doused Yokoyama with champagne, and many of them tossed their caps and jackets into the crowd for fans to keep as souvenirs. Many of them, including Gomez and Borel, waded into the crowd to sign autographs. They were the human stars on a day, but there’s no question that Espoir City was the equine celebrity.
The loss of Summer Bird from the Japan Cup Dirt to an injury sustained the prior weekend, undoubtedly had an impact on the gate. Attendance was down 17.5% from the 2008 Japan Cup Dirt. Handle on the Japan Cup Dirt was 15.2 billion yen (about $172 million), down 5.9% from 2008. Total handle on the day was 23.2 billion yen (about $264 million), down 3.4%. Only 3.4% of the total handle was wagered on-track.
Tags: akio adachi, Calvin Borel, espoir city, garrett gomez, hanshin race course, Horse Racing, japan cup dirt, japan racing association, japanese horse racing, Norihiro Yokoyama, Paulick Report, Rajiv Maragh, Ray Paulick, tetsuzo sato, tizway, world super jockeys, world super jockeys series, yushun horse club
Posted in International Racing, Japan, Jockeys | Comments Off
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
By Ray Paulick
TOKYO, Japan—I’ve been coming to the Japan Cup every year but one since 1993 and have yet to see an American-trained horse win. The first couple of years were promising: Kotashaan finished second, a length and a quarter behind Legacy World in 1993, and Paradise Cre ek was nosed out by Marvelous Crown in ’94. Since then, only one American-trained horse has even hit the board—that being Sarafan, who was beaten a nose by Falbrav in 2002.
I’m beginning to wonder if an American horse will ever win this race again. Americans won three of the first eight runnings from 1981-’88 and took a fourth Japan Cup when the Charlie Whittingham-trained Golden Pheasant won the 1991 renewal. But that was the last American victory in this major international race.
The Breeders’ Cup, inaugurated in 1984, has certainly had an impact on the Japan, with most of the best American turf horses staying home. So has the introduction of the early December international race meeting at Hong Kong. But there’s more to the story; Japanese runners have simply gotten better, the result of a concerted effort in the 1980s to improve the breed, when the American bloodstock market was in a down cycle and the Japanese yen was strong against the dollar.
We have a similar condition today.
THE DISAPPOINTMENT I have felt watching one American horse after another go down to defeat in the Japan Cup is nothing compared to the feeling I experienced Sunday morning at the Tokyo race course when a representative of the Japan Racing Association told me that Summer Bird was injured and would be forced to miss this Sunday’s Japan Cup Dirt.
 The Birdstone colt, the probable 3-year-old male champion of 2009 in North America, is almost certainly the best horse sent from the U.S. to Japan for the Japan Cup Dirt. The race was inaugurated in 2000 and has been won just once by an American horse—the longshot Fleetstreet Dancer in 2003.
This is a race American horses should be able to win, since the best Japanese horses compete on turf and there have been virtually no European contenders in the Japan Cup Dirt. Yet the winner’s share of the $3-million prize is not likely to go to an American runner this year, unless the Tiznow colt Tizway, fourth in the Whitney and third in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, pulls off a big surprise.
Some horsemen go through an entire career without having the opportunity to train a horse the quality of Summer Bird. Tim Ice had the good fortune of having Summer Bird in his barn shortly after going out on his own as a head trainer. Ice took the injury in stride, saying you have to accept the bad with the good that comes along, but you know the injury had to hit him like a punch to the gut.
Ice did an outstanding job with Summer Bird all season long. Let’s hope surgery is successful on the colt’s injured leg and he returns as good as ever in 2010. If not, as Ice said, Summer Bird “owes him nothing.”
Japan Racing Association officials were devastated by news of the injury, too. Summer Bird was a heavily promoted international star in the Japanese media and his defection from the Japan Cup Dirt will have an impact on both on-track attendance and handle, two economic indicators that have been trending in the wrong direction for a dozen years in Japan.
 Over the last several years, the JRA has added new bet types, and plans to introduce a pick five wager in 2011. But nothing the JRA has attempted so far has boosted business.
Despite the grim economic news (if attendance of 98,000 and handle of over $300 million for the Japan Cup is grim!), Japanese racing fans continue to show an incredible affection for the sport and its equine and human stars. On Japan Cup morning (and on almost all days when important Grade 1 races are run), the gates of the JRA tracks open at 8 a.m., and there is a ritualistic “mad dash” to desirable spots along the rail just p ast the finish line by hundreds of amateur photographers, many of whom have camped outside the track for several days to be first through the gate, The enthusiasm of these fans is infectious and can serve as a tonic to jaded souls who feel racing has lost its connection with the public.
Tomorrow, I’ll be heading to Osaka and Hanshin race course in anticipation of Sunday’s Japan Cup Dirt. I’ll report from there on Thursday.
A FINAL NOTE: There have been some unfortunate rumors floating through the internet that this reporter was spotted at a Tokyo karaoke studio on Sunday night, warbling with a trio of Japanese racing journalists. Unless you have pictures or a recording of the event, it is nothing more than a rumor. What happens in Tokyo…well, you know the rest.
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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Tags: Birdstone, Horse Racing, international horse racing, japan cup, japan cup dirt, japan racing association, jra, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, Summer Bird, tim ice, tizway
Posted in International Racing, Japan | 10 Comments »
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
By Ray Paulick
A budding superstar jockey from the Dominican Republic is under investigation by the California Horse Racing for allegedly not putting forth his best effort in a race at Del Mar in September, and a retired Hall of Fame rider is outraged at the charges.
Joel Rosario, a 24-year-old jockey who won riding titles at Hollywood Park’s spring-summer meeting and at Del Mar this summer, has had a complaint filed against him for violation of CHRB rules 1894, 1692 and 1902. The complaint contends that Rosario did not give his best effort in riding Cedros to the finish line in the 11th race at Del Mar on Sept. 6, 2009. A hearing was conducted Nov. 19 and is scheduled to continue tomorrow, Dec. 3, in the stewards’ office at Hollywood Park.
Cedros’ trainer, John Glenney, complained to the CHRB about Rosario’s ride after he told the Daily Racing Form he received a call from Rosario’s agent, Vic Stauffer, the morning after the race, allegedly inquiring about whether or not Cedros might be for sale. Cedros had finished fourth, beaten a head for third place, in a maiden special weight race. Glenney was quoted as saying he had instructed Rosario to keep Cedros to the outside (he started from the nine post, coming out of the infield chute in the turf race going 1 1/16 miles), but when the field turned for home, Rosario was toward the rail.
Rosario, who had never ridden Cedros, was the fourth jockey to ride the horse in five starts. Prior to the Sept. 6 race Cedros had finished tenth of 11 horses at Churchill Downs; sixth of 10 at Churchill; eighth of nine at Del Mar and second of nine at Del Mar—all maiden races. After finishing fourth under Rosario, Glenney shipped the horse to Kentucky, where he finished last of eight starters in the Grade 3 Bryan Station Stakes at Keeneland, and fourth of six in a maiden race at Fair Grounds in New Orleans.
On the day in question, Rosario rode in all 11 races, and won four, including two stakes (Del Mar Derby and Torrey Pine Stakes), finished second in another race, third in another, and had two fourths. His mounts earned $432,748 that afternoon. That’s more than horses trained by Glenney have won in all of 2009; he’s trained eight winners from 59 starts for total earnings of $414,627. Rosarioi ranks sixth among the nation’s jockeys by mount earnings, with $12.2 million thus far in 2009.
When Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens heard about the complaint against Rosario, he said he “immediately got on the computer and said I’ve got to see this.” After watching the film of the race, he contacted Stauffer and said “if you need me to testify I will because this is a joke. After seeing the patrol films, I said I’ve got to say something about this.”
Stevens, who serves as an analyst on HRTV and recently began training, said he has no vested interest in helping Rosario and when we spoke last week had never ridden him on one of his horses. But Stevens calls him a “throwback—a very humble guy with a bright future. I’ve never associated with Joel, but I’m an admirer of him. He’s got superstar potential—a great work ethic and a good riding style. I have a lot of respect for him.
“One of the things that is going to make him a superstar is his patience,” said Stevens. “He had (Cedros) second on the outside and the horse was trying to lean in down the backside. Somebody hit the fire button and went right past him down the backside, but Joel sat where he was. He knew he couldn’t go from the half-mile pole all the way to the wire.
“When his horse switched leads he lugged in down to the fence. And then the horse drifted out, shying from the whip; (Rosario) raised his arm up and started to come down and the horse started shying away inside the quarter pole….you can see it on the patrol films, though not the panshot. If he hits the horse he could have gotten taken down or caused a spill. When I saw that it really became annoying to me.”
Stevens testified Nov. 19, for more than 30 minutes by his account. “I told the deputy DA prosecuting the case, ‘Sir, I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but I did not have a conversation with Joel prior to my testimony here. This is purely a retired jockey stepping up for a fellow rider being questioned for something he didn’t do.”
Jockeys’ Guild representative Darrell Haire also spoke on Rosario’s behalf. The day’s other witness was backup steward Luis Jauregui, a retired jockey who represented the CHRB.
“Luis said Joel didn’t put forth his best efforts. My response is this guy doesn’t how to read the films,” said Stevens.
“This is really upsetting to me that this kid’s integrity is being questioned over something that is so, so simple to watch. We’ve got a deputy DA who’s probably never watched a horse race questioning him. There are legitimate excuses in a race; my job as an analyst is to pick a race apart and analyze why something may have happened.
“I said I thought the horse was lugging in and pointed out several times that the horse was attempting to lug in and pointed out the premature move by two other jockeys. Obviously these guys never watched Pat Day (another retired Hall of Fame rider), who would let guys pass him all the time, and then come back up the rail to win.
“I hate to see something so stupid like this happen.”
As for Stauffer allegedly asking if Cedros was for sale, Stevens said, “I can’t believe he would be stupid enough to say something to (the trainer). John was upset with the ride…we all get upset with riders. But you never do that (offer to buy a horse), even if you won the race.”
Stauffer has not been charged by the CHRB with any wrongdoing.
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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Tags: California Horse Racing Board, cedros, CHRB, Gary Stevens, Horse Racing, joel rosario, john glenney, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, vic stauffer
Posted in California Horse Racing Board, Jockeys, People, Regulatory Issues | 31 Comments »
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