Posts Tagged ‘joe hirsch’

By Ray Paulick
For those of you who decided to disconnect from the racing world on Sunday, let me just say that we had a little situation here.

Actually, it wasn’t so little. Collusion between the co-owner of Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird and the owner of runner-up Pioneerof the Nile to keep Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra out of the starting gate for Saturday’s Preakness Stakes would have, if successfully orchestrated, created one of the biggest embarrassments this sport has seen in my lifetime.

Apparently, and thankfully, the plot to keep the filly out of the race was aborted on the same day it was hatched. And that says something about the world we live and how cable television and the internet not only have changed how we get our news, but have given the public an opportunity to swiftly react to it, and in some ways alter the course of events.

I was enjoying a quiet Mother’s Day brunch Sunday afternoon with my family when I got an urgent message that Ahmed Zayat, Pioneerof the Nile’s owner, during a telephone interview on HRTV said Mine That Bird’s co-owner Mark Allen called Zayat and asked him to enter an additional horse in the Preakness to block Rachel Alexandra’s entry in the race. The filly, newly acquired by Jess Jackson last week and expected to be supplemented to the Preakness at a cost of $100,000, would only get into the starting field if fewer than 14 horses were entered, because early Triple Crown nominees are given preference over supplemental entrants in the Preakness.

Allen said he would enter a maiden in the race, and if Zayat entered a second horse, there was a strong likelihood Rachel Alexandra would not get in. It would also put Derby-winning jockey Calvin Borel back aboard Mine That Bird after he chose to ride the filly.

The Paulick Report linked to Dan Farley’s timely dispatch in England’s Racing Post that quoted Zayat, who repeated part of the conversation he’d had with Allen. Internet forums (Thoroughbred Champions, Pace Advantage, among others) and blogs lit up with comments about “cowardice,” “unsportsmanlike conduct,” and actions that were “terribly unflattering to the sport,” and would take “the racing industry’s massive dysfunction to brand new levels.”

The late Paul Mellon, who for me defined the kind of sportsmen who helped make this game so wonderful, was, I’m certain, spinning madly in his grave over how racing has degenerated and deteriorated.

Officials of the Maryland Jockey Club must have had visions of angry, pitchfork wielding mobs of racing fans descending upon Pimlico Saturday in search of the two would-be evil-doers, Zayat and Allen. One of those officials called Zayat to explain to him that his actions weren’t being very well received and that it might not be such a bad idea to reconsider.

NBC Sports, which pays a handsome sum to televise the Preakness and has been promoting the hell out of the anticipated matchup between Mine That Bird and Rachel Alexandra, might have been a little upset as well if the filly was somehow excluded.

Before sunset, a flurry of online articles was published by Bloodhorse.com, Sports Illustrated, New York Times and others, quoting both Zayat and Allen with abandoning their ill-conceived plan and waving white flags of surrender–but not before humiliating themselves and embarrassing the sport.

The whole news cycle was over in about six hours. I’m convinced the internet reporting and commentaries, along with the public outrage expressed in online forums, drove the decisions of Zayat and Allen as much as the phone call from a racing official in Maryland may have done.

Twenty years ago, before racing had two cable channels and the internet to provide an explosion of instant information, this Sunday storm might not have ever made into the public spotlight. The late Joe Hirsch, the executive columnist for Daily Racing Form, would have gotten wind of the conspiracy first (Joe always got it first), but by the time the Form had its next press run on Monday afternoon, someone (probably Joe himself) would have smacked some sense into Zayat and Allen.

For those of you who on Sunday were plugged in to HRTV (or TVG, which also did its own reporting on the issue), the Paulick Report or other web sites, this whole unseemly saga would be old news by the time your daily newspaper hit the front door Monday morning, or the weekly trade magazines are delivered later this week.

Times have changed.

One final thought: What is it about fillies and the Preakness that brings out the worst in some people?

Twenty-nine years ago, Angel Cordero Jr. used intimidating, and many of us still believe unsportsmanlike, riding tactics aboard Codex to beat the Kentucky Derby-winning filly Genuine Risk in the 1980 Preakness.

In 1988, the late Woody Stephens hit a low point in his Hall of Fame training career when he had jockey Pat Day employ suicidal tactics in the Preakness aboard Forty Niner against Winning Colors, the front-running filly who defeated Forty Niner in the Kentucky Derby two weeks earlier. It ruined both of their chances of victory.

Interestingly, in both cases, the Daily Racing Form published front-page editorials criticizing the tactics used against the two fillies, an extremely unusual occurrence by the Form. The 2009 version of Daily Racing Form might well have an editorial printed on the Rachel Alexandra saga in the next day or two, but by then will anyone care?

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick

Joe Hirsch, the longtime executive columnist for Daily Racing Form, died in New York City at the age of 80 on Friday morning.

According to a release from his longtime employer, he was at St. Luke’s Hospital at the time of his death. He had been in a long-term care facility in New York after breaking his hip in a fall at his Manhattan apartment last spring. Hirsch suffered for many years from Parkinson’s, courageously going about his daily rounds on the backstretch and writing his Daily Racing Form column while battling the disease. He retired from the Form in 2003. Click here to read a brief biography and here for industry comments about Hirsch.

A funeral service will be held 10 a.m. Sunday at Plaza Jewish Community Chapel, 630 Amsterdam Avenue and 91st Street in Manhattan.

Hirsch (pictured, left, with actor John Forsythe/photo courtesy of Daily Racing Form) had friends and admirers throughout the racing world, and was a global ambassador not only for the Daily Racing Form during his 50-plus years there but for the racing and breeding industry. He won numerous awards during his career, including the prestigious Lord Derby Award from an association of racing writers in England, the Eclipse Award of Merit, and Honor Guest of the Thoroughbred Club of America. Hirsch was also the founding president of the National Turf Writers Association.

Some will recall that Joe, a lifelong bachelor, was roommates with the flamboyant New York Jets quarterback of the late 1960s, Joe Namath. The quarterback was owner of a nightclub called Bachelor’s III (Hirsch was one of the three bachelors it was named after), which was said to be frequented by bookmakers and undesirables. It got Namath in hot water and he briefly retired from football rather than divest himself of the club.

During his career at the Form, Hirsch’s coverage of the Triple Crown races set the standard for other writers. Starting with "Derby Doings," he chronicled the daily activities of all Triple Crown race contenders for weeks on end, providing detailed information for the rest of the industry. In his "spare time," he wrote a number of books, including a colorful biography of trainer Horatio Luro, The Grand Senor.

He has been memorialized with a race named in his honor in the fall meeting at Belmont Park, the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational, as well as a journalism scholarship at the University of Kentucky. The press boxes at Churchill Downs and Saratoga are  also named after Hirsch.

Hirsch had the respect of racetrack management, horse owners and breeders, trainers, jockeys, his fellow journalists and the racing public. No one was more helpful to young journalists new to the racing beat than Joe Hirsch, who would go out of his way to welcome them to the game. No one was more of a gentleman, either.

All of us who worked around Joe have our favorite stories. Many of them involved the tales he would tell at the countless dinners he organized and invited his fellow writers to. Joe loved great food and the camaraderie of other racing people almost as much as he loved the sport itself.

One of my earliest experiences with Joe came at the 1988 Preakness. Louie Roussel, the co-owner and trainer of Risen Star, was standing on a milk crate, surrounded by dozens of writers and televsision cameras. Many of us had our tape recorders in the air to catch Roussel describe in detail problems Risen Star had experienced with his feet and how a specialist was brought in to treat him and put on a new set of racing plates. Roussel went on for several minutes about the situation.

I was standing directly behind Hirsch, who was holding a small notebook in one hand and a pen in the other. When Roussel was done, he wrote two words — “new shoes” in the notebook. The next morning, when the Form arrived at Pimlico and I read Joe’s must-read “Preakness Doings,” he had a lengthy explanation from Roussel about Risen Star’s foot problem. By that time, I had transcribed my tape of Roussel’s press briefing and was stunned to find that Joe had it nailed almost word for word everything Roussel had said. He was amazing.

Joe Hirsch was a thorough reporter and an outstanding writer who cared deeply about the game. Moreover, he was a good friend to so many of us in this industry. We’ve missed him since he left the racing beat in 2003, and mourn his passing. He was one of a kind.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick

Last Monday was the National Museum of Racing’s big day, when induction ceremonies were held for the newest members of the racing Hall of Fame. This year’s inductees included trainer Carl Nafzger, jockey Edgar Prado, and a full complement of horses.

A number of previous Hall of Fame inductees usually show up for the annual ceremonies, giving racing fans a rare opportunity to meet and greet many of the sport’s riding and training legends. It’s a wonderful day for the fans, many of whom travel a great distance to see the ceremonies.

It’s also interesting how the racing Hall of Fame induction usually come right on the heels of the Baseball Hall of Fame ceremonies in Cooperstown, N.Y., and the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction in Canton, Ohio. Both of those events, not surprisingly, attract larger crowds and get far more media attention. Racing takes a back seat to other sports in that regard.

Frankly, the National Museum of Racing is not a very professional organization, from the standpoint of how it spends its money. Its philosophy of only honoring jockeys, trainers and horses also seems short-sighted.

According to www.CharityNavigator.com, a Web site that rates how various charities perform and how they spend their money, the National Museum of Racing gets "zero" stars out of four (and an overall rating of 22.09) for its most recent tax year published, 2006. The museum spent more on administration — $1,163,140 — than it did on programs to support its non-profit mission — $818,730. It spent another $261,455 on fund-raising. The museum lost money in 2006, with expenses of $2,243,325 and revenue of just $2,021,371.

Museum executives say they have a difficult challenge, located as they are in a small town. Not that Cooperstown, N.Y., or Canton, Ohio, are thriving metropolises, but Saratoga Springs is a sleepy town during the 46 weeks that the Saratoga racetrack is not in operation.

But let’s compare the National Museum of Racing to what the American Quarter Horse Association runs in Amarillo, Texas, which is certainly not a major U.S. city, either. The AQHA Foundation and Museum has annual operating expenses of $4,175,793, but spends only $723,865 on administrative expenses, a considerably smaller percentage of what the racing museum in Saratoga spends. The AQHA puts $2,754,691 into the program and invests another $697,237 in fundraising. CharityNavigator.com gives the AQHA a rating of three stars (56.25 points). For 2006, the AQHA Foundation and Museum raised $8,546,735, more than double what it spent.

So the National Museum of Racing gets very poor rating for how it spends its money. If the museum had dynamic leadership or cutting edge programs you might say it would be worth it to spend so much on salaries for administrators. But that isn’t the case. The museum is anything but dynamic.

Anyone who has been to the National Museum of Racing more than once in the last several years will find many of its displays old and tired. Most of the Hall of Fame plaques, which are written up long before a jockey or trainer is retired, are outdated. And the policy of only admitting jockeys, trainers and horses reflects poorly on the museum, which is out of step with museums in other sports that also honor broadcasters, journalists, and team owners.

Even the election procedures for the Racing Hall of Fame are inferior to other sports. Modifications were made in the Racing Hall of Fame election process when complaints surfaced among some voters, but the changes left the Hall of Fame in the embarrassing position of having no one elected in some years, and further changes were made. Now, the rules ensure one human or equine will be elected in every division, but critics say some divisions have more than one worthy inductee, and that the rules should allow more than one to be elected per division in a given year. The best example may be the filly and mare division, which saw the induction this year of Inside Information. However, there are several other worthy candidates, including Sky Beauty and Silverbulletday who were shut out in the voting.

Futhermore, it’s amazing and sad to me that someone like Joe Hirsch, the longtime executive columnist for Daily Racing Form, does not have a place in the Hall of Fame. There is no home in the museum for some of the great owners and breeders, either, or for stallions like Mr. Prospector who made such an important mark on the game. The trustees who run the museum have never warmed to the idea of expanding the ranks of Hall of Famers.

Aside from jockeys, trainers, and horses, the only others recognized in the museum are “exemplars of racing,” and there have only been five individuals given that honor for their contributions to the game since the museum was established in 1950: George Widener, Walter Jeffords, John Hanes, Paul Mellon, and Martha Gerry. There doesn’t seem to be any specific guidelines for that distinction, either. Apparently, museum president Stella Thayer made the appointment of Martha Gerry on her own in 2007, independent of museum trustees.

Exemplars are recognized by the following statement: “In all endeavors, and certainly in all sports, leaders emerge, from time to time, possessing rare and admirable qualities. Thoroughbred racing is fortunate that such dedicated leaders – Exemplars is a more appropriate word – have played a role so influential in this sport that they are forever recognized and heralded.

“The individuals named below served Thoroughbred Racing all their lives in a variety of ways. Respected by their peers, admired by racing’s officials and by the public, and looked upon by all as true Exemplars of Racing they are, in order of their unanimous election by the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame Committees:”

Martha Gerry campaigned a terrific horse in Forego, and by all accounts she was good for the game, serving on the New York Racing Association board and as a member of the Jockey Club. She was also a significant financial contributor to the National Museum of Racing, according to a press release. For the life of me, though, I don’t see her in the same category as the others who were honored as exemplars, and I think there are other individuals who have made greater contributions to racing who have not yet been so honored.

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame is uninspiring and capable of being so much more than it is. Under its current leadership, however, it’s doubtful we’ll see any change.

Perhaps someday, somewhere, someone else will see the need for a truly dynamic museum for racing and breeding, one that recognizes leading owners and breeders, outstanding journalists and other individuals who have made a significant impact on the sport.

Copyright © 2008, The Paulick Report

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