Posts Tagged ‘rick dutrow’

On Saturday, Gulfstream Park will host its signature day of the winter/spring meet by presenting five graded stakes on the 12-race program, highlighted by the Grade 1 Florida Derby. Trainer Todd Pletcher’s Rule heads up a field of 11 in the Florida Derby. The son of Roman Ruler brings a 4-race win streak into this 1 1/8-mile contest in which it will be the first time he has gone beyond 1 1/16 miles. The only other entrant with enough stakes earnings to make it into the Kentucky Derby field is Radiohead, trained by Rick Dutrow.

The graded stakes action begins in the 7th race with the running of the 1 1/8-mile Bonnie Miss, a G2 for 3-year-old fillies on the dirt. The small but very contentious field has attracted Amen Hallelujah, who comes off a winning performance in the G2 Davona Dale, rolling home by 6 ¼ lengths. The highly-regarded Christine Daae steps up into stakes company after an allowance win.

The Bonnie Miss is followed by the G3 Rampart, then the G3 Appleton. The Swale, a G2 seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds precedes the Florida Derby. In the Rampart, it’s hard to see past Unrivaled Belle; she had three consecutive wins last year on dirt and in her most recent outing, she took on stiffer competition in the G2 La Canada at Santa Anita where she finished fourth on the synthetic surface. Others to watch in this 1 1/8-mile contest are a pair from the Marty Wolfson barn, Miss Singhsix and Champagne Eyes.

The Appleton has a field of nine older horses going postward on the turf at 7 ½ furlongs. Kiss the Kid, at 5-2, is the slight morning-line favorite over Rahy’s Attorney who is 3-1. Rick Dutrow has D’Funnybone in the Swale; the highweight under Edgar Prado, he will be the one to beat, coming off an impressive winning effort in the G2 Hutcheson last month.

Graded stakes presented at Santa Anita this weekend will be Saturday’s 1 ½-mile marathon G2 San Luis Rey for 4-year-olds and up, and on Sunday, the Santa Ana (G3) for older fillies going 1 1/8 miles. Both events are on the turf. Neil Drysdale could have a big weekend with Bourbon Bay in San Luis Rey and Cat by the Tale in the Santa Ana. San Luis Obispo (G2) winner Bourbon Bay faces a field of ten, including Unusual Suspect and Sudden War, second and third in the San Luis Obispo. Tuscan Evening will be favored in the Santa Ana, and indeed, she has beaten Cat by the Tale twice at a flat mile, but perhaps the tables will be turned at the longer distance.

New York has been hit especially hard by adverse weather conditions during this Aqueduct meet. Last week’s G3 Cicada was rescheduled for this week and will hopefully go off without a hitch. Bickersons, the only graded stakes winner in the race is the 7-5 favorite. She won the G2 Forward Gal, and followed that up with a fourth-place finish in the G2 Davona Dale, where she was beaten by the red hot Amen Hallelujah.

All eyes will be on last year’s champion fillies, Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta, as they both make their 2010 debuts on Saturday. While the Steve Asmussen-trained Rachel Alexandra is set to race in the ungraded New Orleans Ladies Stakes at the Fair Grounds (approx. post time 6:15 e.t.), Zenyatta has her sights set on the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Handicap at Santa Anita. The John Shirreffs-trained Zenyatta will carry 127 lbs., conceding up to 19 lbs. to her opponents, which include Striking Dancer, Floating Heart and Pretty Unusual. The Santa Margarita is 1 1/8 miles on the Pro-Ride surface; the scheduled post-time is 6:40 e.t.

Also, on Saturday’s card at Santa Anita is the G2 San Felipe, a Derby prep at 1 1/16 miles on the main track. The line-up appears familiar with the first three finishers from the Feb. 13 G2 Robert B. Lewis in action again—Caracortado, Dave In Dixie and American Lion.

The other Derby prep of interest is the G2 Rebel at Oaklawn Park. Shipping in from California is 2009 2-year-old champion Lookin at Lucky, who will be making his 2010 bow for trainer Bob Baffert and regular rider Garrett Gomez. Others in the 1 1/16-mile Rebel with possible Kentucky Derby aspirations are Noble’s Promise, Cardiff Giant and Dublin. Three-year-old fillies are in the spotlight in the G3 Honeybee, also 1 1/16 miles on the dirt. Heading the field is Decelerator, a stakes winner at Oaklawn on Feb. 13. Brereton Jones’s homebred No Such Word and Beautician, runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, are entered as well.

Tampa Bay Downs will host a 12-race card on Saturday which includes three graded stakes. Eclipse winner She Be Wild will try to avenge her fifth-place finish in the Forward Gal in the G3 Florida Oaks (1 1/16 miles on turf for 3-year-old fillies). The G3 Hillsborough, for older females at 1 1/8 miles on turf showcases Mushka, the favorite at 5-2 on the morning line, Lady Shakespeare, and Tottie, who is undefeated in two U.S. starts. The Tampa Bay Derby (G3) has a contentious 7-horse field headed by slight favorite Super Saver. Making his 2010 debut here, the Todd Pletcher trainee last won the Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs by five lengths in November.

The Gulfstream Park Handicap (G2) at one mile on the dirt for older horses will take place Saturday at the South Florida racetrack of the same name. The morning line favorite is This Ones for Phil, from Rick Dutrow’s barn. He will face two entries from Kiaran McLaughlin’s shedrow—Grasshopper and Past the Point, as well as Harlem Rocker (Todd Pletcher) and Cool Coal Man (Nick Zito).

Sunday’s Gulfstream program features the G2 Inside Information, a seven-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares on the main track. The top four finishers of last month’s Hurricane Bertie return for Inside Information. Kays and Jays was the winner of the 6 1/2-furlong Hurricane Bertie, who outfinished Tar Heel Mom, Warbling and Pretty Prolific.

Kentucky Derby preps are in full swing across the country with more than a few contenders from the 2007 foal crop hoping to emerge as stars. Gulfstream Park will present two graded stakes for 3-year-olds, the Hutcheson, at seven furlongs, and the 1 1/8-mile Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth, both Grade 2. In the Hutcheson, Rick Dutrow has two entries, Radiohead and D’Funnybone, the likely favorite. Rick’s brother, Tony Dutrow, also has an entry in the Hutcheson, A Little Warm. Nick Zito’s Jackson Bend will face nine rivals in the Fountain of Youth. The diminutive son of Hear No Evil had a five-race win streak broken in his last out when he ran second to Winslow Homer in the Holy Bull. His biggest challenger appears to be Remsen winner Buddy’s Saint.

Gulfstream has also carded a pair of complementary G3 grass races for older horses on Saturday—for the ladies it’s the Honey Fox and the guys run in the Canadian Turf. An overflow field has entered the Honey Fox, including Bluegrass Princess, Backseat Rhythm, and Quiet Harbor, who brings with her a string of five consecutive wins. Courageous Cat makes his 2010 debut in the Canadian Turf; he finished his 2009 campaign with a sensational runner-up effort to Eclipse Award winner Goldikova in the Breeders’ Cup Mile.

After inclement weather at Oaklawn Park forced the cancellation of last Monday’s G3 Southwest Derby, it was rescheduled for Saturday. Conveyance, Cardiff Giant and Domonation, the first three finishers in the San Rafael Stakes, shipped in from California and all remained on the grounds and re-entered one mile test.

At the Fair Grounds, the spotlight will be on 3-year-olds in the G3 Silverbulletday, for fillies, and the G2 Risen Star, for colts and geldings. Both races are 1 1/16 miles on the dirt. In the Silverbulletday, Todd Pletcher’s Devil May Care is the slight morning-line favorite over the Dale Romans-trained Quiet Temper. A full field of 12 goes to the gate in the Risen Star; the top choices here are Bill Mott’s Drosselmeyer, and from the Tom Amoss barn, Ron the Greek.

Also, at Fair Grounds on Saturday, two other G3 stakes will be run for older horses—the Mineshaft, at 1 1/16 miles on the dirt, and the Fair Grounds Handicap, 1 1/8 miles on turf. The one-two finishers in the Jan. 23 Louisiana Handicap, Friesan Fire and General Quarters, will face off again in the Mineshaft, while the Fair Grounds Handicap has attracted the likes of Acting Zippy, Transduction Gold and the now 10-year-old Silverfoot. Giant Oak is entered as well, but will run only if the race is transferred to dirt.

The other graded Derby prep on Saturday is the G3 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields in Northern California. Ranger Heartley and Connemara are the likely favorites among eight entered in the 1 1/8-mile dirt contest; they ran first and second, respectively, in the Jan. 16 California Derby.

Saturday’s Santa Anita card features the G2 San Carlos Handicap, a seven furlong dirt race for 4-year-olds and up. Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Dancing In Silks hopes to rebound from his third-place finish in the Palos Verdes and earn a trip to the Golden Shaheen in Dubai in late March. His day could be spoiled by Ventana, runner-up in the Palos Verdes, or the speed demon, Bob Black Jack, off since winning the 2008 Malibu.

On Sunday, the only graded stakes action takes place at Santa Anita with the running of the G2 San Luis Obispo Handicap for older horses on the turf at the marathon distance of  1 ½ miles. Obrigado, now a 7-year-old, won this race in 2007 and makes his seasonal debut here. The Neil Drysdale trainee will face eight rivals, including his stablemate Bourbon Bay.

This is our first look at American Graded Stakes Standings for 2010, and though it’s early in the year, there are some patterns established that I think we can count on to continue in the coming months.

Trainer Bob Baffert is the leader by American Graded Stakes wins, with three in the first five weeks of 2010, and with several top contenders for the 3-year-old classics, there is no reason to believe he will not double that number before the first Saturday in May. Rick Dutrow and Todd Pletcher have two each, and Pletcher has yet to unleash his deep roster of Triple Crown prospects. Both of his AGS victories were supplied by Quality Road, who at this point has to be considered the top older male in training.

Among jockeys, Robby Albarado and Garrett Gomez have three AGS wins apiece, with four riders with two each: Martin Garcia, Joel Rosario, Chantal Sutherland, and John Velazquez. Gomez and Albarado each ride for top stables and can be expected to win a bunch more AGS races before the year is out.

Zabeel Racing International has two AGS winners, both of which were private purchases over the winter: Richard’s Kid, winner of the Grade 2 San Antonio Handicap, was bought from Arnold Zetcher and is headed to the Dubai World Cup next; and Conveyance, winner of the Grade 3 San Rafael Stakes, was sold Zabeel by Legends Racing after winning his first two starts. Zabeel is the racing stable of Sheikh Mohammed’s eldest son, Sheikh Rashid.

Also with two AGS winners is IEAH Stables, which owns Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap winner Court Vision with Resolute Group Stables and WinStar Farm; and Grade 2 Santa Ynez Stakes winner Amen Hallelujah with Whizway Farms.

Eleven of the 24 individual AGS winners thus far in 2010 were sold at public auction at least once, with three of them consigned by Eaton Sales, and two by Taylor Made Sales Agency. Nine of those 11 auctioned horses were purchased during the Keeneland September yearling sale for prices ranging from $27,000 for Grade 2 Palos Verdes Handicap winner Kinsale King to $310,000 for Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes winner Winslow Homer.

UPDATE: Santa Anita has cancelled its Saturday racing program due to heavy rain and ongoing drainage problems with its main track Pro-Ride surface.

On Saturday, Santa Anita’s 10-race program will feature five stakes races, including the Grade 1 Las Virgenes and a pair of Grade 2s, the Strub and the Robert B. Lewis. The Las Virgenes has attracted a field of six 3-year-old fillies to go once around the all-weather track. Blind Luck will be heavily favored based on her final three starts in 2009—she won the G1 Oak Leaf before finishing third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, and ended the year with a seven-length win in G1 Hollywood Starlet. Among those taking on Blind Luck will be Crisp, winner of G3 Santa Ysabel, and Switch, third in G2 Santa Ynez.

Trainer Bob Baffert has his eyes on a couple prizes Saturday. If Misremembered can prove himself in the Strub, he’ll head for the Santa Anita Handicap, more familiarly known as the Big ‘Cap, next month. Misremembered, a ridgling son of Candy Ride last ran second to M One Rifle in the G1 Malibu. The nine-furlong Strub, for 4-year-olds, has also attracted Smart Bid and Rendezvous, second and third, respectively in the G2 San Fernando.

Baffert hopes to have yet another Kentucky Derby prospect with Tiz Chrome. The son of Tiznow comes into the 1 1/16-mile Robert B. Lewis with just two starts, but his debut at Churchill Downs and his winning performance in the Stuka Stakes at Hollywood were eye-catching. Facing him will be Eoin Harty-trained American Lion, also a son of Tiznow, who won the Hollywood Prevue.

Across the country, Gulfstream Park will be hosting three graded stakes, highlighted by G1 Donn Handicap, for older horses going 1 1/8 miles on the main track. Quality Road is high weight at 123 lbs., based on his powerful performance in G3 Hal’s Hope where he drew off in the final furlong defeating You and I Forever by nearly three lengths. Quality Road spots six to nine pounds to his nine rivals which include the first four finishers of the Jan. 10 Ft. Lauderdale (G3), as well as You and I Forever.

Hoping to make his 2010 debut a winning one, Court Vision will face five other older horses in the nine-furlong G1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap. Rick Dutrow trains Court Vision, who ran third in this event last year, losing to Kip DeVille by less than a length. From Todd Pletcher’s barn comes Take the Points, a two-time Grade 1 winner in 2009.

Also carded at 1 1/8 miles on the turf is the G3 Suwannee River for older fillies and mares. None of the twelve starters in the body of the race have won a graded stakes, making this a very tough spot to find a favorite. One of the strongest contenders may be Lady Shakespeare, winner of four consecutive races at Woodbine in 2009. Christophe Clement has won the Suwannee River four times and has two entered here—Cable and Astrologie.

In deference to the Super Bowl on Sunday, Santa Anita has an early post, with the G2 San Antonio Handicap to be run at approximately 2:00. Carded as the 7th of eight races, the 1 1/8-mile San Antonio is a major prep for the upcoming Big ‘Cap. High-weighted at 120 lbs. is Richard’s Kid, upset winner of the Pacific Classic at Del Mar last September. The Bob Baffert trainee then ended his 2009 campaign with a sixth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Also targeting the Big ‘Cap is Mast Track, winner of the G3 Native Diver Handicap at Hollywood Park in December.

By Ray Paulick
With the Experimental Free Handicap released today, it seems the appropriate time to take a look at the 2-year-old winners of 2009 American Graded Stakes. There are a few trends among the 33 individual 2-year-old AGS winners that jumped off the data pages compiled by the Paulick Report. Among them: homebreds are the exception and not the rule when it comes to winning 2-year-old graded stakes; Todd Pletcher was the king among trainers of 2-year-olds; and finally, despite the ready to race aspect of 2-year-old auctions, graduates of those sales do not appear to have much of an edge when it comes to winning an AGS race at two.

Here are some nuggets of information that came out of the research:

-Of the 33 2-year-old AGS winners, 11 of them were repeat AGS winners in the United States; champion 2-year-old male Lookin at Lucky was the only one to win more than two individual AGS races (Best Pal Stakes, Del Mar Futurity, Norfolk, CashCall Futurity).

-Todd Pletcher trained five of the AGS winners: Ailalea,. Devil May Care, Interactif, Rule and Super Saver; Steve Asmussen had three (Hot Dixie Chick, Thiskyhasnolimit and Western Smoke); training two each were Wayne Catalano, Rick Dutrow, Wayne Lukas, and Jerry Romans. So nearly 50% (16 of 33) of the 2-year-old AGS winners came from six barns. Interestingly, Lookin at Lucky was Bob Baffert’s only 2-year-old AGS winner.

-Seven stallions accounted for 14 of the 33 AGS winners (42%); siring two AGS winners each were Broken Vow, Dixie Union, Maria’s Mon, Northern Afleet, Pulpit, Roman Ruler, and Tiznow.

-Bill Casner and Kenny Troutt’s WinStar Farm had an outstanding year with 2-year-olds, breeding and racing a trio of AGS winners: Rule, Super Saver, and American Lion (the latter bred in partnership with William Lockridge). In fact those three represent half of the six AGS winners who raced for their breeders. That means that 27 of the 33 AGS winners were either sold at public auction or privately by their breeder. One that wasn’t sold was Nancy Mazzony’s homebred 2-year-old filly champion, She Be Wild.

-Of those sold at public auction (our statistics do not include horses offered and not sold or those catalogued and withdrawn), more came from Keeneland’s September yearling sale than anywhere else. Fourteen graduates of that sale went on to become 2009 AGS winners as 2-year-olds; with three each were Fasig-Tipton Kentucky’s yearling sale and Keeneland’s November mixed sale (weanlings). Two AGS winners came out of the 2009 Fasig-Tipton Calder 2-year-old. OBS had one graduate each from its February, March and April 2-year-old sale go on to win an AGS race, and one from its August yearling sale. Lookin at Lucky was the lone AGS winner sold at the Keeneland April sale of 2-year-olds.

-All told, 19 yearling sale graduates won AGS races at 2; six came from 2-year-old sales, and three were sold as weanlings. These stats include several horses that were pinhooked from year to the next. By age, the weanlings sold represented 11% of the total 2-year-old AGS winners; yearlings 68%, and 2-year-olds, 21%. If we total all foals of 2007 sold at auction as weanlings, yearlings or 2-year-olds, the breakdown is very similar: 15% weanlings; yearlings 66%; and 2-year-olds 19%.

-Finally, Taylor Made Sales Agency and Gainesway were the top two consignors of horses that went on to win AGS races at two. Taylor Made had five (Ailalea, Backtalk, Devil May Care, Negligee and Who’s Up. Gainesway sold three: Buddy’s Saint, Noble’s Promise, and Who’s Up (who sold as a weanling by Taylor and as a yearling by Gainesway).

Copyright © 2010, The Paulick Report

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Two months after Dutrow got Offlee Wild, he entered the now 4-year-old in a Belmont Park allowance race and won easily. “Rick called to say that’s exactly what we were looking for,” Robbins said. Dutrow wanted to run Offlee Wild next in the Grade 2 Massachusetts Handicap against Funny Cide in June. He was a longshot in the morning line, but got hammered in the early wagering and eventually went off 3-1 second choice behind the previous year’s Derby winner. Offlee Wild won a head-bobbing photo over Funny Cide, giving Robbins and Dutrow their biggest career wins to date.

“We opted for the surgery, even though there was no guarantee he’d ever race again,” Robbins said. “So we sent him to Dr. (Larry) Bramlage at Rood & Riddle.” To hedge his bets, Robbins put together a video highlighting Offlee Wild’s career to that point. (Click here to view.)

Copyright © 2010, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick
There have been very few dull moments since the Paulick Report was launched one year ago today, June 16, 2008. I guess that’s one of the benefits for a journalist covering an industry in turmoil.

Where to begin? We’ve posted 418 of our own stories, most of them written by me, and have linked to thousands of others published in daily newspapers and trade publications – both of which are going through their own economic crises – and the independent writers who represent about the only growth segment of the industry through their online blogs.

The idea behind the creation of the Paulick Report was to offer independent coverage of an industry that, for the most part, has been given a free pass from the press. We’ve tackled many subjects people in the industry have talked about for years but were left untouched by the media. Foremost among those issues is the leadership that is largely responsible for the problems the industry now faces.

Among other subjects, we’ve examined how the Breeders’ Cup has evolved over the last 25 years, going from a small group of self-appointed leaders to a more democratic process where nominators to the program have a say over who is charge. But the battle for control has been fierce, between the “old guard” led by Will Farish, his son Bill and some close associates, and the “new guard,” represented by people like Bill Casner of WinStar Farm.

Many of the Breeders’ Cup nominators weren’t very happy in December when the organization’s board of directors voted to eliminate the special stakes program supplements that have been a key part of the program since 1984. The Paulick Report covered that story aggressively and accurately, reporting on the significant losses of the Breeders’ Cup’s investment portfolio, which coincided with the decision to eliminate the stakes supplements. The uproar was substantial, and in an unprecedented move, the board quickly reversed its decision and kept the stakes program for at least another year.

We’ve taken a close look at how the Jockey Club, run for years by Dinny Phipps, has tentacles reaching into many other industry organizations in an attempt to control as much of the business as possible. We also reported on how The Jockey Club, whose principal purpose is to be the Thoroughbred breed registry, has built a family of for-profit companies that have done quite well financially at the expense of industry participants.

Another company that has prospered is the Keeneland Association (which we referred to as “Lexington’s Fort Knox” in a two-part series that culminated with the question “Who Owns Keeneland?”) The articles explained how Keeneland took over the sales company from a horsemen’s co-op and has since earned hundreds of millions of dollars, and how the once publicly held shares in Keeneland were acquired by the association over a number of years and are now in the hands of a holding company.

We had fun with some of these stories. When the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association gave its own Sales Integrity Committee an industry service award (the headline was “TOBA gives award to…TOBA”), we called them on it (as if nobody else noticed the self-congratulatory move).

One of the hot-button issues in recent years is medication. Bad news has been abundant in that area (Rick Dutrow was the 2008 Triple Crown poster child for medication and other violations, and several additional high-profile trainers also had horses test positive for prohibited drugs), but there was good news, too. Anabolic steroids, which for years had been one of racing’s dirty little secrets (they were considered a therapeutic drug and were legal in most states), were subjected to strict regulations in many jurisdictions in 2008 and early 2009.

Another significant problem the industry faces is an antiquated tote system owned by three different companies, all of which are for sale. We reported on numerous instances of past-posting, where bettors were allowed to make wagers after races had started and in some cases well after they had been run. Another Paulick Report exclusive focused on how the Jockey Club may get into the tote business with yet another for-profit subsidiary. Stay tuned on that one.

Racetracks provided us with plenty of stories to cover, too. Magna Entertainment, the largest track operator in North America, filed for bankruptcy in March. We reported much earlier on the constantly revolving door of executives who have worked for the company and were terminated at the whim of Magna chairman Frank Stronach. It hasn’t been a stable company at any point in its brief history.

We exposed how Churchill Downs, which has been far more successful than Magna, is trying to squeeze purse revenue by shifting wagers from on-track to its account wagering company, Twin Spires. A feature on the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Group, which represents various horsemen’s organizations in their negotiations with Churchill and other tracks, provided some good news for horse owners.

The Paulick Report also served as a forum for other writers, including the tireless Fred Pope, the Lexington advertising executive who has been calling the simulcasting model “upside down” because it rewards the bet takers (the site or account wagering company taking wagers on someone else’s race) far more than it does the racetrack and horsemen who staged the race. Pope’s article elicited a record number of responses in the comment section, a unique part of our online publication, which allows the public to sound off on the issues.

We broke our share of stories over the past year: Curlin going to Lane’s End for stud duty; the Ernie Paragallo horse abuse case in New York; the efforts of “old guard” Breeders’ Cup board members to keep NetJets chairman and longtime horse owner and breeder Richard Santulli, along with Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm owner John Sikura, off the organization’s operating board; layoffs at Churchill Downs and Blood-Horse magazine, along with the elimination of several turf writers at big city daily newspapers; Halsey Minor’s efforts to buy Hialeah from John Brunetti, and Minor’s attempt to purchase many of the Magna tracks out of bankruptcy; and the Thoroughbred Owners of California’s decision to bid for Santa Anita from the same bankruptcy proceedings.

Live blogging was an interesting and effective way to cover some of the events and get the news out as it happens: among them were the Congressional hearings into horseracing last June, industry conferences and regulatory meetings, and the Eclipse Awards in January.

Do we have any regrets? Sure, perhaps the tenor of some of the stories were overly critical and sometimes too personal.

But the overwhelming feeling I have for the last year is gratitude. Our readership has more than tripled since our launch, and we have continued to build support from the Thoroughbred advertising community, even though they understand they are not buying favorable coverage with their dollars. It is gratifying that so many businesses support this kind of independent journalism, and we hope those who haven’t will see the benefits of what the Paulick Report offers to the industry.

Thanks to our readers, those who have given us moral or financial support, and our advertisers.

We’re just getting started.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick

Steve Asmussen should not be allowed on the Eclipse Award ballot as North America’s leading trainer this year, no matter how many races or how much money he’s won. I don’t think Todd Pletcher should be, either, or Rick Dutrow, or Larry Jones or any other trainer who in this calendar year has either served a suspension for a medication violation or has a pending complaint for a banned substance in a horse under his care.

The Eclipse Awards are the sport’s highest honor. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, which is "in charge" of these awards (along with the Daily Racing Form and National Turf Writers Association), could go a long way toward cleaning up the sport’s image by instituting a policy, beginning in 2009, that will exclude from consideration any individuals with confirmed or pending medication infractions in the same calendar year. The exclusion should be extended to owners as well. A separate set of standards should be written for jockeys (i.e., abuse of the whip, an excessive number of interference suspensions, etc.).

It’s overdue. The sport is drowning in bad publicity. Action is required.

Let us know what you think on this subject. The Daily Paulick Poll at www.paulickreport.com asks whether medication violations should disqualify a trainer from Eclipse Award consideration. Feel free to add your comments below.

As for Pletcher, call me naïve, but I believe his story of how Wait a While tested positive for procaine when she finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf on Oct. 24. As the Paulick Report first detailed and Pletcher later confirmed, the Maria’s Mon filly came out of her victory in the Yellow Ribbon in late September with a respiratory infection that necessitated treatment with penicillin.

Pletcher and his veterinarian had options on what to use, but they apparently decided to go with a penicillin product that contains procaine, which one leading veterinarian told me is the most effective way to treat the type of problem Wait a While had. It also takes a long time to clear the bloodstream. If the last treatment was given 18 days before the Breeders’ Cup, as we reported and Pletcher also stated, and the withdrawal time recommended by the Racing and Medication Consortium is 15 days (emphasis on the word recommended), Wait a While should have tested clean.

The California Horse Racing Board, which now will adjudicate the charges against Pletcher through its board of stewards, offers complimentary testing to horsemen before a race to determine if therapeutic substances such as procaine have cleared a horse’s system. Pletcher had this option and apparently did not take advantage of it.

I’d give Pletcher the benefit of the doubt that he may have followed the advice of a veterinarian or the RMTC recommended withdrawal guidelines for procaine penicillin and still got burned by a positive test. Nevertheless, the responsibility is his, and absent mitigating circumstances should be fined and suspended in line with the CHRB guidelines.

He also should be on the list of trainers who in 2008 have served medication suspensions or are facing charges and should be excluded from consideration for Eclipse Awards.

Copyright © 2008, The Paulick Report

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