Curb My Enthusiasm

Sharp Work for Harlem Rocker, Preakness Decision Looms

2008-05-11T13:10:00.004-04:00

Harlem Rocker breezed five furlongs 1:00.10 this morning over the Belmont Park training track, a work that was the third fastest of 32 at that distance.

Trainer Todd Pletcher is set to make a decision on whether or not the undefeated Withers Stakes winner will go in the Preakness on Saturday. Harlem Rocker, who is owned by Stronach Stables, is also targeting the Queen's Plate on June 22nd at Woodbine.

Update: Does anyone know why the DRF is reporting different times for workouts? While they report the "official" time of 1:00.10 for Harlem Rocker on the workouts page, they report a time of 59.63 in a story on the website.

They did the same thing during Derby workouts and it was quite confusing considering that they are only using these "unofficial" times in stories, yet not in the past performances...

Casino Drive Grows Up in Peter Pan

2008-05-10T18:05:00.004-04:00

Casino Drive looked like the real deal in his win today in the Peter Pan (replay below) in New York today, and as Patrick suggests, could be a menace for Big Brown in the the Belmont Stakes.

The colt's half-sister Rags to Riches and half brother Jazil have won the last two Belmont Stakes, which is how the son of Mineshaft came onto my radar last year when he was still unraced in Japan.

Recapturetheglory has a fever, Preakness shot at risk

2008-05-10T15:46:00.008-04:00

Illinois Derby winner Recapturetheglory spiked a fever this morning, jeopardizing his chances to run in the Preakness, and putting the colt's plan to ship to Baltimore tonight on hold.

“This morning his temperature was over 102," assistant trainer Lara Van Deren said today from Churchill Downs. "He’s definitely not shipping tonight. We pulled blood on him and gave him some anti-inflammatories. The blood work will tell us everything and we should get that back this afternoon.”

Macho Again back into Preakness Picture

2008-05-10T13:50:00.003-04:00

Good news that I didn't report that Macho Again was pulled from consideration from the Preakness yesterday, since today the colt's plans have changed and he is back into the picture.

“Last night we sat down and really looked at the field,” trainer Dallas Stewart said from Churchill Downs. “There is one superstar in there and I feel he can be competitive with the rest of them. He has never been doing better than he is now.”

The April Derby Trial winner breezed a half-mile at Churchill Downs this morning in :50.80 however that work was not the reason for the switch.

“The decision was not based on his work this morning,” Stewart said. “He never has been much of a work horse. But we will see how he is in the morning, and we are seriously considering it. It’s a once in a lifetime chance and (owner West Point Thoroughbreds) has left the decision up to me.”

Who is Harlem Rocker?

2008-05-08T09:42:00.002-04:00

Rick Dutrow said today that "Pletcher's white horse" is the only one that concerns him going into the Preakness. That horse, Harlem Rocker, will work this weekend at Belmont before deciding about The Preakness.

Here was the colt's impressive win in the Withers, short field and all.

Putting Everything in Context

2008-05-07T11:27:00.002-04:00

"There'll be more dogs fatally injured taking walks this year than there will be race horses injured racing. I doubt that we'll stop walking our dogs."

-Larry Bramlage, on-call veterinarian for the
American Association of Equine Practitioners.

Jones Orders Drug Test On Eight Belles

2008-05-07T00:00:00.005-04:00

Sometime during Derby week I heard trainer Larry Jones say that Eight Belles stood almost 16 and a half hands, in fact next to stablemate Proud Spell she looked like a draft horse. That being said, Jones has ordered a drug test to prove that his filly's size was not the result of steroid use.

From USA Today:

"I guarantee there were no steroids ever on the horse," Jones said at a news conference. " We're taking a lot of abuse out there. ... We're being accused of steroid abuse because she was so large. I can tell you that (owner Rick) Porter goes to the sale to look for good horses and that's one of the thing you look for -- a horse that's big enough, strong enough and fast enough to compete in big races."

While I have my doubts about Big Brown, considering trainer Rick Dutrow's track record of repeated violations and suspensions, there is no doubt in my mind that Larry Jones runs a clean barn without using illegal drugs or steroids on his equine athletes.

The necropsy on the Derby runner-up was completed on Monday, and although no formal results have been released, Jones has said that he hopes the post-mortem examination would uncover previously undiscovered "soundness issues."

Jones has also fought back against PETA's claims that jockey Gabriel Saez was to blame for the filly's death.

"I think that it is really the most ridiculous thing I've heard," Jones said. "I hate the fact they are using this as a fund raiser. They are using this as a money maker. They're not doing this for the benefit of anything."

Preakness Roll Call

2008-05-06T23:08:00.005-04:00

I have put together a list from a variety of sources and read the tea leaves about the horses that are looking toward Baltimore for the Preakness Stakes. Here is a list of those horses along with their previous race and result.

Preakness Bound
Big Brown - 1st Kentucky Derby
Behindatthebar - 1st Lexington Stakes
Giant Moon -- 4th Wood Memorial
Kentucky Bear -- 3rd Blue Grass Stakes
Stevil -- 4th Blue Grass Stakes
Tres Borrachos -- 3rd Arkansas Derby
Yankee Bravo -- 4th Santa Anita Derby

Maybe Preakness Bound
Harlem Rocker -- 1st Withers Stakes
Macho Again -- 1st Derby Trial
Riley Tucker -- 3rd Lexington Stakes
Salute the Sarge -- 7th Lexington Stakes

Probably Out
Recapturetheglory* -- 4th Kentucky Derby
Proud Spell -- 1st Kentucky Oaks

Out
Every other Derby contender
El Gato Malo** -- 5th Santa Anita Derby
Tomcito*** -- 6th Lexington Stakes
Casino Drive*** -- 1st Maiden Special Weight (Japan)

*For Ohio Derby
**For Lone Star Derby
***For Peter Pan

PETA Protest of KHRA a Bust

2008-05-06T15:56:00.006-04:00

Just over a dozen people showed up for PETA today to protest at the headquarters of The Kentucky Horse Racing Authority in Lexington, Ky.

Seriously PETA, that's all you can muster?

I could get two dozen people to come to my house tonight, to hear a dramatic reading of my blog -- and I would get them to bring a covered dish.

Industry Responds to PETA

2008-05-06T09:13:00.005-04:00

I'm not sure I understand why PETA's grandstanding is getting so much attention, as the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority today has said in a response that the the demands (below) that PETA makes are not based in fact -- although making stuff up is nothing new for this animal rights organization.

PETA's track record speaks for itself, they routinely makes up facts, hoping to quickly make news and sway the debate in their favor.

When I was the editor of my college newspaper, PETA started a "Got Beer?" campaign where they blitzed college papers with press releases that claimed that beer was more nutritious than milk. Too bad that there was no truth to the statement that beer was healthier, as this was just a ploy for PETA to get people to stop consuming animal products. A few years later they also started a campaign aimed at high-school students that made false claims that milk caused acne, obesity, heart disease and cancer. Again, all lies.

PETA plan to protest the KHRA today, and have made a list of demands that include:

- Banning the racing of 2-year-olds
- No racing on dirt (synthetic or turf only)
- Ban the use of the whip

Today the KHRA issued a response to these demands:

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent the KHRA a letter requesting that certain actions be taken. One statement indicated thoroughbreds should not be trained or raced before their third birthday, The KHRA has no scientific evidence to support the need to make this change.
According to Dr. Larry Bramlage, the on-call veterinarian for the American Association of Equine Practitioners, "as soon as thoroughbreds are physically mature, they should start effective training. It is most desirable not to let the bone formation apparatus atrophy after growth and then require it to be re-created. The most effective training takes advantage of the blood supply and cell population that contributed to growth, and convert it to forming bone in response to training. Scientific evidence shows such horses have longer careers and are more successful."
There has also been a suggestion that racing should be limited to synthetics surfaces or turf tracks. Research is ongoing on the safety of dirt and synthetic surfaces. It would be premature to rush to judgment on the exclusive use of any particular surface at this time.
The KHRA will continue to monitor the research on the safety of track surfaces.
Another suggestion has been to reduce the number of races per season. Again, the KHRA has no scientific evidence to support this view.
With regards to the whipping of horses, a whip is a tool used by jockeys to direct and control the horse during the course of a race. This tool provides safety for all participants in the race, including other horses and riders, by reducing contact with other horses as well as the rail.
Abuse of the use of a whip is a violation of Kentucky racing regulations and is unacceptable to the KHRA and state racing stewards. As a matter of fact, Kentucky racing stewards have taken disciplinary action against jockeys who have abused the use of a whip during a race. Kentucky stewards are required to review the videotape of a race before it can be declared official. Kentucky stewards reviewed videotapes of the Derby and saw no evidence of a violation of any racing regulation by Mr. Gabriel Saez during the course of the race.

On the Funny Cide of things

2008-05-05T17:03:00.005-04:00

My coworkers are the kind of people who check in on horse racing about once a year, so it's unfortunate when they only get exposure to incidents like the one with Eight Belles this weekend. To cheer them up, I shared this story and video (below) from Friday by The Courier-Journal's Greg Hall and Sam Upshall about the retired life of Funny Cide -- enjoy.

From The Courier-Journal:

He's also vigilant about what's around him -- grunting at a videographer's equipment beside a horse path near his stall, for example, until he inspected it personally.
Funny Cide doesn't spook easily, Smullen said. Unlike some horses that shy away, "Funny'll see things and maybe go toward them," which makes him a better pony.
He'll also go toward treats visitors offer -- "he's a mooch," Smullen said, including the occasional donut in Tagg's barn, where he's been known to use his nose to open the box.
When he's not on the job, he's bathed regularly, rolls in the dirt outside Tagg's barn and grazes on nearby grass.

Derby Notebook: Thoughts after returning from Louisville

2008-05-04T21:32:00.014-04:00

Here are some thoughts and liner notes upon my return from Louisville:

--There were so many people in the Kentucky Derby winner's circle that Big Brown apparently didnt' make it into the photo since he was obscured by the entorauge.
--It looks like Dennis of Cork and Tale of Ekati will be pointed to the Belmont with most other Derby contenders falling off the triple crown trail.
--Colonel John may go to the Preakness...
--Proud Spell, Casino Drive, Behindatthebar, El Gato Malo, Harlem Rocker and Salute The Sarge are all non-Derby contenders who could be potential Triple Crown spoilers.
--It will be about 10 days before the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority gets the test results back and we will find out if Big Brown's romp was the result of ability or a syringe. Sure it's cynical, but it's not like this trainer doesn't have a track record -- and it's not like it has never happened before (Forward Pass).
--Churchill Downs had the genius idea to begin selling buttons of all the Kentucky Derby contenders this year for $1. On Saturday I heard several people in the grandstand and paddock area offering to buy the sold-out Eight Belles buttons for more than face value -- who knew there might be a secondary market for these things? So far none have cropped up on Ebay...
--PETA is asking for jockey Gabriel Saez to be suspended, does this group really have any credibility with anyone anymore?
--I stood next to William Rhoden of The New York Times when Larry Jones addressed the media late Saturday night -- we've all known for a while that Rhoden hates horse racing, but what I found out was that the guy uses a 80s-era walkman to collect his quotes. He kept flipping the tape during the interview (did he only had 4 minute tapes?), so no wonder it seems like he went to a completely different interview than the one I did. Seriously, a quality digital recorder is less than $30...
--Some of the buzz last night after I left Churchill Downs for dinner was that CNNSi had posted some AP photos of Eight Belles being euthanized. I'm now starting to see the photos everywhere...

Sunday Morning

2008-05-04T11:17:00.003-04:00

The consensus last night at dinner was that this was one of the worst Kentucky Derby stories ever.

Won by an arrogant trainer with a long history of rules violations and suspensions (dare I say one of the biggest cheats in the game), backed by a Wall Street group that wants to create a horse racing hedge fund, followed by the best potential story of the race -- a filly who runs second -- having to be euthanized.

The only way this could have been worse would have been if Eight Belles had won the race instead of coming in second, her fatal injury leaving no champion to present the garland of roses to in the winner's circle.

I was supposed to be in Lexington hours ago to meet my family, so I'm about to leave -- more updates later in the evening.

Final Derby Round Up Post to Follow

2008-05-03T21:48:00.002-04:00

I'm physically and emotionally exhausted from the past few hours, needless to say I didn't say anything about the winner of the race, as I paid attention to the news that I think most readers wanted, which is the immediate available news from Dr. Bramlage and then trainer Larry Jones about the fatal breakdown of filly Eight Belles.

I didn't have Big Brown on top of any of my tickets, but did make some place money on the filly. I'll provide a roundup of my posts later, but for now I don't have anything new to offer.

No one is looking forward to the pro-synthetic propaganda that will come out of this or the idea that some might argue that racing a a filly against colts is inherently dangerous -- so it was nice to see both Dr. Bramlage and Larry Jones address those issues. This accident could have happened on grass, dirt or Polytrack -- I hope that the mainstream media who aren't used to covering racing don't let that fact slip through the cracks.

Larry Jones on the Loss of Eight Belles

2008-05-03T20:42:00.006-04:00

Trainer Larry Jones, a bit tearful at times, spoke to the media in an impromptu press conference in the Churchill Downs media center about the injury to and euthanization of Eight Belles.

Accompanied by Dr. Larry Bramlage who spoke earlier, Jones said that as the race ended he didn't notice any distress and began to work his way through the crowd to the track to unsaddle the filly.

"I had a lot of trouble getting through the crowd, getting to the track and a lot of the horses were already unsaddled and going back," he said. "And we finally got down to the track, and I saw Kent (Desormeaux) coming back and he really -- you could tell, that it was not like he just won the Kentucky Derby -- he was a little bit solemn, and then that is when we first heard that a horse had broke down and I just figured it was one of the ones that had maybe run poorly."

He said that even when he looked up and noticed that jockey Gabriel Saez was riding back with NBC's Donna Brothers he still didn't know what happened until Saez told him that Eight Belles was put down.

"I thought how can you put a horse down? I guess, I mean we're used to trying to save them, so that's when I took off running and caught the ambulance and rode over there and needless to say when I did see her -- it just had to be done," Jones said. "She had no way of being saved."

He said that if she had been in distress or had a trouble race he would have second guessed himself, but her second place finish doesn't make him think that, and he said she ran "the race of her life."

"It wasn't the race, it wasn't the fact that there were 19 boys in there," he said. "It wasn't the distance of the race, she finished a mile and a quarter well."

I asked him what he thought about the criticism that the sport would likely get about dirt being an inherently dangerous racing surface.

"This just wasn't a track issue," Jones said. "All we have to do is gallop and stop and come home."

"I'm not saying that every track should go back to dirt; I'm not saying that every track should go to synthetics, but this track today, in my wholehearted opinion, was not the issue with what happened today," he said.

Jones said while he was aware that such a high-profile death will be unwanted news for horse racing, that good can come from the incident too.

"Lots of good things have happened with the Barbaro fund, and we don't know what's going to happen with the Eight Belles story -- she got a lot of notoriety this week, and she probably got more notoriety after the race than we've ever imagine, we don't know what will happen. It could be lots of great things come out of it, it could be the worse day of our life and nothing good could happen."

"It's the unfortunate side that every now and again you're faced with, it's something that -- it's unforeseen, you know, this is the bad part," he said. "I did get to see my son yesterday, and I got to see my daughter today, but I got to see Eight Belles every day. She was our family, she's been with us for a year -- a lot of great footage with (ESPN's) Jeannine Edwards today, and I guess it will be my last ride on her," Jones said as he began to choke up.

"Losing animals like this isn't fun," he continued after he gathered his composure. "This is the unfortunate side, I don't know what to say -- we're heartbroke. We're going to miss her."

Jones to speak soon

2008-05-03T20:08:00.001-04:00

Trainer Larry Jones will speak soon about Eight Belles breakdown...

Dr. Bramlage on Eight Belles

2008-05-03T18:51:00.006-04:00

Dr. Larry Bramlage, the on-call equine doctor at Churchill Downs, held a press conference after filly Eight Belles collapsed coming out of her second place finish in the Kentucky Derby and was euthanized.

"She has finished the race and was around the turn at the 7/8ths pole around the backstretch and she was by one of the outriders -- he saw both front ankles collapses and the initial physical examination -- of course there was no x-ray -- it's obvious from the physical examination that she had condylar fractures in both sides and the left front opened the skin -- broke through the skin and was contaminated...and at least one of the sesamoids broke, so she didn't have a front leg to stand on...she was immediately euthanized," he said.

Bramlage said that the injury occurred in both legs in the same stride. He said that while it is not "terribly unheard of " for a horse to have some injury that is bilateral -- in both legs -- he had never seen an injury like this at the end of a race.

"In my years of racing, I've never seen this type of injury at the end of the race," he said. "We were already past the wire and everyone had breathed a big sigh of relief."

When asked, he said that there was a chance that there could have been microfactures in the legs that worsened during the race, however, he said while that scenario was probable -- and it may be even likely -- he didn't have enough information to say for certain.

He said he does not think this incident is a reason to suggest that fillies should not run against colts.

"One incident is not an epidemic," he said. "As bad as it seems right now, it's once incident -- fillies race against colts on an intermittent basis."

He also said that he does not think the breakdown of Eight Belles would have been prevented by Polytrack.

"I don't think that you can look at the injury on the racetrack and say that Polytrack could have prevented it," he said. "This is not like Eight Belles was deep in the middle of a stretch battle and hit a bad step, she was done with the race and was all the way through to the end, and I don't think the forces on her legs pulling up would be virtually any different on an artificial surface.

"I doubt there would have been any difference , she could have been on the grass or on the dirt," he said.

Waiting for details on Eight Belles

2008-05-03T18:29:00.003-04:00

I heard via a viewer from home (my dad) that Eight Belles was euthanized. While I saw that she was having problems coming out of the race, and figured it was bad news when she laid down, it is so almost impossible to get information if you're actually on the track or not watching in front of a television.

I was in the paddock when NBC's Donna Brothers brought jockey Gabriel Saez back from the track, but he quickly rushed off to the jockeys room and didn't have an immediate comment...

Getting Crushed

2008-05-03T16:39:00.002-04:00

We did manage to hit the second Pick Four today and the payout almost covered our cost to play all four today. We bombed on the other two and are about to start off our very small final ticket.

In the Derby I've got several exacta combos but am playing a trifecta that cycles around Colonel John, Pyro, and Eight Belles on top and some ridiculous price plays in the middle and bottom of those tickets.

I feel like I'm betting wounded here...

Curlin Likely for Stephen Foster

2008-05-03T13:30:00.005-04:00

Curlin on the red carpet

2007 Horse of the Year Curlin made a red carpet appearance after the 4th race today in the Churchill Downs paddock.

Walking through the tunnel from the track trainer Steve Asmussen watched the horse take to the red carpet on the way to the walking ring.

"I was more nervous about that than I was about the Derby," Asmussen quipped to those around him.

Owner Jess Jackson was also on hand and said that the 9 furlong Stephen Foster Handicap in June was likely the next race on the champion colt's schedule. This probably all-but assures that the Foster, which has a purse of $750,000, will have a shorter than usual field.

"I want to show him off in Kentucky, that's where he was born," Jackson said.

Jackson wouldn't say where he would take the horse next, although he hinted that a race in Europe might be in the horse's future.

"One race at a time, it's hard to predict," he said. "I'd love to go places that aren't showing Kentucky and the United States off, that's why we went to Dubai. Planting the American flag there was important, I feel I'm a patriot and I think we need a little boost for Kentucky, the U.S.A. -- particularly in the Mid-East."

Asmussen assistant trainer Scott Blasi served as the colt's hot walker, at one point a television crew's wire was pulled across the walking ring, and Curlin refused to cross, so Blasi took him back the around the ring and and kept the horse in an unused stall until after the 5th race.

Blasi joked that he wanted to keep Curlin in the paddock until the Derby and then load him outside the gate to run in the race.

"But they won't let us do it," Blasi said.

Curlin on the Churchill walking ring

Curlin refused to cross a cable pulled across the walking ring

Advance Kentucky Derby Odds: Mid-Day Saturday Edition

2008-05-03T13:22:00.002-04:00

With just over $7 million in the pool at 1:30 p.m., here is how the Derby odds are looking:

2008 Kentucky Derby
	Horse	Morning Line	Late-Day Friday Odds
1	Cool Coal Man	20-1	38-1
2	Tale of Ekati	15-1	38-1
3	Anak Nakal	30-1	61-1
4	Court Vision	20-1	16-1
5	Eight Belles	20-1	12-1
6	Z Fortune	15-1	18-1
7	Big Truck	50-1	25-1
8	Visionaire	20-1	21-1
9	Pyro	6-1	5-1
10	Colonel John	4-1	4-1
11	Z Humor	30-1	69-1
12	Smooth Air	20-1	42-1
13	Bob Black Jack	20-1	27-1
14	Monba	15-1	30-1
15	Adriano	30-1	32-1
16	Denis of Cork	20-1	25-1
17	Cowboy Cal	20-1	36-1
18	Recapturetheglory	20-1	48-1
19	Gayego	15-1	20-1
20	Big Bown	3-1	5-2

Dirt upgraded

2008-05-03T12:39:00.001-04:00

Just before the start of the 4th race the dirt was upgraded to fast... It looks fine from down here on the rail. Updating from my phone is hard... So more later after the Curlin announcement.

Curlin Annoucement after 4th Race

2008-05-03T12:20:00.002-04:00

Curlin will be in the paddock immediately following the next race and there is buzz that there is going to be some sort of announcement -- I suspect that they will announce that his next race will be in Churchill's Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) in mid-June.

How much weight do you think he'll have to carry coming out of wins in the Dubai World Cup and Breeders' Cup Classic? 131 pounds?

Track Condition Upgrade

2008-05-03T11:38:00.002-04:00

In advance of the 3rd race, the dirt and turf have both been upgraded to "good." Although a dirt upgrade was expected, I did think that the turf course would be listed be yielding all day...

Saturday Morning Track Conditions

2008-05-03T11:28:00.003-04:00

The main track was listed as "sloppy" this morning, although it doesn't look too bad to me, there isn't much sun peeking through the overcast sky, although there is a decent wind that will assist the drying.

I expect the track to be upgraded to "good" soon and really think we'll be fast by post time for the Derby.