Debates, Controversy Good For Horse Racing

Fact: Mike Smith made a decision to open up the rail in the Belmont Stakes yesterday aboard Paynter, giving Union Rags enough room to win the race. The margin was so small that it is doubtful that Union Rags would have won if he had to swing out instead. Lots of reasons Smith may have elected to come out. Maybe he wanted to slightly force the outside horses to do more work and get slightly intimidated. Maybe he thought that he would rather be on the outside of Union Rags instead of on the inside of him. Maybe the horse was getting out slightly forcing his decision.

You know what? This is what makes horse racing, or any other form of competition. What ifs. They are just as important to the game itself as the actual event itself. The worst thing is when you have a major event and nobody has anything to say about it. The more controversy, the more that will be spoken and written about it, in most cases, and horse racing desperately needs more and more people talking about it.

The leave Mike Smith alone crowd has every right to their opinion, blah blah blah great jockey blah blah blah, but it does horse racing no good in the long run if too many took that attitude. Kind of like if an interception is thrown by a great quarterback in the Super Bowl, while another receiver was wide open. No QB would escape scrutiny based on him being a future Hall of Fame member and overall nice guy.

Controversy from decision making on and off the field is huge business when it comes to most pro sports. From pre game NFL analysis to post game analysis, MLB managerial decisions, etc., there is plenty to talk about, and the more successful a game is, the more people talk after the game.

Unfortunately for horse racing, it has another form of self inflicted controversies (which really is on par with calling evolution controversial) that stem from the ridiculous overuse of drugs. This is another story. Major league sports, with stringent drug policies and fines have eradicated drugs from the arm chair quarterback repertoire, but in horse racing it is too much of the story. The first thing that naturally comes to mind when any trainer gets hot is "he must have found something that isn't being tested for." The only controversy is whether the trainer is getting a little lucky or if he has found something. In pro sports, streaks create good buzz: The player has confidence maybe, the player is on a roll thanks to changes made by the coaching staff, the player finally has the game figured out, but you never hear, the player must be milk shaking before the game anymore.

When it comes to drugs, I think enough people are fed up. I think that keeping the Doug O'Neill controversy alive is needed to help fix horse racing. Unfortunately, it is not that far fetched to believe I'll Have Another's destiny to scratch was determined when the 72 hour detention barn was announced. The guy has got nailed with 4 milk shake violations in the past. One might be forgivable, but 4 is no fluke. It tells me that he is one to throw in the kitchen sink using the best scientific data available in order to try to avoid positives, but really goes to the limit. With every horse? Who knows?

When the 72 hour detention barn was announced, I automatically thought there is no way I'll Have Another will win, though I didn't think he wouldn't race. As for the injury, sure it could be real, but it could have been an ongoing issue that O'Neill was dealing with, given the ability to use the proper concoctions. The fact is that the actual records will most probably never come out, including any x-rays now or that were done previously. There is also conflicting reports on when the injury happened. And trust me, I'm not a conspiracy theorist nutjob. If this played out the same way I'm thinking it did on the show Luck, it would have been completely buyable.

My opinion is that the connections were scared that I'll Have Another would have finished up the track, and the injury would have had zero to do with it. Again, there is the possibility that the horse really was sound for the first two Triple Crown starts and he really did injure himself. But knowing what I know about the game, I'll stick to my theory, and that is unfortunate for the game itself.

The fact that some people might believe I'm over the top here is fine. And even if I'm wrong, which might be very likely, I think it is important to keep the controversy alive.

Betting Scandal Is Worrisome

After a pretty lengthy investigation three Canadian harness horsemen have been given lengthy suspensions and large fines for allegedly fixing races at Windsor and at Michigan harness tracks.

Receiving suspensions and fines are:

Brad O. Forward, Woodstock, Ont. - 5 years, fine of $5,000
Gene T. Piroski, Cottam, Ont. - 10 years, fine of $100,000
Kevin W. Wallis, Maidstone, Ont. - 12 years, fine of $100,000

In addition, Arthur McIlmurray, (not currently licensed by the ORC) of Northville, Michigan is hereby ruled ineligible to be licensed in Ontario until such time as he appears before the director.

These fines and suspension were handed out before the parties received an ORC hearing, so with that in mind, I'm pretty sure that the evidence is pretty damning.

What I find worrisome is that Windsor and Michigan harness tracks have very little handle to begin with. These horsemen had to be selling out for only hundreds of dollars unless bookies were involved. But how many bookies would be willing to take too many hits on harness races? I don't think the bookie route could yield more than a few thousand dollars before the bettors were cut off.

So if a few horsemen will sell their souls for a few hundred, how many would sell out for thousands? I'm talking of course, tracks that have larger pools. Drivers only receive 5% of the purse, and harness horses can race once a week if they are fairly sound, so stiffing for a price isn't out of the question. Plus if you watch a harness race, it can be simple to stiff a horse, and it can also be easy to fix a race by just getting the top three contenders to play ball. Many drivers also train and even own which makes it easier to get a syndicate going.

It is more difficult to fix a thoroughbred race though. Jockeys are not the trainer, and the trainer is very often not the owner. From a trainer's perspective, horses may only race 6 or 7 times a year, so to not try when the horse is in peak form is pretty silly unless the purses are really inadequate.

Jockeys could conceivably get together to fix a race though, as they only get 10% of the winning purse, and whether a horse is ready to fire or not, is not of as much consequence, as they'll hop on another horse in a race or two in most cases.

Trainers who bet probably take advantage of their knowledge of how much vet work was put into the horse for the race combined with how the horse is really doing.

Again, like with cheating drug trainers to race fixing drivers, I think criminal charges need to be handed down. It is defrauding the public, plain and simple. Putting a violator or two behind bars is probably the best deterrent there is.


In related news, Doug O'Neill gets nabbed for his fourth TCO positive in California.

Is it me, or are we starting to see super trainers starting to slump in the last few weeks. Does their undetectable stuff work best during hot weather, or has someone come up with either a procedure or test that can nail them? Does it have something to do with the recent eight positives in Illinois for the drug etodolac?


Bob Summers, The Happy Handicapper, passes away. It is tragic to lose such a racing enthusiast who was part of the media. The worse thing is that there isn't a lineup of replacements. For more on Bob Summers: Jen's Blog and Pull The Pocket wrote tributes.

Canadian jockey Alan Cuthbertson succumbs to cancer. He rode his last race at Hastings last year, at 63. He had his first win at Woodbine in 1964.



Down on all counts: CTHS Sales numbers show the continued downward trend for horse racing, in Ontario too.

Woodbine needs to give more money to the lower end horses so that more owners will break even or make money, and this will attract more owners into the game. Stop kissing the elite's butt, it is no way to grow the game. Partnerships usually buy cheaper stock to begin with. Give them a chance to grow.

Ontario sired or Canadian bred claiming races need to be written too. It will help the breeding industry immensely, as demand for Canadian breds will rise, not only at sales but in the claiming game as well.

ALEXANDRA: THE WORLD'S YOUNGEST HANDICAPPER

A friend of mine, who happens to be a Horseplayer (go figure), also happens to be a Proud Grandpa. He sent me the following photos of his 6 month old grandchild. Her name is Alexandra. And yes, she was named after her father's favorite horse, Rachel Alexandra. In fact, he lobbied to name the kid Rachel Alexandra, but because there is another parent involved, a compromise occurred, Rachel was vetoed and Alexandra won out, followed by a couple of customary middle names (named after a couple of grandmothers).

Alexandra gets a quick tutorial on how to read the past performances:

Alexandra gets to work on Del Mar's 8th:

Why Del Mar? The kid lives in Ontario. I guess Woodbine's track takeout is too high for her.

Finally, she comes up with her analysis:

According to her father: "She hit the tri in that race ($2 TRI 1-6-5). She won $26.80 but I kept the winnings."

Alexandra's first words were "If California raises takeout on exotics, Del Mar will be dead to me."

I wonder what Alexandra's first name would be if her dad's favorite horse was Zenyatta instead.

Speaking of Zenyatta. Here is a song about her:



The heat is definitely not off Bruno Schickedanz for his "what was he thinking" moment in regards to Wake At Noon's tragic demise, but trainer Doug O'Neill is now under fire for running a mare named Burna Dette a Los Alamitos last week. She was claimed for $25,000 in late June, but wound up running for $2,000 and breaking down violently Friday night. Read more about it at Paulick's Report.

By the way, Bruno Schickedanz is appealing his Woodbine ban. There is an ORC hearing set for August 17th

Tony Adamo's license has been restored in good standing.



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