The two-day 2014 Breeder’s Cup event at Santa Anita last weekend was humming along with fun and excitement at a venue tailor-made for the event. But then horse racing did what horse racing does routinely.
It messed up a great day at the races and sent a portion of the crowd home shaking their heads in disgust.
Saturday’s Breeder’s Cup Classic at Santa Anita was a hit-and-run robbery. It was a theft in plain view.
A good chunk of the 61-thousand plus at the beautiful race track in Arcadia, CA groaned when track announcer Trevor Denman proclaimed that Santa Anita’s stewards had let stand clear-cut interference by race winner Bayern and his pilot Martin Garcia at the race’s start.
The flawed outcome of North America’s richest horse race of the year erodes the already fragile trust invested in the dying sport by the jaded fans who gamble on it.
Bayern and Garcia swerved recklessly to the left coming out of the starting gate‘s #7 stall. Unusually sweaty in the post parade, Bayern slammed into undefeated race favorite Shared Belief (#6) with an almost full body blow. The carnage from Bayern’s sharp left turn also put the brakes on expected pacesetter Moreno’s early dash to the front. Seen from the head-on camera, Moreno (breaking from the four hole) lost all hope of gaining the lead after sustaining the uninvited contact.
Bayern ended up wiring the field and did so impressively if you set aside the obvious damage he inflicted on Shared Belief and Moreno. Those around me near the winner’s circle said the stewards had an easy verdict to render. Disqualify Bayern and place him in a position immediately after the worst-finishing runner impacted by his kamikaze move (which would make him dead last – after Moreno). When Garcia returned to the area on the main track where horses are de-saddled, he acted as if he lost the race. He jumped off Bayern and stepped away glumly as if he knew the stewards would change the unofficial result.
On the Breeder’s Cup television simulcast fed to race tracks across the country, retired jockey Richard Migliore said it was an obvious DQ. As the finishing positions blinked, the Mig did not mince his analysis. “(Garcia) took an immediate left hand turn. There was no hint of him trying to correct it. It looked like it was intentional. He wanted to get over quickly to get the drop on Moreno…It had a big effect on the outcome of the race. It (the contact) knocks the air out of horses. It’s a clear infraction. It had to have an effect on the outcome. It changed the entire race.”
What clinched my gut feeling that the stewards had no choice but to DQ Bayern was the fact so many eyes had seen what happened. The light was bright on this incident.
The head-on replay was from a camera position further than ideal given the event’s magnitude but it still offered overwhelming visual evidence of Bayern’s stray movement into rivals. As we waited for an announcement on the stewards’ inquiry, a few fans near me snickered that the only conceivable way Bayern would stay up would be if Bayern trainer Bob Baffert’s influence crept into the decision. Baffert is a popular Southern California trainer working on his home court.
It took seven minutes for the stewards to cook up the home cooking. No change in the order of finish! Bayern won. Fans booed. Those who’ve been going to racetracks or professional boxing matches for a long time could only laugh – knowing this kind of nonsense is always possible. And of course, if you had some shekels on Bayern – you just quietly cash the ticket, pocket the dough and walk out.
But I think the typical reaction from the level-headed horse racing fan interested in fairness and integrity is that Bayern roughed up Shared Belief and Moreno beyond any reasonable threshold necessary to conclude that those latter two entrants were improperly hurt in their effort to win the race as a result of the unwelcome contact.
A few minutes after the result was made official, Denman came back on the mike to explain the stewards’ decision. It was a confounding explanation. Said Trevor: “The videotape is going to show that while number seven Bayern did break in sharply at the start causing interference with the horses on the inside, the incident happened at a point in the race where it did not alter the original order of finish.”
Huh?
The way I read that explanation is that horses are entitled to body slam other runners as long as it happens out of the gate? It also seems to make the extrapolation of a horse’s performance post-contact a steward’s function. The ruling says in so many words that Moreno and Shared Belief need to toughen up, run on and hurry up to make up the lost ground. It’s all horses for themselves as long as there’s an undefined amount of time and distance to catch up.
To calm those hot over what happened, the trio of stewards who upheld the Bayern win sent out one of their own at Santa Anita the day after the Classic to further explain their thinking. Scott Chaney cited Rule 1699 for guiding the unanimous decision he reached with the other stewards Kim Sawyer and Tom Ward. It says in part: “A horse shall not interfere with or cause any other horse to lose stride, ground, or position in a part of the race where the horse loses the opportunity to place where it might be reasonably expected to finish.”
My pal Marc knows an esteemed and experienced LA railbird who says rough stuff out of the gate is consistently viewed as allowable by the SoCal stewards. I’ve heard others suggest the size of the purse and magnitude of the race made overturning a win more difficult given the event’s scope. I don’t buy any of that.
This was my eighteenth consecutive Breeder’s Cup on site (19th out of the last 20) and the third straight year at Santa Anita.
Despite the deflating conclusion to Saturday’s Cup card, I had a great time. I lost on the wagering side but I won for being there. 26-year-old Rosie Napravnik’s surprise pregnancy/time off announcement after winning the Distaff on Untapable was pretty dramatic given her current spot on the professional arc. Frankie Dettori unleashed his trademark victory celebration after winning the Juvie Turf. That happened almost immediately in front of where we were sitting and that will stick in my memory. You had a scintillating wire job by Goldencents (stubbornly defending his dirt mile title) and a visually impressive victory in the F and M sprint by Judy the Beauty. I think 35-year-old trainer Chad Brown emerged as the next guy to challenge Todd Pletcher’s dominance. Chadlee’s barn won three Cup races and threatened in the three other races in which his entrants ran.
Unexpected outcomes in the Turf Mile, Dirt Sprint and Juvie left Saturday’s Pick Six without a single winner. Instead of distributing all of the pool’s 2.5 mil minus takeout to Saturday’s five of six ticketholders, there was a carryover of 1.335 mil into Sunday’s run-of-the-mill Santa Anita card. That spiked the pool to five mil plus because of all the free money in the pot. The Sunday sequence played out with three short-priced horses, two moderates and a longshot. It paid a whopping 115 grand.
Next year Keeneland gets a turn as Cup host. My position on where the Cup is run remains unchanged. The powers-that-be should commit to a rotation of Belmont, Churchill and Santa Anita. No small track plants should be eligible. They don’t work for the majority of attendees – and Keeneland won’t either despite its magic. The Cup has had clear success at the three big tracks – especially Santa Anita. If the entities that operate Belmont and Churchill aren’t receptive to hosting chores, run it at Santa Anita every year until they are.
I’ve eaten well so far on this long vacation. Lots of eggs. None better than the two eggs over easy at Allen’s Corner Restaurant in Hampshire, IL on Tuesday morning. The eggs at this place are exceptionally flavorful and fresh. The coffee keeps coming and the service is always on spot. On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Allen’s Corner will shut down. The new owner plans to make improvements to the dining room but our waitress indicated the popular diner will indeed reopen. We’ll see.
Scooter and Urvashi took me to Versailles in Encino, CA on Sunday for great Cuban food. The lechon asado was perfecto. Me and Jeff D had creatively crafted tacos at CaCao Mexicatessen in Eagle Rock on Friday night after the races. What a great place this is. J Gold has written glowingly about the duck tacos but I thought the pan seared snapper taco was even better. The night before we had killer pho at Noodle City in Monterey Park. The great Carsoni joined us Saturday night for a fun brewski session at the Colorado Bar. And our lodging experience at the nearby Saga was as steady/solid as from years’ past.
I made my first ever visit to Burger Records in Fullerton. That was fun. My Aunt, Uncle and I also walked the campus of Cal St.-Fullerton which has a pretty rich history and a solid baseball team.
On election day, my Mom and I saw St. Vincent while my Dad worked the polling place. The movie was excellent. I’d deny Bill Murray any kind of award for his lazy, uneven effort on the Brooklyn accent but this film does plenty to grab you. Melissa McCarthy’s performance as the single mother living next door to Murray’s horseplaying grump character stands out for its excellence.
After the movie, we saw final eight Illinois high school soccer action at Barrington High School. It was Lake Park vs. Streamwood for a spot in the state championship semis. It was windy in the mid-40’s. They play on carpet so the ball skids cleanly. It’s a faster, more proficient game at this level than I recall seeing it during my high school days. Without advanced knowledge of the rosters, my Mom and I were surprised to learn that the son of the kids we lived across the street from growing up was a key player on the Lake Park squad. Lake Park junior Brody Thompson was really strong with the throw-in and perhaps the most aggressive player on the field in terms of ground covered. What was really cool is that all four across-the-street Thompson boys and their father were in attendance for this one. The match had plenty of drama. Streamwood scored what turned out to be the game-deciding goal on a direct kick that was taken with Lake Park’s squad asleep at the switch. Early second half, Alan Camarena punched it in from 15 yards out just a moment after the official put the ball down and while Lake Park was still considering its defensive alignment. Deemed a legal play, Camarena executed a quick kick to perfection. Lake Park mounted a furious rally during which its head coach Anthony Passi was ejected for arguing with an official along the sideline. Lake Park had a corner kick chance down a goal with under 30 seconds to go in regulation. During the set-up on that piece, Lake Park keeper Michael Jasiak came all the way downfield and attempted to harass and obstruct the vision of Streamwood’s goalie Sergio Blanco. As players tussled for position, Blanco pushed Jasiak to the ground. There was no call and Blanco ended up making a point blank save to seal Streamwood’s 2-1 win.
I returned to New York on Wednesday night with six days left to go on this long vacation.
