Notes From Neal

It’s painful and sad to see a horse go down during a horse race. I’ve watched it several times and each time it happens, I shudder. The joy and pleasure of the Kentucky Derby was diminished a bit upon hearing that Eight Belles, the talented filly who ran second to Big Brown, had gone down on the gallop out and had to be euthanized.

Since that harsh event, there has been a bit of an uproar about the death of Eight Belles. Photos and videos of her falling appear daily, although I’ll watch none of them. There are cries of animal cruelty, banning the jockey, Gabriel Saez, punishing the jockey for animal cruelty, banning horse racing. The list goes on and on.

I love horse racing. I hate to see these beautiful animals die when such an event occurs. I’m am not going to be an apologist for this sport either. There are dangers in racing both to horse and rider. Most jockeys have broken many bones in their bodies during their careers of riding on top of 1200 pound animals traveling at 35-40 miles and hour. Several have been paralyzed for life, and others have died during a race.

I’m not even sure they know when or how the injury to Eight Belles occurred. Most racing injuries are to one leg, Eight Belles painfully broke both ankles. That’s very rare.

The answers are not simple. There are some positive safety results in using a synthetic racing surface such as the one at Keeneland. Three year-olds are young animals, their bodies are not completely developed yet. Horses are bred (and significantly inbred), favoring speed over strength and stamina. Performance altering drugs are rampant in the industry.

Horse racing is dangerous for all participants. So is car racing and football. The argument about those sports is that the participants in those sports make a choice, where horses do not.

I will continue to love and enjoy these beautiful animals in racing. I’ll celebrate their achievements and be saddened by their deaths. I’m glad, in some respects, that a discussion is going on about racing. It is needed. On the other hand, a knee-jerk reaction is not.

Paul Daley, a columnist for the Lowell Sun (Mass.), whose words on the subject of horse racing I respect, recently published a column on the topic.

Your comments are welcome.

The 134th running of the Kentucky Derby is over. Big Brown won. Decisively. Here’s the chart.

If you’ve followed my blog for the past few days, you’d know that I’ve teased you, dear reader, with the possibility of offering you my expert Derby picks. If, like many, you were awaiting my selections with baited breath prior to placing your wagers, then you must be happy. I saved you money.

Had you taken my selections to the windows, you would not have cashed your ticket. I liked Gayego, Pyro, and Court Vision. Obviously, they did not hit the board, as they finished 17th, 8th, and 12th respectively.

I was skeptical about Big Brown as the favorite and ultimate winner. Although he’d won all three of his previous races decisively, I was skeptical. Especially from the 20 hole.

What do I know? His rider, Kent Desormeaux, hustled him towards the front and kept him on the outside, out of traffic and trouble. He appeared relaxed and strong, and when heading into the turn and asked “the question”, he responded, full of run and drawing away.

The media keeps hyping this guy as a Triple Crown winner. I don’t know. He won the first leg, but it remains to be seen if he’s that good. Maybe he is, we’ll see in the next leg at the Preakness Stakes in two weeks.

Stay tuned for my Derby picks later this week. Here are the post positions for the 134th running of The Kentucky Derby. So everyone get out their pens and start handicapping this race.

Below you will find, post position, runner, jockey and morning line.

1. Cool Coal Man, J.Leparoux, 20-1
2. Tale of Ekati, E.Coa, 15-1
3. Anak Nakal, R.Bejarano, 30-1
4. Court Vision, G.Gomez, 20-1
5. Eight Belles, G.Saez, 20-1
6. Z Fortune, R.Albarado, 15-1
7. Big Truck, J.Castellano, 50-1
8. Visionaire, J.Lezcano, 20-1
9. Pyro, S.Bridgmohan, 6-1
10. Colonel John, C. Nakatani, 4-1
11. Z Humor, R.Douglas, 30-1
12. Smooth Air, M.Cruz, 20-1
13. Bob Black Jack, R.Migliore, 20-1
14. Monba, R.Dominguez, 15-1
15. Adriano, E.Prado, 30-1
16. Denis of Cork, C.Borel, 20-1
17. Cowboy Cal, J.Velazquez, 20-1
18. Recapturetheglory, E.T.Baird, 20-1
19. Gayego, M.Smith, 15-1
20. Big Brown, K.Desormeaux, 3-1

Feel free to post your selections in the comments, and be sure to come back by Friday to see what my picks might be. I’ll have several tickets available for you to use or avoid.

So who do ya like??

OK. It’s the start of Derby Week. I’m supposed to have “expert picks” for this race on The First Saturday in May. I’m mean, I am a horse racing fan. So I should have Derby Picks.

To appease my dear readers for the next several days, let me offer up this Rolling Stones video of their song, Dead Flowers instead.

And I promise, later on in the week. Derby Picks.

Now, back to you Chet…or Quinella Queen. David?

“There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.”
– Sir Winston Churchill

On the evening of October 8, 2007, the great race horse, John Henry was euthanized at Kentucky Horse Park, going peacefully to sleep while surrounding by his caretakers. At the ripe old age of 32 and a half, the body of this this legendary racer was failing and it no longer seemed to right to keep him alive.

John Henry was a cantankerous old guy, widely known to be rough on his handlers and others around him.  At times he appeared to enjoy being shown off to his admirers during his “retirement” to Kentucky Horse Park.  On the track, he found his stride late in his career winning his most prestigious races at the ripe old age of 8 and 9.  These included several Grade I stakes, most on the turf with rider Chris McCarron.

John Nicholson, the executive directory of Kentucky Horse Park, where John Henry lived out the last 22 years of his life, stated:

“The mighty heart of the great John Henry has, at long last, yielded to time. The racing industry has lost a legend, but more significantly, many people have lost a personal hero. John Henry’s true legacy was written in people’s hearts far more indelibly than his superlative racing career could ever reflect. John Henry was a testament to the fact that a horse’s value is far greater than the sum of his pedigree, conformation, sales price and race record. Winston Churchill said that the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man, but I would add that horses like John Henry prove that the inside of a horse is even better for the inside of man.”

John Henry was foaled on March 9, 1975 in Kentucky, sired by Ole Bob Bowers out of Once Double. He was a late bloomer but fierce competitor on the race track. His accomplishments included:

• Lifetime record: 83 starts - 39 wins - 15 place - 9 show
• His first start was May 20, 1977 where he won a four furlong Maiden Special Weight at Jefferson Downs, Louisiana.
• His final race was October 13, 1984 at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. He won the Ballantine Handicap at a mile and three-eights on the turf with Chris McCarron aboard.
• Over $6.5 million in earnings at a time when million dollar stakes races were few and far between.
• 16 Grade I stakes victories.
• Seven Eclipse Awards, two of them being Horse of the Year titles.
• Only horse to win Horse of the Year more than once in nonconsecutive years.
• Oldest horse ever to win Horse of the Year at 9 (very old for a race horse).
• Inducted into Racing’s Hall of Fame in 1990.

Additional articles:

• Kentucky Horse Park
• Daily Racing Form
• Complete past performances from the Daily Racing Form
• Thoroughbred Times article

Labor Day at River Downs. Closing day at my local race track. The season finale is an eleven race card featuring the Cradle Stakes, a $200,000 race for two-year-olds at a mile and one-sixteenth on the turf course. It’s a great day for racing, temperatures in the 80’s, clear blue sky, just right. I arrive right before the 4th race on the card to a completely full parking lot and a jammed grandstand. As I make the long walk from my car, parked all the way up the stretch, I pass folks tailgating, and others playing our local version of horseshoes, cornhole.

The Cradle Stakes is the biggest race of the season and featured an exciting drive to the wire between Our Man Buck ridden by Perry Outz and Cherokee Triangle ridden by Jesus Castanon. When they turned for home, those two horses were separated by no more than a neck, with Our Man Buck eventually holding off the other one to win by a length. For more details, here is a link to a chart of the race, provided by Equibase.

The Cradle Stakes was race 9 on the card, and many departed soon after the Official sign went up.

Race 11 was a grueling mile and 7/8 on the turf. The starting gate was at the top of the turf course stretch and they went under the wire three times to complete that marathon of a race. The final time for the ultimate winner, Pirate’s Bid, ridden by Julio Felix, was 3:14.

Twelve horses and their riders started this race, eleven runners went under the wire, galloped out, and came back home. Ship’s Captain never made it down the stretch. From the chart, “…SHIP’S CAPTAIN unhurried early, made a good move after a mile, held on well to the stretch and was eased when lame.”

I left the track quickly after that final race, sadly thinking of the closing of a fun season, with no racing at River until next April. My walk through the lot to my black Miata takes me along the rail, past the folks still tailgating by the fence, and close to the route taken by the horses heading slowly back to the barn with their grooms after the finish of the race.

One horse remained on the turf course, noticeably in distress. The blue veterinary ambulance was pulled up near this animal, whose body language indicated something was clearly not right. I turned away several times, not wanting to watch this sad and painful scene, full well anticipating the outcome. I couldn’t help but look as they attempted to load Ship’s Captain into the ambulance. A few short steps, and then he went down. Making no attempt to stand, he rolled on to his side, apparently surrendering to his broken legs and pain. Quickly, the assistants pulled out the curtain to shield watchers from viewing what was about to happen. A lethal injection by the vet.

After the last race on the last day of the racing season at River Downs, a race horse named Ship’s Captain made his last stride through the green grass.

Perry Outz became only the 22nd jockey to accomplish the feat of winning 5,000 races on Tuesday, August 21, 2007 aboard Kandinsky in the first race at River Downs. Outz is 53 years old, and has been riding race horses for 33 years, mostly locally at River Downs, Turfway Park, and Beulah Park outside of Columbus, Ohio. As of that race, Perry Outz had ridden 39,429 mounts, while earning purses over $29 million.

Perry Outz, known around here as “Scoot ‘Em and Boot ‘Em” accomplished his feat in the relative obscurity of the minor league horse racing that takes place at these race tracks. He’s a fan favorite, and well known for his propensity to scoot his charges out to a fast early lead. Outz joins several much more known riders in this elite group of 5,000 wins, including Mark Guidry, Russel Baze, Pat Day (retired), Laffit Pincay, Jr. (also retired), Willie Shoemaker (retired), and Earlie Fires.

The job of a jockey is a tough one, full of danger, and rough rides. The jockey is astride a 1,200 pound often high strung animal racing at speeds around 35 miles per hour, while often in a lot of traffic. It is quite an accomplishment to ride that many winners as well as to be so durable to be able to continue riding at age 53.

Congratulations Perry Outz!

• Click here for an article in the Daily Racing Form.
• Click here to read a similar post in The Thoroughbred Times.
• Click here for the River Downs press release.

For a good number of years, I’ve been a member of a horse racing email list called The Derby List. The membership is a curmudgeonly crew of men and women, some of whom are in the horse racing business, some are handicappers, professional or otherwise, some own race horses, while others like myself are quite amateur racing fans.

One of the more vocal and literate members is a guy by the name of Terry Bjork. Terry is a rather bright guy who can often be found near the beer stand at the currently running Chicago race track. You’ll recognize him instantly carrying his cheap beer and by the stack of losing tickets on the floor at his feet.

In addition to his wit, astute handicapping, and skill at irritating many Derby List members, Terry is known for his excellent tours of race tracks across North America. The McChump Racing Tour travels this continent visiting and reviewing both the major and obscure horse racing venues. For the racing fan, his web site is appealing while fostering fantasy to get out there and visit more of these places.

I had the pleasure of meeting Terry when he brought the McChump Tour to Cincinnati for an afternoon at River Downs. That’s Terry on the right, and Your Author in the middle. On the left would be Dave, another Derby List member.

Do check out the web site.

I’m a horse racing fan. I’ve been attracted to “the ponies” since my first visit to Waterford Park (now Mountaineer Race Track) just outside of Chester, WV. I was 17 at the time. I still enjoy watching the races, the atmosphere of the track, and the challenge of picking winners; an occurrence that happens with little frequency.

Recently horse racing has fallen on hard times, much of it due to the lack of innovation in the industry, as well as its failure to keep up with its competition. That’s regrettable, because a day at the race track is a pleasant and refreshing experience.

Below are two videos that I’ve run across in the last couple days that reflect the atmosphere and current state of horse racing.

The first is by a Washington Post journalist done at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

The Big A covers winter racing at Aqueduct Race Track outside of New York City. This little video captures the mood of the cold winter days at the track.

The third one, from The Boston Globe features a day at Suffolk Downs, near Boston.

Suffolk Downs: A Day at the Races

It’s almost 1pm on the First Saturday in May and the horses will reach the starting gate in less than 5 hours.  I’m getting my chores completed, including my traditional Removal of the Pool Cover done annually no later than Derby Day.  As the afternoon wears on, I’m sure I’ll be pulling out a Churchill Downs program and looking over the excellent early races this Derby Day.

Enough talk.  Let’s get it down to three horses that I believe will hit the board in the 10th race this afternoon at Churchill Downs.  I’m not sure exactly how I’ll be betting, I’ll wait till the singing of “My Old Kentucky Home” before making final wagers.

My picks, not in order:

1. Curlin.  This guy is truly talented and fast.  This is his chance to prove himself and the naysayers claiming he has too little experience.
2. Street Sense.  Winner of the Breeders Cup Juvenile who may prove that the winner of that race can win The Derby.
3. Great Hunter.  This California invader had done it all this year.  His challenge will be that he comes from the 20 hole, far outside as they stampede to the first turn.  Hopefully his rider will give him all the chance he needs.

My wish and prayer for both riders and horses is a safe trip and that all come back healthy.