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When you think of horse racing, that is, if you're part of the casual viewing public, you think of bluebloods, prim and proper dress and pomp and circumstance. That all went out the window yesterday when an incensed Calvin Borel, jockey of three of the last four Kentucky Derbys, had a Bobby Flay Throwdown with Javier Castellano in the winner's circle. I guess any publicity is good publicity and I assume it is making headlines across the country today, not to mention every ESPN Sports Center lead-in.
Jockey Julien Leparoux was asked on his twitter account how the mood in the jockeys room was after the fight. He replied "it was ok after 20 min. Everybody calm down, and the rest day went well. The good thing is nobody got hurt. Anyway it was great races today, hopefully tomorrow will be as good or better."
The day continued to get stranger with an objection in the next race, which also included an incorrect gate load prior to the race. Then, culminating with the strange non-scratch of my pick, Life at Ten, who certainly wasn't right before the Ladies' Classic. As the announcers on ESPN were capably noting Life at Ten's stiffness and issues during the post parade, the track vet or stewards did not gate scratch her.
I quickly cancelled all of my bets on her, and switched in Malibu Prayer instead of Unrivaled Belle in the heat of the moment. That's why they call it gambling, folks. Jockey John Velasquez said this about Life at Ten, “She seemed okay. She felt okay. I don’t know. She didn’t feel like running today. She never put in any effort whatsoever. I tried to warm her up and wake her up, and she just never felt like running.” Trainer Todd Pletcher tried to explain that it possibly was an allergic reaction to Lasix medication.
On call veternarian Larry Bramlage released this statement regarding Life at Ten: "Life At Ten, along with all of the other horses that started in the Ladies’ Classic, was observed on the track prior to entering the starting gate by three veterinarians. The vet team did not observe any physical problems. She was examined again after the race and again no physical problems were observed. A more in-depth examination will be conducted this evening and tomorrow."
My Saturday selections for the Juvenile, Turf, Mile and Classic in The Buffalo News are located here.
I cashed one ticket yesterday, a $2 saver win bet on More Than Real, Bobby Flay's horse that paid $29.20. Midday's loss flamed out a decent P3 I had rolling with Dubai Majesty and Awesome Feather in the first two legs. The TwinSpires Players' Pool crapped out in the Pick 6 in the last two races on a $33K ticket, the good thing is they have about $110K left to play with today. The Pick 6 carryover is over $817K, so we'll be watching our investment in that Pool closely.
Quick Picks in the other BC races:
Juvenile Turf:
1 - Banned, 2 - Master of Hounds, 3 - Madman DiariesSprint: 1 - Smiling Tiger, 2 - Girolamo, 3 - Big Drama
Turf Sprint:
1 - Chamberlain Bridge, 2 - Rose Catherine, 3 - StradivinskyDirt Mile: 1 - Tizway, 2 - Vineyard Haven, 3 - Thiskyhasnolimit
Good luck and let's cash some tickets!
3 Comments:
I never understood why people claim racing is more prim & proper than other sports, when it is just like all the others, filled with competitive people, ego's and fighting if need be.
Love the Big Z, but every time I play the race in my mind-I see Lookin at Lucky taking the crown.
Agree with you here, Robert on both notes. The problem is people will read stuff like the AP wire service put out:
"The genteel atmosphere of the Breeders' Cup - well-dressed fans, wealthy owners and gorgeous horses worth millions - was jolted when Borel and the lesser known Castellano tangled in the winner's circle after the opening race."
I moved on about 5 seconds after the incident and based on Leparoux's comments so did everyone else in the jocks room.
Hope you're right about Lucky.
Nice post! It was shocking to see Calvin Borel act like that but like they say: "It was good for hockey"
I thought Lookin At Lucky would be much closer in the Classic finish than he was on Saturday. Zenyatta certainly turned in a brilliant effort, I don't know how she was able to close that much ground in such a short amount of time!
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