September 27th Part II Super Saturday California Style At Santa Anita

[The Tin Man]

Dude should have come down in that Santa Anita Handicap ... and those of us there booed them mercilessly when they let him stay up ...

It's my opinion that they did so either because he was a Baffert horse or because they wanted the history of Sutherland being the 1st woman to win it ... or both ...

It was a horrible call.

As far as last Saturday's Awesome Again?

I agree with Taz on this. As Hollendorfer said, it's time to put your big boy boots on.

This complaining is uncalled for.

Theses types of things, making a horse go wide intentionally or boxing them in intentionally happen from time to time when 1 horse is notably better than the rest of the field.

They tried it with Zenyatta several times (boxing in), with Nashoba's Key in her Breeders'Cup (boxing in), with Ultimate Eagle in The Santa Anita Handicap (suicidal pace by Gladding) and pretty much boxed California Chrome in during the Pennsylvania Derby too ...

It comes with the game sometimes when 1 horse towers above the rest of the field sometimes ... the jock of that horse should realize that and plan accordingly on avoiding being in that position ...

At least that's what I'd have done as a jockey for the Awesome Again ...

There's no way Smith didn't know that the other jockeys knew he was on a better horse than theirs ... he should have anticipated that and found a way around it ...

(The key point to my missive is being on the horse that is head and shoulders the best and you AND the other jockeys know it. Straight up they know they're on a lesser horse ... so "race riding" is the only chance they have to beat it ... or ... they could have just mailed in the victory for Shared Belief and just let him run freely and unimpeded.)

[curtis]

Wow. That was reckless riding at its worst... he should definitely get a suspension imo.


Taz, one of the differences between what happened to Chrome at PARX and what happened to SB has to do with ground loss (I would have to watch the MMM Woodward race again to comment; I don't recall that race clearly enough). Chrome lost no ground and, in fact, was running on the optimal part of the PARX track (just not on the lead). Victor deliberately rode his horse to compromise another horse in the race. Yes, it's a judgement call, but I think the stewards made the correct call. If I owned Sky Kingdom and paid the entry fees and saw that I would be livid. The horse was a long shot, but he had absolutely no chance at all with that ride.
Alavarado should most definitely have been handed a suspension for his ride on Moreno. That was even more flagrant since Maragh's life was potentially at stake.

You know though, Chrome doesn't like to be inside of horses so irregardless of the fact that he was on the supposed golden rail, it was of no benefit to him.

I can't figure out if people are upset because Espinoza didn't give Sky Kingdom his best chance--fairly nebulous by definition since it can be argued he had no chance to begin with--or that he fouled Shared Belief?  Would there be such an uproar if he carried out Imperative or the Vienna horse?  From what I could see the only people who should be upset are anyone whom would have benefitted from a win by Sky Kingdom--but I doubt that is why Victor got days.  The Tin Man's example was good but an even better one is the 1982 Big 'Cap.  In that race John Henry was going for a, then, unprecedented second Big 'Cap win.  He made a great run down the lane only to be outnodded by Perrault, who drifted out towards John Henry near the wire.  Perrault came down and his trainer, Charlie Whittingham said it best when he stated that had the horses been reversed and John Henry came out into Perrault, Ol' John never would have come down.  I agreed with Whittingham 110%.  I guess Charlie forgot about the 1975 Big 'Cap when his heavily favored Stardust Mel--a mammoth animal--clearly fouled a longshot named Out of the East, before barely outnodding him for the win.  Stardust Mel stayed up.  You gotta love this game. 

[peeptoad]

You know though, Chrome doesn't like to be inside of horses so irregardless of the fact that he was on the supposed golden rail, it was of no benefit to him.

That's the horse's problem... not a result of the ride by other jockeys in the race.

I can't figure out if people are upset because Espinoza didn't give Sky Kingdom his best chance--fairly nebulous by definition since it can be argued he had no chance to begin with...

Tell that to Arcangues.


Look the bottom line is that the ruling by the stewards (or subsequent penalty) in reality could have gone either way- it was a judgement call on their part. Judgement is subjective. I agree with I think what Taz said that part of the reason they made the decision they did was because the race was on national TV featuring the horse that will likely be the Classic favorite.
We can (and are) debate the issue, and agree to disagree because of the subjective nature of certain things in this sport.

The bigger issue is is consistency of calls. The fact that a suspension has not yet been handed to Alvarado (that I know of) is a little concerning... I would expect an announcement soon (hopefully).
IMO a national governing body would greatly aid in this sort of thing (among many others) and improve consistency coast to coast.

[curtis]

That's the horse's problem... not a result of the ride by other jockeys in the race.

I know it's Chrome's problem and don't you suppose the other jocks knew that?

[curtis]

Tell that to Arcangues.


Look the bottom line is that the ruling by the stewards (or subsequent penalty) in reality could have gone either way- it was a judgement call on their part. Judgement is subjective. I agree with I think what Taz said that part of the reason they made the decision they did was because the race was on national TV featuring the horse that will likely be the Classic favorite.
We can (and are) debate the issue, and agree to disagree because of the subjective nature of certain things in this sport.

The bigger issue is is consistency of calls. The fact that a suspension has not yet been handed to Alvarado (that I know of) is a little concerning... I would expect an announcement soon (hopefully).
IMO a national governing body would greatly aid in this sort of thing (among many others) and improve consistency coast to coast.

Citing Arcangues is like having gone to Minute Maid Park last April and stating the Houston Astros had a shot at winning the World Series because of the '69 Mets.  Arcangues  and Sky Kingdom aren't apples to oranges they're bananas to kiwi.  Arcangues was a talented horse who had a bad back, had trouble sustaining a training regimen and didn't do well on soft turf.  He wasn't sent from Europe on a whim but he was overlooked because people knew so little about him.  Arcangues had the talent to hit the board and even more if he got the right trip.  No I didn't bet him, I bet two whole dollars on Best Pal that day based on pure sentiment.  Sky Kingdom is what he is, a horse whose best trip is 11-14 furlongs on dirt or synthetic--and he peaked two years ago--he had no chance to do anything but maybe get a small piece of the purse if there was a huge pace meltdown.  Betting him to do anything but get the bottom of the Superfecta was pure folly.

There is more consistency now than there was forty years ago so it's getting better albeit slowly.  What Alvarado did could certainly be construed as dangerous and one would assume that the stewards are doing their due diligence before handing out a penalty if any.  What Espinoza did was not dangerous, per se, and Smith compounded it by keeping Shared Belief on the engine.  If Romie owned Sky Kingdom instead of Shared Belief or, as I stated earlier, he packed Imperative or Mystery Train wide instead, very few would care and Victor wouldn't be getting a vacation.

[peeptoad]

Citing Arcangues is like having gone to Minute Maid Park last April and stating the Houston Astros had a shot at winning the World Series because of the '69 Mets.  Arcangues  and Sky Kingdom aren't apples to oranges they're bananas to kiwi.  Arcangues was a talented horse who had a bad back, had trouble sustaining a training regimen and didn't do well on soft turf.  He wasn't sent from Europe on a whim but he was overlooked because people knew so little about him.  Arcangues had the talent to hit the board and even more if he got the right trip.  No I didn't bet him, I bet two whole dollars on Best Pal that day based on pure sentiment.  Sky Kingdom is what he is, a horse whose best trip is 11-14 furlongs on dirt or synthetic--and he peaked two years ago--he had no chance to do anything but maybe get a small piece of the purse if there was a huge pace meltdown.  Betting him to do anything but get the bottom of the Superfecta was pure folly.

The point is longshots can (and do) win. So, in that sense, Sky Kingdom and Arcangues are comparable.

[curtis]

The point is longshots can (and do) win. So, in that sense, Sky Kingdom and Arcangues are comparable.

I know what your point is, it was a bad example.  I assume you really believe it though so I would surmise you put something on anything 20-1 or more because a longshot can win.  There's a certain amount of mystery to the sport but not that much.

[peeptoad]

 Obviously I'm doing a terrible job of getting my point across in relation to the ride on Sky Kingdom.

Nevermind.

[Man o Taz]

That's the horse's problem... not a result of the ride by other jockeys in the race.

Tell that to Arcangues.

Look the bottom line is that the ruling by the stewards (or subsequent penalty) in reality could have gone either way- it was a judgement call on their part. Judgement is subjective. I agree with I think what Taz said that part of the reason they made the decision they did was because the race was on national TV featuring the horse that will likely be the Classic favorite.
We can (and are) debate the issue, and agree to disagree because of the subjective nature of certain things in this sport.

The bigger issue is is consistency of calls. The fact that a suspension has not yet been handed to Alvarado (that I know of) is a little concerning... I would expect an announcement soon (hopefully).

IMO a national governing body would greatly aid in this sort of thing (among many others) and improve consistency coast to coast.

ITA