Big Brown in the shadow of last year’s winner (Sarah K. Andrew)
My remaining handicapping just got easier.
As Swifty said last night on the phone of Casino Drive “if anyone can do it…”
Posted by dana on Jun 07 2008
Filed Under: Sarah K. Andrew, 2008, Big Brown, Casino Drive, Injury, Belmont Stakes, Belmont, Grrrr, Triple Crown, Racing
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Oddly named yet supremely talented G1 winning filly Panty Raid (Sarah K. Andrew)
I can’t claim that headline as my own, Sarah used it first when posting the photo above, but it still applies!
Panty Raid has been retired due to a non-career ending injury!
The injury was not career-ending, but it was decided to retire her anyway. “By the time we would have been able to get her back to the races it might have been this fall,” said John Greathouse. “She was already home.”
Grrrrr. They would have had to wait until the fall? Deprived again of seeing another talented horse.
Feast your eyes in this performance in the Juddmonte Spinster (grrrrrr) where she beat older fillies and mares. She did not go on to run in the Breeders’ Cup, which makes her early retirement even more enervating.
Please, no more bad news!
Posted by dana on May 28 2008
Filed Under: Get Well Soon, Sarah K. Andrew, Farewell, Asi Siempre, 2008, YouTube, :(, Retirement, Let Horses Race, Grrrr, Race Replay, Injury, Racing
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NYRA Customer Service at Belmont (~ RAYMOND)
As I was watching the video of Dr. Ian McKinlay repair a quarter crack over at fellow TBA-er Fran’s fab Hoofcare Journal, I was struck by something he said about Belmont.
He talks about how it’s apparent to him that the track is really hard at Belmont right now and how he never used to see wall separations, but in this year alone they are 30% of the injuries he sees! Sprinkle in Paul Moran’s recent post about hard tracks and that the person at NYRA who is responsible for the maintenance of the track goes by the nickname of “fast track” and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.
John “Fast Track” Passero first popped up on my radar last summer when Bloodhorse ran an article about how the New York Thoroughbred Horseman’s Association voiced it’s displeasure with the overly fast surfaces.
Trainer Tom Bush was quoted as saying:
“Horses are running way too fast; we’ve got track records being broken,” Bush said. “The track is hard because there isn’t enough preparation after repetitive sealing. Horses are suffering from more foot issues–shedding frogs and bruises–and it is because they are being concussed. After all, the message on John Passero’s cell phone is, ‘John Fast Track Passero.’”
What was “Fast Track’s” response?
“I was a bit surprised by all this,” Passero said. “I don’t know what is driving this train. If horses are having problems, it’s not because of the track. I will stand by the tracks. The NYRA tracks speak for themselves.
So, over tea this morning (which is actually having the desired “happy caffeine feeling” effect, unlike yesterday) I put this letter together to send NYRA. I sent it to nyra@nyrainc.com, the only email address I have (as it’s listed on their site)… if anyone has a better address, please post it here!
I encourage you to copy this letter and send it, or write your own (it’s not like mine is stellar, I just wanted to send something)… but PLEASE, voice your displeasure over their ridiculous practice! Over sealing tracks to make them artificially fast is a complete scourge that must be stopped, let NYRA know that!
To Whom it May Concern:
The recent report of the reemergence of Big Brown’s hoof problems combined with the following quote from Dr. Ian McKinlay are disconcerting at best.
“The tracks at Belmont have definitely firmed up, I can tell that from they type of injuries I’m getting now. When I started in 85 at Belmont, very rarely would I see a wall separation, which starts in the sole. You get an abscess in the sole and it travels up the wall and eventually comes out at the hairline, it’ll take the whole quarter out… I never saw them. As of the the last 4-5 years I’ve been getting more and more of them. This year being 2008, I’m probably running at 30% of the injuries are these wall separations.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx5gU1K7KtQ
(quote is from the video and starts at 5:58)As a fan of the sport and NYRA track regular I’m asking that you please stop your practice of over sealing all NYRA tracks. The fact that the director of racing surfaces, John Passero, refers to himself as “fast track” sums up the attitude that must be examined and addressed in this new era of concern for safety of the horses and scrutiny by the media.
Last year when the horseman brought the issue of the over sealed track to the attention of NYRA, Passero was quoted in Bloodhorse as saying:
“If horses are having problems, it’s not because of the track. I will stand by the tracks. The NYRA tracks speak for themselves.”
http://www.bloodhorse.com/NOW/News/TopNews/40544.aspx
Please, for the safety of the horses, reexamine and change your track maintenance practices, enough is enough!
Posted by dana on May 26 2008
Filed Under: You Can Help, TBA, Industry, Raymond Haddad, :(, Injury, Belmont, Grrrr, NYRA, Racing
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Racing right to the shed, Big Brown wins the Derby, but what’s the real cost in the long run? (Charles Pravata)
Hats off to Jessica for pointing this out…
Meanwhile, amid all this talk of improving safety and the breed, IEAH co-president Michael Iavorone boasted on Wednesday that a stallion deal for lightly-raced, achy-hooved Big Brown is nearing completion, and that the farms bidding for the Derby winner’s breeding rights included “one of the most widely recognized stud farms in the world” (Blood-Horse). All the outrage over Eight Belles’ unfortunate death, all the urgent discussion about what happened and what should be done differently, all the critics piling on Rick Porter and Larry Jones — I think we’re talking about the wrong horse, the wrong connections. Big Brown represents the racing industry gone awry, not the filly.
Boom, there you have it. Inspired by this I commented the following on the current Straight Up post, Safety First:
There’s another horse we all should be talking about as well… Big Brown and the implications of such a lightly raced horse with foot issues being put into the breeding shed! We can’t pay lip service to the issues by acknowledging we have breeding issues (among others) while we passively watch a horse that probably can’t even make it past 6 races go to the shed! Shame on everyone! Where is the outrage about this kind of greed? This is EXACTLY what creates more of the circumstances that we should be avoiding when it comes to safety. Wake up people.
I’m also saddened by the Jockey Club’s Health and Safety Panel. How can breeders be objective about issues with breeding? Four of the seven panel members (all men) are in the business of breeding horses. As my grandmother used to say, Jesus H. Christ on a crutch! (clearly we weren’t religious people).
In all sincerity, I hope Big Brown (and everyone else running) stays safe through the Triple Crown. I don’t have the best of feelings about it.
Update: My apologies to Dell Hancock for my erroneous (and moronic) assumption about her gender based on her name… sorry!!
Posted by dana on May 08 2008
Filed Under: Charles Pravata, Greed, 2008, You Tell 'em!, Triple Crown, Breeding, Retirement Watch, Grrrr, Racing
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...More good commentary on how to better market horse racing, i.e., increase the fan base. [Bloodhorse]
Swifty had a good post too about this subject that also linked to yet another opinion piece his dad (Papa Swifty) had sent to him.
The existing horse racing fan base is crying out for action, and Swifty and I have a little plan we’re brewing to help facilitate that action (as much as we can). Stay tuned!
We all understand the economics of the game, but the fans are growing tired of the sport’s stars being whisked off to the breeding shed.
- Dan Liebman, Bloodhorse
Posted by dana on Jun 13 2007
Filed Under: Marketing, Dan Liebman, You Tell 'em!, Greed, 2007, Grrrr, Fans, Let Horses Race, Retirement, Racing
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