Month: July 2023

The Friday Show Presented By The Jockey Club: Questions On The Baffert Ban

The guest seat is empty this week on the Friday Show, but not for lack of trying.

Given the controversy surrounding the decision by Churchill Downs Inc. to extend the company's private property ban on Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert – which began shortly after Medina Spirit failed a drug test following his first-place finish in the 2021 Kentucky Derby – we thought this would be a good opportunity to give Baffert a chance to tell his side of the story and for us to ask some questions that have lingered over the past few years.

We reached out to Baffert and his attorney, Clark Brewster, inviting the trainer to join us on the Friday Show – to no avail.

So we are saddled with an empty chair and a notebook full of questions for this week's Friday Show, in which Ray Paulick and news editor Chelsea Hackbarth discuss the Baffert case, one that's had more turns than a marathon on a bull ring and involves two outsized egos: Baffert and Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen. Baffert wants to protect his reputation and Carstanjen wants to protect his brand, the Kentucky Derby, which will be celebrating its 150th running in 2024, apparently with Baffert on the outside looking in.

Watch this week's episode of The Friday Show below:

The post The Friday Show Presented By The Jockey Club: Questions On The Baffert Ban appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Travers Appears Most Likely Option For Derby Winner Mage, Belmont Winner Arcangelo

Saratoga's Grade 1 Travers Stakes on Aug. 26 could shape up to pit a pair of 3-year-old classic winners against one another. Both Mage, winner of the Kentucky Derby, and Arcangelo, winner of the Belmont Stakes, had their first serious works after brief layoffs earlier this week, according to the Daily Racing Form.

Mage breezed July 1 for the second time since finishing third in the G1 Preakness, but it was the colt's first serious drill: he worked five furlongs in 1:00.60 at the Thoroughbred Training Center in Lexington, Ky. A week earlier, the Gustavo Delgado-trained son of Good Magic had covered the same distance in 1:07.20.

“The first work was just something to get him loping along, jogging and galloping. It wasn't a true work,” co-owner Ramiro Restrepo told DRF. “The Travers has been our number one goal since the Preakness was over and that's been our mindset ever since. To find the optimum way to get him to run back to that mile and one-quarter Derby race in the Travers.”

Meanwhile, Arcangelo covered five furlongs in a snappy :58.49 on July 5 at Saratoga. DRF reports that the son of Arrogate galloped out six furlongs in 1:12.28 and seven in 1:26.00.

“It was his first work back, the track was very snappy, and the time was irrelevant,” trainer Jena Antonucci told DRF. “He needed to get out there and stretch his legs and get a nice work underneath after being off since the Belmont, and that's exactly what he did.”

Antonucci said she had not decided whether Arcangelo might have a prep race before starting in the Travers, the team's primary goal.

Read more at the Daily Racing Form.

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‘I Would Never Tell Someone Not To Win’: Horse Suspended 40 Days, Jockey Referred To BHA After Controversial Ride

The British Horseracing Authority has suspended the horse Hillsin from running in any race for 40 days after it received a controversial ride from jockey Dylan Kitts on Wednesday at Worcester. The matter was referred to the Head Office of the British Horseracing Authority for further review.

According to a stewards' report of the incident, “the gelding traveled strongly down the home straight, without appearing to ever be asked for its finishing effort and finished third of eleven runners, beaten 1¼ lengths.”

A veterinary official reported that two post-race examinations of Hillsin failed to reveal any abnormalities.

Interviews were conducted with jockey Kitts and Hillsin's trainer, Chris Honour.

“The rider stated his instructions were to drop Hillsin out early, keep a good hold of the horse's head and take his time, before mounting a late challenge,” the stewards' report explains. “Kitts explained that the gelding settled well and found a nice jumping rhythm, and he had been able to make ground easily mid-race when the pace steadied up, however Hillsin made a respiratory noise towards the end of the back straight, which continued on several more occasions throughout the race, and the gelding had also hung badly right-handed, both facts he had reported at scales and which restricted his ability to be more vigorous in the home straight.”

The report continues: “The trainer confirmed the instructions and that Hillsin had been ridden in accordance with them, however whilst acknowledging the gelding had hung-right handed, he did express concerns over the manner in which Hillsin was ridden specifically from jumping the last hurdle. Honour also reiterated that he had emphasized to the rider that Hillsin needed to be held together for as long as possible based on his analysis of the gelding's run at Exeter two starts back, where he didn't get home for a different yard.”

In a subsequent interview on the Nick Luck Daily Podcast, Honour shared his frustrations with the incident.

“I would never tell someone not to win, it's not fair to ask someone not to win – at the end of the day, lads go out there with their neck on the line,” Honour said. “I don't want people to think bad or ill of us because it's not us and it's not what we do. But I cannot dispute it looks awful.

“I don't want to be dropping the jockey in trouble … but I told him not to let go of his head and he's gone to an extreme,” Honour added. “In my mind, if he was to look back this morning I'm sure he would be disappointed with the ride he has given it.”

The post ‘I Would Never Tell Someone Not To Win’: Horse Suspended 40 Days, Jockey Referred To BHA After Controversial Ride appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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