barbara borden | Horse Racing Free Tips

Oaks Post Draw Monday At 11 A.M. ; Derby Draw Same Time Tuesday

Churchill Downs has released details on Monday's post position draw for the April 30 Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Tuesday's draw for the May 1 Kentucky Derby (G1).

The Post Position Draw for the 147^th running of the $1.25 million Longines Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) will be held Monday, April 26, at 11 a.m. ET in the Aristides Lounge on the second floor of Churchill Downs' Clubhouse.

The Post Position Draw for the 147^th running of the $3 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (Grade 1) will be held Tuesday, April 27, at 11 a.m. ET in the same location.

Due to physical distancing protocols and other safety measures in place, only owners and trainers and select broadcast media will be permitted inside the Aristides Lounge for both the Oaks and Derby draws.

The Oaks and Derby post position draws are traditional “pill pull” events in which horses' entry blanks are pulled simultaneously with a numbered pill to determine what stall a horse will break from the starting gate.

Preference to the nation's premier race for 3-year-old fillies is given to the top point-earners on the “Road to the Kentucky Oaks.” Up to 18 horses may enter the 1 1/8-mile race and four horses can be listed as “also eligible” and would be ranked in order accordingly; they could draw into the field should any horse(s) be scratched before scratch time on Friday, April 30, 2021 at 9 a.m. ET.

Preference to America's greatest race is given to the top point-earners on the “Road to the Kentucky Derby.” Up to 24 three-year-olds may enter the 1 ¼-mile race and four horses can be listed as “also eligible” and would be ranked in order accordingly; they could draw into the field should any horse(s) be scratched before scratch time on Friday, April 30, 2021 at 9 a.m. ET.

Track announcer Travis Stone will host the draw, with Vice President of Racing Ben Huffman and Assistant Racing Secretary Dan Bork pulling the pills and entry slips. Kentucky Horse Racing Commission chief steward Barbara Borden will oversee the proceedings.

The Kentucky Oaks Post Position Draw will be streamed live on www.KentuckyDerby.com.

The Kentucky Derby Post Position Draw will be streamed live on www.KentuckyDerby.com from 10:45-11:45 a.m. and televised live by FS2 nationally from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET. NBC affiliate WAVE-3 in Louisville also will broadcast the draw as will other outlets.

Veteran Churchill Downs odds maker Mike Battaglia will not be present for the Oaks or Derby post position draws. This year will mark the 48^th time that Battaglia has made the Oaks and Derby morning line odds.

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Chief Steward Barbara Borden Goes On The Record About ‘Life-Changing’ Derby Disqualification

Nearly two years after the historic disqualification of Maximum Security in the 145th Kentucky Derby, chief state steward Barbara Borden has gone on record with the Courier-Journal to discuss the career-defining 22 minutes during which she and her fellow stewards made their decision.

Viewing the Run for the Roses from five different camera angles, Borden, Brooks “Butch” Becraft, and Tyler Picklesimer determined that Maximum Security caused an issue near the quarter pole when he impeded the path of War of Will, who then bumped into Long Range Toddy. For the first time in the race's storied history, it was announced that the horse first across the wire would be disqualified due to interference. Borden and her fellow stewards placed Maximum Security 17th, behind Long Range Toddy, the last horse his action bothered. Preparing to make the race official, Borden turned to Becraft and Picklesimer before pressing the button.

“I said, 'This is a big thing and it's probably going to be life-changing,'” Borden told the Courier-Journal. “That was kind of dramatic at the time, I thought, but with some of the events that occurred afterward, it really wasn't an overstatement.”

The aftershocks of the stewards' decision were far-reaching. A call from Maximum Security's owners less than 30 seconds after the race went official was a prelude to the coming legal challenge. Immediately, Churchill Downs took precautions for Borden's safety; a security guard escorted her to her car after the races, but Borden remembers him backing away as she started it, as if the car might explode.

As the weeks after the Derby wore on, Borden said she received hate mail both at Churchill Downs and at her home. Churchill placed a security guard on her for the remainder of the Spring Meet.

Eventually, the stewards' decision was upheld in court due to a Kentucky law that states the stewards are responsible for “all findings of fact as to all matters occurring during and incident to the running of a race,” and “findings of fact and determination shall be final and not subject to appeal.”

“I knew when I took this job that it was going to be stressful at times,” Borden told the Courier-Journal. “It was a little more than I expected, the fallout, but it didn't deter me at all from wanting to come back. The first time we walked back in this (stewards) room after that happened was several days later. It was a little weird to walk in here, but it didn't deter me at all. We did our job. As much as we didn't come in here looking to do that that day, we did our jobs and we were proud of that.”

Turfway Park: Four Horsemen Fined Over Protective Claim

Four horsemen at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky. have been fined for their roles in a protective claim scheme involving the 5-year-old gelding Unite The Masses, reports bloodhorse.com. Rules in the state prohibit claiming your own horse, that horse remaining in the same stable or being managed by the owner or trainer from whom it was claimed, and entering into an agreement to “protect” the horse in a claiming race.

Running for trainer Karyn Wittek and owner Brendon Cohen, Unite The Masses dropped in class from running for an $8,000 tag in January to running for $5,000 on Feb. 6 at Turfway, resulting in a 3 1/4 length victory. The 5-year-old gelding was claimed from the February race by Amalio Garcia as both owner and trainer, and returned to win for Garcia under the $8,000 tag on March 4.

However, officials discovered that Unite The Masses had remained in the possession of his original connections after the Feb. 6 claim.

“We had a lot of honest confessions. Everybody was very forthcoming with what had happened,” chief steward Barbara Borden told bloodhorse.com.

Cohen and Wittek have been re-established as the gelding's owner and trainer, respectively, while each was fined $2,000. In addition, Garcia and exercise rider Crystal Carmen (Garcia's fiancé) were fined $1,000 apiece.

Racing Officials Accreditation Program, University Of Louisville Announce Online Continuing Education Course

The Racing Officials Accreditation Program (ROAP) and the University of Louisville are pleased to announce a 16-hour continuing education course will be held live online Monday, Dec. 14 and Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020. Both sessions begin at 8:00 AM ET and finish each day at 5:00 PM ET.

Speakers during the live online sessions include:

Alex Waldrop – CEO and President of the NTRA

Dr. Sarah Memmi – University of Louisville

Peter J Sacopulos – Sacopulos, Johnson, & Sacopulos

Dr. Will Farmer – Churchill Downs Equine Medical Director

Barbara Borden – Chief State Steward, Kentucky Racing Commission

Hugh Gallaher – Safety Steward, NYRA

Michele Kopiec – United States Trotting Association

TC Lane – United States Trotting Association

Jenn Daniels – Standardbred Transition Alliance

Tom Sage – Executive Director, Nebraska Racing Commission

Registration is now open at the UofL Equine Payment Portal, https://louisville.edu/business/payments/equine. The cost is $80 prior to December 8, 2020 and increases to $110 afterwards. Registration closes Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. A link for the event will be sent to all registered participants.

Participants will need to have access to a computer with Windows 10, reliable high-speed internet, a webcam, and a microphone. Please avoid Chromebooks/Chrome OS, iPads. Google Chrome is the browser of choice; the second choice is Firefox. There will be a call-in number as well if sound or microphones are an issue.

Please contact Alyssa Carwile at contactus@horseracingofficials.com or (859) 224-2702 for more details.

The mission of ROAP is to accredit and provide continuing education to all racing officials, stewards and judges in the horse racing industry. By doing so ROAP is enhancing the image and upholding the integrity of horse racing at all levels.

ROAP, which receives primary funding from The Jockey Club and is based in its Kentucky office, is a 501(c)(6) organization whose board of directors is made up of representatives from 17 industry organizations and 10 at-large representatives. Stewards and judges receive their accreditation and continuing education credits through this program. The website address for ROAP is horseracingofficials.com.

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