Golden Gate Cancels Live Racing Card

Golden Gate Fields in Berkley, California, cancelled the Oct. 2 live racing card due to poor air quality stemming from the widespread fires in the state.

“Due to unhealthy air quality unsuitable for racing, Golden Gate Fields is cancelling live racing today,” according to a Tweet posted by the track. “We will be monitoring this situation on a daily basis.”

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Baffert Appears to Have Stranglehold on Awesome Again

Twice in its last seven runnings, the GI Awesome Again S. has produced the winner of the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic, with Mucho Macho Man (Macho Uno) and Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) completing the double in 2013 and 2018, respectively. Just a field of five faces the starter this weekend for the nine-furlong test–a ‘Win and You’re In’ qualifier for the Classic–but the two marquee horses have legitimate claims at Keeneland in six weeks’ time.

Maximum Security (New Year’s Day), whose topsy-turvy championship sophomore season saw him miss a start in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, is on track for this year’s race and looks to remain perfect in three tries for the Bob Baffert barn since being transferred from Jason Servis. Given plenty of time to recover from his hard-fought success in the $20-million Saudi Cup in February, the bay overcame an eventful trip to defeat Midcourt (Midnight Lute) by a nose in the GII San Diego H. at Del Mar July 25, but looked a different sort altogether when taking out the GI TVG.com Pacific Classic, scoring by three front-running lengths in a result that never truly looked in doubt. Luis Saez, who missed the two post-Saudi rides owing to COVID-19 travel restrictions, makes the trek west Saturday.

In the form of stablemate and TDN Rising Star‘ Improbable (City Zip), Maximum Security faces his most formidable rival since besting champion Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) in Riyadh some seven months ago. A low-odds fifth in last year’s GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, the blaze-faced chestnut turned in an enormous effort from a double-digit gate to finish 3/4 of a lengths behind Tom’s d’Etat (Smart Strike) in the Oaklawn Mile Apr. 11. An easy winner of the 10-furlong GI Gold Cup at Santa Anita June 6, he accounted for next-out GII Alysheba S. hero By My Standards (Goldencents) and the slow-starting, but fast-finishing Tom’s d’Etat in the GI Whitney S. at Saratoga Aug. 1.

Midcourt was in receipt of five pounds and had the benefit of recency in the San Diego, but was a no-match third at level weights in the Pacific Classic. He’ll get two pounds under the conditions of this race. Sleepy Eyes Todd (Paddy O’Prado) earned this chance via his powerful 7 1/2-length score in the GII Charles Town Classic Aug. 28, but will need a lot to go his way to be a factor. Take The One O One (Acclamation) comes off a one-mile Del Mar allowance win Aug. 22, but also looks in too deep.

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‘They Are Changing The Competitiveness Of A Horse Race’: Bravo Reacts To New Jersey Whip Rules

Jockey Joe Bravo, a 13-time leading rider at Monmouth Park and board member of the Jockeys' Guild, shared his opinion of the recently announced more stringent whip rules with the Asbury Park Press this week.

New Jersey's new rule prevents riders from whipping a horse “to achieve a better placing,” while new rules in California restrict riders to two strikes in succession and six strikes in total.

“How many times have you watched a race where a horse opens up one or two lengths in the lane like he's going to win for fun, and then he puts his ears up,” Bravo told app.com. “Anyone can see the horse is looking at something and he's going to stop. But whoa, I can't hit him because I can't hit him for something other than a safety issue. Well, that is a safety issue, and am I going to get fined? And if you don't have that quick instinct to react, there could be danger.

“They are changing the competitiveness of a horse race. I feel they should be respecting the gamblers, the breeder, the owner, who all invest heavily in the game.”

Read more at the Asbury Park Press.

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California’s More Restrictive Whip Regulations to Go Into Effect Oct. 1

California racing regulators, who have long sought measures that would limit the use of the whip, announced Monday that a set of more restrictive rules will be implemented starting Oct. 1.

The rules were approved June 11 at a meeting of the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) ,but could not go into effect until undergoing a regulatory review process.

The new rules will bring about three major changes:

(*) Riders cannot use the crop more than six times during a race, excluding showing or waving the crop or tapping the horse on the shoulder.

(*) Riders cannot use the crop more than two times in succession (within the six-time limit) without giving the horse a chance to respond before using the crop again.

(*) The crop must be used in an underhanded position with the crop always at or below the shoulder level of the jockey.

“Most of the riders are not happy about this,” said Flavien Prat, who is coming off a riding title at Santa Anita. “I’m for a change, but I think we have gone from one extreme to another. We have gone from no restrictions to pretty much no whip at all. Having a restriction is fine. It would be nice to have a restriction on how many times you can use the whip, something in the middle.”

The whip will still be allowed to be used when there are mitigating circumstances, such as when the jockey feels its use is necessary because of safety concerns.

Under current rules, a jockey must give his or her horse a chance to respond after using the whip three times in succession, which is the only major restriction when it comes to whip use.

Though he was aware that it was just a matter of time before the rules were enacted, Darrell Haire, a Jockey’s Guild Regional Manager whose territory covers California, was not pleased with Monday’s news.

“The riding crop is a valuable tool,” Haire said. “It’s part of the art of race riding, how you switch sticks and how you encourage a horse. It helps you get the most out of a horse. It’s going to hurt everybody, starting with the jockeys because they won’t be able to do their job. It will hurt the owners, the trainers, the fans, the bettors. It’s going to affect everybody. We have tried to compromise and believe they could have come up with something more reasonable.”

Starting Oct. 1, any jockey that violates the rules will be subject to a maximum fine of $1,000 and a minimum suspension of three days. However, the CHRB has recommended to stewards that they impose lesser penalties at first and allow for a transition period. The stewards are set to meet with the riders before the rule goes into effect in order to explain the regulations and answer any questions.

“…the CHRB is recommending to the Boards of Stewards that they should, for a reasonable period of time, use the “mitigating circumstances” language to employ the current penalty structure–lighter penalties–in order to make the transition to the amended rule less disruptive to jockeys, in particular, as well as all stakeholders and the wagering public generally,” read the statement from the CHRB.

The new rules will mean that California will have the most restrictive regulation in the U.S. when it comes to the whip, but that won’t last long. Starting with the 2021 season at Monmouth Park, jockeys in New Jersey will not be allowed to whip a horse, with the only exception being when there are safety concerns.

California appears to be heading in that same direction. CHRB Executive Director Scott Chaney has said that he would like to see whip use eventually eliminated all together. The CHRB’s new rules could be an interim step in that direction.

“I don’t think jockeys should carry crops. It’s not necessary,” Chaney told the TDN in April. “To me, it’s not a safety issue. That’s a red herring. Ten years from now, if jockeys are still carrying riding crops, we’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere.”

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