Ever Summer | Horse Racing Free Tips

NYRA Forces Scratch Of Two Other Robert Dick Runners

NYRA officials scratched a pair of horses from the third race at Saratoga Friday because their last start, the GIII Robert G. Dick Memorial S. at Delaware, has seen four horses encounter problems in their next starts back. The Daily Racing Form was the first to report the story.

Both of the top two finishers, winner Sopran Basilea (Night of Thunder {Ire}) and runner up Ever Summer (Summer Front) suffered fatal injuries over the Saratoga turf in the last week. Sopran Basilea finished fourth in the GII Glens Falls S. Aug. 3 but injured her left foreleg on the gallop out and was humanely euthanized. Ever Summer sustained her injury in an allowance race Aug. 6 which also saw Frivole (Fr) (Anodin {Ire}), the last-place finisher in the Robert Dick, get pulled up after a misstep early in the race. Delaware's fourth-place runner, Talbeyah (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) was a vet scratch out of that same allowance race the morning of Aug. 6.

The two scratched runners affected Friday, Parnac (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}) and Lady Rockstar (GB) (Frankel {GB}) were both reported to be fine.

“Of the seven starters exiting the Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial at Delaware Park [7/1/23], two have suffered fatal injuries at Saratoga Race Course during the 2023 summer meet, one was eased and vanned off, and another was scratched out of a race at Saratoga based on the recommendation of the NYRA veterinarian,” said NYRA Vice President of Communications Patrick McKenna. “This highly unusual confluence cannot be ignored, which is why NYRA asked the trainers of Lady Rockstar and Parnac, the respective third and fifth-place finishers in the Robert G. Dick, to scratch from Race 3 today to allow for additional information to be gathered. To that end, PET scans will be performed on Lady Rockstar and Parnac at clinics chosen by their respective connections. The results will be evaluated by NYRA regulatory veterinarians and New York State Equine Medical Director Dr. Scott Palmer.”

“Should the PET scans and further examinations reveal nothing out of the ordinary, then those horses will be permitted to enter races during the summer meet,” McKenna continued. “While we understand this decision may be frustrating to the connections of Lady Rockstar and Parnac, the application of an extra level of scrutiny is appropriate in this instance. The health and safety of horses and jockeys competing at NYRA tracks is paramount. NYRA will apply the same requirements to all horses who started in the Robert G. Dick. NYRA will cover all costs associated with the PET scans.”

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Pair of Incidents Mar Saratoga Turf Marathon, Late Turf Races Transferred

One horse was pulled up and eventually vanned off the track, while another suffered a catastrophic injury during the running of Sunday's fourth race at Saratoga.

A field of six went to the post in the 11-furlong allowance on a turf course officially labeled 'good' for Sunday's racing after riding yielding Saturday following heavy rains that canceled the last four races on Friday. The Graham Motion-trained Frivole (Fr) (Anodin {Ire}) saved ground from her inside draw and maintained that position through the stretch for the first time, but her action became choppy nearing the entrance to the clubhouse turn and she was pulled up and out of the race by jockey Manny Franco and eventually vanned off the track, according to a tweet from NYRA's Keith McCalmont. Motion told Daily Racing Form that Franco pulled her up “out of an abundance of caution” and that the filly was back in her stall.

Ever Summer (Summer Front), favored off a narrow defeat in a soft-turf renewal of the GIII Robert G. Dick Memorial S. July 1, sat in third position as they raced down the backstretch and was making a menacing three-wide move nearing the quarter pole when she took a bad step and fell. Irad Ortiz, Jr., who had picked up the mount when Joel Rosario took off his Sunday rides, was cast to the turf course. According to McCalmont's tweet, the Brereton Jones homebred, trained by Christophe Clement, suffered an injury to her left fore and could not be saved. Ortiz, Jr. visited first aid on site and was passed fit to accept his remaining mounts.

Prior to the running of the day's sixth race, NYRA officials announced that the three remaining turf race on the program would be run on the main track instead.

“NYRA moved the final three turf races (7,9,10) of Sunday's card to the main track in consultation with the jockeys, who expressed concern with the overall condition of the courses following heavy rains throughout last week,” said Patrick McKenna, vice president of communications for NYRA. “NYRA will be evaluating both turf courses over the next two days and will adjust the temporary rail positions for Wednesday's live racing program.”

The late decision caused an uproar on social media, given that a Pick 5 including those three races was to begin in race six. For wagering purposes:

• Pick 4 starting in Race 4: Race 7 is ALL
• Pick 6 starting in Race 5: Races 7,9,10 are ALL
• Pick 5 starting in Race 6: Races 7,9,10 are ALL
• Cross Country Pick 5: the 5th Leg (SAR9) is an ALL
• Grand Slam starting in Race 6: Races 7,9 are ALL

The two race four incidents come in the immediate aftermath of Saturday's GI Test S., in which the undefeated Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic) suffered a life-ending injury.

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After McCarthy Spill, Migliore Blames the NY Stewards

When Trevor McCarthy went down in a spill Friday at Aqueduct and broke his collar bone and his pelvis, retired rider Richard Migliore said he was upset but not surprised. Migliore, whose son Joe Migliore is McCarthy's jockey agent, said he had been growing increasingly concerned as New York riders continued to be more and more aggressive while the stewards seem to look the other way. Something like this, he figured, was bound to happen, he said.

“People run into each other now with impunity,” said Migliore, an analyst on NYRA's America's Day at the Races show. “You can watch the races on a daily basis and there are guys who change paths without clearance, and it goes beyond herding. It's like they have a disregard for the horses and riders around them. It's very difficult for me to watch, especially when someone goes down and gets hurt. It's irresponsible on the part of the rider but they are not being held accountable. When that happens, it's human nature. The more you can get away with the rougher it's going to get. The stewards need to really crack down and lay down the law. No more nonsense.”

McCarthy was riding Ever Summer (Summer Front) in the mile-and-three-eighths turf allowance. Nearing the top of the stretch, Jalon Samuel, aboard Rhombique (Ghostzapper), came out, starting a chain reaction in which Ever Summer wound up clipping heels with another horse.

While not letting Samuel off the hook, Migliore said the jockey was no doubt following the lead of some of New York's top riders.

“The reason that accident happened is because riders have been allowed to get away with more and more of that kind of thing,” Migliore said. “Jalon Samuel doesn't get to ride a lot. But if he watches the leading riders do that and get away with it and sometimes even get lauded for it, with people saying how aggressive they are, why wouldn't he do the same thing? You have to start with the top guys. Guys needs to be sat down. Jalon Samuel is fully responsible for what he did it. But I don't want to pile on him. He sees it happen every day.”

To many New York racing observers, Irad Ortiz Jr. is the primary culprit when it comes to overly aggressive tactics and the stewards have handled him with kid gloves. Migliore said that when it comes to Ortiz the stewards have done nothing to discourage that sort of riding.

“He is very aggressive but I don't blame Irad because he's been allowed to get away with it,” Migliore said. “I have pointed it out when I feel like he's gone over a line. I am a fan. The guy brings to the table an intensify and a desire, whether it's a $5,000 claimer or Grade I and you have to applaud that. But if he's not told this is unacceptable there's no motivation to stop it. He's been wildly successful doing it. People say Cordero was the same way. If Angel did back then what Irad does now, he would have spent more time suspended than riding.”

Rhombique crossed the wire second but was disqualified and placed ninth. Samuel received a seven-day suspension. That, too, sent the wrong message, Migliore said.

“Jalon Samuel got seven days for that?” Migliore said. “Seven days for causing an accident like that, that could have easily taken down three or four other horses and caused Trevor McCarthy to be out months with a broken pelvis and a broken collar bone. Come on. That makes it even more of a joke. It's beyond my comprehension that that is the punishment. If you cause an accident you should be suspended for as long as the rider who was injured is out with his injuries. Are we going to wait until someone gets killed? The other day you could have had that scenario. Then a jockey gets busted up and a guy gets a week off. Am I crazy or is that absurd?”

Migliore rode from 1980 through 2010 and rode in 30,102 races, winning 4,450 of them. It was an era, he said, where the stewards wouldn't put up with careless riding.

“You'd go into the stewards' office and your knees would be knocking,” he said. “It was 'yes sir, no sir.' They laid down the law and you knew what was expected of you. If you are riding on a top circuit and if you can't work within the guidelines the stewards laid down then you don't belong there.”

He said the current crop of NYRA stewards needs to do the same thing, give the riders a clear understanding of what is acceptable and what is not. And they need to be tougher.

“We need stronger stewardship,” Migliore said. “Riders need guidelines that are consistent. This is what you are allowed to do and what you're not allowed to do. It shouldn't matter who it is, what day of the week it is or what kind of race it is. It has to start with the governing body. You have to be strict. Right now, they're not.”

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