Tag: Kentucky Derby

Op/Ed: Corniche Connections Should Consider Dennis Diaz Wisdom

In 1985, owner Dennis Diaz had a decision to make after his runner, Spend a Buck, won the GI Kentucky Derby.

Under ordinary circumstances it would be on to the GI Preakness S. two weeks later.

But, as Lee Corso would say: “Not so fast.”

In this particular year, before the Triple Crown prep season had begun, Garden State Park owner Robert Brennan offered a $2-million bonus to any horse who won the track's two preps plus the Kentucky Derby and GIII Jersey Derby.

Diaz and trainer Cam Gambolati sent Spend a Buck to the New Jersey racetrack, where he won the Apr. 6 Cherry Hill Mile S. and Apr. 20 Garden State S. prior to his run in the Kentucky Derby.

So, after Spend a Buck, under jockey Angel Cordero, Jr., beat Stephan's Odyssey by 5 3/4 lengths in a sharp 2:00 1/5, Diaz had a decision to make.

It didn't take him long to make it.

Though Pimlico, home of the Preakness, had upped its purse from $250,000 to $350,000-added, Diaz opted for Brennan's offer. The Preakness was won by Tank's Prospect, who earned $423,200 for his owner, Gene Klein.

Spend a Buck won the May 27 Jersey Derby with Laffit Pincay, Jr. aboard, Cordero having a previous engagement. With the purse and bonus, Diaz pocketed $2.6 million, at the time the largest purse in the world.

(Who did Spend a Buck defeat in the Jersey Derby by a neck but Creme Fraiche, who would go on to take the GI Belmont S.)

Because of the bonus Brennan had offered, and the fact Diaz had spurned a run at the Triple Crown to chase the money instead, Triple Crown Productions was formed and the three tracks (Churchill Downs, Pimilco and the New York Racing Association's Belmont Park) began offering a $5-million bonus to any horse that swept the series.

Now, with the purses of the Triple Crown races larger and the long-dropped bonus sponsorship (first by Chrysler, later by VISA), the bonus, which was never paid, has been dropped.

Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Corniche | Breeders' Cup/Eclipse Sportswire

What does all of this have to do with today?

Well, today Peter Fluor and K.C. Weiner have a decision to make. The men, who race as Speedway Stables, own Corniche (Quality Road), winner over the weekend of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

With his decisive victory, and a perfect three-for-three season, Corniche will be named champion juvenile colt. And with that, the expectation of being the winter-book favorite for the 2022 Kentucky Derby.

Where is Corso when you need him, because again, “not so fast.”

Corniche is trained by Bob Baffert, who trained this year's Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico). However, after Medina Spirit tested positive for the presence of betamethasone, Churchill Downs Inc. suspended Baffert from saddling horses at its tracks for two years.

Yes, a different set of circumstances altogether than what faced Diaz, who owned a modestly bred horse bought inexpensively and trained by someone few had previously heard of.

Corniche was an expensive purchase ($1.5-million OBS April sale topper) with a nice pedigree, bred and racing in an age where there are a multitude of farms and partnerships desperately competing to make future stallions.

If they are hell-bent on taking a run down the Triple Crown trail, Fluor and Weiner have two options. They can transfer their colt to a new trainer or they can pursue litigation against Churchill to allow Baffert-trained runners to earn points in prep races and compete in the Derby.

Or, they could take a page from Diaz and instead of being hell-bent, they could say to hell with tradition, the Derby, and Churchill.

There are, after all, many other racetracks and many other races with big purses. And, surely, some clever racetrack promotion team could put together a bonus as cleverly as Brennan did.

Another thing for Fluor and Weiner to consider: Corniche's sire, Quality Road, did not win the Derby. Neither did Tapit, Into Mischief, Ghostzapper, Curlin, Medaglia d'Oro, Uncle Mo …

Want to go back a bit further in history? Though Northern Dancer won the Derby and established a dominant sire line, Mr. Prospector, who also began a superior sire line, did not.

Yes, the Derby will always be the Derby. To this Kentucky-bred, there is no more wonderful race than the Derby. Never will be.

But winning the Derby should not be the ultimate goal for Fluor and Weiner. If they believe in their horse, and in their trainer, there are many other races in which to run.

And, make no mistake about it, breeding farms will still want to stand their horse and breeders will still want to send mares to him.

Another thing for the residents of Houston to think about. Spend a Buck was voted the 1985 Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old colt.

Tradition is great. It provides us a way of linking the past to the present and perhaps one day, to the future.

But for Peter Fluor and K.C. Weiner, there is also the wisdom of Dennis Diaz to consider.

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Judge Will Allow Baffert to Amend Complaint vs. NYRA

In an attempt to rein in an already cumbersome litigation process in the Bob Baffert vs. New York Racing Association (NYRA) lawsuit, the federal judge in charge of the case ordered Tuesday that the Hall of Fame trainer will be allowed to amend his initial June 14 civil complaint that alleged NYRA violated his constitutional right to due process by trying to bar him over his history of equine medication violations.

Baffert's desire to amend his complaint stems from NYRA summoning him to a hearing back in September to adjudicate new “detrimental conduct” charges that NYRA levied against him.

Judge Carol Bagley Amon of United States District Court (Eastern District of New York) told both parties in a telephonic court conference Nov. 9 that if she didn't allow Baffert to amend his complaint, it is likely that he would simply file a new, separate lawsuit to get his allegations about the exclusion hearing ruled upon in court.

“I'm taking a practical approach to this, which is I think it makes sense to have the plaintiff file an amended complaint, adding whatever new allegations that plaintiff intends to make,” Amon said. “And then to have NYRA move against the amended complaint. I think that's the most expeditious way to handle it and will require the least amount of–or the least duplication of–effort.

“I understand that NYRA would want to argue that [Baffert] shouldn't file the complaint because filing it would be futile [in NYRA's opinion],” Amon continued. “But quite frankly, plaintiff could bring this as a new complaint if he were so inclined and raise the charges that way.”

The initial lawsuit was triggered by NYRA's banishment of the seven-time GI Kentucky Derby-winning trainer back on May 17, which came 16 days after the Baffert-trained Medina Spirit (Protonico) tested positive for a betamethasone overage while winning the Derby.

That case has still not resulted in any Kentucky ruling against Baffert. But in the 12 months prior to Medina Spirit's positive, four other Baffert trainees also tested positive for medication overages, two of them in Grade I stakes.

On July 14, the court granted Baffert a preliminary injunction that allowed him to race at New York's premier tracks until the lawsuit was adjudicated in full.

But Amon also wrote in that ruling four months ago that “Baffert should have been given notice of all of the reasons that NYRA intended to suspend him….[The] benefits of providing notice and a pre-suspension hearing would likely have been substantial.”

In the wake of that court decision, NYRA drafted a new set of procedures for holding hearings and issuing determinations designed to suspend licensees who engage in injurious conduct.

After those rules were made public, NYRA, on Sept. 10, wrote a letter summoning Baffert to appear at a videoconference hearing. That hearing date was pushed back, but his legal team has subsequently participated in a scheduling conference that set the date for the hearing to commence Jan. 24, 2022.

W. Craig Robertson, the lead attorney on Baffert's legal team, wrote in an Oct. 21 letter to the judge that, “The rules and procedures which NYRA has concocted for Baffert were all created after the fact. None of the 'rules' which NYRA now seeks to enforce were in place at the time that Baffert engaged in the conduct which NYRA contends is improper.”

Attorney Henry Greenberg, representing NYRA, fired back four days later with a response letter to the judge that stated, “NYRA will oppose such motion as futile for multiple reasons, including because Plaintiff's proposed amendments are not ripe given his failure to exhaust administrative remedies…and the meritless nature of the proposed amendments.”

Greenberg continued: “Plaintiff's speculation that NYRA created its Hearing Rules and Procedures to target him is misguided given that NYRA is following these same rules and procedures in prosecuting charges brought against another individual [Marcus Vitali] NYRA seeks to exclude from its racetracks…. Plaintiff's argument that he had no notice of the conduct prohibited by NYRA likewise fails given that common law has long recognized the standards and interests NYRA intends to uphold.”

Baffert must file his amended complaint by Nov. 19. NYRA has to file its motion to dismiss it by Dec. 3. The court will hear arguments from both sides Jan. 6, which will be only 18 days before the start date for the NYRA exclusion hearing that Baffert doesn't want to happen.

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The Week in Review: Charisma Edges Out Chaos in ’21 Breeders’ Cup

This year's Breeders' Cup revealed itself as a microcosm of the current state of North American racing: An inability to dodge off-track dysfunction (Friday) paired with sensational on-track action (Saturday).

Luckily, the corking performances unleashed over the course of the two-day thrill show were emphatic enough to spark more than a few exhilarating expectations for 2022.

That will make it a touch easier to endure an entire winter of wincing at the oft-repeated social media meme “for purse money only” while simultaneously wondering if the presumed juvenile champ will even be allowed to compete in next year's GI Kentucky Derby.

Other topical industry subplots also surfaced over the course of the 14-stakes lineup at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. Among them were the continued globalization of high-end racing, the phasing-out of Lasix, and recently reformed whip rules.

The first of those three was a welcome development, with two horses bred and campaigned by Japanese connections breaking through in the world championships for the first time.

The latter two regulatory transitions proved only to be bit players in the overall performance, with neither triggering the levels of harm and alarm that have long been prognosticated by opponents of change.

And how's this for a masterful culmination of a season-long story arc? It took until the final furlong of the 1 1/4-miles GI Classic to answer the two burning handicapping questions that had percolated all year: Could Knicks Go (Paynter) really win a Grade I race beyond nine furlongs? And could his chief tactical weapon of flat-out speed stand up to a pace-centric younger cast of challengers that included the 1-3-4 finishers from the Derby six months ago?

The answers were yes and yes–although the high-torque gray did appear to be cracking under pressure while drifting out three-sixteenths of a mile from the wire with Medina Spirit (Protonico), 'TDN Rising Star' Essential Quality (Tapit) and Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) all bearing down relentlessly.

Yet Knicks Go somehow managed to kick again, reaching for and finding an overdrive gear that none of his foes could match. It translated into a 112 Beyer Speed Figure and the certainty of Horse of the Year honors. The Maryland-bred has now competed in three Breeders' Cups, wiring both the '21 Classic and '20 GI Dirt Mile by open lengths, and finishing second at 40-1 in the '18 GI Juvenile.

The only regret lingering after the Classic came in the form of a “What if?” bit of speculation: Wouldn't you have loved to see 'TDN Rising Star' Life Is Good (Into Mischief) slugging it out on the front end with Knicks Go over 10 furlongs after witnessing the odds-on dismantling that Life Is Good unleashed upon the Dirt Mile field earlier in the afternoon? That win, earned under the duress of blitzing splits, rated as the most dominant victory of this year's championships.

A sophomore did manage to turn the tables against elders in the GI Turf, with Yibir (GB) rallying with gusto from 13th to score by half a length. The victory marked the third Breeders' Cup winner of the weekend for the team of owner/breeder Godolphin, trainer Charlie Appleby, jockey William Buick, and the sire Dubawi. Those same connections all partnered to bring home Space Blues (Ire) in the GI Mile and Modern Games (Ire) in the GI Juvenile Turf.

Yibir has now won four of five stakes since being gelded May 27, which also means there's no risk of this tour-de-force deep stayer being whisked off to stud duty for '22.

The truly global aspect of the Breeders' Cup will now be accentuated a bit more meaningfully thanks to the landmark twin scores by Japanese connections on Saturday. The 4-1 Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) stormed home with an inside surge to win the GI Filly and Mare Turf. The mare who was essentially her travelling companion, the 45-1 Marche Lorraine (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}), got her nose down first in the pace meltdown known as this year's GI Distaff.

Both Japanese victresses were bred by Northern Farm and were trained for separate owners by Yoshito Yahagi. On a larger scale, those two wins represent several decades worth of continued effort by Japanese interests to make an impact in top-tier North American racing. Northern Farm and Godolphin were the only two breeders at this year's Cup to be represented by more than one winner.

Six Breeders' Cup races were decided by a length or less. But the nod for tightest finish goes to Aloha West (Hard Spun), who gamely nailed Dr. Schivel (Violence) by a nostril in the GI Sprint.

As for the most sublime winning ride, that would be Pizza Bianca (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) looking hopelessly adrift in 14th turning for home before Jose Ortiz seamlessly sliced and diced through traffic to snatch a half-length victory from the jaws of defeat in the GI Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Trainer Wesley Ward supplied the winners of the two grass dashes, with the 'TDN Rising Star' filly Twilight Gleaming (Ire) (National Defense {GB}) besting mixed company in the GII Juvenile Sprint. Stablemate Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), who won the '20 Juvenile Sprint, delivered a lesson in equine propulsion straight from the gate to make every call a winning one in the GI Turf Sprint.

The Juvenile Turf Sprint also provided the only penalty related to California's recently enacted strict whipping standards. Jockey E. T. Baird, who rode ninth-place finisher One Timer (Trappe Shot), was fined $5,000 on Sunday morning for using his riding crop more than six times in the race.

But if overzealous use of the whip was a relative non-issue, so too was the first Breeders' Cup prohibition of Lasix in all races.

In last year's championships, only the juvenile races were mandated Lasix-free. The older Breeders' Cup horses were allowed Lasix, and European-based trainees swept all four of the '20 Saturday grass stakes with first-time-Lasix (FTL) users.

Three of those four FTL winners were back to defend their titles at Del Mar. Running without Lasix, Glass Slippers (GB) (Dream Ahead) was eighth in the Turf Sprint. Audarya (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) ran fifth in the Filly and Mare Turf. Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) finished 11th as the beaten favorite in the Turf. They are now a collective 1-for-13 since winning their respective Breeders' Cup races on Lasix.

Declining field sizes are a problem at all levels of North American racing, and this year the Breeders' Cup was no exception.

Only six could be lured into the GI Juvenile Fillies, with five of them eating the dust of Echo Zulu (Gun Runner).

Just five faced the starter in the GI Filly and Mare Sprint, won in off-the-pace fashion by Ce Ce (Elusive Quality).

But the true dysfunction alluded to at the top of this article concerns Friday's featured 2-year-old Breeders' Cup races for males.

'TDN Rising Star' Corniche (Quality Road) benefitted from the vet scratch of morning-line favorite and fellow 'Rising Star' Jack Christopher (Munnings) earlier in the week, plus being able to outbreak the field from post 11 to remain undefeated at 3-for-3 in the Juvenile.

The Bob Baffert-trained bay is now the presumptive 2-year-old champion, and under normal circumstances he'd be the early and enthusiastic favorite to win the Kentucky Derby.

But unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past six months, you know that Baffert has been barred by Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), from competing at its corporate collection of racetracks for the next two years over his repeated equine drug violations and a pending possible penalty for a betamethasone overage in the '21 Derby with Medina Spirit.

Horses trained by Baffert aren't allowed to accrue points in the Road to the Derby qualifying series, setting up an array of distracting outcomes that range from Corniche being transferred to another trainer and/or Baffert and CDI engaging in a high-stakes game of “chicken” that could involve litigation as the Derby draws nearer.

The name Corniche means a road cut into edge of cliff, and it's disquietingly appropriate as the crop's top colt awaits a dicey Derby fate that has absolutely nothing to do with his talent or ability.

And then, of course, there was the fiasco about Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) having to race for purse money only in the Juvenile Turf because of a series of miscommunications that played out over an excruciating  12-minute span that involved the Del Mar stewards, the veterinary team at the gate, and the track's mutuels department.

You can read the full-blown explanation here for all of the cringe-worthy details regarding Modern Games twice being removed from the wagering pools. The error was costly in terms of lost betting handle, customer ill will, needless confusion, and the erosion of confidence in the officials responsible for overseeing and regulating the Breeders' Cup races at Del Mar.

On-track patrons let loose a chorus of boos as Modern Games crossed the finish wire first, but rest assured no one was deriding the horse.

And if you think that was a bad optic, just imagine the predicament the sport would have been in had the Del Mar stewards scratched/unscratched Modern Games and the colt ended up suffering an injury during the running of the race

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Tuesday’s Breeders’ Cup Report: Cox Classic Duo Bookend Star-Studded Morning

DEL MAR, CA – With no sign of the sun under a dense cloud cover at daybreak, champion Essential Quality (Tapit) set the stage for this weekend's 38th Breeders' Cup World Championships jogging the wrong way along the outer rail on a cool and comfortable Tuesday morning at Del Mar.

Last year's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner is the second choice on the morning-line at 3-1 for Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Classic trailing only his Brad Cox-trained stablemate Knicks Go (Paynter) at 5-2. More on the latter gray in a bit.

War Like Goddess (English Channel), sporting four white wraps, turned in a strong gallop as she leads the way into the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

The unbeaten and black-blinkered One Timer (Trappe Shot) was feeling good during his exercise as he looks to light the lamp in the GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Flashy Japanese raider Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn})–decked out in matching red-and-white wraps, blinkers, ear muffs, reins, you name it–took a spin over the turf course just before 7:30 a.m. along with the Charlie Appleby contingent led by GI Breeders' Cup Mile morning-line favorite Space Blues (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).

There was still plenty more to come following the renovation break as well.

Controversial GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico) left the pony with good energy while fellow sophomore Classic contender Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), sporting a red shadow roll, was also out for a spin.

Trainer Rudy Rodriguez had his hands full aboard his GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare sprint contender Bella Sofia (Awesome Patriot) as she passed a line of photographers by the winner's circle.

Fellow Filly and Mare sprint runner and MGISW Ce Ce (Elusive Quality) couldn't be looking any better in the flesh and gave off plenty of good vibes during her morning exercise.

The field for the Filly and Mare Sprint will be down to just five following the defection of the Fasig-Tipton November-bound GSW & MGISP Estilo Talentoso (Maclean's Music). “She came out of her gallop a tick off on her right front,” a Tweet from co-owner Medallion Racing read.

California Angel (California Chrome) (GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf), one of the feel-good stories of the Breeders' Cup after bringing just $5,500 as a OBS June 2-year-old, was easy to spot with a pair of white blinkers as was her affable cowboy-hat wearing trainer George Leonard, III.

Defending GI Breeders' Cup Turf winner Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) stood out amongst a group of Euros while trainer Leah Gyarmati waited with the lead shank as Sail By (Astern {Aus}) did just that ahead of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

After watching his Ballydoyle troops march down the main track from the clubhouse stands, including the talented Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) (F/M Turf), trainer Aidan O'Brien graciously stopped for a photo and exchanged pleasantries with an adoring fan. All class.

Looking for a third win in the main event, Hall of Famer Bill Mott ponied Art Collector (Bernardini) through the purpled-out Del Mar paddock for a quick schooling session at 8:48 a.m.

With training hours winding down, Knicks Go fired a warning shot for his Classic rivals, powering down the stretch for his first attempt at 1 1/4 miles approximately two hours after his aforementioned stablemate got his first look at the seaside oval.

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