Maximum Security | Horse Racing Free Tips

The Week In Review: The Year In Which Saratoga Lost Its Mojo

At the conclusion of racing on Monday, Saratoga will have handled about $800 million for the meet, the third highest handle figure ever for the track. On-track attendance was at 1,055,543 after Saturday's GI Jockey Club Gold Cup Day card, setting an all-time record with two racing days to go.

Yet, by just about any measure, it was not a good meet. Saratoga came into 2023 with the wind at its back. Every year the racing seemed to get bigger, the handle would grow and more and more fans would pile into the historic racecourse. Taking out the covid year, handle had risen at Saratoga for five straight years.

Would Saratoga ever lose its momentum or would it keep growing exponentially?

It turned this year. The 12 fatalities, including two particularly gruesome ones that occurred in full view of packed grandstand and before a national TV audience, were as bad as it gets. How many racing fans were turned into ex-racing fans on those days? NYRA has always taken the safety of the horses and jockeys very seriously and will no doubt continue to put in place measures to keep both safe.

They have some control over horse safety, but none over the weather, which was a huge problem at the meet. During the 2022 meet, only 15 races came off the grass. Through Sunday of the 2023 meet, 65 races had come off the grass. There had been 189 grass races run in 2022 versus 129 this year. That always leads to the same problems. When races come off the turf there are always a number of scratches, typically creating off-the-turf races with four or five-horse fields. On Aug. 10, an off-the-turf race actually turned into a match race. This is stuff no one wants to bet on.

NYRA is ready to do what it can to address that problem. NYRA President and CEO Dave O'Rourke has said that there is serious interest in installing a synthetic track at Saratoga by the 2025 meet. It wouldn't replace either the dirt main track or the two turf courses but would give NYRA a third option when it comes to racing surfaces and the synthetic track would largely be put to use when the rains washed races off of the turf.

The weather has been a problem, but if you dig a bit further you can find some signs that Saratoga handle was affected by more than the rain. On GI Travers Day 2023, when two races came off the turf, the handle was $50,183,71. In 2022, the handle was $55,559,315 when one race came off the grass. This past Saturday, on GI Jockey Club Gold Cup Day, they bet $27,400,509 on a day not impacted by weather. The year before the handle was $32,505,600.

“I think what happened is with all the earlier rain we lost some momentum and when that happened it's hard to get it back,” O'Rourke said.

Field size fell by 2.5 percent, from 7.75 to 7.56. A more telling number was the average handle per betting interest. It was $255,773 this year and $272,599 last year, for a drop of 6.2%.

What's done is done and there's nothing to do now but turn the page and hope Saratoga 2024 is one of the safest meets in history and the weather is gorgeous from opening day to closing day. The place is still magical and popular, but everything peaks at some point. Maybe that's happened to Saratoga.

European Dominance On The Turf

This is getting a bit ridiculous. U.S. racing is used to second-flight European horses coming over and winning some of our biggest grass race, but the year European shippers are having this year shows that our grass horses are vastly inferior. Take Saturday's GIII $2 million Mint Millions at Kentucky Downs. There was only one European shipper in the field, Ancient Rome (War Front), who is trained by Charlie Hills and was ridden by Jamie Spencer. Facing the likes of GI winner Annapolis (War Front), he came into it off a win in a handicap race. Before that you had to go all the way back to 2021 for his last graded win, a victory in the GIII Prix des Chenes in France. He won that by a half-length. He won the Mint Millions by a half-length.

A week earlier, it was Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). He came into the GI Sword Dancer after losing by 21 1/2 lengths in the GI King George VI and Queen Elizabeth I Stakes, where he went off at 125-1. Yet, that was good enough to win the Sword Dancer by 4 1/2 lengths. The win broke a nine-race losing streak, going back to the 2021 GI Belmont Derby where he also took advantage of a weak group of U.S. turf horses.

Then there's Aspen Grove (Ire) (Justify). She was sent off at 50-1 in the GI Irish 1,000 Guineas and finished last beaten 14 1/2 lengths. But that was good enough for her to take home first prize of $500,000 in the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational in her next outing.

Good luck to our horses in the Breeders' Cup turf races.

Surprise, Surprise, Still No News Out Of Saudi Arabia

Back in 2020, Maximum Security (New Year's Day) crossed the line in front in the 2020 $20 million Saudi Cup. Just a few days later, his trainer, Jason Servis, was arrested and charged with using performance-enhancing drugs on most of the horses in his barn. When that news broke, the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia said it was withholding the purses until it could investigate the situation

It's been 29 months since Servis was indicted, he has pled guilty and in November will begin a four-year prison sentence. The case is over, but the Saudis still haven't paid out the purse. Presumably, the winner's share of $10 million will eventually go to Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute). But no one has been paid as the Saudis, who should have all the evidence they'll ever need, do nothing and don't seem to be in any hurry to write a check. We tried to get an update on the situation this week, but the answer we got didn't really answer anything.

“Due to the extended nature of the judicial process in the USA, the JCSA has been unable to fully conduct its own investigation into the awarding of the winner's prize for The Saudi Cup 2020,” wrote the JCSA's Sarah Tregoning in response to an email sent by the TDN. “Now that the legal process in the USA has finished, the JCSA expects to swiftly conclude its own investigation and make an announcement in the coming weeks.”

I wouldn't hold your breath.

The post The Week In Review: The Year In Which Saratoga Lost Its Mojo appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

The Week in Review: With Forte Non-DQ, NYRA Stewards Owe Public an Explanation

Why didn't the NYRA stewards disqualify Forte (Violence) from his win in a controversial running of the GII Jim Dandy S. Saturday at Saratoga? The wagering public bet $3,167,647 on the race and that doesn't include any of the horizontal wagers. After Forte and Irad Ortiz Jr. bulled their way off of the rail near the top of the stretch, bumped Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) and took away his path, it looked like the horse deserved to come down. But that didn't happen.

The bettors deserved an explanation. But none has been offered or, likely, ever will be.

Racing needs to do a better job with this. In the four major sports, when the umpires or referees review the replay of a play, they are required to announce their decision to the fans in the stands and those watching at home. They don't just tell you whether a player was safe or out, but why he was safe or out. The fan may or may not agree with the call, but, at least, they know why the officials ruled the way they did.

At Saratoga? Crickets.

Any time there is an inquiry or an objection, whether a horse is disqualified or not, the stewards should be required to come on in-house television and explain why they made the call that they did. It doesn't have to be that difficult or complicated. Something like, “the four horse bore in in the stretch, caused the jockey on the three horse to steady and cost that horse second-place, and that's why we disqualified the four horse and placed him third,” would suffice.

After the running of the 2019 GI Kentucky Derby, the Churchill Downs stewards disqualified Maximum Security (New Year's Day) and placed him 17th for interference. It took them an agonizing 22 minutes to reach a decision and they were not required to make their reasoning public. Worse yet, they met with the media and Kentucky Horse Racing Commission steward Barbara Borden read a brief and meaningless statement and refused to answer any questions.

The situation couldn't have been handled any more poorly, but at least they tried do better going forward. There have been instances at the Kentucky tracks when the stewards have gone on television to explain their rulings and the stewards there publish a daily report on the racing commission website which offers a brief explanation for any decisions they made during the course of a card.

The NYRA stewards could do the same thing, but they've apparently stopped trying. Starting in September of 2016, the NYRA website started posting what it called the Stewards' Corner, which offered explanations of the decisions made by the stewards during a race day.

This is what was posted for the 10th race on July 9, 2022.

“Stewards' inquiry into the stretch run. Late stretch #12 Heymackit'sjack (Irad Ortiz Jr.) drifts out under left handed crop forcing #5 Feathers Road(Jose Lezcano) to take up. After reviewing the video and speaking to the riders involved, the Stewards felt that #12 Heymackit'sjack did cost #5 Feathers Road a placing. #12 was disqualified from 2nd and placed 4th. The race was made official 4-1-5-12.”

That was the last item posted to the Stewards' Corner. Every decision since has gone unexplained. Why?

Such information is especially important in a situation like the Jim Dandy, a race in which the consensus seems to be that they made the wrong call. Here is the New York Gaming Commission rules regarding when a horse comes over and bothers another horse: “A horse crossing another may be disqualified, if in the judgment of the stewards, it interferes with, impedes or intimidates another horse, or the foul altered the finish of the race.”

Isn't that exactly what happened when it comes to Forte and Angel of Empire? Ortiz clearly came over, bumped and pushed Angel of Empire out, and could have cost him a placing. Despite the incident, Angel of Empire finished third and lost by just a half-length.

Worse yet, on Thursday at Saratoga, Ortiz was involved in an incident very similar to what happened in the Jim Dandy and, this time, was taken down. It happened in the seventh race, a $25,000 claimer, and Ortiz was riding a horse named Eyes on Target (Exaggerator). Ortiz got his horse hemmed in on the inside, but muscled his way out in the stretch, came over a couple of paths and bothered two horses. Eyes on Target was disqualified and placed eighth. Why was Thursday's incident cause for a DQ, but the Jim Dandy incident was not?

The stewards are allowed to make mistakes and dealing with Ortiz cannot be easy. He might be the most talented jockey in the sport, but he has no problem crossing the line. Many believe he does what he does because the NYRA stewards don't hold him accountable. Which takes us back to the Jim Dandy? Do they give Ortiz more leeway than other jockeys? Are they less inclined to take a horse down in a major race like the Jim Dandy than in a $25,000 claimer on a quiet Thursday afternoon? Or did they have a good reason for not taking Forte down, one that, when explained, might have shed some light on why they ruled the way they did?

Wouldn't it be nice to know?

Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil is a Rock Star

When Jason Servis was sentenced to four years in prison Wednesday by Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, it marked the final chapter in the long and sordid affair that began in March of 2020 when more than two dozen individuals were arrested on charges related to using performance-enhancing drugs on race horses. Getting caught was the worst thing that could have happened to these cheats. The second worst was that their cases were heard by Vyskocil.

One after another, they paraded in and out of her courtroom in lower Manhattan with their excuses and mea culpas, some of which included the defendants breaking down in tears. From the judge, they asked for some compassion and some leniency. They never got any. Not a one of them.

“You cheated, you lied and you broke the law,” Vyskocil told Servis. “You did endanger the horses in your care. Luckily, they didn't break down. You tried to gain an unfair advantage. I hope you accept that, but I don't think that you do. At the end of the day, unquestionably, you undermined the integrity of horse racing.”

It was what we had come to expect from the judge. She got it. These people were lairs and cheaters who broke the law and there was no defending what they did. And they were people who put the lives of the horses they were entrusted with in danger by using potent drugs that had the capability of doing great damage to the animal. She bristled any time one of the defendants told the court how much they loved their horses.

“You also demonstrated, Mr. Navarro, a collective, callous disregard for the well-being of the horses,” she told Jorge Navarro before sentencing him to five years in prison. “The bottom line is you likely killed or endangered the horses in your care.”

She said she would have liked to give Navarro more than five years, but that was the maximum sentence she was able to hand down. Servis also got the maximum sentence. Now, Navarro is rotting away in a federal prison and, in November, Servis will begin serving his term. They got what they deserved and that's because they came before a judge who clearly understood what had transpired and how awful these crimes were.

The post The Week in Review: With Forte Non-DQ, NYRA Stewards Owe Public an Explanation appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Long Range Toddy, Footnote from Controversial ’19 Derby, Wins for First Time in Four Years

When Long Range Toddy (Take Charge Indy) won the eighth race at Gulfstream Park Sunday, the 7-year-old put to rest a losing streak that dated back to before the controversial 2019 GI Kentucky Derby, a race in which he earned historical footnote status by being the horse who was fouled in the only disqualification of a Derby winner for an in-race incident.

Long Range Toddy's 2 1/4-length score in a seven-furlong allowance/optional claimer July 16 was his first victory since Mar. 16, 2019, when he took a division of that year's split GII Rebel S. at Oaklawn Park, two prep races prior to his brush with infamy in the Kentucky Derby.

Despite his win drought being ended, another remarkable aspect of Long Range Toddy's career remains intact: Although he flirted with favoritism before Sunday's race went off, he closed as the 2.4-1 second choice. Amazingly, this means that despite bankrolling more than $1.2 million in earnings in a career that now spans 37 starts all up and down the class structure, the betting public has never once sent off Long Range Toddy as the favorite in the wagering.

How many other equine millionaires can claim that feat? TDN is not sure, because such esoteric stats aren't easy to verify (although we'd welcome input from readers with better memories or access to a more robust database).

For a large chunk of his career Long Range Toddy was campaigned by his breeder, Willis Horton. Owner Zenith Racing acquired him in the spring of 2022. In a trainer switch on Sunday, he started for the first time for conditioner Victor Barboza, Jr. The winning rider was Emisael Jaramillo. It was lifetime win number five Long Range Toddy.

In the 2019 Kentucky Derby, Long Range Toddy was a 54-1 long shot already beginning to fade on the far turn when he was forced to check sharply as part of chain-reaction crowding that the Churchill Downs stewards deemed to have been caused by first-across-the-wire Maximum Security.

After 22 agonizing minutes of examining replays, the stewards took the win away from Maximum Security, placing him behind Long Range Toddy, who ended up 17th under the wire. Country House was declared the official winner of the Derby via DQ. The connections of Maximum Security sued in federal court to get the result overturned, but the DQ stood.

As fate would have it, this past week actually turned out to be newsworthy for the only three remaining active alums of that bizarre 2019 Derby.

On July 12, Gray Magician (Graydar), who finished 19th and last in the 2019 Derby, won a $20,000 claiming sprint at Canterbury Park by 3 1/2 lengths as the 9-10 favorite. He's been claimed five times and has had six different trainers while racing at 15 different tracks globally, from Meydan to Arizona Downs. His lifetime record now stands at 5-for-41 with $921,460 in earnings for current owner Kirk Sutherland and trainer Jose Silva, Jr.

Also on Sunday, just hours before Long Range Toddy's win, the connections of Tax (Arch), who crossed the wire 15th in the 2019 Derby, announced the retirement of the 7-year-old, who most recently ran second in the Mar. 11 GIII Challenger S. at Tampa Bay Downs. Tax retires at 5-for-19 and with $1,102,190 in earnings. He was owned in partnership by R.A. Hill Stable and trainer Danny Gargan.

The post Long Range Toddy, Footnote from Controversial ’19 Derby, Wins for First Time in Four Years appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Servis Sentencing Delayed from May 18 to July 26

The sentencing for barred trainer Jason Servis, the final–and most notoriously prominent–defendant in the 2020 racehorse doping conspiracy scandal, was rescheduled by a judge's order on Thursday, from May 18 to July 26.

The May 4 court order got handed down four years to the date that the Servis-trained Maximum Security (New Year's Day) crossed the finish wire first in the GI Kentucky Derby. The colt was subsequently disqualified for in-race interference.

Unbeknownst to Servis at the time, federal investigators had already begun compiling a trove of wiretapped phone conversations between Servis and other now-convicted horsemen, veterinarians, and pharmaceutical suppliers, 31 of whom were arrested and charged in a series of coordinated law enforcement sweeps in March 2020.

Even after being implicated by other guilty-pleading conspirators, Servis had maintained his innocence and held out for a trial until Dec. 9, 2022.

As part of a negotiated plea deal with the government, he then pled guilty to a felony charge of misbranding and adulterating a chemical substance (described by prosecutors as similar to the bronchodilator clenbuterol but stronger), and to a misdemeanor, of misbranding and adulterating a purportedly performance-enhancing chemical called SGF-1000.

Prosecutors had alleged (and other convicted conspirators had admitted their roles in) Servis's administration of SGF-1000 to Maximum Security during the first half of 2019, when the colt rose from being a $16,000 maiden-claimer to a Grade I winner.

Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil of United States District Court (Southern District of New York) granted the sentencing date change at the request of Servis's attorney.

“I make this request for the following reasons,” attorney Rita Glavin wrote in a May 3 letter to the court. “First, the Apr. 27, 2023, Presentence Investigation Report contains numerous defense objections to certain factual assertions, as well as the Government's responses to the defense objections. Because of (i) the number of disagreements and (ii) the issues around those disagreements, the defense needs additional time to review documents and respond.

“Further, given the extent of the disagreements, the parties have scheduled time to meet and engage in a good faith effort to resolve as many disagreements as possible, such that if there remain disagreements, they can be streamlined and narrowed for the Court.

“Finally, I am lead counsel on another matter proceeding to trial in June 2023, which is why we seek a date later in July,” Glavin wrote.

The presentence investigation report is generally a public document that is available for anyone to access on the court's electronic docket. But the disputed one Servis's attorney referenced was not listed there as of deadline for this story.

Servis, 66, faces four years in prison when he is sentenced.

Prior to his plea deal, Servis had been scheduled to go on trial on two felony counts: Conspiracy to misbrand and adulterate performance-enhancing drugs, and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. He would have faced 25 years in prison on those two counts if convicted.

The post Servis Sentencing Delayed from May 18 to July 26 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post