The Week in Review: Quintessential ‘American Way’ on Display at Breeders’ Cup

Nearly two decades apart, we’ve witnessed a Breeders’ Cup in the aftermath of a devastating terrorism attack, which led to armed marksmen defending the rooftop of the host track, and now during a global pandemic, which necessitated the barring of the general public from the two-day event and kept the relatively few essential attendees masked and socially distanced from one another.

Unlike 2001, this year’s championships produced no singular “Tiznow wins it for America!” moment to buoy the spirit of a nation in crisis. But the crescendo of Authentic (Into Mischief)’s GI Classic win was dramatically satisfying in its own right, and the subplots of the supporting races unfolded with enough twists of interest to spur decent day-after debate while providing more than a few intriguing horses to look forward to in 2021.

Not everything went perfectly–we’ll get to that momentarily. But with COVID-19 adversely tilting the balance of everyday life right now, the industry can breathe a collective sigh of relief that the Triple Crown races and the Breeders’ Cup are safely in the books and not too badly banged up considering the outsized doses of disruption and havoc that 2020 imposed upon our economy and the sporting landscape.

Yes, big-event betting handles have been down, overnight purses nationwide have taken hits, and the auctions are in flux. But things could be far worse for Thoroughbred racing considering everything that’s happened over the past 10 months. Viewed through the prism of realistic expectations, this year’s Breeders’ Cup rates a thumbs up based on perseverance and competitiveness alone.

You can take your pick among the dueling storylines percolating to the surface in the aftermath of this year’s event. The pandemic itself even provided a few in microcosm: Three of the Grade I races (Turf, Mile, Filly and Mare Turf) were won by jockeys picking up those mounts only because the first-call riders tested positive for COVID-19.

But the “old-fashioned American dirt horse dominance” theme has to rank near the top of Breeders’ Cup topics that will resonate. The trend is notable because it’s part of an intentional shifting of the arc.

When Keeneland switched from a main synthetic surface back to a traditional dirt track in 2014 after an eight-year experiment with Polytrack, one of its stated intentions was to “be more competitive in attracting the top horses and Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup contenders and in hosting major racing events.”

It’s now six years into that dirt rebirth and Keeneland has hosted two Breeders’ Cups. The first, in 2015, was capped by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah engineering an unprecedented “Grand Slam” by trouncing the field at every call in the Classic. On Saturday, we saw Authentic, this year’s wire-to-wire GI Kentucky Derby winner, step up against older foes and unleash yet another front-running tour de force that catapulted him 2 1/4 lengths clear of a deep field of Classic contenders.

Those speed-centric accomplishments are already (in American Pharoah’s case) and will eventually be (for Authentic) having an impact on the bloodstock marketplace, underscoring how one major racing venue (and sales company)’s decision to switch surfaces can produce wider downstream effects in a relatively short period of time.

“The American dirt horse is tough, strong, and fast,” colleague Sid Fernando wrote in a 2019 TDN column. “He’s an athlete. He’s a combination of speed and stamina, bred to race on an unforgivingly hard surface, bred to race at two, bred to break quickly from the gate, bred to run hard early, bred to withstand pressure late.”

That pretty much sums up Authentic in 2020, doesn’t it? Or, for that matter, the Breeders’ Cup performances of Knicks Go (Paynter), the newly explosive wire-to-wire winner of the GI Dirt Mile, and pedal-to-the-metal phenom Gamine (Into Mischief), who conceded the early lead but stalked menacingly before pouncing in the stretch of her 6 1/4-length romp in the GI Filly and Mare Sprint. All three winners were credited with track-record times, providing future fodder to bolster the sales catalogue pages of their offspring.

Records made to be broken?

We’ve all heard the old saying that records are made to be broken. But the two-day Breeders’ Cup meet at Keeneland took that concept to the extreme. Counting the undercard races, dirt-track records were smashed at 6, 6 1/2, 7, 8 and 10 furlongs. Had Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) run just a tenth of a second faster in winning the GI Distaff, she would have eclipsed the 9-furlong mark. For good measure, the rarely contested 1 3/16 miles turf record also fell.

Keeneland’s main-track records have to be taken with a figurative grain of salt (or grain of dirt in this case). The track has not only changed in composition several times, but its configuration has been altered since 2006, making comparisons to previous dirt-era records impossible. The current dirt records pertain only to races from the autumn of 2014 onward, and the first Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland also established five then-records, largely because so few dirt races were available for comparison at that time.

Complicating matters additionally on Saturday, Keeneland’s teletimer was inadvertently tripped prior to the start of the Classic. So Authentic’s track-record time of 1:59.19 for 1 1/4 miles in a $6-million championship race had to be determined by timing it off a video replay, which is neither ideal nor the industry standard. As of this writing, no fractional splits have been added to the official Equibase chart.

So what about the other cliché we’ve all heard, that time only matters when you’re in jail? Maybe it’s more important to assess how the Breeders’ Cup winners ran rather than how fast.

The B-word (bias) is never far from discussion on big race days or championship weekends, although it’s evolved considerably since the era when dirt tracks were widely believed to be souped up (and in some cases actually were) for major events.

The raw numbers tell us that Keeneland carded 14 main-track races over Friday and Saturday. Five of them were won wire-to-wire. Five were won by forwardly placed horses not too far off the lead. Four were won by off-the-pace closers.

By that calculation, speed-centric horses accounted for 10 of 14 wins. But six of those winners were favored, and most likely would have been well-backed regardless of how the track was perceived to be playing. Perhaps more impactful is the argument that ties into the point above about the defining quality of American dirt racers in general: If speed is more or less the “universal bias” on this continent, no one should be surprised when races slant that way.

If you drill down further and cull from those Keeneland results two “outlier” races that were won by closers–the marathon 1 5/8 miles race on Friday that started from a backstretch chute and the second race on Saturday whose complexion was marred by a spill at the front of the pack turning for home–that leaves only two horses over the weekend who legitimately closed into the teeth of the prevailing trend: Essential Quality (Tapit) rallied from well back to win the GI Juvenile (aided by the fastest opening half-mile split in that race since 2003), and fan favorite Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect), who upset the GI Sprint under a deft rail-skimming ride after being buried in the back for most of his trip.

Lasix: Don’t let the door hit you on the way out

There is one other over-arching aspect of the 2020 Breeders’ Cup that is worth mentioning: This was the first year of the planned phasing-out of Lasix for the World Championships. Earlier this year, most major American racing jurisdictions prohibited the 2-year-old use of the controversial anti-bleeding medication on race day, and all five of the races for juveniles on Friday were mandated Lasix-free.

Those 2-year-old fields were robust, diversely matched, and for the most part formful. It was also heartening to hear a respected trainer like Ken McPeek say earlier in the week that not having one of his Juvenile entrants on Lasix was a reason he felt confident about running the young colt back with only 12 days between starts.

But Saturday was a different story because the older Breeders’ Cup horses were allowed Lasix. After getting blanked on Friday, European-based trainees swept all four of the second-day grass championships–and every single one was captured by a first-time-Lasix (FTL) user.

Glass Slippers (GB) (Dream Ahead), the only FTL entrant in the GI Turf Sprint, won by a half-length at 10-1.

Audarya (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), the FTL course-record victress in the Filly and Mare Turf, won by a neck at 17-1.

The GI Mile trifecta (73-1, 11-1,18-1) was keyed by FTL Order of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}), with the other two placings rounded out by another European going back on Lasix for only the second time in his life and yet another FTL entrant.

The GI Turf exacta was comprised of the FTL filly Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) besting Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), whose only other lifetime Lasix start was when she ran second in the 2018 version of the Turf.

Lasix is on schedule to be completely phased out for all Breeders’ Cup stakes in 2021.

The irony can’t be understated: America is attempting to follow a European-styled model of prohibiting race-day medications. Yet the rules that were in place for this year’s Breeders’ Cup allowed for the European shippers to maximize the use of Lasix to their advantage.

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The Week in Review: After Guilty Pleas, Will More Trainers Be Charged?

The next chapter in the scandal that has rocked Thoroughbred racing played out last week when Scott Robinson and Sarah Izhaki both pled guilty to charges relating to the sale and distribution of performance-enhancing drugs used to dope race horses. It was an important development, but the bigger story is this: will it lead to a new and extensive list of indictments against trainers and others who so far have not been charged? That possibility certainly exists.

For now, everything is speculation and the Department of Justice has not said whether or not Izhaki and Robinson are cooperating in the probe, but it’s not hard to connect the dots and by doing so you come up with a scenario whereby the two are in fact cooperating with authorities and are ready to name names.

That’s the most obvious explanation for why they were given a deal by the Department of Justice. In the original indictments, which were announced in March and included 27 individuals, including high-profile trainers Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro, Robinson was charged with three counts of drug adulteration and misbranding conspiracy. The maximum sentence for each count is set at five years. A superceding indictment was released last week in which Robinson is now charged with just one count. Izhaki was originally charged with one count of drug adulteration and misbranding conspiracy, plus a charge of smuggling, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. In the superceding indictment, the smuggling charge has been dropped.

“It’s a very logical assumption that they are cooperating and that’s why they have accepted the plea they did,” said former Meadowlands and Monmouth executive Hal Handel, who once served as a deputy attorney general in New Jersey. “It looks like they have thrown themselves on the mercy of the justice department. That seems to be where these two are.”

Izhaki will be sentenced Dec. 2 and Robinson will be sentenced Jan. 15. Should one or the other be hit with something considerably less than five years, that will be another indication that they are cooperating with authorities.

Another story to watch is what happens with Ashley Lebowitz, who was among the 27 indicted in March. She is Izhaki’s daughter and that may mean that she, too, will make a deal.

According to owner and attorney Maggi Moss, who once served as the chief prosecutor of Polk County, Iowa, the give-and-take at the federal level often involves plaintiffs who are happy to implicate others if that means a reduced sentence for them.

“In federal court, the bigger names you get, the more names you get, the more reliable the information is, you continue to decrease your sentence,” said Moss.

If there was ever going to be more dominos to fall after the original 27 indictments, it always stood to reason that more charges would come as a result of drug suppliers cooperating with authorities. Much more so than anyone else, they know who was using what.

“Scott Robinson and Sarah Izhaki represent the supply side of a market of greed that continues to endanger racehorses through the sale of performance-enhancing drugs,” Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said last week in a statement. “Each of these defendants provided the raw materials for fraud and animal abuse through the sale of unregulated and dangerous substances.”

It appears that Robinson is the bigger fish of the two.

“From at least in or about 2011 through at least in or about March 2020, Robinson conspired with others to manufacture, sell, and ship millions of dollars worth of adulterated and misbranded equine drugs…” read the statement from Strauss.

Robinson’s business was apparently so lucrative that he has been ordered to pay the government $3,832,318.90 as part of an order of forfeiture/money judgment. A forfeiture is the involuntary relinquishment of money as a legal obligation for the commission of crime.

So far, less is known about Izhaki’s business According to the Department of Justice’s statement, between February 2018 and November 2019, Izhaki sold and delivered “tens of thousands of dollars of erythropoietin,” which is a blood builder drug. She was bringing the drug in from Mexico, thus the smuggling charge.

“These two people appear to be important defendants,” Moss said. “They were the ones where people were getting the drugs from. They are important links and it would appear to me that they obviously have lists of who they sent drugs to. You wouldn’t think they’d be doing what they were doing and only selling their drugs to two or three people. There has to be a list of who bought this.”

That much seems certain as it’s hard to imagine that the only clients of Robinson and Izhaki were Servis and Navarro and a handful of other Standardbred and Thoroughbred trainers already indicted. If other trainers were buying from them, there should be a paper trail that amounts to a lot of smoking guns. That’s particularly the case with Robinson, who was using a website to sell his drugs to trainers. That would mean a record of the transactions and credit card receipts.

Does that mean they sold their goods to hundreds of trainers, dozens of trainers or just a handful? For now, that is anyone’s guess. But their plea deals have raised the possibility that the Servis and Navarro indictments will turn out to be just the beginning in what is already one of the ugliest stories in the sport’s history.

“If I were someone who was buying drugs from these guys, I’d be very afraid right now,” said Jeff Gural, the Meadowlands owner who worked behind the scenes with The Jockey Club to build a case against the cheaters. “There’s no doubt in my mind that these two (Robinson and Izhaki) are talking.”

 

Starship Jubilee Does It Again

Starship Jubilee (Indy Wind) continues to be one of racing’s best stories. Claimed for just $16,000 (off of Jorge Navarro) in 2017, she picked up the biggest purse of her life when beating the boys Saturday’s GI Woodbine Mile S. It was her 12th stakes win, her 19th overall win and pushed her career earnings over $2 million.

Trainer Kevin Attard now faces a tough decision concerning where she should run in the Breeders’ Cup, with the choices being the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile or the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf. The Woodbine Mile was a “Win and You’re In” race for the Mile. That means Starship Jubilee is guaranteed a spot in that race and the $60,000 entry fee will be waived. Though it’s hard to imagine any scenario where she wouldn’t get into the Filly & Mare Turf, she is not guaranteed a spot, but the entry fee would also be waived for that race.

“Which race we go in is up in the air,” Attard said. “Obviously, we are excited because she ran a big race Saturday. She came out of the race in great shape. We’ll see how things transpire over the next little bit and try to decipher how the two races shape up and decide what direction we will go in.”

Starship Jubilee is the best horse based in Canada and was the 2019 Canadian Horse of the Year. This year, she won’t be eligible for that title. The Woodbine Mile was her first race this year in Canada and for a horse to be eligible for the Canadian Horse of the Year title, they must run at least three times north of the border.

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The Week in Review: Authentic Represents Baffert’s Finest Work

The Authentic (Into Mischief) who won the GI Haskell S. at Monmouth by a nose didn’t look like a horse that could win the GI Kentucky Derby. Against a field decidedly weaker than what he would face seven weeks later at Churchill Downs, he nearly squandered a 2 1/2-length lead in the stretch and seemed to be running on fumes in the last few yards of the mile-and-an-eighth race. The mile-and-a-quarter loomed as a major obstacle.

Even trainer Bob Baffert acknowledged that Authentic needed to take things to another level.

“I’m happy with him. But he still has a lot of improving to do,” he said after the Haskell. “We’re going to work on him a little until then (the Derby).”

Complicating matters in the Derby, Authentic didn’t break sharply, compromising his chances. By the time he made the lead, the field had completed the opening quarter-mile in 22.92.

So when Tiz the Law (Constitution) ranged alongside Authentic at the quarter pole in the Derby, the race appeared to be over. But it was a different Authentic that showed up Saturday. He didn’t lose his focus and he had something left in the tank for the final furlong. He actually spurted clear of Tiz the Law to win by 1 1/4 lengths.

“Yeah, I heard all of that. People saying after the Haskell he definitely can’t go that far,” said John Velazquez, who picked up the mount when Mike Smith chose to ride Honor A.P. (Honor Code). “The mile-and-a-quarter will be very far for him. I was very confident. I’ve got a good trainer.”

That much is obvious. Somehow, Baffert orchestrated a complete makeover of Authentic. Much of the work seems to have been accomplished in the mornings. Baffert is known for working his horses fast but took a different approach with Authentic. His works included a one-mile breeze in 1:38.60, part of a pattern that included longer and slower works than what you normally see from the Hall of Fame trainer. The end result was a more composed horse who thrived at a mile-and-a-quarter.

Back in May, Authentic was being overshadowed by Nadal (Blame) and Charlatan (Speightstown), horses who were typical of what the Baffert operation has been producing over the last many years. Like American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) and Justify (Scat Daddy), they didn’t necessarily need any help from their trainer. They accomplished what they accomplished because they were super talented. Authentic is a very good horse, but also an example of the type of horse who might not have won the Derby with any other trainer.

With Baffert starting out every year with 50 or 60 superbly bred, expensive 2-year-olds, he has a chance every year to come into the Derby with a hand that is stronger than any of his rivals. That is among the reasons he has six Kentucky Derby wins, tying him with Ben Jones for first place among all trainers. Baffert will surely get to No. 7 before he’s done and could easily win 10 or so. If that happens he will unquestionably be the greatest Derby trainer in history.

In the meantime, the Ben Jones-versus-Baffert debate is an interesting one.

Jones needed only 11 starts in the Derby to record his six wins, which were accomplished over a 14-year span from 1938 to 1952. Baffert has started 33 horses in the Derby over 24 years. But he has been operating in an era where there are far more foals and the number of starters in the Derby is often 20. Jones won three Derbies where there were 11 or fewer starters, including in 1948 when Citation topped a field of six.

The other factor that must be considered is that many believe that Ben Jones was not the trainer of Citation and it was, instead, his son Jimmy Jones. The younger Jones was listed as Citation’s trainer for the first 15 starts of his career before being entered under the name of Ben for the Derby Trial and the Derby. After the Derby, Citation continued to run in Jimmy’s name. The move was made to give Ben a chance to draw closer to Herbert “Derby Dick” Thompson for most Derby wins by a trainer. Thompson had four at the time.

Baffert said Sunday morning that both Authentic and Thousand Words (Pioneerof the Nile) will likely go next in the GI Preakness S. Baffert has seven Preakness wins, tying him for first with R. Wyndham Walden, who dominated the race in the late 1800s. With Baffert heading to Baltimore with a new and improved Authentic, win No. 8 may only be four weeks away.

Preakness Could Decide 3-Year-Old Championship

Entering Saturday, Tiz the Law looked like a cinch to win the 3-year-old championship, but not anymore as Authentic is in the mix. A Preakness win could vault Authentic into the top spot in the division, where he would remain if neither he nor Tiz the Law wins the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. Jack Knowlton, who heads the group that owns Tiz the Law, is well aware of the possible scenarios.

“I think we are still in the lead for the Eclipse, but if Authentic goes there and wins he’ll be in the lead,” Knowlton said. “I’d like to go there and win that race. If we do that and beat Authentic that would put an exclamation point on the end of the sentence. If neither of us win, I think we’d be in a better position with three Grade I wins. That’s where I am.

“In all likelihood, he has a better chance of winning the Preakness than the Breeders’ Cup Classic, where you’d be facing horses like Tom’s d’Etat [Smart Strike], Maximum Security [Maximum Security] and some other really good older horses. I’d like one more go against the 3-year-olds.”

Knowlton said no decision has been reached yet concerning the Preakness and admitted that trainer Barclay Tagg is reluctant to run him there.

Kudos to Churchill Stewards

The Churchill Downs stewards could not have handled the disqualification of Maximum Security in last year’s Derby any worse. First, they failed to post an inquiry into what was clearly a very roughly run race and then they refused to take any questions from the media after issuing a brief statement that left a lot of questions unanswered.

Apparently, they have learned from their mistakes. After Friday’s sixth race, which involved the disqualification of Lasting Legacy (Tapizar), the chief steward Barbara Borden come on the track’s television feed to explain the decision. Stewards’ reports involving DQ’s are also posted on the Churchill Downs website.

Let’s hope other tracks follow Churchill’s lead. Transparency is never a bad thing.

Another Horse Wins After Drastic Late Odds Drop

By now, horseplayers are used to seeing dramatic drops in the odds after the field leaves the gate, but what happened in Saturday’s second race at Saratoga was hard to fathom. When the horses loaded into the gate, Vineyard Sound (Stormy Atlantic) was 24-1.  While the race was being run Vineyard Sound dropped to 11-1.  A winner, of course, Vineyard Sound paid off at 8-1.

Saying it again: horse racing is the only gambling game where you can win a bet and feel like you’ve lost.

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The Week in Review: No More Doubts, Maximum Security is Back

When Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) had to fight his way to a narrow victory in the GII San Diego H., it was fair to question whether or not this was the same horse that had been so outstanding throughout his career for trainer Jason Servis. Yes, he won that day, but the dominance and brilliance he had shown on so many occasions for a trainer who was subsequently indicted for allegedly doping his horses was not there.

Then again, it seemed unwise to write him off after one race. His trip in the San Diego was not ideal as he broke on top, led and then was taken back off the pace to avoid a speed duel before coming on again in the stretch to narrowly prevail. It was also his first race in five months and trainer Bob Baffert said after the fact that he only had the horse 80% cranked up.

That’s what made Saturday’s GI TVG Pacific Classic at Del Mar such an important race for Maximum Security, maybe even the most important race of his career. The race was all but certain to answer all the questions that had surrounded the horse over the last three weeks. A defeat or even a hard-pressed victory would be seen as proof positive that he wasn’t the same. An impressive win would be seen as affirmation that he’s just as good now for Baffert as he was for Servis. This time, there would be no gray area.

Maximum Security answered every question and quelled all the doubts. He went to the front, relaxed for jockey Abel Cedillo and drew off to win by three lengths in what was a markedly improved performance over the San Diego. It wasn’t exactly the toughest field he has ever faced, but that didn’t matter. He went out there and left no doubt that no matter who trains him this is a very good horse. The Maximum Security who won the $20-million Saudi Cup, the GI Cigar Mile H., the GI TVG.com Haskell Invitational S., the GI Xpressbet Florida Derby and crossed the wire first in the GI Kentucky Derby was back.

“I felt pretty good about him,” Baffert said Sunday. “It was a challenge but I knew down deep that he is a race horse, that he is a good horse. I was never worried that he wasn’t going to run because he needed certain medications. When I got him I knew he was a runner.”

Baffert said he saw noticeable improvement in Maximum Security from his prep for the Pacific Classic and the Pacific Classic itself.

“The San Diego woke him up and he was training great,” he said. “We figured him out. I knew going in that he was going to run a big race and that he was the best horse. When I got him he was a very sound, healthy horse and he still is. Unfortunately, he’s been through a lot.”

Baffert’s job from here is to continue to get the best out of Maximum Security through what will be his final year of racing. The major goal, of course, will be the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic and Baffert said he may have one more start between then and now. He’s predicting that Maximum Security will only get better.

“I can see that he is going to get stronger and stronger and better and better and by the Breeders’ Cup he should be doing great,” the trainer said.

Especially when considering the abilities of potential rivals like Tiz the Law (Constitution), Tom’s d’Etat (Smart Strike) and Improbable (City Zip), Maximum Security will have to bring his A game in order to win. That shouldn’t be a problem. The A game is back.

 

Gmax, It’s Not Just the Turf

Equibase announced last week that the Gmax system will no longer be used on turf races at Del Mar during the summer meet. Instead, they will be hand timed. While admitting there was a problem timing the turf races, they maintained that everything is going just fine when it comes to dirt races.

“The times produced by the Equibase GPS System for dirt races have proven to be highly accurate and will continue to be provided,” read a statement from Equibase.

Huh?

On one weekend alone at Del Mar, the Gmax system failed badly when it comes to recording dirt times. On the weekend of Aug. 1 and 2, there were six dirt races in which changes had to be made after the original time was posted on the infield board when the horses crossed the wire. The list includes the GI Bing Crosby S. Based on those races alone, how can Equibase claim that the system is “highly accurate?”

Perhaps the problems are worse on the turf, but they have also been cropping up in dirt races and it’s hard to believe that the problems have been limited to Aug. 1 and 2.

For the most part, Equibase has been reluctant to admit that there are any serious problems when it comes to the Gmax system, which relies on GPS technology.  But there’s more than enough evidence out there to conclude that Gmax has plenty of bugs and, in its current state, is an inferior way of timing races when compared to the teletimer system. Equibase should not be satisfied with a system that gets it right most of time.

Equibase argues that Gmax is more than a timing system, that it can provide ample benefits for the industry, everything from timing workouts to creating slick looking graphics packages. But to the people whose bets provide the revenue structure that drives the sport, all that really matters is accurate times. Surely, Equibase and its parent company the Jockey Club, must understand that.

The solution to this problem seems obvious. Equibase doesn’t have to throw its own product under the bus, but it should acknowledge that there are problems with Gmax. Do that and then go back to the teletimer system at the Gmax tracks with a promise that the GPS technology won’t be put back in until its flaws can be fixed. At the same time, continue to use Gmax for all else that it does. Just not to time races.

In New Jersey, No Transparency

Not everyone agreed with NYRA’s decision to let trainer Wayne Potts race at Saratoga on Sunday, but everyone should applaud them for how they handled the situation. Transparency matters, and they get that.

Potts was the subject of a recent story in the Paulick Report, which reported that he had been told to leave Laurel because of allegations that he was acting as a front for trainer Marcus Vitali.

NYRA got ahead of the story and released a statement that explained why Potts was allowed to race there. It was explained that since no regulatory body had taken action against Potts and since he was licensed in New York, NYRA did not feel there were any grounds for not allowing him to run.

Compare that to how New Jersey handled the same situation. On the same day that Potts competed at Saratoga and won with his lone starter on the card, he had two horses in on the program at Monmouth. One was scratched and one was not. Why was that the case and was Monmouth taking any action against Potts?

That question was directed by the TDN to steward Steve Pagano, who politely explained that the Monmouth stewards are not allowed to talk to the press. Pagano supplied a number for the New Jersey Racing Commission. Calls were made to that number but no one there even answered the phone.

Potts started one horse per day on both Saturday and Sunday at Monmouth, so he obviously hasn’t been banned there, but the public has every right to know just what his status is and why one of his horses was scratched on Friday. Muzzling the stewards is ridiculous.

This is the same racing commission that can’t get it right when it comes to paying out purses at Monmouth. The payments have been on hold for a month and a half while waiting for Truesdail Laboratories to report back to the commission on the drug tests that have been administered.

The New Jersey Racing Commission needs to do a better job.

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