Gold Fated

The Dubai Gold Cup, a two mile race recently added to the Dubai World Cup card, was stained by tragedy, marring the otherwise marvelous day of racing. The first time the horses broke from the gate, not a single one crossed the finish line. Fox Hunt, a Godolphin horse, broke down soon after the race started, tossing his rider, Silvestre De Sousa, who was later said to have been uninjured. Fox Hunt attempted to get up after falling but was unable. He was euthanized on the track. Meanwhile, race stewards called off the race because Fox Hunt was in the way and couldn’t be moved in time. The other horses were pulled up and the race was rescheduled for after the Dubai World Cup’s $10 million main event. Personally, I have a problem with this decision. It seems as though the race was called off late in the stretch, meaning that the horses running were already tired when they were pulled up. Racing is exhausting for the horses; they just aren’t built to run more than once every few weeks anymore, much less twice in one day.

            The second time the horses broke from the gate, their exhaustion was evident. Two horses were eased and US bred Bronze Cannon and Grand Vent never even finished the race. Bronze Cannon, like Fox Hunt, broke down and was euthanized, Grand Vent was sent to a nearby equine hospital. This raises the question of why they even decided to rerun the race. In my opinion the race should have been scratched from the card and the entry fees and bets returned. Yes, that would have been a difficult feat to accomplish, but their decision put the horses in danger, as evidenced by the death of Bronze Cannon and the injury to Grand Vent. Accidents in racing do happen, Fox Hunt was such an accident and thus somewhat forgivable, but I feel that Bronze Cannon’s death really could have been avoided. This is one of those instances that gives racing a bad name, deciding to run already tired horses lead to one fatal and one potentially fatal conclusion. It was a bad call.

For further reading:

Ill fated Gold Cup from Blood Horse

Update: According to an article from the Thoroughbred Times, Grand Vent has been euthanized. That brings the death count in this race to three, I find this unacceptable. The deaths of Grand Vent and Bronze Cannon could have been prevented, it was irresponsible to rerun this race.
The article is here

Opinion: Girl Power

 After Rags to Riches’ victory over Curlin in the 2007 Belmont Stakes, a wise man, who had met the great Ruffian, told me that I needed to watch the mares because “In the next couple years you are going to see something that horseracing hasn’t seen before.” He was right. The following year I watched Zenyatta win the Breeder’s Cup Ladies Classic and never looked back. The last three Horses of the Year have been mares, something that racing has never seen before. Zenyatta, Rachel Alexandra, and Havre de Grace have taken the last several years by storm, dominating their divisions and winning against males. I am a believer in girl power and the fact that the mares have been making more of an impression than the males says something. Now, that doesn’t mean that the males are weak, the up and coming derby contenders just haven’t had a chance to prove themselves quite yet. Yes, Hanson, Union Rags, Alpha and several others look promising, but the last couple years, the derby favorites just haven’t been able to hit the mark. The females of racing have outshone the males because the boys have been inconsistent in their victories.

It doesn’t help that some of the males in the spotlight have been plagued by injuries, such as Algorithms, now off the derby trail due to a fractured splint bone, and Animal Kingdom, no longer headed to Dubai because of a stress fracture, his second career altering injury. Fed Biz, a Baffert hopeful, is also off the derby trail due to an unknown ailment in his hind end. Last year it was Uncle Mo and Tapizar, years prior also show many hopefuls that never make it to the Derby because of soundness issues.

The tendency of the younger males to be unsound really makes it difficult for horse fans to rely on such an inconsistent bunch. But the mares in the spotlight have shown themselves to be sound and more consistent than their mare counterparts. Is is genetics? Maybe. Even if Animal Kingdom returns to racing, eventually he will be retired to stud. He has had two soundness issue, namely stress fractures, that have taken him out of racing for an extended amount of time. There is no doubt that he is a good horse, but as a stud he may or may not produce sound offspring. Although that seems to be a common problem these days.

As for me, I will continue to watch all both the males and females with great interest, but if it ever come down to male versus female, the female always has my support. Royal Delta, another filly, is headed to Dubai to take on the males in an attempt to become the first female racehorse to win the $10 million Dubai World Cup. Such a victory could bring us another female Horse of the Year. Of course, there are several good males in the Dubai field, and several good horses back here in the USA, but unless the three year olds can bring it, or Game on Dude wins the Dubai World Cup over Royal Delta, it is possible that the mares will once again dominate this racing season. 

For more information check out these article from Blood Horse:

Havre de Grace

Royal Delta

Photo by Malthea Kelley from Blood Horse

Amazing Grace

Reigning Horse of the Year, Havre de Grace was victorious in her first start of the year, the $150,000 New Orleans Ladies Stakes.  She broke smoothly from post position 2 and quickly settled into 3^rd, behind Sterling Madame and Juanita. Havre de Grace made her move with three furlongs to the wire, coming up next to Juanita and Sterling Madame. Havre de Grace swung wide around the turn and Juanita came up to challenge her, but the outmatched Juanita soon dropped behind as Havre de Grace charged the wire. Her amazing 2011 season, highlighted by a victory over males in the Woodward Stakes, ended with the title of Horse of the Year and hopefully, her effortless 4 ½ length victory over four rivals is just a glimpse of what we will see from this fantastic mare in the months to come.

For more information check out the Bloodhorse article here.

Photo: Hodges Photography/Lynn Roberts 

It's a Prince

 Around 10 pm ET on March 8, Zenyatta gave birth to a beautiful, healthy, dark bay colt with a white star. The foal, by Bernardini, winner of the 2006 Preakness Stakes, has been eagerly awaited by hundreds of fans who no doubt had been checking in as often as they could for updates.  He weighs 130 pounds and both Zenyatta and her foal are doing fine. According to the March 9^th diary post from Zenyatta.com, the foaling went smoothly and Zenyatta and her foal are bonding well. For those of you who don’t avidly follow horseracing, Zenyatta, known as the Queen of Racing, is the winner of 19 races out of 20 starts. Her most memorable victory was the 2009 Breeder’s Cup Classic, when she became the first female to ever win the prestigious race. She was the 2010 Horse of the Year, won numerous awards and inspired hundreds of people. Zenyatta’s owners, Ann and Jerry Moss, trainer, John Shirreffs, and Jockey, Mike Smith, count the mare as one of the best they have ever been associated with.

            The birth of a colt opens up so many possibilities. In three years we may see this beautiful boy break from the gate in the Kentucky Derby. His career will be eagerly followed, just like his mother’s. The as of now unnamed colt carries a heavy burden, he will have to outrace the shadows of Zenyatta and Bernardini to make his own name as one of the “greats” of racing. I eagerly await the day when he will first step onto the track, but for now I will watch his growth with joy at the continuation of Zenyatta’s legacy. Who knows, perhaps one day I will eagerly follow one of his sons or daughters as they race, writing stories of their feats on the track. 

Photo by Ann Moss from Zenyatta.com

Read the Diary Post for more information.

Video of Zenyatta and her foal