Thoroughbred Racing 2020

sk8pics

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I was so glad I saw him in January at the open house. He did not look good. They said he was not eating right, and when we saw him, he was standing with his head hanging down lower than usual. I took a picture of him but did not post it anywhere because I did not want to start any rumors. But I was :rolleyes: over some fan reports I read about him looking good.

Rest in peace, dear boy. My friend would go see him on his birthday and bring him a horse-suitable and farm-approved cake. He was so polite when he would eat it. (Not anything like my boy Tinner, who buried his whole nose in the cake and made noises we had never heard before!)
 

sk8pics

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You beat me to it, @skipaway! I saw just a clip of the closing yards of the stretch. It sure looked like Mucho Gusto interfered with Max. What a game horse he is to have his momentum stopped, have to change course, and then come on again the way he did! And Midnight Bisou was great too! I can't wait to see the whole race.

I am wondering if Max will run in the Breeders' Cup this year. It's in Keeneland, and friends of mine are talking about getting a table. I am thinking about it. If Max is being aimed at the Breeders' Cup, that is more incentive. Of course, you never know what will happen 8 months out.
 

skipaway

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It does seem that Max has his share of troubles down the stretch. He has turned out to be a fine horse and I do hope they keep him running.
 

aftershocks

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Woo hoo! Maximum Security goes around Mucho Gusto on the inside and wins the stretch battle! MG & jock had tried to block Max's outside bid for the stretch run, to no f'ing avail. :lol:

But at least this time, there doesn't appear to have been physical contact. We all know Maximum Security is a game, brave champion horse. :respec:


Another view of the race with replay & interviews with jockey Saez, and trainer, Servis:

20-minute clip with horses trotting toward starting gate, etc:


That was really some move on the inside of Mucho Gusto by Max, with other horses battling on the rail too. It looks like MG and his jock were blatantly trying to swing back and block Max coming up on the inside too, TO NO AVAIL!!!

It does seem that Max has his share of troubles down the stretch.

As we can see, it's never Max who is the initial instigator causing these problems down the stretch though. Other jocks and horses seem to know that Max is the one to beat. Max probably would have won by more had MG & jock not tried to block him.
 

aftershocks

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Great article on BloodHorse by Steve Haskin about Maximum Security and his win in the Saudi Cup.

Max a (20) Million: http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/hors.../2020/03/01/Max-a-_2800_20_2900_-Million.aspx

Haskins:
"We have our own equine hero, whose story reads like fiction. He has given us at least a slight ray of hope for the future, as well as rekindling those special feelings we had when racing was larger than life on the big screen. We watched those films with our heart, and it seems we are beginning to watch The Maximum Security Story the same way."

Uh, nope Mr. Haskins. I been watching Max's story since last year's KD and all the fallout from the DQ. If the stewards had actually taken the time to speak to all the jockeys and to examine frame-by-frame at the right angle the slo-mo footage, they woulda seen that War of Will clipped Max's right hind hoof, which caused Max to break stride and drift to the outside trying to get away from what he'd felt on his hind hoof. It is what it is in that race and in all of Max's races since then. He's a champion hero horse, and he was from the very beginning!

I have to say that trainer and owners have handled all the adversity and their champion horse well by not rushing him or running him when he wasn't well and needed rest to build back his strength and fitness. And kudos to Saez for keeping his cool and persevering when he was harshly treated after the KD.


Catching up, I missed Max's easy victory in the Cigar Mile on December 7, which capped Max's 3-year-old season and helped win him the Eclipse Award for 3-year-old thoroughbreds. See what Max can do without stretch-run interference!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeWZdukpTEE


There are lots of great horses in Max's pedigree

 
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aftershocks

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Sadly A.P. Indy Dies at 31
Died at his farm due to old age. What a great race horse and sire. RIP

I was so glad I saw him in January at the open house. He did not look good. They said he was not eating right, and when we saw him, he was standing with his head hanging down lower than usual. I took a picture of him but did not post it anywhere because I did not want to start any rumors. But I was :rolleyes: over some fan reports I read about him looking good.

Rest in peace, dear boy. My friend would go see him on his birthday and bring him a horse-suitable and farm-approved cake. He was so polite when he would eat it. (Not anything like my boy Tinner, who buried his whole nose in the cake and made noises we had never heard before!)

Tribute to A.P. Indy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaGWoN31hzE

A.P. Indy's 1992 Belmont win:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruUylcXtcWU

A horse racing observer remembers A.P. Indy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TWs8sjwvOQ

Former articles:
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/231444/living-legend-a-p-indy-thriving-at-30
https://www.drf.com/news/catching-ap-indy-still-carrying-himself-champion
https://www.paulickreport.com/news/ray-s-paddock/a-p-indy-the-complete-racehorse/

http://www.americanclassicpedigrees.com/ap-indy.html
https://www.horseracingnation.com/horse/A_P_Indy_progeny


A.P. Indy had the talent and courage to win the Triple Crown, but fate in the form of an injury intervened to prevent him running in the Kentucky Derby. It is through the care of his trainers, owners and vets that A.P. Indy recovered to be able to run in the Belmont.

Perhaps, A.P. Indy's and Maximum Security's misfortunes which led to them not being able to run in all the Triple Crown races in a way allowed/ has allowed racing fans the opportunity to see them race longer than they would have as Triple Crown winners. In any case, the Triple Crown does not determine which stallions will become prominent sires in the breeding shed.

Of course, A.P. Indy was more than just a prominent sire, he was "a breed-shaping sire, who single-handedly revived the Bold Ruler line [via] providing another branch" to the lines previously created by Northern Dancer and Mr. Prospector.

I hope Maximum Security's racing career and breeding shed career will be worthy of respect, albeit that he may fall short (as do most stallions) of A.P. Indy's breeding shed dominance and 'franchise-making' results.
 

aftershocks

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What wonderful memories you must have of visiting A.P. Indy over the years @sk8pics. I'm glad you got to see him again before he died. Horses have so much to teach those of us who are open and willing to learn from them. :)
 

skipaway

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Feds Indict Multiple Trainers and Vets in Thoroughbred Doping

Federal prosecutors brought charges against 27 individuals for a far-reaching operation involving performance enhancing drugs, alleging that racehorse trainers, veterinarians and others had manufactured, distributed and received “adulterated and misbranded PEDs and … secretly administer[ed] those PEDs to racehorses,”
Among those charged was trainer Jason Servis, accused of “orchestrating a widespread scheme of covertly obtaining and administering adulterated and misbranded PEDs” to “virtually all of the racehorses under his control.” One of Servis’s horses, Maximum Security, crossed the finish line first in last year’s Kentucky Derby, though he later was disqualified for interference.

Holy Crap, those poor horses. If found guilty, I hope they hang.
 

Lacey

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Kind of changes the stories, can they go back and rescind victories and placements?

And are you inferring @skipaway that the horses' bodies might have been compromised?
 

skipaway

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Kind of changes the stories, can they go back and rescind victories and placements?

And are you inferring @skipaway that the horses' bodies might have been compromised?
The investigation found that the trainers and vets were able to deceive horse racing regulators by administering PEDs that were “difficult or impossible to detect in anti-PED tests,” some of them unapproved and administered using methods “that can injure and, in extreme cases, kill the horse.” The drugs also masked the horses’ ability to feel pain, causing the animals to overexert themselves during exercise.
 

Lacey

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quoted by @skipaway (can't quote a quote, so I copied)

The investigation found that the trainers and vets were able to deceive horse racing regulators by administering PEDs that were “difficult or impossible to detect in anti-PED tests,” some of them unapproved and administered using methods “that can injure and, in extreme cases, kill the horse.” The drugs also masked the horses’ ability to feel pain, causing the animals to overexert themselves during exercise.

I am so sad for the horses.

Did this by any chance have anything to do with all of the horses in California dying, it specifically doesn't mention them, but maybe they don't know yet?
 

skipaway

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Official Gov’t Indictments

I’m reading the “Navarro“ indictment. It specifically mentions Maximum Security starting on page 27.
Grade 1 winner XY Jet was also mentioned earlier starting on page 17. XY Jet recently died of a heart attack, he was 8 years old.
 

aftershocks

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OMG, this sounds horrible. I had thought Servis and West were being cautious and considerate in ensuring Maximum Security's health. This is really terrible, even though we know a lot of abuses occur in the sport of horse racing because of the huge amounts of money involved, and the fact that horses can not speak up for themselves.

I wonder how long this investigation has been going on? It seems to have been underway for a while. It's a shame that Servis is involved, as he's always been depicted as a good trainer. I think the horse race industry has often looked the other way surrounding the drugging of horses. It could be that in part authorities in the industry were spurred to investigate Servis in particular due to the lawsuit West brought surrounding the Kentucky Derby DQ. Or else, it's just that Servis is one of many implicated and thus his misdeeds have been uncovered. I wonder how or if they can prove that Max was specifically administered these drugs prior to all of his races?

In any case, nothing involving this recent investigation of vets and trainers changes the fact that the KD stewards made a rushed decision without carefully reviewing the race and slo-mo frame-by-frame footage, and without speaking to all of the jockeys.

The horse race industry has huge problems, again because of the money involved. So many horses have died because of abusive practices, and wide-sweeping reforms have been needed for a long time.
 
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aftershocks

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Here's an interesting article discussing some of the abuses in horse racing. However, this writer is wrong about why the KD stewards made their decision as they did, and she's also wrong about what caused Max to change leads and stray out of his lane.

There were a number of fouls in the 2019 KD race, including early ones by Country House jockey Flavien Pratt, who lodged the complaint that gave him the win, even though his horse was not obstructed in the race at any point. Long Range Toddy's jockey who had the most to complain about did not lodge a complaint. And War of Will's jockey whose actions caused Max to stray out of his lane, fouled a few horses in the race, prior to WoW clipping Max's right hind hoof.

The stewards made their rushed decision largely because of the amount of money involved, and because of the very visible straying by Max. The stewards took the convenient way out, without making a concerted effort to carefully examine frames leading up to Max switching leads and straying out of his lane.
 

Vagabond

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aftershocks

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^^ Wow though. The Wests have put out a statement disowning Servis and are switching all of their horses to other trainers. Maximum Security will now be trained by Bob Baffert.

Still, the NYT article goes on to mention that 2018 Triple Crown winner, Justify, trained by Baffert, had failed a drug test right before the Kentucky Derby. Authorities took several months to complete an investigation, during which time Justify went on to win all three Triple Crown races. After breeding rights for Justify were sold for $60 million, the inquiry into the failed drug test was quietly disposed of, with the ruling that the drug found in Justify's system was the result of 'environmental contamination.' Baffert denies any wrongdoing.

The amount of money involved in the horse racing industry has it filled with corruption and alarming indifference to the health and well-being of brave, magnificent horses.
 

sk8pics

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The reason it took so much time for the investigation into Justify’s failed test is that Baffert quite rightly asked for the second sample to be tested, and that took quite a bit of time. In addition, the category of the drug found had changed (or was about to change, I forget which) to a lower level. Perhaps he was drugged, but it’s still not the level that Servis and Navarro went to. I have no idea if Baffert does the same thing, but I hope the sport cleans up its act for the sake of the horses and everyone earning an honest living in the industry.
 

aftershocks

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I think Baffert is a great trainer (Hall of Fame), and it's clear he loves the horses he trains. There may be legal drugs that the horses are given to help with injuries, etc. I'm not clear on what the illegal substance is that they say was found in Justify's system. I don't believe the drug had anything to do with Justify winning the Triple Crown races. Justify deserved his wins.

I believe Maximum Security deserves his wins too. And I'll be interested to see what happens with his career under Baffert's guidance.

I hope the industry will work harder on policing itself and protecting the horses.
 

Vagabond

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I am seeing things this evening that indicate that Churchill Downs wants to stage the Kentucky Derby in front of a crowd, not "behind closed doors" and that this may mean postponing the race until June or even September. The last round of prep races and, indeed, the rest of the three-year-old racing calendar is in flux.
 

Vagabond

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I wonder how the postponement will shake out.

Will the Belmont Stakes and possibly the Preakness take place as scheduled or at least before the Kentucky Derby?

And what happens to the whole Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifying system, which is based on a point system that is largely based on races that have already been run?

:watch:
 

Aceon6

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I stumbled on a partial report on Sky News about possibly holding races. All the major tracks have remote operated fixed cameras and the horses need exercise and human care anyway, so...

Does anyone have any info? Or did I imagine this?
 

Vagabond

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I stumbled on a partial report on Sky News about possibly holding races. All the major tracks have remote operated fixed cameras and the horses need exercise and human care anyway, so...

Does anyone have any info? Or did I imagine this?
At the moment, racing is still going to go forward "behind closed doors" in New York, Arkansas, and Louisiana, but not in some other states. Overseas, racing is also going to go forward behind closed doors in the U.K., Ireland, and Dubai, but not in continental Europe. The Grand National, however, has been canceled.

What the tracks do in most of these places may be overridden by government directives, but probably not in Dubai, where the ruler, Sheikh Mohammed, owns the race track and many of the hoI rses that will be running on Dubai World Cup night.

You can find some details here.

ETA: The U.K. has suspended racing through the end of April.
 
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Sarah

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Since there are some longtime racing fans in here, I thought I'd share the news that we were able to confirm that multiple grade 1 winner Gentlemen died many years ago (likely 2011/2012) in LA. His death was never reported to the Jockey Club and as such no one knew. @sk8pics used some of her connections to find out as I had friends looking for him. Gentlemen deserved better. Not that he wasn't cared for, but a horse that earned 3.6 million on the track, deserved some fanfare. He was one of the best of his generation. And he was more or less forgotten. Rest in peace Gentlemen.
 

skipaway

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I stumbled on a partial report on Sky News about possibly holding races. All the major tracks have remote operated fixed cameras and the horses need exercise and human care anyway, so...

Does anyone have any info? Or did I imagine this?
Keeneland announced that their spring meet is cancelled. 😥
 

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