Horse racing

Asmussen postponement

Not that he wouldn’t have focused on Curlin and the Woodward anyway, but at least this shouldn’t be a worry, nor should it come up in post-race interviews: Steve Asumussen’s hearing before the Lone Star Park stewards for a medication violation will be postponed.

Maggi Moss, Asmussen’s attorney, said Wednesday that she has filed a petition with a district court in Austin pleading that the Texas Racing  Commission has denied her the data and information necessary to effectively represent her client. But the hearing in district court, originally scheduled for next Tuesday, has been pushed back, which means, Moss said, that the Sept. 9 hearing before the stewards will by necessity be deferred also.

And Jean Cook, the public information officer for the Texas Racing Commission, confirmed that the "stewards' hearing will have to be postponed." She said the TRC and Asmussen's attorneys were working on rescheduling the court date.

“We’re ready to go on Sept. 2,” Moss said, emphasizing that she wasn’t responsible for the continuance.

This all stems, of course, from Timber Trick’s victory in the third race on May 10 at Lone Star Park. Afterwards, the 3-year-old filly, who’s trained by Asmussen, tested “positive” for a lidocaine metabolite. Because Texas has a “no tolerance” policy regarding such medication, Asmussen faces a possible one-year suspension.

But Moss said she was denied any quantitative information that might have clarified the position of her client. Quantitative data could have indicated that the “positive” was the result of contamination. Lidocaine is a local anesthetic that’s common in salves and lotions. Nor was a blood sample made available.

Steven Barker, the chief chemist for the Louisiana Racing Commission and the head of the testing laboratory at LSU, examined what data and information were available and said they indeed suggested contamination. Testing a blood sample, he said, would be more conclusive. Barker, one of the country’s foremost experts on drug testing, is serving as a consultant to Moss.

Barker also said that if Timber Trick had been given lidocaine shortly before she raced, which would be necessary for its effectiveness, then the drug itself, not just a metabolite, would be present in a blood or urine sample. He said the levels of the metabolite in the sample appear low.

“Based on the scientific information we’ve seen,” Moss said, “this isn’t even a positive.”

Moss, who’s also a prominent horse owner, said she intends to “fight this as far as it takes.”

The Derby winner and best older horse meet

This past weekend, the best older horse in Europe, Duke of Marmalade, ran against the Epsom Derby winner, New Approach, in the Juddmonte International Stakes at Newmarket. Duke of Marmalade won, by the way, and New Approach finished third, but what’s most important here is that they raced. Against each other. And with their meeting, I couldn’t help but feel more than a little envy.

The International was originally scheduled for York, which had to cancel its four-day Ebor Festival because of “waterlogging,” as a Yorkshire newspaper put it. And so, thanks in part to the British Horseracing Authority, the International and several other major stakes were moved to Newmarket. Equally important, they were moved to a surface that “allowed no excuses,” according to the “Times.”

A horseracing authority? Sportsmen willing to race despite changing plans? The top older horse and the top 3-year-old actually meeting? On a surface that offers no excuses? How strange it all seems from an American perspective.

Here, of course, we have no central authority, very few sportsmen, and a championship event on a fauxtrack with inherent excuses. Even worse, we have no realistic expectation that the best older horse and the top 3-year-old will ever confront each other. Instead we have an amusing exchange of challenges and invitations, some more serious than others; and, of course, we have posturing.

Michael Iavarone remains a mystery to me. No, I correct myself: He doesn’t seem mysterious at all; the mystery is how this guy could be the foremost Big Brownie, the chief of the IEAH stable that owns the Kentucky Derby winner, as well as other prominent horses.

Last week, the “New York Post” reported that Iavarone has proposed a match race between Big Brown and Curlin for late November or early December. Jeannine Edwards of ESPN, during Saturday’s broadcast of the Travers, also reported the proposal. For the sake of seriousness, Iavarone just as well could have proposed a match race on the moon.

The most entertaining aspect of the proposal, however, was how it contrasted diametrically with an earlier position. Back in June, when a match race was first suggested, Iavarone in the “Post” said: “I wouldn’t even dream of it. That’s a horrendous idea. They don’t prove anything, and they’re dangerous.”

Since then, perhaps somebody who knows better has explained to the foremost Big Brownie that all racing is somewhat dangerous but that a match race, because of reduced traffic, would actually be less so. Perhaps somebody explained to him that there’s a long history of meaningful match races. And perhaps somebody explained that Big Brown, because of his natural speed, would probably have an advantage over Curlin in such a situation. Perhaps.

Or maybe the recent proposal was just nonsense: a reminder of the decline of sportsmanship in American racing and a striking contrast to recent sporting events at Newmarket. 

Texans going to the Breeders' Cup

Friday night, Carl Moore got word that Sweetacious, his 2-year-old filly who’s unbeaten in two races, had a serious vascular disease. Saturday, Moore got word that he’s going to the Breeders’ Cup.

“It just shows you the highs and lows of this game,” Moore said. Yes, and it shows just how quickly the elevator came move from one floor to the other.

After Sweetacious won her division of the Texas Stallion Stakes at Lone Star Park, she had a small chip removed from a knee, explained Moore, a Fort Worth businessman who in recent years has become one of the leading horse owners in the region. The injury wasn’t thought to be serious, but then the joint became infected. And Friday, Moore learned the filly had laminitis.

But then Saturday, at Arlington Park near Chicago, Mr. Nightlinger won the Arlington Sprint Handicap, securing a spot for himself in the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Oct. 25 at Santa Anita. The Arlington race provided Mr. Nightlinger with his fifth consecutive win and his fourth stakes victory.

Although not nearly as dramatic as the Friday-Saturday turnaround, Mr. Nightlinger’s history, taken by itself, also could serve as a reminder that fortunes do indeed turn in this sport, relentlessly if not always suddenly. Moore and Bill Martin of Dallas originally purchased Mr. Nightlinger for $45,000 as a yearling at Keeneland with the intention of selling him as a 2-year-old. But two years ago, at Lone Star’s auction of 2-year-olds in training, nobody expressed much interest in the son of Indian Charlie. He hadn’t worked particularly well prior to the sale, his trainer, Bret Calhoun, said, and so Mr. Nightlinger aroused barely a soupcon of curiosity when he stepped into the sales ring.

Moore and Martin took him back, again for $45,000. But what then may have looked like a setback or, at the very least, a plan gone astray has turned into a stroke of luck. In his second start, Mr. Nightlinger found the winner’s circle. And after he ran fourth in his turf debut, in only his third start, jockey Ramsey Zimmerman told Calhoun the horse “loves the grass.”

The purses were so inviting for a 3-year-old on the main track that Calhoun didn’t quickly explore the depth of Mr. Nightlinger’s grassy affection. And when the trainer tried to put the colt back on the turf, the race didn’t go. Still, Mr. Nightlinger more than paid his way, winning four times on the dirt and finishing third in the Lone Star Derby.

Then, in April, he returned to the turf, winning the Shakertown at Keeneland. And since then, every race has been a replay of the previous one, the results all looking strangely alike. He has been in spots where he didn’t seem quite as quick as his rivals, only to zip to the lead; he has been in spots where he seemed less experienced or accomplished than his rivals, only to dominate. He has won five consecutive turf sprints, and he has won them all by daylight, putting together an aggregate of accomplishment that insists he’s one of the best turf sprinters in the nation.

“He’s just a different horse on the turf,” Moore said, explaining that Mr. Nightlinger has repeatedly exceeded expectations, advancing from the status of good horse, to stakes horse to graded stakes winner, all in a short time and in a series of turf sprints.

“And he’s as tough as the Nightlinger in that movie,” said Calhoun, comparing the colt to his namesake, the cattle drive cook in the movie “The Cowboys.” Calhoun pointed out that Mr. Nightlinger has been drawing off in his victories, pulling clear in the final furlong, relying not just on speed but on sustained speed.

Back in March, Calhoun thought he had a Breeders’ Cup sprinter in Euroears. But an injury forced the unbeaten multiple stakes winner to the sidelines. Euroears has returned to training and next week could have his first workout since the injury. But he can’t make the Breeders’ Cup, the Fair Grounds meeting being a more realistic objective; nevertheless, Calhoun has a Breeders’ Cup sprinter after all, albeit on the turf, in Mr. Nightlinger.

The only remaining question is how to get there. Calhoun said he’s looking at the Morvich Handicap on Sept. 24 at Santa Anita as a preparatory race.  Run at 6 1/2 furlongs down the hill, it could be the perfect introduction to the unique course that will be the site of the Turf Sprint. But Mr. Nightlinger could use a prep at Keeneland or could just train up the Breeders’ Cup. But knowing how rare and fragile such highs are in this game, a trio of Texans intend to ride this one as far as it will take them.

By the way

Flim-flam, pure flim-flam – that’s what I thought as I watched a paddock host preview an upcoming race on a recent simulcast.

You know the routine: The host and hostess, the prettier the better, talk about a few horses in the next race by identifying the obvious, garnished with information from “The Daily Racing Form,” or perhaps they make some picks with commentary that sounds suspiciously like something borrowed from a local newspaper. They talk about numbers they neither comprehend nor understand, and they comment on races and workouts they’ve never seen, all supposedly in an effort to “inform” the public. Flim-flam, pure flim-flam. And rather than inform they often mislead the public.

A few years ago at Saratoga, I found myself having breakfast at a restaurant near the racetrack during a “handicapping seminar.”  I tried to ignore it, of course, and even sat in another room, but I couldn’t help but hear the comments of the guest handicappers, who were predictably and sadly trite.

I stopped eating when I heard them mention the name of a first-time starter I had a strong opinion about. The handicappers pointed out that this 2-year-old was trained by Todd Pletcher, who wins, they said, as if awestruck, with twenty-something percent of his horses in this situation, and that the horse’s sire had produced an uncommon number of juvenile winners. They pointed out, in other words, the sort of generalities that are trumped by specifics. And I had possession of the trumping specific: This horse couldn’t run. It was that simple. This poor horse was slow; racing wasn’t his game.

And so when they emphasized their selection of this horse by saying he had just had a very good workout, I burst into laughter. Flim-flam, pure flim-flam.

I clock horses whenever I’m able, and I had spent a few mornings clocking horses that year at Saratoga. And my watch was on this 2-year-old when he worked a half-mile in 48-and-change one morning. Yes, on paper it looked good, good enough to furnish the artists with some flim-flam, but in truth it was a horrible workout. The time was correct, but the colt was in an all-out drive, with a featherweight in the saddle, and at the completion of the work, the colt was so exhausted that he didn’t gallop out so much as he staggered out.

I wouldn’t have liked him running for a tag at Delta Downs, and I was certain he had no chance at Saratoga. But I couldn’t invest in that opinion; my plane would be leaving in a few hours. And so I telephoned a friend at the track and told him to bet whatever combination of runners he wanted but toss out this first-time starter, and I would take half or more of the action. As it turned out, the horse finished far back as the favorite.

Anyway, I remembered that recently when I watched some simo-siren preview a race and then again when, on a national broadcast, a buffoon was introduced to give “insight.” Flim-flam, pure flim-flam.

Most shocking about the abundance of flim-flam in horse racing is that the sport invites it. The sport celebrates it, honors it, televises it, promotes it, rewards it. By putting the flim-flammers on television or having them make the morning line, racetracks confer credibility on humbugs and contribute to the misunderstanding and ignorance that are damaging the sport.

But flim-flam is everywhere in horse racing, and it’s usually walking around dressed up with authority and credibility. Flim-flam artists, poseurs, pretenders and shams, all equipped with ersatz expertise, buy and sell horses as agents; they train horses; they operate racetracks. And, yes, they write about horse racing, too.

Curlin, you're cordially invited . . .

Even if Big Brown and Curlin never run against each other, the anticipation of a possible meeting is going to be richly entertaining, as today’s events make clear.

First, while offering to donate $50,000 to charity, Jess Jackson invited Big Brown to join Curlin in the Woodward, Aug. 30, at Saratoga.

Then, after hearing of Jackson’s offer, Mike Iavarone, co-president of the IEAH stable that’s the majority owner of Big Brown, issued an invitation of his own. If Curlin meets Big Brown in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 25 at Santa Anita, IEAH will “up the stakes” by giving significantly more to charity, according to Dave Grening in “The Daily Racing Form.”

And Iavarone told “The Blood-Horse” that “we’ll donate” $250,000 to various charities if Curlin accepts the Classic invitation.

Jackson doesn’t strike me as the sort of person who backs down from a challenge. Nor is he a person who allows himself to be pushed into something. These invitations and challenges are going to be interesting, of course. Even better, they could be good for racing – and for charity.

Big Brown, you're cordially invited . . .

The virtual invitation has become an actual one. The actual rejection will probably follow.

The principal owner of the Horse of the Year sent out the invitation today in the form of an e-mailed press release from his Stonestreet Farms: “Jess Jackson . . . invites Big Brown to race Curlin in the Grade I, $500,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York, on Saturday, August 30, 2008.”

If the Big Brownies accept the invitation, Jackson has agreed to donate $50,000 to the non-profit Belmont Child Care Association. In the release, Jackson says that recent remarks from the Big Brown Camp have “inspired” him to make the offer. The specific inspiration, of course, was Big Brown’s trainer, Richard “Rain Man” Dutrow, who said the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner was “way better” than Curlin.

Jackson goes on to say that the Curlin-Big Brown confrontation at a “legendary racetrack” is just what horse racing needs: “I would love it, the fans would love it, and the horses would love it.”

With all that love going around, it’ll be rather embarrassing when the Big Brownies turn down the invitation. They may have to donate $50,000 themselves to the Child Care Association, just so they don’t appear to be costing the kids anything.

A week ago, after Jackson announced Curlin would run in the Woodward, I wrote about the virtual invitation, for that’s what the decision was. It opened the door for Big Brown, whose connections quickly announced they weren’t going to run in the Woodward.

Now that Jackson has sent out an actual invitation, more people will start to clamor for a meeting of the two horses. The Big Brownies will have to acknowledge the invitation somehow. And Dutrow might even assume a more respectful tone, or else he could just be quiet, all of which points to the superiority of the actual over the virtual.

Curlin's next start

On Tuesday, Jess Jackson, the principal owner of Curlin, will announce where the reigning Horse of the Year will make his next start. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association has put together a teleconference for the occasion.

The announcement is the culmination of a long and thoughtful process. Or maybe a democratic process that was something less than thoughtful. On the Stonestreet Stables website, as you’re probably aware, Jackson recently asked racing fans where they think Curlin should run. Yes, Jackson put it up for a vote, and a majority (51 percent) said Curlin should run on the turf next, which invites two interpretations: Even fewer people saw the Man o’ War than the ratings might have indicated, or, two, all the trainers and owners with top dirt horses participated in the poll.

Anyway, the poll seemed like a good effort to reach out to the fans, whom the sport traditionally and institutionally has neglected, but now, with this orchestrated announcement on Tuesday, I have to wonder if Jackson isn’t becoming altogether too fond of his own celebrity.

Anyway, the Woodward, on Aug. 30 at Saratoga, is the most likely option. I say that only because the Woodward seems the smartest option, and despite Jackson’s awkward moments, these are very smart people in Curlin's corner. The Woodward’s also the best option for racing because running Curlin there would clear the way for the sport's most anticipated match-up, a confrontation with Big Brown.

Big Brown, of course, runs Sunday in the $1 million Haskell. If he wins impressively – and the opposition doesn’t seem very strong – then he would have nearly four full weeks to prepare for a meeting with Curlin in the Woodward. The timing works. Even the Woodward’s distance of 1 1/8 miles would seem favorable.

In a teleconference this week, talking about post-Haskell plans, Richard Dutrow Jr., Big Brown's trainer, expressed hesitation about running the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner back in the Travers, the problem being the 20 days between races. He said the Travers remained a possibility, but a long shot. Could he be anticipating something else, the Woodward perhaps? Granted, a Curlin-Big Brown meeting in the Woodward might be a long shot, too, but at least it would become an intriguing possibility, one the sport needs and one that NYRA could wisely encourage with a purse enhancement.

In saying the Woodward is the smartest option, I’m implying that any turf race would be unwise. Actually, forcing Curlin back to the turf might even be disrespectful of the horse’s talents. On turf, Curlin is a very good horse; on dirt, he’s a great horse. On dirt, he’s a gem, a phenomenon, a freak; he’s a once-in-a-decade, can-you-believe-this, jaw-dropping extraordinary horse. And if, as expected, he’s retired at the end of the year and has only three or four more races to run, then shouldn’t those few races showcase his greatness?

Of course, if Jackson announces that he has decided to continue racing Curlin next year, that would change everything. If Curlin is going to have a 2009 campaign, race 10 or 12 more times, then, sure, try the turf, give the Arlington Million on Aug. 9 a shot and then maybe go to France for the Arc. But if Curlin is going to be retired at the end of this year, then his races are too precious to be wasted in an experiment.

The Arlington Million has only one real advantage over the Woodward: the purse. A win at Arlington would push Curlin by Cigar and make him the all-time leading money winner in North America. That’s a major goal for the Curlin connections.

The $1 million Pacific Classic on Aug 24 at Del Mar would accomplish the same. For that reason, it has to be very attractive, and, don’t forget, Jackson is a Californian. The Pacific Classic would also present the advantage – or disadvantage, depending on your perspective – of giving Curlin a race on a synthetic surface.

I’ve spoken to many trainers about it, and most seem to agree that it’s very difficult, if possible at all, to determine in advance if a horse will race effectively on a synthetic surface. Just about all horses will train well on a synthetic track, but some, it seems, just won’t or can’t race effectively on it, can't transfer their form to it. Could Curlin be such a horse? Probably not: He never has capitulated or run poorly, regardless of surface. Could he be great on a synthetic track, just as he has been on dirt? Possibly, but it's something to be hoped for, not expected. Still, if running in the Pacific Classic moves Curlin closer to racing in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, which, of course, will also be run on fauxdirt, then a Curlin sojourn to Del Mar could be very good for racing.

Anyway, with all that in mind, here’s the line on Curlin’s next start.

Woodward: 6-5
Pacific Classic: 9-5
Arlington Million: 5-1
Anything else: 20-1