Legends of the Track: Gaffalione Faces Penalty After Derby Performance, Flashback, Smarty Jones Captivates with Stunning Victory in Preakness, Secretariat's Legacy Continues Amidst Decades-Old debate!
Saturday Edition - May 11th, 2024 (Edition 82)
The field crosses the finish line during a turf race ahead of the 148th Running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on May 20, 2023 in Baltimore, Maryland. Photo: Rob Carr/Getty Images
IN TODAY’S EMAIL
Good Morning!
Apologies, we hit a snag yesterday and didn't send out our daily newsletter. Just me here, getting this ready for you at the crack of dawn every day. Sometimes life doesn't follow our plans, and we have to prioritize – I had to dash away for a family situation at the doctor's. Thankfully, all is well now, but you know how it goes, family first.
Now, back to the ‘Sport of Kings!’
Today, we're throwing it back to 2004 – The year Facebook came into our lives, NASA's rovers were romping around Mars, the Patriots clinched their 2nd Super Bowl and Smarty Jones was tearing up the track, bagging his eighth consecutive win with by a jaw-dropping 11 ½ lengths at the Preakness.
While we're dialed in on Maryland, we're taking a closer look at Secretariat's unforgettable 1973 Preakness victory. This win was crucial on his path to the coveted Triple Crown glory. Yet, this triumph wasn't without its share of intrigue – it sparked a controversy that persisted for nearly four decades.
Finally we have news from the Churchill Down’s stewards – T Gaff was in the spotlight for a bit of a no-no last week and he was ultimately fined for, "touching a rival with his left hand nearing the finish line while riding Sierra Leone."
That’s one way to put it!
We wrap up with a hop across the pond to the UK. It's Trivia Time! Can you identify the oldest Racecourse in Britain?
Rider’s Up!
Steve
GREATEST WINNERS OF THE PREAKNESS STAKES
Smarty Jones Electrifies in Preakness Romp (USA)
Photo by Jim McCue, Maryland Jockey Club.
By Tom LaMarra
Original Article - May 16, 2004
Philly's horse is fast becoming America's horse.
In front of a record crowd of 112,668 at Pimlico Race Course May 15, Roy and Pat Chapman's Smarty Jones made a shambles of the $1 million Preakness Stakes (gr. I) and kept his record perfect with his eighth win, this one by 11 ½ lengths. Smarty Jones drew loud cheers in the post parade, and they were even louder as he pulled away in total command in the lane.
The victory sets the stage for a dramatic Triple Crown try at the Belmont Stakes June 5. The Pennsylvania bred has a chance to become just the 12th Triple Crown champion and the first to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont since Affirmed in 1978. The last undefeated Triple Crown winner was Seattle Slew in 1977.
He would also claim another $5 million bonus and become racing's richest horse.
Read the Full Article at bloodhorse.com
Watch Smarty Jones crush the 2004 Preakness
THE PREAKNESS STAKES
Secretariat, the Preakness, and a 39-Year Controversy
Secretariat and Ron Turcotte after winning the 1973 Preakness stakes. (Courtesy Secretariat.com/Tony Leonard)
Maximum Security’s disqualification in the 2019 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve inspired much controversy, and the debate at times felt like the 1950 Kurosawa film “Rashomon,” where multiple witnesses to an event retell it in vastly different ways. All of us saw the same race, yet so many people have different interpretations of what they saw. Whose interpretation should get to determine history?
This was not the first time the Triple Crown has had to suffer through a prolonged “Rashomon”-like debate over multiple interpretations of a race. When Secretariat won the 1973 Preakness on his way to conquering the Triple Crown, a similar controversy began brewing seconds after he crossed the finish line, one that would last for nearly four decades.
Immediately after Secretariat’s brilliant last-to-first finish, the Pimlico timer reported that the final time for the 1 3/16-mile race was 1:55, a good time, but a second slower than Canonero II’s Preakness record set in 1971. Many had predicted Secretariat would beat that record, just as he had done at Churchill Downs when he became the first horse in history to finish the Kentucky Derby in under two minutes. Still, nobody had any reason to doubt the track’s time of the race, which was measured by an “electric eye” called the Visumatic, which cast a beam of light across the racetrack and was only triggered when a horse broke the beam. Visumatic was considered more accurate than stopwatch-wielding clockers capable of human error, who sometimes can be off by a fifth of a second or more.
Read the full article at americasbestracing.net
CHURCHILL DOWNS
Keeping Pace: A Breakdown-Free Kentucky Derby Week Is Just What Racing Needed (USA)
News organizations were so focused on dredging up the past that they omitted the present and the future of racing. The present was a week of marvelous racing in the bluegrass, without any racing fatalities, and the future looks bright with smart regulation and cooperative tracks.
There were no breakdowns at Churchill Downs this week, at least none that I am aware of. Paulick Report’s editor Natalie Voss tells me that one horse, Bozdagi, got an ambulance ride back home early last week, but the horse’s status is unknown. Same with a second horse, Military Cruiser, who was vanned back to the stables after finishing last in the Derby Day finale, the 14th race, There was an incident earlier in the week when two horses clipped heels but no one was seriously hurt. No horse broke down on the track. There were no teary moments covered live on NBC. No screens or ambulances. No vets to explain what injuries a horse may have suffered. It was great racing, great wagering, and great coverage. No wonder it drew the biggest television audience in 35 years.
Read the full article at the paulickreport.com at
Kentucky Derby
Gaffalione Fined for Kentucky Derby Ride (USA)
Kentucky stewards fined jockey Tyler Gaffalione $2,500 for his ride on Sierra Leone during the 150th Kentucky Derby (G1) run May 4 at Churchill Downs, according to a May 10 ruling released by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.
Gaffalione and his mount Sierra Leone were locked in a gritty, stirrup-banging battle with Japanese contender Forever Young and rider Ryusei Sakai from the eighth pole to the wire, where a nose separated them behind victorious Mystik Dan .
According to a May 10 stewards ruling, Gaffalione was fined for "touching a rival with his left hand nearing the finish while aboard Sierra Leone." The rider has 30 days to pay the fine.
Sierra Leone started lugging in at the eighth pole, where he was about six paths off the rail. By the time he and Forever Young reached the wire, the pair had pushed in to be in the second and third paths. Also during the bumping, photographs show Gaffalione at one point extending his left arm out toward Forever Young and appears to be touching the horse right in front of the saddle pad, though not grabbing anything because he was holding his crop in his left hand. Sierra Leone would finish a nose in front of Forever Young.
The stewards did not initiate an inquiry after the race, nor did Sakai claim foul.
Read the Full Article at BloodHorse
PODCAST OF THE DAY
Nick Luck Daily Podcast
This week's Saturday Edition with Charlotte Greenway looks ahead to the Oaks and Derby Trials at Lingfield with insight on both favourites from their respective owners, Anthony Oppenheimer and Harry Herbert as well as Ed Crisford who trains lively outsider Meydaan in the Derby trial. Then onto the Classic action in France on Sunday where Adrien Cugnasse previews the home team before we hear again from Harry Herbert (Chic Colombine), followed by Willie McCreery (Vespertilio) & Roger Teal (Dancing Gemini)
TRIVIA QUESTION
A nice easy one to kick off the weekend.
Can you name the British Racecourse officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the "oldest racecourse still in operation?
Horse racing dates back to the early sixteenth century, with 1539 cited as the year racing began, although some sources give a date of 1512 for the first races at this venue. It is also thought to be the smallest racecourse of significance in England at 1 mile and 1 furlong long
Visit USASteeplechase X page and Scroll through the comments for the answer
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Riders Up!
Best, Steve
Barbara Borden at her best!