“Penn National ends challenging week with Governor's Cup, horse racing fans say allegations of horse doping don't deter ...” plus 2 more

Penn National ends challenging week with Governor's Cup, horse racing fans say allegations of horse doping don't deter ...
Horse Racing Needs a Kick-Start From Its 3-Year-Olds
Sport of kings had muddy past, racing fans at Penn National Race Course say

Penn National ends challenging week with Governor's Cup, horse racing fans say allegations of horse doping don't deter ...

Posted: 31 Jul 2010 04:53 PM PDT

Published: Saturday, July 31, 2010, 7:38 PM Updated: Saturday, July 31, 2010, 7:45 PM

Horse racing is gambling.

Whenever man, money and muscle mix, the darker parts of human nature can lead some to seek the path of unfair advantage, long-time horse racing
fans said.

The bright and dark of horse-racing were on display this week at Penn National
Race Course.

On Thursday, trainer Darrell Delahoussaye was evicted from the track, accused of giving horses illegal performance-enhancing cocktails, including Red Bull and snake venom.

He may not be the only one to face charges, according to the Dauphin County district attorney's office.

Saturday, the track capped a two-day festival with its prestigious Governor's Cup, drawing racing fans and riders from around the country.
Beginning in early afternoon, cars streamed into the parking lot and garage, unloading crowds of fans eager to watch 64 of the nation's top grass runners race for the $200,000 prize under bright July skies.
Bob Szeyller, of Bellefonte, owns thoroughbreds. He had two running in races before the Governor's Cup.

Delahoussaye has been the talk of the back stretch for some time, he said.
"I have mixed emotions [about the doping allegations]," Szeyller said. "This kind of
thing is bad for racing in general, but, we want to catch anyone who's cheating."

Fred Lipkin, the track's spokesman, said Delahoussaye's actions appear to be an
isolated incident so far. He said he welcomed an investigation in hope of dispelling any ill feelings about the track.
The track, Lipkin said, only provides the venue for horse
racing. All the licensing of trainers, jockeys and other personnel, plus random drug testing of animals, is carried out by the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission.
"The running of the sport is in their hands," Lipkin said. "We are with them."

Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Horse Racing Needs a Kick-Start From Its 3-Year-Olds

Posted: 30 Jul 2010 01:37 PM PDT

Mel Evans/Associated Press

The Haskell at Monmouth Park could send a 3-year-old to the top of the class. Lookin at Lucky, the Preakness winner, is among the entrants.

Horse racing definitely needs a dose of excitement in the dog days of summer.

The undefeated mare Zenyatta is an authentic superhorse, but she is playing only limited engagements on the way to the Breeders' Cup Classic in November.

The filly Rachel Alexandra is finding her way back to the form that earned her Horse of the Year honors in 2009. But so far this year she has won twice and finished second twice against second- and third-string fields. Her connections, however, said Friday that she would step up her game and try the mile-and-a-quarter Personal Ensign Stakes, a Grade I race, on Aug. 29 at Saratoga Race Course.

Quality Road and Blame are talented older horses and are expected to face off in the $750,000 Whitney Handicap on Aug. 7 at Saratoga. Still, neither has captured the imagination of the casual fans the sport needs to become more than a curiosity.

That leaves the hopes of generating any excitement to a crop of 3-year-olds who failed to penetrate the mainstream fans' consciousness this spring during one of the most lackluster Triple Crown seasons in recent memory.

The names Super Saver, Lookin at Lucky and Drosselmeyer do not exactly send shivers of awe up the spine, do they?

Beginning Saturday, in the $500,000 Jim Dandy at the Spa, then on Sunday in the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on the Jersey Shore, this bunch will get a desperately needed opportunity to reboot their reputations, as well as the sport's.

"It's a new season," said Elliott Walden, the racing manager for WinStar Farm, owner of the Kentucky Derby champion Super Saver, the co-second choice in the Haskell at morning-line odds of 3-1.

"The race is going to be run for the 3-year-old champion in the second half of the year," Walden said. "You have a few horses on even ground, Super Saver being one of them."

In the Jim Dandy, the Belmont runner-up Fly Down is the 3-1 favorite in a curious field of nine. There are two lightly raced, undefeated New York breds, Friend or Foe and Stormy's Majesty, as well as an Irish-bred colt, Steinbeck, making his debut in the United States.

The Haskell is the stouter of the two races and features the Preakness winner, Lookin at Lucky, the lukewarm favorite at 5-2, in a field of eight that includes the Derby runner-up Ice Box (9-2) and the second-place finisher in the Preakness, First Dude (6-1).

"I think it's the toughest Haskell I've seen in all these years," said Lookin at Lucky's trainer, Bob Baffert, who has won this race three times.

But it is a new face, Trappe Shot, who is generating the most buzz. A son of Tapit, Trappe Shot fetched $850,000 last year in a 2-year-old in training sale and has won four in a row, including the Long Branch Stakes three weeks ago at Monmouth in his first try over two turns. He is 3-1 despite having never competed in a graded stakes race.

"He is the now horse," said the trainer of Trappe Shot, Kiaran McLaughlin. "He's won four in a row. But the competition is different. There are a few proven horses in there. Whoever wins this race will move to the head of the 3-year-old class."

The Triple Crown veterans, especially Super Saver, have much to prove.

In retrospect, Super Saver's Derby victory looks as if it was the result of favorable circumstances. He was a mudder who got rain and a wet track. He was a horse for the course who had won at Churchill Downs before.

He was ridden by Calvin Borel, the winner of three of the last four Derbys, who knows the oval beneath the famed twin spires the way Stevie Wonder knows his keyboards.

Super Saver certainly looked ordinary finishing eighth two weeks later in the Preakness. He has not run since, and his trainer, Todd Pletcher, is expecting a big performance in the Haskell.

"He's training exceptionally well," Pletcher said. "During the freshening, he's put on weight and gained strength. His mental outlook is excellent."

The hard-luck Lookin at Lucky needs to show that he can overcome adversity and stay out of trouble. Last year's Juvenile champion drew the No. 1 post in the Derby and was bumped twice in the first eighth of a mile and had no chance to win. He has drawn the rail for the Haskell.

But the next 3-year-old champion may be a colt who has not won a race since February when he broke his maiden: First Dude. A son of Stephen Got Even, he finished less than a length behind Lookin at Lucky in the Preakness and was just as game while running third in the Belmont Stakes.

"He seems to have come out of the Triple Crown as good or better than he went in," said his trainer, Dale Romans. "It's a very tough race — the winner of the Haskell is going to put themselves at the top of the 3-year-old class."

Romans has that horse right here. Look for First Dude to roll out of the gate hard and fast, daring his rivals to catch him if they can.

They won't.

Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Sport of kings had muddy past, racing fans at Penn National Race Course say

Posted: 31 Jul 2010 08:38 PM PDT

Published: Saturday, July 31, 2010, 11:30 PM Updated: Saturday, July 31, 2010, 11:33 PM

Horse racing is gambling. Whenever man, money and muscle mix, the darker parts of human nature can lead some to seek the path of unfair advantage, longtime horse racing fans said.

The bright and dark of horse-racing were on display this week at Penn National Race Course.

On Thursday, trainer Darrell Delahoussaye was evicted from the track, accused of giving horses illegal performance-enhancing cocktails, including Red Bull and snake venom.

He might not be the only one to face charges, according to the Dauphin County district attorney's office.

Saturday, the track capped a two-day festival with its Governor's Cup, drawing racing fans and riders from around the country.

Beginning in early afternoon, cars streamed into the parking lot and garage, unloading crowds of fans eager to watch 64 of the nation's top grass runners race for the $200,000 prize under a bright July sky.

Bob Szeyller of Bellefonte owns thoroughbreds. He had two running in races before the Governor's Cup.

Delahoussaye has been the talk of the backstretch for some time, he said.

"I have mixed emotions," Szeyller said of the doping allegations. "This kind of thing is bad for racing in general, but we want to catch anyone who's cheating."

Fred Lipkin, the track's spokesman, said Delahoussaye's actions appear to be an isolated incident. He said he welcomed an investigation in hope of dispelling any ill feelings about the track.

The track only provides the venue for horse racing, Lipkin said. All the licensing of trainers, jockeys and other personnel, plus random drug testing of animals, is carried out by the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission.

"The running of the sport is in their hands," Lipkin said. "We are with them."

The news broke just five months after jockeys at the East Hanover Twp. track threatened to strike rather than ride in races involving horses owned by New Hampshire businessman Michael Gill.

After Gill's Laughing Moon broke down Jan. 23, starting a chain reaction that caused several horses and jockeys to fall, about 25 jockeys told management they wouldn't ride alongside Gill's horses. They contended Gill's horses fell at an alarmingly high rate; 10 of his horses have broken down on the track in the last 13 months. Gill has since left horse racing, telling The Patriot-News he was "tired with the dirty politics" of horse racing.

While most trackgoers were not surprised by the allegations, a few Saturday said the latest incident was an indictment of Penn National itself.

Mike Shiner of Annville said his father used to train animals at the track. He grew up around the stables and thinks he's seen a lot of "funny things" lately.

"[Horse racing] has always been a little shady," Shiner said. "But I'm still coming out with my $40, $50 to have fun."

Carl Cramer, who brought his family from Myerstown to watch the Governor's Cup, said his first reaction to the doping allegations was to wonder, "Might I have been ripped off the few times I was out here?"

"But there's stuff like that here before," Cramer said. "It's the jockeys, the owners or somebody. I don't go in here and spend a lot of money. But if I did, if I put down a $100 bet and I was ripped off, I'd be upset. I probably wouldn't come back. Probably couldn't afford to."

Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Horse Racing

Saturday, July 31, 2010