Derby/Preakness of 2019: Best Thing that’s Happened to Horse Racing in Thirty Years. (no, really!)

“OK RIDERS, GET TIED ON…!”

For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, this the last thing every jockey, in every race, at every racetrack in America, hears every single day – coupled with a single split second of deafening silence before the starter “kicks the latch” (opens the gate) and the horses crash forward out of the starting gate. There is a reason he says this forcefully. This tells every rider and every assistant starter that all hell is about to break loose. BE READY – NOW!

On Saturday, at the 144th Preakness at Pimlico, Johnny Velasquez was kinda ready, as ready as he could get under the circumstance. Bodexpress was not ready. In fact Bode was not only looking for a way out this predicament he wanted the HELL outta this entire scene. The pressure was absolutely killing him. The “class” around him was in fact, crushing him. These horses and the surroundings at hand, were not his friends. All true horsemen and actual racehorse people, will know what I’m talking about here when I say, Bodexpress was out of his “class” in the Preakness and the pressure of this situation was eating him alive.

To better understand; this horse is a maiden. He’s NEVER won a race! Bodexpress had no business in the starting gate under these circumstances, with these horses, on this day. He is not mentally up to this task. He’s not this good. This is the equivalent of a 10th grader on the high school baseball team being ask to pinch hit in the 9th inning of game 5 in The World Series. He’s going to pee his pants. Or like asking a the lead actor in the high school play to perform opening night on Broadway. You’d find this young actor backstage – puking. That is what Bodexpress was feeling standing in the starting gate on Preakness day. If a horse could puke (for the record, they can’t) Bode woulda been with the actor, puking behind the starting gate. His reaction to rear up at the gate was a manifestation of this picture.

From what I understand via my sources at Pimlico, Bodexpress was leaning, hard, against the starting gate, borderline crushing Johnny V’s foot against the side of the gate. His foot was either compromised in his iron or it had become dislodged from and was not making contact with his iron. Any jockey, in this particular situation will tell you, this is a bit of a sick feeling and when you hear those words, “get tied on” – you know what’s coming, the circumstances are not good. In this moment, the only thing you can do is hope for the best.

John Velasquez, nearly pulled it off. If Bodexpress doesn’t rear at the break, in all likelihood he pulls it off and almost no one would’ve noticed. This is what top notch riders do. They take bad situations and turn them around by knowing how to save themselves. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite workout. Johnny Velasquez got launched 10 feet in the air partially because his foot was either out of his iron or because the horse leaning on the side of the gate cause it to lose contact with the surface of his iron. He was not fully connected to the his tack or the horse. Johnny V. was not completely – “tied on”.

The pressure at hand was causing Bode to have an internal and silent mental meltdown. He was basically frozen in the gate. If you’ve ever been on a horse that is frozen, you’ll know what I’m talking about. When they unfreeze, they blow – and I mean they can do anything from blowing straight up in the air, like Bodexpress did or flip completely over backwards.

In horse racing “class” tells and it tells all. Bodexpress was way out over his skis. He was in the deep end of the pool and he couldn’t swim. His owners and trainer put him in this same position two weeks prior in the Kentucky Derby and it likely cooked him mentally. Now, that were asking him to do it again. He had once again been placed in position to race where he was completely out of his class. Effectively the pressure of what was going on around him yet again, was causing him to have the equivalent of a mental breakdown. He wanted the hell out and when I say out, he was about to panic. Please understand, panic can take many forms with horses, rearing at the break is just one manifestation of what I’m describing.

Ok, so, where do we go from here? Everybody is pointing fingers and wants answers and demands to know who’s to blame. Social media demands blood.

Well, this is an easy one. Almost as easy as making the call to disqualify Maximum Security in the Kentucky Derby. The blame is NOT on the assistant starter! His reaction on the video replay was one of anybody who is task with trying to do their job under tremendous pressure. It didn’t go well on his watch and he was clearly upset about what happened. He probably even does blame himself to some extent even though he knows there wasn’t much he could do. I guarantee you he feels worse than anyone involved.

Here’s where the absolute blame for this fiasco belongs: It goes squarely on the OWNERS of Bodexpress. This multi-consortium partnership of obviously oblivious, know-nothings, who’s ego and personal arrogance overloaded any shred of comprehension or smidge of commonsense they possess. If Bodexpress’ actual 14th place finish in the Kentucky Derby out of 19 starters didn’t tell them something, they have a serious problem with reality. This horse had NO BUSINESS in this race.

I’ll place equal shame on trainer, Gustavo Delgado, for not having the ability to control his owners and thoroughly explain to them why, as a maiden, their horse does not belong in the Triple Crown races. If those owners can’t get a grip on the real world, then resign the position of being their trainer. You do not need to train for idiots. That is unless you are aiding and abetting this delusional fantasy? If so, then double shame on you Gustavo. I don’t care about your credentials back in Venezuela. This is the Big Leagues of horse racing in America, not the Texas League of Venezuela. You need to either go back to training in your home country, what’s left of it, or take a job as an assistant trainer for a top level American trainer until you get a better grip on Graded Stakes racing in the USA.

Want point another finger? Point here; Pimlico Racing Secretary, Chris Merz could have and SHOULD HAVE refused this horse’s entry. This is a legitimate tool at the disposal of the racing secretary and the stewards at most racetracks and is within the rules of racing in every jurisdiction. Horses that have never won a race, do not belong in the field of a Grade One stakes race, especially a “Classic” race of the Triple Crown series. Fairytale stories are fun but they are mostly non-existent. Thankfully, just like the near disaster two weeks earlier in the Kentucky Derby, everyone walked away in one piece.

Let me finish with some facts, which are these days, of course just minor details.

There are always obscure exceptions but in almost all instances when the starting gate opens, a horse is considered an official starter. If this is the case there are no wagering refunds. If a starting gate is deemed by the stewards to have malfunctioned, then the horse is considered to be a non-starter, all wagering dollars are refunded. If a horse is scratched behind the gate or in the post parade, that horse is a non-starter and all money wagered on this horse is also refunded. Racing fans and bettors need to understand the rules. We have witnessed two very public lessons in the rules of horse racing in two weeks. Who knew, right?

So let’s congratulate a true horseman, trainer, Mark Casse and assistant trainer, David Carroll and to owner, Gary Barber for reading their horse correctly and then, having the courage to run him back in the Preakness.

Special tip of the hat to Tyler Gaffalione who employed text book race riding skills in both the Derby and the Preakness by employing Eddie Arcaro’s race riding 101 philosophy in each race; never go inside of one or around two. In hindsight, War Of Will may have been screwed out of the Derby thanks to loose riding by Luis Saez. But that’s one we’ll ever really know for sure, it’s all opinion.

Being involved in horse racing can be a gut-wrenching and heartbreaking sport to play and be involved in. This game ain’t for the queasy, timid, the faint of heart or those easily embarrassed. If you are among this group, the exits are clearly marked. Please do not let the door hit you in the ass on the way out – because it will hurt.

If there is a silver lining to what we’ve seen in the Derby and Preakness this year, it’s that interest and passions are running high. Very high. Horse racing just received a couple jolts of electro-shock therapy. The result; the patient is alive and well… Welcome back to the land of the living.

>> PS – I am in the process of setting up a YouTube channel where you can ask me ANYTHING you’d like to know about horse racing. Every week I’ll answer as many questions as possible on my channel. As soon as I get 200 subscribers, it’ll go live.

Email me questions, comments or concerns at the following email address: clint@dontgetmestarted.wtf

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