Last weekend’s Breeders’ Cup was a triumph in every way. Beautiful, gifted Thoroughbreds in a beautiful environment and top jockeys from all over the world. The Breeders’ Cup, Del Mar and NBC combined to produce a superb show, a superb spectacle. And plenty of reasons for optimism about the future of the sport.
The whip: It’s looking better now
The jockeys rode under new CHRB (California Horse Racing Board) whip rules, which meant they could use the whip only in the underhand/backhand position, with no more than two strikes in succession and no more than six in total. I thought this made the races more aesthetically pleasing than before. It looked kinder on the horses, without in any way diminishing the excitement.
My son, jockey Jack Gilligan, said it would take longer to pull the whip through to the other hand in the underhand position in an emergency if a horse was lugging into another in a tight finish. He doesn’t see what is wrong with the European rules - six strikes in succession, as long as the horse gets time to respond between each strike, with the forehand position allowed.
I think, though, that most people have come around to the view though that less extreme use is good.
Was this the cleanest meet the U.S. has ever had?
The meet also featured increased pre-race veterinary scrutiny, with state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment in use. This apparent coming together of minds between veterinarians and horsemen and women feels.
It must have been a bitter pill for Chad Brown to have to scratch two of his best hopes: Domestic Spending due to inflammation in a joint, Jack Christopher with a shin issue. Difficult decisions to take, the first seemingly by Brown, the second by the official veterinarians.
The 2021 Breeders’ Cup may have been the cleanest meet, medication and drug-wise in North America since the 1970s. If some of the stories old timers on the backstretch have told me are true, it may have been the cleanest race meet there ever.
As far as I’m aware it was the first race meet in North America with a complete ban on race-day administration of any drugs, including Lasix since it was legalized in the early 1970s as a medication to be used only as a therapeutic treatment for chronic bleeders – before it quickly came to be used on 99 percent of the horse population every time they raced.
Enhanced pre-race and post-race testing of all runners, including taking hair samples that can detect the administration of drugs used on a horse months after treatment, were also huge steps in trying to ensure clean racing and provide level playing fields.
There seemed a real pulling together at the meet. A genuine effort to do all that could be done to run contests that bettors could trust were free of drugs and to keep the horses and riders as safe as possible.
Pure class from Jose and Irad
The most poignant moments of the meet came from the Ortiz brothers.
Miguel Mena, a regular rider for years on the Kentucky/Fair Grounds circuit, was killed in a pedestrian accident just days before the meet. Jack and I were driving back from a store in New Orleans, laughing and joking about something, when he glanced at his phone. His face turned white and I saw a terrible look of shock and then horror and sadness as he read that Mena was gone.
When the gates open, the jockeys are competitors, but back in the room, when they are on the benches next to each other, they are comrades, and Miguel Mena was one of the most respected, skilled and popular riders in there.
When we got home, Jack went into the bathroom and took some time for himself. I expect everyone else who knew Mena well did something similar. The 34-year-old was well liked and counted trainers, exercise riders and many others among his friends. He was known as ‘Cholo’ to his friends and comrades.
When Pizza Bianca passed the line in front in the Juvenile Fillies Turf under Jose Ortiz on Friday and when Life Is Good took the Dirt Mile on Saturday under his brother Irad, both riders turned their heads toward the big grandstand and quietly drew a finger toward their pursed lips, meaning, ‘Don’t celebrate me. Be silent.’
They were touching tributes to Mena, who had made the same gesture when he rode Tom’s d’Etat to victory in the G2 Stephen Foster Handicap last year for trainer Al Stall Jr.
After Irad’s victory on Golden Pal for Wesley Ward, when he stood in the winner’s enclosure he drew MM into the sky and put his fist to his heart. The Ortiz brothers are class acts out of the saddle as well as in it.
Only around one in 300,000 people ride Thoroughbred races for a living, a tiny band of about 600 riding regularly in the States. Only they have the balance, the strength, the athleticism, the horsemanship, the nerve to do the job. Miguel Mena regularly placed in the top 50 riders in the nation. He was an elite among the elites.
America rising
The industry is waking from its slumber now. It took some rousing. It had been slumbering for a long time.
Is it possible that, in one giant leap, U.S. racing could go from lagging other major racing nations in welfare and the safety of the Thoroughbred competitors and the bravest of all athletes, the jockeys, to leading all other nations? I think it could be. Now it has put its mind to it.
Warren Buffet is known as the Sage of Omaha. One of his maxims is never bet against America. I think I saw why he takes that view at the weekend. I saw owners who are great for the sport winning, and younger owners celebrating just being there, being part of it, demonstrating sportsmanship, having fun. I saw brilliant rides from brilliant jockeys. I saw their heart. I saw some of the very best Thoroughbreds in the world going head to head. I saw trainers saying and doing the right thing, I saw everyone doing their best, seemingly united. I saw one of the greatest race meets in the world.
It felt like the beginning of the dawn of a bright new age for U.S. racing. Del Mar looked beautiful. It was all great. Except Cholo is gone.