Sunday, December 27, 2009

Presious Passion Cheated

The W.L. McKnight Handicap was supposed to be a match up of the old warriors, a match up between two gallant tough luck Breeders Cup runner-ups. On one side you had the courageous Presious Passion, who runs unlike any other major turf horse of the modern era. In a time where turf runners give meaning to the saying patience is a virtue, Presious Passion routinely will sprint to the front, leading by as much as twenty lengths, and then with a grim determination and will of steel fight off any horse who dares to try and stick his nose in front.

2009 has been this fiery chestnut's best year at the races. He burst onto the scene with a record shattering performance in the United Nations Handicap, where he spurted away from the field by 20 lengths, running his first quarter in a blistering 22 1/5 seconds. His half mile split made his daunting task of winning look all the more impossible as the numbers, 45 1/5 seconds, lit up the tote board. Presious Passion would continue to run fractions that would spell a death sentence for any other horse in an 11 furlong event, but as they turned for home Presious Passion was still in front, and he would stay there as they swept under the wire. In this race he broke the previous course, held by 2007 Turf Champion English Channel, by nearly two seconds. With this performance he ran himself right to the top of the turf division.

The race that really set the stage for the showdown between himself and Cloudy's Knight was the Breeders Cup Turf. In this race we not only Presious Passion's raw, brilliant speed, but every ounce of courage and will that the gritty gelding possessed. After running fractions almost identical to his United Nations win, Presious Passion would enter the stretch with the defending Breeders Cup Turf Champion, Conduit, breathing down his neck along with many of Europes other top competitors. In one of the most stirring and heart wrenching stretch duels of the decade, Presious Passion would fall short by just half a length as they hit the wire.

Before they loaded into the gate I was a firm believer that it would be Presious Passion alone at the wire. However, that prediction was far from a reality, as Presious Passion would not be alone at any point of the race. Livingston Street would break with Presious Passion and hound him through the first six furlongs of the race, making sure to make his rival fight for every step of his lead.

Normally I do not mind the use of rabbits, I think that they are tool for strategy, and though I'm not all in favor for them, I do not mind the use of them. However, what happened in the McKnight was wrong. No sane jockey would dare to follow Presious Passion since it would mean certain loss for their horse, but it would seem that the sole purpose for Livingston Street was to make the race as hard as possible for Presious Passion, seeing that at one point the 80-1 shot was at one point even whipped to get into contention with his speed ball opponent.

As they turned for home Cloudy's Night and four others would run by the gutsy gelding, who still refused to give in, trying to fight back along the rail. The damage had been done though, as it was apparent to anybody with even a novice eye for racing that Presious Passion had nothing left to give. It was only his grit and class that would help him cross the wire in fifth, still in front of five others, including Livingston Street who finished second to last.

Not only am I upset at what was done to Precious Passion, but at what could potentially happen to Livingston Street. No horse should be pushed to the extent that he was pushed just to ruin the race for another. To whip a horse when there is not need to be whipped, except to wear out another should be viewed as cruelty and I personally would not allow that jockey to ever again ride in another race for as long as they live. Luis Saez does not deserve to ride another race, for he could have very well have ruined not just one but two horses with such aggressive tactics. What happened in that race was wrong, and should not go unpunished.

12 comments:

  1. My question is, was it the jockey's fault or did the trainer give him instructions to pressure Presious Passion?

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  2. I consider that possiblity as well anon, but I also say to myself even with instructions to pressure PP, the jock should not have gone to the extent of whipping a horse that was already all out to stay with PP to give even more, just so he could pressure PP. Also, I know that as a jock you follow instructions to get more business, but I would not if it would cost the horse. The jock is the one riding the horse and will be held responsible if something goes wrong. Can you imagine the outcry that would have come if LS had broken down because he was so leg weary he to a bad step. PETA would be all over that and would crying cruelty to animals because the jock pushed the horse to keep up, even though he was outmatched and had no real shot to begin with.

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  3. fyi,precious passion raced with first time lasix,that tells us that something was different with the horse an old pro like this will do better next time around........saez did nothig wrong and his horse was not being used as a rabbit...check the turn times for the race and you will notice that the splits were slow compared to passions usual standards...it was an offday as far as i can see and maybe just maybe this was just a pipe opener for gulfstream and later on...i think that was the plan...ask mary...only that cloudy had other plans as you might have noticed a well earned hiatus....also to whom this might concern,in LUIS SAEZ we are definitely looking at one of the future great riders thats on the scene......with a little luck,a lot of passion and the right priorities he will be a major contributor/competitor....this kid is chock full of talent/abilities,he has all the tools and more.......long live luis saez the reigning king of all apprentices and more.......

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  4. Anon,
    FYI, it is a lot easier to run fast splits uncontested than it is with pressure, which is why many frontrunners get brave when left alone on the lead. Also you cannot compare times from different tracks. Monmouth, where PP ran a course record is know for it's ability to favor speed and SA is a rock hard turf course that produces fast times. Your anaylsis on Saez, I could careless about the abilities he has, he whipped, WHIPPED an overmatched horse into contention in a pace he had no business pressuring. I can understand trying to pressure, but when there is no way you can keep up with the other horse, back off, don't whip your horse to try and force the issue. You also say that LS was not used as a rabbit, then tell me why Saes whipped his horse to get him on to even terms to pressure PP. That is the sole purpose of a rabbit, except these days jockeys don't whip their horses when they find out they are out run. To WHIP him to get to the front, to just get onto even terms with PP, before the final drive had yet to come is down right wrong.

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  5. my dear accept the pure unadulterated fact....the passion was not on her game......she gave it up 2 furlongs out......the significant thing is that she raced with first time lasix......that means she bled prior to the race......i guarantee you she was nopt wound tight for this race...ask mary.....i'll be eagerly looking forward to her next race,2nd time lasix i will wager a pretty penny on her in the exotics and you know what the price will be appreciably better,so dani its not as bad or unfair as you see it.....their was nothing wrong or unfair about that race....precious passion was not prepared to run a genuinely run mile and half.....bottom line.....period....dont believe me....just ask MARY!!!!!!

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  6. Anon,
    You lost any credibility when you call PP a she. Look at the records and you will see a G next to PP's name, that G stands for gelding, which is in fact a castrated MALE. You also lost credibility in going off point. I don't care about an off day, I care that an OVERMATCHED horse was WHIPPED to pressure and try to ruin the chances of another. That is the point of this blog, not bleeding or "asking Mary."

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  7. If I may add to what everyone else has said, I think it was shameful to the sport what happened in that race. And I think as part of the racing community we should be heard as a voice, and there should be an inquiry. Regardless of how PP finished, thats racing...and should be seen as we'll live to race another day. But the real crime is that a horse was put in there and abused to simply pressure another horse. Put Livingston Street on your equibase stable and lets all see if/when he ever makes it back. I wouldn't be the least surprised to see him disapear after that. A lot of horses would be fried, if not damaged. I'm very curious to see what happens next. This isn't over.
    But if we're all dedicated to the sport as it sounds, then write/call the stewards. Write the trainer and the jocks agent. And whether the trainer told him to or not, the jock did the hitting. This is a discrace to a sport holding on by it's fingernails. Don't let time fade the McKnight from our minds!

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  8. Joseph,
    Amen to that, you got every single point I was trying to make. It wasn't about winning or losing it was about the pushing of another horse beyond their limits, to only worsen the chances of another. I agree with you on LS, I doubt he will ever come back. I am relieve an injury did not occure, but I believe such a race will have, "broken his heart", and fried him. To do that to a horse is wrong, downright flat out wrong.

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  9. I can't fathom how some people are placing the 5th place finish soley on Presious Passion...did you not see Livingston Street being whipped? More than a mile from the finish line???

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  10. p.p. was indeed robbed. whipping in the first turn to press p.p.? i can't say as i have ever seen that happen in a big race and this was a big race.puts me in mind of the belmont spectacle of poor smarty getting beat in the backstretch..where did those two horses finish?i heard on hrtv that they thought saez thought the first turn was the finish..hello! saez..is he related to gabe saez?

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  11. That's an interesting bit of info Belles, I did not know about the confusion of the first turn part. Though, I say interesting because such a lapse in judgement is unbelievable. They had run half a mile and he thought that they had gone the full 12 furlongs. If he is as talented as Anon says I doubt very much that he actually thought that and is trying to cover for the fact that he was only trying to push his horse to pressure PP. The only thing worse is standing up yards before the finish line in the Belmont when on a potential TC winner. I highly doubt that he thought that it was actually the final drive, since the race was 12 furlongs and they had barely run four. Either way it's rather pathetic.

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  12. I'm a big fan of PP and wondered what happened in the McKnight. Agree that the other horse probably cost him the race. I do wonder though - if Livingston Street was a rabbit, who would he have been a rabbit for? My understanding is that rabbits are usually brought in by an owner or trainer to cook a front runner on behalf of another horse. If I'm not mistaken, Kaplan had no other horse in the race ....

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