Hangin' With Haskin : eight belles

Hats Off to Larry

Blood-Horse Staff — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:28:00 GMT

The morning of the Kentucky Derby, in a corner of Barn 43, all was right with the world. Larry and Cindy Jones were still beaming over the impressive victory of Proud Spell in the previous day’s Kentucky Oaks. Their African Gray parrot, Buddy, was whistling up a storm outside his cage in the office. Proud Spell was having her picture taken with several visitors. And in the next stall, Eight Belles was awaiting her chance at history in the Run for the Roses.

Some seven hours later, the Jones’ world came crashing down when Eight Belles, after finishing a gallant second to Big Brown, shattered both her front ankles while pulling up and had to be euthanized on the track.

The joy of Proud Spell’s magnificent victory had been short-lived, dimmed by the shadows of Eight Belles’ tragic death.

Larry Jones never could have imagined that a Kentucky Oaks victory and a second-place finish in the Kentucky Derby would become a prelude to a nightmare.

The firestorm that followed hit Jones as if he had been kicked in the gut by one of his horses. Volatile protests by PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) were directed not only at Thoroughbred racing, but at Jones, his jockey Gabriel Saez, and owner Rick Porter. Then came the demonstrations and the volumes of hate mail, followed by PETA’s attempt to have animal cruelty charges filed against Jones. Proud Spell’s Kentucky Oaks had quickly become a distant memory. “It seems like decades ago,” Jones said at the time. “Our enjoyment lasted only one day.”

A month later, one of Jones’ horses, Stones River, was found to have an excess amount of the bronchodilator clenbuterol in his system. Jones was convinced the horse had been tampered with, due to the timing of it and the fact that he was the only one in the barn who administered clenbuterol. Then, two of Jones’ horses, including his pony, Pal, were let out of their stalls and were found wandering about near the barn. Pal had been poisoned with a toxic agent that caused severe blisters in his mouth and on his tongue. A recently fired employee was suspected in the incident.

The once cheery, good-humored world of Larry Jones was now spiraling downward into the darkness of hatred, revenge, and ignorance. The year that had started with great promise quickly was unraveling and there seemed no way to stop it.

Jones had relied heavily on his faith after Eight Belles’ death and its aftermath, as he tried to get his life back to some sense of normalcy.

“Nothing has ever hurt me more,” he said at the time. “This is the greatest tragedy of my life.”

It reached a point where he became reluctant to open his mail, not wanting to subject himself to the cruel and hateful things people were writing.

Jones reappeared on the national scene on June 28, saddling Proud Spell in the Mother Goose Stakes (gr. I) and Solar Flare in the Suburban Handicap (gr. I). At the end of the day, it was apparent Jones’ bad luck was not over.

Proud Spell had a disastrous trip, getting shut off on the inside and hitting the rail, then racing erratically down the stretch. She managed to finish second behind the up-and-coming star Music Note, but as a final indignity, was disqualified and placed third, returning with several cuts near her coronet band. Solar Flare appeared to have the Suburban won in deep stretch, but let the longshot Frost Giant, whom he had passed, come back and beat him by a half-length.

After the race, Jones sat on the back of his pickup truck outside the detention barn. When someone commented, “Rough day,” Jones, with a smile on his face, replied, “The Derby was rough. I got two horses walkin’ around in that barn over there, and that’s the most important thing to me right now.”

With his priorities in order and his ordeal behind him, Jones set his sights on the second half of the year. On July 12, Proud Spell won the Delaware Oaks (gr. II). Two weeks later, his latest acquisition, Kodiak Kowboy, won the grade II Amsterdam at Saratoga. Even Stones River got in the act by winning the Nick Shuk Memorial at Delaware Park on Aug. 2, the same day Shytoe Lafeet won the West Virginia Senate President’s Stakes at Mountaineer Park.

A week later, Maren’s Meadows upset the Monmouth Oaks (gr. III) with a wire-to-wire performance. Then came Jones’ most important weekend, in which he sent out Proud Spell against Music Note in the Alabama Stakes (gr. I), a race he considered a championship showdown. Down in New Jersey the same day, Cindy saddled the promising 4-year-old Honest Man in the $300,000 Philip H. Iselin Stakes (gr. III) at Monmouth to determine the colt’s status in the older horse division.

First, it was Honest Man’s turn, as he drew clear of the favorite, Grasshopper, to win the Iselin by 2 3/4 lengths, earning himself a possible berth in the Sept. 27 Kentucky Cup Classic (gr. II).

Then it was the Alabama and possibly Proud Spell’s last chance to stamp herself as the leading 3-year-old filly in the country. When Music Note followed up her Mother Goose victory with a resounding 11-length romp in the Coaching Club American Oaks (gr. I) in a sharp 2:01 3/5 for the 1 1/4 miles, she became the new darling of the 3-year-old filly division.

Proud Spell, having run the only dull race of her career in the Ashland Stakes (gr. I) over the Polytrack at Keeneland, did not have the Breeders’ Cup on her schedule, making the Alabama a must win. Music Note, coming off her spectacular victory at 10 furlongs, was made the 2-5 favorite in the five-horse field, coupled with stablemate Little Belle, who had beaten Proud Spell in the Ashland and was second behind Music Note in the CCA Oaks coming off a layoff. Proud Spell was next in the wagering at 9-5.

All week, the Godolphin brain trust had discussed whether to run Music Note in the Alabama or wait for the Travers (gr. I) the following week and try her against the colts. It wasn’t until the morning of the Alabama that they decided to stick with the fillies rather than run against 11 colts in the Travers.

It was the decision Jones had been hoping for. “I needed her to run in this race, where they could hook heads,” Jones said. “If they had voted for champion the day before the race, heck, Music Note would have gotten it, based mostly on one race. Proud Spell winning the Kentucky Oaks and beating Indian Blessing in the Fair Grounds Oaks was history; it meant nothing. So for Proud Spell’s sake, we needed to take Music Note on.”

Before the race, Jones gave Saez explicit instructions: “Do not let Music Note in front. I don’t care if you have to ride her all the way to the barn area, down Nelson Avenue, or what, she don’t get in front.”

Proud Spell had never been passed in the stretch. “When she puts that eyeball on you, you’re pretty much at her mercy,” Jones said. “She somehow can find it in herself to stay in front.”

What followed was one of the great battles in memory, the kind of which champions are made.

Following a sluggish half in :50 3/5 and three-quarters in a snail-like 1:14 3/5, Proud Spell moved up to challenge Little Belle, whose lethargic pace did nothing to help Music Note, who was last in the five-horse field. With Proud Spell dogging her the whole way, Little Belle’s tactics made her stablemate’s job a lot tougher. Through a fourth quarter around the far turn in a sharp :24 1/5, Proud Spell cruised up to challenged Little Belle, while Music Note had to be pushed along by Javier Castellano in order to close the gap.

Both fillies went by Little Belle turning for home and the battle everyone had wanted to see was on. When Music Note moved alongside Proud Spell, Saez, after a pair of right-handed whips, switched to his left hand in order to let Proud Spell move out and look her opponent in the eye, as Jones had wanted. Once she did, she dug in and refused to let Music Note by. Saez, switched back to his right hand and gave Proud Spell several smacks over the shoulder. Proud Spell began to inch away, and although the margin was only a head, the issue was never in doubt in the final yards.

It was a shame either filly had to get beat. This was Music Note’s first time around two turns and her first gut-check. But in the end, it was the tenacious, battle-tested Proud Spell who prevailed.

“Hopefully, that will settle the Eclipse Award,” Jones said. “I just can’t see them settling it on an artificial surface and using that as the one-race measure. That’s why they have dirt horses and they have turf horses. And now you need a third kind of horse. I know we’re not looking to go to the Breeders’ Cup with Proud Spell.

“She wasn’t comfortable on the Polytrack at Keeneland. We work over the Tapeta track here at Fair Hill, and while it’s good for her to train on it, she still works slow, and had a slow work over it for the Alabama, considering the effort she put into it.”

After a tumultuous two months, Jones has been able to regroup and steer himself back on course. That familiar broad smile and the “good ‘ol boy” quips have returned.

“Everything is going extremely well now; we’ve been very blessed,” he said. “It’s been one whale of a roller coaster ride, to be honest with you, but at least we’re back on the upside now.”

The Timing Stinks

Blood-Horse Staff — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:50:00 GMT

Picture Thoroughbred racing as a multiplex cinema, showing a wide variety of movies over the past several months. Unfortunately, many of them have been ill-timed and offensive to a number of people. Therefore, it is important during these precarious times for the sport to tread carefully when it comes to public perception.

Any one of the films the sport has presented recently would be considered ill-advised, but for all of them to be shown within weeks of each other indicates how poor racing’s timing is, and how judicious it must be in the choices it makes.

Listed below are several of the films in question. I admit this format may seem a bit contrived, but commentary alone has -- pardon the cliché -- fallen on deaf ears.

For Whom the Belle Tolls – It tolls for a gallant filly. The Eight Belles tragedy created the biggest uproar since The Passion of the Christ, except nobody liked this one. When animal rights people, including a hardcore group of misinformed PETA members, protested vehemently against racing, comparing it to dog fighting, high-ranking members of the sport needed to step forward and defend its honor, while pointing out to PETA why their fury was misplaced and based mostly on misguided passion rather than facts. Not one ever came forward.

Witness for the Prosecution – With defense witnesses like the ones at last week’s congressional hearings, who needs a prosecutor? Once again, racing was abandoned and left exposed by its so-called spokespeople. The congressional subcommittee came armed with heavy ammunition, but it wasn’t needed, because the witnesses – many of them leaders in the industry – fired the bullets for them. This was the Scopes Monkey Trial minus Clarence Darrow, or for Inherit the Wind fans, Spencer Tracy. Was there no one among this hand-picked (by the subcommittee) group that could defend racing by at least pointing out some of its good points rather that go on ad nauseum about how troubled the sport is and how it needs federal intervention to save it from itself? Yes, racing needed a swift kick in the ass, but let’s hope its leaders who have a more positive outlook on the sport step forward and take action.

“Whip” Tide – Jeremy Rose has released a statement regarding his actions on June 23, in which he whipped his mount in the face, injuring her eye. Although he claims it was an accident and his statement sounds sincere and extremely apologetic, this was the worst possible time for this to happen. There is no good time for something like this to happen, but, with all the talk now about racing’s cruelty and cries for abolishing the whip, could there have been a worse time? Rose’s six-month suspension, or however long he serves, unfortunately, may be the least of his problems. He will be caught in the undertow of public protest and swept away to who knows where. We all remember Rose for his and Afleet Alex’s miraculous escape from disaster in the 2005 Preakness Stakes, so, perhaps, the memory of that incident will eventually get him back in good standing.

But right now, it is going to be difficult for him to return from his suspension and not incur the wrath of the fans and all animal lovers unless it is forgotten by then. That wrath has already flooded the internet. The question is, can his explanation of what happened erase the terrible image that is being viewed as we speak by people all over the country. Should this one incident ruin a rider’s entire career and reputation? For a first offense, a veteran like Rose is entitled to a second chance after serving his penalty. But for now, the bottom line is, Rose not only committed what people view as a heinous act, his timing was lousy, and he must bear the guilt for that as well, as unjust as it may seem.

Rick-ochet – Talk about lousy timing, this no doubt will come bouncing off the wall. Rick Dutrow’s 15-day suspension for a clenbuterol positive just adds to the weird funk racing is in from a timing standpoint. Not the right time or the right person. Dutrow told the New York Times: “I was there all week and am responsible. I use that medication on many of my horses and only once can ever remember having a problem with it.” Dutrow has appealed the suspension, so we'll have to see how this plays out and what the circumstances were. Cases such as this normally are also about bad timing, with the medication (in this case one commonly used) not clearing the horse’s system in time. But whenever you hear the words drugs, positive, and suspension, especially regarding someone as high-profiled as Dutrow is right now, it is likely the case will be blown out of proportion. And you can't blame anyone for doing so. This ill-timed incident comes on the heels of the positive test for the same drug by Eight Belles' trainer Larry Jones. What are the odds of these two particular trainers, who have been mired in so much controversy recently, both coming up positive for the same drug within a week of each other?

Bringing Up Baby – There is nothing particularly timely about this, but while we’re on the subject of things that need changing in racing, how about the 2-year-old sales? If you want to hear disturbing stories, just talk to a number of trainers of 2-year-old sales graduates about the condition of the horses when they arrive at the barn and how long it takes to get those horses to the races or even begin serious training. I won’t go into details about what many of these babies have to go through to get them to work an eighth of a mile in :09 seconds and change, a time they will never even close to approaching ever again. Horsemen pride themselves in their ability to pick out young horses based on their horsemanship and pedigree prowess. So, why can’t they use their skills in picking out 2-year-olds based on how the horse gallops -- their stride, the way they move etc? Does it require any skill whatsoever to pick out a young undeveloped horse just because he’s able to work faster than a Quarter-Horse? Heck, you and I can go to a 2-year-old sale and buy whoever has the fastest work if that’s the kind of short-term fix we’re looking for. We don’t need a bloodstock agent for that; we don’t even need to have a clue what we’re doing. The only thing we’d need is money, nothing more.

With the increasing number of synthetic surfaces across the country, there could very well come a time when there will be no reason to work a young horse that fast, because early blazing speed will no longer be desirable. So, why not start getting into that mindset now?