Awesome Again kerfuffle results in seven-day suspension for
Espinoza
Rain danced briefly and intermittently on
Santa Anita Park‘s Clockers’ Corner
Sunday morning, but not enough to put a damper on the buzz of the hour, the
controversial running of Saturday’s Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes and the heated,
in-your-face aftermath involving jockeys and owners.
The hubbub began when Sky Kingdom, a 36-1 shot trained by
Bob Baffert and ridden by Victor Espinoza, drifted out on the first turn in the
1 1/8-mile race, causing unbeaten 1-5 favorite Shared Belief, trained
by Jerry Hollendorfer and ridden by Mike Smith, to fan out.
Fed Biz, the 6-1 second choice in the Breeders’ Cup
Challenge race, also trained by Baffert, was on or near the lead under Martin
Garcia. Assertions and allegations from experts and hoi polloi alike were
immediate — Sky Kingdom carried Shared Belief wide to get him beat.
Shared Belief, showing he is all heart, overcame the antics
to win by a neck despite going five wide into the second turn and four wide into
the stretch to best a game Fed Biz.
The good news is that all combatants came out of the scrum
in good shape and will live to do battle if so inclined in the
Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on November 1.
But opinions were still as plentiful as blond anchors on
Fox News.
“These guys are fierce competitors,” Baffert said, alluding to Espinoza,
Smith and their contemporaries. “I see it happen to my horses when you have a
good one. I didn’t tell Victor to do that. He stayed away from my other horse,
Fed Biz.
“Game On Dude, that’s why I retired him, because he was starting to get
mugged, every race,” he added. “I didn’t cry about it. I just retired him.”
Espinoza was called in by the stewards on Sunday and handed down a seven-day
suspension (October 4-5, 9-12) for violation of two California Horse Racing
Board (CHRB) rules — #1699 (d) (Ride carelessly, or willfully, so as to permit
their mount to interfere with or impede any other horse) and #1844
(Unsatisfactory Rides).
“I don’t know exactly what Victor was doing,” Smith said
during his Sunday morning rounds on the backstretch. “My horse overcame it and
showed a lot of fight. He finished the race strong and he had to work for it
after being taken out (wide).
“But he came out of the race good. I just went to see him. He ate up, he’s
happy, so all’s good. Sometimes a good race like that will put more in him.”
Hollendorfer confirmed what Smith said about Shared
Belief’s post-race condition.
“He came out of it real nice,” the Hall of Famer said. “Everything’s good.”
Asked about the incident just after the race was official,
Hollendorfer replied, “We’re all big boys…It’s no big deal for me. Mike will
have to settle with Victor. It’s not the worst thing in the world to have a
tough race and be double-fit for the Breeders’ Cup. That race will be tougher so
we need to be tougher, too.”
He confirmed those thoughts Sunday morning.
“We’re big boys out here racing and as long as we won, we overcame a lot, so
I’m grateful to get the win.”
Perhaps Sean McCarthy, who sent out Majestic Harbor to a
fourth-place finish in the Awesome Again, summed it up best.
“It had,” he said, “all the drama you wanted.”
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