The only public ownership in football, baseball, basketball and hockey might be seen as the season ticket, or a "seat license," a contrivance to get more money from the season ticket holder. In all my years of being a season ticket holder for the New York Rangers, I never once left with more money than I came to a game with. Any way you put it, the owners of these sports are families, or corporate behemoths. You don't walk up and plunk down money and buy a right wing.
But you can own a race horse. A bad one, a so-so one, a good one, a great one if you're blessed. The sport is filled with ownership from all walks of life: the incredibly rich to the just middle class, to the fractional ownership available to the pedestrian via racing syndicates. That kind of ownership brings it down to a waiter, waitress, or letter carrier. Photos from winners circles these days can resemble a high school class graduation photo.
For myself, the only skin I bring to the game is what's in my wallet when I go to track and the value of the voucher I purchase to bet from. Ownership, even fractional, is not how I enjoy the sport of handicapping and trying to predict an order of finish, hopefully leading me to cash out with more than I came with. That part doesn't always happen, but I've been coming back for over 50 years now, The next race is a new race, and a new opportunity to win. I look forward to it.
Certainly things happen at the races that are not always pleasant. Horses break down and are euthanized. The rate at which this happens varies greatly, but lately, at Santa Anita it took a big spike upward.
Jockeys are thrown and can be severely injured. Sometimes permanently. Some have even died after a spill or hitting their head in the starting gate because of a fractious horse. And these things can happen in training, not just during a scheduled race. The contact is with the ground.
Add to this, the recent revelations by Joe Drape of the New York Times of positive drug tests that were ignored, and allowed a horse, Justify, to proceed through the Triple Crown races and win it all. The public part of racing that is the ownership side gets to ask some very good questions about the level of the playing field.
The upshot of Justify's victory in the Santa Anita Derby is that the victory and the purse winnings of $600,000 remain distributed to Justify's connections and not to the second place finisher, Bolt d'Oro, owned and trained by Mick Ruis. (Owner/trainer combinations in thoroughbred racing are not common, but of course are allowed.) Second place to Mr. Ruis was worth $200,000, not bad, but it is kissing your sister compared to first place.
Racing is not a complete zero sum game. Purse distribution usually awards 50-60% to the winner, with the other finishers getting money, sometimes past 4th place.
Mr. Ruis's stake in the game is way different than mine. He's as close to the sport as you can get, being an owner and a trainer. The lack of established protocols in the handling of Justify's positive drug tests after the Santa Anita Derby effected him the most. A lawsuit certainly will be filed.
The governance of racing in all states is highly political. Racing Commissions and Athletic Commissions are filled with political appointees. The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the New York Racing Association (NYRA) is Michael J. Del Giudice, former governor Mario M. Cuomo's right-hand-man, with the current governor, Andrew M. Cuomo, being the former governor's son.
Will Justify's victory in the Santa Anita Derby be voided and the purse redistributed if Justify is considered disqualified? Keep breathing. Holding your breath is not good for you.The pari-mutuel aspect of the game won't change. The part of the game people like myself live in. The betting results will remain as is. Even if established protocols were followed, there is no retroactive redistribution of the betting pools after a positive result and disqualification. All that happens too long after the race is made official to change the results,
So what is the outcome? Racing is left with an undoing project. There is no alternate universe that can be called up where Justify is not in the Derby.
For myself, I'm completely unaffected, even from a pari-mutuel aspect, because I didn't play the Santa Anita Derby. I did however hit the exacta on the Derby, and that of course was because Justify finished first and was declared the winner. If Justify isn't in the race, do I hit the exacta? A hypothetical question.
"If" is the most freighted word in the English language. I only handicap who is in the race, not who should or shouldn't be in the race. If their pps aren't in front of me, they can't possibly be the winner. My part of the game.
My own feelings about Justify before any of the drug testing was revealed, is that his accomplishment was thin: six lifetime races, two wins in the Triple Crown over sloppy tracks, and a boat race victory in the Belmont. All over a very weak bunch of three-year-olds. And then he disappears into the breeding shed. Adios.
I have the winners circle photos of American Pharoah's 2015 Belmont and Triple Crown victory, and the 2018 photo of Justify's Triple Crown and Belmont victory.
Maybe I'll just put masking tape over Justify's name in the 2018 photo. How much of life can you unspool and start over?
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