So this is the second straight year where a graded stake race at Saratoga has
come up smelling a little fishy due to an uncoupled Chad Brown entry.
Remember in the 2016 Sword Dancer, Flintshire came up the hedge to win going
away. David Grenig\'s DRF account of the Sword Dancer was as follows:
\"Flintshire combined his own brilliance and an assist from a stablemate to
record his second straight victory in Saturday\'s Grade 1 Sword Dancer...
[Flintshire] got a big assist from Aaron Gryder on the pacemaker Inordinate,
who moved off the inside, creating room for Flintshire...\"
(Personal note: I was at the Spa for the 2016 Sword Dancer, thought Flintshire
would have won the race with or without Gryder\'s assistance).
It is bad enough that a graded turf stake at a frequently run distance comes up
with only five starters (I do not know how many were originally nominated).
When three of the entries are from one barn, and run uncoupled, the potential
for smelliness will always exist, especially where, as here, Lady Eli and Rocco
Rojo shared common ownership, each being owned in part by Sheep Pond Partners.
I know it smacks of bad sportsmanship, but it is not hard to imagine a scenario
where Rosario is told not to do anything to interfere with the featured
performer.
Going into Monday\'s races, Chad Brown and Todd Pletcher are locked in a battle
for leading trainer honors. Brown is 33/125; TAP is 32/120; no other trainer
has saddled more than 82 runners. Let us not forget that these two accounted
for all three Triple Crown events this year.
I have mentioned before the intangible advantages operations on the large scale
of Chad and TAP enjoy. Perhaps the greatest advantage they enjoy is nearly
unlimited stall space at whichever NYRA venue is open for racing. It would not
surprise me to hear that CB and TAP each had between 80-120 stalls at Saratoga.
Not only do these outfits enjoy large stall allocations, but the way these
large outfits utilize the stalls are not subjected to the same scrutiny as the
lower profile outfits might be. Stabling layups and 2YOs not ready to race are
advantages undoubtedly granted to the BIG outfits; if a lower profile trainer
tried to use the Spa as a 2YO training center or a rehab facility, or shipped
out of NYRA to run, this trainer would likely be under constant pressure from
the racing office, pressure not likely applied to TAP and Chad.
In olden days, trainers at NYRA were limited to 40 stalls;* query whether
capping the number of stalls allocated to CB and TAP and others would result in
more trainer diversity at the Spa, and whether this would improve the quality
of Racing?
Getting back to coupled entries and field size, there is no reason to believe
that mandating all entries with common ownership or saddled by the same trainer
run coupled would eliminate any of the (alleged) unsportsmanlike conduct in
last years Sword Dancer or this years Ballston Spa; to the contrary, it would
somehow sanitize it. Of course, if Roca Rosario was coupled with Lady Eli the
price of both runners would have been reduced.
In my opinion, the greatest damage done by permitting uncoupled entries is that
it allows the Racing Secretary/Stakes Coordinator to become complacent. If the
three Brown entrants were required to run coupled the Racing Secretary would be
confronted with a Ballston Spa with four wagering interests before the scratch
of an entrant which may never have intended to run anyway. Given this short
field scenario, it is possible that NYRA would have had to work more diligently
to recruit more runners for this race.
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* Woody Stephens was for 15 or so years NYRA\'s dominant trainer when it came to
stakes performers and 2YOs; he did it with a stall allocation capped at 40. But
Stephens trained mostly homebreds (ie Hickory Tree and others) which were
trained on farms. Most of these homebreds had the benefit of serious foundation
built on these farms. Many of these young runners were only two or three works
away (and possibly some paddock/gate schooling) away from their first start. In
today\'s game, auction purchases seem to outnumber homebreds. The owner of a big
ticket auction purchase probably wants this horse to go directly to the
racetrack, as does the trainer, who collects no day money if the youngster goes
to a training farm to complete preparations for their first race.
