Daytime Television

[Ace]

So I come home and turn on the TV to see the dentally challenged Calvin Borel being held back by guys twice his size and his attractive blond wife half his age while he\'s screaming profanity and acting like a mad man.  WTF, did I accidentally turn it to Jerry Springer?

[Silver Charm]

I said to friend of mine, well before I knew what had occurred in the Borel incident, that Renee Douglas can\'t walk today because of a similar move that Castellano made today.

Borel was out of line. But why is Castellano getting a free pass for being so reckless. When did the safety of the other riders and their horses become a non-issue.

[Ace]

My post was intended to be light-hearted and humorous.  But you\'re absolutely correct- someone could have been very seriously hurt out there today.

[Michael D.]

Ace Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So I come home and turn on the TV to see the
> dentally challenged Calvin Borel being held back
> by guys twice his size and his attractive blond
> wife half his age while he\'s screaming profanity
> and acting like a mad man.  WTF, did I
> accidentally turn it to Jerry Springer?


Horse racing gets the main headline on Sports Center:

\"Went to see a man about a horse, and a hockey fight broke out\".


Is this a good thing, or a bad thing?

[sekrah]

I laughed when ESPN commentators were saying Castellano had a reputation as a clean rider.

I wouldn\'t call him dirty, but he\'s easily one of the most aggressive riders on the NY circuit.

[Silver Charm]

And yet most of the press accounts are \"a bezerk Borel\" and \"out of control Borel\" a \"screaming and pointing in someones face Borel\".

AAAAAAH excuse me. Discussions of Castellano should not be about days but instead months.

If two horses had fallen and one jockey snapped his neck would someone actually say who was at fault here. Thats just the kind of daytime televison racing really needs to kick off a big weekend.

[sekrah]

Absolutely agree Silver Charm.

Facts of the incident:

#1. Javier Castellano made an ultra-aggressive, dangerous move in the turn that nearly resulted in catastrophe.

#2. Javier Castellano threw the first punch.


Borel nearly watched Martin Garcia and a 1200 pound animal go plummeting to the track because of reckless race riding by Castellano, that also caused his own ride to come to nearly a complete stop.   Borel had ALOT of horse left and re-rallied for 4th which probably really pissed him off as he probably thought he had a good shot at winning the race.   Borel confronted Castellano and read him a bit of a riot act and Castellano punches him.

Calvin is the bad guy now?

[moosepalm]

I figured if Calvin was going after anyone today, it would have been the track super or whoever was responsible for taking away his golden rail.

[sighthound]

The stewards are meeting Sunday morning with the riders.  They already said nobody would be taken off for Sunday, though (so the trainers/owners are not left hanging)

They warned them before the weekend that no bull would be tolerated, so we\'ll see if Castellano gets significant time for his very dangerous riding.

Calvin wasn\'t right, he was wrong. But it\'s a shame he\'s the one getting the bad publicity - some guy nearly kills me because he\'s careless, and I\'d see red, too.  It wasn\'t just Calvin, Garcia lost an iron yet made a truly amazing move to stay alive and upright and on the horse while the horse half went down.   Both those guys were milliseconds from tragedy.

[Silver Charm]

This scene just made Fox and Friends so racing is in the main stream news again.

I know Borel has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way (maybe jealousy) with 3 Derby winners in 4 yrs and the rider of Rachel. Appearances on Letterman, Leno etc.

But this was TOTALLY reckless what Castelanno did and he needs to be called out. Borel might need some humility counseling, I\'m not in the Jocks room, but anybody making it appear he lost control of himself doesnt understand the potential ramifications of the UGLY SPECTICAL one person could have caused to start the Event.

So Borel caused another one anyway......

[sekrah]

Borel starting a little post-race fracas is a far better controversy for horse racing to have than a euthanized horse and paralyzed jockey.

[Silver Charm]

Agreed and we almost went there because of one guys recklessness.  

The local newspaper has a picture of Calvin, vein bursting face being restrained and one of Castellano smiling like a choir boy. This is baloney!

I\'m not giving Borel a pass but people are fingering the wrong villian here.

[TGJB]

The fight was a good thing for racing, in this day and age. But it would have been REAL bad for racing if Garcia had come off the horse.