Some take flight, some stay in holding pattern

The impact of the halt in racing at Santa Anita, prompted by the haunting spectre of 21 horses fatally injured this winter, has sent dominoes tumbling. Many of the owners, trainers, and jockeys who rely on the bounty of purses offered by the West’s most famous track have been sent scurrying for alternate plans, while others find themselves in frustrating limbo, awaiting word from track management for a green light to resume business as usual.

Joel Rosario, who led the jockey table through March 3 by five wins over Flavien Prat, was the first to pack a bag and head back East, although his agent, Ron Anderson, said they were leaving anyway to ride at Keeneland next month.

Rosario’s departure has left Prat alone at the top of the standings with twice the total of his closest pursuers and a virtual lock on the title for the meet – whenever the meet starts again. Prat, however, is not an asset that can be left on the shelf for long.

“We were going to Oaklawn next Saturday for the Rebel,” said Derek Lawson, Prat’s agent. “But now he’ll ride there starting on Thursday, then return. Hopefully, we’ll be racing again by then, but if not we’ll maybe have to look at New Orleans the following week.”

On Saturday’s canceled program, Prat would have ridden contenders River Boyne in the Kilroe Mile and Extra Hope in the San Felipe, and longshot Noble Commander in the Santa Anita Handicap.

“I was really looking forward to Saturday,” said Joe Talamo, who was set for Caribou Club in the Kilroe, Dabster in the Santa Anita Handicap, and Dr. Dorr in the San Carlos. “The game can be a real whirlwind sometimes. I would have never dreamed something like this would happen. And I was especially surprised since the track has felt pretty good to me. But that many fatalities can’t go unaddressed.”

Talamo has had 126 mounts at the meet without any of them suffering a fatal injury. He also has worked horses regularly in the morning without incident.

“I know luck has a lot to do with it,” Talamo said. “And I’ve ridden on bad racetracks before, so I know what they feel like. Without a doubt a bad racetrack is spotty. You’ll be going along and all of a sudden – boom – you’ll hit a soft spot.”

Mike Smith was ready to saddle up on Santa Anita Handicap favorite McKinzie and Sham Stakes winner Gunmetal Gray in the San Felipe this weekend when the plug was pulled. Instead, he took a flight to New York on Friday, where he was to ride Much Better for the Bob Baffert stable in the Gotham Stakes on Saturday.

“I can’t ever remember having this much rain since I’ve ridden out here,” Smith said. “Having to race and train on sealed tracks all the time has been a bit too much. That said, I’ve had a great, safe meet. But with all the things happening every precaution has to be taken to make sure everything is right.”

Smith has been having one his best Santa Anita meets ever, with 23 winners from 69 mounts.

“This hits the whole industry hard,” Smith said. “There are people who live from paycheck to paycheck, so it’s going to make it tough for a few weeks anyway. The important thing now, though, it to get the track right and keep it that way.”

Smith and McKinzie would have had their hands full facing Gift Box in the Santa Anita Handicap. Winner of the San Pasqual at the start of the meet, Gift Box’s name was floated as a possibility for the Dubai World Cup at the end of the month, but owner Kosta Hronis pushed back.

“We’re Southern California guys and we like racing at home,” said Hronis, who along with his brother Pete won the 2018 Eclipse Award for outstanding owner. “The Handicap is our first choice, wherever they reschedule it. If they don’t, then we’ll have to make that decision.”

As publicly visible ambassadors of the sport, players like Hronis, Talamo, and Smith have found themselves faced with hard questions from casual fans and friends who have been inundated by the wave of disturbing stories with “Santa Anita” in the headlines.

“Yes, quite a bit,” Talamo said. “And they are tough to answer. When I say it was because of the rain and sealed tracks, they’d say, ‘Then why would you guys even run?’ It’s hard to answer that. It’s one thing to say the races have to go on, and I could tell them I thought it was safe. But that’s really not an answer.”

For his part, Hronis knows what it feels like to lose a horse to fatal injury and, like so many committed to the sport, he knows how difficult it is to communicate the conflicted emotions.

“Anyone who looks at the people who work with the horses, for them to think for a moment we would ever consciously jeopardize the health of the horse to me is shocking,” Hronis said.

“We love these animals,” he added. “They call us ‘horsemen,’ and it’s a badge we wear with honor. I don’t know how we change the perception of people who look at us that way, but I know we need to do a better job.”