Horse racing hoping for return to normal after disjointed year
LEXINGTON, Ky. — The golden sunset over Keeneland provided a picturesque and welcome wrap for horse racing after the pandemic wiped out its spring, cramped marquee stakes races into a crowded schedule and reshuffled the Triple Crown order.
No Triple Crown winner emerged as a result, though the Breeders’ Cup world championships helped make up for that. Many of its best competitors performed at the top of their games on a record-breaking weekend, sparking high expectations for 2021.
The sport hopes that next year’s schedule returns to normal and that spectators can be in the grandstands.
“It’s been a different feeling,” trainer Bill Mott said last week. “Being a participant, we probably get as excited as the fans when they’re there.
It’s like I’ve got a bet on every race we’re participating in. So I miss the fans.”
The pandemic struck in the middle of qualifying season for the Kentucky Derby, which ended up postponed from the first Saturday in May for the first time since 1945 to Labor Day weekend. It was sandwiched between the Belmont Stakes and Preakness, which ran just over a month ago as the Triple Crown’s final jewel instead of in the middle.
The upside was those events and other stakes races still ran.
“It was a crazy year and a lot of hardships,” Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday. “We just feel fortunate
that we got to keep going and happy that racing continues.”
Baffert pledged more oversight in his operation after multiple positive tests for medication violations by several of his horses. That included Gamine, who provided vindication amid the scrutiny by dominating the Filly and Mare Sprint by 6 1/4 lengths in a record-breaking 1:42.30.
Her race was the first of several record-setters, capping a weekend that offered a hint of which horses to watch for next year’s Kentucky Derby and Oaks as well as the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar in California.
A handful of 2-year-olds showed promise Friday, with Essential Quality and filly Vequist serving notice as possible contenders after signature wins in the Juvenile and Juvenile Fillies, respectively.