Lukas: Secured barn is really spin
Trainer says O’neill’s issues prompted move by Belmont
Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said New York regulators’ decision to make all the June 9 Belmont Stakes horses go into one highly secured barn starting Wednesday “gets down to that one horse” and was sparked by scrutiny of Doug O’Neill, trainer of Triple Crown hopeful I’ll Have Another.
O’Neill faces a 45-day suspension that won’t start until at least July 1.
“Reality is one thing; public perception is the other thing,” Lukas, who will try to win a fifth Belmont Stakes with long shot Optimizer, said Thursday at Churchill Downs. “We’re trying to put a spin on this that would give the perception that we’re really doing everything we can to clean up the game. The reality is this will not change the outcome of the race. Not one iota. It will actually be a little bit of a detriment to some horses . . . from the standpoint of changing stalls and all the commotion that goes with being all in one deal.”
Lukas said the story should be I’ll Have Another going for the Triple Crown, period. “It should be a wonderful story in our industry. Instead, it’s the secondary story,” he said. “The real story is Doug O’Neill and the (Rick) Dutrows of the world and so forth.
“And yet Doug O’Neill has pretty much taken the high road. Give him credit. He has put a positive spin on his personality and program and everything he’s trying to do. But the fact remains there is a suspension that is right there in front of him.”
O’Neill last week was handed a 45-day suspension in California dating to a third overage of total carbon dioxide in a horse in California in 2010. He has been aggressively fighting the suspension.
According to the Association of Racing Commissioners International database, O’Neill has been fined nine times since 1997 for horses testing over the regulatory threshold level of therapeutic medications.
None is considered to have a high potential to affect a horse’s performance.
His other rules violations have been for things such as not having a horse’s registration papers on file when it is to run, not reporting a horse was gelded and parking incorrectly on a track backside.
The only prior suspension he has served was 15 days for a total carbon dioxide overage in Illinois.
“I’m not picking on Doug O’Neill. I think we’ve got to go across the board,” Lukas said, referring to other trainers.
“The thing that bothers me is when there is a suspension, we don’t follow through. . . . We’ve got to put some teeth in it.”
Alpha out of Belmont:
Godolphin Racing’s Alpha will miss the Belmont Stakes after developing a fever, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said Thursday.
“He spiked a temperature on Tuesday evening, 103,” McLaughlin told the New York Racing Association’s publicity office. “He was fine by 11 that evening after treatment, fine yesterday, and he’s fine today, but it’s too high a temperature too close to the race.”
Alpha finished 12th in the Kentucky Derby. He won Aqueduct’s Count Fleet and Grade III Withers and finished second in the Grade I Wood Memorial before the Derby.
Five Sixteen in: Citing Five Sixteen’s progress, Anthony Bonomo of MEB Racing Stables confirmed the colt for the Belmont Stakes.
“Five Sixteen is turning out to be a pretty special horse,” Bonomo said. “He’s very lightly raced, so he hasn’t really left a mark, but you have to watch out for him.
“It’s exciting being in a race like that, and it’s exciting for racing in general to have a Triple Crown candidate. I think it’s great for the sport.
“I look at it this way: The best horse that day will win. If it turns out to be I’ll Have Another, that’s great. If it turns out to be mine, that’s great.”