A Late, Brief, Blog

Back at home, hooray, hooray!  The kits have run outside, I have Antiques Roadshow on, and I've checked my e-mail again.  I have to return a phone call to a possible new client, and to an established client wanting to know about Christmas.  I left Lynn's after I got word that she was on her way home from DIA.  Besides cleaning my apartment and doing laundry, all I need to do tomorrow is walk the red kids.  .....  I was disappointed by all but three of my collegiate football teams and by all the pros, except the Packers.  It did seem really strange to see Major Wright tackle Percy Harvin Sunday night, as they both used to play for the Gators.

The Breeders Cup is coming closer - November 4 and 5, at Churchill Downs.  After the fiasco with Life At Ten in the Distaff race last year, there are new rules in place for jockeys, trainers, stewards, and veterinarians.  After the warm-up, the second betting choice, Life At Ten's  jockey told Jerry Bailey on ESPN that the filly hadn't warmed up the way she usually did, and that she felt wrong, or strange.  The jockey did not report this to the vet at the gate, nor to a steward.  ESPN sent the video and voice clip to the steward's by their own volition.  Life At Ten did not run well at all, and the jockey didn't try to whip her, knowing something was wrong.  She finished last.  The trainer said she had an allergic reaction to the Salix (lasix) she was given prior to the race.  Bettors lost money, and the public and Churchill Downs authorities were not happy.  The jockey and senior steward John Veitch were charged with "violating the rules of racing" by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.  The jockey did not admit wrong-doing, and paid a $10,000 fine.  The case against John Veitch has yet to be decided, but both sides have run up over $100,000 in legal fees. 
The outcome is that a new set of rules and regulations regarding the reporting of questions regarding the the horse's health has been put into place.  The new measures include:
--Establishment of a Communications Command Center at Churchill Downs, staffed by a KHRC employee who is also an accredited steward. The Communications Command Center will monitor all radio channels used by the veterinary team and track personnel, television broadcasts, simulcast and on-track feeds;
--Designating one of the three stewards to be in the paddock during saddling for each race;
--Instituting easily identifiable uniforms with the words VET TEAM in large block letters for both the KHRC and Breeders’ Cup veterinarian team members to aid race participants;
--Inclusion of the stewards and representatives of the Jockeys’ Guild in a pre-event television production meeting; and,
--Advance meetings with the Jockeys’ Guild regarding on-track veterinary team and pre-race communications protocols.