Let It Be (The Beatles, 1969): Take A Mulligan, Gary

On the day before the two-day Breeders' Cup commences at Santa Anita, Hall of Fame golfer Gary Player _ he owns a 20,000-acre breeding farm in his native South Africa_ was presented with the Breeders' Cup's newest gimmick (excuse me, "award") for Sports and Racing Excellence.
The golfer then hit his opening drive into the rough with this: ``We need more horses like Rachel Alexandra and Sea The Stars to come and compete. Don’t hide them away. Don’t make excuses about tracks. We need these champions to compete against each other."
C'mon, Gary. Breeders' Cup CEO Greg Avioli put you up to this, right? Why else would you make such a ridiculous statement? In golf, yes, the best show up for the majors. All the time. Every year. You know. You did.
Horse racing? Not the same. You know it. European star Sea The Stars has his own story (breeding, you know), but this is a direct shot at Rachel Alexandra and her owners, wine baron Jess Jackson and his longtime pal, Harold McCormick. To accuse them of hiding Rachel, making excuses about tracks and then saying ``we need champions to compete'' ... well, Gary, you haven't been paying attention.
Rachel Alexandra: 8-for-8 this year, a-race-a-month campaign until her third win over boys (big boys) in the Woodward Stakes in September. And as for her absence from the Breeders' Cup, Jackson's two-time Horse of the year Curlin did not like the surface last year in the Classic, and he made it clear many months ago he did not like ``plastics.'' Anyway, Rachel already has earned the right to be ranked among the best fillies ever (right up there with Ruffian).
So, Gary, how does not running against Zenyatta, a synthetic sensation running on her home track, affect Rachel's accomplishments? Where was Zenyatta when there were several chances to go against Rachel on dirt?
See? Racing has created yet another conundrum with a rush to synthetics despite lack of proof it will cut down on breakdowns. If the Breeders' Cup were on dirt, would Zenyatta take on Rachel? Of course we want champions to compete (the Breeders' Cup tried to lure Rachel to the Classic by increasing the winner's share, remember?). As you say, Gary, you'd never back down from Nicklaus or Palmer, and if you lose you lose. But there is quite a bit more that goes into deciding whether a horse should run in a particular race at a particular track.





So, let's look at what the Breeders' Cup has done to make this one of the least compelling Breeders' Cups ever (and thank you Jerry and Ann Moss for Zenyatta in the Classic, at least). They scheduled the event at the same synthetic track two years in a row without waiting for feedback from owners, trainers, etc. They wanted their two-day event to become a 14-race festival that would bring out the Hollywood stars and create a buzz. It ain't happenin, folks. Of the 14 races that could see a maximum of 190 horses compete, only 3 of the 14 fields are full and 42 starting gates will be empty over the two days. And with racing's No. 1 lady waiting for her 4-year-old campaign, and Zenyatta going against the boys, Friday's Ladies Classic(that's no lady, that's my wife!) will have a field of 8 out of a possible 14.
A thought: When the Cup is held at Churchill Downs in 2010, it should be a one-day event with eight or nine races. Enough buffoonery.