O'Appeals, Keeneland & ABM's

Good morning racing fans!

Apparently the Breeders Cup is not allowing Doug O'Neill to race in the Breeders' Cup this year because of his Class II suspension from 2012 (or 2011, I lose track). This is really all the Breeders Cup could do, despite it being nothing about nothing. As we all know, some ghost trainer's name goes down, the money is still funnelled into the stable.

As we said yesterday here on the blog, when comparing this penalty to what would've happened in Ontario we showed holes in the system. Again, in this case another hole is exposed. When a trainer is suspended in places like Ontario, the horses must be moved to an accredited trainer with no connections to the suspended trainer. The trainer must be approved by the racing commission. With California's reputation of a less than penal pentalty system it's likely this will not happen, but I think we can all agree it should in this case, and all other cases like it.  As long as the system is considered a joke, horsemen will laugh at it and keep doing what they are doing. 

Yesterday's racing at Keeneland was kind of "meh" and the races on the main were about what I expected. You could eliminate some of the back half of the field in sprints, the fields were spread at the wire; the usual dirt racing stuff. The track did look good though, and although two horses walked off gingerly and might have issues, it seems they've done a good job.

Roger Breuggeman and Kirk Ziadie in the sprint was eye-opening. Build dirt, build sprint and stagger, they come. I can honestly say, and I don't think I am alone, that sprint with Mark Casse and Graham Motion sprinters is a race I'd rather bet on. 

Handle was down a ton compared to same day last season - about $2.5 million - but it was a poor card and without "all weather", the fields were shorter (people seem to forget that poly was originally constructed for UK cards in winter). Today's card is good and handle should be solid.

In HRU this morning, kicking fines were announced in Ohio for Miller, Gingras and Miller. Two days, $500. You remember those races; it was obvious.

Also in HRU, Always B Miki has been an ABM lately, and he faces He's Watching today at the Red Mile. As trainer Joe Holloway noted, the colt is still immature. Let's hope today is another building block to his potential. He's the fastest horse I have seen in a long time.

Enjoy your day everyone!