Racing! CHRB ready to tackle Golden Gate issue

Hello, my name is John Cherwa and welcome back to our horse racing newsletter as we wonder when, of if, we’ll see Justify run again.

The top news is the injury to Justify. Is it a big deal? Too early to tell. Trainer Bob Baffert called it a filling in his left front hoof. You can read the story here. What was interesting is that he had the same injury more than a week ago and nothing was said. But this time, when it came back, the connections issued a news release. That could mean they think it is more serious.

It's been whispered around the horse racing community that Justify’s remaining race schedule this year could be very thin and that was before this. I think it’s fair to assume that if Justify does not get a race under him before the Breeders’ Cup Classic that he won’t run in the Classic, although no one has said that.

If he doesn’t race again, and we’re not saying that, he would be the only Triple Crown winner never to lose. But, then again, no Triple Crown winner has ever run as few as six races.

The shortest career currently is American Pharoah with 11 races, which is more an indication of how racing has evolved through the years than anything else.

Here are the numbers for other Triple Crown winners:

Gallant Fox, 17

Seattle Slew, 17

Secretariat, 21

Count Fleet, 21 (last race was the Belmont)

Omaha, 22

Whirlaway, 22

War Admiral, 26

Affirmed, 29

Sir Barton, 31

Assault, 42

Citation, 45

CHRB v Golden Gate

The California Horse Racing Board will have its monthly meeting starting at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at Los Alamitos. Now, the meeting goes into its usual closed session for about an hour before the people are allowed to go through the agenda. If you want to listen, here is where you can find the audiocast because, as we’ve said before, here in 2018, video is too difficult a concept for the CHRB to offer, unless you have a phone or tablet.

OK, this meeting is all about if Golden Gate has fulfilled all its contractual obligations with the brick and mortar Northern California satellite sites. The Stronach Group has filed suit saying it doesn’t need to do that. But with the court system only slightly slower than the stewards evaluating a tight photo finish, it’s unlikely there will be any final resolution any time soon. What’s at stake is if the CHRB will give Golden Gate its license to race starting Aug. 23.

If you want to see the agenda, just look here. The one we care about is No. 5. If you want to see the packet distributed, just look here. Warning: there is no staff recommendation on what to do.

The guess here is that some accommodation will be reached. We just don’t see Golden Gate not racing this fall. It may appear that Golden Gate will blink first, but they are doing the long play on this. They will get something out of this, if not now then later. The CHRB also can’t afford to send those dates to the fair sites or even leave them empty. Just not going to happen. But, California racing has been known to surprise you with a lack of common sense. So, stay tuned.

Los Alamitos thoroughbred preview

Not a lot to say about Thursday’s eight-race card starting at 1 p.m. There are no five-horse fields so that’s a good thing. Seven of the eight races are claiming with purses between $14,000 and $21,000. The feature is the seventh, a one mile optional claimer for horses 3 and up, going for $45,000.

The favorite, at 5-2, is Ike, a winner of one of four and a third place in an allowance last out at Santa Anita. Baffert is the trainer and Drayden Van Dye the jockey. Canadian Game is the second choice at 7-2. Owner Paul Reddam, paid $375,000 for him, so there are expectations more than breaking his maiden in his eighth start. That was his last out at Santa Anita. Doug O’Neill is the trainer with Mario Gutierrez the jockey.

Here are the field sizes, in order: 6, 6, 6, 6, 7, 8, 7, 9.

Jose Contreras LRC pick of the day

SECOND RACE: No. 4 Ajac (8-1)

He broke well, chased the leader, made a strong middle move hugging the rail and just missed by a long neck vs. a sharp winner who was posting his second consecutive win. I expect plenty of speed from his inside rival Justamitch and Ajac should be following close behind getting a good trip. I think he will have a big enough lead to hold off the late closers at this five-furlong distance.

Sunday’s result: Tuscany Beauty led going into the stretch but lost a tough duel and was caught and lost by a neck.

Jose Contreras is an excellent handicapper and well known on social media and familiar to racing fans watching on TVG. You can follow him on twitter at @losponies or check him out at his website.

Final thought

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And now the star of the show, Thursday’s entries.