By T. D. Thornton
Six weeks can be an awfully long time on the GI Kentucky Derby trail. But that's nothing compared to six weeks amid a global pandemic. Last week those two time frames intersected when tracks coast to coast rolled out new movement-restriction policies for jockeys designed to keep COVID-19 from spreading.
Over the past seven days, a number of tracks and racing jurisdictions announced some version of riding colony lockdowns (for the most part, no jockeys will be allowed in from outside tracks, and if you ship out to ride elsewhere, you can't return). But the rules established by the kingpin summer meets–Saratoga and Del Mar–were the ones that got the most attention.
The key difference between the two is that, while the New York Racing Association (NYRA) implemented its new protocol proactively before the meet began, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club (DMTC) waited to mandate standards after the meet had already started as a reaction to 15 Southern California jockeys testing positive for the coronavirus.
So what, if any, effect will these restrictions have on have on riding privileges for the Derby in six weeks?
Terence Meyocks, the president and chief executive officer of the Jockeys' Guild, told TDN last week that the fluidity of the pandemic makes it too difficult to project how the new rules will impact the travel plans for elite-level riders who have calls for the stakes-stacked five-day meet at Churchill Downs.
But that doesn't mean trainers, jockeys, and agents aren't already starting to ponder contingency strategies.
A “pick your track and stay there” framework is evolving as the near-term standard. But since there will be no racing at Churchill Downs until Sep. 1, there will be no static riding colony in place in Louisville. All riders, technically, will be shipping in, even if they're just making the trek from in-state Ellis Park.
Will the lure of a Derby mount, even on a longshot, be enough for some jockeys to leave the Spa and Del Mar early knowing they won't be able to return to those tracks for the Grade I and Grade II stakes scheduled at each venue on the Sunday and Monday of Labor Day weekend?
Or will it be a better business move for jockeys who aren't named on Derby favorites to stick close to their home bases and reap the benefits of picking up mounts vacated by the A-list riders?
A negative virus test will obviously be a requirement to ride during Derby week at Churchill. But considering how rapidly a person can become infected and go from positive to negative, how many Derby-bound owners and trainers will have second thoughts about locking in a rider who might suddenly be rendered unavailable at the last minute?
In that case, will jockeys presumed to have immunity from COVID-19 (because they've already had and recovered from the virus) be in greater demand? Based on the publicly announced positives we know about so far, that list includes the likes of Javier Castellano, Victor Espinoza, Flavien Prat, Luis Saez and Florent Geroux.
Haskell Aftermath
It was hardly a shocker that Authentic (Into Mischief) won Saturday's GI Haskell S. at Monmouth Park. He was 3-5 against a field of six rivals that included only one other contender ranked within the TDN Derby Top 12, and he secured an easy lead through moderate fractions while opening up by three lengths over his next closest competitor at the eighth pole.
What was a surprise Saturday was how badly Authentic ran out of steam inside the final furlong before jockey Mike Smith had to resort to a desperate flurry of right-handed stick work to re-awaken the colt in time to salvage a nose victory over the pesky Ny Traffic (Cross Traffic).
Post-race, Smith, trainer Bob Baffert (from California), and assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes (at Monmouth), all referenced focus issues that included Authentic gawking around, shying from shadows, and “playing” when he should have been working.
None of these quirks are new to Authentic. He's a May 5 foal who veered out erratically while soaring solo through the stretch in the GIII Sham S. back in January (at the time, Baffert cited crowd noise as the cause and added ear plugs). And in three subsequent races, Authentic had stutter-step starts from the gate that cost him prime early positioning (that was not the case in the Haskell though; the colt broke alertly).
Despite being his own worst enemy in the Haskell, Authentic managed to crack triple digits on the Beyer Speed Figure scale for the first time (100), raising his record to a very respectable 4-for-5 lifetime.
Smith said that he intentionally rode Authentic assertively for about a pole past the finish because he “didn't want [him] to think it was over when he hit the wire.” Baffert suggested blinkers might be the next equipment adjustment.
Yet six weeks of tinkering between now and the Derby might not be enough to erase the visual impression that Authentic will have a difficult time facing intensified pace pressure in a 20-horse field going 10 furlongs on the first Saturday in September.
Sparring at the Spa
The top performance by a potentially Derby-bound sophomore last week actually occurred on opening day at Saratoga in a stakes that had one-tenth the purse of the $1-million Haskell.
In the GIII Peter Pan S. at the Spa, Country Grammer (Tonalist), emerged as a late-blooming threat with a neck win at 4-1 odds over nine furlongs (95 Beyer).
Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. put Country Grammer into stalk mode with a covered-up trip that had the colt sitting fourth midpack for most of the race. The field tightened up into the far turn and Ortiz timed his move deftly off the bend, cutting the corner with momentum to shoot past dueling longshot pacemakers.
Caracaro (Uncle Mo) loomed as a fresh threat to the outside, and that colt briefly seized the lead a furlong from the finish. But his presence only seemed to embolden Country Grammar, who dug in and clawed back the lead before edging away confidently to secure the victory.
Trainer Chad Brown said the Aug. 8 GI Travers S. could be next for Country Grammer. He added that this “grinder” of a colt seems suited to longer distances and that Country Grammar didn't seem to care for the Belmont Park surface, over which he finished third in a deeply contentious June 4 allowance.
“He had a nice work over the track here [at Saratoga] last week and we were optimistic he was going to run much better,” Brown said.
Country Grammer is now 2-for-2 over nine furlongs. Oddly enough, he signaled both stakes ability and a yearning for more real estate back on Feb. 29 in what was actually the worst race in his past performance block (fifth in the GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S.). Coming off nearly a four-month layoff that day, he got pinballed at the break, but was humming along seven wide in a short-stretch Gulfstream Park finish.
If you discount Country Grammer's trip woes in that Florida stakes debut and his disliking of the footing at Belmont, his career arc now looks a lot more promising than it might appear on paper.
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