The Town of Odyssey

After all kinds of covid craziness last year we're back to the usual schedule!

Discuss developments in the new season of races here!
I plan to live chat each of the jewel races and the finale in the main Chatroom channel #aio if anyone else is watching them and wants to come by. All are on NBC.

Kentucky Derby - May 1st Preakness Stakes - May 15th Belmont Stakes - June 5th Breeder's Cup - November 6th


Previous years: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, earlier

I don't watch horse racing. I'm just here to compliment bookworm on the awesome use of trophies!

I always enjoy watching the races every year, but i dont usually know too much going in. any interesting names this year?

Medina Spirit upsets the favorite to give Bob Baffert a record setting 7th Kentucky Derby win!
Great race, and an impressive result. There weren't really major expectations for this horse, it's a good story!

Catspaw wrote: ↑Wed Apr 28, 2021 7:44 pmI don't watch horse racing. I'm just here to compliment bookworm on the awesome use of trophies!

Ha, thanks. I made those icons a few years back to add some flair to these posts since each race's trophy is so distinctive.

E II wrote: ↑Thu Apr 29, 2021 3:46 amI always enjoy watching the races every year, but i dont usually know too much going in. any interesting names this year?

I haven't heard any predominant buzz around any certain horses like there are some years this time around, seems like a really wide open year.

I always root for the Baffert horse in the Derby, then going forward I root for the Derby winner in hopes of a Triple Crown. This year those two interests will be the same going to the Preakness!

I was rooting for Hot Rod Charlie, since I have a Charlie.

Hold up, Medina Spirit failed the post race drug test and could be disqualified pending examination of a second sample. At the moment he is still expected to run the Preakness.

Several of Baffert's horses have had these issues suddenly come up recently, but the suspensions have been reversed after appeals or further investigation. Hoping this one will similarly be resolved because it would be awful to have that great race taken away from the team if they didn't do anything wrong. And I do believe they didn't do anything because they know they're the most famous and most scrutinized stable in horse racing, especially lately, if they tried anything at all untoward it would definitely be found out. That this is repeatedly happening to the same trainer would seem to show something is definitely going on here, but the wins being reinstated after getting more information would seem it's not the fault of the stable. I don't want to think there's a targeted conspiracy going on to take down their horses or something like that, but it's really strange.

I heard about the drug test on the radio this morning! Crazy. You clearly know a lot of background info, bookworm.

Forgot to mention that the substance in question isn't even illegal, it just has to be cleared before the race. Also the levels being detected are so minuscule it's clearly not being used to actually drug up the horses, for a performance benefit, or there would be a lot more in the sample. It's simply a contamination of a trace amount that's coming from somewhere. Hope they can find out where, this is bad for the whole sport not just for Baffert.

Edit:

The steroid (which, again, is legal to use) was found to unknowingly be an ingredient in medicine the horse was given in the days leading up to the race. If that is determined to be the source of the minuscule amount the test picked up then as expected it was unintentional contamination as a side effect of legal behavior. 21 picograms (one trillionth of a gram) had no effect on race performance so the matter should be resolved in regard to stable reputation. Honest mistake and everyone can move on, likely avoiding any further issues of this sort in the future as I'm sure now they'll be hyper vigilant about anything being done to the horses and triple checking all ingredients of anything they come in contact with ahead of time.

I'm not sure whether this will affect the disqualification from this particular race however; I don't know how their arbitration works. The past decisions being overturned makes me hopeful they could take a similar action here. Each track manages affairs independently though, and Churchill Downs may think they need to set a firm example here since they are the most prestigious. Choosing making a statement over being reasonable wouldn't be the right thing to do in this circumstance, in my opinion, but we'll see what happens.

Wow, it does seem like it would be very unfair to penalize such a tiny amount, but I can see how they might want to make a statement to make sure that no amount is tolerated. It sounds like it didn't actually improve the race performance, so it sure would be a tough way to be disqualified if they stick with it.

Another upset! Rombauer takes the Preakness with an incredible burst down the home stretch!

Edit:

And the favorite wins the Belmont, but it was a close call until the very end.