ESPN racing analysts Jerry Bailey and Randy Moss — whose comments
and pre-race interview with John Velazquez, the rider of Candy
DeBartolo’s Life At Ten in the Nov. 5 Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic,
revealed something was amiss with the second betting choice prior to
her being eased in the race — both said the Kentucky Horse Racing
Commission would be taking a backward step by prohibiting similar
horseback interviews with jockeys in future telecasts. The KHRC is
investigating the events surrounding the incident and both executive
director Lisa Underwood and chief steward John Veitch told the
Louisville Courier-Journal one recommendation might be to ban jockeys
from talking to the media once they are legged up to ride.
“Do we need less transparency at a time when our sport is struggling
with the history of perceived drugging of our horses?” Bailey, a
retired Hall of Fame jockey told the Paulick Report. “Whether I talked
to John or not would not have changed the fact that something was wrong
with the filly.”
Velazquez told Bailey in two live interviews after the post parade
that Life At Ten was not warming up “normally.” The comments were
relayed to KHRC stewards by ESPN producer Amy Zimmerman, but the
stewards apparently did not tell the commission veterinarian, stationed
as part of a team of three equine practitioners behind the starting
gate, to give additional scrutiny to Life At Ten...
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