Wolfendale may be trying to help salvage the kids career. Long term, the real punishment is not going to be the suspension but his reputation. Clumsy accident with the whip or hot headed ass? Big difference in what kind of mounts he'll get in the future.

I honestly believe Rose would have been better served had he just came out and said, I was trying to teach her a lesson... to not lug in, it was never my intention to hurt her, I made a mistake, I am truly sorry to the fans and I am sorry to the connections. I will be a man and take my punishment. I am certain this whole story would have slowly drifted away and we would be concentrating on racing now. But as it stands now, it seems it will be the premier topic for many racing forums I suspect for weeks to come.

I misunderstood then. That is what I thought you meant by him "being unfairly vilified for the sins of others and the whole thing stinks." My bad, sorry. I agree, the whole thing does stink. In regards to the rush to judgement, I am surprised that it wasn't handled in the manner that the Molina situation was. Didn't they remove him from his mounts and meet with him quite quickly, then impose a sentence only after the meeting?

I have a feeling that in almost a month from now, when his appeal is heard, it won't be as hot of a topic and the sentence will get reduced.

I have to tell you though. I understand the notion that they acted taking into consideration the scrutiny that the industry is under, and maybe the pressures they are feeling because of it, but there were some pretty strong comments from people on this board who I wouldn't think would be influenced by anything that has recently occured, including myself.

No matter how many times I watch it, no matter which angle I watch it from, I can't convince myself it was an accident.

I agree 100%. As an example Clemens vs Pettitte...

Pettitte - "I did it"...It's basically over and you never hear anything about it.

Clemens - "I didn't do it"...They've gone after him, his wife, his mistresses, he used Viagra, etc...and you know what...I can't find 1 person who actually believes him...

Great example! We are living in a society where a sense of entitlement and arrogance seem to be normal things now. I think Clemons is a despictable person, great ball player but not a guy I would make my kids to role model.

I am 100% sure it was intentional.

I don't think he intended to catch the eye obviously - just meant to lean forward and hit him across the face more than once to teach him a lesson about lugging in. The horse lugged in right across the heels of the winner and he could have gone down. Besides near injury - the lugging in also clearly cost the horse a better placing.

I'm still not so sure. Couldn't it be that he was aiming for where he hit the horse the two times after that?

I've got to tell you, I've watched this thing too many times at this point. But one thing I am starting to lean towards is that when watching the head-on view, it really seems to me that Dominguez's horse bears out into the 2's path. If you look at the paths in the grass, the winner comes out off of the darker grass and that's when Appeal to the City ducks in. She seems to lug in more when watching the pan view than the head on.

I do not know what part of the race you are speaking of, but the " telltale " blow was delivered just before the wire, just ONCE ...

When the mare's head jerked away, he did not hit her again ...

Otherwise I am in agreement with Blackthroatedwind, and I might add that whatever happened some punishment is in order, but the owner/trainer are not without responsibility here ...

If Jeremy Rose has had a reputation for excessive whipping and temper tantrums before, they knew ... And they chose to ride him ...

They never said this was his first ride for them, and as Rose and the connections work the same circuit, they were aware, at the very least, that he was a power rider and a whipper, as suggested ...

If the mare was a sensitive type, Rose did not fit her ... A rider of finesse rather than force would have been better ...

But if riding Rose gave them a winning advantage, the heavy whipping was part of the package .... And they chose to ride him ... --Knowing the mare would be whupped good, at the very least ...

Of course, there is a difference between knowing a rider is Mr. Whippy, and having the rider cross that line --accident or not ...

And as usual the only party here truly innocent and victimized is, of course, the horse...

You're completely wrong. . . watch the head-on again. He hits her twice more right after that. . .

Ummmm...does your screen go dark after he cracks her across the face? He almost immediately hits her twice more on the shoulder after the initial blow.

I think trying to figure out if it was intentional or not is splitting hairs....he had the whip, it was under his control, the horse got hit. No one is thinking he was trying to injure the horse but teach the horse a lesson (which lesson is debatable), but the bottom line is he was in control. 6 months is very harsh, if it was much less then I don't think the story has the same vigor.

I disagree, the fact that he was under control makes it worse for me. If he was out of control and if she would have been all over the place then I might buy the accidental story. But the way I see it was that he was in control and gave her an unnecessary whack across her head, why I don't know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGI2z...eature=related

Sorry, I should have said not in the face ....

NP...I just don't get what he's still whacking her for...

It's been over a year, but I can tell you that Dominguez would have felt a lot more heat had the Scrappy T/Afleet Alex incident happenned in today's environment, especially if Alex had gone down, which I still don't know how or why he didn't.

That's a terrific point, had the mare's eye had not been hemmoraged. I doubt there would be any controversy at all.

Below is Dan Illman's take on the incident in his DRF blog yesterday:

I've been following Delaware this meet, and this isn't the first time that Rose's actions have come into question. On May 12, I was co-hosting the New York City OTB program with Peter Rotundo, and we noticed Rose tearing the hide off runner-up Chief Export with 100 yards to go, and no hope of winning the race. If you go to calracing.com (free registration), and load up the May 12 race at Delaware, you'll see what I mean. Chief Export is breaking from post two, and is program number three. He breaks slowly, and rushes into a tight spot on the inside turning for home. After checking and angling to the outside, he fails to run down win-machine Spooky Mulder. Rose has no chance to win in late stretch, but still gives Chief Export a good beating on his shoulder. After the race, we called for his head on live TV, and in the wake of the Eight Belles incident, wondered how in the heck Rose could be allowed to ride in the Preakness later that week. I can understand his frustration over the bad trip, but the horse didn't deserve the hiding. I think the lengthy suspension is justified in that it sends out a message that the whole world is scrutinizing our sport, and that animal abuse will not be tolerated.

Dude, I just watched the Chief Export 'incident'.

Clearly that was accidental, as if you look real closely, you can see he was swatting at a gnat that was bothering the horse. The shoulder, unfortunately, just got in the way.

In retrospect, it was actually the horse that was to blame.

I am 100% sure that he cracked that horse in the face 2-3 times.
you can debate what his intention was or what the punishment should be all you want, but what happened cannot be debated. In my opinion he doesn't belong around thoroughbreds.

Well that video isn't going to help him out in the public eye, that's for sure. It's Delaware Park, 5/12, Race #4. Nearly an identical situation, except Chief Export escaped without nearly losing an eye. Frustrated by his trip on Chief Export, he hammers home 2 lashes real late for no good reason what-so-ever. Frustrated by his trip on Appeal to the City, you know the rest...

Mr. Rose, you are a jackass.

Agreed.

And Contessa defended him on ATR.

I guess that might make Contessa a "jerk-off."

Well, I would defend Rose as well, and I'm clearly a jerk-off, so if the shoe fits......

Wow. Just saw that too. What a bitch.

Maybe I was misreading Revidere's post, but it read as if Contessa defended Dutrow on ATR after the NYSRWB slapped Dutrow on the wrist for violating the terms of his suspension.

I agree that Rose's suspension is probably too harsh.

Now I'm really confused.....did Contessa actually defend Dutrow?

Yes. He basically said you cannot hold a trainer responsible for all the activity that goes on in his barn. A regular pity party.

Don't know, but that suspension would have been about 18 months ago. I'm sure he wouldn't be defending him now.

Wait, so if someone sits down at my terminal at work, does some bad trades, and loses a million dollars I'm not responsible??? I'd love to see how that would go over :rolleyes:

A few years ago, Contessa participated in a panel discussion at an Albany Law School program held annually in Saratoga during August. Sounds like he made similar comments on ATR to those he made that day, to the effect that racing should abolish the trainer's "absolute insurer" rule.

I would like to know exactly who Gary thinks should be responsible.

Frankly, one of the biggest problems today, outside of my desperate need for a ticket to see Pearl Jam at the Beacon tonight, is the general lack of personal responsibility.

That is exactly the analogy I used. That's very funny.

Since he can't be with all divisions all the time, he doesn't think he should be harshly punished if a mistake happens when he's not there. Of course, if he can't handle the potential problems associated with having 150 horses, perhaps he should cut back on his numbers.

Not trying to pick on Gary, but does he expect a share of the purse if any horse from his different divisions wins?

It's the same with all the big outfits, they want the benefit of their size but none of the potential liabilities that go along with that size. I realize that there is no way to legislate it, but the game would be so much stronger if no trainer had more than 40 horses.

Not sure I can help you with Pearl Jam, but I might have an extra ticket for Motley Crue tonight in West Palm Beach......get back to me soon though...the Crue ticket is a much harder ticket to get than Pearl jam....

Step back for a second and realize how funny this post is from someone named Stone Gossard.