Bay Meadows race 1
 

Did anyone see this race? I dont think I have ever seen a horse with a lead like the 3 had take a bad step and lose right at the wire. I sure he is ok, but it sure didnt look good.

What didnt look good was the horse broke down in the last 1/16th of a mile and R. Baze whipped the horse instead of pulling him up. He held 2nd, whopee, the place and show bettors got their $2.10.

Oh Jesus. Shame on him.

Here's the chart..... very sad. Hope they're both okay.

http://www.equibase.com/static/chart...082307USA1.pdf

I wonder how Mr Baze would react if someone tried to make him run faster when he was in pain...........

Something like that really gets to me.

I noticed that and commented about it.
How could he have not known the horse was going wrong, maybe so, but I expect better from Russel Baze. :mad:

Sure hope Imperial Eyes is good, but looked like he was going down.

I don't follow Bay Meadows, was waiting for SAR, then My Typhoon almost goes down, and faded, sure hope she's OK too.
At least Eddie Castro didn't whip her on.
Gotta love that Wait A While.

Fly with the angels, Imperial Eyes.

At first when I read this I was livid but then I watched the race and saw the action with the whip. Baze popped him twice then gave up on it....

I get abit confused about what constitutes excessive use of the whip but after the stumble he still had a stride ......maybe we let him by on this one this time.

The way it read the first time I thought he trumped our recent event at Philly park but IMO it wasn't excessive....maybe unnecessary but not horrible.

I read the chart early this morning. It didn't look good, I don't think I'm up to looking at the replay.

Various on line forums as well as PedigreeQuery.com report Imperial Eyes as haveing been euthanized.

Without pointing fingers, Art Sherman seems to have a high number of breakdowns.

Bay Meadows claims to have improved the surface.
http://www.drf.com/news/article/87769.html

From BH.....


Baze Faces Disciplinary Inquiry in Bay Meadows Incident
by Jack Shinar

Hall of Fame jockey Russell Baze, North America's all-time leading rider, faces a stewards' disciplinary hearing at Bay Meadows after his horse broke down Aug. 23 in the first race nearing the wire as the jockey whipped him. The trainers of the horse, who was euthanized afterward, said they support Baze.

The California Horse Racing Board initiated the hearing, set for the morning of Aug. 25, steward Darrell McHargue said. Baze appeared briefly before stewards Aug. 24 and requested an expedited meeting.

McHargue did not specify the complaint against the 49-year-old jockey, but Baze is believed to be charged under CHRB rules pertaining to cruelty to animals, misuse of a whip, and actions detrimental to horse racing.

The 4-year-old gelding Imperial Eyes, running in an $8,000 claiming race as the 3-5 favorite, held a seven-length lead at the furlong pole of the one-mile event when he took a bad step, according to the Equibase racing chart of the race. After a brief hesitation, Imperial Eyes switched leads and resumed running. However, a few strides from the wire, the horse broke down. Witnesses said Baze urged the horse with his whip after the initial bad step.

Imperial Eyes was pulled up past the wire after finishing second. He suffered a fracture to his left front cannon bone, according to assistant trainer Steve Sherman, who saddled the gelding for his father, Art Sherman. After being transported by van back to the stable, Imperial Eyes was euthanized on the advice of a veterinarian, Steve Sherman said.

Baze, contacted the evening following the incident, said he thought Imperial Eyes went lame initially, but when the gelding started running again, he thought he had misjudged what happened.

"I was trying to hold him together to the finish," he said.

Baze acknowledged using his whip. "We were in the shadow of the wire, and I did keep riding him to get him across the finish line," he said.

The Shermans were outraged that Baze was facing possible disciplinary action.

Asked if he thought Baze should be penalized for his ride, Steve Sherman responded, "Absolutely, 100 percent, no way. This should never even be considered.

"The horse took a bad step, and Russell folded up on him for a few lengths. But when he started running again, they were only a few lengths before the wire," he added. "The thing that people are reacting to is that he broke down right there at the finish just as Russell hit him, and that looked bad. But he didn't do anything wrong.

"You can't just go by perception. Look at his actions from the 16th pole to the wire. The horse took a few bad steps, but then he started running again. Can you imagine how people would have reacted if he had pulled up a 3-5 favorite leading by that far so close to the wire if there was nothing wrong with the horse?"

Art Sherman, who watched the race on television, added, "They're trying to hang Russell for this thing, and I don't get it. I rode for 23 years. Things happen on a racetrack that horses react to -- a tire mark, a piece of paper; it could be anything. If a jockey pulled up a horse every time they took a bad step, we'd really have a mess. You have to ride to protect the public. I support him."

Baze had 9,819 lifetime wins through Aug. 23, and his mounts have earned nearly $150 million.

* * *

For anyone wishing to voice their opinions, outrage, disgust, etc.....

http://www.baymeadows.com/vucontacti...26active_sub=3

move on, Baze did nothing wrong!

No, I won't move on.

The horse is gone.

This isn't right.

I don't want to agree with Irish because his point of view is usually assinine but I agree with the Shermans. Break downs are never pleasant but they are part of the game. I just watched the replay and the horse starts to run again after the bad step. Baze had no alternative, he had to continue to ride the horse. It is unfortunate but not Baze's fault.

"You can't just go by perception. Look at his actions from the 16th pole to the wire. The horse took a few bad steps, but then he started running again. Can you imagine how people would have reacted if he had pulled up a 3-5 favorite leading by that far so close to the wire if there was nothing wrong with the horse?"

Art Sherman, who watched the race on television, added, "They're trying to hang Russell for this thing, and I don't get it. I rode for 23 years. Things happen on a racetrack that horses react to -- a tire mark, a piece of paper; it could be anything. If a jockey pulled up a horse every time they took a bad step, we'd really have a mess. You have to ride to protect the public. I support him."

You people who suggest we move on..... if this were a stakes race and not an $8k claiming race, I wonder if you'd be outraged.....

RIP to the dear horse. always sad to see.
 

I didn't think the horse would be dead , simply from watching the replay. Yet I am not surprised. He took a stumble. Always sad to see.
Quickly clear this jockey's name under qualified review.

that has nothing to do with it. jockey did what he was supposed to do. obviously if baze KNEW what was going to happen, he'd have done differently. he didn't know. you don't have time to THINK in that situation, just time to react. he did the right thing. he shouldn't be put thru the wringer because the poor horse broke down. the horse took a bad step, and that happens. he stopped riding. horse changed leads, and took off again. everything seems fine, so he rides him out. use of the whip did not cause the breakdown --the two occurred simultaneously.

The horse took several bad steps and switched leads to save his injured leg, at which point the Buck-toothed ******* hit him with the whip, MAKING him run on. I would think if a jockey has won close to 10,000 races that would mean he's ridden close to 100,000, you trying to tell me he couldn't tell the horse injured himself, it was obvious that was no bobble, the horses head went straight up. I have never before yesterday seen a jockey whip a horse to continue after it has injured itself, most jockeys with a brain and a heart would automatically take hold of the horse to prevent further injury to itself.:mad:

i watched the replay of the race, and it does look bad. After the horse takes the bad step and goes into some distress he never actually starts running again like they're implying, like someone else said he switches leads obviously but he was not running with anywhere near the same interest. its hard to believe that a guy with his experience would not have picked up on the fact that something was wrong. when you see the whip come out on a horse that is laboring it's really sickening. maybe Baze was acting on instinct, lets hear his side of it. if the story remains that he thought the horse started running again that will be hard to swallow for me.

i think MMSC might have a point about the class of the race, or maybe even the venue. imagine the outrage if that horse were a national well known star, say in a GR1 race televised live on tv. would everyone still be happy with the "oh well I thought he was still running" explanation? I wonder.

"I was trying to hold him together to the finish," Baze

Doesn't that mean he knew something was wrong?

Exactly.

I completely agree.

People (jockeys included) tend to think the lesser talented horses don't matter. The lesser talented ones account for much more than 50% of racing world wide, are there news stories when a claimer breaks down on the track? No. Is there when a stakes performer suffers the same fate? You bet there is.

If that jerk Baze had done the same on a great, popular horse there would be an outrage, and no one can doubt that.

The status of the horse is a big point here, but it shouldn't be. No matter how talented the horse is, they are still living animals doing what they are bred to do to the best of their ability.

He is an experienced jockey, and if he didn't realisethe horse had 'gone wrong' he shouldn't be riding.

I just watched the replay, and I find it hard to believe that a jockey with so much experience couldn't tell that the horse he was on was in some sort of distress. I want to give Baze the benefit of the doubt, but I am having a hard time doing that. I think he got distracted by the wire. He knew something went wrong, but the horse changed leads and he thought that he could keep him together for another 50 yards. When really the horse should have been pulled up immediatley, reguardless of the odds or track position.

Agreed.

Like with so many people in this sport, greed got the better of him in my opinion.

said he thought Imperial Eyes went lame initially, but when the gelding started running again, he thought he had misjudged what happened.



doesn't baze deserve the benefit of the doubt? the owners are supporting him, doesn't that matter? with bazes long career--has their been any question of him in the past?

others are suggesting he didn't care about this horse since it was an 8k claimer--is it lack of caring for a cheap horse, or greed? it can't be both.

So, what he is basically saying is that through all his experience he doesn't know when a horse has broken down.

What a pathetic excuse from a greedy man.

since he was on the horse, he's the only one who knows what the horse felt like. if he felt the horse bobbled but picked back up, how can anyone argue the point? looking at it is not the same as being on the horse. the owners aren't blaming him, so i don't see how anyone else can question him.

I didn't have to watch replays we slo-mo'd it on the DVR when it happened.
Frankly I found it disturbing from as seasoned a rider as Russel Baze. The horse stumbles and then he does right himself but in slo-mo it is obvious something has gone very wrong.
I might have felt a little differently if he hand rode him to the wire to get him out of the oncoming horses in order to offset further catastrophe. And it was obvious the horse was going to go down in the gallop out.
I feel strongly there should be some accountability for this mis-judgement by a jockey that has rode as many mounts as Russel Baze.
Although I think the animal cruelty is a bit much certainly there is conduct unprofessional and misuse of the whip.
However, I don't think Russel Baze should be crucified for bad judgement at 35 mph when you have seconds to make a decision, but something should happen.

well, it's in front of the stewards, a decision pending. they had a hearing this morning, and no word when a decision will be made. i hope whatever they decide is fair. if he was found in the wrong, then yes, he should get the proper punishment.

Fact is, he hit the horse when it was clearly distressed.

I have no ideas as to who the owners are or what they are like, but what i will say is that if that happened over here Baze would be hung out to dry by the media.

When a horse takes a really bad step like that, and then throws it's head up in the air (as has been said in this thread) you don't need to have 3 days experience in the saddle to know that something very wrong is up with the horse let alone many years of experience.

What people are trying to say is that if this was a popular stakes performer, people wouldn't be saying move on and people certainly wouldn't be saying "oh it wasn't his fault"...... that is the part that disgusts me more than anything.

sad to say, you're right that some would only be upset if it was a big time horse. but i try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, including thinking that most of us here would be sad to see any horse, regardless of monetary value, literally give his all. but i also think baze should get the benefit of the doubt.
but like i said, if they find he was wrong, then yes he should be punished. i'm just not going to say that he did wrong, going by what he and the shermans had to say. it's not for me to say. the stewards met with him, and we'll know soon enough what they found.

Why not. Being a jockey is a profession, if you are not capable of making the right decisions in those split seconds, you're not right for the job.

If you are trading for a company on the stock markets and you lose a company thousands because you didn't make the right split second decision you get crucified for it.

Jockeys should know when a horse has gone wrong and they should know what to do when it's happened.

I wonder what the fallout would have been if it was any other jockey in the colony. I feel that because it is Russell Baze, that at this point it seems that he is getting a pass from a lot of people. We will see what the stewards say. That whole keep him together to the wire comment bothers me more and more. He never stopped driving that horse, and then when the horse was about to stagger across the wire he gave him the whip again. The more times I watch it, the worse it gets. If he really wasn't sure about the horse's condition, why didn't he just take him in hand after he veered out? He still had a 5 length lead. If he just took a bad step and was ok, he probably would have still held on to win. We already know the other scenario. The horse deserved better, gave his life to try to win an 8K claiming race. As far as Sherman goes, maybe he feels that if he hangs Baze out in the media he will lose the services of the top jockey out there. As far as the owners go, I have my own ideas. But I could also be way off base with those too.

That's what i was thinking too.

From DRF.....

Baze questioned in whip incident
By CHUCK DYBDAL

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Jockey Russell Baze met with Bay Meadows stewards for 2 1/2 hours Saturday to answer charges against him arising from Thursday's first race, when Baze struck Imperial Eyes twice with his whip after the horse broke down. Steward Darrell McHargue said Saturday afternoon that he and the other stewards were "in the process of deliberating their decison."

Stewards viewed films of the incident with Baze and his attorney, Brian Pitnick, a trainer in Northern California. Also testifying at the hearing were investigators from the California Horse Racing Board, assistant trainer Steve Sherman, who saddled the ill-fated Imperial Eyes, and his veterinarian, Dr. William Grantham.

"I really don't want to comment until the ruling, but we were able to present our side," Baze said.

The stewards have charged Baze, a 49-year-old Hall of Fame rider, with misuse of his whip, conduct detrimental to horse racing, and animal cruelty.

Imperial Eyes, the 3-5 favorite in an $8,000 maiden claiming race at one mile, had opened a seven-length lead in the lane before breaking down inside the sixteenth pole. After taking a bad step, Imperial Eyes seemed to right himself. He switched leads and then broke down just as Baze hit him with his whip. Baze then hit him a second time. Despite the injury, Imperial Eyes held on to finish second.

Imperial Eyes suffered a condylar fracture of the cannon bone above the ankle in his left front leg. He walked into the van that took him to the receiving barn. Sherman and Dr. Grantham were discussing the possibility of surgery when Imperial Eyes went into distress and was euthanized.

The case has attracted national attention. Jerry Lynn Hunter, Bay Meadows stable superintendent, said the track began receiving e-mails expressing outrage immediately after the race.

Sherman, who saddled Imperial Eyes for his father, Art, said neither he nor his father faulted Baze.

"I think Russell's getting a really bad rap," Steve Sherman said. "In my opinion and my dad's opinion, he did nothing wrong."

Other trainers and jockeys, though, have been critical of Baze's whipping the horse after he appeared to be injured.

Sherman recommended that critics of Baze's ride view the entire incident and not merely the clip of Baze applying the whip as Imperial Eyes broke down.

"When he took a bad step, Russell pulled up, but then he seemed to re-gather himself. When he took off again, Russell hit him with his whip just as he broke down," Sherman said.

whoever said "if you can't make a split second decision, you're not right for the job" is crazy. Try telling me Baze is not right for the job. This thread is crazy!!! You think Baze really cared that much about winning this 8 K claiming race, I doubt it. And, if Baze knew something was wrong with the horse, why would he ride the horse out and take the chance of putting himself in danger?

I think you will find this post is crazy. :rolleyes:

If Baze didn't know something was wrong when the horse took a very bad step and threw it's head up in the air, then he really shouldn't be a jockey, that is their job, to ride to the best of their ability and limit injury to themselves and the horses to a bare minimum. In my opinion, he has failed on both counts.

If he was any sort of horseman at all, he would have at least stopped riding.

I also agree about the comment made about the jockey's reputation. It works in the opposte way to the horse's ability which i duscussed in a previous post. If this had been a lesser known jockey, i'm quite certain he would have been slaughtered for his actions. It's the same over here. Horse Racing is so stuck up that it often cannot tell the difference between right and wrong.

Rabble rabble rabble!!!!!!!!

if it was an apprentice jockey people would be talking about deportment and a lifetime ban.

I was thinking around those lines also. Just because it's Russel Baze there should not be a pass on this.
And as MMSC said if it was a G1 or stakes race from say Saratoga or televised on ESPN there would be a much bigger outcry.

Also noted this from the DRF article:

"Other trainers and jockeys, though, have been critical of Baze's whipping the horse after he appeared to be injured."

It's in the stewards hands now, hoping there will be some kind of strong sanctions imposed.

Uh, did you read my whole post. You are preaching to the choir here.

However I disagree with your analogy. Until stock traders are riding horses at 35 mph, and have to take into consideration what an animal underneath might do with other 1000+ lb. animals coming at them it really doesn't apply.