Jockey’s defense against whipping during training at Santa Anita: “The horse was very lazy and he had to push.” – Mistakes in horse racing

Over the course of just three days at Santa Anita last weekend, the following horses were “scratched” from their races by various veterinarians:

Where’s boss – “sick”
Track Tiger – “sick”
Lover Wine – “wounded”
Savanna has Big Girl – “sick”
Comininalittlehot – “sick”
Ottis Betts – “sick”
Whiz Kidd – “sick”
Truth Equity – “injured”
Call a friend – “sick”
Mystic Flyer – sick or injured (not specified in minutes)

In addition, the stewards say, the following claims (sales) were declared void because the property in question returned from their races physically compromised in some way:

Gypsy woman
Brookys Gal
Empress of Grace

Then there’s this from the stewards:

“Jockey Abdul Alsagoor was present to respond to a summons for a crop violation that occurred during training on January 4. Mr. Alsagoor stated the horse was very lazy and he had to push. He apologized for his actions and promised it wouldn’t happen again. The majority voted for a fine; Steward Sawyer voted for a warning due to an extenuating circumstance.”

And finally, Love’s Cause was scratched for “refusing to load into the starting gate.” Love’s is three and this would be his first time under the whip (in a race, that is). I think he was rebelling the only way he knows how. How scared he must have been.

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