By all standards, Abel Tasman has been a wildly successful racehorse. She has won six of ten “career” races – including four Grade 1s; in a little more than a year, she has raked in over $1.6 million for her people. And, no surprise, she is slated for the Breeders’ Cup next month. In short, this 3-year-old filly is a star.
Vegas Vic was not Abel Tasman. Although the same age as her, Vegas had no stakes races on his resume; he had “earned” a mere $58,000. Yesterday, Vegas Vic died – “broke down”/euthanized while training at Santa Anita. But that is no story, at least not for the racing press. What is, and why it got reported, is that Abel Tasman and other Breeders hopefuls were on that same track, Abel concurrently with Vegas.
The BloodHorse headline: “Abel Tasman Avoids Trouble in Breeders’ Cup Work”
The lede: “A host of Breeders’ Cup workers went out to the main track at Santa Anita Park Oct. 22, and one got caught up in a scary moment.”
The quote (Bob Baffert, Abel’s trainer): “That could have been bad.”
The rest of the article went on to recount the other workouts – times and such. Nothing more on Vegas Vic. Racing’s true colors laid bare, yet again.
Could have been bad – couldn’t have been speaking of the horses. It was the blood money he (they) was concerned for. He should be censored.
Could have been bad, Baffert? It WAS bad for Vegas Vic.
Several years ago, one of my contacts, who was previously immersed in racing, told me that Baffert would put Draino in a horse’s veins if he thought it would help the horse win a race. Quite telling, in my opinion.
Agree.
But what else would one expect from Baffert and his enablers. They are just being true to form
.Despicable,.
“That could have been bad”……?
Doesn’t have the decency to acknowledge that Vegas Vic suffered a cruel death and how BAD that was……?
Only had thoughts for his horse Abel Tasman. I pity Abel and all the other horses in Bob Baffert’s stable. Seven (7) horses suddenly died in his stable not that long and apparently there was no real investigation……..says it all! No doubt he was using some new dangerous concoction in an attempt to have himself and his owners in the winners’ circle celebrating ill-gained huge sums of money whilst the horses suffer in silence.
Baffert – the “golden boy” of horse racing is nothing more than a racehorse abuser and enabler of the abuse.
So it only stands to reason that he can’t empathize with a horse that drops dead in the dirt and doesn’t see this as being “bad” just because his horse wasn’t involved.
This would be a typical response from a racehorse abuser so it doesn’t surprise me, but it does disgust me.
He has lots of racehorses die under his brutal training methods so it didn’t surprise me when he was inducted into the Racing Hall of (Sh)ame since killing racehorses seems to be one prerequisite.
He’s seems to be nothing but a doper, cheater, and racehorse killer.