THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLY DIARY
MAY 25, 2006
by Jennifer Caldwell
SMART N PRETTY (Elusive Quality) was a dominating 3 1/2-length winner of the
Black-Eyed Susan S. (G2) on May 19 at Pimlico, but an Oscar-worthy acting job by
jockey Ramon Dominguez resulted in Smart N Pretty being disqualified to second.
That gave Dominguez’s mount, Regal Engagement (Cat Thief), the win.
The ruckus started when Smart N Pretty drifted out a bit nearing the
sixteenth pole, taking Regal Engagement with her. Dominguez made a show of
steadying his mount, though she appeared to have plenty of room, and as soon as
the race was finished he lodged an objection with the stewards, who were already
lighting up the inquiry sign. After very little deliberation, the numbers were
switched, taking a clear victory away from Smart N Pretty and awarding Regal
Engagement with her first graded score.
While some of the blame for this travesty lies with Dominguez, one really
can’t fault the jockey. He was merely doing his job.
The real problem lies with the stewards, and not just those from Pimlico. I
can understand the concept of being consistent in disqualifications, i.e. taking
down all horses for interference regardless of whether it affected the outcome
or not, but stewards around the country are completely inconsistent in
regards to who gets knocked down and who doesn’t. On one day they could leave a
horse up by saying the interference wasn’t all that bad, while on another they
could disqualify a runner for merely crossing in front of another who was a
length behind!
All we racing fans want is one set of rules that apply in every situation, at
every track, around the country. Is that really too much to ask?
Now that I’ve got that off my chest, I’ll get off my soapbox and get back to
the feature at hand.
The Black-Eyed Susan wasn’t the only race that Dominguez won on Friday. He
piloted WILDCAT BETTIE B (Meadowlake) to a two-length score in the Miss
Preakness S. (G3) three races earlier. Taking over not long after the start, the
chestnut filly was never challenged and got back to her winning ways after a
third in the Beaumont S. (G2) in her previous start.
HELLO LIBERTY (Forest Camp) earned a berth in the June 10 Acorn S. (G1)
at Belmont Park with surprise neck win in the Nassau County Breeders’ Cup S.
(G2) on May 6. The bay lass tracked just behind the pacesetting Win McCool
(Giant’s Causeway) in that seven-furlong test before just getting her neck down
on the line as the 9-1 longest shot on the board. Her trainer, Larry Jones,
said the mile Acorn would be well within her capabilities.
JOINT EFFORT (Runaway Groom) took advantage of a hole on the rail to slip
through and pull off a 3 1/4-length victory in the May 6 La Troienne S. (G3)
at Churchill Downs. With Edgar Prado aboard, she defeated Grade 1 winner Adieu
(El Corredor), who was making her first start of 2006 in the La Troienne. Both
fillies ran superb races and might face each other again in the Acorn.
Third in the La Troienne that day was Smart N Pretty. It only made her win
and subsequent disqualification in the Black-Eyed Susan all the more bitter off
the 13-day break.