KENTUCKY DERBY WATCH

Tomorrow will see the first use of Churchill’s new 20-stall starting gate

THOROUGHBRED RULINGS

Pepper-positive horses must forfeit their purses
Three ASD horses are among 38 across Canada to test positive

Finding traces of these in horse urine leads to DQs

Three winning ASD horses have been disqualified from receiving their race purses by the Manitoba Horse Racing Commission because they tested positive for a component of chili peppers, capsaicin, which is banned because it could be used to treat pain.

Dara Johnson, the province’s senior horse racing policy analyst who works out of the MHRC office at the Downs, told The Insider that the three are among 38 horses at tracks across Canada that have tested positive so far this summer after the federal racing regulatory body, the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency, issued advisories in September 2019 and June 2020 that capsaicin is a Class II prohibited substance.

Problem is, no one is sure how the horses came into contact with hot pepper substance that has been used for years on horse bandages and stall walls to discourage horses from chewing those surfaces. And there are tiny amounts in Buckley’s Zev cough syrup for horses--manufactured in Winnipeg--even though the compound is not listed because it is below the threshold required by the Canadian Food and Drug Administration. Capsaicin has also been found in ginger added to horse feed as a digestive aid.

So, with such “inconclusive” results as to where or how horses came into contact with capsaicin, Johnson said, trainers have not been penalized for the positive test results. Trainers are being advised, however, to check with a veterinarian about products they plan to administer to their horses.

The three horses whose purse money had to be returned and redistributed to other horses in the race are:

• Hilda -- won race 1 on June 16, trained by William Tourangeau
• Strong Arm -- won race 7 on June 23, trained by Murray Duncan
• Wally’s Got Class -- won race 6 on July 1, trained by William Tourangeau

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “ I see people taking it lightly and I think that's a mistake, whether you're my age or 20.” -- Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, 85, after returning to Churchill Downs after suffering a three-week bout of COVID-19 in which he struggled to breathe and slipped in and out of consciousness.

Bombillaelgato with (left to right) groom Brittany Gourdeau, trainer Colleen O’Hagan and groom Josie Wells. (Arlen Dieno photo)

A BIG SHOUT-OUT to unheralded Saskatchewan trainer Colleen O’Hagan whose $5,000 claimer, Bombillaelgato, created more excitement than you’d expect from a low-level claimer. Three weeks ago the 3-year-old Alberta-bred gelding charged from 10th to first to win his maiden race at odds of 46-1. That win catapulted retired school teacher Carol Barkwell to victory in the Las Vegas Challenge handicapping tournament. Then Bombillaelgato came right back three days ago to make a wide sweeping move to mow down the competition at odds of 16-1.

"Go, Dork,” O’Hagan screamed from the paddock as her horse made his thrilling move. Her gelding’s accomplishments finally broke her out of an uncharacteristic two-for-45 slump with her seven-horse stable after she had enjoyed a 23 per cent win rate last year at Marquis Downs in Saskatoon. “I came here knowing it would be tough,” she said. And it obviously was until Dork (the horse’s barn name “because he’s kind of a silly horse”)-gave her reason to smile and giving the horse’s owner back in Saskatoon, Ric Gunther who runs a tire store, reason to celebrate. He had bet $200 on Bombillaelgato when the gelding won his maiden race at odds of 46-1.

EYE ON LIVE: Five days to go

Can Gourneau win 13 races in five nights?
Trainer needs that to tie all-time training record

Will Jerry Gourneau (left) reach or surpass Tom Dodds’ record in five race days?

Trainer Jerry Gourneau has turned trainer-winning stats on their head. Even though ASD has 50 days of racing, he is within longshot reach of setting the all-time training record held by Tom Dodds who set the record in 1990 in 117 days of racing.

Dodds’ record was 78 wins. With five live race nights remaining, Gourneau sits at 65 wins, 13 fewer than Dodds’ record. With a daunting three wins a day Gourneau would break that record. Before Gourneau went on a tear, it was hard to imagine any trainer even chalking up 64 wins in 45 days of racing.

Will Gourneau do it? He’s game to make it happen, he says. He has about four dozen horses and has been receiving ship-ins from Henry S. Witt Jr. in Texas. Wondering about ship-in protocols during the pandemic? Horses are transferred to Canadians at the border so Americans don’t come into Canada and Canadians don’t go south.

HOTTIES OF THE WEEK (Mon-Wed)

Hottest jockey: Stanley Chadee Jr. (6 wins)
Hottest trainer: Jerry Gourneau (3 wins)
Biggest longshot: Bombillaelgato $35  (Race 6 Tuesday)
Stakes champions:Cypress Point (Matron), Marselan (Phil Kives)
Upcoming stakes: Gold Cup for top horses (Monday); J.W. Sifton for 3-year-old MB-breds (Wednesday)
Carryovers: $120,561 in the Jackpot pick-5; $50,348 in the Super Hi-5

THE WEEK THAT WAS

Finnick the Fierce can only see out of his left eye(Coady photo)

HORSE IN POST #1 WON’T BE ABLE TO SEE OTHER HORSES: When Finnick the Fierce (don’t you love the name?) lines up in post position #1 in the Kentucky Derby he won’t be able to see the other horses. That’s because he lost his right eye as a weanling. Starting from the inside post that other trainers hate may actually give the one-eyed horse an advantage because his best races (third place in the Arkansas Derby and a win in an Oaklawn allowance/optional claimer) have come from post #1.  

“BIGGER” BETTING GROUP GETS A MORAL VICTORY BUT HALF CASH: How can you have the pick-6 twice and a $5 pick-4 and still lose half your share money? By missing out on a 50-1 bombs-away horse on the Woodbine pick-5 ticket that paid $30,000. Groan. At least last Saturday’s “I won bigger” group was perfect at Gulfstream--with predictable horses and no longshots--which players said they enjoyed being involved in despite the small loss.

The group will have TWO days to score big this long weekend: Tomorrow at Churchill (Kentucky Derby and the 20-cent pick-6 leading up to it) and then Labour Day Monday at Saratoga’s last day of racing in which the Empire pick-6 mandatory payoff pool should grow to a couple million. Both workshops are at 10:30 a.m. on the Clubhouse plaza.

TRAVYFOOTBALL: Season preview by Travers Cummings

Well, considering I won’t be playing football anytime soon (rehabbing from a ruptured achilles tendon), I might as well get back to writing about it. This NFL season will be like no other -- due, of course, to the coronavirus pandemic. The fact that they are having a season with no bubble in place (as the NBA and NHL have) is a risk in itself.

There have been no pre-season games, there will be very limited fans in attendance (most stadiums will begin with no fans) and, if the virus starts to spread among players at a rapid rate, the league could suspend play. Having said all that, let’s be optimistic and look at three teams I believe are looking up and three that will be taking a step back:

LOOKING UP:
1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (signed Tom Brady and traded for Rob Gronkowski)
2. Denver Broncos (drafted Jerry Jeudy and signed Melvin Gordon)
3. Indianapolis Colts (signed Phillip Rivers and traded for DeForest Buckner)

TRENDING DOWN:  
1. Chicago Bears (still have a quarterback problem)
2. Los Angeles Chargers (getting hit with injuries already) 
3. New England Patriots (lost Tom Brady and multiple players sitting out due to COVID-19)

SEASON OPENER NEXT THURSDAY: Houston Texans visit defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, a rematch of the AFC divisional playoff in which the Chiefs got the best of the Texans and, since they now have a 100 per cent healthy Patrick Mahomes, I’m picking them to win again, 24-14.