QUESTIONS OF THE DAY
Has anyone other than I concluded the toilet-paper shortage indicates the overwhelming tendency, when push comes to shove, of Americans to concern themselves with their own interests and those of no one else—a truism reflected by the occupants of most of our political offices? I'm confident there are none, but why would any of my readers who currently have more toilet paper in their houses than they have had before not double down on President Trump on the first Tuesday of November, if for no other reason than to avoid the guilt inherent in a life hypocritically lived?
Pete and other writers have not been allowed out of the pressbox at Oaklawn to chase jockeys and trainers and others for post-race interviews after the last two Saturday stake races. Here's what Pete got today, with much of it prewritten:
PETE PERKINS
HOT SPRINGS — There was a brother’s day celebration at Oaklawn.
Carson McCord’s K J’s Nobility was ridden by Calvin Borel to a three-length win in the $100,000 6-furlong Nodouble Breeders’ Stakes for Arkansas-bred horses three-years-old and up in 1:10.00 over a sloppy track at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort on Saturday.
K J’s Nobility, the 9-5 favorite, is trained by Cecil Borel, the older brother of the winning jockey.
“He ran good,” Cecil Borel said. “You look at him, he’s just getting good. Just getting good.”
Oaklawn remained closed to all but men and women essential to racing, including security and medical personnel, and media, for the tenth consecutive racing day, so no fans watched the Nodouble in person. They were barred from the grounds indefinitely on March 13 as part of Oaklawn’s attempt to slow the coronavirus pandemic.
Robert Cline’s Bandit Point finished second in the Nodouble at 12-1, 3 1/4 lengths in front of third-place Glacken’s Ghost. J.E.’s Handmedown finished fourth, 7 1/4 lengths behind the winner.
“Calvin and Cecil did a hell of a job with their horse,” Cline said. “My hat’s* off to them for that.”
Darrell Riggan’s Heritage Park was first out of the gate among the nine-horse field and led by 1/2 length over Jerry Caroom’s Destiny Way through an opening quarter-mile in 21.93. Glacken’s Ghost was 1/2 length back in third. K J’s Nobility was in fifth, 2 1/2 lengths off the lead. Bandit Point was last, nine lengths back.
Heritage Park, with Alex Birzer up, also led Destiny Way in second by 1 1/2 lengths through the half in 45.39. Destiny Way would fade quickly to last, but Heritage Park appeared in contention, 1/2 length behind the new leader K J’s Nobility as they crossed the head of the stretch. Bandit Point, trained by Cline and ridden by Arkansas native Kelsi Harr had moved to fourth, one length behind Glacken’s Ghost, trained by Mac Robertson.
Caroom’s Hoonani Road, who had finished no further back than third in his nine previous starts at Oaklawn, was sixth, 4 1/2 lengths off the lead.
Before this season began, Hoonani Road had won seven consecutive races at Oaklawn, a streak begun in the first start of his career in 2018. He started the Nodouble as the defending champion but finished sixth. Last season, he won four of four Oaklawn starts, including the 1-mile-and-1/16th Arkansas Breeders’ Championship.
K J’s Nobility pulled away through the stretch. Behind him, Bandit Point quickly passed Heritage Park, who would fade to eighth, and Glacken’s Ghost, but would not threaten the winner.
Cline said he was confident as Bandit Point turned for home but felt as if K J’s Nobility was likely out of reach.
“I watched and I said, ‘Man, I think that one got too far gone,’ ” Cline said. “ ‘We can’t run that one down,’ but actually, he made it a closer race than I thought he might. Looking at the track today, I didn’t see a lot of horses closing, so for him to make up the ground he did, I thought he ran a really good race.”
Racetracks across the U.S. have either restricted attendance, suspended racing, or canceled their seasons in response to the coronavirus. The New York Racing Association announced Wednesday that New York City’s Aqueduct would suspend racing until at least April 5. On Saturday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state had received federal approval to convert the track’s facility into a temporary hospital.
Jockey Joe Talamo, who rode Destiny Way, was on hand for a month-long closure of Santa Anita Park last season after a spike in thoroughbred deaths, but he said current circumstances were odder yet.
“Going through this is weirder by a landslide,” Talamo said. “Hats* off to management. They’re doing everything they can for us to keep racing. They’re pretty relentless on us guys. We have to take temperatures twice a day. We can’t be too close to each other. We’re definitely doing our part, so hopefully, we can keep rolling.”
The Nodouble, first run in 2009, was named for the champion Arkansas-bred son of Noholme II. Nodouble won the 1968 Arkansas Derby, finished third in the Preakness Stakes, and would win a total of nine stakes races, including the Santa Anita Handicap, the California Stakes at Hollywood Park, and the Brooklyn Handicap at Aqueduct. Nodouble was retired to a successful stud career after he won the 1970 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park.
*Pete had never before considered the possible symbolic distinctions of the cliché involving hats removed from heads in honor of specific matters, but he thought this was the best way to handle these quotes, one as possessive and the other as a plural. Who knows? He certainly didn't when he used it on quora.com on Friday, March 27, 2020
What are 2 things that Donald Trump did right and did wrong for the USA? Also, if he wins presidency again, will it overall be good for America and its people?
No one can know in the short term, but I think President Trump did well in his attempt to change the circumstances of our trade relationship with China and to eliminate our support for the Iran nuclear deal. Hats off, I say. He has done poorly—and has become an embarrassment—in nearly every other regard, a byproduct of his insistence on behaving as if he were a typical, insecure thirteen-year-old boy.
If he wins the coming presidential election, we’ll do fine so long as four more years of shaking our heads and cringing doesn't exhaust us. Our constitution is written well enough to protect us from all leaders, foreign and domestic, including President Trump.
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