With the New Year soon upon us, we take this opportunity to recall the exciting 2011 racing season.
As always, politics reared its ugly head this year, but it was not all bad news. The casino at Aqueduct finally opened its doors after 10 years of delays, with eventually 5000 VLT's available. 65,000 visitors crammed into the facility on opening weekend, which takes up half of the grandstand building. We may finally see the end of race-day meds in America, as starting in 2012 the Breeders' Cup will not allow Lasix use in the juvenile races, and in addition, the American Graded Stakes Committee will ban race-day medications in graded stakes races for juveniles. The plan is to phase in the ban so that in 2013, Lasix will not be allowed in all Breeders' Cup races. Starting with the 2014 foal crop, Woodbine/Mohawk and Meadowlands harness stakes races will be restricted to horses sired by stallions 5 years and older. However, New Jersey racing again looked to be on the way out as governor Chris Christie continued to favor Atlantic City casino interests over his state's tracks. Meadowlands Racetrack will be leased by Jeff Gural for harness racing, but a deal to lease Monmouth Park to Morris Bailey failed. Instead, the NJSEA and the horsemen struck a deal to run 141 races without subsidies or enhancements. Finally, NYRA was found to have charged excessive takeout of 26% on exotic bets over 15 months. NYRA was ordered to give refunds to bettors they can identify and will permanently reduce takeout by 2 percentage points on the affected bets.
On the other side of the Atlantic, British racing authorities implemented strict new rules on whip use effective in October, which led to stiff fines and suspensions. Riders were restricted to 7 strikes per race but only 5 in the final furlong. Jockey Richard Hughes briefly retired from riding in protest after being handed a suspension, and on England's biggest raceday, jockey Christophe Soumillon was stripped of his share of the purse when he won the QIPCO Champion Stakes aboard Cirrus des Aigles, having used the whip 6 times in the final furlong. After what was clearly an embarassment for the authorities, the rules were revised to eliminate the final furlong rule, and all fines and forfeited purses were returned to the jockeys affected.
The distaff side again made headlines this year. Although Goldikova failed to show us the magic she was known for, German-bred Danedream pulled off a shocking upset in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, followed by fellow distaffers Shareta and Snow Fairy, completing an all-female trifecta. Havre de Grace followed in the footsteps of Rachel Alexandra, as the second filly to win the Woodward Stakes. Buena Vista won the Japan Cup, after finishing first but disqualified to second last year. And in Canada, Inglorious won the Queen's Plate and Sarah Lynx won the Canadian International.
Although we mostly focus on stakes horses, a former claimer competing in starter allowance company made history in 2011. Rapid Redux won all 19 starts this year for owner Robert Cole, tying Citation's 1948 record for wins in a single year, and completed a streak of 21 straight victories dating back to 2010, a new record eclipsing Zenyatta and Pepper's Pride. His final start of 2011 was at Laurel Park on December 13, and he has not lost since November 18, 2010 at Penn National. He is expected to race in 2012, however he will soon lose his eligibility to run in starter allowance company and would have to step up to open allowances or risk being claimed.
The Breeders' Cup World Championships were back at Churchill Downs for the second year in a row. Goldikova made her final career start in the Mile, looking to win an unprecedented fourth win in the race, but after gaining the lead late, was passed by Court Vision and Turralure and finished third. Drosselmeyer, the 2010 Belmont Stakes winner, pulled off an upset in the Classic over Game On Dude and Ruler On Ice. St Nicholas Abbey won the Turf, Caleb's Posse won the Dirt Mile, Hansen won the Juvenile, Amazombie won the Sprint, Regally Ready won the Turf Sprint, Wrote won the Juvenile Turf, and Afleet Again won the Marathon. On Friday, favorite Royal Delta romped in the Ladies' Classic over It's Tricky and Pachattack in her final start for the late Prince Saud bin Khaled. She was sold days after the race for $8.5 million at Keeneland to Besilu Stables, who promptly returned her to trainer Bill Mott to prepare for the Dubai World Cup. Canadian-trained and owned Perfect Shirl pulled off a 28-1 upset in the Filly and Mare Turf giving veteran trainer Roger Attfield his first Cup win. Musical Romance won the Filly and Mare Sprint, My Miss Aurelia won the Juvenile Fillies, Stephanie's Kitten won the Juvenile Fillies Turf, and Secret Circle won the inaugural Juvenile Sprint. In 2012, the Championships return to Santa Anita in Arcadia, California, where they were last held in 2009.
Foreign racing, besides the Dubai World Cup, continues to attract more and more attention in North America with increased betting outlets and TV coverage. In March, the eyes of the racing world were on Dubai for the $10 million Dubai World Cup, the world's richest horse race, run for the second time at Meydan Racecourse. Victoire Pisa finished in front of Transcend completing an all-Japan exacta, just 2 weeks after the tragic earthquake and tsunami. On the undercard, Rewilding won the Sheema Classic, Presvis won the Duty Free, Rocket Man won the Golden Shaheen, J J The Jet Plane won the Al Quoz Sprint, Khawlah won the UAE Derby. and Skysurfers won the Godolphin Mile. The Melbourne Cup was more French than Australian as Dunaden held off Red Cadeaux at Flemington, with defending champion Americain checking in fourth. As mentioned above, fillies completed the trifecta at the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in Paris and Buena Vista won the Japan Cup. 3-year-old colt Frankel completed an undefeated season and European Horse of the Year campaign for owner-breeder Juddmonte Farm after winning the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot. The year closed out with the Hong Kong International Races, with locals taking 3 of the 4 races. California Memory won the Cup, Able One won the Mile, and Lucky Nine won the Sprint, with Melbourne Cup winner Dunaden taking the Vase. Boxing Day in England saw the great Kauto Star win his fifth King George IV Stakes at Kempton Park, which closes out the calendar year but is the beginning of National Hunt season in Europe.
The Triple Crown was disappointing for many as once again there were three different winners. 21-1 shot Animal Kingdom won the Kentucky Derby under jockey John Velazquez, the first Derby win for rider, trainer Graham Motion, and owner Team Valor. Two weeks later in the Preakness, 13-1 Shackleford pressed the pace to win at Pimlico under Jesus Castanon, with Animal Kingdom second. Three weeks later in New York at the Belmont Stakes, 25-1 Ruler on Ice stalked Shackleford's quick fractions to win by 3/4 length over Stay Thirsty. Velazquez aboard Animal Kingdom lost his left iron breaking from the gate, spotting the field 14 lengths and losing all chance. Animal Kingdom did not race the rest of the year and is being targeted for the 2012 Dubai World Cup, Shackleford finished second in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, while Ruler on Ice went on to finish third in the Breeders' Cup Classic. Unlike past years, all three winners are expected to race as 4-year-olds, with a showdown between them and Frankel at Santa Anita as something to look forward to.
2011 Major Race Recaps
2011 Obituaries
More year in review articles:
- Horse Racing Year in Review - by Michael Veitch from The Saratogian
- Racing stars lost in 2011 - by Jeff Scott from The Saratogian
- Putting a Circle Around 2011 - from Blood Horse
- Review of the Year - by Horse Racing Ireland
- Goodbye to 2011 - and good riddance too - from Dan Farley at Racing Post
- Year to remember for the foreign raiders - from Racing Post Frankel stars in a turbulent year for horse racing - from BBC
- 2011 Year In Review: A season of highs and lows - from Daily Racing Form
- 2011 Year In Review: Key dates from the racing season - from Daily Racing Form
- Sports year in review 2011: Racing - from The Telegraph
- Racing Review of the Year 2011 - by Hayley Turner from The Telegraph
- Racing review 2011 - from Sky Sports
- 2011 Review of the Year - from Horse Racing Ireland
- Year in Review - from Racing Victoria in Australia
- Horseracing - Year in review 2011 - from ninemsn in Australia with 17 photos
- 2011—Racing Year in Review - from The Trinidad Guardian
- Photo Essay: Woodbine Year In Review - from Woodbine Entertainment
- Divisional 2011 Dan Patch Winners - from Standardbred Canada
