With the New Year soon upon us, we take this opportunity to recall the exciting 2006 racing season.
Records were made to be broken, and this year Todd Pletcher smashed the single season marks for graded stakes wins, stakes wins, and overall earnings. Trainer H. Graham Motion got win number 1000, as did jockeys Eddie Martin Jr. and Eddie Castro. Cornelio Velasquez won his 2000th, Jose Santos his 4000th, and Northern California's Russell Baze broke Laffit Pincay's record for career victories. Racing bid farewell to one of its greatest riders, as Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey retired in January to a new career in broadcasting.
As 2006 came to an end, politics again reared its ugly head as the New York Racing Association declared bankruptcy and in a last-ditch effort to keep the state racing franchise, sued the state claiming it owned the Aqueduct, Belmont, and Saratoga lands. The state had earlier recommended the Excelsior bid over Empire. As well, Todd Pletcher began serving a 45-day suspension for a drug positive that had been handed to him 2 years ago but was held up in appeals this whole time. The NTRA made a deal with ESPN, awarding them the Breeders' Cup Championships and a series of summer and fall races dubbed "Win and You're In", where the winners automatically draw into the Championships. Demonstrating its commitment to the sport, ESPN canceled "Wire to Wire", the weekly highlight show that started as "Racehorse Digest" years ago, at the end of the year.
The Triple Crown brought renewed optimism in the sport when undefeated Barbaro, a former turf horse, demolished the 20-horse Kentucky Derby field by a record margin. With such a dominating performance, many already anointed him the 12th Triple Crown winner but those dreams ended tragically at Pimlico when he broke down the first time past the stands before 100,000 shocked fans in attendance. He was taken to Dr. Dean Richardson at the University of Pennsylvania and with the racing world keeping vigil, has steadily recovered. Because of Barbaro, the Preakness and the Belmont were almost forgotten races, with the Maktoum family sweeping the final two legs of the Triple Crown. Bernardini took the Preakness and then Jazil won the Belmont. Jazil did not race for the rest of the year but Bernardini went on to bigger and better things.
International racing has enjoyed renewed interest in America with easier access to betting. This year, two mares shared the spotlight, with English-bred Ouija Board, owned by Lord Derby, battling with French-bred Pride. Although the pair never met on the track all year, the debates as to which was better will continue for years to come. Cartier Horse of the Year Ouija Board won the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf, was third in the Japan Cup, but was scratched before the Hong Kong Vase in what was to be her final career start. Pride, on the other hand, was a fast-closing second in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and then won the Hong Kong Cup, both against males. She too retired at the end of the season. By nature of being the world's richest race, the Dubai World Cup draws a worldwide television audience and this year Godolphin homebred Electrocutionist ran by American Brass Hat for the win. The result was ill-fated for both, as Brass Hat was disqualified out of the money for a drug positive and Electrocutionist broke down in training months later and had to be euthanized.
The Breeders' Cup came to Churchill Downs for a record sixth time, and longshots were the order of the day, with trainer Todd Pletcher shut out of the winner's circle. Invasor ran by Bernardini to win the Classic, while the Distaff was marred by tragedy as the top two favorites did not finish. Favorite Fleet Indian pulled up lame at the top of the stretch while second choice Pine Island broke down on the clubhouse turn, throwing jockey Javier Castellano. Pine Island had to be put down, while Round Pond, trained by Michael Matz and ridden by Edgar Prado drew away to victory like Barbaro did for those same connections just six months earlier over that same track. Frankie Dettori won the Bill Shoemaker Award by winning two races, the Filly and Mare Turf aboard Ouija Board and then the Turf aboard Red Rocks.
With the Turfway Park experiment a success and with increased breakdowns experienced at several dirt tracks, Polytrack and other synthetic surfaces gained grudging acceptance by racing's elite, as the carpet fiber and wax blend was installed at Woodbine, Keeneland, and Hollywood this year. California will have it installed at all its major tracks by the end of next year, perhaps putting an end to the familiar California "pasteboard" speed bias that handicappers have grown accustomed to. Soon, we may never see a major dirt race run over anything other than "fast" as Polytrack does not get wet. Woodbine and Keeneland introduced a new look to racing on television with Trakus, a racehorse tracking system using radio transmitters in the saddlecloths.
2006 Major Race Recaps
2006 Obituaries
2006: The Way It Was from DRF and ESPN
Seasons fo 2006 from Blood Horse
Horse Racing A-Z of 2006 for Ireland from The Nationalist
2006 Bloodstock Review from Racing Post covers racing in Europe and the rest of the world. Nice magazine format that you have to page through online.
