Breeders Cup 2021 @ Del Mar

[Diver52]

Ms. Yu was let go 'for cause'...several causes, IIRC...about a decade ago. I didn't think that TVG corporate would rehire anyone under those circumstances, even to just 'fill in.'

Wait. TVG has standards?

I vaguely heard that Priscilla Hojiwala was let go years ago for. . .reasons. . .and she never returned, but I didn't hear anything about Michelle Yu. She's unexceptionable as far as I'm concerned.

[BaroqueAgain1]

If I correctly interpret your insinuation, I don't know anything about Ms. Yu having those sorts of...issues.
AFAIK, it was unprofessional incidents/behaviors.

[stark]

Since nobody here really knows why TVG and Michelle parted ways, all we can really do to analyze the situation as to what happened next?
The fact is Michelle became the in-house commentator for Santa Anita's simulcast tv show, a job I highly doubt she would've ever gotten if her behavior was so egregious as to cause the Stronach Group any problems, they knew what they were getting.


Her official bio....
Santa Anita Simulcast host Michelle Yu has been a lifelong racing fan who spun her love into a career. Prior to working on TV for TVG, HRTV, Fox and Breeders’ Cup, Yu worked for trainers like Ron Moquett and Steve Asmussen. Yu is married to Santa Anita based trainer Ryan Hanson and has a daughter, Olivia.

[Diver52]

Letrushka's trainer NOT HAPPY when another horse hooked her and what was supposed to be a 48-49 half mile turned into 46 and change. What was the other exercise rider thinking?

[Slewfan2]

TVG makes a big deal out of showing works, etc…but 5 seconds after Max Player hits the track, they cut to an interview with Umberto Rispoli at SA. They could have waited ..sigh

My friend said they also cut off Corniche…

[Slewfan2]

Letrushka's trainer NOT HAPPY when another horse hooked her and what was supposed to be a 48-49 half mile turned into 46 and change. What was the other exercise rider thinking?

I’d be livid also - I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often, with all the horses on the track…

[Squeaky]

Letrushka's trainer NOT HAPPY when another horse hooked her and what was supposed to be a 48-49 half mile turned into 46 and change. What was the other exercise rider thinking?

I’d be livid also - I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often, with all the horses on the track…

Agree- said was a 2 yo that hooked her! They should talk to the exercise rider and let them know that is not cool. Need to establish better protocols for this on track.

[Slewfan2]

Letrushka's trainer NOT HAPPY when another horse hooked her and what was supposed to be a 48-49 half mile turned into 46 and change. What was the other exercise rider thinking?

I’d be livid also - I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often, with all the horses on the track…

Agree- said was a 2 yo that hooked her! They should talk to the exercise rider and let them know that is not cool. Need to establish better protocols for this on track.

I don’t know if it’s like this at all tracks, but when I watch XBTV works from CA, the tracks seem overcrowded with horses - it’s scary.

I agree with your last comment; I wasn’t necessarily rooting for Letrushka, but I hope this work doesn’t affect her - that would be a shame

[Izvestia]

Letrushka's trainer NOT HAPPY when another horse hooked her and what was supposed to be a 48-49 half mile turned into 46 and change. What was the other exercise rider thinking?

I thought she took a little bobble in the stretch.

[Squeaky]

Letrushka's trainer NOT HAPPY when another horse hooked her and what was supposed to be a 48-49 half mile turned into 46 and change. What was the other exercise rider thinking?

I thought she took a little bobble in the stretch.

I love her and am rooting for her to win, But I think she has had a tough campaign and may be slightly on the downward performance trajectory. She may be vulnerable depending on the pace scenario. I know she will give it her best. I hope I am wrong.

[Izvestia]

Letrushka's trainer NOT HAPPY when another horse hooked her and what was supposed to be a 48-49 half mile turned into 46 and change. What was the other exercise rider thinking?

I thought she took a little bobble in the stretch.

I love her and am rooting for her to win, But I think she has had a tough campaign and may be slightly on the downward performance trajectory. She may be vulnerable depending on the pace scenario. I know she will give it her best. I hope I am wrong.

I agree. Would love to see her win because she has been an absolute star… but this work is eek!

[Gemini]

Maybe I'm just being spiteful, but I kinda don't want Elusive Quality to win the Classic now that he's being turned into a sperm ATM so soon.

[Tessablue]

Yeah, unfortunately there really weren't any positives from that work. I saw her bobble too and she really seemed to back off in the last furlong. That being said, she's had an absolutely wonderful year and will be champion older mare either way- a BC win, as much as I'm rooting for her, would really just be a bonus at this point.

On the other hand, Hot Rod Charlie looked simply tremendous this morning. He has a gigantic shot in the Classic.

[Diver52]

TVG makes a big deal out of showing works, etc…but 5 seconds after Max Player hits the track, they cut to an interview with Umberto Rispoli at SA. They could have waited ..sigh

My friend said they also cut off Corniche…

I don't know about Max Player, but when I looked up Corniche's work on xbtv.com, there was no given time due to "Fog" and you could barely see the horses. I hope the riders had stopwatches!

[Slewfan2]

TVG makes a big deal out of showing works, etc…but 5 seconds after Max Player hits the track, they cut to an interview with Umberto Rispoli at SA. They could have waited ..sigh

My friend said they also cut off Corniche…

I don't know about Max Player, but when I looked up Corniche's work on xbtv.com, there was no given time due to "Fog" and you could barely see the horses. I hope the riders had stopwatches!

The fog mural have rolled in later...that could explain why XBTV cut away. It turns out that Max was just galloping - he’ll work maybe tomorrow, most likely Monday (Jay Privman said that Asmussen usually works his Saturday horses on Mondays). That said, I do enjoy watching horses galloping..

How quirky is Del Mar? Are there horses who might be expected to take to it or not?

[Tessablue]

How quirky is Del Mar? Are there horses who might be expected to take to it or not?

It's pretty commonly considered one of the more specialized tracks in America, though I'm not sure if any metrics actually back that assumption up. Arrogate was famously believed to hate Del Mar, although there are plenty of other reasons why he may not have flourished later in his 4yo season.

Results from dirt races in the 2017 BC ranged from gigantic upsets to perfectly formful, with the biggest upset coming from an east-coast horse with no Del Mar experience. So, difficult to say. Certainly you wouldn't mind seeing a horse work nicely over it beforehand.

[Diver52]

Zenyatta was said not to like Del Mar, but that was in the synthetic era. One interesting statistic from the summer meet--a HUGE percentage of the 5F turf sprints were won from the 1 or 2 slot.

[Slewfan2]

How quirky is Del Mar? Are there horses who might be expected to take to it or not?

It's pretty commonly considered one of the more specialized tracks in America, though I'm not sure if any metrics actually back that assumption up. Arrogate was famously believed to hate Del Mar, although there are plenty of other reasons why he may not have flourished later in his 4yo season.

Results from dirt races in the 2017 BC ranged from gigantic upsets to perfectly formful, with the biggest upset coming from an east-coast horse with no Del Mar experience. So, difficult to say. Certainly you wouldn't mind seeing a horse work nicely over it beforehand.

My friend and I talked about this once…possibly it had to do with Del Mar being by the ocean, with the salt affecting the track? It’s deeper than SA …maybe more like Belmont?

Thanks!

[CorridorZ75]

How quirky is Del Mar? Are there horses who might be expected to take to it or not?

It's pretty commonly considered one of the more specialized tracks in America, though I'm not sure if any metrics actually back that assumption up. Arrogate was famously believed to hate Del Mar, although there are plenty of other reasons why he may not have flourished later in his 4yo season.

Results from dirt races in the 2017 BC ranged from gigantic upsets to perfectly formful, with the biggest upset coming from an east-coast horse with no Del Mar experience. So, difficult to say. Certainly you wouldn't mind seeing a horse work nicely over it beforehand.

My friend and I talked about this once…possibly it had to do with Del Mar being by the ocean, with the salt affecting the track? It’s deeper than SA …maybe more like Belmont?

Thanks!

more like humidity and wind changes than salt, especially with onshore /offshore wind changes.
In 2017 every winner was coming off the pace on dirt, and then the Classic, run significantly later than the previous dirt race and into the twilight was a merry go round, despite GR running the slowest final winning 1/4 mile.

[Slewfan2]

It's pretty commonly considered one of the more specialized tracks in America, though I'm not sure if any metrics actually back that assumption up. Arrogate was famously believed to hate Del Mar, although there are plenty of other reasons why he may not have flourished later in his 4yo season.

Results from dirt races in the 2017 BC ranged from gigantic upsets to perfectly formful, with the biggest upset coming from an east-coast horse with no Del Mar experience. So, difficult to say. Certainly you wouldn't mind seeing a horse work nicely over it beforehand.

My friend and I talked about this once…possibly it had to do with Del Mar being by the ocean, with the salt affecting the track? It’s deeper than SA …maybe more like Belmont?

Thanks!

more like humidity and wind changes than salt, especially with onshore /offshore wind changes.
In 2017 every winner was coming off the pace on dirt, and then the Classic, run significantly later than the previous dirt race and into the twilight was a merry go round, despite GR running the slowest final winning 1/4 mile.

That’s interesting, and makes sense...I guess there’s just no predicting how the track is going to play, even on race day, nor who will like it.

I’m getting tired of the BC always being in CA. Fall in NY is wonderful; granted in early November you can get a bad day or two, but I don’t understand why they won’t run it at Belmont again