Justify streaks home with the Belmont Stakes win and the Triple Crown in 2018. The Bob Baffert-trained beauty would later face a drug-doping charge that was dropped. Photograph by Mike Lizzi.

Horsing around with the truth

May 12, 2021

It’s Triple Crown season, and once again controversy is afoot — or rather, a-hoof.

After the gallant win of little Medina Spirit in the Kentucky Derby, news broke that the horse had tested positive for Betamethasone, a steroid used to treat inflammation but banned on race day. throwing a cloud of suspicion on trainer Bob Baffert. The trainer of TC winners American Pharoah (2015) and Justify (2018) — who was also involved in a banned substance charge that was ultimately dismissed — Baffert has denied the allegations, claiming foul play, sour grapes and “cancel culture” were behind them. (More on “cancel culture” in a bit.) Turns out the anti-inflammatory was in an antifungal ointment that was being used to treat Medina Spirit’s dermatitis. But what Baffert knew and when he knew it remains subject to question.

Justifying Justify

September 15, 2019

Let us conduct a thought experiment, shall we? You are a world-class tennis player on the eve of the US Open. The night before it begins, a villainous individual steels into your room and injects you with a powerful, performance-enhancing drug. You, in a deep sleep, barely feel a pinprick. To you, it’s all a dream — but one that is about to become a nightmare.

Two horses on different paths

January 29, 2017

The current political climate has broadened the mission of this blog and its title, The Games Men Play, deepening its commitment to culture and sex (gender), two of its themes. But in the meantime, I realize I have been neglecting sports. Time to get back in the saddle.

On Saturday, Jan. 28, Arrogate, the super gray colt, provided us with some much needed distraction by winning the world’s richest horse race, the $12 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park, defeating a retiring California Chrome. Previously, Arrogate beat Chrome in the Breeders’ Cup Classic while setting the fastest pace ever at the Travers Stakes against Exaggerator and Creator. Clearly, the 4-year-old, trained by Bob Baffert of American Pharoah fame, is the horse to beat. ...

Rafa, Sharapova, Exaggerator and an unsettling week in sports

June 12, 2016

Am I the only one to feel as if the past week was something of a letdown?

First, we had a Belmont Stakes finish – Creator over Destin by a nose – that would’ve been thrilling had Exaggerator not finished 11th. That’s right, 11th. The horse that challenged Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist and bested him in the Preakness finished 11th. Something crazy about that.

At least Lani – the Nick Kyrgios of racehorses – has been improving. He finished third. No wonder everyone’s still talking about American Pharoah. Last year at this time, we were floating on the miracle of a rare feat. This year with the upset of Nyquist and then Exaggerator – meh.

The tennis news isn’t that much better. ...

Can Nyquist stop the ‘neigh’-saying?

May 7, 2016

Boy, it’s a good thing horses can’t read. Because if they could, they might be really depressed.

Take Nyquist, the 3-1 favorite for the Kentucky Derby later today. He’s undefeated coming into the Derby and has bested many of the challengers. But you’d never know that from the coverage. “Despite His Credentials, Nyquist Has His Doubters” The New York Times headline blared.

There are many reasons for this. There’s nothing in betting on the favorite. The more you win, the closer you are to losing. And people enjoy tearing down a winner perhaps even more than they enjoy getting on a winner’s bandwagon. ...

Rafa, Nyquist on a roll?

May 3, 2016

Like Mark Twain’s death, reports of the demise of Rafael Nadal’s career – often instigated by Rafael Nadal himself – have been greatly exaggerated.

It was just a short while ago as Novak Djokovic blazed through the winter season that Rafa was questioning whether he should go on.

Oh, what a difference a spring (and, let’s face it, Rafa’s favorite surface, clay) can make. Having won in Monte Carlo – where Nole exited early – and Barcelona, Rafa’s back. As if there were any doubt that he would be. ...

‘American Pharoah’ book breezes along

May 3, 2016

If the Kentucky Derby Saturday, May 7 has you nostalgic for American Pharoah, Joe Drape has the antidote.

The New York Times sportswriter and Eclipse Award winner for outstanding coverage of Thoroughbred racing is off and running with the new “American Pharoah: The Untold Story of the Triple Crown Winner’s Legendary Rise” (Hachette Books, 292 pages, $27). Though it may lack the juiciness, pathos and laugh-out-loud humor of “Duel for the Crown: Affirmed, Alydar, and Racing’s Greatest Rivalry,” it, too, is a great story well-told with a fabulous cast of characters supporting our innocent, noble hero, AP, on his equine Pilgrim’s Progress. ...