TRACKING WAKE OF ROSE CONFESSION.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Horse Racing horse racing, trials of speed involving two or more horses. It includes races among harnessed horses with one of two particular gaits, among saddled Thoroughbreds (or, less frequently, quarterhorses) on a flat track, or among saddled horses over a turf course with ARCADIA - The aftermath of Pete Rose's confession that he bet on the Cincinnati Reds when he managed the team has seen two national pastimes dragged through the mud. The first is baseball. The second is gambling. Several articles this week noted disapprovingly that Rose wagered on the races as recently as Dec. 26, when a horse he co-owned won the opening-day nightcap night·cap n. 1. A usually alcoholic drink taken just before bedtime. 2. Sports & Games The last event in a day's competition, especially the final game in a baseball double-header. 3. at Santa Anita Santa Anita may refer to:
Understandably, some racetrack regulars take offense that Rose is chastised chas·tise tr.v. chas·tised, chas·tis·ing, chas·tis·es 1. To punish, as by beating. See Synonyms at punish. 2. To criticize severely; rebuke. 3. Archaic To purify. for his participation in the game they love. ``If he could have limited it (his gambling) to football, basketball and horse racing and hadn't bet on baseball, he'd been in the Hall of Fame right now,'' said trainer D. Wayne Lukas Darrell Wayne Lukas (born September 2, 1935 in Antigo, Wisconsin) is a former educator who became one of the most successful horse trainers in American Thoroughbred horse racing history and a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee. , who has known Rose since the latter's early attempts to get into thoroughbred ownership in the 1980s. ``I think the American public is judging him unjustly in a lot of areas. I've never been critical of him if he wants to bet.'' Said George Bradvica, the Los Angeles County Fair The Los Angeles County Fair (also called simply the L.A. County Fair) is an annual event held in the Fairplex in Pomona, California, held every September. It is a carnival with rides, merchants, food vendors, cooking contests, and livestock. The 2007 L.A. equine manager: ``I've been kind of ticked off about the perception out there. This (racing) is a sport that has legalized gambling. We should not have to be defensive about that.'' Said Brad Free, the Daily Racing Form's chief Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, handicapper hand·i·cap·per n. Sports & Games 1. One who assigns handicaps. 2. One who predicts the winners in a horserace, especially one who publishes such predictions as a guide for bettors. Noun 1. : ``It does disturb me when horse racing is pushed down to the level where Pete Rose conducted himself when he managed the Reds. And what's wrong with Las Vegas? I go to Las Vegas. Am I a bad person?'' A lot has been written about what baseball people think of Rose, who hopes to earn reinstatement from his 1989 ban by admitting he violated a cardinal rule of the clubhouse by gambling on his own games. It seems only fair to ask what gambling people think of him. They're far from unanimous. Some understand why the baseball commissioner's office might see Rose's continued gambling as a sign of an uncured compulsion. ``There's nothing wrong with his betting on a horse race,'' trainer Ron Ellis said Thursday morning at Santa Anita's Clockers' Corner. ``But I think there's a perception that if he couldn't control his gambling on baseball, where he knows it's wrong, he has a problem. And perception became reality.'' Said Tom Knust, the jockey agent who is a former Santa Anita racing secretary: ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. (Rose), and I'm not judging him, but it sounds like he's got an obsession.'' Others admit they have selfish reasons for approving of Rose's racetrack betting. ``A few years ago, he hit the pick-six at Turfway Park (in Kentucky),'' Lukas said at his Santa Anita barn. ``The papers made a big deal about Pete Rose gambling. My (thought) was, 'My God, it's great! We need guys like Pete to win the pick-six. He'll put a lot of it back the next day.' '' Others think writers, fans and baseball officials fail to distinguish between the bets Rose admits making on the Reds (though not against them) through illegal bookies - actions that raised the specter of game-fixing - and the bets Rose makes at racetracks and sports books. ``He worked all his life to be able to enjoy what he likes to do, if that's sailing around the world on a yacht or betting on horses,'' trainer Mike Machowsky said at Clockers' Corner. ``Everybody has their vice.'' Rose won two weeks ago at Santa Anita with Fort Point, a 4-year-old gelding gelding castrated male horse. he owns in a partnership that includes Will Farish, the U.S. ambassador to Britain and owner of Lane's End Farm Lane's End Farm is a thoroughbred race horse breeding farm in Versailles, Kentucky established in 1979. The original land was part of "Bosque Bonita Farm" which means beautiful woods and was originally owned by Abe Buford, a Confederate General. in Kentucky. Under jockey Kent Desormeaux, the horse trained by Bob Hess Jr. won the 5 1/2-furlong race by 3 1/2 lengths. It was his first victory in 12 starts. ``I'm glad he was here, and glad they publicized it,'' Bradvica, the Fairplex exec, said on a Thursday-morning visit to Santa Anita. ``We need all the (horse) owners we can find.'' Bud Selig, the baseball commissioner, might see it differently. But Selig represents the sports establishment. As if they needed this reminder, racetrackers do not. CAPTION(S): box Box: OUT OF THE GATE - Kevin Modesti |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion