Miami Herald is getting Hammered!

[JustRalph]

The Miami Herald is getting Killed with Email on the Santo's Story. The link below is a page they dedicated to public emails they have received. Check it out......

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/5843065.htm

[JustRalph]

Bloodhorse article on what Santo's wife and kids went through over the weekend. This really sucks!

http://tcm.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=15759

Santos' Nightmare Comes to an End
by Steve Haskin
Date Posted: 5/13/03 4:46:09 PM
Last Updated: 5/13/03 4:46:09 PM

Jose Santos, with Churchill Downs' twin spires in the background.
Photo: AP/Ed Reinke

Last Sunday night, Rita Santos and her four children, Nadia, 15, Jose Jr., 8, Selena, 7, and Savannah, 5, all curled up in bed together, watching TV. Around that time, Rita's husband, Jose, was arriving in Kentucky to appear the following day before the Churchill Downs stewards, who were investigating allegations made in the Miami Herald that Santos may have been carrying an illegal object in his hand in the Kentucky Derby.
Rita would always fall asleep watching TV when Jose was out of town. On this night, she wanted the family to be together after the ordeal they had been put through since Saturday morning when the Herald's story and accompanying photo appeared. She felt she had done a good job keeping most of it from the kids. But, as she dozed off, she had no idea that Selena was watching her father on TV arriving in Kentucky.

At 2 a.m., Selena was having trouble sleeping, and appeared disturbed. When Rita asked her what was wrong, she said, "I can't sleep. I'm nervous. I didn't realize my daddy was such a bad person."

Rita was devastated. "How do you handle something like that at two in the morning?" she said. "I probably shouldn't have told Jose about it, but it just hurt so much. I told Jose the next morning, 'I know you're going to get through all this, but I have to tell you what Selena said.' After I told him, I said I would talk to her and tell her everything is going to be OK. That afternoon, we watched the press conference on TV, and I could see the hurt in Jose's eyes. The day before, he was pretty cool and calm, and looked like he was handling it well. But even on TV, I could see a different look in his eyes. I could see the anger in there. I know my husband well, and I knew from his face that what Selena said really hurt him a lot."

Selena's remark was the low point for the Santos family. Fortunately, Jose Jr., who has been a fixture around the track for years, had enough racetrack savvy to know that all the accusations were false. Rita and Jose tried their best to protect him from the possible repercussions, at school and at the track. But he was well aware what was happening. He told Rita, "Dad thinks I don't know what what's going on. But they're accusing my dad of cheating and I know he's not a cheater."

"Those were serious words from an 8-year-old," Rita said.

The incident took root on Friday, when Santos received a call from Frank Carlson of the Miami Herald. "He left a message, and I called him back," Santos recalled. "He said, 'Thank you for calling back and congratulations on your Derby win.' Then he told me I was carrying something in my hand. I told him the only thing I had was my Q-Ray bracelet for arthritis (a birthday present he received from Rita two weeks earlier). He said, 'No, you were carrying something with your whip.' I realized he was accusing me, so I said, 'I don't have time for this nonsense,' and I hung up the phone. The whole conversation lasted a total of 25-30 seconds. When I told my wife about it, she said, 'I hope that phone call doesn't bite you in the (butt) later.' And it did."

The next morning, the story and photo appeared and rocked the entire racing world. Because of miscommunication between Santos and the writer, Santos was quoted as saying he was carrying a "cue ring" for the outriders.

Rita first heard about it later that morning. Jose and " Little Joe," as Jose Jr. is known, went to the track together. At 8 a..m., Jose called Rita and told her that the Miami Herald had printed something accusing him of carrying a battery. "He told me not to worry about it," Rita said. "He said it's not going to be a big deal. At 9:30, he called again and said, 'You need to get over here and pick up Joe. This is getting bad, and we need to see an attorney.' I asked him, 'How can this be?' Then Nadia went on the Internet and pulled up the photo, and you couldn't even make anything out. The neighbors instantly started calling."

That was the beginning of a 72-hour nightmare for the Santos family and all of racing. "It was all so crazy," Rita said. "It was horrible for everyone to have to go through this. Not just us, but everyone in the industry.."

When Santos rode the beaten favorites in his first two mounts Saturday afternoon, someone shouted to him, "You can't win no more, because they took your battery away." After he won the Nassau County Breeders' Cup Stakes aboard second-choice House Party, the same person shouted, "Sure, you use your machine just for the stakes races."

It also was a bad day for Rita. "We always come out for the races on weekends," she said. "When I got here and saw all those TV cameras, I called my brother and asked him, 'Could you do me a favor and come and get the kids out of here. The media is going crazy; they're chasing Jose all over the paddock.' Then, Sunday was really rough because I had to keep the children at home all day."

Rita and Jose are so grateful for all the support everyone has shown. "Even Jay Leno, who was hosting the 'Today' show, said Jose got a bum rap, and he really doesn't know that much about racing," Rita said. "What he said brought tears to my eyes. It was so wonderful for someone who doesn't know the industry come out and support Jose. And this was before Jose was exonerated. I definitely want to send him a thank you letter."

While Jose was in Kentucky, Rita represented her husband at the state Capitol Monday, where the state legislators honored Santos for his victory in the Derby. It was there that they all watched the press conference in Kentucky, and cheered when the decision was announced. "It was unbelievable," Rita said. "We left at 8 a.m. for Albany, and it was an all-day affair. We didn't get home until midnight. The governor's words were wonderful. He said to tell Jose they were all very proud of him. He then shook Little Jose's hand and said, 'Are you proud of your daddy? Because all of New York is proud of him.' Nadia said, 'Wow! Did you hear what he said?' I'm just so glad it's over."

Santos feels even more determined now to win the Preakness. "I feel like I have to win," he said. "I have to show the public we won the Derby fair and square. I have a good horse, and I have a lot of confidence in him. I just want to put all this behind me and focus on the Preakness. It was like a big, dark cloud came, and now that cloud is gone."

[Suff]

I went to thier www site the day after the story and drilled off about 7 e-mails to every Dept. thay had listed. If anyone wants to Pile on....feel free.


dadenews@herald.com <dadenews@herald.com>

sports@herald.com <sports@herald.com>

business@herald.com <business@herald.com>

newsphoto@herald.com <newsphoto@herald.com>

HeraldEd@herald.com <HeraldEd@herald.com>

[PaceAdvantage]

They have a message board up also (or had...) Every note I read was negative towards the herald.....I think they got the message!! LOL

Their message board is here:

http://forums.prospero.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=kr-miamispts&msg=2.1&ctx=1

[linrom1]

I hope you guys spend a fraction of the time and effort vilifying the whole crooked lot that is called the Thoroughbred Racing, as you do in persecuting a perfectly legitimate news story and company. Where is the outrage when these paid thieves that masquerade themselves as jockeys commit fraud on a daily basis?


I hope that there are more courageous news stories like the one in Miami Herald. I think that it did more to expose the sleaze in this game than even the “fix six.”

[Suff]

I think Boxing is Bunch of Crooks. I have never been to a boxing Message board..and I have no involvement with anything related to boxing.

Are you having a bad day? If your that sour on T-bred racing? Why on earth are you on a Horse racing Bulletin Board?

I would think this Board is for Fans of the game. Not people who despise the game?

Maybe your having a bad day? But if you honestly have this much Disdain for the sport..... Then your certainly wasting more energy than I am.


Call me Naive...... No more than any other sport is Horse racing corrupt.

No major league Pitcher ever took the Mound Drunk or Hung over?

No Football player ever took the field at less than 100% to preserve his Job or pad his stats?

No Hockey player ever threw up a half ass effort?


Human involvement......Crap happens. On the whole. Thoroughbred racing. Great Sport.

[PaceAdvantage]

Courageous??? BS. They were out to sell newspapers, and Carlson was out to make a name for himself. There was no courage in it at all.

Courage would be to APOLOGIZE for ruining what should have been the pinnacle of Jose Santos's career, for him AND his family.

This website was around when the Patin incident involving Valhol came to light. Nobody was on here defending that jockey...not even a little bit....

You want to know why?? Because it was plain as day that Patin was guilty...the picture proved it, the video proved it, and the physical evidence proved it.

What did we have in the Santos case?? A photo that POSSIBLY MIGHT BE SOMETHING??? We went through all this trouble, and quite possible ruined a man's reputation with the general public over something that POSSIBLY MIGHT BE SOMETHING WHEN LOOKED AT IN THE RIGHT LIGHT AND WITH THE RIGHT MAGNIFYING GLASS????

You consider this courageous journalism??? Give me a break....

[ranchwest]

Originally posted by linrom1
I hope you guys spend a fraction of the time and effort vilifying the whole crooked lot that is called the Thoroughbred Racing, as you do in persecuting a perfectly legitimate news story and company. Where is the outrage when these paid thieves that masquerade themselves as jockeys commit fraud on a daily basis?


I hope that there are more courageous news stories like the one in Miami Herald. I think that it did more to expose the sleaze in this game than even the “fix six.”

When you get evidence of the things you assert, bring it forward. Until then, you should get a subscription to the Miami Herald. I'm sure you'll enjoy the creative journalism.

[JimG]

Originally posted by linrom1
I hope you guys spend a fraction of the time and effort vilifying the whole crooked lot that is called the Thoroughbred Racing, as you do in persecuting a perfectly legitimate news story and company. Where is the outrage when these paid thieves that masquerade themselves as jockeys commit fraud on a daily basis?


I hope that there are more courageous news stories like the one in Miami Herald. I think that it did more to expose the sleaze in this game than even the “fix six.”

If you truly feel fraud is committed on a daily basis and is rampant in the industry, why do you play the races or bother following thoroughbred racing?

Jim

[Handy Cap]

I think what Linrom was trying to say was this...if Santos DID have something in his hand...He very well could have gotten away with it if the photos weren't taken....

Now imagine what happens in the lower class claiming races, where it isnt NEARLY policed like the Derby is....where there are no photos of every angle...it would be absolutely not a problem to use a device in a lower class claiming race and get away with it...does it happen??? I guess thats cause for debate on another thread..but WHEREVER there is human involvement, and the chance to make money, you better believe there is greed and corruption...and if you don't. I have a bridge to sell you.

[Suff]

Arrived home from work to find this in My e-mail Box. I sent it to him and I also included my Phone Number.


Hi. You sent us a letter regarding the Kentucky Derby that we're interested
in publishing, but I need your first and last name and hometown. Could you
let me know what they are, or if you don't want the letter published.
Thanks.

Chuck Hickey
Sunday Sports Editor
The Miami Herald

[cj]

So, what's the letter say?

CJ

[Suff]

Under the terms of the contract with My Publisher I cannot divulge the Contents of my Writings Prior to Publication......he he

[JustRalph]

Originally posted by Sufferindowns
Under the terms of the contract with My Publisher I cannot divulge the Contents of my Writings Prior to Publication......he he

Suff...make sure they are going to print it in the form you submitted without "substantial editing that may change the context or implied intent or message". The last time I got printed in a large paper, only half the damn thing was printed and they kind of changed the message some.

I learned to include this phrase on my replies to editors etc. The last time I did it the NyPress decided they didn't want to run it under this agreement. They said they reserved the right to edit my submission any way they deem fit. Yeah...right. I am sure you don't need this kind of advice from me.....but I have been burned before on stuff like this. Just an FYI for the crowd.

[Tom]

If you look closely at the photo of Suff in another thread, you will see that there is obviously some object in his left hand. This should be looked into, I think. :eek:

[Suff]

Originally posted by cjmilkowski
So, what's the letter say?

CJ

I did write a few things about the Miami Print media. I lived in Miami for a couple of years, I wrote a few sentences about the controversy. But the crux of letter was very simple and could have been done like this.


May 12, 2003

Miami Herald
Herald Square
Miami FLA

Dear Miami Herald


You Suck.


Sincerely:

Sufferindowns





So truthfully... I have no idea why they seem so intent on publishing it. I'll take a peek Sunday and see if its in there. I live not to far from Harvard Square,,, which has an Out of town News. But I'm not sure I'm even interested enought to shoot over and buy the print edition.


BTW...... that thing in my hand? Its probably a losing Ticket.