NY stewards sticks in the mud.

[FenceBored]

Dang. And here I was hoping they'd dye his mane blue and his tail red as a demonstration of the Doppler Effect for school children.

The New York stewards have denied a request by Hansen’s breeder and majority owner to color the 2-year-old champion’s tail and possibly part of his mane when the colt runs in next month’s Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct.
-- http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120216/SPORTS08/302160038/Hansen-tail-blue

No word on whether they'll be searching the jocks room for Grecian Formula.

[Dahoss9698]

Good for them.

[PhantomOnTour]

Gotta side with the NY stewards on this one.

I also think Hansen's Derby trail may end in the Gotham

[5k-claim]

is to side with the stewards, as well.

If the owners want to make Hansen stand out they can put on some colorful bandages- or maybe some with a wild print on them. Some of those are so ugly that I would hate for everyone to start taking their artistic tastes to coloring manes and tails. It wouldn't be long before people were putting 3 or 4 colors just on the tail, alone.

I am not sure exactly what rule they would be breaking, unless there is something out there against transforming a beautiful animal into a public eyesore.

[sandpit]

Looks like there are some sticks-in-the-mud around here too.

As long as it's not hurting the animal or causing any kind of danger, I wouldn't care if they painted them like neon zebras.

[JustRalph]

These are the same people who run a 16 horse breeders cup race with all the horses wearing pink saddle cloths :bang:

[Dahoss9698]

When did NYRA run a 16 horse Breeders Cup race with all of the horses wearing pink saddlecloths?

[Cardus]

Had the owner been allowed to get away with his cheesy publicity stunt, there just might have been 80,000 people at Aqueduct to watch his horse.

Good for the stewards to disallow this idiocy.

Only in Internet Land would this be considered "cool".

[turninforhome10]

We live in a world of extremes and envelope pushers as it is. First the tail, which who knows how the other horses might perceive this. What if the horse you bet shys from Hansen at the 1/16th pole. Could you blame the tail? Tradition should rule here. The slippery slope here could have drastic effects.

[PaceAdvantage]

Only in Internet Land would this be considered "cool".Will this line ever achieve the status of "cliche" with you? The sooner the better I say...

And I've got news for you. "Internet Land" is no different than any other "land."

But congrats on another tag-team smack down...all in a day's work. right C?

For the record, the stewards made the correct decision. The minute we start allowing a horse's appearance to be deliberately altered in any way, shape or form, is the minute we might as well make it official that "Ringers" are now legal.

[Dahoss9698]

But congrats on another tag-team smack down...all in a day's work. right C?


Where was the tag team smackdown in this thread?

[Tom]

Good call. If racing isn't careful, their horses might end up looking as foolish as NASCARs - and we all know what a miserable failure NASCAR is as a business.

[PaceAdvantage]

Cardus has a predilection for certain topics and regularly appears as part of a one-two punch combo in said threads...or maybe i'm just imagining the whole thing...

This whole "Internet Land" garbage gets tiresome after a while...as if idiots have ceased to exist in "real life."

Where was the tag team smackdown in this thread?

[nijinski]

Coloring his mane and or tail is very extreme . Why not call in the Asmussen crew and get a little fancy braid makeover .They can always weave in a blue ribbon or two.

[Dahoss9698]

Cardus has a predilection for certain topics and regularly appears as part of a one-two punch combo in said threads...or maybe i'm just imagining the whole thing...

This whole "Internet Land" garbage gets tiresome after a while...as if idiots have ceased to exist in "real life."

Good point, there are idiots everywhere. I'd argue the internet allows us greater exposure to idiocy and I'm not even sure that is debatable, but I digress.

However, your imagination seems to have gotten the better of you here. Two people who happen to agree on a topic doesn't mean there is some one-two punch. Especially when the consensus so far (based on the comments) in this thread has been that NY was justified in their decision.

[pondman]

Painting a bullseye on the side of a horse, to draw attention to a horse, as if it's the one the public should bet, would be against the rules. NYRA needs to remain unbiased. It needs to promote attending the races to see a 2 year old champion, but if it tells the public this is the horse you should bet (and paints on arrows, bullseyes, or blue tails), then it's a violation. We need to leave that sort of thing up to media outlets (including blogs.)

[Shelby]

Jim Miller from Hawthorne just said that they would allow Hansen to color his tail and would welcome him to run in their derby--I think the purse is $500,000.

edited to add: What started the connections wanting to color the tail and mane in the first place?

[Vengeance of Rain]

Cardus has a predilection for certain topics and regularly appears as part of a one-two punch combo in said threads...or maybe i'm just imagining the whole thing...

This whole "Internet Land" garbage gets tiresome after a while...as if idiots have ceased to exist in "real life."
Gee, I'm new but I've lurked and Cardus has always seemed really nice.
I agree with the decision. There's no reason to make him look like a joke.

[Tom]

It is not NYRA who wants to paint the tail, and why would anyone consider NYRA was telling anyone to bet that horse?

[Pine Tree Lane]

This is interesting. I've seen all the posts, both good and bad, and am still trying to find a good reason (aside from anything to do with affecting the horses health)why the horse should not be allowed to run with a "dyed" mane or tail. Didn't Rachel Alexandra run with muti-colored rubber bands braiding her mane?

If the owner wanted to add a blue and gold hood ala Gate Dancer or blue bandages in front and blue and yellow reins I'm not sure I see a difference.

Seems harmless to me.

[FenceBored]

This is interesting. I've seen all the posts, both good and bad, and am still trying to find a good reason (aside from anything to do with affecting the horses health)why the horse should not be allowed to run with a "dyed" mane or tail. Didn't Rachel Alexandra run with muti-colored rubber bands braiding her mane?

If the owner wanted to add a blue and gold hood ala Gate Dancer or blue bandages in front and blue and yellow reins I'm not sure I see a difference.

Seems harmless to me.

It would be 'unserious.'
The general public must also be assured that racing is a serious business, with the horse’s safety and welfare paramount.
-- Letter from the stewards to Dr. Hansen http://blogs.courier-journal.com/hansen/2012/02/16/new-york-stewards-deny-color-request/

[Tom]

It would be 'unserious.'The general public must also be assured that racing is a serious business, with the horse’s safety and welfare paramount.
-- Letter from the stewards to Dr. Hansen http://blogs.courier-journal.com/hansen/2012/02/16/new-york-stewards-deny-color-request/


This just screams serious to me!

[Pine Tree Lane]

It would be 'unserious.'
The general public must also be assured that racing is a serious business, with the horse’s safety and welfare paramount.
-- Letter from the stewards to Dr. Hansen http://blogs.courier-journal.com/hansen/2012/02/16/new-york-stewards-deny-color-request/


This reminds me of when Johnny Unitas passed away, Peyton Manning petitioned the NFL to wear Black High-tops in honor of the man who many feel invented modern quarterbacking. The NFL turned down the request citing that the Colts wore white shoes and to wear black would violate the uniformity rule and would result in a huge fine because it would set a precedent.

Sometimes I need reminders of how serious the game is:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__OVFW6hFlGw/SuzQHmSjRPI/AAAAAAAABAs/8W0o4GW3nd4/s800/Jay_Cohen.jpg

[FantasticDan]

Hansen ruling lacks common sense:

http://www.drf.com/news/hovdey-colorless-ruling-lacks-common-sense

[JustRalph]

When did NYRA run a 16 horse Breeders Cup race with all of the horses wearing pink saddlecloths?

Ok, it wasn't a Breeders Cup race. It was some other event that I can't even recall.........but they all wore pink saddle cloths and it drove me crazy. Breast Cancer day or something.

I was also thinking of Breeders Cup races where all the horses wore the same color. That's happen at NYRA and other tracks.

mea culpa.........I was trying to make a point.

[tzipi]

It would be 'unserious.'
[indent]The general public must also be assured that racing is a serious business, with the horse’s safety and welfare paramount.

Drugs,over raced horses,year long racing schedules,etc. Yes, horses safety should come first.

[Dahoss9698]

Hansen ruling lacks common sense:

http://www.drf.com/news/hovdey-colorless-ruling-lacks-common-sense

Good to see Hovdey retain his crown as the most unreadable "journalist" in the business.

[johnhannibalsmith]

Good to see Hovdey retain his crown as the most unreadable "journalist" in the business.

Hey come on, he did make the case that other horses run with the residual stains from leg paints and that Native American ponies had battle scars painted on them.

Stewards getting things wrong every day all across the land... and this is the major decision that warrants a diatribe... criminy.

[sandpit]

This is interesting. I've seen all the posts, both good and bad, and am still trying to find a good reason (aside from anything to do with affecting the horses health)why the horse should not be allowed to run with a "dyed" mane or tail. Didn't Rachel Alexandra run with multi-colored rubber bands braiding her mane?

If the owner wanted to add a blue and gold hood ala Gate Dancer or blue bandages in front and blue and yellow reins I'm not sure I see a difference.

Seems harmless to me.

I have seen a horse run at Turfway with four wraps, neon green and pink on opposite legs, plus blinkers that were half green/pink. If those legs and head weren't distracting and the choice of colors "unserious", nothing is. Mike Pegram, and many others, name their horses "silly" names all the time. The track rails are adorned with all kinds of distracting ads, especially at the Derby, the most "serious" of all races.

Say what you want, but to me Hansen's (the owner) desire to draw attention to the sport and his horse is no different than any of these other things.

[Dahoss9698]

Hey come on, he did make the case that other horses run with the residual stains from leg paints and that Native American ponies had battle scars painted on them.

Stewards getting things wrong every day all across the land... and this is the major decision that warrants a diatribe... criminy.

I actually thought it was tongue in cheek when I first read it. It should have been.

You're right though, in the grand scheme of things, who really cares about this nonsense? What is so funny to me is Hansen already stands out because of his color.

[Cardus]

Will this line ever achieve the status of "cliche" with you? The sooner the better I say...

And I've got news for you. "Internet Land" is no different than any other "land."

But congrats on another tag-team smack down...all in a day's work. right C?

For the record, the stewards made the correct decision. The minute we start allowing a horse's appearance to be deliberately altered in any way, shape or form, is the minute we might as well make it official that "Ringers" are now legal.

Rubbish.

[Cardus]

Cardus has a predilection for certain topics and regularly appears as part of a one-two punch combo in said threads...or maybe i'm just imagining the whole thing...

This whole "Internet Land" garbage gets tiresome after a while...as if idiots have ceased to exist in "real life."

Yes, you are imagining "the whole thing".

If it makes a difference to you, "Internet Land" is not germane to PA.

[bigmack]

Had the owner been allowed to get away with his cheesy publicity stunt, there just might have been 80,000 people at Aqueduct to watch his horse.

Good for the stewards to disallow this idiocy.

Only in Internet Land would this be considered "cool".
So it's your contention those people who participate in 'Internet Land' would find the painting of a horses tail to be cool but not the people who participate in 'Internet Land' at this site?

[Tom]

Why is 80,000 people showing up to look at the horsey a bad thing?
Beats the hell of Tee shirt day and Luck.

[Cardus]

Why is 80,000 people showing up to look at the horsey a bad thing?
Beats the hell of Tee shirt day and Luck.

I was being facetious about a large crowd appearing if Hansen's tale and main were painted, Tom.

[Tom]

So was I. ;)