How does this horse qualify for this race?
 

He's not in for a tag so I am pretty confused how he gets into this race.


https://i.ibb.co/tBsR9R7/Sonic-Boom.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/KwSJTF2/Conditions.jpg

I went to the source and will let you know what he says. Feels to me like he is probably meant to be in for a tag but maybe there was a clerical error.

Used the wrong Canterbury but got the answer anyway:

Is that the same Canterbury press box where the people are too stupid to correct a decades-old error... (it's not even an error - it's a deliberate attempt to mislead the public, which, as always, looks so great at a gambling establishment) surrounding the pedigree of the horse who won the first-ever race there?

Who could be shocked that they have rampant errors all around their environment?

I've seen eligibility in races like this botched at entry time and the tag applied later to avoid scratching the horse. "Clerical error" is the bullet proof explanation, because nobody else in the race will ask to check the original. Even then, it could plausibly be branded an error of omission on the clerk's part.

btw..no official likes to be queried about eligibility after-the-fact. However polite the response, it WILL tweak them a bit.

From graded stakes winner to a $15k tag 2 years later, then presumably down the class ladder. That's sad

The old joke at FL was what's the difference between a FL stakes winner and a $1500 claimer?"

"Two weeks."

One year, the day of the Futurity, the biggest trace at the track, the winner of it two years before was in for $2,000 earlier n the card.

From the media guide:
1985
Canterbury Downs opens on June 26th. A crowd of 15,079 is joined by Governor Perpich to celebrate the first day of pari-mutuel racing in Minnesota. English-bred Faiz, fittingly sired by Canterbury Road, wins the first race. Wagering on the nine-race card totals $867,627.

From Equibase:
Faiz (GB)
TB, B, H, foaled March 14, 1978
( Prince Tenderfoot - Grazia, by Aureole (GB) )



Is there an explanation as to why they are falsifying the pedigree of Faiz? I would have also been upset for the last 34 years had I known this. My next step is a letter to the Minnesota Racing Commission to insist they lose their license.

So this is the only thing in 34 years, but they should lose their license? :rolleyes:

At what point did the Wizard of Oz become unbelievable to you - the flying monkeys? :D

Life of a gelding, they have to keep racing and horses don't stay in top condition their entire careers unless the same trainer keeps 'em and lovingly keeps bringing them along through thick and thin.

Once they hit the claiming game there could be nothing left and/or horse doesn't love racing anymore.......OR...... horse can still be improved with good methods depending on what kind of chronic ailments they have (and like most athletes they all have some) and if they still have the psychological desire to do this work.

He started in 2016 w/Wilkes and by end of 2018 was being passed around to different trainers.

Why I am a proponent of retirement funds for horses, cuz they're EARNED IT and their fate should not be based on whatever financial incentives their future trainer humans have for them.

When I see a horse going into gate and their ears are pinned, and they keep giving signals of lackluster interest/desire.........they are saying they don't want to do this yet they have little choice. They could be sore, have headache, upset stomach.......they are still going to have to run the race. Some things are fixable......others are not.

I try to imagine doing this to my dog, making him do something (that is not for his health like getting a bath) that he is showing me he does not want to do. I could never bring myself to do this to any animal.

Guess it's a good thing I'm not in the racing biz. Although calling it a "business" doesn't excuse certain practices to my eye.

OTOH, the right trainer can find the thing(s) that may make a horse happier/healthier whether it be therapueutic, one-on-one handling, better farrier, etc.

Many times the horse is *repairable*.

I suspect that as a horse ages these interventions may be less curative. Sonic Boom is 5 years old. Could the right person keep him going til 9? Doubtful.

The aforementioned Faiz winning the first race at Canterbury. Sorry, I don't know the story behind the "story" .... :)