Sorry but I am not willing to give him any slack because after he had won the Kentucky Derby he goes up to NY and insults the people at Churchill Downs. He states that these people in NY know how to treat us. He even pokes fun at KY bred horses. IMO, he is an ungrateful low class loud mouth red neck. I live in the South and have several very good red neck friends.
I started playing amateur tournament golf when I was 12. Usually with adults and I can remember the first time I lost a match. It hurt but I still shook hands and congratulated the winner. Don't think Coburn's parents taught him any better. Once again, he deserves no slack in my book and he acts like a know it all Yankee.
I am not a race horse expert either. There are a number of reasons why an owner will skip a race. Could be the health of the horse. Not performing up to snuff. Track not suited for the horse or one that is. Personel issues. Horses being scratched a few min. before post time is not unusual. Owner bring the horse, trainer, jockey to the track and something happens that they feel it is not in the best interest of the horse to run that race. It happens hundreds of times throughout the US in a single year.
I didn’t hear or read about his making fun of the Kentucky Bred horses. Without hearing it in context, I’d have to say that I’d chastise him about that. I did, however, read his comments about their poor treatment at Churchill Downs. Honestly, I initially took it to be an asshole comment from someone who expected to be treated like royalty and wasn’t; however, I later read comments from others (including a former worker at CD) who said that the tract sometimes treat those considered as “outsiders†with less enthusiasm. So I don’t have any idea if he was really slighted or if he was just being a sour apple and supporters and/or disgruntled from track employees were lying to back him up. I do admit the fact that the incident, whether real or imagined, was brought up adds to his potential assholery.
While I realize that there are hundreds of races that horses sit out of we are not talking about them. We are talking about these three specific races that make up the Triple Crown. Since Chrome’s owner made his comments I’ve seen horse racing commentators, who know more about racing that me and maybe you, who have agreed with the owner that there are problems with how the Triple Crown is run. Keep in mind, they didn’t agree with HOW he said it, but they did agree with the main idea. One commentator, and I admit is the only article that I actual read instead of scanned through, wrote that the best thing to do would be to extend the break between the races which would allow any horse attempting all three races to be more rested. I think that would be a good move.
For the record, from an AP article here (
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/california-chrome-heads-home-bandaged-foot-162108003--spt.html ) are comments the owner made the day AFTER the race:
"It's not fair to these horses that are running to entertain these people in all three legs of the Triple Crown," he said. "It's not fair to them to have somebody just show up at the last minute and run. I may have gone off half-cocked yesterday, but that's the way I feel."
You’ll notice that even one day after the event he’s less inflammatory and admits that he may have gone off half-cocked.
From the same article, I think his trainer it best:
"Horses aren't cowards and the people aren't cowards," he said. "He was at the heat of the moment. Don't forget he's a fairly new owner. Sometimes your emotions get in front of you. He hasn't been in the game long and hasn't had any bad luck."
I'm more than willing to concede that he may be an asshole (a term I prefer over loud mouthed redneck). I just don't think that comments made in the heat of the moment is the best basis on which to judge assholery. If so, 99% of NASCAR drivers would be considered assholes.