Did Victor Espinoza deserve the Awesome Again suspension?

In the aftermath of Saturday’s Awesome Again, and the afterglow of a troubled victory by Shared Belief, rider Victor Espinoza was handed down a seven-day suspension by Santa Anita stewards. Citing a pair of rules that include the careless or willful interference with another runner, and unsatisfactory race riding, stewards punished this year’s Kentucky Derby and Preakness winning rider for his effort aboard Sky Kingdom.

While you can’t see any strong bumping between Sky Kingdom and Shared Belief in the Awesome Again, it sure seems clear that Espinoza's goal was to make life difficult for the favorite, rather than giving his mount the best chance to finish well. This belief matches the post-race comments of Shared Belief’s rider, Mike Smith, who stated that Espinoza did everything in his power to get in the favorite’s way. Still, a seven-day ban is more than just a slap on the wrist; did Santa Anita have a reason to lay it on thick?

Was this just a case of Santa Anita sending a message to say hands off our stars? I’m sure that was part of it, especially after the recent defeat of California Chrome, in which he was kept down on the rail before finishing a well-beaten sixth in the Pennsylvania Derby. That defeat had to sting the track that will play host to the Breeders’ Cup Classic on November 1 just a little bit. This would not be the first time the powers that be protected their best and brightest in the world of sports.

When a young Wayne Gretzky hit the NHL, the league transitioned from a rough and tumble league of mucking and grinding into a more wide open game featuring skating and offensive talent. Goals followed by the bunches, and Gretzky became the greatest to ever play the game. And who can forget the Jordan Rules of the NBA. Probably growing tired of seeing the brawny group from the Motor City winning titles, the league made it clear that the too aggressive guarding of the superstar Michael Jordan was not going to fly. The young and talented Bulls, led by Jordan, would win the next three NBA titles.

Of course, those who would believe that Espinoza was riding to hinder Shared Belief, rather than to ride a winning race, have a couple of reasons to support their feelings:

As the regular rider of California Chrome, Espinoza had good reason to be hoping for a loss by the horse also in the running for the 3yo Championship and Horse of the Year races. Furthermore, who could blame the 42-year-old rider for trying to give a bit of the business to Shared Belief, after being the target of other riders at Parx. Espinoza was roundly criticized for his ride in the Penn Derby, including by Chrome’s trainer, Art Sherman.

 

By carrying out Shared Belief, and setting a moving screen for as long as he could, no horse was benefited more than the speed horse down on the rail, Fed Biz. Fed Biz, trained by Bob Baffert, almost ended up winning the race, while Espinoza’s mount Sky Kingdom, also trained by Baffert, finished a distant last.

 

When I was a younger man, Hall of Fame rider Angel Cordero, Jr. was well known for race riding tactics. Cordero was one of the best, and everyone knew that he was not afraid to make it tough on his competition throughout the race. Cordero wanted to win, and he would often ride the fine line of the rules to get to the wire first. What Espinoza did on Saturday was different, though.

Sky Kingdom, a 36-1 shot, was pushed early in the Awesome Again Stakes to carry Shared Belief out wide around the first turn. From there, he continued on with the singular goal to stick to the inside of Shared Belief and make sure that he did not get a good position for as long as Sky Kingdom was able. In no way, did Victor Espinoza attempt to ride a winning race on Saturday. His goal was simply to put the screws to the still unbeaten champion; at least that’s how I see it.

For this reason, I am of the opinion that the seven-day suspension of Victor Espinoza was indeed warranted.