The Week in Review: Retiring Stormy Liberal, It's the Right Thing to Do

Owner David Bernsen never said that 7-year-old Stormy Liberal (Stormy Atlantic) will definitely race again, only that he wants a fresh set of eyes to evaluate the two-time winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint before that decision is made. While not a totally irrational course of action, it's one Bernsen needs to abandon. Bringing Stormy Liberal back to the races is far too risky.

Bernsen seems like a reasonable person and there's no evidence to indicate that he is anything other than an owner who cares about the animal, but, at the same time, he seems out of touch with the climate not just owners, but the entire sport, is operating under.

Bernsen was cast into the spotlight last week when he had to defend himself after trainer Peter Miller put out a press release saying that Stormy Liberal had been taken away from him because he had insisted the horse be retired. Though many details of the story were unclear after Bernsen and his former partner in Stormy Liberal, Gary Hartunian, spoke up, Bernsen admitted that he had bought out Hartunian and that it was his idea to have Stormy Liberal evaluated by David Scanlon in Ocala before deciding whether to race him next year.

Again, Bernsen may have had a point, that there is nothing wrong with getting a second opinion before deciding what to do with a horse who once was good enough to have won an Eclipse Award as the nation's top turf horse. But the optics were horrible and in 2019, when the sport is under a microscope and desperately trying to defend itself to the public and to politicians that could decide its future, optics matter. It may be unfair, but the reality is that Bernsen played right into the hands of racing's enemies, giving them a major talking point when arguing that the sport is filled with people who will squeeze every last buck they can out of their horses.

Bernsen can put that to rest by announcing that he has retired Stormy Liberal and sent him to Old Friends to live out his days as a pampered tourist attraction. Hopefully, he'll do just that because racing Stormy Liberal in 2020 is to take a risk that could lead to one of the ugliest chapters in the sport's history.

The odds that Stormy Liberal would break down if racing next year are extremely small, but what if he did? The damage done to horse racing would be permanent and severe, maybe just the sort of thing that could be a tipping point as powers outside the sport continue to debate its future.

Stormy Liberal has all but told Bernsen what to do. He was 0 for 7 in 2019 and a non-factor in this year's Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. Soon to be eight, the fire is gone and there's no reason to believe it is coming back. That he will somehow be reborn after being taken away from the highly effective trainer Miller and once again perform at a high level and make a lot of money for his owner is beyond all reasonable expectations.

Bringing Stormy Liberal back probably isn't a good business decision. But this goes way beyond business. This is about a climate that has racing fighting for its life and about everyone involved doing the right thing, always putting the welfare of the horse and the sport first.

Send him to Old Friends. Right now.

Keep Focus on Aftercare

The annual racing symposium held by the University of Arizona's Racetrack Industry Program concluded last week and the subject of aftercare was conspicuously absent from the agenda. That's not surprising since it was an issue that was also never addressed when the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition was announced.

With the sport dealing with so many major issues–whipping, horse safety, track surfaces, drugs–at once it's not hard for some problems to slip through the cracks. But if anyone needs reminding of how much some people care about keeping horses out of the slaughterhouse, they might want to take a visit to the corner of 49th St. and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan.

There, in the center of the busiest and biggest city in the US, they'll find a digital billboard that exposes the slaughter issue. While the group behind the billboards, Return to Freedom, is focused primarily on the fate of America's wild horses and is not an organization, like PETA, that is clearly anti-racing, the message is clear: American horses end up being slaughtered and that's something that has to stop. Most American agree.

Just like the breakdown issue, the problem of retired racehorses being killed for their meat is something that is a serious problem for the sport and something that gives its critics effective ammunition. At least some small amount of horses will always breakdown and die when racing. There is no magic bullet that will cure that. But slaughter can end. It just takes money and a plan.

While working towards other goals, don't take the eye off the ball. Slaughter is a major issue and solving it is not only possible, but would be the sort of accomplishment that would go a long way toward cleaning up the sport's image and restoring the public's faith in the game.

Golden Gate Jockeys Whip Up a Controversy

Just when you thought you had seen everything…

Jockeys Julien Couton and Silvio Amador were each handed 30 day suspensions by the Golden Gate stewards after Almador handed off his whip during the stretch run of Thursday's sixth race to Couton (video). Earlier in the race, Couton had dropped his whip and Almador's mount was tiring at the time of the exchange. Aboard Olive You More (Cairo Prince), Couton finished third.

Amazing that the two riders thought they could get away with this. Surprising that the stewards didn't disqualify Olive You More. Shouldn't she have come down and placed last? Even so, good for them for severely penalizing both jockeys with stiff suspension.