In the 7th last night at Penn National, Saint Michael “was eased up lame in the stretch then was vanned off.” According to a source, however, while being “eased up lame,” the 4-year-old colt was still being whipped – right till the wire. (I have reviewed the replay, but unfortunately the camera cuts away from Saint Michael before the finish.) Why, you may ask? Well, in this particular race (a cheap “claiming,” by the way: all horses were “For Sale” at $4,000 prior to), cash was paid 1st-5th. Saint Michael came in 6th, about 3 lengths behind the $300-winning 5th-place finisher. The jockey whipping a lame – and now quite possibly dead – horse in the hope of bringing 300 bucks to him and the other “connections”: Jose Rojas.
