The Michael Gill/Penn National Riders Saga

[Echo Farm]

http://www.paulickreport.com/blog/gi...roversy-again/

[Danzig]

i was amazed when gill received votes for an eclipse this year. those voters should have their ability to vote revoked!

[slotdirt]

Good for those jocks. Gill and his cronies have been know to literally cut corners for years. This latest rash of breakdowns should be the final straw.

[Sightseek]

Good for the jockeys to speak up.

[Arletta]

Really great article... I hope they boycott his a.ss everywhere.

[freddymo]

Shame about the horses. Other owners are out there claiming and running horses super aggressively, just without killing them.

[10 pnt move up]

Not to defend Gill at all but how about some statistics behind the breakdown rates for all his entries, for claimers versus alw races. The piece talks about him starting more horses than anyone else but has had many breakdowns, think it said 14 at Penn National.

Seemed like a hit piece without a lot of research behind it.

[ARyan]

Originally Posted by 10 pnt move up

Not to defend Gill at all but how about some statistics behind the breakdown rates for all his entries, for claimers versus alw races. The piece talks about him starting more horses than anyone else but has had many breakdowns, think it said 14 at Penn National.

Seemed like a hit piece without a lot of research behind it.

I think this post was without any research behind it...

[MISTERGEE]

I play Penn once a week and try not to throw out any horses owned by Gill in my multi race wagers. They have a tendency to either run way over their past performances or unfortunately alot of the time as noted die.

[Scav]

Originally Posted by 10 pnt move up

Not to defend Gill at all but how about some statistics behind the breakdown rates for all his entries, for claimers versus alw races. The piece talks about him starting more horses than anyone else but has had many breakdowns, think it said 14 at Penn National.

Seemed like a hit piece without a lot of research behind it.

I think the more important number is the number of breakdowns specific to the owner compared to others.

For the jocks to go and do this, for an owner that runs a shitload of horses for slot enduced purses, well, it says a whole hell of a lot.

[randallscott35]

The article talks about the vets which is the bigger issue. Scummy owners exist in forms other than Michael Gill. Paragallo anyone?

[richard]

2005 Eclipse Award owner Michael Gill. It is an honor indeed to be awarded an Eclipse.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

He had a thousand starts at Penn National last year alone.

Whenever you claim the types he does - very cheap horses with speed and often more proven ability than the level he claims them from .. you're going to get a whole lot of cripples.

And with the purses the way they are at Penn .. it's that much harder to kid gloves a cripple.

I guess he could always look to claim slower and sounder horses ... and win a whole lot fewer races and lose a tremendous pile of more money.

Or he could instruct his trainers to handle his army of many cripples like they're Ghostzapper .. and nurse them through four races a year campaigns .. while the fewer starts result in him losing more money and getting a lot less action.

[richard]

Inner track recorde holder at 5 1/2 F Melodeeman. 47-9-9-9 $258,161.
http://www.equibase.com/static/chart...012110USA2.pdf

[10 pnt move up]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

He had a thousand starts at Penn National last year alone.

Whenever you claim the types he does - very cheap horses with speed and often more proven ability than the level he claims them from .. you're going to get a whole lot of cripples.

And with the purses the way they are at Penn .. it's that much harder to kid gloves a cripple.

I guess he could always look to claim slower and sounder horses ... and win a whole lot fewer races and lose a tremendous pile of more money.

Or he could instruct his trainers to handle his army of many cripples like they're Ghostzapper .. and nurse them through four races a year campaigns .. while the fewer starts result in him losing more money and getting a lot less action.

my point exactly...I know the guy basically could give a rats arse about the cripples he is claiming and running but its more a product of his business model.

I don't remember seeing his better bred horses having near the same issues a few years ago.

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

He had a thousand starts at Penn National last year alone.

Whenever you claim the types he does - very cheap horses with speed and often more proven ability than the level he claims them from .. you're going to get a whole lot of cripples.

And with the purses the way they are at Penn .. it's that much harder to kid gloves a cripple.

I guess he could always look to claim slower and sounder horses ... and win a whole lot fewer races and lose a tremendous pile of more money.

Or he could instruct his trainers to handle his army of many cripples like they're Ghostzapper .. and nurse them through four races a year campaigns .. while the fewer starts result in him losing more money and getting a lot less action.

DrugS Gill is killing horses with his ultra aggressive vetting.. I assume vets are behind the horses coming back to form.. I know all Gill horses run on IV DMSO (human Grade), I dont know how much of a real PED but apparently it works pretty good? He is killing way too many in the name of business and jocks now think they dont want him around..

[ARyan]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

He had a thousand starts at Penn National last year alone.

Whenever you claim the types he does - very cheap horses with speed and often more proven ability than the level he claims them from .. you're going to get a whole lot of cripples.

And with the purses the way they are at Penn .. it's that much harder to kid gloves a cripple.

I guess he could always look to claim slower and sounder horses ... and win a whole lot fewer races and lose a tremendous pile of more money.

Or he could instruct his trainers to handle his army of many cripples like they're Ghostzapper .. and nurse them through four races a year campaigns .. while the fewer starts result in him losing more money and getting a lot less action.

I am sure this type of thinking will comfort the jock in the hospital when one of Gill's horses breaksdown and takes his mount down too.

[MisterB]

Ray didn't pull any punches. This is a job for Satish. Write a law that prohibits a owner to race more than 2 horses a week. You can even dress it up some. Make it look like a condition.

Owners, non winners of two life time, or 4 in the last 2 months get 5lbs.



If Assman can win titles with his baggage, let the others go too.

[Kasept]

Penn barring Gill horses pending review
By Marty McGee

Penn National Race Course is continuing to refuse to permit horses owned by Michael Gill to race, pending results of the necropsies that have been performed on two Gill-owned horses who broke down last week at the Grantville, Pa., track.

"Until we have a meeting to review those results and have a chance to talk to Mr. Gill about them, we are declining to accept entries of his horses," Chris McErlean, vice president of racing at Penn, said Wednesday. "I would expect that meeting to happen before this week is out."

Gill, the New Hampshire-based mortgage broker who won the Eclipse Award for top owner in 2005 and led all North American owners in wins last year, has had at least six horses sustain catastrophic injuries at Penn since Oct. 1. The situation came to a head Saturday night when Penn jockeys refused to ride after the fifth race, when the Gill-owned Laughing Moon broke down shortly after the wire. It was only after the one remaining Gill horse on the card was scratched that the jockeys agreed to continue riding.

Meanwhile, trainer Darrel Delahoussaye, who trained a sizable string of horses for Gill at Penn but no longer works for him, disputes Gill's version of how they parted ways. Gill said Monday that Penn "wanted me to give Darrel up to keep my stalls," but Delahoussaye said in an e-mail to Daily Racing Form that he spoke Sunday morning to Gill and told him he was going out on his own "because of all the controversy."

Likewise, said McErlean, "in no way did Penn make any such demands" for Delahoussaye to be fired so that Gill could retain the 49 stalls he currently has at the track.

[jms62]

Originally Posted by Kasept

Penn barring Gill horses pending review
By Marty McGee

Penn National Race Course is continuing to refuse to permit horses owned by Michael Gill to race, pending results of the necropsies that have been performed on two Gill-owned horses who broke down last week at the Grantville, Pa., track.

"Until we have a meeting to review those results and have a chance to talk to Mr. Gill about them, we are declining to accept entries of his horses," Chris McErlean, vice president of racing at Penn, said Wednesday. "I would expect that meeting to happen before this week is out."

Gill, the New Hampshire-based mortgage broker who won the Eclipse Award for top owner in 2005 and led all North American owners in wins last year, has had at least six horses sustain catastrophic injuries at Penn since Oct. 1. The situation came to a head Saturday night when Penn jockeys refused to ride after the fifth race, when the Gill-owned Laughing Moon broke down shortly after the wire. It was only after the one remaining Gill horse on the card was scratched that the jockeys agreed to continue riding.

Meanwhile, trainer Darrel Delahoussaye, who trained a sizable string of horses for Gill at Penn but no longer works for him, disputes Gill's version of how they parted ways. Gill said Monday that Penn "wanted me to give Darrel up to keep my stalls," but Delahoussaye said in an e-mail to Daily Racing Form that he spoke Sunday morning to Gill and told him he was going out on his own "because of all the controversy."

Likewise, said McErlean, "in no way did Penn make any such demands" for Delahoussaye to be fired so that Gill could retain the 49 stalls he currently has at the track.

Nothing like throwing someones livelyhood under the bus without any thoughts. Mr. Gill is very easy to dislike.