Pyro's Gate Troubles (AKA Gategate)

When I read in Saturday's Indian Charlie that trainer Steve Asmussen requested a special assistant starter to load Pyro for the Kentucky Derby, I didn't quite know what to think.

Indian Charlie tells that Churchill Downs President Steve Sexton eventually approved a request by Asmussen to use the same assistant starter on Pyro in the Kentucky Derby as was used in the Risen Star and Louisiana Derby -- a request that had been denied by the Churchill starter and other officials.

Although Indian Charlie doesn't always draw a clear line between fact and satire -- this certainly had the tone of fact to it. Well, now we know that the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority is investigating the incident.

According to The Blood-Horse:

Following the meeting, Underwood said the KHRA is investigating a report that trainer Steve Asmussen persuaded Churchill Downs officials to use an assistant starter he selected to help load Pyro into the starting gate in the May 3 Kentucky Derby. The incident was first reported May 17 by the Indian Charlie newsletter.

According to Indian Charlie, Churchill Downs’ starter and other racing officials rejected the request from Asmussen, but he was allowed to use his own assistant starter after a track official approved it.

Because stewards were not notified of the use of a specially-designated assistant starter for Pyro, chief state senior steward John Veitch said it would violate state regulations if it occurred. Pyro finished eighth in the Derby.

After reading the regulations, I'm not so sure that I agree with Veitch's analysis. According to 810 KAR 1:005 Section 5, Subsection 3: The starter shall report to the stewards any disobedience of his orders or attempts to take unfair advantage at the starting gate and recommend penalties for offenders.

Considering that Asmussen appealed the starter's decision to Sexton, a Churchill official who overruled the decision in favor of Asmussen, I'm not sure that the starter's orders were actually disobeyed. Additionally, since Churchill doesn't likely need as many assistant starters for any other race as they do for the Kentucky Derby, and considering they might logically bring in assistants from other tracks they own (like Fair Grounds), it's not out of the ordinary for that particular starter to be used for the Derby. It's possible that this assistant may have been assigned to Pyro anyway because of his history working with the colt -- and it's not as if Asmussen asked that a mobster load the horse...

Also, I'm not sure that requesting a special starter really can give you any sort of an advantage. It's not as if he can ensure that the horse gets a "great" or "better" start, only that maybe it doesn't get a bad start... I think this would be more of a story had Asmussen requested a special assistant starter for Big Brown, Colonel John, or any other horse he doesn't train.

(Plus, Pyro didn't get a great start in the race anyway, which as Indian Charlie also points out, is beside the point).

All that being said, no matter what the race, any request for a particular assistant starter should be denied, without question, if nothing else to avoid the appearance to the public of an impropriety. The fact that this happend in the Kentucky Derby just makers matters worse and probably means that whatever punishment Asmussen gets will be much more than if he'd pulled this in the 5th at Ellis Park on a Thursday.