Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Kentucky Derby Scandal?

Aired May 12, 2003 - 08:33   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: An interesting sport story that we're following here. The second jewel in the horse racing Triple Crown, the Preakness, is coming up this weekend.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: And it is. Instead of looking forward, today the racing fans are looking back to a controversy involving Kentucky Derby winner Funny Cide from a week-and-a-half ago.

KAGAN: Derby officials are looking at this photograph. Take a look for yourself. Some say that the photo appears to show winning jockey Jose Santos holding something other than a whip, as he crosses the finish line.

Funny Cide's owner was not amused by a published report that cast doubt on the victory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK KNOWLTON, OWNER, FUNNY CIDE: The story from "The Miami Herald" is totally unfounded (UNINTELLIGIBLE). They've blown up the photograph in question, and I think that anyone who looks at this photo sees that that story is absolutely groundless.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Well, today, the owner and the jockey will meet with track stewards at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

HEMMER: Nick Charles, meanwhile, he's seen his share of Derby finishes. The veteran sports reporter, now with "Showtime Sports," is our guest at the CNN Center.

Great to see you again, my friend. Good morning to you, Nick.

NICK CHARLES, "SHOWTIME SPORTS": Likewise, Bill. I see all of the time you and Daryn.

KAGAN: Hey, Nick. It is great to have you on with us. No one has covered more horse racing that we know of than you, so we wanted to get your perspective on this. Is it just this one photograph? Or do you see a true controversy brewing here?

CHARLES: No, that's the problem, Daryn. It's one photograph. I really question "The Miami Herald," in how many photographs they looked at. I just talked to Kentucky officials. They have poured through videotapes. They're got every angle of this race. So, they've probably seen it from five or six different angles. They have freeze-framed the thing, slowed it down, and looked at dozens of pictures, not just this one. Obviously, "The Herald" had to look at others.

The way I look at it, you blow the picture up, and end of controversy. What it is, is it's the silks of the second place jockey, those turquoise silks, and it's also part of a horse's ear, Empire Maker, that finished second to the winning horse. So, in my opinion, it's a case of irresponsible journalism.

HEMMER: Nick, if there is a device, as we look at the finish from a week-and-a-half ago -- if there is a device in a jockey's hand, what device would that be used for that would help a jockey -- help a horse run faster?

CHARLES: Well, you know, with racing, Bill, you have to have at the very least a presumption of innocence, at the very most an assurance that everything is above board. I'm not saying this hasn't happened before. Four years ago a jockey in Arkansas in the Arkansas Derby, three weeks before the Kentucky Derby in 1999, actually had a battery operator. They call it a buzzer. And what it does is it gives a horse an electric shock and gets maximum effort out of the horse. It's been used in the stretch drive.

A lot of this happened in the '20, the '30s and the '40s, before the advent of video. At this stage, it would be very difficult to do. I'm not saying it hasn't happened. There were 148,000 people watching that race and millions on television. You still could conceivably hide something.

But when you look at Jose Santos, the jockey in question, and you just looked at the videotape several times, he twirled his whip, which is customary after to celebrate victory, and perhaps that created this little bit of hole which, thus, created behind him the silks appearing.

So, in my opinion, if you look at this thing thoroughly, once again, there is no controversy. I am concerned, though, for racing. I happen to love the game, and this is a very wobbly sport. This is the last thing that needs to be dragged through the mud, the race of America. People in Kentucky say the race is a lot bigger than that. It will survive. This will be just a footnote in history.

But, at the same time, I think I would ask "The Miami Herald" reporters, if I could speak to them, were you a 100 percent sure? Because they told "The Louisville Courier-Journal" that they were 95 percent sure that Jose Santos was quoted properly in their article. He's from Chile. He speaks halting English, definitely a heavily- accented -- Spanish-accented English. And personally, I think they got it wrong.

So, there is a great ride by a great jockey and a great race dragged through the mud as a result.

KAGAN: And a great ownership group. It was such a great story going into this. These were kind of everyday guys from Sackatoga (ph) Springs who owned this horse. And it wasn't just like a rich Saudi prince like last year.

HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), yes.

KAGAN: Exactly, from New York. So, not fair to cast doubt if it's not fair.

CHARLES: Well, Bill and Daryn, more people are going to be watching the Preakness as a result.

KAGAN: Well, that's true.

CHARLES: It will be a good thing for racing.

(CROSSTALK)

KAGAN: We'll watch it very closely. Nick Charles, great to see you.

CHARLES: Likewise, thanks.

HEMMER: Be good, Nick. Thank you much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired May 12, 2003 - 08:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: An interesting sport story that we're following here. The second jewel in the horse racing Triple Crown, the Preakness, is coming up this weekend.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: And it is. Instead of looking forward, today the racing fans are looking back to a controversy involving Kentucky Derby winner Funny Cide from a week-and-a-half ago.

KAGAN: Derby officials are looking at this photograph. Take a look for yourself. Some say that the photo appears to show winning jockey Jose Santos holding something other than a whip, as he crosses the finish line.

Funny Cide's owner was not amused by a published report that cast doubt on the victory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK KNOWLTON, OWNER, FUNNY CIDE: The story from "The Miami Herald" is totally unfounded (UNINTELLIGIBLE). They've blown up the photograph in question, and I think that anyone who looks at this photo sees that that story is absolutely groundless.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Well, today, the owner and the jockey will meet with track stewards at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

HEMMER: Nick Charles, meanwhile, he's seen his share of Derby finishes. The veteran sports reporter, now with "Showtime Sports," is our guest at the CNN Center.

Great to see you again, my friend. Good morning to you, Nick.

NICK CHARLES, "SHOWTIME SPORTS": Likewise, Bill. I see all of the time you and Daryn.

KAGAN: Hey, Nick. It is great to have you on with us. No one has covered more horse racing that we know of than you, so we wanted to get your perspective on this. Is it just this one photograph? Or do you see a true controversy brewing here?

CHARLES: No, that's the problem, Daryn. It's one photograph. I really question "The Miami Herald," in how many photographs they looked at. I just talked to Kentucky officials. They have poured through videotapes. They're got every angle of this race. So, they've probably seen it from five or six different angles. They have freeze-framed the thing, slowed it down, and looked at dozens of pictures, not just this one. Obviously, "The Herald" had to look at others.

The way I look at it, you blow the picture up, and end of controversy. What it is, is it's the silks of the second place jockey, those turquoise silks, and it's also part of a horse's ear, Empire Maker, that finished second to the winning horse. So, in my opinion, it's a case of irresponsible journalism.

HEMMER: Nick, if there is a device, as we look at the finish from a week-and-a-half ago -- if there is a device in a jockey's hand, what device would that be used for that would help a jockey -- help a horse run faster?

CHARLES: Well, you know, with racing, Bill, you have to have at the very least a presumption of innocence, at the very most an assurance that everything is above board. I'm not saying this hasn't happened before. Four years ago a jockey in Arkansas in the Arkansas Derby, three weeks before the Kentucky Derby in 1999, actually had a battery operator. They call it a buzzer. And what it does is it gives a horse an electric shock and gets maximum effort out of the horse. It's been used in the stretch drive.

A lot of this happened in the '20, the '30s and the '40s, before the advent of video. At this stage, it would be very difficult to do. I'm not saying it hasn't happened. There were 148,000 people watching that race and millions on television. You still could conceivably hide something.

But when you look at Jose Santos, the jockey in question, and you just looked at the videotape several times, he twirled his whip, which is customary after to celebrate victory, and perhaps that created this little bit of hole which, thus, created behind him the silks appearing.

So, in my opinion, if you look at this thing thoroughly, once again, there is no controversy. I am concerned, though, for racing. I happen to love the game, and this is a very wobbly sport. This is the last thing that needs to be dragged through the mud, the race of America. People in Kentucky say the race is a lot bigger than that. It will survive. This will be just a footnote in history.

But, at the same time, I think I would ask "The Miami Herald" reporters, if I could speak to them, were you a 100 percent sure? Because they told "The Louisville Courier-Journal" that they were 95 percent sure that Jose Santos was quoted properly in their article. He's from Chile. He speaks halting English, definitely a heavily- accented -- Spanish-accented English. And personally, I think they got it wrong.

So, there is a great ride by a great jockey and a great race dragged through the mud as a result.

KAGAN: And a great ownership group. It was such a great story going into this. These were kind of everyday guys from Sackatoga (ph) Springs who owned this horse. And it wasn't just like a rich Saudi prince like last year.

HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), yes.

KAGAN: Exactly, from New York. So, not fair to cast doubt if it's not fair.

CHARLES: Well, Bill and Daryn, more people are going to be watching the Preakness as a result.

KAGAN: Well, that's true.

CHARLES: It will be a good thing for racing.

(CROSSTALK)

KAGAN: We'll watch it very closely. Nick Charles, great to see you.

CHARLES: Likewise, thanks.

HEMMER: Be good, Nick. Thank you much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.