Was it more fun to watch the Dodger offense return to form or to watch spoiled kid Pete Crow-Armstrong strike out four times on Saturday?
Certainly in the long run, Dodger success is much more important to this engaged fan than the serial failure of a young player still playing like a rookie after two years. Can you just imagine the screaming and cursing those Cubs fans watching on TV over PCA’s performance? I hope Pete appreciates that attention.
David Gene Echt Torrance
Please explain to Dave Roberts that you don’t try a sacrifice bunt when you know the Marlins then automatically walk Shohei Ohtani. Nonsensical.
Fred Wallin Westlake Village
Ah, yes, it’s that time of the baseball season, when the L.A. faithful panic over early losses, while other fanbases talk trash and pile on — despite knowing they’ll once again be playing late into October. Call it the Dodger Blue-print.
“Billy Shoemaker was born 2 pounds 6 ounces and it was the only edge he ever needed in life.”
That remains noteworthy now, because when they run this year’s thoroughbred classic at Churchill Downs on May 2, it will mark 40 years since “Billy The Shoe,” still the third-winningest rider in the sport’s North American history and perhaps its most memorable, won his fourth and last Derby aboard a 17-1 longshot named Ferdinand.
In 1986, Snow Chief was the 3-1 Derby favorite. He was trained by colorful and often grumpy Mel Stute, who was, like Shoemaker, a fixture at Santa Anita. His jockey was a young Alex Solis, who came from Panama, was still struggling with the English language then and had quickly dazzled the Southern California racing world with his talent.
Jockey Bill Shoemaker smiles as he holds a large plaque presented to him at Santa Anita on Jan. 1, 1953, in recognition of winning 484 races. He promptly added to the total by winning the first race of the day.
(David F. Smith / Associated Press)
It was an era in sports somewhat less contentious, more inclined to celebrate its history and its moments and less inclined to look for more. A few weeks earlier, Jack Nicklaus had won the Masters, at age 46. It was a hugely popular outcome, just as Shoemaker’s would be. It was quite the time for legend building, those few months in 1986.
The Derby network telecast brought the comfort of an easy chair. Jim McKay, who had done it for years, took viewers through the likely race scenarios. Al Michaels, whose racing chops were notable well before he asked the world if it believed in miracles and well before the NFL hustled him away to greater fame and fortune, pitched in on the telecast with thoughts on the pageantry and some race angles. A young Michaels, with thick black curly hair and the same distinctive voice, broadcast from the track and touched on the interesting elements of Shoemaker’s presence.
“Ferdinand is at 17-1,” Michaels told the audience. “A few years back, you couldn’t get 17-1 with Shoemaker if he was riding Mr. Ed.”
Shoemaker was already a legend and had already won the Derby three times by then. But any mention of his Derby expertise was, and always would be, sprinkled with a disclaimer about his 1975 ride on Gallant Man, when he misjudged the finish line while leading on the home stretch, pulled up his horse and lost a race he had pretty much won.
In ‘86, that was all soft peddled by the media, which mentioned it more out of duty than reportorial necessity. Ferdinand was, after all, a 17-1 longshot, easier to downplay or ignore. Also, Shoemaker was 54, not exactly an age to be looked upon as a contender. No jockey that age had ever won the Derby — and still hasn’t. There was respect for his seniority, but mostly an assumption that he was the past, not likely the present. He had led North American racing in victories for 29 years, finally totaling 8,833. But much of that happened prior to 1986.
Worst for Shoemaker, he had drawn the No. 1 hole, the starting spot closest to the infield that is usually a death knell for Derby horses. The gate opens and the entire field dashes for the rail, all coming down on top of the 1-hole starter. Shoemaker and Ferdinand held ground for a while, but by the time they got to the back stretch, they were dead last. They were still there as the field got to the top of the home stretch.
Then the cavalry charge to the finish began and Shoemaker went with the crowd, to the outside. At one point in the home stretch run, he was six horses wide.
Then, he made one of those moves that made William Lee Shoemaker “Billy The Shoe.” He saw an opening to his left, squeezed through it and soon had Ferdinand almost to the rail — and in full gallop. Before anybody could analyze what had happened, Ferdinand, carrying a jockey who probably never weighed 100 pounds in his career — thanks to the birth advantage Downey so aptly pointed out years later — was cruising past the leaders and sailing home a winner.
Ferdinand, ridden by Billy Shoemaker, heads down the homestretch to win the Kentucky Derby on May 5, 1986, in Louisville, Ky.
(John Swart / Associated Press)
The victory made legendary trainer Charlie Whittingham a Kentucky Derby winner for the first time. He was 73 and had disliked running young horses in a pressure race such as the Derby. The Triple Crown races are only for three-year-old thoroughbreds. Whittingham won another Derby three years later with Sunday Silence. He trained into his 80s.
Shoemaker’s career rightfully was topped off by that Derby victory, as well as his win in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 1987.
The aftermath of that 1986 race was less kind, although nobody could take away what Shoemaker had accomplished. The jockey who finished last in the ’86 Derby was Laffit Pincay Jr., who later passed Shoemaker’s North American victory total with 9,530 wins. Pincay’s total was topped by Russell Baze, who took 12,842 wins, but in a riding career that featured wins at lesser tracks against lesser competition. When Baze broke his record, however, Pincay was there to offer his congratulations.
By the time Shoemaker won the 1986 Derby, he had little left to achieve. He not only won 11 Triple Crown races, but he also had won, to mention a few prestigious races, the Hollywood Derby, the Hollywood Gold Cup, the Oak Tree Stakes, the San Luis Obispo and the Santa Anita Derby.
Jockey Billy Shoemaker smiles as he rides Ferdinand, the 1986 Kentucky Derby winner, at Hollywood Park after winning the Breeder’s Cup.
(Bettmann Archive via Getty Images)
Each one eight times.
Shoemaker moved into thoroughbred training after he stopped riding. He was a fixture around Santa Anita, as he had been as a jockey. His success was mixed, certainly less than he had as a jockey.
On April 8, 1991, after a day of golf in the Inland Empire, Shoemaker was headed west on the 210 freeway in San Dimas. The road at that point includes an exit to the right for the 57 freeway south and under the 210. Shoemaker swerved right off the 210 and rolled his Ford Bronco down the embankment, about three stories high, and onto the 57 freeway. Police confirmed he was intoxicated during the crash. Shoemaker suffered a broken neck and spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair, from which he continued as a trainer for several years.
Billly Shoemaker is in the winner’s circle at Santa Anita in March 1976 after winning his 7,000th race.
(Associated Press)
Shoemaker eventually sued the state of California because there was no guard rail at the site, the Ford Motor Co., to whom he alleged that the Bronco was a rollover risk, and Glendora Community Hospital for alleged incorrect treatment when he was bought in. Ford paid him at least $1 million, after agreeing to do so if he received no money from the hospital. There is no record of him getting any money from the state of California.
Shoemaker died in October 2013. He remains third on the North American jockey career win list with his 8,833.
Ferdinand was sent to stud in 1989 and sold to a breeding farm in Japan in 1994. In 2002, reports surfaced that Ferdinand had been sent to a slaughter house in Japan, where he became food for either humans or pets, or both. Racing’s indignation over that, as well as that of anger in the general public, prompted the formation by Congress of a bill that would ban the slaughter of horses in the United States.
RIO and Kate Ferdinand may be the most high profile Brits to quit Dubai – but they definitely won’t be the last, a top businessman told The Sun.
Wolfgang Douglas – a UK investor and former Dubai resident – says his phone is “red hot” with people trying to get their money out of the Gulf State.
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Rio and Kate Ferdinand in DubaiCredit: @rioferdy5/instagramA smoke plume rises from an ongoing fire at Dubai International Airport on March 16Credit: AFPWolfgang Douglas is a former Dubai resident and businessman
And he says it is not just the war – which has seen the influencer capital of the world besieged by missiles – that is driving away Brits.
It comes as England and Manchester United legend Rio and his wife Kate fled their £6.5million mansion – moving to Portugal.
Wolfgang told The Sun: “I am not surprised to see celebrities like [Rio & Kate] fleeing Dubai with their children.
“The dream of Dubai was sold on safety which is now undeniably not true.
“They sold it on being the Switzerland of the Middle East – untouched by the conflicts around them.
“Sadly, they now find themselves under attack and in the middle of a tinderbox.”
Dubai is known as the playground of the ultra rich – with social-media loving influencers flouting their lives with supercars, yachts and sun-drenched bikini snaps.
Some 240,000 Brit expats have moved out to the playground city – lured by the promise of a lavish lifestyle and low tax.
Expats make up between 85 and 90 per cent of Dubai’s population.
But beneath the glitzy exterior, Wolfgang – who runs The Wolf MBA business academy – says people are now waking up to the city’s dark side.
He claims that it is not just influencers desperate to return to London, but also private investors and ultra-wealthy families.
Wolfgang told The Sun those “seduced” by the allure of the city are fleeing – but the money is escaping even quicker, with the city now facing a “potentially catastrophic exodus”.
He said: “The Iran war has crashed the Gulf dream, and the real story isn’t expats fleeing Dubai, but how the money is escaping even faster.
“Working discreetly as an intermediary for the private investment houses or family offices of the ultra-wealthy, my phone has been red hot with thousands of calls and messages since late February.”
He went on: “People are threatened or even imprisoned for speaking out or filming drone strikes, but while they weigh options and chase plane tickets, the smart money has been moving – extremely fast.
“Influencers continue posting luxury content while insisting everything is normal, but there are echoes of the Titanic here.”
Wolfgang works in “asset liquidation” – essentially converting assets into cash.
He says he is helping connecting the wealthy with people who can flog property and cars so they can get out of the Gulf.
Wolfgang said one family – who he cannot name – has asked him to help redirect some £250million worth of investments out the region, and instead they are looking at opportunities in London.
Many Gulf natives kept their assets in the West, particularly London while they convinced Brits to move their over to the Middle East.
Wolfgang said: “Fact is, Dubai sold a lie via public and social media, actively undermining confidence in London and the wider UK by highlighting crime, high taxes and political instability, while trumpeting the Gulf as a glamorous tax-free sanctuary for wealth.”
He went on: “While telling the world London is unsafe, many native Gulf investors kept their wealth here all along and continued to live and operate out of Mayfair, Belgravia and Knightsbridge, even as their media was persuading Brits to sell up and ‘join them’ in the Gulf.”
“So, property prices in parts of central London fell 20-30 per cent in recent years.
“And who bought those properties?
“The very people who told Brits to sell yet never left their own London mansions.”
Wolfgang added: “So, after years of being battered by negative narratives, this could be the moment capital begins flowing back into London.
“You can build the tallest skyscrapers in the world, shout about luxury and tax-free wealth and claim accolades like having the world’s only seven-star hotel, but when uncertainty strikes, capital returns to long-established safe institutions.”
And he warned influencers simply “can’t admit the truth” and are continuing to sell the “Gulf mirage”.
The Palm island panorama with Dubai marina rising in the background aerial viewCredit: GettyWolfgang lived a luxurious lifestyle – until he saw the city’s dark sideCredit: Paul TongeDubai is the playground of influencers and the super richCredit: Alamy
Wolfgang has witnessed first hand the disturbing side of Dubai as his dad Albert was banged up in a disgusting prison .
Businessman Albert says the four-year ordeal in a hellholeDubaijail stripped him of any shred of dignity and left him “feeling less than nothing”.
He had been arrested for financial fraud after simply putting his signature to a piece of paper related to son Wolfgang, who also ran a company in theUnited Arab Emirates.
He claims he witnessed suicides and prisoners being raped, rubbed shoulders with killers, and survived on meagre portions of rice and weak soup.
Before his arrest, he enjoyed a life of luxury, driving a Rolls-Royce and living in a £6million mansion on Palm Jumeirah island, where celebrities including David and Victoria Beckham and Brad Pitt own villas.
He made his fortune by cornering the market in wooden flooring in the Gulf after moving 4,500 miles from where to Dubai in 1998.
Son Wolfgang followed him out in 2008 to set up his own flooring firm, Timberwolf.
He returned to the UK full time in 2019.
Father and son Wolfgang and Albert Douglas have witnessed first hand the horrors of DubaiCredit: Paul Tonge
Rio Ferdinand and wife Kate have re-located to Portugal after fleeing their new home in DubaiThe couple re-located to the UAE last yearCredit: InstagramThey made the big move last year with their kids Cree, five, and Shae, two, and Rio’s 14-year-old daughter, Tia, from his first marriageCredit: InstagramIran previously launched a barrage of rockets at nations across the Middle EastCredit: AFP
In the terrifying situation, which is still ongoing, Iran vowed revenge for the US and Israel’s huge blitz on the regime.
Now the celebrity couple and their children Cree, five, and Shae, two, and Rio’s 14-year-old daughter, Tia, from his first marriage, have headed to their European retreat.
Former Manchester United player Rio has uploaded a snap showing him swigging a Super Bock beer in the surroundings of their Portugal home.
In his caption he referred to the weekend’s football scores and wrote: “That feeling when Liverpool + Chelsea drop points in the race for the top 4!
“Happy Saturday People!”
He sat against the white walled terrace of the stunning villa in the Algarve near Quinta do Lago, with bright sunshine and trees in the background.
Liverpool had lost at Brighton 2-1 while Chelsea suffered a 3-0 hammering at Everton.
Kate has not addressed the location change on her social media, with the most recent upload being a clip from her Blended podcast.
Previously, on her show, she had opened up on the family’s actions amid the missile strikes.
As the United Arab Emirate’s top holiday hot spot, Dubai has become a sought after travel destination for celebrities and influencers.
Kate previously told her fans they spent “a very scary night” sleeping in their basement.
“Thank you for all of your messages and sorry for the silence, I haven’t wanted to worry you all I just haven’t been able to find the words. We are safe,” she said on Instagram.
“The government are doing an amazing job of keeping it that way and despite my nerves I feel we are in very safe hands.”
She added: “We are hoping for a calmer evening tonight, last night was very scary. Although Cree and Shae loved it as they couldn’t believe we all got a sleepover in the basement.
“Thank you for all of your prayers, this whole experience is very eye-opening and I am praying for anyone affected. Lots of love to everyone.”
Rio’s sons Lorenz, 19, and Tate, 17, did not move over when they relocated from the UK last year to focus on their football careers.
Speaking on his show Rio Ferdinand Presents, the former Manchester United and England defender said: “Been a different week for me, not going to lie.
“Firstly, I’m in great condition this morning as the whole family did a workout.
“A bit like in Covid, the whole family is doing things we wouldn’t usually be doing together.
“Home-schooling a bit today.
“It’s frightening when you hear missiles, planes and fighter jets – I don’t know what it is – going above us, and you’re hearing big bombs, and what that is we don’t know as we don’t know the details of what they are.
“It’s telling your kids what it is and helping them navigate through this moment, which is important especially as the dad of the house.
“You want to try and remain calm and keep everybody as calm as possible.”
Ferdinand added: “I’ve got to be honest guys, it’s been a bit of a scary situation.”
Kate previously told how the family had been forced to sleep in the basementCredit: InstagramFormer footballer Rio also admitted he had been ‘scared’Credit: InstagramKate previously told how the kids loved their ‘fresh start’ in the UAECredit: Instagram
