Matthew Stockman / Getty Images file

War Pass, with Cornelio Velasquez in the irons, pulls up after crossing the finish line after winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile on Oct. 27 at Monmouth Park.

And they need to be educated the way other fans in this country are educated to care about baseball, football, basketball and all the rest. If there were really something wrong with Tom Brady’s foot, would Bill Belichick shout it out for all the tabloids to hear?

OK, maybe coach Belichick is a poor example.

But when entries were drawn 48 hours in advance of the Tampa Bay Derby, stakes coordinator Duane Dube had done his best to scare up a few local rivals to support the event to give it the illusion of being a horse race and not a coronation. Had LaPenta or trainer Nick Zito referenced a fever earlier in the week, the event would have been over-filled like some “beaten claiming” race.

As a horse owner with a top prize of $180,000 on the line, would you rather face 10 rivals or five?

To paraphrase a previous administration in Washington D.C., it’s about the money, stupid, and not about stupid money. Treating racehorses like royalty is a big expense. Racetrackers correctly say it’s money that makes the mare go.

Be it emotionally or financially, everyone tethered to the racehorse knows and understands this. But the general public that attracted to the Derby does not and needs to be educated about the sport’s nuances. It’s nuance that turns a sporting public into lifetime racing fans and horseplayers.

Since last Saturday‘s remarks, the connections of War Pass have begun to back away from the fever scenario. But this is not about whether there was a fever present or not; horseplayers seldom have a problem drawing their own conclusions.

This is about the time of year when sports fans begin to take notice and put their fannies in racetrack seats. In the continued absence of education, pre-race excuses made in post race interviews leave a bad taste and shows little regard for a bigger picture.

It’s about time that the public is made to understand, as racetrackers do, that “they all get beat,” that there’s no shame in defeat, that there‘s nothing sinister afoot.

Even the most well meaning of owners shouldn’t make a bad situation worse. They should know enough to just hold their tongues and take their lumps. Nobody gets to have it both ways. Nobody, no horse — no matter how famous — is bigger than the game.

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