Down the Stretch for November 8, 2021

In a week in which so much happened in horse racing, what they did to the bettors on Friday at Del Mar was astonishing, as in astonishingly stupid. It tarnished what was otherwise a great Breeders’ Cup weekend. Pink Lloyd can still rock 6 furlongs at Woodbine - he won a Stakes race for the 25th time. His jockey Rafael Hernandez talks about another fine season and how he ended up riding a quarter horse at Ajax Downs. There was a frightening spill Friday night at Mohawk and drivers Doug McNair, Nick Boyd and Bob McClure were all fortunate not to be seriously injured. Ajax Downs completed its season of quarter horse racing and Jennifer Morrison wraps up the year for us. We sample a brilliant version of harness racings Mic’d Up and Ric Chapman files from Australia on the $6 million Melbourne Cup. By the way, wasn’t it a great week to be called James MacDonald?