Cool the Lava Man hysteria
The news that Lava Man is on the comeback trail has elicited a hysterical response from far and wide, including invective accusations that trainer Doug O'Neill and owners Jason Wood and Steve Kenly are greedy, callous and uncaring. That's not fair. If done right, there's no reason why Lava Man's comeback can't be successful.
These are not reckless people and they seem like they know what they are doing. O'Neill has never been the type of trainer to push horses beyond their limits or race them when they weren't right. Neither Kenly nor Wood has any kind of rap sheet.
Since Lava Man, who has earned $5.2 million and has won seven Grade 1 events, last raced 14 months ago, the ownership group has done nothing but give him the best care. He was sent to the Alamo Pintado Equine Medical Hospital, a place that specializes in stem-cell therapy. The idea was to get him over some nagging aches and pains, not to race him again. Apparently, the procedures worked so well that Lava Man started acting like a horse who was ready to go back into battle.
Only a first few steps have been taken. Lava Man worked three furlongs earlier this week at Hollywood Park and the stable seems intent on proceeding cautiously. They're not going to race him unless he continues to train well and gets through every step unscathed. They've already said they're not going to do anything unseemly like drop him into a claiming race. So far, we're talking "no harm, no foul."
That he is again sound after some infirmities caused him to go off form last year is not implausible.
"He really took to the treatment and it has done wonders for him," O'Neill told the Thoroughbred Times. "The doctor said that he is and will be the strongest horse in my barn. I couldn't put into words how good he looks and how happy he seems to be back in training."
A lot of people weren't buying it. On various blogs and message boards, some of the comments were vicious. They included:
"This is a travesty and not in the interest of the horse, but driven by owners who can't relinquish the desire to return THEM to the spotlight ... "
And this: "This is disgusting. $5 million is not enough for his greedy owners."
Whether or not this works out is up to Lava Man himself. Now 8, he probably won't run until early next year. It might not be easy to compete at the highest levels of the game at age 9, but it can be done. John Henry won four Grade 1 races as a 9-year-old in 1984 and was named Horse of the Year. John's Call won two Grade 1 races at 9 and finished third in the Breeders' Cup Turf that same year. Just last week, a 9-year-old named Cloudy's Knight won the Grade 3 Kentucky Cup Turf at Kentucky Downs and did so off a one-year layoff for trainer Jonathan Sheppard.
Lava Man is not John Henry, but he's better than John's Call and Cloudy's Knight. He should be able to go out there and prove that he's got enough left in the tank.
We will hear between now and Lava Man's first race that it's really not about the money, but about giving a gallant old champion another shot at what he really loves to do, which is to run. That's nonsense. Of course it's about the money. Kenly and Wood stand to make a decent chunk of change should Lava Man return to form. There's nothing wrong with that, as long as they don't do anything to endanger the horse.
In the meantime, Kenly and Wood need to take a cue from O'Neill, who has pledged his share of Lava Man's earnings to a horse welfare charity. To help themselves in the court of public opinion and quiet the cries that they are motivated only by greed, the owners need to do something along the same lines.
The real test will come in the months ahead. Should they continue to race Lava Man when it becomes clear that he doesn't have it any more, drop him into a claimer or do anything obvious to put him at risk, then, yes, they will deserve to be vilified. I will lead the charge.
For now, everyone needs to give O'Neill, Kenly and Wood the benefit of the doubt. This isn't that bad of an idea.
Bill Finley is an award-winning racing writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today and Sports Illustrated. Contact Bill at wnfinley@aol.com.
