The jury is in for Breeders' Cup 25
There should be a special Eclipse Award of merit for Marian Hinnant.
Such recognition is generally reserved for the sport's exemplars, which are few and far between, but it is probably a safe assumption that no past recipient has ever risked a jail sentence to go to the track. Nothing -- not the high-profile corruption trial of a sitting member of the United States Senate, not propriety, duty, a potentially felony charge or the truth -- would keep Marian Hinnant from attending the 25th Breeders' Cup.
This is dedication uncommon in an age of betting from the living room or an OTB facility. This is a true fan of racing -- slightly out of kilter perhaps, but a dedicated fan nevertheless.
Hinnant was a member of the jury, Juror No. 4 to be specific, that would eventually find Alaska Senator Ted Stevens guilty of an assortment of improprieties and we would probably never learned of her above-and-beyond-the-call dedication to racing had the trial been concluded more expeditiously.
But as the proceeding dragged on, Juror No. 4 began thinking about the very expensive tickets she had purchased for the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita. Perhaps Curlin's eventually unsuccessful bid for a second victory in the Classic was on her mind. She may have read the glowing European reports about Goldikova. And, of course, there was the opportunity to see the undefeated Zenyatta run in the race formerly known as the Distaff. Maybe Juror No. 4 believed superior Pro-Ride figs gave her an edge at Santa Anita and she had accumulated a bankroll large enough to play the pick-six. Whatever her motive, at some point, probably as testimony went in one ear and out the other while her mind drifted off to the San Gabriel Valley, Marian Hinnant began to worry that she would miss the Breeders' Cup.
Whatever was going through Marian Hinnant's mind or what voices she hears is known only to Juror No. 4, but corrupt, avaricious politicians are a dime a dozen in Washington. Miss the Breeders' Cup and the wait is a year.
So, Hinnant, who is 52, with deliberation in progress, weighed one result against the other, prioritized the options, and told the judge Emmet G. Sullivan, of the Federal District Court, that her 71-year-old father, who is, according to the Washington Post, alive and well in Kenly, S.C., had died in Southern California -- not an original lie; Homer Simpsonesque in fact, but one swallowed by the judge, who chose not to verify the alleged death, the report of which was greatly exaggerated. D'oh.
The duped Judge Sullivan dismissed Hinnant, replaced her with an alternate and ordered the jury to resume deliberations as if they had just begun. Hinnant, perhaps with Breeders' Cup past performances in hand, flew to California and, having left a brewing storm in Sullivan's courtroom, arrived in perfect weather.
Eventually, with most of those within the racing sphere embroiled in the post-Breeders' Cup Curlin vs. Zenyatta Horse of the Year debate, Stevens was convicted -- a verdict with which Hinnant said later that she concurred -- and Juror No. 4 was in trouble. Sullivan had apparently attempted to contact Hinnant by phone. She should have had the calls forwarded to her cell phone. The devil is always in the details. Upon review, he found the widower Ralph Harold Hinnant not only alive, but nowhere near Southern California; likely more alive than was his daughter in the pick-four.
On Monday, accompanied by a federal public defender, Hinnant appeared before Sullivan. Her attorney apologized and said the story about her father's death was just one that popped into her head.
According to reports, Hinnant, speaking in her own defense, rambled about horse breeding and other related topics, prompting Judge Sullivan to interrupt her, saying: "I am thoroughly convinced you would not have been able to deliberate." He then dismissed her.
So, Hinnant is off the hook for having tricked the judge, she made it to Santa Anita, saw two great days of racing and, since the public defender is on the taxpayers' tab, avoided legal expenses, thus preserving her betting stash -- all while raising the bar for horseplayers everywhere.
While this was neither the first nor last lie told by a horseplayer it may very well be the biggest.
How many of the most fanatic devotees of racing would look a federal judge in the eye and tell such an outlandish story at the risk of being sent to jail, ponder the worst-case outcome weigh the potential cost of being charged with contempt of court and other transgressions and then do whatever it took to escape federal service and make it to the Breeders' Cup?
If not a special Eclipse Award, a testimonial from the Horse Players' Association of North America, if not a seat on the board, would be entirely apropos.
Paul Moran is a two-time winner of the Media Eclipse Award, and has received various honors from the National Association of Newspaper Editors, Society of Silurians, Long Island Press Club and Long Island Veterinary Medical Association. He has also been given the Red Smith Award for his coverage of the Kentucky Derby. Paul maintains paulmoranattheraces.blogspot.com and can be contacted at paulmoran47@hotmail.com.
