The Canadian Sportsman
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Back To Last Call OnlineSeptember 16, 2009
Ritchie sick, but standing tall after owning up to “worst mistake I’ve ever made”
Trevor Ritchie knows the magnitude of his mistake. On Wednesday morning, the veteran driver said he has been on the verge of throwing up since Monday night.
“I’m sick to my stomach for, of course, (trainer) Dan (Creighton) and all the connections of the mare (Angostura),” Ritchie said. “If Dan loses his appeal, it may be up to a quarter-million-dollar mistake on my part. Of course, that weighs heavy. Then, secondary, all the people that bet her had to rip their tickets up.
“This is likely the worst mistake I’ve ever made in my life driving-wise, but what are you going to do? I’ve got to suck it up and go on.”
If, to paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the measure of a man is how he deals with adversity, then even the diminutive Ritchie is practically an NBA centre.
Which, admittedly, is cold comfort to the driver, the connections of the two-year-old trotting filly and those who bet on her, but it does tell you a lot about a man that unequivocally owned up to his mistake and didn’t lay a shred of blame elsewhere.
There’s no way to soft-sell it — Ritchie pulled a doozy of a brain cramp when he violated Ontario’s new whipping rule driving Angostura to victory at Mohawk Monday in the first $30,000 elimination for Sunday's $500,000 Peaceful Way final. The filly won by a head but was disqualified because Ritchie took the lines in one hand and, allegedly, tapped Angostura lightly with his whip.
“I knew the rule going in. I’ve got nobody to blame but me,” said Ritchie, who took the lines in one hand to pull out her earplugs — which is allowable — because he could not reach the earplug cord with his foot. Ritchie said he then forgot to return a line to each hand and may have touched Angostura with the whip, though he’s not sure he did and that’s why Creighton is appealing the judges’ disqualification.
“I said to the judges, ‘I didn’t think it was a DQ if you didn’t hit the horse with the lines in one hand.’ They said, ‘Well, it isn’t, but in our opinion you hit the horse...’ That’s why it’s under appeal.”
The stakes are high. Not only does the Peaceful Way final carry a half-million-dollar purse, but elimination winners get to pick their posts for the final, meaning Angostura would have had a plum post.
The sad part in all this is this was not an example of a horse being abused in any way and, regardless, Ritchie is one of the least likely to abuse the whipping rule. For that very reason, he thought he might fall victim to it when it was instituted Sept. 1 of this year.
“I’ve told people that I was likely going to get nailed because I’m not a whipper and I wasn’t thinking about it. This scenario I never put into my head was where I would put the lines in one hand to pull the plugs and then forget to put the line back in my hand.”
Ritchie is also the driver most likely to warn visiting reinsmen about the new restrictions and the possibility of being disqualified for whipping with the lines in one hand, which he said have been stressed time and again by judges.
Yet, despite his self-inflicted misfortune, Ritchie refuses to blame the new whipping rule for his plight — and he’s been publicly against the rule for over a year strictly over safety concerns. Ritchie is all for protecting the welfare of horses, but he said he has grave concerns over drivers shaking the lines instead and not having control of their horses.
“I think it is a terrible rule, but not for the reasons in this situation. It was all for safety. All along for me, I’ve been against this rule because I think it’s going to promote a more unsafe environment for drivers on the racetrack. I’m convinced that I’m right and nobody’s going to convince me otherwise. After watching the races and the way these horses get handled, I am absolutely certain I’m right on that count,” he said.
As for whether his mistake has cost him a friend in Creighton, Ritchie said, “I hope not, but I wouldn’t blame him if it does. He knows I made a mistake. I’ve apologized to him a gazillion times already. I’m human. I make mistakes.”
No matter which way the appeal goes, the incident is sure to be a deterrent against drivers taking lines in one hand. Ritchie said a chill went through the Mohawk drivers’ room on Monday.
“It was pretty quiet because everybody was likely sick for me, because they can likely put themselves in same position,” Ritchie said.
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September 16, 2009
2:43 PM
2:43 PM
I respected his skills as a driver a great deal before and do so even more now as admitting that you have made a mistake is much more difficult than making the mistake itself.
It is refreshing not seeing any attempt to cover up. Learning from one's mistakes is perhaps one of the most important steps towards success.
Not surprising to me that this sort of character has made Trevor the talent he is today.
It is refreshing not seeing any attempt to cover up. Learning from one's mistakes is perhaps one of the most important steps towards success.
Not surprising to me that this sort of character has made Trevor the talent he is today.
~ Dave Landry
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