Breeders’ Cup holds a career’s worth of memories for writer

Jay Privman was a kid growing up in the San Fernando Valley in the 1970s when his family made the easy drive down to San Diego for a summer vacation.

Their plans were typical: SeaWorld, San Diego Zoo, Del Mar racetrack.

“An all-animal trifecta,” Privman recalled with a smile.

Shamu was OK. The gorillas and elephants were interesting. But it was Del Mar that really stirred something in the boy.

He’d never seen horse racing live before. There was pageantry, and people from all walks, and the horses were athletes the likes of which he had never seen.

It is a feeling that has lingered with Privman for more than 40 years, and he’s been fortunate enough to make a living with his love of the sport.

Thirty-three years ago, Privman covered the inaugural Breeders’ Cup at Hollywood Park as a green, 24-year-old sports writer. He has since reported on every running of horse racing’s world championships, being one of only two writers to do so. (The other is longtime Kentucky journalist Jennie Rees.)

On Nov. 3-4, the Carlsbad resident’s life comes back around to where it all began with Del Mar’s first staging of the Breeders’ Cup.

This year is going to be a little more special than most.

“I’m biased, because it’s the first track I’ve ever been to, but Del Mar deserves it,” Privman said. “It’s one of the best tracks nationally, and I’m glad they finally got one.”

He smiled.

“And it’s a home game for me.”

The 57-year-old is intimately familiar with the rhythms of Del Mar, having covered the track and the thoroughbred racing industry nationally for the Daily Racing Form since 1998. He also is among the top Breeders’ Cup experts, with a book about the event to his credit, while frequently working as a commentator for NBC Sports Network on its horse racing broadcasts, including next week at Del Mar.

Privman has won numerous awards for his coverage of the Triple Crown races, and was honored in April by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association for “outstanding coverage of the thoroughbred industry.”

First a horse racing stringer for the Los Angeles Daily News, and later a fulltime staffer, Privman reported on his first Kentucky Derby at the age of 22. The Triple Crown races were the most important in the sport, with only a couple of other $1 million offerings in the 1980s.

Then a thoroughbred breeder, John Gaines, proposed a single day of racing in the fall that would help decide who the champion horses were for the year. Gaines suggested that the purses for the races be raised through breeders and owners contributing a portion of breeding fees to the pot.

Thus, the Breeders’ Cup.

“There was a lot of skepticism about whether it would come off,” Privman said. “There were a lot of people who thought it was an idiotic idea.”

“Nothing is going to supplant the Triple Crown. But this gives the sport another big window of recognition with the general sports public in the fall.

“One of the beauties of it,” Privman said, “was that it helped decide the year-end champion Eclipse Awards. There had been races in California in the fall and some really good races in New York, but by the end of the October, that was kind of it for big races. It was hard to get everybody together.

“With the Breeders’ Cup, it was ‘run in this thing or you’re probably not going to get a year-end award.’ That made it the Super Bowl or the U.S. Open, or whatever you want to call it. There was a defined championship.”

NBC also jumped on board, which lent credibility to a new event.

Two years after Gaines’ proposal, the first edition was ready to be run at Hollywood Park in Inglewood.

On Nov. 10, 1984, with more than 64,000 fans on hand, seven races were run, the day ending in dramatic fashion when a 31-1 longshot, Wild Again, prevailed in a stretch run of much jostling.

The stewards took 10 minutes to make the result official, and Preakness winner Gate Dancer was dropped to third, with favorite Slew o’Gold moved up to second.

“I remember at the end of the day feeling exhausted,” Privman said. “It was almost too much, It was sensory overload.”

And everyone came away impressed, which propelled the Breeders’ Cup forward, with the purses rising and entries multiplying to where they are today. In front of an international television audience, 13 races will be contested over Friday and Saturday at Del Mar with a total purse of $28 million.

With a sharp memory for detail, Privman can recall something from every Breeders’ Cup, though he certainly has his favorites.

His top choice: In 2009, the beloved mare Zenyatta beat the boys in the Classic to stay undefeated with an incredible stretch charge after spotting the field 10 lengths for well over half the race at Santa Anita.

Announcer Trevor Denman, making the call, exclaimed at the finish, “What a performance! One we’ll never forget!”

“The place went bananas,” Privman said. “The roar was like Notre Dame scoring a last-second touchdown against USC in South Bend. It was nuts.”

On the other side of the emotional scale was the ’90 Cup at Belmont Park. Two horses died in the Sprint, and then Go For Wand, a popular, two-time Eclipse Award-winning filly, broke down while battling for the lead in the Distaff and was euthanized behind a screen on the track.

Her shattered leg, graphically apparent to the live TV audience, gutted those who saw it.

The New York Times called it “Racing’s Darkest Day.”

“I got back to my hotel and just collapsed. I couldn’t move,” Privman said. “It was emotionally draining to cover that day.”

New York was the venue for another moving and surreal experience. The 2001 Breeders’ Cup was held at Belmont, only six weeks after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.

“When we flew over Manhattan, there were still wisps of smoke coming up from where the Twin Towers were,” Privman recalled. “I remember everybody being very on edge. Security was unbelievable. There were snipers on the roof at Belmont Park.

“It was intense. I had never been in an atmosphere like that before. But it went off without a hitch.”

Privman has watched trainers and jockeys define their careers in the Breeders’ Cup. Among them are Bill Mott, who has saddled 10 winners in the championship, and Richard Mandella, who hasn’t won a Triple Crown race but has trained nine BC champs.

Mike Smith is the leading Cup jockey with 25 victories, but Privman also has great regard for a rider who only triumphed once, Julie Krone. The only female jockey in the Hall of Fame captured the Juvenile Fillies in 2003 at Santa Anita aboard Halfbridled after coming out of retirement and relocating to California (she is now retired and living in Carlsbad).

“She had done most of her riding on the East Coast, so people in California got to see why she was so well thought of,” Privman said. “She was a great, great rider.”

There is no telling what theatrics will play out for the Del Mar Breeders’ Cup.

Privman thinks the Classic is shaping up to be a compelling race, with Arrogate trying to avenge a loss to Collected in the Pacific Classic in August, while Gun Runner arrives from the East Coast with three straight impressive wins.

For Del Mar’s sake, Privman is hoping for a Breeders’ Cup like first-time host Keeneland got two years ago. There, Triple Crown winner American Pharoah made it memorable with his Classic win.

“Everybody left thinking how great it was,” Privman said. “If Del Mar can get a win by a nose or great finish (in the Classic), that will send everybody home happy.”

tod.leonard@sduniontribune.com; Twitter: @sdutleonard