Big Brown, Michelle Nevin up, tours the paddock at Belmont Park on Saturday.
NYRA photo
Saturday, May 31, 2008
"Back to his old self"
Trainer Rick Dutrow said that Big Brown’s gallop on Saturday was, “the best since he’s been here” and that with a return to regular daily exercise, which was interrupted last week by a crack in the wall of his left-fore hoof, has brought the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner “back to his old self.”
On another front, Dutrow said, meetings with New York Racing Association president Charlie Hayward and P.J. Campo, the racing secretary, have resulted in changes for the better in the racing surface at Belmont, which until recently was extremely hard and fast.
“I don’t know what you do to take care of a track, but I do know when a track is hard,” Dutrow said. “I had a horse run seven-eighths the other day in 1:20 (Not For Money, 1:20.70, on May 23).”
The track record for 7 furlongs at Belmont Park, 1:20.17, is held by Left Bank and set on July 4, 2002. Not For Money is not in the class of Left Bank, who was a high-class sprinter, but that race serves as an example of what has become of the racing surfaces in New York since John Passero has been in charge their maintenance. While Passero has been dismissive of complaints from horsemen, Hayward and Campo may have gotten his attention, at least for the moment.
On another front, Dutrow said, meetings with New York Racing Association president Charlie Hayward and P.J. Campo, the racing secretary, have resulted in changes for the better in the racing surface at Belmont, which until recently was extremely hard and fast.
“I don’t know what you do to take care of a track, but I do know when a track is hard,” Dutrow said. “I had a horse run seven-eighths the other day in 1:20 (Not For Money, 1:20.70, on May 23).”
The track record for 7 furlongs at Belmont Park, 1:20.17, is held by Left Bank and set on July 4, 2002. Not For Money is not in the class of Left Bank, who was a high-class sprinter, but that race serves as an example of what has become of the racing surfaces in New York since John Passero has been in charge their maintenance. While Passero has been dismissive of complaints from horsemen, Hayward and Campo may have gotten his attention, at least for the moment.
Friday, May 30, 2008
And now, back to the studio
Triple Crown history is made in many shapes and forms. This interview of Big Brown’s trainer, Rick Dutrow, was conducted on Friday morning at Belmont Park by Jill Rappaport, of the Today Show. and is now considered a candidate for worst interview of a trainer in Triple Crown history.
The transcript:
Jill Rappaport: Just watching him work out, walk, trot, was so exciting. Take us to the moment, coming down the finish line and your thoughts on how you think he‘s going to do.
Rick Dutrow: You mean in the upcoming race?
JR: (laughs) Very good.
RD: Well, I haven’t looked at the race yet. I know it’s available for me to go over and get all the pps from all the horses and see if there‘s speed, that kind of stuff. I haven’t done that yet, so …I mean …
JR: Tell me your feeling about how you think he’s going to do.
RD: Oh, I think he’s going to impress the crowd again. Every time that he has run he’s been impressive, in every one of his races. So why should he stop now? It’s just, he’s doing good, looks like a picture … he looks better now than he did when he won the Derby. He’s got all-time confidence ….
JR: Now, why does he look better now than the Derby?
RD: Because of his weight.
JR: Oh, he gained some weight from the Derby.
RD: I could see a little bit of ribbiness going into the Derby, it didn’t bother me none, but now, he looks like an absolute picture of a racehorse.
JR: Now obviously, like a true athlete, it’s all in the buildup, the momentum, getting them ready for the big day. Is there anything special that you’re doing?
RD: No.
JR: Nothing?
RD: I don’t feel that (stops) …. He is special. So I don’t feel that human beings need to do anything special around him. I think you only have to play it the basic way. He doesn’t need the extra thing that a person might think he would need going into a race. He doesn’t need it. I think the safer that you play it around him, the better off.
JR: So just act like a normal day, business as usual.
RD: That’s what it’s been like with us so far.
JR: Right. No change in diet or anything like that? Same basic thing every day. You are very cool and calm. I think I‘m more nervous than you. I mean, this is a big moment, come on [interrupts Dutrow] It doesn’t get bigger than this.
RD: Not this moment that I’m going through right now ….
JR (interrupts): You mean not being with me this isn’t the second high of your life? [Laughs]. Wait a minute, maybe the fourth. We have the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, your girlfriend, and then this [laughs].
RD: (pause) Yeah.
JR: Fourth. Well, hey, I‘m still in the top five [laughs again] …. There‘s that smile I‘ve been waiting for.
RD: Yeah. I don’t have a problem with smiling.
JR: [laughs]
RD: And he’s going to make me smile again, you know? Right now is not the time to get all excited about it. We’ve still got plenty more days to get through.
JR: Ok. But, as a trainer, you’ve been around this business long enough; you’ve been around a lot of champions, what sets this guy apart?
RD: Because of his ability. It sets him apart. He was born with it. He just has an amazing talent. So there’s …. that’s why I’ve always played it safe and easy around him because I‘m not going to be able to make him faster than he is. And he’s fast enough. So leave him alone, play it all safe, that’s what it’s been like. I mean I’ve never, ever, in the morning, asked him for run. It’s all basic stuff. And if I were to have known that he were coming to a race and I felt that he needed a good breeze I certainly would have gave him one. But the way that things have been working out with him I just never have to ask him for run in the morning. So we’re not going to ask him for run any more in the morning. It’s just all basic stuff just keep him fresh, fit, happy ….
JR: You know, we talked about this, but because of what happened with …
(During break to change tapes)
JR: He’s so sweet. Can he come live with me in my house in Water Mill? I’d just love to ride one of these guys can you imagine?
RD: Yeah.
JR: I’m gonna take you to Saturday. The race is over and he has come through brilliantly. Tell me your feelings. What are you going to be feeling? Try to in … visualize it. They say if you visualize it, it will happen.
RD: Well, um, you know, I dunno, I got so many of my friends and family that’s gonna be there. When we run in big races and win, you know, we show our emotions. So we’re going to be very happy. It’s just going to be a wild scene, as far as we know, we’re not going to be able to control ourselves…
JR: Kind of like this?
RD: No, not this.
JR: A little bit more?
RD: A lot more.
JR: [Laughs] A little bubbly, have some fun, right?
RD: No, I don’t like champagne
JR: No?
RD: No, I won’t do that.
JR: I can just imagine. I mean I can’t. But it would just be overwhelming.
RD: Well, that’s the way it’s supposed to be.
JR: Yeah, but the nerves leading up. I mean, for everybody. It’s just a lot of pressure because there are so many expectations put on this guy. Because of what he’s done over the last two races.
RD: Yeah, but he doesn’t know that. When he’s walking over, he’s gonna size up the competition. And he’s going be looking at the other horses. He’s going to be figuring he’s in a horse race and he’s not going to feel any pressure, like ’Hey this is the Triple Crown.’ He’s not gonna know that. He’s just going to go out there and deal with what’s happening in front of him. That’s all he’s gotta do.
JR: And what about the, uh, horse they could possibly give him a run for his money? Do you feel he has any competition in this race?
RD: No.
JR: A piece of cake.
RD: A walk in the park. I just don’t see the competition that’s going to come up and beat Big Brown on Saturday. I just don’t see it. I know it’s possible, that if maybe our horse doesn’t run his race, some other horse runs a big, big race, it’s possible. But I see our horse running his race and I don’t see the other ones beating him.
JR: I love that determination, that confidence. You gotta be that way, believe in him.
RD: He’s given me the confidence. It’s not me going out there and running against him, you know?
JR: Thank God.
RD: yeah.
JR: OK now to reiterate, because I explained our audience, with the concern for his well-being, being that he does have these steel sutures, in his hoof to hold it together, are you at all that he can‘t hold up to really what is the most difficult race he will ever run?
RD: No concerns whatsoever. It’s all basic procedure that Ian‘s been doing for 15 years.
JR: Ian‘s his vet?
RD: Well, he’s not a vet; he’s a hoof specialist ….
JR: A hoof specialist.
RD: Yes, he’s not a vet or a blacksmith. He’s done it with our horses numerous amounts of times…
JR: But it sounds very serious. You hear about steel sutures holding a hoof together. The average person thinks, “Wow. Is that horse going to be able to live up to the task?”
RD: Without a doubt. Um, it’s not an issue. It’s part of mending it back together. I mean if someone had their arm cut open and needed to stitch it up, it’s not going to have effect on him writing a letter. It’s something that has nothing to do with his talent, his ability of getting there. It’s non-issue.
JR: It just seems logically, the hoof, he is running a mile and a half, pounding at that. Logically you would think it would affect him.
RD: I wouldn’t think it.
JR: Well, you’re an expert. The average person would, right?
RD: What I’m trying to tell you is that it’s not going to affect him.
JR: Now, let me ask you this, from, just an animal standpoint and loving animals, what do you think about... We look at these magnificent, majestic creatures, average weight 1200 pounds, balancing on hoof that are…
And here, the tape ends.
The transcript:
Jill Rappaport: Just watching him work out, walk, trot, was so exciting. Take us to the moment, coming down the finish line and your thoughts on how you think he‘s going to do.
Rick Dutrow: You mean in the upcoming race?
JR: (laughs) Very good.
RD: Well, I haven’t looked at the race yet. I know it’s available for me to go over and get all the pps from all the horses and see if there‘s speed, that kind of stuff. I haven’t done that yet, so …I mean …
JR: Tell me your feeling about how you think he’s going to do.
RD: Oh, I think he’s going to impress the crowd again. Every time that he has run he’s been impressive, in every one of his races. So why should he stop now? It’s just, he’s doing good, looks like a picture … he looks better now than he did when he won the Derby. He’s got all-time confidence ….
JR: Now, why does he look better now than the Derby?
RD: Because of his weight.
JR: Oh, he gained some weight from the Derby.
RD: I could see a little bit of ribbiness going into the Derby, it didn’t bother me none, but now, he looks like an absolute picture of a racehorse.
JR: Now obviously, like a true athlete, it’s all in the buildup, the momentum, getting them ready for the big day. Is there anything special that you’re doing?
RD: No.
JR: Nothing?
RD: I don’t feel that (stops) …. He is special. So I don’t feel that human beings need to do anything special around him. I think you only have to play it the basic way. He doesn’t need the extra thing that a person might think he would need going into a race. He doesn’t need it. I think the safer that you play it around him, the better off.
JR: So just act like a normal day, business as usual.
RD: That’s what it’s been like with us so far.
JR: Right. No change in diet or anything like that? Same basic thing every day. You are very cool and calm. I think I‘m more nervous than you. I mean, this is a big moment, come on [interrupts Dutrow] It doesn’t get bigger than this.
RD: Not this moment that I’m going through right now ….
JR (interrupts): You mean not being with me this isn’t the second high of your life? [Laughs]. Wait a minute, maybe the fourth. We have the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, your girlfriend, and then this [laughs].
RD: (pause) Yeah.
JR: Fourth. Well, hey, I‘m still in the top five [laughs again] …. There‘s that smile I‘ve been waiting for.
RD: Yeah. I don’t have a problem with smiling.
JR: [laughs]
RD: And he’s going to make me smile again, you know? Right now is not the time to get all excited about it. We’ve still got plenty more days to get through.
JR: Ok. But, as a trainer, you’ve been around this business long enough; you’ve been around a lot of champions, what sets this guy apart?
RD: Because of his ability. It sets him apart. He was born with it. He just has an amazing talent. So there’s …. that’s why I’ve always played it safe and easy around him because I‘m not going to be able to make him faster than he is. And he’s fast enough. So leave him alone, play it all safe, that’s what it’s been like. I mean I’ve never, ever, in the morning, asked him for run. It’s all basic stuff. And if I were to have known that he were coming to a race and I felt that he needed a good breeze I certainly would have gave him one. But the way that things have been working out with him I just never have to ask him for run in the morning. So we’re not going to ask him for run any more in the morning. It’s just all basic stuff just keep him fresh, fit, happy ….
JR: You know, we talked about this, but because of what happened with …
(During break to change tapes)
JR: He’s so sweet. Can he come live with me in my house in Water Mill? I’d just love to ride one of these guys can you imagine?
RD: Yeah.
JR: I’m gonna take you to Saturday. The race is over and he has come through brilliantly. Tell me your feelings. What are you going to be feeling? Try to in … visualize it. They say if you visualize it, it will happen.
RD: Well, um, you know, I dunno, I got so many of my friends and family that’s gonna be there. When we run in big races and win, you know, we show our emotions. So we’re going to be very happy. It’s just going to be a wild scene, as far as we know, we’re not going to be able to control ourselves…
JR: Kind of like this?
RD: No, not this.
JR: A little bit more?
RD: A lot more.
JR: [Laughs] A little bubbly, have some fun, right?
RD: No, I don’t like champagne
JR: No?
RD: No, I won’t do that.
JR: I can just imagine. I mean I can’t. But it would just be overwhelming.
RD: Well, that’s the way it’s supposed to be.
JR: Yeah, but the nerves leading up. I mean, for everybody. It’s just a lot of pressure because there are so many expectations put on this guy. Because of what he’s done over the last two races.
RD: Yeah, but he doesn’t know that. When he’s walking over, he’s gonna size up the competition. And he’s going be looking at the other horses. He’s going to be figuring he’s in a horse race and he’s not going to feel any pressure, like ’Hey this is the Triple Crown.’ He’s not gonna know that. He’s just going to go out there and deal with what’s happening in front of him. That’s all he’s gotta do.
JR: And what about the, uh, horse they could possibly give him a run for his money? Do you feel he has any competition in this race?
RD: No.
JR: A piece of cake.
RD: A walk in the park. I just don’t see the competition that’s going to come up and beat Big Brown on Saturday. I just don’t see it. I know it’s possible, that if maybe our horse doesn’t run his race, some other horse runs a big, big race, it’s possible. But I see our horse running his race and I don’t see the other ones beating him.
JR: I love that determination, that confidence. You gotta be that way, believe in him.
RD: He’s given me the confidence. It’s not me going out there and running against him, you know?
JR: Thank God.
RD: yeah.
JR: OK now to reiterate, because I explained our audience, with the concern for his well-being, being that he does have these steel sutures, in his hoof to hold it together, are you at all that he can‘t hold up to really what is the most difficult race he will ever run?
RD: No concerns whatsoever. It’s all basic procedure that Ian‘s been doing for 15 years.
JR: Ian‘s his vet?
RD: Well, he’s not a vet; he’s a hoof specialist ….
JR: A hoof specialist.
RD: Yes, he’s not a vet or a blacksmith. He’s done it with our horses numerous amounts of times…
JR: But it sounds very serious. You hear about steel sutures holding a hoof together. The average person thinks, “Wow. Is that horse going to be able to live up to the task?”
RD: Without a doubt. Um, it’s not an issue. It’s part of mending it back together. I mean if someone had their arm cut open and needed to stitch it up, it’s not going to have effect on him writing a letter. It’s something that has nothing to do with his talent, his ability of getting there. It’s non-issue.
JR: It just seems logically, the hoof, he is running a mile and a half, pounding at that. Logically you would think it would affect him.
RD: I wouldn’t think it.
JR: Well, you’re an expert. The average person would, right?
RD: What I’m trying to tell you is that it’s not going to affect him.
JR: Now, let me ask you this, from, just an animal standpoint and loving animals, what do you think about... We look at these magnificent, majestic creatures, average weight 1200 pounds, balancing on hoof that are…
And here, the tape ends.
Can't get enough?
While watching the help bath Big Brown on Friday, the trainer of Big Brown said:
“He just looks unbelievable. I can’t believe I’m training a horse that looks this good and has done what he’s done. Forget about it. There’s no way in the world there’s any horse that’s doing any better than Big Brown. It’s impossible. He is just shiny, so proud of himself, he’s just everything you want to see in a racehorse. He’s beautiful to watch train, he’s beautiful to pet, beautiful to be around.”
Again in violation of the don't knock another person's horse, Dutrow reiterated he did not think any of those contenders were the equal of Big Brown and predicted nothing could stand in his way.
A wet track?
“He would love it. It would work to our advantage. He would absolutely love it. “
The quarter crack?
“Not an issue.”
Post position?
“I don’t even care about the post.”
Anything?
“If they said, “Rick we‘re going to run the Belmont on the grass this year, I‘d say ‘That’d be fine.‘ We don’t need to worry. He will handle things.”
“He just looks unbelievable. I can’t believe I’m training a horse that looks this good and has done what he’s done. Forget about it. There’s no way in the world there’s any horse that’s doing any better than Big Brown. It’s impossible. He is just shiny, so proud of himself, he’s just everything you want to see in a racehorse. He’s beautiful to watch train, he’s beautiful to pet, beautiful to be around.”
Again in violation of the don't knock another person's horse, Dutrow reiterated he did not think any of those contenders were the equal of Big Brown and predicted nothing could stand in his way.
A wet track?
“He would love it. It would work to our advantage. He would absolutely love it. “
The quarter crack?
“Not an issue.”
Post position?
“I don’t even care about the post.”
Anything?
“If they said, “Rick we‘re going to run the Belmont on the grass this year, I‘d say ‘That’d be fine.‘ We don’t need to worry. He will handle things.”
Grant funds track safety research
From The Jockey Club
The second annual Elastikon Equine Research Award, funded through a grant made by Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products Company to Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, has been awarded to Dr. Wayne McIlwraith of Colorado State University and Dr. Mick Peterson of the University of Maine for their research designed to enhance the safety of race tracks for horses.
The project uses a drop hammer, with a simulated hoof, along with ground-penetrating radar, to analyze racing surfaces. Researchers agree that uniformity of a race track surface is a key component to keeping horses sound, and the McIlwraith and Peterson project will assist track superintendents in achieving that goal.
The project will address dirt tracks as well as synthetic surfaces.
The research project will create a protocol for track maintenance personnel to establish baseline information and maintain consistency on their race tracks. For synthetic surfaces, the research will include data on wax content and melt point.
The second annual Elastikon Equine Research Award, funded through a grant made by Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products Company to Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, has been awarded to Dr. Wayne McIlwraith of Colorado State University and Dr. Mick Peterson of the University of Maine for their research designed to enhance the safety of race tracks for horses.
The project uses a drop hammer, with a simulated hoof, along with ground-penetrating radar, to analyze racing surfaces. Researchers agree that uniformity of a race track surface is a key component to keeping horses sound, and the McIlwraith and Peterson project will assist track superintendents in achieving that goal.
The project will address dirt tracks as well as synthetic surfaces.
The research project will create a protocol for track maintenance personnel to establish baseline information and maintain consistency on their race tracks. For synthetic surfaces, the research will include data on wax content and melt point.
Lunatic fringe weighs in on Big Brown
Think you've heard the last from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals? Not by a longshot. Somehow, they cooked up this one.
May 29, 2008
Daniel D. Hogan, Chair
New York State Racing & Wagering Board
1 Broadway Center, Ste. 600
Schenectady, NY 12305-2553
1 page via first-class mail and fax: 518-347-1250
Dear Mr. Hogan:
On behalf of PETA and our more than 2 million members and supporters worldwide, including many thousands in New York, I am writing to ask the New York State Racing & Wagering Board to fulfill its responsibility under the New York State Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law and related rules to ensure that Big Brown is fit to race in the Belmont Stakes on June 7.
As you might be aware, it has been reported that Big Brown has a 5/8-inch quarter crack in his left front hoof. Under normal circumstances, this type of vertical break in the outside of a horse's hoof wall takes several months to heal. Despite this, Big Brown's trainer has been quoted widely in media accounts dismissing this injury as a mere "hiccup" on Big Brown's Triple Crown journey. We are deeply concerned that Big Brown might be forced to run with this injury at risk to himself, and consequently, his jockey, as well as the other horses and jockeys in the race. Forcing Big Brown to race with an injury might very well constitute a violation of New York's cruelty-to-animals laws, which prevent anyone from overdriving an animal or otherwise engaging in any act of cruelty to any animal or any act tending to produce such cruelty (N.Y. Agric. & Mkts. Law §353).
We urge you to retain three independent equine veterinarians (unaffiliated with the Belmont racecourse and experts in the type of injury that Big Brown has suffered) to examine Big Brown and reach a consensus about his condition. We ask you to prohibit the horse from racing if his hoof has not healed or if he is in any way unfit to run. New York law requires that such veterinary decisions must be made in the best interest of the horse--not what is best for the horse racing industry, television ratings, or the pursuit of a racing title.
We look forward to your prompt and thorough action in this matter.
Sincerely,
Kathy Guillermo, Director
Laboratory Investigations Department
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
501 Front St.
Norfolk, VA 23510
May 29, 2008
Daniel D. Hogan, Chair
New York State Racing & Wagering Board
1 Broadway Center, Ste. 600
Schenectady, NY 12305-2553
1 page via first-class mail and fax: 518-347-1250
Dear Mr. Hogan:
On behalf of PETA and our more than 2 million members and supporters worldwide, including many thousands in New York, I am writing to ask the New York State Racing & Wagering Board to fulfill its responsibility under the New York State Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law and related rules to ensure that Big Brown is fit to race in the Belmont Stakes on June 7.
As you might be aware, it has been reported that Big Brown has a 5/8-inch quarter crack in his left front hoof. Under normal circumstances, this type of vertical break in the outside of a horse's hoof wall takes several months to heal. Despite this, Big Brown's trainer has been quoted widely in media accounts dismissing this injury as a mere "hiccup" on Big Brown's Triple Crown journey. We are deeply concerned that Big Brown might be forced to run with this injury at risk to himself, and consequently, his jockey, as well as the other horses and jockeys in the race. Forcing Big Brown to race with an injury might very well constitute a violation of New York's cruelty-to-animals laws, which prevent anyone from overdriving an animal or otherwise engaging in any act of cruelty to any animal or any act tending to produce such cruelty (N.Y. Agric. & Mkts. Law §353).
We urge you to retain three independent equine veterinarians (unaffiliated with the Belmont racecourse and experts in the type of injury that Big Brown has suffered) to examine Big Brown and reach a consensus about his condition. We ask you to prohibit the horse from racing if his hoof has not healed or if he is in any way unfit to run. New York law requires that such veterinary decisions must be made in the best interest of the horse--not what is best for the horse racing industry, television ratings, or the pursuit of a racing title.
We look forward to your prompt and thorough action in this matter.
Sincerely,
Kathy Guillermo, Director
Laboratory Investigations Department
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
501 Front St.
Norfolk, VA 23510
Big Brown continues media silence
From The Onion, May 29
NEW YORK—Following a Tuesday morning workout in preparation for the upcoming Belmont Stakes, three-year-old thoroughbred Big Brown maintained his three-year media silence by trotting past reporters and ignoring questions regarding the health of his hoof, changes to his training regimen, and his reasons for firing his longtime agent James "Bus" Cook. "Big Brown is an intensely private athlete who prefers to lets his actions dictate his legacy rather than his words," said agent Drew Rosenhaus, whom the undefeated thoroughbred hired on May 24. "Reporters are always trying to second-guess him, but this is one individual who is dedicated to his sport. He may not speak to you, but Big Brown is always telling me how thankful he is for the opportunities he's been given." Neither Big Brown nor Rosenhaus would comment on whether or not Brown had in fact been shopping with Hillary Swank in an upscale SoHo boutique Saturday.
NEW YORK—Following a Tuesday morning workout in preparation for the upcoming Belmont Stakes, three-year-old thoroughbred Big Brown maintained his three-year media silence by trotting past reporters and ignoring questions regarding the health of his hoof, changes to his training regimen, and his reasons for firing his longtime agent James "Bus" Cook. "Big Brown is an intensely private athlete who prefers to lets his actions dictate his legacy rather than his words," said agent Drew Rosenhaus, whom the undefeated thoroughbred hired on May 24. "Reporters are always trying to second-guess him, but this is one individual who is dedicated to his sport. He may not speak to you, but Big Brown is always telling me how thankful he is for the opportunities he's been given." Neither Big Brown nor Rosenhaus would comment on whether or not Brown had in fact been shopping with Hillary Swank in an upscale SoHo boutique Saturday.
Belmont excitement hits McLaughlin
By Jenny Kellner / NYRA
On Saturday, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin will be saddling Shadwell Stables’ Alwajeeha as she goes for her second consecutive stakes victory in the Grade 2, $150,000 Sands Point at a mile and an eighth on the turf at Belmont Park. But with the $1 million Belmont Stakes a little more than a week away, McLaughlin, who won that race in 2006 with Jazil, can’t help but be affected by the excitement surrounding the final leg of racing’s Triple Crown.
“Once he’s in the starting gate, there’s no doubt Big Brown is the horse to beat,” said McLaughlin of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner. “But I think the Japanese horse, Casino Drive, is adding excitement, too. That was a gutsy move bringing him over for the Peter Pan and the Belmont.”
McLaughlin has a personal interest in Casino Drive, just as he had for 2007 Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches. Like Jazil, both Casino Drive and Rags to Riches have the same mother – Better Than Honour.
“It’s a great story behind the mare,” said McLaughlin. “If she produced three Belmont Stakes winners in a row it would be pretty incredible.”
Alwajeeha, a 3-year-old daughter of Dixieland Band, has a link to the Belmont Stakes as well. Her dam, Ridaa, is by 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew.
“She’s a nice filly and she’s learned the game” said McLaughlin. “She won a nice race at Keeneland under a great ride from John Velazquez.”
In the Grade 3 Appalachian at Keeneland on April16, Alwajeeha rallied from sixth with a lightning-like move to score a head victory over Sweepstake in the one-mile race. It was her second victory in five starts, each of which came over a different track.
The bay filly began her career at Belmont Park last year, finishing fifth in a six furlong maiden event on the turf, and scored her first victory at Aqueduct going a mile. On New Year’s Day, she was second in the Tropical Park Oaks at Calder, and second again in February going a mile and a sixteenth in an allowance at Gulfstream Park.
“This is her first time going this far I think it’s a plus, not a negative,” said McLaughlin.
Facing Alwajeeha in the Sands Point will be six other 3-year-old fillies, including the Bill Mott-trained Life Is Sweet, who defeated her in the allowance at Gulfstream in February and then was fourth in the Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland to Little Belle.
Also starting is Ambidaxtrous, who is going for her third straight victory as she makes her first stakes start. Trained by Thomas Bush, the daughter of Deputy Commander broke her maiden in her fifth start on April 10, then came back to post a 2½-length win over a yielding course at Belmont on April 30.
I Lost My Choo, third in the Appalachian; Lookalike, a winner of a nine-furlong allowance at Keeneland in her last start; Queen of Protocol, making her first stakes start, and Raw Silk, third in the Gaviola here on May 8, round out the field with Forest Trail entered as main track only.
On Saturday, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin will be saddling Shadwell Stables’ Alwajeeha as she goes for her second consecutive stakes victory in the Grade 2, $150,000 Sands Point at a mile and an eighth on the turf at Belmont Park. But with the $1 million Belmont Stakes a little more than a week away, McLaughlin, who won that race in 2006 with Jazil, can’t help but be affected by the excitement surrounding the final leg of racing’s Triple Crown.
“Once he’s in the starting gate, there’s no doubt Big Brown is the horse to beat,” said McLaughlin of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner. “But I think the Japanese horse, Casino Drive, is adding excitement, too. That was a gutsy move bringing him over for the Peter Pan and the Belmont.”
McLaughlin has a personal interest in Casino Drive, just as he had for 2007 Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches. Like Jazil, both Casino Drive and Rags to Riches have the same mother – Better Than Honour.
“It’s a great story behind the mare,” said McLaughlin. “If she produced three Belmont Stakes winners in a row it would be pretty incredible.”
Alwajeeha, a 3-year-old daughter of Dixieland Band, has a link to the Belmont Stakes as well. Her dam, Ridaa, is by 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew.
“She’s a nice filly and she’s learned the game” said McLaughlin. “She won a nice race at Keeneland under a great ride from John Velazquez.”
In the Grade 3 Appalachian at Keeneland on April16, Alwajeeha rallied from sixth with a lightning-like move to score a head victory over Sweepstake in the one-mile race. It was her second victory in five starts, each of which came over a different track.
The bay filly began her career at Belmont Park last year, finishing fifth in a six furlong maiden event on the turf, and scored her first victory at Aqueduct going a mile. On New Year’s Day, she was second in the Tropical Park Oaks at Calder, and second again in February going a mile and a sixteenth in an allowance at Gulfstream Park.
“This is her first time going this far I think it’s a plus, not a negative,” said McLaughlin.
Facing Alwajeeha in the Sands Point will be six other 3-year-old fillies, including the Bill Mott-trained Life Is Sweet, who defeated her in the allowance at Gulfstream in February and then was fourth in the Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland to Little Belle.
Also starting is Ambidaxtrous, who is going for her third straight victory as she makes her first stakes start. Trained by Thomas Bush, the daughter of Deputy Commander broke her maiden in her fifth start on April 10, then came back to post a 2½-length win over a yielding course at Belmont on April 30.
I Lost My Choo, third in the Appalachian; Lookalike, a winner of a nine-furlong allowance at Keeneland in her last start; Queen of Protocol, making her first stakes start, and Raw Silk, third in the Gaviola here on May 8, round out the field with Forest Trail entered as main track only.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Board approves steroid restrictions
From the New York State Racing and Wagering Board
The New York State Racing and Wagering Board (the Board) today voted to pass a proposed rulemaking for new steroid restrictions in New York State for both the thoroughbred and harness industry. Based on a national model rule supported by both the Racing Medication Testing Consortium and the Association of Racing Commissioners International, the new guidelines would limit the use of steroids to only four types and establish concentration thresholds for each.
The new restrictions will allow only one of four types of steroids to be used on a horse at any given time and would set different concentrations thresholds for each: Stanozolol (Winstrol) (one nanogram per milliliter of urine), boldenone (Equipose) (15 ng/ml), nandrolone (1 ng/ml), and testosterone (20 ng/ml in geldings, 55 ng/ml in fillies and mares).
As a proposed rulemaking, the new guidelines will now be forwarded for review and approval to the Governors Office of Regulatory Reform. The rule will then be submitted to the Department of State for public comment. The rule will not be adopted by the Board until the completion of the 45 day comment period with the Department of State.
To view the rule text in its entirety, visit the Proposed Rule Sections of the Board’s website at: http://www.racing.state.ny.us/index.html.
The New York State Racing and Wagering Board (the Board) today voted to pass a proposed rulemaking for new steroid restrictions in New York State for both the thoroughbred and harness industry. Based on a national model rule supported by both the Racing Medication Testing Consortium and the Association of Racing Commissioners International, the new guidelines would limit the use of steroids to only four types and establish concentration thresholds for each.
The new restrictions will allow only one of four types of steroids to be used on a horse at any given time and would set different concentrations thresholds for each: Stanozolol (Winstrol) (one nanogram per milliliter of urine), boldenone (Equipose) (15 ng/ml), nandrolone (1 ng/ml), and testosterone (20 ng/ml in geldings, 55 ng/ml in fillies and mares).
As a proposed rulemaking, the new guidelines will now be forwarded for review and approval to the Governors Office of Regulatory Reform. The rule will then be submitted to the Department of State for public comment. The rule will not be adopted by the Board until the completion of the 45 day comment period with the Department of State.
To view the rule text in its entirety, visit the Proposed Rule Sections of the Board’s website at: http://www.racing.state.ny.us/index.html.
Foregone conclusion, babe
Rick Dutrow, dismissing any suggestion that Casino Drive poses a threat, said on Thursday that a victory by Big Brown in the 140th Belmont Stakes is “a foregone conclusion.”
Dutrow: “I’m talking fact. We have the best horse and he’ll do what he’s got to to.”
Dutrow said that Big Brown would breeze once before the 1 ½-mile Belmont, either Monday, or Tuesday, after a patch is applied to the crack on the inside of his left front hoof.
“It’s coming slowly but surely,” said Dutrow. “If we were under pressure, (hoof specialist Ian McKinlay) could patch him today but we’re not under any pressure. We’ve got time. Today’s only Thursday.”
Big Brown developed the quarter crack after galloping last Friday, and remained in his barn over the Memorial Day weekend. On Tuesday, after the crack was laced together, the colt jogged and then resumed galloping Wednesday morning.
On a scale of 1-10, McKinlay, said the quarter-crack was about a “seven or eight” in terms of being healed.
“At this, point we are playing it as safe as possible,” said McKinlay. “All I do is make sure the wires are intact. I just check it every day after it’s done.”
All-stakes pick-six
The New York Racing Association will offer a $1-million guaranteed, all stakes pick six beginning on race 6 on Belmont Stakes Day, ending with the Belmont. The other races, three of them Grade 1:
The 30th running of the Grade 2, $250,000 True North Handicap, 3 and up, six furlongs: Abraaj, Benny the Bull, Man of Danger, Thor’s Echo.
The 15th running of the Grade 1, $400,000 Just A Game, fillies and mares, 3 and up, one mile, Widener Turf Course: Bayou’s Lassie, Bit of Whimsy, Criminologist, Lady of Venice (FR), Sharp Susan, Spenditallbaby, Vacare and Ventura. Questionable: Danzon and Dreaming of Anna.
The 23rd running of the Grade 2, $250,000 Woody Stephens, three-year-olds, seven furlongs: Fatal Bullet, Fidelio, Groomedforvictory, J Be K, Majestic Warrior, Motovato, Silver Edition and True Quality.
The 78th running of the Grade 1, $250,000 Acorn, three-year-old fillies, one mile: Dance Gal Dance, Game Face, Golden Doc A, Indian Blessing and Zaftig.
The 107th running Grade 1, $400,000 Manhattan Handicap, 3 and up, mile and a quarter, inner turf: A.P. Arrow, Better Talk Now, Cougar Bay (IRE), Dancing Forever, Einstein (BRZ), Interpatation, Mission Approved, Out of Control (BRZ), Pays to Dream, Shake the Bank, Stalingrad, Stream of Gold (IRE) and Strike a Deal.
Dutrow: “I’m talking fact. We have the best horse and he’ll do what he’s got to to.”
Dutrow said that Big Brown would breeze once before the 1 ½-mile Belmont, either Monday, or Tuesday, after a patch is applied to the crack on the inside of his left front hoof.
“It’s coming slowly but surely,” said Dutrow. “If we were under pressure, (hoof specialist Ian McKinlay) could patch him today but we’re not under any pressure. We’ve got time. Today’s only Thursday.”
Big Brown developed the quarter crack after galloping last Friday, and remained in his barn over the Memorial Day weekend. On Tuesday, after the crack was laced together, the colt jogged and then resumed galloping Wednesday morning.
On a scale of 1-10, McKinlay, said the quarter-crack was about a “seven or eight” in terms of being healed.
“At this, point we are playing it as safe as possible,” said McKinlay. “All I do is make sure the wires are intact. I just check it every day after it’s done.”
All-stakes pick-six
The New York Racing Association will offer a $1-million guaranteed, all stakes pick six beginning on race 6 on Belmont Stakes Day, ending with the Belmont. The other races, three of them Grade 1:
The 30th running of the Grade 2, $250,000 True North Handicap, 3 and up, six furlongs: Abraaj, Benny the Bull, Man of Danger, Thor’s Echo.
The 15th running of the Grade 1, $400,000 Just A Game, fillies and mares, 3 and up, one mile, Widener Turf Course: Bayou’s Lassie, Bit of Whimsy, Criminologist, Lady of Venice (FR), Sharp Susan, Spenditallbaby, Vacare and Ventura. Questionable: Danzon and Dreaming of Anna.
The 23rd running of the Grade 2, $250,000 Woody Stephens, three-year-olds, seven furlongs: Fatal Bullet, Fidelio, Groomedforvictory, J Be K, Majestic Warrior, Motovato, Silver Edition and True Quality.
The 78th running of the Grade 1, $250,000 Acorn, three-year-old fillies, one mile: Dance Gal Dance, Game Face, Golden Doc A, Indian Blessing and Zaftig.
The 107th running Grade 1, $400,000 Manhattan Handicap, 3 and up, mile and a quarter, inner turf: A.P. Arrow, Better Talk Now, Cougar Bay (IRE), Dancing Forever, Einstein (BRZ), Interpatation, Mission Approved, Out of Control (BRZ), Pays to Dream, Shake the Bank, Stalingrad, Stream of Gold (IRE) and Strike a Deal.
Closer than they look
The connections of the Japan-based Casino Drive, the only apparent threat to Big Brown in the Belmont Stakes, are said to be considering the Hill Prince Stakes on the June 7 undercard as a potential spot for stablemate Spark Candle, who was coupled with his undefeated traveling companion in the Peter Pan Stakes.
More likely, though the connections are unlikely to tip their hand prior to the close of entries on Wednesday of next week, Spark Candle – a $1.5-million colt by A.P. Indy from the multiple champion Serena’s Song—will run in the Belmont as a rabbit for Casino Drive. Having pressed the early pace in the Peter Pan, Spark Candle is capable of entertaining Big Brown early could play a pivotal role in an attempt to thwart his Triple Crown Bid.
On paper, there is little separating Big Brown and Casino Drive. These are Bloodstock Research figures for the first and second calls, late pace and final time.
................................E1......E2......LP......SPD
Big Brown
Preakness.......................89......106.....90......101
Kentucky Derby................. 89......111.....96......108
Florida Derby..................107......117.....98......110
Casino Drive
Peter Pan.......................94......105....107......109
Big Brown, despite the visual impression made while defeating overmatched opponents, has regressed in each of the first two legs of the Triple Crown in terms of both pace and final time. Casino Drive’s lone American running line is right there with Big Brown and, since his siblings have won the last two runnings of the Belmont, there is little doubt that he is suited to 12 furlongs, something not yet established by Big Brown. Throw in Big Brown's tender feet and a rabbit on a suicide mission, and there will be a good deal of temptation, depending upon the price, to bet on the upset.
Belmont Stakes betting
More likely, though the connections are unlikely to tip their hand prior to the close of entries on Wednesday of next week, Spark Candle – a $1.5-million colt by A.P. Indy from the multiple champion Serena’s Song—will run in the Belmont as a rabbit for Casino Drive. Having pressed the early pace in the Peter Pan, Spark Candle is capable of entertaining Big Brown early could play a pivotal role in an attempt to thwart his Triple Crown Bid.
On paper, there is little separating Big Brown and Casino Drive. These are Bloodstock Research figures for the first and second calls, late pace and final time.
................................E1......E2......LP......SPD
Big Brown
Preakness.......................89......106.....90......101
Kentucky Derby................. 89......111.....96......108
Florida Derby..................107......117.....98......110
Casino Drive
Peter Pan.......................94......105....107......109
Big Brown, despite the visual impression made while defeating overmatched opponents, has regressed in each of the first two legs of the Triple Crown in terms of both pace and final time. Casino Drive’s lone American running line is right there with Big Brown and, since his siblings have won the last two runnings of the Belmont, there is little doubt that he is suited to 12 furlongs, something not yet established by Big Brown. Throw in Big Brown's tender feet and a rabbit on a suicide mission, and there will be a good deal of temptation, depending upon the price, to bet on the upset.
Belmont Stakes betting
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Belmont Stakes / Wednesday notes
Big Brown's hoof cool and draining;
Casino Drive gallops, Prado has the call
Both Big Brown and Casino Drive, the undefeated principal figures in the June 7 Belmont Stakes, galloped at Belmont Park on Wednesday. Neither did much. Both looked terrific.
Hoof-repair specialist Ian McKinlay said that the abscess in Big Brown’s cracked left-fore hoof has ruptured and drained, leaving a small hole that is, “a little deeper than I expected it to be.” The hoof, he said, is cool. “We’re trying to stay out of the way and let nature take its course.”
Casino Drive was expected to undertake a more serious piece of training but will not be asked for any more in the morning. He, like Big Brown, is an impressive physical specimen and bears a marked similarity in color and size to his sister, Rags to Riches, winner of last year’s Belmont. He was under restraint during his Wednesday gallop and complied kindly with the rider.
Nobutaka Tada, racing manager for owner Hidetoshi Yamamoto: “At the moment, we are pleased with him and we will not go any faster in the mornings. We walk him fast one hour before he goes to the track, warming up muscle and tendon; it’s good. Then, we go to the track. Then, he walks again nearly one hour to cool down. That’s what we do in Japan, and we will do it here.”
Tada said that Edgar Prado has been engaged to ride Casino Drive in the Belmont.
“We have a commitment with Edgar Prado for the Belmont Stakes, and on behalf of the owner (Hidetoshi Yamamoto) and the trainer (Kazuo Fujisawa), we appreciate the interest from all of the jockeys from all over the country in riding him in the Belmont Stakes. The fact that so many jockeys were interested in riding him encouraged us even more to run in the Belmont. There are so many good jockeys here and it was a very difficult decision to pick up the right one.
“The reason we decided on Edgar was his experience in the Belmont Stakes. I think he is the best choice.”
Prado has ridden in eight Belmont Stakes, winning in 2002 with Sarava when War Emblem was attempting a sweep of the series, and in 2004 with Birdstone at the expense of would-be Triple Crown winner Smarty Jones. Sarava paid $142.50, the highest $2 win payoff in Belmont Stakes history.
Only one Belmont starter had a timed work on Wednesday. Tomcito, who had a myectomy three days after his seventh-place finish in the May 10 Peter Pan and now has a rider change, broke no timing devices in a 7-furlong, 1:29.88 move.
“He did what we wanted,” said trainer Dante Zanelli. “The idea was to let him stretch out and get [Alan] Garcia adjusted to him. He was happy with the breeze. I didn’t want to do anything fast.”
Garcia will replace Cornelio Velasquez aboard Tomcito for the Belmont.
“My uncle started Alan Garcia in Peru, and this is what the owners and my uncle wanted,” said Zanelli. “This is taking away nothing from Cornelio, he rode a good race, it was just that the horse displaced [his palate].” --PM
Casino Drive gallops, Prado has the call
Both Big Brown and Casino Drive, the undefeated principal figures in the June 7 Belmont Stakes, galloped at Belmont Park on Wednesday. Neither did much. Both looked terrific.
Hoof-repair specialist Ian McKinlay said that the abscess in Big Brown’s cracked left-fore hoof has ruptured and drained, leaving a small hole that is, “a little deeper than I expected it to be.” The hoof, he said, is cool. “We’re trying to stay out of the way and let nature take its course.”
Casino Drive was expected to undertake a more serious piece of training but will not be asked for any more in the morning. He, like Big Brown, is an impressive physical specimen and bears a marked similarity in color and size to his sister, Rags to Riches, winner of last year’s Belmont. He was under restraint during his Wednesday gallop and complied kindly with the rider.
Nobutaka Tada, racing manager for owner Hidetoshi Yamamoto: “At the moment, we are pleased with him and we will not go any faster in the mornings. We walk him fast one hour before he goes to the track, warming up muscle and tendon; it’s good. Then, we go to the track. Then, he walks again nearly one hour to cool down. That’s what we do in Japan, and we will do it here.”
Tada said that Edgar Prado has been engaged to ride Casino Drive in the Belmont.
“We have a commitment with Edgar Prado for the Belmont Stakes, and on behalf of the owner (Hidetoshi Yamamoto) and the trainer (Kazuo Fujisawa), we appreciate the interest from all of the jockeys from all over the country in riding him in the Belmont Stakes. The fact that so many jockeys were interested in riding him encouraged us even more to run in the Belmont. There are so many good jockeys here and it was a very difficult decision to pick up the right one.
“The reason we decided on Edgar was his experience in the Belmont Stakes. I think he is the best choice.”
Prado has ridden in eight Belmont Stakes, winning in 2002 with Sarava when War Emblem was attempting a sweep of the series, and in 2004 with Birdstone at the expense of would-be Triple Crown winner Smarty Jones. Sarava paid $142.50, the highest $2 win payoff in Belmont Stakes history.
Only one Belmont starter had a timed work on Wednesday. Tomcito, who had a myectomy three days after his seventh-place finish in the May 10 Peter Pan and now has a rider change, broke no timing devices in a 7-furlong, 1:29.88 move.
“He did what we wanted,” said trainer Dante Zanelli. “The idea was to let him stretch out and get [Alan] Garcia adjusted to him. He was happy with the breeze. I didn’t want to do anything fast.”
Garcia will replace Cornelio Velasquez aboard Tomcito for the Belmont.
“My uncle started Alan Garcia in Peru, and this is what the owners and my uncle wanted,” said Zanelli. “This is taking away nothing from Cornelio, he rode a good race, it was just that the horse displaced [his palate].” --PM
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Racing imitates Wall Street
Barron’s asks this question: “This economy keeps dispensing with decades of statistical precedent. We have a 23-year-high inventory of unsold homes, a 49-year-low in per-capita home sales, a 28-year-low in consumer confidence, and an all-time high in inflation-adjusted oil prices. With it all, is it impressive of inexplicable that the Standard & Poor’s 500 is merely at a one-month low, and just 12% below an all-time high?”
Impressively or inexplicably, racing mirrors the financial markets. Quite fittingly, Michael Iavarone and others from IEAH Stable and the New York Racing Association will be on hand on Wednesday to ring the bell that signals the opening of trading on the New York Stock exchange.
Scoffing as decades of statistical precedent embraced by those who made cases against his Kentucky Derby prospects based upon long-cured, Big Brown remains undefeated less than two weeks before he will attempt to sweep the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes. Like those holding short positions in the S&P 500, who await the return of cold reality on Wall Street, they observe the current events in and around Barn 2 at Belmont Park and attempt to weigh their potential to thwart Big Brown.
Until last Friday, Big Brown’s road to an engagement with destiny in the 140th Belmont Stakes had been smooth as glass and uninterrupted by detour – straight from post 20 to the winner’s circle at Churchill Downs; the express lane to a decisive to a Preakness victory. Inevitably, there came a bump.
On Friday afternoon, a groom called trainer Rick Dutrow’s attention to the aforementioned bump, which is located on the inside of Big Brown’s left-fore hoof -- cause for alarm and a phone call to Ian McKinlay, a specialist in hoof repair who is familiar with the colt’s well documented history of foot problems. “I knew,” Dutrow said, “he was developing something I didn’t want to see.”
By Saturday morning, two weeks from the June 7 Belmont, a quarter crack – a fissure in the upper area of the hoof wall -- had blossomed.
A horse of Big Brown’s stature is conspicuous by unexplained absence and when the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner was not sent to the track on Saturday or Sunday, the clockers took note and soon the Belmont Park backstretch was rife with rumor confirmed late in the morning by Dutrow, who said he is confident that the undefeated toast of the racing world would return to a normal training routine by Thursday. “This is nothing like what happened before,” he said.
On Monday morning, McKinlay said, Big Brown’s hoof was on the mend. “A lot of heat had come out, which is an excellent sight. “As usual, just a little bit of movement in that heel is enough to warm up the foot. He is not as sensitive on the coronet band. Now, we just basically made a little trench and got him down to the wall, just about to the laminae; that’s the sensitive part of the hoof and put in one set of sutures, stitches made of stainless steel wire, and we drew that crack together. Probably tomorrow, he’ll be in much better shape. What we’re trying to do is stabilize the heel so we can get quicker healing.”
One problem, Dutrow said, may help to heal another.
“This could be a very good thing because he burned his heels [at Pimlico] and it gives his time to get over that. We can most likely jog him, but I don’t want to do that. If he looks great [on Tuesday] I still won’t jog him. It’s a little hiccup on the way over there, that’s all it is. The time he’s missed means nothing to me or him.”
On the next morning – Tuesday, the day Dutrow said in the previous paragraph he would not go for a job – Big Brown went to the track and jogged.
Optimism notwithstanding, a shadow of doubt hangs over the so-far unchallenged Big Brown. No hoof, no horse, the old saying goes. Still, horses race every day on patched, cracked hooves and McKinlay said has seen horses suffering from far more serious problems than Big Brown’s run the races of their lives. He treated Touch Gold’s sore hooves before that colt denied Silver Charm’s Triple Crown bid in the 1997 Belmont and River Keen, who he described as, “a mess,” before his victories in the Woodward Stakes and Jockey Club Gold Cup in 1998. McKinlay is also the authority on Big Brown’s hooves, which he has treated since the first problems surfaced last year.
The hoof maladies that limited Big Brown to a single start last season and reoccurred last winter in Florida, Dutrow said involved separation of the hoof wall caused by infection, a far more serious condition than a simple quarter crack. Big Brown also developed an abscess in a hoof two days after his Florida Derby victory that was not disclosed until last Sunday.
All these niggling problems are ingredients of the roux that thickens the Belmont’s plot.
Two weeks out, the favorites always-suspect feet have begun to crack. He burns his heels in every race. He will most certainly burn them more severely at Belmont, which is particularly unkind to horses prone to running down. A mile-and-a-half. Whatever Dutrow believes, Casino Drive will be running at Big Brown in the stretch. Tom Durkin’s vocal chords will need some time off after this.
“This is nothing that’s going to stop him from being where he has to be,” Dutrow said. “This happened, but it happened at a good time. This has nothing to do with his ability to finish what he started. I just don’t see that the [training] days he’s missing will amount to anything. I could have sent him out there today. If the race was today, this horse would go out there and kick ass. [The hoof] would not be an issue.”
McKinlay characterized the crack, which is approximately five-eighths of an inch long, as slight and the treatment as straightforward. “We’re dealing with something that heals itself,” he said. “This is a very minor crack; easy to deal with.”
Every severe crack begins as a minor one. Lingering doubt and expectation of the worst are virtues at the racetrack. --PM
Impressively or inexplicably, racing mirrors the financial markets. Quite fittingly, Michael Iavarone and others from IEAH Stable and the New York Racing Association will be on hand on Wednesday to ring the bell that signals the opening of trading on the New York Stock exchange.
Scoffing as decades of statistical precedent embraced by those who made cases against his Kentucky Derby prospects based upon long-cured, Big Brown remains undefeated less than two weeks before he will attempt to sweep the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes. Like those holding short positions in the S&P 500, who await the return of cold reality on Wall Street, they observe the current events in and around Barn 2 at Belmont Park and attempt to weigh their potential to thwart Big Brown.
Until last Friday, Big Brown’s road to an engagement with destiny in the 140th Belmont Stakes had been smooth as glass and uninterrupted by detour – straight from post 20 to the winner’s circle at Churchill Downs; the express lane to a decisive to a Preakness victory. Inevitably, there came a bump.
On Friday afternoon, a groom called trainer Rick Dutrow’s attention to the aforementioned bump, which is located on the inside of Big Brown’s left-fore hoof -- cause for alarm and a phone call to Ian McKinlay, a specialist in hoof repair who is familiar with the colt’s well documented history of foot problems. “I knew,” Dutrow said, “he was developing something I didn’t want to see.”
By Saturday morning, two weeks from the June 7 Belmont, a quarter crack – a fissure in the upper area of the hoof wall -- had blossomed.
A horse of Big Brown’s stature is conspicuous by unexplained absence and when the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner was not sent to the track on Saturday or Sunday, the clockers took note and soon the Belmont Park backstretch was rife with rumor confirmed late in the morning by Dutrow, who said he is confident that the undefeated toast of the racing world would return to a normal training routine by Thursday. “This is nothing like what happened before,” he said.
On Monday morning, McKinlay said, Big Brown’s hoof was on the mend. “A lot of heat had come out, which is an excellent sight. “As usual, just a little bit of movement in that heel is enough to warm up the foot. He is not as sensitive on the coronet band. Now, we just basically made a little trench and got him down to the wall, just about to the laminae; that’s the sensitive part of the hoof and put in one set of sutures, stitches made of stainless steel wire, and we drew that crack together. Probably tomorrow, he’ll be in much better shape. What we’re trying to do is stabilize the heel so we can get quicker healing.”
One problem, Dutrow said, may help to heal another.
“This could be a very good thing because he burned his heels [at Pimlico] and it gives his time to get over that. We can most likely jog him, but I don’t want to do that. If he looks great [on Tuesday] I still won’t jog him. It’s a little hiccup on the way over there, that’s all it is. The time he’s missed means nothing to me or him.”
On the next morning – Tuesday, the day Dutrow said in the previous paragraph he would not go for a job – Big Brown went to the track and jogged.
Optimism notwithstanding, a shadow of doubt hangs over the so-far unchallenged Big Brown. No hoof, no horse, the old saying goes. Still, horses race every day on patched, cracked hooves and McKinlay said has seen horses suffering from far more serious problems than Big Brown’s run the races of their lives. He treated Touch Gold’s sore hooves before that colt denied Silver Charm’s Triple Crown bid in the 1997 Belmont and River Keen, who he described as, “a mess,” before his victories in the Woodward Stakes and Jockey Club Gold Cup in 1998. McKinlay is also the authority on Big Brown’s hooves, which he has treated since the first problems surfaced last year.
The hoof maladies that limited Big Brown to a single start last season and reoccurred last winter in Florida, Dutrow said involved separation of the hoof wall caused by infection, a far more serious condition than a simple quarter crack. Big Brown also developed an abscess in a hoof two days after his Florida Derby victory that was not disclosed until last Sunday.
All these niggling problems are ingredients of the roux that thickens the Belmont’s plot.
Two weeks out, the favorites always-suspect feet have begun to crack. He burns his heels in every race. He will most certainly burn them more severely at Belmont, which is particularly unkind to horses prone to running down. A mile-and-a-half. Whatever Dutrow believes, Casino Drive will be running at Big Brown in the stretch. Tom Durkin’s vocal chords will need some time off after this.
“This is nothing that’s going to stop him from being where he has to be,” Dutrow said. “This happened, but it happened at a good time. This has nothing to do with his ability to finish what he started. I just don’t see that the [training] days he’s missing will amount to anything. I could have sent him out there today. If the race was today, this horse would go out there and kick ass. [The hoof] would not be an issue.”
McKinlay characterized the crack, which is approximately five-eighths of an inch long, as slight and the treatment as straightforward. “We’re dealing with something that heals itself,” he said. “This is a very minor crack; easy to deal with.”
Every severe crack begins as a minor one. Lingering doubt and expectation of the worst are virtues at the racetrack. --PM
Dutrow fools 'em again; Big Brown jogs
Per usual, what a trainer says one day is rarely what he plans to do the next.
Less than 24 hours after saying that he would not send Big Brown to the racetrack on Tuesday, trainer Rich Dutrow sent the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner to a rain-moistened main course at Belmont Park, over which he jogged a mile and a half under exercise rider Michelle Nevin. The Monday diversion of the gaggle of media certain to be at Belmont for Big Brown's return to training, worked.
On Monday morning, hoof expert Ian McKinlay repaired the small crack in the colt’s left-front hoof wall with a set of steel sutures. By the afternoon, trainer Rick Dutrow said he and McKinlay decided it would be beneficial for the 3-year-old colt, who had not been out of barn 2 at Belmont Park since Friday, to resume training.
“I felt the horse going to the track was not only good for his conditioning but also good for his mind,” said the trainer of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, bidding to become racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner in the June 7 Belmont Stakes. “He’s been kind of aggravated. He doesn’t know why he’s not going to the track. He just doesn’t understand why he’s not doing it. We can’t explain it to him and we just let him go out there today and take the edge off him. He’s getting too rough around the barn.”
With a light rain falling at Belmont, Big Brown went out to the track around 7 a.m.
Dutrow said the time off would not affect Big Brown’s ability to “finish what he started” and that he was looking to breeze the colt early next week.
“I don't know -- it could be Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday depending on the weather,” he said. “If I had everything I would want I would like it Monday.”
Dutrow said he would not have the colt blow out the morning of the Belmont as he did in the Preakness.
“I think he looks better now than he did for the Preakness,” said Dutrow.
Less than 24 hours after saying that he would not send Big Brown to the racetrack on Tuesday, trainer Rich Dutrow sent the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner to a rain-moistened main course at Belmont Park, over which he jogged a mile and a half under exercise rider Michelle Nevin. The Monday diversion of the gaggle of media certain to be at Belmont for Big Brown's return to training, worked.
On Monday morning, hoof expert Ian McKinlay repaired the small crack in the colt’s left-front hoof wall with a set of steel sutures. By the afternoon, trainer Rick Dutrow said he and McKinlay decided it would be beneficial for the 3-year-old colt, who had not been out of barn 2 at Belmont Park since Friday, to resume training.
“I felt the horse going to the track was not only good for his conditioning but also good for his mind,” said the trainer of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, bidding to become racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner in the June 7 Belmont Stakes. “He’s been kind of aggravated. He doesn’t know why he’s not going to the track. He just doesn’t understand why he’s not doing it. We can’t explain it to him and we just let him go out there today and take the edge off him. He’s getting too rough around the barn.”
With a light rain falling at Belmont, Big Brown went out to the track around 7 a.m.
Dutrow said the time off would not affect Big Brown’s ability to “finish what he started” and that he was looking to breeze the colt early next week.
“I don't know -- it could be Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday depending on the weather,” he said. “If I had everything I would want I would like it Monday.”
Dutrow said he would not have the colt blow out the morning of the Belmont as he did in the Preakness.
“I think he looks better now than he did for the Preakness,” said Dutrow.
Asian update: Good Ba Ba invades Japan
From the Hong Hong Jockey Club
Good Ba Ba is in line for one of the richest prizes in international racing should he prove successful in the Yasuda Kinen, the fourth and final leg of the Asian Mile Challenge, on June 8 in Japan.
Hong Kong’s outstanding miler will collect a bonus of US $1 million for a second AMC victory having been so impressive in capturing the Champions Mile, the series’ third leg at Sha Tin, on April 27. Victory in both races will amount to earnings of approximately US $2.43million. Triumph in Tokyo will also guarantee Good Ba Ba a place in racing folklore by emulating the feat of his Hong Kong rival Bullish Luck who also netted the US $1 million bonus for winning the same two races in 2006.
Yasuda Kinen glory would take Good Ba Ba’s career bankroll to almost HK $47 million – a handsome dividend on the initial outlay of HK $1.7 million by owner John Yuen Se-kit for the son of Lear Fan at the 2004 Hong Kong International Sale – and into the top five of all time stakes winners locally.
Just as significantly, he is also striving to become the first local horse to win five consecutive Group 1 races in the same year, including three at international level.
Good Ba Ba produced the most impressive victory of his career in the Champions Mile when he defeated fellow Hong Kong-based Yasuda Kinen aspirants, Armada and Bullish Luck, with rare ease.
It was Good Ba Ba’s fifth straight win and a fourth at Gr.1 level having previously landed the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile, Citi Stewards’ Cup, Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup. It also accorded him the status of Leading Turf Miler in the latest World’s Leading Horses published at the start of the month.
On mark of 122, Good Ba Ba is rated the equal of Weekend Hussler, the six-time Group 1 winner between 1200 meters and 1600 meters in Australia last season, and rated above dual 2000 Guineas champion Henrythenavigator (121), Breeders’ Cup Mile hero Kip Deville (120) and Jay Peg (120), triumphant in both the Dubai Duty Free and Singapore Airlines International Cup.
It is impossible to argue Good Ba Ba’s level of form in this all-conquering campaign.
His defeat of Creachadoir in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile has been endorsed with the latter horse winning the Lokinge Stakes in England recently. Third home last December, Darjina, has subsequently finished second in both Dubai Duty Free and Prix d’Ispahan.
But perhaps Good Ba Ba’s greatest scalp came in March when he foiled Sacred Kingdom, the top-ranked active turf performer and outstanding sprinter, in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup over 1400 meters.
Good Ba Ba is in line for one of the richest prizes in international racing should he prove successful in the Yasuda Kinen, the fourth and final leg of the Asian Mile Challenge, on June 8 in Japan.
Hong Kong’s outstanding miler will collect a bonus of US $1 million for a second AMC victory having been so impressive in capturing the Champions Mile, the series’ third leg at Sha Tin, on April 27. Victory in both races will amount to earnings of approximately US $2.43million. Triumph in Tokyo will also guarantee Good Ba Ba a place in racing folklore by emulating the feat of his Hong Kong rival Bullish Luck who also netted the US $1 million bonus for winning the same two races in 2006.
Yasuda Kinen glory would take Good Ba Ba’s career bankroll to almost HK $47 million – a handsome dividend on the initial outlay of HK $1.7 million by owner John Yuen Se-kit for the son of Lear Fan at the 2004 Hong Kong International Sale – and into the top five of all time stakes winners locally.
Just as significantly, he is also striving to become the first local horse to win five consecutive Group 1 races in the same year, including three at international level.
Good Ba Ba produced the most impressive victory of his career in the Champions Mile when he defeated fellow Hong Kong-based Yasuda Kinen aspirants, Armada and Bullish Luck, with rare ease.
It was Good Ba Ba’s fifth straight win and a fourth at Gr.1 level having previously landed the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile, Citi Stewards’ Cup, Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup. It also accorded him the status of Leading Turf Miler in the latest World’s Leading Horses published at the start of the month.
On mark of 122, Good Ba Ba is rated the equal of Weekend Hussler, the six-time Group 1 winner between 1200 meters and 1600 meters in Australia last season, and rated above dual 2000 Guineas champion Henrythenavigator (121), Breeders’ Cup Mile hero Kip Deville (120) and Jay Peg (120), triumphant in both the Dubai Duty Free and Singapore Airlines International Cup.
It is impossible to argue Good Ba Ba’s level of form in this all-conquering campaign.
His defeat of Creachadoir in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile has been endorsed with the latter horse winning the Lokinge Stakes in England recently. Third home last December, Darjina, has subsequently finished second in both Dubai Duty Free and Prix d’Ispahan.
But perhaps Good Ba Ba’s greatest scalp came in March when he foiled Sacred Kingdom, the top-ranked active turf performer and outstanding sprinter, in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup over 1400 meters.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Met Mile: Divine Park steps up
The 115th running may not have drawn the deepest field in the history of the Met Mile and this will not be remembered as race for the 2008 highlight reel, but both Divine Park, the winner while second choice in the betting, and Commentator, the defeated 6-5 favorite, lived up to the stature of the most prestigious one-mile race run anywhere in the nation on Monday at Belmont Park. The others … well, not so much.
The race played out exactly as it appeared on paper, boiling down to two fastest milers among nine starters though a very fresh Commentator, who had not run since March 8, set the table for the closing Divine Park with a stirring if ultimately suicidal -- :22.48, :44.52, 1:09.61 – for the first six furlongs, fractions resulting from early and late bids by the oddly ridden (Javier Castellano) First Defense, both of which were repelled. Divine Park’s late rally beneath Alan Garcia carried him to a two-length advantage at the wire after very slow 27.30-second final quarter-mile. The running time: 1:36.91.
Divine Park is a developing force at a distance that is seldom run on a meaningful level, taking the Grade 1 Met on the heels of an impressive effort in the Grade 3 Westchester on the Belmont meeting’s opening day. Having won the Withers at Aqueduct at age three, Divine Park is not undefeated in three starts at a mile and has five wins from seven career starts.
Brown said to be on the mend
All concerned with access to Big Brown showed expressed optimism on Monday that the Derby and Preakness winner’s tender left hoof in on the mend.
Monday, they said, was important in determining Big Brown’s schedule, and both trainer Rick Dutrow and hoof specialist Ian McKinlay expressed encouragement.
“This morning a lot of heat had come out from yesterday, which is an excellent sign,” McKinlay said. “As usual, just a little bit of movement in that heel is enough to warm up the foot. As we look at him here, he is not as sensitive on the coronet band. Now, we just basically made a little trench and got him down to the wall, just about to the laminae; that’s the sensitive part of the hoof. And we put in one set of sutures, which is like stitches, made of stainless steel wire, and we drew that crack together. And probably tomorrow, he’ll be in much better shape.
“Of course, Rick will check him first thing in the morning. I’m actually going to be at Monmouth, but everything should just keep progressing. What we’re trying to do is stabilize that heel so we can get quicker healing.”
Big Brown was scheduled to make his only serious pre-Belmont work on Saturday morning. Dutrow said that could be moved to Monday or Tuesday, but would not be made any earlier.
“We can most likely jog him (tomorrow), but I don’t want to do that,” Dutrow said. “I want Ian to look at him again before we actually go to the track. If he looks great tomorrow, I still won’t jog him. It’s a little hiccup on the way over there, that’s all it is. The time he has missed means nothing to me or him.
“This could also be a very good thing because he burnt his heels (at Pimlico) and it gives him time to get over that. No way missing four, five or six days is going to affect the outcome and his racing ability when he runs.”
The race played out exactly as it appeared on paper, boiling down to two fastest milers among nine starters though a very fresh Commentator, who had not run since March 8, set the table for the closing Divine Park with a stirring if ultimately suicidal -- :22.48, :44.52, 1:09.61 – for the first six furlongs, fractions resulting from early and late bids by the oddly ridden (Javier Castellano) First Defense, both of which were repelled. Divine Park’s late rally beneath Alan Garcia carried him to a two-length advantage at the wire after very slow 27.30-second final quarter-mile. The running time: 1:36.91.
Divine Park is a developing force at a distance that is seldom run on a meaningful level, taking the Grade 1 Met on the heels of an impressive effort in the Grade 3 Westchester on the Belmont meeting’s opening day. Having won the Withers at Aqueduct at age three, Divine Park is not undefeated in three starts at a mile and has five wins from seven career starts.
Brown said to be on the mend
All concerned with access to Big Brown showed expressed optimism on Monday that the Derby and Preakness winner’s tender left hoof in on the mend.
Monday, they said, was important in determining Big Brown’s schedule, and both trainer Rick Dutrow and hoof specialist Ian McKinlay expressed encouragement.
“This morning a lot of heat had come out from yesterday, which is an excellent sign,” McKinlay said. “As usual, just a little bit of movement in that heel is enough to warm up the foot. As we look at him here, he is not as sensitive on the coronet band. Now, we just basically made a little trench and got him down to the wall, just about to the laminae; that’s the sensitive part of the hoof. And we put in one set of sutures, which is like stitches, made of stainless steel wire, and we drew that crack together. And probably tomorrow, he’ll be in much better shape.
“Of course, Rick will check him first thing in the morning. I’m actually going to be at Monmouth, but everything should just keep progressing. What we’re trying to do is stabilize that heel so we can get quicker healing.”
Big Brown was scheduled to make his only serious pre-Belmont work on Saturday morning. Dutrow said that could be moved to Monday or Tuesday, but would not be made any earlier.
“We can most likely jog him (tomorrow), but I don’t want to do that,” Dutrow said. “I want Ian to look at him again before we actually go to the track. If he looks great tomorrow, I still won’t jog him. It’s a little hiccup on the way over there, that’s all it is. The time he has missed means nothing to me or him.
“This could also be a very good thing because he burnt his heels (at Pimlico) and it gives him time to get over that. No way missing four, five or six days is going to affect the outcome and his racing ability when he runs.”
Suddenly, a Big Brown questionmark
If Big Brown is said to be afflicted by a “slight” quarter crack on the inside of the left-fore hoof, it is reasonable to assume that his condition is more serious than his people acknowledge in public.
Nothing is more dependable at the racetrack than a high level of cynicism that begins with the universal presumption of deception.
The Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner has missed two days of training since the crack was discovered on Friday and will have the morning off on Memorial Day. Trainer Rick Dutrow said on Sunday that he expects Big Brown to resume training on Thursday – the best-case scenario – which amounts to a five-day gap in his preparation for the June 7 Belmont Stakes.
While a horse in peek physical condition should be capable of overcoming a five-day vacation without loss of form, the actual severity of the problem is in question and probably more than a “slight” setback.
Aside from those permitted entry to the stall in Barn 2 at Belmont in which Big Brown resides and perhaps Dutrow’s closest confidant are aware of the actual extent of the problem, but here is a horse with a history of hoof problems plagued by the all-too-familiar familiar and chronic nemesis. When he returns to a normal training routine, Big Brown will find a hard racetrack at Belmont that is also, according to some trainers, inconsistent from one day to the next and blamed for a rash of hoof problems in the resident equine population– hardly ideal conditions for the preparation of a tender-hooved horse for a 12-furlong race in which he will be sternly tested.
Big Brown, who has overcome many obstacles in the process of reaching this point undefeated, may be capable of overcoming the setback, but there is a good deal of room for healthy skepticism.
Nothing is more dependable at the racetrack than a high level of cynicism that begins with the universal presumption of deception.
The Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner has missed two days of training since the crack was discovered on Friday and will have the morning off on Memorial Day. Trainer Rick Dutrow said on Sunday that he expects Big Brown to resume training on Thursday – the best-case scenario – which amounts to a five-day gap in his preparation for the June 7 Belmont Stakes.
While a horse in peek physical condition should be capable of overcoming a five-day vacation without loss of form, the actual severity of the problem is in question and probably more than a “slight” setback.
Aside from those permitted entry to the stall in Barn 2 at Belmont in which Big Brown resides and perhaps Dutrow’s closest confidant are aware of the actual extent of the problem, but here is a horse with a history of hoof problems plagued by the all-too-familiar familiar and chronic nemesis. When he returns to a normal training routine, Big Brown will find a hard racetrack at Belmont that is also, according to some trainers, inconsistent from one day to the next and blamed for a rash of hoof problems in the resident equine population– hardly ideal conditions for the preparation of a tender-hooved horse for a 12-furlong race in which he will be sternly tested.
Big Brown, who has overcome many obstacles in the process of reaching this point undefeated, may be capable of overcoming the setback, but there is a good deal of room for healthy skepticism.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Hard track, sore feet
It was probably inevitable that Big Brown’s hoof problems would reappear at some point. Hoof problems in horses are usually chronic.
In terms of timing, two weeks before the 140th Belmont Stakes and the undefeated favorite’s bid to sweep the Triple Crown, affords Rick Dutrow and hoof specialist Ian McKinlay ample time to work on Big Crown’s left-fore hoof, the inside of which is now cracked. It is, though we are taking the diagnosis and prognosis provided by Dutrow and McKinlay as an accurate, not understated, assessment of the injury, not a large fissure, little more than a half-inch long.
“There are lots of quarter cracks here right now,” Dutrow said, who did not blame the ground at Belmont for the hiccup in Big Brown's advance on the Triple Crown but echoed a complaint heard often of late at Belmont, where the main track has gone from hard to harder and most trainers are opting to send horses to the training track in the morning.
The trend at Belmont, the beginning of which followed closely the arrival of John Passero, whose title is director of racing surfaces, from Maryland a few years ago, is troubling. Fast times do not horse races make and trainers have complained about the surfaces not only here but also at Aqueduct and Saratoga, where Passero's methods have turned the once famously deep and kind Oklahoma training track into the same close-to-pavement footing.
It is beyond time to stop the practice of rolling and sealing the ground in order to create artificially fast racetracks, which are punishing on horses and a disservice to their owners. Bettors have dealt with sloppy, muddy and otherwise moisture-effected surfaces for most history and injuries under those conditions were less frequent and severe.
Passero likes to call himself, “Fast Track,” which is revealing.
The sport, horses and people involved would be better served by someone who called himself, “Safe Track.” --PM
Commentator looms large in the Met Mile
Nick Zito made it to the Hall of Fame without ever having won the Met Mile but that gap in his resume will likely be filled on Monday afternoon by a very fast seven-year-old Distorted Humor gelding,
Commentator, winner of two starts in Florida this year by a combined 27 ¾ lengths, has a 4-0-2 record from six starts at Belmont Park, thrives on a schedule of widely spaced races and at distances up to a mile may be the best horse in the nation.
“Basically, spacing his races, giving him time to do what he’s got to do, that’s the main thing,’’ said Zito, who has named jockey John Velazquez to ride. “I wanted to get a mile race somewhere, but I didn’t get anything. The Westchester would have been too close so my choice was to just wait it out. No Grade 1 is easy; they never are. But he’s a great horse. If everything goes good, we’ll be happy.”
The most serious threat to the frontrunning Commentator in the nation’s oldest and most prestigious one-mile race run on dirt comes in the form of Divine Park, who in the favorite’s absence won the Westchester Handicap by five lengths with a career-best effort that suggests the he will either advance from that race or regress. Tough call, but Divine Park in on his best day capable of the upset should Commentator deliver less than his best. --PM
In terms of timing, two weeks before the 140th Belmont Stakes and the undefeated favorite’s bid to sweep the Triple Crown, affords Rick Dutrow and hoof specialist Ian McKinlay ample time to work on Big Crown’s left-fore hoof, the inside of which is now cracked. It is, though we are taking the diagnosis and prognosis provided by Dutrow and McKinlay as an accurate, not understated, assessment of the injury, not a large fissure, little more than a half-inch long.
“There are lots of quarter cracks here right now,” Dutrow said, who did not blame the ground at Belmont for the hiccup in Big Brown's advance on the Triple Crown but echoed a complaint heard often of late at Belmont, where the main track has gone from hard to harder and most trainers are opting to send horses to the training track in the morning.
The trend at Belmont, the beginning of which followed closely the arrival of John Passero, whose title is director of racing surfaces, from Maryland a few years ago, is troubling. Fast times do not horse races make and trainers have complained about the surfaces not only here but also at Aqueduct and Saratoga, where Passero's methods have turned the once famously deep and kind Oklahoma training track into the same close-to-pavement footing.
It is beyond time to stop the practice of rolling and sealing the ground in order to create artificially fast racetracks, which are punishing on horses and a disservice to their owners. Bettors have dealt with sloppy, muddy and otherwise moisture-effected surfaces for most history and injuries under those conditions were less frequent and severe.
Passero likes to call himself, “Fast Track,” which is revealing.
The sport, horses and people involved would be better served by someone who called himself, “Safe Track.” --PM
Commentator looms large in the Met Mile
Nick Zito made it to the Hall of Fame without ever having won the Met Mile but that gap in his resume will likely be filled on Monday afternoon by a very fast seven-year-old Distorted Humor gelding,
Commentator, winner of two starts in Florida this year by a combined 27 ¾ lengths, has a 4-0-2 record from six starts at Belmont Park, thrives on a schedule of widely spaced races and at distances up to a mile may be the best horse in the nation.
“Basically, spacing his races, giving him time to do what he’s got to do, that’s the main thing,’’ said Zito, who has named jockey John Velazquez to ride. “I wanted to get a mile race somewhere, but I didn’t get anything. The Westchester would have been too close so my choice was to just wait it out. No Grade 1 is easy; they never are. But he’s a great horse. If everything goes good, we’ll be happy.”
The most serious threat to the frontrunning Commentator in the nation’s oldest and most prestigious one-mile race run on dirt comes in the form of Divine Park, who in the favorite’s absence won the Westchester Handicap by five lengths with a career-best effort that suggests the he will either advance from that race or regress. Tough call, but Divine Park in on his best day capable of the upset should Commentator deliver less than his best. --PM
Saturday, May 24, 2008
David Prine: Amazing grace (and $146)
By Jenny Kellner / NYRA
For David Prine, just being alive was something of a longshot. Nearly killed in a gas explosion in a Louisville, Ky. kitchen in 1999, paralyzed on one side and unable to speak, Prine endured years of physical therapy, cognitive rehabilitation, and several surgeries as he slowly learned how to walk again, and talk again. The only life he knew – that of being a chef – was gone, replaced by a legacy of suffering, trauma, and pain.
Somehow, the long and tortuous road to recovery led him to the racetrack, where he toiled as a hotwalker, blacksmith helper, and groom. But on Saturday, Prine found himself someplace he’d only dreamt about – in the winner’s circle at Belmont Park, having saddled his first winner as a trainer with his very first starter, a 4-year-old New York-bred maiden named Halation, who returned $146.
“Unbelievable,” Prine kept repeating. “It’s unbelievable.”
Three years after the accident, perhaps stirred by the memory of having worked as a hotwalker while in high school and wanting to reconnect with horses, Prine enrolled in Ted Landers’ course at Belmont Park on the principles of caring for thoroughbreds. He attached himself to a couple of blacksmiths. He procured a job working for trainer Steve Jerkens and also assisted Landers, himself a groom turned trainer. Along the way, Prine attracted the attention of Lois Engel, who in 2003 had purchased a farm in upstate New York with the intention of breeding and racing Thoroughbreds.
“I met him about 18 months ago, when he was helping out Ted,” said Engel. “Spending time at the barn and watching him, you could see he had this sixth sense for dealing with horses. I would ask him what he wanted to do, and he’d say, “Someday, I’d really like to train horses.’”
By December, 2007, Landers was ready for a break. And Engel knew exactly who she wanted to take over training her horses.
“We wanted to give David the opportunity,” she said. “This is what he was meant to do.”
With her support and that of several trainers, Prine began studying for the state exam to get his trainer’s license. It wasn’t easy. Although he knew about horses, because of his brain injury, reading and writing remained a challenge. But with the same perseverance he demonstrated in coming back from his devastating injuries, Prine was able to master the requirements and pass the test with flying colors.
Three weeks ago, he received his official license. And in Saturday’s fifth race, Halation came roaring from off the pace under Jean-Luc Samyn to win a seven-furlong turf event for New York-bred maidens.
“It’s amazing,” said Prine, who Sunday will send out Volmoose, another New York-bred maiden. “When I was in high school, I thought about veterinary medicine, but I always had a flair for cooking, so I went to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, and became a chef. I worked at Tavern on the Green, the National Tennis Center, other places.
“Then, after the accident, I didn’t know if I would ever have another chance. I’d always had a rapport with animals, so it seemed natural to work with horses.”
These days, Prine, who lives pretty much on Social Security, takes the Access-A-Ride from his apartment in nearby Glendale to Belmont Park, where he spends most of his time in the back of Joe Lostritto’s barn at Belmont Park. Stabled there are three of Engel’s horses, including Halation and a filly named Mercy’s Image that he spoils rotten. Drawing on his background in the culinary arts and his own ideas about nutrition, the horses are fed three times daily – at 3:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. – and routinely feast on Prine’s special blend of hay.
“There’s alfalfa in there, and timothy – it’s kind of like a mesclun salad, and they love it,” said Prine, who, chef-like, refused to divulge the exact recipe. “They’re pretty happy horses.”
Prine hasn’t given up cooking for people, either. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, he spent a month in the galley of the “Spirit of New York,” where he joined with other chefs and prepared food for the recovery workers at Ground Zero. On the backstretch, he cooks for the Anna House annual Christmas party and volunteers his services to other backstretch organizations as well.
In all, says Prine, it’s been an amazing journey.
“I’ve had a lot of setbacks,” he said. “So to be where I am is pretty amazing.”
In the winner’s circle.
For David Prine, just being alive was something of a longshot. Nearly killed in a gas explosion in a Louisville, Ky. kitchen in 1999, paralyzed on one side and unable to speak, Prine endured years of physical therapy, cognitive rehabilitation, and several surgeries as he slowly learned how to walk again, and talk again. The only life he knew – that of being a chef – was gone, replaced by a legacy of suffering, trauma, and pain.
Somehow, the long and tortuous road to recovery led him to the racetrack, where he toiled as a hotwalker, blacksmith helper, and groom. But on Saturday, Prine found himself someplace he’d only dreamt about – in the winner’s circle at Belmont Park, having saddled his first winner as a trainer with his very first starter, a 4-year-old New York-bred maiden named Halation, who returned $146.
“Unbelievable,” Prine kept repeating. “It’s unbelievable.”
Three years after the accident, perhaps stirred by the memory of having worked as a hotwalker while in high school and wanting to reconnect with horses, Prine enrolled in Ted Landers’ course at Belmont Park on the principles of caring for thoroughbreds. He attached himself to a couple of blacksmiths. He procured a job working for trainer Steve Jerkens and also assisted Landers, himself a groom turned trainer. Along the way, Prine attracted the attention of Lois Engel, who in 2003 had purchased a farm in upstate New York with the intention of breeding and racing Thoroughbreds.
“I met him about 18 months ago, when he was helping out Ted,” said Engel. “Spending time at the barn and watching him, you could see he had this sixth sense for dealing with horses. I would ask him what he wanted to do, and he’d say, “Someday, I’d really like to train horses.’”
By December, 2007, Landers was ready for a break. And Engel knew exactly who she wanted to take over training her horses.
“We wanted to give David the opportunity,” she said. “This is what he was meant to do.”
With her support and that of several trainers, Prine began studying for the state exam to get his trainer’s license. It wasn’t easy. Although he knew about horses, because of his brain injury, reading and writing remained a challenge. But with the same perseverance he demonstrated in coming back from his devastating injuries, Prine was able to master the requirements and pass the test with flying colors.
Three weeks ago, he received his official license. And in Saturday’s fifth race, Halation came roaring from off the pace under Jean-Luc Samyn to win a seven-furlong turf event for New York-bred maidens.
“It’s amazing,” said Prine, who Sunday will send out Volmoose, another New York-bred maiden. “When I was in high school, I thought about veterinary medicine, but I always had a flair for cooking, so I went to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, and became a chef. I worked at Tavern on the Green, the National Tennis Center, other places.
“Then, after the accident, I didn’t know if I would ever have another chance. I’d always had a rapport with animals, so it seemed natural to work with horses.”
These days, Prine, who lives pretty much on Social Security, takes the Access-A-Ride from his apartment in nearby Glendale to Belmont Park, where he spends most of his time in the back of Joe Lostritto’s barn at Belmont Park. Stabled there are three of Engel’s horses, including Halation and a filly named Mercy’s Image that he spoils rotten. Drawing on his background in the culinary arts and his own ideas about nutrition, the horses are fed three times daily – at 3:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. – and routinely feast on Prine’s special blend of hay.
“There’s alfalfa in there, and timothy – it’s kind of like a mesclun salad, and they love it,” said Prine, who, chef-like, refused to divulge the exact recipe. “They’re pretty happy horses.”
Prine hasn’t given up cooking for people, either. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, he spent a month in the galley of the “Spirit of New York,” where he joined with other chefs and prepared food for the recovery workers at Ground Zero. On the backstretch, he cooks for the Anna House annual Christmas party and volunteers his services to other backstretch organizations as well.
In all, says Prine, it’s been an amazing journey.
“I’ve had a lot of setbacks,” he said. “So to be where I am is pretty amazing.”
In the winner’s circle.
Vagrancy: Dream Rush returns
By Jenny Kellner/ NYRA
After Dream Rush won four graded stakes last year as a 3-year-old, it’s no wonder her connections were anxiously awaiting the launch of her 2008 campaign. But the day before what was to be her final breeze for the Grade 2 Distaff Handicap at Aqueduct on March 22, the daughter of Wild Rush suffered a minor injury that delayed her seasonal debut.
“She racked up her hind leg and we had to be careful with her for about a month or so,” said Rick Violette, who trains Wild Rush. “But she’s been doing great and training great.”
On Sunday, after a seven-month absence, Dream Rush returns to action as she heads a field of six for the 58th running of the Grade 2, $150,000 Vagrancy Handicap at six and one-half furlongs.
“We’re looking forward to her getting back to the races,” said Violette, who last year saddled the filly to victories in the Grade 1 Test at Saratoga, the Grade 1 Prioress and the Grade 2 Nassau County Breeders’ Cup at Belmont Park and the Grade 3 Old Hat at Gulfstream Park.
Dream Rush also finished second to Cotton Blossom in the Grade 1 Acorn, and closed out her 3-year-old campaign with a fifth-place finish behind Maryfield in the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint after leading to the top of the stretch.
“She’s matured since her 3-year-old campaign,” said Violette of Dream Rush, who totes high weight of 120 pounds including Eibar Coa. “Aside from the little hiccup with the injury, she’s been doing everything we’ve wanted.”
Among those facing Dream Rush in the Vagrancy will be two who have seen little action recently. The Allen Jerkens-trained Any Limit returns to the races for the first time in a year after finishing third in last year’s Vagrancy to Indian Flare, while Sangrita will be making only her second start since the fall of 2006.
Trained by Michael Matz, Sangrita, now 5, won three of her six races in 2006, including the Grade 2 Chilukki at Churchill Downs that November 2. She did not start again until January of this year, finishing second in an optional claimer at Gulfstream Park.
Rounding out the field are Baroness Thatcher, who has made three starts for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, including a close second to Intangroo in the Grade 1 Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day; Looky Yonder, who took an optional claimer at Belmont over a sloppy track on May 9 for trainer Rick Dutrow, and Bedside Story, who won an optional claimer at Philadelphia Park on April 28 for trainer Anthony Dutrow.
After Dream Rush won four graded stakes last year as a 3-year-old, it’s no wonder her connections were anxiously awaiting the launch of her 2008 campaign. But the day before what was to be her final breeze for the Grade 2 Distaff Handicap at Aqueduct on March 22, the daughter of Wild Rush suffered a minor injury that delayed her seasonal debut.
“She racked up her hind leg and we had to be careful with her for about a month or so,” said Rick Violette, who trains Wild Rush. “But she’s been doing great and training great.”
On Sunday, after a seven-month absence, Dream Rush returns to action as she heads a field of six for the 58th running of the Grade 2, $150,000 Vagrancy Handicap at six and one-half furlongs.
“We’re looking forward to her getting back to the races,” said Violette, who last year saddled the filly to victories in the Grade 1 Test at Saratoga, the Grade 1 Prioress and the Grade 2 Nassau County Breeders’ Cup at Belmont Park and the Grade 3 Old Hat at Gulfstream Park.
Dream Rush also finished second to Cotton Blossom in the Grade 1 Acorn, and closed out her 3-year-old campaign with a fifth-place finish behind Maryfield in the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint after leading to the top of the stretch.
“She’s matured since her 3-year-old campaign,” said Violette of Dream Rush, who totes high weight of 120 pounds including Eibar Coa. “Aside from the little hiccup with the injury, she’s been doing everything we’ve wanted.”
Among those facing Dream Rush in the Vagrancy will be two who have seen little action recently. The Allen Jerkens-trained Any Limit returns to the races for the first time in a year after finishing third in last year’s Vagrancy to Indian Flare, while Sangrita will be making only her second start since the fall of 2006.
Trained by Michael Matz, Sangrita, now 5, won three of her six races in 2006, including the Grade 2 Chilukki at Churchill Downs that November 2. She did not start again until January of this year, finishing second in an optional claimer at Gulfstream Park.
Rounding out the field are Baroness Thatcher, who has made three starts for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, including a close second to Intangroo in the Grade 1 Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day; Looky Yonder, who took an optional claimer at Belmont over a sloppy track on May 9 for trainer Rick Dutrow, and Bedside Story, who won an optional claimer at Philadelphia Park on April 28 for trainer Anthony Dutrow.
Weekend guest: Left Coast pathos
From CTBAboardwatch
Apparently the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association is employing a troop surge this month in defense of its new president, Leigh Ann Howard, to whom we affectionately refer as The Inseminator. Readers of our March and April newsletters on artificial insemination may recall our documentation of Ms. Howard's use of the forbidden practice at Valley Creek Farm (co-owned by a previous CTBA board member, current Bay Meadows president Jack Liebau). Because of her flagrant and deceptive violations we called for her resignation last month as head of the breeders' association.
Can it be sheer coincidence that the May issue of the CTBA publication California Thoroughbred devotes itself to singing Ms. Howard's praises?
We counted five-and-a-half photos of The Inseminator in this month's California Thoroughbred. We doubt if even Cal-bred Horse of the Year Tiznow received as much in-house cheerleading. Did the CTBA think we had forgotten on four-and-a-half occasions what she looks like?
Not only did she write the lead editorial (including three of her photos), but magazine editor Rudi Grootheede spotlighted her in his "Born To Lead" story. As is his custom, Mr. G. generously shared his monthly photo op with his latest recipient of brown-nosing adoration. That's why we counted it as only a half-photo of The Inseminator.
In spite of all this artificial hoopla, we strongly believe The Inseminator has much to prove if she is to live up to the "Born To Lead" moniker Grootheede bestowed upon her. Thus far, in her 10 years on the CTBA board, her accomplishments are unsubstantial. Then again, it may not be fair to pin the overwhelming negligence of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association on one person. Clearly, it took a village of no-doers to raise the CTBA to its current high standard of insignificance.
We have known many great TBA leaders in the past; the office holders today aren't to be confused with them.
CTBAboardwatch has for the last three years submitted to the CTBA our annual recommendations for action. To date the CTBA has adopted only two of our suggestions: providing members with free admission to California racetracks, and ceasing the use of phony (N) black type in sales catalogs. So some progress has been made. But the substantive issues facing our industry remain untouched by the CTBA board of directors.
California breeders want decisive action by their leaders. Talk, talk and more of their talk simply is no longer acceptable. Our industry is at a crossroads and our leaders must begin acting in accordance with reality. Horsemen are tired of syrupy CTBA magazine campaigns; they demand pragmatic solutions.
The CTBA board--even if under the shroud of The Inseminator's poor decision-making history--has to step up to the plate. In addition to acting on our suggestions (which include a professional polling of California breeders for guidance), it must entertain other progressive ideas with enthusiasm.
If it is serious about its responsibilities, the CTBA board can't hold its meetings once every 60 days, closed to the public, without published agendas or minutes. It can't pretend any longer that it's been doing a good job for its members. It needs to act as a bona fide, corporate Board of Directors whose job it is to lead. It needs to "get real."
CTBAboardwatch is a 'Grass Roots" movement supported by more than 400 horsemen and women who are vitally concerned about California's struggling Thoroughbred industry. Former CTBA and CHRB chairmen are among us. More than 2,400 industry participants receive this newsletter. We have no membership applications, dues or fees. You're a member if you say you are! Please send all questions and comments to ctbaboardwatch@yahoo.com.
Apparently the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association is employing a troop surge this month in defense of its new president, Leigh Ann Howard, to whom we affectionately refer as The Inseminator. Readers of our March and April newsletters on artificial insemination may recall our documentation of Ms. Howard's use of the forbidden practice at Valley Creek Farm (co-owned by a previous CTBA board member, current Bay Meadows president Jack Liebau). Because of her flagrant and deceptive violations we called for her resignation last month as head of the breeders' association.
Can it be sheer coincidence that the May issue of the CTBA publication California Thoroughbred devotes itself to singing Ms. Howard's praises?
We counted five-and-a-half photos of The Inseminator in this month's California Thoroughbred. We doubt if even Cal-bred Horse of the Year Tiznow received as much in-house cheerleading. Did the CTBA think we had forgotten on four-and-a-half occasions what she looks like?
Not only did she write the lead editorial (including three of her photos), but magazine editor Rudi Grootheede spotlighted her in his "Born To Lead" story. As is his custom, Mr. G. generously shared his monthly photo op with his latest recipient of brown-nosing adoration. That's why we counted it as only a half-photo of The Inseminator.
In spite of all this artificial hoopla, we strongly believe The Inseminator has much to prove if she is to live up to the "Born To Lead" moniker Grootheede bestowed upon her. Thus far, in her 10 years on the CTBA board, her accomplishments are unsubstantial. Then again, it may not be fair to pin the overwhelming negligence of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association on one person. Clearly, it took a village of no-doers to raise the CTBA to its current high standard of insignificance.
We have known many great TBA leaders in the past; the office holders today aren't to be confused with them.
CTBAboardwatch has for the last three years submitted to the CTBA our annual recommendations for action. To date the CTBA has adopted only two of our suggestions: providing members with free admission to California racetracks, and ceasing the use of phony (N) black type in sales catalogs. So some progress has been made. But the substantive issues facing our industry remain untouched by the CTBA board of directors.
California breeders want decisive action by their leaders. Talk, talk and more of their talk simply is no longer acceptable. Our industry is at a crossroads and our leaders must begin acting in accordance with reality. Horsemen are tired of syrupy CTBA magazine campaigns; they demand pragmatic solutions.
The CTBA board--even if under the shroud of The Inseminator's poor decision-making history--has to step up to the plate. In addition to acting on our suggestions (which include a professional polling of California breeders for guidance), it must entertain other progressive ideas with enthusiasm.
If it is serious about its responsibilities, the CTBA board can't hold its meetings once every 60 days, closed to the public, without published agendas or minutes. It can't pretend any longer that it's been doing a good job for its members. It needs to act as a bona fide, corporate Board of Directors whose job it is to lead. It needs to "get real."
CTBAboardwatch is a 'Grass Roots" movement supported by more than 400 horsemen and women who are vitally concerned about California's struggling Thoroughbred industry. Former CTBA and CHRB chairmen are among us. More than 2,400 industry participants receive this newsletter. We have no membership applications, dues or fees. You're a member if you say you are! Please send all questions and comments to ctbaboardwatch@yahoo.com.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Friday notes / Anybody's Sheepshead Bay
The Met Mile holiday weekend, also known as the Memorial Day weekend, is underway Saturday at Belmont with an uninspiring and paceless renewal of the 11-furlong Sheepshead Bay Handicap, which will be contested on the inner turf course by two fillies and six mares, seven with the same running style and one closer.
Mauralakana, winner of a listed race at Calder in her most recent start, is the morning-line favorite if only because one of these had to be cast in that role. Five others – Hostess, Herboriste, Rising Cross, J’ray and Flawless Treasure – are capable of winning this race if they bring their A game.
Meanwhile …
The Japanese look at things differently. For instance, they find Rick Dutrow’s dismissal of Casino Drive … well, fun.
“He’s done well every day,” said Nobutaka Tada, racing manager for Casino Drive’s owner, Hidetoshi Yamamoto, after a Friday morning canter. “On Sunday, he will go a little faster than usual, and then he will breeze on Wednesday.”
Tada said he and the colt’s connections were enjoying the experience of being involved in the Triple Crown and all the hype that surrounds it. On Wednesday, Dutrow said that if everything goes right, Casino Drive had “no chance” to beat Big Brown in the Belmont despite being the sibling of the last two Belmont Stakes winners, Rags to Riches (2007) and Jazil (2006).
“We are enjoying hearing his comments about Casino Drive,” said Tada. “It’s fun. Big Brown is a great horse, and we are honored to run with him in a great race.”
Big Brown’s contribution to scholarship
A tragedy on Long Island has moved the owners of Big Brown, who are currently quite flush, to donate a portion of the colt’s earnings from the Belmont Stakes to establish a scholarship fund for the young son of a Nassau County police officer who was critically injured in the line of duty.
On May 18, a drunken driver with a suspended license slammed into Kenneth Baribault’s police car during a traffic stop the Long Island Expressway. Baribault had pulled over a sport utility vehicle on suspicion of drunken driving when the driver of a silver Mercedes, whom police said was drunk, plowed into the back of the police cruiser,. The impact pushed the police car into the SUV and lifted it six feet off the ground, according to witnesses.
Baribault remains in a coma at Nassau County Medical Center, having undergone surgery to relieve swelling to his brain.
In a Friday news conference in the Belmont Park paddock, IEAH Stable owners Michael Iavarone and Richard Schiavo, both of Long Island, pledged to donate a substantial portion of whatever Big Brown earns in the final leg of racing’s Triple Crown toward college expenses for Baribault’s six-year-old son, Chris.
“In time like this it is imperative we come together,” said Iavarone. “We want to stand up and make something good happen. It’s not just a financial thing – we want to be there for the family.
Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Souezi and Police Commissioner Lawrence W. Mulvey, both of whom spoke in front of the statue of 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat in Belmont Park’s paddock, praised the owners for their generosity.
“We are all pulling for Big Brown in the Belmont here on Long Island, but we are also pulling for Big Blue -- Kenny Baribault,” said Suozzi. “This means the family has one less thing to worry about as he recovers. It’s one less burden in his family’s life.”
Now, for some bad timing
If Big Brown runs at all after the Belmont, the Travers will be his next start, Dutrow said on Wednesday. If Casino Drive wins the Belmont, he will be returned immediately to Japan. Nevertheless, despite the unlikely presence of a winner in the current Triple Crown series at Monmouth Park this summer, the track is offering $25,000 per Triple Crown series win to the owners and trainers involved.
If Big Brown, who has already won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, completes the Triple Crown in the Belmont, his owners and trainer would each receive a $75,000 bonus if the horse runs in the Haskell.
“Obviously you always want to attract horses with Triple Crown races on their resumes,” said Robert J. Kulina, vice president of racing and general manager of Monmouth Park. “The Haskell has stamped itself as the next logical step following the Triple Crown, the beginning of the second half of the season and a target race for horses looking at year-end honors.”
Recent champions that have competed in the Haskell include Point Given, War Emblem, Funny Cide and last year’s Horse of the Year, Curlin. Probably not this time, however.
Mauralakana, winner of a listed race at Calder in her most recent start, is the morning-line favorite if only because one of these had to be cast in that role. Five others – Hostess, Herboriste, Rising Cross, J’ray and Flawless Treasure – are capable of winning this race if they bring their A game.
Meanwhile …
The Japanese look at things differently. For instance, they find Rick Dutrow’s dismissal of Casino Drive … well, fun.
“He’s done well every day,” said Nobutaka Tada, racing manager for Casino Drive’s owner, Hidetoshi Yamamoto, after a Friday morning canter. “On Sunday, he will go a little faster than usual, and then he will breeze on Wednesday.”
Tada said he and the colt’s connections were enjoying the experience of being involved in the Triple Crown and all the hype that surrounds it. On Wednesday, Dutrow said that if everything goes right, Casino Drive had “no chance” to beat Big Brown in the Belmont despite being the sibling of the last two Belmont Stakes winners, Rags to Riches (2007) and Jazil (2006).
“We are enjoying hearing his comments about Casino Drive,” said Tada. “It’s fun. Big Brown is a great horse, and we are honored to run with him in a great race.”
Big Brown’s contribution to scholarship
A tragedy on Long Island has moved the owners of Big Brown, who are currently quite flush, to donate a portion of the colt’s earnings from the Belmont Stakes to establish a scholarship fund for the young son of a Nassau County police officer who was critically injured in the line of duty.
On May 18, a drunken driver with a suspended license slammed into Kenneth Baribault’s police car during a traffic stop the Long Island Expressway. Baribault had pulled over a sport utility vehicle on suspicion of drunken driving when the driver of a silver Mercedes, whom police said was drunk, plowed into the back of the police cruiser,. The impact pushed the police car into the SUV and lifted it six feet off the ground, according to witnesses.
Baribault remains in a coma at Nassau County Medical Center, having undergone surgery to relieve swelling to his brain.
In a Friday news conference in the Belmont Park paddock, IEAH Stable owners Michael Iavarone and Richard Schiavo, both of Long Island, pledged to donate a substantial portion of whatever Big Brown earns in the final leg of racing’s Triple Crown toward college expenses for Baribault’s six-year-old son, Chris.
“In time like this it is imperative we come together,” said Iavarone. “We want to stand up and make something good happen. It’s not just a financial thing – we want to be there for the family.
Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Souezi and Police Commissioner Lawrence W. Mulvey, both of whom spoke in front of the statue of 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat in Belmont Park’s paddock, praised the owners for their generosity.
“We are all pulling for Big Brown in the Belmont here on Long Island, but we are also pulling for Big Blue -- Kenny Baribault,” said Suozzi. “This means the family has one less thing to worry about as he recovers. It’s one less burden in his family’s life.”
Now, for some bad timing
If Big Brown runs at all after the Belmont, the Travers will be his next start, Dutrow said on Wednesday. If Casino Drive wins the Belmont, he will be returned immediately to Japan. Nevertheless, despite the unlikely presence of a winner in the current Triple Crown series at Monmouth Park this summer, the track is offering $25,000 per Triple Crown series win to the owners and trainers involved.
If Big Brown, who has already won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, completes the Triple Crown in the Belmont, his owners and trainer would each receive a $75,000 bonus if the horse runs in the Haskell.
“Obviously you always want to attract horses with Triple Crown races on their resumes,” said Robert J. Kulina, vice president of racing and general manager of Monmouth Park. “The Haskell has stamped itself as the next logical step following the Triple Crown, the beginning of the second half of the season and a target race for horses looking at year-end honors.”
Recent champions that have competed in the Haskell include Point Given, War Emblem, Funny Cide and last year’s Horse of the Year, Curlin. Probably not this time, however.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Law provides tax break for horse owners
From the NTRA
Members of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives voted today to override a Presidential veto of the 2007 Farm Bill exercised by George W. Bush yesterday. As a result the 2007 Farm Bill is now law, and it includes the Equine Equity Act, a provision that amends the depreciation schedule for racehorses to a uniform three years.
Under previous tax law, racehorses were depreciated over either three or seven years, depending on their age when "placed in service." A horse is generally deemed to be placed in service when it begins training. Racehorses over the age of 24 months (from date of foaling) when placed into service are depreciated over three years; otherwise, they are depreciated over seven years. In a given crop of horses that make it to the track, about half will start as two-year-olds and the rest will start as three-year-olds. Most racehorses (except geldings) are off the track by age five, making a seven-year depreciation schedule anachronistic. Legislation contained in the 2007 Farm Bill allows an owner to recover his/her costs over the period of time that the horse is likely to race.
"This crucial piece of legislation finally provides fair and equitable tax treatment to the Thoroughbred industry," said Alex Waldrop, President and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA). "This day is the culmination of many years of effort on Capitol Hill by the NTRA legislative team, and we thank Sen. Mitch McConnell, who secured inclusion of the racehorse depreciation measure in the Farm Bill, for his strong support of Kentucky's signature industry."
The 2007 Farm Bill also contains two other provisions, promoted by the NTRA, to aid horse owners. These provisions would make horse breeders eligible for the first time for emergency federal loans following a disaster. Further, the bill includes a new permanent disaster assistance program that will provide relief funds to farmers and ranchers who suffer losses in areas that are declared disaster areas by USDA. This additional disaster program will be available to horse owners.
The NTRA will be holding tax seminars this year around major Thoroughbred sales, explaining the new law as well as legislation changing the terms for the Section 179 expensing allowance and for bonus depreciation that was passed earlier this year as part of President Bush's Economic Stimulus Act.
According to "The Economic Impact of the Horse Industry on the United States," produced in July 2005 by Deloitte Consulting LLP, the horseracing industry carries a total economic impact of $26 billion, $20.7 billion of which is from Thoroughbred racing. There are nearly 845,000 racehorses in the United States and the racing industry supplies more than 380,000 jobs.
Members of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives voted today to override a Presidential veto of the 2007 Farm Bill exercised by George W. Bush yesterday. As a result the 2007 Farm Bill is now law, and it includes the Equine Equity Act, a provision that amends the depreciation schedule for racehorses to a uniform three years.
Under previous tax law, racehorses were depreciated over either three or seven years, depending on their age when "placed in service." A horse is generally deemed to be placed in service when it begins training. Racehorses over the age of 24 months (from date of foaling) when placed into service are depreciated over three years; otherwise, they are depreciated over seven years. In a given crop of horses that make it to the track, about half will start as two-year-olds and the rest will start as three-year-olds. Most racehorses (except geldings) are off the track by age five, making a seven-year depreciation schedule anachronistic. Legislation contained in the 2007 Farm Bill allows an owner to recover his/her costs over the period of time that the horse is likely to race.
"This crucial piece of legislation finally provides fair and equitable tax treatment to the Thoroughbred industry," said Alex Waldrop, President and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA). "This day is the culmination of many years of effort on Capitol Hill by the NTRA legislative team, and we thank Sen. Mitch McConnell, who secured inclusion of the racehorse depreciation measure in the Farm Bill, for his strong support of Kentucky's signature industry."
The 2007 Farm Bill also contains two other provisions, promoted by the NTRA, to aid horse owners. These provisions would make horse breeders eligible for the first time for emergency federal loans following a disaster. Further, the bill includes a new permanent disaster assistance program that will provide relief funds to farmers and ranchers who suffer losses in areas that are declared disaster areas by USDA. This additional disaster program will be available to horse owners.
The NTRA will be holding tax seminars this year around major Thoroughbred sales, explaining the new law as well as legislation changing the terms for the Section 179 expensing allowance and for bonus depreciation that was passed earlier this year as part of President Bush's Economic Stimulus Act.
According to "The Economic Impact of the Horse Industry on the United States," produced in July 2005 by Deloitte Consulting LLP, the horseracing industry carries a total economic impact of $26 billion, $20.7 billion of which is from Thoroughbred racing. There are nearly 845,000 racehorses in the United States and the racing industry supplies more than 380,000 jobs.
The Belmont ... at what price?
The New York Racing Association issued a press release after the Preakness announcing the availability of tickets for the June 7 Belmont Stakes, in which Big Brown will attempt to sweep the Triple Crown, an accomplishment that had evaded 10 other Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners since 1978.
Before that release was transmitted, however, the tickets were sold.
The largest crowd ever assembled for sporting event in New York, 120,139, stood in stunned silence while Birdstone thwarted Smarty Jones’ bid in 2004, the last time a the Triple Crown was at stake in the Belmont. War Emblem’s failed bid in 2002 drew 103,222 and 101,864 braved an all-day downpour in 2003, when Funny Cide was denied by Empire Maker.
The Belmont, when a Triple Crown is possible, is always a hot ticket and distinct possibility that Big Brown will become the 12th horse successful in that quest is almost certain to result in a new record crowd on June 7. For those currently without tickets, however, admission will not be inexpensive.
Already, more than two weeks from the event, gotickets.com has set the price on a table for 10 in the Garden Terrance, lunch included, at $16,000 and the best-located clubhouse seats are priced at more than $3,000. Grandstand preferred seating is being sold at $1,830 a copy. The bidding for tickets on e-bay is also robust. As of Thursday morning, clubhouse seating offered at auction was bid up to $2,000 and grandstand preferred seats near the sixteenth pole were offered at a buy-it-now price of $1,000.
The difference between a Triple Crown being on the line and virtually any other Belmont scenario is stark. The Kentucky Derby is run independent of circumstance, as is the Preakness. But the Belmont is dependent entirely upon the first two to create the high drama that draws a six-figure crown in Elmont.
A year ago, with the Derby winner, Street Sense, absent, 46,870 – the smallest Belmont-day crowd in a decade -- saw Rags to Riches upset Curlin. This time, after two powerful performances in the Derby and Preakness, Big Brown on his own, assures a crowd that will rival if not surpass that drawn by Smarty Jones. The addition of the unbeaten, Japan-based Casino Drive raises the Belmont’s profile exponentially within the Asian community. More than 100 credentials have been issued to Japanese media outlets, which makes this the first truly international Belmont.
The size of the crowd, ultimately, is dependent upon weather, which determines the sale of walk-in general admission and it is difficult to estimate exactly how many people can be shoehorned into Belmont Park. There is a point at which the NYRA would be forced to lock the gates. That has never happened. So, there is more than one bit of history at stake on June 7.
Before that release was transmitted, however, the tickets were sold.
The largest crowd ever assembled for sporting event in New York, 120,139, stood in stunned silence while Birdstone thwarted Smarty Jones’ bid in 2004, the last time a the Triple Crown was at stake in the Belmont. War Emblem’s failed bid in 2002 drew 103,222 and 101,864 braved an all-day downpour in 2003, when Funny Cide was denied by Empire Maker.
The Belmont, when a Triple Crown is possible, is always a hot ticket and distinct possibility that Big Brown will become the 12th horse successful in that quest is almost certain to result in a new record crowd on June 7. For those currently without tickets, however, admission will not be inexpensive.
Already, more than two weeks from the event, gotickets.com has set the price on a table for 10 in the Garden Terrance, lunch included, at $16,000 and the best-located clubhouse seats are priced at more than $3,000. Grandstand preferred seating is being sold at $1,830 a copy. The bidding for tickets on e-bay is also robust. As of Thursday morning, clubhouse seating offered at auction was bid up to $2,000 and grandstand preferred seats near the sixteenth pole were offered at a buy-it-now price of $1,000.
The difference between a Triple Crown being on the line and virtually any other Belmont scenario is stark. The Kentucky Derby is run independent of circumstance, as is the Preakness. But the Belmont is dependent entirely upon the first two to create the high drama that draws a six-figure crown in Elmont.
A year ago, with the Derby winner, Street Sense, absent, 46,870 – the smallest Belmont-day crowd in a decade -- saw Rags to Riches upset Curlin. This time, after two powerful performances in the Derby and Preakness, Big Brown on his own, assures a crowd that will rival if not surpass that drawn by Smarty Jones. The addition of the unbeaten, Japan-based Casino Drive raises the Belmont’s profile exponentially within the Asian community. More than 100 credentials have been issued to Japanese media outlets, which makes this the first truly international Belmont.
The size of the crowd, ultimately, is dependent upon weather, which determines the sale of walk-in general admission and it is difficult to estimate exactly how many people can be shoehorned into Belmont Park. There is a point at which the NYRA would be forced to lock the gates. That has never happened. So, there is more than one bit of history at stake on June 7.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Dutrow: Confidence squared
If he was a study in brash confidence before the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, Rick Dutrow, may be making room in his home already for the Belmont Stakes trophy he expects Big Brown to earn along with the first Triple Crown in 30 years.
“Our horse is doing so well right now, I can’t imagine him being beaten by a post position,” Dutrow said after Big Brown drew the extreme outside position in a field of 20 at Churchill Down.
Check.
“The field is suspect. I can’t see him getting beat in the Preakness,” Big Brown’s trainer said in Baltimore.
Check.
While the number of decisive intangibles that can interject themselves during the running of a horse race is incalculable and the most serious threat to Big Brown’s Triple Crown sweep comes in the form of visitor from Japan, Casino Drive, whose siblings, Jazil and Rags to Riches, have won the last two runnings of the Belmont, “I’ll be in the winner’s circle before the quarter pole,” Dutrow said on Wednesday at Belmont Park, where the dual classic winner jogged once around the 12-furlong course on which 10 consecutive attempts to sweep the Triple Crown have been derailed in three decades.
Casino Drive, who has started only twice, most recently making his North American debut with an impressive victory in the Peter Pan Stakes, has, Dutrow said: “No chance. None. The horse from Japan is just another horse in the race. I’m sure they have to have more thoughts about running against Big Brown than we do about running against him.”
Check?
Nobody is arguing. An undefeated horse two legs into the Triple Crown who has turned the Kentucky Derby and Preakness into laughing victories both inspires confidence and discourages disparagement even from the most skeptical horseplayers.
Apparently, the Derby and Preakness have left Big Brown unscathed. Neither decisive victory over horses who are not in his league required more than minimal extension.
“I wish [the Belmont] was now,” Dutrow said. “Our horse is doing so good right now. I can’t see and issue with our horse. But there are lots of days [before the Belmont] and lots of things can happen.”
“Our horse is doing so well right now, I can’t imagine him being beaten by a post position,” Dutrow said after Big Brown drew the extreme outside position in a field of 20 at Churchill Down.
Check.
“The field is suspect. I can’t see him getting beat in the Preakness,” Big Brown’s trainer said in Baltimore.
Check.
While the number of decisive intangibles that can interject themselves during the running of a horse race is incalculable and the most serious threat to Big Brown’s Triple Crown sweep comes in the form of visitor from Japan, Casino Drive, whose siblings, Jazil and Rags to Riches, have won the last two runnings of the Belmont, “I’ll be in the winner’s circle before the quarter pole,” Dutrow said on Wednesday at Belmont Park, where the dual classic winner jogged once around the 12-furlong course on which 10 consecutive attempts to sweep the Triple Crown have been derailed in three decades.
Casino Drive, who has started only twice, most recently making his North American debut with an impressive victory in the Peter Pan Stakes, has, Dutrow said: “No chance. None. The horse from Japan is just another horse in the race. I’m sure they have to have more thoughts about running against Big Brown than we do about running against him.”
Check?
Nobody is arguing. An undefeated horse two legs into the Triple Crown who has turned the Kentucky Derby and Preakness into laughing victories both inspires confidence and discourages disparagement even from the most skeptical horseplayers.
Apparently, the Derby and Preakness have left Big Brown unscathed. Neither decisive victory over horses who are not in his league required more than minimal extension.
“I wish [the Belmont] was now,” Dutrow said. “Our horse is doing so good right now. I can’t see and issue with our horse. But there are lots of days [before the Belmont] and lots of things can happen.”
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
All Big Brown all the time
Between now and June 7, the Big Brown watch will somehow maintain a full-blown hysteria as newspaper editors and television producers spare no flight of fancy in examining the minutia beyond the minutia.
Once, a day or two before Funny Cide would attempt to run the table, came a call from an editor suggesting a story on what the would-be Triple Crown winner’s day would be like on that Saturday, an assignment deftly deflected to another writer. Newspapers that blithely ignore racing otherwise, manage to summon a dither when presented the possibility of a Triple Crown.
Already there is a discernable division between those who are foursquare behind the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner and those who would prefer not to see his people carried onto hallowed ground where they would stand beside the revered connections of the 11 winners of the Triple Crown.
There are cases to be made for both positions. A horse does not buy its people. Then again, while much is known about Big Brown’s trainer and more suspected, little is known about the principals of IEAH Stable, who seem to have barely left barely a trace of their presence on Wall Street, where they made fortunes in the hedge fund business before a meteoric rise in the racing game. This is not exactly Plain Ben Jones and the Wright Family of Calumet Farm.
So, Big Brown’s arrival at Belmont Park on Monday afternoon required a police escort from the George Washington Bridge to Elmont, where the racing paparazzi had gathered. They will return on Wednesday morning, when Big Brown returns to the track for presumable light exercise. They will follow him back and forth from barn to racetrack every day.
The other point of general contention involves Big Brown himself. He is either a potentially great horse, though retirement will eliminate the opportunity to establish his true standing, or he is the best of a profoundly ordinary generation of three-year-olds – by a lot. By the numbers, this is a bad bunch. By the numbers, Big Brown’s Preakness was no more than a solid effort that may have, since he was throttled down in the late stages while galloping along with his ears pricked forward, been better than the numbers suggest. Quite likely, Big Brown actually regressed a bit in the Preakness and was still that much better than the totally outclassed opposition.
The presence of Casino Drive only sweetens the pot. As someone standing nearby said after Big Brown hit the wire on Saturday: We’re having fun again. --PM
Once, a day or two before Funny Cide would attempt to run the table, came a call from an editor suggesting a story on what the would-be Triple Crown winner’s day would be like on that Saturday, an assignment deftly deflected to another writer. Newspapers that blithely ignore racing otherwise, manage to summon a dither when presented the possibility of a Triple Crown.
Already there is a discernable division between those who are foursquare behind the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner and those who would prefer not to see his people carried onto hallowed ground where they would stand beside the revered connections of the 11 winners of the Triple Crown.
There are cases to be made for both positions. A horse does not buy its people. Then again, while much is known about Big Brown’s trainer and more suspected, little is known about the principals of IEAH Stable, who seem to have barely left barely a trace of their presence on Wall Street, where they made fortunes in the hedge fund business before a meteoric rise in the racing game. This is not exactly Plain Ben Jones and the Wright Family of Calumet Farm.
So, Big Brown’s arrival at Belmont Park on Monday afternoon required a police escort from the George Washington Bridge to Elmont, where the racing paparazzi had gathered. They will return on Wednesday morning, when Big Brown returns to the track for presumable light exercise. They will follow him back and forth from barn to racetrack every day.
The other point of general contention involves Big Brown himself. He is either a potentially great horse, though retirement will eliminate the opportunity to establish his true standing, or he is the best of a profoundly ordinary generation of three-year-olds – by a lot. By the numbers, this is a bad bunch. By the numbers, Big Brown’s Preakness was no more than a solid effort that may have, since he was throttled down in the late stages while galloping along with his ears pricked forward, been better than the numbers suggest. Quite likely, Big Brown actually regressed a bit in the Preakness and was still that much better than the totally outclassed opposition.
The presence of Casino Drive only sweetens the pot. As someone standing nearby said after Big Brown hit the wire on Saturday: We’re having fun again. --PM
Baltimore leftovers ...
It appears that Frank Stronach, head of the Maryland Jockey Club’s parent Magna Entertainment, is fairly certain that the citizens of Maryland will approve slots for the state’s racetracks in a November referendum. He has stopped leveraging the Preakness, a revered part of the state’s identity. You have to wonder, though, what difference slot machines can possibly make in a state surrounded by casinos in Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Atlantic City. Maryland may have missed the boat on this one.
Frank’s energy drink was readily available at Pimlico last weekend. Oh, man. It may be impossible suck more. The term drink would suggest the possibility that this stuff is palatable. Not.
You learn something about a state in its hotel bars. For instance: The Maryland lottery’s version of video crack is an animated horse racing game. A large part of the Maryland countryside is home to a native horse-breeding and training community and racing is part of the very fabric of life in a state where the future of racing is, at best, uncertain and, perhaps more realistically, doomed. Something wrong with that pictur? Strange that the lottery would chose racing as the theme for its version of video robbery. Stranger: the races are set at Australian tracks.
Stronach is advertising a racing partnership involving the horses bred at his Adena Springs operations. Whatever chaos he has brought to the racing business, there is no denying the remarkable success Stronach has enjoyed as a breeder and owner. In this sense, he is a throwback – one of the few large breeders who races the horses he breeds. If more people were doing this, the PETA people might not have been standing on a corner in a bad neighborhood outside Pimlico on Saturday. (By the way. They brought children. To that neighborhood? Reckless endangerment?)
The death of Eight Belles after the Kentucky Derby has raised questions in many areas including one concerning the prevalence of Native Dancer in the overwhelming majority of American pedigrees. Another question: Where is it possible to find a stallion or mare absent the influence of that ancestry? Big Brown himself is inbred 3x3 to Northern Dancer, whose maternal grandsire is Native Dancer. He, then, is 4x4 to the source of all this brittleness and probably another accident waiting to happen. --PM
Frank’s energy drink was readily available at Pimlico last weekend. Oh, man. It may be impossible suck more. The term drink would suggest the possibility that this stuff is palatable. Not.
You learn something about a state in its hotel bars. For instance: The Maryland lottery’s version of video crack is an animated horse racing game. A large part of the Maryland countryside is home to a native horse-breeding and training community and racing is part of the very fabric of life in a state where the future of racing is, at best, uncertain and, perhaps more realistically, doomed. Something wrong with that pictur? Strange that the lottery would chose racing as the theme for its version of video robbery. Stranger: the races are set at Australian tracks.
Stronach is advertising a racing partnership involving the horses bred at his Adena Springs operations. Whatever chaos he has brought to the racing business, there is no denying the remarkable success Stronach has enjoyed as a breeder and owner. In this sense, he is a throwback – one of the few large breeders who races the horses he breeds. If more people were doing this, the PETA people might not have been standing on a corner in a bad neighborhood outside Pimlico on Saturday. (By the way. They brought children. To that neighborhood? Reckless endangerment?)
The death of Eight Belles after the Kentucky Derby has raised questions in many areas including one concerning the prevalence of Native Dancer in the overwhelming majority of American pedigrees. Another question: Where is it possible to find a stallion or mare absent the influence of that ancestry? Big Brown himself is inbred 3x3 to Northern Dancer, whose maternal grandsire is Native Dancer. He, then, is 4x4 to the source of all this brittleness and probably another accident waiting to happen. --PM
Monday, May 19, 2008
Big Brown shipped to Belmont
From the Maryland Jockey Club
Baltimore
Nearly 40 hours after Big Brown delivered a memorable 5 ¼ length victory in the $1 million Preakness Stakes, the dual classic winner left the Pimlico stakes barn and headed to New York for a date with destiny as the son of Boundary will attempt to become the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years in the $1 million Belmont Stakes on June 7.
“I am feeling pretty confident about things,” trainer Rick Dutrow said. “I can see that he is sharp. Yesterday he was bouncing and today the same thing. He is doing good and that makes everything so much easier.”
Big Brown, who has won all of his five career races by a combined 39 lengths, is only the fourth horse to emerge from the Kentucky Derby and Preakness undefeated, joining Majestic Prince (1969), Seattle Slew (1977) and Smarty Jones (2004). Seattle Slew is the only horse in history to emerge undefeated from the Belmont Stakes and a Triple Crown sweep.
“I haven’t seen anybody that has made him run yet,” added Dutrow. “I have to believe that this race the other day was just an absolute super free race for the Belmont. He wasn’t under any pressure at any time in the race. It looks like the jock asked him for run for maybe a sixteenth of a mile just to separate him from the field to put the race away. After that point he just glided to the wire. We were really hoping for a race like that and we got it. We can’t complain about anything.”
Thirty-one other horses have left Pimlico with a chance at the Triple Crown, including six since 1997, with only 11 finishing what is described as the most elusive prize in sports. Dutrow is confident his star can join elite company.
“Everyone can see he is a special kind of horse,” Dutrow said. “As long as we can keep him well within himself, we’ll have a chance. Everybody is very excited about him and how can you not be. It looks like he has a chance at being one of the best ever. If we get beat in the Belmont we are just going to be amongst a whole lot of horses that almost got there so we need to win this race. He looks like by far that he is the best horse going into the race.”
After walking the shedrow at 8 a.m, the colt boarded the Brook Ledge van without incident and exited the Pimlico backstretch at 10 o’clock headed for the Big Apple.
“I haven’t been in New York for like three or four months,” joked Dutrow, who is based at Aqueduct. “I have like eight dinner reservations tonight. Whoever makes me the best offer is where I’ll go.”
Baltimore
Nearly 40 hours after Big Brown delivered a memorable 5 ¼ length victory in the $1 million Preakness Stakes, the dual classic winner left the Pimlico stakes barn and headed to New York for a date with destiny as the son of Boundary will attempt to become the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years in the $1 million Belmont Stakes on June 7.
“I am feeling pretty confident about things,” trainer Rick Dutrow said. “I can see that he is sharp. Yesterday he was bouncing and today the same thing. He is doing good and that makes everything so much easier.”
Big Brown, who has won all of his five career races by a combined 39 lengths, is only the fourth horse to emerge from the Kentucky Derby and Preakness undefeated, joining Majestic Prince (1969), Seattle Slew (1977) and Smarty Jones (2004). Seattle Slew is the only horse in history to emerge undefeated from the Belmont Stakes and a Triple Crown sweep.
“I haven’t seen anybody that has made him run yet,” added Dutrow. “I have to believe that this race the other day was just an absolute super free race for the Belmont. He wasn’t under any pressure at any time in the race. It looks like the jock asked him for run for maybe a sixteenth of a mile just to separate him from the field to put the race away. After that point he just glided to the wire. We were really hoping for a race like that and we got it. We can’t complain about anything.”
Thirty-one other horses have left Pimlico with a chance at the Triple Crown, including six since 1997, with only 11 finishing what is described as the most elusive prize in sports. Dutrow is confident his star can join elite company.
“Everyone can see he is a special kind of horse,” Dutrow said. “As long as we can keep him well within himself, we’ll have a chance. Everybody is very excited about him and how can you not be. It looks like he has a chance at being one of the best ever. If we get beat in the Belmont we are just going to be amongst a whole lot of horses that almost got there so we need to win this race. He looks like by far that he is the best horse going into the race.”
After walking the shedrow at 8 a.m, the colt boarded the Brook Ledge van without incident and exited the Pimlico backstretch at 10 o’clock headed for the Big Apple.
“I haven’t been in New York for like three or four months,” joked Dutrow, who is based at Aqueduct. “I have like eight dinner reservations tonight. Whoever makes me the best offer is where I’ll go.”
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Take a good look, he'll be gone soon
Shortly after Big Brown brought the house down at Pimlico on Saturday a one-work email from a friend arrived. It said: Wow!
It was most assuredly a performance rich in the wow factor and Big Brown is three weeks and 12 furlongs from the immortality that accompanies a Triple Crown. He is also three week and 12 furlong from retirement.
Is this the three-year-old star racing has awaited for three decades? A blinding blip on the radar?
Secretariat raced until the end of the season in which he won the Triple Crown.
Seattle Slew, at this point the only horse to win the Triple Crown while undefeated, and Affirmed raced at age four.
All three ran added to their legends – and were occasionally defeated -- after having won the Triple Crown.
Undefeated Triple Crown winner looks good in a stallion advertisement. No one has ever been able to make that claim or, probably, demand the price that will eventually be set in exchange for Big Brown’s favors.
Under normal circumstances, it would be easy to regard a horse this talented, unbeaten, untested and unthreatened after having won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness as the next potentially great thoroughbred.
But it is unlikely – next to certain -- that Big Brown will race once more, win or lose in the Belmont Stakes. This time, it is not about what is good for the game, but what the game has given the small group of investors in the IEAH Stable. In an era marked by the premature retirement of the sport’s most promising young horses in deference to lucrative breeding deals – and IEAH finalized terms with Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky before the Preakness – Big Brown’s career, however brilliant, will end without his having run in the Travers, without having faced older horses in the important fall races and without his having run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. There is no chance that he will see him head-to-head with Curlin, the four-year-old defending Horse of the Year. Spared these tests, Big Brown will be denied to establish himself as a great horse. Still, anyone else, offered what is believed to be about $50 million with IEAH retaining an interest, would take the money, leaving the rest of the interested world to speculate about what may have been.
If he wins the Triple Crown, Big Brown will also be the first product of Winstrol, the anabolic of choice in Major League Baseball and racing, to be immortalized. Unlike Berry Bonds, whose steroid-age records will be viewed in skeptical context by those whose votes will determine his admission to the Hall of Fame, there will be no eventual jury of voters to cast judement on Big Brown. Winning the Triple Crown, the most rarely won title in sport, is an achievement unto itself.
The widespread abuse of anabolic steroids is no secret in racing and is, in fact, fully embraced on-the-record by Big Brown’s trainer, Rick Dutrow, whose history of medication-related suspensions is prodigious. This begs the question: Does a steroid-enhanced horse – and there is no doubt that steroids are performance enhancing substances – merit a place beside the 11 horse who own the Triple Crown sans steroids?
Food for thought during the next three weeks.
It was most assuredly a performance rich in the wow factor and Big Brown is three weeks and 12 furlongs from the immortality that accompanies a Triple Crown. He is also three week and 12 furlong from retirement.
Is this the three-year-old star racing has awaited for three decades? A blinding blip on the radar?
Secretariat raced until the end of the season in which he won the Triple Crown.
Seattle Slew, at this point the only horse to win the Triple Crown while undefeated, and Affirmed raced at age four.
All three ran added to their legends – and were occasionally defeated -- after having won the Triple Crown.
Undefeated Triple Crown winner looks good in a stallion advertisement. No one has ever been able to make that claim or, probably, demand the price that will eventually be set in exchange for Big Brown’s favors.
Under normal circumstances, it would be easy to regard a horse this talented, unbeaten, untested and unthreatened after having won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness as the next potentially great thoroughbred.
But it is unlikely – next to certain -- that Big Brown will race once more, win or lose in the Belmont Stakes. This time, it is not about what is good for the game, but what the game has given the small group of investors in the IEAH Stable. In an era marked by the premature retirement of the sport’s most promising young horses in deference to lucrative breeding deals – and IEAH finalized terms with Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky before the Preakness – Big Brown’s career, however brilliant, will end without his having run in the Travers, without having faced older horses in the important fall races and without his having run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. There is no chance that he will see him head-to-head with Curlin, the four-year-old defending Horse of the Year. Spared these tests, Big Brown will be denied to establish himself as a great horse. Still, anyone else, offered what is believed to be about $50 million with IEAH retaining an interest, would take the money, leaving the rest of the interested world to speculate about what may have been.
If he wins the Triple Crown, Big Brown will also be the first product of Winstrol, the anabolic of choice in Major League Baseball and racing, to be immortalized. Unlike Berry Bonds, whose steroid-age records will be viewed in skeptical context by those whose votes will determine his admission to the Hall of Fame, there will be no eventual jury of voters to cast judement on Big Brown. Winning the Triple Crown, the most rarely won title in sport, is an achievement unto itself.
The widespread abuse of anabolic steroids is no secret in racing and is, in fact, fully embraced on-the-record by Big Brown’s trainer, Rick Dutrow, whose history of medication-related suspensions is prodigious. This begs the question: Does a steroid-enhanced horse – and there is no doubt that steroids are performance enhancing substances – merit a place beside the 11 horse who own the Triple Crown sans steroids?
Food for thought during the next three weeks.
Weekend guest:
Despite what we're told,
young racing fans exist
By Brian Henderson
I have been a fan of the game all my life. Well I shouldn’t say all my life, but at least I can remember my mom betting Julie Krone every race up in Saratoga just because she was a girl and she could ride.
Myself, I agonized between Chris Antley and Angel Cordero as kid when my Dad let me bet two bucks a race. My Dad giving me those winnings made me feel like a millionaire as an elementary school student. I actually remember in the third grade when my class had a do a report on what we wanted to be when we grew up, I wrote that I wanted to be a jockey.
I brought in a picture of Angel from the Spa as my proof this was a good idea. My parents had meeting the next day. It turned out okay, but I think my third grade teacher thought I was a bookie in training. The funny part about this is that I hit the Kentucky Derby with Strike the Gold (through my Dad) and boy I wish I could go back to those days where I could pick a Derby winner because I was that connected to the jockey.
I am a twenty five year old today and unfortunately I am too large to ride, but I follow the races and tell all my friends about them. Every new person to the game that I have brought to a simulcast joint is looking for more. I am from the Boston area and I am so happy that live racing is available at Suffolk Downs, but when people ask me where to follow, I point them to the New York tracks.
I then pressure them to go to Saratoga for a day and once they go, they ask why isn’t horse racing promoted more? I just tell them to tell anyone they know how much fun a day at the races can be. These days, I hope people can see that racing is a great sport and just so much fun to be on track live for any stakes race. There is just a buzz in the crowd that you can not top at any other sport. I guess I just want to say, I hope you know that this great sport still has young fans, and believe me, I am doing all I can to introduce people my age to the sport.
More funny money can’t hurt, right?
Brian Henderson has lived in Massachusetts for 25 years just outside of Boston. He always been grateful for Suffolk Downs, but has mostly followed the New York racing scene during his life. Saratoga is his favorite meet of the year of all racing over the nation. He can’t wait for Travers weekend.
young racing fans exist
By Brian Henderson
I have been a fan of the game all my life. Well I shouldn’t say all my life, but at least I can remember my mom betting Julie Krone every race up in Saratoga just because she was a girl and she could ride.
Myself, I agonized between Chris Antley and Angel Cordero as kid when my Dad let me bet two bucks a race. My Dad giving me those winnings made me feel like a millionaire as an elementary school student. I actually remember in the third grade when my class had a do a report on what we wanted to be when we grew up, I wrote that I wanted to be a jockey.
I brought in a picture of Angel from the Spa as my proof this was a good idea. My parents had meeting the next day. It turned out okay, but I think my third grade teacher thought I was a bookie in training. The funny part about this is that I hit the Kentucky Derby with Strike the Gold (through my Dad) and boy I wish I could go back to those days where I could pick a Derby winner because I was that connected to the jockey.
I am a twenty five year old today and unfortunately I am too large to ride, but I follow the races and tell all my friends about them. Every new person to the game that I have brought to a simulcast joint is looking for more. I am from the Boston area and I am so happy that live racing is available at Suffolk Downs, but when people ask me where to follow, I point them to the New York tracks.
I then pressure them to go to Saratoga for a day and once they go, they ask why isn’t horse racing promoted more? I just tell them to tell anyone they know how much fun a day at the races can be. These days, I hope people can see that racing is a great sport and just so much fun to be on track live for any stakes race. There is just a buzz in the crowd that you can not top at any other sport. I guess I just want to say, I hope you know that this great sport still has young fans, and believe me, I am doing all I can to introduce people my age to the sport.
More funny money can’t hurt, right?
Brian Henderson has lived in Massachusetts for 25 years just outside of Boston. He always been grateful for Suffolk Downs, but has mostly followed the New York racing scene during his life. Saratoga is his favorite meet of the year of all racing over the nation. He can’t wait for Travers weekend.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Weekend guest:
Where Are We Headed?
Anywhere in particular?
From the California Horse Racing Board Watch
Another Barretts two-year-old in training sale...another harbinger of bad news for the California racing industry. Are more of the same blood-lettings on the horizon? Will Barretts keep doing what it's been doing and keep getting what it's been getting?
Will pinhookers keep escalating their abusive warp-speed training methods?
Will return buyers keep disappearing as rapidly as the fastest working two-year-olds?
Will Thoroughbred breeders continue their short-sighted practice of breeding unsound Quarter Horse-type foals to catch the eyes of persnickety pinhookers?
And will this year's California yearling sales results look even more morose?
Or will common sense marketing make a belated return to save the industry from self-destruction?
Nothing would make us happier to announce that major structural changes to the California marketplace are underway. No group of people would be as thrilled as we to know that our industry leaders have read the writing on the wall and collectively forged an innovative course of action for the runaway trains we know as Barretts and CTBA sales.
But, frankly, we don't see much hope of that happening.
Our "leaders" are so entrenched in protecting their own fiefdoms, so fearful of admitting their mistakes, and so disinterested in exploring new frontiers that it's unlikely the challenges facing our industry will be solved by the same people who led us here in the first place.
If you haven't read a summary of this week's Barretts sale here are the sad facts:
GROSS SALES: Down 31% ($11.3 million to $7.8 million)
AVERAGE: Down 15% ($62,600 to $53,173)
RNAs: Up from 31.7% to 33.5%
“There was a lot of money for the good horses, but weakness in the middle and lower ends,” said Jerry McMahon, president and general manager of Barretts, in a classic understatement.
These numbers come in the wake of Barretts' more exclusive March two-year-old sale, in which the gross sales declined 30% ($19.3 million to $13 million); average declined 18% and RNA's skyrocketed to 45%.
How long will the Los Angeles County Fair (a.k.a. Fairplex) continue to subsidize Barretts operations? According to Fairplex president James Henwood, it paid $15 million for the Barretts franchise, yet earns less than two percent annually on its investment.
Can Barretts Sales last much longer with this paltry R.O.I. to its owner? Henwood seems genuinely interested in raising Barretts' profile in the international marketplace -- but lacks a plan to derail it from the crash course on which it is
headed.
We recently suggested several innovative solutions to Mr. Henwood. Suffice to say they are based on increasing the demand for California-breds by offering a sensational new incentive package to horsemen. We will describe it in full detail to our readers in the not-too-distant-future. In the meantime, we hope Mr. Henwood dares to compare Barretts free-fall in market share to the highly successful international marketing apparatus we have set before him.
More about this week's sale:
Not long after we sent our Barretts May Sale workout report last week, we received several colorful emails from a Mr. Bruno De Julio. California racegoers may be familiar with De Julio as a morning clocker, tip sheet producer, and now, an investor in the B.C. 3 Thoroughbreds pinhooking syndicate. We don't know Mr. De Julio, but he seems to be very familiar with us... especially around this time of year when we release our annual reports on the racetrack performances of the fastest previewers at Barretts' March and May two-year-old auctions.
De Julio's first email made only the caustic remark "get off the soap box! Come On (I'm) sick of having this garbage thrown left and right! Don't you have anything better to TALK ABOUT!"
When we replied "not sure why the facts bother you so much," De Julio made what we consider a very enlightening comment that we wish to share with you:
"Because it's all negative, pal! Well, first off all, I had five in the sale and all five aren't going in the ring. The track at Pomona since March has been horrible. There has been a rash of high suspensory, chipped ankles, and other assorted injuries from the track being blatantly inconsistent. ''It's hard one day and they go down past the ankles the next'' said one consignor. A number of horses didn't pass the vet exam in March and a high number won't pass the vet exam this May, but it is not that we are putting pressure on the horses too soon, it's the curse of California, Steve Wood, the superintendent, that ruined Santa Anita and Del Mar for years."
Note how De Julio absolves B.C. 3 Thoroughbreds of responsibility for his horse's injuries. Doesn't it seem odd that ALL of his horses suffered various injuries in the few weeks leading to the sale? We don't know the facts about the Fairplex racing surface, except that historically it has been among the safest in California.
Perhaps the consignors' overall demand for fast preview times exerted pressure on Barretts to "tighten up the track". Or perhaps his comment that "we are not putting pressure on the horses too soon" is a bit of a fib. After all, B.C. 3 Thoroughbreds horses repeatedly work in record and near-record times. In either case, it is likely that pinhookers such as B.C.3 Thoroughbreds have no one but themselves to blame for the injuries their juveniles incur.
Our position on the proliferation of "warp speed" workouts demanded of these sales youngsters is likely well known by now: we believe the evidence proves that they are largely predictive of abbreviated racing careers, early breakdowns, and hefty financial losses for their purchasers. What began in Florida 50 years ago as a casual slow breeze (as in 24 seconds or so for a 1/4 mile) at two-year-olds in training sales has evolved into a cannibalistic exercise where the futures of many potential stars are sacrificed for a quick profit.
Sorry, Mr. De Julio, for taking one last opportunity to sell soap.
Anywhere in particular?
From the California Horse Racing Board Watch
Another Barretts two-year-old in training sale...another harbinger of bad news for the California racing industry. Are more of the same blood-lettings on the horizon? Will Barretts keep doing what it's been doing and keep getting what it's been getting?
Will pinhookers keep escalating their abusive warp-speed training methods?
Will return buyers keep disappearing as rapidly as the fastest working two-year-olds?
Will Thoroughbred breeders continue their short-sighted practice of breeding unsound Quarter Horse-type foals to catch the eyes of persnickety pinhookers?
And will this year's California yearling sales results look even more morose?
Or will common sense marketing make a belated return to save the industry from self-destruction?
Nothing would make us happier to announce that major structural changes to the California marketplace are underway. No group of people would be as thrilled as we to know that our industry leaders have read the writing on the wall and collectively forged an innovative course of action for the runaway trains we know as Barretts and CTBA sales.
But, frankly, we don't see much hope of that happening.
Our "leaders" are so entrenched in protecting their own fiefdoms, so fearful of admitting their mistakes, and so disinterested in exploring new frontiers that it's unlikely the challenges facing our industry will be solved by the same people who led us here in the first place.
If you haven't read a summary of this week's Barretts sale here are the sad facts:
GROSS SALES: Down 31% ($11.3 million to $7.8 million)
AVERAGE: Down 15% ($62,600 to $53,173)
RNAs: Up from 31.7% to 33.5%
“There was a lot of money for the good horses, but weakness in the middle and lower ends,” said Jerry McMahon, president and general manager of Barretts, in a classic understatement.
These numbers come in the wake of Barretts' more exclusive March two-year-old sale, in which the gross sales declined 30% ($19.3 million to $13 million); average declined 18% and RNA's skyrocketed to 45%.
How long will the Los Angeles County Fair (a.k.a. Fairplex) continue to subsidize Barretts operations? According to Fairplex president James Henwood, it paid $15 million for the Barretts franchise, yet earns less than two percent annually on its investment.
Can Barretts Sales last much longer with this paltry R.O.I. to its owner? Henwood seems genuinely interested in raising Barretts' profile in the international marketplace -- but lacks a plan to derail it from the crash course on which it is
headed.
We recently suggested several innovative solutions to Mr. Henwood. Suffice to say they are based on increasing the demand for California-breds by offering a sensational new incentive package to horsemen. We will describe it in full detail to our readers in the not-too-distant-future. In the meantime, we hope Mr. Henwood dares to compare Barretts free-fall in market share to the highly successful international marketing apparatus we have set before him.
More about this week's sale:
Not long after we sent our Barretts May Sale workout report last week, we received several colorful emails from a Mr. Bruno De Julio. California racegoers may be familiar with De Julio as a morning clocker, tip sheet producer, and now, an investor in the B.C. 3 Thoroughbreds pinhooking syndicate. We don't know Mr. De Julio, but he seems to be very familiar with us... especially around this time of year when we release our annual reports on the racetrack performances of the fastest previewers at Barretts' March and May two-year-old auctions.
De Julio's first email made only the caustic remark "get off the soap box! Come On (I'm) sick of having this garbage thrown left and right! Don't you have anything better to TALK ABOUT!"
When we replied "not sure why the facts bother you so much," De Julio made what we consider a very enlightening comment that we wish to share with you:
"Because it's all negative, pal! Well, first off all, I had five in the sale and all five aren't going in the ring. The track at Pomona since March has been horrible. There has been a rash of high suspensory, chipped ankles, and other assorted injuries from the track being blatantly inconsistent. ''It's hard one day and they go down past the ankles the next'' said one consignor. A number of horses didn't pass the vet exam in March and a high number won't pass the vet exam this May, but it is not that we are putting pressure on the horses too soon, it's the curse of California, Steve Wood, the superintendent, that ruined Santa Anita and Del Mar for years."
Note how De Julio absolves B.C. 3 Thoroughbreds of responsibility for his horse's injuries. Doesn't it seem odd that ALL of his horses suffered various injuries in the few weeks leading to the sale? We don't know the facts about the Fairplex racing surface, except that historically it has been among the safest in California.
Perhaps the consignors' overall demand for fast preview times exerted pressure on Barretts to "tighten up the track". Or perhaps his comment that "we are not putting pressure on the horses too soon" is a bit of a fib. After all, B.C. 3 Thoroughbreds horses repeatedly work in record and near-record times. In either case, it is likely that pinhookers such as B.C.3 Thoroughbreds have no one but themselves to blame for the injuries their juveniles incur.
Our position on the proliferation of "warp speed" workouts demanded of these sales youngsters is likely well known by now: we believe the evidence proves that they are largely predictive of abbreviated racing careers, early breakdowns, and hefty financial losses for their purchasers. What began in Florida 50 years ago as a casual slow breeze (as in 24 seconds or so for a 1/4 mile) at two-year-olds in training sales has evolved into a cannibalistic exercise where the futures of many potential stars are sacrificed for a quick profit.
Sorry, Mr. De Julio, for taking one last opportunity to sell soap.
The scene at Old Hilltop
Baltimore
By 9 a.m. the first intoxicated person of the day has already been ejected from Pimlico, the infield crowd – a disturbing collection of humanity that makes its Louisville counterpart look like a cub scout outing – is in the process of assembly and there is no sign of PETA, another knot of miscreants expected to demonstrate in support of the abolition of racing sometime during the day. The stakes barn, which houses the majority of participants in the 133rd Preakness, is buckled up on locked down.
It is an almost perfect morning; the sky cloudless, the air dry and cool. Later, those covering the second leg of the Triple Crown for television will discuss the death of Eight Belles, the filly mortally injured and euthanized after finishing second in the Kentucky Derby a fortnight ago. The backlash, both from within the industry and without, has been in the main irrational, unstoppable and unavoidable.
On Friday, the post-mortem examination was complete and the results announced. Eight Belles suffered from no preexisting conditions that would explain a predisposition to the freak accident that cost her life. She was also free from anabolic steroids, something not true of the horse heavily favored in the Preakness, whose trainer, Rich Dutrow, is an admitted supporter of treating his horses with Winstrol, the same steroid that explains baseball’s scandals and why Big Brown is so big.
It is somehow bizarre that while beating its breast over Eight Belles and pointing the finger of guilt at commercial breeders (not altogether unreasonably), the racing industry celebrates a horse, at least in part the product of steroids, trained by a person who has not gone a year without a medication violation since 1999 and is widely regarded by bettors and horsemen in the dim light of suspicion. Nor has there been discussion of the track maintenance procedures employed nowadays – which amount to compacting and sealing the ground against wet weather, which produces nothing except hard ground.
After a day of rain, the track at Churchill Downs a fortnight ago was hard and fast. After a day of rain in Maryland, the Pimlico surface will almost certainly mirror those conditions. This has only brought discussion of synthetic surfaces to the fore. No one, however, has suggested that the practice of sealing and rolling the ground may be a major if not primary contributor to injuries suffered by horses.
The subject of injuries to horses might be better addressed after the ban of both anabolic and corticosteroids as well as other medication, including Lasix, in every racing jurisdiction and a prohibition of the practice of sealing and rolling wet racetracks. Trouble is, there is no authority empowered to impose or enforce such restrictions and, more likely than not, when the furor over Eight Belles has subsided, nothing will have changed. -- PM
By 9 a.m. the first intoxicated person of the day has already been ejected from Pimlico, the infield crowd – a disturbing collection of humanity that makes its Louisville counterpart look like a cub scout outing – is in the process of assembly and there is no sign of PETA, another knot of miscreants expected to demonstrate in support of the abolition of racing sometime during the day. The stakes barn, which houses the majority of participants in the 133rd Preakness, is buckled up on locked down.
It is an almost perfect morning; the sky cloudless, the air dry and cool. Later, those covering the second leg of the Triple Crown for television will discuss the death of Eight Belles, the filly mortally injured and euthanized after finishing second in the Kentucky Derby a fortnight ago. The backlash, both from within the industry and without, has been in the main irrational, unstoppable and unavoidable.
On Friday, the post-mortem examination was complete and the results announced. Eight Belles suffered from no preexisting conditions that would explain a predisposition to the freak accident that cost her life. She was also free from anabolic steroids, something not true of the horse heavily favored in the Preakness, whose trainer, Rich Dutrow, is an admitted supporter of treating his horses with Winstrol, the same steroid that explains baseball’s scandals and why Big Brown is so big.
It is somehow bizarre that while beating its breast over Eight Belles and pointing the finger of guilt at commercial breeders (not altogether unreasonably), the racing industry celebrates a horse, at least in part the product of steroids, trained by a person who has not gone a year without a medication violation since 1999 and is widely regarded by bettors and horsemen in the dim light of suspicion. Nor has there been discussion of the track maintenance procedures employed nowadays – which amount to compacting and sealing the ground against wet weather, which produces nothing except hard ground.
After a day of rain, the track at Churchill Downs a fortnight ago was hard and fast. After a day of rain in Maryland, the Pimlico surface will almost certainly mirror those conditions. This has only brought discussion of synthetic surfaces to the fore. No one, however, has suggested that the practice of sealing and rolling the ground may be a major if not primary contributor to injuries suffered by horses.
The subject of injuries to horses might be better addressed after the ban of both anabolic and corticosteroids as well as other medication, including Lasix, in every racing jurisdiction and a prohibition of the practice of sealing and rolling wet racetracks. Trouble is, there is no authority empowered to impose or enforce such restrictions and, more likely than not, when the furor over Eight Belles has subsided, nothing will have changed. -- PM
Friday, May 16, 2008
The long, long shadow of Big Brown
Baltimore
At this point there is little to add to the dialogue in regard to Big Brown. Against any standard, the Kentucky Derby winner towers over 11 three-year-olds who have shown up at Pimlico, most of whom are here because (1) a million dollars will be distributed and the winner takes only 60 percent and (2) anything can happen in a horse race.
The withdrawal of Behindatthebar, who suffers from a bruise of the left fore hoof, on Friday, is essentially neutral – helps no one, hurts no one in a group that with the exception of the prohibitive favorite is without Grade I credentials.
Kent Desormeaux, who will ride the undefeated Big Brown in the 133rd Preakness on Saturday, takes nothing for granted, citing an entirely unpleasant experience while aboard another odds-on Kentucky Derby winner here eight years ago.
“Fusaichi Pegasus was a horse I didn’t think could lose and I knew I was done 50 yards out of the gate,” Desormeaux said on Friday. “He just went for a gallop that day. He’s what reminds me that you still have to run the race.”
That said, those who would advise a bet against Big Brown on Saturday are few, far between and grasping at straws. When he overcame a death-sentence draw while losing ground throughout the 10 furlongs of the Derby and crushed 19 horses, a better group than this one, the questions were answered. If there is a weakness, it has yet to be revealed. The only options for those considering this race as a betting opportunity are in the exotic, multi-layered pools and requires going deeper than the exacta.
Like the Derby field, there is a fair amount of early speed in this group. And, since much of the speed failed to show up on Derby day, the Preakness has the potential for a stronger pace than that in Kentucky. Gayego could be an early factor after breaking badly at Churchill, which changed the dynamic, probably without consequence. Giant Moon’s outside the draw will force him to use his early speed and Tres Borrachos has enough speed to influence the pace dynamic but Big Brown appears capable of winning this race on the lead should rider Kent Desormeaux chose that approach.
The race for second behind Big Brown, which looks nothing like the Derby, is wide open. Still, several will be hard pressed to make an impact.
Kentucky Bear has shown little since a smart maiden win at Gulfstream in January. Racecar Rhapsody has not shown that he is in the class with most of these. Stevil, given every chance, has shown little that would merit consideration as a potential factor in the purse division. Macho Again has indicated strongly that he is a sprinter, evidence ignored by his connections following a win in the 7 ½-furlong Derby Trial.
While the turns at Pimlico are no sharper than those at Churchill Downs – the fallacious visual impression is the result of a considerably narrower track – it favors speed nevertheless. The surface was also sealed on Friday, vitually assuring a hard, fast track by late Saturday afternoon. Along with Big Brown, the surface here will flatter the other, less formidable, speed horses.
Giant Moon is better than is last two races suggest, is best when in front and a wide draw probably forces rider Ramon Dominguez's hand at the break. Gayego lost any chance he may have had in the Derby when off slowly and faces the same tactical problem as Giant Moon. Tres Borrachos (which translates in English to Three Drunks), drawn inside and also a need-the-lead type, managed to sustain his speed on synthetic surfaces in California and has only
Hey Byrn, winner of the Holy Bull Stakes in Florida run at the Preakness distance, 1 3/16 miles, has a task complicated by a wide draw but sufficient positional speed and the best late-pace figures in the field. Rider Chuck Lopez is faced with working out a trip, but this is a colt with as much ability as any of these not named Big Brown and he will be largely overlooked in the betting. Riley Tucker is a progressive colt better than his one-for-seven record would suggest who has been out of the money only once and will benefit from the presence of Edgar Prado – at a price. Icabad Crane, a New York-bred based at Fair Hill, has three wins from four starts including the Tesio Stakes over this course and is well drawn – another long-priced horse capable of taking part of this. Yankee Bravo’s only race on dirt was solid and though he may be better on grass, his late run puts him in the mix, at least peripherally.
A $1 trifecta key using Big Brown over seven horses – Hey Byrn, Riley Tucker, Yankee Bravo, Icabad Crane, Gayego, Giant Moon and Tres Borrachos is $42. -- PM
The card at Pimlico
Race 1
2. Crafty Schemer
6. Don’ttrythisathome
1. Road Show
7. Brush On
Race 2
11. Virginia Minstrel
14. We’re Sailing
13. Treasure Map
5. Motown Shuttle
Race 3
7. Cognac Kisses
5. Forest Park
3. Suave Jazz
1. Celtic Innis
Race 4
10. Shining Punch
8. Off the Glass
2. Let Me Be Frank
1. Rooten Hero
Race 5
2. Ursula’s Passion
1A. Hold That Prospect
6. Akronism
1. Tiger Storm
Race 6, The Gallorette Handicap, Grade III
3. Roshani
2. Stormy West
4. Lady Digby
1. Valbenny
Race 7
1. Roman Emperor
2. MJ’s Echanteur (will be scratched)
3. Spurrier
5. Da’Tara
Race 8
6. Hesa Big Star
8. True To Tradition
12.Hero’s Reward
3. Rouse The Cat
Race 9, The Hirsch Jacobs Stakes, Grade III
3. Lantana Mob
8. Force Freeze
9. Silver Edition
6. Indy Joe
Race 10, The Dixie Handicap, Grade II
8. Salinja
9. Pick Six
7. Ra Der Dean
2. Distorted Reality
Race 11, The Allaire DuPont Distaff, Grade II
7. But the Barrel
6. Lexi Star
3. Peaches Flambe
4. Bear Now
Race 12, The Preakness, Grade I
7. Big Brown
13. Hey Byrn
10. Riley Tucker
12. Gayego.
At this point there is little to add to the dialogue in regard to Big Brown. Against any standard, the Kentucky Derby winner towers over 11 three-year-olds who have shown up at Pimlico, most of whom are here because (1) a million dollars will be distributed and the winner takes only 60 percent and (2) anything can happen in a horse race.
The withdrawal of Behindatthebar, who suffers from a bruise of the left fore hoof, on Friday, is essentially neutral – helps no one, hurts no one in a group that with the exception of the prohibitive favorite is without Grade I credentials.
Kent Desormeaux, who will ride the undefeated Big Brown in the 133rd Preakness on Saturday, takes nothing for granted, citing an entirely unpleasant experience while aboard another odds-on Kentucky Derby winner here eight years ago.
“Fusaichi Pegasus was a horse I didn’t think could lose and I knew I was done 50 yards out of the gate,” Desormeaux said on Friday. “He just went for a gallop that day. He’s what reminds me that you still have to run the race.”
That said, those who would advise a bet against Big Brown on Saturday are few, far between and grasping at straws. When he overcame a death-sentence draw while losing ground throughout the 10 furlongs of the Derby and crushed 19 horses, a better group than this one, the questions were answered. If there is a weakness, it has yet to be revealed. The only options for those considering this race as a betting opportunity are in the exotic, multi-layered pools and requires going deeper than the exacta.
Like the Derby field, there is a fair amount of early speed in this group. And, since much of the speed failed to show up on Derby day, the Preakness has the potential for a stronger pace than that in Kentucky. Gayego could be an early factor after breaking badly at Churchill, which changed the dynamic, probably without consequence. Giant Moon’s outside the draw will force him to use his early speed and Tres Borrachos has enough speed to influence the pace dynamic but Big Brown appears capable of winning this race on the lead should rider Kent Desormeaux chose that approach.
The race for second behind Big Brown, which looks nothing like the Derby, is wide open. Still, several will be hard pressed to make an impact.
Kentucky Bear has shown little since a smart maiden win at Gulfstream in January. Racecar Rhapsody has not shown that he is in the class with most of these. Stevil, given every chance, has shown little that would merit consideration as a potential factor in the purse division. Macho Again has indicated strongly that he is a sprinter, evidence ignored by his connections following a win in the 7 ½-furlong Derby Trial.
While the turns at Pimlico are no sharper than those at Churchill Downs – the fallacious visual impression is the result of a considerably narrower track – it favors speed nevertheless. The surface was also sealed on Friday, vitually assuring a hard, fast track by late Saturday afternoon. Along with Big Brown, the surface here will flatter the other, less formidable, speed horses.
Giant Moon is better than is last two races suggest, is best when in front and a wide draw probably forces rider Ramon Dominguez's hand at the break. Gayego lost any chance he may have had in the Derby when off slowly and faces the same tactical problem as Giant Moon. Tres Borrachos (which translates in English to Three Drunks), drawn inside and also a need-the-lead type, managed to sustain his speed on synthetic surfaces in California and has only
Hey Byrn, winner of the Holy Bull Stakes in Florida run at the Preakness distance, 1 3/16 miles, has a task complicated by a wide draw but sufficient positional speed and the best late-pace figures in the field. Rider Chuck Lopez is faced with working out a trip, but this is a colt with as much ability as any of these not named Big Brown and he will be largely overlooked in the betting. Riley Tucker is a progressive colt better than his one-for-seven record would suggest who has been out of the money only once and will benefit from the presence of Edgar Prado – at a price. Icabad Crane, a New York-bred based at Fair Hill, has three wins from four starts including the Tesio Stakes over this course and is well drawn – another long-priced horse capable of taking part of this. Yankee Bravo’s only race on dirt was solid and though he may be better on grass, his late run puts him in the mix, at least peripherally.
A $1 trifecta key using Big Brown over seven horses – Hey Byrn, Riley Tucker, Yankee Bravo, Icabad Crane, Gayego, Giant Moon and Tres Borrachos is $42. -- PM
The card at Pimlico
Race 1
2. Crafty Schemer
6. Don’ttrythisathome
1. Road Show
7. Brush On
Race 2
11. Virginia Minstrel
14. We’re Sailing
13. Treasure Map
5. Motown Shuttle
Race 3
7. Cognac Kisses
5. Forest Park
3. Suave Jazz
1. Celtic Innis
Race 4
10. Shining Punch
8. Off the Glass
2. Let Me Be Frank
1. Rooten Hero
Race 5
2. Ursula’s Passion
1A. Hold That Prospect
6. Akronism
1. Tiger Storm
Race 6, The Gallorette Handicap, Grade III
3. Roshani
2. Stormy West
4. Lady Digby
1. Valbenny
Race 7
1. Roman Emperor
2. MJ’s Echanteur (will be scratched)
3. Spurrier
5. Da’Tara
Race 8
6. Hesa Big Star
8. True To Tradition
12.Hero’s Reward
3. Rouse The Cat
Race 9, The Hirsch Jacobs Stakes, Grade III
3. Lantana Mob
8. Force Freeze
9. Silver Edition
6. Indy Joe
Race 10, The Dixie Handicap, Grade II
8. Salinja
9. Pick Six
7. Ra Der Dean
2. Distorted Reality
Race 11, The Allaire DuPont Distaff, Grade II
7. But the Barrel
6. Lexi Star
3. Peaches Flambe
4. Bear Now
Race 12, The Preakness, Grade I
7. Big Brown
13. Hey Byrn
10. Riley Tucker
12. Gayego.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Eight Belles necropsy report released
From the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority
Eight Belles, the filly who broke down after the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 3, suffered compound fractures of both front legs at the fetlock joints, a necropsy report released today concluded.
The necropsy, ordered by the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority (KHRA), found no pre-existing bone abnormalities, said Dr. Lafe Nichols, chief state veterinarian. The necropsy also found no disease or condition affecting the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems or other major organs.
Eight Belles was euthanized at the track shortly after suffering the catastrophic leg injuries.
The necropsy was performed at the Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center at the University of Kentucky. The results of routine post-race drug testing have not yet been received. That testing is being performed at the authority's official laboratory at Iowa State University.
At its May 19 meeting, the authority will be asked by its chairman, Robert Beck Jr., to form a work group to study health and safety issues relating to thoroughbred racing.
"Nothing is more important to the racing industry than the safety of the competitors," said Lisa Underwood, executive director of KHRA.
Eight Belles, the filly who broke down after the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 3, suffered compound fractures of both front legs at the fetlock joints, a necropsy report released today concluded.
The necropsy, ordered by the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority (KHRA), found no pre-existing bone abnormalities, said Dr. Lafe Nichols, chief state veterinarian. The necropsy also found no disease or condition affecting the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems or other major organs.
Eight Belles was euthanized at the track shortly after suffering the catastrophic leg injuries.
The necropsy was performed at the Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center at the University of Kentucky. The results of routine post-race drug testing have not yet been received. That testing is being performed at the authority's official laboratory at Iowa State University.
At its May 19 meeting, the authority will be asked by its chairman, Robert Beck Jr., to form a work group to study health and safety issues relating to thoroughbred racing.
"Nothing is more important to the racing industry than the safety of the competitors," said Lisa Underwood, executive director of KHRA.
Big Brown: An overlay at 2-5
Baltimore
There is nothing about Big Brown that at this early point of his career, is anything less than astounding.
Winning the Kentucky Derby in his fourth career start: Astounding.
Winning the Derby from post 20 while racing wide on both turns: Astounding.
Do it with consummate ease: Astounding.
In a field of 13, Big Brown is a 2-5 morning-line favorite to win the Preakness on Saturday at Pimlico. That price in most cases would be considered prohibitive but in the case would qualify as an overlay.
But the Preakness has not been kind to all odds-on favorites. Barbaro was 1-2 in 2006. Smarty Jones was 7-10 in 2004. Fusaichi Pegasus was 3-10 in 2002. Easy Goer was 3-5 in 1989. Swale was 4-5 in ’84. Linkage was 1-2 in ’82. Spectacular Bid was 1-10 in ’79. Affirmed was 1-2 in ’78. Seattle Slew was 1-5 in ’77 and, in ’73, Secretariat was 3-10.
In more than three decades since Secretariat, half the odds-on Preakness favorites have been defeated at Pimlico. Three of the five who won the Preakness went on to sweep the Triple Crown. Big Brown in is good company here, win or lose.
The method of handicapping, dismissing the use of darts and psychics, that does not lead to Big Brown in the 133rd Preakness has not yet been devised and barring the unforeseen, he towers over this field.
"Do I believe he can win the Triple Crown? Yes, definitely,” retired jockey turned broadcaster Gary Stevens said on Thursday. “It would have to take something unforeseen for him not to. Having said that, they have to run the race and anything can happen."
Yet, the pronounced swagger in the Big Brown camp has been toned down since the Derby.
“There is no way anybody can tell how their horse is going to run in two weeks” trainer Rich Dutrow said after Big Brown’s Thursday morning exercise, his first at Pimlico. “You don’t have time to train them, breeze them a few times, but since he’s come out of the Derby, up to this minute, I’m very, very happy with the horse. He’s just done everything that you would want a horse to do coming out of a race like that. He hasn’t missed an oat. He’s aggressive with his gallops. It’s all good.
“I don’t know how he’s going to run with the two weeks, but I’m certainly not going to dismiss him, I can tell you that.”
Dutrow prefers a quick turnaround or a long time between races for his horses. “I don’t like two weeks,” he said. “I like running them back in three, four or five days or 30-40 days. But that’s just me and doesn’t mean that Big Brown won’t like it. He seems like he’s on his game, so I’m sure he’s going to show up the right way. He’s a lightly raced horse. He’s only got four starts. It’s not like he had five or six starts as a 2-year-old and this is his fifth or sixth start this year. This might work to his advantage. We’ll see.”
Tactically, the Preakness, on paper, falls into Big Brown’s lap. He has the ability to be placed anywhere rider Kent Desormeaux want to place him and, end to end, in terms of figures, is in a different class than the horses he will face here.
“It seems like it’s a long enough run to the first turn and our horse has got positional speed,” Dutrow said. “He can place himself there early, if need be, and he can set off if he needs to. I’m guessing that he’s going to be forwardly placed going into the first turn. I’m sure he and Kent will fall into a nice little spot where they’re comfortable, rather than being on the lead. It’s up to them when they come out of the gate, as far as that goes, but I see us getting a most comfortable trip.”
If the Preakness plays out as Dutrow envisions,the race may not offer great betting value -- he is likely to be no more than 1-5 -- but the next three weeks will be great fun. -- PM
There is nothing about Big Brown that at this early point of his career, is anything less than astounding.
Winning the Kentucky Derby in his fourth career start: Astounding.
Winning the Derby from post 20 while racing wide on both turns: Astounding.
Do it with consummate ease: Astounding.
In a field of 13, Big Brown is a 2-5 morning-line favorite to win the Preakness on Saturday at Pimlico. That price in most cases would be considered prohibitive but in the case would qualify as an overlay.
But the Preakness has not been kind to all odds-on favorites. Barbaro was 1-2 in 2006. Smarty Jones was 7-10 in 2004. Fusaichi Pegasus was 3-10 in 2002. Easy Goer was 3-5 in 1989. Swale was 4-5 in ’84. Linkage was 1-2 in ’82. Spectacular Bid was 1-10 in ’79. Affirmed was 1-2 in ’78. Seattle Slew was 1-5 in ’77 and, in ’73, Secretariat was 3-10.
In more than three decades since Secretariat, half the odds-on Preakness favorites have been defeated at Pimlico. Three of the five who won the Preakness went on to sweep the Triple Crown. Big Brown in is good company here, win or lose.
The method of handicapping, dismissing the use of darts and psychics, that does not lead to Big Brown in the 133rd Preakness has not yet been devised and barring the unforeseen, he towers over this field.
"Do I believe he can win the Triple Crown? Yes, definitely,” retired jockey turned broadcaster Gary Stevens said on Thursday. “It would have to take something unforeseen for him not to. Having said that, they have to run the race and anything can happen."
Yet, the pronounced swagger in the Big Brown camp has been toned down since the Derby.
“There is no way anybody can tell how their horse is going to run in two weeks” trainer Rich Dutrow said after Big Brown’s Thursday morning exercise, his first at Pimlico. “You don’t have time to train them, breeze them a few times, but since he’s come out of the Derby, up to this minute, I’m very, very happy with the horse. He’s just done everything that you would want a horse to do coming out of a race like that. He hasn’t missed an oat. He’s aggressive with his gallops. It’s all good.
“I don’t know how he’s going to run with the two weeks, but I’m certainly not going to dismiss him, I can tell you that.”
Dutrow prefers a quick turnaround or a long time between races for his horses. “I don’t like two weeks,” he said. “I like running them back in three, four or five days or 30-40 days. But that’s just me and doesn’t mean that Big Brown won’t like it. He seems like he’s on his game, so I’m sure he’s going to show up the right way. He’s a lightly raced horse. He’s only got four starts. It’s not like he had five or six starts as a 2-year-old and this is his fifth or sixth start this year. This might work to his advantage. We’ll see.”
Tactically, the Preakness, on paper, falls into Big Brown’s lap. He has the ability to be placed anywhere rider Kent Desormeaux want to place him and, end to end, in terms of figures, is in a different class than the horses he will face here.
“It seems like it’s a long enough run to the first turn and our horse has got positional speed,” Dutrow said. “He can place himself there early, if need be, and he can set off if he needs to. I’m guessing that he’s going to be forwardly placed going into the first turn. I’m sure he and Kent will fall into a nice little spot where they’re comfortable, rather than being on the lead. It’s up to them when they come out of the gate, as far as that goes, but I see us getting a most comfortable trip.”
If the Preakness plays out as Dutrow envisions,the race may not offer great betting value -- he is likely to be no more than 1-5 -- but the next three weeks will be great fun. -- PM
Jockey Club safety committee sets agenda
From The Jockey Club
The Jockey Club’s Thoroughbred Safety Committee convened for its initial meeting via teleconference late Wednesday afternoon to discuss the goals and objectives of the committee and to set meeting dates and timelines for the future.
All seven members had reviewed documents and recommendations that came out of the two Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summits in October 2006 and March 2008 prior to Wednesday’s call.
“Good work has been done in many areas over the past 18 months, but a number of sound recommendations and proposed rule changes have not been adopted quickly enough,” said Stuart S. Janney III, the chairman of the Thoroughbred Safety Committee. “That is one area that we as an industry need to improve upon going forward.”
During Wednesday’s conference call, the committee established a timeline for regular meetings focusing on topics such as, but not limited to, breeding practices, medication, track surfaces and the rules of racing, in the weeks ahead.
The first two meetings will take place in Lexington on Tuesday, May 27, and in New York on Wednesday, June 4.
The Thoroughbred Safety Committee is tentatively planning to announce its initial recommendations at The Jockey Club’s 56th annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing on Sunday, August 17, 2008, at the Gideon Putnam Resort and Spa in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Janney did not rule out the possibility, however, that the committee will make some recommendations public before then.
The Jockey Club’s Thoroughbred Safety Committee convened for its initial meeting via teleconference late Wednesday afternoon to discuss the goals and objectives of the committee and to set meeting dates and timelines for the future.
All seven members had reviewed documents and recommendations that came out of the two Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summits in October 2006 and March 2008 prior to Wednesday’s call.
“Good work has been done in many areas over the past 18 months, but a number of sound recommendations and proposed rule changes have not been adopted quickly enough,” said Stuart S. Janney III, the chairman of the Thoroughbred Safety Committee. “That is one area that we as an industry need to improve upon going forward.”
During Wednesday’s conference call, the committee established a timeline for regular meetings focusing on topics such as, but not limited to, breeding practices, medication, track surfaces and the rules of racing, in the weeks ahead.
The first two meetings will take place in Lexington on Tuesday, May 27, and in New York on Wednesday, June 4.
The Thoroughbred Safety Committee is tentatively planning to announce its initial recommendations at The Jockey Club’s 56th annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing on Sunday, August 17, 2008, at the Gideon Putnam Resort and Spa in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Janney did not rule out the possibility, however, that the committee will make some recommendations public before then.
Promo raises $500K for disabled jockeys
From NTRA Charities
A Kentucky Derby Day promotion facilitated by NetJets Inc., the Jockeys' Guild, Churchill Downs and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association ("TOBA") has raised $500,000 to benefit the NTRA Charities - Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. Jockey John Velazquez will present the gift to representatives of the fund on Friday morning at Pimlico Race Course.
NetJets, the worldwide leader in private aviation, contributed $200,000 to the donation on behalf of the 20 jockeys participating in Kentucky Derby 134 and made an additional contribution of $100,000. Richard T. Santulli, chairman and CEO of NetJets, made a personal donation of $100,000, as did Bill Casner, owner of WinStar Farm and chairman of TOBA. NetJets will also sponsor the riders competing in Saturday's 133rd running of the Preakness Stakes.
"NetJets is truly honored to join with the Derby jockeys and Bill Casner to make this donation to the NTRA Charities - Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund," said Richard T. Santulli. "Through our sponsorship of the Kentucky Derby and now the Preakness, we hope to build awareness of the many worthy charities within the Thoroughbred industry, and help raise additional money to benefit these great causes. The fund is a lifesaver to riders injured during the course of their careers, and we are privileged to join with these partners to support them through this gift."
"This is the single largest donation in the history of the fund, and we greatly appreciate the contributions of NetJets, the Kentucky Derby jockeys and the personal gifts of Richard Santulli and Bill Casner" said Alex Waldrop, president and CEO of the NTRA. "Their generosity and dedication is making a difference in the lives of disabled riders."
"I would like to thank NetJets, Richard Santulli, Bill Casner and the jockeys who participated in Kentucky Derby 134 for their generous contribution to the NTRA Charities - Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, as well as Churchill Downs and the owners of Kentucky Derby 134 starters for their assistance in making this donation a reality," said Velazquez, who also serves as chairman of the board of directors of the Jockeys' Guild. "The industry worked together for the benefit of the industry and a worthy cause. My fellow riders and I, along with the Jockeys' Guild, look forward to continuing to work with all segments of the industry to help racing and its charitable efforts, and we hope that everyone who cares about racing will contribute to these deserving causes."
Preakness jockeys will donate their NetJets sponsorship money to The Jockey Club Foundation, a charitable trust that provides financial assistance to needy members of the Thoroughbred industry and their families, and the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, which is committed to the advancement of research to enhance the health and soundness of horses of all breeds.
For more information or to make a contribution to the NTRA Charities - Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation or The Jockey Club Foundation please visit www.ntracharities.org.
The $500,000 check will be presented to disabled jockey and NTRA Charities - Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund representative Jackie Fires as well as NTRA President and CEO Alex Waldrop.
A Kentucky Derby Day promotion facilitated by NetJets Inc., the Jockeys' Guild, Churchill Downs and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association ("TOBA") has raised $500,000 to benefit the NTRA Charities - Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. Jockey John Velazquez will present the gift to representatives of the fund on Friday morning at Pimlico Race Course.
NetJets, the worldwide leader in private aviation, contributed $200,000 to the donation on behalf of the 20 jockeys participating in Kentucky Derby 134 and made an additional contribution of $100,000. Richard T. Santulli, chairman and CEO of NetJets, made a personal donation of $100,000, as did Bill Casner, owner of WinStar Farm and chairman of TOBA. NetJets will also sponsor the riders competing in Saturday's 133rd running of the Preakness Stakes.
"NetJets is truly honored to join with the Derby jockeys and Bill Casner to make this donation to the NTRA Charities - Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund," said Richard T. Santulli. "Through our sponsorship of the Kentucky Derby and now the Preakness, we hope to build awareness of the many worthy charities within the Thoroughbred industry, and help raise additional money to benefit these great causes. The fund is a lifesaver to riders injured during the course of their careers, and we are privileged to join with these partners to support them through this gift."
"This is the single largest donation in the history of the fund, and we greatly appreciate the contributions of NetJets, the Kentucky Derby jockeys and the personal gifts of Richard Santulli and Bill Casner" said Alex Waldrop, president and CEO of the NTRA. "Their generosity and dedication is making a difference in the lives of disabled riders."
"I would like to thank NetJets, Richard Santulli, Bill Casner and the jockeys who participated in Kentucky Derby 134 for their generous contribution to the NTRA Charities - Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, as well as Churchill Downs and the owners of Kentucky Derby 134 starters for their assistance in making this donation a reality," said Velazquez, who also serves as chairman of the board of directors of the Jockeys' Guild. "The industry worked together for the benefit of the industry and a worthy cause. My fellow riders and I, along with the Jockeys' Guild, look forward to continuing to work with all segments of the industry to help racing and its charitable efforts, and we hope that everyone who cares about racing will contribute to these deserving causes."
Preakness jockeys will donate their NetJets sponsorship money to The Jockey Club Foundation, a charitable trust that provides financial assistance to needy members of the Thoroughbred industry and their families, and the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, which is committed to the advancement of research to enhance the health and soundness of horses of all breeds.
For more information or to make a contribution to the NTRA Charities - Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation or The Jockey Club Foundation please visit www.ntracharities.org.
The $500,000 check will be presented to disabled jockey and NTRA Charities - Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund representative Jackie Fires as well as NTRA President and CEO Alex Waldrop.
Enter Big Brown (soon to exit)
From the Maryland Jockey Club
Baltimore
Accompanied by two United Parcel Service vehicles, Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown arrived and entered the Preakness stakes barn at Pimlico Race Course on Wednesday evening to begin his quest for the middle jewel of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown.
Details of a deal that will send Big Brown to stud at the conclusion of the season are expected to be announced today.
Shortly after 8 p.m., the police escort that guided the van carrying Big Brown from the airport dispersed and the horse calmly took up residence amid a host of TV cameras and reporters.
Trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr., who rode in the van, said there were "no problems" with the transport from Kentucky. "This was clockwork."
Dutrow, who grew up in the racing business around Pimlico while learning from his father, Dick Dutrow, said "We used to be stalled just a few barns away from here and I used to come over (to the stakes barn) when all the big horses came in. I dreamed a lot about having one here."
He expressed no dissatisfaction with post 7 for Saturday's Preakness run and reported that, weather permitting, Big Brown will gallop after the break Thursday and Friday and will undergo a short "blowout" the day of the race.
Dutrow will visit with some old friends and family while in Maryland and he labeled "cool" the police escort. "There were people waving at him on the way. He's a bigshot now."
Two other Preakness contenders, Tres Borrachos and Racecar Rhapsody, arrived by separate van and were unloaded at the same time without incident.
Nick Zito-trained Stevil came in by van several hours earlier and Zito said "the story is Big Brown, but I think my horse should run good. At least a hope we’ll do okay." He was accompanied by three horses in other stakes as was Riley Tucker, the Preakness horse who led in the Bill Mott-trained contingent.
Three of Big Brown's challengers arrived earlier in the day at 2:50 p.m. after a flight that originated in Los Angeles including Macho Again, the Derby Trial winner, who got on the plane in Kentucky.
"He looks like he came in good," said trainer Dallas Stewart. "He didn't break a sweat."
Another van pulled into Pimlico at 3 p.m. with Arkansas Derby winner Gayego, who has shipped three times in five weeks from his California base, and Yankee Bravo, who boarded the flight in California at 5 a.m.
"He's bucking and playing," said Jody Pieper, assistant to Gayego's trainer, Paulo Lobo. "Shipping doesn't seem to bother him at all."
Yankee Bravo walked off the van calmly, then was spirited while walking around the shedrow by trainer Paddy Gallagher. "He was walking me," Gallagher said with a chuckle. "He knows he's here for a reason."
Ten of the 13 starters for Saturday’s $1 million Preakness Stakes are now in the Pimlico stakes barn. Giant Moon is scheduled to arrive Thursday. Behindathebar and Icabad Crane will ship the morning of the race.
Kentucky Bear has been at Pimlico for one week, while Hey Byrn arrived Tuesday morning.
Baltimore
Accompanied by two United Parcel Service vehicles, Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown arrived and entered the Preakness stakes barn at Pimlico Race Course on Wednesday evening to begin his quest for the middle jewel of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown.
Details of a deal that will send Big Brown to stud at the conclusion of the season are expected to be announced today.
Shortly after 8 p.m., the police escort that guided the van carrying Big Brown from the airport dispersed and the horse calmly took up residence amid a host of TV cameras and reporters.
Trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr., who rode in the van, said there were "no problems" with the transport from Kentucky. "This was clockwork."
Dutrow, who grew up in the racing business around Pimlico while learning from his father, Dick Dutrow, said "We used to be stalled just a few barns away from here and I used to come over (to the stakes barn) when all the big horses came in. I dreamed a lot about having one here."
He expressed no dissatisfaction with post 7 for Saturday's Preakness run and reported that, weather permitting, Big Brown will gallop after the break Thursday and Friday and will undergo a short "blowout" the day of the race.
Dutrow will visit with some old friends and family while in Maryland and he labeled "cool" the police escort. "There were people waving at him on the way. He's a bigshot now."
Two other Preakness contenders, Tres Borrachos and Racecar Rhapsody, arrived by separate van and were unloaded at the same time without incident.
Nick Zito-trained Stevil came in by van several hours earlier and Zito said "the story is Big Brown, but I think my horse should run good. At least a hope we’ll do okay." He was accompanied by three horses in other stakes as was Riley Tucker, the Preakness horse who led in the Bill Mott-trained contingent.
Three of Big Brown's challengers arrived earlier in the day at 2:50 p.m. after a flight that originated in Los Angeles including Macho Again, the Derby Trial winner, who got on the plane in Kentucky.
"He looks like he came in good," said trainer Dallas Stewart. "He didn't break a sweat."
Another van pulled into Pimlico at 3 p.m. with Arkansas Derby winner Gayego, who has shipped three times in five weeks from his California base, and Yankee Bravo, who boarded the flight in California at 5 a.m.
"He's bucking and playing," said Jody Pieper, assistant to Gayego's trainer, Paulo Lobo. "Shipping doesn't seem to bother him at all."
Yankee Bravo walked off the van calmly, then was spirited while walking around the shedrow by trainer Paddy Gallagher. "He was walking me," Gallagher said with a chuckle. "He knows he's here for a reason."
Ten of the 13 starters for Saturday’s $1 million Preakness Stakes are now in the Pimlico stakes barn. Giant Moon is scheduled to arrive Thursday. Behindathebar and Icabad Crane will ship the morning of the race.
Kentucky Bear has been at Pimlico for one week, while Hey Byrn arrived Tuesday morning.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Setting the record straight
From the Maryland Jockey Club
Baltimore
Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito drove into Pimlico Wednesday morning around 9 a.m., several hours before the scheduled van arrival of his 19th Preakness starter, Stevil. He brought with him a message about the burgeoning issue of synthetic surfaces vs. the traditional dirt tracks, like those at Pimlico and Churchill Downs.
“I made some statements about the synthetic tracks, and the one thing I needed to address and get across is that our family and our owners, daily basically, rescue horses,’’ Zito said. “The Hancocks have a horse shelter that they put together. Kim, my wife, was involved along with a lot of other great people. What we do in our stable, all my owners from John Hettinger down, is we’re rescuing horses and saving horses’ lives, supposedly doing the right things for horses. Because I speak out on the synthetic surfaces, it’s not because we never want to protect horses.’’
Zito said he still believes that dirt tracks, with a little research and development, remain a preferable alternative to synthetics, which have been widely implemented nationally and also are under consideration for study by other groups like the New York Racing Association (Belmont, Aqueduct and Saratoga Race Course).
“As you know, I’m a dirt-track guy,’’ he told a group of media members outside the Preakness Stakes Barn. “The issue with Eight Belles (who broke down after finishing second in the Kentucky Derby and was euthanized) is going to come up over and over this week. You know just as well as I do, or better, it’s more than the tracks. My thing right now is to try to protect the dirt surfaces as good as we can.’’
Zito said he did some personal research on the recent Oaklawn Park meeting, where from some 4,600 starters, there were only five breakdowns (one a 7-year-old, one a 9-year-old) during the meeting that went from Jan. 18 to April 11 – a 30 percent drop from last season.
“They resurfaced the track this winter,’’ Zito said. “They also installed an on-site soil analysis lab. They lost just three days of racing (that were weather related). Zito said the entire cost of the resurface and lab operation was roughly $100,000 – a significantly lower number than the $50 million NYRA officials had given a local publication when estimating the cost of going synthetic on its three tracks.
“We have a big issue protecting these horses,’’ said Zito, who said he and several colleagues were concerned that the synthetic surfaces might tend to produce future generations of thoroughbreds with turf proclivities and reduced dirt-track abilities. “If (Oaklawn) can do something like that with that least (amount of ) money, there should be more research into dirt. I’m here to protect the game. We’re in American racing, not in English racing or French racing. If you go to all synthetics, there’s a good possibility you’ll be racing in England and France.’’
Zito also said there’s not enough research regarding soundness as it pertains to synthetics vs. dirt at this time. He also said that famed acupuncturist Dr. Marvin Cain has detected some physical issues (particularly in the hind quarters) with certain horses he’s treated for Zito after they have performed on synthetic tracks, referring to it as Polytrack Syndrome.
Cain examined both Cool Coal Man and Stevil after the Blue Grass on Keeneland’s Polytrack and found the former had a physical reaction after the race, while Stevil did not. Stevil finished fourth, Cool Coal Man was ninth.
“It’s not an exact science, but one horse (Cool Coal Man) didn’t like the Polytrack and had some issues in behind,’’ Zito said. “The other horse cleared perfectly. The horse is the main thing. We want to preserve the game.’’
Casino Drive right at home in New York
From the New York Racing Association
Casino Drive came out of his victory in Saturday’s Grade 2 Peter Pan as effortlessly and professionally as raced in his United States debut.
“He is happy; he loves it here and he is doing very well,” said Nobutaka Tada, managing director of Globe Equine Management Ltd., on Wednesday morning. “He could run in the Preakness.”
Of course, Casino Drive will not be running in the Preakness, the second leg of racing’s Triple Crown for three-year-olds (NBC, 6:15 p.m.). The spotlight at Pimlico is on Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown, and if he wins the mile and three-sixteenths race, he will look to become racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner when he comes to Belmont Park on June 7 for the 140th running of the $1 million Belmont Stakes, the “Test of the Champion.
And Casino Drive will be waiting.
Bred for the 1 ½-mile Belmont Stakes, the oldest and longest leg of the Triple Crown, Casino Drive is a half-brother to 2006 Belmont Stakes winner Jazil and a three-quarter brother to 2007 Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches, all three sharing the same dam, Better Than Honour. A son of 2003 Horse of the Year Mineshaft, Casino Drive dazzled everyone on Saturday with his 5 ¾-length victory in the nine-furlong Peter Pan, which he completed in 1:47.87, handily.
“We always felt he was a good horse, and he showed his ability the other day,” Tada said. “We are hoping Big Brown wins on Saturday. We think the Belmont Stakes will be a very exciting race for everyone.”
Tada said that Casino Drive will head back to Japan after the Belmont Stakes and then prepare for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, which will be held October 24-25 at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meet in California.
“If we stay beyond 60 days here, then we face three months of quarantine in Japan,” Tada said. “So, he is going back to Japan after the Belmont Stakes.”
Stablemate Spark Candle, who was sixth in the Peter Pan, will not run in the Belmont Stakes.
“He came out of the race well, and we have some options with him,” Tada said. “We might go on the turf in the Hill Prince (Grade 3, $100,000-added, three-year-olds, one mile, turf, Friday, June 6) or we might keep him on the dirt.”
Another horse, Champagne Squall, who is also owned by Hidetoshi Yamamato, will likely run Saturday on the turf.
New York Racing Association Stakes Coordinator Andrew Byrnes is also excited about the Belmont Stakes. Big Brown, depending on what happens in the Preakness, and Casino Drive will be facing the likes of Denis of Cork, who was third in the Kentucky Derby, Tale of Ekati, who was third in the Derby, Anak Nakal, who was seventh in the Kentucky Derby and Tomcito, seventh in the Peter Pan.
Baltimore
Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito drove into Pimlico Wednesday morning around 9 a.m., several hours before the scheduled van arrival of his 19th Preakness starter, Stevil. He brought with him a message about the burgeoning issue of synthetic surfaces vs. the traditional dirt tracks, like those at Pimlico and Churchill Downs.
“I made some statements about the synthetic tracks, and the one thing I needed to address and get across is that our family and our owners, daily basically, rescue horses,’’ Zito said. “The Hancocks have a horse shelter that they put together. Kim, my wife, was involved along with a lot of other great people. What we do in our stable, all my owners from John Hettinger down, is we’re rescuing horses and saving horses’ lives, supposedly doing the right things for horses. Because I speak out on the synthetic surfaces, it’s not because we never want to protect horses.’’
Zito said he still believes that dirt tracks, with a little research and development, remain a preferable alternative to synthetics, which have been widely implemented nationally and also are under consideration for study by other groups like the New York Racing Association (Belmont, Aqueduct and Saratoga Race Course).
“As you know, I’m a dirt-track guy,’’ he told a group of media members outside the Preakness Stakes Barn. “The issue with Eight Belles (who broke down after finishing second in the Kentucky Derby and was euthanized) is going to come up over and over this week. You know just as well as I do, or better, it’s more than the tracks. My thing right now is to try to protect the dirt surfaces as good as we can.’’
Zito said he did some personal research on the recent Oaklawn Park meeting, where from some 4,600 starters, there were only five breakdowns (one a 7-year-old, one a 9-year-old) during the meeting that went from Jan. 18 to April 11 – a 30 percent drop from last season.
“They resurfaced the track this winter,’’ Zito said. “They also installed an on-site soil analysis lab. They lost just three days of racing (that were weather related). Zito said the entire cost of the resurface and lab operation was roughly $100,000 – a significantly lower number than the $50 million NYRA officials had given a local publication when estimating the cost of going synthetic on its three tracks.
“We have a big issue protecting these horses,’’ said Zito, who said he and several colleagues were concerned that the synthetic surfaces might tend to produce future generations of thoroughbreds with turf proclivities and reduced dirt-track abilities. “If (Oaklawn) can do something like that with that least (amount of ) money, there should be more research into dirt. I’m here to protect the game. We’re in American racing, not in English racing or French racing. If you go to all synthetics, there’s a good possibility you’ll be racing in England and France.’’
Zito also said there’s not enough research regarding soundness as it pertains to synthetics vs. dirt at this time. He also said that famed acupuncturist Dr. Marvin Cain has detected some physical issues (particularly in the hind quarters) with certain horses he’s treated for Zito after they have performed on synthetic tracks, referring to it as Polytrack Syndrome.
Cain examined both Cool Coal Man and Stevil after the Blue Grass on Keeneland’s Polytrack and found the former had a physical reaction after the race, while Stevil did not. Stevil finished fourth, Cool Coal Man was ninth.
“It’s not an exact science, but one horse (Cool Coal Man) didn’t like the Polytrack and had some issues in behind,’’ Zito said. “The other horse cleared perfectly. The horse is the main thing. We want to preserve the game.’’
Casino Drive right at home in New York
From the New York Racing Association
Casino Drive came out of his victory in Saturday’s Grade 2 Peter Pan as effortlessly and professionally as raced in his United States debut.
“He is happy; he loves it here and he is doing very well,” said Nobutaka Tada, managing director of Globe Equine Management Ltd., on Wednesday morning. “He could run in the Preakness.”
Of course, Casino Drive will not be running in the Preakness, the second leg of racing’s Triple Crown for three-year-olds (NBC, 6:15 p.m.). The spotlight at Pimlico is on Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown, and if he wins the mile and three-sixteenths race, he will look to become racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner when he comes to Belmont Park on June 7 for the 140th running of the $1 million Belmont Stakes, the “Test of the Champion.
And Casino Drive will be waiting.
Bred for the 1 ½-mile Belmont Stakes, the oldest and longest leg of the Triple Crown, Casino Drive is a half-brother to 2006 Belmont Stakes winner Jazil and a three-quarter brother to 2007 Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches, all three sharing the same dam, Better Than Honour. A son of 2003 Horse of the Year Mineshaft, Casino Drive dazzled everyone on Saturday with his 5 ¾-length victory in the nine-furlong Peter Pan, which he completed in 1:47.87, handily.
“We always felt he was a good horse, and he showed his ability the other day,” Tada said. “We are hoping Big Brown wins on Saturday. We think the Belmont Stakes will be a very exciting race for everyone.”
Tada said that Casino Drive will head back to Japan after the Belmont Stakes and then prepare for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, which will be held October 24-25 at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meet in California.
“If we stay beyond 60 days here, then we face three months of quarantine in Japan,” Tada said. “So, he is going back to Japan after the Belmont Stakes.”
Stablemate Spark Candle, who was sixth in the Peter Pan, will not run in the Belmont Stakes.
“He came out of the race well, and we have some options with him,” Tada said. “We might go on the turf in the Hill Prince (Grade 3, $100,000-added, three-year-olds, one mile, turf, Friday, June 6) or we might keep him on the dirt.”
Another horse, Champagne Squall, who is also owned by Hidetoshi Yamamato, will likely run Saturday on the turf.
New York Racing Association Stakes Coordinator Andrew Byrnes is also excited about the Belmont Stakes. Big Brown, depending on what happens in the Preakness, and Casino Drive will be facing the likes of Denis of Cork, who was third in the Kentucky Derby, Tale of Ekati, who was third in the Derby, Anak Nakal, who was seventh in the Kentucky Derby and Tomcito, seventh in the Peter Pan.
Ready's Image returns at Belmont
Ready’s Image, among the more precocious two-year-olds of last season and winner of the Tremont and Sanford Stakes, returns to the races in today’s third race at Belmont Park, an overnight stakes run over 6 ½ furlongs that has drawn a small but extremely contentious field and serves as the main event on an unplayable nine-race card.
Though he may be limited in terms of range, Ready’s Image will be a serious player at distances up to a mile and should be ready off the bench with a long series of works in Florida and Kentucky that culminates in a sharp, bullet 5-furlong move over the Belmont training track last week.
An 8-5 overnight favorite, the Todd Pletcher-trained Ready’s Image may find his hands full with either or both Desert Key, a sharp maiden winner last month, and Smoke’n Coal, who comes off a return effort at Keeneland that should move him toward the form he showed at age two. The progressive and extremely quick True Quality has won two straight, continues to train sharply and another step forward, if rider Chuck Lopez is successful in avoiding a punishing early pace battle, puts him in the frame.-- PM
Though he may be limited in terms of range, Ready’s Image will be a serious player at distances up to a mile and should be ready off the bench with a long series of works in Florida and Kentucky that culminates in a sharp, bullet 5-furlong move over the Belmont training track last week.
An 8-5 overnight favorite, the Todd Pletcher-trained Ready’s Image may find his hands full with either or both Desert Key, a sharp maiden winner last month, and Smoke’n Coal, who comes off a return effort at Keeneland that should move him toward the form he showed at age two. The progressive and extremely quick True Quality has won two straight, continues to train sharply and another step forward, if rider Chuck Lopez is successful in avoiding a punishing early pace battle, puts him in the frame.-- PM
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Preakness: Tuesday notes
From the Maryland Jockey Club
Baltimore
Big Brown, the unbeaten Kentucky Derby winner, is scheduled to ship from Churchill Downs to Pimlico Wednesday afternoon on a flight with Preakness runners Tres Borrachos and Racecar Rhapsody.
Preakness officials have been told the flight with Big Brown is scheduled to land at Baltimore-Washington International Airport at 5:30 p.m. The van carrying the horses from BWI is expected to arrive at Pimlico approximately one hour later.
Trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. is expected to attend the Preakness post-position draw, to be held at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the ESPN Zone in downtown Baltimore.
Dutrow was born and raised in Maryland, where his father, the late Richard E. Dutrow, was a prominent trainer for many years.
Big Brown will be the younger Dutrow’s first Preakness runner. His father started one horse in the Preakness, Spartan Cat, who finished sixth in 1998.
Dutrow is scheduled to attend the annual Alibi Breakfast Thursday morning at Pimlico. He has been selected as the Fox News “Power Player of the Week” and will be interviewed by Fox News anchor Chris Wallace Thursday afternoon for the segment that will air Sunday morning.
If Gayego and Big Brown both run Saturday, it will be the sixth time since Kentucky Derby horses began running in the Preakness in 1918 that only two Derby starters moved on to Baltimore for the Preakness. The last time was in 1980 when Codex defeated the Derby-winning filly Genuine Risk in the Preakness. Codex was Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas’ first winner in a Triple Crown race. Lukas, who has saddled five Preakness winners, is tied with “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons with a record 13victories in races in the Triple Crown series.
Big Brown, a son of Boundary, won his first start for Pompa and trainer Patrick
Reynolds by 11¼ lengths in a turf race at Saratoga Race Course on Sept. 3. The victory on the closing day of the 2007 Saratoga season quickly produced offers to purchase the colt. Pompa sold 75 percent of Big Brown to the IEAH partnership headed by Michael Iavarone and the colt was transferred to Dutrow, who handles many of IEAH’s runners.
Since recovering from hoof problems during the late fall and winter, Big Brown has reeled off three consecutive victories for Dutrow. The colt was entered in a turf race at Gulfstream Park in Florida on March 5 for his 3-year-old season debut. Wet conditions forced the race to be moved from the turf to the main track, where Big Brown romped to a 12¾-length victory. Dutrow brought the colt back in the Florida Derby (G1) 24 days later and he won by five lengths after starting from the outside post in the field of 12. He started from post 20 in the Derby, quickly got into a stalking position under Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux, moved to the lead at the head of the stretch and drew away to a 4 ¾-length victory.
Gayego a go
Trainer Paulo Lobo reported Tuesday that Gayego is a “go” for Saturday’s Preakness Stakes. The son of Gilded Time, who galloped 1¼ miles at Hollywood Park Tuesday morning, is scheduled to arrive at Pimlico Wednesday afternoon following a cross-country flight that he will share with Preakness hopeful Yankee Bravo.
“He’s an extremely good shipper,” said Lobo, whose colt shipped to Oaklawn Park in April for a victory in the Arkansas Derby and shipped again for a start in the Kentucky Derby on May 3.
Gayego finished a disappointing 17th in the Derby as the sixth betting choice in a field of 20, compromised by a sluggish start and early crowding. Lobo reported that the Kentucky-bred colt didn’t overexert himself in the Run for the Roses.
“He came back very well,” he said. “He’s been eating everything. He’s feeling happy.”
Giant Moon on the muscle
Under exercise rider Caesar Correa, Giant turned in a bullet half-mile work in :47.77 Tuesday morning at Belmont Park.
“Actually it was a little quicker than we had anticipated,” said trainer Richard Schosberg. “I was looking at somewhere between :48 and :48 2/5, but he seemed to have done it in good order.
“He jumped on the bit right away at the beginning of the work, which for him is a bit unusual when he’s working by himself. But he’s pretty sharp right now and he went the first quarter pretty quick. It was more like a good three-eighths blowout and he galloped out in :47 3/5 for the half.
“It looks like he’s fine. He cooled out in good order and he’s biting and playing and acting like himself after the work. So I’m not too worried about him.”
Schosberg said Giant Moon completed the first quarter in :22 4/5 and covered three furlongs in :35 4/5.
Giant Moon, a son of Giant’s Causeway, was named the 2007 champion 2-year-old male at the New York Thoroughbred Breeders’ annual award dinner Monday night in Saratoga Springs.
Schosberg had said that track conditions would determine whether Giant Moon had his final breeze for the Preakness on Tuesday or Wednesday. He decided the track had dried out sufficiently from the rain that fell on Sunday and Monday and sent the colt out for the work Tuesday.
“The track was good and he handled it well,” Schosberg said. “If he was going a little bit quick, maybe it’s better that we had an extra day. Certainly, we’re in good order fitness-wise for the race. We don’t have to do a whole lot, just basically keep him happy and get him down there in good order.
Boy, that's a long ride
Hey Byrn arrived by van at Pimlico shortly after 6 a.m. Tuesday, following an uneventful 20-hour journey that originated at Calder Race Course outside Miami.
While Hey Byrn figures to be a long shot in the Preakness, veteran handicappers might give him a longer look, having learned from experience to respect Calder shippers.
“Maybe it’s that the horses appreciate getting out of the hot climate,” said trainer Eddie Plesa, whose Preakness hopeful was accompanied in the van by Gottcha Gold, a contender for Friday’s Maryland Lottery Pimlico Special (G1). “People may tend to overlook the quality of horses that are stabled at Calder. It’s probably a combination of both.”
The Federico Tesio Stakes-winner Icadbad Crane, who was bred in New York by Marlene Brody, at Gallagher's Stud, galloped 1½ miles over the Tapeta racing surface at Fair Hill Training Center Tuesday morning and will remain in the country setting until he is vanned to Pimlico on Preakness morning. Trainer Graham Motion said he prefers to keep Icabad Crane in his daily routine.
“We’re not restricted by a racetrack environment and training hours. It’s a more relaxed environment here and gives us more options,” Motion said.
Icabad Crane’s development has been a pleasant surprise. “We thought he’d do well, but we didn’t expect him to perform at this level,” Motion said. “He’s matured physically and mentally. His development is probably due to his attitude. He’s got a wonderful temperament and is a pleasure to train.”
Stevil, Tres Borrachos breeze at Churchill
Stevek left a solid impression in his final workout at Churchill Downs Tuesday morning, breezing four furlongs in :47.80 under exercise rider Megan Smillie over a fast surface. It was the sixth-fastest work of 61 runners at the distance.
“It was pretty nice, and he galloped out real nice,’’ said trainer Nick Zito, who will be saddling his 19th Preakness starter, a number that ties him for second all-time with the legendary Max Hirsch. Only D. Wayne Lukas (32) has run more horses in the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.
“He’s a very consistent horse, and hopefully he’ll run well Saturday,’’ said Zito, who collected fourth money in last year’s Preakness with C P West. Zito won the 1996 Preakness with Louis Quatorze, who shares the official record for the 1-3/16-mile stakes with Tank’s Prospect and last year’s winner, Curlin (1:53 2/5).
Stevil, whose best stakes outing this season was a fourth-place finish in the Blue Grass (G1) in his last start, hasn’t won since his debut last fall in New York. John Velazquez, the regular rider for trainer Todd Pletcher, has the mount for the first time on the Robert LaPenta-owned colt. Stevil was scheduled to arrive by van later on Tuesday.
“We’re ready. He’s been running good all winter,” Zito said. LaPenta also owns 2-year-old champion War Pass, who was injured before the Kentucky Derby, and Cool Coal Man, who finished 15th in the Derby field.
California-based rider Tyler Baze flew in to ride Tres Borrachos in his final work at Churchill Downs Tuesday morning, a four-furlong breeze that clockers timed at 50.40 seconds, slightly slower than the 49 4/5 that Greely calculated.
“It went very well,’’ said Greely, who saddled Borrego for a seventh-place finish in the 2004 Preakness. “He went nicely, came home in 11 (seconds) and change, so that was good. Tyler seemed to be happy with it, and he seemed to come back ready.’’
Tres Borrachos ran on synthetic surfaces in California for his first five career starts, but his speed figures have improved dramatically in his last two outings on dirt tracks.
He was third in the El Camino Real Derby (G3) at Bay Meadows, then third again in the Arkansas Derby (G2) at Oaklawn in his last start after dueling with eventual winner Gayego. Greely had toyed with the idea of trying blinkers for the Preakness, but abandoned the notion Tuesday for the work.
“It was just probably the fact that in Arkansas a horse had passed him and then he came back and dug in and beat that horse,’’ said Greely, whose colt will arrive at BWI Airport along with Derby winner Big Brown late Wednesday afternoon. “It was just a thought that went through my mind. We tried it one morning, and he actually went no different. After rethinking it, he’s got enough speed to where I’d just hate to mess it up and put a little too much (speed) into him.’’
Baze, who will be riding in his first Preakness, was impressed with Tuesday’s exercise.
“It was so beautiful it was ridiculous,’’ said Baze, who flew back to California after the work. “He did it the right way and finished well. He is so impressive, the way he worked today and went over a dirt track like that and not be blowing. I’m hoping Saturday is my day. I know this is a good horse now that I’ve ridden him in Arkansas and I know him. I’m really looking forward to it.’’
Baltimore
Big Brown, the unbeaten Kentucky Derby winner, is scheduled to ship from Churchill Downs to Pimlico Wednesday afternoon on a flight with Preakness runners Tres Borrachos and Racecar Rhapsody.
Preakness officials have been told the flight with Big Brown is scheduled to land at Baltimore-Washington International Airport at 5:30 p.m. The van carrying the horses from BWI is expected to arrive at Pimlico approximately one hour later.
Trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. is expected to attend the Preakness post-position draw, to be held at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the ESPN Zone in downtown Baltimore.
Dutrow was born and raised in Maryland, where his father, the late Richard E. Dutrow, was a prominent trainer for many years.
Big Brown will be the younger Dutrow’s first Preakness runner. His father started one horse in the Preakness, Spartan Cat, who finished sixth in 1998.
Dutrow is scheduled to attend the annual Alibi Breakfast Thursday morning at Pimlico. He has been selected as the Fox News “Power Player of the Week” and will be interviewed by Fox News anchor Chris Wallace Thursday afternoon for the segment that will air Sunday morning.
If Gayego and Big Brown both run Saturday, it will be the sixth time since Kentucky Derby horses began running in the Preakness in 1918 that only two Derby starters moved on to Baltimore for the Preakness. The last time was in 1980 when Codex defeated the Derby-winning filly Genuine Risk in the Preakness. Codex was Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas’ first winner in a Triple Crown race. Lukas, who has saddled five Preakness winners, is tied with “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons with a record 13victories in races in the Triple Crown series.
Big Brown, a son of Boundary, won his first start for Pompa and trainer Patrick
Reynolds by 11¼ lengths in a turf race at Saratoga Race Course on Sept. 3. The victory on the closing day of the 2007 Saratoga season quickly produced offers to purchase the colt. Pompa sold 75 percent of Big Brown to the IEAH partnership headed by Michael Iavarone and the colt was transferred to Dutrow, who handles many of IEAH’s runners.
Since recovering from hoof problems during the late fall and winter, Big Brown has reeled off three consecutive victories for Dutrow. The colt was entered in a turf race at Gulfstream Park in Florida on March 5 for his 3-year-old season debut. Wet conditions forced the race to be moved from the turf to the main track, where Big Brown romped to a 12¾-length victory. Dutrow brought the colt back in the Florida Derby (G1) 24 days later and he won by five lengths after starting from the outside post in the field of 12. He started from post 20 in the Derby, quickly got into a stalking position under Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux, moved to the lead at the head of the stretch and drew away to a 4 ¾-length victory.
Gayego a go
Trainer Paulo Lobo reported Tuesday that Gayego is a “go” for Saturday’s Preakness Stakes. The son of Gilded Time, who galloped 1¼ miles at Hollywood Park Tuesday morning, is scheduled to arrive at Pimlico Wednesday afternoon following a cross-country flight that he will share with Preakness hopeful Yankee Bravo.
“He’s an extremely good shipper,” said Lobo, whose colt shipped to Oaklawn Park in April for a victory in the Arkansas Derby and shipped again for a start in the Kentucky Derby on May 3.
Gayego finished a disappointing 17th in the Derby as the sixth betting choice in a field of 20, compromised by a sluggish start and early crowding. Lobo reported that the Kentucky-bred colt didn’t overexert himself in the Run for the Roses.
“He came back very well,” he said. “He’s been eating everything. He’s feeling happy.”
Giant Moon on the muscle
Under exercise rider Caesar Correa, Giant turned in a bullet half-mile work in :47.77 Tuesday morning at Belmont Park.
“Actually it was a little quicker than we had anticipated,” said trainer Richard Schosberg. “I was looking at somewhere between :48 and :48 2/5, but he seemed to have done it in good order.
“He jumped on the bit right away at the beginning of the work, which for him is a bit unusual when he’s working by himself. But he’s pretty sharp right now and he went the first quarter pretty quick. It was more like a good three-eighths blowout and he galloped out in :47 3/5 for the half.
“It looks like he’s fine. He cooled out in good order and he’s biting and playing and acting like himself after the work. So I’m not too worried about him.”
Schosberg said Giant Moon completed the first quarter in :22 4/5 and covered three furlongs in :35 4/5.
Giant Moon, a son of Giant’s Causeway, was named the 2007 champion 2-year-old male at the New York Thoroughbred Breeders’ annual award dinner Monday night in Saratoga Springs.
Schosberg had said that track conditions would determine whether Giant Moon had his final breeze for the Preakness on Tuesday or Wednesday. He decided the track had dried out sufficiently from the rain that fell on Sunday and Monday and sent the colt out for the work Tuesday.
“The track was good and he handled it well,” Schosberg said. “If he was going a little bit quick, maybe it’s better that we had an extra day. Certainly, we’re in good order fitness-wise for the race. We don’t have to do a whole lot, just basically keep him happy and get him down there in good order.
Boy, that's a long ride
Hey Byrn arrived by van at Pimlico shortly after 6 a.m. Tuesday, following an uneventful 20-hour journey that originated at Calder Race Course outside Miami.
While Hey Byrn figures to be a long shot in the Preakness, veteran handicappers might give him a longer look, having learned from experience to respect Calder shippers.
“Maybe it’s that the horses appreciate getting out of the hot climate,” said trainer Eddie Plesa, whose Preakness hopeful was accompanied in the van by Gottcha Gold, a contender for Friday’s Maryland Lottery Pimlico Special (G1). “People may tend to overlook the quality of horses that are stabled at Calder. It’s probably a combination of both.”
The Federico Tesio Stakes-winner Icadbad Crane, who was bred in New York by Marlene Brody, at Gallagher's Stud, galloped 1½ miles over the Tapeta racing surface at Fair Hill Training Center Tuesday morning and will remain in the country setting until he is vanned to Pimlico on Preakness morning. Trainer Graham Motion said he prefers to keep Icabad Crane in his daily routine.
“We’re not restricted by a racetrack environment and training hours. It’s a more relaxed environment here and gives us more options,” Motion said.
Icabad Crane’s development has been a pleasant surprise. “We thought he’d do well, but we didn’t expect him to perform at this level,” Motion said. “He’s matured physically and mentally. His development is probably due to his attitude. He’s got a wonderful temperament and is a pleasure to train.”
Stevil, Tres Borrachos breeze at Churchill
Stevek left a solid impression in his final workout at Churchill Downs Tuesday morning, breezing four furlongs in :47.80 under exercise rider Megan Smillie over a fast surface. It was the sixth-fastest work of 61 runners at the distance.
“It was pretty nice, and he galloped out real nice,’’ said trainer Nick Zito, who will be saddling his 19th Preakness starter, a number that ties him for second all-time with the legendary Max Hirsch. Only D. Wayne Lukas (32) has run more horses in the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.
“He’s a very consistent horse, and hopefully he’ll run well Saturday,’’ said Zito, who collected fourth money in last year’s Preakness with C P West. Zito won the 1996 Preakness with Louis Quatorze, who shares the official record for the 1-3/16-mile stakes with Tank’s Prospect and last year’s winner, Curlin (1:53 2/5).
Stevil, whose best stakes outing this season was a fourth-place finish in the Blue Grass (G1) in his last start, hasn’t won since his debut last fall in New York. John Velazquez, the regular rider for trainer Todd Pletcher, has the mount for the first time on the Robert LaPenta-owned colt. Stevil was scheduled to arrive by van later on Tuesday.
“We’re ready. He’s been running good all winter,” Zito said. LaPenta also owns 2-year-old champion War Pass, who was injured before the Kentucky Derby, and Cool Coal Man, who finished 15th in the Derby field.
California-based rider Tyler Baze flew in to ride Tres Borrachos in his final work at Churchill Downs Tuesday morning, a four-furlong breeze that clockers timed at 50.40 seconds, slightly slower than the 49 4/5 that Greely calculated.
“It went very well,’’ said Greely, who saddled Borrego for a seventh-place finish in the 2004 Preakness. “He went nicely, came home in 11 (seconds) and change, so that was good. Tyler seemed to be happy with it, and he seemed to come back ready.’’
Tres Borrachos ran on synthetic surfaces in California for his first five career starts, but his speed figures have improved dramatically in his last two outings on dirt tracks.
He was third in the El Camino Real Derby (G3) at Bay Meadows, then third again in the Arkansas Derby (G2) at Oaklawn in his last start after dueling with eventual winner Gayego. Greely had toyed with the idea of trying blinkers for the Preakness, but abandoned the notion Tuesday for the work.
“It was just probably the fact that in Arkansas a horse had passed him and then he came back and dug in and beat that horse,’’ said Greely, whose colt will arrive at BWI Airport along with Derby winner Big Brown late Wednesday afternoon. “It was just a thought that went through my mind. We tried it one morning, and he actually went no different. After rethinking it, he’s got enough speed to where I’d just hate to mess it up and put a little too much (speed) into him.’’
Baze, who will be riding in his first Preakness, was impressed with Tuesday’s exercise.
“It was so beautiful it was ridiculous,’’ said Baze, who flew back to California after the work. “He did it the right way and finished well. He is so impressive, the way he worked today and went over a dirt track like that and not be blowing. I’m hoping Saturday is my day. I know this is a good horse now that I’ve ridden him in Arkansas and I know him. I’m really looking forward to it.’’
HBO expose falls short of the mark
Monday’s HBO Real Sports piece on the export of horses, some cast-off thoroughbreds no longer capable of racing, for slaughter came up very small. Sandwiched between a feature on Venus Williams, the tennis player, and something I turned off, the story, produced primarily at Mountaineer Park, in West Virginia, did no more than scratch the veneer of a shameful, barbaric practice and all-but ignored a substantial, privately funded movement in this country to save unwanted race horses from slaughter.
Above all, the piece failed to place blame on the owners of horses sent to slaughter or confront those ultimately responsible. Ownership of an animal comes with the responsibility to provide proper care and feeding. Selling a horse – any horse – for a few hundred dollars with full knowledge that it will be vanned to Canada or Mexico, slaughtered, butchered and ultimately eaten somewhere in Europe of Asia is appallingly inhumane.
Centerpiece of the story is Little Cliff, one of two horses named by Robert La Penta for the late Cliff Guilliams, a Kentucky-based chart caller, handicapper and columnist. Little Cliff, earlier in life, was a stakes-class horse trained by Nick Zito. Now a five-year-old, Little Cliff changed hands four times before being found in a direct-to-slaughter pen at New Holland, Pa., by Christy Sheidy, of Another Chance 4 Horses, a rescue organization. He last raced in a $10,000 claiming race at Philadelphia Park and was most recently claimed in January by LA Buzz Stable, the owner responsible for sending him to slaughter despite a sticker affixed to his foal papers by Zito’s wife, Kim, that said: If this horse needs a home when he retires, please call. LaPenta and Zito immediately upon being informed of Little Cliff’s rescue provided financial support. Little Cliff is fortunate to have been rescued. Many others are killed brutally.
Every horse sent to slaughter faces death after a decision made by a human. This is one problem. Another problem: Failure of government, though it is illegal to slaughter horses in this country, to outlaw the exportation of horses for slaughter.
HBO fell altogether short of doing justice to this story and the foundation issue but seized the opportunity to include footage of Eight Belles moments before she was euthanized after being injured in the Kentucky Derby, which has nothing do to with the slaughter of horses. Typical television.-- PM
Above all, the piece failed to place blame on the owners of horses sent to slaughter or confront those ultimately responsible. Ownership of an animal comes with the responsibility to provide proper care and feeding. Selling a horse – any horse – for a few hundred dollars with full knowledge that it will be vanned to Canada or Mexico, slaughtered, butchered and ultimately eaten somewhere in Europe of Asia is appallingly inhumane.
Centerpiece of the story is Little Cliff, one of two horses named by Robert La Penta for the late Cliff Guilliams, a Kentucky-based chart caller, handicapper and columnist. Little Cliff, earlier in life, was a stakes-class horse trained by Nick Zito. Now a five-year-old, Little Cliff changed hands four times before being found in a direct-to-slaughter pen at New Holland, Pa., by Christy Sheidy, of Another Chance 4 Horses, a rescue organization. He last raced in a $10,000 claiming race at Philadelphia Park and was most recently claimed in January by LA Buzz Stable, the owner responsible for sending him to slaughter despite a sticker affixed to his foal papers by Zito’s wife, Kim, that said: If this horse needs a home when he retires, please call. LaPenta and Zito immediately upon being informed of Little Cliff’s rescue provided financial support. Little Cliff is fortunate to have been rescued. Many others are killed brutally.
Every horse sent to slaughter faces death after a decision made by a human. This is one problem. Another problem: Failure of government, though it is illegal to slaughter horses in this country, to outlaw the exportation of horses for slaughter.
HBO fell altogether short of doing justice to this story and the foundation issue but seized the opportunity to include footage of Eight Belles moments before she was euthanized after being injured in the Kentucky Derby, which has nothing do to with the slaughter of horses. Typical television.-- PM
Monday, May 12, 2008
Preakness: Monday notes
From the Maryland Jockey Club
Baltimore
Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown had another easy morning Monday, jogging one mile over the muddy track at Churchill Downs under exercise rider Michelle Nevin in preparation for Saturday’s 133rd running of the Preakness Stakes. Trainer Richard Dutrow said the colt went well in his once-around trip around the course. Since Big Brown scored his decisive Derby victory on May 3, Dutrow has limited the colt to a light exercise routine of gallops when the track is fast and jogging when it is wet. Dutrow said Big Brown will likely gallop Tuesday morning. Big Brown is scheduled to ship from Churchill Downs to Pimlico on Wednesday.
Harlem Rocker a no show
Trainer Todd Pletcher said Monday that unbeaten Harlem Rocker will skip the Preakness and is headed to the Canadian Triple Crown series. Pletcher’s other Preakness candidate, Behindatthebar, remains on course for the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown. Harlem Rocker, an Ontario-bred son of Macho Uno is owned by Frank Stronach, chairman of Magna Entertainment, which owns the Maryland Jockey Club tracks, Pimlico and Laurel Park.
“I spoke to Mr. Stronach this morning and we’ve decided to take a conservative approach,” Pletcher said. “We’re going to point toward the Queen’s Plate (G1) and we’ll look for some bigger races down the road.”
The Queen’s Plate will be run June 22 at Woodbine in suburban Toronto.
Behindatthebar, winner of the Lexington Stakes (G2) at Keeneland on April 19, breezed five furlongs in 1:00.13 at Belmont Park Sunday. He walked the shedrow Monday morning.
“I thought he worked well,” Pletcher said. “It’s the first time we’ve worked him on a traditional dirt track and he seemed to handle it real well. He came out of it well, so he’s ready to go.”
Jockey David Flores, who has ridden the colt in four of his five career starts, including all three victories, will be aboard in the Preakness. Pletcher said the colt is likely to be shipped from Belmont Park to Baltimore Saturday morning. Behindatthebar began his career in California with trainer Craig Dollase and raced and trained on the state’s synthetic racing surfaces. In his only start in the East, he came from well off the pace to win the Lexington by one length.
Gayego may be in
Trainer Paulo Lobo reported Monday morning that a start in the Preakness Stakes by Cubanacan Stables’ Gayego is under consideration.
“I’m going to decide (Tuesday). We are going to have a meeting,” Lobo said from Southern California. “I’m going to track him in the morning, then we’ll make a decision.”
Gayego, the Arkansas Derby (G2) winner, finished a troubled 17th in the Kentucky Derby, in which he had to be steadied in traffic after getting off to a sluggish start. Lobo said his colt never got into the race after his early troubles.
“That’s the reason we are thinking about (the Preakness),” he said. “He’s very happy right now and he came back very sound.”
Giant Moon breeze awaits break in weather
Before heading to Saratoga Springs for the New York Thoroughbred Breeders Awards Banquet, trainer Richard Schosberg sent the Giant’s Causeway colt to Belmont Park’s training track for a 1¼ -mile gallop Monday morning. Giant Moon is a finalist for the champion 2-year-old New York-bred of 2007 award. The winners will be announced Monday night at the Gideon Putnam Hotel event. Schosberg has been dealing with the wet weather that reached the East Coast on Sunday as he completes the tune-up for the Preakness. Giant Moon will have a half-mile breeze this week before shipping to Pimlico.
“We took him out early before the rain started,” Schosberg said. “Depending on when the rain stops and depending on what I think of the track when I first see it in the morning, he’ll either work tomorrow (Tuesday) or more likely Wednesday.”
Schosberg said the breeze will take place on the main track at Belmont.
“Today he galloped on the training track because the main track was sealed up and the training track was harrowed, so it was a much better surface,” Schosberg said. “He’s much more comfortable on the big track. If it’s in good shape at 9 o’clock then we’ll go tomorrow (Tuesday), but we don’t want to do too much with him anyway. If he goes Wednesday then he goes Wednesday.”
Schosberg is bringing a fresh colt to the 133rd Preakness.
“He does well with time between races,” Schosberg said. “He’s always run with at least month between races. It seems like that is his best. He needed the Wood, for sure, because he got nothing out of the Gotham. The six weeks between the Wood and now I think will be good for him. He’s got to step it up. It’s a whole different league of horses, but he represented himself well in the Wood. I think if he had gotten anything out of the Gotham, he would have been pretty tough in the Wood. He only got beat two lengths and basically he hadn’t run in 13 weeks because I have to toss the Gotham out from a physical fitness standpoint.”
Hey Byrn on long ride
Trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. reported that Hey Byrn was loaded on a Pimlico-bound van at 10 a.m. Monday morning, along with stablemate and Pimlico Special entrant Gottcha Gold. Hey Byrn, who won the Holy Bull Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park in his most recent start, galloped 1½ miles under exercise rider Peter Shelton at Calder Race Course before embarking on a road trip that is expected to be completed Tuesday morning. Hey Byrn is owned by Beatrice Oxenberg, a longtime client of Plesa.
“I’ve been training horses for her for 25 years. Any success I’ve had I have to give credit to her and her (late) husband (Bernie),” said the Calder Race Course Hall of Famer. “They’re the ones who got me started.”
Baltimore
Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown had another easy morning Monday, jogging one mile over the muddy track at Churchill Downs under exercise rider Michelle Nevin in preparation for Saturday’s 133rd running of the Preakness Stakes. Trainer Richard Dutrow said the colt went well in his once-around trip around the course. Since Big Brown scored his decisive Derby victory on May 3, Dutrow has limited the colt to a light exercise routine of gallops when the track is fast and jogging when it is wet. Dutrow said Big Brown will likely gallop Tuesday morning. Big Brown is scheduled to ship from Churchill Downs to Pimlico on Wednesday.
Harlem Rocker a no show
Trainer Todd Pletcher said Monday that unbeaten Harlem Rocker will skip the Preakness and is headed to the Canadian Triple Crown series. Pletcher’s other Preakness candidate, Behindatthebar, remains on course for the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown. Harlem Rocker, an Ontario-bred son of Macho Uno is owned by Frank Stronach, chairman of Magna Entertainment, which owns the Maryland Jockey Club tracks, Pimlico and Laurel Park.
“I spoke to Mr. Stronach this morning and we’ve decided to take a conservative approach,” Pletcher said. “We’re going to point toward the Queen’s Plate (G1) and we’ll look for some bigger races down the road.”
The Queen’s Plate will be run June 22 at Woodbine in suburban Toronto.
Behindatthebar, winner of the Lexington Stakes (G2) at Keeneland on April 19, breezed five furlongs in 1:00.13 at Belmont Park Sunday. He walked the shedrow Monday morning.
“I thought he worked well,” Pletcher said. “It’s the first time we’ve worked him on a traditional dirt track and he seemed to handle it real well. He came out of it well, so he’s ready to go.”
Jockey David Flores, who has ridden the colt in four of his five career starts, including all three victories, will be aboard in the Preakness. Pletcher said the colt is likely to be shipped from Belmont Park to Baltimore Saturday morning. Behindatthebar began his career in California with trainer Craig Dollase and raced and trained on the state’s synthetic racing surfaces. In his only start in the East, he came from well off the pace to win the Lexington by one length.
Gayego may be in
Trainer Paulo Lobo reported Monday morning that a start in the Preakness Stakes by Cubanacan Stables’ Gayego is under consideration.
“I’m going to decide (Tuesday). We are going to have a meeting,” Lobo said from Southern California. “I’m going to track him in the morning, then we’ll make a decision.”
Gayego, the Arkansas Derby (G2) winner, finished a troubled 17th in the Kentucky Derby, in which he had to be steadied in traffic after getting off to a sluggish start. Lobo said his colt never got into the race after his early troubles.
“That’s the reason we are thinking about (the Preakness),” he said. “He’s very happy right now and he came back very sound.”
Giant Moon breeze awaits break in weather
Before heading to Saratoga Springs for the New York Thoroughbred Breeders Awards Banquet, trainer Richard Schosberg sent the Giant’s Causeway colt to Belmont Park’s training track for a 1¼ -mile gallop Monday morning. Giant Moon is a finalist for the champion 2-year-old New York-bred of 2007 award. The winners will be announced Monday night at the Gideon Putnam Hotel event. Schosberg has been dealing with the wet weather that reached the East Coast on Sunday as he completes the tune-up for the Preakness. Giant Moon will have a half-mile breeze this week before shipping to Pimlico.
“We took him out early before the rain started,” Schosberg said. “Depending on when the rain stops and depending on what I think of the track when I first see it in the morning, he’ll either work tomorrow (Tuesday) or more likely Wednesday.”
Schosberg said the breeze will take place on the main track at Belmont.
“Today he galloped on the training track because the main track was sealed up and the training track was harrowed, so it was a much better surface,” Schosberg said. “He’s much more comfortable on the big track. If it’s in good shape at 9 o’clock then we’ll go tomorrow (Tuesday), but we don’t want to do too much with him anyway. If he goes Wednesday then he goes Wednesday.”
Schosberg is bringing a fresh colt to the 133rd Preakness.
“He does well with time between races,” Schosberg said. “He’s always run with at least month between races. It seems like that is his best. He needed the Wood, for sure, because he got nothing out of the Gotham. The six weeks between the Wood and now I think will be good for him. He’s got to step it up. It’s a whole different league of horses, but he represented himself well in the Wood. I think if he had gotten anything out of the Gotham, he would have been pretty tough in the Wood. He only got beat two lengths and basically he hadn’t run in 13 weeks because I have to toss the Gotham out from a physical fitness standpoint.”
Hey Byrn on long ride
Trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. reported that Hey Byrn was loaded on a Pimlico-bound van at 10 a.m. Monday morning, along with stablemate and Pimlico Special entrant Gottcha Gold. Hey Byrn, who won the Holy Bull Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park in his most recent start, galloped 1½ miles under exercise rider Peter Shelton at Calder Race Course before embarking on a road trip that is expected to be completed Tuesday morning. Hey Byrn is owned by Beatrice Oxenberg, a longtime client of Plesa.
“I’ve been training horses for her for 25 years. Any success I’ve had I have to give credit to her and her (late) husband (Bernie),” said the Calder Race Course Hall of Famer. “They’re the ones who got me started.”
Belmont: Pondering the possibilities
The pressure is squarely on Big Brown.
With the racing world, thirty years after Affirmed, longing for a Triple Crown, Big Brown’s success in the Preakness will set the table for a Belmont Stakes unlike any in the history of the oldest race in the series.
The sudden emergence of Casino Drive in a kind of harmonic convergence otherwise known as the Peter Pan Stakes changed everything. A week after Big Brown left the distinct impression that he is clearly the best three-year-old of 2008, there is suddenly another. Casino Drive, ridden by Kent Desormeaux, partner of Big Brown, deeply impressed the only person who has been astride both. “He’s got that stride,” Desormeaux said.
So, an animal has been introduced who adds an entirely new layer of intrigue to a Belmont Stakes in which a horse attempts to sweep the Triple Crown.
Racing is huge in Japan, where the Kentucky-bred Casino Drive lives. He ran only once there before traveling halfway around the earth and delivering an effort not unlike the Florida Derby that turned Big Brown into an overnight sensation. Casino Drive not only announced his presence here in the Peter Pan, he brought an entire country into the Belmont mix – a country in which racing is taken seriously and the national capacity for hero worship is boundless.
The expat Casino Drive became a star in Japan on Saturday. Neither the New York Times nor Newsday was represented at Belmont Park but several Japanese racing writers made the 16-hour trip from Tokyo for the Peter Pan.
Big Brown, currently rated the second-best horse on the planet, versus Casino Drive, both undefeated, in the final leg of the American Triple Crown would be an epic, the first Belmont Stakes of global importance. The prospect that a Triple Crown winner will emerge victorious, despite his trainer’s rap sheet, will create a crush of American media and a comparable delegation of Japanese news people, which will tax the limited human resources at the New York Racing Association. The crowd, considering heightened interest in the Japanese community, would inevitably shatter the existing record. Almost padding the already rich storyline: Casino Drive could become the third offspring of the mare Better Than Honour, who has given the world Jazil and Rags to Riches, winners of the last two, to win the Belmont Stakes. And the race itself has the potential to be memorable, regardless of the outcome.
As we ponder the possibilities of this Belmont, which could be the most keenly anticipated since Affirmed and Alydar 30 years ago, post-Eight Belles damage control remains at code red and HBO will broadcast a documentary on horse slaughter tonight that, those who have seen it say, is difficult to watch.
Horses of all breeds are exported for slaughter, some of them cast-off thoroughbreds no longer capable of racing. Having been again reminded of the breed’s fragile skeletal structure, heard renewed screeds inspired by the death of Eight Belles minutes after she finished second in the Derby and pondered the germane issues on which the sport’s leaders, idealists and participants unfailingly avoid both consensus and progress, we are reminded that some very bad people walk among us.
If the cards fall face up in Baltimore on Saturday, Big Brown will go into the Belmont five-for-five and the suddenly international anticipation of the Triple Crown finale will, at least for three weeks, offer a respite from the PETA demonstrators and other zealots who profess to be champions of all things great and small.
If all the historical data made Big Brown a bet-against favorite going into the Derby, history is on his side in Baltimore. The Preakness is usually won by a horse coming out of the Derby and for the first time since 1948, when none of those he defeated in Kentucky opposed Citation at Pimlico, there will be no Derby veteran other than Big Brown in the Preakness.
Then, there is the bounce to consider.
With the racing world, thirty years after Affirmed, longing for a Triple Crown, Big Brown’s success in the Preakness will set the table for a Belmont Stakes unlike any in the history of the oldest race in the series.
The sudden emergence of Casino Drive in a kind of harmonic convergence otherwise known as the Peter Pan Stakes changed everything. A week after Big Brown left the distinct impression that he is clearly the best three-year-old of 2008, there is suddenly another. Casino Drive, ridden by Kent Desormeaux, partner of Big Brown, deeply impressed the only person who has been astride both. “He’s got that stride,” Desormeaux said.
So, an animal has been introduced who adds an entirely new layer of intrigue to a Belmont Stakes in which a horse attempts to sweep the Triple Crown.
Racing is huge in Japan, where the Kentucky-bred Casino Drive lives. He ran only once there before traveling halfway around the earth and delivering an effort not unlike the Florida Derby that turned Big Brown into an overnight sensation. Casino Drive not only announced his presence here in the Peter Pan, he brought an entire country into the Belmont mix – a country in which racing is taken seriously and the national capacity for hero worship is boundless.
The expat Casino Drive became a star in Japan on Saturday. Neither the New York Times nor Newsday was represented at Belmont Park but several Japanese racing writers made the 16-hour trip from Tokyo for the Peter Pan.
Big Brown, currently rated the second-best horse on the planet, versus Casino Drive, both undefeated, in the final leg of the American Triple Crown would be an epic, the first Belmont Stakes of global importance. The prospect that a Triple Crown winner will emerge victorious, despite his trainer’s rap sheet, will create a crush of American media and a comparable delegation of Japanese news people, which will tax the limited human resources at the New York Racing Association. The crowd, considering heightened interest in the Japanese community, would inevitably shatter the existing record. Almost padding the already rich storyline: Casino Drive could become the third offspring of the mare Better Than Honour, who has given the world Jazil and Rags to Riches, winners of the last two, to win the Belmont Stakes. And the race itself has the potential to be memorable, regardless of the outcome.
As we ponder the possibilities of this Belmont, which could be the most keenly anticipated since Affirmed and Alydar 30 years ago, post-Eight Belles damage control remains at code red and HBO will broadcast a documentary on horse slaughter tonight that, those who have seen it say, is difficult to watch.
Horses of all breeds are exported for slaughter, some of them cast-off thoroughbreds no longer capable of racing. Having been again reminded of the breed’s fragile skeletal structure, heard renewed screeds inspired by the death of Eight Belles minutes after she finished second in the Derby and pondered the germane issues on which the sport’s leaders, idealists and participants unfailingly avoid both consensus and progress, we are reminded that some very bad people walk among us.
If the cards fall face up in Baltimore on Saturday, Big Brown will go into the Belmont five-for-five and the suddenly international anticipation of the Triple Crown finale will, at least for three weeks, offer a respite from the PETA demonstrators and other zealots who profess to be champions of all things great and small.
If all the historical data made Big Brown a bet-against favorite going into the Derby, history is on his side in Baltimore. The Preakness is usually won by a horse coming out of the Derby and for the first time since 1948, when none of those he defeated in Kentucky opposed Citation at Pimlico, there will be no Derby veteran other than Big Brown in the Preakness.
Then, there is the bounce to consider.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Peter Pan: Casino Drive stops the show
Though most are conceding the Preakness Stakes to Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown, the colt who pulled off a classic victory in his fourth lifetime start and will be a prohibited favorite to add the second leg of the Triple Crown to his short but flawless resume on Saturday, will – if indeed he leaves Pimlico in position to win the Triple Crown -- find a very good horse waiting at Belmont for the third leg who is even less experienced and perhaps equally talented.
American racing writers were outnumbered by their Japanese counterparts in the Belmont Park press box on Saturday. Next month, the Japanese media may arrive in New York by the planeload after Casino Drive crushed eight three-year-olds including his entrymate in the Peter Pan Stakes, his second career start after a February debut in Kyoto, which he won by 11 lengths at 1-5 odds. In the coming weeks, Casino Drive will be covered like Hideki Matsui. They might call this colt Godzilla, too.
It was an effort far more decisive than the 5 ¾-length margin or the running time for nine furlongs, 1:47.87, would suggest, the kind you were simply happy to have witnessed.
Casino Drive, by Mineshaft from the mare Better Than Honour, is half-brother to Jazil and three-quarter brother Rags to Riches, the 2006 Belmont winner and the filly who won the Belmont a year ago in the last victory and penultimate race of her career. He looks a good deal like his sister, a big, rangy chestnut. Entrymate Spark Candle, a $1.5-million yearling purchase, is a bit smaller, highly strung and not in the same league.
Casino Drive made only his second career start in the Peter Pan Stakes. His more experienced stablemate, who is by A.P. Indy from the champion mare Serena’s Song, prompted the early pace in the Peter Pan, perhaps a tip that he will play that role in the Belmont Stakes.
Casino Drive, rated by Kent Desormeaux in a stalking position behind the frontrunners after hesitating slightly at the start, split horses leaving the quarter pole and was in command in a matter of a few strides. Desormeaux, who also rides Big Brown, never moved on the colt inside the sixteenth pole. This was easily the most impressive effort by a three-year-old not named Big Brown to this point of the season and instantly adds a huge element of intrigue to the Belmont.
It is already established by hia older siblings that the Japanese colt will stay 12 furlong, the Belmont distance. “I certainly understand how Jazil and Rags to Riches won the Belmont,” Desormeaux said. “Yeah, he can run a lot. He’s a phenomenal talent and we’ve [he and Big Brown] got our hands full with this one. He’s got that stride.”
There is little English spoken in the Casino Drive camp. Nabutaka Tada, managing director of Globe Equine Management, spoke for owner Hidetoshi Yammamoto and trainer Kazuo Fujisawa.
“Today, he proved his ability,” Tada said. “He had so much to overcome: only one race, more than a two-month layoff, long trip and quarantine. Now, we will have three weeks to go to the Belmont Stakes and he has three weeks to improve. And, he has so much potential to improve. He likes it here. He feels like he’s at home. He’s an American-bred, so he is at home.”
Casino Drive was a bit unruly in the paddock, but had no need for the energy squandered before the race. “He’ll be okay next time,” Tada said.
Another sharp newcomer
Tom Albertrani removed the wraps from Unbridled Heart, who apparently failed to impress the clockers during training and got away at 13-1 in his debut on Saturday in the Darley Colors. The $1-million yearling was in control throughout 1 1/16 miles, drew away to a commanding lead in the stretch and hit the wire in 1:42.12, an impressive first-out performance. More to come from this late-developing colt.
American racing writers were outnumbered by their Japanese counterparts in the Belmont Park press box on Saturday. Next month, the Japanese media may arrive in New York by the planeload after Casino Drive crushed eight three-year-olds including his entrymate in the Peter Pan Stakes, his second career start after a February debut in Kyoto, which he won by 11 lengths at 1-5 odds. In the coming weeks, Casino Drive will be covered like Hideki Matsui. They might call this colt Godzilla, too.
It was an effort far more decisive than the 5 ¾-length margin or the running time for nine furlongs, 1:47.87, would suggest, the kind you were simply happy to have witnessed.
Casino Drive, by Mineshaft from the mare Better Than Honour, is half-brother to Jazil and three-quarter brother Rags to Riches, the 2006 Belmont winner and the filly who won the Belmont a year ago in the last victory and penultimate race of her career. He looks a good deal like his sister, a big, rangy chestnut. Entrymate Spark Candle, a $1.5-million yearling purchase, is a bit smaller, highly strung and not in the same league.
Casino Drive made only his second career start in the Peter Pan Stakes. His more experienced stablemate, who is by A.P. Indy from the champion mare Serena’s Song, prompted the early pace in the Peter Pan, perhaps a tip that he will play that role in the Belmont Stakes.
Casino Drive, rated by Kent Desormeaux in a stalking position behind the frontrunners after hesitating slightly at the start, split horses leaving the quarter pole and was in command in a matter of a few strides. Desormeaux, who also rides Big Brown, never moved on the colt inside the sixteenth pole. This was easily the most impressive effort by a three-year-old not named Big Brown to this point of the season and instantly adds a huge element of intrigue to the Belmont.
It is already established by hia older siblings that the Japanese colt will stay 12 furlong, the Belmont distance. “I certainly understand how Jazil and Rags to Riches won the Belmont,” Desormeaux said. “Yeah, he can run a lot. He’s a phenomenal talent and we’ve [he and Big Brown] got our hands full with this one. He’s got that stride.”
There is little English spoken in the Casino Drive camp. Nabutaka Tada, managing director of Globe Equine Management, spoke for owner Hidetoshi Yammamoto and trainer Kazuo Fujisawa.
“Today, he proved his ability,” Tada said. “He had so much to overcome: only one race, more than a two-month layoff, long trip and quarantine. Now, we will have three weeks to go to the Belmont Stakes and he has three weeks to improve. And, he has so much potential to improve. He likes it here. He feels like he’s at home. He’s an American-bred, so he is at home.”
Casino Drive was a bit unruly in the paddock, but had no need for the energy squandered before the race. “He’ll be okay next time,” Tada said.
Another sharp newcomer
Tom Albertrani removed the wraps from Unbridled Heart, who apparently failed to impress the clockers during training and got away at 13-1 in his debut on Saturday in the Darley Colors. The $1-million yearling was in control throughout 1 1/16 miles, drew away to a commanding lead in the stretch and hit the wire in 1:42.12, an impressive first-out performance. More to come from this late-developing colt.
Preakness: Saturday notes
One in, another out;
Harlem Rocker still on the fence
From the Maryland Jockey Club
Baltimore
Six days ago when Pimlico officials left Louisville it appeared the $1 million Preakness Stakes could have its shortest field since only seven challengers took on Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000. But when Dallas Stewart called Pimlico racing secretary Georganne Hale Saturday morning to say Derby Trial winner Macho Again was headed to the 133rd running of the middle jewel of racing’s Triple Crown, the field swelled to 13 starters to test current Derby champion Big Brown. A few hours later the field was reduced to 12 when co-owner Ronnie Lamarque announced Recapturetheglory was out of the running due to a fever.
“We have been looking at the field,” Stewart said. “We know Big Brown is there but we feel we can compete with those other horses. Looking at the race I think we have an excellent shot of beating a lot of horses in the race. It is a good field but we feel we fit.”
Macho Again, a son of Macho Uno, had a light half-mile breeze at Churchill Downs this morning stopping the clock in :49.80 seconds. Julien Leparoux, who was aboard the victory in the Derby Trial two weeks ago, retains the mount.
“The horse has been doing well since the race,” added Stewart. “You got a marquee race. Everybody wants to run in these three Triple Crown races. One horse is not going to scare everybody. If Big Brown does not perform, you have a chance to win the Preakness.”
Recapturetheglory had his Preakness plans derailed by a fever. The son of Cherokee Run finished fifth in last Saturday’s Run for the Roses.
“We took his temperature last night,” assistant trainer Lara Van Deren said this morning from Louisville. “He just wasn’t acting right. He was backing up against the gate in the stall and he never does that. This morning his temperature was over 102.”
At 2:00 p.m. Eastern, Lamarque made it official after blood test results were revealed on the Illinois Derby (Grade II) winner.
“The racehorse comes first,” said co-owner Lamarque, who teamed up with co-owner and trainer Louie Roussel to win the Preakness 20 years ago with Risen Star. “He had a slight temperature plus a slight pulse in his right front toe. For betterment of racing we are electing to give this horse some time and let him regroup. We are sorry we will not be coming to Baltimore but I know it is going to be a great race. We are really going to miss the Preakness experience. We felt we had a live chance to turn the tables on Big Brown.”
With the defection, it appears none of the 19 runners who lost to Big Brown in Louisville last Saturday will compete in the Preakness next Saturday. The last time that occurred was 60 years ago with Citation.
Currently Kentucky Bear is the only Preakness starter on the Pimlico grounds. This morning with trainer Reade Baker watching, the son of Mr. Greely drilled five furlongs in 1:01 over the sloppy Pimlico oval at 8:30 a.m. with Jamie Theriot in the irons. The duo teamed up to finish third in the Blue Grass (Grade I) at Keeneland on April 12.
“I think it was a great work,” said Theriot, who will be aboard next Saturday. “I think he’s at the top of his game. It’s a great opportunity to get the pleasure to ride the kind of horses like this in this kind of races. It’s a dream come true. You go as a little kid and want to ride in the Kentucky Derby, these Triple Crown races and have that opportunity and a great shot of winning them. I think he’s peaking at the right time. I wouldn’t change mounts with anyone.”
It was the third consecutive bullet work for Kentucky Bear since the Blue Grass, who performed five furlongs drills at Churchill Downs and Keeneland the last two Saturday mornings.
“If Big Brown was in any other race other than coming from Kentucky to Preakness all the wise guys would be saying he’s going to bounce,” Baker said. “So, just because we call them the Derby and the Preakness why can’t he bounce? He might be a good enough horse to overcome all that. He’s certainly a good horse.”
Racecar Rhapsody worked five furlongs in 1:01 after the morning renovation break at Churchill Downs under Jose Castanon. The move was the third fastest of 29 at the distance. Robby Albarado, who has ridden Racecar Rhapsody in all six of his starts, has the call for the Preakness. The son of Tale of the Cat never has been worse than fourth in his career and the most he has been beaten was four lengths in the Lane’s End (Grade II) at Turfway Park on March 22 in his 2008 debut.
“He’s a nice horse, but he’s a horse that comes from behind and needs a clean trip,” McPeek said. “He needs plenty of ground.”
With the sun out and a fast track, Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown galloped for the first time since taking down the first leg of the Triple Crown last Saturday at Churchill Downs. With Michelle Nevin aboard Big Brown and an NBC film crew monitoring every move, the colt went to the track at 8:30, jogged around to the front side and then galloped a little more than a mile. The undefeated colt had jogged the past three mornings, the previous two because of wet track conditions.
“I was looking for what I saw,” Dutrow said.
Big Brown is scheduled to train at Churchill Downs the next four mornings and ship to Pimlico on Wednesday afternoon along with Preakness starters Macho Again, Racecar Rhapsody and Tres Borrachos.
Other confirmed starters for Maryland’s signature race are Behindatthebar, Giant Moon, Hey Byrn, Icabad Crane, Riley Tucker, Stevil and Yankee Bravo.
According to trainer Graham Motion, the decision to enter Tesio winner Icabad Crane was made after the son of Jump Start drilled five furlongs at the Fair Hill Training Center Friday morning.
“We were trying to see if he was doing all right and he worked quite satisfactorily,” said Motion, of the 1:02.60 time. “He’s not a flashy work horse but he seems in good form. We said after the Tesio that the Preakness was certainly an option. I think we feel he’s doing well and we’d like to go on with it. He’s three for three on a dirt surface albeit two of them were against New York breds. It’s pretty hard to knock what he’s done.”
Trainer Eddie Plesa announced today that he has secured the services of C.C. Lopez to ride Hey Byrn in the Preakness. Lopez was aboard when the son of Put In Back won the Holy Bull Stakes (Grade III) at Gulfstream Park on April 12.
“It looks to me if you take out Big Brown than you could run the rest of those horses ten times and probably have six different winners,” Plesa said. “It looks like most of the 3-year-olds are pretty equal.”
At Belmont Park, trainer Todd Pletcher decided not to work Withers winner Harlem Rocker this morning due to the weather. The son of Macho Uno is expected to drill Sunday morning with a Preakness decision made Monday or Tuesday. The undefeated colt is owned by Frank Stronach, who also owns Pimlico Race Course. Pletcher will saddle Lexington Stakes (Grade II) winner Behindatthebar in next Saturday’s classic.
Harlem Rocker still on the fence
From the Maryland Jockey Club
Baltimore
Six days ago when Pimlico officials left Louisville it appeared the $1 million Preakness Stakes could have its shortest field since only seven challengers took on Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000. But when Dallas Stewart called Pimlico racing secretary Georganne Hale Saturday morning to say Derby Trial winner Macho Again was headed to the 133rd running of the middle jewel of racing’s Triple Crown, the field swelled to 13 starters to test current Derby champion Big Brown. A few hours later the field was reduced to 12 when co-owner Ronnie Lamarque announced Recapturetheglory was out of the running due to a fever.
“We have been looking at the field,” Stewart said. “We know Big Brown is there but we feel we can compete with those other horses. Looking at the race I think we have an excellent shot of beating a lot of horses in the race. It is a good field but we feel we fit.”
Macho Again, a son of Macho Uno, had a light half-mile breeze at Churchill Downs this morning stopping the clock in :49.80 seconds. Julien Leparoux, who was aboard the victory in the Derby Trial two weeks ago, retains the mount.
“The horse has been doing well since the race,” added Stewart. “You got a marquee race. Everybody wants to run in these three Triple Crown races. One horse is not going to scare everybody. If Big Brown does not perform, you have a chance to win the Preakness.”
Recapturetheglory had his Preakness plans derailed by a fever. The son of Cherokee Run finished fifth in last Saturday’s Run for the Roses.
“We took his temperature last night,” assistant trainer Lara Van Deren said this morning from Louisville. “He just wasn’t acting right. He was backing up against the gate in the stall and he never does that. This morning his temperature was over 102.”
At 2:00 p.m. Eastern, Lamarque made it official after blood test results were revealed on the Illinois Derby (Grade II) winner.
“The racehorse comes first,” said co-owner Lamarque, who teamed up with co-owner and trainer Louie Roussel to win the Preakness 20 years ago with Risen Star. “He had a slight temperature plus a slight pulse in his right front toe. For betterment of racing we are electing to give this horse some time and let him regroup. We are sorry we will not be coming to Baltimore but I know it is going to be a great race. We are really going to miss the Preakness experience. We felt we had a live chance to turn the tables on Big Brown.”
With the defection, it appears none of the 19 runners who lost to Big Brown in Louisville last Saturday will compete in the Preakness next Saturday. The last time that occurred was 60 years ago with Citation.
Currently Kentucky Bear is the only Preakness starter on the Pimlico grounds. This morning with trainer Reade Baker watching, the son of Mr. Greely drilled five furlongs in 1:01 over the sloppy Pimlico oval at 8:30 a.m. with Jamie Theriot in the irons. The duo teamed up to finish third in the Blue Grass (Grade I) at Keeneland on April 12.
“I think it was a great work,” said Theriot, who will be aboard next Saturday. “I think he’s at the top of his game. It’s a great opportunity to get the pleasure to ride the kind of horses like this in this kind of races. It’s a dream come true. You go as a little kid and want to ride in the Kentucky Derby, these Triple Crown races and have that opportunity and a great shot of winning them. I think he’s peaking at the right time. I wouldn’t change mounts with anyone.”
It was the third consecutive bullet work for Kentucky Bear since the Blue Grass, who performed five furlongs drills at Churchill Downs and Keeneland the last two Saturday mornings.
“If Big Brown was in any other race other than coming from Kentucky to Preakness all the wise guys would be saying he’s going to bounce,” Baker said. “So, just because we call them the Derby and the Preakness why can’t he bounce? He might be a good enough horse to overcome all that. He’s certainly a good horse.”
Racecar Rhapsody worked five furlongs in 1:01 after the morning renovation break at Churchill Downs under Jose Castanon. The move was the third fastest of 29 at the distance. Robby Albarado, who has ridden Racecar Rhapsody in all six of his starts, has the call for the Preakness. The son of Tale of the Cat never has been worse than fourth in his career and the most he has been beaten was four lengths in the Lane’s End (Grade II) at Turfway Park on March 22 in his 2008 debut.
“He’s a nice horse, but he’s a horse that comes from behind and needs a clean trip,” McPeek said. “He needs plenty of ground.”
With the sun out and a fast track, Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown galloped for the first time since taking down the first leg of the Triple Crown last Saturday at Churchill Downs. With Michelle Nevin aboard Big Brown and an NBC film crew monitoring every move, the colt went to the track at 8:30, jogged around to the front side and then galloped a little more than a mile. The undefeated colt had jogged the past three mornings, the previous two because of wet track conditions.
“I was looking for what I saw,” Dutrow said.
Big Brown is scheduled to train at Churchill Downs the next four mornings and ship to Pimlico on Wednesday afternoon along with Preakness starters Macho Again, Racecar Rhapsody and Tres Borrachos.
Other confirmed starters for Maryland’s signature race are Behindatthebar, Giant Moon, Hey Byrn, Icabad Crane, Riley Tucker, Stevil and Yankee Bravo.
According to trainer Graham Motion, the decision to enter Tesio winner Icabad Crane was made after the son of Jump Start drilled five furlongs at the Fair Hill Training Center Friday morning.
“We were trying to see if he was doing all right and he worked quite satisfactorily,” said Motion, of the 1:02.60 time. “He’s not a flashy work horse but he seems in good form. We said after the Tesio that the Preakness was certainly an option. I think we feel he’s doing well and we’d like to go on with it. He’s three for three on a dirt surface albeit two of them were against New York breds. It’s pretty hard to knock what he’s done.”
Trainer Eddie Plesa announced today that he has secured the services of C.C. Lopez to ride Hey Byrn in the Preakness. Lopez was aboard when the son of Put In Back won the Holy Bull Stakes (Grade III) at Gulfstream Park on April 12.
“It looks to me if you take out Big Brown than you could run the rest of those horses ten times and probably have six different winners,” Plesa said. “It looks like most of the 3-year-olds are pretty equal.”
At Belmont Park, trainer Todd Pletcher decided not to work Withers winner Harlem Rocker this morning due to the weather. The son of Macho Uno is expected to drill Sunday morning with a Preakness decision made Monday or Tuesday. The undefeated colt is owned by Frank Stronach, who also owns Pimlico Race Course. Pletcher will saddle Lexington Stakes (Grade II) winner Behindatthebar in next Saturday’s classic.
Belmont prospects prep in Peter Pan
A week after the Kentucky Derby, a week before the Preakness and the search for a the Belmont Stakes winner begins.
Though it is not particularly prudent to consider betting on a horse with one start in Japan, more than two months ago – an 11-length victory at odds of 1-5-- Casino Drive is an interesting presence in the Peter Pan Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park.
Casino Drive, a son of Mineshaft, is a half-brother to both Jazil and Rags to Riches, who share not only lineage but history, having won the last two runnings of the Belmont Stakes with their careers abbreviated as a result. Their Japanese-owned relative, in New York specifically to attempt a continuation of the family reign over the final leg of the Triple Crown, finds a less than imposing cast that includes the Peruvian-raced Tomcito, whose American experience has been less than successful but whose South American record shows a win at 12 furlongs.
Tomcito comes with an odd-looking pair of front legs that apparently are no detriment to his stride. He finished third to Big Brown in the Florida Derby, floundered on the synthetic surface at Keeneland in the Lexington Stakes and found himself excluded from an oversubscribed Kentucky Derby for want of graded stakes earnings. The Peter Pan may provide a hint of Tomcito’s true ability and he has been training smartly since the Lexington.
Golden Spikes, depending upon the price, may very well be the right horse today. The Illinois Derby runner-up, compromised by an extremely slow pace while stalking the cleverly handled Recapturetheglory, has been training strongly in Florida for the always-dangerous Marty Wolfson and has the services of Edgar Prado. He is also positioned to dictate the pace on a surface that has been sealed and speed favoring of late. He is quoted at 3-1 on the morning line and playable at 2-1 or better.
Executive Fleet failed to get past a determined Bustin Stones in the Grade I Carter at Aqueduct in his last and finds himself confronted by a salty group of sprinters in the six-furlong Bold Ruler, the supporting feature at Belmont, but should get the money if the five-year-old retains his recent sharp form. This is a race with several possibilities and the 5-2 opening price accurately reflects his chances. --PM
Though it is not particularly prudent to consider betting on a horse with one start in Japan, more than two months ago – an 11-length victory at odds of 1-5-- Casino Drive is an interesting presence in the Peter Pan Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park.
Casino Drive, a son of Mineshaft, is a half-brother to both Jazil and Rags to Riches, who share not only lineage but history, having won the last two runnings of the Belmont Stakes with their careers abbreviated as a result. Their Japanese-owned relative, in New York specifically to attempt a continuation of the family reign over the final leg of the Triple Crown, finds a less than imposing cast that includes the Peruvian-raced Tomcito, whose American experience has been less than successful but whose South American record shows a win at 12 furlongs.
Tomcito comes with an odd-looking pair of front legs that apparently are no detriment to his stride. He finished third to Big Brown in the Florida Derby, floundered on the synthetic surface at Keeneland in the Lexington Stakes and found himself excluded from an oversubscribed Kentucky Derby for want of graded stakes earnings. The Peter Pan may provide a hint of Tomcito’s true ability and he has been training smartly since the Lexington.
Golden Spikes, depending upon the price, may very well be the right horse today. The Illinois Derby runner-up, compromised by an extremely slow pace while stalking the cleverly handled Recapturetheglory, has been training strongly in Florida for the always-dangerous Marty Wolfson and has the services of Edgar Prado. He is also positioned to dictate the pace on a surface that has been sealed and speed favoring of late. He is quoted at 3-1 on the morning line and playable at 2-1 or better.
Executive Fleet failed to get past a determined Bustin Stones in the Grade I Carter at Aqueduct in his last and finds himself confronted by a salty group of sprinters in the six-furlong Bold Ruler, the supporting feature at Belmont, but should get the money if the five-year-old retains his recent sharp form. This is a race with several possibilities and the 5-2 opening price accurately reflects his chances. --PM
HLC free selections, May 10
From Handicappers Learning Center
Churchill Downs, race 2, 1:46 pm et
2- No Fault
1- B.B. Mancini
Exacta – 2+1 over 3+4
Hollywood Park, race 4, 5:50 pm et
3 – Common Trust
6- Iza General
Exacta – 3+6 over 7+1
Master1 Complete
The sheet that covers it all
Includes Gold and Silver Power Play
Click link on left rail
Churchill Downs, race 2, 1:46 pm et
2- No Fault
1- B.B. Mancini
Exacta – 2+1 over 3+4
Hollywood Park, race 4, 5:50 pm et
3 – Common Trust
6- Iza General
Exacta – 3+6 over 7+1
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Friday, May 9, 2008
Preakness: Friday notes
Desormeaux returns to Maryland with Derby winner;
Hey Byrn, Icabad Crane, Riley Tucker join the cast
Baltimore
From the Maryland Jockey Club
Twenty-one years ago Kent Desormeaux announced his presence with authority in Maryland by winning 450 races. Two years later he broke the all-time single season mark by reaching the winners’ circle 598 times. He then left the state for greener pastures. Next Saturday, the 38-year-old returns in the 133rd running of the Preakness Stakes (Grade I) as a Kentucky Derby champion for the third time after guiding Big Brown to victory six days ago.
“Everyone knows how excited people get for the Kentucky Derby. Well I get just as excited or even more about the Preakness,” said Desormeaux from New York this morning. “I may have grown up in Maurice, Louisiana but I grew up in the industry at Pimlico and Laurel Park. So to come there and get to ride in Maryland’s signature event is really important to me personally.”
Ten years ago, Desormeaux rode Real Quiet to Preakness glory and also has three second place finishes in the middle jewel of racing’s Triple Crown with nine other mounts-Free House (1997), Fusaichi Pegasus (2000) and Sweetnorthernsaint (2006). It was the lackluster performance by Fusaichi Pegasus, who won the Derby and was the prohibitive 1-5 favorite that keeps the rider humble about Big Brown’s Triple Crown aspirations.
“It is still stressful. The butterflies are going to be there,” added Desormeaux, who ranks 23rd on the all-time win list with 4,971 victories. “We just don’t know how resilient the horse is. We don’t know if he gets into a dogfight that he’ll just say ‘not this time I’ll catch you next time’. That’s what is so awesome about the Triple Crown and the 11 horses who have accomplished the feat. It takes an absolute freak to be ready to go again in two weeks.”
Now in his 30th year as a rider Mario Pino spent three years riding side-by-side with Desormeaux and knew immediately that the Cajun’ Kid had superstar potential.
“The first time I saw Kent ride when he had the bug it was evident he had a ton of talent,” said Pino, who ranks 14th on the all-time win list with 6,063 victories, including 4,861 in Maryland. “Not only the ability to ride but also the instincts and athleticism. I thought he had a chance to be a Hall of Famer if everything went right.”
“I wish he would have told me that when I was 16 years old,” joked Desormeaux. “Maybe I would have been able to settle down a little bit. I am honored and humbled to have those words come out of his mouth and glad I could make him right.”
The Derby winner will be arriving in Baltimore late Wednesday afternoon. Six days after Big Brown delivered the impressive victory at Churchill, his rider was still in amazement.
“It was so obvious the separation when I encouraged Big Brown to go,” said Desormeaux, who rode in his first Preakness in 1988. “He just left the field and that’s what I have been awed about this whole week with what kind of talent I am dealing with. The horse is really, really fast.”
The list of runners set to test Big Brown grew today as Hey Byrn, Icabad Crane and Riley Tucker are now confirmed starters upping the field for $1 million classic to 12 that includes Behindatthebar, Giant Moon, Kentucky Bear, Racecar Rhapsody, Recapturetheglory, Stevil, Tres Borrachos and Yankee Bravo. A decision on Harlem Rocker is expected over the weekend.
Icabad Crane won the Federico Tesio Stakes at Pimlico on April 19 for trainer Graham Motion. Motion had originally planned on running the Earle Mack owned son of Jump Start in the $100,000 Barbaro Stakes on the Preakness undercard. Jeremy Rose, who captured the 2005 Preakness aboard Afleet Alex, has the call.
This morning Eddie Plesa informed Pimlico racing officials that Hey Byrn, who won the Grade III Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfsteam Park on April 12, would be bound for the Preakness. On Sunday, the Calder-based conditioner announced the son of Put It Back would be headed to the $300,000 Ohio Derby (Grade II) on May 31 at Thistledown.
“The decision to run in the Preakness was made by his owner Mrs. (Beatrice) Oxenberg,” Plesa said. “She has family up in Baltimore and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t come. She said she wants to come and taste the crab cakes. We were going to run in the Derby but we didn’t get in.”
Plesa has yet to name a rider. The horse will be leaving Florida via van on Monday morning along with Gotcha Gold, who will be running in the $250,000 Maryland Lottery Pimlico Special (Grade I) next Friday.
Zayat Stables informed Pimlico stakes coordinator that Riley Tucker is headed to Baltimore for the middle jewel of the Triple Crown. The Bill Mott trainee has finished in the money six times in seven lifetime starts. Former Maryland riding star Edgar Prado will be aboard the son of Harlan’s Holiday.
In other news, trainer Dallas Stewart said Friday morning that West Point Thoroughbreds’ Macho Again would bypass the Preakness and instead point to the Ohio Derby.
Kentucky Bear remains the only Preakness runner at Pimlico. This morning the Reade Baker trainee jogged for the second consecutive day with exercise rider Cassie Garcia. Kentucky Bear is scheduled to drill five furlongs Saturday immediately after the renovation break (8:30 a.m), weather permitting.
Racers Rhapsody and Harlem Rocker are also scheduled to work Saturday at Churchill Downs and Belmont Park respectively. Trainer Todd Pletcher indicated a decision on whether or not to run the undefeated Harlem Rocker in the Preakness will be made after the breeze. The winner of the Withers is owned by Magna Entertainment Corp. chairman Frank Stronach, who also owns Pimlico.
“The only horse that I could have respect for going into the race would be Todd’s white horse (Harlem Rocker),” said Rick Dutrow, who trains the Derby winner. “I seen him run last time and he looked very good. He’s three for three. He’s got a little buzz about him. That’s about as far as it goes as I see it. If our horse can just get over the two week thing and basically go out there and run the way he has been running he’s going to be tough to beat.”
“Let’s not get Big Brown in the Hall of Fame too soon here. He certainly was the best of those horses (in the Derby),” countered Reade Baker. “What I’d be more concerned with, where Big Brown is vulnerable, if we were handicapping any other race, the handicapper would say there’s a horse that carried 126 and he’s going to run back in two weeks off a peak effort. The wise guys would say he’s going to bounce. How come he can’t bounce now?”
Recapturetheglory, who finished fifth in the Kentucky Derby, nearly 12 lengths behind Big Brown, will leave Louisville Saturday evening. The rest of the field will arrive during Preakness week.
Hey Byrn, Icabad Crane, Riley Tucker join the cast
Baltimore
From the Maryland Jockey Club
Twenty-one years ago Kent Desormeaux announced his presence with authority in Maryland by winning 450 races. Two years later he broke the all-time single season mark by reaching the winners’ circle 598 times. He then left the state for greener pastures. Next Saturday, the 38-year-old returns in the 133rd running of the Preakness Stakes (Grade I) as a Kentucky Derby champion for the third time after guiding Big Brown to victory six days ago.
“Everyone knows how excited people get for the Kentucky Derby. Well I get just as excited or even more about the Preakness,” said Desormeaux from New York this morning. “I may have grown up in Maurice, Louisiana but I grew up in the industry at Pimlico and Laurel Park. So to come there and get to ride in Maryland’s signature event is really important to me personally.”
Ten years ago, Desormeaux rode Real Quiet to Preakness glory and also has three second place finishes in the middle jewel of racing’s Triple Crown with nine other mounts-Free House (1997), Fusaichi Pegasus (2000) and Sweetnorthernsaint (2006). It was the lackluster performance by Fusaichi Pegasus, who won the Derby and was the prohibitive 1-5 favorite that keeps the rider humble about Big Brown’s Triple Crown aspirations.
“It is still stressful. The butterflies are going to be there,” added Desormeaux, who ranks 23rd on the all-time win list with 4,971 victories. “We just don’t know how resilient the horse is. We don’t know if he gets into a dogfight that he’ll just say ‘not this time I’ll catch you next time’. That’s what is so awesome about the Triple Crown and the 11 horses who have accomplished the feat. It takes an absolute freak to be ready to go again in two weeks.”
Now in his 30th year as a rider Mario Pino spent three years riding side-by-side with Desormeaux and knew immediately that the Cajun’ Kid had superstar potential.
“The first time I saw Kent ride when he had the bug it was evident he had a ton of talent,” said Pino, who ranks 14th on the all-time win list with 6,063 victories, including 4,861 in Maryland. “Not only the ability to ride but also the instincts and athleticism. I thought he had a chance to be a Hall of Famer if everything went right.”
“I wish he would have told me that when I was 16 years old,” joked Desormeaux. “Maybe I would have been able to settle down a little bit. I am honored and humbled to have those words come out of his mouth and glad I could make him right.”
The Derby winner will be arriving in Baltimore late Wednesday afternoon. Six days after Big Brown delivered the impressive victory at Churchill, his rider was still in amazement.
“It was so obvious the separation when I encouraged Big Brown to go,” said Desormeaux, who rode in his first Preakness in 1988. “He just left the field and that’s what I have been awed about this whole week with what kind of talent I am dealing with. The horse is really, really fast.”
The list of runners set to test Big Brown grew today as Hey Byrn, Icabad Crane and Riley Tucker are now confirmed starters upping the field for $1 million classic to 12 that includes Behindatthebar, Giant Moon, Kentucky Bear, Racecar Rhapsody, Recapturetheglory, Stevil, Tres Borrachos and Yankee Bravo. A decision on Harlem Rocker is expected over the weekend.
Icabad Crane won the Federico Tesio Stakes at Pimlico on April 19 for trainer Graham Motion. Motion had originally planned on running the Earle Mack owned son of Jump Start in the $100,000 Barbaro Stakes on the Preakness undercard. Jeremy Rose, who captured the 2005 Preakness aboard Afleet Alex, has the call.
This morning Eddie Plesa informed Pimlico racing officials that Hey Byrn, who won the Grade III Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfsteam Park on April 12, would be bound for the Preakness. On Sunday, the Calder-based conditioner announced the son of Put It Back would be headed to the $300,000 Ohio Derby (Grade II) on May 31 at Thistledown.
“The decision to run in the Preakness was made by his owner Mrs. (Beatrice) Oxenberg,” Plesa said. “She has family up in Baltimore and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t come. She said she wants to come and taste the crab cakes. We were going to run in the Derby but we didn’t get in.”
Plesa has yet to name a rider. The horse will be leaving Florida via van on Monday morning along with Gotcha Gold, who will be running in the $250,000 Maryland Lottery Pimlico Special (Grade I) next Friday.
Zayat Stables informed Pimlico stakes coordinator that Riley Tucker is headed to Baltimore for the middle jewel of the Triple Crown. The Bill Mott trainee has finished in the money six times in seven lifetime starts. Former Maryland riding star Edgar Prado will be aboard the son of Harlan’s Holiday.
In other news, trainer Dallas Stewart said Friday morning that West Point Thoroughbreds’ Macho Again would bypass the Preakness and instead point to the Ohio Derby.
Kentucky Bear remains the only Preakness runner at Pimlico. This morning the Reade Baker trainee jogged for the second consecutive day with exercise rider Cassie Garcia. Kentucky Bear is scheduled to drill five furlongs Saturday immediately after the renovation break (8:30 a.m), weather permitting.
Racers Rhapsody and Harlem Rocker are also scheduled to work Saturday at Churchill Downs and Belmont Park respectively. Trainer Todd Pletcher indicated a decision on whether or not to run the undefeated Harlem Rocker in the Preakness will be made after the breeze. The winner of the Withers is owned by Magna Entertainment Corp. chairman Frank Stronach, who also owns Pimlico.
“The only horse that I could have respect for going into the race would be Todd’s white horse (Harlem Rocker),” said Rick Dutrow, who trains the Derby winner. “I seen him run last time and he looked very good. He’s three for three. He’s got a little buzz about him. That’s about as far as it goes as I see it. If our horse can just get over the two week thing and basically go out there and run the way he has been running he’s going to be tough to beat.”
“Let’s not get Big Brown in the Hall of Fame too soon here. He certainly was the best of those horses (in the Derby),” countered Reade Baker. “What I’d be more concerned with, where Big Brown is vulnerable, if we were handicapping any other race, the handicapper would say there’s a horse that carried 126 and he’s going to run back in two weeks off a peak effort. The wise guys would say he’s going to bounce. How come he can’t bounce now?”
Recapturetheglory, who finished fifth in the Kentucky Derby, nearly 12 lengths behind Big Brown, will leave Louisville Saturday evening. The rest of the field will arrive during Preakness week.
Rain slows Big Brown to a jog
From Churchill Downs
For the third consecutive morning, Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown on Friday jogged a mile at Churchill Downs with Michelle Nevin up.
“You guys sure get a lot of rain here,” trainer Rick Dutrow said as he followed Big Brown to the track at 6:45. “When it stops, we’ll be ready.”
Outfitted with new hind shoes, Big Brown jogged alongside a pony over a track labeled sloppy by more overnight rain. A major deluge on Wednesday night had left the track muddy on Thursday.
“I would have galloped these last two days, but I won’t gallop him with the track like that,” Dutrow said.
Following his trip around the track, Big Brown was full of energy as he negotiated his way through the stable area back to Barn 22 ahead of the pony.
For the third consecutive morning, Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown on Friday jogged a mile at Churchill Downs with Michelle Nevin up.
“You guys sure get a lot of rain here,” trainer Rick Dutrow said as he followed Big Brown to the track at 6:45. “When it stops, we’ll be ready.”
Outfitted with new hind shoes, Big Brown jogged alongside a pony over a track labeled sloppy by more overnight rain. A major deluge on Wednesday night had left the track muddy on Thursday.
“I would have galloped these last two days, but I won’t gallop him with the track like that,” Dutrow said.
Following his trip around the track, Big Brown was full of energy as he negotiated his way through the stable area back to Barn 22 ahead of the pony.
Peter Pan: Tomcito launches plan B
By Jenny Kellner /NYRA
When buyers at Keeneland’s September 2006 yearling sale looked at Tomcito, all they saw was an awkward, barrel-chested colt who, frankly, walked like a duck. When trainer Dante Zanelli Jr. looked at the son of Street Cry, he saw something more.
“I saw a Derby horse,” said Zanelli, who paid $7,500 for the colt and sent him to Peru, where he won four of five starts including the final two legs of the country’s Triple Crown, both Group 1 races. “His walk was not the prettiest, but he had such a nice stride.”
Tomcito was one of four who did not make the cut for the Kentucky Derby, but the final leg of racing’s Triple Crown is definitely on his schedule. Saturday, the big brown colt heads a field of nine 3-year-olds in the 55th edition of the $200,000 Grade 2 Peter Pan Stakes at nine furlongs, a traditional prep for the $1 million Belmont Stakes on Saturday June 7. Also Saturday is the 33rd running of the $100,000-added Bold Ruler Handicap for three-year-olds and up.
“He’s been special since Day 1,” said Zanelli of Tomcito, who finished third in the Florida Derby behind Big Brown in his American debut, but then failed to earn enough money to enter the Derby when he finished sixth as the favorite in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland. “The Lexington wasn’t that bad, considering he gave six pounds to everyone and the Polytrack was not to his liking. The ride wasn’t what we expected, either. He didn’t run a terrible race but he didn’t make any money.
“It’s too bad, because I think he would have run a heck of a race in the Derby.”
Bypassing the Preakness because of Pimlico’s reputation for tight turns, Zanelli next targeted the 1 ½-mile Belmont, a distance at which Tomcito has already won. Sent by Zanelli to his uncle in Peru after failing to find a taker, Tomcito began his career beating older horses at the age of two and then wrapped up his 2007 campaign with the Group 1 victories at a mile and a quarter and then a mile and a half at Monterico Racetrack in Peru.
“The bigger the track, the better,” said Zanelli. “We are hoping to have a good showing on Saturday that will set us up for the Belmont. That’s the goal.”
The Belmont Stakes is on the radar of several of the horses in the Peter Pan, notably Casino Drive, the Japanese sibling of the past two Belmont Stakes winners, Rags to Riches (2007) and Jazil (2006), and his stablemate, Spark Candle. Also going are Illinois Derby runner-up Golden Spikes and Cosmic, winner of two straight for Shug McGaughey, who trained last year’s Peter Pan winner, Sightseeing.
“His last three races have been pretty good,” said McGaughey of Cosmic, who broke his maiden going nine furlongs in Florida and then took an allowance at the same distance April 16 at Aqueduct. “We’ll see how he sizes up with these. At the point we are not aiming for the Belmont but it’s certainly up for discussion.”
Executive Fleet, who was second to Bustin Stones in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap, heads a field of seven for the Bold Ruler at six furlongs. Trained by Linda Rice, the five-year-old son of Northern Afleet has won two of his four starts this year, both optional claimers over the inner track at Aqueduct.
Also expected to attract support are Forefathers, fourth in the Grade 2 Commonwealth at Keeneland in his last start; Man of Danger, second to Sir Greeley in the Grade 3 Toboggan Handicap on March 8, and Callmetony, no worse than third in his last six starts.
Churchill dispute prompts deep purse cuts
From Churchill Downs
Churchill Downs has been forced to cut purses by 20 percent, effective Wednesday, May 14, because the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (“KHBPA”) and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association (“KTA”) have blocked the distribution of Churchill Downs’ simulcast signal to national advance-deposit wagering (“ADW”) sites, including TwinSpires.com., the official ADW site for Churchill Downs Inc.
“We have been left with no option but to reduce overnight purses to offset the amount of lost handle because Kentucky horsemen have prevented horse racing fans from wagering through ADW platforms,” said Churchill Downs President Steve Sexton. “We are disappointed because the failure to send the signal will negatively impact the product both on and off the racetrack. While we are still hopeful this impasse can be resolved, we have no choice but to act now.”
KHBPA and KTA representatives continue to reject all offers from Churchill Downs and recently instructed further discussions be conducted with the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Group, an alliance of horsemen’s groups from around the country.
“Since Churchill Downs’ entry into the ADW business in 2007, we have nearly doubled host fees paid by ADW businesses to our racetracks and horsemen partners through successful negotiations with local horsemen. Kentucky horsemen and the THG are now demanding even more, but their plan is simply not feasible for ADW companies, including TwinSpires.com,” said Sexton. “As the result of over $3 million in online marketing we’ve spent so far this year, we have added 13,000 new TwinSpires.com customers and have added $25 million in new deposits. We would like those customers to be able to wager those funds on Churchill Downs races, but the KHBPA and KTA have refused to allow us to do so.”
The Churchill Downs’ purse reductions will affect overnight purses, with potential for fall meet stakes race purses to be reduced.
When buyers at Keeneland’s September 2006 yearling sale looked at Tomcito, all they saw was an awkward, barrel-chested colt who, frankly, walked like a duck. When trainer Dante Zanelli Jr. looked at the son of Street Cry, he saw something more.
“I saw a Derby horse,” said Zanelli, who paid $7,500 for the colt and sent him to Peru, where he won four of five starts including the final two legs of the country’s Triple Crown, both Group 1 races. “His walk was not the prettiest, but he had such a nice stride.”
Tomcito was one of four who did not make the cut for the Kentucky Derby, but the final leg of racing’s Triple Crown is definitely on his schedule. Saturday, the big brown colt heads a field of nine 3-year-olds in the 55th edition of the $200,000 Grade 2 Peter Pan Stakes at nine furlongs, a traditional prep for the $1 million Belmont Stakes on Saturday June 7. Also Saturday is the 33rd running of the $100,000-added Bold Ruler Handicap for three-year-olds and up.
“He’s been special since Day 1,” said Zanelli of Tomcito, who finished third in the Florida Derby behind Big Brown in his American debut, but then failed to earn enough money to enter the Derby when he finished sixth as the favorite in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland. “The Lexington wasn’t that bad, considering he gave six pounds to everyone and the Polytrack was not to his liking. The ride wasn’t what we expected, either. He didn’t run a terrible race but he didn’t make any money.
“It’s too bad, because I think he would have run a heck of a race in the Derby.”
Bypassing the Preakness because of Pimlico’s reputation for tight turns, Zanelli next targeted the 1 ½-mile Belmont, a distance at which Tomcito has already won. Sent by Zanelli to his uncle in Peru after failing to find a taker, Tomcito began his career beating older horses at the age of two and then wrapped up his 2007 campaign with the Group 1 victories at a mile and a quarter and then a mile and a half at Monterico Racetrack in Peru.
“The bigger the track, the better,” said Zanelli. “We are hoping to have a good showing on Saturday that will set us up for the Belmont. That’s the goal.”
The Belmont Stakes is on the radar of several of the horses in the Peter Pan, notably Casino Drive, the Japanese sibling of the past two Belmont Stakes winners, Rags to Riches (2007) and Jazil (2006), and his stablemate, Spark Candle. Also going are Illinois Derby runner-up Golden Spikes and Cosmic, winner of two straight for Shug McGaughey, who trained last year’s Peter Pan winner, Sightseeing.
“His last three races have been pretty good,” said McGaughey of Cosmic, who broke his maiden going nine furlongs in Florida and then took an allowance at the same distance April 16 at Aqueduct. “We’ll see how he sizes up with these. At the point we are not aiming for the Belmont but it’s certainly up for discussion.”
Executive Fleet, who was second to Bustin Stones in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap, heads a field of seven for the Bold Ruler at six furlongs. Trained by Linda Rice, the five-year-old son of Northern Afleet has won two of his four starts this year, both optional claimers over the inner track at Aqueduct.
Also expected to attract support are Forefathers, fourth in the Grade 2 Commonwealth at Keeneland in his last start; Man of Danger, second to Sir Greeley in the Grade 3 Toboggan Handicap on March 8, and Callmetony, no worse than third in his last six starts.
Churchill dispute prompts deep purse cuts
From Churchill Downs
Churchill Downs has been forced to cut purses by 20 percent, effective Wednesday, May 14, because the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (“KHBPA”) and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association (“KTA”) have blocked the distribution of Churchill Downs’ simulcast signal to national advance-deposit wagering (“ADW”) sites, including TwinSpires.com., the official ADW site for Churchill Downs Inc.
“We have been left with no option but to reduce overnight purses to offset the amount of lost handle because Kentucky horsemen have prevented horse racing fans from wagering through ADW platforms,” said Churchill Downs President Steve Sexton. “We are disappointed because the failure to send the signal will negatively impact the product both on and off the racetrack. While we are still hopeful this impasse can be resolved, we have no choice but to act now.”
KHBPA and KTA representatives continue to reject all offers from Churchill Downs and recently instructed further discussions be conducted with the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Group, an alliance of horsemen’s groups from around the country.
“Since Churchill Downs’ entry into the ADW business in 2007, we have nearly doubled host fees paid by ADW businesses to our racetracks and horsemen partners through successful negotiations with local horsemen. Kentucky horsemen and the THG are now demanding even more, but their plan is simply not feasible for ADW companies, including TwinSpires.com,” said Sexton. “As the result of over $3 million in online marketing we’ve spent so far this year, we have added 13,000 new TwinSpires.com customers and have added $25 million in new deposits. We would like those customers to be able to wager those funds on Churchill Downs races, but the KHBPA and KTA have refused to allow us to do so.”
The Churchill Downs’ purse reductions will affect overnight purses, with potential for fall meet stakes race purses to be reduced.
Curlin, Big Brown top world ranking
Curlin, the defending American Horse of the Year, and Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown are the top thoroughbreds in the world according to the International Federation of Horse Racing Authorities. Beyond the two top positions, the rankings are threadbare of horses based in the United States and dominated by Asian horses. Also noteworthy: the ranking of only a single horse trained in Europe.
1. Curlin, United States
2. Big Brown, United States
3. Admiral Moon, Japan
4. Sacred Kingdom, Hong Kong
5. Getaway, Germany
6. Good Ba Ba, Hong Kong
7. Meisho Samson, Japan
8. Pop Rock, Japan
9. Ramonti, United Arab Emitates
10. Viva Pataca, Hong Kong
1. Curlin, United States
2. Big Brown, United States
3. Admiral Moon, Japan
4. Sacred Kingdom, Hong Kong
5. Getaway, Germany
6. Good Ba Ba, Hong Kong
7. Meisho Samson, Japan
8. Pop Rock, Japan
9. Ramonti, United Arab Emitates
10. Viva Pataca, Hong Kong
HLC free selections, May 9
From Handicappers Learning Center
Pimlico, race 4, 2:34 p.m. et
3 – Jenny’s Rose
8- Cape Codder
Exacta 3+8 over 2+5
Monmouth, race 9, 4:35 p.m. et
8- Pure Disco
6 – Circuit Breaker
Exacta 8+6 over 3+7
Master1 Complete
The sheet that covers it all
Includes "Gold and Silver Power Play
Click link on left rail
Pimlico, race 4, 2:34 p.m. et
3 – Jenny’s Rose
8- Cape Codder
Exacta 3+8 over 2+5
Monmouth, race 9, 4:35 p.m. et
8- Pure Disco
6 – Circuit Breaker
Exacta 8+6 over 3+7
Master1 Complete
The sheet that covers it all
Includes "Gold and Silver Power Play
Click link on left rail
Thursday, May 8, 2008
We have met the enemy and ....
The shrill noise in the background comes from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which claims a membership of 1.8 million habitués of the lunatic fringe and is planning a demonstration at the Preakness.
Caution: The neighborhood adjacent to Pimlico is not exactly Rodeo Drive or one of those other neighborhoods where PETA’s most caustic and disagreeable members enjoy throwing paint as women wearing fur. Some of the demonstrators could find themselves treated less than ethically by the locals, many of whom will doubtless be armed with more than paint.
A PETA demonstration, prompted by the fatal injuries suffered by Eight Belles after she finished second in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday staged in the far more genteel setting of Lexington this week was countered by an equal number of racing supporters. Go figure. In Lexington? PETA could use a bit more judgment in picking its spots, but zealots often suffer a want of rational behavior. This is an organization that protested the nickname of the football team in Green Bay, Wisconsin, because the term Packers has roots in the meat-packing industry. Meat, after all, comes from animals. The Green Bay team held its ground. Redskins was taken.
Over the years, I have owned, in part, two horses, one a month-old, injured mortally while galloping in pastures. One, we bred, a very nice Louis Quatorze colt whose leg was broken as he ran free alongside his mother. The other, many years ago, was impaled on a post when he attempted to jump a fence on an Ocala, Florida farm. It was January 1, the day he became a yearling. Horses, from the moment of birth, are fragile creatures prone to injuries that often defy explanation and often, it seems, determined to commit suicide.
A small group of partners of which I was one claimed a two-year-old for $20,000 from a race at Calder on December 24, 1997. I watched the race from an OTB parlor in Buffalo, N.Y., while spending the holiday with family. The horse, named Wamed, finished fourth, an unremarkable effort. A few hours later, as the family sat down to Christmas Eve dinner, a phone call from the trainer brought the news that the colt had dropped dead while being unsaddled after the race. Merry Christmas.
Few who have been involved in racing, even at the most modest level, are without such stories but suffering a loss of a proven, top-class horse, like Barbaro, Eight Belles or the fallen stars whose deaths have shocked the sport’s hard core and horrified the casual observers, is, unless you’ve had the experience, unimaginable. But, as Leroy Jolley once noted: They don’t play this game in short pants. The game and its people press on because that’s what they do.
Racing will never be without its tragic moments and tragedy happens far more often in the quiet moments, to unknown horses than on the great stages that attract wide audience. Tragedy is, albeit grudgingly, an accepted part of racing that may in some way be alleviated in the future but will never be eliminated. At the moment, a broodmare in which I am a partner carries a foal by Anasheed. Without resilience, the reality will overwhelm those who play the game. Without a horse, the dream that propels the sport dies. Anyone who has ever owned a racehorse and won a race – any race – you know why there will always be a next horse, but that feeling, too, is indescribable. The horse forever remains at the center of racing’s universe, around which all else is in perpetual orbit. The rank and file of PETA has never spent time around racehorses. I suggest that they form a partnership and buy a two-year-old.
Within an hour or so of the Kentucky Derby, Eight Belles trainer, Larry Jones, said the filly’s death may ultimately be the catalyst for action on critical issues. The first of these, if it is indeed a vehicle that fosters progress rather than a knee-jerk symbolic reaction to a bad public relations situation, is the group formed with great haste by The Jockey Club.
“The Thoroughbred Safety Committee is a major step that will provide the examination of the horse welfare and safety issues so badly needed in the wake of recent catastrophic injuries,” said Alex Waldrop, National Thoroughbred Racing Association CEO. “The NTRA supports the committee’s work and plans to work closely with it to build support for the committee’s recommendations with the many constituencies we represent. At the same time, we will redouble our efforts to promote thoroughbred racing to core and target fans as the safe, responsible sport that it is. Now more than ever, no practice, policy or tradition is more important than those that best protect and promote the health of the thoroughbred athlete."
We shall see, but at this point, lack faith. None of this is new. Catastrophe sheds new light on old problems.
In the days when horses were more sturdily made, raced often and suffered fewer catastrophic injuries, horses were bred by people who raced their produce and valued stamina and soundness as well as speed. This, with few exceptions, is no longer the case. The commercial breeding establishment sees the horse as a catalogue page and the rise of sales offering two-year-olds in training only puts unnecessary pressure on young animals. In the days to which racing people long to return, young horses were trained more prudently and began their careers when they were prepared. There were no pinhookers, who bought yearlings at auction, subjected them to stern training regimens to meet deadlines for resale. Sales companies see only commissions or there would be no auctions of two-year-olds in training, no “breeze shows” in which soft-boned juveniles rattle of 11-second furlongs.
Dirt racing surfaces were not sealed, scraped and rolled. Steroids were not administered to make young horses more muscular and imposing in an auction ring – unnaturally so-- than would be the case were they allowed to mature physically and without chemical or hormonal enhancement.
Track maintenance is a lost art and the root cause of much of the criticism of contemporary dirt surfaces and there is a marked tendency to make them harder and faster on big days. Stop. Even the Oklahoma track at Saratoga, once renowned for its kindness to horses and conditioning attributes, is now rolled and sealed regularly, as is the main track and those at Belmont and Aqueduct. This is the mark of a lazy, incompetent track superintendent. It matters that tracks are safe. Fast is a secondary consideration.
The most imposing problem is that everyone recognizes the problems without addressing solutions. Begin with the lack of a central authority and end with permissive medication rules, which facilitate the use of illegal medication by some; absence of transparency, particularly insofar as identification of attending veterinarians is concerned. None of this is apt to instill public confidence in a sport that suffers deep, self-inflicted wounds to its image and credibility.
Calls for banning race-day medication are opposed by horsemen and the groups formed to advance their interests. Support for more judicious breeding practices will fall upon the deaf ears of bottom-line oriented commercial breeders with tens of millions of dollars tied up in stallions who raced while on steroids and medication. There is no support for disclosure of veterinary information. The widely held stance toward problem solving is the circling of wagons.
Now, a filly largely unknown outside racing circles last week, died after the Kentucky Derby. This is not good television. The Kentucky Derby winner, who may very well sweep the Triple Crown, is in the hands of a notorious violator of even the permissive medication rules now in place. PETA is at full screech.HBO, on Monday, jumps into the fray with an investigation of the exportation of horses, some failed or infirm racehorses, for slaughter, something PETA could sink its fangs into with more productive results. The industry is up to its ears in damage control and when all this blows over, nothing is likely to have changed. The racing industry did not reach this point by accident. As the great philosopher, Pogo, once said: “We have met the enemy and it is us.” --PM
Caution: The neighborhood adjacent to Pimlico is not exactly Rodeo Drive or one of those other neighborhoods where PETA’s most caustic and disagreeable members enjoy throwing paint as women wearing fur. Some of the demonstrators could find themselves treated less than ethically by the locals, many of whom will doubtless be armed with more than paint.
A PETA demonstration, prompted by the fatal injuries suffered by Eight Belles after she finished second in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday staged in the far more genteel setting of Lexington this week was countered by an equal number of racing supporters. Go figure. In Lexington? PETA could use a bit more judgment in picking its spots, but zealots often suffer a want of rational behavior. This is an organization that protested the nickname of the football team in Green Bay, Wisconsin, because the term Packers has roots in the meat-packing industry. Meat, after all, comes from animals. The Green Bay team held its ground. Redskins was taken.
Over the years, I have owned, in part, two horses, one a month-old, injured mortally while galloping in pastures. One, we bred, a very nice Louis Quatorze colt whose leg was broken as he ran free alongside his mother. The other, many years ago, was impaled on a post when he attempted to jump a fence on an Ocala, Florida farm. It was January 1, the day he became a yearling. Horses, from the moment of birth, are fragile creatures prone to injuries that often defy explanation and often, it seems, determined to commit suicide.
A small group of partners of which I was one claimed a two-year-old for $20,000 from a race at Calder on December 24, 1997. I watched the race from an OTB parlor in Buffalo, N.Y., while spending the holiday with family. The horse, named Wamed, finished fourth, an unremarkable effort. A few hours later, as the family sat down to Christmas Eve dinner, a phone call from the trainer brought the news that the colt had dropped dead while being unsaddled after the race. Merry Christmas.
Few who have been involved in racing, even at the most modest level, are without such stories but suffering a loss of a proven, top-class horse, like Barbaro, Eight Belles or the fallen stars whose deaths have shocked the sport’s hard core and horrified the casual observers, is, unless you’ve had the experience, unimaginable. But, as Leroy Jolley once noted: They don’t play this game in short pants. The game and its people press on because that’s what they do.
Racing will never be without its tragic moments and tragedy happens far more often in the quiet moments, to unknown horses than on the great stages that attract wide audience. Tragedy is, albeit grudgingly, an accepted part of racing that may in some way be alleviated in the future but will never be eliminated. At the moment, a broodmare in which I am a partner carries a foal by Anasheed. Without resilience, the reality will overwhelm those who play the game. Without a horse, the dream that propels the sport dies. Anyone who has ever owned a racehorse and won a race – any race – you know why there will always be a next horse, but that feeling, too, is indescribable. The horse forever remains at the center of racing’s universe, around which all else is in perpetual orbit. The rank and file of PETA has never spent time around racehorses. I suggest that they form a partnership and buy a two-year-old.
Within an hour or so of the Kentucky Derby, Eight Belles trainer, Larry Jones, said the filly’s death may ultimately be the catalyst for action on critical issues. The first of these, if it is indeed a vehicle that fosters progress rather than a knee-jerk symbolic reaction to a bad public relations situation, is the group formed with great haste by The Jockey Club.
“The Thoroughbred Safety Committee is a major step that will provide the examination of the horse welfare and safety issues so badly needed in the wake of recent catastrophic injuries,” said Alex Waldrop, National Thoroughbred Racing Association CEO. “The NTRA supports the committee’s work and plans to work closely with it to build support for the committee’s recommendations with the many constituencies we represent. At the same time, we will redouble our efforts to promote thoroughbred racing to core and target fans as the safe, responsible sport that it is. Now more than ever, no practice, policy or tradition is more important than those that best protect and promote the health of the thoroughbred athlete."
We shall see, but at this point, lack faith. None of this is new. Catastrophe sheds new light on old problems.
In the days when horses were more sturdily made, raced often and suffered fewer catastrophic injuries, horses were bred by people who raced their produce and valued stamina and soundness as well as speed. This, with few exceptions, is no longer the case. The commercial breeding establishment sees the horse as a catalogue page and the rise of sales offering two-year-olds in training only puts unnecessary pressure on young animals. In the days to which racing people long to return, young horses were trained more prudently and began their careers when they were prepared. There were no pinhookers, who bought yearlings at auction, subjected them to stern training regimens to meet deadlines for resale. Sales companies see only commissions or there would be no auctions of two-year-olds in training, no “breeze shows” in which soft-boned juveniles rattle of 11-second furlongs.
Dirt racing surfaces were not sealed, scraped and rolled. Steroids were not administered to make young horses more muscular and imposing in an auction ring – unnaturally so-- than would be the case were they allowed to mature physically and without chemical or hormonal enhancement.
Track maintenance is a lost art and the root cause of much of the criticism of contemporary dirt surfaces and there is a marked tendency to make them harder and faster on big days. Stop. Even the Oklahoma track at Saratoga, once renowned for its kindness to horses and conditioning attributes, is now rolled and sealed regularly, as is the main track and those at Belmont and Aqueduct. This is the mark of a lazy, incompetent track superintendent. It matters that tracks are safe. Fast is a secondary consideration.
The most imposing problem is that everyone recognizes the problems without addressing solutions. Begin with the lack of a central authority and end with permissive medication rules, which facilitate the use of illegal medication by some; absence of transparency, particularly insofar as identification of attending veterinarians is concerned. None of this is apt to instill public confidence in a sport that suffers deep, self-inflicted wounds to its image and credibility.
Calls for banning race-day medication are opposed by horsemen and the groups formed to advance their interests. Support for more judicious breeding practices will fall upon the deaf ears of bottom-line oriented commercial breeders with tens of millions of dollars tied up in stallions who raced while on steroids and medication. There is no support for disclosure of veterinary information. The widely held stance toward problem solving is the circling of wagons.
Now, a filly largely unknown outside racing circles last week, died after the Kentucky Derby. This is not good television. The Kentucky Derby winner, who may very well sweep the Triple Crown, is in the hands of a notorious violator of even the permissive medication rules now in place. PETA is at full screech.HBO, on Monday, jumps into the fray with an investigation of the exportation of horses, some failed or infirm racehorses, for slaughter, something PETA could sink its fangs into with more productive results. The industry is up to its ears in damage control and when all this blows over, nothing is likely to have changed. The racing industry did not reach this point by accident. As the great philosopher, Pogo, once said: “We have met the enemy and it is us.” --PM
Aqueduct figures up
Contrary to upstate news reports, there will be no synthetic surfaces at Belmont, Aqueduct and Saratoga in the foreseeable future, which includes the lifetimes of your great grandchildren.
That’s the good news. From the New York Racing Association’s perspective, there was a bit of more important news this week. The recently concluded winter and spring Aqueduct meeting saw growth in attendance, handle, and purses.
From January 1 to April 27, 2008, average daily attendance rose 5.7 percent, from 2,610, to 2,760 – not exactly reason for celebration. With five more racing dates than in 2007, total attendance rose 12.8 percent, from 195,748 to 220,793.
Daily average on-track handle jumped 4.3 percent, from $602,659, to $628,295, with total handle growing 11.2 percent, from $45,199,421 to $50,263,568. All sources handle also climbed, with the daily average up 3.7 percent, from $7,847,427 to $8,139,712. All sources handle totaled $651,176,929, a 10.6 percent increase over last year’s $588,557,037. Purses were also up by 6.2 percent over last year.
That’s the good news. From the New York Racing Association’s perspective, there was a bit of more important news this week. The recently concluded winter and spring Aqueduct meeting saw growth in attendance, handle, and purses.
From January 1 to April 27, 2008, average daily attendance rose 5.7 percent, from 2,610, to 2,760 – not exactly reason for celebration. With five more racing dates than in 2007, total attendance rose 12.8 percent, from 195,748 to 220,793.
Daily average on-track handle jumped 4.3 percent, from $602,659, to $628,295, with total handle growing 11.2 percent, from $45,199,421 to $50,263,568. All sources handle also climbed, with the daily average up 3.7 percent, from $7,847,427 to $8,139,712. All sources handle totaled $651,176,929, a 10.6 percent increase over last year’s $588,557,037. Purses were also up by 6.2 percent over last year.
Jockey Club commissions safety committee
From The Jockey Club
Ogden Mills Phipps, the chairman of The Jockey Club, announced today that the officers have commissioned a seven-member Thoroughbred Safety Committee.
Phipps said that the committee would be asked to review every facet of equine health, including breeding practices, medication, the rules of racing and track surfaces, and to recommend actions to be taken by the industry to improve the health and safety of Thoroughbreds.
The recommendations emanating from the two Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summits will serve as starting points for the committee. Three of the seven members of the newly formed committee were participants in both summits.
The Jockey Club and Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation coordinated and underwrote those summits in October 2006 and March 2008. A strategic plan developed after the first summit and a summary of recommendations proposed at the second are available at www.grayson-jockeyclub.org/summit.
In addition to Phipps, the other officers of The Jockey Club are Vice Chairman William S. Farish and Secretary-Treasurer James C. Brady.
The seven members of the committee are Stuart S. Janney III (chairman), John Barr, James G. (Jimmy) Bell, Dr. Larry Bramlage, Donald R. Dizney, Dell Hancock and Dr. Hiram C. Polk Jr. Each is a member of The Jockey Club.
“All seven of these individuals have dedicated a major part of their lives to Thoroughbred breeding and racing and have shown a consistent and unwavering concern for the welfare of Thoroughbreds,” Phipps said. “We will reach out to involve others in the industry and we will do everything in our power to encourage changes that will benefit the breed in any way. We will do this in a timely manner.”
John Barr is a semi-retired real estate developer in Orange County, Calif., who races his horses under the Oakcrest Stable banner. Barr serves on the board of directors and is past president of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association and also serves on the board of directors of the Oak Tree Racing Association.
James G. Bell is president of Darley USA in Lexington, Ky., and serves on the boards of Keeneland Association, the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and Thoroughbred Charities of America. He also serves as vice president of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders and is a member of the Sales Integrity Task Force.
Dr. Larry Bramlage is a partner in Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky. He is past president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners and serves on the board of directors of Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. In 1994, Bramlage was awarded The Jockey Club Medal for his dedication and contributions to Thoroughbred racing.
Donald Dizney owns Double Diamond Farm in Ocala, Fla. He is past president of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association and serves on the board of directors of Breeders’ Cup Ltd. He founded Orlando, Fla.-based United Medical Corporation in 1974 and serves as its chairman and CEO.
Dell Hancock is co-owner of Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky., and chairman of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. She also serves on the American Graded Stakes Committee. She has also been actively involved with the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, the Kentucky Horse Park and other organizations through the years.
Stuart S. Janney III is chairman of Bessemer Trust Company and of Bessemer Securities Corporation. A longtime owner/breeder, Janney serves as chairman of the board of Blood-Horse Publications and sits on the boards of several other industry organizations, including the New York Racing Association, Keeneland Association and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, where he also served as chairman.
Dr. Hiram C. Polk Jr. is a prominent professor of surgery at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, as well as the emeritus editor in chief of The American Journal of Surgery. A Thoroughbred owner and breeder, Polk served on the steering committee for the second Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit, held in March 2008, and also serves on the board of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.
Ogden Mills Phipps, the chairman of The Jockey Club, announced today that the officers have commissioned a seven-member Thoroughbred Safety Committee.
Phipps said that the committee would be asked to review every facet of equine health, including breeding practices, medication, the rules of racing and track surfaces, and to recommend actions to be taken by the industry to improve the health and safety of Thoroughbreds.
The recommendations emanating from the two Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summits will serve as starting points for the committee. Three of the seven members of the newly formed committee were participants in both summits.
The Jockey Club and Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation coordinated and underwrote those summits in October 2006 and March 2008. A strategic plan developed after the first summit and a summary of recommendations proposed at the second are available at www.grayson-jockeyclub.org/summit.
In addition to Phipps, the other officers of The Jockey Club are Vice Chairman William S. Farish and Secretary-Treasurer James C. Brady.
The seven members of the committee are Stuart S. Janney III (chairman), John Barr, James G. (Jimmy) Bell, Dr. Larry Bramlage, Donald R. Dizney, Dell Hancock and Dr. Hiram C. Polk Jr. Each is a member of The Jockey Club.
“All seven of these individuals have dedicated a major part of their lives to Thoroughbred breeding and racing and have shown a consistent and unwavering concern for the welfare of Thoroughbreds,” Phipps said. “We will reach out to involve others in the industry and we will do everything in our power to encourage changes that will benefit the breed in any way. We will do this in a timely manner.”
John Barr is a semi-retired real estate developer in Orange County, Calif., who races his horses under the Oakcrest Stable banner. Barr serves on the board of directors and is past president of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association and also serves on the board of directors of the Oak Tree Racing Association.
James G. Bell is president of Darley USA in Lexington, Ky., and serves on the boards of Keeneland Association, the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and Thoroughbred Charities of America. He also serves as vice president of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders and is a member of the Sales Integrity Task Force.
Dr. Larry Bramlage is a partner in Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky. He is past president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners and serves on the board of directors of Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. In 1994, Bramlage was awarded The Jockey Club Medal for his dedication and contributions to Thoroughbred racing.
Donald Dizney owns Double Diamond Farm in Ocala, Fla. He is past president of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association and serves on the board of directors of Breeders’ Cup Ltd. He founded Orlando, Fla.-based United Medical Corporation in 1974 and serves as its chairman and CEO.
Dell Hancock is co-owner of Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky., and chairman of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. She also serves on the American Graded Stakes Committee. She has also been actively involved with the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, the Kentucky Horse Park and other organizations through the years.
Stuart S. Janney III is chairman of Bessemer Trust Company and of Bessemer Securities Corporation. A longtime owner/breeder, Janney serves as chairman of the board of Blood-Horse Publications and sits on the boards of several other industry organizations, including the New York Racing Association, Keeneland Association and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, where he also served as chairman.
Dr. Hiram C. Polk Jr. is a prominent professor of surgery at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, as well as the emeritus editor in chief of The American Journal of Surgery. A Thoroughbred owner and breeder, Polk served on the steering committee for the second Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit, held in March 2008, and also serves on the board of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
HLC free selections, May 8
From Handicappers Learning Center
Arlington Park, race 2, 2:52 pm et
6 – Tattooed Lady
3- Our Perfect Dar
Exacta 6+3 over 4+1
Hollywood Park, race 1, 4:20 pm.et
1 – Gold Datnoid
4- Real Lift
Exacta 1+4 over 3+5
Master1 Complete
The sheet that covers it all!!
Includes "Gold and Silver Power Play",
New- Race Rating, easy to read and much
Click link on left rail
Arlington Park, race 2, 2:52 pm et
6 – Tattooed Lady
3- Our Perfect Dar
Exacta 6+3 over 4+1
Hollywood Park, race 1, 4:20 pm.et
1 – Gold Datnoid
4- Real Lift
Exacta 1+4 over 3+5
Master1 Complete
The sheet that covers it all!!
Includes "Gold and Silver Power Play",
New- Race Rating, easy to read and much
Click link on left rail
Pair joins Preakness lineup
From Pimlico
Saying “we’re there to win”, co-owner Ronnie Lamarque announced this afternoon that Recapturetheglory, who finished fifth to Big Brown in last Saturday’s Kentucky Derby is confirmed for next Saturday’s $1 million Preakness® Stakes (Grade I) at Pimlico Race Course.
“First of all we know that we belong,” said Lamarque from New Orleans. “Of the 33,000 horses that were foaled three years ago, twenty of them made it to the Derby and we beat fifteen of them. Big Brown is a bear but we’re not going to run in it to run second. We’re there to win and we believe it is a speed favoring racetrack. I’ll look at all the other entrants. They don’t scare me at all and I believe our horse definitely belongs and we feel like the Preakness is our kind of race.”
With assistant trainer Lara Van Deren up, fifth-place Kentucky Derby finisher Recapturetheglory jogged a mile and galloped a mile before the renovation break Wednesday morning at Churchill Downs. The confirmed frontrunner won the Illinois Derby (Grade II) and has finished in the money six times in seven career starts. E.T. Baird will have the riding assignment.
“Right now he’s doing very, very well,” said Lamarque, who co-owns the son of Cherokee Run with trainer Louis Roussel. “The colt is in Kentucky and in very wonderful hands of Lara. We wouldn’t be considering Baltimore if we didn’t think we had a contender. I don’t want to go with a pretender. I hope everyone who is entering, their horse better be at the top of their game. He looks better today than he did before the Derby. He came out of the race, I thought he would be lethargic. Now we getting ready for the Preakness and I pray to God they know what they getting into. They are going against Big Bad Leroy Brown. We’re ready to go against him. You never know what’s going to go on in the ring because we’re not afraid.”
Lamarque and trainer Roussel are no strangers to the Preakness. They combined to take the 1988 renewal with Risen Star, a horse who finished third in the Derby two weeks earlier. On the Pimlico cupola during the presentation of the Woodlawn Vase, Lamarque was permitted to sing his ode to Risen Star on national television. He later did it with WMAR-TV sports director Scott Garceau.
“Twenty years ago my life was centered around a horse named Risen Star. He was magnificent and he brought another meaning to us in New Orleans and especially Louie,” added Lamarque. “It was a great way for me to write words to a song that went with a race horse. Recapturetheglory is a different kind of horse. I’m twenty years my senior. I’m laid back somewhat now. I have a young son, he’s eleven and I’m now more walking with my lord savior than I was then. I was a terror, now I’m a little more confined. If I get in the winners’ circle you never know if you’re going to hear a song from me so don’t turn off the television you just never know.”
Recapturetheglory will be leaving Louisville Friday evening and arriving at Pimlico Saturday morning.
Enter Racecar Rhapsody
Trainer Kenny McPeek informed Pimlico racing secretary Georganne Hale this morning that Racecar Rhapsody, fourth in the Lexington Stakes (Grade II) at Keeneland on April 19 in his most recent start, is headed to the Preakness. A Kentucky-bred son of Tale of the Cat out of the A.P. Indy mare Reflect the Music, Racecar Rhapsody has compiled a record of 6-1-1-1 with earnings of $148,391. Racecar Rhapsody opened 2008 with a fourth-place finish in the Lane’s End Stakes (Grade II) at Turfway Park on March 22.
“The horse is training really well,” McPeek said. “We kind of feel like we might be running for second money with Big Brown being as impressive as he’s been but you never know.”
Robby Albarado, who has ridden the colt in six of his starts, will have the mount as he shoots for his second consecutive Preakness victory. He piloted Curlin to victory in last year’s Preakness.
The Preakness starter list now stands at nine-Big Brown; Recapturetheglory; Behindatthebar; Giant Moon; Kentucky Bear; Racecar Rhapsody; Stevil; Tres Borrachos and Yankee Bravo along with three other potential runners.
Saying “we’re there to win”, co-owner Ronnie Lamarque announced this afternoon that Recapturetheglory, who finished fifth to Big Brown in last Saturday’s Kentucky Derby is confirmed for next Saturday’s $1 million Preakness® Stakes (Grade I) at Pimlico Race Course.
“First of all we know that we belong,” said Lamarque from New Orleans. “Of the 33,000 horses that were foaled three years ago, twenty of them made it to the Derby and we beat fifteen of them. Big Brown is a bear but we’re not going to run in it to run second. We’re there to win and we believe it is a speed favoring racetrack. I’ll look at all the other entrants. They don’t scare me at all and I believe our horse definitely belongs and we feel like the Preakness is our kind of race.”
With assistant trainer Lara Van Deren up, fifth-place Kentucky Derby finisher Recapturetheglory jogged a mile and galloped a mile before the renovation break Wednesday morning at Churchill Downs. The confirmed frontrunner won the Illinois Derby (Grade II) and has finished in the money six times in seven career starts. E.T. Baird will have the riding assignment.
“Right now he’s doing very, very well,” said Lamarque, who co-owns the son of Cherokee Run with trainer Louis Roussel. “The colt is in Kentucky and in very wonderful hands of Lara. We wouldn’t be considering Baltimore if we didn’t think we had a contender. I don’t want to go with a pretender. I hope everyone who is entering, their horse better be at the top of their game. He looks better today than he did before the Derby. He came out of the race, I thought he would be lethargic. Now we getting ready for the Preakness and I pray to God they know what they getting into. They are going against Big Bad Leroy Brown. We’re ready to go against him. You never know what’s going to go on in the ring because we’re not afraid.”
Lamarque and trainer Roussel are no strangers to the Preakness. They combined to take the 1988 renewal with Risen Star, a horse who finished third in the Derby two weeks earlier. On the Pimlico cupola during the presentation of the Woodlawn Vase, Lamarque was permitted to sing his ode to Risen Star on national television. He later did it with WMAR-TV sports director Scott Garceau.
“Twenty years ago my life was centered around a horse named Risen Star. He was magnificent and he brought another meaning to us in New Orleans and especially Louie,” added Lamarque. “It was a great way for me to write words to a song that went with a race horse. Recapturetheglory is a different kind of horse. I’m twenty years my senior. I’m laid back somewhat now. I have a young son, he’s eleven and I’m now more walking with my lord savior than I was then. I was a terror, now I’m a little more confined. If I get in the winners’ circle you never know if you’re going to hear a song from me so don’t turn off the television you just never know.”
Recapturetheglory will be leaving Louisville Friday evening and arriving at Pimlico Saturday morning.
Enter Racecar Rhapsody
Trainer Kenny McPeek informed Pimlico racing secretary Georganne Hale this morning that Racecar Rhapsody, fourth in the Lexington Stakes (Grade II) at Keeneland on April 19 in his most recent start, is headed to the Preakness. A Kentucky-bred son of Tale of the Cat out of the A.P. Indy mare Reflect the Music, Racecar Rhapsody has compiled a record of 6-1-1-1 with earnings of $148,391. Racecar Rhapsody opened 2008 with a fourth-place finish in the Lane’s End Stakes (Grade II) at Turfway Park on March 22.
“The horse is training really well,” McPeek said. “We kind of feel like we might be running for second money with Big Brown being as impressive as he’s been but you never know.”
Robby Albarado, who has ridden the colt in six of his starts, will have the mount as he shoots for his second consecutive Preakness victory. He piloted Curlin to victory in last year’s Preakness.
The Preakness starter list now stands at nine-Big Brown; Recapturetheglory; Behindatthebar; Giant Moon; Kentucky Bear; Racecar Rhapsody; Stevil; Tres Borrachos and Yankee Bravo along with three other potential runners.
Midweek notes: Brown unscathed by Derby
From Churchill Downs, NYRA
With Michelle Nevin up, Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown jogged a mile alongside a pony Wednesday morning shortly before 7 o’clock at Churchill Downs.
Trainer Rick Dutrow, feeling much better after being under the weather since the weekend, liked what he saw and said Big Brown would gallop in the morning.
The two weeks between the Kentucky Derby and Preakness continues to be Dutrow’s biggest concern.
“Coming back in two weeks, he is stacked up against it,” Dutrow said. “He’s not a robot. He has run fast races and fast numbers and two weeks is not ideal timing. You need time to regroup, and we haven’t got that kind of time.”
One fast number that particularly intrigued Dutrow was Big Brown’s Kentucky Derby performance.
“I heard that he ran the fastest Ragozin Sheets number of a Kentucky Derby winner,” Dutrow said. “It was a minus 1.”
So, what does that portend for the Preakness?
“He’s got to react to it, but he is not going to need to run a minus1 again,” Dutrow said. “He’s not going to need it. The other horses going into the race, their numbers don’t match up with his. They don’t even come close. So, I am figuring he can run a 5 and still win the race.”
The fact Big Brown has scared off practically all of his Derby rivals is fine with Dutrow.
“I hope there is no one over there that is going to run big,” Dutrow said. “I felt that half of them didn’t belong in the Derby anyway.
“We only have two weeks. There is nothing I can do. I just have to hope that he stays good. There is no serious training involved. There is not a whole lot that depends on me. He has come out of the race good, eaten every oat since he has run. I just have to decide if I am going to give him a little breeze or not before his next race.
“We leave on the 14th, which is three days out, which is beautiful with me. I like that. He would not breeze here. It would be very, very minor.”
Japanese Belmont prospects work
Following the mid-morning break to groom Belmont Park’s main track Wednesday, Japanese invaders Casino Drive, Spark Candle and Champagne Squall put in their first serious works since arriving here on April 30.
The three worked in company, with Spark Candle and Champagne Squall staying well off the rail and allowing Casino Drive the inside path. Casino Drive was clocked five furlongs in 59.94, handily, Spark Candle in 1:01.94, handily and Champagne Squall in 1:01.11, handily, on the fast track.
Casino Drive and Spark Candle, are pointed for Saturday’s 55th running of the Grade 2, $200,000 Peter Pan for three-year-olds at nine furlongs, while the Irish-bred Champagne Squall, a maiden, will likely find a spot on turf next week. All are owned by Hidetoshi Yamamoto and trained by Kazuo Fujisawa.
The star of the group is Casino Drive, who will be ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux, winner of Saturday’s Kentucky Derby aboard Big Brown. Casino Drive, purchased for $950,000 in the Keeneland September 2006 sale, is a half-brother to 2006 Belmont Stakes winner Jazil and a three-quarter-brother to Rags to Riches, who last year became one of three fillies to win the Belmont Stakes. All three horses share the same dam, Better Than Honour. Jazil is by Seeking the Gold; Rags to Riches is by 1992 Belmont Stakes winner and Horse of the Year A.P. Indy, and Casino Drive is by 2003 Horse of the Year, Mineshaft, a son of A.P. Indy.
“All we hope for on Saturday is that the horses have a safe trip and come back healthy,” said Nobutaka Tada, managing director for Globe Equine Management Ltd. “Casino Drive is going to run in the Belmont (June 7), regardless of how he runs on Saturday. He needs the race.
“It is because of his breeding for the Belmont Stakes that we are here, and (hopefully) we can attract many people to the race. The owner (Yamamoto) is very sports-minded, and this is why these horses have come to America.”
Yamamoto is president and CEO of Tokyo’s Fields Corporation, whose main activities are to develop, manufacture, design and sell amusement/game machines such as Pachinko and slot machines. Fields Corporation is also involved in operating sport gym management, selling jewelry and real estate business.
Casino Drive has had one race, that being an 11 ½-length victory at Kyoto on February 23, where he covered “about” nine furlongs in 1:54 2/5. An outbreak of influenza in Japan has kept Casino Drive on the move from training centers to other tracks, avoiding the illness and adhering to Japanese restrictions on shipping out of the country.
Spark Candle is a son of A.P. Indy out of Serena’s Song, who won 11 Grade 1 races and retired as the biggest money-winning female in North American racing history. He was purchased out of the same sale as Casino Drive for $1.5 million. He has raced mainly on turf, and his lone dirt try was a disaster.
Tada said the horses would likely jog or walk on Thursday and canter (gallop) on Friday morning.
Giant Moon breezes for Preakness
Preakness candidate Giant Moon worked five furlongs in 1:01.04 Wednesday morning under exercise rider Cesar Correa, leaving trainer Rick Schosberg confident the New York-bred son of Giant’s Causeway was on target for the second leg of racing’s Triple Crown.
“He’s fit,” said Schosberg of Giant Moon, who worked in tandem with the allowance horse Tangesti. “He’ll work an easy half Tuesday, depending on the weather, and we’ll ship down Thursday after training to get acquainted with the track.”
Undefeated through his first four starts, Giant Moon finished 47 lengths behind Visionaire in the Grade 3 Gotham on March 8 over a sloppy track, then was fourth to Take of Ekati in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial April 5. Visionaire went on to finish 12th in the Kentucky Derby behind Big Brown while Tale of Ekati was fourth.
“If you look at the Derby, only two horses ran really well,” said Schosberg. “In the Preakness, it will be a new group of horses and I think my horse should move forward off the Wood. It depends on how much he moves forward, but I think he can run a good race in the Preakness.
“On the other hand, I don’t see anyone beating Big Brown if he runs back to the Derby,” he continued. “Even if he runs a couple of lengths slower, I don’t see anyone beating him. But they still have to go around once.”
Harlem Rocker remains a Preakness possibility
Joining Giant Moon in Baltimore could be Stronach Stables’ undefeated Harlem Rocker, winner of the Grade 3 Withers April 26 at Aqueduct. Trainer Todd Pletcher said the gray son of Macho Uno will work either Saturday or Sunday, after which a decision will be made on whether to take on Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown on May 17.
“We’ll watch him work this weekend and talk to the Stronachs,” said Pletcher. “The Preakness is a good progression for him. Taking on Big Brown is not something everyone is looking forward to. But, he’d be going into the Preakness with the same record Big Brown went into the Derby with.”
Harlem Rocker made his first two starts at Gulfstream Park, taking a seven-furlong maiden race on Valentine’s Day and then winning a one-mile allowance on March 30. In the Withers, he came wide and ran off to a 2 ½ length victory over favored J Be K in 1:34.50 under Eibar Coa.
“He’s lightly raced, but he’s done everything right,” said Pletcher.
With Michelle Nevin up, Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown jogged a mile alongside a pony Wednesday morning shortly before 7 o’clock at Churchill Downs.
Trainer Rick Dutrow, feeling much better after being under the weather since the weekend, liked what he saw and said Big Brown would gallop in the morning.
The two weeks between the Kentucky Derby and Preakness continues to be Dutrow’s biggest concern.
“Coming back in two weeks, he is stacked up against it,” Dutrow said. “He’s not a robot. He has run fast races and fast numbers and two weeks is not ideal timing. You need time to regroup, and we haven’t got that kind of time.”
One fast number that particularly intrigued Dutrow was Big Brown’s Kentucky Derby performance.
“I heard that he ran the fastest Ragozin Sheets number of a Kentucky Derby winner,” Dutrow said. “It was a minus 1.”
So, what does that portend for the Preakness?
“He’s got to react to it, but he is not going to need to run a minus1 again,” Dutrow said. “He’s not going to need it. The other horses going into the race, their numbers don’t match up with his. They don’t even come close. So, I am figuring he can run a 5 and still win the race.”
The fact Big Brown has scared off practically all of his Derby rivals is fine with Dutrow.
“I hope there is no one over there that is going to run big,” Dutrow said. “I felt that half of them didn’t belong in the Derby anyway.
“We only have two weeks. There is nothing I can do. I just have to hope that he stays good. There is no serious training involved. There is not a whole lot that depends on me. He has come out of the race good, eaten every oat since he has run. I just have to decide if I am going to give him a little breeze or not before his next race.
“We leave on the 14th, which is three days out, which is beautiful with me. I like that. He would not breeze here. It would be very, very minor.”
Japanese Belmont prospects work
Following the mid-morning break to groom Belmont Park’s main track Wednesday, Japanese invaders Casino Drive, Spark Candle and Champagne Squall put in their first serious works since arriving here on April 30.
The three worked in company, with Spark Candle and Champagne Squall staying well off the rail and allowing Casino Drive the inside path. Casino Drive was clocked five furlongs in 59.94, handily, Spark Candle in 1:01.94, handily and Champagne Squall in 1:01.11, handily, on the fast track.
Casino Drive and Spark Candle, are pointed for Saturday’s 55th running of the Grade 2, $200,000 Peter Pan for three-year-olds at nine furlongs, while the Irish-bred Champagne Squall, a maiden, will likely find a spot on turf next week. All are owned by Hidetoshi Yamamoto and trained by Kazuo Fujisawa.
The star of the group is Casino Drive, who will be ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux, winner of Saturday’s Kentucky Derby aboard Big Brown. Casino Drive, purchased for $950,000 in the Keeneland September 2006 sale, is a half-brother to 2006 Belmont Stakes winner Jazil and a three-quarter-brother to Rags to Riches, who last year became one of three fillies to win the Belmont Stakes. All three horses share the same dam, Better Than Honour. Jazil is by Seeking the Gold; Rags to Riches is by 1992 Belmont Stakes winner and Horse of the Year A.P. Indy, and Casino Drive is by 2003 Horse of the Year, Mineshaft, a son of A.P. Indy.
“All we hope for on Saturday is that the horses have a safe trip and come back healthy,” said Nobutaka Tada, managing director for Globe Equine Management Ltd. “Casino Drive is going to run in the Belmont (June 7), regardless of how he runs on Saturday. He needs the race.
“It is because of his breeding for the Belmont Stakes that we are here, and (hopefully) we can attract many people to the race. The owner (Yamamoto) is very sports-minded, and this is why these horses have come to America.”
Yamamoto is president and CEO of Tokyo’s Fields Corporation, whose main activities are to develop, manufacture, design and sell amusement/game machines such as Pachinko and slot machines. Fields Corporation is also involved in operating sport gym management, selling jewelry and real estate business.
Casino Drive has had one race, that being an 11 ½-length victory at Kyoto on February 23, where he covered “about” nine furlongs in 1:54 2/5. An outbreak of influenza in Japan has kept Casino Drive on the move from training centers to other tracks, avoiding the illness and adhering to Japanese restrictions on shipping out of the country.
Spark Candle is a son of A.P. Indy out of Serena’s Song, who won 11 Grade 1 races and retired as the biggest money-winning female in North American racing history. He was purchased out of the same sale as Casino Drive for $1.5 million. He has raced mainly on turf, and his lone dirt try was a disaster.
Tada said the horses would likely jog or walk on Thursday and canter (gallop) on Friday morning.
Giant Moon breezes for Preakness
Preakness candidate Giant Moon worked five furlongs in 1:01.04 Wednesday morning under exercise rider Cesar Correa, leaving trainer Rick Schosberg confident the New York-bred son of Giant’s Causeway was on target for the second leg of racing’s Triple Crown.
“He’s fit,” said Schosberg of Giant Moon, who worked in tandem with the allowance horse Tangesti. “He’ll work an easy half Tuesday, depending on the weather, and we’ll ship down Thursday after training to get acquainted with the track.”
Undefeated through his first four starts, Giant Moon finished 47 lengths behind Visionaire in the Grade 3 Gotham on March 8 over a sloppy track, then was fourth to Take of Ekati in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial April 5. Visionaire went on to finish 12th in the Kentucky Derby behind Big Brown while Tale of Ekati was fourth.
“If you look at the Derby, only two horses ran really well,” said Schosberg. “In the Preakness, it will be a new group of horses and I think my horse should move forward off the Wood. It depends on how much he moves forward, but I think he can run a good race in the Preakness.
“On the other hand, I don’t see anyone beating Big Brown if he runs back to the Derby,” he continued. “Even if he runs a couple of lengths slower, I don’t see anyone beating him. But they still have to go around once.”
Harlem Rocker remains a Preakness possibility
Joining Giant Moon in Baltimore could be Stronach Stables’ undefeated Harlem Rocker, winner of the Grade 3 Withers April 26 at Aqueduct. Trainer Todd Pletcher said the gray son of Macho Uno will work either Saturday or Sunday, after which a decision will be made on whether to take on Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown on May 17.
“We’ll watch him work this weekend and talk to the Stronachs,” said Pletcher. “The Preakness is a good progression for him. Taking on Big Brown is not something everyone is looking forward to. But, he’d be going into the Preakness with the same record Big Brown went into the Derby with.”
Harlem Rocker made his first two starts at Gulfstream Park, taking a seven-furlong maiden race on Valentine’s Day and then winning a one-mile allowance on March 30. In the Withers, he came wide and ran off to a 2 ½ length victory over favored J Be K in 1:34.50 under Eibar Coa.
“He’s lightly raced, but he’s done everything right,” said Pletcher.
An open letter to the racing industry
Note: This is an open letter sent by a concerned racing enthusiast to all ESPN.com racing columnists and others. It is posted here as a contribution of the ongoing dialogue in the wake of Eight Belle’s death resulting from injuries suffered in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.
To whom it may concern:
Attached is a letter below on the current state of the horseracing industry and what, in my view, should be done to fix it. Hopefully you will find this useful and it is my earnest hope that this letter will foster discussion on implementation of the recommendations, or similar ones, to those provided below. I have sent copies to Horseplayer Magazine, BloodHorse, The Thoroughbred Times, The Daily Racing Form, NYRA, NTRA, Churchill Downs, Inc., Penn National Gaming, Magna Entertainment Inc., and the Grayson Foundation. I would appreciate your forwarding of this letter to Mr. Moss as well as anyone else in the industry not included in the above for whom you deem appropriate. Continued Inaction is Inexcusable
By way of introduction I have been a horseracing fan for thirty of my thirty-four years, ever since I watch Affirmed and Alydar battle it out in 1978 at the tender age of four.. Have been going to the track since I was six or seven and a serious handicapper and bettor since I was about fourteen. I have been saddened by the continued decline of the sport for the last three decades.
And now, once again racing as an industry will suffer bad publicity, and for every fan excited by Big Brown's victory, many more will be turned off to the sport forever by Eight Belles death on the racetrack, just as they were by Barbaro's catastrophic injury, and by Ruffian's tragic match race so many years ago. In the Derby’s aftermath there are letters from PETA, and an editorial in the NY Times by William C. Rhoden which compares the sport to bullfighting, defines it as animal cruelty, and pretty much implicitly calls for an outright ban on the sport itself. Far more people will be reading the NY Times sports pages than the defenses of what happened in the various industry publications. Is there any real defense? What defenses have been laid out, in my view have been woefully inadequate, as if everyone has closed ranks to call this a "freak accident". Maybe, in Eight Belles' case it was a freak circumstance and I'm not here to lay blame at the feet of either Trainer Larry Jones or Jockey Saez.
What I am concerned about as a horseplayer and a fan of the game, is the industry will once again either completely ignore the issue of racehorse injury, or even worse, go about fixing the wrong problems, such as PETA's letter which calls for the use of synthetic surfaces on a nationwide basis. Handle on the Derby, the signature event in racingwas down for the second consecutive year, and handle is everything in horseracing - it is the revenue source that supports the entire racing industry. Why was handle down, even while on track attendance was extremely high? Because big money bettors have deemed synthetic surfaces to be, if not impossible to handicap, at the least very difficult. Handle on the Breeder's Cup is likely to be lower as well when it is run at Santa Anita later this year.
There are three key questions to ask ourselves in the synthetic surface debate and safety debate: Are synthetic surfaces safer than dirt surfaces? If they are safer based on limited evidence so far, will they be safer in the long term? How do we satisfy both the safety concerns that will help prevent catastrophic injuries and satisfy the big money bettors who drive a high percentage of the handle, the lifeblood on which the industry depends? While I don't have hard core data (and it
would be interesting to me if someone who does have data could prove my anecdotal conclusions right or wrong) I do have my anecdotal observations from watching racing over the last thirty years of my life upon which I draw the conclusions below. I will take each of these questions in turn, and then address other issues in the game today before I conclude.
(1) Are synthetic surfaces inherently safer than dirt surfaces? Based upon the early evidence this should be a short discussion. The early evidence based upon injuries per starters shows that these surfaces, at least in the short term and on the limited data available are indeed safer. However, I would argue that synthetic surfaces are safer than dirt surfaces, as they are managed by track superintendents
in today's game. Historically speaking dirt surfaces are very safe. Back in the '60s horses could run every 7 to 14 days without any issues. In fact horses had run, up to the 1970's/80's for the better part of a century on dirt in relative safety. Now they are more likely to takebreaks of 28 to 40 days on a regular basis. To understand why this is so, we need to examine what has changed in the game snce then. The 1970's changed the game forever and it has created a slippery slope since the 1980's that has dragged horseracing on a perpetually downhill trajectory. These, are above and beyond the stock excuse of wider competition for gambling dollars, and include: inflation and the advent of year round racing, introduction of drugs into sports (the 1970's marked the beginning of the steroids era of football), and a change to the racing surfaces, which is my focus now.
There is no doubt that when one looks at race times, on average, that tracks are faster surfaces than they were historically. Why? Better drainage, lack of an adequate "cushion" on the surface, and track superintendents who "seal" the track and then squeeze and compress the dirt to oblivion to get all the water out so they can have a fast track (no doubt at the behest of track management). This then turns the track into a rock hard super highway, as was done on Derby Day. Anyone watching the early races, as I did, saw fractions that were very fast and knew inherently that the track had been pressed into a superhighway for the big day. All I remember fearing at the time was, someone's going to break down on this.
The best anecdotal evidence I have of this is a couple of years ago at Saratoga, as that is the one track I travel to in person for two weeks every year for the last twenty. They added a deeper cushion layer to the track throughout the meet, and injuries were indeed lower. Then the morning of Travers Day they were out scraping down the surface and making sure the track was "supped-up" for the big day. And what happened on the under card or on Sunday? (the memory fails). That's right; a cheaper horse got pulled up in the stretch after suffering a life ending injury.
So what can be done? Superintendents need to add a deep cushion layer to all dirt tracks and when it rains, do not seal the track, do not stamp it down into nearly cement hard fastness, just let it be as used to be done historically, because repeatedly doing that no doubt makes the course harder over time and compresses the cushion layer that needs to be maintained. When's the last time you saw a dirt course in the United States rated "muddy" that really wasn't rock hard fast nderneath surface water? How about a track rated "heavy", or "slow"?
Such track conditions were far more common historically, now they are virtually unheard of. In fact, the new track condition of "wet-fast" needed to be created because of how surfaces are managed differently today. What about the concern of trainers scratching en masse from non-fast track conditions? Well, track managements that actually enforce the scratch rules would be a start; but I say, let them cratch, it's far less a problem than letting horses compete on unsafe tracks. Lastly, for anyone who believes synthetics are safer than an adequately cushioned irt track that is left alone in weather, witness the issues with the Santa Anita surface this winter that caused closure of racing days it was so unsafe.
(2) Will synthetic surfaces be safer in the long term? Like the answer above, this touches on many inherent problems in today's game. We have to remember that adequately managed dirt surfaces were once safe as well. While poorly managed dirt surfaces are no doubt one of the reasons for catastrophic injuries, there are others. The fear is that these other factors, over time, will inherently lead to
catastrophic injuries being just as, or nearly as, prevalent over synthetic surfaces as they currently are over mismanaged dirt surfaces. There are two core problems that need to be addressed, otherwise I fear that outcome. First, legal and illegal drugs, and second, continuing refinement of breeding for ever greater speed.
When Ocala two year olds in training start breaking the 11 second barrier per furlong, I don't think there is any doubt that the successive generations of racehorses are being bred too fine for speed and not enough for stamina. This is no doubt driven by the need of the breeding industry for a quick monetary return on investment in two year old racing and the long term health of the horse be damned. This also creates a situation where horses retire after an 18 month career when
they've run 8-12 times, at the end of their three year old season, and there can be no long term sports fan identification with the stars of the sport to attract new ans to the game. Safer surfaces would no doubt help with horse longevity, but the economics of racing to breeding needs to change if racing is to survive. One of the more radical thoughts I've had for years is to make what is currently 2 year old racing for 3 year olds, and what is currently 3 year old racing for 4 year olds. I'm glad to see such influential individuals as Curlin's ownership also champion this ause.
So what can be done? Racing horses at 2 is probably the one area where I actually agree with the PETA types. Any astute horseman knows that horses at 2 are undeveloped and morelikely than not racing on knees that have not even closed yet. This cannot be conducive to the long term health of the animal. By starting racing when three year olds are in the spring of their three year old year, breeders would miss out on one year of quicker ROI, but then the whole economics would reasonably shift out. Of course, racing on safer surfaces as pointed out above would help. Racetracks actively shifting purses away from young horse racing would help, too,thoughI don't see managements actively doing this without being mandated to do so.
The drug problem is no doubt prevalent. When certain trainers were good "off the claim" historically it meant they got win percentages in the high teens, maybe twenty percent, first time with a new horse in a barn. Now trainers who are recognized by handicappers for this angle routinely get percentages in the thirties. It doesn't take much of a logical leap to know that something fishy is going on.
When prominent trainers such as Todd Pletcher, Steve Asmussen, and Big Brown's own Rick Dutrow, Jr. have all served suspensions of varying lengths for the illegal drugging of horses in their care, it's not much of a further leap to know that it
is extremely widespread. The drug problem is significant not only because it threatens the very integrity of the game from a betting perspective, but also because it threatens the long term health of the animal. Without horses and bettors there is no horse racing. It also threatens the long term health of successive generations of thoroughbreds as drugs are used to cover over various infirmities and
the "great" horses most sought after for breeding purposes breed those infirmities into the next generation, and so on, until the breed invariably thins out.
So what can be done? First and foremost, the banning of all drugs, including legal ones such as Lasix and Bute as they can be used as masking agents for other illegal drugging methods. Second, the testing of every horse, in every race for every known performance enhancing substance, via a sampling of urine and blood. The key industry
opposition to this in the past has been cost. I would gladly pay a 1% higher takeout on all bets made to cover the cost of such an endeavor that would assure the integrity of the game. I would gladly also pay a further 1% designated to equine health research. Third, if drug cheats are found, they should not be slapped with meaningless suspension and miniscule fines, as is current practice. If the steroid debacle in baseball has proven anything it is that the sport needs to clean itself
up. Any proven drug cheats should be banned from every race track in the United States for at least two full years. (although something more like five might be preferable), and upon reinstatement of their trainer's license should serve under a strict probation for five years, where they are even more closely monitored for any illegal activity. The punishment must fit the heinousness of this crime and the disregard it shows to the well being of the horse. Not only that but, criminal authorities should be allowed to get involved for repeated offenders and jail time should not be out of the question given animal protection laws already on the
books in many states.
(3) Is there a way to please both the bettors and insure safety? I've already half answered this question above by advocating for safer management of dirt tracks. The fact that handle is down at nearly all synthetic surface meets demonstrates the lack of form over this surface. Lack of form leads to lack of predictability, and lack of predictability will cause the big money players to walk and apply their gambling
intellect to either solely turf racing or, to the poker rooms at casino's around the world. Racing is a unique speculative endeavor, along with poker that is an intellectual pursuit and is beatable by some even after the track take. If such fans walk away, there is no more industry
So, what can be done? I would advocate for the mandated availability of the use of synthetic surfaces for training at all tracks, and of fully cushioned and properly maintained, as outlined above, dirt surfaces for racing. Since main tracks would be safer dirt, those course would be available for training as well if desired. Not only does this protect against declines in handle, but it also will keep horses significantly safer than otherwise, and should please horsemen, horse players, and
race track executives.
There is a last problem which needs to be fully addressed and that is the lack of a centralized regulatory authority to mandate all the recommendations, or even similar recommendations as those outlined above. Since racing is run unlike any other sport and "regulated" at the state level you get varying standards and procedures from track to track. I would urge the major racing operators: NYRA, Churchill Downs
Inc., Magna Entertainment Corp., Penn National Gaming, and others to work together via the NTRA not only to market the sport but create a national regulatory body, somewhat like a commissioner’s office in other sports that could mandate changes necessary for the long term health of the sport we all love, and the safety of the animals we enjoy watching compete like nothing else in life. This would also include the dismantling of year-round racing, requiring all equine competitors to be
turned out once a season for a minimum of ten weeks or bared from further competition.
The racing industry is well past the time for action on these issues of drugs, safety of surfaces, length of racing careers, and catastrophic injuries. The tragic fate of Eight Belles may not have been prevented by the changes outlined above, for nothing will be a 100% perfect But her tragedy should nonetheless, on the back of Barbaro's also tragic fate, be a call to action for the broader industry to pull itself out of decline. If there is blame to be assigned for Eight Belles and similar
incidents the racing industry need do no more than collectively look in the mirror. Imagine how popular baseball would be if players every so often died when rounding third base and turning for home? Imagine the same for football if players did likewise after touchdowns? Imagine that, and it is suddenly not so hard to understand why the game has lost popularity since the 1970's and has found it so hard to compete for both sports fans and gambling dollars. I would urge bettors, if current practices do not change, to allocate your handle dollars away from two year old racing and synthetic surfaces, and to not bet on dirt races at tracks where superintendents and managements mismanage the surface. Fix it, and fix it now, or we'll all be gone, or close enough to it, within the next three decades.
Sincerely,
Ross A. Fowler
Lifelong Racing Fan
ramf007@yahoo.com
To whom it may concern:
Attached is a letter below on the current state of the horseracing industry and what, in my view, should be done to fix it. Hopefully you will find this useful and it is my earnest hope that this letter will foster discussion on implementation of the recommendations, or similar ones, to those provided below. I have sent copies to Horseplayer Magazine, BloodHorse, The Thoroughbred Times, The Daily Racing Form, NYRA, NTRA, Churchill Downs, Inc., Penn National Gaming, Magna Entertainment Inc., and the Grayson Foundation. I would appreciate your forwarding of this letter to Mr. Moss as well as anyone else in the industry not included in the above for whom you deem appropriate. Continued Inaction is Inexcusable
By way of introduction I have been a horseracing fan for thirty of my thirty-four years, ever since I watch Affirmed and Alydar battle it out in 1978 at the tender age of four.. Have been going to the track since I was six or seven and a serious handicapper and bettor since I was about fourteen. I have been saddened by the continued decline of the sport for the last three decades.
And now, once again racing as an industry will suffer bad publicity, and for every fan excited by Big Brown's victory, many more will be turned off to the sport forever by Eight Belles death on the racetrack, just as they were by Barbaro's catastrophic injury, and by Ruffian's tragic match race so many years ago. In the Derby’s aftermath there are letters from PETA, and an editorial in the NY Times by William C. Rhoden which compares the sport to bullfighting, defines it as animal cruelty, and pretty much implicitly calls for an outright ban on the sport itself. Far more people will be reading the NY Times sports pages than the defenses of what happened in the various industry publications. Is there any real defense? What defenses have been laid out, in my view have been woefully inadequate, as if everyone has closed ranks to call this a "freak accident". Maybe, in Eight Belles' case it was a freak circumstance and I'm not here to lay blame at the feet of either Trainer Larry Jones or Jockey Saez.
What I am concerned about as a horseplayer and a fan of the game, is the industry will once again either completely ignore the issue of racehorse injury, or even worse, go about fixing the wrong problems, such as PETA's letter which calls for the use of synthetic surfaces on a nationwide basis. Handle on the Derby, the signature event in racingwas down for the second consecutive year, and handle is everything in horseracing - it is the revenue source that supports the entire racing industry. Why was handle down, even while on track attendance was extremely high? Because big money bettors have deemed synthetic surfaces to be, if not impossible to handicap, at the least very difficult. Handle on the Breeder's Cup is likely to be lower as well when it is run at Santa Anita later this year.
There are three key questions to ask ourselves in the synthetic surface debate and safety debate: Are synthetic surfaces safer than dirt surfaces? If they are safer based on limited evidence so far, will they be safer in the long term? How do we satisfy both the safety concerns that will help prevent catastrophic injuries and satisfy the big money bettors who drive a high percentage of the handle, the lifeblood on which the industry depends? While I don't have hard core data (and it
would be interesting to me if someone who does have data could prove my anecdotal conclusions right or wrong) I do have my anecdotal observations from watching racing over the last thirty years of my life upon which I draw the conclusions below. I will take each of these questions in turn, and then address other issues in the game today before I conclude.
(1) Are synthetic surfaces inherently safer than dirt surfaces? Based upon the early evidence this should be a short discussion. The early evidence based upon injuries per starters shows that these surfaces, at least in the short term and on the limited data available are indeed safer. However, I would argue that synthetic surfaces are safer than dirt surfaces, as they are managed by track superintendents
in today's game. Historically speaking dirt surfaces are very safe. Back in the '60s horses could run every 7 to 14 days without any issues. In fact horses had run, up to the 1970's/80's for the better part of a century on dirt in relative safety. Now they are more likely to takebreaks of 28 to 40 days on a regular basis. To understand why this is so, we need to examine what has changed in the game snce then. The 1970's changed the game forever and it has created a slippery slope since the 1980's that has dragged horseracing on a perpetually downhill trajectory. These, are above and beyond the stock excuse of wider competition for gambling dollars, and include: inflation and the advent of year round racing, introduction of drugs into sports (the 1970's marked the beginning of the steroids era of football), and a change to the racing surfaces, which is my focus now.
There is no doubt that when one looks at race times, on average, that tracks are faster surfaces than they were historically. Why? Better drainage, lack of an adequate "cushion" on the surface, and track superintendents who "seal" the track and then squeeze and compress the dirt to oblivion to get all the water out so they can have a fast track (no doubt at the behest of track management). This then turns the track into a rock hard super highway, as was done on Derby Day. Anyone watching the early races, as I did, saw fractions that were very fast and knew inherently that the track had been pressed into a superhighway for the big day. All I remember fearing at the time was, someone's going to break down on this.
The best anecdotal evidence I have of this is a couple of years ago at Saratoga, as that is the one track I travel to in person for two weeks every year for the last twenty. They added a deeper cushion layer to the track throughout the meet, and injuries were indeed lower. Then the morning of Travers Day they were out scraping down the surface and making sure the track was "supped-up" for the big day. And what happened on the under card or on Sunday? (the memory fails). That's right; a cheaper horse got pulled up in the stretch after suffering a life ending injury.
So what can be done? Superintendents need to add a deep cushion layer to all dirt tracks and when it rains, do not seal the track, do not stamp it down into nearly cement hard fastness, just let it be as used to be done historically, because repeatedly doing that no doubt makes the course harder over time and compresses the cushion layer that needs to be maintained. When's the last time you saw a dirt course in the United States rated "muddy" that really wasn't rock hard fast nderneath surface water? How about a track rated "heavy", or "slow"?
Such track conditions were far more common historically, now they are virtually unheard of. In fact, the new track condition of "wet-fast" needed to be created because of how surfaces are managed differently today. What about the concern of trainers scratching en masse from non-fast track conditions? Well, track managements that actually enforce the scratch rules would be a start; but I say, let them cratch, it's far less a problem than letting horses compete on unsafe tracks. Lastly, for anyone who believes synthetics are safer than an adequately cushioned irt track that is left alone in weather, witness the issues with the Santa Anita surface this winter that caused closure of racing days it was so unsafe.
(2) Will synthetic surfaces be safer in the long term? Like the answer above, this touches on many inherent problems in today's game. We have to remember that adequately managed dirt surfaces were once safe as well. While poorly managed dirt surfaces are no doubt one of the reasons for catastrophic injuries, there are others. The fear is that these other factors, over time, will inherently lead to
catastrophic injuries being just as, or nearly as, prevalent over synthetic surfaces as they currently are over mismanaged dirt surfaces. There are two core problems that need to be addressed, otherwise I fear that outcome. First, legal and illegal drugs, and second, continuing refinement of breeding for ever greater speed.
When Ocala two year olds in training start breaking the 11 second barrier per furlong, I don't think there is any doubt that the successive generations of racehorses are being bred too fine for speed and not enough for stamina. This is no doubt driven by the need of the breeding industry for a quick monetary return on investment in two year old racing and the long term health of the horse be damned. This also creates a situation where horses retire after an 18 month career when
they've run 8-12 times, at the end of their three year old season, and there can be no long term sports fan identification with the stars of the sport to attract new ans to the game. Safer surfaces would no doubt help with horse longevity, but the economics of racing to breeding needs to change if racing is to survive. One of the more radical thoughts I've had for years is to make what is currently 2 year old racing for 3 year olds, and what is currently 3 year old racing for 4 year olds. I'm glad to see such influential individuals as Curlin's ownership also champion this ause.
So what can be done? Racing horses at 2 is probably the one area where I actually agree with the PETA types. Any astute horseman knows that horses at 2 are undeveloped and morelikely than not racing on knees that have not even closed yet. This cannot be conducive to the long term health of the animal. By starting racing when three year olds are in the spring of their three year old year, breeders would miss out on one year of quicker ROI, but then the whole economics would reasonably shift out. Of course, racing on safer surfaces as pointed out above would help. Racetracks actively shifting purses away from young horse racing would help, too,thoughI don't see managements actively doing this without being mandated to do so.
The drug problem is no doubt prevalent. When certain trainers were good "off the claim" historically it meant they got win percentages in the high teens, maybe twenty percent, first time with a new horse in a barn. Now trainers who are recognized by handicappers for this angle routinely get percentages in the thirties. It doesn't take much of a logical leap to know that something fishy is going on.
When prominent trainers such as Todd Pletcher, Steve Asmussen, and Big Brown's own Rick Dutrow, Jr. have all served suspensions of varying lengths for the illegal drugging of horses in their care, it's not much of a further leap to know that it
is extremely widespread. The drug problem is significant not only because it threatens the very integrity of the game from a betting perspective, but also because it threatens the long term health of the animal. Without horses and bettors there is no horse racing. It also threatens the long term health of successive generations of thoroughbreds as drugs are used to cover over various infirmities and
the "great" horses most sought after for breeding purposes breed those infirmities into the next generation, and so on, until the breed invariably thins out.
So what can be done? First and foremost, the banning of all drugs, including legal ones such as Lasix and Bute as they can be used as masking agents for other illegal drugging methods. Second, the testing of every horse, in every race for every known performance enhancing substance, via a sampling of urine and blood. The key industry
opposition to this in the past has been cost. I would gladly pay a 1% higher takeout on all bets made to cover the cost of such an endeavor that would assure the integrity of the game. I would gladly also pay a further 1% designated to equine health research. Third, if drug cheats are found, they should not be slapped with meaningless suspension and miniscule fines, as is current practice. If the steroid debacle in baseball has proven anything it is that the sport needs to clean itself
up. Any proven drug cheats should be banned from every race track in the United States for at least two full years. (although something more like five might be preferable), and upon reinstatement of their trainer's license should serve under a strict probation for five years, where they are even more closely monitored for any illegal activity. The punishment must fit the heinousness of this crime and the disregard it shows to the well being of the horse. Not only that but, criminal authorities should be allowed to get involved for repeated offenders and jail time should not be out of the question given animal protection laws already on the
books in many states.
(3) Is there a way to please both the bettors and insure safety? I've already half answered this question above by advocating for safer management of dirt tracks. The fact that handle is down at nearly all synthetic surface meets demonstrates the lack of form over this surface. Lack of form leads to lack of predictability, and lack of predictability will cause the big money players to walk and apply their gambling
intellect to either solely turf racing or, to the poker rooms at casino's around the world. Racing is a unique speculative endeavor, along with poker that is an intellectual pursuit and is beatable by some even after the track take. If such fans walk away, there is no more industry
So, what can be done? I would advocate for the mandated availability of the use of synthetic surfaces for training at all tracks, and of fully cushioned and properly maintained, as outlined above, dirt surfaces for racing. Since main tracks would be safer dirt, those course would be available for training as well if desired. Not only does this protect against declines in handle, but it also will keep horses significantly safer than otherwise, and should please horsemen, horse players, and
race track executives.
There is a last problem which needs to be fully addressed and that is the lack of a centralized regulatory authority to mandate all the recommendations, or even similar recommendations as those outlined above. Since racing is run unlike any other sport and "regulated" at the state level you get varying standards and procedures from track to track. I would urge the major racing operators: NYRA, Churchill Downs
Inc., Magna Entertainment Corp., Penn National Gaming, and others to work together via the NTRA not only to market the sport but create a national regulatory body, somewhat like a commissioner’s office in other sports that could mandate changes necessary for the long term health of the sport we all love, and the safety of the animals we enjoy watching compete like nothing else in life. This would also include the dismantling of year-round racing, requiring all equine competitors to be
turned out once a season for a minimum of ten weeks or bared from further competition.
The racing industry is well past the time for action on these issues of drugs, safety of surfaces, length of racing careers, and catastrophic injuries. The tragic fate of Eight Belles may not have been prevented by the changes outlined above, for nothing will be a 100% perfect But her tragedy should nonetheless, on the back of Barbaro's also tragic fate, be a call to action for the broader industry to pull itself out of decline. If there is blame to be assigned for Eight Belles and similar
incidents the racing industry need do no more than collectively look in the mirror. Imagine how popular baseball would be if players every so often died when rounding third base and turning for home? Imagine the same for football if players did likewise after touchdowns? Imagine that, and it is suddenly not so hard to understand why the game has lost popularity since the 1970's and has found it so hard to compete for both sports fans and gambling dollars. I would urge bettors, if current practices do not change, to allocate your handle dollars away from two year old racing and synthetic surfaces, and to not bet on dirt races at tracks where superintendents and managements mismanage the surface. Fix it, and fix it now, or we'll all be gone, or close enough to it, within the next three decades.
Sincerely,
Ross A. Fowler
Lifelong Racing Fan
ramf007@yahoo.com
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
HLC free selections, May 7
From Handicappers Learning Center
Churchill Downs, race 1, 1:15 pm et
3 – Storm On The Block
4 – Kendon Valley
Exacta – 3+4 over 6+5
Bay Meadowns, race 5, 5:45 pm et
1 – Owen Roe O’neill
4- Priest River
Exacta – 1+4 over 6+2
Master1 Complete
The sheet that covers it all
Includes "Gold and Silver Power Play",
Churchill Downs, race 1, 1:15 pm et
3 – Storm On The Block
4 – Kendon Valley
Exacta – 3+4 over 6+5
Bay Meadowns, race 5, 5:45 pm et
1 – Owen Roe O’neill
4- Priest River
Exacta – 1+4 over 6+2
Master1 Complete
The sheet that covers it all
Includes "Gold and Silver Power Play",
Preakness: 7 in, 2 on the fence
Baltimore
From Pimlico
With the Preakness Stakes 11 days away, the field set to test Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown continues to change as the connections of eligible three-year-olds weigh a start in the middle jewel of the Triple Crown.
As of Tuesday afternoon there were seven confirmed starters: Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown; Behindatthebar; Giant Moon; Kentucky Bear; Stevil; Tres Borrachos and Yankee Bravo along with four other potential runners.
Trainer Rick Dutrow, still fighting a heavy cough, was back at the track Tuesday morning at Churchill Downs supervising his 12-horse string in Louisville.
“I’m doing all right; it’s just all that dirt that Big Brown kicked up in my lungs,” Dutrow said with a laugh.
Big Brown, owned by IEAH Stables and Paul Pompa Jr., is scheduled to return to the track on Wednesday morning to jog and resume galloping on Thursday.
“That’s the plan right now,” Dutrow said. “Looks like he came out of the race real good.”
Big Brown will be arriving in Baltimore a week from next Wednesday on a flight that is scheduled to land at 5:45 p.m. The son of Boundary will be stabled in Stall 40 of the Pimlico stakes barn, reserved for the Kentucky Derby winner.
Big Brown will be joined on that flight by Tres Borrachos, the third-place finisher in the Arkansas Derby (Grade II) on April 12. The gelding galloped a mile and five-eighths after the renovation break at Churchill Downs Tuesday morning with Andy Durnin up. Trainer Beau Greely, who owns the Ecton Park colt in partnership with John Greely IV and Phil Houchens, is scheduled to be in Louisville later Tuesday with Tres Borrachos scheduled to work Wednesday morning. Beau Greely trained Borrego, who ran seventh in the 2004 Preakness behind Smarty Jones.
Tomorrow afternoon Kentucky Bear will be the first Preakness hopeful to arrive at the stakes barn for the Preakness. Trainer Reade Baker confirmed today that the son of Mr. Greeley, who finished third in the Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I) at Keeneland on April 12, will leave Lexington at 6:00 a.m. for the 539 mile drive. Kentucky Bear, who has had two consecutive bullet works in Kentucky the last two Saturday’s, is scheduled to drill at Pimlico Saturday morning, immediately after the renovation break (8:30 a.m.). Baker said this morning he is still undecided about a jockey, but leaning towards Jamie Theriot, who rode the colt in the Blue Grass.
Todd Pletcher could have two runners in next weekend’s Preakness.
Trainer Todd Pletcher could start a pair of Preakness runners for the second consecutive year. The Eclipse Award winning conditioner will be represented by Behindatthebar, who won the Lexington Stakes (Grade II) at Keeneland on April 19. The son of Forest Wildcat had a bullet five-furlong drill at Keeneland Saturday before shipping up to Pletcher’s Belmont Park barn where he will train. David Flores, who has been aboard the colt in four of his five previous starts, has the riding assignment.
“He came out of the work in good shape,” Pletcher said. “We decided to wait for the Preakness because he had run in California 16 days before the Lexington. We just felt like three races in a 30-day period were squeezing his races a little too closely together.”
Pletcher said a decision on Harlem Rocker, who captured the Withers (Grade III) on April 26, will be made after the horse breezes over the weekend. The Ontario-bred, who is unbeaten in three starts, is owned by Magna Entertainment Corp. chairman Frank Stronach, who owns Pimlico. Stronach Stables won the 2000 Preakness with Red Bullet.
“I am very pleased with what he has done up to this point,” added Pletcher. “We’ll just have to see if we feel like he is ready to take as big a step as it would be to go from the Withers to the Preakness.”
Stevil walked the shedrow at trainer Nick Zito’s barn at Churchill Downs, a day after working a half-mile in :48.60. Heather Stark, assistant to Zito, reported the Maria’s Mon colt came out of the work in good order. Zito plans to work Stevil at Churchill Downs again next week before shipping to Pimlico Tuesday, May 13.
Two days later, Thursday, May 15, Giant Moon will be arriving at Pimlico. Today trainer Richard Schosberg said Ramon Dominguez, who won a pair of riding titles at Pimlico in 2001, has the call on the son of Giant’s Causeway. The colt won the first four races of his career including two stakes races with Dominguez aboard. Giant Moon, who finished fourth in the Wood Memorial (Grade I) on April 5, will work five-furlongs at Belmont Park tomorrow morning.
“The horse has matured enough and has enough natural and tactical speed that he would be comfortable making the lead or racing off the pace if he had to,” Schosberg said. “He showed speed in the Wood and had no problems while he was covered up in fifth and he was able to make a run up and finish strong.”
Meanwhile in Southern California, trainer Patrick Gallagher said that California Derby winner Yankee Bravo would drill for the Preakness either tomorrow or Thursday. Since the victory, the son of Yankee Gentleman finished third, behind Pyro in the Louisiana Derby (Grade II) and fourth behind Colonel John in the Santa Anita Derby (Grade I). Alex Solis, who won Preakness in 1986 aboard Snow Chief, has the riding assignment.
“He’s doing fine. He galloped today,” Gallagher said. “He raced in Europe as a two-year-old and one of the owners, Richard Duggan, showed me a video of him. I liked what I saw and that is how we came to own him.”
Yankee Bravo will arrive next Wednesday, May 14.
El Gato Malo was expected to be on that flight but Terry Finley, founder and President of West Point Thoroughbreds, announced this morning that the son of El Corredor will not run in the Preakness but instead will opt for Saturday’s Lone Star Derby (Grade III).
“The decision certainly had to do with Big Brown’s performance,” Finley said. “We are probably going to be 8-5 in Texas and 15-1 at Pimlico. He is a gelding and we are really focused on earning with this horse so that worked into the decision. If he were a colt and eventually a stallion we probably would be headed to the Preakness.”
Finley did say that Macho Again is now possible for the Preakness, depending on field size. The winner of the April 26 Derby Trial at Churchill Downs, galloped at the Louisville oval Tuesday morning. The other option for the son of Macho Uno is the Ohio Derby (Grade II) on May 31 at Thistledown.
“We’ll see how he trains but he seems to have come out of the Derby Trial in fine fashion,” added Finley. “It is not out of the question. We’ll keep track of the Preakness field.”
A potential new shooter for the Preakness is Riley Tucker, who finished third to Behindatthebar in the Lexington. The Bill Mott trainee has finished in the money six times from seven starts. Edgar Prado, who was scheduled to ride El Gato Malo, would have the mount on Riley Tucker.
There was nothing new on Recapturetheglory, who finished fifth in the Derby, and appears to be the only runner from Saturday’s “Run For The Roses” under consideration for the Preakness. Co-owner Ronnie Lamarque said from New Orleans on Tuesday afternoon that he and trainer and co-owner Louie Roussel were “still thinking about the Preakness.”
Lamarque’s main concern is the potential size of the field and had Pimlico stakes coordinator Coleman Blind fax him past performances of all the contenders.
Lara Van Deren, assistant trainer and exercise rider for Recapturetheglory, said the Cherokee Run colt is doing well and would return to the track in the morning to jog. Plans call for Recapturetheglory to remain at Churchill Downs until a decision is made on the colt’s next start.
The Roussel-Lamarque team captured the Preakness 20 years ago with Risen Star.
Sixty years ago, Citation was the last Kentucky Derby winner to not face any Derby starters in the Preakness. There have been as few as two Derby starters race in the Preakness five times since 1923 according to Allan Carter, historian at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Those years were 1930 (Gallant Fox and Crack Brigade); 1939 (Challedon and Johnstown); 1943 (Count Fleet and Blue Swords); 1960 (Venetian Way and Victoria Park) and 1980 (Genuine Risk and Jaklin Klugman).
The post position draw for the Preakness is Wednesday, May 14 at 5 p.m. at the ESPN Zone in downtown Baltimore. The event will be televised live on ESPN. The Preakness is limited to 14 starters. Thirteen of the last 16 years have produced double-digit starters.
From Pimlico
With the Preakness Stakes 11 days away, the field set to test Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown continues to change as the connections of eligible three-year-olds weigh a start in the middle jewel of the Triple Crown.
As of Tuesday afternoon there were seven confirmed starters: Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown; Behindatthebar; Giant Moon; Kentucky Bear; Stevil; Tres Borrachos and Yankee Bravo along with four other potential runners.
Trainer Rick Dutrow, still fighting a heavy cough, was back at the track Tuesday morning at Churchill Downs supervising his 12-horse string in Louisville.
“I’m doing all right; it’s just all that dirt that Big Brown kicked up in my lungs,” Dutrow said with a laugh.
Big Brown, owned by IEAH Stables and Paul Pompa Jr., is scheduled to return to the track on Wednesday morning to jog and resume galloping on Thursday.
“That’s the plan right now,” Dutrow said. “Looks like he came out of the race real good.”
Big Brown will be arriving in Baltimore a week from next Wednesday on a flight that is scheduled to land at 5:45 p.m. The son of Boundary will be stabled in Stall 40 of the Pimlico stakes barn, reserved for the Kentucky Derby winner.
Big Brown will be joined on that flight by Tres Borrachos, the third-place finisher in the Arkansas Derby (Grade II) on April 12. The gelding galloped a mile and five-eighths after the renovation break at Churchill Downs Tuesday morning with Andy Durnin up. Trainer Beau Greely, who owns the Ecton Park colt in partnership with John Greely IV and Phil Houchens, is scheduled to be in Louisville later Tuesday with Tres Borrachos scheduled to work Wednesday morning. Beau Greely trained Borrego, who ran seventh in the 2004 Preakness behind Smarty Jones.
Tomorrow afternoon Kentucky Bear will be the first Preakness hopeful to arrive at the stakes barn for the Preakness. Trainer Reade Baker confirmed today that the son of Mr. Greeley, who finished third in the Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I) at Keeneland on April 12, will leave Lexington at 6:00 a.m. for the 539 mile drive. Kentucky Bear, who has had two consecutive bullet works in Kentucky the last two Saturday’s, is scheduled to drill at Pimlico Saturday morning, immediately after the renovation break (8:30 a.m.). Baker said this morning he is still undecided about a jockey, but leaning towards Jamie Theriot, who rode the colt in the Blue Grass.
Todd Pletcher could have two runners in next weekend’s Preakness.
Trainer Todd Pletcher could start a pair of Preakness runners for the second consecutive year. The Eclipse Award winning conditioner will be represented by Behindatthebar, who won the Lexington Stakes (Grade II) at Keeneland on April 19. The son of Forest Wildcat had a bullet five-furlong drill at Keeneland Saturday before shipping up to Pletcher’s Belmont Park barn where he will train. David Flores, who has been aboard the colt in four of his five previous starts, has the riding assignment.
“He came out of the work in good shape,” Pletcher said. “We decided to wait for the Preakness because he had run in California 16 days before the Lexington. We just felt like three races in a 30-day period were squeezing his races a little too closely together.”
Pletcher said a decision on Harlem Rocker, who captured the Withers (Grade III) on April 26, will be made after the horse breezes over the weekend. The Ontario-bred, who is unbeaten in three starts, is owned by Magna Entertainment Corp. chairman Frank Stronach, who owns Pimlico. Stronach Stables won the 2000 Preakness with Red Bullet.
“I am very pleased with what he has done up to this point,” added Pletcher. “We’ll just have to see if we feel like he is ready to take as big a step as it would be to go from the Withers to the Preakness.”
Stevil walked the shedrow at trainer Nick Zito’s barn at Churchill Downs, a day after working a half-mile in :48.60. Heather Stark, assistant to Zito, reported the Maria’s Mon colt came out of the work in good order. Zito plans to work Stevil at Churchill Downs again next week before shipping to Pimlico Tuesday, May 13.
Two days later, Thursday, May 15, Giant Moon will be arriving at Pimlico. Today trainer Richard Schosberg said Ramon Dominguez, who won a pair of riding titles at Pimlico in 2001, has the call on the son of Giant’s Causeway. The colt won the first four races of his career including two stakes races with Dominguez aboard. Giant Moon, who finished fourth in the Wood Memorial (Grade I) on April 5, will work five-furlongs at Belmont Park tomorrow morning.
“The horse has matured enough and has enough natural and tactical speed that he would be comfortable making the lead or racing off the pace if he had to,” Schosberg said. “He showed speed in the Wood and had no problems while he was covered up in fifth and he was able to make a run up and finish strong.”
Meanwhile in Southern California, trainer Patrick Gallagher said that California Derby winner Yankee Bravo would drill for the Preakness either tomorrow or Thursday. Since the victory, the son of Yankee Gentleman finished third, behind Pyro in the Louisiana Derby (Grade II) and fourth behind Colonel John in the Santa Anita Derby (Grade I). Alex Solis, who won Preakness in 1986 aboard Snow Chief, has the riding assignment.
“He’s doing fine. He galloped today,” Gallagher said. “He raced in Europe as a two-year-old and one of the owners, Richard Duggan, showed me a video of him. I liked what I saw and that is how we came to own him.”
Yankee Bravo will arrive next Wednesday, May 14.
El Gato Malo was expected to be on that flight but Terry Finley, founder and President of West Point Thoroughbreds, announced this morning that the son of El Corredor will not run in the Preakness but instead will opt for Saturday’s Lone Star Derby (Grade III).
“The decision certainly had to do with Big Brown’s performance,” Finley said. “We are probably going to be 8-5 in Texas and 15-1 at Pimlico. He is a gelding and we are really focused on earning with this horse so that worked into the decision. If he were a colt and eventually a stallion we probably would be headed to the Preakness.”
Finley did say that Macho Again is now possible for the Preakness, depending on field size. The winner of the April 26 Derby Trial at Churchill Downs, galloped at the Louisville oval Tuesday morning. The other option for the son of Macho Uno is the Ohio Derby (Grade II) on May 31 at Thistledown.
“We’ll see how he trains but he seems to have come out of the Derby Trial in fine fashion,” added Finley. “It is not out of the question. We’ll keep track of the Preakness field.”
A potential new shooter for the Preakness is Riley Tucker, who finished third to Behindatthebar in the Lexington. The Bill Mott trainee has finished in the money six times from seven starts. Edgar Prado, who was scheduled to ride El Gato Malo, would have the mount on Riley Tucker.
There was nothing new on Recapturetheglory, who finished fifth in the Derby, and appears to be the only runner from Saturday’s “Run For The Roses” under consideration for the Preakness. Co-owner Ronnie Lamarque said from New Orleans on Tuesday afternoon that he and trainer and co-owner Louie Roussel were “still thinking about the Preakness.”
Lamarque’s main concern is the potential size of the field and had Pimlico stakes coordinator Coleman Blind fax him past performances of all the contenders.
Lara Van Deren, assistant trainer and exercise rider for Recapturetheglory, said the Cherokee Run colt is doing well and would return to the track in the morning to jog. Plans call for Recapturetheglory to remain at Churchill Downs until a decision is made on the colt’s next start.
The Roussel-Lamarque team captured the Preakness 20 years ago with Risen Star.
Sixty years ago, Citation was the last Kentucky Derby winner to not face any Derby starters in the Preakness. There have been as few as two Derby starters race in the Preakness five times since 1923 according to Allan Carter, historian at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Those years were 1930 (Gallant Fox and Crack Brigade); 1939 (Challedon and Johnstown); 1943 (Count Fleet and Blue Swords); 1960 (Venetian Way and Victoria Park) and 1980 (Genuine Risk and Jaklin Klugman).
The post position draw for the Preakness is Wednesday, May 14 at 5 p.m. at the ESPN Zone in downtown Baltimore. The event will be televised live on ESPN. The Preakness is limited to 14 starters. Thirteen of the last 16 years have produced double-digit starters.
Get a grip; move on
Let’s take a deep breath here and put the tragedy thing in perspective.
You want tragedy.
On a flight from Louisville to New York on Monday, I read a piece in the New Yorker about trafficking in humans, women forced into prostitution in an array of nations not excluding the United States of America, land of the free. That’s a tragedy.
Myanmar is a tragedy. About ten thousand or so humans died there just the other day.
Darfur is a tragedy. We’ve probably lost count of the people butchered there.
Osama bin Laden, still out there somewhere. You think?
Iraq is a tragedy. So is Afghanistan.
Sometimes, a high school football player embraced by the blush of youth will die during practice or competition. Pretty sad, but they’ll be playing high school football on Friday nights in the fall and some of the people watching – parents of the same adolescents placed at risk --will be among those outraged by the death of Eight Belles in the Kentucky Derby and screeching for an end to a sport so barbaric.. Her death is a tragedy, too. But you might think that something that has been central to so many cultures for so long a time is not exactly within the realm of the barbaric.
The value of an American dollar: Tragedy.
Organized racing is common to almost every culture on Earth, an endeavor that blurs the lines of religious, political and ideological confrontation by bringing together people like-minded and from every social and economic stratum. Sometimes, things go terribly wrong.
Remember all those boxers who have died in the ring. Remember their names? How do you feel about that?
The price of a martini in Manhattan: Another tragedy.
The choice of Democratic presidential candidates: Whoa.
I saw Eight Belles go to the racetrack with Larry Jones on her for five days before the Derby last week and she looked tremendous. But, though I have no idea what Regret looked like, I covered Genuine Risk and Winning Colors and she was not like them. She was sleek, feminine, streamlined and muscular; tall and gunmetal gray. Eight Belles was one nice filly.
I believe that Eight Belles did not belong in the Kentucky Derby and took that position beforehand (see April 30, post: Eight Belles deserves better). But that was Rick Porter’s call met with the worst possible result, which in racing is always a very real possibility Tragic? Certainly.
Racing in all it facets is deliciously uncertain, the triumphant moments fleeting and compelling, the despair deep and forlorn. A good horse, it is said, can come from anywhere but disappointment comes from everywhere. At the racetrack, all truth is temporary.
Parkinson’s disease: Tragic.
The price of gasoline: That, too.
The death of Eight Belles is tragic. There is a time to mourn such loss, but look out the window – life has gone on. Get a grip.
Blame the track. Certainly, it was fast, having been rolled and sealed on Friday and through a night of heavy rain – conditions that result in a surface that is subsequently fast. Was she in throes of exhaustion? Undoubtedly. She was obviously a keenly competitive filly who outran expectations and 18 colts. You get hurt when you’re in extreme fatigue. Blame whatever it is toward which you might point a finger and at least in part you will be right. No one thing is likely to have left Eight Belles on the racetrack with two broken legs. More likely, it is a combination of factors that bubbled into a witch’s brew.
Now, move on.
Nine races will be run at Belmont Park on Wednesday. A huge pick-six carryover awaits those at Churchill Downs and there is a horse out there that appears capable of winning the Triple Crown. -- PM
You want tragedy.
On a flight from Louisville to New York on Monday, I read a piece in the New Yorker about trafficking in humans, women forced into prostitution in an array of nations not excluding the United States of America, land of the free. That’s a tragedy.
Myanmar is a tragedy. About ten thousand or so humans died there just the other day.
Darfur is a tragedy. We’ve probably lost count of the people butchered there.
Osama bin Laden, still out there somewhere. You think?
Iraq is a tragedy. So is Afghanistan.
Sometimes, a high school football player embraced by the blush of youth will die during practice or competition. Pretty sad, but they’ll be playing high school football on Friday nights in the fall and some of the people watching – parents of the same adolescents placed at risk --will be among those outraged by the death of Eight Belles in the Kentucky Derby and screeching for an end to a sport so barbaric.. Her death is a tragedy, too. But you might think that something that has been central to so many cultures for so long a time is not exactly within the realm of the barbaric.
The value of an American dollar: Tragedy.
Organized racing is common to almost every culture on Earth, an endeavor that blurs the lines of religious, political and ideological confrontation by bringing together people like-minded and from every social and economic stratum. Sometimes, things go terribly wrong.
Remember all those boxers who have died in the ring. Remember their names? How do you feel about that?
The price of a martini in Manhattan: Another tragedy.
The choice of Democratic presidential candidates: Whoa.
I saw Eight Belles go to the racetrack with Larry Jones on her for five days before the Derby last week and she looked tremendous. But, though I have no idea what Regret looked like, I covered Genuine Risk and Winning Colors and she was not like them. She was sleek, feminine, streamlined and muscular; tall and gunmetal gray. Eight Belles was one nice filly.
I believe that Eight Belles did not belong in the Kentucky Derby and took that position beforehand (see April 30, post: Eight Belles deserves better). But that was Rick Porter’s call met with the worst possible result, which in racing is always a very real possibility Tragic? Certainly.
Racing in all it facets is deliciously uncertain, the triumphant moments fleeting and compelling, the despair deep and forlorn. A good horse, it is said, can come from anywhere but disappointment comes from everywhere. At the racetrack, all truth is temporary.
Parkinson’s disease: Tragic.
The price of gasoline: That, too.
The death of Eight Belles is tragic. There is a time to mourn such loss, but look out the window – life has gone on. Get a grip.
Blame the track. Certainly, it was fast, having been rolled and sealed on Friday and through a night of heavy rain – conditions that result in a surface that is subsequently fast. Was she in throes of exhaustion? Undoubtedly. She was obviously a keenly competitive filly who outran expectations and 18 colts. You get hurt when you’re in extreme fatigue. Blame whatever it is toward which you might point a finger and at least in part you will be right. No one thing is likely to have left Eight Belles on the racetrack with two broken legs. More likely, it is a combination of factors that bubbled into a witch’s brew.
Now, move on.
Nine races will be run at Belmont Park on Wednesday. A huge pick-six carryover awaits those at Churchill Downs and there is a horse out there that appears capable of winning the Triple Crown. -- PM
Monday, May 5, 2008
Gabriel Saez speaks
Statement issued by Delaware Park
"I remain heartbroken over Eight Belles, and I want to let her many fans know that she never gave me the slightest indication before or during the race that there was anything bothering her. All I could sense under me was how eager she was to race. I was so proud of her performance, and of the opportunity to ride her in my first Kentucky Derby, all of which adds to my sadness. Riding right now at Delaware Park and being around the horses and other jockeys is good therapy for me, but I hope the media understands that I prefer not to conduct interviews at this time. Please respect my decision while I mourn my personal loss."
"I remain heartbroken over Eight Belles, and I want to let her many fans know that she never gave me the slightest indication before or during the race that there was anything bothering her. All I could sense under me was how eager she was to race. I was so proud of her performance, and of the opportunity to ride her in my first Kentucky Derby, all of which adds to my sadness. Riding right now at Delaware Park and being around the horses and other jockeys is good therapy for me, but I hope the media understands that I prefer not to conduct interviews at this time. Please respect my decision while I mourn my personal loss."
Still the greatest game played outdoors
Every horse and every rider goes into every race run anywhere in the world at risk of injury, sometimes fatal. It is an unavoidable if heart-wrenching part of racing, which goes on today with a heavy heart after the death of Eight Belles, the filly, in the 134th Kentucky Derby while in the face of a wail of protest from those who would abolish a sport with ancient roots common to almost every culture on earth.
No one mourns such tragedy more deeply than those most intimately involved with racehorses. For them, racing is not an investment vehicle, a hobby or recreational endeavor; it is a life’s work that demands no less commitment and sacrifice than any other vocation. Racing is not a job but a lifestyle to which the animal is central and the humans for the most part anonymous, a story largely untold.
This once was called, “The Sport of Kings,” but, though involvement in the ownership of thoroughbred horses at the highest level demands financial reach, there are no kings in this republic. In the main, these are not unfeeling people interested only in the sport’s financial spoils. Certainly, mistakes are made by the humans involved and racing’s table is set lavishly with issues – the fragile fruit of commercial breeding; the absence of true stamina influences in the modern American pedigree; maintenance procedures employed on the surfaces over which horses compete; newly introduced and still controversial synthetic surfaces; steroids; medication; extreme pressure placed upon the skeletal mechanisms of immature animals.
Every catastrophic injury in racing is one too many, but it is senseless to rail against the sport every time a horse is mortally wounded in battle.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals jumped headlong into the torrent of babble that follows the tragic death of Eight Belles minutes after she passed the wire second to Big Brown. PETA, outraged as usual in its view of racing, demands an inquiry and the suspension of jockey Gabriel Saez, who is guilty only of delivering an outstanding performance in his first Derby.
Saez is accused by PETA of excessive use of the whip. He is innocent. PETA demands to know if the rider “felt something” during the race. In fact, he did – after the race was over -- at which point he properly pull up Eight Belles, who complied before falling, never to rise.
But, as her trainer, Larry Jones, observed immediately afterward, Eight Belles, though fatigued, was not in distress when the finished the mile-and-a-quarter route. Her effort was remarkable and while finger pointing has taken every direction in the aftermath, the injury – simultaneous fracture of both forelegs, is so unusual that the root cause is likely to remain forever a mystery.
In more than 30 years of watching horses race on a daily basis, I have seen only one break both forelegs simultaneously. That was many years ago and occurred in the heat of battle, not a quarter-mile beyond the wire after the race had ended. Dr. Larry Bramlage, the on-call veterinarian assigned by the American Association of Equine Practitioners said he has never witness such an injury.
As Eight Belles finished, admiration of her effort was unanimous particularly in light of the obstacles she faced. The filly had never before run in company so demanding and she had not raced a distance beyond a mile and a sixteenth. Each of the three fillies who have won the Kentucky Derby had established themselves beforehand in competition against males. Eight Belles faced male competition for the first time on Saturday and though she acquitted herself beyond expectation, the effort cost her life. Was she prepared for what was asked of her on Saturday? Not fully. Ultimately, the decision to run her in the Derby rather than the Oaks on the previous afternoon comes into question and her owner, Rick Porter, who has said nothing since Saturday, will live with that decision.
While it is true that, in Europe, females commonly compete against males, European racing, conducted exclusively on grass courses and without the array of medication permitted for use in this country, is quite different from its American counterpart. The ground is more forgiving; the pace less punishing. Minor injuries are treated with time and rest, not corticosteroids and other substances that temporarily mask pain.
These are issues – problems – that beg the attention of racing’s leaders, but probably had nothing to do with the death of Eight Belles on Saturday.
Certainly, American fillies have been successful in the past when competing against males, but rarely at this early stage of their lives and in the most demanding race in which they will ever run. A three-year-old thoroughbred is equivalent roughly in maturity to a teen-age human. The deck of physical strength is stacked against them, which is why they run a race restricted three-year-old fillies at Churchill Downs on the eve of the Derby and why many horseman eschew unisex competition at this stage of equine development.
This was the first fatality in the Kentucky Derby in at least four decades, but two years after the widely chronicled injury suffered by the universally revered Barbaro is the Preakness Stakes, it touches a public nerve that remains raw. Horses break down on television nowadays and the 24-hour news cycle assures that anyone interested has access to an overdose of grotesque, painful video played over and over again.
It is absolutely appropriate to mourn a talented, courageous and determined filly, but not to condemn the sport at large as some beastly, circus that preys upon its most important element. Those who daily lives are devoted to these regal animals mourn most profoundly. As Rick Dutrow, trainer of the Derby winner said after the most significant victory of his career: “If you don’t love horses, you don’t belong in the game.” --PM
No one mourns such tragedy more deeply than those most intimately involved with racehorses. For them, racing is not an investment vehicle, a hobby or recreational endeavor; it is a life’s work that demands no less commitment and sacrifice than any other vocation. Racing is not a job but a lifestyle to which the animal is central and the humans for the most part anonymous, a story largely untold.
This once was called, “The Sport of Kings,” but, though involvement in the ownership of thoroughbred horses at the highest level demands financial reach, there are no kings in this republic. In the main, these are not unfeeling people interested only in the sport’s financial spoils. Certainly, mistakes are made by the humans involved and racing’s table is set lavishly with issues – the fragile fruit of commercial breeding; the absence of true stamina influences in the modern American pedigree; maintenance procedures employed on the surfaces over which horses compete; newly introduced and still controversial synthetic surfaces; steroids; medication; extreme pressure placed upon the skeletal mechanisms of immature animals.
Every catastrophic injury in racing is one too many, but it is senseless to rail against the sport every time a horse is mortally wounded in battle.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals jumped headlong into the torrent of babble that follows the tragic death of Eight Belles minutes after she passed the wire second to Big Brown. PETA, outraged as usual in its view of racing, demands an inquiry and the suspension of jockey Gabriel Saez, who is guilty only of delivering an outstanding performance in his first Derby.
Saez is accused by PETA of excessive use of the whip. He is innocent. PETA demands to know if the rider “felt something” during the race. In fact, he did – after the race was over -- at which point he properly pull up Eight Belles, who complied before falling, never to rise.
But, as her trainer, Larry Jones, observed immediately afterward, Eight Belles, though fatigued, was not in distress when the finished the mile-and-a-quarter route. Her effort was remarkable and while finger pointing has taken every direction in the aftermath, the injury – simultaneous fracture of both forelegs, is so unusual that the root cause is likely to remain forever a mystery.
In more than 30 years of watching horses race on a daily basis, I have seen only one break both forelegs simultaneously. That was many years ago and occurred in the heat of battle, not a quarter-mile beyond the wire after the race had ended. Dr. Larry Bramlage, the on-call veterinarian assigned by the American Association of Equine Practitioners said he has never witness such an injury.
As Eight Belles finished, admiration of her effort was unanimous particularly in light of the obstacles she faced. The filly had never before run in company so demanding and she had not raced a distance beyond a mile and a sixteenth. Each of the three fillies who have won the Kentucky Derby had established themselves beforehand in competition against males. Eight Belles faced male competition for the first time on Saturday and though she acquitted herself beyond expectation, the effort cost her life. Was she prepared for what was asked of her on Saturday? Not fully. Ultimately, the decision to run her in the Derby rather than the Oaks on the previous afternoon comes into question and her owner, Rick Porter, who has said nothing since Saturday, will live with that decision.
While it is true that, in Europe, females commonly compete against males, European racing, conducted exclusively on grass courses and without the array of medication permitted for use in this country, is quite different from its American counterpart. The ground is more forgiving; the pace less punishing. Minor injuries are treated with time and rest, not corticosteroids and other substances that temporarily mask pain.
These are issues – problems – that beg the attention of racing’s leaders, but probably had nothing to do with the death of Eight Belles on Saturday.
Certainly, American fillies have been successful in the past when competing against males, but rarely at this early stage of their lives and in the most demanding race in which they will ever run. A three-year-old thoroughbred is equivalent roughly in maturity to a teen-age human. The deck of physical strength is stacked against them, which is why they run a race restricted three-year-old fillies at Churchill Downs on the eve of the Derby and why many horseman eschew unisex competition at this stage of equine development.
This was the first fatality in the Kentucky Derby in at least four decades, but two years after the widely chronicled injury suffered by the universally revered Barbaro is the Preakness Stakes, it touches a public nerve that remains raw. Horses break down on television nowadays and the 24-hour news cycle assures that anyone interested has access to an overdose of grotesque, painful video played over and over again.
It is absolutely appropriate to mourn a talented, courageous and determined filly, but not to condemn the sport at large as some beastly, circus that preys upon its most important element. Those who daily lives are devoted to these regal animals mourn most profoundly. As Rick Dutrow, trainer of the Derby winner said after the most significant victory of his career: “If you don’t love horses, you don’t belong in the game.” --PM
Sunday, May 4, 2008
The tragic price of human arrogance
Louisville, Ky.
In the subdued regrouping that is for the vanquished the morning after the Kentucky Derby, the death of Eight Belles darkened the mood far beyond Churchill Downs. Hearts were heavy on Sunday morning and tears were shed everywhere.
The filly’s death after a courageous performance when cast in a role for which she was never meant will renew the debates that follow every racing fatality.
It is unusual, but certainly not unheard of for humans to race females against males. Three have won the Derby, the last, Winning Colors, 20 years ago. A filly, Rags to Riches, won the Belmont Stakes last June. It is, however, unnecessary and almost always costly in real flesh and blood terms. There is little to be gained that does not serve the human ego. Fillies do not become appreciably more valuable in the breeding market. A mare will produce no more than about 10 offspring in the course of her lifetime. Calculated risk is based on potential reward, but the reward in sending a female into competition with males is reserved for the human connections and the risk born entirely by the animal.
Until Barbaro broke a hind leg, the ultimate result of which was death, the most celebrated thoroughbred ever to suffer a fatal injury in a race was Ruffian, the undefeated three-year-old of 1975 who shattered a leg in a match race with Foolish Pleasure at Belmont Park. Ruffian is widely remembered as the best filly ever to race in the United States. Her unforgettable career is overshadowed in history by the circumstances surrounding her death, which are at the bottom line not unlike those that sent Eight Belles into the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.
Thirty years ago, there were no discussions about the safety of racetrack or the fragile produce of the American breeding industry. There were no alternative synthetic surfaces, no steroids. There were, however, humans with egos and agendas.
Ruffian was owned by one of the bedrock families in American racing but asking her to run in a match race with a male of Foolish Pleasure’s stature was a grievous error in human judgment. Eight Belles’ owner, Rick Porter, having been infected with Derby fever a year before, when Hard Spun finished second to Street Sense, made the decision to send the filly into the Derby rather than the Kentucky Oaks on Friday. His filly responded with a tremendous effort, giving – literally – everything she had while facing a horse, Big Brown, who was far superior to every horse in the Derby on Saturday. If she had a flaw, it was that her heart was too big for her legs. That, she shared with Ruffian.
For other great fillies who have competed successfully against males, the damage is more subtle.
Genuine Risk, who in 1980, became the first filly to win the Kentucky Derby, ran in all three Triple Crown races. Once retired, she was a dismal failure as a broodmare. Winning Colors, the last female Derby winner, never gave birth to a horse of note. Rags to Riches, the Belmont winner last year, was never the same, raced only once again, was defeated and was recently retired. Even those fillies capable of historic accomplishment in competition with males have paid a price.
Horses are injured in races under the best of circumstances, but misguided, reckless human decision does not qualify as best of circumstance. The finger of blame, in this case, as in that of Ruffian, points toward the owner, a bloated ego and an arrogant disregard to the welfare of a remarkable filly.
In the subdued regrouping that is for the vanquished the morning after the Kentucky Derby, the death of Eight Belles darkened the mood far beyond Churchill Downs. Hearts were heavy on Sunday morning and tears were shed everywhere.
The filly’s death after a courageous performance when cast in a role for which she was never meant will renew the debates that follow every racing fatality.
It is unusual, but certainly not unheard of for humans to race females against males. Three have won the Derby, the last, Winning Colors, 20 years ago. A filly, Rags to Riches, won the Belmont Stakes last June. It is, however, unnecessary and almost always costly in real flesh and blood terms. There is little to be gained that does not serve the human ego. Fillies do not become appreciably more valuable in the breeding market. A mare will produce no more than about 10 offspring in the course of her lifetime. Calculated risk is based on potential reward, but the reward in sending a female into competition with males is reserved for the human connections and the risk born entirely by the animal.
Until Barbaro broke a hind leg, the ultimate result of which was death, the most celebrated thoroughbred ever to suffer a fatal injury in a race was Ruffian, the undefeated three-year-old of 1975 who shattered a leg in a match race with Foolish Pleasure at Belmont Park. Ruffian is widely remembered as the best filly ever to race in the United States. Her unforgettable career is overshadowed in history by the circumstances surrounding her death, which are at the bottom line not unlike those that sent Eight Belles into the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.
Thirty years ago, there were no discussions about the safety of racetrack or the fragile produce of the American breeding industry. There were no alternative synthetic surfaces, no steroids. There were, however, humans with egos and agendas.
Ruffian was owned by one of the bedrock families in American racing but asking her to run in a match race with a male of Foolish Pleasure’s stature was a grievous error in human judgment. Eight Belles’ owner, Rick Porter, having been infected with Derby fever a year before, when Hard Spun finished second to Street Sense, made the decision to send the filly into the Derby rather than the Kentucky Oaks on Friday. His filly responded with a tremendous effort, giving – literally – everything she had while facing a horse, Big Brown, who was far superior to every horse in the Derby on Saturday. If she had a flaw, it was that her heart was too big for her legs. That, she shared with Ruffian.
For other great fillies who have competed successfully against males, the damage is more subtle.
Genuine Risk, who in 1980, became the first filly to win the Kentucky Derby, ran in all three Triple Crown races. Once retired, she was a dismal failure as a broodmare. Winning Colors, the last female Derby winner, never gave birth to a horse of note. Rags to Riches, the Belmont winner last year, was never the same, raced only once again, was defeated and was recently retired. Even those fillies capable of historic accomplishment in competition with males have paid a price.
Horses are injured in races under the best of circumstances, but misguided, reckless human decision does not qualify as best of circumstance. The finger of blame, in this case, as in that of Ruffian, points toward the owner, a bloated ego and an arrogant disregard to the welfare of a remarkable filly.
HLC free selections, May 4
From Handicappers Learning Center
Pimlico, race 4, 2:34 p.m. et
5 – Plagiarize
1 – River Lover
Exacta – 5+1 over 2+6
Hollywood, race 1, 4:20 p.m. et
3 - Tribal Justice
8 – Lemon
Exacts 3+8 over 4+7
Master 1 Complete
The sheet that covers it all
Link on left rail
Pimlico, race 4, 2:34 p.m. et
5 – Plagiarize
1 – River Lover
Exacta – 5+1 over 2+6
Hollywood, race 1, 4:20 p.m. et
3 - Tribal Justice
8 – Lemon
Exacts 3+8 over 4+7
Master 1 Complete
The sheet that covers it all
Link on left rail
Saturday, May 3, 2008
One of those times
There are times when great accomplishment and tragedy share uncomfortably the same space. This is one of those when celebration is justified while overshadowed by the death of a remarkable filly.
We will discuss the 134th Kentucky Derby at length in the fortnight before the Preakness, but a horse capable of overcoming the disadvantages he faced in this Derby with a victory so convincing has established himself as genuine. For now, we will mourn the loss of Eight Belles.
For now, we will refer you to ESPN.com.
We will discuss the 134th Kentucky Derby at length in the fortnight before the Preakness, but a horse capable of overcoming the disadvantages he faced in this Derby with a victory so convincing has established himself as genuine. For now, we will mourn the loss of Eight Belles.
For now, we will refer you to ESPN.com.
Japan invades New York
From NYRA
After a 12-hour trans-Pacific journey, including a one-hour lay-over in Anchorage, Alaska, and a brief stint at Aqueduct to clear quarantine, Casino Drive, Champagne Squall (IRE), and Spark Candle have at last begun to settle into Barn 17 at Belmont Park.
Arriving at Belmont at 4 o’clock Thursday afternoon, the horses had the night to rest before hitting the muddy main track for a morning canter Friday. Nobutaka Tada, managing director of Globe Equine Management Ltd., said that all three horses have acclimated well and went nicely.
After a long cool-down tour throughout the barn area of Belmont Park, the three returned in prime shape and looked unfazed by their lengthy journey. The chestnut colt Spark Candle, by 1992 Belmont Stakes winner and Horse of the Year A.P. Indy, who was bought for $1.5 million at the 2006 Keeneland September Sale, led the trio out of the cool morning mist, followed closely by Casino Drive and the Irish-bred gray, Champagne Squall.
Tada has confirmed that the three will return to the track to work the morning of Wednesday, May 7, as they aim for the 55th running of the Grade 2, $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes.
Although Spark Candle finished 12th in his only start on the dirt, Tada said he was not concerned about him running on the dirt here at Belmont Park.
“It was not his day,” said Tada of that lone dirt star. “[It] was not because of the surface. We have to try; we think he is a good horse.”
Yet to break his maiden, Champagne Squall’s appearance in the Peter Pan is still in question.
“We will see how he behaves,” said Tada. “He has the ability and we will see.”
Champagne Squall’s three previous attempts to break his maiden have been at a distances beyond 10 furlongs, and it is hoped shortening up might do the trick.
The Peter Pan will be Casino Drive’s second lifetime start, having broken his maiden in Japan by nearly 12 lengths going nine furlongs, and will serve as a prep for the $1 million Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 7. Plans for the other two are still up in the air.
“Casino Drive will run the Belmont,” Tada said. “We’ll see how Spark Candle runs and Champagne Squall, we’ll have to see what we can do with him.”
Casino Drive will look to make history in the 140th running of the Belmont as he tries to follow in the footsteps of his half-brother Jazil, the 2006 Belmont Stakes winner, and his three-quarter sister, 2007 Belmont winner Rags to Riches, one of only three fillies and the first in 102 years to win the race. The three share the same dam, Better Than Honour.
“We need one more race at least… he needs experience,” said Tada, regarding the Casino Drive’s preparation for the “Test of the Champion.”
Tada and his team have not raced in New York since one of his mares made an appearance on Aqueduct’s inner track in 1995. The colts’ owner, Hidetoshi Yamamoto, a Japanese business executive, will not be at the Peter Pan but is expected to fly into New York for Casino Drive’s attempt in the Belmont Stakes.
The Peter Pan has always provided New York racing fans with a chance to see horses that may not have been quite ready for the Kentucky Derby but were heading in the right direction. Past winners include Gallant Man (1957), Coastal (1979), Slew o’Gold (1983), Proud Truth (1985), Danzig Connection (1986), and A. P. Indy (1992).
Casino Drive and from the broodmare Better Than Honour, dam of the last two Belmont winners
In 2006, Jazil won the Belmont Stakes for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. Jazil is a son of Seeking the Gold, winner of the 1988 Peter Pan, and the Deputy Minister mare, Better Than Honour. One year later, Rags to Riches became one of only three fillies and the first in 102 years to win the Belmont Stakes. Her dam is also Better Than Honour, and her sire is A.P. Indy, who won the 1992 Peter Pan, Belmont Stakes and Horse of the Year.
According to Andrew Byrnes, New York Racing Association Stakes Coordinator, here are the other horses likely to challenge in the Peter Pan:
Cosmic: A son of El Prado out of Eclipse winner Heavenly Prize, who is a daughter of Seeking the Gold. He is on a two-race winning streak for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, who won the Peter Pan in 1988 with Seeking the Gold and last year with Sightseeing.
Deputyville: Recent acquisition for trainer Gary Contessa, he is a son of Deputy Warlock, by Silver Deputy.
Golden Spikes: Runner-up in the Grade 2 Illinois Derby, he is by Seeking the Gold out of the A.P. Indy mare A.P. Interest. Marty Wolfson is the trainer.
Ready’s Echo: A son of More Than Ready, he has two seconds and a win in three career tries for trainer Todd Pletcher, who won the 2004 Peter Pan with Purge.
Tomcito: Third in the Florida Derby behind Big Brown and Smooth Air, he then ran sixth in Keeneland’s Grade 2 Lexington. He is trained by Dante Zanelli Jr.
After a 12-hour trans-Pacific journey, including a one-hour lay-over in Anchorage, Alaska, and a brief stint at Aqueduct to clear quarantine, Casino Drive, Champagne Squall (IRE), and Spark Candle have at last begun to settle into Barn 17 at Belmont Park.
Arriving at Belmont at 4 o’clock Thursday afternoon, the horses had the night to rest before hitting the muddy main track for a morning canter Friday. Nobutaka Tada, managing director of Globe Equine Management Ltd., said that all three horses have acclimated well and went nicely.
After a long cool-down tour throughout the barn area of Belmont Park, the three returned in prime shape and looked unfazed by their lengthy journey. The chestnut colt Spark Candle, by 1992 Belmont Stakes winner and Horse of the Year A.P. Indy, who was bought for $1.5 million at the 2006 Keeneland September Sale, led the trio out of the cool morning mist, followed closely by Casino Drive and the Irish-bred gray, Champagne Squall.
Tada has confirmed that the three will return to the track to work the morning of Wednesday, May 7, as they aim for the 55th running of the Grade 2, $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes.
Although Spark Candle finished 12th in his only start on the dirt, Tada said he was not concerned about him running on the dirt here at Belmont Park.
“It was not his day,” said Tada of that lone dirt star. “[It] was not because of the surface. We have to try; we think he is a good horse.”
Yet to break his maiden, Champagne Squall’s appearance in the Peter Pan is still in question.
“We will see how he behaves,” said Tada. “He has the ability and we will see.”
Champagne Squall’s three previous attempts to break his maiden have been at a distances beyond 10 furlongs, and it is hoped shortening up might do the trick.
The Peter Pan will be Casino Drive’s second lifetime start, having broken his maiden in Japan by nearly 12 lengths going nine furlongs, and will serve as a prep for the $1 million Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 7. Plans for the other two are still up in the air.
“Casino Drive will run the Belmont,” Tada said. “We’ll see how Spark Candle runs and Champagne Squall, we’ll have to see what we can do with him.”
Casino Drive will look to make history in the 140th running of the Belmont as he tries to follow in the footsteps of his half-brother Jazil, the 2006 Belmont Stakes winner, and his three-quarter sister, 2007 Belmont winner Rags to Riches, one of only three fillies and the first in 102 years to win the race. The three share the same dam, Better Than Honour.
“We need one more race at least… he needs experience,” said Tada, regarding the Casino Drive’s preparation for the “Test of the Champion.”
Tada and his team have not raced in New York since one of his mares made an appearance on Aqueduct’s inner track in 1995. The colts’ owner, Hidetoshi Yamamoto, a Japanese business executive, will not be at the Peter Pan but is expected to fly into New York for Casino Drive’s attempt in the Belmont Stakes.
The Peter Pan has always provided New York racing fans with a chance to see horses that may not have been quite ready for the Kentucky Derby but were heading in the right direction. Past winners include Gallant Man (1957), Coastal (1979), Slew o’Gold (1983), Proud Truth (1985), Danzig Connection (1986), and A. P. Indy (1992).
Casino Drive and from the broodmare Better Than Honour, dam of the last two Belmont winners
In 2006, Jazil won the Belmont Stakes for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. Jazil is a son of Seeking the Gold, winner of the 1988 Peter Pan, and the Deputy Minister mare, Better Than Honour. One year later, Rags to Riches became one of only three fillies and the first in 102 years to win the Belmont Stakes. Her dam is also Better Than Honour, and her sire is A.P. Indy, who won the 1992 Peter Pan, Belmont Stakes and Horse of the Year.
According to Andrew Byrnes, New York Racing Association Stakes Coordinator, here are the other horses likely to challenge in the Peter Pan:
Cosmic: A son of El Prado out of Eclipse winner Heavenly Prize, who is a daughter of Seeking the Gold. He is on a two-race winning streak for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, who won the Peter Pan in 1988 with Seeking the Gold and last year with Sightseeing.
Deputyville: Recent acquisition for trainer Gary Contessa, he is a son of Deputy Warlock, by Silver Deputy.
Golden Spikes: Runner-up in the Grade 2 Illinois Derby, he is by Seeking the Gold out of the A.P. Indy mare A.P. Interest. Marty Wolfson is the trainer.
Ready’s Echo: A son of More Than Ready, he has two seconds and a win in three career tries for trainer Todd Pletcher, who won the 2004 Peter Pan with Purge.
Tomcito: Third in the Florida Derby behind Big Brown and Smooth Air, he then ran sixth in Keeneland’s Grade 2 Lexington. He is trained by Dante Zanelli Jr.
Derby-day notes: Chelokee's survival 50/50
Louisville, Ky.
Survival is a 50-50 proposition for Chelokee, the Michael Matz-trained five-year-old injured in a race here on Friday.
Chelokee, originally believed to have suffered a fracture of the right foreleg, tore the suspensory ligaments at the bottom of the limb, displacing the sesamoid bones. He will undergo surgery within the next week, according to Dr. Larry Bramlage. The horse was taken immediately to the Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, where he is said to be comfortable.
Disabled jockeys find benefactor
NetJets, Inc. announced on Friday that it would sponsor every jockey with a mount in the Derby.
A $200,000 donation will be made on behalf of the jockeys participating in the race to the NTRA Charities - Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. The fund benefits jockeys who have suffered disabilities during the course of their riding careers. NetJets will also make an additional $100,000 contribution to the fund.
Oaks wagering declines sharply
Total wagering from all sources on the Kentucky Oaks was $9,138,950 a 9.6-percent decrease over the $10,112,064 wagered in 2007. On-track wagering on the Oaks race totaled $2,540,831 a 14.4-percent decrease from the $2,968,635 wagered one year ago. Off-track wagering on the Oaks, $6,032,223, represents a 6.4-percent decrease over the 2007 total, $7,143,429.
All sources wagering on the 11-race Oaks-day card was $31,231,991, a 7-percent decrease from the 2007 total of $33,570,510. On-track wagering on the card was $11,217,756, a decrease of 8.3 percent from the $12,234,128 wagered by patrons at Churchill Downs a year ago.
Survival is a 50-50 proposition for Chelokee, the Michael Matz-trained five-year-old injured in a race here on Friday.
Chelokee, originally believed to have suffered a fracture of the right foreleg, tore the suspensory ligaments at the bottom of the limb, displacing the sesamoid bones. He will undergo surgery within the next week, according to Dr. Larry Bramlage. The horse was taken immediately to the Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, where he is said to be comfortable.
Disabled jockeys find benefactor
NetJets, Inc. announced on Friday that it would sponsor every jockey with a mount in the Derby.
A $200,000 donation will be made on behalf of the jockeys participating in the race to the NTRA Charities - Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. The fund benefits jockeys who have suffered disabilities during the course of their riding careers. NetJets will also make an additional $100,000 contribution to the fund.
Oaks wagering declines sharply
Total wagering from all sources on the Kentucky Oaks was $9,138,950 a 9.6-percent decrease over the $10,112,064 wagered in 2007. On-track wagering on the Oaks race totaled $2,540,831 a 14.4-percent decrease from the $2,968,635 wagered one year ago. Off-track wagering on the Oaks, $6,032,223, represents a 6.4-percent decrease over the 2007 total, $7,143,429.
All sources wagering on the 11-race Oaks-day card was $31,231,991, a 7-percent decrease from the 2007 total of $33,570,510. On-track wagering on the card was $11,217,756, a decrease of 8.3 percent from the $12,234,128 wagered by patrons at Churchill Downs a year ago.
Morning update: Rain, rain goes away
Louisville, Ky.
The rain that began falling Friday continued through the night and into early morning but has ended. Local radar shows no more rain to the west. If the showers are indeed over, the track should be fast by post time for the Derby.
The rumor mill on Derby morning:
Gayego has a splint problem. Something is amiss with Pyro.
Derby morning in Louisville appears at: kentuckyderby.com/2008/
More Derby coverage:
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/index
The rain that began falling Friday continued through the night and into early morning but has ended. Local radar shows no more rain to the west. If the showers are indeed over, the track should be fast by post time for the Derby.
The rumor mill on Derby morning:
Gayego has a splint problem. Something is amiss with Pyro.
Derby morning in Louisville appears at: kentuckyderby.com/2008/
More Derby coverage:
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/index
HLC free selections, May 3
From Handicappers Learning Center
Pimlico, race 6, 3:05 p.m. et
5 – Go Now
6- Whoopi Again
Exacta – 5+6 over 2+3
Bay Meadows, race 4, 5:00 pm et
5 – Salty Scholar
1 – Sectaurs
Exacta – 5+1 over 2+7
Pimlico, race 6, 3:05 p.m. et
5 – Go Now
6- Whoopi Again
Exacta – 5+6 over 2+3
Bay Meadows, race 4, 5:00 pm et
5 – Salty Scholar
1 – Sectaurs
Exacta – 5+1 over 2+7
Friday, May 2, 2008
Frank Whiteley dead at 93
Trainer of Ruffian, Forego
Press release
Hall of Fame trainer Frank Yewell Whiteley Jr., the hard-nosed “Fox of Laurel” and conditioner of Thoroughbreds superstars Ruffian and Forego, died today in Camden, S.C. at the age of 93.
A native of Centreville, Md., where he grew up on a farm owned by his father, who was also the county sheriff, Whiteley would often sneak off to ride horses for his uncle, Harmon, at shows and fairs. He got his trainer’s license at Marlboro, Md. in 1936, starting a 49-year career.
“I never worked under another trainer and I didn’t read (Hall of Fame trainer) Preston Burch’s book, either,” he once said
Whiteley conditioned top grass runners Bronze Babu and Polarity in 1962 and 1963, and then took on his first “serious” horse in Chieftain. The following year, he managed Chieftain’s half-brother, Tom Rolfe, who delivered Whiteley’s first Classic winner when he won the 1965 Preakness. Two years later, he trained Horse of the Year Damascus, who won the Preakness, Belmont Stakes, Travers, Wood Memorial, Dwyer, Bay Shore, Aqueduct Handicap, Woodward and Jockey Club Gold Cup.
“I worked for him and his son, David,” said Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. “Frank Whiteley was just a wonderful horseman, who did it the grass-roots way, and there just aren’t that many around any more. When they got sick, he gave them aspirin. When they needed to be iced, he hosed them.
“He was a fun guy to work for, and he had great stories. He wasn’t easy, but the reason he wasn’t easy was because he was teaching you.”
In 1974, Whiteley took charge of what many believe to be his greatest horse, Ruffian. Her ascent to the top of the sport and her tragic death following injuries sustained in a July 6, 1975 match race against Foolish Pleasure was well documented and subsequently made into a television movie, “Ruffian,” which aired last year.
“He was one of the best horsemen I’ve ever been around,” said Hall of Fame jockey Jacinto Vasquez, who was aboard Ruffian in the ill-fated match race. “I met him in 1963, and he was like a father to me. We spent a lot of time together, sometimes from 5:30 in the morning to 6 at night. He had been very sick the last few months and was in and out of the hospital.”
In 1976, Whiteley took over the training of the champion Forego and helped him to another Horse of the Year title.
Whiteley was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1978. In later years, Whiteley would break young horses for top outfits, including the Phipps Stable.
Beginning in 1965, he wintered his horses at Marion duPont Scott’s training Center in Camden, South Carolina, which set a trend with other horsemen that continues to this day. In recognition of his contribution to the Thoroughbred racing industry and the economy of the city of Camden, in 2003 the city council honored him with “Frank Whiteley Day” and awarded him a key to the city.
That same year the Governor of South Carolina awarded him the Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina’s highest civilian honor.
The “Frank Whiteley Room” at the Camden Archive houses a permanent collection founded in his honor.
Whiteley is survived by his sons, David, who followed in his footsteps as a successful trainer of a number of graded stakes winners, and Alan, who worked in construction.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Press release
Hall of Fame trainer Frank Yewell Whiteley Jr., the hard-nosed “Fox of Laurel” and conditioner of Thoroughbreds superstars Ruffian and Forego, died today in Camden, S.C. at the age of 93.
A native of Centreville, Md., where he grew up on a farm owned by his father, who was also the county sheriff, Whiteley would often sneak off to ride horses for his uncle, Harmon, at shows and fairs. He got his trainer’s license at Marlboro, Md. in 1936, starting a 49-year career.
“I never worked under another trainer and I didn’t read (Hall of Fame trainer) Preston Burch’s book, either,” he once said
Whiteley conditioned top grass runners Bronze Babu and Polarity in 1962 and 1963, and then took on his first “serious” horse in Chieftain. The following year, he managed Chieftain’s half-brother, Tom Rolfe, who delivered Whiteley’s first Classic winner when he won the 1965 Preakness. Two years later, he trained Horse of the Year Damascus, who won the Preakness, Belmont Stakes, Travers, Wood Memorial, Dwyer, Bay Shore, Aqueduct Handicap, Woodward and Jockey Club Gold Cup.
“I worked for him and his son, David,” said Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. “Frank Whiteley was just a wonderful horseman, who did it the grass-roots way, and there just aren’t that many around any more. When they got sick, he gave them aspirin. When they needed to be iced, he hosed them.
“He was a fun guy to work for, and he had great stories. He wasn’t easy, but the reason he wasn’t easy was because he was teaching you.”
In 1974, Whiteley took charge of what many believe to be his greatest horse, Ruffian. Her ascent to the top of the sport and her tragic death following injuries sustained in a July 6, 1975 match race against Foolish Pleasure was well documented and subsequently made into a television movie, “Ruffian,” which aired last year.
“He was one of the best horsemen I’ve ever been around,” said Hall of Fame jockey Jacinto Vasquez, who was aboard Ruffian in the ill-fated match race. “I met him in 1963, and he was like a father to me. We spent a lot of time together, sometimes from 5:30 in the morning to 6 at night. He had been very sick the last few months and was in and out of the hospital.”
In 1976, Whiteley took over the training of the champion Forego and helped him to another Horse of the Year title.
Whiteley was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1978. In later years, Whiteley would break young horses for top outfits, including the Phipps Stable.
Beginning in 1965, he wintered his horses at Marion duPont Scott’s training Center in Camden, South Carolina, which set a trend with other horsemen that continues to this day. In recognition of his contribution to the Thoroughbred racing industry and the economy of the city of Camden, in 2003 the city council honored him with “Frank Whiteley Day” and awarded him a key to the city.
That same year the Governor of South Carolina awarded him the Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina’s highest civilian honor.
The “Frank Whiteley Room” at the Camden Archive houses a permanent collection founded in his honor.
Whiteley is survived by his sons, David, who followed in his footsteps as a successful trainer of a number of graded stakes winners, and Alan, who worked in construction.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Weather threatens Derby Day
Louisville, Ky.
The weekend's first downpour hit Churchill Downs shortly after 2 p.m., just before Ginger Punch won the Louisville Stakes. With a rain being driven by high winds, the Edgewood Stakes were held in the paddock for several minutes awaiting an improvement in conditions.
Heavy storms, damaging winds and large hail are forecast overnight with the possibility that some storms will be accompanied by tornados
Showers are expected to persist into Saturday, raising the possibility of an off track for the 134th Derby. High winds, which began here on Thursday, were also expected to continue. The Oaks-day crowd thinned substantially in the pace of the weather, sending denizens of the infield scrambling for shelter and inspiring those in areas exposed to the weather to abandon expensive seats.
Cool Coal Man, Z Fortune, Visionaire, Smooth Air (twice) and Denis of Cork have won on off tracks. Pyro was a big-figure runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last fall at Monmouth.
Court Vision, Eight Belles, Colonel John, Bob Black Jack, Monba, Adriano, Cowboy Cal, Recapturetheglory, Gayego and Big Brown have yet to compete on a wet surface.
A wet track would further complicate Big Brown’s already difficult assignment, but the good news is that it would afford a plausible excuse.
BRIS Off-track suitability ratings
Adriano, 117
Z Humor, 117
Tale of Ekati, 116
Pyro, 112
Eight Belles, 112
Big Brown, 112
Visionaire, 111
Cowboy Cal, 111
Recapturetheglory, 111
Colonel John, 110
Dennis of Cork, 110
Monba, 109
Cool Coal Man, 108
Anak Nakal, 108
Gayego, 107
Court Vision, 107
Big Truck, 107
Smooth Air, 106
Z Fortune, 99
Bob Black Jack, 99
Best off-track performances
Cool Coal Man, wf, 92, Del, 1-70, 10-10-07
Take of Ekati, sly, 94, Mth, 1 1/16, 10-27-07
Anak Nakal, gd, 90, Aqu, 1m, 10-28-07
Z Fortune, gd, 98, Bel, 7f, 10-20-07
Big Truck, gd, 92, Bel, 1m, 10-20-07
Visionaire, sly, 100, Aqu, 1 1/16, 3-8-08
Pyro, sly, 109, Mth, 1 1/6, 10-27-07
Z Humor, sly, 92, Mth, 1 1/16, 10-27-08
Smooth Air, sly, Crc, 7f, 1-8-08
Denis of Cork, sly, 90, FG, 1-19-08
Derby day is long and the card is strong, so … selections:
1. Sale Pending, Bullet Rain, Catmantoo.
2. Loving Vindication, BR’s Girl, Sly Storm.
3. Forest Attack, First Defense, Spin Master.
4. Screen to Screen, Cherokee Artist, Chris Got Even.
5. Wanderin Boy, Junior College, Noonmark.
6. Game Face, Keep the Peace, Alina.
7. Dreaming of Anna, Bayou’s Lass, Danzon.
8. Hysterical Lady, Sugar Swirl, Miss Macy Sue.
9. Einsten, Artiste Roy, War Monger.
10. The Derby. See below.
11. Sonoma Cat, Evade, Admiralty.
The weekend's first downpour hit Churchill Downs shortly after 2 p.m., just before Ginger Punch won the Louisville Stakes. With a rain being driven by high winds, the Edgewood Stakes were held in the paddock for several minutes awaiting an improvement in conditions.
Heavy storms, damaging winds and large hail are forecast overnight with the possibility that some storms will be accompanied by tornados
Showers are expected to persist into Saturday, raising the possibility of an off track for the 134th Derby. High winds, which began here on Thursday, were also expected to continue. The Oaks-day crowd thinned substantially in the pace of the weather, sending denizens of the infield scrambling for shelter and inspiring those in areas exposed to the weather to abandon expensive seats.
Cool Coal Man, Z Fortune, Visionaire, Smooth Air (twice) and Denis of Cork have won on off tracks. Pyro was a big-figure runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last fall at Monmouth.
Court Vision, Eight Belles, Colonel John, Bob Black Jack, Monba, Adriano, Cowboy Cal, Recapturetheglory, Gayego and Big Brown have yet to compete on a wet surface.
A wet track would further complicate Big Brown’s already difficult assignment, but the good news is that it would afford a plausible excuse.
BRIS Off-track suitability ratings
Adriano, 117
Z Humor, 117
Tale of Ekati, 116
Pyro, 112
Eight Belles, 112
Big Brown, 112
Visionaire, 111
Cowboy Cal, 111
Recapturetheglory, 111
Colonel John, 110
Dennis of Cork, 110
Monba, 109
Cool Coal Man, 108
Anak Nakal, 108
Gayego, 107
Court Vision, 107
Big Truck, 107
Smooth Air, 106
Z Fortune, 99
Bob Black Jack, 99
Best off-track performances
Cool Coal Man, wf, 92, Del, 1-70, 10-10-07
Take of Ekati, sly, 94, Mth, 1 1/16, 10-27-07
Anak Nakal, gd, 90, Aqu, 1m, 10-28-07
Z Fortune, gd, 98, Bel, 7f, 10-20-07
Big Truck, gd, 92, Bel, 1m, 10-20-07
Visionaire, sly, 100, Aqu, 1 1/16, 3-8-08
Pyro, sly, 109, Mth, 1 1/6, 10-27-07
Z Humor, sly, 92, Mth, 1 1/16, 10-27-08
Smooth Air, sly, Crc, 7f, 1-8-08
Denis of Cork, sly, 90, FG, 1-19-08
Derby day is long and the card is strong, so … selections:
1. Sale Pending, Bullet Rain, Catmantoo.
2. Loving Vindication, BR’s Girl, Sly Storm.
3. Forest Attack, First Defense, Spin Master.
4. Screen to Screen, Cherokee Artist, Chris Got Even.
5. Wanderin Boy, Junior College, Noonmark.
6. Game Face, Keep the Peace, Alina.
7. Dreaming of Anna, Bayou’s Lass, Danzon.
8. Hysterical Lady, Sugar Swirl, Miss Macy Sue.
9. Einsten, Artiste Roy, War Monger.
10. The Derby. See below.
11. Sonoma Cat, Evade, Admiralty.
Derby poll results
Colonel John, 54
All others, 53
Big Brown, 43
Pyro, 37
Visionaire, 25
Tale of Ekati, 11
Big Truck, 9
Court Vision, 9
Cool Coal Man, 4
All others, 53
Big Brown, 43
Pyro, 37
Visionaire, 25
Tale of Ekati, 11
Big Truck, 9
Court Vision, 9
Cool Coal Man, 4
Louisville weather
Conditions at Churchill Downs: Cloudy and fast at post-time Friday.
Friday: Periods of light rain and possibile thundershowers.
Saturday: Slight chance of showers, high 73 degrees.
High wind advisory for both days.
Friday: Periods of light rain and possibile thundershowers.
Saturday: Slight chance of showers, high 73 degrees.
High wind advisory for both days.
HLC free selections, May 2
From Handicappers Learning Center
Hollywood, race 1; 4:20 et
4 – Hottodi
3 – Dances With Tigers
Exacta – 4+3 over 6+2
Bay Meadows, race 5; 5:38 et
2- Man Law
3 – D’Wildcharm
Exacta – 2+3 over 1+6
Master1 Complete"
The sheet that covers it all!!
Includes "Gold and Silver Power Play"
Click link on left rail
Hollywood, race 1; 4:20 et
4 – Hottodi
3 – Dances With Tigers
Exacta – 4+3 over 6+2
Bay Meadows, race 5; 5:38 et
2- Man Law
3 – D’Wildcharm
Exacta – 2+3 over 1+6
Master1 Complete"
The sheet that covers it all!!
Includes "Gold and Silver Power Play"
Click link on left rail