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Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of the HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Festival and HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Darely Awards
he campaign started in early 2015 in Texas and wound its way through Colorado, California, and back to Texas through the summer and fall. By the end of the year, the Arabian racehorse Paddys Day had even been to the other side of the world, to race in Abu Dhabi, before coming home to owner and trainer Scott Powell’s base in New Mexico. The homecoming was made complete on April 1 at an event far from a racetrack. Paddys Day was honored with the Darley Award as the 2015 Horse of the Year in a glamorous ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The Dolby Theatre is the home of the Academy Awards, but on one Friday night each spring it is home to Arabian racing. Under the direction of the Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival of Abu Dhabi, the Darley Awards have been 90 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b MAY 2016
revived in recent years as a destination event for Arabian racing enthusiasts. The Darley Awards, led by Lara Sawaya, the executive director of the Sheikh Mansoor Festival, was the highlight of the first of three days of activities. The following day, the $100,000 Darley Awards Arabian Stakes was run for the first time at scenic Santa Anita, just outside of Los Angeles. The weekend concluded with a dinner in Beverly Hills on April 3. The Darley Awards have changed from their formation in the late 1980s as an event to honor top American runners and horsemen. In recent years, the presentations have gone global, honoring the accomplishments of women in racing on several continents, as well as top female racehorses. Much of the focus remains on American racing. Paddys Day was honored as outstanding four-year-old male. Other equine titles went to Easter Man, three-year-old male; Jewell AA,
three-year-old filly; RB Frynch Broad, four-year-old filly; So Big Is Better, older male; and DC Willeys Song, older female. So Big Is Better and DC Willeys Song were the other finalists for Horse of the Year. Easter Man and Jewell AA are owned by breeders Joe and Betty Gillis of Mississippi who were recognized as outstanding owners and breeders. Kelsi Purcell, the regular rider of Paddys Day, was named top jockey, while Lynn Ashby was honored as top trainer for a record eighth time. Powell and his wife, Lori, co-own Paddys Day with Jim Schleimer. They race as Quarter Moon Ranch. Schleimer was a little more than two weeks removed from a hip replacement operation on the night of the Darley Awards ceremony. Paddys Day (Burning Sand x AK Loretta by *Virgule Al Maury) won 8 of 10 starts and earned $124,160 while racing in the United States in 2015, the only Darley Award winner to exceed six figures in seasonal earnings. He finished second in the two races he lost in the United States. In his final start of the year last November, Paddys Day finished last of 15 in the $1.27 million Sheikh Zayed Jewel Crown in Abu Dhabi.
Paddys Day won seven stakes at six racetracks in the United States — two at Arapahoe Park in Colorado; one at Lone Star Park, Retama Park, and Sam Houston in Texas; and one at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton and Los Alamitos, both in California. His richest win was the $55,194 Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Arabian Cup at Pleasanton in July. “This is a great night for our whole team,” said Scott Powell, dressed in his familiar cowboy hat, after accepting the award for the four-year-old colt category. Powell and his family were joined by Sawaya for the presentation of the Horse of the Year award at the end of the program. Jane Teutsch bred Paddys Day in Texas and joined the Powells and their friends and family on the stage. Paddys Day was sold privately by Teutsch and her husband Ray after he won his debut at Arapahoe Park in 2014.
Below: Accepting the award for Darley Champion Horse of the Year and Darley Best Four-Year-Old Colt/Gelding Paddys Day (Burning Sand x AK Loretta by *Virgule Al Maury), pictured at left, are owners Scott and Lori Powell, center, Quarter Moon Ranch LLC, Arenas Valley, New Mexico.
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Top right: Best Three-Year-Old Filly Jewell AA (Burning Sand x Triumphs Pearl by Seyvilla Triumph), owned by Joe and Betty Gillis.
Bottom right and middle right: Dianne Waldron of RoseBrook Farm, Brooksville, Florida, with her daughter and granddaughter, accepts the Darley Award for Best Four-Year-Old Filly RB Frynch Broad (Madjani x *Frynch by Dormane SBFAR).
Top left and middle left: Sam Vasquez presents the Darley Awards for Best Breeder and Best Owner to Betty and Joe Gillis, Columbus, Mississippi, who also won Best Three-Year-Old Colt/Gelding with Easter Man (Burning Sand x Angel Proof by NF Proof), and Best Three-Year-Old Filly with Jewell AA (Burning Sand x Triumphs Pearl by Seyvilla Triumph), top right.
“We knew he was very special,” Teutsch said. “He was a thrill from the time he was born. I’m not sure I would have sold him except they called and I knew who was going to train him and I knew they’d make him a champion.” Easter Man (Burning Sand x Angel Proof by NF Proof ) was an easy selection for champion three-year-old male. He won the Lone Star Futurity in Texas in November, and was second to F Sixteen and Paddys Day earlier in the year in stakes at Delaware Park and Lone Star.
For the year, Easter Man won 3 of 6 starts and earned $36,720 under the direction of trainers Guy Smith and Jerenesto Torrez. Joe Gillis was on stage to accept Easter Man’s trophy, and he was right back a few minutes later to accept Jewell AA’s award. Jewell AA (Burning Sand x Triumphs Pearl by Seyvilla Triumph) won 3 of 5 starts and $39,500 in 2015. Trained by Smith in Delaware and Torrez in Texas, Jewell AA won two stakes — the Delaware Park Juvenile Fillies Stakes and the Lone Star Futurity for three-year-old fillies. The Gillis family, who started in racing in the early 1990s, had their best season as owners and breeders in 2015. They bred Dream Pearl, a finalist for the champion fouryear-old filly award in 2015 who was a stakes winner at Sacramento last summer. 92 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b MAY 2016
Top left: Mark Powell accepts the Darley Award for Best Older Horse from Sue Meyer for So Big Is Better (Burning Sand x WH Mirror Image by ZT Ali Baba), top right.
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As owners, the Gillises nominated Burning Fleet, a six-year-old full brother to Easter Man, as one of their favorite runners. Burning Fleet had one start in 2015, winning the Sheikh Zayed Cup at Sam Houston. “The thing that is interesting to us is that the horses that brought us here are four and five generations of our breedings,” Joe Gillis said. “We didn’t go all over the world buying horses.” The Four-Year-Old Filly of the year, RB Frynch Broad (Madjani x *Frynch by Dormane) races for Dianne Waldron’s Rosebrook Farms. In 2014, RB Frynch Broad won 4 of 7 starts and earned $46,875. Trained by Nathan Hatcher, Smith, and Torrez in 2015, RB Frynch Broad won two stakes — the Cre-Run Oaks at Delaware Park and the Texas Arabian Oaks at Retama Park. “She’s very special,” Waldron said in her acceptance speech. “I feel like all
The Darley Awards Dolby Theatre, Hollywood, California April 1, 2016 HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival/ARC Darley Awards Darley Champion Horse Of The Year: Paddys Day, owned by Quarter Moon Ranch Best Three-Year-Old Colts/ Geldings: Easter Man, owned by Joe and Betty Gillis Best Three-Year-Old Filly: Jewell AA, owned by Joe and Betty Gillis Best Four-Year-Old Colts/ Geldings: Paddys Day, owned by Quarter Moon Ranch Best Four-Year-Old Filly: RB Frynch Broad, owned by Rosebrook Farms Best Older Horse: So Big Is Better, owned by Mark Powell
Middle: Jon and Krista Henningsgard, second from left and far right, who own DC Willeys Song (*Doran SBFAR x Wibwilcca by *Wilkolak), pictured right, accept the Darley Best Older Mare Award from Sue Meyer. On the left is their jockey Travis Wales.
Best Older Mare: DC Willeys Song, owned by Jon Henningsgard Best Breeder: Joe and Betty Gillis Best Owner: Joe and Betty Gillis Best Trainer: Lynn Ashby Best Jockey: Kelsi Purcell
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Top left: Dianne Waldron presents the Darley Award for Best Trainer to Lynn Ashby, pictured with her husband Mark, of Middletown, Delaware. Lynn also received the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak International Darley Award for Best Trainer.
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of my horses are special. It’s a thrill to be recognized.” Waldron bred RB Frynch Broad, whose dam, *Frynch, was the 2004 champion four-year-old female. The Rosebrook Farms operation includes her family. So Big Is Better (Burning Sand x WW Mirror Image by ZT Ali Baba) was not only champion older male of 2015, but the comeback story of the year. He suffered an injury in a stakes win at Santa Anita in November, 2013, and did not race in 2014. In 2015, So Big Is Better won 4 of 11 starts and earned $84,224. So Big Is Better clinched the award with stakes wins in the Grade 1 Delaware Arabian Classic and Sheikh Zayed Cup at Los Alamitos on consecutive Saturdays last September. So Big Is Better was also honored as champion older male of 2012 and 2013. “That means a lot to me,” said owner and trainer Mark Powell. “When he ran the first race in March and we lost by 50 lengths, I still knew he had it in him. He wanted to run. When we got to Delaware, he won the Grade 1 and I thought, I’ll fly him to California. He went there the next week and beat my brother. I don’t think Scott was too happy. That was probably the greatest achievement I’ve had because Paddys Day has won a lot of races.”
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Top right: Deb Mihaloff presents the Darley Award for Best Jockey to Kelsi Purcell, who also won the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak International Darley for Best Jockey.
Middle: Winner of the HH Sheikh Fatima Darley Award for Best Three-Year-Old Filly Mabrooka (Mahabb x Shamayl), owned by HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Bottom: Winner of the HH Sheikh Fatima Darley Award for Best Four-Year-Old Filly Sylvine Al Maury (Munjiz x Savavit al Maury), owned by the Royal Cavalry of Oman.
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Top left: Winner of the HH Sheikh Fatima Darley Award for Best Older Mare Taraf (Burning Sand x Gethaabah by Djendel), owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani, Al Shahania Stud, Qatar. Sami Al Nohait, top right, accepts the award on behalf of Al Shahania Stud.
HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak International Darley Award Winners Best 3-Year-Old Filly: Mabrooka owned by HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Best 4-Year-Old Filly: Sylvine Al Maury owned by the Royal Cavalry of Oman
Mrs. Rene Laura Koch, France, accepts the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Darley award for Best Breeder. Mrs. Koch bred Sylvine Al Maury (Munjiz x Savavit Al Maury by Dormane), the HH Sheika Fatima Darley Best Four-Year-Old Filly winner, who is owned by the Royal Cavalry of Oman.
Deborah Mihaloff accepts the HH Sheikha Fatima Darley award for Best Owner.
Best Older Mare: Taraf owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani, Qatar Best Breeder: Rene-Laure Koch, France Best Owner: Deb Mihaloff, United States Best Trainer: Lynn Ashby, United States
Powell said So Big Is Better has been retired for breeding. DC Willeys Song (*Doran SBFAR x Wibwilcca by *Wilkolak) was winless in seven starts in 2014. The 2015 story was greatly different. She won 4 of 8 starts and earned $64,750 for owner Jon Henningsgard of Waller, Texas. DC Willeys Song had three trainers in 2015 — Ashby, Torrez, and Ken Danyluk. A seven-year-old mare in 2015, DC Willeys Song won the Cobra Distaff Stakes at Arapahoe, the Buzz Brauninger Distaff at Delaware Park, and the Texas Distaff Stakes at Lone Star Park. In his acceptance speech, Henningsgard expressed his appreciation for Arabian horses. “The personality and the pure smarts of the breed; they’re smarter than me and I just try to keep up,” Henningsgard said. “What a journey we’ve been on from Denver to Delaware and back to Dallas,” said Travis Wales, the regular jockey of DC Willeys Song. “I’m so grateful to be here.” Ashby was honored as champion trainer for the second consecutive year. Her title was a popular win for a woman who has fought breast cancer in recent years. 95 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b MAY 2016
Best Professional Jockey: Kelsi Purcell, United States Best Amateur Jockey: Dina Heggum, Norway Best Apprentice Jockey: Fanny Olsson, Sweden Best Photographer: Karol Loureiro, Brazil Best TV Presenter: Lara King, United Kingdom Best Journalist: Victoria Shaw, Australia Best Endurance Rider: Maria Alvarez, Spain Lifetime Achievement Award: Elizabeth Zindel, Switzerland
The HH Sheikha Fatima Darley Best Apprentice Jockey award was presented to Fanny Olsson of Sweden.
Winner of the HH Sheikha Fatima Darley award for Best TV Presenter was Lara King of the United Kingdom.
Victoria Shaw of Australia was presented with the HH Sheikha Fatima Darley for Best Journalist.
Dina Heggum of Norway accepts the HH Sheikha Fatima Darley award for Best Amateur Jockey.
The HH Sheikha Fatima Darley for Best Endurance Rider was awarded to Maria Alvarez of Spain who was unable to attend the ceremony. Her friend accepted the trophy for her.
“Thank you for my wonderful horses and wonderful clients,” Ashby said in her speech. “I met with my doctor for my three-month checkup and I don’t have to see him for six months. I’m so grateful and thankful.” Paddys Day’s success made jockey “Best Professional Jockey” Kelsi Purcell’s year. She rode the colt in all but one of his starts. In a tearful speech, she gave credit to Scott Powell and Sawaya for hosting the Darley Awards. “I’m thankful to be part of Scott’s team,” Purcell said. “Hopefully, I get to ride for more of you owners and trainers in future years.” The Sheika Fatima bint Mubarak Darley Awards were part of the ceremony, honoring the achievements of women and female horses in Arabian racing throughout the world. In equine categories, Mabrooka (Mahabb x Shamayl by Kesberoy) was recognized as outstanding three-year-old filly. Owned by Sheikh Mansoor, Mabrooka won 5 of 6 starts in 2015, including the $112,000 Qatar Arabian Trophy des Pouliches for three-year-olds fillies at Saint-Cloud, France, last October. Sylvine Al Maury (Munjiz x Savavit Al Maury by Dormane) was honored as leading four-year-old filly. In 2015, she won the $168,000 Qatar Total Arabian Trophy des Juments at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris in October. Sylvine Al Maury is owned by the Royal Cavalry of Oman. The award for outstanding older female went to Taraf (Burning Sand x Gethaabah by Djendel), who races for Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani of Qatar. In 2015, Taraf won the Qatar Gold Sword in Qatar. Three American-based women were honored with Sheika Fatima Awards — Deb Mihaloff as owner, Ashby as trainer, and Purcell as professional jockey. Mihaloff and her husband Alan Kirshner race as Cre-Run Enterprises. The day after the Darley Awards, the couple’s Thess Is Awesome won the Darley Awards Stakes at Santa Anita over Paddys Day. The prize for best amateur jockey went to Dina Heggum of Norway. The 20-year-old Heggum said she has been around horses since the age of nine and has worked with racehorses since the age of 15. She spent the winter working in racing in Dubai. Fanny Olsson of Sweden was honored as outstanding apprentice jockey. Olsson, 96 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b MAY 2016
22, has 67 career wins. In her speech, Olsson said she began riding pony races on an Arabian. Maria Alvarez of Spain was recognized as outstanding endurance rider. Elizabeth Zindel of St. Moritz, Switzerland, was honored with a lifetime achievement award. Zindel is part of the organizing body of the White Turf, the snow racing in Switzerland that includes Arabian races in February. The late Veronique Briat of France, who died last year, was honored posthumously for her work in promotion of French Arabian racing. Renée Laure Koch of France won the award for outstanding breeder. She bred Sylvine Al Maury. In awards for journalists, Karol Loureiro of Brazil was honored for her work in photography. Laura King of Great Britain was recognized for her work as a television presenter, and Victoria Shaw was honored for her journalism. Shaw, from Australia, was a co-presenter for the Darley Awards ceremony with Derek Thompson of England. Shaw has worked closely with the Sheikh Mansoor festival in recent years, and paid tribute to the organization for allowing her to travel and report on races around the world.
Karol Loureiro of Brazil accepts the HH Sheikha Fatima Darley for Best Photographer.
The weekend’s festivities ended with a gala dinner at the Beverly Wilshire. Lara Sawaya always delights and surprises — this year there were dancers, and a 14-year-old contortionist who was simply unbelievable. Another highlight was that jockeys Mike Smith, Gary Stevens, and Victor Espinoza, who rode California Chrome in the Dubai World Cup, and of course American Pharoah, were in attendance. The HH Sheikha Fatima Darley for Lifetime Achievement was presented to Elizabeth Zindel of Switzerland.
Above: Lara Sawaya, Executive Director of the HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Festival and HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Darely Awards, center, holds a framed certificate of the California Senate's commendation of the efforts of the Festival to promote Arabian racing and its support of the Permanently Disabled Jockeys fund. Second from left is Keith Brackpool, Chairman, Santa Anita Park. To Lara's left is Aref Alawani, Secretary General of A.D. Sports Council, and HE Abdulla Al Suboose, UAE Consol General in Los Angeles, second from right. Left: Lara Sawaya honors jockey Victor Espinoza at the Gala.
Steve Andersen is a correspondent for Dailey Racing Form. 97 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b MAY 2016
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hess Is Awesome (Dahess x In Awe by Monarch AH) had just won the $100,000 Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Darley Award Stakes at Santa Anita Park on April 2 for the richest win of his career when the people surrounding the horse tried to comprehend the moment. “Unbelievable,” said Alan Kirshner, who bred and owns Thess Is Awesome with his wife, Deb Mihaloff. “Pinch me,” trainer Lynn Ashby demanded of a bystander. “Am I really here?” It was all true. For the second time, Arabian racehorses competed at one of the premier racetracks in the United States in a six-figure stakes. Back in November 2013, So Big Is Better won the President of the United Arab Emirates Stakes on the first day of the prestigious Breeders’ Cup races for Thoroughbreds. The Darley Award Stakes is a new race, and was part of an outstanding weekend of events in Los Angeles for Arabian racing enthusiasts. The preceding night, the Darley Awards were held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood honoring the champions of 2015. The Darley Award Stakes was the main event on Saturday, bringing together many of the leading racehorses in the United States. 98 ▪ ARABIAN HORSE WORLD ▪ MAY 2016
Facing page and right: Thess Is Awesome (Dahess x In Awe by Monarch AH), who is bred and owned by Alan Kirshner, and his wife, Deb Mihaloff, won the $100,000 Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Darley Award Stakes at Santa Anita Park on April 2 for the richest win of his career. He is trained by Lynn Ashby, 2015 HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak International Darley Award winner for Best Trainer, and ridden by Travis Wales.
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The race was formed after Lara Sawaya, executive director of the Abu Dhabi-based Sheikh Mansoor Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival, met with Santa Anita chairman Keith Brackpool in Abu Dhabi last fall. Brackpool traveled there to witness that country’s signature event for Arabian horses, the $1.27 million Sheikh Zayed Jewel Crown. The agreement between Sawaya and Brackpool for the creation of the Darley Awards Stakes is likely to be the first in an arrangement to bring more top-class Arabian races to Santa Anita. Legislation signed by California Governor Jerry Brown in late March allows for up to six such races to be held at Santa Anita annually. The legislation was required because Santa Anita has a racing license as a venue for Thoroughbred racing. The Sheikh Mansoor Festival provided the purse of the race and Santa Anita and the Sheikh Mansoor Festival donated $100,000 to the Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund prior to the race. The PDJF aids jockey and exercise riders who are injured in races or during morning exercise. The fund has disbursed $7 million in aid to 60 riders. “This is a huge development for us,” Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens said in a statement released by the track. “Everybody knows how much
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Bottom: The winner's circle award presentation.
risk we take every day and to get a $100,000 check for the fund is fantastic. We’re just so appreciative to Santa Anita and everyone involved with the Sheikh Mansoor Festival for making this happen.” The legislation signed by Brown also allowed betting on the Darley Awards Stakes, and anyone who put a few bucks on Thess Is Awesome was handsomely 99 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b MAY 2016
rewarded. Thess Is Awesome paid $94.20 for a $2 bet as the third-longest shot in a field of 10. Jockey Travis Wales rode Thess Is Awesome four times last year and in the Darley Awards Stakes. Last year, Wales rode Thess Is Awesome to a win in the Dubai International Texas Open at Lone Star Park in November. The race occurred on the evening after Thess Is
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Awesome displayed the naughty side of his quirky behavior. That morning, while being grazed by Ashby, Thess Is Awesome reared his head rapidly when reacting to noise in the barn area and struck Ashby in the face. The veteran trainer was left with a cut lip that needed stitches. The injury felt better that evening when Thess Is Awesome won the third stakes of his career. “I got a nice scar from that,” Ashby said. In his 2016 debut, Thess Is Awesome ran poorly, finishing last of 10, by 38 lengths, in the $48,000 Sheikh Zayed Cup at Sam Houston Race Park on March 5. He was near the front early, but had faded from contention when passed by race winner Paddys Day on the turn of the seven-furlong race. With Paddys Day’s win as his most recent race, and Thess Is Awesome having finished last, it was no wonder bettors ignored Wales’s mount in the Darley Arabian Stakes. They were aware of his presence shortly after the start. Wales guided Thess Is Awesome to the lead and held an early advantage of a
Left: Thess is Awesome with owner and breeder Deb Mihaloff in the saddling paddock, and later in the Winner's Circle with trainer Lynn Ashby.
length or two through the first half-mile. Thess Is Awesome was closely followed by Jewell AA, the champion three-year-old filly of 2015, on the backstretch, and by Easter Man, the champion three-year-old male of 2015, on the turn. Paddys Day, the 2015 Horse of the Year, was third on the turn, racing within 11/2 lengths of the lead and looking well positioned to win. Turning into the stretch, Thess Is Awesome was in front by a length. While Paddys Day was close, Thess Is Awesome maintained his advantage. The lead was 11/2 lengths with a furlong to go and 11/4 lengths at the finish. Wales thought if Thess is Awesome took his customary position on the lead, the horse would be brave. “This is his strength,” he said. “I didn’t want to change it too much. I was kind of committed. I had the advantage on the backstretch and had him in his comfort zone.” Paddys Day (Burning Sand x AK Loretta by *Virgule Al Maury) finished second, a head in front of Easter Man (Burning Sand x Angel Proof by NF Proof ), and they were the only runners to mount a serious threat in the final
half-mile. Quick And Rich finished fourth, followed by RB Rich, Royal Richess, F Sixteen, Nouveau Rich, RB Brilliant, and Jewell AA. “Travis did an amazing job,” Ashby said. “He waited and they stayed away from him.” Despite a few wide trips around the racetrack — most notably F Sixteen — the Darley Awards Stakes was a clean race. The race had substantial depth among both male and female runners. Royal Richess and Jewell AA were first and third in the $41,000 Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies IFAHR Cup for amateur female riders at Sam Houston on March 5. The win at Santa Anita did come at a cost for Wales. He was fined $300 by track stewards for two instances in the race in which he struck Thess Is Awesome more than three times in succession without giving his mount a chance to respond. The rules were tightened last July and California jockeys have been hit frequently in the pocketbook as a reminder of the new regulation. Kelsi Purcell was fined $100 for the same offense on Paddys Day. Paddys Day lost for only the fifth time in his 17-race career. Owned by Lori and
Left to right: Celebrating with Deb Mihaloff after Thess Is Awesome's win, Connie O’Brien, Denise Hearst, and incoming Chief Steward of the ARC, Michelle Morgan of Mandolynn Hill Farms, Texas. Deb also was awarded the HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak International Darley Award Owner of the Year.
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Scott Powell and trained by Scott Powell, Paddys Day has earned $183,758. Easter Man races for Joe and Betty Gillis and has won 4 of 9 starts and earned $68,165. More will be heard from him as the season continues. Ashby, who has valiantly fought breast cancer in recent years, had two runners, including Royal Richess. Thess Is Awesome was the horse from her barn who took a fancy to Santa Anita’s main track, she said. “He loves this surface. We knew he’d like it the way he galloped on it. We knew he’d come off from a deeper track. This is almost turf-like. He can make the lead and has that early speed. This is similar to the way he won at Delaware.” Thess Is Awesome earned $49,500 of the $100,000 purse, and has won 5 of 13 starts and earned $118,881. As a threeyear-old in September, 2013, he won consecutive starts in the Alec Courtelis Juvenile and the Delaware Juvenile Championship in a two-week period. Thess Is Awesome had one start in 2014, but had a six-race campaign in 2015. The trip to California for the Darley Awards Stakes was one that gave Kirshner
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Bottom: In the winner's circle with Alan Kirshner and Jack Mandato, a Throughbred breeder/owner, and Deb Mihaloff.
reservations, although he quickly admitted he was outvoted by Mihaloff and Ashby. “I didn’t want to spend that much on the flight out,” he said in the winner’s circle. “But my wife and Lynn said the horse was going.” Kirshner and Mihaloff have won stakes at venues as diverse as Arapahoe Park, Delaware Park, Lone Star Park, Los Alamitos, and Sam Houston, but Kirshner said a victory at Santa Anita felt different.
“This is really a nice horse,” he said. “I was dreaming that it would happen. This is a big-time event.” Kirshner, who over the last three decades has been an avid promoter of Arabian racing throughout the United States, and particularly at Delaware Park, paid tribute to the Sheikh Mansoor Festival for financially backing the race. “We couldn’t do it without them,” he said. Deb Mihaloff is equally as enthusiastic about Arabian racing. She is an avid student of bloodlines and had 101 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b MAY 2016
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ARO Director and IFAHR Vice Chairman Genny Haynes of the U.K, and Kathy Smoke, president of the Arabian Jockey Club.
an ideal mating that produced Thess Is Awesome. The horse is out of In Awe (Monarch AH x Awesome Gal), a threetime stakes winner whose career was highlighted by a win at the Delaware Park Arabian Distaff Sprint Championship in 2001. In Awe started once in 2002 before being retired. “We thought she’d be better than Royal Atheena,” Mihaloff said. Royal Atheena, another Monarch AH daughter, bred by Kirshner and Mihaloff, won 16 of 23 starts and earned $329,259, record
Middle: Jon and Krista Henningsgard, owner of the 2015 Darley Older Mare of the Year, DC Willeys Song (*Doran SBFAR x Wibwilcca by *Wilkolak).
winnings for an American-based female Arabian-bred. Instead of rivaling Royal Atheena’s accomplishments on the track, In Awe is the dam of the winner of the first Darley Award Stakes at Santa Anita. “We knew if the race set up for him he could do it,” Mihaloff said. “This is awesome and we named him that for a reason!” Steve Andersen is a correspondent for Daily Racing Form.
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2015 Darley Horse of th Year Paddys Day (Burning Sand x AK Loretta by Virgule Al Maury) with owner, and trainer Scott Powell in the saddling paddock, finished in second place.