iRacehorse
Volume 1 Number 2
iRacehorse The Magazine For the Horseracing Fan
IN THIS EDITION
The PREAKNESS A Horse Story
The 137th Running of the KENTUCKY DERBY Derby Weekend: A Personal Report Derby Traditions: The Roses – the Drink, the Trophy
5R Stables Horse News First and Foremost: A Jockey Rosie Napravnik rides the Derby
On the cover: Trainer Jazz Napravnik riding Notinrwildestdremz at Laurel Park Photo Illustration Angelika Hala
The PREAKNESS A Horse Story by Sean Kerr
As there are a lot of fine articles covering this year’s 136th running of the Preakness Stakes we wanted to go a different route by offering our personal albeit indirect connection to the great second jewel of the triple-crown. Angelika’s first thoroughbred and mine is a mare named ‘Sioux City Slew’. Her story is for another time but basically she was being literally starved to death in Michigan. She was given 2 months to live but the good people at Pin Oak Lane Farm in PA nursed her to health. Now she is a big-barreled tall flashy gal who exudes power and energy. Unfortunately as a yearling she mangled a back leg which rendered her unfit to race.
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After we took on Siouxie, I happened to see a picture of her dam ‘Brave Betty’. She is a stunning looking chestnut. Her breeding was interesting to us in that her sire is ‘Aloma’s Ruler’ winner of the 1982 Preakness. We discovered that it was quite a race and an interesting story so we became enamored with Aloma’s Ruler and his connections. The story is everything in horse racing that speaks to the dreams, the mystery, the interconnectedness, the glory, the euphoria, the heartbreak and the bitter sweetness of all who witness and participate in the sport. It’s all there.
Aloma’s Ruler was a Florida bred who charmed his eventual owner for life Nathan “Reds” Scherr back in 1981. Mr. Scherr was a builder in Maryland, a former Cornell football and lacrosse player who previously had a horse in the 1978 Preakness named Dax S. That Preakness featured one of the duels between Affirmed and Alydar. Famed handicapper Andrew Beyer, has written how he had noticed a three year old that had fallen under the radar of the 1982 Derby Trail due to a minor leg injury in the winter of 1982. What interested Mr. Beyer more was the horse’s trainer John “Butch” Lenzini. Beyer had divined that Butch had a talent for taking speed or sprint type horses and stretching them out to win seemingly unsuitable routes.
Just one week before the Preakness Lenzini conditioned Aloma’s Ruler well and they won the one mile Withers Stakes. As many horseracing fans know, most connections would opt out of a Triple Crown race coming off a race within a week. The only other horse that had done this prior to 1982 was Native Dancer in 1953, which coincidentally was Aloma’s Ruler’s dam’s grandsire.
Going into the Preakness Beyer bet Aloma’s Ruler with both fists based on his trainer angle and the unique speed bias that Pimlico exhibited for many years.
Jack Kaenel had been suspended the year before for lying about his age. At the age of 15 he was tied for leading rider at Pimlico with a 22% winning record. A local reporter exposed him and he was suspended for the rest of the year. On the day of his 16nth birthday, the legal age for jockeys at that time, he won 3 races. The favorite that day was Linkage mounted by acclaimed jockey Bill Shoemaker. Aloma’s Ruler had the outside post. Many wondered if anyone could beat the speed horse Linkage to the rail where the sweet spot was. Interestingly, the connections of the Kentucky Derby winner Gato Del Sol chose to forgo the Preakness. Apparently they thought that their marginal deep closer might struggle navigating the mythical ‘tight turns’ at Pimlico. They set their sights on the Belmont Stakes, which indeed seemed more suitable to Gato Del Sol.
The gates opened and the boy gunned Aloma’s Ruler right past Linkage to take the lead. But a funny thing happened on the way to the first turn. Kaenel did something he had never done, he got the lead and then proceeded to successfully throttle the field down to plodding fractions of a half mile in :48 and 6 furlongs in 1:12. By the time they reached the stretch no one had challenged them. Linkage couldn’t catch up and pass. It was over. Aloma’s Ruler shocked the crowd with an amazing upset. Kaenel told reporters that he never thought he could get away with controlling the pace in such a race. Jack Kaenel was and is to this day the youngest jockey to ever win the Preakness
Aloma’s Ruler went on to participate in another historic race. The Travers Stakes in 1982 was the only time that the winner of each leg of the Triple Crown raced against each other. Like we’ve seen over and over, whenever hype reaches a fever pitch, one can expect a herd mentality to take over and a mass disconnect from reality comes to pass. Much like the recent overzealousness and hype about Uncle Mo. Conquistador Cielo won the Belmont and a mania emerged regarding as to whether or not the colt was a super horse. His owner Henryk de Kwiatkowski negotiated a $38 million stallion syndication and shares were going for $910,000. That price surpassed the insanity of the previous decade: Spectacular Bid $550,000; Affirmed $400,000; Seattle Slew $300,000; Secretariat $190,000. Conquistador Cielo succumbed in a blistering head to head duel with Aloma’s Ruler. Both of them suffered a career ending injury. Runaway Groom breezed passed them for the win.
Aloma’s Ruler went on to become a stallion but wasn’t very successful. After shuffling around the country he produced 6 stakes winners after 18 seasons. Apparently he was shy and not terribly interested in the mares, preferring instead to stare out the window eating hay. He passed away at the age of 24 at a farm owned by a friend of Aloma’s Ruler’s last breeding manager Leroy Bormet. The Preakness winner is buried at that obscure farm owned then by Mr. Gary Clark about 50 miles north of Chicago. Jack Kaenel was known as Jack “Cowboy” Kaenel because he had worn and continued to wear a cowboy hat where ever he went. Sadly, Kaenel later suffered many injuries and eventually became an alcoholic. He has been training racehorses off and on at minor racetracks in California and the west coast. Nathan Scherr died at a retirement home after suffering from complications due to Parkinson’s disease. Butch Lenzini died way too early just 14 years later at the age of 49 of an apparent heart attack. He never again reached the heights achieved in that magical year back in 1982. He was racing claimers in New York City at the time of his death.
Years later, a dreamer stayed up one night until 5 a.m. smoking cigars. He surfed the Internet looking at horses for sale dreaming of one day buying a broodmare and breeding her to a stallion named Wheaton. Wheaton sired a horse named Saratoga Episode who was the horse that Barclay Tagg purchased for a group of high school buddies who had succumbed to Derby fever. The high school buddies had formed a stable called Sackatoga Stables. The name paid homage to and was a combination of Sackets Harbor and Saratoga, New York. Saratoga Episode was purchased with Sackatoga’s permission just a few weeks after their gelding named Funny Cide won the Kentucky Derby.
That cigar smoker was me, and a few years before that night on the internet, I happened to cross paths with Saratoga Episode in Vermont. He had cracked a sesamoid and was given to the sister of one of the Sackatoga partners. He was a very handsome horse and since his sire was a modest priced stallion, and Sackatoga had shown the way for the working class horseman, I decided that one day I would find a suitable mare for Wheaton.
In a shroud of cigar smoke I saw a mare on a horse swapping sight that broke my heart. She was the only horse on the website that only offered a profile of her head and neck. Her breeding
revealed Seattle Slew and another horse I had never heard of named Aloma’s Ruler, her dam sire. I contacted the owner and asked for more pictures. She looked absolutely pitiful and had a fist-sized bump on one of her back pasterns. There is a most interesting tale behind how I was motivated to go and rescue her but I will leave that for another time. I will say though that after driving for many hours from New York to a one traffic light town north of Detroit, arriving at 3 a.m., mine and my future wife’s lives changed forever.
I got to the farm after a brief sleep. The vet I hired was examining the most electric thing I had ever seen: Sioux City Slew. She is the first horse I ever got and she has inspired us and led us to adventures we could never foresee. If it weren’t for her we probably never would have crossed paths with our wonderful 5R champions Notinrwildestdremz, Saving Miss Dixie and Captain Crimescene.
Eventually we found her dam Brave Betty in another part of Michigan so we took her on too. Betty delivered an amazing foal sired by the great Siphon. The foal was a filly Angelika named “She Kahn” after a mythical female warrior in China. She Kahn had no fear, was very curious and ran and ran and ran in the paddocks. Sadly, She Kahn was euthanized after battling colic and intestinal adhesions that were the aftershocks of a stifle infection. The day she was put to sleep news broke out about 177 horses found neglected and starving in upstate New York. Since Betty could nurse, Angelika offered her to the rescuers as a surrogate for any foals who may have lost a mother. We offered to adopt a foal as well as a way to heal the crushing grief we felt over the loss of She Kahn
She Khan getting loose in the barn
And here we are today twenty-nine years after the dust from a magical moment in time settled at Pimlico racetrack, where no other race on the planet carries such significance and burden as that placed on each year’s Kentucky Derby winner. We now anticipate Notinrwildestdremz’s first race. Jazz Napravnik, a Maryland horseman who seems to carry a bit of She Kahn’s spirit and energy, trains her. She Kahn, whose great grand sire blistered the Pimlico track and made history in the 107th Preakness Stakes.
DERBY WEEKEND By Jill Waguespack
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hen I asked Wag last year on our 19th wedding anniversary if we could go someplace special for our 20th anniversary this year, he thought of something very special. My husband Wag and I both love sports but I am the horse nut of the family and my wonderful Wag has endured my passion with kind support. We were in college when we were married and didn’t have a honeymoon, and since we have three very active children there never seems to be much time or money left for the two of us. On New Year’s eve Wag gave me an early anniversary gift: I was stunned when he told me he had bought us tickets to the Kentucky Derby…literally stunned speechless.
On May 5, 2011, we finally landed in Louisville. From the time my feet hit the ground I felt like we were in Disneyland. No – better: Disneyland with racehorses! I felt like a child on Christmas Eve, elated, knowing that something wonderful is just around the corner. I took in everything as mindfully as possible; I wanted to appreciate every single moment. At the hotel check‐in Wag handed me a print of Secretariat, a welcome gift from the hotel, and mumbled something about “the rider” being in the other room signing the prints. I stopped dead: “The rider?” “Yeah, some guy” “Wag, do you mean Triple Crown winner Secretariat’s jockey Ron Turcotte?!?” “Yeah, that was the name she said I think.” We took our place in the line of cheerful fans clutching their photographs, waiting patiently when one of the managers appeared with Mint Juleps. Ok, I know it is a Derby must‐do, so I did…and let me just say: Mint Juleps are not for me. And finally, here he was, THE Ron Turcotte! I was so thrilled and humbled to meet this man – a living piece of horse
racing history. Mr. Turcotte was very gracious and took the time to talk to us as he signed our print – and then I had my picture taken with him! We arrived to find Churchill Downs “Pinked Out” The next morning, May 6, we made our way to Churchill Downs for Kentucky Oaks Day. We arrived to find Churchill Downs “Pinked Out” in honor of the survivors of breast cancer. A couple things surprised me: I had no idea about the sheer size of Churchill Downs. I am a “purple‐and‐gold” LSU Tiger accustomed to Tiger Stadium – Death Valley – 93,000 screaming people on a Saturday night – but this place was soooo much larger. We walked around and I took in every brick, horse, hat, flower, drink ‐ nothing escaped me. A friend later told me that in one of my pictures I looked like a kid in a candy store, which was exactly how I felt! We found our seats – which were in the far corners of this hallowed ground – but I could not have been happier. I was at CHURCHILL DOWNS! With so many sights to see it was hard to remember that there were horses on the track. The place was phenomenal. Some were dressed in shorts, some were dressed to kill, and there was everything in between. Wag’s handicapping tactic was to bet on Ken Desormeaux’s mounts and he had consistent good fortune. I was betting with my heart and biases – a girl jockey (Rosie Napravnik) and local Louisiana heroes (Joe Talamo, Jamie Theriot, and of course Calvin Borel). I rarely won but I didn’t care. And I discovered my Kentucky Derby drink, the Oaks Lily. This is my kind of drink – vodka, triple sec, sweet and sour, and cranberry juice – very, very good. As the big race of the day, the Kentucky Oaks drew closer, more and more people packed the stands. Wag and I could not understand how a person could purchase tickets to this great weekend and only show up for the two big races – but many people did just that. I am all about the day, the entire day, and I was very much living in the moment. The moment meant that I was at Churchill Downs with my wonderful husband Wag, and our adventure had only just begun!
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ay 7th – finally here: Derby Day! We departed the hotel early dressed in our Derby finery. If I thought that Churchill Downs was packed on May 6, I was in for a big shock. Already this early in the morning there was a sea of people flowing in every direction. Wag and I wanted to visit the paddocks but we couldn’t get very close because there was such a mass of people. And there were hats, hats, hats, and more hats extraordinary, hideous, creative, small and huge – if you could imagine it, you could find it at Churchill Downs that day.
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nd the outfits were just as amazing as on the day before, there was everything from shorts to ball gowns. We looked with some concern for rain clouds on the horizon – every forecaster had promised a 60% chance of rain on Derby day – but after a few drops the sun came out and stayed for the rest of this gorgeous day. The closer we got to the BIG race,
the larger the crowds grew and the finery got grander. We saw celebrities on the big screen (I was more impressed with the horses!). And then it was time: we listened to the national anthem, the bugler’s call, and the roar of the crowd. I watched the outriders bring each horse down the track in front of us, each horse dressed in his own beautiful saddlecloth and each jockey in his colorful silks. It was time. “The most exciting two minutes in sports” – that is such an understatement. This was the race we had traveled to see…the Kentucky Derby. It was surreal. Here I was, squeezed in among the other 168,000 plus people, watching the most majestic horses being loaded into the gate right in front of us. One could feel the crowd vibrate with energy. I could not sit in my seat and I could not stand still. Perched high on a grandstand bleacher, in heels, I was bouncing on my toes, holding on to Wag’s shoulders for support. And then they were off!
76 pounding hooves “The most exciting two minutes in sports” – that is such an understatement. We watched the frantic group fly past us and we listened to the announcer call the race that in just seconds had drawn far away from us. We strained to see the horses on the big screen, trying to figure out where exactly the pack was. And then THE MOMENT happened. Words cannot adequately describe what it was like. Something deep inside me responded to the sensation when I heard those 19 horses come around the last turn, each leaning toward the rail. I will never forget that sound. It was the most moving sound I have ever heard: 76 pounding hooves. It is very strange: all I can remember hearing is that sound. The other thousands of people were
immediately silent in my head. I felt those hooves tearing through that turn. It was overwhelming in those few moments, and that is what I will remember about the Derby: that sound. And then they were gone, and the crowd roared, and as everyone knows Animal Kingdom won the 137th Kentucky Derby. watched the entire two hours of television coverage on our DVR a few days after we returned home. And again when the horses made that last turn for the final stretch, I felt it – I could hear it. I cannot imagine in my heart that I will ever forget that sound. It is a part of me now.
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DERBY TRADITIONS Garland of Roses The roses were first established as part of the Derby celebration when they were presented to all the ladies attending a fashionable Louisville Derby party. The roses were such a sensation, that the president of Churchill Downs, Col. Lewis Clark, adopted the rose as the race's official flower. The rose garland now synonymous with the Kentucky Derby first appeared in 1896 when the winner, Ben Brush, received a floral arrangement of white and pink roses.
Mint Julep The Mint Julep has been the traditional beverage of Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby for nearly a century. Kentucky Derby and the Mint Julep is the rare convergence of sports and an extremely elegant libation. First you need the right ingredients and the right gear. Try Maker's Mark or pricier small batch bourbon like Basil Hayden's. Brown sugar and fresh mint give the drink depth and freshness. Pewter julep cups are classic but an Old Fashioned or highball glass will do the trick. A wooden muddler is a must for crushing mint. If you're really serious, buy a Lewis bag for crushing the ice. For each serving: Crush 4 cups of ice. In a pint glass or cocktail shaker, muddle 8 mint leaves and a teaspoon of brown sugar. Add 2 ounces of bourbon and stir. Pack a julep cup with ice until overflowing. Strain bourbon mixture into cup. Stir drink until the outside of the cup frosts. Top with more ice, garnish with a fresh mint spring, and serve. From “Bon Apetit”
Derby Trophy Since the 50th running of the Kentucky Derby in 1924, Churchill Downs has annually presented a gold trophy to the winning owner of the famed "Run for the Roses." History is unclear if a trophy was presented in 1875 to the winner of the first Kentucky Derby, and trophy presentations were sporadically made in following years. Finally, in 1924, legendary Churchill Downs President Matt Winn commissioned a standard design to be developed for the "Golden Anniversary" of the Derby. Since 1975 the trophy has been created by New England Sterling located in North Attleboro, Mass. The trophy, which is topped by an 18-karat gold horse and rider, includes horseshoe shaped handles, is 22 inches tall and weighs 56 ounces, excluding its jade base. The entire trophy is handcrafted with the exception of the horse and rider that are both cast from a mold. To complete the trophy by April, craftsmen begin the process during the fall of the previous year and literally work hundreds of hours. The trophy is believed to be the only solid gold trophy that is annually awarded the winner of a major American sporting event. Smaller, replica Derby trophies are awarded to the winning trainer, jockey and breeder. Traditions collected by Angelika Hala
Hello from the 5R Racehorse Stables www.5Rstables.com QuickTime™ and a decompressor are needed to see this picture.
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t is with a bittersweet heart I write this report to update everyone about our three horses. Saving Miss Dixie, beloved “Star” to some and “Shelly” to others, is now officially retired and will no longer be urged on to pursue a sport performance horse career. We are so very proud of her. As clichéd as it is to say, she has truly given us everything she could with an awesome and indomitable spirit. Throughout our relationship her class emerged and enabled her to overcome the abuse she suffered early in her life and the resulting physical setbacks. At the recommendation of our trainer Jazz Napravnik we took her off the racing program. Her physical transformation has been nothing short of extraordinary but due to the issues with her left shoulder she is not able to withstand the rigors of racetrack conditioning. Rest assured Dixie has amply demonstrated other interests in the past several months before leaving Glade Valley Farm. Her flirtations across the paddocks drove many a stallion, colt and even the geldings to distraction. So next year we may explore the possibility of letting Dixie pursue her openly professed natural inclinations by allowing her to become a broodmare. In the interim we will work out a plan to present to all members who may be interested in participating in this future venture.
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wo weeks ago we met up with Stable member Scott Ryan and his family who were vacationing in the area of Glade Valley Farm. 5R Racehorse Stable’s handicapper Jessica Tugwell and her mom Debbie joined us for a visit with Dixie and Cappy. We enjoyed a beautiful spring day under a perfect blue sky and ample sunshine. We were delighted to see that our boy Captain Crimescene had returned to being his old self. His coat glistens with hues of copper, orange and brown, and he runs around the paddock as if he wanted to make sure we saw how good he feels.
Cappy kicking heels front and back © Scott Ryan
We are exploring the possibility of presenting Cappy’s health condition to the equine and racing sciences community as an opportunity to study effects and treatment of acquired hydrocephalus. Our intention is to seek a grant or other financial support for a study that hopefully can add to the body of knowledge and possible treatment for this condition with results that could even have implications for human health. Cappy’s apparent stabilization is encouraging but we know that we are not quite out of the woods yet. Our efforts and intentions will be described in more detail soon. Notinrwildestdremz has resumed training and we are happy to report that her xrays proved negative and no fractures were found in her legs. She is jogging well and in great spirits. It is a lot of fun to discuss Dremz with Jazz. When the conversation turns to our little horse, the rise in tone and energy in Jazz’s voice is noticeable. And when we discussed the possibility of breeding Saving Miss Dixie, Jazz chuckled and said she can’t wait to get a few more of Dremz.
Dixie and Cappy at Glade Valley Farm
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o this is where we are as 5R Racehorse Stables. We all came together and encouraged each other with guarded optimism about the prospect of our three horses, and contemplated this adventure soberly. Naturally, most of us hoped that all 3 would make it to the track. But the constant refrain from everyone has been, “even if we get one of them to the track, it will be a huge victory.� Now almost two years after seeing a funny looking runt of a filly out in the field with a bough of cockle burrs stuck to her forelock, her little body almost buried in a herd of taller girls, and after watching her transformation from a sweet little mule-like pony with a round head to a serious muscular thoroughbred with the chiseled face of a champion, we wait with anticipation for what is next for one of the most appropriately named horses in the history of racing: Notinrwildestdremz. Sean Kerr
FIRST AND FOREMOST:
A JOCKEY
By Angelika Hala
Most horse-related sports are great equalizers between the sexes, pitting male and female athletes, both equine and human, against each other in competition. But in horse racing fillies and mares are mostly entered females-only races – on the lower race card with lesser The richest races worldwide are usually boys only and, in occasion when a filly is entered in one of those coveted headlines are being written.
in purses. the rare races, The US Olympic Equestrian Team
A girl runs against the boys! Try to think of famous racehorses mostly male horses come to mind, not that there are not many great female stakes winners. But the headline-making races are reserved for the boys – and when they retire they will be eternalized and kept in our awareness as stallions in the breeding shed. What a great two years the sport has had though, when racing fans followed the extraordinary careers of Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta. And because TV coverage has been more attentive to the sport with these two excellent athletes competing against the boys, the many enthusiastic female racing fans stood in the limelight as well. It turned out that many of them are regulars at the track, among them plenty of fierce handicappers and fearless bettors. This year’s female headline came with the run for the roses: A woman jockey rode a Derby mount! We witnessed history in the making! Statistics were dusted off and sports writers competed with their knowledge of how many women ever rode in the Derby, how well they did, how many rode Triple Crown races, R. Napravnik exercising Pants On Fire and so forth. And there certainly was the inevitable statistic, “The 10 Hottest Female Jockeys”.
Seemingly unperturbed by the spectacle that suddenly surrounded her, a media hungry for a
story since one after the other of the equine stars had limped off the road to the Derby, Rosie Napravnik answered interview questions with grace, professionalism, and humor. She was clearly aware of getting all the attention not because of the fabulous horse she was going to ride – Pants on Fire was not considered a winning ticket, perhaps a wildcard at best – but because she was a woman. She was also clearly aware of getting the Derby mount because of her exquisite trip on Pants on Fire in the Louisiana Derby, the crowning race of a masterfully-ridden campaign at the New Orleans track ending the meet as the most successful jockey.
Riding onto the track at Churchill Downs
A big smile on her face, Rosie Napravnik rode out onto the track at Churchill Downs, leaving no doubt about how proud she was having made it this far. Here she was at 23, riding her first mount before a record crowd in the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby.
Rosie rode Pants on Fire as well as one could ride him, rated him, placed him well strategically, making us believe for moments that perhaps it was possible. Had the Derby not shown over and over again that an outsider can win, that the unexpected could happen? And when she smacked Pants on Fire’s butt, once, twice, but he did not fire, she let him be, not trying to push and punish him by whipping him more, and rode him through the finish line in one sound piece.
After the race she was praised for finishing ninth – the best finish ever for a female jockey in the Kentucky Derby. Rosie was not that impressed with this record, she knew she rode well and Pants on Fire gave her what he could, but she did not win after all. “I never had so many congratulations for finishing ninth”, she commented dryly in an interview with the Daily Racing Form. She also commented on a gift bag she received, one clearly put together for her specifically, since no male jockey could be expected to receive a purse. The only time she referred to herself as a woman among men was when she admitted having been somewhat concerned about her hair when the official group picture of the 19 Derby riders was taken. “I also got five long-stemmed red roses – Derby roses,” Napravnik added. “I ended up putting them on the dashboard of my car. Somebody said no, you should take them home and dry them. Don’t let them get wrecked. I mean, they’re ninth-place roses! What the heck do I want them for?” DRF, May 12, 2011
It is clear that we will see a lot more of Rosie Napravnik. She is a passionate jockey, an excellent horsewoman, and a very accomplished rider. She has worked hard to get to the highest level of competition and has shown that she can ride among the best and most experienced in the sport. As the trailblazing women who rode Derby mounts before her, Rosie had to prove that she is at par with her male competitors, and that skill and perseverance make up for physical strength differences. We have seen male jockeys cry after winning the Derby and it will be great to find out how Rosie will deal with her first Derby win – from what we have seen it will be one of the greatest smiles in horse racing.