W W W. A ME RI CA NRA CEH ORSE. C OM SUMMER 2018
IN THIS ISSUE CELEBRATING CITATION 70 YEARS LATER • ALPHABET SOUP FIGHTS ON UNDERSTANDING YEARLING SALE RADIOGRAPHS
A Division of Center Hills Farm
LOOK FOR THE MIGHTY ACRES CONSIGNMENT AT THESE UPCOMING SALES! CARTER SALES CO.’S OKC SEPTEMBER SALE Mighty Acres, Agent for: Center Hills Farm • Cres Ran LLC • RML Thoroughbreds LLC Ciara’s Camp LLC • Kirk Thoroughbreds LLC • Jon L. Starr
Oklahoma-bred and Arkansas-bred Yearlings by: Archarcharch • Declaration of War • Karakontie • Kipling • Liaison • Macho Uno Majesticperfection • Notional • Pollard’s Vision • Race Day • Save Big Money Shakin It Up • Tapizar • The Factor • The Visualiser
KEENELAND SEPTEMBER YEARLING SALE Oklahoma-bred Yearlings by: Jimmy Creed • Street Boss • Summer Front
HERITAGE PLACE THOROUGHBRED SALE
Oklahoma-bred Yearlings by: Karakontie • Kipling • Paynter • Pollard’s Vision • Power Broker • Save Big Money • The Visualiser Mares in Foal to: Den’s Legacy • Pollard’s Vision • Save Big Money • The Visualiser
FASIG-TIPTON KENTUCKY FALL YEARLING SALE Oklahoma-bred Yearlings by: Fed Biz • Goldencents • Munnings
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675 W. 470 Rd. • Pryor, Oklahoma 74361 Phone: 918-825-4256 • Fax: 918-825-4255 Randy Blair: 918-271-2266 www.mightyacres.com
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AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 3
YOUR AFTERCARE AUTHORITY. Funds raised by the TAA support 64 accredited aftercare organizations in the TAA network. Since 2012, the TAA has granted more than $10.8 million to organizations accredited through a rigorous process and on-site inspections. Your support makes a difference in the lives of thousands of horses.
www.thoroughbredaftercare.org | (859) 224-2756 Photo by New Stride Thoroughbred Adoption Society
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7/11/18 4:47 PM
8 4:47 PM
OHIO THOROUGHBRED BREEDERS & OWNERS 2018 MIXED SALE SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7 - 1:30 P.M. MAJESTIC FARM - BATAVIA, OHIO ENTRIES CLOSE TUESDAY, AUGUST 14
Remember—the Ohio Sale is for horses of all ages and NOT restricted to Ohio-breds. • After entries are accepted they will be posted on-line. • With over $7.43 million available to Ohio-bred winners and breeders this is a great time to get in the game! • For entries contact: www.Duaneswingleyauctioneers.com and www.otbo.com • For more information you can call us at 513-574-5888 or send an email to info.otbo@fuse.net
AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 5
ABOUT AMERICAN RACEHORSE
American Racehorse (formerly Southern Racehorse) covers Thoroughbred racing and breeding in the Southwest, Midwest and Midsouth regions. The magazine is mailed to all members of the following associations: • Alabama Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association • Arkansas Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Horsemen’s Association • Colorado Thoroughbred Breeders Association • Georgia Horse Racing Coalition • Indiana Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association • Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association • Michigan Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association • Minnesota Thoroughbred Association • North Carolina Thoroughbred Association • Ohio Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners • Thoroughbred Racing Association of Oklahoma • South Carolina Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association • Texas Thoroughbred Association • Plus hundreds of Louisiana horsemen.
For more information or to inquire about advertising, contact Denis Blake at (512) 695-4541 or visit www.americanracehorse.com.
CONNECT WITH AMERICAN RACEHORSE
HHH Online: www.americanracehorse.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/americanracehorse • Twitter: @AmerRacehorse Email: info@americanracehorse.com Phone/Text: (512) 695-4541 • Fax: (512) 870-9324 Published by Pangaea Enterprises LLC d/b/a American Racehorse American Racehorse • P.O. Box 8645 Round Rock, TX 78683 Physical Address American Racehorse 1341 Meadowild Drive • Round Rock, TX 78664 Editor/Publisher Denis Blake • info@americanracehorse.com Senior Art Director Amie Rittler • arittler3@gmail.com Graphic Designer Julie Kennedy • julie@digitalcitydesigns.com Copyeditor Judy L. Marchman
Contributors Sarah Blanchard Rick Capone Megan Tracy Petty, DVM Michael Phelps Photographers Laura Battles Benoit Photo Denis Blake Sarah Blanchard Rick Capone Coady Photography Dustin Orona Photography John Engelhardt Horsephotos.com Keeneland Library Cook Collection Keeneland Library Meadors Collection Keeneland Library Morgan Collection Linscott Photography NYRA/Bob Coglianese Cover Photo everydoghasastory – stock.adobe.com
Copyright © 2018 American Racehorse All rights reserved. Articles may not be reprinted without permission. American Racehorse reserves the right to refuse any advertising or copy for any reason. American Racehorse makes a reasonable attempt to ensure that advertising claims are truthful but assumes no responsibility for the truth and accuracy of ads. 6 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018
WHAT’S INSIDE
American RACEHORSE
Summer 2018
18
Citation’s Triple Crown run
26 Alphabet Soup’s cancer battle
Departments Fast Furlongs 10 State Association News
47
The Marketplace Classifieds
58
Features The Legend of Citation One of the greatest horses in history won the Triple Crown 70 years ago
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Alphabet Soup is Still Beating the Odds 26 The Old Friends resident is benefiting from a new cancer treatment that is helping gray horses
32 Winning big without spending big
Doing More for Less 32 Mark Martinez’s Agave Racing Stable is winning Grade 1 races without breaking the bank How to Price a Yearling Prior to Auction Determining a value based on a multiple of the stud fee is a good starting point
38
Ask a Vet: Understanding the Lingo 42 of the Radiograph Repository While the repository is for vets, it’s important for buyers to know the basics
AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 7
MAKE PLANS TO BE AT LONE STAR PARK ON AUGUST 27 FOR THE TEXAS SUMMER YEARLING AND MIXED SALE! Don’t miss the pre-sale party and sale seminar covering digital certificates for foal registration on August 26!
TEXAS CHROME
Dustin Orona Photography
Dustin Orona Photography
Dustin Orona Photography
CHECK OUT SOME RECENT GRADS FROM THE YEARLING SALE!
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TTA SALES
For more information, go to www.ttasales.com or call Tim Boyce at (972) 523-0332 or the Texas Thoroughbred Association office at (512) 458-6133.
8 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018
AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2017 8
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AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 9
2/9/18 2:13 PM
fastfurlongs Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame Announces Class of 2018
10 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018
Courtesy King Ranch
The Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, has announced its 2018 inductees: Bold Venture, Tom Durant, Jim Helzer, Julianna Hawn Holt, Corey Johnsen, One Famous Eagle and Todd Pletcher. Chaplain Mike Bingaman is the JoAnn Weber Distinguished Service Award recipient. The honorees will be inducted at the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame Gala on Saturday, August 4, from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Retama Park. The public is invited to the gala, which will feature cocktails, a gourmet prime rib and seafood buffet, silent auction, Thoroughbred and American Quarter Horse racing and free valet parking. Generous sponsorship packages are still available. Individual tickets are $125 per person; RSVPs are due by Monday, July 30. Proceeds from the 2018 Hall of Fame Gala will to go to the Texas A&M Foundation benefiting the Equine Initiative. Sponsors of the gala thus far include Julianna Hawn Holt, Susan and Tom Durant, Johnny and Jana Trotter, Mr. and Mrs. Tommy J. Azopardi, CJ Thoroughbreds, Todd Pletcher, Dr. Charles Graham, Tyler and Naia Graham, Pinnacle Entertainment, Equine Initiative–Texas A&M University, Catherine Carr, Dan Pish Racing, Hugh Fitzsimons Jr., Asmussen Horse Center, Joe Straus Jr., Ramona Bass and Quarter Horse Track Magazine. The mission of the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame is to preserve the history and convey the excitement of horse racing in America while honoring trainers, jockeys, owners, horses and all who have had an impact on the Texas racing community. It funds nonprofit groups that benefit the Texas equine industry and offer educational opportunities for Texans associated with the equine industry. For more information or to make reservations, contact Ryan Grammer at (210) 651-7045 or txhorseracinghof@gmail.com. Kentucky-bred Bold Venture won the 1936 Kentucky Derby, without a prior stakes win, at 20-1 odds and with apprentice jockey “Babe” Hanford aboard. Bold Venture then won the Preakness Stakes. Undefeated in his 3-year-old season and with two legs of the Triple Crown won, Bold Venture bowed a tendon and was retired. Standing in Texas at King Ranch, he sired two top-class Texas-breds: Assault, the 1946 Triple Crown champion, and Middleground, winner of 1950 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. Bold Venture left an indelible mark prior to his death at age 25. After 10 successful years as a Quarter Horse owner, Tom Durant moved to Thoroughbred racing in 1997 and now owns Classic Racing
Bold Venture Stables outside Granbury. A winner of multiple graded stakes races, he set the record for wins at Lone Star Park and is the all-time leading owner at the track. He also competes extensively at Churchill Downs and Keeneland. Since 2000, Durant has had 2,368 starters with more than 500 wins and earnings in excess of $11 million. Jim Helzer owned Refrigerator, a two-time Quarter Horse world champion and the only horse to win three runnings of the Champion of Champions. Helzer established JEH Stallion Station, which stood leading Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred stallions at its Oklahoma and Texas divisions, and also established JEH Equine Reproduction Specialists and Hospital. Helzer formerly served as a director of the Texas Thoroughbred Association, president of the Texas HBPA and chair of the Texas Horsemen’s Partnership. He is an inductee in the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame. Julianna Hawn Holt owns Cross Triangle Ranch for her commercial cattle and Quarter Horse breeding operations. She is the breeder of 2017 All American Futurity winner Fly Baby Fly. Due to mares like Corona Chick, Higher Fire and Heartswideopen, she has topped auctions at Ruidoso select yearling sales. Holt is a partner
in American Bank, Hawn Brothers Production, Hewit & Dougherty, Prade Ranch, Hawn Holt Interests, Hawn Holt Cross Triangle Ranch, HOLT CAT and the San Antonio Spurs. As president and part owner, Corey Johnsen oversaw the launch of Lone Star Park into the national limelight with the Breeders’ Cup and renowned All-Star Jockey competitions. He was instrumental in building Louisiana Downs’ Super Derby into a top race, getting slot machines at Oklahoma tracks and bringing historical racing to Kentucky. He purchased Kentucky Downs in 2011 in partnership and has turned the track into an industry leader. Johnsen founded the Lone Star Park Charitable Foundation and is a member of the Lone Star Park Hall of Fame. He owns Thoroughbreds, owns and breeds Quarter Horses, and produces jockeytalk360.com. In 2016 One Famous Eagle was the top-ranked Quarter Horse stallion nationally, with offspring earning $5.9 million. The son of Mr Jess Perry stands at 6666 Ranch in Guthrie, Texas, and his top performers include All American Futurity winners Imperial Eagle and One Dashing Eagle.
Texas native Todd Pletcher has a resume that may never be topped: a record seven Eclipse Awards in the past 13 years as outstanding trainer; 10 Eclipse Award-winning horses, including 2007 Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches; and five Triple Crown race victories, with Kentucky Derby winners Super Saver in 2010 and Always Dreaming in 2017, and three Belmont winners. He is Thoroughbred racing’s all-time leading trainer with earnings at $354 million and counting. Based at Belmont Park, he has stables in California, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Chaplain Mike Bingaman is the longest continually serving racetrack chaplain internationally. He earned a degree in pastoral ministries but was introduced to the Race Track Chaplaincy of America and developed a love for this industry. He has served as chaplain to Longacres (Washington), Bandera Downs, Manor Downs, Trinity Meadows, Gillespie County Fair and Retama Park. He earned his Master’s in professional counseling. He served on the executive board of The Winner’s Foundation of racing drug and alcohol counselors.
For more racing and breeding news, go to AmericanRacehorse.com
AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 11
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American Racehorse, Photographer Heather Grevelis Earn First-Place AHP Award American Racehorse magazine earned three awards at the American Horse Publications Equine Media Awards presented June 16 in Hunt Valley, Maryland. Photographer Heather Grevelis took the top honor in the Editorial Action Photograph category for her amazing shot of Dean Butler being unseated from his mount at the start of a race at Canterbury Park. The photo was featured on the cover of the fall 2017 issue and in an article in that same issue about the perils jockeys face. The article was written by her husband, Ted. The Minnesota couple founded the Midwest Paddock Report (mwpaddockreport.com), which covers racing in the Midwest, particularly at Canterbury. Designer Julie Kennedy earned an honorable mention award for her design of a feature about Man o’ War, and writer J. Keeler Johnson took the same honor for an article about Centennial Racetrack. American Racehorse (then called Southern Racehorse) was previously honored by AHP with the general excellence award as the winner in the state or regional publication category.
WWW. AMERI CANRA
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FALL 2017
MAN O’ WAR: HORSE OF THE CENTURY EQUINE EYE ISSUES THE PERILS OF RIDING RACEHORSES
Midnight Lute Filly Tops Equine Sales Company 2-Year-Old Sale An accredited Louisiana-bred daughter of Midnight Lute sold for $77,000 on May 7 to top the Equine Sales Company 2-Year-Olds in Training and Horses of Racing Age Sale in Opelousas, Louisiana. Named Nite Jean, the sale-topper went to prominent Southwest owner Carl Moore from the consignment of Pike Racing, agent. The May foal worked an eighth-mile on May 6 in :10 1/5, just one tick off the fastest time of :10 set by a trio of horses. Nite Jean is out of the winning Macho Uno mare St. Jean, who has produced a winner from her only starter and whose second dam is Grade 2 winner and graded stakes producer French Park. The second-highest price was $65,000 for an accredited Louisiana-bred from the first crop of Sum of the Parts. The filly out of stakes winner La Salle Glory worked in :10 and went to J. Stevens Bloodstock, agent, from the consignment of Ricky Courville, agent. J. Stevens Bloodstock also picked up the highest-priced colt and
third-highest price overall. The accredited Louisiana-bred by top Louisiana sire Half Ours sold for $55,000 after working :10 2/5. All told, 42 of 61 horses sold for a total of $733,400. The average 2-year-old price was $18,168 with a median of $12,000. Last year’s sale posted an average of $20,308 with an identical median. That auction was fueled by two six-figure sales, including an all-time sale record $110,000 for a Flat Out filly named Special Blessing. There were two horses of racing age in this year’s sale that brought $6,700. “Last year’s 2-year-old sale was our best ever and we knew it would be hard to match those results, but I’m pleased that we came pretty close,” said Foster Bridewell, sales director. Equine Sales Company has two auctions remaining this year with the Consignor Select Yearling Sale on September 6 and the Open Yearling and Mixed Sale on October 28. Full results are available at equinesalescompany.com.
First Winner for Texas Stallion Moro Tap
12 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018
Courtesy Double Infinity
Texas stallion Moro Tap was represented by his first winner on June 15 when his 2-year-old daughter Ruby Does Sparkle captured a maiden special weight race at Lone Star Park. Running for breeder Stephen Baker, the Texas-bred filly closed strongly to prevail by a head in the five-furlong contest with Danny Sorenson up for trainer Brent Davidson. Ruby Does Sparkle is out of the Texas-bred Holzmeister mare Maymeister, a winner of seven races and more than $100,000. Moro Tap is a winning and graded stakes-placed son of Tapit and a half brother to Grade 1 winner Ascend. The 8-year-old stallion stands as property of Wes Melcher at his Double Infinity Ranch in Sulphur Springs. His first crop of 2-year-olds includes 34 named foals. H Moro Tap
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2652 Reece Lake Road, Washington, OK 73093 Tel. (405) 288-6460 • Fax (405) 288-6865 Terri Carter, sales manager (405) 640-8567 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 13 terri.carter@okequine.com • www.cartersalesco.com
$4MILLIONREASONS
. . breed race . breed race .win win in in2018, 2018,Over Over$4 $4Million Millionwill will be bepaid paidto toThoroughbred Thoroughbred Owners Ownersand andBreeders Breeders in inOklahoma Oklahoma
THOROUGHBRED RACING ASSOCIATION OF OKLAHOMA THOROUGHBRED RACING ASSOCIATION OF OKLAHOMA . OKC, OK ONE REMINGTON PLACE 73111 . WWW.TRAORACING.COM ONE REMINGTON PLACE . OKC, OK 73111 405.427.8753 405.427.8753 . WWW.TRAORACING.COM
14 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018
GET MORE FOR YOUR ADVERTISING DOLLAR! Bernardini – Forest Heiress, by Forest Wildcat 2018 FEE: $2,000
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• David Unnerstall, Attending
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2018
S TA L L I O N R E GISTER
The 2019 American Racehorse Stallion Register is the most affordable and effective way to advertise your stallion to thousands of potential breeders in the Southwest, Midwest and Midsouth regions, as well as breeders in Kentucky, Florida and around the country. Only American Racehorse goes to virtually every Thoroughbred breeder in:
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H 2019 STALLION REGISTER DEADLINE IS OCTOBER 10! H
Get more information at www.americanracehorse.com, call (512) 695-4541 or see the Stallion Register Reservation Form on the following two pages.
AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 15
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16 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018
AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 17
Keeneland Library Cook Collection NYRA/B
ob Cogli
anese
The
legEND of
citation One of the greatest horses in history won the Triple Crown 70 years ago By Rick Capone
18 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018
O
n June 9, Justify became the 13th winner of Thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown. After winning the Kentucky Derby (G1) on a muddy track on May 5, the Preakness Stakes (G1) in the fog and mud on May 19, and then the Belmont Stakes (G1) on an overcast Saturday afternoon at Belmont Park, Justify cemented his legacy as one of the greatest racehorses of all time. There is no question that it takes a superior Thoroughbred to capture the Triple Crown. Historically, and perhaps coincidentally, Triple Crown winners have come in clusters: Gallant Fox, Omaha and War Admiral in the 1930s; Whirlaway, Count Fleet, Assault and Citation in the 1940s; Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed in the 1970s; and now American Pharoah and Justify have done it in the last three years. Still, winning those three races can also be elusive, as proven by the 11 years between Sir Barton, the first Triple Crown winner in 1919, and the second, Gallant Fox, in 1930; the 25 years between Citation and Secretariat; and the 37 years between Affirmed and American Pharoah. The 13 Triple Crown winners have all earned their place in the history books. Where Justify will rank among the group, and all the other great Thoroughbreds in history, won’t be determined until his racing career is over. However, one thing is certain, he will have a tough time measuring up to Citation. This year marks the 70th anniversary of Citation’s Triple Crown run in 1948. Even after all those decades, he’s still remembered as one of the sport’s greatest horses, as his accomplishments were, and still are, some of the most impressive in history. Citation was part of the great Calumet Farm legacy in the 1940s and 1950s, earning 2-year-old champion honors in 1947 and the Horse of the Year and 3-year-old champion titles in 1948. He was also the first Thoroughbred to earn more than $1 million, blazed through a then-record 16-race winning streak, was enshrined in the Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame in 1959 and was ranked No. 3 in the book, Thoroughbred Champions: Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century, by BloodHorse. What is sometimes forgotten today is that during the 1948 season Citation was sharing headlines and Kentucky Derby favoritism with his Calumet stablemate Coaltown. Coaltown did not race as a 2-year-old in 1947 due to health issues, but he won his first four races in 1948 in impressive fashion. This included a win in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland in track-record time of 1:49 1⁄5 for 1 1⁄8 miles.
Keeneland Library Morgan Collection
According to the Citation entry in Joe Palmer’s 1948 edition of American Race Horses, “Many Kentucky horsemen believed that the less heralded colt [Coaltown], then unbeaten in four starts, could hold the track even from Citation. “The two Joneses [father Ben and son Jimmy] maintained a decent reticence about the comparative merits of the two. ‘You can hardly tell until they meet,’ they would say.” While Coaltown was winning his first four races, Citation came into his 3-year-old season already much more accomplished. At two, Citation, a son of Bull Lea (as was Coaltown), won eight of nine starts with a second while earning $155,680. His biggest wins that year included the Elementary Stakes at Washington Park in Chicago on July 30, the Futurity Trial at Belmont Park on September 30, the Futurity Stakes at Belmont on October 4 and the Pimlico Futurity at Pimlico Race Course on November 8. Interestingly, he could have and probably should have won all nine of his starts. The lone defeat came in the Washington Park Futurity on August 16. In that race, it was a three-horse sweep by Calumet, as Bewitch, who would become 2-year-old champion juvenile filly that year, won the race, with Citation second and Free America third. In Thoroughbred Champions, the three-horse sweep was explained, with some humor, by Citation’s trainer Jimmy Jones. “We told the riders before the race, we’d split the fees three ways between them, and whoever was in front was to be allowed to win the thing without anybody whipping anything to death. Well, Bewitch got out there. She could go five-eighths in :58 any time, so Citation just sort of went along. Bewitch kind of eased up, though, in the stretch, and Citation picked up five lengths on her. She won by a neck [actually a length], Citation finishing a head in front of Free America. “When the riders came back to us after the race, Doug Dodson, who was on Bewitch, says he could have gone on and pulled away any time he wanted, but Steve Brooks [on Citation] says, ‘Naw, Citation was just loafing.’ About that time Jackie Westrope comes back with Free America and says, ‘You guys are just kidding yourself, I coulda taken both of you without even going to the whip.’”
With Eddie Arcaro up, Citation wins the Kentucky Derby, while his Calumet stablemate Coaltown finishes second. AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 19
Keeneland Library Morgan Collection
Citation being led to the winner’s circle following his Kentucky Derby victory, with Jimmy Jones, left, and Ben Jones, right.
AN UNORTHODOX START TO A 3-YEAR-OLD CAMPAIGN After being named 2-year-old champion, Citation didn’t lose a step coming into 1948, as he won his first four starts with Al Snider riding. Surprisingly, the first two wins came over older horses at Hialeah Park in an allowance race on February 2 and the Seminole Handicap on February 11, where he defeated Armed, the 1947 Horse of the Year and another Calumet stablemate. Now, a 3-year-old running against older horses so early in the year is very hard to do and was, and still is, rarely done. According to Edward L. Bowen, former editor of BloodHorse, horse racing historian and president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, those two races came about in an interesting way. In his later years, Jimmy Jones would come to the Churchill Downs backstretch during Derby week and tell some wonderful stories. One of those stories was about how Citation’s first two races in 1948 came about. Bowen noted that Warren Wright, owner of Calumet Farm at the time, had a friend with a very good horse at Hialeah in the early winter of 1948. Citation was on a break after his championship season, but Wright made it obvious that he wanted to beat his friend’s horse. “And Jimmy Jones always said, ‘You know I was young enough at the time that I kind of took that as an order.’ So, he cranked up Citation on the sort of spur of the moment and wound up [running him in those two races against] older horses.” How hard is it on a horse to win against older horses early in its 3-year-old season? Palmer explained in American Race Horses: “A 3-year-old hardly figures to beat older horses in the winter, even if he is potentially the best horse. It is something like asking a high school football player, even if he eventually proves the better athlete, to handle a mature 20 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018
college player. The odds are a little too great for inherent class to win over maturity and experience.” One important thing that did happen with Citation’s wins over older horses, especially over Armed in the Seminole, is that people started paying much closer attention to him as the Kentucky Derby approached. In fact, according to Palmer, after Citation’s win over Armed, Hall of Fame trainer James E. “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons was asked in the Hialeah paddock, “How good is Citation?” Fitzsimmons replied, “Up to this point, Citation’s done more than any horse I ever saw.” He paused a moment and shot point-blank: “And I saw Man o’ War!” Citation’s next two wins also came at Hialeah with Snider aboard in the Everglades Handicap on February 18 and then the Flamingo just 10 days later. Then, tragedy struck, as Snider disappeared in a boating accident. Palmer wrote that, a few days after the Flamingo, Snider went “fishing [in] the Florida Keys, was swept away in a freak squall and was never authentically heard from again.” With the young jockey’s death, Eddie Arcaro got the mount on Citation and promptly lost the first race riding him in the April 12 Chesapeake Trial at Havre de Grace in Maryland. The loss, which came less than a month before the Kentucky Derby, was to Saggy by a length on a muddy track. But according to Arcaro, there was a good reason. “I guess I could have caught him,” Arcaro said in Palmer’s book. “But, I knew Jimmy didn’t want me to beat up his horse. You know you can’t tell how much you’re taking out of a horse in mud, and with the big races just ahead, I didn’t want to kill him to win that one.” Five days later, Citation got redemption over Saggy, winning the Chesapeake Stakes by 4 1⁄ 2 lengths, while Saggy finished last. With that win, which was also the first in Citation’s 16-race win streak, he went to Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby.
Keeneland Library Morgan Collection
Citation captures the Preakness Stakes by 5 ½ lengths as the 1-10 favorite.
LAUNCHING A TRIPLE CROWN RUN Now, up to this point, Jimmy Jones was listed as the trainer for Citation, but once they reached Churchill, the trainer of record became Jimmy’s dad, Ben. He held that position for two races, the Derby Trial, which Citation won by 1 1⁄ 2 lengths on April 27, and the Kentucky Derby just four days later, and then Jimmy got the official training job back. The switch allowed Ben to tie H.J. Thompson for most Derby training wins at the time. With his Kentucky Derby victory this year, Justify broke the “jinx” of Apollo, becoming the first horse since 1882 to win the Run for the Roses without running as a 2-year-old. As for Citation, he also broke a jinx of sorts. At that point in history, no horse had won the prestigious Futurity at Belmont, which you could say was the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile of the era, and the Kentucky Derby. So, with Arcaro riding and going for his fourth Kentucky Derby win, Citation put that jinx to rest with an emphatic 3 ½-length victory over Coaltown. In the six-horse race, Coaltown took an early lead and held it going into the final turn. Then, Citation caught up to him, took the lead and went on to win the 1 1⁄ 4-mile contest in 2:05 2⁄ 5. Ben Jones ultimately went on to win six Kentucky Derbies, which is still the record, though Bob Baffert is getting close after his fifth Derby win with Justify. After the Derby, Coaltown took a back seat to Citation for the rest of 1948. However, Coaltown went on to prove just how good he was the next year. With Citation sitting out the 1949 season due to injury, Coaltown won 12 of 15 races and finished second the other three times. He earned $276,125 and was named champion handicap horse and co-Horse of the Year with Capot. Meanwhile, after his Derby win, Citation went to Pimlico for the Preakness, where on May 15 he sailed to a 5 1⁄ 2-length win over Vulcan’s Forge. He finished the 1 3⁄ 16-mile race in 2:02 2⁄ 5.
Then, before going on to the Belmont, Citation ran in the Jersey Stakes at Garden State Park on May 29 and won the 1 ¼-mile race by 11 lengths in a track-record time of 2:03. While today you would never see a horse run a race between the Preakness and Belmont stakes, according to Bowen, it did happen a few times in those years. And it should be noted that in 1948 there were four weeks between the last two jewels of the Triple Crown as opposed to three weeks today. “There was precedent,” Bowen said. “Sir Barton ran in the Withers during the Triple Crown. And Whirlaway ran [an allowance race] between the Preakness and the Belmont. Count Fleet also won the Withers between the Preakness and the Belmont. “And the fact that the Joneses had such confidence in [Citation’s] soundness and his ability to bounce back from a race. Like I say, to me, Thoroughbreds are such glorious creatures, that I don’t really like calling him a machine, but it’s hard to express it any other way than [that]. We know they’re not machines, but he seemed like one.”
Citation wins the Belmont by eight easy lengths to secure the Triple Crown.
NYRA/Bob Coglianese
AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 21
AN INJURY AND THE RACE TO $1 MILLION After his final start at Tanforan that December, Citation came out of the race with a sore left foreleg. He would end up missing the 1949 season. Citation did come back in 1950 for his 5-year-old season and won his first race back on January 11, an allowance race at Santa Anita that extended his winning streak to 16 races. He lost his next race, a January 26 handicap at Santa Anita, while carrying 130 pounds to winner Miche’s 114. That ended the historic streak, and by the close of 1950, Citation had run nine times with two wins and seven seconds. In 1951, he returned to the track with the goal of breaking the $1 million earnings mark. According to Bowen, Wright was not doing it for the money. Instead, the owner had his eye on history and loved his horse so much he wanted to see him make that record. “I think sometimes Mr. Wright gets a bum rap in that he seems to say … he kept him going for the money,” Bowen said. “I think it’s different to say he kept him going for the distinction of being the first to win the million dollars. It’s a milestone, as opposed to
Keeneland Library Meadors Collection
Following that win, Citation traveled to New York where on June 12, he not only won the Belmont Stakes, but became the eighth winner of the Triple Crown. He was also the third Derby winner of eight for Calumet, as well as the second Triple Crown winner for the farm after Whirlaway in 1941. In the Belmont, Citation stumbled out of the gate but regained his balance quickly to take the lead over seven other horses. It was a lead he never relinquished. By the final turn, he was ahead by a length and went on to defeat Better Self by eight lengths. He ran the 1 1⁄2-mile race in 2:28 1⁄5, which equaled the stakes record set by Count Fleet in 1943. Citation raced nine more times in 1948, with two of his best wins coming at Belmont. On September 29, he won the Sysonby Mile by three lengths over First Flight in 1:36. Then, amazingly, just three days later, he won the two-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup by seven lengths over Phalanx in 3:21 3⁄5. Citation had a walkover in the Pimlico Special at Pimlico on October 29 and, after two wins at the West Coast track, Tanforan, ended 1948 with 19 wins in 20 races and earnings of $709,470.
A conformation photo of Citation taken at Calumet Farm in September 1956. 22 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018
Jimmy Jones leads Citation and jockey Eddie Arcaro to the winner’s circle following their win in the Belmont Stakes.
cash in his pocket. Mr. Wright had set that part of his life up pretty well years before. So, I don’t think it was greed so much as just wanting to [get the record] … even though [Citation wasn’t in his] prime anymore.” On July 14, 1951, at Hollywood Park in the Hollywood Gold Cup, Citation defeated Bewitch by four lengths and became horse racing’s first seven-figure earner. He won the 1 1⁄4-mile race in 2:01. Following that win and with nothing left to prove, Citation was immediately retired. He finished his career with 32 wins, 10 seconds, two thirds and $1,085,760 in 45 starts. He would spend the rest of his life at Calumet Farm, where he died on August 8, 1970, at age 25.
CITATION’S PLACE IN HISTORY As spectacular as he was a racehorse, Citation was rather ordinary as a stallion with a record that included 12 stakes winners, although he did sire champion 3-year-old filly and fellow Hall of Famer Silver Spoon. That 1956 foal defeated males in the Santa Anita Derby and was the only filly from 1945 to 1980 to run in the Kentucky Derby, finishing a respectable fifth. So, just how good was Citation compared to some of the sport’s other great Thoroughbreds? As mentioned previously, BloodHorse ranked him No. 3 in the 20th century behind only Man o’ War and Secretariat. In addition, some horsemen at that time, before Secretariat, believed Citation just might have been better than Man o’ War. In Thoroughbred Champions, Jimmy Jones was quoted about Citation’s legacy, saying, “He was the best horse I ever saw. Probably the best anybody else ever saw, I expect.” Ben Jones also was quoted in that publication, comparing Man o’ War and Citation and saying, “Citation is a better horse.” Bowen, who notes that Citation is one of his all-time favorite horses, said, “In his first two years, he was as close to perfection as any horse has ever been. People who saw him were just so impressed. And the way they expressed themselves, both in print and in being quoted, has helped convince people who didn’t see him of his greatness. … Really, he was just so spectacular. I don’t mean spectacular in winning by huge margins, but just such a spectacular horse.” In a 1948 New York Herald Tribune article that was noted in Bill Mooney and George Ennor’s The Complete Encyclopedia of Horse Racing: The Illustrated Guide to the World of the Thoroughbred, Palmer eloquently summed up Citation’s career the best of all: “At a mile and a quarter or thereabouts, Citation can win over slop, goo, plowed fields, broken bottles or swampland. With Arcaro up he flows along in front with the smooth grace that is the admiration and despair of any man who has ever saddled a horse. H
NYRA/Bob Coglianese
Rick Capone is a freelance writer in Versailles, Kentucky, just down the road from Keeneland. He is also a volunteer at Old Friends, where he is part owner with friends Michael Blowen and Tim Ford of Miss Hooligan, a lovable retired mare at the farm.
AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 23
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Alphabet Soup (center) defeated Cigar (outside) and Louis Quatorze in the 1996 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) at Woodbine; now the 27-year-old gray is fighting another battle. 26 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018
By Rick Capone
AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 27
Rick Capone
Dr. Bryan Waldridge, the equine veterinarian at Old Friends who tried a new cancer treatment on Alphabet Soup, shares a moment with the pensioned stallion.
I
t’s a quiet morning at Old Friends, the Thoroughbred retirement farm in Georgetown, Kentucky, and 27-year-old Alphabet Soup is enjoying the pensioner’s life. In a paddock across from the farm’s new barn, Alphabet Soup, a beautiful gray whose coat is now almost snow white, eats his breakfast, happily munching on some hay on one side of a rack, while his new buddy, Gorgeous George, an adorable donkey who recently arrived at the farm, grabs hay from the other side. The two have been inseparable since they were put in the paddock together. As is common for many gray horses, Alphabet Soup has cancerous melanoma, and with it, several tumors on his body. But thanks to the wonders of medical science, his condition has improved greatly in the past couple of years. And it’s not the first time he’s beaten the odds. Twenty-two years ago at Woodbine, Alphabet Soup, at odds of nearly 20-1, faced off against the great Cigar—the odds-on favorite—in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). The race was a classic in every sense of the word. Alphabet Soup, Cigar and that year’s Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Louis Quatorze hit the stretch together, battling for the lead. Alphabet Soup, trained by David Hofmans and ridden by Chris McCarron, was in third, between the two foes. On his inside was Louis Quatorze, ridden by Pat Day, and Cigar with Jerry Bailey in the irons was to his outside. Three Hall of Fame jockeys asked their mounts for everything they had to win the biggest race of the year. In the end, a courageous Alphabet Soup took the lead and held on to win by a nose over Louis Quatorze, while Cigar finished third by a head. The teletimer further evidenced the quality of the race, with the 1 ¼ miles clocked in track record time of 2:01. 28 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018
Alphabet Soup raced only once more, finishing second in the San Antonio Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita the following February. The son of Cozzene was retired to stud with a record of 24-10-3-6 and earnings of nearly $3 million. His stallion career, which started at Adena Springs in Kentucky and included stints in Florida, New York and Ontario, was solid if unspectacular. In 2015, the then 24-year-old was pensioned to Old Friends. Now, even though his Breeders’ Cup win is more than two decades in the past and his final crop of foals is on the track, he is making an impact in another way.
THE CURSE OF GRAY HORSES According to Dr. Bryan Waldridge of Park Equine Hospital at Woodford in Versailles, Kentucky, melanoma, or cancer of the skin’s pigment cells, is most common on a horse’s hind end. However, it also can occur in other spots, such as at the base of the tail (as is the case with Alphabet Soup), on the perineum around the rectum, on sheaths on males or near the parotid salivary gland at the throat line. “In horses, it is rarely malignant,” said Waldridge, who is also the chief equine veterinarian for Old Friends. “It is what is called locally invasive. So where it is [located on the horse], it causes trouble, but it doesn’t tend to go other places. Whereas in humans, it tends to be a malignant cancer. In dogs, it [also] tends to be malignant. “On these gray horses—usually they start out darker and they turn white—so as they turn white, [doctors and medical professionals] believe there’s a change in the melanocyte—the cell that makes that pigment; it makes it more likely to become cancerous over time. It’s not UV light exposure and things like that as it is in humans.”
Waldridge originally tried cimetidine, an anti-ulcer drug that has been shown to stimulate the immune response to melanomas, on Alphabet Soup. The horse is still on the medication, but his condition was starting to get a little worse, so the veterinarian began looking at other treatment options.
A NEW APPROACH
RESULTS TO DATE Waldridge began the treatment on Alphabet Soup about two years ago, and to date, he has seen a 75 percent to 80 percent reduction in the size of the tumors. “I haven’t looked at it in a while, but it was, I’d say, an 80 percent reduction,” Waldridge said. “That is way more that you usually get. … It’s incredible to me.” Added Blowen, “Oh, it’s amazing. They were almost the size of softballs, those three tumors, and now they’re the size of golf balls. And Alphabet Soup’s disposition has improved immeasurably. He’s a really kind horse. He’s really, really sweet. Before, he was sweet, but he was a little bit standoffish, and I think it was because those things were really bothering him. It worked out for everybody, and if we ever get another horse in similar conditions, I wouldn’t hesitate to do the same procedure over again.” According to Waldridge, Veterinary Oncology Services–Morphogenesis believes this treatment also can be used on other cancers, and it is also possible it might be adaptable to be used in humans some day.
LIFE AT THE FARM TODAY Thanks to this new medical treatment, Alphabet Soup is not only living a much more comfortable life but he’s also getting more face time with his fans.
Laura Battles
After reading about the IFx-VET multi-indication cancer vaccine, a new immunotherapy produced by Veterinary Oncology Services–Morphogenesis in Tampa, Florida, Waldridge thought it might be worth trying on Alphabet Soup. He discussed it with Michael Blowen, president and founder of Old Friends, and Blowen gave the go-ahead. “Dr. Waldridge approached us and said they’re doing this experimental work with immune therapy for horses down in Florida, and [Alphabet Soup] might be a good candidate for it,” Blowen said. “My attitude was ‘Of course!’ because we always try to do what’s best for all these horses.” Blowen then called Adena Springs to explain the procedure they were going to try on Alphabet Soup, which led to a wonderful surprise. “It was going to be a fairly expensive procedure,” Blowen recalled. “We would have raised the money, but I called over to Adena Springs and talked to Frank Stronach’s people, and they paid for the whole procedure. So it was full speed ahead.” According to Waldridge, the way the procedure works is that they take a sample of the horse’s cancerous tumor (melanoma cells), grow the cells in a lab and then put a bacterial antigen on them. The resulting vaccine is then injected into the horse. The antigen turns on
the horse’s immune system by telling it that the cancerous cells don’t belong there. The horse’s immune system then attacks the cancerous cells in the tumors, and if all goes well, the size of the tumors is reduced or they are cleared up completely.
Alphabet Soup follows his buddy Gorgeous George, a donkey who recently arrived at the farm, around their paddock at Old Friends. Watching the pair intently over the fence are Fighting City Hall (left) and Danthebluegrassman.
AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 29
Rick Capone
Rick Capone Rick Capone
“He’s great with his fans,” Blowen said. “He lo during the day, and then he comes in around four “He’s great with his fans,” Blowen said. “He it.head He’s alwaysloves sticks his outout the window. He does a fab Mr. Ed when the he carrots go by.” during the day, and then he comes in aroundation fourof o’clock. And other reason Alphabet Soup sticks his head always sticks his head out the window. He does aThe fabulous impersonis to see his buddy Gorgeous George, who stays in ation of Mr. Ed when the carrots go by.” is usually bellowing for his friend, while the classy The other reason Alphabet Soup sticks hisinhead return.out the window Timpaddock Wilson, Old Friends’ farm manager, “E is to see his buddy Gorgeous George, who stays Joked in the and bet Soup comes in for the night and breaks the heart is usually bellowing for his friend, while the classy gray neighs back Another horse does spend the night in the pad in return. geous George, but it just isn’t the same for the little worries, early each Joked Tim Wilson, Old Friends’ farm manager, “Every day,morning Alpha-Alphabet Soup comes b two are happily reunited and enjoy another day tog bet Soup comes in for the night and breaks the heart of that little guy.” “He’s a great horse,” Blowen said. “We show a vi Another horse does spend the night in the paddock with that Gortour, which includes] ’96 Breeders’ Cup Class Louis Quatorze. geous George, but it just isn’t the same for theCigar littleanddonkey. But noSo people get to see him they get to seeout, him and and feed worries, early each morning Alphabet Soup comes back thehim carrots every day.” Alphabet Soup was never “supposed” to be a two are happily reunited and enjoy another day together. twice went through the sales ring and didn’t meet “He’s a great horse,” Blowen said. “We show video stopping [before ateach theabidding less than $30,000—and beat Cigar tour, which includes] that ’96 Breeders’ Cupcould Classic whenthatheafternoon beat outside of Toronto. he did, and now he’s beating the odds again and perh Cigar and Louis Quatorze. So people get to see run, andin then way him for other horses the future to battle melanom
they get to see him and feed him carrots every day.” Capone horse—he is a freelance writer in Versailles, Ken “supposed” to beRick a great the road from Keeneland. He is also a volunteer at Old twice went through the sales ring and didn’t ismeet his reserve, with part owner with friends Michael Blowen and Tim Fo the bidding stopping at less than $30,000—and few retired thought hethe farm. gan, a lovable mare at could beat Cigar that afternoon outside of Toronto. But he was, and he did, and now he’s beating the odds again and perhaps showing the way for other horses in the future to battle melanoma. H
Alphabet Soup is one of approximately Alphabet Soupat was never 175 retired Thoroughbreds Old Friends.
Alphabet Soup Soup isis one one of of approximately approximately Alphabet 175 retired retired Thoroughbreds Thoroughbreds at at Old Old Friends. Friends. 175
Rick Capone is a freelance writer in Versailles, Kentucky, just down the road from Keeneland. He is also a volunteer at Old Friends, where he is part owner with friends Michael Blowen and Tim Ford of Miss Hooligan, a lovable retired mare at the farm.
“He’s great with his fans,” Blowen said. “He loves it. He’s out dur- a lovable retired mare at the farm. ing the day, and then he comes in around four o’clock. And he always sticks his head out the window. of PROMOTIONS - He does a fabulous impersonation Being golf’s #1 cigar supplier means thousands of Mr. Ed when the carrots go by.” GIFTS SALES The other- reason Alphabet Soup sticks his head out the window country club members see our cigars. is to see his buddy Gorgeous George, who stays in the paddock and certifreshcartel.com is usually bellowing for his friend, while the classy gray neighs back in return. Joked Tim Wilson, Old Friends’ farm manager, “Every day, AlphaA few, who own thoroughbreds, asked us to design bet Soup comes in for the night and breaks the heart of that little guy.” Another horse does spend the night in the paddock with cigars Gor- for them. One says, “Never had so much fun geous George, but it just isn’t the same for the little donkey. But no showing off my horse - perfect for the track” worries, early each morning Alphabet Soup comes back out, and the two are happily reunited and enjoy another day together. “He’s a great horse,” Blowen said. “We show a video [before each tour, which includes] that ’96 Breeders’ Cup Classic when he beat Cigar and Louis Quatorze. So people get to see him run, and then they get to see him and feed him carrots every day.” Alphabet Soup was never “supposed” to be a great horse—he twice went through the sales ring and didn’t meet his reserve, with the bidFOR INFORMATION ding stopping at less than $30,000—and few thought he could beat Simply send an email to: Cigar that afternoon outside of Toronto. But he was, and he did, and now he’s beating the odds again and perhapsH showing the way for bill@certifreshcigar.com other horses in the future to battle melanoma.
Subject : Our Horse
Rick Capone is a freelance writer in Versailles, Kentucky, just down the road from Keeneland. He is also a volunteer at Old Friends, where he is part owner with friends Michael Blowen and Tim Ford of Miss Hooligan,
30 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018
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Courtesy Mark Martinez
Mark Martinez’s Agave Racing Stable is winning Grade 1 races without breaking the bank
32 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018
By Denis Blake
A DREAM COME TRUE By day, Martinez is CEO of San Antonio-based M2 Technology Inc., an IT solutions provider, but by night and pretty much any other time he can find, he’s overseeing his racing stable. Martinez’s journey to becoming a highly successful owner would have been hard to predict years ago, even though it was something he had dreamed about doing. “I didn’t grow up around horses, but I’ve always been fascinated by them,” he said. “When you look at the grace, agility, power and speed, there’s nothing else that has the combination of finesse and strength. Then you add in the pageantry of racing. Look at the stands in the 1940s, everyone dressed to the nines. I might have grown up in the wrong era.” Before working in the private sector, Martinez had a long career in the Air Force in various areas of information technology. During his time with the Air Force, he started following racing but didn’t have the means to jump into ownership. “I think the first time I really noticed racing was during the Affirmed-Alydar Triple Crown run; that kind of got me interested,” he recalled. “But I was an enlisted guy then, so I was worried about putting gas in my car and food on the table. I bet a little on a budget, but ownership was the last thing on my mind.” His passion for racing grew when he relocated to California and made frequent visits to Bay Meadows and Golden Gate Fields. “I loved Bay Meadows,” he said about the now defunct San Francisco-area track. “I would take my daughter and we’d go to the infield with baby formula and toys and watch the races. We would watch the replay show every night. “Then I had a tour overseas before ending up in Texas. Once I retired from the Air Force and had the money to get into this, I decided to see how I could dive in.” Using some of the restraint and patience that has served Martinez well as an owner, he tip-toed into the racing waters rather than truly diving by purchasing a 15 percent interest in a horse in 2005.
From there, Martinez continued to expand his racing interests and for a time was the sole owner of most of the horses in his stable. He has since flipped on that, and of his current roster of 15 horses he owns five of them outright and has a 50 percent to 75 percent stake in the other 10.
PUTTING IN THE WORK While Martinez is quick to credit D’Amato and numerous advisors, including Jeff and Kathleen Hebert in Louisiana and Dave Carman in Texas, it’s also clear that he’s far from being an absentee owner who just writes the checks. “He got to where he is by being a very good student of the game and spending hours and hours looking for horses to buy via the claim box or private purchase, and now all that time and hard work is really paying off,” D’Amato said. “It takes a lot of work and for every 50 or 100 horses you look at to buy or claim you might only find one diamond in the rough, so that’s a big tribute to him for his knowledge and patience.” Martinez labels himself as a very hands-on owner but also one that will yield to the advice of his trainer when warranted. “I’m sure Phil would agree that sometimes I’m maybe a bit too active of an owner, but we have a great working relationship and it’s paid dividends for both of us,” Martinez said. “He’s such a versatile trainer, which is good for me because I’m not a one-way owner. Some trainers might be the best at getting
Martinez has already visited the winner’s circle four times after a Grade 1 event.
Courtesy Mark Martinez
W
hat are the odds of winning three Grade 1 races with three different horses in a span of nine months? For a major stable, it might qualify as a nice run, but for a 15-horse, fiscally restrained operation, it’s a pretty lofty achievement. And that’s just what Mark Martinez’s Texas-based Agave Racing Stable has done. If this accomplishment doesn’t sound impressive, consider that there are just north of 100 Grade 1 races run annually and that Martinez’s trifecta of top tier wins came with a former $50,000 claimer, a horse who started his career at Lone Star Park and one who was victorious in just two of his first 15 starts. Plus, if you extend the timeframe back to December 2015, Martinez and trainer Phil D’Amato have teamed to capture Grade 1 wins with four different horses. Martinez typically partners with one or two others on his horses, and his success is not limited to the racetrack, as he’s parlayed the addition of black type to some of his top distaffers into a big payday in the auction ring.
AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 33
2-year-olds ready, but that’s not my program. I need a trainer that I can send a 5-year-old to who I want to move from turf to dirt, or a horse who was a maiden winner in Texas that I want to move to California. He’s always willing to take on a challenge.” Nothing in horse racing is easy, although most can agree that spending seven figures on a horse increases the chances for success. Martinez, however, will rarely even crack six figures on his purchases. “I’m always looking for angles, things that haven’t been tried yet, like a surface, distance, equipment change,” he said. “TVG is always on, and I put a lot of hours in.” Martinez buys yearlings and 2-year-olds at auction as well as privately purchases horses on the track. But he said he gets the most satisfaction through the claim box, even if he only claims occasionally. “To me, it’s more rewarding than the other ways,” he said. “If you are an owner and you send an agent to Kentucky to buy yearlings, then you were just smart enough to use a good agent. If you do your own work scrutinizing past performances and replays and you claim one—and you are right—like with Fault, then you feel like you had a whole lot more involvement.” Fault certainly was the “right one.” The daughter of Blame, who sold for $120,000 as a yearling, only had modest success early in her career, winning a maiden special weight at Fair Grounds on the dirt. She finished last in a pair of allowance/optional claimers after that maiden win, and her connections dropped her in for $50,000 at Churchill Downs in May of last year. 34 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018
Courtesy Mark Martinez
Mike Smith, the rider of Triple Crown winner Justify, gave Martinez his first Grade 1 victory aboard Street Fancy in the 2015 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos.
“She had shown some ability,” said Martinez, who credited Carman for helping him pick out the filly. “There were probably 30 different elements I liked. Any one by itself was irrelevant, but all 30 together made her a winner.” Running for trainer Michelle Lovell, who conditions for Martinez when he races horses in Kentucky or the Midwest, Fault started to blossom when switched to the turf with three consecutive runner-up finishes. She then captured her first stakes win in the Grade 3 Pucker Up Stakes at Arlington Park. Shipped west for her 4-year-old campaign with D’Amato, Fault has three graded stakes wins in as many starts this year at Santa Anita, including the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Stakes. And she turned into a dual threat, with two of her 2018 wins on the dirt and the other on the turf. Initially running solely for Martinez, Fault raced for Agave Racing Stable and Little Red Feather Racing this year. The onetime $50,000 claimer has earned more than $500,000 since being haltered but a non-displaced condylar fracture sustained during training in June likely ended her racing career. “I’m just grateful that she’s okay and will live a life of luxury on one of those beautiful Kentucky farms dating rich stallions,” Martinez said. “What a great filly and what a great run she gave us.” Of course, not every claim Martinez has made worked out so well, but his track record is better than most. And like the saying goes, sometimes the best claims are the ones you don’t make. “There are horses that are good bets that might not be good claims,” he said. “If I see a horse I want to claim, and say he’s
$50,000, and I call Dave and he convinces me that I’m an idiot and that I don’t want to claim that horse, then I pass. So I say if he’s going to run off the screen, at least I’m going to bet him. If the horse runs up the track, then I lose $100 and I can say that
Hero had the makings of a good horse, but it would have been tough to envision him becoming a Grade 1 winner. Martinez, again with advice from the Heberts, purchased the colt privately after that debut race. Following four stakes wins in
Martinez purchased Bowies Hero privately after a maiden win at Lone Star Park and the son of Artie Schiller went on to capture the Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita Park.
Benoit Photo
I’m still $49,900 to the good. But at least I got a little action for the four hours of work I put in to looking at that horse.” Fault is not the first time that Martinez has profited from upgrading the resume of a filly or mare. His first Grade 1 winner came with the Street Sense filly Street Fancy in the 2015 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos. Originally purchased privately for $35,000, the filly almost didn’t get the chance to run for Martinez as he had her in the Barretts 2-year-old sale. Martinez was quite high on the filly, so even though he had a relatively small investment in her, he didn’t let her go when the bidding stopped at $400,000. It turned out to be a blessing. Street Fancy earned $227,545 in five career starts and then brought $1.5 million at the Keeneland November sale as a broodmare. She also brought Martinez together with D’Amato after the Heberts introduced them. “We thought she was going to sell but she didn’t, so I had to do something with her,” he said. “The Heberts introduced me to Phil. He was pretty new being out on his own at the time, but he’s the real deal.” Bowies Hero is one of the horses who proved to Martinez that D’Amato is the real deal. The Artie Schiller colt debuted at Lone Star Park in July 2016 with a daylight maiden win in a 7 1/2-furlong turf race as a 26-1 longshot. Sold for $17,000 and $32,000 as a yearling and 2-year-old, respectively, Bowies
Southern California, Bowies Hero became a Grade 1 winner this year in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita for Martinez and partners ERJ Racing LLC and Madaket Stables LLC. Completing the quartet of Grade 1 winners for Martinez is Ransom the Moon, owned in partnership with racing newcomer Jeffry Wilke. The 6-year-old son of Malibu Moon was a consistent allowance horse at Woodbine while racing on the grass and synthetic surface, but since being privately purchased he’s turned into one of North America’s top dirt sprinters with a win in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes last summer at Del Mar.
RAISING THE SPORT’S PROFILE Martinez is happy to talk to just about anyone about the virtues of horse racing and racehorse ownership, especially potential new fans and owners. “If more people knew how fun this was, more people will get into this sport,” he opined. “These racing clubs where you can get in for $500, that’s great stuff. Little Red Feather and their racing club is great; it’s good for the game. You can’t bring 500 people in the paddock obviously, but I love it when they have some new people coming in. “In the IT business, if you are Dell or HP, there’s a benefit to having high school and college kids carrying your hardware AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 35
Courtesy Mark Martinez
“I would love to be able to run here, so it’s frustrating for me,” he said. “The most enjoyable time I’ve had in racing was when I had horses running in Texas. I would go out to Retama every Saturday and Sunday morning and watch them train. But the money just doesn’t work here. “I blame the legislators for putting their own interests ahead of the state of Texas and their constituents,” Martinez added about the Texas racing industry’s struggle to get slot machines, historical racing or even advance deposit wagering or off-track betting in the state. “If racing disappears in Texas, it will never come back. We have three of the 10 largest cities in the country with three nice tracks all with turf and dirt courses. But without purse money you can’t attract owners and horses.” And you can’t say that Martinez hasn’t tried to support and improve racing in Texas. For a decade, M2 Technology has sponsored the La Senorita Stakes at Retama, which along with the El Joven Stakes is the richest race of the meet and one of the few turf stakes for 2-year-olds in the region. Martinez also served three years on the Texas Thoroughbred Association’s board of directors, including as secretary-treasurer of the organization. He received the TTA’s Member of the Year award in 2013, and in June was honored with the T.I. “Pops” Harkins Award for lifetime achievement. Martinez’s stable currently numbers around “I never imagined that my little operation 15 head, but he’s been able to achieve would lead me to such recognition, but this results similar to much larger operations. is really a team effort and I’m fortunate to have a great team,” he said. Although Martinez doesn’t get to watch his around because someday they will be IT administrators making horses run in Texas anymore, he and his wife have logged a lot of buying decisions. So brand loyalty comes into play, and it’s the frequent flyer miles seeing them run in California and elsewhere. “My wife is really into it now, too,” he said. “She’s asking same with racing. If we get people into racing when they are young, they will come back to it when they have more money and learning more about the game and we are doing it more to bet or own horses. And when they are on social media and together. She gives me the room to do my racing stuff, so I taking photos at the track, then their friends see it and they appreciate that.” Martinez is about as upbeat and passionate about racing as start asking about it and want to know more about it.” anyone. Of course, winning Grade 1 races is likely to make any FRUSTRATION IN TEXAS owner happy, but for Martinez, owning racehorses also allows Although Martinez’s office is about 15 miles from Retama him to get away from the stresses of modern life. Park, you won’t see his horses running there anymore. As much “I have a full-time job at M2, but I have good people here as he’d like to see his silks at Retama and the two other main and that affords me the chance to dabble in this,” he said. “It Texas tracks, Sam Houston Race Park and Lone Star Park, the allows me to decompress and brings some serenity to what is an purses in the Lone Star State are not enough. otherwise noisy world. I just love this game.”H 36 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018
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HOW A YEARLING LOOKS ON PAPER AND IN PERSON, COMBINED WITH SOME SIMPLE MATH USING THE STALLION’S FEE, CAN HELP A SELLER DETERMINE AN APPROXIMATE PRICE.
Denis Blake
How to Price a Yearling Prior to Auction DETERMINING A VALUE BASED ON A MULTIPLE OF THE STUD FEE IS A GOOD STARTING POINT • By Michael Phelps
38 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018
A
Thoroughbred breeder faces many challenges in the process of raising a foal to sale age. From studying available sires and choosing the best match for a broodmare to feeding and nurturing the foal, first through the mare and later directly, a breeder will put some two and a half years of effort into bringing a foal to the yearling sales. With a little luck, the initial investment in the stud fee and subsequent outlay of expenses will be returned with a profit. This may be accomplished through public auction or private sale.
Regardless of whether a breeder is planning to sell at auction or privately (or if one is looking for guidance in that decision), it can be a useful exercise to determine a fair market price. In an auction setting, the buyers will ultimately decide the market price, but the prospect of a private sale raises a difficult question. How does the seller arrive at a fair market price?
WHY STATISTICS-BASED METRICS MATTER In any statistical analysis, only measurable figures are valid. When it comes to young racehorses, certain non-measurable or emotiondriven considerations may be tempting but are not always useful. Many potential buyers will resist this kind of sales approach and take a hard line to lower the price. It should be noted here that “emotion-driven” is intended to refer to subjective opinions such as the “look” of a shoulder or hip, the importance of the pedigree, the performance of related horses, and black type. These features are sometimes discounted by the buyer as unimportant during negotiations—the hard line. While some of these factors may make a compelling argument, they are generally unsupportable from a statistical standpoint. Having a statistical basis for your demand is often more compelling than an emotion-driven approach. Although, if one is dealing with an emotion-driven buyer, those arguments may still have value. Once the value of these unmeasurable features is removed, the breeder is left at the mercy of a buyer who only wants to spend so much and makes an offer. The seller must then decide if the offer compares favorably to what the yearling could potentially sell for in an open public auction. The key here is that business-based potential buyers often find a statistically sound argument more difficult to discount.
WHY AUCTION RESULTS MATTER The use of auction results to establish fair market value is appropriate because an open, honest public auction with competitive bidding is the purest forum in which the market speaks. All interested parties can inspect and bid until one bidder is left, and at that time and place the horse is worth no more and no less. Therefore, the sales record of the sire’s yearling offspring is a fair measure of auction performance. This number can be compared to the sire’s standing stud fee, which is another known metric directly linked to both sire and yearling. Using these metrics, a reasonable and fair market price range can be determined. A price range allows for the factoring in of those aforementioned subjective opinions in determining the bottomdollar price for a yearling. This method is intended to develop a working price range based on a sound, marketable yearling. Keep in mind, however, that especially with younger stallions, there may not be enough sales results for
the averages to be valid. A stallion with only a few yearlings sold at auction can have an average price that is skewed artificially high or low due to an exceptional or less-than-exceptional individual whose sale price moves the average. A recent look at the leading stallions in North America with a published stud fee of $35,000 to $250,000 reveals that the average auction sale price for yearlings was about 2.6 times the stud fee. For regional breeders, the range of stud fee prices is lower, but the ratio of sale price to stud fee is generally higher. The relationship between the sale price of yearling offspring of 12 recognized regional stallions with stud fees in the range of $1,000 to $3,000 was examined. These statistics show that yearling sale prices averaged 4.3 times the advertised stud fee. This figure falls almost in the middle of a 3 to 5 times stud fee range, which as a general rule of thumb allows the seller to potentially turn a profit and take into consideration the subjective features of the horse when narrowing down to a minimum acceptable price. Considering two yearlings with different sires, an example of this method would look like this: Let’s say there is a colt by Stallion X out of a solid broodmare with lots of black type in her pedigree and a good record for producing winners. The yearling has excellent conformation and is a “good mover.” The stallion stands for $1,500, which establishes a $4,500 to $7,500 value range. When the subjective features of the colt are considered, it is justifiable to set a price at the top of the range, $7,500. Then let’s say there is a filly by Stallion Y out of a mare with only one previous foal. Although well conformed, the mare has little black type in her pedigree and a mediocre race record. The filly appears light boned with a slightly stiff movement. She is at the stage of growth that is not as pleasing to the eye. The stallion stands for $2,500, which yields a range of $7,500 to $12,500. Although the filly may grow out of her awkward phase, she still falls at the bottom of the price range due to subjective considerations. It would be justifiable to stand firm at around $8,000. In summary, when determining the bottom line value of a yearling for a private sale, it is wholly appropriate for regional breeders to use a range of 3 to 5 times the advertised stud fee as a base, because one may expect to get that at an open public auction. Of course, other factors can come into play, but this guideline provides a good starting point for valuing a horse prior to public sale. H Michael Phelps, a member of the Indiana Thoroughbred Owner’s and Breeder’s Association with a degree in business marketing and management, runs a small Thoroughbred breeding operation with practicing equine veterinarian Dr. Crystal Chapple, a member and past president of ITOBA. In partnership, he owns three broodmares and two yearlings with one foal on the way. AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 39
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Saturday, August 4, 2018 • 5 p.m. • Retama Park Race Track, Selma, TX 2018 Inductees
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ask a vet
of the Radiograph Repository
Denis Blake
z
Understanding the Lingo
42 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018
WHILE THE REPOSITORY IS FOR VETS, IT’S IMPORTANT FOR BUYERS TO KNOW THE BASICS By Megan Tracy Petty, DVM
I
A radiograph can help a veterinarian advise a potential buyer about any chips or other issues with a sale horse’s legs.
Chips Any racehorse owner is likely quite familiar with bone chips. While hearing that a potential yearling sale purchase has chips can lead to trepidation, you may be surprised to learn that this can be a relatively common finding in sale horses. Typically, these are an “incidental” finding, meaning the horse has no overt lameness or effusion (buildup of fluid) of the associated joint. This is one of those issues that may or may not be a problem. The severity of the chip or the potential need for intervention rests chiefly on the location of the chip in association with the joint. The veterinarian will assess the chip’s location, and determine if it appears to be articular (within the joint) or nonarticular, if it is new or relatively old, and how much damage has been done to the rest of the surface of the bone where the chip originated.
Spurring Bone spurs are typically looked for within the carpal (knee) and tarsal (hock) joints and can indicate impending or present arthritis. Spurring is also found at the site of a previous soft tissue injury, where the tendon has pulled away from the bone. Often the primary concern when spurs are identified is assessing the potential risk of the spur fracturing and becoming a chip.
Tarsitis Tarsitis, also referred to as bone spavin, is the inflammation of the tarsal joints. The hock is quite a complicated structure and is composed of four separate joints. The lower joints (distal intertarsal and tarsometatarsal joints) are primarily the sites involved when tarsitis is discovered. These joints serve as shock absorbers of the hind limb and can be prone to instability, which can lead to inflammation. The severity is determined by evaluating the amount of roughening found in these joints, associated spurring or presence of chips, and overall appearance of the joint margins. Finding tarsitis typically
Courtesy Megan Tracy Petty, DVM
f you’ve ever attended a Thoroughbred yearling sale, you’ve likely encountered, or at least heard of, the radiograph repository. This is a room of computers available exclusively for veterinarians to use to view X-rays submitted by consignors to the sale company. As a prospective buyer, you can retain the services of a veterinarian to view the films of the horses you are interested in and interpret the findings to assist you in the decision-making process. A myriad of potential findings can be seen on X-rays; some of them are problematic, some are not, and some remain to be seen which way they will go. Last year at a sale, I was surprised to find myself having a conversation with a long-time yearling buyer and racehorse owner who when told about a certain abnormality asked me, “So what is that!?” With that in mind, it seemed pertinent to discuss a few of the more common radiographic findings that you may encounter in your discussions with a veterinarian at a sale.
indicates a potential future need for medical intervention, usually in the form of hock injections.
Sesamoiditis Sesamoiditis manifests radiographically as a boney proliferation along the back part of the proximal sesamoid bones (behind the fetlock). The associated changes can be mild, moderate or severe and can occur secondary to concussive trauma in young horses. Often these changes are associated with some degree of irritation or damage to the branches of the suspensory ligament that attaches on the sesamoid. Rest is the primary intervention required for this condition; however, closer examination and sometimes further diagnostics, such as suspensory branch ultrasound, are warranted.
Osteochondritis Believed to be the most significant skeletal disorder in the equine developmental orthopedic disease complex, osteochondritis is more prevalent today than ever before. No one specific predisposing cause has been identified for the development of osteochondritis; however, numerous factors have been blamed including genetic predisposition, nutritional imbalances, increased growth rate, endocrine factors and biomechanical forces. Osteochondral lesions occur secondary to a defect in cartilage at the ends of bones and in growth plates—and thus can occur in any joint. The lesions are encountered most commonly in the stifle, hock and fetlocks, however. Depending on the damage and the way the defect occurs, osteochondritis results in one of two specific radiographically visible lesion types: osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) or subchondral bone cyst (SBC). OCD is associated with cartilage flaps that can become osAMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 43
sified and visible radiographically where SBCs appear as a void or a dark, shallow area in the bone. A common symptom is joint effusion with or without lameness. The tricky thing about osteochondritis is that often the damage is more severe than it appears on the X-ray, because the majority of the damage is done within the cartilage, which cannot be assessed by radiography. Additionally, osteochondral lesions may resolve spontaneously or they may become clinically evident problems when horses begin training and have strain put on the affected joints.
No Perfect Horse It is imperative to remember that these sale films have been taken within a predetermined amount of time prior to the sale, meaning they are a snapshot of that horse at a specific point in time. The films are there to help veterinarians identify any current or potential orthopedic conditions that might limit the performance of that horse in the future. As I enjoy reminding my clients, however, the crystal ball sometimes fogs up if it’s too humid outside. What I mean by that is it is not possible to know with absolute certainty what a given radiograph finding means for the future of that horse. Veterinarians use facts and accumulated data to make inferences about what the radiographs present. Another important point to bear in mind is that the majority of the time, the veterinarian is assessing the radiographs only. There is typically no formal exam performed on the horse by the veterinarian and certainly not to the degree of the
traditional pre-purchase exam that may be involved in the purchase of horses for other disciplines or outside of the yearling sale setting. Buyers should keep in mind that while the general conformation of the horse does not change dramatically over time, the way their bones and soft tissue respond to the rigors of training is a fluid situation. That being said, you as the buyer must decide on your level of risk tolerance and work with a veterinarian who understands this as well. Simply stated, risk tolerance is what you can and cannot live with. There is no perfect horse and there will never be a perfect set of X-rays. Knowing which conditions are deal-breakers and which you are willing to manage should they become an issue makes deciphering the radiographic findings a much more manageable task. It is the veterinarian’s objective to help explain the potential consequences of what is being seen today in the films and to provide interpretation of what it could mean for the future. Thus, having a good working relationship with the veterinarian viewing the films for you is of paramount importance. H Megan Tracy Petty, DVM, is an associate equine veterinarian at Tularosa Equine Clinic in Tularosa, New Mexico. A born and raised Texan, Petty is a member of the Texas Thoroughbred Association, serving as president of the Paddock Foundation and on the board of the Texas Thoroughbred Educational Fund. She is passionate about horse owner education, racehorses and spending time with her husband, Bryan, and their dogs Maverick and Ray on Creekside Farm, their work-in-progress horse farm in Bent, New Mexico.
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STATE ASSOCIATION NEWS ALABAMA HORSEMEN’S BENEVOLENT AND PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION NEWS
ARKANSAS THOROUGHBRED BREEDERS’ AND HORSEMEN’S ASSOCIATION NEWS
Remembering Milton McGregor
Looking Forward to the 2019 Oaklawn Meet
It is with due respect that the Alabama HBPA wishes to express our sincere condolences to the family of Milton E. McGregor, who passed away March 25 at the age of 78. McGregor served as chairman, president and CEO of VictoryLand in Macon County, Alabama, and of Birmingham Race Course in Birmingham, Alabama. McGregor also served on the boards of civic and charitable organizations including the boards of trustees of both Troy State University and Tuskegee University. He is survived by his wife, Patricia Turner McGregor; two daughters, Kim McGregor (Dan Hicks) and Cindy Benefield (Lewis Benefield); and seven grandchildren.
The Oaklawn Jockey Club announced last month that the 2019 Oaklawn Park live meet dates will be changed. Live racing will begin Friday, January 25, and end Saturday, May 4. Oaklawn management is trying to alleviate the loss of racing days due to inclement weather or weather-related issues. While Arkansas’ temperatures in January are not as cold as those in many other states, when mixed with frozen precipitation, they hamper the track’s racing surface. In addition, the weather affects the fans, horses, trainers and employees. Stakes must be rewritten and the racing office tries to make up other lost races and days, but when horsemen miss training days, none of them feel like they really get those lost races back. Arkansas horsemen are excited and hope this change will benefit the training schedules for all horsemen and everyone will get the full meet with no interruptions. With that said, Oaklawn has completed the 2019 stakes schedule. As everyone knows, the Kentucky Derby is always run the first Saturday in May. In 2019, that date is May 4. The Arkansas Derby, a pivotal stepping-stone to the Triple Crown races, will be run April 13, keeping it in its normal position of three weeks prior to the Kentucky Derby. The stakes schedule begins there and the racing office works backward to assign the other major stakes that lead up to the Arkansas Derby as well as the other remaining stakes. In 2018 Oaklawn held 31 stakes. That will most likely be the case in 2019 and five of those, as listed below, will be restricted to registered Arkansas-breds. ATBHA is excited to announce that the final day of Oaklawn’s 2019 live meet will feature registered Arkansas-bred champions in the Arkansas Breeders’ Championship Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at a distance of 1 1⁄16 miles. That race will have a $200,000 purse. The other four Arkansas-bred stakes will be at six furlongs with a purse of $100,000 apiece: • Downthedustyroad Breeders’ Stakes, Saturday, February 23, 3-year-olds and up, fillies and mares • Nodouble Breeders’ Stakes, Saturday, March 23, 3-year-olds and up • Rainbow Stakes, Saturday, April 20, 3-year-olds • Rainbow Miss Stakes, Saturday, April 20, 3-year-olds, fillies and mares
Kenneth Cotton Memorial On May 12, Evangeline Downs in Louisiana presented the third running of the $25,000 Kenneth Cotton Memorial race for Alabamabreds. The race was a six-furlong allowance for 3-year-old and up maidens or non-winners of two who broke their maiden for a claiming price of $25,000 or less. We had a hotly contested field of eight, which included two entries. On a fast track and with a good start for all, the 6-5 favorite Noisy Ripples won by three-parts of a length over Indy’s Code. The remaining order of finish was Perdido Wildcat, Red Tide, Two Mikes N Doc G, Alabama Brass, Whatisitaboutit and Bubbassecondchance. Congratulations to the winner, a 3-year-old filly by Kantharos out of Spawning Brook, by Montbrook. Noisy Ripples was bred in Alabama by Doyle Hamby and is owned by Hackett Brothers Thoroughbreds Inc. and trained by Randy Nunley. To help support our Alabama-bred owners, the Alabama HBPA will reimburse up to $500 of shipping costs for horses that ran fourth and beyond. A valid bill or gas receipt must be submitted to Nancy Delony by email at nancy.m.delony@ms.com, by fax at (205) 413-4152 or by mail to 3221 Ridgely Drive, Birmingham, AL 35243. We continue to have Alabama-breds qualifying for our supplemental purse monies racing at various tracks around the country. The 2017 total distribution of $28,600 was a record that we would love to break in 2018. Alabama-breds running at the four Louisiana tracks continue to be eligible for added purse monies there as well. As always, may the racing luck be with you. —Nancy Delony, Executive Director
INDIANA THOROUGHBRED OWNER’S AND BREEDER’S ASSOCIATION NEWS
Coady Photography
The Value of Indiana-breds Continues to Trend Up
Noisy Ripples
The April 14 issue of BloodHorse featured a promising nugget of information for Indiana breeders and owners, highlighting the fact that last year Indiana-bred starters averaged $17,258 in earnings. That marked a record high and the fourth consecutive year that Indiana-bred earnings have increased. The 2017 mark is up 35 percent from the 2013 average of $12,805. It was also noted that more than 1,100 Indiana-breds ran in 2017 with total earnings of more than $19.2 million. AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 47
STATE ASSOCIATION NEWS
Prompted, Its Just Fate Win ITOBA Stallion Season Stakes at Indiana Grand
Linscott Photography
Prompted
Prompted may have been the last horse out of the gate, but she quickly made up for the misstep and turned in a great performance to win the $79,000 ITOBA Stallion Season Fillies Stakes on June 9 at Indiana Grand. Starting from the outside post eight in the one-mile stakes, Prompted spotted the field a few lengths at the start, but jockey Sammy Bermudez made up the deficit, rallying to the top around the first turn and placing the Sangaree filly in the lead. Letsbegreatagain and Santo Sanjur saved ground along the inside and stayed close while heavily favored Entrusted and Marcelino Pedroza held down the third position early on the outside. Prompted was in full control heading into the final turn, but things were about to change. Several horses from the back of the pack began to make a swift move on the leader and at the head of the stretch, there was a wall of horses just waiting for a chance to speed past Prompted. But that scenario never played out. Prompted found another gear and rallied away from her opponents, grabbing a 4 ¼-length advantage at the wire over Letsbegreatagain, who finished less than a length ahead of Shyla and Alex Canchari for second. The winning time was 1:39.62. “She broke a step slow but she dragged me right back into it,” Bermudez said. “Once she was on the lead, she relaxed, but every time the other horses would get closer to her, she would hear them and wanted to keep going. I knew coming around the final turn they were all coming at us, but I still had a little horse. She just kept on going. She showed a lot of guts tonight.” 48 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018
Prompted, the fifth choice of the field, paid $35.00, $15.00 and $19.20 across the board for her win. Purchased for $25,000 out of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Winter Mixed Sale, the chestnut filly is owned by Kenneth Meyer and Randy Klopp. She has now earned more than $47,000 for her new connections since joining the Klopp barn this year. She was bred in Indiana by James and Amy Elliott. “Ken and I went together and looked at this filly at the sale,” Klopp said. “We had talked to Michelle and Amy Elliott about her and knew they wanted to sell her. We bought her specifically for this race. After she broke slow, Sammy did a good job of getting her back in it and saved her for the end of the race.” Klopp has learned a lot about the filly since she joined his stable. She is a little difficult to deal with in the barn. “She can be a handful,” Klopp said. “We have learned she likes women better than men, and Blanca Salazar that works for us takes care of her. She gets along with her pretty well.” The win in the ITOBA Stallion Season Fillies Stakes was the second career win for Prompted. She broke her maiden in her first start for the Elliotts last summer at Indiana Grand. She is by one of their stallions, and the Elliotts also raced Prompted’s mother, Indecisive, before retiring her to their farm as a broodmare. There was little surprise in the $78,000 ITOBA Stallion Season Stakes for colts and geldings on the same card as Its Just Fate and jockey Rodney Prescott picked up their second straight stakes victory, scoring a gate to wire effort. Trained by Wayne Mogge, Its Just Fate broke well out of the gate and responded to Prescott’s signal to move straight to the top. There, the 3-year-old Skylord gelding took control of the pace with Rectified and Andres Ulloa sitting to his outside in stalking position. Garrison K and Marcelino Pedroza saved ground along the inside and tracked Its Just Fate before dropping back down the backstretch. Its Just Fate and Rectified began to draw off from the rest of the field.
Its Just Fate Linscott Photography
“Horsemen worked hard in the early days to get this program in place,” noted ITOBA President Herb Likens. “Now, horsemen need to work hard to keep it in place. We cannot continue to allow 70 percent of the Thoroughbred purses and breed development funds to leave the state. We need those who benefit from this great program to invest in Indiana. We hope that horsemen continue to purchase and build their own Indiana farms, or dedicate their mares, foals and stallions to our growing Indiana equine facilities. We must support our Indiana equine businesses.”
Heading into the turn, Garrison K began to make a move along the inside and closed the gap on the top two. In mid-turn, Prescott looked under his shoulder to see who was closing and tapped Its Just Fate for a little more. Garrison K was in the middle of a big kick for Pedroza and, at the top of the stretch, was poised to move past the leader.
However, the bigger Its Just Fate had quite a bit left for the stretch drive and drew off from Garrison K for the 5 ½-length victory. Garrison K was a strong second, crossing under the wire more than 12 lengths ahead of Shatterproof and Santo Sanjur, who closed late for third. The time was 1:39.17. “They let us get by with real easy fractions tonight,” Prescott said. “He was relaxed and when I called on him he really finished well.” Its Just Fate is now four for seven in his career for owners Patrick and Donald Donahoe, who are also the breeders. He increased his career bankroll to more than $168,000. Its Just Fate also won the $100,000 Sagamore Sired Stakes in late May. “We were a little concerned about running him back in 17 days and he had never run a route of ground before, so that concerned us too, but he handled it well,” Mogge said. Mogge had one other horse that garnered a lot of attention that day at Indiana Grand. Let’s Dial Minnie, a first-time starter for Steve Cauthen’s Dreamfields Inc. along with owners Don Brady and Porter Thompson, ran third in the second race, just minutes after Justify crossed the wire as the sport’s latest Triple Crown winner. Cauthen was interviewed in the winner’s circle by Rachel McLaughlin, on-air racing personality, and talked about the Triple Crown experience, noting, “You have to have a good horse to win the Triple Crown. Not many horses can win the Triple Crown. I know Mike [Smith] and he’s a great guy. I’m very happy for him.” Cauthen won the Triple Crown aboard Affirmed in 1978 at the age of 17. He was an international sensation and was featured on numerous publications, including Sports Illustrated, during his run for the Triple Crown. The Hall of Famer now concentrates on raising and racing horses from his farm in Verona, Kentucky.
ITOBA Fall Mixed Sale Set for October 14 The ITOBA Fall Mixed Sale will be held Sunday, October 14, at 1 p.m. at Indiana Grand. The sale is open to weanlings, yearlings and mares (broodmares, broodmare prospects and mares in foal). It is open to horses regardless of where they were bred, but Indiana-sired horses will be given preference and the sale will be limited to 60 horses. The entry fee is $250 with a deadline of July 31. Conformation photos and walking videos are available for an additional cost to be added online and in the catalog. Go to duaneswingleyauctioneers.com for more information.
Indiana HBPA’s “Grand Mornings at the Track” Returns to Indiana Grand The Indiana HBPA’s popular Saturday morning program “Grand Mornings at the Track” returned to Indiana Grand on June 23. The interactive program is free and open to guests of all ages, providing a look at different aspects of Thoroughbred racing in the state of Indiana. The Grand Mornings at the Track series will be held the fourth Saturday of each month extending from June through September. Events begin at 9 a.m. outside the grandstand in the Always Turned On tent located across from the winner’s circle. Guests will enjoy a continental breakfast and watch horses on the track before the selected
program, which includes guest speakers, behind the scenes access to racing and free giveaways such as caps and racing programs. “Grand Mornings at the Track is a great way for our horsemen to show all the interesting components of racing that the general public never gets to see,” said Brian Elmore, executive director for the Indiana HBPA. “Our horsemen and women work so hard to maintain and condition racehorses. We want to show racing fans what it takes to get these magnificent horses to the races, and it also gives us an opportunity to extend a welcome to the community so they have a better understanding of how impactful horse racing is for the entire state of Indiana.” The first event included a trip to Marvin Johnson’s farm, located just north of Indiana Grand along I-74. Johnson, a native of Nebraska, is one of the leading trainers in Indiana. He purchased his working farm near Indiana Grand four years ago. In addition to a barn and pasture space, his facility includes an Equi-Ciser used for conditioning horses off the track. A demonstration was also provided. Johnson also had several broodmares and foals for the group to interact with. The tour returned to Indiana Grand and the group was invited to attend the weekly barn visit with the owners of Grand Gesture Stable, Indiana Grand’s racing club. The group assembled in the Backstretch Café at the barn area entrance and went to Anthony Granitz’s stable to see Bold Concept, the horse owned by Grand Gesture Stable. This is the second year for Grand Gesture Stable, which offers individuals the opportunity to own part of a racehorse for the season at Indiana Grand. The fractional ownership has 44 members and Bold Concept has already raced twice, picking up two second-place finishes. Additional Grand Mornings at the Track events are scheduled for July 28, August 25 and September 22. Topics will include the jockeys’ quarters, starting gate and track maintenance facility and the third floor of the grandstand, which contains the audio-visual room, stewards' stand, photo finish operations and suites. For more information, visit indianagrand.com.
Indiana Horse Racing Commission Approves Transfer of Ownership of Tracks The Indiana Horse Racing Commission met on June 27 for a hearing to approve the transfer of ownership of the assets of Centaur Gaming to Caesars Entertainment. The commission approved the petition of the transfer of ownership of Hoosier Park Racing and Casino, Indiana Grand Racing & Casino and all Winner’s Circle Off-Track Betting facilities from Centaur Gaming to Caesars Entertainment, subject to the conditions set forth in the executive director’s report and any conditions consistent with the commission’s comments made during the hearing. “The commission and staff have done extensive due diligence to craft the recommendations found in the executive director’s report that will ensure the continued great relationship in the community with the tracks, the horsemen, the public and the employees. We feel we will have a product that is as good as we’ve already got and will be even better,” said commission chair Phillip Borst, DVM. “We will certainly keep track of them and ensure that they live up to all of their commitments.” AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 49
STATE ASSOCIATION NEWS
IOWA THOROUGHBRED BREEDERS AND OWNERS ASSOCIATION NEWS President’s Message Congratulations to all of the owners and breeders we honored at our awards ceremony on May 12. The event received many compliments, and of course the Prairie Meadows TV department did a great job on the videos. John Hernandez served as our emcee and did a great job as well. Unfortunately, the attendance was down from previous years. Both the ITBOA and Iowa HBPA boards are exploring different options for next year. If you have any suggestions, please do not hesitate to let myself, Brandi [Jo Fett, ITBOA executive director] or any of the board members know. We love to hear from our members and listen to any ideas you may have. Please see the full list of award winners below. If you have not yet heard, Oaklawn Park will be ending its meet later next year, on Kentucky Derby weekend. Prairie Meadows, along with the ITBOA and IAHBPA, have started discussing options for our 2019 race calendar. Everything is in the very early stages, and I will update you, the ITBOA members, as soon as any decisions have been made. The problem is more than just the horse population; it is also the gate crew, valets, racing office personnel, etc. that work at both meets. Prairie Meadows will be looking for a new Thoroughbred racing secretary for 2019, as Pat Pope has accepted the job of racing secretary at Belmont Park. We would like to wish Pat good luck in New York. Hope to see you at the races. If you see me, please stop and say hi. —Steve Renftle, ITBOA President
Chanel’s Legacy Named 2017 IAHBPA and ITBOA HOTY Allen Poindexter’s Chanel’s Legacy earned triple honors from the ITBOA and the IAHBPA for her accomplishments on the track last year. The ultra-talented daughter of Dominus was recognized as the 2017 IAHBPA and ITBOA Horse of the Year and ITBOA champion 3-Year-Old Filly. Chanel’s Legacy amassed $328,750 in purse money last year, winning three of her nine starts and finishing second in two others to average earnings of $36,527 per start and increase her lifetime earnings to $413,144. Her 2017 season started at Oaklawn Park on January 21 with an eyecatching win in the $125,000 Dixie Belle Stakes at six furlongs. Three weeks later on February 11, she stretched out to one mile and won the $125,000 Martha Washington Stakes by more than three lengths. On April 14, trainer Lynn Chleborad gave regular rider Alex Birzer a leg up on Chanel’s Legacy in the Grade 3, $400,000 Fantasy Stakes, Oaklawn’s marquee race for 3-year-old fillies. The Iowa-bred came close to pulling off a major upset in the Fantasy, leading by two lengths when she turned into the stretch. She ended up second, with only Ever So Clever beating her to the finish line. 50 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018
Chanel’s Legacy returned to Prairie Meadows and won the Panthers Stakes on June 8 as the heavy favorite in her first local start of the year. Her connections opted to give Chanel’s Legacy another major stakes try in the Grade 3 Iowa Oaks, the Iowa Festival of Racing event for 3-yearold fillies, on July 6. As Equibase chartcaller Bob Nastanovich noted, trouble at the start likely compromised her chances: “Chanel’s Legacy hopped at the start, angled in early, stalked the pacesetter on the backstretch run, took over at the three-sixteenths marker, and was worn down late.” Chanel’s Legacy had to settle for a fourth-place finish in her final start at Prairie Meadows, crossing the finish line after Shane’s Girlfriend, Babybluesdancing and Jordan’s Henry.
Chanel’s Legacy
Chanel’s Legacy went to the breeding shed in 2018 and is currently in foal to multiple Grade 1 winner Bernardini. IAHBPA Past President Leroy Gessmann was honored for his dedicated years of service to the Iowa Thoroughbred industry. Gessmann received an Appreciation Award presented by his longtime secretarytreasurer Barb Carroll, who traveled from her current home in Daytona Beach, Florida, for the ceremony. Gessmann served as president of the IAHBPA for 15 years from 2002 to 2017. According to IAHBPA Executive Director Jon Moss, one of Gessmann’s most significant contributions to the Iowa Thoroughbred industry was negotiating for the percentage of Prairie Meadows casino revenues that are currently directed to racing purses. Following are the other award winners: IAHBPA Trainer of the Year—Karl Broberg IAHBPA Claimer of the Year and 3-Year-Old Iowa-bred Colt—Basic Chance IAHBPA and Iowa-Bred Owner of the Year—Danny Caldwell ITBOA 2-Year-Old Iowa-bred Colt—Tin Badge ITBOA 2-Year-Old Iowa-bred Filly—Msbrooklynbrawler ITBOA Older Iowa-bred Horse—Itsallaboutyou ITBOA Older Iowa-bred Mare—Dreamin ITBOA Breeder of the Year—Allen Poindexter ITBOA Stallion of the Year—Native Ruler ITBOA Iowa Broodmare of the Year—One Fine Shweetie
Coady Photography
Borst continued, “The commission would like to thank Centaur Gaming for their tireless efforts and dedication to the Indiana horse racing industry and surrounding communities, helping to make our programs and locations first class.”
MINNESOTA THOROUGHBRED ASSOCIATION NEWS MTA Yearling Sale Set for August 19 The Minnesota Thoroughbred Association will hold its MTA Yearling Sale on Sunday, August 19, at Canterbury Park in Shakopee. Forty-seven Minnesota-bred yearlings have been consigned to this sale and will arrive at Canterbury on August 18. The public is invited to join us for a preview from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on that day following the afternoon race card at Canterbury Park. Consignors will be available to show the yearlings and share information with visitors. Yearlings will also be available for preview on Sunday from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. This year’s slate of yearlings includes 20 colts and geldings and 27 fillies, with 16 different consignors representing 24 separate breeders. The yearlings consigned are by Americain, Anziyan Royalty, Archarcharch, Astrology, Chitoz, Cowboy Cal, Discreet Cat, English Channel, Ez Dreamer, Ford Every Stream, Fury Kapcori, Fusaichi Pegasus, Goldencents, I Want Revenge, Jimmy Creed, Joey Franco, Kantharos, Kela, Kirkendahl, Launch Commander, Liaison, Magic Cat, Native Ruler, Paddy O’Prado, Palace, Race Day, Revolutionary, Timber Legend, Westover Wildcat and Wilburn. A complete online catalog, powered by thoroughbredcatalog.com, can be found at minnesotabred.com. Graduates of the 2018 MTA Yearling Sale will be eligible for nomination to the 2019 MTA Sale Graduate Stakes. This 5 ½-furlong race will run for an estimated purse of $50,000 and is restricted to any Minnesota-bred yearling that passes through the ring during the 2018 MTA Yearling Sale and is purchased during the auction by a new owner. An owner who consigns any Thoroughbred yearling to the 2018 MTA Yearling Sale and sells that yearling during the sale receives the right to nominate one other Minnesota-bred to the race. If the yearling goes through the ring but does not sell, the owner may only nominate that yearling. The nomination right cannot be transferred if the yearling sells after the sale. The non-refundable nomination fee of $200 is payable on or before April 1, 2019. Should the race overfill, the sale graduates will have priority. The breeder of a Minnesota-bred yearling who consigns it to the 2018 MTA Yearling Sale and sells it to a new owner during the auction will receive a Yearling Sale Graduate Breeder’s Bonus if the MTA sale grad breaks its maiden in a maiden special weight or allowance race. The sale grad must break its maiden at Canterbury Park. The bonus will be paid to the breeder within 30 days of the race as follows: Minnesota Conceived and Foaled MTA Sale Grads • Breeder will receive a $2,000 bonus. • Stallion Owner, when foal was conceived, will receive a $1,000 bonus. Minnesota-bred MTA Sale Grads • Breeder will receive a $1,000 bonus. The yearling must sell to a new owner during the auction. Buybacks, horses that do not meet a written reserve, horses that do not receive a bid or those that sell after the sale for whatever reason will not be eligible for this incentive. As of July 4, the following 2016 and 2017 sale graduates have earned bonuses for their breeders. This list will grow as the race meet continues and more of our sale graduates find their way to the winner’s circle.
Familiar Rhythm (Algorithms—I Know You Know) • 2016 Sale Grad • MTA Sales Graduate Futurity on 7/29/17 • Breeder: Jeffrey Kerber Firstmate (Midshipman—Lion Cub) • 2016 Sale Grad • Northern Lights Futurity on 8/20/17 • Breeder: Richard Bremer and Cheryl Sprick Link (Matt’s Broken Vow—Tez Savitri) • 2016 Sale Grad • Minnesota Conceived and Foaled • Maiden special weight on 6/1/18 • Breeder and stallion owner Lisa Duoos received $3,000 Moonlite Joey (Run Away and Hide—Nayla’s Image) • 2016 Sale Grad • Maiden special weight on 6/14/18 • Breeder: Ressa Harris Devil Lady (Fort Prado—Xcellent Lisa) • 2016 Sale Grad • Maiden special weight on 6/15/18 • Breeder: Ressa Harris Classy Shackles (Shackleford—Classiest Gem) • 2016 Sale Grad • Maiden special weight on 7/4/18 • Breeder: Wood-Mere Farm Notte Oscura (Astrology—Bella Notte) • 2017 Sale Grad • Maiden special weight on 6/24/18 • Breeders: John and Kay King and Art and Gretchen Eaton
NORTH CAROLINA THOROUGHBRED ASSOCIATION NEWS Nancy Shuford Honored in Kentucky for Beach Patrol Congratulations to NCTA member Nancy Shuford, breeder of Beach Patrol, for winning the Kentucky-Bred Champion Award for 2017 Turf Male Horse. Nancy was presented with a bronze award created by Emma McDermott on April 11 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington. The Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Inc. and Kentucky Thoroughbred Association presented the honor. Of course, Nancy didn’t report this to me, but while I was at Belmont a mutual reporter friend of ours mentioned it. So, with a little research, I found more information. With permission from the presenters, this is what they had to say in their annual Kentucky Champion Awards Luncheon program about Beach Patrol, a son of Lemon Drop Kid out of the Quiet American mare Bashful Bertie: “The second foal of his dam Bashful Bertie, from the well-respected ‘Bertie family,’ Beach Patrol was picked out of the 2013 Keeneland November Sale by agent Ben Glass who signed the $250,000 ticket. Making only two starts at 2, Beach Patrol became a model of consistency at the G1 level the next two seasons, amassing over $2.4 million and has won or placed in eight G1 events. Last season, the 4-year-old raced for the partnership of James Covello, Head of Plains Partners and Sheep Pond Partners, who had purchased the colt privately in May the previous year. One of the best grass horses in North America last year, Beach Patrol was an Eclipse finalist for Champion Turf Male, finishing as runner-up in the voting. After some very close finishes, he posted a game half-length win in the Arlington Million (G1) and kicked away from 10 stout rivals to take the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1) by five lengths. Beach Patrol truly showed his mettle in the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) as he held a halflength advantage deep into the stretch and fought to the wire only to miss by a half-length to a European invader. Losing nothing in defeat, Beach Patrol certainly proved that he belonged in the conversation for year-end honors.” AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 51
STATE ASSOCIATION NEWS Beach Patrol was in the company of other winners such as Arrogate, West Coast, Lady Eli and Gun Runner, just to name a few. I want to thank the KTOB and the KTA for allowing me to use their copy. —Rebecca Montaldo, NCTA President
“Jack raced for eight years, earned $368,000 and retired sound,” Clint said. “That horse was sort of slow getting going when he was young. He didn’t light up the board on his first few trips. But then he grew into himself and found his stride. He was very sound and very durable.”
Lipstick City Takes the Christmas Past Stakes at Gulfstream Park Congratulations to NCTA member Steve Laymon, whose filly Lipstick City won the $75,000 Christmas Past Stakes at Gulfstream Park on May 31. Laymon races the 4-year-old City Zip filly as part of a four-owner partnership. Lipstick City ran one mile over a firm turf course in 1:36.77 under the guidance of jockey Miquel Vasquez to win by 3 ¼ lengths. Unhurried early, the winner trailed the field with fractions of :23.08, :46.57 and 1:11.07 set by the frontrunner. When coming into the stretch turn, Vasquez cut the corner at the rail, ducked into a pocket, and with a quick turn of foot, Lipstick City leaped to the lead and a decisive victory. This is Lipstick City’s second stakes win. She also captured the Boiling Springs Stakes at Monmouth Park while being trained by Chad Brown. This is her first victory for trainer David Fawkes.
By Sarah Blanchard E. Clinton Lowry, DVM, is the recipient of NCTA’s newest award, Owner of the Year. Most Thoroughbred owners are known for just one aspect of the sport. But for 30 years, Clint has been doing it all: breeding, raising and racing the horses he produces, usually three or four a year. Born in 1941, Clint grew up in Forest Hill, a small town in West Virginia. “I always loved horses, but I didn’t get my first saddle horse until I was a teenager, so I started a little later than some kids,” he said. He went to West Virginia University for his undergraduate degree and then to Ohio State University for his veterinary degree. He always knew he wanted to be an animal doctor. He considered going into equine practice, but when he had the chance to do an internship at the nonprofit Animal Medical Center in New York City, he took advantage of that, completing two years of surgical residency as well as the internship. He then taught surgery for several years at the University of Georgia School of Veterinary Medicine. Next came small-animal private practice in Gastonia, North Carolina, where he joined the Hughey-Dickson Animal Clinic in 1973. Clint specialized in small-animal surgery until he retired from active veterinary practice in 2012. After owning a few riding horses in the 1970s and ’80s, Lowry and his wife visited the yearling sales in Keeneland and came home with an Alydar granddaughter, Aly Grandar, who became a successful racing mare and their foundation broodmare. “I’ve bought very few horses,” Clint explained. “Most of the horses I have now are descendants of that mare. Two of my current runners are fourth-generation homebreds, great-grandsons of Aly Grandar.” Allegheny Jack, a grandson of Aly Grandar, has been the Lowrys’ best horse to date. 52 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018
Clint Lowry
The Lowrys currently have four horses in training: two geldings, Dionysus’ Chalice (by Fiber Sonde) and Our Biz (by Nobiz Like Shobiz), and two fillies, Allegheny Macgraw (by General Quarters) and Charitable Heart (by Charitable Man). Clint’s horses were very successful in 2017. With results of 8-12-8 in 50 starts, they hit the board 56 percent of the time and earned more than $210,000. And this year is also shaping up to be very successful, with results of 4-3-2 in 16 starts (as of May 28). The Lowrys especially like to race at Charles Town in West Virginia, where Clint says the incentive and bonus programs are very encouraging. Clint takes care his retirees. After Allegheny Jack was claimed away from him in 2017, Clint kept following the horse’s career. When he saw that Jack was ready to retire, Clint offered to take him back. Jack is now being transitioned into a new career through Thoroughbred Retirement, Rehabilitation and Careers, a racehorse aftercare facility in Pennsylvania. Clint believes he now owns “about 30” horses—a mix of mares, foals, youngsters, horses in training, runners and retirees. When people ask him what he’s doing in retirement, he says, “I’m living the dream of every young horse-crazy girl! I go out every day and give them carrots, watch them train and race, or just hang out with them. It’s the best life.”
Sarah Blanchard
NCTA 2017 Owner of the Year, Clint Lowry
OHIO THOROUGHBRED BREEDERS AND OWNERS NEWS OTBO 2018 Mixed Sale Accepting Entries The OTBO will hold its mixed sale on Sunday, October 7, at Majestic Farm in Batavia at 1:30 p.m. The sale is open to Thoroughbreds of all ages and is not restricted to Ohio-breds. Entries close Tuesday, August 14, and consignors can obtain entry forms at duaneswingley auctioneers.com. “We moved the date back this year, so it would fit between the two Kentucky sales,” OTBO Executive Director John Engelhardt said. “Last year we had 103 entries. After entries are accepted, they will be posted online through several entities. There are advertising opportunities available, and we will be widely distributing the catalogs to all regional HBPA offices, active racing venues, consignors, advertisers and individuals upon request. With over $7.43 million available to Ohio-bred winners and breeders, this is a great time to get in the game.” For more information, call the OTBO office at (513) 574-5888 or email info.otbo@fuse.net. To register your cell phone to receive mobile text alerts, text “OTBO” to (781) 728-9542 or email your cell phone number to the office.
champion handicap mare in 1996 and 1997. Gutheil and his wife, Jimilea, and their four children resided on their farm, Willow Springs, in Galloway, where he bred, boarded and trained Thoroughbreds. He was a member of the board of directors of the Beulah Park Jockey Club. Gutheil had served on the OTBO board since 1993, including as vice president (2010–12) and president (2014–16). He received the 2017 OTBO Award of Merit. Gutheil practiced family medicine on the west side of Columbus. He was an assistant clinical professor of family medicine at the Ohio State University College of Medicine, a clinical professor of the Ohio University College of Medicine and an assistant clinical professor at the OSU College of Nursing. He received the Preceptor All Star Award as Professor of the Year. For 10 years he was the chief of the family practice division at OhioHealth Doctors Hospital. During the Vietnam War, he served as chief of anesthesia at a 400-bed U.S. Army hospital in Vietnam.
Core Beliefs Captures Ohio Derby On the outside, Joe Talamo urges Core Beliefs to overtake Irad Ortiz Jr. and Lone Sailor.
Humanitarian and Ohio Breeder/Owner Dr. Paul Gutheil Dies at 78
John Engelhardt
Dr. Paul R. Gutheil, who owned and bred Thoroughbred horses in Central Ohio for 40 years, passed away June 23 at the age of 78. He campaigned many stakes horses such as Polite Lil Sir, Brooke’s Tap Shoes, Crypto’s Twinjet, Hamlet’s Ghost and Blues Fan. His most memorable, Crypto’s Redjet, was voted Ohio Horse of the Year and
Dr. Paul Gutheil
With the Triple Crown in the history books, it is time for racing’s “second season” to begin and the 84th running of the Grade 3, $500,000 Ohio Derby on June 23 drew a talent-laden field of horses and horsemen. Predicted rains never developed and a large crowd made its way to Thistledown to see a field of 11 go in the gate for the 1 1⁄8-mile event. As expected, two-time graded stakes winner Flameaway set the early pace, but he had plenty of company along the way and tired as he entered the stretch. Lone Sailor, coming out of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, rallied strongly along the rail with Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard and took the lead. Carrying the same momentum, Core Beliefs and jockey Joe Talamo ranged up on the outside and as they crossed the finish line, a dead-heat was not out of the question. Anxious moments ensued, and the placing judges determined it was Core Beliefs that got his nose down in the final stride after taking the overland route from post position 10. The son of Quality Road stopped the timer in 1:51.08 while recording his first stakes victory for owner Gary Broad and trainer Peter Eurton. Local hopeful Trigger Warning held on for the third spot. AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 53
STATE ASSOCIATION NEWS
Galloping Out The ageless wonder Perry Ouzts celebrated his 64th birthday at Belterra Park on July 7 with an allowance win and a placing in the Cincinnatian Stakes. Ouzts tops the rider’s standings by 16 wins with 56 first-place finishes. He is also the central figure of an Eclipse Award-winning documentary available for viewing on YouTube titled Ironman: Perry Ouzts. Jockey Ricardo Feliciano tops the standings at Thistledown with 40 wins. The 2-year-old Ohio Player was on fire in his debut when he rallied to set a new track record for 4 1⁄2 furlongs at Belterra Park on July 6, pulling away by 7 1⁄2 lengths to stop the timer in :53.07. He is the last of the line for his sire Alphabet Soup, who retired to Old Friends following his final season as a stallion that produced Ohio Player, who was bred in Ohio by Hal Snowden Jr.
THOROUGHBRED RACING ASSOCIATION OF OKLAHOMA NEWS
Leading Owner of Thoroughbred Racing Stock—C.R. Trout Leading Breeder of Thoroughbred Racing Stock—Center Hills Farm Leading Sire of Thoroughbred Racing Stock—Euroears Owner: James E. & Marilyn Helzer Leading Dam of Thoroughbred Racing Stock—My Stormy Elaine Owner: Clark O. Brewster Industry Service Award—Van French
Okie Diva
Dustin Orona Photography
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of his Ohio Derby win aboard Te Vega, retired jockey Mike Manganello presented the trophy. Manganello was a standout rider on the Thistledown circuit in his early days of racing and had plenty of old acquaintances stop by to greet him throughout the afternoon.
2017 Oklahoma-Bred Thoroughbred Champions
Graded Oklahoma Derby, Remington Park Oaks Highlight Remington Park Stakes Schedule
The seventh annual TRAO Awards Banquet and Auction honoring the top Oklahoma horses and horsemen was held May 18 at the River Spirit Casino in Tulsa. Congratulations to all the winners listed below. Champion Thoroughbred Female Racing Stock, 3-Year-Old Filly and Horse of the Year—Okie Diva (Chitoz—Dana Okie) • Owner: Richter Family Trust Champion Thoroughbred Male Racing Stock, Male Sprinter— Welder (The Visualiser—Dance Softly) • Owner: Ra-Max Farms Champion Thoroughbred 2-Year-Old Filly—Sydney Freeman (Tizway—Peach Brew) • Owner: Robert H. Zoellner Champion Thoroughbred 2-Year-Old Colt/Gelding—Night Strike (Liaison—Concert Strike) • Owner: Erich Brehm Champion Thoroughbred 3-Year-Old Colt/Gelding—Hallelujah Hit (Mr. Nightlinger—Halo Hit) • Owner: C.R. Trout Champion Thoroughbred Female Sprinter—Hailstorm Slew (Munnings—Successful Slew) • Owner: C.R. Trout Champion Thoroughbred Female Turf Runner—Gianna’s Dream (Twirling Candy—Untamed Beauty) • Owner: Jordan V. Wycoff Champion Thoroughbred Male Turf Runner and Aged Stallion/ Gelding—Pacific Typhoon (Don’t Get Mad—My Stormy Elaine) Owner: Carol J. Nelson Champion Aged Thoroughbred Mare—Inagoodway (Save Big Money—Truth Takes Time) • Owners: Steve Duby, Mike Castor and Kent Blair Champion Thoroughbred Claimer of The Year—Eurobond (Euroears—Cabo Sunrise) • Owner: Danny Caldwell Champion Thoroughbred Horse Mixed Meets—Baby K (Kennedy—Perfect Southerner) • Owner: Jared Gary
Remington Park’s 2018 Thoroughbred season will feature multiple graded stakes events for the first time in track history. On Oklahoma Derby Day, Sunday, September 30, the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby at 1 1⁄8 miles and the Grade 3, $200,000 Remington Park Oaks at 1 1⁄16 miles will highlight the meet’s first major afternoon of racing. The Remington Park Oaks is being contested as a graded race for the first time this year. Other races on the Oklahoma Derby Day undercard include the $175,000 Governor’s Cup, $150,000 David Vance Stakes and $75,000 Kip Deville Stakes. In all, Remington Park will run 10 stakes races on Oklahoma Derby Day. The Kip Deville is the first major 2-year-old stakes race on the Remington Park schedule. The $100,000 Clever Trevor Stakes is next in the 2-year-old series on November 2 with the $400,000 Springboard Mile, the marquee race for first-year runners, taking place on the final afternoon of the season, December 16. Oklahoma-breds have plentiful opportunities in stakes competition with 16 events restricted to eligible state-breds. The eight stakes races that comprise Oklahoma Classics Night will take place on Friday, October 19. The evening, worth more than $1 million in purses, is led by the $175,000 Classics Cup. The meet begins Friday, August 24, and completes a 67-date run on Sunday, December 16. The $100,000 Remington Green Stakes kicks off the 32-race stakes schedule on opening night. Purses have been raised on many Oklahoma-bred stakes events from $50,000 up to $65,000 for the 2018 season. In all, the stakes schedule is worth more than $3.7 million. The complete stakes schedule is available at remingtonpark.com.
54 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018
Will Rogers Downs Concludes Successful Thoroughbred Meet
SOUTH CAROLINA THOROUGHBRED OWNERS AND BREEDERS ASSOCIATION NEWS
Cherokee Casino Will Rogers Downs’ 30-day spring Thoroughbred meet came to a successful close on May 19. The 12th year of racing in Claremore kicked off March 12 and averaged more than $100,000 per day in purses. More than $15 million was handled for the meet with more than $4.1 million in purse money paid out. John Lies, the track’s racing secretary and announcer, has seen some major changes and said he is excited about the seasons to come. “We were thrilled to see our relationship with TVG grow, along with the reception of our live coverage in 2018,” Lies said. “When able to avoid post-time conflicts with other tracks, we maximize our potential to get noticed by horseplayers and conducted a competitive race meet over one of the safest racing surfaces in the nation.” Bryan McNeil ran away with the leading jockey title with 40 wins, and Scott Young dominated the trainer standings with 28 wins. The leading owner buckle went to Karl Broberg’s End Zone Athletics Inc. with 11 wins. The 5-year-old Oklahoma-bred mare Fiddlers Tsunami, owned by Blue Moon Stables, was named Horse of the Meet based on her accomplishment of two wins and two seconds in four starts at Will Rogers. In stakes company, she won the Great Lady M. Stakes on April 23 after finishing second in the fog-filled Miranda Diane Stakes on April 2. The mare then returned to finish second in the More Than Even Stakes. She earned $74,106 in four starts for trainer Jody Pruitt while being ridden by Kevin Roman. Bad Boy Racing LLC’s homebred Rookie Season, a 3-year-old Oklahoma-bred son of Notional who had made just one start before the meet, rose from being an unplaced maiden to a stakes winner in less than two minutes. His emphatic 12-length romp in the Will Rogers Handicap on April 24 was the most visually impressive win of the meet. Rookie Season was trained by Scott Young and ridden by Floyd Wethey. Four horses were undefeated at the meet. Otto’s Dream won all four starts while All Behroozed Up, Exy Xanadu and Mystery Solved were each perfect in three starts.
South Carolina-Connected Abel Tasman and Monomoy Girl Post Grade 1 Wins
Carter Sales Co.’s OKC Sale Set for September The Carter Sales Co. OKC Summer Sale with select yearlings and a mixed session is set for Sunday, September 2, at the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds Arena. Horses can be viewed on the Friday and Saturday before the sale from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. A light lunch will be served and a live band will play before the sale. For more info, check out the revamped website at cartersalesco.com.
Abel Tasman, last year’s Eclipse Award-winner for champion 3-year-old filly, recorded her fourth career Grade 1 victory in the Ogden Phipps Stakes on Belmont Stakes Day. She has finished first or second in 11 of 13 lifetime starts. Abel Tasman was prepared for her racing career by Travis Durr at his Webb Carroll Training Center. Monomoy Girl captured her third consecutive Grade 1 stakes in the Acorn Stakes on the same day. She has won seven of eight starts with one second. Monomoy Girl’s dam, Drumette, was purchased and campaigned by Aiken resident Cot Campbell’s Dogwood Stable. She was a winner before being sold as a broodmare prospect. The ownership group of Monomoy Girl includes Stuart Grant’s The Elkstone Group; he is the owner of the Camden Training Center.
Fenwick Equestrian Launches New Venture Wilhelmina and Fred McEwan’s Fenwick Equestrian launched a fundraising campaign to increase awareness about their therapeutic liquid titanium products. Their liquid titanium head gear helps settle horses naturally without the use of drugs. With the funds raised, they plan to launch a new informational website, do more research and hire a marketing person.
TEXAS THOROUGHBRED ASSOCIATION NEWS TTEF, Paddock Foundation Benefit from Auctions Many thanks to the following people who participated in the live and silent auctions benefiting the Texas Thoroughbred Educational Fund (TTEF) and The Paddock Foundation at the TTA Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon on June 23 at Lone Star Park: Keith and Marilyn Asmussen, Denis Blake, Terri Cage, Craig and Tamarra Chambers, Jodi Dodwell, Sue Dowling, Vickie Eoff, Johnny Evans, Lois Isbell, Corey Johnsen, Lone Star Park, Sabina Pish, Sam Houston Race Park, Brant Schafer, Jim Shearer, Mary Shine, Doug and Ann Smith, Jennifer Stewart, Joan Tracy, Craig Upham, Russell Welch, Scott Wells and Henry Witt. A total of $2,900 was raised for the TTEF and $2,260 for The Paddock Foundation. Your support is an investment in the future of Texans and the lifelong welfare of the Thoroughbred horse. Congratulations again to all the award winners previously announced in the winter issue. Plus, congrats to the following award winners not previously announced: T.I. “Pops” Harkins Award for lifetime achievement—Mark Martinez Allen Bogan Memorial Award for TTA members of the year—Sue Dowling and Craig Upham TTA Rising Star Award for a newcomer who made significant contributions to the industry—Mary Cage AMERICAN RACEHORSE • SUMMER 2018 55
STATE ASSOCIATION NEWS Changes Made to Format of Texas Stallion Stakes The TTA Board of Directors met on June 23 and voted to change the format of the Clarence Scharbauer Jr. Texas Stallion Stakes Series, beginning with races for foals of 2017. Instead of a single race for 2-year-olds and two races for 3-year-olds, the series will comprise two races for 2-year-olds and a single race for 3-year-olds. The series will begin with a sprint race at Lone Star Park in summer 2019, continue with a race at Retama Park in early fall (both for 2-year-olds) and conclude with a race for 3-year-olds at Sam Houston Race Park in spring 2020. Races will be divided by sex, with purses to remain at $65,000 for each division. The change was made to address difficulty in filling the 3-year-old races and will result in an additional stakes for 2-year-olds at Lone Star Park.
Yearling Sale Set for August 27, Seminar and Pre-Sale Party Scheduled More than 110 horses have been consigned to the Texas Summer Yearling and Mixed Sale set for Monday, August 27, at 12 noon at Lone Star Park. The catalog can be viewed online at ttasales.com or contact the TTA office if you would like a catalog mailed to you.
In conjunction with the sale, an educational seminar is scheduled to take place in the sales pavilion on Sunday, August 26, where representatives of The Jockey Club will detail the current requirements for foal registration and microchipping, review the interactive database and explain the process for the issuance and transfer of digital foal certificates, which came into effect with the foal crop of 2018. A representative from equineline.com will also be on hand to discuss various products available to horsemen. There is no charge to attend, and everyone is encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to learn about the process and have your questions answered. The annual pre-sale party will take place that evening. Stay tuned for details at texasthoroughbred.com and ttasales.com.
New TTA Mailing Address Please be aware that any mail sent to TTA should be sent to the new office address at 192 Cimarron Park Loop, Suite A, Buda, TX 78610-3085. Phone and fax numbers will remain the same.
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