Thoroughbred U

March 19, 2016March 19, 2016

Reimagined Red Mile

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Hello to all of my fellow horse fans. I have been enjoying all the great racing for Kentucky Derby prep and otherwise good fun and competition. I was hoping to make it to Turfway Park to see one of my favorite horses race live yesterday but that race proved to be a little too far away and too late. However, I finally made it to the Red Mile to enjoy an evening of historical and simulcast racing.

The Red Mile is a standardbred harness race track in Lexington, KY, my hometown. Harness racing is not my favorite sport but I have been there a few times to see it. The track length is a mile and it is composed of red clay thus the track’s name, Red Mile. The 1st race there was on September 28, 1875, There was no live racing at Red Mile yesterday, 3/18/16, rather the facility was remodeled last September to mark 140 years and to feature “Instant Racing”, simulcasting, dining and entertainment in addition to harness racing. Keeneland went in with Red Mile to make it the fun place it is today.

“Instant Racing” is a lot like slot machines. There are over 900 terminals featuring pari-mutual electronic games. The games show historical racing on a small screen after you have picked 3 horses and made your bet. I thought it was fun to play and I loved seeing all of the different tracks featured.

After, I left the machines, with more money than I had brought with me, I checked out the areas for dining and the space for the live band. The food looked appealing and affordable. The band, Zed’s Dead, was entertaining.

I also ventured up a floor to see all the simulcasting. They had a handicapping contest taking place too. The facility is nice, very clean and spacious with plenty of helpful staffing. I was looking forward to watching a race at Turfway Park, in Florence, KY, set to post at 9:09 P.M. EST.

I have had the good fortune of visiting with two of breeder, Lucy Bassett’s, horses since they first began training. These two 3 year old fillies are Titled and Ma’am. Before they were racing, these two horses lived at The Thoroughbred Center, a Keeneland affiliated farm in Lexington, KY. They stayed and trained in Geoff Mulcahy’s barn. He has been kind enough to let me watch him train them on a few occasions. Now, Ma’am and Titled are training with Kenneth G. McPeek. Ma’am was sired by Colonel John and her dam is Lady Siphonica. Ma’am has Corey S. Nakatani for a jockey and is owned by Lance, Greg and David Gasaway with David Hamby III. Titled has Lily’s Girl for a dam and her sire was Scat Daddy. Titled is still owned by Bassett and she has Sophie Doyle for her jockey. Ma’am has raced 3 times at Oaklawn Park and she broke her maiden the last time out on 2/27/16. Titled had her second career race last night. She also got her start at Oaklawn.

Titled has not broken her maiden yet. It was still very exciting to see her come from the back of the pack to sweep third place last night. I enjoyed wagering on her from the Red Mile and she paid $5.60. I am pleased with both Ma’am and Titled and I’m looking forward to their next races. I would love to see them race live and I’m still hoping to make it to Turfway Park in the near future.

The Red Mile is an excellent place for various entertainment and simulcasting. I imagine I will be back soon and I have my own rewards card now. It was easy to get to, parking was plenty and free. The facility is open year round from 10am to 2 pm Sunday thru Thursday and open 2 additional hours, until 4 am, on Friday and Saturday. If you are planning a trip, check the Red Mile out here: Red Mile Please, comment, like and share. I will post a new story weekly or more often. Thank you for your time!

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March 11, 2016March 11, 2016

Lucky 13

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I am on pins and needles about all of the fun things going on this weekend. I am a marshal in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade this Saturday! It is March Madness time and I love the Kentucky Wildcats, go Big Blue Nation! Finally, we have 2 of the 13 remaining Kentucky Derby prep races this Saturday too!

On March 12, 2016 we have the Tampa Bay Derby and the San Felipe Stakes. We can watch some of our favorites and plenty of our less well known 3 year olds battle it out for KY Derby points to become one of the 20 contenders. Each of these races will reward 50 points to the winner, 20 points for 2nd place, 10 points for third place and 5 points for the 4th place finisher. Currently, Mohaymen is at the top of the leaderboard with 70 points followed by Gun Runner with 51 points and Shagaf with 50 points. That being said, the winner of these races will take a nice jump near the top of the leaderboard.

The 36th Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby, Grade II, will be held at Tampa Bay Downs in Florida, race 11, at 5:24 P.M EST on 3/12/16. The purse is $350,000 and the race is 8 and 1/2 furlongs on the dirt. This race was inaugurated in 1981. Last year’s winner, Carpe Diem, was my 2015 KY Derby pick. However, he ran 10th and American Pharoah kept on winning! In 2007 Street Sense won both the Tampa Bay and Kentucky Derbys. Street Sense still holds the speed record for the Tampa Bay Derby. This year, the Tampa Bay Derby has 10 horses in competition. Riker and Brody’s Cause competed against each other before, as seen in the photo above, in the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in 2015. Currently, Destin has 1 point on the leaderboard. Riker has 10 points and Brody’s Cause has 14. The full field, by post position, followed by jockey and trainer, is as follows:

Morning Fire – Daniel Centeno – Keith Nations
Rafting – Edgar Prado – H. Graham Motion
Outwork – John Velazquez – Todd Pletcher
Economic Model – Irad Ortiz,Jr, – Chad Brown
Star Hill – Julien Leparoux – George Arnold, II
Riker – Florent Geroux – Mark Casse
Destin – Javier Catellano – Todd Pletcher
Brody’s Cause – Corey Lanerie – Dale Romans
Tale Of S’avall – Joe Bravo – Barclay Tagg
Awesome Banner – Antonio Gallardo – Stanley Gold

As a side note, tune in earlier, at 3:54 P.M. to see Silver Magnolia in the Florida Oaks, race 8 and at 4:54 P.M. to watch Tepin in race 10, the Hillsborough Stakes, both at Tampa Bay. Neither are KY Derby prep races but Silver Magnolia won by 8 and 1/2 lengths in her last race at Tampa Bay. While, Tepin is 5 years old and she is awesome. She has won multiple graded stakes including the Breeder’ Cup Mile. I really enjoy watching her. The entire race card at Tampa Bay on Saturday should be fun. It will be the biggest day of racing ever at that track. Saturday is Festival Day at Tampa Bay with a total purse of $760,000.

Switch over to the West coast for the next KY Derby prep race at 6 P.M EST. Watch the San Felipe Stakes, Grade II, at Santa Anita in California, part of Big ‘Cap Day! This is the 7th race on the card for Santa Anita on 3/12/16. The purse is $400,000. This 8 and 1/2 furlong race on dirt has 7 horses entered. The San Felipe was inaugurated in 1935. Consolidator owns this race’s speed record, established in 2005. Dortmund won the San Felipe stakes in 2015 and then showed third in the KY Derby. In 2014 California Chrome won both the San Felipe and the KY Derby! Right now, I Will Score has 2 points towards the KY Derby. Uncle Lino has 4 points, Exaggerator has 16 points and Mor Spirit already holds 24 points. Exaggerator was in the pack photographed above as well. I focused on Exaggerator and Mor Spirit in my last story, seen here:

A Pinch Of Luck

There are some strong contenders in the San Felipe Stakes field, listed here:

Uncle Lino – Fernando Hernandez Perez – Gary Sherlock
Danzing Candy Mike Smith – Clifford W. Sise, Jr.
Mor Spirit -Gary L. Stevens – Bob Baffert
Cupid – Martin Garcia – Bob Baffert
I Will Score -Rafael Bejarano – Jerry Hollendorfer
Smokey Image – Victor Espinoza – Carla Gaines
Exaggerator – Kent J. Desormeaux – J. Keith Desormeaux

I am thrilled to see how these last lucky 13 KY Derby prep races resolve. I hope you all have a great weekend at the races. If you are lucky enough to see these races live, tell us about it. I would love for you to share your stories. Please, follow and like my pages on Facebook and Twitter. Thank you in advance!

Update: Cupid has scratched.

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March 1, 2016March 1, 2016

A Pinch Of Luck

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As I write this, we have just 67 full days until the Kentucky Derby and 17 days until my favorite holiday, Saint Patrick’s Day! There are many reasons I love this holiday. One is directly connected to my love of Thoroughbred horse racing.

Generally, when 3/17 roles around, the weather in the Bluegrass is improving. Then 3 weeks later, Keeneland opens for the live Spring Meet leading right into the KY Derby, the 1st Saturday of May. I have the house decorated for St. Patrick’s now but it is pretty easy for me to pull that off as my home is fairly Irish themed to begin with. Getting ready for St. Patrick’s Day is so easy and that’s a huge part of the appeal to me. However, getting ready for racing and KY Derby takes a lot more planning. I’ve been watching the road to the KY Derby since it started, 9/12/15, where it will end, at Churchill Downs on 5/7/16. 21 Derby prep races are finished now. Only 14 races remain to determine which horses will have the points needed to place them in the 20 available post positions. There is still way too much in the air to cover all the Thoroughbreds in a blog but only 4 in the current top 20 of the leaderboard will have riders dressed in green! These 4 are ready for St. Patrick’s Day.

St. Patrick was a 5th century missionary and bishop in Ireland. He is believed to have died on 3/17 and that is why he is celebrated on this day. Ireland has fun folklore and superstition including fairies and leprechauns. Legend has it, that for St. Patrick’s Day, you must wear green to be invisible to the leprechauns which will pinch you if they see you. In fact, people will pinch you as well if your not in green, as a reminder. Mor Spirit, Exaggerator, Greenpointcrusader and Swipe have the fortune of being owned by green silk farms.

Mor Spirit is the Pennsylvania bred colt of sire, Eskenderey and dam Im a Dixie Girl by Dixie Union. He is 4th on the KY Derby leaderboard with a score of 24 points. He is trained by Bob Baffert. Baffert has trained several KY Derby winners. He was 2nd with Cavonnier in 1996. Silver Charm won in 1997. He trained 3rd place winner, Indian Charlie in 1998. That same year he trained the 1st place winner Real Quiet. In 2001 Congaree showed 3rd. The following year, 2002, he worked with War Emblem to come in 1st. Pioneer of the Nile was 2nd in 2009. He trained 2nd place Bodemeister in 2012. In 2015 he was responsible for both Dortmund, in 3rd, and American Pharoah, the huge winner! Mor Spirit is owned by Michael Lund Peterson. Peterson’s silks are green and white with stripes in V like formations on the front and horizontal stripes on the sleeves. His jockey is Gary L. Stevens. Stevens was 1st 3 times in the KY Derby. He won in 1988 with Winning Colors, in 1995 with Thunder Gulch and 1997 with Silver Charm. Mor Spirit got his points in 3 races. On 11/28/15 in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes(G2) at Churchill Downs he ran 2nd for 4 points. On 12/19/15 he was 1st in the Los Alamitos Futurity(G1) at Los Alimitos for 10 points. Then on 2/6/16 he got 10 points for winning the Robert B. Lewis Stakes(G3). In 5 career starts he has always achieved 1st or 2nd place.

Exaggerator is 9th on the leaderboard with 16 points. He has had 7 career starts. I saw him run at the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland, seen above. That is where he picked up 2 points for his 4th place finish in the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on 10/31/15. Before that he was 2nd at the Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity also at Keeneland on 10/3/15, earning 4 points. He earned 10 points finishing 1st at the Delta Down Jackpot Stakes at Delta Downs on 11/21/15. Exaggerator is the KY Bred son of Curlin and Dawn Raid by Vindication. Curlin was 3rd in the KY Derby in 2007. Exagerrator has Kent J. Desormeaux for a rider. Desormeaux has had several KY Derby successes. In 1990 he was 3rd with Pleasant Tap. Real Quiet was 1st in 1998. In 2000 he was 1st with Fusaichi Pegasus. He was 1st again on Big Brown in 2008. He finished 3rd in 2004, 2010 and 2012 on Imperialism, Paddy O’ Prado and Dullahan respectively. The brother of the jockey is the trainer, J. Keith Desormeaux. Big Cheif Racing, LCC. own Exaggerator. They have a green cap and a green silk with a white hoop with green sleeves with a white hoop.

Greenpointcrusader finished 7th at the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland, pictured ahead of the pack above. He gained no points for that effort but he got 10 points for winning the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park on 10/3/15 and 4 points for placing 2nd at the Holly Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park om 1/30/16. His score of 14 puts him 12th on the leaderboard. He is KY bred. His sire is Bernardini. His dam is Ava Knowsthecode by Cryptoclearance, who was 4th in the 1987 KY Derby. Greenpointcrusader has John R Velazquez for a jockey. The rider was 2nd in the KY Derby on Invisible Ink in 2001 and 1st in 2011 with Animal Kingdom. He is trained by T. Dominick Schettino and owned by St. Elias Stable, MeB Racing Stables, LCC and Brooklyn Boyz Stables. This partnership uses a green cap with a green silk having 2 white hoops on the sleeves.

Lucky 13 on the leaderboard is Swipe. He is sired by Birdstone who ran 8th in the 2004 KY Derby. Swipe is KY bred and his dam is Avalanche Lily by Grand Slam. Swipe is also trained by J. Keith Desormeaux. His owner is also Big Chief Racing, LCC with James C. Justice and Billy R. Shelton. Having the same owner, they use the same silks as Exaggerator. Swipe, seen above was also in the Sentient Jet BC Juvenile. He placed 2nd scoring 8 points and then was 2nd again in the Front Runner at Santa Anita on 9/26/15 for 4 more points. He has a career of 7 starts. He has not raced in 2016 but he did have a workout on 2/27/16 at Santa Anita. Swipe has Victor Espinoza for a jockey. He was 3rd in the KY Derby with Congaree in 2001. He won the KY Derby in 2002 on War Emblem. He has won the KY Derby back to back the past 2 years with California Chrome in 2014 and American Pharoah in 2015.

These KY Derby contenders are rocking the green. Don’t forget to wear green on St. Patrick’s or you may suffer a pinch. To be safe, wear it all month. I will!

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February 24, 2016February 24, 2016

Chrome Shall Transcend

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California Chrome is set to transcend in tomorrow’s Trans Gulf Electromechanical Trophy race! Chrome has traveled to Dubai, United Arab Emirates for the 2nd time in his brief but exciting 5 years. Tomorrow’s (2/25/16) prep race is a handicap race meant to give Chrome both the practice he needs and the rest time he wants prior to his second chance at bringing home the Dubai World Cup!

The Dubai World Cup (DWC), operated by Emirates Racing Authority, was created in 1996 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. He is the ruler of Dubai, the founder of Godolphin Racing and the owner of Darley. The DWC is the end of the UAE racing season at Meydan Racecourse. The season is from 11/5/15 to 3/26/16 this time. Prior to 2010, this race was held at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse on the same grounds. Since the remodel, Meydan has a hotel with suites that face the racecourse, golf, a museum, dining and a theatre. The grandstands hold 60,000 fans. There is a dirt track and a turf track. Prior to 2015 the Meydan dirt track was a synthetic material called Tapeta. The DWC is the world’s richest race. The purse money on DWC day, the last Saturday of March annually, is $30 million dollars of which $10 million is the prize for just the one race! The entire DWC Carnival has a purse of $40 million dollars. The Carnival is mixed in with the regular season and is featured on 11 days of international racing ending with the DWC, sponsored by Emirates. Admission to the grandstands and paddock views are free through the regular racing season.

California Chrome is the 5 year old champ of sire, Lucky Pulpit, and dam, Love the Chase. He has had 19 career starts. He is owned by California Chrome, LCC, which is Perry Martin and Taylor Made Farm. He was bred by Martin and Steve Coburn. Chrome ran second in the DWC in 2015. Prince Bishop was the 2015 winner. Chrome was with his regular jockey, Victor Espinoza, when he last raced in Dubai as he will again this year. Chrome has won the 2014 Kentucky Derby, the 2014 Preakness Stakes, the 2014 Eclipse Award Horse of the Year Award and the 2014 Eclipse Award Champion 3 Year Old Colt Award. He ran 3rd in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2014. After he ran at Meydan on 3/28/15 he suffered a few injuries and some time in recovery, He raced again on 1/9/16 and was victorious in the Santa Anita San Pasqual Stakes (G2).

Last year Chrome did not participate in a prep race in Dubai prior to his effort in the DWC. The most popular prep race is Super Saturday, ran at Meydan 3 weeks prior to the DWC. Chrome will not race on Super Saturday. Tomorrow, the feature race is The Zabeel Mile (G1). Chrome won’t be in that race either. Rather, his connections have chosen the same prep race used by Curlin who won the DWC in 2008. Chrome will race the 6th race tomorrow, the Trans Gulf Electromechanical Trophy Race (TGET). The purse is $150,000 dollars. His owners thought that since he didn’t have a prep last year and placed 2nd they would prep him this time but they didn’t want a race that was too difficult and they wanted him to have more recovery time. The 2016 TGET is a 1 and 1/4 mile (about 10 furlongs) dirt handicap race for horses 3 years old and upwards. Chrome will carry the most weight, about 15 pounds more than his 7 competitors. Chrome drew the rail in the following field:

California Chrome(USA)-5YO
El Tren(IRE)-5YO
Good Contact(USA)-4YO
Hunting Ground(USA)-6YO
Pit Stop(IRE)-5YO
Plantagenet(SPA)-9YO
Storm Belt(USA)-7YO
Success Story(KOR)-5YO

Look out for Hunting Ground whose sire, Street Cry, won the DWC in 2002!

I have faith that Chrome can win the TGET and then he will be ready for the DWC this time! Several Thoroughbreds with USA roots have won the DWC. The inaugural race in 1996 was won by Cigar. In 1998 Silver Charm won. Captain Steve took the Cup in 2001. Pleasantly Perfect was victorious in 2004. Roses In May was the big winner in 2005. Electrocutionist who won in 2006 was foaled in the USA. 2007 saw USA trained Invasor win. Curlin grabbed the title in 2008. Well Armed was the champ in 2009. Finally, 2013 shared ownership with the Australian’s with Animal Kingdom.

Let’s hope it is time for California Chrome to win some more! Victor Espinoza wants to be the 1st jockey to win the Triple Crown and the DBC. He is already the 1st jockey to win the Grand Slam, the Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Chrome’s owners want him the win the TGET and the DWC followed by the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita to make him the USA’s #1 Thoroughbred in all time earnings and then to stand stud at Taylor Made Farm. I wish Chrome all the success in the world and I am looking forward to his return to Taylor Made. I will be watching TVG at 12:55 P.M. EST on 2/25/16 to see Chrome transcend!

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February 16, 2016February 21, 2016

Purrfect Pest Control

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I woke up to more snow and more shoveling this morning. It is yet another chilly day here on the Bluegrass. On the real cold nights I say some extra prayers for all of the homeless people and animals. I know they have it tough living outside. When I visit barns I am just as excited to hunt down the cats as I am the beautiful horses. I think that the barn cats have it best. They have all the shelter and food they could want and interaction with horses, people and other such animals when they choose to allow it. The cats are a benefit to us as well. They provide pesticide free rodent control and companionship to our horses and equestrians.

Sancho, is one of the better known barn cats. He has the honor of being the barn cat for Runhappy . Runhappy is a champion runner but he likes his sleep and he wants Sancho in his stall when he drifts off. Watch Sancho creep into position here: Sancho with Runhappy.

Another well known barn cat is the Twitter sensation, Gator Kitten. He is the resident handicatter (that’s right, this cat can handicap races) at Woodbine Race Track but he is spending the winter with a lot of his favorite Thoroughbreds at a barn near Gulfstream Park. He frequently visits with Juba. Follow him here: Gator Kitten. He posts often and has followers as far as New Zealand.

Do you want to know how can you help the barn cats? When you are packing in the peppermints to see your favorite horse put some cat treats in your pockets too. Mice aren’t the only snacks barn cats enjoy. Also, you can re-home feral cats this way too. Check out these links to animal shelters with specific barn cat programs in many states. My city has Horse Country Barn Cats ran by the Lexington Humane Society. A cat from the program comes vaccinated, microchipped and spayed or neutered. Horse County Barn Cats . See the other states listed here or Google to find a resource near you: Texas , Minnesota , California, Michigan, Illinois, Massachutes, New York

Did you know that cats were domesticated around 7500 BC for the purpose of pest control, not for pets? Cats must keep down the rodent population that are drawn to barns for food and warmth. Rodents like to eat the same grain as the horses but they can spread disease and cause trouble if they aren’t controlled. There are over 70 varieties of domesticated cats ready to do the job. In the United States cats are the second most common pet behind fish. In most barns I have seen have one or more resident felines.

Get creative when searching for cats in a barn. They can hide pretty good and the cat just might be an image on your horse’s face. I’m always looking to learn and share and when I saw the picture of American Pharoah’s half-sister, I discovered something new. American Pharoah’s dam, Littleprincessemma, gave birth to a filly sired by Tapit on 2/13/16. It has a lovely stripe of white chrome on it’s nose that looks like a long tailed cat. This marking is referred to as a Kitty Blaze! See her cute face here: Littleprincessemma/Tapit filly

I hope you have enjoyed these barn cat photos. I have not met Sancho or Gator Kitten so I don’t have their pictures yet but my collection is from Old Friends, Churchill Downs, Taylor Made Farm, Keeneland and The Thoroughbred Center. Please, share pictures of your favorite barn cats and return for next week’s post too. Thank you!

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February 10, 2016February 10, 2016

Jaw Droppers and Sale Toppers

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At first I was pretty disappointed that I could not attend the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale. The sale was only two days, Monday and Tuesday, February 8 – 9, 2016 and I had to work. Instead, I was able to go out for nearly four hours the day prior to the sale kickoff and spend time visiting and photographing the Thoroughbreds. It was cool and dry, that Sunday I spent at the barns, which was the last of that weather. Winter Mixed is a great name because it not only describes the variety of available bloodstock but the term fits the rain, sleet and snow that fell throughout the sale. I don’t like cold and wet so I was happy to follow along on the live feed.

The Winter Mixed had 528 Thoroughbreds cataloged. Of these 341 sold at a total price of over $8.2 million dollars. The average hip sold for more than $24 thousand dollars. The sale offered broodmares, racing or broodmare prospects and short yearlings. Day 1 of the sale featured hips 1 thru 296 and day 2 featured the remaining hips. I learned something very interesting about the cataloging from this sale. When the catalog for an auction house is produced the horses are assigned their hip order based on an alphabetical listing of either their own registered name or, if they have yet to be named, the name of their dam. A letter is drawn at random to start numbering (hip 1) and then the numbers are assigned in alphabetical order thereafter. In a select sale the groupings can be made based on quality but not in a mixed sale such as this. That explains why at a select sale one might see the highest priced horses featured on a particular day but in a mixed sale, like this, it just so happened that day 2 had more sought after horses.

This sale had 14 horses sell for 6 figure prices. The sale topper was hip 426, Flashy American for $395,000. She is a pretty 7 year old gray/roan sired by Flashy Bull, her dam is Inn Between. Flashy American is pregnant by 2013 Kentucky Derby winner, Orb. 2016 will bring Orb’s 1st crop. She was consigned by Taylor Made Sales and purchased by Blue Sky Stable. She may be bred to Tapit next. She was sold at Fasig-Tipton in the 2015 Kentucky Selected Fall Mixes Sale for $360,000 but the owner defaulted upon her offer. Funfair (hip 431) went for $350,000. Achiever’s Legacy (519) sold for $330,000 as did Stoweshoe (522, seen in the above promo poster). Maggie D’ Oro (55) was session 1’s topper at $210,000. Zundaq (296) and Dorothy’s Spirit (403, seen below on the top) each sold for $190,000. Kateri (18, seen below on the bottom) fetched $167,000. Bonnie Bear (338) and Darling Bird (389) both had a price of $150,000. Suzy Sage (228) followed at $130,000. Aunt Ellen (314) sold for $115,000. Finally Lady Zieg (28) and the yearling topper, a colt out of Bala and sired by Violence (318), each sold for $100,000.

Dorothy’s Spirit’s sire was the late and great Scat Daddy who passed away this past December of an apparent but unexpected heart attack at only 11 years old. 9 horses in this sale were Scat Daddy progeny and 7 sold. Another of his offspring is Lady Gayle (26, seen below). She sold for just $14,000. While there was quite a price range on his lineage there was a high demand for the mares pregnant with a Scat Daddy sired foal. Funfair, Maggie D’ Oro and Bonnie Bear, all toppers, are all in foal by Scat Daddy.

I was pretty impressed to see the next two Thoroughbreds. It’s Elementary (11, seen below at left) won 1st place at Gulfstream Park last Friday 2/5/16. She was not sold. Crocus Hill (383, featured below on the right) came in 2nd at Tampa Bay 2/6/16. She is sired by Medaglia D’Oro and sold for just $30,000. I’m going to keep a lookout for these two to see if they race again soon.

Finally, who doesn’t love, love, love a baby? A few broodmares had their foals pre-sale but they still go thru the auction as a package deal. Tecnica (239) and her lovely Discreetly Mine foal were a joy to watch. They sold for just $14,000. That foal was already off and running. He gave his handler some trouble keeping up! Look at this adorable baby below.

I’m sure I would have loved the auction rain or shine, or sleet and snow. One thing I am sure of, I am still really glad I was blessed to see many of the Thoroughbreds before they changed hands and futures. I’m anxious to see how these grads perform at racing and breeding. Please, share my auction story and comment with your experiences at the sales. Check back in for next week’s story too.

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February 6, 2016February 6, 2016

High Flying, Adored

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I would certainly love to hop on a plane and head to some place warmer with live racing right now. Perhaps I would go to Santa Anita, Gulfstream Park, maybe even Dubai? While I may be dreaming of a snowbird get away it is a busy time at Blue Grass Airport for arrivals too. This coming Monday and Tuesday, February 8 and 9, 2016, Fasig-Tipton will hold it’s Kentucky Winter Mixed sale here in Lexington, KY.

When you build an airport in the horse capital of the world you don’t just design any ordinary airport but rather it is a special airport worthy to handle the needs of regular passengers, world wide equestrians and of course, horses! The Army began using this airport in 1942 and by 1946 the airport went commercial. Blue Grass Airport sits right in the middle of horse country. Many flight patterns go directly over Keeneland race track which is across the street and nearby Calumet Farm. In 2008 the bronze equine sculptures featured in the 2 pictures above and 1 photo below were put on the grounds at the doors to the terminal. Gwen Reardon designed this paddock scene. She is the same artist that created the works at Thoroughbred Park, which I featured in an earlier story. The Kentucky Horse Park has a life sized piece of her art too. My favorite bronze is the piece below. It looks like James E. “Ted” Bassett III playing groom. He is a former chairmen of the board at Keeneland and former president of the Breeders’ Cup. I like to eat my breakfast with him at Keeneland’s track kitchen, on special occasions, and I read his biography from cover to cover. I have watched his story played over and again on KET (Kentucky Educational Television). I own his autographed book too!

Other lovely pieces of equine art are found inside and on the grounds of the airport. The floor of the terminal lobby has a concentric designed chart depicting the lineage of 800 Thoroughbreds over 300 years. There is also a nice stained glass piece depicting Big Lex created by John F. “Zig” Zeigler. Big Lex is a blue horse who is the mascot for the Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau. He is blue from grazing on Kentucky bluegrass. He can be seen all over Lexington, even on my refrigerator and my car.

One of my favorite works, at the airport, is the enormous trompe l’oeil mural painted by Eric Henn. It is painted on the retaining wall on the edge of the runway facing Keeneland. I have a print which I have yet to get framed seen below.

It is nice that all of this beauty is at the airport for the travelers. I hope as all the visitors make their way into Lexington this weekend to prepare for the Winter Mixed Sale they take time to appreciate the art. The sale has horses foaled in France, Great Britain, Ireland, Argentina, Ontario, Louisiana, Virginia, New York, Ohio, Maryland, Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, West Virginia, Indiana, Texas, California, New Jersey, Michigan, Minnesota and of course, Kentucky! H.E. Sutton Forwarding Company, also known as Tex Sutton or I prefer the name, Air Horse One, can help them ship here. They have a specially equipped Boeing 727-200 that holds 21 horses loaded 3 wide and 7 deep. The company’s symbol features Pegasus, a winged horse. The plane is labeled “First Class Equine Air Travel”. The individual stalls have seat belts and each horse is served hay and water. Human attendants accompany the horses in the aisles. The horses fly faced forward and the tallest horses are placed in the center stalls. See American Pharoah fly here: Air Horse One

I’m pretty excited thinking about the horses that will be shipping in for the sale. There are 528 entries cataloged. Hips 1 thru 296 will show on Monday and 297 thru 528 will be featured on Tuesday. The sale starts at 11 a.m. EST each day. See the catalog here: Fasig Tipton KY Winter Mixed 2016. The sale will feature a nice variety including horses of racing age, in-foal mares, 1 or more mares with foals, short yearlings and broodmare prospects, some with graded stakes credentials. Hip 255 is Trojenna, a mare by Lawyer Ron with a brand new Mucho Macho Man filly, so cute! Fasig-Tipton held it’s Midlantic Winter Sale last month. In that sale a yearling colt by Curlin was the sale topper at a price of $76,000. The KY Winter Mixed sale has 4 horses sired by Curlin. These are Naked Watch (hip 98), Princess Rocket (136), Split It (213) and Charismata (362). There are 4 yearlings by Grade 1 winning, Graydar in the sale. I met him at Taylor Made Farm this summer, so handsome. Check out some of Graydar’s 1st crop; hips 140, 149, 274 and 454. Look how sweet Graydar is below.

I hope the KY Winter Mixed sale is a big success. I would love to watch this sale’s grads race or breed new champs in the future. I can’t attend myself, due to my job, so if you make it out please tell me all about it. Who do you think will fetch the best price?

Here’s a You Tube from one of my favorite movies, “Evita”. When I think about Air Horse One, I think of this song. I love dreaming about all of favorite horses high flying around the world and how they are truly adored!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7b_p00PiXE

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January 28, 2016January 28, 2016

100 Days Till Derby

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Wow! I still can’t get over the rush of American Pharoah’s Triple Crown and Grand Slam wins. Meanwhile, today marks only 100 days until the next running of the Kentucky Derby. Just in time, the early nominees have been announced! Will we get another big winner? Will it be Nyquist, pictured above following his undefeated 2015 season after winning the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile? He does look nice in the crown!

On Saturday May 7, 2016 Churchill Downs will host the 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby. Early nominees for all 3 legs of the Triple Crown were due on 1/16/16. Early nominees pay a fee of $600 while later nominees can enter until 3/21/16 but that fee is $6,000. The fee jumps to a large sum of $200,000 if entered after that. The deadline for the latest entry is 5/4/16. Today, the 368 select 3 year-old Thoroughbreds were revealed. Eclipse Award Juvenile Male, Nyquist, tops the list of contenders. He is owned by Reddam Racing, LCC. His trainer is Doug F. O’Neill and his jockey is Mario Gutierrez. He won twice at Santa Anita and twice at Del Mar prior to his BC win at Keeneland. He had a nice workout at Santa Anita on 1/24/16. Nyquist is preparing for the Saint Vincente Stakes on 2/15/16 at Santa Anita and he is a top nominee for the Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds on 4/2/16.

368 nominees are considered low for an early selection. Brody’s Cause, Mor Spirit, Greenpointcrusader, Mohaymen, Hit It A Bomb, Ralis and Swipe are some of the other early favorites. Swipe is seen at the top of the second photo just barely losing to Nyquist at the BC races. Only 3 fillies were nominated. These little ladies are Northwest Tale, Royal Obsession and Flora Dora.

On the road to the Kentucky Derby, Nyquist leads in points with a score of 30. He is followed by Exaggerator, Brody’s Cause, Mor Spirit, Flexibility, Swipe, Mo Tom, Airoforce, Mohaymen and Greenpointcrusader for the top 10 of 20 available positions. Urban Bourbon is nominated from Bourbon Lane Stable.

In regards to trainers, who have nominated horses, Bob Baffert leads with 35 entries. He was the trainer for our 2015 Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah. One of his entries this year is Southern Pharaoh, another colt sired by Pioneer of the Nile. Todd Pletcher, Chad Brown, Mark Casse, D. Wayne Lukas (my favorite with 10 entries) and Mike Maker round out the top trainers, by number of entries. Kellyn Gorder is entered with Torrontes.

Again we find the American Pharoah connection when we see the owners with the most entries. It is Zayat Stables that owns 15 entries. Zayat is followed by Calumet Farm, Charles Fipke and Keeneland’s biggest winners, Ken and Sarah Ramsey.

Following the Kentucky Derby, the 141st Preakness Stakes takes place on 5/21/16 and then the 148th running of the Belmont Stakes is on 6/11/16. The full list of nominees for the Triple Crown is available here: 2016 Triple Crown Nominees

These 100 days are going to be so exciting. I love watching all of the prep races and the leaderboard on the road to the Kentucky Derby. Who is your favorite? Please, share this and share with me.

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January 19, 2016January 19, 2016

Phavorite Pharoah

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Congratulations are in order again as American Pharoah sweeps in one award after another. My last post was on the morning of January 16th. That evening we had the Eclipse Award Ceremony and today we received news of the Longines Awards. American Pharoah won at each event.

The 45th annual Eclipse Awards were held at Gulfstream Park in Florida this past weekend. Winners were chosen in 17 horse and human categories. The finalist were announced on January 6th. All the nominees can be seen in my prior story.

A Tepin Time

Here are the winners:

Horse of the Year: American Pharoah
2 Year Old Filly: Songbird
2 Year Old Male: Nyquist
3 Year old Filly: Stellar Wind
3 Year old Male: American Pharoah
Female Sprinter: La Veridad
Male Sprinter: Runhappy
Female Turf Horse: Tepin
Male Turf Horse: Big Blue Kitten
Older Dirt Female: Beholder
Older Dirt Male: Honor Code
Steeplechase Horse: Dawalan
Jockey: Javier Castellano
Apprentice Jockey: Tyler Gaffalione
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Owner: Zayat Stables
Breeder: Zayat Stables

As you can see, American Pharoah and his connections won Horse of the Year, 3 year Old Male, Trainer, Owner and Breeder. Pretty impressive but there is more…

American Pharoah has long been acknowledged as a national champion but today he was recognized internationally! On 1/19/16 American Pharoah was named Longines World’s Best Racehorse 2015 at the Claridge’s Hotel in London, England.

Longines is a Swiss watchmaking company. They have historically been associated with sporting events including world equestrian sports. They made their 1st chronograph (a stopwatch) engraved with a mounted jockey in 1878. 3 years later, those chronographs were in use at tracks everywhere to time performance measures. Longines is the official partner and watch of the International Federation of Horse Racing Authorities (IFHA).

The IHFA had it’s earliest beginning in 1961 when horse racing authorities from the United States, Ireland, Great Britain and France came together to form standards to select the best horses. They held the 1st annual International Conference in Paris, France in 1967 with representation of world wide racing authorities. By 1977 the International Classifications were published. In the 1990s North and South America, South Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand came together with racing officials and handicappers to develop the World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings, which in 2012 became the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings. The best horse that is 3 years old and up from participating countries, where it was raced or trained, is selected annually. The season runs from 1/1 thru 12/31. The top Grade/Group 1 international races are rated. These ratings are not the same ratings used in many other horse ranking systems. American Pharoah won with an 134 rating. He is followed by Golden Horn (130), Shared Belief (126), Treve (126), Able Friend (125) and Solow (125). Best race and best jockey are selected as well. The Longines World’s Best Horse Race 2015 is the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in France followed by the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Further race categories are chosen by surface and distance. The top jockey is Lanfranco Dettori of Great Britain followed by our Victor Espinoza and 5th for Javier Castellano, which is quite different from the Eclipse Award results. To enjoy some of the excitement, see the great new YouTube below.

Congrats again to American Pharoah, Victor Espinoza, Bob Baffert and Zayat Stables for all the amazing races and accolades. American Pharoah is not racing anymore but he has an exciting new career as a stallion. I am looking forward to his progeny. I love seeing everyone’s #APandMe photos on Twitter and Facebook. Please, keep sharing and hopefully I will go meet the champ soon!

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January 16, 2016January 16, 2016

Action At The Auction

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What a sweet week I had. I was able to go to Keeneland 4 times for the January Horses of All Ages Sale. It was a moving experience as always.

This sale featured hip numbers 1 thru 1796. Of these, 1,040 Thoroughbreds sold versus 948 for this same sale last year. I arrived the day prior to the sale and the grounds were bustling with horsemen, prospective buyers and of course, the horses we love so much. The sale ran from Monday 1/11 thru Friday 1/15/16. The 5 day session was a full day longer than the previous year. On opening day, the auction began with hip 3 after the first 2 horses, and several more were “out” for various reasons. Hip 3, seen above in the Keeneland sales pavilion, is Captive Melody. She was consigned by an agent for Claiborne Farm. At a price of $70,000 she didn’t really get sold. She is listed as “RNA”, reserve not attained. This was the case with several of the horses at the auction. Captive Melody is 13 years old. She was sired by Unbridled’s Song and she did race. Her earnings are over $117,000 and she is pregnant with Malibu Moon’s foal. I find her to be very pretty.

Many horses did fetch a good price. Hip 259 was Summer Solo. She is a 5 year old daughter of Arch, in foal by Ghostzapper. She was consigned by Denali Stud for the dispersal of Sarah J. Leigh’s estate. She was purchased by Payson Stud, Inc. Her half-sister, hip 260, is Summer Sweet. Sired by More Than Ready, this 2 year old filly was also sold by Denali to Payson. These beauties were sale toppers at $700,000 and $550,000 respectively.

Virginia Kraft Payson bought the above Arch filly, hip 230, from Denali as well. She fetched $450,000. Payson was this sale’s top buyer. In all, the sale grossed over $35 million dollars. It made $158,000 more than the 2015 January sale and should be considered a success.

The crowd released audible coos when hip 76, Grenobloise, entered with her 5 day old baby. What a doll! I heard from Taylor Made Sales Agency, the leading consignor with 92 horses sold, that several babies were born in the Keeneland stalls during the sale. Grenobloise and her baby were also RNA. They were consigned by Buckland Sales.

I couldn’t attend on Tuesday but on Wednesday I saw 4 of the top 5 sale prices for that session. Seen above are hip 828, a filly by More Than Ready for $95,000, hip 917, Ready For Romance for $240,000, hip 927, Rock Me Mama for $90,000 and 945, a colt sired by Shanghai Bobby for $105,000.

Prom Time, hip 1271 and a colt by Super Saver, 1314, were the two top prices on Thursday. Each can be seen above. Eaton Sales consigned Prom Time. She was sold to Warrendale Sales. The colt was consigned by Hidden Brook and sold to Calumet Farm.

The best thing about Thursday is that it was the first time I was warm enough to roam the grounds freely. I saw some nice short yearlings and some stallions too. That is one of the pleasures of this sale. It is such a mixed bag. This sale offers horses that have raced, that will race, great broodmare prospects, stallions, you name it! Not only are they all ages but they are all kinds of pretty too. I likes the grays, especially the ones that almost look white. See some of the lovelies below.

I didn’t make it out yesterday but I see that it closed strong and the final horse was hip 1795, a gray or roan colt sired by Uncle Mo. Consigned by Brandywine Farm, this little guy sold to Eico Ventures for $80,000, the top price of the day.

I will have to wait until September 12th thru 24th to see the next Keeneland sale. It will feature yearlings. Fortunately, Fasig-Tipton has a Winter Mixed sale in Lexington February 8-9th. Perhaps, I can venture out then. Stay warm my friends and keep watching for my next post.

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