Thoroughbred U

August 28, 2015August 30, 2015

Phollowing Pharoah

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I have not had the opportunity to make any recent trips but my mom went up to New Jersey for a week recently. She was kind enough to do a little drive by photography of Monmouth Park during her travels. This was the site of American Pharoah’s last race.

American Pharoah won the 48th William Hill Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey on August 2, 2015. There was a huge crowd of 60,983 fans in the stands that day. There was a large crowd there in 2007, as well, when Monmouth hosted the Breeders’ Cup. When my mother was on the property, this past Saturday, she said there was a good crowd, despite the negatively slanted media’s opinion. The fans were there to watch a full race card and the Grade III Monmouth Oaks. This race first took place in 1871 and is the oldest active Oaks race in America. This year the race was 1 and 1/16 miles long for 3 year olds with purse money of $100,000. Paco Lopez won riding Delightful Joy. She is a Tapit filly and this was her first graded stakes win. She beat out Eskenformoney who ran in the Kentucky Oaks and the Mother Goose Stakes, which I have previous stories about each of those races on my website. White Clover owned by Calumet Farms showed 3rd in that race.

Having Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah participate in the Haskell was great for the track and the community. Ahmed Zayat, American Pharoah’s owner lives in New Jersey. The NJ State Senate was so pleased with the excellence in which Monmouth Park handled the Haskell that they honored the track for its success in doing so. The track has been managed out of three buildings since 1870 with occasional closures. It is my hope that this track has many years to go and to host some wonderful races.

Mom quickly spotted her home city posted on a truck at Monmouth Park. The Horse Capital of the World, Lexington, KY is the headquarters for Sallee Horse Vans. They have a hub at Monmouth Park. It is estimated that over 50,000 horses this year will travel by Sallee. They have over 200 routes that cover over 4 million miles. This family owned business has been in place since 1963. In Lexington they even have a nice 16 stall barn.

Monmouth Park was where American Pharoah’s last raced and I have been waiting all this time to see his next race. Tomorrow, August 29th he will finally run again. This race is the Travers Stakes, to take place in Pharoahtoga… well Saratoga, NY. I had a nice story earlier in the month about Saratoga race track. Check it out on my website. Secretariat also chose to race at Saratoga following his Triple Crown win. He ran in the Whitney Stakes. The Travers, named for William R. Travers, one of the tracks founders, began in 1864. Some call it Saratoga’s Midsummer Derby. It is the most popular day of Saratoga’s summer race meet. The race is Grade I for 3 years olds with a purse of $1,600,000. The distance is 1 and 1/4 miles on the dirt. Post time is 5:46 p.m. EST. It will be covered live on NBC. Should American Pharoah win he will be awarded the Man O’ War Cup by Tiffany and Co. and he will be blanketed with carnations.

The post positions are:

Upstart
American Pharoah
Mid Ocean
Texas Red
Frammento
Frosted
Keen Ice
Tale of Verve
King of New York
Smart Transition

As good as American Pharoah is, this is still a tough race. Any of these horses could win. Frosted and Texas Red have the next best current odds. American Pharoah was able to bring his favorite traveling partner along with him to this race, despite a minor injury prior. Smokey The Pony will not only be there but Donna Brothers, former jockey and current Thoroughbred racehorse reporter, will ride him while doing race coverage for NBC. Smokey flew with American Pharoah to Lexington,KY where they picked up Funny Cide and then flew on to Albany. I wish the airport had a fan lot like they sometimes do for the University of Kentucky Basketball team. I really wanted to see the 3 equines. I just spent time with Funny Cide at the Kentucky Horse Park recently. I posted that story to my website the last day of July. Funny Cide is a Saratoga bred horse who raced there twice and has won both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. He was on view in Saratoga’s paddock on August 27th.

Keep on following American Pharoah, where I hope he wins the Travers and then the Breeders’ Cup. I wish everyone a safe and lucky weekend! Don’t forget, we can watch American Pharoah’s jockey, Victor Espinoza, on the new season of Dancing With the Stars starting 9/14/15. To see more stories and those I mentioned during this post, follow my page on Facebook or Twitter and you can always go straight to my website, as well.

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Update: Frosted was third, American Pharaoh was second and congratulations to Keen Ice, the winner of the 2015 Travers! I am so happy that no jockey or horse was inured during the race and I look forward to all the participants exciting futures.

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August 22, 2015August 23, 2015

Thoroughbred Tour Time

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It was a perfect morning here in The Horse Capital of the World, Lexington Kentucky! The weather is beautiful and I got to be in the 1st group ever to participate in the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Tour at Keeneland. We assembled at the South Grandstand entrance of Keeneland right after we turned in our sold out tickets at the ticket window. The tour began promptly at 8:30 a.m. on 8/22/15.

Rick, our skilled tour guide, walked us thru Keeneland’s entry and took us under the grandstand where we watched a short video. The film went over Keeneland’s creation in 1936 and Lexingtonian, John Gaines’, plan to develop the Breeders’ Cup, which was held 1st in 1984. Horses sold at Keeneland have won in 19 Kentucky Derbys, 21 Preakness Stakes, 18 Belmont Stakes and 83 Breeders’ Cup races. That is why having the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland for this 1st time ever, is like a home coming for the sales graduates and the founder. The Breeders’ Cup races will be held on October 30th and 31st this year.

After the movie, Rick took us to the rail to watch the morning workout for some of the horses living at the track. They have 57 barns that house about 2 thousand horses. I was hoping to get a glimpse of Wise Dan but he didn’t make it to the track today. Wise Dan lives at Keeneland and he won the Breeders’ Cup Mile in 2012 and 2013. Those same 2 years he also won, each year, American Horse of the Year, American Champion Older Male Horse, and American Champion Male Turf Horse. He has earned 3 consecutive Eclipse Awards as well. Secretariat sired Askmysecretary, who is the dam to Lisa Danielle. Lisa Danielle is Wise Dan’s dam.

Rick also pointed out the trainers watching and clocking the horses up in the stands. He talked about the tons of construction taking place to prepare for the enormous crowd that the Breeders’ Cup races will bring. They are putting in roughly 10 thousand more seats to hold a crowd of about 50 thousand people. Despite the track bringing in all the visitors and business, Rick said Keeneland makes most of its money on the 3 annual horse sales. The next sale is the Yearling sale to be held at Keeneland September 14th thru 26th of this year. I will attend several days and follow up with all of you.

Our next stop was in the Winners Circle. Keeneland usually presents winners with a Tiffany and Co. sterling silver Julep Cup. The Breeders’ Cup has a special trophy. In the circle we got to pose holding the trophy. Those aren’t my hands, I am a little camera shy but I got one to show to my friends and family anyhow. This trophy is a mini replica of the larger ecorche horse. We went thru the tunnel to see the full size version in the Paddock area, where they are putting down new concrete and sod.

My hour long tour ended there. For participating I received a wealth of knowledge, a sticker, a lapel pin and 15% off in the gift shop. The tour is the best $8 I’ve spent. Go to the website to sign up to take this tour yourself. Kids under 12 are free. The tours are select Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from now and until October 28, 2015. The maximum group size is 30 so don’t wait until it sells out.

Breeders’ Cup Tours

The tour does not take you to the barns but I had an equestrian friend visiting one, so I went to see more horses. It was bath time, which is fun to watch. I also took advantage of petting a chatty barn cat. During the Breeders’ Cup I won’t have access to the barns on Rice Road at all. The National Guard will be there to protect racing’s finest horses.

I hope all of you enjoyed my summary. Have a great weekend!

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August 15, 2015August 15, 2015

Jockumentary John

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From the dirt on the tracks to the red carpet, our super star jockeys are about to appear in a Triple Crown jockumentary. I am one lucky girl and I was real excited that I had the accidental pleasure of meeting John Rousseau, producer, writer and director of “Heart, Hope & Glory-Masters of the Triple Crown”.

Earlier this week, I was hanging out and enjoying an evening off from work when I spotted a man in a Saratoga shirt. I couldn’t help myself, I had to ask him when he was there last. It was pretty recently and then he showed me his nice bridle style Seattle Slew bracelet, a gift from Jean Cruguet himself. Wow! I had to hear his story so I whipped out my Thoroughbred U business card and started grilling the man. As it turns out, this man is working on an amazing film on the last 3 living Triple Crown winning jockeys, prior to this year’s big win by Victor Espinoza with American Pharoah. Even nicer, part of the proceeds will got to fund the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.

The movie will feature Ron Turcotte, Jean Cruguet and Steve Cauthen. This is the first time that these famous jockeys have gathered together to tell their stories on camera. The film is set to be released in Lexington, KY this September prior to the Keeneland September Sale. The studio is GoldMark Media Ventures managed by GoldMark Farm owner Paul Bulmahn. There is already a movie trailer, a Facebook page, a Twitter account and a website. Heart, Hope & Glory

The PDJF was founded in 2006. It is a nonprofit public charity that benefits jockeys that have suffered debilitating on-track injuries. Currently, about 60 jockeys are being helped by this fund. Here is the link to read about the charity and/or donate to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund

Ron Turcotte is the amazing retired jockey for many horses including the 1973 Triple Crown Winner, Secretariat. Turcotte was born in Canada in 1941. He is featured in another documentary, “Secretariat’s Jockey, Ron Turcotte”, that had its world premier in Louisville, KY during the Kentucky Derby festivities in 2013. That film was directed by Phil Comeau. Turcotte was the 1st jockey to win 5 out of 6 consecutive Triple Crown races. He was the only one to do this until just this year when Espinoza matched him. Mr. Turcotte has been inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame and he received the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award. Secretariat was born in 1970 and grabbed the Triple Crown in 1973, after a 25 year drought of no Triple Crown victories. He was just our 9th Triple Crown champ ever. Secretariat has an amazing fan following and he earned it, collecting wins and awards in abundance. He is ranked 2nd on the list of top 100 U.S. Race Horses of the 20th Century. Man O War is ranked 1st. Secretariat made records in all legs of the Triple Crown and holds the fastest times to this day. In his retirement, he became the Leading Broodmare Sire in North America. He died in 1989 and was buried at Claiborne Farm in Paris, KY.

Jean Cruguet was born in France in 1939. He won the Triple Crown in 1977 riding Seattle Slew. Cruguet got his start in Europe but he moved to the United States in 1965 and only briefly raced in Europe again in 1972. He has a long list of achievements and honors. He has retired a few times since 1980 and is currently living in Kentucky. Back in June he rode American Pharoah around the barn area at Churchill Downs. This is probably the only time a Triple Crown winning horse has been mounted by two Triple Crown winning jockeys. Seattle Slew was born in 1974 and he is the only horse to ever win the Triple Crown undefeated in all races of his prior career. He went on to win the Belmont too and retired winning 14 of 17 career starts. He was our 10th Triple Crown horse and is ranked 9th of the Top 100 U.S. Race Horses. He had a nice stud career at Spendthrift Farm and Three Chimneys Farm and was buried at Hill N Dale Farm in 2002. He was a Leading Sire in North America as well as a Leading North American Broodmare Sire.

Right here, in Kentucky, in 1960, Steve Cauthen was born. He rode Affirmed in the 1978 Triple Crown sweep. Cauthen raced in the United Kingdom for many years and has racked up big wins in not only the United States but Great Britain, France, Germany, Ireland and Italy. He is a National Museum Racing Hall of Famer. So was his horse Affirmed. This Thoroughbred was inducted in 1980. He won our 11th Triple Crown and is ranked 12th on the Top 100 Race Horses. Affirmed later raced against Seattle Slew twice and was beat both times. These are the only times two Triple Crown winners have competed against one another. He was the sire to many stakes winners and champions. Affirmed earned many awards and titles and was buried at Jonabell Farm in 2001.

It was a pleasure to meet John Rousseau and to hear his stories and see the pictures on his phone. I love the passion he has for Thoroughbred horse racing and his special perspective on the human athletes of the industry. I can’t wait to see his jockumentary. I hope this makes him very successful and raises a lot of money for the PDJF. I think this will be a very special project to shed some light on many great racing stories of the past while the jockeys are still here to share those tales themselves. I love racing and all the interesting characters involved. Have a great weekend everyone and keep your eyes and ears peeled. You never know what opportunity knocks next! Oh, and my lovely dirt pics above are from my surprise backside invite to Churchill Downs for early morning breezing. That’s some nice dirt!

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August 5, 2015

Saratoga’s Sweet Summer

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Saratoga is having a big summer! I won’t be able to make it there myself, but our regularly contributing handicapper friend did. He spent the end of the week and last weekend visiting and got us some great pictures. Saratoga is the place to be for Thoroughbred racing right now.

Saratoga Race Course was established in 1864 in Saratoga Springs, New York. It had its first race over 150 years ago. Today, 8/5, the city of Saratoga Springs will celebrate its Centennial. The city was founded in 1915. The Saratoga Sales, put on at Fasig-Tipton, will take place in Saratoga Springs on August 10th and 11th. This Saratoga race course meet started on July 24th, with live racing, and will remain open through September 7th. Above we see a welcoming sign and the backyard where Saratoga’s sweet summer is savoured. The race course motto is, “Health, history and horses”. The racetrack is located on 350 acres of land. The main track is 1 and 1/8th mile. The turf track is 1 mile in length. Other smaller courses are located throughout. In the many stables, there are over 1,800 stalls. The facility can hold about 70 thousand fans but the record attendance has exceeded that. The largest one day handle was over 10 million dollars. That was on Travers Day in 2003 which brings us to yesterday’s big news. American Pharoah’s next race will be the grade 1 Travers Stakes on August 29th!

AmericanPharoah just won his 8th straight graded Stakes race while at Monmouth Park in New Jersey this past weekend. He easily beat out Keen Ice in the grade 1 William Hill Haskell Invitational Stakes on Sunday, 8/2. Keen Ice riden by Kent Desormeoux and trained by Dale Romans put in a great effort. Keen Ice was 7th in the KY Derby and 3rd in the Belmont is showing improvement. That race gave the park a record crowd of over 60 thousand fans. Meanwhile, over 3 million viewers tuned in to television to watch the live race on NBC. The plan is to race American Pharoah in the Breeders Cup in October at Keeneland in Lexington, KY. We are all waiting on pins and needles to see where he goes next, in the meantime. For now, we know he made it safely back to Del Mar in California and he will make his Saratoga debut later this month in the Travers.

Back in Saratoga last week, Thursday was a bit wet and the live racing that day included the John Morrissey won by Moonlight Song with Jose Ortiz riding. Friday Saturday and Sunday featured some big races too but those weren’t limited to just the horses. There were several activities to raise money for the Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund and one of those events was a jockey foot race. Above, see a photo of the gates being loaded for a soggy Thursday race and a shot of the jockeys running.

When the fans weren’t watching PDJF events or Thoroughbred racing they could check the Walk of Fame. Above we see a display for Angel Cordero, Jr. and D. Wayne Lukas. Cordero was born May 8, 1942 in Puerto Rico. He had over 7 thousand career wins as a jockey. He won 3 Kentucky Derby races, 2 Preakness Stakes, 1 Belmont Stakes and 4 Breeders’ Cup races in addition to many other graded stakes. He has 3 Eclipse Awards, he is a member of the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame, he was the leading rider at Saratoga for 13 years and he was the jockey for Triple Crown winning Seattle Slew when Cordero had his best ride ever in the 1978 Marlboro Cup Handicap. I have had a lot of good things to say about D. Wayne Lukas before and I met him in June and covered that in my post Birthday, Breezing, Betting and Backside. I also met several of his horses that day too. One was Hillbilly Style who ran 2nd in a claiming race at Saratoga this weekend. Lukas also took the stage in the finale of the jockey karaoke fundraiser for the PDJF this weekend. He will have another entry in at Saratoga on 8/7 in a maiden special weight allowance optional claiming race. Lukas is a top trainer and top class in my book.

So, what about those big races at Saratoga last weekend? Well, Texas Red beat out Frosted in the grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes seen in the two pics above. Texas Red was riden by Kent Desormeaux and trained by the jockey’s brother. He is looking like a fine runner and has placed in multiple graded stakes including a win in the Sentient Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in 2014 and ranked 16th in earnings that year. Frosted, sired by Tapit, a descendant of Secretariat, riden by Joel Rosario and trained by Kiaren McLaughlin has a fine racing history as well with a win in the grade 1 Wood Memorial Stakes, 4th in the KY Derby and 2nd in the Belmont Stakes. Not pictured, but I must mention, Rachel’s Valentina’s win in the Maiden Special Weight at Saratoga too. I am excited about this Todd Pletcher trained and Joel Velazquez riden daughter of Rachel Alexandra. Rachel Alexandra won the Kentucky Oaks, Mother Goose and Haskell in 2009. She was an amazing runner in her day. I hope her little girl does as well. Her sire, Bernardini swept the Preakness, Jim Dandy and Jockey Club Gold Cup in 2006 with a 2nd place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic that year too. Another big filly win at Saratoga this past weekend went to Stopchargingmaria over Untapable in the grade 3 Shuvee Handicap. Stopchargingmaria won the Black-Eyed Susan, Alabama Stakes and the Coaching Club of American Oaks last year. Untapable has an Eclipse Award and a win in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff as well as a win in the Kentucky Oaks and Mother Goose. That was quite a showdown of great fillies.

I wish to extend thanks to our friend and tipster with the photos. I hope someone wants to share some info on the Saratoga Sale and other fine races ahead. Tapit has yearlings for sale with hips 24, 34, 51, 70, 160, 177, and 182. The Tapit filly at Fasig-Tipton’s July Sale brought in the most money. I hope you all enjoyed this peek at Saratoga as much as I did. Have a great week!

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July 31, 2015August 4, 2015

Horse Park Happenings

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Time flies! I can’t believe it has almost been a week since I spent a day at the world famous Kentucky Horse Park. On July 25th the park hosted Hats Off Day to salute Kentucky’s Horse Industry and to benefit the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation and the Kentucky Equine Humane Center. Both are fantastic charities.

The KY Horse Park was built in Lexington, KY in 1978. The park is both a horse farm and an educational facility. Many competitions take place here as well. I arrived at lunch and had a nice picnic taking in the views of the last of the white fences. I have fond childhood memories of visiting and even camping at the park. It has always had endless looking acres of white fences with lush green grass and horses everywhere. About 18,000 horses visit the park annually and some live here permanently. Very recently the decision was made to start painting the fences black as the white paint is too expensive to maintain. I could see some of the new fence work in place. It seems a little sad.

After lunch, I began photographing the beautiful statues and plaques in place to honor some of the most famous Thoroughbreds. I also toured some barns and the museum. I could write all year about the things I saw here but a picture is worth a thousand words. Here are some Secretariat pics.

Also, some nice Man O’ War photos.

I got some Alysheba and John Henry pics too.

Then, I saw my favorite part of the day! My parents said it was like taking me to Disneyland. We saw the Hall of Champions featuring Funny Cide, Go For Gin and Da Hoss. The KY Horse Park is the only home of 2 live Kentucky Derby winners. Funny Cide won both the 2003 KY Derby and Preakness as well as an Eclipse Award that same year. Go For Gin won the KY Derby in 1994 and ran 2nd in both other parts of the Triple Crown in 1994 too. He is the oldest living KY Derby winner. Da Hoss won the 1996 and 1998 Breeders’ Cup Mile. I got to see each of theses beauties in the barn and the show presentation.

I had such a great trip last weekend. There was some great racing going on this weekend. Saratoga, in New York, featured several graded stakes including the Grade 1 Diana and Grade 1 Coaching Club of American Oaks. Go For Gin showed 3rd at Saratoga in the Forego in 1994. Forego lived in Funny Cide’s stall until he passed away in 1997. Forego won 8 Eclipse Awards. Funny Cide has a Saratoga race named for him that will take place August 28, 2015. Da Hoss finished 1st place in the Fourstardave Stakes at Saratoga in 1996. The race I am most excited about is this Sunday, 8/2/15, at Monmouth Park, in New Jersey. It is the first time our Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah will race since he won the Belmont Stakes. The race he will be in is the $1.75 Million William Hill Haskell Invitational. Funny Cide showed 3rd in this same race back in 2003. For sure there will be great Thoroughbreds making history this weekend that will someday be memorialized or perhaps even come to live at The Kentucky Horse Park!

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July 25, 2015July 25, 2015

Heaven’s Horsemen

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I would have loved to have made it to Saratoga for opening day yesterday but instead I took advantage of one of the gems in my lovely home state. I took a self guided walking tour through The Lexington Cemetery founded in 1849. With a little Google search and the help of a map and data base at the cemetery office I was able to locate several of the industry’s great horsemen’s final resting place.

First, I visited the grave of Benjamin Gratz Bruce. He passed away in 1891. He and his brother were responsible for the journal “Turf, Field and Farm”. Bruce made the first two volumes on the “American Stud Book” and he created “The Livestock Record” in Lexington. He was an expert on Thoroughbred bloodlines and racing and he was an officer for many racing organizations.

Dr. Elisha Warfield, Jr. was buried here as well after his death in 1859. He owned The Meadows, a stud farm where he bred the great U.S. Hall of Famer, Lexington. Lexington was the leading sire in North America 16 times, making him one of the greatest sires of all time. Warfield also contributed to the creation of this cemetery.

I also located the site where Barak G. Thomas was laid to rest in 1906. He owned Dixiana Farm. He bred Himyar who placed in the Kentucky Derby in 1878 and Domino, a Champion 2 Year Old and American Horse of the Year. Dixiana is still a great and active Thoroughbred farm and training facility today.

Byron McClelland died in in 1897. He is buried here too. He owned the MCClelland Stable where he owned and/or trained many great horses including Sallie, Bermuda, Henry of Navarre and Margrave. McClelland had wins in all 3 of the legs that eventually became the Triple Crown.

John R. Gaines was buried here in 2005. He founded the Breeders Cup and owned the famous Gainesway Farm. Gainesway is still an active and successful Thoroughbred farm. Gaines also founded the National Thoroughbred Association.

There are over 71,000 people buried in this cemetery and many more, than I found yesterday, that have great Thoroughbred history connections. I plan to go back and enjoy the serenity again. Share in the comments if you know of a great horseman that is buried here, in The Lexington Cemetery. Have a nice weekend!

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July 18, 2015July 18, 2015

Midterm Musing

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It is hot and sticky here today in Kentucky. There are no live races at Keeneland or Churchill Downs right now and that is certainly a bummer, but I’m using this time to reflect on the Thoroughbred scene on a more national and even international level.

Del Mar in California just got started this Thursday and attending there would certainly be a fantasy vacation for me. Also, we got word this week that California Chrome should heal up nicely as he is moving to Taylor Made Farms in Kentucky soon. Just hours ago, Taylor Made announced that in about 60 to 75 days they will host a Fan Day for Chrome after he rests up. I live nearby and I am hoping I get to see Chrome. Additionally, we are right about in the middle of the year for the 78 international stakes races, or Breeders’ Cup Challenge, that feeds winners into the corresponding 13 Grade 1 races that make up the 32nd Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

I touched on the Breeders’ Cup before in Racing Renaissance. To refresh you, there are 13 countries that come to North America and once in Canada to compete. The race moves annually to different tracks and some with repetition. This is the 1st year Keeneland, in Lexington, KY, will host the event which is the richest 2 days in sport. The purse is $26 million dollars. The richest day is sport happens to be the Dubai World Cup Night. The Breeders’ Cup got its start in 1984. The BC Classic is the best race of the series. The purse for that race alone is $5 million dollars. The other races are the Juvenile Turf, Dirt Mile, Juvenile Fillies Turf, Longines Distaff, Juvenile Fillies, Filly and Mare Turf, Filly and Mare Sprint, Turf Sprint, Sentient Jet Juvenile, Longines Turf, Sprint and finally, the Mile. First, contenders are elected 3 ways. They may enter based on performance in the Breeders’ Cup Challenge, or by a point system, or be chosen by an expert panel. The point system uses Grade 1, 2 and 3 select races to give 10 points to a winner, 6 to place and 4 to show at Grade 1. Grade 2 awards 6, 4, and 2 points respectively while Grade 3 gives 4, 2 and 1 points, in that order. Each of the 13 BC Championship races,except for the Dirt Mile, has 14 horses entered. The Dirt Mile has just 12. Of these half come from the BC Challenge and points and the other half from the panel.

The “Win and You’re In” BC Challenge began gathering contenders January 10th. There were 2 races in January, 3 in April, 2 in May, 9 in June, 8 occurring this July, 15 to take place in August, 22 in September and 16 will finish up in October. We have 21 winners already. The two BC Classic Contenders from the Challenge are Noble Bird And Hard Aces. The 1st of the 7 BC Challenge races, that lead to the Classic, was the Stephen Foster Handicap where Noble Bird won at Churchill on 6/13/15. On 6/27 Victor Espinoza rode Hard Aces in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita. Next we have the Haskell Invitational Stakes on 8/2 in Monmouth Park where American Pharoah will compete for the 1st time since his 2015 Triple Crown sweep. 8/8 will bring the Whitney Handicap in Saratoga, then the Pacific Classic will take place at Del Mar 8/22. On 9/26 the Awesome Again Stakes will be held at Santa Anita and then The Jockey Club Gold Cup will be at Belmont Park on 10/3.

In between and all around these dates a whole lot of other races for the BC Challenge and regular Thoroughbred racing will take place too. I am excited to try and keep up with it all. I am looking forward to the Haskell Invitational. American Pharoah has 7 consecutive wins and Bob Baffert has won the Haskell 7 times. I’m hoping 8 is lucky for the both of them. I have a friend who owns Quiet Force who is racing in the Arlington Million on August 15th. This was suppose to be California Chrome’s next race before the bruise. I wish Quiet Force all the luck. If he wins he will qualify for the BC Longines Turf.

If you can’t make it to the races right now, like me, keep on watching and reading! One reader wants help identifying Willie Shoemaker’s white and black checkered silks with a yellow cap that he won at auction. The Shoemaker Mile, named for this famed jockey, took place 6/13/15. It is a BC Challenge race and the winner Talco may now contend in the BC Mile. Is there anyone that can help my reader out? Please, check out the comments section. I’ve been looking but I don’t have his answer yet. I haven’t quit trying yet but feel free to make it easy on me. Thank you!

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July 10, 2015July 10, 2015

Super Summer Sale

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Yesterday, 7/9/15, I took some time off to catch Fasig-Tipton’s “The July Sale” which was followed by the “Summer Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale” live at their Lexington, KY location. It was a great time and I am looking forward to watching the future of these Thoroughbreds play out on the race tracks!

Fasig-Tipton is a premier Thoroughbred auction company with its Lexington location being established in 1972. The July Sale is the first United States Yearling sale of 2015. Hips 1 through 332 and 401 through 524 were featured in the barns, walking ring and sales pavilion. I came 2 hours early to walk the barns. It was a beautiful, cooler summer morning and fortunately dry to start, though we did get some sprinkles throughout the day. The horses were gorgeous and the grass appeared to be a real treat. Yum, fresh Kentucky Bluegrass! I watched as the horses were brushed and shown to some eager perspective buyers. Then I made a hasty dash to a bar stool, within the entrance to the sales pavilion. I was seated right off the walking ring, to see the sale that started at 10 am. I stayed there until nearly 3 pm watching the horses and people as I enjoyed a nice salad. I am fortunate to have made many great connections and I encountered several of these wonderful horse enthusiast throughout the day.

One of my first such connections of the day stopped by to ask me if I watched the show, “Mad Men”. I do not but I was curious as to why he would ask and he told me that Hip 6 had an interesting back story. His dam is Her Smile. She is a graded stakes winner and showed in the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in 2011. The more interesting fact is that while she is now owned by Frank Stronach, breeder and owner of horses and of prominent racetracks and Adena Springs Farms, Her Smile has been owned by both Bobby Flay, celebrity chef and horse owner, and Bill Backer, ad executive and creator of the Coca-Cola ad jingle, “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” used in a 1971 commercial and as the finale of television show “Mad Men” that ended in May 2015. Her hip #6 colt sold for $280,000 to De Meric Stables.

The rest of my day was full of more exciting stories and people but don’t forget, the focus was those magnificent horses. I was still there to see hip #152, a colt of Scat Daddy, sell for $385,000. Scat Daddy had sired 4 horses listed in the auction. One of those fillies, #220, was marked out but his other filly, #281, sold for $300,000 and his other colt, #105, sold for $110,000. #152 has Starbourne for his mare. Scat Daddy, who stands at Ashford Stud, currently has sired 10 stakes winners including El Kabeir winner of 2014 and 2015 multiple graded stakes.

In all The July Sale ended late but was a success. 205 yearlings were sold for a total of $20,005,000. The sale had 7 yearlings go for $300,000 or more each. 18 others sold for $200,000 or better. The average price was over $97,000 and the median was over $77,000, with both of those figures being up from the previous year, while the buy back rate went down, at 29%. #317 brought in the biggest price at $500,000. She is a filly by sire, Tapit and French Dip, her mare. Bred at Gainesway Farm, she sold to agent Steven Young. Tapit currently stands at Gainesway. He is the leading 2014 and 2015 sire. This filly was the only Tapit yearling at auction. His other offspring include 12 stakes winners. One of these is Frosted, 4th in this year’s Kentucky Derby and 2nd in the 2015 Belmont Stakes.

Before, I had to rush back to work I made a trip out with a friend to see one of the Taylor Made Sales Agency barns. I Saw some nice horses for the later sale there. #421 Mizzen Moon went on to sell for $57,000 and # 503 Seely Rose brought in $40,000.

I was long gone by the time the “Summer Sale Horses of Racing Age Sale” began. Somewhere around 9 pm, the last horse to go through the auction brought in the biggest money. The victor was #524, Temper Mint Patty, for $350,000. In this sale 65 horse sold for $3,996,000. The average price was $61,477 and the median was $48,000. Last year 109 horses were sold with a superior average but a lesser median.

The next Fasig-Tipton Sale is “The Saratoga Sale” in August. I won’t be able to make the trip to New York so please, share with me if you attend. Our 2015 and 12th Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah, was offered as hip #85 in the 2013 Saratoga Sale. You could buy the next winner or at least take a chance. Happy shopping!

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July 3, 2015July 3, 2015

Birthday, Breezing, Betting and Backside

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One week ago today I got a little older. So what does a Thoroughbred blogger do to celebrate her birthday? She spends her time with the horses! I had a great time at The Thoroughbred Center, Churchill Downs, and again at Churchill, to visit the backside.

The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington, KY is owned by the Keeneland Association. This property is the home for up to 1,000 horses. The facility has 32 barns and 10 paddocks. I went out early Saturday morning to meet power couple, Mr. and Mrs. V. They took me to meet with their friend’s horses and trainer Geoff Mulcahy. Mulcahy Equine has been in operation in Lexington for 10 years and is a premier equine operation. Mulcahy Stables has a barn on the property. There I met 2 year olds Ma’am and Tidal as well as several other beautiful horses and a barn cat. Ma’am and Tidal went onto the track and got their 2nd ever turn to run. I watched the exercise riders work the horses on the track. It was a great time and I plan to return. The Thoroughbred Center offers tours as well. Tours

That same evening, I got dressed up and headed to Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY, home of the Kentucky Derby. My friends and I sat in a nice box to watch the Night Racing and by great fortune we were sandwiched between the famous trainer, D. Wayne Lukas and his exercise rider, Jessica Sheffield. Sheffield was excited that my friends and I were spending my birthday following the Thoroughbreds so she invited us back to the Lukas barn on the backside in the morning. We took in all 11 races that night including race 8 where Skyring ran for Lukas. When that race concluded Lukas left promptly. He awakens daily at 3:30 a.m. and heads to his barn, which is located on Churchill’s property.

Somehow, my group and I struggled but after three and a half hours of sleep we woke at 4:45 a.m. to get to the backside by 5:30 a.m. These horse people start their days way too early. It was pitch black outside but Churchill’s backside was busy with horses, horsemen, and barn cats everywhere. My weary but excited group seemed to be the only tourist that morning. We were taken by Sheffield directly to be introduced to Lukas. He was very welcoming as his busy barn had the horses up and training. D. Wayne Lukas is a top trainer. He is a Hall of Famer and an Eclipse Outstanding Trainer. He has trained 26 world champions, 20 Breeders’ Cup champions, 4 Kentucky Derby winners, 6 Preakness winners, 4 Belmont winners, has 14 world champion training titles and has had 3 horse of the year champions. In his barn we met Take Charge Brandi, Hillbilly Style, Mr. Z. and more. We watched the horses be exercised in the barn and on the track. The track kitchen has direct track side views as well as biscuits and gravy. We walked all over the backside and it was a very good time. Hillbilly Style will race today, July 3rd 2015, at Ellis Park and he looked great to me Sunday morning.

My birthday weekend was wonderful and I am glad I got to share my experience with all of you as well. If given the chance you should check out The Thoroughbred Center and Churchill Downs. I hope you all get to watch some good racing this weekend and enjoy all the 4th of July festivities!

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June 27, 2015June 27, 2015

Mother Goose

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I am horsing around today for sure. I got an early start this morning at the Thoroughbred Center watching the horses breeze and petting them and a barn cat. Tonight, I am attending Downs After Dark at Churchill Downs for some live racing, including some graded stakes. In between, I am watching the Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park. It is a busy day for this blogger and I will share some trip photos and stories later but now let’s focus on the Mother Goose Stakes.

The Thoroughbred Center

Downs after Dark

The Mother Goose Stakes started in 1957 and was named for Mother Goose, herself. She had the distinction of being the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Futurity in 1924. The Grade 1 stakes race is 1 and 1/16 miles on dirt. It is currently held at Belmont Park in New York, where we recently saw American Pharoah win the Triple Crown. The Mother Goose is for 3 year old fillies. The purse is $300,000. At different periods, in our nation’s history, this race has been considered part of the filly triple crown or triple tiara. The other legs were usually the Acorn and the Coaching Club American Oaks. Those two races and the Alabama Stakes are currently considered the New York Triple Tiara. The fastest and largest margin to win the Mother Goose was Rachel Alexandra. She also won the Kentucky Oaks and the Preakness. She holds the record for the largest win at the Kentucky Oaks too. She was the first filly to win the Preakness in 85 years. She has the record for speed at the Mother Goose and was less than a second from Secretariat’s speed record. Tonight at 5:28 pm, the Mother Goose Stakes will be race 9 at Belmont. The Acorn and Coaching Club American Oaks won’t take place until late July and August. It has only been 3 weeks since the Acorn. Curalina won the Acorn Stakes and she will not be participating in the Mother Goose. In fact, only one horse in this stakes race was entered at the Acorn. The 10 featured horses are:

Embellish the Lace
Include Betty
Hot City Girl
Munasara
Chide
Pleasant Tales
Money’soncharlotte
Danessa Deluxe
Eskenformoney
Wondergal

Embellish the Line won both of her 2 starts this year. This will be her 1st stakes race. Include Betty came in 8th at the Kentucky Oaks and 2nd in the Black-Eyed Susan stakes. She is the horse with the experience to win this, having 9 career starts including 4 graded stakes, 1 of which she won. Hot City Girl is one of only 2 New York bred horses in this race, the rest are from Kentucky. She has 7 starts but just 1 win, back in January, and none of her races have been graded stakes. Munasara is my favorite. She is undefeated but she has had just 2 entries. The last win was at Belmont Park. I like her tainer Kiaran McLaughlin and her jockey John Velazquez. Her jockey won the Mother Goose last year on American Champion 3 Year Old, Untapable. Chide has won 2 of her 3 starts. Her last two races were at Churchill Downs. Pleasant Tales has been in a total of 4 races at Churchill, of her 8 starts, and she won her last race there. Moneysoncharlotte came in lucky 13 in the Kentucky Oaks. That was her last race of 7 career starts. Danessa Deluxe was 4th in the Black-Eyed Susan when she had John Velazquez for a jockey. Tonight, Manuel Franco will ride her. She has not won in 2015 but she has 7 lifetime starts, with the last 3 being graded stakes. Eskenformoney came in 10th in the Kentucky Oaks. She has had 10 starts with 3 of them being graded. In those graded stakes she was third and then 2nd before her Kentucky Oaks race. Finally, Wondergal is considered the favorite. She is the other New York filly. She was 3rd in the Acorn as well as the 14 Hands Winery Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies race. 5 of her 6 starts were graded stakes.

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