Go For Gin Archives - Thoroughbred U

February 4, 2017February 9, 2017

HOLY BULLetproof

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The Road to the Kentucky Derby is on fire today! Three races at 3 different tracks are passing out KY Derby qualifying points! Only 37 select races award points, therefore today, 2/4/17, is definitely important. When the day is done, 12 horses will have received points for the day’s races and there will only be 20 races left for the competition to build on. Right now, Classic Empire sits on top of the KY Derby Leaderboard. Today, he will face off against 8 other Thoroughbreds in the Holy Bull Stakes. Is he HOLY BULLetproof?

Go For Gin's paddock — Go For Gin’s paddock

The Holy Bull stakes was inaugurated in 1996 to replace the former Preview Stakes that had already succeeded the Flamingo Stakes that dated back to 1972. It is a Grade II race for 3 year-olds of 1 and 1/16 miles (8.5 furlongs) on the dirt at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, FL. The Holy Bull derived it’s name from a Thoroughbred, Holy Bull. Holy Bull was foaled in 1991 to Great Above and Sharon Brown. Holy Bull won 13 of 16 starts, many of these wins were major graded stakes races, including a win in the KY Derby. He won Eclipse Awards for Champion 3 Year-Old Colt and the Horse of the Year in 1994. By 2001 he was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall Of Fame. Holy Bull was an active stallion at Darley’s Jonabell Farm from 1995 until 2012. He then retired at the same farm. His offspring include several graded stakes winners.

Go For Gin's stall plate — Go For Gin’s stall plate

Go For Gin, holds the speed record for the Holy Bull at the current distance with a time of 1:41.62 minutes. He won the Holy Bull in 1994 and has retired to a nice life at The Kentucky Horse Park. I have had the pleasure of visiting with him there. His pictures are featured in this webpost.

The 2017 edition of the Holy Bull Stakes will post at 5:35 P.M. EST. It is race 12, the final race of the day, at Gulfstream Park. The purse this year is $350 thousand dollars. The field is as follows by post/horse/jockey/trainer/morning-line odds:
1. Gunnevera/Javier Castellano/A.Sano/9-2
2. Perro Rojo/Nik Juarez/N.P. Zito/30-1
3. Classic Empire/Julien Leparoux/M.E.Casse/3-5
4. Talk Logistics/Paco Lopez/E. Plesa Jr./12-1
5. Irish War Cry/Joel Rosario/H.G. Motion/15-1
6. Fact Finding/John Velazquez/T.A.Pletcher/6-1
7. Shamsaan/Luis Saez/K.P.McLaughlin/20-1
8. Cavil/Jose Lezcano/K.P.McLaughlin/15-1
9. Fire For Effect/Corey Lanerie/D.L.Romans/20-1

Classic Empire is the favorite to win the Holy Bull. He already has 30 KY Derby points from when he gained 10 points winning the Breeders Futurity and 20 more winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Classic Empire is sired by Pioneer of the Nile, just like the famous champion, American Pharoah. Classic Empire will face off against another horse on the leaderboard, Gunnevera is 5th on the KY Derby leaderboard with 10 points.

The Holy Bull Stakes, the Withers Stakes and the Robert B. Lewis Stakes all offer 10 points to the winner, 4 to 2nd place, 2 to third place and 1 point to the 4th place finishers. All 3 races cover the same distance, surface and are open to 3 year-olds. El Areeb is the favorite in the Grade 3 Withers with post position 4 in the race and tenth on the KY Derby leaderboard. He will face off with 9 other competitors at 4:20 P.M. EST in race 8 on Aqueduct’s card. Also, in the Withers, J Boys Echo and Bonus Points are both on the KY Derby Leaderboard as well.

Meanwhile, the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes will take place at Santa Anita Park. It is race 2 on the card and posts at 3:59 P.M. EST. Only 5 horses are entered. Royal Mo is favored here although Irap and Dangerfield already have KY Derby points too.

It will be outstanding to see who racks up all the points today. I’m hoping Classic Empire keeps proving himself and jumps up to 40 points. Check back often too see my next post and have a fantastic weekend.

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December 11, 2015December 11, 2015

A Season For Giving

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year! For many readers, myself included, we are eagerly awaiting Christmas, only 2 weeks away! Also, we are only 3 weeks shy of a new year. It is time to reflect and give thanks for all that we have received over the year and to give back however we can.

I have decked the halls and put out my 15 nativity scenes. I love to take in a live nativity this time of year and pet all of the animals. Llamas are so cute. Also, I am excited about my siblings visiting and going with them and my parents to see The Southern Lights at the Kentucky Horse Park. The Southern Lights is an event with over 4 miles of light attractions, an exotic petting zoo, crafts, trains, Santa and more! The same grounds that contain some of the world’s best horse museums, an equine theme park and the home of Da Hoss, Funny Cide and Go For Gin will again host this holiday event. For over 20 years Southern Lights has been a part of the holiday season in Kentucky and they expect to entertain over 120,000 guests this season. Additionally, I find this is a good time of year to focus on the spiritual meaning of the season and to be extra mindful to give thanks by donations and works of charity.

There are so many fantastic charities that could use more help. Even a large number of Thoroughbred racing related groups are available and in need of our time and money. To make it easier for you, if you were thinking of assisting with one, here is a small list:

The Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund : This organization provides funds to more than 60 jockeys that have been severely injured while racing. Ron Turcotte, Triple Crown Jockey, won with Secretariat in 1973. In 1978 Turcotte became paraplegic after falling from Flag of Leyte Gulf at Blemont Park. He is an advocate for the PDJF. Donate here: PDJF donate
Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farm: This group accepts donations to save champion Thoroughbreds and allow them to retire at 3 locations that are available by tour, for the public, to visit some of racing’s best. War Emblem, Silver Charm and Gulch are a few of the more than 150 horses that live at these farms. I visited the Georgetown, KY location in September and wrote a full blog about them then.

Old Friends

You can donate to Old Friends at this link: Old Friends
One Last Race: This is a charity to benefit former Thoroughbred race horses. American Pharoah along with his trainer Bob Baffert joined the race shortly after his Triple Crown victory to help raise funds. One Last Race takes in donations and organizes events to raise money for After The Finish Line and CANTER Illinois. The 1st group funds rescue organizations that can re-purpose or care for retired race horses. The later group rehomes former race horses or, if suitable, finds horses a new career. Donate here: One Last Race
Thoroughbred Charities of America: This group has worked for over 25 years to provide funds for over 200 Thoroughbred related charities. In 2015 alone they gave over five hundred thousand dollars to 67 groups. Much of their mission is involved in retirement and rehoming. I have the pleasure of knowing the group that will receive their Allaire duPont Leadership award this year for their dedication to Thoroughbred aftercare. The award goes to Bourbon Lane Stable. Browse TCA’s website to find many individual charities or donate directly here: TCA

I am blessed to have food, shelter, adequate healthcare and most of all love. It is my wish for Christmas that more people and animals alike can have these same basic needs met. I hope that you all have a wonderful season and, if you can, make some time to give to others. Maybe you can make a jockey, a backstretch employee or a Thoroughbred’s life just a little bit, or a whole lot better. I bet it might even make you feel better too for knowing that you helped. Happy Holidays! I will keep in touch with a few more posts before my 1 year anniversary for this blog. Take care!

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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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