Jr. Archives - Thoroughbred U

April 22, 2018April 22, 2018

The Derby Brothers

The Ortiz brothers race before the first turn at Keeneland in the Blue Grass Stakes!

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Good Magic wins this ride for Jose Ortiz in the Blue Grass Stakes to earn the second spot on the leaderboard for the 2018 Kentucky Derby! — **Good Magic** (#11) won this ride for Jose Ortiz in the Blue Grass Stakes to earn the second spot on the leaderboard for the 2018 Kentucky Derby!

Oh, lucky day! With just 13 days left on the countdown to the 144th running of the Kentucky Derby there is still so much to consider when choosing a favorite. With a field of 20 contenders it is still best to wait for the post position draw on Tuesday to make any hasty decisions. It is a good time to think about all 40 athletes that will face off on 5/5/18. The Thoroughbreds always capture my attention and imagination but what thought do I give the jockeys? Having spent time in and around Keeneland’s jockey quarters this spring meet I have paid more attention to their influence. In this story, I want to focus on two jockeys that will compete in the upcoming KY Derby, the brothers Ortiz.

Continue reading “The Derby Brothers”

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December 19, 2015January 7, 2018

Home For The Holidays

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There is no place like home for the holidays! It’s been another fantastic week since my last post. I got to spend some time in Gatlinburg, TN and had a blast as usual. I love the mountains and the shops there. I had some fun in my own town this week as well. This time of year Lexington, KY has an outdoor ice rink located downtown. Right in the middle of Triangle Park, you can pay to rent skates and spend almost 2 hours surrounded by the city. Lexington won’t fail to remind you, it is no ordinary city. It is the horse capital of the world!

From where I was skating I could see the store front to the Lexington Visitors Center and the clock for the 2015 Breeders’ Cup we hosted. Nearby, signs are posted to direct foot traffic to the many interesting places downtown. One of the most unique and best places for horse lovers is naturally, Thoroughbred Park. The park is situated on 2.5 acres of land in downtown Lexington. There are 13 full sized horse sculptures and 42 plaques containing the images and history for important persons in the Thoroughbred industry.

Gwen Reardon is the local and famed equine artist who created these amazing bronze structures. The jockeys featured on the horses above are depictions of actual people. Pat Day, Bill Shoemaker, Randy Romero, Don Brumfield, Jerry Bailey, Craig Perrot and Chris McCarron are immortalized for this perfect ride! Even the silks were replicated to represent particular owners. In front there is a nice structure of Lexington, a fine race horse and stallion who lived from 1850 to 1875.

The park opened in April of 1991 and it is lovely. On the grassy hill above there are several playful and grazing Thoroughbred structures. It’s like a little piece of pasture right downtown.

All around the park are these nice plaques. Each of these contains the name, lifespan and some information pertaining to how the featured person contributed to the Thoroughbred racing industry. Above we see England’s Queen Elizabeth II. She has visited Lexington for races at Keeneland and to visit horse farms. She has kept her own Thoroughbreds in Kentucky. Robert Kleberg, Jr. owned Triple Crown winner, Assault and King Ranch. A.B. Hancock, Sr. created Claiborne Farm in Paris, KY. Claiborne has been a very influential breeding farm and is the final resting place for many great Thoroughbreds including, Gallant Fox, Secretariat, Riva Ridge and Pulpit. William Woodward, Sr. boarded his mares at Claiborne. He owned Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox who sired the also Triple Crown winning Omaha. Finally, Samuel Riddle was the owner of the wonderful, Man O’ War. Man O’ War won 20 of 21 races and he retired to stud near Lexington. Many things in my town are named for this great horse. It is rare that I can get to anything by car without driving on Man O’ War Boulevard for a while.

I have photos of all 42 plaques and would be happy to share further if anyone has a particular interest in the who’s who of the industry as depicted at Thoroughbred Park. Please, drop me a comment on my page or Facebook and Twitter. Thank you for your time. I’ll be in touch after I see the Southern Lights at the Kentucky Horse Park next week.

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November 19, 2015November 19, 2015

Canyon Connections

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Ah, vacation! This past weekend I took a long overdue trip to Arizona. When I’m not chasing horses I enjoy time with friends, family and nature. For the second time in my life I made it out to see the third of Seven Natural Wonders of the World, The Grand Canyon. I have snorkeled the 4th wonder, The Great Barrier Reef in Australia. So many wonders, so little time. I saw birds, chipmunks, elk, deer and a tarantula. I didn’t see any horses, though you can ride the trails on mules and I saw some of them in a corral. The Grand Canyon truly is amazing and so was a Thoroughbred by the same name.

Grand Canyon, the natural wonder, was cut by the Colorado river over 17 million years ago. Grand Canyon, the Thoroughbred race horse, was born February 14, 1987. He was a special horse and he looked the part, very advanced for his age. Grand Canyon was trainer D. Wayne Lukas’ favorite horses, revealed in a 2012 interview. He was bred in Florida by Lin-Drake Farm. He was owned by both Lukas and W.T. Young of Overbrook Farm in Lexington, KY. Grand Canyon had 8 career starts in which he made over a million dollars in lifetime earnings. He won his 3rd maiden race after running twice at Hollywood Park and then at Del Mar. In his 1st race he came in 4th but from then on he was always second or first to finish. Every race, following his maiden, was a stakes race. He placed at Santa Anita in the Sunny Slopes Stakes, then won the Norfolk Stakes (Grade 1) at that same track. In his next race he was 2nd in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Gulfstream (G1) then won both the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G3) and the Hollywood Futurity (G1) at Churchill then Hollywood Park respectively. He was the runner up for the Eclipse Award for 2 Year Old Champion. Unfortunately, Grand Canyon’s career ended at the same track in the same year it began, 1989. He achieved a speed record riden by Angel Cordero, Jr. in the Hollywood Futurity. He had so much potential but he suffered a leg injury from which he never recovered. He was euthanized in July 1990. Grand Canyon was the 1st horse to be buried at Overbrook Farm.

Grand Canyon was only 3 when he died. He has no progeny but members of his pedigree did go on to produce more great horses. Grand Canyon’s dam was Champagne Ginny. His sire was Fappiano. Fappiano is the great great grandsire of American Pharoah! Fappiano’s son was Unbridled, who sired Empire Maker, the father of Pioneer of the Nile. Pioneer of the Nile is American Pharoah’s sire and both are registered stallions currently in Kentucky. Unbridled won the Kentucky Derby in 1990. Empire Maker was 2nd in the KY Derby in 2003. Pioneer of the Nile was 2nd the KY Derby in 2009. American Pharoah won the KY Derby in 2015. What a line of superior Thoroughbreds!

The road to the Kentucky Derby is well underway. On May 7, 2016 we will have our next Run for the Roses. The 142nd KY Derby, at Churchill Downs, will feature 20 horses that qualify from earning points in 35 select races. We have already completed 6 of these races. The next race is this Saturday, 11/21/15. That race is the Delta Downs Jackpot at Delta Downs in Louisiana. There are currently 10 entries for this grade 3 race of 1 and 1/16 miles for a $1 million dollar purse. Post time is 4:15 P.M. CST. Ocho Ocho Ocho won last year and went on to compete in the KY Derby. I will be tuned in to watch as I am excited to see all of our up and coming 2 year olds. As always, thanks for sharing and following along on my educational adventures in horse racing. I hope you enjoy my scenic pictures from my trip. Soon, I want to tell you about my first visit to Turf Paradise race track in Phoenix, AZ while I was visiting out West.

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October 29, 2015October 29, 2015

Purple Prelude Passion

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Breeders’ Cup Eve is upon us with today’s event, The Prelude to the Cup! For those lucky enough to make it to Keeneland in Lexington, KY we are in for a special treat. Today, 10/29/15, Keeneland has been draped in rich purple to covert my favorite race course into the grounds for the 2015 Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

I will be present today after the gates open at 11 A.M. EST to witness 9 live races and Breeders’ Cup contenders schooling in the paddock. Race 1 starts at 12:30 P.M. Race 8 posts at 4:24 P.M. and is the feature race, The Lafayette Stakes. Our handicapper friend drew my attention to the 5th race. He says to pay attention to “horse 9, Cheryl D. Trainer, Larry Rivelli, wins a sharp 26% with first timers. This 2 year old daughter of red hot Uncle Mo has a nice set of works and she should be ready to win at first asking. Let’s hope we get close to the 8-1 morning lines.”

Race 5 has a purse of $56,000 and is a maiden special weight. Twelve 2 year old fillies will compete in this 6 and 1/2 furlong race. Cheryl D has had two nice workouts at Keenleand this month and 3 works at Arlington prior. She was bred in Kentucky. Her breeder was John Liviakis. Her jockey will be Jose Valdivia, Jr. He is an experienced rider with multiple graded stakes wins including the 2001 Breeders’ Cup Mile and the 2011 Belmont Stakes. Larry Rivelli has trained horses in over 4 thousand starts. More than 300 of those races took place this year. He has won multiple graded stakes too.

I am pretty excited to have a chance to preview our Breeders’ Cup contenders in the paddock today. I am blown away by the caliper of this year’s participants. There is even a Triple Crown winner for me to see live, wow! All eyes will be on that fantastic champ, American Pharoah but I’m pretty crazy about seeing my buddy, Mr. Z again too. I’m in awe of them all.

If you can’t make it, don’t worry. I will get those pictures for your eyes to feast upon!

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October 18, 2015October 18, 2015

Just Beachy

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Today is Sunday and I am just about to head to Keeneland for the third day in a row! I always have such a nice time there. Our handicapper friend drew my attention to today’s 6th race.

“Beach Walk (horse #9) was a pricey filly purchased for $435,000 and over 4 times the price of the stud fee of $100,000 for Distorted Humor. Catalano (trainer) is heating up after a slow start this meet and this filly looks like she has been very fast in the morning”, he says. Beach Walk has never raced before. She is 2 years old and she will have Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. for her jockey. He has won multiple graded stakes including the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2013 with Fort Larned. He has an Eclipse award as well. Wayne Catalano is the trainer. He is from Louisiana and has trained multiple stakes winners and 3 Breeders’ Cup winners including Stephanie’s Kitten. Gary and Mary West own Beach Walk. Race 6 today (10/18/15) is a Maiden Filly race for 2 year olds. It is 6 furlongs and has a purse of $65,000. Post time is 3:51 PM EST.

Now, I’m off to the races!

Update: Beach Walk ran most of the race in the top 3, leading in a brief moment near the end, to show third in a photo finish!

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October 11, 2015October 12, 2015

Sunday’s Selection

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Today our handicapper brings us one final tip for this weekend’s racing. He says “Race 9 (bet on)#4, Queen of Scat. Dale Roman’s trained daughter of Scat Daddy ran a solid second at Kentucky Downs last time out and should get to the wire first against a nice group of fillies in a nice allowance race on the turf Sunday.”

Today, at Keeneland, in Lexington, KY there are only 9 races. The 9th race is an allowance with a purse of $58,000 for fillies and mares 3 years or older. It is a turf race of 1 and 1/16th miles. Queen of Scat is a 3 year old filly owned by Frank L. Jones Jr. Her trainer is Dale Romans and her jockey is Corey J. Lanerie. Queen of Scat has had 12 career starts. She has won once, placed 4 times and came in third twice. Her sire, Scat Daddy, is a multiple graded stakes winner and a fantastic sire. He stands at Ashford Stud in Lexington, KY.

I like to visit another Scat Daddy filly at The Thoroughbred Center, also in Lexington. Her name is Titled, seen in the pictures above with Ma’am. Sharing their trainer and owner, these 2 year old horses live and train in the same barn. Ma’am was sired by Colonel John. It is a lot of fun for me to watch them do their morning workouts and get bathed. I am hoping they develop into fantastic race horses.

Please, enjoy the tip and have a great day at the races!

Update: Queen of Scat won. She came in 1st. I hope each of you made some money on this.

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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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