Kellyn Gorder Archives - Thoroughbred U

April 7, 2016April 7, 2016

Keeneland Kickoff

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It’s a chilly start to Spring here in the Bluegrass but it still brings warmth to my heart that my favorite track, Keeneland, in Lexington, KY opens tomorrow! The Spring Meet is open from April 8 to 29, 2016. Live racing takes place on Wednesdays thru Sundays throughout those dates. I have to work all weekend so I made sure I got to participate in some of the pre-race events.

Yesterday morning I arrived before 8 a.m. EST and headed to the Racing Office. The horses enter the race track through an opening, “the gap”, right next to this building. Slowly, a large group of horses and exercise riders assembled. They were mounted and waiting for as far as I could see. The fans, connections of the horses and photographers were looking on with anticipation. At about 8:30 the horses took to the track. Some Thoroughbreds went at a leisurely pace while others sped around like they were floating. I love to catch the pictures with all four hooves in the air.

After the excitement of the workouts I headed to the newly renovated Track Kitchen. I had biscuits and gravy. If you haven’t had Southern food like this you are really missing out.

Next, I went to Kellyn Gorder’s barn. He had just recently returned to the grounds after having a nice season at Turfway and ongoing at Oaklawn race track. I visited with his horses and he was very busy on the computer, phone and with office visits in preparation for more races. Some of his nice horses are pictured below. I gave these cute noses some petting.

After the Gorder barn I went to see the remaining stable area. Keeneland has 57 barns with the capacity to hold 1,951 horses. Horses aren’t the only animals you will find on the grounds. In addition to birds, pet dogs and barn cats I met two busy goats along my adventure. I also saw some cool tack including Nyquist’s bridle and Tepin’s Breeders’ Cup blanket that has been refurbished with silk flowers.

The best part of my trip was looking for our favorite race horses. I went to the Casse Racing barn hoping to find 2015 Eclipse Award Champion Grass Mare and winner of the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Mile, Tepin, but she had moved to Churchill Downs. I was not disappointed in meeting Airoforce, 2nd in the 2015 BC Juvenile Turf, Catch a Glimpse and her teddy bear, 1st in the 2015 BC Juvenile Fillies Turf and Noble Bird, graded stakes winner, pictured below in order on the top row. I went to most of the barns to see what I could but unfortunately several trainers do not label their stalls so I just had to appreciate the unknown beauties as they were.

Saving one of the best for last I finally found the undefeated and 1st place winner of the 2015 Sentient Jet BC Cup Juvenile, Nyquist. He is the favorite for the Kentucky Derby with 5/2 odds currently and he is second on the leaderboard for points behind Gun Runner. He was happily snacking during my visit. I was going to return to see him train this morning but his white blood cell count was slightly elevated so he is going to rest up for now and perhaps train on Friday or Saturday. See how sweet he looks below.

Post time begins at 1:05 p.m. EST on Friday. There are 10 races that day. On Saturday post time is 12:35 p.m. with 11 races. 5 of those are stakes races, numbers 6 thru 10. The 9th race, the 15th running of the Madison Grade I stakes, for fillies and mares 4 and older is packed with multiple graded stakes winners. The 10th race is the 92nd running of The Toyota Blue Grass Stakes. It is a Grade I race with a million dollar purse. The 9 furlong dirt race for 3 year olds posts at 6 p.m. This race gives 100-40-20-10 points to Kentucky Derby Contenders based on a 1st to 4th place finish respectively. There are a lot of great races at Keeneland this meet. I hope each of you has a chance to get in on the action. Catch my blog next week here and on Facebook and Twitter for more Thoroughbred news and events.

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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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November 13, 2015November 13, 2015

A November to Remember

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There truly is no rest for the weary. On the final day of last month we all watched in awe and disbelief as we finally got our Grand Slam, with American Pharoah winning the Breeders’ Cup following his Triple Crown victory. The very next day, in the same city, we kicked off with Fasig-Tipton’s one day November Sale and in the following day we moved right into Keeneland’s November Breeding Stock sale for 12 days. What a whirlwind!

On November 1, 2015 Fasig-Tipton sold 92 horses for over $43 million dollars combined. The top sale was Angela Renee. She is a grade 1 stakes winner who sold for $3 million dollars.

Today is the lucky Friday the 13th and the last day of this Keeneland sale. I got to attend on a few fine days and it was fantastic. I saw so many beautiful Thoroughbreds and met some nice, helpful people as well.

One of my favorite horses is so far the sales topper. She is Take Charge Brandi! I met her this summer at D. Wayne Lukas’ barn at Churchill. He was there to watch her at auction. See his picture from Keeneland’s October meet below. I was able to pet her pretty face, also seen below. She is a chestnut filly who was born in Kentucky on 2/7/2012. She has had 11 starts and is a multiple graded stakes winner. Take Charge Brandi took first place in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies race in 2014 and won an Eclipse Award that same year for Champion 2 year old filly. She was purchased at the Keeneland 2013 September Yearling Sale by Willis Horton. She last raced in the Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing in September where she did not finish. She has lived at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm in Lexington, KY since and she has now been purchased for this farm where she will be bred to Curlin. He raced in all 3 legs of the Triple Crown, improving with each race, coming in 3rd, 2nd and then 1st in 2007. He won the Breeders’ Cup Classic that same year. Curlin has 4 Eclipse awards and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014. His stud fee is $100,000. That is half as much as American Pharoah’s fee at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud. Hill ‘n’ Dale owns 20% of Curlin.

My other favorite trainer, Kellyn Gorder, was working with Cowboy Rhythm when he won at Keeneland on 10/18/15 by 3 and 1/2 lengths. Cowboy Rhythm is a 3 year old colt and he sold at Keeneland during session 9 for $335,000. He was sold by WinStar Racing to Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. I was with Cowboy Rhythm in the paddock and winners circle the day he won at Keeneland. See the picture I took below.

That same session another horse I enjoy sold for $550,000. He is Donworth. Day 9 of this year’s November sale saw 16 horses go for 6 figures when last year there were no horses that sold in that price range on the 9th session. Donworth placed 2nd in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland this past April. His trainer was Graham Motion. He won his 1st and 4th career starts. He was sold in the Regis Farm dispersal by Three Chimneys Farm to Doug O’Neill. I went out to see Donworth in the barn before he went into auction. See him below.

By the close of day 11 yesterday, we could already call the sale a success. This year’s sale is a day longer than in 2014. The gross accumulation is 5.8% ahead of 2014 already. 2,735 horses have been sold versus 2,512 in 2014. The total for these sales is over $217 million dollars this year versus last year’s $205 million. I am excited to see what this day brings. It is always a good time at Keeneland. So pretty and so tasty too. Nom, nom, bread pudding! Thank you for reading and sharing!

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