-
Available Subscriptions
Trotting Chat
3,026 topics in this forum
-
- 16 replies
- 719 views
-
- 7 replies
- 481 views
-
- 9 replies
- 644 views
-
- 11 replies
- 517 views
-
- 12 replies
- 511 views
-
- 6 replies
- 1.2k views
-
- 43 replies
- 2.1k views
-
- 5 replies
- 476 views
-
- 9 replies
- 808 views
-
- 6 replies
- 394 views
-
- 42 replies
- 1.3k views
-
- 0 replies
- 121 views
-
- 20 replies
- 944 views
-
- 112 replies
- 10k views
-
- 21 replies
- 990 views
-
- 14 replies
- 700 views
-
- 5 replies
- 382 views
-
- 2 replies
- 251 views
-
- 26 replies
- 1.3k views
-
- 10 replies
- 804 views
-
- 19 replies
- 1.4k views
-
- 15 replies
- 744 views
-
- 7 replies
- 844 views
-
- 1 reply
- 275 views
-
- 8 replies
- 1.5k views
Announcements
-
Posts
-
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA)-related rulings from around the country. The following rulings were reported on HISA's “rulings” portal and through the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU)'s “pending” and “resolved” cases portals. Among this week's rulings, a HIWU arbitrator has banned Illinois veterinarian Dr. Donald McCrosky a total 24 years and fined him a combined $300,000 for a series of nine violations: One count of trafficking banned substances; five counts of possession of banned substances; two counts of tampering; and one count of using a banned substance. McCrosky had been a licensed veterinarian in Illinois for over 50 years. According to the final written decision by arbitrator Hugh Fraser, on April 22 last year, HIWU investigators searched McCrosky's minivan parked at Fairmount Park and found five banned substances. This included a bottle of Testosterone Cypionate/DHEA, two unopened one-pound containers of Thyro-L, three 50 mL vials of Ammonium Sulfate, a 100 mL bottle of P-Bloc and an unopened bottle of OsPhos. McCrosky explained these away by claiming he operated a mobile veterinary unit for off-track, non-covered horses. Despite warnings by the investigators not to, McCrosky took back one container each of the Thyro-L and the OsPhos, claiming they were expensive and that they were intended for off-track use. During a subsequent interview, McCrosky mentioned to the investigators how the horse he treated–Tigger Attack, owned by his wife–had tested positive for Testosterone after running at Fairmount Park on October 29, 2024. McCrosky admitted to administering Testosterone to Tigger Attack “after a groom advised that the horse was not eating well. He believed that administration of Testosterone seven to 10 days in advance of a race would not result in a positive test,” according to the final ruling. During the interview, McCrosky was also served an Equine Anti-Doping notice, claiming he had tampered with the “doping control” process after Childersattack–another horse McCrosky cared for that was owned by his wife–tested positive for Testosterone in October of 2024. Back in November of 2024 after being notified of Childersattack's Testosterone positive, McCrosky sent HIWU a handwritten note “in which he claimed he had performed a castration on Childersattack in March 2022, leaving Childersattack with one remaining testicle, thus explaining the Testosterone present in Childersattack's October 16, 2024, sample,” the final decision states. HIWU, however, subsequently determined via a regulatory database that Childersattack had been fully gelded in November of 2020. After initially failing to respond to HIWU's requests for medical records and to submit the horse for a veterinary examination, McCrosky later told HIWU that the horse's remaining testicle had been removed in December of 2024, according to the final decision. Furthermore, in August of 2025, HIWU investigators performed an inspection of trainer Isidoro Castro's tack room at Fairmount Park. “During the search, the Investigators found and seized two syringes located in a grey barrel in the tack room. The two syringes were labelled 'A' and 'B.' Syringe A also appeared to be labelled with the word 'Day' and writing that appeared to indicate the word 'Race,'” according to the final decision. They were later found to contain banned Testosterone and Glaucine. Castro told the investigators that he had purchased the syringes from McCrosky in a “Rural King” parking lot one month prior for $20. McCrosky admitted to selling “two loaded syringes to Trainer Castro but claims that he did not know they contained Banned Substances and that he had a 'genuine and legal therapeutic purpose' for the sale,” according to the final decision. McCrosky said he believed they contained Banamine and Aspirin. Ultimately, the arbitrator determined that McCrosky's degree of fault was “Significant.” “The actions of Dr. McCrosky were not due to innocent misinterpretation of the rules or a misunderstanding of his obligations. In committing these nine Anti-Doping Rule Violations, Dr. McCrosky acted with intent, and with a flagrant disregard for the ADMC Program Rules and for their overarching objectives of horse welfare and the integrity of the Thoroughbred racing industry,” according to the final decision. Also this week, trainer John Ortiz was issued six pending Dexamethasone positives, all taken from between Nov. 22 and Dec. 11 last year. They include two minor stakes winners at Aqueduct. Dexamethasone is a class C controlled corticosteroid. Resolved ADMC Violations Dates: 02/10/2026 Licensee: Darien Rodriguez, trainer Penalty: $3000 fine. Admission. Explainer: Violation of Rule 4222-Intra-Articular Injections Within Seven (7) Days of Timed and Reported Workout. The horse in question was Thirty American for an event dated 6/27/24. Dates: 02/09/2026 Licensee: Dr. Donald McCrosky, veterinarian Penalty: Combined 24-year period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on February 9, 2026; total fine of $300,000; payment of arbitration costs. Final decision of arbitral body. Explainer: One count of trafficking banned substances; five counts of possession of banned substances; two counts of tampering; and one count of using a banned substance. Read a detailed explanation of the arbitrator's final decision here. Dates: 02/09/2026 Licensee: Elias Lopez, trainer Penalty: Matter dismissed. Final decision of arbitral body. Explainer: This concerned an alleged medication violation for the presence of Albuterol (Salbutamol)-a banned substance-in a sample taken from La Clasica, who did not finish when running at Hawthorne on 6/5/25. Dates: 02/06/2026 Licensee: Maria Guadalupe Gonzalez, trainer Penalty: 18-month period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on February 7, 2026; 60-day period of Ineligibility for Covered Horse, beginning on July 23, 2025; a fine of $12,500. Admission. Explainer: Out-of-competition medication violation for the presence of Albuterol (Salbutamol)-a banned bronchodilator-in a sample taken from Jet Set Warrior on 7/23/25. Dates: 02/06/2026 Licensee: Maria Guadalupe Gonzalez, trainer Penalty: 18-month period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on February 7, 2026; 60-day period of Ineligibility for Covered Horse, beginning on July 23, 2025; a fine of $12,500. Admission. Explainer: Out-of-competition medication violation for the presence of Albuterol (Salbutamol)-a banned bronchodilator-in a sample taken from Jet Set Warrior on 7/23/25. Pending ADMC Violations 02/11/2026, John Ortiz, trainer: Pending medication violations for the presence of Dexamethasone-a class C controlled substance-in samples taken from Braverthanubelieve, who won at Aqueduct on 11/22/25 and won the New York Stallion Series Stakes at Aqueduct on 12/6/25; from Doc Sullivan, who won the New York Stallion Series Stakes at Aqueduct on 11/22/25; from Moe Eighty Eight, who won at Aqueduct on 11/29/25; from Quietside, who finished second in the GIII Comely Stakes at Aqueduct on 12/7/25; and from Drop Me a Dime, who won at Aqueduct on 12/11/25. 02/10/2026, Dominic C. Duree, owner-trainer: Pending violation of Rule 3216(c),” Prohibited Association,” for an event dated 1/5/26. 02/10/2026, Carlos Sedillo, trainer: Pending violation of Rule 3229, “Status During Provisional Suspension or Ineligibility,” for an event dated 1/11/26. 02/10/2026, Karina Gonzalez, trainer: Pending vet's list medication violation for the presence of Cannabidiol (CBD)-a class B controlled substance-in a sample taken from Dos Reales on 1/5/26. 02/10/2026, Caryn Vecchio, trainer: Pending medication violation for the presence of Dantrolene-a class C controlled substance-in a sample taken from Poppy's Pride, who won at Mahoning Valley on 1/5/26. 02/09/2026, Daniel Hernandez, trainer: Pending medication violations for the presence of Phenylbutazone-a class C controlled substance-in samples taken from Julia's Promise, who won at Sunland Park on 1/4/26; from Holy Bullet, who finished second at Sunland Park on 1/5/26; and from Lovesonfair, who finished second at Sunland Park on 1/5/26. 02/09/2026, Jose D'Angelo, trainer: Pending medication violation for the presence of Dexamethasone-a class C controlled substance-in a sample taken from Thirty Pound Test, who won at Gulfstream Park on 11/23/25. 02/05/2026, Alexis Leon, trainer: Pending medication violation for the presence of Flunixin-a class C controlled substance-in a sample taken from Happy Does, who finished fifth at Turf Paradise on 12/27/25. The post National Rulings February 5 – February 11, Vet McCrosky Banned 24 Years appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Last year's GI Preakness S., GI Santa Anita Derby and GI NYRA Bets Haskell S. winner Journalism (Curlin), back in training with Michael McCarthy at Santa Anita since mid-January, is nearing a return to the worktab. Campaigned in partnership by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, breeder Don Alberto Stable, Robert LaPenta, Elayne Stables Five, and the Coolmore partners, the $825,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling concluded his brilliant sophomore season with a fourth-place finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Nov. 1. “Journalism has been back with Michael McCarthy for about three weeks and we're very pleased with how he's returned from his freshening at Bridlewood Farm,” Eclipse President and Founder Aron Wellman said. “He put on about 50 pounds and he's returned with a controlled enthusiasm, which is exactly what we want to see. Meda Murphy, George Isaacs and their staff at Bridlewood did an awesome job during his downtime in Ocala and Michael is just biding his time before allowing Journalism to stretch his legs on the wood. If all goes well and the weather cooperates, he should hit the worktab within the next week or so, but we're in no rush.” Journalism's throwback, eight-race sophomore campaign also included a win in the GII DK Horse San Felipe S. and runner-up finishes in the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Belmont Stakes and GI Pacific Classic S. He was an Eclipse finalist as outstanding 3-year-old-male of 2025 and was the only horse to compete in all three legs of the Triple Crown. Any targets in mind yet for 2026? “The (GI) Met Mile (at Saratoga June 6) is very intriguing to us as a first half of the season major goal, and, of course hope to be able to structure the second half of the season working backwards from the Breeders' Cup,” Wellman said. “It's a long season and with the manner in which he's come back and his body language, he's postured for a serious, serious campaign.” The post Journalism Nearing Return to Worktab, ‘Postured for a Serious, Serious Campaign’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
EASY DECISION (c, 3, Charlatan–All Laced Up, by Bernardini) was unveiled as the 9-5 choice here. The chalk initially took on longshot pacesetter Lord King (King for a Day), but was reigned in to stalk up the backstretch. Taking aim at the leader and Complex Charlie (Complexity) around the far turn and into the lane, the 3-year-old was forced to tip to an outside lane. The bay became uncorked, struck the front with a furlong left and graduated by 6 1/4 lengths. Complex Charlie was the runner-up. A $120,000 buy for Gainesway at the 2022 Keeneland November Sale while Easy Decision was in utero, All Laced Up produced back to back siblings–a filly and a colt–by Olympiad starting in 2024. The winner's dam was bred to Muth for this spring. The Repole color bearer is part of an extended female family which includes MGISW Got Stormy (Get Stormy), MSW Sir Alfred James (Munnings) and recent $2.5-million Keeneland November grad & MGISW Randomized (Nyquist), who is off to Japan. 7th-Aqueduct, $80,000, Msw, 2-11, 3yo, 6 1/2f, 1:19.30, ft, 6 1/4 lengths. EASY DECISION, c, 3, Charlatan–All Laced Up, by Bernardini Sales History: $300,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $44,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV. O-Repole Stable; B-Angela Beck (KY); T-Amelia J. Green. The post Charlatan’s Easy Decision Off The Mark In Aqueduct Maiden appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Sometimes, you might as well just buy the factory. It was the fall of 2023 and Glenn Bennett already had two of Adorabella (Ghostzapper)'s three foals, the oldest of which (Girl Trouble, by Fast Anna) was a stakes winner for him and partner Swilcan Stable at Parx, and the youngest of which he'd just bought as a yearling at Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic sale. He'd twice tried to make a deal for the third, the mare's then-2-year-old named Book'em Danno (Bucchero), who'd caught his eye after winning his first three starts at Monmouth and Aqueduct. “They weren't selling, which I understood,” said Bennett, “but I just loved the way he ran, so then I tried to buy the mom. At first she wasn't for sale until they decided to run her through Fasig-Tipton. “I was lucky before with some Pennsylvania-breds, had some success buying siblings and it worked out. I think I had seven different ones–from the same mom and dad each time–and the worst one won like $300,000 and the best one won over $1 million. That was pretty cool and a different story, but I guess that was in the back of my mind that this mare might be the same way and throw nothing but runners.” Bennett called Walnut Green Bloodstock's Mark Reid, who boards his mares, to ask what he thought about the then-7-year-old Adorabella. Reid and his wife, Barbara, who have Westerly Farm near Unionville, Pennsylvania, caught a flight to Kentucky. “We got there at dinner time,” said Reid, “went out back and looked at her. She was the only horse I bid on that night. “I was just blown away by her physically. She was a big, broad mare,” he remembered. “She'd already had three foals by then, but her body tone was great. Physically, I couldn't pick her apart and she had that look in her eye that I always go for. I've been fortunate to have been around some good horses and she's one of them.” Reid bought her on behalf of Bennett's LC Racing in foal to Medaglia d'Oro for $550,000 at Fasig-Tipton's November sale. “Then we had a bad thing happen in that she came home and promptly aborted the Medaglia d'Oro, which set the place into a tizzy,” said Reid. “I told Glenn Medaglia d'Oro was getting old, but let's go right back to him. She now has a beautiful colt by him that's a yearling here.” Adorabella, shown in December | Sarah Andrew Reid, a former trainer, was not only involved with Medaglia d'Oro as a young horse, but he also knew Adorabella's broodmare sire intimately. “A lot of my work was done with Bobby Frankel and I was there when Ghostzapper was in the barn,” said Reid. “He's as brilliant a horse as I've ever seen. On his 'A' game, Ghostzapper ran the fastest numbers of the last 20-some years or more and that includes Flightline, so you can't fault her on that. Then Adorabella is out of an Arch mare, so I thought there would be some route in her added to the brilliance of Ghostzapper.” Of course, in the two years since buying Adorabella, the mare's son, Book'em Danno, has become one of the nation's most popular horses, has won multiple graded races, including the GI Woody Stephens and GI Forego Stakes, and was named Champion Male Sprinter at the Eclipse Awards last month. “It's nice to buy one and have a prior mating come up with an Eclipse champion,” said Reid. “We were rooting hard that night. That doesn't happen much.” Bennett concurred. “For a bunch of obvious reasons, it was extremely exciting to watch him and just keep rooting and keep hoping that the next one is better than him. I'm an optimist here.” The 2023 yearling out of Adorabella is now a 4-year-old named Coach Bennett (Classic Empire)–after Bennett's 91-year-old father–and made his first career start Feb. 3 at Parx in an optional allowance. Trained by Reid's brother, Butch, the gelding has gotten a slow start to his career and the goal was simply to get a race into him although there wasn't a maiden available. He finished off the board, but both Bennett and Reid are optimistic that he might have some talent down the road. The mare with farm manager Marie Lagault | Sarah Andrew Adorabella is due in a month or so to Forte and will go to Not This Time this spring. “The mom's exciting,” said Bennett. “Might as well take a shot while you're hot. Not This Time has been on fire and the nicking part of it was really good with Adorabella. Mark loved the match, so we'll see what happens. See if we get lucky.” Reid agreed. “Glenn is a player. He's going to step up her breeding and really attack it. Look at what Adorabella did with her first dates, so let's take her uptown and see what happens. We're going to give her every opportunity to keep producing. Every stakes winner you look at in the TDN is by Not This Time. He's poised to be the next Into Mischief, it looks like. There are no bad ones out there.” Reid said he picks out two or three matings for each of Bennett's mares, presents them to him over lunch, and Bennett makes the final decision. Even so, Reid said it was a little daunting to suggest Not This Time for Adorabella. “I was a little timid about asking Glenn,” said Reid with a laugh.” I said, 'Glenn, here's a great match for her, but he's a quarter of a million bucks.' He said, 'Well, every time I pick up the paper I see Not This Time. Let's do it.'” Reid continued, “Genetically, it's such a wonderful match. She has the size and the bone to handle anybody. I hadn't seen Not This Time in person, but I figure they're all runners and she'll do the rest. Doesn't she deserve the chance to see if she can do it with a big fella? You've got to give her every opportunity and I feel like that's what Glenn is doing at this point.” Bennett does not sell his horses, but Reid said he had to do his due diligence by suggesting a sale. “I've already approached Glenn and said Adorabella would look good in foal to Not This Time at the Night of the Stars,” said Reid with a laugh, “but he said not to even think about it. My background is in buying and selling and the salesman in me jumped out so I had to ask. She'd be a monster! The dam of a champion in foal to Not This Time and only 10 years old…it would be great!” Bennett also had a hearty laugh over the possibility of a sale, but reiterated he likes to race. “Financially it would be great,” he said, “but unfortunately, I don't sell them. I like to run them. I'm in it for the action. I'd have to kill myself if I sold one and it wins the Derby or something!” Book'em Danno wins the Woody Stephens at Saratoga | Sarah Andrew The two affable men clearly love what they're doing and enjoy their time together. Each enthuses about the other, with Reid adding, “I've worked with a lot of great guys, but we're really having fun. Glenn does it right. If anybody deserves this mare, he does. You look up 'good guy' in the dictionary and there's his picture.” While Reid has had a long career in racing, involved in not only Medaglia d'Oro, Saint Liam, City of Light, Plum Pretty, You, and many others, Bennett is newer to the game. His 91-year-old father always enjoyed the sport, but Bennett can pinpoint 2012 as his start. The paving of the path began in his college days when he met Larry Ciletti, who hired him off a chance meeting on a fishing boat. Bennett, who is based in New Jersey, worked for Ciletti his entire professional life, ended up taking over the business–“doors, frames, hardware, some security, but not houses, we do big stuff like the Freedom Tower in New York”–and is now in the process of retiring at 62 after it's been sold multiple times. When Ciletti passed away in 2012, Bennett and some partners bought his racehorse holdings and Bennett named his Thoroughbred interests LC Racing to honor the mentor with his initials. “I got hooked and it just kept going from there,” said Bennett. “It really has evolved from maybe five or six horses who were very average to trying to get into big races. I just counted and I have 87 horses right now and that doesn't count the ones I have with Jason Werth. I just have trouble saying no, it's terrible. And now I have 10 more babies due in the coming months, but it's great. We've been so fortunate.” Adorabella | Sarah Andrew Bennett said he has 13 mares he owns outright and another one with Chuck Zacney, who is his main partner. “He's not as into the breeding as I am,” said Bennett. “I'm not sure how I got so into it, but I like when they send me the pictures of the little ones. It's pretty cool. Each one you're hoping is the one. Everything has worked out. Now we just need to top it off with a Derby winner.” Among the horses he's owned, whether alone or in partnership, are 2018 GII Remsen Stakes winner Maximus Mischief, now a young stallion at Spendthrift, and Kappa Kappa (Omaha Beach), who won last fall's GII Lexus Raven Run Stakes at Keeneland. “My one daughter was with me at that race,” he said, “and it was unbelievable. There's nothing like it when they're coming down the stretch in a big race and you've got a shot.” Bennett said Reid has been a tremendous part of his success thus far. “I don't claim to be a horseman,” he said. “To me, all the horses look pretty, but I do like going to the sales and to listen to the guys talk about all the different attributes, how this one is toeing in or that one's clipping his heel. I leave it to the experts, especially because I'm trying to get into the deep water now and I don't want to be screwing something up because I think I know what I'm doing when I don't. I'm still not making money, but I'm having fun.” Bennett and Reid both hope Adorabella is going to help move him to the next level. “She has a lot of quality to her,” said Reid, “she has that regal look. She's just a wonderful mare who's had a champion and is now going to top stallions and hopefully continues that quality.” The post The Producers: Adorabella, Dam of Champion Book’em Danno appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Illinois veterinarian and Thoroughbred breeder Dr. Donald McCrosky has been fined $300,000 and suspended for 24 years in rulings on the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit website.View the full article
-
-
Topics
-
