Thistledown Racino in Ohio fired its track superintendent on Monday, and management at the Cleveland-area track has brought in outside racing surface consultants and is working with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) in the aftermath of four lost days of racing and training this week because of escalating safety concerns with the dirt surface. But Sean Wright, who was only on the superintendent's job four months before his abrupt termination July 21, told TDN in a Wednesday phone interview that Thistledown's troubles on its one-mile dirt oval extend beyond the graphic images that have circulated on social media this week showing fist-sized rocks that were allegedly picked up from the track by jockeys and horsemen on Monday and Tuesday. Wright said that there have been eight catastrophic injuries at Thistledown since the meet began Apr. 21–five in races and three during training–and that when he became concerned enough on Monday morning to discuss the issue with the track's stewards and then to contact HISA, he was terminated within just a few hours by track management. “Monday, when I told the stewards and when I told the HISA official that's on the grounds that I do not feel comfortable guaranteeing the safety of that racetrack because I don't want to break any more horses down, that's when I was called upstairs and subsequently let go,” Wright said. “I believe I was let go because of [being] a whistleblower,” Wright said. “They even mentioned during our meeting that it was not my place to go to the stewards or HISA. Well you know what? It was damn sure my place to go to the stewards or HISA.” Wright continued: “When I reported what I saw on that racetrack, that's my professional obligation. And it's not only my professional obligation, I take a lot of pride. I've been in this business for 45 years. My family's been in this business for over 100 years. I rode. I trained. These guys mean something to me. These horses mean something to me. That's what I'm here for.” TDN left messages for three Thistledown racing executives on Wednesday, seeking management's side of the story about the state of the track surface and Wright's firing. But none of the racino's execs–general manager Chris Volle, director of racing Patrick Ellsworth, and racing secretary Patrick Mackey–called back prior to deadline for this story. Herbie Rivera, Jr., the Jockey's Guild representative whose region includes Thistledown, told TDN that track management has brought back the racino's retired track operations director, David Ellsworth, who is Patrick's father, to oversee the track's maintenance. “I was a jockey there for years, in the 1980s and 90s, Rivera said. “That was my home track, and that track was the best, always in great shape. But this year they lost their track man [John Banno] who had been there for 25 years, who went to Laurel.” Rivera explained that even before the superintendent transition this past spring from Banno to Wright (who came to Ohio after working as the track superintendent at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico), the Thistledown surface had been devolving. “I was talking to one of my top riders recently and I asked him how long has it been this way,” Rivera said. “And he told me the last couple of years it's been up and down, very wavy, for whatever reason.” Rivera said those sorts of complaints seemed to come and go, but that he started getting reports on July 21 that Thistledown's surface was way out of whack. “Whatever it was, it was a disaster Monday morning,” Rivera said. “They went out to gallop, then [about an hour before the scheduled renovation break] they closed [the track] and started working on it hoping to run [the Monday afternoon races]. The jockeys picked up a bunch of rocks and they brought them to the stewards. “Then came Tuesday morning. I was in touch with my jocks, and they said the track looked good, really good. But by 10 o'clock [the surface] was wavy [when the harrows were going over the surface], and they didn't like what they saw. So I think the management and jockeys, everybody together, decided 'Let's work on this' to try to get it to the satisfaction of everybody.” Horses break from the gate at Thistledown | JJ Zamaiko Wright has his own theories about the track's problems, which he said largely come down to two issues: The recent lack of rain, compounded by repeated difficulties in getting his crew of employees to follow maintenance orders. “When I first started to work here, we went 34 consecutive race days without a single incident,” Wright said. “When it was raining, we were great, because I would level that racetrack every day. I would make sure that it was conditioned and harrowed every day.” Wright said the problems with the track surface began to pick up once the rain ceased to fall earlier this summer. The top got too loose while the bottom got too hard. He said he tried to underscore to his crew the importance of adding water, but that they would not consistently comply with his requests. “I don't mean to throw my guys under the bus, but a spade's a spade here,” Wright said. According to Wright's version of events, when some employees responded to his orders by swearing at him and refusing to do the work, he began putting his track maintenance orders in writing, via text messages, so he would have a written record to document the work he wanted done. “My separation notice says that I had threatened one of my employees. I did not threaten one of my employees,” Wright said. “Any time that I had asked one of my employees to do something, I got called a [expletive] and they walked off and ignored it. They're all Teamsters. You can tell by my accent I'm from Texas, and I'm not used to dealing with unions.” Wright told TDN that he reported this alleged insubordination to Thistledown's management and human resources department. Although he maintains that he did not threaten any specific employee, he did admit to TDN that he told his bosses he was almost at the point of punching someone if the verbal attacks kept up, which was another reason he wanted his exchanges with workers documented via text messages. “I didn't know what to do, but I know I damn sure didn't deserve to be called a [expletive] every time I asked somebody to do their job,” Wright said. Wright said that once the catastrophic injuries reached a total of eight this month, he, track management, and a HISA on-site representative all concurred that the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory needed to be asked to come in and do another inspection to see what had changed since the pre-meet track analysis in March. The testing was done on Saturday, July 19, Wright said. Although the complete analysis has not been finalized, Wright said he rode along with the testing crew as they circled the track taking readings that looked for inconsistencies under the surface, and that he was told that the preliminary results looked good or “probably even better” than March's readings. “I went around there with them for the measurements. You can tell when the raw data's coming back what it kind of looks like,” Wright said. On Sunday there was no racing at Thistledown, but training occurred without incident, Wright said. “Monday I got there about 12:30 in the morning. I went out there and I leveled the racetrack like I usually do, and then I brought out the conditioner to cut the racetrack, because that's what I use as a cut harrow. I called for water and the night crew started watering.” At 6:00 a.m. the track opened for training, with Wright back in his office to attend to paperwork. But Wright said within 15 minutes his phone was “ringing off the hook” with complaints about how bad the track looked. Wright said he stepped out to look at it, and it appeared evident to him that the crew hadn't done the necessary follow-up watering or harrowing. Wright said he cut short training and personally oversaw the work to try and get the track ready for that afternoon's racing. After that is when he went to the stewards and HISA with his concerns. Wright was called in for an afternoon conference with his bosses and then told later that evening that he was fired. Wright told TDN on Wednesday he has been in contact with a lawyer about possibly challenging the firing in court because he believes he was wrongfully terminated for speaking up about safety concerns. He also said that he now has personal concerns about ever getting another track superintendent job in the industry with a termination that is “not justifiable” on his résumé. “Some days I got there right after midnight, other days I didn't get there until three o'clock in the morning, but I usually didn't leave until after six o'clock in the afternoon, every day. I took off less than 10 days since I first started working there Mar. 18,” Wright said. “I'd go into the jocks' room every day to try and get feedback from the riders. When we did start having accidents, I requested that I be able to go up to the stewards' box and watch the replays, and we watched them together, in slow motion, to try and figure out what went wrong. That's how much attention I've tried to pay to that racetrack,” Wright said. Thistledown eventually ended up cancelling all of its racing this week (Monday through Thursday) to try and get the track back in order. Training is expected to resume Saturday, July 26, with racing to follow on Monday, July 28. The post Thistledown Track Super Claims He Was Fired for Reporting Safety Concerns to Stewards and HISA appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

That is a enourmas period of time to do nothing, I guess those down the road at Waipukurau ain't too concerned.

Barry Irwin's Team Valor International announced July 23 the acquisition of group 3-winning filly Queen Azteca. She will make her first North American start Aug. 16 in the Alabama Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.View the full article

Colin's post   Colin WightmanHttps://bitofayarn.com 1h · Https://bitofayarn.com Not a dull moment around here. Today’s news is that a meeting set down for members and stakeholders in the Hawkes Bay Area for tonight has been abandoned. Yes, a letter released to members signed by Riddell (Chair), Balcombe (CEO of HBR) and Ballesty (CEO of NZTR) was sent out just yesterday advising members that those in charge of sorting this fiasco at the Hastings track no longer want to front the people. 24 hours notice. With no alternative date set. Not surprising because reading the letter indicates that they still won’t be starting the cambering project until August, a whopping 11 months after that minor slip event last September. The letter suggests that at this stage they don’t have sufficient “confidence & clarity” of what they are doing which I guess well explains why we are the poor cousin of Australia. The Ockers, by comparison, would’ve started this project within weeks.   All reactions:     Birdcage Bill Total incompetence. Could have held a working bee within a month of the incident and made the necessary alterations to the bend. No common sense whatsoever. The delay is probably a calulated plan to close the track for good. Nothing surprises me with the way the racing industry is being managed from the top.   Colin Wightman Author Birdcage Bill Agree. They’ve had good weather over in the bay during winter and we could’ve been racing there on good surfaces. Instead, those running racing here in NZ are hellbent on grabbing Group One races from regions like Hawkes Bay to run on their swamp tracks in whale country. No wonder our share price is so low.     Craig Thorburn It's called you will own nothing and be happy  ha   Kevin Sweeney Sad state of affairs Colin Wightman Author Kevin Sweeney For sure. If I ran my business the way we run racing here in NZ, I’d be broke within months. I feel so sorry for the trainers and owners in the Hawkes Bay district, how they’ve been so badly affected.

Barry Irwin's Team Valor International announced July 23 their acquisition of grade 3-winning filly Queen Azteca. She will make her first North American start Aug. 16 in the Alabama Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.View the full article

At this time be nice to know where the funds from Forbury Park have ended up, strangely Forbury closed but was nothing like the mess Aucklands created, I say created, but im sure if one cent of Forbury funds went to Auckland  there would be some very angry people in some places, Forbury money stays in the South, and the money from Entain for geo blocking shouldn't go there either, that's for the betterment of Racing/ Harness racing, , Aucklands mess Aucklands problem, sad as it is.

Central Kentucky-based McMahon and Hill Bloodstock has promoted Kristin Stivers to Controller and hired Mary Motion as Director of Business Development. In addition to offering bloodstock services such as portfolio management, insurance, and appraisals, McMahon and Hill also offers U.S.- and New Zealand-based racing, pinhooking, and breeding partnerships under the Bourbon Lane name. Stivers, who has been with McMahon and Hill since 2016, will oversee finances for Spruce Lane Farm, the Bourbon Lane Retirement Fund, multiple partnerships, pinhooking LLCs, and single horse co-ownerships. Motion, whose background includes time with trainers Graham Motion and Christophe Clement, as well as with bloodstock agent Chad Schumer, will focus on the partner and client experience within the partnerships, pinhooking LLCs, and co-ownership groups. The post Stivers Promoted, Motion Hired at McMahon and Hill appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The first day of the Tattersalls Ireland July Store Sale was topped by an Order Of St George gelding at €55,000. Sold by Liss House to Gaynestown, lot 32 is from the same family as Grade 2-placed hurdler Carriganog (Shantou). Overall, eight horses made €30,000 or more, with a son of Harzand (lot 4) the other lot to breach the €50,000 mark. Brian Lawless picked up the Glebe Farm offering for €52,000. At the close of trade, 155 horses sold for €1,381,950. The average was €8,916 and the median was €6,000. The second and final day of the store sale will begin at 10 a.m. The post Order Of St George Gelding Tops First Day Of The July Store Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – When he found out he was going to need a new jockey, John Shirreffs didn't blink. He knew who was going to ride Baeza (McKinzie) in Saturday's $500,000 GII Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. And the jockey isn't all that new, not to Baeza. Baeza will be reunited with California-based Hector Berrios when he steps on the track to take on GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty (Into Mischief) and three others in the 1 1/8-mile traditional prep for the Aug. 23 GI Travers Stakes. Shirreffs knew a few weeks ago that he was going to be jockey shopping when Flavien Prat informed him he would be unavailable. Prat is heading to California to ride 'TDN Rising Star' Nysos (Nyquist) in the $300,000 GII San Diego Handicap. Prat rode Baeza in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont. Berrios was the rider for three of Baeza's first four starts, including a second-place finish in the GI Santa Anita Derby behind Journalism (Curlin). “I don't think there was another rider that we were really considering because of Hector's experience with the horse,” Shirreffs said Wednesday morning on the Saratoga backstretch. “It's hard to continually change riders on a horse. I think a horse, especially a young horse, needs a little consistency.” This will be the 37-year-old Berrios's first time riding at Saratoga. “Oh yeah, very comfortable with him,” Shirreffs said. “Hector is a professional rider. He studies the Form, he watches film. He has lots of experience and he has lots of experience with Baeza. He knows him in and out.” Baeza, owned by C R K Stable LLC and Grandview Equine, arrived in Saratoga on Friday night. After he walked on Saturday, he went to the track on Sunday. Shirreffs is looking forward to another chance at Sovereignty. Baeza finished third behind him in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont. In the Derby, he was 1 1/2 lengths behind him, but only beaten a neck for second by Journalism. Last month at the Belmont, run at Saratoga, Sovereignty beat Baeza by 6 1/2 lengths. “We've all seen (Sovereignty) run,” Shirreffs said. “He is a very nice horse. My horse has to run his best race, and I think Baeza has a better race in him.” Pressure Off Bauer After Halina's Forte Honorable Miss Win When Halina's Forte (Mitole) surprised just about everyone–including her trainer–when she won the GII Honorable Miss at 24-1 on Sunday, the pressure was off the barn. “Made our meet,” trainer Phil Bauer said at his barn on the Oklahoma training track Wednesday morning. “You don't want to set the bar too high coming up here because you will just get deflated. You hope to win one or two and we got our one. The longer the meet goes, and you haven't been able to get a win, it weighs on you a little bit.” Haliana's Forte wins the Honorable Miss | Coglianese Ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr., Halina's Forte was the second-longest price in the Honorable Miss field of eight. It was her second start this year after finishing second in the Prairie Rose Stakes at Prairie Meadows as the 4-5 favorite. That was her first start since November. Halina's Forte slipped up the rail and won the race by a half-length over R Disaster (Awesome Slew). 'TDN Rising Star' Scylla (Tapit), the 6-5 even-money favorite, was third. Last year, Halina's Forte, owned by Rigney Racing, won the Galway Stakes at Saratoga. “I was shocked when she did not win off the layoff,” Bauer said. “I thought that was kind of a walkover race. Sometimes they need one and I tried not to read into it too much and kept marching forward.” Bauer said he was more surprised that his other horse in the race–5-year-old mare Little Prankster (Practical Joke)–finished last. She was 17-1. Last year, Bauer had a successful summer at Saratoga with six wins in 17 starts. He has 14 horses in his barn. There is a chance Halina's Forte could be seen again. That would be in the seven-furlong, $500,000 GI Ballerina on Aug. 23, Travers Day. “We'll see how it comes up,” Bauer said. “('TDN Rising Star') Ways and Means (Practical Joke) might scare some horses away. If it's a position where you think you could get top three, it's probably worth running.” Looking For a New York Sweep The bonus is no more, but that doesn't mean a sweep of three New York-bred summer races doesn't mean anything. And that is the position trainer Rob Atras is in with his 3-year-old Train the Trainer (Dialed In). Train the Trainer wins the Mike Lee | Sarah Andrew In his last two starts, Train the Trainer won the Mike Lee Stakes at Saratoga on June 4 and the New York Derby at Finger Lakes on July 14. The third leg of the series is the $200,000 Albany Stakes on Aug. 21 and Atras is hoping to be there. From 1999 to 2015, the three races made up the Big Apple Triple and a horse that won all three legs would get a bonus of $250,000. “It would be nice,” Atras said when asked about the Big Apple Triple. “But it's alright. If he makes it to the race and runs big and happens to win it, I would be fine with that, too.” Train the Trainer began his career in California with trainer Mark Glatt. “He ran a really good second in his first race and Mark called me and asked if I would take the horse in New York,” Atras said. “They did not really have anything mapped out for him.” Train the Trainer, owned by Alipony Racing and Saints or Sinners, has won all three of his starts with Atras. He broke his maiden by five lengths, won the Mike Lee by 2 3/4 lengths and then the New York Derby by 4 1/2 as the 1-2 favorite. The likely favorite in the Mike Lee, Mo Plex (Complexity), was not able to run because his barn was under quarantine at the time. “After that race, we were not really sure what to do,” Atras said. “We weren't really pointing to the New York Derby; we were looking at maybe an allowance race.” He ultimately decided to head to Finger Lakes and two turns and Train the Trainer passed the test. Now, he'll try for the sweep. After that, who knows? “It's a possibility,” he said when asked about trying open company. “For now, we're going to take it one race at a time.” The post Saratoga Notebook, Presented by NYRA Bets: Shirreffs More Than Comfortable Having Berrios Back on Baeza appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article