Wandering Eyes

For nearly 30 years, trainer Mike Machowsky has been largely known for a Southern California string out of which the odd diamond has been plucked. As of the middle of next month, he’ll be helping other trainers in their attempts to achieve the same conjuring trick, when he hands in his trainer’s license and picks up the mantle of Fasig-Tipton’s full-time California representative. “It’s been one heck of a ride,” said Machowsky, about his training career. “I’ve loved it. It’s a hard thing to want to give up if you love it and you’ve done it for so long. But this was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. I love the sales and I love California racing, and now, I’m excited to be partnering with such a premier sales company… They’re going full steam ahead to make a quality sales company out here.” This year will mark Fasig-Tipton’s first foray into California, with their initial auction, a 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, slated for June 5, followed by a Fall Yearling Sale penciled in for Sept. 25. Both of them will be conducted in the walking ring at Santa Anita. As per the official announcement, Machowsky will be tasked with “recruiting buyers and sellers,” along with promoting “overall awareness of the Fasig-Tipton brand” and serving as a “point of contact” for interested parties. To sum it up, his role will be to use the broad network of contacts he’s built up in California over the decades–trainers, owners, breeders and farm managers–to help produce a product that will appeal to vendors and buyers from all four corners of the country and beyond, he said. “It’s all about helping them recruit clients for the sales and to get people to come to the sales,” Machowsky said. The trick, he added, will be to find the right balance between numbers and quality. “If you have the horses, people will come. And so, my main goal is to find the right horses, all different types of horses, at all levels, so everybody has a chance to purchase something.” And while yes, California’s rather island-like status can make it difficult to lure vendors and buyers out west, Machowsky admitted, he also believes the Fasig-Tipton name, along with the company’s own network of “national and global” contacts, will prove a useful tool in overcoming that obstacle. “With the quality of company that Fasig-Tipton is, the reputation they have, it’s going to attract people out here,” he said, adding that he’d like to see “some of the consignors back east who used to come out here” return on a regular basis. “We need to get to that point where we have a bunch of horses where everybody’s able to walk away from the sale happy with what they’ve got.” Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning agrees. “We have strong relationships with buyers and sellers throughout the United States,” he said. “We’ve had discussions with some of them about the prospects in California, and I think we’ll have meaningful support.” As for their reasons for hiring Machowsky, “he’s got a very good reputation as a human being, he’s honest and hard-working,” Browning said. “And he helps provide an instant bridge for those of us who aren’t living in California and haven’t been active in California, but who certainly are aware of the market. He’s our man on the street there.” Machowsky’s marching into his new position with eyes wide-open, aware first-hand of the tough economic forces pressing in on the industry from all sides. But a thriving market keeps the “whole system here in California strong,” he said, singling out the California-bred incentive awards program as a possible big beneficiary of Fasig-Tipton’s westward expansion. “I think if we can develop a strong sales program out here with a strong group of Cal-breds going through it, we can also bring more established sires out to California,” he said. And they, in turn, will entice better mares out West, he added. “We’ve always had great horses through the years come out of the Cal-bred program, and this can add strength to that.” Despite his official start-date not slated for another month, Machowsky has already reached out to some of the breeding farms in California, alerting them to his new position. “I have a relationship with all those people, which makes it easier,” he said. “The breeders are very excited because they’re breeding a lot of horses, and they’d obviously like to sell a lot of horses out here, too,” he added. “If Legacy Ranch does well, and Tommy Town does well, and Barton Thoroughbreds does well, and all those quality farms we have, if they do well, it’s a win-win for everybody out here.” And he’s put out feelers with some of the trainers, too. “I’m just telling them, ‘anything you need, reach out to me.’ I’ll try to help them out. I just want more of our trainers in Southern California and Northern California to buy horses to bring back out here, help support California and the sales.” During his near three-decades with a license, Machowsky, 53, has won nearly 600 races and bagged over $25 million in prize money. His best horse was Southern Image–winner of the 2003 GI Malibu S., along with the 2004 GI Santa Anita H. and GI Pimlico Special H. Rather than a long-simmering plan to quit training, Machowsky’s late-career change has happened rather abruptly, facilitated by a series of conversations with Boyd Browning at the turn of the year. “The stars kind of aligned,” Machowsky said. It wasn’t the financial constraints of training that prompted Machowsky to take the offer, he said. Rather, “I get to spend a little more time with my kids and family and my wife and get a little more quality of life that way,” he said. “I’m still very much involved with horseracing and the horses, which I truly love, along with the people and the clients and the trainers out here in Southern California–people I’ve built friendships and relationships with these last 30 years.” View the full article

Retired Racehorse Project founder Steuart Pittman was named the recipient of the 2018 EQUUS Foundation Humanitarian Award. Established in 2009 by the EQUUS Foundation and the United States Equestrian Federation, the Humanitarian Award honors an individual in the equestrian world who has devoted considerable personal time to improving the quality of life for equines. “Receiving the EQUUS/USEF Humanitarian Award is a huge honor because I have so much respect for the institutions making the award,” Pittman said. Longtime Thoroughbred Makeover competitor and outspoken OTTB advocate Isabela de Sousa was named 2018 USEF Junior Equestrian of the Year. “I’m extremely honored to be chosen for this award when there are so many juniors who work hard because of their passion for horses,” de Sousa said. View the full article

2018 G1 Dubai World Cup winner Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}) and 2018 G1 Dubai Turf hero Benbatl (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) will both resurface on Super Saturday at Meydan, Mar. 9, trainer Saeed bin Suroor confirmed on Tuesday. Thunder Snow was last seen running third in the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs in November, while MG1SW Benbatl ran second to the superstar Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) in the G1 Cox Plate on Oct. 27. “Thunder Snow has had an easy time so far and is doing well; happy to be back in Dubai,” Bin Suroor told the Meydan notes team. “Hopefully we can get him ready and run on Super Saturday in the [G1] Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3. He had a hard season and a hard race in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. That’s why I gave him and Benbatl an easy time and we will get them ready for the season. I’m not going to rush them.” He added, “Benbatl has also had an easy time and is doing very good. Hopefully, like Thunder Snow, he will point to Super Saturday. He’s in training now and the [G1 Jebel Hatta] is the prep for him and then the Dubai Turf. Then we will go to Europe with him.” In other Dubai Carnival news, the undefeated Walking Thunder (Violence) will appear next in the Feb. 7 G3 UAE 2000 Guineas, after a facile victory in the UAE 200 Guineas Trail at Meydan last Thursday. “He came out [of the race] very well,” said trainer Ahmad bin Harmash of the Phoenix Ladies Syndicate runner. “He trained today and he looks so fresh. From now, he’ll go on to the Guineas and then the G2 UAE Derby [on Mar. 30).” View the full article

In this new series we ask agents and others who book a lot of mares for their clients which sires might be flying slightly under the radar in this breeding season. Who might be getting overlooked in the rush for the new, hot thing? Read on. Liz Crow BLAME, Claiborne, $30,000 Munnings and Lookin At Lucky are two of my main ‘go to’ sires when getting mares started, or helping clients that are operating breed-to-race programs. I also really like Blame as a sire that has proven he can get a top Grade I winner, as well as an athletic individual buyers will pay for at sales. In 2018, Blame’s yearlings averaged over $135,000 on a stud fee of $25,000 in 2016. This is over 5x the stud fee which is a great return for breeders. He was headlined by the talented GISW Marley’s Freedom, who ran a -2.5 Thoro-Graph when winning the GI Ballerina S., and GISW Fault who won three graded stakes in a row on dirt and turf. He was also responsible for the two 3-year-old graded stakes winning turf stars Beyond Blame and Maraud. I love the versatility he has shown and feel he offers good value even at the increased fee of $30,000 at Claiborne, a farm that does a great job supporting their stallions. In 2018, he bred 112 mares, his second biggest book, with by far the highest CI (comparable index) of mares bred in his stud fee range. The best is yet to come. Click for Blame’s catalogue-style pedigree or race record. View the full article

Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) completed the previously announced purchase of Presque Isle Downs and Casino in Erie, Pennsylvania from Eldorado Resorts, the company announced Friday. The purchase of the property, which was first announced in early 2018, followed the approval of the transaction by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission. “Presque Isle will give us a foothold in Pennsylvania and the opportunity to participate in the sports betting and online gaming market throughout the state,” said Bill Carstanjen, CEO of CDI. “This acquisition is projected to be immediately accretive to our shareholders. We are excited about welcoming Presque Isle and its employees to the Churchill family.” Presque Isle Downs typically conducts its Thoroughbred race meet from mid May until early October. View the full article

The Burns family have been breeding Classic winners at their Lodge Park Stud in Kilkenny for three generations and while some bloodlines have come and gone in that time many others have flourished, including the dynasty spawned by Park Express (GB) (Ahonoora {GB}), one of the foundation mares the stud is probably best known for. The mare defied the theory that old mares tend not to breed their best stock in their latter years by delivering subsequent champion New Approach (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) at the age of 22. Before that though, she had left behind a Green Desert filly called Alluring Park (Ire) and it is this 20-year-old ‘blue hen’ that currently sits atop of the Lodge Park pecking order of mares and it is easy to understand why. Her progeny are headed by Coolmore’s 2012 G1 Epsom Oaks winner Was (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and GSW Douglas Macarthur (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), however it is her stakes-placed daughter Al Naamah (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who will go down in history as a record breaker when she sold for 5 million gns as a yearling to Al Shaqab Racing at Tattersalls in 2013. Her most recent offspring to grace a sales ring, a colt by Galileo (Ire), didn’t do too badly either when selling to MV Magnier for 1.3 million gns at Tattersalls three months ago and it was interesting to learn that a different approach was adopted for her last mating and again for 2019. “Alluring Park is in foal to Dark Angel (Ire) at the moment and will be mated back to Kodiac (GB) this year,” Lodge Park’s Damian Burns told the TDN earlier this week. “We went to Galileo five times with her and we have a 4-year-old Galileo filly out of her at home so we were hoping that perhaps at some stage down the line that we could be breeding out of a Dark Angel or Kodiac daughter of Alluring Park.” While the pedigree certainly has a middle distance look to it up top, Burns is quick to point out that Alluring Park was a stakes placed 2-year-old herself and both her half-brother and her dam were champion 2-year-olds so her 2018 and 2019 partners should not come as too much of a surprise. “There is an awful lot of speed in the family as well and if she had a Kodiac colt it could even turn out to be a stallion prospect, given how commercial the sire is,” he said. “Also Kodiac has shown, with the likes of Best Solution (Ire), what he can do when he gets a more Classic type mare, so it will be interesting to see what transpires.” While many of the mares in Lodge Park are homegrown, there is plenty of fresh blood added to the team as well and one in particular is Savannah Belle (GB) (Green Desert), an expensive acquisition when purchased in December 2013 for 335,000gns. That move was more than justified for the dam of G2 Celebration Mile winner Dubawi Gold (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) when her yearling colt by New Approach sold to Stroud Coleman for 425,000gns at Tattersalls last October. “She is in foal to Zoffany (Ire) and will visit Australia (GB) this year,” Burns said of the 22-year-old. “We loved the New Approach colt but with the mare getting on in years we didn’t want to travel her so we’ll keep her local. I’ve seen enough in Australia’s first crop for me to believe that he will develop into a good stallion.” Another mare who was bought by Lodge Park well into her life-cycle was Sweet Firebird (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells). The now 17-year-old was purchased at Tattersalls December in 2017 in foal to Mastercraftsman (Ire) for 90,000gns. She is a half-sister to the former champion sprinter Stravinsky (Nureyev) and has already bred a pair of stakes winners, one of whom, Dawn Of Hope (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), was bought by Blue Diamond Stud for 425,000gns as a breeding prospect just over a month ago. “Sweet Firebird is in foal to Sea The Stars and the plan is to send her to Nathaniel (Ire) this year which would be the same cross that produced Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}),” Burns said. Another teenage mare, Baby Houseman (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), named after the star of the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, was bought by Emerald Bloodstock on behalf of Lodge Park at Arqana in 2015 for €200,000. The 14-year-old was in foal to Le Havre (Ire) at the time and that resulting colt foal made €310,000 at the Goffs Orby Sale in 2017. Lodge Park followed up with another good sale at Goffs last September when her New Approach yearling colt sold for €120,000. Baby Houseman has already bred the stakes winner Baby Foot (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) and is currently in foal to Lope De Vega with a visit to Mastercraftsman in the offing. There are also plenty of younger mares coming through the ranks at Lodge Park and one of those is the stakes winner Alonsoa (Ire) (Raven’s Pass) who was trained by Henry Candy to win a listed race at Sandown in 2014 for Damian’s mother Patricia Burns. Alonsoa’s breeding career got off to a good start when her first produce, a colt by New Approach, sold to Shadwell for 70,000gns at Tattersalls last year and is currently in training with Mark Johnston. Another mare who had her first foal last year was Stellar Glow (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), a maiden winner at Leopardstown who also added two valuable black-type placings. She is also a half-sister to Group 1 winning 2-year-old Alfred Nobel (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}). “Alonsoa is in foal to Kodiac and she will be covered this year by Sea The Stars,” said Burns. “Stellar Glow had a Frankel (GB) filly last year, she is in foal to Fastnet Rock (Aus) and will visit Lope De Vega (Ire) this year. We will offer the Frankel yearling for sale this year, we tend to offer all the stock from the young mares for sale, it’s only when a mare is getting to a certain stage when we want to maybe hold onto a filly out of her for the future.” The quality of mares residing at Lodge Park is such that even some top-level track winners and proven producers just about make the cut for a mention. Fraulein (GB) (Acatenango {Ger}), won the GI E P Taylor S. back in 2002 for Ed Dunlop and has bred three stakes winners. Her latest sales offering, a colt by Camelot (GB) fetched €110,000 at Goffs Orby Sale last year. Burns explained, “She is in foal to Kodiac but she is due quite late in the season so we will probably rest her this year. She is interesting in that she stayed quite well herself but she has bred stakes winners over six and seven furlongs. Another mare here called Vow (GB) (Motivator {GB}), she won an Oaks Trial at Lingfield but she hasn’t quite got going as a broodmare yet. She wasn’t covered last year but will go to Sea The Stars this year.” Plenty of challenges lie in store for everyone in racing and breeding in 2019 and while some challenges are constant others are unprecedented. “As regards Brexit we are just ploughing on regardless,” Burns said. “We aren’t going to do anything different, we’ll just try and continue to put the right stock on the ground, everything else is out of our control. “Stallion fees are often a contentious issue and we tend to use proven stallions as much as we can. We are trying to produce racehorses and I think the business is more sustainable in the long run if you stick to those principals.” That philosophy leads to the oft debated topic of breeders sometimes aiming to produce a ‘sales horse’ rather than a racehorse. In theory the two should go hand in hand and while obviously that isn’t’ always the case the mission statement at Lodge Park is definitely to produce racehorses. “Pretty much everything we breed here is for sale, but the primary thing we set out to do is breed racehorses and for long term sustainability that is also the way to go,” Burns said. Buyers at sales have a habit of gravitating towards pedigrees and vendors that they have enjoyed success with in the past and in that respect Burns tends to see a lot of familiar faces returning to inspect the Lodge Park drafts every autumn. “Absolutely, it’s so true,” he said. “For example John Quinn [purchased Signora Cabello (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) off Lodge Park in 2017] was underbidder on two of our yearlings last year, okay he didn’t buy one but he tried hard. Repeat business is so important though, I can look someone in the eye at this stage and tell them ‘this one is alright’ or alternatively say ‘this one has a little issue’. It may cost you there and then but in the long run it will pay off as people know they can trust you.” More often than not pedigree comes to the fore and Damian Burns is only following his own deep lineage by breeding top-class horses at Lodge Park Stud and he looks set to welcome another blue blooded crop of foals in 2019. View the full article

The Stallion Season Sale to benefit Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund begins on Starquine.com Wednesday, Jan.16th at 8:00 p.m. and ends Friday, Jan.18th at 8:05 p.m. All proceeds from the fourth annual Jockeys and Jeans sale of non-guaranteed, donated stallions go to PDJF, which makes monthly payments of $1,000 to 60 catastrophically injured former jockeys. “Our sale is the only one in the entire racing industry whose entire proceeds goes to help humans; namely those Jockeys who have given so much of their lives beneath the horses we all know and love,” said Jockeys and Jeans President Barry Pearl. “These brave men and women are no longer riding horses but wheelchairs.” Breeding farms from Central Kentucky to Florida, California and beyond have donated seasons. They include: Shackleford, (Darby Dan Farm), Mucho Macho Man (Adena Springs), Army Mule (Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm), First Dude (Double Diamond Farms), Alternation (Pin Oak Stud), Upstart (Airdrie Stud), Wicked Strong (Spendthrift Farm), Trappe Shot (Claiborne Farms), Gio Ponti (Castleton Lyons), and some 40 others. View the full article

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion Monday that reversed its view that the Federal Wire Act applies exclusively to sports betting, but industry leaders do not believe the decision will have an impact on online parimutuel wagers placed on horse races. In a statement issued Tuesday, NTRA President and CEO Alex Waldrop said parimutuel wagering on horse racing remains safe under the provisions of the Interstate Horseracing Act. “As expected, yesterday the Department of Justice issued a lengthy opinion reversing its 2011 opinion by stating that the Wire Act applies to all forms of online wagering, not just sports wagering,” Waldrop said. “This opinion does not affect our longstanding right to conduct interstate online wagering on horse racing as long as it is conducted in compliance with the Interstate Horseracing Act. We will continue to review the opinion and update the industry as this situation develops.” The opinion issued Monday, which replaced a 2011 opinion that applied the Wire Act exclusively to sports wagering, could be applied to any form of interstate gambling aside from horse racing, including online casino games. View the full article

Camelot Kitten (Kitten’s Joy–Celestial Woods, by Forestry) will join the 2019 stallion roster at Questroyal North in Stillwater, N. Y., where he will become the first son of perennial leading sire Kitten’s Joy to stand in the Empire State. Camelot Kitten won four graded stakes races in his racing career, including the GII American Turf S. and GII National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame S. He posted a record of 23-6-3-0 and earnings of $1,069,477. The 6-year-old, a full-brother to GI Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Bobby’s Kitten, is owned by his breeders, Kenneth L. and Sarah K. Ramsey, and will stand as their property for $5,000, live foal. View the full article

A Kentucky state senator whose professional background includes media and event management positions within the Thoroughbred industry has filed a bill that would redistribute how a portion of the state’s excise tax on horse racing wagers gets used to fund equine education programs at Kentucky’s colleges. Damon Thayer, the Republican Majority Floor Leader, told TDN via phone Monday that the prime objective of SB81 is to revise a state statute so that two horse industry-related programs that didn’t previously exist when the law was originally written can benefit from the funding, which currently amounts to two-tenths of one percent (0.2%) of the state’s pari-mutuel handle. Specifically, the two programs Thayer is aiming to include are the University of Kentucky’s Ag Equine Programs (which encompass all equine activities within UK’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environment), and Bluegrass Community and Technical College’s North American Racing Academy, which was originally a jockey training school founded by Chris McCarron, but has evolved into a wider program that educates potential exercise riders, assistant trainers, breeding farm managers and other workers skilled in the care and training of the racehorse. Thayer said that right now, the way the existing statute is written, only the University of Louisville’s Equine Industry Program receives funding from the excise tax on horse bets. “I believe that to be consistent, if the pari-mutuel excise tax is going to help fund the U of L program, it should also fund these other two programs at public universities,” Thayer explained. “None of these programs compete with each other. They produce different kinds of graduates. The U of L program is more of a business and management program. The UK program is more of an agriculture and equine approach–a lot of those graduates will go on to veterinary school and farm management types of positions. And the BCTC program, those graduates often go on to careers on the racetrack.” Thayer said another factor in changing the statute has to do with additional excise tax money that is now being generated by historical horse race (HHR) wagering, which creates a larger fiscal pie for the three educational entities to share. “A wager on HHR is treated and taxed the same way as a wager on live racing, so there’s more money going into the fund,” Thayer said. Thayer said he wants all stakeholders to understand that even though he has introduced his legislation during the 2019 session, he is not intending to actually try to get it passed until 2020. The current draft version of the bill contains 2019 language only as a placeholder, he explained, because he wants the topic to be discussed and possibly improved before pushing for its passage in 2020. “I introduced the bill not to move it in this year’s session, because it’s a 30-day session and we don’t do the budget until 2020,” Thayer said. “But I wanted to get the bill out there so stakeholders could take a look at it, provide me with suggestions, and get some discussion going on this concept of the pari-mutuel excise tax supporting all equine programs at Kentucky’s public universities, not just one of them. I’d like to have it discussed in a committee meeting this summer in the equine issues subcommittee that we have under the agriculture committee, and perhaps the appropriations and revenue committee, which is effectively our budget committee.” Thayer said the excise tax on Kentucky’s horse bets gets divided to fund a number of other entities besides education. Some of the money goes into he state’s general fund, a portion goes to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund, and some of it funds the Equine Drug Research Council that makes recommendations that help the state racing commission establish medication policies. When asked if any new taxes or fees would be part of his proposal, Thayer said, “Absolutely not. I’m a conservative Republican, so I’m not for new taxes and new fees. This is taking the existing money and splitting it up more equitably between educational programs that deserve the funding.” Dating back over three decades, Thayer’s racing-related jobs have included stints with the Breeders’ Cup, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, and as the director of communications at Turfway Park. View the full article

Mathieu Legars and Marta Kubicka have joined the Arqana team in the areas of bloodstock and marketing, respectively, the sales company announced on Tuesday. Legars, who will aid with inspection and selection of horses for the sales, advice to buyers and prospecting in France and abroad, will begin on Feb. 1. Kubicka is replacing Alix Choppin, who is moving into a business development role with the company, and will join Arqana as the marketing and communications director. She will start on Feb. 15. Legars returns to the country of his birth after accumulating 14 years of industry experience, first at Camas Park Stud and then the past 12 years at Coolmore where he started in the foaling unit and breaking in yearlings before becoming head of coverings and stallions in 2006. He also traveled for several breeding seasons to New Zealand and Argentina alongside the shuttle stallions and became Coolmore’s French representative in France in 2011. “It is with great pleasure and desire that I will now use all my skills with Arqana,” said Legars. “I have been following closely the evolution of Arqana since its creation and I can only admire its development in all the market segments as well as its endeavour to be creative and constantly come up with new services for breeders, consignors and trainers such as Arqana Online, the October Yearling Sale Criterium, the Auteuil Sale, etc. It is therefore a great opportunity for me to join a solid and motivated team with whom we will continue to move forward.” Kubicka, who hails from Poland and has an engineer degree from Arts et Metiers Parish Tech, worked for seven years at Air Liquide as a site manager and commercial technical manager overseeing sites worldwide. Wanting a career change, in 2017 she began working on her Master in Equine Science and Business (MESB) from AgroSup Dijon, with work experiences at Al Shaqab’s Haras de Bouquetot, the Royal Cavalry of Oman and France Galop. During her time with the latter, she acted as a commercial project manager at Deauville racecourse. “I am very pleased to join Arqana, a dynamic company, and its exceptional teams who do their utmost to offer the best possible service to customers,” said Kubicka. “It is with great enthusiasm that I will actively pursue the development of this company’s marketing and communication strategy.” Added Arqana President Eric Hoyeau, “In an increasingly competitive international environment, Arqana intends to equip itself with all the necessary means to fly the flag high for French breeding, encourage new buyers and vendors and promote the tremendous experience offered by breeding and owning race horses. Strengthening our human resources is an important step in this direction, and a prerequisite for many of the strategic efforts we will be making throughout the coming year.” View the full article

Hall of Fame Canadian conditioner Reade Baker, whose career was highlighted by a Sovereign Award as Canada’s outstanding trainer in 2005, will retire from training and transition to a new career as a racing, breeding and sales consultant, according to a statement posted on his Facebook page Tuesday morning. In total, Baker trained 13 Sovereign Award winners and two Canadian Horses of the Year in Fatal Bullet (Red Bullet; 2008) and Biofuel (Stormin Fever; 2010) in a career that saw him notch 1,119 total wins with earnings in excess of $54.7 million. “Reade wishes to thank the owners who confidently entrusted to him their young and talented prospects many of whom became stakes winners and also his dedicated team of employees–several of whom were with him for an extended time,” the statement read. “It’s time for a new challenge,” Baker said. A native of Port Dalhousie, Ontario, Baker stepped out on his own as a trainer in 1989 after enjoying prior success in the breeding and bloodstock sectors, as well as in the management of Canadian champion Afleet (Mr. Prospector). Over the years, he built a steady base of clients, which included Stronach Stables, Jim and Susan Hill, John Franks, Brereton Jones and Danny Dion’s Bear Stables. Baker will continue to be based in Toronto in his new role. View the full article

You know how you sometimes start out with a possible conclusion based on the research you are going to do–but have not yet started–but at the end of the process you’re smacked upside the head because your original suspicion was wrong? Welcome to the world of biomechanical and pedigree analysis for the leading sires in North American and Australia/New Zealand. Our firm has spent a half dozen years traveling Down Under to attend yearling and 2-year-old sales where we offer our biomechanical, cardio and BreezeFigs services. Occasionally we’d find time to visit stallion facilities to gather measurements on leading or promising sires. What we discovered along the way is that there are some biomechanical patterns in the yearlings and 2-year-olds that are a bit different than those in North America. Going into this project, we thought (somewhat anecdotally) that we’d analyzed a good many yearlings and 2-year-olds whose front legs were a bit shorter than the rear legs and/or whose body sets were lower at the elbow than at the flank. Given enough power through the quarters and quickening gears (rear triangle of ilium, femur, tibia), either of those attributes generally indicate the horse would be quick to start and likely to do best at sprint distances if pushed early. However, if the horse also possessed very good stride extension it would probably do better by settling early and using power in the drive, generally at a mile or a bit further. Most of these horses possess excellent power and quickening gears behind. To us, this was all very logical given the racing programs in both countries, though more emphasized in Australia where speed is king (and queen) and (it appears to us) the majority of what we would consider quality maiden and allowance races and stakes races are at a mile or less–G1 Melbourne Cup, Classic and Group events notwithstanding. This pattern is on display in North America these days thanks to the simulcasting of races from Down Under on a variety of platforms from television to computer and phone streaming. You watch these races and if horses were automobiles you’d hear vroom! vroom! vroom!…most especially in the last 300 yards. One might say this is like most races in North America are run. But except for turf races featuring good (usually imported) horses, the explosiveness isn’t there, it’s more of a steady, grinding action. That is a subtle biomechanical difference that one can illustrate by noting the speed horses Down Under are more like Corvettes or Maseratis while those Up Here are more like BMWs or Audis. On the other hand, we have also come across a substantial number of individuals with more complicated biomechanics. This pattern usually involves long front legs and either a high body set or a low body set at the elbow compared to body set at the flank. If the horse has a low body set, it is more efficient when the horse settles in stride to accommodate what could be some high knee action which can be exacerbated if the horse is pushed early–a combination that wastes energy. If the body set is high at the elbow, there is a likely chance that the horse will have an uphill trajectory, and if pushed too early this could result in pinwheeling (extreme high knee) which is inefficient and wastes energy. Like the speed demons, a goodly portion of these individuals also possess excellent power and quickening gears behind. Efficiently built horses with these attributes Down Under have an affinity for settling behind most of the field in long distance races which, like all races, are on the turf. Like Chevrolet Explorers and Dodge Ram pick-ups, these horses need to get into gear, but when they get rolling, watch out! Horses like this are also found in the North American population and the majority are also more suitable to turf racing, most likely at distances above a mile. The turf gives them a better grip behind to settle, and since most turf races are longer than a mile they have some time to settle and take advantage of power and quickening gears that are more conducive to wearing their rivals down in the end. These biomechanical differences occur in North American runners, of course, but in doing some further research it appeared there may be a larger pool of these two distinct “power types” Down Under. This spurred a thought as to whether the stallion population in these two countries was more geared to produce power rather than a more rounded combination of power and stride factors. To do this, we decided to utilize our Phenotype Target to plot the Top 20 sires of 2018 in North America and the Top 20 sires in Australia/New Zealand for whom we have data for the Southern Hemisphere 2017-2018 periods to see if there are any clues we could uncover. We eliminated any dual-hemisphere stallions to narrow the study to reflect indigenous characteristics, if any. The only one we haven’t measured is second-leading sire I Am Invincible, but we are confident he is quite similar phenotypically to the others. Why? Just look at their target–only four are not Power types. Now look at the North American target. There are an equal number of stallions other than pure Power types, which may surprise some people but there is a fascinating addendum to these findings: When we examined the biomechanical profiles of all of the stallions on each target we discovered that more than half the Southern Hemisphere stallions had long front legs along with a combination of other factors that reduced extension. However, and it’s an extremely important however: most of them also had great power and many have short tibias, which is a feature of horses that have great finishing kicks–especially on the turf. The North American sires simply do not have that kind of profile. For the most part, they have square body sets, very good power through the quarters, and tibias that combine with other finishing kick attributes that are more likely to generate solid but not brilliant closing kicks. Not finished yet. Without doing anything other than looking at sire lines, we found a perhaps more startling difference in the crowd: Although there are nine representatives of the Mr. Prospector line among the North American sires, they are spread among his sons Fappiano, Gone West, Smart Strike and Forty Niner. Four sons of A.P. Indy are there along with six representatives of the Northern Dancer line through various branches, and one through In Excess (Ire). That’s pretty good distribution. However, when we get Down Under it’s a whole different story: Seven of the ones we plotted are sons of the exceptional speed influence Danehill and one is by his sire Danzig. That’s more than an arched eyebrow discovery. And when you throw in I Am Invincible (a great grandson of Danzig who is not on the target) the eyebrows go up to your hairline. There are six representatives of Northern Dancer’s line through several branches and three members of the great New Zealand sire Sir Tristam, an American-bred among the crowd. When you put all of these factors together, one can see that a fascinating dichotomy exists that may be a reflection of cultural approaches on either side of the equator–one crowd would ask you how you’d like your steak done along with what wine; the other would get right to the point and throw another shrimp on the barbie while handing you another lager. Cheers! Bob Fierro is a partner with Jay Kilgore and Frank Mitchell in DataTrack International, biomechanical consultants and developers of BreezeFigs. He can be reached at bbfq@earthlink.net. View the full article

Escape Clause already has accomplished something that escapes most horses: winning 19 races in just 28 starts. View the full article

A Department of Justice change in how it views the Wire Act is not expected to impact pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing. View the full article

European-based jockey Jamie Spencer started a working holiday in the United States at Gulfstream Park Jan. 13, riding Brendan Walsh-trained Bantu to a fourth-place finish in the ninth race, a one-mile allowance for older horses on turf. View the full article

Trainer Bob Baffert likely will have Game Winner make his seasonal debut in the $500,000 San Felipe Stakes (G2) March 9 at Santa Anita Park. View the full article

15:50 Newbury It may seem very obvious just looking at the jockey’s silks but the black and green colours of owner Mrs Patricia Pugh have scooped the headlines for the past few years. It’s highly unlikely that Alph is going to live up to stablemate Altior’s excerpts but he’s been found a race that, on […] The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Wednesday 16th January appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Phoenix Ladies Syndicate's Walking Thunder, who won the UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (non-black-type) by nine lengths Jan. 10 to earn his third win in as many starts, is preparing to stay the course in the $250,000 UAE Two Thousand Guineas (G3) Feb. 7. View the full article

17:45 Kempton I know what you’re thinking. “What on earth are you doing tipping a horse in a race like this?” We agree entirely, with little to no recent victories between the entire fourteen runner field it looks far from an obvious choice. Never the less Don’t Do It (Let’s hope his name isn’t a […] The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Tuesday 15th January appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

It is not quite a clash of the titans, but the contest between white-hot duo Clement Legend and Smart Baby in the Class Four Bowrington Handicap (2,200m) at Happy Valley creates plenty of intrigue. Both have been in terrific form this campaign, each rattling off three straight wins, but at least one of them one will taste defeat on Wednesday night. If either can succeed, they will be just the third horse to win four straight races this season, joining some illustrious company in Beauty... View the full article

Illegal gambling will continue to drive people to suicide and facilitate money laundering and match-fixing unless government action is taken, warns the Asian Racing Federation. In a research paper, the ARF’s anti-illegal betting task force outlines the widespread damage as illegal gambling grows at a quicker rate than the legal market. “Our message to authorities is not only that illegal betting is a threat to racing and other sports, but also that a less visible threat of money... View the full article

Caspar Fownes concedes a win for his talented import Green Luck may be too little too late for a call-up to next week’s Classic Mile but the trainer believes the horse has a big future in Hong Kong regardless. Touted as the “King of the Valley”, Fownes has a high opinion of his four-year-old ahead of his run on Wednesday night in the Class Three Sports Road Handicap (1,650m), saying it was only a matter of time before he showed his true colours. After an innocuous start to his... View the full article

Chopin getting tuned back up for return View the full article

Updates on stewards' follow-ups to Friday and Sunday meeting View the full article