Wandering Eyes

When the four partners in Studio Tack embarked on their Brentwood Hotel project two years ago, they used the less-is-more approach rather than a raze-and-start-over strategy. They kept the name, the sign, since repainted, and the bare bones of the single-story motel across the street from the entrance to the backstretch at Saratoga Race Course–and little else. The makeover of a gritty, forgettable property in a terrific location on the corner of Gridley Street and Nelson Avenue yielded a distinctive, high-quality, 12-room hotel that blends the past–oh, so important in Saratoga Springs–with current tastes. Now featuring a small bar with distinctive cocktails and craft beer, it is open all year. The summer rates start at $249 a night and they move to $125 in the off-season. Studio Tack, an award-winning Brooklyn-based design and development group, was formed in 2012 and has collaborated on the renovation of inimitable hospitality businesses across the country, but the Brentwood is the first property it has purchased, rehabbed and operated. While Saratoga Springs and its historic racetrack have an international reputation, the connection to the region was very personal, through one of the Studio Tack partners, Ruben Caldwell, who grew up 36 miles to the north in Bolton Landing, a tiny resort village on Lake George. “We always look for properties that are geographically significant or architecturally significant as the basis for what we explore for development and design and our work as a whole,” said Studio Tack partner Jou-Yie Chou. “This one clearly wasn’t architecturally significant, in the sense that it was a run-down motel, but its proximity to the country’s oldest sporting venue, Saratoga Race Course, seemed irreplaceable. That’s what initially caught our interest.” Chou said that he and his partners learned that Saratoga Springs, which used to go into a Rip Van Winkle-type hibernation the day after the track closed for the season, has become a vibrant, year-round destination and, to many, the cultural and recreation center of the Capital Region. “It really checked a few boxes in terms of being a viable potential business,” he said, “as well as being an interesting design project, being so close to such an iconic location as the race course.” Saratoga’s renaissance during the past 40 years has attracted several national hotel chains to the city, ending what was once a chronic shortage of rooms during the racing season. Chou said that the Brentwood is a part of a growing trend to offer a unique setting. “On a personal level it’s a more challenging and rewarding design process,” he said. “People today are more interested in going to hotels and locales for the experience and they want that to run through where they are staying. They really want to stay in places that speak to and have the feel of the culture and community that they are visiting, versus some bigger box hotel brands that have a design that is sort of plugged into every market that they’re in with less consideration. The timing is right for this level of attention to the experience and tying it to where the hotel is going up.” To that end, the Studio Tack group–three friends who met studying architecture at Columbia University and Chou with a strong background in the hospitality industry–serve up at the Brentwood what they say is a building “that has been completely overhauled and updated with the comfort of modern amenities and designed to balance classic architecture and equine motifs of Saratoga–with just enough irreverence to make you look twice.” The rooms have painted plywood floors, decorative wood trim and custom brass fixtures. The beds of solid clear pine were designed by Studio Tack and handmade by a local woodworker. The beds are outfitted with Mascioni 100% Italian cotton sheets, down pillows and comforters, hand-dyed French linen blankets from the Brooklyn textile purveyors Sharktooth. The rooms also feature cast-iron marble bistro tables, antique wooden chairs, a custom sideboard refreshment bar, flat screen televisions and high-speed WiFi. The bathrooms have solid brass fixtures, rain showers, chamfered mirrors and bath products from C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries. Office space in the old Brentwood Motel was turned into the lobby/cafe/bar area of the new Brentwood Hotel. It was designed to feel like a classic parlor with reclaimed white oak flooring, antique gilded mirrors and vintage oil paintings. The bar is topped with rounded honed Carrera marble. Saratoga Springs native Molly Reed is the hotel general manager and has helped the partners develop relationships with restaurants and other business in the city and area, such as the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and Cafe Lena. The Brentwood is pretty much surrounded by the horse and racing culture of Saratoga. Across Nelson Avenue is Saratoga Race Course, which opened for business on that site in 1864 and is oldest Thoroughbred track in the country. The starting gate in the seven-furlong chute is located about 100 yards from the hotel. The barn area for the harness racing track that is the foundation for what is now the Saratoga Casino Hotel is behind the Brentwood. Across Gridley is the Horseshoe Inn Bar and Grill, which is a popular post-race scene. To the west on Gridley Street are the private barns of several Thoroughbred trainers. Horses are walked down Gridley and across the Nelson–yes, traffic stops and autos defer to horses in Saratoga–to the track in the morning for training and in the afternoon to compete. Chou and his partners realized that the daily parade of horses set the property apart and why a public space was important. “We wanted to create an area where our guests could hang out and feel at home, grab a drink and take a look at the horses walking down Gridley Street,” he said. “My understanding is that Saratoga is the only course in America where you see the race horses walk on a public street to access the track. It’s sort of a unique experience, whether you have a cocktail or a coffee in hand to see these horses process. We want to take advantage of that experience and have people have reason to lounge and hang out. We wanted to create a property that was tied to why that property was there in the first place.” Studio Tack purchased the property in April 2016, missed its ambitious goal of being ready for the racing season and opened for business that fall. Chou and his partners said they were welcomed to the city. “I think in general everyone was excited for us to revive an eyesore on a corner that is becoming more and more prominent in town.” He said. “We were very well received by all groups… and hopefully they are happy with what we’ve done with it. In general, most towns are pretty happy with anyone coming in and investing in to refurbishing and renovating something that was not necessarily a sight to be seen.” The Brentwood name remains, but much has changed on the corner of Gridley and Nelson with the great view of the Saratoga Race Course. “It’s always fun to do a fully transformative project, where you can really see the fruits of your labor,” Chou said. “I don’t know that much about horse racing, nor do many of our close friends, but we always hold this as sort of a romantic sport. Clearly it is fabled and historic, so hopefully we are drawing a different clientele to experience it, experience Saratoga and see it through new eyes.” View the full article

Hall of Fame jockey Manny Ycaza, one of leading pioneers for Latin riders in North America, died on July 16 after a brief illness, Jockeys' Guild national manager Terry Meyocks confirmed. View the full article

7th-Del Mar, $60,000, 2yo, f, 5f, post time: 8:00 p.m. ET OXO Equine’s BRILL (Medaglia d’Oro) makes her debut for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. The filly was a $1-million purchase at last year’s Fasig-Tipton July Yearling Sale. She is the first foal out of stakes winner Hung the Moon (Malibu Moon). Larry Best’s OXO Equine and Hollendorfer also team up in the 10th race with Goren (More Than Ready). A $1-million Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream graduate last year, the bay colt moves to the turf and stretches out to 1 1/16 miles after a sixth-place debut effort at Santa Anita June 9. TJCIS PPs View the full article

Del Mar opens its doors for its 36-day summer meet Wednesday with large fields highlighting the opening day card. While the first three races on the card are claiming events with nine horses signed on for each, the back end of the day features ample quality–including an overflow field of 16 entered for the grassy Oceanside S. for 3-year-olds, which goes as race eight. While in years past the Oceanside would often be split into two smaller divisions due to the over-subscription, the track has opted to run the popular race in one larger division in recent seasons. In total Del Mar will run 41 stakes races during the meet, which runs until Labor Day Sept. 3, highlighted by the $1-million GI TVG Pacific Classic Aug. 18. An emphasis on turf racing is evident from the outset, with four grass races–including the Oceanside–carded on opening day. Competitive Bunch in Oceanside The morning line odds board tells the story in Wednesday’s Oceanside, with Desert Stone (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) established as the slight 4-1 favorite. The colt carries a two-race winning streak into the opening day feature. Due to the race’s restriction for sophomores who have not won a $50,000 stakes purse at a distance over a mile in 2018, a number of the top contenders must answer questions about the two-turn trip. Holly and David Wilson’s Calexman (Midshipman) was a course-and-distance winner last November, but recently has enjoyed success sprinting down the hill at Santa Anita. Rail-drawn Arawak (Uncle Mo) shortens up in distance off an even third-place finish in Santa Anita’s nine-furlong Rainbow S. and could be dangerous if able to replicate his close fourth-place finish in the GII American Turf S. at Churchill Downs May 5. The race also features an appearance by Faversham (Lucky Pulpit), a California-bred full-brother to 2014 and 2016 Horse of the Year California Chrome. Accelerate’s Turn to Take the Spotlight? While North America’s all-time richest Thoroughbred Arrogate (Unbridled’s Song) was undoubtedly the talk of the town heading into the 2017 summer meet, Hronis Racing’s Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky)–the horse who defeated him twice in last year’s GII San Diego H. and GI Pacific Classic (when both finished behind Collected {City Zip})–has inherited the throne as the headliner of the 2018 meet. Accelerate has seemingly taken his game to a new level this year, capturing the GI Santa Anita H. and the GI Gold Cup at Santa Anita, and is expected to follow a similar path to 2017, with a start in this Saturday’s San Diego as a springboard to a tilt in the Pacific Classic. Don Alberto Stable’s Unique Bella (Tapit) will get her share of the spotlight as well with an expected appearance in the July 29 GI Clement Hirsch S. The ultra-talented ‘TDN Rising Star’ was last seen notching a decisive victory in the GI Beholder Mile S. at Santa Anita June 2. Bonuses for Horsemen and Bettors Alike If the robust opening day entry box was any indicator, the Del Mar team’s efforts to bolster the quality and quantity of the racing product are off to a successful start. Most notably, the track’s “Ship and Win” program seeks to incentivize participation from out-of-town barns that send horses to Southern California for the summer months. “We’ve enhanced our Ship And Win program so that it’s now $2,000 for the initial start,” said Del Mar racing secretary David Jerkens. “Last year it was $1,500, two years ago $1,000. Plus a 30% purse bonus. We aggressively put the word out everywhere that we could. The [2017] Breeders’ Cup exposure helped with a lot of people seeing Del Mar for the first time. Ian Wilkes, I think especially attributes that partly to his being here.” Bettors focusing on the Del Mar meet will also feature a new late Pick 5 wager on the day’s final five races that offers a “bonus” payout to any gambler holding the lone winning ticket on the bet. With a bonus of $1 million on weekends and $500,000 on weekdays, the move puts Del Mar in line with a number of other tracks who have moved to offer “jackpot” payouts in recent years. Del Mar will also feature a new early Pick 4 that begins on race two every day. View the full article

The Galway Racecourse Committee is looking for tenders for a design team to tackle the next phase of the €12-million Galway Racecouse redevelopment, the course announced on Tuesday. The latest €6-million redevelopment, the Wilson Lynch Building, is completed and will be unveiled at the 2018 Summer Festival on Monday, July 30. Part of the upcoming €12-million renovation will include a completely revamped and modernised parade ring, as well as a pre-parade ring, directly adjacent to the main parade ring. New hospitality venues positioned to the north and south of the parade ring are planned and the first floor of the existing Millennium Grandstand will be refurbished, as well. Finally, a new racecourse administrative building will be built, while the existing building turned into welfare facilities for both male and female jockeys and enhanced hospitality facilities for winning connections. “We are delighted to be in a position to progress the next phase of development at Galway Racecourse as we are always striving to improve the facilities on course and to enhance the experience for both the customer and the participants which is paramount to maintaining Galway’s position as one of the highlights of the summer racing calendar,” said Peter Allen, Chairman of the Galway Race Committee. “Each year, the Summer Festival puts Galway on the front pages and provides an extraordinary €54-million boost to the local economy.” View the full article

Thoroughbred Daily News Australia-New Zealand, a comprehensive website and eNewspaper, will debut on Aug. 15, 2018. TDN AusNZ is co-founded and owned by Gary King, the Vice President of International Operations of TDN, and Vicky Leonard, formerly the Marketing and Projects Manager at Arrowfield Stud. It will operate in partnership with the world-renowned Thoroughbred Daily News (TDN) brand, but will be its own distinct entity and ownership structure. The company will be based in Sydney, Australia. “I’m delighted to be launching TDNAusNZ with Vicky Leonard,” said King. “I have always wanted to develop a product for the Australasian marketplace, and that time has arrived. Vicky’s reputation within the industry for creativity and forward thinking needs no introduction.” “The TDN has an excellent reputation as a customer-focused brand delivering quality bloodstock editorial. I am excited to continue that mission with TDNAusNZ,” said Leonard. “We will launch with an interactive digital platform, designed for our increasingly mobile lives and to provide innovative opportunities for advertisers.” King will continue in his current role with TDN as Vice-President of International Operations, but will also be a managing owner of TDNAusNZ. “We plan on bringing many of the same qualities that has made TDN so successful, but we have some exciting new additions tailored for an Australian/New Zealand audience.” Just as the TDN before it, and the popular TDN European edition which King oversees, TDNAusNZ will be aimed at the busy industry professional with the goal of delivering the information he or she needs in a comprehensive yet digestible offering. “It’s difficult to allocate time each day to filter through various media sources,” said Leonard. “Yet our roles depend on keeping up with the most essential industry news, stallion trends and pedigrees; plus up-to-date race and sales results. We need quality information at our fingertips, and we need to understand what it means for us, our business and our clients.” TDNAusNZ will investigate, interpret and deliver the most valuable content in an easy-to-read, palatable format. It will dissect and discuss important events, tell stories and analyse industry trends, and bring relevant ideas from the outside world to help grow the readers’ knowledge and help them in their business. Breaking news will be covered and circulated immediately. The paper will be delivered in a mobile-optimised format that works in conjunction with the daily routine of readers. Over time the TDNAusNZ platform will develop additional interactive and helpful tools, guided by feedback from readers and advertisers. Kelsey Riley, TDN International Editor, will be a frequent contributor to TDNAusNZ. TDNAusNZ has hired Paul Vettise and Brendan O’Brien as associate editors. The publication will also use a global team of freelance journalists. “I’m very excited to be apart of TDNAusNZ,” said Riley. “I have made frequent trips to Australia the past five years to cover sales for the TDN, and have long felt that there was room in this thriving marketplace for a dynamic digital product like TDNAusNZ. I think users will find it to be a good blend of components that have traditionally served TDN readers well, and innovative new ideas.” Click here to sign up for free to TDNAusNZ. Gary King gary@tdnausnz.com.au +1 732 320 0975 Vicky Leonard vicky@tdnausnz.com.au +61 405 601 152 View the full article

Harrah's Louisiana Downs has named Eric Halstrom as its new vice president of operations, pending all regulatory approvals. View the full article

Harrah's Louisiana Downs has named Eric Halstrom as the new Vice President of Operations, pending all regulatory approvals. View the full article

How do you begin to describe the value of a man like Des Leadon to the Thoroughbred industry? Well, since you can turn to him in almost any other dilemma–whether you need someone to address the more calamitous implications, for breeding and racing, of Brexit; or to fly a priceless stallion across the world; or, with his wife Mariann Klay, simply to prepare a foal for sale–then we might as well borrow his help here, too. Because the way he describes his working environment could equally be applied to the range and diversity of his own accomplishments. “When I talk to people who are thinking about getting into our wonderful industry, I liken it to that marvellous French culinary creation: the gateau mille-feuille,” he says. “Because there’s a thousand layers to it. And that creates an endless fascination.” Leadon wears his erudition lightly, the easiest and most gregarious of companions round Swordlestown Little, just in the lee of Punchestown racecourse, on a summer afternoon. They say that if you want something done, you ask a busy person. In the same way, it appears impossible to feel as though you are intruding on the time of a man who puts it to such fertile use. Mares and foals graze peacefully among cattle as the shadows begin to lengthen across the paddocks. “It means there is more even grazing of the sward,” explains Leadon. “The cattle fertilise it for you, and they also have a great calming influence on the horses. We try to make our foals civilised, used to being in and out, easily handled.” When they first came here, 20 years ago, there was no water or electricity in the stableblock; no house; and nowhere to store feed, bedding and equipment. These are now in “the Sinndar barn,” as Leadon calls it, auspiciously painted in the green and red livery of the Aga Khan. “Mariann and I met riding out for John Oxx,” Leadon says. “Unlike me, she was a very good amateur rider; she once beat Johnny Reid in a photo. But I did ride out there for 26 years. And I took a real shine to Sinndar (Ire) (Grand Lodge). I was standing at the top of the gallops when [Johnny] Murtagh patted him down the neck and said: ‘He’ll stay.’ And I thought, that’ll do me. I had 40-1!” That is as close as Leadon ever expects to come to a Derby winner. This is a boutique operation, the original 55 acres of Swordlestown Stud’s isolation annex since expanded to 90–but still adhering to the old rule of one mare and her followers per 10 acres. “I had no real idea what stud farming is,” Leadon admits. “Nowadays I liken it to haemorrhage. There’s two sorts of haemorrhage: venous haemorrhage, where it sort of leaks out; and arterial haemorrhage, where it spurts out. Stud farming is like arterial haemorrhage, with one big difference: in arterial haemorrhage, at least you’ve got the blood before it’s gone!” That said, Swordlestown Little has been among Ireland’s top five vendors of foals in each of the last five years. Graduates include Lilbourne Lad (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), now standing at Rathbarry; Ajman King (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), who completed a four-timer in a valuable handicap at Epsom on Oaks day; and Spring Loaded (Ire) (Zebedee {GB}), who confirmed himself a sprinter of group calibre when winning under a big weight at Ascot last Saturday. “We set out, quite deliberately, to be niche producers of very nice foals,” Leadon says. “Mariann does a wonderful job educating them, and they’ve done us proud. When Lilbourne Lad won the Railway S., we danced down the stairs of the grandstand. Like all those moments in racing, nobody can wipe the smile off your face for a full week. But the little ones can give enormous pleasure too.” One such is My Snowdrop (Ire), a daughter of none other than Lilbourne Lad, who recently won at Listowel for Oxx and a syndicate of friends. Her veteran dam, responsible for the farm’s first black-type winner in 2007, delivered this filly in the middle of a snowstorm. Sold as a foal, My Snowdrop returned to the ring as a yearling with a reputation as something of a lunatic. “But when she heard Mariann’s voice, she came over and put her head in her arms,” Leadon says. “After that, she wasn’t going anywhere but home. I must say she was extraordinarily difficult to break, but her win at Listowel would have given us as much pleasure as any of the big ones.” But Ajman King’s success at Epsom also had an extra frisson, sealing a very special visit to London for Leadon’s father: for a reunion of his old flying buddies. Not many of them left, now, but then not many in his particular line of work had even survived the war. As a Lancaster pilot, he had limited life expectancy; but as a pathfinder into the bargain–marking and remarking the target with flares–he was really sticking his neck out. “People have forgotten how many Irishmen fought with the Allies,” his son notes. “To preserve the freedoms that we now all take for granted.” Leadon Sr. was still performing barrel rolls and loops three years ago, 70 years after crash-landing at RAF Wyton with a bomb on board. After the war he continued with a career in aviation, but it was his other passion that filtered through to his son. For between leading 1,000-bomber raids Leadon Sr. would race by motorbike from the Cambridgeshire airbases to ride out for Captain Cecil Boyd-Rochfort in Newmarket. He also trained a couple of point-to-pointers himself, alongside the airstrip. “He almost got himself court-martialled once,” his son smiles. “Because the ground was getting firm, he had a fire practice so that they sprayed beside the runway.” For young Leadon, then, the unsurprising choice was vet school or flying school. His father took him up for an hour in a two-seater, showed him the ropes, and then said: “Right, we’ll go home and you tell mum your decision over lunch.” When Leadon came down in favour of vet school, his father exclaimed: “Good! Because when I handed you the controls this morning, I formed the impression you had the ability to kill us both.” As a student in Dublin, Leadon wrote to Twink Allen in Newmarket and was invited for a six-month project exploring prostaglandin as a means to control the breeding cycle of mares. Needless to say, Leadon was also riding out–for John Winter, who had a filly named Double Finesse (GB) in his yard at the time. Later noted as dam of Mr Brooks (GB) (Blazing Saddles {Aus}), she was owned by another legend among Newmarket veterinarians, Peter Rossdale. And though Leadon did return to Ireland once qualified, doing a stint in practice and a thesis back at Trinity College on heritability of heart size, he returned for 3 1/2 years with Rossdale. “Peter was the oracle,” Leadon says. “And still is. He would challenge you, not teach you, and see how you progressed.” In the case of Leadon, the progress would be giddy. A Fellowship of the RCVS, for research into equine prematurity. In 1984, appointment to the inaugural team at the Irish Equine Centre, as head of clinical pathology; he is still there today, as consultant clinician. And, in the interim, an alphabet soup in the service of profession and industry alike. A cursory ample: veterinary advisor and now vice-chairman of the ITBA; president of the British Equine Veterinary Association; and respectively president and international director of the global and American equivalents. Difficult, then, to convey more than a fragment of his wisdom on a panoply of vital challenges. Leadon was, for instance, a natural choice as one of the envoys sent by the Irish industry to Brussels this spring, in the hope of unravelling something of the Brexit tangle. “It’s a huge challenge to this island,” he stresses. “The UK represents our land bridge to Europe, and more than 2,000 mares come here from continental Europe, using that bridge, every year. That landline has got to remain open. Because the knock-on effects would go far beyond the TPA [the tripartite agreement].” “We pulled some figures from the sales companies that enabled us to show that Thoroughbred exports from the European Union to third countries–the Middle East, North America, the Far East, Australasia–totalled €1.3-billion over a five-year period. That’s a hell of a lot of money. And the argument we expounded was that this industry is bigger than the sum of its parts. Damage any one part of it, you damage the whole lot.” Movement of breeding stock, post-Brexit, would lack the oiled wheels available to racehorses through the “high health, high performance” system for competition animals. This permits a 90-day sanitary bubble for horses whose point of departure is certified as disease-free, provided they have no contact with local horse populations. “That won’t work for breeding,” Leadon points out. “There’s no way you’re going to get a mare from France or Germany to Ireland and back out again in 90 days, it’s just not practical. But we do have a saving grace: the code of practice for dealing with infectious diseases, which has stood the test of time in the breeding industry for 35 years. Uniquely among pre-Brexit agreements, it can remain in place regardless of whether there’s a soft or a hard Brexit.” But such lifeboats seem to be few and far between. Leadon quotes a report anticipating a 10% hit on Ireland’s GDP from a “soft” Brexit; and a staggering 40%, from a “hard” one. That could have a disastrous ripple effect on investment in Thoroughbreds across Europe. “Remember it’s international pedigrees that make the whole thing work,” Leadon says. “Look at countries where the breeding industry has stagnated: the racing industry all but disappears. Germany would be a sad case in point, Italy another. That is not a route we want to go down, so we must preserve that land bridge for the benefit of all.” There are, moreover, extremely serious issues regarding the supply and efficacy of vaccines. “My personal nightmare is an outbreak of nervous form herpes virus at a major sale,” Leadon confides. “It would kill the industry. Sales companies must face that Domesday situation. Because this isn’t some fantasy. We saw that in France only last year [when Jean-Claude Rouget lost two horses], and it’s also occurred in a major horse show in Ohio.” Another source of anxiety: the vaccine against Equine Viral Arteritis dried up last winter, which apart from anything else created major headaches over the shipping status of shuttle stallions. That is a requirement Leadon understands perhaps better than anyone on the planet, having first researched equine aviation as long ago as the Seoul Olympics of 1988, before being enlisted commercially to assist Thoroughbred shipments for both breeding and competition. Asked to establish his credentials as an expert witness, in a court case 20 years ago, he was appalled to calculate that he had already spent two full years with horses at altitude. “In times gone by, between 6 and 11% of horses [shipping between continents] would have some degree of respiratory compromise,” he recalls. “Nowadays we can get that down to about half of 1%. So it’s a real illustration of how bringing science and research to bear on clinical issues can yield fruit for the industry.” The stakes can be daunting. Three years ago Leadon was accompanying $400-million worth of stallions from Australia to the U.S. when one contracted colic. A divert, with all the consequences in terms of quarantine, would have cost $750,000. Leadon’s judgement, offered to a global conference call in the cockpit, was that he could control the colic. Luckily, he was right. The biggest single boon of veterinary science, during his career, he reckons to be ultrasound. “It’s transformed our ability to diagnose and manage pregnancy and illnesses,” he says. “But from an industry perspective, the most important result has been to allow us to reduce the number of times a stallion mates with any given mare. It’s not that long ago we were regarding 55 mares as a good book, and were cross-covering everything. The stallion was doing as much work for a fraction of the number of foals.” When it comes to genomics, however, Leadon is unabashed in cautioning against too credulous a faith in the advance of science. “When you’re talking about genomics in cattle, sheep and pigs, you’re talking about millions of observations,” he says. “With Thoroughbreds, you’re talking about thousands. So there’s a difference in scale. And there’s a great difference between the qualities required of a racehorse to win a very good race against a continually shifting standard, than there is about producing milk or back fat.” “We did it here, out of interest. And one of our best mares would have gone straight down the tubes, she was classified as the slowest of the lot. She’s actually the dam of sprinters. That’s just an anecdote. The real issue is that there’s huge overlap. The tool is appropriate for populations of animals; not for the individual, because you don’t know where you are in that cross-thatch between the categories.” “Of course, the defence is that it is only used in conjunction with everything else. Unfortunately human nature hasn’t operated like that. We’re not trying to take away anyone’s living. But we want people to go in with their eyes open.” To Leadon, the whole magic of bloodstock lies on the margin between science and art. Yes, things are less haphazard than they used to be. Being so deeply versed in the things we can do to assist the process, however, ultimately persuades Leadon that the sport will always be sustained by some unknowable alchemy. Hence five months of debate on the farm, every year, on the right mating for each mare. “Sometimes we get it really right, other times–like everybody else–we get it quite spectacularly wrong,” he says. “Same with mare selection. You buy the best you can, but that isn’t always the one with the flashiest pedigree. I’ve always liked the Michael Caine principle: ‘Not a lot of people know that.’ It’s nice to know something not everyone knows.” “Our first really good mare was one I had ridden in races. Another we took because we knew her half-sister and thought she might be a black-type horse. We were wrong. But another half-sister was! And the family has really blossomed, with Spring Loaded in England, and Dinnozo (Ire), ironically by Lilbourne Lad, who has won the guts of a million in Hong Kong.” “But then there’s Third Dimension (Fr) (Suave Dancer), the dam of Ajman King [and seven other winners]. We saw this mare walking past at Deauville, and she was just so beautifully elegant. And she has paid us back over and over. So that’s the real joy of it: looking after these little family trees, and trying to get them the best deal in life. It’s immensely rewarding.” View the full article

A Hong Kong Jockey Club work rider is fighting for his life after falling off a horse at Sha Tin Racecourse on Tuesday morning. Emergency personnel were called to the racecourse on Tai Po Road shortly before 6am by a security guard, who reported the rider had come off the horse during a training ride. The 39-year-old, surnamed Mok, suffered head injuries and he was unconscious while being carried into an ambulance, according to police. He was taken to nearby Prince of Wales Hospital, where he... View the full article

This might sound like a crazy thing to do, but it turns out that carrying a Pakistan Star plushie around Hong Kong’s notorious Chungking Mansions is a great way to meet new friends. That’s because Chungking Mansions is a workplace, home or meeting place – and sometimes all three – for many of Hong Kong’s 55,000 people of Pakistani heritage and around these parts Pakistan Star is a household name. Or more specifically “Ba Kei Chi Sing” as he known in... View the full article

Peters has smart duo well-in at the weights in KRA Trophy View the full article

Have-saddle-will-travel Irishman relishes 'extraordinary' chance to ride in Singapore View the full article

Hairi Marzuki in serious condition after race fall View the full article

Korea Racing Authority Trophy tracknotes Tuesday July 17 View the full article

Three Busan-based jockeys to ride at KRA Trophy meeting View the full article

Richard E. Dutrow Jr., the GI Kentucky Derby-winning trainer whose long history of infractions culminated in a 10-year license suspension that is currently in effect until 2023, on Monday again had a request denied by New York regulators to reopen his case and possibly modify his penalty based on time already served. The New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) kept Dutrow’s case off the official agenda at its July 16 monthly public meeting, but chairman Barry Sample brought the issue up for the record as the very last item of the meeting under the “new business” section. In addition to saving the meeting’s most controversial item for last, Sample also kept it extremely brief. His remarks regarding Dutrow clocked in at one minute with zero discussion among commissioners. “Thoroughbred trainer Rick Dutrow, by his attorneys, previously filed an application to reopen an adjudicatory proceeding for consideration of a modified penalty,” Sample said. “The Racing and Wagering Board, a predecessor agency to this commission, determined that Mr. Dutrow was ineligible to reapply for any license issued by the commission for 10 years from the revocation of his license on Jan. 17, 2013, and fined him $50,000. The matter was discussed at our pre-adjudication meeting, and the members have decided in a vote of four to two to not reopen the case at this time.” TDN could not obtain a voting breakdown for which commissioners voted for or against reconsidering Dutrow’s case. “That will be reflected in the findings and order,” Brad Maione, the NYSGC’s director of communications, wrote in an email. TDN then requested that public document, but it was not made available prior to deadline for this story. Dutrow could not be reached for comment. His 10-year suspension and $50,000 fine stem from a 2011 incident in which one of his Aqueduct Racetrack winners tested positive for an opioid analgesic and syringes containing a painkiller and a sedative were subsequently found in Dutrow’s backstretch stable office. A public petition posted earlier this year on Change.org has garnered 2,424 online signatures as of Monday in support of Dutrow being allowed to return to training. Dutrow had previously exhausted his legal appeals to have the case overturned or re-adjudicated. One year ago this week, a federal bankruptcy court in New York issued a debt discharge order after Dutrow had petitioned the court for Chapter 7 protection. Dutrow’s 2017 filing claimed he had zero income and total liabilities of $1.76 million. The New York State Racing & Wagering Board was listed twice in the creditor section of that bankruptcy protection filing, once for $30,113 and another time for an “unknown” dollar amount. However, Maione wrote in a Monday email that Dutrow’s $50,000 fine has been paid. In separate NYSGC news, commissioners voted unanimously to revise the state’s existing prohibited substances rule and to add another rule that requires appropriate veterinary oversight for the use of equine drugs. “These rule amendments would implement several of the rulemaking proposals recommended in the Asmussen Report that Commission staff issued in November 2015,” NYSGC general counsel Edmund C. Burns wrote in a memo that was read into the record prior to the vote. “The Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) adopted this proposal as a model rule after receiving input and support from representatives from leading Thoroughbred organizations, including the American Association of Equine Veterinarians, the National Horseman’s Benevolent and Protective Association, Inc., the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association,” Burns wrote. The full text of the new regulations can be accessed here (scroll to page six). View the full article

In horse racing, conventional wisdom has always been that there’s no way to save every horse that comes off the racetrack, that there’s not enough money to do so, that there are too many unscrupulous people that will send them to slaughter and that the problem is so big the only thing that can be done is to plug a few holes here and there. Mike Ballezi, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (PTHA), wasn’t buying it. About 10 years ago, when the New York Times wrote a series of articles attacking racing and addressing the problem of horse slaughter, Ballezi decided that he would find a way to protect every last horse that raced at the track then known as Philadelphia Park. Not only has he basically achieved his goal, he says, “To be honest with you, this wasn’t even that hard.” The program became known as Turning For Home and last month it celebrated its 10th anniversary. As of last week, 2,392 horses that were racing at Parx have gone through the program and found homes over its 10 year existence. Ballezi and the PTHA have done what was supposed to be impossible. They have found a way to virtually guarantee that any horse no longer capable of racing at Parx will be taken care of and will never find its way to a slaughter house. Parx also has a zero tolerance policy towards horsemen sending a horse to slaughter or to a slaughter auction; and they will have their backstretch privileges revoked and will be denied entry to race. “It’s probably the finest thing I have done in my career and I’ve done a lot of good things for this racetrack,” he said. “Saving these animals, there’s nothing like it.” Ballezi realized the biggest impediment to saving horses coming off the racetrack is money, but he figured out a way to fund Turning For Home that wouldn’t alienate his members. With slots having been approved for the Pennsylvania racetracks, there would be an influx of money and he understood it needed to be spent for more than just purses. With purses increasing dramatically at Parx, the PTHA arranged for a new way of distributing them. Prior to slots, only the first five finishers picked up checks. Now, every horse that races receives at least $250. Thirty dollars of those earnings are taken out to fund Turning For Home, and the owner still comes out ahead. While the $30 per starter is the main funding mechanism for Turning For Home, contributions also come in from the PTHA, Parx management, the jockeys and the Pennsylvania breeders. Turning for Home’s annual budget is about $500,000. That’s enough money to get a lot of things done. The program was originally run by Barbara Luna, but she left five years ago and Danielle Montgomery took over. The Parx horsemen know that if they no longer believe a horse can make it on the racetrack, they can simply go to Montgomery. Problem solved. They don’t turn anyone down. After a horse is surrendered and its papers are sent to The Jockey Club to be stamped “Retired from Racing,” Montgomery and Turning For Home vets evaluate a horse and decide where to place it. Turning For Home does not have its own facility. Rather, it has 15 partner farms where it sends horse to rehab and be retrained. Until arrangements are made to send a horse to one of the farms, it remains on the racetrack with its trainer. The average wait time before a horse is shipped out is less than 14 days. If a horse has a serious problem and is not healthy enough to be shipped, Turning For Home will do whatever it takes to get the horse ready to move on. If surgery is required, Turning For Home will pay for it. “Mike is great,” Montgomery said. “We come across some horses that really need a lot of help and vets are concerned about the horse. Mike has never told me no. If the vet says the horse needs surgery and then a lot of time but will be adoptable once everything is done, we will take care of it.” Occasionally, the vets conclude that the horse needs to be put down. Montgomery said that less than 3% of the horses who come into the program are euthanized. Each farm is paid a one-time fee of $1,500 for taking in a horse and also gets to keep whatever fees it receives from selling a horse to an outside party. Montgomery makes sure that each farm gets a proper mixture of horses that are easily adoptable and can bring in a profit for the farm and horses whose problems are more serious and will require plenty of time before they find a new home. That way, the $1,500 stipend is neither a windfall for the farm nor too little for them to be able to care for the horses that come in from Parx. Once a horse arrives at the partner farm, the first steps are rehab and retraining. Then, a serious effort begins to find an adopter. Turning For Home has pictures and thumbnail sketches on its website for all available horses and also makes good use of social media. Horses also find homes through word of mouth, from people who have adopted a horse from a particular farm and let friends know there are others there ready to be brought to new homes. Montgomery finds that if enough time is given to a retiree and someone is willing to step up and pay for whatever surgeries or other ver treatment they may need, almost all will recover to the point where they can have a second career. “I promised Danielle when I hired her that she would never have to worry about money,” Ballezi said. “The thing that kills these other rescue organizations is money. The money is my headache. Our guys pay $30 a start and that is significant. But they do it because they believe in the program. Since we have the money, we have to do our best to save these horses. We will euthanize them, but only if they have to be put down. If the vet says this horse deserves a shot, but it needs surgery, we will give it a shot. With the vets we work with, when they say “he has a shot,” I I find it’s more than that, that there is a real chance the horse will be okay. I trust their opinions.” Turning For Home horses have gone on to just about anything a horse can do when it comes to a second career. There have been hunter/jumpers, barrel racers, working ranch horses, mounted police horses, polo horses, endurance horses–even horses used in jousting events. Occasionally, the system doesn’t work perfectly. While Turning For Home does its best to keep track of the whereabouts of every horse that comes through its program and works only with reputable farms, some original adopters will move a horse on to someone else. That’s when a horse can fall through the cracks and wind up at a “killer sale.” Turning For Home has people looking out for their horses at these sales and pays whatever it takes to retain the horse and get it back into the program. Montgomery said only 14 Turning For Home horses over the last five years have been found at sales like the one in New Holland, Pennsylvania. Ballezi said he has never heard an owner complain about having the $30 taken out of their winnings. That’s because he’s built a system people trust and understand is doing very important work that not only saves horses, but keeps Parx racing safe from the sort of negative publicity that could be devastating. “What we give people is peace of mind, and that’s a big deal,” Ballezi said. “It’s a big deal for the owners and trainers to know that their horses will be taken care of after their racing careers are done and to know they will go to a safe place. Here, they don’t have to worry about slaughter.” View the full article

Claiborne Farm will host a 5k to benefit the Thoroughbred aftercare organization Second Stride on the farm Sept. 21 and will offer new limited tours featuring Foal Patrol mare Sabbatical in October to raise money for the Man O’War Project, Visit Horse Country announced Monday. The inaugural Claiborne Farm Runhappy 5K/2.5K course takes runners and walkers through the nursery division of the farm, rarely open to guests and visitors. Registration is limited and costs $25 per participant until Aug. 7, when it increases to $30. Access to the broodmare division will be available in special tours Oct. 5, 12, and 19 at 9 a.m. The experiences are $40, including a keepsake souvenir and proceeds will benefit the Man O’ War project, which studies the impact of equine therapy on veterans recovering from PTSD. For more information on the Runhappy 5K or the Foal Patrol Tour, guests can go to www.visithorsecounty.com or call 859-963-1004. View the full article

The Kentucky Equine Education Project and The Race for Education have announced its 2018 scholarship recipients. The KEEP Foundation board of directors approved $32,000 in scholarships to 19 students, attending nine universities across the Commonwealth. All of the 2018 scholarship recipients are students currently enrolled with a university or college in Kentucky in an equine and/or, agriculture related major or a horse-related program. “Having a group of quality students interested in equine careers from all across Kentucky truly represents the statewide nature of our industry,” said Elisabeth Jensen, KEEP’s Executive Vice President. The recipients are: Leah Bonnanno, Zachary Chaney, Grace Clark, Celene Correa Chavez, Cady Coulardot, Maria Hyrcza, Emily Lampman, Zoey Norris, Maria Oachs, Brianna Vitt, Shelbie Wallace, Hannah White, Alexis Adams, Emily Chandler, MacKenzie Edwards, Jenna Meredith, Deborah Myers, Chasity Warner and DeMarius Wilson. View the full article

Belmont Park’s spring/summer meet, which concluded Sunday, recorded a 9.1% increase in all-sources handle over 2017, according to figures released Monday by the New York Racing Association. All-sources handle for the 53-day meet was $634,276,776. Average daily handle was $11,967,486, an 11.1% increase over 2017. The meet was highlighted by Justify (Scat Daddy)’s sweep of the Triple Crown in the June 9 GI Belmont S. All-sources handle for that card was $137,954,895, the second-highest one-day handle in NYRA history behind Belmont Stakes Day in 2014. The July 7 Stars & Stripes Racing Festival, comprised of five graded stakes, generated all-sources handle of $24,612,465, the highest such handle figure since NYRA launched the Stars & Stripes Racing Festival in 2014. View the full article

Lady Lucy (Into Mischief), purchased for $200,000 at last week’s Fasig-Tipton July Horses of Racing Age Sale, has shipped out west to the Del Mar barn of trainer Phil D’Amato and could see graded stakes action in the Aug. 5 GII Sorrento S. The juvenile was purchased by Little Red Feather Racing and Louisville attorney Sam Aguiar in a 50-50 partnership. Bloodstock agent Tom McCrocklin signed the ticket on Lady Lucy (hip 465) last Monday night at Fasig-Tipton. “I’m trying to buy Into Mischief yearlings and can’t get them for $200,000,” McCrocklin said. “This is a filly who has already broken her maiden at Churchill Downs and I can get her for $200,000. She’s not perfect in front, but to me when you get to a horses of racing age sale, it’s no longer a beauty contest. The PPs are more important to me. And we thought, when all was said and done, we got great value. The consignors don’t want to hear this, but we had quite a bit more money we were willing to pay for her.” Lady Lucy defeated Sunday’s Texas Thoroughbred Futurity winner Adventurous Lady (Kantharos) when she broke her maiden at Churchill Downs June 15 for owner Bernard Schaeffer and trainer William Connelly. It was the filly’s second career start. “Of course, with these 2-year-olds with one or two starts, you don’t know if they are going to be able to transfer that form to the stakes level,” McCrocklin said. “We’re very happy to get her. She’s a typical Into Mischief, very compact. From the knees up, she is very pretty and she vetted very clean. We’re hoping to get her to the Sorrento and the [Sept. 1 GI] Del Mar Debutante. Obviously, with the sale and shipping her out there, she’s lost some time as far as training, but that’s what we are hoping for.” View the full article

West Point Thoroughbreds' Ring Weekend, a grade 1 winner of more than $1.5 million, has been retired. The 7-year-old Tapit gelding is being retrained by Olympian Phillip Dutton. View the full article

Hinchinbrook (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}–Snippet’s Lass {Aus}, by Snippets {Aus}), a champion first-season sire during the 2014/15 season, has died after sustaining a broken hind leg, Yarraman Park Stud announced early Monday morning. The three-quarter brother to champion sire Snitzel (Aus) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}), slated to cover a full book of mares at A$55,000 this coming season, was 11. “We are devastated as you can imagine,” said Harry Mitchell of Yarraman Park. “He’s been a special horse for us and we believed in him from the start. He wasn’t an easy horse to get going as he was not the most fertile, but he kept proving himself and getting that good horse. It just breaks your heart, but it’s something that happens. It happened to Northern Meteor (Aus) and it happened to Scat Daddy, as sad as it is, you have to regroup and move on.” Bred by Francois Naude in Queensland and foaled and raised at Yarraman Park, the bay won the G3 Skyline S. and also ran third in the G1Inglis AJC Sires’ Produce S. to end his juvenile season. At three, the Peter Moody trainee faced off against worldbeaters Black Caviar (Aus) (Bel Esprit {Aus}) and Hay List (Aus) (Statue of Liberty) among others, but did manage to fill the frame when third in the G1 Oakleigh Plate and G1 William Reid S. The September foal ended his career with a runner-up performance in the G1 All-Aged S. and retired to stand at Yarraman Park sporting a record of 14-2-1-6, $566,585. Hinchinbrook’s success at stud-he started out at A$16,500-was immediate, with MG1SW Press Statement (Aus) flying the flag from his first crop. Already the sire of 14 black-type winners to date, the 11-year-old has been represented by G1 Champagne S. victress Seabrook (Aus) among his five black-type winners and 100 scorers who have earned north of A$6.2 million for the 2017/2018 season alone. Hinchinbrook’s influence will continue to be felt for many years, as he covered books of 148 and 129 mares, respectively, at fees of A$38,500 and A$44,000 the past two breeding seasons. View the full article

Thoroughbred Charities of America has awarded $689,414 in grants to 69 approved Thoroughbred industry-related non-profits. Another $73,165 was expended through the Horses First Fund to aid in natural disaster relief efforts. The Horses First Fund was established by the Roth family’s LNJ Foxwoods in June 2016 in support of horse rescue efforts in Mercer County, Kentucky. To date, the Horses First Fund has expended nearly $100,000 in emergency relief for Thoroughbreds and their caretakers. “Our grants and aid would not be possible without the generous support of our donors,” said Erin Crady executive director of TCA. “Our donors make our work possible and for that we are extremely grateful. We are also very proud of our 2018 approved grant recipients who work tirelessly on behalf of Thoroughbreds and backstretch and farm workers. We appreciate and applaud their tremendous efforts.” TCA president Mike McMahon added, “I am particularly proud of our board, our staff, and our relationship with TOBA. TCA is a very agile force for good in the industry. As the only organization that supports approved aftercare, equine-assisted therapy and Thoroughbred incentive organizations, health and human service initiatives for backstretch and farm workers, and emergency relief efforts for Thoroughbreds in need, TCA is able to provide our industry with a safety net for both horses and people.” TCA distributes grants to several categories of Thoroughbred-related nonprofits including retirement, rehabilitation and rehoming organizations; backstretch and farm employee programs; equine-assisted therapy programs; and research organizations. Grants are provided to organizations that successfully meet the criteria set forth in TCA’s annual grant application. View the full article