Wandering Eyes

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) tonight announced a risk-managed return to racing will take place from Wednesday this week. After consultation with its veterinary committee, and based on the latest tests conducted by the Animal Health Trust, the BHA’s Chief Regulatory Officer, Brant Dunshea, tonight confirmed that racing could resume, but only with strict biosecurity controls in place. More to follow. View the full article

Tally-Ho Stud mare Queenofthefairies (GB) (Pivotal {GB}–Land of Dreams {GB}, by Cadeaux Genereux {GB}), the dam of ‘TDN Rising Star’ G1 Cheveley Park S. and G2 Lowther S. victress Fairyland (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), passed away in January, the Racing Post reported on Monday. Also the dam of MGSW Now or Never (Ire) (Bushranger {Ire}) who was third in the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas, the half-sister to European champion Dream Ahead (Diktat {GB}) was 12. Out of MGSW Land of Dreams, the Darley-bred Queenofthefairies brought 32,000gns from Tally-Ho during the Tattersalls July Sale in 2010. A 925,000gns yearling out of the 2017 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 1, Fairyland races for Evie Stockwell and her price was equaled by Queenofthefairies’s final produce at the 2018 version of the same sale, a juvenile filly by Muhaarar (GB) who went to Shadwell. View the full article

Carl Timothy “Tim” Cone, the longtime legal counsel and a former president of Fasig-Tipton Co. from 1988 to 1991, died Feb. 8 at his home in Lexington. He was 75 and had been diagnosed with cancer two years ago. “He was a one of those rare people who was blessed with extreme intelligence and also an extreme amount of common sense,” Fasig-Tipton president and chief executive Boyd Browning Jr. told TDN via phone on Monday. “That’s a little bit of an unusual combination. He was a person who was a facilitator in getting people together. He favored resolution rather than contention, and was a very, very wise man. “Tim was an impeccably fair and honest person who just tried to do the right things and live the right way,” Browning continued. “That’s a very simple way of putting it, but I think that would summarize both his professional and personal approach.” Terence Collier, Fasig-Tipton’s director of marketing, said he worked closely with Cone over the course of several decades, most notably in sales dispute resolution. That sector of the bloodstock business requires a deft personal touch in addition to well-honed legal skills, and Collier said Cone was one of the best in the industry in that respect. “His most endearing quality to me was his total integrity,” Collier told TDN. “There was never any fudging room in any decision that Tim took as the president of Fasig-Tipton and as a lawyer. It was always what was legally correct and what was morally right. Those were the things that ran his life. “I think probably the thing that people misunderstood about Tim was that he was of a serious demeanor, and one might confuse that by saying he had no sense of humor and that he was somewhat dry,” Collier explained. “That was far from the case. He had a very, very unique sense of humor and he used it frequently, and that would have been a surprise to most people who knew him.” According to an obituary first published on Sunday in the Lexington Herald-Leader, Cone was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1944. His family moved to Lexington when his father, a history professor, accepted a job at the University of Kentucky in 1947. Cone later graduated from the University of Kentucky and the University of Kentucky College of Law, beginning practice in 1968. As an attorney and later as a managing partner, he practiced law with several local firms before beginning his work with Fasig-Tipton. Cone also served as Commissioner of Law for the Urban County Government, and at the time of his death, he was chairman of Dupree Mutual Funds and a director of Lexington Industrial Foundation. Cone was active in the Lexington community and served on the boards of Saint Joseph Hospital Foundation, Lexington Urban League, Lex Tran, Fayette Tourism Commission, and Legal Aid Corporation. He was a three-time president of the Northside Neighborhood Association and was a trustee and treasurer of Sayre School. Cone participated in Republican politics and was a Commissioner of the Fayette County Board of Elections, Chair of the Fayette County Republican Executive Committee, and served as chairman of numerous local political campaigns, according to the Herald-Leader. Beyond the community and his immersion in the Thoroughbred world, Cone was an enthusiastic history buff and a passionate fan of the University of Kentucky Wildcats sports teams. Cone is survived by wife, Marcia; a daughter, Regan (Hill) Parker; a son, Travis (Calle) Cone; and granddaughters Caroline and Mary Elizabeth Parker. Private graveside services will be held Feb. 13 at Calvary Cemetery. A public memorial service and reception will be held at Fasig-Tipton, 2400 Newtown Pike, on Feb. 16 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Cone, according to the Herald-Leader obituary, “thought flowers were a waste of money…so please abide by his wishes and instead make a contribution in his memory to St. Paul’s Church, 501 West Short Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40507.” See www.milwardfuneral.com to share remembrances of Cone in an online guest book. View the full article

Chasing Yesterday, the Bob Baffert-trained half sister to American Pharoah and a grade 1 winner in her own right, is the 5-2 morning-line choice for the Feb. 16 Rachel Alexandra Stakes (G2) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. View the full article

Flashpoint Bloodstock will host an online auction of 70 Thoroughbreds as part of a dispersal ordered by a U.S. District Court Appointed Receiver in relation to the case of Commodities Futures Trading Commission v. Rust Rare Coin, Inc. The horses, based predominately in New Mexico, will sell without reserve and include Grade III-winning stallion Finale (Scat Daddy) and Getinthereonetime (Bertrando), a half-sister to champion Shared Belief who sells in foal to Honor Code. The auction will begin Feb. 22 and conclude Feb. 25. The on-line catalogue is available at SportHorseAuctions.com/us-district-court-auction. State and federal regulators have alleged that Gaylen Dean Rust, founder of Rust Rare Coin, has “engaged in a massive scheme to defraud” investors in his Silver Pool investments since 2008. View the full article

While War of Will delivered a dominating performance in the Lecomte Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds, that effort failed to scare off any competition as the son of War Front is expected to face 13 rivals Feb. 16 in the Risen Star Stakes (G2). View the full article

The UAE 2000 Guineas, to my mind, has always been one of the most confusing races staged during the Dubai Racing Carnival. While this Group 3 contest is confined to 3-year-olds, it is open to horses from both Northern and Southern Hemispheres, with the conditions requiring that the older 3-year-olds from the Southern Hemisphere carry an extra 4.5kg to offset their age advantage. Despite this penalty, the Southern Hemisphere horses often triumphed in the past and several of them were to add to their laurels. One of them, the South African-born Victory Moon, later finished third behind Pleasantly Perfect and Medaglia d’Oro in the 2004 G1 Dubai World Cup, while the Argentine-bred Asiatic Boy was to chase home Curlin in the 2008 World Cup and finish second in the GI Stephen Foster H. Then there was the South African-bred Soft Falling Rain, who traveled to England to take the G2 Joel S. Another complication is that the race often features horses switching from turf to dirt, but that hasn’t stopped Northern Hemisphere-bred colts winning the last five editions. The latest to do so was Estihdaaf, an American-bred son of Arch who has shown distinct progress on the Meydan dirt, having won only one of his four starts on turf. The colt’s pedigree–and his 5 1/2-length winning margin last Thursday–suggest that he could well go on to better things. There’s also the fact that his trainer Saeed Bin Suroor also took the 2017 contest with Thunder Snow. While this son of Helmet inexplicably disgraced himself with his bronco display in the GI Kentucky Derby, he has since confirmed his status as a highly talented dirt performer with his victory over West Coast in the 2018 Dubai World Cup and his third behind Accelerate in the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. Estihdaaf still has some way to go before he merits comparison with Thunder Snow, who was already a Group 1 winner on turf before he landed the UAE 2000 Guineas. However, his pedigree is strong enough to encourage the belief that he will prove better than just a Group 3 winner. Together with Tax, winner of the GIII Withers S. earlier this month, Estihdaaf is a member of the final crop sired by Claiborne’s popular stallion Arch. There was a time, early in Arch’s career, when it looked as though he was going to become another disappointing stallion son of Kris S. Fortunately, he turned his career around to the extent that he has left a legacy of 40 graded/group winners, including 11 winners at the highest level. It has to be mentioned that he did so without covering mammoth books of mares, and his 17 crops averaged 66 foals. Arch raced exclusively on dirt during his seven-race career, with his finest victory coming in the GI Super Derby. However, with Roberto and Danzig as his grandsires, he was sure to sire some notable turf performers and he enjoyed success in Europe, where his seven group winners were headed by Les Arcs (G1 July Cup and G1 Golden Jubilee), Nyaleti (G2 German 1000 Guineas), Pomology (G2 Lancashire Oaks) and Montgomery’s Arch (G2 Richmond S.). There were also some very talented turf performers by Arch in North America, including the Grade I winners Arravale, Grand Arch and Prince Arch. He will always be best remembered, though, as the sire of the Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Blame, whose stallion career is mirroring Arch’s in that he has restored breeders’ faith in him after a quiet spell. There was always a good chance that dirt would prove to be Estihdaaf’s metier. His dam, the American-raced Enrichment, is by Ghostzapper, who raced exclusively on dirt during a career which featured Grade I victories in the Vosburgh S., Woodward S., Breeders’ Cup Classic and the Metropolitan H. Ghostzapper, like his admirable half-brother City Zip, has proved more versatile when it comes to his progeny’s favored surface. Several of his American graded winners have enjoyed success on turf, one of them being Better Lucky, a sister to Estihdaaf’s dam Enrichment. Better Lucky did so well that her name figures alongside the champion turf mares Flawlessly, Wandesta, Ryafan and Intercontinental on the GI Matriarch S.’s roll of honor. She landed the 2012 edition by a length and raced for another two years, holding her form well enough to add the GI First Lady S. as a 4-year-old. She also failed by only a head to wear down Judy the Beauty in the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint on her final appearance. Better Lucky has three young colts by Tapit, the first of whom– Kentucky Wildcat–was runner-up to Well Defined in the GIII Sam F. Davis S. last week. Better Lucky and Enrichment are granddaughters of Desert Stormer, a GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner who once sold for $3.6 million. Desert Stormer was less effective as a broodmare, her best effort being Estihdaaf’s second dam Sahara Gold, winner of the GII Beaumont S. over seven furlongs. There is clearly plenty of speed in this family, but Estihdaaf appeared to stay well enough when he tried 1 3/16 miles on his first appearance on dirt. Estihdaaf is the latest indication that Ghostzapper is going to develop into an important sire of broodmares. Although his eldest daughters have just turned 12 years old, Ghostzapper already ranks as the broodmare sire of three Grade I winners, including a Triple Crown winner in Justify and a Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner in Drefong. The third Grade I winner, American Gal, was also pretty good, winning both the GI Test S. and the GI Humana Distaff H. Altogether there are eight graded winners out of Ghostzapper mares, each of them by a different stallion, so they are going to have a lot of options. View the full article

Just shy of 500 horses have been catalogued as Arqana’s season starts today with its two-day February Sale in Deauville. The 3-year-old Learning To Fly (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}) led last year’s mixed auction when sold for €300,000 by Teo Ah Khing and Mayfair Speculators but this time around it may well be breeding prospects who steal the limelight. The sale features the conclusion of a dispersal of the stock of Issam Fares, which began last December, as well as the dispersal from the estate of the late Marquise de Moratalla, owner-breeder of French Classic winner Tin Horse (Ire) (Sakhee). The latter is being handled by Alban Chevalier du Fau’s Channel Consignment, which will send 12 fillies and mares through the ring, including Graciously (GB) (Shamardal), a half-sister to G1 Falmouth S. winner Giofra (Fr) (Dansili {GB}) who is being sold as lot 119 in foal to Invincible Spirit (Ire). Also among the draft is Red Whisper (Fr) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}), a dual winner at three from the family of Tin Horse (lot 29), and the G3 Prix Chloe winner Wilside (Ire) (Verglas {Ire}), now 13 and the dam of stakes winner Sarigan (Fr) (Teofilo {Ire}). She is being sold with a late May cover to Wootton Bassett (GB) as lot 122. Among five mares to be offered in foal to Le Havre (Ire) is the Group 3-placed Mark Of An Angel (Ire) (Mark Of Esteem {Ire}), the dam of GIII Santa Barbara S. and G3 Park Express S. winner Queen Blossom (Jeremy). From the Fairway Consignment draft, she will sell tomorrow as lot 368. A late call-up to the sale is the 3-year-old Forestiere (Fr) (Rajsaman {Fr}), a half-sister to La Sardane (Fr) (Kingsalsa), whose race record stretches to wins at group and graded level in France and America. She is slated as a wild card in the draft of the Garcon family’s Haras de la Hotellerie as lot 125. The Channel Consignment will sell the only other wild card (lot 65), the 3-year-old filly Karma Seeker (Ire), by Oasis Dream (GB) out of a listed-winning half-sister to the Champion Hurdler Katchit (GB) (Kalanisi {Ire}). Trained by Henri-Francois Devin, Karma Seeker won at Pornichet over 1700 metres on Jan. 23. The sale was extended to two days last year from a single session in 2017. Turnover thus advanced by 37% to €2,797,800 for the 281 horses who changed hands at an average price of €9,957. Trade begins each day at 10am local time. Tuesday’s withdrawals: 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, 13, 16, 23, 25, 31, 32, 37, 39, 42, 47, 48, 53, 54, 58, 59, 60, 62, 121, 126, 150, 157, 158, 174, 184, 186, 189, 190, 198, 199, 200, 205, 207, 220, 231, 233, 248. Wednesday’s withdrawals: 251, 252, 261, 275, 284, 303, 319, 320, 323, 347, 366, 376, 390, 392, 398, 406, 411, 429, 449, 466, 481, 491, 496, 497. View the full article

Funeral services for Ocala Equine Insurance executive Jerry Parks will be held Feb. 17 at Grace Episcopal Church, 502 S.E. Broadway Street, Ocala, Florida, at 2:00 p.m. A Celebration of Life will be held immediately following the services from 3:30-6:00 p.m. at Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Boys and Girls Club of Marion County, the Ocala Farm Ministry or Florida Thoroughbred Retirement Program/Florida Thoroughbred Charities. View the full article

Canterbury Park has unveiled enhanced incentive programs to attract race-ready Thoroughbreds to its upcoming meeting. The programs are designed to reward those that arrive and start horses early in the meet, pay more purse money to all starters throughout the 66 days of racing, and help with costs of shipping through a loan program. Under the incentives, every Thoroughbred starter in all overnight races will be guaranteed 1% of the purse, or $250, whichever is greater with the intent of providing purse money to cover a greater percentage of race-day costs. In addition, every Thoroughbred starter in all overnight races during the first condition book (May 3-June 2) will earn an additional $250 participation bonus. Canterbury Park will again offer a shipping loan program to qualified applicants who arrive prior to the start of the 2019 racing season. Shipping loan applications will be due with stall applications and will be reviewed by the stall allocation committee. The committee will authorize up to $25,000 per owner to cover the cost of horse transportation to Canterbury Park. The loan will be repaid through an agreement between the successful applicant and Canterbury Park. Full terms and conditions are available with the 2019 stall application. “Competition for horses is fierce across the country,” track president Randy Sampson said. “Shipping horses from meet to meet is a cost of doing business, but it is also an upfront cost that can create a cash-flow challenge. With the loan program, we are looking to erase that barrier, help trainers ship their stock to Canterbury, and with the purse structure here, repay that loan throughout the meet.” Canterbury’s 2019 season opens May 3 and the first condition book, listing races to be run through June 2, is now available. Total purses are projected to exceed $14.25 million, with a per-day average of approximately $215,000. View the full article

Sparky Ville (Candy Ride {Arg})’s win in Sunday’s GII San Vicente S. secured a $7,500 Keeneland September Sale Seller Bonus for breeder Marie Jones. The September Sale Seller Bonus Program, initiated by Keeneland in 2017, offers cash rewards to sellers of horses sold at the September Sale who win graded stakes at two or three. Sellers receive cash rewards based on the following criteria: $10,000 Seller Bonus for the first Grade/Group 1 stakes win; $7,500 for the first Grade/Group 2 win; and $5,000 for the first Grade/Group 3 victory. Trainer Jeff Bonde, on behalf of Del Secco DCS Racing, purchased Sparky Ville after the chesnut RNA’d for $170,000 at the 2017 Keeneland September sale. View the full article

While War of Will delivered a dominating performance in the Lecomte Stakes (G3) Jan. 19 at Fair Grounds, that effort failed to scare off any competition as the son of War Front is expected to face 13 rivals in the Risen Star Stakes (G2). View the full article

No foot, no horse–an adage that’s as true now as when the world’s first plough-horse was sidelined with a stone bruise. And while that same adage could be repurposed for almost any part of the horse’s anatomy, it’s the foot that bears the load. The hero’s yoke. Of all the farriers around the nation’s backstretches toiling away on those four surprisingly delicate parts of the racehorse, few have been as highly sought-after for as long as Wes Champagne. Nearly 40 years ago, Champagne was an exercise rider who, too big to follow in the boots of his jockey father, went to blacksmith school near Sacramento. Forty years later, he boasts a client list that started early on with Laz Barrera and never dipped in quality thereafter. Trainers like Charlie Whittingham, Bobby Frankel, Neil Drysdale, Richard Mandella, Bob Baffert, John Sadler. Horses like Tiffany Lass, Mister Frisky, Malek, Labeeb, Fusaichi Pegasus, Megahertz, Medaglia d’Oro, Game on Dude. Four years ago, Champagne was the man responsible for American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile)’s Triple Crown-winning dancing shoes. Champagne repeated the dose this year, putting the aluminum glint to Justify (Scat Daddy)’s comet-like career. His most recent high-profile client? A little horse by the name of Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky), who didn’t do too shabby for himself last year. The following are some of the topics Champagne touched on in a wide-ranging conversation with the TDN, from the evolution of shoeing during the nearly four decades he’s been doing it, to some of the more innovative shoeing techniques he’s helped pioneer, and the ever-changing understanding of racehorse soundness. {"id":3,"instanceName":"Articles No Playlist","videos":[{"videoType":"HTML5","title":"A Day With Wes Champagne","description":"","info":"","thumbImg":"","mp4":"https://player.vimeo.com/external/316414536.sd.mp4?s=06c58846e031fb21f34721ad7066be55ee4e55fb&profile_id=165","enable_mp4_download":"no","prerollAD":"yes","prerollGotoLink":"prerollGotoLink","preroll_mp4_title":"preroll_mp4_title","preroll_mp4":"https://player.vimeo.com/external/304447547.sd.mp4?s=f8ac62ab8b2633ce10aed0dcb482a7f2d787cbe7&profile_id=165","prerollSkipTimer":"5","midrollAD":"no","midrollAD_displayTime":"midrollAD_displayTime","midrollGotoLink":"midrollGotoLink","midroll_mp4":"midroll_mp4","midrollSkipTimer":"midrollSkipTimer","postrollAD":"no","postrollGotoLink":"postrollGotoLink","postroll_mp4":"postroll_mp4","postrollSkipTimer":"postrollSkipTimer","popupAdShow":"no","popupImg":"popupImg","popupAdStartTime":"popupAdStartTime","popupAdEndTime":"popupAdEndTime","popupAdGoToLink":"popupAdGoToLink"}],"instanceTheme":"light","playerLayout":"fitToContainer","videoPlayerWidth":720,"videoPlayerHeight":405,"videoRatio":1.7777777777778,"videoRatioStretch":true,"videoPlayerShadow":"effect1","colorAccent":"#000000","posterImg":"","posterImgOnVideoFinish":"","logoShow":"No","logoPath":"","logoPosition":"bottom-right","logoClickable":"No","logoGoToLink":"","allowSkipAd":true,"advertisementTitle":"Ad","skipAdvertisementText":"Skip Ad","skipAdText":"You can skip this ad in","playBtnTooltipTxt":"Play","pauseBtnTooltipTxt":"Pause","rewindBtnTooltipTxt":"Rewind","downloadVideoBtnTooltipTxt":"Download video","qualityBtnOpenedTooltipTxt":"Close settings","qualityBtnClosedTooltipTxt":"Settings","muteBtnTooltipTxt":"Mute","unmuteBtnTooltipTxt":"Unmute","fullscreenBtnTooltipTxt":"Fullscreen","exitFullscreenBtnTooltipTxt":"Exit fullscreen","infoBtnTooltipTxt":"Show info","embedBtnTooltipTxt":"Embed","shareBtnTooltipTxt":"Share","volumeTooltipTxt":"Volume","playlistBtnClosedTooltipTxt":"Show playlist","playlistBtnOpenedTooltipTxt":"Hide playlist","facebookBtnTooltipTxt":"Share on Facebook","twitterBtnTooltipTxt":"Share on Twitter","googlePlusBtnTooltipTxt":"Share on Google+","lastBtnTooltipTxt":"Go to last video","firstBtnTooltipTxt":"Go to first video","nextBtnTooltipTxt":"Play next video","previousBtnTooltipTxt":"Play previous video","shuffleBtnOnTooltipTxt":"Shuffle on","shuffleBtnOffTooltipTxt":"Shuffle off","nowPlayingTooltipTxt":"NOW PLAYING","embedWindowTitle1":"SHARE THIS PLAYER:","embedWindowTitle2":"EMBED THIS VIDEO IN YOUR SITE:","embedWindowTitle3":"SHARE LINK TO THIS PLAYER:","lightBox":false,"lightBoxAutoplay":false,"lightBoxThumbnail":"","lightBoxThumbnailWidth":400,"lightBoxThumbnailHeight":220,"lightBoxCloseOnOutsideClick":true,"onFinish":"Play next video","autoplay":false,"loadRandomVideoOnStart":"No","shuffle":"No","playlist":"Off","playlistBehaviourOnPageload":"opened (default)","playlistScrollType":"light","preloadSelfHosted":"none","hideVideoSource":true,"showAllControls":true,"rightClickMenu":true,"autohideControls":2,"hideControlsOnMouseOut":"No","nowPlayingText":"Yes","infoShow":"No","shareShow":"No","facebookShow":"No","twitterShow":"No","mailShow":"No","facebookShareName":"","facebookShareLink":"","facebookShareDescription":"","facebookSharePicture":"","twitterText":"","twitterLink":"","twitterHashtags":"","twitterVia":"","googlePlus":"","embedShow":"No","embedCodeSrc":"","embedCodeW":720,"embedCodeH":405,"embedShareLink":"","youtubeControls":"custom controls","youtubeSkin":"dark","youtubeColor":"red","youtubeQuality":"default","youtubeShowRelatedVideos":"Yes","vimeoColor":"00adef","showGlobalPrerollAds":false,"globalPrerollAds":"url1;url2;url3;url4;url5","globalPrerollAdsSkipTimer":5,"globalPrerollAdsGotoLink":"","videoType":"HTML5 (self-hosted)","submit":"Save Changes","rootFolder":"http:\/\/wp.tdn.pmadv.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/Elite-video-player\/"} Tempering “If you had to ask me what the main difference between farriers of the past and today is, I would say we’ve become installers of pre-manufactured shoes versus hand-made horseshoes,” Champagne said, pointing to rise of the pre-manufactured shoe, designed, like human shoes, for different-shaped, different-sized horses. Not that he’s complaining. “You can’t beat the manufactured shoe. They’re not off one one-hundredths of an inch. I can pull a shoe off, go right back in the same nail holes the next month if I need to. There’s no way you can duplicate that.” At the same time, these shoes have become heavier, sturdier over the years. More rigid. “They used to be much thinner, where you could just literally bend it in your hands. Now you can’t budge it,” he said. This has introduced some challenges, however. “You want that foot to be pliable,” he said, working an actual hoof like a hunk of stiff rubber to illustrate his point. “Out of the factory it’s just too rigid–it locks the foot up too much.” And so, Champagne takes the hardness–the “temper”–out of the aluminum shoe in the forge. “By heating them in the fire and then cooling them really quick, you can make them soft so you can bend them in your hands.” It’s still not a perfect system. Along the widest portion of the foot, the shoe should be “relatively stable and solid,” he said, while the shoe around the heel should be more flexible. “No one’s developed a shoe right now that’s like that.” Nevertheless, Champagne believes that by removing the stiffness from the modern shoe this way, he’s seeing important benefits. Yes, “sprung” shoes–where a shoe snags and bends out of shape–are more common once the aluminum has had its “temper” removed. “But if I left the shoe solid, that might have been an injury instead.” As shoes became heavier, more rigid, Champagne noticed an increase in suspensory injuries. He believes this has something to do with the role that suspensory tendons play–that of a shock absorber in the lower leg. So, the more rigid the shoe is, the more it impacts the natural movement of the foot. And the more it impacts the natural movement of the foot, the more it alters the working mechanics of the suspensory tendons. The evidence, Champagne said, supports his thinking. Since softening his shoes this way, he’s noticed a “75%” reduction in suspensory injuries. “I used to get them all the time,” he said. “Upper suspensory, lower suspensory. Now, I don’t hear of it, or only very rarely. There really is something to the pliability of the shoe.” Length, Toe, Heel Compared to a few decades ago, racehorse feet are getting bigger, Champagne said. “In the ’80s, for instance, most horses had size five and sixes. Real small feet. Today, most everything’s a size seven and a lot of eights. Feet have gotten a lot bigger.” Whereas before, farriers largely considered small feet a necessary foundation to soundness, that thinking no longer holds sway, he said. At least in general. On the East Coast, where “the tracks are a lot more forgiving,” farriers tend to trim the feet smaller, he said. But on the harder West Coast tracks, “if you start cutting the feet too short, they can’t handle it,” he said. “The main thing is just making sure they’re balanced and they that have support.” Is there a basic formula that governs the balance of the foot? The shoe should be centered in the very middle of the foot, “and you can gauge that by the frog,” Champagne said. “The frog will never lie to you–it’ll sit over the very center of the coffin bone.” This is where the heel comes into play. In the past, Champagne said, farriers tended to fit shoes “very tight” and “wrap” them around the heel, which is where the greatest force on the foot during each stride is exerted. Whereas now, “we’ve learned what is most important is to get the shoe back under the foot, and the heel of the shoe back under the widest point of the frog.” As a result, “we get much less tendons than we used to get,” he added. “They’re rare now. I think that’s one of the things that has helped the horse more than anything.” High Speed Pain Likewise, conventional wisdom has been to over-trim the toe, Champagne said. By doing that, however, “you start shifting the weight to the front of the limb. The pressure just doesn’t go away–you’re basically moving it from one area to another. Everything has to work in harmony.” It’s a practice that raises eyebrows, especially among trainers. But in most cases where the toe looks long, it rarely is–it’s that the heel is too short, Champagne said. “The first thing a trainer will tell you when they see a horse like that, ‘you’ve got to get the toe off.’ They think you can just shape it anyway you want, like a block of wood. You can’t. There’s a lot of components inside the hoof and you have to take that into consideration. The hoof capsule is like a shell similar in thickness to a coconut. It’s only so thick.” Which leads to an interesting concept of Champagne’s–what he coins “high speed pain,” the notion that horses only feel certain types of pain when they’re extended at full race-pace. “Dr. Allday [the world-renowned equine veterinarian] once told me, if a horse runs the first part of a race and he stops in the stretch, it’s always one of three things: It’s either they’ve lost their air, their hocks are hurting, or their feet are hurting. If their ankles, knees or anything else is hurting, they won’t even run the first part of the race.” The long-held consensus behind the short-trimmed toe is that it promotes soundness. But that concept is fundamentally flawed, said Champagne. That’s because, “if a horse gets a little sore it doesn’t want to run that fast again. It starts to protect itself,” he said. “Say your horse is shooting 12 [seconds a furlong] and he’s sound. Then he’s going 11 [seconds a furlong] and he starts feeling that pain. Horses, they’re smart,” Champagne added. “He’ll never run an 11 again. He’ll run in 12 because he knows if he goes that speed he won’t hurt. Glue-On Shoes Champagne is the pioneer of glue-on shoes, now a staple of the backstretch. “Yeah, I started the whole thing,” he said. An early high-profile poster child of his was Fusaichi Pegasus–the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby with glue-on shoes. The idea sprung in the early 1990s from a horse of trainer Vladimir Cerin’s, who had lost “half her foot.” And so, unable to nail the shoe on using traditional methods, the light-bulb pinged when he saw “someone playing around with a glue” which, at the time, was used in robotics and the auto and aircraft industries. “I put a few nails in the foot and then filled that all in with glue, and when I came back the next month to try to get it off, I couldn’t. So, I literally went down and bought a hacksaw and I cut between [the hoof and the shoe] to get it off, and right there I knew I had it because I didn’t even need nails.” he said. “I started playing with it and then figured out part of the holding power was is in the heels.” There were any number of bugs to work out–how glue, for example, hated iodine, which was used more prevalently back then to harden the sole and toughen and disinfect the frog. However, “after the glue-on shoes everything took off. People started trying to be innovative with plastics, rubber shoes, glue-on plastic shoes. It just started a whole craze.” The way Champagne uses glue-on shoes hasn’t changed much over the years, though new plastics have since been developed with which “we can virtually build a whole new foot.” Nevertheless, he’s in two minds as to their long-term impact on the sport, and the breed itself. On the one hand, horses that “would never made it make it” are subsequently funneled into breeding shed, “so it’s kind of backfiring on us in that respect.” And yet, when he fixes an unsound horse, “there’s a real satisfaction there. I think it’s helped a lot of pain and suffering–horses that were being pinched on a daily basis due to thin hoof walls.” Blacksmith Buddy Another of Champagne’s innovations is the Blacksmith Buddy, an anatomically correct prosthetic leg with a detachable and recyclable hoof, for use by trainee farriers. As explained on his website, “while live horses can only be worked on once every six to eight weeks, the Blacksmith Buddy can be put to use anytime, anywhere.” The contraption–remarkably lifelike, aesthetically too–took about a year-and-a-half to develop, and required the input from a variety of experts. An engineer who works at Harvard. A BMW body design expert. A prosthetist who works with the Navy. Special effects experts from the movie industry. “It was a lot of work.” Almost every veterinary hospital in the world, except Cornell, uses the limb, Champagne added. “I have them in China. I have them in Australia. I have one in St. Kitts Islands.” They’ve been especially well-received, he said, at blacksmith schools–just ask the director of the Pacific Coast Horseshoeing School (the current iteration of Champagne’s Alma Mater). “He told me the difference is phenomenal for him because, when he takes his students to the horse for the first time, they already know how to use their tools–they’re not fumbling with their rasps,” Champagne said. “They already know how to use their tools and work around the horse.” View the full article

Canterbury Park officials recently announced enhanced incentives to lure trainers and owners with race-ready Thoroughbreds to the Shakopee, Minn. racetrack. View the full article

Not on the radar for most British punters, Angers gets top billing on Monday. A city in western France of just 150,000 inhabitants, the racecourse itself plays host to all types of racing, flat jumps and even trot. For this Monday’s fixture though racing fans will have to settle for three chases and followed by […] The post French Racing Preview – Angers Racecourse 11th February appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Addressing your thoughts, questions and statements about Hong Kong racing. Have something to say? Send a tweet to @SCMPRacingPost. Farewell to the legend Douglas Whyte – @LeeMingDonald The parade ring was as full as it ever is for the final race of a meeting, packed with punters wanting to give Douglas Whyte an appropriate send-off after all he had achieved. Now, it is fair to say the grizzled punters at Sha Tin can be fickle – this is the same group of people who booed the 13-time... View the full article

Me Tsui Yu-sak’s Telecom Brothers has been somewhat of a surprise packet this season with three wins and connections are in line for an added bonus if the astute trainer can extract one more victory from the four-year-old. The Hong Kong Airlines Million Challenge concludes at Happy Valley on Wednesday night and Telecom Brothers is within reach of the HK$650,000 first prize. The gelding sits in third place on 55 points, behind only Country Star (66) and Red Warrior (64), but with the John... View the full article

With five different leaders in the final round, it was a fast-and-furious finish to the 20th NTRA National Horseplayers Championship (NHC), presented by Racetrack Television Network, STATS Race Lens and Treasure Island Las Vegas. In the end, the 34-year-old, first-time qualifier Scott Coles picked an 11-1 winner in the penultimate race of the tournament that vaulted him to victory and an $800,000 first-prize award. The Chicago-based futures trader has been handicapping for less than a decade and playing tournaments only for the past 2 1/2 years. “It was my first NHC, and navigating through it was interesting,” Coles said with a laugh. “I didn’t know how to bet on the machines, I didn’t know where anything was. But once I got comfortable, it was just handicapping, and I was fortunate enough to have the right horse at the right time.” Coles’s strategy through the tournament was to just pick winners, regardless of price. “I was just trying to play the best horse as much as possible,” he said. “A lot of people were playing long shots, but I was trying to not watch the odds as much, pick winners and keep moving up, knowing that if you get to the Final Table, how close the pack was, anything could happen. I was playing smaller fields where other people wouldn’t. If I saw a price in a small field, you’d have a higher probability of winning in my opinion. I was doing what I do at work–running the numbers and figuring probabilities instead of trying to out-handicap some of the greatest handicappers in the world. I hope to get to that level some day, but for now I just have to rely on strategy and being a competitor.” Coles amassed a bankroll of $367 over the three-day tournament, besting runner-up Jim Meeks at $356.60. Meeks, Joe Perry, Steven Simonovic and J. Randy Gallo all took turns leading in the final round, which was comprised of seven mandatory races, the last of which was the scratch-depleted finale at Santa Anita. That put added emphasis on the race prior, the eighth at Golden Gate, and Coles positioned himself for the win by selecting the 11-1 I Love Romance (Black Seventeen). He then sealed victory by picking the short-priced winner of the final race. Rounding out the tournament’s Top 10 was Jim Meeks, Mathew Vagvolgyi, J. Randy Gallo, Steven Simonovic, Joe Perry, last year’s champion Chris Littlemore, Robert Gilbert, Marshall Gramm, and Frank Drew. An attorney, Coles said that, with the $800,000 score, paying off his law-school loans was high on the list of priorities. “But honestly the championship itself means the most,” he said. “Winning a prestigious tournament like this is a dream.” Gramm Checks in Ninth at NHC It’s been a big year in Thoroughbred racing for Marshall Gramm. The economics professor and co-founder of Ten Strike Racing was represented by the stable’s first Grade I winner last June when Long On Value (Value Plus) won the GI Highlander S. at Woodbine. His homebred Dot Matrix (Freud) became a stakes winner a month later. Then in November, Gramm and his Ten Strike partners sold Divine Elegance (Uncle Mo), a $50,000 claim, for $750,000 in foal to Tapit at Fasig-Tipton November. Gramm capped things off with a huge run at the NHC. As one of only four people to have both of their entries make the semi-final–or top 67 entries–Gramm came into Sunday’s action as a Top 10 performer and was in 7th as they moved on to the Final Table. He wasn’t able to make up any ground on the leaders in the final round, though, and checked in ninth. “Listen, I feel blessed–I’ve had a great year,” he said. “I feel very thankful for my partners at Ten Strike Racing, especially my founding partner Clay Sanders. We’ve had a lot of fun. And there are a lot of people that take part in the process. Our trainers, our stable manager and agent Liz Crow, and then there are all my friends who help me with handicapping. The one great thing about the NHC is that it’s a horseplayers convention. I came here five years ago with Clay and another buddy, and the second year I came back, I knew no one. I’d got out to dinners by myself. Now, some of my closest friends are people I met here. I really enjoy that aspect of this event.” Gramm will hope to keep the momentum rolling on Saturday with recent stakes winner Harlan Punch (Harlan’s Holiday), who goes in the GIII Mineshaft S. at Fair Grounds. Connections have said that a good effort punches his ticket to the $1.5 million G2 Godolphin Mile in Dubai Mar. 30. Lookin At Lee Owners Take NHC Ride Michael Levinson didn’t make much of an impact on the leaderboard during his NHC run, but the Tulsa, Oklahoma resident cashed a long series of side bets at the Treasure Island ballroom. More importantly, he had a weekend to remember alongside his father Lee, who accompanied him to the NHC. The Levinsons are more familiar to the racing world as the owners of Lookin At Lee (Lookin At Lucky), who ran second to Always Dreaming (Bodemeister) in the 2017 Kentucky Derby at odds of 33-1. Levinson narrowly missed the NHC cut by finishing 21st in the live-money Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge at Churchill Downs, but a defection bumped them into the Top 20 and earned them a trip to Vegas. It was Levinson’s first NHC appearance. “We’re having a great time,” said Levinson. “My dad’s been taking me to the track since I was five, and we handicap together quite a bit.” Lee and Michael Levinson race under the banner of L & N Racing, which they operate with Michael’s brother, Andrew, and Don Nelson, a family friend from the Tulsa area. Michael is L & N’s racing manager. The Levinsons are primarily involved in the oil and gas industry. Lee, an attorney, also co-owns a cigarette-manufacturing company. Lee has owned horses for over three decades, but L & N was formed just four years ago. “Lookin At Lee was from our first crop of horses,” said Michael. The Levinsons do most of their own selection at auction, with Lookin At Lee’s trainer Steve Asmussen offering advice, as well. They found Lookin At Lee at the Penn Sales consignment and secured him for a modest $70,000. “That was the first time we’d been to a sale and we really didn’t know what we were doing, but we liked him when he came out and he was in our price range, so we took a shot on him,” said Michael. That shot paid off in spades. Lookin At Lee was a stakes winner at two, ran second in both the GIII Iroquois S. and GI Breeders’ Futurity, and then was fourth in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. At three, he was third in the GIII Southwest S. and GI Arkansas Derby before nearly overcoming the dreaded one hole in the Derby. He was beaten 2 3/4 lengths by Always Dreaming, with a five-length gap back to Battle of Midway (Smart Strike). “Coming around the turn he was in 16th or 17th and passed most of the field, and it was the first horse in 20-plus years to place from the one post,” said Michael. “It was an incredible experience and we hope to get back again.” Lookin At Lee raced five times in 2018, winning a Churchill allowance on the Derby undercard, but was given some time off to address a breathing problem following a fourth in the Michael G. Schaefer Memorial S. at Indiana Downs in July. Asmussen’s father Keith handled the lay-up duties. Lookin At Lee now has a series of four- and five-furlong drills at Sam Houston. “He’ll probably start in an optional allowance at Oaklawn with the ultimate goal being the GI Oaklawn H.,” said Michael. “He ran fifth last year and just missed third by half a length, but City of Light and Accelerator aren’t there this year.” Lookin At Lee has earned in excess of $1.1 million. The Levinsons hope to make a more international splash this spring with the 3-year-old colt Tone Broke (Broken Vow), who after starting his career in the States, shipped over for the Dubai World Cup Carnival. Tone Broke, who is trained by Asmussen, won a maiden special and allowance race at Remington Park last fall. Fourth in the Springboard Mile, he reemerged in the deserts of Dubai and came home sixth in his initial go in a Meydan conditions event Jan. 24. “He’ll run again Mar. 9, and if he runs better, hopefully can make the G2 UAE Derby,” said Michael. “He’s a Canadian-bred, too, so we’ve got some options there.” Tone Broke was a $40,000 Keeneland September grad. L & N ramped up its buying at the sales last year, landing eight yearlings in total. At September, they purchased a Speightstown half-brother to the GSW J Boys Echo (Mineshaft) for $100,000 and a Ghostzapper colt from a half to GISW Shaman Ghost (Ghostzapper) for $130,000. “And we’ve got yearlings by American Pharoah, City Zip, and Lookin at Lucky,” said Michael. “Steve’s dad is breaking the horses in Laredo.” For Lee, the allure of racing is simple. “We just like the thrill of it all,” he said. View the full article

It was apparent immediately after the break that jockey Joel Rosario had a clear plan aboard Del Secco DCS Racing's Sparky Ville in the $200,000 San Vicente Stakes (G2) Feb. 10 at Santa Anita Park. View the full article

With the Kentucky Derby still 12 weeks away, the pari-mutuel field of "All Other 3-Year-Olds" closed as the 5-2 favorite in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager and the unbeaten champion 2-year-old Game Winner was the 5-1 second choice. View the full article

Trainer Bret Calhoun scored his 3,000th career victory Feb. 10 at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots when Douglas Scharbauer's Most Mischief got the best of a blanket photo finish in the eighth race. View the full article

Sparky Ville (g, 3, Candy Ride {Arg}–Lorelei K, by Storm Cat) upset the more-fancied Bob Baffert duo, closing furiously to splash ahead of Dessman (Union Rags) in the final strides as 3-5 favorite Coliseum (Tapit) toiled home a distant third in the GII San Vicente S. at Santa Anita Sunday. Sent off at 7-1, the chestnut gelding chased the pacesetters from the rail as Coliseum rushed up after a slow start to press Savagery (Bellamy Road) on the front end. Coliseum and Dessman moved in tandem to overtake the pacesetter at the top of the stretch, with Coliseum quickly flattening out and leaving his stablemate to sail clear. But Sparky Ville uncorked a powerful late rally to just get a head in front on the line, completing the seven furlongs in 1:21.93. Sparky Ville, a maiden winner at Santa Anita last June, was second behind Instagrand (Into Mischief) in the GII Best Pal S. and sixth in the GI Del Mar Futurity before returning to the winner’s circle in the 6 1/2-furlong Sunny Slope S. He was third behind Mucho Gusto (Mucho Macho Man) in the Nov. 17 GIII Bob Hope S. and was returning to the main track after finishing sixth in the Dec. 28 Eddie Logan S. last time out. Breeder Aaron Jones purchased Lorelei K, a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Graeme Hall (Dehere) and Harmony Lodge (Hennessy), for $1.5-million at the 2007 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The unraced mare died in 2017. Sparky Ville RNA’d for $170,000 at KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 8-3-1-2, $257,770. O-Del Secco DCS Racing. B-Aaron & Marie Jones LLC (Ky). T-Jeff Bonde. View the full article

Child's Play: Review of weekend's eye-catchers View the full article

Four days after British racing was placed on lockdown after the first three of a total six horses tested positive for equine influenza, a further four positive tests have been returned from the yard of trainer Simon Crisford in Newmarket. More to follow. View the full article

It’s official: The Saratoga Race Course meet will be starting earlier than ever in 2019, on July 11. It took the pending construction of a massive hockey arena some 150 feet from the Belmont Park paddock to push the New York Racing Association (NYRA) into a safety-related scheduling switch, but the issue of extending Saratoga’s historic race meet has been openly debated as an inevitability for years. The chief arguments against tinkering with America’s premier boutique meet have always been aesthetic: Does too much of a good thing cease to be a “good thing” if stretched too thin? Will Saratoga’s vibe, ambience, charm, and racing product all suffer to some watered-down degree now that the season will last nearly eight weeks? From an economic standpoint though, the earlier start seems to make sense because of the breathing room it affords the overall racing calendar. By keeping the number of race dates at 40 while building in a one-week earlier start date, NYRA has attempted to choose a minimally disruptive path toward elongating the Spa’s season. Opening week will feature four dates of racing; closing week will have six (winding up on Labor Day as in recent seasons), and the weeks in between will all feature five-day weeks, with Mondays and Tuesdays now dark. Barring adverse weather, any July week of racing at Saratoga is bound to out-handle Belmont. And not having to fill an extra ten races per week should result in more robust field sizes. Saratoga had been the last major-meet holdout to six-day race weeks, and the strain showed in recent seasons, both in terms of quality and quantity. Adjusting to primarily five-day weeks in a sensible move. Although the Saratoga stakes schedule has yet to be announced, the extra week could theoretically help certain divisions, particularly the trio of male and female 2-year-old graded dirt races that are traditionally run on opening and closing weekends, plus a middle weekend in between. Juveniles can now more realistically target two of the races in that series, and there should be additional maiden-breakers generated to help fill the ranks. The Saratoga season annually means long days for backstretch workers, and the additional non-racing day each week should afford everyone behind the scenes a bit of a breather. Finding rental housing in and around town will probably get a touch tighter and expensive for anyone who has to work the entire meet, and there could be logistical problems for racetrackers who already entered lease agreements based on last season’s template of rental dates. Away from the track, the business community is generally all for the earlier start because that means more customers in restaurants, bars, and hotel rooms. But a skim of the upstate New York news coverage on the expanded season does reveal that some business owners are concerned about finding and retaining good help in an already tight labor market. Regardless of what happens at the Spa, there will still be ripple-effect issues at Belmont. Construction on the arena could mean late-afternoon twilight post times, and a portion of the Belmont fall meet could get shifted to Aqueduct. These woes could last for at least two years. When the concept of a $1-billion hockey arena next to Belmont was announced in December 2017, NYRA officials were quick to tout how great the “partnership” between the arena and the racetrack would be. It was telling, though, that the words “horse racing” were never mentioned once by New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo or any representative from the arena at that hastily arranged press conference in Belmont’s unheated Turf and Field Club. It’s not much of a partnership if both sides don’t recognize and respect the other’s role. Chris Kay, who at the time was NYRA’s president and chief executive officer, told TDN the day the arena deal was unveiled that “this is a very significant and historic day for racing.” He also said he hoped that horsemen’s concerns over construction interfering with racing and training would be “minimal.” Kay abruptly resigned from his position last month for reasons that have not been officially disclosed. Let’s hope his overly enthusiastic predictions don’t turn out to be prophetic for the wrong reasons. Even though the media focus right now is on the expanded Saratoga season, the long-term headaches for historic Belmont could turn out to be more viable economic and aesthetic threats to the sport in New York than starting Saratoga one week earlier. Graveyard of (Davis) Favorites? In terms of the GI Kentucky Derby prep-race path, Tampa Bay Downs enjoys a comfortable niche as a B-level track capable of drawing A-level horses for its two top stakes races for aspiring sophomores. But in recent seasons, the GIII Sam F. Davis S. has not been kind to highly regarded layoff horses, as six of the last eight favorites for that stakes have gone down in defeat after Saturday’s 7-1 wire job by Well Defined (With Distinction). GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile runner-up Knicks Go (Paynter), backed to 19-10 in the betting, seemed primed to pounce while stalking in second for most of the race. But he never showed any true spark in the Davis, struggling home fifth. His stock as a Derby contender took a serious hit, accentuating the open question of whether or not he can replicate his long-shot heroics in Grade I races as a juvenile against a more seasoned cast of characters at age three. Tampa can be a tricky, quirky, steeply banked sand-based surface that often plays souped-up on big race days (the last two track records for 1 1/16 miles were set consecutively on Sam F. Davis and GII Tampa Bay Derby days in 2017). Anecdotally, Tampa also seems to generate no shortage of “didn’t like the track” excuses from trainers. But also-rans can take heart: Most recently, Catholic Boy (More Than Ready) was an odds-on loser in the 2018 edition of the Davis. Yet he flourished later in the season as a dual-surface Grade I winner on both turf and dirt, including a win in the GI Travers S. at Saratoga. ‘Dream’ Big in New Orleans Knicks Go burst onto the national radar last October with a 70-1 stunner in the GI Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland. Ironically, Dream Maker (Tapit), the horse who was the beaten favorite in that race, came back off a four-month layoff to win a Fair Grounds allowance race on Saturday by a gaudy 8 1/2 lengths, re-asserting himself as a potential Classics threat. A John Oxley homebred whose female family traces several generations back to six-time Grade I winner and Eclipse Award winner Beautiful Pleasure, ‘TDN Rising Star’ Dream Maker broke his maiden on debut at Churchill Downs last June, was not badly beaten when fifth in the GI Hopeful S. at Saratoga, then lost all chance when stumbling badly at the break and getting rank in that debacle of a Keeneland stakes try. Firing fresh off the bench on Saturday as the 13-10 favorite, the Mark Casse-trained Dream Maker loped four wide on both turns, then inhaled five overmatched rivals under a moderate hand ride. “I don’t know if you saw, but after the race he took off, which speaks volumes for the future,” Casse told Horse Racing Nation Sunday. “If he is going to make the Derby–which we think he is a Derby horse–we kind of like the Tampa Bay Derby and then maybe the [GII] Blue Grass [S.]” View the full article