Wandering Eyes

What Else But You handed trainer John Size his sixth victory in the Class One Chinese New Year Cup (1,400m) at Sha Tin on Sunday but the result held far greater significance for owner Vicky Tang as she paid tribute to her late friend Lily Scheng Hsi-feng. The pair shared a love for horses until Scheng’s death last year and Tang was in tears as she celebrated What Else But You’s impressive two-length victory. “It is because this horse What Else But You is from my friend Lily,... View the full article

This week is a recap of The Factor's win in the Feb. 20, 2011 San Vicente Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park. The recap, written by Tracy Gantz, ran in the Feb. 26, 2011 magazine. View the full article

16:35 Thurles It may seem a bit of a “daft” choice finding our best bet of the day in a national hunt flat race in Ireland where the expected field of sixteen have little or no form to go through but with a lack of UK racing things aren’t all that easy! Never the less there’s a […] The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Thursday 7th February appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

I’ve had a really enjoyable week out here as I’ve been riding Thunder Snow, who is our big hope for the Carnival. It’s been a pleasure to be aboard him. He’s getting ready to defend his title in the Dubai World Cup next month, probably with a prep run in the Al Maktoum Challenge R3 beforehand. […] The post Kieren Fallon Dubai World Cup Carnival Blog appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

All race meetings in Britain have been cancelled today (Thursday) following confirmation from the Animal Health Trust late on Wednesday evening of three cases of Equine Influenza (EI) in an active racing stable. The yard in question had runners at jump meetings at Ayr and Ludlow on Wednesday. A statement from the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) read, “Horses from the infected yard have raced at Ayr and Ludlow, potentially exposing a significant number of horses from yards across the country and in Ireland. The fact that the cases have been identified in vaccinated horses presents a cause for significant concern over welfare. The potential spread of the disease and the action to cancel racing has been viewed as necessary in order to restrict, as far as possible, the risk of further spread of the disease. “The BHA has worked quickly to identify which yards could potentially have been exposed today and to identify the further actions required. The BHA is presently communicating with yards potentially exposed, to ensure appropriate quarantine and biosecurity measures are put in place and horse movements restricted to avoid potential further spread of the disease. “The full extent of potential exposure is unknown and we are working quickly to understand as much as we can to assist our decision making. The BHA is working closely with the Animal Health Trust and will issue a further update tomorrow. We recommend that any trainer who has concerns about the health status of any of their horses should contact their veterinarian.” Equine Influenza is a highly contagious disease and is considered to be the most serious respiratory virus to occur in horses in the UK. Transmission of the disease can occur through indirect contact, for example through people, and it can also be airborne over a reasonable distance. Symptoms include fever, coughing and nasal discharge. There has already been a number of reported cases across Europe this year, several of which have occurred in horses vaccinated against EI. A widespread outbreak of EI in Australia in 2007 resulted in racing being halted for three days and severe restrictions on horse movements from a number of equine properties for months. Three jumps meetings had been due to take place in Britain today at Huntingdon, Doncaster and Ffos Las as well as an all-weather Flat meeting at Chelmsford. View the full article

After a close second and hard-fought victory in a pair of maiden starts last year at Aqueduct Racetrack, Shadwell Stable homebred Haikal will make his stakes debut there Feb. 9 in the $150,000 Jimmy Winkfield Stakes. View the full article

Heliosphere takes Derby trail through Friday's Kranji Stakes B View the full article

Saraab looking to open turf account View the full article

Friday replacements for Vorster and CC Wong View the full article

Nowyousee on fast track to first 1200m turf test View the full article

Horses' test results February 5 View the full article

Early scratching February 8 View the full article

Perth jockey Joseph Azzopardi granted three-month licence View the full article

Madaket Stables, Tom Coleman, Team Hanley and Norton Herrick's multiple graded stakes winner Rymska will be the horse to beat when she kicks off her 5-year-old campaign in Saturday's $150,000 Suwannee River (G3T) at Gulfstream Park. View the full article

Trainer Ben Colebrook has seen enough from the morning works at Tampa Bay Downs by Knicks Go to make the track's path to the spring classics Plan A for his first grade 1 winner. View the full article

Older dirt horses and the 3-year-old set take centre stage at Meydan Thursday evening for the G2 Al Maktoum Challenge R2 (1900m) and the G3 UAE 2000 Guineas. And there look to be standout individuals in both races. With defending Al Maktoum Challenge winner Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}) awating Super Saturday, the race very much goes through the tough North America (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who missed by a neck to the Godolphin runner last year. The powerful bay turned the tables on the future GI Breeders’ Cup Classic third in Round 3 of the Challenge, but he missed the kick in the World Cup and did little thereafter, finishing 10th. North America returned with a vengeance in his latest, romping by nine lengths in Round 1 (1600m) of the Maktoum Challenge Jan. 10. “We think he has improved since that last run, with which we were obviously delighted,” said Bhupat Seemar, assistant trainer. “A lower draw (gate 5), would have been preferred, but it is only a small field and we could not be happier with him.” Cosmo Charlie (Stay Thirsty) enters this first 2019 in what appears to be career-best form, having handed New Trails (Medaglia d’Oro) a 7 1/4-length beating in the Listed Entisar S. over 2000m of this track Dec. 20. Phoenix Ladies Syndicate’s US Triple Crown nominee Walking Thunder (Violence) has won his three career trips to post by a combined 19 lengths and should prove tough to solve in the Guineas. “Everything we have asked of him, he has done with ease and we basically do not know how good he might be,” trainer Ahmad bi Harmash commented. “He has never been tested at home or in a race. Thursday’s race has been his first main target throughout.” The $42,000 OBS April Breezer, nine-length winner of a Jan. 10 conditions heat over Thursday’s trip, should get his stiffest challenge from fellow US-Bred Moshaher (Goldencents), who could scarcely have been more impressive breaking his maiden in his only trip to the races to date, scoring by 6 1/4 lengths going eight panels Jan. 5. “Walking Thunder looks the one to beat, but our fellow has had a great preparation and is a really smart horse,” trainer Doug Watson said. “We are very much looking forward to it.” View the full article

Officials from the European Pattern Committee (EPC) met at the offices of the British Horseracing Authority Jan. 24 and laid out its changes in the pattern via a release Wednesday. Announcing that it was “pleased to support France’s request to provide an end-of-season opportunity at Group 1 level for fillies at longer distances,” the committee approved an upgrade to the top level for ParisLongchamp’s Prix de Royallieu (2800m), which takes place on Arc weekend Oct. 5. There was a single downgrade from Group 1 status, the Premio Lydia Tesio, leaving Italy with no races at the top level. The country has also been demoted to the status of associate member of the EPC, with the hope that it will become a full member in the near future. The upgrading of the Royallieu is a continuation of commitment by the EPC to protect and enhance the programme for staying horses across Europe. This time last year, the EPC agreed to upgrade Glorious Goodwood’s Lillie Langtry S. to Group 2 status. Additionally, as part of the stayers’ project, the EPC has agreed to boost Newmarket’s Zetland S. to Group 3 level. A trio of races received hikes to Group 2 status: the Balanchine S. (6f) at The Curragh in late June; the seven-furlong City of York S. in August; and the Premio Dormello at the San Siro in October. The G1 Prix Jean Prat will see its distance shaved from a mile to seven furlongs, with the objective of making the race a target in its own right for 3-year-olds and so it may be used as a steppingstone to races like the Maurice de Gheest and/or Jacques Le Marois. There were no downgrades from Group 2, while the Zawawi Cup at Sweden’s Jagersro Racecourse was the lone demotion from Group 3. Some 24 races–14 at Pattern level and 10 Listed races–are at the risk of downgrade for 2020, including the Prix de Malleret, the Deutsches Derby, the Presidente Della Repubblica and the Topkapi Trophy. “The Committee continues to observe the highest standards of quality control and has downgraded races where necessary and put racing authorities on notice of races at risk of downgrade in 2020,” EPC Chairman Brian Kavanagh said. “Regrettably, the downgrades included Italy’s final remaining Group 1 race, the Lydia Tesio. The Committee welcomed the attendance of representatives of the Italian Ministry for Agriculture and their commitment to address the difficulties which had shrouded Italian horse racing and thoroughbred breeding in recent years. Pending completion of a series of reforms to address these difficulties, Italy will have the status of an associate member of the European Pattern. 2018 was an exciting year for Pattern racing throughout Europe and these changes will ensure that 2019 offers an improved programme.” View the full article

The legislative answer to the Maryland Stadium Authority (MSA)’s multi-year study that recently recommended a $424 razing and rebuilding of Pimlico Race Course was filed in the state Senate Feb. 4. The gist of the proposed bill? The state should conduct yet another study to figure out who might pay for what was called for in the previous study. According to a summary of SB800, the bill, if passed, would establish “the Workgroup to Study the Implementation of Phase 2 of the MSA’s Pimlico Race Course Study [and] make recommendations regarding financing options.” Six weeks ago, the MSA’s Phase 2 Pimlico study called for a sweeping plan to build a new 15/16-mile dirt track, seven-furlong turf track, grandstand, and four-story clubhouse as part of a shared-space neighborhood that would include athletic fields, commercial and residential mixed-use, and a health care campus. The focal point would be the construction of The Palio, a 300 by 500 foot public multi-use plaza designed to serve both as the once-annual saddling area for the Preakness while also hosting outdoor public concerts, performing arts, festivals, and markets. But the MSA’s detailed Phase 2 research did not address who might pay for what amounts to the most ambitious racetrack reconstruction project in America in decades. The Stronach Group (TSG), which operates both Pimlico and Laurel Park, has repeatedly expressed interest in wanting to cease all operations at Pimlico and move the second jewel of the Triple Crown to Laurel, where TSG has invested in tens of millions in upgrades in recent years. TSG management has also indicated it is not willing to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to revamp Pimlico, which last year conducted only 12 dates of racing. Baltimore’s civic officials have been emphatic about not wanting to suffer the economic consequences of losing the Preakness to Laurel, some 25 miles south of the city. The Baltimore Business Journal reported that Sen. Antonio Hayes, chairman of the Baltimore City Senate Delegation, and Sen. Jill Carter, who represents Park Heights, co-sponsored the bill on behalf of on behalf of Baltimore’s mayor, Catherine Pugh. When the Phase 2 study was released, some Maryland horsemen expressed concern that the entire issue was being framed around the threat of Baltimore’s losing the privilege and history of hosting the Preakness, and not what might be best for the state’s Thoroughbred industry as a whole. Whatever happens with the bill proposing the new study, the Preakness is unlikely to be on the move in the immediate future: The deadline for completing the new study would be Dec. 1, 2019, and by Maryland law, relocating the state’s signature horse race requires the approval of the General Assembly. View the full article

Led by unbeaten 2-year-old champion Game Winner, a total of 362 3-year-old Thoroughbreds were made eligible to compete in this year's Triple Crown series during the early nomination phase, which closed Jan. 26. View the full article

KILDARE, Ireland – The second and final session of the Goffs February Sale followed a similar script to the opening day, but it still saw some significant transactions take place. The first 40 or so lots offered in the morning were 2-year-olds, some broken, others not, and while it represents an unusual stage of a flat horse’s lifecycle to be offered–it hovers between yearling sale stage and breeze-up stage–the section still produced one of the more high-profile sales of the whole auction when an unnamed Lawman (Fr) filly sold for €110,000. While not many were rejoicing over the level of business being conducted, the sale still held its own and taking into account the reduced catalogue proceedings were more or less in line with last year. The aggregate of €3,976,150 was achieved by selling 264 of the 386 offered lots yielding a 68% clearance rate, while both the average of €15,061 and the median of €7,850 showed minor gains on last year. At the close of business Goffs CEO Henry Beeby said, “Goffs February starts each year as the preferred option for many breeders at this time of year, as it combines the largest selection of weanlings with an eclectic mix of mares and fillies with breeding potential. Yesterday’s weanlings enjoyed a vibrant trade with strong competition for the best from a huge group of pinhookers who did battle for the youngsters they feel will be the most obvious candidates for the first-choice yearling sales later in the year. Consequently, the knock-on effect is a trade that remains unforgiving for those that did not fall into that category; such is the way the market is operating at present as we clearly saw at all sales and locations through the autumn. Today’s breeding stock and mixed session has performed well with statistics that reflect the first choice nature of the sale and so we have enjoyed top prices in several categories on both days for the sales taking place at this time of year. We have been delighted to welcome a truly international group of buyers from as far afield as Uzbekistan whilst the home team has also been very active.” He continued, “Of course the catalogue was smaller by over 150 lots when compared to last year, which in turn was 120 less than in 2017, so it was unlikely were going to match the turnover. However, all the other figures show growth so we have started the year with positivity and have much to look forward to in the coming months. For now we extend our thanks to each vendor and every purchaser for their support as we are nothing without them.” Session-topping lot 298 certainly got every chance to achieve her maximum price in the ring and after a marathon game of bidding tennis between Curragh trainer Michael O’Callaghan and Tom Biggs of Blandford Bloodstock, it was the former who emerged victorious after a bid of €110,000. The Lawman (Fr) filly was offered by Baroda & Colbinstown to dissolve a partnership and boasts a regal back pedigree, being out of La Divina (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells), a full-sister to champions Islington (Ire) and Greek Dance (Ire). Michael O’Callaghan has built up a quality squad to go to war with this year and he reported, “I’ve bought her to race for an existing client, she is a lovely filly and has a great pedigree. She has been in pre-training with David Myerscough so she has plenty of ground work done.” O’Callaghan signed for the filly under Moran Stud Farm, a name which also cropped up later on as the buyer of lot 380 Myopic (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}). The winning half-sister to stakes winner Twitch (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}) was offered in foal to Kodiac (GB) and was hammered down for €95,000. The consigning team of David Cox and David Myerscough offered another attractive proposition in lot 318 Vrai (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), and they were duly rewarded when the 3-year-old filly was snapped up by Mick Flanagan for €75,000. The half-sister to Lilbourne Lad (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) has shown consistent form in both France and England, placing three times and her appeal was heightened by the future prospects of her year younger half-sister by Gleneagles (Ire) who sold for 300,000gns as a yearling last year. “She is a lovely moving filly with a great pedigree and she will most likely be covered by New Bay (GB),” reported Flanagan afterwards. The €75,000 mark was also reached when BBA Ireland’s Eamonn Reilly signed for lot 333 Stellar Mass (Ire), the multiple stakes winning 6-year-old entire offered by Jim Bolger’s Glebe House Stables. Goffs Scandinavia agent Filip Zwicky had his heart set on acquiring one mare in particular in the catalogue and his conviction was rewarded when lot 389, First Spirit (First Defence) was knocked down to him for €80,000. Zwicky, standing alongside a Danish client who had flown in on the day especially to see the mare, was pushed for much of the way by Matt Houldsworth, but when Zwicky countered Houldsworth’s €72,000 bid with an €8,000 rise, it was a tactic that ultimately sealed the deal for Zwicky. The unraced half-sister to Group 1 winner Announce (GB) (Selkirk) was offered by Grenane House Stud in foal to Zoffany (Ire) and the agent said, “She was the one we wanted and I thought she was the most beautiful mare with the head of a queen.” Zwicky continued, “I have bought her for JC Organisation, who are new to breeding, but who invested in some nice yearlings last year. She will go to York Stud in Denmark and the progeny will be retained to race in Scandinavia to hopefully raise the profile of racing in the region.” Mares from the draft of the Aga Khan Studs are often most sought after not only for their deep current pedigrees but also for what the pedigrees may unearth in the future. Lot 343 Shareva (Ire) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}) is a prime example and she was purchased by Tally-Ho Stud for €62,000, with Tony O’Callaghan getting the better of Hugo Merry for the 4-year-old. Shareva was placed five times for Dermot Weld and, as a daughter of Group 3 winner Shareen (Ire) (Bahri) and a half-sister to two stakes winners in Shamreen (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Shahroze (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), her breeding credentials are obvious. In addition to this, the dam has a 2-year-old filly by Iffraaj (GB) and a yearling filly by Sea The Stars (Ire) coming through the ranks and is currently in foal to Frankel (GB). According to Roger O’Callaghan Shareva will be sent straight to the breeding shed at Tally-Ho with a date with rookie stallion Kessaar (Ire) on the immediate agenda. Sean Flannery was a key member of the Goffs Bloodstock team until he decided on a major lifestyle change last year and returned to college to study medicine. But he hasn’t turned his back completely on the bloodstock business as he teamed up with his father Gerry Flannery to buy lot 373. Elshabakiya (Ire) (Diktat) was offered by Godolphin in foal to Dark Angel (Ire) and while the Flannerys had to fork out €62,000 to buy the 11-year-old, who was a black type performer in her racing days. Given the stallion will stand this year for €85,000 it seemed to represent good value. “It’s obviously an attractive cover so she will go back home [to Esker Lodge Stud] and hopefully we will be back here in November with the foal,” reported Sean Flannery. “We haven’t decided who we will cover the mare with this year, but we will discuss it over the next while.” Of his current life as a trainee doctor in the University of Limerick Flannery said, “It’s certainly different, but I’m loving it. It’s my first time back here in Goffs since I started, as I missed the November Sale probably for the first time since I was about 10 years old. I actually have an exam tomorrow, so I’m glad we got this one so I can head off now and do some study.” Following on from his major purchase of a Sea The Stars (Ire) colt on Tuesday, Avaz Ismoilov was busy again on Wednesday stockpiling bloodstock and he signed for 18 lots in total during the session, the majority of them fillies at the other end of the market compared to Tuesday’s main acquisition. Speaking to the TDN through an interpreter, Ismoilov indicated all the cheaper lots would make their way to Uzbekistan to boost that country’s breeding industry. Ismoilov purchased the former Ballydoyle trained James Cook (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}–Red Evie {Ire}, by intikhab) for 42,000gns in Newmarket last year and the plan is to acquire up to 100 fillies to support that young stallion’s career in Uzbekistan. View the full article

Keeneland and live sports lottery game provider EquiLottery Games have reached an agreement to feature races from the 2019 Keeneland Spring Meet as part of the upcoming trial run of Kentucky’s Win Place Show, the first daily U.S. lottery game based on the results of live horse racing. Due to this agreement, Kentucky Lottery players in 45 test locations across the state will be able to purchase Win Place Show tickets based on Keeneland races every day of the meet from Apr. 4-26. “We have been supportive of this initiative over the years as the EquiLottery Games team has taken this game from concept to reality,” said Keeneland CEO and President Bill Thomason. “We’re excited about the potential of this product to bring new fans to the sport of horse racing and create a new revenue stream for an industry so important to Kentucky’s economy. Keeneland is proud to support this initial trial run of Kentucky’s Win Place Show and hopes to see the game expand across Kentucky and beyond.” View the full article

Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital will host Rood & Riddle Responds, an educational seminar for people engaged in the equine industry, Feb. 28 at Embassy Suites in Lexington, Ky. Now in its 34th year, the seminar’s panel will include surgeons, internal medicine experts, podiatrists, reproduction specialists and breeding farm practitioners. “Rood & Riddle is pleased to once again sponsor a continuing education program for our many interested clients and friends,” said Dr. Tom Riddle of Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital. “The question and answer format has been extremely successful, so we are excited to continue the forum this year.” RSVP to the event by Feb. 25 to wfields@roodandriddle.com or by phone (859) 280-3316. View the full article

Led by unbeaten 2-year-old champion Game Winner, a total of 362 3-year-old Thoroughbreds were made eligible to compete in this year's Triple Crown series during the early nomination phase, which closed Jan. 26. View the full article

Bryan Pettigrew is stepping down from his position as the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sponsorship of Breeders’ Cup to pursue other interests, it was announced Wednesday. Pettigrew joined the company in 2015 and was responsible for marketing, sponsorship sales and community relations. “We appreciate Bryan’s work building the Breeders’ Cup brand and managing our partnership program. We wish him the best in his future endeavors,” said Craig Fravel, Breeders’ Cup President and CEO. View the full article

The Scottish soccer manager Bill Shankly famously rebuked people who treated his sport as a matter of life and death. “I can assure you it is much, much more important than that,” he said. In our own walk of sporting life, perhaps nobody is better qualified to introduce due perspective than Dr. David Richardson. Through a long and distinguished medical career, crowned by chairmanship of the American College of Surgeons, the University of Louisville professor has almost daily been reminded how relatively trivial are the challenges of the other environment that has always engaged his intellect. And yet he by no means disparages the right of Thoroughbreds to consume our attention and dreams. “I did big surgery,” he says. “The first liver transplants in Kentucky, for example. I ran a trauma program for years. Major surgery is extraordinarily high stakes, high risk, high reward–and a lot of pressure. But while I’ve never had to do horses for business, I’m very sympathetic with people who do. If you’ve paid a big stud fee, or bought a high-priced mare, and are counting on that to make your nut for the year, I would think that’s a very intense thing. Great when it works, terrible when it doesn’t. It’s not like life and death. But it’s certainly a lot of pressure.” That said, somehow you know that had he instead made the Turf his profession–and there must be hundreds of people who owe their lives to the fact that he did not–then he would have proved no less adept, under that pressure, than with a scalpel in his hand. How many bloodstock professionals, after all, could headline a curriculum vitae as impressively as can this “amateur” prospector? For as a young medic Richardson knew Woody Stephens as “Uncle” (albeit the trainer was actually his father’s cousin) and did a good deal of scouting on his behalf. In fairness, Henryk de Kwiatkowski wanted a Northern Dancer yearling, and at Saratoga in 1978 there was only one in the sale. Richardson had been to see Northern Dancer in Maryland and was struck by this colt’s resemblance to his sire, but demurred when Stephens–having seen the going rate at Keeneland that July–suggested they’d need a couple of million for him. “He had splints a child could see,” he recalls. “You’d have to be pretty game to pay a lot of money for a horse like that. So they opened the bidding by asking for $1 million, $2 million, you know how they do. And then they backed down and said: ‘Okay we’ll do it the hard way: $100,000.’ And Henryk bid two, and somebody bid three, and Henryk bid and they put him in at four. And he waved: ‘No, no: 310!’ The guy looked at him and laughed and said: ‘Okay, we’ll do it that way if you want.’ And nobody else ever bid.” One Sunday the following year Stephens rang Richardson and asked whether he could get a bet down. “This horse we bought last year, the Northern Dancer colt?” Stephens said. “This is the best 2-year-old I’ve had since Never Bend.” “Okay, so what’s his name?” “What’s that town they started the war over? In Poland.” “Danzig?” “Yeah, that’s it! Danzig.” Richardson asked what he had done with the horse. Stephens liked to blitz a youngster one time, in :46 or so. “Nothing,” replied Stephens. “Halves in :48. But I’m just telling you. I know this is a great horse.” And he had a little angle to work the odds. He would put up a kid rider, Joe Brocklebank. “If he falls off, I’ll shoot him,” laughed Stephens. “But if he just stays on, we’ll win. We’re going to the bank with Brocklebank!” Brocklebank is nowadays a bloodstock agent and when Richardson sees him at the sales he always exclaims that same phrase. Because it was true: Richardson acquired a share in Danzig, one that would redeem many a misadventure with other horses. Not that Danzig was a flash in the pan. When James Mills cashed in Devil’s Bag, he asked Richardson to help him find a colt with the proceeds. Of a shortlist of four yearlings, one turned out to be Gone West; another, Alysheba. “Some people knocked Gone West because he toed out pretty good on the right fore,” Richardson remembers. “But I loved the horse, and Woody loved him, so we bought him for $1.9 million for Mr. Mills. Then we bid a little on Alysheba, too, because we had enough money for two. But Woody didn’t like the broodmare sire, Lt. Stevens, so he stopped. Not a bad shortlist, though!” So the scholarly young man from rural Eastern Kentucky proved able to parlay his brains into a pastime that had fascinated him since boyhood, when he would leave friends at the Coney Island amusement park in Cincinnati to bluff his way, underage, into the adjacent River Downs racetrack. He bought his first Thoroughbred in 1975, at 30; and had his first stakes winner in 1978. “I enjoy all aspects of it,” he says with a shrug. “I like to bet; I like to breed horses; I love to race horses. Even in claiming races I still get a kick out of winning.” So while he has never relied on the Turf for his living, nor has he ever been a mere dilettante. And while he renounces any claim to knowing more than the next guy, he is prepared to credit himself for the hard yards. “That’s the one thing I will say,” he concedes. “I’ve spent tens of thousands of hours working things out. I’ve looked at thousands of yearlings. I’ve looked at broodmares, November and January, snow knee-deep or better, freezing my butt off. So to me that’s part of paying your dues, and trying to become better versed, and staying up with the game. Because if you really do that carefully, you see how sometimes horses that win races aren’t the prettiest things, or the best conformed.” Even for so cerebral a man, the grail we all seek in a horse can be no more articulated than learned from a manual. One of his racing partners, past president of the national Hereford cattle breeders’ association, persuaded Richardson to buy a couple of bulls, a few cows. “And it’s interesting: when he sees a group of 10, 15 yearlings or weanlings, he’ll pick out the best one or two,” Richardson says. “And when I’ve gone to his place and he’s put me in a field of bull calves and said: ‘Pick out some by such-and-such [a bull sire].’ And it’s got that I’m pretty good at doing that. “But a lot of it is just plain luck. I laugh when you hear an agent buying a horse because ‘it ticks all the boxes.’ Every year at Saratoga there are maiden claiming fields with one horse that cost a million bucks, another that cost $750,000, and then the winner cost $22,000, and the second $9,000. And I wonder if they ticked all the boxes, too! But that’s what makes it fun.” Especially since he has never been able to spend in his own cause the way he could for Mills or de Kwiatkowski. As he says, anybody can buy a horse for a million. What is really rewarding, then, is to turn up a runner like Northern Emerald, the Green Dancer filly he found for $55,000 who won the GI Flower Bowl S. “There are so many intangibles,” Richardson stresses. “People do heart scans. But if you think about cardiac physiology, how complex it is… They talk about heart size but the real question is how does it squeeze? What’s called the ejection fraction. How fast can it pump blood? How efficiently, in terms of oxygen use? So it’s not just heart, but lungs. So people try to assess that, too, on a treadmill. But that’s still not like running a race at distance. But even if you could get the cardiovascular bit right, then how about the legs? And the mind? You can gauge some of those things, sometimes–but it’s very hard to say how the whole package will stand up to raceday pressures.” Never mind all the environmental variables to be thrown into the equation: the right race coming up, the pace falling right. Richardson accepts that data can be validly measured across the horse population, but deplores the credulity that allows faux science to pronounce definitively on an individual. You’re far better off, he feels, just heeding those instincts you develop through experience. Take Mrs. Revere, the Grade I-placed, 12-time winner he raced in the 1980s with Dr. Hiram Polk, honoured by a Grade II turf stake at Churchill in November. As a yearling she was entered for the old September Sale–in the days when the big money at Keeneland was paid in July–and one Sunday they went out to Hermitage Farm to see how she was doing. “We just watched her for the best part of an hour,” Richardson recalls. “Probably 20 fillies round a feed tub. And she’s probably the smallest one there. But when she walked up, the others got out of the way. Round the water trough, the same thing. And then we watched her run across the field. No question, despite her size, she was the alpha female. So we just said: ‘Let’s take her out of the sale. We probably won’t get a lot for her anyway.'” Sadly, Mrs. Revere only managed one foal before succumbing to a lymphoma. But that foal was Maria Balastiere (Majestic Light)–so named for Paul Revere’s daughter, who married the first American consul to Singapore–and she won the GIII Regret S. at Churchill. “When Mrs. Revere died we were all set to breed her to Danzig,” says Richardson. “It just breaks your heart. But Maria had 10 winners from 11 foals, and I still have the sixth generation of that family now. Those are the kind of things that, to me, make it really fun.” Richardson keeps around 15 mares, nowadays including several in Louisiana. After his young stock is broken, some will stay down there–not just to profit from breeders’ awards, but to enhance their owner’s enjoyment of Cajun people, culture and cuisine. But those of adequate promise will be given a chance with Richardson’s cherished old friend Bill Mott. “The thing about Bill is that he genuinely cares about the horse,” Richardson explains. “He doesn’t push them. He may never win the [Kentucky] Derby, but he’s certainly a good enough horseman. The horse that was second in the Hopeful [Mucho (Blame)], I can see him being a Classic type this year. Bill thinks like a horse. His father was a vet. He grew up on a ranch. Had his first winner when he was 15. He puts the horse first, he’s patient, he gets the most out of what he has. And of course I’ve known him 30-plus years now, it’s always fun if you have one good enough to be with him.” Richardson notes how Stephens, similarly, was breaking horses when as young as 12. “He had no education to speak of, he could read, but not particularly well, but he was very quick, very clever, very bright,” he says. “He was such an interesting man. Later on I took care of him as a patient and we became very close.” Though now retired from clinical surgery, Richardson retains many senior roles at the university hospital. And it is astonishing, sitting in the lobby to the sales pavilion at Keeneland, to see every third or fourth person stop and hail him, their faces suddenly breaking into a smile. “Hey Doc!” Time and again, you see not just respect but affection. Often he inquires after the health of some relative in whose case he has taken a benign interest. Sometimes, inevitably, to no avail. One gentleman shakes his head. “He passed on Sunday. But thank you for everything you did.” Is that something you can ever get used to? Even after all these years? “If you do, then you’re in trouble,” Richardson replies. “I always tell the students in residence that a little bit of you will die with every patient you lose. You’ve got to be concerned but not consumed. But if you can help someone get through a hard situation, to me that’s what life’s about. This was a case of a bad cancer. But I consider it a blessing in my life that I was able to get to know this man a bit. “If you think about it, what an honour it is that people let you do these things to them. Stop their heart [during open heart surgery], hope you can get it going again. I think the hardest thing, especially for young people, is to be confident without being cocky. Boy, you get arrogant, that’s the kiss of death. But you got to be confident. You’re gonna take someone’s liver out, you sure better think you know how to sew one back in.” Possibly this is not the place to expand on Richardson’s insights into the moral and social challenges facing his profession in the 21st Century. But some are too important, in our walk of life no less than any other, to be ignored. As people live longer, for instance, will society authorize expensive treatments to improve the comfort of a centenarian with dementia? A few years ago Richardson himself faced a health crisis and–after consulting his daughter and brother, themselves also physicians–resolved not to accept dialysis if his kidneys failed. Luck was on his side: he was able to recover and tend his wife in her own last days; and happily, moreover, has since been blessed to find love again. “All these judgements are very difficult,” he says of the daily dilemmas of his calling. “I think if you’re a compassionate person it never gets easy. And if it does, then I worry about you. But it’s not just a cliche: if you do something out of love, then you never do the wrong thing. Because nobody can see the future. So nobody can ever really know for sure the right thing to do. You never know how long somebody’s going to live, what their quality of life is going to be, how an operation’s going to go. But so long as you’re trying to do it right, and you’re thinking about the patient and their family, then you don’t make a mistake. Think about how many times in our lives we are backed into doing what we’re sure is the wrong thing, and then it has worked out fine–better even than it would have been otherwise.” And perhaps that is where Richardson’s great affinity with the Turf comes in. We have all experienced exactly those kind of inadvertent twists of fortune, for better or worse, when trying to piece together the Thoroughbred puzzle. “It’s a tough business, but it’s a great sport,” Richardson said. “Horses are such wonderful creatures. I take a lot of people out to the track–we do it every year with the surgical residents–and the joy people have when they experience racing, even as novices, is amazing to see. So I hope we never lose that.” As he told his fiancee, taking her racing for the first time: “This’ll be a test…I’m pretty much all-in on this stuff!” And while he accepts that there are challenges, sometimes he feels we are too down on our own sport. “The concussion problem in NFL isn’t going to go away,” he says. “Better helmets aren’t going to fix that, the way the brain rattles around inside the skull. So that’s going to be a huge problem. Baseball’s too long, too boring. No matter what sport, you go through ebbs and flows and cycles. And I think sometimes we get a little too pessimistic. Sure there are things we need to work on. Aftercare’s a huge issue. The value of that real estate, at Santa Anita and Gulfstream. Other forms of gaming. But you go to the great tracks, on the great days, there are still very few things that beat what we do.” View the full article