Wandering Eyes

There are only a few things that are certain about the 1968 Kentucky Derby. Dancer’s Image, owned by New England car dealer Peter Fuller, crossed the finish line first. He would later be disqualified and placed last after chemists performing post-race tests from that day determined that the colt had traces of the then illegal medication phenylbutazone in his system. Saturday’s GI Kentucky Derby will be the 144th renewal of the race and Dancer’s Image remains the only horse to have ever been disqualified after an apparent victory. There’s obviously much more to the story, but every other detail leads down a road that dead-ends in a mystery. Virtually no one believes that Fuller or trainer Lou Cavalaris, two individuals who never had a hint of scandal in their careers before or after the Dancer’s Image Derby, conspired to dope their horse to win the race. How then, did the Bute get into the horse’s system? Or, perhaps, was the disqualification the result of a botched or tampered test? With so much time having passed and with most of the people involved in the story having died, these are questions that likely will never be answered. “It has bothered me to this day,” said journalist Billy Reed, who as a 24-year-old reporter in 1968 for the Louisville Courier-Journal covered the story. “Nobody, really, has ever definitely been able to say this is what happened.” Coming off a win in the Wood Memorial, Fuller’s homebred son of Native Dancer was considered one of the horses to beat in the 1968 Derby. On the advice of another of his trainers, Odie Clelland, Fuller decided to stable the horse in the barn of Dr. Alex Harthill, one of the most talented and controversial vets in racing history. In a different era in the sport, Harthill was such an influential veterinarian that not only did he have his own office on the backstretch at Churchill, but he had his own barn. It was hardly a surprise that Harthill was brought into the fold as he was widely known as the “Derby Doc.” Upon his death in 2005, Harthill said he had treated 26 Kentucky Derby winners, starting with Citation in 1948. Dancer’s Image also came out of the Wood Memorial with ankle problems and Harthill was considered the very best there was when it came to finding ways to get horses over whatever was ailing them and ready for a race. Everyone involved acknowledges that Harthill gave Dancer’s Image a shot of Bute six days before the race, but that should have been plenty of time for the drug to be completely out of the horse’s system by Derby Day. The next six days seemed to be routine ones. Dancer’s Image was in top form for the Derby and, sent off at 7-2 in the wagering, crossed the wire 1 1/2 lengths in front of Calumet Farm’s Forward Pass. For Fuller, Cavalaris, jockey Bobby Ussery and everyone else that was part of the Dancer’s Image team, the celebration did not last long. The chemists working for the Kentucky Racing Commission reported that the post-race test on Dancer’s Image came up positive for Bute. By the Monday after the Derby, Cavalaris and Fuller were informed that their horse was disqualified and placed last. “The words staggered me,” Cavalaris told Sports Illustrated in 1968. “I was spellbound. I just stood there. I’ve been in this game 21 years and I’ve never done anything wrong. I’m innocent, and so are my men. They love Dancer’s Image, just as I do.” Fuller was also staggered, but he fought back, taking the matter to the courts, basing his case on his belief that Dancer’s Image did not have anything illegal in his system and that the test was botched. It’s unclear if he believed that was the case or that someone tampered with the horse, but the latter allegation would have been much harder to prove. Getting to the bottom of what really happened was made more difficult by the rules that were in place in 1968. No split samples were made available and never was the level of Bute in the horse’s system recorded. There were no allowable threshold levels then, so any amount of the medication in Dancer’s Image’s system would have resulted in a positive. Fuller, who died in 2012, told reporters he spent $250,000 in legal fees fighting to regain his Kentucky Derby win, but five years after the race, he had exhausted all legal maneuvers and Calumet was paid the winner’s share of the Derby purse. “Until the day he passed, it still haunted my father,” said Abby Fuller, who was nine in 1968 and went on to win Grade I races for her father as the jockey of Mom’s Command. “I think he wanted the story and whatever the truth was to come out. I don’t know if anyone who is alive knows the whole truth. We all have our ideas and there are little pieces and things that we have all heard. But it’s still a mystery.” The sexier theory is that someone “got to” Dancer’s Image, but Milt Toby, the author of “Dancer’s Image: The Forgotten Story of the 1968 Kentucky Derby” believes those who performed the post-race tests simply could have gotten it wrong. “The evidence in the very lengthy racing commission hearing at end of 1968 seemed to me to be compelling that there was a problem with the test,” he said. “But it wasn’t conclusive. The difficulty with that assumption that the test was wrong is that, even if the techniques were not reliable and the chemists was not credible and there were problems over the years with the lab, that doesn’t mean that all the results over the history of this chemist and this lab were wrong. That doesn’t mean this particular test was wrong.” If the test was correct, what happened? Other than the Bute dosage Dancer’s Image received six days before the race, no one ever admitted to giving the horse the drug at any other time leading up to the race. And had someone done so, they surely would have known that there was a high degree of likelihood they would be caught if the horse won the race. Then there was Fuller’s reputation. He was considered a man of the highest integrity. “I grew to have a lot of respect for Peter Fuller,” Reed said. “He was an honest, decent guy who got a really bad deal. Peter Fuller was such a good person. He deserved to win the Kentucky Derby.” So it was left to journalists like Reed and his colleague at the Courier-Journal at the time, the late Jim Bolus, Fuller and his lawyers to dig around in an attempt to find out what happened. Many of the theories that have evolved over the years center around Harthill. “In my personal opinion, I will always believe that Dr. Alex Harthill is certainly the villain of this story,” Reed said. In Harthill’s obituary in the Daily Racing Form, author Marty McGee summed up the more controversial aspects of the veterinarian’s life and career. “Although his legacy as a practicing veterinarian was sealed early, Harthill quickly became synonymous with controversy and seemed to live on the edge of racing legality,” McGee wrote. “Intense speculation long has swirled about his role in the disqualification of Dancer’s Image, who tested positive for Butazolidin, an anti- inflammatory drug that was banned at the time. He was arrested in the 1950’s in Louisiana for allegedly bribing a testing laboratory employee. He was persona non grata in recent years in New York, and he was a central figure in countless racetrack controversies and court cases in Kentucky and elsewhere.” But if Harthill purposefully treated Dancer’s Image with Bute in close proximity to race time, what would have been his motivation? “Harthill had treated all of Calumet’s horses, going all the way back to Citation,” Reed said. “And, certainly, Forward Pass was an overwhelming favorite with the Kentucky hardboots that year.” Reed’s dealings with Harthill took a bizarre turn when the reporter was sent by his editors to the Churchill backstretch after the disqualification to get a better lay of the land. Reed said Harthill came up to him, grabbed him and punched him. Harthill admitted he hit Reed. “I was stunned,” he said. “I was laying there, he was standing over me and I remember him saying to me, ‘You’ve been checking into that gambling coup at Caliente, haven’t you?’ I had never heard of the Caliente future book at that time.” Reed said he went to Mexico to investigate whether or not there had been any unusual betting on the Derby winterbook that year, but did not find any evidence that there was. Another popular theory is that the events that led to Dancer’s Image’s disqualification were a payback to Fuller, a liberal New Englander and a civil rights advocate. Following Dancer’s Image’s win earlier that year in the Governor’s Purse at Bowie, Fuller took his winnings from the race and gave them to the widow of Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated Apr. 4, 1968. “There were a lot of racial undertones at that time,” Abby Fuller said. “After he made that donation to Dr. King’s wife, he got a lot of threatening letters. He wanted to bring in his own guys for security and Churchill told him no, that that would only make it worse.” Reed has never been a believer in the theory that the King donation had anything to do with the Derby. “I’ve never given any credence to theory that this happened because Peter Fuller had given one of the purses from a win to the widow of Dr Martin Luther King Jr.,” he said. “People think that all these redneck racists from Kentucky were out to get this liberal from New England. I don’t buy it.” Toby has another theory on Fuller’s relationship to the King family. “The intriguing argument that most people have dismissed over the years is that his donation of the Governor’s Gold Cup purse to Coretta Scott King actually had an effect or influence of some kind, but, perhaps not with people in Kentucky,” he said. “During those times, J. Edgar Hoover was fighting a battle against Martin Luther King and everyone supporting him. It would be interesting to see if there are FBI files that Hoover kept on Peter Fuller.” Dancer’s Image raced just one more time, crossing the wire third behind Forward Pass in the Preakness. Ironically, he was disqualified again, this time for bumping another horse. He was placed eighth. After an undistinguished career at stud, he died in Japan in 1992. Fuller was never the type of owner who had a large and powerful stable, so he had to wait for his next “big” horse. That was Mom’s Command. She was the champion 3-year-old filly of 1985 and was later enshrined in the Hall of Fame. That story was made that much sweeter by the fact that Fuller’s daughter was her regular rider. But Abby Fuller said Mom’s Command’s success was not enough to erase the pain that still burned inside his father over the Dancer’s Image situation. “He never got over it,” she said. “People always said, ‘Didn’t Mom’s Command make up for it? She was amazing and wonderful, but she was her own thing.” On this, the 50th anniversary of the 1968 Kentucky Derby, the record book says that the winner that year was Forward Pass. Reed, for one, will never accept that. He is not alone. “One of my prized possessions is a picture of Dancer’s Image being led into the winner’s circle,” Reed said. “Peter Fuller is on one side, Lou Cavalaris is on the other side and you can see me right behind them. I’ve always cherished that picture. Even though Forward Pass’s name is up there as the winner, I will always consider Dancer’s Image to be the winner of the 1968 Kentucky Derby.” View the full article

If there is any pressure associated with having 20% of the 20 horse field for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) in his barn, trainer Todd Pletcher is hiding it well. View the full article

After finishing off the board in a dirt try in the Tampa Bay Derby (G2) March 10, Untamed Domain will return to the turf May 5 on the undercard of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) at Churchill Downs. View the full article

If there is any pressure associated with having 20% of the 20 horse field for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) in his barn, trainer Todd Pletcher is hiding it well. View the full article

America’s Best Racing has released part two of “Purpose,” a three-part digital video docuseries exploring the role that horses play in addressing the epidemic of U.S. veterans returning from combat with post-traumatic stress disorder. The series, which is presented by the Man O’ War Project at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the Earle I. Mack Foundation, examines the deep therapeutic connection between horse and human, with a particular focus on three distinct non-profit programs dedicated to serving our veterans through connections with horses, including retired Thoroughbreds. Part one focuses on SquirrelWood Equine Sanctuary, part two features the Man O’ War Project at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and part three explores the unconventional and innovative Heroes and Horses program based in Montana. Part two of the series, which can be viewed here, focuses on the work of the Man O’ War Project at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Borne of his commitment to public service and his love of racehorses and their post-racing care, the Man O’ War Project at Columbia University Irving Medical Center is the brainchild of Ambassador Earle Mack. Part one of the docuseries can be viewed here, while part three will be released Friday, May 4, at 1 p.m. ET and will be available at AmericasBestRacing.net as well as on America’s Best Racing’s YouTube channel, Facebook page, and NBCSports.com. View the full article

Todd Pletcher, who is set to saddle four of the 20 starters in Saturday’s GI Kentucky Derby, has partnered with the Ram Truck brand for the event. He and his team will be outfitted with Ram branded attire during Derby Week. The branding will also extend to Pletcher’s horses and jockeys. “Ram has been a long-time supporter of the Kentucky Derby and horse racing,” said Pletcher. “I’m a big fan of the brand. We’ve developed a great relationship over the last couple of years and we are looking forward to teaming up with them at this year’s Derby.” Ram teamed with Pletcher in 2017 when his Always Dreaming (Bodemeister) won the Derby. After the race, Ram presented Pletcher with a one-of-a-kind Derby edition Ram 2500 truck. Pletcher, in turn, kept the truck but donated its value to Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance and New Vocations. View the full article

Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) heads into the GI Kentucky Oaks as the morning line favorite, while Take Charge Paula (Take Charge Indy) will be more of a price, but they came into the world the same way. Literally. The two fillies were born a few weeks apart at Brendan and Olive Gallagher’s Frankfort Park Farm in Lexington and were foaled out in the same stall. Take Charge Paula, winner of the GIII Forward Gal S., arrived March 2, 2015, and Monomoy Girl, who most recently won the GI Ashland S., made her entrance on March 26. “They had pretty different temperaments,” said Brendan Gallagher. “Monomoy Girl was feisty as a baby, and Take Charge Paula was always a nicer filly, temperament-wise. In saying that, Monomoy Girl is talented, but as a baby she liked getting her own way a little bit.” Incidentally, their personalities as foals were a bit opposite of their dams. Monomoy Girl is out of the winning Henny Hughes mare Drumette, while Take Charge Paula is a daughter of the winning Songandaprayer mare Perfect Paula. “Drumette is very straightforward, she’s a lovely mare,” said Gallagher. “She has a lovely temperament. The other lady, Perfect Paula, she likes to be the last one in from the paddock every day, and she likes getting her own way. But, they are two straightforward mares, and we wouldn’t mind if we had a few more like them. They have both been here for the last few years.” While carrying Monomoy Girl, Drumette was consigned by Pope McLean to the 2014 Keeneland November mixed sale where she sold to Michael Hernon’s Highfield Ranch for $75,000. Hernon–the director of sales at Gainesway–and the Gallaghers own the mare in partnership. Gainesway is also where Tapizar, winner of the GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile in 2012, stands at stud. “Drumette is a good mare, and she consistently produces good foals,” said Hernon. “Tapizar is a very fine individual. He had all the ingredients to make it at stud, and now he has seemed to produce a really top caliber runner in Monomoy Girl. I believe in the horse, and I believe in what I do. “From the get go, Monomoy Girl was a serious foal. She was strong psychically, and she was a good, strong-willed foal but never mean. She was her own person, you could nearly see it from the very beginning, and I have seen a lot of foals arrive. She stood out, and she actually stood up in just under 20 minutes, which would be considered quite precocious.” Meanwhile, Take Charge Paula was bred in the name of Envision Equine, in which the Gallaghers were partners. Perfect Paula is now owned solely by the Gallaghers. “Perfect Paula, we originally bought her in England,” said Gallagher. “She’s stakes-placed over five furlongs. We bought our partner out last year. We were lucky to hang on to her. We bought her outright for small money, and then she came up with Take Charge Paula.” Frankfort Park Farm is located on what used to be Old Frankfort Stud, the home of 1992 Kentucky Derby winner Lil E. Tee. The property changed hands in 2006 and was originally meant to be more of a quarantine facility than a breeding farm. At the time, Gallagher, an Irishman, was the managing director of Emerald Bloodstock. “We’ve been doing this a long time, and we’ve been in America here breeding horses for the last 10 years,” said Gallagher. “When we were in Emerald, we used to quarantine a lot more horses here then. We bought a lot of horses probably at the wrong time just before the market took a dip, and that’s when Olive and I said we would come over here ourselves. “Our farm manager, Erika Goncalves, has been with us the last five years, and we have a good team here. We have made a lot of mistakes, but I hope we have learned from them, and I am very happy with what we are doing at the moment.” In addition to client mares, the Gallaghers will routinely foal out between 15-20 of their own. Their personal 2015 crop was made up of 19 foals, and in addition to Monomoy Girl and Take Charge Paula, it also featured The Tabulator (Dialed In), who won the GIII Iroquois S. last year before competing in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. “That particular crop has been a good crop,” said Gallagher. “I think nature wants to give you its best when you are breeding horses, but the problem is if you do 10 things right and one thing wrong, you are still in trouble. It’s important to do all the little things as well as you can, and I think you tend to get a bit luckier then.” Monomoy Girl has won five of her six career starts, but when she took the Ashland this April at Keeneland, it marked an important milestone for most of the people associated with her. “She’s the first Grade I winner we have bred, the first Grade I winner bloodstock agent Liz Crow has bought, and the first Grade I winner for her trainer, Brad Cox,” said Olive Gallagher. “Michael has bred one before with Zazu (Tapit), but for the rest of us it was a big day.” Even though it wasn’t a first for Hernon, it was still a memorable victory, and he has confidence in Monomoy Girl heading into the Oaks. “This filly has really developed under Brad’s skillful training,” said Hernon. “I am very impressed with him. It’s a credit to him and his team, and it’s hugely satisfying to have a filly of this level. I am closer to her; I have seen a lot of her. I actually think she halfway knows me. Zazu, of course, was located on the West Coast with John Sadler. Monomoy Girl is coming into the Oaks great. If a filly can outrun her, God bless is all I can say.” As for Drumette and Perfect Paula, they remain at Frankfort Park and both delivered healthy foals by Shackleford this year. Perfect Paula had a flashy filly at the end of January, while Drumette recently produced a quality colt. “We couldn’t be happier with the foals, and it’s exciting,” said Brendan Gallagher. “Let’s hope that they can go on and do some of the good things their siblings have done. Shackleford gets good-looking horses, and they have good temperaments.” Drumette, who is booked to Mastery, also has a juvenile full brother to Monomoy Girl named Cowboy Diplomacy and a yearling colt by Palace Malice. Now owned by Pocket Aces Racing, Cowboy Diplomacy was the highest priced Tapizar yearling to sell last year. “He sold for $175,000, which was gratifying,” said Hernon. “I think he is a really good prospect, and I would frankly be surprised if he’s not a runner of some significance in his own right. He was that good of a yearling.” Perfect Paula has a 2-year-old Fed Biz colt named Unbeknownst to Me and is in foal to Medaglia d’ Oro. “We will have to wait and see what Michael wants to do with Drumette and the baby–there is every chance they might be in a November sale,” said Gallagher. “I’d say with Perfect Paula, let’s hope she will be here for a good long time. “It means everything to get horses to run in Grade Is and to be competitive and to win them. That’s what it’s all about.” View the full article

Audible Inc., the world’s largest seller and producer of downloadable audiobooks and other spoken-word entertainment, will donate $25,000 to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance May 5 as a continuation of Audible Inc.’s involvement with GI Kentucky Derby Audible (Into Mischief). The check presentation is scheduled to take place in the regular winner’s circle Saturday after the GII Churchill Downs S., which is carded as race 8 and has a scheduled post time of 2:45 p.m. Audible Inc. previously made a $15,000 donation to the TAA after Audible’s win in the GI Xpressbet Florida Derby Mar. 31. “The TAA is thrilled to see Audible Inc. get involved with horse racing through Kentucky Derby contender Audible and is extremely grateful for their contributions to the TAA,” said TAA president John Phillips. “These funds will help the TAA in our mission to establish a safe first exit from racing for horses and support accredited aftercare organizations that retrain, rehome, and retire Thoroughbreds.” Audible Inc. created a microsite dedicated to their involvement that can be viewed here. View the full article

After he finished off the board in a dirt try in the Tampa Bay Derby (G2) March 10, Untamed Domain will return to the turf May 5 on the undercard of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) at Churchill Downs. View the full article

New Zealand’s Cambridge Stud has purchased the Southern Hemisphere breeding rights to Almanzor (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), and the 2016 European champion 3-year-old is set to shuttle there later this year. Almanzor is based at Haras d’Etreham in France and is currently standing his first season for €35,000. He will be syndicated in New Zealand and will stand for NZ$30,000. Brendan Lindsay, who with his wife Jo recently purchased Cambridge Stud from the legendary studmaster Sir Patrick Hogan, said, “Our purchase of Almanzor is a further vote of confidence in the New Zealand industry. He will be the first European champion 3-year-old since Montjeu to stand in New Zealand, so having access to a horse with his credentials is hugely significant. We will be throwing our full support behind him.” Cambridge also stands Montjeu’s highly successful son Tavistock (NZ) and leading second-crop sires Burgundy (NZ) and Highly Recommended (Aus). “Almanzor was a truly outstanding racehorse, he was the highest-rated turf horse in world in 2016 alongside Winx with a Timeform rating of 133,” said Cambridge Stud Chief Executive Officer Henry Plumptre. “He displayed an exceptional turn of foot and also has an outcross pedigree which is so sought after by Australasian breeders.” A first-crop son of Group 1 winner Wootton Bassett (GB), who is himself by another successful New Zealand shuttler in Iffraaj (GB), Almanzor was trained by Jean-Claude Rouget and was a stakes winner at two. He won his three Group 1s at three in three different countries, kicking off the sequence in France’s G1 Prix du Jockey Club. He bested a stellar field of older horses in the fall the G1 Irish Champion S.-those in his wake including the subsequent Arc winner Found (Ire), champion 3-year-old filly Minding (Ire), the previous year’s Jockey Club winner New Bay and global Group 1 winner Highland Reel (Ire)-and he had Found again in his wake when taking the G1 Champion S. five weeks later. Almanzor will be given every chance to succeed in Europe as well, his shareholders including breeder Haras d’Etreham, Gerard Augustin-Normand and SF Bloodstock. Click here for a TDN Big Interview with Haras d’Etreham’s Nicolas de Chambure discussing Almanzor. View the full article

Landikusic (Ire) (Dansili {GB}) (video), a winning full-sister to Irish highweight, G1 Phoenix S. victor and sire Zoffany (Ire), has been entered in the fifth edition of the Goffs London Sale in association with QIPCO held next to Kensington Palace on the greenfield Perks Field on the eve of Royal Ascot June 18. She is in foal to Juddmonte’s Frankel (GB) who has had great success at the sale with a mare in foal to the undefeated champion and with a foal at foot by him making £1,150,000 at the inaugural sale in 2014. “Landikusic has a blue-chip pedigree and together with her Frankel covering is worthy of significant global interest,” said Goffs Group Chief Excecutive Henry Beeby. “I saw her at the National Stud in Newmarket and she is a most attractive prospect. Indeed, one of the best advertisements for the mare is her beautiful Galileo (Ire) foal who would give any purchaser great confidence that her future produce will have Classic potential. We are delighted and very grateful that the owners have chosen Goffs London Sale to offer Landikusic for sale. She is a perfect example of the calibre of mare that should excel in London and we look forward to promoting her over the next two months to the many international buyers expected to attend the sale on the eve of Royal Ascot.” Also a half-sister to Group 3 winner Wilshire Boulevard (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) and Group 2 winner and G1 National S. third Rostropovich (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), the LNJ Foxwoods-owned mare was purchased for 700,000gns out of the Tattersalls October Book 1 Yearling Sale in 2014. “LNJ Foxwoods is honoured to partner with Goffs, QIPCO, GBRI and the National Stud in offering Landikusic,” said Jason Litt of Solis Litt Bloodstock. “Frankel and Zoffany were both tremendous Ascot performers making the Goffs London Sale a natural fit for this regally bred mare.” View the full article

The catalogue for the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Yearling Sale is now available. Slated for June 5-7, with Book 1 conducted over the first two days and a single-day Book 2 on the seventh, the sale attracted 528 yearlings by 131 individual stallions. The majority of the lots are eligible for the A$11-million Magic Millions Race Series. A total of 334 lots are BOBS qualified, while another 89 are paid through QTIS first payment. Thirty-six yearlings are also Super VOBIS nominated. The Magic Millions Gold Coast National Racehorse Sale will take place after the conclusion of the yearling sale on June 7. In 2017, the National Yearling Sale’s top price was A$380,000 for a son of top-class shuttle stallion More Than Ready, while the gross was A$17,641,350 for a clearance rate of 73.6%. The average was A$43,993 and the median was A$25,000. Champion sire Snitzel (Aus) has three yearlings signed on, while his fellow Arrowfield Stud champion sire Redoute’s Choice (Aus) has a pair. Six yearlings represented Group 1 sire Written Tycoon (Aus) and I Am Invincible (Aus) has four, the same number as Exceed And Excel (Aus) and Fastnet Rock (Aus). Derby sire Tavistock (NZ) fields a quintet, Not A Single Doubt (Aus) three just like the aforementioned More Than Ready. Ten yearlings fly the flag for Hinchinbrook (Aus) and boom first-season sires Zoustar (Aus) and Spirit of Boom (Aus) have eight and 15, respectively. View the full article

European invader Deauville (IRE) returns to the United States for a third straight season to target the $500,000 Old Forester Turf Classic (G1T), where an old foe is waiting May 5 at Churchill Downs. View the full article

As far as first season efforts go, they don’t come much better than Frankie Lor Fu-chuen’s rookie campaign, in fact there has been only one better, and the apprentice is fast closing in on his master John Size’s all-time record for most wins by a freshman trainer. A dirt track double with Furious Pegasus and Turin Redstar at Sha Tin on Wednesday night left Lor with 51 wins, just seven short of Size’s record set in 2001-02, but way ahead of his own preseason expectations... View the full article

Two wildcards have been added to Arqana’s Breeze-Up Sale on May 12, including a War Front half-brother to G1 Goffs Vincent O’Brien National S. winner Pathfork (Distorted Humor). The colt, who will be offered by Norman Williamson’s Oak Tree Farm as lot 100, is out of the stakes-winning Visions of Clarity (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells), a half-sister to the multiple Group 1-winning miler Spinning World (Nureyev). Also added to the sale as lot 170 is Powerstown Stud’s Dabirsim (Fr) filly out of the stakes-winning Jambalaya (Ger) (Samum {Ger}). The dam has already produced the stakes-placed Jimmu (Ger) (Dalakhani {Ire}), a Classic hope in Germany this year. View the full article

As part of the undercard of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), the John Oxley-owned pair will meet on the track for the one mile test for 4-year-olds fillies and up over the Churchill Downs turf. View the full article

Zoustar will stand permanently at Widden Stud after a court case surrounding Australia’s leading first-season sire came to a close, according to Racing.com. Zoustar had split his first four seasons between Widden in the Hunter Valley and Woodside Park Stud in Victoria after those entities partnered to purchase him prior to his win in the 2013 G1 Coolmore Stud S. Widden’s Antony Thompson told Racing.com that China Horse Club and Gerry Harvey of Baramul Stud have been involved in the purchase of Woodside’s shares in the stallion. Also part of the court case was an ownership dispute in the horse involving the failed BC3 Thoroughbreds, but that claim with withdrawn. Zoustar, a son of Widden’s much-missed champion first-season sire Northern Meteor (Aus), will stand at Widden for A$60,500 this year. “It’s fantastic to have been vindicated and have the cases behind us,” Thompson told Racing.com. “We are excited that Zoustar will remain at Widden permanently and we look forward to him cementing his position as the most exciting young stallion in the Hunter Valley.” View the full article

Just as it should be, this year’s Guineas is a pedigree war of the biggest and boldest and most successful bloodstock manoeuvres of recent times and it is no surprise that Coolmore are at the forefront. The race’s most intriguing horse is without question Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), who represents a brand new Japanese experiment by one of racing’s biggest thinkers, John Magnier. Deep Impact has always been considered a monster in terms of his racing career and at stud, but he needed a wider international stamp of approval to truly launch and that is beginning to happen now. Saxon Warrior’s dam, Maybe (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), represents a genuine European pedigree, with Derby and Oaks winners Dr Devious and Dancing Rain in there, but there is a hint of outside enterprise involved too as the former went for the Kentucky Derby en route to Epsom. That sense of adventure and pushing the limits is what lies behind most of the scene-changing moments of European racing since Dr Vincent O’Brien opted to place his faith in Northern Dancer in the late sixties. Along came Nijinsky and the momentum shifted entirely. It is nearly 50 years since that great and last Triple Crown winner set foot on Newmarket’s Rowley Mile to justify 4-7 favouritism before heading to Epsom and Doncaster to complete British racing’s holy trinity of monuments. Saxon Warrior will be more around 5-1 on Saturday, so it is impossible to say whether he will tread down that kind of path but there is a sense of the unknown where he is concerned at present. He was not expected to do what he did on debut at The Curragh in August, when his biggest advocate, Donnacha O’Brien, enjoyed as fun a joyride as is possible from a racehorse in the final two furlongs. It was Ryan Moore on board for the G2 Beresford S. and G1 Racing Post Trophy, where he had bigger fish to fry but managed it in a manner suggesting he was just doing what was necessary. The latter race used to be all about stamina, but since Doncaster switched it to a straight mile and drastically altered their drainage system it is no longer a hotbed of died-in-the-wool Derby types. In 2011 Camelot (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}) became the first since High Top in 1972 to win that and the Guineas the following year and Saxon Warrior showed miler speed as well as determination in the most recent renewal. His dam Maybe, who was sent off the 13-8 favourite for the 1,000 Guineas in 2012 only to be left trailing by stablemate Homecoming Queen, was one of the “fast Galileos” that Aidan O’Brien and Jim Bolger first exploited with her debut success coming over six furlongs. That said, she got a mile and a half well when fifth in the following year’s Oaks and represents a pedigree that is a perfect blend of speed and stamina which is also true of the freakish Deep Impact. Has Shadai Stallion Station’s heir to Sunday Silence created another in his own image? Ballydoyle’s helmsman is not ruling out the thought. “We’ve probably never had a horse to change so much over a winter as he has–he’s turned into a monster of a horse–big, powerful and strong,” O’Brien said. “He’s going to run a long way off his 2-year-old weight, but his work is very nice and we are very happy with him.” O’Brien admits to being in the dark as to what will come forward on Saturday, where it will be all about natural ability. Saxon Warrior has been allowed to come forward in his own time at Rosegreen and although that may not be enough for a win against some race-fit and possibly harder-trained peers, it will provide a jumping-off point for what could be a momentous 3-year-old campaign. “We think he will get further than a mile. It will be a nice place to start him and we look forward to him for the rest of the year. He looks a very unusual horse at the moment in how much he has changed from two to three, but we have to start somewhere.” Whereas Saxon Warrior’s pedigree is a step into a new frontier, Gustav Klimt (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) embodies a time-honoured approach to breeding a true Guineas type. Descending from Prince Faisal’s Prix de Diane heroine Rafha (GB) (Kris {GB}), he is also a mix of sprint and staying class but his family is proven time and again on the main stage of Europe. Invincible Spirit (Ire) is in there taking a prominent role and it is his half-sister Massarra (GB) (Danehill) who is responsible for this year’s likely favourite. A speedy and precocious sort for John Dunlop, she generally gets milers at the most but with the influence of Galileo it is highly probable that Gustav Klimt has the ideal blend for victory in this Classic. Interestingly, his full-brother Mars (Ire) was a real talking horse in Co. Tipperary in his time and lined up in the 2013 edition of this on only his second racecourse start at just 9-1. He was sixth and well-beaten, but was third in the St James’s Palace S. a month later. Gustav Klimt was prepped in the newly-remodelled Leopardstown 2000 Guineas Trial last month and showed a great deal more than any of his stable’s other runners to have been seen so far this term by beating the smart, race-fit Imaging (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) despite the testing ground and run of the race being against him. He is all class on that showing and he demonstrated there and in the G2 Superlative S. when things got tough that he has that will-to-win his sire is so effective at stamping on his progeny. It is something that Aidan O’Brien talks about a lot and has decided the outcome of so many tight finishes in the top events of recent years. He is the sole colt in the line-up by Galileo, whose 10 representatives since 2008 have yielded three wins and three places with the successful triumvirate of Frankel (GB), Gleneagles (Ire) and Churchill (Ire) interestingly all out of fast mares. With normal improvement from Leopardstown, Gustav Klimt will be a tough nut to crack and his trainer is full of hope. “We were anxious to get a run into him, as he had not run since Newmarket in the middle of the summer,” he explained. “We would have liked to have run him in the Dewhurst to find out a little bit more about him, so were a little bit in the dark. It was soft ground, very heavy really, and probably not ideal but we felt we needed to run him. We always thought he would prefer better ground and he did well to quicken in the ground. Ryan [Moore] rode him in the July meeting last year and was very, very full of him. You are never sure, but we were delighted with his run in Leopardstown. We think and hope he’s in good form.” Despite all of his prior eight 2,000 Guineas previous winners making their seasonal bow in this, O’Brien is quick to point out that that is just coincidental. “This is the first time we had the seven furlongs at Leopardstown,” he added. “For us, the Craven is too close and maybe the race in Newbury is a little bit close as well. And then we had a Guineas trial at Leopardstown over a mile, which is too far, and the Gladness is against older horses and too tough. So up until now we’ve never had a prep. I suppose [the previous winners] were good 2-year-olds and they had done plenty and learnt plenty.” Another foray for Coolmore in recent years has been the move to support War Front and despite two notable disappointments in this in War Command and Air Force Blue, who was 4-5 when 12th two years ago, two of his sons have been fourth in the last two renewals and he has a live contender this time in US Navy Flag who is bred more for this task. Out of the stable’s Irish 1,000 Guineas heroine Misty For Me (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who was beaten out of sight in the 2011 1,000 Guineas before turning herself inside out in three weeks to The Curragh equivalent, he has already achieved notoriety as one of very few to have completed the Middle Park-Dewhurst double. The highest-rated in this line-up as a result, his distant last of four on desperate ground in the Leopardstown Guineas Trial means very little in this context. If Saxon Warrior has the feel of Hawk Wing about him, then US Navy Flag could be this season’s Rock of Gibraltar–a tough and top-class juvenile who went through some big tests and kept getting better and stronger. “U S Navy Flag is a very solid horse and improved with racing,” O’Brien commented. “He’d love really nice ground, fast ground and he could be an exciting horse this year. The ground wasn’t ideal [at Leopardstown], but we felt we needed to run him because the more we ran him last year the better he got. If it’s going to get too slow he might not run, we might wait.” O’Brien Reveals Riding Assignments… With Ryan Moore at Churchill Downs, O’Brien is keeping riding arrangements in-house. “At the moment it looks like Seamus [Heffernan] might ride Gustav, and that Donnacha [O’Brien] will ride Saxon Warrior. That’s what we are thinking at the moment, but all those things can change,” he said. View the full article

Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, the 3-year-old colt may have never made the trip to the Bluegrass, but he's certainly no stranger to steep competition. View the full article

As a self-made businessman, Mick Ruis has seen a number of his dreams come true. But when it came to running a horse in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), those thoughts were typically interrupted by a dose of reality. View the full article

Only Win has more and bigger options ahead View the full article

Curvature takes aim at four-in-a-row View the full article

Chris McCarron has joined Team Valor International and will be part of the executive team of the far-flung organization. He starts this week and will be involved at Churchill Downs, where the operation races three runners (two in stakes) this week in Louisville. “As a Hall of Fame inductee and as the rider of such legendary racehorses as Alysheba and John Henry, Chris is one of the most recognizable people in racing,” CEO Barry Irwin said. “But it is for his abilities as a communicator, his horsemanship and his drive as an organizer that he has been brought aboard. “I have worked alongside Chris as part of the initiative to introduce Federal legislation to rein in the use of legal and illegal drugs in our sport and I have been very impressed with his communication skills and his passion for the best aspects of our game.” McCarron said “I’m excited to be joining Team Valor International. TVI is one of the most successful syndicate operations in the history of our sport and I hope to add value to the efforts in acquiring and racing some of the finest horses in the world, as well as getting to know its racing partners and helping to introduce newcomers to horse racing.” The legendary rider’s most recent major career achievement in racing came when he realized a nearly lifelong dream of establishing and nurturing America’s first school for jockeys. Named the North American Racing Academy, it is the only school where aspiring jockeys can earn a college degree. McCarron started NARA in 2006 and left it in safe hands in 2014. After retiring from a record-breaking and storied career as a jockey, McCarron served a stint as general manager at Santa Anita. He regularly serves as an on-air personality and is a popular speaker at corporate events throughout the country. Irwin said “I saw firsthand the dedication and energy that Chris brought to the task of establishing the riding academy. I don’t know too many people that had the unique skill set to pull off that venture. We would like to tap into those talents at Team Valor.” The Hall of Fame jockey rode many of TVI’s most successful runners, including Grade 1 winners Golden Ballet and The Deputy, best in the Oaks and Derby at Santa Anita. But their mutual involvement began in 1978 when McCarron upon arrival in California won back-to-back races at Del Mar aboard Irwin’s second racehorse, a filly named Sorcerer. McCarron will continue to be based in Lexington, Kentucky, where he has family and has lived for the past several years. He is, however, expected to travel to races and various promotional events as a spokesperson for Team Valor. Team Valor is in the process of reshaping aspects of the company. Recently, Godolphin Flying Start student Jessica Berry, who graduates in July, was hired as part of the executive team. Also, TVI announced last week that it would start unwinding its involvement in South African racing and breeding which is comprised of 65 horses. The international racing stable currently campaigns horses in the United States, England, France, Germany, South Africa, Canada, Australia and South Korea. Eight individual TVI runners have earned black-type in 2018, with its three biggest European stars ready to return to action this month. View the full article

The directional aviation company Sentient Jet will sponsor Combatant (Scat Daddy) in Saturday’s GI Kentucky Derby in an effort to promote awareness for Homes for Our Troops, a non-profit organization supported by the colt’s owners, Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing. Homes for Our Troops builds and donates specially adapted custom homes nationwide for severely injured post-9/11 veterans. Sentient Jet will host a group of veterans on the backside of Churchill Downs Thursday and at the races Saturday. “As we head into our third year as the preferred private aviation partner of the Kentucky Derby, we are excited to mark this milestone with a special contribution to the community. We are honored to support Team Combatant and the important cause this impressive horse represents,” said Andrew Collins, president and CEO of Sentient Jet. View the full article

Finley'sluckycharm aims to keep her Louisville streak going when she faces six others in the $300,000 Humana Distaff Stakes (G1) May 5, part of the undercard of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). View the full article