Just three months after it was announced he was being pensioned, Storm Cat was represented by the top price Aug. 5 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling sale. How fitting.

The success enjoyed by the 25-year-old son of Storm Bird is obvious. Storm Cat made Overbrook Farm what it is today because he has sired 13% stakes winners, which ranks him among the best stallions of our time. His progeny’s racetrack success allowed his stud fee to rise to the highest in recent memory, $500,000.

But Storm Cat has been a huge commercial success as well, which is important to breeders taking his sons and daughters to market, and buyers hoping not only for top racetrack performance, but significant future residual value as well.

Over the past 32 years, 109 stallions have been represented by at least one offspring sold at a North American yearling sale for $1 million or more. That group of stallions has sired 718 seven-figure yearlings, and of that total, a remarkable 90 are by Storm Cat.

Thus, 12.5% of all yearlings ever sold in North America for $1 million or more are by one stallion.

(For the record, the next highest total is the 52 sired by Storm Bird’s sire, Northern Dancer.)

A group of 34 colts and fillies by Storm Cat are cataloged to the Keeneland fall yearling sale that kicks off Sept. 8. This is a comparable number to last year, when 37 were cataloged and 23 sold for an average of $536,739.

This year’s list is like a “Who’s Who” of pedigrees. Nine of the yearlings are out of grade/group I winners (three champions) and eight are full or half-siblings to grade/group I winners (four champions).

With numerous offspring still to go through an auction ring, it is possible Storm Cat could become the first triple-double stallion—more than 100 stakes winners (he has 166 to date) and more than 100 yearlings sold for $1 million or more.

Stallions like Storm Cat do not come along very often. But they are the dream of everyone who retires a horse to stud, and like a couple of other horses in the news lately—Danzig and Theatrical—prove the best do not necessarily start in the breeding shed with a high stud fee.

Storm Cat may have commanded $500,000 for six years, but his initial fee was just $30,000 (and later $20,000).

Danzig, who first stood for $20,000 and saw his fee rise to $250,000 no guarantee, recently became the first North American stallion to sire 200 stakes winners. Danzig, who died in 2006, is from the same sire line as Storm Cat. Danzig is by Northern Dancer, sire also of Storm Cat’s sire.

The mark of 200 stakes winners is impressive for Danzig considering he stood at Claiborne Farm, which has never bred books as large as many other farms. Danzig’s largest crop was 59 foals. His percentage of stakes winners, 18%, places him among the elite stallions of all time.

At a time when many are questioning the durability of the Thoroughbred and commercialized focus of breeders, there is Theatrical, who will never be thought of as flashy or dazzling, but has consistently rewarded those who bred to him, and whose progeny have an average winning distance of 9.5 furlongs.

A product of the highly successful breeding program of Bert and Diana Firestone, Theatrical, by Northern Dancer’s son, Nureyev, recently sired his 22nd grade/group I winner, Winchester, a Firestone homebred.

The Firestones raced Theatrical and later took on Allen Paulson as a partner in the horse. He first stood at Paulson’s Brookside Farms and now stands at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms near Lexington.

Theatrical has sired 77 stakes winners (8%), but consider that 28.5% have won a grade/group I race.

Percentage of stakes winners should still be the most important measure of a stallion’s success. 

Walking the streets of Manhattan Aug. 9 past the $5 watches, $10 framed prints, and $20 purses, we saw two young men selling compact discs of recently released music.

Judging by the prices, and their low overhead storefront, it was highly possible their inventory did not come from music publishers.

Several years ago, a CNN/USA TODAY/Gallup Poll showed about 17% of adults with Internet access at work, home, or school had downloaded music. That number has surely risen. Countless CDs are being copied on burners. Sites to download music prosper. The movie and video-game industries are seeing similar trends.

So, too, is Thoroughbred racing.

Countless industries are experiencing the pirating of their products, all made possible because of the Internet. Thoroughbred racing has no idea how many people are pirating signals of races and accepting wagers on them.

“Let’s just say it is very substantial,” said Eugene Christiansen, the head of Christiansen Capital Advisors, a research and advisory firm on the leisure and entertainment industry, particularly as it pertains to gaming and wagering.

Tens of millions?

“No, hundreds of millions,” Christiansen said.

While negotiations over the split of handle from advance deposit wagering platforms continue between racetracks and horsemen’s groups—many of the latter using the new Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Group to bargain for them—potentially hundreds of millions of dollars are being wagered with none returned to the industry to help racetracks put on the show and help horsemen through additional purse monies.

The reason the pirates, and also legal off-shore wagering outlets exist, Christiansen said, is because of demand from high-volume players.

“The underlying reason is the consumer price of betting through state-licensed pari-mutuel facilities is substantially higher than cost-conscious players can get elsewhere, so that underlying circumstance is an incentive for low-cost suppliers to stay in the market,” he said. “An indirect by-product is the signal piracy.”

Dysfunction happens, Christiansen said, because, “The industry uses a higher cost when a lower cost is available. That goes against every principle of the way a market operates and is anti-consumer.”

Racetracks and ADWs must charge more because of takeout, purses, and overhead, while off-shore bookmakers and pirates can offer substantial rebates to players.

An interesting aside, said Chris Scherf, executive vice president of the Thoroughbred Racing Association, is that successful players often get cut off by the rebate shops.

“Both in sports betting and horse racing, if you are winning consistently, they quit taking your bets,” Scherf said.

Of more concern to him than piracy, Scherf said, is the impact the offshore bookmakers have had in shifting those wagering on racing to wagering on sports and online poker.

“We have lost business to that,” he said.

Many racetracks now offer rewards programs similar to those used for many years by casinos. These are no different than earning frequent flier miles, rewards from a charge card, or discounts given to loyal shoppers by nearly every major retailer. Racetracks, however, are unable to match the percentage of handle rebated to high-volume players, forcing many of them to begin playing offshore. In fact, many are recruited by the bookmaking shops.

On Aug. 4, regulators from 13 states—hopefully soon to be joined by others—announced they will begin requiring offshore wagering outlets and secondary pari-mutuel operations to be certified by the Association of Racing Commissioners International before they can wager into pools. The target date is Jan. 1, 2010.

It is important for racing authorities to know with whom they are doing business, and this is a giant step forward in that direction.

This action comes after the closing earlier this year of the offshore rebate shop International Racing Group, which was owned by Youbet.com. IRG was closed following a federal and state investigation into its customers and operations alleging possible illegal activities.

Perhaps the industry cannot stop piracy, but it can stop some pirates.

The Breeders’ Cup took important steps last week to help ensure the integrity of its races, while at the same time prodding those states not already on board to hurry and establish steroid policies for tracks its racing authority regulates.

Should a horse test positive for anabolic steroids at the Oct. 24-25 Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Santa Anita, the trainer of that horse will be suspended from the event for one year. The organization also instituted a “three strikes” rule that would ban a trainer from Breeders’ Cup races for life should horses in his care violate the steroids policy three times.

Perhaps more importantly, beginning Jan. 1, 2009, Breeders’ Cup will not help fund purses or hold Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” races at tracks that are not following the model rules for steroid use established by the Racing Commissioners International.

With calls for uniform medication rules within the industry for decades, Breeders’ Cup officials are helping move racing in that direction.

While it is important for policies to be uniform from state to state, it is also necessary for the rules and regulations to be the same for claiming horses as they are for grade I horses. But headlines are made by “big” races and “name” horses, so the Breeders’ Cup forcing the issue is the right thing at the right time.

In this instance, the big race was the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) and the big horse was Eight Belles, whose breakdown while galloping out after finishing second on racing’s biggest stage made the type of headlines the sport was not looking for.

But, in fact, her tragic death has become a rallying cry for an industry often criticized for holding many meetings but accomplishing little. Many positive decisions have been made to help right the plight of the Thoroughbred since the death of Eight Belles.

Organizations such as the Breeders’ Cup have gotten the message that the time is right for not only urgent, but clear, decisive, and strong action.

In the release announcing its new policies, Breeders’ Cup chairman Bill Farish said the organization’s board believed it was crucial to take a leadership role in ridding anabolic steroids from the sport. He is correct. In fact, it has a responsibility to lead the sport into new territory, and based on its new policies, it is taking that duty seriously.

The Breeders’ Cup’s hard line on steroids is one of several firsts currently happening in the industry.

Thoroughbred auctions at Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland are being conducted this summer and fall under new conditions of sale, prompted by recommendations from the Sales Integrity Task Force.

Like the Breeders’ Cup has said it is watching trainers and veterinarians, the Task Force is watching breeders, consignors, buyers, and agents. It has taken some steps to help ensure the integrity of the Thoroughbred auction place, while realizing it has taken only the first steps in that process.

A monitoring committee has been established by the Task Force, with Fasig-Tipton chairman and former Breeders’ Cup head D.G. Van Clief Jr. as its leader. It is not easy to reach a consensus when self-regulating, but Van Clief ensures integrity in the process.

Other important matters, such as the disclosure of surgeries of young horses before they are sold, are being discussed by the members of the group.

*******

In New York, the first $100,000 allowance race was run at Saratoga after the New York Racing Association instituted a new policy adding purse money to distance races (nine furlongs or more) with more than six (dirt) or eight (turf) starters. The idea, conceived by NYRA chairman Steve Duncker and refined by racing secretary P.J. Campo, is a great step in promoting durability in the breed. 

As the great poet/musician Bob Dylan so eloquently wrote 45 years ago, “The Times They Are a-Changin’.”

Though the rock icon was writing about the political and social upheaval of that era, the title track of his 1964 album is often referred to when any major societal changes are occurring.

At The Blood-Horse, which has been publishing since 1916, the times are also changing.

Though our mission remains the same—to serve Thoroughbred owners and breeders—the ways in which we fulfill that important goal have evolved greatly over the years.

The greatest change in modern-day journalism, the World Wide Web, enables us to reach owners, breeders, and everyone else connected to the Thoroughbred much more quickly. But it allows for  a lot more than that.

Through the Internet, media organizations are able to provide their readers with considerably more information and by more user-friendly means. Space limitations known to print publishers go away. Sortability, unable to occur on a printed page, becomes possible. Archives, previously achieved through old volumes on a shelf, are immediately available by the click of a mouse.

Publications no longer measure themselves strictly by a count of subscribers. They are also keenly interested in unique daily visitors, blog traffic, number of PDF (portable document format) downloads, and the most important thing, visibility via Google and other search engines.

For more than 10 years now, those desiring the latest Thoroughbred industry news have turned to BloodHorse.com, meaning when the weekly magazine arrives, a simple rehashing of news stories, stakes results, and auction data is not good enough. But analysis, features, commentaries, and stories about a stakes winner’s family make the print product as valuable as ever.

The change does not just apply to editorial content, but to advertising as well. While printed ads are still vital in driving home a message, online provides an immediate avenue for the delivery of marketing information via ads, sponsorships, and now more than ever, through video.

Posting on the Web is not even the fastest way to deliver news. This spring, The Blood-Horse became the first Thoroughbred industry publication to begin sending “breaking news alerts” via e-mail. Because so many people receive e-mail through their phones or PDAs, headlines reach industry stakeholders regardless of where they are.

Less than two weeks after beginning the breaking news alerts, we launched mobile.bloodhorse.com, a platform allowing those able to access the Web through their phones or PDAs the ability to read stories on BloodHorse.com without being in front of a computer.

Last month, The Blood-Horse discontinued printing hip-by-hip sale results in the weekly magazine. That decision, too, is a sign of the changing times.

A visit to BloodHorse.com, and a click on Auctions, will direct readers to auctions.BloodHorse.com, where the hip-by-hip results of every major Thoroughbred auction in North America in 2008 are archived. Also available is a five-year history of each sale, a breakdown by session, and lists of leading horses, buyers, consignors, and sires.

Every newspaper and magazine in the country is printing fewer pages in 2008 than in 2007. Part of the reason, as described, is the availability of the Web, where more information can be provided. For example, in its July 26 edition, The Blood-Horse included a special report entitled “Losing the Iron Horse?” While it would be impossible to print the entire 232-page report the study was based on in the print magazine, the data is available as a free download at BloodHorse.com.

Magazines and newspapers are also being hit hard by the economy, with escalating costs for paper, fuel, and postage.

By using the Web in concert with the print product, The Blood-Horse is even better able to serve owners and breeders.

The times they are a-changin’.

Something important must happen before a problem can be solved. It must be acknowledged that a problem exists.

After analyzing the data in a study released this week by The Blood-Horse, and listening to a discussion of the information by six industry participants, it is clear that a problem exists.

It is far from clear what must be done to fix it.

More than six months ago, The Blood-Horse began compiling data going back to 1970, searching for trends that relate breeding to racing. The results are not all that surprising. But they are very revealing.

Interestingly, the topic of where the breed is heading has come to the fore since the collection of data began, making headlines following the breakdown of Eight Belles in the May 3 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).

One of the key statistics in The Blood-Horse study is the average number of starts per foal, which was 20.42 in the 1970s, 17.84 in the ’80s, 16.89 in the ’90s, and so far this decade (crops from 2000-03) is registering 13.15. Starts per starter has seen a similar decline, from 29.03 in the ’70s to 16.72 today.

What makes these numbers more disturbing is that during the same period, the percentage of starters from foals has increased. So, more horses are getting to the track and starting, but they are making fewer starts.

For two hours July 11, The Blood-Horse invited Bobby Trussell, Rob Whiteley, Duncan Taylor, Rob Keck, Mike Pons, and Arthur Hancock III to discuss the trends as seen in the study.

A few snippets from the participants are revealing about their strong opinions on the subject of current breeding practices:

• Trussell wants to know why the horses he sends to race in Europe routinely make more starts and stay sounder than his domestic runners. He is quick to point out the differences in medication policies and produces a lengthy list of drugs administered to his U.S.-based horses so far in 2008. “We need incentives for the owners. If I can avoid $100,000 in vet bills a year, and my horses run more, not less, that would do it for me.”

• Keck sees a different mindset among breeders. “Success is now breeding a sales horse, not breeding a grade I winner,” he said. His best line: “We don’t have sound horses because people aren’t breeding to sound horses.”

• Whiteley stated his belief that the breed has not changed, but the handling of the breed has. With the current practices, he said, “We may not be damaging the breed, but damaging the industry. Perhaps what we need is a structural analysis of how the game has changed, not how the breed has changed.”

• Hancock, a proponent of federal guidelines, also decries medication and believes the industry would best be served by a return to the days of hay, oats, and water. “We need a level playing field, zero tolerance,” he said.

• Taylor, an advocate for a national governing body, said it is important to “give the fans what they want­—drug-free racing.” Because much of the evidence about breeding is anecdotal, Taylor said more studies should be done because “what we need to search for is the truth.”

• Pons said owners need to be in control of their stables. “What I see today is less horsemanship…if we don’t agree with the vet or the trainer, then we need to make a change,” he said.

Owners lose money, hoping to hit the one big lick. As Trussell eloquently stated about the industry: “We have the biggest collection of optimists ever assembled in one place.”

Hopefully this study, and others to follow, will help continue the ongoing dialogue on the current state of the Thoroughbred breed.

The Blood-Horse presents "Losing the Iron Horse?", an in-depth report, available as a free PDF download, which investigates whether the Thoroughbred racehorse is as tough today as it was 30 to 40 years ago. 

Video: Losing the Iron Horse? Part I Six prominent breeders and owners debate the durability of the modern racehorse. 

A small group of trainers standing in the shedrow of the stakes barn at Pimlico the morning prior to Preakness day were discussing a myriad of problems facing the industry. It didn’t take long for the conversation to shift to medication, a topic on which every trainer has an opinion.

“There is a group that has the power to influence change on this issue,” trainer Ken McPeek said.

In racing, many ideas for change come along, and then the inevitable question arises: “Who can mandate that change?” The inevitable answer is almost always: “No one.”

In this instance, McPeek argued, that is not the case.

“All it would take is for the graded stakes (American Graded Stakes Committee) to take action.”

When the committee meets next month in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the 11 members could take a bold step. They could agree to mandate that for a race to be graded, certain medication guidelines must be met. Should a track decide it does not wish to comply, the result is simple: the stakes at that track—all of them—are ineligible to be considered for grading by the committee until such time as the track agrees to comply.

Period. No exceptions. No excuses.

“It would work,” McPeek said. “They have the power to make it work.”

McPeek is right.

The committee already has certain guidelines that must be followed. For example, a race must carry a minimum purse of $100,000 to be eligible to be a grade III race, $150,000 for grade II, and $250,000 for grade I. The race must have been run for several years under the same conditions and may not be restrictive by certain conditions.

It would not be a stretch, then, for the committee to phase in medication requirements. Perhaps it would agree to ban the use of all steroids for graded stakes beginning in January 2009, which would coincide with the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium’s timeline for states to have begun restricting steroid use.

Following that lead, the committee members, with solicited input from others, could discuss how far it wants to go in regard to other medications.

The guess is all tracks would rapidly embrace the changes in order to keep their races graded and help obtain initial grading for future races.

Hosting graded stakes is important to every track and track owner. So, while the adage remains true that “money makes the mare run,” owners are cognizant of which races are graded, and track owners realize the prestige of the grade can be a factor in an owner and trainer deciding which race to run in.

When Churchill Downs upped the purse of last month’s Stephen Foster Handicap (gr. I) from $750,000 to $1 million, it did so on the condition a previous grade I winner competed. This was done to help ensure the appearance of Curlin, but the key was the grading requirement.

The field for the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) is limited to 20 starters, the determinant being purse monies earned in graded stakes (both here and abroad). The grading of races is a measure of racing class, thus success in graded races is one way to evaluate runners.
Just as a $50,000 claimer is judged to be better than a $10,000 claimer, a grade I winner is judged to be better than a grade III winner.

Interestingly, though the grading of races would appear to be a system for the racing industry, it is in fact more of a system for the breeding industry. Where grading really becomes important is on stallion register pages and in sale catalogs.

There is a group that can make this progressive change happen for an entire industry.

Ken McPeek is right. 

Calder Race Course and Ellis Park have little in common…until you look beneath the surface.

Located in South Florida on the Miami-Dade/Broward County line, Calder is part of the sprawling metropolitan area known as Miami, Fla. Driving east takes one to the Atlantic Ocean, the drive time for the short distance determined only by the congestion and traffic lights.

To the naked eye, Ellis Park appears to be in Indiana, only because one must travel over a bridge to reach Kentucky. Ellis, too, is situated near a body of water, the Ohio River, which separates Evansville, Ind., from Henderson, Ky. There is nothing sprawling or metropolitan about the area.

A couple of things they have in common, this time of year at least, are heat and humidity. The purchase of a beer from an outdoor vendor gives one six or seven minutes for consumption before the elements turn the frosty beverage warm to the taste.

Calder is known for being adjacent to Dolphin Stadium, home not only to the NFL team, but also the Florida Marlins and University of Miami Hurricanes.
 
Ellis Park, affectionately called the “Pea Patch,” is home to an infield known for its soybean crop.  

In 2007, Calder raced 172 days; Ellis Park 46. Calder allows those horsemen wanting to race year-round in South Florida a place to do so; Ellis allows those horsemen wanting to stay in Kentucky from the Fourth of July to Labor Day a place to do so. Calder is owned by Churchill Downs Inc.; Ellis was owned by Churchill until the fall of 2006, when businessman Ron Geary purchased the facility.

This year, Calder and Ellis have had one important thing in common—difficult negotiations with horsemen over simulcast contracts. Under the Interstate Horseracing Act, tracks may not send their signals out of state without the approval of the local horsemen’s group. With 85-90% of handle now wagered off-track, the lack of a contract has meant a huge loss to Calder and a similarly anticipated decrease to Ellis.

Figures show Calder’s handle off 73% during the 45 days of the contract dispute.

Few tracks today draw significant on-track crowds. In keeping with a silly CDI policy not to announce numbers, Calder does not provide attendance figures, but previous meets showed average daily turnstile counts at about 3,700. Ellis reported about 2,700 patrons per day last year.

Many horsemen’s associations have begun using the new Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Group to negotiate contracts on their behalf, as is the case in Florida and Kentucky.

On July 5, the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association announced it had struck a deal with CDI on contracts covering purses and pending slot machine revenue. But there is no deal on advance deposit wagering, meaning Calder could send its signal to out-of-state tracks, and receive signals as well, but its races could not be wagered on through ADWs.

At Ellis, Geary said he would not open the track, and indeed missed the July 4 opening. The track will open July 11 after he agreed to the split THG officials have been pushing for—one-third to purses, one-third to the track, and one-third to the ADW provider. The 6% to purse accounts is up from the 2.5% Geary said owners and trainers had been receiving.

No businessman is in business to lose money. Geary said Ellis lost $2.7 million last year, and will lose money this year.

So why agree to the one-third, one-third, one-third split?

For one, because it is the right thing to do, providing more money from handle back to the purse accounts of those supporting the meet. For another, higher purses means more horses, which means more handle.

Yes, Geary and others in Kentucky are banking on getting slots. But if the deal signed in Kentucky is indeed precedent-setting, that will be a good thing for horsemen throughout the country.

At the tender age of 85, after nearly three decades in the business of owning and running horses, Harry Aleo finally felt the love of the racing gods.

They delivered unto him the horse that would fulfill his wish to travel his beloved United States of America and run that horse in top stakes races, earning cheers of fans from coast to coast. Decked out in his Western-style suit and cowboy hat, Aleo gave off a contagious boyish enthusiasm that would have been remarkable from a man half his age.

The beauty of him, though, was he felt the same joy when he’d come out to Golden Gate Fields on a Tuesday morning to watch a horse work.

“Lost in the Fog was the pinnacle,” said trainer Greg Gilchrist, the only conditioner Aleo hired in his 30 years in the business. “But he had that same enthusiasm for a $10,000 claimer. He missed three races in 30 years of running his horses. That’s how much he loved the business and the horses and the people who worked around them.”

Harry Aleo was what people like to call an American Original. As far as I can discern, that goes to being honest, hardworking, fun-loving. A person who says what he thinks, proper etiquette and political correctness be damned.

The great thing about Aleo—and his kind are all too rare—is although he was outspoken in his politics, he didn’t judge you on your political beliefs or the cut of your hair. If you measured up as a person, he embraced you and let you inside his world.

A lot of that world was his horses and his beloved San Francisco. He lived and worked virtually his entire life in Noe Valley, in the Mission district of the city south of the skyscrapers. His parents ran a grocery store in the neighborhood, and Harry drove the delivery truck. Between runs, he became a regular at John’s Pool Hall, two doors up from where he would eventually open his realty office. Billiards was not his thing; laying 50-cent bets on horse races with the bookie in the back room was.

On his 22nd birthday, Dec. 7, 1941, Aleo climbed to the roof of his apartment building and oversaw a darkened city, its electricity turned off to thwart a possible Japanese air strike.

Shortly after, Aleo wore the uniform of the Army’s 87th infantry, fighting in France and Germany and serving under Gen. George Patton in the Battle of the Bulge.

Returning home, he opened Twin Peaks Properties on 24th Street. He did well in business, and equally well by people, keeping rents affordable even after gentrification of the area led others to make “killings” in the market.

Aleo didn’t much care for the gentrification or the alternative lifestyles that took root in the city. He kept a shrine to Ronald Reagan in his storefront to tweak his political adversaries. But he also fought like hell to keep chain stores out of the area, fearing they would hurt the small businesses that made up the fabric of the neighborhood. He served on various boards and in organizations to fight for the independents, and today 24th Street bears the fruits of his labors.

Walking into his office was like entering a time tunnel. The wood-burning stove, 1940s-era radios, papers and files stacked everywhere. The one computer, on Harry’s desk, he employed to track his horses, not realty. The walls were adorned with photos of Joe DiMaggio; Sonny Shy, his first winner; and Lost in the Fog, his great champion.

Oh, how he loved where Lost in the Fog took him. After watching him win the King’s Bishop Stakes (gr. I) in 2005, Aleo gushed, “I love Saratoga. All those big Victorian homes with the porches, dormers, an American flag in every yard. People lined up at 6:30 a.m. to get into the track. Musical groups everywhere. That’s my kind of place.”

When the multi-million-dollar offers started flying in to buy his star, Aleo was shocked; and then flabbergasted at the people who said he should go ahead and sell.

“All those millions wouldn’t change my life, and I wouldn’t have the horse that has given me all this excitement and enjoyment,” he explained. “I’m not in the selling business. I’m in the racing business.”

Said Gilchrist after his client and friend passed away too soon June 21 at the age of 88, “The problem is, when we lose guys like Harry Aleo, there is nobody to replace them.

Trainer Jack Van Berg is a member of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, as is his late father, Marion Van Berg.

If there were a section of the Hall of Fame for breeders, Arthur B. Hancock III would be a member, as would his father, the late A.B. “Bull” Hancock Jr.

These two men from prominent racing families have been outspoken critics of the current state of the Thoroughbred industry, so they were easy selections to be among those chosen to testify before Congress June 19.

Just look at the title of the session held by The House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection: “Breeding, Drugs, and Breakdowns: The State of Thoroughbred Horseracing and the Welfare of the Thoroughbred Racehorse.”

Van Berg’s sound bite from his testimony was this: racing is “chemical warfare.” Hancock’s best line was that the industry is a “rudderless ship.”

Though some testified progress has been made, it really was impossible for any of the witnesses to completely defend the sport.

Now everyone knows what the industry’s participants have known: Thoroughbred racing is like a dysfunctional family. Just a few of our family’s problems are we allow the use of too many drugs, too many corrective surgeries on young foals, and too much leakage of our handle.
There are dozens of groups with a vested interest, and Hancock was right when he said what often gets in the way of progress or consensus is “ego.”

It has been said that if the leaders of racing were selected to conduct a firing squad, they would get in a circle and start shooting. True, that may also apply to Congress, but the fact a House subcommittee has racing on its radar screen should serve as a wake-up call to everyone connected to racing and breeding.

Even the threat of federal intervention should be enough to make racing’s various organizations agree to sit around a table and discuss what must be done. Some groups expressed displeasure with not being invited to testify before Congress, so it will take a very large table and those in attendance must be willing to check, as Hancock might say, “their egos at the door.”

Congress has only one real bargaining chip to hold over racing’s head, but it is a huge chip—the Interstate Horseracing Act. The last Triple Crown winner is not the only thing that happened in 1978. That year, racing asked for, and received from Congress, the law that governs the simulcast of races across state lines.

Thirty years ago, simulcasting accounted for a small percentage of the dollars wagered on horse races. And account wagering did not exist. Today, it is estimated that 90% of dollars are wagered through such means.

If Congress decides to tinker with the legislation, then horse racing hangs in the balance. Going back to the days of wagering only on track is not going to happen.

But racing can go back to the days of using fewer medications. Racing can go back to the days of breeding more for racing than for selling. Racing can go back to the days of letting nature and genetics decide the conformation of a horse.

To do so, racing will need to present a plan and timeline to Congress for making such things happen. It will take the cooperation of owners, breeders, consignors, buyers, trainers, jockeys, and veterinarians. It will require the buy-in of racetracks, horsemen’s groups, racing commissions, and state agencies.

It will not happen overnight, but it can happen over many years. It can happen to save a vital industry.

This is not the same industry as when Marion Van Berg and Bull Hancock were alive. We’re not returning to that era.

But together, we can can create a new era. 

 Seattle Slew was a heck of a racehorse. He started only three times at 2 and had just six races prior to winning the 1977 Kentucky Derby (gr. I). He went on to win the Preakness (gr. I) and Belmont (gr. I) Stakes and remains, 31 years later, the only unbeaten horse to win the Triple Crown.

Big Brown tried…and failed.

We can look back and question the competition Seattle Slew ran against in his Triple Crown races, just as many are questioning the current crop of 3-year-olds. But we cannot question whether Seattle Slew was a good horse.

Triple Crown winners had never occurred in back-to-back years until Seattle Slew and Affirmed (1978), so it was an historic moment when the two met in the Marlboro Cup Handicap (gr. I) Sept. 16, 1978. Partly because of who Affirmed had beaten in his races, and mainly because he had won 10 straight, for the only time in Seattle Slew’s 17-race career, Slew was not the choice of the bettors. Affirmed was made the 1-2 favorite while Seattle Slew went off at more than 2-1. But in wire-to-wire fashion, as was his style, Seattle Slew controlled the pace and ran away from Affirmed to win by three lengths. And it was not a soft pace. Seattle Slew ran the nine furlongs in 1:45 4⁄5, just two-fifths off the American record for the distance, set by another Triple Crown winner in the first Marlboro Cup five years earlier, Secretariat.

Seasoning, or training, is an important part of preparation for any athlete, regardless of talent level. Though he had only been out six times prior to the Derby, Seattle Slew had run 46 furlongs, compared to three races totaling 25.5 furlongs for Big Brown. Every furlong previously run makes a big difference before having to traverse 31.5 furlongs in the course of the five-week Triple Crown period.

Seattle Slew is the exception among the 11 winners of the Triple Crown. His three races at 2 are the lowest number among the esteemed group, the next lowest being six; they averaged nine starts as juveniles. Triple Crown winners Sir Barton and War Admiral each made six starts as 2-year-olds; Gallant Fox made seven; Omaha, Assault, Citation, Secretariat, and Affirmed each made nine; Count Fleet made 15; and Whirlaway made 16.

By the time they ran in the Derby, the 11 Triple Crown winners averaged a dozen starts.

In comparison, the seven horses in recent years that have won the Derby and Preakness only to fall short in the Belmont—Smarty Jones, Funny Cide, Real Quiet, War Emblem, Silver Charm, Charismatic, and Big Brown—have averaged four starts at 2 and fewer than eight prior to the Derby.

Consider that of this year’s 20-horse Derby field, the average number of starts at 2 was 3.4 and the average number of starts prior to the first Saturday in May was 6.3. Compared to the 11 Triple Crown winners, those figures are 62% and 47.5% less, respectively.

Charismatic and Smarty Jones never raced after the Belmont, but Funny Cide, Real Quiet, War Emblem, and Silver Charm all came back to win a grade or group I race.

Big Brown needs to prove that he can do the same.

Star Parade

Those who bemoan the quick retirement of many of racing’s stars were smiling widely June 14, when three champions all won. The parade of stars was led by 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin, who took the Stephen Foster Handicap (gr. I) in his first start since a triumphant overseas trip to win the Dubai World Cup (UAE-I). Also at Churchill Downs that afternoon, Dreaming of Anna, the 2006 champion juvenile filly, was victorious in the Early Times Mint Julep Handicap (gr. IIIT), while at Belmont Park, Ginger Punch, last year’s champion older female, took the Ogden Phipps Handicap (gr. I).

Bill Casner had been out of racing for 18 years when the Texas native was invited to a suite to celebrate the opening night of racing at Lone Star Park, just north of Dallas. He spotted a man across the room and felt sure he knew him.

Casner and Noah Powell, who had first met each other 30 years earlier when Casner was training horses, reminisced about old times. Also that evening, Powell introduced Casner to someone who would become an important new acquaintance, Art Preston, whose Texas ranch Powell was managing at the time.

With partner and friend Kenny Troutt, Casner had been involved with horses for years, but had left the game to enter business together, most notably Excel Communications, and raise their young families.

Casner had always promised they would get back in if they could, but only at the top. The millions they made with Excel provided them the means to do so.

With Preston and Pete Wittman, Casner and Troutt began a pinhooking partnership named Full Circle Racing, and as the friendship between the men grew, Preston, who owned Prestonwood Farm with his brothers, began inviting Casner and Troutt to attend major racing events.
In particular, Casner recalls the 1998 Belmont Stakes (gr. I), won by Prestonwood’s Victory Gallop.

“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Casner said June 8. “I remember watching him train the day before and the morning of the race. I really had a sense he was going to run a tremendous race. I bet heavily on him that day. I kept going back to the windows, which is unusual for me, but he had shown he was at the top of his game, and I thought the mile and a half would suit him.

“He switched leads about 50 yards from the wire, and that is when he really accelerated. I’ve watched that race over and over. It is amazing he got up, but he did.”
Casner watched another highly satisfying Belmont Stakes June 7 when Da’ Tara, who was bred and sold by WinStar and is by farm stallion Tiznow, won the race most thought Big Brown would capture.

“I don’t think any of us thought he would run the type of race he did, but it was exciting to have a rooting interest and for the winner to have been a product of our operation,” said Casner, who watched the race from his home in Texas.

In 1999, Casner and Troutt had a deal to purchase Prestonwood Farm (it would close in January 2000) near Versailles, Ky., so they began buying mares that November for their new operation, which they named WinStar.

Among those they bought was the Pirate’s Bounty mare Torchera, for whom they gave $350,000 in foal to Unbridled. She was not a good producer for them, culled from the band in January 2006 when sold for $20,000 in foal to Deputy Commander. But she left her foal of 2005, a Tiznow colt they sold as a short yearling for $100,000 and who would be resold later that summer for $175,000.

That colt, picked out by trainer Nick Zito and purchased by Robert LaPenta, is named Da’ Tara.

After the first of two Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I) wins by Tiznow, Casner and his associates began pursuing the horse to add to the stallion barn at WinStar. They would partner with Taylor Made Farm, each buying a quarter interest, with the horses’s owners retaining the other 50%.

Since the death of Eight Belles in this year’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), much has been written about the durability of the breed. Tiznow, Casner said, is the type of stallion that can get durable horses such as Da’ Tara.

“We want durable stallions,” he said. “Tiznow was 17 hands, weighed 1,200-plus pounds, and was sound and clean-legged; the picture of soundness.”

Which is why Casner and Troutt are back in the game where they wanted to be—at the top. 

I watched parts of the Indianapolis 500 May 25. But I wonder how much less of it I would have viewed had the first 75 laps been on one network and the last 125 laps on another.

Just a small inconvenience? I don’t know. I might have just tuned out because of the silliness of making me—or is it asking me or expecting me—to do such a thing.

If you decide to watch the Saturday portion of the 25th Breeders’ Cup World Championships—formerly Breeders’ Cup, formerly Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships—this year from Santa Anita, you will have to do just such a thing. If you tune in on Friday, a third network comes into play.

You can argue an event with extremely low ratings should try anything new. Well, its organizers are.

So, on Friday, Oct. 24, five races for female horses—formerly distaffers—will be aired on ESPN2. The following day, the first 2 1⁄2 hours will be shown on ABC before the action switches to ESPN for another 3 1⁄2 hours.

(The Walt Disney Co. owns ABC as well as 80% of the ESPN family of companies.)

The Breeders’ Cup switched networks two years ago after a long run with NBC, apparently in an attempt to woo younger viewers, more of whom are attracted to ESPN programming. So far, that effort has been unsuccessful. The 2006 and ’07

ratings were nearly identical, last year’s 0.75 rating equating to roughly 1.05 million viewers.

The Friday card has been strengthened, in the view of some, but with poor previous ratings on Saturday, it is hard to imagine many new viewers tuning in on a Friday afternoon.

The Breeders’ Cup has made many announcements since last year’s event was held at Monmouth Park: last December that there would be three new races in 2008; in mid-February that Santa Anita would play host again in 2009; and later that month, that Friday would consist of five races for females and the Distaff (gr. I) would be re-named the Ladies’ Classic.

It became apparent a deal could not be worked out with Churchill Downs to play host in 2009, but waiting just a few weeks would have allowed Belmont Park to have been considered once the New York Racing Association was awarded a new franchise agreement.

As for the addition of new races, this writer must be among the minority who preferred the old model of the Breeders’ Cup, when a larger slice of the organization’s funds went to stakes races around the country throughout the year. More nominators and more horsemen were rewarded by pumping up stakes, many at small racetracks, where the odds of coming up with a horse good enough to compete in a championship race are high.

Now, with branding playing a larger role, Breeders’ Cup officials have opted to create more races to make the championship event stretch over two days. In 2008, we will be introduced to the Turf Sprint, Juvenile Fillies Turf, and Dirt Marathon. This comes on the heels of the first two-day Breeders’ Cup in 2007, when the Juvenile Turf, Dirt Mile, and Filly & Mare Sprint were run for the first time. This year’s two days will feature 14 races worth a record $25.5 million.

Many in the industry have criticized the grouping of the five races solely for fillies and mares on the Friday card, and the change from the distinctive name Distaff to Ladies’ Classic, akin to changing the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) to Ladies’ Derby. If both days are of equal importance, why have the fillies and mares competing when fewer people are watching?

While several announcements have been made, there has been no word yet on race sponsorships for this year. Interestingly, a check of the Breeders’ Cup Web site does not show Dodge as a corporate partner, meaning it may have powered its last Classic (gr. I).

Though celebrating its 25th anniversary, Breeders’ Cup 2008 will contain many firsts. Only time will tell if the new  features make a difference.

Elliott led a large team of engineers, analysts, and consultants who examined the industry’s pari-mutuel system. Being experts in the field, they were shocked at what they found. In fact, Elliott stated racing was lagging far behind any industry he had ever seen.

Unfortunately, like many things in racing, politics reared its ugly head, and the partnership never happened. The suggestion of a centralized, national sytem to handle wagers caused concern for some, and several organizations then battling with the NTRA were able to derail any relationship between IBM and the Thoroughbred organization.

Elliott spoke of such things as software updates and research and development in tote technology. All the while, even casual players were able to notice significant odds changes during the running of a race. It wasn’t long after Elliott’s speech that the proverbial “accident waiting to happen” did indeed occur.

In the fall of 2002, there were six winning tickets in the Breeders’ Cup Ultra Pick 6, which had a pool of $4,646,289. But soon afterward, an investigation was launched when individuals pointed out all six tickets had one horse singled in the first four legs and all horses used in the last two legs, which was highly suspicious.

It did not take long to track the culprits, the mastermind being Chris Harn, a senior software engineer employed by tote company Autotote. Harn was able to alter the wagers made by accomplice Derrick Davis after the fourth race of the Pick 6, bringing to light a practice unknown to most, that while the money wagered on multiple race exotics is submitted prior to the first race of the bet, the selections are not.

It also came to light that Harn, Davis, and Chris DaSilva had cashed fake tickets of winning bets from uncashed wagers at various tracks in the Northeast.

The NTRA moved quickly to address the tote security issue, hiring Giuliani Partners, headed by former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, to make recommendations. A report was issued at the 2003 Round Table, among its main points being the creation of a National Office of Wagering Security, technology upgrades, and model rules for tote systems.

Just two months later, the NTRA board approved the position of chief security officer. Sharon O’Bryan was hired but backed out before ever working a day. No one else was ever hired, and no Office of Wagering Security was ever created.

Last November, Mike Maloney, a large bettor based in Lexington, brought to the industry’s attention how he was able to past-post a race at Fair Grounds. That no one picked up on the past-posting, or if they did, kept quiet on the matter, was alarming.

Now comes word that a California bettor who made 1,300 quick-pick superfecta wagers on this year’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) did not receive the No. 20 on any of the tickets. Of course, No. 20 was winner Big Brown.

Even more astounding than this “glitch” is that officials with Scientific Games, which holds the contract for all California outlets, may have had prior knowledge of the problem.

“…we have it from a source—a very good source in another state—that Scientific Games knew about this (bug) prior to our discovery of it in California,” California Horse Racing Board executive director Kirk Breed said.

A decade ago, the industry had a chance to partner with IBM, and just five years ago spoke of a National Office of ­Wagering Security.

How many more missed opportunities can we afford?

Machu Picchu is translated to mean “Old Mountain” or “Old Peak.” Discovered on a mountain ridge in Peru in 1911, it is often called “The Lost City of the Incas.” Built around 1450 and abandoned 100 years later, Machu Picchu is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

Visiting Machu Picchu affords a traveler a chance to journey back in time; a place to contemplate lost civilizations while also pausing to ponder what will happen to future generations.

With modern technology, one can even be visiting the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu, 8,000 feet above sea level, and communicate by satellite phone to Kentucky while negotiating a deal to stand the colt that had won the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) and was the heavy favorite to capture the Preakness (gr. I).

During the week following the Derby, Robert Clay flew to New York to meet with Michael Iavarone of IEAH Stables, which races Big Brown in partnership with Paul Pompa Jr. Clay made his pitch to stand the unbeaten Boundary colt at his farm, in a stallion barn aside others such as Smarty Jones, Dynaformer, and Rahy. Big Brown could walk each day past the statue of Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, who ended his stallion career at the farm.

Feeling so good about the meeting, Clay saw no need to cancel his scheduled trip to Machu Picchu. He instructed his son, Case, age 34 and just a few months into his new role as farm president, to work out the details.

So, while Robert Clay studied a lost civilization of the past, Case Clay delivered the horse of the future, working with Iavarone and the attorneys on both sides on a contract that was finalized on Preakness day.

Robert Clay arrived back in the States after midnight, signed the agreement at noon, and arrived at Pimlico with his family in time for the race prior to the Preakness.

With the winning connections on the infield podium following the impressive performance by Big Brown, Robert Clay took off his hat and waved it toward the jubilant throng. Spotting him and his gesture, Iavarone removed his hat and waved it in the air as well.

Iavarone, his partners, trainer Rick Dutrow, and jockey Kent Desormeaux were smiling, but they were not smiling as broadly as Robert and Case Clay.

“It was a leap of faith,” Case Clay said, noting had Big Brown lost the Preakness, the luster would have been off, his value almost assuredly worth less than the price agreed to earlier that day.

In fact, when asked if the biggest detail to work out the past week was the purchase price, Clay hesitated, smiled, and said, “Yes, yes it was.”

Both Clays refused to answer questions regarding the specifics of the deal, though Robert Clay acknowledged he and a partnership group had purchased a minority interest in the colt. A total valuation of around $50 million has been widely mentioned.

Robert Clay noted how Iavarone and his group had total control of the racing career of Big Brown, but sadly Iavarone has already stated that the colt will not race beyond this year.

In today’s civilization, far removed from places such as Machu Picchu, once a stallion deal is signed with such a hefty value, business considerations begin to far outweigh racing options. Still, it would have been better to have left Big Brown’s impending retirement unsaid. The colt is gathering quite a cheering section, and his fans will be disappointed, as were many last year, to have another of their 3-year-old stars rushed off to stud.

But for now, for the next few weeks, Three Chimneys is the only farm that has the possibility of standing a Triple Crown winner.

Whether talking about the stallion business or the advancement of any civilization, it is always a leap of faith.

One night during the 2007 Keeneland November sale, Eoin Harty was enjoying a leisurely dinner when the topic turned to horses, in particular those in his Southern California stable.
The trainer got a twinkle in his eye when he began to speak about a colt that had impressively broken his maiden the month before, in his second start, and was preparing for his first stakes outing.

“He has the look of a Derby horse,” Harty said matter-of-factly. “I see the things in him that I saw in the others we took to Louisville.”

The “we” referred to the past, when Harty was an assistant to Bob Baffert, who burst on the Derby scene and etched his name in the history books with two victories and a close second in consecutive years. They finished second in 1996 with Cavonnier, who was beaten just a nose by Grindstone, and then won the Run for the Roses in 1997 and 1998 with Silver Charm and Real Quiet, respectively. (Baffert won another Derby, in 2002 with War Emblem, after Harty had struck out on his own.)

Many a trainer has a 2-year-old he thinks has what it takes to get to Louisville, Ky., for the world’s greatest race on the first Saturday each May. But the way is lined with roadblocks, pitfalls, injuries, and, of course, the fact many horses prove to simply not be good enough.

There also is something some encounter that is every bit as contagious as the flu, but for which there is no vaccine. They call it Derby fever.

Harty doesn’t have Derby fever. From his experiences with Baffert, Harty knows what it takes to get to the Derby, and six months ago he thought he had a colt that possessed those special qualities.

Bred and owned by WinStar Farm, the Tiznow colt out of the Turkoman mare Sweet Damsel won that stakes last November, ironically named the Real Quiet. At 1 1⁄16 miles, it was his first time around two turns, and the colt showed he was bred for distance and would have no trouble getting a route of ground.

The final start in his juvenile campaign came in late December in the CashCall Futurity (gr. I), producing a second-place finish.

In four starts as a 2-year-old, he had two wins and two seconds, and in January was assigned 116 pounds by the handicappers who compile the Experimental Free Handicap. Published annually by The Jockey Club since 1935, the Experimental is a weight assignment based on juvenile accomplishments for a hypothetical race at 1 1⁄16 miles on dirt. Champion War Pass received top weight of 127 pounds.

At his Santa Anita base, Harty mapped out a plan that would have his colt make only two starts prior to the May 3 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I). That is contrary to what his former boss did in the ’90s—Cavonnier had four previous starts at 3; Silver Charm and Real Quiet each had three—but a horseman has to know his horse, and Harty believes he does.

In the March 1 Sham Stakes (gr. III), the colt’s first start at nine furlongs, he hung closer to the pace, had to duel for the first time, and won by a half-length. In the Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) five weeks later, Harty looked on as his charge appeared beaten at the quarter pole. But he found that something extra good horses need to find sometimes, getting in stride late to again post a half-length victory.

The question Harty is asked most is whether his colt, who has only started on synthetic surfaces, can win on dirt. Well, his sire won the Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I) twice, once at Churchill. His broodmare sire was represented last year by Hard Spun, who ran second in the Derby.

Like Harty, this writer has a twinkle in his eye when thinking about Colonel John.