What's Going On Here

Party Time - By Dan Liebman

2009-06-30T19:03:00Z

Carl Rollins is not a horse owner, breeder, trainer, nor jockey. He doesn’t work for a racetrack, sale company, racing organization, or bloodstock agent. He has never mucked a stall, hotwalked a horse, bred a mare, or broken a yearling. But Carl Rollins gets it—he understands the importance of the horse industry to Kentucky.

For nearly 15 years Rollins worked in Lexington as a represent-ative for Ashland Oil, and those he sold fuel and oil to included some of the largest horse farms in Central Kentucky. The drivers, he noted, also delivered petroleum products to small farms, medium-sized farms, cattle farms, and many that grew crops but had no livestock to speak of.

“If you were counting the number of jobs directly impacted by the horse industry, most people would not have counted me back then,” Rollins said. “But I can tell you my job depended on the horse industry.”

Rollins was raised in Lexington and today resides in Midway, Ky., an area surrounded by farmland, much of it home to horses of various breeds. He is the marketing manager for the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority, a not-for-profit quasi-governmental corporation that assists college students.

Oh, and Rollins is a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, representing all of Woodford County (Midway, Versailles), part of Fayette County (Lexington), and a sliver of Franklin County (Frankfort, the state capital). The Democrat is one of 52 House members who June 19 voted in favor of a bill to allow slots at Kentucky racetracks, only to see the legislation die a few days later in a Republican-controlled Senate committee.

At an industry rally at Keeneland June 24, when the Speaker of the House, Greg Stumbo, was unable to attend, it was Rollins who spoke in his place. And, like many others, Rollins placed the blame for the death of the bill squarely at the feet of Senate President David Williams, a Republican from Burkesville in southern Kentucky.

“We had great leadership in the House, but a void of leadership in the Senate,” Rollins said. “It is time we do something about it.”

Gov. Steve Beshear, who spoke last to the more than 1,000 in attendance at Keeneland, was succinct when he said, “You can either change the minds of some of the senators, or you can change some of the senators.”

Many singled out Republican Senator Damon Thayer, who makes his living in the Thoroughbred industry. Though not a member of the committee that quashed the bill, Thayer did not stand up and voice support for the some 100,000 Kentuckians who depend on horses to put food on their tables.

Quite eloquent at the rally, and earlier in the day on the floor of the Senate before the special session adjourned, was Senator Ed Worley, a Democrat from Richmond who is the Senate Minority Floor Leader.

To drive home the point about how many jobs in Kentucky are dependent on the horse industry, Worley told the crowd that, “If you look at the horse industry in Kentucky, and you take Lexmark, Toyota, UPS, Ford, and Delta, and combine the employment of every one of those industries that we jump through our skin for every day to help—and we should—it is half the employment of the horse business of Kentucky.

“What you all deserve is to have your cause be advocated for in Frankfort and in Washington, and what you do not deserve is people who represent districts with horse tracks in them or horse farms in them, whether they be Thoroughbred, Appaloosas, walking horse, Standardbred, or old mules, if they vote against the horse industry. You need to remember them on election day.”

Members of the horse industry do not need to defeat David Williams, but merely enough members to change Ed Worley’s title to Senate President and David Williams’ title to Minority Floor Leader.

Getting the Kentucky Senate back in the hands of Democrats is what it will take to secure slots for the horse capital of the world.

View video coverage of the Kentucky Horse Industry Rally at Keeneland on June 24, 2009.

Ward of the World - By Dan Liebman

2009-06-23T18:56:00Z

It’s a shame Vincent O’Brien didn’t hang on a couple more weeks. The legendary Irish trainer, who died June 1 at age 91, would have loved the just-concluded Royal Ascot meeting, in particular the success enjoyed by American conditioner Wesley Ward.

It was O’Brien, more than 40 years earlier, who showed American-bred horses could win major races in Europe when he trained Sir Ivor to take the 1968 Epsom Derby, one of six wins for O’Brien in that classic race.

Ward has now taken an American-trained horse and won a race at the prestigious Royal Ascot meeting. In fact, he did it twice—and nearly three times—with six starters he shipped over for the five-day meet.

Two years after winning the Derby with Raymond Guest’s Sir Ivor, O’Brien saddled American-bred Nijinsky II to sweep the English Triple Crown for owner Charles Engelhard. No horse has won the Two Thousand Guineas, Derby, and St. Leger Stakes since.

Nijinsky II was a son of Northern Dancer, and O’Brien was quick to realize the progeny of that stallion adapted well to turf racing in Europe. Bolstered by that knowledge, and with his obvious horsemanship skills, O’Brien teamed with Robert Sangster starting in the early 1970s to purchase yearlings in the United States with the idea of making top racehorses and top stallion prospects.

“He changed the course of our sales,” James E. “Ted” Bassett III, who was president of Keeneland at the time, said June 18 from his cottage at Keeneland. Ironically, John Magnier was being interviewed on the television playing in Bassett’s office while he spoke. Magnier, O’Brien’s son-in-law, now runs the Coolmore breeding and racing enterprise that became a powerhouse while operated by Sangster and O’Brien.

“Vincent O’Brien had the courage and the conviction to purchase horses here and take them to Europe, where they enjoyed immeasurable success,” Bassett said.

A few months before Sir Ivor would win the Epsom Derby, Wesley Ward was born in tiny Selah, Wash. He was raised around the racetrack because his father, Dennis, is a trainer in the northwestern most state in the continental United States.

Wesley Ward became a jockey, and at the tender age of 16, was the Eclipse Award-winning apprentice, riding 335 winners.

After only five years, Ward gave up the battle that leads many to abandon the riding profession: making weight. He assisted his father for a few years before going out on his own, and won his first stakes in 1994 when Unfinished Symph took the grade III Will Rogers Handicap (and subsequently three more graded stakes).

One thing Ward is known for is his ability to put speed into young horses, something he thought would be an advantage in Europe, where there is much less emphasis on that style of running.

So, with the approval of his owners, Ward prepared five juveniles and one older horse for the journey to England, including working the group between races at River Downs near Cincinnati, Ohio, May 24.

On June 16, the first day of the meeting, Ward shocked the punters when the 2-year-old gelding Strike the Tiger, whom he co-bred and co-owns, won the Windsor Castle Stakes at odds of 33-1. The same day he sent out the 4-year-old gelding Cannonball to finish sixth in the King’s Stand Stakes (Eng-I).

Ward warned that Jealous Again was his best shot at Ascot, and June 17 the juvenile filly won the Queen Mary Stakes (Eng-II) by five lengths. Not that it was a perfect week for Ward: Yogaroo ran ninth in the June 18 Norfolk Stakes (Eng-II); Aegean finished ninth in the June 19 Albany Stakes (Eng-III); and Honor in Peace was 16th in the June 20 Chesham.

Cannonball did come back four days after the King’s Stand to run second in the Golden Jubilee Stakes (Eng-I).

So, though he is still seeking his first grade/group I win, Ward has now done something no other U.S. trainer has accomplished.

Perhaps, as was the case with O’Brien, Ward’s courage and conviction will convince others to be so daring.

Forever Young - by Dan Liebman

2009-06-16T20:02:00Z

During an interview just before the calendar flipped to the year 2000, veterinarian Robert Copelan had this to say about W.T. Young: “I often wonder what would have happened had the phone been busy (the first time Young called). Meeting W.T. Young was that bolt of lightning; the most important thing to happen to me in my life.”

On June 9, Bill Young Jr. announced he was dispersing the horses of his family’s Overbrook Farm near Lexington, which his father had developed and operated until his death in January 2004 at age 85.

Copelan, a friend and advisor to W.T. Young for 25 years, was surprised by the announcement, but he understood that while Bill Young had the same astute business acumen as his father, he did not possess the same passion and enthusiasm for Thoroughbred racing and breeding. So, while Copelan hates to see Overbrook cease to exist, he takes satisfaction in the success the farm enjoyed and, more importantly, in the friendship he forged with W.T. Young.

“For me personally, he was the wisest man I ever met,” Copelan, who refuses to slow down from practicing veterinary medicine at age 82, said. “He had everything nailed down. I tried to make him laugh, and he didn’t laugh a lot, but I kept trying. We had some great times together. He was a serious-minded guy. He suffered no fools.”

W.T. Young was a business legend in Kentucky, from starting a small peanut butter company that was sold and became the mighty Jif, to starting a trucking firm and storage company, businesses his son runs today. He was generous to a fault in his help to the University of Kentucky, Transylvania University, and Shakertown.

But W.T. Young took special satisfaction in the development of Overbrook, from its first 100 acres to more than 2,000, from his first mare to many grade I winners and producers, and especially in Storm Cat, one of the greatest sires of this or any other time.

“He called me out of the blue,” Copelan said, recalling the conversation of 30 years ago. “He asked if I would come look at a horse he had purchased. I went the next day. “I’ll never forget we shook hands and I called him ‘Mr. Young.’ He said, ‘We’re about the same age, so I will call you Bob and you call me Bill.’ He began to call me more frequently, and it became an arrangement where I was there for his assistance at any time, any way I could help. We became great friends.”

Dr. Bill Lockridge arranged for Young to purchase three mares privately, and the Overbrook Farm owner hit the jackpot; that package included Terlingua, the dam of Storm Cat, and Cinegita, the granddam of champion Flanders and great-granddam of champion Surfside.

One day Copelan selected a filly at auction by the stallion named for him, and she was purchased for Young for $45,000. When told he could name her, Copelan suggested Boondi Queen, from the Rudyard Kipling poem “The Last Suttee.”

“He just looked at me and said, ‘You read too much,’ ” Copelan recalled, laughing.

Instead, Young named her Pat Copelan, after the vet’s wife, and she won the 1988 Adirondack Stakes (gr. II).

“Being a part of Overbrook, and seeing what Storm Cat accomplished, is one of the proudest things in my career,” Copelan said. “What set W.T. Young apart from anyone else is that he always wanted the person to whom he sold a horse to have the best deal.”

When Bill Young told Copelan of his decision to shut down Overbrook, Copelan said he was “overwhelmed. But the reasons Bill cited were all valid, they could not be argued about, they were his decisions, and they were sound decisions.”

And who would understand those reasons more than anyone else? “Yeah,” Copelan said, “you’re right. W.T. would completely understand.”

Hard to Predict - by Dan Liebman

2009-06-09T18:39:00Z

Another Triple Crown season has come and gone, and as usual it did not disappoint. Many of the happenings would have been impossible to predict, however, such as:

• A 50-1 shot winning the May 2 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I). It looked like Quality Road, The Pamplemousse, and I Want Revenge would all bring solid credentials to Churchill Downs for the Derby, but they fell by the wayside. At the end of the day, a new star was born when Mine That Bird came through on the rail under the master of such rides, Calvin “Bo-Rail” Borel, to wear the roses.

• The trainer of the Derby winner, Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr., winning the race with his first-ever starter in a graded stakes race. Woolley proved there are good horsemen at every track in the country, just waiting to get their hands on a good horse. Two things stand out about Woolley: 1) He was incredibly accommodating to the media and fans, doing hundreds of interviews and signing hundreds of autographs. This from a guy surely worn out from hobbling around on crutches since breaking his leg in a motorcycle accident. 2) Over and over and over again, Woolley took little credit for the Derby win, BlackBerry Preakness (gr. I) second, or Belmont (gr. I) third. He credited the horse.

• A filly winning the Preakness for the first time since 1924. Those who witnessed the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) were left speechless by Rachel Alexandra’s dazzling 20 1/4-length procession the day prior to the Derby and left wondering if she would have beaten the boys had she run Saturday instead of Friday. Her owners (Dolphus Morrison and Michael Lauffer) did not want to run against males, but the next week she was sold (to Jess Jackson and Harold McCormick), switched barns (from Hal Wiggins to Steve Asmussen), and was headed to Baltimore for the middle leg of the Triple Crown.

• A jockey giving up the mount on the Kentucky Derby winner. In an unprecedented but completely understandable move, Borel stuck with the filly and made the right choice as she won the Preakness, holding off Mine That Bird and jockey Mike Smith. Borel and his longtime agent, Jerry Hissam, were put in an unusual situation but did what was right for the rider’s business.

• Borel regaining the mount on Mine That Bird; Borel becoming a media sensation. Calvin with Jay Leno; Calvin with David Letterman; Calvin on Good Morning America; Calvin ringing the opening bell on Wall Street as traders chanted his name. It’s Calvinmania. What is President Obama waiting for? Calvin Borel is a sweet, warm, down-to-earth person you can’t help but love, and every appearance helps Thoroughbred racing. If we could be so lucky as to have Mine That Bird turn into the next John Henry, we could ride this show for years to come. Again, Woolley showed complete class, knowing the jockey had to make the choice he did and putting him back on for the Belmont. It appeared Borel moved too soon in the Belmont, but after acknowledging that, the trainer said he would “be the first to pat him on the back.”

• Another trainer winning his first graded race in a classic. While it was not his first start in a graded race—it was his seventh—Tim Ice won the Belmont with Summer Bird for his first graded victory. A 15-year assistant, Ice learned his lessons well, skipping the Preakness, shipping to Belmont Park early, and saddling the colt to win the “Test of the Champion” in only his fifth start.

• Two classic winners for a sire in his first crop. We’ve seen numerous sires get one classic winner lately in his first crop, but Gainesway Farm stallion Birdstone notched two in Mine That Bird and Summer Bird. They carry C.V. Whitney bloodlines, and that leading to success is the one thing that could have been predicted to have turned out as it did.

Nick of Time - by Dan Liebman

2009-06-03T00:08:00Z

A few days after selling a yearling for the world-record price of $13.1 million in 1985, Warner Jones had no problem describing his breeding philosophy.

“I look at what worked in the past and try to repeat it,” Jones said.

Jones knew a lot about breeding horses, and a lot about selling yearlings.

So that’s it? “Yeah, that’s it,” a smiling Jones said.

If something worked, repeat it; as simple as that.

Of course, there is more to it than that, and Jones knew it—things like soil, water, horsemanship, conformation, luck, and marketing.

In essence, the late owner of Hermitage Farm was describing an important factor in breeding: nicking, the process of assessing the affinity for breeding certain sire lines to certain broodmare sire lines.

There have been many successful nicks over the years, the most recent being Mr. Prospector/Northern Dancer. The obvious success of the Mr. Prospector/Northern Dancer nick is responsible for so many of today’s breeding animals being from those two dominant sire and broodmare sire lines.

Nicking services have been available to Thoroughbred breeders for years, but, unfortunately, they did not take the entire pool of foals into consideration. Until, that is, Blood-Horse Publications, in conjunction with Pedigree Consultants owners Alan Porter and Byron Rogers, brought TrueNicks to the market.

(Full disclosure: As a partner in TrueNicks, Blood-Horse Publications benefits financially from the company’s success.)

Other nicking services do not look at all foals bred on a cross, only the successful ones. So, which is of more use to a breeder: to know only how many stakes winners have been produced from a cross; or to know how many total foals have been produced from the cross, and from those foals, how many have gone on to win a stakes race?

Obviously, it is the latter.

Think of it this way. If a stallion has 100 foals, 20 starters, and five stakes winners, what is his percentage of stakes winners? Is it 25% (five stakes winners from 20 starters) or is it 5% (five stakes winners from 100 foals)? Of course, it is 5%. So, why would you look at all foals in this instance, but in terms of nicking look at only the successful foals? You wouldn’t, and TrueNicks doesn’t.

TrueNicks uses The Jockey Club Information Service’s entire database to examine every cross of a sire and broodmare sire, and then an algorithm formulates a Sire Improvement Index and Broodmare Sire Improvement Index, multiplying the two to express both the opportunity and expectation from each cross. A score of 6.0, for example, means the nick performs six times better than the average opportunity, which translates to an A+ True-Nicks rating (go to www.truenicks.com for a complete explanation).

In 1948, The Blood-Horse editor Joe Estes, always seeking statistics to aid Thoroughbred owners and breeders, developed the Average-Earnings Index and subsequent Comparable Index as ways of measuring the success of stallions. The ratings have been included in The Blood-Horse sire lists and on Stallion Register pages ever since.

Last year, all A, A+ and A++ nicks were included in The Blood-Horse Stallion Register (while 13% of the entire Thoroughbred population earn A, A+, or A++ rankings, 37% of the stakes winners are rated thusly). Now, TrueNicks ratings, regardless of letter designation, will be included for the first three finishers in stakes worth $100,000 or more that receive write-ups each week in The Blood-Horse. And, beginning with the yearling sales this summer, TrueNicks ratings will be added to Auction Edge, making that product even more of an aid to those shopping at Thoroughbred sales.

A mission of The Blood-Horse has always been to inform and educate the industry, and useful statistical information fits that mission perfectly. That nearly every major breeding farm in Central Kentucky, and many others in regional markets and internationally as well, have signed their stallions up for TrueNicks shows the company is continuing to fulfill the mission set forth nearly 100 years ago.

Better Betting - by Dan Liebman

2009-05-27T15:41:00Z

In light of two recent episodes of wagering integrity—or lack of same—it appears the industry has done little since being warned a decade ago that its infrastructure was woefully inadequate.

This month, two past-posting incidents, where wagers are placed after a race has begun, have occurred. On May 16, wagering through Scientific Games on the Los Angeles Handicap (gr. III) at Hollywood Park did not close at 33 simulcast sites until after the race was run. All wagers (totaling less than $100,000) on the race at those locations were refunded.

Four days later, Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course refunded more than $150,000 after a router failed at its main wagering hub in Oregon operated by United Tote. The result was that bets were processed after the start of the race.

In both instances, even those who wagered properly had their tickets canceled.

At The Jockey Club Round Table in 1999, Mark Elliott, manager of IBM Global Services, the world’s leading provider of information technology, discussed ways his company could assist Thoroughbred racing. IBM Global Services had been hired by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association to examine the industry’s wagering technology, and Elliott found much that could be improved upon.

However, Elliott saw nothing that could not be fixed, and IBM Global Services offered to invest, through loans to the industry, $100-$200 million that would have been repaid with interest, a percentage of handle from an industry-owned tote system, and bonuses based on both reductions in cost and increases in handle.

Less than a year later Elliott was quoted as saying, “I don’t want to be overly abusive, but as an industry, you are as far behind in the use of technology to improve your business as any I have ever seen.”

Though Elliott was correct, the NTRA/IBM Global Services partnership was “retooled,” then NTRA chief executive officer Tim Smith said in October 2000. The industry could not afford, as Elliott recommended, a broadband network, Smith said, and the notion of an industry-controlled tote system was shelved, presumably because it would have placed the NTRA in competition with its members that operate and/or own various wagering systems.

Two years later (2002) the industry looked foolish when the Breeders’ Cup Ultra Pick 6 was manipulated by an employee of Autotote Corp. Few knew that Pick Six wagers were not transmitted to host sites immediately by wagering hubs, but rather after the fifth leg. In essence, only live tickets were scanned by the host track. Without the broadband system Elliott suggested, submitting the tickets otherwise would crush the tote system’s outdated transmission lines.

Following the Pick Six scandal, Giuliani Partners, headed by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, was hired to review the industry’s wagering protocols and tote systems as part of the NTRA’s new Wagering Integrity Alliance. Reportedly paid seven figures, Giuliani spoke at the 2003 Jockey Club Round Table, calling for the formation of a National Office of Wagering Security and a set of uniform standards for pari-mutuel facilities.

A permanent wagering security chief, Sharon O’Bryan, was hired, then resigned; Isidore Sobkoski served as interim director and wagering integrity consultant for a short time.

It was revealed following last year’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) that quick pick bets for the race’s superfecta purchased at Bay Meadows in Northern California did not include the number 20, which happened to be the saddlecloth number worn by winner Big Brown. A spokesman for tote company Scientific Games said a “computer glitch” caused the error.

Today, as reports by IBM Global Services and Giuliani Partners sit on bookcase shelves, large and small bettors alike continue to complain about late-changing odds and examples of past-posting.

The integrity of wagering on Thoroughbred racing in North America continues to come under scrutiny. Judging by our past performances, little has improved in the past decade.

The Art of the Deal - by Dan Liebman

2009-05-19T13:42:00Z

Bloodstock agent John Moynihan has bought and sold many good horses, seen many top individuals at sales, and witnessed many impressive performances on the racetrack.

But he had never been completely blown away until May 1, 2009.

Wine mogul Jess Jackson did not attend the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) that day, but his wife, Barbara Banke, watched the race at Churchill Downs with Moynihan, the agent for their Stonestreet Stables.

“The performance by Rachel Alexandra was one of the most impressive, if not the most impressive, by a racehorse that I have ever seen in real life,” Moynihan said May 17, the day after the filly won the BlackBerry Preakness Stakes (gr. I). “She won by 20 lengths (for the record 201⁄4), but what struck me was that when the outrider picked her up, she was at the five-eighths gap. I thought to myself, ‘She just galloped out faster than they will run in the Belmont (gr. I).’ It struck me as awe inspiring.”

Moynihan accompanied Banke and Jackson to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), and noticed the buzz created by the daughter of Medaglia d’Oro.

“Everybody was talking about it; everybody was talking about Rachel,” he said. “Then after the Derby, you had this feeling like the best 3-year-old in the country didn’t run on Derby day, but had run the day before. Everybody was saying that.”

On May 4, two days after the Derby, Moynihan called Dolphus Morrison, who bred and co-owned Rachel Alexandra, to inquire if she might be for sale.

She was, but there was a short-window of opportunity because Morrison and his wife were preparing to leave for a two-week vacation in Hawaii.

Moynihan needed to speak to Jackson and Banke immediately. The only problem was they were enjoying dinner at Dudley’s in Lexington to celebrate their anniversary.

Hey, for a horse deal, anyone can be interrupted at any time. Moynihan crashed the party.

“Yeah, I busted in on the party,” Moynihan said, chuckling. “I told them the situation; we discussed the pros and cons and the opportunities for the filly.”

The couple wanted to sleep on it, always good advice in a business where many deals are made on the spur of the moment.

As we now know, they decided to pursue it.

Moynihan got back in touch with Morrison and a deal was consummated, pending veterinary exams for racing soundness and breeding potential. The morning of May 6, Rachel Alexandra was vetted and passed with flying colors. Moynihan called Morrison, and he and his partner, Michael Lauffer, hopped in the car and started driving from Missouri to Kentucky.

The group had dinner, signed the papers, and the following morning at 5:15, Rachel Alexandra was walked from the barn of Hal Wiggins to Stonestreet’s primary trainer, Steve Asmussen.

The timing, Moynihan said, was crucial.

“They were not intending to run her until the Acorn (gr. I, June 6), so they were just walking her,” he said. “Had the deal been done a day later, it could have been too late to get her ready for the Preakness.”

Moynihan also engineered the deal to purchase a majority of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin after his first start, but this was different. This was buying a horse that had just won a grade I race by more than 20 lengths.

“With Curlin, I thought he had the ability to be a top racehorse, but he had to prove it,” Moynihan said. “She had already proven it, but she was a big gamble because we thought she was the best horse in the country—but to put your money where your mouth is, to push the envelope, to have her prove she is the best…

“The thing that is gratifying is that we knew we were buying a great horse, but we went off to achieve something she had not previously achieved. As (co-owner) Harold (McCormick) said, we raised the bar, and we cleared it pretty good.”

If they keep raising the bar, this could be an exciting year for racing.

Shrinking Starters - by Dan Liebman

2009-05-12T13:55:00Z

(Originally published in the May 16, 2009 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)

Speaking to shareholders May 7 via conference call, Churchill Downs Inc. president and chief executive officer Bob Evans said, “The solution for tracks without slots is to cut purses, to cut races, and race days, or to cut all three.”

At its signature track, Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., the company has already cut purses and races, and a published report May 10 indicated the track would request to reduce its live racing schedule from five days a week to four for the remainder of the meet that runs through July 5.

The fact is many horsemen are electing to run instead in states such as Indiana, West Virginia, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, where Thoroughbred purses are augmented by revenue from other forms of gaming.

On May 9, the Saturday following the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), Churchill had 62 starters in its 10 races, an average of 6.2 runners per race. During the first 12 days of the track’s spring/summer meet, the average number of starters per race was 7.55; excluding Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby days, the number drops to 7.31.

Also on May 9, the average number of starters per race was 7.83 at Charles Town Races & Slots in West Virginia, 7.11 at Delaware Park, and 8.11 at Indiana Downs (for its nine Thoroughbred races; the track also ran three Quarter Horse races with 10 starters in each event).

It has always been the case that every starter translates to higher handle, which in turn equates to more dollars for purses. But in today’s pari-mutuel world, it is even more important to have larger fields because more than 80% of dollars are bet off-track. In the days when on-track attendance mattered most, a bettor might not be intrigued by a four-horse field (Churchill had two four-horse fields May 9) but still might wager on the local product. Today, there simply are many more options; thus, a bettor who sees no more than six starters in a track’s first five races—as was the case May 9 at Churchill—may simply turn away and play another track’s races.

Unfortunately, Churchill Downs does not release its attendance or handle figures, but even without the numbers, it is easy to assume that handle is down significantly.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear’s latest quote about the horse industry, repeated often in the past few weeks, is, “What we don’t want to happen is to become the former horse capital of the world. This is our signature industry, and we will aggressively protect it. We will remain the horse capital of the world as long as I am governor.”

Kentucky’s racetracks have been actively seeking slot machines at their facilities for more than a decade. Looking back 10 years, on May 15, 1999, the Saturday following the Kentucky Derby saw 10 races run at Churchill Downs with 8.8 average starters per race. On the same date five years ago, the 10 races run on the third Saturday of the meet saw an average of 8.2 starters per race.

Like most other states, Kentucky has a budget crisis. Later this month, the new revenue forecast will be unveiled. Yet despite the fact slot machines at Kentucky’s racetracks would protect the state’s “signature industry” by increasing tax revenue and saving thousands of jobs, another legislative session has come and gone without the passage of a bill to aid the men and women who make Kentucky famous for its horses.

Budget forecasting is a tough job in any economy, but it is especially hard in light of today’s economic conditions.

Without slots, one wonders what forecast the horse industry in Kentucky would project for the next five years.

Even without slots, Kentucky may not become, as the governor says, “the former horse capital of the world.”

But, without his support, Kentucky horsemen will help see to it that Steve Beshear becomes the “former governor of Kentucky.”

Wild and Wooley

2009-05-05T13:47:00Z

by Dan Liebman

Trainer Bennie "Chip" Woolley Jr. had a rough start to the year. He crashed his motorcycle in some gravel and broke his leg, and his stable was having a tough time winning races, with one lone maiden winner from 32 starts.

On May 2, his year got better. Chip Woolley won the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).

Which is exactly the way the horse business works. One day you are up; one day you are down.

Chip Woolley had never won a graded stakes before. Stop. Make that had never had a starter in a graded stakes before. Now he will forever be known as the trainer of Mine That Bird, winner of the 135th Kentucky Derby.

There were lots of good story lines in the 2009 Derby, but it doesn't get any better than this.

After the race, Woolley wished people would stop talking about his crutches and the fact he vanned Mine That Bird from New Mexico to Kentucky himself. Talk about the horse, he suggested.

People break their legs, and many trainers trailer their own horses. But few win the Kentucky Derby.

Chip Woolley has done all of the above.

Through May 2, Steve Asmussen is the leading trainer in North America by wins with 207. In the past 25 years combined, Woolley has won 178 Thoroughbred races (he also trains Quarter Horses). The most in a single year: 21 in 2002.

The fact is, there are far more Chip Woolleys training horses than Steve Asmussens. Throughout the country, and around the globe for that matter, there are countless trainers who have in common a love of the horse and the dream of having their hands on the big horse.

Asmussen has had his hands on many good horses, most recently two-time Horse of the Year Curlin.

Now, Chip Woolley has his hands on a good horse, one that passed the other 18 runners in the Derby field like they were standing still.

Woolley gave much of the credit to jockey Calvin Borel, and for good reason. When Mine That Bird was squeezed at the start, Borel did not panic. He did what Calvin "Bo-Rail" does: get over to the rail. But even Borel could not have envisioned how full of run the gelding by Birdstone would be until he reached the three-eighths pole, when Mine That Bird was in overdrive while the others were seemingly staggering home.

Borel had to come off the rail just briefly, to pass Atomic Rain, but as he has done so often-including in his 2007 Derby score aboard Street Sense-he skimmed the rail to victory.

The previous day, Borel did not have to worry about being on the rail while riding Rachel Alexandra in the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I).

While the Derby was stunning by the fact the winner paid $103.20, the Oaks was stunning by the fact the winner won by 201/4 lengths.

The daughter of Medaglia d'Oro was so dominant Borel could have guided her to the outside rail and still won.

While the Derby was Woolley's first time at Churchill Downs, Hal Wiggins, who trains Rachel Alexandra, has stabled at the track regularly since 1993. Try to find a nicer guy on the backstretch and the search will prove futile.

Unlike for Woolley, it was not Wiggins' first graded stakes win, though it was his first grade I victory. And, although he has trained good horses before, he certainly has not had one as talented as Rachel Alexandra in the shedrow.

Fans are already dreaming of a Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic (gr. I) featuring Rachel Alexandra and unbeaten champion Zenyatta.

As for the gutsy little gelding Mine That Bird, well, the weeks and months ahead will prove whether he is a one-hit wonder or racing's latest star.

Either way, we can now talk about the horse, not the crutches his trainer uses or the van he is transported in.

Higher Power - by Dan Liebman

2009-04-28T14:15:00Z

(Originally published in the May 2, 2009 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)

This time of year people invariably talk about, and write about, the “racing gods” and “Derby gods.”

Of course, we all know what really wins Kentucky Derbys is horses and horsemanship. Well, most of the time anyway, because we also know the best horse doesn’t always win.

Still, it is nice to imagine a higher power had something to do with people such as Frances Genter and Paul Mellon ending up in the Derby winner’s circle, and that more than a good horse enabled an ailing Roy Chapman (Smarty Jones), a gracious Jim Tafel (Street Sense), and the lovely Bob and Beverly Lewis (Silver Charm, Charismatic) to win racing’s most coveted prize.

If there are Derby gods, this year belongs to Larry Jones.

Lots of trainers have had horses lose the Derby, many by a narrow margin and perhaps more due to a rough trip. But few have suffered through what Jones faced a year ago, when Eight Belles ran second in the Derby and then tragically broke down while galloping out.

After the incident, no one would have blamed Jones had he locked himself in his tack room, left the track, or simply said, “I can’t comment right now.”

Instead, Jones appeared in the press box, and despite tearing up several times, answered the media’s questions.

The next morning he was back at the barn, again conducting interviews despite a heart shredded by the emotions of the previous 12 hours.

At least Jones and his wife, Cindy, had 24 hours to revel in the excitement of Proud Spell’s win in the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) the day before Eight Belles became headline news.

Just two months after last year’s Derby, Jones, who also ran second in 2007 with Hard Spun, received a package he thought could return him to Churchill Downs for the 2009 running.

In July 2008, Tom Simon’s Vinery moved the horses it had with trainer Steve Asmussen to other trainers employed by the farm. Among those sent to Jones was a colt named Friesan Fire.

“This is the type of horse that can get you back to the Derby,” Jones said privately the first time Friesan Fire breezed for him.

On Aug. 25, Friesan Fire won his maiden voyage at Delaware Park, covering six furlongs in 1:10.89 and winning by a facile three lengths. Jones was ecstatic when he contemplated that a horse that had shown from day one he wanted to run long, as his pedigree would suggest (A.P. Indy—Bollinger, by Dehere), had run a quick sprint and won in such convincing fashion.

Friesan Fire failed to win in his subsequent three starts at 2, though he ran third in the Belmont Futurity (gr. II) and fourth in the Nashua Stakes (gr. III). After his third start, Rick Porter, who owned Hard Spun and Eight Belles, purchased an interest in the colt.

This year Friesan Fire is unbeaten in three races, taking the LeComte Stakes (gr. III), Risen Star Stakes (gr. III), and Louisiana Derby (gr. II) in succession.

There are those questioning Jones’ decision to bring Friesan Fire to the Derby off a seven-week layoff and never having raced farther than 81⁄2 furlongs. They questioned the handling of Hard Spun and Eight Belles as well, but a trainer’s job is to know his horse and do what he believes is right for each runner.

Perhaps Jones will win the Derby, or maybe the racing gods have another plan. Perhaps Jones is to win the race earlier on the card re-named the Eight Belles with Just Jenda, owned by his wife and named for their granddaughter.

It is the type of thing the racing gods would do.

Hall Call - by Dan Liebman

2009-04-21T15:03:00Z

(Originally published in the April 25, 2009 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)

While spending a spring morning watching horses gallop at Keeneland in 1990, I met a relative newcomer to training Thoroughbreds. He was searching for the clockers, and as it was his first trip to the Kentucky track, the West Coast-based conditioner was unaware they timed horses from the press box.

I showed him the way.

“I have a horse here for the Lexington (Stakes, gr. II),” he said as we walked. “If he wins this, we’ll go on to the (Kentucky) Derby (gr. I).”

I listened, not letting on I was convinced I had already seen the Derby winner at Keeneland, a horse named Unbridled who had run third in the Blue Grass Stakes (gr. II) as a perfect prep for the first Saturday in May.

“I’m Bob Baffert,” he said to the clockers. “I breezed a horse named Thirty Slews.”

Thirty Slews ran third in the 1 1⁄16-mile Lexington, and Baffert saw all he needed to see. The job of a trainer is to find where his horse can be the most competitive, and Baffert never ran Thirty Slews farther than seven furlongs in 18 subsequent races. Thirty Slews won the 1992 Breeders’ Cup Sprint to become Baffert’s first grade I winner.

Baffert has been adept at figuring out where his horses are the most competitive, and though he didn’t make it to the Derby with Thirty Slews, he eventually found his way to Churchill Downs. More importantly, he found the hallowed winner’s circle.

Now, racing has honored Baffert by voting him into the sport’s Hall of Fame, one of six members of the class of 2009 announced April 20 to be inducted in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Aug. 14.

Baffert nearly won the Derby in his first try when Cavonnier ran second in 1996 by a nose (he also started Semoran that year, who ran 14th). Almost immediately, Baffert became a media darling. He stood out with his white hair and dark sunglasses, and was always good for a quote or 20.

Baffert returned to Louisville, Ky., the following year and won the Derby by a head with Silver Charm for Bob and Beverly Lewis. The next year he won the race for his good friend Mike Pegram, as Real Quiet scored by a half-length.

The days since he won the $2,000 Turquoise Futurity at Rillito Park in 1982 were long gone. Baffert was quickly proving he is one of the best in the game.

He won the Derby a third time in 2002 with War Emblem for the late Prince Ahmed Salman and returns this year with one of the favorites, Pioneerof the Nile. Baffert has also won the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) four times and the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) once. He was less than a length away from winning the Triple Crown twice, Silver Charm beaten three-quarters of a length in the Belmont and Real Quiet losing by a scant nose.

Thirty Slews was the first of seven Breeders’ Cup winners for Baffert, who was the leading money-winning trainer three straight years, 1998-2000.

Baffert enters the Hall the same year as one of his trainees, Silverbulletday, one of 10 champions he has conditioned. His other household names include such stars as Chilukki, Indian Blessing, Midnight Lute, Congaree, Vindication, Point Given, Captain Steve, Excellent Meeting, El Corredor, and Indian Charlie.

Baffert was first discussed by members of the Hall of Fame nominating committee two years ago, but he failed to receive the necessary votes to appear on the ballot in 2007 and 2008 because some were concerned he had not trained enough Thoroughbreds during the years when he was first transitioning from training Quarter Horses.

Now, in his first year on the ballot, the 56-year-old Baffert has been elected to a spot alongside the best the sport has known. It may be a couple of years overdue, but it is a most-deserving honor for a most-deserving recipient.

A Cruel Week - by Dan Liebman

2009-04-14T13:18:00Z

(Originally published in the April 18, 2009 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)

Two stories from New York made headlines last week, but the fact they were linked together by some as being indicative of the current problems existing in the Thoroughbred industry was off base.

On April 6, Aqueduct stewards scratched Gato Go Win from that day’s Bay Shore Stakes (gr. III) after the horse’s trainer, Jeff Mullins, was seen administering an oral medication while the 3-year-old colt was in the security barn prior to the race. The decision of the stewards was the proper course of action, regardless of what was in the syringe. In New York, no medication (except the diuretic Salix) may be administered on race day.

As it turned out, what Mullins had in the syringe was Air Power, a cough formula manufactured by Finish Line for more than 30 years and sold over-the-counter in tack shops everywhere. A company representative said Air Power contains honey, apple cider vinegar, aloe vera, menthol, oil of eucalyptus, lemon juice, and ethyl alcohol.

Mullins admitted he made a mistake, which is true, considering nothing would have been said had he been racing in a state that does not have race-day detention barns, or had he administered the herbal elixir at his barn earlier in the day.

In this case, the security barn system worked, the horse was scratched, and Mullins learned a valuable lesson.

A few days later, authorities seized 177 horses at Ernie Paragallo’s Center Brook Farm near Climax, N.Y. The raid was conducted shortly after it was revealed in a New York Times article that four horses Paragallo apparently gave away months ago were rescued from a kill pen while awaiting transport to a slaughterhouse in Canada. A representative of a horse rescue agency said the four horses were malnourished and infested with lice and worms. One mare had a leg wound and torn vulva; another suffered from strangles.

The horses at the farm are now under the care of the Columbia Greene Humane Society, whose president, Ron Perez, told the Associated Press every horse was underweight.

On April 10, Paragallo was arrested and charged with 22 counts of animal cruelty. He was led from the Coxsackie Town Court wearing handcuffs and agreed to transfer ownership of 67 of the horses to the Humane Society.

When Paragallo entered the Thoroughbred game in 1991, he was a prime example of the type of new owner the industry continues to seek. He was young (now 51), energetic, and enthusiastic. He had the money to play, and play he did, first as a pinhooker, and later as an owner and breeder.

Paragallo’s Paraneck Stable bought a colt by Unbridled for $200,000 at the 1994 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling sale. The following March, the colt was hammered down to Hiroshi Fujita at the Barretts’ auction of 2-year-olds in training for $1.4 million, then a world record. But the owner kicked the horse back after a bone chip was discovered in a front ankle. True to his brash nature, Paragallo said he would race the colt and prove everyone wrong. Which he did. Unbridled’s Song won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (gr. I), and after taking the Florida Derby (gr. I) and Wood Memorial (gr. II), was the favorite for the 1996 Kentucky Derby (gr. I), in which he finished fifth.

Today, Paragallo still owns half of Unbridled’s Song, a highly successful stallion who stands at Taylor Made Farm near Nicholasville, Ky., for a $125,000 stud fee. The sale of one season in the horse would take care of the purchase of hay, grain, veterinary supplies, and whatever else is needed to care for the neglected horses at Paragallo’s farm.

Officials in New York took quick action to terminate Paragallo’s ability to race in the state. Other states in which he is licensed should do the same.

Like Mullins, Paragallo said he takes full responsibility. Mullins made a mistake and paid the price; his horse was scratched. The same cannot be said for Paragallo; his actions were unconscionable and not easily forgiven.

Field Size Matters - by Dan Liebman

2009-04-07T14:31:00Z

On a beautiful spring day in Central Kentucky April 4, it was easy to see why Keeneland was considering a major expansion to its facility (now on hold due to the current state of the economy). With the fifth-highest attendance in its history—30,550—the place was bursting at the seams.

With a larger physical plant, that number would have been higher. Thousands tailgated in the parking lot, never going through the turnstiles. Countless others gave up trying to attend when they saw traffic backed up so far it took many racing fans 90 minutes to drive a mile, park, and hoof it to the grandstand.

Keeneland has never had a good per capita handle figure, and on this day that number was only $55.42, leaving one to assume many patrons either got shut out or never made the effort to wait to wager. The per capita from the corresponding day a year ago was $64.27.

The attendance on the day, compared to the corresponding day a year ago, was up 27.85%, but the on-track handle was only up 10.24%, from $1,535,814 to $1,693,010.

As much as anything else, the day was a lesson in the importance of field size, a number racetrack executives are talking a lot more about these days.

After the first race April 4, handle from all sources was down roughly $600,000 from a year ago, an amount that is tough to make up throughout the day, even with a record Saturday crowd. In fact, Keeneland did well to make up two-thirds of that amount, finishing the day with all-sources handle of $10,405,989 compared to $10,613,372 (a decrease of 19.54%) in 2008.

The first race April 4 consisted of a seven-horse field (there were two scratches) of maiden 2-year-olds running 4 1⁄2 furlongs. A year ago the first race contained a 12-horse field of maiden 3-year-olds going 1 1⁄8 miles. In the win, place, and show pools only, the on-track crowd wagered $204,290 this year compared to $392,831 a year ago.

Bettors love full fields, and for that reason, racetracks do as well. It doesn’t take a mathematician to figure out that every additional horse in a field correlates to increased handle.

Bob Elliston, the president of Turfway Park, which is owned partially by Keeneland, saw first-hand the result of decreased field size at the track’s recently completed meeting. Average field size at the Northern Kentucky oval was 9.0 in January, 8.0 in February, and 7.1 in March. The meet ended with a decrease of 24.6% in handle and purses were down 14.14%.

“The declines this winter clearly demonstrate the importance field size plays in the minds of horseplayers across the country,” Elliston said. “Given the economy, people are choosing to spend their money on products that offer the best return on investment, no matter what those products may be.”

Last summer the New York Racing Association offered to increase the purses for open company route races for every betting interest over six that started. The offer produced the first allowance race worth more than $100,000. Average daily purses at Saratoga were $790,513, again the highest of any other track in the country.

Because of increased business, Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., has raised purses twice during its current meeting that ends April 11. In addition, the track offered a participation incentive for its Racing Festival of the South. In a down economy, business is up at Oaklawn, which has been owned by members of the Cella family for more than 100 years.

Besides being up in attendance as well as on-track and off-track handle, Oaklawn is up in two other important categories. One is average field size, which through the first two-thirds of the meet had increased from 9.11 to 9.64. The other is its slots-like Instant Racing game, which has continued to show solid growth.

Horsemen entering horses helps business. Nothing new, but even more critical in today’s economic model.

Special Moments - by Dan Liebman

2009-03-31T14:19:00Z

The recent passing of Kentucky Derby (gr. I) winners Lil E. Tee and Alysheba and Well Armed’s major victory have caused memories to come flooding back, from the world’s richest race in Dubai to the world’s most famous race in Louisville, Ky. Not only that, but of publications worked for in a life of covering Thoroughbred racing and breeding.

My pick in the 1987 Derby was Bet Twice, who, had he finished first in the race, assuredly would not have been declared the winner. Bet Twice bumped Alysheba in the stretch and by all accounts would have been disqualified had Alysheba not gone on to win.

That night a large group from Daily Racing Form was discussing the race while settling down for dinner at a well-known Louisville restaurant. Another large table sat unoccupied a few feet away, but after just a few minutes, in walked the group that was to dine adjacent to us.

Leading the way was Alysheba’s trainer, Jack Van Berg, who was followed closely by Clarence, Dorothy, and Pam Scharbauer, the latter two the mother/daughter team that raced the son of Alydar. Ken Carson and Jay Pumphrey, who advised the Scharbauers, were also in the mix, and took pleasure in discussing the pedigree and recalling the Keene-land sale where the colt was purchased.

Winding up seated next to the winning connections of a Kentucky Derby winner makes for a special evening with special memories.

I have always considered myself the tiniest of footnotes in the story of the horse that won the Derby five years later. The Racing Times was short-lived, but a highlight for this editor was the day trainer Lynn Whiting called to inquire about obtaining the speed figure of a colt that just moments earlier had broken his maiden impressively at Calder Race Course.

“You should call Chuck Streva,” I told Whiting. “Chuck does his own speed figures.”

Whiting did call Streva, and did buy the colt. And about 20 minutes after Lil E. Tee won the 1992 Derby, Whiting had his hand outstretched and recalled that conversation seven months earlier.

I picked Lil E. Tee to win that day, but not just because I happened to answer the phone the day his trainer called seeking information. Rather because in a year in which the Derby seemed to be wide open, Lil E. Tee could not only put Whiting in the winner’s circle, but do the same for the jockey who had won more races than any other at the track, except for the feature race on the first Saturday in May.

As a longtime handicapper of the Kentucky circuit, I found it hard not to appreciate the talents of Pat Day. Watching him glide under the wire first on Lil E. Tee was another memorable occasion.

In March 2000, a trip for The Blood-Horse sent this writer across the world for the fifth running of the Dubai World Cup (UAE-I). A pair of friendly faces appeared in the desert in the form of Eoin and Kathy Harty, who showed me where to eat, where to shop, and where to sightsee.

Eoin Harty, formerly an assistant to Bob Baffert, was living in Dubai and working for Sheikh Mohammed, the man who conceived the race in his native land.

The day prior to the race, Sheikh Mohammed invited the media to a press conference where he sounded quite certain his colt Dubai Millennium would win the World Cup.

“This is a very special horse,” Sheikh Mohammed said. And, he was right.

Dubai Millennium toyed with his competition in the World Cup much the same way this year’s winner, Well Armed, did. Well Armed just happens to be trained by Eoin Harty, who now has a public stable based in Southern California.

This game leaves one with special memories.

Big Hearts - by Dan Liebman

2009-03-24T13:44:00Z

Those who breed, race, buy, and sell Thoroughbreds are a competitive group by nature, and for good reason. But though this is a highly competitive business, it is comforting to see horsemen come together when members of the niche fraternity that is Thoroughred racing and breeding endure personal hardships.

At the turn of this century, with juvenile auctions coming under fire, sellers formed the National Association of Two-Year-Old Consignors to promote their activities and the many top runners they have sold over the years. For the nine years of the organization’s existence, Mike Mulligan has been the group’s chairman, working tirelessly with members, sale companies, and buyers alike.

Numerous times Mulligan, who operates Leprechaun Racing with his wife, Britt, has engaged this writer—and countless others—in discussions about the auctioning of young horses, a subject about which he is knowledgable, outspoken, and above all else, passionate.

Mulligan collapsed the evening of March 3 and suffered a fractured skull, an injury that has kept him in the hospital since. Earlier that day he and his wife sold the second-highest-priced 2-year-old at the Fasig-Tipton Calder sale for $1.1 million.

Meg Levy, who owns Bluewater Sales, also sells horses, though not 2-year-olds. A Kentucky-based agent, she consigns weanlings, yearlings, and broodmares. Knowing Mulligan would not make the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. auction March 17-18, she and her husband, Michael, volunteered to help show and sell the Leprechaun horses.

“Mike is a great friend of ours,” Meg Levy told Deirdre Biles of The Blood-Horse, “and I think he would do the same for us. He’s a person that’s there for you through thick and thin. He’s well-loved by many people because he is very free with his time and willing to help with any industry causes. He’s a great promoter for our industry in general.”

Another tireless supporter of the industry is equine attorney Joel Turner, who in addition to practicing law, regularly teaches at the University of Louisville Equine Administration Program, speaks at the Stewards Accreditation Program, and serves as chairman of the National Conference on Equine Law presented annually by the University of Kentucky College of Law.

Turner is also a licensed owner and trainer, and breeds and raises horses on Wild Currant Farm, which he and his wife, Mary, own near Prospect, Ky.

Like Mulligan, Turner is passionate about Thoroughbred racing and breeding, and combining legal skills with years of hands-on horsemanship, he is always eager to engage in discussions about the integrity of the game.

On March 16 the Turners’ son, Bryce, collapsed while playing in a pick-up soccer game. The sophomore at Chapman University, where he was a member of the school’s soccer team, died later that night of cardiac arrest. (On the same day, Mary Turner’s father passed away.)

The outpouring of support from those in the industry “has been overwhelming,” Joel Turner said. As Mike and Britt Mulligan experienced, Joel and Mary Turner have found solace in the flood of phone calls and e-mails of support from industry friends during a trying time.

In early March, Thoroughbred owner/breeder Charlie Harris was diagnosed with an incurable cancer. Because so many industry friends want to be kept up to date, Harris started a blog, where he regularly comments on his condition.

Harris, who with his wife, Susan, are fixtures at Saratoga each summer, has answered one important question, writing: “Although as you would expect, I recently gave some consideration to selling our horses, Susan and I have decided to keep them. Like all owners with young, largely untested horses at the beginnings of their careers, we are keenly following their progress as they are being prepared for this season’s racing!”

“The people in the horse industry, they have big hearts,” Meg Levy said. “We all band together, no matter how much competition there is.”

May Meg Levy’s thoughts be words to live by.