May 01, 2018

Top 20 Pennsylvania Breeders of 2017

May 01, 2018/ Web Master

By Linda Dougherty

It was a record-setting year for Glenn E. Brok, who in 2017 collected the most Pennsylvania Breeding Fund awards in the program’s history.

Brok, who owns Diamond B Farm in Mohrsville with his wife Becky, saw his homebreds earn $374,651, while he garnered stallion awards of $75,191, for a total of $449,842. The top homebred for Brok was The Man, a son of Ecclesiastic, who formerly stood at Diamond B. He captured the Banjo Picker Sprint Stakes for Pennsylvania-breds at Parx Racing, as well as five consecutive allowance races for a perfect six-for-six season.

“The Pennsylvania breeding program has been really great for us,” Brok said. “And our program is stronger and better than other states.”

* Donald L. Brown Jr. was the second-leading breeder in Pennsylvania in 2017, with his combined breeder and stallion awards totaling $326,862. His top three award winners were all sired by the stallion Messner, who stood at Penn Ridge Farms in Harrisburg before being exported. These were Ruby Bleu ($42,127), Wildcat Cartridge ($42,806) and Wildcat Combat ($41,794).

“The Pennsylvania breeder awards give you the best opportunity to recover and possibly profit from the expenses of raising a horse,” said Brown. “Further, the awards are great for Pennsylvania agriculture! I would rather see a farm and green grass than a parking lot or strip mall.”

* It was sheer sire power for Northview-PA, as the Peach Bottom nursery owned by Richard Golden earned $321,053 in stallion awards. Dominating the Pennsylvania sire list in terms of stallion awards earned was Jump Start, whose progeny garnered $207,984. Other stallions who stand or stood at the farm were Fairbanks ($54,988), Medallist ($28,836), Love of Money ($21,298), El Padrino ($7,352), and Bullsbay ($366). Jump Start was the top sire in the Mid-Atlantic region in 2017, with total progeny earnings of more than $5.4 million. His top Pennsylvania-bred during the year was Late Breaking News, who earned more than $47,000 in awards for his breeder, Stacy McMullin Machiz.

* Thanks to a pair of stakes-winning half-sisters, the Barlar LLC stable of owner/breeder Larry Karp was the fourth-leading recipient of breeders awards in 2017. Karp’s homebreds earned $214,866 while he earned $58,431 in stallion awards from the progeny of E Dubai, for a total of $273,297. Imply, a daughter of E Dubai out of Allude, by Orientate, captured the Northern Fling Stakes at Presque Isle Downs, accruing $161,000 in breeder awards. Her younger half-sister Advert, by Lonhro, won the Malvern Rose Stakes at Presque Isle, earning $92,624 in breeder awards.

* A bevy of homebreds and a slew of stallion awards combined to boost William J. Solomon VMD, owner of Pin Oak Lane Farm in New Freedom, into fifth place of all Pennsylvania award winners last season. Solomon had 14 homebreds running at area racetracks and they earned $102,616 in breeder awards, with the top two earners being Invisible and Hygh Life. Stallion awards for horses that stand or stood at Pin Oak Lane were $162,981, for a total of $265,597, with his leading stallion being Offlee Wild ($35,159), followed by Albert the Great ($34,102).

* Thanks to the success of homebreds at Pennsylvania racetracks sired by her champion Smarty Jones, Patricia L. Chapman completed 2017 as the sixth-leading breeding fund award recipient. Chapman earned $162,409 in breeder awards and $94,120 in stallion awards, for a total of $256,529. Chapman’s top homebreds were Someday Jones, a multiple allowance winner and second in the Lyman Stakes at Parx Racing, and Mama Jones, who placed in the Plum Pretty Stakes and the Dr. Teresa Garofalo Memorial, both at Parx.

“I’m thrilled about my top award winners,” said Chapman. “The Pennsylvania Breeders Award program has been very good to me. I am especially happy that my top winners are homebreds, by a homebred, out of my homebred mares, and that both are trained by John Servis.”

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February 01, 2018

Practical Tips for International Travels

February 01, 2018/ Web Master

By Denise Steffanus

Horses thrive on a daily routine and do their best when racing in a familiar environment, like a sports team with home-court advantage. But more and more American trainers are trying their hand at racing abroad, in places where racing is very different from what their horses are accustomed to.

Racehorses in Europe don't live and train on the racetrack. They are stabled at training yards, similar to a trainer's private farm in America. Riders hack the horses to grass gallops, sometimes through the nearby town, to get their daily exercise. It is a relaxing, pastoral setting.

When the horses head to the races, they are vanned from the training yard to the racetrack. The disadvantage for an American horse racing for the first time at a European racecourse is it doesn't have the opportunity to train over the track. So on race day, the horse finds itself in strange surroundings without the security of a lead pony, which are not customary in European racing.

Eoin Harty is a fifth-generation Irish trainer now based in California. Under his tutelage, Bill Casner's Well Armed dominated the Group 1 Dubai World Cup in 2009, winning by 14 lengths, the largest margin in the race's history.

Harty described the scene at England's famed Newmarket.

"The town is just basically around different training establishments," he said. "When you go to the track, you might be driving through the town and there's 50 horses walking on the street beside you, and I mean literally walking on the street. Then they just turn off and they go gallop up a hill somewhere. Then they walk back down through the middle of town and go back to their stalls. It takes a little bit of getting used to."

Racetrack configurations

Racetracks in America differ greatly from those in Europe. Here, horses travel counterclockwise on an oval, usually with a dirt surface that the track crew diligently works to keep as flat and even as possible. Turf courses are located inside the dirt tracks, so they are shorter with tighter turns. In Europe, horses race both clockwise and counterclockwise, primarily on turf, traveling up and down grades, and not necessarily in an oval.

England's racecourses are the most interesting. At Goodwood Racecourse in Chichester, the straightaway leads into a loop with sharp turns on a severely undulating surface that sends the horses back over the ground they traversed on the way out. Windsor Racecourse in Berkshire is a figure eight, with horses negotiating both right and left turns. Epsom Downs in Surrey also has right and left turns and a steep downhill turn. At Ascot, some races, such as the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes, are contested over a straight mile course.

"The hardest thing for me has been dealing with the straightaway, which is such a different race," said trainer Graham Motion, who grew up in Newmarket and apprenticed with Jonathan Pease in Chantilly, France, before coming to the United States. "It's more figuring out the idiosyncrasies of how the race should be run. Because you can't really teach a horse to run straight. It's something they're going to have to adjust to."

Find a local trainer

Harty said American horses tend to get mentally stressed in this strange environment. The way to solve the problem, he said, is to arrive a few weeks earlier and have a local trainer assimilate the horses into his own yard's string so they can train on the same gallops and become accustomed to the local racing environment.

Trainer Art Sherman did exactly that when California Chrome's connections decided to send the horse to Royal Ascot after his second-place finish in the 2015 Dubai World Cup.

"I wasn't familiar with how they train in Newmarket, up and down those hills and different courses," Sherman said. "So I thought it would be better off for the horse to be with somebody who knew everything going on in that area."

California Chrome was placed with Newmarket trainer Rae Guest, but Sherman remained his trainer of record. Guest was tasked with introducing the American Horse of the Year to running clockwise as he prepared for the Group 1 Prince of Wales's Stakes.

"You're not going to go there cold turkey and have them go the wrong way and think they're going to run their best race," Sherman said. "Another factor of going the opposite way is they're going to be on a lead they're not used to running on. That's why you need to train them that [direction] for that type of turn, going from one lead to the other."

Unfortunately, a bruised foot knocked California Chrome out of the race. Sherman visited the horse and said, "He was not a happy camper." His grueling two-year campaign had caught up with him, so California Chrome's connections brought him home for a three-month turnout at Taylor Made Farm in Kentucky.

Trainer Ken McPeek has raced at Ascot and Epsom. In 2004, his Hard Buck finished second in the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot. When he built his Magdalena Farm in Lexington, he installed a two-mile European turf gallop up and down the Kentucky hills.

"We train them right-handed and left-handed on gallops here on my farm to prepare them," he said. "If they're going to run at Ascot, we train them right-handed every day. And if they're going to run at Epsom, they go left. And they also get a chance to gallop the hills."

Trainers at the racetrack are not as fortunate.

"I don't know of any track in the States where you can do that," Harty said. "Maybe the racetrack that you're training at would work with you and give you 10 minutes at the end of the day to gallop the wrong way."

Take a Pony

Getting a horse the distance to the starting gate without incident is Motion's concern.

"It's a very free gallop down to the start of the race," he said. "Normally, for the mile at Ascot, the start is a mile away. So you have to gallop a mile down to the start the wrong way up the racetrack. So that can be an issue. Last year McPeek's horse got loose going down to the start."

Motion was talking about Daddys Lil Darling, who was loping toward the start of last year's Group 1 Epsom Oaks with nine other horses when a loud clap of thunder startled her. The filly ran off with rider Olivier Peslier, eventually parting company with him and running loose until she was caught and scratched from the race.

“I can’t tell you why or how that happened, though I was initially kicking myself that I should have had a pony with her,” McPeek told the Daily Racing Form after the incident.

Lead ponies aren't prohibited in Europe. Trainers just rarely use them.

"Our horses, when they go over there, need that security blanket," Harty said. "If you look at their horses, they send two-year-olds to three different racetracks and three starts and they're in front of a crowd and it doesn't seem to bother them. So I think it's just a different kind of horse with a different kind of upbringing, and that's why they don't use ponies."

A trainer can make a request in advance for permission to use a pony, but has to supply it himself. That often means shipping it to Europe with his other horses.

To further add to the horse's comfort, most trainers take their key personnel with them. Sherman took California Chrome's groom, Raul Rodriguez, and his exercise rider, Dihigi Gladney, to Dubai. Both times, the horse’s regular jockey, Victor Espinoza, was aboard.

Riders up

In the history of the Dubai World Cup, American trainers always have taken the horse's regular jockey with them. Notably, Baffert named Chantal Sutherland-Kruse to ride Game On Dude in the 2012 edition. She is the only female jockey to compete in the auspicious race on United Arab Emirates soil.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen said, "With that caliber of horse it would be insulting not to continue to ride who has helped you get there."

In 2008, Asmussen teamed Curlin with Robby Albarado for the win, and Gun Runner had Florent Geroux up for their second-place finish behind Arrogate in 2017.

In Europe, Wesley Ward primarily taps the jockeys with whom he has had the most success in the U.S., among them John Velazquez, Joel Rosario, and Espinoza. Recently, Ward has teamed up over there with champion jockey Frankie Dettori.

"He seems to be able to ride anywhere in the world and adapt to certain situations," Ward said. "He has, in fact, won certain races that I think an American rider or a rider from there wouldn't win, just because he's a phenomenal rider."

Ward was the first American trainer to win a race at Royal Ascot when his Strike the Tiger, with Velazquez in the irons, took the Windsor Castle Stakes by a neck in 2009. Ward returns every year to England and France with a string of horses that rack up impressive wins.

He begins preparing his horses for the midsummer Ascot meet around the first of the year, with a winter break to freshen them. His goal is to give the horses one or two well-spaced prep races in the U.S. before shipping them to England.

"We give them ample time to recover and ample time from their last start here to go there to prepare for those starts. So, essentially, we are running very fresh horses on the day, not tired horses," he said.

Logistics of the trip…

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February 01, 2018

PA Breeders - More Great Reasons to Race and Breed in Pennsylvania

February 01, 2018/ Web Master

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November 13, 2017

Snapshots - Breeders' Cup 2017

November 13, 2017/ Web Master

November 13, 2017

The Art of Clocking Horses

November 13, 2017/ Web Master

Published in North American Trainer, Winter 2017 issue.

Time, an old racetrack axiom holds, only counts in prison.

But that ain’t necessarily so to horse players and horsemen worldwide who depend diligently on mathematical mavens called clockers to provide thorough, accurate, and prompt figures that might help cash a bet or win a race.

Clockers, succinctly described as people who time workouts, ply their trade at tracks from Aqueduct to Zia Park, zeroing in on Thoroughbreds and their exercises from before sunup until the track closes for training, a span of some five hours.

There are private clockers, too, whose primary interest focuses on padding their wallets or making their valued information available to the public for the right price.

They all watch like hawks, displaying the close-up intensity of a movie directed by Sergio Leone, often adding a comment such as “breezing” or “handily,” the latter being the most accomplished workout.

Each track later in the morning sends its works to Equibase, which publishes distances and times of said workouts for all to see, a regimen that has been ongoing for decades...

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November 13, 2017

PHBA: PA Day at the Races

November 13, 2017/ Web Master

Published in North American Trainer, Winter 2017 issue.

Pennsylvania’s Day at the Races 2017 kicked off Parx Racing’s fall season, and proved to be another exciting day in Pennsylvania racing. Despite the rain that threatened, then rolled in, before the first stakes race, over 80 PA-breds showed what they’re made of as they battled down the stretch in each of the card’s 10 races.

The Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association (PHBA) treated Pennsylvania breeders and their guests, owners, and trainers to a buffet lunch, complete with a private third-floor view of the track. Keith Jones, retired NHL player, current hockey studio analyst for NBCSN, and member of competitive nature, as he has throughout his career, and never gave up. He took on his rivals in the stretch, grabbed the lead near the wire, and won with the determination that he’s known for.

Winning the Medal and his connections celebrated for the second year in a row as the six-year-old son of Medallist rallied to win his second $100,000 Marshall Jenney Stakes. Even with the race being forced off of the turf due to the nonstop rain, the gelding provided the biggest upset of the day, blasting from last at the half-mile pole and flying by his competitors to for the win. Bred by Rick Molineaux, owned by R and L Racing, and trained by Patricia Farro, he went off at 15-1, paying $32.

Ted Vanderlaan, brother to Dr. Teresa Garofalo, namesake of the fourth stakes race of the day, was in attendance to cheer on the winner and celebrate his sister. Garofalo was the treasurer of the PHBA board before she passed away in 2010 from acute myeloid leukemia. Her equine practice in West Chester, Smokey’s Run Farm, focused on equine reproduction, and the stakes in her name is a special one to the PHBA. The winner, three-year-old Grand Prix -- a half-sister to 2016 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint-G1 winner Finest City -- had her own cheering section with breeder and owner Hank Nothhaft and the crew that traveled to Pennsylvania to watch the filly run. Under jockey Jose Ferrer, the daughter of Tale of the Cat went to the front after the first sixteenth of a mile and never looked back to win by a length and a half. Grand Prix won the New Start Stakes at Penn National back in June, and the win in the Garofalo gives her a second black-type win.

As the rain continued to fall, the $100,000 Mrs. Penny Stakes for fillies and mares aged three and up, was also moved off the turf. Jockey Brian Pedroza and four-year-old filly Great Soul, by Great Notion, opened a three-length lead with an eighth of a mile to go and held off latecomer Imply for a close win. Great Soul was bred and is owned by Steve and Jane Long, and trained by Tom Proctor.

We extend a sincere thank you to all of our members and guests who attended, as well as the board members and special guests who presented the gifts in each race. We’re looking forward to a successful and productive 2018 breeding season and wish everyone the best of luck in the coming year. Visit www.pabred.com for a full gallery of the day’s photos!

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November 13, 2017

Sid Fernando - What have you done for me lately?

November 13, 2017/ Web Master

Published North American Trainer, Winter 2017 issue.

Juddmonte Farms’ Arrogate, the champion three-year-old colt of 2016, has won seven of 11 starts and earned $17,302,600 – a record for a North American-trained racehorse – he entered the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but following two consecutive losses, in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap on July 22 and the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on August 19, he did not go off as the favorite in the race.

It wasn’t that long ago, following emphatic wins in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes in January and the Grade 1 Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airlines in March, that he was being heralded in the media as one of the all-time greats. But in a classic case of “What have you done for me lately?”, the big grey son of Unbridled’s Song’s stock has plummeted. His workouts leading up to the Classic had been put under the microscope by all types of “experts” on social media, and their consensus view is that Arrogate didn’t train as well as he did last year before he defeated California Chrome in a thriller of a Classic.

Some of these same folks, however, had said the same thing about Arrogate before the Pegasus – there’d been an issue with his right hind foot that required a three-quarter shoe – but Arrogate won that race in brilliant style.

Arrogate’s losses this year have all been at Del Mar, the site of the Breeders’ Cup, and the track’s surface has also been mentioned as a culprit. He’d run at Del Mar last year in an allowance race in early August that he’d won by “only” a length and a quarter, but in his next start, the Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga, he’d walloped a field by 13-and-a-half lengths at 11.70-1 in track-record time...

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August 09, 2017

Plantation Field: Racing goes Eventing

August 09, 2017/ Web Master

Words by Jenni Autry / Photos by Amy Dragoo

FIRST PUBLISHED IN NORTH AMERICAN TRAINER AUGUST - OCTOBER 2017 ISSUE 45

Two worlds are set to collide in September when the mid-Atlantic racing and eventing communities join hands to showcase the versatility of the Thoroughbred breed in idyllic Unionville, Pennsylvania.

Plantation Field International Horse Trials, known colloquially as the “Best Event Ever” thanks to its legendary parties on the grounds, will forego its usual theme weekend to instead devote Septemper 14-17 to honoring the Thoroughbred’s storied role in racing and eventing.

In announcing a multi-year partnership with Retired Racehorse Project (RRP), Plantation Field will celebrate excellence in Thoroughbred racing culture and bring together two groups that share the same desire to see Thoroughbreds thrive and flourish, both on the track and after their careers as racehorses are complete.

Steuart Pittman, RRP’s president, said he hopes the racing community will embrace the concept, venturing from the racetrack to the cross country course in the name of the Thoroughbred.

"We hope this will be a real coming together of the racing world with eventing so we can have a positive impact that will support both sports and ultimately the Thoroughbred in the long run,” Pittman said.

“The goal is to bring the racing community out to enjoy everything Plantation Field has to offer and introduce the Retired Racehorse Project as a resource. We can help owners, trainers, and breeders sell their horses through our resource directory. If we work together, we can successfully transition horses to second careers after the track.”

Eventing: An Equine Triathlon

Originally developed as a method for training military horses, eventing ultimately evolved into a sport that first appeared in the Olympic Games in 1912. Eventing is essentially an equine triathlon, combining the three phases of dressage, cross country, and show jumping into a sport that demands a well-rounded equine athlete.

Considering the grueling fitness test required in the cross country phase — when horses will gallop and jump for more than 10 minutes over as many as 45 obstacles at the highest level of the sport — the Thoroughbred’s gallop and stamina helped the breed find a stronghold in eventing.

Countless Thoroughbreds have taken top eventing honors in the U.S. and beyond, and the United States Eventing Association’s leaderboard of all-time high scoring horses shows three Thoroughbreds in the top 10.

Phillip Dutton knows all too well how perfectly suited the Thoroughbred is to eventing. Hailed the Angel Cordero of the eventing world by West Point Thoroughbreds’ Terry Finley, Dutton won two Olympic team gold medals in 1996 and 2000 for his native Australia — both times riding Thoroughbreds.

Since then Dutton has piloted many Thoroughbreds to top results around the world. He rode TruLuck, purchased off the track in Oklahoma, to team gold and individual silver at the 2007 Pan American Games.

The Foreman came to Dutton from Maryland steeplechase trainer Bruce Fenwick and also went on to have a dominant eventing career, placing second at the prestigious Burghley CCI4* and Kentucky CCI4* and sitting seventh on the list of U.S. all-time high scoring horses.

“When it comes to the cross country, no horse will have a better gallop, stamina, and natural athletic ability than a Thoroughbred,” Dutton said. “They also have an incredible amount of heart. When other horses will get tired and quit, the Thoroughbred will keep trying and keep going for you.”

Icabad Crane

Considering Dutton’s history of successfully training Thoroughbreds, he became Graham and Anita Motion’s first choice when they were looking for an eventing trainer to work with their Thoroughbreds.

The Motions first had the idea to send horses to Dutton for a shot at a second career when Icabad Crane retired from the track in 2013. Icabad Crane finished third in the 2008 Preakness Stakes and won or placed in 15 other stakes for owner Earle Mack, earning $585,980.

When he retired as an 8-year-old, the Motions took over ownership of Icabad Crane and knew the horse didn’t want to stand around in a field. They decided to send him to Dutton for training at True Prospect Farm, about seven miles from Plantation Field and an hour from the Motions’ base at Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland. It proved to be a match right from the start, with Dutton seeing Icabad Crane’s innate drive and desire to succeed in everything he did, which made his transition to an eventing career virtually seamless.

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“Icabad was always a very willing horse,” Graham said. “It’s one thing to be athletic, but he also always had the right attitude. His disposition absolutely helped in his new career.” Anita added: “Phillip wouldn’t have competed him if we didn’t think the horse had what it takes. Not only was there a real talent there, but Icabad wanted to do it.”Icabad Crane flourished in his new career, winning his first Beginner Novice event and going on to finish his first eventing season with a win in the $10,000 America’s Most Wanted Thoroughbred Contest, hosted by the RRP at Pimlico Racetrack in 2014.

Icabad Crane continued to rack up top results, culminating in a win in the Plantation Field CIC* in 2015 in his first start at the one-star level. The Motions proudly held the winner’s cooler that day, and since then they have traded roles with the Duttons, who joined in on the West Point Thoroughbreds partnership on Grade I winner Ring Weekend.

Now the Motions and Dutton hope the greater mid-Atlantic racing and eventing communities can unite at Plantation Field to build on what they started: joining two worlds that both hold an immense respect for the Thoroughbred.

"If we work together, we can successfully transition horses to second careers after the track"

Showcasing Thoroughbreds

The weekend will be dedicated to showcasing the breed, with the RRP taking center stage. The timing is ideal, as Plantation Field takes place annually three weeks prior to the $100,000 Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, which this year goes from October 5-8 at the Kentucky Horse Park. With RRP now on board as Plantation Field’s beneficiary, the event will also serve as a preview show for Thoroughbreds that will compete in and ultimately be available for sale at the Makeover.

"That way people can see horses they like at Plantation Field and then go on to the Makeover to shop,” Pittman said. “There will be a number of really nice horses ready to start second careers, and we are excited to show them off at Plantation Field." Beyond that, Pittman said he hopes Plantation Field will serve as an opportunity for the racing world to see Thoroughbreds galloping across an entirely different type of track — one dotted with cross country jumps.

"What we've seen is that racing people love eventing when they take the time to go watch the sport,” Pittman said. “They get to see horses galloping on the cross country course, which is something they can get excited about.” In addition to previewing horses that will compete at the Thoroughbred Makeover, the RRP’s demonstration will also feature celebrity Thoroughbreds, including Makeover graduates from prior years. Icabad Crane will also make a special appearance with Dutton. "Icabad is a perfect example of what Thoroughbreds can do in second careers if given the chance,” Dutton said. “We are continually grateful to Graham and Anita for giving him that opportunity. Our hope is that when people see Icabad at Plantation Field they might be inspired to give a Thoroughbred a second career after the track, whether as a rider, owner, or trainer.”

The highlight of the weekend will be the Real Rider Cup, which will pit some of the biggest names in racing against each other for a show jumping competition in the main arena.

Rodney Jenkins, Rosie Napravnik, Joe Sharp, Sean Clancy, Michael McCarthy, Erin Birkenhauer, and Sanna Neilson will all make an appearance at the Real Rider Cup, with Zoe Cadman from XBTV acting as emcee for the event. More celebrity competitors will be unveiled in the countdown to Plantation Field. “The Thoroughbred community are intrigued with the eventing and show jumping world and are totally committed to providing other outlets for our retirees,” Anita said. “The Real Rider Cup event shows a fun side to this endeavor."

Dutton said he hopes Thoroughbred trainers, owners, and breeders will get involved in support of the RRP and second careers for racehorses. “Retired Racehorse Project is a perfect example of how we can help the transition from racing to a successful second career,” Dutton said. “By attending Plantation Field and supporting the event, you can bring greater attention, participation, and financial support to the successful transition Thoroughbreds can have.”

If You Go

In addition to three days of exhilarating competition, Plantation Field features a country fair atmosphere with a sprawling vendor village, a food court, and kid’s corner to provide entertainment for the whole family.

Admission to Plantation Field Horse Trials is free on Friday, September. 15, with general admission on Saturday, September 16 and Sunday, September 17 priced at $20 per carload.

For more information, visit www.plantationfieldht.com. Tickets and tailgate passes can be purchased in advance on the website. Follow Plantation Field on Facebook for news and updates.

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July 28, 2017

Fields of Dreams

July 28, 2017/ Web Master

FIRST PUBLISHED IN NORTH AMERICAN TRAINER AUGUST - OCTOBER 2017 ISSUE 45

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PHOTO GALLERY

Racing secretaries nationwide are clamoring for horses to fill races while industry groups try to find a solution. But it's a complex issue.

Everybody with a role in the decline in field size seems to point the finger at someone else. Trainers, owners, racing secretaries, breeders, consignors, track management, and the horses themselves all have been blamed.

The simplest explanation for the decline in entries is that there are fewer horses. But when you compare statistics for 1990 and 2016, disregarding horses not old enough to race, they tell a different story.

When looking at horses of racing age, the 2014 foal crop (the youngest horses eligible to race in 2016) was 43% of the 1988 crop (for the 1990 racing season). But the number of races in 2016, compared with 1990, declined by 52%.

Today's racetracks have full barns, and many impose a limit on the number of horses a trainer can have on the grounds. So why aren't these horses racing?

"People say, 'Well there's nothing in the [condition] book that I can find.' But there are plenty of races," said Jim Cassidy, president of California Thoroughbred Trainers.

He thinks trainers sit out races primarily to protect their win percentage because owners look at this statistic when they select a trainer. So rather than race a longshot, trainers will instead breeze the horse and wait for a sweet spot that all but guarantees them a win.

Ron Ellis, who has a stable of 32 horses in California, is known for taking his time with his horses. He disagrees with the premise that trainers are holding back horses that could be racing.

"I really think that if horses are doing well, trainers run them," he said. "That only makes sense because that's basically how we make our money, off the commissions of horses that are racing and winning.

"It's my feeling that trainers, if they have a horse that's doing well and it's sound, they would prefer to run it over not running it. Trainers don't run horses when they're not doing well. I don't think they sit on horses that are doing well is basically what I'm saying."

Training philosophies have changed since the days when trainers raced a horse to keep it fit and hoped to take home a check in the process. Also gone are the days when owners were delighted just to watch their horses race.