Alan F. Balch - Those pesky rules

In California, throughout the United States, and worldwide, if there’s one gigantic bone of contention we can all see, it’s the starkly divided attitudes of populations toward the need for rules.

An anti-regulatory fever seems to be reaching everywhere, often couched in terms of a grand contest between freedom and tyranny. Within racing’s microscopic corner of the governmental universe, we sense it every day. After all, racing is probably the world’s most regulated sport. Over a century of experience, with its glory and equally alluring temptations, taught governments what was needed to ensure its integrity in the public interest. And perhaps to save it from itself.

There’s another reason, of course. And that’s always been our reliance on the noblest of animals, whose welfare must always be our paramount concern. We can’t just mouth those words. We have to live with them. And be entirely intolerant of any in our midst who don’t.  

That intolerance of unacceptable behavior requires robust rules. Sadly, human and racing history teach that the worst angels of our nature tend to thrive in a vacuum of rational regulation, or if its enforcement is ineffective.

It is in this context that California Thoroughbred Trainers is leading a task force of all the interdependent organizational and other stakeholders in our state’s racing to determine what additional steps, beyond those already enforced over the last three years, might be taken to protect the welfare of our horses still further. Over the last decade, and nationwide, all objective statistical evidence points to impressive progress in making our sport safer and safer for its essential athletes, human and equine. 

This effort is important, I believe, but not because of those who loudly oppose the very existence of racing. The most vocal and extreme of those factions cannot ever be satisfied with any enhancement of our welfare practices; they believe fundamentally that an animal is required to provide its “informed consent” in order to participate in any activity. Such activities include sport, of course, but also confinement in any way, or control by humans. Therefore, for them, no pets, nor zoos, nor conservation, nor breeding, nor human consumption of animals, obviously.

No, our effort is important because we ourselves should be the professionals who elevate standards of horsemanship and care, in our own self-interest and that of our equine partners. It is difficult for me to conceive of a logical rule proposed to enhance equine welfare that wouldn’t be welcomed by the best horsemen among us, however much the reason or need for it might be lamented. 

In my comments to the California Horse Racing Board in January, I called attention to two specific areas of particular concern, to begin with, in our statistical safety figures: incidents of unexplained sudden death in racehorses and shoulder fractures. The first is a particular problem for humans as well as equines; and answers will only come from sustained, expensive, targeted research, some of which is already underway via the Grayson-Jockey Club Foundation. That foundation, and others like it, have for decades proved racing’s commitment to improving equine welfare, doing by far the most important work in the world for horses in every activity, not just racing.

The risk of shoulder fractures among horses returning from layoffs needs to be dramatically reduced or even eliminated by improved horsemanship. Serious continuing education as to best practices is the key here, since equine respiration and musculature fitness improve more rapidly following a layoff than does bone strength. Owners and trainers may therefore be led to believe that increasing training stress is indicated before it should be.  

A suggestion I made about potentially compulsory education for trainers on this matter brought me the accusation that I was “anti-trainer.” Far from it. The opposite, in fact.  

Nobody except a trainer has a greater appreciation for and respect of what horse trainers do than I.  

So, who better to elevate the professional standards of trainers than trainers themselves? That is precisely why we as an organization accepted the responsibility of leading the California task force, when the suggestion was made that a rule should be advanced to penalize trainers for catastrophic breakdowns. Instead, let’s consider every conceivable idea, from any source, that could lead to continuing improvement in our welfare practices.

When arguments about the tyranny of regulation and freedom swirl around me, whether in racing, or about public health or anything else, I just stop to think. Public order—even productive public debate —depends on a common understanding of the rules. And a consensus definition of the common good.

What would happen to public safety (what is happening to public safety) if speed limits were removed (or not enforced), if traffic lights disappeared, or driver’s licenses weren’t required? And what would happen to air and train travelers and homeowners if rigorous regulation for transportation and housing safety weren’t in place? 

The need for robust regulation of racing has been demonstrated time and time again . . . despite the fact that so few trainers are ever accused of serious rule violations. That alone is a sufficient reason that trainers themselves should study and recommend rules and practices for improving the sport’s safety.

We and all of racing’s other stakeholders continue to welcome serious suggestions from any quarter.

George Hall

Spurred on by his grandfather, George Hall fell in love with horse racing at a young age. “He took me to Belmont and Aqueduct,” George said. “Then one summer, he took my brother John and me to Saratoga. I think I was nine years old. We did doubleheaders every day: the Thoroughbred track in the afternoon, dinner, and the harness track at night. We did that every day for a week. It was a great time.”

More than 50 years later, George is still having a great time at the racetrack, campaigning his second Gr. 1 stakes winner, Max Player.

In early 2019, George co-founded Sports BLX, which allows low-cost ownership interest in Thoroughbreds and in other sports and athletes. He co-founded Sports BLX with Joseph De Perio. “The concept was to see if we could create a market where people that might want to buy a small share of a horse or a company that owns a horse could feel the experience following a horse like an owner does,” George said. “It seemed a worthwhile endeavor. It now includes deals with athletes, professional sports teams and racecars. It’s a very broad company.”

Born the son of a New York City cop in Queens, George, now 61, got a bachelor’s degree from the Merchant Marine Academy and an MBA from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He became the founder, president and majority shareholder of Clinton Group Inc., a Manhattan-based investment company which opened in 1991. Its success allowed George to invest in Thoroughbreds.

A trip with a friend to Monmouth Park in 2005 was the catalyst. “I was introduced to Kelly Breen in the stands,” George said. “Kelly was the leading trainer at Monmouth. He is extremely enthusiastic, and he invited me to see his barn just to show us his horses. I had my two-year-old daughter with me, Kathryn. He gave her carrots to feed the horses. I said, `This is a very nice man.’ He’s so enthusiastic. We talked about getting into it. We decided to go to the Keeneland Sales.”

They spent $118,000 to buy four horses and could not have done much better. George named his first horse for his daughter, Keeneland Kat, and she won her first start, a maiden race, by 6 ¾ lengths. She stepped up to the $100,000 Sorority Stakes and won again by 2 ½ lengths. That earned her a start in the Gr. 1 Frizette and she finished a non-threatening third. “Being third in a Gr. 1 with your first horse was pretty special,” George said. “Then she started having minor issues.”

Unfortunately, the issues ended her racing career. “She was just a great horse,” George said. “Kelly did a great job with her. She became a broodmare. We bred her for five, six years and sold her.”

Another member of George’s initial yearling foursome was named Fagan’s Legacy to honor his grandfather, Larry Fagan. Fagan’s Legacy finished second in his debut, then won a maiden race by five lengths and the $82,000 Pilgrim Stakes by 3 ¼ lengths.

George admitted that his immediate success got him a tad over-confident: “Oh, yeah, we thought it was easy.”

It isn’t. Fagan’s Legacy didn’t hit the board in five subsequent starts and never raced again.

Ruler On Ice and Pants On Fire, who made their debuts 13 days apart in September 2010, took George on a great ride. Pants On Fire, who was second in a maiden race at Philadelphia Park to begin his career, won the 2011 Gr. 2 Louisiana Derby by a neck, earning a spot in the Kentucky Derby. He finished ninth to Animal Kingdom. Pants On Fire  won the Gr. 3 Pegasus at Monmouth Park and finished fifth in the Gr. 1 Haskell. Later on, he won the Gr. 2 Monmouth Cup and the Gr. 3 Ack Ack back-to-back, finishing his career with 11 victories from 41 starts and earnings of more than $1.6 million.

Ruler On Ice, a Keeneland yearling whom George said was a “little wild when he was young,” was gelded. He finished fifth in his debut at Monmouth. The following spring, he finished third in the Gr. 3 Sunland Park Derby. He was the first also-eligible for the 2011 Kentucky Derby but didn’t get into the race. Instead, he finished second in the Federico Tesio Stakes at Pimlico.

That was good enough to convince Kelly to take a shot with Ruler On Ice in the Belmont Derby. Sent off at 24-1, Ruler On Ice won by three-quarters of a length under Jose Valdivia, Jr. “It was unbelievable,” George said. “That was pretty spectacular.”

Ruler On Ice then ran third in the Gr. 1 Haskell and fourth in the Gr. 1 Travers. His only other victory came in an allowance race, yet he wound up with more than $1.7 million in earnings off four victories, five seconds and three thirds in 23 starts.

Off the track, George has shared his business and equine success with others. He was the recipient of the New York University’s prestigious Sir Harold Acton Medal in recognition of his philanthropy. One of his charitable acts was establishing the George E. Hall Childhood Diabetes Foundation at Mount Sinai Hospital.

George’s three children enjoy horses, too. That two-year-old visit to the Monmouth Park backstretch helped shape his now 19-year-old daughter Kathryn’s life. While attending New York University, she maintains her appreciation of horses. “Her life’s passion is show jumping,” George said. “She loves horses. She has two jumpers and travels around.”

George Jr., 18, likes going to the track with his dad but is more attached to fish than horses. “His passion is fishing and cooking,” George said. “While he takes a gap year after graduating from high school, he’s working at a restaurant. He catches them in the morning, brings them in and filets them.”

Their 12-year-old sister Charlotte, rides ponies and also enjoys going to the track.

The Hall clan may have their best racetrack moments ahead of them, thanks to the emergence of their four-year-old colt Max Player—a home-bred who was born on their 385-acre Annestes Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, and is trained by Steve Asmussen. 

“I think he’s a late-maturing horse,” George said. “We always thought he was very talented.”

As a three-year-old, Max Player captured the Gr. 2 Withers Stakes in just his third career start, then finished third in both the Belmont Stakes and the Travers to Tiz the Law. “Losing to Tiz the Law was no disgrace,” George said. “He was a standout, great horse.”

Max Player may be another. “In his early races, he had a tendency of getting away slowly,” George said. “We learned over time we have to keep him closer to the pace. If he’s too far behind, he has too much to do.”

This year, he was two lengths off the pace in the Gr. 2 Suburban and won by a neck. In the Gr. 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup September 4th at Saratoga, he was less than one length off, and dominated, scoring by four lengths in a powerful performance.

He had already earned a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. “The Suburban was a `win and you’re in,’ race,” George said. “The Jockey Club was important to show that he belongs in that race.”

He belongs. Like his owner belongs. At the racetrack. Asked what his grandfather would have thought of his equine accomplishments, George said, “I think he’d be thrilled. I wished he could have lived longer to see it, himself.” He paused a second and added, “Maybe he did.”

Ron and Ricki Rashinski

All it took was a friendly conversation, a brilliant book and a trip to Saratoga to turn Ron and Ricki Rashinski into passionate Thoroughbred owners. “They’re phenomenal,” their trainer, Eddie Kenneally, said. “They love the game.”

They loved it a little bit more when Point Me By won the Bruce D. Stakes, the renamed Secretariat Stakes at their home track Arlington Park to become their third Gr. 1 stakes horse. Ricki said she didn’t hide her feeling rooting him home. “I’m not a quiet fan,” she confessed.

That itself is an endorsement of horse racing—one she didn’t have initially when Ron, who has a real estate management company in his native Chicago, broached the subject to her. “My wife didn’t want to get involved with it, but once she got a taste of it, she changed,” Ron said. “We spent some time at Saratoga, four or five days. Then a week. Then two weeks.”

Ricki said, “At first, I wanted nothing to do with it, but he took me to Saratoga. The track is beautiful. The people who work at the track were wonderful. They went out of the way to help you understand things. The whole town was all about the horses. And there were the horses themselves.”

Ron was as enthralled as she was about Saratoga. “They’re stopping traffic for horses to cross Union Avenue,” he said. “Wherever you go, you can have a Daily Racing Form with you and not have people think you’re a degenerate. It was like Wrigley Field; but instead of the Cubs, you had the New York Yankees.”

Besides racing Thoroughbreds, Ron and Ricki are involved in vintage car road racing. “We go to different tracks around the country,” Ron said. “We also had a small sponsorship in a car that won a 24-hour endurance race in Daytona.”

Ron was enticed into Thoroughbred racing by Jane Schwartz’s book Ruffian: Burning From the Start. Ron said, ”I’m a sports guy. I was intrigued by her story. I was amazed that there was a horse who was never headed. Then the match race with Foolish Pleasure... Even when she broke down, she was in the lead. My interest kind of snowballed from there.”

He felt enough—with an assist from multiple Eclipse Award Photographer Barb Livingston—to visit Ruffian’s grave at Belmont Park near a flagpole in the infield with her nose pointed toward the finish line. “[Ricki and I] left a bouquet of flowers,” he said. “We’re just fans—new fans. Even though I’m just a fan, I’m choked up.” He’s got a lot of company, even after all these years.

The Rashinskis couldn’t do anything to help Ruffian, but they sure are helping other horses now, through their support of Anna Ford’s New Vocations program, converting retired Thoroughbreds to a second career. “I love the animals,” Ron said. “We’re very involved. They do a great job, New Vocations.”  

  Ron decided to get involved in Thoroughbred ownership after meeting a gentleman from Wisconsin—Gary Leverton, who has since passed away. “We started talking, and we wound up partnering up on a horse at an auction at Hawthorne,” Ron said. “My wife and I were totally oblivious to Thoroughbreds.”

Initially, the Rashinskis used Chicago-based Hugh Robertson as their trainer, racing as Homewrecker Stable. Ron got the name when someone suggested that investing in vintage cars can become a homewrecker.

When the Rashinskis decided they wanted to race in New York and Kentucky, they hired Eddie Kenneally to train. “We trusted those two men implicitly with our animals,” Ricki said. “We’ve been with Eddie for 25 years.”

Ron said, “We don’t have a lot of high-priced yearlings. We don’t buy very expensive horses.” Yet they’ve won repeatedly at racing’s highest level, thanks to the skills of Kenneally—a very under-publicized top trainer. 

Their first outstanding horse was the filly Bushfire. After finishing third in her 2005 debut at Churchill Downs, she won six of her next eight starts including the Florida Oaks, the Gr. 1 Ashland, the Gr. 1 Acorn and the Gr. 1 Mother Goose. One of her misses was a solid third in the Gr. 1 Kentucky Oaks. Her only finish out of the money in her first nine starts was a seventh on a sloppy track in the Gr. 2 Davona Dale. Her earnings topped $800,000.

In partnership, they had another star in Custom for Carlos, who had six victories, four seconds and one third in 15 starts, taking three Gr. 3 stakes, the 2009 Jersey Shore, the Mr. Prospector and the Count Fleet Handicap, and making almost half a million dollars.

Again in a different partnership, their gray Sailor’s Valentine captured the Gr. 1 Ashland in 2017 on the way to making more than $400,000 in 13 starts.

By the time Point Me By made the races in 2020, Ron had learned, somewhat, to control his emotions when his horses raced. “To tell you the truth, I have trouble handling horse racing,” he said. “I was Mr. Pepto Bismol. I’d be pounding that stuff down. If the horse didn’t win, I felt I let people down. Now I know people are just happy for the experience. They don’t care. I’m a little better now.” Winning a bunch of stakes helped.  

Their three-year-old colt Point Me By, (a son on Point of Entry) was a $30,000 purchase at Keeneland and didn't have anything near those credentials when he stepped into the starting gate for the Bruce D. Stakes, having followed a maiden victory with a fourth in an allowance race. He won the Mr. D by 2 ¾ lengths under Luis Saez, who took off a day from his dominant meeting as Saratoga’s leading rider, to pilot Point Me Buy in the Bruce D. and Zulu Alpha, who finished seventh in the renamed Arlington Million, the Mr. D.

The Rashinskis would love to bring Point Me By back to Arlington next year. But Arlington Park closed forever in late September. “It would have been nice to come back and try to win the Million if he was good enough for it,” Ron said. “Too bad.” He’s got a lot of company, too, after all these years of elegant racing at Arlington Park.

Hugh Robertson

Two Emmys connections celebrate after winning the Mister D Stakes at Arlington Park

Was  it coincidence or karma? Two Emmys’ trainer/co-owner Hugh Robertson didn’t care. He was just thrilled to be standing in the winner’s circle after Two Emmys—a five-year-old gelding purchased with his partner Randy Wolfe for $4,500 as a yearling at Keeneland—delivered Hugh’s first Gr. 1 victory in his 50th year of training Thoroughbreds.

That it came on August 14th in the $600,000 Mr. D Stakes—the renamed Arlington Million—in Arlington Park’s Gr. 1 stakes was serendipitous. So was his meeting with Wolfe, thanks to a kind stranger sitting behind Wolfe at Arlington Park for the 2002 Breeders’ Cup.

Hell, Hugh was hoping to become an attorney as an underclassman at the University of Nebraska. Then he switched his law book for a condition book and never looked back. “I took a semester off and never went back,” he said.

He’s never been disappointed in that decision. Though he may not be well-known nationally, he topped $1 million in earnings 14 times, amassing 1,542 wins and more than $31.5 million in earnings, thanks to consistent success. From 1998 through 2020, his win percentage has been higher than 15 every year but one, when he checked in with 13% in 2008.

His 47-year-old son Mac has already won 1,428 races and earned more than $37.5 million, working in concert with his father. “We have 125 to 150 horses between us,” Mac said. “We’ve had a good run. It’s nice to be able to send your horse to your dad or your horse to your son.”

He was thrilled when Two Emmys won the Mister D. “I’m happy for my dad and my mom,” he said. “Everyone wants to win a Gr. 1. My mom and dad struggled to make ends meet. We’re been fortunate to have a lot of good clients. Nobody does it on his own.”

Hugh started at Penn National, spent eight years there and moved on to Chicago, going on his own in 1971. Twenty-two years later, Polar Expedition, an incredibly quick speedster, took Hugh on a great seven-year run, winning 20 of 49 starts and earning just under $1.5 million.

“Once I got Polar Expedition, things took off,” he said. “He was a little, tiny  horse. He was 15 hands and weighed maybe 900 as a two-year-old—a horse who wouldn’t have brought $1,000 at a sale. He was freak. He did everything right, right from the start. I told his owner, John Cody—I told him before he ever ran, `He’s the best horse you’ve ever had, and I’ll try not to screw it up.’ A lot of horses get ruined. He was a nice horse.”

He didn’t take long to show it, emerging as one of the top two-year-olds in the country by winning five of his six starts by daylight, including scores in a pair of Gr. 2 stakes: the Arlington Washington Futurity by 4 ½ lengths at one mile and the Gr. 2 Breeders Futurity at Keeneland by 5 lengths.

When he won his three-year-old debut, the Mountain Valley at Oaklawn Park by three lengths, the sky was the limit. Polar Expedition finished third in the Southwest Stakes, then captured the Gr. 2 Jim Beam Stakes by a neck in his first start at a mile-and-an-eighth. Polar Edition went off the 1-2 favorite in the Gr. 2 Illinois Derby, only to finish a distant seventh on a sloppy track. Regardless, Polar Expedition went on to the Preakness Stakes, leading early before fading badly to 10th.

Polar Expedition maintained his class throughout his career, taking two mile-and-an-eighth Gr. 2 stakes: the Washington Park Handicap at Arlington and the Gr. 2 National Jockey Club Handicap at Hawthorne in his next-to-last start in 1998 as a seven-year-old.

In 2002, Hugh hooked up with Randy Wolfe, a retired worker from an electric co-op in Madison, Wisconsin. At the Breeders’ Cup at Arlington Park, Wolfe mentioned that his father and his father-in-law had owned horses and that he was thinking about buying one. “I got talking to the guy behind me, and he asked me who I was going to hire to train the horse,” Wolfe said. “He said he knew someone, and called Hugh. He came down 15 minutes later, and we talked.”

Randy liked what he heard. “We were both from Nebraska,” Wolfe said. “I knew I could trust somebody from Nebraska.”

Hugh suggested they claim a horse. They did, and then more. “We’ve had 18 horses with Hugh,” Randy said.

The best one cost $4,500 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. “I was a little upset,” Randy said. “I said, `I don’t need another $4,500 horse.’ He kept telling me to have patience with this horse. He’s an English Channel, and they don’t get good until they’re four or five. He doesn’t push a horse. He has the best interest of the horse all the time. He’s not going to run a horse if he’s not ready to run.”

Two Emmys did okay as a four-year-old, then improved quickly at five. He finished second in the Gr. 2 Muniz Memorial at the Fair Grounds, then second in an allowance race at Arlington Park from off the pace and second by a neck on the lead in the Gr. 3 Arlington Stakes.

Hugh had nominated Two Emmys for the renamed Arlington Million. “I was sure he’d run at a mile and a quarter,” Hugh said. “Other than Domestic Spending and the horse from Europe, it came up a little light. I thought he was competitive in there. I stuck him in there. Take a chance.”

With a new pilot, James Graham, Two Emmys struck the lead and walked the field to a :52.43 half-mile. “When he ran :52 to the half, I knew we’d get a part of it,” Hugh said. “And then the 1:16 (for three-quarters). I was sure we’d hit the board.”

Flying at him late was Domestic Spending, the 2-5 favorite ridden by Flavien Prat who was six-for-seven lifetime.

Two Emmys dug in. “He’s pretty game,” Hugh said. “He ran the last quarter in :22 3/5. You’re not going to catch a front-runner coming home in :22 3/5. At the 16th pole, I was pretty sure he was going to win.” He did, by a diminishing neck.

Two Emmys and Jockey James Graham hold off Domestic Spending to win the Mister D Stakes at Arlington Park

Hugh joked with TVG’s Scott Hazelton, ”I never thought I’d have a horse in the Million, and then when I do, it’s not a million.” Hugh added, “It’s nice, but I wish they’d keep running.”

He’ll have quite the memento from Arlington Park, and a horse who may just win other stakes, too. “If you get a hold of a good one, you try not to mess him up,” Hugh said.

“Good horses will run for everybody. A good horse is dangerous in anyone’s hands.” But only at racetracks still running. “It’s a shame,” Hugh said. “It’s a beautiful racetrack.”

Alan F. Balch - Who’s responsible?!

The California Horse Racing Board, our state’s regulator, recently announced a meeting of its Medication, Safety, and Welfare Committee, for a public “discussion regarding the advisability of penalizing trainers for injuries and fatalities for horses in their care.”

In early 2019, management decisions at Santa Anita, track conditions, and abnormal weather, combined for several weeks to produce greater risk of calamitous injury to our horses than any of us could remember.  Not only did this draw nationwide, even worldwide attention to serious animal welfare issues in the sport, it also resulted in a temporary closure of Santa Anita itself for track reconditioning.  A spate of regulatory elaborations followed, along with new legislation as well as “house rules” intended to address the need for reform.

At the outset of my life in the sport (when most show horses were former race horses), and especially when I joined Santa Anita’s management, I was taught that respect for interdependence was critical to our industry’s success.

Nobody said it better than Edward L. Bowen, of The Blood-Horse, about 30 years ago, in his column entitled “The ‘without us’ syndrome: ‘without us, there would be no game,’ is a comment made often, usually with a hint of self-righteousness.  It is one of the most galling comments we know, and yet it is heard all too frequently in racing.  The comment is self-congratulatory, but ultimately self-destructive, for it unmasks a basic inability to grasp the interdependence of various segments.”

When I was in management, I heard this more often than I would like to remember from trainers, owners, and breeders.  When I was away from racing for about a decade, I heard it from acquaintances in every segment of the sport.  Now that I’ve been associated with the trainers, I hear it most often from owners and track management.  

Permit me to quote Bowen again at length.  “The approach that without us, there would be no game, stands in the way of progress.  It is a simplistic approach, blinkered on both sides, for it is so self-evident in every case that it hardly bears repeating.  It should be patently obvious that without owners there would be no horses and therefore no racing; without tracks there would be no place for horses to race or fans to assemble; without trainers and jockeys, there could be no Thoroughbred racing as we know it; without mutuel machines run by technically knowledgeable professionals, the wheel that drives the industry could not turn; without breeders, there would be no source of horses; without backstretch personnel, the game would grind to a halt; without fans and bettors, racing would recede to hobby status; without the rules, legislative, and regulatory arms, the industry would be chaotic, or illegal.”

The progress we’ve made in California improving our safety record since 2019 is remarkable . . . but it’s only progress, not perfection.  And as if to demonstrate their closed-mindedness, racing’s enemies will doubtless take this public opportunity to discuss potential new rules assigning penalties to trainers for equine injuries to flog us all even more mercilessly.

Most if not all trainers have respected the need for continuing regulatory reform and enhanced oversight since 2019; new legislation and increasingly burdensome rules have been accepted with varying degrees of grace, of course.  That’s only human nature.

But what is more important is that trainers are only one critical part of the progress.  

In this interdependent sport of ours, every segment has had a key role, and borne their own increasing burdens.  As the most prominent faces of racing generally, track operators have endured significantly increased expenses and administrative challenges, not to mention public relations and staffing crises.  Owners and breeders have withstood negativity never before experienced, not to mention reduced opportunities and economic hardship themselves.  Veterinarians have never worked harder, nor with more visibility and risk.  Employees and vendors (including the backstretch community) have felt unprecedented strains.  Support of our fans for an embattled sport has been tested severely.  And our regulator, representing the state government to the public, has been subject to a merciless onslaught of misinformation, disinformation, and brutal, unfair criticism from all sides, beyond any previous boundaries. 

The progress we’ve achieved, therefore, is based on every one of our interdependent segments working together to achieve the same goal, whatever tensions might exist between them.  Efforts toward reform have affected them all.  Continuing to work together will achieve greater progress; the opposite courts ever more disaster.

The old aphorism to “fix the problem, not the blame,” is apt here.  However great the temptation to assign blame for equine injuries and fatalities to one constituency, it must be resisted, even scorned.

To do otherwise is to risk the progress in equine safety already made and rightly celebrated, and turn racing’s interdependent segments against each other as never before.

Mike Trombetta - from demolishing buildings to constructing a racing stable with firm foundations

By Bill Heller

For the first 15 years of his 31-year training career, 55-year-old Mike Trombetta split every day between the racetrack and his brother Dino’s demolition company in White Marsh, Maryland. “He would train horses in the morning and knock down buildings in the afternoon,” his long-time friend and client R. Larry Johnson laughed. Dino added, “Then he’d go back to the track in the evenings just to check on things.”

Of course he did. That’s what he, Dino and their sister Laura learned from their parents. “Our dad worked extremely hard,” Dino said. “Both him and my mom were hard workers. That’s how we grew up. We worked hard in everything we did. That’s what it took to have success.”

Mike could still be working two jobs had he not had the good fortune to take over the training of a horse who had previously made just one start, finishing 12th by 24 lengths as a two-year-old in 2005. That horse, Sweetnorthernsaint, would go off the favorite in the 2006 Kentucky Derby, making a strong middle move under Kent Desormeaux before tiring to finish seventh. Sweetnorthernsaint then finished second in the Preakness Stakes. “That gave us national exposure,” Trombetta said. “That gave us a big push for sure.”

The following year, Trombetta’s starts increased from 312 to 422, his victories from 78 to 106 and his earnings from $2.7 million to $3.5 million. Trombetta abandoned his demolition career and began upward trending with his training. In 2019, he posted a career high in earnings—$4,614,509—helped by his three-year-old Win Win Win, who was ninth in the Kentucky Derby, and his two-year-old Independence Hall, who became a legitimate contender for the 2020 Kentucky Derby. Independence Hall ran into problems in 2020, but Trombetta still finished 24th in earnings with more than $4.1 million and a win percentage of 16.0. Trombetta has posted a win percentage of 20 or higher for an entire year 11 times.

But the past several months have been a bit rough. Through early June, he ranked 36th in the country in earnings with nearly $1.6 million. Yet he still is winning at a 16.4 percent rate. “We’re not doing that well,” he said on June 14.

“This year, it’s been an adjustment year coming off the COVID. We were hoping at the beginning of this year things would go back to normal. Then Woodbine got delayed. It got a little weird here. We had a herpes situation in Maryland. For several months, they wouldn’t let horses come in or leave. That was a bizarre situation. Then, at Laurel, they had to redo the track. We’re still not back to normal. It seems like something has been going on—something new to deal with. It’s hard for all of us.”

He feels the same way on the thorny issues of medication and whips. “I’m probably like a lot of other trainers,” he said. “What we’d like to have more than anything is a clear understanding of the dos and don’ts, especially in the Mid-Atlantic states. We just want to know what the rules are and how to play the game. When you turn on a football game, they all have fields of 100 yards and 15 minutes in a quarter. Horse racing is anything but that. It’s different in every state.”

That is about to change next summer when the Horse Racing Integrity Act comes to life. Will uniform rules become the norm? “We can hope,” Trombetta said. “Time will tell. It would be great just to get everybody knowing what the game looks like. Now, in every jurisdiction, there’s something different. We want to stay out of harm’s way. This Lasix thing is a great example. Two-year-olds can use it in one state, but not in another. I just hope the powers [that] be get something that works for the whole industry so that we can follow and understand. It’s the same thing with this whip rule. It’s different in other states. One state allows four times, one state says six; and in one state, they can’t use them at all. We’re getting further away from uniformity. Guys like us that are in this region race throughout the country for the most part. When you go through the stable gate somewhere else, it’s a different rule.”

Can the Horse Racing Integrity Act end that problem permanently? “In a perfect world, yes,” Trombetta said. “I don’t know if they’re capable of doing it.”

This summer, Trombetta’s horses—now between 80 to 90—are stabled at Far Hill, Timonium temporarily until Laurel’s renovations are complete and in
Delaware. His horses also race in Florida in the winter and in New York in the summer when they belong. His winter stable usually numbers 60 to 70 horses.

“We try to take the right horses to the right place,” Trombetta said. “We work off the condition books. There are little differences in each track. Obviously, when you go to New York, you have to know your horse is capable of competing in New York. We don’t get it right all the time, but we try. Surfaces come into play: dirt, synthetic, turf. You have to figure in all of the factors. I carry six, seven condition books with me.”

Is it like being back in school? “It can be at times, because it’s constantly changing,” Trombetta said. “I’m checking those things at 6 or 7 at night to make sure I can stay on top of it—make sure I’m not missing anything.”

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Thoroughbred Sales Incentives - added value

With global inflation rising, mare owners as well as sales consignors and buyers may be looking harder than ever for perks to plump up their equine investments.

by Annie Lambert

Arguably one of the greatest promoters in history was P.T. Barnum, most remembered for creating the Barnum & Bailey circus, “The Greatest Show on Earth.” Barnum grew up in 1800s America with a natural talent toward publicity and promotion. 

Modern-time promotion is more likely to be called marketing. It won’t have all the bells, whistles, fireworks and grifting used by Barnum, but it still requires limitless imagination. Stallion promoters and sales companies in North America and globally have developed marketing programs to entice customers in their competitive markets.

Interested parties can choose from deals on stallion shares, buy auctioned horses with eligibility to restricted races and more.

Advantage breeders

Some breeding farms have put together attractive programs to draw the owners of quality mares to their stallions.

Spendthrift Farm (Lexington, Ky.) provides two options to breeders. Their programs include Share the Upside and Safe Bet. 

Share the Upside has been a great program for Spendthrift Farm, according to Ned Toffey, the farm’s general manager.

“You breed a mare in each of the first two years the stallion is at stud, and once your mare has produced two live foals, and you’ve paid your stud fees in a timely manner, you have then earned a lifetime breeding right,” he explained. “After that you breed to the horse free (no charge) for the rest of his breeding career.

“Into Mischief was one of the first horses that we offered on this program, and people paid in the vicinity of $6,500, two years in a row to earn a lifetime breeding, which is now worth $1 million.” “That’s the ultimate example; not every horse is going to be a two-time leading sire,” he added with a laugh.

Ned Toffey - Into Mischief

Toffey explained that the program has helped smaller breeders who are often priced out when stallions become successful. Share the Upside helps those breeders, who helped make the horse successful, by allowing them the opportunity to utilize the horse throughout his career.

While first-year stallions generally don’t need incentives to attract mares, the hope is that they will use that stallion in subsequent years.

Which stallions are offered in the program depends on the market economics at the time. Toffey finds that the $15,000 and under fee levels of the market appreciate, and he enjoys using the program. It is not as appealing to some of the higher-end breeders. Mares are approved for the first two paid breedings, but once owners have earned lifetime rights, they may breed any mare.

“Our hope is that, since people have a vested interest in the horse’s success, that they are going to support him with quality mares,” Toffey acknowledged. “We try to always have some Share the Upside horses for our breeders to be able to utilize.”

The stallions offered for 2022 have not been decided on yet. Spendthrift holds breeding rights in a number of horses, but it is unclear if those will be coming into stud or remain in training. It is a little early.

Spendthrift’s other program option is not geared toward freshman sires, but rather their first crop of two-year-olds. If a breeder sends a mare to the stallion the year his first offspring are two, the contract has two options.

If the stallion does not produce a graded stakes winner by the end of that calendar year, then there is no stud fee owed. If the stallion does produce a graded stakes winner by the end of the year, then the mare owner would owe the agreed upon/advertised stud fee.

“The idea is to try and incentivize breeders who may like a horse but may be apprehensive about using the horse who is unproven,” Toffey explained. “This gives them a reward for taking a chance on one of our horses. If the horse works out, then they owe a very reasonable stud fee; if the horse doesn’t have a very good year, even though he may throw some listed stakes winners, he may throw graded stakes placed horses. But if that is all he does, then there would be no stud fee owed. But once he produces a graded stakes winner, the full fee would be owed.”

Bob Feld’s Bobfeld Bloodstock took advantage of Spendthrift’s Share the Upside program and now has a lifetime breeding right to Temple City. Feld bred and campaigned Miss Temple City’s daughter of Temple City—a winner of three Gr. 1 stakes with earnings of $1,680,091. She sold at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton November sale for $2.5 million.

Miss Temple City - Bob Feld

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Are homebreds a dying breed?

Stellar Run in 2021 Classics, but the pool of owner-breeders has grown thin

By Jeff Lowe

When Charlotte Weber settled into Ocala, Fla., in 1968 to launch a breeding establishment to fuel her fledgling racing stable, the blueprint was well-established across the major players of the game. In that era when names like Phipps, Rokeby and Whitney were synonymous with racing success, homebreds were the ticket to the winner’s circle. 

Weber put a different spin on her Live Oak Stud operation with the location in central Florida, which at that point was just beginning to creep into the racing landscape. Over the last 53 years, Live Oak has been a beacon in Ocala's expansion into a self-proclaimed perch as the "Horse Capital of the World"—in some ways as a sharp contrast to the two-year-old hub that has grown up around her now 4,500-acre property. Weber has maintained her focus on a breed-to-race model and built up a rich history of success, now with key bloodlines that have been cultivated over the course of several decades. Meanwhile, around the corner, across town and at places in between, a commercial marketplace has sprung up in Ocala and reshaped much of the racing world. 

Weber and her cousin, George Strawbridge—both heirs of the Campbell Soup Co.—have charted similar courses with their individual stables. Weber's Live Oak Plantation has laid claim to more than 30 graded stakes winners; and Strawbridge's Augustin Stable has accounted for three champions, a long list of top horses in Flat racing and the sole position as the all-time leading owner in the National Steeplechase Association. 

Breeding to race has been the standard for Weber and Strawbridge. With few exceptions, they are mostly alone in pursuing that model in 2021, even if homebreds have been on a tremendous kick in American racing this season. 

"It's like a lot of things in life today: I think people in racing are chasing lightning in a bottle," Weber said. "I can't really blame them. If you can buy a horse and get to the races quickly and are lucky enough to find some success, it makes a lot of sense. I can tell you that the economics are a whole lot different than when I got started in racing; it's very expensive, and I say that as someone who is fortunate to have a cushion but tries to be sensible. 

"For me, a homebred is closer to the heart because I've watched them since they have been born—seen them as they have grown up. I have more of an understanding of the horse than if I were to go buy a yearling or a two-year-old. And with some of these families I've had for so long, that lineage becomes something special. Like Win Approval [the dam of two Breeders' Cup Mile winners, Miesque's Approval and World Approval], she sits in a paddock out by my house, and I get to watch her all the time. That's just special." 

Ironically the biggest breed-to-race operation in America these days is not that long removed from a nearly ubiquitous presence in the commercial market as a leading buyer. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum has shifted much more to the breeding game in America over the last 15 years. With the banner of his Godolphin Racing stable flying high at the moment thanks to Essential Quality, the champion two-year-old male of 2020 has kept firing as a three-year-old including a classic victory in the Belmont Stakes, a few hours after the Godolphin homebred Althiqa captured the Gr. 1 Just a Game Stakes on the same card at Belmont. 

Michael Banahan with Delightful Quality - dam of Essential Quality

"That doesn't happen very often; I don't care who you are," said Michael Banahan, the director of farm operations for Godolphin USA. "For us in the states, it had been a long while since we had a classic win—going back to Bernardini in the Preakness [2006]. They don't run many classics, and they sure are hard to win. But it's funny—depending on what happens with the Kentucky Derby with the drug positive—if Mandaloun ends up being the winner, you'll have a sweep for the homebreds with Mandaloun, Rombauer in the Preakness and Essential Quality, not to mention Malathaat winning the Kentucky Oaks. Who knows when the last time that has happened?" 

Essential Quality is a legacy horse for the Jonabell Farm wing of Godolphin's breeding footprint in the U.S. Back in 2005, when U.S. Thoroughbred auctions were regularly seeing epic bidding duels between Sheikh Mohammed and the Coolmore associates, Sheikh Mohammed's representative acquired Essential Quality's second dam, Contrive, for $3 million at the Fasig-Tipton November sale.

"It was a bit of a slow burner," said Banahan, who has worked for Sheikh Mohammed's breeding entities in Europe and America for nearly 30 years. "Contrive was a Storm Cat mare—couldn't do much better than that back then—and she was the dam of Folklore, who had just won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. It's a family that we've liked and developed over time at Jonabell, but it was several years before we got a proper graded stakes winner out of it with Essential Quality. You have to play the long game with those. A lot of times you don't get instant gratification."

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The next generation of dirt surfaces

By Ken Snyder

Ask any Thoroughbred horseman or horsewoman what the safest racetrack surface in North America is, and the response will probably be immediate: synthetic. And they would be correct. Ask California horsemen or horsewomen the same question, and there’s a good chance the majority will have a different opinion. It’s “good old-fashioned dirt” as Dennis Moore (the noted racetrack surface consultant) calls it with understandable pride—specifically the dirt at Del Mar Racetrack where he is also track superintendent.

Overall, Jockey Club statistics show synthetics are safer than dirt with a 1.02 fatality rate per 1,000 starts and 1.49 for dirt in 2020. Del Mar’s rate of fatalities on dirt was 0.29 in 2020 with only one fatality. What’s more, the Del Mar fatality rate has been lower than those recorded for both the synthetic surfaces at Golden Gate Fields and Woodbine over the last four years.

Across North America, Del Mar was the lowest in fatalities among the major racetracks reporting statistics to The Jockey’s Club’s Equine Injury Database (EID) for last year. (Pleasanton achieved zero fatalities in 874 starts.)

Del Mar, certainly, is the “star” among U.S. dirt tracks, but it is also leading a trend for racing on “next-generation” dirt surfaces. While synthetic and turf fatality rates have moved higher and lower over the last five years, dirt tracks have experienced a steady decline in fatality rates to 2020’s all-time low.

Gone is the hue and cry for synthetics that once blanketed Del Mar, Santa Anita and the dearly departed Hollywood Park, particularly in the wake of the disastrous 2019 at Santa Anita when 19 horses died on the dirt surface. It’s not just that dirt is “back,” as evidenced by the Southern California tracks and Keeneland returning to it after synthetic surfaces, but it is evidently better than ever.

Mick Peterson

Can improved safety stats on dirt continue? The answer is a promising one for not only California but all of Thoroughbred racing in America. The 1.41 equine fatality rate in 2020 on all surfaces—dirt, turf and synthetic—was the lowest since the creation of the EID in 2009. Mick Peterson, another noted racetrack consultant and executive director of the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory, has been at the forefront of research and improvements in surfaces since 2006 along with Moore. He likes to use the word “multi-factorial” when looking at improving safety stats over the past decades. In other words, it is not quantifiable but undeniable.

Why are dirt tracks improved and safer? The answer is in a key ingredient most in the horse industry would agree has been missing from a sport not governed by a central authority: common sense. At least regarding track surfaces, it may have had its first application, not surprisingly, at Del Mar.  

Historically a lot of injuries occurred in the first week or two of race meets “where the surf meets the turf” with horses coming down from Santa Anita. When Moore took over as track superintendent at Del Mar, he immediately observed something: “This doesn’t make any sense. It’s the same horses. Why would you have a different surface [from Santa Anita]?” With a subsequent rebuild, he created consistency between the two racetracks. The base at Del Mar was overhauled to match Santa Anita’s, and banking in the turns was changed to exactly match the geometry at the Arcadia, Calif. track—roughly two hours north from Del Mar.

“When you have several tracks in the same jurisdiction—if you can keep the tracks, the maintenance program and the material and structure of the material as close as you can to one another—it’s going to benefit everybody,” said Moore.

Today that kind of collaboration continues with the ongoing rebuild at Laurel Park in Maryland, which has involved both Moore and Peterson. Laurel Track Superintendent Chris Bosley has also turned to Glen Kozak, who oversees the New York Racing Association’s (NYRA) facility and track operations, for input into the Laurel project. NYRA and Maryland tracks experience similar weather and more importantly, perhaps, Kozak oversaw track surfaces in Maryland before moving to New York.

California and Maryland are not the only states where racing is benefitting from collaboration. Peterson recalled a recent Kentucky Derby where an equine vet, looking at the track surface, casually remarked, “You know it seems to me like every time I come to Churchill, it looks a little bit more like Keeneland; and every time I go to Keeneland, it looks a little bit more like Churchill.” It is no accident, according to Peterson, but the product of much hard work.  

California efforts at uniform consistency with racetrack surfaces preceded a Safety-from-Start-to-Finish Initiative launched by Churchill Downs Inc. in 2008 to replicate on their racetracks what had been done on the West Coast.

“The Start-to-Finish Initiative provided the funding for me to go from Calder to Arlington to Churchill Downs to the Fair Grounds to make them match,” said Peterson.   

Pedro Zavala

Fair Grounds Track Superintendent Pedro Zavala talks regularly with his Churchill Downs counterpart, Jamie Richardson, as horses head north from the Fair Grounds winter meet to Churchill Downs in the spring. “Now those are very different climates that aren’t like NYRA or like Del Mar and Santa Anita, but to the extent that they can make things match, Jamie and Pedro will,” Peterson said

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Trainers vs. the IRS - qualifying losses as business deductions

By Peter J. Sacopulos

As a Thoroughbred trainer, you are running an equine-related business. But the IRS may decide you are merely enjoying an expensive hobby. If that happens, the agency will deny your business expense deductions and boost your tax bill. What guidelines should you follow to ensure that your activities are not miscategorized, and when is the law on your side?

A costly question

Here is a riddle for you: When is a business not a business? Before you answer, I should tell you that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is asking, not me. And with that, as is often the case when a tax collector asks a question, the wrong answer could prove costly. So, when is a business not a business? When the IRS says it is a hobby.

The question itself is valid. The United States Federal Tax Code taxes business income, among other things. In doing so, it allows any taxpayer who owns and runs a business to deduct all “ordinary and necessary expenses paid” during a tax year for “carrying on a trade or business.” However, the code also makes it clear that carrying on a trade or business means engaging in an activity to earn a profit, not because it is fun or enjoyable.

What does the IRS call engaging in an activity on a regular basis for the sheer pleasure of doing it? The same thing the rest of us do. “A hobby.” 

Before Congress rewrote the federal tax code in 2018, some taxpayers might have been able to deduct certain hobby expenses. But they would have had to make money from the hobby, reported income and made sure their expenses qualified as miscellaneous itemized deductions under IRS rules. How many deductions does the current tax code allow for hobby-related expenses? Basically, none.

From pleasure to profit

Meanwhile, American popular culture bombards us with career advice, urging us to pursue our passion and follow our dreams. No wonder so many of us grow up fantasizing about wildly successful careers spent doing something we love. The budding guitarist dreams of becoming a rock star. The talented young artist, of selling paintings in Paris for millions. And the young man or woman with talent and skill for horses, of riding to victory in the Triple Crown. While dreams like these are longshots, they might come true. More realistically, they may lead to other careers. The grown-up guitarist teaches music lessons, for instance, while the artist works as a freelance children’s book illustrator, and the young horseman becomes a Thoroughbred trainer.

In each of these cases, the individual would be running a business that began as a hobby. Doing so might be their full time career, or a “side hustle” that supplements income from another job or business. These individuals may enjoy what they do a great deal. But once they start doing it to make money, their operating expenses are tax deductible. In other words, they are required to pay taxes only on their net profits (business income minus business expenses), not on the business’ gross profits (business income before the deduction of business expenses).

This means that items like the music teacher’s new amplifier, the illustrator’s new watercolor brushes and the trainer’s new tack may all be deducted, so long as the items are used for business purposes. The same applies to all other legitimate business expenses—from cellphones to facilities. And as the owner of any Thoroughbred-related business knows, expenses can add up quickly, especially when a business is starting up or expanding.

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Alan Balch - Reason and Emotion, Noses Apart!

When Abraham Lincoln was only 28 years old, he delivered his Lyceum Speech, in Springfield, Illinois. When it was published, it was instrumental in establishing the reputation that led to his presidency decades later.  

The remarkable intellect that ultimately saved the United States was already on full display.  He decried “increasing disregard for law,” which he saw pervading the country, and a “growing disposition to substitute the wild and furious passions” of “savage mobs” for the “sober judgment of Courts.”

What can that possibly have to do with today’s racing?

Just this: In commenting on the November 1864 election, which returned him to office only a few months before his assassination, he famously remarked, “Human-nature will not change. In any future great national trial, compared with the men of this, we shall have as weak, and as strong; as silly and as wise; as bad and good.”  

In short, since human nature won’t change, that’s why we need laws, and why we need the rule and process of law, and sober judgment of courts, instead of passion and emotion to define our decisions.

Over the last several years, emotion has threatened to overtake reason in the governance of racing, in several noteworthy incidents. It’s understandable, if not admirable. First, a calamity of national negative attention brought to racing by Santa Anita’s horrid and preventable spike in catastrophic injuries in 2019 brought forth a torrent of emotional reactions. Tempered, just enough, by reason? As did the international pandemic which added enormous economic and behavioral stress to everyone. Then, just as we were beginning to return to a semblance of normalcy, or to hope for it, America’s highest profile professional trainer became—virtually overnight—the supposed symbol of everything cumulatively wrong about the sport.

Wild and furious passions have indeed been unleashed. Again. Will reason prevail?

Many in racing’s leadership, including some among its most elite, seem bent on stoking the fires of what Lincoln called a “mobocratic spirit,” rather than its opposite, “reason, cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason.” Passion, he had declared, is our enemy—the enemy of all free governments.

Rushing to judgment has perennially been among the preeminent weaknesses of human nature, and if Lincoln is to be believed, it will always be so. It’s why we have due process of law in this country, guaranteed (supposedly) as a constitutional right. Most of us are frustrated—always or at least occasionally—by how long it takes to decide the most critical questions, either legislatively or legally.  But “due process” is there to wring as much passion of the moment as possible out of the ultimate decision. And I vividly remember a man decades ago who was finally vindicated in court, after a years-long process, who then said to the media, “Great. Now where do I go to get my reputation back?” So now, in the spirit of unimpassioned reason, let’s reflect on what’s right, valuable and praiseworthy about our last few years.

I remember one of our leaders complaining incessantly for a decade about how long it takes to enact rules in California, owing to the process required by the Administrative Procedure Act. He failed to note that in the benchmark matter of severely curtailing the use of clenbuterol, several years back, a broad coalition of trainers, owners and regulators got that accomplished very quickly—entirely in accordance with the ponderous process required by the Act. And that was even before the more recent crises erupted. 

California has also led the way in establishing many useful and productive reforms that most of us thought weren’t necessary but have proven in practice to be effective and probably long overdue, incenting better horsemanship, a more level playing field and a more pleasing sport for the public.

Was every action taken entirely rational and mandatory? No overreaching? No emotion? Almost certainly not. But, on balance, they have presented a more defensible sport than we had before, without a doubt. More recently, as the State Legislature has seen it politically necessary to “do something,” several matters that are more logically suited for regulators or rules than for law, became statutory.  Emotion nipping reason at the wire in that case?

One thing is certain: Even if we don’t think about it this way, as we should (or haven’t been taught it), our sport has proven again to be interdependent. It’s useless to debate whether that’s a strength or a weakness. It’s a fact. Every entity, every stakeholder group—whether government, breeder, owner, racing association, breed registry, trainer, veterinarian, blacksmith, vendor or participant, bettor or spectator—is dependent on every other one. We’re all necessary conditions for success. Not one is sufficient by itself. And not one is superior to the others. We each have to behave properly, in the best interest of the horse, or we have no sport.

This wisdom applies to each of us. From the lowliest to the highest. It’s human nature. When Lincoln decried mobocracy, he knew that we each share that same nature . . . mobs can rise from the rabble, and all the way to Park Avenue.

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Orthopaedic problems in young Thoroughbreds

Helping these future athletes achieve a protective conformation is vital with respect to their welfare, athletic career and sales potential: Orthopaedic conditions have the potential to blight a promising athletic career and prevent young horses reach their full potential. Early diagnosis and management are critical if horses are to be given the best chances of a successful and long career. And this, of course, depends on horsemen being able to pick up on problems as early as possible so they can be dealt with effectively. The Beaufort Cottage Educational Trust is a charity that aims to help disseminate knowledge in the Thoroughbred breeding and racing communities with the ultimate goal of improving horse welfare.

Each year, the charity organizes the Gerald Leigh Memorial lectures which are fantastic resources for horsemen. The lecture series is supported by the Gerald Leigh Trust in honor of Mr. Leigh's passion for the Thoroughbred horse and its health and welfare. Most years, the lectures are presented in person in an event at the UK’s National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket; but for 2021, an in-person gathering was not possible and instead, the lectures are available online. For 2021, the charity chose the theme of orthopaedic problems, which are such a common challenge in young Thoroughbreds.

Angular Limb Deformities: Evaluation and treatment in foals and yearlings

Recognizing, diagnosing and understanding angular limb deviations in young Thoroughbreds are critical skills for horsemen and an important part of both stud management and veterinary care. Angular limb deformities (ALD) refer to deviation of the limb in its frontal plane, or side to side when evaluating the individual from the front or back. A varus deformity is a medial deviation of the limb below the location of the problem (e.g., toeing in), whereas a valgus deformity is a lateral deviation of the limb below the location of the deformity (e.g., toeing out). Angular limb deformities must be distinguished from a flexural limb deformity, which is in the sagittal plane, i.e., from front to back when evaluating the individual from the side.  

How do ALD occur?

ALD can be both congenital and acquired. Congenital means the condition has been present from birth and causes include incomplete ossification or immaturity of the small cuboidal bones, which make up the hocks and knees as well as weakness of the ligaments supporting the joints and periarticular laxity. These issues tend to result in valgus knees and hocks. We also know that ALD can be inherited and that as a breed, Thoroughbreds tend to be varus (toe in). 

Acquired ALD develop after birth and come about through overloading of the physis (growth plate), which is usually caused either from hard ground, an over-conditioned foal or a combination of the two. The biomechanics of equine limb lead horses to bear more weight through the inside of the leg; therefore, the inside of the growth plate, which is inhibited more than the outside and when there is overloading the net effect is that the foal will toe in.

How do ALD impact a foal’s future career?

Carpal and fetlock injuries in racing Thoroughbreds account for a large majority of the reasons racehorses spend time out of training. Intervening while foals are growing and developing to help them achieve a protective conformation gives them the best chance of maximizing their potential and enjoying their racing career. 

Diagnosis of ALD

Evaluating young stock is certainly best achieved using a team approach involving owners/managers, farriers and veterinarians. Regular evaluation from a young age is key, as is examination of the foal while static and while walking. Severe deviations should also be evaluated radiographically.

Treatment of ALD

Conservative treatment options can include exercise restriction, corrective farriery and nutritional management. Hoof correction and toe extensions can be extremely helpful in managing foals and yearlings with minor deviations; and farriery can often correct such issues without needing to resort to surgical treatment options.

The surgical treatment of choice for correcting ALD is the transphyseal screw. In general, it achieves the most effective and cosmetic outcome of the surgical options. The procedure involves placing a screw across the growth plate on the side of the leg that is growing too fast. For example, for a foal that is toeing in, the screw is placed on the outside of the leg. This allows the inside of the growth plate to grow faster and so correct the deviation. The screws are placed under a short general anesthetic. The screw does need to be removed to avoid over-correction, but often they can be removed with the horse standing using a mild sedative once the desired correction is achieved.

Osteochondrosis – recent advances and diagnosis

Osteochondrosis is one of the most important developmental diseases in young athletic horses. It occurs in young, large-breed horses, including Thoroughbreds, and can cause a variety of clinical signs. The age at which the disease starts to cause clinical signs varies from a young foal to horses over 10 years old. This is because lesions can remain silent and only cause clinical signs later on in life. But even in the absence of any clinical signs, the pathological lesions will have been present since the horses reached skeletal maturity. 

How does osteochondrosis affect athletes?

Osteochondrosis often starts to cause problems when the horse is put into training—when they are athletically challenged. This age will differ for different populations, starting earlier in Thoroughbred racehorses than in Warmbloods destined for sports horse disciplines. Often the horse will be sound, or can experience different degrees of lameness and may present with joint effusion. This disease affects more than one joint in an individual in over 50% of cases, and it usually occurs in the same joint on the contralateral limb; but it can also affect multiple different joints. 

How does osteochondrosis develop?

In foals, areas of growth cartilage within the joints will continue to ossify (become bone) after birth. When this process is complete and the animal is skeletally mature, a thin layer of normal articular cartilage will remain supported by subchondral bone. Osteochondrosis is caused by a “failure of endochondral ossification,” which simply means the growth cartilage fails to become healthy bone. A defect, with or without a fragment, is then created in the articular surface of the bone. This dynamically changing area is susceptible to trauma or high biomechanical loads. Recent advances in research, carried out in Norway by Dr. Olstad, suggest that failure of endochondral ossification is likely caused by loss of blood supply to these areas of growth cartilage, which prevents it from ossifying. This has been linked to a heritable predisposition, among other factors such as rapid growth, dietary imbalance, exercise, environment and prior joint sepsis.

Diagnosis of osteochondrosis

Thorough clinical examination and radiography remain at the forefront of osteochondrosis diagnosis. This disease occurs at joint-specific predilection sites as a result of site-specific biomechanical forces and differences in the age at which that site becomes skeletally mature. For example, in the femoropatellar joint (pictured), the most common site of osteochondrosis is the lateral trochlear ridge of the femur. This is predilected by the thick cartilage surface, later age of maturation/ossification, and by the shear forces the patella exerts on the ridge as the stifle flexes and extends. Ultrasonography can also be very sensitive in detecting osteochondrosis in the stifle. Research performed by Dr. Martel in Canada suggests early detection of subclinical lesions in the stifle have been found in foals aged 27-166 days old.  

Management of osteochondrosis

Lesions can spontaneously resolve, and the majority will have done so by 12 months old. Otherwise, management recommendations to limit lesion development include keeping horses exclusively at pasture up to 1 year old, not using rough terrain, in large group sizes (>3 brood mares) or in a large pasture size (large pasture size > 1 hectare before 2 weeks old and > 6 hectare before 2 months old). Strict box rest is discouraged, and a convalescence paddock of 33ft x 56ft (10m x 17m) for 60-90 days may help stabilize lesions. 

Conclusion

Gerald Leigh was an incredibly successful Thoroughbred breeder and owner based in the UK. The 2021 lectures honoring his passion for the Thoroughbred provide a useful update for horsemen on two common conditions of the young Thoroughbred and add to the contribution the charitable trust established by Mr. Leigh’s family, which continues to make in supporting the Thoroughbred industry.

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Michael Cannon - Cannon Thoroughbreds

Michael Cannon (Cannon Thoroughbreds) - Smooth Like Strait

Michael Cannon, a multiple success in business, was in unfamiliar territory with his Thoroughbreds. “I was a failure,” he said. “I’m not lying. I was a complete failure. I took full responsibility. I bred Smooth Like Strait. Then he ran his first race and was a real disappointment. I told my wife he was our last chance of success. I was starting to undo Cannon Thoroughbreds. I spent a lot of money, and I got very little reward. You have to know in business when to pull the plug. I was looking to get out of the business.”

Fortunately for the Cannons, Smooth Like Strait didn’t take long to show his immense talent—taking Michael, Jennifer and their four children, Cole, Chloe, Camryn and Cooper on the ride of a lifetime. His last eight starts have been in graded stakes with four victories, two seconds, a third and a fourth against elite turf company. “He turned it around,” Cannon said. “We’re back and stronger than ever.”

Cannon has spent most of his adult life helping companies do exactly that: getting strong. The 52-year-old president and CEO of Cannon Nevada, a venture capital firm based in Henderson, has started or acquired 22 businesses. Zero have gone bankrupt. “I’m pretty good at cutting out the bull****, simplifying and getting down to making money,” he said. “So far, I’m always looking to share with others. I do like helping other people. It’s not all about the money. It’s really about success. I just keep trying new things. Some work, some don’t. I’m too dumb to quit. So I keep working. Fortunately, I’ve been more successful than not.”

His interest in horses came at an early age. “My dad loved racing, and my mom was from Nevada. I spent a lot of time in Nevada. I knew horses very well.”

His mother, however, didn’t let him pursue his interest in music or football. “I played trumpet, but she wouldn’t let me practice at home,” he said. “She also wouldn’t let me play football in high school. And I was fast.”

When he attended Alan Hancock Junior College in Santa Maria, Calif., he made the football team as a freshman and was a starter at wide receiver in his second season. “I was the only white receiver—a white kid with red hair—with really talented African Americans from inner cities,” he said. “They came from rough neighborhoods. I didn’t even know how to put the pads on. They taught me everything. These guys became good friends.”

Following junior college, Cannon received a bachelor of science degree from Boston University’s School of Management, an advanced certificate in negotiation from Harvard University and an advanced certificate in mergers and acquisition from UCLA.

He had an incredible experience in 1988 while doing an internship in London. He even had tea with Diana, Princess of Wales. “There was a new American Institute of Foreign Studies, and about six of us out of 300 were allowed to meet her,” he said. “I had to take two days of classes for protocol. They take that protocol very seriously. Just learning how to shake hands took an hour. You can’t squeeze her hand. When she finally showed up, she couldn’t have been any nicer. She was prettier in person than she was in pictures. She didn’t give a damn about all that protocol. She grabbed my hand and seized it.” 

While in college, he bought his first horse—a $1,000 weanling named Achillean Spirit. “He ran at Golden Gate and tracks in Utah and Nevada and was very successful on that small circuit: Beaver City, Utah, and Ely and Elko, Nevada,” Cannon said.

Then he began syndicating horses as Sport of Kings Syndication. He did that for three years and took a hiatus from horse racing to focus on his rapidly advancing business career. He founded and led Warehouse Las Vegas, Accurate Courier and 4Wall Entertainment before founding Cannon Nevada in 2018.

Eight years earlier, he had reconnected with Thoroughbreds, posting minimal success. He purchased Smooth Like Straight’s granddam, Beautiful Lil. She produced Smooth Like Straight’s dam, Smooth as Usual. He raced her, sold her and got her back after her racing career ended in a sale at Keeneland. She began Cannon’s small broodmare band, based at Columbiana Farm in Kentucky.

Early reports on Smooth Like Strait were incredibly positive from day one. He shared this story with Christine Oser in her October, 22, 2020, story in The Blood-Horse: “The minute he was born, Homer Rader at Columbiana said, `You know what? You’ve got a good one.’ And that’s literally within 24 hours of him being born. I sent him away to be trained at Bill Wofford’s Rimroc Farm in Kentucky. He breaks them and gets them prepped for training, and then he called me up and said, `Smooth Like Strait—this horse is going to win you a graded stakes race.’ I’d never heard that before.”

Then Smooth Like Strait, who is trained by Mike McCarthy, made a dreadful debut, finishing ninth by 20 lengths at Del Mar on August 17, 2019. That abysmal performance was on dirt, and once Smooth Like Strait switched to grass, he became a star—flashing seven victories, three seconds and a pair of thirds in 14 starts while earning more than $900,000.

He could have won a lot more, narrowly missing his first three starts in Gr. 1 stakes. He finished second by a head in the Hollywood Derby, second by a neck in the Francis Kilroe Stakes and third by a neck in the Turf Classic at Churchill Downs. “When you’re coming from nothing, and you’re losing Gr. 1’s by a neck, we were proud as hell. Just to be in a graded stakes was terrific,” Cannon said.

Then Smooth Like Strait broke through, winning the Gr. 1 Shoemaker Mile by a length and a half on May 31. That prompted Cannon to conclude, “I’ve come a long way since 1991 in Beaver City, Utah.”

Why are gastric ulcers still a significant concern for horses in training?

With the advances in scoping and increased awareness of gastric ulcers, along with the high prevalence found in horses in training, one may wonder, Why is this condition still such a problem? Do we not know enough to prevent this condition from recurring? 

The short answer is that much is known, and for certain, there are effective medications and many feeds and supplements designed to manage the condition. The underlying problem is that the factors leading to ulceration, at least the most significant ones, are fundamental to the routine and management of a horse in training. Quite simply, the environment and exercise required are conducive to development of ulcers. Horses in training will always be at risk from this condition, and it is important to manage our expectation of how much influence we can have on ulcers developing, and our ability to prevent recurrence. 

Clarifying Gastric Ulceration

Before considering how and why ulcers are a recurrent problem, it is helpful to understand the different types of gastric ulceration as the term most commonly used, Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome (EGUS), is an umbrella term which represents two distinct conditions. 

The term EGUS came into use in 1999 and represented ulceration of the two separate locations in the stomach where ulcers are found: the squamous and glandular regions. The two regions are functionally different, and ulceration in either location has different causative factors. This is important when considering what can be managed from a risk point of view at a racing yard. The term EGUS is now split into two categories: Equine Squamous Gastric Disease (ESGD) and Equine Glandular Gastric Disease (EGGD). 

ESGD is the most commonly occurring form and the focus of dietary and management interventions. The majority of horses in training have the primary form of ESGD where the stomach functions normally. There is a secondary form that relates to a physical abnormality which causes delayed emptying of the stomach.

The condition ESGD is influenced by the training environment and time spent in training as noted by researchers looking at prevalence of horses out of training compared to those within training. In this case, 37% of untrained thoroughbred racehorses had ESGD and this progressed to 80-100% of horses within two to three months of training. This effect is not unique to thoroughbreds and is seen in other breeds with an ‘active workload’; for example, standardbreds progress from an average of 44% ESGD in the population to 87% when in training. Such research is helpful in understanding two things: firstly, that ulcers in the squamous section can occur outside of training, and that the influence of exercise and dietary changes have a significant effect regardless of breed. Even horses in the leisure category, which are thought of as low risk or at almost no risk at all, can return surprising results in terms of prevalence.

There are multiple risk factors associated with development of ESGD, some of which are better evidenced than others, and some of which are more influential. These include:

• Pasture turnout

• Having a diet high in fibre/provision of ‘free choice’ fibre

• Choice of alfalfa over other forages

• Provision of straw as the only forage source

• Restricted access to water

• Exceeding 2g of starch per kilogram of body weight 

• Greater than 6 hours between meals (forage/feed)

• Frequency and intensity of exercise 

• Duration of time spent in a stabled environment combined with exercise

Of these factors, the stabled environment—which influences feeding behaviour—and exercise are the most significant factors. The influence of diet in the unexercised horse can be significant, however once removed from pasture, and a training program is entered into, ulceration will occur as these factors are more dominant. An Australian study of horses in training noted the effect of time spent in training, with an increase in risk factor of 1.7 fold for every week spent in training. 

Once in training, there is some debate as to whether provision of pasture, either alone or in company, has a significant effect. Some studies report a lower risk of ESGD when pasture in company is provided for horses in training, whereas others have found no significant effect. The duration of access and quality of pasture involved may be part of the differences in results found. There is a distinct difference between turnout in a paddock that offers a pick of grass and a leg stretch and a paddock rich in well managed pasture. Ultimately a period of turnout whilst in a training program is not enough of a counter-balance to the risks of frequent and intense exercise, coupled with a need for stabled periods and higher rates of compound feeding.

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What we learned at the track superintendents field day

There is no shortage of hard-working people in horse racing. The average 9-to-5 office worker probably cannot imagine the long hours put in by trainers with nary a day off or the sleepless nights breeders endure during foaling season. The work is not just long; it is hard and often requires a mixture of blood, sweat and tears. And there aren’t any days off for inclement weather. One group in racing, in particular, deals with these conditions on a daily basis—track superintendents and their crews. However, their arduous efforts at keeping horses and jockeys safe are sometimes overlooked. Track Superintendent Field Day, held June 14-15 at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino, puts a spotlight on the important work of those dedicated to track maintenance and serves as a way for them to share best practices and create connections.

More than 100 attendees representing 70 tracks, training centers and farms were at this year’s event, which was first held in 2002 when Roy Smith, now track superintendent at Indiana Grand, launched it at Philadelphia Park (now Parx Racing) after earlier gatherings, as part of the University of Arizona Race Track Industry’s Racing Symposium. The event had mostly Thoroughbred representation, but there was also a contingent from Standardbred tracks for the resumption of the conference, which was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19. 

“We could not be more pleased with the turnout we had for this,” said Smith about the near-record attendance despite the lack of international attendees who normally make the trip. “We had some of the industry’s leaders make presentations over the past two days, and you’d have to go far and wide to find the level of expertise and experience we had in that room. These people have their finger on the pulse of this complicated industry. We all have busy schedules, so I appreciate all who attended.”

Improving safety through technology

Technology has touched every aspect of racing in recent years with computerized betting, advanced veterinary scanning capabilities and GPS race timing to name just a few; and the niche world of track maintenance is no different. While track superintendents (a.k.a. “supers”) will always rely on their own experience and instincts on how to best maintain their racetracks, they increasingly rely on technology.

For the uninformed who might think track supers just push around dirt and add some sand here and there, the event’s first speaker, agronomist and soil scientist Michael DePew of Environmental Technical Services, made it clear just how complicated dirt and even synthetic surfaces can be to create and maintain. 

“For optimum soil cushion performance, we want a soil that has moderate stability when compacted but when fluffed into a loose cushion will have low resistance that during hoof compaction will gradually compact to form a firm footing for push off,” he said. 

That’s not an easy sentence to say, so the cliché “easier said than done” doesn’t even apply, but getting it done is certainly not easy. DePew covered the best size and shape of sand particles to achieve a suitable racing surface, and he talked about regional differences in what materials are available and how clay in one part of the country might be different than that in another area. He explained how testing the soil of a racetrack can generate a report with a wealth of data, such as the size of the sand particles; and then actions can be taken to get those numbers into recommended target ranges. 

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Reducing the pressure points - Scientists discover performance benefits of relieving five key pressure points under tack

Researchers detected peak pressures under commonly used tack that were of a magnitude high enough to cause pain and tissue damage. When horses have to manage this type of discomfort on a daily basis, they develop a locomotor compensatory strategy. Over time, this can lead to tension and restriction that inevitably affects performance. Physio interventions will usually ease the symptoms of tightness and soreness and, after a period of rest, performance may be restored and improved. However, this costly course of action only addresses the secondary problem. If the primary cause is still apparent—in this case pressure from badly designed or ill-fitting tack—the compensatory gait strategy will be adopted again, the tension will return, and the cycle will repeat.

Reducing the pressure that forces a horse to adopt a compensatory gait will not only improve performance, but it will also help prevent further issues which could have veterinary implications and reduce susceptibility to injury in the long term.

Saddle up 

When scientists tested the three most commonly used exercise saddles, they discovered every saddle in the test impinged on the area around the 10th-13th thoracic vertebrae (T10-T13)—a region at the base of the wither where there is concentrated muscle activity related to locomotion and posture. The longissimus dorsi muscle is directly involved in the control and stabilisation of dynamic spinal movement and it is most active at T12 (see fig 1).

Dynamic stability is the combination of strength and suppleness—not to be confused with stiffness—and is essential for the galloping thoroughbred. The horse’s back moves in three planes: flexion-extension, lateral bending and axial rotation—all of which can be compromised by high pressures under the saddle (see fig 7). 

Studies in sport horses have shown that saddles which restrict this zone around T13 restrict muscle development and negatively influence gait. This effect is amplified in a racehorse because they train at higher speeds, and faster speeds are associated with higher forces and pressures. In addition, gallop requires significant flexion and extension of the horse’s spine; and if this is compromised by saddle design, it seems logical there will be an effect on the locomotor apparatus.

Tree length

In addition, half-tree and full-tree saddles were shown to cause pressure where the end of the tree makes contact with the horse’s back during spinal extension at gallop. In the three-quarter-tree, high pressure peaks were seen every stride and either side of the spine, correlating with the horse’s gallop lead; this indicated that the saddle was unstable at speed (see fig 1).

Using a modified saddle design to achieve a more symmetrical pressure distribution, researchers saw a positive impact on spinal stability and back muscle activation. The hindlimb was shown to come under the galloping horse’s centre of mass, leading to increased hip flexion, stride length and power. A longer stride length means fewer strides are necessary to cover any given distance; and better stride efficiency brings benefits in terms of the horse’s training potential and susceptibility to injury (see compensatory strategy panel). 

Half-tree: High peak pressures consistent with the end of the tree

Three-quarter-tree: Peak pressure on one side of the back at a time, depending on the gallop lead  

Full-tree: Peak pressure was further back 

New design: The lowest peak pressures with a more uniform distribution

Improved hip flexion was recorded in the new saddle design (A) compared to a commonly used saddle (B)]

Pressure pad

The saddle pad acts as a dampening layer between the horse and the saddle, reducing pressures and absorbing forces. In a pilot study of thoroughbreds galloping at half speed over ground, a medical-grade foam saddle pad was shown to be superior at reducing pressure, significantly outperforming gel and polyfill pads. Preliminary findings show the forces were 75% lower, and peak pressures were 65% lower under the foam pad than those recorded under the gel pad. The polyfill pad reduced the forces and peak pressures by 25% and 44%, respectively, compared to the viscose gel pad. 

A pad with a midline ‘seam’ designed to follow the contour of the horse’s back and withers performed best, maintaining position and providing spinal clearance even at speed. Flat pads without any shaping or a central seam were observed to slip down against the spine as the horse moved, even when the pads were pulled up into the saddle channel before setting off. The pressure associated with a pad drawing down on the spine under the saddle will lead to increased muscle tension, reduce elasticity of the back and could potentially alter gait. Relieving pressure at this location improves posture, movement and propulsion.

It might be assumed that using multiple pads under an exercise saddle would improve spinal clearance or comfort. However, based on studies, this is not the case. In contrast, it can lead to saddle instability, which has the potential to encourage the jockey to overtighten the girth in an attempt to keep the saddle still. The added bulk puts a feeling of distance between the horse and rider, compromising the close-contact feel and balance all jockeys strive to achieve. 

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#Soundbites - Are there adequate protocols and security on the backstretch to prevent outsiders from tampering with horses? If not, what would you suggest?

Ralph Nicks

The answer is yes. The tracks have fences around all the way—all the tracks I’ve ever been at.

Tom Amoss

I believe that because of the changing environment and the stigma of getting a positive test, more needs to be done—not only increased penalties. Getting to a horse on the backstretch is very easy to do. Ninety-nine percent of the people back there would never bother a horse. What about the other one percent?

Charlie Baker

At Belmont and Aqueduct, we’ve got enough protocol coming into the track. Every now and then, someone can slip through the cracks. There’s no foolproof security. If someone is totally intent on doing something, if they want to come over the fence, they can. If they are intent on doing it, they will. At Saratoga, there’s parking on the backside, and it’s more wide open. Most of the people are fans, but it’s wide open. You have to make sure someone is around.

Simon Callaghan

I think there is. Tracks are different. At Santa Anita, security is tight. We’ve got a night watchman. I have people at my barn 24/7. We’ve been doing that for quite a while. It’s very important to have someone there at night. We want to make sure that there are no problems.

Kathleen O’Connell 

I think on the backside at Gulfstream Park, people are very protective. I think we have a good network including workers in the barn. Multiple times, security makes sure badges are worn. I don’t see any strangers on the backstretch, especially the last couple years. We don’t have owners coming in and out since the whole COVID thing started.

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Fred Hooper - The Extraordinary Life of a Thoroughbred Legend

This summer, author Bill Heller publishes his latest book, Fred Hooper, The Extraordinary Life of a Thoroughbred Legend. the rags-to-riches story of a true giant of the racing world.

Excerpts from the book are published below with the full book available to purchase exclusively via trainermagazine.com/hooper

Fred W. Hooper didn’t just survive 102 years—he lived them. Every single day until he died. As the keynote speaker at the 1981 Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductions in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on August 6, he shared part of a poem that he said reflected his philosophy of life. He was 83 years old at the time. 

“I want to be thoroughly used when I leave this earth,” he said. “The harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life. Life is no brief candle to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have hold of at the moment and want to make burn as bright as I can before passing it on to future generations.” 

On the morning of his last day in 2000, he called his trainer, former NFL cornerback Bill Cesare, to check about a filly they were going to race two days later. Fred’s third wife, Wanda, who was married to him for 30 years, called Bill back the next morning to tell him the sad news that Fred had passed. 

He left behind a legacy of success in so many different fields that it is hard to fathom one human being doing so much. He was: 

• An eighth-grade dropout who became a substitute teacher at his former grammar school, then, decades later, funded a school, Hooper Academy—still thriving 50 years later in Montgomery, Ala.

• A teenage horse swapper, a daredevil at the George State Fair, a barber, a boxer, a potato farmer, a carpenter, a steel worker, a timber trader, a county commissioner, a stockyard builder and an extremely successful cattle breeder.

• A construction worker who got his first job with no previous experience and, really, no knowledge of the business, who quickly opened his own company and built roads, bridges, dams, airports and buildings all over the southeast and courses at racetracks around the country.

• A Thoroughbred owner who won the rescheduled 1945 Kentucky Derby with the first Thoroughbred yearling he bought, Hoop Jr., named for his son. Later, he fired and rehired trainers as frequently as his friend, George Steinbrenner, went through managers of the New York Yankees. Fred’s favorite horse, three-time champion filly Susan’s Girl, went through seven trainers in her illustrious career: Jimmy Picou, John Russell, Charley “Chuck” Parke, Hall of Famer Tommy “TJ” Kelly, J.L. Newman, Robert Smith and Ross Fenstermaker. “He’d fire me, hire somebody else, then hire me back,” Ross said in 2020. Ross also trained Fred’s $3.4 million-earner, Champion Precisionist, for the bulk of his career.  

• A Thoroughbred innovator and pioneer—the first owner to successfully ship his horses cross-country on airplanes to contest stakes races, designing the stalls and manufacturing the adjustable ramp to load them on and off; the first to bring three jockeys from Panama to ride in the United States and all three became Hall of Famers: Braulio Baeza, Jorge Velasquez and Laffit Pincay Jr., who collectively won more than 20,000 races, and one of the first to buy horses in South America to race and breed in the U.S. Fred also weighed his horses regularly to monitor their health.

• A Thoroughbred breeder of 115 stakes winners, literally creating his own pedigrees with his home-breds.

• A Thoroughbred gambler whose speedy Olympia won a legendary match race with a Quarter Horse, earning the $50,000 winner-take-all pot and more than $90,000 he booked in side bets. Olympia was Fred’s first airplane shipper in 1949, returned to finish sixth as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby, then became an incredibly impactful sire.

• A Thoroughbred industry leader who formed the national Thoroughbred Owners’ and Breeders Association and the Florida Thoroughbred Owners’ and Breeders’ Association, serving as president in both organizations.

Along the way, he and his horses received seven Eclipse Awards, Thoroughbred racing’s highest honor.

In a beautiful Blood-Horse story after Fred passed, trainer John Russell, also a fine writer, said, “No one ever loved racing more than Mr. Hooper, and certainly no one loved his horses more than this man.”

Fred showed his love every time he drove his Cadillac around his farm’s pastures to distribute carrots to his horses. He’d hide the carrots behind his back, and each horse had to nuzzle him to get the treat.

Fred was the patriarch of a large loving family, all of whom called him Big Daddy. To this day, everybody in Thoroughbred racing still calls him Mr. Hooper—a measure of the immense respect he still generates. “He’s just one of those iconic names in our sport,” Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith said. “When you got an opportunity to ride for a man like Mr. Hooper, you knew you had made it. You knew he was such a giant in the sport.”
            How did one of 13 children born on a farm in Cleveland, Ga., accomplish all that? “One of his favorite lines was `Look ahead. Never look back,’” Wanda said. “He always looked forward.”

Sometimes he had no other choice. That made his journey even more remarkable.

“He was a very positive man,” his daughter, Betty Hooper Green, said. “He always said, `Look to the future. Don’t think about mistakes you made in the past. Look to the future and make things better.’”

Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day remembers being at trainer Bill Cesare’s barn the day after Fred’s two-year-old filly won a race at Arlington Park: “We were at the barn, and somebody came by and wanted to buy the filly. He said, `No, I want to keep her. I’m going to watch her babies run.’”

Pat said, “I was flabbergasted. He was maybe 92 or 93. Here’s a two-year-old filly who’s going to race as a three-year-old, then maybe as a four-year-old. Then she’s going to be bred and have a baby, who wouldn’t race for at least another two years. We’re talking six or seven years. I looked at him. He was such an optimist.”

Maybe it was because of his work ethic—one likely instilled by his father, struggling to keep food on the table for their ever-growing family. Regardless, Fred earned his success. Nothing was ever handed to him, so he relied on himself to pave his way through his long life. “The harder I work, the luckier I get,” Fred told Wanda.

He worked alone. He almost always owned his horses by himself, rarely in a partnership. In Jim Bolus’ book Remembering the Derby, Fred said, “I just feel that what I have I want to own myself. I just have always felt like that whatever I do; if it’s wrong, why then I’ll be to blame. I was in heavy construction, building roads and airports and dams over six of the southeastern states for 36 years, and I just didn’t want a partner, that’s all.”

His way with horses was to keep his barns meticulous. He paid attention to all the details, no matter how small. In a December 1, 1997 Sports Illustrated article celebrating Fred’s recent 100th birthday, Frank Lidz wrote of Fred and Wanda’s 912-acre spread in Ocala: “Throughout the estate, from breeding sheds to training gallops, all is immaculately groomed. Flowers abound. Grass is clipped. Stables are clean and freshly painted, masonry pointed and trim, tack in order, hay baled, manure invisible.”    

   That required attention to detail. “They would put up posts in the ground to build a fence on his farm,” Fred’s grandson, Buddy Green, said. “He would push against the post in a pick-up truck to make sure it didn’t move. He was that type of man. I respect that. He wanted it done right.”

Fred always felt right when he was with horses, especially his own. “Horses were his children,” Buddy’s mother, Betty Green said. “He would stop on his way into town at the vegetable stand, and he’d pick up carrots and take them to his horses. They would break the car antenna. They loved it, and they all would come.”

Fred’s impact on horse racing still resonates long after he passed.

When American Pharoah ended a 37-year Triple Crown drought by sweeping the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes in 2015, he carried bloodlines featuring five of Fred’s horses, Zetta Jet, Tri Jet, Crozier, Olympia and Hoop Jr. Justify, the 2018 undefeated Triple Crown Champion, and Ghostzapper, a superstar on the track and off as a stallion, both trace back to Tri Jet. 

When the coronavirus pandemic forced Churchill Downs to reschedule the 2020 Kentucky Derby from the first Saturday of May to the first Saturday of September, a story in the Montgomery Independent documented the first and only other time the Derby was postponed: in 1945 when Hoop Jr. won.

At Gulfstream Park on January 23, 2021, Phipps Stable and Claiborne Farm’s five-year-old horse Performer won the 35th running of the $125,000 Gr3 Fred W. Hooper Stakes at one-mile on turf. The race was formally named the Tropical Park Handicap.  

Later in 2021, another senior class graduated from Hooper Academy.

Not bad for an eighth-grade dropout in rural Georgia. Not bad at all. 

********************************

Many times, Fred would tell people his favorite horse was three-time Champion filly Susan’s Girl. And while Hoop Jr. and Precisionist also meant the world to him, Olympia may have been the most fascinating horse he ever owned.

A sub-headline on Anne Peters’ July 3rd, 2015, Blood-Horse pedigree analysis of Olympia quoted her story’s final sentence: 

Without Olympia our world would be a much slower place

Yet for all the blazing speed he showed in races and passed on to his progeny, Olympia was also the sire of 1970 Steeplechase Champion Top Bid, who won the three-mile Temple Gwathmey Stakes by four lengths at Belmont Park during his champion season at the age of six.

Fred’s trainer Ivan Parke bred Olympia, a son of Heliopolis out of Miss Dolphin by Stimulus. Parke had trained Miss Dolphin, a stakes winner who set four track records after selling for just $700 as a yearling at Saratoga in 1936.

American Classic Pedigrees described Olympia as a “small, lengthy bay horse with a Roman nose. Olympia was a blocky, powerful sprinter type who ran to his looks.”

Fred didn’t want his trainer owning horses, so he purchased Olympia when he was one month old while keeping Parke as his trainer. 

Olympia shined as a two-year-old immediately, winning his maiden debut at Keeneland April 16, 1948, by three lengths. He went on to win the Joliet Stakes at Washington Park by 3 ½ lengths, the Primer Stakes at Arlington Park by four lengths and the Breeders’ futurity at Keeneland by a neck. He finished second in the Bashford Manor at Churchill Downs, the Arlington Futurity, the George Woolf Memorial Stakes at Washington Park and in the Babylon Handicap and the Cowdin at Aqueduct. He finished his two-year-old season with four victories, six seconds and one third from 14 starts—almost all of them on the lead—earning $76,362.

As a three-year-old, he rocked the racing world.

Stella Moore, a Quarter Horse Champion owned by Quintas I. Roberts of Palatka, Fla., had beaten a speedy Thoroughbred named Fair Truckle in a California match race. 

Roberts asked Fred if he’d like to have his Olympia take on Stella Moore in a match race. Fred had been the king of match races with Prince/Royal Prince and he agreed, suggesting they each put up $50,000 in a winner-take-all quarter-mile match race at Tropical Park Racetrack in Coral Gables, five miles north of Miami. Roberts countered with an offer of each owner betting $25,000, and Fred agreed. The match race would be held in between races at Tropical Park on January 5, 1949, matching freshly-turned three-year-old Thoroughbred colt Olympia against the now four-year-old Quarter Horse mare Stella More.

According to Jim Bolus in “Remembering the Derby,” Calumet Farm’s trainer Ben Jones told Ivan Parke that he was foolish to think Olympia could win. “One day, just two or three days before the match race was run, a groom from Calumet Farm’s barn came up there with $1,000 and said to Ivan Parke, 'We want to bet on the Quarter Horse,’” Fred told Bolus. “I said, ‘Ivan, let me have that money. That’s Ben Jones’ money.’ I told the groom, ‘Go back and tell Ben to send some more money up. I have some more left.’”

Almost all accounts of the match race put the figure Fred handled that fateful afternoon in side bets at $93,000.

In Frank Lidz’s 1997 story about Fred in Sports Illustrated, Fred said, “People thought I was crazy to let Olympia race a Quarter Horse at two furlongs. I knew I was crazy, all right, but Olympia was awfully fast, and I thought he could beat anybody.”

But showing great attention to detail, Fred measured the course. “The finish line was 73 feet short of a quarter-mile when the gate was put in the chute,” Fred told Ed Bowen in Legacies of the Turf, Volume 2. “I changed the finish and made them run the full quarter. I wasn’t going to take any of the worst of it.”

 Pat Farrell, the Tropical Park Racing Secretary, was given the awesome responsibility of recording bets and making payoffs. “I never saw such action,” he told Chuck Tilley in his 1997 Florida Horse cover story on Fred.

Writing about Fred in his book Stories from Cot Campbell, Racing’s Most Interesting People, Cot Campbell said of Pat: “As he received money, he pushed it into the top right drawer of his desk and locked it. At post time, he then locked the door to the racing secretary’s office and rushed out to see the making of racing history.”  

According to Fred, “Olympia and Stella Moore broke nearly even. At the eighth pole, Stella Moore was about two lengths in front, but when they got to the finish line, Olympia was there first.” Olympia had won by a head in :22 4/5. 

“The finish was scary, but not nearly as scary as the settling of the bets,” Campbell continued in his book. “After pictures were taken and hands were shaken, a big crowd went back to Pat Farrell’s office for the settling-up ceremonies.

“With a big smile on his face, Pat withdrew his key from his pocket, held it up as a magician might have, and with a flourish inserted it into the lock on the drawer. He flung the drawer open for one and all to behold the absolute staggering cache of greenbacks, now belonging to Fred Hooper.

“The drawer was empty. Pat Farrell looked as if he would lose his lunch. His face was ashen, and he thrust his hand into the drawer as if he might be able to feel the money, even though he certainly could not see it! The atmosphere in the room was decidedly tense. Finally, Farrell jerked the drawer completely out of the desk. The bigger drawer beneath it was housing a truly splendid clump of greenbacks. There was the stash of cash. There was no back panel in the top drawer, so as Farrell hurriedly pushed the final batch of bills toward the back of the drawer, the dough had dropped out of sight into the bottom compartment.”

Fred collected, gave a $1,000 tip to Pat Farrell, and then, according to Lidz’s story in Sports Illustrated, came up with this classic: “I told Roberts that if he was game, I’d fetch another Thoroughbred from my stable.’ He said, `No thanks; I’ve got just enough money to get back home.’”

Hall of Fame trainer John Nerud, who would become close friends with Fred, shared this story with Chuck Tilley and Gene Plowden’s book This is Horse Racing: “After I looked at the match race, I went back to my barn and there was a fellow sitting on a bucket and crying; a big man he was, just sitting there crying. I went over and asked him what was the matter. He looked up at me and said, `I just lost an automobile agency today!’”

From then on, Olympia was the horse to beat in the Kentucky Derby. He wore the label of Derby favorite well, though the Daily Racing Form (then called the Morning Telegraph) didn’t include the match race in Olympia’s past performance lines, presumably because he had raced against a Quarter Horse.

Just two weeks after the match race, Olympia led most of the way before tiring to finish second by a half-length as the 2-5 favorite in the Hibiscus Stakes at Hialeah, January 19.

Fred then sent Olympia to California to continue his Derby preparation. In doing so, Fred pioneered what is commonplace today: flying Thoroughbreds cross-country to contest major stakes races around the country. 

“Horses weren’t being flown around those days,” Fred told Ed Bowen in 1973. “Eastern Airlines leased me a DC-4, which was a nice plane, but I had fixed my own crates and everything and put the horse and the lead pony in. I fixed some canvas muzzles that had a screw in the bottom of them, so I could put two oxygen tanks in the plane, with about 30 feet of hose on each. The plane was not pressurized. Also, I fixed straps to go over their shoulders.

“I told Eastern that since I had to do everything to get the horses ready to fly, I should pick out my own pilot; so they said I could pick any pilot I wanted. I chose Dick Merrill, who was one of the greatest (and an ace pilot during World War II). We flew two horses out there, left them for 30 days for the races, then flew them back.”

There was a great picture accompanying Ed Bowen’s 1973 story in the Blood-Horse showing the interior of the plane with Fred standing next to Olympia while Dick Merrill was petting Olympia’s face and Ivan Parke looked on.

Soon Olympia and Colosal became frequent fliers. Eventually, other owners and trainers would catch up to the kid from Georgia who pioneered shipping horses by air, long before Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas was celebrated for flying horses coast-to-coast for stakes races. Joe Drape wrote in a January 6, 2013, story in the New York Times: “Back in the 1980s, when his stable was 250 strong and he flew horses all over to win the nation’s biggest races, Lukas earned the nickname `D. Wayne off the plane.’”

Fred did that three decades earlier. 

But in 1949, not everyone thought flying horses on planes was a good idea. “He was one of the first ones to fly horses,” Fred’s nephew, Harold Campbell said. “He built an adjustable ramp for horses to use to walk into an airplane. When he first used it, it was one of the biggest things that happened in Montgomery. It was unreal. There were TVs, newspapers. One thing I will never forget is that the article on the front page of the newspaper said:

“Fred W. Hooper – A man that has more dollars than cents, flying horses”

Fred’s reaction? “He didn’t take to that very well,” Harold said. “Damn right. He didn’t let them get away with it. He gave them hell. He did a lot of first-time things. He always ended coming out of it smelling like roses.”

Olympia did his part. Showing zero jet lag—actually airplane lag—Olympia made his first start at seven furlongs as Parke tried stretching out his speed. He captured the San Felipe Stakes by five lengths as the even-money favorite February 5. 

Exactly two weeks later, Olympia stretched out to a mile-and-an-eighth in the Santa Anita Derby. Sent off the 3-5 favorite, Olympia led most of the way, tiring late to finish second by a length and a half to Old Rockport.

John and Diane Fradkins

Timing is everything, right? Well, for John and Diane Fradkin, mistaken timing was everything. If not for a faulty timer at Del Mar, the Fradkins might have sold their debut winning, home-bred two-year-old colt, Rombauer, last year. Instead, they kept him. Rombauer rewarded them with his stunning victory in this year’s Preakness Stakes and then a distant, but certainly respectable, third in the Belmont Stakes.

The Fradkins breed to sell, not to race; and they figured they’d be offered a huge price after Rombauer won his one-mile, grass debut by a half-length by roaring home in :22 4/5 in his final quarter-mile. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a first-time two-year-old do that,” John said. 

Fradkin expected multiple offers. Instead, Rombauer was given a pedestrian Beyer Speed Figure of 48 for his victory in 1:38 1/5. “Something just didn’t feel right about that time,” Fradkin said. “The mistake was substantial. I think it was the equivalent to a full second. I think it was the difference between someone offering $250,000 and getting no offers after a maiden special weight at Del Mar in the summer. Two weeks later, there were substantial stories about the times being wrong at Del Mar. The Speed Figure was changed from 48 to 55. And I still think it should have been closer to 70.”

Regardless, Rombauer soon generated multiple offers. In his second start, Rombauer finished sixth in a grass stakes. Then, in his dirt debut in the Gr. 1 American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita last September 24, Rombauer finished second by three-quarters of a length to Get Her Number, defeating highly regarded third-place finisher Spielberg by 4 ¾ lengths.

“We did take a gamble by not selling him, ever since he hit the board in the American Pharoah,” Fradkin said. “It was a gamble, and it paid off.”

Big time. And it was much appreciated. “There are a lot of ups and a lot of downs in racing,” he said. “We’ve been in the game since ’93 and breeding since ’97. You can go many years in a row losing money.”

This won’t be one of them. “The last month has been surreal,” Fradkin said.

Fradkin, who lives in California, got his first taste of horse racing in 1970 when he spent the summer in Cherry Hill, N.J. “I was 11 years old, and we went to Delaware Park,” he said. “I remember it was fun. I still remember a horse I bet on who won—a gray horse. He came from last and won.”

Could he have envisioned breeding and owning a Gr. 1 stakes winner? “Of course not,” he said.

Fast forward some 15 years. Fradkin was working as an institutional bond salesman, which meant keeping Wall Street hours and finishing your day at 2 p.m. A co-worker who grew up near Santa Anita convinced Fradkin to journey to the famed track. “He taught me how to read the Daily Racing Form,” Fradkin said. “He taught me how to handicap.”

Subsequently, Fradkin figured he’d be a better handicapper if he owned a horse. He claimed a seven-year-old gelding named Ruff Hombre for $25,000 on June 24t, 1993. Ruff Hombre finished 11th that afternoon. But given nearly two months to recover from new trainer Ron Ellis, Ruff Hombre won his first start for Fradkin by three lengths in a $20,000 claimer. Ruff Hombre, who won 18 of his 74 career starts and earned more than $230,000, never raced again; but he had kick-started his owner’s new career—breeding.

Using the money they earned from Ruff Hombre’s victory, the Fradkins went to the 1993 Keeneland September Sale, and with the help of a bloodstock agent they hired, purchased Ultrafleet for $10,500. “We gave her to Ron Ellis,” Fradkin said. Ultrafleet didn’t do well on the track, so the Fradkins decided to breed her. She turned into a broodmare superstar.

Her stars include Cambiocorsa, who won six straight races at Santa Anita and earned more than $520,000; California Flag, who won 11 of 27 starts, including the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, and earned nearly $1.3 million; and Cashmere, the dam of Rombauer.

Rombauer ended his two-year-old season by rallying from 11th to 5th in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to Essential Quality, who would be named Two-Year-Old Champion. In his three-year-old debut on the synthetic track at Golden Gate Fields, Rombauer won by a neck, earning an all-expenses-paid entrance into the Preakness.

Trainer Mike McCarthy wanted to start Rombauer in the Kentucky Derby, but Fradkin convinced him to bring him back in the Preakness.

“When he started to range up around the turn and got into third, I felt pretty good about him hitting the board,” Fradkin said. “I told my wife, `He’s going to hit the board! He’s going to hit the board!’ Then I said, “He’s going to win! He’s going to win!”

He did, by 3 ½ lengths.

“It was a great feeling,” Fradkin said.

It still is.

“We don’t have kids,” Fradkin said. “In some ways, the horses we breed are like our kids. It's an emotional feeling, probably like the one parents get from watching their kids play Little League. We kind of feel the same way.”

Thank goodness for mistaken timing. 

Nick Cosato - Slam Dunk Racing

Nick Cosato’s unique journey through Thoroughbred racing has led him to two different partnerships with two different trainers who produced two Gr. 1 stakes victories. He earned those accomplishments.

“I’m pretty passionate about the game,” Cosato said. “You have to be. Owning horses is difficult. Running a partnership is difficult. I’ve got more than skin in the game. I’ve got bone marrow in it. I’m all in.”

Now 54, Cosato lives in Sierra Madre, Calif., two miles from Santa Anita. He was born in nearby San Gabriel. “I was pretty much born on the apron of Santa Anita,” he said. “Every Sunday, I was there with my father—like clockwork.”

He grew up idolizing Bill Shoemaker. “I was obsessed with Shoemaker,” he said. “I wanted to be a jockey, and he was the best. Everything he wanted to do, I wanted to do. My parents would have been all right with that.”

Unfortunately, growth re-routed his dream. He guesses he was 10 or 11 when he realized he was too big to become a jockey: “I said, `This isn’t going to happen.’” He would grow to be 5’7” and 170 pounds.

He went to college at California Poly Pomona, majoring in animal science, while he worked in a restaurant, umpired baseball games and officiated basketball games. “I’m a sports junkie,” he said.

The sport he loved the most was horse racing. “I would always watch jockey agents from my fascination with Shoemaker,” he said. “I thought it was a very interesting job—a pretty cool job. I was fascinated with it.”

After college, an opportunity came his way. “I knew a jockey agent, Tony Strangio, who represented an apprentice jockey, Christine Davenport,” Cosato said. “She was the first jockey he ever had. He was going to open a business. He asked me if I’d take her book. I thought it was a perfect opportunity.”

He entered his new profession with an unrealistic outlook. “I thought this was going to be easy,” he said. “I found out it wasn’t as easy as I thought. I didn’t expect to start with Eddie Arcaro, but it was difficult getting her mounts. She didn’t have a lot of business. She was struggling.”

Cosato struggled, too. “You pay your dues,” he said. “I paid, and then some.”

He survived those difficult early years to carve out a 21-year career as a jockey agent, handling Patrick Valenzuela three different times, Corey Nakatani, Garret Gomez, Victor Espinoza, Michael Baze and Aaron Gryder.

Then he walked away to invest in a medical research business in 2010. “I didn’t work on the racetrack, but it never left my heart,” he said. “About a year later, I thought I’d want to dabble owning some horses. I partnered up with a couple other people. I thought, I’m going to start this little partnership. I liked college basketball, so I named it Slam Dunk Racing. I’d make it a fun thing. Our trainer was Peter Eurton. It rapidly began growing. We currently have 18 partners for 75 horses.”

He hit a home run when he reached out to Ron Moquet, who was training Whitmore. “I knew Ron a bit from being a jockey agent,” Cosato said. “Whitmore won at first asking.”

Cosato wanted in. Moquet asked his partners, and they declined not to sell any interest in Whitmore—a wise decision considering he would win the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Sprint and be named Eclipse Champion Sprinter. But Cosato had another idea after he was turned down as a co-owner. “I called Ron back and I said, `I want to buy his mom.’ I called the owner. At first, he said no. Two weeks later, he called me back and sold her to me. That was my foray into buying mares.”

He’s prospered ever since. Asked if being a former jockey agent gives him an edge, Cosato said, “I think it does. My whole life has been around horse racing. I have a decent amount of knowledge from the game. I majored in animal science. I know about things like feeding. I think the most important thing is placing horses. Trainers often lean on jockey agents for upcoming races.”

Cosato said that Slam Dunk Racing owns all of its breeding stock itself. “I would say 35 to 40 percent of my race horses are owned by Slam Dunk solely,” he said.

The others are in partnerships. Slam Dunk Racing’s partners on Drain the Clock (trained by Saffie Joseph) are Sal Kumin, Marc Lore and Michael Nentwig. Slam Dunk Racing’s partners on Maxim Rate (trained by Simon Callaghan) are Doug Branham and Stable Currency.

In the span of six days, Maxim Rate won the Gr. 1 Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita on May 31; and Drain the Clock captured the Gr. 1 Woody Stephens Stakes at Belmont Park on the Belmont Stakes undercard on June 6.

Two Gr. 1 winners in a week? Even Bill Shoemaker would have been impressed with that.