Smart Strike, Wilderness Lodge among Canadian Hall of Fame inductees
The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame has announced its 2008 inductees. Four horses and four people will be honored at the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on August 28 at the Mississauga Convention Centre in Ontario.
The class of 2008 features two of Sam-Son Farms' brilliant Thoroughbred performers of the 1990s -- SMART STRIKE (Mr. Prospector) and WILDERNESS SONG (Wild Song) -- along with two Standardbred horses -- PEACEFUL WAY, the queen of trotting, and pacing superstar and stallion REAL DESIRE. The people inductees are multiple Sovereign Award-winning trainer Robert P. (Bob) Tiller; Louis E. Cauz, managing director of the Hall of Fame and Woodbine Entertainment's archivist and historian; Quebec-based breeder Pierre Levesque; and the late Cliff Chapman, former publisher of The Canadian Sportsman.
The newest inductees were elected by the respective 20-person Thoroughbred and Standardbred Election Committees.
Smart Strike gained international recognition in 2007 when he set a single-season record for earnings by his progeny of more than $14 million. Now 16 years of age and standing at stud at Lane's End near Versailles, Kentucky, Smart Strike dominated the sire lists last year when Curlin won the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) and Preakness (G1) and was named Horse of the Year. Curlin also won the Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) in 2008. Smart Strike's numerous graded stakes winners included Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) hero and champion English Channel. A half-brother to Hall of Famer and Canadian Horse of the Year Dance Smartly (Danzig), Smart Strike won six of his first seven starts and was trained by Mark Frostad for the late Ernie Samuel. He was retired after suffering a leg injury.
Grade 1 winner Wilderness Song began her career at Woodbine, but crossed the border many times to race in the United States for trainer James Day. When she retired following the 1993 season, her earnings of nearly $1.5 million placed her second amongst females in Canada, behind her high-profile champion stablemate, Dance Smartly. Wilderness Song holds the distinction of becoming Sam-Son Farms' first Grade 1 stakes winner when she captured the Spinster at Keeneland in 1991. Named Canada's champion older mare in 1992, she won 15 career starts, including stakes at Monmouth, Pimlico, Keeneland, Churchill Downs, Woodbine and Fort Erie, and was in the money in 29 of her 37 lifetime races. Now 20 years of age, Wilderness Song is the dam of Go to the Sun (Go West), third in the 2004 Summer S. (Can-G2).
Bob Tiller was elected in the Persons (trainers/jockeys) category. During a four-year period (2001-04), Tiller was voted Canada's outstanding trainer three times. A native of Amsterdam, Holland, Tiller's lengthy training career began in 1972 and he enjoyed instant success, winning 21 races. For 19 years, Tiller has ranked in the top five trainers in wins at Woodbine and has won 50 or more races for seven consecutive years. His Sovereign Award champions include Rare Friends, Simply Lovely and Win City, Horse of the Year in 2001. Prior to the 2008 season, Tiller had 1,458 victories and 108 stakes wins.
Author of the Sovereign Award winning book "The Plate: A Royal Tradition," Louis Cauz was a journalist with The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star and CBC television and radio before taking on the task in 1996 of coordinating the building and designing of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame at Woodbine. He also developed the archives as a resource for both Woodbine and the Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing industries. Cauz, who is 75 and a member of the Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame, has had a long and significant involvement in the racing industry in Canada, spanning more than 40 years. In 1973, he was among a group of horsemen who conceived the idea of creating a Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
Quebec-based breeder Pierre Levesque -- founder, owner and operator of Angus Farm, named for the Aberdeen Angus cattle raised there before the horses -- will also be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Angus Farm would grow into one of Quebec's largest breeding operations, at one time home to five stallions and almost 100 mares. Many successful horses and champions have been bred at Angus Farms.
The late Cliff Chapman Jr. wore many hats during his illustrious and colorful career in the harness racing industry. He was the past owner and publisher of the Canadian Sportsman, a legal bookmaker, bid spotter for hundreds of horse sales, and race secretary at numerous Ontario tracks. During his career, he also served as race secretary, paddock judge, and trainer.
Actor Nicholas Campbell, who played the lead role for CBC-TV's long-running series Da Vinci's Inquest, will be the guest speaker at the gala Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.
brisnet.com
PETA to Stage Protest at Preakness Stakes in Light of Eight Belles Tragic Death
Horse racing is coming under fire from animal rights group PETA (which stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). The organization states that they will hold a protest of the second leg of horse racing's triple crown, the Preakness Stakes, because of the deaths of Barbaro, who won the run roses but died in following race held at Pimilico Racetrack in 2006, and Eight Belles who broke down after finishing second at Churchill Downs on Saturday.
PETA is pushing for a wide array of changes to thoroughbred industry. The group staged a protest yesterday in Lexington, Kentucky, with 20 protesters with signs that had sayings such as "Stop Racing Horses to the Grave". A PETA spokesperson said this of the horse racing industry:
"Unfortunately, money and speed is all that matters to these people, and Eight Belles is the most famous recent example in a string of broken and dead animals," Lindsay Rajt stated.
The trainer of Eight Belles shot back at PETA saying they were capitalizing on a tragic situation and using the horrific event as a fundraiser for their organization. Larry Jones, who trained the filly, stated:
"I hate the fact they are using this to be a fundraiser for them. They're doing this for monetary purpose ... They're not in it for the good of anything. It's strictly something to rally around, hoping they are raising funds from this, and I hate it."
While the horse racing industry should be celebrating Big Browns triumph in what is shaping up to be the first Triple Crown year for horse racing since Affirmed pulled off the rare feat in 1978, the sport is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
(c) 2006-2008 Cleveland Media Group LLC
Irish Eyes Are Smiling For Denis of Cork
LOUISVILLE, April 29 -- Trainer David Carroll spent a part of Tuesday morning giving University of Louisville football coach Steve Kragthorpe a tour around his barn at Churchill Downs.
When it was time to go, Kragthorpe was approached by a local radio reporter and asked whom he liked to win Saturday's Kentucky Derby.
In his best imitation public service announcement voice, the coach said into the reporters' mike, "I'm Steve Kragthorpe, and my pick for the Derby is Denis of Cork."
Kragthorpe used to coach at the University of Tulsa, and Tulsa oil company owner and philanthropist William K. Warren Jr. continues to financially support his programs. Warren also owns the 3-year-old colt Denis of Cork, and that the coach was out at the Carroll barn was a good sign considering the day before the horse wasn't even in the Derby field.
When trainer Todd Pletcher announced Monday that Lexington Stakes winner Behindatthebar would not run in the Derby off of two weeks rest and instead would be pointed toward the Preakness, Denis of Cork moved up from 21st on the graded stakes earnings list -- otherwise known as nowhere -- and into the field.
Carroll, 48, a native of Kildalkey, Ireland (County Meath, not Cork), now living in Louisville, couldn't have been more ecstatic. In late December, the trainer had plotted a three-race path to the Derby through Arkansas that called for Denis of Cork, a $250,000 auction purchase, to appear in the Southwest Stakes in February, the Rebel the following month and then the Arkansas Derby on April 12.
After the colt won the Southwest, however, Warren, a strong adherent to Ragozin Sheets speed figures, said the numbers told him Denis of Cork would reach a peak effort in two starts rather than the three Carroll had planned.
Since the owner is the owner, Carroll had no choice but to skip the colt's scheduled run in the Rebel to train up to a new objective, the Illinois Derby on April 5.
On what appeared to be a speed-favoring track at Hawthorne that day, Denis of Cork never mounted a rally and ran a dull fifth, ruining Carroll's carefully conceived strategy.
"Numbers should never have played a big part in this," Carroll said on Tuesday. "Mr. Warren is a big believer in [them]. That was the consensus of our team, but you can make those numbers work any way you want."
By all accounts, Denis of Cork has worked impressively at Churchill recently. The Daily Racing Form called his 47.80-second four-furlong blowout Monday the "work of the day."
The colt won his first three starts and looked to be a serious Derby contender until the change of plans dulled his luster. Now he enters the race off a loss and with just four career starts, although Carroll insists, "he's as fit as I can get him."
"Preferably, I would like to come into the race with another start under his belt," Carroll said. "If we had stayed on track, we would have been unbeaten."
(c) Copyright 1996-2008 The Washington Post Company
Owner rejects deal to get into Derby
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Desperate times often make desperate men, but as desperate as owner William Warren is to get Denis of Cork into the Kentucky Derby next Saturday, he said Friday he did not accept a proposal days ago that would have significantly helped his chances.
If more than 20 horses enter the Derby on Wednesday, as expected, the field will be determined by earnings in graded stakes races. Denis of Cork, as of Friday, was sitting 23rd on the list. But the filly Proud Spell is unlikely to enter the Derby, and Salute the Sarge is back in California, so that effectively puts Denis of Cork at 21. That's good in blackjack, but not the Derby.
Last fall, after Denis of Cork won his debut for trainer David Carroll, Warren said he was contacted by owner Satish Sanan, who was looking to become a partner in the young horse. No deal was made. Flash forward five months later, and Denis of Cork - and Warren - may find themselves at the mercy of Sanan, who is the owner of Behindatthebar.
Behindatthebar won the Lexington Stakes on April 19. His trainer, Todd Pletcher, said he would wait until Tuesday, or even Wednesday, to decide whether to run in the Derby. If Behindatthebar is out, Denis of Cork could be in. According to Warren, Sanan made an offer to have that happen.
"He did contact me after his first race, and he contacted my trainer earlier this week," Warren said Friday from his office in Tulsa, Okla. "He wanted to trade 50 percent of Behindatthebar for 50 percent of Denis of Cork, with the idea of having Denis of Cork in the Derby and Behindatthebar in the Preakness.
"That type of trade was not attractive to me. My ego is such that I'm not going to break my neck to get into the Kentucky Derby. I think very highly of our Denis of Cork. But I've learned over the years that, for me, it's best not to have partners."
Sanan confirmed Warren's version of events.
"I did call his trainer, David Carroll," Sanan said "They're on the outside, we're on the inside, maybe we could partner and one of us could go in the Derby and one in the Preakness."
Denis of Cork might not even be in this predicament had his racing schedule not been altered. After winning his first three races, including the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park, Denis of Cork was scheduled by Carroll to run in the Rebel Stakes and then the Arkansas Derby.
But after conferring "with several people," Warren said Friday, Warren overruled that original plan and decided Denis of Cork should have just one last prep for the Derby, in the Illinois Derby on April 5 at Hawthorne. The plan backfired. Denis of Cork finished fifth, and did not make enough money to get into the top 20.
"I have to admit it has caused me some sleepless nights," Warren said. "I made the decision to go to Hawthorne. Not running in the Rebel was a mistake, and it has caused me great angst. I'll be very disappointed if he doesn't get into the Derby. If he doesn't, he'll go to the Peter Pan. But I'm hopeful it will work out for him to run in the Kentucky Derby."
Stutts will skip Derby walkover
Benny Stutts Jr., the trainer of Smooth Air, is thoroughly enjoying his first Derby experience. But the 70-year-old horseman readily admits there is one Derby tradition he'll be forced to forgo.
"I won't be able to do the walkover from the barn area to the paddock before the race," Stutts said. "I have a hip that needs to be replaced and there is no way I could make it all the way. I'd hate to get halfway there and have to stop."
Stutts said Churchill Downs officials are aware of the situation and will do their best to accommodate his needs.
"They said they'll do their best to get me to the paddock in time to saddle my horse, and that's all that I'm interested in," Stutts said. "Naturally I'd love to do the walkover, but there's just no way I could make it unless the vets inject me."
Stutts has won the respect of many of his peers the last several months for the manner in which he has prepared Smooth Air to win the Grade 2 Hutcheson Stakes and finish second to Big Brown in the Grade 1 Florida Derby. Smooth Air's training regimen included several long, hard works.
"He's fit as can be, which is why I decided to give him the morning off today and postpone his work from Sunday until Monday," Stutts said late Friday morning. "Now I just want to keep him fresh, which is why I gave him the day off and why he'll have a relatively easy work on Monday. I can't get him any fitter than he is right now."
Zito horse injured during work
Trainer Nick Zito experienced two of the many highs and lows of training racehorses Friday morning at Churchill Downs.
Just a few minutes following the track renovation break, he had one horse, Anak Nakal, work a swift half-mile in 46.60 seconds in preparation for the Kentucky Derby, and another, an allowance horse by the name of Aquarian, pull up lame galloping out with a suspected condylar fracture in his right foreleg after working in company with Anak Nakal.
Aquarian, a 3-year-old son of Fusaichi Pegasus owned by Tracy Farmer, was transported to Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., where he was expected to have screws surgically inserted in his injured leg. Veterinarian Dr. Rick Fischer, who treated the colt immediately following the workout, said the injury did not appear life threatening "at this point."
Asked to reflect on the contrasts of having one horse work so forwardly toward a race like the Derby, and having another injured at the same time, Zito said the relatively flat expression on his face conveyed his feelings.
"You have to take the good with the bad - it's the business," he said.
As for Anak Nakal, Zito said he was pleased with the work.
"I was surprised he worked that fast," he said. "But he just likes Churchill Downs," a reference the colt's win in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes in his lone start over the track last fall. His breeze was second fastest of 26 works at the distance.
drf.com
Upsets further blur hazy Derby picture
NEW YORK // So, this is how horse racing clears up the picture for its May 3 Kentucky Derby? A weekend of three Derby prep races and not one favorite wins?
In the Wood Memorial, here at Aqueduct Racetrack, favorite War Pass ran hard but was beaten by a half length by Tale of Ekati, who had finished sixth in his previous race.
In Chicago, Illinois Derby favorite Denis of Cork suffered his first career defeat, finishing fifth. Recapturetheglory, whose only other victory had come in a maiden race, won for trainer and owner Louie Roussel.
Roussel's name is not totally unfamiliar. Though he has been out of the training business for four years, Roussel is known for training Risen Star to victories in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes in 1988. Yes, that is 20 years ago.
And, in California, favorite El Gato Malo finished fifth in the Santa Anita Derby, while Colonel John punched his ticket to the Derby by coming from ninth place to win by a half length.
Colonel John's trainer, Eoin Harty, noted horses who run well in the Santa Anita "historically" show up and do well on Kentucky Derby day.
"That's what we're hoping," Harty told the media there after the race.
Lately, though, California horses have not been held in high regard outside that state. This year, with the tracks there having switched to artificial surfaces, their abilities are being regarded as even more suspect.
That means going into this Saturday's races - the Grade I, $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland and the Grade II, $1 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park - Big Brown and Pyro remain at the top of the list of Derby prospects. Big Brown dominated the Florida Derby, and Pyro won the Louisiana Derby last time out.
Tampa Bay Derby winner Big Truck, who like Tale of Ekati is trained by Barclay Tagg, could move forward with another winning performance if he goes in the Blue Grass.
But the competition will be stiff.
Cool Coal Man, trained by Nick Zito and winner of the Grade II Fountain of Youth Stakes, is in the field, as is Pyro and possibly several of trainer Todd Pletcher's prospects, as well as Gotham winner Visionaire, trained by Michael Matz.
The horse who wins the Blue Grass will leave no one in doubt of his credentials.
Tagg had no doubt about Tale of Ekati's credentials yesterday after watching a replay of his horse stalking the pace Saturday in the Wood and then coming on strong down the stretch to snatch a half- length victory from War Pass.
Saturday night Tagg and Tale of Ekati flew to Keeneland, where the trainer said yesterday: "Everything is right. He's going into the Kentucky Derby in the right way."
Tagg said he still has to make a final decision on his two other prospects, Big Truck and Elysium Fields.
"I'm still not sure if I am going to run both of them here in the Blue Grass or run one here and one in the Arkansas Derby," he said.
Zito was still in New York yesterday morning, but War Pass had already shipped out. The trainer said he also felt good about the results of the Wood.
"It's the only big race that I finished second in that I appreciated it as a win," Zito said. "He ran as tough as he could and showed what kind of horse he is."
War Pass was coming back from a 27-length defeat in the Tampa Bay Derby in which he broke badly, was squeezed by two horses and then suffered breathing problems.
* Note // Bsharpsonata came out of the Grade I Ashland Stakes, in which she ran second, in good shape according to John Salzman, who is handling the horse's training for his son, Tim, who is based at Laurel Park. The elder Salzman said the filly is expected to go today to Churchill Downs, where she will train up to the Grade I Kentucky Oaks, which is run the day before the Derby.
Copyright (c) 2008, The Baltimore Sun
Tomcito Invokes Memories of Canonero II
The mere mention of 1971 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes hero Canonero II to most horsemen from Latin America immediately invokes pride.
Trainer Dante Zanelli Jr. is no different, and he has a healthy respect for the achievements of the Venezuelan star who swept the first two legs of the American Triple Crown. He's just not ready to compare his charge, Jetset Racing's Tomcito, to the legend.
"There's no comparison. They were two different horses," said Zanelli while overseeing Tomcito schooling in the paddock at Gulfstream Park. "It was a different case for Canonero, because (his connections) knew what they had. That might be the case for our horse, but we're in a different place."
A 3-year-old son of Street Cry, Tomcito won Peru's Derby Nacional (Per-I) at 1 1/2 miles last out Nov. 17, and is on course to make his first start in the United States in the $1 million Florida Derby (gr. I) March 29 at Gulfstream.
Tomcito is 4-for-5 with his only loss a second-place finish in the Peruvian 2,000 Guineas. As a Kentucky-bred, the colt was racing in Peru against horses bred in the Southern Hemisphere with several months more development under their belt.
It was the rough equivalent of a high school athlete competing against a college athlete. Now the question for Zanelli and his owners is, how good were those college athletes?
"We need to see where he is," Zanelli said. "He's been working steadily since we got him here and our goal has been to get him as ready as we can for a race like the Florida Derby. We're almost there."
Zanelli's respect for Canonero notwithstanding, there are some similarities between his horse and the son of Pretendre, who proved to be no pretender when he came within lengths of ending a 22-year drought of American Triple Crown winners.
Canonero sold for $1,200 as a yearling at the 1969 Keeneland Fall sales, going through the ring with a split hoof and a case of worms. After shipping to Venezuela to owner Pedro Baptista, he grew stout under the care of Juan Arias and developed a long stride.
Tomcito was a modest $7,500 purchase at the 2006 Keeneland September yearling sales, ignored by many with ungainly, wide-set front legs. Zanelli picked him out for casino owners Polo and Omar Monti, clients that have been racing with his extended family in Peru for two generations. Under his care, he, too, has grown to a similar size as Canonero, around 16 hands.
"He (Tomcito) had this really nice stride," Zanelli said. "He was a little wide in front, and he's a little wide with the way he walks, but when we brought him to the racetrack he really started to stretch out. He covers a lot of ground."
After a troubled trip getting to the U.S., Canonero swept from behind in Louisville to win by 3 3/4 lengths under Gustavo Avila. Thoughts of a "fluke finish" disappeared quickly when he rolled to victory in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) in track record time.
Thousands poured into Belmont Park three weeks later, many from New York's Hispanic communities coming to cheer a horse described by Arias as the 'Champion of the People.'
Canonero had lost some training time that week with a foot problem and when the gates opened, the keyed-up colt rushed to the lead. Turning for home, Canonero faded to fourth while longshot Pass Catcher with Walter Blum aboard went on to the victory.
Canonero still earned that year's 3-year-old championship and after being sold to King Ranch and sent to trainer Buddy Hirsch, he returned the next year to win the Stymie Handicap over 1972 Kentucky Derby winner Riva Ridge.
Zanelli was raised on the exploits of Canonero. He knows it's been 37 years and only a handful of horses have emerged from South America to reach the highest levels in the U.S. over that time. He prefers to emphasize the accomplishments of Tomcito to this point rather than hope too much that his horse is ready to take up Canonero's mantle.
"It's like comparing anything over different eras," said Zanelli. "The technology is so different and the methods are so different at this point. I like to point out that 51 horses went to Peru two years ago from the U.S. Only three of them made the classics down there and only one of them won."
Copyright (c) 2008 The Blood-Horse, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
First loss by War Pass opens Derby door
Sadly, as was the case with the Rockets, all winning streaks must come to an end. Last Saturday, it was War Pass getting a taste of defeat.
Previously unbeaten, the winner of the 2007 Breeders' Cup Juvenile was considered the top Kentucky Derby contender by racing fans and horsemen across the country. But War Pass finished last, beaten by over 20 lengths in the Tampa Bay Derby, prompting a number of questions regarding the son of Cherokee Run.
Earlier this week, War Pass trainer Nick Zito reported that the colt showed no injury or physical setback and is still scheduled to make his final prep for the Kentucky Derby in the Grade 1, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 5. The Kentucky-bred colt faces a possible showdown with Denis of Cork, Court Vision and Texas Wildcatter.
This weekend, a dozen 3-year-olds are entered in the Grade 2, $500,000 Lane's End Stakes at Turfway Park.
"I still think that this year's Kentucky Derby is wide open," said trainer Graham Motion, who will saddle Adriano in the Lane's End.
John Adger, racing manager for Stonerside Stable, says War Pass' loss sheds new light on the Derby and bodes well for many of the horses, including Texas Wildcatter, owned by Stonerside.
"War Pass, with his breeding, may have been challenged to get (the Derby distance of) a mile and a quarter," Adger said. "Pyro has been the most visually impressive."
Pyro has been shipped to Keeneland, where he will train in preparation for his next start, the Grade 1, $750,000 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 12.
Barbaro inspires Brown
Alex Brown was working as an exercise rider in Maryland when Barbaro suffered his career-ending injury at the Preakness.
Brown began blogging about the ill-fated recovery of the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner. His Web site, alexbrownracing.
com, is home to Fans of Barbaro, and was created to honor the thoroughbred's legacy and educate the public about horse welfare and the prevention of horse slaughter.
Since its inception, Fans of Barbaro has worked with 20 to 30 equine rescue groups throughout the country and saved more than 2,100 horses from untimely deaths.
Brown and several Houstonians participated in a national rally for Americans Against Horse Slaughter in Washington on March 4. The group supports a federal ban on the slaughter of American horses for human consumption overseas.
Around Sam Houston
There will be no live racing on Easter Sunday, but Sam Houston Race Park will be open for simulcasting.
Sandburr, winner of the $100,000 Star of Texas at Sam Houston on Dec. 1, is the 3-1 choice in Saturday's $50,000 Spring Stakes for accredited Texas-breds. The 9-year-old son of Sandpit is trained by Michael Stidham and will be ridden by leading stakes jockey Paul Nolan. Goosey Moose and Rain On Monday are two other contenders in the seven-furlong main track feature.
John Locke, currently the leading trainer at Sam Houston, is approaching a personal milestone of 1,000 career wins. Through March 18, Locke had won 990 races.
Handicapping contests
Sam Houston Race Park will offer the $5,000 Road to the Roses Handicapping Contest beginning Saturday. The seven-week contest will offer weekly cash prizes, and the overall winner will receive $2,000.
In addition, the track will host three DRF/NTRA qualifying tournaments, with handicappers invited to pay a $200 entry fee May 17, Aug. 30 and Nov. 29, with a grand prize of $10,000 to be paid to each winner. The first-place finisher in each contest will represent Team Sam Houston in the DRF/NTRA Handicapping Challenge at Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas in January 2009.
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
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