Month: September 2020

Little Red Feather Racing Hires Compliance Consultant To Oversee Operations

In what is presumed to be the first hire of its kind, Little Red Feather Racing (LRF), California's largest horse racing syndicate, on Tuesday announced the hiring of an independent compliance consultant to oversee all aspects of its racing and sales divisions. The consultant will ensure that LRF's trainers, veterinarians, and staffs comply within regulatory rules as well as LRF's internal policies regarding training and medication.

“Many industries have compliance managers, why not horse ownership?” said LRF Managing Partner Gary Fenton. “We want our partners to have the utmost confidence and trust that our equine athletes receive world-class care.”

“It's time we take a long hard look at everything we provide to our equine athletes,” said LRF Founder and Managing Partner Billy Koch, “Current training practices need to evolve with changing times.”

Effective immediately, Tom McCrocklin will serve as compliance consultant for the LRF team and report directly to Fenton and Koch.

Born in Baton Rouge, La., McCrocklin has an undergraduate degree from LSU and a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science, specializing in equine from Louisiana Tech. McCrocklin trained at east coast race tracks until 1992 where he moved to Ocala, Fla., to commence a breaking/training/sales operation, representing some of the biggest names in the industry.

McCrocklin will review veterinarian and training bills as well as regularly visit each LRF barn.  He will work alongside LRF's trainers and vets to create a universal set of protocols.  “Since I am a trainer and understand the culture and mentality, I look forward to working with my colleagues to create a methodology that is positive for everyone,” said McCrocklin. “Most trainers want to learn and try less medications and supplements; they just need the educational and support tools to do so.”

“Too often we hear discussion about a problem in our industry, yet rarely is there a solution posed,” said Jim Gagliano, president of The Jockey Club. “Today is not that day. We applaud LRF for taking this innovative step and showing that owners can and will take measures to ensure best practices are being met within our industry.”

Formed in 2002, LRF and its sister company Solana Beach Sales (SBS) are California's largest syndicate, managing nearly 100 horses and over 300 active partners. LRF recently concluded a record breaking summer in 2020 with 11 wins at Del Mar from its managed partnerships, including wins in the G2 Del Mar Handicap – a Breeders' Cup Win and You're In race – with Red King, and the G2 John C Mabee Stakes with Raymundos Secret. LRF campaigned Breeders' Cup Winner Singletary and G1 winners Egg Drop, Secret Spice, Fault, Mirth and stallion Midnight Storm. SBS burst onto the sales scene in 2016 and graduates include G1 winners Instilled Regard, Bast and G1 placed Anneau D'Or who finished 2nd in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at the 2019 World Championships.

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Trio Of Finalists Announced For 14th Annual Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award

Three wonderful but very different books have been selected by a panel of industry judges as finalists for the 14th annual Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, honoring titles published in 2019. These include a unique collaboration of stories told by members of the racing community; an insider's look at the career of America's most recent Triple Crown winner; and the roller-coaster life story of a legendary European trainer.

The finalists are: “Better Lucky Than Good: Tall Tales and Straight Talk from the Backside of the Track,” by various authors, from Louisville Story Program, edited by Joe Manning; “Justify: 111 Days to Triple Crown Glory,” by Lenny Shulman, and “The Triumph of Henry Cecil: The Authorised Biography,” by Tony Rushmer.

These three exceptional books were selected from 15 high quality submissions and were evaluated based on “clarity and elegance” of writing, ability to entertain, and as always, with regard to what the late Dr. Ryan himself might have liked.

In a normal year, the Book Award process would have culminated this past April with a ceremony in the historic stallion barn at the Ryan family's Castleton Lyons, near Lexington, Ky. But this is not a normal year. From necessity, the Award timeline was altered and ultimately delayed in hopes that the global Covid-19 pandemic would ease, thus making an in-person winner's reception possible later in the year. That scenario looks increasingly doubtful. As of mid-August, plans for how to reveal and celebrate the winner remain in limbo. But whether done in person, in a Zoom-type setting, or by other means, announcement of the winner will likely be made sometime in November.

The Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award was established by the noted businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist in 2006 to honor the best books published in a given year on the subject of horse racing. Dr. Ryan attached to it a $10,000 winner's prize, making it one of the world's most lucrative literary awards. Winners have since included beautifully penned fictional novels and short story collections; well-researched biographies, both human and equine; in-depth sporting histories; and even a National Book Award recipient.
Stay tuned for further announcements. For additional information, contact Betsy Hager at bhager@castletonlyons.com.

Below are brief synopses of the three 2020 Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award finalists, presented in alphabetical order by title.

Better Lucky Than Good: Tall Tales and Straight Talk from the Backside of the Track, by Louisville Story Program

A collaboration between the Louisville Story Program and members of the racing community, Better Lucky Than Good focuses on the citizens of Churchill Downs. LSP, founded in 2013 to tell previously unheard stories and oral histories, pulled together 32 self-told tales from often unseen and/or overlooked backstretch personnel—the all-important supporting cast that brings any racetrack to life. This unique soft-cover collection includes stories from a clocker, a security guard, a silks maker, a gap attendant, and a hotwalker, among many others, providing a seldom seen inside perspective of our sport.

Justify: 111 Days to Triple Crown Glory, by Lenny Shulman

Penned by a respected turf writer with a behind-the-scenes view, Justify chronicles in detail the meteoric rise of American racing's 13th and most recent Triple Crown hero, while also telling the stories of those who made him who he was—breeders John and Tanya Gunther, trainer Bob Baffert, and jockey Mike Smith. The Blood-Horse's Lenny Schulman had extensive inside access as he followed the story of the big red colt from early days to glory, and the result is masterful.

The Triumph of Henry Cecil, The Authorised Biography by Tony Rushmer

Sports journalist Tony Rushmer has penned a splendid biography of his friend, legendary British trainer Henry Cecil. Rushmer, who had years of personal access, focuses largely on the latter part of Cecil's storied life including good times and bad. The ten-time champion English trainer saddled 25 British classic winners and won important races all over the globe, but when diagnosed with cancer in 2006 he was written off by many as finished. Instead, in 2010-2011 Cecil unveiled the crowning achievement of his career in brilliant, unbeatable Frankel. This is the story of a life … of tragedy and scandals, honors and triumphs, and of a remarkable comeback by one of racing's rare talents.

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Jockeys Arienne Cox, Kris Fox Recovering From Serious Injuries Sustained In Presque Isle Downs Accident

Jockeys Arienne Cox and Kris Fox are recovering from serious injuries sustained in a Sept. 8 racing accident at Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Pa.

Both riders were taken to UPMC Hamot Hospital in Erie following the eighth race incident in which witnesses said Fox's mount, Boardwalk Bob, clipped heels and fell midway around the first turn of the one-mile, 70-yard claiming race on the Tapeta main track surface. As Boardwalk Bob scrambled to his feet, Cox's mount, Growl, who was trailing the field, collided with Boardwalk Bob. Video of the race is not available

Other riders were alerted to pull their horses up before the finish and the race was declared “no contest.”

Cox sustained multiple fractures at the base of her skull, fractured three vertebrae in her neck, and has been on a ventilator in the intensive care unit since being hospitalized.

Fox fractured a collarbone and ribs, suffered a collapsed lung and sustained transverse process fractures in his back.

Fox's wife, Michelle, said on Tuesday via text message: “Kris is in very good spirits despite discomfort and pain” and was expected to be discharged from the hospital Tuesday evening. “Kris says, 'Live to ride, ride to live. Cowboy up,'” she added.

Cox has a longer road to recovery, according to owner-trainer Wayne Rice, who described Cox as “my life partner and my best friend, and I can tell you, this is the first time in 25 years I've gone seven days and I haven't had a chance to talk to her.”

Rice gave Cox a leg up on Growl, a horse he owns and trains, before the Sept. 8 race. Rice said Growl and Boardwalk Bob walked off and suffered no apparent injuries.

“We've had a successful day or two,” Rice said Tuesday afternoon. “The fractured vertebrae in her neck have been fused, and it did not bother the spinal cord.

“They haven't been able to re-Xray her because she is still on a ventilator,” he said. “But she's working toward breathing on her own, and maybe will be off the ventilator tomorrow, which would be fabulous.

“We had what appeared to be a paralyzed right arm and leg the first five days,” Rice said. “As the medication has been lightened up, we can tell she has cognitive function in the brain. We also found she has complete sensation to touch all over her body, including both the right arm and right leg.  And there's now movement in the two limbs. She can blink her eyes when I rub those areas and ask if she can feel it. So we've had pretty good signs the last couple of days.”

In the meantime, Rice said, he's had a “fire sale” of the horses in his barn at Presque Isle Downs as he looks forward to taking Cox back to their home in Florida to recuperate.

“I've sold 10 head already and have some 2-year-olds on the market that I really like that haven't started yet,” Rice said.

He added the outpouring of support from friends around the country has been gratifying.

“We live a good life, and I just want her back to where she can walk around,” Rice said. “I can fix her, I know. Salt water and sunshine is what puts a smile on her face.”

Fox began riding in 2008 and has 194 career wins from 2,735 mounts. Cox, a veteran exercise rider in Ocala who acquired her jockeys' license in Florida in 2006 after a brief stint as a trainer, has 176 wins from 2,216 mounts.

Jockey Kris Fox at Jack Thistledown in Ohio during a jockey autograph session

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