Month: October 2020

Wesley Ward Joins TDN Writers’ Room

Holding a typically strong hand of 2-year-olds heading into Future Stars Friday at the Breeders’ Cup Nov. 6, trainer Wesley Ward joined the TDN Writers’ Room presented by Keeneland Wednesday morning. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Ward talked about Golden Pal, the exciting son of Uncle Mo and Lady Shipman who figures to go favored in the Juvenile Turf Sprint, multiple group stakes winner in Europe Campanelle (Ire) and why he’s so willing to run his fillies against the boys.

Telling the story of how he came to train Golden Pal for Randall Lowe, who owned Lady Shipman, Ward said he almost got a chance to train the mare herself and only a veterinary setback let him keep her son in his barn for Lowe.

“When [Lowe] had the mare, he had reached out and asked if I was interested in training and it just didn’t come to fruition,” he said. “His ultimate pick was Kiaran McLaughlin. I had followed Lady Shipman’s career and was a big fan of hers. Then I went and saw the colt in the sale. I loved him. He was my pick of the sale last year at Keeneland September. We tried to buy the horse for Coolmore and we had a couple months for them to take possession to see if he could get over a minor issue he had, and unfortunately, it’s just a minor thing that he was born with. He has that issue today, and he didn’t pass the vet. So being as I put a couple months in on the horse, [Lowe] sent him back to Ocala to give him a little bit of time off from the breaking and right around the first of the year, I called him back and I said, ‘Look, I’d still be really, really interested in training the colt.’ He thought about it for a couple of weeks, then he sent him up to Keeneland and we’ve had him ever since. He’s just been a joy to train, I’m a big fan and I’m looking forward to Breeders’ Cup.”

Ward continued his unprecedented run of success for an American trainer in Europe with Campanelle, a 190,000 guineas Tattersalls October purchase by Ben McElroy who parlayed a Gulfstream maiden win into scores in the G1 Prix Morny at Deauville and G2 Queen Mary S. at Royal Ascot this summer. The undefeated bay figures to be among the favorites in a contentious renewal of the Juvenile Fillies Turf.

“She’s a little different than the horses that I’ve brought to Ascot and to the Morny in years past,” said Ward. “She’s got a big, long stride and she’s fast. So my thought always going into the Morny was that she would go a mile. Even though she has a sprinter’s pedigree, she’s a big filly. And with that long stride, I took the blinkers off going into the Morny to sort of help her to stretch her speed for this particular race. And it was fortunate, we were lucky. She won a big race that day with Frankie and she got right back here to Keeneland. Ever since then, even before the Morny, this was the plan with this particular race.”

Asked about his willingness to run fillies against males, Ward said, “I took a lot of heat for it at first for running 2-year-old fillies against the colts, but I just think it’s pretty easy. If you line a bunch of us up with some women and some men, some women are going to be faster than the guys you put them with, so it’s easy to figure where you’re at. I think a lot of fillies develop a lot quicker. If you look at the 2-year-old in training sales, the majority of the faster times will be fillies rather than the colts, and the colts will come on late. I like to take advantage of that. The majority of the time, especially in sprints, if you have the fastest horse and you break well, you’re going to win early on. I’ll zero in and the faster ones come to a head real quick, early in the spring. If that’s a filly, I’m more apt to run them against the colts.”

Elsewhere on the show, the writers broke down where every major division stands heading into the Breeders’ Cup and, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, talked about what it means for the industry that stallion farms are slashing stud fees nearly across the board. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version.

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Keeneland Takes Measures To Preserve Turf Course For Breeders’ Cup

With the 2½ inches of rain Keeneland received on Monday and Tuesday and because the forecast of an active weather pattern over the next 10 days has significant moisture as a possibility, Keeneland will card only one grass race for each of the final three race days of the Fall Meet.

On both Friday and Saturday, Race 9 will serve as the feature and will remain on the turf, weather permitting. Additionally, Thursday's Race 6, an allowance race, will remain on the turf.

All other turf races carded for the final three days of the Fall Meet will move to the main track.

“The turf course has performed very well and without incident during the Fall Meet, and these steps are taken to ensure we have the best possible conditions for the Breeders' Cup World Championships on Nov. 6-7,” Keeneland Vice President of Racing Bob Elliston said.

Here are changes to the remaining race cards:

Thursday

Race 2 will be conducted on the main track at 1 3/16 miles.

Race 9 will be conducted on the main track at 1 1/16 miles.

Friday

Race 4 will be conducted on the main track at 1 1/16 miles.

Race 7 will be conducted on the main track at 6 furlongs.

Saturday

Race 4 will be conducted on the main track at 1 1/16 miles.

Race 7 will be conducted on the main track at 6 furlongs.

 

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Hello Beautiful Moving Forward Into Maryland Million Distaff

After having her coming out party during last year's Maryland Million, Hello Beautiful returns for this year's $100,000 Distaff Saturday at Laurel Park in what her connections hope becomes a welcome back celebration.

The seven-furlong Distaff for fillies and mares 3 and older is among eight stakes and four starter stakes on the 35th Jim McKay Maryland Million program, 'Maryland's Day at the Races' celebrating the progeny of stallions standing in the state.

Highlighted by the $150,000 Classic for 3-year-olds and up, first race post time is 11:25 a.m.

Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stables and Magic City Stables' Hello Beautiful was a popular 3 ¾-length winner of the Maryland Million Lassie last October in her fifth career start, which served a prelude to her 11 ¾-length romp in the Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship to close her 2-year-old season.

“We'd love to see her run the same way she did last year,” trainer Brittany Russell said.

Some planned time off turned into an extended vacation for Hello Beautiful amid the coronavirus pandemic which pushed her 2020 debut to June 1 in a 5 ½-furlong turf sprint at Laurel, where she finished seventh. She rebounded with a front-running 8 ¼-length open allowance score June 20, also at Laurel, both under the trainer's husband, jockey Sheldon Russell.

“She's been great. She's been moving forward since we got her home,” Brittany Russell said. “She's put in a couple of really nice works. We're just hoping we can get her back on track. We've got her home with Sheldon back up, and hopefully she can run a good race and we can figure out how we're going to move forward from there.”

After giving some consideration to the Test (G1) at Saratoga, Hello Beautiful was redirected to the seven-furlong Audubon Oaks Aug. 9 at Ellis Park but lost all chance after getting wiped out exiting the starting gate and never getting into contention behind Mundaye Call's track record-setting performance.

Hello Beautiful wound up at Saratoga for the six-furlong Prioress (G2) Sept. 5, setting a blistering pace pressed by eventual winner Frank's Rockette before tiring to be sixth. Both races came without Sheldon Russell, who missed two months with a fractured wrist and will climb back aboard Saturday from Post 6.

“She ran against some serious racehorses in those two races and things didn't go our way, but that's racing,” Brittany Russell said. “I think if we can keep her home and get her back on a racetrack that we know she likes and walk her out of her stall and just see if we can get her back on track or at least running well, I think that's the main thing right now.

“We asked her to do a couple things and it didn't work out,” she added. “Hopefully, no excuses on Saturday and we can get a good effort. There's a lot of positives going into it.”

Among the competition for Hello Beautiful are a quartet of fellow multiple stakes winners in Artful Splatter, Las Setas, Limited View and Never Enough Time, the latter a Maryand-bred who is second on a list of four-also eligibles.

Chanceland Farm and Wayne Harrison's Las Setas swept the Wide Country, Beyond the Wire and Weber City Miss for 3-year-old fillies last winter and spring at Laurel for trainer Katy Voss, her co-owner/breeder. Off the board in the Black-Eyed Susan (G2) and Politely seven months apart to cap 2019, she has raced just once in 2020 finishing fourth in an off-the-turf optional claiming allowance Sept. 19.

Limited View, like Hello Beautiful, is a past winner of the Maryland Million Lassie, her victory coming in 2017. Co-owned by John Salzman Jr. and Fred Wasserloos and trained by Salzman, the 5-year-old Freedom Child mare has won two of her last three starts sprinting 6 ½ and six furlongs at Laurel, where she owns all nine of her career wins.

James C. Wolf's Artful Splatter beat 11-time stakes winner Anna's Bandit by a half-length in the one-mile Geisha Stakes Jan. 18 and won one of her next two starts before the coronavirus shutdown. She needed four starts to break through once racing returned but has won two of her last three races, running second in the Twixt Stakes Sept. 5 at Laurel and romping by 10 ¼ lengths in the Sept. 26 George Rosenberger Memorial in the Delaware Park slop, both going 1 1/16 miles.

“She does love the slop,” trainer Kieron Magee said. “She absolutely annihilated them that day. Alex rode her great. He went slow the first half in 49 [seconds] and after they went the half he just opened up on them and broke their hearts. It was over. They tried to catch her and they were done. She was so impressive. That was unbelievable, watching that race.

“There's some speed in the race so I don't think we'll have the lead. I worked her [the other day] behind a horse and she went by the last part of it. She's sat off the pace before. It's obviously not her favorite way to do it, but she can do that,” he added.

Alex Cintron, up in the Delaware stake, gets the return call from Post 5.

Making just her fifth career start and first in a stakes will be Coconut Cake, who takes a three-race win streak into the Distaff for NRS Stable, James Chambers and trainer Tim Keefe's Avalon Farm. By 2014 General George (G3) winner Bandbox, Coconut Cake has impressed Keefe with her combination of talent and determination, having won her races by less than two lengths combined.

“She had always done what we asked her to do in the morning. I really wasn't sure how good she was going to be, but I thought she was going to be decent,” Keefe said. “To go out and watch her run, obviously she's got the ability but she's also got that desire which some horses have and some don't. You can't train that in a horse. The horse has to come with that, and she has that desire to really want to get there first.”

Kevin Gomez will be back aboard for the third straight race, breaking from outside Post 10.

After going winless in four 2019 starts, Harry Kassap's homebred Quiet Imagination has put together a solid 3-year-old campaign with two wins, three seconds and a third from eight races. Most recently, the 3-year-old daughter of Imagining rallied on the inside to be third in the six-furlong Tax Free Distaff Sept. 26 at Delaware, missing second by a head.

“She's an Imagining filly that's been very competitive and very productive all year. She deserves a shot again on the big day. The race on paper looks like it's going to be extremely competitive but she's one that's just been ultra competitive all year,” trainer Tim Woolley said.

Quiet Imagination was second in her only other try at seven furlongs. Woolley will also saddle defending champion Mr. d'Angelo in the $100,000 Maryland Million Turf.

“She's going to like the added distance. We've been trying to get her to stretch out longer than six furlongs,” Woolley said. “We're going to be there to enjoy the day and show off the horses.”

Completing the field are Bunting, Gifted Heart, Le Weekend and She'smysunshine. Joining Never Enough Time on the Maryland-bred also-eligible list are Grade 3 winner Project Whiskey, Tax Free Distaff runner-up Dancer's Melody and S W Briar Rose.

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Thoroughbred Makeover Diaries Presented By Excel Equine: What It Takes To Go From Rider To Trainer

So far, we've followed writer, announcer, and Thoroughbred Makeover competitor Jonathan Horowitz in his journey to the 2020 (now 2021) event. This month, Jonathan's wife and trainer Ashley gives us her perspective on Jonathan and his OTTB partner, Cubbie Girl North.

“I think I want to compete next year.”

That's what Jonathan said to me in October 2017, 2018, and 2019. I get it. The environment at the Makeover is infectious. The camaraderie is amazing. There is nothing better than getting to watch the Makeover from the best seat in the house, the announcer's booth.

If you've been following the entire Thoroughbred Makeover Diaries series, you already know that Jonathan had just started riding a couple months before he announced the first Retried Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover that was held at the Kentucky Horse Park in 2015.

I was there as well to see what it was all about. As a trainer of off-track Thoroughbreds (OTTBs) and a horse lover, I was instantly hooked. The difference between Jonathan and me is that I understood (at least a little more) first-hand what it all meant for all those competitors who were there that year. I loved watching the evolution of both his knowledge and understanding of what it took to ride at that competition.

When he made that statement to me in 2017 and 2018, I flat out told him, “No.” He was not ready to take on a fresh OTTB and have it ready to compete after only 10 months of training. I do need to take a moment and say that Jonathan very quickly became the most dedicated novice in learning all that there was to learn about riding, training, showing. Because he didn't know any better he thought, why not endeavor to learn eventing on OTTBs?

He bought my 2017 Makeover grad, Grand Moony, who was very successful in both Jumpers and Freestyle, and he learned to Event on her. She wasn't easy. There were many times he asked if he was in over his head or if she was really the right horse for him. Maybe she was, maybe she wasn't. But, she sure has taught him a ton in the last two and a half years, and she definitely is the right horse for him now.

I'm a little old school. I like throwing a young talent into the deep end…but with a lifeguard on the side just in case. That worked great for his evolution as a competitor, but as he's learned this past year, it's a whole different ball game when you're doing the training.

“I've found your horse!” I exclaimed as I was mindlessly scrolling through horse ads on CANTER's website in July 2019. A 3-year-old bay filly, of course that would be a good fit. In all honesty, when I was looking for a horse for Jonathan, I wasn't looking for what would be the easiest for him. I was looking for quality. I'm sure we could have easily found a horse that was a little older, had a little more experience, and most assuredly would have taken Jonathan down an easier road.

Unfortunately for Jonathan, that's not what caught my eye. Another thing about Jonathan, he's eternally trusting of all of my crazy whims. Of course, why not get a 3-year-old filly who only raced a few times?! This is one of the many reasons I love him.

 

I loved Cubbie's conformation. I loved that she had low miles. I could see that this horse had upper level potential. This is what an experienced trainer looks for, but for an amateur, it's a crapshoot. There was no hesitation from Jonathan. Maybe it was his naivete or his blind faith in me, but the next day, the process had been started for Cubbie to make her way to our Super G Sporthorses farm in Parker, Colo.

There are a lot of ways to approach the Makeover as an amateur. I knew that Jonathan was an idealist, thinking that things just simply work out. He had visions of how he and his beautiful horse would look, harmoniously riding together at the Makeover. But did he really know what it was going to take to get to the end goal?

Training horses is hard. It's not that every ride is or needs to be a battle, but it is a long process of ups and downs and a balance of steps forward and back. It is challenging and frustrating. Particularly with the rise of social media, there is so much out there on amazing successes. Everyone loves writing about the wins, the accomplishments, the moments in the spotlight. Those who train truly know what it has taken to get to this point. Jonathan did not.

Now, this is not a knock on Jonathan. You cannot fault someone for something that they simply do not know solely because they have not had the opportunity to experience it. As I have said before, Jonathan devoted his entire world to horses — to riding them, to understanding them, to building relationships with them. He spent countless hours watching me working with fresh, young OTTBs, getting them to be good citizens, and finding them good homes.

Jonathan Horowitz canters through the water at Spring Gulch with Cubbie Girl North.

The problem was, Jonathan thought because he had spent so much time studying and watching this “art” he could do it on his first try. Cubbie is a phenomenal talent. She has the potential and will be an upper level horse (barring unforeseen circumstances). However, those horses come with egos and opinions and, well, attitudes. Basically, Cubbie is not an amateur's horse.

Now, the problem with this is that I am adamant that I will not train this horse for Jonathan.

I have had the privilege of getting to ride and train with numerous top riders from multiple different disciplines within the equestrian sport—eventing, dressage, hunters, Arabian breed trainers, draft trainers—you name it. I am eternally grateful for all that I have learned from them, and it has helped me immensely. But, the most valuable thing that I have is the tens of thousands of hours of riding on my own and figuring it out. The mistakes are at least as important as the successes, but everything is logged away into a database for reference.

The feel comes at different times for different riders, but it is essential to bring out the true potential of any horse. Horses want to do the right thing. They do talk to us, but it is subtle at first. When you see a horse acting out, it has most likely already told you in their own way how it is feeling and/or what it needs from their rider. To truly train a horse you need to be able to receive this information.

Jonathan and Cubbie have extreme highs and lows, but that is inevitable when you have a novice trainer working with an incredibly smart and talented young horse. What I want everyone to take away from Jonathan's journey is that he is still out there, and he and his mare are moving up and making strides forward. This has not gone unnoticed. The trainers and riders in the area are watching him, and seeing him, and, my favorite part, rooting for him. He is out there every chance he gets trying to learn the language of his horse. It is an awesome journey to watch.

I have held to my standpoint that Jonathan will be the trainer of his Makeover horse, but that does not mean that I am not willing to step in and help. I step in when Jonathan is struggling to feel what Cubbie is saying and decides that it's not worth it for her to try anymore.

After 10 months of the pair working together, we have learned the pattern that about every three months I need to step in, hop on Cubbie a few times, and help open healthier lines of communication. So, I guess you can call Jonathan Cubbie's trainer, but I'm their therapist.

Ashley Horowitz's training experience spans from Arabians in Australia to Clydesdales in Virginia and everything in between. She is the head trainer at Super G Sporthorses in Parker, Colo.

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