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Month: October 2020
Connections Of Justify, Hoppertunity Seek To Prevent CHRB From Conducting Hearings Into 2018 Scopolamine Positives
The owners of Justify and Hoppertunity, along with trainer Bob Baffert and jockeys Mike Smith and Flavien Prat, have filed filed legal action in Los Angeles Superior Court to prevent the California Horse Racing Board from conducting Oct. 29 disqualification hearings into April 2018 victories by Justify in the Santa Anita Derby and Hoppertunity in the Tokyo City Cup.
The writ of mandate, filed on Oct. 13, claims Aug. 25, 2020, actions by the CHRB to reopen the cases are “void, arbitrary, capricious, unconstitutional, beyond the power of the CHRB, and a prejudicial abuse of discretion.” It alleges the CHRB has violated California Code of Regulations and Government Code as well as the due process rights of the petitioners under the U.S. Constitution.
Justify and Hoppertunity, along with five other unnamed horses, tested positive for scopolamine in 2018. According to the legal filing, the Justify and Hoppertunity cases were investigated by the CHRB's equine medical director, Dr. Rick Arthur, and then-CHRB executive director Rick Baedeker. Both determined the “cluster” of scopolamine positives at Santa Anita in 2018 resulted from hay contaminated with jimson weed, proof of which, the writ of mandate states, is that all horses also indicated the presence of atropine, which it states is a “definitive marker of environmental contamination.”
Arthur and Baedeker recommended to the CHRB members in closed-door executive session that all seven scopolamine cases be dismissed, and the board in place at the time unanimously voted to support that recommendation, according to the action filed Oct. 13. The CHRB has several new members who were not on the regulatory body in 2018.
It wasn't until a September 2019 report in the New York Times that the positive drug tests and decision not to conduct stewards hearings were revealed. Several months later, Mick Ruis, owner of Santa Anita Derby runner-up Bolt d'Oro, filed suit against the CHRB demanding the case against Justify be reopened. Ruis stood to gain $400,000 in purse money (the difference between $600,000 for first and $200,000 for second) and other possible gains if Bolt d'Oro were declared winner of the Grade 1 race.
The Santa Anita Derby win by Justify in his stakes debut earned the Scat Daddy colt 100 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby. He went on to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes, then retired to stud undefeated in six starts after being sold to Coolmore Stud for a reported $60 million.
As part of a settlement agreement with Ruis, the CHRB said it would file a complaint against the owners of Justify and conduct a purse disqualification hearing. The CHRB also filed a complaint against the owners of Hoppertunity, though not against the other five unnamed horses testing positive for scopolamine.
The owners of Justify at the time were WinStar Farm LLC, China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners LLC and Starlight Racing. The owners of Hoppertunity were Michael Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman.
Attorneys for he petitioners contend scopolamine was – at the time of the April 2018 victories by Justify and Hoppertunity – a Class 4 drug with a C penalty classification under Association of Racing Commissioner guidelines. As such, they contend, a positive test for scopolamine would not trigger a disqualification.
They also contend the CHRB did not act in a timely manner in reopening the cases.
The legal action accuses the CHRB of violating its own rules and engaging in “unfair, arbitrary and capricious conduct. Petitioners have been intentionally treated differently from others similarly situated and there is no rational basis for he difference in treatment.”
As a result of the CHRB's actions, the writ of mandate alleges, the connections of Justify and Hoppertunity “have suffered damages, including in the form of reputational harm.”
The petitioners are seeking a writ of mandate from the court ordering the CHRB to dismiss the complaints and cancel all hearings related to Justify and Hoppertunity's positive tests. They are also seeking unspecified damages, along with attorneys' fees and court costs.
The post Connections Of Justify, Hoppertunity Seek To Prevent CHRB From Conducting Hearings Into 2018 Scopolamine Positives appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Bloodlines Presented By ThoroughbredAuctions.Com: Jackie’s Warrior Keeps The Rhythm Going For Sire Maclean’s Music
Stallions are supposed to prove themselves through a fairly lengthy and somewhat rigorous campaign of racing through at least a couple of seasons, scoring victories at the highest level of competition in such a manner as to distinguish themselves as potential titans of breeding and to indicate the qualities that are the most important in their own makeup.
But to every rule, there must be exceptions.
Witness Danzig. Unbeaten in three starts, none in a stakes, and yet arguably the most successful and influential son of the great Northern Dancer.
And it surely appears that breeding has another exception to the rule in the once-raced and emphatically unbeaten Maclean's Music (by Distorted Humor). The powerful bay made one start.
Maclean's Music won that single start by 7 1/4 lengths in 1:07.44 for six furlongs at Santa Anita on Mar. 19, 2011. For that debut, Maclean's Music earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 114, a figure much higher than most other horses ever run at any time in their racing careers.
And the fact of the colt's speed, a dizzy expression of athletic ability seen and not forgotten, was his ticket to a chance at stud. Because the good-looking young horse was perhaps too fast for his own good and never raced again.
Maclean's Music, however, did show the speed he possessed, and that fact brought him great notice. He was also fortunate enough to be bred and raced by Stonestreet, which saw to it that the colt went to stud at the sire-making emporium of John G. Sikura at Hill 'n' Dale Farms in 2013 after the colt hadn't been able to come back to the races as a 4-year-old.
At Hill 'n' Dale, Maclean's Music received good-sized books of good mares due to the renown of his single race and to the racy look of his own physique. Those who believed in the colt were correct, and Maclean's Music sired 2017 Preakness Stakes winner Cloud Computing in his first crop.
With that Grade 1 winner, Maclean's Music proved that he could sire racehorses who would go farther than sprint distances, and with his two subsequent Grade 1 winners, Complexity and Jackie's Warrior, the stallion has improved the perception among buyers and breeders that he possesses qualities of excellence.
In the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park on Oct. 10, Jackie's Warrior stretched his unbeaten run to four races with a victory by 5 1/2 lengths in 1:35.42. Bred in Kentucky by J & J Stables, Jackie's Warrior took his second Grade 1 in the Champagne; he'd previously won the G1 Hopeful at Saratoga, as well as the G2 Saratoga Special.
Out of the A P Five Hundred mare Unicorn Girl, Jackie's Warrior is the mare's first stakes winner. Unicorn Girl herself is inbred 3×3 to Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew through his sons A.P. Indy and Doneraile Court.
Of more immediate import, however, is the fact that Unicorn Girl won 19 races from 54 starts and nearly a half-million dollars without earning any black type. Most of her victories came in claiming races, and the mare raced through age eight, when she was picked out of a $16,000 claiming race by J & J Stable.
She is a type of hickory racehorse who seems less common in racing today, but Unicorn Girl began her life in the usual way, selling for $45,000 at the OBS April sale in 2007 and making her debut at Saratoga in August of that year.
The now 15-year-old Unicorn Girl is out of stakes winner Horah for Bailey (Doneraile Court), and that mare won the Catcharisingstar Stakes at Calder, then produced a pair of stakes-placed horses, as well as Bernie the Maestro (Bernstein), who won 18 races, including a trio of stakes, and earned $694,317.
Unicorn Girl and Horah for Bailey trace back through the unraced Rahy mare Horah for the Lady to the latter's dam, Istria. An English-bred, Istria was by the Champion Stakes winner Silly Season (Tom Fool) and was ranked as the champion 2-year-old filly in Germany.
Although this family has had plenty of racers and winners since Istria, Bernie the Maestro was a potent reminder that the family has quality as well as quantity on its side, and perhaps that prominent south Florida campaigner played a role in sending his half-sister to the wunderkind who needed, most prominently, toughness in his mates.
The post Bloodlines Presented By ThoroughbredAuctions.Com: Jackie’s Warrior Keeps The Rhythm Going For Sire Maclean’s Music appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Spendthrift Farm Acquires Breeding Rights To Grade 1 Winner Jackie’s Warrior
B. Wayne Hughes' Spendthrift Farm has acquired the breeding rights to undefeated multiple Grade One-winning juvenile Jackie's Warrior, dominant winner of Saturday's Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont.
Jackie's Warrior has also captured the G1 Hopeful Stakes and G2 Saratoga Special Stakes at Saratoga after winning his debut earlier this summer at Churchill Downs. Trained by Steve Asmussen, the record-setting colt is a perfect 4-for-4 with earnings of $402,564 to date for owners Kirk and Judy Robison.
“Jackie's Warrior is proving to be one of the fastest 2-year-olds to come around in the last decade or more, and we are extremely excited to follow his racing career and witness the special things he can accomplish before he joins us at Spendthrift,” said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift general manager. “For such an imposing colt, Jackie's Warrior is extraordinarily athletic and light on his feet. We could not be more impressed by the way he continues to run good fields off their feet and pour it on late when he lengthens that beautiful stride of his. A month after lowering the 28-year-old stakes record in the Hopeful, he comes back and runs a mile in 1:35 in the Champagne and did not look the least bit tired at the wire. We are obviously very happy to be associated, and we wish Kirk and Judy Robison and the Asmussen team the best of luck in the Breeders' Cup.”
“Judy and I are very grateful to campaign this exceptional colt, and Spendthrift will give Jackie's Warrior every chance to be a leading stallion when his racing career is over,” said Kirk Robison. “Few do what he has done in four starts – four wins over three different tracks, three in graded stakes, two in historic Grade 1 races and recording a 100 Beyer speed figure in the Champagne Stakes. He is a lifetime horse and is just getting started. Steve Asmussen and his team have done an exceptional job in his development. We are excited to be part of his unlimited promise. Judy and I are pledging two percent of Jackie's Warrior's potential purse earnings from the Juvenile to New Vocations for their tremendous work in Thoroughbred aftercare.”
Jackie's Warrior dominated Saturday's Champagne with a front-running 5 1/2-length score, hitting the wire geared down in 1:35.42 for the mile. He earned a 100 Beyer for the win, marking the fastest Champagne since Daredevil in 2014.
Last month, Jackie's Warrior established a new stakes record in Saratoga's featured Hopeful, drawing off to an eye-catching 2 1/4-length victory. His final time of 1:21.29 for seven furlongs is the fastest in the last 28 years the Hopeful has been contested at the distance. Jackie's Warrior earned a 95 Beyer for that win, marking the fastest Hopeful since 2007, and his 100 & 95 Beyers are the two fastest by a juvenile so far in 2020. Jackie's Warrior becomes the first horse to pull off the Hopeful–Champagne double since Practical Joke in 2016, and first to win the Saratoga Special, Hopeful, and Champagne in New York since 2-year-old champion Dehere in 1993.
In June, Jackie's Warrior won on debut at Churchill Downs by 2 1/2 lengths, running five furlongs in 57.49. He followed up that effort with a three-length victory in the Saratoga Special, zipping six furlongs in 1:09.62. Jackie's Warrior has won his four starts clear by a combined 13 1/4 lengths, with an average margin of victory of more than 3 1/4 lengths.
“In this day and age, to win the Saratoga Special, Hopeful and Champagne in the fashion in which he did it is truly remarkable,” said Asmussen.
The Champagne was a “Win And You're In” for next month's $2-million Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Keeneland, where Jackie's Warrior figures to be one of the favorites.
The post Spendthrift Farm Acquires Breeding Rights To Grade 1 Winner Jackie’s Warrior appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
