Central Kentucky Riding for Hope (CKRH), a nonprofit organization that provides equine assisted therapies and activities to more than 300 individuals with disabilities each year, is hosting a virtual gala called “Saddle Up For Hope” on Saturday, Oct. 24.
The live stream broadcast will begin at 7:00 p.m. Eastern on SaddleUp2020.givesmart.com. The event will include both silent & live auctions, a raffle drawing, riding demonstrations by CKRH's young equestrians and a simulated horse auction to sponsor eight equine therapy teams for the coming year.
More than 250 items are available for purchase from such auction categories as artwork, children's, jewelry, home décor, collector's specials and more. Notable items include:
24 halters from leading Thoroughbred racehorses & stallions, such as American Pharoah, Justify, Curlin, California Chrome and Constitution.
A raffle drawing for a 23-year old bottle of Pappy Van Winkle bourbon.
A one-way equine transportation flight within the domestic US.
A handmade dulcimer by international artist Warren May.
A four-day Guest Pass to the 2021 Land Rover Three-Day Event.
For more information, please call Jeannie Brewer, CKRH Development Director, at (859) 231-7066 weekdays from 9AM-5PM EST.
The catalogue for the Tattersalls December Foal Sale, featuring a Dubawi (Ire) half-brother to champion Skitter Scatter (Scat Daddy) (lot 939), is now online. Slated for Nov. 25-Nov. 28, the sale will see 934 lots go under the hammer at Park Paddocks in Newmarket. Recent G1 Betfair Sprint Cup hero Dream of Dreams (Ire) (Dream Ahead) is a graduate of the sale, as is this term’s G2 Coventry S. victor Nando Parrado (GB) (Kodiac {GB}).
Consigned by Airlie Stud, the half-brother to G1 Moyglare Stud S. heroine Skitter Scatter is one of 121 full- or half-siblings to group and listed winners. There are also 86 foals out of group and listed winning mares. Other weanlings of note include: a Frankel (GB) half-brother to Group 2 winner Alkumait (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) (lot 955) from Whitsbury Manor Stud; GSW Minzaal (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire})’s half-brother by Belardo (Ire) as lot 919 offered by Ringfort Stud; lot 972, Whatton Manor Stud’s Showcasing (GB) half-sister to the aforementioned Nando Parrado; a Zoffany (Ire) colt (lot 976) from Norelands Stud who is an half-brother to this past weekend’s G1 bet365 Fillies’ Mile victress Pretty Gorgeous (Fr) (Lawman {Fr}); and a half-brother by Footstepsinthesand (GB) (lot 957) to the GSW & G1SP The Lir Jet (Ire) (Prince of Lir {Ire}) as part of The Castlebridge Consignment.
Reverse shuttle stallion and champion first- and second-season Australian sire Zoustar (Aus) has 23 Northern Hemisphere weanlings in the sale, among them a son of MG1SW La Collina (Ire) (Strategic Prince {GB}) (lot 892) from Kenilworth House Stud. There are another 25 first-crop stallions represented like Classic and Group 1 winners Cracksman (GB), Expert Eye (GB), Harry Angel (Ire), Havana Grey (GB), Hawkbill, Jungle Cat (Ire), Lightning Spear (GB), Poet’s Word (Ire), Roaring Lion, Saxon Warrior (Jpn), Sioux Nation, US Navy Flag, Unfortunately (Ire), Mekhtaal (GB), Recoletos (Fr), and Oscar Performance.
Veteran Stallions, of course, are also prominent with foals by Camelot (GB), Dark Angel (Ire), Exceed and Excel (Aus), Fastnet Rock (Aus), Kingman (GB), Kodiac (GB), Invincible Spirit (Ire), Lope De Vega (Ire), Pivotal (GB), Sea the Stars (Ire), Teofilo (Ire), Kendargent (Fr), Le Havre (Ire), Siyouni (Fr) and the recently relocated Wootton Bassett (GB).
In 2019 pre-coronavirus, 663 weanlings grossed 29,338,300gns with an average of 44,251gns and a median of 22,000gns. The top price was 600,000gns for a son of Frankel (GB) out of MG1SW Simple Verse (Ire) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}) from Tweenhills Farm & Stud.
“The Tattersalls December Foal Sale is the premier fixture of its kind in Europe, consistently attracting the cream of the British and Irish foal crop and this year’s catalogue has the quality and diversity to appeal to pinhookers and owners from throughout the world,” said Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony. “Graduates of the sale continue to fly the flag globally with Dream of Dreams, Barney Roy (GB) and Matterhorn (Ire) all successful at the highest level. The December Foal Sale has also been the source of many of this season’s most exciting juveniles with the G2 Mill Reef S. winner Alkumait, the G2 Coventry S. winner Nando Parrado, the G2 Gimcrack S. winner Minzaal and the exciting Group 3-winning Japanese 2-year-old Shock Action (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) all graduates of the 2018 renewal.”
This year we have become accustomed to things becoming very different. On Monday it was announced that we shall have to get used to something else: next year there will be no John Oxx training at Currabeg on the edge of The Curragh, with the legendary Irish trainer having revealed his intention to retire at the end of November.
Few readers of this publication will be able to recall such a situation, but even for those whose racing memories are restricted to some or all of the 42 seasons in which the current John Oxx has been at the helm of this most dependable of vessels, this truly is the end of an era.
John Oxx Sr began training in 1943 at the age of 33. Seven years later he bought Currabeg, and 70 years of sustained excellence in that iconic stable began. Oxx remained among the leaders of his profession for decades, most obviously being champion trainer in 1958. In those days Ireland was still very much the poor relation, few trainers regularly handling horses good enough to establish an international profile. Even so, John Oxx Sr nearly succeeded in keeping the first edition of the hugely enriched Irish Sweeps Derby at home when Arctic Storm (Ire) (Nearco {Ity}) failed by only inches against the French-trained Tambourine II at the Curragh in 1962. Arctic Storm’s wins that season included the Irish 2000 Guineas at The Curragh and the Champion S. at Newmarket, and the colt finished third to Match III (Fr) and Her Majesty’s Aurelius (GB) in the King George and Queen Elizabeth S. at Ascot.
From an early age, John Oxx Jr was destined to follow in his father’s footsteps. He prepared for the role by graduating from veterinary college and then assisting his father before taking over the license at Currabeg in advance of the 1979 season. He was aged 28 and his father was a year short of his 70th birthday. The time for transition was right.
John Oxx Sr’s final season was highlighted by the splendid campaign of the admirable filly Sorbus (Ire) (Busted {GB}), who was runner-up in all three legs of Ireland’s fillies’ Triple Crown, the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas, G1 Irish Oaks and G1 Irish St Leger. She actually passed the post first in the Irish Oaks but was controversially demoted in favour of the Oaks winner Fair Salinia (Ire) (Petingo {GB}). The latter then beat Sorbus on merit the following month in the G1 Yorkshire Oaks. Oxx had bought Sorbus as a yearling for 15,500gns for Gerald Jenkins as a dual-purpose (racing and breeding) prospect, and his selection could hardly have been better. After her distinguished racing career she became a stellar broodmare, albeit for Prince Khalid Abdullah rather than Mr. Jenkins, with her descendants including Oasis Dream (GB) (Green Desert) and Kingman (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}).
The handover from father to son was seamless. To emphasise the aspect of continuity, Gerald Jenkins owned John Oxx Jr’s first Classic winner: Eurobird (Ire) (Ela-Mana-Mou {GB}), successful in the G1 Irish St Leger in 1987. Two years later, Oxx doubled his Classic tally by taking the same race with another 3-year-old filly when Petite Ile (Ire) (Ile De Bourbon) scored under the veteran Australian rider Ron Quinton, who was the stable jockey at Currabeg at the time.
During the subsequent three decades, Ireland’s racing has prospered to the extent that it now often seems to put Great Britain in the shade, a situation unthinkable for most of turf history. For much of this period, John Oxx stood at the forefront of his country’s training ranks, including when he became champion trainer in 1995, a season which can be regarded as the Year of Ridgewood Pearl, the greatest filly he has ever trained.
Bred by Sean Coughlan and raced by his wife Anne, Ridgewood Pearl (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}) became the first of John Oxx’s true superstars. In a splendid season she proved herself an international champion with victories in the G1 Irish ,000 Guineas, G1 Coronation S., G1 Prix du Moulin and GI Breeders’ Cup Mile. She was ridden in the final three of those victories by Johnny Murtagh, who had served his apprenticeship with Oxx before becoming his stable jockey.
Five years later, Oxx and Murtagh combined to reach even greater heights when the Aga Khan’s homebred colt Sinndar (Ire) (Grand Lodge) won the greatest race in each of Europe’s three major racing nations: the G1 Derby at Epsom, the G1 Irish Derby at The Curragh and the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp. To make that magical final day in Paris even more special, trainer and jockey also landed the sprint, the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye, with Lady Clague’s Namid (GB) (Indian Ridge {Ire}). Two years previously, Oxx had provided Lady Clague with Classic success when Winona (Ire) (Alzao) had won the G1 Irish Oaks.
Sinndar was merely one of numerous stars who passed through John Oxx’s hands during his lengthy period as trainer of HH Aga Khan IV’s Irish string. Other major winners whom he prepared for His Highness included 1993 G1 National S. winner Manntari (Ire) (Doyoun {GB}); 1996 GI Beverly D S. and G1 Irish Champion S. heroine Timarida (Ire) (Kalaglow {GB}); 1996 G1 Irish St Leger winner Kastoria (Ire) (Selkirk); 1997 G1 Irish Oaks heroine Ebadiyla (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells); 1998 G1 Moyglare Stud S. heroine Edabiya (Ire) (Rainbow Quest); 1999 G1 Ascot Gold Cup hero Enzeli (Ire) (Kahyasi {Ire}); 2003 G1 Irish Derby and G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. winner Alamshar (Ire) (Key Of Luck); 2004 G1 St James’s Palace S. and G1 Irish Champion S. and 2005 G1 Prince of Wales’s S. and G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. winner Azamour (Ire) (Night Shift); 2006 G1 Irish St Leger winner Kastoria (Ire) (Selkirk) and 2009 G1 Irish St Leger winner Alandi (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).
It is hard to believe that John Oxx’s torrent of big-race winners has dried up in recent years, particularly because it seems like only yesterday that he gave us a training masterclass with his faultless handling of the mighty Sea The Stars (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), arguably the greatest racehorse to be trained in Ireland since Triple Crown hero Nijinsky half a century ago. Bred and raced by the Tsui family, Sea The Stars rattled off a superb sequence of one Group 1 win a month from May to October through the spring, summer and autumn of 2009. By this time, Johnny Murtagh had moved on and Mick Kinane was bringing his splendid career to an end with a stint as stable jockey at Currabeg. During one of the greatest Classic campaigns ever seen on the turf, Oxx and Kinane brought Sea The Stars through the season unbeaten with a splendid six-timer comprising the G1 2000 Guineas, G1 Derby, G1 Eclipse S., G1 Juddmonte International, G1 Irish Champion S. and G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
It is now 41 years since John Oxx Sr, approaching 70, decided that it was time to pass the baton to his son. Now the son, who turned 70 in July, has too decided that it is time to retire. The name John Oxx has been synonymous with racing excellence for longer than most of us can remember, encapsulating everything that is good about the sport, from professionalism and diligence to honesty and loyalty.
It has not just been the records of the horses at Currabeg which attest to the trainer’s merit: Johnny Murtagh is merely one of many successful apprentices to have flourished under Oxx’s tuition. On Monday afternoon one of his proteges Cathy Gannon–who became Ireland’s first female champion apprentice in 2004 while working at Currabeg–tweeted, “Happy retirement to my mentor, father-like John Oxx. Got my career off to a start. Made me champion apprentice. One of the best trainers in the world. Respect.”
That final word perfectly sums up the career of John Oxx. Few trainers have been more successful than he has; none has earned more respect.
The School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis is taking one of the lead roles in the university's new $2 billion fundraising campaign, “Expect Greater: From UC Davis, For the World.” This marks the largest philanthropic endeavor in the university's history, and the school's 25% portion of the goal is also its largest fundraising challenge. This bold goal will help create the future Veterinary Medical Center, where clinical innovation, transformational research, and compassionate healing come together.
The school's portion of the $2 billion goal includes a decade-long campaign to raise more than $500 million to create a new veterinary hospital that sets the gold standard of care while defining advanced clinical research and education. The school's existing Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital opened in 1970 and was built to see 3,000 patients per year. While there have been additions to the facility over the years—increasing the square footage by about 60%—the hospital's caseload has increased more than 1,600% to more than 50,000 cases per year.
“This caseload increase is stretching our personnel and resources to an extreme extent,” said Dr. Karl Jandrey, associate dean of Admissions and Student Programs and a critical care specialist in the hospital's Emergency Room. “Our large and diverse caseload provides a tremendous learning environment for our students and house officers, but we have to ensure those opportunities are not jeopardized by the limited footprint in which we train them.”
“It is clear that a new hospital is necessary,” said Dean Michael Lairmore. “This campaign, led by donations from our community partners, will enable us to envision a new standard of excellence in veterinary medicine, innovation, and discovery.”
The “Expect Greater” campaign will harness the power of philanthropy to propel the school—already the #1 ranked veterinary school in the world—into a level of veterinary care, research, and advancement that meets the challenges of an increasing caseload; that allows for the adoption of the latest technology in veterinary medicine; and that provides the infrastructure and efficient services to facilitate translational research and breakthroughs.
“Expect Greater” launches at a time of growing philanthropic momentum at UC Davis – the last four years have been the strongest for fundraising in its history. Since the campaign's quiet phase began in July 2016, the university's closest donors and friends have given $1.2 billion toward the goal, with more than $250 million of that raised by the veterinary school. Now UC Davis is reaching out to the entire university community and beyond to help make a greater impact on the world.
Expertise for California and the World
As the global leader in veterinary medicine, UC Davis leads the way in research, innovation, and clinical care breakthroughs. The school is at the forefront of serving California's animals, especially in times of great need.
With the state in turmoil caused by raging wildfires and a global pandemic outbreak, the hospital has remained open to serve animal owners. In just the past two months alone, the school's Veterinary Emergency Response Team has treated thousands of animals at evacuation centers and performed search and rescue missions in the fire zones, while the hospital has treated dozens of some of the most critically burned animals. Additionally, the school recently created the Wildlife Disaster Network to care for wildlife affected by wildfires and other disasters.
Beyond the creation of the Veterinary Medical Center, fundraising efforts will focus on supporting students financially. UC Davis is already a leader in scholarship support, helping to make it the veterinary school with the third-least median debt for its graduates. Low debt makes it easier for new veterinarians to choose options that further benefit society, such as going into public service or pursuing research careers or medical specialties.
The school is also raising efforts to create endowed chairs and professorships, demonstrating support for the diverse, world-class faculty who make UC Davis a premier research and clinical institution. These positions enable the school to recruit and retain the world's top minds in veterinary medicine – faculty who will have the sustained funding to maximize their impact, all while teaching the next generation of veterinarians and veterinary specialists.
Donors are also supporting research and the work of the school's centers and institutes. For example, with a One Health approach to medicine, the university conducts groundbreaking research at the nexus of animal and human medicine – the focus of the school's One Health Institute. With donor support, UC Davis veterinarians and physicians routinely collaborate on research and clinical care projects that cross veterinary and human medicine boundaries to advance the health of both humans and animals.
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, veterinary and human health researchers quickly began collaborating on diagnostic and vaccine testing. Meanwhile, PREDICT—One Health Institute's pandemic prevention and response program—is part of an international effort to provide emergency support to collaborating countries in response to coronavirus spread.
The “Expect Greater” campaign will strengthen all of these entities and help UC Davis continue its One Health mission of advancing the health of animals, humans, and the environment.
Future Veterinary Medical Center Goals
Inspired by UC Davis clients' devotion to their animals, the future Veterinary Medical Center will push the limits of veterinary medicine to increase knowledge and provide optimal care. School leadership envisions a comprehensive center for veterinary medicine unlike any in the world: a center of healing where clients trust that their beloved animals will be treated with unparalleled expertise and compassion; a center of innovation where clinicians, scholars, and students collaborate in integrated teams to advance the health of animals, people, and the environment; and a center of discovery where transformational research breaks new ground in areas from stem cell therapies to food safety.
The multi-phased Veterinary Medical Center campaign commenced over the past two years with several Phase I renovation projects in the hospital—including six new examination rooms, a feline-only suite, laundry and support facilities, locker rooms, and restrooms—and the construction of a new Large Animal Support Facility.
In 2021, the school looks to continue Phase I with commencing construction of the All Species Imaging Center, where the world's largest veterinary radiology team will diagnose patients, and train students and residents with the most advanced imaging technologies in medicine – including CTs, MRIs, and PET scanners.
Greater in scope than any previous school expansion, the Veterinary Medical Center campaign will then focus on transforming the Large Animal Clinic into three distinct treatment areas – the Livestock and Field Services Center, the Equine Surgery and Critical Care Center, and the Equine Performance Center.
“The equine specialists at UC Davis have provided the very best care to so many horses, including our own,” stated long-time clients and donors Robert and Colleen Haas. “The Equine Performance Center will take their capacity for assessment, treatment, and clinical research to an even higher level and will be a tremendous resource to horse owners everywhere.”
Plans for an entirely updated Small Animal Hospital will be the final phase of the decade-long project, coming in the late 2020s and more than doubling the size of the current clinical space for small animals.
To learn more about the Veterinary Medical Center, please see the campaign website.
