December, 2020 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Tommy Barrow, 88, Passes; Rode Handicap Star Hillsdale To Major Wins In 1959

Jockey Tommy Barrow, best known for his handling of multiple stakes winner Hillsdale in the late 1950s, died Nov. 18 in Louisville, Ky., at the age of 88.

Barrow rode the Detroit and New England circuits until owner Clarence Smith and trainer Marty Fallon gave him an opportunity to ride Hillsdale, an Indiana-bred purchased by Smith while the horse was in training at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, according to Whitney Tower in Sports Illustrated.Tower described Barrow as a “five-foot 6 1/2-inch stringbean.”

Barrow made the most of it, riding against top jockeys like Eddie Arcaro and Bill Shoemaker and winning big races aboard the son of Take Away, including a sweep of what became known as Santa Anita's Strub Series (the Malibu, San Fernando and Santa Anita Maturity – the latter race, which became the Charles H. Strub Stakes, was Barrow's first “hundred-grander.” They also teamed up to win the Hollywood Gold Cup Handicap at Hollywood Park, then headed east for an eventual match with top 3-year-old Sword Dancer and reigning champion handicap horse Round Table in the Woodward at Aqueduct.

Coming into the stretch of the Woodward, Hillsdale held a narrow advantage over Round Table and Barrow allowed his horse to drift off the rail a bit, thinking Arcaro and Sword Dancer would have to go wider still. But Arcaro waited until there was a narrow opening along the rail and pushed Sword Dancer through, going on to a hard-fought win over Hillsdale in what would be his final race. The defeat denied Hillsdale championship honors that year and he retired with earnings of nearly $650,000.

Born Thomas Gorie Barrow on Aug. 19, 1932, in Orlando, Fla., and raised on a farm in nearby Arcadia, Barrow rode Quarter Horses as a boy until someone introduced him to Thoroughbreds. He left home for the racetrack at 15, according to Marty McGee writing in Daily Racing Form, and won with his first mount on Sept. 21, 1948, at defunct Lincoln Downs in Rhode Island. Over the years he won riding titles at Churchill Downs in Kentucky, Rockingham Park in New Hampshire, Detroit Race Course and Hazel Park in Michigan and Gulfstream Park in Florida.

Barrow rode into his late 50s, primarily in the Midwest and New England, but never had the opportunity to ride another horse like Hillsdale, retiring in 1991 with 2,627 victories from 21,061 mounts, according to Equibase.

Barrow had resided in an assisted living facility for several years in Louisville, Ky.

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Gulfstream May Install a Synthetic Surface

Looking for ways to avoid overusing the turf course at Gulfstream Park, The Stronach Group may install a synthetic Tapeta surface at the South Florida track. The news was revealed by Stronach Group COO Aidan Butler during his appearance on this week’s TDN Writers’ Room, presented by Keeneland. Butler said that The Stronach Group is looking into the possibility of having three tracks at Gulfstream, dirt, turf and synthetic.

The grass course at Gulfstream is under heavy use throughout the year, but it had been getting a two-month break while racing shifted across town to Gulfstream Park West/Calder. With Gulfstream Park West having run its last race Nov. 28, Gulfstream officials were faced with either trying to race over the turf course 12 months a year or finding some other alternative. With turf horses tending to run well on synthetic surfaces, a Tapeta track could be used to complement the regular diet of grass racing. It could also be used as an alternate surface when inclement weather would mean a sloppy dirt surface, which often brings about a number of scratches.

“Without Calder, the smart approach would be to put in a synthetic track at Gulfstream and have three surfaces,” said Butler, who was this week’s Green Group Guest of the Week. “We are all aware that we have an amazing turf course. But, using it that much, it does get cut up. And should the weather change, which it often does in Florida, that can decimate a card. These cards can get blown apart. There’s now so many scratches that these cards can become mediocre.”

Butler, who had been working primarily at Santa Anita, recently took on the added role of overseeing the operation at Gulfstream. He said the idea to put in a Tapeta surface was first raised by Gulfstream executives Mike Lakow and Billy Badgett.

“This was Billy and Mike’s idea, that we maybe could get a Tapeta track in there as part of the turf course,” he said. You would then have the perfect three surfaces. That would rest up the turf a little bit. And should the weather change, it would give you a lot of options to keep turf races together. Also, from a safety standpoint, it would be nice to have more than one surface for training in the mornings. This would be a way of approaching the needs that have arisen with the closing of Calder. Calder gave us a break because it gave the turf at Gulfstream Park a rest.”

Gulfstream would become the first North American track to have all three types of racing surfaces–dirt, turf, synthetic–in use at one time.

During his appearance, Butler touched on a number of subjects, including the widely-praised decision to end the post time drag at Gulfstream.

“We all understand that on certain days, on certain races, on certain betting events, like a mandatory payout day on the Pick Six, having a drag gives people more time to get their bets in, and that’s a good thing,” he said. “It can help the handle. There are people who have really studied this. When the drag becomes the norm, it removes any upside or positivity. In the end, I thought all it was doing was to make us look unprofessional. How can you be Gulfstream, in my estimation a track that is as good as any in the world, and not even get the fundamentals of running on time down right?”

In the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, the writers reviewed last week’s major races, including the GI Cigar Mile, weighed in Chad Brown posting comments on Twitter criticizing Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey and addressed the latest problems with the Gmax timing system.

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Mr. Buff Takes Short Turnaround Into Saturday’s Alex M. Robb Stakes

Multiple stakes winner Mr. Buff returns off short rest in Saturday's $100,000 Alex M. Robb, a nine-furlong test for New York-breds 3-years-old and up at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by John Kimmel, Mr. Buff ran a distant fifth in Saturday's Grade 1 Cigar Mile Handicap contested over a sloppy track at the Big A after scoring against his Empire State-bred counterparts in the Empire Classic on Empire Showcase Day, October 24 at Belmont Park.

Owned and bred by Chester and Mary Broman, Mr. Buff will look for his third straight Alex M. Robb score. He notched the first of his nine stakes triumphs in the 2018 edition by a nose over Twisted Tom. Last year, he was an emphatic 7 ½-length victor of the Alex M. Robb over Dynamax Prime.

Mr. Buff has amassed the highest amount of lifetime earnings in the field, banking $1,220,786 with a career record of 41-15-7-4. In addition to the last two runnings of the Alex M. Robb, Mr. Buff owns victories in the Jazil in back-to-back years and the Haynesfield, which he won last year by 20 lengths while garnering a 106 Beyer Speed Figure.

Kimmel said Mr. Buff exited the Cigar Mile in good order.

“His energy level was quite high. He actually seems quite full of himself,” Kimmel said. “I'm not committed to running. We'll get a couple more gallop days into him. The exercise rider [Jorge Munoz] that has been on him says he feels extremely energetic. He seems to be doing fine.”

Should he opt out of the Alex M. Robb, Kimmel said the nine-furlong $100,000 Queens County on December 19 at the Big A against open company would be another option for Mr. Buff.

Kendrick Carmouche, the recently concluded Big A fall meet's leading rider, piloted Mr. Buff to his maiden victory in September 2016 at Belmont Park. He will be reunited with the talented New York-bred from post 4.

Christophe Clement, fresh off earning his first New York training title at the Aqueduct fall meet, will send City Man back to action after a triumphant stakes encounter in the open company Gio Ponti on November 27 over the inner turf at the Big A.

Owned by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Peter Searles and Patty Searles, the sophomore son of Mucho Macho Man made his fourth career start on grass a winning one last out. He won last year's Funny Cide in August 2019 one the Saratoga Race Course main track by 4 ¾ lengths.

“It seems to be the nature of his sire. He's putting out as good of dirt horses as he is turf horses,” said Dean Reeves of Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, who also campaigned Mucho Macho Man. “This is a nice horse. I was happy for him to come back and win the way he did. He had been running well, we just weren't getting the job done, so I was happy to see him notch a stakes win. Personally, I think he'll get better in his 4-year-old season. There's a lot of upside side to him.”

In winning the Gio Ponti, City Man ended a seven-race losing streak, which included a close fourth in the Grade 3 Transylvania at Keeneland, marking his lone graded stakes start to date. He has never finished worst than fourth through a consistent 10-3-2-1 record.

“When I watch him, I still think he's a little immature,” Reeves said. “He wants to run up to the leaders all of a sudden and then wait on them. Once he grows out of that, he can go by them and finish a little stronger. He's an exciting horse. It's really nice to have a horse where you can think dirt and turf.”

City Man, bred in New York by Moonstar Farm, is out of the City Zip mare City Scamper. He was purchased for $185,000 from the OBS April Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.

City Man will exit post 3 with Manny Franco aboard.

Clement also will send out Waterville Lake Stable's Sea Foam, who seeks his fourth career stakes triumph.

The homebred 5-year-old son of Medaglia d'Oro, out of the graded-stakes winning Unbridled's Song mare Strike It Rich, won the Notebook at the Big A during his juvenile campaign and picked up wins in the New York Derby at Finger Lakes and the Albany at Saratoga the following year.

Sea Foam has notched three allowance wins since then, including two against open company. He was third last out to Mr. Buff in the Empire Classic.

Joel Rosario will ride Sea Foam from post 1.

Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing's Bankit seeks his first triumph since last year's New York Derby for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. The son of Central Banker, bred by Hidden Brook Farm and Blue Devil Racing, has gone winless in 11 starts this season. He has been stakes-placed on six occasions this year, including two runner-up placings at Oaklawn Park, where he was a head shy of victory in the Fifth Season and Grade 3 Razorback. Bankit was a last-out third to Funny Guy in the NYSSS Thunder Rumble on November 22 at the Big A.

Jockey Jose Lezcano will be aboard from post 6.

Completing the field are four-time winner Yankee Division [post 2, Jorge Vargas, Jr.], and Noda Brothers' Miner's Mark winner Danny California [post 5, Luis Castro Rodgriguez].

The Alex M. Robb is slated as Race 8 on Aqueduct's nine-race program, which offers a first post of 12:20 p.m. Eastern.

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New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program Awarded 2020 Lavin Cup By AAEP

New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program, the largest racehorse adoption charity in the United States, received the 2020 Lavin Cup from the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP).

Known as the AAEP's equine welfare award, the Lavin Cup recognizes a non-veterinary organization or individual that has distinguished itself through service to improve the welfare of horses. New Vocations was recognized Dec. 9 during the AAEP's 2020 Annual Convention & Trade Show, held virtually.

Founded in 1992, New Vocations' mission to rehabilitate, retrain and rehome retired racehorses has led to the placement of over 7,000 individuals, with nearly 500 retirees served by the program each year. With facilities in five states—Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Louisiana—New Vocations serves over 40 racetracks, working directly with owners and trainers in need of equine aftercare options.

“New Vocations has a longstanding commitment to the health and welfare of the equine athletes that deserve help in transitioning to a healthy and productive second career,” said co-nominators Dr. Jeff Berk and Dr. Wesley Sutter. “In every sense, they have partnered with us, the equine veterinarians who seek the same goals for our patients.”

Despite COVID-19-related shutdowns in the spring that prevented potential adopters from visiting New Vocations' farms in person, the charity found suitable homes for a record number of horses in April and May through social media. Potential adopters undergo a thorough application process, and as adopters' circumstances may change, New Vocations remains committed to each horse with a lifetime open-door policy for returns.

For more information about New Vocations, visit https://www.newvocations.org.

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