December, 2020 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Gosden Runner Disqualified For Medication Positive

John Gosden was on Tuesday fined £1,000 and his Royal Line (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) disqualified from his third-place finish in last year’s G2 British Champions Long Distance Cup. Royal Line tested positive for the anti-inflammatory Triamcinolone Acetonide (TCA) post race.

Racing Post reports that Gosden stated at a hearing on Tuesday that Royal Line received 15 milligrams of the medication Adcortyl, which contains TCA, in both hind fetlocks 17 days out from the 2019 Long Distance Cup, which is outside the 14-day mandatory stand-down period for the medication introduced in 2015. Gosden said he accepted responsibility for the positive test but said he feels trainers and veterinarians need greater guidance from the BHA, which does not have a published detection time for TCA.

“The BHA does not provide detection time for intra-articular corticosteroid because it recognises the difficulty in establishing reliable ones,” Gosden said in his pre-submitted statement to the panel. “It abdicates almost all responsibility in this matter, leaving vets at the coalface with the lingering feeling that they are in effect conducting clinical trials for the regulator and suffering the consequences along with their clients of any adverse analytical finding. TCA is the most commonly used intra-articular corticosteroid in the equine practice. It has been shown in peer review studies to have therapeutic protective effects on articular cartilage–it does not destroy the cartilage.

“I’m very conservative with my use of any medication and the horse’s welfare is paramount. I followed all guidelines and advice and the negative publicity from this matter reflects badly on the trainer, the highly respected Newmarket Equine Hospital practice and inevitably damages the image of racing. I feel exceptionally let down by this process.”

Gosden added, “What I’m really asking is that the BHA, who are doing a fine job of policing our racing, give us more help on this matter. There’s no point recalibrating [testing] machines and literally just trying to trap us all. Something we’ve done for 25-30 years is suddenly no longer correct. I do feel I’m walking in a minefield now. I fully accept the findings, he had it in his system, but I do worry very much for our future as to quite how we’re meant to manage this situation. I would prefer a more collegiate approach with the BHA where we work together.”

The BHA panel said they did not suspect anything untoward in this case, but the rules of strict liability led to the fine and disqualification.

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TCA Stallion Season Auction Set for January

Thoroughbred Charities of America will hold its 31st Annual Stallion Season Auction from Wednesday, Jan. 6 through Tuesday, Jan. 12, TCA announced Tuesday. It is the largest annual fundraiser for the nonprofit organization. The fundraiser opens with an online auction of stallion seasons beginning at 9 a.m. EST Jan. 6 and continues through 4:30 p.m. EST Jan. 8. Over 150 seasons will be available for online bidding including ones from Ghostzapper, Liam’s Map, Palace Malice, More Than Ready, Speightstown, and Gun Runner. A full list of seasons is available here.

The majority of the seasons will sell during the online auction, however select seasons including Blame, Constitution, Curlin, Game Winner, Laoban, Nyquist (with 2022 breed back), and Quality Road will be sold in a live auction in the Keeneland Sales Pavilion Jan. 12 at the close of session two, book one of the January sale. Bidders or their authorized agents may bid on the select seasons in person at Keeneland or they may contact TCA at ecrady@tca.org or 859-276-4989 to bid online or by phone.

A silent auction of non-season items including halters worn by Enable and Tapit, a John Deere X330 lawn tractor, equine air transportation aboard a Tex Sutton flight, vanning from Sallee and Brook Ledge, and much more will be available for online bidding. A list of silent auction items is available here with more items added frequently.

The auction is generously sponsored by Rosenberg Thoroughbred Consulting, Limestone Bank, Coolmore America, Keeneland, BloodHorse, Paulick Report, and Thoroughbred Daily News. For further information regarding the 31st annual TCA Stallion Season Auction please visit tca.org or call (859) 276-4989.

The post TCA Stallion Season Auction Set for January appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Lost And Found Presented By LubriSynHA: Pickleball Replaces Ponies For Former Jockey Lively

Nearly three decades after riding in his final race, John Lively is still competitive, still athletic and still enjoying camaraderie. Instead of the racetrack, he and his wife Pat have found those same elements in playing pickleball, a hybrid of tennis, table tennis, and badminton.

“We play two, three, sometimes four hours a day,” he said. “We feel that it is good for our health to stay active and fit. It is fun and we enjoy meeting other people. It is very big in Florida and Arizona where we used to spend the winters and it is getting bigger all the time.”

The Livelys, married since 1961, now reside in Hot Springs, Ark., where their daughter, Patrice, works for the Arkansas Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association. Their son David has made a career as an assistant to nationally ranked trainers.

Lively's resume has 3,468 victories, including the 1976 Preakness Stakes aboard Elocutionist, who he guided to a third-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. His trophy collection includes the 1990 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award that “honors riders whose careers and personal character earn esteem for the individual and the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing.”

“At the time and still today it means an awful lot simply because I was elected by my fellow riders who I was competing against day in and day out,” he said. “It is meaningful that they chose me as a good role model even away from the racetrack.”

A regular at Oaklawn Park in winter, Ak-Sar-Ben in Omaha in summer and other tracks such as Louisiana Downs, Keeneland and Churchill Downs in between, Lively pocketed many riding titles while keeping steady statistics throughout his career. Recognizing that his opportunities were starting to dwindle, he strategically retired with no regrets.

“If I had still been winning two or three races a day, I would not have been ready but I was ready for something different,” he said.

That something different was far removed from Thoroughbred racing.

“We are both from northeast Oklahoma and we went back there and went into the cattle raising business,” he said. “Then an opportunity came along for a poultry raising operation. We did that for about three years along with the cattle. Then we got out of that and retired completely.”

They sold their house and traveled the country in their motor home for 10 years of summer sightseeing and winter sojourns in Arizona or Florida. While in Arizona in 2014, Lively developed health issues that affected his balance. The condition eventually was brought under control with medication and physical therapy but concern about relapses inspired them to cease traveling and move to Rogers, Ark. In 2019 they settled in Hot Springs, where Lively will occasionally go to the Oaklawn Park races to see old friends. He also gets that opportunity in various celebrations such as the inductions of former jockeys Tim Doocy and Ken Shino into the Nebraska Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame earlier this year. (Lively was inducted in 1979.)

A few win pictures decorate their home, most notably his scores on Bold Ego in the 1981 Arkansas Derby, Lets Dont Fight in the 1981 Arlington-Washington Futurity and Billy Jane in the 1980 Apple Blossom Handicap. Other winner's circle photos are kept out of sight but within easy reach to bring back memories of the workaday Thoroughbreds and people that blended to make traveling racetrackers a community. He especially notes the fraternity amongst the jockeys.

“Each and every one of us knows what we all went through to pursue this and be successful,” he said. “You know how tough it is for yourself, so it forms a bond knowing we all struggled to get there. And we spent so much time together. We were around each other in the mornings getting on horses and then in the jocks' room all afternoon every day. Some of us were around each other more than we were our own families.”

Family played a key behind-the-scenes role in Lively's success and life in general thanks to pickleball partner.

“Pat has kept me grounded and been a wonderful support even before I became a jockey,” he said. “It took me a long time to break in as a jockey. I rode in match races at (informal) 'bush' tracks but it was years before I got started at a pari-mutuel track. And she was wonderful about raising our kids more or less by herself while I was away riding and she would join me when the kids were out of school. Pat was very supportive the whole time — whatever I wanted to do, whatever ever I wanted to try, she was there.”

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‘My Freedom Only Really Came When I Asked For Help’: Da Silva Opens Up About Addiction In New Book

Former jockey Eurico Rosa da Silva has just released his new book entitled Riding For Freedom. The book follows his journey from a young boy with a big dream in a poor country to a seven-time recipient of Canada's outstanding jockey award, according to Canadian Thoroughbred. The crux of the book, however, lies in the inner demons that he battled along the way.

“When the opportunity came, I left,” da Silva said in an interview with Peter Gross on his podcast, Down The Stretch. “When I started riding in São Paulo, I was very lucky. I started winning a lot of races right away, making a lot of money. I started in Canada and I was successful. My freedom only really came when I asked for help.”

Da Silva retired from his career as a professional jockey a year ago to help athletes with their mental performance. The 45-year-old husband and father of two children now strives to help people with problems similar to his own. He opened up in his interview with Gross about his addictions and how he insisted that the book include them.

“I was a chronic sex addict and a chronic gambler, and I am not afraid to say that,” da Silva said to Gross. “My goal with my book is to motivate people to go for help.”