Although horse racing remains a largely male-dominated world, women continue to break down barriers as jockeys, trainers, owners, and breeders. Here are a few notable women who played a role in shaping the sport of kings in the United States. Laska Durnell — In 1904, Durnell became the first woman to own a Kentucky Derby starter and winner with Elwood. Elwood was the first Derby runner owned by a woman and also the first bred by a woman, Mrs. J.B. Prather.
Month: December 2020
View From the Eighth Pole: Truth Or Consequences
I've been observing the “lads” at Coolmore Stud in Ireland and at their Kentucky farm, Ashford, for more than 30 years. They have revolutionized the bloodstock world, maximized stallion revenue, and elevated customer service and marketing.
Through early identification and acquisition of promising stud prospects, embracing large books for their stallions (including no small number of their own mares), and shuttling them to Australia or South America for dual hemisphere breeding seasons, Coolmore and Ashford can “get out” financially on many of these horses before their first foals hit the racetrack.
In a business where nine out of 10 new stallions will fail to sustain or increase their initial value, it's highly advantageous for a stud farm to break even or show a modest profit before the marketplace has a chance to see whether or not a horse's offspring can run.
Yet the lads aren't perfect. No one is.
I was reminded of that when I saw their recent advertisement for first-year stallion Maximum Security. It was, without a doubt, the most unconventional stallion ad I've ever seen.
Under the banner, “MAXIMUM SECURITY – the facts,” the ad began normally enough, citing races won, achievements, and awards.
Then it gets weird. Bullet point No. 12 in the ad states: “NEVER TESTED POSITIVE for an illegal or prohibited substance during his career despite comprehensive testing at the world's best laboratories.”
That statement is true (though I might disagree that post-race testing for all of his races was done at “the world's best laboratories.”). But let's remember how many times cheating cyclist Lance Armstrong said he'd never failed a drug test: “Twenty-plus-year career, 500 drug controls worldwide, in and out of competition. Never a failed test. I rest my case,” he said in May 2011, a little more than a year before he was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles because of doping.
But wait, there's more.
In addition to a complimentary quote from Bob Baffert, who trained Maximum Security for the second half of his 4-year-old campaign in 2020, there is this closing argument: “MAXIMUM SECURITY is a bona fine CHAMPION that raced on water, hay, oats & fresh air!”
Everyone knows what this is about.
Less than three months after the announcement that Coolmore had purchased a significant share in the racing and breeding interests of Maximum Security – who was voted an Eclipse Award winner as outstanding 3-year-old male of 2019 – the colt's trainer, Jason Servis was among those rounded up and arrested by the FBI as part of a broad multi-year investigation into doping of racehorses in the United States.
The indictment states that Servis and co-conspirators “concealed the administration of PEDs from federal and state government agencies, racing officials, and the betting public by, among other things, concealing and covertly transporting PEDs between barns where Servis' racehorses were stabled, falsifying veterinary bills to conceal the administration of SGF-1000, and using fake prescriptions.”
Even worse, there were specific references to Maximum Security in the March charging document and the superseding indictment filed Nov. 5.
“Jason Servis, the defendant, was the trainer for a particularly successful racehorse, 'Maximum Security,' that briefly placed first at the Kentucky Derby on May 4, 2019, before racing officials disqualified the horse for interference,” the superseding indictment states.
“Following the Kentucky Derby,” it continues, “Maximum Security continued to compete in high-profile races, including in Oceanport, New Jersey. Servis worked with (veterinarians) Kristian Rhein and Alexander Chan, the defendants, among others, to procure and administer adulterated and misbranded PEDs, including the adulterated and misbranded PED SGF-1000 and invalidly administered Clenbuterol, for the purpose of doping several racehorses under Servis' control, including Maximum Security.”
The FBI intercepted a March 5, 2019, phone call between Servis and co-defendant Jorge Navarro in which Servis is heard recommending SGF-1000 to Navarro, adding, “I've been using it on everything almost.” Navarro allegedly admitted also giving SGF-1000 to some of his horses, then ended the call, saying: “I don't want to talk about this shit on the phone, OK.”
The indictment states that SGF-1000 is a “customized PED purportedly containing 'growth factors,' including fibroblast growth factor and heptocyte growth factor, which are intended to promote tissue repair and increase a racehorse's stamina and endurance beyond its natural capability.”
So it appears, based on the indictment, that Maximum Security was getting a little something more than the “water, hay, oats, and fresh air” claim in the ad.
No one is suggesting original owners Gary and Mary West or the Coolmore partners who bought into the horse had any knowledge of what is documented in the indictment.
The Maximum Security ad also includes an excerpt from a story in the Thoroughbred Daily News stating Servis may have been buying “some fake PEDs” from Chan and Rhein, based on comments from prosecutors at a pre-trial hearing.
The arrest of Servis came just over a week after Maximum Security had won the inaugural running of the $20-million Saudi Cup. The Saudis have yet to pay the purse money, pending the outcome of what they said is their own investigation into Servis. More likely, they're waiting to see what happens in court.
That could take a while. There is another pre-trial conference scheduled on May 14, 2021.
Maximum Security did win two of his four post-Servis starts while trained by Baffert, including the G1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar. He was retired following a fifth-place performance in the G1 Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland, finishing behind two Baffert barnmates – winner Authentic and runner-up Improbable – Global Campaign, and Tacitus. He beat race favorite Tiz the Law.
I'm not going to knock Maximum Security, who could turn out to be a great success at stud. As the late Hall of Fame trainer Charlie Whittingham is often quoted as saying, “Never say anything bad about a horse until he's been dead at least 10 years.”
But we know from other sports that suspected cheating has consequences. Barry Bonds, Major League Baseball's all-time leading home run hitter and single-season record holder, has been shut out of the Baseball Hall of Fame. So, too, have Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGwire, all with Hall of Fame qualifications but accused of using steroids. None failed a drug test.
Servis (and by way of extension Maximum Security) is innocent until proven guilty, but the charges against him and the others named in the case are serious. If Servis is found guilty, no amount of spin is going to chase the dark clouds away from his most accomplished horse.
That's my view from the eighth pole.
The post View From the Eighth Pole: Truth Or Consequences appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Santa Anita Sets Wagering Menu For Upcoming Winter-Spring Meet
With its highly anticipated Winter/Spring Meeting opener set for Saturday, December 26, Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., has announced a comprehensive betting menu that will again feature the popular 20 cent Single Ticket Rainbow Pick 6 Jackpot and a myriad of other features, including a North American-low takeout of 15.43 percent on all two dollar Win, Place and Show wagers.
Although Santa Anita remains closed to the public due to continued restrictions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, fans can watch all of the track's live races free of charge via santaanita.com/live and can watch and wager on Santa Anita racing via a variety of ADW platforms including 1st.com/Bet.
In addition to the 20 cent Rainbow 6, Santa Anita will again offer the 50 cent Early Pick 5, which features a low 14 percent takeout, as well as the 50 cent Late Pick 5.
With the Jackpot provision in place, the 20 cent Single Ticket Rainbow Pick 6 requires a perfect single ticket in order to key a potentially life changing payoff. Providing there is no single ticket winner, consolation tickets with the highest number of winners receive a payoff on 70 percent of the net pool. The remaining 30 percent is carried over to a Jackpot pool, which will continue to accrue until there is a single ticket winner or there is a designated mandatory payoff day.
The $1 Stronach 5 will again be offered each Friday and will consist of a fast paced series of five races from Santa Anita, Gulfstream Park, Laurel Park and Golden Gate Fields. The Stronach 5 offers players a low takeout of 12 percent.
Santa Anita will also continue to offer the $5 Golden Hour Double, and the $1 Golden Hour Pick 4. Both wagers embrace late races at both Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields.
On most race days, there will be an Early and Late 50 cent Pick 4. On opening day, and all other days on which 11 races are carded, there will also be a 50 cent Mid-Pick 4. With 11 races on opening day, this Saturday, the Early Pick 4 will start with Race 2, the Mid-4 with Race 5 and the Late Pick 4 will start with Race 8.
Players will also once again be offered one dollar exactas, two dollar rolling Daily Doubles, 50 cent rolling Pick 3s, as well as 10 cent Superfectas on all races with a minimum of six runners.
Additionally, the One Dollar Super High 5 is again available in all races with seven or more declared starters. The wager is available on all races that have seven or more declared starters. There is a 100 percent payout on all tickets selecting five winners, no consolation and a 100 percent carryover to the next race (including to the next day, if applicable).
Special early first post time on opening day, Saturday, Dec. 26, is at 11 a.m. For additional information, please visit santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.
The post Santa Anita Sets Wagering Menu For Upcoming Winter-Spring Meet appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
‘Steele’ An OTTB Ambassador For Endurance Riding
The old adage of “slow and steady wins the race” may just be true with the racing career of Casey's Lear. The daughter of Musketier (GER) finished last in a field of nine under Churchill Down's famed twin spires in her first and only start, a maiden claiming race for 2-year-old fillies. The striking grey then made her way to TAA-accredited Second Stride to find a more suitable job.
Looking for a new endurance mount, Dixie Kendall was immediately taken by what she saw about Casey's Lear—first, her beautiful coat; and second, that she had some trail experience. The decision was an easy one for Kendall, who brought Casey's Lear home and appropriately renamed her “Steele.”
“Steele is everything I ever wanted in a horse and truly encompasses the example of a 'heart horse,'” she said.
While racing on the track wasn't in the cards for Steele, the mare has taken to the longer races of sport of endurance riding. As Steele and Kendall rack up their miles—they have completed two 25-mile rides and recently finished a 50-mile ride—Kendall has her sights set high for their future.
“My primary goal is that Steele will someday earn the AERC (American Endurance Ride Conference) Equine Longevity Award and we will earn the Decade Team Award,” she said. “Those titles are awarded to the horse and rider that have completed at least one 50-mile endurance ride for 10 years or more. I also hope to complete 100-mile rides with Steele, including Big Horn and Tevis (Western States Trail Ride), as well as earning Best Condition awards at future endurance rides.”
Working toward those goals, Kendall knows the important role Steele plays as an ambassador of the Thoroughbred breed at her competitions.
“I purchased Steele for the purpose of promoting the Thoroughbred breed in the sport of endurance racing,” she said. “Steele has proven to be a once-in-a-lifetime horse and continues to amaze me with her abilities.”
Read more at the TAA.
The post ‘Steele’ An OTTB Ambassador For Endurance Riding appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
