February, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

HHR Bill Introduced in Kentucky State Senate

Kentucky State Senator John Schickel and Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers introduced Senate Bill 120 into the Kentucky State legislature late Tuesday with the goal of keeping historical horse racing in Kentucky and ensuring the future of Kentucky's signature equine industry.

“KEEP applauds Senator Schickel and Senate President Stivers for Introducing Senate Bill 120, Legislation to Keep Historical Horse Racing in Kentucky,” read a KEEP press release issued late yesterday.

“In response to the Supreme Court's ruling on historical horse racing, the legislation will define pari-mutuel wagering to be consistent with how the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has regulated live racing for decades and historical horse racing for the last 10 years. The legislation also reaffirms that only pari-mutuel wagering on simulcasts of live racing can occur at simulcast facilities. In effect, this maintains the status quo that Kentucky has known for the last decade, ensuring HHR venues can continue or resume operations that are so beneficial to the horse industry and statewide economy.

“This effort is about preserving a system of wagering we've known for live racing for decades and historical horse racing for the last 10 years,” Schickel said last week, as he prepared to introduce the legislation. “This is about maintaining the status quo. Our immediate action as legislators is critical to protecting current and future jobs and economic development across the Commonwealth.”

A ruling in September by the Kentucky Supreme Court stipulated that many of the state's machines do not constitute pari-mutuel wagering and were therefore not allowed. It also required that legislation be introduced to uphold the existing definition of the games as pari-mutuel before the end of the legislative session Mar. 30. The original lawsuit against HHR was brought by the Family Foundation, a conservative organization opposed to gambling and its expansion. Members of the racing industry argue that the loss of revenue would be crippling to racing in Kentucky.

“We applaud Sen. Schickel for championing Senate Bill 120, which will keep historical horse racing in Kentucky and protect critical jobs, economic investment and state revenue at a time when they are needed most,” said the statement from KEEP. “We also thank Senate President Stivers for his support as a co-sponsor of this important legislation. The Kentucky Supreme Court gave the General Assembly clear direction to preserve the status quo, and SB 120 gives us a path forward.

“Historical horse racing is an integral part of Kentucky's signature equine industry and our economy as a whole and has helped position Kentucky as a worldwide leader in racing. With real jobs and investment on the line, we urge the members of the Senate Licensing and Occupations Committee to promptly move this legislation forward so that the commonwealth can continue to benefit from historical horse racing, now and in the years to come.”

SB 120 is set to be heard in the Senate Licensing and Occupations Committee at 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 4.

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Crew Dragon Proves Ready to Launch

Kinsman Stable's Crew Dragon (Exaggerator) overcame a case of third-itis and plenty of traffic trouble to graduate by a gritty neck when trying nine furlongs for the first time at Gulfstream Park Sunday for trainer Bill Mott.

“Our team was very impressed with the gameness he showed fighting through horses to get them at the wire,” Kevin Adler, Kinsman's Vice President and Director of Racing, said. “Bill has liked this horse since the summer and Crew Dragon showed his versatility by getting the mile and an eighth.”

The Steinbrenner family's Kinsman Farm purchased Crew Dragon for $110,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September sale.

“[Kinsman President] Jessica Steinbrenner takes our team to Keeneland to try and buy a few athletes at a reasonable price to send to Ocala to train on her farm,” Adler said. “Crew Dragon had a nice athletic walk, good conformation in front, good shoulder, was decent size with an early birthday [Jan. 23], so physically he checked our boxes. We also liked that he is by Exaggerator from a female family with Distorted Humor in the third dam, so the bloodlines were there as well.”

Crew Dragon is the first foal out of Go Go Dana, a half-sister to graded stakes winner Liam's Dream (Liam's Map). His third dam is Danzig's Beauty (Danzig), dam of Distorted Humor.

The original plan was to offer the colt at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale last spring. That was until the coronavirus pandemic intervened.

“[Kinsman Farm's Ocala-based trainer] Emily Dawson has done a great job getting the babies to the sales the past few years and Crew Dragon was training nicely on the farm early,” Adler said. “So we had the intention of taking him to the sale down at Gulfstream. The pandemic forced Fasig-Tipton to cancel the sale, leaving us to navigate around all the changes to the sale dates. We were stuck in limbo not knowing if we would have any sales, so we babied him along, making sure he was sound and happy. Once we had firm dates, we were able to get him ready to send him over to the OBS sale in June to see how he would perform. He breezed well, galloped out strong and vetted clean, so our team decided that we would take the chance and run him. So a few days later, he was on a van to Bill Mott.”

Crew Dragon opened his racing career three months later, closing from off the pace to be third without challenging the top two while going one mile over the Belmont turf Sept. 18. Closer to the pace in his next start, he was unable to keep pace with runaway winner Original (Quality Road) when third again going 1 1/16 miles over the Aqueduct turf. He raced greenly to be third again going that same distance at Gulfstream Park Jan. 2.

“His first two races in New York were encouraging enough, but his third kind of disappointed us, even though he ran against what looks like two really nice horses,” Adler said. “Turf racing is tough, so you have to be patient with the young horses as they are still figuring out how to race and compete.”

Crew Dragon finally put it all together Sunday. Behind a wall of horses at the top of the lane, the handsome chestnut gamely surged between foes when he finally found daylight and just got up in the shadow of the wire for a determined victory.

“Very exciting to watch for sure,” Adler said of Sunday's effort. “You would love to have a barn full of horses with the guts he displayed.”

As for where Crew Dragon might start next, Adler said, “We have been doing this for quite a few years and one thing we have learned is it is best we let the Hall of Famer Bill Mott make those decisions.”

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Knicks Go ‘In Great Shape’ After Pegasus Romp, Headed To Saudi Cup

Newly-minted champion trainer Brad Cox has been watching Pegasus World Cup winner Knicks Go very closely over the past week, and told the Thoroughbred Daily News that so long as all goes well with the Korea Racing Authority-owned colt's next breeze, he will be headed to Saudi Arabia for the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 20.

“The owners would like to go to the Saudi Cup and they've made that clear,” Cox told the TDN. “I looked for a reason not to run him back in four weeks and he's given me no indication that would not be a good idea. That's why I've said I want to see him breeze one more time before we put him on a plane. He really rebounded from the Pegasus in great shape and in good order. He's not giving me any reason to not run him, so we're going to press forward.”

Plans call for Knicks Go to be shipped out on Monday, Feb. 8, and a strong showing in Saudi Arabia could lead the team to remain overseas for the $12 million Dubai World Cup on Mar. 27.

The 5-year-old son of Paynter first showed his talent with a win in the G1 Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland in 2018, then a runner-up finish in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile. He did not see the winner's circle again until transferred to Cox's care in 2020, when he won a pair of allowance races and the G1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. Following his dominant showing in the G1 Pegasus World Cup, Knicks Go's record stands at six wins, three seconds and a third from 18 starts with earnings of $3,088,995.

Also expected to make the trip to Saudi Arabia for the $20 million race are G1 Malibu winner Charlatan (Bob Baffert) and multiple G1-placed Tacitus (Bill Mott).

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

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OBS Catalogs 561 Juveniles for March Sale

The catalog for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's 2021 March Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training is now available via the OBS website and can be viewed here.

A total of 561 juveniles have been cataloged for the two-day sale, set for Tuesday and Wednesday, Mar. 16-17, with both sessions beginning at 11:00 a.m. Hips 1-282 will sell Tuesday and Hips 283-563 Wednesday. The Under Tack Show will span three days, beginning Thursday, Mar. 11 with Hips 1-188. Hips 189-376 will breeze Friday, Mar. 12 and Hips 377-563 will go Saturday, Mar. 13. All three sessions will begin at 8:00 a.m. The Under Tack Show and Sale will be streamed live via the OBS website as well as the TDN, DRF, Blood-Horse and Past The Wire websites.

OBS will again offer Online Bidding during the March Sale. Buyers will be able to go to the OBS website and register to gain bidding approval, then access the OBS Bidding Screen with their credentials. For complete information on registration and online bidding please go to the OBS website.

The online catalog's main page contains a link to a sortable master index providing searchable pedigree and consignor information as well as access to pedigree updates occurring since the catalog was printed. Advanced search and filter capability has been added to allow shortlist creation. A link to instructions for using the new features can be found in the index header and a step-by-step tutorial is available in the index as well.

The iPad version of the catalog can be accessed via the equineline Sales Catalog App. The App allows users to download and view the catalog, receive updates and results, record notes and also provides innovative search, sort and rating capability. For more information and downloads go to: http://www.equineline.com/SalesCatalogApp/.

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