Month: February 2021

Ryan Elected President Of Consignors And Commercial Breeders Association

The new officers and board members for the Consignors and Commercial Breeders Association (CBA) were installed at its most recent meeting.

Allaire Ryan of Lane's End Farm will serve as president, Walker Hancock of Claiborne Farm has been named vice president and Mark Taylor of Taylor Made Farm will serve as treasurer. Outgoing president Gray Lyster will continue to serve the organization as past president.

The board consists of 15 members: eight from the Top 20 consignors and seven from other consignors and commercial breeders. Each year, a portion of the board rotates off and new board members are appointed to fill those positions from among eligible CBA members.

The current board members from the Top 20 consignors are: Conrad Bandoroff, Denali Stud; Carrie Brogden, Machmer Hall Sales; Neal Clarke, Atlas Farm/Bedouin Bloodstock; Liz Crow, ELiTE Sales; Walker Hancock, Claiborne Farm; Adrian Regan, Hunter Valley Farm; Allaire Ryan, Lane's End Farm and Mark Taylor, Taylor Made Farm.

Board members from other consignors/commercial breeders are: Tom Hamm, Three Chimneys Farm; Ben Henley, Airdrie Stud; Derek MacKenzie, Vinery Sales; Zach Madden, Buckland Sales; Gray Lyster, Ashview Farm; Mark Toothaker, Spendthrift Farm and Sean Tugel, Gainesway Farm.

“The CBA owes a debt of gratitude to outgoing president Gray Lyster for the time and service he dedicated to this organization and I'm delighted he will continue to contribute to our cause as past president,” Ryan said. “The CBA is a vital body in today's marketplace, and I am motivated to achieve the goals we have set in order to maintain the best sales environment possible for consignors and breeders.”

The CBA is a trade organization with more than 300 members. The association's membership accounts for over 80 percent of the annual auction revenue in North America, as either breeder or consignor. The CBA works democratically on behalf of every consignor and commercial breeder, large and small, to provide representation and a constructive, unified voice related to sales issues, policies and procedures. The Association's initiatives are designed to encourage a fair and expanding marketplace for all who breed, buy or sell thoroughbreds.

The association was founded in 2005 and is based in Lexington, Ky.

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With 140-Mare Cap Of Its Own, Harness Industry Weighs In On Farms Suing Jockey Club

When the United States Trotting Association (USTA), the breed registry for standardbred racing in the U.S., proposed in 2006 limiting the number of mares a stallion could be bred to, Russell Williams, who then was a member of the USTA Board, prepared for an impending storm. He knew some breeders would be unhappy and there would likely be lawsuits looking to overturn the rule. But Williams, who is also an attorney, never wavered, confident that, in the end, the legal system would side with the USTA.

He was right. The USTA's plan to limit a stallion's book to 140 mares went into effect with sires debuting in 2009 or later. Williams, now the president of the USTA, said that legal efforts to overturn the new rule “went nowhere.”

With that in mind, Williams said he believes The Jockey Club will come out on the winning end of a dispute that now looks like it is headed to court. On Tuesday, it was announced that Spendthrift Farm, Three Chimneys Farm and Ashford Stud have brought suit against The Jockey Club over its attempt to limit the books of any stallion born in 2020 or later. The Jockey Club is also seeking to cap the number of mares a stallion can be bred to at 140. The litigants have said that The Jockey Club's decision is a “blatant abuse of power.”

“My advice to The Jockey Club would be to stay the course and do what is in the best interests of the breed,” Williams said. “I think that when it's all said and done, they will be fine.”

Williams is also the president of Hanover Shoe Farms, by far the leading breeder in the sport of harness racing. Hanover had more to lose under the new rule than any other entity for the support, but Williams was among those leading the call for change. At the time, a handful of stallions were dominating the breeding industry and Williams was among those who felt the lack of diversity in the gene pool was affecting the overall health of the breed.

“We had to put the best interests of the breed ahead of the temporary financial interests of Hanover,” he said. “We've been here for 95 years and I'd like for us to be here for another 95 years.”

Not everyone saw it that way. Williams said antitrust lawsuits were filed alleging restraint of trade by the USTA and that he was among those deposed. He said that once the depositions began, it became clear that the plaintiffs had no case against the USTA, and the lawsuits were dropped. This came after the USTA consulted with lawyers who told Williams and others that the new regulations did not violate any antitrust laws.

Williams says that the USTA's position then was that the stallion cap was not done for commercial reasons but rather for scientific reasons that would benefit the industry. Under that premise, Williams said, the courts had no basis for striking down limits on breeding.

The 140-mare cap in harness racing came after the USTA commissioned a study by Dr. Gus Cothran of the University of Kentucky. Cothran concluded that the standardbred gene pool was becoming less diverse, and that the breed would suffer in the future because of that lack of diversity.

Alan Leavitt, the president of Walnut Hall Ltd., a standardbred breeding operation in Lexington, said that Cothran's study went a long way toward proving the USTA's point, that the science made it clear that the breed would continue to be negatively impacted if some limits to the book sizes were not implemented. The Jockey Club has never circulated a similar study, which, Leavitt said, could be a major factor in how the case proceeds.

“The Jockey Club is totally vulnerable and the USTA wasn't,” Leavitt said. “The USTA relied on an analysis that was made of the American trotter. The study demonstrated that the American trotter had lost 17% of its heterozygosity, which is the variability factor. A loss to that extent first manifests in the infertility or lower infertility in stallions. You could see it at that time. Our trotting sires were less fertile than they had been and it was on that basis that the USTA imposed the 140 limit.”

Leavitt said that the absence of such a study in Thoroughbreds will have a bearing on how the suit lodged by the Thoroughbred farms proceeds. The plaintiffs in the Thoroughbred case contend that the stallion cap “serves no legitimate purpose and has no scientific basis.”

“I would think that Spendthrift and those other two farms are going to tear The Jockey Club to pieces if they come after them with the right arguments,” he said.

Since the new rules went into effect in standardbred racing, the controversy has died down and the 140 number has gained widespread acceptance.

“I think The Jockey Club is doing the right thing,” said Myron Bell, a standardbred owner and bloodstock advisor. “This will give more stallions a chance. Too much of a good thing is no good. I think the Thoroughbreds were overdue in doing this. I know that the three farms who have sued have many stallions, but I think less is better. It will be interesting to see what happens with this lawsuit.”

The post With 140-Mare Cap Of Its Own, Harness Industry Weighs In On Farms Suing Jockey Club appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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‘Hoping For An Even Better 4-Year-Old Year’: G2 Winner Mystic Guide Returns In Razorback

Post positions for the rescheduled $600,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) for older horses Saturday at Oaklawn were drawn Tuesday.

The Razorback is one of three stakes races on Saturday's card, along with the $750,000 Southwest (G3) for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles and the $200,000 Spring Fever for older female sprinters. The Southwest will mark the 2021 debut of unbeaten Essential Quality, the country's champion 2-year-old male. Racing begins at 12:15 p.m. (Central), with probable post time for the Razorback, which goes as the seventh of 11 races, 3:20 p.m.

The Razorback was originally scheduled to be run Feb. 13 before fierce winter weather shuttered racing at Oaklawn for two weeks. It will still mark the 4-year-old debut of Godolphin's Mystic Guide, by 2004 Horse of the Year Ghostzapper out of millionaire multiple Grade 1 winner Music Note. Mystic Guide has already built a solid resume in six career starts, winning the $150,000 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) Sept. 5 at Saratoga before concluding his 2020 campaign with a second-place finish, beaten three-quarters of a length, in the $250,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) Oct. 10 at Belmont Park.

“We were delighted with the way his 3-year-old year turned out,” trainer Mike Stidham said. “There were a lot of temptations to run in the Derby and different spots and the timing just wasn't right. It just seemed like he needed a little bit more time, so we kept being real patient with him and let him develop. As he developed and those other races showed up, we always felt like a mile and an eighth and farther was going to be helpful to him. Turned out great. He won a Grade 2 and placed in a Grade 1 as a 3-year-old, so now we're hoping for an even better 4-year-old year.”

Mystic Guide has recorded a series of sharp workouts at Fair Grounds leading up to his 2021 debut. Stidham said he chose to start Mystic Guide's 2021 campaign in the Razorback because unbeaten Maxfield, another Godolphin homebred, was being pointed to the $200,000 Mineshaft Stakes (G3) Feb. 13 at Fair Grounds.

“With Maxfield also being at being at the Fair Grounds, they didn't want to run them against each other,” Stidham said of Godolphin. “It was decided that Maxfield was going to stay here and we would go to Oaklawn. That was how it all worked out.”

Maxfield moved to 5 for 5 with a 3 ¼-length victory in the Mineshaft, which marked his 4-year-old debut. Mystic Guide will have a chance to complete the Godolphin older horse stakes double in the Razorback, a major local prep for the $1 million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) April 17.

Mystic Guide was the 3-1 second choice in the program after the race was originally drawn. Mystic Guide was among seven horses entered Tuesday, the others being Silver Prospector, Hunka Burning Love, Mailman Money, Owendale, Rated R Superstar and Long Range Toddy.

Stidham has 19 career victories at Oaklawn, with almost one-third (six) coming in stakes events. Stidham won the $250,000 Fantasy (G2) for 3-year-old fillies in 1994 with Two Altazano, 1999 Razorback with Desert Air and four more stakes with crack Arkansas-bred sprinter Comedero, including the $60,000 Mountain Valley in open company in 2010.

“Most of the time when we make the ship, it's usually for a stakes, so we probably have run in more stakes than anything there,” Stidham said. “We hope our success continues.”

The Southwest, Oaklawn's second of four Kentucky Derby points races, drew a field of seven. In addition to Essential Quality and multiple Grade 1 winner Jackie's Warrior, Saffa's Day, Last Samurai, Santa Cruiser, Woodhouse and Spielberg are also entered.

Oaklawn stakes winners Amy's Challenge and Kimari are among nine horses entered in the 5 1/2-furlong Spring Fever. Also entered are Cashcheckorcharge, Sunny Dale, Casual, Headland, Ain't No Elmers, Shesomajestic and Best Kept Secret.

Probable post time for the Spring Fever, race 8, is 3:52 p.m. Probable post time for the Southwest, race 10, is 4:58 p.m.

The post ‘Hoping For An Even Better 4-Year-Old Year’: G2 Winner Mystic Guide Returns In Razorback appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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