April, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Miller Vaccinated Against Derby Fever: Arkansas Derby Contender Get Her Number Needs To Prove Himself

Trainer Peter Miller isn't ready to commit to a Louisville trip with this Saturday's Arkansas Derby contender Get Her Number.

“I've been vaccinated for COVID-19 and for Derby fever,” Miller quipped on Tuesday's NTRA media conference call. “Unlike most trainers, it's not as high a priority for me. I'd love to have a horse take me there. If someone takes me there, we'll go, but if not, we'll find another race.”

The 3-year-old son of Dialed In won the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes on Sept. 26, just his third career start, but did not return to the races until the G2 Rebel Stakes on March 13 at Oaklawn Park. Miller said the colt had a few minor issues that caused him to miss the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last fall.

In the Rebel, Get Her Number was making a move around the far turn and endured a hard bump at the eighth pole, fading to finish seventh.

“He could have been third,” Miller suggested. “He had some scrapes and scars from the bump, all of which set us back maybe a week. He seems good now, though, and we're excited to give it another shot.”

This time, Miller would like to see Get Her Number closer to the front early.

“As long as he has a clean trip, we'll live with the results,” the trainer said.

The current Kentucky Derby point standings have Get Her Number, owned by Gary Barber, at 33rd on the leaderboard with the 10 points he earned in the American Pharoah. The Arkansas Derby offers points on a scale of 100-40-20-10 to the top four finishers, so a top two finish would likely secure the colt a spot in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May.

“He's got a good mind; he's got a lot of class about him,” said Miller. “He's rateable, he doesn't want to run off or be silly. He's easy to handle in that respect. And he tries hard. I don't know if he's got the quality to run with the top 3-year-olds, but I know he's gonna try and he's doing well, and that's all you can ask.”

Get Her Number drew post four of six for the G1 Arkansas Derby.

The full field is as follows:

Super Stock
Caddo River
Hozier
Get Her Number
Concert Tour
Last Samurai

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IFAR: Why The Term ‘Retraining’ May Not Be Best For OTTBs

The International Forum for the Aftercare of Racehorses (IFAR) kicked off its 2021 virtual conference on Tuesday with a panel of international racing leaders discussing the importance of Thoroughbred aftercare to the health of the sport.

Irish trainer Jessica Harrington, American trainers Graham and Anita Motion, Aga Khan Stud racing manager Nemone Routh and former British eventing team coach Yogi Breisner gathered to offer their thoughts on the state of aftercare and its interaction with other equestrian sports.

A few key takeaways:

Breisner, who has worked with many former racehorses, believes a language shift is in order when discussing off-track Thoroughbreds (OTTBs). Often, the process of transitioning a horse from the track to another discipline is framed as “retraining,” but Breisner points out that conveys an implication that the horse's earlier training was somehow wrong.”Actually most racehorses I've taken don't need much true retraining,” he said. “They've already learned a lot.”
Routh said that aftercare in France, where the Aga Khan Stud is based, now receives financial support from France Galop, racing's regulatory body there. Previously it had been dependent on charitable donations, but Routh said after a certain point that was no longer sustainable. France Galop now encourages people to share their stories of their OTTBs as part of its tactic to market racing.
Also in France, racing connections are expected to pay for a horse's castration and transport to an accredited rehoming center. That can be a tough pill to swallow, especially for owners who are also discovering the horse that once had value as a racing animal may be retiring with very little market value. Routh suggests owners who set aside as modest a sum as two weeks' training fees could be enough to make sure the owner doesn't feel surprised by those retirement costs later.
Harrington believes education is key for new owners, especially those who join in as part of a large syndicate where they are able to approach racehorse ownership with no equine background or racing experience. Many don't even know a horse can live another 20 to 25 years after its racing retirement, let alone that they will need to find a new vocation for that time. “I think people don't think about it,” she said. “I think it's ignorance rather than willfully saying, 'I'm not going to look after my horse.”
Motion believes part of the key to making aftercare sustainable — particularly in the United States, where it's still so reliant on charitable giving — is to think twice about whether a horse needs to go to a retirement organization, where they will be on the organization's books for many years. Motion believes that many horses are suitable for some kind of active job where they might be useful as privately-owned animals, and that retirement sanctuaries are often asked to shoulder the burden of horses who could find vocations elsewhere.
Breisner said there could be more exchange between the racing and sport horse world as far as the education of riders. As stable help has become more difficult to find in Britain, Breisner said he sometimes has racing staff who ask to spend time training with him to improve their overall horsemanship, which benefits the racehorses they'll work with on and off the track. Likewise, he suggested that the many international racing schools that train jockeys and exercise riders could also include education on the basics of transitioning OTTBs off track. Riders who have the skills to be versatile will benefit the horses they work with.

The next IFAR virtual session will focus on aftercare for racing administrators and regulators and will take place April 13 at 8 a.m. Eastern. Registration is free and is available here.

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MSW Purses to Top $100K During Derby Week and at KY Downs

Purse levels for maiden special weight (MSW) races on the Kentucky circuit are projected to push past the $100,000 mark both during GI Kentucky Derby week at Churchill Downs and in September at the Kentucky Downs all-turf meet.

In addition, Kentucky Downs plans to expand its stakes program to include two new $1 million races in 2021, giving the venue a total of three stakes at that level. (Read more details here).

Ben Huffman, the director of racing at Churchill Downs, confirmed during a video meeting of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory committee Apr. 6 that MSW purses during Derby week will be $106,000, then $91,000 for the balance of the meet that runs through June 26.

Churchill had closed out its pandemic-affected 2020 spring/summer season at the $79,000 level for MSW races and had boosted those purses to $97,000 for the rescheduled Derby week in September. The balance of September had $75,000 MSW purses; that level rose to $85,000 for the late-autumn meet that ended in November.

Ted Nicholson, the senior vice president and general manager at Kentucky Downs, told the KTDF board that his track's MSW level will be $125,000 for the six-day meet Sep. 5-12. That's up from $90,000 last year.

As for Ellis Park, racing secretary Dan Bork said that “our maidens will probably be just north of $50,000 this year.”

The MSW purse levels for the state's remaining 2021 meets beyond September will be discussed by the KTDF at a later date.

The KTDF is funded by three-quarters of 1% of all money wagered on both live Thoroughbred races and HHR gaming, plus 2% of all money wagered on Thoroughbred races via inter-track wagering and whole-card simulcasting. The board approved recommending allotments to Churchill, Ellis and Kentucky Downs on Tuesday.

The Dirt on Turfway: Not Any Time Soon

Turfway Park's general manager, Chip Bach, updated the KTDF board on the near-term maintenance for the new Tapeta track that was unveiled in December. He also responded to a KTDF board member's question about the timeline for a proposed inner dirt track by saying it wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

“The opinion of the Tapeta surface has continued to be very positive,” Bach said. “There are some plans to do a tune-up, a little remediation. You know, when you're working with a synthetic racetrack, if you do too much too soon you can't undo it. And so they're typically conservative of the elements that they introduce into the surface; see how it responds to weather, see how it responds to the horses.

Bach described that process as a “tweak,” adding that the work is likely to be done before July, when horses resume training at Turfway.

As for the additional dirt surface inside the Tapeta course that was proposed as part of the ongoing Turfway rebuild, Bach said this:

“The project that's going on right now will contemplate the ability to put an inner dirt track within the synthetic oval. But that's not intended to happen the first or the second year [of the Turfway rebuild]. We'll have the ability to add that if we decide to. It's being designed with that in mind. But there are no plans for a dirt track in the near future.”

HBPA 'Concerned' About Ellis Twilight Posts

Jeff Inman, the general manager at Ellis Entertainment LLC, said his track is in the midst of a three-phase capital improvement plan.

Phase 1 work that is now underway prior to the track's June 27 opening includes drainage and safety improvements to the main track, a backstretch rebuild of the manure pit (required by environmental officials), a new restaurant and an additional bar on the frontside, plus high-definition camera and communication upgrades.

Bill Landes III, the chair of the KTDF advisory committee, wanted to know more about the list of long-term improvements Ellis has slated for the future.

“When do you think that schedule may be fleshed out?” Landes asked. “I love everything [listed]—turf widening, track lighting, grandstand improvements, new tote board—all of them long overdue, and everybody knows it.”

Inman replied that the turf course widening is likely to happen first, but not until after the 2021 meet.

“If we regain capital funding, we will start work after the horses leave, [by] late October, early November,” Inman said.

Landes underscored what a positive it would be to upgrade the grass course and to add lights at Ellis, because it would allow the track to card some twilight racing in a less-crowded simulcast time slot and feature more grass racing, which is popular with bettors because of the generally larger fields. Racing later in the day could also aid horse health by avoiding running during the searing late-afternoon temperatures that are routine at Ellis in the summer.

Landes said he believed Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association officials would agree with him that if “you get twilight racing at Ellis Park and some lights there, there ain't no telling” what might happen, handle-wise. “That would be super—I'm sorry we're not there yet,” he added.

KTDF member J. David Richardson concurred: “I do believe Ellis Park has enormous potential to do much, much better with at least some opportunity to run under lights and expand turf racing on a course that's not torn up because you have to overuse it.”

But when asked for his opinion, Rick Hiles, the president of the KHBPA (and also a KTDF advisory committee member), said he was “a little concerned” about the ramifications of moving to later post times at Ellis.

Hiles cited the long days that outfits shipping to Ellis from Lexington and Louisville would have to endure.

“Losing an hour in time zones, coming back late at night…I just don't know how [horsemen] are going to react to that,” Hiles said.

“Well, you have that issue to a certain extent at Turfway,” Landes replied, meaning the night racing. “And [at Ellis] it's either coming in at one or two o'clock in the morning or dealing with 108 or 110 degrees” while shipping before the sun goes down.

“I just don't know,” Hiles said. “School, for me, is still out on it.”

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With The Goal of Winning 7,000 Races, Pino is Back for Another Year

When Mario Pino began riding way back in 1977, he figured he'd stick around for a few years and then go off and do something else. Weight was an issue and he wasn't sure that he had the desire to keep grinding away. Forty-four years later, Pino, 59, resumed his career last week at Gulfstream and is determined to plug away until he gets his 7,000th win. He needs 39 more winners to reach that milestone, something only nine jockeys have ever achieved.

“I'm just 39 away and that's why I am coming back,” he said. “I want to see if I can do it. It's a goal of mine and I am really close to doing it. I'm still healthy, I feel good and I love riding horses.”

Born in Wilmington, Delaware, Pino has been a fixture on the Mid-Atlantic circuit since he rode his first horse at Penn National. He has ridden some good horses, most notably Grade I winner Hard Spun (Danzig). He finished second aboard him in the 2006 GI Kentucky Derby and also paired with him to win the GI King's Bishop S. at Saratoga.

But his career has mostly been about perseverance. Year in and year out, he showed up at places like Laurel, Delaware Park, Colonial Downs and Presque Isle Downs and the wins followed. In 2001, he won 297 races and followed that up with 285 winners the next year. In 2016, he moved past Hall of Famer Jorge Velasquez to become the 10th winningest rider of all time.

“The wins started to add up and I started to get into the history of horse racing,” Pino said. “Considering how many great jockeys there have been, it was incredible to me that I was 10th all time. I just kept going and everything kept snowballing.”

He needs just 194 wins to move into sixth place all time, but he doesn't see that happening. In recent years, Pino has settled on a routine that limits his chances of winning races. He doesn't ride in the afternoons in the winter and instead gallops horses for Wesley Ward. He starts off his year at Gulfstream in the spring and then heads to Presque Isle in the summer. When that meet is done, he goes back to Florida and gears up to do more of the same the next year.

Every time Pino thinks of retiring, Ward is among those who encourage him to come back for another year.

“I was thinking of calling it a day,” Pino said. “I spoke to Wesley about that and he said that, being so close to 7,000, I should keep going. He said that if I didn't, I'd always look back and think that I should have kept going to get to 7,000. I'm going to push myself to get there.”

Soon to be 60, Pino is among a group of riders who seem intent on proving that this doesn't have to be a young man's game. Perry Outz is still winning races at age 66. Jon Court is 60 and is going strong. Then, of course, there is Mike Smith. As in demand as any rider in the sport, he is 55.

“You see that jockeys are pushing themselves to last longer and one of the reasons is better nutrition and that they know they have to take care of themselves physically,” Pino said. “These guys who are lasting longer were all successful earlier in their careers and prolonged their career because they love what they are doing and they're still good at it. If you take care of yourself physically and mentally, you can keep going. It's the horses that do the running. If you take care of yourself, you can keep riding.

“Physically, I am in better condition now than when I was at 30,” Pino said. “Even though I might not be riding as many horses, I always try to be physically prepared. If you talk to any athlete who is getting older, when they get older they work out more, prepare more and take care of their bodies more. When you are younger, you take those things for granted.”

Pino won only 21 races in 2020, which had a lot to do with the Presque Isle meet. It is normally 100 days, but was limited to 50 last year because of the coronavirus. This year, the track, which opens July 5, is scheduled to operate for only 52 dates. Pino said that if he gets off to a good start in Florida he may decide to stick things out at Gulfstream.

Pino may or may not get to the 7,000 mark by the end of the year. He says he will retire when he gets to 7,000. That may or may not mean that he will have to return in 2022 to achieve his goals.

In the meantime, he will just do what he's been doing since he was 16. There may not be any graded stakes wins in his future and he won't battle it out for leading rider anywhere. That's fine by him. He's got 39 winners left in him. He feels confident about that.

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