June, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Larry Collmus, Nick Luck Join TVG Broadcast Team This Summer

TVG will introduce two faces familiar to horse racing fans both here and abroad to its broadcast team this summer, the network announced today. Larry Collmus, best known as the voice of the Triple Crown on NBC, will join the TVG broadcast team for select days at Monmouth Park, and NBC Sports broadcast personality and international racing expert Nick Luck, a staple of horse racing coverage in both the UK and US, will be part of the TVG's special coverage of the iconic Royal Ascot meet from June 15 through June 18.

“We are very excited to have both Larry and Nick join our talent roster this summer,” said Kevin Grigsby, executive producer and senior vice president of television for FanDuel Group and TVG. “Both bring considerable experience, knowledge and local insight that will resonate with our audience.”

Collmus, a resident of the New Jersey shore and the Monmouth Park track announcer from 1994 to 2013, will co-host with Joaquin Jaime and Dave Weaver live from the TVG set trackside at Monmouth Park to provide perspective, analysis and insights on select days throughout the meet beginning with this weekend's coverage highlighted by the TVG.com Pegasus Stakes on Sunday. The race, the major prep for the Haskell Invitational, is expected to draw Mandaloun, runner-up finisher in the Kentucky Derby for trainer Brad Cox.

In addition to his time at Monmouth Park, Collmus has been the track announcer at major tracks across the country including the NYRA circuit, Gulfstream Park and Del Mar, and has worked as the race caller for NBC Sports' coverage of the Triple Crown since 2011 and the Breeders' Cup since 2012.

TVG's special coverage of every race from the Royal Ascot meeting will begin on Tuesday, June 15 at 9:00 a.m. ET/6:00 a.m. PT. TVG's Scott Hazelton will anchor the week-long Royal Ascot coverage from the Los Angeles studio, and Luck will be joining international racing expert Jess Stafford with live, on-site coverage featuring exclusive interviews, analysis and selections.

The Royal Ascot meeting will feature four Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” Challenge races which will earn the winner an automatic berth into the Breeders' Cup which will be held at Del Mar on November 5-6. The races are the Queen Anne Stakes (Fan Duel Mile), Prince of Wales's Stakes (Longines Turf), Norfolk Stakes (Juvenile Turf) and the Diamond Jubilee Stakes (Turf Sprint).

Luck is an eight-time horse racing broadcaster of the year in the UK who has covered every major racing event in his native England, including the Epsom Derby, the Cheltenham Festival and the Grand National. He first joined ESPN in 2006 as part of the broadcast team for the Breeders' Cup and has been part of the Breeders' Cup coverage on NBC since 2012.

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Cormac Breathnach Named Keeneland’s Director of Sales Operations

Keeneland has named bloodstock consultant Cormac Breathnach, Ph.D., associated for many years with first Adena Springs and then Airdrie stallions, as its new Director of Sales Operations. Breathnach succeeds Geoffrey Russell, who retired in April after 25 years with Keeneland. Russell will remain in a consulting role with Keeneland through the rest of 2021.

“We are excited to have Cormac join the Keeneland sales team as the Director of Sales Operations,” Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said. “I have long admired his professionalism, knowledge, and integrity, which is second to none, and have had the pleasure of watching him develop in the industry and gain the respect of a broad range of professionals. His skill set, personality, and strong work ethic will help evolve Keeneland sales for the future. In addition, his background in research and animal welfare is a valuable asset as we continue to strive to set higher standards for the industry.”

“Geoffrey very generously has been helping us through the transition process to make it as seamless as possible,” Lacy said. “I can never thank him enough for his commitment to Keeneland even in his first stages of retirement. I know Cormac will integrate into this role smoothly with Geoffrey's guidance.”

Breathnach, a native of Ireland, is well known throughout the Thoroughbred racing and breeding sectors. During his more than two decades in the horse industry, he received a doctorate in veterinary science from the Gluck Equine Research Center at the University of Kentucky and spent nearly eight years as the Stallion Seasons and Matings Consultant at Adena Springs before being named the Director of Stallion Nominations at Airdrie Stud in 2017. In addition, he also founded Galway Bloodstock, a consultancy that provides auction representation, racehorse management, and matings analysis.

Breathnach studied biotechnology at National University of Ireland, Galway, then pursued his Ph.D. from the Gluck Center. He completed two post-doctoral studies, first at the veterinary school of the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2001-2003 before returning to the Gluck Center from 2004-2007. He was the inaugural recipient of the Paul Mellon Postdoctoral Scholarship. He is currently on the board of both the Gluck Foundation, where he is the first graduate of the Gluck Equine Research Center to serve in that capacity, and the Secretariat Center.

“I have spent the last 12 years working with breeders, consignors and buyers on behalf of two of the preeminent stud farms in the Bluegrass, and I am excited to carry those relationships through to this new role with Keeneland,” Breathnach said. “I am grateful for the opportunities I have been given along the way, particularly to Bret Jones and his family for four successful years at Airdrie Stud.”

“Cormac has been such a tremendous contributor to Airdrie Stud, and I know I speak for our entire team when I say how much we will miss him,” Airdrie Stud Vice President Bret Jones said. “Keeneland and our breeding and racing community at large are gaining an advocate of the absolute highest ability and character. He is one of the truly wonderful people in our industry. I am very happy for Cormac to ascend to this important position and will always be grateful for the great friendship we've developed these last four years.”

Keeneland's new Director of Sales Operations lives in Lexington with his wife, Catherine, and their daughter, Anna.

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Keeneland Names Cormac Breathnach As Director Of Sales Operations

Keeneland today named prominent bloodstock consultant Cormac Breathnach, Ph.D., as its new Director of Sales Operations.

Breathnach brings a distinctive set of skills and more than 20 years of horse industry experience to Keeneland, combining bloodstock and pedigree knowledge, practical sales expertise and a doctorate in veterinary science from the Gluck Equine Research Center at the University of Kentucky.

“We are excited to have Cormac join the Keeneland sales team as the Director of Sales Operations,” Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said. “I have long admired his professionalism, knowledge and integrity, which is second to none, and have had the pleasure of watching him develop in the industry and gain the respect of a broad range of professionals. His skill set, personality and strong work ethic will help evolve Keeneland sales for the future. In addition, his background in research and animal welfare is a valuable asset as we continue to strive to set higher standards for the industry.”

Breathnach succeeds Geoffrey Russell, who announced his retirement in April following 25 years with Keeneland. Russell will remain in a consulting role with Keeneland through 2021.

Since 2017, Breathnach has served as Director of Stallion Nominations at Airdrie Stud, which stands such exciting young stallions as Cairo Prince, Collected and Complexity. For nearly eight years prior to his position at Airdrie, he was Stallion Seasons and Matings Consultant at Adena Springs, where he represented Breeders' Cup Classic winners and leading sires Ghostzapper and Awesome Again. Breathnach also founded Galway Bloodstock, a consultancy that has provided a range of services including auction representation, racehorse management and matings analysis.

A native of Galway, Ireland, Breathnach studied biotechnology at National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG). Following a summer research internship at Alltech in Lexington, he returned to Central Kentucky to earn a Ph.D. in Veterinary Science from the Gluck Equine Research Center in 2001. He completed two post-doctoral studies, first at the veterinary school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2001-2003 before returning to the Gluck Center from 2004-2007. There he was the inaugural recipient of the Paul Mellon Postdoctoral Scholarship.

“It is a great honor to be named Director of Sales Operations at Keeneland,” Breathnach said. “Keeneland is a world-renowned cornerstone of the Thoroughbred industry, and to participate in its progressive mission under (Keeneland President and CEO) Shannon Arvin, Tony Lacy and the talented team already in place is a privilege.

Breathnach is on the board of both the Gluck Foundation, where he is the first graduate of the Gluck Equine Research Center to serve in that capacity, and the Secretariat Center. He is a past board member of the Iroquois Hunt Club.

Breathnach and his wife, Catherine, along with their daughter, Anna (9), reside in Lexington.

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Equibase Analysis: Ny Traffic Top Choice In Salvator Mile, But Croatian Intriguing Underneath

This Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Salvatore Mile Stakes at Monmouth Park drew a strong field of 10, including four horses which won their most recent start. In addition, 2020 Salvatore Mile winner Pirate's Punch returns to defend his title but does so following seven months off and an 11th place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

Bal Harbour and NY Traffic lead the field in career earnings at more than $600,000, but Bal Harbour returns from a seven month layoff as well and has not earned a win in his last 14 races going back to November, 2018. On the other hand, NY Traffic makes his second start off a seven month rest and ran the best race of his career at Monmouth last summer when second and a nose behind Authentic.

Basin won the Sir Shackleton Stakes when sprinting in March and can likely handle the stretch out to two turns as he finished second in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby last May. Another horse stakes placed as a 3-year-old in 2020 is Green Light Go, who was second in the Roar Stakes last May as well as second in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes as a 2-year-old.

Galerio finished second in the Harrison E. Johnson Memorial and John B. Campbell Stakes in succession earlier this year and must be considered, particularly as he has finished first or second in 20 of 24 career races. War Stopper finished third in the Grade 3 Challenger Stakes in his stakes debut in March before a fourth-place effort in the similar Grade 3 Ghostzapper Stakes at the end of the same month.

Croatian, Informative and West Will Power round out the field but are not without chances either. Croatian has won two of four races at Monmouth and makes his second start off a layoff, Informative finished second in his most recent race last month, and West Will Power won his most recent race decisively by nine lengths.

NY Traffic gets top billing in this year's Salvatore Mile Stakes by virtue of a strong seven-length win in his 4-year-old debut last month. That win came at the distance of seven furlongs and earned a 99 ™ Equibase® Speed Figure, which is highly likely to be improved upon significantly in his second start off the layoff and on the stretch out to two turns. Last spring and summer, NY Traffic proved competitive with top 3-year-olds Maxfield and then Authentic when second in three straight graded stakes – the Risen Star, Louisiana Derby and Matt Winn.

Next came the Haskell Stakes at Monmouth last July in which NY Traffic ran the best race of his career, earning a 107 figure and coming up just a nose shy of beating subsequent Kentucky Derby winner Authentic. Following an eighth-place finish in the Derby and a ninth-place effort in the Preakness, NY Traffic was given time off to mature and he certainly did so as evidenced by his comeback last month. With Paco Lopez returning to the saddle to ride him as he did in the Haskell, NY Traffic may be the one to beat in this race.

Croatian is the veteran in this field, having run 31 times. This will be only his second career start in a stakes race and the other, back in March of last year, was a poor effort in which he finished sixth. However, Croatian was claimed shortly thereafter by Jerry Hollendorfer and reeled off four straight top efforts including two wins and a defeat by a neck, all at Monmouth. The best of those, last September, earned Croatian a 107 ™ figure on par with the figure NY Traffic earned in the Haskell.

Also similar to NY Traffic, Croatian stretches out off a sprint prep following a layoff (October to April). In that sprint, Croatian finished fourth, beaten just two lengths by the winner, with a 97 figure very similar to NY Traffic. As such, it is very likely Croatian will take a big step forward and if he does and can duplicate any of his four efforts over the track last summer, he could post the upset or at the least run much better than his high odds suggest he will.

Pirate's Punch has one big question mark regarding his chances which NY Traffic and Croatian do not and that is he is making his first start of 2021, returning off a seven moth layoff. Pirate's Punch won the 2020 Salvatore Mile with a strong 110 ™ figure and fairly easily by two lengths in a field of eight, as the two to one betting favorite. He had won the Philip H. Iselin Stakes one month prior to that but was disqualified and placed second. Following a last of 12 finish in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, Pirate's Punch was given time to rest and his recent workouts indicated he is in excellent physical form. Additionally, Pirate's Punch won his 2020 debut with a 112 figure but that was following two months off and seven months can be quite different. Nevertheless as he's proven at the level and over the track, Pirate's Punch rounds out a trio I feel stand out against the others in this year's Salvatore Mile Stakes.

The rest of the field, with their best ™ Equibase Speed Figures, is Bal Harbour (108), Basin (104), Galerio (107), Green Light Go (99), Informative (103), West Will Power (102) and War Stopper (103).

Win Contenders:
NY Traffic
Croatian
Pirate's Punch

Salvatore Mile Stakes – Grade 3
Race 10 at Monmouth
Saturday, June 12 – Post Time 4:28 PM E.T.
One Mile
Three Year Olds and Upward
Purse: $150,000

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