Social media-savvy trainer and former jumps rider Jamie Osborne made a splash on Twitter Wednesday evening when he posted a screenshot of a disturbing message sent to his daughter, 19-year-old apprentice jockey Saffie Osborne. The trainer called for punishment and platform bans of the perpetrator, and said the incident has been referred to police, according to racingpost.com.
“I know jockeys get messages all the time, and I don't know what proportion of them get reported, but I think there comes a point where enough is enough,” Osborne told racingpost.com. “I know Saffie has been getting them. But the nature and the tone of this one was, in my mind, a step too far, and I don't see why jockeys should have to put up with this on a regular basis without there seemingly being any call for action.”
Multiple social media users stepped up to support Osborne, including leading trainer Mark Johnston, who is also pursuing police action with a similar abusive message sent to jockey Joe Fanning.
Issues with cyber bulling caused the British Horseracing Authority to join with other sports in a social media blackout during the first weekend of May, and a spokesperson for the BHA told racingpost.com: “Everyone at the BHA was appalled to learn of the abuse received by Saffie Osborne. The BHA has been in touch with Saffie and her family to offer our support and it has been heartening to see the racing community uniting to condemn this abhorrent behavior.”
The catalog for the June Digital Sale, which takes place June 29, now available at www.Keenelanddigital.com. Online bidding opens at 10 a.m. ET will begin to close that day at 2 p.m.
Keeneland encourages buyers to register for an account in the Keeneland Digital Sales Ring prior to June 29 in order to log into the Keeneland Digital Sales Ring. The universal login applies to both the Sales Portal and the Digital Sales Ring.
Visit portal.keeneland.com and create an account or log in to the existing Keeneland Sales Portal Account
Upon sign in, click MY ACCOUNT and review current credit limit. Request credit as needed. We recommend you do this prior to the sale day
Click the DIGITAL SALES RING button in the top right corner to automatically access and participate in the Digital Sale.
Buyers have two options for bidding on the day of the sale:
Direct Bid manually (bid as you go).
Max Bid – establishes a top price – the software will automatically bid on your behalf as you are outbid up to your maximum.
Gary Wolfson, the part-owner of Happy Valley Farm, has passed away after a brief illness. He was 73 and died from a rare form of stomach cancer.
The son of Louis Wolfson, who owned 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed along with his wife, Patrice, Gary Wolfson teamed up with brother Steve and launched Happy Valley Farm in the early seventies. Happy Valley had its best run in the 1980s when, despite having a limited number of horses, it could often be found on the list of leading owners.
The Wolfsons' best horse may have been Prismatical, who won the 1981 GI Alabama S. She also captured the GII Long Look S. and the GII Monmouth Oaks. They also won the GI Test S. in 1988 with Fara's Team, the 1982 GIII Bernard Baruch with Pair of Deuces and a trio of graded stakes with Talakeno.
“It was a magical time for us,” Steve Wolfson said. “The neatest thing was to go to Saratoga and people would see us and say 'There they are, Happy Valley Farm's 1 and 1A.' Gary and I had a great relationship. He will be sorely missed by those who knew him.”
Steve Wolfson said the cancer diagnosis was shocking.
“Gary was one of the healthiest people I knew,” he said. “He walked every day and had a really good lifestyle. No smoking, no drinking, he was a health nut. He called me Apr. 28 and said that he had been having terrible pains. They thought it was a hernia, but it turned out to be cancer. My wife is a Sloan Kettering survivor for 16 years and Gary wanted to know if we could get him into Sloan Kettering. His doctor had diagnosed it as stage 4 cancer in the stomach. We got him into Sloan Kettering, but it was just too late. It all happened so quickly.”
Gary Wolfson was a graduate of Northwestern University and, according to his brother, turned down Harvard because he wanted to study journalism at Northwestern.
Gary Wolfson had been living in California and worked as a consultant with ties to China.
The survivors also include another brother, former trainer Marty Wolfson.
It was a victory Gail Cox perhaps didn't quite see coming a mile and a sixteenth away, but one that was a game changer for the trainer and the striking Sam-Son Farm homebred.
The odds, 6-1 on the Woodbine infield toteboard, suggested Tidal Forces had a decent shot at winning the allowance optional claiming main track race this past Saturday at the Toronto oval.
Cox also figured he had a reasonable chance at taking the spoils.
“He ran so well in his first start [April 10, at Gulfstream] I really like him. Running that first race at Gulfstream, it's tough there. He ran so well and it was a very impressive effort.”
As was his encore at Woodbine.
At the end of the 8.5-furlong main track race, the 3-year-old son of Malibu Moon crossed the wire a half-length winner under Emma-Jayne Wilson.
Although Cox wasn't certain Tidal Forces, who was unraced at 2, could get up in time for the victory, Wilson had no doubt about the outcome.
“It impressed me that he settled so nicely. Emma said he had the measure of them the whole way. When they were turning for home and down the lane, I thought, 'Is he going to get there?' When I talked to Emma after the race, she said she knew they would. I thought, maybe, he wouldn't have enough speed for there, but I think he did. In hindsight, when you watch the replay, you could see that he did have the measure of them the whole time.”
While there are still key races to be run ahead of the Queen's Plate (August 22), the big picture has now come into sharper focus for Tidal Forces' connections.
Listed at 50-1 in the Queen's Plate Winterbook, the Ontario-bred has now stamped himself as a legitimate Plate contender.
Aside from his physical talents, Tidal Forces' demeanor has impressed Cox from day one.
“He's a pretty cool guy. He eats well and he's pretty easy to deal with. He walks over the paddock calmly. He's just very professional in everything he does. There are times when you see little signs of immaturity, losing focus a little bit, but I'm really happy with everything when it comes to him.”
Cox doesn't dial back that high praise even if Tidal Forces can be, at times, somewhat laid back.
“When you're walking out to the track with him, you'd almost think he's lazy. He kind of wanders out and wanders back. But when you turn around to gallop him, he's quite powerful. And that's just the type of horse you love to have, one who can turn the dial from laid-back to all business.”
Those aren't the only things that have stuck with Tidal Forces.
Although he no longer showcases a particular look, the sobriquet bestowed upon him has stayed.
“We call him 'Brutus,' said Cox with a laugh. “As a young horse, he had this huge neck, a big, fat, wide neck. As he's grown up, he's certainly lengthened out a bit and become much more refined. He's really quite beautiful.”
A horse that looks to be a bona fide Plate contender.
That said, Cox, in search of her first win in the $1 million classic, will endeavor to rein in her emotions as the road to the big day continues to intensify.
“I'm really happy we got to run him at Woodbine because he is going to need a couple of races now that we are planning towards running him in the Plate. He's got to get some experience. But after these two races, it makes you confident in taking the next step.”
