Sussex Stakes: Alcohol Free finishes strong to win at Goodwood
Alcohol Free finishes strongly to overcame favourite Poetic Flare to win the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood.
Month: July 2021
Kirkpatrick & Co Presents In Their Care: Anne And Joe McMahon Celebrate 50 Years Of Raising Good Horses, Staying Close To Nature
McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds has grown exponentially since Anne and Joe McMahon established it with a couple of broodmares in 1971, expanding from 90 to 600 acres that nurture approximately 250 horses.
And it all started with Christmas trees.
The initial tract of land the newlyweds purchased near Saratoga Race Course was filled with Christmas trees that yielded much-needed income. They also sold eggs and pigs and raised much of their own food to bolster their fledgling horse operation.
“We didn't have much money because we spent it on the horses,” said Anne, recalling those lean early days. She is 70, three years younger than her husband.
They initially thought in modest terms, eager to start a family and indulge the passion for Thoroughbreds that brought them together.
“I never imagined in my wildest dreams it would be this big,” Joe said. “We thought we could have a small boarding operation here and raise a few horses of our own to sell or to race.”
The establishment of the New York State Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund in 1973, when combined with the McMahons' relentless work ethic and their emphasis on staying close to nature, elevated the operation to unimagined heights. It did not hurt, either, that the farm became celebrated as the birthplace of 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Funny Cide.
The annual sale of Christmas trees eventually created space for pastures and more. Hay and soybeans are grown on site. The McMahons mix their own feed.
“To make this all work,” Joe said, “we had to do it on an economic scale we could afford.”
All five children – John, Mike, Jane, Kate and Tara – assist in some way. Quality is emphasized in every aspect. “If you go beyond the basics of good feed, good grass, good pasture, then you've gone a whole long way toward developing a good horse,” Joe said, adding, “We try to do the basics really well.”
Jane, a farm manager, marvels at how far that philosophy has taken them.
“The older I get, the more I appreciate what they've done,” she said. “They really had no connections in the industry and they really had to put their back into it every single day for 50 years. They didn't just walk in and buy the kind of bloodstock you need to be successful. They didn't have that kind of money.”
Great care was taken in building a 14-person staff. “We're still small enough that our employees are our friends,” Anne said. “If they're not nice people, they're just not here.”
They would prefer a larger crew. Help can be hard to find.
“It certainly is a big issue. People are making money to stay home,” Joe said, referring to substantial ongoing government payments stemming from the pandemic. “We find it very difficult. I don't know anybody in the business who is not complaining about the same thing. We cannot get help.”
McMahon of Saratoga took its cue from famed Claiborne Farm in staying close to nature. “We buy into the fact that they are animals. They need to be happy. They are not going to be happy living in a stall. That is not a natural place for them to be,” Joe said. “They need to be outside as much as they can be.”
He believes the reward for doing that far outweighs the risk.
“You put 10 or 15 yearlings together, they are going to play. They are going to fight. They're going to be tough on each other,” Joe noted. “But that's how they develop. In our opinion, that's what makes them good horses. It works. I can tell you it does.”
John, Anne and Joe McMahon with some of the young horses raised at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds
The farm stands Central Banker, New York's runaway leading sire and a son of crack sprinter Speightstown. Thirty-nine of Central Banker's first 78 runners were winners this year with earnings of more than $2.6 million.
The McMahons' claim to fame will always be that they raised Funny Cide, a son of Distorted Humor. When he was foaled on April 20, 2000, there was nothing then or in his early days to suggest he would become special. Beyond a sturdy frame, he was an unremarkable foal. He brought only $22,000 when he went through Fasig-Tipton's New York Preferred Yearling Sale.
Funny Cide made great strides after he was acquired by Sackatoga Stable, a Saratoga Springs-based partnership that turned him over to well-respected trainer Barclay Tagg.
“When they get as successful as Funny Cide, it's like your kid becoming President,” Joe said. “It's beyond anything you could imagine.”
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Anne and Joe watched in disbelief as the gelded Funny Cide pulled a surprise in the Kentucky Derby and added the Preakness. Those thrilling moments never fade.
“When you have a horse run in a big race like that and he wins it, there is nothing like it,” Joe said. “I wish for every breeder that they would have a good horse because there is nothing like it.”
And it all started with Christmas trees.
Tom Pedulla wrote for USA Today from 1995-2012 and has been a contributor to the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Blood-Horse, America's Best Racing and other publications.
If you wish to suggest someone as a potential subject for In Their Care, please send an email to info@paulickreport.com that includes the person's name and contact information in addition to a brief description of the individual's background.
The post Kirkpatrick & Co Presents In Their Care: Anne And Joe McMahon Celebrate 50 Years Of Raising Good Horses, Staying Close To Nature appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Jaime Rodriguez’ 10 Wins Earn Jockey Of The Week Title
While Jaime Rodriguez usually rides between Delaware Park and Parx, last week he added Pimlico and Penn National posting an impressive 10 wins from 26 mounts to be voted Jockey of the Week for July 19 through July 25. The award, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, is for jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 950 active riders in the United States as well as retired and permanently disabled jockeys.
A native of Puerto Rico, Rodriguez attended the famous Escuela Vocacional Hipica jockey school and has been riding state-side since 2010. He rode primarily at Aqueduct and Belmont before moving his tack to Finger Lakes in 2012 where he dominated the standings while also riding at Mahoning Valley. In 2020, with Finger Lakes delaying their meet because of Covid-19 restrictions, Rodriguez decided to come to the Mid-Atlantic region. The move has paid dividends.
Last year, his first riding at Delaware Park, Rodriguez won 56 races for third in the standings, he rides first call at Delaware Park for leading trainer Jamie Ness.
“If I got a closer, if I got a runner, a turf horse, it really doesn't matter,” Ness said speaking to The Racing Biz. “He's not a one-dimensional rider. I just think he does everything right.”
Rodriguez rode the Ness-trained The King Cheek to a win in the Sir Barton Stakes this year at Pimlico on the Preakness undercard.
“That was an experience,” Rodriguez said. “To win with a horse on Preakness day, that was amazing.”
Rodriguez notched his 1,000th winner on February 21, 2018 at Mahoning Valley. He currently sits atop the standings at Delaware Park with 43 wins. Together with girlfriend, trainer Amber Cobb, he has two children.
“I want to try my talent in different environments,” said Rodriguez in an interview with The Racing Biz. “See how good I can go. I want to fly high and be proud, you know?”
Rodriguez's statistics for the week were 26-10-5-2 for a 65% in-the-money rate and $188,460 in purses.
Other nominees for Jockey of the Week were Victor Carrasco with two stakes wins, Jose L. Ortiz who also won 10 races including two stakes races, Flavien Prat with two stakes wins and Ricardo Santana, Jr. who won the Grade I Coaching Club American Oaks.
The post Jaime Rodriguez’ 10 Wins Earn Jockey Of The Week Title appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Gritty Whitmore ‘Still There Being Honest’
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.–To illustrate his point about Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect), trainer Ron Moquett stepped into the Eclipse Award winner's stall Sunday morning saying, “This is not the time to do this,” and rubbed his star's coat with a small towel. Showing his displeasure, Whitmore promptly kicked the wall. Hard.
“He is as consistent as the day is long,” Moquett said, smiling. “He will do everything the exact same way. Our job is to get done, working with him, knowing his idiosyncrasies.”
Moquett and his staff live in Whitmore's world, ruled by the 8-year-old gelding who is scheduled to make his 42nd career start–the 13th in a Grade I–in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. Saturday at Saratoga Race Course. Dependable as he is gritty and irascible, Whitmore, who was 19th in the 2016 GI Kentucky Derby, has flourished in the sprint division and was the 2020 champion. Overall, during his career, he won 15 times and has finished in the money in 78% of his races while earning over $4.4 million in purse money.
In the seven years since Moquett purchased the 2-year-old named Pleasant Mel in a private sale for $37,000, he and his staff have learned how to keep Whitmore in balance. Carlos Monroy has been his groom since he arrived. Moquett's wife and training partner, Laura, is his exercise rider. Moquett repeats a word to describe Whitmore's personality and his competitive nature, which is why he is catered to every morning and afternoon.
“I'm amazed all the time, just in his consistency,” Moquett said. “The thing is Whitmore doesn't owe us anything. So he gets to do what he wants to do every day of his life. If he wants to stay in the barn and do nothing, that's what he gets to do. His honesty and loyalty has been there and we owe him.”
Whitmore's Breeders' Cup Sprint | Breeders' Cup/Eclipse Sportswire
It's fair to say that Whitmore reached another level of popularity with his victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint last November at Keeneland. As he had done so many times in the past, the big chestnut came from far off the early pace to beat C Z Rocket (City Zip) by 3 1/4 lengths. After two rare off-the-board finishes prior to the Sprint, he was 18-1 in the wagering.
Moquett said he was overwhelmed by who responded to the decisive score in the Sprint.
“The thing that will always be what touched me the most was other trainers' and competitive owners' and jockeys' reactions,” he said.
Among those who reached out to Moquett, 49, were Hall of Fame trainers Todd Pletcher, Steve Asmussen, Bob Baffert and Richard Mandella, who developed his sire, Pleasantly Perfect, into a major star.
“Here's the thing that people have got to realize,” Moquett said. “One, I like horses more than your average person likes horses. Two, I love horse racing. So I'm still a fan, even though I'm in the business. So when you get a text from Pletcher, you get a text from Asmussen or Asmussen cheers for your horse…”
Moquett didn't complete the sentence, but finished the thought.
“I get people coming up to me and they don't know me from a load of hay,” he said. “I could have been the leading trainer at Oaklawn or Churchill or Ellis by 50-whatever and they might not say hi to you. But they relate to him and they're like, 'Man, congratulations. I was really cheering for your horse.' That's something for a guy that grew up just a huge fan of all things racing.”
Moquett started with Quarter Horses and moved to Thoroughbreds in 1997. He has a solid stable that is nearing $32 million in career earnings, but Whitmore is by far the most successful of his runners. It took an interesting twist of fate for Moquett to land Whitmore. Shut out at the 2015 June Ocala sale, Moquett asked his friend, the agent Jeff Mackor, to send him some pictures of horses that had not sold and were still available. One of the dozen images Mackor sent him prompted a reaction.
Whitmore in his stall at Saratoga this week | Mike Kane
Moquett made it clear that he liked what he saw: “I sent him back a two-word text that said, 'Buy him.'”
Mackor made the deal and Pleasant Mel joined the Moquett stable.
“That's a running joke, too,” Moquett said. “People that knew when I bought him I just despised the name. I know it's named after a lady named Melody and his mother's name was Melody [Melody's Spirit, by Scat Daddy]. And the daddy is Pleasantly Perfect. They combined it, but he was neither a Mel or pleasant.”
Moquett renamed the horse for Wilbur Whitmore, his high school basketball teammate in Pocola, Okla.
“I changed his name after him because he kind of reminded me athletic-wise of Whitmore,” Moquett said. “Whitmore is just a natural athlete that could do anything better than you.”
Moquett had two partners in Whitmore when he ran in the Derby: Robert LaPenta and Harry Rosenblum. Sol Kumin's Head of Plains Partners purchased Rosenblum's stake in the horse in April 2017.
Whitmore came out of the Derby with a chip in his knee that had to be removed by surgery. Moquett said his partners never quibbled about the surgery but he fretted about how it would affect the horse.
“That was the time where I went, 'Man. I hope we can 'cause a lot of horses don't come back,'” he said. “That's the reason why a lot of horses retire whenever they have a little bit of something wrong with them is because they come back a dimmer version of what was so bright.”
Whitmore promptly answered the question when he returned to competition in December 2016 with the first of five straight victories. He's been a serious player in the sprint division ever since. He was second in the 2018 Breeders' Cup Sprint and third in 2019.
From Moquett's perspective, Whitmore has remained successful into racing's geezerhood because he loves to run and the stable knows how to treat him. That includes flying in his farrier from Louisville, Ky., to deal with his tender feet.
“There's not a big turnover in our barn for employees. There's a familiarity that allows us to know the subtle things,” Moquett said. “And we use that as an indicator. We're going too far. We're not going far enough. We're going too hard. We're not pushing. We take in all that. I think it's kind of like cooking with the same skillet. You know what you're doing after that.”
With his compelling back story and his strong performances in graded stakes after graded stakes, Whitmore has become an inspiring horse.
“This has nothing to do with me. A lot of people that cheer for Whitmore can't tell you my name,” Moquett said. “They liked the fact that he ran in the Kentucky Derby. Everybody else is going to make babies and whatever and he's just still there being honest. And he wins. He wins when he's supposed to. He tries. From that point on, that's all anybody wants is honesty. They want to know that they got a fair shake.
“The thing about 'Whit' is you can never guarantee a win or whatever, but you can guarantee that he'll give you what he's got. I think that makes people like him.”
The post Gritty Whitmore ‘Still There Being Honest’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
