Fans of the sport and others involved in racing have to listen to a lot of foolishness from those with a dim view of the breed. Many of us can hear the darling, nasal whine of the PETA-phile: “Thoroughbreds are too fragile; they're born to break down.”
Phooey.
Clearly, some horses are hustled off for breeding too early, frequently sound and healthy to race, but those are economic decisions; I'm not here to argue with that. Might as well fuss about the rain coming down.
The results of racing over the weekend, however, put a sizable dent in the argument for anyone suggesting that the breed isn't sound and capable of racing at a high level well past the early years we tend to feature in the headlines.
By my count, seven 5-year-olds won stakes on the weekend, along with multiple stakes winners aged six or seven. Among the 5-year-olds were the Afleet Alex horse Tiergan (Ashley T. Cole Stakes), the Stay Thirsty horse Mind Control (Parx Dirt Mile), the Curlin mare Golden Curl (Ricks Memorial), and the Galileo horse Nayef Road, winner of the Rose Bowl Stakes at Newmarket in England.
These are solid performers, some with quite good pedigrees, and yet they are mere colts and fillies in comparison to the genuine elder stakesmen (sic) of the racing community.
Consider, for example, that Pink Lloyd won again, this for the 27th time. He's a chestnut beast by Canada's leading sire, Old Forester (by Forestry), and is also a Horse of the Year in that lovely racing jurisdiction north of the 49th Parallel.
Unraced at two and three, Pink Lloyd won three of five at age four, was third in the Grade 2 Kennedy Road. The next year at five, Pink Lloyd became Canada's Horse of the Year. That was the same year that the 5-year-olds mentioned above were yearlings. Every year since, Pink Lloyd has won a Sovereign Award as champion in at least one division in his homeland.
From 36 starts to date, the gelding has won 27, with three seconds and two thirds, for lifetime earnings to date of $1,737,917.
A regular homebody who loves his Woodbine racecourse, Pink Lloyd has never raced anywhere else, and his triumph on Saturday in the G3 Bold Venture Stakes was the 9-year-old's 24th black-type success. He practically fills a catalog page by himself.
Others among the elder stakesmen include the world traveler Benbatl, a homebred in England for Darley who races under the banner of Godolphin. Benbatl has raced in five countries (England, Germany, UAE, Australia, and Saudi Arabia).
Unraced at two, Benbatl progressed so rapidly at three that he was entered in the Derby as the winner of a maiden, although placed second in the G2 Dante Stakes in his prep for the main event, and finished a creditable fifth. The son of Dubawi won his first G1 in the Dubai Turf as a 4-year-old, then followed with another G1 in Germany and the G1 Caulfield Stakes in Australia in the span of slightly more than six months.
At times in his career, then now-7-year-old Benbatl has been ranked the highweight on year-end handicaps in England, Germany, and the UAE. The winner of 11 races so far, Benbatl has earned more than $7.8 million.
Although Pink Lloyd and Benbatl are horses of championship level who have continued to race past the typical age for modern Thoroughbreds, the majority of older races are not so exalted. They make no headlines, earn no awards, but show the spirit of their forefathers and the quality of their foremothers.
Some campaign to quite an age, and the eldest stakesman of the weekend was the Talent Search sprinter Hollywood Talent, who won the Parx Turf Monster Stakes at five furlongs in :59.51.
Age 10, Hollywood Talent won his first graded stakes in the G3 Turf Monster, and that made an even dozen victories for the gelding, who has 11 seconds and seven thirds for total earnings of $635,071.
A quick horse from the start, Hollywood Talent won his debut at Keeneland in April of his juvenile season, then was second in the G3 Bashford Manor Stakes and third in the G2 Saratoga Special. In between those races and the Turf Monster, Hollywood Talent has plied his trade in minor stakes and allowance, occasionally dropping into claiming races and then starter allowances.
Brave and fast, Hollywood Talent is an example of the Thoroughbred who is an athlete to the core, and on his day of days, he rose to the occasion and stood in the winner's circle as a graded stakes winner and an ambassador for the breed.
The post Bloodlines: A Toast To The Elder ‘Stakesmen’ Of Horse Racing appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
