Godolphin's homebred Maxfield emphatically concluded an 11-race career Nov. 26 at Churchill Downs by taking the $749,334 Grade 1 Clark Stakes Presented by Norton Healthcare over Happy Saver.
Month: November 2021
Veteran Racing Secretary Creel Dies From Cardiac Complications
Tom Creel, a well-respected East Coast-based racing secretary and official whose career spanned parts of five decades, died on Thanksgiving Eve from cardiac complications at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York. He was 64.
Sam Elliott, a longtime friend and coworker, confirmed Creel's death to TDN Friday. He said Creel had suffered a heart attack several weeks ago. On Nov. 22 Creel underwent an eight-hour surgery to implant an artificial heart pump, but developed complications from that procedure and was unable to recover, Elliott said.
Creel had taken over this past spring as the racing secretary at Finger Lakes. But he is perhaps best remembered for his decades of working his way up through the ranks in various racing offices at New England tracks. He was the Suffolk Downs racing secretary from 2008 through the track's closure in 2019, and he later was the assistant racing secretary at Parx and the racing secretary at Delaware Park.
Creel had also worked racing official jobs at Penn National and Tampa Bay Downs, and at times was a jockey agent. Creel also was the racing secretary for the final two stops on the New England county fairs circuit-Brockton Fair and Northampton Fair-before the half-milers went defunct in 2004.
“Tommy was really good at his job, and he enjoyed it,” Elliott said. “As a racing secretary, just putting the races together, there wasn't anybody better. I think that's just that experience of being at the fairs.”
Elliott was alluding to the improvised, deadline-driven nature of the job at the seasonal bullring tracks. At the New England fairs, where horses often ran on the same day that entries for the next race date would be drawn, it was not uncommon for the racing office to forego using a condition book and instead just ask whoever wanted to run to enter their horses. In those instances, it was up to a racing secretary to build races based what limited stock was available, and Creel had a knack for putting together competitive races that didn't slight trainers or overmatch their horses.
“When he was the racing secretary, if you entered your horse, he'd find a place for you to run-that's just the way it was,” Elliott said.
“We met each other at Rockingham in April of 1986, and it was love at first sight,” Elliott explained. “We were pals right away. Tommy was just a very, very funny guy. He took the racing seriously and knew what he needed to do for his job. But he liked to have fun, and he was really good to all the little people at the track. He'd know all the grooms by name. He was the quintessential racetracker. He lived and breathed it, and on his days off you could often find him visiting some other racetrack just for fun. ”
Creel's services had not been finalized as of Friday afternoon, nor had a complete list of survivors.
Elliott told TDN that Creel had two children and a grandchild: One daughter, Amanda, and one son, Christopher. During Creel's tenure at Suffolk Downs, Christopher started shadowing his father on the backstretch and in the racing office at a very early age. He later became a jockey agent while still in high school, and has since worked as a racing official, assistant trainer, and bloodstock agent.
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More Than $125k for Aftercare Raised by Inaugural ‘Race to Give’
The first annual “Race to Give” campaign, begun in September by Hagyard Equine Medical Institute and Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA) as an online giving and awareness program to support Thoroughbred aftercare, wrapped Friday with over $125,000 raised. Officials from Hagyard presented a check to TCA totaling $125,117 in a winner's circle ceremony at Churchill Downs.
“Starting a new charitable effort is always a challenge and usually takes some time to build momentum,” said Hagyard's Dr. Luke Fallon, DVM. “So we tried to set a realistic goal, but I think we underestimated people's passion for aftercare. Once the campaign got rolling we realized that a six-figure goal was not out of reach.”
Representatives from Hagyard thanked all participants who supported the effort, with a broad range of industry racing teams, farms, businesses, and organizations adding to the spirit of competition.
“As we mentioned at the launch of the campaign, competition is central to who and what we are as an industry. So we wanted to engineer competition into the Race to Give,” said Ken Ford, CEO of Hagyard Pharmacy. “It manifested itself in a number of fun sporting events, and the highly entertaining Run-A-Muck challenge where people were challenged to make a donation or muck a stall. I couldn't possibly list everybody who really leaned into the Race to GIve, but seeing people like Carter Carnegie and Allie Sclafani get involved was just amazing.”
I accept @suefinley's #RunaMuckChallenge for @Hagyard's #racetogive and I challenge @btbrowning to donate, muck a stall or both!
To make a donation, go to https://t.co/wObqGAhDK6 pic.twitter.com/1dOwIJjj21
— Katie Petrunyak (@katiep_tdn) October 17, 2021
The fundraising effort also included corporate sponsors Thoroughbred Daily News (TDN), TVG, Resolvet, Keeneland, and Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA). “Our industry partners were simply amazing,” Fallon continued. “And we have to give an additional shout out to Thoroughbred Daily News and TVG. They were extremely generous with their promotional space and their editorial content to help get the word out. For about six weeks, Race to Give was a significant part of the industry discussion.”
In addition to raising money for aftercare, Race to Give was also engineered to raise awareness for the importance of aftercare. With Thoroughbreds on average living another 20 years or more after retiring from racing, they can move into second careers in new disciplines such as eventing, hunter/jumpers, dressage, western, polo, trail riding, equine therapy, and much more. Thoroughbreds are extremely versatile and can often be retrained for multiple disciplines. Responsible owners can set their horse up for future success by retiring them into a TCA-approved and TAA-accredited aftercare program where they can be retrained for their next career.
“As we pause to think about what we're thankful for this week, I know one of things on my list is being part of an industry that understands the importance of the next career for Thoroughbreds,” said Mike McMahon, TCA President. “This check, and the hundreds of Race to Give participants who contributed, is clear evidence of the genuine love we all have for these animals.”
Detailed results of the Race to Give campaign can be found at RaceToGive.org.
“This year's campaign was truly amazing,” said Fallon. “Now just imagine what we can do with a whole year to plan for the 2022 campaign.”
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World Connector Must Overcome High Draw In Cattleya S.
The 2022 Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby kicks off Saturday with the running of the Cattleya S. (allowance) at Tokyo Racecourse. Thirteen colts and two fillies line up for the 1600-meter test which begins with a run-up on the grass before linking up with the dirt track.
World Connector (Connect) has made both of his career starts to date at Tokyo, settling for a debut second as the 8-5 favorite going this course and trip Oct. 9 before dead-heating for the maiden win in a one-mile event on the turf track Oct. 31 (video, SC 2). A $250,000 Keeneland September yearling turned $410,000 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream juvenile (see below), the half-brother to SW & GISP Savings Account (Medaglia d'Oro) has to contend with the outside post in the bulky field. Ryan Moore, in to ride Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}) in Sunday's G1 Longines Japan Cup, has been recruited by trainer Kazuo Fujisawa. World Connector trades as the 4-1 second favorite ante-post.
Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Drefong (Gio Ponti) has gotten off to a flying start at stud in Japan, with progeny earnings to date of a leading ¥258 million (US$2.28 million) and having been represented by 21 individual winners. One of those is Consigliere (Jpn), a 9 1/2-length graduate over nine furlongs at Niigata on his lone racetrack appearance Aug. 22 (video, SC 2). The bay is a half-brother to the Japanese SW & GSP Esmeraldina (Harlan's Holiday) and his dam Tasha's Star (Spanish Steps) is a half-sister to MGSW & GISP Tasha's Miracle (Harlan's Holiday). Consigliere was the 8-5 selection as of this writing.
Cafe Karma (Jpn) (Henny Hughes), a first-out second going nine furlongs at Nakayama Sept. 25, cut back to this track and distance and donned cap and gown by 3/4 of a length Oct. 24.
The connections of Clos de Mesnil (Practical Joke) opt for this spot over a sex-restricted allowance on the grass this weekend. This year's OBS March sales-topper on a bid of $750,000 (under-tack preview) overcame a bit of an eventful trip to break her maiden by a head at first asking over 1200 meters Nov. 7 at Hanshin (see below, SC 7) and is bred to appreciate the extra quarter mile of the Cattleya S.
A total of 17 Kentucky Derby points (10-4-2-1) are on the line Saturday. The series continues with the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun (1600m) at Kawasaki Dec. 15, the Listed Hyacinth S. (1600m) back at Tokyo Feb. 7 and the 1800-meter Fukuryu S. (allowance) at Nakayama Apr. 2.
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