Month: December 2021

Private Mission Shortens Up, Will Attempt To Rebound In La Brea

Two-time graded stakes winner Private Mission cuts back in distance and heads a field of seven sophomore fillies going seven furlongs in Sunday's Grade 1, $300,000 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita. One of six graded stakes, three of them Grade 1's, the La Brea will no doubt command considerable attention on Santa Anita's Winter Spring Opening Day card, which is comprised of 11 races. With admission gates opening at 9 a.m., first post time on Sunday is at 11 a.m.

Although she showed good early speed, Private Mission tired badly to be distanced by 37 ¼ lengths at odds of 10-1 in her most recent start, the G1 Breeders' Cup Distaff at a mile and one eighth on Nov. 6. A two-time winner sprinting, Private Mission, who is trained by Bob Baffert, was on a three-game roll heading into the Breeders' Cup, having won the G2 Zenyatta Stakes here on Oct. 3 and the G3 Torrey Pines at Del Mar Aug. 21.

Buy red-hot sire Into Mischief, Private Mission is owned by Baoma Corporation and will be ridden for the fourth consecutive time by Flavien Prat. A first-out winner sprinting at two, Private Mission has four wins from six starts and has earnings of $256,800.

John Sadler's Livingmybestlife is a front-running sort who comes off a pair of ungraded stakes wins, her most recent the one mile Seashell Stakes at Del Mar on Nov. 3. Owned by Hronis Racing, Livingmybestlife registered an 88 Beyer Speed Figure in taking the six furlong Lucky Spell Stakes at Los Alamitos two starts back on Sept. 24 and earned an 85 Beyer in winning the Seashell.

A Florida-bred by the Yes It's True stallion The Big Beast, Livingmybestlife was claimed by Sadler out of her first start, a second place finish for maiden $50,000 at Oaklawn Park on April 8. With three sprint wins to her credit, Livingmybestlife has four wins and a two seconds from seven overall starts as she tackles graded company for the first time with regular rider Juan Hernandez up.

In addition to Private Mission, Baffert will also send out Kalypso, a winner of the G2 Santa Ynez Stakes here in her first start of the year four starts back on Jan. 3. Idle since well beaten in the G2 Eight Belles at Churchill Downs April 30, this daughter of Brody's Cause will no doubt show good speed off the bench. Owned by David Bernsen, LLC and Gainesway Farm, Kalypso will be ridden for the first time by John Velazquez.

THE GRADE 1 LA BREA WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 8 of 11 Approximate post time 2:30 p.m. PT

  1. Canoodling—Roimes Chirinos—120
  2. Eddie's New Dream—Mario Gutierrez—120
  3. Kalypso—John Velazquez—122
  4. Private Mission—Flavien Prat—122
  5. Missy P.—Mike Smith—120
  6. Brilliant Cut—Jose Ortiz–120
  7. Livingmybestlife—Juan Hernandez—120

First post time for an 11-race card on Opening Day, Sunday is at 11 a.m.

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Prat Sticks With Untested Flightline For Sunday’s Malibu Stakes

Unbeaten in two starts by a combined 26 lengths, John Sadler's freakishly good Flightline makes his stakes debut as he faces six sophomores going seven furlongs in Santa Anita's traditional Opening Day headliner, the Grade 1, $300,000 Runhappy Malibu Stakes on Sunday.

A heartbreak nose loser of the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar Nov. 6, Mark Glatt's Dr. Schivel, who had been unbeaten in three starts this year, will try to make his case for Eclipse Sprinter of the year honors as he seeks his third career Grade 1 victory. Throw in Bob Baffert's Triple Tap, who like Flightline, is unbeaten in two starts and making his first stakes appearance, and Runhappy Malibu appears to have the makings of an instant classic.

A bay colt by Tapit out of the Indian Charlie mare Feathered, Flightline earned a 105 Beyer Speed Figure in his six furlong debut here on April 24, a race he won by 13 ¼ lengths. Idle until Sept. 5, Sadler turned him loose in a six furlong allowance at Del Mar, a race he won by 12 ¾ lengths and in which he earned an astronomical 114 Beyer.

In what is no doubt a resounding endorsement, Flavien Prat, Santa Anita's Winter/Spring Riding champ three out of the past five years, has opted to stick with Flightline over both Dr. Schivel and Triple Tap. Owned by Hronis Racing, LLC, West Point Thoroughbreds, Summer Wind Equine, LLC, Siena Racing, LLC and Woodford Racing, LLC, Flightline, who was bred in Kentucky by Summer Wind Equine and fetched $1 million as a Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select Yearling in 2019, will no doubt be the focus of the racing world on Sunday.

A winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity in his fourth start at age two, Dr. Schivel entered the Breeders' Cup Sprint on Nov. 6 on the heels of a pair of graded stakes wins going six furlongs—the Grade 1 Bing Crosby on July 31 and the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Oct. 2, a race he dominated by 3 ¼ lengths.

Off at 4-1 in the Breeders' Cup Sprint with Prat aboard, Dr. Schivel got a perfect stalking trip from his outside post, took command a furlong out and in a desperate finish, was nailed on the money by longshot Aloha West, only to be back in front on the gallop-out past the wire. With Prat, who had been a perfect four for four on Dr. Schivel, opting to ride Flightline, Juan Hernandez, who guided the son of Violence to a 5 ¾ length maiden win in his third career start on Aug. 8, 2020, has the call.

Owned by Red Baron's Barn, LLC and Rancho Temescal, Dr. Schivel, who earned a 100 Beyer in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, is well seasoned, with an overall mark of 8-5-2-1 and earnings of $876,000.

A winner of a record four Malibu Stakes, Bob Baffert will send out Triple Tap. The colt will no doubt command considerable respect and be ridden for the first time by John Velazquez, who has committed to ride full-time at Santa Anita this winter. Owned by his breeders, Summer Wind Equine, Triple Tap, like Flightline, was an impressive first-out maiden winner who was then idle for several months prior to making his second start.

A 4 ¼ length maiden winner going seven furlongs at 1-5 on March 13, Triple Tap came back running on Nov. 5, taking a six furlong allowance by 2 ¼ lengths while earning a 97 Beyer as the 9-5 favorite. By Tapit out of the Yankee Gentleman mare Littleprincessemma, Triple Tap appears primed for a top effort.

THE RUNHAPPY MALIBU WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 10 of 11 Approximate post time 3:30 p.m. PT

  1. Baby Yoda—Jose Ortiz—120
  2. Timeless Bounty—Umberto Rispoli—120
  3. Stilleto Boy—Kent Desormeaux—120
  4. Dr. Schivel—Juan Hernandez—124
  5. Flightline—Flavien Prat—120
  6. Team Merchants—Mario Gutierrez—120
  7. Triple Tap—John Velazquez–120

The Runhappy Malibu, to be run for the 75th time, is one of six graded stakes on Opening Day. Special early first post time is at 11 a.m., with admission gates opening at 9 a.m.

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Kirkpatrick & Co. Presents In Their Care: Lindemann Will Never Forget Her First Horse

Lorita Lindemann was a teenager, an innocent, until one moment changed everything.

She finished her classes and hurried to Rockingham Park to say goodbye to Federal Sin. “Chestnut gelding. White blaze I will never forget,” said Lindemann, recalling her first horse.

She knew the veteran's racing days were over. The parting was made easier because she had been told that he would be adopted as a riding pony. And so she led trusting Federal Sin onto a van, content in knowing that a wonderful new home awaited a horse that meant everything to her.

She later learned the horrifying truth. That van ride ended at a slaughterhouse, where poor Federal Sin met a terrifying end. “You cried and you got over it,” Lindemann said. “But you never forget.”

Her anger, the anguish that accompanied such a betrayal, turned into a passion for keeping other former racehorses from such an awful end. Her dedication to that cause, combined with her skill as an assistant to Joe Sharp, led her to win the Dedication to Racing Award sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. The Dedication to Racing Award is part of the annual Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards created in 2016 by Godolphin USA.

Lindemann, 48, greatly appreciated joining honorees in other categories during mid-October ceremonies at Keeneland. She was selected from among more than 200 nominees. But she said, “That's not what I look for. From the beginning, it was just done from the bottom of my heart, not to get any recognition.”

The same can be said for Michael Blowen, founder of Old Friends, a sanctuary for retired Thoroughbreds that he established in 2003. Lindemann and Blowen are kindred spirits – and then some.

They met when they shared a barn at Rockingham, the Salem, N.H., track that ran its final live race in 2009. An 18-year-old Lindemann taught Blowen, then a Boston Globe writer, everything she had learned from Joseph Gilbert. Although Gilbert was illiterate, the native of Cajun country in Louisiana knew so much about a Thoroughbred's legs that he was referred to far and wide as “Shin Buck.”

Lorita Lindemann with Michael Blowen, whom she met during her days at Rockingham Park in New Hampshire

Lindemann was raised by Annette Fantasia, a single mother. An uncle, Alfred Fantasia, worked in various capacities in the racing industry and provided a strong influence. She never knew her biological father.

For the last 30 years or so, Blowen has filled an aching need for Lindemann. “I was looking for a dad,” she said, “and he was looking for a daughter.”

The absence of adoption papers does not matter to either of them. “It doesn't have to be official,” Blowen said. “It just has to be sincere.”

Blowen also was duped while he was new to racing. “They used to say at Suffolk that some of these horses that were broken down were headed to retirement homes in Maine,” he recalled.

He eventually realized there were no retirement homes in Maine, at least not for Thoroughbreds. Blowen did what he could to help Lindemann cope with the loss of Federal Sin.

“I think that changed her whole life,” he said. “She's never gotten over it. I think that still motivates her.”

Lindemann used to feel as if she was a lone voice when it came to the need for aftercare. “You're a kid and you're a woman. You're 18. Nobody is listening,” she said.

She continues to be exasperated by those who do not concern themselves about the future of their horses once they have given their all and cannot race another step.

“These horses are why we have what we have today — houses, possessions. These horses have done this. Without these horses, we couldn't do this,” she said. “It saddens me that people lose that concept along the way.”

On the positive side, the cause has gained tremendous momentum and a level of financial backing that was once only a dream. When there is a horse in need, Lindemann has developed a reputation as one to call.

“I can't even put a number on the number of horses that she got off the track and put in proper places,” Blowen said.

Lindemann regularly places horses above her needs. She only recently scheduled knee surgery to treat an injury she neglected for the last three years.

“She's dogged. She knows who to call and how to ask for something,” Blowen said. “They all respect her on the backside because she knows what she's doing. She's got everybody's trust back there.”

Lindemann with some of her equine friends

Blowen emphasized that each rescue entails a great deal of hard work and some difficult conversations. “It's easy to feel bad for these horses. It's easy to get emotional,” he said. “But it's really, really hard to dig down and find out where they are, find out how to get them out of a situation and find a place for them. That's the hard part.”

When the going gets tough, Lindemann needs only to think of Federal Sin – and that unforgettable white blaze.

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.

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