January, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Young Trainer O’Connor Has ‘Clear Vision’ Of His Future

On Jan. 8, 2022, less than two years since he sent out his first starter as an independent Thoroughbred trainer, Matthew Brice O'Connor found himself in the Gulfstream Park winner's circle with Clear Vision. The 6-year-old Artie Schiller gelding had bested his competition going one mile on the grass in the Tropical Turf Stakes (G3T), marking the first graded win for the horse and for O'Connor.

“That win felt so good—it was a tough spot,” said O'Connor. “We thought we could be third or fourth but (my mentor), Nick Zito has always told me that if you think you can run even fourth in a stakes race, you take the shot. That is how you find the big horses. It all panned out and I'm glad we took that shot. I've only run 50 or so horses so to get a win like that on the tail end of my second year training is a big accomplishment for me and my team.”

In terms of a career metaphor, there could be no more aptly-named stakes winner for O'Connor than Clear Vision. Born in Manhassett, New York, in 1998, just a stone's throw from Belmont Park, O'Connor's exposure to racing came early. Some of his first memories are of his early morning outings with his father to Saratoga's Oklahoma training track and the barn of Dennis Brida, who trained a handful of horses for his family.

“I spent every summer of my life at Saratoga,” said O'Connor. “When I was 5 or 6 years old, I would wake up early and my dad and I would go out to the barn every day. Horses were just always there, so my interest just grew as time went on. I can't say that racing consumed my life, but it's always been a major part of my life.”

In the early 2000s his uncle, Anthony Bonomo, began buying into more horses as an owner racing under the banner MeB Racing Stables. It was under Bonomo's trainer, Dominick Schettino, that O'Connor began learning his first horsemanship skills. In 2014, he received his hotwalker license and began working in earnest for Schettino. There he had the opportunity to interact closely with Grade 1 winner Greenpointcrusader, as well as eventual 2017 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) winner Always Dreaming, who made his first few starts with Schettino before being transferred to Todd Pletcher.

After entering college, O'Connor assisted trainer Robert Falcone, Jr. before finally landing a job with Hall of Famer Nick Zito, who became—and remains—his closet mentor.

“Nick does it right, that's for sure,” said O'Connor. “I talk to Nick at least once or twice a week. We've always kept in touch ever since the moment I started working for him.”

Concurrent to working with Zito, O'Connor graduate from the Race Track Industry Program at the University of Arizona and decided it was time to break out on his own.

“I took out my license in late 2019 and I got my first horse in February of 2020,” said O'Connor. “It was a really tough time, trying to start out in the middle of a pandemic, but by the time it really started going we were too far in it to turn around so we had to keep going.”

O'Connor's first winner came in April of 2020 when he saddled Duellist to a maiden victory at Gulfstream Park. Since that time, O'Connor has continued to grow his stable, running his horses in New York in the summer and Florida in the winter.

“We now have four horses in Florida,” said O'Connor, who runs his barn with the help of a tight three-person crew. “At the highest point I had 18 horses this past summer in Saratoga. That being said, they weren't all the highest quality horses so we decided to trim down and just bring a handful that we thought could be competitive to Florida. Hopefully we will start growing more again.

“We did some shopping in Saratoga and bought a Gormley colt and a Tiznow filly who are both New York-breds. Wherever the good horses are, we try and find them and get them in the barn. I will have to see how many owners I have and how many are looking to get something, but I would expect we should get two or three out of the sales this year. Hopefully it'll be more, but I think that is a good place to start.”

With plenty of races ahead of him in the new year, O'Connor looks forward to every new start and credits his continued luck on the track to the dedication of his team and their combined passion for the sport. And as for Clear Vision, O'Connor is targeting a run for the gelding in the Feb. 5 Tampa Bay Stakes (G3T) at Tampa Bay Downs.

“Without my team, and my horses and owners, I'm just another guy on the backside,” said O'Connor. “To have a first start of this year be the first winner of the year … it's a great way to start. Now we just have to try and top that.”

Matthew O'Connor leads his first graded stakes winner, Clear Vision, into the winner's circle after Saturday's G3 Tropical Turf at Gulfstream Park

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Letter To The Editor: Why I Am Leaving The Sport I Loved For 50 Years

In 1978, John Lydon walked on the stage for the last time as a member of his first band and launched into a song entitled “No Fun.” He ended the song, and the band, by asking the crowd, “You ever get the feeling you've been cheated?”

Six years before that, my father took me to the racetrack for the first time. I was six and where he took me specifically was a barn on the backside of Fonner Park in Nebraska. You probably didn't know where that track was until, for a brief moment in time captured with astounding poignancy and accuracy by the New York Times' Joe Drape, it was one of the only tracks operating during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.

We went to visit Clark “Shorty” Hudson and his wife, Helen, who were part of the village of folks from a small town in southern Nebraska that – for all intents and purposes – helped to raise my orphaned father.

I still have the smell of the barn in my head. It was heaven to me. I still remember the names of most of their six or eight horses. In 1974, Dad claimed his first horse, and a couple of weeks later she won. And I was hooked.

I could go on and on to make my point, but this sport has meant more to me for more than 50 years than I could ever explain. If you are reading this, you know what I'm talking about.

But, I want nothing to do with it anymore. It's no fun. I feel like I've been cheated.

A few weeks ago, horse racing ushered in a new season of four- and five-horse fields in California where officials kowtow to a man who is allegedly good on television. And there will be stakes races there where he has three of the five entries.

In Florida, two or three barns will win every open stakes race. In a lot of them one man will own two or three of the entries and the others will be owned by partnerships of partnerships who figured out that they can increase their chances of winning by not competing against each other.

In Philadelphia, Ozone Park and a few other places, races will be run in front of virtually nobody and the horsemen will split up what amounts to welfare from a pool of money that the “casino and racetrack” makes off of people who are sitting in a dark, depressing room full of clanging sounds mindlessly pulling a lever (or do they just push a button now?). Eventually the day will come when operators figure out how to stop subsidizing this sport with their casino money.

The ostensible flagship entity in horse racing will count their NFL money that came from selling a breathtaking shrine to the sport given to us by a man who loved the game so much, he wouldn't let it die in Illinois even for a few weeks. And now, Illinois racing can only count the days until it's all over. Then I presume, the flagship owners will turn their attention to doing away with the nation's second oldest track. I'm sure they've already started.

Eventually we'll get to the first Saturday in May and we won't see the best horse of this generation there because, well, you know.

And it won't be a celebration of the glory of this sport, although we'll try to make it look like one with a bunch of celebrities trying to outdo each other in a ridiculous couture pageant.

What it will really be: One long, sad attempt to explain ourselves – again – to a nation that only cares about our sport four days a year (sometimes only three) except when we shock them with yet more carnage, or maybe a massive fraud conspiracy.

I haven't been an owner or breeder for about seven years. I haven't worked on a backside in 26 years. I only play eight to 10 times a year (I live in a state that hasn't legalized account wagering and I hate sitting around in a simulcast dump) but I have handicapped and watched races almost every day since TVG went on the air.

I had always intended to get back to the sport and enjoy it as an owner and more frequent player when I retired. And now that I have, I want nothing to do with it. It's not fun. I feel cheated. I don't want the foul stench of this on me. I'd be embarrassed to be a part of it.

It just occurs to me that if someone more or less born and raised on this sport and spiritually fed by it for over 50 years because it was so much fun – because most of the best memories of his life came from experiences as a member of the racing family and the beauty of this sport – reaches the point that he doesn't want to look at it or even hear about it anymore, then the least he can do is tell this thing he loved why he's leaving. And now I have done that.

– Name Withheld, Texas

Editor's note: The writer asked that his name be withheld because of familial ties to individuals currently employed in the horse industry.

If you would like to submit a letter to the editor, please write to info at paulickreport.com and include contact information where you may be reached if editorial staff have any questions.

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Jaylan Clary, 27, Takes Over Family Operation After Father Mike Neatherlin Dies Of COVID

As Jaylan Clary embarks on her first full year as a Thoroughbred trainer, her thoughts are never far from the man who made it possible. That's her dad, Mike Neatherlin, who died from COVID on Sept. 5 at age 65.

“I wouldn't be who I am today without him,” the 27-year-old said recently.

Clary saddled her first horse as the trainer of record on Sept. 15, with El Pando winning a Remington Park maiden race. But she is no rookie. Clary helped her dad with his racehorses as well as handling the work on their farm and training facility in Brock, less than an hour from Lone Star Park. Father and daughter worked closely together, not only with Neatherlin's modest-sized racing stable but buying yearlings for resale as 2-year-olds through her Clary Bloodstock operation.

Clary has a dozen 2-year-olds to sell this year and 10 racehorses at Sam Houston, which kicked off Texas' 2022 racing season on January 6. Her Sam Houston contingent includes eight-time stakes-winner Mr Money Bags, the 2019 Texas Horse of the Year.

“We did everything together. My dad stayed at the racetrack. I have a little boy, so I stayed at home,” she said. “We have the privilege of having a track at the house for any horses that needed some time. We have paddocks, we have a training facility. We use it to break and prep to sell the babies and for the racehorses that need time. He'd be at the track and I'd take care of everything at home, and sometimes we'd switch.”

“He knew my career was going to be racehorses, so he helped me start my business. I sold his horses for him. That's also how my brother (Lane Richardson) started out, then he branched out on his own and then my dad helped me. It's something I plan to keep doing. The reason I have racehorses is because, say I don't sell a 2-year-old, we always have the option of training and running them. We'll sell them if the time comes, or we'll keep them.”

Clary won with her first starter as the trainer of record, with El Pando taking a Remington Park maiden race on Sept. 15. In his second start, El Pando won Remington's $100,000 Clever Trevor Stakes. Clary also owns the $10,000 yearling purchase.

The stable star remains Erma Cobb's 6-year-old Mr Money Bags, who is being pointed for stakes races at Sam Houston. The gelded son of Silver City was Texas Horse of the Year as a 3-year-old when he captured Sam Houston's Jim Orbit and Groovy Stakes and Lone Star Park's Texas Stallion Stymie Division Stakes. Mr Money Bags also gave Neatherlin his first victory in a derby in New Mexico's Zia Park Derby.

Last year Mr Money Bags won four of eight starts, including the Gillispie Fairground's GCFA Texas Bred Stakes on Aug. 28 in what proved Neatherlin's final starter. Mr Money Bags subsequently had two seconds at Remington Park before the gelding won the Zia Park Sprint Stakes for Clary. He earned it the hard way, finishing in a dead-heat for first but gaining sole victory after rival Competitive Idea was disqualified to second for interference.

“I'm so lucky to have a horse as tough as he is,” Clary said. “He doesn't get pushed around by any horse. In his race replay, you could see he wasn't going to let that horse win. It was a very emotional day. Every time Mrs. Cobb and I win, we cry. We cry together. Because she just lost Mr. Cobb and I lost my dad. So for both of us, we get emotional.”

Roy Cobb, of Mineral Wells, died in November of 2020. Roy Cobb and Neatherlin were partners on other notable horses, including racing and ultimately privately selling future Breeders' Cup Mile winner Kip Deville. Neatherlin also bought multiple graded-stakes winner Airoforce for $20,000 as a yearling before the partners resold him for $350,000 as a 2-year-old through Lane Richardson's consignment.

But Mr Money Bags is the gift that keeps on giving.

“Mr Money Bags has opened up more doors for our family than is explainable,” Clary said. “We have worked with Mr. and Mrs. Cobb since I was a young girl. I take a lot of pride in Mr Money Bags. He meant a lot to my dad. That was the only horse my dad had that was Horse of the Year. My dad had really nice horses, but he's always had to sell them. Mr Money Bags was something he got to train. He was the highlight of his training career, because he sold Kip Deville before he became Kip Deville. Mrs. Cobb herself means a lot to us. We've been through a lot with them, so many highs and lows and she's always been right there. She's an amazing lady. You don't get any better.”

Clary said her father forged his own way on the racetrack, early on sleeping in stalls and tack rooms and never owning his own place until he was 50.

“He came from absolutely nothing, was one of 12 kids and the only one who chose to be a racehorse trainer,” Clary said. “He had to make it his own way. Every owner he got, he worked very hard for.

“My dad always prepared me for the worst. When he went to the hospital, we had a lot of babies at the time. He just said, 'You've got to keep going.' For about three weeks, when I got everything moved in to the track, he was able to talk to me. As soon as it was time to start running the horses, he went on the ventilator. I ran three times under his name, and then he passed away. It was hard, but in a way he fully prepared me. The past few years my dad always said, 'I won't always be here.'

“It was a hard transition. But as far as the horses go, our owners are just amazing. They never wavered. I've actually accumulated some new owners and the owners I had want to send me more horses. Some owners, when things happen, they find new trainers, more veteran trainers. Nobody has. I'm so thankful to have owners who believe in our program enough to know that it's not gone with my dad. Everything he did, I'd do it just like him.”

Clary took over the stable at a time when Texas racing is launching a renaissance, thanks to the legislation passed that is boosting purses with revenue from the sales tax on horse feed and supplies.

“Passing that bill was such a great thing for Texas racing,” she said. “Texas in general thrives off of horses, whether it's cutting, rodeoing, racing. Everything has gotten better in Texas because of that legislation, and it's only going to get better on the sales side. I bought as many Texas-breds as I could, and I believe they're going to sell well because they are Texas-breds. And look how much tougher the trainers are getting here. Some bigger trainers are coming to Texas because these are good purses.”

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Juan Hernandez Voted Jockey Of The Week After Santa Anita Stakes Double

Two stakes victories at Santa Anita including the only graded stakes of the week nationally earned the honor of Jockey of the Week for Juan Hernandez. The honor, 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 1050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.

On Saturday, Juan Hernandez had the mount on Brickyard Ride for trainer Craig Lewis in the Don Valpredo California Cup Sprint for 4-year-olds and up, one of five Cal-bred stakes on Cal Cup Day. With Hernandez putting Brickyard Ride's speed to good use from post position three in the field of eight, they showed the way up the backstretch and drew away in upper stretch to a 1 3/4-length win in 1:09.54 for six furlongs. It was Hernandez's second win of the day. Off as the favorite, Brickyard Ride paid $5.40, $3.80 and $2.60.

“Craig told me to just let him run,” said Hernandez speaking to the Santa Anita publicity team. “He broke really sharp and he was ready today. Once I was on the lead that was it, I just let him run. I felt the pace was a little fast, but that is fine for a horse like him.”

Monday's holiday card featured the Grade 3 Astra Stakes with Hernandez riding the French-bred Neige Blanche for trainer Leonard Powell. The race was transferred from the hillside turf course to a flat start on the backstretch. Sent off as the heavy favorite in the field of five, Neige Blanche found herself bottled up on the rail with her four rivals in front of her. Hernandez called on Neige Blanche once a seam opened up turning for home and overtook Disappearing Act with Flavien Prat in the stretch to win the one and one-half mile marathon in 2:32.27. She paid $2.60 to win.

“The trip worked out pretty good for her because she likes to run like that,” said Hernandez, who has now ridden Neige Blanche in her last seven races, winning four of them. “I put a lot of trust in her and in Leonard to have her ready. I felt like I had a lot of horse. We were waiting for something to open up. She's a nice filly, she was ready today.”

Weekly statistics for Hernandez were 17-5-2-3 and total purse earnings of $338,560. He currently is in third place in the Santa Anita jockey standings with 13 win and just over $1 million in purse earnings.

Hernandez outpolled fellow riders Armando Ayuso with a 40 percent win rate, Arnaldo Bocachica also with a 40 percent win rate, Flavien Prat who was leading jockey with total and stakes purse earnings, and Luis Saez with a stakes win at Gulfstream Park.

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