January, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Death Of Former Standardbred Racehorse Leads To Animal Cruelty Arrests In Texas

The death of former standardbred racehorse Yankey Conway has led to a pair of animal cruelty arrests in Dallas County, Texas, reports WFSA12 News.

Vicky Stoudenmire had been nursing the 16-year-old “Yankey” back to health at her farm in Selma, the animal reportedly recovering from a broken hip. Sherriff Mike Granthum said a 17-year-old broke onto Stoudenmire's property and stole the horse, and was later seen on a social media video racing the horse against a fast-moving vehicle.

Stoudenmire said Yankey was ridden for three days until he could no longer stand.

According to Sherriff Granthum, the 17-year-old and his 23-year-old friend Terrius Smith then loaded Yankey onto a trailer and dumped him in a creek, where the horse drowned.

Both have been charged with aggravated animal cruelty, and the 17-year-old has also been charged with second-degree theft of property.

Straight Talk About HISA: NHBPA, ARCI CEOs To Appear On Kentucky Racing Spotlight This Friday

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), legislation scheduled to go into effect July 1, will be the subject of a special edition of Kentucky Racing Spotlight this Friday from 6-7 p.m. ET on Louisville's ESPN 680 AM.

Eric Hamelback and Ed Martin, the CEOs respectively of the National Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association (NHBPA) and the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI), will be the featured guests discussing one of the most fundamental changes to the administrative structure of horse racing in history. Peter Ecabert, the National HBPA's general counsel, also will participate.

HISA general counsel John Roach and the HISA Authority's interim executive director Hank Zeitlin declined invitations to take part.

“We look forward to opportunities for discussion with you after Lisa Lazarus takes on her role as CEO next month,” Zeitlin responded in an email.

Roach and Zeitlin referenced pending litigation as the reason for not participating. The National HBPA and 12 of its state affiliates have a lawsuit pending in Federal District Court in Lubbock, Texas. Additionally, nine individual states, along with two state racing commissions and the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Association, filed a separate suit in Federal District Court in Lexington, Ky.

The National HBPA believes HISA is an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority to a private non-governmental organization – the Authority. The Kentucky HBPA, the radio show's presenting sponsor, did not join the suit, though it was represented on the National HBPA's executive committee that voted unanimously to pursue a legal challenge.

HISA is now the acronym for both the legislative act and the regulatory Authority the law created.

The HISA legislation was passed by Congress in late 2020 and included as part of a year-end spending and Covid-19 relief bill. The law grants the Authority broad powers to create, regulate and enforce rules with respect to medication/drug, safety and integrity matters for thoroughbred racing in the United States. The Authority is under the jurisdiction of the Federal Trade Commission, which must approve any regulations it proposes. Currently, regulations have been submitted to the FTC and published for public comment, others await submission, while no regulations have been approved or disapproved.

“We are less than 5 1/2 months from HISA's legislatively mandated implementation,” said Kentucky Racing Spotlight co-host Jennie Rees, a veteran turf journalist who works as a communications consultant for both the National and Kentucky HBPA along with other entities in horse racing. “Our show by design is not political. HISA is clearly a polarizing issue, but we thought this close to such a paradigm shift in thoroughbred racing that it was important to get straight talk, facts and informed perspective about what it means for the industry – including racing's consumers, the horseplayers – without the rhetoric or heated emotions.

“We are disappointed that HISA thus far has declined to participate. The invitation remains. I dare say the majority of racing participants – including many supporting or opposing the law – have no idea what is and isn't in the legislation. We wanted to take one step toward changing that.”

The National HBPA represents close to 30,000 licensed owners and trainers throughout America, making it the largest thoroughbred horsemen's organization in the world. ARCI is the umbrella organization of the official regulatory and rule-making bodies for horse and greyhound racing throughout North America and parts of the Caribbean. The organization's members heretofore were the only independent entities recognized to license, enforce and adjudicate matters pertaining to racing.

Kentucky Racing Spotlight, co-hosted by Joe Clabes, airs weekly through March 4 on ESPN 680-AM/105.7 FM, the region's sports-talk leader. The program also will be streamed live at espnlouisville.com, on the ESPN 680 app and the TuneIn and iHeart apps. The replay will be available on espnlouisville.com under the podcasts tab. All shows also are archived at davisinnovation.com/kyracing.

Kentucky Racing Spotlight is also sponsored by Davis Innovation equine marketing, the Louisville Thoroughbred Society and NKYTribune.com.

Previous shows archived at
https://www.davisinnovation.com/kyracing

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Cox: Well-Beaten Concert Tour ‘Probably A Need-The-Lead Horse’

Concert Tour's first start at 4 resembled his last start at 3 – prominent early and leg weary late.

Making his first start since the Preakness last May, Concert Tour finished last of nine in Saturday's $150,000 Fifth Season Stakes at Oaklawn Park for older horses at one mile. The 3-2 favorite stalked the early pace before being beaten 15 lengths in his first start for trainer Brad Cox and first without blinkers.

“He's fine,” Cox said Sunday afternoon. “He bounced out of it. Obviously, there's some frustration, but that's part of it.”

Two of Concert Tour's three victories for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert came when leading at every point of call, including his career debut last January at Santa Anita and the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) for 3-year-olds last March at Oaklawn. The 1 1/16-mile Rebel was Concert Tour's first race around two turns.

Concert Tour didn't make the early lead in his next start, the $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1) last April at Oaklawn, and finished third and faded to ninth in the Preakness, beaten 34 ¼ lengths, after racing just off the early pace.

“I think he's one of those horses, California, he broke, he's on the lead and he won,” Cox said. “He came here, he broke good, he's on the lead and he won. I think he's probably a need-the-lead horse. He probably couldn't have got the lead yesterday, I don't really think, with that Mucho in the race. But at the three-eighths pole, he was kind of packing it in.”

While Cox will regroup with Concert Tour, the trainer still has a deep roster of older two-turn older stakes types, including Oaklawn-based Plainsman and Caddo River for John Ed Anthony of Hot Springs.

Caddo River, who finished second in the Arkansas Derby after beating Concert Tour to the lead, is entered in Saturday's seventh race, a 1 1/16-mile allowance. Caddo River crossed the finish line first in his comeback race, a Dec. 19 allowance at one mile, but was disqualified and placed second for interference near the wire.

Plainsman, a multiple Grade 3 winner, is scheduled to make his 2022 debut in the $600,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 12. Plainsman finished a troubled third in his last start, the $750,000 Cigar Mile Handicap (G1) Dec. 4 at Aqueduct.

The Fifth Season was Oaklawn's first major 2022 prep for the $1 million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) for older horses April 23.

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Pegasus Turf: Hit The Road Ready To Fire His ‘A Game’ Off The Bench

While the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) has long been in the plans for Hit the Road, trainer Dan Blacker did not expect to run in the race off a nearly four-month layoff.

Ah, but odd things happen in life and sport and Blacker has no choice but to train the Grade 1 winner up to his first start at 1 1/8 miles in the $1 million race Jan. 29 at Gulfstream Park.

Hit the Road, owned by DK Racing, Radley Equine, Taste of Victory Stables, Rick Gold, Tony Maslowski and Dave Odmark, gave Blacker, 39, the first Grade 1 win of his career with his neck victory over Smooth Like Strait in the Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita. Blacker purchased the now 5-year-old son of More Than Ready in 2018 as a yearling in a private sale after he failed to reach his reserve price at a public auction.

“After he won a Grade 1 in March last year we had the Breeders' Cup in mind throughout the year,” Blacker said. “We were prepping him, then he had a fever the week before the race and we had to scratch him. To prepare a horse for that amount of time and to have to withdraw at the last minute was really disappointing.”

After that setback and once Hit the Road resumed training, Blacker plotted a new course.

“We prepped him for the San Gabriel (G2), which is a mile and an eighth at Santa Anita [Dec. 26], with the Pegasus in mind because that race was at a mile and an eighth, as well,” he said. “And then that race came off the turf and we had to scratch out of that race. So, we're just coming in here. It's a bit of an unknown, but the horse is training really well.”

Hit the Road has a long series of breezes on his work tab, most recently going five furlongs in 58.40 seconds over the Santa Anita turf Jan. 16.

“Everything needs to go perfect, really,” Blacker said. “It's a lot of tests that he has to pass in order to make the trip. It's a long trip, it's very expensive and I don't want to take him unless he's ready to fire his absolute 'A' game. Hopefully we'll be able to do it. But it's up to the horse. We'll just have to see over the next two weeks. Right now, he's doing great and I'm really happy with him.”

Thanks to the unforeseen combo of the minor illness and then rain in December in Southern California, the Pegasus Turf will be Hit the Road's first start since he finished third by a half-length in a troubled trip in the City of Hope Mile (G2) Oct. 2 at Santa Anita. The City of Hope was his 11th consecutive race at one mile.

“He runs really well fresh, so I'm not worried about the fitness,” Blacker said. “I'm more concerned about the distance. You just never know. I think he will be able to run at a mile and an eighth, but the question is: Is he as good at a mile and eighth as at a mile? And when you're running in Grade 1s, you've got to bring your 'A' game.

“It's a lot of money, this race. We were fortunate to be invited and grateful to the Stronach Group for inviting us,” he added. “It just depends on the horse, how he works over the next two weeks. Hopefully everything runs smoothly [and] we can take a shot.”

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