February, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

NTRA’s New CEO Rooney: I Was Hired To Be Thoroughbred Industry’s Unified Voice In Washington

The following statement was distributed by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association on behalf of its new president and CEO, Tom Rooney.

Horse racing has been in my family since long before I was born, and I've grown up with a passion for the sport. When I retired from Congress a few years ago, many people asked me what I would do next. I often responded that I wasn't too sure, I was going to coach my kids in football, and that my dream would be to own a horse that would run in the Kentucky Derby.

Fast forward to last year, when my predecessor Alex Waldrop announced he was retiring from the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. When I heard about this opportunity, I thought to myself how much I love horse racing, and how deeply I want to be a part of it for the rest of my life. Now, as the new president and CEO of this great organization, I am excited for the future of the industry and feel deeply honored to help play a small part in shaping what that future looks like.

It's not lost on me that the industry and racing as a whole have changed significantly in my lifetime, and will continue to evolve for future generations. While these changes may be inevitable, it is critical that we have a unified voice to advocate for what's best for the industry overall. I was hired for one reason and one reason only: to go to Washington, D.C. and be that unified voice on behalf of the thoroughbred breeding and racing industry.

As a former Member of Congress, I understand how Washington works. As a horse owner and fan myself, I understand many of the leading issues we face. But as your representative in Washington, I know that I don't have all the answers. I need to spend time with you, listening and understanding, to get a sense of what's most important and how I can most successfully advocate on your behalf. My goal is to build consensus in the industry and tell the positive story of the sport in Washington.

We're always going to face opposition, and there will be some people we can never convince that we're doing what's right by the animals we so deeply care about. We need to constantly strive to do the best that we can do for the industry. We need to hold people accountable for wrongdoing. We need to praise the good news and successes we have. And we need to work to maintain horse racing for generations to come.

I'm eager and excited to work with you and serve as the leader of NTRA. Together, we can continue to do great things.

Tom Rooney served the people of Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2009 to 2019, focusing primarily on economic, agricultural, national security, and military issues. Prior to serving in Congress, Rooney served with the U.S. Army as a lawyer in the JAG Corps. During his tenure, he was Special Assistant U.S Attorney at Fort Hood, Texas, prosecuting all civilian crimes on post in the 1st Cavalry Division. After completing active duty with the rank of captain, Rooney taught constitutional and criminal law at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.

He received his J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law and became a member of the Florida Bar in 1999. He also has an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Florida. Rooney played football for Syracuse University and Washington & Jefferson College, where he earned a B.A. in English Literature.

Rooney resides in Palm Beach County, Florida, with his wife, Tara, and three sons, Tommy, Sean, and Seamus.

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Online Poker Tip: 5 Worst Starting Hands For Texas Holdem Poker

We cover the 10 best starting hands, or pairs of pocket cards, to be holding in your game of Texas Holdem so it is only fitting t cover the 5 worst starting hands you could be holding. The general rule of thumb if you are holding any of these 5 losing combinations? Fold and walk away!

1) 2-7 (offsuit)
By Far the worst start you could have for your game. You have no chance at a straight draw or flush draw and chances are you would be beaten with a pair of 7s. There is the remote chance at a full house with this hand but it is clearly not taking the risk waiting for this to occur. FOLD!

2) 2-8 (offsuit)
Only slightly better than the 2-7 draw, this combination cried out for you to fold from the start. Why is it slightly better? A pair of 8s will beat the poor soul with a pair of 7s! The straight draw or flush is once again out of the question with this combination and the cards are screaming at you to fold!

3) 3-8 (offsuit)
Once again you are left without the chance of a straight draw or flush draw and left with hoping for a pair of 8s. At this point you may be hoping for the chance at a full house, don’t do it! It is time to fold and wait on a better hand, like one of the 10 best outlined in another article.

4) 2-9 (offsuit)
A pair of 9s may beat out the 8s above but this is still a combination crying out to be folded.

5) 2-6 (offsuit)
You are left with a chance at the low straight draw and not much else with this combination. You are best served folding from the offset and waiting for a hand that will give you a fighting chance.

There are the five pairs of pocket cards that should have you folding as soon as you can. For those brave enough to continue on with your play after drawing any of these killer combinations, may luck be on your side! Being aware of the best and worst combinations will help strengthen your overall game and help make your stay at the table more successful. Long shots do come in on occasion but the disciplined player usually walks away from the table happy.

Bloodlines Presented By Caracaro: Patience Paid Off For Liam’s Map, Colonel Liam

At the tail end of his stud career, Unbridled's Song (by Unbridled) sired two of his very best performers, both multiple Grade 1 winners: Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Liam's Map and champion Arrogate (Breeders' Cup Classic, Travers, Pegasus World Cup, and Dubai World Cup).

The challenge thrown down to both those exceptional performers when they went to stud was that, despite their sire's excellent record of 117 stakes winners and numerous top-class performers, none of his sons had become a top stallion.

Breeders hate to see that. It gives them the feeling that something is going wrong that they can't quite see.

Nor can breeders ignore horses of such unquenchable talent as Liam's Map and Arrogate.

A horse of such high speed that he was very reminiscent of his famous sire, Liam's Map got off to a fast start at stud. In 2019, the stallion's first-crop racers Basin won the Grade 1 Hopeful and Wicked Whisper won the G1 Frizette.

Neither was able to improve that form in subsequent starts, but they were clearly talented. So was their sire.

Liam's Map, however, was unraced at two, then was very lightly raced at three, winning three of his four starts, including the Harlan's Holiday Stakes. The following season, Liam's Map also won three of four, but his victories included the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and Woodward, both Grade 1s. In the G1 Whitney at Saratoga, Liam's Map ran a brilliant race, leading all the way through swift fractions (:22.79, :46, 1:09.72, 1:34.66, 1:47.82) and getting nailed in the last jump by the immensely talented Honor Code, the last top racer by A.P. Indy.

An $800,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by St. Elias Stables, Liam's Map had all the right parts in all the right places, but pushing on him did not seem unduly wise to the patient ownership. As a result, the son of Unbridled's Song was able to grow into his frame and harden his bone to cope with the exceptional speed he possessed.

When the grand-looking gray finished his racing career with six victories in eight starts and earnings of more than $1.3 million when he finished racing for Teresa Viola Racing Stable and West Point Thoroughbreds, Liam's Map was a serious stallion prospect and entered stud in 2016 at Lane's End Farm.

Patience paid off.

With the obvious benefits of a racing profile slanted toward maturity, one might have expected that owners would have followed suit with the stallion's offspring. That pattern is, however, contrary to general human nature and to the desire to strike a vein of gold when one sees it.

Because, do not doubt it, many of the offspring of Liam's Map have real talent. They are fast and athletic; frequently they will show these traits early.

The stats for the sire, however, indicate that pushing early is perhaps not the best path to follow. The stats indicate that there is a considerable rate of attrition for striking too early with these talented youngsters.

The gold star for patient handling among the Liam's Map stock goes to Colonel Liam, who won his third Grade 1 in the Pegasus Turf at Gulfstream on Jan. 29. Bred in Kentucky by Phillips Racing Partnership, Colonel Liam was unraced at two; then won three of five at three, including the Tropical Park Derby; won three of four last year at four, including the G1 Pegasus Turf at Gulfstream and the Turf Classic at Churchill. The horse's second Pegasus Turf was his 2022 debut.

From a tremendous and historic female family nurtured at Darby Dan Farm, where Colonel Liam was bred and raised, the gray horse is the first stakes winner out of the Bernardini mare Amazement, a daughter of two-time Grade 1 winner Wonder Again (Silver Hawk).

Wonder Again was one of two top-class performers out of the Danzig mare Ameriflora. The other was Wonder Again's full brother Grass Wonder, who won nine of 14 starts in Japan, where he was the champion 2-year-old colt and earned nearly $6 million.

Third dam Ameriflora was a full sister to Grade 1 winner Tribulation, and this is a family that goes even farther back in the history of Darby Dan.

Daniel Galbreath purchased the seventh dam, the fleet racemare Skylarking (Mirza), from the Aly Khan and imported her to Kentucky, where she has had a lasting effect on the breed.

Colonel Liam is the latest of these, and he started his public exposure quietly enough, selling for $50,000 to Waves Bloodstock at the 2018 Keeneland September sale. Brought to sale the following spring at the OBS April auction of juveniles in training, Colonel Liam worked a quarter-mile in :20 4/5, and Robert and Lawana Low paid $1.2 million to bring home the gray from the Wavertree consignment.

To date, Colonel Liam has earned $1.8 million and is shining a light on the benefits of patient handling for racing stock from this line.

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Fasig-Tipton Puts Santa Anita 2-Year-Old Sale On Hiatus For 2022

Logistical issues and a limited supply of horses has led Fasig-Tipton to put its Santa Anita 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale on hiatus for 2022, BloodHorse reports.

The auction was initially scheduled to be held in June at Santa Anita Park.

Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning told BloodHorse that beyond lacking the equine numbers to make the catalog work, not having dedicated stalls at Santa Anita to house sale horses created some issues. Last year, some trainers had to be displaced from their barns to make room for the sale horses.

The auction company's California Fall Yearlings Sale is still scheduled for Sept. 27 at Fairplex in Pomona, Calif.

Fasig-Tipton took over the mantle as California's primary auction company for 2-year-olds in training sales in 2019, following the closure of Barretts Equine Sales the prior year.