A colt by Good Samaritan (Hip 177) worked the fastest quarter-mile in :20 3/5 on the opening day of the OBS March 2-Year-Old in Training Sale's three-day breeze show Thursday.
“He has done things on the racetrack that only a few horses have done that we had our hands on,” said Joe Pickerell of consignor Pick View. “We were going to be very disappointed if he didn't work like that.”
Bred by St. Elias Stable, the gray is out of Sweat and Saddle (Speightstown), a daughter of GSW & MGISP Well Monied (Maria's Mon). This is also the family of GSW & GISP Economic Model (Flatter) and Will's Secret (Will Take Charge). An $82,000 KEENOV buy, he was picked up by the Pick View team for $120,000 at KEESEP.
“We obviously liked quite a bit about to stretch on him,” Pickerell said. “The whole team kept landing on this horse. He is a good mover with a lot of stretch to him. He was a horse we felt would not only handle the 2-year-old sale well, but go on to do some good things. We've always been a big fan of Harlan's Holiday and with Speightstown on the bottom, it made him extra attractive. The intelligence this horse has is probably his biggest strength. Not only is he wicked fast, but the amount of class he has has been fun to watch.”
He continued, “Scott Mallory did a great job with him at the yearling sale and we had to do was keep him looking that good and keep him growing. That is exactly what he did. He is a bigger version of what we bought.”
The fastest furlong was achieved by a Bayern colt (Hip 139), who went in :9 3/5 for Really and Truly Thoroughbreds. Bred in Florida by Caperlane Farm, he was picked up by Rubin Sanchez for $12,000. The colt's second dam is SW & MGSP Amie's Dini (Bandini).
The under-tack show was cut off early due to poor weather and the final set will be worked into Friday's breeze show, which starts at 8 a.m.
Taylor Owens did not pass her childhood years with any certain expectation that she would work with Thoroughbreds. Born in New York and raised largely in Iowa, Owens' family was only peripherally connected to the Thoroughbred racing industry through her father's uncle, who owned and ran a handful of horses at Prairie Meadows.
“Some of my earliest memories as a child are actually of going to Prairie Meadows,” said Owens. “We would go and visit and watch my dad's uncle's horses run, so that is clearly where I caught the bug. From the outside I was a fan and I followed the big names like Zenyatta and Rags to Riches; the big horses.”
In was during those sporadic trips to the track that the seed was planted for Owens. Now, more than a decade later and well-entrenched into her first year as a student in the highly-selective Godolphin Flying Start Thoroughbred Industry Management and Leadership Program, those days of watching from the stands seem very far away.
Owens' childhood admiration for the sport of racing was initially a bit of a conundrum for the budding fan. Unlike many children who grow up with parents or friends working in the industry in states like Kentucky, New York, or California, getting a foot in the door seemed like a daunting prospect. It wasn't until her father came home one day with the news that he'd found a program at the University of Arizona that Owens finally saw her in.
“My dad found out about the Race Track Industry Program (RTIP) when I was in seventh grade and I just knew then that that was where I was going to go,” said Owen. “But it was a long time between then and when I received my acceptance letter. It was very exciting for me and for my family.
“Thinking back, I actually didn't get involved in the industry at all until 2018 when I started RTIP. The program was the only path I could see into the industry for me. I didn't know how else to get involved.”
Owens leads a horse at Keeneland
With designs to become a Thoroughbred trainer — a goal she still maintains — Owens entered RTIP and gravitated toward the more scientific, equine-centric side of the program.
“RTIP has a business side and an equine side, but they're both equine-focused,” said Owens. “I went in on the equine side so I had more hands-on courses with horses which was what I wanted. All of my courses were geared toward teaching me to manage a track, or a farm, or becoming a trainer. It's very focused in that regard which really makes it unique.
“For me, there were two things that happened in the program. First, it was a lot of exposure and networking. They host the racing symposium in Tucson every year and the students are part of that and help run it. You see so many facets of the business and meet so many industry professionals. One year we went up to Kentucky and went to Hagyard, visited trainers, and just got to see the nuts and bolts of it all. Then, through my courses, I was able to sit in on conversations with really powerful people in the industry like Drew Fleming or Lonny Powell — that is huge. I feel like you really grow as a professional individual being put in these situations and interactions with people high up in the industry. It makes you bring yourself to a higher standard and that has definitely helped me going forward.”
Owens graduated from RTIP in 2020 with her animal science degree and was later chosen among 12 participants for Godolphin Flying Start. The program has, and will continue to take her around the world as she works toward her goal of becoming a trainer.
“We started in Ireland at Kildangan in Kildare, Ireland, last fall” said Owens. “We transferred to Newmarket at the end of October. Then we came to Kentucky Jan. 1 and we will do externships in June and I will be in Australia by mid-August. It's such a rewarding experience to travel and see the industry through an international lens is so cool.”
With so much ahead of her Owens can't help but look behind to her time at RTIP and credits the program with having helped her build the foundation she'll take with her on her travels and into her new career.
“Coming on to a program like Flying Start, you really have to be immersed in the industry and a lot of the stuff I learned at RTIP set me up for this,” said Owens. “I needed to be able to work with horses, but I needed to know how different organizations worked together in the industry at large. The program really gave me the foundation that I used to get to the next level.
“Whether you already have connections to the industry or come in brand new to RTIP like I was, there are so many success stories. I wouldn't be working to start my career in this industry if I didn't love it and didn't believe it. There are so many enthusiastic young people like me working with me. We want to make the industry thrive because we know how good it can be. We've seen it and we will get there.”
In what shapes up as a clash between a pair of highly regarded distaffers this Sunday at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., John Sadler's Edgeway rates a slight advantage over Bob Baffert's Private Mission as they head a field of five older fillies and mares in the Grade 3, $100,000 Las Flores Stakes, to be contested at six furlongs.
With a field of five older fillies and mares entered, Edgeway, second two starts back in the G1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint Nov. 6 at Del Mar and most recently victorious over Baffert's talented Merneith in the ungraded Kalookan Queen at 6 ½ furlongs here on Jan. 2, should be extremely tough to beat with John Velazquez back in the saddle.
A 5-year-old mare by Competitive Edge out of the Stormin Fever mare Magical Solution, Edgeway is owned by Hronis Racing and will be seeking her second graded stakes victory. A one length winner of the G3 Rancho Bernardo Handicap going 6 ½ furlongs three starts back on Aug. 20, she has an outstanding overall mark of 10-6-2-1 and earnings of $596,360.
Victorious by 1 ¾ lengths in gate to wire fashion at 2-5 in the Kalookan Queen, her win looks even better when Merneith's next-out win in the G2 Santa Monica Stakes is factored in. Expertly managed by her connections, Edgeway won three of her five starts last year while banking $431,000.
Owned by Baoma Corporation, Private Mission was a $750,000 yearling purchase who will be making her eighth start on Sunday. Although she won back to back graded stakes, the G2 Torrey Pines at one mile on Aug. 21 and the G2 Zenyatta at 1 1/16 miles here on Oct. 3, she comes off a pair of subpar races and will thus likely be the second choice at Las Flores post time.
Off at 10-1 in the G1 Breeders' Cup Distaff two starts back on Nov. 6, she showed the way early but tired badly to finish a distant last. In her most recent start, the G1 La Brea Stakes at seven furlongs on Dec. 26, she was off as the 3-5 favorite, but finished an even sixth, beaten 7 ½ lengths while never threatening.
A 4-year-old filly by Into Mischief out of the Unbridled mare Private Gift, Private Mission had no recorded works in January. Dating back to Feb. 11, she has had five drills, her most recent a three furlong move in 35.60 seconds on Wednesday. With four wins from seven starts, she has earnings of $257,300 as she bids for her third graded stakes victory.
THE GRADE 3 LAS FLORES WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER
Race 1 of 8 Post time 12:30 p.m. PT
Private Mission—Juan Hernandez—124
Park Avenue—Tyler Baze–120
Edgeway—John Velazquez—124
Dynasty of Her Own—Ricardo Gonzalez–122
Aloha Kitten—Flavien Prat–124
First post time for an eight-race card on Sunday is at 12:30 p.m. with admission gates opening at 10:30 a.m.
A Superior Court judge denied Dr. Jeff Blea a stay of the California Veterinary Medical Board's interim suspension on his veterinary license on Wednesday, according to bloodhorse.com.
Blea had filed a writ of mandate with the California Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles requesting the stay. The filing argued that in his role as the Equine Medical Director for the California Horse Racing Board, Blea does not perform veterinary work and therefore does not require an active license. The filing also argued that the suspension of Blea's license is invalid because the judge did not use a high enough standard of evidence to support her decision, stating that her findings “are not supported by the weight of the evidence, or by any substantial evidence, or at all.”
Judge James Chalfant denied Blea's stay request after concluding that Blea did not present “evidence of irreparable harm and has not shown that it would not be against the public interest to grant a stay.”
The California Horse Racing Board has remained steadfast in its support of Blea. Executive director Scott Chaney told bloodhorse.comWednesday: “We're disappointed by today's decision, not that it was entirely unexpected. Great deference is given to state departments when they file accusations, and the Veterinary Medical Board was given that weight. But we're obviously still hopeful that when we have a hearing on the underlying accusations that he'll be exonerated.”
Blea is facing eight causes for discipline, according to formal “accusation” documents issued in late December. Blea's veterinary license was suspended at an emergency meeting held on Christmas Eve, and that suspension was upheld by Judge Nana Chin after a hearing in late January. During that formal hearing, deputy attorney general Elaine Yan, representing the medical board, argued that the allegations against Blea are violations of the veterinary medical practice act.
Meanwhile, Blea's attorney George Wallace argued that the allegations against the veterinarian do not meet the “extraordinary standard” generally required for the suspension of a veterinary license.
Blea was also removed from his role overseeing the investigation into the death of Bob Baffert-trained Medina Spirit, who dropped dead in December after completing a workout at Santa Anita. The equine medical director is not responsible for actually performing necropsies or testing biological samples on horses who die in racing or training in California or elsewhere. Those responsibilities go to veterinary pathologists and toxicologists — in California, those duties are contracted to UC-Davis, though some samples have been shipped outside California in this particular case. The equine medical director would be responsible for gathering reports and interpreting them for presentation to the board and to the public.
John Pascoe, executive associate dean of UC Davis's School of Veterinary Medicine, ultimately oversaw Medina Spirit's necropsy.
