March, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Wayne Potts Among Six Trainers Denied Stalls At Upcoming NYRA Meets

Trainer Wayne Potts is among six individuals the New York Racing Association has denied stalls to at the upcoming Aqueduct and Belmont Park race meets, according to the Daily Racing Form. The others are: Juan Vazquez, Marvin Richards, John McAllen, Luis Miranda, and Michael Simmonds.

The above-named trainers must have their horses off NYRA properties or transferred to other trainers by Wednesday, March 30.

NYRA spokesman Pat McKenna denied to name a specific reason for the decision, stating that NYRA “retains the exclusive right and discretion to grant, deny, revoke, or reduce stall space for licensed trainers at its properties.”

The denial of stalls will not preclude these individuals from shipping horses in to race at either NYRA facility.

None of the above-named trainers have been issued a statement of charges, the preliminary step NYRA took toward banning trainers Bob Baffert and Marcus Vitali from racing at its tracks.

“No matter the point of origin, all horses shipping in to race at NYRA tracks are subject to the same level of health and safety scrutiny as horses stabled on NYRA property,” McKenna told DRF. “These protocols are effective in mitigating risk, enhancing equine safety, and protecting the integrity of the sport in New York.”

Potts was suspended 20 days by the New York State Gaming Commission for a claiming violation at Saratoga last summer, which he served from Sept. 30 through Oct. 19.

In August of 2020, The Maryland Jockey Club (MJC) told Potts to vacate his barn at Laurel Park, where he kept 30 horses, after track officials discovered Potts was program training for embattled colleague Marcus Vitali. Further, according to MJC president and general manager Sal Sinatra, Potts's name is on a list at Charles Town, Parx, and Delaware Park and he is not permitted to run horses at those facilities, either.

Potts had denied those allegations, and is also currently appealing a 15-day suspension for a medication violation in New Jersey as well as a 30-day suspension for not allowing a horse to be vanned off at Monmouth Park in August of 2021.

In 2019, Potts was suspended in Delaware for non-payment of invoices from a veterinary firm. Three years before that, Potts was fined in Maryland for operating his racing stable without workers' compensation insurance for nearly seven months. It was only after an exercise rider was injured that it was discovered that the workers' comp policy had been cancelled.

“Medication violations, I don't have a laundry list,” Potts told DRF after learning he would not be allowed stalls at Belmont Park. “I may have done some other stupid things. All of my [owners] are staying with me. I still plan to run here.”

Potts currently has 47 horses stabled at Belmont, and told DRF he plans to move them to a training facility in Westhampton, N.J.

Vazquez, the fifth-leading trainer at the Aqueduct winter meet, is appealing suspensions handed down by the Pennsylvania Gaming Commission for medication positives last fall.

Richards is appealing a medication positive at Monmouth Park that could see him facing a suspension of up to one year. The penalty stems from Richards' trainee Awesomenewyear, winner of the sixth race at Monmouth Park on Sept. 3, 2021. The post-race sample was positive for oxazepam (a sedative designed to treat anxiety, anxiety with depression, and symptoms of alcohol withdrawal) and ibuprofen (a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory).

Secret Oath Works for Arkansas Derby

Briland Farm's Secret Oath (Arrogate) had her final major work Friday ahead of an upcoming start in the Apr. 2 GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn. Sent out Friday morning by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas just after the track opened, the chestnut worked by herself from the five-furlong pole to the regular finish line, covering the distance in 1:01 under her regular pilot, Luis Contreras. According to the Oaklawn clockers, the homebred posted internal splits of :12.20 for an opening eighth and :37.60 for three furlongs before galloping out six panels in 1:15.

“It went exactly as a planned,” said Lukas. “We said, 'go 1:01, just let her catch her stride and take a couple of deep breathes.' Actually, it was so easy on her that I wonder if I should have done a little more.”

Secret Oath was breezing for the second time since her impressive 7 1/2-length triumph in the GIII Honeybee S. Feb. 26. Secret Oath previously posted a five-furlong bullet work (:59.40) Mar. 17.

Added Contreras, “She breezed really good–five-eighths in 1:01. That's what the Coach wanted.”

Lukas won the 1984 Arkansas Derby with Althea, a week after she finished second in the Fantasy S. Lukas also finished third in the 1986 Arkansas Derby with another filly, Family Style, a week after she was fourth in the Fantasy. Althea and Family Style were both Eclipse Award winners at two.

Secret Oath was among nine probables listed Friday morning by the Oaklawn racing department. Other horses pointing for the Arkansas Derby are Barber Road, Ben Diesel, Call Me Jamal, Chasing Time, Cyberknife, Doppelganger, Un Ojo and We the People.

Post positions for the Arkansas Derby will be drawn Sunday afternoon. The event will be open to the public, with a time and place to be announced by Oaklawn. The Arkansas Derby will offer 170 points–100-40-20-10, respectively– to the top four finishers for the May 7 Kentucky Derby.

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Encapsulating Stem Cells For Treating Equines With Osteoarthritis

The next exciting step in regenerative therapies has Dr. Thomas Koch, Ontario Veterinary College, and his team encapsulating stem cells to see if they can enhance the effect of treatment. Horses with osteoarthritis in their joints stand to benefit from a therapy with a slower release time. “When you encapsulate the cells within hydrogel, you can keep the cells in the joint longer, and this may lead to better treatment outcomes,” explains Koch.

In this safety study, the researchers will be comparing the effect of injecting cells alone versus encapsulated cells.

Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSC) have been shown to alleviate pain in mild to moderate osteoarthritis of the fetlock joint. To date, these cells have been from single donor animals. In human medicine, there is work suggesting that combining cells from multiple donors produces a better product with more predictable functionality.

Equine researchers are comparing stem cells collected from just one donor to cells obtained from many. “In order to have a more standardized product, there may be advantages to pooling cells from multiple donors,” says Koch, who added that a student in his lab, Olivia Lee, recently published a paper on this topic.

In the past year, Koch and his commercial partner, Likarda, LLC (Kansas City) have been optimizing a method for freezing down the encapsulated cells. “Having a frozen product will be much more useful to veterinarians,” says Koch. Stored right at the clinics they would be readily available for use after thawing. Freezing encapsulated cells has been a new and challenging venture with the goal of having a treatment ready to inject as soon as it is needed.

The next step in the project is to inject cells into joints in vivo and then monitor if there are any significant reactions comparing saline to unencapsulated and encapsulated cells.

“This research has been more than 10 years in the works, and we are very grateful for the support from Equine Guelph and its partners to allow us to pursue these studies,” says Koch. “We are getting to the point where we will be working with live horses; getting closer and closer to clinical application of these technologies, which is very exciting.”

Carter Field Takes Shape

Godolphin's Speaker's Corner (Street Sense) and First Captain (Curlin), owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, Siena Farm, Woodford Racing and celebrity chef Bobby Flay, appear on course for a tilt at the seven-furlong GI Carter H. Apr. 9 at Aqueduct. This term, the former, trained by Bill Mott, has posted a pair of one-turn victories at Gulfstream Park–the GIII Fred Hooper S. Jan. 29 followed by the Mar. 5 GII Gulfstream Park Mile. Last year, he won three starts in New York, including a 6 3/4-length triumph in a Belmont optional claimer in October before finishing runner up in the nine-furlong Discovery S. He also finished a well-beaten sixth in the GI Pennsylvania Derby in September.

“He showed plenty last year,” said Godolphin bloodstock director Michael Banahan. “We tried stretching him out, but it wasn't really what he wanted to do. We got him back out to one-turn miles and he was impressive in both of those. That's what it looks like he wants to do.”

Speaker's Corner breezed four furlongs in :50.80 at Payson Mar. 18. The Godolphin homebred is out of Tyburn Brook (Bernardini), a daughter of 2006 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Round Pond.

“He's a bigger and stronger version of himself,” said Banahan. “Even as a foal and as a yearling, we always liked him on the farm. He's out of an unraced mare but has a very good pedigree. Once he went to Florida to get pre-trained, he showed plenty of talent. When he was sent to Bill, he said the same, so we were always hopeful of him.”

Also gearing up in next month's Carter, First Captain will aim to garner his first win at the top level. Bred by Bobby Flay Thoroughbreds, First Captain made a winning seasonal debut for Shug McGaughey in a seven-furlong allowance sprint at Gulfstream Feb. 27. Last season, he reeled off three-straight wins at Belmont, including a 1 3/4-length score in the GIII Dwyer going a one-turn mile at Belmont in July before finishing third in the July 30 nine-furlong Curlin S. at Saratoga.

“He's got that one-turn grinding type of style which, generally, is a tough style to win with at Gulfstream, so we were happy that he ran well,” said West Point Thoroughbreds spokesman Jason Blewitt. “The fact that he got up to win, not that it was a surprise, really felt great. We were proud of him to find the finish with such a closing kick. He bounced out if it in really good shape for Shug.”

Exceptional at the one-turn mile, the Carter will serve as a litmus test of sort to see whether he can win going two turns.

“I'm not totally convinced he doesn't want to go two turns,” said Blewitt. “Although the Curlin was disappointing out of him, it maybe was a case of a bad trip and he did have a minor ankle issue after that,” Blewitt said. “There's no denying that his races at Belmont last spring and summer were mighty impressive as well as the seven-eighths win at Gulfstream. It looks pretty black and white on paper that he's 4-for-4 around one turn, so I'm anxious to see how he'll stack up in the Carter. It's a race that has a very rich history.”

A strong performance from First Captain in the Carter could pave the way to the GI Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan H. June 11 at Belmont. Vekoma is the most recent horse to capture the Carter-Met Mile double in 2020.

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