Month: April 2022

Profitable Breeding Right Anchors Tattersalls Online Catalogue

A total of 13 lots have been catalogued for the Tattersalls Only May Sale led by a breeding right in young stallion Profitable (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (lot 13). Bidding begins at 10 a.m. local time on May 5. There are also a selection of Flat and National Hunt racing and breeding prospects set to go under the hammer.

Currently the sire of 36 winners, the Darley stallion celebrated a new black-type winner when Miramar (GB) won the G3 Prix Sigy at Chantilly. His group/listed winning progeny also include G2 Queen Mary S. victress Quick Suzy (Ire), and listed winners Mr Professor (Ire) and Head Mistress (Ire). In addition, the bay has another trio of listed-placed offspring so far.

Other lots of interest include: the dual winner Teodolina (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) (lot 2) from the Godolphin draft who is rated 90; Hair of Gold (Ire) (Fastnet {Aus}) (lot 1) in foal to Alkumait (GB) from Ballynure Park Stud; Jessica Harrington's Commonstown Stables offers Beginish (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) (lot 10)out of triple winner Superba (Ire) (Medicean {GB}), herself a half-sister to Group 2 winner Thomas Hobson (GB) (Halling) from the family of G1 Oaks heroine Talent (GB) (New Approach {Ire}); and Imperial Cult (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) (lot 3) hails from Gainsborough Thoroughbreds and is a grandson of European champion Shiva (Jpn) (Hector Protector).

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Exercise Rider Callie Witt Dies at Keenland

Callie Witt, 20, an exercise rider for trainer Joe Sharp, died Friday morning following a training accident on the Keeneland training track. The incident occurred shortly after 8 a.m. when Witt was thrown from a 2-year-old horse.

Alpha Event Medicine, the track's on-site medical team, immediately attended to her life-threatening injuries. Lexington Fire and Emergency arrived at the scene within six minutes and transported Witt to the University of Kentucky Emergency Department, where she was pronounced dead from blunt force injuries.

Keeneland Vice President of Equine Safety Dr. Stuart Brown provided this description of the accident late Friday afternoon: “At approximately 8 a.m., while performing a routine gallop of an unraced 2-year-old filly, the horse shifted her stride causing Callie to be dismounted, landing on the inner synthetic training track material.”

The horse involved in the incident has been evaluated and has demonstrated no signs of unsoundness or injury, reported Dr. Brown.

“We are heartbroken by this tragic loss,” Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said. “Our hearts and prayers go out to Callie's family, friends and our collective racing community at this difficult time.”

A native of Nebraska, Witt was studying at Bluegrass Community and Technical College and was interviewed in a 2021 TDN feature on her then-participation in the exercise riding portion of the course.

“Since I was a little girl, it's always been my dream to be a jockey,” she said. “My parents' big thing was that I had to have a degree in something to fall back on, so I was really lucky to find this type of program where I can continue my passion for horses, learn how to ride, and still get a degree.”

   Added Sharp: “We are devastated by the loss of Callie as she has grown near and dear to our barn. Callie aspired to be a jockey and was about to graduate from the North American Racing Academy. She had been making great progress toward her goals and had a work ethic that was second to none. She was unique … you don't see many in her generation with that level of grit and determination. Our hearts and prayers go out to her family.”

   Prominent horseman Carlo Vaccarezza has set up a GoFundMe page for Witt that can be accessed here.

 

 

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‘Sho’ And Tell As Stayers Line Up At Hanshin

A full field of 18 line up for Sunday's ¥380,000,000 G1 Tenno Sho (Spring) at Hanshin. Leading the charge in the 3200-metre feature, one of the most lucrative staying contests on the planet, is Deep Bond (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}). Still hunting for his first Group 1 win, the 5-year-old has won two editions of the G2 Hanshin Daishoten, and even took his show on the road last year, with a victory in the G2 Prix Foy at ParisLongchamp. He detested the heavy going in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe there in his next start, but ran a good second to Japanese Horse of the Year Efforia (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) in the G1 Arima Kinen on Boxing Day, prior to defending his Hanshin Daishoten title on Mar. 20.

Trainer Ryuji Okubo said of his charge's draw widest of all in gate 18, “He can race from any position, I believe. Depending on how the horses on the inside will run, he will be able to stay further, otherwise he can race handy if he steps well from the gate.”

Last year's G1 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) hero Titleholder (Jpn) (Duramenta {Jpn}) will not make it an easy task. Also entering the Tenno Sho on a victory, after running out the winner in the G2 Nikkei Sho at Nakayama on Mar. 26, the 4-year-old has pleased trainer Toru Kurita in his most recent work.

Kurita, who supervised Titleholder's final fast piece of work on Miho's woodchip track on Apr. 27, said, “He has done all he needed last week, so I did not give him too much work this week, just keep his condition and checked his balance and saw his changing leads. There is no issue. About draw 16, we just do our best. We will talk the tactics with jockey [Kazuki

Yokoyama].”

Knocking on the door in group company is Iron Barows (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}). Tested beyond the Tenno Sho's trip on Dec. 4, he ran second in the 3600-metre G2 Sports Nippon Sho Stayers S. at Nakayama and resumed with another second-place effort in the 3000-metre Hanshin Daishoten in the wake of Deep Bond.

Trainer Hiroyuki Uemura said, “He has lots of Orfevre–his heart and lungs are very strong, and he has stamina and is a gutsy colt.”

Riding a four-race winning streak, T O Royal (Jpn) (Leontes {Jpn}) is making his third start in group company. Successful in the 3400-metre G3 Diamond S. at Tokyo, this will be the 4-year-old's first try at the highest level.

“He is fit and ready,” said trainer Inao Okada. “He is in good form both mentally and physically. The draw [in seven] is a good draw.”

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‘Speedy’ Smithwick Passes Away

Daniel M. Smithwick, Jr., better known as “Speedy,” passed away Apr. 23 in Middleburg, Va. He was 62.

A former amateur steeplechase jockey, Smithwick was the son of Hall of Fame steeplechase trainer D.M. 'Mikey' Smithwick and his wife, fellow steeplechase trainer Dorothy 'Dot' Fred Smithwick. After a successful steeplechasing career of his own in the 1980s, Smithwick deviated from his parents' path and became a flat trainer along with his wife, Eva. Among their most prominent owners was Jack Kent Cooke and among their top graded winners were Ziggy's Act and Zignew.

Smithwick eventually returned to his family's Sunny Bank Farm in Middleburg, where he focused on steeplechasing, foxhunting, and cattle herding.

He is survived by his wife, the former Eva Dahlgren; daughters Kathy Smithwick Swain and Patricia Smithwick; granddaughter Dorothy Adelaide Swain, who was named after his mother; brother Roger; and many close friends.

A memorial service will be held May 16 at 11 a.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church in Upperville, Va. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation and Backside Learning Center at Churchill Downs.

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