Ladies of the Lawn Series Returns at Woodbine

The Ladies of the Lawn series, which will now feature a $250,000 bonus, will return to Woodbine in 2022. Launched in 2019, the Ladies of the Lawn Series consists of three premier turf races for fillies and mares: the July 24 GII Dance Smartly S., the Aug. 21 GII Canadian S. and the Oct. 8 GI E.P. Taylor S.

The owner of any horse to sweep all three races will receive a $250,000 bonus. Should no horse sweep the series, a $50,000 bonus will be paid out to the connections of the horse that accumulates the most points during the series.

“The Ladies of the Lawn Series has received tremendous feedback over the last few years,” said Tim Lawson, Director of Thoroughbred Racing for Woodbine. “The addition of a $250,000 bonus should provide not only incentive for owners and trainers to point their fillies and mares at these premier races, but also raise the profile of this series with horseplayers, fans and racing participants.”

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Partners Hoping for More Collected Success with Bullet Worker at OBS

An Ontario-bred filly from the first crop of Grade I winner Collected (hip 317) turned in the fastest quarter-mile work of Tuesday's second session of the under-tack show for next week's Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June Sale of 2-Year-Olds when covering the distance in :20 4/5. The juvenile is consigned by Jesse Hoppel's Coastal Equine and represents a pinhooking partnership group which has already enjoyed success with a bullet-working daughter of the GI Pacific Classic winner. Hoppel sent a filly by Collected out to work a bullet quarter-mile at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale and then sold the juvenile–purchased for $47,000 last fall–for $250,000 last week.

Bloodstock agent Larry Zap, along with Amanda Murphy and Hoppel, picked out both fillies for clients that include Matt Dohman and Joe Ciaglia.

“I got to watch him as a top racehorse–that definitely sticks in my mind,” Zap said of Collected's appeal. “He has a lot of his dad in him, a lot of the City Zip in him. They are not necessarily big, robust horses, like say the Bolt d'Oros, but they seem very athletic and they seem very versatile. We liked quite a few of them as yearlings. Like City Zip, they move a lot bigger than they appear.”

Hip 317, out of the unraced Sassy Ali Joy (Indian Charlie), is a half-sister to stakes-placed Tuscan Queen (Street Boss) and from the family of Banshee Breeze. Dohman, making his first foray into the world of pinhooking this year, signed the ticket to acquire the filly for $150,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

Dohman, co-founder of the mortgage company Optimum First Mortgage, has owned racehorses for about a decade now, starting out in the claiming game before trying his hand buying at the 2-year-old sales and finally settling into partnership ownership with Ciaglia in their California Racing Partners.

The Californian's first exposure to the sport is a familiar one to many.

“When I was a kid, my dad used to take me to the track,” Dohman said. “My mom and dad were divorced, so on our weekends, dad would take us to the track and he taught me to read the Form. That was how I got exposed to racing. When I got older, I had an affinity to it already from my early exposure. One of my friend's girlfriends babysat for an ex-jockey, Goncalino Almeida, so I contacted him and he said he wanted to become a trainer. He said, 'Let's claim a horse.' We claimed two horses in one day. And then we waited a month, we moved them up in class and one of the horses won and the other one ran second. So I said, “Oh, this is so easy.'”

Dohman continued, “I decided I wanted to get better horses. I went to Barretts at the 2-year-old sales and I started buying by myself for a little bit, just going through the trials and tribulations of trying to be an owner, trying to buy a horse.”

Dohman started communicating with Zap online and the bloodstock agent recommended connecting with his longtime client.

“He told me I should talk to Joe Ciaglia,” Dohman recalled. “I spoke to Joe and last year, I started buying and partnering with them.”

Zap and Ciaglia had been pinhooking with Hoppel for years and the Ocala horseman thought Dohman might also like the resale game.

“When I first met Jesse, he told me I should look at pinhooking, but I told him I didn't think it was for me,” Dohman said. “I am trying to get some racehorses and win some stakes races. He told me he thought I might change my mind sooner or later.”

It ended up being far sooner than later as Dohman watched the group's success at the 2-year-old sales last year.

“They bought a bunch of horses at Keeneland [in 2020] and they absolutely just crushed it,” Dohman said. “They really killed it last year, so I decided I should jump into pinhooking with them.”

He added ruefully, “I am learning it was a little bit of an odd year because they were able to buy really cheaply during COVID and then the market picked back up and the horses sold really well.”

Despite the change in the market, Zap said the group has had a successful year so far.

“We've done OK,” he said. “The ones that we've taken to auction–obviously these two Collected fillies are helping a lot–it's been a good season. It was tougher to buy yearlings last year than the pandemic year, but it's been a profitable year.”

The team has high hopes that hip 317 will continue the strong 2022 results and the success will be shared by some new faces.

Dohman brought Robert Drenk, his co-founder in Optimum First Mortgage, into the partnership on the filly, and Drenk in turn brought in first-time owner Ryan Rezaie.

“This is his first exposure in horse racing,” Dohman said of Rezaie. “He's never owned horses, never raced horses or pinhooked horses. I put him in three horses–one earmarked to pinhook and two for racing.  I wanted to get him one horse that would sell and make money and that was this Collected filly. This is the horse that I am trying to get him a little taste of making some money in pinhooking to kind of draw him into the game more.”

The filly was originally entered in the OBS Spring sale, but the decision was made to scratch her from that auction following a :10 1/5 work.

“She's a May foal and it was just an erratic work,” Dohman said of the April experience. “I told Jesse, 'Let's just pull her and put her in June and work her two furlongs.' Jesse started stretching out her works preparing her for it and he said, 'Matt this horse is looking really good stretching her out.' So he was expecting under a :21.”

Zap added, “Jesse has been very patient with her and he worked with her to come along for this. When we take a horse to market, we know it's a performance sale, we know we have to perform. This one did everything right. Jesse thought we might get a :20 3/5 today, but we will take the :20 4/5.”

Also during Tuesday's session of the under-tack show, six juveniles shared the furlong bullet time of :10 flat: a filly by Bolt d'Oro (hip 191, video) consigned by Niall Brennan Stables; a filly by Bucchero (hip 217, video) consigned by Nice and Easy Thoroughbreds; a filly by Square Eddie (hip 246, video) consigned by Wavertree Stables; a filly by Practical Joke (hip 297, video) consigned by Top Line Sales; a colt by Awesome Slew (hip 348, video) consigned by All Dreams Equine; and a filly by Greenpointcrusader (hip 359, video) consigned by Scanlon Training & Sales.

The under-tack show continues through Saturday with sessions beginning daily at 7:30 a.m. The June sale will be held next Tuesday through Thursday with bidding commencing each day at 10 a.m.

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Observations: Aga Khan Royalty Graces Saint-Cloud

2.25 Saint-Cloud, Debutantes, €27,000, 3yo, c/g, 10fT
DOLAYLI (FR) (Siyouni {Fr}) is the latest progeny of the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic heroine Dolniya (Fr) (Azamour {Ire}) to hit the track, with Christophe Soumillon on The Aga Khan's half-brother to last year's G3 Prix Quincey winner Dilawar (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). Francis-Henri Graffard also saddles Edzel (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}), a son of the G3 Give Thanks S. scorer Edelmira (Ire) (Peintre Celebre).

3.35 Saint-Cloud, Debutantes, €27,000, 3yo, f, 10fT
ZARKA (FR) (Dubawi {Ire}) is a standout on the day as the 10th foal out of The Aga Khan's legendary Zarkava (Ire) (Zamindar), whose only prior offering by Dubawi was the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud-winning sire Zarak (Fr). Francis-Henri Graffard saddles the April-foaled bay, whose rivals include the Wertheimers' Kind Juliet (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), an Andre Fabre-trained daughter of the dual G2 Prix de Royallieu winner The Juliet Rose (Fr) (Monsun {Ger}).

5.10 Curragh, Mdn, €16,500, 2yo, c/g, 7fT
AUGUSTE RODIN (IRE) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) is the latest product of a mating between Deep Impact and a selected Coolmore broodmare, this time being the triple Group 1 winner Rhododendron (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Aidan O'Brien introduces the January-foaled bay, whose opponents include Zhang Yuesheng's Dubawi Spectre (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), a Jessie Harrington-trained son of the G3 Prix Imprudence winner Spectre (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) who cost 410,000gns at the Book 1 Sale.

6.15 Curragh, Mdn, €13,000, 3yo, f/m, 12fT
OVER THE RAINBOW (IRE) (Dubawi {Ire}) is the first foal out of the G1 Irish and Yorkshire Oaks heroine Seventh Heaven (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who holds an entry in the former Classic. Also from Ballydoyle is the fellow newcomer Butterfly Rose (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a daughter of the GI Ogden Phipps S. winner Awesome Maria (Maria's Mon).

HOW THEY FARED

14.10 Newbury, Mdn, £6,500, 2yo, 6 1/2fT

Bresson (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), the son of Shutter Speed (GB) (Dansili {GB}), put up an encouraging debut display and only gave best late to be third.

13.35 Newbury, Mdn, £6,500, 2yo, 6 1/2fT
Jeff Smith's homebred Stormbuster (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), a full-brother to G1 Juddmonte International heroine Arabian Queen (Ire), made late headway from the pace to finish a never-nearer third.

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Judge Says No to Fishman Conviction Dismissal

A federal judge on Tuesday denied a request by prison-bound veterinarian Seth Fishman to dismiss Count One of his two racehorse doping conspiracy convictions.

Fishman, whose 26 months as a defendant have been hallmarked by minor courtroom dramas, various attempts to prevent or delay the trial, and accusations that he continued to peddle purported performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) while free on bail, had argued that he was tried twice for the same crime because the first count was contained within the second, much broader conspiracy.

Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil of United States District Court (Southern District of New York) didn't see it that way. Her May 31 ruling against Fishman's motion paves the way for his June 30 sentencing, at which he faces up to 20 years in prison.

“Fishman now moves pursuant to Rule 29 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure for acquittal on Count One, arguing that Count One is multiplicitous of Count Two,” Vyskocil wrote in her order. “That motion is DENIED because a rational trier of fact could find, based on the evidence at trial, that Fishman participated in two distinct conspiracies.”

Fishman, along with six other veterinarians, 11 trainers, and nine others, was charged in 2020 with being a key figure in an international network of purported PED suppliers who allegedly conspired to dope racehorses in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, and the United Arab Emirates.

Count One alleged a four-year conspiracy (2016-20) with Jorge Navarro, Erica Garcia, Marcos Zulueta, Michael Tannuzzo, Christopher Oakes and unnamed others. Count Two alleged a broad, 18-year conspiracy (2002-20) with Lisa Giannelli, Jordan Fishman, Rick Dane, Jr., and unnamed others based on Fishman's Florida online drug-selling portal.

Although a number of defendants in the wide-ranging racehorse doping conspiracy pleaded guilty prior to Fishman, he was the first to stand trial and to be found guilty by a jury.

“The defendant filed several pretrial motions, but he never argued that the Indictment was multiplicitous,” Vyskocil wrote. “The defendant also never raised the issue of multiplicity in connection with any of the Court's instructions to the jury at the trial. Indeed, the instructions relevant to this motion were jointly proposed by the defendant and the government…

“In charging the jury at the end of the case, the Court stressed that the Indictment contained two separate counts, that each count charged a 'separate' conspiracy, and that the jury was required to consider each count 'separately' and 'return a separate verdict on each count.' The Court explained that while there might be 'facts in common to different counts, each count must be considered separately.'

“The Court further explained that while '[m]uch of the law' applied to both counts, the Court would point out differences and 'provide specific instructions' about 'particular elements or findings,'” Vyskocil wrote. “The Court also instructed the jury that the Indictment charged the defendant with continuing the conspiracy charged in Count Two while he was released on bail.

“The Court stressed that whether the jury found Seth Fishman 'guilty or not guilty' of one charged conspiracy 'should not affect [the jury's] verdict' as to the other conspiracy charged in the Indictment. The defense consented to all of these instructions in advance, never objected to them during the trial, and never otherwise raised the issue of multiplicity with respect to the jury charges,” Vyskocil continued.

“The jury convicted Seth Fishman of both of the charged conspiracies, found that he had intent to defraud or mislead with respect to each conspiracy, and found that he continued the Count Two conspiracy after he was released on bail,” Vyskocil summed up.

Fishman's sentencing was supposed to be May 5, but got pushed back to May 26 when he claimed he did not receive financial forms from the feds that are necessary for his pre-sentencing report. Then he requested another new date after pandemic-related lockdown conditions were imposed upon the cell block where he is being detained in New York.

Previous legal maneuverings included the Florida-based veterinarian being inexplicably absent from court on the day that he was found guilty. A cryptic comment from Fishman's attorney to the judge during closing arguments led to speculation that Fishman had to be hospitalized.

In December 2021, Vyskocil had modified Fishman's bail conditions after federal prosecutors presented evidence that backed up allegations he was still selling PEDs while awaiting trial.

On two other occasions in 2020 and 2022, Fishman had unsuccessfully petitioned the court to adjust scheduling for pandemic-related reasons, at first arguing that his right to a speedy trial was being hindered, and then wanting to delay the trial over concerns related to not wanting to get sick with COVID-19.

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