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Month: June 2022
Old Friends: Queen’s Plate Winner Victor Cooley Passes At Age 29
Victor Cooley, Canada's 1996 Champion Three-Year-Old Colt and Queen's Plate winner, was euthanized today at Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement farm based in Georgetown, Ky., where he has been pensioned since 2014. The gelding was 29.
According to attending veterinarian Dr. Ashton Broman, Victor Cooley suffered an acute onset of neurological symptoms coupled with other pre-existing conditions.
Bred in Ontario by the Begg family's Windways Farm, the son of Cool Victor out of Willow Flight, racked up numerous accolades in his six seasons on the track.
At three, he captured the prestigious GR1 Queen's Plate at Woodbine, helping him earn the title of Canada's Champion Three-Year-Old Colt. Racing under the silks of Windways Farm and conditioned by Mark Frostad and later Malcolm Pierce, Victor took the GR1 Vosburg at Belmont Park the following year as well as the GR2 Commonwealth Breeders' Cup Stakes at Keeneland, where he equaled the track record.
The gelding earned a final win at Fairgrounds in 2000 and then retired from racing with 13 wins from 39 starts and career earnings of $1.320,475.
He remained at Windways until the farm closed in 2014 and was then sent to Old Friends along with Windways's other accomplished gelding, El Brujo.
“We bred him, foaled him, and broke him at our farm,” said Windways Jeff Begg, “Victor wasn't an easy horse to deal with –he was really a handful, but he was our first big horse and really took us to a different level and took us everywhere,” Begg continued. “For such a quirky horse, nothing really phased him. He didn't care, he took his form to any track he went to.”
“Victor was as tough a retiree as he was a racehorse,” said Old Friends's President Michael Blowen. “In his racing days he didn't leave anything on the track, and he didn't leave anything on the table here, either. I wish all of the owners were like Jeff and his wife Annabel,” Blowen added. “They came two or three times a year to visit him, always with a bag of peppermints. They continued to care for him long passed his racing days.”
The post Old Friends: Queen’s Plate Winner Victor Cooley Passes At Age 29 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
‘Stars At The Spa’: Sports, Television Stars Will Meet Fans During 2022 Saratoga Meet
The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will welcome several sports and television celebrities to Saratoga Race Course to meet with fans during the brand-new “Stars at the Spa” entertainment series set to debut during the 2022 summer meet.
The stars scheduled to visit the historic race course in Saratoga Springs include: former New York Knicks power forward Charles Oakley on Sunday, July 24; “Real Housewives of New Jersey” TV personality Teresa Giudice on Sunday, July 31; and former New York Yankees All-Star and World Series champion Bernie Williams on Sunday, September 4.
The “Stars at the Spa” series, presented by Saratoga Living, will include a luncheon from 12 to 2 p.m. in the Paddock Suite, a new hospitality venue for the 2022 season, featuring a climate-controlled bar, lounge and outdoor balcony with sweeping views of the Saratoga paddock. The special event includes admission to the Paddock Suite, a meet-and-greet with the celebrities, food and beverage (beer, wine and soft drinks) and race day program.
Each “Stars at the Spa” event will be limited to 50 guests. Tickets are currently available for $200 per person and may be reserved at NYRA.com.
“We look forward to hosting these celebrities and sports stars to interact with fans at the new Paddock Suite at Saratoga Race Course,” said Kevin Quinn, NYRA Vice President for Sales and Hospitality. “We're excited that fans will get the chance to converse with some of their favorite stars while enjoying a day of world-class thoroughbred racing at the Spa.”
Each star will also participate in a special photo and autograph session from 2 to 3 p.m. at the Jockey Silks Room Porch (separate ticket required). Photo opportunities and autographed photos (no outside memorabilia allowed) will be available for $40 to the first 200 fans. Tickets for the autograph and photo session must be purchased in advance at NYRA.com.
Oakley is a retired National Basketball Association (NBA) player and former New York Knicks power forward known for his outstanding defensive and rebounding capabilities. Oakley spent a decade (1988-1998) of his extensive 19-year career with the Knicks. He also suited up for several other NBA teams, including the Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards and Houston Rockets.
Giudice is a reality television personality best known as an original cast member of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” and for her appearance on “The Celebrity Apprentice.” She is a four-time New York Times Best Selling author of several cookbooks and two memoirs. She is an inspirational working mom of four daughters and has become an advocate for children with special needs.
Williams is a retired Major League Baseball (MLB) player and jazz musician who spent his entire 16-year career with the New York Yankees. The five-time All-Star center fielder helped lead the Bronx Bombers to four World Series Championships while earning four Gold Glove awards. In retirement, Williams has shifted his focus to music, and has released two jazz albums and a book that examines the symbiotic relationship between musical artistry and athletic performance, through the eyes of a man who has mastered both.
Highlighted by the 153rd renewal of the Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers on August 27 and the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney on August 6, the 2022 summer meet at historic Saratoga Race Course will open on Thursday, July 14, and continue through Monday, September 5.
Following the four-day opening weekend, racing will be conducted five days a week, Wednesdays through Sundays, apart from the final week, when the meet will conclude on Labor Day.
For more information about Saratoga Race Course visit NYRA.com/Saratoga.
The post ‘Stars At The Spa’: Sports, Television Stars Will Meet Fans During 2022 Saratoga Meet appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Twomey “Disappointed And Upset” Over Rosscarbery Disqualification
Paddy Twomey has admitted that the disqualification of Rosscarbery (Ger) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) from third spot in Sunday's Alwasmiyah Pretty Polly S. after her rider Wayne Lordan weighed in 5lbs light took the gloss off the fact that he recorded his first Group 1 success in the race with La Petite Coco (Ire) (Ruler Of The World {Ire}).
The trainer described himself as “disappointed and upset” that Rosscarbery, supplemented for the Curragh Group 1 at a cost of €30,000 to the filly's owner Robert Moran, missed out on prize-money and valuable black type due to what he described as an Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) error.
Twomey believes that the finger of blame points to the clerk of the scales who, according to the trainer, told Lordan that he was 5lbs too heavy upon weighing out.
As a result, 5lbs of weight was taken out of the saddle cloth and Twomey is convinced that the same saddle that Lordan weighed out in was the one that returned to the weigh room after Rosscarbery ran a career-best to finish third behind her stablemate.
Twomey told TDN Europe on Monday, “I am very disappointed and upset over Rosscarbery being disqualified from finishing third in a Group 1. She is a filly on the up and what happened on the day was clearly an error on the part of the clerk of the scales. I am very upset by it.
“I enjoyed winning my first Group 1 but all I could think about for three or four hours afterwards was losing third in a Group 1. It has been referred to the IHRB and that's the latest.”
He added, “Robert was very sporting in supplementing the filly and she justified that decision by finishing third. Through no fault of the filly's, the owner's, the trainer's or the jockey's, she didn't get the chance to collect the prize money or the Group 1 black type that she deserved.
“He spent €30,000 to run this filly and never had the chance to earn that money back due to an error that was made by the clerk of the scales.”
It was just last month that Moran, speaking exclusively to TDN Europe, revealed that he contemplated wrapping up his ownership vehicle in Ireland after a number of bad experiences left him demoralised with racing.
Although Moran couldn't be contacted on Monday, Twomey explained how the American-based owner never had a chance of recouping the €30,000 stumped up to run Rosscarbery on Sunday, which bears the brunt of the frustration within the camp.
Twomey said, “We spoke at Limerick a couple of weeks ago and I told him [Moran] that I was thinking of supplementing. I changed my mind last Tuesday morning but, at two minutes to 12 [the latest supplementary stage], I put her in.
“I rang Robert at a minute past 12 to tell him I had spent €30,000 supplementing the filly. He said, 'that's fine,' so for Robert to be sent out without a chance of recouping that money is something that really upset me.”
Had Rosscarbery not been disqualified, she would have covered the cost of running in the Pretty Polly, with €30,000 on offer for finishing third. Instead, the Ger Lyons-trained Thunder Kiss (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) picked up the third-place prize money and black type while Rosscarbery left empty-handed.
Niall Cronin, communications manager for the IHRB, would not offer further comment on Monday.
Speaking immediately after racing on Sunday, he said, “Wayne Lordan weighed out at 138.1lbs and weighed back in at 133.5lbs.
“As a result there was an inquiry into the weighing-in procedures of the third-placed horse. As per rule 231, section 1, the horse had to be disqualified. The stewards have referred the matter on for further investigation. Mr Twomey is aware of that.”
Given the extensive ramifications the disqualification has to Rosscarbery's residual value as a broodmare, TDN Europe understands that Twomey and Moran are prepared to pursue legal options should their filly not be reinstated as the third home in Sunday's Group 1.
Speaking about future plans for Rosscarbery, and what it meant to notch a breakthrough Group 1 with La Petite Coco, Twomey said, “We know that 1m2f is a little on the sharp side for Rosscarbery and she'll be even better over 1m4f and should even get 1m6f.
“She proved she belongs at Group 1 level and we're going to have to map out a campaign for the second half of the season now. Hopefully we can win a Group 1 with her and, all of those races that Coco can run in, she could also. The likes of the G1 Champions Fillies & Mares S. at Ascot could also suit. She's very versatile.”
He added, “I couldn't see anything beating La Petite Coco yesterday to be honest. When you can't get it done [first Group 1] for a while, it seems far away, so it was nice to get that under our belt.”
The post Twomey “Disappointed And Upset” Over Rosscarbery Disqualification appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
