July, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Steeplechase Star Snap Decision Tackles Flat Horses in Colonial Stakes

Snap Decision (Hard Spun) may be the best jumper in the country, but his next assignment will be in a flat race, Wednesday's $150,000 Colonial Cup at Colonial Downs. As trainer Jack Fisher sees it, he's got nothing to lose. While he wants to win and doesn't think that is out of the question, Fisher said one of the reasons he went into the race is that it should set his horse up for the G1 Jonathan Sheppard S., an Aug. 17 steeplechase at Saratoga.

“If nothing else, this will be a good work for the Jonathan Sheppard S.,” he said. “I can get that much more into the horse by doing this. In this case, one race equals three works. Depending on where he finishes, we should also pick up a little bit of purse money.”

Take a closer look at Snap Decision's lifetime record and you'll see a horse that shouldn't be in over his head in a stakes race on the flat. A half-brother to Mr Speaker (Pulpit), the winner of the 2014 GI Belmont Derby Invitational, Snap Decision began his career for the Phipps Stable and trainer Shug McGaughey. He was 2-for-18 on the flat, but finished third in the GIII Palm Beach S. and third in the Better Talk Now S.

Fisher went to the connections and got them to agree to sell.

“For one, they wanted to know that he was going to go to a good home,” Fisher said. “Secondly, he wasn't winning those races. He was third, fourth, fifth. That's the type of horse I am very interested in buying. I have to give all the credit to [co-owner] Charlie Fenwick because he was all about the sire, Hard Spun. I told him it wasn't Hard Spun, it was the dam [Salute]. She is a very nice dam. But Charlie was right.”

Snap Decision, who is eight, debuted over the jumps in 2019 and ended that year with a pair of stakes wins. He won his first Grade 1 win over jumps in the 2021 Iroquois S. and this year has run second in the G2 Temple Gwathmey S. before winning another Iroquois, this time by 7 1/4 lengths. He has finished first or second in 15 consecutive jump races.

After the Iroquois, Fisher had the option of running Snap Decision over the jumps in the G1 A.P. Smithwick S. at Saratoga, but passed the race because of the amount of weight Snap Decision would have had to carry. Fisher said he was told his horse would have had to carry 158 pounds in the race. The winner, Down Royal (Alphabet Soup), carried 141 pounds.

“If I ran him in the Smithwick, I was going to get creamed with the weight,” he said.

Not wanting to go into the Sheppard off of a three-month layoff, Fisher found the Colonial Cup. (A race with the same name used to be one of the major stakes on the steeplechase circuit). Can he win? Fisher is trying to take a realistic approach to the race.

“I saw they had this 1 1/2-mile race there on the turf and I thought he is a good enough horse that he belonged,” Fisher said. “Rusty Arnold has a tough horse in there in Cellist (Big Blue Kitten). He won the [GIII] Louisville S. in his last start. I'm not sure he can beat him, but I'm not really scared of anyone else. I don't think the race is too short for him. I think it will be perfect.”

There aren't many examples of top steeplechase horses winning on the flat. In 1971, the Sheppard-trained Wustenchef won a flat stakes, the Sussex Turf H., and one over jumps, the Indian River Hurdle H., at the same Delaware Park meet. John's Call ran four times over jumps before being converted to a flat horse. In his second career, he became a two-time Grade I winner, winning the 2000 GI Turf Classic Invitational S. and the 2000 GI Sword Dance Invitational.

Fisher said that if Spun Decision turns in a big effort in the Colonial he might be tempted to run him again on the flat. But he said that the etiquette in his profession is that once a steeplechase trainer buys a horse from a flat racing stable, the horse should compete only in jump races. He said he will keep that in mind when making future decisions.

Forest Boyce has the riding assignment on Snap Decision and the gelding has been assigned 122 pounds, 36 less than he carried in the 2022 Iroquois at three miles. It's been three years and four months since he last raced over the flat, finishing third in a 1 1/8-mile dirt allowance race at Aqueduct. Since then, he's become one of the best jumpers in the sport. Does that mean he is good enough to be competitive in a $150,000 non-graded stakes race on the flat? The question will be answered Wednesday at Colonial Downs.

The post Steeplechase Star Snap Decision Tackles Flat Horses in Colonial Stakes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Longtime Delaware Park Racing Executive John E. Mooney To Retire

John E. Mooney, the Executive Director of Racing at Delaware Park, has announced that he will be retiring. The long-time racing executive expects to step down from his post effective on Aug. 1, 2022. The seven-furlong turf course will be dedicated to him with a naming ceremony planned for Owners Day, Saturday, Oct. 1.

“His career has been brilliant, and like everyone in the Delaware Park family, I am proud and thankful to have been a part it,” said Kevin DeLucia, Chief Financial Officer. “So much of what thoroughbred racing at Delaware Park is today has come from his leadership, guidance and experience over the last four decades. I wish John all the best in his retirement and am truly grateful for the significant contributions he has made to the industry.”

Mooney has been involved in racing in the Mid-Atlantic region for nearly 40 years. Shortly after Delaware Park was purchased and reopened by William Rickman, Sr., in 1984, Mooney was named General Manager. He was instrumental in keeping Delaware Park competitive in the 1980s and early 1990s with his innovative approach to the sport which included the introduction of the very successful Twin Trifecta. In the summer of 1993, he left Delaware Park to take a similar post with the Maryland Jockey Club and later headed up the drive to establish racing in Virginia as head of Maryland/Virginia Racing which was the group that organized the opening and operation of Colonial Downs. Mooney returned to Delaware Park as the Executive Director of Racing the spring of 2008 at the request of William Rickman, Jr., where he remained.

Mooney was born into the sport. His grandfather, J.D. Mooney won the 1924 Kentucky Derby aboard Black Gold and trained the 1962 Canadian Horse of the Year Crafty Lace. His father, John J. Mooney was a prominent horse racing executive who served at many racetracks including the Ontario Jockey Club where he played an instrumental role in the development of the “new” Woodbine Racecourse in 1956.

As a young man, John E. Mooney worked on the backstretch while attending school and then worked in several Racing Office capacities before getting into the racing services area of the industry working for United Totalizator and he later purchased Jones Precision Photo before assuming race track management positions.

Live racing is conducted on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Friday will be added Aug. 26 through Nov. 4. The 88-day meet is scheduled to conclude on Breeders' Cup Saturday, Nov. 5.

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Tattersalls To Partner With South Africa’s Cape Thoroughbred Sales

Tattersalls, Europe's leading bloodstock auctioneers, is to join forces with Cape Thoroughbred Sales (CTS) in a joint venture focussed primarily on the 2023 CTS Cape Premier Yearling Sale.

The association between Tattersalls and CTS will coincide with the return of the Cape Premier Yearling Sale to the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) in January 2023. The 2023 renewal will be branded the 'Cape Premier Yearling Sale powered by Tattersalls', and the 2023 CTS Farm Yearling Sale and the 2023 CTS Ready To Run Sale will also be conducted under the same partnership banner.

Cape Thoroughbred Sales introduced the Cape Premier Yearling Sale in 2011 with the sale attracting buyers from throughout the world to the unique inner – city surroundings. The sale quickly established itself not only as a popular and well attended event, but also as a consistent source of top quality racehorses including the late Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum's global star Soft Falling Rain who was purchased at the inaugural sale in 2011.

Grant Knowles, MD of CTS, expressed his delight with this announcement and commented;

“The new association with Tattersalls is a marvelous endorsement of the Cape Premier Yearling Sale. The original concept of an inner-city racehorse sale in one of the world's most beautiful locations was hugely popular with buyers from around the globe, and the Tattersalls support is a great addition to the fixture. A boutique Select Sale will be held with approximately 150 yearlings, which will be stabled in the convention centre.”

Knowles added;

“The sale will follow on from Gaynor Rupert's L'Ormarins Queens Plate Day at Kenilworth, which offers an unrivaled race day experience and hospitality. The sales calendar suffered during the difficult Covid period, and with international travel now pretty well back to normal, 2023 appears to be an ideal opportunity to re-introduce the quality of our bloodstock, and the magic of Cape Town, to international buyers.”

The Tattersalls Group entered the South African horse racing market several years ago, sponsoring a popular Juvenile Race series which culminated with a listed contest on Sun Met Day at Kenilworth, and two 2-year-old races during the prestigious L'Ormarins Queens Plate Racing Festival.

Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony commented:

“Tattersalls has enjoyed a long and valued relationship with Cape Thoroughbred Sales and South African racing and breeding, and our new association with CTS, and particularly their world-renowned Cape Premier Yearling Sale in January, reinforces the Tattersalls commitment to the South African Thoroughbred industry. The Cape Premier Yearling Sale quickly established itself as a unique and prestigious fixture in the global sales calendar, and Tattersalls is proud to be assisting with the 2023 renewal which promises to showcase many of the best yearlings to be found in South Africa to a global audience.”

CTS has achieved remarkable results in only 11 years of trading, with 48 individual Group 1 winners having been sold at the various CTS auctions.

The sale is set to take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Thursday, January 12, 2023.

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Hillwood Stable’s Bandbox Colt Named Champion Of 2022 Maryland Yearling Show

A son of Bandbox put his name in the record books on Sunday, July 24, as the Hillwood Stable LLC homebred was named grand champion of the 88th Maryland Horse Breeders Association's Yearling Show, held at the Timonium Fairgrounds horse show ring in Timonium, Md.

With temperatures approaching triple digits, a few accommodations were made. The start time of the show was moved up one hour, to 9 a.m. In classes with more than 10 horses, they were brought into the ring in smaller groups, rather than all at once, to minimize the time spent in the sun.

The weather didn't bother the show's champion, who captured the first class of the day, for colts and geldings by Maryland stallions foaled in Maryland. The gray or roan colt is the third foal out of the Scrimshaw mare Dearie Be Good to win a class at the show – the colt's full sister was reserve champion in 2018 and his half-sister (by Great Notion) was reserve champion in 2021.

All are homebreds for Hillwood Stable LLC, the nom de plume of Ellen Charles, who also campaigned Bandbox. A winner of four stakes, including the 2014 Grade 3 General George Handicap, Bandbox stood his entire career at Northview Stallion Station before his death last year.

Bandbox also took home the Northview Stallion Station Challenge Trophy as the show's leading sire for the third time, thus retiring the trophy.

“It's special for Mrs. Charles to have a son of Bandbox win,” said JoAnn Hayden of Dark Hollow Farm, where the colt was born and raised. “We've loved this colt since birth. This one is big, robust, and looks very mature.”

Jonathan Thomas, who judged 59 yearlings at this year's show, concurred with Hayden's assessment.

“He was the best of a very good group. When you have to pick five finalists per class, you end up leaving out a bunch of good ones every time,” said Thomas. “Everyone looked very well-raised and prepared, but he had the best balance and substance.”

The reserve champion is a bay Force the Pass filly owned and bred by Katharine M. Voss, who has bred or co-bred the champion or reserve champion five times in the last eight shows. The winner of Class III, for fillies by Maryland stallions foaled in Maryland, is out of the Dance With Ravens mare Corbeau, herself a class winner in 2008. The filly's sire Force the Pass stood his first season in 2020 at Anchor and Hope Farm in Port Deposit before being sold.

“She looks like she'll be very fast,” said Thomas. “She just had the best muscle structure, and looked like a made horse already.”

All yearlings who were judged are now eligible for the $40,000 premium award which is split annually, with $20,000 going to the exhibitors of the four show contestants who earn the most money as 2-year-olds during 2023, and another $20,000 divided among the exhibitors of the four highest-earning 3-year-old runners the next year.

Complete results follow:

Class I: For colts and geldings foaled in Maryland, the produce of mares covered in Maryland (19 exhibited):

1. gr./ro.c., 3/24/21, Bandbox—Dearie Be Good, by Scrimshaw. Owned and bred by Hillwood Stable LLC, Washington, D.C.
2. b.c., 4/19/21, Golden Lad—Renaissance Rosie, by Jump Start. Owned and bred by Ann B. Jackson, White Hall, Md.
3. JASIEL, b.c., 4/4/21, Golden Lad—Congaree Princess, by Congaree. Owned and bred by Daniel Marconi, Mount Airy, Md.
4. gr./ro.c., 2/10/21, Long River—Bedtime for Jr., by Buddha. Owned and bred by Lady Olivia at North Cliff LLC, Rixeyville, Va.
5. LADDIE DANCE, ch.g., 3/23/21, Golden Lad—Enterprise Value, by Bellamy Road. Owned and bred by Leaf Stable, Upperco, Md.

Class II: For colts and geldings foaled in Maryland, the produce of mares covered in states other than Maryland (10 exhibited):

1. b.c., 4/26/21, City of Light—Joy, by Pure Prize. Owned and bred by Dark Hollow Farm, Upperco, Md.
2. MISSION NORTH, b.c., 2/26/21, Noble Mission (GB)—Dream Exchange, by Exchange Rate. Owned and bred by Northwoods Stable, Butler, Md.
3. b.c., 4/19/21, Air Force Blue—Saltworks, by Bullsbay. Owned and bred by Katharine M. Voss, West Friendship, Md.
4. dk.b./br.c., 3/25/21, Speightster—Cap's Vow, by Broken Vow. Owned and bred by Dark Hollow Farm and John Foster, Upperco, Md.
5. dk.b./br.c., 3/28/21, Malibu Moon—Mystic Love, by Not For Love. Owned and bred by GreenMount Farm and Spendthrift, Upperco, Md.

Class III: For fillies foaled in Maryland, the produce of mares covered in Maryland (20 exhibited):

1. b.f., 4/11/21, Force the Pass—Corbeau, by Dance With Ravens. Owned and bred by Katharine M. Voss, West Friendship, Md.
2. dk.b./br.f., 3/11/21, Mosler—Fifteen Moons, by Malibu Moon. Owned and bred by Country Life Farm and Fifteen Moons LLC, Bel Air, Md.
3. dk.b./br.f., 2/28/21, Great Notion—Misty in Malibu, by Malibu Moon. Owned and bred by Hillwood Stable LLC, Washington, D.C.
4. b.f., 3/22/21, Divining Rod—Basedonatruestory, by Broken Vow. Owned and bred by Country Life Farm and Basedonatruestory LLC, Bel Air, Md.
5. PEACH BLOSSOM, ch.f., 5/13/21, Golden Lad—Southern Peach, by East of Easy. Owned and bred by Leaf Stable, Upperco, Md.

Class IV: For fillies foaled in Maryland, the produce of mares covered in states other than Maryland (10 exhibited):

1. dk.b./br.f., 3/12/21, Liam's Map—Caught Dream'n, by Blame. Owned and bred by Dark Hollow Farm, Dorsey Brown, Mr. and Mrs. A. Davidov and Mr. and Mrs. D. Schwaber, Upperco, Md.
2. SUGAR DROP, ch.f., 1/29/21, Free Drop Billy—Sugar Shack, by Shackleford. Owned and bred by James Stevenson, Cincinnati, Ohio.
3. b.f., 2/24/21, Hard Spun—Clever Girl, by Biondetti. Owned and bred by Walter N. Vieser II, Crownsville, Md.
4. dk.b./br.f., 5/4/21, Unified—Plum, by Pure Prize. Owned and bred by Dark Hollow Farm, Upperco, Md.
5. ch.f., 1/25/21, Catholic Boy—Miss Mystique, by Teuflesberg. Owned and bred by Country Life Farm and Miss Mystique LLC, Bel Air, Md.

Champion: gr./ro.c., 3/24/21, Bandbox—Dearie Be Good, by Scrimshaw. Owned and bred by Hillwood Stable LLC, Washington, D.C.

Reserve Champion: b.f., 4/11/21, Force the Pass—Corbeau, by Dance With Ravens. Owned and bred by Katharine M. Voss, West Friendship, Md.

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