August, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Freshman Sire Combatant Dies from Colic in Chile

First year stallion and 2020 G1 Santa Anita H. winner Combatant (Scat Daddy-Border Dispute, by Boundary) has died suddenly from colic in Chile. He had just begun Southern Hemisphere stud duties at Haras Porta Pia. Combatant stood his first year at Rockridge Stud in Hudson, NY.

Earner of over a million in his racing career, one which saw him annex the Big Cap and pick up minor honors in six other graded contests, Combatant was a $320,000 yearling purchase by Winchell Thoroughbreds at KEESEP in 2016. He placed in the GIII Southwest S. and GII Rebel S. before running fourth in the GI Arkansas Derby and 18th in that year's GI Kentucky Derby. He would go on to a third place effort in the GII Mathis Brothers Mile S. at Santa Anita before dropping back into allowance ranks and eventually selling after his final victory in November in the Asmussen barn.

Exchanging hands for $220,000 at KEENOV in 2019, going the way of David Ingordo as agent for Hronis Racing, he won the GI Santa Anita H. in just his second start for John Sadler, holding on gamely to turn away a late challenger. It would prove to be the last victory of his career before the stallion was retired to stud after six successive losses.

A Scat Daddy half to producer, GSW Long Lashes (Rock Hard Ten); GSP producer Mythical Border (Johannesburg); and stakes-placed Bordini (Bernardini), he was the most accomplished runner for his dam. He hailed from the extended female family of MGSW Conserve (Boundary), two-time Canadian Horse of the Year L'Enjoleur (Buckpasser), three-time Canadian champion racemare La Voyageuse (Tentam), MGSW Time Bandit (Time for a Change), and French Hwt. 2-year-old colt Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) (Danehill).

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‘They’re All Special Here’: Northern California Trainer Andy Mathis Enjoying Big Del Mar Meet

Andy Mathis is a 43-year old trainer based out of Golden Gate Fields. He loves to come to Del Mar every summer and try his luck. This year it's been very good.

With only 24 starts, Mathis has seven wins at the meet, good enough to place him seventh in the trainer standings. It has Mathis sitting on cloud nine.

“Better than I could have expected,” Mathis says. “Sometimes you get a little luck and there's plenty of time you don't.”

Mathis brought 28 horses to Del Mar at the start of the meet. Some have been claimed and the rest he'll take back up to Northern California.

“My plan has never been to come down here and stay down here,” Mathis says. “I fully understand people who want to do that. I'm raising my kids in Walnut Creek, they're in school so that's my home. I'm not trying to make a new home.”

Mathis comes to Del Mar a week before the meet begins and stays thru the last week of racing.

“We don't come here for a vacation,” Mathis says. “It's all work. We run hard and go hard the whole way and whatever happens, happens.”

Mathis first started making the trip south in 2014 and he's done it every year since, except for the first year of COVID. He got his trainer's license in 2001 and has been based at Golden Gate Fields since then. He says he first became interested in working in horse racing while he was in college.

“I was going to a community college in San Francisco,” Mathis says, “and I was wrapping that up, figuring I didn't want to go to school anymore. I had been going to the races at Golden Gate Fields and Bay Meadows and thought that (horse racing) could be something I'd like to get into. I got a job on the backside with Bill McLean at Golden Gate Fields and kind of fell in love with it.”

For a boy who grew up in Sonoma, Calif., a town just north of the Bay Area, Del Mar has always held a special charm for him.

“I have a good group of horses, a good group of Cal-breds,” Mathis says. “I like coming down here for the weather and the beach. The whole town, everybody knows there's a racetrack and it's a big deal. I think the thing for me is to be a part of that, to be racing in an environment like that. It's exciting and you want to do good.”

Ironically, Mathis wasn't even present for his first winner at Del Mar, an Argentina-bred horse named Igor in 2006. Instead, he had sent the horse to Art Sherman to run here.

“They're all special here,” he offers. “You win a cheap claiming race and it's exciting because it's hard to win here. I never assume I'm going to get back in the winner's circle. You run horses here you think are alive, that they're going to run well…believe me anytime I win a race here at Del Mar I know it could be a couple years before I get back into the winner's circle.“

Lately, that doesn't seem to be a problem for Andy Mathis.

The post ‘They’re All Special Here’: Northern California Trainer Andy Mathis Enjoying Big Del Mar Meet appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Grade 1 Winner Combatant Colics, Dies Suddenly In Chile

First year stallion and 2020 G1 Santa Anita H. winner Combatant has died suddenly from colic in Chile, Rockridge Stud reported Monday. The 2015 son of Scat Daddy had just begun Southern Hemisphere stud duties at Haras Porta Pia.

Combatant stood his first year at Rockridge Stud in Hudson, NY, and bred 85 mares.

“We are deeply saddened by this loss, for both the syndicate and for New York,” Rockridge Stud's Erin Robinson said.

Combatant (Scat Daddy – Border Dispute by Boundary) retired with a record of 30-4-5-6, and earnings of $1,062,915.

The post Grade 1 Winner Combatant Colics, Dies Suddenly In Chile appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Texas Thoroughbred Association’s 2022 Summer Sale Catalogs Over 200 Yearlings

On Aug. 29, at 10 o'clock in the morning, the best group of yearlings ever offered for sale in Texas will begin parading into the sales ring at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie. Yes, that's a subjective assessment, but it's soundly based on observation, history and precedent. When have you seen sons and daughters of such classic winners as Accelerate, Bernardini, Tonalist, Palace Malice and Tapwrit; when have you seen yearlings by such champions as Mitole, Honor Code, Vino Rosso, Good Magic and Midnight Lute; and when have you ever seen the son of a Triple Crown winner all offered at auction in Texas? Never.

The upcoming Summer Yearling Sale represents the next step on the horse industry's upward trajectory in the state. Ever since 2019, when lawmakers created the Horse Industry Escrow Account, all the metrics have been trending higher. Handle and purses have increased at Texas racetracks. Since 2019, Texas has seen the return of many mares that had exited to Louisiana and Oklahoma, as well as the relocation of several stallions. While the national foal crop — the number of Thoroughbreds foaled in a given year — increased only 0.3 percent in 2020, the Texas foal crop increased 15.8 percent, according to The Jockey Club. And with added incentives has come development, such as the Forks of the Paluxy Farm in Bluff Dale and Danny Pish's 1880 Training Center in Lipan.

The Summer Yearling Sale is one of the more conspicuous markers yet on this upward trend. Consider hip #143, a Florida-bred son of Justify, the 2018 Triple Crown winner of $3,798,000, out of Iroquois Girl, a stakes-placed daughter of Indian Charlie. This is the sort of youngster you'd expect to see in a sale in Kentucky. But he'll be available here in Texas on August 29.

More than 200 yearlings have been catalogued, horses bred in Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois and, of course, Texas. Texas' most popular sires are all represented — Too Much Bling, Competitive Edge, Bradester, Cinco Charlie, Mr Speaker and the late My Golden Song.

Also indicative of the upward trend is the involvement of the Highlander Training Center in Sulphur Springs. For the first time, the state-of-the-industry facility will be represented by a consignment — 21 yearlings, some owned by Highlander, but most by clients.

“We saw this as an excellent opportunity,” said Jeff Hooper, the Highlander Chairman and CEO, “to become even more involved in Texas and the region. We see a strong market here for quality yearlings, and at Highlander, with our staff and our facilities, we think we have the perfect combination to present such horses of quality to the market.”

Trainers Jon Newbold and Shannon Ritter supervise sales-prep at Highlander.

“We have high expectations,” Hooper continued. “We tried to customize the group (of yearlings) for the market here, and we're very excited about the quality we're bringing to the sale.”

Many of the handsome yearlings will turn your head. And many of the catalogue pages will force you to pause. Hip #2, for example, a Louisiana-bred colt by Half Ours, is a full-brother to stakes winner Jimmy Two Times and a half-brother to Streak of Silver, winner of the 2021 Texas Futurity. Hip #9, a Texas-bred colt by Lord Nelson, is a half-brother to Con Lima, a multiple-stakes winner of $884,865. Hip #19 is a full-sister to Bling on the Music, the winner of the 2016 Texas Futurity who went on to finish third in the Pocahontas Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs. Hip #103, a Texas-bred filly by the millionaire Include, is a full-sister to Proud Emma, winner of the 2020 Bayakoa Stakes (G3) and $361,658. And hip #107, a Texas-bred colt by the millionaire Tapiture, is a half-brother to six winners, including two stakes winners, Cajun Spirit and Half Cajun.

This outstanding group of yearlings is indicative of the upward trend in the Texas' horse industry. But even more, it means this upward trend will soon be quite evident at the state's racetracks.

The Texas Thoroughbred Association Summer Yearling Sale is open to the public and admission is free on Monday, August 29 at 10 a.m. CT in the Lone Star Park sales pavilion. Click here to download the sale catalogue.

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