Month: October 2022

Sir Henry Cecil, Willie Carson To Be Inducted Into British Flat Racing’s Hall Of Fame

QIPCO British Champions Series has named two of horseracing's greats to be formally inducted into the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame, the official Hall of Fame for British Flat racing, with a special induction ceremony due to take place on QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot this Saturday.

Legendary jockey William 'Willie' Carson OBE, who turns 80 next month, becomes the fourth jockey to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, after Lester Piggott, Pat Eddery and Frankie Dettori. Meanwhile, the late Sir Henry Cecil, one of the most respected trainers that the sport has ever seen, is just the second trainer to be inducted after Vincent O'Brien. Cecil's induction also comes 10 years after Frankel's final racecourse appearance at QIPCO British Champions Day – the unbeaten Frankel being perhaps the most famous of Sir Henry's training success stories.

Despite having no family link to racing, Willie Carson was crowned Champion Jockey in Britain five times and his 3,828 winners in the UK included 17 Classic triumphs, four of them in The Derby. Only three other greats have bettered his overall tally: Sir Gordon Richards (4870), Pat Eddery (4633) and Lester Piggott (4493).

The Scot's inimitable all-action push-kick-push style of riding, coupled with his unbridled enthusiasm and fierce determination, made him a huge favourite with trainers, owners and punters alike, and he was associated with many wonderful champions, including Troy, Nashwan and Dayjur. He has enjoyed notable success as a breeder, and had the distinction of guiding Minster Son, who he himself bred, to victory in the 1988 St Leger, making him the first jockey to breed and ride a Classic winner, and also enjoyed a fruitful broadcasting career following his retirement from the saddle, hosting the BBC's racing coverage following a stint as a captain on Question of Sport.

Speaking of his induction, Carson said: “It's very humbling because of where I've come from, but here I am, an ex-Champion Jockey, having ridden British Classic winners for Her Majesty the Queen and with four Derby winners. I have done a few things in my life, but being awarded into the Hall of Fame is one of the biggest. It is a big deal to be invited.

“I am getting old but I am still enjoying life. I've got the horses to keep me amused, I have the stud (Minster House); it keeps me amused, busy and working. I am still enjoying life because of the horse – the horse keeps me going.”

Sir Henry Cecil was one of the most successful and much-loved trainers of the past century. He was charming, sensitive, playful and eccentric rolled into one, not to mention unfailingly modest and polite. He had a flamboyant dress sense, with his quirks and one-liners adding to his theatrical manner.

Henry also had no background in horses and, by his own admission, was not good at much at all as a youngster, other than having fun. He became assistant trainer to his stepfather, five-time Champion Trainer Cecil Boyd-Rochfort, in late 1964 and, when he retired, four years later, took over what remained of his string.

The success of Wolver Hollow in the 1969 Eclipse provided an early clue that Cecil would succeed and, by 1976, he had been crowned champion for the first time, thanks in no small part to Wollow, who won the 2000 Guineas, Eclipse, Sussex Stakes and Juddmonte International. Cecil won the title again in 1978, 1979, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990 and 1993. Only Alec Taylor, who won the championship a dozen times between 1907 and 1925, has ever been champion on more occasions.

It was ten years ago this week (October 2022) that the late, great Cecil acclaimed his most celebrated masterpiece, Frankel, as possibly the greatest racehorse there has ever been, after the magnificent colt had signed off his flawless 14-race career with victory in the QIPCO Champion Stakes on QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot.

“He's the best I've ever had, the best I've ever seen,” he said. “I'd be very surprised if there's ever been anything better.”

Eight months after Frankel's final flourish, Cecil himself slipped away. His death, at the age of 70, just days before his beloved Royal Ascot, triggered an outpouring of adoration around the globe.

Lady Cecil, Sir Henry's widow, who played a key role in the latter part of Sir Henry's career, said: “He was modest and he would have been surprised to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, but he would also have felt very honored. I'm delighted as I think he's a very worthy inductee. I hope he will prove to be a popular choice.

“Henry never understood why or how he was popular. When he had a runner at Newmarket, the reception he got was always amazing. I remember after he died, I was lucky enough to have a winner at Newmarket. The crowd used to come and cheer, and I knew it was for Henry. He was so popular – when I do the Discover Newmarket tours to raise money for the East Anglian Children's Hospice, they come to see Frankel but invariably they talk about Henry. They have so many stories about how Henry chatted to them, the kindness he showed. He was very special.”

Both Lady Cecil and Willie Carson will attend QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot this weekend, where they will be presented with a prestigious medal in recognition of the inductions into the Hall of Fame. Unique to British racing the medals, which were hand-crafted by Asprey, can also be viewed during the day as part of a special Hall of Fame display which will be held within the Grandstand at Ascot.

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‘Rule-Making Overreach’: Judge Rules New Mexico Commission Can’t Use Purse Money To Pay Insurance Premiums

The following release was issued by the New Mexico Horsemen's Association on Oct. 11, 2022.

The New Mexico Horsemen's Association won another legal victory in its ongoing disputes with the state racing commission and racetracks, with a judge terming as “rule-making overreach” the practice of diverting purse money toward medical-insurance premiums for jockeys and exercise riders.

District Court Judge Victor S. Lopez determined in his Sept. 20 order that the New Mexico Racing Commission (NMRC) improperly required horsemen, through their purse accounts, to pay half of racetracks' insurance premiums for jockeys and exercise riders, in violation of state statute.

Gary C. Mitchell, general counsel for the New Mexico Horsemen's Association (NMHA), applauded the ruling, which he hailed as vital to the health of horse racing in the state.

“The battle is over the political power of the racetracks that wish to cut down on the expenses of running a racetrack and a race meet and enjoy greater income from their casinos,” Mitchell said. “The great advocate standing in their way is, and has always been, the Horsemen's Association and hopefully the New Mexico Legislature.”

Under New Mexico law, any gaming operator licensee that is a racetrack must pay 20 percent of its net take for purses to be distributed in accordance with rules adopted by the state racing commission. An amount not to exceed 20 percent of the interest earned on the balance of any fund consisting of money for purses may be expended for the costs of administering the distributions.

Since 2009, more than $9 million has been taken from purse accounts at New Mexico's five racetracks to use for the insurance premiums. In late 2020, the NMHA went to court to end the unlawful practice and to get all or a portion of the lost purse money returned.

Judge Lopez' order said that just because the practice of using purse money for jockey and exercise rider insurance premiums had been in effect for years without objection did not make it legal under state law.

“(The) reality is that the practice is being questioned now; the parties presented no authority supporting the proposition that a party somehow waives a rule-making overreach by the mere passage of time,” Judge Lopez wrote.

Calling it “form over substance,” he shot down the commission's claim that the 20 percent of their net first goes into “gaming accounts” that aren't technically “purse account” monies until after funding for the insurance premiums is extracted. Judge Lopez further determined that the practice “cannot be reasonably characterized as a 'cost of administering the distributions,'” as the commission contended.

“It is neither the Commission's nor this Court's role to decide and implement policy which would essentially allow the skimming of racing revenue for the admittedly favorable purpose of protecting jockeys and exercise riders who may sustain injuries in the course of engaging in the inherently dangerous profession of horse racing,” Judge Lopez wrote.

Judge Lopez stayed his order until at least March 18, the last day of the 2023 legislative session, “to allow the parties to consider legislative intervention, if appropriate.”

Mitchell said it's important for horsemen to fight the illegal syphoning off of purse money for tracks' operating expenses “because it set a dangerous precedent.”

“We know that first it would be for insurance, and the next thing would be to pay HISA,” he said of the controversial Horseracing Safety & Integrity Act that creates an unfunded bureaucracy to oversee aspects of horse racing nationwide. “… The Legislature never intended for that to happen. That was to save horse racing — and it was saving horse racing. It was working beautifully. The horsemen didn't have any choice; they had to fight back.”

Judge Lopez' order came three days before Judge Erin B. O'Connell ruled from the bench in favor of horsemen that the racing commission was in contempt of her earlier order. That August 2021 ruling barred the commission from blocking horse owners' voluntarily contributions to the NMHA from money their horses earned in races. The commission has yet to comply with Judge O'Connell's directive.

“I guess the racing commission doesn't take the Court seriously, even though she ordered (as yet unspecified) sanctions,” Mitchell said. “So we're going to be back in court again because the racing commission, the gaming control board and the various casinos keep thinking they can just ignore the Court…. In New Mexico, contempt is a powerful tool by the courts. The racing commission and gaming control board both have serious problems, monetarily and ethically, in continuing to do this.”

The NMHA represents more than 4,000 Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse owners and trainers throughout New Mexico. The organization also has a pending ethics complaint with the New Mexico State Ethics Commission against the racing commission and the New Mexico Gaming Control Board, accusing those agencies of conspiring for the express purpose of undermining the horsemen's representative.

Also pending is a federal lawsuit filed by the NMHA in June 2021 in U.S. District Court against the commission, charging the regulatory body with depriving racehorse owners and trainers of their civil rights as well as other related violations.

More background:

New Mexico's labor-intensive horse-racing industry was on the verge of elimination with La Mesa Park, San Juan Downs and Santa Fe Downs closing in the early 1990s.

In response, the state legislature legalized electronic slot machines at racetracks with the stipulation that 20 percent of their net revenue would go toward purses to bolster horse racing and protect the industry's thousands of jobs. The legislation proved extremely effective, with SunRay in Farmington and Zia Park in Hobbs, N.M., opening in 1999 to give the state five racetracks. The others are Ruidoso Downs, Sunland Park and the Downs at Albuquerque.

The amount from slot machines comes to more than $30 million a year paid out to racehorse owners competing at New Mexico horse tracks. The NMHA — at its own expense — has administered the purse account ever since, with regular audits showing not even a penny has ever been lost or found out of place.

The NMHA has been funded by voluntary contributions from its member horse owners who earn purse money: 1 percent of what their horse earns goes toward the organization's administrative costs, along with a $5 per-start fee earmarked to help members with medical expenses and a $2 per-start fee for the horsemen's legislative and advocacy efforts.

The NMHA filed suit in the Second Judicial District Court in Bernalillo County in December 2020 to stop the commission's years-long practice of taking purse money to pay the racetracks' liability insurance on jockeys and exercise riders. The transfer of purse money to pay track operating expenses has cost horsemen to date more than $9 million.

In retribution, the New Mexico Racing Commission in May 2021 voted to defund the NMHA by cutting off its revenue stream, falsely asserting that the earned income from purse money was improperly going to the horsemen's organization. (Once purse money is earned by an owner's horse after a race is made official, those funds become that individual's property to use however he or she desires.)

The New Mexico Gaming Control Board backed the commission, even after its own hearing officer ruled in favor of the horsemen on this matter. Racing commission chair Sam Bregman also serves on the gaming control board.

“There is no doubt the reason for the actions taken against the New Mexico Horsemen's Association is to destroy, or weaken severely, the horsemen so race meets can be shortened, the purse money can be used for race track expenses and more expense burden can be shifted to race horse owners and trainers,” Mitchell said. “So long as the horsemen fight, the purse money cannot be misused and race meets of good duration will continue. Get rid of the horsemen and no one stands in the way. Get rid of the horsemen and you get rid of horse racing as it should be run. It is that simple and clear.”

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Taking Stock: Donato Lanni’s (Almost) Perfect Weekend

I called the elite bloodstock agent Donato Lanni last Wednesday only to tell him I'd call him again Sunday and to expect my call. I was fortunate he picked up, because he was on a golf course enjoying a rare day off following a busy Keeneland September sale where he'd purchased a number of million-dollar yearlings among many others. When we made plans to speak again, neither of us mentioned why I'd be calling. I didn't want to jinx him, with Cave Rock (Arrogate), War Like Goddess (English Channel), and Moira (Ghostzapper) entered in three Grade l races Saturday at Santa Anita, Belmont-at-Aqueduct, and Woodbine, respectively.

The weekend was almost perfect for Lanni, except for the hex that jockey Rafael Hernandez put on Moira in the Gl E.P. Taylor S., choosing the wrong path for her at a crucial stage in the race. Turning for home, Moira was behind five runners fanned ahead of her, and Hernandez, looking for a seam, chose to go inside where there was no room. In the process, he nearly took down Peter Brant's Lemista (Ire), who checked hard. Once on the rail, Moira still had nowhere to advance until late in the stretch, and by the time Hernandez slipped her through a narrow gap, the finish was fast approaching. Rougir (Ire), owned by Brant and Michael Tabor, nailed her by a neck, flying uninterrupted on the outside. No surprise, Moira was disqualified from second to eighth, but with a clean run she may well have proven the best in the race.

Lanni was still steaming on Sunday when we spoke. He'd purchased Moira for $150,000 at Keeneland September two years ago for a group of Canadian horsemen and friends who race as X-Men Racing. Lanni clients Madaket Racing and SF Racing, who are a part of the “Avengers” group that race colts with Bob Baffert, are co-owners. “Brant's filly could have gotten hurt, and I'm worried about our filly,” Lanni said of the incident.

The local E.P. Taylor was carefully chosen for Moira to get Grade l black-type on her resume.

“She was like a greyhound as a yearling, a long-distance type for turf and all-weather, not a horse for dirt. She's a classy filly, but not a typical Ghostzapper physically. Ghostzapper looked like a miler, he could sprint and go a mile and a quarter. She's not that way.”

Bred in Canada by Adena Springs and trained by Kevin Attard, the 3-year-old had previously raced exclusively on Woodbine's all-weather course against other Canadian-breds her age, but blowout wins in the Woodbine Oaks and the Queen's Plate against colts suggested she was something special. That was confirmed in the E.P. Taylor, regardless of the outcome. The race was Moira's first start on turf, her first against open company, and her first against elders, and she proved she belongs. She's now won four of six starts and earned $908,682. Rougir was a Group 1 winner in Europe last year and was purchased by Brant and Tabor at Arqana for the equivalent of $3.4 million.

War Like Goddess

War Like Goddess, trained by Bill Mott for owner George Krikorian, is a 5-year-old mare. She defeated males in the Gl Joe Hirsch Turf Classic S. and goes next in the Gl Breeders' Cup Turf. A winner of nine of 12 starts and $1,612,184, the daughter of English Channel was bred by Calumet, sold for $1,200 as a weanling at Keeneland November, was unsold as a $1,000 RNA at Keeneland September, and made $30,000 at OBS June when Lanni bought her.

“You just don't see too many English Channels showing up at an OBS 2-year-old sale,” Lanni said. “That's not what they're supposed to do. They are long on the grass. Anyway, she shows up and works and goes in like :10 2/5 and does really well. She's got a great stride and great action, but she comes back and she's got some pretty good shins on her. They were pretty big. I call them summer shins–shins that last all summer. And so I said to myself, there's only one guy I know who'd take this filly, meaning you need to be patient with her and give her time, and that was George Krikorian. I hadn't bought him a horse in a long time, so I called him.”

Lanni developed a relationship with Krikorian during his early days in Kentucky at Texan Johnny T.L. Jones Jr.'s Walmac International, which stood standouts Nureyev and Alleged among other well-known stallions. An outsized figure with a grin as big as his personality, Johnny Jones also gave Lane's End Bloodstock's David Ingordo, WTC's Frances J. Karon, Stonestreet advisor and agent John Moynihan, and Four Star's Kerry Cauthen a home at one time or another.

“[George Krikorian] was the first guy who ever let me buy him a horse where I actually got paid a commission for buying the horse,” Lanni said. “That was Starrer in 1999 at Fasig-Tipton. We'd gotten to be friends, he said he trusted me, likes me, and said if I see anything I like, buy it.

“When I found Starrer, I called him and said I found him a filly, and he said to just buy it and hung up. I'm in my mid-20s, and I'm like, 'What does that mean, just buy it?' I'm nervous. I don't have a signed agent agreement, I don't have any money, and what do I do If this guy walks away from me?”

Lanni paid $35,000 for the yearling Starrer, a daughter of Dynaformer who became a multiple Grade l winner for Krikorian and trainer John Shirreffs, earning $1,043,033 through four seasons.

“He's been my longtime friend and a client since. He's the greatest,” Lanni said.

Cave Rock

Undefeated Cave Rock appears to be the leading 2-year-old colt heading to the Breeders' Cup. The son of Arrogate won the Gl American Pharoah S. at Santa Anita impressively–his second top-level win from three starts–and has now earned $408,000 for trainer Baffert and the “Three Amigos” partnership of Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman. Bred by Anne and Ronnie Sheffer Racing, Cave Rock was a $550,000 Keeneland September yearling.

After the Walmac stint, Lanni went next to John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale, where he was a longtime presence until Sikura moved the Hill 'n' Dale operation to Xalapa a few years ago. It was through Sikura that Lanni established a relationship with Baffert, and it's under the Baffert banner that Lanni's reputation has grown.

“[Baffert] is not just an amazing horse trainer and person, he's also amazing at finding young horses at auction,” Lanni said. “He's been great at that forever, and he's taught me a lot. I can't ever take credit for what I do with Bob, because Bob is instrumental, but we work together closely and it's a team effort. I don't buy a horse for Bob if he doesn't agree.”

They agreed on Cave Rock.

Lanni said, “If he was a first-crop Arrogate, he would have made seven figures. He was amazing, he was beautiful. He had beautiful bone, he was correct, he had a great hind leg. But last year, no one wanted an Arrogate.”

Because the Avengers are usually looking for colts by proven sires to turn into stallions, Cave Rock didn't fit the profile, but he was a natural for the Three Amigos.

“Bob and Mike have been together from the beginning, and when we shop the sales, those guys are always ready to buy,” Lanni said. “They don't care about sires, they don't care about pedigrees, they want physicals and they want runners.”

Avengers and X-Men

Why Avengers and X-Men? Lanni said the Avengers nickname came about as convenient shorthand to refer to the string of owners in the SF/Madaket/Starlight group.

“And the reason I came up with Avengers is that my daughters and I watch all those Marvel movies, and I love them,” he said. “And it's great because everybody has a certain talent that they bring to the table, and it fit the group.”

When buying for the Avengers–a team effort with the principals, Lanni stressed–the criteria gets more specific: proven sires like Into Mischief, Quality Road, etc., and the physiques that will handle training and racing on dirt at the highest levels. “Tom [Ryan] put the Avengers together. It's Tom's masterpiece, and it's a great team.”

The SF/Madaket/Starlight group was a minority shareholder with WinStar and China Horse Club in Triple Crown winner Justify, who was purchased at Keeneland September for $500,000 and sold for $75 million to Coolmore in 2018. After breaking away and enlisting Lanni, the Avengers struck gold again at Keeneland that year, buying three of the 25 colts that would go on to win Grade l races from the catalogue: Eight Rings, a $520,000 yearling who was sold to Coolmore for $10 million; Charlatan, a $700,000 purchase that was sold to stand at Hill 'n' Dale for $10 million; and Horse of the Year and Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic winner Authentic, who was purchased for $350,000 and sold to Spendthrift at a valuation of $36 million.

There were 10 fillies catalogued in the sale that also won Grade l races, and though Lanni didn't buy them there, he did buy two of them at the juvenile sales: Gamine, with Baffert, for $1.8 million at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic; and the previously mentioned War Like Goddess, for $30,000 at OBS June.

Lanni is from Canada, where he cut his teeth with Standardbreds, and some of his friends in the X-Men partnership for which Moira races go back a ways with him from those days. Lanni said Moira was one of seven yearlings he purchased for the first X-Men partnership. For the second batch, 2-year-olds this year, he already has Grade l winner Last Call, another English Channel filly. Bred by English Channel Co-Owners & Jodi Cantwell, Last Call, also co-owned by SF, was bought for $30,000 at Keeneland September last year and won the Natalma S. at Woodbine last month.

“I shop the entire catalog, from the first day to the last,” Lanni said. “I don't want to miss a single horse, and you never know where you'll find that good one.”

He seems to have a knack for finding them wherever they are, in all price ranges.

Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks.

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