With the approval of the Louisiana State Racing Commission handed down Wednesday afternoon, Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots announces two horseplayer-friendly adjustments to the 2022-23 wagering menu. Takeout will be reduced on the Pick 5 from 25% to 15%. Also, a new Pick 6 at the same 15% rate will be added.
Takeout is the percentage of every wagering dollar removed before payoffs are calculated.
Racing officials at Churchill Downs Incorporated (“CDI”) and Fair Grounds have been studying successes at other tracks and working to make this change at Fair Grounds.
“We are very excited about both of these new wagering opportunities for horseplayers,” said Gary Palmisano Jr., the newly appointed Executive Director of Racing for CDI. “Fair Grounds has not had a Pick 6 in many years. After monitoring the success of this same wager at the New York Racing Association, we feel this is an interesting variation of the pool to implement and worth exploring.”
Fair Grounds offers a traditional Pick 5 where the entire pool, after the 15% takeout, is paid out to winning bettors. If there are no perfect Pick Five tickets, the entire pool, minus the takeout, will carry over to the late Pick Five the next racing day. On most racing days there will be two Pick Five opportunities for horseplayers – an early and a late – and on cards of 11 races or more, a third may be added.
The new Pick 6 wager will have a $1 minimum wager. It will be “non-jackpot” and 75% of the after-takeout pool will be paid to all tickets with 6 winners. The other 25% will be paid to all those with 5 of 6 winners as a consolation. If no one has 6 winners, then 75% goes to the next day as a carryover and 25% is paid to all the consolation tickets.
“The obvious goal is that this wager will create numerous carryover opportunities and draw attention to racing in New Orleans,” Palmisano Jr. added.
The 80-day, 2022-2023 Fair Grounds racing season opens on Friday, November 18 and runs through Sunday, March 26. Regular post time will be 1:05 p.m. CT, but opening day post time is 3:00 p.m. CT. Sixty-five stakes worth a combined $8.5 million, up more than $700,000 from last season, will be offered during the Thoroughbred meet.
About Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, one of the nation's oldest racetracks, has been in operation since 1872. Located in New Orleans, LA, Fair Grounds, which is owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN), also operates a slot-machine gaming facility and 15 off-track betting parlors throughout Southeast Louisiana. The 151st Thoroughbred Racing Season – highlighted by the 110th running of the Louisiana Derby – will run from November 18, 2022 through March 26, 2023. More information is available online at www.fairgroundsracecourse.com.
There are many decisions to be made in the life of a racehorse, with no guarantee that they will work out. When 15-year-old Isabel Wells calmly walked 5-year-old chestnut gelding Hieronymus over to the final obstacle of the competitive trail course during the finale of the 2022 Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover and raised a flag connected to a pulley as the final test of their partnership, it was the culmination of many decisions that all came together to create a perfect moment for horse and rider.
Fittingly, the flag was blue, the same color as the silks Hieronymus wore representing Godolphin, his breeder and owner, during a nine-race career from August 2019 to June 2021. Godolphin Lifetime Care was the sponsor of the competitive trail discipline at the Thoroughbred Makeover, reflecting the commitment and investment the racing operation founded by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum of Dubai has made in Thoroughbred aftercare. Godolphin has been a leading supporter of the Retired Racehorse Project since a visit by Godolphin representatives from around the world to the first Thoroughbred Makeover held at the Kentucky Horse Park in 2015.
The victory by a Godolphin horse in the Godolphin-sponsored discipline also put the spotlight on the incredible journey of a young rider that is poised to make a big difference in Thoroughbred aftercare. Wells was diagnosed with stage 4 leukemia when she was 3 years old. At age 6, she went into remission. She started riding horses when she was 10.
“I tried sports and all these different things and I had a year where I really didn't do anything,” Wells said. “My aunt was like, 'Well, I ride at this stable in Fair Grove, [Missouri]. You should come take lessons.' I took a lesson with Tim Brock, and it grew from there. I fell in love with everything about it.”
Wells' composure while riding and while speaking about her horse to the crowd at the Kentucky Horse Park and on the livestream of the biggest Thoroughbred-only horse show in the world were well beyond what one would expect from a 15-year-old.
“Oh my god, I cried,” said Emma Lovatt, who oversees the U.S. operations of Godolphin Lifetime Care. “I cried. That's how much it means to us to have our horses going on and being successful. He's not going to be a champion show jumper, but he's proved that he's the bomb-proof horse. He's quiet, kind, and had a 15-year-old riding him. And, he's a Thoroughbred. Some of them have these stigmas that they're hard to handle, and he just went out and said, 'No, I'm not, I'm easy, and I love doing what I'm doing.' It's important, and it's very heartwarming to see these horses that we've bred and foaled.”
Lovatt and Wells connected in the warmup ring on the morning of the Thoroughbred Makeover Finale on Oct. 15. Lovatt presented Wells with an idea—that Godolphin would sponsor Wells for the 2023 Thoroughbred Makeover, while Wells would be an ambassador for Godolphin.
“She's kind of funny because she does not understand how good she is,” Brock, Wells' trainer at BC Stables and Training Center in Fair Grove, Mo., said. “There were times through this that she's like, 'I can't do this. I can't go in with these other people.' And, I kept telling her, 'You're as good as everybody else.' Obviously, that showed because she did all of that work.”
When it comes to racehorses, the Godolphin team understands what it takes to do all the work—from breeding to racing all around the world. Since 1992, 6,512 horses in 39,536 races with 7,737 wins, 1,886 of those in stakes and 382 in Grade or Group 1 (stats as of Oct. 24, 2022). Godolphin's devotion to horses representing the Godolphin blue on the track is matched by their commitment to finding their racehorses a new career after they finish racing. At the 2022 Thoroughbred Makeover, there were more horses among the final entries that Godolphin previously ran than any other racing operation with nine competitors, eight of them being homebreds.
“They were very appreciative and very excited about their horses being there,” Brock said about Godolphin. “That tells us that their mentality for their horses' futures is in the right place, and that's the people we want to deal with.”
Hieronymus, with Florent Geroux up, won his racing debut at a mile on turf at Ellis Park in 2019.
Hieronymus was one of those homebreds. Trained by Brad Cox, the chestnut colt won his debut as a 2-year-old in a one-mile maiden special weight at Ellis Park in Kentucky on August 11, 2019. Hieronymus would go on to win four more starts, including the final race of his career in the Mystic Lake Mile on turf at Canterbury Park in Minnesota on June 23, 2021.
“Here comes Hieronymus!” Canterbury track announcer Paul Allen growled in his call of the race that he described as a “spine-tingler.”
After the win, Hieronymus would record four more timed half-mile workouts over the next two months but would not race again.
“He ended up on a vet's list because of a large ankle, and he kept getting put on it even though he x-rayed clean,” Lovatt said. “So, rather than go through any more rigmarole with that, we brought him home.”
Knowing when to stop racing is just as important a decision as choosing what race to enter.
“Their career in racing is incredibly short,” said Lovatt, who has worked with Godolphin for nearly 20 years in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. “They've got 15 to 20 years after racing that they can still do and give and love and have joy from. You've got to remember that and focus on that and say, 'OK, we want them to be the best racehorse, but we also want them to be the best they can be after that.'”
Godolphin has created a pipeline for their retired racehorses. Mares go into the breeding operation, while geldings go into Godolphin Lifetime Care, which has branches in America, Australia, Europe, and Japan.
“Lifetime care has always been a part of our business,” Lovatt said. “We didn't put a name on it until about 2015. You breed this number of horses, you've got to be able to take care of them.”
Following an extensive initial evaluation of their health and suitability for a new career, these geldings are connected with training programs that can be either aftercare organizations or individual sporthorse trainers. Hieronymus, along with Change of Fortune, an unraced 3-year-old bay gelding bred by Godolphin, went to CANTER Kentucky.
“They were wonderful to deal with and gave me all the records,” CANTER Kentucky's trainer, Ashley Watts, said of Godolphin. “Very, very easy, very professional.”
From there, Hieronymus and Change of Fortune were rehomed to BC Stables. Brock, fellow BC Stables trainer Nathan Bradley, and student Isabel Wells were looking to compete in the Thoroughbred Makeover.
“We did a lot of the Mustang Makeovers, and what kind of turns me off about those is that you have 100 days, and when that's finished, those horses are auctioned off at the show,” Brock said. “With the Thoroughbred Makeover, you've got more time, and those horses are also further along when we get them.”
Bradley would partner with Change of Fortune, Wells with Hieronymus.
“[Brock] told me he needed a horse for a kid,” Watts said about Wells, a student at Fair Grove High School. “I was picturing a little kid, not Isabel, who is mature beyond her years. She's like 15 going on 30.”
The horse Wells calls “Gilbert” was her first Thoroughbred. The BC Stables team immediately noticed that the Godolphin horses came with a racetrack education that prepared them to excel in life after the track, even if they weren't initially as familiar with who Godolphin was. Watts, CANTER Kentucky's trainer, laughed when sharing a story about when Bradley, a BC Stables trainer, inquired about the reputation of horses coming from “Go Dolphin,” saying the name of the stable as if he were cheering at SeaWorld.
“Both of those horses came here ready for something else, so obviously they had enough foundation and good handling that when we changed what they were doing, it didn't throw them for a loop,” Brock said. “When you look at a horse that you can change gears with and they immediately take that, that's feel, so that horse has been handled to understand how to deal with pressure or questions. They start looking for an answer rather than a way out.”
Wells and Hieronymus won competitive trail with a calm, steady routine in the finale after being fifth in the preliminaries. They were also eighth in ranch work.
“A lady at my barn said, 'You must still be on cloud nine,' and I was like, 'Oh, I'm not coming down,'” Wells said.
With top-ten finishes in ranch work by Bradley with Change of Fortune and by Brock with both Almanaar and Silver Dollar City, the BC Stables team made their mark.
“I told these guys because it was Nate's and Isabel's first time [at the Makeover],” Brock said, “that when we get there, people are going to look at you. At about day two, they're going to want to be you.' Our horses are quiet and they're good and they do what they're supposed to do. People start looking at you differently and see that these horses can do things out of their normal realm. That's fun for us.”
BC Stables plans to return for the Thoroughbred Makeover in 2023, with Brock saying that they plan to have five riders competing, including Wells with a Godolphin horse.
“She has now given me what her ideal horse is,” Lovatt said. “I will keep an eye out through our rehoming for a good horse for her, and we'll go from there.”
Said Wells: “I'm just super excited. That's really the only words I have for it because after going this year being so impressed with Godolphin and the Retired Racehorse Project, I'm just extremely excited to be part of this.”
Jonathan Horowitz is a long-time fan of racing who went from announcer to eventer with the help of off-track Thoroughbreds (OTTBs). His monthly column details his journey as a rider and his thoughts on aftercare's place in horse racing.
NEWMARKET, UK–The Breeders' Cup has special resonance for Charlie Appleby, who trained his first Grade I winner at the championships not four months into his tenure as trainer for Godolphin back in 2013.
That important first milestone was provided by Darley homebred Outstrip (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) in the Juvenile Turf, and if the American race fans didn't pay much attention to Appleby that day, they do now, for it was a win which set the tone for the years to follow, not just at the Breeders' Cup, but in top-level races in North America generally. Rarely does an Appleby runner under-perform when sent stateside, and more often than not they will return with another trophy to add to the overflowing sideboards in the trainer's office at Moulton Paddocks in Newmarket.
Behind his desk, neatly spaced, are three matching trophies from Del Mar last year, when Appleby and his newly-crowned champion jockey for 2022, William Buick, took Del Mar by storm. As important as those victories were for the racing stable, the icing on the cake for Sheikh Mohammed's vast breeding operation was the fact that Yibir (GB), Space Blues (Ire) and Modern Games (Ire) are all homebred sons of Darley's flagship stallion, Dubawi (Ire).
“It was a big win,” says Appleby casting his mind back to Outstrip while catching up with some Australian racing on TV before heading out to oversee his first lot. “And it was one of those very surreal moments. To stand at Santa Anita with that backdrop and watching your first Grade 1 winner go by the line…”
He tails off, momentarily reliving a significant moment in his own career, which has gone from strength to strength in subsequent seasons to see him crowned champion trainer in Britain last year for the first time. It is a title he is odds-on to retain as 2022 draws to a close.
“Look, I'd been in the operation for a long time before that, so you always know what these moments mean, but when you're holding that trophy, and my name was next to it, that does really give you an amazing feeling, and a feeling that you want more,” he adds.
“So the Breeders' Cup always been a meeting that we've campaigned. I'm not saying we've campaigned hard, but I feel that we've always tried to find the right horses to be the most competitive anyway. And thankfully, it's so far been a lucky hunting ground.”
In 2017 came the turn of Wuheida (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the Filly & Mare Turf, while Line Of Duty (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) gave Appleby his second strike in the Juvenile Turf the following year. That race has now gone the trainer's way three times, though last year's success was not without drama. One of his two intended starters in the race, Albahr (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), became fractious in the stalls, forcing him and his stablemate Modern Games to be removed from the gates. In a tumultuous few moments ahead of the start, it initially appeared as if both horses had been scratched from the race, but eventually Modern Games and Buick were reinstated and went on to win, with chaos ensuing for punters.
“Last year was an amazing year. I felt that we added plenty of drama to the meeting as well,” says Appleby with no little understatement.
“Walking away with three homebred winners and all three of them by Dubawi, I did say to the team there, as much as we say 'well, that was great', we must try harder next year to better that. That might take a little bit of surpassing though, because it was a huge achievement by everybody and we were very proud to walk off the racetrack with what we'd achieved.”
Indeed, it will be hard to top those results at Keeneland this year, but the Appleby team—and the trainer consistently refers to the stable's success as 'we' rather than 'I'—certainly plans to give it a good old rattle.
The one thing I'm confident of with Naval Crown is that he's got gate speed in abundance
The seven runners bound for Kentucky all came through their last piece of fast work on Wednesday in good heart, and will continue with routine canters until shipping on Saturday. With Space Blues now at Kildangan Stud in Ireland and Yibir not travelling, it falls to Modern Games to lead the raiders as he bids to add the Breeders' Cup Mile to his victory last year. In the interim, he became Appleby's third Guineas winner of 2022 when landing the Poule d'Essai des Poulains, following the victory of the late Coreoebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the 2000 Guineas and Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) in the Irish 2,000 Guineas. Modern Games has already made another trip back across the Atlantic this year to win the GI Woodbine Mile.
“When unfortunately Coroebus didn't turn up for the Sussex Stakes, it was felt that Modern Games was the substitute. But he posted one of the closest finishes to Baaeed when finishing second in the Sussex. He then went to Canada and won very well there,” says Appleby.
“Then with the QEII on Champions Day, as the rain came down again on the day, I thought 'should we really be running this horse?'. But he was in great order, and as always, he went out on his shield, finishing second in ground that William said he hated from start to finish.
“It won't be too soft at Keeneland. I imagine Kinross will start favourite, but he's up there and in great order.”
The statuesque Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) is one of two Godolphin runners, along with Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), being aimed at the Breeders' Cup Turf, claimed last year by Yibir. The four-year-old has had quite the season, with four straight wins culminating in back-to-back Group 1s in Germany over 1m4f.
Appleby says of Rebel's Romance, “He's a past UAE Derby winner and he went out to America on the back end of that winter in Dubai to potentially participate in the Kentucky Derby, but he met with setbacks out there so that didn't materialise. We went back out to Dubai to try and continue his dirt career, which again didn't materialise last winter, but he's been a revelation since we switched him to the turf.
“He stays well, he's got the experience, he's well travelled. I think he's a big player on the night. He'll be joined by Nation's Pride, who's a three-year-old coming into it with a similar profile to Yibir. Obviously they both won the Jockey Club Derby Invitational en route to the Breeders' Cup. But prior to that, Nation's Pride does bring a bit more American experience to the table as well.”
That experiencewas provided by the son of Teofilo heading straight from his eighth-place finish at Epsom in the Derby to take second in the GI Belmont Derby before winning the GI Saratoga Derby.
Appleby adds, “Nations Pride will probably go off favourite on the day. William [Buick] will ride him and James [Doyle] will ride Rebel's Romance; they're two live players.”
If he gets a good draw, [Silver Knott] is probably the horse they've all got to beat realistically
The trainer is also double-handed in the Turf Sprint with the Dubawi duo of Naval Crown (GB) and Creative Force (Ire), who finished first and second, a neck separating them, in the G1 Platinum Jubilee S. at Royal Ascot.
“They are both rock solid little horses,” states Appleby. “Creative Force had a break after the summer and we were delighted with his reappearance run on Champions Day, finishing third. He's definitely come forward for that run.
“Naval Crown has got quicker, dare I say it, as the season's gone on. But it hasn't quite gone right for him since the Platinum Jubilee. He ran a good race in the July Cup [when second to Alcohol Free] but was disappointing on very quick ground [at Haydock] and then obviously disappointed on the soft ground on Champions Day. “But the one thing I'm confident of with Naval Crown is that he's got gate speed in abundance. That's what's needed over there, so that's a tick for him. He's got experience and I think he'll enjoy being back on a turning track.”
Appleby also takes aim once more at the Juvenile Turf, this time with the smart Silver Knott (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), who already has a pair of Group 3 wins to his credit, and whose yearling half-brother by Dubawi was recently recruited to the Godolphin team for next year to the tune of 1,500,000gns at Tattersalls.
“His form has worked out quite well and, dare I say it, he has a profile similar to Outstrip,” notes the trainer. “He's competed at a nice level and a sounder surface will suit him, so hopefully we will get that. If he gets a good draw, he's probably the horse they've all got to beat realistically.”
Completing the septet is the G3 Sirenia S. winner Mischief Magic (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), who was subsequently fourth to Blackbeard (Ire) in the G1 Middle Park S. and will line up in the Juvenile Turf Sprint.
“He's got plenty of natural pace and he's definitely a player,” Appleby adds.
“As we all know, you've got to have a lot of luck around there. You've got to travel well, you've got to acclimatise well. And in the shorter-distance events, you have to have a draw. So there's still a few more hurdles to get over, but it's an exciting team to be taking out there.”
Wanamaker's is proud to host their second annual Pennsylvania-bred sale, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association.
The sale will be a mixed sale open to Pennsylvania-bred weanlings, yearlings, and racehorses, in addition to broodmares and broodmare prospects owned by a PHBA member.
“I think the PA-bred online auction hosted by Wanamaker's is just one more added benefit to the Pennsylvania program,” said PHBA Executive Secretary Brian Sanfratello. “It gives some of our breeders the ability to sell their horses without all the costs involved in sending them to a regular sale.”
Graduates from the 2021 sale include Simmons, a racing prospect who sold for $27,500 to Leonard Supchak and has gone on to earn $30,652 since the sale. This includes a PA-bred allowance victory at Penn National in March. Union Rally, a racing/broodmare prospect from last year's sale, sold for $3,500 to Marcia Wolfe and has earned a victory and $13,440 since the sale.
“We had a great response to the PA-bred sale last year and are excited to host it again this year,” said co-founder Liza Hendriks.
The entry fee for the Pennsylvania-bred sale will be discounted to $150 and commission will remain at 5 percent. There are no commissions on RNAs through Wanamaker's.
Entries for the Pennsylvania-bred sale will close on Nov. 29 and the catalog will be released Nov. 30. Bidding will open on Dec. 4 at 8 a.m. ET, and close on Thursday, Dec. 8 at 5 p.m. ET. Subsequent listings will close in three-minute increments. For more information on the selling process, visit wanamakers.com/sell.
