Month: October 2022

Arrogate Filly On Top As October Sale Remains On Record-Setting Course

LEXINGTON, KY – The Fasig-Tipton October Yearlings Sale continued its pace to another record-setting renewal with a solid day of trade during its third session Wednesday in Lexington.

Through three sessions, 804 yearlings have grossed $41,540,500. Following three sessions a year ago, the gross was $39,511,600 before the auction concluded it fourth session with an all-time high aggregate of $52,607,500.

The average of $51,667 is up 11.9% from the same point of the 2021 auction and the median is up 19% to $25,000. Still well ahead of the record figures of $45,627 and $22,000, respectively, that were set at last year's sale.

“It was a continuation of the strong market that we saw in the first two days of the sale,” said Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning Wednesday night. “There was wide-spread participation from buyers across the United States and around the world. Quality horses are in great demand. And we are fortunate to be in the midst of a strong and resilient marketplace.”

Legacy Ranch manager Terry Knight made the highest bid of Wednesday's session, going to $450,000 to acquire a filly by the late Arrogate. The session topper was one of 43 to sell for $200,000 or over during the three sessions, compared to 28 who reached that figure a year ago.

Looking ahead to the final session of the October sale, Browning said, “We anticipate some fireworks tomorrow and some strong highlights. We look forward to a successful conclusion of the October sale tomorrow.”

Thursday's final session of the auction begins at 10 a.m.

Wait Pays off For Legacy Ranch

Terry Knight of Legacy Ranch waited all day for a filly by Arrogate (hip 1152) to walk into the Fasig-Tipton October sales ring and as afternoon turned to evening, he would not be denied, ultimately going to $450,000 to acquire the yearling from the Mill Ridge Sales consignment.

“We just loved her,” Knight said. “We liked everything about her. She's the one we sat here and waited all day for. Fortunately, we got her.”

The filly was the second purchase of the week for Legacy Ranch, which acquired a daughter of Into Mischief (hip 226) for $190,000 during Monday's first session of the auction.

“We bought the Into Mischief on the first day and now we have this filly and I think we are done,” Knight said.

The yearling, bred by Robert Chasanoff's Gentry Stable, is out of stakes-winner Lemon Splendor (Lemon Drop Kid) and is a half-sister to stakes winner Mo Maverick (Uncle Mo).

“We've had a great privilege of raising horses for the Chasanoff family for a number of years,” said Mill Ridge's Price Bell. “Tom Bozarth works with the Chasanoff family and they picked this mare out a number of years ago when the market was down and they have bred her well and she's produced. It's a great reward for everyone involved.”

Bozarth's Arch Bloodstock signed for Lemon Splendor as a 4-year-old for $10,000 at the 2013 Keeneland January sale. Mo Maverick, the mare's first foal, sold for $200,000 at the 2015 Keeneland September sale. She also had yearlings sell for $375,000 in 2018 and $190,000 in 2019.

“I don't know that you can ever expect anything,” Bell said of the result. “I think what's most flattering is that there were a lot of really good judges who really liked her. That's a credit to her because she came in and she showed herself well, she took it all in and she showed a ton of class. It was a most rewarding moment for the whole team at Mill Ridge. We all wake up at all hours of the night to take care of the horses and when they come and perform like that, we are just so excited and appreciative.”

Into Mischief Filly to White Birch

A filly by Into Mischief (hip 991) attracted a host of bidders before ultimately selling for $400,000 to White Birch Farm. BSW/Crow Bloodstock's Jake Memolo signed the ticket on behalf of Peter Brant's operation.

The yearling is the first foal out of stakes-placed Hayworth (Arch) and from the family of Grade I winner Critical Eye and Takeover Target. She was bred by Richard Roberts's Brinker Hill Farm and was consigned by Francis and Barbara Vanlangendonck's Summerfield.

“Obviously, she's a very nice filly, very athletic,” said Francis Vanlangendonck. “And she's by the right sire. The mare could really run. Her race record got cut short with an injury and this is a really nice filly.”

Hayworth, bred and campaigned by Brinker Hill Farm, was third in the 2018 Purple Violet S. in her six-race career. Summerfield purchased her graded stakes-placed dam Glamorista (Unbridled's Song) for $200,000 at the 2012 Fasig-Tipton November sale.

Liam's Map Colt Makes Up for Lost Time

A mishap forced a colt by Liam's Map out of Book 1 of the Keeneland September sale last month, but the yearling was rerouted to the Fasig-Tipton October sale and attracted a bevy of admirers before selling to the $350,000 bid of bloodstock agent David Ingordo Wednesday in Lexington.

The yearling was bred by Brereton Jones and was consigned by Airdrie Stud. He is out of Listen to Libby (Indian Charlie) and is a half-brother to graded winner Chanteline (Majesticperfection).

“He's a colt who has been beautiful from the start,” said Bret Jones. “It's a family that's been good to us by a stallion who was certainly brilliant and could get you a brilliant horse. We had some bad luck with him right before the Keeneland September sale. He was entered in Book 1 and, just by a freak occurrence, got loose and hurt himself a little bit. But he lived to tell the tale and came here a healthy and happy horse and really delivered for us. We couldn't be happier. He was bought by a group that has weekend in front of them and I think they just had a special night here because they bought a real good colt.”

Of having to reroute the yearling to the October sale, Jones said, “This is a great horse sale. And we have all seen how many great horses come out of here. It would be tough to convince me otherwise that we didn't just see one there.”

Zito on the Board with War Front Colt

Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito got in on the action at the Fasig-Tipton October sale, going to $150,000 to acquire a colt by War Front (hip 817) on behalf of Robert LaPenta. LaPenta and Zito have enjoyed plenty of success over the years, with the likes of champion War Pass and Grade I winners Dialed In and Ice Box, as well as longshot GI Belmont S. winner Da'Tara.

“I like Toby Keith,” Zito said. “I've had horses for him and I am friends with him. The song of his that I like the best the last few years, he sings, 'I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was.' And all trainers, Charlie Whittingham, Allen Jerkens, they all went through slumps. Right now I don't have the horses I used to have, everyone knows that. Bob sent me a couple of horses this spring, which was nice. Unfortunately, one was claimed. And he told me to pick one out for him here.”

LaPenta at first was surprised Zito picked a yearling by traditional turf sire, War Front. But the trainer pointed out the yearling's first two dams are by Scat Daddy and Fusaichi Pegasus.

“Bob said, 'What do you want with a War Front? You're not a turf trainer,” Zito said. “But if you look at Scat Daddy, you know what he did with Justify, you look at Fusiachi Pegasus, he won the Kentucky Derby. So the War Front might be turf, but with the rest, you have a chance to run on the dirt.”

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How Can You Beat Him? Classic Trainers Mull Over Challenge Of Undefeated Flightline

Trainer John Sadler was watching the U.S. Open on television when he was struck by words printed on the wall behind the tennis players: “Pressure is a privilege.”

Heading into next Saturday's Breeders' Cup Classic with the overwhelming favorite in undefeated Flightline, the world's highest-rated horse, Sadler couldn't help but agree.

“The pressure is there, you know, because he's going to be a heavy favorite,” Sadler told media on Wednesday's Breeders' Cup teleconference. “This is the kind of pressure you want… We've got a week and a half to go, and it's one step at a time. Expectations are sky high, I understand that, but this is horse racing so we're just gonna keep even-keeled and look forward to a week from Saturday.”

Pre-entries for the 2022 World Championships were announced on Wednesday, with eight other horses potentially lining up to face the 4-year-old Flightline (Tapit).

“It's a really good field,” Sadler said. “You have the ascending 3-year-olds, Epicenter, Taiba, and the Derby winner (Rich Strike), and then those older horses that are terrific, Life Is Good and Olympiad. It's a bunch of really nice horses, and it's going to be a good race.”

Flightline's final prep for the Breeders' Cup came in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic, in which he dominated by 19 1/4 lengths.

“I think you certainly have to rate his race in the Pacific Classic as one of the greatest performances any horse has ever run,” said Sadler. “He's a very good athlete, no doubt about that. As far as what's different, he's a horse that's just an exceptional horse. He's kind of like Lebron James; he's just a one-of-a-kind kind of horse.”

Overall, Flightline has won his five starts by a combined 62 ¾ lengths. Sadler has masterfully coordinated the colt's campaign through a number of setbacks, including a quarter crack before the start of last year's Del Mar meet and bone bruising in a hock earlier this year, but the trainer believes Flightline is more than ready for the challenge that awaits him at Keeneland.

“Ever since the Pacific Classic everything has gone really well,” Sadler said. “The timing of this race is closer than his last two starts, so we've been training him up for it, and everything's going really well.”

Flightline has one final work planned for Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. at Keeneland.

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher may well have the second choice in the Classic with Life Is Good (Into Mischief), a winner of 9 of his 11 starts for earnings of over $4.3 million. The 4-year-old enters the Classic off three straight wins, including the G1 Whitney and G1 Woodward.

“(Life Is Good) is a very, very gifted horse,” Pletcher said. “It's remarkable to us how consistent he has been. He trains well every day, shows good energy and enthusiasm every morning, and all of his breezes have been outstanding.”

Pletcher said he watched Flightline's performance in the Pacific Classic on television from Saratoga, and was certainly impressed by the undefeated colt.

“He's a tremendous horse,” Pletcher summarized. “He has the ability to cruise and accelerate, and he showed that mile and a quarter is not a problem.”

As to how Life Is Good can defeat Flightline, Pletcher remained close-lipped.

“Luckily he's been very good from the gate, and he's got so much natural speed, we don't want to take anything away from him,” the trainer said. “We'll kind of play it by ear for now, look at how the track is playing and how the conditions come up… It will be an interesting jockeys' race, for sure.”

Pletcher will have another entrant in the Classic as well in 5-year-old Grade 1 winner Happy Saver (Super Saver).

“He's a super competitive horse, and he always gives us a good effort,” said Pletcher. “Obviously, the thing in his benefit would be a good pace up from where they kind of softened each other up and set things up for him.”

Life Is Good's former trainer, Bob Baffert, believes the Classic may be a much tighter race than many people seem to believe.

“There's two super horses,” Baffert told the Daily Racing Form. “Life Is Good, they quit talking about him. He's a top-caliber horse, I had him and I know. Believe me, there's not a lot separating those two top horses and that's why it's going to be a great Classic.”

Baffert will send out his own entrant in the Classic, as well, with Pennsylvania Derby winner Taiba (Gun Runner).

“He needs to raise it up a notch,” Baffert admitted. “You don't know what's going to happen with those other two horses. I watched Flightline breeze here, I don't see a chink in the armor. He looked fabulous.”

Doug O'Neill, trainer of Classic hopeful Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), agreed.

“If Flightline shows up like the Flightline we've seen so far, everyone's running for second,” O'Neill told DRF.

The 4-year-old Hot Rod Charlie has proven he loves a fight, especially after the ding-dong battle with fellow Classic pre-entrant and Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike last out in the G2 Lukas Classic. O'Neill argued that with a lifetime record of 5-5-4 from 18 starts, Hot Rod Charlie shouldn't be thrown out of the mix.

“He's a funny horse, he wants to fight,” O'Neill continued. “If everything gets kind of easy the wire sometimes comes up before the fight begins. With Flightline and Life Is Good, I'm not sure you want to go right at them. Still, it doesn't mean you can't get involved in some sort of fight at some point.”

Epicenter's trainer, Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, is also ready to put his 3-year-old son of Not This Time up against the undefeated Flightline. Epicenter will enter the Classic starting gate off two wins in a row, the G2 Jim Dandy and the G1 Travers.

“I'm all for it,” he told DRF. “We'll be ready to run as fast as we can run.”

The presence of Flightline also influenced the decision of Rich Strike's trainer, Eric Reed.

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“The decision would be easier if the Breeders' Cup was at Churchill Downs and there wasn't a Flightline,” the trainer told Churchill Downs' media team last week. “And it is not only Flightline, but there is Life Is Good and Olympiad and Epicenter.”

Epicenter was the horse Rich Strike (Keen Ice) ran down in the final sixteenth of a mile in the Kentucky Derby and a horse he likely would have to beat again to possibly claim the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old male.

“I know Rich Strike is a better horse than he was at the Derby, and (Epicenter) is, too,” Reed said. “And I would have to beat him again and not just by a nose (to earn the championship).”

Hall of Famer Bill Mott, who will saddle Olympiad (Speightstown) in the Classic, has similar feelings about Flightline.

“I have the greatest respect for him,” Mott said during Wednesday's teleconference. “I know he's very talented, I don't think anybody is really going to question that… I think he won the Pacific Classic in an absolute gallop, like he did it easily, though it didn't seem like some of the horses in behind him ran their best races, because there were some useful horses in behind him.

“I'm just anxious to see the race, he's gonna have to face the best group of horses he's faced so far. That's what it's all about.”

Olympiad will come into the Classic off a win in the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, a rebound from his penultimate start when fourth in the G1 Whitney behind Life Is Good, Happy Saver, and Hot Rod Charlie, respectively.

“He was just a little dull that day, for no real reason other than maybe the heat,” Mott suggested.

Above all, Mott said, he's looking forward to watching the Classic as a fan.

“(Flightline) will have to be good on the day, because I think this is a very competitive Classic,” said Mott. “It's a great spectator's race. Being a racing fan, and somebody who likes to watch really good horses, I'm excited. I'm like everybody else, though I'm lucky enough to have a horse in there, but I'm anxious to see what happens.”

Asked about where Flightline stands in regard to the all-time greats of the sport, Mott wasn't quite ready to name the rising star among them.

“Whether it be human or equine, I think the true test of the champion is the test of time,” Mott said. “When you look at the great horses of our past, like Spectacular Bid, Forego, Kelso, those horses raced several seasons. There's always been in-between horses that are extremely talented but didn't go on and have a career. It's nice when you see a potentially great horse race for more than one season, because the fans start to become familiar with them. That's what our sport needs, it needs a Spectacular Bid, a Cigar, a Secretariat; it brings people out to the races.”

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Fair Grounds Lowers Pick 5 Takeout to 15%, Adds New Pick 6

With the approval of the Louisiana State Racing Commission, Fair Grounds is lowering the takeout on its Pick 5 from 25% to 15% and adding a new Pick 6 at the same 15% rate with a $1 minimum.

“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 Churchill Downs Incorporated, which owns Fair Grounds. “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 5 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 $1 Pick 6 will be “non-jackpot” and 75% of the after-takeout pool will be paid to all tickets with six winners. The other 25% will be paid to all those with five of six winners as a consolation. If no one has six winners, 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 Friday, Nov. 18 and runs through Sunday, Mar. 26.

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HISA Has Released A $72 Million 2023 Budget; What Happens Now?

In the week and a half since the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority released its 2023 cost assessments to racing states, we've heard a lot about sticker shock from officials and horsemen – and a great deal of confusion.

You can read the Authority's press release about the 2023 budget here.  

The overall budget for Authority operations in 2023 is projected to be just over $72 million. That includes both the cost of the track safety program that was launched this year, in addition to the anti-doping and medication control portion, which is slated to start Jan. 1, 2023. Per the federal act signed into law by former President Donald Trump, the medication portion is to be administered via a separate but related agency called the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU).

When HIWU takes over, the Authority will set medication rules and HIWU and the Authority will be responsible for collecting post-race and out-of-competition samples, having those samples tested, reporting positive results, issuing sanctions, and arbitrating cases on drug rule violations. Previously, these responsibilities have been paid for by the state in most cases, with the racetracks or horsemen's groups sometimes kicking in for the expense of a laboratory contract.

What startled many regulators last week was a document that showed an estimated per-start cost of the program, broken down by racetrack. The per-start costs varied widely and ranged from $85.54 (Los Alamitos' Thoroughbred meet) to as high as $1,057.22 (Kentucky Downs). Those costs aren't yet a certainty for some or all of those race meets, however.

Here's why.

The projected bills dispersed last week went to state racing commissions, in much the same way as they did this summer ahead of the implementation of the racetrack safety program on July 1. There are a few different ways these bills may be paid. The simplest way is for a state commission to decide they will pay the entire cost themselves. Only a handful of states did this with the track safety portion and it's not yet known if the same states will shoulder their full cost of this larger bill.

Another option is that a state may decide it won't be responsible for paying the fees, in which case the expense defaults to the racetracks. That is where the per-start fee schedule would kick in – if tracks become responsible for collecting the money. The per-start fees in the table above are based upon a similar formula as the Authority used to decide how much of the budget each state is responsible for paying. This is determined by the number of starts at a state's racetracks, weighted in combination with the purses it pays out. It's designed to make states that have frequent, more lucrative races (like Kentucky or California) pay more than states with infrequent racing (like Colorado), or year-round circuits that don't generate much purse money (like West Virginia).

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(It's important to note that formula may change; it's one of the aspects of the federal law that states are challenging in federal court. A judge in one of the civil cases already agreed with the plaintiffs that the formula shouldn't be weighted by purses and should be based on start volume only. Since that litigation isn't yet finalized, the Authority made its budget based on the weighted formula, but if it is forced to adjust, it will be states like West Virginia and Louisiana – two of the states suing the Authority – that will have to pay more.)

There's also a third option. The Authority has offered each state the opportunity for a series of credits if the state allows its existing human resources to be used by the Authority. For example, commission-employed veterinarians or sample collection personnel who are currently collecting drug and urine for the state could next year remain employed by the state, doing their same jobs, but work under the direction of HIWU and send those samples off to HIWU's contracted lab. The Authority is willing to offer the state a credit for the costs it would take for HIWU to hire these people, because now it won't face that burden or expense. That credit can go against the bill handed to the state. In many cases, HIWU would incur a higher cost when hiring someone new as a private agency than what a state likely pays an existing employee.

“States can get credits for collectors for both post-race and out of competition testing, for investigators, for stewards performing investigations, for laboratory testing either as a credit if the state continues to pay or as budget relief if HISA pays directly,” said Lisa Lazarus, CEO of the Authority. “They also will have significant budget relief on enforcement and legal costs since they will not be responsible for prosecuting anti-doping & medication control violations or defending any lawsuits related to anti-doping or medication control events.”

A state could decide it wants to pass the bill onto the racetracks but also that it's going to provide assistance to the Authority that will get credits applied to the bill first, so the amount owed by the tracks is smaller. That would mean those per-start fees could be lower – maybe a lot lower.

Lazarus told the Paulick Report it remains to be seen how states are going to handle these three choices. In some cases, the states fighting HISA in court may not be interested in cooperating at all (and could face sanctions if they don't). In other cases, states have raised questions about whether they legally can retain employees who will be answering to another agency.

It's also not easy to tell states how big or small the difference is between the Authority's bill and the costs they're already paying for the same services.

“The difficulty is multi-faceted,” said Lazarus. “In many states, costs are commingled with other breeds and across other government services both in and outside of horseracing. In some states, there is a reluctance to share the information because of past underinvestment in safety and integrity.”

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Big picture though, Lazarus believes the anti-doping and medication control portion doesn't represent a hugely different national figure than what's being spent now on drug testing.

“If all the states cooperate with HISA and are able to direct existing anti-doping and medication control funding to HISA, the incremental cost is between $20-25 million,” she said. “This difference between what is being spent now and what is budgeted reflects a history of underinvestment in safety and integrity and the reality of what is necessary to have national, harmonized and robust Anti-Doping & Medication Control and Racetrack Safety Programs across the U.S.

“What we do know is that in two surveys conducted in 2014 and again in 2019 by independent consulting firms, it was estimated that Thoroughbred lab costs are somewhere between $13.2 and $13.8 million. This was several years ago and HISA's budget for lab costs in 2023 is $18.7 million, which is approximately a $5 million difference and represents the necessary upgrades to deliver the ADMC Program required by the Act as well as inflation costs.”

So, what's next?

Most states will have to come up with a response to the Authority in the next month or so about how it intends to pay its bill. As the start of 2023 is fast-approaching, none of them have a terribly long time to make up their minds. If you're an owner or trainer wondering what your state or racetrack plans to do with their bill, you may consider looking up the date of your next racing commission meeting and being in attendance.

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