November, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘He Gives Inspiration To Us All’: Cody Dorman Honored With 2022 Big Sport Of Turfdom Award

The Turf Publicists of America (TPA) announced Monday that the 2022 Big Sport of Turfdom award, which recognizes a person or group of people who enhances coverage of Thoroughbred racing through cooperation with media and racing publicists, will be presented to Cody Dorman.

When Cody's Wish crossed the wire first in the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, the horse's biggest fan, Cody Dorman, was there to celebrate the victory that put an exclamation point on the most heartwarming story in racing.

Dorman, who was born with the rare genetic disorder Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, is unable to walk or communicate without utilizing a tablet but he speaks volumes about what it means to never give up. The continuing story of the now 16-year-old who first met an unnamed foal by champion Curlin when Godolphin hosted Cody and his family during Keeneland's Make-A-Wish Day in 2018 is what fairy tales are made of.

From their first meeting, the colt always showed an uncanny interest in Cody and those visits gave Cody the strength to continue through some incredibly tough times. In return, Cody brings something special to that foal who has grown into a racehorse – Cody's Wish has never lost a race with Cody in attendance.

“Cody has brought to the forefront what it means to be strong and brave in his personal life as well as highlighting the extraordinary interaction that occurs between horses and humans,” said Wendy Davis, TPA president. “He gives inspiration to us all.”

The Big Sport of Turfdom award will be presented at the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program's annual awards luncheon on Dec. 6. The luncheon is part of the 2022 Global Symposium on Racing at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Ariz. The luncheon is included in registration fees for the symposium.

The Big Sport of Turfdom has been presented annually since 1966. Previous winners include jockeys Mike Smith, Pat Day, Chris McCarron, Bill Shoemaker, Angel Cordero Jr., Eddie Arcaro and Gary Stevens; trainers Art Sherman, D. Wayne Lukas, Brad Cox, Tom Amoss and Jack Van Berg; and other individuals who have made significant contributions to the sport, such as Secretariat's owner, Penny Chenery, a two-time winner; announcer Tom Durkin, author Laura Hillenbrand, broadcaster Jim McKay, Turf writer Joe Hirsch and actors Tim Conway and Jack Klugman.

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After McCarthy Spill, Migliore Blames the NY Stewards

When Trevor McCarthy went down in a spill Friday at Aqueduct and broke his collar bone and his pelvis, retired rider Richard Migliore said he was upset but not surprised. Migliore, whose son Joe Migliore is McCarthy's jockey agent, said he had been growing increasingly concerned as New York riders continued to be more and more aggressive while the stewards seem to look the other way. Something like this, he figured, was bound to happen, he said.

“People run into each other now with impunity,” said Migliore, an analyst on NYRA's America's Day at the Races show. “You can watch the races on a daily basis and there are guys who change paths without clearance, and it goes beyond herding. It's like they have a disregard for the horses and riders around them. It's very difficult for me to watch, especially when someone goes down and gets hurt. It's irresponsible on the part of the rider but they are not being held accountable. When that happens, it's human nature. The more you can get away with the rougher it's going to get. The stewards need to really crack down and lay down the law. No more nonsense.”

McCarthy was riding Ever Summer (Summer Front) in the mile-and-three-eighths turf allowance. Nearing the top of the stretch, Jalon Samuel, aboard Rhombique (Ghostzapper), came out, starting a chain reaction in which Ever Summer wound up clipping heels with another horse.

While not letting Samuel off the hook, Migliore said the jockey was no doubt following the lead of some of New York's top riders.

“The reason that accident happened is because riders have been allowed to get away with more and more of that kind of thing,” Migliore said. “Jalon Samuel doesn't get to ride a lot. But if he watches the leading riders do that and get away with it and sometimes even get lauded for it, with people saying how aggressive they are, why wouldn't he do the same thing? You have to start with the top guys. Guys needs to be sat down. Jalon Samuel is fully responsible for what he did it. But I don't want to pile on him. He sees it happen every day.”

To many New York racing observers, Irad Ortiz Jr. is the primary culprit when it comes to overly aggressive tactics and the stewards have handled him with kid gloves. Migliore said that when it comes to Ortiz the stewards have done nothing to discourage that sort of riding.

“He is very aggressive but I don't blame Irad because he's been allowed to get away with it,” Migliore said. “I have pointed it out when I feel like he's gone over a line. I am a fan. The guy brings to the table an intensify and a desire, whether it's a $5,000 claimer or Grade I and you have to applaud that. But if he's not told this is unacceptable there's no motivation to stop it. He's been wildly successful doing it. People say Cordero was the same way. If Angel did back then what Irad does now, he would have spent more time suspended than riding.”

Rhombique crossed the wire second but was disqualified and placed ninth. Samuel received a seven-day suspension. That, too, sent the wrong message, Migliore said.

“Jalon Samuel got seven days for that?” Migliore said. “Seven days for causing an accident like that, that could have easily taken down three or four other horses and caused Trevor McCarthy to be out months with a broken pelvis and a broken collar bone. Come on. That makes it even more of a joke. It's beyond my comprehension that that is the punishment. If you cause an accident you should be suspended for as long as the rider who was injured is out with his injuries. Are we going to wait until someone gets killed? The other day you could have had that scenario. Then a jockey gets busted up and a guy gets a week off. Am I crazy or is that absurd?”

Migliore rode from 1980 through 2010 and rode in 30,102 races, winning 4,450 of them. It was an era, he said, where the stewards wouldn't put up with careless riding.

“You'd go into the stewards' office and your knees would be knocking,” he said. “It was 'yes sir, no sir.' They laid down the law and you knew what was expected of you. If you are riding on a top circuit and if you can't work within the guidelines the stewards laid down then you don't belong there.”

He said the current crop of NYRA stewards needs to do the same thing, give the riders a clear understanding of what is acceptable and what is not. And they need to be tougher.

“We need stronger stewardship,” Migliore said. “Riders need guidelines that are consistent. This is what you are allowed to do and what you're not allowed to do. It shouldn't matter who it is, what day of the week it is or what kind of race it is. It has to start with the governing body. You have to be strict. Right now, they're not.”

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Sea The Stars Filly In Front as Yearling Season Concludes

NEWMARKET, UK–That's a wrap for the yearlings of 2022, with the late-season curtain-up for a fortnight of sales of all ages at Park Paddocks netting 4,501,500gns from the exchange of 130 fledgling racehorses.

Figures dipped a little from last year's slightly larger catalogue, but there was still plenty of money about for the 'right' horse, with a number of those towards the top of the list having missed an earlier engagement at Tattersalls for a variety of minor reasons. The average of 34,627gns was pretty much on a par with 2021 figures, but the median fell by 19% to 22000gns. The clearance rate dropped two points to 86%.

Combined tallies for the yearling sales of October and December weighed in at 204 million gns, a significant increase on the previous record for those fixtures of 167 million gns in 2018, and that doesn't take into account the latest addition to the Tattersalls yearling calendar, the Somerville Yearling Sale, which this year turned over 7.7 million gns.

Alex Elliott talked of paying a “Book 1 price for a Book 1 filly” and that was certainly the case for the day's leading light [lot 80], a filly by the Sea The Stars (Ire), who was bred by the Rogers family at Airlie Stud and consigned on their behalf by Whatton Manor Stud.

Elliott has been busy recruiting yearlings for Valmont this season, and this latest purchase took the juvenile team for 2023 to a total of 33. Ralph Beckett, who has sent out 11 runners for Valmont during 2022, will take charge of the full-sister to Fifty Stars (Ire), who was eventually secured with a bid of 260,000gns.

“She fitted the profile: she was a Book 1 filly but she missed out [on that sale] as she had a slight injury prior to Book 1, so she was a Book 1 filly in December and we had to pay a Book 1 price for her,” said Elliott, who noted that Valmont now has 60 horses in training.

“We had a good Sea The Stars filly this year called Trust The Stars, who won a Newmarket maiden, and she is hopefully going to be an Oaks filly, and that is the type of middle-distance, three-year-old profile we are looking for.”

He continued, “She was a foal share but she was bred by Airlie Stud and they are such good breeders and I love buying from them; they are so organic and they get such great results. The mare is in foal to Sea The Stars, she has a Sea The Stars foal, and she is going back to him so there's a lot to happen for us. Hopefully she is one that we can race and breed from in time.”

The filly, bred on the same cross as Oaks winner Taghrooda (GB), is a daughter of the Sadler's Wells mare Swizzle Stick (Ire). The unraced mare's most prolific offspring is the aforementioned Fifty Stars, whose major victories in Australia include the G1 Australian Cup, two running of the G2 Blarney S., and the G2 Ajax S.

Sea The Stars was also on the shopping list of Peter and Ross Doyle, who signed for lot 69, from Gestut Fahrhof, at 145,000gns. The colt out of the French listed winner Sequilla (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) could well be seen back in the same ring next spring as he was bought on behalf of breeze-up consignor William Browne of Mocklershill.

Emphasising the range of horses on offer at the breeze-up sales these days, this year's St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) was a graduate of the Arqana Breeze-up Sale, and either that auction or the Craven were mooted as possible destinations for another Dubawi colt who was bought for 180,000gns by Yeomanstown Stud.

Lot 154, who was offered by his breeder Shadwell, is out of the Listed City of York S. winner Fadhayyil (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}), whose first foal Turaath (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) has won two stakes races in Australia, including the G2 Let's Elope S.

“Obviously he's by a top stallion and out of a very good mare,” said Yeomanstown's David O'Callaghan. “We don't get too many opportunities to buy this type so we said if he didn't make a silly price we'd step in. Thankfully he fell just within our range.”

Breezing is also on the horizon for the Frankel (GB) half-brother to the Group 3 winners Peace Envoy (Fr) (Power {GB}) and Our Last Summer (Ire) (Zamindar), who was picked up by Tally-Ho Stud for 130,000gns from the Glenvale Stud draft.

Yulong Investments has been a staunch supporter of the European bloodstock scene in recent years and its principal Zhang Yuesheng was a significant participant at last week's Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale when spending more than €5 million on mares to support the operation's young stallion Lucky Vega (Ire). Along with bloodstock agent Michael Donohoe, the the Yulong team was active again at the December Yearling Sale, snaring one of the earliest lots into the ring [6] for 155,000gns.

Offered by the Castlebridge Consignment for breeder Michael Enright, the dark brown colt is the first foal of the unraced Lady Corsica (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a sister to GI Belmont Derby winner Deauville (Ire). The six-year-old mare was sold in the same ring two years ago for 310,000gns when carrying the colt.

Donohoe, who confirmed that the colt will go into training with Karl Burke, said, “I had previously bought the dam for client Michael Enright so I know all about her. I had seen [the colt] as a foal and a yearling, he was entered in Book 1 but was going through a growing stage then and was withdrawn.”

The Australian appetite for European bloodstock shows no sign of abating and Annabel Neasham, a regular buyer at the Horses-in-Training Sale, expanded her remit to add a December yearling to her export list from Newmarket. Agent Stuart Boman of Blandford Bloodstock conducted the bidding on behalf of the trainer and Nathan Bennett of Bennett Racing for lot 24, a Ten Sovereigns half-sister to Sibaaq (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}), who races for the same team in Australia and was picked up at Tattersalls last autumn. A four-time winner in the UK for Mark Johnston, the four-year-old is yet to win in Australia but has finished placed on four occasions.

“This is a bit of longer-term project,” said Boman after bidding 120,000gns for the Barton Stud-bred filly who is also a half-sister to Group 3 winner The Happy Prince (Ire) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}). “Sibaaq has already won over half a million in prize-money. He has worked out very well and this filly has huge residual value.”

He added, “She was in the October Book 2 Yearling Sale, but did not make it due to a minor issue. It makes sense and we think Sibaaq is up to Group class in Australia.”

Mark McStay of Avenue Bloodstock stepped in to buy the Lope De Vega (Ire) half-brother to G3 Prix Paul de Moussac winner Azano (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) for 150,000gns for an undisclosed client. The colt [lot 113] hails from an Aga Khan family which includes Azamour (Ire) and The Autumn Sun (Aus) and was bred by Elysian Bloodstock.

A sole purchase on the day for the Hong Kong Jockey Club came for lot 112, a colt by Invincible Spirit (Ire) out of the Frankel (GB) mare Aspirer (GB), a Juddmonte-bred daughter of Prix de Diane winner Nebraska Tornado (Storm Cat) from this family of Irish Derby winner Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Consigned by Norris Bloodstock for breeder Eric Chen, he brought the hammer down at 100,000gns.

Leading the day's pinhooks was lot 84, a colt by Harry Angel (Ire) bought for 26,000gns last year by David Hegarty of Hegarty Bloodstock and resold for 92,000gns to Richard Frisby. His dam Thankful (GB) (Diesis {GB}) has a clean sheet thus far from her six offspring to take to the track who are all winners, headed by the listed-placed Morning Post (GB) (Acclamation {GB}).

Action returns to sale ring at Park Paddocks at 10am on Wednesday with the start of the four-day Tattersalls December Foal Sale.

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McCarthy Out Up To 10 Weeks With Pelvis, Collarbone Fractures; Samuel Suspended Seven Days For Careless Riding

Jockey Trevor McCarthy could miss as much as 10 weeks with fractures to both his pelvis and collarbone after an incident on Friday at Aqueduct Racetrack, reports the Daily Racing Form. McCarthy was riding Ever Summer in Friday's sixth race when the filly clipped heels with a rival. He was transported off the track on a backboard and transported to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center for evaluation.

Neither of McCarthy's fractures will require surgical repair.

According to the Equibase chart, a stewards' inquiry was held into the sixth race, resulting in the disqualification of runner-up Rhombique from second to ninth for interference with several rivals. Rhombique, ridden by Jalon Samuel, angled out near the quarter pole and bumped a rival while moving from the two-path to the four-path.

That move forced Ever Summer and McCarthy to the seven-path, where they clipped heels with eventual seventh-place finisher Unruly July. Ever Summer fell to the ground, but returned to her feet after clipping heels and walked off the track under her own power.

New York stewards have issued a seven-day careless riding suspension to Samuel for his role in the incident; Samuel told DRF he does not plan to appeal.

Read more at the Daily Racing Form here and here.

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