January, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Weekly Stewards and Commission Rulings, Jan. 10-16

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky.
Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where.
With the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) having gone into effect on July 1, the TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant HISA-related rulings from the same week.

California

Track: Santa Anita
Date: 01/13/2023
Licensee: Tim Yakteen, trainer
Penalty: $1,000 fine
Violation: Late notification of gelding operation
Explainer: Trainer Haitham “Tim” Yakteen, who entered the horse Code Runner, in the eighth race on November 6th, 2022, at Santa Anita Park is fined $1,000.00 for violation of California Horse Racing Board Rule #1865(e)(2) (Altering Sex of Horse – true sex not reported) necessitating a late declaration.

NEW HISA STEWARDS RULINGS
The following rulings were reported on HISA's “rulings” portal, except for the voided claim rulings which were sent to the TDN directly. Some of these rulings are from prior weeks as they were not reported contemporaneously.
One important note: HISA's whip use limit is restricted to six strikes during a race.

Violations of Crop Rule
Aqueduct
Jackie Davis – violation date January 5; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes
Andy Hernandez – violation date January 13; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes

Golden Gate Fields
Silvio Amador – violation date January 6; $250 fine and one-day suspension, “Use of Riding Crop – Three Strikes in a row”
Silvio Amador – violation date January 6; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes

Oaklawn Park
Angel Rodriguez – violation date January 13; $250 fine and one-day suspension, “Raising his wrist above his helmet when using the crop”
Isaac Castillo – violation date January 14; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes

Santa Anita
Ramon Vazquez – violation date January 8; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes
Umberto Rispoli – violation date January 8; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes
Edwin Maldonado – violation date January 13; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes

Tampa Bay Downs
Robert Reeves Jr. – violation date January 13; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 9 strikes

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American Graded Stakes Standings Presented By Virginia Thoroughbred Association: Tapit Tops Broodmare Sires In 2022

Being a successful broodmare sire isn't necessarily a young man's game, or even a game for active stallions, but the graded stakes results of 2022 revealed that many of the industry's top broodmare sires are just starting to build their resumes.

Of the 14 stallions with five or more individual North American graded stakes winners as broodmare sires in 2022, four will still be active for the upcoming breeding season, and four more have left the ranks since 2020, meaning their final fillies haven't even hit the racetrack yet, much less entered broodmare bands.

In fact, the leading broodmare sire of graded stakes winners in 2022 was Tapit, who will stand the upcoming breeding season at Gainesway for an advertised fee of $185,000.

A three-time leading general sire in North America, Tapit was represented last year by 11 graded stakes winners as broodmare sire, led by Cody's Wish, the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner and an Eclipse Award finalist for champion male sprinter.

A son of Curlin out of the Grade 1 winner Dance Card, Cody's Wish gave broodmare sire Tapit three of his graded stakes wins in 2022, also including the Grade 1 Forego Stakes and the G3 Westchester Stakes.

Cody's Wish raced as a homebred for Godolphin, which was Tapit's most prolific supporter as a broodmare sire in the graded stakes ranks. The operation of Sheikh Mohammed Al-Maktoum also sent out G3 Gazelle Stakes winner Nostalgic, a daughter of Medaglia d'Oro out of the stakes-placed Been Here Before.

Tapit's accolades as a broodmare sire in 2022 also included Society, a two-time graded stakes winner, highlighted by a victory in the G1 Cotillion Stakes. A homebred for Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, Society is a daughter of Gun Runner, out of the winning Blum homebred Etiquette.

While Tapit was the leading broodmare sire by individual winners, another active sire topped the list by total graded stakes wins in 2022.

Darley's Medaglia d'Oro tallied 16 total wins as a broodmare sire, and tied with late sires Indian Charlie and Smart Strike for second by individual winners with 10.

The greatest contributor to Medaglia d'Oro's total was Olympiad, who racked up five graded scores last year, including the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup. Bred by Emory Hamilton, the son of Speightstown is out of the Grade 3-placed Flying Passage. Olympiad also added Grade 2 wins in the New Orleans Classic, Alysheba Stakes, and Stephen Foster Stakes in 2022, along with a Grade 3 score in the Mineshaft Handicap.

Santin contributed a pair of Grade 1 scores to the equation, taking the Turf Classic Stakes and Arlington Million, both at Churchill Downs. By Distorted Humor, Santin is out of the multiple Grade 2 winner Sentiero Italia.

Once again, Godolphin factored heavily into Medaglia d'Oro's success as a broodmare sire in 2022. Aside from standing the stallion, Godolphin also campaigned Santin as a homebred and co-bred the two-time Grade 3 winner Scalding in partnership with Cobalt Investments.

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Both Tapit and Medaglia d'Oro entered stud in 2005, and quickly established themselves as commercial forces to be reckoned with when their first runners hit the track. Once they earned the trust of breeders, their books became filled with the highest class of mares, in terms of both on-track performance and pedigree, and their sustained success has ensured that those top-quality mares remained plentiful over the course of their stud careers.

Few things are guaranteed when it comes to passing successful genes through the generations, but sustained quality of mares provides a stallion the best opportunity to establish himself quickly as a broodmare sire when his first daughters retire to the breeding shed.

Tapit and Medaglia d'Oro were joined among the top broodmare sires of graded stakes winners and wins by fellow active stallions Candy Ride (seven winners, 11 wins) and Hard Spun (five winners, five wins).

Top broodmare sires of 2022 who exited stud duty due to death or pensioning since 2020 include Bernardini (died in 2021), Tiznow (pensioned in 2020), Distorted Humor (pensioned in 2021), and Malibu Moon (died in 2021).

With so many stallions still building their foundations of present and future producers, the top of the broodmare sire list could look quite similar for years to come.

Leading Broodmare Sires of 2022 by North American Graded Stakes Winners

Tapit's Graded Stakes Wins of 2022 as a Broodmare Sire

The post American Graded Stakes Standings Presented By Virginia Thoroughbred Association: Tapit Tops Broodmare Sires In 2022 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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‘In General Horsemen Have Come To Embrace This’: Safety Changes At Santa Anita Led To No Main Track Fatalities In 2022

The crisis of 2019 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., saw 30 horses die during the meet that began on Dec. 26, 2018, and ran through June 23, 2019 (including a three-week shutdown). Management took a hard look at the track's safety practices, ultimately deciding to implement significant changes including additional veterinary scrutiny, new training protocols, and better track maintenance monitoring.

Those changes have made a difference: the Thoroughbred Daily News reports that not one horse died during a dirt race in 2022 at Santa Anita.

“We had an opportunity in 2019, albeit after an awful situation, to really reset the clock and look at every aspect of how we operate at Santa Anita,” Aidan Butler, chief executive officer at The Stronach Group 1/ST Racing and Gaming, told TDN. “Everybody understood that something had to change. Something had to give. Horsemen, owners, trainers, everyone, understood that business as unusual will not fly anymore. The emphasis on safety had to be the core of the sport because without it the sport could be in jeopardy.”

The numbers were not perfect: 12 deaths were reported during turf racing, main track training, and training track training. Sudden deaths are also included in that total.

Trainer Eoin Harty, president of the California Thoroughbred Trainers, believes the biggest difference has been made by the pre-work and pre-race inspections required to be performed by both veterinarian and trainer. In 2022, 5,381 veterinary exams were conducted on 4,673 unique horses.

Of course, not all trainers were immediately pleased with the new requirements, but Harty said that sentiment has changed.

“Initially, there was some push back,” he told TDN. “But trainers in California realized at the time that we were in a dire situation and unless everybody got on board and started pulling with the same oar potentially we were going to be out of business. There is always resentment when there is a change like that but in general horsemen have come to embrace this. People can adapt very quickly when they have to.”

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

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Taylor Made Stallions’ Tacitus Represented by First Foals

Taylor Made Stallions' MGSW Tacitus (Tapit) out of MGISW Close Hatches, sired his first reported foals in New York on Monday, Jan. 16. The arrivals were a colt born at Waldorf Farm out of the Bustin Stones mare Super Stone who was bred by Jerry Bilinski, DVM, and a filly produced from SW Courageous Cat mare Lady Joan who was bred by Irish Hill Century Farm and foaled there.

“She is what I was expecting a Tacitus foal would look like,” said Rick Burke of Irish Hill Century Farm. “She has plenty of leg and good bone. She looks a lot like him.”

A Juddmonte Farms homebred trained by Bill Mott, Tacitus won the 2019 GII Tampa Bay Derby and the GII Wood Memorial. He was third in the Kentucky Derby that year, and finished second in both the GI Belmont S. and the GI Travers S. Tacitus, who stands the 2023 season for $10,000 S&N, bred 188 mares in his initial book.

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