January, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Hampton, 20, Balances Studies With New Role As Jockey Agent

Kyle Hampton, a 20-year-old Louisville native and full-time college student, is currently mastering the act of balancing homework and a new career as a jockey agent for British newcomer Tyler Heard. The two celebrated Heard's first stateside win the night of Jan. 12 in the sixth race at Charles Town in West Virginia aboard Baytown Frosty in only Heard's second mount since making the move to the United States. Heard finished second with his first ride at Turfway Park in northern Kentucky on Jan. 6.

A longtime horse racing fan, Hampton is currently a junior at the University of Louisville pursuing two Bachelor's degrees in Accounting and Equine Business. He takes all of his classes online to be able to better balance school with his career. Since starting college he has held positions as a hot walker, an intern with Fox Sports, and as a college ambassador for Keeneland.

“When I was growing up I rode horses on my cousin's farm and I would always be reading the Racing Form in class,” Hampton said. “I've always had a huge passion for the industry. When I was a kid we would always go on field trips to Churchill Downs. During my senior year of high school I decided it was now or never to start trying to pursue a career in the industry. While I was at the University of Louisville my first job was as a hot walker. Then I got in contact with Fox Sports and America's Day at the Races and took an internship with them.”

It was during Hampton's internship with Fox Sports and America's Day at the Races that he was introduced to the jockey agent career path through on air analyst Frank Lyons. Lyons is also currently an agent for two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey Julien Leparoux. Once Lyons sparked his interest in becoming a jockey agent, Hampton got in contact with agent Jose Santos Jr., who represents nine jockeys at different tracks including Adam Beschizza and Reylu Gutierrez, and began helping Santos in the mornings while still working for Fox Sports in the afternoons.

While his career endeavors have been met by support from Hampton's mentors and fellow agents, he still faces some challenges as one of the youngest agents on the Kentucky circuit. Hampton remains optimistic, though, and even views his age as an advantage in some cases.

“Knowing every single trainer (has been a challenge) because I haven't been around the race track as long as some of these other agents. I don't see it as a huge barrier though because I'm a pretty friendly person and I get along with people well. I think (being younger than most of the agents) gives me an opportunity to try new techniques and tactics to be able to do the best I can for Tyler and me.”

Hampton and Heard got connected through mutual friend Jake McEntee who works as an assistant to Kenny McPeek. McEntee knew that Heard was wanting to pursue his goal of riding in the U.S. and Hampton was looking for someone to represent so the introduction was made.

“The main reason I chose Kyle was because he's younger,” Heard said. “I knew he wanted to make a career for himself so it was just as important to him for me to do well as it was to myself. Kyle is just as hungry as I am so I knew he would put the work in and be enthusiastic, so that was the driving factor.”

Heard, also 20 years old, began riding in pony races at the age of nine. He moved to Lambourn, England, at age 16 to work for well respected Irish jockey turned trainer Richard Hughes and rode his first race in 2019 at age 17. Since then, Heard has had 796 starts and 57 wins including his two starts in the U.S.

Heard has joined the Turfway jockey colony for the winter meet and plans to ride at Keeneland in the spring. For now he is breezing horses in the mornings and meeting with trainers to secure future mounts.

“Through the Turfway meet, you want to be riding every (day of racing), and just get as many winners as you can,” Heard said of his goals for the near future.

The post Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Hampton, 20, Balances Studies With New Role As Jockey Agent appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Game Plan Pending For Cox’s Impressive Oaklawn Winner Verifying, Trainer Reveals Possible Next Starts For Half Dozen Other 3YOs

Stalk, pounce, and draw away. Verifying made it look easy Saturday at Oaklawn, rolling to a 5 ¼-length entry-level allowance victory in his 3-year-old debut for trainer Brad Cox.

Verifying, a Justify half brother to champion Midnight Bisou, was making his first start since finishing sixth in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at 1 1/16 miles Nov. 4 at Keeneland. Verifying ($4.80) received a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 97, a career high, after running the fastest mile of the meeting in prepping for a Kentucky Derby (G1) points race.

“It went better than planned,” Cox said in a phone call Saturday night. “We've always liked this colt. Mentally, I don't know if he's always been as polished as some of the other ones, but he's really starting to, I think, figure it out. I thought it was a huge run off the freshening since the Breeders' Cup.”

In Saturday's fourth race, which had a $104,000 purse, Verifying tracked front-running Gun Pilot for three-quarters of a mile before taking command on the outside turning for home. Verifying, the 7-5 favorite, accelerated away from his challengers in the final 100 yards and reached the finish line – one-mile races at Oaklawn begin and end at the sixteenths pole in the stretch – in 1:37.23 under Martin Garcia. The track was fast. Grade 2 winner Ginobili clocked 1:37.35 in winning the Fifth Season Stakes for older horses about 2 ½ hours later on the card.

“That's a really good horse,” Garcia said after riding Verifying for the first time. “Sometimes you break and have intentions to go and then later you take back. It's hard. In this case, I had intentions to go and the other horse goes, then I sat outside, and moved around him. I asked him one time and he just took off. He just kept going. I knew he had some time off since the Breeders' Cup. I think he's a really good horse mentally and, of course, he has a lot of ability. That's a really, really good horse.”

Jorgito Abrego, who oversees Cox's Oaklawn division, said Sunday morning that Verifying appeared to exit his victory in good shape. Cox said next-race plans are pending for Verifying, who has been based this winter at Fair Grounds. A $775,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale graduate, Verifying is the first Oaklawn winner sired by 2018 Triple Crown champion Justify.

“We'll ship him back to the Fair Grounds at some point and train him there,” Cox said. “I don't really know (what's next). We'll get with the Coolmore (ownership) group and come up with a game plan in the near future.”

Verifying is among maybe a dozen Kentucky Derby prospects for Cox and already has four qualifying points after finishing second in the Champagne Stakes (G1) at 1 mile Oct. 1 at Aqueduct (Belmont At The Big A meeting). In his only other 2022 start, Verifying was a career-debut winner sprinting Aug. 27 at Saratoga.

Cox trainees Victory Formation and Angel of Empire ran 1-2, respectively, in the Smarty Jones Stakes at 1 mile Jan. 1. The Smarty Jones was Oaklawn's first of four Kentucky Derby points races. The series continues with the $750,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) at 1 1/16 miles Jan. 28, $1-million Rebel Stakes (G2) at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 25 and the $1.25-million Arkansas Derby (G1) at 1 1/8 miles April 1.

Cox said he plans to start unbeaten Corona Bolt, Hit Show, and Jace's Boy in the Southwest.

Jace's Road was a 5 ½-length winner of the Gun Runner Stakes at 1 1/16 miles Dec. 26 at Fair Grounds. Corona Bolt was blowout winner of the Sugar Bowl Stakes at six furlongs Dec. 26 at Fair Grounds. Hit Show was a sharp entry-level allowance winner at 1 mile Dec. 17 at Oaklawn.

Cox said Giant Mischief is scheduled to make his 3-year-old debut in the Rebel. Giant Mischief closed his 2022 campaign with a runner-up finish in the Remington Park Springboard Mile Stakes Dec. 17 at Remington Park.

Cox said Victory Formation and Angel of Empire are being considered for the $400,000 Risen Star Stakes (G2) at 1 1/8 miles Feb. 18 at Fair Grounds and the Rebel.

Angel of Empire worked a half-mile in :49 over a fast track Sunday morning at Oaklawn.

The post Game Plan Pending For Cox’s Impressive Oaklawn Winner Verifying, Trainer Reveals Possible Next Starts For Half Dozen Other 3YOs appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The Week in Review: Rick Dutrow Has Served His Time

Monday marks an important date for trainer Rick Dutrow and his fight to get back into the sport. It was exactly 10 years ago that he started a horse named Colossal Gift (Songandaprayer) in a claiming race at Aqueduct. Then he was forced to disappear, the result of the New York State Racing and Wagering Board revoking his license for a 10-year period, which has now expired.

The regulators acted after Dutrow, always a controversial figure, had a horse he trained, Fastus Cactus (Cactus Ridge), test positive for butorphanol in his system after winning the third race at Aqueduct on Nov. 20, 2010. Around the same time, Dutrow's barn was searched and investigators claimed to have found in a desk drawer three syringes filled with a muscle relaxer, xylazine.

“New York's racing industry has no place or patience for Mr. Dutrow,” Racing and Wagering Board Chairman John Sabini said in a statement announcing that Dutrow's license had been revoked.

Dutrow's lawyers were able to delay the matter in the courts for more than two years, but eventually ran out of legal options.

Had Dutrow merely been suspended, he would be back this week. But the process has been complicated by the fact that he had his license revoked. That means he has to start from scratch and re-apply for a trainer's license. Dutrow's attorney Karen Murphy said the application has yet to be submitted, but will be done shortly. The Dutrow legal team has grown and now includes Chris Boehning, a high-profile attorney with the firm Paul Weiss.

Murphy believes that it's just a matter of time until Dutrow is allowed to return.

“He's going to get licensed,” he said. “I can't imagine that if somebody served their penalty and paid an extraordinary fine [$50,000] like he did that they wouldn't let him back. He has served his time, he has paid his fine and he has conducted himself in an exemplary manner while he's been away. So far as how Rick has conducted himself, there hasn't been one smudge. I don't know on what grounds they could deny him a license.”

Murphy estimated the process will take “a couple of months.”

But will it be that easy?

Racing is now regulated in the state by the New York Gaming Commission, which has made a number of controversial rulings of late that have had many scratching their heads. Dutrow is a polarizing figure and there are no doubt some important people who would rather he never train again. Even though the 10 years is up, with this commission there are no guarantees his application for a new license will be approved.

In the meantime, Dutrow, who declared bankruptcy in 2017 and has not worked since his license was taken away, will have to wait, exactly what he has been doing for 10 years. Will there be a another chapter to his training career? The answer is near.

Surick Named Names

With prosecutors having submitted a pre-sentencing report last week regarding convicted drug cheat Nick Surick some of the questions revolving around the former Standardbred trainer were answered.

Surick, who has admitted to drugging his own horses, as well as assisting Jorge Navarro in his doping program, will be sentenced Thursday. He is facing up to six years in prison but the government has signed off on a lesser sentence because Surick cooperated with prosecutors and offered to testify against others. Ultimately, the government felt that Surick's testimony could not be used against others because his credibility came into question when he told investigators that veterinarian Dr. Rebecca Linke injected a Standardbred he trained named Northern Virgin with EPO. Linke was able to prove she was not around the horse at the time he was drugged. The government has accepted the possibility that Surick was not lying and, rather, had trouble recollecting the exact circumstances of the Northern Virgin incident. Because Surick had tried to assist investigators, the U.S. Attorney's Office has stated its willingness to accept a lighter sentence than what he would have been given had he not cooperated. Surick's lawyer Timothy Donohue has asked the court to sentence his client to just 12 months of home confinement.

That's what we know. What we don't know is who else Surick implicated beyond those who were named in the March, 2020 indictments. The pre-sentencing submissions from both Surick's attorney and the governor confirmed that the former trainer turned over information on individuals whose names have never surfaced. Those names were originally included in the pre-sentencing reports, but were redacted.

That raises many questions. Who did he name? How many people did he name? And did he finger people in the Thoroughbred industry, the Standardbred industry or both? Would the government have gone after those people had Surick not fouled up the Linke matter, bringing his credibility into question?

Unfortunately, those questions may never be answered. Beyond the more than two dozen people indicted nearly three years ago, the government has shown no appetite for continuing its investigation and going after a new set of alleged drug cheats. And even if the names were released there would be no guarantees that the government could build a case against those individuals, when the case could come down to Surick's tainted word versus the word of someone he implicated.

Surick has not been heard from, but through Donohue we have learned more about his mind-set. Why did he become a serial cheater? The answer is troubling.

“He rationalized his misdeeds with the idea that 'everyone was doing it,'” Donohue wrote.

Does any of this mean he should be given a break? That will be left up to U.S. District Court Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, who has been unwaveringly tough on all the drug cheats that have entered her courtroom, never once showing any signs of leniency. So maybe Surick will be sentenced to a long stint in prison. Unfortunately, it looks like he will be taking his secrets with him.

The post The Week in Review: Rick Dutrow Has Served His Time appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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‘If You Don’t Like Him, You Don’t Like A Horse’: C Z Rocket’s 2023 Campaign Could Include Oaklawn, Dubai

Millionaire and two-time Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) runner-up C Z Rocket could return to Oaklawn during the current meet, said Peter Miller, trainer of the 9-year-old gelding who has two previous stakes wins at the Hot Springs, Ark. track.

The Southern California-based C Z Rocket closed his 2022 campaign with runner-up finishes in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes (G2) Oct. 1 and the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) Nov. 5 at Keeneland.

“He's doing real good,” Miller said. “He's back in training, galloping, and going to breeze. He could make an appearance [at Oaklawn]. We've got Dubai possibly in mind. We're not sure, but we gave him a little break, five weeks or so, after the Breeders' Cup.”

Miller claimed C Z Rocket for $40,000 out of a fifth-place finish in an April 30, 2020, sprint at Oaklawn. The gelding then ripped off five consecutive victories, including the Santa Anita Sprint Championship, before finishing second to that year's eventual Eclipse Award winner Whitmore in the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland.

C Z Rocket returned to Oaklawn in 2021 and toppled Whitmore in the Hot Springs Stakes and the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3). Both races were for older horses at six furlongs.

C Z Rocket was beaten 1 ¼ lengths by Elite Power, then 4, in last year's Breeders' Cup Sprint. A son of the late City Zip, C Z Rocket has a 12-6-5 record from 35 career starts and earnings of $1,952,641. He is campaigned by Altamira Racing Stabole, Madaket Stables, Gary Barbeer, and Tom Kagele,

“If you don't like him, you don't like a horse,” Miller said.

Oaklawn's next sprint stakes for older horses is the $150,000 King Cotton Jan. 28. Miller said he could have a candidate for the six-furlong race in recent stable addition Radical Right, who was purchased for $260,000 at Fasig Tipton's December Midlantic mixed sale. The First Samurai gelding finished second in the City of Laurel Stakes for 3-year-old sprinters Nov. 26 at Laurel in his last start.

Radical Right has four published workouts at San Luis Rey Training Center in Southern California since Dec. 24. Radical Right was purchased in December by Tom Kagele, who also co-owns C Z Rocket.

“Seems like a nice horse,” Miller said.

Miller has around eight horses stabled at Oaklawn, including Ginobili, winner of Fifth Season Stakes on Saturday.

The post ‘If You Don’t Like Him, You Don’t Like A Horse’: C Z Rocket’s 2023 Campaign Could Include Oaklawn, Dubai appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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