January, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

MGSW Sacred Life to Buck Pond

Multiple graded/group winner and Grade 1-placed Sacred Life (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}-Knyazhna {Ire}, by Montjeu {Ire}) has been retired from racing and will stand the upcoming breeding season at Buck Pond Farm. The 8-year-old will stand the 2023 season for $2,000 S&N.

Victorious in the 2017 G3 Prix Thomas Bryon S. at Saint Cloud, the bay has been a fixture in the top turf races since his arrival in the U.S. in 2019. Sacred Life won the 2021 GIII Knickerbocker S. 2022 GIII Monmouth S. In addition to his graded successes, Sacred Life took the 2020 Oceanport S. at Monmouth, and in his final career start last August, he finished third in the in the GI Arlington Million, contested at Churchill Downs.

“We are very excited to have Sacred Life standing at Buck Pond for the 2023 breeding season,” said Doug Arnold Jr. “With 27 starts under his belt, Sacred Life proved to be an iron horse miler who was good at two and even better as he progressed.

“Turf racing has established a foothold in the United States and predominantly turf sires have seen increased popularity in the sales ring,” he continued. “With precocity and grit on the track, a fashionable pedigree, and an affordable stud fee, we believe Sacred Life will prove interesting to a wide array of breeders around the country.”

Campaigned in the U.S. by Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables, and Michael Caruso and trained by Chad Brown, Sacred Life retires with eight wins from 27 lifetime starts. He also placed in 11 others, amassing career earnings of $920,768.

Sacred Life is the first foal out of the Knyazhna, who subsequently produced French group-placed Khagan (Ire). Sacred Life's second dam is a half-sister to Group 1 stakes winner Rule of Law.

Sacred Life will stand with a Black-Type Bonus incentive, where breeders will receive $1,000 for breeding a black-type performing mare to Sacred Life; $1,000 for a black-type-producing mare; or $2,000 if the mare is both.

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Jerome Winner Lugan Knight May Prefer One-Turn Mile Distance

Lugan Knight registered a career-best 85 Beyer Speed Figure for his game half-length score in Saturday's $150,000 Jerome, a one-turn mile for sophomores, at Aqueduct Racetrack. In victory, he secured the maximum allotment in the Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifying race which offered 10-4-3-2-1 points to the top-five finishers.

Trained by Michael McCarthy for George Yager's BG Stables, the Kentucky homebred son of Goldencents outdueled graded-stakes placed Arctic Arrogance in a thrilling stretch drive to capture his stakes debut by a half-length on the stretch out. The top-five was rounded out by General Banker, Neural Network and Andiamo a Firenze.

“It was a great effort,” Yager said. “I didn't know what to expect, but he was very game. It was a one-turn mile, so he was OK.”

Yager, known to his friends as 'Big George', formed his namesake BG Thoroughbred Farm in 2014 in partnership with trainer Hector Palma. Located in Hemet, California, the 51-acre farm includes training and lay-up facilities and is home to 40-50 broodmares and a number of stallions including Capital Account and Originaire.

The Los Angeles native, a graduate of Cal State Northridge, has also worked as an actor and producer, including a role in the 1997 film L.A. Confidential based on the novel by James Ellroy.

Upcoming Kentucky Derby qualifiers at the Big A include the nine-furlong Grade 3, $250,000 Withers on February 4 [20-8-6-4-2], the one-mile Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham [50-20-15-10-5] on March 4 and the nine-furlong Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino [100-40-30-20-10] on April 8.

Yager said he's not sure if Lugan Knight will want to stretch out beyond the one-mile distance his sire – a dual Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile-winner – excelled at and will leave the race planning in his trainer's capable hands.

“That's up to Mike,” Yager said. “I'm very realistic. He may have his limitations as far as distance is concerned. I've been in this game awhile and I don't get too carried away.”

Lugan Knight is out of the winning Speightstown mare Sly Roxy, while his second dam is multiple graded stakes-winner Roxy Gap, who banked $952,790 in a 19-race career that included 2012 Sovereign Awards in her native Canada for Champion Older Mare and Champion Female Sprinter. The versatile Roxy Gap was a graded winner on synthetic and turf and graded-stakes placed on dirt.

Sly Roxy graduated on debut in July 2017 at Saratoga Race Course, drawing off to a 5 1/2-length win in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight for the Hall of Fame duo of jockey Javier Castellano and trainer Mark Casse. She followed with a fifth-place effort in that year's Grade 2 Adirondack, but failed to reach the heights of her talented dam.

“I bought her and she won first time out at Saratoga, but she lost her luster,” Yager said. “Since then, I've sold her – had I only known.”

Lugan Knight entered the Jerome from a trio of sprint efforts in Kentucky, graduating at second asking in October at Keeneland. He followed with a close third-place finish in an optional-claimer in November at Churchill Downs won by Victory Formation, who exited that effort to win the Smarty Jones at Oaklawn Park.

Lugan Knight successfully stretched out to one-mile in the Jerome, a cagey affair, as NYRA's 2022 leading rider Dylan Davis allowed the colt to take command through moderate splits of 23.41 seconds and 47.70 over the good main track with Arctic Arrogance stalking from second.

Arctic Arrogance, who entered from a runner-up effort in the nine-furlong Grade 2 Remsen, loomed large into the turn but Lugan Knight continued to find more and staved off his rival to notch the win in a final time of 1:37.77.

Yager said he also has high hopes for the McCarthy-trained Friendlypersuasion, a sophomore daughter of Arrogate, who graduated at second asking in an off-the-turf tilt in August at Indiana Grand ahead of a prominent fifth in the Grade 3 Pocahontas in September at Churchill Downs.

She was last seen posting a 10 1/2-length score in a 1 1/16-mile optional-claimer on October 9 at Keeneland that registered a career-best 70 Beyer.

“She looked like she was going to be pretty good, but she got hurt,” Yager said. “She'll be back in a couple months.”

Friendlypersuasion, bred in Kentucky by Bridlewood Farm, is out of the graded-stakes winning Indian Charlie mare Brazen Persuasion.

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Saul Steinberg Exhibition To Open Jan. 18 At National Museum Of Racing And Hall of Fame

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame will open a new exhibition, At the Races with Saul Steinberg, in the Link Gallery on Jan. 18. Made possible by the generous donation of the artwork to the Museum's permanent collection by the Saul Steinberg Foundation, the drawings featured in this exhibition span the period of 1955 to 1959. Three were published in his book The Labyrinth in 1960. One was later published in the 1963 Sports Illustrated article “Steinberg at the Races” that featured scenes at racetracks from Paris to Los Angeles.

Steinberg (1914 ̶ 1999) was born and raised in Romania. In 1933, after a year at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters at the University of Bucharest, he applied to the Faculty of Architecture but was denied entry because he was Jewish. Steinberg then moved to Italy, enrolled at the architecture school of the University of Milan, and began creating cartoons for the Italian humor magazines Bertoldo and Settebello.

By 1940, Steinberg was seeking to leave Italy and started drawing for American publications. Once in the United States in 1942, The New Yorker offered him a contract. Soon after he was recommended for employment as a consultant at the Office of War Information, then received a commission in the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1943 and was granted citizenship. After the war, he returned to New York to resume his work.

Steinberg resisted convention throughout his career as an artist. He produced drawings, paintings, prints, collages, sculptures, and murals. Best known for the visual wit of his pen-and-ink drawings featured in The New Yorker for close to 60 years, Steinberg also contributed to other magazines, including TIME, LIFE, Vogue, Harper's Magazine, and Sports Illustrated.

In 1952, Steinberg visited Saratoga Springs, New York, on commission from Harper's to provide drawings for an article about the city. Though he previously produced a series of drawings of horses and their riders in the 1940s, this visit may have prompted his interest in Thoroughbred racing.

“We are excited to exhibit the artwork of Saul Steinberg in a different light and bring together those with an appreciation of art as well as Thoroughbred racing,” said Jessica Cloer, the Museum's curator.

For more information about the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, including upcoming events, please visit www.racingmuseum.org or call (518) 584-0400.

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HISA Board Of Directors Appoints Bill Squadron To Nominating Committee

The HISA Board of Directors has appointed Bill Squadron to serve as a member of its Nominating Committee. Squadron replaces outgoing Nominating Committee member Leonard Coleman, who vacated his seat on the Nominating Committee to serve on HISA's Board of Directors.

“I am honored by this appointment and am pleased to contribute to the important effort to establish effective and trusted safety and integrity standards for thoroughbred racing by identifying the expert, experienced individuals who can undertake this critical responsibility,” said Squadron.

Squadron is an Assistant Professor in the Sport Management Department at Elon University and is Senior Advisor for Pramana Labs, a data technology firm with an expertise in horse racing. Squadron has held Adjunct Professor roles at several institutions, including Columbia University, and has served as President of Bloomberg Sports (where he established the RaceLens joint venture with Equibase); Senior Vice President and Head of New Media for International Management Group (IMG); Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Sportvision, Inc.; Senior Vice President of News Corporation; and Partner at the international law firm Morrison & Foerster. Squadron received a JD from UC Berkeley School of Law and a BA in English Literature from Swarthmore College.

About the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority

Established when the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act was signed into federal law in 2020, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) is responsible for drafting and enforcing uniform safety and integrity rules in Thoroughbred racing in the U.S. Overseen by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HISA was created to implement, for the first time, a national, uniform set of rules applicable to every Thoroughbred racing participant and racetrack facility. HISA is comprised of two programs: the Racetrack Safety Program, which went into effect July 1, 2022, and the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program, which will go into effect in 2023.

The Racetrack Safety Program includes operational safety rules and national racetrack accreditation standards that seek to enhance equine welfare and minimize equine and jockey injury. The Program expands veterinary oversight, imposes surface maintenance and testing requirements, enhances jockey safety, regulates riding crop use, and implements voided claim rules, among other important measures.

The ADMC Program will create a centralized testing and results management process and apply uniform penalties for violations efficiently and consistently across the United States. These rules and enforcement mechanisms will be administered by a new independent agency, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), established by Drug Free Sport International (DFS). HIWU will oversee testing, educate stakeholders on the new program, accredit laboratories, investigate potential ADMC violations and prosecute any such violations.

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