Belle Gambe, a 2-year-old half-sister to Breeders' Cup champion Uni, has been stuck in a United States Department of Agriculture quarantine stall for over three weeks due to what owner Peter Brant calls a “faulty” test, reports the Thoroughbred Daily News.
The daughter of Dubawi was tested before leaving Ireland for the U.S. on Jan. 13, returning a negative result. Upon her arrival at the Kentucky Import Center, however, Belle Gambe tested positive for the venereal disease Dourine, so the USADA placed the filly in quarantine at Churchill Downs.
The Center for Food Security and Public Health describes Dourine as “a serious, often chronic, venereal disease of horses and other equids. This protozoal infection can result in neurological signs and emaciation, and the case fatality rate is high.” The disease is communicated almost exclusively during breeding; Brant believes the test result to be a false positive.
“I have, unfortunately, had to handle dozens of international equine import cases involving false positives over the last decade,” Brant's attorney, Chapman Hopkins, told TDN. “The disappointment and outrage felt by Mr. Brant is entirely reasonable and understandable. As I shared with Mr. Brant yesterday, what they are experiencing is the unfortunate result of the USDA's imperfect testing methodologies and quarantine procedures.”
A second test was performed on Belle Gambe 14 days later; she tested positive again, though at a smaller concentration.
The filly will be tested again on Feb. 12. If she remains positive, she can either return to Ireland or be euthanized. If she tests negative, she will be allowed to join trainer Chad Brown's string at Payson Park in Florida. Brant has reserved a spot on a flight back to Ireland.
“I am not optimistic at all,” Brant told TDN. “I think these people are a bunch of bureaucratic idiots and they just flag things. I don't trust them. There's no rhyme or reason as to why this has happened. The test is faulty and that's all there is to it.”
There are times in the careers of some athletes when everything suddenly comes together. Junior Alvarado is enjoying one of those times.
He broke through with his first Breeders' Cup victory last autumn when Cody's Wish staged a dramatic last-to-first rally to win the Grade 1 Dirt Mile. He registered his 2,000th victory on Jan. 21 when Broadway Force broke his maiden for trainer Jimmy Jerkens at Gulfstream Park. He recorded another huge triumph one week later at Gulfstream, when he executed the game plan to perfection to win the $3 million, G1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational aboard Art Collector.
“That's what makes everything worth it now,” said Alvarado, 36, who was honored as Jockey of the Week.
Success has not come easily. Injuries have occurred with alarming regularity, forcing him to rebuild his business each time. He has required four shoulder surgeries. An ankle injury needed seven months to heal. He broke his collarbone three times. He broke his back twice.
“He's just had so many hurdles in his career with injuries. He gets taken off a lot of horses,” said Kelly, his wife. “He's at an all-time high right now. It's just falling into place for him. We're very grateful, thankful and excited.”
While his riding ability has always been respected, the native of Venezuela has struggled to gain opportunities given steadily to the nation's premier riders. He rides regularly for Hall of Famer Bill Mott but only occasionally for many other leading trainers. In his quest for a Triple Crown win, he took fourth with Mohaymen in the 2016 Kentucky Derby (G1) and fourth with Zetterholm in the 2012 Preakness (G1).
Even Mott had turned elsewhere for a rider for Art Collector, a 6-year-old multiple graded-stakes winner, to the frustration of Alvarado and his agent, Mike Sellitto. “He's been following that horse for awhile,” Sellitto said, “always hoping to get an opportunity to ride him one day.”
One day came when Luis Saez, Art Collector's regular pilot, thought he had a better shot in the Pegasus with Get Her Number for trainer Peter Miller and accepted that mount instead. They finished ninth of 12.
Junior Alvarado has been a 'go-to' rider for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott
Art Collector had been running on the front end for Saez. After the son of Bernardini wilted to be fifth in the Oct. 1 Lukas Classic (G2) at Churchill Downs in his final start last season, Mott was eager to try a change of tactics. He wanted Art Collector to sit off an expected strong pace in the Pegasus, then pounce.
Plans rarely come to fruition in racing. Alvarado made sure this one did.
“I've really got to give him a lot of credit. He rode him perfectly,” Mott said. “We talked about it beforehand, how the race might shape up, and he rode him just the way we scripted it.” Art Collector made the lead by the top of the stretch and roared off by 4 ½ lengths.
Alvarado was equally masterful in the Dirt Mile, a race that severely tested horse and man after Cody's Wish broke slowly. That plan was for them to be forwardly placed. Instead, they were at the back of a very talented pack.
Alvarado's previous races with Cody Wish told him to stay cool. “When he's ready, you let him go. You don't get in his way,” the rider said. “The more you get in his way, things go sideways with him real quick. He will try to run off. He will do everything you don't want to do.”
Alvarado knew to respect the wishes of Cody's Wish. “I think he's a great horse, but he has his own mind,” he said. “Don't try to make him do something. That's not him. He says, 'Don't get in my way and I'll take you there.'”
They launched their rally pretty much when the horse decided it was time, with Alvarado making sure only to keep him in the clear. He will never forget that last sixteenth of a mile as they dueled Cyberknife, ridden by Florent Geroux.
Godolphin's Cody's Wish and Junior Alvarado defeat Cyberknife in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile
“I could feel the will he had to win the race,” Alvarado said of Cody's Wish. “He put his head low and he wanted to win it as badly as I wanted to win it.”
The Keeneland crowd roared its approval of the head victory. By that time, the story of Cody's Wish had been well-documented. The Godolphin homebred was named after Cody Dorman, a courageous teenager afflicted with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, a rare genetic disorder.
Dorman is unable to walk and uses a tablet to communicate. The experience of meeting him had a profound impact on Alvarado. Kelly and Junior have three children – Adrian, 12; Adalyn, 7; and Axel, 3. The rider makes sure to devote his off days to his family, saying he wants to “create memories” with them.
Alvarado used Dorman's example to provide perspective to his children. “I mention to my kids 'Look at what he's going through. It hasn't been easy, not even one day in his life. We have everything. We have everything we need.'”
Merry Christmas 2022. Our traditional photos with Santa. So much fun for all of us.
What a special year this has been for our family. Thankful and grateful for all of you. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and a happy and healthy new year pic.twitter.com/j5wQ7ILo1i
A Grade 2 winner two starts back, Mark Glatt's reformed claimer Howbeit rates a big look in Sunday's Grade 3, $200,000 Palos Verdes Stakes at Santa Anita. Santa Anita's traditional opening day feature for decades, the iconic Palos Verdes has attracted a field of six older horses at six panels and will be run for the 71st time.
Claimed for $32,000 12 starts back here on Feb. 13, 2021, Howbeit, at age six, seems to be ready for his best in 2023 with Mike Smith back aboard for the third consecutive time. Fourth, beaten 3 ½ lengths in a tough classified allowance going six furlongs Nov. 20 at Del Mar, Howbeit returns to a track he's proven effective—winning four races while second twice and third once from 12 tries.
Owned by It Pays to Dream Racing Stables, Inc., Howbeit, a full horse by top sprinter Secret Circle, is 26-7-3-2 overall.
Bob Baffert's Hopkins is in top form and with Juan Hernandez riding back, looms the likely favorite as he makes his seventh career start. Favored in four of his six starts, Hopkins, a 5-year-old full horse by Quality Road, dueled throughout as the 6-5 favorite in a six furlong allowance here Jan. 15, finishing second by a head to Glatt's Traegar in a game effort.
Miscast going 1 1/16 miles in the G2 San Antonio on Dec. 26, Hopkins is much better sprinting and if he runs back to his second place effort at six furlongs on Jan. 15, he should be extremely tough to beat.
Owned by SF Racing, LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, LLC, et al, Hopkins is 6-2-3-0 overall.
Trainer Dan Blacker's Straight No Chaser might be the quickest of the quick and it'll be up to Edwin Maldonado to ration his gas as he exits a seventh place finish behind Eclipse Award finalist Taiba in the opening day G1 Malibu on Dec. 26.
A 4-year-old colt by Speightster, Straight No Chaser broke his maiden first time out going five furlongs on turf this past July 24 at Del Mar and has run on dirt in his last two starts, including a stellar allowance score here going 6 ½ furlongs on Oct. 29.
Owned by MyRacehorse, Straight No Chaser is two for four lifetime.
THE GRADE 3 PALOS VERDES WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER
Race 7 of 9 Approximate post time 3:30 p.m. PT
Straight No Chaser—Edwin Maldonado—120
Hopkins—Juan Hernandez—120
Howbeit—Mike Smith—124
Escape Route—Geovanni Franco—120
Radical Right—Flavien Prat—120
McLaren Vale—Kazushi Kimura—120
First post time for a nine-race card on Sunday is at 12:30 p.m. with admission gates opening at 10:30 a.m.
Kip Elser announced today that his Kirkwood Stables, which since the late 1970s has been a preeminent conditioner of young Thoroughbreds with a leadership position in the North American and international 2-year-old sales markets, is shifting its focus toward public and private bloodstock purchases, evaluations and racing stable management.
Under the re-positioned business strategy, Kirkwood and Elser will transition to a consulting and advisory service role for his clients, with a particular focus on selecting young pinhooking and racing prospects, as well as horses of racing age.
“I've never been afraid to try doing things a bit differently,” said Elser. “That approach has allowed me to develop a keen ability to identify gaps in the market. I'm looking forward to the upcoming 2-year-old sales. I believe my years of experience selling will give me a leg up on the buying side. There is more information available than ever before to evaluate horses' potential and performance. The key is knowing how to weigh and evaluate that information to your advantage. I try to blend the art and the science with practical knowledge and common sense.”
Elser's Kirkwood Stables has long been a familiar name in the global juvenile Thoroughbred training and sales segment of the industry. For more than 40 years, Kirkwood's offerings have brought top bids at Calder, Barretts, Fasig-Tipton, and Keeneland, as well as overseas at Tattersalls in the U.K., New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Race Sale, and the Cape Thoroughbred Sales in South Africa. Graduates of Kirkwood include multiple classic winners, Breeders' Cup champions, and Eclipse Award recipients, as well as stakes and graded stakes winners in the U.S. and abroad.
“Already this year we've made purchases on behalf of our clients on both sides of the globe, purchasing a lovely racing filly here in the U. S. at the Keeneland January Sale and a precocious young colt at the Cape Racing Sales Premier Yearling Sale in South Africa,” said Elser. “By taking a step back from training and consigning and expanding Kirkwood's menu of services in a few different directions, I will have the opportunity to leverage my depth of knowledge for my customers in new, and what I think will be successful ways.”
Throughout his career, Elser's forward-thinking approach has earned Kirkwood Stables a reputation as a trailblazer in an industry built upon tradition. Kirkwood has long created unique opportunities for clients by exploiting equine investment opportunities worldwide. It was the first major 2-year-old consignor to present drafts to the European market at Tattersalls and has acquired pinhook prospects at leading venues such as the Cape Premier Yearling Sale, Magic Millions sales in Australia, the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale and Arqana in France. More recently, Elser made widely positive headlines stateside by offering several 2-year-old “gallop only” consignments at Fasig-Tipton's Gulfstream Sale from 2018 through 2021, opting to showcase the horses at a strong gallop rather than the more taxing traditional approach of an eighth or quarter mile breeze in the presale under tack shoow.
While Kirkwood's consignment shingle will not hang at this year's 2-year-olds in training auctions, Elser will be there in a new capacity. He will be evaluating and shopping for racing prospects for his clients as he launches this new chapter in his career.
Our traditional photos with Santa. So much fun for all of us.
