March, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Group 1 Winner Zazou Stolen In Czech Republic

Group 1 winner Zazou (Ger) (Shamardal), who stands at Darhorse Stud in the Czech Republic, was stolen on Friday evening and information on his recovery is being sought by the Czech authorities, according to published reports.

The stallion is part of the sanctioned assets of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who is an ally of Vladimir Putin. The sanctions on Kadyrov were invoked following Russia's invasion of the Ukrainian Crimea in 2014. An attempt to kidnap Zazou, and G2 Dubai City Of Gold hero Mikhail Glinka (Ire) Galileo {Ire}) was made last January, but failed according to Czech Radio.

Popular in the Czech Republic, the stallion was based near Roudnice nad Labem, approximately 50km (31 miles) north of Prague. Bred by Stiftung Gestut Fahrhof, the 16-year-old's final races were in the colors of Kadyrov and he was trained by Waldemar Hickst in Germany. He won the G1 Premio Roma in Italy and placed second in the G1 German Derby.

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Did Alex Canchari Suffer from CTE?

Still seeking answers as to why Alex Canchari took his own life last week at the age of 29, his family has sent his brain to Boston University's Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Center to ascertain whether or not the jockey was suffering from CTE, the brain condition linked to repeated head injuries and blows to the head. Several NFL players have committed suicide after suffering from CTE.

“We have sent Alex's brain in to Boston University to see if there was CTE present,” Canchari's sister Ashley told the TDN in an email. “It will take a few weeks, if not months, potentially to get back the results.”

“Personally, I think this is very likely,” Canchari told television station KMSP. “My brother told me multiple times, 'I have hit my head so much and I've fallen so many times off of horses. I think there is something wrong.'”

Studies have shown that CTE can lead to a number of symptoms, including depression, aggressive behavior and suicidal thoughts. It can only be diagnosed posthumously. CTE is most often associated with NFL players. In February, researchers at the Boston University CTE Center reported they had found CTE in 92% of the brains of 376 deceased NFL players they had studied. The list of NFL players that suffered from CTE and committed suicide includes Aaron Hernandez, Dave Duerson, Junior Seau, Andre Watters, Phillip Adams and Jovan Belcher.

According to a 2019 story in the Louisville Courier-Journal, research shows that horse racing has the highest concussion rate of any sport. Concussions can lead to CTE. According to a report from the University of Kentucky's Dr. Carl Mattacola released at the 2015 Jockey Club Welfare and Safety Summit, 8.6% of falls by jockeys during races from 2012 to 2015 resulted in concussions.

A 2017 report posted on a University of Kentucky website concluded: “At this time there is no data to document the incidence of CTE among jockeys, though anecdotal evidence exists; for example, the effects of Gwen Jocson's repeated concussions forced her retirement from racing in 1999.”

A gofundme.com page has been started for Canchari's fiancee Brooke-Lyn Klauser and Canchari's two children, Leon and Penelope. Another unborn child is due in August.

Klauser spoke to KMSP about Canchari's struggles.

“He wasn't really open about it,” she said. “But there were some signs that we could see that he was struggling. He was always very strong around me and the kids.”

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Jockey Of The Week: Kent Desormeaux Guides Stilleto Boy To Upset Victory In Big ‘Cap

Veteran jockey Kent Desormeaux and his mount, veteran 5-year-old gelding Stilleto Boy, were the perfect pair when they entered the gate on Saturday in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap. With the Hall of Famer Desormeaux in the midst of resurrecting his career and Stilleto Boy frequently a major player in graded races but rarely the winner, the duo proved an inspired combination to score the upset win in a thrilling renewal of the marque event for older horses on the Santa Anita calendar.

The win led the panel of racing experts to vote Desormeaux Jockey of the Week for Feb. 27 through March 5. The award recognizes jockeys for riding accomplishments and who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 1050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.

Trainer Ed Moger, Jr. reconnected with Desormeaux for the Santa Anita Handicap after Mike Smith, who had ridden Stilleto Boy in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational on Jan. 28, chose to ride Hopper in the Big Cap. Desormeaux had ridden Stilleto Boy in five stakes races in the second half of 2021.

Breaking sharply from post position four in the field of nine, Stilleto Boy raced a close fourth at the rail behind There Goes Harvard, race favorite Defunded and Hopper as they ran into the far turn. Turning for home, Stilleto Boy had There Goes Harvard to his inside with Defunded and Hopper in front of him. Stilleto Boy collared Defunded in the final sixteenth and held off a late charge from Fair Grounds invader Proxy to win by a neck. He Completed the 1 1/4-mile course in 2:01.96, paying $29.80 for the win.

“I just wanted to let him run out front, but they shut me off and we had to settle back,” said Desormeaux. “Everything else, I followed Ed Moger's instructions. He wasn't enjoying himself, so we moved out and he kept going,”

The win was Desormeaux's third in the Big Cap after Best Pal in 1992 and Milwaukee Brew in 2002.

The multiple Eclipse-award winner Desormeaux, 53, has been back riding since November, restarting his career after his well-chronicled off-track troubles. Desormeaux was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004 and has won seven Triple Crown races and six Breeders' Cup races. His 598 wins in 1989 is a record that still stands today.

Other contenders for Jockey of the Week included Kazushi Kimura who won the G1 Kilroe Mile, Jose Lezcano who won the G2 Gotham, Irad Ortiz, Jr. who was the leading rider for the week by wins with 14 as well as total and stakes purse earnings, and Flavien Prat with two graded stakes wins.

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Pioneering Trainer Ellen Chaloner Commemorated in Newmarket

This year's QIPCO Guineas meeting at Newmarket will include the Ellen Chaloner Stakes, named in honour of the the first woman in the UK to be issued with a training licence in 1886.

Ellen Chaloner, a daughter of the trainer Johnny Osborne Sr, was granted a training licence following the death of her husband, Tom, who was a Derby-winning jockey before turning to training. It was another 80 years before the High Court gave legal recognition to female trainers.

Chaloner, who died in 1944 at the age of 98, was laid to rest in an unmarked grave in Newmarket Cemetery. Her trailblazing career, which included a victory in the Triennial Stakes at Royal Ascot with Jersey Lily in 1887, is now being formally commemorated thanks to a campaign launched by her descendants and supported by The Jockey Club.

Members of Chaloner's family gathered at Newmarket's Jockey Club Rooms last weekend, including her great-great grandson, the former Irish champion jump jockey Charlie Swan. He said, “When I started riding my mum kept telling me that my great-great grandmother and father used to ride and train horses, but it sort of went over my head a little bit when I was that age. I didn't really think about it. It's only in the last few years that I suddenly realised where my riding talents probably came from.”

Swan added: “It's fantastic that Ellen is getting some recognition and hopefully we'll make it there on the day.”

The campaign has also enabled the purchase of two new headstones to mark where Chaloner and other members of her family are buried, and will make a contribution to the Women In Racing Bursary Fund to support females currently working in racing.

Chaloner trained from Osborne House in the heart of Newmarket, which is now occupied by horses trained by the town's longest-standing trainer and history buff, Sir Mark Prescott. It is situated directly opposite Heath House.

“She was a remarkable woman and she lived in some style,” said Prescott. “Osborne House, which is named after the family, has 10 bedrooms and the cellars are massive.”

He added, “I'm very proud of her. I always tell everybody when they look round at the stables.”

Previously known as the Kilvington Stakes and staged at Nottingham, the Ellen Chaloner S. is run over six furlongs for fillies aged three and up. Permission for the name change, which will be in perpetuity, was granted by the British Horseracing Authority's Flat Pattern Committee. A portrait of Ellen Chaloner will be on display at Newmarket's Rowley Mile racecourse.

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