The Jockeys' Guild, in partnership with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), will be conducting an anonymous mental wellness survey via text and email beginning today, Jockeys Guild announced. The survey is designed to seek riders' input on how to best support the health and welfare of jockeys and possibly others in the industry, and will be submitted to FGS Global, an independent research company.
In addition to text and email, other individuals and organizations will be reaching out to jockeys riding across the United States to assist them in taking the survey.
Only completely anonymous, combined data finding will be shared and the final results will be reviewed by HISA and the Jockeys' Guild and serve as a starting point for building a framework to effectively use collective resources to address riders' most important health and safety needs.
Thoroughbred Daily News has written extensively about Computer Assisted Wagering and the players and clubs that by using such methods have placed a stranglehold on our pari-mutuel system.
It is hard to say no to someone wanting to bet a huge amount on Thoroughbred racing, and it is understandable in giving them rebates to reward their action.
But it is harming the game and small players such as myself.
I witnessed an example April 23 in Kentucky when I bet $200 to win on For the Flag in the fifth race at Keeneland. She was 6-1 when the gates opened, 3-1 as they entered the first turn, and 5/2 as they exited the turn. She won and paid $7.98.
You can sell all the yearlings you want, have 2-year-olds work in great times, etc., etc., etc. Enjoy the big stud fees. Put together syndicates. But when the $2 bettor has had enough, or in this case the $200 bettor, then all you have left are the computer players and the folks who have a Derby party and are interested in racing for an hour a year. Maybe that is all that is needed for the game to continue.
But by doing so you are losing people such as myself. I find myself wagering less and less every year because the sharp change in odds while horses are running infuriates me.
No one loves the sport more than I do. No one enjoys handicapping more than I do. No one finds Keeneland to be as special a place as I do.
Make their last dump of money into the pools happen with a few minutes to the post. Or take them out of the win pools. Or …
Just do something. Because these kicks in the gut are becoming more than people like myself can take. This is supposed to be fun. For me, it is not any more.
Following is a list of stallions whose first crops of 2-year-olds are represented in the upcoming Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. Spring 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, including the number of horses cataloged and the farm where the stallion is currently advertised.
Offerings from the debut crop of a stallion are often met with a commercial premium from buyers at auction. A stallion's stud fee is often at its highest during their first season, increasing the initial investment, and the natural intrigue of a blue-sky prospect often put a unique spotlight on the rookie sires at any given sale.
Here are the opportunities to get in on the ground floor with a first-year stallion at this year's OBS Spring sale, along with analysis on a pair of standout sires by Kip Elser of Kirkwood Equine Advisory.
The OBS Spring sale takes place Tuesday, April 25 through Friday, April 28, with each session beginning at 10:30 a.m. Eastern.
—List Continues After Analysis—
Analysis of Spendthrift Farm's Vino Rosso and Lane's End stallion Catalina Cruiser from Kip Elser of Kirkwood Equine Advisory:
It's always interesting to see how each year's freshman crop of juveniles evolve and develop in the time between OBS March to OBS Spring in April or even the May and June sales. Offspring by the sires we talked about last time – Omaha Beach and Mitole – continue to impress, and there are several more freshman sires that are well represented at OBS Spring.
There were several by Vino Rosso that caught my eye. While he was two-for-two as a juvenile, he was by and large known as a late developer, winning his biggest races – the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita and Breeders' Cup Classic – as a 4-year-old. Like their sire was at this stage, his offspring look like they still have some growing to do, but they are solid and well put together. They're breezing quite nicely, especially as they get into the rhythm of the breeze, and show an efficiency of stride – a good combination of power and balance with minimal wasted motion. For as big as I think they'll be when they mature, they are remarkably well put together as juveniles.
The Catalina Cruisers are also worth a look. Like Vino Rosso, Catalina Cruiser was late to develop, but once he found his stride, he became one of the top sprinters we've seen in years. He is by Union Rags, who is probably best known for his win in the Belmont Stakes, but don't forget that he won the G2 Saratoga Special as a 2-year-old by 7 1/4 lengths as part of a Grade 1-winning juvenile campaign, so that sire line is not necessarily slow early. I really like not only how the Catalina Cruisers are breezing, but also how they're galloping out, which can often tell you almost as much as the breeze itself. They're made in the same mold as their sire – stout, strong horses with some leg under them.
I'm eager to see how both of these sires' offspring develop, both as juveniles and into their 3- and 4-year-old years.
It doesn't take long for a good Pennsylvania-bred to make serious money for their connections within the state's program, and Disco Ebo displayed this notion to perfection through the first two months of 2023.
The 4-year-old Weigelia filly earned a combined $78,540 in breeder's awards, stallion owner's awards, and owner's bonuses through Feb. 28, to pace all horses within the program.
That money was earned by a pair of allowance sprint victories through the first two months of the year, both at Parx Racing.
On Jan. 24, Disco Ebo took a four-wide trip through to a powerful stretch drive to prevail in a six-furlong race by two lengths under jockey Frankie Pennington. The same rider was aboard on Feb. 15 when Disco Ebo led at every point of call in a 5 1/2-furlong race to win easily by 6 3/4 lengths.
After the cutoff date for these rankings, Disco Ebo added a victory in the Penn's Landing Stakes on March 7 at Parx, once again getting loose on the lead and drawing off to win the 6 1/2-furlong race by 6 3/4 lengths as the overwhelming favorite. The Penn's Landing was Disco Ebo's third career stakes victory, and her first since taking the Youngstown Oaks at Mahoning Valley Race Course on Nov. 21 of last year.
Robert Reid Jr. trains Disco Ebo for the partnership of Cash Is King and LC Racing. Because the filly was both bred and sired in Pennsylvania, she was eligible for a 40 percent owner bonus on her purse earnings for races at Parx. For those two victories, her owners earned an additional $28,560 because of her status in the Pennsylvania-bred program.
Disco Ebo was bred in Pennsylvania by Stephen and Susan Quick's St. Omer's Farm, which earned $39,984 in breeder's awards for the filly's two victories. Horses bred and sired in the Keystone State are eligible for a 40 percent purse bonus on non-maiden races.
For a pair of victories, Disco Ebo earned WynOaks Farm, the home of sire Weigelia, $9,996 in stallion's awards. Registered Pennsylvania-breds by a state-resident sire earn a 10 percent bonus on purse for first-through-third efforts at tracks within the state.
Disco Ebo was the centerpiece of a big two months for veteran sire Weigelia, whose offspring occupied each of the top five spots among total Pennsylvania incentive earners.
That start to the season put Weigelia comfortably in the lead among stallion's award incentive earners through the first two months of the year, with his total of $43,770 safely outpacing second-place Uptowncharlybrown at $29,368. After playing second fiddle to cornerstone Pennsylvania sire Jump Start for several years in the stallion award earnings race, Weigelia finally overcame his late rival for the first time in 2022, bringing in $186,200 compared with Jump Start's $178,938.
Leading Pennsylvania Incentive Earners, Through February 2023
