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Month: May 2023
Seven Days: A Pedigree Nutcase in Paris
There is something wonderfully refreshing about John Hayes. He stands at least 6'6” tall with size 15 'lucky boots' and a towering personality to match. Prior to watching Jannah Rose (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), the filly he bred from his beloved mare Sophie Germain (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}), win the G1 Coolmore St Mark's Basilica Prix Saint-Alary, he serenaded guests of her owner Al Shira'aa Farms with a ditty about a cross-dressing gold-digger.
It's the kind of theme that could so easily see people cancelled these days, but there could be no erasing of Hayes's enthusiasm for the game. A small breeder with two mares in Co Tipperary, he is a self-confessed “pedigree nutcase” who claims to know nothing of conformation. He can rest assured that he has bred a pretty special animal in the unbeaten Jannah Rose, who meets all criteria in that important triumvirate of pedigree, physique and performance.
Hayes spent the flight from Dublin to Paris reading up on Chelandry (GB), Lord Rosebery's 1,000 Guineas winner and Oaks runner-up of 1897, from whom has sprung the likes of Lester's Piggott's first Derby winner Never Say Die, as well as the great High Chaparral (Ire), dual Classic winner Ravinella, and the Kentucky Derby heroes Tomy Lee, Genuine Risk, and Swale. Chelandry is Jannah Rose's 10th dam. This is deep-state research, reserved for pedigree lovers/nutcases (take your pick).
In the aftermath of Jannah Rose's imperious win, Hayes said of her dam, “Her first foal, [Group 2 winner] Creggs Pipes, was winning lots of races while my sister was dying from cancer, so it gave my sister some relief. Today is my mother-in-law's anniversary; she is looking down on us today, I know that.”
He added, “I'm a dairy farmer, and I wouldn't know the difference between a good-looking horse and a bad-looking horse. I don't know anything about conformation but I'm a complete nutcase for pedigrees.
“It's a big responsibility having a mare like that. It's all about the mare. That's all I have to do: do the right thing by her. We love her dearly, she's the boss. She's in foal to Kingman now and Shane [Horan] said, 'Next year, Frankel'.”
With Jannah Rose becoming Frankel's 27th Group 1 winner, Sophie Germain is now a deserved shoo-in for a return to his court. In the meantime, the 16-year-old mare will be eating from some pretty fancy tableware. Brandishing the silver salver he was presented with as winning breeder, Hayes added, “I'm going to take this home and put nuts on it for Sophie.”
Hayes had travelled to Longchamp with Kieran Lalor, who in January had spoken in TDN of his hopes for the then-maiden winner Jannah Rose to continue the solid start made by Sheikha Fatima bint Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan's Al Shira'aa Farms. Abu Dhabi-owned, it has its headquarters at the Curragh-based property formerly known as Meadow Court Stud. Those hopes have now been realised, with the statuesque filly having remained faultless in winning the G3 Prix Vanteaux en route to her Group 1 success.
Hayes said on Sunday, “I'm delighted for Kieran in particular, that his judgement has been vindicated. It's a big decision to make to advise somebody to spend €650,000 on a yearling. He's the one who should take the credit.”
Lalor himself had been quick to praise the breeder. “Coming from an operation, a pedigree guru like John, the foundation is all there,” he said. “She's an absolutely lovely filly, the biggest heart I've ever seen. I'm delighted for the boss, and it's an absolute pleasure to be a part of this journey. I personally think her 4-year-old career will be even better.”
He continued, “I always go back to the day I saw her at Goffs. I've never fallen for a horse like I fell for her. Everything about her was as cool as a breeze.
“The most important thing is the breeder, as it's the hardest thing in the world to breed a filly like that, and that's what we want to do.”
Back at the farm, Al Shira'aa already has in its paddocks another daughter of Frankel, the Group 2 winner Rumi (Fr), who was also trained by Carlos Laffon-Parias. The trainer usually gives himself a special treat each Sunday by riding Jannah Rose. This week he left the job to supersub Christophe Soumillon.
“She always showed me she was good, but between good and Group 1 is a big step,” said Laffon-Parias. Now he knows, and the next stop is Chantilly.
“That's the target, the Prix de Diane,” he confirmed.
Next Run for the Roses
In the Diane, Jannah Rose will meet the other female star of Sunday at Longchamp, the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches winner Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}). She also represents an up-and-coming breeding operation, this one the Spanish-owned Yeguada Centurion.
The man behind it, Leopoldo Fernandez Pujals, has put his faith in some young members of the French racing and breeding scene to fulfil his dreams and they are making a damn good fist of it. In the winner's circle after the race, Blue Rose Cen's trainer Christopher Head chatted with Guillaume Garcon of Haras de l'Hotellerie, who is entrusted with boarding the Yeguada Centurion mares. Despite demonstrating a little more Gallic cool than our Irish friends, the delight on their faces was plain to see.
Garcon said of Blue Rose Cen's dam Queen Blossom (Ire) (Jeremy), “She will return soon from Coolmore and she is back in foal to Churchill–of course! We love Churchill, we've sent him lots of mares.”
He boards 30 mares for the same owner-breeder, including Hardiyna (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), the sister to dual Derby winner Harzand (Ire) and dam of Prix du Jockey Club favourite Big Rock (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}), who is also trained by Head.
“Both mares were bought quite inexpensively and it is wonderful to see him have this success,” Garcon noted.
When your surname is Head, there's a fair chance that the racing world will sit up and take notice. Christopher Head is the son of legendary former jockey and trainer Freddy, and is the cousin of Patricia Laffon-Parias, the wife of Jannah Rose's trainer. He would certainly not have struggled to have broken into this sphere, but nevertheless he started his training business in modest circumstances. When TDN first encountered Head four years ago, he was sweeping the yard outside the handful of boxes he rented in Chantilly from Pascal Bary.
“I still sweep the yard,” he said on Sunday. Now, however, it is the yard vacated by his father on his retirement and bought by Christopher earlier this year.
Blue Rose Cen, his first Group 1 winner last season in the Prix Marcel Boussac, is now his first Classic winner, as she was for jockey Aurelien Lemaitre. It would be no surprise to see her stablemate Big Rock become their second on June 4.
Marching Orders for Epsom
Not since Persimmon and Diamond Jubilee, in 1896 and 1900, have full-brothers won the Derby. At Lingfield on Saturday, a tantalising prospect was suggested by Military Order (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) that he could follow his brother Adayar (Ire) to Epsom after winning the Fitzdares Lingfield Derby Trial.
His success brought up a trial double for Godolphin and Charlie Appleby after Eternal Hope (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), who only made her debut on February 13, took the Oaks Trial.
Adayar was only second in the Lingfield Derby Trial two years ago but his early career took a similar path to his younger brother, with two runs as a juvenile at the back end of the season before a seasonal resumption at the end of April.
Military Order now shares the top spot in the Derby betting with Aidan O'Brien's Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}).
Not far behind them is Arrest (Ire), bred by Des Leadon and Mariann Klay at Swordlestown Little, who sparked a fine week for Frankel when winning the G3 Chester Vase by more than six lengths. Juddmonte's star stallion has already been responsible for the 2,000 Guineas winner Chaldean (GB) this season and it would be no surprise to see him feature as the sire of another Derby winner, too.
His own sire Galileo (Ire) could yet have a say in this season's Classics, with his daughter Savethelastdance (Ire) having routed her rivals by 22 lengths in the Cheshire Oaks. If she makes it to Epsom, one hopes that the new Oaks favourite has a less dramatic experience there than her dam Daddys Lil Darling (Scat Daddy), who bolted to post for the Oaks during a lightning storm, causing jockey Olivier Peslier to bail out in an alarming incident.
Quote of the Week
You can always rely on the inimitable Richard Kent to come up with a good line or two, and the Mickey Stud maestro didn't disappoint in his interview after the success of the Dave Evans-trained Radio Goo Goo (GB) at Chester last week.
Kent could take particular delight in this result, as he bred both the filly's sire, Havana Grey (GB), with the late Lady Lonsdale, and her dam, Radio Gaga (GB), who is by the former Mickley resident Multiplex (GB). But he reserved the greatest praise for grand-dam Gagajulu (GB) (Al Hareb), the roach-backed mare who proved that handsome is as handsome does. Among her 16 runners were 11 winners and the black-type quartet of Ardbrae Lady (GB), One Gold (GB), Under My Spell (GB), and the aforementioned Radio Gaga.
Recalling Gagajulu with fondness, Kent said, “[She] won five races in 11 weeks for Dave as a 2-year-old. She's been a fantastic mare: she paid for two barns and a divorce…I could have built 10 barns with [what it cost for] the divorce.”
The post Seven Days: A Pedigree Nutcase in Paris appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Robertino Diodoro Suspended, Fined For Oaklawn TCO2 Violation
Robertino Diodoro, leading trainer at the recently concluded Oaklawn meet, will serve a 15-day suspension at the outset of the 2023-'24 season at the Hot Springs, Ark., track as a result of a total carbon dioxide (TCO2) finding above the permitted limit.
The violation, issued by the Arkansas Racing Commission and posted on the Association of Racing Commissioners International website on Monday, said Diodoro-trained Aristocracy, sixth-place finisher in the $200,000 Bath House Row Stakes on April 22, had a TCO2 reading of 42.3 millimoles per liter, well above the permitted limit of 37 mmol/L. According to the ruling, the 3-year-old Tapit colt owned by Gordon Christoff was disqualified from purse money.
The violation is considered a Penalty B infraction under ARCI guidelines. The suspension is for 30 days, with 15 days stayed provided Diodoro has no Class A or Class B medication violations within 365 days of the May 15 ruling. The 15-day ban, reciprocal in all states, runs from Dec. 8-Dec. 22, 2023, at the start of the next Oaklawn meet. He was also fined $1,000.
Diodoro waived his rights to a hearing and will not appeal.
Purposely increasing the TCO2 levels in a horse is believed to prevent lactic acid buildup, which leads to muscle fatigue. The practice is commonly called “milk shaking” and can involve the use of baking soda and a liquid delivered via nasogastric tube. Read more about TCO2 levels here.
Diodoro said Aristocracy was not milkshaked.
“Who the heck is milk shaking a horse in 2023?” he said. “That'd be like you sitting in a bar, drunk and falling off your stool, and someone telling you, 'Hey, Ray, there's a check stop just down the road. You better not drive.' Then you have a couple more drinks and get in your vehicle and think you're going to make it through.”
TCO2 testing for most races is random at Oaklawn, though Diodoro said every horse entered in a stakes race is tested.
Still, the trainer had no explanation for how the horse's TCO2 was so elevated.
“I do not know,” he said. “The only thing I can say, and I don't want to go into detail, our feed program has been the same for 10 years and we've never had a problem. This was a new horse in the barn.”
Prior to the Bath House Row Stakes, Aristocracy was campaigned by his breeders, Gary and Mary West, and trained by Brad Cox. He ran ninth in his previous start, the March 4 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park, before joining the Diodoro barn for a new owner.
Diodoro led all trainers during the 2022-'23 Oaklawn meet, with 61 wins from 266 starts. In January, he became the 37th North American trainer to reach the 3,000-win milestone. He currently has 3,077 wins from 14,770 career starts. He began training in 1995.
According to ThoroughbredRulings.com, this is Diodoro's first medication violation since 2020. He said there are no other pending cases involving TCO2 levels for his stable.
The Oaklawn meet ended May 6.
The post Robertino Diodoro Suspended, Fined For Oaklawn TCO2 Violation appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Happy Trails at Oaklawn
Like countless owners, Marshall Gramm has a race circled on the first Saturday in May. But it's not the “Greatest Two Minutes in Sports,” aka the Kentucky Derby.
Gramm's affection is for a race that lasts approximately three minutes, a 1 3/4-mile event at Oaklawn Park with a history, albeit, esoteric, of its own. The “Trail's End,” a starter-allowance marathon, is traditionally the final race each season at Oaklawn, the Hot Springs, AR, venue that opened in 1905. The 1 3/4-mile race debuted in 1972 and has been won the last three years by Ten Strike Racing, a highly successful racing syndicate founded in 2016 by Gramm and Arkansas native Clay Sanders, and trainer Bentley Combs.
“It means the world to me,” said Gramm, a noted handicapper and economics professor at Rhodes College in Memphis. “I set my calendar by it. Again, it's hard to imagine ever being in a position to own like a Derby horse, even though we put together partnerships, and to be in a position to spend the kind of money to chase those kind of dreams. A Trail's End horse, a guy like me, claim a horse for $10,000 and take a shot. It's great.”
Marshall Gramm | Lucas Marquardt
Oaklawn senior vice president Eric Jackson said he believes the Trail's End was the brainchild of the late W.T. “Bish” Bishop, an iconic figure at Keeneland before becoming Oaklawn's general manager in 1978. A visionary, Bishop was instrumental in creating Oaklawn's popular Racing Festival of the South in 1974. It featured a stakes race each day during the final week of the meeting.
Prior to the Trail's End, Oaklawn had ended its season with a non-descript race, 1 mile and 70 yards, 1 1/16 miles or 1 1/8 miles, for lower-level claimers immediately following the Arkansas Derby. The 1 3/4-mile Trail's End starts in the six-furlong chute and covers three turns, making it the longest race each season at Oaklawn.
“It's without a doubt one of the neatest things about Oaklawn,” said Jackson, a Hot Springs native who became Oaklawn's director of operations in 1979 and succeeded Bishop as general manager upon his death in 1987. “The only time we screwed it up is when we ran it as the first race. I think (racing secretary) Pat Pope had a shortage of horses. When we ran it as the first race, we heard about it from everybody in the grandstand.”
What gives the Trail's End added zest is the buildup throughout the day and, ultimately, a sentimental twist at the end. The horses stop and face the crowd during the post parade as “Auld Lang Syne” is played by the bugler.
“That's beautiful,” said jockey Martin Garcia, who has won the last two runnings of the Trail's End. “That's really beautiful because that's like an appreciation to all those people that have come. That's the last day and last race and kind of a thank you to them for being here this year with us. Believe it or not, all those people, the public, that means a lot to us because they're coming to see and support us.”
Garcia guided favored Hellorhighwater (Ghostzapper) ($5.20) to a 10 1/2-length victory May 6. A 7-year-old gelding, Hellorhighwater covered 1 3/4 miles over a fast track in 3:00.10.
Garcia, Ten Strike and Combs also teamed to win the 2022 Trail's End with Original Intent (Creative Cause). Original Intent won the 2021 Trail's End under Ramon Vazquez.
Combs joined David Vance as the only trainers to win the Trail's End three consecutive years. Vance captured the first three runnings (1972-1974), all for powerhouse Arkansas owner Dan Lasater.
Reflecting its popularity, the Trail's End had a $125,000 purse the last two years, a colossal sum for the starter-allowance level. It has averaged 11.8 starters the last four years.
“This race right here, now don't get me wrong, it's almost like that treasure island for me at this point,” Combs, 35, jokingly, said.
“It's a $125,000 starter ($10,000). Don't tell people about this damn thing, although I'm sure Pat's going around saying, 'Tell everybody about this.' I've got the bug. It's bitten me. We've won it three years in a row. We've tied David Vance and, hopefully, we're looking for the one to go ahead and beat David.”
Combs, who saddled his first winner in 2017 after coming up under trainer Dallas Stewart, said he initially believed the Trail's End was just another race before being in the crosshairs of the pomp and circumstance for the first time in 2021.
“I had no idea,” Combs said. “I went in and saddled the horse and was kind of walking away and some lady looked over and said, 'Have you ever seen this before? I said, 'A post parade? Yeah, I've seen a post parade.' She said, 'No, no, no. The horses face the crowd and we do “Auld Lang Syne” and all this stuff.' I didn't know it was that big of deal and I kind of got worried that my horse was going to get loose, to be completely honest. Like I said, I had no idea. It's kind of funny because it's Marshall's biggest thing and now he's kind of got the bug bitten in me. It's like, 'Man, we've got to point towards this race.' It's really cool when everybody sings the song and the stuff like that.”
The 2023 Trail's End was for 3-year-olds and up that had started for a claiming price of $10,000 or less in 2022-2023. Combs, on behalf of Ten Strike, claimed Hellorhighwater for $10,000 out of a fifth-place finish Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs.
Hellorhighwater won a co-meet-high four races this season at Oaklawn, helping Ten Strike finish third in the owner's standings with 15 victories. Ten Strike's biggest score came with Eyeing Clover (Lookin At Lucky), a one-time fringe Kentucky Derby candidate, in the $200,000 Hot Springs S. for 3-year-olds at 1 mile April 1. Eyeing Clover was a $55,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase.
Ten Strike finished second with its two other Trail's End starters to date–Far Out Kailee (Summer Bird) for trainer Randy Matthews in 2017 and Tiger Moon (Upstart) for trainer Lindsay Schultz in 2023. The Trail's End purse was $55,000 in 2017. The May 6 exacta gave Ten Strike a sparkling 3-2-0 record in five Trail's End starts, with purse earnings of $231,000.
“I'm not from the area and didn't grow up like Clay and some of our other partners following the race,” Gramm said. “I remember learning about it, of course, watching the Arkansas Derby. It was always followed up by this mile and three-quarters race and I loved the tradition and pageantry. I think one of the most underrated moments in horse racing is when they go through the post parade and they turn to the crowd and play “Auld Lang Syne.” I quickly realized this is my kind of race. Claiming race, it's a marathon race, it's a dirt race. I should start looking for horses that sort of fit the profile of a Trail's End horse.”
Oaklawn ran the closing-day Trail's End in April, capping the Arkansas Derby Day program, until shifting its racing dates in 2019. A May close means the Trail's End is now run on the heels of the Kentucky Derby. Gramm attended this year's Kentucky Derby and said he watched Hellorhighwater's victory from a home adjacent to Churchill Downs.
Ten Strike and Lasater, a three-time Eclipse Award winner, are the only owners to win the Trail's End three consecutive times.
“It's my favorite race out there,” Gramm said. “Obviously, I would aspire to win the Derby and stuff like that. I want to win the Trail's End every year. I'm looking right now for a Trail's End horse.”
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