Reigning Japanese Horse of the Year Equinox maintained the top spot in the 2023 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings with a rating of 129, four points better than Hong Kong-based Golden Sixty at 125. Equinox earned the 129 rating via a dominant 3 ½-length win in the $6 million Longines Dubai Sheema Classic March 25 at Meydan. The Kitasan Black colt closed out his 3-year-old season with back-to-back Group 1 wins in Japan and made his lone start to date in 2023 in the Dubai Sheema Classic.
Month: May 2023
Hard-Knocking Dicey Mo Chara Heads Field Of Eight For Marathon San Luis Rey Stakes
Hard knocking Dicey Mo Chara returns to Santa Anita Park and heads a field of eight older horses going a marathon mile and one half on turf in Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 San Luis Rey Stakes, a race in which the 5-year-old English-bred gelding finished a close second a year ago.
Owned by Santa Anita's Classic Meet leaders Red Baron's Barn and Rancho Temescal, Dicey Mo Chara was most recently a troubled fourth, beaten 1 ½ lengths, in the G3 San Francisco Mile on April 29 over the Golden Gate Fields turf.
Trained by Leonard Powell, Dicey Mo Chara will be reunited with Juan Hernandez, who was aboard two starts back in G2 Charles Whittingham, a race in which Dicey Mo Chara went to the front going a mile and one quarter on turf and was pressed and passed around the far turn by George Papaprodromou's Opry but battled back gamely on the inside to gain the advantage turning for home. Although he shook off Opry, the early battle took its toll and Dicey Mo Chara was thus unable to hold off the late charge of the Michael McCarthy-trained Offlee Naughty, who rolled late to win by one length.
With the exception of Opry, it would appear this Saturday's San Luis Rey is a race devoid of additional early foot, making it likely Dicey Mo Chara could employ similar front-running tactics as the pair each stretch out a quarter of a mile.
With his most recent win coming four starts back in the G2 San Gabriel here on Dec. 26, Dicey Mo Chara is 10-2-3-1 over the Santa Anita lawn and he's 20-4-5-3 overall with earnings of $485,777.
With his late run flattered by a front-end skirmish around the far turn, Michael McCarthy's Offlee Naughty came flying under John Velazquez in the Whittingham, winning by one length and posting a career-high 97 Beyer Speed Figure. With Velazquez back in New York full-time, Umberto Rispoli will try to time it right on Saturday.
A 5-year-old full horse by the Tapit stallion Flashback, Offlee Naughty is on a roll, having crushed a second level allowance field going a mile and one quarter on synthetic Tapeta two starts back on Dec. 11, winning by 5 ¾ lengths. Fourth, beaten five lengths in last year's San Luis Rey, Offlee Naughty, who is owned by James and Donna Daniell, has two wins and a third place finish from five tries over the Santa Anita turf.
With an overall mark of 16-4-1-1, Offlee Naughty has earnings of $310,645.
Ridden in the Whittingham Stakes by the recently departed Frankie Dettori, Opry has proven to be a tremendous claim for his owners, David Bernsen, LLC, Rockingham Ranch, Mark Gorman and Andrew Schwindt. Haltered out of a third place effort by Papaprodromou for $25,000 four starts back on Nov. 24, Opry, a 7-year-old gelding by Declaration of War, then stepped up to a second condition allowance going 1 1/18 miles here on Jan. 8, winning by a neck at 18-1 with Joe Bravo up.
Subsequently third, beaten three quarters of a length going a mile and one quarter on turf in the G3 San Marco Feb. 5 with Dettori, Opry, who challenged Dicey Mo Chara aggressively, actually made the lead a quarter mile from home in the Whittingham but had to settle for third money as he was beaten 1 ¾ lengths by Offlee Naughty.
A Kentucky-bred originally based in New York and Florida, Opry was a Grade 3 winner in his second career start at age two at Saratoga in August of 2018. With an overall mark of 21-4-4-7, Opry seeks his second graded stakes win on Saturday with earnings of $345,280.
Richard Mandella's Brazilian-bred Planetario, idle since running an even fifth in his U.S. debut, a classified allowance at a mile and one eighth on turf here on June 18, 2022, was a two-time Group 1 winner in Brazil at age three who could make his presence felt with Hector Berrios aboard.
A 5-year-old full horse owned by his breeder, Stud Red Rafa, Planetario came to Mandella with five wins from eight starts in Brazil.
THE GRADE 3 SAN LUIS REY WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER
Race 9 of 9 Approximate post time 5 p.m. PT
- Explain This Audit – Ramon Vazquez – 120
- Planetario – Hector Berrios – 124
- Dicey Mo Chara – Juan Hernandez – 124
- Offlee Naughty – Umberto Rispoli – 124
- Rimprotector – Kyle Frey – 120
- Agatino – Antonio Fresu – 120
- Midcourt – Geovanni Franco – 124
- Opry – Mike Smith – 124
First post time for a nine-race card on Saturday is at 1 p.m. with admission gates opening at 11 a.m.
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Getting On A Neuro Horse? Don’t Be A Dummy
Spy Coast Farm, a sporthorse farm that specializes in the breeding and development of performance horses, has also offered rehabilitation services at their Lexington, Ky., facility since 2019. Offering therapies like shockwave, eurocizer, water treadmills, laser therapies and more, farm employees are always on the lookout for how they can assist the horses being sent to them for rehab services.
Dr. Julie Vargas, Spy Coast Farm's sports medicine veterinarian, has been working on ways to better help equine clients with neurologic deficits from conditions like equine protozoal myeloencephalitis and Wobbler syndrome. Often when the horses arrive at Spy Coast, they are experiencing deficits that make them unsuitable to have riders on board at that phase of their rehabilitation, reports The Chronicle of the Horse the Horse.
Vargas had the idea of using a dummy to get the horse acclimated to carrying weight again. Mary-Kate McClure, the rehabilitation office manager, created the tool using a grappling dummy she found online. Sister Hannah McClure helped finalize “Sandy” by adding 60 to 70 pounds of weight with sand and rubber landscape mulch.
Sandy has done a great job bridging the gap between groundwork and riding for horses that have neurologic deficits. These horses often utilize the treadmills at Spy Coast to help develop muscle tone and neural pathways, as well as condition the horse. If staff think the horse may benefit from additional time before putting a rider on board, Sandy will mount up.
Sandy is held in place with a series of straps that allow Spy Coast staff to adjust her amount of movement while astride. The horse is then worked on a longe line. Adding weight to a horse can often show staff some of the weakness and instability that isn't seen without someone (or something) astride.
Read more at The The Chronicle of the Horse.
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Reed Splits With Dawson, Rich Strike To Move To A New Trainer
In a Facebook post Thursday morning, owner Rick Dawson announced that Eric Reed has quit as his trainer, necessitating the move of 2022 Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike to a new barn.
Dawson did not indicate who the new trainer will be.
The post reads:
“I just received notice, via a text, that Eric Reed has quit as my trainer. I have to make plans to move all my horses including Rich Strike immediately.
It appears his agent/manager & Eric are subject to an agreement with Omaha Prod they signed many months ago that may incriminate them regarding possible violation to my Trademark & NIL of my rights as owner of Rich Strike. See agent & Omaha Prod announcements.
Life will go on. GO RICHIE!”
Reed provided the following statement to Horse Racing Nation on the situation:
“I regret to announce that I have made a decision to resign as the trainer of Rich Strike. My stint as his trainer has been the joy of a lifetime, and I will be forever grateful for the opportunity and the ride the horse has given me and to everyone associated with Reed Racing.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Dawson has made a demand of me that I simply can't abide. I have not made his decision lightly, but I have concluded that it is in the best interest of Reed Racing and my family. I wish nothing but the best for Rich Strike and Mr. Dawson going forward.”
Both men told HRN they did not expect a reconciliation was possible.
Yesterday, Dawson posted on his Facebook page to tell followers that “the use of Rich Strike, his name, image, and likeness has not been approved by me, as owner.” Dawson went on to say he had not approved the use of the horse's name, image, or likeness by Omaha Prod or any other entity besides one unnamed website and the Kentucky Derby Museum.
Dawson may be referencing an announcement that Peyton Manning's Omaha Productions plans to create a documentary about Rich Strike through the lens of Reed. Sports Business Journal indicated that the production company talked with Reed via Zoom about the project last fall, at which time Manning had heard rumors Reed may be considering deals from other companies. The Omaha Productions project was slated to be distributed by Prime Video.
Reed and Dawson had worked together since 2021, at which time Dawson has said he had been considering getting out of racing because as a minority owner he felt like he had little control over his horses and little opportunity to learn about the sport.
Rich Strike captured the imaginations of thousands of race fans with his stunning 80-1 upset in the Run for the Roses. Besides a second-place effort in the Grade 2 Lukas Classic last fall, he has failed to hit the board since his Derby victory.
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