Month: May 2023

Miss Yearwood Eclipses Stakes Record In Keertana At Churchill Downs

Miss Yearwood rallied from second to last and blitzed home down the stretch to defeat Lovely Princess by one length in Saturday's $223,678 Keertana Stakes at Churchill Downs.

Miss Yearwood stopped the teletimer in a stakes record 2:27.45 for 1½ miles over firm turf under Chris Landeros, who rode the winner for his father-in-law, trainer Ian Wilkes. and owner-breeder Roger Keith Long. She eclipsed the previous standard of 2:28.13 set by Al's Gal in 2016.

Miss Yearwood had one horse beat in the field of 12 fillies and mares as Exit Soul dictated the early pace of :23.40, :48.38 and 1:13.57. With five furlongs left to run, Sinfiltre put pressure on Exit Soul as they raced one mile in in 1:38.97 and approached the final turn. Miss Yearwood began to quickly pass horses around the last bend and soon shot to the front with a sweeping six-wide move at the head of the stretch. She collared Lovely Princess with a furlong to run en route to her first stakes triumph.

“The pace up front looked pretty honest,” Landeros said. “This horse just likes to make one run so I wanted to make sure to keep her in the clear and be in a good spot when we turned for home. She came with a huge run and really exploded late down the lane.”

The win was worth $130,320 and improved Miss Yearwood's career earnings to $438,780 with a record of 4-2-2 from 12 starts.

“Chris suits this filly well and she has one style to come from and that's from the back,” Wilkes said. “Most likely we'll end up at Saratoga with her. How we get there I'm not sure yet. She's shown a really sharp turn of foot in her last two efforts and we're very proud of her.”

Miss Yearwood returned $5.98 for the win as the 9-5 favorite. Lovely Princess, under Brian Hernandez Jr., finished 2 1/2 lengths in front of Sparkle Blue, ridden by Vincent Cheminaud, back in third.

Talbeyah was another 2 ¼ lengths back in fourth and was followed by Under One Sky, Viburnum, Quality Star, Lady Arsinoe, I'm So Sorry, Exit Soul, Implosion and Sinfiltre.

Miss Yearwood, a 4-year-old daughter of Will Take Charge out of the Awesome Again mare Satisfaction, was bred in Kentucky.

The post Miss Yearwood Eclipses Stakes Record In Keertana At Churchill Downs appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Churchill Downs Issues Statement On Equine Fatalities

Edited Press Release

Churchill Downs Incorporated released the following statement Saturday in response to questions about track safety during the meet:

In today's first race, Kimberley Dream (Colonel John) sustained a significant injury–a distal sesamodean ligament rupture–to her left front leg. A similar injury occurred to Lost in Limbo (Into Mischief) during Friday's seventh race. Unfortunately, in both scenarios, attending veterinarians determined that the injuries were inoperable and unrecoverable and made the difficult but most humane decision to euthanize. We send our deepest and most sincere condolences to the connections and all who loved and cared for Kimberley Dream and Lost in Limbo.

There have been 12 equine fatalities at Churchill Downs since the stable area reopened for training on March 30. It is with absolute dismay and sorrow that we report this highly unusual statistic. Our team members mourn the loss of these animals as we continue to work together to discover cause and determine appropriate investments to minimize, to the degree possible, any avoidable risk in this sport and on our property. We do not accept this as suitable or tolerable and share the frustrations of the public, and in some cases, the questions to which we do not yet have answers. We have been rigorously working since the opening of the meet to understand what has led to this spike and have yet to find a conclusive discernable pattern as we await the findings of ongoing investigations into those injuries and fatalities.

As with any matter under investigation, justice or answers are not always swift, but the commitment to being thorough is incredibly important. We understand the justified desire for answers, yet also respect the process and authority of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) when managing these important investigations. We are actively working in cooperation with these regulatory authorities and share their goal to improve the safety of this sport.

In recent weeks, we have been focused on our responsibility to provide the safest racing environment possible on our property. Part of that effort has included increasing the frequency with which our surfaces are tested. Earlier this week, Churchill Downs commissioned Dr. Mick Peterson, Executive Director of Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory and Professor of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering at the University of Kentucky, to perform additional diagnostics on our racetrack. The report indicated that the measurements from retesting do not raise any concerns and that none of the data is inconsistent with prior measurements from Churchill Downs or other tracks.

We simply will not allow these equine fatalities to be in vain. We are engaged in an epidemiological study with the Jockey Club to review each individual horse to determine if there are any undetected patterns that have not been previously identified. These findings can be incorporated into our daily review of entries and potentially trigger additional interventions using advanced diagnostic modalities.

Additionally, we have worked to uncover ways to invest in research and resources that may be made available to trainers, so that together we can better detect pre-existing injuries and work to avoid catastrophic injuries in racing. We have made promising progress in determining ways to increase the use of technology to better inform and intervene when abnormalities in horses present and are eager to share these announcements with horsemen and the public in the coming days. This is in addition to mining and enhancing our already comprehensive safety protocols and policies (Churchill Downs “Safety from Start to Finish”), all developed over the years to improve upon every opportunity we have to advocate in the best interest of our equine and human athletes.

We are troubled by this recent string of fatalities. It is extremely inconsistent with the outcomes we have experienced over the years, with the reputation we have developed over the decades and with the expectations we set for ourselves and owe our fans. We are committed to doing this important work and updating the public with our developments.

The post Churchill Downs Issues Statement On Equine Fatalities appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Big Everest Wins Monmouth’s Cliff Hanger On Front End

Christophe Louriel isn't sure if Big Everest is ready for graded stakes company or if the 5-year-old gelding will get 1 3/8 miles on the grass, but after Saturday's front-running victory in the $100,000 Cliff Hanger Stakes at Monmouth Park both now have to at least be considered, he said.

Big Everest broke alertly from outside post seven, set reasonable fractions under jockey Jorge A. Vargas Jr. and was a safe three-quarters of length winner in the mile and a sixteenth turf feature for 3 year olds and up.

By winning the Cliff Hanger, Big Everest – who scored his sixth victory in his past seven starts and is 2-for-2 this year – earned free entry and start fees to the United Nations(G1) at 1 3/8 miles on the grass for owners Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Steven Rocco, and William Branch. The United Nations serves as the supporting feature to the Haskell Stakes (G1) on July 22.

Big Everest has never gone beyond 1 1/16 miles, however.

“I think it's time to try a graded stakes race, but I don't know about a mile and three-eighths. We'll see. If there's one place he can do it I think it's here on this turf course,” said Louriel, the top assistant to Christophe Clement for the past 30 years.

Gelded over the winter, Big Everest won his third straight stakes race, his second this year. He has pretty much led gate to wire in winning six of his past seven starts.

“This went absolutely to the plan,” said Louriel. “After he won at Aqueduct (on April 15 in his seasonal debut) we felt he was short a work but he still got the job done. He has speed around the turns. I told Jorge Vargas that it's a mile and a sixteenth and to make sure he kept something for the end. He is the kind of horse that can accelerate around the turns.

“It was a short field so we just tried to clear the field, go to the lead and try to slow things down. I saw :47 and change to the half and he was still on the bridle around the turn so I felt pretty good.”

In posting his seventh career win from 12 starts, the British-bred son of The Gurkha carved out fractions of :23.49, :47.34 and 1:10.78 to six furlongs. Smokin' T took up the chase at that point but could never get to the winner. It was another 2¼ lengths back to James Aloysius in third.

Though he was the 8-5 morning line favorite, Big Everest paid $8.60 in what looked to be an evenly matched field.

“This is the way he runs, so why change it now?” said Vargas. “I worked him last week at Belmont. I was glad they let me do that so I could get to know him. He worked well. He is a speed horse and I wasn't going to take him away from his game. He likes to run into the bridle.

“The main thing was to get him to relax. I know he is fast. I know he can run fast fractions. I just wanted to have him content. He's aggressive but he doesn't get tired.”

Big Everest, who was bred by Newsells Park Stud, is out of the Why Why Why mare Long Face.

The post Big Everest Wins Monmouth’s Cliff Hanger On Front End appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Violence’s Mullikin Dominates Beneath the Twin Spires

11th-Churchill Downs, $120,000, Msw, 5-27, 3yo/up, 6 1/2f, 1:16.83, ft, 10 1/4 lengths.
MULLIKIN (c, 3, Violence–Tulira's Star {GSP}, by Congrats) donned cap and gown in the nightcap of Churchill's Saturday card by open lengths on the wire. Second in two prior outings–by a nose Feb.18 at Oaklawn Park on debut and then a game runner-up Apr. 8 at Keeneland trying seven furlongs–the Rodolphe Brisset trainee was well-supported for a third try at 3-5 favoritism and made it look a gift as he led the field wire to wire here. Cusp (City of Light) ran on for second at 10-1. The most recent winner for his dam, Mullikin has a yearling half-sister by McKinzie and a 2023 half-brother by Maxfield. Tulira's Star, a half-sister to GSW Mountain General (Mountain Cat) and to SW Tulira Castle (War Pass), also claims Text Queen (Strong Hope) as a half-relation; that mare being responsible for GSP Xoxo (Majestic Warrior); SP Queens Up (Classic Empire); and SP Everqueen (Colonel john). This is the extended female family of GISW Storm Towner (Irish Tower) and GISP & GSW Psyched (Hagley). Sales history: $500,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 3-1-2-0, $105,750. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-Siena Farm LLC and WinStar Farm LLC; B-Fred W. Hertrich lll & John D. Fielding (KY); T-Rodolphe Brisset.

The post Violence’s Mullikin Dominates Beneath the Twin Spires appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights