July, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Foggy Night Surprises At 14-1 In Delaware Oaks

Pine Brook Farm's Foggy Night notched her first career stakes victory in the $300,00 Delaware Oaks (G3) Saturday at Delaware Park.

With Paco Lopez aboard, the daughter of Khozan won by 1 -lengths. Opus Forty Two, with Daniel Centeno, finished second a nose in front of Miracle, with Trevor McCarthy, in third. The 4-to-5 favorite in the field of eight, Fireline with Dylan Davis, finished fourth. Foggy Night paid $30.40 as the fourth choice.

The Florida-bred trained by Robert 'Butch' Reid, Jr. covered 1/16 miles in 1:45.07 over a fast main track after stalking early fractions set by Opus Forty Two of :47.98 for the half mile and 1:12.14 for the three-quarters mile. Foggy Night raised her record to three wins from eight starts with earnings of $278,550.

Reid said he had always been confident with her ability and talent.

“She showed it as 2-year-old and the key is she can run a long way,” said Reid, who also won the Delaware Oaks in 2020 with Project Whiskey. “We gave her a nice freshening over the winter. She got a little stale toward the end of the year, so we gave her a nice freshening and measured her right up to this race. After the layoff we got a couple of nice seven-eighth races in her and this was her first time going a mile and a sixteenth. It worked out.”

Reid is not sure where he will run Foggy Night next.

“I really have not thought much past this race,” Reid said. “We did take some stalls at Saratoga, so that is a possibility. Of course, the Monmouth Oaks is another possibility. But we will design the rest of the summer after this.”

Foggy Night, who is out of the Stormy Atlantic mare Settling Seas, was bred by Brent and Crystal Fernung. Their Journeyman Bloodstock Services sold her to Pine Brook Farm for $20,000 at the 2022 OBS Spring Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale. The chestnut filly improved her lifetime purse earnings to $278,550.

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Study Suggests Sedation Could Mask Lameness In Horses

Though sedating a fractious horse could make a lameness exam safer for both horse and handler, a study from Germany indicates that sedation can affect how a horse moves, thus making pinpointing the lameness more difficult.

While sedation can make horses more cooperative, it can also make them more sluggish. Dr. Matthias Rettig, with the Free University of Berlin, created a study to determine whether a sedative affected the biomechanical parameters vets use to diagnose lameness.

Scientists attached inertial sensors to 44 horses that were divided into two groups. Baseline lameness exams were given to each horse, then 22 of the horses received a low dose of the sedative xylazine. The other 22 horses received saline to act as controls. The lameness exams were repeated 20 and 60 minutes after the injection.

The inertial sensors recorded limb, head, and pelvic movement throughout each of the exams.

The researchers found that sedation had no significant effect on pelvic movement in horses with hind-end lameness. Sedation also didn't initially affect the movement of horses with forelimb lameness, but 60 minutes after sedation, it decreased the head movement in some of these horses.

Though the reason for the delayed effect isn't clear, Rettig suggests that horses become used to the trotting up and back routine for the lameness exam or that xylazine acts as a pain reliever and not just a sedative.

Though the change in head movement from the xylazine was not statistically significant, Rettig suggests that practitioners keep it in mind when sedating a horse for a lameness exam, specifically if the exam takes more than an hour.

Maryland Owner Richard Meyer Passes; Supported Initiatives To Benefit Backstretch Workers

Richard J. Meyer, a Thoroughbred owner and advocate for horsemen and backstretch workers in Maryland, passed away at Anne Arundel Medical Center June 20 after a brief illness. He was 81.

Meyer, who was raised in St. Louis, Mo., where he played soccer, basketball and football as a student, graduated from St. Louis University in 1963 and then moved to Maryland to work for the federal National Security Agency as a mathematician. His technical and management skills led him to the top echelons of the NSA.

Meyer, who accepted a leadership role, received the NSA Exceptional Civilian Service Award. After 30 years of service, he retired from the agency to work for Raytheon, a defense contractor. Five years later, he returned to the NSA for a few more years before going to work for Federal Data Systems, a position he held until his death.

A fan of Thoroughbred racing, Meyer in 1984 partnered with his first group of associates to purchase three racehorses. He discovered a new passion in researching bloodlines to aid in the purchase of horses at auction. He created a partnership called M. O. M. Stables, with Josephine Owens and then Timothy Keefe as his trainers.

“Richard was not only a friend I trained for, but a business partner,” Keefe said. “We owned horses together for many years, and he was a wonderful friend and a father figure. As far as the racing business, he let me know I could do what I needed to do. It was always about being in the best interest of the horse, be it racing them or deciding when to retire a horse.

“He loved pedigrees and nicks. We would go to sales and he would let me select horses but would always want me to look for a certain pedigree. He was also a breeder but on a small scale; we had two 3-year-olds that we bred (in partnership) and a couple of other horses. He enjoyed it.”

Meyer was a member of the MTHA Board of Directors and served as President before Keefe was elected in 2014. He was a force in establishing the MTHA Backstretch Pension Plan, which currently contributes $1 million a year to support those who work with horses on a daily basis, and facilitated on-site health fairs for the backstretch community.

Meyer also served as President of the Maryland Horsemen's Assistance Foundation, which provides financial assistance to those in need.

“Richard did most of his work on the benevolence side,” Keefe said. “He was very much involved in that. Not many people know about his influence in that regard. He would serve meals at the backstretch kitchen on Thanksgiving, and he would regularly watch his horses race from the backstretch. He loved that part of the business.”

Meyer is survived by his wife of 60 years, Mary Meyer; son Douglas Meyer; daughter Karen Schemmel; son-in-law Michael Schemmel; grandchildren Gregory Meyer, Abigail Schemmel, and William Schemmel; and sister Rosemary Sampson.

A celebration of life will be held Friday, July 7, from 4-7 p.m. at Barranco Severna Park Funeral Home & Cremation Care, 495 Ritchie Hwy in Severna Park, Md. A memorial mass will be held Saturday, July 8, at 10 a.m. in St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 689 Ritchie Hwy. in Severna Park. In lieu of flowers, consider a memorial contribution to Feeding America or the ASPCA.

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West Will Power Gets His Grade 1 In Ellis Park Edition Of Stephen Foster

After a lengthy period of pre-race antics from morning-line favorite Smile Happy, who had to be cajoled by a pair of outriders into backing up an entire sixteenth of a mile to get him to the Ellis Park starting gate, bettors opted to send West Will Power off as the 2-1 favorite for Saturday's Grade 1, $1 million Stephen Foster.

Those late wagers proved prophetic: West Will Power outran his seven rivals to cross the wire a half-length in front, earning an expenses-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Classic this fall at Santa Anita Park. Campaigned by breeders Gary and Mary West, the 6-year-old son of Bernardini stalked a solid pace early and grabbed the lead on the far turn, holding off a late challenge from Rattle N Roll to complete nine furlongs over the fast main track in 1:47.93.

West Will Power had arrived at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby weekend off an impressive win in the Fair Grounds' G2 New Orleans Stakes, but his start in the May 5 Alysheba (G2) left something to be desired. Required to set the pace under pressure that and eventually fading to finish third, the horse's outside (six-post) draw for the Stephen Foster allowed for a much-improved race setup. Trainer Brad Cox said that advantage helped jockey Flavien Prat and West Will Power stay on for victory in his first Grade 1 triumph.

“It's taken a while to get him to the Grade 1 level,” said Cox. “He probably relaxes a little better when he's got something to the inside of him, rather than getting pressure from the outside.”

“He was cruising all the way around there,” Prat said. “He just carried me home to the wire down the stretch. I was really impressed by the way he won this winter at Fair Grounds in the New Orleans Classic (G2). It was a different setup last time out in the Alysheba (G2). He came back here to Ellis and the race shape was much more to his style.”

The Stephen Foster, typically held at Churchill Downs, was contested this year at Ellis Park due to a string of equine fatalities and subsequent HISA recommendation that moved the remainder of the Churchill Spring Meet to the CDI-owned Ellis in Henderson, Ky. This was the first Grade 1 race held at Ellis Park.

Breaking from post six in the field of eight, West Will Power was sharp out of the gate and rushed up to join a three-way battle for the lead into the clubhouse turn. To his inside was both Stiletto Boy and Speed Bias, though the former dropped back to third and allowed Speed Bias to take a one-length advantage into the backstretch run.

West Will Power stalked from second as Speed Bias set fractions of 23.74 and 46.97 seconds, with another two lengths back to Stiletto Boy and Smile Happy a joint third. That quartet was followed by Last Samurai, Rattle N Roll, Proxy, and Happy American.

Rounding the far turn, West Will Power easily took command from Speed Bias and sprinted away to a two-length advantage, getting first run on his rivals.

It appeared to be a race for second from that point, with any of six contenders able to secure the place, but Rattle N Roll (6-1) put in a gallant late bid from the back of the pack to come up just a half-length short of the winner. Longshot Happy American (48-1) got up for third, while Last Samurai checked in fourth (13-1). Smile Happy, Stilleto Boy, Speed Bias, and Proxy rounded out the order of finish.

Bred in Kentucky by his owners, West Will Power is out of the Wild Event mare Wild Promises, a 13-time winner with six stakes wins and a Grade 3 win on her resume. She is a half sister to multiple graded stakes winning near-millionaire Icy Atlantic.

West Will Power did not debut until late in his 3-year-old season, putting up three wins and a graded stakes placing before missing nearly a year from late 2021 to the fall of 2022. Since his return to the races, West Will Power has finished no worse than third, including a second in the G1 Clark last fall and now his first Grade 1 victory. Overall, West Will Power has won seven of his 17 career starts, with seven second-place finishes, for earnings of $1,745,390.

“I think he can handle a mile-and-a-quarter in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1),” Cox said. “I was much more confident with him getting a target to track off in this race. We'll see how the figures come back but I'm very proud of the way this horse has developed. It's a credit to the Wests and this horse to have the patience to improve with age. It's taken him awhile to get to this level. It's really cool to go down in the history books by winning the first Grade 1 in the history of Ellis Park.”

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