Month: August 2023

Gagliano, Waldrop Among Emeritus Appointments To American Horse Council

At the American Horse Council's most recent board meeting on August 17, 2023, the following former trustees were named as emeritus, joining existing emeriti ranks with Dr. Jerry Black and Dr. G. Marvin Beeman.

James L. “Jim” Gagliano – President/COO of The Jockey Club, Jim served on the AHC Board of Trustees for 10 years (2012-2022) including three years as Vice Chair, three years as Chair and one year as Past Chair. Gagliano also served on numerous committees, working groups and task forces during this tenure.

Dr. Tom Lenz – Dr. Lenz was the AAEP representative on the AHC Board of Trustees for 13 years (2009 – 2022), serving as Welfare committee Chair and United Horse Coalition Chair.

Alex Waldrop – Former CEO of National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Waldrop joined the AHC Board of Trustees in 2006 and served for 15 years, retiring in 2021. During his tenure, Waldrop served as Chair of the AHC Racing Committee, and as Board Treasurer for many years.

Dr. Glenn Blodgett (posthumously) – Dr. Blodgett joined the AHC Board of Trustees in 2015 as the American Quarter Horse Association representative. He served on the Health & Regulatory Committee, Equine Welfare Committee and Racing Committee. Sadly Dr. Blodget, passed on Nov 20, 2022.

“These distinguished individuals have made invaluable contributions to the success of the Council and the Equine Industry,” stated Dr. Rick Mitchell, current AHC Board Chair. “They brought great insights and were visionaries in expanding AHC's footprint in Washington, D.C., and firmly establishing AHC as the industry's unified voice on Capitol Hill. We are indebted to them for their many years of service and countless contributions.”

About the American Horse Council

As the national association representing all segments of the horse industry in Washington, D.C., the American Horse Council works daily to represent equine interests and opportunities.

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‘We’ve Booked Our Ticket’: Live In The Dream Springs 28-1 Upset In ‘Win And You’re In’ Nunthorpe

Live In The Dream (IRE) scored a major upset at odds of 28-1 to win the Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes (G1) at York on Friday, with defending champion Highfield Princess (IRE) finishing second. The victory secured Live In The Dream a guaranteed start in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1) through the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In.

The Breeders' Cup Challenge Series is an international series of 80 Graded/Group stakes races whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, scheduled to be held Nov. 3-4 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.

Live In The Dream had been due to run at Keeneland in the 2022 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint before costs prevented connections from traveling over, but after securing a spot in this year's race through the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series, trainer Adam West confirmed that all roads lead to the World Championships.

West said: “We've booked our ticket to the Breeders' Cup through 'Win and You're In'. It's an amazing opportunity and something we never thought we'd be able to do.”

Live In The Dream, a 4-year-old son of Prince Of Lir (IRE) campaigned by Steve & Jolene De'Lemos, had never competed in a Group 1 before but took his York rivals by surprise with a frontrunning victory in the hands of apprentice rider Sean Kirrane for trainer Adam West. Live In The Dream was fourth in a Listed race Aug. 6 at Deauville and took a huge step forward from that run to give West and Kirrane their first victories at the Group level.

After breaking from the gates swiftly, Live In The Dream was sent straight to the front by Kirrane and was soon clear of the 16-strong field. Defending champion and 7-5 favorite Highfield Princess and King's Stand (G1) victor Bradsell (GB) tried in vain to hunt him down.

When asked about the track at Santa Anita, West said he is excited for Live In The Dream to run around a bend.

“I think he's 10 pounds better on a turning track,” he said. “That's a big statement, but I do. He can get a breather round a bend whereas on these straight courses, he usually can't, but he just nicked enough today.”

Highfield Princess ran another brave race to be a 1 length back in second, and her trainer John Quinn was proud of her.

“Highfield Princess has run a fantastic race and she's a horse of two lifetimes,” he said.

Bradsell finished three-quarters of a length behind Highfield Princess in third. Commenting on his performance, his trainer Archie Watson said: “The draw had probably worked against us because the winner had blazed a trail and stuck on really well and that has probably favored Highfield Princess in our battle for second. Looking ahead, I would prefer to go to Ireland for the Flying Five Stakes (G1) and then America for the Breeders' Cup.”

Live In The Dream completed the 5-furlong contest in a time of 56:87 on ground listed as good to firm, good in places.

As part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, Breeders' Cup will pay the entry fees for Live In The Dream to start in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita, which will be run over 5 furlongs. Breeders' Cup will also provide a travel allowance for all starters based outside of North America to compete in the World Championships. The Challenge winner must be nominated to the Breeders' Cup program by the Championships' pre-entry deadline of Oct. 23 to receive the rewards.

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‘He Still Loves His Job’: 9-Year-Old C Z Rocket Enters O’Brien For Fourth Time

In a day and age when horses achieving a certain degree of success wind up in the breeding shed by the time they're four, it's refreshing when a horse comes along and bucks the trend.

Case in point, C Z Rocket. A 9-year-old gelding who will be running in the G2 Pat O'Brien for the fourth time this Saturday at Del Mar.

The son of City Zip ran in his first Pat O'Brien in 2020 and won, beating the likes of Flagstaff and Law Abidin Citizen. He returned the next year and ran second to Ginobili, a horse that would go on and run second to Life Is Good in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar.

Last year C Z Rocket ran eighth in the Pat O'Brien in what turned out to be the only blemish on a successful 8-year old campaign. It included a near miss in the G2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship and a runner-up finish to champion Elite Power in the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland.

“He's very sound and he still loves his job,” trainer Peter Miller says. “When he stops liking what he's doing and being energetic, then we'll deal with it but he amazes me.”

C Z Rocket has had some shining moments in his 41-race career. He served notice in 2020 when he finished second to Whitmore in the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland. He held his form into 2021 and was unbeatable at Oaklawn Park, defeating Whitmore not once, but in back-to-back races.

There also was the blanket finish with Dr. Schivel in the 2021 G1 Bing Crosby.

“We claimed him for $40,000 at Oaklawn (in 2020),” Miller says. “He ran bad that day and bled. We found a few things we thought could help him, fix him up. I think he won five in a row and he was off to the races.”

One of those wins was his victory in the G2 Pat O'Brien followed by his runner-up finish in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, then by his victories over Whitmore.

C Z Rocket has yet to reach the winners circle this year in six races. He did try the Golden Shaheen in Dubai and while that didn't go so well (he finished eighth) he did return to the states and run second to Dr. Schivel in an allowance race at Santa Anita in May followed by a runner-up finish to Spirit of Makena in the G2 Triple Bend.

Spirit of Makena is also entered in the Pat O'Brien. He's coming off of a terrible trip in the G1 Bing Crosby at Del Mar last month. The son of Ghostzapper got tangled up with other horses on the far turn and lost all chance, eventually finishing last.

“Horses came out and he was right behind them,” trainer George Papaprodromou says. “He clipped heels. Just bad timing.”

Coming into the Bing Crosby, Spirit of Makena was arguably one of the best sprinters on the West Coast having won three straight including the G3 San Carlos and the G2 Triple Bend. He was certainly a horse on the rise and Papaprodromou is hoping to regain some of that momentum Saturday.

They likely will all be chasing Brickyard Ride, who set the pace in the G2 San Diego before getting rundown late by Senor Buscador and Slow Down Andy, two horses pointing to the G1 Pacific Classic.

“It's the best place to be,” trainer Craig Lewis says of Brickyard Ride being on the lead. “They have to catch him. It's like robbing a bank. The police have to catch you. Sometimes they do.”

Few can run with Brickyard Ride out of the gate and he's shortening back to a one-turn race, which bodes well for his early speed.

“What's giving me confidence is he's won 13 races and eight stakes,” Lewis notes. “Unfortunately, the stakes were all won at Santa Anita so he might have a preference for Santa Anita but let's hope he gets loose.”

The G2 Pat O'Brien is a seven-furlong test for horses 3-years-old and up. It's the 10th race on the 11-race Saturday card. Approximate post time is 6:30 p.m.

Here's the field from the rail with jockeys and morning line odds: Moose Mitchell (Mario Gutierrez, 5-1); Go Joe Won (Jose Valdivia, Jr., 50-1); Hoist the Gold (Reylu Gutierrez, 12-1); Sir Atticus (Mike Smith, 5-1); C Z Rocket (Geovanni Franco, 8-1); Brickyard Ride (Juan Hernandez, 5-1); Spirit of Makena (Joe Bravo, 4-1); Visitant (Antonio Fresu, 8-1); Anarchist (Ramon Vasquez, 7-2); Vivir Con Alegria (Hector Berrios, 20-1), and Bye Bye Bobby (Drayden Van Dyke, 20-1).

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‘I’ve Had Good People Behind Me’: Brian Koriner Celebrates 1,000th Training Victory At Del Mar

Trainer Brian Koriner reached a career milestone on Thursday at Del Mar when his horse Diamond Bar Gal got up to win under jockey Juan Hernandez in the second race. It was victory number 1,000 for the 57-year-old conditioner who's been training Thoroughbreds since 1988.

“It's nice to get it out of the way,” Koriner says, “because people make a big deal out of it. I think it was only four starts after 999, so at least it didn't linger on for a long time. Only five days.”

Koriner's career as a trainer actually started with Quarter Horses, which he worked with for over 10 years, much of which was at Los Alamitos. He dabbled in Thoroughbreds during that time and made a fulltime commitment in 1997 up at Golden Gate Fields. At the time he wasn't thinking about 1,000 wins.

“Never thought about it,” Koriner says. “If you're in it long enough, I guess you can get there. You hope you can get to a thousand if you have any success at all.”

He's had plenty, posting annual earnings over $1 million 13 times.

“I've had good people behind me,” Koriner notes. “A lot of it was in Northern California. The last few years here have been slow. I don't know how many wins I have in a year. I think it's 50 and above so that's what got me there.

“That and playing hard ball claiming horses,” he continues. “I don't claim anymore, so it's slowed down. Most of our horses are straight maidens and we just run them through their conditions. When they run out of conditions it gets tough. You can drop them in and unload them but if you're not playing the claiming game it's hard to win a lot of races, I think.”

Koriner has 28 horses here at Del Mar.

“We're not overly stocked with big dollar horses,” he states.

He had one back in 2009 when he trained California Flag, a Cal-bred that won the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita. It earned him the California Thoroughbred and Breeders Association's Trainer of the Year honors. Ask Koriner his favorite win of the 1,000 and he doesn't hesitate with his answer.

“The Breeders' Cup with California Flag,” Koriner says. “I won the Vosburgh (at Belmont Park in New York) with Black Seventeen. That was pretty exciting. He was midstream in his career and loved an 'off' racetrack and ran his eyeballs out that day.”

That was in 2008, a few years after he shifted his base down to Southern California.

“Every win is fun,” Koriner continues. “I won that race yesterday and it was great but then I ran five through the day and that's how quick your day can turn around. You're excited and then the next few don't run that good; it ruins the whole day. I woke up this morning and said 'Wow, I won a race yesterday' then in the back of my mind I'm thinking 'That filly did that and that filly did that.' Now I have to go to the barn to see why it happened.”

It's that kind of dedication that has earned Koriner this special milestone and it's what will get him many more trips to the winners circle before he's done.

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