September, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Welder, Shotgun Kowboy, Danny Caldwell Among Inductees To Oklahoma Hall Of Fame

The newest class for the Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame at Remington Park was inducted during the races Saturday night. The class included Welder, the all-time winningest horse at Remington Park, and the all-time winningest owner, Danny Caldwell of Poteau, Okla.

A group of four horses and Caldwell were honored between races. This group was the first to be added to the Hall of Fame for Thoroughbred achievements since 2017.

Welder – All-time winningest Horse at Remington Park

Welder racked up 16 career wins in Oklahoma City, to set the new standard for local scores, passing Highland Ice and Elegant Exxactsy, who each had 15. Ra-Max's streak of gray lightning became a three-time Remington Park Horse of the Meeting (2018-2020). No other horse has ever won it more than once. The late, great Clayton Rash of Claremore, Okla., campaigned Welder like a champion and passed away just a few months after his last race. Under the training of Teri Luneack, this gelded Oklahoma-bred son of The Visualiser from the Tiznow mare Dance Softly, amassed more than $1.2 million in earnings with $889,340 of it gained at Remington Park. He stands fifth on the all-time Oklahoma-bred earnings behind Kip Deville, Lady's Secret, Shotgun Kowboy and Clever Trevor.

“I just wish Clayton was here; it would have been icing on the cake for him,” said Luneack. “He would have been so proud. My favorite race here for Welder was the David Vance (Sprint) when he beat all the shippers from around the country. I was so happy to show Oklahoma-breds could beat Kentucky-breds and set the track record at six-furlongs that night.”

Welder won 12 of 13 races during his Horse of the Meeting seasons and won at distances from five furlongs to 6-1/2 furlongs in his career here.

“I think Clayton would just have said it was such an honor,” said his wife, Toni. “My favorite thing about Welder is the love Clayton and Teri had for him.”

Welder set the new Remington Park win mark, in what turned out to be his final victory before retirement, on Aug. 27, 2021. Welder also owns the Remington Park record for most stakes wins with 11.

Danny Caldwell – All-time winningest Owner

A resident of Poteau, Okla. and former high school educator and coach, Caldwell is the all-time leading owner by wins at Remington Park with 424 through Sept. 23. He was a coach at Panama (Okla.) High School in softball, football and basketball, taking his softball team to the state tournament seven times.

“Some 23 years ago, I was up there coaching my softball team,” he said, pointing at the Softball Hall of Fame field just up the hill from Remington Park. “Who would have thought 23 years later I'd be here, going into this Hall of Fame. I thought I might make into the Oklahoma high school Hall of Fame as a coach, but this is awesome. My mom is here and she rarely gets over, my wife (Allison), my family, and my partner Toby Keith, with all my friends.”

Caldwell went all-in for horse racing as the millennium started, using a business model of claiming horses, finding winning spots to race and elevating them if possible. Many of his claims went on to become stakes winners at Remington Park including Fifth Date and Dont Tell Noobody (Oklahoma Classics Cup winners), Rated R Superstar (two-time Governor's Cup winner) and Eurobond (Oklahoma Classics Sprint), among others.

Shotgun Kowboy – 2015 Oklahoma Derby Winner

Owned, trained and bred in Oklahoma by Hall of Famer C.R. Trout, Shotgun Kowboy became just the second state-bred horse to win the Oklahoma Derby. Prior to 2015, the only other to win the richest race at Remington Park was the legendary Clever Trevor in 1989.

“This brought back a lot of memories,” said Trout. “He really did well here, but he raced well all over the country.”

A multiple stakes winner at Remington Park, the gelded son of Kodiak Kowboy from the Siphon (Brz) mare Shotgun Jane, left the sprint ranks to win his derby and won 11 of his 15 triumphs between distances of 1 mile-70 yards and 1-1/8 miles. Shotgun Kowboy won the Oklahoma Classics Cup a record four times (2015, 2017-2019). He won 10 times at Remington Park with two seconds and four thirds, finishing off the board only once in 17 Oklahoma City starts. A career earner of more than $1.5 million, Shotgun Kowboy almost reached a million at Remington Park, piling up $982,020. He was retired by Trout at the end of the 2019 campaign.

Slide Show – Nearly Perfect Stakes-winning Filly

A superstar filly in the early years of Remington Park, Slide Show almost completed an undefeated career in Oklahoma City. Owned by Joe Colley and Deanne White, Slide Show burst onto the scene a winning 2-year-old in 1993. Trained by Wade White, the Oklahoma-bred daughter of Slewacide from the Silent Screen broodmare Screen Landing, won 11 consecutive races at Remington Park from 1993 to 1995, including seven stakes races.

“I remember all her Oklahoma Classics wins because it was always around my birthday,” said Reid Colley, Joe's son. “Her second in the Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn (in Hot Springs, Ark.) sticks in my memory as well. Dad had a lot of winners in the Classics including Harry N Jerry. The one thing that Dad told me that was impressive was that Berry Gordy, the legendary Motown music producer made an offer on Slide Show once but he turned him down.”

Among the big-money scores for Slide Show were three Oklahoma Classics events, the Lassie (1993), the Distaff (1994) and a victory over males in the Classics Cup (1995). Slide Show only tasted defeat once at Remington Park, in her 12th and final start here. Slide Show earned $215,306 in her 12 Remington Park attempts. Overall, she won 12 of 25 career starts with five seconds and two thirds for total earnings of $347,917, competing from 1993-1996.

Darrell Darrell – Versatile Stakes-winning Sprinter from early 1990s

A fan favorite from 1990 to 1996, Darrell Darrell racked up sprint victories against fellow Oklahoma-breds, and in open company. Triumphant at sprint measures from 5-1/2 to 7 furlongs, Darrell Darrell even won a 1,000-yard match race in the “Rumble at Remington” in June 1993 when he defeated EJ Cash Bo, an American Quarter Horse, by one length.

Owned by Jean Dillard of Ringling, Okla. and trained during his finest years by Normie Thomas, Jr., Darrell Darrell was by Boca Rio from the King's Bishop mare Harrys Queen. He finished in the money in 25 of 28 Remington Park starts with 14 local victories and local earnings of $328,155, an astronomical amount for the early 1990s. Overall, Darrell Darrell won 24 career races from 54 starts, making more nearly $600,000.

“Lordy, was he magnificent,” said Jean Dillard's daughter Katarina, fighting back tears. “He was strong and personable and had a great life. Mother took great care of him.”

The post Welder, Shotgun Kowboy, Danny Caldwell Among Inductees To Oklahoma Hall Of Fame appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘Stepped Up the Quality’: Fasig-Tipton California Sale Tuesday

The one-day Fasig-Tipton California Fall Yearlings and Horses of Racing Age sale, which has firmly established its spot on the calendar for West Coast buyers, will get underway Tuesday, Sept. 26 at the Fairplex Sales Pavilion near Pomona. Expectations for the sale, now in its fifth edition, continue to grow every year.

“If you race in California, you have to have Cal-breds in your barn,” said Fasig-Tipton's California representative and former California-based trainer Mike Machowsky. “You need a balance in your stables and a lot of trainers and owners realize that. If you want Cal-breds, this is about the only place where you can find them. California has a really great program and if a horse is good enough to advance out to open company, the benefits are huge.

“Breeders in California have really the last few years stepped up the quality of mares they've purchased and brought to California,” Machowsky continued. “If you look at the racing in general out here, Cal-breds are very important to the whole market out here. It works best when people own Cal-breds to balance out their whole stable.”

The one-day sale features a catalogue of 283 yearlings and 60 horses of racing age. Saturday's California-bred GI Cotillion S. winner at Parx–Ceiling Crusher (Mr. Big)–was a $115,000 RNA out of the horses of racing age portion of last year's sale as a 2-year-old. Her 4-year-old full-sister, Cashing Big Checks (Hip 315), sells in the racing age portion this year. Excel Bloodstock consigns the four-time winner.

Among the stallions represented at the sale this year are Kentucky leaders Bolt d'Oro, Ghostzapper, Good Magic, Hard Spun, Kitten's Joy, Maclean's Music, Mitole, Practical Joke, and Vino Rosso, while California stalwarts Clubhouse Ride, Grazen, Mr. Big, Sir Prancealot (Ire), Smiling Tiger, and Stay Thirsty are also a presence.

“I think this year's catalogue is just as strong or stronger than last year's,” said Machowsky. “There's some really interesting young sires and Kentucky sires with their first-crop yearlings. It'll be interesting to see how they size up and how they look.”

The 2022 sale featured 14 six-figure lots, led by a $250,000 Mr. Big filly. A total of 205 horses grossed $6,257,100 with a $30,522 average and a median of $17,000. Machowsky has been busy gauging interest in this year's renewal.

“I've been passing out catalogues, reaching out to trainers and a lot of the buyers. With Keeneland wrapped up, a lot of people out here are waiting for this sale. It's a strong catalogue with a lot of Kentucky-sired Cal-breds out here eligible for the great California program.”

California racing has faced some uncertainty in recent months with the upcoming closure of Golden Gate Fields. In July, 1/ST Racing announced the Northern California track would close its doors at the end of 2023, but it now appears Golden Gate will be able to continue through mid-2024. How does the anticipated closure impact the Fasig-Tipton sale?

“I think we'll be fine; we always get some support from there with trainers and owners,” said Machowsky. “It looks like Golden Gate has been extended through June now and with the fairs filling in, we'll see how that all transpires. Will there be year-round racing up there? I don't know, but they're trying to work something out.

“I don't see it affecting [this sale] a whole lot, honestly. Fingers crossed. If you've got an interest in racing Cal-breds, this is the sale.”

Bidding opens Tuesday at 11 a.m. PST.

“We make it easy for people who have an interest [even if they can't attend in person],” said Machowsky. “Everything is very detailed on the website and there's a lot of ways to bid online.”

The post ‘Stepped Up the Quality’: Fasig-Tipton California Sale Tuesday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Churchill Maiden Winner You Ain’t Poppn Gritty Since Birth

When You Ain't Poppn (Bolt d'Oro) fought his way to a first-out victory at Churchill Downs Saturday night, it was no surprise to longtime Mulholland Springs farm manager Jesus Pinales, who had already witnessed the colt overcome much more than his 4-1 debut odds. Bred by Carlos Rafael and out of Eyepopnruby (Take Me Out), the 3-year-old was born at Mulholland Springs, but what started as a normal foaling on the evening of Apr. 5, 2020 soon took a dramatic turn.

“I called Martha Jane and John Henry [Mulholland] and told them we had a foaling,” Pinales recalled. “We all showed up at the barn and I went through the same protocol that we do with all of them–check front feet, head, everything normal. But by the time the baby was a quarter out, his shoulders come out, we started having some real issues with the baby being stuck in the mare. We were on the phone with Carlos Rafael and he started getting nervous. We had to hang up with him and start to do our job.”

Pinales spent the next 10 minutes trying to make sure the foal had enough oxygen while attempting to extricate him from the mare.

“We were ready to go to the hospital, but it's hard to pick up a mare on the ground with the baby half inside and out, so we had to do the job here [at the farm] before we brought the foal to the hospital,” Pinales said. “So I had a few other options–use my tricks–I think everybody on different kind of farms have their own tricks. Finally we got the baby out. By that time, I can tell you that he was maybe 90% dead, basically. Martha asked me what I thought. And I said, 'He's going to live, he's going to live.' And in the end, another 10 minutes, you can see this baby open his eyes. It was unbelievable. He opened his eyes and finally took a deep breath. Five minutes later, with the oxygen and everything, that baby was like nothing had happened. He was normal.”

Once the colt was out of danger, Pinales admitted, “I was tired. Everybody was tired. We see one or two or three cases a year like that when you foal 70 mares. That wasn't normal that this baby stayed for so long in the mare. But when he opened his eyes, it was the best thing to happen to me in my life since I've been foaling mares for 10 years. It's a really nice feeling.”

The colt spent his first week in the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital.

“When he came out of the hospital, he was another horse,” Pinales said. “Typically when babies take this long to wake up, sometimes the lungs are affected. You never know. He was completely 100% normal, like nothing had happened. That's when I told Carlos and Martha Jane that we had a chance with this baby to go to the sales. Because he was a beautiful foal.”

You Ain't Poppn spent the next four months at Mulholland Springs before shipping back to Rafael's farm. He eventually made it to upstate New York where he sold for $200,000 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, but he was always on Pinales's radar.

“I have him on my phone like the rest of our babies,” Pinales said. “I like to see the first start, I try to see all of them, but it's a lot. So it popped up on my phone and I was watching the race.”

You Ain't Poppn broke alertly in his six-furlong debut Saturday and sat just off the early pace while under a strong hold. He pulled his way into contention with a three-wide move into the lane and drove to the lead in the shadow of the wire (video).

“To be honest, I don't bet because I don't like to bet money,” Pinales said. “But in the end, I was so proud and so happy. There were a lot of feelings when you see a horse that almost died as a baby and he comes and wins his first race.”

Of the fight the colt showed in the closing strides Saturday, Pinales said, “I think that's the heart that the horse has. It's part of all of this. I hope he can win more races and I would like to see him in the future in a stakes race.”

Pinales, meanwhile, has a storybook story of his own. He arrived in Kentucky from his native Mexico as a 16-year-old and found himself at Mulholland Springs.

“I had zero experience with horses when I came here,” Pinales said with a laugh. “I didn't know how to put a chain on a horse. But [the breeding industry] was where the job was, especially in Lexington, it's the most popular place to find a job. John and Martha gave me a chance. And I am going to be appreciative all the time.”

Pinales is celebrating 19 years working at Mulholland Springs, the last 10 as farm manager.

Asked if his 16-year-old self had ever thought he would be manager of the farm, Pinales said, “Never. It was difficult, back in the day when I saw Martha Jane and John Henry running the farm, I thought it looked so difficult. I told them I don't know how you guys do this. And now, after learning from them, it's not an easy job, but knowing they trusted me, I knew I had to learn quickly. Now we have a good team here. I have a good relationship with Martha and John Henry. He's like my brother and she's like my mom.”

After watching You Ain't Poppn win Saturday, Pinales did admit to having one small regret.

“Carlos and all of the guys here at the farm named the foal Jesus,” Pinales said laughingly. “And I told Carlos, 'Please tell the new owner to name him like me.' He said, 'Well, I am going to try.'”

The colt may not be named after the man who saved his life as a foal, but he is still doing Pinales proud.

“I was so proud to see a horse with this beginning go and win some races,” he said.

The post Churchill Maiden Winner You Ain’t Poppn Gritty Since Birth appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

“If People Back Us, We Can Deliver” – Top-Tier Yearlings On Offer At Goffs Orby

With great trust comes responsibility and nobody knows that better than Henry Beeby. After throwing down the gauntlet to the breeders of Ireland to support this year's Goffs Orby with their top-tier yearlings, Beeby has assembled what he describes as the strongest catalogue for this sale in his 41 years working for the company.

Along with some of the major farms in Ireland–your Glenvales, Camas Parks, Barodas, Tally-Hos, Ballylinches and more–Philip Stauffenberg is here. Consigning at the Orby Sale for the first time, Stauffenberg Bloodstock will offer the Kingman (GB) half-brother to Skitter Scatter (Scat Daddy), who lit up the foal sales here in November when selling to the German native for €550,000.

But it's not all about the Kingman colt. Stauffenberg will also offer a Masar (Ire) filly out of his beloved mare Frangipani (Ger), producer of the brilliant German Derby winner Fantastic Moon (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}).

Already named Fire And Ice (Ger), the presence of that Masar filly and the Kingman colt, along with the Sottsass (Fr) filly Stauffenberg has brought to the Orby, can be viewed as a major vote of confidence to Goffs.

As far as Stauffenberg is concerned, he has no doubt that, given the right horses, Goffs is as equipped as anyone at selling yearlings of the highest standard.

Speaking alongside his wife Marion at their base in Barn C, he said, “Our connection with Goffs goes back many years and we have been very lucky here. It was a special wish of Marion's to bring the sister to Fantastic Moon here. The family has been wonderful to us and Marion said that, if the filly is to go to a sale, then it would be at Goffs. They have proven they can sell the horses when they get the right ammunition.”

Marion Stauffenberg added, “I know Goffs very well and I love it here. I have bought my best horses here and have sold very good horses here through Eimear Mulhern. I have just spoken to two agents and they have said that the quality of the horses here is really up.”

Beeby shared that the feedback he was receiving from the buyers and sellers on the ground to be similarly positive, which is good, given he went on to explain how he couldn't remember a stronger book of yearlings assembled for the Orby Sale in over four decades working for the company.

He said, “When you get somebody like Philip Stauffenberg coming here for the first time, and coming here with his best horse, that's a huge vote of confidence. It's a huge trust but it's also a huge responsibility. Then there's Dermot Cantillon of Tinnakill House with his Sea The Stars (Ire) half-sister to State Of Rest (Ire). He's here with the best horse he's ever bred–by his own admission.

“You've also got the sister to Saffron Beach (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) from Ballylinch Stud belonging to the China Horse Club and they've also chosen Goffs. Those are only three horses and, on paper, it's as good an Orby Sale that I can remember. All of that is for better judges than me to say but the feedback has been very, very consistent that we have assembled a solid bunch of horses.”

“The most exciting pedigree in the catalogue is matched by the physical,” – Jeremy Brummit

Beeby added, “It's hard not to keep coming out with the same things on the eve of a sale; you hope for the best and all of that kind of stuff. But, the closer you get to a sale, you do twitch because I do genuinely feel the responsibility.

“For those two, two-and-a-half minutes, we are handling what could decide some people's year, or maybe even longer. We know there are alternatives and that people could say, 'well, why haven't you gone to other places to sell your horse.' That's a reasonable thing to say. But that's what makes the market in Britain and Ireland so vibrant, that there is strong competition between the sales companies. It's a big deal for us to get the big horses and we take it very seriously.”

And the Orby is jam-packed full of serious horses. The second lot into the ring on Tuesday is an American Pharoah half-sister to Onesto (Ire) (Frankel {GB}). Lot 8 is a Kodiac (GB) half-brother to The Lir Jet (Ire) (Prince Of Lir {Ire}), 12 a Wootton Bassett (GB) filly out of a sister to Saxon Warrior (Jpn), 16 a brother to California Spangle (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) while lot 27 is another who has the potential of hitting the heights early on in the session by being a Wootton Bassett filly out of a sister to Midday (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}).

There are big-ticket lots right throughout the catalogue. From Stauffenberg's duo to the Sea The Stars (Ire) half-sister to State Of Rest (Ire) (Starspangledbanner) [48] from Tinnakill House and Ballylinch Stud's sister to Saffron Beach [356], there are countless potential headline-makers in the sale. There are also plenty more bubbling with intrigue.

The Night Of Thunder (Ire) half-sister to Lucky Vega (Ire) [37], Staffordstown's Sea The Moon (Ger) half-brother to Sandrine (GB) [78], the Mehmas (Ire) half-brother to River Tiber (Ire) (Wootton Bassett) [150] and the Camelot (GB) half-brother to Poetic Flare (GB) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) [500] could also make waves.

Jeremy Brummit | Goffs

But for esteemed bloodstock agent Jeremy Brummit, there was little doubt in his head about what the best horse he'd seen on the sale ground during inspections was.

“The most exciting pedigree in the catalogue is matched by the physical,” he said of Saffron Beach's sister, before adding, “it's rare that happens.” Brummit went on to describe the quality of the Orby Sale to be on the rise year after year, to which Beeby later attributed to the confidence placed in the sales house by the Irish breeders.

He explained, “It's a credit to the Irish breeders. We have very directly said to a whole range of Irish breeders that we are the Irish national yearling sale. Everything is set up right. We have put our heart and soul into it-money, time and effort-and have expanded our team. For example, our recruitment team is significantly bigger than what it was a few years ago. But we can't do it without the horses and, if people back us, we can deliver. Thankfully, we've had a good run in the sales ring and on the racetrack.”

Beeby added, “Success breeds success but it also breeds confidence. It's all down to the breeders. I'm part of the team that goes around looking at the horses and every year we are getting a greater share of the top-tier yearlings in Ireland. I really believe that and, similarly to what Jeremy said, a lot of key figures have come up to me over the past few days to say that we have assembled a better bunch of horses again. When you put all of that together with the number of people on the ground, you would have to be very hopeful of a good sale.

“It's like the old Avis advert from years ago, 'when you are number two you try harder.' We know where we are and we know what we have to do and how we can do better. We are always reaching and striving to be better. We have an ambitious team of people here at Goffs. This is my 41st year in this business and I love it.”

One of the major subplots to the Orby Sale in recent years has been the strength of the American buyers and, with familiar faces like Ben McElroy and first-time visitors like Phillip Shelton of Medallion Racing on the ground, that presence is expected to be as strong as ever this week.

Beeby said, “Jacob West [American agent for Goffs] has been an outstanding appointment for us. Tom Taaffe and Hayley O'Connor have also been out to America quite regularly and got around to everybody to promote the sale. Success breeds success and people keep coming back. Happily, the people who have travelled over from America in recent years have spread the word about the sale. We've invested a lot of time and resources in making sure that they are looked after and they play a huge role in this sale.”

Few trainers have exemplified the value on offer at the Goffs Orby Sale quite like Paddy Twomey has in recent times. Twomey ripped up the playbook in sending out One Look (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) to win the Goffs Million by a scorching six lengths on debut at the Curragh on Saturday.

The Golden-based trainer shared how, along with One Look, Leopardstown maiden winner Juxtaposition (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) was picked up out of this sale by Kevin Connolly and Cormac McCormack for just €150,000 combined 12 months ago. The pair are worth a whole pile more 12 months on.

Twomey said, “I had never met Kevin before this sale last year. He bought two horses, Juxtaposition, who won the first mile maiden of the year at Leopardstown, and who has since been sold to Hong Kong. The other one was One Look, who won the Million on debut. It was through Cormac McCormack that I was introduced to him and he asked me to train them for him. The Connollys are a very famous racing family and Kevin trained in China, Macau and Australia.”

He added, “We turn up to all of the yearling sales and try to find the horses we'd like to train and buy them at the best value we can. Sales is something I have been around all my life and I have been lucky at Goffs. The job is to try and find the next ones this week.”

The post “If People Back Us, We Can Deliver” – Top-Tier Yearlings On Offer At Goffs Orby appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post