Month: October 2023

Justify’s Hard to Justify Punches Breeders’ Cup Ticket in Miss Grillo

Hard to Justify (f, 2, Justify–Instant Reflex, by Quality Road) punched her ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf with a 7-1 upset in Wednesday's rescheduled 'Win and You're In' GII Miss Grillo S. at the Big A.

She sat a stalking trip in second and turned up the heat on the far turn. The bay stuck her head in front in the stretch and dug down deep to get the money by 3/4 of a length. Life's an Audible (Audible) was second; Whimsically (Uncle Mo) was third.

Hard to Justify, a narrow debut winner after overcoming a troubled trip in her unveiling over the Saratoga lawn July 23, becomes the 13th graded winner for Justify and ninth Miss Grillo winner for trainer Chad Brown.

Wednesday, Aqueduct
MISS GRILLO S.-GII, $200,000, Belmont The Big A, 10-4, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 1:43.92, fm.
1–HARD TO JUSTIFY, 120, f, 2, by Justify
                1st Dam: Instant Reflex (GSP), by Quality Road
                2nd Dam: Without Delay, by Seeking the Gold
                3rd Dam: Slow Down, by Seattle Slew
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($190,000
Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Wise Racing LLC; B-Yeguada Centurion S.L.
(KY); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Flavien Prat. $110,000. Lifetime
Record: 2-2-0-0, $167,750.
2–Life's an Audible, 120, f, 2, Audible–Catkins, by Data Link.
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($25,000 Wlg '21
KEENOV; $90,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP; $200,000 2yo '23 OBSMAR).
O-Repole Stable; B-Susan Moulton (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher.
$40,000.
3–Whimsically, 118, f, 2, Uncle Mo–Coming Attraction, by
Tapit. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($180,000
Ylg '22 FTSAUG). O-Haymarket Farm LLC, Ingordo, David,
Manganaro Bloodstock, LBD Stable LLC & Diamond T Racing;
B-Audley Farm Equine, LLC (VA); T-Cherie DeVaux. $24,000.
Margins: HF, 1, 2 3/4. Odds: 7.30, 12.70, 59.75.
Also Ran: Gala Brand, Memorialize, Gold Lightning, Later Darling, Sierra Sky, Steel Lute, Dancing Spirit, Camila T (Ire). Scratched: Appellate. Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Breeders’ Cup Challenge Pick Six Set For Oct. 7

Santa Anita Park, which will host this year's Breeders' Cup World Championships for a record 11th time Nov. 3 and 4 and storied Keeneland Racecourse, site of last year's Breeders' Cup, have announced that both tracks will combine to present the Keeneland/Santa Anita Breeders' Cup Challenge Pick 6 to players nationwide on Saturday, Oct. 7.

A traditional $1 Pick 6 with a player-friendly 15% takeout, the Keeneland/Santa Anita Breeders' Cup Challenge Pick 6 will include the following Breeders' Cup “Win & You're In” Challenge Race qualifiers and be offered in this order:

 

Thoroughbred Club of America (KEE)–4:12 p.m. ET

Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (KEE)–5:14 p.m. ET

Coolmore Turf (KEE)–5:45 p.m. ET

American Pharoah S. (SA)

Chandelier S. (SA )

Rodeo Drive S. (SA)

 

“We are excited to offer a compelling bet for the horseplayer,” said Nate Newby, Santa Anita Senior Vice President and General Manager. “It's going to be a can't-miss sequence combining Breeders' Cup Challenge Races at both Keeneland and Santa Anita with a player-friendly 15% takeout.”

Players are advised that the Keeneland/Santa Anita Breeders' Cup Challenge Pick 6 will be listed as a separate wager/track on all tote and ADW platforms as:  Keeneland Santa Anita Pick 6 (KEE/SAP Pick 6).

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Is The Derby Purse Fair? More Opinion from Readers

In the Sept. 30 edition of the Thoroughbred Daily News, we ran an interview with John Sikura  (Sikura: No Simple Solutions for a Fractured Sport, TDN, Sept. 27) in which he raised questions about the funding mechanism and purse of the Kentucky Derby. In Tuesday's TDN, industry insiders weighed in with their own commentary. Today, we publish additional opinions on the subject.

Scott Heider, owner

It made me smile recently when I saw my friend John Sikura shared his opinions in the TDN. Similar to the ongoing discussions we have on the equine industry (and also plenty of non-industry topics), John has gained some real wisdom over the last few decades. But but he's always open to new ideas and he's far from stuck in his ways, which is why he's succeeded and will continue to do so. John's opinions the other day contained some great nuggets including his view on Churchill Downs and The Derby. I will submit that money does not by itself fix problems and I know John very much agrees with this, too. It doesn't work this way in business (perhaps short term occasionally), and it certainly doesn't work this way in philanthropic endeavors. We'd have largely eradicated poverty and poor school systems in this country by now if it did. What it does take in the public and private sectors is leadership. Leadership that has vision and is willing to do whatever it takes to provide its clients with an experience and/or product that they want more of, not less. Leadership that inspires others, both within a company and within an industry, to raise their games and be better. It's largely what this country is built on. I think most of us either live this or at least fully understand and appreciate it.

Churchill Downs is a publicly traded company, and that, in and of itself, is not an issue. Churchill Downs is a very important player in the industry. They are stewards of two of the most important race days our sport offers each year. Two incredibly visible worldwide race days that can and absolutely should represent everything that makes this amazing sport what it is today. In some ways, they do shine a proper light on our sport for these 48 hours and should be commended for the constant reinvestment that takes place. In other ways, they fail pretty spectacularly for all the reasons we know all too well.

Churchill Downs, a storied brand in our industry and a high visibility player that should be setting the proper tone for the sport itself, is not playing long ball. Far from it, in my opinion. That is the real issue. Everything else, from purses to engagement with industry participants to fan experiences, follows. Can it change and what would it take to embrace a larger role as a high-profile industry leader? That's unclear, but I do know we must have Churchill Downs in this role. Can you imagine for a moment if Augusta National adopted a similar mentality to Churchill for its presentation of The Masters? I can't, either.

Rick Dawson, Owner, Rich Strike

In the weeks leading up to Kentucky Derby #148 in 2022, and even after Rich Strike was fortunate enough to make it into the race at the last minute, the value of the purse never entered my mind. Not once.

Winning the most prestigious horse race in the world, in my opinion, was more gratifying than any purse amount.

As for Rich Strike, he's returning to full training with Bill Mott in the next couple of weeks. GO RICHIE!

Larry Kerr, Fan and Gambler, Miami, Florida

Why would anyone be surprised that Churchill Downs Inc.(CDI) has not raised the Kentucky Derby purse in years, that said purse is woefully inadequate and that CDI does not seem to really care, as they know they will get a full starting gate year after year?

After all, this is the same corporate entity that does not even allow the Daily Racing Form to be sold under the Twin Spires.

CDI could care less about what is good for the game. They only care about themselves and their shareholders.

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Palmer: ‘PET Scan Not Appropriate As Initial Screening Tool’

New York State Equine Medical Director Dr. Scott Palmer has described Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan as a “fantastic diagnostic tool” and that “it can play a very important role” in helping to identify and pinpoint subtle musculoskeletal injuries in horses, but that the scan is not the best initial screening tool in singling out horses at risk for catastrophic injuries.

Palmer addressed the issue during an equine health and safety briefing held at Tuesday's meeting of the New York State Gaming Commission and also offered some preliminary findings  on the 17 equine fatalities recorded during this summer's Saratoga meeting.

“Identification of horses at risk for catastrophic injury must begin with a screening protocol that can be scalable, practical, affordable, and can be used by every horse while training or racing without regard to any clinical indication of injury,” Palmer said in revised comments issued Wednesday. “Wearable biometric sensors are best suited to accomplish this first level of screening. These sensors detect subtle abnormalities in a horse's gait that are not detectable with the human eye. They serve as a 'check engine' light that alerts us to the possibility that there is something wrong with the horse and that the horse should be examined by a veterinarian.

“The veterinary examination is the second level of screening for an abnormality that might predispose a horse to injury. The goal is to reach a diagnosis of musculoskeletal abnormalities and typically will include use of diagnostic nerve blocks and digital radiography. If lameness is detected in a limb during this examination and digital radiographs are inconclusive, then advanced imaging such as PET can be employed as a final screening step in this process.

“In summary, PET can play a very important role in the diagnosis of subtle musculoskeletal injuries in horses, but it is not useful at the initial screening level,” he concluded.

Palmer added that biometric sensors placed in horses' saddlecloths that can help identify at-risk animals, are “not quite ready for 'prime time' use” at this time.

In referencing the 17 Saratoga fatalities–a number that is approximately 1% of the 2000 horses stabled at the track but three times higher than 2021 and 2022–Palmer noted that the incidents were clustered around Whitney and Travers weekends. He added that fetlock injuries, typically responsible for 48-50% of fatal musculoskeletal injuries in New York and California over the last decade, represented 92% of all the exercise-associated fatal musculoskeletal injuries at Saratoga, a “significant finding” in Palmer's estimation.

Twelve of the 13 exercise-associated injuries occurred either during the final furlongs of the race or during the gallop out, suggesting that fatigue was also a contributing factor.

Palmer explained that the unprecedented 11 inches of rain that fell during the meet–compared to nine inches in 2021 and 8 inches in 2022–had a material impact on the consistency of the racing surfaces. During the meet, there were 65 surface changes (16%) compared to just 17 (4%) in 2022. With those facts in mind, “increased moisture in the Saratoga main dirt track and spatial and temporal variation of the moisture content of the track during the meet were likely contributing factors to the increase in the number of racing fatalities.”

A comprehensive report of the investigation will be made available to the public as soon as the investigation is complete.

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