October, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

New York Commission Addresses Wagering Controversy From Saratoga Surface Change

Horseplayers reacted with frustration earlier this summer when a last-minute surface change impacted multi-race wagers on the Aug. 6 race card at Saratoga.

The track saw a fatal breakdown on the inner turf course in Race 4. After Race 5, New York Racing Association officials said the jockeys requested a meeting with the racing secretary to discuss the conditions of the turf course and expressed concerns about the course's safety. Afterward, Races 7, 9, and 10 were moved off the turf, which had a significant impact on bettors who had already placed multi-race wagers including those turf races. The change was announced as horses loaded into the gate for Race 6, the first leg of the late Pick 5.

The payout for the late Pick 5 that day was $25 for a 50-cent wager, after three legs of the wager defaulted to 'all' on active tickets.

NYRA CEO and president David O'Rourke appeared on NYRA's Talking Horses broadcast later in the week and indicated NYRA wanted to delay the start of the first leg to give horseplayers a chance to rework their bets but that request was denied by the stewards.

At a regularly-scheduled meeting of the New York State Gaming Commission on Oct. 3, executive director Robert Williams revealed that NYRA didn't make that request until two horses were already loaded in the gate for Race 6. The race was a maiden special weight contest for 2-year-olds.

“Nine fillies were entered and their histories find that seven of the nine had never run in a race before,” said Williams. “In other words, this was their first experience with a starting gate with other horses in front of spectators. The stewards, recognizing the fractious and unpredictable nature of inexperienced 2-year-olds, recognized that backing out the horses after two had already been loaded, and then delaying the start by the requested ten minutes was an unsafe practice. Hence, they declined to do so.

“The stewards appropriately put the safety of the horses, the gate crew, and the jockeys first.”

In the same Talking Horses interview, O'Rourke also indicated that NYRA wanted to refund all late Pick 5 wagers but was unable to do so and suggested this related to a decision by the stewards.

“NYRA could not cancel the entire wager and refund the tickets as all wagers were properly booked, and were being undertaken under existing rules,” said Williams. “A cancellation of the wagers would have disturbed the individuals who ultimately correctly picked the winners of the first and third legs. NYRA, had it chosen to do so, could have refunded using their own money, the full value of all patrons making wagers through account wagering.

“This is something they determined not to do.”

Williams noted that NYRA did later seed a late Pick 5 pool with $100,000 on Aug. 12.

The post New York Commission Addresses Wagering Controversy From Saratoga Surface Change appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Nyquist Colt Tops Final Session Of Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Fall Yearling Sale

The 2023 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Fall Yearling Sale concluded its two-session run Tuesday evening at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, Md.

A colt by Nyquist (Hip 160) topped the session and the sale when sold for $205,000 to Thorostock LLC & Seth Morris Thoroughbreds from the consignment of Becky Davis Inc., agent (video).

Out of the winning Not For Love mare How My Heart Works, the dark bay or brown colt is a half-brother to graded stakes placed Monday Morning QB, winner of last year's Maryland Million Classic, and a full sibling to Asawer, second runner up in this year's Group 3 U.A.E. Oaks. Hip 160 was bred in Maryland by Bowman & Higgins Stable.

Thorostock LLC & Seth Morris Thoroughbreds also teamed up for the session's second highest-priced yearling, going to $175,000 for a colt by Street Sense (Hip 376) from the consignment of Northview Stallion Station, agent.

The dark bay or brown colt is the second foal out of the stakes winning Jump Start mare Victory Rally, from the immediate family of graded stakes winners Who Did It and Run and Hangover Kid. Hip 376 was bred in Maryland by Sycamore Hall Thoroughbreds.

Rounding out the top five hips of the session were:

– A filly by Vekoma (Hip 368) out of Undisputed Legend, sold for $170,000 to Golden Lion Racing from the consignment of Northview Stallion Station, agent. The chestnut filly is a half-sister to seven winners, including graded stakes placed multiple stakes winner and near-millionaire Whereshetoldmetogo (El Padrino). Hip 368 was bred in Maryland by David H. Wade.

– A colt by Good Magic (Hip 342) out of Tap the Magic, sold for $155,000 to YNOT Stables from the consignment of Gracie Bloodstock, agent. The gray or roan colt is out of a winning full-sister to Grade 1 winner and millionaire Ring Weekend. Hip 342 was bred in Pennsylvania by Warrior's Reward LLC & Good Magic Syndicate.

– A colt by Maclean's Music (Hip 409) out of My Happy Place, sold for $145,000 to Scanlon Training and Sales from the consignment of Scott Mallory, agent. The dark bay or brown colt is the second foal out of a winning Tapit daughter of graded stakes winner My Happy Face, from the immediate family of Grade 1 winner Forest Danger. Hip 409 was bred in Kentucky by Hill N Dale Equine Holdings.

Over the course of two days, 289 yearlings sold for $7,078,000, good for an average of $24,491. The median was $12,000. The RNA rate was 21.4 percent.

Full results are available online.

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Six K’s Training And Sales Relocates To Woodford Thoroughbreds

Six K's Training and Sales, owned and operated by Scott Kintz and family, is relocating.

Founded in 2019, Six K's has run their operation from Midwest Thoroughbreds in Anthony, Fla., the past few years. They will be moving to Woodford Thoroughbreds in Reddick, Fla., which is a homecoming of sorts for Kintz as he worked for Woodford prior to starting his own training and sales company.

A lifelong horseman, Kintz also worked for Taylor Made Farm and Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm.

“I couldn't be happier to be moving back home,” said Kintz. “I came to Florida to work for Woodford and now we're taking Six K's back there. My son Nick, who is my assistant, grew up there and worked on the farm while in high school, so we both know the farm very well. We are grateful that Mr. (John) Sykes (owner of Woodford Thoroughbreds) has allowed us the opportunity to come to what I feel is the best farm in Florida and grow our business. I want to thank Mr. and Mrs. Papiese (Richard and Karen, owner of Midwest Thoroughbreds) and the entire staff at Midwest for our time there.”

Six K's plans to be up and running at their new location at Woodford Thoroughbreds by the end of this month.

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TB Makeover Puts Maryland-Breds On Display For Talbot Run

Partnerships in racing are nothing new. The days are upon us where programs are filled with syndicates and lists of names that can rival even the race entries themselves. It's a way to spread risk, cost and reward across multiple parties while increasing the comradery of racing. And while those partnerships are oftentimes consolidated in the form of a sale at the end of a horse's career, the 2023 Retired Racehorse Project's Thoroughbred Makeover event has given opportunity for new kinds of teams to form, even across industries.

Enter Gina Robb, trainer and co-owner of Maryland's No Guts No Glory Farm. The daughter of a jockey, Gina has spent her life around racing including marrying fellow trainer Jerry Robb. Together, the pair is responsible for $800,000-earner Anna's Bandit (Great Notion) who reported her first foal, a Tapit colt, this spring. Early this year, Gina had a quartet of horses ready to come off the track to pursue second careers along with a broodmare who'd been down on her reproductive luck and in need of perhaps a third career. Gina also had a teenage daughter conveniently taking lessons at Talbot Run Equestrian Center and, with the help of Talbot Run's head trainer Robin Petrasek, a new alliance was formed.

“I went to Robin [one day] and said 'hey, I've got a few off-track thoroughbreds and I'd really love to do something',” said Robb. “So we got together and I supplied the horses and Robin and I decided 'okay, let's try this.'

Next week, a team of five horses and riders from Talbot Run will travel to Kentucky to take on hundreds of other ex-racehorses across ten disciplines over a three-day event. Petrasek's program is a bit unique in that it has allowed each rider, the other four being amateurs, to train their own horses.

“We decided to kind of gear towards helping juniors learn how to retrain the horses,” said Petrasek. “So it's kind of a teaching and building program so that we can build up their interest in the industry and shine awareness on what it takes and where these horses came from.”

Seany P cleans up at the World Equestrian Center | Talbot Run Photo

The Talbot Run team, consisting of Petrasek, CC Forgione, Gretchen Wolfe, Chloe Pleune and Angelina Rosenthal, will display four Maryland-bred horses and one Kentucky-bred broodmare. Petrasek and her mount Seany P (Nicanor) will compete in Dressage and Freestyle while Forgione will take the full-brother to Anna's Bandit, Little Bold Bandit (Great Notion), in Competitive Trail. The other three riders will compete in the youth divisions: Wolfe aboard Vampish (Bodemeister) in the Broodmare division along with Eventing and Show Jumping, Pleune with Scintillio (Uncle Lino) also in Eventing and Show Jumping and Rosenthal, Gina Robb's daughter, with Belfour (Super Saver) in Eventing and Show Jumping as well.

“Gina provided us with five horses that have a high potential for sport,” added Petrasek. “It's not only been good in that aspect, but also that the horses have been very safe, especially for the kids to handle.”

“It's great we take these awesome horses into a second career,” continued Robb. “My husband retires them early before they're not able to do any of these things. And that's important because the other [entries], they have to sit on for a long time before they finally feel well enough.”

In speaking to the importance of the Makeover's new Broodmare division, Robb was nothing but complimentary.

“There are a lot of farms out there with mares like her [Vampish] and I think this division is going to be a God send. They're older, they've already raced and raised their babies and now we're setting them up for potentially a third career. It's exciting because people need to know that [these mares] can have another job. I'm very excited about it.”

And while the team has their work cut out for them in what will be large and competitive divisions in Kentucky, both women maintain that a safe, happy experience for all is the priority.

“Our main goal at the end of all this is to have safe horses for our lesson program,” said Petrasek. “The Makeover is an opportunity to showcase what they want to do but, no matter what the outcome is, they've all come so far with these horses. They hadn't done anything except race and now look at what they can do.”

Robb hopes a continuing alliance between track and barn will lead to an avenue of new youth into racing.

“I want these young kids to get into the business,” she admitted with a laugh. “We need to find some new-timers and let them see what it's like to do these things. I'm hoping it sparks them.”

Talbot Run had the pleasure of a behind-the-scenes tour of Laurel Park earlier this Spring and, from all accounts, Robb may have gotten her wish.

Vampish, Scintillo and Belfour at the Maryland State Fair TB Show | Talbot Run Photo

“Some of the girls have already signed up to come get a license to gallop horses when they're old enough,” she said. “I tell the moms that that's the best place to start. Riding in a ring is very different to riding on the track but these girls are very, very capable so they'll make the transition easier. I'd like to say I might have been able to bring an upcoming jockey on!”

The Thoroughbred Makeover, which runs from Oct. 11 to Oct. 14 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY, does allow trainers to also market their horses. But Talbot Run's entries will return home to Maryland where they'll join the lesson program and maybe just inspire next year's team and a new generation of racing fans.

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