November, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Letter to the Editor: `Give The Jockey Club to the Industry’

It is time for Stuart Janney to make his greatest gift to racing.

On Sunday afternoon, I received a text from a colleague alerting me that I should tune into 60 Minutes later that night to watch their feature, “Horse Racing Reform?”

Never before has it been more clear that as the sun begins to set on 2023, we are well past time to modernize the structure of The Jockey Club to make it accountable to all Thoroughbred industry stakeholders. The Jockey Club ought to be a fair representation of the industry and the industry should guide its future. No one man or family should have absolute control over The Jockey Club. In the current climate, it is no longer acceptable for industry participants to be kept in complete darkness.

We implore you, Mr. Janney, to give the greatest gift to those of us still in love with the greatest game by taking the CLUB out of the Club. Eliminate the secrecy. Change the structure of The Jockey Club so that industry stakeholders have the opportunity to elect the members and board who may in turn control the finances, agenda, and direction of the industry with a transparency beneficial to all.

Mr. Janney, give The Jockey Club to the industry.

–Max Hodge

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Walk In The Park Colt Brings Six Figures At Fairyhouse

The market demand for National Hunt foals remains strong, as the third session concluded on Tuesday with a colt by Walk In The Park (Ire) bringing €100,000 from Gerry Aherne and Charles Shanahan.

Sold as lot 509 from the consignment of Oliver Loughlin, the bay is out of Posh Trish (Ire) (Stowaway {GB}), a listed winner. Posh Trish was originally sold by Loughlin for €1,200 at the 2013 November NH Sale. He is one of nine foals to sell north of €80,000 over the sale so far, with only four achieving that milestone over the whole sale in 2022.

“As soon as this colt was born I thought I might hit the jackpot as he has looked a star from the start,” said Loughlin. “He is an image of her, a baby of her.”

He added of Walk In The Park as the second mate of Posh Trish, who he picked back up for €118,000 out of the 2020 November National Hunt Sale, “He is a good stallion, she was a good mare and the plan is always to bred the best to the best.”

“For us he is the best foal here,” said Aherne. “We probably will race him, but not yet decided for sure. The mare was very good and is very good-looking. Oliver is a good breeder and we have been lucky with him before.”

A colt by Kapgarde (Fr) (lot 643) from Clonbonny Stud attracted a winning bid of €92,000 from Jamie Codd later in the day. The first foal of the winning hurdler Cushuish (GB) (Yeats {Ire}), the colt's second dam is Grade 2-winning chaser My Petra (GB) (Midnight Legend {GB}). His dam is also a half-sister to Grade 1 hurdler My Drogo (GB) (Milan {GB}).

“We'll get him home before we make a plan, but he has all the options,” said Codd. “He could go racing, or he could end up coming back here to the Derby Sale. We had to stretch to get him, but he's a lovely horse and is the only one by the sire in the sale.”

Rounding out the top three was a €90,000 son of Nathaniel (Ire) (lot 722) from Peel Hall Stables. NBB Racing and Joey Logan picked up the third foal of Grade 2 Cheltenham winner Limini (Ire) (Pentre Celebre). Limini was also placed four times at the highest level over jumps.

“The foal is initially going stay in Ireland with Joey but will go to France as a racing prospect–hopefully he will make up into a good juvenile hurdler,” said NBB Racing's Nicolas Bertran de Balanda. “He is very racy and correct.”

At the end of day three, 173 lots of 234 offered (74%) sold for a gross of €4,283,500. The average stayed flat at €24,760, while the median rose 5% to €21,000.

The fourth session, containing National Hunt-bred foals, will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

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Cigar Mile, Pegasus Among Next Options For Senor Buscador

Following a seventh-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Classic, Todd Fincher trainee Senor Buscador is being aimed at the $500,000 Cigar Mile on Dec. 2 at Aqueduct Racetrack, according to bloodhorse.com.

“It's a grade 2 and he probably likes the one-turn better so we're going to try that,” Fincher told bloodhorse.com. “The Pegasus would be next if everything goes well.”

The Pegasus World Cup, offering a purse of $3 million for older horses going 1 1/8 miles, will be held at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 27.

Senor Buscador boasts two graded stakes wins on his resume: the G3 Ack Ack at Churchill in 2022, and the G2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar in 2023. Overall, the 5-year-old son of Mineshaft has won six of his 15 career starts for earnings of $823,427.

Senor Buscador is a third generation homebred for the Peacock family; the intact horse is out of the Desert God mare Rose's Desert, a multiple stakes-winning New Mexico-bred also trained by Fincher.

West Virginia Commission Fines Trainer Ronney Brown $1,000 For Clenbuterol Positive

Currently the second-leading trainer at Charles Town, Ronney Brown has been handed a $1,000 fine after one of his trainees tested positive for clenbuterol. The veteran conditioner also received a 15-day suspension from the West Virginia Racing Commission, but those days were stayed on the basis that he not have another violation through May 09, 2024.

The ruling, posted on the Association of Racing Commissioners International website, indicates that Caribbean Pleasure returned a positive test for clenbuterol after winning the first race on Aug. 4. The 3-year-old gelding's blood sample showed clenbuterol at a concentration level of 1,520 +/- 140 picograms per mL; the post-race level of detection set out in the West Virginia regulations is 140 pg/ml. Brown availed himself of his right to split sample testing; the second blood sample showed clenbuterol at a concentration level of 1,788 +/- 147 picograms per mL.

Brown told the commission that he has never used or had any of his horses treated with Clenbuterol, since the withdrawal guidelines were changed to 14 days in West Virginia. This was named in addition to three other mitigating factors when considering Brown's penalty:

This is Brown's first medication violation of any kind since 2017.
Clenbuterol is a Class 3 drug, which, pursuant to 178 W. Va. C.S.R. 1, section 49.2.d, “may influence performance, but generally have a more limited ability to do so.”
The drug clenbuterol is legally available.

Caribbean Pleasure was disqualified from the victory, with purse money ordered returned. Brown was fined $1,000, and a 15-day suspension was stayed; the trainer was also sanctioned with 2 Multiple Medication Violation Points added to his record.

West Virginia is not currently subject to regulation of the national Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, due to ongoing legal disputes. However, under HISA regulations, clenbuterol is classified as a banned substance, and thus Brown would have been subject to a two-year ban and a fine of up to $25,000.

Based at Charles Town, Brown's interest in horses has been lifelong. His father began purchasing horses in 1946 and as a youngster he visited Charles Town to watch the horses race. He also worked at the track during the summer, beginning in 1978. Brown worked in the construction business in the early 1980s before taking out his trainer's license in 1986. He also has owned Thoroughbreds since 1984.

Brown celebrated his 3,000th winner in May of 2023. To date, Brown's 17,702 starters have bankrolled more than $37 million in purse earnings; he ranks 36th on the all-time wins list among North American trainers.

Along with his wife, Nicole, Brown operates Pellinore Lane Farm near Charles Town and stands stallions Bullsbay and Mr. Monomoy. Brown is also a member of the Charles Town HBPA's board of directors.

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