Month: December 2023

Wondrwherecraigis, a three-time stakes winner that gave Laurel Park-based trainer Brittany Russell her first graded-stakes triumph in the 2021 Bold Ruler (G3), has been retired from racing.

Owned by the partnership of Michael Dubb, The Elkstone Group, Madaket Stables and Michael Caruso, the 6-year-old Munnings gelding had lost four straight races after opening the season with an optional claiming allowance victory in mid-April at Laurel.

“We retired him,” Russell said. “He'd just lost a step and we didn't want to keep banging his head in. Rather than try to run him for a tag and win a race, and watch somebody take him, we just kept him. He was always going to stay with us.”

Wondrwherecraigis finished with eight wins, four seconds, one third and $540,170 in purse earnings from 20 starts, with additional stakes wins in the 2021 Tale of the Cat at Saratoga and 2022 Fire Plug at Laurel. He was second three consecutive years in the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash, starting in 2021, when he crossed the wire first but was disqualified for interference.

Six weeks later Wondrwherecraigis earned graded credentials in the Bold Ruler, the day before Russell gave birth to a son, Rye, the second child with her husband, champion jockey Sheldon Russell. Daughter Edy was born in August 2019.

“He's special to us. He was always going to have a soft landing,” Brittany Russell said. “It's sad we're not racing him anymore, but he retired healthy, and sound and he still has a lot of life ahead of him. Hopefully, we can have some fun with him.”

Following this year's De Francis Wondrwherecraigis ran fourth in his final two starts, the six-furlong Lite the Fuse Sept. 16 at historic Pimlico Race Course and an open 5 ½-furlong allowance Oct. 20 at Laurel, both times as the favorite. He also brought the connections to Dubai for the 2022 Golden Shaheen (G1).

“He's just sort of hanging out right now being a horse, but next spring I don't know what we're going to do. He might come to the track and we might try to make him a pony, I don't know,” Russell said. “But we love that horse, he's not going anywhere. He's down at a friend's farm, so he's actually out enjoying himself. If we can get him trained up a little bit, by the time [Edy] is ready for a proper horse he should be ready.”

The post ‘We Might Try To Make Him A Pony’: Grade 3 Winner Wondrwherecraigis Retired From Racing appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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It has been a very busy year for the TAKE THE LEAD Thoroughbred Retirement Program. TAKE THE LEAD has found placements for 155 racehorses retiring from the New York Racing Association tracks in 2023, an accomplishment that would not be possible without the commitment of its Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance-accredited partners.

In appreciation of their hard work and dedication, and in keeping with the spirit of the season, TAKE THE LEAD has distributed $20,000 in holiday donations to these invaluable organizations.

“We cannot overemphasize how vital our TAA-accredited aftercare partners are to ensuring happy and healthy lives beyond the track for New York's racehorses,” said TTL President Rick Schosberg. “It is a real challenge to provide the rehab, retraining, and rehoming that the horses require, and an even bigger challenge to raise the funds needed to do the job. We want to take a moment during the holidays to say thank you. Our only wish is that the donations could be even bigger.”

TAKE THE LEAD was created by the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association in 2013 to find homes for NYRA's racehorses. To date, more than 1,100 Thoroughbreds have been retired through TAKE THE LEAD. The majority of the horses head to New Vocations and ReRun, with ACTT Naturally, Akindale, Final Furlong, Lollypop Farm, Lucky Orphans, Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, and War Horses at Rose Bower also doing their part over the past year.

Schosberg added, “We also want to express our gratitude to New York's owners and trainers, who have embraced responsible retirement through TAKE THE LEAD, and have been staunch in their support of our program. We are seeing more and more horses retired 'one race early,' which helps everyone – the horses retire sounder, the aftercare organizations have an easier time finding their forever homes and can help more horses, and the owners save on added training and vet bills. It's a win-win-win.”

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