Story courtesy of Woodbine Communications/Chris Lomon Motivation and inspiration are always close at hand for Fraser Aebly. When he slipped on the sky-blue silks featuring an ornate white butterfly on the front, along with white and black hoops, the 19-year-old apprentice rider was, as always, focused on giving his horse the best shot at winning the race.
Month: December 2023
Horseshoe Indy Makes Veteran’s Day Donation To HVAF
Team members and racing fans at Horseshoe Indianapolis participated in the third annual Veteran's Day event Nov. 10 to raise proceeds for the Hoosier Veterans and Families, Inc. (HVAF) of Indiana, according to a release by the track Monday.
The event featured several ways to raise funding and awareness for veterans including naming each race in honor of a veteran associated in some way to Horseshoe Indianapolis. Special saddle towels were also awarded to veterans and family members honored during the racing program. Additionally, a Veteran's Day Pick 5 Challenge was held featuring handicappers placing wagers into the Late Fire Five with all proceeds set going to HVAF.
“This is the third year we have offered the Pick Five Challenge on Veteran's Day and each year, these handicappers are eager to be involved with the cause,” said Horseshoe Indianapolis Vice President and GM Eric Halstrom.
In addition to funding raised from the Veteran's Day event, Horseshoe Indianapolis provided a $4,000 donation. Halstrom recently presented HVAF with a check for $4,430.15.
“Being able to be a small part of assistance for veterans is very rewarding for us,” added Halstrom. “We are proud to be an annual partner with HVAF.”
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Voting Opened For Retraining Of Racehorses Awards
Retraining of Racehorses [RoR] has unveiled the finalists for the inaugural Sir Peter O'Sullevan Charitable Trust RoR Community Impact Award and the prestigious The Jockey Club RoR Horse of the Year Award.
The public will determine the winner of each award through voting for their favourites via www.ror-events.org.uk. Having received over 200 nominations from across the racing and equestrian worlds, RoR announced a shortlist of 12 horses for each award in November.
An independent RoR Judging panel then had the challenge of narrowing down the final three finalists for each award.
The new Sir Peter O'Sullevan Charitable Trust RoR Community Impact Award aims to recognise any individual, former racehorse partnership, or organisation that has significantly impacted people's lives with a former racehorse.
Introduced in 2014, The Jockey Club RoR Horse of the Year Award was open to all RoR registered former racehorses who have successfully transitioned from racing to a new career. Voting officially opened on December 18 and closes at 5pm on January 19, 2024.
David Catlow, RoR Managing Director, said, “We are thrilled to open the voting for both these awards. The exceptional nominations from across the UK made our job and the judges' decision incredibly difficult. All the stories shared highlight not only the adaptability of a former racehorse to a wide range of second careers but also the remarkable commitment to the horses' well-being of so many involved in aftercare.”
All six finalists will attend the RoR Awards evening at The Jockey Club Rooms on January 31, 2024, where the ultimate winners as voted by the public will be revealed. The evening also features presentations to this season's RoR Elite Champions in dressage, eventing, polo, endurance, showing and hunting.
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The Most-Read TDN Stories Of 2023
As the year winds down, now is a relatively quiet time for horse racing. But there was nothing quiet about 2023, a year, it seems, where the bad news stories overshadowed the good news stories. What resonated most with TDN readers? Unfortunately, the answer seems to be our stories that reported on some of the darker aspects of the sport. Here are the top 10 most widely read stories of 2023 and the number of views they received:
1) Europeans Unleashed As Santa Anita is Struck by Tragedy, by Emma Berry (96,627 views). TDN European Editor Emma Berry arrived at Santa Anita as the sport and the Breeders' Cup was dealing with another blow, the death of Practical Move (Practical Joke) and the injury suffered by Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}), who would eventually be euthanized. She marveled at the beauty of Santa Anita and watched the European contingent prepare for the races, but found it hard to forget that it had been another difficult week for the sport. “Even with such brilliant beauty close at hand, it was hard to revel in what should have been a joyful morning as the image of the prone Practical Move lingered on in the mind's eye,” she wrote.
2) Racing Word Mourns Death of Lady O'Reilly, by Emma Berry (96,536 views). Berry reported on the passing of highly successful and longstanding owner-breeder Lady Chryss O'Reilly, the owner of Haras de la Louviere in Normandy, who died at the age of 73.
3) Fatalities Mar Travers Saturday at Saratoga, by Bill Finley (51,660 views). The Saratoga meet saw an unusually high number of breakdowns, but two stood out. Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic) broke down a jump or two before the finish of the GI Test S., a race she was well on her way to winning. In an eerily similar scenario that had occurred on the GI Travers S. card, New York Thunder (Nyquist) had the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S. all but won before breaking down a few feet before the finish. On the same card, a horse named Nobel (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire} was also euthanized. Bill Finley wrote of a Travers Day that was supposed to be about everything that is great with the sport turning into one of the ugliest afternoons ever at Saratoga.
4) Everything Was Done to Save Him: Derby Hero Desert Crown Euthanized, Staff Report (50,946 views). The story reports on the death of Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), the brilliant winner of the 2022 Derby, who was euthanized at Newmarket Equine Hospital after failing to recover from an injury sustained on the gallops in August.
5) Jockey Alex Canchari Passes Away, by Bill Finley (50,438). In one of the sadder stories of the year, Midwest-based jockey Alex Canchari passed away in March at the age of 29 after taking his own life, sparking discussions about jockeys' mental health.
6) Horse of the Year Havre De Grace Passes Away, by Alan Carasso (48,136). Havre de Grace (Saint Liam), the 2011 Horse of the Year, passed away in April. Wayne Sweezey, who boarded Havre de Grace at his Timber Town Farm, confirmed that the 16-year-old mare hemorrhaged multiple times and died after producing a colt by Into Mischief the afternoon of Apr. 28.
7) Pretty Mischievous Wins Test; Maple Leaf Mel Breaks Down at Wire, is Euthanized, Staff Report (41,426). Like the breakdown of New York Thunder later on in the meet, the breakdown of Maple Leaf Mel in the Test S. shook Saratoga and cast a pall over the meet.
8) HIWU Descends Upon a Shedrow, Upending Life For a Mom-and-Pop Stable, by TD Thornton (30,863). John Pimental is a small-time trainer who was well-liked, worked hard and had never been in any trouble during his long career. That all changed when agents for the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) descended upon John's stable and upended his world: one of his horses had tested positive for 193 picograms per milliliter of methamphetamine, a street drug of abuse that is classified as a “banned” substance in racing. The story details Pimental's fight to clear his name and takes a look at the tactics HIWU used to make the case that Pimental had violated its rules.
9) Sire Of Sires, WinStar Farm's Champion Speightstown Euthanized, Staff Report (30,066). The story reports on the passing of WinStar Farm's top sire Speightstown (Gone West) and his remarkable career as a sire.
10) The Week in Review: With Forte Non-DQ, NYRA Stewards Owe Public an Explanation, by Bill Finley (29,977). The Saratoga stewards decided not to disqualify Forte (Violence) from his win in the GII Jim Dandy S. at Saratoga, despite what appeared to be rough-riding tactics by Irad Ortiz Jr. that caused Forte to bump Angel of Empire (Classic Empire). But writer Bill Finley thought the bigger story was that there is next to no transparency in racing when it comes to stewards' decisions and that the bettors deserved an explanation over why there was no disqualification.
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