The first huge Saturday of prep races on the 2024 horse racing calendar is upon us, as four, count ‘em, four qualifying points preps for the 150th Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve are scheduled for Feb.
Month: January 2024
In the Hot Seat: Hubie de Burgh
The bloodstock agent's dinner guests include a Benedictine monk and an Olympic gold medallist, but don't tell Harry Eustace that Hubie de Burgh no longer considers him a youngster.
Proudest moment of 2023?
Reaching 160 stakes races won by de Burgh Equine purchases since setting up the agency.
What is your biggest ambition for the new year?
Keep on the bright side of life.
Give us one horse to follow and why?
No Knee Never (Ire) (No Nay Never), purchased for Bronsan Racing.
And a young person in the industry to keep an eye on…
Ollie Sangster. A great first season in 2023 without the ammunition of the large stables. Harry Eustace was a close second but I wasn't sure he qualifies as a 'young person' anymore.
Who do you think will be champion first-season sire this year?
If it's European first-season then Hello Youmzain (Fr). If it's just Ireland and the UK then Earthlight (Ire). He was a good two-year-old, and there's plenty of them to run and in good hands.
And the best value stallion in Europe?
Camelot (GB) at €50,000 – a sire who consistently gets real Group-class horses. At a lower end, Bated Breath at £10,000 – a great value sire who upgrades his mares.
What's the one horse you wish you'd bought in 2023?
The Siyouni (Fr)-Lucerne (GB) yearling filly from Arqana. We were underbidder with Craig Bernick to his good friend Ramiro Restrepo of Mage fame.
Biggest regret?
Not being able to sing… I knew I was bad when once at a karaoke night in Hong Kong when I had finished my rendition of American Pie my host jumped up and clapped and then asked me to sing it seriously!
Biggest influence on your career?
My father. Not only a successful breeder but a thinker ahead of his time. He also advised me to take the job with Sheikh Hamdan when I was about to take another.
If you could sit down for dinner with three people (dead or alive) who would they be and why?
Mark Todd: great company and an even greater equestrian Olympian. Dom Perignon: the benedictine monk whose influence on the early development of champagne production is recognised worldwide. He will guarantee the quality of what we will drink. Sacha Baron Cohen of Borat fame: for a bit of humour if he hasn't already been shot by a disgruntled citizen of Kazakhstan.
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Which Horse Can Upset Fierceness in 2024 Holy Bull Stakes?
The $250,000, Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes Feb. 3 at Gulfstream Park kicks off the South Florida track’s three-race prep series on the Road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve.
Golden Gate Trainer Ruled Against in Rape Case
Trainer Ari Herbertson lost a civil rape case and will owe the unnamed plaintiff $9 million, according to an email from Diane Rames, law office administrator at the Oakland firm Gwilliam Ivary Chiosso Cavalli & Brewer, APC.
According to the firm's email, Jane Doe was attending live racing at Golden Gate on Jan. 12, 2019 when she was drugged and raped by Herbertson. The latter was first criminally prosecuted and plead no contest to a lesser charge of assault with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to one-year incarceration and two years' probation in that case before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Brand ruled in the civil case Jan. 17. The civil action alleged various torts related to the rape. Judge Brand awarded the defendant $3 million in general damages and $6 million in punitive damages.
“I commend Jane Doe for pursuing her civil case,” said attorney Randall Strauss of Gwilliam Ivary Chiosso Cavalli & Brewer, who represented the plaintiff throughout her civil case. “She was viciously and violently attacked, yet she was unafraid to pursue her attacker in court. Her bravery helps send a message that our society will not tolerate sexual battery and will work to seek justice for victims of sexual abuse.”
According to equineline.com, Herbertson trained from 2016-21 and compiled a record of 134 wins from 447 starts. Click to see a copy of the court order.
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