February, 2024 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Pletcher Unveils Plans For 3-Year-Old Stars

The road to the GI Kentucky Derby has been unkind to Todd Pletcher so far this year, but that may be about to change. The Hall of Fame trainer is ready to regroup and will look to win the March 30 GI Florida Derby with Fierceness (City of Light) and the March 2 GII Fountain of Youth with Locked (Gun Runner).

Locked, who is the 10-1 favorite beyond the “all others” option in the latest round of the Derby Future Wager, was originally scheduled to make his debut in the GIII Sam F. Davis S. but Pletcher withdrew him from the race after he spiked a temperature and missed a work. Pletcher had Locked back on the work tab Friday morning and said he was pleased with the move.

Locked won last year's GI Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland before finishing third in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Fierceness, last year's champion 2-year-old male, kicked off his 2024 campaign with a lackluster third-place finish in the Holy Bull S. in which he was beaten 3 1/2 lengths. Afterward, Pletcher said his next race was up in the air, but confirmed Friday that he will go next in the Florida Derby. Fierceness will have his first work since the Holy Bull next week.

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Kentucky Legislative Bill Supports New School Of Veterinary Medicine At Murray State

Progress towards a new School of Veterinary Medicine at Murray State University continues to be made, as the Kentucky House of Representatives passed House Bill 400 Feb. 15, the institution of higher learning said in a release late Thursday.

After advancing from the House Agriculture Committee Feb. 7, the bill, introduced by House Agriculture Committee Chair Richard Heath, would amend the existing state statute to allow Murray State to offer doctoral degrees required to become licensed in veterinary medicine.

A complementary piece of legislation, Senate Bill 189, was introduced by Senator Jason Howell.

“We are very grateful for the support of our legislators in working toward the development of a new School of Veterinary Medicine at Murray State University,” Murray State President Dr. Bob Jackson said.

Kentucky is one of more than 20 states without a School of Veterinary Medicine. In the United States, there are only 33 veterinary colleges accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there are 86,300 veterinarians in the United States and this occupation is expected to grow by over 19% by 2031. The BLS also reports a total of 122,800 veterinarian technologists/technicians are working today and the field is expected to grow by 20% by 2031.

Murray State's Hutson School of Agriculture has the largest estimated pre-veterinary medicine/veterinary technology enrollment of any university in Kentucky, and is just one of three programs in Kentucky that is fully accredited by the AVMA.

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Former Jockey Purdom Finds His Calling at TRF Farm

Dean Purdom never lost confidence in his riding ability. He knew he had the skills. What he didn't have were the results. Purdom bounced all over the country, going from track to track until he wore out his welcome and headed to his next stop. The problem? He was trying to do the impossible, find success on the racetrack despite having an addiction to alcohol and cocaine.

“I started back in the eighties,” Purdom said. “I had a really promising career. I was the leading apprentice one meet at Pimlico. That's where I got introduced to cocaine. It gradually just took over my life and, therefore, my career. I wasn't available mentally or physically, which you have to be to be able to do the job.”

In 1992, he made the decision that would change his life for the better. He entered a treatment program and has now been sober for more than 31 years.

Purdom, 65, went back to riding but never could jump start his career. He retired in 1997 with 371 career victories and moved to Ocala where he worked horses at the sales. But what he really wanted to do was to help people. He saw that as a requirement, exactly what he needed to stay on the right path.

“For me, helping people is a necessity,” Purdom said. “I have been in recovery a long time and a huge part of that is once you get your act together, to be able to keep it together you need to help others. In recovery, life can get pretty good. And when that happens it's easy to forget how bad things were. So helping new people is important. I've been able to help a lot of people along the way. But they were helping me, too.”

He has devoted his life to making a difference. The first stop was a job at Mending Fences, a mental health treatment center in Delray, Florida where equine therapy was part of the program. He might still be there if it weren't for a chance encounter with John Evans, who was running the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation's program at a women's prison, the Lowell Correctional Institution. Purdom had met his future wife Niki after she left the Lowell program and when the two were married, Evans walked Niki down the aisle.

Evans was looking to retire and saw in Purdom the perfect replacement. Last May he took over from Evans, who had been at Lowell for 17 years. It's been an eye-opening experience.

“I had been driving by this prison for years,” Purdom said. “One day I was driving by with Niki. I had seen all these horses out in the field. I told her that the whole thing didn't make any sense to me. Why were they keeping all these old, broken-down pasture ornaments? I didn't understand the economics of that. Most horse people would have had that same attitude. She explained to me their true value and what these horses do for the inmates. These inmates, their self esteem is pretty much in the tank when they get here. They haven't had anything go right for a long time. When they walk into the stall, especially the first time, these horses will greet them. They haven't had something like that in a long time. They end up getting really personal with them. They start gaining some self esteem. They start to get their self respect back as well as confidence. It's all because of the horses.”

Having struggled with many of the same problems that led many of the inmates to prison, Purdom was happy to share his story with the women of Lowell.

Female inmantes in the TRF program near Ocala | Stephanie Brennan photo

“Probably 80, maybe 90 percent of the women who come here have addiction issues,” Purdom said. “They don't have meetings here for them. So I openly talk about my own struggles.”
Once he settled in at Lowell, Purdom's goal became teaching the inmates skills they could use to get jobs at the many farms in Ocala. Lowell is the only TRF program where the inmates are allowed to ride the horses. That's how Niki Purdom got started as an exercise rider.

With there being a shortage of help in Ocala, Purdom knew that the graduates of his program could easily find job at local farms if taught the right skills. The easiest way to find a job would be for them to learn how to prep weanlings and yearlings for the sales.

“The TRF allowed me to bring some yearlings here that were prepping for the sales, so the women got experience handling them,” he said. “That gives them a way to get into the farms. They can get hired and it's something they can do right away because they've been taught and have experience. This is something that can be a huge springboard. I know most of the owners and trainers in this area. I rode for them for 20 years. I can be a liaison so these women have an opportunity the day they get out and there's a job waiting for them. I want the local horsemen to call me and ask if there's anybody getting out.”

It's also a way to see to it that the women don't pick right up where they left off before coming to Lowell.

“If they go back to where they came from, the likelihood that they will stay out of jail is slim,” Purdom said. “What I want to do here is offer them an option.”

The relationship between the horses, the women, and Purdom, is mutually beneficial, and Purdom knows that he's getting as much out of this as anyone.

“At this stage of my life, having a purpose is pretty important,” Purdom said. “It's what gets me out of bed every day.”

To learn more about the TRF or to donate, visit www.trfinc.org

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“Like the best vacation you’ve ever been on,” Ribbles soaking in the Derby Trail

Find us a Saturday kind of horse.

That's what Kerry and Alan Ribble told Kyle Zorn over a two-hour lunch one afternoon in Lexington. The Hot Springs, Arkansas natives had traveled up to Kentucky to meet with Zorn, who was then in the midst of co-founding Legion Bloodstock, and learn what it might take for them to make a step up from the claiming game.

Now two years later they have a running joke with Zorn: Well, you didn't have to find us a first Saturday in May kind of horse!

Because depending on the outcome of Saturday's GII Risen Star S., the Ribbles might just end up with one of the leading contenders on the road to the Kentucky Derby.

Honor Marie (Honor Code) already handed the couple their first graded stakes win in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. last fall, but as the Whit Beckman-trained colt prepares to make his 2024 debut this weekend, the Ribbles' excitement and anticipation for what's ahead has reached an all-time high.

Honor Marie team (including Alan and Kerry, second and third from right) celebrates the Grade II win | Coady

“We'll start talking about it and we have to stop because we get too worked up and need to do a reality check,” Kerry Ribble said with a laugh. “It's like planning for the best vacation you've ever been on. You don't sleep the night before. You're doing all this planning. It's really hard to put into words.”

Horse racing has always been woven into the Ribbles' daily life. They both grew up in Magnolia, Arkansas, where Alan's grandfather owned a barber shop. W. Cal Partee, owner of the 1992 GI Kentucky Derby winner Lil E. Tee, was a regular there and he once named a horse after Alan's grandfather. Meanwhile Kerry's father was an avid handicapper who published a tip sheet called Inside Connection.

One of Kerry and Alan's first dates was spent attending the races at Oaklawn Park and a highlight of their honeymoon was a trip to Louisiana Downs.

“We thought that was really cool,” recalled Ribble. “We were young and in college and thought it sounded fun. And it was! But Alan has made up for what some would consider a sort-of meager outing since then.”

While Alan built his career in the oil and gas industry, Kerry worked in the education system as a teacher and school counselor.

Almost 10 years ago, Alan surprised Kerry with a horse for Christmas. Well, not an actual horse, but he put the plans in motion for them to claim a racehorse with the help of veteran conditioner David Vance.

“Our kids were telling us that this was either going to be the greatest thing ever or we were really going to go down in flames,” said Ribble. “We were such rookie horse owners, but David and his family were all so great and patient. We spent a big part of our lives for the past eight years learning from them.”

Ribble Farms has amassed over 200 starts since then, with several dozen wins earned through the claiming ranks of Arkansas and beyond.

When Vance told the couple that he was planning on retiring in 2023, they weighed their options and decided that they wanted to get involved in racing in a bigger way. That's when they got connected with the Legion Bloodstock team of Kyle Zorn, Travis Durr, Evan Ciannello and Kristian Villante.

“I think what was so cool about meeting them was that each of those guys provided something unique to the decision making and buying of the horses,” Ribble explained. “We put our complete trust in Legion because this part of it was so new to us. We had this idea that down the road, if we were going to buy a full horse it might make sense to buy one out of these partnerships.”

One of the first yearlings they got involved in early on was a $40,000 Honor Code colt, whom they were able to name after their 9-year-old granddaughter.

The Ribbles really didn't know much about trainer Whit Beckman, who received Honor Marie after he went through his early training with Durr. Then after the colt won on debut last September going six wide and getting up to win by a head at 13-1 odds, they looked up Beckman's resume and were impressed. The former assistant to Chad Brown and Todd Pletcher was just getting started on his own, opening up his stable in 2021.

“When we finally got to meet him it really sealed the deal for us because he's so much like my husband–low-key, even-tempered, and he's so knowledgeable about his business,” Ribble said.

Then she added with grin, “They're a nice balance to my high-strung personality.”

In his first try going two turns in the Kentucky Jockey Club, Honor Marie earned 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and gave both his owner and trainer their first graded stakes win.

“We were just blown away,” Ribble recalled. “I don't think we had even had an allowance win before that. Every day my husband and I look at each other and ask, 'How did we get here?' This is all new to us and we are just soaking it in.”

It didn't take long for the offers to come flying in on the newly minted Grade II winner. All along the Ribbles had planned on buying out a horse from Legion Bloodstock, and of course they were partial to this colt's name, so they bought Honor Marie outright. They hung up the phone on offers they could hardly believe for the talented bay, but did end up selling a quarter of him to a group that includes Michael Eiserman, Earl Silver and Kenneth and Daniel Fishbein.

Their only stipulation was that Honor Marie stayed with Beckman.

“With Whit's dedication and the way things are going, I would never want to move him,” Ribble explained. “We liked the idea of supporting someone who was just starting out on their own. It's sort of what Alan did in his business long ago and he still remembers the people who supported him.”

The entire crew of the Ribbles, Legion Bloodstock and Whit Beckman has a big weekend ahead.

The Ribbles made the trip to New Orleans on Friday and will be heading to Fair Grounds with a group of friends who have supported them since their early days in the claiming game. In addition to Honor Marie's start in a stacked edition of the Risen Star, the Ribbles are partners in Legion Racing's Drip (Good Magic), who makes his debut for Beckman earlier in the card on Saturday.

Beckman will also send out GIII River City S. runner-up Harlan Estate (Kantharos) in the GIII Fair Grounds S. for Graham Grace Stable.

This community aspect of their journey in racing is really what has kept the Ribbles coming back. For years they shared a close relationship with Vance and his family before his retirement and now they've found a new team to support and enjoy.

“As excited as we are for this weekend and the months ahead, I think really I am just as thrilled for Legion Bloodstock and Whit's team,” Ribble said. “This is life changing for them. They all started out on their own in the last few years and I'm thrilled for all of them.”

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