Robin Goodfellow’s racing tips: Best bets for Friday, April 5
Mail Sport's racing expert Robin Goodfellow delivers his tips for Friday's meetings at Musselburgh, Lingfield and Fontwell.
Month: April 2024
Pletcher Gets Stay in Butazolidine Case
Todd Pletcher has been granted a stay of his 14-day suspension by the Schenectady, New York Supreme Court for an alleged butazolidine overage in the case of the horse Capensis (Tapit). The New York Gaming Commission originally suspended Pletcher 14 days and fined him $2,000.
The horse in question was the even-money favorite in the 10th race at Saratoga on July 30, 2022 and finished sixth. He is owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Robert LaPenta, Gainesway Stable, Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC and Stonestreet Stables LLC.
The ruling, which was posted to the Gaming Commission's website, stated that phenylbutazone was present at a concentration in excess of 0.3 micrograms per milliliter in violation of 9 NYCRR 4043.3 (a) (26).
However, said Pletcher's attorney Andrew Mollica, there was no laboratory evidence presented that the horse had tested positive.
“The legal issue is predicated on the fact that there is no lab result in the evidence,” said Mollica. “The lab report reporting an overage was never put in evidence. Mr. Pletcher's position is that without the ability to examine the scientific evidence, the letter of Dr. (George) Maylin's is of no probative value.”
The parties are due back in court May 31, but a temporary restraining order has enjoined the Gaming Commission from invoking the penalty.
“The court found that Mr. Pletcher met all the requirements for likelihood to succeed on the merits–irreparable harm, and the balancing of the equities,” said Mollica.
Mollica said that a full review of the evidence presented will show the Gaming Commission cannot meet its burden that the horse had an overage on that day.
“There was no foundational evidence presented at the hearing that the horse had an overage and we look forward to litigating the case,” said Mollica.
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Lukas Relishing His Return to the Kentucky Derby
For a time, Wayne Lukas was as much a part of the GI Kentucky Derby as mint juleps and roses. From 1981, when he sent out his first Derby starter in Partez, to 2000, he had at least one starter in the race every year while running a total of 38 horses. Four of them–Winning Colors, Thunder Gulch, Grindstone and Charismatic–won.
But he hasn't had a starter since Bravazo (Awesome Again) in 2018 and hasn't had a winner since Charismatic in 1999. But the drought is over as the 88-year-old training legend has managed to accumulate enough points (65) with GI Arkansas Derby runner-up Just Steel (Justify) that the colt, barring injury, is guaranteed a spot in the Derby starting gate.
“I'm really excited about being back, but I don't want to be back without a legitimate chance,” Lukas said. “I've already heard 'My Old Kentucky Home' and seen our silks out there on the track. I don't need to go through that. I am interested in trying to get a good horse there.”
Just Steel was seventh, beaten 10 lengths, in the GII Rebel S. and looked to be in over his head that day facing some of the best in the division. But he ran a much-improved race in the Arkansas Derby, finishing second behind Muth (Good Magic) at odds of 32-1.
It was just the type of effort Lukas was looking for from his colt.
“I've been managing this horse a little bit and trying to get him really good,” he said. “He stands 17 hands and he weighs 1,300 pounds. He's a big growthy horse that I didn't want to push a lot in March and April. I wanted to have him good enough so that I could sneak in on the points. But I didn't want to push hard on him.”
With Lukas yet to fully tighten the screws, he is expecting a much-improved performance come Derby Day.
“I finally put a mile work into him to get him ready,” Lukas said. “He's got some quality about him. If I can use the next month to tighten on him a little bit I think he will keep the race honest. I think he will take a quantum leap forward. I could see him improving something like 10 points from the last race to this race. I expect him to jump forward quite a bit.”
That Lukas is back in the Derby isn't necessarily a surprise. For the first time in a few years he has deep-pocketed clients that are spending serious money at the sales. Just Steel runs for BC Stables LLC, the stable name for the partnership of John Bellinger and Brian Coelho.
“I'm very happy for those clients,” he said. “These are my new guys and they have really stepped up financially. They are our No. 1 clients. The yearlings they bought last year are outstanding. I'm more interested in getting them to the Derby than I am getting myself back there. I was really happy after the Arkansas Derby knowing we have gotten them into the Derby.”
Lukas is also holding out hope that Seize the Grey (Arrogate) will earn enough points in Saturday's GI Blue Grass S. to also make it into the Derby field. Owned by MyRacehorse, he was third last time out in the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks.
“He's a solid horse. And he's got 600 owners, so if we can get him in we'll make a lot of people happy.”
While Lukas will be the oldest trainer taking part in this Derby, his 25-year-old jockey, Keith Asmussen, the son of Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, will be among the youngest and the least experienced. But Lukas has taken a liking to him and is using him not only on Just Steel but his GI Kentucky Oaks candidate Lemon Muffin (Collected). Asmussen started his riding career in 2020 and this will be his first mount in a Triple Crown race.
“I go back a long way with his family,” Lukas said. “His grandfather and grandmother and I are very close friends. We went from South Dakota to Laredo, Texas together. We combined our stables. We've been close family friends forever. The young Keith has got such a good horse background and he is a really smart rider. He's got a master's degree, for crying out loud. He listens and he does what you want him to do. He makes very good decisions in the race. I understand experience-wise he is lacking but he's a real cool customer. He doesn't get all caught up in it. He is very solid. I will not be changing jockeys.”
Just Steel won't be one of the favorites, but Lukas has won plenty of big races with horses few people gave a chance to. He's won four Derbies but never lost the desire to win a fifth. It's just taken him a while to get back there, and he plans to make the most of the opportunity.
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Kavanagh: ‘I Agree With Johnny – We Can’t Rest On Our Laurels With Prize-Money’
Brian Kavanagh has said that he agrees completely with Johnny Murtagh's assertion that Ireland should not be “resting on its laurels” when it comes to prize-money while Irish Racehorse Trainers Association [IRTA] chief Ryan McElligott expressed a wish that the Curragh boss's decision to up the minimum prize fund at the track to €20,000 could stir up similar change among other racecourses.
Leopardstown, Ireland's only other Group 1 Flat track, has followed the Curragh's lead in raising its basement prize-money levels to €15,000. However, leading trainers Joseph O'Brien and Ado McGuinness echoed Murtagh's point that prize-money needs to rise at every level in order to keep the higher-class horses in training in Ireland.
O'Brien said, “We are very lucky in Ireland to have the prize-money levels that we have and to have a government that appreciates our industry. Going forward, we have to be sure that the owners in Ireland–as they do now–want to continue to race their high-class horses in Ireland. “The fundamental thing, when encouraging people to breed and race in Ireland, is to have attractive levels of prize-money. At the moment, we are very lucky to have good prize-money but it could be better, and it is something that everyone has to be very conscious of going forward.”
He added, “We need to encourage owners to race horses in Ireland for their two- and three-year-old careers at a minimum. As the horses get older, they can compete on the international stage. The best way to encourage that is by increasing the prize-money levels across the board domestically. There are good incentives, like the Ballyhane Stakes for example, and there are other target races out there, but we need more of them. We need valuable races to encourage people to keep their Listed/Group 3 horses here and racing for longer. It is prize-money that drives investment in the industry which trickles all the way back down to trainers, jockeys, work riders, farriers and everyone else who is employed within the industry.”
When announcing that no race at the Curragh would be contested for less than €20,000 this season, former Horse Racing Ireland chief executive Kavanagh referenced how the money generated from World Pool helped drive extra income which was then regenerated into prize-money at the track.
It is speculated that the gross revenue generated from World Pool is €500,000 per fixture. That figure is split roughly 70-30 between the racecourse in question and the Tote.
Joseph O'Brien: says he was forced to trade a lot of his Classic prospects | Tattersalls
Kavanagh commented, “We would put a priority on prize-money and would like to do more going forward. This year, we've grown our prize-money from €14.2m to €15.3m for the year. We've upped a couple of the Group 1 races as well-the Tattersalls Gold Cup goes up from €450,000 to €500,000 and the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes will go for €300,000 to €350,000. But across the board, we have tried to increase the prize-money. We try to ensure a sponsor for every race–that's our objective here–and that helps.
“Also, we are putting some of our own resources here at the Curragh into driving prize-money forward. That has been well received but it's only a step in the right direction. We'd like to do more in the coming years on that front. The good thing about raising prize-money, it creates momentum. So, when we raise the minimum value of races, it has a knock-on effect on the next level and the next level after that.”
When asked if the extra income generated by World Pool was the main contributing factor to raising the minimum prize-money levels, Kavanagh responded, “It's a help. We generate media rights through a number of different sources and the World Pool has emerged in the past couple of years as a source. That is one of the areas where we draw our revenue from and that's how our media rights revenue has grown. Look, it's very simple from the Curragh's point of view, we see ourselves as the industry's racecourse. If we make money, it goes to either promoting events here, developing our facilities or driving prize-money. We will always want to offer competitive prize-money and we need to take an international view towards prize-money. If you look at other jurisdictions, we need to ensure our prize-money is competitive in comparison.”
The latest media rights deal for Irish racing is rumored to be worth roughly €250m over a five-year-period with around 80 per cent of the money said to be going directly to the racecourses.
Only a handful of Irish racecourses have the luxury of being selected for World Pool races with Kavanagh outlining a hope that the number of races added to the international schedule can grow in future.
“That's the objective,” he said. “That is dependent on legislation in Hong Kong in particular. They have had restrictions on the number of World Pool days that they can offer. Those restrictions have loosened slightly. Last year for example, we had the Irish Derby card, but this year we have added two races-the Irish 1,000 Guineas and the Tattersalls Gold Cup-to the World Pool, so that is very welcome.
“We will always work with the Hong Kong authorities and the UK Tote Group to drive that further but it is contingent on quality international racing and strong field sizes as well.”
While the raising of the minimum prize levels at the Curragh and Leopardstown was welcomed by IRTA members, it doesn't get away from the fact that many premier handicaps, listed and Group 3 races continue to be run for the same money-and in some cases less money-than over a decade previously.
The Group 3 Park Express S. is a good example of that. Run for a total purse of €100,000 in 2007, the Aidan O'Brien-trained Brilliant (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) took home just €41,100.00 for winning the prize at Irish racing's HQ on the opening day of the season. The total prize on offer was €68,500.
IRTA boss Ryan McElligott | Tattersalls Ireland
McElligott said, “Prize-money is unquestionably a pressing concern for trainers throughout the country. There exists a substantial level of concern that prize-money levels have dropped off from the levels they were at in the first decade of this century. Admittedly, the fixture list has grown, and obviously more fixtures means that the slices of the cake gets smaller. As a major racing jurisdiction, we have to be able to present a prize-money schedule that is attractive to international owners and incentivises people to keep horses in training in Ireland. That is vital.”
He added, “The Curragh have taken the decision to put a minimum value on every race run at the track this season, which is commendable, and I would hope that this could lead to similar movement up and down the country.”
McGuinness, one of the most upwardly mobile trainers in the country, was responsible for five of the 23 Irish-trained runners at Lingfield, Newcastle and Chelmsford on Good Friday.
The second most successful trainer at Dundalk behind O'Brien throughout the past five years, McGuinness pointed to a lack of valuable end-of-season targets on home shores on the all-weather for the horses he travelled to Britain last week.
He explained, “I won three races at the end-of-season fixture at Dundalk and I got €27,000 for the three races in total prize-money. I sent out Star Harbour (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) to finish fourth at Newcastle last week and he earned €14,000. I just feel that something has to be done.”
McGuinness added, “I have to clap the Curragh on the back for raising their minimum prize-money levels. Fair play to them. Maybe other tracks will take note and do the same. But, the prize-money for the listed and Group 3 races in Ireland remains too low compared to England and abroad.
“Not only that, but I won the Joe McGrath Handicap at the Curragh in 2009 with Toufan Express (GB) (Fraam {GB}). He picked up €34,503 for that success. Laugh A Minute (GB) (Mayson {GB}) won the same race last year and picked up only €26,550. How does that make sense?”
O'Brien concluded that, in its current format, the domestic prize-money on offer is not enough to sustain a training operation as big as his Owning Hill.
He explained, “Ultimately, we are traders. It's obvious when you look at our top two-year-olds from last year and where they are in training now. A lot of them have been traded on to Hong Kong and America.
“Sadly, that means we won't be as well-represented as we could have been in the Classics this season because those horses are now racing abroad. That is the bottom line. We understand that and we do what's right for our owners. A lot of that time, that means we have to trade. Sometimes that means we race them on. But the fact of the matter is, people have to trade the way things are with prize-money at the moment.”
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