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The Week In Review: A Weekend Report Card

The next best thing to the Breeders' Cup is a weekend filled with Breeders' Cup preps. That was the story last week as 31 graded stakes races were contested, many of them races that would help shape the fields for the Breeders' Cup races. Who were the big winners? Who were the big losers? Here's our reports card:

Up to the Mark: A+

It had been a depressing year for North American-based turf horses, who lost race after race to European shippers, including some whose credentials were rather modest. Saturday's GI Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland looked like it might be a case of more of the same as the favorite was the Charles Appleby-trained Master of The Seas (Dubawi {Ire}), who was coming off an impressive in the GI Woodbine Mile S. But in Up to the Mark (Not This Time), he was facing the best turf horse in the U.S. Had he been able to beat him handily that would have reaffirmed the message that the European turf horses are light years ahead of the ones based in the U.S. and that the Breeders' Cup turf races would certainly be dominated by shippers from the other side of the Atlantic. It was hardly a dominant performance as Up to the Mark beat Master of The Seas by a nose, but it showed that our very best turf horses can compete with Europe's best. This was the third straight Grade I win for Up to the Mark. If the GI Breeders' Cup Classic is won by an outsider and if Up to the Mark wins his Breeders' Cup race he could be Horse of the Year.

Muth: A

Muth (Good Magic), a $2 million purchase at the OBS March sale, didn't beat the toughest group of horses in Saturday's GI American Pharoah S. at Santa Anita, but the way he pulled off the victory was impressive and bodes well for his future. In his first two starts, he looked a lot like a precocious, fast horse who would fit best in sprint races. In the mile-and-a-sixteenth American Pharoah, he was relaxed and settled into fourth before launching his bid at the top of the stretch. If Muth is that good, how good is his stablemate, Prince of Monaco (Speightstown)? He beat him decisively when winning the GIII Best Pal S by 4 1/4 lengths.

Idiomatic: A

Yes, Idiomatic (Curlin) had a dream trip in the GI Spinster S. Sunday at Keeneland. And that's the only reason she doesn't get an A +. Florent Geroux managed to get her to the front by 1 1/2 lengths after an opening quarter was run in 24.49. At that point, the race was already over. The lineup that awaits her in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff is tough one, but after the Spinster Idiomatic has to be considered the one to beat. She's won four straight, all stakes and two Grade I's in a row.

Gina Romantica: A-

All that stands between an undefeated season for the Chad Brown-trained In Italian (GB) is Chad Brown. For the second straight race, In Italian went off as a heavy favorite in the GI First Lady S. at Keeneland only to be beaten by a stablemate. This time it was Gina Romantica (Into Mischief). She nailed In Italian by a head at the wire, not an easy thing to do considering that In Italian got the trip she needs, controlling the pace. This race came out of nowhere for Gina Romantica, who increased her best lifetime Beyer by 13 points, from a 92 to a 105. But if she can duplicate the effort in the Breeders' Cup she'll be a horse to watch.

War Like Goddess: A-

What a cool horse. War Like Goddess (English Channel) beat the boys for the second straight year in the GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational at Aqueduct. She RNA'd for $1,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September sale before selling for $30,000 the following year at OBS June. She's now earned $2,495,184 and has won three Grade I's. The competition will get tougher in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, but this was one of the better efforts of her career and showed that she's still at the top of her game at age 6 and more than capable of beating males.

Didia: A-

Few horses have flown under the radar more this year than Didia (Arg) (Orpen). Since arriving here last year from Argentina, she had been beaten only once in five tries and that was when she couldn't catch a loose on the lead Marketsegmentation (American Pharaoh) in the GI New York S. Trainer Ignacio Correas IV gave her four months off after that race and brought her back for Saturday's GII Rodeo Drive S. at Santa Anita. Facing a tough foe in the 3-year-old Anisette (GB) (Atwaad {Ire}), who was undefeated in three U.S. starts, she proved to be clearly the better of the two, winning by 1 3/4 lengths. Correas may not be a household name in the U.S., but he proved what he can do when he won the 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff with Blue Prize (Arg) (Pure Prize).

Locked: B+

At first glance, the win by Locked Gun Runner) in the GI Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland doesn't look that impressive. As the 3-5 favorite, he won by just a half length and had to survive a stiff stretch battle from The Wine Steward (Vino Rosso). His Beyer was an 87, a drop off of nine points from his last race. But, breaking from the eight post, he was wide on both turns and lost a ton of ground while The Wine Steward was never more than two paths off the rail.

Timberlake: B+

Brad Cox had Timberlake (Into Mischief) entered in both the GI Champagne S. at Aqueduct and the GI Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland and it certainly looks like he made the right call sending the 2-year-old to New York for the Champagne. He was last seen running second in the GI Hopeful S., where the winner, Nutella Fella (Runhappy) got a Beyer figure of only 72. But with Timberlake winning the Champagne by 4 1/4 lengths, that race looks a lot better now. Timberlake probably won't be any better than the fouth choice in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, but he proved in the Champagne that he belongs.

Nations Pride: B

No, Charles Appleby isn't perfect. The first three horses he ran over the weekend all got beat. That meant that Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilio {Ire]) was his last hope. Sent to Woodbine for Sunday's GI Canadian International S., he came through with a 2 1/4-length win as the 2-5 favorite. He'll now return to the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, where he finished fifth last year at the 5-2 favorite. Didn't beat much in this race, thus his grade.

In Italian: C

In Italian didn't run terribly in the First Lady when beaten by stablemate Gina Romantica, but that's two straight races she has lost as an odds favorite in which she had no real excuse.

Nest: C-

When Nest (Curlin) kicked off her 2023 campaign with a 2 1/4-length win over Clairiere in the GII Shuvee S. it looked like she was well on her way to a possible Eclipse Award. Nothing has gone right since. She was third in the GI Personal Ensign S. and followed that up with a fourth-place finish in the Spinster in which she was beaten 11 /4 lengths. A terrific filly who, for whatever reason, didn't have it in her last two starts.

Rebel's Romance: D

Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) won last year's Breeders' Cup Turf, but nothing has gone right for him since. He returned to New York for the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic after clipping heels and losing his rider in the GII Bowling Green S. Sent off at 1-2, he showed nothing, finishing fourth.

Fierceness: Incomplete

Considered one of the most impressive maiden winners at Saratoga, where he won by 11 1/4 lengths in the slop, Fierceness (City of Light) was pounded down to 1-2 in the Champagne. This time he didn't show up, losing by 20 1/4 lengths. He had all sorts of problems at the start, where be lunged and then got bumped, and maybe that explains the poor performance. We'll probably see him next at Gulfstream, where he'll have every chance to regroup.

The post The Week In Review: A Weekend Report Card appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Research In Action: Finding Better Treatments For Placentitis

Placentitis is the sneaky foe of many a breeder or broodmare manager. The condition can arrive with no calling card, or such mild symptoms that they're easily missed. By the time a pregnant mare's caretakers are aware of it, it's often too late to save the foal.

It's been the leading cause of pregnancy loss, especially late pregnancy loss, in horses for years.

Dr. Margo Macpherson, professor emeritus at the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine, has been one of many researchers trying to figure out how to stop it in its tracks.

“I call myself a clinician scientist because I'm a clinician first but I want evidence for the things I'm doing in a clinical setting,” Macpherson said.

Placentitis is the inflammation of a mare's placenta, usually as the result of an infectious agent like a bacteria or a virus. The infection causes inflammation which disrupts the structures that protect a gestating foal. There are various subtypes of placentitis and different sources of the infection, but the risk with all of them is that the suddenly-hostile environment will compromise the foal's growth and eventually stimulate a premature delivery or the death of the foal.

Macpherson said there may be some mild vulvar discharge during the mare's pregnancy that could signal a problem, but sometimes there isn't, or it's so minor that managers may not see it. What they do often report is an early development of the mare's mammary glands, well ahead of the projected foaling date. Sometimes breeders learn the mare had placentitis when the foal is aborted.

Even if they're able to catch onto a case before an abortion happens, Macpherson said veterinarians are often unsuccessful in attempts to reverse the damage from the inflammation.

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For many years, the standard treatment was a combination of drugs – an antibiotic to try addressing the infection; altrenogest (known commonly as Regu-Mate) to try to avoid premature foaling, and an anti-inflammatory called pentoxifylline which was believed to reduce inflammation and improve blood flow. The trouble was, Macpherson said there wasn't a lot of evidence about how good pentoxifylline was at accomplishing those goals in placentitis cases, and most clinicians didn't want to keep horses on it long-term.

Paula Quinn, long-time breeder of Thoroughbreds and Warmbloods in Florida, has seen her fair share of placentitis cases and has always been curious about what veterinarians prescribed to her horses and why.

“What I like about a teaching hospital [like University of Florida] is they do a lot of research and they're used to explaining things to people and I have a very curious mind and always want to understand things,” said Quinn. “We had a mare over there that unfortunately developed placentitis and the foal did not live in this particular case, but I was asking about the different medications and protocol.”

This was shortly after the Food and Drug Administration approved firocoxib for use in horses with arthritis in 2016. Quinn knew from her research that firocoxib is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory that is targeted in the way it works in a horse's body, moreso than familiar NSAIDs like phenylbutazone or flunixin megalamine. Because firocoxib and other medicines like it target only certain types of inflammatory mediators, they don't cause the same gastrointestinal irritation that less targeted nonsteroidals can. That makes them safer choices for longer-term use.

Quinn had a horse with navicular syndrome who had been on firocoxib for some time with no ill effects. She asked Macpherson – have you considered this new anti-inflammatory for use in placentitis?

It was a new idea to Macpherson, because before then, people really only thought about the drug in terms of arthritis, which is also how it's commonly prescribed in humans. Macpherson designed a study to test out how firocoxib may work in this clinical setting, and got funding from the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation to make it a reality. First, she induced placentitis in two groups of mares and gave firocoxib to one of the groups. Then, she measured the levels of various inflammatory mediators in allantoic and amniotic fluid, and found that treated mares had lower concentrations of inflammatory mediators than those who went untreated.

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In her next study, she combined firocoxib with an antibiotic and a double dose of Regu-Mate and gave the combination to a group of pregnant mares with placentitis, as a way to test the typical protocol in the field. The group was small, but she said all of them delivered live foals.

Thanks to her research, many clinicians are already using firocoxib as a part of their placentitis treatment program. The next time Quinn had a mare with placentitis, she was surprised to learn that the medication protocol had changed, and reached out to ask Macpherson – was that because of us?

Quinn and her veterinarian gave their mare the trio of medications that included firocoxib, and the mare produced a healthy foal. At a recent Belgian Warmblood inspection, the horse was rated as a Premium Filly.

“Margo and I were laughing that something I had a part in saved one of my own fillies,” said Quinn. “But she's so generous to give me any credit at all, because the work she's put into this has been amazing.”

This filly's dam was treated for placentitis before her birth. She went on to be recognized as Premier Filly at a recent Belgian Warmblood inspection

Quinn said as a horse owner, it's good to know there's a better treatment out there, but she knows the road to solving the problem of placentitis is a long one.

For Macpherson, the next research focus will involve looking for early warning signs that something is wrong before a mare shows outward symptoms.

“I think a big piece of what we're missing is understanding the pathophysiology of the disease and how we can better diagnose it,” said Macpherson, who noted the University of Kentucky has done great work in this are already. “Probably for me, I have a series of years' worth of samples I've collected under different types of conditions. I'd like to look at those samples to see if we can find any biomarkers that are indicative of impending placentitis so that we can do a better job of initiating those treatments and making those treatments more effective. That's a big piece of it, we find placentitis too late. We find it well into the disease process and then it's hard to catch up.”

In the meantime, it's good to know there's an effective, safe protocol out there that can help in some cases – and it's been embraced broadly in the field.

“People are pretty quick to grab onto those treatments,” Macpherson said. “They want something that works better. Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation has been very, very good about supporting research problems that have a clinical impact on horses. They're not just a Thoroughbred-based organization, they're looking after the health and welfare of all horses. We happen to see it a lot in Thoroughbreds because we have an older population of mares who have been breeding a long time, but it's everywhere.”

The post Research In Action: Finding Better Treatments For Placentitis appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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RMTC Promotes Hardy to Full-Time Executive Director

The Racing Medication & Testing Consortium (RMTC)'s part-time Executive Director, Dr. Michael Hardy, has been promoted to full-time Executive Director of the RMTC, the organization announced on Monday.

In his new position, Hardy will be responsible for the management of the RMTC's Laboratory Accreditation and External Quality Assurance Program in conjunction with the new Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit and will also administer the RMTC's Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) process, manage the organization's monitoring of emerging threats to the integrity of racing, and oversee the process of reviewing applications received for all RMTC-funded post-doctoral fellowships and research proposals.

“We are very pleased to have Dr. Hardy on board in a full-time capacity,” RMTC Chair Alex Waldrop said. “The Board of Directors has determined that the work of the RMTC and its scientific advisory committee continue to be uniquely relevant to the horseracing industry's efforts to fairly and safely regulate the use of therapeutic medications and aggressively detect and deter the use of prohibited substances. In this regard, Dr. Hardy is the right person to lead these important efforts going forward.”

Also during its recent meeting, the RMTC Board approved the development, organization, and financial support of a Racing Industry Veterinary Student Externship Program in response to the supply and demand concerns associated with available equine-specific veterinarians to meet the racing industry needs. This program will provide a shared experience for veterinary students with racetrack practitioners and regulatory veterinarians with the objective to promote and provide exposure to and networking opportunities in equine veterinary medicine within the racing industry to prospective veterinarians.

“The success of the racing industry is dependent on the recruitment, availability, and retention of motivated attending and regulatory veterinary professionals to oversee the safety and welfare of its participants,” Hardy said. “The RMTC will join other equine industry organizations taking an active role in promoting careers in equine veterinary medicine.”

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Cupid Relocating to Atlanta Hall in Maryland

Grade I winner Cupid (Tapit) will stand the 2024 breeding season at Atlanta Hall in Monkton, Maryland, the farm announced on Monday. The 10-year-old, who previously stood at Ashford Stud in Versailles, KY, since 2018, will be Atlanta Hall's first stallion.

“This transfer from Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Kentucky to our prestigious and historic facility marks an exciting new chapter for both Cupid and Atlanta Hall Farm,” Garrett Murray, stallion manager and owner of Atlanta Hall, said. “We are honored to welcome Cupid to our esteemed stallion roster, and we look forward to working with breeders to bring his exceptional genetics to the next generation of champions.”

Trained by Bob Baffert, Cupid won the GI Gold Cup at Santa Anita, GII Rebel S., GII West Virginia Derby and GII Indiana Derby and amassed a career line of 13-6-1-0, $1,701,873. The third-crop stallion has been represented by seven stakes winners and four graded stakes winners overall and is the sire of this year's GI Summer S. winner Carson's Run, and GIII West Virginia Governor's S. winner Duke of Love.

Cupid will stand his initial season in the Mid-Atlantic region for a fee of $8,000, S&N.

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