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Hollendorfer Planning To Return To Monmouth Park In 2021

After four successful months having a string of horses at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., for the first time, Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer has been so satisfied with the results that he intends to make the Shore track part of his regular racing rotation going forward.

That was plan revealed by Dan Ward, Hollendorfer's longtime assistant, after the stable continued its strong Monmouth Park presence when heavily-favored Croatian cruised to victory in Saturday's featured $52,500 allowance optional claimer.

Ward, who has been with Hollendorfer the past 14 years after spending the previous 22 as an assistant to the late Bobby Frankel, has overseen the Hollendorfer runners at Monmouth while his boss kept tabs from California.

With two victories on Saturday's 10-race card, the Hollendorfer stable has won with three of seven starters during the abbreviated Meadowlands-at-Monmouth Park meet after going 14-for-50 during the regular Monmouth Park meet.

“We could not be happier about the way things have gone at Monmouth Park this year,” Ward said. “After this meet ends (Oct. 24) we're going to go to Churchill Downs for two months and then to Oaklawn through April and then we'll be back here.

“It's been fantastic. It's a safe track. You get all kinds of weather and the track was always safe. It has been a pleasure to train and race here this year.”

Ward was assigned 27 horses for Monmouth Park this year, and said the goal is to grow those numbers for next season.

“We're trying to build things up, so we intend to have even more horses when we come back here next year. We hope next year is even better here,” he said, “All I can tell you is that we're very pleased with the entire operation here. Jerry is very happy. So we hope to keep coming back and keep this as part of our regular routine every year.

Ward had not been to Monmouth Park since 1991, when he was an assistant to Frankel and Marquetry won the Philip H. Iselin Stakes that year.

The final week of the Thoroughbred season in New Jersey kicks off Wednesday, Oct. 21, with a nine-race card that features five turf races. Post time is 12:50 p.m. ET.

The post Hollendorfer Planning To Return To Monmouth Park In 2021 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Matt Lyons of Candy Meadows Named Finalist for Leadership Award in Breeding

Congratulations to Matt Lyons, a finalist in the Leadership Award in Breeding category of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA), presented by Godolphin. A native of East Galway, Ireland, Lyons graduated from the Equine Science and Business program at the University of Limerick. He began his stateside employment with the late Gerry Dilger at his Dromoland Farm over two decades ago. After stints at Taylor Made Farm, ClassicStar Farm, and Woodford Thoroughbreds, Lyons has been a part of Candy Meadows, an arm of Everett Dobson’s Cheyenne Stables, as its senior vice president and chief operating officer since 2018.

Among the words describing Lyons on his TIEA nomination were, “Coach. Teacher. Honest. Trustworthy. Respected.”

Click for the video feature on Lyons done by TIEA.

Other finalists for the Leadership Award in Breeding are Wayne Clem of Claiborne Farm and Christy Holden of Country Life Farm, who were recognized on these pages in the past two days. The Leadership Award in Breeding is presented annually to an individual who displays exceptional leadership qualities while in a managerial or supervisory position on a Thoroughbred farm.

A total of seven award categories will be honored by TIEA for 2020. Maria Cristina Silva of New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (NYTHA) has already been announced as the winner of the Community Award, while the winners in the other categories will be announced live in a virtual ceremony hosted by Jill Bryne and streamed at the TDN homepage Thursday, Nov. 5, at 12:00 p.m. ET. All finalists will be spotlighted in TDN in the days leading up to the ceremony.

The post Matt Lyons of Candy Meadows Named Finalist for Leadership Award in Breeding appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Venetian Harbor Holds Off Finite For Munnings Exacta In Raven Run

Second behind Speech in the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland in July, Southern California-based Venetian Harbor returned to the Lexington, Ky., track to win Saturday's G2, $200,000 Lexus Raven Run Stakes for 3-year-old fillies in front-running fashion under Manny Franco.

Trained by Richard Baltas and owned by Ciaglia Racing, Highland Yard, River Oak Farm and Domenic Savides, the Kentucky-bred daughter of Munnings held off a late charge from multiple graded stakes winner Finite – also by Munnings – to win by a neck, with Grand Cru Class third, Reagan's Edge fourth and Tonalist's Shape fifth in the field of eight.

Off as the 3-2 favorite, Venetian Harbor paid $5.20 to win and covered seven furlongs in 1:23.02 on a fast track after setting fractions of :23.06, :46.17 and 1:10.34.

“I was a little bit concerned about the 2 horse (Four Graces), and when I saw she didn't break (in front) I decided to go then,” said Franco. “She's happy when she's in the lead. She showed it today. She's a nice filly.”

It was the third win in seven starts for Venetian Harbor, who was produced from the Street Cry mare Sounds of the City. She was bred by Richard Santulli's Colts Neck Stables and purchased from the eighth session of the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $110,000, then bought back for $205,000 at the 2019 OBS Spring Sale of 2-year-olds in training.

A winner around two turns earlier this year in the G2 Las Virgenes at Santa Anita, Venetian Harbor last raced Aug. 8 in the seven-furlong G1 Test Stakes at Saratoga, where she finished seven lengths behind Gamine.

Venetian Harbor is headed to the G1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, to be run at the same seven-furlong distance at Keeneland on Nov. 7. Sprinting is in her blood, as she traces back four generations in her female family to Hall of Fame runner Safely Kept, the 1989 champion sprinter and winner of the G1 Breeders' Cup Sprint in 1990 against males.

Finite ran a good race to be second for Steve Asmussen under Ricardo Santana Jr. in her second start since undergoing surgery to remove an ankle chip this spring. A Winchell homebred daughter of Munnings, Finite is a two-time G2 winner who soundly defeated G1 Preakness winner Swiss Skydiver in the G2 Rachel Alexandra at Fair Grounds in February.

In the Raven Run, Finite raced in mid-pack while well off the rail as Venetian Harbor went unchallenged on the lead, then followed the winner into the stretch. She switched to the rail when Venetian Harbor drifted out slightly and was gaining on her in the final strides.

The post Venetian Harbor Holds Off Finite For Munnings Exacta In Raven Run appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Study: Does Living Near An Industrial Area Place Horses At Risk?

Though minerals and trace elements are necessary for horses to survive, the ingestion of too many can be toxic. Researchers from The University of Messina in Italy created a study to learn about the bioaccumulation of vanadium, chromium, cobalt, copper, zinc, cadmium, lead and bismuth in horses that live in an industrial area of Sicily.

Drs. Francesco Fazio, Enrico Gugliandolo, Vincenzo Nava, Giuseppe Piccione, Claudia Giannetto and Patrizia Licata took blood and hair samples from 20 horses to determine the distribution and concentration of mineral elements. They also analyzed hay, water and feed.

The scientists found that minerals were not distributed evenly in the horses; vanadium, copper, zinc and cadmium concentrations were higher in serum than in whole blood and higher in tail har than mane hair. Copper content was affected by season and geographic area, but in each test, copper was within “normal” range.

Zinc was higher in whole blood than in other samples. While zinc was higher than values found in 1992, the authors note that the increase could be from a variety of factors, including smoke from nearby galvanizing operations.

Cadmium was found to be higher in whole blood and cobalt was highest in tail samples. Chromium was found to be significantly higher in tail hair samples than in other samples. Lead was higher in whole blood and serum than in hair samples. The mineral concentration in hay and feed were below toxic levels.

The researchers conclude that hair samples could be used to monitor element concentrations in horses, but further investigation is needed to “body map” the bioaccumulation of different essential trace elements.

Read the study here.