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Carstanjen: Louisville Community ‘Overwhelmingly’ Supports Going Forward With Kentucky Derby

Churchill Downs Inc. chief executive officer Bill Carstanjen appeared on CNBC's “Power Lunch” on Thursday, telling co-anchor Kelly Evans the Kentucky Derby will go on as scheduled Sept. 5, in part because he says the Louisville community “overwhelmingly” supports the event and that it's “an important part of our traditions and culture.”

Protesters, including Pastor Timothy Findley Jr. of the Kingdom Fellowship Christian Life Center in Louisville and leader of the Justice and Freedom Coalition, have called for the Derby to be cancelled this year in the wake of the shooting death of Breonna Taylor. The 26-year-old African-American emergency medical technician was shot in her home by Louisville police executing a no-knock warrant in search of a suspected drug dealer. No one has been charged in her death.

On Aug. 25, protesters marched through Louisville, at one point gathering outside the main gate of Churchill Downs and hanging a “Justice for Breonna Taylor” sign over an entrance sign to the track.

Findley and others have said they plan more demonstrations over the next week in hopes of disrupting or cancelling the Derby..

“With all due respect to the pastor, I think that's not the majority of our community,” said Carstanjen. “The community in general overwhelmingly supports having the Derby. That doesn't mean that we're not sensitive and a part of the dialogue on the social and racial equality issues in our community and in our society.

“Our company's been around for 145 years – this is our 146^th Kentucky Derby,” Carstanjen told Evans. “But the feedback has been overwhelming to us through the community that this should go on. This is an important part of healing, this is an important part of our traditions and culture in our community.”

Evans also asked Carstanjen about the decision to run the Derby without spectators.

“Well, first it was a really, really hard decision and we made it at the last possible minute,” said Carstanjen. “But after a period where we saw some encouraging signs with COVID-19 and Jefferson County where Louisville is located, over the last couple of weeks we saw a real surge. So we've been designated a 'red zone' by the White House, and we're seeing some discouraging signs and we needed to make a decision.

“So it was personally and professionally a really disappointing decision to have to make but without question it was the right thing for us to do. Our priority is keeping our community safe, our fans, our team members, and we got to the point with the numbers being what they were that that was the only responsible decision.”

Watch the Power Lunch segment here.

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Wuheida’s Sister Starts at Newmarket

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Friday’s Insights features a full to Breeders’ Cup winner Wuheida (GB) (D

3.05 Newmarket, Novice, £5,400, 2yo, f, 7fT
A’SHAARI (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is a full-sister to the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf and G1 Prix Marcel Boussac winner Wuheida (GB) out of the dual top-level scorer Hibaayeb (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}). Charlie Appleby’s newcomer meets another unraced filly of note in Lordship Stud’s Sweet Enough (GB) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), a John Gosden trainee whose dam is a full-sister to the Grade I winner Photo Call (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and cost 500,000gns at the 2018 Tattersalls December Foal Sale.

3.45 Newmarket, Novice, £6,400, 2yo, c/g, 7fT
MEGALLAN (GB) (Kingman {GB}) races under a seven-pound penalty following his impressive debut success over this course and distance earlier this month, with John Gosden intent on adding extra experience before he enters black-type company. Anthony Oppenheimer’s homebred son of the listed-winning and multiple graded-stakes-placed Eastern Belle (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}), a half-sister to Golden Horn (GB), has to give that weight to Godolphin’s newcomer Visionary Ruler (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), a Charlie Appleby-trained half-brother to the classy trio of Saint Baudolino (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), Avilius (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) and Well of Wisdom (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}).

ubawi {Ire}).

The post Wuheida’s Sister Starts at Newmarket appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Flagstaff Faces Giant Expectations In ‘Win And You’re In’ Pat O’Brien Stakes

Flagstaff is a lovely, little town in the mountains of Northern Arizona. Flagstaff is also a very fast racehorse who could be tough to beat at Del Mar Saturday afternoon in the 35th running of the Pat O'Brien Stakes.

The O'Brien, a seven-panel spin for 3-year-olds and up, carries a purse of $150,000 and Grade II status. It also is a Breeders' Cup “Win & You're In” race that guarantees the victor entry with all fees paid to the $2,000,000 BC Dirt Mile to be run on Saturday, November 7 at Keeneland in Kentucky.

Flagstaff, the horse, is a 6-year-old gelding by 2004 sprint champion Speightstown who has been judiciously spotted and raced by trainer John Sadler for the Kentucky-bred's owners — Lanes End Racing or Hronis Racing. He didn't make it to the races until his 4-year-old season and only shows 13 starts in total. Five of them have been wins, though — the last two coming in stakes at the O'Brien's seven-furlong distance — and he sports earnings that read $485,785.

Hall of Fame rider Victor Espinoza, who has been aboard in most of the horse's starts, has the call again Saturday and they'll break from Post 4 in the eight-horse lineup.

The chief treat to Flagstaff is likely to be the comebacking Giant Expectations, a 7-year-old horse by Frost Giant who races for the partnership of David Bernsen and Exline-Border Racing and is trained by Peter Eurton. The winner of $1,336,600 will be making his first start in nearly 10 months and gets Del Mar's leading rider, Umberto Rispoli, along for the outing.

Giant Expectations has a history with both the Pat O'Brien and the BC Dirt Mile. He won the former back in 2017 as a 4-year-old, then ran second in it last year. He's run in the BC Dirt Mile the last three years, though he hasn't had much success in the race. The 2019 BC Dirt Mile on November 2 at Santa Anita was his most recent start.

Here's the full O'Brien field from the rail out with riders and morning line odds:

Agnew, Schneider or Xitco's Law Abidin Citizen (Abel Cedillo, 5-1); Little Red Feather Racing and Vanderslice's P R Radio Star (Juan Hernandez, 6-1); Gust or Warren's Manhattan Up (Tiago Pereira, 15-1); Flagstaff (5/2); Tom Kagele's C Z Rocket (Flavien Prat, 4-1); Slam Dunk Racing or MyRacehorse.com's Vertical Threat (Heriberto Figueroa, 8-1); Giant Expectations (7/2), and Doubledown Stables' Blameitonthelaw (Drayden Van Dyke, 12-1).

C Z Rocket is the lone out-of-towner to tackle the local sprinters. California trainer Peter Miller claimed the City Zip gelding for $40,000 at Oaklawn Park this past April and subsequently won three straight races with him in Kentucky. He was shipped to Monmouth Park in New Jersey in July, but never started there. He's won seven races and $341,641.

Law Abidin Citizen was the third-place finisher in the six-furlong Bing Crosby Stakes earlier in the Del Mar meet. The 6-year-old gelding by Twirling Candy has won seven races and more than $500,000, all out of the barn of trainer Mark Glatt.

P R Radio Star will be trying to win his first stakes race in his 31st start. The 5-year-old gelding by Warrior's Reward has won twice already at the current Del Mar meet, taking a pair of allowance sprints.

First post for the 11-race Saturday card is 2 p.m.

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Three Signs That Indicate Colic Is Critical

Colic is the No. 1 killer of horses in the United States. The term encompasses any equine abdominal pain and it is the most-common reason why horses require emergency veterinary care. Though many colic cases are resolved with simple, on-farm medical management, some cases are critical.

Drs. Adelle Bowden, Gary England, Marnie Louise Brennan, Tim Mair, Wendy Furness, Sarah Freeman and John Burford reviewed the clinical notes from 941 colic cases seen by two major equine clinics in England. The study team was able to identify three “red flags” that indicated that a colic case was critical. “Critical” in this case means that the colic required medical or surgical in-hospital care or resulted in euthanasia or death.

There are three red flags were: an increased heart rate, increasing age and abnormal mucous membrane color. The study team determined that of the 941 cases, 225 (23.9 percent) were critical; 18 percent of the critical cases were euthanized and 1 percent of the cases died.

The researchers note that these three “red flag” parameters should be an essential component of the colicky horse's initial assessment. The team suggests further research into the role a horse's age plays in critical cases; clarification is needed on if older horses are more likely to have critical conditions or if owners are more likely to choose euthanasia instead of treatment in older horses.