Category: Horse Racing News

Arc De Triomphe On The Table For Stradivarius After Record Fourth Goodwood Cup Victory

It was a case of different year but definitely the same old Stradivarius as the champion stayer broke yet more records by securing a fourth Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup on Tuesday.

It wasn't all plain sailing as it has been in previous renewals, however, as a moderate pace and trouble in running meant he wasn't allowed smooth passage in the home straight.

His superior class prevailed however as his trademark turn of foot saw him get out of trouble midway through the final furlong.

Stradivarius sat in fourth for most of the race, with Nayef Road leading them round in a modest gallop. This continued well into the straight before the front runner began to press, turning the race into a sprint finish.

As Spanish Mission and Eagles By Day made their move from the back it caused what seemed like major traffic problems for the serial champion, who became very boxed in. Now held on the rail, Frankie Dettori was unable to push the button when he wanted with little daylight and major rival Santiago getting clear first run.

However once Dettori was able to get racing room Stradivarius showed the class and turn of foot that has made him a household name. The afterburners came into full flow on the favorite and he cruised past Nayef Road and Santiago with little fuss to win reasonably comfortably. Nayef Road was once again gallant and stuck on to finish second.

Trainer John Gosden surprised many by indicating the Prix de l'arc de Triomphe would be a an end of season target in the post-race interviews.

The post Arc De Triomphe On The Table For Stradivarius After Record Fourth Goodwood Cup Victory appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Agreement To Stand Invasor In Uruguay Extended Through 2021

Invasor, North America's 2006 Horse of the Year, will remain in Uruguay for at least two more Southern Hemisphere breeding seasons after an agreement was reached between owner Shadwell Farm and Haras Cuatro Piedras, the South American publication Turf Diario reports.

The initial agreement called for the 18-year-old son of Candy Stripes to stand at the Uruguayan farm for three seasons from 2015 to 2017, and the deal was renewed for another three seasons through 2020. As the final year approached on the second deal, the two sides agreed to keep him there for one additional season, bringing the total to seven.

When the deal is fully terminated at the end of 2021, Turf Diario reports that Invasor will return to Shadwell's Kentucky base, likely to be pensioned from stud duty.

Invasor was born in Argentina, but was sent to Uruguay as a 2-year-old to begin his racing career. He was a force in his new home, taking down Uruguay's Triple Crown and being named Horse of the Year in both Uruguay and his native Argentina.

His performance caught the attention of Shadwell Farm, which purchased the colt ahead of his 4-year-old campaign. Once again, Invasor was dominant, taking home Horse of the Year honors in 2006 with an undefeated North American campaign of Grade 1 victories including the Breeders' Cup Classic, Pimlico Special Handicap, Suburban Handicap, and Whitney Handicap.

The wins continued during a brief 4-year-old campaign, which saw wins in the G1 Donn Handicap and an electric finale in the Dubai World Cup. Invasor retired with 11 wins in 12 starts for earnings of $7,804,070, and he was named to the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame in 2013.

Invasor entered stud at Shadwell Farm for the 2008 breeding season, and he moved to Haras Cuatro Piedras in 2015. He covered 37 mares during last year's Southern Hemisphere season, which is above average for a Uruguayan stallion with U.S. ties.

After underwhelming at stud in North America, Invasor has carved out more success in Uruguay, siring Group 2 winner Mourinho and Group 3 winner Lamborghini. He currently sits 13th on Uruguay's general sire list for 2020.

The post Agreement To Stand Invasor In Uruguay Extended Through 2021 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Pandemic Affects Visas, Limiting H-2B Workers

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — George Weaver feels it. So do Chad Brown, Todd Pletcher and Shug McGaughey. Among the many new issues that Thoroughbred trainers across the country must contend with during the 2020 pandemic is a shortage of skilled staff.

In recent years, it has become more difficult for horsemen to secure all the H-2B visas that they desire to legally bring foreign nationals into the country as guest workers. The arrival of COVID-19 in late winter closed U.S. consulates, compounding the problems, preventing visa holders from getting their entry documents from the State Department. On June 22, President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending the visa program through December, a move designed to help the tens of millions of unemployed Americans find jobs.

“It is a problem,” said McGaughey, who is missing some of his hotwalkers and could use another exercise rider. “The bad part about it is that Trump, or the government, just does not realize that these are jobs that American people refuse.”

That’s the rub. One of the key provisions of the H-2B visa program is that the jobs must first be offered to Americans before foreign residents can be hired. Trainers say they are always interested in hiring U.S.-based employees for the positions, primarily grooms and hotwalkers.

“The people that are needed, nobody wants to do this work,” Weaver said. “It’s not even about the money, nobody wants to wake up at 3:30, 4:00 in the morning every single morning or even six mornings a week. They don’t want to do it.”

Immigration attorney Will Velie of Norman, Oklahoma, is an expert whose Horseman Labor Solutions company has been helping trainers staff their stables with guest workers for 15 years. Velie estimated that approximately 1,500 people come into U.S., primarily from Mexico and Central American countries to work in the Thoroughbred racing industry. He said it costs trainers between $1,500 and $2,000 per worker in fees and legal expenses. In addition, trainers must pay for travel back and forth to the employees’s home countries and other costs.

“They would not do this if they didn’t have to,” Velie said. “The only reason they are doing this is because they don’t have the people to do the work anymore.”

Velie said the pandemic, which led to border closings and the pause on the admission of people who do already had been approved for visas, has made a tough situation worse.

“It’s particularly bad this year,” he said. “It’s always bad. It’s been bad for a long time. So you’ve got this confluence of factors that make it to where it is very difficult to find enough workers on the backside of the track, even with 25 million unemployed people.”

Weaver said none of the dozen or so internationals he had planned for are with him this summer at Saratoga Race Course. His exercise riders are helping out with hotwalking and he said that some of his grooms have to deal with six or seven horses every day, rather than the norm of four or five.

Like the other trainers, Weaver said his stable is getting by, but he is frustrated by how the situation played out despite doing the proper planning.

“It cost a lot of money, and when you pay the lawyer and you pay the stuff and you don’t get your people, it’s like you just [wasted] a bunch of money and you don’t have your help,” he said.

Pletcher’s stable has been hit hard. He said that none of his 35 guest workers was able to come into the country before the program was closed.

“It has affected everyone,” he said. “We have a large number of visa employees that were approved but have not been allowed to come over. We’ve had to have our staff pull off some overtime, put in extra hours and extra work. Yeah, it has been a hardship for a lot of people. This would be our peak time of the year, so we would have over 100 employees. We have similar numbers, in some cases less-experienced.”

Pletcher nodded at the suggestion that some of his staff is receiving on-the-job training.

“Pretty much,” he said. “At the same time you want new people coming into the business and learning. A lot of our visa workers have been with us for a long time, know the system and are skilled professionals.”

Eric Hamelback, the CEO of the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, said that the jobs Pletcher and the other trainers must fill might seem to the casual observer to be low-level duties easy for most people to handle.

“It is a skilled labor. Yes, it’s hard work. It is agricultural,” he said. “But it’s skilled when you are dealing with animals, whether they are a multi-million dollar horse or one that is a $5,000 claimer. They can kill you in a heartbeat and it takes a certain strength and skill to work in this field. You can’t just grab someone off the street and expect them to be able to hotwalk, much less groom.”

Hamelback said that his organization, which represents nearly 30,000 trainers and owners, is working with the National Horse Council and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association to build congressional insight and support for changes to help the industry with the visa program.

Every year, the Thoroughbred industry is vying for a share of the 66,000 H-2B visas that are allotted. During the year, the White House may add more visas to the pool. The demand is intense: 100,000 applications for the 33,000 H-2B visas available in the first round for 2020.

“This is a big topic and it is a lot of work,” Hamelback said.

Much like Pletcher, Brown has a very large operation and relies on foreign workers to fill some of his staff positions.

“It’s been challenging,” he said. “Thankfully, we have some of our workers who have been able to successfully come in before some stuff got shut down. Not all of them. I know some other trainers that are not in a good spot. It has really affected us. It has caused us to really change the management of our stable, such as how many we are able to have in New York.”

Brown continued, “Thankfully, our team has all pulled together and everyone has picked up the slack. Our business is no different than a lot of other businesses, probably, just trying to get through this pandemic, knowing that there is probably light at the end of the tunnel, that it’s not going to be this way forever. Keeping that mindset. Getting through each day the best we can.”

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Cheri Manning Enjoys a Decorated Start to Ownership

   For red hot trainer Christophe Clement, there’s much to look forward to as his blossoming turf star Decorated Invader (Declaration of War) progresses through his sophomore season. But for owner Cheri Manning, the talented colt has already given her the ride of a lifetime.

In partnership with West Point Thoroughbreds, William Freeman and William Sandbrook, Manning has watched her horse cross the wire first in a juvenile maiden race at Saratoga, then the GI Summer S., the Cuter Bay S., the GII Pennine Ridge S. and most recently, the GII National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame S.

Even with such a lengthy collection of victories, the Virginia resident still has yet to join her colt in the winner’s circle.

“I almost don’t even want to say this out loud, but I’ve never seen him win in person,” Manning said. “The only races I’ve been to were his first start [a close second at Saratoga] and the Breeders’ Cup [Juvenile Turf, where he finished fourth after a troubled trip]. So now I’m a little nervous to go see him run.”

Although she’s just getting started in her journey as an owner, Manning has been a fan of the sport since childhood.

“Even as a little kid, I enjoyed horse racing,” she recounted. “I was lucky enough to grow up in the ’70s, so Secretariat, Affirmed and Alydar are the first horses I remember. My dad was into horse racing, so we would watch on TV. I was your typical horse-crazy kid.”

It wasn’t until a few years ago that her interest in racing became something more.

“When I went to college, I stopped riding and horses kind of slipped out of my life,” she said.  “But I always continued to follow racing. Then I started to get closer to the age of 50. And when that happened, I started thinking, ‘Alright, I’m going to do something for myself.'”

Manning bought in on two 2-year-olds through West Point Thoroughbreds in 2016 and as she notes, “away we went.”

“Ownership was way more than I expected going in,” she said. “That first summer, coming up to Saratoga for the first time was quite the experience- being a total newbie on the backstretch and watching one of my horses run there. I felt like everyone in the industry was so welcoming. Even if you don’t know what the heck you’re talking about, everyone wants to help give you the information you need without making you feel stupid.”

That same year, a third juvenile on the West Point roster named Arch of the Diver (Arch) caught her eye.

“He was a bit more on the expensive side, so I tried to be practical and buy into two horses for the price of one,” Manning said. “But I couldn’t stop thinking about him, so I ended up buying into him.”

Arch of the Diver showed promise early on, but endured several injury-induced setbacks. It wasn’t until he was a 4-year-old that he broke his maiden at Saratoga by almost 10 lengths.

“I cried so hard,” Manning said with a laugh.

The gelding later won at Delaware Park, scoring a 93 Beyer Figure, but soon after an injury forced the West Point team to retire him. They turned to Manning to ask if ‘Archie’ could find a new home with his biggest fan.

“They knew I loved him and that he would be going to a really good home,” Manning said. “So when they asked me I said, ‘Yes. We will figure it out. We will make it happen.'”

While Archie has yet to start a new career under saddle, he is thriving at his new home in Virginia.

“This horse is the biggest klutz. It’s a miracle he raced at all, let alone won two races,” Manning joked. “The hope is to eventually get him under saddle and see what he wants to do, even if it’s just hack around and be a trail horse. But if he ends up being a pasture pet, that’s great too.”

Even though Manning has only been involved in racing for five years, she’s already giving back to the sport through her dedication to aftercare and has big plans to do more.

“Eventually I could see myself having the Northern Virginia Home for Wayward Thoroughbreds, or something like that,” she said.

At around the same time of Arch of the Diver’s retirement, a yearling with Arch as a broodmare sire became available.

“I really like turf horses, and the fact that he was out of an Arch mare really sold him for me,” Manning recalled.

Soon after, she was in on Decorated Invader’s ownership.

Decorated Invader claims the GII National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame S. | Coglianese

“If you could line up Northern Dancer, Danzig, War Front, and Decorated Invader, the similarities would be so striking. It’s quite a lineage,” she said.

Her ownership on Decorated Invader has quickly become a family affair.

“When we were in Saratoga last summer, my sister Cathy fell in love with him,” Manning said. “She was going on and on about how amazing he was after his first race when he ran second. I had an odd percentage on him, so I said, ‘happy birthday’ and gave her a small percentage. She says it was the best birthday present ever. She always liked horses and enjoyed going to the track with me, but with Decorated Invader, she knew he was The Horse, and now she’s gotten the bug.”

Manning has also introduced her 13-year-old niece Vivienne to horse racing.

“From day one, Vivienne has been my silent partner,” she said. “She unofficially owns half the horses I partner in. She’s your typical horse-crazy girl. What did we do for her Christmas break? We went to Florida to visit Payson Park and she was thrilled.”

For years, Vivienne and Manning also had their own riding horse that they owned together.

“Unfortunately he passed away in February of cancer,” Manning said. “So this year has really sucked, but Decorated Invader has sort of made up for a lot of not-so-great things.”

Manning remembers the Cutler Bay S. in March at Gulfstream as her favorite race of the season.

“Midway through the race he was totally out of it,” she said. “And you’re like, ‘Oh that’s fine, it’s his first race this year.’ And then all of a sudden, he turns on an extra gear and wows us all. The way he won that day was amazing.  That’s when we knew it was going to be a fun year.”

Of course, having one of the hottest trainers on the Saratoga backstretch in Christophe Clement is a definite asset.

“I can’t believe that barn,” Manning said. “They so deserve it. One of the deciding factors for me in buying a horse through West Point is if it’s going to Clement.”

Manning shared that while Clement’s assistant trainer and son Miguel says Decorated Invader acts studish whenever he’s working with the colt, Manning finds that the bay is nothing less than a gentleman when she comes to the barn with carrots in hand.

“He’s a very nice horse,” she said. “He’s so smart, you get that vibe from him right away. He’s got that intelligent eye. I’m so thankful to Terry Finley, Bill Freeman, Bill Sandbrook, as well as the West Point buying team and David Ingordo for finding Decorated Invader and letting me join the party. He’s definitely special, and he knows he’s special..”

West Point’s COO Tom Bellhouse said that Decorated Invader has an equally-special owner.

“Cheri is a dream partner,” he said. “She’s a great person. She takes the good news with the bad, and is always so supportive. She’s a big believer in the animal and for caring for the animal. Any time you spend with Cheri, it will put a smile on your face.”

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