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Bourbonic Sells To Mexico’s Rancho Natoches At Keeneland November

Grade 2 winner Bourbonic will begin his stallion career in Mexico after selling to Rancho Natoches for $20,000 on Wednesday at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

The 5-year-old son of Bernardini raced as a homebred for Calumet Farm, winning four of 19 starts and earning $703,493. He was trained by Todd Pletcher.

After toiling in a pair of New York maiden special weights, Bourbonic dropped in class to take a maiden claiming race going a mile on the main track at Aqueduct. That confidence-building win helped the colt climb the ladder, with a starter allowance win at the same track and distance, and a runner-up effort in a Parx Racing allowance optional claiming race.

Bourbonic left the gate in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial Stakes with the longest odds on the board at 72-1. Under jockey Kendrick Carmouche, he sat in last and closed with a charge to best Dynamic One by a head and punch his ticket for the 2021 Kentucky Derby.

Once again a long price in the Derby, Bourbonic finished 13th, then he came back for the Belmont Stakes, where he finished fifth.

Bourbonic continued to race through the summer of 2023, winning an allowance optional claiming race to start his 5-year-old campaign, and finishing third in the G3 West Virginia Derby in his comeback start from the Belmont Stakes.

Guillermo Elizondo, owner of Rancho Natoches, said he was drawn to Bourbonic for his sire, Bernardini. Elizondo's farm was home to Bold Legacy, a half-brother to Bernardini by Seattle Slew, and he wanted to bring the familiar blood back to Mexico.

“I bought Bold Legacy a year before Bernardini raced,” Elizondo said. “When Bernardini raced, I wouldn't have been able to buy Bold Legacy. I like this bloodline. I like Bernardini. Even though he's best at getting females, I think he's got the blood to get a good stallion. We need these kind of horses here (in Mexico).

“I never thought we were going to be able to buy [Bourbonic],” he continued. “It was a very reasonable price.”

Bourbonic is out of the Grade 2-winning Afleet Alex mare Dancing Afleet, whose three foals to race are all winners, also including Grade 2-placed Avant Garde.

Buckland Sales consigned the stallion prospect as agent.

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“He's a big, good looking horse,” said Buckland Sales' Zach Madden. “When you're going up there and five hips before, you're selling a mare, and then you switch to stallion mode, you've got to recalibrate everything. I knew those guys had been back to the barn a few times, and their vet was there, and they were buying mares.

“We knew a few people were interested, and he's a really good horse,” Madden continued. “These guys are super-pumped to have him, so it's hard not to root for them, people that are excited to have their horses.”

Elizondo has been a frequent customer at Keeneland auctions to build his stallion roster. He purchased Win Willy, a multiple Grade 2-winning son of Monarchos, for $45,000 at the 2014 Keeneland November Sale. In 2018, he secured Fayeq, a half-brother to Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra by Malibu Moon, for $55,000.

“Right now, we believe [Win Willy is] the best stallion in Mexico,” Elizondo said. “He's getting very good runners and stakes winners. We just won the 2-year-old champion filly with him (Vanadis Asquifar, Mexico's champion 2-year-old filly of 2022).”

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‘Technical Issues and Potential Fraud’ Involved In Large Mystery Wagers

A series of massive wagers into exotic pari-mutuel betting pools at several Thoroughbred and Standardbred racetracks on Wednesday have officials scratching their heads over how the bets were placed and why.

The wagers – which created pool sizes never before seen at some of the tracks in question – focused on superfecta and super high five wagers that require a gambler to pick the first four and first five finishers, respectively, in a race.

Horseracingnation.com and Daily Racing Form were the first to report the bets were placed through FanDuel/TVG, which said it has begun an investigation into the matter, citing “technical issues and potential fraud.”

A full statement from a FanDuel spokesman said: “Earlier today FanDuel Racing identified technical issues and potential fraud related to wagering pools and took the appropriate steps to stop wagering via its platform. This issue is no longer ongoing and wagering has resumed. The company is undertaking a full review of this matter and will be cooperating with regulatory authorities.”

The Thoroughbred tracks known to be the subject of these wagers were Finger Lakes and Churchill Downs, while the Meadows and Monticello harness tracks also had unusually large bets placed on their races.

Churchill Downs in Kentucky put a temporary hold on the super high five payout for Wednesday's fourth race after a reported $751,000 was wagered into the pool. Last Saturday, Nov. 11, Churchill Downs offered super high five wagering on four races, with no pool exceeding $20,000.

New York's Finger Lakes had $359,298 wagered into a superfecta pool for Wednesday's fifth race, far eclipsing any other pools for that or any bet type on the card.

Harness tracks had even more abnormally massive wagers.

New York's Monticello Raceway had $1,450,600 wagered into the sixth race superfecta pool and another $950,029 on the seventh race superfecta.

At the Meadows in Pennsylvania, $119,682 in superfecta wagers were placed in the fourth race and $1,082,884 in the fifth race.

Though they did not approach the other bets in volume, Mahoning Valley, a Thoroughbred track in Ohio, saw larger than usual superfecta pools in races five and six ($63,390 and $61,386) and the day's total handle jumped 59 percent from the previous Wednesday.

One track official who spoke on background said at least one of the bets was made with every combination selected in large increments.

Horseracingnation.com quoted Shawn Wiles, director of racing at Monticello, saying, “I'm waiting to see the report at the end of the day to see how all these combinations were bet.”

Curtis Linnell, head of the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau, which monitors unusual wagering activities for North American racetracks, said he was investigating the bets.

“I'm kind of busy right now,” Linnell said when reached by the Paulick Report. He said he could not comment further at this time.

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Pennsylvania Leaderboard: Northview Stallion Station Continues Dominance Over Stallion Owner Division

Though it closed its Pennsylvania branch at the close of the 2020 breeding season, Northview Stallion Station still has a massive presence in the Keystone State's breeding program through the sons and daughters of the stallions that resided there.

Through the end of September, Northview Stallion Station leads all entities by Pennsylvania stallion award earnings, with $314,838. Coming in second was WynOaks Farm at $159,062.

The owner of a Pennsylvania-based stallion at the time of a foal's conception is eligible for stallion awards generated by that foal. Stallion owners receive 10 percent of the purse earned when a registered Pennsylvania-bred and -sired runner finishes in the top three in any pari-mutuel race within the state.

Leading the way among the Northview stallions is the late Jump Start, who tallied $108,115 in stallion awards through the first nine months of 2023. Jump Start was a perennial leader among Pennsylvania stallions by award earnings for nearly a decade, giving him a deep pipeline of runners to continue earning.

His top earner of stallion awards through the first three quarters of 2023 was Hey Mamaluke, who brought in $7,350 for Northview. The 7-year-old mare has won twice in 2023, and once in Pennsylvania. After taking an allowance optional claiming race in March at Aqueduct, Hey Mamaluke has bounced between several states in the Mid-Atlantic, returning to her home state to win a rained-off-the-turf edition of the Power By Far Stakes by a head on June 26 at Parx Racing.

Hey Mamaluke races as a homebred for Joe Capriglione, and she is trained by Patricia Farro.

Hey Mamaluke #2 wins the $100,000 Penn's Landing at Parx Racing in Bensalem, PA on March 7, 2022. The Pennsylvania-Bred daughter of Jump Start was ridden to victory by Andy Hernandez for trainer Patricia Farro. Hey Mamaluke is a homebred for Joseph Capriglione. Photo by Bill Denver/EQUI-PHOTO.

Northview was also helped greatly by Uncle Lino, a Grade 1-placed stakes-winning son of Uncle Mo who entered stud in 2017. His slate of Pennsylvania-sired runners have reaped $99,846 in stallion awards.

The biggest earner among them is One More Scoop, a 4-year-old gelding who has contributed $12,720 in stallion awards. One More Scoop has won four times this year, twice each at Parx Racing and Penn National.

The centerpiece of his 2023 resume is a half-length victory in the Fabulous Strike Stakes, a six-furlong race on Aug. 18 at Penn National where he sat in second, stalking the leader, before moving in the stretch and getting up in the final jumps. Kathleen Damasi trains One More Scoop for owner Shooting Star Stable.

Rounding out the trio of Northview stallions who made the top 10 by stallion award earnings was Hoppertunity, who had cashed in $58,625 through September.

The Grade 1-winning son of Any Given Saturday's top earner of stallion awards was Notice of Action, bringing in $11,880.

Owned by Andy Hawthorne and trained by Bobbi Anne Hawthorne, the 2-year-old colt is unbeaten in three starts at Parx, two of which came before the end of September. After breaking his maiden by a front-running four lengths on Aug. 21, Notice of Action made a successful jump in competition, holding on to win the 6 1/2-furlong Prince Lucky Stakes by a half-length on Sept, 23.

The final class of Northview-sired runners from the operation's former location in Peach Bottom, Pa., were born in 2021, making them 2-year-olds of 2023. While the pipeline for runners might have reached its end, the farm figures to continue having a presence at or near the top of this list as those last runners mature and continue to run and win at high levels.

Leading Stallion Owners By 2023 Pennsylvania Stallion Awards, Through September

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Prominent Owner/Breeder, Minnesota Thoroughbred Supporter Bob Lothenbach Passes At 64

Longtime Thoroughbred owner and breeder Bob Lothenbach has passed at the age of 64, officials at Canterbury Park in Minnesota confirmed on Wednesday. Funeral arrangements remain pending at this time.

Lothenbach has raced both in Minnesota and nationally at the highest levels for decades. He won his first Canterbury Park leading-owner title in 2002. Two years later Mayo On the Side, bred in Kentucky by Lothenbach, won the 2004 Grade 1 Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs with trainer Carl Nafzger. Lothenbach has owned nine graded stakes winners including additional Grade 1 winners Bell's the One and Vacare.

A 2023 inductee into the Canterbury Park Hall of Fame, Lothenbach's familiar royal blue silks with red diamonds began appearing in the Canterbury winner's circle on a regular basis in recent years. He has been the leading owner the past three seasons, setting an earnings record in 2022 with $1,521,176 in purses. Lothenbach won more than 200 races at Canterbury with earnings in excess of $5.2 million.

In fact, Lothenbach has been supporting Minnesota horse racing since Canterbury Park in Shakopee first opened in 1985. The longtime racing fan called on three of his friends, each of whom put in $1,000 to claim a horse. The partners made money with that first claim, and Lothenbach was hooked.

Lothenbach is known outside of racing for his contributions to the printing industry. He worked 40-hour weeks during his senior year of high school and built his own major printing company from the ground up.

“I started 30 years ago out of my garage with $1,800 to my name,” Lothenbach told the Paulick Report in 2021. “Back then, the printing industry was pretty old school, and it could take several weeks to process an order. With my company, I told people, 'When you need it, I'll get it for you.' It single-handedly changed the printing industry in Minnesota.”

The company grew to over 1,300 employees, and Lothenbach was inducted into the Printing Impressions/RIT Printing Industry Hall of Fame in 2013. He sold a majority share in 2016, and now focuses much of his time on other investment projects as well as his Lothenbach Family Foundation.

“I'm really big on literacy for kids, because when I was a kid I really struggled with school and reading; in fact I still do today,” Lothenbach said. “So the foundation supports literacy programs for kids, as well as veterans and a few other charities.

“People helped me get where I'm at, so I try to return the favor.”

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