Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance to be Present for Florida Derby Day

Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance will be present at Gulfstream Park for Florida Derby Day on Saturday, Mar. 30. Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance has partnered with 1/ST RACING to have a variety of on-site activations during the day.

Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance will be honored with a named race on the Florida Derby Day undercard. Following the running of the race, a presentation will be made to the winning connections, including a Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance branded blanket and gift bag branded merchandise. 1/ST RACING will promote accredited aftercare throughout the day.

A representative from Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance will be on-site to host the winners of the “Off to the Races” VIP Experience online benefit auction. 1/ST RACING has donated the Florida Derby Day VIP Experience where the winners will enjoy premium dining, access to the paddock, and more.

Additionally, Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance is also the co-beneficiary for the Florida Derby Charity Golf Tournament alongside the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. The charity golf tournament, hosted by 1/ST RACING, will be held on Monday, Mar. 25, at the Plantation Preserve Golf Course & Club.

“1/ST RACING and Gulfstream Park are thrilled to have Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance return for Florida Derby Day,” said Steve Screnci, President of Racing and Business Development, 1/ST RACING. “We take great pride in supporting accredited aftercare and aim to further raise awareness and aid in the care of retired Thoroughbred racehorses.”

“Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance is honored to count supporters like 1/ST RACING and Gulfstream among our allies in advancing our mission,” said Emily Dresen, Director of Funding & Events at Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. “We eagerly anticipate a day filled with exciting races and the opportunity to enlighten racing fans about the importance of accredited aftercare.”

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Derby Winner North Light Dies At 23

Derby winner North Light (Ire) (Danehill) was euthanized on Mar. 20 due to complications from laminitis, The Stronach Group announced on Thursday. The 23-year-old stallion had been pensioned since 2020 and will be laid to rest at Adena South in Ocala Florida.

Bred and raced by Ballymacoll Stud and trained by Sir Michael Stoute, the son of G1 Prix du Cadran heroine Sought Out (Ire) (Rainbow Quest) won one of two starts at two, and added the G2 Dante S. and G1 Derby in succession during the spring of 2004. A half-brother to multiple group winner Cover Up (Ire) (Machiavellian), he then found only Grey Swallow (Ire) (Daylami {Ire}) too good in the G1 Irish Derby and ended his season with a fifth in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. At four, he was second in the G3 Brigadier Gerard S., and ended his career with a mark of 7-3-3-0 and $1,989,577 in earnings.

Upon retirement, a majority interest in North Light was purchased by Frank Stronach, who stood the bay at his Adena Springs in Kentucky beginning in 2006. Moved to Adena North in Canada for his fifth season in 2010, he was leased to Kirsten Rausing's Lanwades Stud in England for one season in 2014. Repatriated to Canada beginning in 2015, he was pensioned in October of 2019 and lived out the rest of his days at Adena South.

 

Among his nine worldwide stakes winners were G1 St Leger hero Arctic Cosmos, who also was placed in three other group races, GII Del Mar H. hero Celtic New Year, Grade III winners Chips All In and Go Forth North, and Brazilian Group 2 winner Gol Tricolor (Brz). His daughters have produced five stakes winners, three of them Grade/Group 1 scorers–triple top-level winner War Like Goddess (English Channel), G1 Coolmore Classic heroine Lighthouse (Mizzen Mast), and Olympic Jolteon (Brz) (Elmustanser {GB}).

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Rusty Arnold Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

After receiving a seven-day suspension and a $1,000 fine after a horse he trained tested positive for a metabolite of Tramadol, trainer Rusty Arnold went on the offensive.

While he did not argue the fact that the horse tested positive, he has said that it is grossly unfair that the HISA/HIWU continues to suspended trainers for minute amounts of drugs that aren't considered performance-enhancing.

Advocating for a major change in how these infractions are dealt with, Arnold was this week's guest on the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. He was the Green Group Guest of the week.

“I can't deny that the horse raced on Tramadol,” Arnold said. “I took my positive and I didn't argue it. I didn't say anything. But after taking it, I wanted to point out that I don't think it's fair. I don't think the system is right on these trace limits. I'm trying to create some positive movement to change the rules and bring about some positive changes.”

Arnold said the only way the drug could have gotten into the horse's system is through environmental contamination and that HIWU's zero tolerance stand on drug positives is unrealistic.

 

Rusty Arnold Joins the TDN Writers' Room from Thoroughbred Daily News on Vimeo.

 

“I have no doubt that it came from contamination,” he said. “But my major objection is that in today's society, there is no such thing as zero tolerance. There needs to be a level and if the medication is under that level it won't be a drug positive. I'm trying to move forward and trying to make a positive change. Too many people are getting involved in similar situations right now. It's one every day or one every few days. And I disagree with it.”

Arnold said he heard from over 300 people since his ordeal became public and said the overwhelming sentiment was that he was being treated unfairly.

“The response has been very good, a little bit overwhelming actually,” he said. “I answered over 300 emails and texts over the next 48 hours. I would say 99.9% were positive and that included support I received from several Jockey Club members, which very much surprised me. The one thing that was the theme that echoed between every one of them was, 'this isn't what we signed up for with HISA. This isn't what we thought it was going to be. We thought we were going to catch guys that were clearly cheating. We didn't know that the everyday guy that's out there trying to do his job was going to be snared by the gotcha mentality.'”

In our breeding spotlight section we looked at the Coolmore stallion Tiz the Law and the WinStar stallion Audible.

Domestic Product | SV Photography

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, Coolmore, 1/ST Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds, WinStar https://www.winstarfarm.com/and XBTV.com, the team of Randy Moss, Bill Finley and Zoe Cadman reviewed the major races from last week, which included the one nobody could bet on–the GIII Tampa Bay Derby–won by Domestic Product (Practical Joke). Cadman said she was impressed by the performance of the Chad Brown-trainee, while Finley said he was underwhelmed because of the weak field.

There was also talk of the win by Kinza (Carpe Diem) in the GIII Santa Ysabel S. Kinza is arguably the best 3-year-old filly in training but because she is trained by Bob Baffert she cannot run in the GI Kentucky Oaks. Cadman was in Ocala for the March OBS 2-Year-Old Sale and gave a scouting report on which freshman sires she thinks will stand out during the sale.

To watch the Writers' Room, click here. To view the show as a podcast, click here.

 

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New Details Emerge on California Crown

Coming off a highly successful Pegasus World Cup Day at Gulfstream, which handled $47.3 million, $3.4 million more than last year, the 1/ST Racing team will now set its sights on creating a similar afternoon of racing at Santa Anita. 1/ST Racing CEO Belinda Stronach announced on NBC's broadcast of the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. that a day similar to the Pegasus is being created for Santa Anita and will be held Sept. 28.

The event will be called the California Crown and the premier race on the afternoon will be a revamped GI Awesome Again S. It was previously reported that the Awesome Again will be restricted to 3-year-olds, which will not be the case. It will remain a race for 3-year-olds and older.

1/ST Racing President Aidan Butler said that the company is looking to include the GII Eddie D. S., run at 6 1/2 furlongs on the downhill turf course, and the GII John Henry Turf Championship S., run at a mile-and-a-quarter on the turf, as part of the California Crown series. Other races traditionally run that weekend at Santa Anita include the GII Santa Anita Sprint Championship S., the GII City of Hope Mile S., the GII Zenyatta S., the GIII Tokyo City Cup and the $100,000 Unzip Me S.

The key detail that has yet to be announced is what will the purses for the races be. When announcing Saturday on NBC the formation of the California Crown, 1/ST CEO Belinda Stronach said it would be the richest non-Breeders' Cup Day of racing in the history of Southern California racing. The purse of the 2023 Awesome Again was just $300,000, one tenth the amount given away in the Pegasus.

With so much uncertainty in California racing right now, including how simulcasting revenue in the state will be divided up once Golden Gate Fields closes in June, Butler said it's too early to announce purses.

“We still have a lot of work out there to figure out what the purses will be,” he said. “There are a lot of decisions that have to be made.  We are hoping we can get everything sorted out soon. But we don't want to jump the gun and announce purses when we don't know exactly what is going to happen with the CHRB, with the Northern circuit and with the Southern circuit. There are a lot of things we still have to work on.”

As is the case with the Pegasus, the California Crown will be about more than racing. 1/ST has turned Pegasus Day into a party that attracts a younger crowd and many people who are not regular racing fans.

“The intent is to create a great experience for anyone who is currently a racing fan and for potential new customers,” Butler said.  “There will be entertainment, things to elevate the customer experience. Los Angeles is such a huge market to draw from. People are used to a level of experience at sporting events with lots of entertainment and that's what we will try to replicate. Everybody thoroughly enjoyed the Pegasus. It was a really cracking day and people had a lot of fun. We want to do the same at Santa Anita. The good thing about Santa Anita is that it is such a big venue you can create an even bigger day. At Gulfstream, we struggle with how many people we can get in the building. We won't have that issue at Santa Anita.”

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