Ouzts Passes McCarron On All-Time List With 7,142nd Win

The ageless wonder, jockey Perry Wayne Ouzts, reached another milestone on Friday's closing-day program at Belterra Park in Cincinnati, Ohio, when he rode Wine Me Up Baby to a wire-to-wire 3 1/4-length victory in a maiden special weight race for 2-year-old fillies. Wine Me Up Baby, an Ohio-bred by Kantharos, is trained by Michael Evans II for Sheltowee Farm.

The win was No. 7,142 for the 66-year-old Ouzts, moving the Arkansas native past Chris McCarron as the sixth all-time winningest jockey in North American racing. It was Ouzts' 76th win of the Belterra meet from 406 mounts, placing him second behind John McKee  (90 wins) in the rider standings. Ouzts is winning at an 18% clip in 2020, having ridden 76 of his 411 mounts to victory. Earlier this year, on June 25, Ouzts rode five winners on an eight-race card at Belterra Park

Ouzts began his riding career in 1973, the year Secretariat won the Triple Crown, scoring his first victory in March of that year at defunct Beulah Park near Columbus, Ohio. He won 11 riding titles at Beulah and 18 at River Downs, the Cincinnati track that's been replaced by Belterra.

Ouzts is the winningest active rider in North American racing.

The top 10 all-time North American jockeys by wins are: Russell Baze (12,842); Laffit Pincay Jr. (9,530); William Shoemaker (8,833); Pat Day (8,803); David Gall (7,396); Perry Ouzts (7,142); Chris McCarron (7,141); Edgar Prado (7,078); Angel Cordero Jr. (7,057); and Mario Pino (6,959).

Prado and Pino are the only other active riders in the top 10.

Ouzts is one of three riders in the top 10 who have not been inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame, along with Gall (who rode at Fairmount Park in Illinois) and Pino (who rides primarily in the Mid-Atlantic).

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Belterra Park, Ohio HBPA End Impasse, Simulcasting Set To Resume Under New Three-Year Contract

Officials with Belterra Park and the Ohio Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association have agreed to a three-year contract that will result in the resumption of simulcasting from the Cincinnati, Ohio, racetrack as early as Tuesday.

The simulcast signal was shut off earlier this month after horsemen – who have been involved in protracted contract talks with Belterra – opted not to renew an export approval agreement that expired at the end of August.

With no simulcasting or advance deposit wagering and extremely limited on-site betting, handle at Belterra plunged. The first seven cards of September have averaged just $29,229 in pari-mutuel wagers compared to $874,261 on the final live program in August.

“Our board has approved a new contract with Belterra that we are in the process of finalizing today,” said Dave Basler, executive director of the Ohio HBPA. “I expect approval by this (Monday) evening and the signal should be back up tomorrow.”

Basler said the two sides have been operating off a contract from the old River Downs racetrack dating back to the 1990s that preceded both casino wagering in Ohio and the replacement of River Downs by Belterra. Changes of ownership of the racetrack casino – now part of Boyd Gaming – complicated the process, Basler said.

“The percentage (from casino revenue) paid to horsemen was set by the racing commission via resolution, but how that was distributed was being done without agreement,” said Basler, who said the amount in question was $9 million annually. “The process really bogged down the last couple months and we we thought it might drag on for the next couple months.”

Basler said the contract and export approval both run through December 2023.

The 2019 meet at Belterra Park ends Oct. 9 and racing is scheduled to resume in April 2020.

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Scorcese Wraps On First Winner For Sire Producer At Belterra Park

Producer, an international multiple group stakes winner, was represented by his first winner at stud on Aug. 26 when Scorsese prevailed in a maiden special weight race at Belterra Park, BloodHorse reports.

Scorsese was hampered by an awkward start, but worked to get on the pace by the half-mile point of the six-furlong race. Under jockey John McKee, the gelding pulled ahead by 2 1/2 lengths in the stretch, and kept on to win by 1 1/2 lengths, completing the race in 1:13.54. James Chapman trains and co-owns the horse with Sean Feld.

Scorsese was bred in Kentucky by Calumet Farm, out of the unraced War Front mare Pomaria. He hails from the family of Belmont Stakes winner Danzig Connection, Breeders' Cup Classic winner Raven's Pass, and Grade 1 winner Pine Circle.

Producer, an 11-year-old son of Dutch Art, stands privately at Calumet Farm in Lexington, Ky.

The British-bred spent the majority of his racing career in Europe, highlighted by victories in the Group 3 Greene King Supreme Stakes and Criterion Stakes in England. He also ventured to Turkey in 2013, where he won the G2 International Topkapi Trophy – a race that was won by Triple Crown competitor Master of Hounds a year earlier. Producer was purchased by Calumet Farm prior to the 2016 racing season, and he raced twice in the U.S. before retiring.

Producer is out of Irish River mare River Saint, who was placed in England. River Saint is a half-sister to champion Serena's Song, Grade 3 winner Vivid Imagination, and the unplaced Serena's Sister, all three of which are multiple graded stakes producers, or responsible for multiple graded stakes runners as a second dam.

His extended family includes champion Honor Code, Grade/Group 1 winners Sophisticat and Rizeena, and Grade/Group 2 winners Grand Reward, Harlington, Noble Tune, Made You Look, and Doubles Partner.

Read more at BloodHorse.

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Big On Big Earns First Win At Stud For Spendthrift Farm’s Cinco Charlie

Spendthrift Farm freshman sire Cinco Charlie was represented by his first winner on Tuesday when Big On Big went gate-to-wire in his career debut to score by 1 1/2-lengths in a six-furlong maiden special weight race at Belterra.

Ridden by Joseph Ramos, Big On Big made the lead just a few jumps out of the gate and held the top spot the entire trip, widening his margin through the stretch to claim the convincing victory.

Trained by William Cowans, Big On Big races for his owner/breeders Daniel and Patricia Yates. The dark bay is out of the Corinthian mare Justoneoftheguys, also the dam of stakes-placed Sister's Creed and a yearling half-brother, both by fellow Spendthrift stallion Jimmy Creed.

Cinco Charlie was a stakes winner during each of his three campaigns. An especially precocious 2-year-old, his Grade 3 Bashford Manor Stakes win was one of four stakes victories during his juvenile season.

Cinco Charlie, who stands for a fee of $5,000 S&N, is participating in Spendthrift's renowned breeding program for freshman sires – the Safe Bet program – in 2020, which guarantees breeders a graded stakes-winning 2-year-old from his first crop this year or no stud fee will be owed in 2021 when the resulting foal is born.

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