Bill Finley | Horse Racing Free Tips

Donegal Racing CEO Jerry Crawford Talks Belmont Score On Writers’ Room

The winner's circle after Saturday's GI Belmont S. surely rivaled any in Triple Crown history in terms of population after Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) crossed the wire three lengths to the good. In addition to Mike Repole and his substantial crew of family and friends, the celebration contained the massive partnership of Donegal Racing, which brings all of its investors along for the ride with every horse it purchases. Tuesday, the CEO of Donegal, Jerry Crawford, sat down with Joe Bianca and Bill Finley of the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to discuss the experience of sharing the Belmont triumph with so many people, how he uses algorithms to shop the sales, Donegal's new initiative to give their winning jockeys future stallion shares and more.

“When we had about 350 people at the Kentucky Derby, I had about had enough of the phone calls saying, 'Hey Jerry, can we get two double beds in our hotel room instead of one king bed?'” Crawford joked. “But I wouldn't trade it for anything. We had over 200 people at the Belmont, I think Mike had 80-something. He's been giving me a hard time, saying he never thought he'd be partners with somebody who brought more people to the races than he did. But the key thing about everybody owning part of every horse is that nobody ever gets disappointed–if we have a big horse in any year, nobody gets left out or feels like they bought the wrong horse.”

Asked about the background of the algorithm that guides him to buy particular sale horses, Crawford said the formula–and Donegal itself–was borne out of frustrations in trying to handicap, not win, the Kentucky Derby.

“About 2003 or so, my son Connor and I were talking about why we always get our asses kicked betting the Derby,” he said. “It seemed like one longshot after another would come along and we would be out of it. So we decided to try and find an algorithm that would help us pick a Derby winner. This is way before Donegal. What we discovered is that we couldn't find an algorithm to pick a winner, we were only able to pick horses that could not win under our algorithm. So I said to my very patient wife Linda, 'I'm going to take $250,000 to Lexington to the [Keeneland September] yearling sale and buy a horse that fits our algorithm', and she was cool with it. This was in 2008, when the stock market crashed, and when the stock market crashes, people stop buying boats and diamonds and racehorses and the rest. I ended up buying eight horses for $405,000 because of the market. One of those horses was eventual stakes winner Paddy O'Prado, who finished third in the Derby and fit our algorithm to a tee. So we proceeded from there. I did worry flying home from that sale that there was going to be hell to pay when I told my wife I bought eight horses, not one, but we got through that, and it's been good since.”

Crawford and Donegal had a unique experience this spring, winning the Belmont and also having a deep connection to the Derby winner. Keen Ice scored the most significant victory of the Donegal partnership's lifetime when upsetting Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in the 2015 GI Travers S. Retired to stud for 2018, the multimillionaire son of Curlin has had mixed early results, but will forever be the sire of a Derby champion after 80-1 Rich Strike upset the Run for the Roses. Crawford was asked if he felt pride in that, even as Mo Donegal ran fifth with a tough trip that day.

“You use the right word, we were very, very proud to have been the people who picked out Keen Ice at the yearling sale,” he said. “Fortunately we weren't second [with Mo Donegal], so I'm glad [Rich Strike] won because it certainly flatters Keen Ice, who was a very special horse. It was a stunning victory when he beat American Pharoah up at Saratoga. I always stop to thank the Zayats in any conversation like this, because they were true sportspeople in running American Pharoah that day. They didn't have to do that. But by being sporting and putting the horse in the race, it gave us a chance for one of the biggest days in the history of horse racing.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers reacted to all the action from Belmont weekend and analyzed the implications of the Texas Racing Commission killing its simulcasting signals as a way to avoid the purview of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act. Click here to watch the show; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Letters to the Editor: Ukranian Racing Tries to Survive

TOM HYLAND:
Bill Finley's article At Ukranian Racetrack, Just Trying to Survive in Tuesday's Thoroughbred Daily News, was one of the most timely and moving articles I've read in the publication in several years. What impressed me most about the article was, of course, the work that Olga Bondar is doing to take care of the horses, while at the same time, having to look after her mother. She is doing this despite the dangers of traveling back and forth between the racetrack and her home. God bless this woman!

I was also greatly impressed with how Finley handled this article, reporting the facts in Bondar's life, without ever falling into sentimentality in his writing. Very well done and another reminder that there are good people all over the world who make the racing industry so special.

ELIZABETH GILLESPIE:
After reading Bill Finley's incredible article on the plight of the Kyiv Hippodrome and their horses in Ukraine I was hoping to find out of there is any information or way to donate to them. Bill's thoughtful, yet heartbreaking article really highlights how good our sport has it here in the United States, despite our many shortcomings and petty grievances. Perhaps this is something we could all get behind as a collective force for the sake of this facility, the dedicated workers there, and of course, the horses entrusted to their care.

Please let me know if there will be a fund set-up or a way to donate. Thank you for the excellent editorial!

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A Small Stable with Big Dreams, Eddie Barker Eyeing Derby

Since he ran his first horse in 1994, Eddie Barker's routine has never changed. Every day, he gets up at an ungodly hour and heads to his work, which is his barn on the NYRA backstretch. The reward has been some winners here and there, but never more than 23 in a single year and not one of them a graded stakes winner. The GI Kentucky Derby? It's a race he watches on television.

In a sport dominated by the likes of the Bob Baffert, Todd Pletcher, Chad Brown, Steve Asmussen mega-stables, the Eddie Barkers of the profession don't get many chances to show what they can do if ever getting their hands on a quality horse. But that may change this year. In New York-bred Shipsational (Midshipman), the runner-up in the GIII Sam F. Davis S. last Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs, the 76-year-old veteran trainer has a horse who can hold his own in graded company and appears to be a legitimate threat for the Derby. Barker has been waiting his entire career for such a horse.

“A guy like myself, we don't get that many horses that come along with the ability to run the kind of numbers you need to get into the Derby,” Barker said. “It makes all that getting up every morning at three o'clock over the last 30 years worth it.”

Barker became a trainer by accident. He had a feed store and a customer was unable to pay the bills. In order to satisfy the debt, Barker was offered a mare in foal. He accepted and rather than hiring a trainer, he decided to do it himself.

He won five races his first year and 17 over the first three years. His numbers would improve some in subsequent years, but he was having to make do mostly with claimers and horses he would pluck out of the sales for $15,000, $20,000. Along the way, he never lost confidence in his own abilities.

“It's a challenge, I can tell you that,” he said. “You're trying to compete against guys who get access to the best horses in the world. Where I have one, they have 25 or 30. You have to believe in your horse and you have to believe in yourself.”

Barker said it's only become harder over the years for the “little guy” to compete. When he started, a trainer in New York was limited to about 35 stalls. Today, a trainer might have 80 at Belmont, 50 at Saratoga and another division at a place like Monmouth.

“Sometimes you were fortunate enough to get some horses that the larger stables couldn't take,” he said. “With a little personal care and attention they did very well. That does not happen anymore.”

An obvious problem for Barker, who has a 17-horse stable, was that none of his owners had particularly deep pockets. That changed somewhat when Iris Smith decided to give Barker a chance. While she was never going to spend $1 million at the sales for a horse, she did have the means to pay in the low six figures.

With Smith's backing, Barker headed to the 2021 OBS March sale and fell in love with a Midshipman colt bred by Mr. and Mrs. Bertram Firestone.

“We picked (Shipsational) out off his breeze,” he said. “He looked so efficient and had such a long stride on him. His gallop-out was sensational. The other plus was he was a New York-bred. We thought we could get him for $150,000, but I don't think I would have left the sale without him. He really impressed me.”

Shipsational closed out 2021 with a Sleepy Hollow win | Coglianese

Shipsational, who sold for $210,000, broke his maiden in his first start, drawing off to win by 6 3/4 lengths. After finishing fourth in the Funny Cide S., he won the Bertram Bongard S. and the Sleepy Hollow S. to conclude his 2-year-old year. All of his 2-year-old starts came against New York-breds.

Some trainers may have kept Shipsational in New York to face statebred company, but Barker wasn't about to miss out on the chance to test his colt against top open company to see if he had a Derby horse. He shipped Shipsational to Tampa and circled the Sam F. Davis on his calendar.

“These horses don't come around that often. I was going to take a shot,” he said.

Shipsational was clearly second-best in the Sam F. Davis, losing by 3 3/4 lengths to top Derby hopeful Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway). But Barker said he did not have the horse ready for his best effort and estimated that he was about 80% fit.

“I kind of thought he was a Derby horse, but he had to answer a lot of questions,” Barker said. “Could he run around two turns? He had been running against New York-breds. Could he run against open stakes company? He answered all of my questions and I feel that he's going to go forward off this race. He got a lot out of it.”

There will be more questions to answer when Shipsational returns for the GII Tampa Bay Derby on March 12, where he's scheduled to have a rematch with Classic Causeway. Barker will have a lot of people rooting for him, all those trainers who have kept plugging away without ever getting a break or an opportunity to show what they can do with a good horse.

“Even if I come in 10th in the Derby it would be a victory for the little guy,” Barker said. “I'm getting close to the end of my career. I would like to see some of the smaller trainers around New York and around the country get a better shot. They are all doing the same thing. They work hard, are there early in the morning, they put their time in and have a modest amount of success. You put a good horse in their hands they will do just as well as Todd Pletcher or Chad Brown or anyone else. They just need a chance.”

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Fox Sports’ Mike Mulvihill Joins the TDN Writers’ Room

Fox Sports has embraced horse racing and has acquired the broadcasting rights for the GI Belmont S., starting in 2023. And one of the reasons why is that in Executive Vice President, Head of Strategy and Analytics Mike Mulvihill, Fox has an executive who likes the sport and is bullish on its future, particularly when it comes to the gambling element. This week, Mulvihill joined the team on the TDN Writers' Room podcast, presented by Keeneland, to talk about Fox's increasing interest in the racing. Mulvihill was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

“Fox Sports is in the business of premium live events,” Mulvihill said when asked about Fox's acquisition of the Belmont rights. “We want to be in the business of championship events, special events, whether that's the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Belmont Stakes and anything else that's out there. We pride ourselves on being the leaders in live sports event consumption.”

Mulvihill and his team see the Belmont as more than just a sporting event. Fox, which operates the sports betting website Fox Bets and has a 25% ownership interest in NYRA Bets, wants to be a player in the gaming market and sees horse racing as an important part of that strategy.

“I like to say that we are evolving from being strictly a media content brand into being a media and gaming brand,” Mulvihill said. “That has a lot to do with the recent legalization of sports betting. But it also has to do with the partnership that we have with NYRA in NYRA Bets. Not only is [the Belmont] a championship event in and of itself, but it becomes an opportunity for us to really promote and try to drive new business and drive sign ups and new accounts for that NYRA Bets business. So it really works, both as media content–which is the business we've always been in–and it works as an engine for our gaming business, which is a newer business for us.”

Mulvihill said Fox plans to focus on the gambling element on future Belmont broadcasts, but, at the same time, does not want to ignore the casual fan who may not understand what a superfecta box is and is interested in the human interest stories that are always part of a big race. With that in mind, the plan, he said, is to have two separate broadcasts, one that will look more like a traditional racing broadcast and the other one meant for the horseplayer and sports bettor.

“I like to think we can do both,” he said. “And I think a template has been provided for us by ESPN and their presentation of Monday Night Football this year, where they have the traditional presentation on ESPN, and then they're doing the Manning cast on ESPN2, and that's getting a significant percentage of the audience. It's doing really well. It's worked out very, very well for them. I think we have an opportunity to do something similar where we can do a traditional presentation of the Belmont on Fox broadcast, and we can provide an alternate presentation for some part of the day on our cable platform and tailor that really to people that are more regular players and that maybe aren't as interested in the lifestyle pieces.”

In other segments of the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, West Point Thoroughbreds, Legacy Bloodstock and XBTV, the writers discussed such subjects as the Seth Fishman trial, the Bob Baffert hearing and jockey Mychel Sanchez being suspended for betting on mounts other than his own. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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