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Two-Time Grade 1 Winner Bowies Hero Euthanized Due To Laminitis Complications

Trainer Phil D'Amato told the Daily Racing Form on Monday that two-time Grade 1 winner Bowies Hero had to be euthanized due to complications of laminitis. The 7-year-old son of Artie Schiller had undergone treatment for a right front leg infection at a local veterinary clinic, but his body stopped responding.

“It's a hard situation,” D'Amato said. “It's a tough loss for the entire barn, the owners. He will be greatly missed.”

Bowies Hero's biggest wins came in the G1 Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita in March of 2018 and the G1 Shadwell Mile at Keeneland in October of 2019. The gelding won a total of eight races from 28 starts to earn $1,592,720.

San Gabriel Likely Kicks Off Final Racing Season For 7-Year-Old Stakes Veteran Bowies Hero

Phil D'Amato had four horses nominated to Saturday's Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes but entered two in the 1 1/8-mile turf test for 4-year-olds and up at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.

They are Bowies Hero and Count Again.

The latter is far from the proverbial empty stall, a two-time graded stakes winner that only joined the D'Amato barn recently and won the G2 Seabiscuit Handicap at Del Mar, but Bowies Hero has a more intriguing story line.

The 7-year-old bay has a most remarkable record, a tale straight out of racing fiction.

Consider:

After winning a maiden special weight race by 5 ¾ lengths in his first start, going 7 ½ furlongs on turf at Lone Star Park on July 16, 2016, the son of outstanding turf miler Artie Schiller has run only in stakes, 26 in a row.

Artie Schiller defeated Leroidesanimaux in the 2005 Breeders' Cup Mile under the late Garrett Gomez, who would have turned 49 on Jan. 1.

However, Leroidesanimaux won the Eclipse Award that year as top turf horse by three votes over Artie Schiller, a 2001 foal who in 2007 was retired to stud in Kentucky but stood last year in Australia for $11,000.

The Brazilian-bred Leroidesanimaux (king of animals in French) died as a stallion at Newmarket, England, in 2016 at the age of 16.

Bowies Hero has won seven races since his debut victory, including two Grade 1's, the Kilroe Mile in 2018 and the Shadwell Turf Mile in 2019. He worked five furlongs on the training track last Sunday in 1:02.

Add to his remarkable achievement the fact that the Kentucky-bred owned by a partnership that includes Agave Racing Stable, ERJ Racing LLC and Madaket Stables LLC remains a full horse, meaning he still could one day serve at stud.

“Bowies Hero gives his best pretty much every time,” said D'Amato, who fell one victory shy (11-10) of tying Richard Baltas for the training title at the recent Del Mar meet.

Fans should enjoy Bowies Hero while they can because 2021 will probably be the unsung campaigner's final season of racing.

“He's a neat horse to have around the barn but this will probably be his last year of racing,” said D'Amato, who has trained Bowies Hero since just after his first race.

Bowies Hero fancies a stalking style, but has rallied from well off the pace to close with a rush, all save his first race coming at a mile or longer.

He has run in 17 races at a mile, winning six, compiling an enviable overall 8-2-3 record from 27 starts for earnings of $1,588,720.

“Who knows, maybe we can find a stud career for him, but he's doing really well and just a cool horse to train,” D'Amato continued. ”Right after his maiden victory he was bought privately and I've had him ever since.”

And it's been a match made in heaven.

The San Gabriel, race seven: Cleopatra's Strike, Kent Desormeaux, 15-1; Next Shares, Jose Valdivia Jr., 4-1; Bob and Jackie, Heriberto Figueroa, 4-1; Multiplier, Abel Cedillo, 12-1; Count Again, Juan Hernandez, 2-1; Anothertwistafate, Joel Rosario, 5-2; and Bowies Hero, Flavien Prat, 6-1.

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Equibase Analysis: Giving Blitzkrieg A Slight Edge In Seabiscuit Handicap

The Grade 2, $200,000 Seabiscuit Handicap this Saturday at Del Mar brings together a big field of 13 turf horses from around North America in what should be an extraordinary race to watch and to wager on. There should be no clear cut favorite among the group and many horses should offer betting value:

Leading the field in career earnings at $1.8 million is Next Shares, who posted the 27 to 1 upset winning the 2019 Seabiscuit but who is winless this year in six races. Close at hand in terms of career accomplishments is Bowies Hero, who has earned more than $1.5 million with his last big win coming in the 2019 Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile.
Next is My Boy Jack, who has banked more than three-quarters of a million. Starting his career on dirt, My Boy Jack was a top 3-year-old in 2018, including a fifth place effort in the Kentucky Derby before going on the sidelines in the fall of 2019 and making his return to the races in this race.
Flavius appears to be a strong contender, having won the Tourist Mile Stakes this past summer before a troubled effort in the Shadwell Turf Mile.

Then there is a trio of grade three winners hoping to step up to this grade two level. Anothertwistafate is one of those trying turf for the first time and just having returned from 16 months off this summer to win the Grade 3 Longacres Mile Handicap. Count Again won the Grade 3 Singspiel Stakes in September before a fourth place effort in the Grade 1 Northern Dancer Stakes so appears to fit nicely here. Blitzkrieg started his career in the United States before spending last winter in Dubai then returning stateside in May. In his second start back from a layoff, Blitzkrieg won the Grade 3 American Stakes and he was most recently fourth in the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile after setting sizzling fractions from the start.
In terms of recent success, One Bad Boy enters the Seabiscuit off a win in the Lure Stakes last month, in which Majestic Eagle was second. Camino Del Paraiso just won the Rolling Green Stakes and Joseph T. Grace Stakes in succession and was second in the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes this past winter so could be in the thick of the action again.
Spirit Animal, one of two from the barn of Chad Brown (the other is Flavius) has won two of three this year and is stepping up from allowance company, having finished fifth in his only previous stakes try.
Imperador, who won a pair of G1 races in his native Argentina, made his North American debut last month and finished second so could improve.
Tartini, who has been racing against easier foes but won his last two races, rounds out the field.

To be honest, there are a number of horses who can run well enough to win this year's Seabiscuit Handicap, but in this case I'm going to concentrate on three I think stick out just a bit against the rest. They are Blitzkrieg, Flavius and Imperador.

Although it appears on paper both Blitzkrieg and One Bad Boy can only win when they lead from the start, and therefore there will be an early pace battle of epic proportions, I do not believe that to be the case. One Bad Boy, who hails from the Richard Baltas barn, the same as Next Shares, is the one who is more likely to lead early as he breaks from the 10 post. That puts Blitzkrieg in the catbird seat, and looking at many of his earlier races that will work out well. Before leaving California for Dubai this past winter, Blitzkrieg showed the ability to relax in the early stages, such as when winning the San Francisco Stakes with a rock-solid 111 Equibase Speed Figure.

Perhaps overmatched when returned to trainer Doug O' Neill's base in southern California and placed in the Shoemaker Mile, Blitzkrieg returned to stakes winning form in the American Stakes in June, duplicating the 111 figure earned 14 months earlier. Two races later he set a nearly unbelievable early pace in the Tourist Mile when he ran the opening six furlongs in 1:07.8 before tiring to sixth behind eventual winner Flavius. Then, last month in the City of Hope Mile, Blitzkrieg once again went too fast early for his own good, running the opening six furlongs in 1:08.6. Still, Blitzkrieg was beaten only a head for third and earned a career-best 114 figure. In the Seabiscuit, with red hot jockey Abel Cedillo riding back after getting familiar with him and with One Bad Boy able to provide a solid target, Blitzkrieg should be able to pass the tiring leader in the stretch and hold off the others for the upset win.

If the early pace scenario above does not pan out, particularly if Blitzkrieg and One Bad Boy can't avoid battling for the early lead on sizzling fast fractions, Flavius appears most likely to pass them for the win. After returning from six months off and finishing third with a 109 when beaten less than a length, in the First Defence Stakes in June, Flavius won the Tourist Mile Stakes. That race doesn't carry a graded designation yet but it will, considering the $712,000 purse and the quality of the field. Putting that in perspective, the 115 figure Flavius earned in the Tourist Mile is better than the 111 figure 2019 Seabiscuit winner Next Shares earned. Returning one month later in the Shadwell Turf Mile, Flavius found himself in traffic at a critical stage in the stretch run and lost any chance he had to win, eventually finishing fifth. Getting a jockey change to North American leading rider Irad Ortiz, Jr. and with plenty of pace to run at just like he had in the Tourist Mile, Flavius could be in high gear and get up for the win in the Seabiscuit Handicap.

Imperador is an intriguing horse who is very likely to go to post at high odds. Winner of three of eight races in his native Argentina, Imperador made his U.S. debut in September at Churchill Downs in a third level allowance race and ended up second, beaten a half-length, at the end. However, Imperador ran the same kind of race that day I expect Blitzkrieg may run as he sat in second from the start before making up 2 1/2 lengths to lead in the stretch. In this case Imperador was passed late, but not only was he extremely game in holding second by a neck on the wire, he should be more physically fit in his second start back from six months off. Based in Kentucky with trainer Paulo Lobo, Imperador reminds me of another one of the trainer's top turf stars, Ivar, who posted the 14-1 upset in the Shadwell Turf Mile in October, beating Flavius and Bowies Hero in the process.

The rest of the field, with their best Equibase Speed Figures, is Anothertwistafate (105), Bowies Hero (118), Camino Del Paraiso (113), Count Again (108), Majestic Eagle (113), My Boy Jack (110), Next Shares (115), One Bad Boy (112), Spirit Animal (113) and Tartini (101).

Win Contenders, in preference order:
Blitzkrieg
Flavius
Imperador

Seabiscuit Handicap – Grade 2
Race 7 at Del Mar
Saturday, Nov. 28 – Post Time 6:30 PM E.T.
One Mile and One Sixteenth on Turf
Three-Year-Olds and Upward
Purse: $200,000

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Bowies Hero Will Have To Fend Off Chad Brown Quartet To Defend His Title In Shadwell Turf Mile

Agave Racing Stable, ERJ Racing, Madaket Stables and Rockin Robin Racing Stable's Bowies Hero will attempt to become the third horse to win the Shadwell Turf Mile (G1) in consecutive years when he faces 10 rivals Saturday in the 35th running of the $750,000 race.

The Shadwell Turf Mile is one of five graded stakes on Saturday's 11-race program at Keeneland that begins at 1:05 p.m. ET. The Shadwell Turf Mile is the afternoon's third Grade 1 race and scheduled as the 10th race with a 5:57 p.m. post time.

Trained by Phil D'Amato, Bowies Hero will be trying to join Gio Ponti (2010-2011) and Dumaani (1995-1996) as the only repeat winners in the race that is a “Win and You're In” test for the $2 million Breeders' Cup FanDuel Mile (G1) Presented by PDJF to be run Nov. 7.

Bowies Hero will break from post position four and be ridden by Rafael Bejarano.

To repeat, Bowies Hero will have to get by a quartet of runners trained by Chad Brown headed by two-time Grade 1 winner Raging Bull (FR).

Owned by Peter Brant, Raging Bull returns to Keeneland where he was third beaten a neck in July in the Maker's Mark Mile (G1). Winner of the Shoemaker Mile (G1) at Santa Anita in May to open his 2020 campaign, Raging Bull will be ridden Saturday by Joel Rosario and break from post position six.

Brown's other entrants are William Lawrence's Analyze It, winner of the Transylvania (G3) here in 2018 and fourth in the Shadwell last year; Juddmonte Farms' Flavius, winner of the recent Tourist Mile at Kentucky Downs; and, John and Tanya Gunther's Without Parole (GB) who was fourth in the Maker's Mark Mile.

Tyler Gaffalione will ride Analyze It and break from post eight; Flavius will exit post seven and be ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr. while Julien Leparoux has the call on Without Parole who will break from post position three.

The field for the Shadwell Turf Mile, with riders from the inside, is: Casa Creed (Martin Garcia), Halladay (Luis Saez), Without Parole (GB) (Leparoux), Bowies Hero (Bejarano), Born Great (Corey Lanerie), Raging Bull (FR) (Rosario), Flavius (Santana Jr.), Analyze It (Gaffalione), Parlor (Umberto Rispoli), Spectacular Gem (James Graham) and Ivar (BRZ) (Joe Talamo). All starters will carry 126 pounds.

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