Bonne Chance Sends Horse To Young Event Horse Championships, Finishes As Top Thoroughbred

Although the Breeders' Cup is still to come, Bonne Chance Farm has already had a successful debut at a different kind of championships. While the operation hopes to send three horses to Del Mar in a few weeks' time, it also sent a former runner to the U.S. Eventing Association's Young Event Horse East Coast Championship in the 4-year-old division.

Bonne Chance had high hopes for Judge Johnny, the son of Empire Maker and Silver Deputy mare Lucas Street. JJ, as he is known more fondly, is a half-brother to Wavell Avenue, winner of the 2015 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint and earner of $1.1 million in multiple graded stakes. JJ's race record was much less glitzy, with five races and no better than a sixth-place finish.

Aftercare has always been a priority for the small operation, so when JJ expressed disinterest in his job, the farm sent him to local OTTB specialist Carleigh Fedorka of Sewickley Stables. Originally, the then-3-year-old was supposed to be a quick retraining and resale project. When Fedorka first swung a leg over the big bay, she knew she had something special.

“He's almost a little unassuming when he's just standing there. But when you put him together, he just blossoms into almost a completely separate animal,” said Leah Alessandroni, bloodstock and office manager for Bonne Chance.

It took JJ some time to grasp what Fedorka was asking of him over fences, but once he figured it out, he approached even three-foot obstacles with calm, relaxed energy more characteristic of much older eventers.

In addition to being an accomplished researcher in equine reproduction at the Gluck Equine Research Center, Fedorka's equestrian resume is also impressive, ranging from ranch work to preliminary-level eventing. She maintains Sewickley as a boarding/lay-up/sales center which specializes in developing young ex-racehorses. When she told the Bonne Chance team their ex-racehorse had incredible potential in a different sport, they listened.

“The original plan was to try to just get a good education for him,” said Alessandroni. “I think she got him in August of last year, and our goal had been to get him sold at the end of the year. But when it was obvious he was so nice, Alberto [Figueiredo, Bonne Chance CEO] didn't hesitate to say, 'Let's see what we have as a 4-year-old, because maybe he'll be even better. To his credit, any time we wanted to do anything or take him anywhere, he said yes at every turn. He had faith in the horse.

“It's one of those fairy tale stories where you have all these goals, and very, very rarely do they all pan out.”

Figueiredo asked Fedorka for a plan of what she thought she could do with the horse in a short timeframe, and what she thought a realistic goal might be. Fedorka sketched out an ambitious schedule on a piece of paper, with the USEA Young Event Horse Championship as the ultimate goal.

The YEHs, as they're known colloquially, exist to help the national governing body for eventing begin identifying young prospects who could someday become Olympic team horses for the United States. There are separate classes for 4-year-olds and 5-year-olds. Horses must earn a qualifying score in order to enter the YEH Championship, with the top-place 5-year-old finisher receiving a grant to travel to Europe, with a promised spot to represent the U.S. at an age-restricted international competition for 7-year-old event prospects in France. Fedorka said most of the top-place finishers are imported European Warmbloods campaigned by riders who routinely compete at the Olympics and other top international events.

Scoring at YEHs and at its qualifying events is different from a traditional three-day event. At a typical three-day event or horse trial, a horse and rider begin with a dressage test and their score represents the number of faults or deficiencies in that test. From there, they may accumulate additional faults for knocked rails, refused jumps, or time penalties in a course of stadium jumps and a course of cross country obstacles. The lowest overall score is the winner.

In the YEH system, horses are instead scored based on the potential they show in each of the traditional three phases as well as conformation.

[Story Continues Below]

Fedorka was thrilled to get JJ's required qualifying score on their very first attempt this spring and spent the summer and fall bringing him through the novice and training levels. The pair finished 19th in the Novice Horse division at the American Eventing Championship. Coming into YEH last week, Fedorka said her goals were modest.

“I had very low expectations, because pretty consistently the top ten are big imports ridden by big name people,” said Fedorka. “I said all along I wanted him to be the highest-scoring 4-year-old, because I thought he was the most quality 4-year-old in the country and I wanted him to prove that.

“I wanted to beat my qualifying score, which was a 79. I really wanted to score an 80, and I scored an 85, which was insane. I just wanted the score; I didn't know how it would stack up against other people.”

JJ accomplished the goal, placing sixth overall out of 32 and claiming the prize of top-placed Thoroughbred and rating the second-highest score for conformation. Looking back at her performance, Fedorka said she can see areas where she left a few key points on the table thanks to a silly stumble in the dressage ring and a knocked rail in the stadium jumping. She believes that next year, JJ could enter the YEH for 5-year-olds with a serious shot at the championship's top prize.

Judge Johnny shows off in his dressage test at the YEH Championships

“He was over-prepared for the level [of the 4-year-old jumps] and it's not because we rushed him up the levels, it's because he has the brain of a unicorn, just wanting more and more,” she said. “I'd never say it about any other horse I've sat on, but 100%, Judge Johnny is the horse who could be the 7-year-old running at the three-star level, without a question in my mind. I think he's the best example of the breed to the masses who aren't quite sure about the Thoroughbred.”

Fedorka and Alessandroni took note of the fact that there are different types of incentive programs and special awards beyond the championship for horses who participate from different breeding programs. Although the Thoroughbred Incentive Program does give an award for best-placing OTTB at YEH, there isn't a grant or other incentive to tempt upper-level riders to hunt for ex-racehorses for the purpose of that program.

“We have the financial backing for the Thoroughbred Makeover and that is amazing,” said Fedorka. “But we have to realize that eventing is our bread and butter for these Thoroughbreds, and we need to find a way to get support for these little phenoms like JJ. I'm lucky that I have breeders who have the ability and desire to support him. Without them, I'm doing this as a side hustle on the side of being a scientist. This is not a full-time professional endeavor that funds itself.”

Fedorka also said that since other breeders have seen her work with JJ, she has had two send her horses to sell for them, while promising to fund their retraining to ensure they have the best possible start in their new careers. Without JJ's success, she's not sure those connections would have realized that placing a horse with a 're-trainer' was an option.

“I think the thing I'm most proud of is that we could showcase a path in aftercare that is very, very rarely taken,” said Alessandroni. “I think that's probably because owners and people involved in the management of these horses don't even know it was a path to take.

“So many of our aftercare organizations are doing great, great work, but they have their hands full with horses who need rehab or who don't have connections with the financial ability to support the horse. If we can alleviate some of the burden from those programs by doing some of the work ourselves and putting our money where our mouth is, I think everybody should be doing that.”

Alessandroni encourages other racing owners or breeding farms to connect with reputable sport horse trainers who can help them evaluate retiring horses and help them network a horse to an appropriate barn where they can get some basic retraining in the sport they're best suited to.

“So much of it is getting them into good hands and making sure that instead of that horse dropping down into a $2,000 claimer, you're giving them the best chance to get a good education and a second career, or really just a life,” she said. “If they don't have an affinity at the racetrack but you keep them sound and happy, they can truly do anything. You saw it at [the Thoroughbred Makeover], horses doing any discipline in the book.”

The post Bonne Chance Sends Horse To Young Event Horse Championships, Finishes As Top Thoroughbred appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘Even In What Seems Like Failure, We’ve Still Achieved The Founding Goal’

Humans plan. Horses laugh.

Judge Johnny was bred to be a star racehorse. His dam had already produced a Breeders' Cup winner, he was sired by Empire Maker on the stallion's return from Japan, and he was in the second crop born at the up-and-coming boutique breeding farm, Bonne Chance. 

As it turns out, JJ is definitely a star. He just prefers three-day eventing to winning races. 

Bonne Chance has been supporting the 4-year-old gelding's career change with the assistance of trainer Carleigh Fedorka, with a short-term goal to compete him in the United States Eventing Association's Young Event Horse series throughout 2021.

“It's brought joy to us as a group, to see him be the superstar that we knew he was, even though we got the sport wrong,” said Leah Alessandroni, Bloodstock and Office Manager at Bonne Chance Farm. “I keep telling the guys, I know that it sucks he wasn't our Derby horse, but I think it says a lot about our program that we still produce this kind of animal.”

Bonne Chance was founded in 2015, and there were just six foals in the farm's first crop born in 2016. Among those first six foals was the future two-time Grade 1 winner Cambier Parc.

“As a small farm, we have to produce quality,” Alessandroni said. “That's why I really love how successful JJ is; even in what seems like failure, we've still achieved the founding goal.”

Judge Johnny made five starts on the track, never finishing better than sixth and earning comments on the carts like “never factored.” It was frustrating because of both his breeding and his good looks, but JJ clearly had other plans.

“It was so obvious that the horse did not want to be a racehorse,” Alessandroni said. “As much as his family was amazing racehorses, he would just sleep flat-out on the ground and was so laid back. He's so beautiful, it kind of breaks your heart because everything was right except he didn't want to do it.”

Alessandroni suggested the gelding be moved on to a second career, and that Bonne Chance support him through his first 90 days or so of re-training. The team enthusiastically agreed to send him to Fedorka's care.

“Thoroughbred aftercare is just something that I've seen take leaps and bounds forward during the last 10 years, but I still think we're missing a little bit of the connection from the racing side of the game,” said Alessadroni. “Some of the criticism I often hear is, 'Oh, those guys have so much money, why can't they pick up some of the cost?' And to be honest, they're right. It costs less to have them in training for a sporthorse career, so what's six months of training at half the cost, and everybody wins? And the mare's no longer embarrassed!”

That moment when CEO Alberto Figueiredo agreed to support Judge Johnny's transition to a new career was a big one for Alessandroni on a personal level.

Without any family or friends in the Thoroughbred racing industry, the Florida-born Alessandroni's introduction to the sport came through aftercare.

“I was one of those kids that was always horse crazy,” she explained. “There were a couple OTTBs at my barn, and I just loved them. My family would watch the Triple Crown races, so I learned how to look up horses on Equibase and learned some very basic handicapping.

“Somehow that snowballed into me being really passionate about the industry despite the fact that I never actually went to a racetrack until college at the University of Kentucky, when I went to Keeneland.”

From an internship at the Maker's Mark Secretariat Center, Alessandroni eventually transitioned to the bloodstock end of the business with an internship and then a job at WinStar Farm. While she learned a lot at the big-time operation, she didn't want to spend the rest of her career there.

“When I left, so many people told me I was insane,” Alessandroni said, laughing. “I didn't really have a plan, I just knew I hadn't found my niche. I wound up at Regis Farm, which was then sold after 1 ½ years to Bonne Chance. All of us that were there, we sat down with the new owners and listened to them, and I think all of us were all-in, no hesitation. 

“It's so rare to be able to be at the ground level of a new program, one that has truly good people behind it. When I look back at my life and how I ended up here, it's just kind of amazing.”

Bonne Chance is also a joint owner in farms in Argentina, Brazil, and France. Stud R.D.I. is the Brazilian operation, which last year sent its dual Group 1 winner Ivar (Agnes Gold) to North America. Campaigned in partnership with Bonne Chance, Ivar won the G1 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland last fall.

Ivar wins the G1 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland, earning an expenses-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Mile

“We have been able to piggyback off the success of the South American operation, building on a really strong foundation, which is why we look like we popped up out of nowhere,” Alessandroni explained. “When they sent Ivar up here and he won the Shadwell, that's the moment when the COVID situation really hit me for the first time, because not a single one of them were able to come to those races.”

As for Bonne Chance homebreds, the farm has sent out two other stakes winners so far, Iva and New York Groove. Its largest foal crop yet — 18 — hit the ground in 2020, and Alessandroni said this year's 2-year-olds are particularly exciting, as well.

“We spend so much time just looking at horses,” she said. “That's been the deciding factor. We're here to produce a racehorse; quality, not quantity.”

Since Bonne Chance is so new, Judge Johnny was really the farm management's first taste of aftercare. At first, Figueiredo was asking around to see if any employees wanted the horse, but Alessandroni suggested the alternative route of re-starting him on the farm's tab. 

“We just started talking it out,” Alessandroni said. “It was really important to us to set him up for success, and really we were still saving money while giving the horse a chance to succeed. 

“The plan was to put him up for sale last fall, but he kept getting better and better. Carleigh kept telling me, 'This is the nicest horse I've ever retrained.' She's not the type to say that if she doesn't mean it. I told the team, 'We will never have one this nice again. Let's see where it goes.'

“We didn't intend for it to be this in-depth of a process, but people are really excited about it. It's really cool to share the process with people who didn't know that side of it.”

Now, the goal is to showcase Judge Johnny's off-the-track skills during 2021, hopefully through the Young Event Horse series, and ultimately to find him his next partner. During the process, Alessandroni hopes to bring more attention to aftercare.

“I hate this idea of 'saving' OTTBs,” she said. “A better idea is that these Thoroughbreds are incredible athletes. There's not a more versatile horse in the world, and we should be continuing to celebrate them. Even the professional riders around the big five-star event in Lexington say there's nothing better than a Thoroughbred on the cross country course.

“To see the joy in JJ on cross country, that just drove it home for me. He's so happy to be out there.”

Alessandroni continued to say that she hopes more breeders will take an interest in their horses' second careers as well.

“You know, breeding for commercialism, it can be a tricky situation,” she said. “But, if the goal is to breed a sound racehorse, you're going to have superstars overall and you may accidentally breed a really nice sporthorse in the process!”

The post Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘Even In What Seems Like Failure, We’ve Still Achieved The Founding Goal’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights