TOBA To Honor State Breeders During National Awards Program

The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association announced today that they will honor breeders selected from 22 states and Canada during the TOBA National Awards on Saturday, Sept. 26.

The National Breeder of the Year and National Small Breeder of the Year will be selected from the state breeders listed below and announced during the awards.

State Breeders of the Year:
Arkansas: Bill McDowell
California: Reddam Racing LLC
Canadian: Ivan Dalos
Florida: Charlotte Weber/ Live Oak Stud
Indiana: Michael E. and Penny S. Lauer
Iowa: Allen Poindexter
Kansas: Jerry Johnson
Kentucky: W.S. Farish

Louisiana: Evelyn Benoit
Maryland: Sagamore Farm
Massachusetts: Joseph DiRico
Minnesota: Robert Lothenbach
New Jersey: John Bowers Jr.
New Mexico: J. Kirk and Judy Robison
New York: Chester and Mary Broman
North Carolina: Dr. E. Clinton Lowry and Carol Lowry
Ohio: Dr. George Sikora DVM
Oregon: Dr. and Mrs. Jack B. Root Jr.
Pennsylvania: Larry Karp/ Barlar LLC
South Carolina: Franklin Smith Sr.
Texas: Roy W. Cobb
Virginia: Ann Mudge Backer
Washington: Jody Peetz

“The 23 breeders from the U.S. and Canada enjoyed a tremendous year in 2019 from their homebred runners and we are honored to recognize their outstanding achievements and contributions to our sport at the TOBA National Awards,” said Dan Metzger, President of TOBA.

Also honored during the TOBA National Awards program will be the National Owner of the Year, National Broodmare of the Year, Cot Campbell Racing Partnership of the Year, Industry Service Award, Claiming Crown Horse of the Year and the Sport Horse of the Year.

TOBA's National Awards will be presented virtually from Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa on TOBA's Facebook page and at TOBA.org/2020Awards.

TOBA National Awards sponsors include Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, LuminUltra, Limestone Bank, Stonestreet Farms, John Deere and NTRA, Big Ass Fans, National HBPA, 1/ST, The Jockey Club Information Systems and Stoll Keenon Ogden.

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Win Win Win Strikes Gold In Forego With Last-To-First Rally

Despite a heavy downpour of rain just minutes before post time, Win Win Win did just that, coming from well off the pace and passing five rivals through an assertive stretch run to take the 41st running of the seven-furlong Grade 1, $300,000 Forego presented by America's Best Racing at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Owned by Charlotte Weber's Live Oak Plantation and trained by Mike Trombetta, Win Win Win, a 4-year-old son of Hat Trick, arrived off a runner-up finish to fellow Forego contender Complexity in a one mile allowance optional claiming tilt on July 2 at Belmont Park.

Breaking from post 7, Win Win Win was initially last in the 11-horse field, 16 1/4 lengths off the pace as Complexity dueled up front alongside True Timber through an opening quarter-mile in 22.28 seconds and a half in 44.63 over the sloppy and sealed main track.

Around the far turn, Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano engaged his charge at the three-eighths pole while Complexity and True Timber continued their upfront battle. At the top of the stretch, Castellano angled Win Win Win, still last, nine wide and in pursuit as Complexity established a one-length lead with True Timber still fighting to the inside and Funny Guy putting in a bid to the outside. In the final strides to the wire, Win Win Win found a new gear and powered home a half-length winner in a final time of 1:21.71.

Win Win Win at the wire in the Forego

Castellano, who scored his first Forego victory since piloting Mass Media to victory in 2005, picked up the mount aboard Win Win Win in his last out runner-up effort and said that his first time aboard the son of Hat Trick was a learning experience.

“What an amazing horse. I'm truly honored to ride the horse and very blessed with the way everything went,” Castellano said. “He was very far back and made a huge run to win the race. Not too many horses can do that. He did it and in a nice way. He's a really nice horse. I rode him last time at Belmont and he didn't break out of the gate. I rushed to get the spot I was looking for and didn't have the best result. I think I learned through that experience and today it paid off with a Grade 1 win in the Forego.”

Complexity finished another three-quarters of a length to True Timber, who garnered graded stakes black type for the eighth time in his career.

Rounding out the order of finish were Funny Guy, Lexitonian, Everfast, 2018 Forego winner Whitmore, Mind Control, Majestic Dunhill, Fortin Hill and Firenze Fire.

The victory was a first graded stakes triumph for Win Win Win, who was a stakes winner on dirt and turf. Last January, he won the Pasco at Tampa Bay Downs and broke the track record for seven-furlongs finishing the race in 1:20.89 and capped off his 3-year-old campaign with a victory in his turf debut in the Manila over the Widener turf last July at Belmont Park.

Trombetta had been anxious to get his horse back to the seven-furlong distance over the main track and was thrilled to see him display such an effort.

“It's a distance he likes, but he doesn't have the best gate speed,” Trombetta said. “The way this track has been playing, it's very hard to close. Well, what he did, I haven't seen the whole meet.”

Trombetta said he was a bit concerned when Win Win Win was so far back.

“I honestly don't know what to say; he dropped so far back, and his chicklet and number actually went off the screen and I couldn't even see across the track,” Trombetta said. “I thought he was absolutely out of the race and might not have had a chance to even finish. But then turning for home, he came back on the screen. It's just unbelievable.”

Win Win Win was off the board in last year's Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and Grade 1 Preakness Stakes and Trombetta said that he had shorter races in the back of his mind for a while.

“It's been on my mind for a long time,” Trombetta said. “We got caught up in the Triple Crown, for which he made a good run at it. We tried him on the grass, and he won there. He's just a good horse. These races are a little hard to find, but he certainly deserves it.”

Returning $16.20 for a $2 win bet, Win Win Win enhanced his consistent lifetime record to 12-5-3-1 and his earnings past the half-million dollar mark to $601,600.

Live racing resumes on Sunday at Saratoga with an 11-race card which features the Grade 3, $125,000 Shuvee going 1 1/8 miles for older fillies and mares on the main track. First post is 1:10 p.m.

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Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Plantation Named Florida Breeder Of The Year, Leading Owner

The Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association has announced its Florida-bred Champions for 2019. Typically, the awards are presented at an annual awards gala held on the Monday prior to OBS's March auction. The event was not held this year, however, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and it will not be rescheduled.

For the 16th time in FTBOA history, Charlotte Weber was honored with a Florida-bred champion that was bred by her Live Oak Stud and owned by her Live Oak Plantation, located in Ocala, as Global Access was named the Florida-bred Champion 3-Year-Old Colt or Gelding. Live Oak Stud was also named the Florida Breeder of the Year for the third time and the Leading Owner by Florida-bred Earnings for the fourth time. She previously won the Breeder title in 2006 and 2007 and the Leading Owner title in 2011, 2016, and 2017.

During the year, Global Access won the Grade 3 Marine Stakes and Grade 3 Ontario Derby at Woodbine, the Grade 3 Saranac Stakes at Saratoga, and the DRF Bets Sophomore Turf Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. He was also second in the Wando Stakes at Woodbine, with thirds in the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga and in the Charlie Barley Stakes at Woodbine.

By Giant's Causeway out of Daveron (Ger), by Black Sam Bellamy (Ire), Global Access won four of nine starts with a second and three thirds while earning $337,733 during 2019. Trained by Michael Trombetta, Global Access finished the year with a career bankroll of $373,402.

Another Florida-bred who took home multiple honors was Starship Jubilee, the Champion Older Female and Champion Female Turf Horse. Bred by William P. Sorren of Miami Beach, Fla., Starship Jubilee received Sovereign Awards as Canada's Horse of the Year and Champion Female Turf Horse for 2019, adding to the titles she also earned in 2017 and 2018.

Trained by Kevin Attard for Blue Heaven Farm, in 2019 Starship Jubilee won the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes and her second consecutive Canadian Stakes presented by the Japan Racing Association (G2), both at Woodbine. The Canadian was not the only stake she won for the second straight time, as she also defended her title in the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf at Gulfstream Park. In 2019, she was also second in the Grade 2 Dance Smartly Stakes and Nassau Stakes at Woodbine and second in the Grade 3 Cardinal Stakes at Churchill Downs. The well-traveled mare was also third in the Grade 3 Woodford Reserve Ballston Spa Stakes at Saratoga.

Starship Jubilee is by Indy Wind out of the Forest Wildcat mare Perfectly Wild, and she finished the year with three wins, three seconds, and a third from seven starts, with earnings of $604,929. She finished the year with $1,171,387 in career earnings.

Once again in 2019, the Florida-bred Champion 2-Year-Old Colt or Gelding title went through the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes series at Gulfstream Park.

Shooting Star Thoroughbreds' Chance It garnered the title after winning the $100,000 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes Dr. Fager and the $400,000 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes In Reality, while finishing second in the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes Affirmed.

By Currency Swap out of Vagabon Diva, by Pleasantly Perfect, Chance It was bred by Bett Usher of Ocala, Fla., and finished the year with three wins and two seconds from five starts, with earnings of $384,150.

K P Dreamin was named the Florida-bred Champion 2-Year-Old Filly based on her two third-place finishes in the Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes at Santa Anita and in the Grade 1 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos.

Trained by Jeff Mullins for Karl Pergola, K P Dreamin was bred in Florida by Peter Vegso's Ocala-based Vegso Racing Stable. She is by Union Rags out of Litigating, by Point Given and she finished the year with one win and two thirds from five starts, with earnings of $132,260.

William Stiritz's Wildwood's Beauty used the Florida Sire Stakes program for older horses and Florida-bred stakes to catapult herself to the title as the Florida-bred Champion 3-Year-Old Filly and Champion Female Sprinter.

During the year, the Scott Becker trainee won the Stonehedge Farm South Sophomore Fillies Stakes and FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes Ivanavinalot at Tampa Bay Downs and the Sheer Drama Stakes and Sunshine Million Distaff Stakes at Gulfstream Park. She was also second in the Florida Sire Stakes City of Ocala at Tampa Bay Downs and in the Florida Sire Stakes Wildcat Heir at Gulfstream Park, while amassing a record of four wins and five seconds from 10 starts. She racked up $327,895 in earnings in 2019 and finished the year with career revenues of $355,395.

Bred by Philip and Karen Matthews of Ocala, Wildwood's Beauty is by Kantharos out of Miss Propitious, by J P's Gusto.

In the stallion categories, Journeyman Stud's Khozan was Florida's Leading Juvenile Sire and Leading Freshman Sire, while Ocala Stud resident Adios Charlie was Florida's Stallion of the Year.

Khozan had 44 runners, 19 winners, and three black type stakes horses for progeny earnings of $1,275,632, and Adios Charlie progeny acquired $3,753,347 from 106 runners, 65 winners, and three black type stakes winners.

Khozan was represented by his leading money earner and stakes-winner Liam's Lucky Charm ($233,800), while multiple graded stakes-winner Jean Elizabeth was the leading money earner for Adios Charlie with $264,888.

Kathleen O'Connell and Saffie Joseph, Jr., tied with 58 Florida-bred wins at Florida tracks while O'Connell was also the Leading Florida Trainer of Florida-breds by black type stakes wins with six, and Joseph was the Leading Florida Trainer by Florida-bred earnings with $1,977,046.

It was the 12th time O'Connell has won or shared the title as the Leading Florida Trainer by wins (2003, 2009-2018) and the first time Joseph has won a Florida-bred title in either category. O'Connell has won or shared the Florida black type wins title twice before in 2013 and 2017.

The Joe O'Farrell Memorial Award presented by Ocala Breeders' Sales Company went to William A.T. and Lyn Rainbow's The Acorn as the original consignor of Starship Jubilee, the year's top Florida-bred graduate of OBS.

Sally J. Andersen of Ocala was presented the Needles Award as Florida's small breeder of the year. Andersen bred multiple stakes-winner Anyportinastorm, and recorded earnings of $843,513 as a breeder of Florida-breds. Andersen was presented a John Deere Riding Mower 330 as the Needles Award winner.

In June, the FTBOA recognized Imperial Hint as the Florida-bred with the top Beyer Speed Figure during 2019, as awarded by the Daily Racing Form. Imperial Hint logged an electrifying 114 Beyer while setting a Saratoga track record for six furlongs in 1:07.92 in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes.

Imperial Hint is trained by Luis Carvajal, Jr., for Raymond Mamone, and he was bred in Florida by Bert and Martha Pilcher's Shade Tree Thoroughbreds in Fairfield.

Horse Capital Television is partnering with the FTBOA and will air a special awards edition honoring each champion and their connections. The event will premiere on Wednesday, July 15 at 8 p.m. on https://www.facebook.com/HorseCapitalTV/ and https://www.horsecapitaltv.com/.

The re-aired show will be available on www.ftboa.com, The Florida Horse Twitter page and the FTBOA Facebook page.

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Tap It to Win Living Up to Casse’s Expectations

Even back when Tap It to Win (Tapit) lost the GI Clairborne Breeders’ Futurity by 43 1/2 lengths and the Street Sense S. by 21 1/4 lengths, Mark Casse was telling owner Charlotte Weber and anyone else who would listen that the horse was special. On Saturday, the trainer could be proven right. After some twists and turns in his 2-year-old year, Tap It to Win has won his only two starts this year and doesn’t look to be in over his head in Saturday’s GI Belmont S., this year’s first leg of the Triple Crown.

“We have a legitimate chance,” said Casse, who is seeking his third straight win in the Triple Crown series.

Tap It to Win broke his maiden last year at Saratoga in his second career start and Casse started thinking GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. The problem was that he didn’t have a lot of time to work with and Casse feared that might catch up to him. He wasn’t ready for what he faced in the Breeders’ Futurity.

“It was just too much for him to handle,” Casse said. “He misbehaved coming away from the gate. He ran off. He just did everything wrong. And so I just knew it was too bad to be true.”

The Street Sense was another misadventure. Tap It to Win hit himself on the ankle coming out of the gate, which led to an injury called a sequestrum, which required surgery to remove a piece of dead bone.

“He could hardly walk for a couple of weeks,” Casse said.

That was in the fall of last year and Casse had no designs on making the Triple Crown events. Tap It to Win still isn’t nominated for the Triple Crown and had to be supplemented into the Belmont at a cost of $15,000.

The colt’s rehab went as well as could be expected and Casse had him ready for a May 9 allowance race against fellow Florida breds at Gulfstream.

“When we sent him to run at Gulfstream, I called Tyler (Gaffalione) and told him you are going to ride a different horse today,” Casse said. “I told him that I’d be surprised if this horse gets beat.”

Tap it to Win won that day by 1 1/2 lengths and resurfaced at Belmont for a June 4 allowance. With John Velazquez aboard, he ran the best race of his career, leading every step of the way on his way to a five-length win. His 97 Beyer figures makes him very competitive in the Belmont.

“That was an extremely tough allowance race the other day,” Casse said. “I was amazed and Johnny was amazed that he could run as fast as he did and keep going. Johnny said after the race that he galloped out very strong. That John has so much confidence in him gives me even more confidence.”

After the allowance race, Casse’s first thought was that he would go next in the GI Woody Stephens S. at seven furlongs. But the Belmont lost a couple of top contenders due to injury and with his horse thriving, the trainer decided to give the horse a shot in the Grade I, $1-million event. Casse doesn’t know if he will win or not, but he’s certain that Tap It to Win will be the one to catch. He drew the one post and showed exceptional early speed in his last start.

“It didn’t matter what post position he was in, he was going to come out of there running,” Casse said. “He showed the other day he can run fast and keep running, so we are not going to change any tactics with him.”

Win or lose Saturday, the development of Tap It to Win has been something Casse isn’t taking for granted. He went from a horse that the trainer thought could win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to one who looked to be in way over his head in stakes company and wasn’t even nominated to the Triple Crown. Now, he is 6-1 on the morning line in a Triple Crown race.

“It’s been very gratifying,” he said. “Mrs. Weber means the world to me and she bred this horse. I’ve always told her he was special. It’s crazy how things work out sometimes. If it wasn’t for what’s going on in the world there’s no way he’d be in the position he is. We never would have made the Kentucky Derby and if the Belmont weren’t at a mile and an eighth instead of a mile and a half we never would have run in it. Everything worked out for him.”

They also worked out for Casse, who is in a unique position. He won last year’s GI Preakness S. with War of Will (War Front), which was his first win in the Triple Crown series. Three weeks later, he struck again, winning the Belmont with Sir Winston (Awesome Again). In this most unusual year for the Triple Crown, he’s back with another contender and a chance to win three in a row.

“I hadn’t even really thought about that until recently,” he said. “A couple of people have brought it up. Yes, it’s special. Any time you can win a classic it is special. I am very proud to have won two of them. To win three would be almost unthinkable. I think we have a legitimate chance to do that.”

Casse will find out Saturday just how good this horse is. If he turns out to be everything his trainer always thought he could be, he just might end up in the winner’s circle.

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