This Side Up: First Among Equals

They talk about the glass ceiling, though back in 1992 Shelley Riley ran into something more like a glass wall. For a few strides, it looked as though she was going to make history as she watched Casual Lies–a Lear Fan colt she had found as a short yearling for $7,500–lead into the stretch with most of the Kentucky Derby field in trouble. But then that invisible barrier came down, and Lil E. Tee ran by to win by a length.

Her reward? Later that year, somebody claiming to represent a movie star approached Riley offering to buy into the horse, in the same breath mentioning the gentleman whose barn Casual Lies would then be joining. Naturally, the horse stayed where he was. And, whatever the progress meanwhile made by wider society, so did horse racing.

As has been pretty universally recognized, our community could not have been more fortunate in where fate finally found a female trainer to win a Triple Crown race. Jena Antonucci knows that her gender should be as irrelevant to everyone else as it is to Arcangelo (Arrogate), and it feels somewhat disrespectful that she should be constantly required to interpret such a momentous personal milestone as though she has arrived in our midst as some kind of gender token. But she has generously reconciled herself to that particular indignity, in order to help articulate and address those shared by all women.

And while it's embarrassing that the American sport had to wait until 2023 for this moment, actually the situation is still more flagrant in my homeland. With the likes of Criquette Head-Maarek and Jessica Harrington having won so many big races in Europe, guess how many women currently feature among the top 30 of the British trainers' championship? Two, maybe? (As is the case, thanks to Linda Rice and Brittany Russell, in the American standings.) Surely not just one?

Well, close, but the answer is one fewer than that.

That deplorable state of affairs suggests that the people investing in British stables, along with their management teams, are an even more stubborn crew than the handicappers. For the latter have grasped that Rachel Blackmore, who has raised the bar so high in jump racing, is not just the best female jockey but the best jockey, period.

If I had to confess to a candidly sexist generalization, simply from the demographics prevailing in a particular culture in a particular time, it would be that women, if anything, might have a more natural engagement with horses. Be that as it may, it would plainly be impossible for anyone to maintain the slightest coherence in proposing that they might, in any way, be less qualified to train racehorses.

Historically, admittedly, women trainers may have had to meet additional challenges, in terms of asserting the kind of authority they were chronically denied in so many other workplaces. And it is not as though those battles have been definitively won elsewhere, for instance in politics or business. But their current profile in this profession suggests a culpable failure, in our community, to match even such progress as has been painfully achieved in other walks of life.

Jena Antonucci with Arcangelo the day before the Belmont S. | Sarah Andrew

So much so, that arguably it should be incumbent on those in a position to influence behaviors to exercise some positive discrimination. Given the gender ratio among licensees, after all, that's nothing like as tough as it should be. But perhaps these billionaires should be saying to themselves: “Right, my team is about to hit the sales. At the end, I'm going to ensure that at least [for instance] two of my eight new yearlings go to female trainers.” Is that so much to ask in a world containing, say, Josie Carroll and Cherie DeVaux?

We know the chicken-and-egg element in any trainer's reputation: get some good material, win some good races, get better material. Of course, I'm not saying that all trainers would do equally well with the same material. But if we truly believe in merit, then the only way for the training profession to become a true meritocracy-and to achieve the requisite volume of female entry-is for the role models to have proper respect and opportunity. As it is, Antonucci had to seize her moment with a $35,000 yearling, hardly an exponential leap from the $7,500 Casual Lies.

Out of nowhere, and in its hour of need, Antonucci has stepped up to the plate not just for her sex but also for her sport. This is a person who had already shown exemplary ambition in terms of a more holistic, acorn-to-oak approach to the Thoroughbred's career. But even her uninhibited exhibition of excitement and joy, during the race last Saturday, offered us something valuable. This was not female joy; it was human joy. It was something that anybody would aspire to share.

A year before a woman named Jena found her platform in the Belmont, the same race had allowed one named Jana to share her experiences in a world dominated by men. Jana Barbe and her husband Roy had raised a Belmont contender, We the People (Constitution), despite being relative newcomers to the game.

She acknowledged the Turf to have proved a conservative environment, in need of more diversity in every way. But this is a corporate highflier who used to come home from work “picking shards out of my head” from that notorious glass ceiling. When she graduated law school, in 1987, the percentage of female equity partners at big law firms was 15 to 18 percent, and the goal was 20 percent. The goal today? Still 20 percent.

So, what Jena did last Saturday was what Jana urged last year, when discussing the only way to achieve change. “One person at a time, one foot in front of the other, and being really smart in how we go about it,” she said. “We will get there. Because we have to. In the end the sport will become integrated because it can't not.”

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Son Of Twirling Candy Swipes Churchill Finale

9th-Churchill Downs, $123,240, Msw, 5-21, 3yo/up, 1 1/16mT, 1:43.89, fm, 1 3/4 lengths.
TAKING CANDY (c, 3, Twirling Candy–Taking Aim, by Trappe Shot), not seen since his debut last August at Saratoga in a route over the turf where he finished a well-beaten sixth, returned here as the 8-1 choice.

The bay colt settled mid-pack as the leaders tried to slow the pace down the backstretch. Into the far turn, Taking Candy looked for running room along the rail, cut to the three path at the top of the lane, but finding a gap past the eighth pole, dove towards the fence and rallied past 2-1 favorite St. Neots (Flintshire {GB}) for a 1 3/4-length victory.

Second dam Winning Call (Deputy Minister) is responsible for the terribly missed GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile hero Tapizar (Tapit) and his full-sister Tamboz, who produced the likes of GISP Creative Minister (Creative Cause) and MGSP Oceanwave (Harlan's Holiday).

The winner is his dam's first offspring, but the $200,000 '19 Fasig-Tipton Winter sale purchase by KatieRich Farms has produced an unraced 2-year-old named Rascality (Into Mischief). That filly, who worked out at Santa Anita on Sunday going three furlongs (:38.40, 21/31), was bought by Legacy Ranch at the '22 Fasig-Tipton October Yearling sale for $190,000. Taking Aim also has yearling filly by Speightstown.

Sales History: $155,000 Ylg '21 FTKJUL; $400,000 2yo '22 OBSMAR. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $70,050. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-Lael Stables; B-KatieRich Farms (KY); T-Cherie DeVaux.

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February 5 Insights: Charge It Makes Seasonal Bow in Florida

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency

6th-GP, $84k, Msw, 3yo, f, 1mT, 2:37p.m. ET
Richard Schermerhorn's $390,000 OBSAPR purchase LADY BETH (Hard Spun) will be unveiled on what looks like a very active Sunday of racing across the country. Drawn toward the middle in this Gulfstream maiden, she is the first registered foal for her dam, the Werthemier et Frere-bred and West Point-campaigned Boreale (Makfi {GB}); four times stakes-placed in her career in America as well as a multiple winner in France. This is the female family of MGSW Interactif (Broken Vow), GSP Stretching (Red Ransom), and the extended family of GSW Etonian (Ire) (Olympic Glory {Ire}), GISP Ocho Ocho Ocho, and MGSW Divine Oath (Broken Vow). Chad Brown sends her to post. To the inside is $320,000 KEESEP buy Le Beau (Mendelssohn), a half-sister to GSP Burn the Mortgage (Kitten's Joy) and three other multiple winners including that one's full-sister, SW Lien on Kitten. Christophe Clement trains the grey for Hoolie Racing Stable. TJCIS PPs

1st-SA, $67k, Msw, 3yo, f, 6 1/2f, 3:30p.m. ET
Bob Baffert and owners Baoma Corp team up once again with an $825,000 KEESEP procurement named CONQUISTAR (Quality Road). Coming into this contest on the back of a blowout bullet work Feb. 1 when she clicked through three furlongs in :35.20 in company, the bay is out of GSP My Miss Chiff (Into Mischief), herself hailing from a three-generation line of Louisiana Champions Day Ladies S./ Ladies Sprint S. winners or placers. The dam is a half-sister to Louisiana Cup Juvenile Fillies victress Silvercents (Goldencents). Not unexpectedly, the morning line has Conquistar tabbed as the 6-5 favorite. TJCIS PPs

8th-GP, $62k, AOC, 4yo/up, 1 1/16m, 3:37p.m. ET
The eighth contest on the Gulfstream card marks the return of GIII Dwyer S. winner CHARGE IT (Tapit), who ran off the screen in the aforementioned contest with his best impression of the hallowed Red Horse in New York. Gone since that 23-length romp, he's been on the work tab religiously in January for Todd Pletcher–posting a bullet five furlongs two works back at Palm Beach when going 1:00.59 in company with GISP Emmanuel (More Than Ready)–and will make his first start at 1 1/16-miles in this allowance optional claimer. TJCIS PPs

9th-GP, $84k, Msw, 3yo, f, 1mT, 4:06p.m. ET
The day for the greys continues as C R K Stable unveils their $800,000 FTSAUG daughter of Tapit, SILVER STRIPES. Out of Madame Stripes (Arg) (Equal Stripes {Arg})–Group 1-stakes placed in her native Argentina but also a Graded-stakes winner and Grade I-stakes placed in America–the Cherie DeVaux trainee lays claim to an Argentinean family rich with Group 1 runners, including her dam's full-sibling, MG1SP Equal Councellor (Arg). This is also the family of G1SW Cagnotte (Arg) (Sunray Spirit); Argentinean champion 3-year-old filly, MGISP-US Campagnarde (Arg) (Oak Dancer {GB}); GSW Rize (Theatrical {Ire}); and MGSP Calvados (Arg) (Snipewalk). The Repole stable will send out that filly's neighbor Nonna's Tiramisu (Medaglia d'Oro), a homebred half-sister to GISW Outwork (Uncle Mo), who also raced in their shared breeder's colors. Her dam is a 3/4 sister to Cairo Prince (Pioneerof the Nile). Todd Pletcher looks to cap what could be a big day in Florida, here. TJCIS PPs

6th-FG, $50k, Msw, 3yo, 6f, 4:45p.m. ET
Stonestreet homebred DREAMBOAT (Uncle Mo) will make his debut in this baby dash over the main track for Steve Asmussen. Out of GSP Supreme, the colt claims Claiborne stallion, GISW Silver State (Hard Spun) as his half-brother. Second dam Mon Belle (Maria's Mon) is the full-sister to Monarchos. John Oxley's $110,000 KEESEP grad Classic Dancer (Collected) will also make his first start here. The Mark Casse trainee is a half-brother to 2021 Queen's Plate winner Safe Conduct (Bodemeister), their dam herself a half-sister to Canadian Horse of the Year and champion sprinter Fatal Bullet (Red Bullet). TJCIS PPs

8th-OP, $105k, Alw, 4yo/up, 6f, 5:10p.m. ET
Drawn on the rail and rolling in with a three-strong string of bullet works at the Fair Grounds, COGBURN (Not This Time) returns to the races for the first time since his gutsy runner-up effort last May in Pimlico's GIII Chick Lang S. He'll face a salty group of runners including the returning MyRacehorse colt Chasing Time (Not This Time). TJCIS PPs

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Second Chances: Pricey Curlin 2yo “Acts Like a Filly to be Excited About”

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar.

Subsequently flattered by Liguria (War Front)'s impressive performance in last weekend's GIII Jimmy Durante S. at Del Mar, Erna (f, 2, Curlin–Jumby Bay, by City Zip) will look to go one better at second asking in the nightcap at Gulfstream Park Sunday.

Off at 11-1 going 1 1/16 miles over the grass on debut at the Belmont at Aqueduct meeting Oct. 22, Erna jumped well from post five and cleared the field of 10 heading into the clubhouse turn. Under a snug hold and in control through fractions of :23.33 and :48.01, the $600,000 OBS April breezer hit the quarter pole as the one to catch and led by a commanding 1 1/2 lengths in the stretch.

The aforementioned Liguria, making her second career start, however, was just getting going down the center. Erna dug down deep and braced for the challenge inside the final sixteenth, but, after swapping to her left lead close to home, just couldn't hold that one off and came up a neck short. Erna received a 70 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

After failing to draw into a pair of spots during Keeneland's fall meeting, Erna made a last-minute trip from trainer Cherie DeVaux's Lexington base to the Big A for her debut.

“I was really impressed with how she ran given the circumstances,” DeVaux said.

“She did not get into either of the races that had overfilled at Keeneland and she had been training there the entire time since she came in after the sale. She had to ship after entries came out on Wednesday to Belmont Park. She arrived Thursday, trained at Belmont on Friday and had to ship over to Aqueduct [to run] on Saturday. So, it was less than ideal circumstances and she ran huge considering all that was thrown at her.”

Erna, the first foal out of the multiple stakes-placed Jumby Bay, brought $600,000 from owner James D. Spry after cruising through a :20 4/5 bullet in Ocala this spring. The daughter of two-time Horse of the Year and perennial leading sire Curlin was previously a $135,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by Lehigh Bloodstock.

Jumby Bay, from the family of grassy GI Garden City Breeders' Cup S. heroine Magnificent Song (Unbridled's Song), brought $510,000 from breeder Don Alberto carrying Erna at the 2019 Keeneland November sale.

“At the sale, we were really impressed with her breeze and how she moved,” DeVaux said of Erna. “She looked like she was more turf inclined.”

Erna drew post nine going a two-turn mile for her second career try over the Gulfstream lawn Sunday. Luis Saez has the mount aboard the 5-2 morning-line favorite.

“I think if she either runs the race that she ran last time or improves, she's gonna be hard to beat,” DeVaux said. “She acts like she's a filly to be excited about.”

The 'Second Chances' honor roll is headed by two-time Breeders' Cup winner and new Ashford Stud stallion Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby winner and Lane's End stallion Honor A. P. (Honor Code), recent GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Cody's Wish (Curlin) and MGISW and 'TDN Rising Star' Paradise Woods (Union Rags).

This year's GI Carter H. winner and new Darley stallion Speaker's Corner (Street Sense), GI Preakness S. third-place finisher Creative Minister (Creative Cause), Curlin S. winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Artorius (Arrogate) and Cinema S. winner and GII Del Mar Derby third War At Sea (War Front) have also been featured in the series.

Other standouts include: GSW Moonlight d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), GSW & MGISP Spielberg (Union Rags), GSW Backyard Heaven (Tizway), MSW and 'TDN Rising Star' Gidu (Ire) (Frankel {GB}); and GISP A Mo Reay (Uncle Mo).

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