Churchill Downs | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘Kind Heart In An Unkind Time’: Attorney Tim’s Victory Honors Late Owner

Longtime owner Tim Sweeney didn't make regular appearances to Churchill Downs but when he did they were memorable. Sweeney passed away in early December at age 72 but his legacy around the racetrack and trainer Greg Foley's Barn 11 remains strong.

Sweeney's namesake, Attorney Tim, was able to record an emotional victory Thursday night at Churchill Downs for the Lloyd Madison Farms syndicate along with Foley. The 5-year-old gelding drove past Cibolian in the late stages of the featured $97,989 first-level allowance at 1 1/8 miles on turf to pay $9 to win.

Sweeney would typically come to Churchill Downs once or twice a year and don an infamous Foley Racing hat, which he embroidered “Assistant Trainer” on the side as a running joke with the barn.

“We can't speak enough about how good a man Tim was,” Foley said. “I remember the first horse we bought for that ownership group named Double Mint. He was an Ohio-bred that really started their operation.”

Double Mint was purchased by Foley in 1996 and recorded seven victories through 50 starts. Since Double Mint, Lloyd Madison Farms campaigned several star horses including multiple graded stakes winner Champali, Eight Belles (G2) winner Sconsin and Kentucky Derby 146 entrant Major Fed. Sweeney was at Churchill Downs for Major Fed's 10th-place finish in the 2020 Kentucky Derby and was able to enjoy the famous walkover with his fellow owners and Foley.

Along with Lloyd Madison Farms' stars on the racetrack, they established a strong broodmare band over the last decade.

“This is an amazing sport filled with amazing people,” Sweeney said in a 2018 interview with Churchill Downs. “We've got a good group of horses and great potential horses as part of our broodmare band.”

Attorney Tim is a graduate of Lloyd Madison Farms' homebred program. He's out of the mare Bobby's Babe who produced several top horses including Clairenation, Major Fed and Zapperini.

Sweeney grew up in Madison, Wisc. where he was a three-sport athlete in baseball, basketball and football. He was a walk-on quarterback at the University of Notre Dame in the late 1960s. Following his football career, Sweeney graduated Notre Dame with an economics degree and later got his law degree at the University of South Dakota School of Law.

Sweeney practiced law for more than 45 years and was recently recognized by US News & Reports as one of the Best Lawyers in America for Real Estate Law.

Not only was Sweeney passionate about horse racing, he adored teaching and giving back to his community. When Foley's son Alex was studying law at the University of Louisville, Sweeney was at the ready to help mentor and answer any questions.

“Loss is never easy but when Tim died it was a gut punch,” Alex Foley said. “Tim was always there for me during my schooling and always had encouraging words for me when I needed them the most. He was a kind heart in an unkind time. I will miss his kind words of encouragement followed by a quick witted joke, usually at my expense.”

While Attorney Tim hasn't won a major stakes race, the Foley barn celebrated Thursday night's allowance win like he was at the top of the sport.

The post ‘Kind Heart In An Unkind Time’: Attorney Tim’s Victory Honors Late Owner appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Wesley Ward Celebrates ‘Humbling’ Milestone Of 2,000 Career Wins

Trainer Wesley Ward, 53, recorded his 2,000th-career win Thursday night at Churchill Downs when Ken and Sarah Ramsey's Gold for Kitten rallied for a rail-skimming victory in Race 6 under jockey Chris Landeros.

“I was actually moving a bunch of mares and foals from one place to another at my farm in Lexington when it happened,” Ward told the Daily Racing Form. “It's a great accomplishment, very humbling.”

Ward was born into a racing family, according to the Keeneland media guide. His father, Dennis, is a former jockey who is now a trainer and occasionally saddles horses for his son. His grandfather, Jim Dailey, was a steeplechase rider and later a popular outrider in New York for 29 years.

Ward began riding at age 12, competing at fairs in Washington, Alberta, British Columbia and Montana. On the day he turned 16, the junior in high school began riding at Aqueduct with Lenny Goodman as his agent. Goodman, a friend of Jim Dailey's, previously handled the books of Steve Cauthen and Declan Murphy. Though he didn't win any races that day, Ward won five in the next three days.

Recipient of the 1984 Eclipse Award as outstanding apprentice, Ward later rode in Italy, Singapore and Malaysia. He retired in 1989, tired of battling weight. He began training in 1991.

Ward became the first American trainer to saddle a winner at Royal Ascot in 2009 when Strike the Tiger won the Windsor Castle at odds of 33-1. The next day, he sent out Jealous Again to win the Queen Mary (G2).

In total, Ward has sent out 11 winners at the prestigious Royal Ascot meeting: 2013 Norfolk (G2) with No Nay Never; 2014 Windsor Castle with Hootenanny; 2015 Diamond Jubilee (G1) with Undrafted and Queen Mary (G2) with Acapulco; 2016 Queen Mary (G2) with Lady Aurelia; 2017 King's Stand (G1) with Lady Aurelia and Sandringham (L) with Con Te Partiro; 2018 Norfolk (G2) with Shang Shang Shang; and 2020 Queen Mary with Campanelle.

His training resume also includes four Breeders' Cup victories: 2014 Juveneile Turf with Hootenanny; 2014 Filly & Mare Turf with Judy the Beauty; 2019 Juvenile Turf Sprint with Four Wheel Drive; and 2020 Juvenile Turf Sprint with Golden Pal.

In 2021, Ward saddled his first Kentucky Derby starter with Like the King, who finished 12th.

Ward's 2,000 North American wins include 50 graded stakes victories and purse earnings of more than $71.8 million.

The post Wesley Ward Celebrates ‘Humbling’ Milestone Of 2,000 Career Wins appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Arlington Heights Trustees Take Steps That Could Impact Sale of Track

The Arlington Heights Board of Trustees has passed an ordinance that would prevent Churchill Downs from placing any restrictions on what a buyer of Arlington Park can and cannot do with the 326-acre property.

It is feared that Churchill will not sell the track to any individual or group that expresses an interest in opening a casino or even to anyone committed to maintaining racing at the historic Illinois track. Churchill may want to limit competition for the nearby Rivers casino that it co-owns in the town of Des Plaines.

There have been groups aligned with the horsemen that have come forward and said they were prepared to buy Arlington in order to keep it as a racetrack and were set to outbid all others for the property. Those same groups have expressed concerns that Churchill would not be willing to sell to anyone who intended to keep the track operating. The ordinance, which was passed unanimously at Monday night's meeting of the village's Board of Trustees, would prevent Churchill from attaching any conditions to the sale which would rule out a continuation of horse racing.

Throughout the meeting, trustees and other officials with the town made it clear that they would like to see racing at Arlington Park preserved.

“The track is so important to our village for many different reasons, including our identity, that I don't want to see the track go away,” said Trustee John Scaletta. “But it's not up to me. It's up to whoever purchases the property. But I think it's important to keep the door open so that it could possibly remain a track because there are so many people that want to see racing continue, not only in the state of Illinois but across the country. Hopefully, somebody will come to Arlington Heights with a desire to continue horse racing.”

Said Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes: “Everything remains on the table. We are taking these actions this evening to ensure that the possibility of horse racing remains on the table. Nothing is excluded, other than certain uses that we don't want to see.”

In a related development, the board took steps to redefine zoning restrictions for the property that would allow it to keep out certain businesses. The example of Amazon building a distribution center on the site was given as a development the town would block.

The Arlington site is also said to be on the radar of the Chicago Bears, which have been contemplating moving to a new stadium.

Churchill Downs is soliciting bids for the property through the commercial real estate firm CBRE Group, Inc. Bids are due by June 15.

According to Arlington Heights Village Manager Randall Recklaus, the nearby towns of Buffalo Grove, Schaumburg and Chicago have used similar procedures that have kept property owners from placing restrictive covenants limiting future uses for the land.

The problems for Arlington began when Churchill failed to apply for a casino license for the racetrack and then announced that racing would not continue after the end of the 2021 meet. Should Arlington, considered one of the most beautiful racetracks in the world, close, the Chicago area would be left with just one track, Hawthorne. Because Hawthorne is also required to run a harness racing meet, the amount of Thoroughbred racing that can be offered there is limited.

The Arlington meet is scheduled to conclude Sept. 25.

The post Arlington Heights Trustees Take Steps That Could Impact Sale of Track appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Derby Winner Will Van To Pimlico Due To Tex Sutton Service Disruption

Trainer Bob Baffert told media Sunday morning that his Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit, would have to be vanned from Churchill Downs to Pimlico next week for the Preakness Stakes. The usual flight will not be an option due to a service disruption with Tex Sutton, the dominant equine air-transport company in the U.S.

According to the Daily Racing Form, Tex Sutton's lease on “Air Horse One,” its current aircraft, expires on May 8, and negotiations for a new lease have begun but are not yet complete.

“We are in the process of putting a new contract together with another cargo airline,” read a statement from Tex Sutton. “Because of the regulatory process required to get them up and running, we anticipate a short-term gap in our normal service.”

Most of the horses competing in the Preakness are already located on the East Coast, and the one probable entrant still in California, Rombauer, was scheduled to fly to New Jersey on May 5.