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Southwest Trainer Neatherlin, Original Conditioner Of Kip Deville, Dies At Age 65

Mike Neatherlin, a regular presence in the Southwest training ranks since the early 1990s and first trainer of Breeders' Cup Mile winner Kip Deville, died Sunday due to complications from COVID-19. He was 65.

The Waterford, Texas-based trainer saddled 186 combined Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse winners, with combined on-track earnings of over $2.7 million. He saddled his first starters in 1991, first focusing primarily on Quarter Horses at Trinity Meadows and Sunland Park, before making the switch to Thoroughbreds in the years that followed.

Neatherlin had just recently seen the most lucrative years of his training career, earning over $250,000 for the first time in 2018 and eclipsing that amount each following year.

That was helped along greatly by the ascent of Mr. Money Bags. A Texas homebred for Roy Cobb, the Silver City gelding won five stakes races in his home state, and ventured out to Zia Park in New Mexico for an additional pair of stakes scores, for earnings of $491,376.

Mr. Money Bags was named Texas Horse of the Year in 2019, on the strength of a campaign that included wins in the Jim's Orbit Stakes and Groovy Stakes at Sam Houston Race Park, the Texas Stallion Stymie Division Stakes at Lone Star Park, and the Roadrunner Stakes and Zia Park Derby in New Mexico. The gelding also took Neatherlin into national-level competition, with starts in the Grade 3 Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs, and the listed Iowa Derby.

Neatherlin was also the first trainer and co-owner of eventual Breeders' Cup winner Kip Deville. He started the Oklahoma-bred's training after the colt was purchased by Wayne Cobb and South Wind Ranch for $20,000 at the 2004 Fasig-Tipton Texas Yearling Sale. Neatherlin then consigned Kip Deville at the following year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale, where he finished under his reserve at $32,000.

Under Neatherlin's shedrow, Kip Deville started his career racing in Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas. He won the Texas Heritage Stakes at Sam Houston, then finished out of the money in the G3 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park, before winning the listed Grand Prairie Turf Challenge Stakes at Lone Star Park by four lengths.

That effort grabbed the attention of owner IEAH Stables, which bought Kip Deville privately in the middle of his 3-year-old season and moved him to the barn of trainer Rick Dutrow. The horse would go on to become a seven-time graded stakes winner, with three of them coming against Grade 1 competition, including the 2007 Breeders' Cup Mile at Monmouth Park.

Neatherlin also owned several of his own racehorses, led by six-figure earning Texas-breds Light Up the Devil and Catch the Devil.

Among Neatherlin's successful pinhooks at auction was Airoforce, who he bought for $20,000 at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale and sold for $350,000 at the following year's OBS Spring Sale, through his son Lane Richardson's Richardson Bloodstock. Airoforce would go on to become a multiple graded stakes winner and finish second in the 2015 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

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Brown, Saez, Klaravich Win Saratoga Meet Titles; Record Handle Tops $800M

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY–After accepting his fourth H. Allen Jerkens training title late Monday afternoon, Chad Brown spoke to a common theme on the final day of a joyous season following the COVID-19 summer without fans at Saratoga Race Course

“Happy to have everybody back at the meet. That was the big thing,” Brown said. “The most rewarding part of the meet was having everybody back. Last year, win or lose, it just wasn't any fun. I can speak for me and a lot of people around me that it just wasn't any fun. To have everybody back and to see people you haven't seen in two years, family and friends–a lot of times you only see them at Saratoga–that's really been the best part of the meet.”

Despite being challenged by trying weather with rain in July and many hot, humid days in August, the 153rd season of racing was a record-smashing financial success with total handle surpassing $800 million for the first time. America's oldest and most popular racetrack was alive again for 40 days of top-level racing and from the first week, bettors embraced the Saratoga product served up by the New York Racing Association. By the 36th day Sept. 1, the all-sources handle record of $705 million set during the 39-day pre-pandemic meet in 2019 had been surpassed. Even though 45 races were moved off the turf because of wet conditions, the meet ended with all-sources handle of $815,508,063, a 15.6% increase.

“I think it went great,” said NYRA president and CEO David O'Rourke. “Coming out of a year like last year to be able to run the meet–for lack of a better term–in a normal fashion, it was amazing. I think the numbers speak for themselves. The fans came out. The town was packed.”

Jason Fitch, a co-owner of King's Tavern, located across Union Avenue from the main gate, said business was very strong.

“The track this year for King's has been amazing,” Fitch said. “It was, by far, our best season yet. This was our seventh season; well, if you want to count last year.”

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the 2020 season was conducted in front of empty stands. Saratoga as a television event was popular, generating $702 million in all-sources handle, but there was zero excitement on the grounds. That changed this summer, and Saratoga Race Course was very much its old self. NYRA said that the daily average attendance was 26,162 and the total attendance surpassed 1 million for the sixth consecutive season, excluding 2020.

“I think it was a sigh of relief that people came back and were as enthusiastic as they are,” said Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. “I'm delighted. I couldn't be happier. It was so damn boring last year. I thought I was going to go to sleep at the races. You love to have the fans and the excitement. I do anyway.”

It was a memorable summer at the Spa for trainer Todd Pletcher, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame on Aug. 6, fell sick with COVID-19 despite being vaccinated and ended up second in the standings with 31 wins, 10 behind Brown. Pletcher said he welcomed the return of a familiar, comfortable Saratoga season.

“It's great to see an environment like here where you have a lot of people coming to the races and enthusiastic about it,” he said. “That's one of the great things about Saratoga. It's one of the venues where you still get that on-track attendance. We go back to Belmont and Aqueduct and it's not the same feeling because people aren't there.”

Jockey Luis Saez ended the six-year reign of the Ortiz brothers, Irad and Jose, at Saratoga and earned his first Angel Cordero, Jr. riding title with 64 wins, eight more than Irad, the defending champion. Saez, 29, won 12 stakes, six of them graded, topped by victories in the GI Runhappy Travers S. on Essential Quality (Tapit) and the GI Longines Test S. on Bella Sofia (Awesome Patrio).

“This is a tough spot, so winning this title is everything,” Saez said. “To win the Travers; racing at NYRA is the biggest deal right now, and we're so blessed to be here. It means a lot.”

Saez credited his agent, the former trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, for helping him secure the title.

“You see how tough it is to win a race here. To win 64 races here, it's wonderful,” Saez said. “I'm so thankful to the trainers and thanks to Kiaran, who did a great job. Nothing is impossible. We came here and were patient and rode our horses to win, and we did it. We're so happy to be here.”

Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables led all owners with 21 wins for its fourth straight title. Klaravich had eight more wins than runner-up Michael Dubb. It was one win shy of the Saratoga single-meet owner record of 22 wins set by Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey in 2013.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen became the career leader in wins by a Thoroughbred trainer Aug. 7 with his 9,446th victory in the fifth race on the Whitney Day program. Asmussen finished the Saratoga season in impressive fashion, winning three Grade I races on the final weekend. He won the first running at Saratoga of the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup with Max Player (Honor Code) Saturday, the GI Spinaway S. with Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) Sunday and the GI Hopeful S. with Gunite (Gun Runner) on the closing day card Monday. Asmussen also won two other Grade I races: the Forego with Yaupon (Uncle Mo) and the H. Allen Jerkens with Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music).

Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. had five Grade I victories: four for Asmussen aboard Max Player, Gunite, Echo Zulu and Yaupon, and piloted Maracuja (Honor Code) to an upset win in the Coaching Club American Oaks.

Brad Cox, the 2020 Eclipse Award-winning trainer, finished seventh in the standings with 13 victories, but two of those wins were in Saratoga's highest-profile Grade I races. Cox captured the Whitney with Knicks Go (Paynter) and three weeks later his other gray star, Essential Quality, prevailed in the 152nd Travers. Cox is the third trainer to win both races in the same season.

Brown grew up in nearby Mechanicville and learned the sport at Saratoga. He was the runner-up in the trainer's standings for five years before claiming his first title in 2016. He won again in 2018 with a record 46 wins and repeated in 2019. He won five Saratoga graded stakes in 2021, including three Grade II contests. With five wins from five starters Aug. 25 and three more the next day, Brown climbed to the top of the standings.

“I'm just so appreciative. It's probably one of the most rewarding of the meets we've won because we had a lot of things to overcome,” Brown said. “We had a terrible, terrible virus running through our barn since we arrived from Florida. It really took a lot of horses out of commission. Then we started the meet off slow. A lot of seconds. A lot of rain. By mid-meet it didn't look like we were going to get anywhere near 40 wins.”

Brown said he and his staff stayed focused and success followed.

“Then things just started coming together,” he said. “The weather cleared up. Seconds turned into wins. We had a lot of good fortune with racing luck and you can make up a lot of wins fast if you get on a roll. We certainly did Travers week.”

Fitch said he was taken by a very positive, wholly different vibe this summer at the two businesses he operates with his brothers, King's and the Saratoga City Tavern downtown on Caroline Street.

“It was night and day,” he said. “It's hard to describe it, but I think in previous years everyone was just going through motions. The whole pandemic put a light on what to appreciate in life and I think people just appreciated what we have in our backyard more.”

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Keeneland September Sale Participants Discuss COVID-19 Preparations

The threat of COVID-19 casts a continued pall over most segments of life, and as deaths and hospitalizations continue to trend back up toward pre-vaccine levels, it has led to participants at the upcoming Keeneland September Yearling Sale to consider protection measures briefly thought to be behind us.

Thoroughbred Daily News polled Keeneland executives, as well as buyers and consignors, about their concern related to the COVID-19 surge heading into the September sale, and the level of protection measures they plan to take.

Of particular note, Keeneland president and CEO Shannon Arvin said the company has reinstated an indoor mask mandate for all employees, regardless of vaccination status. Unvaccinated employees will be required to test weekly.

Following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control, Keeneland will also strongly recommend that all sales participants wear a mask while indoors. The sales pavilion will also undergo a deep cleaning after every session, and hand sanitizing stations will be available around the property.

Buyers, Sellers, Sales Companies Talk COVID-19 and the Fall Sales

The daily number of U.S. deaths from the Covid-19 virus neared 1,000 per day last week, the highest level the country has seen since February. The seven-day moving average of Covid-19 cases reported by the CDC, is at 149,263, and continues to rise.

There are currently four variants circulating in the United States; Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Gamma, with Delta making up over 99% of all cases.

It seems like every day, someone we know in racing has contracted Covid, from trainer Todd Pletcher to the TDN's own Christina Bossinakis, and many of the people surveyed below. At no time is the demand to travel and circulate with others for our jobs in racing greater than it is for the fall sales period.

The TDN talked to a number of buyers and consignors about how they feel about traveling to the sales, what precautions they'll take, and what sales companies can do to make them feel safe.

We start off our conversation with Keeneland's President and CEO Shannon Arvin, who talked about sales protocols.

Shannon Arvin
First and foremost, the health and safety of our clients, staff and equine stock is Keeneland's primary focus. COVID-19 has presented us with many challenges these past 18 months, but by working together, we have successfully navigated a constantly changing world to create a stable and steady market. And I believe we will do that again this fall sales and racing season.
Looking ahead to the September Yearling Sale, Keeneland will follow the guidance of health and government experts to create the safest environment possible for our sales participants. And just like last year, we ask for the continued support and cooperation of our customers and their staffs.

Shannon Arvin | Keeneland photo

We strongly encourage those who have not yet been vaccinated to do so. Vaccination offers the best protection possible from COVID-19.

Most of us are extremely aware of the risk presented by COVID-19 and take the proper precautions where necessary.

At Keeneland, we have reinstated a mask mandate for all employees, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, while working indoors. Our unvaccinated employees are required to be tested weekly.

Consistent with current CDC guidelines, we strongly recommend that all sales participants wear a mask when indoors. This is an added layer of defense that keeps you and those you come in contact with safe.

Our facilities at Keeneland will undergo a deep cleaning following each sales session, and we've located hand sanitizing stations throughout the Sales Pavilion and grounds.

We also will continue to offer online bidding and phone bidding for buyers unable to attend the September Sale in person.

The Keeneland team looks forward to welcoming our friends and customers from around the world to Central Kentucky this fall. A silver lining of the pandemic is the resiliency and optimism of horsemen that always seem to carry the industry through challenging times. We are confident the market will continue to be buoyed by enthusiasm at the sales and a keen passion for racing.

Price Bell, Mill Ridge
I'm so glad you all are doing this story on the vaccine and protocols. I think it's important. Considering that last year Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton conducted multiple sales, and quite frankly kept our industry going, I know we can stay safe through this sales season as well. I think the key is keeping activity inside limited and being respectful of people and the variant.

Price Bell | Mill Ridge photo

I'm vaccinated, and look forward to the booster. I will wear a mask indoors and in the back ring, where I hope it is crowded. I do feel comfortable going because I thought they did a phenomenal job last year. They created a wonderful environment to conduct business utilizing so much of their outdoor space and I would expect they do something similar this year. I think we have learned from our friends who got sick in Saratoga that the vaccine is not bulletproof and the variant is real.

As for our team, we have worked hard to make everyone aware of the benefits of the vaccine and nearly every team member has been vaccinated. We will provide masks to co-workers and opportunities for us to not gather in the tack/warm rooms.

Liz Crow, BSW Bloodstock
I will feel comfortable but I will also be a little hesitant because I have a 6-month-old baby who is not vaccinated. My concern is always how can I keep her safe. For that reason, I will be a little nervous. I will be wearing a mask and will be careful. I will probably only wear the mask when I am inside. When I look at horses, I generally am not super close to a lot of people except for my team. They are all fully vaccinated, which makes me feel safer.

As for protocols, that's above my paygrade so far as all the thought that has to go into that. I do think there should be a mask mandate for inside. That's probably the right thing to do.

Justin Casse
I won't mind going. I've gotten my vaccinations. I had Covid and I got it when I was in Newmarket last year for the yearling sales. Covid changed my life in regards to the amount of traveling I want to do. To be honest with you, my time at horse sales going forward is going to be less than usual. In regards to fear of getting the disease, that's not on my mind. But so far a what it has done to me and my values in life, it's made me step back and look at what might be more important. I want to spend more time enjoying life and my family.

I won't wear a mask unless prompted and told to do so.

I know it's a pain in the butt, but I do feel that proof of vaccination is nice and if not proof of vaccination then you should have to show that you have tested negative. It should be one of the two. I went to the Grateful Dead concert in Saratoga last week and to get into the area of the pit you had to show that you had been vaccinated. To get into the concert, you had to have a negative test or the vaccination. That's like 20,000 people in an outdoor setting and they did their best to make sure that we were at event that would not turn into a super spreader event.

Jon Green | Courtesy DJ Stables

Jon Green, General Manager, DJ Stables
I personally attended the Saratoga sale and was surprised more people were not wearing masks, especially inside the sales pavilion. The number of people who caught some type of illness directly stemming from the sales and/or races was not surprising in my mind–COVID in particular is just that contagious. Since my parents are older, and more susceptible to the negative consequences of any virus, we have opted not to attend the September Sales. Like last year, we have assembled a great team of short listers, trainers and veterinarians to provide us with the information required to make our decisions from afar. Keeneland has done an outstanding job of establishing and improving their digital platform, and we have the utmost confidence bidding on their site. Hopefully the CDC figures will improve over the coming weeks so we can return to Kentucky in November.

J.R. Boyd
I feel very comfortable because I had COVID and I have the antibodies and according to the doctors the antibodies last up to 90 days. I got it at the very end of July. The doctors and nurses told me that 99% of the people in the hospital were not vaccinated and I was not vaccinated either. I definitely regret not getting vaccinated. My wife had it about six months before I did and I was around her the whole time and I never caught it. It's not that I was against the vaccination. I just thought I didn't need it. That was a mistake.

I worry that there's not a lot anyone can do. If you're going to get it you're going to get it. I won't say that I won't go inside the pavilion, but I'm going to try to keep my distance from other people. Everyone should definitely have the Germ-X sanitizer in their pockets and should keep their distance when they can. Having said that, I would feel more comfortable if everyone were vaccinated.

I don't plan on wearing a mask. That's because every doctor has told me I have full-blown antibodies and for 90 days I cannot get COVID and I cannot carry it. I don't feel like I can receive it or give it to anyone. If they want me to wear a mask in certain areas, I will not mind. I'm not against masks by any means.

Doug Cauthen
I feel comfortable going to the sale. I will take precautions like trying to keep my distance from others. Thankfully, most of it takes place outdoors. I won't be going inside the pavilion unless people are masked.

Masking indoors is a no-brainer. We've seen how well that woks and it especially works when everybody does it. I'll definitely wear a mask indoors. When I'm out looking at horses I'll probably have one around my neck and if somebody comes up to me I'll pull it up and talk to them. Thankfully, I am vaccinated. I know I can still get COVID, but my preference is obviously to not get sick.

Meg Levy, Bluewater Sales
Mike and I actually just got over Covid. We both had been vaccinated. We were in Saratoga and the Delta variant was going around, we got it and we're over it and we've been re-vaccinated. Personally, I will feel comfortable.

Meg LEvy | Bluewater Sales

I just assumed they were going to go back to protocols similar to what they did last fall when they had badges and temperature checks. That seemed to be easy and seemed to go well.

I will wear a mask when I am near people. I think that's only fair the best way to keep others safe. I'm not worried about myself, but it's kind to do the right thing when it comes to others.

Pete Bradley
I feel comfortable going because I have been vaccinated. At this point, life is going on in the world. Going to the sale wouldn't bother me any more than going to a restaurant. I wear masks indoors and usually outdoors I don't.

I see no reason not to wear masks, especially in indoor situations. That's me personally. Outdoors, I don't think it really helps. I don't know how much a mask helps, but it certainly can't hurt.

Craig Bandoroff, Denali Stud
I feel comfortable going. I am vaccinated and if I can get the booster before the sale I will. On protocols, that's a tricky one. What I have been seeing at various places is that when you go inside you have to wear a mask. I don't think that's unreasonable. If you're going to be inside the pavilion, perhaps you should have to wear a mask, that is unless things start to change.

I don't think I will wear a mask outside. But I am 66 and in a more vulnerable group, so I probably will wear a mask inside. I understand it's hard to get into the country and the Japanese have either had a hard time coming or are reluctant to come. They are a big part of our market. It will be disconcerting if they don't or can't come.

Conrad Bandoroff, Denali Stud
We're doing some simple things that we started last year. We made some changes that we thought would help. As far as protecting our staff, most of our staff have been vaccinated. There's going to be one person responsible for taking down someone's card and rather than have a buyer or agent fill out a card there will be somebody there to do that. That way you'll have fewer touch points. Most likely, we will not be requiring our staff to wear masks, but we will have masks available for our crew if they chose to wear one. Our feeling is that we are outside.

The post Buyers, Sellers, Sales Companies Talk COVID-19 and the Fall Sales appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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