She writes: “I have always felt proud and grateful to be part of Maryland's thoroughbred racing community. Over the past 50+ years my circle of friends, employees, trainers, and colleagues have been exemplary humans who have provided the best care for my horses and have always had my back. I cannot let the 60 Minutes segment on cheaters, corruption and breakdowns be the last word. Please take the time to send a response to Cecilia Vega and 60 Minutes. The horse industry deserves better! We deserve better! Send to 60min@cbsnews.com.”

Her own letter to 60 Minutes reads:

Good Morning 60 Minutes and Cecilia Vega.

I am writing in response to Sunday evening's segment on racing's worst problems which did a great job of casting doubt upon the future of the Thoroughbred industry which I love. I question your motives. Why would 60 Minutes choose to highlight cheaters and horse deaths to present to their 12 million viewers at a time when this industry is in crisis?

Thoroughbred racing just completed a successful Breeders Cup weekend with so many newsworthy stories to report. World class race horses, devoted owners, hardworking HONEST trainers and backstretch workers and the world's best racing and there was no mention of that! Where was the poignant account of the bond between the boy Cody Dorman and the horse Cody's Wish?

Why is the only news offered for this sport about tragedy or corruption? Where were the statistics to show how drastically the fatality numbers have decreased and the protocols that have been implemented for the safety and welfare of our horses and jockeys and their track surfaces?

I accept that you have the right to present your gruesome facts and sound bites of cheaters and horrific footage of horses breaking down but you could have acknowledged the honest hardworking people in our industry and left us with HOPE. WE deserve better!

My GOOD news story is from Maryland and I owe it to my horses, trainers, workers and myself to acknowledge what racehorses have done for me.

JoAnn Hayden

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Bandbox, who stood his entire career at Northview Stallion Station before his death last year, also took home the Northview Stallion Station Challenge Trophy as the show's leading sire for the third time, thus retiring the trophy.

“It's special for Mrs. Charles to have a son of Bandbox win,” said JoAnn Hayden of Dark Hollow Farm, where the colt was born and raised. “We've loved this colt since birth. This one is big, robust, and looks very mature.”

Jonathan Thomas, who judged 59 yearlings at this year's show, concurred with Hayden's assessment.

“He was the best of a very good group. When you have to pick five finalists per class, you end up leaving out a bunch of good ones every time,” said Thomas. “Everyone looked very well-raised and prepared, but he had the best balance and substance.”

All yearlings who were judged are now eligible for the $40,000 premium award which is split annually, with $20,000 going to the exhibitors of the four show contestants who earn the most money as 2-year-olds during 2023, and another $20,000 divided among the exhibitors of the four highest-earning 3-year-old runners the next year

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By the close of business Monday, 149 yearlings grossed $4,577,300. The average was $30,720 and the median was $20,000.

During the sale's first session in 2020, 122 yearlings sold for a total of $2,983,600. The session average was $24,456, the median was $15,000, and the buy-back rate was 24.7%.

“It was a great opening session,” Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning said Monday evening. “The gross is up 53%, the average is up 26%, median is up 33%, and the RNA rate is a very low 16.2% today.”

While the 2020 auction was held during the uncertainty of the pre-vaccination pandemic, its figures remained fairly steady with the 2019 opening session when 102 yearlings sold for $2,680,000, an average of $26,275 and a median of $15,000.

“[Monday's results] are really more impressive when you consider this was one of the sales that, when you compare 2020 to 2019, it really didn't have a COVID drop,” Browning said. “So '20 and '19 were very similiar in terms of statistical results for this sale. Some other sales have had a little bit of an anti-COVID bump throughout the United States this year in 2021 compared to 2020. Well, this is a pretty genuine increase in terms of statistical performance. Results in '19 and '20 were basically flat, so this increase in 2021 is even more impressive than it has been for some of the other sales.”

Eight yearlings sold for six figures Monday, up from just two a year ago.

A colt by Mendelssohn (hip 189) brought the day's top price when selling for $230,000 to Oracle Bloodstock. Also topping the $200,000 mark was a colt by Union Rags (hip 113) who sold for $220,000 to trainer Mac Robertson. Both were consigned by locally based sellers, with Dreamtime Stables offering hip 189 and consignor/breeder Dark Hollow offering hip 113.

“One of the nice things we saw today was the support of the local breeders,” Browning said. “It was nice to see the sale topped by Dreamtime, which is Mike Palmer and his wife and their longtime association with Candyland Farm's Herb and Ellen Moelis, who have been long-time supporters of this sale and this region. And the second highest-priced horse was from David Hayden and his Dark Hollow Farm. They were both really legitimate pedigrees with Mendelssohn and Union Rags. It is really rewarding to see regional breeders who have quality product support this marketplace, which helps lure more buyers and more successful buyers to the sale this year and in future years as well.”

The day's top-priced filly was also a daughter of Mendelssohn with Donato Lanni bidding $160,000 to acquire hip 159.

Cary Frommer, traditionally an active buyer at the Midlantic Fall sale, signed for three yearlings Monday, including a Twirling Candy colt (hip 78) for $115,000. But Frommer agreed it was tough sledding.

“I feel like I am paying more than I thought I would have to,” she said. “For a nice horse, it's still very strong and I've been outbid on a bunch of very nice horses. I think the market is fair, but it's just that it's a trickle down effect from the other sale. People haven't been able to buy what they wanted. So it's strong here.”

Pinhookers, some of whom are not traditional bidders at the auction, were a dominant presence at the sale Monday.

“I knew they were coming,” Frommer said of the pinhooking buying bench. “I knew everybody was having trouble at the previous sale. So I knew they would be here and I was not happy about it.”

One of those pinhookers making an unusual appearance in Timonium was Susan Montayne, who purchased a filly by Tiznow (hip 76) for $150,000.

“We've never actually done this sale before,” Montayne, who is a regular presence as a consignor at the Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, said. “I have never come up here to buy horses. We usually focus on the Kentucky sales and sales at home in Ocala, but here we are. It was very hard to buy at Keeneland. Luckily, we have clients that send us horses to go to the races, but with the pinhook side, it was a little tough.”

The Midlantic sale continues Tuesday with bidding at the Maryland State Fairgrounds beginning at 10 a.m.

Mendelssohn Colt to Handal

Conor Foley of Oracle Bloodstock struck late in Monday's first day of the Midlantic Fall Yearling Sale to secure a colt by Mendelssohn (hip 189) for a session-topping $230,000 on behalf of a partnership.

“He's going to go to [trainer] Ray Handal,” Foley said. “I bought him for a group of people.”

Of the yearling, Foley said, “He just looks a lot like Mendelssohn. He just looked like an athlete that should run next year; what surface he can run on, I don't know. I think horses like him were few and far between here and he really stood out.”

The colt was bred by Classic Thoroughbred XXIX and was consigned by Dreamtime Stables. He is out of Tasha's Moon (Malibu Moon) and is a half-brother to stakes-placed Juror Number Four (Into Mischief) and from the family of multiple graded winner Tasha's Miracle.

Hip 189 was one of two yearlings from the first crop of Grade I winner Mendelssohn to bring six figures Monday in Timonium. Earlier in the session, bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, bidding on behalf of Caroline and Greg Bentley, acquired the day's top-priced filly when going to $160,000 for a daughter of the Coolmore stallion (hip 159).

Union Rags Colt to Novogratz

Trainer Mac Robertson, bidding on behalf of owner Joe Novogratz, purchased a colt by Union Rags for $220,000 Monday in Timonium. The bay colt was bred and consigned by Dark Hollow Farm and is out of Safe Journey (Flatter), who is also the dam of multiple stakes winners O Dionysus (Bodemeister) and Joy (Pure Prize). The yearling's second dam is Safe at the Plate (Double Zeus), a half-sister to champion sprinter Safely Kept.

“Safe Journey is an awful good mare for this sale,” Robertson said after signing the ticket on hip 113. “She has four or five really good horses that can win where we want to go. And I thought, for a Union Rags, he has enough length to be a really good horse.”

Several times a leading owner at Canterbury Park, Novogratz was a linebacker for the Pitt Panthers and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers before being traded to the Minnesota Vikings. He is the founder of IDI Distributors Inc., an insulation distribution company.

Robertson trained the multiple stakes winner Amy's Challenge (Artie Schiller) for Novogratz. The mare, second in the GI Madison S. and third in the GI Humana Distaff S. in 2019, was purchased for $20,000 at the Fasig Midlantic Yearling sale in 2016.

“I thought he'd bring between $200,000 and $250,000 when he vetted well and scoped well,” Robertson said of the yearling's final price. “Until you get your guy to vet him, you don't really know.”

Also on behalf of Novogratz Monday, Robertson purchased a filly by Malibu Moon (hip 158) for $95,000.

The competitive market was no surprise to Robertson.

“It's really strong,” he said with a rueful smile. “But I'm not surprised. I was at Keeneland–I've never seen an 80% clearance rate in my life. There are people who didn't get what they wanted at Keeneland, so of course they came here.

Tiznow Filly Likely for 2-Year-Old Sales

A filly by Tiznow (hip 76) is likely destined for a return to the sales ring next spring after selling for $150,000 to the bid of Ocala horsewoman Susan Montanye.

“She looks like a classy, two-turn filly,” Montanye, who signed for the pinhooking partnership in the name of her SBM Training and Sales, said of the yearling's appeal. “She is a little bit of a later foal, but she had all the right angles and parts. She vetted great for me. I watched her and I loved her walk, big overreach on her. What's not to like about her?”

Of the filly's final price, Montanye said, “Listen, if you want them right now, it looks like you're going to have to pay for them. She's a Tiznow filly and she's got some pedigree, so $150,000, I feel comfortable with that.”

The yearling was consigned by Sabrina Moore's GreenMount Farm and was bred by Moore in partnership with Tiznow Syndicate. She is out of Pinkprint (Not For Love), a half-sister to GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner and likely GI Breeders' Cup Classic favorite Knicks Go (Paynter).

Filly Adds Up for Newtownanner

Ron Blake liked a filly by Cloud Computing when he purchased her as a short yearling for $40,000 at the Keeneland January sale earlier this year and he still liked the bay yearling (hip 11) when he sent her through the sales ring in Timonium Monday. He  advised his clients, Samantha and Maurice Regan's Newtown Anner Stud, to purchase the bay for $145,000.

“We always loved her,” Blake said. “We bought her as a weanling and from the day we bought her I thought she was gorgeous. She's grown into a very pretty filly. She is a late foal and I think when you take that into account, you can see what she could become. She's by a first-year stallion and she was a late foal so she looked maybe a little small to some people. But because she is a May 20 foal, we thought she'd be a real beautiful filly. We advised our client to buy her.”

The yearling is out of Martini and is a three-quarter sister to stakes winner Dirty (Maclean's Music).

“I just think she has so much quality,” Blake said. “We think she'll be a good racehorse. She'll go back to the farm and be able to grow up a little bit. We will give her some time off before we break her and then go forward with her and see what she can do.”

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Ahead of the sale, a mixture of end-users, pinhookers and bloodstock agents were on the grounds on a balmy fall day at the Maryland State Fairgrounds Sunday.

“I think the traffic has been pretty good,” David Hayden, whose Dark Hollow consignment in Barn A is a first stop from the parking lot for many prospective buyers. “Yesterday was the busiest Saturday we've ever had here. So that was very helpful. We started at 8 a.m. this morning and the action ebbs and flows.”

The Dark Hollow consignment consists of 10 Maryland homebred yearlings. Hayden said the Maryland program offers buyers plenty of rewards.

“We have been doing this for 40 years,” Hayden said of the Dark Hollow operation. “We've bred 65 stakes winners and 25 graded stakes horses, 15 graded stakes winners. I think we are in really great shape with the owner bonuses, the breeder bonuses. In our case, if we keep a horse–we have seven in training right now–we are looking at, between being Virginia certified and all the other stuff, we are looking at 65% bonus money. It keeps you in the game.”

For Stuart Morris, the Midlantic sale is another stop on a busy fall schedule of auctions and the consignor is hoping the strong demand for horses that has been seen at sales from Kentucky to New York, to Texas and to California continues in Maryland.

“We sure hope the momentum continues,” Morris said. “I have 172 [yearlings to sell] this month in four states, so I am really hoping it continues. I'm trying to ride that wave. That Keeneland sale was so electric, I don't know that we can ever expect any sale again to be that good. I think it was a seminal moment in our industry, to be honest with you. I think it's unfair to compare any sale to that one, at least for a while. But I think the momentum is good and the energy is up. The sale in Texas this year was way up and California was great. It feels like it's a good time to be in our industry selling horses and playing the game again.”

Bill Reightler, who will offer 42 yearlings during the two-day Midlantic auction, is expecting to familiar trends in Timonium this week.

“It's going to be polarized, but it's going to be a good sale for the right horse, for the horses that the buyers perceive as quality and vets well,” Reightler said.

Of activity at the sales barns, Reightler said, “Traffic has been good. We have 42 in the consignment and yesterday we showed 650 times and with 11 all-shows. So it was good. I think we showed a little more last year, but the sale doesn't start until 1 p.m. on Monday, so I am sure more people are still coming. There seem to be a fair amount of people that are looking for a good racehorse. And I have heard a lot of those people who like to stay in the six-figure range got shut out [at other sales] and they are coming here.”

During last year's Midlantic sale, held during the pre-vaccination pandemic, 379 yearlings sold for $9,120,700 for an average of $24,065 and a median of $14,000. The sale was topped by a $270,000 son of Gun Runner, who was one of 11 to bring six figures at the auction.

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Ellanation's victory in the $75,000 Jameela July 4 at historic Pimlico Race Course was the latest step in a journey that saw the 5-year-old mare change hands three times, twice at auction, before returning to the place she was born and spending more than a year on the sidelines.

“It's an unbelievable story. It's like a dream come true story,” Hayden said. “One thing we all know, this is a tough game.”

By Alternation out of the Dixie Union mare Memories of Mystic, Ellanation became a stakes winner for the first time in the Jameela, a five-furlong turf sprint for Maryland-bred/sired fillies and mares, her 15th career start. It was the fourth lifetime win and first of any kind for the Mike Trombetta trainee since returning from a 14 ½-month gap between races following knee surgery.

“We were hoping to get some black type. It was a restricted race so we thought it was the right opportunity and time to take a shot,” Hayden said. “Now she owes us nothing. Not that she owed us anything before, but just to get the family back. We claimed her granddam 25 years ago.”

Dark Hollow, founded by Hayden and his wife, JoAnn, in the mid-1980s and located in Upperco, Md., bred and raced Memories of Mystic to one win from eight races in 2007 and 2008. Her dam, Mystic Dance, won the Sham Say Stakes at Pimlico before being claimed for $25,000 Oct. 7, 1995 and made her final three starts for Dark Hollow.

Before Ellanation, Memories of Mystic produced Bridget's Big Luvy, winner of the 2015 Private Terms at Laurel Park who ran up against eventual Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in the Arkansas Derby (G1), and 2012 Selima and Dania Beach winner Mystic Love. Both were also born at Dark Hollow.

“We love the family, we love [Ellanation], so we're very, very excited and thrilled now, I can tell you,” Hayden said.

Foaled March 31, 2016 at Dark Hollow, Ellanation was sold as an eighth-month-old weanling for $32,000 that November at Keeneland. The Haydens kept tabs on her, and when she was offered at the Ocala Breeders' April 2018 auction of 2-year-olds in training, they went down with the intention of reacquiring her.

“We saw that she'd been working well down at the OBS sale and we knew some people down there. We said, 'This is a really nice filly, she's a Maryland-bred,' so we went down to try and buy her back,” Hayden said. “We thought we could get her for $100,000 and when she went for $160,000 we took a pass on it.”

Loudmouth Racing was the winning bidder, and Ellanation made her debut Aug. 19, 2018 running fifth in a waiver maiden claiming event at Laurel Park. She would run 11 times for Loudmouth and Joseph Bulger with three wins, four seconds, one third and $128,409 in purse earnings. She also ran fourth in the 2019 Blue Sparkler at Delaware Park, her only previous stakes attempt.

After posting back-to-back sprint wins in November 2019 on the grass at Aqueduct, running for a $30,000 tag, and the next month in an open allowance over Woodbine's all-weather surface, Ellanation finished fourth in a in a six-furlong dirt allowance Jan. 31, 2020 to open her 4-year-old season.

That's when fate stepped in. Hayden received a phone call from friend Nick Sallusto, Loudmouth's racing manager who signed the ticket on Ellanation at the OBS sale.

“He said the guys that own her don't have a farm, she needs chips taken out of both knees and they don't want to go through the process,” Hayden said. “Let me tell you something. That's totally understandable because when you take chips out of knees, most of the time they don't come back.

“When Nick asked if we wanted her back, I said, 'Man, they gave $160,000. What do they want for her?' When he said, 'How does $8,000 sound?' I said, 'Sold,'” he added. “We primarily bought her back because of the family. We wanted her back as a broodmare. We thought if we could get her to the races and get lucky, great. If we can't, she'll have another $25,000 or $30,000 in her, which is still a bargain for that family at the $8,000 purchase price.”

After buying Ellanation back, the Haydens trusted her surgery to Dr. Jim Juzwiak who performed the operation at Manor Equine Hospital in Monkton, Md. Ellanation spent “four or five months” at 155-acre Dark Hollow before continuing her recovery with three months of swimming under the watch of Brenda Godfrey at Nor-Mar Farm in Freeland, Md. and ultimately was turned over to Trombetta to join his Laurel string.

“Since we have a farm we had plenty of time, and we knew she was a grass filly. We had pretty good intel from the vets we know who said if we cleaned up the knees we think she could be a stakes filly,” Hayden said. “I know the guys pretty well and we have a phenomenal vet in Jim Juzwiak. We sent the pictures him, he took the chips out, and we gave her plenty of time off.”

Ellanation returned to the races April 10, running sixth in an optional claiming allowance at Laurel. She entered the Jameela after finishing fifth in successive starts, May 6 and Pimlico and June 14 at Delaware Park, and has earned $49,860 for Dark Hollow this year.

David Hayden

“We did all the things that we had to do,” Hayden said. “I totally understand [when] people don't have a farm and are not passionate about breeding and don't know the family. Our thing is, we have a passion for the horses. We love our family, we love our horses. We just took a shot and we got lucky.

“In this game, the most important thing you can get for a filly is black type. That's what you want,” he added. “She already has the family, and the family is great, but to get her black type was going to mean a lot.”

Sent off at 10-1 in a field that scratched down to seven, Ellanation was kept in the clear by jockey Victor Carrasco while stalking the early pace, tipped further outside in the stretch to launch her bid and went on to a half-length triumph over fellow outsider Dendrobia, a familiar foe trained by Tim Keefe.

“Tim Keefe is a good friend of ours. I went up to him in the paddock and said, 'Would we both sign a contract where we could dead-heat for third, just to get the black type?' And we both said, 'Hell yeah,'” Hayden said. “And the thing that's funny is that we won and he ran second, so were both pretty happy.”

The next grass sprint for older fillies and mares on the Maryland stakes calendar is the open $100,000 Sensible Lady Turf Dash going six furlongs July 24 at Pimlico. The $100,000 Alma North July 31 is contested at 6 ½ furlongs on dirt, while the $75,000 All Brandy Aug. 21 goes 1 1/16 miles on the grass.

“She came out of the race great. We'll just be looking for spots for her. She's definitely a grass filly,” Hayden said. “She's only 5, so the question is do we run her again next year or do we bring her home and start breeding her, which is probably going to be what we end up doing, more likely than not.”

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The 33rd running of the Jameela for Maryland-bred/sired fillies and mares 3 and up was the first of four stakes worth $375,000 in purses on the Independence Day holiday program.

Trained by Michael Trombetta, Ellanation covered a good five-furlong turf course in :58.59 under jockey Victor Carrasco.

Ellanation was rated fifth behind a :22.60 opening quarter by Carrasco, who saved ground around the turn and entering the stretch. Down the stretch, Carrasco guided Ellanation to the outside of the pacesetters Can the Queen and Quiet Company and drove to the finish.

Proper Attire, Paisley Singing, Rapidashqueen, and main-track-only entrants Hello Beautiful and Never Enough Time were scratched.

Ellanation was sold by Dark Hollow as a 2-year-old for $160,000 but bought back later when the mare had a chip in her knee.

“Mike said she was doing really well, so that's how she ended up in the race,” Dark Hollow's David Hayden said. “We love the family, we love her, so we're very, very excited and thrilled now, I can tell you.”

Jameela won 16 stakes including the Grade 1 Maskette, Grade 1 Ladies, and Grade 1 Delaware handicaps before being retired following the 1982 season as the first Maryland-bred to surpass $1 million in lifetime earnings. She had two foals before passing away from colic in 1985, the first being 1988 champion sprinter Gulch.

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“A few months ago, the commission passed an emergency regulation restricting Lasix to any horse that’s two years old for the next three years, as part of [a negotiated] agreement between the HBPA and The Stronach Group,” J. Michael Hopkins, the MRC’s executive director, explained prior to the vote during the Dec. 2 teleconference meeting.

“Moving forward, it also included graded stakes races beginning in calendar year 2021,” Hopkins said. “What this regulation does is extend that restriction for 2-year-olds to include any horse [of any age] running in a graded stakes going forward in accordance with that agreement.”

Prior to the vote, commissioner David Hayden, who has bred Thoroughbreds at Dark Hollow Farm near Baltimore for three-plus decades, asked for a clarification on the current Lasix rule for 2-year-olds. He wanted to know if the current crop of juveniles who have been racing without Lasix this season will be able to receive it in Maryland once they turn three Jan. 1.

Hopkins confirmed that yes, the current crop of juveniles will be permitted Lasix in less than a month after starting their Maryland careers without it.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Hayden replied. “But, what do I know?”

The MRC unanimously approved two other rule changes during Wednesday’s meeting.

The first tweaked the existing regulation on shock wave therapy. Currently, Hopkins explained, horses can’t race in Maryland for 10 days after receiving that treatment. The revised version of the rule now prohibits shock-waved horses from working out on the track during that same 10-day post-treatment window.

Another rule change will require trainers and assistants to affirm that they have participated in four hours of continuing education programming prior to being granted a license. Although this rule doesn’t take effect until Jan. 1, 2022, the coursework itself must be completed during calendar year 2021.

The MRC also proposed a new rule, based on recent discussions with horse people and track officials, to extend the right for a new owner to void a claim if the state veterinarian observes that a claimed horse is lame while cooling out in the test barn up to one hour after a race.

Although this rule still has to be published in the state register and go through a public commentary phase before it can be voted in for good, Hopkins suggested that commissioners adopt it as an emergency regulation simultaneous to that process, “to move it forward in a more expeditious manner.” Thus, it takes effect right away.

Sal Sinatra, the president of the Maryland Jockey Club, which owns Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, gave commissioners a brief update on the grass course at Laurel.

“We’re putting our turf course to bed,” Sinatra said. “We have some sand coming in next week; we have a deep drill-and-fill process that’s going to happen the week after on the turn. It doesn’t drain. We’ve reached out to some consultants [and] a company from Virginia is coming to dig down about 12 to 18 inches to put some sand in that turn to help with drainage. Just preparing [for next season] as we move forward.”

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