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Tim Thornton, Karl Broberg Wrap Up Titles At Delta Downs Meeet

The 2020-21 Thoroughbred season at Delta Downs wrapped up on Friday with familiar names topping the standings. Tim Thornton won his third straight leading rider title while Karl Broberg notched his 10th consecutive crown in the training ranks. Broberg and Matt Johansen's End Zone Athletics, Inc. earned their sixth straight leading owner title and their ninth in the last 10 years.

Thornton's season included 122 wins and $2,337,260 in mount earnings. The Louisiana native rode five winners alone on closing day. During the 2018-19 season, Thornton's first full meet at Delta Downs, he set the current record of $2,894,080 in earnings.

Thornton, a husband and father of three, won two stakes races during the meet, both with Broberg-trained and End Zone Athletics Inc.-owned horses. The trio teamed up to win the $100,000 Delta Mile Stakes with Hunka Burning Love on November 10 and the $40,000 Ragin Cajun Starter Stakes on February 10, Louisiana Premier Day.

Following Thornton in the jockey standings were Diego Saenz (73 wins), Joel Dominguez (64), Jose Guerrero (54), Thomas Pompell (45), Gerard Melancon (42), Joe Stokes (30), Alez Birzer (27), Kevin Smith (25), and Jansen Melancon (24).

Broberg continued his dominance at Delta Downs in 2020-21 by sending out 91 winners and totaling $1,651,170 in earnings. The accomplishment capped off a season that saw him win his 10th straight training title at the Vinton, Louisiana racetrack. During the Delta Downs season Broberg also finished second nationally in terms of wins with 329 victories to Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen's 421. It was the first time since 2014 that Broberg did not lead the nation in that category.

Rounding out the list of leading trainers for the Delta Downs meeting were Scott Gelner (30), Juan Larrosa (29), Isai Gonzalez (28), Eduardo Ramirez (25), Brett Brinkman (23), Allen Landry (21), Ronnie Averett (17-tie), Thomas Amoss (17-tie), and Ronnie Averett (15).

End Zone Athletics, Inc. saw a record 64 of their runners win and earn a total of $868,765, which also set a new mark for owners in that category. The old record for wins, 50, and earnings, $873,545, was also set by End Zone Athletics during the 2018-19 season.

Rounding out the top owners for the season were Red Rose Racing (Jimmy Johnson) (15), Joe Alfredo Castillo (14), Gerald L. Averett, Jr. (12), Adriel Gonzalez (11), Dale White, Sr. (10), Norman Stables, LLC (Robert A. Norman) (9), Rylee Grudzien (7-tie), Steven Asmussen (7-tie), Juan Larrosa (7-tie), and Maggi Moss (7-tie).

Delta Downs now looks forward to its upcoming American Quarter Horse season which gets underway on May 10 and runs through July 31. The 46-day meeting will generally feature live racing each Monday through Thursday. However, there will be two special Friday cards and four special Saturday programs to accommodate major stakes races and trials for those events. The first post time each day will be at 3 pm Central Time.

For more information about the Delta Downs Quarter Horse season, including specific race days, go to the track's website at www.deltadownsracing.com. Fans can also follow the track on Facebook and Twitter.

Delta Downs Racetrack Casino and Hotel, a property of Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD), features exciting casino action, live horse racing and fun dining experiences. Delta Downs is located in Vinton, Louisiana, on Delta Downs Drive. From Lake Charles, take Exit 7 and from Texas, take Exit 4.

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Broberg: Possible ‘Career Ender’ Turned Out To Be False Positives From LSU Laboratory

Leading North American trainer Karl Broberg is calling for a change in the testing laboratory in Louisiana after learning that split samples from a horse in his barn that originally tested positive for three drugs – including a Class 1 that he said would have been a “career ender” for him – all came back negative.

Broberg, ranked first or second in North American wins each year since 2013, was notified by stewards at Delta Downs in late December that Tiz One Fee, a 7-year-old Louisiana-bred mare who was one of four winners he saddled on opening night at the Vinton, La., track on Nov. 24, tested positive for the Class 1 drug oxycodone, Class 2 drug levamisole and Class 2 drug citalopram. The classifications are defined by the Association of Racing Commissioners International, with Class 1 being the most severe drug category in racing.

The Equine Medication Surveillance Laboratory at the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine reported 0.143 ng/ml of oxycodone in plasma, 0.515 ng/ml of citalopram in plasma and 0.148 ng/ml of levamisole in plasma. Oxycodone is an opioid pain reliever, citalopram is used as an anti-depressant and levamisole is used as a dewormer in livestock and as an immunostimulant.

Notified on Dec. 28, Broberg sent a check for $3,750 on Jan. 12 to the testing laboratory at the Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at the University of California at Davis to have the split samples tested for confirmatory purposes.

On Monday, Broberg said, the Louisiana State Racing Commission notified him all three tests from the Maddy Lab came back negative.

“They were false positives,” Broberg said. “That horse was in my barn for a couple of months and I knew there was no way.”

Broberg said stewards did not conduct a barn search before or after stewards told him Tiz One Fee had tested positive for three different drugs at the state's official lab at LSU.

“That's the most ludicrous part of the whole thing,” he said. “If someone is with a Class 1, 2 or 3, they're searching that barn prior to the trainer being notified. That never happened.”

In addition to being out the $3,750 for the split sample, Broberg said the false positives cost him an opportunity to run Tiz One Fee in the $50,000 Premier Lady Starter Stakes at Delta Downs on Feb. 10. “She would have been 2-5 in that spot,” Broberg said. “I haven't been able to run that horse since they said she tested positive. I begged and pleaded and offered to send off hair samples (for testing) on this horse and said, 'You can not be this punitive.'”

Tiz One Fee did run once after the Nov. 24 race but before the original test came back positive.

“There's no way they can keep whatever contract they have with that laboratory,” Broberg said. “I know another trainer has a positive for one of the drugs, because he called me saying 'What is this? I heard you're dealing with some craziness.'”

The LSU laboratory is ISO 17025 accredited for technical competence but has never applied for accreditation with the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium. The lab at UC Davis is fully accredited with the RMTC.

Broberg, leading trainer by North American wins from 2014-'19 and with 3,883 career wins from 15,911 starts since 2009, said he has never been suspended for any medication violation. His record at www.thoroughbredrulings.com does show a number of medication violations that resulted in fines, the most recent for the Class 4 drug dextromethorphan in July 2019 in Louisiana. Broberg maintains stables in multiple states and said this case had potentially devastating consequences.

“Two months with no sleep,” he said. “This could have been a career ender. Shit like this needs to be brought to light.”

Broberg said he is considering taking legal action. “A hundred percent. I'd be foolish not to,” he said.

Officials at the Louisiana State Racing Commission could not be reached for comment.

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Four Stakes Wins Propel Diego Saenz To Jockey Of The Week Honors

Jockey Diego Saenz won four stakes races at Delta Downs on their richest program of the year to earn Jockey of the Week honors for the week of Feb. 8 through Feb. 14.

The award, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, is for jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 950 active riders in the United States as well as retired and permanently disabled jockeys.

Under jockey Diego Saenz and riding for trainer Tom Amoss and owners Maggi Moss and Greg Tramontin, No Parole was an easy winner in the Premier Day Sprint. No Parole covered the 5-furlong distance in 57.37 the fastest clocking of the season at that distance.

Trainer Bret Calhoun gave Saenz a leg up on Southern Beauty in the Premier Day Matron. Saenz roused her to the lead turning for home in the five-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares. The win was the fourth of the day for Saenz.

Eclipse award-winning trainer Brad Cox teamed with Saenz on Australasia in the Premier Day Starlet for 3-year-old fillies at one mile. Under Saenz, Australasia set the early pace and then took off to win by 7-1/4 lengths.

Riding for trainer Ronnie Averett in the Premier Day Bon Temps Starter, Saenz and Wild Mallory won the five-furlong test in front-running style.

Saez, who was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, has been riding professionally since 2004 primarily on the Louisiana circuit. He has won numerous riding titles at Delta Downs and currently sits in second place.

Lifetime to date, he has won 2,326 races and more than $47 million purses.

Saenz out polled fellow riders Eric Cancel who was leading jockey by number of wins and won a stakes at Aqueduct, Florent Geroux who won two stakes races at Fair Grounds, Gerard Melancon who won three stakes at Delta Downs and Flavien Prat who won a stakes race at Santa Anita.

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Underpressure Repeats In Louisiana Premier Day Championship

Delta Downs hosted its richest program of the season Wednesday afternoon with another edition of Louisiana Premier Day. The program featured 10 stakes races for Louisiana-bred horses and over $800,000 in total purse money up for grabs.

The featured race was the $125,000 Louisiana Premier Day Championship and it was won for the second consecutive year by Mallory Richard's Underpressure, who rallied from last-to-first in the 1-1/16 mile event for older horses. Underpressure was ridden to victory by jockey Gerard Melancon, who also won the Distaff and the Gentlemen Starter on the same program.

After breaking last in a field of eight, Underpressure settled in about seven lengths from the pacesetter Double Star, who carved out fractional times of 23.88 seconds for the opening quarter mile, 48.46 for the half, and 1:39.98 for three quarters. As the field turned for home Underpressure began a sustained rally five wide as he passed rivals methodically before confronting Double Star in deep stretch.

During the final furlong Underpressure, who is trained by Chris Richard, wore down Double Star and went on to the victory by ¾ of a length, covering the distance over a fast track in 1:46.60. Jimi's a Star finished another 1 ¾-lengths behind the runner-up in third.

“I'm blessed to ride him,” said Melancon after the race. “He loves this track and the forty-eight second pace set up the race pretty well for him.”

Trainer Chris Richard was very humble when speaking of his star pupil following the win.

“He's a once in a lifetime horse; as solid as they come. I just try to not get in his way. His running style is to come from off the pace and he got the right set up today.

Underpressure has now won 14 races during his 40-race career. His bankroll now stands at $838,182 after earning another $75,000 for his tally on Wednesday.

Bred in Louisiana by James McIngvale, Underpressure is a 7-year-old gelding by Birdstone, out of the Charismatic mare Charming Colleen.

Sent to the gate at odds of 7-5, Underpressure paid $4.80 to win, $2.80 to place and $2.40 to show. Double Star paid $4.40 to place and $3.40 to show. Jimi's a Star was worth $8 to show.

No Parole was an easy winner of this year's $100,000 Louisiana Premier Day Sprint under jockey Diego Saenz for trainer Thomas Amoss and owners Maggi Moss and Greg Tramontin. No Parole won last year's Prince before scoring a Grade 1 win in the Woody Stephens Stakes at Belmont Park a few months later. The 4-year-old son of Violence has now won six races from nine career starts.

No Parole covered five-furlong distance of the Sprint in a time of 57.37 second, the fastest clocking of the season at the distance.

There was plenty of drama in the $100,000 Distaff this year as Whispering Oaks Farm LLC's Quikfast N Ahurry survived a jockey's objection by Joe Stokes, who rode the runner-up Saints N Muskets. After several minutes of deliberation, the stewards disallowed the claim and made Quikfast N Ahurry the official winner. She was ridden by Gerard Melancon. Quikfast N Ahurry has now won five of 11 career starts. A 4-year-old filly by Closing Argument, Quikfast N Ahurry is trained by Steven Flint.

It was Southern Beauty who took the $100,000 Matron under jockey Diego Saenz who roused her to the lead turning for home in the five-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares. Southern Beauty is a 4-year-old filly who was making her eighth career start in the race for owner Allied Racing Stables LLC and trainer W. Bret Calhoun. The Matron victory was Southern Beauties first stakes score of her career. The win also marked the fourth winner of the day for Saenz.

The $100,000 Louisiana Premier Day Prince came down to the two favorites at the wire as Respect The Valleys, LLC's Standing Perfect edged out Jimmy Two Times. Standing Perfect was ridden to victory by Ashley Broussard and is trained by Lee M. Thomas. The win by Standing Perfect marked his second stakes score of the season. The 3-year-old son of Half Ours also took the Louisiana Legacy on January 11.

This year's $100,000 Louisiana Premier Day Starlet saw Jean Etienne Dubois' Australasia, who pushed her record to a perfect three-for-three as she dominated five rivals in the one-mile affair for 3-year-old fillies. Under jockey Diego Saenz the daughter of Sky Kingdom helped set the early pace before taking off and winning by 7-1/4 lengths. Australasia is trained by Brad Cox, who notched his 1,500th career win when she reached the finish line on Wednesday afternoon.

Joe Alfredo Castillo's 5-year-old mare Kris T was victorious in the $50,000 Ladies Starter under jockey Eguard Tejera. The Juan Larrosa trainee is now undefeated on the Delta Downs season with five wins in as many starts. Overall, she has now tallied 10 victories from 28 trips to the starting gate during her productive career.

Madelyn's Wild Max won the $40,000 Ragin Cajun Starter under leading jockey Tim Thornton, who got a leg up before the race from leading trainer Karl Broberg. Owned by End Zone Athletics Inc., Madelyn's Wild Max ran down Whacudposblygowrng in the final strides to record his 18th win from 78 career starts. The 10-year-old gelding was claimed by his current connections at Delta Downs on December 28 for $4,000.

This year's $40,000 Bon Temps Starter was won in front-running style by Gerald L. Averett, Jr.'s Wild Mallory under jockey Diego Saenz. The 6-year-old mare, trained by Ronnie Averett, has now won four times from 11 lifetime starts. The Bon Temps tally marked her second in row at Delta Downs this season.

And finally, the $50,000 Gentlemen Starter wrapped up the day as Greeley's Dealer was victorious under jockey Gerard Melancon. Greeley's Dealer is owned by End Zone Athletics and is trained by Karl Broberg, who had a training double on the program.

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