Diana Pikulski | Horse Racing Free Tips

Equine Ethics: Savvy Racing

Editor's note: Ethics is a critical reflection on how we should act and why from a moral point of view. Animal ethics studies how and why we should take nonhuman animals into account in our moral decisions. Because of public pressure and increased understanding on the sentient nature of animals, use of animals in sport and entertainment is being questioned in a way like never before. In this new series, Equine Ethics, Diana Pikulski, a former criminal defense attorney and Executive Director of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, takes a look at the ways that people in racing are changing long-standing practices for the betterment of the horse.

Savvy Racing was launched by Rhett Fincher and his late wife Theresa in 2018 as their concept to train and race Thoroughbred racehorses to success in an ethical manner. Fincher is not new to racing. In fact, he was born into it. His father, Leroy Fincher, was a jockey and now trains racehorses and his mother, Leslie Fincher, was a trainer. His brother Todd rode races for several years and is now a successful trainer.

“I always enjoyed being an exercise rider and rode the tough horses that other riders couldn't manage,” said Fincher. “My goal was to be a jockey. I rode some races, mostly Quarter Horses, but then I realized that I was going to be too big to do that. So, I needed a new plan.

“I figured I would work for different trainers and put together the best of what each of them knew, but that was disappointing because no one really knew the answers to the 'why' questions. Why do we do this? Why do we do that? Why do we use that bit? So, I did what they did. I tied the horses' mouths shut. I shortened my reins. But I realized that this was bad and not going to get any better.”

Fincher then started looking to trainers in other disciplines where the horses were performing and competing but who seemed more relaxed in their jobs.

“I looked to rodeo clowns whose horses were doing tricks at liberty, and watched sessions in natural horsemanship where horses were loose and willingly engaged with people and other horses,” said Fincher. “I thought this must not work with Thoroughbreds or these trainers would be in racing where all the money is.”

Realizing that he was going to have to apply his efforts full time to learning a better way to communicate with horses, Fincher devoted himself to training in natural horsemanship, which can be defined as training horses through communication based on how a horse interacts with others in a herd, horse behavior, horse anatomy, and the evolution of how horses came to be partners with humans. Contrary to what Fincher first believed–that natural horsemanship would not apply to Thoroughbred racehorses–he found every indication that it would.

Savvy Racing is a racing partnership based on horse training methods that can resolve the ethical dilemmas that can plague the sport. While it is still in the experimental stage (its first homebreds have just turned two but will not race until they are three), Fincher is finding success in the mature horses owned by Savvy that are training and running with the speed and over the distance required to win races.

Horses at Savvy Racing | Courtesy of Savvy Racing

Savvy's website reads, in part: “[Savvy Racing] programs are based on a foundation of principles that puts the horses' needs first by developing a connection with the horse, mentally, emotionally, and physically with the long-term welfare of the horse in mind. Hence our mission is to race our horses with no whips, chains, or performance-enhancing drugs while always keeping the horse's dignity intact.”

“It is about the relationship,” said Fincher. “In the relationship, the horse has four responsibilities: don't change gaits, don't change direction, look where you are going, and act like a partner, not a prey animal.

“Our responsibility is to act like a partner, not a predator. And, to have independent feet and independent seat. Sit and stand in neutral and be part of the flow of energy, not an impediment.”

When the rider and the horse are in sync in their relationship, the horse wastes no energy on fear and runs with confidence and fitness as opposed to adrenaline. In Fincher's mind, emotional and mental fitness are vital to success.

“Horses that are running in opposition to the rider are wasting energy,” said Fincher. “Their energy is not being used in a productive way. They are not using the muscles that they need to run effectively in a race.

“Unlike a horse that is running a race off adrenaline, a horse that is connected to its rider as a leader stays in its bubble with its rider and looks to the rider for its cues. No energy is wasted by taking cues from the other horses in the race. And no energy is wasted by pulling against the rider's hands.”

Continued Fincher, “Racing and training for a horse is just a pattern. Horses know that they come out of their stall, do this pattern, get the hard part over and then go back to the barn. Our horses are trained to be in a herd with the rider–connected to the rider and the rider is the leader.

“When the horse knows his job, he or she ignores all other stimuli and waits for direction, how fast, how slow. You set the throttle and then change speed accordingly. Pulling on the horses face constantly to keep the horse in control is the worst thing that you can do to a horse's performance.”

Coady

When it comes time to race a Savvy Racing horse, Fincher said he would hire a jockey who is trained to ride and communicate in harmony with the program's principles.

“He or she will learn,” said Fincher. “We don't pull. We need a rider who is in the program because riding different horses, not trained this way, will be difficult. A rider on one of our horses can't just pick up the reins and apply pressure.”

Veteran exercise rider Valerie Buck, who worked for Hall of Fame trainers D. Wayne Lukas and Todd Pletcher, among others, rode sets with Fincher in Ocala this past spring.

“It's definitely different,” said Buck. “We walk to and from the track on a loose rein. When the horse gets up and going, we have contact and we work like we do with any other horse. But it just feels much more balanced and when it's time to slow down, I just stop riding and the horse relaxes. Then the horse blows out and is totally relaxed again for the walk home.”

Savvy Racing has some initial investors and Fincher is hoping to attract many more. One Ocala couple, Claudia and Bill Parkhurst, who know Fincher from his connection to natural horsemanship training, have joined the syndicate and spent mornings this spring watching the horses work.

“We really enjoy horses,” said Claudia Parkhurt. “We believe in the world of natural horsemanship training and we are curious to see if will transfer to Thoroughbred racing. We love to see the relaxation and the confidence in the horses on the track.”

“Technically, this is still an experiment,” said Fincher, now back at his home base in Arkansas. “Once we realize, as a society, that animals–in this case, horses–deserve more attention to their brain, and we treat them in a way that makes them thrive with confidence and curiosity, there will be no turning back. Racehorses will be happy, well-adjusted and the people who work with them will have positive relationships with the horses, never confrontational and abusive.

“If you love horses, and love racing, this is where it is going to go.”

For more information, visit savvyracingllc.com.

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Equine Ethics: A Case for Teaching the Language of Horses

Editor's note: This column is the first in our new series about the strides horse racing is making to advance the ethical treatment of racehorses.

On many levels, those in horse racing and breeding are working to ensure the sport is humane and ethical. New studies and standards about track surfaces, stress, medications, diagnostics and more, shed light on how to ensure the safety and comfort of racehorses. Enforcement of anti-doping regulations has reached a new level with better use of surveillance, hotlines and other anti-crime tactics. And in the U.S, there is a major attempt at regulation uniformity and centralization of enforcement efforts.

Good horsemen will tell you it's important to have a horse in a positive mindset no matter what you ask of him or her. The use of force, fear and intimidation to make a horse comply are not only seen as inhumane and unethical by today's moral standards, but are ineffectual.

But one big question remains: how do we ensure that horses are treated humanely and ethically by the people who handle them every day at the barn and on the track?

A good groom can be the companion that a horse needs in its unnatural lifestyle on the track. But a frustrated, fearful or untrained groom or hotwalker can be a daily living nightmare for a horse.
In more than one way, the starting gate is where the 'rubber meets the road' as far as the relationship between humans and horses on the racetrack. To successfully enter the race, a horse must safely enter the starting gate, stand quietly (sometimes for several minutes) and then break from the gate efficiently. This process is often done on television in close-up where millions of people can see it go well or go badly.

In the not-too-distant past, horses were often dragged, pushed, punished or tricked into going into gate, after spectators witnessed an unfortunate battle of wills between the assistant starters and the fearful, reluctant horse. When a horse is in the wrong mindset, the gate is a dangerous place for the horse as well as the rider and the assistant starter. If the horse does get through the process of being forced into the gate, it will likely break and race on an adrenaline rush, the least optimal way to perform in the race.

We asked retired New York Racing Association (NYRA) Head Starter Robert (Bob) Duncan, renowned for his success at transforming starting gate protocol, to talk about his experience in running the gate-schooling and starting-gate program at NYRA and how he came to be a proponent of natural horsemanship at the gate and throughout all elements of the training, racing and breeding process.

TDN: You are credited with revolutionizing the starting gate process. What about your experience on the gate caused you to go on that quest?

RD: During my early years as an assistant starter, we had been following traditional methods of gate work that often called for more insistent ways to get horses into the gate with the intention to mimic the pace of the race day experience. When coaxing failed, we would, at times, resort to using force, fear or mental intimidation. This caused the horses to become fractious, and at times explosive. So, we found various ways to restrain and contain them. We were treating the symptoms but not the disease. Frustration led to anger and escalation as we had no understanding of the instincts or needs of the horse.

I liken it to being a five-year-old entering school for the first time only to find out that everyone there spoke a different language than you. The school is spooky and the classroom is loud and crowded with threatening-looking people who speak gibberish. When you don't respond to their instruction, they get frustrated and speak louder and louder at you. Now they are surrounding you with angry expressions on their face. Now they start pushing you then slapping you while you struggle to figure out what they want. You feel like your life is being threatened and you want to escape.

TDN: What changes did you first implement in your experiment?

RD: While still a foreman, I was given the freedom to take a fresh look at our gate procedures with an eye toward finding more horse friendly ways of preparing horses at the gate.
Traditions die hard, especially in the insular world of horse racing. For instance, when I started on the gate, the wisdom of the day was that horses had to be wound “tight as a watch” to give their best efforts at leaving the gate. Horses were drilled from the gate with bells ringing, doors slamming and a slap on the rump if there was a moment's hesitation. Truth is, horses are taught to react to the movement of the front doors. All the other commotion is background noise. If the horse needs to react to the bell, he missed the break because the bell rings a split second after the doors open.

Duncan in his early days at NYRA | Coglianese photo

The changes started with us slowing the schooling process down and allowing the horses the time and environment to learn the gate process in an unthreatening way. We also broke from the old “one size fits all” regimentation and concentrated on each horse as an individual needing particular care.

We started to see improvements. The atmosphere at the gate was calmer, more conducive to learning. But we were still stumbling along like a blind pig searching for an acorn.

Also, in the early stages much thought was given to making the gate more habitable. More padding was added to the stall space at the horses' hips to stabilize them as they reset their feet at the start. The extra padding reduced stumbling. It also prevented knee injuries that were so common among gate crews. (When a horse broke awkwardly, it often drove its hip into the assistant's calf, torqueing the knee.) The Japanese Racing Association had an interesting schooling gate at its Mijo training facility. Stalls were graded from a large walk-through stall down to an actual racing stall, allowing their horses to acclimate to the constriction of the small racing gates. All our schooling gates now have a similar adaptation.

Later, as I learned the natural body language of horses and how to establish oneself as a leader worthy of a horse's trust, we changed our approach and steps to gate schooling. We no longer needed buggy whips, forceful loading from behind or even, except in the rarest of cases, blindfolds.

TDN: Were those initial changes acknowledged and well received?

RD: Word of our changes started to get around and we found trainers to be less resistant when asked to school a problem horse. Joanie Lawrence, a friend of mine who worked at The Jockey Club offices in NYC, called one morning, to ask if she could come out to Belmont to write an article about what we were doing.

Joanie's one page article was read by Stu Kirshenbaum, a television short films producer for Winner Communications. He brought a crew out to do a short piece on our “new” methods and the ball started rolling. To this day, I credit Joanie for opening up a life-changing world to me that I didn't know existed.

Later in that same summer of the short film, the legendary horseman Monty Roberts sought me out at the races in Saratoga. At the time, his book, “The Man Who Listens To Horses”, was on a long run at number one on the New York Times best seller list. Monty was in Saratoga for a book signing but he had seen the piece we did and he was impressed. He complimented the crew and proceeded to invite me out to his Flag is Up Farm in Solvang, Ca. A couple of weeks later, in early September, I received a letter from the University of Arizona, asking me to participate in the Symposium on Racing. Tom Durkin moderated and Monty Roberts was also on the panel. Directly after the Tucson panel, I went to his ranch to be a part of his work with a horse that was having 'severe gate issues.'

TDN: What were some of your “aha” moments as you developed this knowledge and plan?

RD: The first of many aha moments occurred the next spring after the Tucson conference. Monty called to invite me to a demonstration he was doing in Topsfield, Massachusetts. My 15-year-old son David was with me. Monty had us placed in the arena in the front row of a small group of people that surrounded a round pen. The arena behind us held a couple thousand people. Monty explained that the horse he invited was a 14-year-old mare who had never loaded into a horse trailer without being staggeringly tranquilized.
A step-up trailer was backed into the opening of the pen. It was easy to see that the mare was on edge in these unfamiliar surroundings with a fairly vocal crowd. Monty held a coiled line that was snapped to the mare's halter. While he spoke, he asked the mare to step backward and then forward, using only as much pressure on the lead line as needed to get a response. The second she responded, he released the pressure. With each ask, he became lighter, eventually just barely leaning towards her and she quickened in her response until it seemed they were connected with an invisible thread.

He paused for a moment and asked someone in the immediate area to note how long it took to load the mare. With that Monty turned, dropping lengths of the lead to the floor, and walked briskly toward the trailer. Even before the slack went out of the rope the mare hustled up behind Monty following him directly into the step-up trailer, turning inside and hanging her head over Monty's shoulder. It was a show stopper.

He finished his demo by asking the crowd not to applaud just yet. He then unsnapped his lead and walked back to the far side of the arena. He said when I tip my hat you can applaud. He did so and at the burst of applause the mare hopped out of the trailer and ran over to Monty hanging her head over his shoulder again. It was all about the mare accepting Monty as a leader and finding safe haven with him. With his technique of creating a connection with her, she found a leader she could understand and trust. He was speaking her language.

This was exactly what I had been searching for. This was an unspoken language that all horses understood. David and I drove back to Belmont late that night. We went straight to the starting gate and napped until the first two horses showed up to school.

We snapped a lead on each one and mimicked the moves that Monty used. It worked so well that both horses almost jogged into the starting gate. We were on our way.

In Wednesday's TDN: Part II of Ethics: A Case for Teaching the Language of Horses

Diana Pikulski is a partner at Yepsen & Pikulski Public Affairs, and a former criminal defense attorney who served as the first Executive Director of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. She is married to Bob Duncan.

Watch Alayna Cullen's 2017 interview with Duncan below:

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The Safe Act and Slaughter: Q & A With Chris Heyde

Chris Heyde is the founder of Blue Marble Strategy, LLC, a government affairs firm in Washington, D.C., which is the country's leading animal protection lobbyist. Heyde has been working towards passing a ban on horse slaughter in the United States for almost 20 years, serving as head of government and legal affairs for 17 years for the Animal Welfare Institute, the nation's oldest federal animal protection legislation program. Before entering the animal protection field, Chris was vice president of a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm that represented clients from health care, education and defense. Prior to that, he worked on the staff of former Republican U.S. Senators Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Connie Mack of Florida, covering issue areas that included animal protection and the environment, veterans' affairs and small business.

We caught up with Heyde as news and social media posts of Thoroughbred racehorses being exported for slaughter continue to plague the racing industry.

TDN: What is the status of horse slaughter right now in the United States?

CH: Certain states have a ban on the slaughter of horses. There is no federal ban on horse slaughter or the transportation of horses for slaughter. Horses are not being slaughtered legally anywhere in the U.S. right now because every year we push congress to de-fund the USDA inspectors that are necessary to operate slaughterhouses. It's risky because there is never a guarantee that the de-fund is going to happen, and we must pass it each year.

TDN: What is the current pending legislation and how would it stop the transport of horses over the borders for slaughter in Canada, Europe, Asia and Mexico?

CH: The bill is called the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act. It took years for us to get to this version. It deals completely with food safety. Horses in the course of their lives are given drugs and treatments that are not allowed to be used in animals intended to be food. Even a prevalent medicine like Bute is banned in livestock to be eaten by humans. And Bute never leaves a horse's body. That is just one small example of the many things that horses are regularly given that are banned by the USDA. So, the SAFE Act says it is illegal to export horses that are intended for food.

TDN: How would the SAFE Act work at the border?

CH: Now, when someone has a truckload of horses that are heading for slaughter, they have a minimal amount of paperwork to produce when they cross. After the act is passed, no horse could get through the border without a valid health certificate, identification, proof of plans for quarantine, and all of the other paperwork necessary for owning, breeding and showing. It would make no sense economically for killer buyers to do this and to forge papers would have more of a penalty that a killer buyer would likely risk. It would cost more than they would make on the sale of the horses.

TDN: Does the SAFE Act ban the slaughter of horses within the U.S. as well as the export of horses?

CH: The SAFE Act considers horsemeat to be toxic and prohibits if for human consumption. It couldn't get USDA approval which is needed for meat that is consumed by humans.

TDN: You are pushing for the racing business to become active in pressing for the federal ban on horse slaughter. You have been working on this since John Hettinger took on the cause almost 20 years ago. Why is 2021 the right time to be moving forward in Washington for the federal ban on horse slaughter?

CH: One reason is that we have a new administration and President Biden was one of the original co-sponsors when he was a senator. He supported the effort when he was a vice president and there is every reason to think he will support it now. More than ever before, no one reputable is in the business of transporting horses for slaughter and there is no real economic engine to the practice. It is just these killer buyers making a few bucks on this gruesome death for American horses.

One of the opposing arguments was that there would be too many unwanted horses to care for if they were not slaughtered. That was always a red herring, but now it is completely illogical. Since the numbers of horses going to slaughter has diminished from almost 400,000 a year to just 30,000 or so, there has been no increase in the number of horses being found neglected or abandoned. Plus, 20 years ago, except for the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, there was no real discussion about retirement, rehoming, re-training, responsible breeding, accreditation or funding for aftercare. But within all of that time until now, the landscape has changed dramatically and in so many ways. To name a few, the Homes for Horses Coalition was formed, there are hundreds more horse rescues, there are grants available for people to expand their horse rescue capacity and horses that are not rideable have become therapy horses. Probably, most important is how the Thoroughbred industry took the lead and completely transformed its way of thinking about aftercare. Tracks have taken action to prevent slaughter and find homes for the horses on track grounds, the TAA was formed and funded, and Thoroughbreds are successfully being promoted in all different disciplines and it is mostly coming from the industry itself.

If the transport of horses over the borders stopped right now, the horses that would otherwise go to slaughter would not even be noticed. Remember, because it is a business, horses are being sought out by kill buyers for slaughter. If or when the law passes, only 1,000 or so horses in the pipeline would have to be dealt with.

TDN: If no one reputable is doing it and it has no economic engine, why hasn't this passed already and what do we need to do differently

CH: It lost momentum after John Hettinger died. Even though the opposition has weakened and the facts are more in favor of a ban, there is no longer energy on the offensive. There are a few activists still screaming about horse slaughter, but until horse owners and, hopefully, the Thoroughbred industry stands up and tells their members of Congress that this is the priority, when push comes to shove, it will keep getting placed on the back burner.

The public and the people with power have to make it clear to their legislators that just co-sponsoring a bill and saying you support the ban is not enough, they have to make it a priority and see it through to passage–just like they did in January with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act. There comes that time when senators or representatives are negotiating on what actually passes and what slides. Recently, there is no funding and no one with clout to push this and make it a priority. Consequently, no legislator feels that his or her constituents are going to vote this issue.

TDN: What are the steps?

CH: First, we have to find members of the racing industry–major horse owners and business owners willing to speak to their representatives and demand action. Elected officials need to believe that they will be held accountable in the voting booth and in campaign contributions. Otherwise, they won't focus on it.

TDN: Is there a grass-roots marketing effort as well?

CH: Yes, particularly in major media outlets, and the Thoroughbred industry can take the lead on this so that the story will be how they are leading the fight as opposed to looking the other way while thoroughbreds still get slaughtered.

TDN: Who are the current co-sponsors of the Safe Act?

CH: Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida, Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

TDN: Is there a need to raise money?

CH: Yes, we need the lobbying aspect and we need some public relations and marketing. But it is not a long campaign and as I said, it can all be positive for the Thoroughbred industry.

TDN: How do state bills like the one that recently passed the New York Senate help?

CH: It helps a ton. If New York bans transportation for slaughter on its roadways, that is great because it closes one of the routes to Canada. But, even generally, the more states that are on board, the easier it is to pass a federal bill. The federal bill is essential if we are going to stop the horses from crossing the border.

TDN: Where can people go to read more?

CH: You can visit www.horsesinourhands.org. There you will find a detailed fact sheet on the issue of horse slaughter along with ways to contact your legislators.

TDN: How can people contact you to get involved in taking advantage of this perfect storm and get this law passed?

CH: They can send me an email to cheyde@bluemarblestrategy.com and I will be happy to answer any questions. We need all Americans to stand up and demand passage of this humane and long overdue bill.

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NY Favorites, Top Sire Lines, Head to Empire State

The New York State Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund's incentive and rewards program continues to drive new interest and investment in New York stallions, particularly those whose pedigrees fit the race conditions and surfaces of the New York Racing Association (NYRA). Sons of champions and horses that were popular and successful in New York are debuting at stud and coming with significant mare bookings generated in part by the buyers' market at the breeding stock sales during the past three months.

Rick Burke's Irish Hill Century Farm, established by his ancestors in 1883, is located in Stillwater. In partnership with Michael Lischin and Anya Sheckley's Dutchess Views Farm, Irish Hill will stand six stallions in 2021 including New York's leading sire, Big Brown (Boundary), and New York's leading sire of 2-year-olds, War Dancer (War Front).

New to stud in 2021 and new to the roster at Irish Hill are King for a Day (Uncle Mo) and Lookin At Lee (Lookin At Lucky).

“King for a Day arrived in late December, and that was a big day for us and for breeders in New York,” said Irish Hill Century Farm stallion manager Bill Leak. “Being a son of Uncle Mo, who currently has three of the top four 2-year-old sires in the country, is definitely a big plus. He's going to provide a lot of good opportunities for New York breeders.”

King for a Day is owned by Red Oak Stable and was trained by Todd Pletcher. Earning $260,550 in seven starts, King for a Day had three wins, a second and a third. He beat Maximum Security (New Year's Day) in the Pegasus S. at Monmouth Park but ran into traffic in the GI Haskell S. four weeks later, finishing fifth. High-cruising speed is a term that has been used to describe the running style of King for a Day and that of his sire, Uncle Mo.

“With King for a Day, it's that high-cruising speed that stands out. That is what King for a Day really exceled at,” said Leak. “When you watch him race and you watch him go head-to-head with Maximum Security, that's what they do. They go out there and they just try to keep a high speed the first half of the race and slow down the least. King for a Day was the much better horse that day. He beat Maximum Security by a length.

“Uncle Mos have done really well at getting out there early with early speed in dirt races and carrying it through the finish. I think that's something at which he's going to do well, bringing that into the program in New York.”

King for a Day's dam, Ubetwereven (French Deputy), has consistently produced winners for Red Oak Stable.

“King for a Day was bred and raced by Red Oak Stable,” said Leak. “They owned the mare, and she's produced three stakes winners for them. They've got a very deep family history of breeding horses in Florida, Kentucky and now in New York. They're very committed to this stallion, making sure that he gets the right horses to start off properly as a young stallion.”

In fact, Ubetwereven was featured by TDN in June, 2019 and coined 'the gift that keeps on giving.' Rick Sacco, Red Oak's racing and operations manager, told TDN, “I bought the mare privately for Mr. Brunetti about 15 years ago off of Irv Cowan in Kentucky. We were looking to upgrade and Mr. Cowan was looking to cut back and sell some mares. I just loved her physically and loved French Deputy. She is a mare with a lot of bone, good conformation and just looked the part.

“King for a Day is her third stakes winner. We've had Ima Jersey Girl and Feel That Fire, who is the dam of Mind Control, a multiple graded stakes winner of over $1 million. King for a Day is her first stakes winner since we moved our mares to Kentucky.”

Ubetwereven has produced seven winners from nine foals of racing age. Three of those winners have captured black-type events. She'll be bred back to Uncle Mo this year.

“King for a Day's conformation, I think, is very similar to Uncle Mo. He stands over a lot of ground. He's got a lot of leg, a little bit of a shorter back–something that we've been seeing lately, that has been proven to show that high-cruising speed ability,” said Leak.

“We've been fortunate and lucky enough to have had our hands on a few Uncle Mos,” said Sacco. “And King for a Day is definitely one of the big, good-looking ones.”

Leak reports that King for a Day has been very well received by New York breeders.

“They see an opportunity here for him to bring things to their mares that maybe they haven't seen before, or they have seen before and were able to capitalize on,” said Leak. “He's a total outcross through his first four lines. So, there are opportunities for breeders to breed all sorts of mares to him. Uncle Mo and his sons have been very successful with multiple different lines of breeding.”

Continued Sacco: “Red Oak will be supporting King for a Day with at least 12 mares as of today and that number could rise to 15. Some have been recently retired from the track, a couple are from our Kentucky division, some are recently purchased and we will be attending the upcoming February Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Sale.”

Sacco added, “Red Oak looks forward to participating in every facet of the lucrative New York-bred program. There is benefit in owning a stallion in New York and receiving stallion awards, breeders' awards and rich New York-bred restricted race and stakes programs offered to owners.”

Lookin At Lee was second in the 2017 Kentucky Derby | Coady

Also new to Irish Hill and Dutchess Views is Lookin At Lee. The 2017 GI Kentucky Derby runner-up (from post one at odds of 33-1) to Always Dreaming (Bodemeister) earned $1,343,188 for L and N Racing, a four-way partnership composed of Lee, Andy and Michael Levinson, and Don Nelson. The winner of the Ellis Park Juvenile S. at two and the Downs At Albuquerque H. at age five–trained throughout his career by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen–was fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita.

In the first leg of the Triple Crown, Lookin At Lee beat Classic Empire (Pioneerof the Nile), to whom he was runner up twice as a 2-year-old, as well as Battle of Midway (Smart Strike), Tapwrit (Tapit), Girvin (Tale of Ekati), Practical Joke (Into Mischief) and others in that talented field.

“It was so exciting and special,” said Lee Levinson. “Since Risen Star [Secretariat, in 1988], no horse that started in the Kentucky Derby from post position one before Lookin At Lee had finished in the top three.”

The Levinsons bought Lookin At Lee as a yearling for $70,000 at the first horse sale they ever attended.

“He was in Book 1 at Keeneland,” said Levinson. “We liked the way he looked and we liked that his family on both sides has proven winners. We would have paid more.”

As for what Lookin At Lee brings as a young sire, Levinson said his soundness and health while being consistently competitive at that level of racing throughout his career stands out most dramatically. His pedigree on both sides is a close second.

“After the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, he went on and competed in exclusively graded stakes for his 3-year-old campaign, racing in eight graded stakes over five months,” said Leak. “He's a very durable horse, and I think that's one thing he brings to the New York program–durability–as well as a high performance level.”

“The New York breeders' program is one of the better ones,” said Levinson. “And with a horse like him who stayed so healthy, ran in all three Triple Crown races and had no leg issues through these long campaigns, we thought he could really make a name for himself in New York.”

Lookin At Lee was bred in Kentucky by Ray Hanson and is out of a Langfuhr mare, Langara Lass. His sire, Classic-winning Lookin At Lucky, is also the sire of five-time Grade I winner Accelerate and Kentucky Derby winner Country House, who are both at stud.

“It took 23 years of Mr. Hanson breeding this family and refining it to get to this point where he got Lookin At Lee,” said Leak. “Not only did he get Lookin At Lee, but he also got his half-brother, Blended Citizen [Proud Citizen], who's a multiple Grade III stakes winner, and also his half-sister Battlefield Angel [Proud Citizen], who produced Manny Wah [Will Take Charge], who ran in the Breeders' Cup Sprint this year.”

Manny Wah won the Duncan F. Kenner S. his first time out in 2021, bringing his lifetime earnings to $501,888.

“Lookin At Lee's conformation is very classic. Durability is what you see when you see him,” said Leak. “He stands up straight. He's got good feet, good bones. He's got a great shoulder, a nice back, and a good motor to go with it.”

At Irish Hill, breeders are showing interest in Lookin At Lee and the Levinsons have sent a number of mares to the farm.

“We're expecting a lot of good support for Lookin At Lee,” said Leak. “The Levinsons bought mares in the breeding stock sales this season that are here and that are going to be foaling and bred back to Lookin At Lee. We've also gotten good support from the local breeders already committing mares to Lookin At Lee.”

As for the 7-year-old's adjustment to life on the farm, he appears calm and confident.

“Lookin At Lee is really easy to be around. He's got a great personality,” said Leak. “He's a very smart horse who is willing to be a participant in whatever it is you want him to do.”

Added Asmussen: “He's a lovely horse. He's a talented, sound horse that will be a good addition to the New York breeding program.”

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