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Lukas, Romans To Exchange Stories, Interview Each Other At Ellis Park

Tri-State horse-racing and sports enthusiasts can enjoy a one-of-a-kind experience watching legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas and Kentucky stalwart Dale Romans exchange stories, interview each other, and take questions from the public on Saturday Aug. 14 at Ellis Park.

“D. Wayne and Dale: A Conversation” is set for 11 a.m. Central in the Ellis Park beer-garden pavilion. The free event kicks off a big weekend at the track, with the RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Derby and four other stakes taking place Aug. 15.

The public and media members will have the opportunity to ask questions after Lukas and Romans' unscripted conversation. Commemorative postcards will be on hand for fans to get autographs, for which donations will be accepted to benefit Second Stride, a TAA-accredited aftercare facility that retrains and adopts out retired racehorses for second careers.

John Hancock, the third generation Henderson horseman alternately described as the Mayor or Godfather of the Ellis backstretch, will introduce Lukas and Romans.

Lukas is often called the most transformative trainer in horse racing's modern era, meshing a corporate-focused business approach with a tireless work ethic to the inexact science of training horses.

His first of four Kentucky Derby victories came in 1988 with Winning Colors, only the third filly to wear the roses. Lukas' 14 Triple Crown victories (including six Preaknesses and four Belmonts) were a record until Bob Baffert surpassed the mark. Lukas remains the only trainer to sweep the Triple Crown races in one year with two different horses. His 20 Breeders' Cup victories remain a record, as do his 25 individual horses voted Eclipse Award champions.

The Lukas “training tree” is the most comprehensive in American racing and includes his former assistant Todd Pletcher, who this year follows his mentor into the Hall of Fame. Lukas' former assistants' former assistants also are of note, headlined by Brad Cox, who worked for Lukas' one-time assistant Dallas Stewart, and Michael McCarthy, who worked for Pletcher.

The life-long Louisvillian Romans grew up not far from Churchill Downs and spent summers at Ellis Park with his dad, owner-trainer Jerry Romans. Diagnosed at an early age with severe dyslexia — Romans prefers the term “learns differently” — the fractional times of races helped him learn math and race charts and the Daily Racing Form helped him learn to read. Lynn Romans refused to let her son fall between the cracks, making a deal with him: “Just get through high school and be the best horse trainer you can be.” That led Romans to replacing Bill Mott, who held the record for 31 years, as Churchill Downs' all-time winningest trainer in 2017. Romans now is No. 2 behind record-setting trainer Steve Asmussen.

“We wanted something special for the public as a prelude to Ellis Park Derby Day,” said Jeff Inman, Ellis Park's general manager. “Wayne is on the short list for the all-time great trainers, and we're fortunate that for the first time he's stabled with us this summer. We want our fans to get the chance to not just see him saddling a horse or in the winner's circle, but really up close and personal. The same is true with Dale.”

“These aren't just two of the best trainers in racing, but two of the best story-tellers,” said Marty Maline, executive director of the Kentucky HBPA. “With Wayne and Dale going one-on-one, there's no telling where this impromptu conversation will go.”

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Friday’s Insights: Seven-Figure Yearling Set for American Unveiling

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency

1st-DMR, $70K, Msw, 3yo/up, 5 1/2fT, post time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Bred in Australia by the renowned Arrowfield Stud, KAZUHIKO (AUS) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) was purchased for a joint third-highest price of A$1.7 million (US$1,211,760) at the 2019 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale by a partnership including Spendthrift Farm, Kennewell Racing and Group 1 Bloodstock. Trained by Lloyd Kennewell, the Sept. 1 foal was the subject of major betting support ahead of his debut in the G3 National S. at Adelaide's Morphettville Racetrack in South Australa last May, but he could do no better than a green second as the 3-1 favorite (video). Runner-up in a Geelong (Victoria) maiden Sept. 6, he makes his first start since a sixth in soft ground at Ballarat (Victoria) two weeks later. Kazuhiko becomes the fifth of his late sire's progeny to start in the U.S. and is out of a Redoute's Choice (Aus) half-sister to Yell (Aus) (Anabaa), a three-time Group 1 winner and champion sprinter in Australia; and to SW Sung (Aus) (Anabaa), dam of 2019 champion 2-year-old colt Microphone (Aus) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}). Jessica Pyfer claims five pounds from the rail for Richard Mandella and Lasix goes on. TJCIS PPs

Well-Related American Pharoah Colt Gets Going…
5th-ELP, $51K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, post time: 3:42 p.m. ET
The cleverly named FAITHFUL RULER (American Pharoah) was bought back on a bid of $55K at last year's Keeneland September sale, but blossomed into a $230K Fasig-Tipton Midlantic juvenile after breezing a furlong in :10 2/5. The Apr. 3 foal is a son of Adeste Fideles (Giant's Causeway), whose G1 Irish 1000 Guineas-winning dam is also responsible for French G1SWs Van Gogh (American Pharoah) and Horatio Nelson (Ire) (Danehill); GSW & MG1SP Viscount Nelson (Giant's Causeway); US GSW Point Piper (Giant's Causeway); and GSW Kitty Matcham (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}). Third dam Doff the Derby (Master Derby) produced champion MG1SW Generous (Ire) (Caerleon). TJCIS PPs

The post Friday’s Insights: Seven-Figure Yearling Set for American Unveiling appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Hotdog! Yes It’s Ginger Giving Utley Ride Of A Lifetime

Mike “Hotdog” Utley wasn't sure what he was buying into when approached last year about acquiring part-interest in Yes It's Ginger, a winless 4-year-old filly who'd been off for a year. But he trusted trainer Greg Foley, who already planned to buy into the horse on behalf of a partnership spearheaded by his sons.

“We rolled the dice, and I tell you what, it was a good roll. A really good roll,” said Utley, who runs his family's Edward Utley Jr. Inc. beer and wine distributors in Henderson. “I've known Greg a long time. If he was going to get in it, as long as he was the trainer and we were going to be partners, I thought it was a good deal.”

Utley's faith in Foley has turned into the ride of his life as a racehorse owner. Yes It's Ginger won her first start for her new trainer and Brilliant Racing's new partners last summer at Ellis Park – and then won right back. Her fifth win came in her last start, taking Lone Star Park's $75,000 Chicken Fried Stakes by four lengths for Utley's first stakes victory.

Yes It's Ginger will be entered in Sunday's $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Ladies Sprint, running in either that 5 1/2-furlong turf race or three days later in Indiana Grand's $65,000 IU Hoosiers Stakes at five furlongs on grass.

Foley said the 5-year-old Yes It's Ginger will be entered in both races with a decision to be made later. The Ladies Sprint is one of four turf stakes Sunday, the second day of Ellis Park's Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Weekend, created as a launching pad to stakes at Kentucky Downs' September meet. Four stakes also will be held Saturday, three on turf as well as an overnight stakes on dirt.

Utley makes no secret that he hopes Yes It's Ginger runs at his hometown track, where he's a fixture at the races and also sells a lot of beer. But he said that call is completely up to the Foleys and Brilliant Racing.

“It's been a great ride,” said the 59-year-old Utley, who has been a regular at Ellis Park since first going with his dad about age 12. “All the guys in the group, we communicate, send out a text, keep everybody updated. Everybody's happy. They're all riding this good ride. Because I've been on some bad ones. I've been in it a long time. I had several horses back when my dad was living. The first horse I was actually part of was trained by Greg's dad, C. Wesleys Tiger. Greg's dad, Dravo, trained the stud, Tiger Lure. Goes back a long time with the Foleys.”

Brilliant Racing is a Louisville-based syndicate whose founding members include Churchill Downs and TwinSpires.com racing analyst Joe Kristufek. He approached Greg Foley's son and assistant, Travis, about buying half-interest in the filly, who was back in training after having arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone chip. The Foleys' Tagg Team Racing partnership – named for Travis, his brother Alex and dad Greg, with the last “g” being Group – agreed and the trainer then asked Utley if his group wanted to invest. They did, and got almost immediate gratification as Yes It's Ginger won — and won again — at Ellis Park's 2020 meet.

“Her form looked good,” Greg Foley said. “She was still a maiden but had run second and third, had a good chart. I went out and watched her gallop. She looked great. She's made a little money and now that she's got some 'black type' (stakes win or placing), she's got a little value to her as a broodmare.”

“The Henderson group had been wanting to get involved with us in some capacity,” Travis Foley said. “That was just the first opportunity. He said yes, and the rest has been a good year and a half. We've had a blast with her.”

Utley's group involves nine people from the Henderson and Evansville area. He said some are racing fans “and some aren't. But everybody is getting to know it. Everybody is getting to have fun. So everybody is a fan now.”

If Yes It's Ginger runs at Ellis, Utley estimates his partnership group alone will have 100 people in attendance.

“We may only own 25 percent, but we're having 100 percent of the fun,” he said. “It doesn't matter how much you own of it, hey, you feel like it's yours.”

Yes It's Ginger has earned most of her $237,266 in purses since Brilliant sold half-interest. Far from having any seller's remorse, Kristufek is thrilled how things have gone.

“This is our first horse with Foley, and it couldn't have gone any better,” he said. “Travis' group and Hotdog's group, the way things worked out for us to find such fantastic partners, I think we'll always be involved with them. They like to have a good time, they love racing, and what a great first horse to experience ownership with. It couldn't have worked out any better.”

Foley has two other horses under consideration for the Ladies Sprint in Skinny Dip and Dance Rhythms.

Skinny Dip has never raced on the turf, but it's not for lack of trying: She has been in three races taken on the grass and put on the main track, with two wins and a second.

“She's bred for the grass,” Foley said. “It's Mike and K.K. Ball's filly, and they've always wanted to try her on the grass at some point. She's a nice filly but hopefully will step it up a notch on the turf. Big, gorgeous filly. I got her this winter. She'd been laid up for a little while, and Mike asked if I'd take her to the Fair Grounds. I've loved her from day one.”

The 6-year-old Dance Rhythms, an eight-time winner, was third in last year's Ladies Sprint. She has two seconds and five thirds in nine races since then.

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Cox To Start Adventuring, Royal Prince Kentucky Downs Preview Weekend At Ellis

Brad Cox is showing no signs of letting down after a year that saw him win the Eclipse Award as North America's outstanding trainer and a record-tying four Breeders' Cup races.

That extends to the RUNHAPPY Meet at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., where Cox has won a meet-leading 11 of 27 starts, with five seconds and three thirds. His haul can get even better as the stable figures to be in at least half of the eight stakes on tap next weekend for Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Weekend.

Entries were taken Sunday for Saturday's stakes quintet, with Royal Prince running in the $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Dueling Grounds Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf and Adventuring and Caldee in the $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Dueling Grounds Oaks at 1 1/16 miles on grass. The Preview stakes are designed as stepping stones to Kentucky Downs' all-grass meet Sept. 5-13, with the Ellis Park winners getting a fees-paid berth in the corresponding stakes. While it's not part of the Preview series, Cox also has 2020 Indiana Derby winner Shared Sense in Saturday's Tri-State Overnight Stakes for older horses at a mile on dirt.

Cox also has Hieronymus for next Sunday's $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Mint Million at a mile on turf. With entries for Sunday not taken until Thursday, it's possible the barn could have others running.

“Brad is the best, and he has very good stock everywhere, to be honest,” said Jorge Abrego, Cox's assistant overseeing the Ellis Park division.

So far this season Cox earned his first Triple Crown victory with 2-year-old champion Essential Quality winning the Belmont Stakes, then tacking on Saturday's Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Mandaloun — who a week earlier captured Monmouth Park's Grade 1 Haskell upon a disqualification — would give Cox his first Kentucky Derby if the Bob Baffert-trained Medina Spirit is ultimately DQed because of a medication infraction.

Cox is No. 2 in North American purse earnings, his $16.79 million trailing only Steve Asmussen's $17.5 million (a margin that would be wiped out if Mandaloun becomes the Derby victor). Cox's 228 victories out of 522 starters heading into Sunday's racing reflect a 28-percent win rate. He's also averaging a whopping $29,879 every time he runs a horse. Both figures are second only to Baffert's 30 percent and $43,548 per-starter average among the top 40 trainers based on earnings.

While Shared Sense has been at Indiana Grand with Cox assistant Rick Giannini and Caldee has been at Keeneland, Abrego oversaw the final works Sunday morning for Royal Prince, Adventuring, and Hieronymus.

Royal Prince and Adventuring worked together and were officially clocked cruising a half-mile in :50.60 right after the track opened about 5:25 a.m.

“All week the horses galloped very well. We tried to make a good match-up today,” said Abrego, whose own timing of the works was a fifth-second faster. “They went the first three-eighths in :38, :49 4/5, (five-eighths in) 1:01 4/5 – very good for these two. I think both horses are ready for next week.”

A half-hour later, Hieronymus worked :49 flat in company.

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Owner-breeder Godolphin and Cox had been wanting to get the regally bred Adventuring on the turf, but her first three career starts in New Orleans were in races rained off the grass. She won the third by 6 1/2 lengths and followed that with victory in Turfway Park's Bourbonette Oaks over a synthetic surface. Back on the dirt, Pimlico's Black-Eyed Susan proved a debacle for Adventuring. Finally getting on turf, she was a close fifth in Churchill Downs' Tepin Stakes.

“I kind of think the filly likes the turf, but maybe wants it faster,” Abrego said. “We're trying to give her another shot here. I think firmer is better for her.”

Royal Prince already is a two-time stakes-winner on turf, down at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La., and Sam Houston in Houston, Texas. In his last two starts, he was second in Churchill Downs' War Chant and third in the Audubon. The son of Cairo Prince has experience at Ellis Park, having finished second at the track in his debut last summer.

“Royal Prince, the horse is very nice,” Abrego said. “I think he'll show up next week. I like the way the horses are doing.”

Hieronymus, whose first career victory came at Ellis Park, won Canterbury Park's Mystic Lake in his last start.

“He's a very honest horse, tries hard every time he runs,” the assistant trainer said. “Last week, he breezed in :51 (for a half-mile). He breezed good, but with company this week, he went in :48-and-3, a minute and 3. I'm very happy with his breeze. I think this horse will be tough next Sunday.”

Shared Sense made his first start as a 4-year-old in Indiana Grand's Michael Schaefer Memorial, tiring to fifth as the heavy favorite. The son of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense finished fifth in last year's Ellis Park Derby.

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