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Fox Hill Farm’s Rick Porter Dies At Age 80

It is with tremendous sadness that Fox Hill Farm informs the Thoroughbred industry of the passing of owner Rick Porter at the age of 80.

Rick had battled cancer in various forms for over two decades. The past six years had been particularly taxing, beating one supposed terminal cancer only to eventually succumb to the toll the fight took on him.

Horse racing was one of Rick's passions, and he was very proud of his stable's accomplishments. His Fox Hill Farm campaigned 20 graded stakes horses and multiple champions led by Havre de Grace, Songbird, Hard Spun, Omaha Beach, and Kodiak Kowboy.

Equally noteworthy as his list of outstanding horses, however, was his outstanding stewardship over his stable. His horses' well-being was always his top priority over any trophy. He believed in transparency, sharing vet reports publicly and being open with injuries and considerations regarding stable management. He encouraged fan interaction, making them feel part of the team. He welcomed the challenge of the best meeting the best on the track, resulting in some of the most memorable match-ups of the past decades. His empathy for horses in need led to the founding of the National Thoroughbred Welfare Organization which has rehomed over 250 at-risk horses in the past few years. His Fox Hill Farm became synonymous with excellence and ethical ownership.

As wonderful as Rick's journey was in racing, it was his journey through life with his beloved Betsy that was all-important to him. Married 59 years, they raised two sons Cory and Scott and a daughter Tracey, all as beautiful in spirit as the examples they had in their parents.

Racing has lost an important owner, but for all of us who knew Rick – his kindness, ethics, loyalty, wisdom, generosity, humility, and humor – we have lost an exceptional human being and a part of our hearts.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Victoria Keith

Fox Hill Farm

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Letter to the Editor: John Fulton

On Memorial Day, we saw a great race between Country Grammer and Royal Ship (Brz), a horse that I purchased in Brazil for Fox Hill Farm and Siena Farm. Two classy horses battling to the wire and neither giving up. But, what Royal Ship was giving up was weight to the winner and that is the issue that I want to address. Why, in a Grade I stakes race, or any graded stakes for that matter, are the horses not running with equal weights or, at least, weight for age or sex?

I'm not saying that the two pound difference in the Gold Cup made a difference in the outcome, as Country Grammer ran an amazingly game race. But where do we draw the line on who deserves to be classified as a graded winner?

Many years ago, I trained a horse named Big Whippendeal for George Steinbrenner and won the Hialeah Turf Cup in track-record time. I then took him to California for the GI Century H., which he also won. We went back to Hollywood Park for the GI Sunset S. and my horse lost by a nose to a horse named Greco II.

If I remember correctly, Greco ll was in with 108 pounds with the great Bill Shoemaker aboard. My horse carried 126 pounds with another great in Laffitt Pincay. Shoe closed on the far outside and Laffitt didn't even see him and he brought Big Whippendeal back to the winner's circle to get our picture taken. In the end a nose, and eighteen pounds, beat us out taking that photo.

Does Greco ll deserve to be classified as a Grade I winner? I don't think so, but any catalogue page will list him as such and give more value to his entire family.

I have always believed that any horse who achieves the classification of being a graded stakes horse should have to accomplish that without having advantages over his competition.

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Letter to Editor: Victoria Keith

This is in response to Bill Finley's editorial “Horsemen's Groups Turn Their Backs on Honest Trainers, Owners”.

I don't share the opinion that “every honest horseman should be 100% behind the Horseracing Integrity Safety and Integrity Act (HISA).” I do agree that every honest horseman wants to see our sport cleaned up and cheaters caught and removed. The points of disagreement in the HISA bill have been the removal of race-day Lasix and funding, which I'm not addressing here, and the makeup and selection process for the HISA governing bodies.

Any governing body including the one established in the HISA bill should be one governed by the owners. The owners are who finance the entire sport. They put up the money for the horses who are on the track. The owners are who govern other professional sports.

The HISA bill gives no governance to the owners. Instead, the two boards–the Nomination Board and Authority–specifically exclude owners.

The HISA bill gives tremendous power to the two boards. The Nomination Board will name the first members of the Authority and then nominate future members for the Authority. The Authority will rule racing on all drug-related issues with horses in training and racing. Both boards are self-appointed thereafter. Owners have no say, no vote. A board that is either incompetent or corrupt cannot be removed by the owners or anyone else in the industry. They can only remove themselves.

As things currently stand, we have to hope that those who had the power to name the first members of the Nomination Board did an outstanding job with their selections. We have to hope that the Nomination Board does an outstanding job in naming members of the Authority. And we have to really hope that as the Authority takes over, that they do an outstanding job not just initially but in the years and decades to come. As a self-appointed Authority, the industry is at their mercy.

With the passage of the HISA bill, I had resigned myself to hope. But with the lawsuit filed by horsemen's groups, perhaps there is a way to amend the means of governance in the HISA bill.

I propose a Board of Governors representing the various racing jurisdictions, put into power through democratic vote by all licensed owners in those jurisdictions. Instead of the Authority and Nominating Boards being self-appointed, they would instead be appointed by the Board of Governors.

This chart is what I would suggest. A jurisdiction would need to have a minimum of 1,000 starters to be represented by one Governor and larger racing states with over 5,000 starters would be represented by two Governors. It admittedly only factors in Thoroughbred racing and would need adjustment for other racing that would be governed by HISA.

With few exceptions, we do all want to clean up the sport. That never meant there isn't room for legitimate concerns regarding the HISA bill.

–Victoria Keith, Fox Hill Farm

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Street Sense’s Windmill Stays Undefeated in Dixie Belle

Windmill, an impressive wire-to-wire debut winner in January at Oaklawn, showed her rating ability and remained unbeaten with a stalk-and-pounce score in the Dixie Belle S. Sunday in Hot Springs.

Breaking on top and never looking back in a four-length victory at 12-1 Jan. 23, the $330,000 Keeneland September buy was made the narrow second choice in this six-horse group and again left the stalls smartly. Taken in hand by Joe Talamo, the bay tracked from the three path in a close-up third as Goin' Good led narrowly through a :22.72 quarter. Pushed on to pick up past the five-sixteenths pole, Windmill poked her head in front of a three-way stretch duel with the frontrunner and favored Abrogate at the furlong grounds and edged away from there to prevail. Goin' Good turned back Abrogate for second money.

With the victory, Windmill becomes the 78th stakes winner for Darley's Street Sense. She is the first black-type performer out of Zaharias, a full-sister to GISW Visionaire and half-sister to GISW Tara's Tango (Unbridled's Song), GSW/MGISP Scarlet Strike (Smart Strike) and GSW Madison's Luna (Tapit). Selling to Nesco II for $270,000 at Keeneland November in 2014, Zaharias is responsible for a juvenile Nyquist colt named Ignitis and returned to that stallion last spring. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

DIXIE BELLE S., $150,000, Oaklawn, 2-28, 3yo, f, 6f, 1:11.14, sy.
1–WINDMILL, 117, f, 3, by Street Sense
1st Dam: Zaharias, by Grand Slam
2nd Dam: Scarlet Tango, by French Deputy
3rd Dam: Silver Tango, by Silver Badge
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. ($330,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Fox Hill
Farms, Inc.; B-Nesco II Limited (KY); T-J. Larry Jones; J-Joseph
Talamo. $90,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $139,200.
2–Goin' Good, 117, f, 3, Congrats–Good Deed, by Broken Vow.
O/B-Klein Racing (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $30,000.
3–Abrogate, 119, f, 3, Outwork–Hot Coffee, by Burning Roma.
($75,000 Wlg '18 KEENOV; $270,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP).
O-Alex & JoAnn Lieblong; B-Sandra Sexton & Silver Fern Farm
(KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $15,000.
Margins: 1, 1, 5 1/4. Odds: 2.00, 5.60, 1.70.
Also Ran: Big Time, Mariah's Princess, Miss Twenty. Scratched: Heart Full of Soul, Someone Said So.

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