The TOBA National Awards, hosted by TVG's Scott Hazelton, also honored the achievements of Thoroughbred owners and breeders in 18 states and Canada.

Frost or Frippery, who won the 2020 Claiming Crown Rapid Transit Stakes, was named the National HBPA Claiming Crown Horse of the Year.

Samantha Siegel was honored with the Industry Service Award, presented to a person or entity who has made exceptional contributions to the industry.

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners received the Cot Campbell Racing Partnership of the Year award.

The Rood & Riddle Sport Horse of the Year went to Kaytee Mountain owned by Sue Gallagher. This award was presented to the owner of the ex-Thoroughbred that has accumulated the most points in competition, as tracked by the United States Equestrian Federation.

In addition, John and Leslie Malone received the Robert N. Clay Award. In partnership with the Equine Land Conservation Resource, this award recognizes a member of the Thoroughbred community who has made an outstanding contribution to preserving land for equine use.

A complete list of winners is as follows:

Finalists for National Owner of the Year:

Gary Barber

Godolphin

Klaravich Stables

Spendthrift Farm LLC, MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stables LLC and Starlight Racing

Three Diamonds Farm

National Owner of the Year:

Gary Barber

State Breeders of the Year:

Arkansas: Bill and Mary McDowell

California: George Krikorian

Canada: Ivan Dalos

Canada: Lawrence P. Cordes

Florida: Charlotte Weber/ Live Oak Stud

Indiana: Greg Baer DVM and Deann Baer

Iowa: Allen Poindexter

Kentucky: Godolphin

Louisiana: Tri-Star Racing LLC

Maryland: Angie Moore

Minnesota: Lorie Michaels

New Jersey: John Bowers Jr.

New Mexico: R.D. Hubbard

New York: Twin Creeks Farm

Oregon: Janet and Patrick Cosgrove

Pennsylvania: Blackstone Farm LLC

South Carolina: Franklin Smith Sr.

Texas: James Wessel

Virginia: Lazy Lane Farm

Washington: Darrin L. Paul

National Breeders of the Year:
Peter Blum

National Small Breeder of the Year:

Angie Moore

Broodmare of the Year:

Drumette

Industry Service Award:

Samantha Siegel

Cot Campbell Racing Partnership of the Year:

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners

Claiming Crown Horse of the Year:

Frost or Frippery

Rood & Riddle Thoroughbred Sport Horse of the Year:

Kaytee Mountain

Robert N. Clay Award:

John and Leslie Malone

The post Barber Named TOBA Owner Of The Year, Blum Breeder Of The Year appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Claimed for $20,000 by Brad Cox for Steve Landers Racing LLC last April, Frost Or Frippery went on a five-race win streak and closed his 2020 campaign with a total of eight wins and four runner-up finishes in 13 starts and $167,350 in earnings. He won his sole out this year–a Jan. 22 starter allowance at Oaklawn–but has since sustained an injury in training and has been retired. In the course of his career, which began as a sophomore in 2016, Frost Or Frippery compiled a record of 67-22-12-13 and earnings of $381,918. A win in the $75,000 Kent Stirling Memorial Iron Horse S. at the 2020 Claiming Crown, held Dec. 5 at Gulfstream Park, led to the Claiming Crown Horse of the Year title.

“It meant a lot for him to win it, because there are a lot of claiming horses in the country,” said Landers, a long-time owner from Arkansas. “That's what the Claiming Crown is about: being the best at what they do. He acted like a more-expensive horse, like high-dollar, more class-type horse than he really was. But he didn't know what his class was. He'd just go out there and win.”

The post Claiming Crown Horse of the Year is Frost Or Frippery appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Off that game performance and an 8-for-13 record (with four seconds) last year, Frost Or Frippery is honored as the 2020 Claiming Crown Horse of the Year, selected by the Industry Awards Committee of the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA). Frost Or Frippery will be recognized at the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association's 36th annual awards dinner Sept. 11 at Hill 'n' Dale Farm at Xalapa in Paris, Ky.

“He's not the most expensive horse I've ever had, but he showed the most heart,” said Landers, a prominent Arkansas auto dealer and long-time horse owner. “That's what it's all about: a horse who gives you everything he's got.”

Landers and trainer Brad Cox claimed Frost Or Frippery for $20,000 at Oaklawn Park on April 30, 2020. He won his first four starts and seven of nine overall for those connections. The gelding raced once at Oaklawn in January and subsequently sustained a training injury. He was retired after a career that saw him go 22-12-13 in 67 starts for earnings of $381,918.

All but six of the Maryland-bred's starts came in claiming races or under starter-allowance conditions. The 1 1/16-mile Kent Stirling Memorial Iron Horse is for horses that at some point ran for an $8,000 claiming price or cheaper.

The Claiming Crown at Gulfstream Park marked the 10th track at which Frost Or Frippery competed.

“The hallmark of a good horse is one that is honest and tries every time, no matter their level,” Cox said. “Frost Or Frippery wasn't the best or the fastest, but he was as honest as they come. I'm glad the Claiming Crown rewards such horses and their owners.”

The Claiming Crown program is a partnership between the National HBPA and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA). It was launched in 1999 to be the claiming horse owners' Breeders' Cup, a special event showcasing the blue-collar stalwarts that fill the majority of races in America.

“The group of horses that competed in the 2020 Claiming Crown provided a solid display of talent and class,” said Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National HBPA. “The event was designed as a means of featuring and promoting claiming-level horses while demonstrating to owners that claiming your way to success is an extremely important aspect within our industry. Frost Or Frippery exemplifies the true spirit of the Claiming Crown event, and we congratulate all the connections.”

Landers said he's touched that Frost Or Frippery is being recognized as the Claiming Crown Horse of the Year.

“Because of how tough the horse was,” Landers said. “He knew what he was doing. Didn't act stupid in the paddock, just went straight out there and did his job. It meant a lot for him to win it, because there are a lot of claiming horses in the country. That's what the Claiming Crown is about: being the best at what they do. He acted like a more-expensive horse, like high-dollar, more class-type horse than he really was. But he didn't know what his class was. He'd just go out there and win.”

The post ‘Horse Who Gives You Everything’: Frost Or Frippery Honored As Claiming Crown Horse Of The Year appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Saturday’s Claiming Crown races produced a three-way tie atop the North American leaderboard for winningest horse in terms of victories in 2020.

Galerio (Jump Start), Frost Or Frippery (Lewis Michael) and Combination (Alternation) all enter the final three weeks of the year tied with eight wins apiece.

How about scheduling a three-way invitational among these relatively matched geldings to settle the score prior to Dec. 31?

The category of most victories in a season is annually overshadowed by the purse-earnings rankings, which are dominated by high-end horses competing in elite graded stakes.

But the accomplishment of racking up the most wins on the year can be more difficult, because it usually involves keeping a less athletically gifted claiming- or starter-level horse in winning form over a 12-month span.

It’s also more intriguing to follow from an “everyman” perspective, because Thoroughbred racing’s annual victory leaders are generally overachieving underdogs who are easy to root for.

Combination was first up on Saturday. The Saffie Joseph, Jr. trainee for owner Frank Calabrese already had eight wins on the year and was seeking his ninth in the $75,000 Claiming Crown Express S. at Gulfstream Park. The 4-year-old, who has been claimed six times this year for tags between $8,000 and $25,000 while primarily sprinting in south Florida, tracked the favorite but couldn’t power past, checking in third.

Frost or Frippery ran in Saturday’s final Gulfstream race, the $75,000 Claiming Crown Iron Horse S. The 7-year-old was claimed once this year, for $20,000 by current trainer Brad Cox on behalf of owner Steve Landers Racing, LLC, back in April, and spent most of this season roughing up optional claiming and starter allowance foes at Oaklawn Park, Churchill Downs and Indiana Grand. He unleashed a furious late bid to spurt clear in deep stretch but was almost nailed at the wire by another onrushing challenger. A tight photo revealed he got a nostril down first, earning win number eight on the year (21st lifetime).

Galerio was not in action on Saturday. He won his eighth race of the year back on Nov. 21 at Laurel Park. The 4-year-old was claimed that day for $35,000 and is awaiting his next start for new owner SAB Stable, Inc., and trainer Dale Bennett.

This trio ranks as tops in the continent. There are nine horses with seven wins right behind them. But none are entered to race in the next few days, so let’s assume that only the three currently tied at eight are likely to be in the running for nine wins in 2020.

Might Gulfstream be induced to try and bring them together in a season-ending invitational for winningest horse bragging rights?

They aren’t very far apart numbers-wise: All three routinely run low-80s Beyer Speed Figures.

Logistically, Combination is already stabled in south Florida, and Cox, the trainer of Frost Or Frippery, is maintaining a division there for the first time this winter.

The connections of Galerio would have to be incentivized to leave Maryland. But he does appear to have a slight class edge based on success against allowance-caliber competition and his $35,000 recent claiming valuation (versus $25,000 for Combination and $20,000 for Frost Or Frippery).

Frost Or Frippery’s sweet spot is 1 1/16 miles. Galerio’s is a mile. Combination, however, is strictly a sprint specialist at five and six furlongs. Gulfstream’s extended backstretch chute would allow for flexibility in carding some middle-ground distance that might bring these three closer together. Perhaps seven furlongs or a one-turn mile? Maybe Combination could get a weight break for being out of his element, distance-wise?

This concept might seem a bit outlandish, but it’s not without precedent. In 1997, when I was a member of the Suffolk Downs press box crew, a local gelding named Maybe Jack had 12 wins by December. So did a Finger Lakes-based gelding named Pro On Ice. We proposed an end-of-season match race to bring the two together, and both trainers agreed to participate in the “Showdown at Suffolk” to see who would emerge atop the North American leaderboard with 13 wins.

Concessions had to be made both ways. Maybe Jack had the home-track advantage and preferred two turns but was a closer. Pro On Ice had to ship but was speed-centric, which gave him a theoretical edge in a two-horse race. The purse was $15,000, with $10,000 to the winner (with the track also paying shipping costs for Pro On Ice and hospitality accommodations for his connections). Maybe Jack was weighted at 124 while Pro On Ice carried 119.

“This is good for racing,” Mike Ferraro, the trainer of Pro On Ice, said at the time. “This is not about winning or losing. It shines the national spotlight somewhere else besides the multi-million dollar outfits.”

The late Al Borosh, who trained Maybe Jack, agreed: “This match race grabs people’s attention. You can hear that just walking around the backstretch or in the grandstand.”

Maybe Jack pressured Pro On Ice straight from the start and the two raced in lockstep to the eighth pole before Maybe Jack opened up in deep stretch to win by 9 1/2 lengths. The showdown wasn’t a blockbuster success from a handle-generating standpoint, but it made a huge splash publicity-wise during an otherwise slow time of the year for the sport.

Match racing has drifted out of vogue in the 23 years since that race took place. But being the owner of the winningest horse on the continent remains a huge point of pride for smaller outfits.

“It just doesn’t get any better than this,” said Maybe Jack’s then-owner, John Buckley Jr., who at the time was campaigning a three-horse stable. “With the buildup with this race and all the hype, it was my finest moment in the business.”

The post To Decide 2020’s Winningest Horse, Let’s Strike a Three-Way Match appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Luis Saez won six races overall (five in CC stakes), and trainer Mike Maker was one of nine separate trainers to hit the winner’s circle in the CC races, posting his 18th career CC win to lead the series that began back in 1999 as a blue-collar version of the Breeders’ Cup.

Conducted under starter-allowance conditions pegged to previous-race claiming prices, the CC is designed to honor and reward horses who compete in the types of races that form the backbone of day-to-day American racing. The annual event is a partnership between the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA), and Gulfstream has evolved into the host track over the past nine years while slotting the series as the opening-weekend focal point of its championship winter meet.

As usual, many of Saturday’s CC winners could have been had at the claim box earlier in their careers for relatively low asking prices prior to rounding into higher-profile overachievers.

Jesus’ Team (Tapiture), the grind-it-out 2-5 winner of the featured $150,000 CC Jewel S. over nine furlongs, is the prime example. The 3-year-old colt broke his maiden for $32,000 at Gulfstream last March and was then dangled for a $25,000 tag with no takers when airing at the NWL2 level. He consistently punched above his weight during 2020 while earning top-four placings in Grade I and II stakes, including a 40-1 third in GI Preakness S. and second at 62-1 in the GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

Saez kept Jesus’ Team parked at the rail behind legitimate splits, tipping out at the head of the lane for a length-of-stretch reeling in of the pacemaker and a three-quarters of a length score.

Trainer Jose D’Angelo said post-win that the Grupo 7C Racing Stable color bearer will now target the Jan. 23 GI Pegasus World Cup over the same Gulfstream surface that has accounted for all three career wins for Jesus’ Team.

Jakarta (Bustin Stones), the 4-5 victress of the $90,000 CC Distaff Dash S. over five furlongs on the turf, is another admirable rise-through-the-ranks tale. She toiled at the $16,0000 claiming ranks at Penn National as recently as 15 months ago, then improved enough to take a crack at tougher graded company in New York, Kentucky, and Canada during most of 2020.

Jakarta customarily heads straight to the front (on top at first call in 13 of 17 lifetime races), but she came away tardily on Saturday before rallying behind a 23-1 sacrificial speedster to open up late and win by 2 1/4 lengths for owner Three Diamonds Farm, trainer Maker, and jockey Saez.

Krsto Skye (City Zip) wired the $75,000 CC Express S. over six furlongs as the 3-5 favorite, continuing Saturday’s “dominant dropping faves” trend after second- and fourth-place efforts in two recent Grade III sprints. He registered a 1 1/4-length win for owners Daniel Feit and Carlos David, with David training and Irad Ortiz, Jr. in the saddle. That’s a sharp score for a gelding who started 2020 claimed in back-to-back $16,000 races.

While the above winners all represented bygone chances on the part of rivals who missed out on claims at lower asking prices, several CC winners on Saturday were the products of bigger-ticket purchases after initially racing for more modest claiming prices.

 Fiya (Friesan Fire) began his career in November 2019 as a $25,000 maiden-claimer in Maryland but was purchased for $400,000 at the Wanamaker’s July 2020 online sale after a sizzling 98-Beyer win that was .25 seconds off the Laurel turf course record. He has since won three straight turf sprints, including an allowance, a division of the Maryland Million stakes, and now the $90,000 CC Canterbury S. at 1-2 odds for owner Robert Masiello and trainer Tom Albertrani. Saez was up for the 1 1/2-length wire job, which ran Fiya’s record to five-for-five in 2020.

The win by Queens Embrace (Real Solution) in the $95,000 CC Tiara S. also had an “immediate return on investment” ring to it. The 3-year-old filly broke her maiden for a $16,000 tag Jan. 1 at Tampa Bay Downs. Four additional wins and eight months later, she was claimed for $80,000 at Belmont Park by the partnership of Spedale Family Racing LLC and Flying P Stable. It appears as if the CC was the optimal target for trainer Danny Gargan, and Queens Embrace delivered as the 23-10 second choice with a four-wide late kick under Saez that put her 2 3/4 lengths clear at the wire.

Earlier this year, Avant Garde (Tonalist) required five starts to break his maiden for a tag, and he was claimed along the way for $10,000 by trainer Jesus Lander on behalf of owner Gelfenstein Farm. That change of barns ignited a five-of six win streak, during which the gelding’s only loss was a fourth in the GIII Oklahoma Derby. Back to the track where he now owns a five-for-six record, Avant Garde shot up the rail in deep stretch on Saturday to earn a half-length win at 6-1 odds under Leonel Reyes in the $85,000 CC Rapid Transit S. over seven furlongs.

Descente (Bodemeister) was the only CC stakes winner cut from the mold of being claimed repeatedly while earning her oats with gaudy, open-length victories at the lower end of the totem pole. Since Dec. 4, 2019, the 4-year-old filly has been claimed no fewer than six times, including for $6,250 in her most recent start at Gulfstream Park West 48 days ago.

Her 4 1/2-length win at 7-2 odds in the $80,000 CC Glass Slipper over a mile for Walder Racing and trainer Peter Walder marked the second consecutive victory in that stakes for Walder, who has now won five CC races during the 22-year run of the series. Miguel Vasquez rode.

High Noon Rider (Distorted Humor) was the bomb-thrower of the CC bunch. He orchestrated a 55-1, half-length upset of the $95,000 CC Emerald S. for lifetime win number 15. GenStar Thoroughbreds owns, Saffie Joseph, Jr. trains, and Edgard Zayas rode. This 9-year-old gelding had never gone off at odds that high in 55 career tries (34-1 previous high), and had recently been sent postward favored or close to it while competing in the starter-allowance ranks.

The nose win by Frost or Frippery (Lewis Michael) in the finale on the card, the $75,000 CC Iron Horse S., was the tightest finish on the day, barely earning jockey Saez his six-pack of victories. The 3-1 shot owned by Steve Landers Racing LLC and trained by Brad Cox registered lifetime score number 21 and win number eight during this calendar year, which puts Frost or Frippery in a three-way tie for most victories in North America in 2020.

The post Solid Cast of Overachievers Shines in Claiming Crown appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post