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Letter to the Editor: A Tribute to Avery Whisman

by Justin Stygles

The racetrack can be a special place.

In the last year alone, I've been fortunate enough to see some wonderful things, from talking with Barbara Livingston and Sarah Andrew at morning workouts, to watching William Buick win races at Newmarket's July Festival and again at Saratoga. I would argue that one of my most memorable days of racing was a reggae-filled afternoon during the Joe Hirsch Turf Invitational card last October at the Belmont at Aqueduct meet.

Until Saturday.

The Winter Festival at Laurel Park was set up to be a festive race day, complete with activities for kids, Mardi Gras, and $900,000 in stakes races. That was enough to perk my interest. Just a few days before the Winter Festival, 1/ST racing announced a tribute to Avery Whisman. I felt a need to attend. Fighting mental health struggles is incomprehensibly difficult. Attending would be an opportunity to be a part of something bigger than myself, as they say. Enough so, that I left work, in Maine and traveled overnight to make the 12:25 post time.

To be honest, I didn't expect much. I just wanted to be in attendance. I knew there would be black armbands and a moment of silence. Perhaps a few jockeys would stand in the winner's circle during the moment of silence.

Unassumingly, I ventured on to the apron for the post-parade for the fifth race. I made my way over to the winner's circle in anticipation of the events that would follow.

Turns out I wasn't the only one. Either a lot of people also gathered around to show their respect, or this was going to be a much bigger event.

Before the race began, standing near the winner's circle, I noticed a woman crying and holding a child. I asked her if by chance she was related to Avery. Indeed, she was. I asked her if I could tell her a small story when the race was over. Surprisingly, after the race, she turned to me. I said to her, with tears welling, “Avery saved a life today.” The rest of the conversation will forever remain unspoken, but she needed to know that he made a difference today.

The event was huge! Throngs of people flooded the main track. It seemed like the entire crowd filtered down the winner's circle steps. A few near me started talking about the difficulties of our own mental health recoveries. A grace perhaps, since that was one of the reasons people showed up. If a community of horse people and racetrack employees could constitute a family, then Avery had a very large family–one in which everyone at the track wanted, or was, a part of, if even for a few moments.

It was almost too perfect, then, when Eastern Bay held his position to win easily in this year's edition of the GIII General George. The 13-time winner looked as clean as a wire-to-wire derby winner as he crossed the line. Again, floods of people swarmed the winner's circle. Tears flowed, mixed with smiles as Avery Whisman's highest earner came back for the photo. Some were visibly overwhelmed. And why not? Some things are just meant to be. Especially at 7-1.

How fitting. Poetic, perhaps. Nonetheless, how perfect?

I'd never been to a race day where a celebration of life was so apparent. All those connected to Avery were surrounded by love, not just from family, but from the patrons who surrounded them, eager to share their love too.

There are no words that can explain to what extent a person will struggle to do what they love most. For Avery, it was horses and riding. For some of us, it's teaching. For others, it's simply trying to be someone important in the eyes of another. Most of that pain is never spoken of for fear of upsetting or losing the ones we love. People find it hard to understand thus, keeping things quiet is even more necessary.

Racing can be a beautiful game. Like our own lives, as much as there is joy, there is also darkness. Avery knew the darkness. Yet, today, on a gorgeous winter afternoon, his light lit up the hearts of every race fan in attendance.

Today was an event that many will hold in their hearts forever.

The post Letter to the Editor: A Tribute to Avery Whisman appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The Week in Review: Though Defeated a Huge Race for Smile Happy

The chart of the GII Risen Star S. run Saturday at the Fair Grounds will show you that the race was won by Epicenter (Not This Time) and that runner-up Smile Happy (Runhappy) was never a serious threat to win. It's just that there is a lot more to this story.

Expectations were high for Smile Happy coming into the Risen Star. He was 2-for-2 last year and his win in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. came at the expense of Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway) and White Abarrio (Race Day). Classic Causeway won the GIII Sam F. Davis S. in his next start and White Abarrio captured the GIII Holy Bull S. in his 3-year-old debut. Colleague T.D. Thornton had Smile Happy on top in his TDN Derby Top 12 and Mattress Mack was out there doing his thing, helping to promote the horse who may be Runhappy's best offspring.

Smile Happy was made the 2-1 favorite, but with the way the race unfolded, he never had a serious chance.

Epicenter, a quality horse, was sent to the front by Joel Rosario and, going into the first turn, it looked like he might face some pressure. But Pioneer of Medina (Pioneerof the Nile) and Boddock (Street Boss) backed off. That left Epicenter alone on the lead. When he got through an opening half-mile in :47.94, it was clear that he was going to be hard to beat.

Meanwhile, Smile Happy was eighth in the 10-horse field down the backstretch. He probably could have won from there if the rest of his trip broke his way, but that didn't happen. Entering the far turn, jockey Corey Lanerie found himself bottled up between horses. Throughout the turn, he couldn't find a running lane and once he did he was still eighth. It looked the best he could do was fourth or fifth. But Smile Happy managed to close a good amount of ground inside the final 100 yards or so and was beaten just 2 3/4 lengths.

Finishing third, Zandon (Upstart) also put in a strong effort. He hopped at the start and was last early behind the slow pace. Despite all that, he lost by just 3 1/4 lengths.

After the race, trainer Ken McPeek said he had yet to decide what would be next for Smile Happy. The GII Louisiana Derby on Mar. 26 would be the logical spot. He'll surely get one more race before the Kentucky Derby to show why so many people were so high on him. Next time, he won't get beat.

Speaking of the Runhappys

Smile Happy, Runhappy's best colt, may have been beaten in the Risen Star, but it was far from a lost day Saturday for Jim McIngvale's favorite sire. At Oaklawn, the 3-year-old filly Happy Soul (Runhappy) came off a layoff of more than eight months to beat a good field in the Dixie Belle S. A decisive winner, she turned in an impressive effort.

When last seen, Happy Soul scored an 11 1/2-length win in the Astoria S. at Belmont. Considering that Happy Soul has never gone beyond six furlongs, a start in the GI Kentucky Oaks might be a stretch, but trainer Wesley Ward said the race is under consideration. Ward said she will make her next start in either the GI Ashland S. at 1 1/16 miles or the Apr. 10 GIII Beaumont S. at seven furlongs. Both races are at Keeneland. A start in the Ashland would mean that Ward is serious about the Oaks.

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Starters Continue to Come Up Short

When Pappcap (Gun Runner) finished eighth in the Risen Star, it marked the latest loss by a horse who had run in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Pappacap was second in last year's Juvenile.

There were 11 starters in the Juvenile and not one has won since that race. They are a combined 0-for-9. Five Juvenile starters have not run since the Breeders' Cup, a list that includes winner Corniche (Quality Road). He has not had a workout this year and there have been no updates on his schedule. It is unlikely that trainer Bob Baffert will have him ready for the Derby.

Perseverance Pays Off For Cordmaker Connections

He may not be a superstar, but there are few horse in the sport that are more admirable than the 7-year-old Cordmaker (Curlin).

He was bought for $150,000 at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Midatlantic Fall yearling sale by owner Ellen Charles and sent to trainer Rodney Jenkins. It was apparent early on what they had. Cordmaker, who was gelded before his career debut, was one of those tough old pros who just went out there and tried every single time.

He came into Saturday's GIII General George S. at Laurel with 13 career wins overall and nine stakes victories. But he had never won a graded stakes.

As last, he got it done, winning the General George by three-quarters of a length. It was his fourth straight win, all of them coming in stakes. At seven, he's never been better and with $989,640 in career earnings he could go over the $1-million mark in earnings in his next start.

The Marcus Vitali Meth Case

Marcus Vitali should have been thrown out of this sport a long time ago. His record is as bad as it gets. And shame on tracks like Turf Paradise and Presque Isle Downs that have opened their doors to him.

But that doesn't mean Vitali is guilty of the latest charge, a one-year suspension and a $10,000 fine handed down by the Pennsylvania Racing Commission after a horse he ran last summer at Presque Isle Downs tested positive for methamphetamine. Going to bat for Vitali, Todd Mostoller, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, which represents horsemen at Penn National and Presque Isle Downs, said that the methamphetamine positive was a result of environmental contamination and that Vital should not have been suspended

He very well could have a point. Common sense says that giving a horse meth would not result in an improved performance and use of the drug by humans is rampant.

But the bigger issue is whether or not Vitali is being treated differently because he is, well, Marcus Vitali. Mostoller said there have been “three or four” other methamphetamine positives in recent months at Penn National and in all those cases it was ruled that the positive test was the result of environmental contamination and the trainers were not suspended.

In 2017, a Peter Miller-trained horse tested positive for methamphetamine after running in the Pennsylvania Governor's Cup at Penn National. The Pennsylvania Racing Commission ruled that there were “mitigating circumstances” and fined Miller $1,500 but did not suspend him.

Vitali does have rights and should be treated like any other trainer. He's going to fight this and he may just win.

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Racing a Timeless Odyssey for Smith Family

At first glance, it looks like a movie you've probably seen already. A horse-crazy girl leads her family into racing and, against all odds, they end up in the winner's circle after a big race. Only, for Gaylene Smith and her family, it's no movie. It's real life after Smith's 8-year-old granddaughter London asked for a racehorse early last year. Less than a year into operation, Smith's Willow's Green Stable won its first stakes race with Timeless Bounty (Elusive Hour), a $15,000 claim who took the family to Santa Anita for the GI Malibu S. last December and who will represent them in the GIII General George S. at Laurel Park Saturday.

“It all started with my granddaughter, she's a horse person,” Smith explained. “She started riding when she was five. She wants to do barrel racing and is working towards that as we speak. She is obsessed with all things Heartland and all things Secretariat and Seabiscuit. We were sitting there one day and we had just watched a race on T.V. and she had watched those two movies about 400 times. She said, 'I think we should have a racehorse.' I was originally kind of shocked. I said to my son, 'What do you think we have to do?'”

Smith's son Jeremy threw himself into the new endeavor.

“My son is a research person, so he started researching,” Smith said. “Last spring we got our first horse. And now we have 11.”

Before venturing into racing, the family had already come together to care for Smith's ailing 97-year-old mother at their Ohio home.

“We bonded because we all have shifts,” she said. “We all live together now because of my mom. We insist on keeping her home and I work full time, besides having race horses. So my son and his family, they have their shifts. My grandson is 21 and he has his shift. We bonded over my mom.”

Focusing on racing became something else for the family to bond over. And they aren't just weekend warriors. The Willow's Green horses, trained by longtime family friend Dave Wilson, Jr., are stabled on a farm where they receive individualized attention.

“Some people say we have a petting zoo,” Smith said. “They are all so different, they are all trained by Dave according to their personality. They don't all train exactly the same. It's the same basics, but the approach is different. We don't do anything with them for a few weeks. We let them evolve and try to figure out what their heads are like. Some of them are a little more difficult than others. And some of them are like big dogs.”

She continued, “We just have a different approach from what we've seen. We don't let them out in the pasture and do crazy stuff like that, but they are happy when they are at the farm. We

can be more hands on. We do have people to do stalls, but we do them, too. Dave is involved. Tim Maxey, our farrier, is like a family member, too. And we are all just kind of rocking and rolling with the horses and the races, and discussing which race is the best one.”

London Smith may just be the family's secret weapon.

“London came along and she's different,” Smith said with a chuckle. “They call her the horse whisperer. It doesn't matter if we just bought a horse that day, she wants to go in the stall and get them to lie down and lay down with them and talk to them. She says, 'I need to talk to them.'”

Last October, Willow's Green Stables made what would turn out to be its biggest acquisition to date, claiming then 3-year-old Timeless Bounty for $15,000 at Thistledown. Just two starts later, the colt became the stable's first stakes starter when he went postward as a 59-1 outsider in the $250,000 Steel Valley Sprint S. In an ending worthy of Hollywood, Timeless Bounty produced a powerful late rally to defeat a field which included established stakes performers Jaxon Warrior (Munnings) and Baby Yoda (Prospective) and earned over 11 times his claiming price.

“We got him in October and we didn't really know him that well when he shocked the hell out of everybody,” Smith said. “That day is a day I will never ever forget in my life. I would have been ecstatic with fourth or fifth because there were some nice horses in that race.”

Asked what it was like to watch her colors carried to victory in a stakes race, Smith said, “It was such a shock. My son just literally collapsed. We were speechless. I kept saying, 'Oh my God. Oh my God.' I'm crying, my son is crying. And London was saying, 'Daddy he just won.' Like why are you idiots crying? No matter what happens in the future, no day will be like this one.”

In recalling the day, Jeremy Smith used the word surreal more than once.

“We shed a lot of tears,” he said. “Our family has been going through quite a bit here lately with my grandmother not doing well. We've had some ups and downs as a family. The hugs, the tears and the embracing, was something that I don't think any of us will ever forget for the rest of our lives. It had nothing to do with the money–I don't think any of us could have told you what we'd won. That's what I think was neat about it. He was a representation about what our family has been through. He was off the pace, a 59-1 longshot, kind of an underdog. You get knocked down, some people give up on you, but you don't give up on yourself and you find a way to dig down deep and keep going. That's what he did in there. He wasn't expected to win. No one gave him a shot and I think he was just a representation of who and what we are as a family. If that makes sense.”

The victory earned Timeless Bounty and the Smith family a trip out West to test the deep waters in the Dec. 26 GI Malibu S. where he would finish fifth behind superstar Flightline (Tapit).

“He deserved the opportunity to be in that race,” Gaylene Smith said. “He had earned the right to be there. And so we flew him out there. I flew out there with some of my family and some of my family were already out there with him. There were lots of people–it's not like races out here– and we got the royal treatment, the meal, the whole nine yards. It was quite an experience. It was so different.”

Jeremy Smith described his first trip to Santa Anita like visiting the historic home of baseball's Chicago Cubs for the first time.

“It was an honor to be at Santa Anita–just going there and seeing the backdrop of the place. It was kind of like going to Wrigley Field for the first time,” he said. “You just felt the history of the place. It was beautiful.”

Of competing against a horse like Flightline, Jeremy Smith added, “Flightline is a special horse and it was an honor to be in that horse's presence and watch him run. He ran so effortlessly. It was an honor to be in a race with him.”

Timeless Bounty will get another try against graded company when he faces six foes in the seven-furlong General George Saturday at Laurel.

“We are excited,” Gaylene Smith said of the upcoming race. “I hope he does very well and makes himself proud.”

Smith is also looking forward to retiring from a 30-plus career in the food services industry to spend more time with her growing racing stable.

“I would love that. I would absolutely love that,” she said.

Looking at the winding road that has led to the 11-horse stable, Jeremy Smith said, “We have just been blessed and are enjoying the journey. That's what it comes down to. We didn't get into this business thinking it was going to be something that would take over our lives. But ever since we got into it, it's pretty much consumed all of us. There are no days off, it's around the clock. But honestly, I don't know if any one of us would change anything. Win, lose or draw, I think these animals have touched our lives in a different way. If none of them ever ran a race again, I think we would have a very tough time getting rid of any of them. They have become part of the family. They have welcomed us into their herd and we are blessed to have them in our life.”

Gaylene Smith is looking forward to the stable settling into its second year of existence.

“Last year, we had to start up, we didn't have anything,” she said. “We didn't have tack. We had to get everything. So hopefully this year, it will be a little bit more relaxed. As a family effort, it has been absolutely marvelous.”

The post Racing a Timeless Odyssey for Smith Family appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Laurel Park Releases Nominations For Barbara Fritchie, General George

Defending champion Hibiscus Punch and fellow graded-stakes winners Leader of the Band, Sharp Starr and undefeated R Adios Jersey are among 27 accomplished older female sprinters nominated to the $250,000 Barbara Fritchie (G3) Saturday, Feb. 19 at Laurel Park in Maryland.

The 70th running of the Barbara Fritchie for fillies and mares 4 and older, and the 46th edition of the $250,000 General George (G3) for 4-year-olds and up, both sprinting seven furlongs, headline a program featuring six stakes worth $900,000 in purses including the $100,000 Miracle Wood, the next stop in Maryland's series for 3-year-olds.

Hibiscus Punch sprung a 41-1 upset in the 2021 Fritchie over a field that included multiple stakes winners Hello Beautiful, Dontletsweetfoolya and Needs Supervision; graded winners Sharp Starr and Estilo Talentoso; and stakes winner and multiple graded-stakes placed Club Car. Hibiscus Punch has run twice since, finishing fifth in the Derby City Distaff (G1) last May before returning to be ninth following a troubled trip in the Jan. 29 What a Summer at Laurel.

Club Car (third), Sharp Starr (sixth) and Dontletsweetfoolya (seventh) are all returning nominees to the Fritchie, which debuted at 1 1/16 miles in 1952 at old Bowie Race Track and has been run exclusively at seven furlongs since 1964.

Leader of the Band won the 1 1/16-mile Monmouth Oaks (G3) last summer and was second in the Cathryn Sophia, contested at a mile and 70 yards, but has not raced since finishing sixth in the Sept. 25 Cotillion (G1). Kentucky Derby (G1)-winning trainer John Servis also nominated Bold Confection, a last-out optional claiming allowance winner Jan. 5 at Parx.

Sharp Starr won the 2020 Go For Wand (G3) at Aqueduct and the 2021 Empire Distaff at Belmont Park and most recently finished third in the Dec. 30 Bay Ridge. R Adios Jersey is 6-0 in her career including victories in the Sophomore Fillies, Charles Town Oaks (G3) and City of Ocala in succession spread out over nine months, the latter Dec. 11 at Tampa Bay Downs.

Also nominated are multiple stakes winners Jakarta, most recently third in the Inside Information (G2) Jan. 29 at Gulfstream Park, and Bank Sting; Belle of the North and Kaylasaurus, both stakes winners at Laurel; Euphoric, beaten a nose when second in the 2021 Miss Preakness (G3) at historic Pimlico Race Course; stakes winners Glass Ceiling and Prodigy Doll; and Fraudulent Charge, never worse than third in eight starts including four seconds in Laurel stakes.

The General George, which also began at Bowie in 1973, attracted 25 nominations graded-stakes winners Chateau, Green Light Go, Phat Man and Laurel-based Wondrwherecraigis. Trained by Brittany Russell, Wondrwherecraigis has finished first in each of his last five starts, all stakes, but was disqualified to second for interference in the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3). He rebounded with a victory in the Bold Ruler (G3) at Belmont and returned from a minor foot issue to capture the Jan. 29 Fire Plug at Laurel.

Last out winner of the Dec. 19 Gravesend at Aqueduct, Chateau won the Tom Fool (G3) and was fourth in the Carter (G1) last year, also finishing second in the Runhappy (G3) and third in the Fall Highweight (G3). Green Light Go won the Saratoga Special (G2) and was second in the Champagne (G1) in 2019 for trainer Jimmy Jerkens. Second in the 2021 Fall Highweight, he returned to the winner's circle with a nine-length optional claiming allowance triumph Jan. 13 at Aqueduct.

Phat Man won the 2020 Fred Hooper (G3) at Gulfstream and has raced up and down the East Coast since, including last fall's Polynesian at Laurel, where he finished third but was placed second. Most recently he was last of seven in failed grass attempt ini the Jan. 8 Tropical Turf (G3) at Gulfstream.

Hillwood Stable's Cordmaker has won his last three starts, all in Laurel stakes – the Richard W. Small in November, Robert T. Manfuso in December and Jennings Jan. 29. Trainer John Ortiz nominated the trio of multiple stakes winner Hollis; Grade 1-placed Mucho, winner of the six-furlong Challedon last summer at Pimlico; and stakes-placed Top Gunner.

Other prominent nominees include 2021 Maryland Million Sprint winner Air Token; Grade 3-placed Happy Medium; and stakes winners Penguin Power, Shackqueenking, Sir Alfred James, Threes Over Deuces, Timeless Bounty and Wendell Fong.

The Elkstone Group's Joe, homebred winner of the 2021 Maryland Juvenile riding a three-race win streak, tops 19 nominees to the Miracle Wood. The one-mile Miracle Wood is followed in Maryland's 3-year-old stakes series by the $100,000 Private Terms at 1 1/16 miles March 19 and $125,000 Federico Tesio going 1 1/8 miles April 16 – a 'Win and In' qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated horses to the 147^th Preakness Stakes (G1) May 21.

Coastal Mission, Local Motive and Alottahope, respectively second, third and fourth in the seven-furlong Spectacular Bid Jan. 29 at Laurel; South Florida-based Make It Big, undefeated in three starts including stakes wins in the Juvenile Sprint and Springboard Mile; Shame Em Loose, 59-1 winner of the 2021 Heft at Laurel; Midnight Chrome, third in the Dec. 4 Remsen (G2); and Parx Juvenile show finisher Script are also nominated.

The $100,000 Wide Country for 3-year-old fillies drew 22 nominations, led by Jan. 29 Xtra Heat winner Luna Belle; 2021 Maryland Million Lassie winner Buff My Boots; Mama G's Wish, riding a three-race win streak; Beneath the Stars, second in the Gin Talking and third in the Xtra Heat; Goddess of Fire, third in the 2021 Pocahontas (G3) at Keeneland; and Sweet Gracie, third in the Maryland Juvenile Fillies.

Air Token, Cordmaker, Phat Man and Shackqueenking are also among 19 nominees to the $100,000 John B. Campbell for 4-year-olds and up going about 1 1/16 miles, along with Bobby G, a 14-time winner at Laurel; multiple New York-bred stakes winner Sea Foam; and Workin On a Dream, second to Cordmaker in the Small and Manfuso in his last two starts.

Completing the stakes action is the $100,000 Nellie Morse for fillies and mares 4 and up at about 1 1/16 miles which attracted 19 nominations, including Belle of the North and Leader of the Band; multiple stakes winners Artful Splatter and Miss Leslie; Battle Bling, last out winner of the Jan. 16 Ladies at Aqueduct; Kiss the Girl, exiting a victory in the one-mile Geisha Jan. 29 at Laurel; and Frost Point, a popular 1 1/16-mile allowance winner Jan. 27 at Laurel for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

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