Tag: Holly Crest Farm

Another Great Navigator, Another Star?

The minute owner Vincent Annarella of Holly Crest Farm named a New Jersey-bred he owned and bred Great Navigator (Sea Wizard), the colt had a lot to live up to. The name was borrowed from the first Great Navigator (Gulch), who was trained by a longtime Monmouth Park stalwart, the late John Mazza, and won the 1992 GI Hopeful S. at Saratoga. Could this one be as good? It's not out of the question.

Running in an open-company maiden special weight race on the June 4 card at Monmouth, Great Navigator won by 5 3/4 lengths, covering the 4 1/2 furlongs in 52.34 seconds.

“I don't know how good he is,” winning trainer Eddie Owens, Jr. said. “I know he's a nice horse. How far will he go? I don't know. He's going to grow and is only going to get bigger. After he passed those horses, the jockey pretty much eased up on him. He might be a lot better than I think he is.”

The first Great Navigator was owned by Ron and Rosemary Shockley. He was bred in Kentucky and was bought for $70,000 at a Fasig-Tipton 2-year-old sale. After breaking his maiden at Monmouth by eight lengths, he finished second in the Tyro S. and third in the GII Sapling S. before registering the upset in the Hopeful at 24-1. He would go on to win three more stakes and finish second in the GII Fountain of Youth. He had to be euthanized after breaking down in the 1993 Jersey Shore Breeders' Cup at Atlantic City. He was later buried in the Monmouth Park infield.

Mazza passed away in May of 2020 at the age of 82. In what was one of the final chapters to his training career, he trained New Jersey-bred Horse of the Year Horologist (Gemologist) through the first part of her career and won the GIII Monmouth Oaks with her in 2019. He also trained Sea Wizard (Uncle Mo) during his brief career.

Though Annarella did not own the first Great Navigator, he was closely connected to Mazza throughout his long training career, as Mazza served as the private trainer for Holly Crest for about 50 years. To name a horse in honor of the best horse Mazza ever trained was a fitting way to remember a person who was beloved on the Monmouth backstretch. When Mazza passed away, Owens, his former assistant, took over as Holly Crest's trainer.

“John was a good friend of mine” said Owens, a Long Branch, NJ, resident. “I was the assistant to Joe Orseno for 17, 18 years. We were in the barn next to John's and then in the same barn. He was the nicest guy. We talked almost every day and he always asked me to come to work for him. When Joe didn't send any horses to New Jersey in 2019, I took John up on his offer.”

Owens said he would have preferred to run Great Navigator first time out in a Jersey-bred race, but there weren't any scheduled for 2-year-old maidens until the last week of June. Knowing his horse was ready to run, he opted for the open- company maiden.

With Jairo Rendon aboard, Great Navigator, sent off at 17-1, settled into third early. He started rolling coming out of the far turn and rushed past the pacesetters in mid-stretch to win easily.

“I wouldn't have ran him in that race if I didn't think he could compete against those horses.” Owens said. “I thought he would run well and I wasn't surprised that he did run well. I was surprised that he finished so strong. I was wondering if I had him tight enough. I guess I did.”

It was a big day not only for Great Navigator, but also for his sire. Sea Wizard was picked out by Mazza at the 2015 OBS March 2-Year-Old Sale, where he sold for $190,000. For Mazza and owner Mac Nichol, he finished second in his debut in an Oct. 11, 2015 race at Belmont before winning a March 27, 2016 maiden at Gulfstream by three lengths. Mazza had big plans for the colt but he was injured and never ran again after the maiden win. He never got a chance to show what he could do on the racetrack.

Sea Wizard stands at stud at Sam Fieramosca's Colonial Farms in Colts Neck, New Jersey, for a stud fee of $1,500. On the same day that Great Navigator won so impressively, Owens and Holly Crest sent out another first-time starter by the sire, the 2-year-old Jersey-bred filly Carats Forever (Sea Wizard). Also facing open company, she flashed some early speed before finishing third, 3 1/4 lengths behind the winner.

“I knew she would run well,” Owens said. “What surprised me with her was that she was on the front end battling. I was hoping she would relax a little more.”

Great Navigator and Carats Forever were the first two horses by Sea Wizard to make a start. It's early, but Sea Wizard showed a lot of promise during his brief career and his first two foals ran beyond expectations in their debuts. He is an interesting sire.

Owens isn't sure what is next for Great Navigator and said he will look for a stakes race for him. With few options available in the early summer months for 2-year-olds that have broken their maidens, Great Navigator's next race could come in the July 16 GIII Sanford S. at Saratoga. The Sanford, of course, is a prep for the Hopeful, run this year on Sept. 5, 30 years and six days after the original Great Navigator won the race.

“How good is this horse?” Owens said. “We're going to find out.”

 

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Horologist Goes For Repeat In Beldame For Beatty, Partners

When Horologist vies to defend her title in Sunday's $250,000 Grade 2 Beldame at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., owner Cameron Beatty of There's A Chance Stable is reminded that everything happens for a reason.

A native of Nashville now living in New Jersey, Beatty was indirectly introduced to horseracing through unfavorable circumstances. Beatty was the starting quarterback of Freehold Township High School and was slated to take his athletic talents to Farleigh Dickinson via academic scholarship when a motorcycle accident nearly cost him his life.

Beatty would eventually sign up to play semi-professional football for the New Jersey Bulldogs where he met coach Don Goold, a racing enthusiast and friend to the late thoroughbred trainer John Mazza.

“After practice one day, he asked me if I wanted to go to the track. He took me to Monmouth Park (in Oceanport, N.J.) and just from the front side I fell in love,” Beatty said. “I just loved the atmosphere. As if that wasn't good enough, he asked me if I'd ever been to the backside. And I said, 'The backside of what?'”

A visit to the Monmouth stable area allowed Beatty to develop a strong friendship with Mazza.

“It was a match made in heaven,” Beatty said. “You never would think an 80-year-old guy could be such a good friend with a guy in his mid-20s.”

Mazza, who passed away last May, took Beatty under his wing and taught him all the ins and outs of the business. When Mazza's longtime clients Holly Crest Farm began dispersing some of their stock, it gave Beatty the opportunity to step into thoroughbred ownership.

“He said the right way to do it is to get into breeding first to experience it on a different level, starting with one horse and see where it takes you from there,” Beatty said. “So, I took over a horse that couldn't race anymore.”

Beatty acquired Cinderella Time, a Stephen Got Even mare with one win in eight starts, and bred her to Gemologist and the end result of the mating was Horologist.

“Me and John literally pulled her right out of her mom and watched her be born,” Beatty said. “I watched her come right out and take her first steps about 20 minutes after she was born.”

Mazza trained Horologist through her first 11 starts, including 2019 stakes victories in Monmouth's Smart N Classy Handicap and Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks.

Following a third in the Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx that year, Beatty sold shares of Horologist to Medallion Racing, Abbondanza Racing, and Parkland Thoroughbreds, and the mare was transferred to West Coast-based conditioner Richard Baltas. Later on, Paradise Farms Corp and David Staudacher also bought in on Horologist.

“I couldn't have asked for better partners. They have taken things to a different level,” Beatty said.

After five starts with Baltas, Horologist found a new home with Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, who saddled the mare to graded stakes victories in last year's Beldame as well as the Grade 3 Molly Pitcher last July at Monmouth. Between those two starts, she earned Grade 1 black type when finishing third in the La Troienne last September at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

“The good part about it is I had good people around me. John Mazza showed me everything I really know,” Beatty said. “One good thing that John did before he passed away was introduce me to people like [bloodstock agent] David Ingordo, and [trainer] Cherie DeVaux and that's something I have to thank him for.

“Some owners never get this opportunity. I've been extremely lucky in this business so far,” Beatty continued. “Bing Bush [Abbondanza Racing] is probably one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. Steve and Debbie West with Parkland Thoroughbreds are just extremely genuine people. They invite me to their house in Saratoga. There are so many great people to be involved with, and if it weren't for Horologist I wouldn't be in this situation.”

Horologist arrives at the Beldame off a gate-to-wire win in the restricted Summer Colony on August 22, contested at nine furlongs over a good and sealed main track at Saratoga.

A victory in the Beldame would likely result in another start in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff on November 6 at Del Mar. Horologist was a distant ninth last year when the event was held at Keeneland. A victory would also provide Beatty, who turns 30 on October 16, an additional reason to celebrate.

“A win would be an amazing early birthday present,” Beatty said.

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Horologist Owner Barred From Monmouth For Remainder Of Meet, Questions Track’s Motives

For owner Cameron Beatty, the undercard of the Grade 1 Haskell on July 18 eventually proved to be a testament to the highs and lows horse racing can provide. Beatty, who races as There's a Chance Racing, was the lone representative at Monmouth Park that day for Horologist when she won the Grade 3 Molly Pitcher by a decisive two lengths. The filly's trainer, Bill Mott, is based out of Saratoga this time of year and NYRA's COVID-19 protocols don't permit anyone working on the backstretch to return to The Spa after traveling out of state. Mott and Beatty coordinated with a local assistant trainer to saddle the filly and provide a groom to care for her for the day. When that assistant waved Beatty into the winner's circle, Beatty didn't think too much of it.

“After the race, obviously we were all going crazy,” said Beatty. “He told me to grab my filly and take her in the winner's circle. With me, the horse, and Joe Bravo that was two people so we thought everything was fine.”

Now, Monmouth Park representatives have told Beatty he has violated the track's COVID-19 protocols and will be banned from the property for the remainder of 2020.

After his filly's big win, Beatty got a letter after the race asking him to call racing secretary John Heims.

“[John Heims] was saying I put racing in New Jersey at risk, and I was extremely selfish for doing that,” Beatty recalled. “He also said the owner of Authentic was extremely upset because he was there and he wasn't allowed to go into the winner's circle. I apologized for all of that. I didn't intend for any of that to happen … I really didn't know that I wasn't allowed to go in, or I would have never gone in.”

According to documents published on its website, the winner's circle at Monmouth “will be limited to no more than four people (jockey, groom, trainer and an additional stable hand if necessary). No owners will be permitted in the winner's circle. Everyone in the winner's circle must have face covering.”

Beatty's understanding of the house rule had been that it was the number – four people – that was important, not what those people's jobs were, which is why he didn't think he was doing anything wrong.

Meanwhile, Beatty points out, out-of-state riders are permitted to ride at Monmouth, though they are required to produce a negative COVID-19 test and keep their distance from others. Photos from earlier in the meet show groups of as many as five people in winner's circle shots that feature the winning horse. In other images that seem to be taken after the horse has left the winner's circle, as many as seven people can be seen without masks over their noses or mouths, arms slung over each other. For Beatty, these things raise questions about how stringent protocols really are, and how evenly they're being applied.

“It kind of seems like I'm a 28-year-old guy who's having a little bit of success, getting a little lucky and they don't really like that,” Beatty. “It seems like I'm getting attacked. They want me to be the example, but Dennis Drazin walks around the track without a mask on. That's what the example should be. The majority of people who work there, they're walking around with their masks on their chin.

“I respect the rules. I understand that they have rules in place for a reason. I just don't feel I should be made an example of when there's other people breaking the rules and just getting warnings.”

Drazin confirms that the track's action against Beatty is the first taken against an owner for violating COVID-19 protocols. He also said that he's unaware of other incidents of owners violating protocol, but that other licensees have received warnings for violations, including not having their masks pulled up over their mouth or nose.

“I spend a significant amount of my time every day trying to walk around and talk nicely to people to get them to put their masks on,” said Drazin. “I would tell you this – the governor expects us to enforce these rules. What ends up happening is if a jockey gets off a horse and he's walking back to the jocks' room, and the owners or fans approach the jockey and start to hug him and they don't have masks on, with social media these days, that goes wild. And then we get calls from people saying we're not enforcing the rules.

“I'm the chairman of the track. I have not been in the winner's circle. I was not in the paddock on Haskell Day. Could I have gone in? I did not do that because I consider myself an owner also and I apply all the rules to myself.”

Beatty was offered the opportunity to present his case at a hearing conducted by Monmouth. When COVID-19 protocols were first put in place, Drazin communicated with the New Jersey Racing Commission, asking whether they wanted to adjudicate COVID protocol violations or whether that should be left up to the track. He says the commission told him it was fine for Monmouth to handle those incidents themselves and if they felt they couldn't, track management could refer rule breakers on. At first, Beatty said, he was interested in the opportunity, but backed off when Monmouth management suggested the other partners in Horologist, who were not present for her race in the Molly Pitcher, may be brought into the proceeding, fearing they would face punishment also.

Drazin said he didn't have any reason to believe those owners — who were not present that day — would face sanctions themselves.

“In my view, the other owners were blameless,” said Drazin.

Drazin suspects the reason Beatty backed off on the idea of a hearing was that he was told the track was prepared to present evidence showing he had been on the backstretch the same day, also in violation of the track's COVID rules. Beatty said he had permission from the guard on duty to pop in and deliver tips to the van driver and groom; Drazin said it shouldn't matter what the guard said – signage clearly indicated he shouldn't have been there.

Beatty also raises questions about the motives of Drazin and director of racing John Heims in delivering this ban from the track property. Drazin represented Vincent Annarella's Holly Crest Farm in a dispute between Annarella and Beatty over the ownership of Cinderella Time, the dam of Horologist.

Both Beatty and Drazin agree on a few facts: Holly Crest owned homebred Cinderella Time during her racing career. When an injury ended her career, trainer John Mazza (who was also farm manager for Holly Cress and employed by Beatty as a trainer) thought Beatty might be interested in her and got in touch.

Beatty said Annarella gave him the mare, who Beatty boarded at Holly Crest, and apparently had no issue with the arrangement until Horologist started winning races. Then, Beatty said, Annarella started claiming he didn't know Beatty had been breeding the mare and registering himself as breeder and owner of the foals.

Drazin, who said he has known Annarella some 40 years, began calling Beatty on Annarella's behalf, relaying his desire to have the mare back, and threatening a civil lawsuit. Drazin said Mazza was never authorized to give the horse away, and Annarella only found out Beatty thought he was her owner when he saw Horologist pop up in race entries.

“I sacrificed a lot of money every month to board that mare, to pay stud fees, to pay vet bills,” Beatty said. “I probably put close to $100,000 into her.

“He claimed he didn't remember cashing my checks every month for four years.”

Beatty claims Drazin threatened to block his entries and evict his horses from the Monmouth grounds if he didn't give up possession of Cinderella Time – a claim Drazin categorically denies.

In the end, the two sides came to an arrangement through private mediation. Cinderella Time was returned to Holly Crest, which sold her for $245,000 in foal to Twirling Candy at last year's Keeneland November auction; Holly Crest was made as the breeder of record for Horologist and her half-sister, A P Lucky, and Beatty remained as an owner on the two daughters. Drazin said Beatty was also paid back his expenses for four years of boarding the mare.

“I was called by Dennis Drazin and told that this wasn't a lawsuit I wanted to get into because I would lose,” said Beatty, who said Drazin threatened to sue Mazza also. “At that time, I didn't have a lot of money. I was a little guy in the business without much success.

“Looking back, I shouldn't have let that go, but I couldn't put John through it … It's kind of like David and Goliath and I'm David because I don't have millions and millions of dollars, I don't have 50, 60 horses on the backside keeping the track alive. It puts a really bad taste in your mouth when all this happens … the owner of the track is this guy's lawyer. How can I compete with that?”

Mazza died earlier this year at the age of 82.

Drazin said as far as he's concerned, both matters are resolved. If anything, he thinks Beatty has had things easier than he could have. If he had turned Beatty's COVID rule violations over to the racing commission, he points out, the commission could have suspended Beatty's ownership license – an action that would likely have been reciprocated by other jurisdictions, causing him more headaches. And as for the Cinderella Time case, Drazin thinks he was quite charitable.

“I think another lawyer may have encouraged them to litigate it, but Mr. Beatty called me up and he seemed like a nice young man,” recalled Drazin. “He told me he was just invested in the business, he hadn't been a long-tie owner, he didn't understand all the rules. Given he was a young man who was very enthusiastic about the business and wanted to be involved, we wanted to help him out.”

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