Tag: Horse racing news

Ny Traffic’s Haskell Second Leads To Jump In NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll

Authentic's victory in the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes allowed him to hold his ground on the latest National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Three-Year-Old Poll, but it was race runner-up Ny Traffic who gained heightened regard among voters.

In earning his first career top-level triumph on July 18, Authentic kept himself among the leading Kentucky Derby contenders and remained in the third position on the poll with 280 points. The son of Into Mischief improved his record to four wins from five career starts as he trails only Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law (38 first-place votes, 389 points) and Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby victor Honor A. P. (1 first-place vote, 345 points) in the rankings.

Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes winner Art Collector (248 points) and Los Alamitos Derby victor Uncle Chuck (135) sit fourth and fifth, respectively, on the poll with the only newcomer to the top 10 being the aforementioned Ny Traffic, who jumps from 18th up to sixth with 124 points. Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., Ny Traffic rallied late and was beaten just a nose by Authentic in the Haskell, his third consecutive runner-up outing. Ny Traffic had previously finished second in the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes and Grade 2 Louisiana Derby and was also third in the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes.

King Guillermo, winner of the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, ranks seventh with 113 points followed by Dr Post (103 points), the third-place finisher in the Haskell. Leading sophomore fillies Gamine (101 points) and Swiss Skydiver (96) complete the top 10.

There was little change in this week's NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll with champion distaffer Midnight Bisou racking up 23 first-place votes and 359 points to maintain the No. 1 spot for another week. Stephen Foster Stakes winner Tom's d'Etat (7 first-place votes, 323 points) is second with multiple Grade 1-winner Vekoma (2 first-place votes, 293 points) holding in third.

Zulu Alpha (156 points) moves up to fourth just ahead of Monomoy Girl, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2018, in fifth with 1 first-place vote and 146 points. By My Standards (135 points) and Mucho Gusto (131) rank sixth and seventh followed by Tiz the Law (2 first-place votes, 112 points), who continues his run as the lone sophomore in the Top Thoroughbred Poll.

Code of Honor (1 first-place vote, 90 points) and Maximum Security (3 first-place votes, 88 points) round out the top 10.

The NTRA Top Thoroughbred polls are the sport's most comprehensive surveys of experts. Every week eligible journalists and broadcasters cast votes for their top 10 horses, with points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. All horses that have raced in the U.S., are in training in the U.S., or are known to be pointing to a major event in the U.S. are eligible for the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll. Voting in both the Top Three-Year-Old Poll and the Top Thoroughbred Poll is scheduled to be conducted through the conclusion of the Breeders' Cup in November.

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Lesson Horses: Chad Schumer On Worldly

You never forget the name of your first lesson horse – that horse who taught you what you need to know to work with every one that follows.

In this series, participants throughout the Thoroughbred industry share the names and stories of the horses that have taught them the most about life, revealing the limitless ways that horses can impact the people around them. Some came early on in their careers and helped them set a course for the rest of their lives, while others brought valuable lessons to veterans of the business.

Question: Which horse has taught you the most about life?

Chad Schumer

Chad Schumer of Schumer Bloodstock: Worldly. He taught me about treacherous agents, the actual joy of having a horse in training because he took me to the Breeders' Cup, and how sometimes things happen for a reason, and you don't realize it at the time. More than any other horse, he taught me that.

At the time we bought him, it looked like it was a terrible disaster, and then just a few months later, he took me to the Breeders' Cup. It was an incredible story. I bought this horse for clients, and one agent lied to the people and talked them out of it, so I got stuck with him and it was very scary.

The funny thing was, in January of that year, we went to Santa Anita, and it was Beholder's first start of the year. We were sitting there at Santa Anita and we were kind of fuming. We weren't going to get to go to the Breeders' Cup this year because the timing was so close [with the November sales in Kentucky], and it's hard to come back and still be able to work the sale.

We were sitting having lunch at Santa Anita having this conversation about how bummed we were that we weren't going to go to the Breeders' Cup, and just a few months later, we actually have a horse in the Breeders' Cup and we are there. It was an incredible situation.

About Worldly
(2007, A.P. Indy x Urbane, by Citidancer)

Worldly showed flashes of his talent early on, with a third in the G2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, then he spent some time on the Louisiana branch of the Kentucky Derby trail. He came back in the summer of his 3-year- old season to finish second in the G3 Northern Dancer Stakes and Ohio Derby. He won the listed Prairie Meadows Handicap at four.

Schumer came into possession of the horse in the summer of 2013, and sent him to trainer Brendan Walsh. Worldly finished second in a pair of listed stakes at Prairie Meadows and Remington Park, then he ran third in the Homecoming Classic Stakes at Churchill Downs en route to a start in the Breeders' Cup Marathon at Santa Anita, where he finished third to London Bridge.

Worldly was then sold to race in Saudi Arabia, where he became a stakes winner and successful stallion. His son Alzahzaah is a three-time Group 1 winner in Saudi Arabia, including the vaunted Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup.

The post Lesson Horses: Chad Schumer On Worldly appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Los Alamitos Given Green Light After New Plan For Equine, Rider Safety Praised By Board

At the end of a ten-day period of probation of its license due to concerns about equine fatalities, Los Alamitos received unanimous support from the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) Monday to continue running its meet.

A petition filed by CHRB executive director Scott Chaney triggered an emergency meeting of the board ten days ago to discuss a recent cluster of deaths — both exercise-related and non-exercise-related — at the track. Following that emergency meeting, the track has seen two more equine fatalities. Since then, Los Alamitos officials submitted a plan to commissioners, outlining their plans to increase surveillance and further restrict medication use on the backstretch in order to reduce risk to horse and rider.

The plan sets up an entry review panel comprised of an entry steward, track management representative, and a veterinarian to scratch any horses they feel “unsuitable for any reason of horse and/or rider safety.” That panel, which was enacted for last week's racing, has already scratched five horses.

In addition to CHRB-mandated necropsy reviews that already take place following a racing or training death, the track will now require its own assessment process that will include the horse's veterinarian and trainer for all deaths, not just those related to exercise. Trainers with two equine deaths in a year on the Los Alamitos grounds which are not racing or training-related will undergo a review process and could see their participation privileges at the track revoked. More personnel will be observing morning training at the track, and patrolling the backstretch with the latitude to question handlers and veterinarians about procedures they observe at the barn.

Dr. Rebecca Fitzgerald, track veterinarian, said that initial set-up of these procedures, particularly the entry review board, have already been tremendously helpful. Fitzgerald said she has also taken on the task of conducting exams on horses the day after a race to make sure they came out of it well.

The new plan places restrictions on age and workout experience for first-time starters (Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse) and also prohibits intra-articular injection within 14 days of a race, and intra-articular cortisone within 30 days of a race. Trainers are also prohibited from entering horses that have had two intra-articular cortisone injections within the previous 60 days. Dr. Rick Arthur, CHRB equine medial director, pointed out that three of the last four fatalities would have been barred from entry if the new intra-articular injection rules had been in place earlier.

“I can assure you all that we're kind of humiliated by this whole thing,” said Dr. Ed Allred, owner of Los Alamitos. “I think a lot of it just sort of happened. Things happen in clusters sometimes; we've said that before. We're going to do all we can, everything we possibly can, to do things properly in the future. Some of our people, our trainers will be a little upset by it, but they will adjust to it.”

“You made the comment about some of the trainers are not going to like it and all that — too bad,” said CHRB commissioner Dennis Alfieri. “They shouldn't be training. A lot of trainers that call themselves 'trainers' and they're not trainers. They have one or two horses, they bring them in, they race them … that's what's always made me uneasy with this whole industry, is people who call themselves trainers who shouldn't be training horses. These trainers that don't want to step up and raise their own bar should be out.”

Representatives from the Thoroughbred Owners of California, California Thoroughbred Trainers, and Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association all spoke up in favor of the new plan.

Although commissioners were generally appreciative of the work Allred and his team put into the plan, commissioner Wendy Mitchell said she hesitated to be too congratulatory toward the industry.

“I really appreciate that people put together this plan and plan on implementing it; I wish we weren't in this situation in the first place,” said Mitchell. “This is the first time we've used this regulation and I was not satisfied with the response at our hearing last week. I think that patting everyone on the back at this point isn't really appropriate … we want to give the track the backbone and knowing they have the support of the CHRB to crack down. While I appreciate the plan, let's keep it in perspective — we're in this situation, which is not a good situation.”

Los Alamitos is scheduled to conduct nighttime Quarter Horse races through late December. Allred and Fitzgerald reassured the board these new protocols will remain in place on a long-term basis. See the complete plan, along with public comments offered before the meeting, here.

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