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Industry Veteran Hernon Launches Bloodstock Agency

Michael Hernon, who served as Gainesway Farm's director of sales for the past 24 years, has launched his own bloodstock agency.

Starting in the mid-1990s, Hernon managed the stallion books of top sires like Broad Brush, Cozzene and Mt. Livermore. More recently, he oversaw the books of leading sires Tapit and Empire Maker, as well as the emerging young sire Karakontie.

“Two decades of selling at the highest level of the stallion market was a rare experience, but as Gainesway expanded their bloodstock sales agency, I worked on the farm consignment and started helping our outside clients with everything they needed to be successful at the sales. We enjoyed a lot of success,” said Hernon.

Tom Conway, with Waymore LLC, said, “Before Michael took over, we were breeding for the top of the market, but not always succeeding at the sales. He put us on the right track, from sales prep to setting reserves, and suddenly we were on fire with two yearlings selling for $800,000 and another for $700,000. We became fast friends and last year I was proud to attend when Michael became a U.S. Citizen.”

Hernon's greatest personal achievement was co-breeding champion Monomoy Girl, winner of the Kentucky Oaks and Breeders' Cup Distaff.

From a small broodmare band, Hernon has also co-bred two-time Grade 1 winner Zazu, and graded stakes winner Flashback, sire of champion British Idiom. This year in the U.S., he co-owns and races exciting stakes-winning 2-year-old Spanish Loveaffair, while in his native Ireland, Hernon campaigns group-placed juvenile Sussex Garden.

Prior to his tenure at Gainesway, Hernon served stints at Pedigree Associates, Fasig-Tipton and Walnut Green.

“I feel everything I have done in this industry has brought me to this new position. Helping people find the right horses and succeed in sales and racing is very satisfying. I look forward to operating as a bloodstock agent and attending Thoroughbred racing and sales both in the U.S. and in Europe,” Hernon said.

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Hernandez Not Worried About Inside Post With One-Eyed Finnick The Fierce

For most trainers, getting the inside-most gate in the Kentucky Derby is like a punch in the gut. It would be easy to think the trainer of a horse missing his right eye — blind to a wall of horses on his outside — would be verklempt. Not Rey Hernandez. Hernandez, who conditions and co-owns Finnick the Fierce, points out the chestnut has finished well from the first post position before, including his third-place performance in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby and his second-place effort (which was later converted to a win via disqualification) in an allowance/optional claimer at Oaklawn. “You know, he's been running really good with the one position,” said Hernandez. “His best races have been from the one position. He might like to be there.”

Hernandez said for as long as he's had Finnick the Fierce in the barn, he has been missing his right eye, which was removed when the son of Dialed In was a weanling. Finnick the Fierce was born with a congenital cataract in that eye, and was sold to veterinarian Dr. Arnaldo Monge for $3,000. After the eye was removed, Monge said the oversized colt was a different animal, leading Monge to suspect the eye had been painful for some time. Monge sold a half interest in the horse to Hernandez, charging the same $3,000 he originally paid. Now, Finnick has raked in $191,290 in earnings and is headed to the Derby. Hernandez said it's a dream come true. “It's amazing,” he said. 'It's a dream we've all got. I'm very excited to have gotten this far.” Hernandez was the one to break Finnick the Fierce as a yearling, so he has only ever known him as a one-eyed horse. He admits it took a little bit of patience as the horse began to train. It also required gelding him early on to reduce misplaced hormonal exuberance that could get him hurt. “It is challenging,” said Hernandez. “In the early stages he was a little more careful with the blind eye because he was trying to see everything with the one good eye. But he's learning how to progress with the one eye. “In the early stage, he'd look around with the good eye everywhere. When he ran in the Kentucky Jockey Club, he was running with the head cocked, trying to see the crowd. He still ran a big race but you could see he was not focused completely.” Hernandez said his partnership with Monge is a good one. For the most part, he's left to manage the horse as he sees fit. Monge told the Louisville Courier-Journal he knew early on the horse was something special–even before he hit the racetrack, thanks to his size and excellent conformation. For Hernandez, it was his performance in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill that sealed it. “He always showed a lot of talent, and he was very smart, but we didn't know he was that good until he ran first time out,” he said. “I really liked how he ran. That was a five furlong race and he was flying the last 1/16th of a mile. At that point I had a good feeling he was a good horse. “Once he ran second in the Jockey Club, it was pretty much the top 3-year-olds in that race. I was really impressed and running second in the same track they run the Derby, that's pretty good.” Finnick the Fierce beat Kentucky Derby favorite Tiz the Law, who ran third in that race. Tiz the Law has been undefeated since then, meaning Finnick the Fierce and Silver Prospector are the only two 3-year-olds ever to get the better of him, and they've done it on this track. In a Derby year unlike any other, Hernandez is a little relieved Finnick the Fierce will not have to content with the swarms of people normally present on the backstretch or leaning over the rail during the walkover. “The way I look at it, it's a plus,” he said. “It's a plus because I think the less noise for him, noise is a little annoying for him. He's a little concerned by noises, but now that it's going to be quiet I think he'll probably have a better performance.”

Thanks to the National Turfwriters and Broadcasters Association (NTWAB), which has assembled a group of pool reporters providing independent reporting to members unable to be on the Churchill Downs grounds this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.

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‘Here’s To Longshots!’ Mott-Trained Derby Entrant South Bend ‘Tries Hard Every Time’

With his Kentucky Derby gear still being constructed, South Bend took to the track with his usual Bill Mott saddle towel as he galloped during the special 7:30 a.m. training session for Oaks and Derby horses at Churchill Downs.

A late entrant to the Derby fray, South Bend heads into Saturday's test off a fourth-place finish in the Travers Stakes (GI) at Saratoga on Aug. 8. Though he is winless in eight starts this year, the bay colt has flashed potential, most notably running second in the Ohio Derby (GIII) June 27 while still in the barn of his prior trainer Stanley Hough.

“He's a very consistent horse, if you look at all his races and he tries hard every time,” said Kenny McCarthy, Mott's assistant. “His Travers race was certainly not a bad race. He obviously needs to move forward off of that race but he seems to like this track here. We've seen over the years that some horses look like a cinch coming in but they couldn't get it done.”

Campaigned by Sagamore Farm through his first 11 starts, including a victory in the Street Sense last fall at Churchill Downs, South Bend was acquired prior to the Travers by a partnership group that includes Gary Barber, Adam Wachtel, Peter Deutsch and Leonard Schleifer of Pantofel Stable.

“He was previously with Stanley so he's trained over this track (Churchill Downs) many times,” McCarthy added. “This horse, it was a bit of a last-minute decision to go into the race but having said that, I think initially when the horse was purchased, that might have been in the back of their minds to try and get themselves a Derby horse. Obviously with the defection of Art Collector, they figured let's take a shot. Here's to longshots!”

South Bend is listed at 50-1 on the Kentucky Derby morning line, and will break from post position eight.

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Queen’s Plate Post Position Draw Will Be Livestreamed Sept. 9

Woodbine Entertainment has announced that the post position draw for the 161st running of the $1 million Queen's Plate, first jewel of the OLG Canadian Triple Crown, will be presented online via a live stream on Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 10 a.m.

Racing analyst Jason Portuondo will host the virtual production live from Woodbine Racetrack and will be joined by Jim Lawson, President and CEO of Woodbine Entertainment.

The traditional Queen's Plate post position draw format will be conducted with a draw to decide the order in which connections will select their posts. Following physical distancing protocols, one representative for each horse will be present to make their post position selection and take part in a brief interview with Portuondo.

Live streaming will be available on Woodbine's website at Woodbine.com and Facebook page.

The field is starting to take shape with 16 probable contenders on target for this year's Queen's Plate, which was originally scheduled for June 27 prior to COVID-19 postponements and will now be contested on Saturday, Sept. 12.

Clayton stamped himself as one of the early favourites for the million-dollar Canadian classic when he won the Plate Trial on August 15 at Woodbine, the traditional 1-1/8-mile prep, for trainer Kevin Attard. The Bodemeister-Smarthalf colt is three-for-four in his career and has earned just over $200,000 for owners Donato Lanni and Daniel Plouffe.

A pair of fillies will be looking to tackle the boys in this year's edition, including the Kevin Attard-trained multiple stakes placed Merveilleux, who closed well through traffic to hit the board last time out in the Woodbine Oaks presented by Budweiser for owners Al and Bill Ulwelling.

Oaks champion Curlin's Voyage wowed in winning the $500,000 first leg of the Triple Tiara and is now being pointed to the Plate by Canadian Hall of Fame trainer Josie Carroll, a two-time winner of the race who campaigned one of the three fillies in the past decade to achieve the Oaks-Plate double (Inglorious, 2011).

Following her Sovereign Award-winning two-year-old campaign, Curlin's Voyage was a runner-up in the Star Shoot Stakes before earning back-to-back wins in the Fury Stakes and Oaks. The latter was an impressive 1-3/4 length victory over 1-1/8 miles and boosted her bankroll to nearly $665,000 for Hill 'n' Dale Holdings and Windsor Boys Racing. The Curlin-Atlantic Voyage filly now sports a career record reading 5-2-1 from nine starts.

The winner's ledger for the Queen's Plate includes a total of 37 fillies, including nine since 1956 when the race was first run at the new Woodbine.

Lawrence Cordes' Dramedy colt Mighty Heart is another probable starter from the Carroll barn.

A close runner-up in the Plate Trial following his July 4 victory in the Queenston Stakes, Halo Again is a top contender for American Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, whose first attempt at the OLG Canadian Triple Crown last year awarded him two-thirds of the prize as Tone Broke won the Prince of Wales and Breeders' Stakes following a third-place finish in the opening leg.

Halo Again, a son of Speightstown out of Halo's Verse, has won half of his six career starts while banking $287,732 for owners Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing.

He will attempt to become the first horse in 44 years (Norcliffe, 1976) to complete the Coronation Futurity and Queen's Plate double.

Asmussen, who counts the famed Curlin among his list of stars, became the all-time leading trainer at Churchill Downs earlier this season and is approaching 9,000 career wins.

Canadian Hall of Fame horseman Sid Attard will be vying for his first Queen's Plate victory with a pair of contenders, including Norseman Racing Stable's Dotted Line and JMJ Racing Stables' Olliemyboy. The former Signature Red-Springledge colt was a two-time juvenile stakes winner and mostly recently posted third-place finishes in both the Grade 3 Marine, finishing 4-1/4 lengths behind the Preakness-bound Shirl's Speight, and Plate Trial, just a half-length behind Clayton and Halo Again.

Trained by two-time Queen's Plate-winning conditioner Daniel Vella, the lightly raced Conquest Curlinate gelding Sweepin Hard is expected to join the battle for top prize as a supplement following a maiden-breaking victory in mid-August over 1-1/8 miles on the main track for Borders Racing Stable.

At age 26, up-and-coming trainer Santino DiPaola is looking forward to making his Queen's Plate debut with Enchant Me, a maiden Magician-Me Love colt owned by York Tech Racing Stable.

Other probable starters include Famished, F F Rocket, Glorious Tribute, Golden Wave, Holyfield, Tecumseh's War and Truebelieve.

Final entries are due through the entry box by 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 9.

While this year's event will not be open to the public, Woodbine welcomes fans to experience The Queen's Plate safely from home with family and friends in their bubble while tuning into The Queen's Plate @ Home digital experience via Instagram @WoodbineTB and live television broadcast starting at 4:30 p.m. ET on TSN and CTV. Post time for the afternoon's first race will be 12:30 p.m., with the main event scheduled as Race 10 at approximately 5:41 p.m.

PROBABLE FIELD FOR THE 161ST RUNNING OF THE $1 MILLION QUEEN'S PLATE

Horse – Trainer – Owner(s)

Clayton – Kevin Attard – Donato Lanni & Daniel Plouffe

Curlin's Voyage (filly) – Josie Carroll – Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings & Windsor Boys Racing

Dotted Line – Sid Attard – Norseman Racing Stable

Enchant Me – Santino DiPaola – York Tech Racing Stable

Famished – John Kimmel – Tobey L. Morton

F F Rocket – Keith Dickey – Frank Fletcher Racing Operations

Glorious Tribute – Barbara Minshall – Bruce Lunsford

Golden Wave – Michael De Paulo – Mickey Demers

Halo Again – Steven Asmussen – Winchell Thoroughbreds & Willis Horton Racing

Holyfield – Catherine Day Phillips – Kingfield Racing Stable, Roderick Ferguson & Anderson Farms Ontario

Merveilleux (filly) – Kevin Attard – Al and Bill Ulwelling

Mighty Heart – Josie Carroll – Lawrence Cordes

Olliemyboy – Sid Attard – JMJ Racing Stables

Sweepin Hard (supplement) – Daniel Vella – Borders Racing Stable

Tecumseh's War – Catherine Day Phillips – Ilium Stables

Truebelieve – Cole Bennett – Centennial Farms (Niagara)

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