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Monmouth General Manager Bill Anderson Named 2021 Recipient Of ‘Buddy’ Raines Awards

The biggest disappointment of Bill Anderson's teen years was coming to grips with the realization that he could no longer make weight to be a jockey. For his professional future it turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to him.

A fixture at Monmouth Park since 1980 in a variety of roles, Anderson – currently the track's general manager – has been named the 2021 recipient of the Virgil “Buddy” Raines Distinguished Achievement Award, it was announced today.

The Raines Award, now in its 26th year, is presented annually just prior to Monmouth Park's season opener. The track's 76th season of live racing gets underway on Friday, May 28.

Anderson, a former trainer and track superintendent at Monmouth Park, finds his name added to a prominent list of past Raines Award recipients who have been recognized for their professionalism, integrity and service to Thoroughbred racing.

“It's a great honor and it's especially meaningful for me because I know or knew everyone who has received this award, including Buddy Raines,” said Anderson. “Monmouth Park is my home and has been for quite a while now. So it means a lot to me personally to receive this award.”

Anderson's Monmouth Park-based training career spanned from 1980 to 2012 and produced 857 winners, including Grade 3 winner J J's Lucky Train. He transitioned to being Monmouth Park's track superintendent in 2012 before being named general manager in 2016.

“It's a well-deserved honor for someone who has been synonymous with Monmouth Park for as long as I can remember,” said Dennis Drazin, Chairman and CEO of Darby Development LLC, the operators of Monmouth Park. “His work ethic and passion for Monmouth Park are things that have never wavered, from his days as a trainer to being the track superintendent to his current role as general manager.”

Anderson, who hails from Minnesota, began galloping and riding horses as a teenager in the late 1950s, getting his jockey's license at the age of 16. He started riding quarter horses at Fort Pierce, South Dakota, before weight issues forced him to go in another direction. He then worked for both D. Wayne Lukas and Clyde Rice during their quarter horse days in the early 1960s before transitioning to Thoroughbreds in the late 1970s.

“When I look back it's hard to believe where my life has taken me,” said Anderson. “I started at Midwest tracks that few people have ever even heard of. I thought Jefferson, South Dakota, was the big time. I've been very fortunate to have been in this business as long as I have been.”

Monmouth Park's 53-day meet gets underway with four straight days of live racing over the Memorial Day weekend from Friday, May 28, through Monday, May 31. Racing will be conducted on a Friday through Sunday schedule throughout the summer.

Post times on Friday is 5 p.m. Post time on Saturdays, Sundays and special Monday holiday cards is now 12:15 p.m.

The list of previous Raines Award winners:

1996: J. Willard Thompson

1997: Danny Perlsweig

1998: Warren A. “Jimmy” Croll

1999: Joe Pierce Jr.

2000: Peter Shannon

2001: Dennis Drazin

2002: Sam Fieramosca

2003: Charles and Marianne Hesse

2004: Janet Laszlo

2005: Richard Malouf

2006: John Forbes

2007: Ben Perkins Sr.

2008: Gerald and Carolyn Sleeter

2009: Joel Kligman

2010: John Tammaro III

2011: Frank Costa

2012: John Mazza

2013: Ebby Novak

2014: Chuck Spina

2015: Bob Baffert

2016: Ed Barney

2017: Bob Kulina

2018: Mike Musto

2019: Tim Hills

2020: Leonard Green

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Dual-Hemisphere Sire Pure Prize Dies In Argentina At Age 23

Pure Prize, a Grade 2 winner who had success at stud in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, died Saturday at Haras La Providencia in Argentina following complications from a stroke, the South American publication Turf Diario reports. He was 23.

A Phipps Stable homebred by Storm Cat, and out of the champion Heavenly Prize, Pure Prize raced for three seasons, and won five of 17 starts for earnings of $475,459. The Shug McGaughey trainee got better with age, earning his first graded stakes placing at four when he ran second in the Grade 3 Fourstardave Handicap. In his next and final start, he picked up his first graded stakes victory in the G2 Kentucky Cup Classic Handicap at Turfway Park.

Pure Prize retired to Vinery in Lexington, Ky., for the 2003 breeding season, and he remained there for every Northern Hemisphere season through 2012. He joined the rest of Vinery stallions in moving to WinStar Farm for the 2013 season. All the while, he shuttled to Argentina for the Southern Hemisphere breeding season, where he became a star.

Pure Prize was Argentina's leading sire in 2012 and 2013, he relocated to the country permanently during his second championship season, moving to Haras Carampangue.

The stallion was a steady producer of champions in Argentina, siring 2015 Horse of the Year Hi Happy, and year-end honor-earners Winning Prize, Ollagua, Jumbalaya, Puerto Real, and Kononkop, as well as Peruvian champion Hija Rubia.

Despite leaving the country nearly a decade ago, Pure Prize remained a stallion of note in the U.S., with several Argentine-breds that shipped north and won major races.

Chief among them was Blue Prize, who won the 2019 Breeders' Cup Distaff, and promptly sold to Larry Best's OXO Equine as a broodmare prospect for $5 million. After earning Argentina's champion 2-year-old colt and champion miler honors in 2012, Winning Prize shipped to Southern California, where he won the G1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita Park. Hi Happy came stateside after securing 2015 Horse of the Year honors and took a pair of graded stakes races, including the G1 Man O'War Stakes.

In terms of domestically-sired U.S. runners, Pure Prize's record is led by Grade 1 winners Pure Clan and Pure Fun, Grade 2 winner Dothraki Queen, and Grade 3 winner Birdbirdistheword, Red Knight, Holy Nova, and Now I Know.

In total, Pure Prize has sired 13 crops of racing age, with 1,138 winners and combined progeny earnings in excess of $74.9 million. He was pensioned from stud duty in 2016 and relocated to Haras La Providencia to live out his remaining days.

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‘Big Machine’ Rebel’s Romance Settling In Well Ahead Of Belmont Stakes

A talented quartet of Charlie Appleby-trained Godolphin runners – Rebel's Romance, Desert Peace, Summer Romance and Althiqa –have settled in comfortably in New York in preparation for starts during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival that runs from June 3 through Saturday, June 5, headlined by the 153rd running of the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets.

The festival will encompass 17 total stakes, including eight Grade 1s on Belmont Stakes Day, capped by the “Test of the Champion” for 3-year-olds in the 1 1/2-mile final leg of the Triple Crown.

All four of Appleby's runners, who arrived in New York on May 2, are expected to compete during the festival, with Group 2 UAE Derby-winner Rebel's Romance pointed to the Belmont Stakes on June 5.

The geldings Rebel's Romance and Desert Peace were initially based in Dubai, while the fillies Summer Romance and Althiqa, shipped from the U.K.

“They're settling in great and are very relaxed and happy in their routine,” said travelling assistant Sophie Chretien. “It's very nice here. The people are taking good care of us and the horses are very happy in the barn. It's a little like being in the country which is what they need. There's a bit of grass to pick in the morning, fresh air and they're really settled.”

Chretien is joined on the journey by Michael Metcalfe, exercise rider for Rebel's Romance and Summer Romance, and Patrice Pot, who gallops Desert Peace and Althiqa.

On Sunday, Rebel's Romance and Desert Peace went out at 7:30 a.m. for a jog and a mile canter on the 1 1/2-mile main track, with a similar routine followed later in the morning by the two fillies.

Chretien said the serious work will begin next weekend, with all four horses expected to breeze.

“Next week, the boys will have their first piece of work together on the main track, and the girls will go on the turf together,” said Chretien. “We have three weeks to hit the target now.”

Rebel's Romance, a sophomore son of Dubawi, is an Irish homebred out of the Street Cry mare Minidress. A winner of 4-of-5 starts, Rebel's Romance made the grade last out with a 5 1/2-length romp in the 1 3/16-mile UAE Derby on March 27 at Meydan.

Chretien said the sizable Rebel's Romance is taking well to the expansive Belmont main track.

“I think he's moving well over it. The rider is very happy with him,” said Chretien. “He's a big boy. When he won the [UAE] Derby, he needed time to get into his rhythm. He's a big machine. The big track will suit him. He needs to be able to use his stride. The longer distance will be good for him.”

Desert Peace, a 4-year-old son of Curlin, was a $1.3 million purchase at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The Kentucky-bred was a nose winner last out traveling one-mile on May 11 over the Meydan main track.

There is no specific target confirmed yet for Desert Peace, but the Grade 2, $300,000 True North, a 6 ½-furlong sprint for 4-year-olds and up on June 4 is a possibility.

Summer Romance and Althiqa, who finished first and third last out in the nine-furlong Group 2 Balanchine on February 18 at Meydan, are targeting the Grade 1, $500,000 Longines Just a Game, a one-mile turf event for older fillies and mares on June 5.

Jockey assignments have yet to be arranged for the Godolphin contenders.

For information and details on Belmont Stakes Racing Festival hospitality offerings, ticket packages and pricing, visit BelmontStakes.com. For full terms and conditions, visit https://www.belmontstakes.com/tickets.

For comprehensive information on health and safety protocols in effect for the Belmont Park spring/summer meet, please visit: https://www.nyra.com/belmont/visit/plan-your-visit.

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Toast To Vino Rosso: Colt Out Of Call To Service Fits The Bill For Young Stallion

Throughout the breeding season, the Paulick Report will be sharing photos of foals from the first crop of Spendthrift Farm's Breeders' Cup Classic winner Vino Rosso in the “Toast to Vino Rosso” series.

This week, we're going to Mulholland Springs farm in Lexington, Ky., to visit a colt out of the To Honor and Serve mare Call to Service.

This February 16 foal was bred in New York by the partnership of Sequel Thoroughbreds, Lakland Farm, and Mark Toothaker, and the dam is a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Isotherm.

This foal is being boarded for clients, but Martha Jane Mulholland of Mulholland Springs said she's got several Vino Rosso foals of her own, and she was impressed by their consistency.

“You can just count on them being a very substantial, viable, good-looking foal,” Mulholland said. “To me, 'pretty' is important, and all of his babies are pretty – cute heads, lovely top lines, big hips. I really, across the board, like all of them.”

Vino Rosso, a 6-year-old son of Curlin, stands at Spendthrift Farm for an advertised fee of $25,000.

Vino Rosso won won six of 15 starts and earned $4,803,125 on the racetrack. In addition to his signature Breeders' Cup Classic score, the stallion picked up victories in the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes, and the G2 Wood Memorial Stakes.

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