Clear Creek Stud To Host Stallion Presentation

Clear Creek Stud is holding their annual Stallion Presentation Saturday, Dec. 3 from 10:30 am until 2:00 p.m. at their farm in Folsom, Louisiana.

The 2023 roster includes MGSW Clearly Now (Horse Greeley), 2022 leading Louisiana-bred sire Custom For Carlos (More Than Ready), MGISW Imperial Hint (Imperialism), new addition Mr. Money (Goldencents), and perennial leading Louisiana-bred sire Star Guitar (Quiet American).

A catered buffet lunch will be provided starting at 11:30, with the stallion presentation beginning at noon. A family-friendly event, there will be pony rides and a visit from Santa Claus.

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Jockey Julian Pimentel Taking A Break To Contemplate His Future

Journeyman Julian Pimentel, a Maryland mainstay since 2006 that will be forever linked as the regular rider of late Mid-Atlantic legend Ben's Cat, is taking the winter off to contemplate his future.

Pimentel, 40, finished sixth aboard Norman Lewis' 4-year-old filly Castilleja for Hall of Fame trainer King Leatherbury in Saturday's opener at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md., a six-furlong starter-optional claimer for fillies and mares 3 years old and up.

According to Equibase statistics, it was the 101st mount of the fall meet for Pimentel, 302nd of the year, and 11,299th in a career that began in his native Colombia before coming to the United States in 2000 and working as an exercise rider for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. He first rode in New Jersey before making the move to Maryland.

“I've been fighting with my weight a little bit lately, so I'm going to go home to relax, spend time with family and not think about it and when I come back, I'll see what happens,” Pimentel said. “This is all I've been doing all my life.

“I've never done anything else. I have fun, but it's hard to do. Everything has to come to an end,” he added. “I'm definitely coming back, I just don't know if I'm going to ride again. I don't know exactly what I'd do.”

Pimentel has 11 wins at the fall meet, 42 this year, and 1,806 in a career that included eight Grade 3 wins and mounts in the 2019 G1 Kentucky Derby and 2011, 2014, and 2019 G1 Preakness. His victory in the 2017 G3 General George at Laurel was the first graded-stakes victory for Imperial Hint, who would go on to win four Grade 1 stakes and more than $2.2 million in purses.

Ben's Cat was, by far, Pimentel's greatest horse. Pimentel was aboard for 41 of 63 starts including 30 in a row from June 2012 to November 2015. Together they won 22 races, 17 of them in stakes, topped by the 2013 and 2014 G3 Parx Dash, 2012 G3 Turf Monster, 2012 Maryland Million Turf Sprint, 2013-15 Mister Diz and Jim McKay Turf Sprint, and 2012-14 Fabulous Strike Handicap. Ben's Cat was euthanized at age 11 in June 2017 due to complications from colic surgery.

“Ben's Cat was very important to me, a very good horse,” Pimentel said. “When we went to the Derby, that was great. There were a lot of good times.”

Ronnie Gerardo, Pimentel's agent since February 2009, said the jockey is leaving Tuesday for Colombia and expected to return following Laurel's 2022 winter meet, which runs through March 27.

“This may be his last mount. He's going home to give his body a break and around April, he'll see how he is and if he feels like he can go back down to 118 [pounds] again,” Gerardo said. “He's competitive. It's a little harder these days. The older you get, your metabolism slows down. He's done a good job taking care of his body. He's had a good career.”

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Gerardo said Pimentel first began thinking about taking a sabbatical when Maryland racing was paused from mid-March to late May 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. Pimentel had single-season highs of 1,039 mounts and $4,387,978 million in purse earnings in 2001 and 146 wins in 2011, when he also won his 1,000th race aboard Pet Me Pet Me at Delaware Park.

“He's leaning toward retirement. It all depends on his weight,” Gerardo said. “I'm praying that he'll be back because I'm going to miss him. We've been together for almost 13 years. It's a long time, especially in this game.”

Other graded-stakes winners for Pimentel are Divisidero, Control System, Evil Minister, and Runspastum. He ranks fifth with 13 career wins in the Maryland Million, five behind Hall of Fame leader Edgar Prado.

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‘Life After Imperial Hint’: Carvajal En Route To Tallying Personal Best Number Of Wins In A Season

If Luis Carvajal, Jr., had any doubts about the direction his training career would take following the retirement of multiple Grade 1 winner Imperial Hint they have long disappeared.

With nine horses entered over Monmouth Park's three-day racing weekend – including Prendimi in the featured Irish War Cry Handicap for Jersey-breds on Saturday – the 49-year-old native of Santiago, Chile is well on his way to setting a personal best for victories in a season.

He has 22 wins overall from 135 starts so far, having gone 9-for-52 at the current Monmouth Park meet, after a career-best 24 winners a year ago.

“There's definitely life after Imperial Hint. Definitely,” Carvajal said. “Now we've just got to find the next one.”

Imperial Hint, who retired after racing just once in 2020, finished with 14 wins in 25 starts and $2,209,055 in earnings. He left a void in Carvajal's barn that is almost impossible to fill with just one horse. So Carvajal has compensated with more horses than he has ever had in a career that began in 2006.

The result has been what looks to be the fourth straight year that Carvajal will increase his overall win total.

“That's what happens when you have more horses,” he said. “If you get more horses you have more chances to run in different races and more chances to win. I probably have 10 more horses than I had last year. It makes a difference.”

Just as Imperial Hint made a difference in his career.

“A horse like that can help pull you up as a trainer, because it shows you can win Grade 1 races,” said Carvajal, whose barn is adorned with a Fleur-de-lis, as are some of the hats he wears. 'Once you get your name out there for doing that it helps with everything you do. It keeps your name out there. Definitely, Imperial Hint gave my career a boost.”

These days, Carvajal is relying more on allowance horses, claimers, Jersey-breds and maidens.

He entered Expect to Be Ready in tonight's third race, a maiden special weight sprint on the turf, and Give It a Go in the sixth race, a maiden $25,000 claimer.

He has five entered on Saturday's 13-race card (including one MTO entrant) and two on the 10-race Sunday program.

“It's been busy for us,” he said. “Like I said, when you have more horses to run you can be busy. It's going to be a busy weekend for us. We like that. You can't make money if you don't race.”

In Saturday's $85,000 Irish War Cry he will be trying Prendimi on the turf for just the second time. The gelded son of Dance With Ravens is Carvajal's second all-time money-earner behind Imperial Hint with $360,480 banked so far,

That race is at a mile on the grass.

“Prendimi is my big boy now,” said Carvajal. “We tried him once on the grass before this. He was not horrible. He was coming off a layoff and was too close to the pace and they were really rolling. So I'm going to throw out that race and I'm hoping he runs a good race on the grass.”

The post ‘Life After Imperial Hint’: Carvajal En Route To Tallying Personal Best Number Of Wins In A Season appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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‘More Than A Client’: Imperial Hint Owner Raymond Mamone Passes At Age 88

Trainer Luis Carvajal, Jr. announced via Twitter on Tuesday that his longtime owner and friend Raymond Mamone had passed away at the age of 88. According to bloodhorse.com, Mamone died after complications of COVID-19 on May 3, in his hometown of Somerville, N.J.

Mamone and Carvajal teamed up to win multiple Grade 1 races with their “Little Rocket,” Imperial Hint. The small-of-stature horse had an enormous heart and incredible speed, setting a track record for six furlongs at Saratoga when he won the G1 Vanderbilt in 2019 in a final time of 1:07.92.

Imperial Hint would have been a fourth generation homebred for Mamone, but that he gave the colt's dam, Royal Hint, to the facility that houses his breeding stock, Shade Tree Thoroughbreds, when she failed to produce much in her first several years. He later saw Imperial Hint as a 2-year-old at the farm, and paid $17,500 for the eye-catching youngster.

Imperial Hint would go on to compete on the international stage and in two editions of the Breeders' Cup, retiring with a record of 14 wins from 25 starts and earnings of $2.2 million. Mamone sold him privately to stand at stud in Louisiana.

“My heart is breaking,” Carvajal told bloodhorse.com. “To me, he was much more than a client. He was a friend, an uncle, and a dad. Mr. Mamone was a very special man. He gave me opportunities I'd never had before, and he gave me the horse of a lifetime.”

Read more at bloodhorse.com.

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