This Is Uscar, Son Of Oscar Performance, Impresses In Sloppy Oaklawn Debut

6th-Oaklawn, $115,000, Msw, 3-15, 3yo, 6f, 1:10.53, sy, 6 1/2 lengths.

THIS IS USCAR (c, 3, Oscar Performance–Journey On {GSP, $259,878}, by Good Journey) drifted up from his 5-1 morning line to jump as a 9-1 longshot in this debut spot. Up on the pace from the break, he stayed right outside of pacesetter Capital Connection (Connect) and dueled that rival nearly the entire way around the track. The pair traded blows through fractions of :21.97 and :46.00 over the sloppy surface but, as they swung off the turn, This Is Uscar showed his class with a strong late kick to clear the field and romp home by 6 1/2 lengths as his rival held on for second. Journey On has a 2-year-old Blame colt, foaled a Honor A.P. colt last year and was bred back to Karakontie (Jpn) for 2024. Sales History: $90,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $69,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

 

O-Table 38 Racing LLC; B-KatieRich Farms (KY); T-Jordan Blair.

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Earning Their Stripes: Jordan Blair

Last year, we conducted a popular Q and A series called 'Smaller But Still Super,' where we featured veteran trainers who have built a competitive racing stable with relatively small numbers (click here to view the archive). This year, we will highlight trainers who have already cut their teeth as novice trainers, but now have a few years of experience under their belt and are looking to make a name for themselves as they grow their stable. We'll talk about the challenges that come with hanging out your single, advice for trainers setting out on their own, how the incoming class of young trainers differs from previous generations and more.

A native of Lexington, Kentucky, Jordan Blair grew up immersed in the Thoroughbred industry of the Bluegrass, but he didn't find his way onto the racetrack until later on his career. He spent his high school and college days working for various farms and sales consignments, from Pin Oak Stud and Dromoland Farm to Taylor Made. After graduating from the University of Kentucky, he went on to earn a Master's Degree in Agribusiness Management. Soon after, he found his true passion on the racetrack and served as an assistant for eight years, learning from the likes of Kenny McPeek and Mike Maker, before taking out his trainer's license in 2013.

Based in Louisville, Blair has steadily built his operation since and now stables around 20 horses. Last year he reached 100 career wins and celebrated his best year yet in earnings.

Blair normally heads south for the winter, but decided to race out of Turfway this year. It proved to be a lucrative decision, as his stable already has six wins on the year and is winning at a 22% clip.

What was the biggest challenge in those first few years as you were getting started?

A big part of it is financial, just paying the bills and making sure your owners are paying the bills. It's about making sure you have good-quality horses and owners in your barn. I've found that a lot of people will try to take advantage of you early on, wanting to do deals. We went through those people very quickly because I learned those lessons the hard way.

When I was first starting I didn't care if a horse was bred in Kalamazoo, I was just trying to fill stalls. Honestly, we were running horses in spots that they didn't belong in because I didn't want to lose them. Now if I have a horse in the wrong spot, I can promise you that it's not my idea. Now we just want to win and I'm not worried if we lose a horse in the claim box.

Debut winner Midnight Rising runs in Saturday's Rushaway S. At Turfway Park | Coady

What do you think makes your stable or your training style unique?

Training is not rocket science. It's paying attention to details and focusing on the little things. When I was younger, I had to learn about work ethic. One of my old bosses from Pin Oak Stud Clifford Barry told me, as he was kicking my tail end every day, focus on the little things and the big things will take care of themselves. I've kind of lived by that as a trainer as I've grown my business.

As I've evolved as a trainer and rules have changed and the veterinary inspections have gotten more rigorous, I've made a focus on the soundness of the horse. Not that I didn't pay attention to that before, but it's more important now than it has ever been. We're constantly going over the horse and I'm hyper-focused on the details and the health of the horse.

This is your first winter at Turfway. What went into that decision to stay in Kentucky?

Tampa Bay Downs was the first place I went and I went there every winter. I knew it was a good surface, a great turf course and a circuit where I knew I could win races down there. Most owners are just looking at numbers, so I wanted to keep our numbers decent. But then I had a family and leaving them every year was awful.

I really hadn't had the opportunity to stay until this year. The first year that Turfway started to get better and purses went up a bit, my owners were not on board yet. Last year I really wanted to stay but I didn't get any stalls at Turfway. This year the facility we stay at all year, Trackside, stayed open. So it was an easy decision.

It has gone really well. We've won our share of races, purses are significantly better, and I've been able to see my kids every day. We had a relatively mild winter with only a few days of jogging in the shedrow, but overall it's been a delight and we've saved a ton of money not having to ship a stable south.

Is a trainer's success defined more by the quality of the horses they receive or their abilities as a trainer?

If you're a college basketball coach, you can be Rick Pitino and be one of the best coaches in history, but you can't win a national championship at Iona. If you're talking about the top of the game, you need the right type of quality of horses to get you there. You can't make a horse faster than their potential unless you're doing something illegal. You can't get to the top without the right horse.

Who is your favorite horse that you've trained?

I have one in the barn now that could be something for Surfside Stables. Midnight Rising (Mendelssohn) broke his maiden at Turfway impressively. He runs in a stake at Turfway this weekend. His last breeze was just amazing. He acts like he's very special.

One of my first horses was a Donegal horse named Oatfield (Candy Ride {Arg}). I thought he was awesome, but he bowed a tenon at the beginning of his 4-year-old year. At the time he was the best horse I had ever had.

Oceanic gets his first stakes win in the 2022 Woodford Reserve Da Hoss S. | Coady

Do you have a horse that you had to overcome obstacles with that you are most proud of getting to the starting gate?

Oceanic (Constitution) is my first and only stakes winner and he is pretty special. He has been in our care since he was two, but he didn't win a stake until he was five. He had immense potential early on, but he was a thumper. Thumping is an electrolyte imbalance that causes a flutter in their diaphragm when they run. It's almost like a hiccup, so it makes running as fast as you can impossible. Figuring that out was a long process and it was frustrating, but his owners and I were patient and kept on with it. He's that horse that overcame obstacles and we had the patience and wherewithal to figure it out with the help of a lot of people along the way.

If one change was made to racing that would make your life as a trainer easier, what would it be?

I'm not a big fan of HISA, and it's not because it's a governing body. I don't think what they're doing is improving the game because it's putting unnecessary pressure on people who follow the rules. If they really wanted to clean it up, all this money should be put into investigations like those that were done with the Navarro and Servis case. That's what's going to clean up the game. It's not catching guys with a small overage on bute or something like that, it's getting rid of this off-market clenbuterol and all this other crap that people are using to cheat and win. We know who they are now and we knew who they were before they proved it with Servis and Navarro. If I was a governing body of horseracing, I would put my resources into these investigations.

I thought HISA was supposed to make uniform rules across the board, but it does not. Tracks or states can make their own rules as long as they are more stringent than HISA. I thought HISA would make all that the same and it hasn't, which is really frustrating.

If you could spend one afternoon at the track enjoying the day (i.e. not working), which track would you be at and where would we find you hanging out?

It's gotta be Keeneland. It's close between Keeneland and Saratoga. Back in college, we were in row 20 tailgating. They didn't have tailgating on the Hill back then. We would be there at nine in the morning and tailgate until the second or third race. Now I don't think I have a spot because I don't really go unless I'm running.

If you aren't at the racetrack, what can you be found doing?

I would be either with my family or working out. My kids are into sports, gymnastics and horseback riding. My hobby is exercise, so I'd be at the gym or the gym in my garage.

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On Aftercare: For Portal, Connections Who Care Came Through

Evergreen Stables was a claiming partnership of individuals, friends, family and connections–not all of whom knew each other–with trainer Jordan Blair. On May 23, 2019, Blair claimed Portal (Arch), a late foal of 2014, at Churchill Downs for $40,000.

“Portal was a super cool horse and he was being trained by a good friend Ian Wilkes,” said Blair. “We had been watching him and he was running well. Plus, he is a beautiful, striking almost black horse and had a neat personality.”

Portal won the next two times out in allowance races at Churchill and Ellis Park and gave the owners their most exciting wins ever as an entity. In his fourth race for Evergreen, at Keeneland, Portal didn’t finish and was vanned off after being pulled up on the backstretch by Miquel Mena. In his lifetime, Portal earned $161,513 in 18 starts.

“He took a bad step and they brought him back on the ambulance but he walked off fine,” said Blair. “He fractured his sesamoid with a clean break. It was a career-ending, but not life threatening injury nor was it recommended for surgery.

“We started what we knew would be a long recovery at the barn and after a few weeks brought him up to Brian and Jamie Hernandez’s barn for continued rehab.”

There was never any question that Evergreen was going to pay for Portal for as long as necessary until he found a home.

“It is so important to us and for the industry that owners keep their commitment to the horse,” said Debbie Appel, a partner in Evergreen and currently co-owner of Surfside Stables that also has horses with Blair. “We didn’t know most of the other people in Evergreen but everyone agreed, without question, that we would see our commitment to Portal through to the end.”

After a few months of stall rest, the Blairs began calling and emailing aftercare organizations to place Portal, but that proved difficult.

“He was turned down by every aftercare we called,” said Blair. “The injury was the main problem. No one felt confident in the vet’s prognosis which was that he would be sound for flat work, dressage or trail riding.

“Finally, through Jamie Hernandez, we were introduced to Amelia Foster who buys and sells off-track Thoroughbreds.”

Foster, too, was struck by Portal’s looks and drawn in by his friendly demeanor.

“He is super fancy and at first I was thinking of what a great sale prospect he could be because he was eligible for the Thoroughbred Makeover,” said Foster. “But when I learned more about the diagnosis, care and meticulous rehabilitation process to date, I decided to keep him for myself and take any pressure off of him.

“The trainer and owners had done everything right–to the letter–for this horse and if they were not confident that I was going to do the same, Portal would not have come to me.”

Today, Portal is learning dressage and also teaching novice riders the basics. The personality that had endeared himself to so many people along the way only blossomed and he is one of the easiest horses at Foster’s Cannonbrook Farms to ride.

“When I first got on him, I could not believe how gentle and smart he acted,” said Foster. “I said to myself that this is a testament to how he was handled for the first six years of his life.”

Foster was not put off by Portal’s injury or the vet’s somewhat guarded prognosis.

“In my experience, if you follow the rules and do what the vet says, horses will heal,” said Foster. “Plus, I have no agenda for him. He is going to tell me when he is ready to do more. So far, he has never taken a lame step.”

“I am thrilled whenever Jordan sends me pictures of Portal in his new life,” said Appel. “While the partners in Evergreen were all supportive of his efforts, Portal was saved because of Jordan’s commitment and dedication to him. I was at Keeneland for Portal’s race and witnessed first hand how deeply Portal’s injury affected Jordan. His care of and commitment to Portal, as well as to all the other horses in his barn, is unparalleled.”

“Myself, my wife, my clients, we all really care about where the horses go after racing,” said Blair. “We love the animals, and we love the game. But we got into the game because we love the animal.

“Portal was a lot of fun and brought a lot of joy for a lot of people. We couldn’t be any happier about where he is now.”

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘All I Have In This World Is My Word’

If you pay close enough attention, you might start to recognize the same faces leading horses through the Churchill Downs paddock multiple times over the course of an afternoon of racing.

Of course, due to the current operating rules not allowing spectators on the Louisville, Ky., racetrack, you're limited to watching races from the perspective of the track cameramen. Paired with the face mask every groom leading a horse is required to wear, it's a little harder to watch for Jerry Dixon during the four to six races he works every day.

Or maybe it's the color of his skin that helps Dixon unjustifiably fade into the background.

As a Louisville native, the 52-year-old has been paying extra attention to the recent Black Lives Matter protests after the police killings of Breonna Taylor and David McAtee.

Dixon had been to McAtee's barbeque joint in Louisville's West End multiple times over the years, and said it's always crowded because the food is so good. Police arrived to disperse the crowd the evening McAtee was shot due to Mayor Greg Fischer's curfew, but not because protestors were congregating there. In fact, the protests were mainly happening uptown, not in the West End.

“Real talk: I have tears running down my face for my city,” Dixon wrote on Facebook the morning after McAtee was killed, pleading for a nonviolent community response to the police shooting. “Watching the news on the outside looking in, I want to join the protest but I'm going to do it this way […] Pray for my city, pray for my country, pray that our God give us the justice for all.”

Racism in the world of horse racing is just as prevalent as it is outside the game, with few black trainers and jockeys making it to the sport's top levels. Asked about black horsemen getting a fair shake, Dixon admitted they often don't get the same opportunities for success as those of a different skin color.

“But that's just the way the world is,” he said. “And it's sad, too, because we're losing a lot of old-school horsemanship knowledge with fewer and fewer American grooms out there.”

For his part, Dixon might be easier to recognize when you look for the relaxed countenance of the horse he's handling. He is a true throwback horseman, a remnant of a bygone era, according to multiple trainers employing his services. They are all quick to acknowledge that if they have a racehorse who is particularly nervous or difficult to handle in the paddock, Dixon is who they want handling that horse.

“He's probably one of the best I've ever seen when it comes to handling a nervous horse in the paddock,” said Kentucky-based trainer Tommy Drury. “I think it's mostly experience, but it's also that little extra 'something' that all the good horsemen seem to have. I think it's just a natural ability. It's almost like he can feel what a horse is gonna do in the paddock before they do it and stay a step ahead of them.”

So why does Dixon handle so many horses each race day? He doesn't care for all of them on a regular basis; it'd certainly be a challenge to groom the hundreds of horses he works with over the course of a race meet.

Instead, Dixon has built a thriving business out of Churchill Downs' receiving barn. When trainers ship their horses to Churchill on the day of a race, whether from another track or a local farm or training center, they are stabled in the receiving barn near the stable gates. It can be difficult for those trainers to bring a groom to the track for each horse, especially when that groom usually has several other horses back home they are caring for.

That's where Dixon steps in. Once the horse trailer arrives at Churchill, Dixon meets the trainer or the van driver to help unload the horse and settle him or her into the stall. Then he'll unload all the equipment and take down specific instructions for that horse.

Does the horse require running bandages on all four legs, just two legs, or none at all? Which bridle does the horse need? If he wears blinkers, should they be put on in the paddock or in the barn before leading the horse over?

Dixon can also meet the state veterinarian for the administration of Lasix, and he'll monitor the horse up to and after the race to watch for any problems.

“Look, all I have in this world is my word,” Dixon said. “That's how I got my business … If I say I'm gonna take care of you, I'm gonna take care of you.

“What a trainer wants is when they ship in, they want to be able to know that their horse is alright while they go eat, while they go to the frontside with their owners. No trainer wants to sit back there at the receiving barn in a suit!”

With multiple horses shipping into the receiving barn for each race day, Dixon employs a small crew of three to seven trusted assistants, depending on how busy he is, including his son, Jerry Jr., whom he hopes will eventually take over the business.

Every member of the crew is dressed professionally, usually wearing khaki slacks and a collared shirt, which makes a difference to the trainer and to their owners, Dixon said.

He calls his business “Dixon, Inc.,” though he laughed and joked that the “Inc” doesn't stand for “Incorporated,” but rather, “I Need Cash.”

That self-deprecating humor is a trademark, as is Dixon's work ethic. He walks hots every morning for trainer Jordan Blair at Trackside, Churchill's training center, and on race days he leaves straight from there to meet trainers at the receiving barn.

When Churchill isn't running, Dixon can be found at one of Kentucky's other tracks, like Ellis Park and Keeneland, or as far away as Indiana Grand, Belterra Park, Mountaineer, or even Arlington on Kentucky's dark days. It just depends where the horse trailers are heading that day, and whether he can catch a ride.

It keeps him out of trouble, Dixon said, echoing the reason he was introduced to racing in the first place.

Dixon grew up in Louisville, attending Butler High School in the late 1980s. During the summer between his junior and senior year, Dixon's uncles brought him to the racetrack to help keep him out of trouble, and quickly found him a morning job walking hots for trainer Jerry Romans.

His uncle Danny taught him how to walk horses, and his uncle Mitchell showed him “everything else,” like how to bridle a horse. Dixon remembered that his uncles used to charge him $5 each to apply bandages when he ran a horse, until trainer Steve Decker taught him how to do it for himself!

After he graduated high school, Dixon returned to the track until he got married in 1990 and moved to Northern Kentucky. He kept up with the horses as a hobby, working at Turfway Park on the weekends, but for 10 years his primary job was in roofing.

Eventually Dixon gravitated back to the track, and he noticed a trend at the receiving barn. Guys wanting a job would run to greet trailers as soon as they pulled up, and Dixon thought it was unprofessional.

“I thought, 'I can organize this,'” he remembered. “Some of my first clients were Wayne Mackie and Steve Casey, and of course Tommy Drury.”

Dixon's job doesn't garner him a lot of outside attention, so his name isn't particularly well-known outside the backstretch. He isn't usually handling the high-dollar graded stakes-caliber Thoroughbreds that the media focuses on, simply because there just aren't as many of them as there are lower-level runners.

“Look, when I was younger, it mattered to me whether their odds were higher than 10 to one,” Dixon admitted. “Now, I just want to focus on doing right by my clients.”

Still, the good horses Dixon has handled stick with him, especially Rahystrada, three-time winner of the Arlington Handicap for trainer Byron Hughes. The horse was fourth in the Arlington Million in 2010 and third in 2012, bringing Dixon a whole new level of excitement.

“The chance to work with good horses is a really nice opportunity,” Dixon said. “But really, there are a lot of good, honest runners out there that I like just as much.”

As the world outside the racetrack continues to wrestle with ideas like systemic racism, the racing industry ought to be willing to do the same thing.

But how? What can we do to be better?

Dixon thought about it for a moment, considering.

“We just want to be equal,” he said, leaning in. “Put a black person on the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, a black person in the racing office. I think that'd be a good start.”

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