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Oleksandra To Point For Troy, Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint Before She Is Offered At Auction

Team Valor International's Oleksandra came out of her Grade 1 victory over males in the Grade 1 Jaipur Stakes in good shape, except for a nick on a lower front limb as a result of runner-up Kanthaka bearing into her at the break.

Trainer Neil Drysdale has decided to leave her at Belmont Park instead of returning her to Southern California. She will point for the Grade 3 Troy Stakes going 5 1/2 furlongs on grass for a $200,000 purse on the Travers Stakes undercard on Aug. 8 at Saratoga.

The 6-year-old daughter of Animal Kingdom may have one more race before contesting the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland.

“That will be her last race for Team Valor,” said Barry Irwin of Team Valor International. “She will be offered for sale after the BC at an auction in Kentucky with an as-yet undetermined agent.”

William Nader of the Hong Kong Racing Club tendered an invitation to the mare for “the world's richest turf sprint on December 13” so it is possible the mare's new owner could race her there or in Dubai over the winter before sending her off to the breeding shed.

Oleksandra became the first Australian-bred to win a Grade 1 in North America since the Pattern Race scheme went into being in 1974.

Her 101 Beyer Speed Figure was bettered on Saturday's Belmont Stakes card only by runaway Grade 1 Acorn Stakes winner Gamine.

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Report: 27 Workers At Keeneland Tested Positive For COVID-19 Since May 9

As states continue the rolling back COVID-19 closures and restrictions, the Lexington-Herald Leader reported Friday that more workers at Keeneland have tested positive for the virus than any other employer in Lexington.

Since reopening in Kentucky began on May 9, the newspaper reported 27 people at the track have tested positive. Most of them are backstretch workers, rather than Keeneland employees.

All but two of the 27 have since been cleared to return to work.

Keeneland officials reported that 1,000 tests have been administered to workers as part of its biosecurity protocol. Anyone testing positive is required to quarantine off-site.

Read more at the Lexington Herald-Leader

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Kentucky HBPA Requests Judge Alter Ruling In 2-Year-Old Lasix Case

Two weeks after a judge denied a motion for a temporary injunction from the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (KHBPA) to halt Lasix-free 2-year-old racing in the state, the organization is asking him to reconsider. Earlier this month, Franklin County Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate denied the motion for temporary injunction and also granted a motion to dismiss the case against the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, Churchill Downs, and Keeneland for a lack of standing.

Now, the KHBPA's attorneys say, that decision was unfair. Part of Judge Wingate's order focused on the organization's standing, which had been questioned by the defendants just before a hearing in late May. The KHBPA says the judge's order referred to affidavits from KHBPA members which were never intended to address the legal question of standing. The question of standing can include questions about the identity of a party, as well as whether a plaintiff can demonstrate they have suffered an injury as the result of actions by defendants.

In this case, Judge Wingate's order echoed a motion by the defendants, who say the “alleged injury” to KHBPA was speculative and not concrete. He also questioned why the KHBPA did not bring forth the name of an individual owner or trainer claiming to have been injured by the Lasix ban. The KHBPA said that it can do so, and simply wasn't given the opportunity before.

Parties in the case are expected to appear before the court on July 29 to hear arguments surrounding the KHBPA's latest motion. Prior to the June dismissal of the case, The Jockey Club, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and the Breeders' Cup were all permitted to file amicus briefs in support of the defendants in the case.

At a meeting of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission this week, equine medical director Dr. Bruce Howard reported that so far this meet, Churchill Downs has held eleven 2-year-old races without race-day Lasix. Those races have included a total of 107 starters. None of them experienced epistaxis (bleeding from the nostrils), according to the commission's records.

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Mark Taylor Joins TDN Writers’ Room to Talk Sale Market, Not This Time

As the sale season finally restarts, Taylor Made vice president Mark Taylor joined the TDN Writers’ Room presented by Keeneland this week to discuss where he sees the market going from here, the early success of Taylor Made stallion Not This Time (Giant’s Causeway) and a host of other hot-button industry issues.

Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week on the heels of OBS Spring, Taylor said, “I don’t see any scenario where the market’s not going to be off from 2019. I think just [with] everything that we’ve been through, it’s just too much to overcome not to expect some decline. I was actually relieved a little bit from the OBS results. I thought that it could have been worse … With the high volume of horses they have there, you really rely on a lot of those foreign buyers that come in to pick up a lot of those horses. And with some travel restrictions, logistical problems, and just fear factor, I think the participation from those groups was noticeably down. And that’s really a struggle. We need those buyers.”

Taylor Made Stallions has been the early winner of the freshman sire race with 2016 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile runner-up Not This Time being represented by several impressive maiden breakers and the topper at OBS Spring when a filly from his first crop sold for $1.35 million.

“It was fantastic,” Taylor said. “When you’re in the stallion game, that’s what really breathes hope into your whole organization. When you can get a horse that’s starting to gain momentum and you think there’s a lot of blue sky there … He had really elite level talent. And now his babies are showing that they can run. But still, we’re in the first four miles of a marathon. So we’re just hoping that it keeps going.”

Elsewhere in the show, the crew previewed Saturday’s GI Belmont S. card and the action at Royal Ascot and, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, had a spirited debate about the new whip restrictions introduced in California and Kentucky. Click here to watch the podcast on Vimeo and click here for the audio-only version.

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