Louisiana racing | Horse Racing Free Tips

LTBA To Host October Yearling/Mixed Sale

The Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association's Breeders Sales Company of Louisiana will be holding a Yearling Sale followed by a Mixed Session Oct. 2, 2021 at the Equine Sales of Louisiana Facility in Opelousas, La. Consignment forms will be in the mail and online here shortly.

“With the Equine Sales Company deciding not to conduct any sales in 2021 the Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association's Board of Directors felt it was necessary to serve our breeders and provide a market for their horses,” the LTBA said in a press release. “We look forward to your entries and anticipate a successful sale.”

The post LTBA To Host October Yearling/Mixed Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Letter To The Editor: Racing Officials, Investigators Need To Be Accountable For Their Mistakes

“Ganas…all we need is ganas.”

-Jaime Escalante, Stand and Deliver

Pretty simple words to say, but much harder to truly live by, and the racing industry is at the point now where it needs to truly not only say these words, but to live them.

(The Spanish word “ganas” translates in English to “desire.”)

If we look around rulings made by stewards and/or racing commissions, we often see cases that are overturned on appeal (either at the commission level of the public court level). Many times it can all be due to a technicality or a lack of proper work being done on the part of the investigators.

Sometimes rulings or decisions are made with no obvious basis in legal reasoning (as many have argued in the ongoing saga of the “Justify” positive case that is on its way to the courts). More baffling is when we see no proper investigative work being done at all. Look no further than the bizarre case out of Louisiana, where a groom was sanctioned for stealing a prohibited compounded medication from a trainers barn, yet the stewards never even decided to do a search of the trainer's barn to look for possible other illegal substances. No action was ever even taken against the trainer in the case.

(Read more about the Louisiana case here.)

We cannot blame defense attorneys for getting their clients' cases dismissed on these premises, for that is their job. You can, however, hold the investigators and stewards more accountable for not thoroughly investigating and prosecuting cases. Do the job right and the loopholes disappear. (Yes, I know this will not be true in every single case, but it will be for a vast majority of them.) No fan, new or old, will tolerate such incompetence at times when their gambling dollars are on the line.

I will admit I do not have all the answers to fix this problem, but routine requirements such as a mandatory level of training and continuing education are an easy basic start. Perhaps all those who are stewards, investigators, and commission members should be held to the “Kranz Dictum” that went out from NASA flight director Gene Kranz after the tragic Apollo 1 launchpad fire that killed astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee in 1967:

“From this day forward, Flight Control will be known by two words: “Tough” and “Competent.” Tough means we are forever accountable for what we do or what we fail to do. We will never again compromise our responsibilities. Every time we walk into Mission Control we will know what we stand for. Competent means we will never take anything for granted. We will never be found short in our knowledge and in our skills. Mission Control will be perfect. When you leave this meeting today you will go to your office and the first thing you will do there is to write “Tough and Competent” on your blackboards. It will never be erased. Each day when you enter the room these words will remind you of the price paid by Grissom, White, and Chaffee. These words are the price of admission to the ranks of Mission Control.”

Simply replace some of those space related terms with racing locations, and the names of the astronauts with the names of the horses and humans who have died because of lack of giving 100%, and the dictum more than fits for racing.

It should be mandatory that all stewards, investigators, and commission members to have “Tough” and “Competent” written in places where they can always see it, shouldn't it? It probably should be mandatory for all participants in the racing industry. All it takes to make this happen is “ganas.”

–Dr. Bryan Langlois, past president of the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association, board of directors of Animal Care PA and Thorofan

If you would like to submit a letter to the editor, please write to info at paulickreport.com and include contact information where you may be reached if editorial staff have any questions.

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Familiar Stables, And A Few Newcomers, Converging At Fair Grounds This Winter

A deep and competitive backstretch will be that much tougher this winter when Fair Grounds opens their 149th meet Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 26, as several new trainers will make their presence felt for the first time. The who's who list is led by reigning four-time Eclipse Award winner Chad Brown, who will have 24 stalls and joins two-time defending champion Brad Cox, along with perennial powers Ron Faucheux, Tom Amoss and Steve Asmussen, in making up one of the most talented and well-stocked group of conditioners to have ever descended on Fair Grounds.

Brown, based primarily in New York for the first decade of his career, has branched out in recent years and put down roots in Kentucky this year for the first time, which created a natural progression towards Fair Grounds.

“Being in the Midwest at Churchill Downs, and with things going well, we felt it made a lot of sense to bring a division to Fair Grounds and try to establish a year-round circuit,” Brown said. “We're optimistic that we can be competitive down there this winter.”

Brown, who has long had the deepest and most talented grass horses in the country, is familiar with Fair Grounds' biggest turf stakes, the Muniz Memorial Classic (G2), as he shipped Bricks and Mortar in to win the race in 2019, in what helped kickstart a Horse of the Year campaign that ended with a win in the Breeders' Cup Turf. While he plans on taking advantage of the local turf course, he expects to be well represented on all levels.

“Right now, we're still finalizing who we're going to bring down there and what kind of horses fit best, regardless of what class or division it might be,” Brown said. “We'll look over the condition book and see, on a horse-by-horse basis, what makes the most sense. If we have a lot of horses for the same condition it makes sense to separate them. And certainly, we'll keep our clients in mind as well, as some like to race in certain spots, based on where they are located.”

Brown is based at Palm Meadows in South Florida during the winter and will still call that home, which means Whit Beckman, a Louisville native who oversaw the Kentucky division this year, will be running the shedrow at Fair Grounds.

“Whit has been with us a few years now and has done a terrific job with the Kentucky string this year,” Brown said. “He's proven himself to be an excellent horseman and will be familiar with a lot of the horses we send to Fair Grounds.”

Though the list of newcomers is clearly led by Brown, there are several other nationally recognized trainers who will have a string at Fair Grounds this winter, including Norm Casse, who will have 21 stalls, while Ignacio Correas (26), Cherie DeVaux (22), Tommy Drury (6), Austin Gustafson (22), Anthony Quartarolo (14), Kelly Rubley (15), and Shane Wilson (40) are all new faces.

A smaller presence at Fair Grounds in recent years, Keith Desormeaux (25) has upped the ante for 2020-21. He's enjoyed local success in the past, winning the Risen Star (G2) in 2013 with 135-1 longshot Ive Struck a Nerve, while Drury could bring G2 winning 3-year-old Art Collector to run in next season's handicap division.

Cox, who pulled clear late last year and won the trainer's title with 40 wins, is the favorite to win it this year and will have the maximum allotted 44 stalls, as will Faucheux, who ran second with 34 wins. Amoss (29 wins) and Asmussen (26) also have 44 stalls, as do top-10 trainers Bret Calhoun, Joe Sharp, Al Stall, and Mike Stidham.

The jockey's race was a meet-long battle last year, as James Graham booted home 63 winners to outlast Mitchell Murrill by one and Colby Hernandez by three, and the trio will again lead the way this year. Florent Geroux (56 wins), Brian Hernandez Jr. (44), Adam Beschizza (44), Shaun Bridgmohan (38), Gabriel Saez (35), and Miguel Mena (32) were all in the top-10 and will be back this winter as well.

Opening Day marks the first of 76 racing days as Fair Grounds will run through March 28. There will be over $7 million in stakes races, highlighted by the March 20, $1 million Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby. A pocket schedule, along with a complete list of the stakes schedule, can be found here: https://www.fairgroundsracecourse.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/2020-2021-THOROUGHBRED-RACING-AND-STAKES-CALENDAR.pdf

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Harrah’s Louisiana Downs Offering Off-Season Training And Stall Space

Harrah's Louisiana Downs is offering horsemen an opportunity to train and stable their Thoroughbreds at the Bossier City, La., racetrack during the months of October through March.

When the Evangeline Training Center closed in 2018, officials acknowledged that many Louisiana Thoroughbred trainers were in need of a facility to stable and train their racehorses. The Bossier City-Shreveport metroplex offers convenient proximity for shipping to Delta Downs in Vinton, La.; Fair Grounds in New Orleans; Remington Park in Oklahoma as well as upcoming live meets at Sam Houston Race Park and Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.

Space and availability for Thoroughbreds is limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Horsemen are encouraged to contact David Heitzmann, Harrah's Louisiana Downs Director of Racing at (318) 741-2511 or (318) 741-2512 for rates and information.

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