Mage | Horse Racing Free Tips

TIF Says Triple Crown Pre-Race Inspection Reports Should Be Public

While veterinary scrutiny has increased, communication has not, as U.S. racing has fallen short in the transparency space both this year and many years in the past, the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation (TIF) said on their website on Wednesday.

According to the TIF report, there were more than 33,000 races for Thoroughbreds in the U.S. in 2022, but if you asked the public to name just three of them, chances are they would be the GI Kentucky Derby, the GI Preakness S. and the GI Belmont S.

The report takes the position that the Triple Crown races, despite massive coverage across multiple platforms, still relies on potential hearsay and not regulatory bodies with the specific expertise to offer “formal updates regarding the health and soundness of horses entered in the races which attract the most public attention.”

TIF piece goes on to argue that, “Actual details which media, horseplayers and fans alike can consume, eliminates speculation and repetitive inaccuracies that take hold, particularly across social media, while proving to a wider audience what many inside the sport already know–veterinary scrutiny has never been stronger!”

As with Forte's (Violence) leg injury or Mage's (Good Magic) cut above his eye leading up to this year's Kentucky Derby, the majority of the time the public hears from a veterinarian only after an injury has occurred. Though safety and welfare initiatives are welcomed without question, TIF advocates regulators going further to communicate with the public about the horses and their fitness to compete in the most important U.S. races.

“Communication” will occur regardless–first as whispers amongst some insiders, then tweets and texts that spiral endlessly–all while, as TIF wrote, “the truth is likely sitting in regulatory silence.”

As for international examples, they abound TIF offers. The protocols surrounding the G1 Melbourne Cup in Australia and the pre-race screening administered by the likes of the Hong Kong Jockey Club are models that the U.S. can emulate, which will lead to progress and transparency for the sport.

Click here to access the full report on the TIF website.

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Racetrack Success Leads Back to Timonium as Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale Opens Monday

TIMONIUM, MD – The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, whose graduates have been hitting on all cylinders on the racetrack recently, begins Monday morning at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. A total of 603 juveniles have been catalogue for the two-day auction and bidding begins at 11 a.m sessions Monday and Tuesday.

“There has been a lot of interest and we have the right people here–either they have been here or their agents have been here to watch the horses breeze,” Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sales Director Paget Bennett said at the sales barns Sunday morning. “So we are cautiously optimistic.”

In addition to GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic), who sold for $290,000 in Timonium last May, the Midlantic auction was represented by a pair of graded stakes winners at Pimlico this past weekend, with Straight No Chaser (Speightster) winning the GIII Maryland Sprint S. and Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic) taking the GIII Miss Preakness S. Another 2022 graduate of the sale, multiple graded-stakes winner Faiza (Girvin) was third in the GII Black-Eyed Susan S.

“It just tells you, you can get any kind of horse out of this sale,” Bennett said of the auction's impressive roster of graduates. “It's just huge. It's so rewarding to have this sale finally get the attention that it deserves.”

The Midlantic sale has become the only major 2-year-old auction to conduct its under-tack show over a dirt track, which could be an added attraction to buyers, according to Bennett.

“They want to see them on dirt and then they can figure out how that relates to where they go next,” she said. “From start to finish, they see them on the surface that they are going to run on.”

A common refrain from consignors Sunday, however, was a question mark about how buyers would react to the times of the works from last week's three-day under-tack show.

“My main worry is what the buyers are taking away from the breeze show because it wasn't the usual 2-year-old breeze show where the track is fast,” said consignor Cary Frommer. “It was just a normal track. And those were good times on a normal track. I am afraid the buyers aren't going to make the correlation. But the smart ones will.

She continued, “The first day there was certainly more moisture in the track, it was a little bit sticky. The second day there was a great tailwind and the third day there was a headwind. That's mother nature. If you take those things into consideration, you're fine. But if you're strictly a numbers person, you are going to miss some really good horses.”

Carlos Manresa of Sequel Bloodstock agreed buyers should take conditions from day to day of the under-tack show into consideration.

“They did a very good job maintaining the track,” Manresa said. “I think the weather conditions were very inconsistent. But I think the buyers have a good read on those kinds of things. I think they are very aware of what day horses were breezing and what time they were breezing. If you went on the second day, they look at those numbers a little bit differently than they do on the first day and third day horses.”

Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables sent out 17 horses to work over the track in Timonium last week. Without the super-fast works that have become common at the juvenile sales, Dunne hopes buyers will spread their interest out over a wider swath of horses.

“The racetrack wasn't like any of us had expected in terms of how fast it was,” Dunne said. “But the fact that everyone went the same, I think it's making the buyers work harder. And maybe that will spread them out more.”

Sequel Bloodstock had a notable 2022 Midlantic consignment, which featured the $3.55-million sale topper Hejazi (Bernardini), as well as Derby winner Mage. The operation returns with 11 juveniles this year.

Manresa is expecting a strong top market this week in Maryland, while hoping for a broader middle market.

“I've seen significant buyers here who are wanting to spend a lot of money,” Manresa said. “I think the top end, as usual, will be very strong. The middle market, we will have to wait and see if something develops there. That's always been the more difficult area to sell horses and I don't think this sale is going to be any different.”

The Midlantic sale's setting at the confluence of a number of different tracks–from Maryland to Pennsylvania and New York–makes it easily accessible to regional buyers and could help boost that middle market.

“I think we get a lot of New York trainers turning out for this sale,” Manresa said. “There are a lot of people who come to our consignment specifically looking for New York-breds, which is helpful for us. So I think regional-breds tend to do very well here at this sale.”

With six Maryland-breds and a handful of New York-breds, Frommer is also looking to take advantage of the regional market.

“I know Maryland is in a little bit of turmoil right now and I have a lot of Maryland-breds–and some really nice Maryland-breds, so it remains to be seen [how strong the regional market will be],” Frommer said. “There is always a nice string of people from New York coming down this way. And that's always good. But we will see. I am hoping it will be strong.”

Jorge Villagomez's JVC Training and Sales, which debuted its consignment in Timonium in 2018, returns with a seven-horse consignment this year.

Villagomez was finding activity brisk at the sales barns Sunday morning.

“It's been steady,” he said. “We've been busy all morning. All the big buyers are here and the good horses are showing. We have seven horses and we've been busy with all of them.”

Of his under-tack show results, Villagomez said, “They all performed well. And the good ones showed up. The ones that were fast on the farm, went fast here.”

Villagomez, who preps horses for Gary and Mary West at his Ocala base, worked with Eisaman Equine for 15 years before going out on his own six years ago.

“It was our first consignment here in 2018,” Villagomez said. “We came in with three horses and we sold all three of them. We have been coming every year since.”

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The Week In Review: So Many Storylines On Preakness Day But None Bigger Than Another Tragedy

There was an exciting race, a thrilling stretch duel between winner National Treasure (Quality Road) and runner-up Blazing Sevens (Good Magic), and the first-ever win in the GI Preakness S. by classy Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez. And think what you want of Bob Baffert, but his winning the first Triple Crown race he entered since the suspensions and bans had ended was a compelling chapter to this story. The man sure can train a race horse.

But those stories will start to drift away as we head to the GI Belmont S. and beyond. The one that will not is that this was another Triple Crown race marred by the death of a race horse. Havnameltdown (Uncaptured) broke down on the undercard, during the running of the GIII Chick Lang S., and had to be euthanized. That he is also trained by Baffert was red meat for racing's many critics.

This came after seven horses died at Churchill Downs in the lead-up to the GI Kentucky Derby. Two more horses have died at Churchill since the Derby, including one on Saturday.

From the mainstream media, the takes on the Preakness were predictable. A front-page, above-the-fold story in the Baltimore Sun appeared under this headline: 'National' Conflict. National Treasure's victory in the race contrasted with a horse's death earlier in the day–highlighting the controversy in a historic, but deadly sport. This was the headline on the Associated Press's report of the race: “Baffert back from ban, wins Preakness with National Treasure after another horse euthanized.”

And please don't dismiss this as noise from those who don't understand our game. On the two biggest racing days of the year so far, two days where the general public is paying attention to the sport, we left them with a dark and disturbing narrative, that as long as there is horse racing, horses will die. What's not to understand about that? We had hoped the Preakness card would shift the story, that the day would be without incident, that Mage (Good Magic) would win again and put himself in position to win a Triple Crown, and that we could put the seven deaths at Churchill in the background, at least somewhat. So much for that.

Had it happened to any other trainer, the story wouldn't have taken off like it did. But Baffert, because he is highly visible, trains a lot of very good horses, and has had his problems, is under the microscope like no other trainer.

A day after the Preakness, the Baltimore Sun, never known to be an anti-racing publication, was at it again. This time the subject was Baffert. The headline read “After a record-setting victory, Bob Baffert remains a messy figure atop a messy sport.” The story included this take on the Hall of Famer: “No one does a better job preparing horses to meet their potential on the most-watched stages in racing. No one inspires greater distaste from those who see racing as corrupted by drugs and death.”

Does Baffert deserve to have all the fingers pointed at him? He has had a spotless medication record since coming back from suspension and Havnameltdown was the first horse of his to break down in a race since he came back. Pimlico officials were extra careful to check every horse racing on the card from head to toe and their vets found nothing wrong with Havnameltdown. That Baffert would never have another horse break down was never going to happen. This one just happened to happen at the worst time possible.

In the aftermath of his roller-coaster day, the sport saw a side of him rarely seen. He was obviously very troubled by the death of the horse and during at least one interview was fighting back tears. It was more of the same Sunday when he spoke to the Pimlico media team.

“To me, the memory of this race would be that I lost Havnameltdown,” he said. “It was nice to win the race, but to me it was a pretty sad day.” He continued: “I'm still upset about losing that horse yesterday. My memory of this race is going to be about him. It just took all the fun out of it.”

None of what he said either Saturday or Sunday seemed contrived or an act. You could tell that he was really hurting.

But this shouldn't be about Baffert. It is much bigger than that. It is about what happened at Santa Anita in 2019. It is about the deaths at the Derby. It is about the two horses that died just down the road at Laurel on the April 20 card. It is about those horses you never heard of who have died in races, like Hair of the Dog (Hangover Kid), who died in a $4,500 claimer on April 1 at Charles Town, while no one was paying any attention.

Yes, we can and have done a better job protecting these horses. We could do better still, starting with changing all dirt tracks to the much-safer synthetic surfaces that are out there. That would make a huge difference. But I won't waste much more time on that argument because that's never going to happen. Then there's HISA. It is not a magic bullet, but it should make things better. It goes into effect Monday.

But here's the real problem. We will not ever eliminate breakdowns that lead to horses being euthanized. We still have a social license to operate, but will that last forever? The best we can do right now is to ask the public to accept that horses dying in races is inevitable and that we are working on the problem. That's a tough sell.

Then we cross our fingers, move on to the next big race and hope and pray that nothing goes wrong. It's a terrible position to be in.

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Preakness Runners Plan Next Steps; Mage To Target Travers

Following his win the in GI Preakness S. Saturday, trainer Bob Baffert said that National Treasure (Quality Road) and Sir Barton S. winner Arabian Lion (Justify) would stay at Pimlico for a few more days this week and may go on to New York for races on the Belmont S. program June 10. Though he did not rule out Arabian Lion, he said National Treasure was a more likely candidate for the 1 1/2-mile Belmont S. Baffert said he did not want to send the colts back to his base at California and then ship back to New York.

“They went so slow early, he had so much horse that he couldn't pull him up at the end he told me,” Baffert said. “Arabian Lion, I'm not sure if he's up for the mile and a half, but he did run a big race yesterday. It could change. I have until tomorrow to make these calls. I could change my mind and send them back home on Tuesday. So long as they are eating well, which they are, and they came out of it well, I think I'll be keeping them here relaxed for a little bit and I don't have to ship them.”

Next up for GI Preakness S. third-place finisher Mage (Good Magic) is some time off. The colt, owned by OGMA Investments LLC, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing LLC and CMNWLTH, will head to The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington, Ky.

“He was there from May of last year to October,” Restrepo said after checking on Mage at the Pimlico Stakes Barn Sunday morning. “We will get him turned out and do some training. Everything is great. The colt is fantastic, bright-eyed and his head is up. We could not be any happier with him after trying as hard as did in the Preakness. The kid is an iron horse.”

The next goal for Mage, who won the GI Kentucky Derby in his fourth start, will be the GI Travers S. at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 26.

“We will give him a little vacation and he will power up and we will figure out the best way to get to the Travers,” Restrepo said. “He has not missed a day and has been on the engine since January.”

Blazing Sevens (Good Magic) finished a head behind National Treasure in the second leg of the Triple Crown Saturday.

“We thought he ran exceptionally well,” said John Capek. “It's tough to be a little bit short on the winning side of things, but we are pleased with his progress.”

Blazing Sevens shipped back to New York early Sunday morning. Trainer Chad Brown has not said what the colt's next race will be.

“We will talk to Chad and see what is best for the horse for his next race,” said Capek.

Trainer Steve Asmussen saw enough in Red Route One's (Gun Runner) fourth-place finish that after the race he said the GI Belmont S. is the obvious target.

“You're not guaranteed to get pace in the Belmont. You win races because of pace, and you benefit from it periodically. And then other times you don't. This would have been the latter for him,” he added. “He is nearing $700,000 in earnings. He's kept very good company his whole career and was probably beaten [4 3/4] lengths in the Preakness in a race I don't think set up ideally for him. Does he beat them under different circumstances? Who knows? But I do like the opportunity to run him a mile and a half.”

While he did not contest the Preakness as the runner-up at the Kentucky Derby, Two Phil's (Hard Spun) is possible to return to Churchill Downs in June for the GIII Matt Winn S. according to trainer Larry Rivelli.

Rivelli stated Two Phil's could run in either the Matt Winn June 11 or the GIII Ohio Derby June 24 at Thistledown. Either would be used as a prep for the GI Haskell S. at Monmouth Park July 22 and the GI Travers S. at Saratoga Aug. 26.

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