Tag: Michael Iavarone

Michael Iavarone Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

When the IEAH stable partnership closed down in 2013, it seemed like the sport had seen the last of its founder, Michael Iavarone. But after four years on the sidelines Iavarone returned as the solo owner of a small group of horses in 2017. Since, he has built his stable into a top outfit, as evidenced by the fact that he will have a starter in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational in O'Connor (Chi) (Boboman) and in the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational in Master Piece (Chi) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}).

What brought Iavarone back to the sport, what are his goals and what on earth is the story with the crazy outfits he wears when he shows up at the track? Those were some of the questions we had for Iavarone when he appeared on this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. Iavarone was this week's Green Group Guest of the week.

“So when I left in 2013, obviously I ran a syndicate at the time and we were unwinding the syndicate but I always wanted to essentially come back,” Iavarone said. “I just didn't know when, but I wanted to come back, just not as a syndicate. I wanted to come back with only my own money and have a couple partners. Very much low key, more for the entertainment than a business side of it. So I had to wait for the right time. I went back into the securities industry for an extended period of time. In 2017, I talked it over with my wife and we felt the time was good for a reentry point. So that's when we dipped the toe in, per se.”

Michael Iavarone Joins the TDN Writers' Room from Thoroughbred Daily News on Vimeo.

He said he never enjoyed having the responsibilities that go hand in hand with running a big syndicate. One of his worst memories was having to tell the partners that I Want Revenge (Stephen Got Even) was being scratched the morning of the 2009 GI Kentucky Derby.

“I can tell you that having a conversation with 125 or 150 people that day was so incredibly difficult that at no moment did I get a chance to even accept or even understand myself what just happened,” he said. “It felt like the worst thing in the world for them. And it was one of the worst things in the world for me to have to tell them why we're being scratched. And from that moment forward, it kind of sucked the life out of me because nobody cared or asked me the question, why did the horse scratch? Is the horse okay? It was more of a question of what does that mean to us financially? What does it mean to my investment? What does it mean to my money? And I would say to them, I can't control that. I'm not going to put a racehorse on the racetrack that has the opportunity or even the remote possibility of breaking down. Nobody really cared about that.”

And his outfits? In his IEAH days Iavarone looked and dressed like a Wall Streeter, wearing expensive and conservative suits. Now, he shows up in outfits that look like he stole them from Elvis Presley or maybe Michael Jackson. There are the jump suits, the bling, the deep tan and the ever present sunglasses.

“When I met my wife, she was very much into fashion,” Iavarone said. “So I first tried on something that I thought was kind of outrageous and ridiculous. I was against wearing it out, but I did anyway. I got some compliments. Some people looked at me like I was crazy, but I started to grow more comfortable with it. I felt like I could express myself in an older age. When I was younger I felt like I needed to be molded. I'm comfortable in my skin and I feel like it's fun. I know some people don't like it. Some people, they love it. The good news is I don't have to answer anybody anymore. That's the best part of not being part of a syndicate. So I can kind of do it my way. I feel like the way I dress now and go to the racetrack, it's all about fun.”

In the stallion spotlight segments, the podcast featured Coolmore's Epicenter (Not This Time), who stands for a fee of $40,000. The focus was also on Always Dreaming (Bodemeister), who stands at WinStar for $5,000. His best son, Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming) was this week's Fastest Horse of the Week. He ran a 105 Beyer in his victory in the GIII Louisiana S. at Fair Grounds and is on his way to the Saudi Cup.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by WinStar Farm, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association,1/ST Racing, the KTA & KTOB, West Point Thoroughbreds, and XBTV.com, the team of Randy Moss, Bill Finley and Zoe Cadman looked at a trio of 3-year-olds who were impressive winners last weekend. All three agreed that GIII Lecomte S. winner Track Phantom (Quality Road) and maiden winners Hall of Fame (Gun Runner) and Maymun (Frosted) are horses to watch on the road to the GI Kentucky Derby. There were also discussions of the news that Bob Baffert and Amr Zedan had dropped their last lawsuits challenging the decision to disqualify Medina Spirit (Protonico) from the 2021 Kentucky Derby and the developments out of Saudi Arabia where The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia announced that it is, finally, moving closer to disqualifying Maximum Security (New Year's Day) from his win in the 2020 Saudi Cup.

To watch the Writers' Room podcast video, click here. To listen to an audio version, click here.

The post Michael Iavarone Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Pegasus Turf Contender Flavius Joins Mike Maker’s Barn

To trainer Mike Maker, you can never have enough horses for Gulfstream Park's $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1), so imagine his delight when owner Michael Iavarone called and told Maker that he'd purchased Flavius for $230,000 at Keeneland's November sale.

Maker said Flavius is his kind of horse, but one that just dropped into his shedrow out of the blue.

“I had nothing to do with it. They called me up and asked if I'd like to take him. That was it,” he said, adding cheerfully, “Good day for me.”

While owned by breeder Juddmonte Farms and trained by Chad Brown, the 6-year-old Flavius won four of 14 starts, with three seconds and two thirds, earning $737,673. After starting out in Ireland, he won his first U.S. stakes in Kentucky Downs' $750,000 Tourist Mile. Flavius finished fifth as the favorite in his attempt to repeat at Kentucky Downs, where the stakes now is the $1 million WinStar Mint Million Mile (G3). His only start since that Sept. 6 race was a third in Aqueduct's $150,000 Artie Schiller before being sold.

Flavius had his first recorded workout for Maker Dec. 11, powering five-eighths of a mile in 59.44 seconds, the fastest of 20 works at the distance that morning. He recorded another 'bullet' work Saturday, going five furlongs in 1:00.11. The horse has raced once before at Gulfstream Park, finishing fourth by a length in the 2019 Fort Lauderdale (G2) in his second U.S. start.

The Maker-trained Field Pass earned the right to pursue the Pegasus Turf by capturing Del Mar's Sea Biscuit (G2). Field Pass, owned by Three Diamonds Farm, has raced all over the country but only once before at Gulfstream, winning the 2020 Dania Beach.

“He's a model of consistency, sound, danced every dance,” Maker said. “Travels all over.”

Three Diamond Farms' Atone and Cross Border, both owned by Three Diamonds Farm, also are possible for the Pegasus Turf, Maker has said. Atone finished second Saturday in the Fort Lauderdale (G2). Cross Border, third in the 2021 Pegasus Turf, captured Saratoga's Bowling Green (G2). The 7-year-old horse won the Prairie Bayou Saturday at Turfway.

Maker said the Pegasus Turf fills an important void on the stakes calendar by offering a big-money Grade 1 grass race in January.

“There aren't very many options on the grass in the winter,” he said.

The post Pegasus Turf Contender Flavius Joins Mike Maker’s Barn appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Breeders’ Cup First-Timer O’Callaghan Has ‘Monster’ Twilight Jet Ready For Juvenile Turf Sprint

Most of the time when Michael O'Callaghan sees a horse he selected at the sales go on to top-level success, it's been with another trainer's name on the racing program. This year, the 33-year-old Irishman has found himself along for the ride as Twilight Jet headed overseas to contest the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. 

“Ever since I got into horse racing at about 15, which is what, 18 years ago, the Breeders' Cup has always been up here,” O'Callaghan said Thursday morning. “It's above everything. It just kind of grabbed my imagination early on, so just to be here with a horse that deserves to be here, no matter what he does on Friday, will be a bonus.”

The colt impressed onlookers with a quick jump-out from the Del Mar gates on Nov. 2, showing off his impressive strides down the stretch.


Twilight Jet will be the first starter at the World Championships for O'Callaghan, whose resume includes the selection of classic-placed horses like Blue De Vega and Now or Never, who each also won Group races, Group 2 winner Bodhicitta, as well as the more recent G3 winner Steel Bull. 

O'Callaghan and his partners' business model is to select horses primarily at the 2-year-old sales, then to develop those at his base at The Curragh. The goal is then to sell those young horses to an international market, either at public horses-of-racing-age sales or privately. 

Twilight Jet, a colt sired by the two-time Group 1 winner Twilight Son, was a $292,503 purchase at the Goffs UK Breeze Up Sale earlier this year. The most expensive juvenile O'Callaghan and his partners have ever purchased, the colt has paid dividends on that risk. Through 10 starts this season, including a last-out victory in the G3 Cornwallis Stakes at Newmarket, Twilight Jet has compiled a record of two wins and three thirds while regularly finishing well against top company.

“He's danced every dance,” said O'Callaghan. “Every time he's come out of his race, I've been thinking of giving him a little bit of a break, and he's just like, 'No, I gotta go again!' It's not just his attitude, it's everything physically. He puts on weight after the runs, gets stronger, moves better. He's just a monster.”

A Tweet O'Callaghan posted shortly after the Cornwallis win, indicating the Breeders' Cup was the colt's next target, saw owner Michael Iavarone reach out to purchase a 50 percent share. Twilight Jet will run in Iavarone's colors this Friday at Del Mar, then will remain in O'Callaghan's care for the 2022 season.

“By all accounts, we're going to have one hell of a party Friday night, win, lose, or draw,” O'Callaghan said. “So we're looking forward to that! To be here is a bonus after the season we've had with this guy.”

Though this is his first Breeders' Cup starter, O'Callaghan has long been planning how he'd prepare a horse to run on American soil.

“I always had in my head that if I ever had one running out here, I'd want to get them used to the bell because the first time they hear the bell, if that's gonna be on race day they might just pause,” he explained. “The majority of the time, the European horses aren't as quick as the American horses here out of the gates, but he's got a lot of natural speed early. He's very quick out of the gate; he's very switched on. We've done plenty of practice at home with the bell, so he knows the bell means to go.”

It's a clever method for the horseman who grew up well outside the sphere of horse racing. O'Callaghan only became interested in the sport through his grandfather's weekend wagers, and eventually started to push to learn more.

“I've no direct connection with horse racing, through family background,” said O'Callaghan. “I didn't have any intention of going to a traditional college, so I had to put my own sort of college together.”

O'Callaghan amassed great experience in the industry working for the likes of Tom Cooper, Coolmore, and Castlehyde Stud. He is also an award-winning graduate of the Irish National Stud Course.

That education has helped O'Callaghan to slowly build his own training resume each season, and 2021 is his best year yet in terms of prize money earned. The trip to Del Mar with Twilight Jet is hopefully the beginning of his new presence at the top of the European racing scene, as O'Callaghan hopes to target a Group 1 with the colt in 2022.

“He's making our life easy, training well, improving every day,” the trainer said. “You could arguably say he's better now than he was on Monday. 

“I'm trying not to get too excited, but I'm looking forward to Friday.”

The post Breeders’ Cup First-Timer O’Callaghan Has ‘Monster’ Twilight Jet Ready For Juvenile Turf Sprint appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Twilight Jet Another Breeze-Up Success For O’Callaghan

Del Mar, CA–This spring, Irish trainer Michael O'Callaghan decided to roll the dice. Betting on his own past successes at the breeze-up sales, O'Callaghan and his investors doubled down on prospects they predicted could get them to the winner's circle and land lucrative overseas sales. That gamble has taken them all the way from The Curragh to Southern California for the Breeders' Cup, with Twilight Jet (GB) (Twilight Son {GB}) lining up in Friday's GII Juvenile Turf Sprint for O'Callaghan and new part-owner Michael Iavarone.

At £210,000, Twilight Jet was the most expensive of almost 30 juveniles purchased by O'Callaghan at this year's breeze-ups. He has been on the go ever since, making his debut at Naas just three weeks after that Doncaster transaction. After breaking his maiden two starts later on June 1, Twilight Jet spent the summer mixing it with the best of his generation, running in races like the G2 Norfolk S. and the G1 Phoenix S. before picking up placings in the G2 Gimcrack S. and G2 Champagne S. Dropping back to five furlongs for the G3 Cornwallis S. at Newmarket on Oct. 8, Twilight Jet broke like a bullet before taking a lead. Quickening again inside the final furlong, he drew away to win by a professional two lengths.

“Ninety-nine point nine percent of horses wouldn't let you train them that way, but he's just allowed us to be-not tough on him, but he's just taken every assignment and come out of it better,” O'Callaghan said. “He's learned from it, he's either strengthened up or got stronger mentally. He's got better and better all the time. All that stands him in good stead for this week. There is a bit of a buzz around [Del Mar] that's got bigger and bigger since Monday. The season that he's put under his belt back home; traveling to the UK for five races, he's well used to traveling now and this is his sixth international trip this year. From Ireland to the UK it's a long trek as well; it might seem close, but they're shipping for 12 to 14 hours, and then home again within a three or four day window.”

O'Callaghan said that despite his busy campaign, Twilight Jet is in good nick ahead of the Breeders' Cup.

“He's settled in really well,” the trainer said. “He's a horse with a great constitution. This will be his 11th start and we bought him at the breeze-ups in May so it's a huge advertisement for that, but also a huge advertisement for the horse–how good his mind is and the way he takes his racing. He traveled here as well, if not better, than any of the older horses that were on the same shipment and he's trained so well since. He's come alive; he's a bit of a show-off and he loves strutting around the place.”

Twilight Jet's local preparations included a short work from the gate at Del Mar on Tuesday, and O'Callaghan said the fast break required in American racing is something they have been working on at home. That training won't be in vain, with Twilight Jet having drawn the rail under regular rider Leigh Roche.

“He's always quick away, he's always switched on,” O'Callaghan said. “We have our own bell set up so he knew what was coming. The jump-out [on Tuesday] just sharpened him up, then he breezed a couple furlongs out of the gate. That's so important here, especially in the Juvenile Turf Sprint. It's a short run to the turn so he needs to be able to jump and hold his position.

“We'd like to be on the front end somewhere–if someone wants to go out in front of him they can. He's a horse that can settle behind the pace, or if they're not going quick enough he can set it himself.”

After racing in O'Callaghan's name up to this point, Twilight Jet will carry new colours going forward; those of new part-owner Michael Iavarone. Iavarone is best known in racing circles as a principal of IEAH Racing, which campaigned 2008 GI Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown as well as Breeders' Cup winners Stardom Bound and Court Vision, and champion Benny The Bull. Iavarone exited the game shortly after Big Brown's success, but returned in 2017 to start building up a new stable of his own. Twilight Jet will remain in O'Callaghan's care.

“The deal we brokered with Mike was that he was to buy 50% of the horse and he's to run in his colours, and he's to ship home and I'll train him for the rest of his career, and the original ownership retains 50%,” he explained. “Mine and my partners' business model is to buy them at the breeze-ups and get form into them and sell them to that international market. So when you get to keep one like this it makes it all the sweeter. We're all in it for getting to places like this, but sometimes you need to sell your good horses just to survive. Luckily enough we've been able to sell 50% of this guy and retain the original partnership as well. And to have someone like Mike Iavarone on board; he's a big character and he loves the game. He purchased two horses for Leigh Roche to ride here on Thursday, so Leigh will have two rides on the Del Mar turf on Thursday to familiarize himself with it. It's great to have Mike on board for this and the next chapter. Hopefully Friday is just the start of it and hopefully we can go back to Europe next year and win a Group 1.”

O'Callaghan was introduced to Iavarone by Jamie Lloyd and David Meah, who brokered the deal for owner Calvin Nguyen to purchase another O'Callaghan breeze-up purchase, Bodhicitta (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), who won last year's GII Yellow Ribbon S. and runs in Saturday's GII Goldikova S. at Del Mar.

“Jamie Lloyd and David Meah have bought a couple of good horses off me over the years,” he said. “I purchased Bodhicitta at the breeze-ups and she started her career with me in Ireland and since then I've had a good relationship with them. That's what it's all about for me, is building relationships with these guys that can buy these horses. It's good for us long term; it's a long game. When [Twilight Jet] won the Cornwallis the way he did, I sent out a Tweet the next morning when he arrived home-there was a picture of him and I said, 'I'm thinking of giving you a holiday' to the horse, and he said, 'to hell with that, I want to go to Del Mar.' I Tweeted it and it caught the guys' [Lloyd's and Meah's] attention, it caught Mike Iavarone's attention, and we got it done.”

Twilight Jet isn't the only horse from O'Callaghan's 2021 crop of breezers that he has been able to sell on: “three or four” have been sold to Hong Kong, he said, and at last month's Tattersalls Autumn Horses-In-Training Sale, his 95,000gns Guineas breeze-up purchase I Am Magic (Ire) (Magician {Ire}) was bought by BBA Ireland for 200,000gns, having won and been third in the recent G3 Killavullan S. O'Callaghan said he was emboldened at the breeze-ups this spring by his past history of success in that realm.

“All the good horses I've ever trained I bought myself at the breeze-ups, even if they were for other people,” he said. “I had Now Or Never for Qatar Racing who was third in an Irish 1000 Guineas and Blue De Vega who was third in a 2000 Guineas on the same weekend. I bought some horses for Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum that were stakes placed and broke their maidens. We've had many stakes horses over the years and they've all come from the breeze ups.

“This was the year I said, 'we're going to give it a kick, we're going to up the numbers.' Being a trainer in Ireland is very, very competitive. It's the best pool of horses in the world but also the best pool of young talent, and of established trainers as well. You can't be relying on people to send you horses, so it was just a case of going out and trying to find talent ourselves, taking a chance. It was a big risk, but also a big reward if it came off. And it's what I enjoy as well; I love scouring the sales for young horses and trying to find these good horses. It's all about enjoying it and playing the bigger game.”

The post Twilight Jet Another Breeze-Up Success For O’Callaghan appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights