The Friday Show Presented By Monmouth Park: Talking Thoroughbred Makeover

Just as there are “baby” races at the track, off-track Thoroughbreds have their own kind of competition restricted to newcomers — the Thoroughbred Makeover, scheduled for Oct. 12-17 at the Kentucky Horse Park near Lexington, Ky.

The event, offering $100,000 in prize money and consisting of 10 different disciplines, brings together Thoroughbreds that are in their first year transitioning from the racetrack to a second career.

Jonathan Horowitz, who calls the races at Colorado's Arapahoe Park, has been the announcer at the Thoroughbred Makeover since 2015. Since January 2020, he's been documenting  his new avocation in a series of articles at the Paulick Report, “Horowitz On OTTBs,” highlighting the challenges and triumphs that come with working with off-track Thoroughbreds.

“I appreciate that it's not easy to do,” said Horowitz, who joins publisher Ray Paulick and editor in chief Natalie Voss on this week's Friday Show. “I appreciate that when you get it, it's one of the most rewarding feelings. It's a sport where … imagine if you're a basketball player and the basketball had a mind of its own.”

While Horowitz will not be competing at this year's Thoroughbred Makeover, Voss will be in the dressage ring at the Horse Park with her off-track Thoroughbred, Underscore (fondly known as Blueberry around the barn). She's a tireless advocate for giving ex-racehorses the best chance possible for a second career that can be just as rewarding for the horse as a trip to the winner's circle.

Watch this week's Friday Show, presented by Monmouth Park, below:

The post The Friday Show Presented By Monmouth Park: Talking Thoroughbred Makeover appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

The Friday Show Presented By Monmouth Park: Overheard On Wiretap

A recent brief filed by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York in support of wiretaps of a number of individuals indicted in March 2020 revealed partial transcripts of some of the trainers, veterinarians and suppliers rounded up in this federal racehorse doping probe.

The defendants are trying to have evidence compiled from intercepted phone conversations thrown out, saying the FBI didn't exhaust other investigatory practices before seeking approval for such surveillance. Prosecutors point out why the wiretaps were necessary and that traditional methods would not have worked.

A judge in the case has yet to decide whether to permit the evidence obtained through the wiretaps.

In this week's edition of the Friday Show, publisher Ray Paulick and editor in chief Natalie Voss review some of the conversations held among various defendants – including Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro – that were intercepted by the FBI. They reveal that the trainers had no idea what was in some of the substances they were injecting into horses in their care.

Voss also provides some details on Scott Mangini, a peddler of non-FDA approved substances who has pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday.

Joe Nevills then joins Paulick to talk about this week's Woodbine Star of the Week.

Watch this week's show, presented by Monmouth Park, below:

The post The Friday Show Presented By Monmouth Park: Overheard On Wiretap appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

The Friday Show Presented By Monmouth Park: Disgust In Delaware

When the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission reduced a two-year suspension to just 60 days for trainer Amber Cobb, found by Delaware Park's board of stewards to have “demonstrated cruelty to a horse in her care,” the Paulick Report was besieged with messages of outrage and disgust from a wide array of people in Thoroughbred racing.

“I feel so sick,” one trainer commented after watching the video that accompanied Paulick Report editor-in-chief Natalie Voss' story on the appeals hearing that led to the reduction of Cobb's suspension. “That girl should never, ever be allowed near another horse. … I can't remember watching a video I was more shocked at seeing ever in my life.”

In this week's edition of the Friday Show, Voss joins publisher Ray Paulick to try and explain the unexplainable; namely, why the Delaware racing commissioners refused to support their stewards and reduced Cobb's suspension so dramatically. The commission was led by chairman  W. Duncan Patterson Jr., who praised Cobb during the hearing for being “articulate,” adding, “You were an excellent witness.” Along with the praise for Cobb came criticism from the commission of the whistleblower who took the video and went to the stewards.

Bloodstock editor Joe Nevills joins Paulick to review this week's Woodbine Star of the Week, the 3-year-old Ontario-bred filly Il Malocchio, gutsy winner of last weekend's Bison City Stakes.

Watch this week's show, presented by Monmouth Park, below:

The post The Friday Show Presented By Monmouth Park: Disgust In Delaware appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Voss: Twelve Things About Saratoga That Warm My Heart

It is increasingly difficult, if you are an investigative journalist, to find moments of solace in this sport. The last few years have been a parade of what's overtly going wrong in racing, sometimes right in the middle of moments that should be the very best of us – like the 2021 Kentucky Derby or the 2019 Breeders' Cup Classic.

It becomes all the more important then, to remember what brought you to horse racing and what keeps you in. For me, the annual summer sojourn I'm lucky enough to take to Saratoga Springs, N.Y.,  each August contains a lot of the things that warm my already-cold, already-hardened reporter's heart. In case they also warm yours, here are a few of my favorites:

  • The children who line the jockey walk between the winner's circle and the jockeys' quarters, shyly asking for autographs and pictures. There is no bigger smile at the track than a kid who has just met a super hero, and for some of them it's clear jockeys are pretty close. The riders demonstrate incredible patience for what must feel like a never-ending parade of young fans, even as they have to hurry back to change for their next ride.
  • The hush of the people who gather along the rail at the Oklahoma Training Track for turf works, peering through binoculars. They're almost silent as the horses come by to watch their strides more closely, in very much the same way I turn down the car radio when I'm trying to read a road sign. But in their attention there is also reverence.
  • The toll of the bell to let race patrons know the horses are in the paddock – because at this track, at this meet, almost everybody knows what the paddock is and interested in knowing that the horses are entering it.
  • The family who assembled an elaborate set-up which included color-coordinated table cloths, balloons a gift table and a homemade spread of endless food and a decorated cake for someone's birthday in the Backyard – making it appear as though it was their own backyard on a Saturday afternoon. In a way, I suppose it was.
  • Morning barn rounds with longtime Albany Times-Union contributor Tim Wilkin. Tim has been in the business for longer than I've been alive (sorry, Tim) and he is of the old breed of New York turfwriter. They're a serious bunch with an air of 'been there, done that' because they have. Mornings with Tim involve trips to the top trainers' barns and there is work, yes, as he conducts interviews, runs down news tips, plots out his content for the day. But when he's done, he has a pocket full of peppermints and he visits his favorite horse in the shed row. Often times it's a graded stakes horse, but sometimes it's a more anonymous competitor he has taken a shine to. He'll feed the horse a candy and smile at them. Swiss Skydiver is his favorite right now. “Isn't she amazing?” he'll say.
  • Ken McPeek assistant Francis Chiumiento, who recalled letting a young girl and her family in to visit Swiss Skydiver, not knowing until later the child had just beaten cancer and he had made her birthday extra special.
    [Story Continues Below]
  • Late mornings on Clare Court, which is a series of jogging paths underneath huge pine trees behind the chute of the main track. The light comes in golden and dramatic, and horses take time over their work. They seem to take a deep breath back there, looping through figure eights or strengthening through their first canters off a lay-up. Ponies nibble the grass. The backstretch tour tram stops by, and a carefully-chosen Thoroughbred ambassador greets the families calmly as they ooh and aah and snap his picture.
  • The ponies who stand like generals overlooking a battle as the gates thunder open, as field after field scampers by, unfazed by the water truck or the harrow.
  • The sounds of Reggie's Red Hot Feet Warmers, the swing band whose horn and clarinet sing out through the front gates. Nothing is quite so bad after you've heard them play I'll See You In My Dreams or I Double Dare You or All Of Me.
  • Barn dogs, who really believe they're assistant training. Barn cats, who are spoiled beyond belief and really believe they deserve it. Barn goats who care for no one and nothing.
  • Watching the races from the roof, where you can see everything perfectly and hear a perfect mix of announcer John Imbriale, the conversations and cheers from the apron, and the jockeys calling to their mounts in the stretch.
  • The track tradition of blaring New York State Of Mind through the loudspeakers at the end of the card. I am not much for Billy Joel, and the song really doesn't have a lot to do with Saratoga Springs, but it's become a sad, dramatic, strange goodbye at the end of the last race card of my trip. The world is an uncertain place, but tomorrow they'll be doing this same thing, in this same place, just like they have for years. And if I'm very lucky, I'll be here to see it all over again next summer.

The post Voss: Twelve Things About Saratoga That Warm My Heart appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights