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‘We All Got Through It Together’: Becky Thomas Reflects On Her Year Amidst The Pandemic

Just one live race day – the New Year's Eve card at Aqueduct Racetrack – remains in 2020 to complete a remarkable year of racing action on the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) circuit. The NYRA Press Office checked in with a selection of New York-based racing personalities to get their reflections on the memorable campaign.

Becky Thomas is the founder of Sequel Stallions – one of the premier stud farms and Thoroughbred operations in New York and a leader in breeding and consigning racehorses. Thomas founded Sequel Stallions in 2000, then known as Lakland North, with Lewis Lakin, with whom she co-owned Grade 1-winner and multiple champion producing stallion City Zip and bred 2006 Champion Female Fleet Indian. In 2011, Thomas re-opened an expanded Sequel Stallions with co-owner Dennis Narlinger on an upgraded facility on 223 acres of land in Hudson, N.Y.

Q: The pandemic has been tough on everyone. Discuss the effect it had on your operation.

Thomas: When the pandemic first started, it was right around the time that sales season starts. We, fortunately, were able to continue having the OBS Sale in March, but we were so unsure about what was going to happen after that. None of us knew what to expect. But through all of it, sales companies worked together; buyers and consigners worked together, and we all got through it together as smoothly as we could have. We adjusted reserves on some of our horses that were going through the ring. What made it great is that we were able to have any level of commerce at all. We were just happy to get going again. When we had our first sale, it was joyful. We had a sense of relief.

Q: What was the most difficult thing to cope with amidst the pandemic?

Thomas: The fact that everything happened during our busiest season was the most difficult. I'm used to having employees going back and forth from New York to Florida during the sales and I couldn't go back and forth and inspect the horses myself. There were restrictions. If you went out of state, you had to quarantine for a certain amount of time depending on where you were coming from. No one got sick but it was still very difficult to deal with. Sales companies worked very hard with our state and federal governments. Hats off to them for making everything work. Geoffrey Russell [Director of Sales at Keeneland], Boyd Browning [President and CEO of Fasig-Tipton] and Tom Ventura [President of Ocala Breeders Sales Company] and their teams did an incredible job for making things go as well as they possibly could have.

Q: What has been the highlight of 2020?

Thomas: Simply Ravishing winning the P.G. Johnson at Saratoga. She is a New York-bred by a New York sire in Laoban, who we stood, who won an open company stakes race at Saratoga. She was pretty much dismissed but went on to win a Grade 1 [in the Darley Alcibiades at Keeneland]. Laoban was the most phenomenal thing to happen to us this year. He's done so well in his first crop and got off to such a great start to his stud career.

Q: You're obviously very invested in the New York program. What makes it so great?

Thomas: The purse structure is high year-round, and the awards program is the strongest in the country. New York takes a lot of pride in its breeding program, as it should. It is a very good program and it's the reason I breed in New York.

Q: Looking ahead to 2021, what is one thing Sequel Stallions is most looking forward to?

Thomas: We added a new stallion to our roster for next season in Honest Mischief. I'm pretty excited about him. He looks like a big rubber stamp of his sire Into Mischief, who really stamps his progeny. He has good length in his back, a good shoulder, a good hip and a nice and clean neck. We were delighted to have been chosen to stand him.

The 2020-21 winter meet at Aqueduct returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 31 and continues through Sunday, March 28.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Aqueduct Racetrack, and the best way to bet every race of the winter meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

For additional information, and the complete winter meet stakes schedule, please visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/stakes-schedule.

The post ‘We All Got Through It Together’: Becky Thomas Reflects On Her Year Amidst The Pandemic appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Rice Hearings Conclude, But No Ruling Expected Soon

The marathon that has been the hearing regarding trainer Linda Rice and the New York State Gaming Commission came to a close Dec. 9, but it will still be weeks before there is a conclusion in the case. Attorneys from both sides have requested transcripts from the previous six days of testimony and will be given 30 days after receipt of those transcripts to send written closing arguments to hearing officer Clark Petschek. There are numerous and voluminous exhibits in the case submitted by both sides which Petschek also must review before issuing a decision. Petschek did not outline a timeframe for when he may issue a ruling.

The proceedings had sought to determine what, if any, sanctions would be imposed on Rice, who the commission says could have her license suspended or revoked and face fines of up to $25,000 for “actions inconsistent with and detrimental to the best interest of racing generally and corrupt and improper acts and practices in relation to racing.”

Much of Wednesday's testimony was a retread of information previously given by Rice during examination by her attorneys and other witnesses, seeking detail and clarification on the information Rice received from entry clerks between the 2011-12 Aqueduct meet and March 2015. Rice has admitted to receiving faxed and emailed printouts showing names and past performance information for horses before draw time, which the commission believes gave her an unfair advantage over other trainers. Rice contends that it was not unusual for trainers to be shown name or past performance information ahead of draw time in the racing office, or to have the basics of a potential rival's resume described to them on the phone.

Her testimony Wednesday examined a number of daily training logs for horses in her care during the time in question and identified races she had noted as targets for those individuals after the release of the condition book. Rice's attorney took the trainer through the dates and results of a few of those races alongside dates and times of emails she received with entry information from racing clerk Jose Morales. In the cases highlighted by her attorney, Rice had identified several target races for her horses before Morales gave her information and did not change her targets after receiving entry information from Morales.

Although Rice has said previously that she wasn't aware she was breaking any rules, it appears there did come a time when she became concerned that taking the information could get her into trouble. Rick Goodell, counsel for the commission, read into the record a transcript of a 2018 interview he conducted with Rice in which she recalled the moment she began to have concerns about her receipt of information from Morales. Rice recalls that in 2014 Morales told her he was “being watched” and she told Goodell in 2018 her thought was, “Damn, well, they're watching him. Maybe we shouldn't be doing it.”

Goodell also asked Rice whether she revealed to anyone else, other trainers or racing office employees, that she was getting the information from Morales. She answered she had not.

The passing of information from Morales to Rice came out after the racing office and law enforcement near Belmont discovered that Morales had given out his InCompass login information to a number of jockey agents in return for money.

Wednesday's testimony also revealed that Rice had hired rider Israel Rodriguez to ride several races for her when he was an apprentice. Rodriguez would eventually be represented by Morales as agent, although Morales is no longer licensed as a jockey agent in New York. Rice said she had forgotten she had hired Rodriguez, who rode a little more than two dozen races for her before she said he lost his apprentice weight allowance and she determined he was not of a caliber she wanted to work with as a journeyman.

Goodell tried to establish whether Rice believed the information she got through email and fax constituted an unfair advantage over other trainers who weren't privy to the same information. While Rice admitted that it could sometimes be helpful to know which horses were entered in a race in advance of draw time, she was not convinced that other trainers were not receiving similar or comparable information.

“When the article came out in the press about the proceedings, I spoke to other trainers and many of them said they receive information all the time as well,” Rice said.

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Sharp Starr Gives Horacio DePaz First Graded Stakes Win In Go For Wand Handicap

Barry K. Schwartz's New York-homebred Sharp Starr, perfectly piloted by Jose Ortiz, outdueled Portal Creek to capture Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Go for Wand Handicap, a one-turn mile for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The Munnings sophomore, trained by Horacio DePaz, arrived at the Go for Wand from a commanding 15 3/4-length score in a state-bred allowance mile on November 7 at the Big A that garnered a career-best 101 Beyer Speed Figure.

Leading rider Kendrick Carmouche sent Portal Creek to the lead with Sharp Starr assuming a stalking position to her outside as slight 6-5 mutuel favorite Nonna Madeline hustled up the rail to gain third through an opening quarter-mile in 23.26 seconds on the sloppy and sealed main track.

Sharp Starr continued to press Portal Creek, who maintained a one-length lead into the turn, as Graceful Princess improved her position outside rivals through a half-mile in 46.72. Portal Creek opened up through the turn and attempted to kick clear of Sharp Starr, but Ortiz kept to task on the New York-bred filly as the duo locked up for the length of the stretch with Sharp Starr earning a hard-fought neck victory in a final time of 1:36.75. It was 12 lengths back to Nonna Madeline in third with Stand for the Flag, Graceful Princess and Overheated rounding out the order of finish.

The victory marked the first graded stakes score for DePaz, who is enjoying his first season of training full-time on the NYRA circuit. The 35-year-old conditioner said he was pleased to see Sharp Starr make amends last out at the Big A following an off-the-board effort in the nine-furlong Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan in October around two turns at Pimlico Race Course.

“She definitely likes the track, but I think she likes the one-turn mile a little bit better. It set up for her. I was happy she could repeat that last effort,” said DePaz.

Sharp Starr graduated in July at Belmont Park and hit the board in a pair of nine-furlong events going two turns over the summer at Saratoga Race Course, including a closing third in the restricted Fleet Indian. DePaz said Sharp Starr's improved efforts from the gate have made a significant impact on results.

“Even in her two-turn races, she wants to put herself there, but she has those bad starts and afterwards she can't get up there,” said DePaz. “She's breaking so much better and getting herself into the race. The way she breaks and gets herself close, she's able to finish up nicely.”

Ortiz, who captured the 2013 Go for Wand with Royal Lahaina, was aboard Sharp Starr for the maiden win and her two Saratoga efforts. He said he felt confident in the filly going a one-turn mile as he returned to the saddle.

“They were running her two turns and she was breaking a little slow,” said Ortiz. “Last time, when they brought her back to a one-turn mile, she broke well and that suited her better. They stuck with that racing style today. She broke sharp. She was there for me every time I asked her.”

Carmouche said Portal Creek, an eight-time winner invading from Parx for trainer Juan Carlos Guerrero, was valiant in defeat.

“The horse ran well,” said Carmouche. “Coming from Parx, running on this track, she ran awesome. She made every pole a winning one but the final jump.”

Bred in the Empire State by the owner's Stonewall Farm, Sharp Starr banked $55,000 in victory while improving her record to 9-3-2-2. She returned $4.50 for a $2 win bet.

Live racing resumes Sunday at the Big A, Closing Day of the 18-day fall meet, with a nine-race card offering a pair of rich New York Stallion Stakes Series races, including the Great White Way for 2-year-olds and the Fifth Avenue for juvenile fillies, with purses of $250,000 each. Also featured on Closing Day is the $100,000 Garland of Roses at six furlongs for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up. First post is 12:20 p.m. Eastern.

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Trainer Velazquez ‘Derby Dreaming’ After Brooklyn Strong’s Remsen Victory

Mark Schwartz's Brooklyn Strong showed up with a big effort in the final furlong to win the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct in Ozone Park, N.Y., over the 6-5 favorite, Ten for Ten.

Ten for Ten took an early lead, setting the pace through fractions of :23.67, :47.86, 1:12.69, and 1:37.96 on a sloppy track. Sent off at odds of 7-1, Brooklyn Strong challenged the leader in the stretch and pulled ahead to win the 1 1/8 mile race by a neck with Ten for Ten taking second and 8 3/4 lengths separating the two from the third place finisher, Known Agenda, followed by Pickin' Time and Erawan. Brooklyn Strong returned $16.20 on a $2 win bet.

Final time for 1 1/8 miles was 1:50.80.

“I was very confident going in,” winning trainer Daniel Velazquez said in a post-race interview. “I knew the distance was key and I was confident about the off track. I was happy with his performance. He really dug in. Today was a big showcase for him against tougher competition and I couldn't be happier.”

This is the first graded stakes win for the NewYork-bred gelding and the first for his sire, Wicked Strong, who has two crops to race. Brooklyn Strong is out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare, Riviera Chic. Prior to today's win, Brooklyn Strong had crossed the finish line first in two of three starts including the Sleepy Hollow Stakes at Belmont. Brooklyn Strong was purchased for $5,000 by Schwartz at the OBS 2-year-old in training sale in April of 2020. He was ridden today by Joel Rosario. This was the first graded stakes win for trainer Daniel Velazquez.

“I broke well and it looked like they were running away from me a little bit,” Rosario. “So I had to ride him to get position. I didn't want to let him fall back, so I rode him to stay within a couple of lengths. I was happy with how he was progressing and I was confident he was going to have something left for the end.”

Today's win earned the son of Wicked Strong 10 qualifying points for the 2021 Kentucky Derby.

“We'll come back healthy and then start picking our spots,” Velazquez said on earning the Derby points. “This is a big prep for the Derby moving forward. Now, we're definitely Derby dreaming.”

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