Lynn Cash Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

Don't tell owner-trainer Norman (Lynn) Cash that horses need eight weeks between races and can only run four or five times a year. Cash, who has been training only since April, 2021, has found success running his horses as often as possible. Led by the remarkable Beverly Park (Munnings), who, on Monday at Mahoning Valley, will make his 29th start of the year, Cash's stable has earned $3,816,293 on the year. He says it has been profitable in 17 of the 18 months it has been in business.

Brought in to talk about his unique approach to training and owning horses (Cash owns every horse in his stable), Cash was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week on the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland.

“I personally think that 11 or 12 days between races is absolutely perfect and it works for me,” Cash said. “If you go 10 or 11 days between races you can get 98% out of what the horse has to give you back. That's enough for them to recuperate. They're ready to go. Usually, you're working the horse anyway after a race; you're giving him a work that is a lot like a race. I thought maybe we should just race them into fitness instead of working them into fitness.”

On Beverly Park, Cash said he is a horse who loves to get out there and run.

“He's just such a competitor,” Cash said. “An iron horse, that absolutely fits him. We've not had to do any work on him. He's just an incredibly sound horse. He's just the epitome of a workhorse. Every time he gives everything that he has. He's just such a such a sweet and amazing horse.”

Cash owns a roofing business, which was his primary source of income before getting into racing. He has turned the day-to-day operation of that business over to his sons, so that he can focus on racing. He couldn't be happier with the decision to change careers midstream.

“I'm having the time of my life here,” he said. “They say I've changed careers. But I don't know about that because I don't call this work. This horse racing, it is addictive.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, Lane's End, Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, XBTV and West Point Thoroughbreds, Zoe Cadman and Bill Finley took a look back at the GI Cigar Mile H. win by the ultra-game Mind Control (Stay Thirsty), as well as last week's GII Remsen S. and GII Demoiselle S. They also discussed the latest news on alleged drug cheat Jason Servis, who appears ready to enter a guilty plea. Cadman and Finley also touched on the story of Maryland-bred star Post Time (Frosted), who is undefeated in three starts while being ridden in the afternoons by his regular exercise rider, Eric Camacho.

Click here to watch the show.

Click here for the audio-only version.

The post Lynn Cash Joins the 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

Double Crown, Cash Seek First Grade I In Cigar

Just after hitting the 1 1/2-year anniversary mark of sending out his first entry as a licensed trainer, Norman “Lynn” Cash secured his first graded stakes victory with Double Crown (Bourbon Courage), the longest shot on the board at 42-1, who ran down favorite Baby Yoda (Prospective) to clinch the GII Kelso H. at Belmont at the Big A Oct. 29. This Saturday, Cash hopes to take his training career to the next level, as Double Crown returns to Aqueduct, along with stablemate Outlier (Not This Time), to contest the GI Cigar Mile H.

“[Double Crown] is chomping at the bit to get out there, he's probably got more energy than he's ever had,” said Cash, who owns the Maryland-bred with his wife, Lola. “I was wanting to find something either 14 days or 21 days out, so that he would be coming off of about three weeks' rest, but it just worked out that there was nothing we could really find that seemed like a good fit for him, so we just kept him on the shelf. He's training really well and we're hopeful.”

The 5-year-old bay gelding, sitting at 15-1 on the morning line, drew the rail, while Outlier drew the sixth post.

“This is only the second Grade I I've ever had horses in and the way it's looking, we have a mediocre chance, but then again, that's about as good as we've had. I've got [Outlier] in there that likes the front end, who will hopefully keep the pace honest,” said Cash. “In my mind sometimes, I have to pick things apart and find the strength of my horses and the weaknesses of others. I think there's a couple of them that like it a little shorter, that maybe the mile is the far end of their comfort zone, and I'm hoping that the deep mile in that deep track at Aqueduct kind of plays to our advantage.”

For Cash, the numbers speak volumes, especially when it came to Double Crown. So much so, that the Midway, Ky., resident, on a rare day with no horses running, took a special trip to Churchill Downs in early June to drop a claim slip on the Maryland-bred who was entered in a mile-long claimer for a $40,000 tag. Double Crown finished second, by a neck, while Cash came out on top in the seven-way shake.

“I'm stabled at Laurel Park and here in Lexington, and that was the first thing that made me look at him: he was a Maryland-bred and he had solid numbers,” said Cash. “He had won a couple of stakes early on in Florida [as a 3-year-old] and ran second in the Maryland Million Sprint [last year]. It's a small thing, but the extra 15% that Maryland pays for Maryland-breds, when you're trying to get your bills paid at the end of the month, sometimes things like that make a difference.”

Double Crown romped in the Kelso | Coglianese

Cash kept his new trainee in Kentucky for his next two starts, where the gelding picked up back-to-back seconds at Churchill, before shipping him up to his Maryland base. He tried running him at a variety of distances, over a range of surfaces, including the turf at Laurel for the Ben's Cat S. (going 5 1/2 furlongs) and the all-weather track at Presque Isle Downs for the Peach Street S. (going a mile and 70 yards), through the summer into early fall, with his best results a victory at Colonial Downs in allowance company and a runner-up finish in the Polynesian S. at Pimlico, both going 1 1/16 miles on the dirt.

All of this led to his start in the Oct. 22 Maryland Million Classic S., which resulted in a disappointing fourth, as he finished 6 1/4 lengths behind the winner Ournationonparade (Cal Nation).

And when it was time to look ahead for a potential next target, it seemed things began to fall into place, all pointing toward the mile-long Kelso, just seven days later.

“It was like he never really got out and was able to move in the Maryland Million Classic, when he ran fourth, and we felt like he just wasn't spent, that he had effort to go. We debated whether or not to put him in the Kelso, and finally, probably what made the decision was that I had [fellow Maryland-bred] Eastern Bay [E Dubai] in that same day, so I [already] had a van going. I called the racing office there in New York and they said they've got a five-horse field and I'm like 'Wow, how do you not go to that race?'” said Cash.

The rest was history, as Double Crown bided time near the back of the pack, found his opening while coming down the stretch, hit a second gear to catch Baby Yoda and flew past to cross the wire 1 3/4 lengths ahead, securing the first career graded stakes victory for himself and his owner/trainer.

The whirlwind of emotions hit Cash and his wife all the way in Salt Lake City, Utah, where they had traveled to attend a family member's funeral. They made it to their rental car just two minutes before the horses loaded into the gate, watched the race unfold on their iPad, felt their hope grow as the field turned for home and erupted in celebration as Double Crown and jockey J.D. Acosta, sporting the red and black silks of the Cash family's Built Wright Stables, crossed the finish line first.

Cash (middle) and his wife, Lola (right), at Turfway earlier this year | Coady

“We probably looked like we were crazy as people drove past, because we were laughing and high-fiving and jumping and pumping, just ecstatic over this. It was quite a day and then, an hour later, Eastern Bay missed the GIII Bold Ruler S. I bet by two or three inches,” said Cash. “I can assure you that nobody was more surprised with the win with me.”

Rising from the claiming ranks to stakes company and later the winner's circle following a Grade II victory, with a Grade I debut just ahead, Double Crown reflects the successful, albeit unique, training program by today's industry standards that Cash has developed since getting into the sport.

“You've probably noticed that we run our horses a little more frequently. If I could plan every race I had, every horse would have 11 or 12 days off. Any time I have to choose between a race [coming up] at nine days and another coming up at 19 days, where I either have to go two or three days before what I think is perfect, or seven days later than what I think is perfect, I go nine days every time, [depending on] the horse being sound and everything,” explained Cash.

Between the time he was claimed, June 5, and his most recent start, Oct. 29, Double Crown has averaged two starts a month, with his longest break the past five weeks leading up to the Cigar.

“He's a horse that runs his race, whatever level that is. Let's say we're doing speed ratings. He runs a 98 to 102 speed rating, and if the race falls below that because maybe the pace is too fast and they all are tired in the end and he can come get them, then he wins. If the race stays above that level, he gives you everything he has but that's what he can give you, and he comes in second, third. But he's definitely an honest horse, he leaves it out there for you every time, [off of a] short or long rest,” said Cash.

Another prime example is Cash's trainee Beverly Park (Munnings), who recently scored his 13th win of the year in his 28th seasonal start Nov. 28 at Mahoning Valley Race Course. Claimed for $12,500 Aug. 5, 2021, Beverly Park's number of starts this year also leads the continent, and if all bodes well, he isn't finished with his 5-year-old season just yet.

“I don't know if I'm a fan-favorite but I know the horse is,” added Cash.

Beverly Park in one of his 13 wins of 2022 | Coady

The growth of Cash's stable, his ever-increasing success on the track and his love of the horse fuels the passion that inspired him to turn a hobby into a fully fledged career in the first place.

“I do feel that horses know when they're loved and when they're not, and I feel like they produce better when they're treated [well]. I'm probably more handsy and 'huggy' and 'kissy' with my horses than most trainers are, maybe it's not a manly thing, but when I saddle, I'll be right there and I just kind of stand there and rub their neck underneath, just spending some time with them,” said Cash.

When it comes to the Cigar, Cash knows that Double Crown and Outlier will both likely be perceived as the underdogs, just as the Maryland-bred was in the Kelso, but he's okay with that.

“Sometimes it doesn't matter what the odds board says, what the speed rating says, whatever. It comes down to how the race goes and again, I think I have a hard-knocker here that will give his 100 speed rating performance.”

Though nothing is official yet, Cash says he's had a couple of phone calls about big races that are coming up, which may be on the horizon for Double Crown in 2023.

Despite the weight of what Saturday could bring, Cash continues with his regular day-to-day operation, overseeing the 45 to 50 horses in training, all owned by him and his wife, between his 27 stalls at the Thoroughbred Center in Lexington and his 30 stalls at Laurel, along with his own 31-acre farm in Midway, which houses layups and a few mares.

“I'm a roofing contractor, a year and a half away from roofing contracting, that is having the time of his life and never dreamed any of this. I was just going to claim a few horses and have some fun when I got my trainer's license and it's just crazy how some of these horses have blossomed,” said Cash. “Eastern Bay, what an amazing 8-year-old that guy is, and Double Crown, I don't know if he's improved the most, but by type of races he's won, he certainly has. It seems like we're running in five, six, seven stakes a month, with different horses, and I've probably got five or six legitimate stakes horses. That's exciting.”

The post Double Crown, Cash Seek First Grade I In Cigar appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

The Week in Review: Do We Really Need So Many Stakes Races?

They could only scrape together a field of four for Saturday's GII Mother Goose S. at Belmont Park, run two weeks after they had a field of four in the GI Acorn S. Saturday's third race at Belmont fared no better. Only four went in the Wild Applause S., and three of them were trained by Chad Brown.

And it isn't just a NYRA problem. The number of stakes run across the country that have attracted five horses or fewer is alarming. Since May 7, GI Kentucky Derby Day, there have been 21 graded or listed races that had five-horse fields, a list that includes some of the biggest races on the calendar, like the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H., the GI Ogden Phipps S., the GI Hollywood Gold Cup S. Six more graded stakes consisted of just four runners.

When it comes to the bettors, there are way too many unappetizing betting races, $3.60 winners and $8.20 exactas. When it comes to the breeding industry and the importance of the graded stakes system, it's become too easy for a horse to pick up black type. To get a filly or mare to finish among the top three in graded company is no longer the accomplishment it used to be.

The problem is obvious. There aren't enough horses and there are too many stakes races.

In 2007, there were 474 graded stakes and 107 Grade I's. This year, there will be 449 graded races and 101 Grade I's. Over a 15-year period, the number of graded stakes has declined by 5.3% and the number of Grade I races has fallen by just 5.6% The numbers haven't come close to what has happened with the foal crop over that same period of time. The registered foal crop in 2007 was 34,358. In 2022, it will be about 17,000. That's a decline of more than 50%.

There's also the added problem of how infrequently horses run. In 2007, the average number of starts per horse was 6.2. Last year, the number was down to 5.26.

That means that the American Graded Stakes Committee hasn't done it's job. The decline in the number of graded stakes should at least somewhat resemble the decline in the foal crop. That hasn't happened. The graded stakes committee needs to show the sport some tough love and start taking a hacksaw to the list of graded stakes. Otherwise, it risks losing its credibility.

When it comes to the number of total races run, the sport has adjusted to meet the realities of the situation. In 2007, 51,304 races were run in the U.S. By last year, the number was down to 33,567, a decline of 34.6%. But when it comes to the number of stakes races offered, the sport has stubbornly stuck to the status quo. The problem won't go away until there is a meaningful reduction in the number of stakes races offered.

The 3-year-old filly division is a perfect example. Let's start with the Acorn, run June 11. Two weeks later, NYRA ran the Mother Goose, a recipe for disaster considering how close the Acorn and Mother Goose were to one another on the calender. But there's more. The GIII Delaware Oaks will be run July 2. The next day, Monmouth will run the Boiling Springs S., a $100,000 race for 3-year-old fillies. On July 9, they'll run the GIII Iowa Oaks at Prairie Meadows and the GIII Indiana Oaks at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

Even if trainers wanted to stick to the NYRA races, there are just too many. After the Acorn and the Mother Goose, you will have the GI Coaching Club American Oaks July 23 and the GI Alabama S. Aug. 20, both at Saratoga. That's four graded stakes races for 3-year-old fillies run on the same circuit in a span of 70 days.

The only way to fix this is for some stakes races to go away. Yes, the Mother Goose is a prestigious race that has been around since 1957 and has been won by horses like Serena's Song, Ruffian and Shuvee. But it's no longer a Grade I and the purse is $250,000, modest by today's standards. Despite the four-horse field, the Acorn is the better race. It's a Grade I and the purse is $500,000. You don't need both, and the answer is to keep the Acorn, extend it to a mile-and-an-eighth, and say goodbye to the Mother Goose.

There are at least a half dozen more stakes on the NYRA schedule that could be done away with. Maybe more. Does Monmouth really need the Boiling Springs? Should we have both an Indiana and an Iowa Oaks, run on the same day? The Hollywood Gold Cup isn't the race it used to be, when it was won by the likes of Swaps, Native Diver, Affirmed and Cigar. This year's winner, There Goes Harvard (Will Take Charge), had never so much as run in a graded stakes before capturing the mile-and-a-quarter event at Santa Anita. Is this race really necessary anymore?

To get rid of races like that would be a tough pill to swallow. Stakes races represent the highest level of the sport and what track doesn't want to be able to brag that it has an important group of these races? In some sense, they probably mean more to smaller tracks likes Prairie Meadows and Horseshoe Indianapolis than they do to a NYRA or Santa Anita because they don't get many opportunities to put on cards that include major races.

Then again, something needs to be done. You could start by requiring that the racing secretaries from all the major tracks assemble each year, go over their proposed schedules and make some sort of effort to work together. There have to be compromises that can be made. But you also have to cut down on the number of stakes available. It doesn't have to be a mass reduction in the number of races, maybe, as a starting point, a race here and there.

Until then, there will be only more and more four and five-horse fields in some of the sport's biggest races. This problem is not going to go away on its own.

Beverly Park Does It Again

Iron horse Beverly Park (Munnings) won a starter allowance  June 18 at Churchill Downs. It was his 17th start of the year and his eighth win. He's earned $150,244. For owner-trainer Norman (Lynn) Cash, he's run at nine different tracks this year and has won at six. All but two of his starts have come in starter allowance races.

He's on pace to make 34 starts this year and to win 16 races. By way of comparison, the horse with the most wins in 2021 visited the winner's circle 12 times. The horse with the most starts went to the post 27 times.

Cash, who takes on no outside owners, claimed Beverly Park for $12,500 last August. He's since won 15 times and started 25 times.

 

The post The Week in Review: Do We Really Need So Many Stakes Races? appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

A Throwback, Beverly Park Wins Again

Beverly Park (Munnings) is far from the best horse in the sport. But he's certainly the hardest working. His win Thursday night at Charles Town in a starter allowance came in his 14th start on the year. No other horse has run more than 11 times in 2022. It was also his second start in five days and his fourth in 28 days.

That may seem like more than a horse can handle, but it's working. One of the most prolific winners in the sport, Beverly Park has won six races this year, had an eight-race winning streak last year, and has won 13 of 22 starts since being claimed by owner-trainer Norman (Lynn) Cash last August. He's made $110,754 on the year.

“Whether a horse is running or whether the horse is not, most horses are still doing a timed work about every seven to nine days,” Cash said. “I just decided that instead of working him, let's go up and down the road and put him in these nickel starters. It's not officially a paid workout, but in a sense that's exactly what it is.”

It's not just Beverly Park. Cash, who started his first horse as a trainer on April 23, 2021, doesn't buy in to the philosophy that horses thrive when given plenty of rest between races. If you're a member of the Cash stable and are sound and healthy, don't expect to get a lot of time off. Cash has started Sir Alfred James (Munnings) nine times this year, including in the May 7 GI Churchill Downs S., where he was fourth. Outlier (Not This Time) has made eight starts on the year. Cash said he typically likes to give his horses no more than 12 to 14 days off between starts.

When Beverly Park showed up in a $12,500 claimer last year at Belterra Park, Cash was eager to get him into his stable. The then 4-year-old was coming off a 15-length win in a $5,000 claimer, which made him eligible for the lower-level starter allowance races, which have become more and more popular with racing secretaries. Beverly Park won the $12,500 claimer, the second win in the streak that would grow to eight straight before he was beaten in an allowance race in November at Churchill Downs.

Beverly Park made 10 starts in 2021, more than the average horse. But he was just getting warmed up. He made his first start this year on Jan. 2 at Oaklawn. Since, the longest time he has had between races is 20 days and he's run back in five days three times and in four days once. He's run at six different tracks.

“You leave him in the stall for 10, 12 days and he's ready to get out of the stall. He thrives on it,” Cash said.

Cash is shopping for another starter allowance to run him in within the next week or so and then will give Beverly Park what is, for him, a lengthy layoff. Cash is pointing for a June 15 allowance at Churchill, which means Beverly Park will have three weeks or more off between races.

In this day and age, it's an atypical way to campaign horses, but Cash is not your typical trainer. His family owns a roofing business, Built Wright Homes & Roofing, and Cash and his wife Lola owned a handful of horses over the years before he decided to try his hand at training.

“I love horses and bought a couple of racehorses back in 2012,” he said. “I fell in love with it. We had three to five horses every year. A little more than a year ago, I felt like I had gotten somewhat of an education and told my wife that I'm either going to shut up or put up. I was going to jump in and do this.”

His stable, split between Laurel and the Thoroughbred Training Center in Lexington, now includes more than 40 horses. There are no outside clients. Every horse in the barn is owned solely by Cash's Built Wright Stables. He doesn't treat this as a hobby but as a business. Cash is in it to make money and believes that means that he needs to get the most out of every horse when they are sound and in good health.

“Necessity is the mother of invention,” he said. “My wife and I own all our horses. The bills come due. They cost money to keep, cost money to feed, cost money to exercise. We are trying to remain profitable. This a business. When there are outside owners involved, a lot of times the horse will stay in the barn five, six weeks, but, for the trainer, there's still a check that comes in every month. If we don't run, we don't get paid. I am trying to make this profitable for the owner and that's because I am the owner.”

Cash has won 21 races on the year with earnings of $836,862. He says his stable has shown a profit in every month but one since it was established last year.

“If I don't make money at this, I'll have to go back to selling roofs and I don't want to do that,” he said. “That's not as fun as this. To me, training horses isn't work. It's fun.”
If he keeps up the pace that he has been on, Beverly Park could make as many as 40 starts this year, a staggering amount. But there's no sign that he can't handle the load.

“How does he do it?” Cash said. “He's just an amazing horse.”

The post A Throwback, Beverly Park Wins Again appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights