Obituaries | Horse Racing Free Tips

Trainer Morris Nicks Dies at 74

Morris G. Nicks, who trained for parts of six decades, primarily in Arkansas, Louisiana and Kentucky, died Nov. 25 at his home in Waskom, Texas. He had been fighting cancer and was 74 years old.

His passing was confirmed by his wife Ellen in a Daily Racing Form story that broke the news Sunday. His son, the trainer Ralph Nicks, told DRF that his father had requested no funeral services to be held. According to DRF, Nicks grew up on a farm in Texas and galloped horses and rode in match races before spending a summer at age 17 working at Ruidoso Downs. He began training shortly thereafter, around 1965, at Oaklawn Park.

According to Equibase, Nicks won graded stakes with the sprinter Run Johnny in the 1999 GIII Aristides H. at Churchill Downs and with Golden Sonata in the 2004 GII Oaklawn Breeders' Cup S. at Oaklawn Park.

Nicks won the 2011 Louisiana Downs training title. He had retired from running a stable in 2018, citing health issues.

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Leading International Sire Pivotal Dies At Age 28

Pivotal, the champion sprinter and multiple champion sire and broodmare Sire, has passed away peacefully in his paddock at the age of 28. The son of Polar Falcon had been a stalwart and flagbearer at Cheveley Park Stud since his retirement to stud in 1997.

Bred and raced by Cheveley Park Stud, he was trained by Sir Mark Prescott. A track record breaker as a 2-year-old, he was crowned champion sprinter as a 3-year-old, with the undoubted highlight coming in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York, when prevailing by the narrowest of margins to become the first Group 1 winner to be both bred and owned by Cheveley Park Stud. Prior to that he had shown all his battling qualities and tenacity in winning the (then) G2 King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Pivotal took up stallion duties at an initial fee of £6,000, and immediately proved popular with commercial breeders. He was a leading British based first season sire, and soon sired his first British Group 1 winner in Kyllachy, who followed in his father's footsteps in winning the Nunthorpe Stakes, before also retiring to stand at Cheveley Park Stud. Pivotal went on to quickly rise through the stallion ranks and was leading British Based Sire by individual winners on no less than eight occasions, and was twice crowned Leading British Based Sire by earnings. To date, Pivotal has sired 32 individual Group 1 winners, including the Classic winners Sariska, Halfway To Heaven, Falco, Buzzword and Saoire, as well as Dubai World Cup winner African Story and Addeybb, who once again beat Verry Elleegant in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick earlier this year.

Pivotal's legacy is being felt through both his sons and daughters. He was crowned Champion European Broodmare Sire 2017 to 2019 and his daughters have produced 26 individual Group 1 winners to date, most recently with Tenebrism in this season's Cheveley Park Stakes. Pivotal has also made an impact as a sire of sires, with seven of his sons having sired Group 1 winners, most notably the reigning French Champion Sire Siyouni, who has already produced the Champion colts St Mark's Basilica and Sottsass.

A true legend in his own lifetime, the 'mighty' Pivotal retired from stud duties after the 2020 covering season and saw out the rest of his days enjoying a happy retirement at Cheveley Park Stud .

Managing Director, Chris Richardson, said; “The story associated with the 'mighty' Pivotal is truly extraordinary, considering he was the result of the very first covering his sire, Polar Falcon, was given. Thankfully, as a yearling, it was decided to retain him to race, rather than offer him for sale, as we did with the other yearling colts by Polar Falcon that year. Whilst in the hands of trainer, Sir Mark Prescott, Pivotal truly put Cheveley Park Stud on the map, giving owners David and Patricia Thompson their first Group 1 winner in the stud's famous red, white and blue colors. Having covered a relatively small book of mares in his first year, his resulting progeny excelled and inspired at all levels, which they have continued to do throughout his career, both domestically and internationally. On the world stage, Pivotal has excelled as a sire, a sire of sires and as a broodmare sire, to the highest level and all of us at Cheveley Park Stud have been so blessed to have been part of his life for 28 years.”

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Rock Hard Ten Dies Suddenly In Korea At Age 20

Rock Hard Ten, a multiple Grade 1 winner and veteran sire, died suddenly Nov. 12, according to Korea Racing Authority records.

The 20-year-old son of Kris S. stood at the KRA's Jeju Stud Farm, the operation's primary stallion station.

Through the KRA's Alastair Middleton, the farm issued the following statement to the Paulick Report:

“Rock Hard Ten was observed unable to stand in his paddock. He was moved to the equine hospital where he underwent treatment but he sadly died within 24 hours”

Bred in Kentucky and raced by Madeline Paulson, and later co-owned by Mercedes Stables, Rock Hard Ten debuted in February of his 3-year-old campaign, and finished third in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in his third start. He then finished second to Smarty Jones in the 2005 Preakness Stakes and fifth in the Belmont Stakes before notching his first graded win in the G2 Swaps Breeders' Cup Stakes at Hollywood Park.

Rock Hard Ten's 3-year-old season ended with a victory in the G1 Malibu Stakes, which kicked off a four-race winning streak to finish his career. During his 4-year-old season, Rock Hard Ten won the G2 Strub Stakes, the G1 Santa Anita Handicap, and the G2 Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap. He retired with seven wins in 11 starts for earnings of $1,870,380.

After his racing career, Rock Hard Ten retired to Lane's End for the 2006 breeding season. He resided at the Versailles, Ky., farm until January 2013, when he was exported to Korea.

Rock Hard Ten has sired 13 crops of racing age, with 330 winners and combined progeny earnings in excess of $27 million.

His U.S.-sired runners were led by Grade 1 winner Nereid, Grade 2 winners Capital Plan and Doubles Partner, Grade 3 winners Summersault, Quality Rocks, and Black Onyx. and French Group 3 winner Abtaal.

He is also the sire of Tonito M., who was named Puerto Rico's champion 2-year-old colt in 2013, then was brought to the mainland U.S., where his career was highlighted by a victory in the G3 Oklahoma Derby. Two-time Peruvian champion miler Arezzo was also sired by Rock Hard Ten during his time in the U.S.

Rock Hard Ten currently ranks 22nd on Korea's leading general sire list. He was 13th in 2020, and 10th in 2019, which were his two highest year-end positions to date.

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Letters to the Editor: Bob Fierro On Sam Huff

You should understand that from the time I could figure out pro football as a kid in the 1950s, I was probably the only one in New York City who detested the football Giants and loved the Baltimore Colts. Don't ask why, it just happened (and continues to this day–go Jets!). Thus, you would not be surprised to learn that through some machinations by the policeman father of a friend I wound up in the bleachers at Yankee Stadium with a dozen other young teens in December, 1958 for what turned out to be “The Greatest Football Game Ever Played,” as determined by a blue ribbon panel in 2019.

That I was probably the only one in stadium who stood and cheered and whooped when Colts fullback Alan Ameche swept past the Giants linebackers to score the winning touchdown was, in retrospect, a huge mistake, because I was immediately pounded into a pulp by my friends.

So, imagine many years later when as newly-elected president of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders I was at a reception for the state program presidents when the dining room doors opened up and in walked one of those Giants linebackers, a tall, fit, and totally mesmerizing man named Sam Huff.

I was beside myself with incoherent thoughts fleeting through my head and did not even have a chance to catch a breath after he was introduced to me and a couple of other presidents. He must have noticed my dropped jaw and for some inane reason I babbled, “I was at the Giants-Colts game when Alan Ameche scored the winning touchdown, and I was 13 years old and a Colts fan and when I went crazy after he scored my friends beat the crap out of me.”

Sam looked me in the eye while everyone around us took a deep breath and then smiled and said, “Would you like that to happen again?”

That was the Sam Huff I came to know–a sweet, determined, purposeful man who along with his partner Carol Holden brought quality, dignity and excitement to the breeding and racing industry in his beloved home state of West Virginia. The three of us got to know each other quickly and they actually invited me several times to be a guest on their radio program–once by cellphone as I was winding my way through the hills of his state on my way back home to New York from a sale in Kentucky.

Though he was stricken almost a decade ago by dementia, he still showed up at the sales at times and when he didn't, I missed a man who had become a star in two great sports–as well as a pal.

My condolences to Carol, his family, and West Virginia–to paraphrase John Denver, his state's country roads have taken him home.

MIKE SEKULIC
Churchill Downs' management is taking a hardline position by suspending Bob Baffert for two years. Baffert is an awfully successful trainer, so I am starting to wonder what might happen if his horses win all the big Derby prep races? Let's say Baffert wins the Santa Anita Derby, Florida Derby, Wood Memorial, Arkansas Derby, Blue Grass S., etc., will Churchill Downs double down on their position and run a Kentucky Derby filled with Derby prep also-rans and allowance horses? Or will they let Baffert's horses participate? Stay tuned. It seems like digging in your heels, even when you might be wrong, is the order of the day.

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