Tag: People

With 12 days remaining in the 2022-2023 Oaklawn meeting, the race for leading rider is down to Cristian Torres (a meet-high 80 victories) and last season's co-champion, Francisco Arrieta (73). Eight-time Oaklawn riding champion Ricardo Santana Jr. is a distant third with 48 victories.

Torres is seeking his first career Oaklawn riding title after winning 22 races in 2021 – his debut season in Hot Springs – and 19 during an injury-shortened 2021-22 meeting.

“Francisco's a great guy,” Torres said. “We're really good friends. I'm really happy that both of us are on top and we're doing good. If I win it, I'll be happy. And if he wins, I'll be happy, too.”

Torres enters Friday with 499 career victories, according to Equibase, racing's official data gathering organization. Torres is named on 25 horses this week at Oaklawn – seven Friday, 11 Saturday and seven Sunday.

In addition to overall victories, Torres leads all riders at the 2022-2023 Oaklawn meeting in stakes victories (six) and purse earnings ($4,953,576). Santana set Oaklawn's single-season record for purse earnings by a jockey ($5,643,023) in 2021.

Arrieta rode 50 winners in his Oaklawn debut in 2021 and 62 last season, when he shared the title with David Cabrera. Arrieta, in 2022-23, has also already eclipsed his previous single-season Oaklawn bests with $4,456,624 in purse earnings (ranks second) and five stakes victories (tied for second).

“I'm doing really good and feel confident,” Arrieta said. “I'm enjoying what I'm doing. Thanks to all the people that have supported me.”

Arrieta is named on 21 horses this week at Oaklawn – six Friday, nine Saturday and six Sunday. Arrieta is scheduled to ride Tejano Twist, the 5-2 program favorite, in Saturday's $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) for older horses at 6 furlongs. Arrieta notched his first career graded stakes victory at Oaklawn, and second overall in the United States, aboard Tejano Twist in the $200,000 Whitmore (G3) March 18.

Torres and Arrieta both said they will be based in Kentucky after the Oaklawn meeting ends May 6.

The post Two Friends Battle It Out For Top Of Oaklawn Jockey Standings appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The idea of owning a racehorse is enticing to so many racing fans, but the prospect of owning a racehorse seems unfathomable. Those potential owners don't know where to look when it comes to finding the horse and what to do without flushing money down the drain.

Meanwhile, the racehorse industry knows that owners are the backbone of the horse racing industry, and every jurisdiction is looking to increase the number of owners in order to fill races. Where's the disconnect? The access and availability to education and resources for ownership.

The Indiana Thoroughbred Alliance (ITA) presents a free webinar for prospective and new racehorse owners on April 18. The webinar's goal is to help answer any questions prospective owners might have while sharing valuable insight from those that have been in the industry in different aspects.

 “We felt it was so important to provide resources for people who want to own a racehorse,” says Susan Burger, breeder, owner and board member of the ITA. “There's a disconnect with various groups and marketing efforts because they forget there's so much to owning a racehorse and how to buy a racehorse.”

Presenters include:

Nate Brannin, managing partner of B&B Racing Stables, LLC, an ownership group that races primarily in Indiana, but also in Florida and Kentucky. Brannin started in owning racehorses after participating in Horseshoe Indianapolis's Grand Gesture Racing Club, then was inspired to start his own group for friends who wanted to get involved and didn't know how.

Destin Heath, trainer, a veteran conditioner, Heath was the head trainer with WinStar Farms for eight years before going out on his own. Heath worked for such talented trainers as D. Wayne Lukas, Mark and Connie Barnes and Richard Budge.

Jared Shoemaker and Marc Wampler with Pocket Aces Racing. Wampler is the racing and bloodstock manager and Shoemaker is the business manager. The two have helped to grow Pocket Aces Racing to one of the stronger fractional ownership programs.

The webinar will be held on April 18 starting at 7:30. Registration is free and required. Any questions attendees might have can be sent in early: indythoroughbred.social at gmail.com.

Register online: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/racehorse-ownership-your-questions-answered-tickets-616830846667

The post Indiana Thoroughbred Alliance To Host Webinar For New Racehorse Owners appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Godolphin's Irish-bred champion Modern Games will make his 2023 debut at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., on Friday in the $600,000 Maker's Mark Mile (G1) and – has been the case since 2021 – wherever he goes so goes Lorna Ford.

Ford is the regular exercise rider for Modern Games, a duty she describes as “an absolute pleasure.”

“I have been with him all along, starting when he was a 2-year-old before he raced,” said Ford, who has worked for trainer Charlie Appleby for seven years and prior to that with Sir Michael Stoute. “Horses like this don't come along very often.”

An earner of more than $3 million and a two-time Breeders' Cup winner, Modern Games quickly made a fan out of Ford.

“It was his attitude; he took things in stride,” Ford said. “I didn't know he'd become what he has, but he progressed rapidly.”

Ironically, for all his success, it was a defeat that Ford considers as the best race Modern Games has run.

“I think his best race was when he was second last year to Baaeed at Goodwood (in England) in the (Qatar) Sussex (G1). Baaeed was the best horse in the world,” Ford said.

Her favorite victory for Modern Games in North America came in the 2021 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) at Del Mar.

“I had never been to a Breeders' Cup and then to win,” Ford said. “It was absolutely amazing.”

After the 2022 Sussex, the well-traveled Modern Games won the Ricoh Woodbine Mile (G1) in September; returned to England and finished second in the Queen Elizabeth II (G1) at Ascot; and came to Keeneland, where he won the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) Presented by PDJF by three-quarters of a length over 2022 Maker's Mark Mile winner Shirl's Speight. Modern Games earned the Eclipse Award as North America's champion male turf horse.

Appleby is scheduled to arrive in Lexington Thursday and be here for the Maker's Mark Mile.

Regular rider William Buick will be aboard Modern Games, the 3-5 favorite in the morning line. They will start from post seven in the field of eight.

The post ‘An Absolute Pleasure’: Lorna Ford Enjoying The Morning Rides Aboard Modern Games appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Thursday marks the 40th anniversary of D. Wayne Lukas' first career victory at Oaklawn, which means the Hall of Fame trainer could come full circle this weekend at the Hot Springs, Ark.,  track –  a place he calls home for roughly six months each year.

Miss Huntington – Lukas' first career Oaklawn starter – won the $250,000 Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) April 13, 1983. Lukas, 87, bids for another Apple Blossom victory Saturday when he sends out millionaire multiple stakes winner Secret Oath in the $1 million Grade 1 race for older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles.

Miss Huntington, who was based with Lukas in Southern California, came from the clouds to win the Apple Blossom by a half-length under future Hall of Fame jockey Jorge Velasquez. The 1 1/16-mile race, which attracted a bulky field of 13, was run over a sloppy track.

“We were just starting to ship all over the world and run on everybody's track,” Lukas said Tuesday morning at Oaklawn. “We brought her in here. She was by a horse called Torsion and we thought she was a sprinter, so Jeff, my son (and assistant), and I decided that maybe we should stretch her out and we could maybe steal it, being that she was fast. So, what happened? Turning up the backside, she's last by a block. We end up winning it and Jeff looks at me and says, 'That's the last time we'll sprint that one.' ”

Miss Huntington, campaigned by the now-deceased San Diego Chargers owner Eugene Klein, sparked D. Wayne Lukas' 40-year love affair with Oaklawn. Lukas, then with divisions across the country, returned the following year to win the $500,000 Arkansas Derby (G1) with Althea, a filly, and won 35 races in 1987 to capture his first Oaklawn training title. Lukas has been a fixture at Oaklawn since 2005 and claimed his second local training title in 2011 with 27 victories.

“During the '80s and '90s, we kept analyzing where we could be the most effective for our owners and set up a stable, which would give every horse in the barn a chance to win,” Lukas said. “We took the philosophy that not all of them could handle Santa Anita or Belmont, so we're trying to find tracks that we thought where they could be really effective. This one (Oaklawn) really fell into that. This was a perfect fit for us. To be honest with you, when we came here, we fell in love with it. Randy Bradshaw was my assistant at that time. When I moved him away from here and put him with another division, he ended up buying a house here. He bought a house on the lake. Everybody that we've ever sent in here in a management capacity has fallen in love with Oaklawn. I love it here. I just bought another house. You don't buy houses when you're 87 years old. You're supposed to sell them.”

Lukas said he rented during the last two Oaklawn meetings after selling his home just off Oaklawn property. Lukas now has another home, purchased in January, in the heart of the historic Trivista neighborhood that straddles Oaklawn's north parking lot.

“We're having more damn fun with this one,” Lukas said. “This one, to me, of the houses that we've had, I like this one about as well as any. This house has a real warmth to it. I've used one tank of gas in the last two months. My life is in a four-block area.”

Miss Huntington marked the first of Lukas' 52 career stakes victories to date Oaklawn. Overall, Lukas (351) is the ninth-winningest trainer in Oaklawn history. He has 15 victories this season – his highest total since 2011 – including the $350,000 Azeri Stakes (G2) March 11 with Secret Oath.

The post ‘I Love It Here’: 40 Years After His First Apple Blossom Win, Lukas Is At Home In Hot Springs appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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