Geovanni Franco notched his 1,000th career win Saturday when his mount in the second race at Del Mar, Miss Commander, was elevated to the win via a disqualification of first-place finisher Unkept Secret.
Stewards ruled that Unkept Secret came over on Franco and Miss Commander during a stretch-long duel. Unkept Secret ended up finishing first by a head, but the stewards felt the bumping cost Miss Commander.
For Franco, getting his 1,000th victory on a DQ didn't tarnish the achievement.
“It doesn't,” Franco said with a smile. “I've won plenty of races by DQ and I'll take a winner any way they come.”
Franco has been riding at Del Mar since 2017, with a year off in 2022 when he moved his tack back to the Midwest and Kentucky. He returned to Del Mar this summer and rang up 12 wins. This fall he has five.
“It's truly humbling to have this 1,000th win at Del Mar,” Franco said. “To have been riding here the last five years makes it even better. I'll be happy to get many more.”
Franco rode his first winner at Mexico City's Hipodromo de las Americas in 2009. He went to Canada later that year and rode at Hastings Park in Vancouver, British Columbia. In March 2010 he came to Santa Anita and rode the rest of the winter meet before heading up to Golden Gate Fields. He would ride in Northern California through much of 2011 before finishing the year at Turf Paradise where he was the leading rider in 2012 and 2013.
He began branching out to other tracks in 2014, riding at Sunland Park, Santa Anita again, even Finger Lakes in New York and Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Pennsylvania. He settled in the Midwest in 2015, riding at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, Remington Park in Oklahoma and Canterbury Park in Minnesota.
The highlights of Franco's career include a runner-up finish to Golden Pal onboard Lieutenant Dan in the 2021 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1) at Del Mar. His first Grade 1 victory came with Fault in the Santa Margarita at Santa Anita in 2018, and in 2019 he got another Grade 1 with Secret Spice in the Beholder Mile.
In all, Franco has won has 20 graded stakes, the latest coming this past summer at Del Mar with Senor Buscador in the San Diego Handicap (G2) and on Motorious in the Green Flash (G3).
“I'm proud of myself,” Franco said, “and thankful with God.”,
On Sunday in Race 2, jockey James Graham tallied his 3,000th career victory when piloting Big Chief Racing and Rocker O Ranch's Vortex for trainer Keith Desormeaux at Fair Grounds.
Coming into the 2023-2024 meet, Graham was ten away from the milestone. He wasted no time closing the gap, winning ten races over nine cards, including victories in the Claiming Crown Tiara and Iron Horse the previous day.
“It's quite emotional actually,” Graham said. “I came here in 2002 and all I ever wanted was a shot. I wish my mom was still alive to see this. Thank you to everybody who has ever put me on a winner throughout my whole career. This is all because of you guys. Thank you to my wife. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be where I am. Fair Grounds has been good to me over the years. I've made a lot of friends and lost a lot of friends. Racing is a life and we are all a big family. Thank you to everybody.”
Hailing from Dublin, Ireland, Graham attended jockey's school and worked for four years as an apprentice, recording one win in his native Ireland before launching his career in the U.S. His first victory came at River Downs on July 1, 2003 aboard B.J. Star for trainer Allan Shapoff in just his 12th mount. Later that year his first Fair Grounds victory came aboard High Octave for trainer Ronny Werner. Graham has gone on to win 1,340 local races and stands tall as the third winningest rider at Fair Grounds since 1986, behind Ronald Ardoin and Robby Albarado.
“This is special for me doing it (at Fair Grounds),” Graham said. “My career took off here. When I first got here in 2003 and started riding, this is the meet that got the ball rolling for me. Look at the guys I started riding with here. Gerard (Melancon), Robby (Albarado), Shane Sellars, E. J. Perrodin–I got educated here. I've got a couple more goals at this track that I want to accomplish, so I'm banging on the door and I'm young, fit and healthy.”
Over his career, the 44-year-old has four local riding titles, and won many of the track's most prominent stakes. Graham has won over 47 graded stakes, and 13 of those have come at Fair Grounds, including victories aboard 135-1 shot Ive Struck a Nerve in the 2013 Risen Star (G2), 28-1 shot Call Me Midnight in the 2022 Lecomte (G3), and 7-1 shot Ron the Greek in the 2010 Lecomte (G3). Ive Struck a Nerve and Call Me Midnight were both trained by Desormeaux.
“Keith has been very good to me since I started my career,” Graham said. “We've had a lot of luck. He's always been a big supporter. I think he's a brilliant horseman. Thank you to all the horsemen. All I ever wanted was a chance. To have a chance. And these guys gave me a chance.”
Having had three mounts in the Kentucky Derby (G1), Graham's best finish was aboard Lone Sailor in 2018 when he crossed the line in eighth for trainer Tom Amoss. One of Arlington Park's all-time winningest jockeys, Graham earned his first graded stakes victory in the 2004 Arlington Breeders' Cup Oaks (G3). With five grade ones to his name, Graham's most recent came aboard 27-1 longshot Two Emmys in the 2021 Mr. D., affectionately known as “the last Arlington Million.”
Upon winning his 3,000th race, Graham has amassed $111,328,888 in career earnings from 22,095 mounts. In Graham's 19th season at Fair Grounds, it is his first year being represented by agent Doug Bredar.
John and Thady Gosden have won the 2023 Flat Trainers' Championship for the first time since taking out a joint license together.
This year's Trainers' Championship runs from Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2023 and is based on prize money won in that period. The Gosdens currently have £7,133,618 worth of prize money, more than £700,000 ahead of their nearest challenger Aidan O'Brien, who is a further £2 million in front of the likes of Andrew Balding, Ralph Beckett and William Haggas. O'Brien has conceded the title to the Gosdens, as he is unlikely to have another runner in Great Britain this year.
John, 72, has previously won the Trainers' Championship on five occasions, most recently in 2020, however this is his first Championship win with his son Thady, 28. The pair joined forces in 2021 and finished third in their first two seasons together.
On winning the title with his son Thady, Gosden said:“It is fulfilling to have won the Championship. We have won it before here at Clarehaven Stables, but to win it with Thady, and do it together, I find that particularly fulfilling.
“We have to thank the horses, the Owners and the Breeders of those horses because without them there would be no racing stables and no racecourses. I think it's the most forgotten of all the truths of our industry that without the horses themselves and the amount of people who own and breed them we would be very lost.”
He continued: “I would also like to thank every single one of our staff members. At Clarehaven it is very much a team effort which is the same in any stable and stud farm across the industry. We have had a great year and its incredibly hard work, with racing seven days a week. It can be demanding on everybody, and you need plenty of staff working together so that you can spread the load, so from that point of view, without the team here of course this wouldn't have happened.”
Gosden discussed the emotions that comes with winning the Championship and his highlights of the year:“It's always the same in this game, the first thing you have is a sense of relief, the elation can come later and a little celebration. But it is always a deep sense of relief that things have worked out and it's going well.”
“I wouldn't name one highlight; I think overall it was an Owner Breeder horse [Courage Mon Ami] winning the Ascot Gold Cup which is a wonderful race to win. We have been very lucky to have some fabulous Owner Breeders that have got us where we are, and I am forever thankful to them.”
Among their 121 wins in Great Britain, from 571 runners at a strike rate of 21%, were 19 Group winners, eight QIPCO British Champions Series wins and seven Group 1s.
The pair contributed significantly to Frankie Dettori's whirlwind final season in the saddle in Europe, by providing his final British Classic winner in the shape of Soul Sister in the Betfred Oaks at Epsom and the incredible victory for Courage Mon Ami in the Ascot Gold Cup. Dettori then delivered a terrific ride on Mostadhaf to win the Juddmonte International at York in August and received similar praise for his efforts on Trawlerman in the QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot in October, a victory that cemented the Trainers' Championship for the Gosdens as they moved further clear of O'Brien.
The jockeys with the most winners for John and Thady this year were Robert Havlin (38), Dettori (19) and Kieran Shoemark (15) while they've had winners at 25 different racecourses, their most prolific being at the Newmarket courses (17 winners).
The training duo have also had momentous success abroad this year, including big wins in the likes of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, France and the US, with Inspiral capping a memorable year in the Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Santa Anita.
John has brought his years of expertise to the partnership, with 12 British Classics to his name (Soul Sister in the Oaks this year his first with his son). He has also trained up a number of superstars including the likes of Enable, Golden Horn, Kingman, Ravens Pass, Cracksman, QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Famer Stradivarius and a host more.
All this was not lost on Thady, who is extremely grateful to his father for giving him his first steps into the training ranks. On this he [Thady} said:“We are in a fortunate position where Dad has built up an exceptional, experienced and talented team over the eighteen years at Clarehaven. A lot of people have been there since the very start so we know them very well, and they have maintained the standards that are required here for the duration and will continue doing so.”
“It is a huge team effort and it's something that we couldn't achieve without a massive amount of support from the Owners and Owner Breeders that we have at Clarehaven, and of course the horses. We were lucky this year as some of the horses have stepped up from last year, they are building on their form and have run consistently throughout the year.”
Speaking on the Championship he continued:“There was slight tension during QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot as the prize money is huge, so it can tip the balance one way or the other. We are fortunate that Trawlerman fought on hard and won the first race, things didn't quite go as planned of the rest of the day, but it also didn't work out for the main challenger, so we were fortunate to stay ahead.”
“On the whole, we are fortunate this year that things have gone right. You can really feel a good buzz around the yard, and winning a Championship is a huge team effort and the team are all very thrilled about it.”
The full standings of the 2023 Flat Trainers' Championship can be viewed here.
Most native Kentuckians find themselves enthralled by the Kentucky Derby, whether it be the pomp and circumstance, the festive atmosphere, or the races themselves. Attending is almost a right of passage, and finding a way to be personally involved is an item on many bucket lists.
That wasn't the case, however, for Whit Beckman, despite being raised in the Derby City itself. Instead, it was a series of quiet mornings in his early 20's, spent cleaning stalls and grooming his mother's show horses, that convinced Beckman to invest his future in the Thoroughbred industry.
The son of an equine veterinarian, Beckman didn't show any interest in his father's career during his formative years, preferring soccer and skateboarding to the horses. After college, though, he found himself unsure what to do with his life.
Beckman spent many a morning heading out to the farm to help his mother, doing basic care and chores, before he realized that his calling had been right there all along.
“You can go out in search of everything you're looking for, all over the world, but if you just look around you, you had it the whole time,” he said. “I realized I enjoyed working with the horse, the individual; switching off from the regular working world and doing the actual labor lets you get out of your own mind and into that communication that exists without any sort of words.”
Twenty some years later, 41-year-old Beckman has crafted a career path for himself that may just bring him to that pinnacle of sport on the first Saturday in May: the trainer saddled his first graded stakes winner last weekend, sending out 2-year-old Honor Marie to win the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs.
The win earned the son of Honor Code 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.
“With all horses, you have an idea of how good they might be, and I was always thinking two turns with the horse, so I'm just glad he confirmed what we all kind of assumed,” Beckman said. “I know that it's only November, but I'm fortunate enough to have been on the Derby trail before, and it's still pretty cool that at the end of the day, we're all dreaming about this!”
Beckman's previous Derby seasoning occurred during his tenure with Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, for whom he served as an assistant from 2007 through 2013.
Yet his first racetrack job came courtesy of “Louisville guy” Walter Binder, and Beckman also spent time working at Upson Downs Farm on the outskirts of Louisville, before deciding to pursue a job in New York.
“Back in those days, Churchill was not giving away the same kind of money that they are now, so there were not as many top-name trainers basing themselves there,” Beckman explained. “Charlie Bowden – I bounced a lot off him early – he told me that if I really wanted to get into this business and learn, then I needed to think about the New York and Florida circuit, because those were the biggest venues.
“Todd called me back while I was on vacation in Florida, and he told me to be in Saratoga as soon as I could get there!”
After six years with Pletcher, Beckman took a job as head trainer in Saudi Arabia for a year, then returned stateside to work for Eoin Harty in Chicago and Tampa for a spell. He returned to Saudi Arabia, but the second trip was much shorter: his daughter was born, and Beckman realized he needed to be closer to home.
“When it was time to go back, I made it all the way to New York with my passport in hand before I realized I really didn't want to go,” he said. “So I turned around and came home, and I got lucky to get a job for Chad Brown a few months later.”
Beckman headed up a string at Churchill for Brown for several years, gaining even more high-level experience.
“I sometimes look back in disbelief that I've been able to work with such high-profile horses and be in such well-respected positions for as long as I have been,” Beckman said. “There are a lot of things that are very similar in both of those stables, especially in terms of consistency and patterns, attention to detail, going above and beyond to take the best possible care of the horse.”
After going out on his own in 2021, Beckman had a bit of a slow start under his own banner. The focus has always been on quality, not quantity: Honor Marie's victory was the 23rd under his own name.
“You know, it was such a transient lifestyle, and I just wanted to be more present for my daughter, who's now seven years old,” he said. “Things are just continuing to improve, and now I'm trying to figure out how to best navigate the winters; I have 12 at Trackside, and eight at Fair Grounds this year, so I'm trying to split my time appropriately.”
Among the connections he made while working for Pletcher was with Kristian Villante, one of the founding four members of Legion Bloodstock. The growing company has supported Beckman since his first days on his own, and their selection of Honor Marie for $40,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September sale is proving to be quite the bargain.
The colt broke his maiden at first asking, after which co-owners Alan and Carrie Ribble bought out their other partners. Honor Marie is named in part for their daughter, Marie, as well as after his sire and dam (Honor Code and Dame Marie).
He finished second in a sloppy allowance race in his second outing, then stepped up to two turns for the Kentucky Jockey Club. Honor Marie cruised from last-to-first and won by two lengths at odds of 8-1, stamping himself as a potential horse to be reckoned with in 2024.
“He's done everything right to this point,” said Beckman. “He's a young horse, a May foal. Early on, he just had some maturity things and we needed a little bit more time to get him going. But now that he's starting to kind of figure things out on the mental side, we've always known the physical side was there. At this point, the way he won, the way the gallop-out went, he could go on to be a very legitimate horse.”
Honor Code colt Honor Marie, ridden by Rafael Bejarano, scores in the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2(
