Tag: People

Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘More In The Pipeline’ After Monomoy Girl

Near the conclusion of two-time Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl's career, the following suggestion was made to breeder Brendan Gallagher: “You want to enjoy it while it's happening, because it's never going to happen again.”

“Well, I said to that person, 'If I really thought it would never happen again, I'm not so sure I'd keep doing this.'”

Just over two years later, Gallagher was delighted to watch another graduate of Frankfort Park Farm breeding program reach graded success on the racetrack: despite a disastrous break, 3-year-old filly Cairo Consort rallied hard to win the Grade 3 Sweetest Chant Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

The filly hasn't quite reached the same dizzying levels of success as Monomoy Girl, but her gallant win lent credence to Gallagher's strong optimism for the future.

“It's good to see that on a Saturday afternoon; that's why we do what we do,” Gallagher said. “To see a horse that you raise and can race to that level, it's really something. We've been lucky enough to breed some good ones, but I honestly believe there are more in the pipeline. I can't say where they're going to come from, but I truly believe that. All you can do is go with your hunches and do the best you can.”

Gallagher, 58, and his wife Olive have owned and operated Frankfort Park Farm off Old Frankfort Pike in Lexington, Ky., full-time since 2010. They are co-breeders of Monomoy Girl, , alongside Michael Hernon's Highfield Ranch, as well as graded stakes winners Take Charge Paula, The Tabulator, and Yuvetsi.

After graduating from the Irish National Stud Program, Gallagher made his first trip to the United States in 1983, continuing his education at the University of Kentucky and working at Gainesway Farm. Upon his return to Ireland, Gallagher spent the next eight years as the assistant manager at Coolmore's Kilsheelan Stud.

In 1993, Gallagher and his wife launched Emerald Bloodstock Services Limited, which soon grew into one of the leading bloodstock agencies in Europe.

“It was a good education,” Gallagher said. “[Coolmore] wasn't as big in my time there, you know. In fairness, John Magnier has changed the industry worldwide. For me, with the agency and everything, I'm just happier doing what I'm doing now, being hands on every day. I'm not so sure I'd be doing what I'm doing if I wasn't hands on.”

They purchased Frankfort Park Farm with a few partners in 2006, utilizing the location to quarantine horses before shipping them overseas, but quickly discovered how difficult it was to properly run a farm from across the ocean.

By 2010, the Gallaghers had sold their bloodstock agency and bought out their partners in Frankfort Park Farm. 

“Where we are situated now is, I believe, the best place in the world to raise Thoroughbreds,” said Gallagher. “Right where we are, within four or five miles, are the biggest, most successful farms in the world.”

Jorje Abrego, left, gives Monomoy Girl a kiss after her victory in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Distaff

Monomoy Girl certainly put the farm on the map very quickly. Gallagher spotted her dam, Drumette (Henny Hughes) at the 2014 Keeneland November sale. The mare's $75,000 price tag has more than paid dividends.

Drumette was in foal to Tapizar at the sale, and foaled out the chestnut filly who would become Monomoy Girl on March 26, 2015. Beautifully proportioned, the filly was “highly strung” and required careful handling during her formative years.

Monomoy Girl sold for $100,000 as a yearling at the Keeneland September sale, and built a resume of 14 wins and three seconds from 17 starts, with earnings of $4,776,818. Highlights included a pair of Eclipse Awards and two Breeders' Cup victories, the second coming after a return from a lengthy layoff.

Drumette produced three more foals for Gallagher before she was sold in foal to Mastery at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Mixed sale for a whopping $1.85 million.

Meanwhile, Cairo Consort's dam, Absolutely Awesome (Street Cry), was a $200,000 purchase from the Robsham dispersal and consignor Lane's End at the 2013 Keeneland November sale. 

“I mean it's a massive pedigree,” Gallagher explained. “She's out of a half-sister to (millionaire) Awesome Maria, her second dam produced Discreet Cat. We were delighted to have her.”

Cairo Consort and Irad Ortiz Jr. winning the Sweetest Chant

Cairo Consort is the mare's third foal, and sold for $95,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling sale. Just over a month into her sophomore season, the filly has already won four of her eight career starts for earnings of $430,449. The highlight of her resume may be a third-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf last fall at 19-1 odds, when conditioned by young trainer Nathan Squires. 

After the Breeders' Cup, Cairo Consort sold for $875,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall sale to Repole Stable and Town & Country Racing. Now conditioned by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, the filly is undefeated through two starts in 2023.

Absolutely Awesome lost a foal last year, but is booked to Constitution during the 2023 breeding season. Gallagher has attempted to hold on to much of the family, including buying into Cairo Consort's half-sister, Tayef.

Watching the success of his program on the racetrack is a big thrill for Gallagher, who said it's afternoons like Saturday that make those frosty 3 a.m. problem foalings worth every minute. At age 58, Gallagher has been asked several times when he'll be ready to slow down.

“Well, I need to be under a bit of pressure to be really motivated,” he joked. “We foal around 35 mares, of which we own nearly 27 or 28 of them ourselves. There are around 70 horses on the farm, and it'll be just over 100 after foaling out. Of those, 75 percent or 80 percent are ours.”

Beyond late-night foaling calls, Gallagher spends most of his days working with the reproduction vet on the mares or with the blacksmith, keeping the yearlings and foals on the right track.

“It's really all the little things that make the difference,” Gallagher said. “I believe nature wants to give you its best and sometimes we do a very good job of messing it up. 

“There are definitely some things in breeding horses that are overlooked. Horses need to be happy and the lads need to love them. I know that sounds crazy, but it's really true.

“We've been lucky enough we bought mares with little issues, and you never know what you might get; they can throw very good foals. I'm hoping there's more in the pipeline.”

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‘You Got To Know How To Love And Get Along With Each Other’: Backside Learning Center Shares Lessons From ‘Homie’ Wise

The Backside Learning Center at Churchill Downs spent time with jack-of-all-trades backstretch worker Michael “Homie” Wise in advance of the celebration of Black History month.

Born and raised in New Orleans, La., Homie has been in the horseracing industry for 30 years.

“You get going so much you can't keep calm,” he said. “I can't remember when I started, I get lost when I started. I like it. I really do like the horses. “

He had his start at Fair Grounds, and found his way to Kentucky.

“For some reason, I came to Kentucky,” Homie laughed. “I fell in love with it and made it my home. Well, New Orleans is home to me, I'd call this my 'happy place.'”

Homie is best classified as a jack-of-all-trades.

“I'm a groom, hot walker, everything you need me to. An all-around man.”

Homie works for Trainer Jimmy Baker now, but worked for other trainers, including Peter Vestal and Eddie Kenneally.

In terms of the work involved, Homie thinks it's rewarding.

“It's a great feeling being around these horses. Seeing them young, working with them and seeing them do the Kentucky Derby.”

However, he agrees it's a lot of hard work.

Homie has fond memories of what it was like back in the day as a black man on the backstretch.

“We was like family. Whites got along. Blacks got along,” Homie explained. “When another guy sees you do something wrong, he'll come and show you. Those old guys are gone now.”

Although he thinks the industry's changed a little bit, being mostly Spanish-speaking immigrants now, he thinks the lessons from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. still have valuable things to teach us.

“When you look at immigrants coming to live a better life, you got to know how to love and get along with each other. That's all I can say.”

The post ‘You Got To Know How To Love And Get Along With Each Other’: Backside Learning Center Shares Lessons From ‘Homie’ Wise appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Songwriter, Thoroughbred Owner Burt Bacharach, 94, Passes

Burt Bacharach (BENOIT photo)

The entertainment world lost a giant Wednesday with the passing of legendary composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist Burt Bacharach.  Born in Kansas City, Mo., Bacharach, who would've been 95 on May 12, passed away at his home in Los Angeles.

Bacharach was not only a giant in the music business – winning six Grammys and three Oscars – but he was also a significant player in Thoroughbred horse racing, dating back to the late 1960s, when his first horse, Battle Royal, won his career debut in 1968 for Hall of Fame trainer Charlie Whittingham.

Bacharach soon developed close friendships with a number of prominent racing personalities, including Hollywood Park's Marjorie Everett and jockeys such as Bill Shoemaker and Laffit Pincay, Jr.  Married at the time to superstar actress Angie Dickinson, Bacharach and his wife co-hosted an episode of the hit television variety show Hollywood Palace on ABC television, circa January 1970, and Shoemaker, who was recovering from serious injuries, was their lead guest.

The Shoe sang a version of the George Jones hit song, “The Race is On,” and executed a dance routine as well and answered questions from Burt and Angie, who also ran video of the spill in which Shoemaker was injured.

In addition to a multitude of entertainment awards for songs such as “Alfie,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head,” “The Look of Love,” “Walk on By,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose,” and “What the World Needs Now is Love,” Bacharach also enjoyed major success in racing.

His Maryland-bred Heartlight No. One, who was trained by Pedro Marti and named for the Neil Diamond hit “Heartlight,” won five races in a row in 1983, including the Grade 1 Hollywood Oaks, the G2 Del Mar Oaks and the G1 Ruffian Handicap at Belmont Park and was subsequently voted 1983's Eclipse Award winning 3-year-old filly.

“I rode the first horse Burt ever owned, a horse named Battle Royal for Charlie Whittingham,” said Pincay.  “And then later on, we won a lot of good races with Heartlight No. One.  Burt was just a good friend.  I will always be grateful to him, because after my first wife passed away, he took me under his wing.

“My kids were very young and he would invite us out to dinner almost every weekend.  I will always be very appreciative of that.  That's something that I will never forget.  He was really a good friend and I tell you, it hurt me to hear that he passed away.”

Other stakes horses campaigned by Bacharach included the Richard Mandella-trained Soul of the Matter and Afternoon Deelites, who won Santa Anita's Grade 2 San Felipe in successive years in 1994 and 1995.  Soul of the Matter would go on to run fifth in the 1994 Kentucky Derby and two years later at age five, he ran second to the great Cigar in the inaugural Dubai World Cup in 1996 and retired as the all-time leading West Virginia-bred money earner with more than $1.5 million.

Following his 1995 San Felipe victory, Afternoon Deelites, in one of the most dramatic finishes in the history of the Santa Anita Derby, finished second by a nose to Larry the Legend and would go on to run eighth in the Run for the Roses.

Burt Bacharach (ABC publicity photo)

“We had great times racing, with Soul of the Matter and Afternoon Deelites,” said Mandella from his Santa Anita Barn 4 on Thursday morning.  “We became great friends and we continued that way.  He was a great person, a great owner, he couldn't have been better.  We had great times and I couldn't say enough about him.

“One day I'll never forget, he actually had my parents and my wife and I picked up at the airport in Vegas, and we were taken to Caesars Palace where we had front row seats for one of his concerts.  It was the one night he came back with Dionne Warwick (“Walk on By,” “Alfie,” etc.)

“I remember Sugar Ray Leonard was in the booth next to us and Burt stopped the concert and introduced me and then Sugar Ray Leonard.  I'll never forget it.”

Honored by the Turf Publicists of America in 1971 with its “Big Sport of Turfdom” award, Bacharach was also chosen as the 1995 Maryland Breeder of the Year.

Bacharach's final win came with the Irish-bred Duvet Day, who flew late going a mile and one half on turf to win Santa Anita's $100,000 Astra Stakes on Jan. 21.  Owned in-part by Bacharach and his wife, Jane, Duvet Day, who paid $28.80 to win, was trained by Michael McCarthy and ridden by Kazushi Kimura.

Burt Bacharach is survived by his wife, Jane, and three children: sons Oliver and Cristopher Elton, as well as a daughter, Raleigh. A fourth child, daughter Nikki, died in 2007.

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‘Sat Up There Like A Piece Of Gold’: Hall Of Fame Jockey Jimmy Winkfield Led Extraordinary Life

In the history of Thoroughbred racing, there is arguably no story as fascinating as the life led by Jimmy Winkfield.

Born in Chilesburg, Kentucky, in 1880, Winkfield began riding horses as a young boy and quickly developed into one of the premier jockeys in America. By the time he was 22, Winkfield had become only the second rider to win consecutive editions of the Kentucky Derby — in 1901 with His Eminence and 1902 with Alan-a-Dale — joining the great Isaac Murphy with the historic Derby double.

Regarded as a prodigy in the irons, Winkfield was described by noted horseman Col. Phil Chinn as someone who “just sat up there like a piece of gold” atop a horse.

Winkfield appeared well on his way to stardom. In 1901, he ranked among the top riders in the United States with 161 wins. Along with the Kentucky Derby, his victories that year included such prestigious events as the Clark Handicap, Latonia Derby, and Tennessee Derby. However, only two years after winning his second Derby, Winkfield's career in the United States was finished. As skilled as he was as a jockey, Jimmy Winkfield could not overcome one thing — he was Black.

Beginning in the late-1890s, rampant racism at the American tracks systemically began to decimate the livelihoods of Black jockeys. Prejudiced owners and trainers and white jockeys who openly used dirty tactics during races proved to be an impossible combination for the Black riders to overcome. By the early 1900s, they had mostly vanished.

Accelerating Winkfield's departure from American racing was a 1903 incident with the famous trainer John E. Madden. Winkfield agreed to ride a horse for Madden in the celebrated Futurity, a race worth $36,500 to the winner — more than seven times the value of that year's Kentucky Derby. Winkfield, however, reneged on his promise to Madden. Instead of riding The Minute Man for Madden, Winkfield accepted a guaranteed $3,000 to pilot High Ball for Bob May.

Unfortunately for Winkfield, High Ball broke poorly and finished sixth. The Minute Man fared a bit better, finishing third, but Madden was furious with the result — and with Winkfield. Along with being an elite trainer, Madden was also a powerful owner and breeder who had tremendous influence throughout the sport. In retaliation for Winkfield not riding his horse in the Futurity, Madden blackballed the young jockey with as many prominent owners as he could. The result was Winkfield's mounts dropping from 391 in 1902 to 223 in 1903.

With his prospects having dwindled in the United States, Winkfield packed his bags and ventured to Europe, where he rode at an elite level in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, and Spain. The American outcast suddenly found himself in demand to ride for a German baron, a Polish prince, and a Russian czar, among numerous high-profile horse owners.

Winkfield proved his American success was no fluke. Although records are incomplete for his career, it is reported by various sources that Winkfield won in the neighborhood of 2,500 races internationally, including documented victories in the Russian Oaks (five times), Russian Derby (three times), Moscow Derby (twice), and Polish Derby (twice).

Along with his accomplishments, Winkfield faced difficult and dangerous situations overseas. During World War I, while he was earning more than $100,000 per year in the saddle, Winkfield was forced to escape Russia when the Bolshevik Revolution led to an armed insurrection and precipitated a Russian Civil War.

After an arduous journey on foot and horseback through Eastern Europe, Winkfield eventually settled in France, where he continued to ride at an exceptional level. His notable victories there included the Prix du President de la Republique, Grand Prix de Deauville, and the Prix Eugene Adam. He rode until the age of 48 and was revered throughout Europe. While in France, Winkfield married the daughter of a Russian aristocrat and had a son, Robert, and a daughter, Lillian.

After retiring from the saddle, Winkfield transitioned to training. He lived on a farm near the Hippodrome de Maisons-Laffitte racetrack on the outskirts of Paris, where his life was settled and successful for many years until World War II. When Germany occupied France during the war, Winkfield and his family fled the Nazi invasion and returned to America in 1941.

Back in the United States, Winkfield continued to train. He owned several of the horses he sent out at tracks in Delaware, Ohio, and West Virginia. He also trained for prominent owner Pete Bostwick, a former top steeplechase rider. At Charles Town, Winkfield gave a leg up on a few mounts to a young apprentice rider named Bill Hartack, who went on to win five runnings of the Kentucky Derby.

Winkfield didn't have the same success training in America that he did in France, so he returned to Maisons-Laffitte in 1953. Within a couple years, Winkfield, now training with his son alongside him, had 36 horses in his stable.

Winkfield continued to sporadically visit the United States.

In 1961, he returned to Kentucky to be recognized during a reception at the Brown Hotel in Louisville the week of the Derby. Although he was an honored guest of the turf writers, Winkfield was told he was not allowed to enter the hotel through the front door because he was Black. Some things hadn't changed. Refusing to use a back entrance, the 79-year-old Winkfield was eventually allowed through the front door of the hotel when accompanied by officials from Churchill Downs. Winkfield stayed on to attend Carry Back's victory in the Derby then returned to France. He died at Maisons-Laffitte in 1974 at the age of 91.

More than 70 years had passed since Winkfield rode consecutive winners of the Kentucky Derby when Ron Turcotte became the next to accomplish the feat with Riva Ridge in 1972 and Secretariat in 1973. Eddie Delahoussaye, Calvin Borel, and Victor Espinoza later joined the exclusive club of back-to-back Derby winners, originally established by Murphy in 1890 and 1891. Winkfield is the most recent Black jockey to win the Derby and the only one to do so in the 20th century.

In 2004, Winkfield became the third Black jockey inducted into the Hall of Fame, joining Murphy (class of 1955) and Willie Simms (1977). The following year, the New York Racing Association, Inc. inaugurated the Jimmy Winkfield Stakes, which will be featured on Saturday's 10-race card at Aqueduct Racetrack. Two other Black riders — Shelby “Pike” Barnes (2011) and Anthony Hamilton (2012) — have since been enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

Brien Bouyea is the Hall of Fame and Communications Director at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York. He is also the author of Bare Knuckles and Saratoga Racing: The Remarkable Life of John Morrissey and co-author of The Travers: 150 Years of Saratoga's Greatest Race.

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