Tag: People

Norm Casse saddled another winner Saturday at Oaklawn in Cactus, continuing the trainer's torrid start at the 2022-2023 meeting that began Dec. 9.

Through Saturday, Day 23 of the scheduled 68-day meeting, Casse had compiled a sparkling 8-2-1 record from 16 starts and bankrolled $468,750 in purse earnings. Casse already has two stakes victories at the meeting –Poinsettia Dec. 17 with Pretty Birdie and the American Beauty for older female sprinters Jan. 21 with Hot and Sultry for prominent Arkansas owners Alex and JoAnn Lieblong.

Casse, in his Oaklawn debut last season, was 5 for 21, highlighted by Pretty Birdie's victory in the $150,000 Purple Martin Stakes for 3-year-old filly sprinters.

“It's just one of those deals – first and foremost, my stable kind of focuses on dirt,” Casse said Sunday morning. “I like running in dirt races, so naturally this is a good fit for the horses that are here. A lot of the horses that have won here probably should have won their race prior at Churchill. So, we're sitting, and we have horses that are sitting on wins. They were just unfortunate last time. And I just have to be honest. I feel like we have a great team here and really kind of figured Oaklawn out a little bit. It goes without saying that we've been supported by really great owners.”

Casse said Pretty Birdie, a homebred for the iconic Marylou Whitney Stables, remains on target for the $150,000 Carousel Stakes for older female sprinters Feb. 25 at Oaklawn. Casse said there's “an outside chance” Hot and Sultry also runs in the Carousel.

“We're still trying to toy with the idea of possibly stretching Hot and Sultry out,” Casse said. “That's a decision that will be made at a later date.”

Casse said a potential two-turn landing spot for Hot and Sultry would be the $350,000 Azeri Stakes (G2) for older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles March 11 at Oaklawn.

“It just depends on what's in the condition book,” Casse said. “I would think that would have to be the race that she probably has to be in if we want to do that.”

The Azeri is the final major local prep for the $1 million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) at 1 1/16 miles April 15.

Casse has approximately 15 horses at Oaklawn.

The post ‘We Have Horse That Are Sitting On Wins’: Trainer Norm Casse’s Stable Crushing It At Oaklawn appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Trainer Brad Cox continued his march toward 2,000 career victories after winning two races Saturday at Oaklawn, including the Bayakoa Stakes (G3) for older fillies and mares with favored A Mo Reay.

“Good day,” Jorgito Abrego, Cox's Oaklawn-based assistant, said Sunday morning.

The double pushed Cox's career victory total to 1,990, according to Equibase, racing's official data gathering organization. In addition to the Bayakoa, Cox won Saturday's second raced with favored Family Tradition.

A Mo Reay, under a ground-saving ride from Florent Geroux, collared a stubborn front-runner, Lovely Ride, in the final sixteenth of a mile to win the Bayakoa by a half-length. The winning time over a fast track was 1:45.07.

A Mo Reay  is perfect in two starts for Cox, who was honored with an Eclipse Award as the country's outstanding trainer in 2020 and 2021.

A 4-year-old daughter of Uncle Mo, A Mo Reay was moved to Cox's barn after being purchased for $400,000 at Fasig-Tipton's Kentucky Fall Mixed Sale in November. A Mo Reay, who was entered in the sale as a racing/broodmare prospect, was previously with Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. She now races for Kentucky-based Hunter Valley Farm (Fergus Galvin).

In her first start for Cox, A Mo Reay won the off-the-turf Pago Hop Stakes at one-mile and 70 yards Dec. 31 at Fair Grounds. Cox said the Bayakoa – his 150th career graded stakes victory – was important because it enhanced A Mo Reay's broodmare value.

“She's nice,” Cox said by phone following the Bayakoa. “She's been training really, really well. We liked her, obviously, in her last run at Fair Grounds. It obviously came off the turf. We were hoping it would. She stepped up and showed up (Saturday). She's Grade 1 placed, but it was it was big to get the graded win with her.”

A Mo Reay won for the fourth time in 11 lifetime starts to increase her earnings to $392,650. She is a two-time stakes winner. A Mo Reay also finished third in the Frizette (G1) for 2-year-old fillies in October 2021 at Belmont Park.

Cox said next-race plans are pending for A Mo Reay, but it's “very possible” said he could run again at the 2022-2023 Oaklawn meeting. Oaklawn's two-turn stakes series for older fillies and mares continues with the $350,000 Azeri (G2) March 11 and the $1-million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) April 15. Both races are 1 1/16 miles.

“I think that we'll march forward with her,” Cox said.

The Bayakoa was Cox's 30th career Oaklawn stakes victory and 274th overall in Hot Springs. Only 15 trainers in Oaklawn history have reached 300 career victories, the last being Robertino Diodoro Jan. 21. Cox was Oaklawn's third-leading trainer last season with 31 victories and was 9 for 42, through Saturday, at the 2022-2023 meeting.

Cox saddled his first Oaklawn winner Feb. 5, 2009. His first career victory was Dec. 4, 2004, at Turfway Park with One Lucky Storm, who was racing for a $30,000 claiming tag. Almost two decades later, Cox, 42, continues to quickly build a Hall of Fame resume. His career has exploded in the last decade, with Eclipse Award winners like 2021 Horse of the Year Knicks Go and Monomoy Girl, the country's champion 3-year-old filly of 2018 and older dirt female of 2020.

“It (time) does fly by, but it's been good,” Cox said. “We've had a great run. A lot of our overall success has a lot to do with making that jump, leaving Kentucky in the winter and coming to Oaklawn. That really kick-started this whole thing for us. And, obviously, we've had great owners and great help and great horses.”

A Mo Reay marked Cox's third Bayakoa victory. He also won the race in 2016 with Call Pat and in 2021 with Monomoy Girl.

Cox has one horse entered Friday at Oaklawn and said he plans to run Key of Life in its $150,000 Dixie Belle Stakes for 3-year-old filly sprinters Feb. 11. Cox said he will have at least two starters (Verifying and Giant Mischief) in the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) Feb. 25. The 1 1/16-mile Rebel is Oaklawn's third of four Kentucky Derby points race.

“I don't know if that's it right now, but those are the two that we're definitely pointing for it,” Cox said. “We'll just kind of see how everything else falls into place over the next week or so.”

Cox has won four of Oaklawn's last 10 Kentucky Derby points races, including the $250,000 Smarty Jones Stakes Jan. 1 with unbeaten Victory Formation.

The post A Mo Reay’s Bayakoa Win At Oaklawn Pushes Cox Closer To Career Milestone appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Joseph Poag, a fixture at Maryland racetracks in his second career as the Chief Investigator for the Maryland Racing Commission, passed away Jan. 25 after a brief illness. He was 81.

Poag was born in Virginia but was raised in Baltimore and graduated from Edmonson High School before joining the Baltimore Police Department in 1964. He retired in 1985 as a captain in the Baltimore County Police Department and then moved on to horse racing to work for the MRC for roughly 37 years until the time of his death.

When not at the racetrack, Poag enjoyed spending time with his children and grandchildren, and also was a fisherman.

MRC Executive Director Mike Hopkins, who was hired as Deputy Executive Director in 1984 just before Poag joined the MRC, said there were many aspects to Poag's job. His duties included investigating unusual pari-mutuel payoffs; ensuring that all personnel and racing participants were properly licensed; barn area searches; random drug tests of human participants, including jockeys; reviewing immigration documents to determine if individuals could legally work on the backstretch; conducting interviews tied to hearings with the stewards; handling split samples for equine drug tests; and serving as a liaison to the MRC.

“Joe also did a lot with Preakness week as far as reviewing security protocols in the barn area and basically anything else we needed him to do,” Hopkins said. “And on occasion he would go to the harness tracks for various investigative matters.

“Joe was a great person, very personable, and a very good friend. He was the perfect person to go to look for advice on how to solve various issues.”

Poag is survived by his wife of 58 years, Nancy Poag (nee Butler), as well as his children—David, Michele and Danielle. He was the proud grandfather of Candace Deanna, Dustin, Chad, Chris, Zoe, Ava, and Aaron, and great-grandfather of Trinity, Kyden, and Malia.

Visitation and a memorial services were held Feb. 2-3 at the Candle Light Funeral Home in Catonsville, Md. In lieu of flowers, the family requested that donations be made to the Baltimore County Police Assistance & Relief Fund.

The post Poag, MRC Chief Investigator, Dies At Age 81 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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In a social media post late last month, Shortleaf Stable announced, “A shakeup in our stable brings forth an old face and a new one.”

The old face is Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, 87, who has reunited with Shortleaf owner John Ed Anthony after they teamed for 10 victories at Oaklawn in 2008-2009. The new face is trainer Lindsay Schultz, 34, who now has three horses for Anthony.

“It's really exciting for me,” Schultz said Friday morning. “I mean, that's the first owner I have that's trying to breed a Derby horse.”

Shortleaf horses now with Schultz at Oaklawn are The Heights, a 3-year-old Nyquist half brother to 2021 Arkansas Derby runner-up Caddo River; Westover, a 3-year-old Arkansas-bred son of Double Irish; and Coromandel, a 3-year-old Arkansas-bred daughter of Tekton.

All three Shortleaf homebreds have started at the 2022-2023 Oaklawn meeting. The Heights and Westover had previously been with two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox. Coromandel had previously been with trainer John Ortiz.

“That's pretty cool,” Schultz said of training for Anthony.

Schultz was an assistant under Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey before striking out on her own in the fall of 2021. Although McGaughey and his son, Reeve, have trained for Anthony in the past, Schultz said she had no personal connection to the Arkansas lumberman and winningest owner in Oaklawn history. Anthony has campaigned three Eclipse Award winners, including homebred Vanlandingham (1985 champion older male) with Shug McGaughey. Schultz said John Gasper, Anthony's racing manager, helped steer the prominent breeder/owner to her.

“I got to know John Gasper a little bit this fall when I was in Kentucky,” Schultz said. “I think John Ed's son (Ed) had heard of me as well, but I went out to meet Mr. Anthony at the farm a couple of weeks ago.”

Schultz already has 16 career victories as a trainer. Seven have come at Oaklawn, including her first career winner, Capture the Glory, Jan. 8, 2022, for major client Ten Strike Racing.

Schultz has a 3-1-1 mark from 10 starts this season at Oaklawn. Two of the victories have been with the Ten Strike-owned Tiger Moon, whose major 2022-2023 Oaklawn objective is the 1 ¾-mile Trail's End starter-allowance marathon, traditionally the final race of the meeting. Ten Strike won the last two runnings of the Trail's End, worth $125,000 last year, with the now-retired Original Intent. The gelding was trained by Bentley Combs.

“Thankfully, we have Tiger Moon,” Schultz said. “He's the superstar. Long way to go (before the Trail's End).”

Schultz said she has 15 horses at Oaklawn. Roughly a half-dozen are for Ten Strike, which entered Saturday as Oaklawn's leading owner this season with eight victories from just 13 starts.

Lukas now trains Caddo River, who was previously with Cox. Under Cox's care, Caddo River won the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes for 3-year-olds in 2021 at Oaklawn before finishing second in its $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1). Shortleaf transferred its homebred from Cox to Lukas following a runner-up finish in a Jan. 21 allowance race at Oaklawn, which marked Caddo River's 5-year-old debut.

Lukas said he's pointing Caddo River to the $600,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) for older horses at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 18. Anthony won the Razorback last year with the Cox-trained Plainsman.

Caddo River, who is by Hard Spun, has a 5-5-1 record from 16 lifetime starts and earnings of $677,800. Anthony entered Saturday with 281 career Oaklawn victories. Shortleaf still has horses with Cox and Ortiz.

The post Trainer Lindsay Schultz To Handle Trio Of Shortleaf Stable Homebreds appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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