Tag: People

Trainer Robertino Diodoro's drive toward 3,000 career victories continued Saturday at Oaklawn. The theme was more of the same – claimed older horses climbing the class ladder in two-turn events.

Diodoro's two victories included a front-running score by Bal Harbour, who held off Grade 2 winner Last Samurai by a neck in the $200,000 Tinsel Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles. The Tinsel came approximately 30 minutes after Diodoro won the eighth race, a 1 1/16-mile conditioned allowance, with Disc Jockey. The purse was $104,000.

Bal Harbour ($13.60) was making his third start since Diodoro claimed him for $50,000 out of a blowout victory at 1 1/8 miles Sept. 5 at Saratoga. Disc Jockey is 3 for 3 since Diodoro claimed him for $25,000 out of a Sept. 23 victory going a mile at Los Alamitos.

Diodoro's double came almost exactly one year after his biggest claim to fame, Lone Rock, won the Tinsel by three-quarters of a length over stablemate Thomas Shelby. After re-claiming Lone Rock for $40,000 in November 2020 at Churchill Downs, the gelding, now 7, flourished in 2021 when moved to races at much longer distances, specifically 1 ½ miles, 1 5/8 miles and 1 ¾ miles. He became a millionaire multiple Grade 2 winner.

“I just love these kind of horses, old class horses that go a distance,” Diodoro said in the Larry Snyder Winner's Circle following Bal Harbour's victory. “I think I get a lot of that from my grandpa and my dad because again they were small trainers, but they always, especially my grandpa, wanted a marathoner. Got to have distance.”

Diodoro also had a winner Saturday at Turf Paradise in Arizona, pushing his career North American total to 2,985, according to Equibase, racing's official data gathering organization. Only 35 trainers, through Saturday, had reached 3,000 career North American victories (United States and Canada), according to Equibase. Diodoro was Oaklawn's leading trainer in 2020 and has a home minutes from the track.

“I would definitely like it (3,000^th victory) to be here, for sure,” Diodoro said earlier this month. 

Despite losing two major clients earlier this year – four-time Oaklawn leading owner M and M Racing (Mike and Mickala Sisk) and Cypress Creek Equine – Diodoro has been surging this fall after claiming heavily, from coast-to-coast, on behalf of recent additions John Holleman and Jerry Caroom.

Diodoro and Caroom, a retired Hot Springs businessman, were 1 for 1 together at the Del Mar fall meeting and 7 for 7 at Remington Park, which closed Saturday. Caroom owns Disc Jockey, a 5-year-old son of 2012 Arkansas Derby winner Bodemeister.

Holleman owns Bal Harbour and races Lovely Ride, winner of the $150,000 Mistletoe Stakes Dec. 10 at Oaklawn, in partnership. Lovely Ride represented the first Oaklawn victory for Holleman, a Little Rock, Ark., attorney who started his first horse in November 2021 at Churchill Downs.

“As a stable, we got way down on numbers, then John is getting more into the stable and into the game,” Diodoro said. “So, we're trying to build up a stable and get John up. It was getting a little stressful, because again, the claiming game has just got so tough all over the country. To be ready for here, I was starting to sweat a little bit.”

Diodoro said Bal Harbour will be pointed to the $600,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) for older horses at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 18 at Oaklawn. Lone Rock finished sixth in last year's Razorback before returning to marathon events.

Lone Rock recently resumed training in Florida, Diodoro said, and is scheduled to arrive early next month at Oaklawn. Diodoro said Lone Rock won't resurface until later in the Oaklawn meeting and one race being targeted is the $150,000 Temperence Hill Stakes April 2. Lone Rock won the 1 ½-mile Temperence Hill last season. He finished second in its inaugural running in 2021, which marked his return to stakes company.

Saturday's victory was the seventh in 34 lifetime starts for Bal Harbour and increased his earnings to $870,880. Bal Harbour was exiting a third-place finish in the $350,000 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes (G2) at 1 5/8 miles Nov. 4 at Keeneland. Lone Rock won the race in track-record time last year at Del Mar.

The Tinsel marked the fourth career stakes victory and first in more than four years for Bal Harbour. He also finished second, beaten a half-length, in the $750,000 Woodward Stakes (G1) at 1 1/8 miles in 2019 at Saratoga for future Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. Bal Harbour is by First Samurai.

“It's easy to say now; I thought it was a good claim before the race,” Diodoro said. “I was really excited. I said to a friend of mine that the claiming game's got so tough, that it's few and far between when you drop a claim, I don't care if it's for $20,000 or $80,000, and you're like 'Oh, please, oh, please, because I want this horse.' This was one of those horses and I'm not just saying that, now that it's turned out. He was one of those horses that I was really excited to get. And then, of course, the day we claimed him, he hit a muddy track, which he loves the mud, and won by seven or eight lengths. Initially, even though it doesn't put money in John's pocket or mine, it makes you feel good at the time that this horse still has some run in him, right?”

Diodoro entered Sunday with six victories through the first five days of the 2022-2023 Oaklawn meeting and tied with Ron Moquett atop the trainer standings. Bal Harbour represented the 285^th career Oaklawn victory for Diodoro, 48, who began wintering in Hot Springs in 2015. He has 12 career Oaklawn stakes victories.

Moquett recorded his 300^th career Oaklawn victory Dec. 10.

The post Oaklawn Fixture Diodoro Nearing Significant Training Milestone appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Renowned horseman Wes Lanter, who over several decades was associated with Central Kentucky's most influential stallions, has died at the age of 58.

During tenures at Spendthrift Farm, Overbrook Farm, and Three Chimneys, Lanter was hands-on with breed-sharping stallions including Affirmed Dynaformer, Rahy, Seattle Slew, and Storm Cat.

Via Facebook on Saturday, Lexington-based trainer Eric Reed reported the death of Lanter, a Lexington native and his longtime friend.

“He was a true friend and a great horseman,” Reed posted. “He was in charge of two of the best stallions in the world, Storm Cat and Seattle Slew. He had been ill for sometime and fought the good fight. …”

Lanter had been hospitalized for the past several weeks after falling while at Reed's house in Lake Okeechobee, Florida, and then battling a heart condition, Reed said in Lanter's obituary at horseracingnation.com.

Lanter also worked twice at the Kentucky Horse Park, the second time managing the Hall of Champions and its retirees, including two-time Horse of the Year Cigar.

Lanter spoke eloquently about Cigar upon his death in 2014. To a crowd gathered at the Horse Park to honor the champion, it was clear he held a special reverence for the son of Palace Music. His tribute was especially moving as he perhaps represented the ideal of the Kentucky horseman and the devotion to horses.

“Cigar defined greatness for a generation. He was and will always be 'America's Horse' and how appropriate that he would be guided by a pilot in red, white and blue,” Lanter said, Thoroughbred Daily News reported at the time. “His second [failed stallion] career was over almost before it even started, but that disappointment was somewhat tempered over time by what became his new calling–as an ambassador to the fans of racing and a beacon to those who hadn't yet discovered the pageantry and drama a good day at the races can present.

“So many times, my colleagues and I heard a whisper–'Look, over there, that's Cigar. I saw him at Belmont once.' He had that presence and power. So that second incarnation became a third. The ambassador patiently waiting for a shutter to click, regal and handsome and keenly aware of who he was. Running down to his corner, to rear up to almost vertical and maybe have a roll right there, next to where he rests right now. Every great horse I've ever known has been aware of who they are. That presence, that knowledge of self, led him to be great. He had it. He was gentle with kids, he was just a real presence and you knew you were in the presence of greatness when you were with him. It is our honor and privilege to have walked in your light. Mostly though, we thank Cigar…for showing us class and greatness embodied in a magnificent Thoroughbred.”

Lanter started working with horses in high school when Reed got him a job walking horses for this father, Herbert Reed. When Lanter graduated, he starting working at the Horse Park for the first time in 1983. He went to work at Spendthrift Farm in 1985.

He joined Three Chimneys in 1991 as stallion manager and later went on to work as stallion manager for Overbrook Farm until 2009 when he returned to the Horse Park.

To read more on Lanter's career in his obituary at horseracingnation.com, click here.

The post Horseman Wes Lanter Dies: Manager Of Famed Kentucky Stallions Storm Cat, Seattle Slew, Dynaformer appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Trainer Brad Cox's 1,948th career North American victory was noteworthy because of who it was for.

Cawkab, who broke his maiden in Friday's third race at Oaklawn, represented Cox's first winner for Shadwell Stable, the famed global breeding and racing operation now overseen by Sheikha Hissa Hamdan Al Maktoum following the death of her father, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in March 2021.

Cox said late Friday afternoon that Cawkab, a 3-year-old son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin out off Catch the Moon, by Malibu Moon, is the first horse he's had for Shadwell, which has downsized its footprint following Sheikh Hamdan's death.

Cox, the reigning two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer, said he was contacted by Shadwell late last summer and Cawkab moved to his barn around Sept. 1.

“Just got a call from (Shadwell), asking if I was willing to take some horses for them,” Cox said. “Obviously, you're going to say yes. It was good. Obviously, they've moved in a little bit different direction. It looks like they definitely want to continue to have a presence in American racing with Sheikha Hissa taking over. Just glad to be a part of their operation here in America.”

Cawkab is a half brother to, among others, millionaire Grade 1 winner and Airdrie Stud resident sire Girvin and to late Grade 3 winner, former classics starter, and multimillionaire Midnight Bourbon. Shadwell purchased Cawkab from consignor Taylor Made Sales Agency for $500,000 at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Cawkab finished fourth in his career debut, a one-mile maiden special weight, Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs. Ridden for the first time Friday by Joe Talamo, Cawkab stretched out to 1 1/16 miles in the $90,000 maiden special weight for 3-year-olds and up and scored by 2 ¾ lengths. Cawkab paid $4.60 as the favorite in the six-horse field. The winning time over a fast track was 1:44.92.

“He definitely acted like a two-turn horse once we picked him up, breezed him a few times,” Cox said. “It looked like he wanted ground. We ran him one turn first time out and kind of showed he would get better with experience and ground. He took a step forward today.”

Cox said he doesn't have any other horses for Shadwell, but added he is supposed to “have a group of 2-year-olds coming we're excited about.”

“We'll see how it goes,” Cox said.

Cox already trains for internationally prominent Godolphin LLC, which was founded by Sheikh Hamdan's, brother, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Cox saddled champion Essential Quality, a Godolphin homebred, to win the 2021 Southwest Stakes (G3) for 3-year-olds at Oaklawn.

Cawkab marked Shadwell's 26th victory at Oaklawn, the first coming in 2001. Arkansas native Dan Peitz has 23 winners for Shadwell at Oaklawn, highlighted by Mufajaah in the 2015 Pippin Stakes and Bayakoa Stakes (G3) for older fillies and mares. Trainer Michael Pino won two races for Shadwell at the 2006 meeting.

Notable runners for Shadwell in America include 2006 Horse of the Year Invasor, 2006 Belmont (G1) winner Jazil, and 2021 champion 3-year-old filly Malathaat for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. Shadwell was honored with an Eclipse Award as the country's top owner in 2007.

Cawkab was the first victory of the 2022-2023 Oaklawn meeting for Cox and his 266th overall in Hot Springs. Cox was Oaklawn's third-leading trainer last season with 31 victories. He won a meet-high five stakes races, including the Arkansas Derby (G1) for 3-year-olds with Cyberknife.

The post ‘It Looks Like They Definitely Want To Continue To Have A Presence In American Racing’: Cox’s First Winner For Shadwell Stable Comes With Cawkab At Oaklawn appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Angel Morales, a 19-year-old native of Panama, rode his first winner in the U.S. Friday when he won Gulfstream Park's ninth race aboard Sheza Happy Girl.

Racing third between horses down the backstretch and around the turn of the seven-furlong claiming event, Morales and Sheza Happy Girl took the lead down the stretch and held off Your Inheritance and jockey Jose Ortiz.

“It feels great,” said Morales. “I am very happy.”

Morales, who rode four winners in Panama, came to the U.S. three months ago and has been working in the mornings for trainer Claudio Gonzalez. Sheza Happy Girl, who went off 17-1, was the 11th mount for Morales in the U.S.

The post Panamanian Angel Morales Rides First U.S. Winner At Gulfstream appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post