Frank Brothers will retire from his roles as bloodstock agent and a member of Keeneland's yearling inspections team, he announced Friday. “I'm fortunate that my health is good,” he said. “I'm 76 years old and quite content to take a seat in the viewing area and watch the game for a while.”
After training horses from 1980 to 2009, Brothers moved into his current role of selecting horses for a few clients before ultimately partnering with Starlight and StarLadies Racing for the past 13 years. During this time, he has also served as a member of the Keeneland inspection team for the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
“It's just time for me to move on. For a little guy, the training game was very good to me, but it was time for me to make that transition back in 2009,” said Brothers, who won 2,291 races over the course of his career. His best horse, Hansel, was a multiple Grade 1 winner of the Preakness and Belmont Stakes who was also the 1991 3-year-old champion. Others in his barn included Grade 1 winners Secret Hello, Arch, Oath, Madcap Escapade, First Samurai, and multiple graded stakes winner Pulpit.
“I was fortunate to have trained horses for some great people and then equally fortunate when Jack and Laurie Wolf asked me to join their team as bloodstock agent when I retired from training,” he said. “We've had a great deal of luck together—you'd always like to win more but we did pretty good.”
For Starlight Racing, Brothers recommended the purchase of Grade 1 winner, Shanghai Bobby (2012 champion 2-year-old) along with graded stakes winners Algorithms, Eskenformoney, Neolithic, Cutting Humor, and Jouster, among others.
Brothers was also on the Starlight Racing/SF Racing team that selected several graded stakes winners, including Grade 1 winners Charlatan, Eight Rings, and 2020 Kentucky Derby winner, Authentic.
“Frankie's the best and we're going to miss him,” said Jack Wolf, managing partner of Starlight Racing. “He feels like family to us at this point. But I respect his decision to retire and I can't blame him—it's a tough game.”
The New Zealand racing community is in mourning after the passing of apprentice jockey Megan Taylor following a race fall at Ashburton on Thursday.
Taylor was among four jockeys that fell during the incident which occurred soon after straightening in race two, with her fellow riders being assessed for non-life-threatening injuries.
The 26-year-old was in her third season of riding and had won 16 of her 236 starts in the saddle.
A Canterbury local, Taylor's grounding with horses came in eventing, where she spent time working as a groom, including a two-year stint with New Zealand Olympians Tim and Jonelle Price in the United Kingdom.
She was apprenticed to Riccarton trainer Andrew Carston, having begun her time with North Canterbury trainer John Blackadder.
“Our deepest sympathies are with Megan's family, friends, and others in the racing community who have worked closely with Megan. We will look to support them in any way possible in the coming days and weeks,” New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing chief executive Bruce Sharrock said.
“We also will support the Jockeys and others who were at the races today.”
Staff of the Racing Integrity Board and the New Zealand Police remain at the scene in the conduct of their investigations.
The tragedy is yet another blow to the tight knit racing community, coming just four months after jockey Taiki Yanagida died from injuries suffered in a race fall at Cambridge in August.
Trainer Norm Casse's first starter of the 2022-2023 Oaklawn meeting finished like most of his runners from the 2021-2022 meeting. Yacht Rock hit the board in last Sunday's sixth race, finishing third in the maiden-claiming sprint for 2-year-olds.
Highlighted by Pretty Birdie's victory in the $150,000 Purple Martin Stakes for 3-year-old female sprinters, Casse produced a sparkling 5-8-3 record from 21 starts in his Oaklawn debut last season. Casse has 20 stalls in his return to Oaklawn, which launched its 2022-2023 meeting Dec. 9.
“I hate to say stronger, but it's different,” Casse said during training hours Monday morning at Oaklawn. “These are the 2-year-olds that we're really excited about. Last year, we brought a bunch of claiming horses and we were aggressive and things like that. This is different. I don't have a bunch of claimers here. I have, to me, our best group of horses here. I'm trying to support Oaklawn. They've been very good to me and I'm excited. We'll see how it pans out.”
Casse said some of his most promising 2-year-olds are for a new client, prominent Arkansas owners Alex and JoAnn Lieblong. Alex Lieblong is chairman of the Arkansas Racing Commission.
Casse's first starter for the Lieblongs, Easy Action, finished second in his Sept. 17 career debut at Churchill Downs. The ultra-live maiden special weight sprint was won by Loggins, who returned to finish second, beaten a neck, by probable champion 2-year-old male Forte in the $600,000 Breeders' Futurity (G1) at 1 1/16 miles Oct. 8 at Keeneland.
Easy Action finished fourth in his last start, a Nov. 19 maiden special weight sprint at Churchill Downs. A son of sprint champion Speightstown, Easy Action was purchased for $300,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
“Easy Action, he's had some really bad luck,” Casse said. “Ran second to Loggins and then every time we entered him, he would get excluded or would be stuck on the also-eligible list. By the time we did get to run him back, hadn't ran in two months and he had a bunch of easy works going into it. I feel like he was just short when he ran back.”
Casse also trains 2-year-old fillies Effortlesslyelgant (by Liam's Map) and Goldenshuga (Goldencents) for the Lieblongs. The horses were purchased at auction for $475,000 and $400,000, respectively. Goldenshuga is unraced. Effortlesslyelgant finished fourth in her Nov. 23 career debut at Churchill Downs.
“She just had a terrible trip first time out and still almost won, regardless,” Casse said. “So, we're excited about her.”
Casse bids for his second career Oaklawn stakes victory in Saturday's $150,000 Poinsettia for female sprinters with Pretty Birdie. David Cabrera, Oaklawn's co-leading jockey in 2021-2022, is named to ride. Cabrera was aboard for Pretty Birdie's Purple Martin victory last March.
“She's breezed extremely well leading into this,” Casse said. “I'm extremely excited to run her. She clearly likes Oaklawn. David gets along with her really well. He rides her back and there's a lot of things to be excited about.”
Casse, who saddled his first winner in 2018, also has 20 horses at Fair Grounds. Casse is the son of United States and Canadian Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse.
Jennifer Stein was, at least outwardly, far less restrained than those standing behind her, and the jockey aboard the eye-catching chestnut colt.
Standing in the owner's box in the Woodbine grandstand for the first race on Nov. 27, the trainer of Thebackstretchdude, a son of Old Forester, watched intently as the gates opened on a rainy afternoon at the Toronto oval.
Dialed-in on the horse with the yellow saddle cloth and the jockey wearing the blue silks with white stars, Stein couldn't help but notice the emphatic voices less than an arm's length away from where she stood.
“They were screaming from the time the race started,” recalled Stein, of owner Isaac Waxman and his wife, Tess. “That emotion, it really is what this sport is all about. They're Standardbred owners and trainers, and this was their first Thoroughbred win, so it's a different kind of rush for them.”
And, also for the woman who handed the reins of the Ontario-bred to her husband, top Woodbine rider Justin Stein.
A length clear after the opening quarter of the 5 ½-furlong maiden race on the Tapeta, Thebackstretchdude repelled a brief outside challenge running on the turn and then widened his advantage to 2 ½ lengths at the stretch call.
At the wire, the slight 5-2 choice was 1 ¼ lengths clear of his nearest rival, a victory punctuated by Stein, the rider, turning his head towards the grandstand, broad smile on his face, and right index finger pointing at the rookie gelding.
Stein, the trainer, couldn't have penned a better script for her first training win.
“The owners, they weren't expecting him to win. There was a time when they weren't even expecting him to make the races. I kept it quiet the closer he got to racing.”
An understandable approach after the up and down journey Thebackstretchdude took to get to the starting gate.
A $3,000 purchase by Waxman and Stein at the 2021 CTHS (Ontario Division) Canadian-bred Yearling Sale, the horse, bred by Anthony B. Russo & Leslie L. Russo, would need some time before making it to the races was even a consideration.
“There was a lot of touch and go with him, so we turned him out. We pushed on and took it day by day. I never got too excited about it [making it to the races] because I knew anything could happen on any day. They will be able to tell you when they are ready to go.”
In the days leading up to 1:21 p.m., just over two weeks ago, Thebackstretchdude had given every indication to his connections that he was indeed ready.
“I love the fact that it was him that gave me my first training win. That made it even more special. You look back to how things all started, and it really does become something you never will never forget.”
Horses and horse racing are in Stein's DNA.
Growing up in Vancouver, she was introduced to Thoroughbreds through her parents, both of them well-known names at Hastings Racecourse.
“My parents, Floyd Tompkins and Mary-Anne Baumgartner, both trained and were both jockeys before they became trainers. My grandpa was also a trainer. It goes way back in our family. So, I fell in love with racing when I was just a kid.”
At that time in her life, only one other pursuit matched strides with her affinity for horses.
“Soccer and horses were what I lived and breathed. I played on some pretty competitive soccer teams. We were undefeated in two or three seasons. We won Coastal Cup championships a couple of times.”
Stein soon found success off the pitch.
And it came on the hooves of a multiple graded stakes winner, who made his mark in both Canada and the U.S.
A dark bay son of City Zip, Alert Bay would carve out a brilliant career, one that yielded a record of 15-8-5 from 36 starts, along with $1,342,813 in career earnings.
“I was lucky enough to groom him,” recalled Stein. “He was a colt my dad and I broke together. He ended up racing in California and then came back to me. He won the [Grade 3] BC Derby and the [Grade 3] BC Premier's, and he went on to win another four graded stakes in California. That horse was pretty special.”
In 2012, Stein came to Woodbine and started working in the barn of Steve Attard, the same year her future husband would win the Queen's Plate (now known as the King's Plate) with Strait of Dover.
Three years later, Stein headed to Europe.
“I went to France in 2015. I kind of bounced around. I was at Woodbine for two seasons – groomed a nice filly, Tahnee, as a 2-year-old for Steve – and then went back to Hastings, where we won the BC Derby with Alert Bay. Then I went to France for three months, under contract, to work with a steeplechase and flat trainer, John Hammond. He had a filly, Yaazy (IRE), come over to Woodbine to race in the E.P. Taylor Stakes. I galloped her in France, so when she came here, it was really neat to see her run.”
In 2016, Stein worked as assistant to Woodbine trainer and fellow British Columbia native Lorne Richards.
Learning the ropes from the veteran conditioner proved to be a game changer in her pursuit of a training career.
Advice was plentiful and welcomed.
“From Lorne, I learned to just be patient, that if your horses do come around, they will run for you. Just be patient and do right by them. I learned that from other trainers too, to put the long, slow miles into them.”
Stein's plans were put on hold, temporarily, after she gave birth to the couple's first child, a son, Benjamin, on May 15, 2020.
In the spring of 2022, she returned to Woodbine, this time with her trainer's license, after working in Florida over the winter with Justin for Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame trainer Josie Carroll.
On November 4, she saddled her first starter, Dreamingof Jeannie, a 3-year-old daughter of Frost Giant.
Under jockey Leo Salles, the chestnut filly finished third, a head back of the runner-up, in the 1 1/16-mile Tapeta race at Woodbine.
“She's a neat, little filly. She came from Fort Erie and they sent her here for some longer races. She had some things going on with her, but we got them sorted out, and she ran so well. She'll love grass and the farther, the better. It was nice to have her run third. We were really happy.”
Just over three weeks later, that happiness was usurped by Thebackstretchdude's milestone score.
The finish of the race remains etched in her mind.
“Justin gallops him every day and breezes him for all those breezes. He had a lot to do with the victory. It was special to him, and I think everyone saw that the way he patted him and celebrated at the wire. It was also nice to have my best friend, Holly [Murray] be part of it. We worked together out in Vancouver, we won the BC Derby together, our parents raced horses together. It was cool that she had paddocked for me that day.”
With the 2022 Woodbine Thoroughbred season having reached the finish line, Stein will take some time to decompress before turning her thoughts to next year's meet, one with a proposed starting date of April 22.
Plans, both in the short and long term, are already in place.
“I'd like to start next season with seven or eight, and by the end of year have 10 decent horses to go away with for the winter, to stable somewhere south and race the whole year. That's my main goal. Winning an Ontario Sales Stakes with Thebackstretchdude would be another one. There is a lot to look forward to.”
And not just in her barn on the Woodbine backstretch.
Making the most of the great outdoors, even during the winter, remains a constant in her life outside of racing.
“Justin and I like to cook together. We take out dogs on some pretty cool outdoor adventures and we snowboard. We're pretty outdoorsy. We visit our riding horses, and obviously, spend time with Benjamin. We have our hobbies to keep the racetrack and our personal lives separate.”
There will still be times, however, regardless of where she finds herself, when she will take a moment to relive that early afternoon at Woodbine, a grey day with a much sunnier outcome.
When she does watch the race replay, Stein will no doubt smile at the recollection of the sights and sounds throughout the race, all 1:04.72 of it.
“Hearing how happy the owners were, seeing Justin celebrate at the wire and knowing how far this horse had come… I don't think I could have written it any better.”
Justin Stein and Thebackstrechdude winning the first race on Nov. 27, 2022 at Woodbine (Michael Burns Photo)
