Tag: People

Lesson Horses Presented By Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders And Owners Association: The Steeplechase Star That Brought Graham Motion Along As A Horseman

You never forget the name of your first lesson horse – that horse who taught you what you need to know to work with every one that follows.

In this series, participants throughout the Thoroughbred industry share the names and stories of the horses that have taught them the most about life, revealing the limitless ways that horses can impact the people around them. Some came early on in their careers and helped them set a course for the rest of their lives, while others brought valuable lessons to veterans of the business.

Question: Which horse has taught you the most about life?

Graham Motion, trainer: “Probably Flatterer was the most important to me at that stage. I was very young, I was straight out of high school, and I ended up looking after him. The responsibility, the work ethic, the success, the traveling – I did that all with him. He was an incredibly important horse, and I was just lucky to come around when he was at Jonathan (Sheppard)'s.

“He carried the most weight ever (by a winning horse in a steeplechase race). Not only that, he was such a brave horse. We ran him in the French Champion Hurdle, and I've never seen a horse as tired as he was after that race. He was kind of out of it when he was cooling out, because I think he was just that tired. To see a horse try that hard can have an incredible effect on you.

“I didn't ride him. At Jonathan's, we all did everything, but I sort of became his groom. We didn't really have set horses like we do at the track, but I ended up looking after him because he was very important. He traveled a lot, and I got to travel with him. Betsy Wells, who was Jonathan's assistant, and at the end of the day, I would put him on the cross ties in the barn, and I would just take care of him. I learned a lot about taking care of horses, wrapping his legs. That was kind of my job at the end of the day, every day.

“He's been lost in the shuffle a little bit because the money's so much better than it was then, but he did so many amazing things. He was an amazing horse.”

About Flatterer
1979, h, Mo Bay x Horizontal, by Nade

Flatterer was the top North American steeplechase horse of the 1980s, earning the Eclipse Award as champion steeplechaser each year from 1983 to 1986. He raced as a Pennsylvania homebred for trainer Jonathan Sheppard and owner William L. Pape, and he started his career on the flat, where he was a multiple allowance winner at Keystone Race Track.

He was moved to the jumps at the beginning of his 4-year-old campaign, where he won at first asking. Flatterer would go on to win 13 stakes races as a steeplechaser, including four runnings of the Colonial Cup at Camden. Even back-breaking imposts couldn't hold Flatterer down, posting three wins carrying 170 pounds or more, topped by a record 176 pounds in the 1986 National Hunt Cup.

Flatterer was also competitive overseas, where he finished second in the 1986 French Champion Hurdle. He was runner-up a year later in the English Champion Hurdle.

Flatterer retired with 24 wins in 52 starts for earnings of $534,854. He was named to the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame in 1994, and he died in 2014 at age 35.

The post Lesson Horses Presented By Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders And Owners Association: The Steeplechase Star That Brought Graham Motion Along As A Horseman appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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New York State 4-H Advanced Equine Members Visit Saratoga County

Members of the New York State 4-H Advanced Equine Program recently enjoyed an immersive industry experience in Saratoga County.

The NYS 4-H Advanced Equine Program was developed in 2021 to fill the gap between young adults and equine industry professionals. New York serves as a hub for the horse community, as home to the Saratoga Race Course, a prominent racetrack.

The NYS 4-H Horse Program encourages both understanding and knowledge of the equine industry, as well as leadership and personal development through once-in-a-lifetime experiences, and intends to grow the Advanced Equine Program to best serve our youth and equine community.

From August 10-12, the members of the Advanced Equine Program engaged with equine professionals in Saratoga County. Participants practiced with a polo mallet at Bloomfield Farm Polo and toured the Equine Clinic of Saratoga, an emergency equine vet clinic. The ambassadors also visited Sugar Plum Farm, a Thoroughbred breeding farm, and explored the Fasig Tipton auction facility. They caught a glimpse of the Budweiser Clydesdales and watched a demonstration by professional horse trainer Molly Alger.

To conclude their visit to Saratoga, members joined the Amplify Horse Racing tours. Amplify Horse Racing, out of Kentucky, offers the most insightful, thorough, and authentic tours of both the back stretch and the racing side.

Trainers, such as Bob Atras, opened their barns to discuss the racing industry, while turf management leads discussed unique career opportunities offered by the equine industry. A visit to the silk room and owners paddock gave youth an experience they will never forget. Additionally, the National Racing Museum opened their doors for participants to eat lunch and enjoy their spectacular film, highlighting the magic and beauty these horses offer to our lives.

The NYS Advanced Equine Program is sponsored by the NYS Agriculture Breeding and Development Fund and by the American Youth Horse Council. The program's mission is to connect 4-H youth with equine interest to the equine industries in NYS. Participants are expected to join monthly Zoom meetings with equine professionals, work independently on monthly projects, and attend an end-of-the-year trip. Our goal is to make this program completely free for all participants in the future.

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West Point Thoroughbreds Hits 1,000 Wins Sunday At Saratoga

West Point Thoroughbreds scored its 1,000th win Sunday when Phantom Smoke sped to victory in Race 2 at Saratoga. Founded in 1991 by Terry and Debbie Finley, the partnership company is in its 32nd racing season.

“This is a wonderful milestone for West Point and all the partners we've had along the way, thousands of people who have entrusted us with their aspirations and their investment in horse racing,” Terry Finley said. “I can't thank them enough. What a game Thoroughbred racing is, take it from me, we started with a $5,000 claimer at Philadelphia Park and that was an awesome experience; I'll never forget the feeling when we won our first race. It never gets old. 1,000 is a very nice round number to look back and reflect and appreciate the partners, the horses, the riders and the trainers and their staffs. I thank them all.”

West Point's record stands at 1,000 wins from 5,687 starts.

“One big point of pride, and I have to commend our trainers through the years for being able to say this, is that we have never had a horse come up with a positive drug test,” Finley said

Irad Ortiz Jr. guided Phantom Smoke, a 4-year-old New York-bred trained by Christophe Clement. He earned his third career win Sunday, despite breaking through the starting gate prior to the start.

“Of course he did,” Finley chuckled.

West Point Thoroughbreds By the Numbers

1,000 wins

138 stakes wins

60 Graded stakes wins

15 Grade 1 wins

$63,370,433 in purse earnings

Leading earner and most wins for the stable: Awesome Gem (11 wins, including Hollywood Gold Cup (G1) in 2010, $2,881,370, now resides at Old Friends in Kentucky).

2017 Kentucky Derby (G1) with Always Dreaming

First winner: Sun Belt at Philadelphia Park, September 4, 1991, in a $10,000 claimer

Co-owner of Flightline, 4-for-4 lifetime, winner of the Metropolitan Handicap (G1) by six lengths on June 11 at Belmont, now pointing for the TVG Pacific Classic (G1) on September 3 at Del Mar.

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Woodbine Jockey Kimura Is Back In The Saddle Just In Time For The Queen’s Plate

For a Woodbine jockey, the post parade for this afternoon's Queen's Plate is as meaningful a moment as the playing of “My Old Kentucky Home” in early May. For one of the riders though, it will mark a return to the saddle just in the nick of time.

Kazushi Kimura has taken Woodbine by storm since he arrived in 2018, picking up the Sovereign Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey in his rookie season. He won both the Eclipse Award and Sovereign Award for top apprentice jockey in 2019, and in 2021, he picked up his first Woodbine riding title. But the job of a jockey is a perilous one, and the risk is present whether a rider is in his prime or not.

On July 22, Kimura was making an outside move in Woodbine's seventh race aboard Beyond Borders on the backstretch of the E.P. Taylor turf course when the horse's front end suddenly disappeared from under him. Beyond Borders went down, sliding across the grass and on the pan shot, it looked like Kimura fell underneath him.

Luckily, Kimura says, the spill looked a lot more dramatic than it was. Kimura was pitched clear, and Beyond Borders got up and galloped off. According to Woodbine's media department, the horse was caught soon after the spill and seemed unharmed. Kimura said his agent, Jordan Miller, walked the course later and found an uneven spot (a rarity at the immaculately-groomed track) where he thinks the horse may have tripped. Knowing that information was clarifying to Kimura, who said he had no indication anything was about to go wrong.

“In the moment I was so confused – what just happened?” he said. “I hit the ground and he strided over. It could have been worse, but I'm glad to be back in two weeks, three weeks.”

Kimura came away from the fall body sore but without any broken bones. Like many jockeys, he wanted to get back in the tack right away, but had the wisdom to listen to his medical team.

“My doctor told me you have to be off,” he said. “To be honest, I was in bed asking, 'Can I jump on tomorrow?'

“It was a struggle, but it is what it is.”

Cryotherapy was a big help and on Aug. 18, just four race cards ago, he suited back up for the first time in nearly a month.

It doesn't pay to be a jockey who ruminates too much on past traumas. The profession is best suited to people who, like the horses they pilot, live in the moment. Kimura says he got good at that in his early days in the irons.

“I've been riding since I was a kid, five or six years old, and all the time I'd take a tumble. It's going to happen,” he said.

The key for a jockey is not letting people forget about you – and he's relieved that after some time away, Woodbine's horsemen are happy to have him back.

“After something happens to me, I'm more appreciative of what I do,” he said. “I'm always appreciative of the owners and trainers who give me good opportunities.”

Kimura as a child, aboard one of the horses who taught him key early lessons

Kimura hails from Japan, where his parents run a training center. He started on ponies, then show jumpers, and got his race riding skills from Japan's jockey academy, but he got his stickability from the ponies he grew up with.

When he finished the academy as a teenager, Kimura was (and still is) one of those riders who can't stand the idea of going a day without doing the thing he loves. Japan's racing circuit didn't lend itself to riding a full card every day, so he set his sights on riding in North America.

As a 19-year-old, he left everything he knew to move to Toronto, despite speaking no English. He said he chose Woodbine for his new base because he judged the immigration process would be easier to navigate than the United States. After four years in his chosen profession, he has the credentials he needs to cross the border and routinely makes the three-hour drive to Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Pa., to pick up extra mounts on Woodbine's dark days.

“Some people are not watching Canadian racing enough, so that's why I'm trying to show up in the States, and putting my name out there,” he said.

On Saturday, he picked up his first wins – three of them – since his return to the races two days earlier, including one in the Soaring Free Stakes. He is officially back and ready to maintain the 20% win percentage he has carved out this year. He will ride Ironstone, who is 12-1 on the morning line, on Sunday in the Queen's Plate.

“I really like that horse,” he said. “I'm feeling confident. I got on him twice in the morning and once in the [Queenston] stakes. He's always aggressive and eager at the beginning, but as he gets older he gets more comfortable and can relax. I can keep up a steady pace and we could get to the wire, but if he's feeling comfortable I don't have to go to the lead.”

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