Jockey Frankie Dettori has been tabbed to partner Melbourne Cup winner and Australia's reigning Horse of the Year Verry Elleegant for her first start in France, according to racenet.com.au. The 7-year-old mare, trained in Australia by Chris Waller but switched to the yard of Francis Henri-Graffard for her European raid, is targeting the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville on Aug. 21.
Part-owner Brae Sokolski told Racenet: “We have the king and queen combining – there is a real romantic aspect to it. Frankie is getting towards the end of his career as our mare is, too.”
A winner in 16 of her 38 career races, including 11 Group 1 races, Verry Elleegant boasts earnings of nearly US$10 million.
The ultimate goal for Verry Elleegant this season is the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in early October.
When the infamous Runhappy van pulls into Old Friends Farm in Georgetown, Ky., you might think another big superstar is onboard, ready for his new life of leisure.
Instead, a mare rescued from a dangerous situation and lacking the luster in her coat steps off, soon to regain that shine and learn to enjoy life again at the retirement facility. Podcast was bred by James McIngvale and last raced in a claimer at Evangeline Downs. McIngvale made the call to bring her to her new home in Kentucky and made sure she was handled like royalty.
So, maybe she wasn't a multi-millionaire, but she deserves the peace just as much as notable residents Silver Charm and Birdstone.
“We try to balance it out,” said Michael Blowen, founder of Old Friends. “For every superstar horse we get who has won a lot of money and is well-known, we try to take one or two that aren't and just need a place.”
Because of this mentality, Old Friends has expanded far beyond its Georgetown roots. New facilities are opening, with more in the works, each with the same goal: Give the retired racehorse a place to be a horse again.
“We don't retrain the horses, of course,” Blowen points out. “There are so many really good operations that do that. I'm completely inept at doing that kind of thing. But I tell people all the time, all their lives these horses have been trained to do something—trained for the races, trained for breeding, trained for aftercare. They are told what to do. And when they come here, our staff figures out what the horses want, and we let the horse train us. It's a total reversal, and that's why with these old stallions that we're warned will bite people, their whole behavior and whole attitude changes as soon as they realize they're in charge. They can finally just be horses again, eat grass and get the bald headed guy to come feed them carrots. It works alright.”
Old Friends at Cabin Creek near Saratoga Race Course, will be joined by a second Saratoga Springs, N.Y., location. Working alongside Jack Knowlton of Sackatoga Stable, Ed and Lisa Mitzen and other community members, an additional location will be opened on the Mitzens' farm just 12 minutes away from the racetrack. The group is also working with the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame to organize tours between the two Old Friends locations, the museum and the track.
“We have all these great New York-bred horses here, we have all these huge New York horses that are huge heroes in New York, but here they play second banana to horses like Silver Charm and Touch Gold,” said Blowen. “So, we're trying to expand up there to expand tourism and expand the operation to have more room for more horses.”
The cornerstone of Old Friends, Dream Chase Farm in Georgetown, has expanded to two subsidiary farms built on the green space in the Winding Oaks subdivision down the road from the farm and one built at Ashton Grove, a high-end senior citizen facility in Georgetown that'll allow the residents to interact with the horses daily.
“There's something about the outside of the horse that's good for the inside of man,” said Blowen. “They're fabulous pals. And they deserve everything we're giving them for sure.”
Hogy at Old Friends
One last, and rather large development for Old Friends is the expansion into Japan. For the past two years, representatives from the Japan Racing Association and Japan Bloodhorse Breeders' Association (JBBA) have visited the Georgetown farm and met with Blowen to formulate a plan for an Old Friends in Japan. The facility opened ten months ago to the delight of Blowen.
“It's unbelievable,” he said. “They essentially copied us and did a fabulous job. They send me information on each new horse. It's created a whole new relationship with Japan racing that we've been working on the past two decades. They realized the number of tourists we were getting, and they wanted to improve tourism and get the visitors involved with the horses. They understood it's a great thing to do not only for the horses but also for the local economy.”
Because of this new relationship, Blowen has allowed his focus to change to bringing home American stars from Korea, such as Colonel John and Any Given Saturday once their breeding careers have ended.
“We just want to keep showing that these horses are really useful even though they're not professional athletes anymore, they're just retired,” said Blowen. “No matter their earnings.”
The Charity Spotlight is presented by Richard Pearson's Avion Law, a California-based firm specializing on the aviation industry. Avion Law has a “giving back” program supporting awareness campaigns and donating to charitable organizations in and outside of horse racing. For more information on Avion Law, click here.
The New Zealand racing industry is in mourning following the death of popular jockey Taiki Yanagida, who passed away in Waikato Hospital on Tuesday evening surrounded by friends and family.
Yanagida had been in intensive care with serious head and spinal injuries he suffered in a race fall at Cambridge last Wednesday.
The Japanese-born rider was aboard the Lance O'Sullivan and Andrew Scott-trained Te Atatu Pash when his mount was brought down with 250m left to run and landed heavily. Knocked unconscious in the accident, Yanagida was placed in an induced coma at the track before being transported to Waikato Hospital where he fought bravely over the ensuing six days.
Yanagida's mother Kayano and younger sister Chiaki arrived in New Zealand from Japan last Friday to be by his side.
“Taiki was an excellent jockey but more importantly an exceptional human being,” Yanagida's manager Ted McLachlan said. “Everyone who knew Taiki loved him and respected him.”
A universally-liked member of the racing community, nicknamed Tiger, the 28-year-old had been riding in New Zealand for five seasons, indentured to O'Sullivan and Scott for the majority of that time.
Yanagida made the transition to the senior riding ranks earlier this year and finished the season with a total of 42 wins.
He made a good start to the new season when victorious earlier on the card at Cambridge aboard the Chris Wood-trained Rusavy.
With 162 career wins to his name, Yanagida had three stakes wins this year including Dragon Queen in the Gr.2 Westbury Classic (1400m), Bellatrix Black in the Gr.3 Sunline Vase (2100m) and Germanicus in the Listed Flying Stakes (1400m).
Yanagida's death is being felt acutely by the tight-knit racing industry, six years after jockey Rebecca Black died following a fall at Gore.
The code's governing body, New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing has made grief counsellors available, including a Japanese speaking counsellor for Yanagida's immediate family.
“Our deepest sympathies are with Taiki's family – his mother Kayano, sisters Chiaki and Ayano, and his grandmother. We share their grief at the loss of such a talented, friendly, and well-liked young man,” New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing CEO Bruce Sharrock said. “Taiki was recently able to spend a month back at home with his family following a lengthy period where he could not travel home due to Covid, and we hope they take comfort from the memories created during that time.
“Our thoughts are also with those at Wexford Stables, members of the O'Sullivan-Scott team were Taiki's New Zealand family, and they will all be impacted by his death.
“The tragic loss of one of our own always hits hard and we need to be aware of how others might be feeling and processing this loss. We are also particularly conscious of Taiki's fellow jockeys and will be ensuring there is support in place for them.”
If there is one thing that remains constant at Saratoga each week, it's Joel Rosario winning more graded stakes races. His three graded stakes wins this week led to Jockey of the Week for Aug. 1 through Aug. 7. The award, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, honors jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 1050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.
The first graded stakes of Week 4 was the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame for 3-year-olds. The reigning Eclipse Award winner as Outstanding trainer, Brad Cox tapped Rosario to ride Ready to Purrform for the one mile inner turf test. Breaking from post 5 in the field of eight, Ready to Purrform took the lead and continued to be the one to catch at the top of the stretch and maintained his lead to win by 1 1/4 lengths in 1:33.99.
“He put in a nice run today,” said Rosario. “He showed a different style by going to the lead, but he was able to keep it going with that speed.”
Riding for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott on Saturday, Rosario was aboard War Like Goddess who was defending her title in the G2 Glens Falls for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up. Off as the favorite in the field of seven, War Like Goddess was fourth through the mile. Around the final turn, War Like Goddess moved up on the outside and edged clear holding off pace setter Temple City Terror in the final yards to win by 1 1/4 lengths in 2:29.33 for the 12 furlongs.
“The pace was slow, but the whole time, I had confidence in her, and when I turned her loose and wanted to go, she went,” said Rosario who was riding War Like Goddess for the third time.
In the first of three Grade 1 races on Saturday, trainer Wesley Ward gave Rosario a leg up on Chi Town Lady in the G1 Longines Test for 3-year-old fillies sprinting seven furlongs. Off at odds of 17-1, and breaking from the outer most post 7, Chi Town Lady settled at the back of the field as Hot Peppers led the way. Hot Peppers and race favorite Matareya raced stride-for-stride in the stretch as Chi Town Lady surged from the far outside. The trio battled down the stretch with Chi Town Lady pulling ahead to finish 1 1/2 lengths in front of Hot Peppers and Matareya in the final time of 1:23.87.
“They went fast in front and she came with a run,” said Rosario. “That was an amazing race.”
Amazing could also describe Rosario as he posted his 10th graded stakes win of the Saratoga meet.
Other nominees for Jockey of the Week were Yan Aviles who recorded nine wins between Laurel and Colonial Downs, Edwin Gonzalez who won the G3 WV Derby, Juan J. Hernandez with two stakes wins at Del Mar, and Irad Ortiz, Jr. who won the G1 Whitney.
