The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA)hosted its fourth quarter board meeting for its fiscal year 2022 and the first under the leadership of the NTRA's new President and CEO, Tom Rooney.
Highlights of the meeting included:
Shannon Bishop Arvin, currently President and CEO of Keeneland Association, was elected chair of the NTRA. Arvin becomes the first female chair in the 23-year history of the NTRA.
The Board approved the organization's Fiscal Year 2023 budget, which begins on April 1, 2022 and concludes March 31, 2023.
Rooney, a former U.S. Congressman from Florida, informed the Board that Tampa Bay Downs and Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort have agreed to become members of the NTRA. He also said the NTRA has identified an office location in Washington, DC, on Capitol Hill that he hopes will be fully operational by the summer 2022.
The Board also received updates on various NTRA programs and initiatives, including the Advantage sales program, the Legislative Action Campion, the National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) and Tour, the Eclipse Awards, and the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance.
NTRA's next board meeting will be held in June 2022.
Megane Peslier rallied from last at the top of the stretch aboard Blame the Vets in Thursday's first race at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., to fall just a neck short of recording her first U. S. victory, but the seven-pound apprentice jockey is hoping to become a frequent visitor to the winner's circle in the future.
Blame the Vets was only her third mount since venturing from France to Florida, but the 26-year-old daughter of French riding legend Olivier Peslier is counting on receiving considerably more riding opportunities during the Gulfstream Park Spring/Summer Meet that will get underway following the conclusion of the 2021-2022 Championship Meet April 3.
“I think it's a very good thing for me to stay here,” said Peslier, whose father enjoyed his greatest success in the U.S. while winning the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) aboard Goldikova in 2008, 2009 and 2010. “It's a very new experience, new things. It's very good for my jockey experience.”
Peslier, who rode her first U.S. race Feb. 16. has been galloping and breezing horses for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher at Palm Beach Downs. She won her first race in France in 2018 in an amateur event.
“It is my passion. When you do something with passion, nothing around is important,” said Peslier, whose mother was also a jockey in France. “I love doing my job, [which is] my passion.”
The wildcat blue of Allied Racing Stable has been very good to jockey Gabriel Saez. On Thursday at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in New Orleans, La., the 34-year-old native of Panama returned to the winner's circle for the first time in more than seven months wearing those familiar colors, guiding .70-1 favorite Lake Marie to a 9 ¼ length victory in a $12,500 Louisiana-bred maiden claiming sprint.
“Super glad to be back and for the combination of Bret (trainer Calhoun) and Allied Racing,” Saez said. “Coming back off the fracture in my leg, go through that, and be able to come back, and that's the main thing. I'm really thankful for my doctors at the University of Kentucky, they did a really good job with my leg. Thanks to the medical center I have been able to come back through the rehab and do what I love. I lost a lot of muscle in my leg. It's going to take me some time to get back to 100%, but I'm getting there.”
Thursday's win was the 1,393rd of Saez's career. Of his 31 graded stakes victories, nine have come for Allied Racing Stable of Chester Thomas — four aboard By My Standards, including the 2019 LA Derby (G2) and 2020 New Orleans Classic (G2), and five with Mr. Money. His last mount prior to the leg injury came aboard By My Standards in the Aug. 7 Whitney (G1) at Saratoga where he finished fifth.
Saez won the 2008 Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) and Kentucky Oaks (G1) with Proud Spell. Some of his other top local wins include the 2009 Lecomte (G3), Risen Star (G3 at the time) and Louisiana Derby (G2) with Friesan Fire and the 2009 Mineshaft (G3) with Honest Man.
Saez finished eighth in the Fair Grounds' jockey standings each of the past two seasons, with 41 wins in 2020-21 and 35 in 2019-20.
In his first race back on Wednesday, Saez finished fifth aboard Chopin Drive in a maiden special weight race for trainer Phil Bauer and owner Richard Rigney. Now that Saez's injury is behind him, he can once again focus on his future.
“We only have two, three weeks left here at Fair Grounds and my goal is to get ready for the circuit in Kentucky,” Saez explained. “I was talking to my agent (Liz Morris), and the plan is to finish up here and go to Oaklawn for the last month. It will be a lot easier for me to go there and get on more horses. I could go to Keeneland, but with all the riders coming from here, and Arkansas, New York and Florida, that meet is really tough. Then I can go back home to Churchill Downs.”
Taylor Owens did not pass her childhood years with any certain expectation that she would work with Thoroughbreds. Born in New York and raised largely in Iowa, Owens' family was only peripherally connected to the Thoroughbred racing industry through her father's uncle, who owned and ran a handful of horses at Prairie Meadows.
“Some of my earliest memories as a child are actually of going to Prairie Meadows,” said Owens. “We would go and visit and watch my dad's uncle's horses run, so that is clearly where I caught the bug. From the outside I was a fan and I followed the big names like Zenyatta and Rags to Riches; the big horses.”
In was during those sporadic trips to the track that the seed was planted for Owens. Now, more than a decade later and well-entrenched into her first year as a student in the highly-selective Godolphin Flying Start Thoroughbred Industry Management and Leadership Program, those days of watching from the stands seem very far away.
Owens' childhood admiration for the sport of racing was initially a bit of a conundrum for the budding fan. Unlike many children who grow up with parents or friends working in the industry in states like Kentucky, New York, or California, getting a foot in the door seemed like a daunting prospect. It wasn't until her father came home one day with the news that he'd found a program at the University of Arizona that Owens finally saw her in.
“My dad found out about the Race Track Industry Program (RTIP) when I was in seventh grade and I just knew then that that was where I was going to go,” said Owen. “But it was a long time between then and when I received my acceptance letter. It was very exciting for me and for my family.
“Thinking back, I actually didn't get involved in the industry at all until 2018 when I started RTIP. The program was the only path I could see into the industry for me. I didn't know how else to get involved.”
Owens leads a horse at Keeneland
With designs to become a Thoroughbred trainer — a goal she still maintains — Owens entered RTIP and gravitated toward the more scientific, equine-centric side of the program.
“RTIP has a business side and an equine side, but they're both equine-focused,” said Owens. “I went in on the equine side so I had more hands-on courses with horses which was what I wanted. All of my courses were geared toward teaching me to manage a track, or a farm, or becoming a trainer. It's very focused in that regard which really makes it unique.
“For me, there were two things that happened in the program. First, it was a lot of exposure and networking. They host the racing symposium in Tucson every year and the students are part of that and help run it. You see so many facets of the business and meet so many industry professionals. One year we went up to Kentucky and went to Hagyard, visited trainers, and just got to see the nuts and bolts of it all. Then, through my courses, I was able to sit in on conversations with really powerful people in the industry like Drew Fleming or Lonny Powell — that is huge. I feel like you really grow as a professional individual being put in these situations and interactions with people high up in the industry. It makes you bring yourself to a higher standard and that has definitely helped me going forward.”
Owens graduated from RTIP in 2020 with her animal science degree and was later chosen among 12 participants for Godolphin Flying Start. The program has, and will continue to take her around the world as she works toward her goal of becoming a trainer.
“We started in Ireland at Kildangan in Kildare, Ireland, last fall” said Owens. “We transferred to Newmarket at the end of October. Then we came to Kentucky Jan. 1 and we will do externships in June and I will be in Australia by mid-August. It's such a rewarding experience to travel and see the industry through an international lens is so cool.”
With so much ahead of her Owens can't help but look behind to her time at RTIP and credits the program with having helped her build the foundation she'll take with her on her travels and into her new career.
“Coming on to a program like Flying Start, you really have to be immersed in the industry and a lot of the stuff I learned at RTIP set me up for this,” said Owens. “I needed to be able to work with horses, but I needed to know how different organizations worked together in the industry at large. The program really gave me the foundation that I used to get to the next level.
“Whether you already have connections to the industry or come in brand new to RTIP like I was, there are so many success stories. I wouldn't be working to start my career in this industry if I didn't love it and didn't believe it. There are so many enthusiastic young people like me working with me. We want to make the industry thrive because we know how good it can be. We've seen it and we will get there.”
