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Help Wanted: Grants Pass Downs Seeks Director Of Racing

Grants Pass Downs in Oregon is seeking a new Director of Racing.

The Director of Racing is responsible for the condition of the racing facilities in general, and specifically the condition of the track. The Director of Racing ensures the track and backside are built to standards with an eye to the safety of the horses, jockeys, horsemen and horsewomen and staff. The person in this position oversees construction and maintenance of all types and to all facilities. The Director of Racing ensures compliance with all matters pertaining to racing.

We are looking for individuals who can work outdoors in all weather conditions, who can stand and walk for several hours at a time, and able to work in the vicinity of horses. We need someone who can work a flexible schedule based on business needs which may include days, evenings, weekends, and holidays. The job is conditioned upon the selected applicant obtaining an ORC license and passing a drug test.

Grants Pass Downs is a fun, friendly environment. We work hard and have a good time doing it.

To apply, send a resume to careers@theflyinglark.com

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Up-And-Coming Young Trainer Jesse Cruz Benefits From ‘Old-School’ Methodology

Like a lot of kids who grew up on the racetrack, Jesus “Jesse” Cruz hoped to become a jockey. But long after he outgrew that king-sized dream, he continued to forge relationships with horses.

When a homebred named Help a Brother arrived in the barn of his stepfather, Lewis Craig, Jr., at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in 2012, 18-year-old Jesse felt like he'd been handed the keys to a Mercedes.

Help a Brother was one of the best horses to come out of West Virginia, where he made all 49 of his career starts (39 at Charles Town and 10 at Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort). He won 15 times, including two editions of the West Virginia Thoroughbred Breeders' Association Onion Juice Breeders Classic Stakes, while earning almost $400,000.

“You develop a real connection with horses that you gallop,” says Cruz, 28, in his first season training at Tampa Bay Downs. “I got on Help a Brother every day my junior and senior year before school, and he was like my best friend.

“I got to be really close to that horse. You learn their quirks when you gallop them, who they are, and you get to watch them grow up. You get to sense what they're thinking. You can almost feel the light bulb go on when they realize 'Oh, we're not just horses. We're racehorses.'”

Cruz, who took out his trainer's license in 2017, has made a splash at the Oldsmar oval, with four victories, two seconds and two thirds from 14 starts. Training primarily for the Wasabi Ventures Stables of TK Kuegler and his wife Michele, Cruz has also been active at the claims box, with eight acquired, all for Wasabi Ventures Stables.

His fast start at Tampa Bay Downs comes on the heels of a strong meet at Monmouth Park, where he won seven races from 23 starts.

“I see a lot of promise in Jesse,” said TK Kuegler, a venture capitalist with strings of horses at Tampa Bay Downs, Oaklawn Park, Delta Downs and Penn National. “I wanted a young trainer who is hands-on, honest and hard-working, and that is Jesse in a nutshell.”

At Tampa Bay Downs, Cruz and his assistant and girlfriend, Grace Smith, oversee his 18-horse barn. A former assistant to trainer Douglas Nunn, Smith has an extensive background as an equestrian, having shown horses up and down the East Coast from age 10, competed as a collegian and given lessons to youth equestrians.

Smith exhibits the same passion shown by Cruz and the Kueglers for racing.

“My first day working for Doug Nunn, I showed up at the barn at 4 a.m. and by 5 a.m., I was hooked,” she said. “There is always something going on, always something to do. I was like, 'OK, I'm ready to do this forever.' ”

“Grace has been a lifesaver for me,” Cruz said. “She does so many things I used to do – running the feed cart, giving horses medication, helping the vets treat our horses. She rides the pony with every set in the morning. To be successful at this is a 24/7 kind of job, 365 days a year, and you have to put the horses first. For Grace to understand that and be a part of it – and be able to deal with me – is a big reason our relationship works.”

“Wanting to come to work every day, that's a big thing that draws us together,” Smith said. “We're excited to get to the barn, and being able to do this together is special. I think Jesse is old-school in his ways and his training, and we both care about the horses first and foremost.”

Cruz is quick to credit the numerous influences that have made him one of the Oldsmar oval's most promising young trainers. None had a greater impact than his mother, Daisy Tobin, who was an assistant to legendary West Virginia trainer James Casey for 26 years before she “retired” in 2016 (Tobin still helps her husband, Lewis Craig, Jr., at his barn).

Jesse and his older sister, Elizabeth, spent much of their childhood at Casey's barn after Tobin and their biological father, jockey Alejandro Cruz, split up (Jesse really doesn't remember Alejandro Cruz, considering Craig as his dad). As a single mom, Tobin worked long hours to support her children, getting along day by day.

At different stages of his youth, Tobin would have bet big money against Jesse following her to the racetrack.

“I remember when he was 7, before I had met Lewis. Jesse didn't want to get out of the car one morning and help feed the horses because it was raining,” Tobin said. “He said 'That's not my job, it's yours.' I told him, 'Well, I'm putting food on the table for you guys, and this has got to be taken care of.' I think he realized then what he had said and why it was important,” Tobin said.

As teenagers, Jesse and Elizabeth helped around Casey's barn to earn money to go to the beach, but Tobin still didn't see the spark her son needed to make a living with horses. That changed in 2008, when Casey began training a West Virginia-bred gelding named Russell Road for owner Mark E. Russell.

Russell Road competed through nine seasons, going 31-for-62 with 22 stakes victories and $2-million-plus in earnings. With each major accomplishment, Jesse's eyes opened wider – not just to the horse's excellence, but to his mother's role in his career.

“Really, up until then, I would rather be playing baseball or football or wrestling than be around the barn,” Cruz recalled. “Then Russell Road won six or seven in a row, and it made me realize what the end goal was – to be around horses like that. He made me fall in love with the sport, and I saw what drove people to find the next big horse.”

While Russell Road was a life-changer for Tobin, she was uplifted by Jesse's growing excitement and newfound dedication to working in the barn. Once, when he was 16 and having trouble walking Russell Road around the shedrow, Tobin heard Jesse call to her for help – a sign that he knew how important the job was.

“That horse was a handful for me even to walk sometimes,” she said.

But Jesse, he no longer was such a handful. When congratulatory calls flooded Tobin's phone after Russell Road's second victory in the $500,000 West Virginia Breeders' Classic, in the fall of 2011, one in particular stood out.

“It was Jesse telling me how much he loved me and how great a horse person I was. He said he wanted to follow in my footsteps and said how proud he was to be seen as my son,” said Tobin, who has saved the message. “I think I groomed more stakes winners than anyone at Charles Town through working with Mr. Casey over the years, and that message meant more to me because I could see Jesse wanted to work with horses and be successful.”

Those who know Tobin marvel at her work ethic, seeing it reflected in Cruz's approach to training.

“When we raced at Charles Town, she would come to our barn every morning to do stalls, put the horses' legs in ice and anything else that needed doing,” said Smith. “I think she is the hardest-working person I've met.”

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“Jesse wants to be better every single day, and I think that comes from his mom,” Michele Kuegler said. She was amazed to see Tobin, Elizabeth and Jesse's niece and nephews show up one summer day at Monmouth Park, a drive of about 5 hours, to cheer on Jesse's horses.

Despite growing up around the likes of Russell Road and Help a Brother, Cruz learned early that racing is rarely as glamorous as often portrayed, especially at tracks such as Charles Town where claiming horses make up the majority of the card and the winters can be brutal.

“Our mom taught us one lesson very early – nothing in life is going to be handed to you, but you can get whatever you want out of it as long as you go work for it,” he said. “She kind of sacrificed her life so we could have ours. She worked from sunup until sundown, because that's what it takes. You have to put in the care and the time and the passion you have, and if you do that you'll get the same back. If you don't, you are kind of going through the motions.”

Cruz's awakening led to a job galloping horses for Charles Town trainer Ollie Figgins, III, a family friend who recognized the teenager's desire to absorb more knowledge and make a life for himself on the track. After learning the basics from his parents, Cruz welcomed the chance to expand his continuing education with the widely-respected conditioner.

“He was the person who taught me how to put everything together,” Cruz said. “He had 30 horses, and I saw how he was able to mix things up for each horse and treat them as individuals. I was like the annoying kid who asked a billion questions, but he always took the time to give me the answers. That's when I realized I wanted to be a trainer.”

Cruz worked for Figgins when the trainer developed Susan Wantz's sprint filly Dance to Bristol, a stakes winner at 2 and 3 whose career took off in 2013 as a 4-year-old. Dance to Bristol strung together seven consecutive victories, including the Grade 3 Bed o' Roses Handicap at Belmont and the G2 Honorable Miss Handicap and Grade I Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga. As part of her traveling entourage, Cruz discovered a Technicolor world beyond the day-to-day sameness of Charles Town.

“To that point, I'd been around good horses. Russell Road was a really good horse I'd been around, and Ollie had trained good stakes horses,” Cruz said. “But 'Bristol' was the first graded horse I'd been around.

“When you get to those levels, you realize that is what racing is meant to be. At the end of the day, the $5,000 claiming horses make up our sport, but the graded races are the Mecca of all of it. To get a horse like that, it's what we all wake up and strive for.”

Dance to Bristol made it to Santa Anita for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, and although she finished sixth, the experience was another dream-come-true for Cruz. It was his first airplane trip, and galloping the filly surrounded by so many outstanding horses whetted his appetite for more. That would come over the next few summers, when Cruz returned to Saratoga to work horses for trainers Bill Mott, Mike Maker and Joe Sharp.

“I met Neil Poznansky, who was working for Mr. Mott, and gave him my number,” Cruz said. “He called me that spring and said they needed an exercise rider. Ollie never held me back, so I got to work for those guys. To get to that stage and ride horses like that. … it's kind of hard to describe.”

Make no mistake: Jesse Cruz is a man in a hurry. He knows firsthand the patience needed to succeed in his craft, but is eager to prove he can compete against the best of them with the right stock.

After taking his trainer's test on Dec. 31, 2016, Cruz won with the first horse he saddled the following April at Laurel, a 3-year-old gelding named Maryland's Best owned by Javier Contreras and ridden by Cruz's good friend, Lane Luzzi.

Cruz won only two races from his next 41 starters to close out 2017, but his confidence wasn't shaken. He knew he needed better horses to climb the ladder. Kuegler – whose primary business involves investing expertise and capital into early-stage companies with an eye toward growing them into larger, more profitable ventures – saw Cruz as an ideal fit for what he and Michele want to accomplish in racing.

“His story is one you hear with a lot of racetrackers,” Kuegler said. “He grew up on the backside of Charles Town, and that is what his parents' lives are to this day. I don't think he ever thought he was going to do anything else. There isn't anything he can't do or won't do, and if someone can do everything in a business, you have somebody who has the potential to be great.”

The majority of horses Cruz claims for Wasabi Ventures Stables come on initial recommendations from Kuegler, who watches as many as 100 race replays daily from around the country. “Once I recommend one, it becomes collaborative,” Kuegler said. “Claiming is all about having a plan, because you're claiming them for the next race and beyond. What does this horse look like one or two or three races from now?

“That's where Jesse really comes in. He'll look at a horse and say 'This is something we can physically change,' or he'll look at changing the distance or the surface or how the horse is trained in an effort to improve its performance.”

Both men subscribe to the philosophy that speed figures don't lie, but there is often much more that goes into their decision to claim a horse.

“Every trainer has patterns, so when you see someone who typically doesn't run horses for a claiming price, that is kind of a question mark,” Cruz said. “You might want to watch it run once before you decide to claim it. You also like to watch them walk over (before the race) and make sure everything is right with their legs before you drop the claim slip.”

Cruz's stable has been performing consistently well since the meet began in late November. Magical Mousse, a (now)-3-year-old colt bred by Wasabi Ventures Stables in partnership, ran a decent fourth in the Inaugural Stakes on Dec. 4, five weeks after breaking his maiden in impressive fashion at Delaware Park, and is nominated for the $125,000 Pasco Stakes on Jan. 15.

The 3-year-old filly Lap of Luxury is 2-for-2 at the meet, including a starter/optional claiming victory on the turf under jockey Isaac Castillo on Dec. 23 at odds of 23-1. Why Not Tonight, a 4-year-old filly, won a $27,000 turf allowance by 7 ¾ lengths on Nov. 27. Hard-knocking 6-year-old mare C'Est Mardi won a claiming race on Nov. 26 and was beaten two necks for the top prize on Jan. 1 in the first leg of the Tampa Turf Test.

Wasabi Ventures Stables' ownership model invites individuals to purchase anywhere between .5-to-4.5 percent of a horse, with no additional charges or ongoing bills. Wasabi keeps a 20-percent share of each horse; the other members of the syndicate share in the winnings.

“If a horse doesn't earn back (its purchase price), we eat the losses,” TK explained.

Winning races is what keeps any stable afloat, but Cruz, Smith and the Kueglers are determined to keep the welfare of all their horses paramount. Michele Kuegler, who is Wasabi's director of aftercare and community, keeps the 1,000-plus Wasabi Ventures Stables club members apprised of their efforts to find new homes and vocations for their retired horses.

Down the road, Cruz hopes to build his stable into one capable of competing in the kind of races that first brought him so many thrills when his mother worked for James Casey. His alliance with Wasabi Ventures Stables has both headed in the right direction.

“TK wants to be known in the industry as a good owner and a person who is going to compete in big races,” Cruz said. “This (racing at Tampa Bay Downs) is the next step in trying to get to that level. This is a racetrack a lot of people notice, and it's tough racing, so to be winning against good trainers with nice stock means a lot.”

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‘It Was A Mistake’: Irad Ortiz Returns From 30-Day Suspension, Rides Two Winners At Gulfstream

Record-setting jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. got his 2021-2022 Championship Meet off to a strong start by riding a pair of winners on Thursday's 10-race program.

Ortiz, 29, was named in six races and finished off the board with his first mount, 2-1 favorite Macedonian, in Race 2. The Puerto Rico native registered back-to-back wins with Time to Two Step ($8) in Race 3 and 4-5 favorite Miss You Ella ($3.60) in Race 3.

“It feels great. It's been a long time,” Ortiz said. “Thank God we're back. I'm just happy to be back riding, honestly.”

Ortiz had not ridden since notching three victories on the Dec. 5 Clasic Internacional del Caribe program at Camarero Racetrack in his home country. He also finished second in the Copa Invitacional de Importados (G1) with Luna Fortis.

The Championship Meet's three-time defending champion had been serving a 30-day suspension handed down in New York for incidents of careless riding including Grand Casique Dec. 3 at Aqueduct.

“It was a mistake. I'm human. Everybody makes mistakes. Nobody's perfect,” Ortiz said. “I made a mistake and I did my suspension. The stewards did their job, they gave me my suspension and I paid for it, so that's it.”

Only Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, who did it a record five times between 2011-2012 and 2015-2016, has won as many as four consecutive Championship Meet titles. Ortiz rode a record 140 winners at Gulfstream in 2020-2021, breaking Luis Saez's mark of 137 with his victory aboard Known Agenda in the Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farm at Xalapa.

Ortiz has won the past three Eclipse Awards as North America's champion jockey. He led all riders with 336 wins in 2021 and ranked second with 1,443 starts and $29,274,435 in purse earnings. He also won a personal best 36 graded-stakes, 10 of them Grade 1, including the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) aboard Colonel Liam.

Following the Clasico del Caribe, Ortiz remained in Puerto Rico before returning to South Florida to work horses, primarily for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher at Palm Beach Downs. He is named in nine of 10 races Friday and 10 of 11 Saturday, including Value Proposition in the $100,000 Tropical Turf (G3).

“I spent time with my family and working,” Ortiz said. “I stayed one week in Puerto Rico and then I came back here and started working to get ready to come back.”

Saez leads the Championship Meet with 42 wins. Paco Lopez is second with 25 wins and Tyler Gaffalione third at 23.

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Friday's Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $1.3 Million

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 gross jackpot pool will be guaranteed at $1.3 million for Friday's 10-race program at Gulfstream Park.

Multiple tickets with all six winners were sold Thursday, each worth $47,862.80. The popular multi-race wager was last solved for a $407,067.66 jackpot payout Dec. 11, a span of 17 racing days.

The Rainbow 6 jackpot is paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day's pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.

Friday's Rainbow 6 sequence begins in Race 5, a second-level allowance for Florida-breds going one mile and 70 yards on the Tapeta surface. Birdman Richie, never worse than third in five career starts racing first time with Lasix for trainer Larry Rivelli, is the 3-1 program favorite.

A maiden special weight for 3-year-olds sprinting five furlongs on the grass is scheduled in Race 6. Michael Tabor's Comedic is an $800,000 daughter of Practical Joke that returns to the turf after finishing third in a six-furlong maiden event on the main track Dec. 11 at Los Alamitos. Trained by California-based Simon Callaghan, she is cross-entered in a similar spot for 3-year-old fillies Saturday at Gulfstream.

Race 8 is an optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares 4 and up going one mile that drew a field of nine led by 9-5 program favorite Join the Dots, a 3 ½-length debut winner Oct. 29 at Belmont Park for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. The Medaglia d'Oro filly fetched $700,000 as a yearling in September 2019.

Friday's feature comes in Race 9, a stakes-quality optional claiming allowance for 4-year-olds and up sprinting 6 ½ furlongs on the main track that marks the return of Mutasaabeq, a Grade 2 winner on the turf in his first race since winning the one-mile Mucho Macho Man last January. Stakes-placed Collaborate, a 12 ½-length maiden winner last winter at Gulfstream who ran fifth in the Florida Derby (G1), also returns for the first time since finishing sixth in the Curlin July 30 at Saratoga.

Also coming off a layoff in Race 9 is speedy Bank On Shea, unraced since capturing the Affirmed Success against fellow New York-breds last April at Aqueduct. The multiple stakes winner will be making his first start since joining the barn of Gulfstream-based trainer Carlos David.

There will be a mandatory payout in the Rainbow 6, as well as the 50-cent Late Pick 5 and $1 Super Hi-5, on Saturday. The 11-race program is highlighted by the 44th running of the $100,000 Tropical Turf (G3).

Who's Hot: Championship Meet-leading rider Luis Saez visited the winner's circle twice Thursday aboard Exponential ($7.40) in Race 1 and Discreet Tune ($7.60) in Race 9. Emisael Jaramillo also doubled with Merzaz ($7.80) in Race 2 and Hot Peppers ($5) in Race 7.

Rainbow 6 Gross Jackpot Pool Guarantee: $1.3 million

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Sandra McKee, Eric Mitchell Earn First Media Eclipse Awards In 2021

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters today announced the winners of the 2021 Media Eclipse Awards in six categories.

The 2021 Media Eclipse Award winners are as follows:

Feature/Commentary Writing – Sandra McKee, Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred, “A Jockey's Life. Baltimore's Adams Set Riding Record in 1930”; June 2021.

News/Enterprise Writing – Eric Mitchell, Bloodhorse.com, “Tracks Join Rallying Cry to End Cargo Shipping”; Aug. 24, 2021.

Television – Live Racing Programming – NBC Sports, “The Breeders' Cup World Championships,” Nov. 6, 2021 on NBC; Billy Matthews and Lindsay Schanzer, Producers.

Television – Features – NBC Sports “Hot Rod Charlie,” April 30, 2021 on NBCSN; Sam Flood, Executive Producer; Rob Hyland, Coordinating Producer; Jack Felling, Coordinating Producer; David Picker, Senior Feature Producer and Annie Koeblitz, Producer.

Audio/Multi-Media Internet – Attheraces.com “Breeders' Cup Magical Moments,” Oct. 25, 2021; Matthew Taylor, Director of New Media and Innovation; Peter Fornatale, writer and interviewer and Naomi Tukker, interviewer.

Photography – Jeff Faughender, courier-journal.com (Louisville Courier-Journal); “Between the Shadows,” May 1, 2021.

Media Eclipse Award winners will be presented their trophies at the 51st Annual Eclipse Awards Ceremony and Dinner at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California on Thursday, Feb. 10. Eclipse Award ticket information is available at the NTRA website https://www.ntra.com/eclipse-awards/.

Feature/Commentary Writing – Sandra McKee

On Sept. 12, 1930, 16-year-old apprentice rider Albert Adams set the world record for most consecutive wins by a jockey with nine when he guided Wandering Jim, who had won a race for him just two days before, to victory at Marlboro Race Track in Maryland. Writing in the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred, Sandra McKee brought Adams' story of a boy with great character, who battled against crooked stables that cost him his career, back into the spotlight in “A Jockey's Life. Baltimore's Adams Set Riding Record in 1930.” The article earned McKee, from Baltimore, her first Media Eclipse Award.

“I wanted to win this award for so long,” said McKee, who has been a contributing writer to the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred for the past eight years, following a 36-year career as a sports writer for the Baltimore Evening Sun and the Baltimore Sun. “Over the years, all the horse racing writers at The Sun wanted to win an Eclipse Award. And then I followed Tom Keyser on the beat. Tom won the Eclipse Award three times in four years. To say I was motivated is an understatement. And now, to be chosen 10 years after leaving The Sun, is unbelievable. I'm very excited to be in the company of all the talented people who have won this award. It is a great honor.”

The Adams legacy was kept alive by his descendants, especially Ed Adams, the great nephew of Albert Adams, who died in 1970. Ed Adams contacted Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred and when Editor Joe Clancy heard of it, he offered the story to McKee.

“I got the pleasure of getting to know Albert Adams by getting out the biggest magnifying glass I could find to pore over old newspapers,” said McKee. “Ed Adams had a big thick notebook of clippings from the 1930s. Ed's cousin Judy Adams, remembers Albert clearly and recalled his descriptive recollections, his laugh and personality.”

As McKee recounts, Adams' winning streak was heralded among other great records in sports of the day. “It was a glorious moment, celebrated by local newspapers and various racing publications around the world. Adams was commemorated in Ripley's Believe It or Not. A sports headline compared him to New York Yankee great Lou Gehrig. Illustrated sports cartoons measured him against Indianapolis 500 champion Ralph DePalma, who competed in more than 1,500 auto races, and New York Giants ace pitcher Art Nehf, who won the deciding games of back-to-back World Series (1921 and 1922).”

However, as Albert Adams became more successful, and gained mounts from trainers at larger stables, he was ordered to hold back horses, which was clearly opposite of his “ride to win” philosophy. So much so that when he disobeyed instructions to lose on purpose, he was subjected to suspensions by those stables. “The groundings, basically for wanting to ride an honest race, had taken their toll. By the end of the 1934 season his riding career was over.”

Still Adams went on with his life. He continued to gallop horses and worked to find mounts for younger jockeys. In World War II, he served as an infantry sergeant in the 29th Division in the Pacific. Following the war, he worked in an automobile assembly plant for five years before taking a job with the Baltimore Sanitation Department. “On his days off, he still enjoyed going to the races and he rooted for the young jockeys who took aim at his nine-in-a-row record.”

Judges in the Feature/Commentary category were Bob Kieckhefer, racing writer for United Press International; Bill Kolberg, former assistant director of publicity at Santa Anita and Del Mar and published author on Thoroughbred racing; and Rob Longley, sports columnist, who first covered the Triple Crown in both Canada and the U.S. in 1996 and is currently baseball columnist for the Toronto Sun.

The winning article can be viewed here.

News/Enterprise – Eric Mitchell

In “Tracks Join Rallying Cry to End Cargo Shipping,” Eric Mitchell investigated the deplorable conditions of racehorses shipped by boat in steel container boxes from the United States to Puerto Rico, and the response of American racetracks to this much-criticized practice. The article was published on Aug. 24, 2021.

This is the first Media Eclipse Award for Mitchell, from Lexington, Kentucky, who is the BloodHorse bloodstock editor and a 21-year veteran at the publication.

“I'm obviously thrilled by this honor,” said Mitchell on winning an Eclipse Award. “More important, though, I hope this brings awareness to the issue. It is a topic I have written about for a couple of years, talking to a number of people in the U.S. and Puerto Rico who are keen to see more pressure and attention to make it stop.”

Mitchell became aware of this inhumane shipping practice in April 2019 when he got a call from Kim Heath of Ocala, Fla., about nine horses that had tragically died during one shipment from the Port of Jacksonville. He began following the issue and getting more information on the toll this journey takes on the horses, long after they have arrived in Puerto Rico. This year, Thoroughbred racing in Puerto Rico became more attractive due to substantial bonus incentives in its purse programs, which in turn drove more owners to claim inexpensive horses in the U.S. and ship them by cargo ship.

In this piece, Mitchell described the typically treacherous voyage lasting three days, as horses are first loaded in Jacksonville but remain in loaded and cramped conditions on a ship for hours before the journey even begins across the Caribbean Sea. “These horses then get trucked to the Port of Jacksonville, where they are loaded onto a TOTE Maritime ship, which does not leave the port until 3 a.m. Wednesday and will arrive around midnight on Thursday. The horses stay on the boat until mid-Friday morning because the longshoremen don't start unloading until 9 a.m.”

While many horses survive the trip, they often later suffer a variety of illnesses caused by dehydration, stress during shipping, and unsanitary conditions of the shipping container. Many develop pleural pneumonia or laminitis and are euthanized weeks after shipping in. The flood horses in Puerto Rico also overwhelmed the resources of Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare.

A groundswell of support from horsemen and racing organizations coalesced last August led by Caesars Entertainment's Indiana Grand and 1/ST Racing (Stronach Group tracks), which pledged to ban horsemen from their tracks who shipped horses to Puerto Rico by container ship. The Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and New York Thoroughbred Breeders Association also followed with denunciation of the practice.

Mitchell said many people helped him follow this story but particular recognition goes to Dr. Jose Garcia Blanco, a veterinarian and bloodstock agent who buys for the Confederación Hípica of Puerto Rico, the largest of the island's two Thoroughbred owners' organizations; Kelley Stobie, co-founder and Chief Financial Officer of Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare and Eduardo Maldonado, a leading Puerto Rican breeder and former executive director and president of the Puerto Rico Breeders Association.

The winning article can be accessed here.

Honorable mention in the News /Commentary category went to 2015 Media Eclipse Award winner Tim Sullivan for “Kentucky Derby Steward Finally Tells All About Stunning Maximum Security Disqualification,” which was published in the Louisville Courier-Journal on April 22, 2021.

Judges in the News/Enterprise category were: Tom LaMarra, Director of Communications and Backstretch Services for the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association. Amy Owens, Communications Associate at Keeneland; and David Papadopoulos, a senior editor at Bloomberg News.

Television – Live Racing Programming – NBC Sports

For the second consecutive year, NBC Sports has won the Eclipse Award for Live Television Programming for its broadcast of the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic on NBC and Peacock, rising to the finish of its live two-day coverage of the 38th Breeders' Cup World Championships from picturesque Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, California.

Continuing to provide its audience with technical innovations and multiple viewing opportunities, NBC Sports employed unique perspectives from the track with access to approximately 75 video sources, including multiple live jockey cams and jockey and trainer/owner mics; and jockey cams connecting to real-time data that allowed viewers to see graphic overlays on replays, including speed, current position, distance from the leader, and distance from the finish. For individual access to the horses, NBC Sports utilized Breeders' Cup Contender Cams, featuring 14 paddock ISO cameras and 10 front-side ISO roof cameras.

“It was a privilege to present the greatest two days in horse racing — the Breeders' Cup World Championships — all culminating in the Breeders' Cup Classic,” said Lindsay Schanzer, NBC Sports producer, Breeders' Cup. “As always, this production was a real team effort, and it is a tribute to the entire NBC Sports group, along with the incredible collaboration between our partners at both the Breeders' Cup and TVG, that we were able to give viewers the most comprehensive Championships coverage yet. We kicked things off with an entertaining open by world-renowned chef (and 2021 Breeders' Cup winner!) Bobby Flay, balanced highlighting the beautiful scene at Del Mar as well as the wide range of storylines in the final race of the Championships, and capped it all off with an unforgettable race won by best-in-class champion Knicks Go. We are so proud of the final product, and look forward to bringing many more Breeders' Cups to audiences for years to come.”

In addition to Schanzer, the production team was led by producer Billy Matthews and director Kaare Numme. Ron Vaccaro was the editorial producer.

The NBC Sports talent on the broadcast consisted of Ahmed Fareed, Jerry Bailey, Randy Moss, Laffit Pincay III, Nick Luck, Eddie Olczyk, Matt Bernier, Steve Kornacki, Kenny Rice, Donna Brothers, Britney Eurton, Larry Collmus and Maria Taylor.

Judges in the Live Television Programming category were Liz Bronstein, television show runner and executive producer, and creator the Animal Planet 2008-9 series “Jockeys”; Jack Renaud, 33-year producer for CBS News, who began covering racing at local stations in Lexington and Louisville; and Toni Slotkin, Emmy Award-winning producer/associate director at ABC Sports and member of ABC's Eclipse Award-winning horse racing teams; consulting producer/special projects for MLB Network.

Television Feature – NBC Sports

In setting the scene for one of the more popular Kentucky Derby ownership stories of 2021, NBC Sports produced an Eclipse-Award winning Feature on Boat Racing LLC, five former Brown University football players who became part owners, (along with Roadrunner Racing, William Strauss and Gainesway Stable) of Derby contender Hot Rod Charlie.

NBC Sports chronicled the vitality and sheer joy of Patrick O'Neill, Alex Quoyeser, Daniel Giovacchini, Eric Armagost and Reiley Higgins hitting it big and getting to the coveted Run for the Roses with just their third sales purchase. The feature begins with the Boat Racing team sitting in Adirondack chairs on a lawn in Santa Monica, California, telling their story of staying connected after college graduation. Later, they join Partrick's uncles, Doug O'Neill, trainer of Hot Rod Charlie, and bloodstock agent Dennis O'Neill, for early morning workouts at Santa Anita Park. The scene shifts next to the TwinSpires Louisiana Derby at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, where the team goes wild with exultation when their beloved “Chuck” crosses the wire first in this key Derby prep race. The journey concludes with the team bounding up to the rail to watch Hot Rod Charlie workout on the Churchill Downs backstretch in eager anticipation of fulfilling Derby dreams, or as reporter Jac Collinsworth deadpanned: “Infusing youth into a sport typically fit for kings.”

“It was an honor to share the story of Hot Rod Charlie with our viewers,” said NBC Senior Feature Producer David Picker. “And what a story it was. In just a few short years, the Boat Racing guys went from college to the Kentucky Derby as owners. And they brought so much enthusiasm to the sport along the way. It's the kind of story we love to tell on racing's biggest day.”

In addition to Picker, the NBC production team included Sam Flood, Executive Producer; Rob Hyland, Coordinating Producer; Annie Koeblitz , Producer and narration from Collinsworth.

The winning entry can be viewed here.

Judges in the Television Features category were Dick Jerardi, who covered more than three decades of Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup races for Philadelphia Daily News; Kris Kugler, Horse Racing Coverage Producer, ESPN; and Lenny Shulman, Emmy Award-winning writer/producer; author, and senior correspondent for Bloodhorse.

Audio/Multimedia Internet – Attheraces.com and Peter Fornatale

In “Breeders' Cup Magical Moments,” Matthew Taylor of Attheraces.com, the website for U.K. racing broadcaster Attheraces and Sky Sports, and journalist, author and “In the Money” podcast host Peter Fornatale, present a multimedia display featuring recorded interviews with 17 racing personalities recalling their most memorable moments of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, which has been run consecutively since 1984. The interviews were conducted by Peter Fornatale and Naomi Tukker. The presentation was also supported by text from the subjects and vivid colorful graphics, as well as race replays.

The stories were told from both an American and European perspective. Among the personalities interviewed were renowned racing journalist and author Andy Beyer; handicapper Jonathon Kinchen; Breeders' Cup winning jockeys Jerry Bailey, Frankie Dettori, Rosie Napranik, Lester Piggott, Mike Smith, Gary Stevens and John Velazquez; trainers D. Wayne Lukas and Aidan O'Brien; broadcasters Kevin Blake, Matt Chapman, Randy Moss and Nick Luck; and Jamaican cricket legend Michael Holding.

“It's a tremendous honor for us to win this award,” said Taylor, Director of New Media and Innovation for At The Races. “There has been a great interest in American racing in the U.K. during the pandemic, and there is no better way to promote American racing to a European audience than through the Breeders' Cup. The willingness of the participants we approached to be a part of this was extraordinary. No one raised their hands and said 'No.' They were all proud to talk about the Breeders' Cup as a part of their successful careers.”

“I'm blown away,” said Fornatale, who resides in Brooklyn, N.Y. “Eclipse Awards have been won by so many people and so many horses I've admired over the years. To be included among the recipients is just a tremendous honor. From the shed row to the saddle to the stands, we wanted to create a mosaic of great events and memories that captures what makes the Breeders' Cup so special. I am so proud to work with Matthew, one of my biggest supporters, and also with Naomi, who did a fantastic job with her interviews and was indispensable. This was a team project all the way.”

The winning entry can be viewed: here.

Judges in the Audio/Multi-Media Internet category were Glenn Crouter, former lead television anchor for Woodbine Live Network and sports and lifestyle announcer for Newstalk 1010 in Toronto; Bob Curran, longtime Vice President of Corporate Communications for The Jockey Club and graduate of the St. Bonaventure University journalism program; and Julie Sarno, freelance writer, former editorial staff member of The BloodHorse, staff member at The Meadowlands, staff member and Department Head at Del Mar.

Photography – Jeff Faughender

Faughender, from Louisville, Kentucky, has won his first Eclipse Award for a rooftop photograph capturing the entire 20-horse field from the 147th Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve, which was run on May 1, 2021. With the horses racing down the Churchill Downs stretch after the start of the Run for the Roses, Faughender captured the Derby field in between the shadows cast by the famed Twin Spires over the racetrack.

The photograph was published on the Louisville Courier-Journal website. Faughender has been with the Courier-Journal the past 22 years in various capacities, and has worked as a visual journalist since 2017.

“I'm really blown away by it,” Faughender said on winning the Eclipse Award. “I am thrilled beyond words. It's quite an accomplishment for me and the people who supported me at the Courier-Journal.”

Good fortune from bad luck seemed to smile on Faughender last year in taking the winning Eclipse Award photo. A few weeks before the 2021 Kentucky Derby, Faughender injured his knee playing tennis and asked for a photo assignment that wouldn't require too much walking. So he was assigned to cover the race from the roof of the racetrack with the focus on shooting the finish.

“I was delighted to get the rooftop assignment,” said Faughender. “I was focused on shooting the finish but also the start of the race. In setting up my shots, I turned to my left. I saw shadows of the spires over the racetrack, and I thought about getting the field in one view.”

Using his Canon 5D Mark IV camera with a Canon 200-400mm f/4 L lens, Faughender caught the Derby start at 6:59 p.m., with an extender, but turned it off to reframe the Twin Spires in shadow as the horses approached the wire for the first time. “I knew that there was a shot to get and I was hoping that the horses would stay together going to the first turn.

“It wasn't until I got back to the Media Center that I saw it on my computer and said, 'Yes, I got it.'”

The photo appeared that night on the Courier-Journal website. Faughender also put it on his Facebook page, where it was discovered by fellow Courier-Journal photographer and three-time Eclipse Award Photography winner Michael Clevenger, who praised Faughender's image and put it on his Facebook page.

“The picture got lots of attention after that, especially from veteran photographers, who had never seen a photo like that,” said Faughender. “Sometimes it takes just one shot.”

The winning photograph can be viewed here.

Honorable Mention in the Photography category went to five-time Eclipse Award winner Barbara Livingston of Daily Racing Form for her photo of France Go da Ina losing his rider Masaki Takano during a pre-Preakness workout on May 12, 2021. The image was posted on DRF.com.

Judges in the category were Mark Abraham, freelance photographer and currently deputy director of the United States Senate Press Photographers' Gallery; Rob Carr, staff sports photographer with Getty Images; and Mike Kane, veteran Thoroughbred journalist and photographer.

The post Sandra McKee, Eric Mitchell Earn First Media Eclipse Awards In 2021 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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