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British Trainer Botti: Prize Money Situation Has My Horses Leaving For America

Group 1-winning trainer Marco Botti says low levels of prize money in Britain are beginning to impact his career after three more of his horses left the yard to race abroad.

The 104-rated Count Of Amazonia, winner of three out of six for the Newmarket trainer, plus 2020 Oaks D'Italia third Made In Italy and maiden Brown Delivers moved on this week, all headed to new stables in the USA.

Botti, 44, made his name with champion miler Excelebration and has won top prizes around the world, landing the Beverly D Stakes at Arlington with Euro Charline, the Canadian International with Joshua Tree and Prix Royal-Oak with Tac de Boistron. However, the Italian's most recent Group-race winner in Britain was Dylan Mouth in 2018.

Last year Botti's best horse Malotru was sold to Hong Kong after his owner received an offer that was too good to refuse and the increasing trend has become a serious concern for the trainer.

“Down the line it is affecting my career a little bit because when owners are looking at my stats and point out I haven't had a Group winner last year, I say it's because we are selling all the time,” he said. “I have to run a business but unfortunately once the horse has gone you get the money, but you don't get the success.”

Count Of Amazonia, Made In Italy, and Brown Delivers had won just over £50,000 ($70,584) combined from 22 starts in Britain and Botti has other examples of horses who have had to be sold or were moved on.

“We bought Count Of Amazonia last year and were planning to campaign him a bit more abroad this year to get better prize-money,” he said. “But an offer came in and the owner said it made no sense to run in a Listed race here for £20,000 ($28,233) so we were forced to accept the offer. He is going to America but Kulbir Sohi has kept a share.

“It was the same story with Made In Italy. We sold her before she ran at Kempton in a Listed race to American clients with a view to running her again before she headed to America. But because they knew the equivalent of a 20k Listed race is worth £60-70,000 ($84,700 to $98,817) over there they decided to send her there sooner rather than later.

“Brown Delivers is owned by Team Valor. He ran a couple of times this year and was unlucky at Kempton and then in a handicap. They said if he went to America he could run in a £30-40,000 ($42,350 to $56,467) maiden in America, rather than for £2,500 ($3,529) here.

“I had another horse, Endured, who won a maiden. His owner was based in Hong Kong and he said he couldn't keep him in England because he was running for no prize money whereas if you win a race in Hong Kong it pays for a couple of seasons.

“That's the way it is. It's frustrating. We are all living in hope something will change but when it's going to happen, who knows? A yard like mine has no Maktoum family or Juddmonte owners so we have to rely a bit on the market as well. It happens all the time where I lose nice horses for the same reason.”

Botti backs his track record, including most recently with the Sohi-owned Felix, who was bought out of Sir Michael Stoute's yard for 24,000gns. He is to be targeted at Royal Ascot's Wolferton Stakes and the Arlington Million.

“Felix was second in the Winter Derby and Winter Derby Trial,” said the trainer. “In two races he won £20,000 ($28,233), then the same horse went to Dubai, okay it was World Cup night, and won nearly £300,000 ($423,504) in one race for finishing third! The gap is huge.

“We have all been complaining. I don't know if anyone is listening to us but I personally think it makes no sense when valuable horses run for less than £3,000 ($4,235).

“I don't want to criticise the BHA or whoever is in charge but there is no way we can survive with the current system. It is going to be a big struggle. I know it has been like this for a long time but something needs to be done.”

This story was originally published by Horse Racing Planet and is reprinted here with permission.

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Quinones, Parker To Receive 2020, ’21 George Woof Memorial Jockey Award On Sunday

In a dual ceremony that will honor a pair of distinguished jockeys, DeShawn Parker and Luis M. Quinones, Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., will officially honor both the 2020 and 2021 winners of racing's prestigious George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award on Sunday, May 16.

Instituted by Santa Anita in 1950 to honor the legacy of the legendary jockey George Woolf, the Woolf Award, which can only be won once, honors those riders whose careers embodied class and dignity and have thus represented Thoroughbred horse racing in a consistently professional manner.

Currently based in Ohio, Quinones, America's second leading rider by races won in 2019 with 314 victories, was originally scheduled to accept the 2020 Woolf Trophy on March 22 of last year, but due to complications related to the COVID-19 virus, he will instead participate in a Runhappy Winner's Circle ceremony between races with his close personal friend and 2021 Woolf Award winner DeShawn Parker this Sunday.

Quinones, 42, outpolled a highly respected group of finalists last year that included Tyler Baze, Javier Castellano, Chris Emigh and James Graham.

“It's a great honor just to be on the ballot for this award,” said Quinones last spring. “Winning the Woolf Award is incredible. I'm looking forward to coming out there and I know this is something I will never forget.”

DeShawn Parker, who at five feet, 10 inches, “stands out” in any jockey colony, became the first African-American rider since 1895 to lead all American jockeys in races won in 2010, with 377 trips to the Winner's Circle and he becomes the 72^nd Woolf Award winner, dating back to Gordon Glisson in 1950.

In 2011, he upped that total to 400 wins, and was again the nation's leading jockey by races won. A Cincinnati, Ohio native, Parker, 50, was a dominant force at Mountaineer Park in West Virginia for more than 20 years and he has also enjoyed much success at Indiana Grand, as he led all riders there in 2020, and at Sam Houston Race Park, where he was their leading rider in 2015.

Fast closing in on 6,000 career wins, Parker is the son of longtime highly respected Ohio racing steward, Daryl Parker, who passed away in Cincinnati on March 4.

“My idol, my best friend and a great father!” Parker tweeted on March 5. “He meant so much to my life and my career. I can only hope to be as great as he was…”

Parker, who outpolled fellow jockeys Alex Birzer, Jorge Martin Bourdieu, Kendrick Carmouche and Aaron Gryder to win this year's Woolf Award, and Quinones, will be accompanied on Sunday by their wives, children and close friends.

Billy Johnson, who died last December, was agent for both Parker and Quinones during the years they were at or near the top of the national standings by wins.

The exact timing of Sunday's event will be determined following entries on Thursday.

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Mark Shrager Wins Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award For Diane Crump Biography

Veteran turf writer Mark Shrager has won the 15th Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, presented by Castleton Lyons, for Diane Crump, A Horse-Racing Pioneer's Life in the Saddle. The winner was announced on May 10 via Zoom conference for the second straight year due to pandemic concerns. Previously, the by-invitation winner's reception had been held on-site at the Ryan family's Lexington-based farm, and hopes are that it will return to that venue in the future.

Shrager, a previous Book Award finalist for The Great Sweepstakes of 1877, took top honors for his beautifully written and comprehensively researched biography of one of racing's great trail blazers. During the late 1960s, Diane Crump represented the face of hope for aspiring young women in the Sport of Kings. Though diminutive in size, she boldly blew open doors and shattered glass ceilings while defying threats, jeers, and boycotts to achieve her goal of becoming a professional jockey. Along the way, she would be the first of her gender to ride in a sanctioned North American pari-mutuel race, the first to compete in the Kentucky Derby, and the first to win a stakes event. Hers was a story long overdue to be told, and Shrager did it with a master's touch.

“The author chronicles Diane's historic firsts,” noted judge Kay Coyte, “including her 1970 Kentucky Derby ride, with a wonderful chapter on her brother listening to the radio broadcast from Vietnam. Shrager also mines biographical gold in the all-but-unknown aspects of Diane's life: her mother's special 'gift,' her daughter's unique perspective and service to others, particularly with therapy dogs, during her post-racing career. It's a beautiful telling of a remarkable life.”

Shrager, a native of Southern California, caught the racing bug in his teens at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park, and Del Mar. The UCLA graduate went on to a long career in education finance with the Los Angeles Unified School District, but never lost his love for racing and the fascinating stories the sport routinely produces. For nearly 50 years Shrager has written freelance for various trade publications including Turf and Sport Digest and American Turf Monthly, and his story, 1,000 Surefire Ways to Lose a Horse Race, was published in a 1974 Best Sports Stories anthology.

As winner of the 2020 Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, Shrager will receive a check for $10,000, along with a Tipperary crystal replica of Castleton Lyons' iconic stone tower.

Other finalists were: Linda Shantz for her novel Good Things Come, and Vicky Moon for the biography Sylvia Rideoutt Bishop Had a Way With Horses, both of whom will receive $1,000 and a crystal trophy.

The winner and finalists were selected from more than a dozen submissions published in 2020, representing a broad range of style and genre.

“In addition to many books by debut authors,” said Coyte, “this year's class had an international flavor, with literary trips around the globe—from Linda Shantz's Canada, to racing in World War II-era Shanghai, to a 1988 Mexican gambling coup, to a globetrotting mystery novel.”

Fellow judge Caton Bredar also noted that “In the midst of a global pandemic, it was heartening to find the quality of writing unwavering. And on a personal note, I appreciated the fact so many of the authors and/or main characters were female.”

The competition was launched in 2006 by the late Dr. Tony Ryan, to recognize the best book-length writing with horse racing as a backdrop. Past winners have included a National Book Award recipient and several Eclipse Award-winning writers. Since Dr. Ryan's passing in 2007, his son Shane has carried on the award to honor his memory.

The recorded Zoom ceremony will be available later this spring on the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxqFTKaOoNYoGSZ02EWeiJQ

Submissions for the next Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award must be received no later than December 31, 2021, and all must have been published during the current calendar year.

Additional information is available at https://www.castletonlyons.com/about/dr-tony-tyan-book-award, or by contacting Betsy Hager at bhager@castletonlyons.com.

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Sisterson: ‘Thankful For Everyone Behind The Scenes’ After Third Grade 1 Win

In a little more than nine months, trainer Jack Sisterson went from searching for his first Grade 1 win to achieving one at all three NYRA-operated tracks, with Calumet Farm homebred Channel Cat's victory by a nose over Gufo in Saturday's $700,000 Man o' War at Belmont Park checking the final box.

Channel Cat earned the highest Beyer Speed Figure in three starts of his 6-year-old campaign with a 98 number for the effort, which added to Sisterson's 2020 wins with Vexatious in the Personal Ensign at Saratoga Race Course and True Timber in the Cigar Mile Handicap in December at Aqueduct Racetrack.

“It's very humbling,” Sisterson said. “I grew up with a dream but every time I dreamed, the alarm clock went off. Fortunately enough, there wasn't an alarm clock that got in the way yesterday. But I can't take any credit for this. I have to thank Channel Cat, and Calumet Farm for all they do. Unfortunately, I can't have all 50 staff members who do all the hard work in the winner's circle. The microphones are on me, but I just represent the staff, because they do all the hard work.

“It's not me winning the Grade 1. It's a big team effort,” he added. “You'd like to win a Grade 1 anywhere, but in New York, I used to read about races like the Man o' War and the Personal Ensign and the Cigar Mile. To be in a position to even compete in them, it's an honor. I'm just thankful for everyone behind the scenes who work to allow our horses to compete at this level.”

Sisterson, who worked under prestigious trainers Doug O'Neill and newly named Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, went out on his own in 2018. He's had success with Channel Cat, who started his career under Pletcher's care, before being transferred to Sisterson late in 2020.

After running fifth in the Grade 3 W.L. McKnight to start his 2021 campaign in January at Gulfstream Park, the son of English Channel ran a competitive second to Say the Word in the Grade 2 Elkhorn going 1 1/2 miles on the Keeneland turf on April 17.

Sisterson worked Channel Cat once on the Keeneland main track before shipping to New York for the Man o' War, where Hall of Famer John Velazquez sent him to the front, setting the pace before the half-mile mark while having enough in reserve to fend off favorite Gufo's late charge to win the head bob in the 1 3/8-mile route.

“We were coming back in three weeks, but we had monitored him coming out of the Elkhorn and breezed him on the dirt and he breezed very well over it,” Sisterson said. “He had put on weight and looked good and we had to go for the Man o' War yesterday because he was doing so well. It was a tough field but we had an advantage with Velazquez riding. We couldn't have asked for a better setup going into the race.”

Channel Cat has primarily used his late-closing ability in recent starts, but Velazquez changed tactics on Saturday, dueling Field Pass at the front before leading the eight-horse field while finishing strong enough to complete the course in 2:13.34 under heavy pressure. Velazquez added another Grade 1 win to his ledger a week after posting the Kentucky Derby-Kentucky Oaks double with Medina Spirit and Malathaat.

“Going from the barn to the paddock, Channel Cat definitely looked energetic leading into the race,” Sisterson said. “There's been a spark in his training. It didn't surprise me that he was forwardly placed. I don't tell jockeys what to do, I can only make mistakes and mess it up for them. All the credit goes to John Velazquez for winning that race yesterday.”

Another quick turnaround could be a possibility with the Grade 1, $750,000 Resorts World Casino Manhattan going 1 1/4 miles on the turf a potential spot for Channel Cat on Belmont Stakes Day June 5. Sisterson said he'll see how Channel Cat comes out of his victory before deciding to enter, leaving open the possibility of targeting the Grade 1 United Nations on Monmouth Park's Haskell Day card July 17.

Channel Cat ran fifth, just 3 3/4 lengths back to winner Bricks and Mortar, in the 2019 Manhattan in a year in which he ran third in the United Nations, won the Grade 2 Bowling Green and finished third in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at the Spa. Overall, Channel Cat is 6-3-5 in 26 career starts and upped his career earnings past the $1 million mark with his Man o' War score [$1,373,522].

“It took us awhile to figure him out,” Sisterson said. “I take the blame for his poor performance in the McKnight. I was breezing the horse too fast in the mornings and he ran a flat race, so I gave him two weeks off and I backed off him and slowed his works right down. I have a great staff and we figured out the way Channel Cat likes to be trained. We usually don't run them back that quick, so I just want to make sure I'm not running him back too quick. We're not going to count out the Manhattan and we'll leave it up to Channel Cat.

“We'll get him back home to Keeneland and turn him out in the paddock,” he added. “If we don't feel the Manhattan is the right spot for him, we might try the United Nations at Monmouth and come and wait for Saratoga for him. We have options; he's won the Bowling Green at Saratoga, so he likes the turf course up there. I don't want to get greedy and be selfish here. We have to put it in Channel Cat's hands now.”

Sisterson also singled out Calumet's farm manager Eddie Kane for praise, with the Kentucky-bred Channel Cat just one of the operation's many success stories.

“The one person I'd like to dedicate Channel Cat's victory yesterday to is Eddie Kane, because if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be in this position,” Sisterson said. “He does everything. To be able to represent Eddie and Calumet with a homebred and win a race like that, I have to give credit.”

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