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Lynch Makes Long-Awaited Return Following Injury: ‘Glad To Get Back On Horses Again’

More than six months since he last rode, journeyman Feargal Lynch returned to action with a single mount Sunday at Laurel Park in Maryland.

Lynch finished eighth on Stone Farm's Saintly Samurai for trainer Graham Motion in the featured seventh race, a second-level optional claiming allowance for 4-year-olds and up won by Oxide ($12) in 1:24.28 for seven furlongs over a muddy track.

It was the first race in 200 days for the 42-year-old Lynch, sidelined with a condylar fracture in his neck and wedge compression fracture in his back from a fall in the third race July 23, 2020, at Laurel. Saintly Samurai, a 6-year-old gelding sent off at odds of 10-1, was making his first start since last July 17.

“It's been a long time; a lot longer than we thought it was going to be, but we got there in the end,” Lynch said. “There wasn't a whole lot I could do with back and neck injuries, so we just had to give it time and let the body heal and, thankfully, it's all come back good.”

Lynch ranked among the leading riders at Laurel's 2020 summer stand in wins and purse earnings at the time of his injury. He was unseated when his mount, Epitomize, clipped heels and fell leaving the backstretch, sending horse and rider to the ground. Both eventually walked off the track.

Initially fitted with a neck and back brace, Lynch was cleared to return to race riding last week. He began his comeback by getting on horses at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., and has continued exercising in the mornings at Laurel.

“About a month ago I went up to Fair Hill for Graham,” Lynch said. “He asked me if I'd come up, so I went up and rode a few in the morning and I've been getting on horses at Laurel ever since for Brittany Russell and Jeremiah O'Dwyer, Hammy Smith, and just getting fit again.”

Lynch is a two-time meet leading rider at Pimlico Race Course, owning 525 career North American victories and nearly $19 million in purses earned, according to Equibase statistics. He is the younger brother of Laurel-based trainer Cal Lynch.

A former champion apprentice in England, Lynch rode Caribou Club to a record-setting victory in the 2019 Baltimore-Washington International Turf Cup (G3) at Laurel, setting the Dahlia turf course mark of 1:33.35 for one mile.

Lynch was also the regular rider of retired multiple graded-stakes winning millionaire Irish War Cry during his undefeated 2-year-old season of 2016 that included a win in the Marylander, now Heft Stakes.

Represented by agent Chris Pipito, Lynch said he has rides lined up on Needs Supervision in the $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3), Majestic Dunhill in the $250,000 General's Stake (G3) and Buckey's Charm in the $100,000 Wide Country on Laurel's Feb. 13 Winter Sprintfest program.

“I've got some nice mounts coming up next week for the stakes so that's been a good incentive for me coming back,” Lynch said. “2020 was a bad year for everybody. The main thing is the family in Ireland and everything is good, so I'm happy about that. I'm just glad to get back on horses again. It feels good. My body's healed itself. I'm looking forward to it.”

Notes: Jockey J.D. Acosta scored back-to-back wins Sunday with Great Go Go ($3.20) in Race 2 and Galilean Moon ($7) in Race 3, and apprentice Charlie Marquez did the same on Oxide ($12) in Race 7 and Hydra ($18) in Race 8 … Sheldon Russell also doubled aboard Acadian Girl ($5) in Race 4 and Gravity's Rainbow ($5.40) in Race 6 … Live racing returns with a nine-race program Friday, Feb. 12 starting at 12:25 p.m.

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Marshall Cassidy, 75, Former NYRA Track Announcer, Passes

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) mourns the loss of Marshall Cassidy, who served as its track announcer from 1979 to 1990. Cassidy, who died Sunday at the age of 75, was noted for his enduring accuracy and even-keeled delivery.

Cassidy, who later served as a patrol and placing judge in New York, was a member of NYRA's elite fraternity of track announcers. Serving as backup announcer during much of the 1970s to Dave Johnson and Chic Anderson, Cassidy took over as NYRA's lead announcer after Anderson's death in 1979.

In addition to his duties on the NYRA circuit, Cassidy called races throughout the 1980s on television for CBS, ABC, NBC and ESPN. He was succeeded at NYRA by Tom Durkin in 1990.

“Marshall Cassidy was incredibly skilled at his craft and a true ambassador for thoroughbred racing in New York,” said NYRA President and CEO Dave O'Rourke. “Marshall was a friend to so many, especially in Saratoga, where he could so often be found mixing it up in the press box or talking to fans in the backyard. We mourn his loss and offer our condolences to his friends, family and colleagues past and present.”

Durkin praised Cassidy's unique delivery and accuracy which he said rivaled that of Fred Capossela, NYRA's race caller from 1934 to 1971.

“Marshall had a voice that belonged in the Hall of Fame. He had a resonant baritone and his timbre was perfect,” said Durkin, who was NYRA race caller from 1990 to 2014. “In terms of New York announcers – and this is the highest praise – he was on an even par with Fred Capossela. The most important thing for a racetrack announcer to be is accurate. And for that, Marshall was peerless.”

John Imbriale, NYRA's current race caller, also remembered Cassidy for his accuracy and his distinctive style.

“Nobody was more accurate than Marshall,” said Imbriale. “His call of Easy Goer's Belmont Stakes win will be remembered forever.”

Cassidy also mentored Imbriale in the 1980s at Aqueduct, often critiquing and analyzing his practice calls and teaching him the ropes of a profession that few ever master.

“He was very supportive and really took the time to help me,” Imbriale said of Cassidy. His help was extremely important.”

Cassidy was a member of a distinguished multi-generational family of racing officials in New York. His maternal grandfather, Marshall Whiting Cassidy, was a race starter and later a steward, who eventually became racing director for NYRA's predecessor agencies, and later the executive director of The Jockey Club. Cassidy's maternal great-grandfather, Marshall (Mars) Cassidy, was also a fixture in New York racing as a race starter, the first to use a barrier to start a race, and immortalized in coverage by Damon Runyon.

George Cassidy, Cassidy's grand-uncle, was also a race starter, serving for upwards of 50 years, mostly at NYRA tracks, before he retired in 1980.

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Memories Of Mom En Route To Kentucky Oaks

The son of a butcher and a baker growing up in Bloomington, Minn., Thoroughbred owner Bob Lothenbach knows how important family is on the road to success. His latest stakes winner, a 3-year-old filly on the Kentucky Oaks trail, is named in honor of his mom, Lorraine, who passed away seven years ago.

Charlie's Penny was named by Lothenbach's daughter, who remembers her grandmother exclaiming “Come on, Charlie!” while playing cards for pennies around the kitchen table.

The filly's 3 ¼-length victory in the Fair Grounds' Jan. 16 Silverbulletday Stakes came as a slight surprise to bettors (she was 9-1) and Lothenbach alike.

“We didn't expect it, that's for sure,” he said. “We didn't know if she would go two turns, but she made it look easy.”

Prior to the Silverbulletday Charlie's Penny had only started in one-turn races, and she had a record of two wins from four starts. While the daughter of Race Day will be tested once again in the Feb. 13 Rachel Alexandra Stakes, trainer Chris Block is optimistic about her talent level moving forward.

“(Jockey) Brian (Hernandez, Jr.) did a fantastic job around the first turn (in the Silverbulletday) getting her out and settled in there behind what was a slow pace, which I think benefited us to a degree,” Block said. “In the middle of the turn, I could see that he had a ton of horse. She ranged up there on the outside turning for home, and I've seen her level off really well going short. I thought if she could do that going long, we're going to be ok.”

Charlie's Penny is out of the unraced Warrior's Reward mare Sweet Lorraine, also named in honor of his mother. Her full sister, cheekily named Mom's Red Lipstick, is also a stakes winner trained by Block, but was foaled in Kentucky. Conversely, Charlie's Penny was foaled in Minnesota as one of Lothenbach's first crop of Thoroughbreds born in his home state.

Charlie's Penny winning the Silverbulletday Stakes at Fair Grounds

“That's where I live most of the time, so it just made sense to support my home program,” Lothenbach said. “It's always been a passion of mine, horses, and then the horse racing itself is just fantastic. There's nothing better than spending the day at the track.”

In fact, Lothenbach has been supporting Minnesota horse racing since Canterbury Park in Shakopee first opened in 1985. The longtime racing fan called on three of his friends, each of whom put in $1,000 to claim a horse. The partners made money with that first claim, and Lothenbach was hooked.

Before long, he was purchasing racehorses all on his own.

“That's probably part of the reason I went out on my own, to be able to hear the trainer,” Lothenbach explained, laughing. “I've got four different trainers that say I'm their best client because I never call them. They call me, and we'll cover stuff then. They've got their job to do, and I don't want the communication unless I need it.”

He trusts his trainers and gives them the space they need to do their jobs. That trust has become increasingly important as Lothenbach's racing and breeding stable has grown to over 150 horses.

Block, for example, is especially good at developing younger horses, Lothenbach said.

“Chris is a great developer of horses,” said Lothenbach. “He takes really good care of them. There's a lot of guys that push the babies, and Chris doesn't do that. If they really do show that they have the ability to run at 2, he'll do it, but otherwise he's patient with them.”

Another quality Lothenbach particularly respects in a trainer is a strong work ethic. It was something his own parents instilled in him early in life.

“I never heard college mentioned in our household, it was all about work ethic,” he said. “My dad always said, 'If I teach you a good work ethic, I'll never have to worry about you being able to take care of yourself.'”

That mantra of hard work paid off for Lothenbach, from working 40-hour weeks during his senior year of high school to building his own major printing company from the ground up.

“I started 30 years ago out of my garage with $1,800 to my name,” said Lothenbach. “Back then, the printing industry was pretty old school, and it could take several weeks to process an order. With my company, I told people, 'When you need it, I'll get it for you.' It single-handedly changed the printing industry in Minnesota.

“It was all about service. If I got an order that would normally take 2-4 weeks to finish, I literally would go pick up the paper. I signed a deal with the paper company that if I ordered the paper by 4 p.m., they'd deliver it that night, or I could go pick it up. I'd print overnight, do the binding in the mornings, and then deliver it.

“There were days when I'd sleep there, work 20 hours, get four hours of sleep, and be right back at it.”

The company grew to over 1,300 employees, and Lothenbach was inducted into the Printing Impressions/RIT Printing Industry Hall of Fame in 2013. He sold a majority share in 2016, and now focuses much of his time on other investment projects as well as his Lothenbach Family Foundation.

“I'm really big on literacy for kids, because when I was a kid I really struggled with school and reading, in fact I still do today,” Lothenbach said. “So the foundation supports literacy programs for kids, as well as veterans and a few other charities.

“People helped me get where I'm at, so I try to return the favor.”

Lothenbach admitted that his challenges with reading may be one of the reasons he worked so hard to build his company, and still tries to stay just as busy today.

“Because I had learning disabilities, and because I was a little hellion, I always tried to prove myself,” he said. “I always wanted to be the best at whatever I was doing, since I wasn't the best at school.”

One of his greatest rewards, then, was being able to take his parents out of town to the horse races in Chicago for the first time in 1992. That afternoon, a horse he co-owned, Saint Ballado, won the Grade 2 Arlington Classic. His parents joined him in the winner's circle.

“They just loved it,” Lothenbach said, his voice choking up with emotion. “It was pretty neat.”

Horse racing still brings his family together. Before the pandemic, Lothenbach and his brothers made time to take their 89-year-old father to the races at Canterbury a few times a year.

“He can barely walk, but to be with us and go to the races, he'll do it,” Lothenbach said.

Last year that tradition had to be adjusted a bit, but the family still connects by watching Lothenbach's horses race on television. A trip to this year's Kentucky Oaks with Charlie's Penny would definitely involve the whole family, if at all possible.

“It would be pretty special,” Lothenbach said.

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Oaklawn: Rocco Bowen, 100% Healthy Again, Pictures Big Things In His Future

As a successful jockey, Rocco Bowen has had his picture taken hundreds of times following a race. That's a perk for winning.

Now, pictures have become even more of a motivation for the determined Bowen, 31, specifically two that he said hang in an important travel hub in his native Barbados, a small Caribbean island northeast of Venezuela.

One of those pictures, Bowen said, is of Patrick Husbands, the gold standard for Barbadian riders and an eight-time Sovereign Award winner as the outstanding jockey in Canada. The other is of celebrated Barbadian singer/actress Rihanna.

Bowen said he hopes one day to see a third picturing hanging in Grantley Adams International Airport. His picture.

“No, I'm serious,” Bowen said. “That's the only two people – they're ambassadors. That's my goal, man, to have my picture in the airport because everyone comes through the airport.”

Bowen's quest to add to his photo portfolio has him at Oaklawn, where he is riding for the first time this year after a debilitating arm injury cost him approximately 1 ½ years in the saddle, threatened his livelihood and led to a career U-turn in 2020 after once dominating the racing landscape in the Pacific Northwest.

Bowen has already recorded two milestones in his comeback. His 1,000th career North American victory came Nov. 11 at Indiana Grand, according to Equibase, racing's official data gathering organization. Bowen also won his first race at historic Churchill Downs earlier in the year.

“I feel great physically,” Bowen said. “I'm 100 percent.”

Born and raised in Barbados, Bowen's hook to racing was through his father, who owned a couple of cheap horses. Bowen said he began riding match races in the “pasture” when he was 8 or 9, attended jockey school and made his professional debut at 15.

“It didn't come natural,” Bowen said of his early days as a rider. “My dad always told me that jockeys are born to do it, but I wouldn't say I was a natural. I had a lot to learn. I really didn't look good and stuff. My dad always had a lot of faith in me. He always thought I was going to go far.”

Bowen said he won 21 races as a jockey in Barbados. Although Barbados has year-round racing, Bowen said opportunities there are limited because of a truncated racing calendar. Bowen said that led his family to pool their finances and, following Husband's lead, send him to Canada at 16 to continue his career.

Bowen landed in Vancouver, British Columbia, and rode his first race at Hastings Park on April 28, 2007.

After cutting his teeth in Canada, Bowen eventually became a star in the Pacific Northwest. He became the first Bajan jockey to win a riding title in the United States at the 2015-'16 Portland Meadows meeting and was champion jockey three consecutive years (2016, 2017 and 2018) at Emerald Downs in suburban Seattle.

Bowen never had a chance to capture a fourth consecutive Emerald Downs riding title after being injured during training hours in September 2018. Bowen said he damaged his shoulder and suffered a concussion after being thrown to the ground when a rein a broke on a horse he was breezing.

“I was out for 25 minutes,” Bowen said. “Normal morning. I just remember getting on the horse in the barn. I don't remember anything after that.”

Bowen's injury occurred during the closing weeks of the Emerald Downs meeting. The jockey had a meet-best 97 victories and was trying to reach triple digits for the third consecutive year after finishing with 110 in 2016 and 126 in 2017.

“I was not going to let that injury stop me, getting the three wins,” Bowen said. “It was something I never would have lived down. It was something I really wanted to do.”

Bowen said he took a week off and resumed riding after being cleared by a doctor. He finished with 109 victories. But Bowen wouldn't ride again until June 4, 2020, at Belterra Park, owing to the shoulder injury that triggered numbness in his right hand.

Bowen said he was in so much pain at the end of the 2018 Emerald Downs meeting that he remembers once having to use his left arm to raise his right after awakening from a restless night of sleep.

“I ended up riding and I just put the horse in the middle of the racetrack,” Bowen said. “I didn't put myself in a bad spot because I'm riding with one hand. Just was determined because it took me so much to get to the top of Emerald that I was not going to let that hand stop me. I kind of had that feeling that I wasn't going to be able to ride that winter, so that would have played with me all the time. Even being leading rider, I wasn't going to stop at 97 wins. I just kept on pushing.”

Bowen said he initially believed he would miss “three or four months” because of the injury, but months stretched into more than a year because of lingering problems. Bowen said he didn't undergo surgery and time finally erased the pain.

“The thought of never riding again, that almost took away my heart,” Bowen said.

Bowen said he had planned to make his comeback last summer at Arlington Park, even signing a one-year lease on an apartment three minutes from the track. Yet another roadblock: No racing (COVID-19).

But Bowen was so hungry to return to the saddle that in late May he began driving 3 ½ hours each day from suburban Chicago to Anderson, Ind., to work horses for trainer Genaro Garcia in preparation for Indiana Grand's opening, delayed until June 15, (COVID-19).

With no place to stay in Indiana, Bowen said he would drive back to Arlington Heights after training hours, only to start the process over the following day at 1 a.m. (Central). Bowen said the track closed at 11 a.m. (Eastern).

“The first day, I was late for work, an hour,” Bowen said. “I didn't know they had a time change. That's what I had to do. Once I got my first paycheck, then I got a hotel.”

Bowen's first victory in his comeback came aboard the Garcia-trained Hyndford June 5 at Belterra Park. Bowen's first mount at Churchill Downs, White Wolf, became the jockey's first winner there five days later. Bowen, as a regular, rode 39 winners in his Indiana Grand debut to finish eighth in the standings. His mounts earned $934,902.

“The first race I rode, I got (disqualified), the very first race of the meet, opening day, but not for lack of trying,” Bowen, jokingly, said. “I was like, 'Man, people are going to think this is a wild and crazy guy.' But by the fifth race of the day, I won on my favorite horse since my comeback, Unmoored, for Mr. Genaro Garcia. I won three races on that horse last summer.”

White Wolf's trainer, Paul Holthus of Hot Springs, has been another one of Bowen's biggest supporters in his comeback. They teamed for six victories at Indiana Grand and have continued their relationship this year at Oaklawn.

“He's a good kid,” Holthus said. “Really like him. Good attitude. He's a good enough rider, for sure.”

Bowen, whose agent/mentor is retired jockey Joe Steiner, said his plan is to remain based in the Midwest. Asked why he didn't make his comeback at Emerald Downs, Bowen said it would have been a sign of weakness.

“To me, that would have been easy,” Bowen said. “It probably would have taken me another three years to leave again.”

Get the picture?

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