People | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘Happy To Get Out Of The Bubble’: Soumillon Emerges From COVID-19 Quarantine To Ride In Hong Kong

Sidelined from two of the most prestigious meetings in the world because of COVID-19, Belgian ace Christophe Soumillon is anxious to make up for lost opportunities – and time – when he resumes with a full book of rides at Sha Tin on Sunday, Dec. 20.

Diagnosed with COVID-19 shortly before the Breeders' Cup meeting at Keeneland on Nov. 7, the 10-time French champion surrendered a winning ride on Tarnawa in the US$4 million Breeders' Cup Turf.

Salting the wound, Soumillon also watched Order Of Australia – another confirmed mount – post an upset victory in the US$2 million Breeders' Cup Mile.

Unable to gain clearance to leave quarantine as scheduled in Hong Kong because of health protocols, Soumillon then forfeited the ride on Normcore, who claimed the HK$28 million LONGINES Hong Kong Cup under Zac Purton.

Compounding the situation, Soumillon also lost the winning ride on Lucky Patch at Sha Tin at the same meeting.

But, exhibiting an attitude which has impressed his peers and Hong Kong Jockey Club officials, Soumillon is squarely fixed on future positives rather than pondering negatives from the past.

“I knew they (Normcore and Lucky Patch) were gonna run well, probably win. I was ready to see, even a bit, Admire Mars fighting with Golden Sixty. That didn't happen,” he said after the Happy Valley trials this morning (Dec. 18).

“But, anyway, I came here to try my best. I knew had some good rides. Last Wednesday, at Happy Valley, I lost five winners, so the same.

“I'm coming here to compete and do my best. Unfortunately, the rules are the rules.

“I get positively tested in the US.

“I already lost this year the Breeders' Cup, I could win the French Derby, I could win the Arc. I could win many big races and I couldn't be on the horse at the right time some times because we didn't take the greatest decision and sometimes because you get the COVID-19.

“But some people are very sick and couldn't get back well after getting the disease, so it doesn't matter.

“I work enough to know that if I keep going like this, I will find other big winners in the future.

“I lost something, but I learnt different things so it's gonna make me stronger at the end of the day.

“Hopefully I'm gonna get some good rides on some very good horses, that's the target at the end.

“I just want to go back riding races, going to the winners' circle and doing what I do best.”

Such is Soumillon's appeal among owners and trainers, he is fully booked through Jan. 1, 2021, starting with a complement of 10 rides on Sunday.

“Really happy to get out of the bubble, finally I can do what I really love every day – riding horses and competing with other jockeys,” he said.

“Very excited to be racing on Sunday and my feelings are very good. I'm fit and well and ready to go.”

Proving every cloud has a silver lining, Soumillon has used the time in isolation pro-actively, building fitness and spending hours poring over replays and form.

“Because I was locked up for more than two weeks now, maybe three (weeks), I've had the time to look at the races properly and analyze every horse's trackwork and the way they are improving a lot,” he said.

“It was quite good in that way.

“My first two race days are fully booked and it's the same now until the first of January, so I feel a lot of good support from the owners and trainers.

“I just hope now I can do my job again, like I did before.”

Soumillon is hopeful Ballistic King is among his best chances to add to his tally of 110 Hong Kong winners in the Class 2 Bellflower Handicap (1400m).

“We didn't have the best draw (barrier 9), but the horse looks in form,” he said.

“He got beat not far away the last few races, just hoping he can jump out of the gates quite well.

“He looks a bit of a one-paced horse but he looks in form. I think he's going to run good.”

Synonymous with Hong Kong top-liners Viva Pataca, Bullish Luck, Good Ba Ba and Perfect Partner, Soumillon will belatedly start a two-month contract, grateful to be heading back into the fray.

“The opportunity is great, but unfortunately I got the disease,” he said.

“Now I'm fine, I'm 100 percent right I just hope things will go back as they to normal.”

Soumillon partners Bella Baby, Smart Thinker, Glenealy Generals, King Dragon, Resolute, Speed Fay Fay, Super Power Man, Winning For All, Perfect To Great and Ballistic King.

Sunday's 10-race fixture kicks off at 1pm with the Class 5 Sunflower Handicap (1000m).

The post ‘Happy To Get Out Of The Bubble’: Soumillon Emerges From COVID-19 Quarantine To Ride In Hong Kong appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Jockey Agent Billy Johnson Passes: Teamed With Leading Riders Deshawn Parker, Luis Quinones

Jockey agent Billy Johnson died Thursday in East Liverpool, Ohio, just across the Ohio River from West Virginia's Mountaineer Park, where he helped Deshawn Parker become the No. 1 rider in the country by wins in 2010 and '11.

Johnson, who was in his late 50s, had been plagued with health issues in recent months.

“It's a sad day. He is family to me,” said Parker, who said he and Johnson worked together for about 20 years, parting ways in 2017 when Parker moved his tack to Indiana. “He helped raise my kids. We'd spend Thanksgiving and Christmas together and hung out all the time.”

Parker recalls growing up in Cleveland and when he was 14 or 15 years old playing on the same softball team with his father, state steward Daryl Parker, and the Johnson brothers, Billy and Thoroughbred trainer Gary.

“I've known him for so long,” he said.

Parker said Johnson helped him win more than 30 riding titles at Mountaineer Park and they earned another together at Sam Houston in 2015 after testing the waters in Texas.

Johnson worked on the backstretch and eventually the racing office at Ohio racetracks. Fellow agent Jimmy McNerny worked alongside Johnson in the Beulah Park racing office and said Johnson left to become an agent in the mid-to-late '90s. McNerny followed him a couple of years later and now is agent for Parker, who won the 2020 Indiana Grand riding title.

“He's one of the best agents I've known,” said McNerny.

Parker led all North American riders with 377 wins in 2010 and 400 in 2011. After Parker left for Indiana, Johnson teamed up with Luis Quinones to win the 2018 and '19 Mountaineer titles and finish third and second by North American wins in those respective years.

Quinones was voted Santa Anita's George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award by his fellow riders in February 2020. “He was a big influence in helping Quinones getting that award,” McNerny said. ”Most of the riders who vote don't know anything about Mountaineer or Mahoning Valley, where Quinones rode. Billy really campaigned for him.”

When Quinones was sidelined by injury earlier this year, Johnson brought Luis Colon to the West Virginia track. Colon and Johnson's other rider, Charle Oliveros, are currently 1-2 in the standings.

“He did a great job,” Parker said. “And everybody liked Billy. He's just one of those guys. Never a bad word about him. Even if he spun the trainers, he would smooth it out so they weren't upset with him. He tried hard for everybody.”

The post Jockey Agent Billy Johnson Passes: Teamed With Leading Riders Deshawn Parker, Luis Quinones appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Once A Trainer, Always A Trainer: Contessa Returning As Private Conditioner For Bell Gable Stable

Gary Contessa, who had announced the closure of his public stable earlier this year, announced this week he will return to training in a private capacity for Nick and Delora Beaver's Bell Gable Stable. Contessa will aid in building the racing operation in addition to training the horses, and said he will continue to represent multiple clients as a buyer's agent at public auction.

Bell Gable is a small racing and breeding operation based near Delaware Park and runs horses primarily in the Mid-Atlantic.

Contessa said he believes training privately will eliminate a lot of the difficulties that prompted him to leave the racing business earlier this year.

“The effort you have to put forth in a public stable can be overwhelming and incredibly time-consuming,” Contessa said. “In agreeing to work privately for Bell Gable I am going to be paid a salary and work with Nick and Delora Beaver to promote Bell Gable and help mold it into a top stable and promote the brand. In exchange Bell Gable gets a trainer, partner, director, bloodstock agent and friend. I will have to report to just them and have the opportunity to share their vision.”

As Contessa's public stable grew smaller in recent years, he said the financial investment no longer made sense, particularly given the cumbersome and expensive requirements of the U.S. Department of Labor for time-keeping and record-keeping. Contessa's stable was one of several New York operations audited by the federal government.

As of his retirement announcement in March, Contessa had saddled runners in 18,142 races with 2,363 wins. His top runners included Grade 1 winners Sippican Harbor and Do It With Style, Kentucky Derby runner Uncle Sigh, and multiple graded stakes winners Rite Moment, Mission Approved, and True Affair.

The post Once A Trainer, Always A Trainer: Contessa Returning As Private Conditioner For Bell Gable Stable appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘Every Day Is An Adventure’: Ami Atkinson Keeps Santa Anita’s Racing Office On Even Keel

The very definition of a key employee, Oregon native Ami Atkinson, Santa Anita's executive racing assistant, maintains a consistently positive attitude and brings a level of energy to the track's Racing Office that is undeniable. With Santa Anita's Winter/Spring opener fast approaching on Saturday, Dec. 26, the track's Racing Office is gearing up for opening day entries this Monday, Dec. 21.

Raised on a dairy farm east of Portland, Ami Atkinson, mother of two daughters, brings a love of racing and innate ability to navigate egos, personalities and daily “issues” that helps to make her a truly irreplaceable person in a work environment that is tasked with presenting the product that drives Santa Anita's core economic engine.

Headquartered in the Santa Anita Racing Office adjacent to Director of Racing and Racing Secretary Chris Merz, Ami agreed to a brief question and answer session this past Wednesday.

Q: You grew up working on your family's dairy farm near Portland. What was that like and how did that experience help you prepare you for a life in racing?

A: I grew up in a little town called Boring, Oregon! I think it taught me the value of hard work and that animals need feed and water no matter how tired or sick you are. My family all worked on the dairy, my dad was a practicing large animal veterinarian at the time, so he would tell us what had to be done and when he got back home it was done. I never thought of it as hard, it was just doing what needed to be done.

Q: You often speak about your parents. Were they interested in racing and how big of an influence have they been in your life?

A: My Dad worked incredibly hard and still does to this day. My parents moved to east Texas a few years ago and he now just has a few feeders and one milk cow, but he still works 400 acres of land. I enjoy visiting them, it is a simple life that is refreshing and satisfying. My Uncle Dallas, my dad's brother, was the rebel of the family and he loved horses. He had beautiful saddle horses and he trained both cutting horses and race horses, which ran at Portland Meadows. I started punching mutuel tickets there at night for a while, which is how I caught the racing bug.

Q: You worked as a groom and assistant trainer for a period of time about 30 years ago, how did that come about?

A: Well, I was picked up as a free agent groom in Vallejo, California by (trainer) Don and Dee Collins. I had started working for another trainer from Grants Pass and as a starry-eyed kid, when asked if I wanted to go to California, I said “sure.” It turned out, (this trainer) was planning on paying me by teaching me to be a groom. That of course doesn't pay many bills, so I was crying in my tack room when Don Collins rode up on his pony and asked if I wanted a paying job. Don trained Appaloosas on the fairs and then wintered with a few Thoroughbreds in Phoenix. I worked for him for the next seven years. I moved up to ponying horses and eventually became his assistant trainer. Don had close to 50 horses each summer and we based in one place and shipped to the tracks to run. I hauled horses and helped run the barn. During my time with Don, I got to see the transformation from foal to race horse and all of the time, the people and the steps it takes to make that happen. I have a deep appreciation for all of the people involved in the breeding, development and then training the horse at the track. It takes hours and hours of time, energy and passion to do what they love and to just have that hope “that this is the one.”

Q: In your current role in the Racing Office, you are truly on the “front line” when it comes to interacting with horsemen, owners, track employees and management. From your early morning run before you come in, what's a typical workday like for Ami Atkinson?

A: I enjoy my time on the backside and prior to the COVID era restrictions, I would go around the barn area and deliver programs to the trainers running that day and see if they needed anything. The backside of a racetrack to me is where the real work is done. There is something to be said for getting up before dawn and seeing the barn area come alive. Horses going to the track, people bantering as they work. Then I go to the Racing Office which is like any office, but not like any office. I consider myself very fortunate to have a job I enjoy and a cast of characters to work with that I also enjoy. I wear many hats and I also have a lot of people helping me get everything done. We are a team and a family that put together a racing card, make sure that training and racing go smoothly, attempt to keep everyone happy and getting the service they need is all part of the day. I love it because every day is different, some days are exhausting but every day is an adventure.

Q: Everyone knows there's been a great deal of turmoil in our industry over the past couple of years and Santa Anita has experienced a good deal of it. What keeps you so optimistic and so positive in your interpersonal dealings?

A: I truly believe that happiness is a choice. Some days it is harder to find the silver lining but it is always there. And when things are tough or uncomfortable, a smile and a kind word can't make it worse, so why not?

Q: Your two daughters are a huge part of your life and I know you're very proud of them. Tell us what they're up to and what if any advice you might have for other working Moms in racing.

A: I am very proud of my girls. My oldest, Makenzie, recently graduated USC, the class without a graduation. She is an extremely focused young woman and thanks to COVID, she is working from home currently and I feel like I got the gift of extra time with her. Sarah is a junior at Monrovia High and she enjoys show jumping. She is a gifted rider and I hope that she will get experience a “normal” senior year of high school. I think all working Moms are amazing. It is definitely a balancing act on a narrow beam. It is hard to leave your kids, or miss out on their games or events in their lives, so we make choices. To succeed at work, you have to be there and perform as well. We just hope that they understand that everything we do is to help them to have the best life.

Q: Chris Merz has returned to Santa Anita from Maryland and he's now our Director of Racing and Racing Secretary. Tell us about your relationship and what you envision as we approach opening day.

A: I have known Chris since he started here as Stakes Coordinator a few years ago and it has been a real pleasure to watch him mature into an executive. He came home from Maryland with such a positive attitude and confidence in this program and it was the breath of fresh air we needed. If I sound like a parent, I feel like I am the Racing Office Mom, and I can't wait to see what the New Year brings.

Q: By any estimation, 2020 has been a year like no other. Do you have any New Year's resolutions or suggestions you'd like to share?

A: I think that 2020 has made us all find enjoyment in the little things. Spending time with family, shopping for meals or binging on Netflix. I think everyone handles things differently and I have tried to spend a little extra time touching base with friends. I think a little kindness goes a long way and we could all use a little more of that.

Fans are advised that there will be a special early first post time on opening day, Saturday, December 26, of 11 a.m. Santa Anita's races can be viewed live and free of charge at santaanita.com. Fans can watch and wager at 1ST.com/Bet. For additional information, please visit our santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.

The post ‘Every Day Is An Adventure’: Ami Atkinson Keeps Santa Anita’s Racing Office On Even Keel appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post