People | Horse Racing Free Tips

With Four Stakes Wins, Russell Unanimously Voted Jockey Of The Week

With four stakes wins on the Jim McKay Maryland Million Day program at Laurel Park, Sheldon Russell was unanimously selected as Jockey of the Week for Oct.19 through Oct. 25. The award, which is voted on by a panel of racing industry experts, is for jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 950 active riders in the United States as well as retired and permanently disabled jockeys.

Just a month into his return to racing from a broken wrist, Russell put an exclamation mark on his comeback with four wins capped by a record-setting victory aboard Monday Morning Qb in the Maryland Million Classic, trained by E. “Butch” Reid, Jr. With a textbook ride by Russell, Monday Morning Qb hit the wire in 1:48.13 over a fast main track, the fastest Classic since the race was moved to its current distance in 2009.

Russell also captured the Starter Handicap with trainer Dale Capuano's Jumpstartmyheart in the first race and went on to win the Distaff with Hello Beautiful trained by Russell's wife, Brittany, and the Turf with Pretty Good Year, trained by Kelly Rubley. Russell also finished third in the Ladies with Mosalah and in the Turf Sprint Handicap with Godlovesasinner.

“It's just fantastic. I haven't really been back that long. We sort of came back Preakness week and I was able to pick up a Preakness mount and sort of pick my head up a little bit,” Russell said. “Business has been great, so I can't really complain. My agent, Marty Leonard, has done a great job.

“Going into today I had nine mounts and looking at all of them, you think they all sort of had a live sneaky outside chance,” he added. “It was good that Dale's horse put me on a good start to the day. When you win some races early on in the day it sort of gives you a second win and you want to win another one, but four wins is great. I couldn't have asked for a better day.”

Russell's weekly stats were 14-5-0-2 for a 35.71% win and 50% in-the-money with total purses of $273,958.

Russell out-polled fellow riders Kyle Frey who tied for second with most wins for the week, Trevor McCarthy who won three stakes races on Maryland Million Day, Irad Ortiz, Jr. who was the leading money-earner for the week and Edgard Zayas who tied for second in number of wins with Kyle Frey.

The post With Four Stakes Wins, Russell Unanimously Voted Jockey Of The Week appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

After Lifetime In Business, ‘Coley’ Blind Retiring From Maryland Jockey Club Position

Embracing a family tradition in Thoroughbred racing that dates back more than a century, and following his own distinguished career in various roles touching parts of six decades, Coleman E. “Coley” Blind is stepping down as stakes coordinator for the Maryland Jockey Club.

Blind, 72, is retiring from the position effective Nov. 1. Former trainer Jason Egan, who currently works in the MJC racing office as an entry clerk, will step into the role of stakes coordinator.

“My family has been in racing for almost 120 years,” Blind said. “I really liked my position as stakes coordinator. Working with the trainers all over the country was very enjoyable. That's the part I will miss the most. I know Jason will do a great job.”

Blind's roots run deep in Thoroughbred racing. His great-grandfather owned horses in England and his grandfather trained for the Royal Canadian governor of British Columbia after the family emigrated to Canada.

An uncle, Eric Blind, rode in the 1924 Kentucky Derby (G1) and the 1926 Derby and Preakness Stakes (G1). Blind's father, Eddie, was an assistant starter for the famed match race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral in the 1938 Pimlico Special and became the official starter for Maryland's Thoroughbred tracks in 1947, acquiring the nickname “The Maestro of the Start” in a position he held for 35 years until his retirement.

Blind began working alongside his father in the Laurel Park starting gate in 1966, joined by his brother, Frank, who would go on to become a golf pro at Fox Hollow Golf Club in Baltimore County. Coley Blind has worked in racing offices for Maryland's tracks at Laurel, Pimlico and Timonum as well as Monmouth Park, Delaware Park and the defunct Atlantic City, Liberty Bell, Marlboro and Hagerstown.

In addition to stakes coordinator, Blind has also worked as an assistant starter, starter, paddock judge, patrol judge, placing judge, clerk of scales, horse identifier and assistant racing secretary. He also served as a National Steeplechase Association steward.

In 1989 Blind left racing for 11 years, went into contracting and opened an insurance business before returning to the game in 2000. He said he plans to stay in the Maryland area.

“One thing I will always remember is watching Secretariat win the [1973] Preakness. He was in my mind the greatest horse I ever saw. I was the patrol judge at the quarter pole that day and was awed by him,” Blind said. “In my years in racing I have seen some of the best horses ever to run.”

The 38-year-old Egan can trace his love of racing to growing up in Washington state, where his father took him to defunct Longacres in the Seattle suburb of Renton to watch the legendary Captain Condo, who won 30 of 70 starts from 1986 to 1992.

Egan attended the University of Arizona's Racetrack Industry Program, interning with trainer Michael Dickinson in North East, Md. Egan worked for a time on a farm in Florida following graduation and spent a year working for seven-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher before becoming trainer Mike Trombetta's assistant.

After going out on his own, Egan won 52 races between 2011 and 2019, earning his first stakes win in the 2018 Weber City Miss with 3-year-old filly Goodonehoney. Other top horses trained by Egan include She's Achance Too, second in the 2016 Maryland Million Lassie, three-time stakes-placed Any Court Inastorm, and He's Achance.

Egan's wife, Jordyn, works as director of development for the Maryland Horse Industry Foundation and is assistant director for Maryland Million Ltd.

The post After Lifetime In Business, ‘Coley’ Blind Retiring From Maryland Jockey Club Position appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Matthews To Head FTBOA As President; New Board Members Announced

After absences as members on the board due to term limits, Fred Brei of Reddick and Milan Kosanovich of Ocala will return to the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association board of directors while Bobby Jones of Reddick, Francis Vanlangendonck of Morriston and Dr. Fred Yutani of Ocala all remain on the board for second terms. Each will serve a three-year term that will run until October 2023.

Leaving the board because of term limits as outlined in the FTBOA by-laws were Barry Berkelhammer and Greg Wheeler, both from Ocala. Wheeler will, however, remain on the board ex officio as a past president of the Association. Both were commended for their strong commitment and service to the Association and industry.

Phil Matthews, DVM, was elected as the president of the Association at the board meeting that followed the Oct. 23 annual member meeting. He said he was grateful to be elected president by his fellow board members and welcomed the new board members.

“I am pleased that the board has entrusted me once again with the office of president of the FTBOA,” Matthews said. “We are in the midst of challenging times with the closure of Calder and obviously the uncertainty created for sales and racing by the pandemic. To take on these challenges we have an engaged board, a very capable executive committee, a terrific CEO in Lonny Powell and a wonderful staff at our FTBOA offices.”

The board also named the executive committee for 2020-21 with Matthews as president while Valerie Dailey was named first vice president. Brent Fernung was named second vice president and George Russell will serve as treasurer. Joseph O'Farrell III has been elected as secretary.

Also an FTBOA board past president, Matthews came to Ocala in 1981 as an associate veterinarian at Peterson and Smith Equine Hospital. He became a partner in that practice in 1984 and his veterinary affiliations include the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Association of Equine Practitioners. He has served on several committees for the AAEP and is a past member of the board of directors.

Dr. Matthews has been a speaker and instructor at various veterinary venues around the country and internationally and with his wife Karen own Cedar Grove Farm in Ocala.

Brei established Reddick-based Jacks or Better Farm in 1997 with his wife Jane. He bought his first broodmare in 1972 and was actively involved in the Illinois breeding and racing industries before moving to Marion County. The Breis primarily breed to race on the 88-acre Jacks or Better Farm and enjoyed quick success. Midas Eyes, the Florida-bred champion sprinter of 2004, marked the first Florida-bred champion for the Breis. The Breis have also swept the Florida Sire Stakes three times with Jackson Bend, Awesome Feather and Fort Loudon. Awesome Feather also won the 2010 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) and an Eclipse Award as the champion 2-year-old filly that year.

Jones has been a mainstay in the thoroughbred community in Ocala for more than 30 years and has served some 25 years with the Florida Farm Managers. He served as president for more than a decade and has served as chairman of the board for the last nine years. Jones is currently the owner and manager of Bobby Jones Equine, LLC, a 36-acre thoroughbred farm where he keeps broodmares for breeding in the thoroughbred commercial market. He also conducts sales preparation and consigns thoroughbreds of all ages at public auction. He offers boarding, foaling, breeding, breaking, training, and rehabilitations, which are enhanced by the swimming facilities located on the farm.

A retired Pennsylvania steel executive, Kosanovich got involved with thoroughbreds more than 30 years ago while purchasing his first broodmare as a graduate school business project. Kosanovich owns a 40-acre farm in Ocala and eight mares. A highlight came in 2009 when broodmare, Go Donna Go produced Grade 1 performers, Macho Again, winner of more than $1.8 million, and Be Fair.

That year, his Florida-breds won more than $1.6 million, comprised of 16 starters with 18 wins, 27 seconds and 21 thirds (four stakes winners). His success led him to be honored with the FTBOA Needles Award, bestowed annually to an outstanding small breeding operation in Florida.

Francis and Barbara Vanlangendonck, along with their sons Arthur and Andrew, base their Summerfield Sales Agency in Morriston, Fla. Summerfield is located on 80 acres where the Vanlangendoncks offer boarding, sales prep, bloodstock consulting, pedigree analysis, mating recommendations, evaluations, appraisals, sales recommendations and pinhooking partnerships.

Francis and his team annually attend all major yearling and mixed auctions, conducted at Ocala Breeders' Sales, Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland in Florida, Kentucky and New York. They are habitually among the leading consignors in North America with nearly $12.6 million in sales in 2018 and among leading overall consignors with more than $15.1 million in sales.

Among the sale highlights of 2018 was a colt by Curlin that sold for $1.8 million at the Keeneland September Sale.

Dr. Yutani was born in California, raised in Detroit and attended high school in California. He received his undergraduate degree in chemistry at the University of Southern California and graduated from the George Washington University Medical School. He did his post graduate training at the Cleveland Clinic and served two years as a doctor in the United States Army. He is married to Sara Lynn whom he met in Washington DC.

Yutani and his wife came to Ocala and Marion County in 1972 drawn by the climate and horses. They have been breeders or co-breeders of stakes horses such as My Nichole, who won the Desert Vixen Stakes and was the dam of Three Ring, multiple stakes-winning Daisies and Nites, stakes-winner Right This Way, Group 3-placed Oh Mambo Girl and Stoneyer, the 2-year-old and 3-year-old imported horse of the year in Puerto Rico. Horses trained and resold include Imawildandcrazyguy, who was fourth in the 2007 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Able Buck, who was second in the Withers (G2).

Other FTBOA board members include T. Paul Bulmahn, Marilyn Campbell, Nick de Meric, Laurine Fuller-Vargas and Richard Kent.

The post Matthews To Head FTBOA As President; New Board Members Announced appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Wilson Making The Most Of ‘Bizarre’ Year

One of the unique challenges presented by this year's pandemic has been the restricted travel of jockeys between different racetracks. At Woodbine in Canada, jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson found a way to turn that restriction into an opportunity.

“We always like to root for the horses who ship from here to run out of town,” Wilson said. “This year it's been far more rare, so we've been watching them a lot more closely. It's always fun to root for your home team.”

Wilson was glued to a television screen when trainer Gail Cox sent Sam-Son Farm's Say the Word to Saratoga in August, running the 5-year-old son of More Than Ready in a 1 3/16-mile allowance race on the grass.

“Junior Alvarado rode him and he came last to first with a wicked run,” Wilson recalled. “I was extremely impressed, and I mentioned to Gail that I liked the way he'd run and that I'd like to ride him.

“Woodbine only had five Grade 1's this year, and quite often we get a lot of ship-in horses, so the locals have to step up their game. I'm always on the lookout for serious horses, and I thought he'd be a tough horse.”

Wilson first rode Say the Word in the G3 Singspiel Stakes over 1 1/4 miles on the grass, beaten just 1 1/2 lengths overall to finish third.

“I got to know him a little bit; he's a little bit unique so I had to find that happy balance and get on the same page with him,” said Wilson. “It's like in hockey, if you take a left wing and place him on the right, it's going to take him a little bit of time to get used to that side.”

Cox and Wilson's end goal was to stretch the horse out to the 1 1/2 miles of the Grade 1 Northern Dancer Turf, held last Saturday, Oct. 17, and Say the Word responded brilliantly. Making his signature last-to-first move, Say the Word made a big run in the stretch to win by a length.

“Say the Word was definitely coming into his own this year,” Wilson said. “I'm grateful to have gotten the mount when I did.”

Say the Word and Emma-Jayne Wilson winning the Northern Dancer Turf Stakes

Of course, big race days don't feel quite the same this year without the presence of spectators at the Ontario oval.

“When I walk up on big race days at Woodbine, I enjoy that moment looking up at the grandstand and its totally full,” Wilson explained. “Normally on Queen's Plate day, you come on the gap at the seven-eighths pole and the grandstand is packed, just thousands and thousands of people, and you can feel each and every one of them, their energy.

“This year was bizarre. You can feel the energy of the horses, the jocks, the anxiety, but it wasn't the same. It didn't have the anticipation, that buzz of the crowd, and I definitely miss that. It's a big part of our game; the fans are massive and we wouldn't be there without them.”

Though Wilson has earned both an Eclipse Award and multiple Sovereign Awards for her riding career, last weekend's Northern Dancer Turf is just the third Grade 1 win added to her resume. The first came in 2015, also in the Northern Dancer Turf aboard Canadian champion Interpol. It took five years until she rode her second Grade 1 winner, Lady Speightspeare, victorious in last month's G1 Natalma Stakes.

“Lady Speightspeare is a pretty significant horse,” said Wilson. “I think you're going to be hearing her name quite a lot down the road.”

A Charles Fipke homebred out of his multiple graded stakes-winning mare Lady Shakespeare, the 2-year-old daughter of Speightstown won both her starts this year for trainer Roger Attfield. Lady Speightspeare earned an expenses-paid berth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf via her Natalma victory, but an ill-timed knee injury will keep her from making the trip to Keeneland.

“She's an athlete and a competitor, and she wasn't taking any prisoners (in the Natalma),” Wilson said. “It's disappointing that she's not able to go to the Breeders' Cup, because she was definitely one that I was willing to sit out races for, just to ride that one race; she is that good.”

Were Wilson to have made the Breeders' Cup trip with the filly, it would likely have cost her a total of 24 days away from Woodbine because of COVID-19 quarantine protocols. The jockey is currently tied for third in the standings with 72 victories this year, so her willingness to give up those days of riding indicate just how special she believes Lady Speightspeare could be.

What has made her two Grade 1 victories and strong 2020 season even more special, Wilson said, is the fact that she missed significant portions of the last two seasons with injuries.

“I'd been pretty lucky,” Wilson said. “I had a liver laceration in 2010 that kept me out of the saddle for three months, and it was serious, but physically I was okay. I didn't have any broken bones or anything, so I just had to maintain my physical fitness while being careful.”

In 2018, Wilson took a spill the morning before the meet started at Woodbine that resulted in the worst injuries of her career. She broke her humerus (upper arm) all the way through and required surgery with a 5 1/2-inch metal plate and nearly a dozen screws to put it back together.

“I wasn't expecting the challenges that came along with it,” Wilson admitted. “I was thinking it would take about six to eight weeks for the bone to heal, which was accurate, but then I remember trying to take my arm out of the sling and straighten it and I just couldn't.

“It was immobilized from the moment I hit the ground until a few weeks after surgery. After a trauma like that and then it gets seized up, it was disconcerting that my arm wasn't working the way I wanted it to. I wasn't prepared for the rehab; the muscle atrophy and loss of range of motion were just shocking.”

Four months after the injury Wilson was able to get back in the saddle, and she wound up winning 48 races at Woodbine in 2018.

Last year, her injury occurred on Sept. 8 in an afternoon spill. She fractured her left clavicle and three bones in her right hand, also requiring a surgical repair.

“The severity of those wasn't nearly as bad, but they're still injuries,” Wilson said. “I've learned over the years that I'm a professional athlete, and part of my job is knowing how to rehab. Most importantly, the rest days are just as important as the working ones.

“When I was a kid I was just, 'Go go go!', but you come to appreciate the days of healing. I made healing my job, and it was essentially eight weeks to the day that I was back in the saddle, so that was reassuring.

“I really have a great team behind me. My wife (equine chiropractor Laura Trotter) is just phenomenally supportive, and my personal trainer Matt Munro is a physiotherapist as well. When you have such a passion and a love for the sport like I do, it makes it easy to work harder and be ready to go as soon as you return.”

Wilson showed she was definitely ready to return, capping her 2019 season with 59 wins to finish sixth in the standings last year.

The jockey used to travel south in the winters to work the Fair Grounds meet, but that changed when she and Trotter started a family. Now, Wilson prefers to stay home with her 3-year-old twin daughters, Avery and Grace. She'll still fly to Florida a couple times a month as the weather starts to warm up, staying for the weekend to breeze a few horses for regular clients, then returning home to her family.

Until this spring, of course. The coronavirus pandemic put the entire Woodbine meet in jeopardy, so like the rest of her fellow jockeys based at the Ontario track, Wilson was grateful to be riding when the season started in June, about six weeks later than usual.

The hard-working 39-year-old has since turned the abbreviated meet into a successful one, making it one of her best years in the saddle yet. Wilson says she's far from finished, though.

“This game's been good to me, and I enjoy it every single day, every single leg up,” Wilson said. “I think I'll keep riding for as long as I'm healthy and happy. When you're winning races for great connections it's easy to have a love for the sport, and being in the winner's circle always helps you pull out of tough times, so there's no better reason to keep going.”

The post Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Wilson Making The Most Of ‘Bizarre’ Year appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post