Tag: People

Paco Lopez, Joel Rosario and Sheldon Russell each had a week which impressed the members of the panel of racing experts leading to a three-way tie for Jockey of the Week June 12 through June 18. The award recognizes jockeys for riding accomplishments and who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 1,050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.

Paco Lopez, Monmouth Park's leading rider, had a sensational week riding between Parx and Monmouth Park posting 13 wins for the week to lead all jockeys. Riding at Parx on Monday, his four mounts led to four wins for four different trainers including J. Kent Sweezey, J. Guadalupe Guerrero, James Noble and Joseph Taylor. On Tuesday at Parx, Lopez rode one winner for trainer Richard Vega and on Wednesday at Parx, Lopez won one race for trainer Jacinto Solis.

Back home at Monmouth on Friday, Lopez won two races one each for trainers Eddie Owens, Jr. and Juan Avila. On Saturday, Lopez added a win for trainer Kelly Breen before Sunday's card where he won four races one each for trainers Patrick McBurney, John Servis and two for Kelly Breen. At the end of the week, Lopez's 13 wins were for 11 different trainers.

Joel Rosario made the trip to Monmouth Park on Saturday for Haskell Preview Day. Riding for Eclipse Award trainer, Brad Cox, Rosario was aboard Salute the Stars in the Pegasus Stakes for three-year-olds. Off as the second favorite in the field of six, Salute the Stars was slow out of the gate and shuffled back settling in fourth. Picking up the pace on the final turn, Salute the Stars closed with determination to catch the favorite Kingsbarns just before the wire to win in 1:43.87 for the 1 1/16 miles.

Rosario's second stakes winner on the card was Catnip for trainer Mike Stidham in the Grade 3 Monmouth Stakes for three-year-olds and up. Off at odds of 6-1, Catnip broke from post six and raced in second before being shuffled back just before the far turn. Entering the stretch Catnip went outside and with a furious late charge won by half-length in 1:47.40 for the 1 1/8 mile trip.

At Laurel Park on Saturday, Sheldon Russell made it a family affair winning the Stormy Blues Stakes for his wife, Brittany Russell who is Laurel Park's leading trainer. Sheldon Russell ended the week with six wins from 13 mounts.

Other contenders for Jockey of the Week were Hector I. Berrios who won the G3 San Juan Capistrano at Santa Anita, and Irad Ortiz, Jr. who won two stakes races including the G3 Bed o' Roses and posted five wins on Saturday.

The post Three-Way Tie For Jockey Of The Week Between Paco Lopez, Joel Rosario, And Sheldon Russell appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

At the end of the 2022 Louisiana Downs Thoroughbred meet, esteemed photographer Lou Hodges, Jr. passed the baton to assistant Ann Switalski. He remains the official photographer at Fair Grounds but was looking to have some time off in the summer, after handling duties at Louisiana Downs since 2005.

Hodges hired Ann McKnight Switalski in 2016. An avid equestrienne, she began taking photos of morning works and benefited greatly from the expertise of Hodges.

“Lou made sure I understood that there is a very limited time to get the shots we need: the stretch, wire and comeback,” said Switalski. “He taught me the importance of getting the horse in front to allow room for editing.”

The transition has been smooth as silk with Switalski completing the 2023 Quarter Horse season with total professionalism, aided by her assistant, Dawn Thomas.

Switalski is always looking for creative shots and when she is photographing a mile and 70 yard main track on the dirt, she will stroll to the gate as they load in hopes of capturing an interesting moment. On June 18, she had a most interesting opportunity.

“I took several shots as the horses left the gate and noticed some unusual movement,” explained Switalski. “After the race and back in my office, it was clear that all of the horses emerged from the gate except one. Upon further investigation I discovered a horse rearing higher and higher in each progressive shot until I almost couldn't see his head.”

The horse was End Zone Athletics' Aligned Interest, trained by Karl Broberg with jockey Juan Vargas guiding his mount from the awkward break to a sixth-place finish, without any issues.

“I believe my reaction when I reviewed the shot was 'Holy Crap,'” she added.

The management and of course, the horsemen who run at Louisiana Downs admire Switalski and hope their racehorses will pop up in their future spontaneous moments.

The post ‘Unusual’ Shot Even Surprises Louisiana Downs Photographer Ann Switalski appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Five semifinalists have been selected for the 17^th Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, including two novels, three biographical works based on the lives of late 20^th century American champions, and a fictional oral history, all published in 2022.

A 2006 brainchild of the late philanthropist and global businessman Dr. Tony Ryan, the competition is open to any literary genre of book length, the only stipulations being that entries must have a Thoroughbred horse racing premise/backdrop, and that the writing be of high quality.

As always, this year's winner will be awarded a check for $10,000—making it one of the most lucrative prizes in all of publishing. Two runners-up receive $1,000 each, while all three finalists take home Tipperary Irish crystal trophies in the form of the distinctive fieldstone tower at the Ryan family's Castleton Lyons near Lexington, Ky.

After two years of virtual winners' announcements due to COVID, the Book Award returned last fall to the loft above the historic stallion barn at Castleton Lyons, where it had been held since its inception. The invitation-only, drinks and hors d'oeuvres reception to announce the current winner is tentatively scheduled for the evening of Nov. 9.

For additional information, contact Kerrie Cahill at kcahill@castletonlyons.com

Following are semifinalists, listed alphabetical by author.

Horse

Author:  Geraldine Brooks

By Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks, Horse tells a fictionalized tale of pre-Civil War champion Lexington and his enslaved groom Jarrett, as they travel the South and cross paths with a young painter of racehorses. The narrative goes back and forth in time, to a 1954 New York art gallery where a mysterious painting captures the imagination of a noted art dealer, to 2019 Washington, D.C., where a long-forgotten equine skeleton is rediscovered at the Smithsonian. Fact and fiction weave together magically at the hands of a gifted writer.

Secretariat: A 1970s Superstar

Author: A.J. Chilson

In commemoration of Secretariat's race to immortality 50 years ago in the 1973 American Triple Crown, A.J. Chilson has penned a golden anniversary tribute to Meadow Stable's flame-coated superstar. Chilson, a poet and author of several inspirational children's books, herein educates the next generation of racing fans about one of the sport's all-time greats.

The Fast Ride: Spectacular Bid and the Undoing of a Sure Thing

Author:  Jack Gilden

In The Fast Ride, an award-winning writer takes a closer look at the biggest—and most mysterious—loss of the great Spectacular Bid's career. In the spring of 1979 the magnificent gray, compared by many to Secretariat, captured the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, but lost the Belmont after allegedly stepping on a pin that morning in the stable area. It is a hard-hitting story of extraordinary talent overshadowed at times by mishandling, inexperience, and potential abuse, and filled with a cast of larger-than-life characters.

Landaluce: The Story of Seattle Slew's First Champion

Author:  Mary Perdue

This bittersweet biography is one of heartbreak and dreams unfulfilled, of a filly cut down at the very threshold of greatness. Landaluce was from Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew's first crop and was a sign of good things to come for the young stallion. She won all five of her starts as a 2-year-old in 1982 by an average of nearly ten lengths before dying suddenly of a viral infection in her stall at Santa Anita. She was a champion but could have been an immortal.

Kick the Latch

Author: Kathryn Scanlan

Author Scanlan has described her slim novel as a work of fiction based on interviews with an Iowa-based trainer named Sonia. The story is poetically told in vignettes, as an oral history that can make the reader wonder at times what is real … and what is not. She writes of the itinerant backstretch world at low-level racetracks, telling a story of survival where horses are patched up for one more start and jockeys brag about “flipping” to make weight, with violence as a simmering backdrop. Scanlan's writing is sparet but powerful.

The post Five Semifinalists Announced For Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado has announced his retirement from the saddle, bloodhorse.com reported on Tuesday. The 56-year-old native of Peru last rode on Jan. 6, 2023 at Gulfstream Park, and had been unable to attain mounts during the ensuing months.

Trainers “all wanted new riders,” Prado told bloodhorse.com. “I totally understand that. When I was 20, I took somebody's place and now somebody is taking my place.

“It was getting harder and harder and I was wasting the time that I spent with my family, with my loved ones.”

Prado retires with 7,119 winners from 39,725 starts, good for eighth all-time among North American jockeys.

Prado, who rode as an apprentice in Peru, began riding in the U.S. in 1986. He notched his first win aboard Single Love at Calder on June 1, 1986. Between 1990 and 1999, Prado won 300 or more races in a single season six times including a high of 535 in 1997. Prado won the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award (2003) and Mike Venezia Memorial Award (2006), and also led the nation in wins from 1997-99.

He captured the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey in 2006, the same year he won the Kentucky Derby aboard the ill-fated Barbaro. Prado also won the Belmont Stakes twice, in 2002 with Sarava and in 2004 with Birdstone.

The jockey owns five Breeders' Cup victories: the 2015 Sprint aboard Runhappy, the 2010 Filly & Mare Turf aboard Shared Account, the 2006 Distaff aboard Round Pond, the 2005 Juvenile Fillies aboard Folklore, and the 2005 Sprint aboard Silver Train.

Read more at bloodhorse.com.

The post Jockey Edgar Prado Calls Time On Hall Of Fame Career appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post