Tag: Racing

Summer Is Tomorrow, a stakes winner who set the fastest opening quarter-mile time in Kentucky Derby history last year, was euthanized on Oct. 29, 2022 after suffering a catastrophic injury in Dubai.

The horse's death was confirmed via email by owner Michael Hilary Burke, who campaigned Summer Is Tomorrow with Negar Burke. Though he did not have details on how it occurred, Michael Burke said Summer Is Tomorrow suffered fractures in both hips, and the injuries led the colt to be euthanized.

“He really was a brilliant animal and obviously we were very disappointed,” said Burke, the chairman and CEO of Chanelle Pharma in Ireland.

Bred in Kentucky by Brereton Jones of Airdrie Stud, the son of Summer Front sold as a weanling to Magna Carta Bloodstock for $25,000 at the 2019 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. He then finished under his reserve with a final bid of $14,000 at the following year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale before being sent overseas for the 2-year-old sale season.

Summer Is Tomorrow sold to Burke for $169,743 at the 2021 Arqana Deauville Breeze Up Sale, and he was sent to Dubai with trainer Bhupat Seemar. He broke his maiden at Meydan Racecourse in his third career start at the close of his 2-year-old season.

He established himself as a contender for the Group 2 U.A.E. Derby after winning the Al Karama Stakes at Meydan in February of his 3-year-old campaign.

Summer Is Tomorrow stretched out to two turns for the first time in the U.A.E. Derby, where jockey Mickael Barzalona put him on the early lead at odds of 25-1. He entered the top of the stretch with the advantage, and he looked like he might sustain a challenge from Japan-bred Crown Pride with a furlong to go, but he was unable to hold off his rival's charge, settling for second.

Though he was defeated in the U.A.E. Derby, finishing second left him with enough qualifying points to make the Kentucky Derby field, where he would make his first start outside the U.A.E.

Summer Is Tomorrow was viewed as one of the Kentucky Derby field's longest shots in the weeks leading up to the race, and he left the gate at odds of 36-1. Similar to his U.A.E. Derby start, Barzalona shot his mount to the front, hassled on the outside by U.A.E. Derby rival Crown Pride through an opening quarter-mile in :21.78 seconds – the fastest opening quarter in the race's history.

He remained in front heading into the backstretch, through a half-mile in :45.36 seconds, the fifth-fastest in Derby history, before ceding the lead to Messier and Crown Pride at the halfway point of the backstretch. The colt eventually faded to last in the field of 20 behind eventual upset winner Rich Strike.

Summer Is Tomorrow never raced again after the Kentucky Derby, finishing his career with two wins in eight starts for earnings of $267,606.

The post Kentucky Derby Pacesetter Summer Is Tomorrow Euthanized After Injury appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Tom Marquand produced one of the rides of the season as he steered 16/1 shot Quickthorn to a stunning six-length success in Tuesday's Group 1 Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup at Glorious Goodwood. After poaching a sizeable early advantage, Marquand judged the fractions to perfection as his mount kept on rolling, and it was clear from some way out that Quickthorn had his first G1 prize in the bag.

It was a performance reminiscent of Quickthorn's runaway 14-length success in last season's G2 Lonsdale Cup at York, a crown he may well try and defend later this month.

Emily Dickinson (9/2) plugged on to grab second under Ryan Moore, a short-head in front of Coltrane (3/1) in a blanket finish to the minor places.

Marquand said: “Quickthorn is a warrior in his own right. I've had a bit of fun on him before and today was about riding him to his maximum potential. He just loves bowling away and putting everyone else to the sword – it was an exceptional performance.

“There's no masterplan with him, it's plain and simple what he's going to do. Down at the gates Frankie [Dettori] looked across and laughed and said 'Are you going to drop in?' because everybody knows what he's going to do and they still can't stop him. It is testament to how good he is.

“It's great for Lord and Lady Blyth [owners] because they have had a lot of fun with this horse and other horses. They are very passionate owners and breeders and you want them to find horses like this. It makes the game fun.

“I didn't look behind because there's no point. We know what this chap can do and if the gap had been closed at the two marker I was going to be in trouble so it was just a case of keeping him stepping forward.

“You would be doing other riders a disservice [if you criticized them]. If I was in behind I would have done the same – he's a relentless galloper and you think no horse can keep that up. It's easy to say in hindsight, but I wouldn't be putting down other riders in behind; I would be giving this lad credit for going such a gallop.”

On whether it was the plan to go that far clear, he added: “It's a case of going and finding a rhythm and wherever that puts you, it puts you. Obviously we showed that in the Lonsdale Cup last year and it just feels like the right way to ride him. Thankfully I got it right today.

“Once I lit him up at the three pole, it was evident that we were going to get home – it was just whether something would have exceptional ability to come and catch him. It's a nice feeling to go to that sort of race with that amount of stamina underneath you. Big performance.”

Winning trainer Hughie Morrison said: “It is fantastic for James and Pam [Blyth, owners]; they bred Quickthorn and it's fantastic to see they kept him and owned him. They have been very patient with him, and we've got our rewards. I felt that York last year when he won by 14 lengths was no fluke, and he proved it today.

“Jason [Hart] did absolutely nothing wrong last time over a slightly shorter distance on faster ground – he basically did the same thing. Tom got the seconds fantastically and gave him a breather at the top of the hill, but really, you have to say, what a horse.

“We don't have a huge amount of horses – 50 or 60 horses – and it's fantastic to train these homebreds, really, and to be able to bring them on so they reach their zenith at the right sort of age. We've had a Grade One and a Group One winner, and not many people have done that.

“I was quite excited going up the hill, because we saw what he did last year. I've always felt he needed a bit of juice in the ground. His autumn flops in the last couple of years – I think he's just gone over the top. You can see, he puts so much into it that he deserves to go over the top at some point.

“Quickthorn is a galloper. He's fantastic to train, because he goes past you every morning like a three-mile chaser. Every other horse has to do about three strides for his one.

“Tom got the fractions fantastically right, as he did at York last year. Jason [Hart] got it exactly right at York [in June] and I thank him for giving him such a fantastic ride last time. We all know how to ride him to his strengths – he's a galloper, pure and simple, and we're lucky to have him.”

Quickthorn's owner Lady Blyth said: “It is amazing, because we've never had a Group One winner before, not ever, ever, ever, so this is absolutely fantastic. I didn't even think he'd be going here – I didn't think he'd like the up and down bits, I thought he only wanted it flat. I didn't want to run him, but Hughie wanted to and my husband was keen – I was afraid of the track. These were my mother's colors, so they were in action before I married my husband. I've had horses for 40 or 50 years.”

Coltrane's rider Oisin Murphy said: “It was obvious in the first furlong that Lone Eagle, Tashkhan and Broome – those horses you'd expect to go forward – weren't going forward, so I changed my plan and decided to let Coltrane roll down to the first turn.

“I thought Tom was very clever round those sharp bends, he allowed Quickthorn to really slip on. You can only go so fast around those turns, because they are quite sharp, and by the time we turned to go back uphill, he had a sizeable advantage.

“He [Quickthorn] had to use up a fair bit of energy albeit basically going downhill to get away from us. But often you pay for that sort of ride and in the last furlong I wasn't sure if he would stop completely, but I probably cost myself second position by trying to close the gap from three down.

“Quickthorn has a massive pair of lungs and covers so much ground, so he has enough pace to get away from a high-class field. I was aware of what could happen, and he was still able to do it.”

The post ‘What A Horse!’: Quickthorn Dominates Group 1 Goodwood Cup By Six Lengths appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Ben's Cat and Mountain Dew, two remarkable geldings who put on a show year after year to the delight of their legions of fans, are the Maryland-bred Thoroughbred Hall of Fame 2023 inductees after a vote by a committee of Maryland racing industry members coordinated by the Maryland Horse Breeders Association and Maryland Racing Media Association.

During his eight years of competition, Ben's Cat became a local legend and a national treasure. King T. Leatherbury's nearly-black gelding, a son of Parker's Storm Cat and Leatherbury's homebred mare Twofox, didn't make his first start until age 4 after suffering a broken pelvis at 2, for which he was stall-bound for six months. That only added to the lore.

By the time he retired in 2017, Ben's Cat was the all-time leader among Maryland-breds by number of state-bred championship titles, 17 in all, including four consecutive for Horse of the Year. He recorded a state-bred record 26 stakes wins and had earnings of $2,643,782. He started eight times in the Mister Diz Stakes, winning six, won the Jim McKay Turf Sprint on Preakness weekend five times, and was a multiple graded stakes winner while terrorizing turf sprinters on the East Coast. In 2017, he was awarded the Secretariat Vox Populi Award, chosen by voters from around the world.

“We are so proud that, with this year's inductees, we are able to celebrate not only two of our most important Maryland-bred horses, but Maryland's remarkable horsemen and the diversity of our sport that they represent,” said Cricket Goodall, executive director of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association. “King T. Leatherbury and the Fisher family are great examples of the persistence and longevity that Maryland is known for.”

Janon Fisher Jr.'s Mountain Dew was a star foxhunter before switching to timber racing in the early 1960s. At age 6, the son of *Hunters Moon IV and Fisher's homebred War Admiral mare Laelia launched a Maryland Hunt Cup career unequaled in longevity. In eight runnings, he recorded three Hunt Cup wins (1962, 1965 and 1967) with rider Janon Fisher III and was second to National Museum of Racing Hall of Famer Jay Trump in the 1963, 1964 and 1966 runnings. In his Hunt Cup debut in 1961 he finished third. When attempting a record fourth Hunt Cup win in 1968, he was injured at the 19th of 22 fences while leading (and continued on to jump the 20th fence while being pulled up).

Mountain Dew started 24 times in sanctioned timber races and never fell. In his only flat start (at 3) he exited with an injury. Mountain Dew holds the record of winning six Maryland Grand Nationals in eight starts and placing in the other two. After he recovered from his 1968 injury, he went back to life as a foxhunter.

“Our two newest inductees demonstrate both the depth and quality of Maryland breeding over the decades and its remarkable resilience to today,” said Maryland Racing Media Association president Frank Vespe. “It underlines what Ben's Cat was able to accomplish, especially given his modest beginnings, that he is the first horse to conclude his career since the Hall of Fame's creation to be inducted in his first year of eligibility.”

This year's inductees will be celebrated during a ceremony between races at Timonium Race Course on Saturday, Sept. 2.

Under the collaboration of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association and Maryland Racing Media Association, the Hall of Fame was initiated in 2013 as a means of celebrating the excellence of state-bred Thoroughbred horses and debuted with an inaugural class of 12. There are now 33 members. Ben's Cat and Mountain Dew join MTHOF members Awad, Broad Brush, Caesar's Wish, Challedon, Cigar, Concern, Conniver, Dave's Friend, Deputed Testamony, Devil's Bag, El Gran Senor, Find, Gallorette, Heavenly Cause, Jameela, J. O. Tobin, Kauai King, Little Bold John, Politely, Safely Kept, Smoke Glacken, Social Outcast, Star de Naskra, Twixt, Vertex, What a Summer and Youth and steeplechasers Elkridge, Good Night Shirt, Jay Trump and Tuscalee.

The newest honorees, with biographies, photos, videos and complete race records, will be showcased online at www.mdthoroughbredhalloffame.com. 

The post Ben’s Cat, Mountain Dew Selected For Maryland-Bred Thoroughbred Hall Of Fame appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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