2023 New York-Bred Divisional Championship Nominees Released By NYTB

New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. (NYTB) named their nominees for the Empire State's divisional champions of 2023, the organization said in a Friday morning release.

A panel of New York turf writers, broadcasters, handicappers, racing analysts and photographers will vote on each division and for the New York-bred Horse of the Year. The winners will be announced at the NYTB Awards Dinner sponsored by the New York Thoroughbred Breeding & Development Fund on Monday, May 13 from 6-9 p.m. ET. at Sacred Saratoga on the property of GMP Farm in Schuylerville. Former jockey and NYRA TV personality Richard Migliore will again serve as host.

“Our organization is excited to celebrate this year's nominees. All are deserving and represent the best in New York breeding and racing. This year's awards will be a special night at an exciting new location,” said NYTB President Dr. Scott Ahlschwede, D.V.M.

Tickets are available–$150 for NYTB Members and $175 for non-members–for purchase by clicking here or by calling the NYTB Office at (518) 587-0777.

“The New York-bred Divisional Championship Awards is a special night because it recognizes the very best in Thoroughbred breeding and racing in New York,” said Brian O'Dwyer, Chairman of the New York State Gaming Commission and New York State Thoroughbred Breeding & Development Fund. “On behalf of the New York State Gaming Commission and Thoroughbred Breeding & Development Fund we are proud to work with NYTB and look forward to celebrating the connections of New York-breds who achieved success representing the New York-bred program last year.”

Also to be honored at the Awards Dinner with 2023 awards will be Broodmare of the Year, Champion Steeplechaser, Trainer, Champion Jockey and Outstanding Breeder.

“NYTB's annual awards is our marquee event. This year's nominees are no exception reflecting the quality and strength of the New York-bred program,” said NYTB Executive Director Najja Thompson.

A list of the 2023 New York-bred divisional championship nominees by category follows:

Champion 2-Year-Old Male: Antonio of Venice (Laoban), El Grande O (Take Charge Indy), The Wine Steward (Vino Rosso), Wynstock (Solomini).

Champion 2-Year-Old Filly: Brocknardini (Palace Malice), Caldwell Luvs Gold (Goldencents), Cara's Time (Not This Time), My Mane Squeeze (Audible).

Champion 3-Year-Old Male: Allure of Money (Central Banker), Eye Witness (City of Light), Hejazi (Bernardini), Maker's Candy (Twirling Candy).

Champion 3-Year-Old Filly: Downtown Mischief (Into Mischief), Gambling Girl (Dialed In), Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic), Stonewall Star (Flatter).

Champion Older Dirt Male: Bankit (Central Banker), Dr Ardito (Liam's Map), Sherriff Bianco (Speightster), Straight Arrow (Arrogate).

Champion Older Dirt Female: Classy Edition (Classic Empire), Know It All Audrey (Shackleford), Timeless Journey (Verrazano), Venti Valentine (Firing Line).

Champion Turf Male: City Man (Mucho Macho Man), Red Knight (Pure Prize), Spirit of St Louis (Medaglia d'Oro), Therapist (Freud).

Champion Turf Female: New Ginya (Tonalist), Runaway Rumour (Flintshire {GB}), Silver Skillet (Liam's Map), Whatlovelookslike (English Channel).

Champion Male Sprinter: Bold Journey (Hard Spun), Today's Flavor (Laoban), Rotknee (Runhappy), Thin White Duke (Dominus).

Champion Female Sprinter: Funny How (Overanalyze), Maple Leaf Mel, Rossa Veloce (Girolamo), Sterling Silver (Cupid).

The post 2023 New York-Bred Divisional Championship Nominees Released By NYTB appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Junior Alvarado Wins 2023 Mike Venezia Award

Veteran jockey Junior Alvarado has been named the winner of the 2023 Mike Venezia Memorial Award. Alvarado, based this summer at Saratoga Race Course and the regular rider of GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Cody's Wish, was chosen by a committee comprised of members of the Venezia family, representatives of the Jockeys' Guild and retired Eclipse Award-winning jockey Richard Migliore. Alvarado will be recognized in a winner's circle ceremony at Saratoga Saturday.

“The Venezia Memorial Award is about representing the sport we love so much in the best way possible,” said Alvarado. “I am thankful and proud to be chosen as this year's winner and I look forward to celebrating with my family and thanking the Venezia family here at Saratoga Race Course.”

The Mike Venezia Memorial Award is presented annually by the New York Racing Association to a jockey who displays the extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship that personified Venezia, who died as the result of injuries suffered in a spill in 1988. Venezia, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., won more than 2,300 races during his 25-year career.

“Junior is a true professional at what he does, both as a top jockey and as a role model,” said Terry Meyocks, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Jockeys' Guild. “The winners of the Venezia Award are ambassadors for Thoroughbred racing; they're champions on and off the track. We welcome Junior to the ranks of those who have previously been honored with the Venezia Award.”

A native of Barquisimeto, Venezuela and the son of jockey Rafael Alvarado, Junior Alvarado, 37, rode his first winner in 2005 at La Rinconada Hippodrome in Caracas before moving to the U.S. in 2007 when he rode his first winner at Gulfstream Park. After earning the 2009 riding title at Arlington Park, Alvarado moved to New York in 2010 and he has been a mainstay on the circuit ever since, winning the 2014 GI Whitney S. on Moreno and racking up more than 1,400 wins and more than $106 million in earnings at the NYRA tracks. For his career, Alvarado has more than 2,000 wins and more than $126.9 million in earnings.

The post Junior Alvarado Wins 2023 Mike Venezia Award appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Hall of Fame Jockey Edgar Prado Has Retired

In a tweet sent out Tuesday afternoon, Gulfstream Park announced that Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado has retired. With 7,119 victories, Prado, 56, is the eighth winningest jockey in the sport's history. He has not ridden since the Jan. 6 card at Gulfstream.

At deadline for this story, Prado had not returned a phone from the TDN, but told the Blood-Horse that he wanted to spend more time with his family.

“It was getting harder and harder and I was wasting the time that I spent with my family, with my loved ones,” he told the Blood-Horse. “I saw my kids in my house having a great time and I decided to call it off. I've been very blessed throughout my career.”

Prado's decision to retire came after one of the roughest stretches of his career. He won just 15 races in 2021 and another 11 in 2022. This year, he was 0-for-2.

“They all wanted new riders,” he told said. “I totally understand that. When I was 20, I took somebody's place and now somebody is taking my place.”

Prado was born in Lima, Peru, where he rode his first winner in 1983. He began riding in the U.S. in 1986, starting out at the Florida tracks before moving on to Suffolk Downs. He had his breakthrough at the Maryland tracks, where, in 1997, he won 536 races. He was the leading jockey in Maryland six times, 1991 through 1993 and 1997 through 1999. Prado led all riders in the nation in wins three times, in 1997, 1998 and 1999.

In 1999, Richard Migliore, who was riding regularly for trainer John Kimmel had a spill and Kimmel needed a new rider. He summoned Prado from Maryland and that began a very successful run at the NYRA tracks for the talented Peruvian jockey. He would go on to win 11 riding titles at the NYRA tracks.

He won the 2002 GI Belmont S. with Sarava (Wild Again), the longest shot ever to win the race, and the 2004 Belmont with Birdstone (Grindstone). He also won five Breeders' Cup races. But Prado will always be best known as the rider of the ill-fated Barbaro (Dynaformer). After a rousing win by Barbaro in the 2006 GI Kentucky Derby with Prado aboard, the colt appeared ready to sweep the Triple Crown, but he broke down in the GI Preakness S. and was euthanized several months later.

Prado won an Eclipse Award in 2006 as the nation's leading rider and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008.

The post Hall of Fame Jockey Edgar Prado Has Retired appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Apprentice Jockey Madison Olver Off To Promising Start

Despite the layers of cold water and powder coating her from head to toe, nothing could mask apprentice jockey Madison Olver's bright smile following her first career victory aboard Curbstone (Street Sense) in the sixth race at Aqueduct on Dec. 9, 2022.

It was a surreal moment for the 23-year-old, who just five and a half years prior had never even witnessed a horse race, let alone set foot on the backside of a racetrack or exercised a racehorse.

A native of Fort Collins, Colo., Olver was bit by the 'horse bug' early on as she followed in the footsteps of her equestrian mother Christine. Olver picked up riding and later began teaching riding lessons to younger students, before delving into breaking and training wild mustangs.

After high school, she set out to take her love of horses one step further, which led to Olver's aunt introducing her niece to French racehorse trainer Gina Rarick. Though France would appear to be an extremely far-off base for someone stateside to begin their venture into the world of horse racing, it was a homecoming of sorts for Olver, who had spent part of her childhood living in the country and was fluent in the language.

After a three-month stint in the fall of 2017, Olver was hooked. She returned to France in late 2018, eventually spending two more years there to soak up every experience she possibly could.

“I saw some accidents happen when I was out there and I realized I hadn't quite grasped just how dangerous it could be. The horses take on a whole new meaning of strong, and unless you've been run away with by a racehorse, you don't really know what getting run away with is. That was a whole new game, trying to keep a horse slow, especially when you're behind other horses,” recalled Olver. “Their speed, when you let them go, it's just not something that a horse that isn't bred or trained to do would be able to do. Sometimes you just have to hang on for the ride.”

Though it was daunting at first, and the learning curve was steep, Olver knew she had found where she was meant to be: on the back of a racehorse.

“I definitely wanted to [pursue being a jockey in France], but unfortunately Covid happened and I had a little bit of visa trouble that was exacerbated by Covid, so I ended up coming back over here. But everything happens for a reason,” said Olver.

Eager to get going again stateside, while also working on finishing her degree at Colorado State University, Olver began her search for a new stable to ride for. It led her to none other than multiple Grade I-winning trainer Christophe Clement.

“I was missing France. I love the French and their style of training, and I speak French, so that part really stood out to me. I reached out to them, sent my resume, and they got back to me. They were easily some of the most professional, well-spoken, generous people I'd gotten into contact with on the racetrack,” said Olver. “They flew me out to Florida for a week to do kind of like a trial, and then we talked about where I'd like to go, either Belmont Park or Saratoga for the summer. But they made it very clear that I needed to graduate college before I started working with the racehorses again.”

She did just that, graduating in May of 2021, and headed off to the Clement barn at the Oklahoma Training Track in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., soon thereafter.

“When I showed up to the barn the first day, Christophe goes, 'Okay, did you graduate?' I said, 'Yes, don't worry.'”

As soon as she arrived, Olver got straight to work. Proving her dedication day in and day out aboard many of the promising youngsters that resided in the barn, she quickly worked her way up to become one of Clement's head exercise riders. It was there the young rider formed a special bond with Waterville Lake Stables' homebred filly Derrynane (Quality Road).

“I rode her when she was a 2-year-old and hadn't run yet, and I had just gotten to Saratoga and I was basically a 2-year-old that hadn't run yet, so we learned a lot of things together. She was my first breeze out of the gate here in America, first breeze on the main track at Saratoga, she was my first for a lot of things. Then she went to the Breeders' Cup that year and ran phenomenally,” said Olver.

That summer, Derrynane broke her maiden on debut at Saratoga, later won the Woodbine Cares Stakes and went on to finish fourth in the GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Del Mar, just a length behind winner Twilight Gleaming (Ire) (National Defense {GB}).

“She was also very, very kind. I have her name on my keychain. I felt like her and I were in a little bit of the same place. She's always just been special to me.”

After nearly a year and a half of working and riding in the mornings for the Clement barn, Olver was ready to take her skill set to the track in the afternoon, officially beginning her career as an apprentice jockey. Under the guidance of her agent Joe Migliore, who Olver was introduced to by Clement's son and assistant trainer, Miguel, she made her career debut aboard Flattering Gal (Flatter) in the sixth race on the Nov. 12 card at Aqueduct.

Guiding the filly three, then two wide around the final turn, Olver and Flattering Gal made up ground along the rail to finish third in the 6-furlong, $25,000 maiden claimer.

“When it was going on, it felt very purposeful, like this is what I had been waiting for and afterwards, it all felt surreal that I actually got the opportunity to do it. I was pretty speechless afterwards,” she said.

And less than a month later, in her 16th career start, Olver and her mount Curbstone crossed the finish line 6 1/2 lengths ahead of runner-up Complete Agenda (Curlin). It was the first win for Olver and the second for the Tom Morley-trained gelding.

“It's pretty emotional. If you had told me really not that long ago that I'd get to ride a race, much less win a race, or even continue to have opportunities, [I don't know] that I really would have believed you. I'm very full of gratitude for all of the people that have been willing to help me, just because they're kind and because they want to see people succeed in this sport, [especially] young people,” said Olver.

An extremely gracious young woman, Olver gives all of the credit to those who have supported her along the way, headlined by her standout mentors.

“Miguel really has been my biggest supporter and kept me on this path, even when I found it difficult, thought about going to another track or questioned my own abilities. He also entrusted me with a lot of horses in the morning and there's no better way to learn than on a horse,” she said. “The Clements got me into contact with Joe, who's really been wonderful. He fights for me and he plays a massive part in any success I may have. He knows what's going on, he has an eye for it. And [Joe's father] Richard Migliore's whole philosophy on riding is really wonderful, [emphasizing] how you can be both an assertive rider that wins but also be a horseman. He's very adamant that race riding is an art form, which I think is really cool.”

Despite the intense competition that takes place on the track in the afternoons, amplified amongst the talented jockey colony that resides at Aqueduct, Olver is proud to share her admiration for her fellow jockeys, riders and the trainers that she's gotten to know and learn from in the last couple of months. Trainers such as Orlando Noda, Morley, Antonio Arriaga, Oscar Barrera, III and James Ferraro were some of the first to back Olver, but the list has only grown and continues to do so.

“I really love being able to go to a bunch of different barns and ride a bunch of different horses for a bunch of different people. I've learned so much already just from going around and talking to everyone. You can learn something from everybody and all of those different horses.”

With 46 starts under her belt as of Jan. 6, and four more rides already lined up through Saturday at Aqueduct, Olver boasts a record of two wins, nine seconds and nine third-place finishes, with earnings nearing $190,000.

From her home in Colorado, to the training tracks in France and Saratoga, to Aqueduct's 1 1/8-mile oval, Olver has not only forged her own unique path into the industry, but also continues the legacy of the brilliant female exercise riders and jockeys that came before her.

Her advice to others trying to get in the game? “Everybody deserves a chance to try and the most important thing that I have learned is that it's going to be the people in your corner that are going to help you the most. If it's something that you want to get into, first of all do it, because you can, and listen to what everybody has to say – every hotwalker, every groom, every trainer, every rider, every jockey – because they all have something to teach you. If they're telling you something, it's because they want to see you do well and they want to see you succeed and that's a really cool thing. This industry can be such a rollercoaster of highs and lows, but if you have those lows, don't worry, because there's another high just around the corner.”

Despite the industrywide attention she's garnered, which is only bound to grow, Olver remains humble and hopeful.

“I'm going to see where this ride takes me here. To be honest, I don't even know what I'm doing the following week, so I'm just going to kind of play it by ear, not get my heart set too much on anything,” she said. “My biggest priorities are to love what I'm doing and hopefully have some success while I do it.”

The post Apprentice Jockey Madison Olver Off To Promising Start appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights