The answer is Bayakoa (Arg).

The Ron McAnally trainee who won a pair of GI Breeders' Cup Distaffs has one at Oaklawn, while its counterpart takes place this Friday at Los Alamitos Racecourse.

The Grade III event out West pits morning-line favorite and Arizona-bred Desert Dawn (Cupid) versus six others going 1 1/16 miles. The 4-year-old filly trained by Phil D'Amato is loaded with class, even though she has not won since the GII Santa Anita Oaks over a year and a half ago.

Still, her speed figures put her at the top of this group as she cuts back after running fifth in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff last month at Santa Anita.

Midnight Memories (Mastery) was third last out in the GI Beholder Mile in March at Santa Anita, one spot ahead of Desert Dawn. Clocking some awfully fast times for trainer Bob Baffert these past few months, the dark bay could be fresh and ready to fire.

One entry who could play spoiler is the other half of D'Amato's uncoupled entry, Turnerloose (Nyquist). As a 3-year-old she won the GII Rachel Alexandra S. at 18-1, switched to turf and now has the chance to get back on the dirt.

The post Desert Dawn Favored In Friday’s Bayakoa S. appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Okay, so he had been a seven-figure yearling; and everyone who had participated in his education knew that he was something special. In fact, John Sadler was so aware of the impending responsibility that he was saying nothing. For one thing, if people had any inkling of the talent he was about to detonate, the races wouldn't have filled. But also because this, like all secrets, was a burden as well as a privilege.

Looking back, Sadler accepts that doing justice to Flightline felt like so intense a duty that it could not come without some personal cost.

“I kind of devoted my time to him to a point where I probably shut some people out,” he admits. “The odd dinner at night, that kind of thing. I really drilled down, I said to myself, 'I'm going to walk this walk with this horse.' I wanted to be right alongside him, every step, because I knew it was going to be so special. So here I am today, light mood, happy as heck, because I always said my time to celebrate would be when it was over. Very early on, I said to myself: 'I'd like to pitch a perfect game.' That's a career goal. And we did.”

But so much of life is about the pursuit, rather than the actual moment of fulfilment. Sadler, tall and bronzed, looks in great shape at 66. But now that he has consummated a generational dream, can he still maintain the same motivation?

“We've been pondering that a lot,” he acknowledges. “But like B. Wayne Hughes of Spendthrift Farm used to say, 'My health insurance is that group of yearlings over there.'”

So, while he knows that he can hardly expect another Flightline, Sadler also feels that the true horseman's appetite, happily enough, can never be finally sated.

“I'm pretty confident I'll have a lot of good horses come my way, because I still want to do it,” he says. “If there's a time to not do it, I'll know when that is. Somebody said I'd retire right after Flightline. But rushing into a decision like that, with horses, is always rash. Time will see where we're at. I've got some really good young people in my operation. They've invigorated me the last several years and really make me excited about the future. My assistant Juan Leyva is just going to be a phenom, and I've a couple of other guys like that. So I'm really not feeling a lot of pressure.”

And, actually, that's just why it's appropriate to catch up with Sadler now, when the dust has settled and Flightline is embarking on a new career at Lane's End. Because the horse himself was such a meteor, burning with almost agonizing brightness as it became clear how fleeting his passage was likely to be, that he almost became a communal possession. As such, we rather lost sight of his more intimate context: of the decades of groundwork that prepared Sadler for the task that would define his career.

That long accretion of experience didn't just make him eligible, but also duly appreciative. Yes, he could feel vindicated–not least after the notorious torments he endured, for much of his career, at the Breeders' Cup–but the true gratification was personal, not public. Because for the great horsemen, it's about the process, the daily and seasonal cycles of engagement. If that ultimately produces a champion, then it all makes sense. And, that being so, then of course you continue with the immersion.

“Totally, a lifestyle,” he replies, when asked how he views his vocation now. “It's the journey that I've always loved: horses coming in, and seeing where they go. You don't want to be like a claiming trainer, slashing around here and there, but to develop horses. I think that's where my strong suit is. And for this to hit at this time, in the latter part of my career, is so special. When I started out, I wanted to be known as a good professional. I know I achieved that. But then to get these great horses is gravy on my career.”

Because don't forget that Sadler started out right at the other end of the scale. With no background in the game, he learned under tough, old-school horsemen, and laid the foundations of his own career with tough, fast Cal-breds.

“I've had to battle stereotypes my whole career,” he muses. “When you're a young trainer, you get locally-bred horses and those happen to be sprinters. And we did well with them. So, as I started getting better horses over the years, and won important races over a distance of ground, that's fun. But every year they'd write how Sadler can't win at the Breeders' Cup. And you'd be beaten a head. Or find yourself running against Miesque. I think I did that three years, and I ran against Goldikova a couple of times, too. And when you do that, it doesn't matter if you have the best turf horse in California.”

Flightline | Breeders' Cup Eclipse Sportswire

But if Sadler had a long wait for the best materials, in one respect he could not have been more blessed.

“Oh, absolutely!” he exclaims. “I came under a brilliant class of horsemen. They may not have all been perfect human beings. In that era, they might have smoked or drank too much. But they were self-made guys and really knew what they were doing.”

He absorbed priceless insights assisting racetrack vet Dr. Jack Robbins, observing the day-to-day methods of clients like Ron McAnally and Gary Jones.

“It was great practice,” he says. “I loved that we were going in all these different barns: you could take something from every one of them and then build your own program. And Dr. Robbins himself was so smart. A tremendous veterinarian, obviously, but also a successful horse owner, one of the charter members of the Oak Tree Racing Association. Tough guy, opinionated guy, smoker, drinker, but just a great man.”

Robbins could see that his protégé was unusually attentive. Sadler might say, “Oh, Doctor, I went over to such-and-such a barn and suggested a vitamin shot for that horse.” And Robbins would reply, “Oh John, no, that was a terrible idea!” And then he'd wink.

Sadler also learned a great deal as assistant to Dave Hofmans, though his big break came in 1979 when Eddie Gregson had taken on a big client and was looking for someone, he could trust to take four or five to Golden Gate Fields. There were things going on–a pari-mutuel strike, people shipping out–and Sadler quickly learned not to turn down horses. By the end of spring, he was up to 30 or 40.

Gregson's heartbreaking end, by his own hand, still grieves all who knew him. “He was really a bright guy, very sensitive, he knew food and wine and was very cultured,” Sadler recalls. “It caught everybody off guard, nobody saw that coming. But you never know what goes on with people. A great guy and a great trainer also.”

Besides these mentors, Sadler cherishes no less affection for the horses who also assisted his education. He'll never forget the $100,000 match, at Santa Anita in 1991, where his Cal-bred speedball Valiant Pete (The Irish Lord) beat Quarter Horse champion Griswold in a world record dash. And then there was the $50,000 claim Olympic Prospect (Northern Jove).

“He didn't run very well the day we claimed him,” Sadler recalls. “But he became really an important horse for me, early on. You couldn't train him very hard, but he ended up winning every sprint stake in the state. One day Patrick Valenzuela got on him, I can't remember what happened to the usual jock, in a race called the Potrero Grande [now the GIII Kona Gold S.]. He just let him roll, and they went that first half-mile in 42-and-change. And won! I mean, he was tiring at the end. But I've never seen that, before or since.”

With that kind of background, it meant a great deal to Sadler gradually to disclose a mastery with two-turn horses. Whatever pinnacle it might also represent in the story of the breed, let's not forget that Flightline last summer–by a bewildering 19¼ lengths–was his barn's fourth different GI Pacific Classic winner in five years, all owned (part-owned, in this case) by Sadler's cherished patrons at Hronis Racing.

That streak was started by the slow-burning Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky), whose campaign at five would have made him a lock for Horse of the Year but for landing in the same ballot as an unbeaten Triple Crown winner. He remains Sadler's richest runner at $6.7 million. “I just love him to death,” Sadler says. “His foals are going to be like him, they'll be later types, but I've two or three [of his first crop] that I really like and I'm expecting a lot of them to come forward as the year goes on.”

But Flightline was a freak from the outset. “He never hid his talent,” Sadler says. “April Mayberry called me from the farm and said, 'John, this horse gives me goosebumps.' She's been doing it a long time, and the only other to give her that feeling had been Zenyatta. So, we were expecting a lot when he came in. And even after the first, short piece of work, we were all just going, 'Wow.'

John Sadler with Flavien Prat | Benoit

“I mean, usually, I have to train them up. This horse, it was just a straight line. He's already there. He was so willing, from day one he just wanted to do it. Most of the early training was about getting him to relax and carry his speed. Even when he broke a little slow, he was very keen to charge out there between horses and push them aside. So, it was just about calming him down a little.”

While it was bittersweet only to race Flightline six times, Sadler absolutely understood his retirement. It would have been virtually impossible to find domestic opposition, unless or until a sophomore champion proved willing to take him on, while the insurance of fresh challenges overseas would have been eye-watering.

Whatever life after Flightline may comprise, it's been an incredible odyssey for the stockbroker's son who gazed across a paddock fence one summer vacation and fell in love with the horses grazing there. It should plainly end in the Hall of Fame, for which Sadler has a belated nomination this year. In some ways, perhaps he doesn't stand out from the production line of his profession merely in terms of his craggy six feet and four inches. And he does admit that there have been times when he has sensed a little resistance, notably in East Coast perceptions.

“You get that a little bit,” Sadler concedes with a shrug. “But you know what, when you've been training a long time, I don't really let those things bother me. I love training a stable of horses. I like where I train. I'm very comfortable doing what I'm doing. And, when you've been doing it a long time, you tend to end up with clients that are people you really like. So, I feel I'm in a good place. Like I said, I've hit most of the marks I want to. You can't worry about that kind of stuff. I mean, anything can happen with horses–and that's what's fun.”

That willingness to fight your corner, feisty and independent, was something he always loved about the California circuit.

“I was always trying to model after the guys that might not have had the best horses, but were always very hard to beat,” he remembers. “Even back then, they went out and won everywhere. I loved Tommy Doyle going over to win the Belmont [in 1975, with Avatar]. When California ships out, the results have always been amazing–and continue to be, to this day.

“We don't have gaming or casinos but we have the most beautiful tracks in the world and we always hold our own. Yes, when there's 15 protestors, versus 40,000 on opening day, and I'm signing autographs with Flavien Prat for an hour and a half, it's the 15 protestors that get all the noise. But California's led the way in all sorts of reforms. It's an adjustment, but you either embrace it or get stuck in the past.”

Sure enough, California has now given us one of the all-time greats soon after producing the only Triple Crown winners of modern times; not to mention a mare that arguably reached a wider public than any of them. Zenyatta's trainer, incidentally, is also deservedly nominated for the Hall of Fame–and would certainly join Sadler in stressing their shared debt to David Ingordo, now purchaser of three GI Breeders' Cup Classic winners.

“I was a friend of David's father so I've known him since he was in short pants,” Sadler says with a chuckle. “Actually, I do have a picture of him in short pants! He calls me Uncle John sometimes. So, it's been fun for me, and a source of great pride, to see how his business has developed. He's a tremendous, tireless worker, and obviously brilliant at it.”

Whether on behalf of his closest circle, then, or the entire Turf community, Sadler says he's profoundly grateful for the benediction he shared over the past couple of years.

“Many of the horses Flightline beat were really never the same afterwards,” he remarks. “He was a very dominant colt. At the Breeders' Cup one morning, Juan was coming off the track just as Epicenter was going up and Juan said he could feel Flightline rise up under him, literally making himself bigger like a rooster, as that horse came by.”

And something else happened that week. One morning Sadler's phone rang and there was Ron McAnally, 90 years old and still rooting for that lofty young man who used to follow Dr. Robbins round the barn.

“John,” McAnally said. “Don't let those photographers bother Flightline. I had that once with a horse, they were pestering him every five minutes, and he didn't run any good.”   Sadler hardly needed telling, but was still blown away. “Okay, Ronnie, I really appreciate that.”

Ron McAnally | Benoit

McAnally, of course, had bred Rock Your World (Candy Ride {Arg}), who won the GI Santa Anita Derby for Sadler a couple of years ago. That connection had given him an extra buzz, and now it was adding something memorable to the Flightline adventure, too.

“That was a special call for me,” Sadler says. “He's one of the good guys and it was great that he wanted to pass that on to me, that he was still thinking of me. Like I said, as a young trainer I relied on the older guys a lot. I had great mentors. You'd sit around in the cafeteria, and these guys were so colorful, some of them in that era were doubtless politically incorrect–but they knew their stuff.”

By the same token, nothing pleases Sadler more today than when a young trainer seeks his counsel. Evidently that doesn't happen as often as a generation ago.

“That's a shame because horsemen are really very generous with their knowledge,” Sadler says. “I think to be a good horseman is intuition based on experience. And I do have the background: I walked hots, I groomed, I came up from the bottom of the stable. I didn't come in at the management level. So, I put in the years. And it's been a great journey. None of this happened overnight. It's like the guy that did 50 movies before he won the Academy Award. It's a lifetime of work.”

The post Sadler Staying On Flight Path appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where.

California
Track: Santa Anita
Date: 03/23/2022
Licensee: Liparit Gharibyan, owner
Penalty: Reinstatement of good standing
Violation: N/A
Explainer: Owner Liparit Gharibyan, having complied with the provisions of California Horse Racing Board rule #1876 (Financial Responsibility–$146.13 to So. Cal. Equine Foundation) is restored to good standing. LATS #21 ruling issued at Santa Anita Park on January 15, 2021, is set aside.

Track: Santa Anita
Date: 03/24/2022
Licensee: Umberto Rispoli, jockey
Penalty: Four-day suspension
Violation: Failed appeal to overturn prior careless riding ruling
Explainer: Official Ruling of the Board of Stewards Santa Anita Park Winter/ Spring Meet (Association) March 24, 2022 (Date) LATS Ruling #76 Having received notice of a Proposed Decision adopted by the California Horse Racing Board that the appeal of DMTD Ruling #45 (August 12, 2021) has been overruled, the original ruling is reinstated. Jockey Umberto Rispoli, is suspended for 4 racing days (April 1, 2, 3 and 8, 2022).

Track: Santa Anita
Date: 03/24/2022
Licensee: Ron McAnally, trainer
Penalty: Thirty-day suspension (all 30 days stayed)
Violation: Substance violation
Explainer: Having received notice of a Proposed Decision adopted by the California Horse Racing Board Trainer Ronald McAnally, who started Roses and Candy in the third race on November 22, 2020, at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, is suspended for thirty (30) days pursuant to California Horse Racing Board Rule #1887(Trainer or Owner to Insure Condition of Horse) for violation of California Horse Racing Board rules #1843(a)(b)(d) (Medication, Drugs and Other Substances) and #1843.1(a)(Prohibited Drug Substances – 7- Carboxy – Cannabidiol). In accordance with the Proposed Decision, all thirty (30) suspension days are stayed and Ronald McAnally is placed on probation for one year from the date of this ruling and may not have any violation of Class I, II or III drug positives. If Ronald McAnally violates the terms of his probation, the 30 days of stayed suspension shall be imposed following a noticed  hearing. (Read more about the original ruling here and about the regulatory nuances of CBD oil here and here).

New York
Track: Aqueduct
Date: 03/25/2022
Licensee: Eduardo Jones, trainer
Penalty: Seven-day suspension and $500 fine
Violation: Medication violation
Explainer: Having received a report from the NYS Gaming Commission Equine Drug Testing Laboratory of the finding of Phenylbutazone in the post-race blood sample taken from Horse “Pendolino”( #8 ) which finished first (1st) in the 4th race on February 4, 2022, and having waived his right to appeal, Owner/Trainer Mr. Eduardo Jones is suspended for seven calandar days effective March 27, 2022 through April 2, 2022 inclusive, and fined the sum of five hundred ($500.00) dollars. Furthermore, the Stewards order horse “Pendolino” disqualified from any part of the purse and the purse redistributed as follows:

1. (#9) Sweet Mission
2. (#6) Chaysenbryn
3. (#4) Left Leaning Lucy
4. (#1) Kerik
5. (#5) Shanes Pretty Lady
6. (#3) Alpine Queen
7. (#2) A Ring Thing
8. (#7) Mia Bea Star

Ordered that during your period of suspension, you shall not directly or indirectly participate in New York State Pari-mutuel horse racing. You are denied the privileges and use of the grounds of all racetracks, you are forbidden to participate in any share of purses or other payment. Every horse is denied the privilages of the grounds and shall not participate in pari-mutuel racing in New York State, that (a) is owned or trained by you, or by any individuals who serves as your agent or employee during your suspension; or (b) for which you during your suspension are directly or indirectly with training, including any arrangements to care for, train, enter, race, invoice, collect fees or other payments, manage funds, employ or insure workers, provide advise or other information or otherwise assist with any aspect of the training of such horses.

The post Weekly Rulings: Mar. 22-28, 2022 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Born Jan. 3, 1943, in Santiago, Chile, Inda also did well for a time when training his own public stable.  Credited with the resurgence of Aaron and Marie Jones' Brazilian-bred mare Riboletta, who won six consecutive races, four of them Grade I's (making for a total of five Grade I's on the year), as a 5-year-old in 2000, Riboletta would be voted that year's Eclipse Champion Older Filly or Mare.

Inda, who resided locally, is survived by his wife Monica, daughters Monica Cowell and Lisa Isaguirre and four grandchildren.

The post Horseman Eduardo Inda, 78, Passes; Was Part Of John Henry Team In 1980s appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Inda is survived by his wife Monica, daughters Monica Cowell and Lisa Isaguirre and four grandchildren.

The post Eduardo Inda Passes Away appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Better known as CBD – and marketed widely for a variety of health benefits to humans – Cannabidiol is found in a number of equine products, including tincture oil, pellets, liniment spray and poultices. While it is believed to work as an anti-inflammatory there is limited research on the possible benefits of CBD in horses and its use remains controversial. Because it is not included in the CHRB's classification list of drugs, it becomes a Class 1/Penalty Class A by default, according to CHRB spokesman Mike Marten.

The TDN reports that under CHRB rules, first-time violations of penalty class A can lead to a minimum one-year suspension or maximum three-year suspension, with a maximum fine of $25,000, absent mitigating circumstances.

The Association of Racing Commissioners International lists Cannabidiol as a Class 2/Penalty Category B substance, and the CHRB began the process of changing CBD's classification in early 2021. On Jan. 21, the CHRB pushed back the proposed rule change to make Cannabidiol a Class 3/Penalty Category B drug to the February meeting, at which point it went out for public comment.

The complaint was not made public until May 17, 2021.

CBD is now listed as a Class 3/Penalty Category B drug, for which first-time violations can result in a fine of no more than $10,000 and a minimum 30-day suspension, absent mitigating circumstances.

According to a report in Daily Racing Form, jockey Geovanni Franco, who rode Roses and Candy to victory Nov. 22, admitted to McAnally assistant Dan Landers that he used a product containing CBD the day of the race. Roses and Candy won the day's third race. Geovanni rode another winner on the same card three hours later that did not test positive.

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

The post McAnally Trainee Disqualified Over CBD Positive; Separate Hearing To Determine Sanctions appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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A separate hearing to determine if McAnally will be further sanctioned will go before a hearing officer, California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) spokesperson Mike Marten told TDN.

[Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated McAnally had avoided being fined or suspended after the issuance of the CHRB's Nov. 12 ruling mandating the DQ.]

Roses and Candy (Candy Ride {Arg}), the nose victress of a Nov. 22, 2020, starter-allowance turf sprint tested positive post-race for 7-Carboxy-Cannabidiol.

The case stood out at the time the complaint was issued back in May for three reasons:

Firstly, it took nearly a half-year between the positive test and the issuance of a complaint.

Secondly, with regard to a possible accidental contamination, soon after the finding was discovered, jockey Geovanni Franco approached the CHRB to disclose that he had used a CBD-containing cream himself, perhaps triggering the mare's positive test when he rode her.

Thirdly, regarding the mechanism for penalization, CBD was not listed as a classified substance at the time the positive finding came back.

In California, by default, any unclassified positives are supposed to be treated as the most-severe Class 1, Penalty Category A violations. And under CHRB rules, such a serious first-time violation can lead to a minimum one-year suspension or a maximum three-year suspension, with a maximum fine of $25,000, absent mitigating circumstances.

But in the six-month gap between that November 2020 positive and when a complaint was eventually issued in May 2021, the CHRB was in the process of reclassifying CBD (and a number of other substances) to the less-severe 3B distinction, which is how the CBD offense is listed now. In California, first-time 3B violations can result in a fine of no more than $10,000 and a minimum 30-day suspension, absent mitigating circumstances.

Back on May 17, 2021, when the complaint became public, Marten told TDN that agency's staff would recommend to the stewards that they treat the positive as the lower 3B penalty because the new classifications had already been voted in by the board in February and were awaiting certification by California's Office of Administrative Law (OAL).

Two days later, at the monthly CHRB meeting on May 19, Rick Arthur, DVM, the CHRB's equine medical director at the time, said for the record, “Let me just get right to the heart of the issue. Cannabidiol, which was not classified under the current standard of regulation, was proposed to be a 3B in August of 2020, three or four months before this violation.”

As a result of the DQ ruling from last week, Roses and Candy's owner, Deborah McAnally, must forfeit $20,500 in purse winnings.

The post McAnally-Trained Mare DQ’d In Year-Old CBD Case appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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As president and chief executive officer of Arlington Park, the late Joe Joyce conceived of and brought to fruition a race that would be called the Arlington Million, an event aimed at drawing the best horses to race over the renowned Arlington turf course not just those based domestically, but also from Europe. A race that would attract not only the best equine athletes, but also the most gifted jockeys and the most successful trainers.

“The concept of having a million-dollar race and making it international, that germinated and it was done in a short period of time,” Arlington's Richard L. Duchossois told ESPN's Thoroughbred Classics program. “Joe Joyce traveled around the world, Nick Clarke from the International Racing Bureau, everyone combined their thoughts and ideas and it became an instant success and immediately put Arlington back on the map.”

On Aug. 30, 1981, the dream became a reality. The inaugural Million drew the sort of field its creators could only have dreamt about. Representing the United States was 6-year-old John Henry from the California barn of Ron McAnally, who had won the first of his five divisional Eclipse Awards as this country's top grass horse with four Grade I victories in 1980. The former claimer had picked up in 1981 where he left off the previous season, winning his first four starts, including the GI Santa Anita H. on the dirt and the GI San Luis Rey S. and GI Hollywood Invitational H. on the grass. He was the pin-up horse that could help put the Million on the map, the one the organizers would have wanted most. Bill Shoemaker, who'd ridden him only once prior–a victory in that year's GIII Sword Dancer S., then run at Belmont Park–was in for the ride.

The domestic challenge also included the Rokeby Stable-owned Virginia-bred Key to Content, who earned his way into the Million courtesy of a narrow defeat of Canada's Ben Fab in that year's GI United Nations S. at Atlantic City Racecourse. George Martens had the riding assignment for MacK Miller. Leslie Combs' Rossi Gold was the local hero, having won the GII Stars and Stripes H. and Swoon's Son H. prior to the Million, for which he was the 19-5 second choice in the wagering with Pat Day at the controls.

Four horses were lured from Europe for the Million, the best-backed of which was French-based Argument (Fr), that country's reigning champion 3-year-old, whose first trip to the States yielded a narrow victory in the 1980 GI Washington D.C. International S. at Laurel with Lester Piggott up. Winner of the 1981 G2 Prix d'Harcourt and G1 Prix Ganay, Argument was a 7-1 chance with Angel Cordero, Jr. in the irons.

Piggott had the call in the Million atop 3-year-old filly Madam Gay, one of three females in the field, who had won the 1981 G1 Prix de Diane ahead of a runner-up effort behind Shergar in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond S. at Ascot.

In addition to the world-class riders already mentioned, the 1981 Million also featured jockeys named Delahoussaye, Samyn, Brumfield, Toro, Pincay Jr., Cauthen and Hawley. The stars had come to play, as hoped. And, as it turns out, the stars were aligned for a truly memorable two minutes and change of theater.

WATCH: John Henry noses out The Bart in Arlington Million I

A History-Making Day…

Broadcast by NBC to a worldwide audience in 27 countries, the Million was run on turf heavily affected by week-long rains. McAnally expressed some concern about the underfoot conditions, but John Sullivan, the trainer of 40-1 The Bart liked the way his charge had galloped over the track in the days leading up to the race.

Legendary track announcer Phil Georgeff exclaimed, “The flag is up,” as was his custom, and the inaugural Million field was sent on their way. Key to Content was kicked straight into the lead by Martens, but Eddie Delahoussaye asked The Bart to keep close to that one early and the duo had things mostly to themselves over the soggy going through a half-mile in :50 1/5. Shoemaker had John Henry positioned in about eighth spot with some cover as they turned up the backstretch. By the time they had reached the midway point, John Henry had found his way down to the inside as The Bart continued to hound Key to Content from the outside. Delahoussaye could wait no more and allowed The Bart to claim the pacesetter with a little more than 2 1/2 furlongs from home and set sail for the wire.

With Georgeff's trademark, “Here they come spinning out of the turn!” ringing through the grandstand, John Henry was finding his best stride and came out and around Madam Gay at the three-sixteenths pole with every chance if good enough. The Bart carried a clear advantage into the final eighth of a mile, boxed on gamely and looked to have the race won to the naked eye as John Henry came with one desperate final lunge. Georgeff was unwilling to call a winner, but NBC rolled the dice, declaring that The Bart had gotten the better of the photo. The picture told a different story and the Arlington Million was off to a flying start.

The 'Against All Odds' statue overlooking the Arlington paddock | Coady

“Right when we got about six jumps before the wire, I could see it was John Henry,” Delahoussaye told Thoroughbred Classics. “I looked out the corner of my eye, I knew who it was. I had a feeling if any horse was going to beat him, it was going to be him. I was right, unfortunately.”

For his part, Shoemaker wasn't convinced John Henry had gotten the better of the bob.

“Eddie was galloping out, I was trying to catch up with him, I was going to try to save $20,000 [of the purse money],” 'The Shoe' told Thoroughbred Classics. “I couldn't catch him.”

Shoemaker told the Associated Press after the win: “This is the greatest race I've ever ridden in. He's a great horse and this was a great field.” The finish of the inaugural Million is memorialized in the 'Against All Odds' statue that overlooks the Arlington paddock.

John Henry was upset in the 1983 Million by Tolomeo (Ire), but became the only two-time winner of the race with a more decisive victory in 1984.

The name has changed. The purse is now six figures, not seven. It figures to be the final renewal, sadly, at least at Arlington. But the memories of those 10 furlongs on that final Sunday of August now 40 years in the rear view will never be torn down.

The post Original Seven-Figure Race Exceeded Expectations appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Roses and Candy, trained by McAnally, tested positive for CBD after winning the third race at Del Mar on Nov. 22, 2020. A complaint against the trainer was officially filed Monday after a six-month investigation.

Meanwhile, the CHRB has been in the midst of changing the classification of CBD. It is currently not classified in California, meaning a positive test would be treated as the most severe, Class 1/Penalty A. The Association of Racing Commissioners International lists Cannabidiol as a Class 2/Penalty Category B substance.

On Jan. 21, the CHRB pushed back the proposed rule change to make Cannabidiol a Class 3/Penalty Category B drug to the February meeting, at which point it went out for public comment. California's Office of Administrative Law (OAL) will have to approve the drug classification before it becomes official.

However, CHRB spokesman Mike Marten said executive director Scott Chaney and investigators will recommend that stewards treat the alleged infraction as a Class 3 violation.

“Part of what's gotten this board in some real challenging circumstances is when we arbitrarily try to move or shift a drug [classification] before a rule is completed,” Gonzales said at Wednesday's meeting, referring the the handling of Justify's scopolamine positive in the 2018 Santa Anita Derby.

“Given what we know, I believe the board would have handled this if we had the power to do [so],” Gonzales continued. “But what does not sit right with me is that the board was not given a proper heads up that as we went about approving a list of medications… that there very well could be some pending cases. And after that [Jan. 21 meeting] we gave it a full month, and not once did anybody say, 'This list that you're voting on, be aware that there are some cases pending.'”

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

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“On that list of drugs that were to be reclassified was CBD, the drug that was detected in [the McAnally-trained Roses and Candy],” Gonzales said during Wednesday's CHRB meeting. “Why did it take so long to come up with the complaint that the stewards are going to be hearing? I'm pretty confident that when that list was compiled that both [CHRB executive director Scott Chaney] and [CHRB equine medical director Rick Arthur, DVM] knew that there was a positive test…

“Given what we know, I believe the board would have handled this if we had the power to do [so],” Gonzales continued. “But what does not sit right with me is that the board was not given a proper heads up that as we went about approving a list of medications… that there very well could be some pending cases. And after that [Jan. 21 meeting] we gave it a full month, and not once did anybody say, 'This list that you're voting on, be aware that there are some cases pending.'”

The May 19 assertions by Gonzales represent the latest salvo in a barrage of disclosure woes and internal conflicts that have encumbered the CHRB over the last three years and resulted in a significant turnover of commissioners and staff that at times has left the new version of the agency polarized.

At the root of the thorny nest of transparency barbs is the way the former makeup of the CHRB handled scopolamine findings in 2018. After 2 1/2 years of closed-session decision-making and a complicated court battle to publicly reopen the case over whether to disqualify Triple Crown winner Justify from the 2018 GI Santa Anita Derby, the case later hinged on whether scopolamine was a Class 3 or Class 4 substance at the time of Justify's positive post-race test.

The CHRB generally follows the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) Uniform Classification Guidelines for Foreign Substances and Recommended Penalties when establishing rules for drugs. But since California's Office of Administrative Law (OAL) doesn't allow the CHRB to change rules by automatically referencing another authority's code, the racing agency has to go through a drawn-out, sometimes years-long process to make even minute changes to drug classifications

This was the case for scopolamine in 2018 (which was in the process of being downgraded from Class 3 to the less-severe Class 4 but was not yet officially the rule when it was found in Justify) and for CBD last November (which was unclassified at the time of the Roses and Candy positive but was voted to be switched to Class 3 by the CHRB in February).

Complicating matters further with CBD is the fact that any unclassified positives in California by default are treated as Class 1, Penalty Category A violations, the most severe level of infraction that triggers the toughest penalties.

This means that the allegedly in-limbo nature of CBD's 1A or 3B distinction (as the CHRB awaits OAL approval of its latest list of classifications) makes the issue ripe for future litigation if McAnally's case ever gets pushed to court.

On May 18, CHRB spokesperson Mike Marten told TDN that the agency's staff will recommend to the stewards that they treat the positive as a lower 3B violation. One day later, at Wednesday's meeting, Gonzales told fellow commissioners he has concerns about CHRB staff making a recommendation like that to stewards prior to the hearing of a case–both in terms of the content and delivery of the recommendation.

“Part of what's gotten this board in some real challenging circumstances is when we arbitrarily try to move or shift a drug [classification] before a rule is completed,” Gonzales said. “I also want to make sure that the stewards know, as I read in the reports, that the CHRB staff is going to be making a recommendation. Well let me be just very clear, and I hope all stewards who are listening to this know that you do a good job. And we expect for you to act fairly and independently. I was not aware that CHRB staff weighs in on stewards' decisions. That was actually a surprise to me.”

When asked directly by Gonzales to explain why McAnally's CBD investigation wasn't disclosed to commissioners as they prepared to vote on the new schedule of drug classifications, Chaney answered by speaking to the time frame while Arthur chose to address the classification part of it.

Chaney–who preceded his remarks by saying that he couldn't talk about specifics on McAnally's case because the hearing is pending–explained that, “I know in this particular case a split sample was requested, and obviously that takes a few weeks. And then the investigative team does their investigation, and once that's complete we, you know, we file the complaint. That's typically the time between race day and filing the complaint…

“When the sample came back, as is always the case in my duty under [state] code, I informed the entire board, the commission, of the positive test. That is still true even today, although…the law has [recently] changed, in terms of confidentiality. So with respect to any test that occurred before Jan. 1, those are confidential unless and until we file a complaint… We now report positive tests either after 72 hours has elapsed from informing the trainer, or after the split sample comes back.”

Arthur kept his remarks brief. “Let me just get right to the heart of the issue,” he said. “Cannabidiol, which was not classified under the current standard of regulation, was proposed to be a 3B in August of 2020, three or four months before this violation.”

Arthur also said that a 3B classification is what the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium recommends, but he noted that the ARCI eventually settled on a different 2B recommendation as it retooled its recommendations. He added that with specific respect to California, the distinction between a Class 2 or 3 is not a hugely significant because any Class 3 or more severe positive results in a disqualification; the trainer's penalty is what gets derived based on the Category B designation.

But here's where another confusing twist in the case comes into play, and it involves what appears to be personal sniping among board members and CHRB staffers: When CBD's 3B classification–and an entire slate of other seemingly non-controversial reclassifications–finally came up for a vote at the Jan. 21, 2021, CHRB meeting, it was Gonzales himself who orchestrated a delay on that vote by one month.

Gonzales, at that Jan. 21 meeting, said the CHRB should not try to “ramrod” new rules through at a time when the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority is being formed to set its own regulatory framework. Gonzales's against-the-grain stance–some would call it petty–went against the recommendations of Arthur, Chaney, and CHRB chair Gregory Ferraro, DVM. To underscore the personal rifts, during that sometimes abrasive tele-meeting, Arthur could be heard muttering in the background that that Gonzales's point of view was “crap.”

The next month, when the CHRB did end up passing the drug classifications by a 6-0 vote, Gonzales was absent from the meeting.

On Wednesday, Gonzales asked chairman Ferraro to weigh in on his concerns about how the staff has handled the CBD classification and McAnally's positive for it.

“Regarding whether we as a commission were informed of pending positives prior to the change in regulations, I don't know if that's because we weren't informed, to be honest with you, or whether I wasn't paying enough attention to remember it,” Ferraro said. “So I hate to accuse or comment on that because it very well could have been presented to us and I simply don't have a recollection. But I do support your concerns regarding our transparency, and the fact that we need to strictly follow procedures.”

Gonzales summed up: “I also just want to make sure that under no circumstances are the stewards or staff to arbitrarily reclassify a drug of any kind unless it has gone through the full rulemaking process.

“More importantly, I want to say one thing,” Gonzales added. “Trainer Ron McAnally is one of the upmost citizens and outstanding horsemen that we will ever see. [In] my time as a backstretch worker, people lined up to work for his barn because he treated backstretch workers incredibly well. So I want to just make that known that this is not about Mr. McAnally. This is more about how CHRB management handled the situation.”

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