saratoga | Horse Racing Free Tips

Channel Cat Primed To Take On Saratoga’s Bowling Green

Calumet Farm homebred Channel Cat and his trainer, Jack Sisterson, are no strangers to springing upsets in graded stakes. The duo will look to add another exclamation mark to their collective ledgers in Saturday's Grade 2, $250,000 Bowling Green, an 11-furlong inner-turf test for older horses, at Saratoga Race Course.

Channel Cat, who is one of three sons of English Channel entered for Saturday's 63rd renewal, captured the 2019 Bowling Green at odds of 13-1 for former conditioner Todd Pletcher. The 6-year-old chestnut, who was transferred to Sisterson's care last year, won a dramatic renewal of the Grade 1 Man o' War in May at Belmont Park at 8-1 by a nose over Gufo, who was a neck better than Bowling Green-rival Moon Over Miami.

The Man o' War score completed a personal trifecta of Grade 1-wins at all three NYRA tracks for Sisterson following Vexatious' [9-1] score in the Personal Ensign last year at Saratoga and True Timber's [7-1] Cigar Mile victory in December at Aqueduct Racetrack

John Velazquez, who has also enjoyed surprise success in the Bowling Green, is tied with fellow Hall of Fame riders Javier Castellano, Jerry Bailey, and Jorge Velasquez for most Bowling Green wins with three. He will look to secure the standalone record victory from the inside post after scores with Turk Passer [1994, 31-1], Cetewayo [1998, 9-1], and Air Support [2012, 7-5].

Channel Cat has posted a trio of recent works at Saratoga, including a half-mile effort in 48.66 seconds Saturday on the Oklahoma training turf.

“He couldn't be doing any better,” Sisterson said. “He's done all his works within himself. On Saturday, John Velazquez worked him and was very happy with him. The key to Channel Cat is keeping him happy and he seems to be going into the race in great shape and happy form. We look forward to a fun summer with him.”

Channel Cat, who has competed over good turf in his last three outings, ran second in the 12-furlong Grade 2 Elkhorn at Keeneland in April ahead of his Man o' War score.

Last out, in the 10-furlong Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Manhattan on June 5 at Belmont, Channel Cat pressed the pace and faded to seventh in a race won by Domestic Spending. The second and third-place finishers exited that event to win stakes, including a Grade 1 United Nations coup for the Chad Brown-trained Tribhuvan and a Grand Couturier-score for the Christophe Clement-conditioned Gufo.

“I ran him back in three weeks after the Elkhorn because he was doing so well. I probably should have skipped the Manhattan because he had a tough race in the Man o' War, but we gave him a little break now prior to the Bowling Green,” Sisterson said. “It was good to see Chad Brown's horse come back and win the United Nations so the form held up well.”

Bill Mott, who is tied with fellow Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher for most Bowling Green victories with four, will saddle a trio of contenders, including the reigning Champion Turf Male Channel Maker, graded-stakes winner Red Knight and multiple graded-stakes placed Moon Over Miami.

Wachtel Stable, Gary Barber, R. A. Hill Stable and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing's Channel Maker, a 7-year-old Ontario-bred son of English Channel, boasts a record of 39-7-6-5 with purse earnings in excess of $3.2 million.

The prominent chestnut, last seen finishing eighth in the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan in March, will make his fourth-consecutive Bowling Green appearance, including a dead-heat win in 2018, a fourth in 2019 and a third a year ago.

Channel Maker captured the 12-furlong Grade 1 Sword Dancer here last summer over soft going ahead of a similar front-running score in the Grade 1 Turf Classic Invitational in October over firm Belmont turf. Manny Franco, aboard for both of those victories, returns to the irons from post 5.

Trinity Farm homebred Red Knight, a 7-year-old New York-bred son of Pure Prize, made the grade in October in the Grade 3 Sycamore at Keeneland. The consistent chestnut sports a ledger of 25-8-8-1 and will look for his first win of the season, adding blinkers from post 6 under Tyler Gaffalione.

Summer Wind Equine's Moon Over Miami, a 4-year-old Malibu Moon colt, captured the 1 5/16-mile Dueling Grounds Derby in September at Kentucky Downs to secure his only stakes win. He has made all three starts this year in graded company, finishing third in the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida in February and second in the Grade 2 Pan American, both at Gulfstream, ahead of his last-out third in the Grade 1 Man o' War.

Junior Alvarado retains the mount from post 7.

Pletcher will saddle Donegal Racing's Shamrocket, a 4-year-old Tonalist bay in search of his first graded win. The normally late-running colt, who finished fourth in the Grade 1 Man o' War in May, utilized a more prominent approach last out when third in the Grand Couturier.

Irad Ortiz, Jr. has the call from post 8.

Three Diamonds Farm's Cross Border, a 7-year-old New York-bred son of English Channel, was elevated to victory in last year's Bowling Green following the disqualification of Sadler's Joy.

Trained by Mike Maker, Cross Border has thrived on the Saratoga turf with five wins and one second from six starts. Last year's efforts at Saratoga included a win in the Lubash and a runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer. In 2019, Cross Border went 3-for-3 in a perfect Spa summer campaign.

Bred in the Empire State by Berkshire Stud and B.D. Gibbs, Cross Border will exit post 2 under Luis Saez in search of his first win this year.

Brown, a four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer, combined previously with Hall of Fame rider Castellano to capture the Bowling Green with Hyper [2013] and Flintshire [2016].

On Saturday, Castellano will pilot Three Chimneys Farm, Don Alberto Stable, Siena Farm and Jeff Drown's Breakpoint, a multiple Group 1-winner in his native Chile, from post 3.

The 4-year-old Constitution colt broke slow en route to a fourth-place finish last out in his North American debut in a nine-furlong optional-claiming event on June 27 on the Belmont turf.

Brown will also saddle Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, Wonder Stables, Michael Kisber and Michael J. Caruso's multiple Grade 1-placed Rockemperor [post 4, Joel Rosario], who enters from a sharp optional-claiming win traveling 10-furlongs on June 26 over firm Belmont turf.

The 5-year-old Irish-bred son of Holy Roman Emperor finished third in the 2019 Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational and second in last year's Grade 1 Manhattan at Belmont.

The Bowling Green is slated as Race 10 on Saturday's 11-race card, which also includes the Grade 1, $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt in Race 8 and the Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy in Race 9. First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern.

Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the 40-day summer meet on FOX Sports. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

The post Channel Cat Primed To Take On Saratoga’s Bowling Green appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Moquett Believes Reigning Champion Whitmore Will Bring His ‘A Game’ In Saturday’s Vanderbilt

The defending Champion Sprinter Whitmore has shown no signs of slowing down in his 8-year-old campaign. He will again look to put his ability on display, facing some of the top sprinters in the country in Saturday's 37th running of the Grade 1, $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga Race Course.

The prestigious six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and upward pays homage to the influential owner, breeder and racetrack operator who made a major impact on the North American thoroughbred industry in the 20th century.

Whitmore, co-owned by trainer Ron Moquett with Robert V. LaPenta and Head of Plains Partners, arrives at the Vanderbilt with $4,434,350 in the bank, and a record of 41-15-13-4, including seven graded stakes victories at four different racetracks. The gelded son of Pleasantly Perfect capped his award-winning 2020 campaign with a 3 ¼-length victory in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland.

Whitmore has not found the winner's circle in 2021 but has come close in all three starts. After a game second by a neck to C Z Rocket in the Hot Springs on March 13 at Oaklawn Park, he returned to run second to his rival once more in the Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint on April 10 at the Arkansas oval. Whitmore was last seen finishing a close third in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs on May 1, where he was seven-wide in upper stretch and crossed the finish line in tandem with Flagstaff and Lexitonian.

“His record says he's 0-for-3 this year, but he's 3-for-3 in effort,” Moquett said. “All we can ask is for him to try. Are there some things that may have resulted in a better outcome? Probably. But at the same time, he brought his A game. You're going to win some and you're going to lose some. It's all about bringing the effort.”

A winner of the 2018 Grade 1 Forego at Saratoga, Whitmore was second in last year's Vanderbilt to Volatile.

“He was going to be the favorite for the Vanderbilt during his 4-year-old year, but we had to scratch him because he pawed from the airplane in Albany to here. He would have been a short price,” Moquett said. “We learned from that. He's training us on how to train him and we learned that we need to move him well in advance or, if he's going to be on a van, it's going to be ours. Someone that won't stop and just go straight through. He can't do a milk run.”

Whitmore captured last year's Breeders' Cup Sprint at 18-1 odds, after running a respective eighth [2017], second [2018] and third [2019] in the previous three runnings.

Despite arriving at last year's Breeders' Cup as a longshot, Moquett said he felt a strong sense of confidence in Whitmore, who was fourth in the Grade 3 Phoenix at Keeneland, a race he won in 2017, in his previous effort.

“When I ran against [2019 Breeders' Cup Sprint winner] Mitole the previous year, I thought we were going to need someone to hook him or get him out of position, but I didn't feel like that against any of the ones we were up against last year,” Moquett said. “I figured we could run our best race and they could run theirs, but we could still be in front. I threw the Phoenix out. It was a speed and rail-favoring surface. We got a little far back, but he finished up well and needed the race. There were some good horses in there, but there was no [2018 Breeders' Cup Sprint winner] Roy H or Mitole. I just knew that we were sitting in a good post and had enough ability.”

Fresh off a Grade 1 triumph aboard Maracuja in last Saturday's CCA Oaks, jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. seeks an eighth triumph aboard Whitmore, whom he will ride for the 18th time from post 6.

Mr. Amore Stable's Firenze Fire also is an accomplished veteran with nine graded stakes triumphs over four different tracks, including victories in the Grade 3 Runhappy and Grade 2 True North at Belmont Park to commence his 6-year-old season. He has finished fourth in the last two editions of the Vanderbilt.

Trained by Kelly Breen, the son of Poseidon's Warrior boasts a record of 34-14-5-3 with earnings of $2,534,350, including victories in the Grade 3 General George in March 2020 at Laurel Park and the Grade 3 Gallant Bob in September 2018 at Parx Racing. His lone graded win at the Spa came during his juvenile campaign when taking the Grade 3 Sanford in July 2017. Third to Whitmore in last year's Breeders' Cup Sprint, Firenze Fire notched his only Grade 1 triumph in the 2017 Champagne at Belmont Park.

Firenze Fire was a game second last out in the Grade 2 John A. Nerud on July 4 at Belmont Park, where he battled gamely down the stretch to the inside of Mind Control, finishing a head shy of victory.

“He's on his game and doing well,” said owner Ron Lombardi. “After that last race he came back to the barn that night and felt like he didn't even run, He went for a jog the next morning. At this level they're all tough races, but he's doing great.”

Lombardi said the results might have been reversed had it been Firenze Fire dueling to the outside in his most recent engagement.

“If he's on the outside he probably runs that race but it's all a part of the game. It was a duel with Mind Control last time, and we just missed,” Lombardi said. “That was the first time we went gate to wire which is something I've always wanted to try. Jose [Ortiz] did that with him, and it worked out.”

Ortiz will return aboard Firenze Fire from post 3.

Cash is King and LC Racing's Mischevious Alex proved a force to be reckoned with following decisive graded stakes victories earlier this year, and cuts back to six furlongs after running third in the Grade 1 Met Mile last out on June 5 at Belmont Park.

The Saffie Joseph, Jr.-trained 4-year-old son of Into Mischief displayed excellence in his first three starts this season, defeating optional claiming company on January 10 at Gulfstream Park en route to a victory in the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint on February 13. A winner of the Grade 3 Gotham in March 2020 at Aqueduct, he returned to the Big A with vigor in capturing the Grade 1 Carter in April by 5 ½ lengths under a hand ride by Irad Ortiz, Jr., garnering a 109 Beyer Speed Figure.

“He is training for this as well as he did for the Carter,” Joseph, Jr. said. “I thought he had a real good work here a couple weeks back. He's going over with a really good chance. I think six to seven is his best distance. This race is six and the next one will be seven. I think that's most suitable.”

Ortiz, Jr. will return to irons from post 2.

Calumet Farm's Lexitonian will seek to make amends following a lackluster sixth in the Grade 1 Met Mile for trainer Jack Sisterson.

The 5-year-old chestnut son of Speightstown, who won the 2004 Vanderbilt, was previously a game second finishing a nose in front of Whitmore in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs.

Lexitonian, who scratched at the gate in last year's Vanderbilt, finished second by a nose to Collusion Illusion one week later in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby at Del Mar. During his sophomore season, he won the Grade 3 Chick Lang at Pimlico at 17-1.

“He has so much heart. He's never a flashy work horse or in running,” Sisterson said. “He may come off the bridle, but whoever is riding him knows he responds to pressure and that's just the way he likes to be ridden. Ideally, his best running style is being forwardly placed in a dog fight. He really shows his true colors when asked to be set down and that's how he'll be ridden. He'll be forwardly placed. We'll be aggressive out of the gate and put him in the race and see who wants to come and catch us.”

Jockey Jose Lezcano rides from post 1.

Miles Ahead made the grade last out in the Grade 3 Smile Sprint on July 3 at Gulfstream Park and will try to sustain momentum when racing outside of Florida for the first time.

The dark bay or brown son of Competitive Edge, previously trained by Florida-based conditioner Eddie Plesa, Jr., makes his debut for the barn of Rusty Arnold and boasts a consistent 16-8-2-1 record.

Jockey Luis Saez will ride from post 7.

Trainer Mike Maker will saddle up-and-comer Special Reserve, who has displayed newfound abilities in his last two efforts. Never off the board in five starts this year, the son of Midshipman, owned by Paradise Farms Corp and David Staudacher, won the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint on May 15 at Pimlico ahead of a score in the Iowa Sprint on July 3 at Prairie Meadows, where he recorded a career-best 101 Beyer.

Breaking from post 9, Special Reserve will be ridden by jockey Joel Rosario.

Completing the field for the Vanderbilt are 2018 Grade 3 Swale-winner Strike Power [post 4, Tyler Gaffalione], Three Technique [post 5, Manny Franco] and Montauk Traffic [post 8, Eric Cancel].

Voted “The Man Who Did Most for Racing” four times, Vanderbilt operated the prominent Sagamore Farm in Maryland for multiple decades and campaigned Hall of Famers Discovery, Bed o' Roses and Native Dancer. As a racetrack operator, Vanderbilt owned Pimlico Race Course and arranged the famous match race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral in 1938. He also was president of Belmont Park and served as chairman of the NYRA board from 1971-75.

The Vanderbilt is slated as Race 8 on Saturday's 11-race card, which offers a first post of 1:05 p.m. Eastern. Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the summer meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

The post Moquett Believes Reigning Champion Whitmore Will Bring His ‘A Game’ In Saturday’s Vanderbilt appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Essential Quality To Face Five Rivals In Saturday’s Jim Dandy

The top contenders in the 3-year-old division usually sojourn to Saratoga Race Course in August for the Travers. But top-caliber sophomores will be competing at the historic racetrack in July, with Saturday's Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy attracting a talented six-horse field headlined by Belmont Stakes-winner Essential Quality.

The 58th running of the Jim Dandy, contested at 1 1/8 miles, is slated as Race 9 and is one of three graded stakes on Saturday's 11-race card, joining the Grade 1, $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap for 3-year-olds and up sprinting six furlongs in Race 8 and the Grade 2, $250,000 Bowling Green for 4-year-olds and up going 1 3/8 miles on the inner turf in Race 10.

The Jim Dandy, a prep race for the Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers at 1 1/4 miles on August 28, will mark the Saratoga debut of Godolphin's Essential Quality. The reigning Champion 2-Year-Old for trainer Brad Cox has already proved he was more than a talented juvenile, starting his sophomore campaign with wins in the Grade 3 Southwest and Grade 2 Blue Grass while on the Kentucky Derby trail this spring.

Following a competitive fourth in the “Run for the Roses” on May 1 in which he earned his first triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure, Essential Quality outdueled Hot Rod Charlie to post a 1 1/4-length victory in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on June 5 at the Triple Crown race's famed 1 1/2-mile distance. The Tapit colt earned Cox his first career win in an American Classic and has registered three works at Saratoga since shipping from Churchill earlier this month.

“He likes it up here big time,” Cox said. “We take him out in the afternoons when it's not raining and let him graze. He's a lawnmower. He's real focused here. He's doing well.”

Essential Quality earned a 109 Beyer for his Belmont win and has posted six wins in seven career starts, with five of those victories in graded stakes, encompassing three winner's circle trips in Grade 1s after winning the Breeders' Futurity in his second career start in October at Keeneland before winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile over the same track in November to close out his 2020 award-winning campaign.

“I'm very anxious to see him race again just for the simple fact of how he's training and how he's filling out,” Cox said. “He's a very intelligent horse. He's been wanting to do more. He came out of last work great. He's been very sharp and his energy has been great. The cooler weather is playing a role in that. But he's ready to run. I'm very excited.”

Jockey Luis Saez, aboard for all six of Essential Quality's stakes races, will have the return call from post 5.

Chiefswood Stables' Weyburn, a resurgent winner of the Grade 3 Gotham going a one-turn mile in March at Aqueduct Racetrack, will be making his first start since running a game second to Kentucky Derby runner-up Mandaloun by a neck in the 1 1/16-mile Pegasus on June 13 at Monmouth Park.

The Jimmy Jerkens trainee's lone off-the-board finish in five starts since his debut in October was a fourth-place effort in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino in April going the Jim Dandy distance at the Big A.

Weyburn has worked three times at Saratoga this month since shipping from Belmont and will look to again show a competitiveness that has seen him demonstrate marked tenacity in the stretch run.

“He's a big dude; big and long,” Jerkens said. “He's a massive horse. When they come back fighting like that, that's what you want.”

After stepping up to two turns the last two races, Jerkens said Weyburn is learning how to navigate the longer distances.

“He still acts like he's a little confused by two-turn racing,” Jerkens said. “He breaks on his own and then gets on the bridle and then he was a little keen down the backside [in the Pegasus]. The pacesetter [Lugamo] stopped abruptly and he ended up on the lead by himself, and he looked like he spit the bit out a little bit Mandaloun made a big, sweeping move past him and then he went after him again. He did that in the Gotham, when he lost the lead, he came back on. I guess it's like a little game with him.

“I think the last race did him a lot of good,” Jerkens added. “His only two-turn race before that was the Wood Memorial and there was a big gap from that race. He should get better with more seasoning.”

Irad Ortiz, Jr., the defending three-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey, will ride Weyburn for the first time, drawing post 3.

“Irad is going to have to figure it out. He's got enough natural speed to where you can pretty much put him wherever you want,” Jerkens said. “I just hope instead of running spotty like that, l just hope he runs a little more even all the way and still has it for the end.”

Harrell Ventures' Dr Jack was third in his stakes debut in the Pegasus and will now step up to graded stakes company for the first time. Dr Jack's conditioner is Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, who has won the Jim Dandy six times, with his last victory with Palace Malice in 2013.

Dr Jack won his debut going 6 1/2 furlongs in April at Gulfstream Park and handled a stretch out to 1 1/16 miles by posting a three-length victory on May 14 at Pimlico. After competing in the Pegasus last month, the son of Pioneerof the Nile will again face talented competition, drawing post 1 with Jose Ortiz aboard.

“He's lightly raced, but he was able to break his maiden first time out and step up into an allowance,” Pletcher said. “I thought he ran a respectable race in the Pegasus and certainly Mandaloun coming back to win the Haskell makes that look to be a good race. It looks like a very competitive field, but not a large field, so we'll take a shot.”

Pletcher said Dr Jack, after facing a string of more seasoned horses, is looking to continue the improvement he's shown throughout his first three starts.

“For his third start and his first try in a stakes, to be beaten a little more than two lengths to a horse like Mandaloun, who has been through a good series of Derby preps, it was a tall ask and he ran credibly,” Pletcher said.

FTGGG Racing's Masqueparade handled the step up to stakes company with aplomb last out, posting a half-length win in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby going 1 1/8 miles at Thistledown on June 26. The Upstart colt has improved his speed figures in four consecutive starts, going from a 74 for a third-place maiden finish in February at Fair Grounds to a 98 for his last-out graded win.

Trainer Al Stall, Jr. said Masqueparade earned an opportunity to compete against the division's upper echelon.

“Our horse is on the upswing, so if he keeps improving, he could be there or thereabouts. He deserves a shot,” Stall said. “His last two races have been very good and he handled graded competition. The numbers are fine but stepping up to those proven competitors is more a test to me than running against the clock. I think he deserves a chance.”

Miguel Mena will ride from post 2.

Klaravich Stables' Risk Taking will be running for the first time since an eighth-place finish in the Grade 1 Preakness on May 15. After starting his sophomore campaign with a 3 3/4-length win in the Grade 3 Gotham in March at Aqueduct, Risk Taking will be competing at Saratoga for the first time.

Risk Taking, trained by four-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown, ran a dull seventh in the Wood Memorial before the off-the-board Preakness effort in a 10-horse field. The Medaglia d'Oro colt has won twice in three starts at the Jim Dandy distance and will look to use that to his advantage with Manny Franco set to ride out of post 6.

Keepmeinmind competed in the first two legs of the Triple Crown, running seventh in the Kentucky Derby and fourth in the Preakness, before garnering a 97 Beyer for a third-place finish in the Ohio Derby. Owned by Cypress Creek Equine, Arnold Bennewith and Spendthrift Farm, the Laoban colt earned black type in two Grade 1s as a 2-year-old, running second in the Breeders' Futurity and third, two lengths back to Essential Quality, in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile for trainer Robertino Diodoro.

Joel Rosario will be in the irons from post 4.

The post Essential Quality To Face Five Rivals In Saturday’s Jim Dandy appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

NYRA To Honor Late Bruce Johnstone On Whitney Day

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced Wednesday that it will honor the legacy of Bruce Johnstone during Whitney Day on Saturday, August 7 at Saratoga Race Course.

NYRA will honor the late horseman by bestowing the “Bruce Johnstone Best Turned Out Horse Award” to the groom of the horse deemed by NYRA racing officials to be best presented in the paddock ahead of the Grade 1, $500,000 Longines Test. The winning groom will receive a $150 gift card.

Johnstone, who passed at age 76 on February 6, 2020 following a lengthy battle against cancer, transitioned from a successful career as a trainer to management at NYRA, where he spent the last 13 years of his career as Manager of Racing Operations.

At NYRA, Johnstone served as the bridge between management, horsemen, and riders, working with everyone from the stewards to jockeys, the gate crew, outriders, and anyone else connected to racing. Imposing at 6'4″ and with a deep, baritone voice, Johnstone stood out for his commanding presence at the track and for his knowledge, wise counsel, experience, and diplomacy in times of stress.

“Bruce was a true horseman who used the lessons of a lifetime to make all of us better in so many big and small ways,” said NYRA President & CEO Dave O'Rourke. “He was a man of impeccable integrity who was a beloved member of the Thoroughbred racing community here in New York and around the country. Bruce was universally admired for all the right reasons –and he is missed.”

NYRA created Johnstone's position when he joined the organization in 2007.

“If I'm talking to a trainer, I know what they're saying,” he said of his duties in a 2018 interview. “I'll know how to address a concern or an issue. I have an office, but that's not where I live.”

Instead, Johnstone could often be found in the paddock, on the edge of the track, the backstretch or the barn area, navigating between groups and attending to any and all issues. Those issues could range from something as basic as a sauna without hot water to immediate decisions needing to be made on whether to postpone or cancel racing in poor weather conditions and ensuring the horses were adequately hydrated and sponged down in hot weather.

In 1974, Johnstone went to work at the Phipps Stable with accomplished trainer John Russell and Hall of Famer Angel Penna. Johnstone took out his own training license in 1980. Among his career highlights were wins with Secrettame in the 1983 Shirley Jones Stakes at Gulfstream Park and Buck Aly in the 1986 Bay Shore Stakes (G2).

Secrettame, a daughter of Triple Crown winner Secretariat, was campaigned by Venezuelan owner Jose “Pepe” Sahagun and his Villa Blanca Farms.

While at NYRA, Johnstone also served from 2018-19 as chairman of the famed Aiken Training Center in Aiken, S.C.

Born and raised in Santa Barbara, Calif., Johnstone attended the University of California at Berkeley on an athletic scholarship as a swimmer and a water polo player, and also played rugby. After earning a degree in International Relations and Diplomacy, Johnstone was recruited by the U.S. Coast Guard for the Special Coastal Forces Program, an elite group of college graduates who had been Division 1 athletes.

It was through time spent with his father, Charles “Sandy” Johnstone, a New York-based veterinarian, that he turned to horse racing. Visiting his father in both New York and Kentucky, Johnstone, in his mid-20s, became smitten with Thoroughbreds to the point where he made it his new career.

“I got the bug with horses,” Johnstone said in the 2018 interview. “It must have been the pedigree. So I packed up my orange VW van and my two dogs and headed to Kentucky.”

In 1972, Johnstone joined trainer Victor J. “Lefty” Nickerson at Elmendorf Stable, where he was a part of one of racing's biggest upsets, Big Spruce's victory over Forego in the 1974 Marlboro Cup at Belmont Park.

“I live racing seven days a week,” Johnstone said in 2018. “And when I go to the neighborhood bar to get away from it, I find that people want to talk about what I do—not their jobs, but mine. That's always fun—and it makes me realize how much I enjoy this life.”

Johnstone is survived by his daughter, Kelly Johnstone.

The post NYRA To Honor Late Bruce Johnstone On Whitney Day appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post