Hopper Tops Affirmed Exacta for McCarthy at Santa Anita

While the 3-year-old picture was focused primarily in New York Saturday with the GI Belmont S. and the GI Woody Stephens S., Hopper (Declaration of War) threw his hat into the ring from the other coast with a facile victory in the GIII Affirmed S. at Santa Anita. It was a short field, but the exacta horses both hailed from the Sean McCarthy barn while the trifecta was filled out by three former Bob Baffert pupils.

When the stall doors flew, Hopper immediately hightailed it the front from the one post. He stayed on the inside, moving easily and getting the first quarter in :23.37. 'TDN Rising Star' and GSP Doppelganger (Into Mischief) drafted in second, just off his flank and to the outside as Hopper threw down a half in :46.74, still moving smoothly. Abel Cedillo roused him in the stretch, leaving Doppelganger far behind, and the dark bay drew clear to win by 5 1/4 lengths while stablemate High Connection (Connect) passed Doppelganger late. Hopper gave the impression of being out for a morning breeze, making it look easy as he dominated the field.

“I saw Juan [Hernandez] asking [High Connection] at about the three-and-a-half to get into contention and Doppelganger was moving at the same time, but Hopper was just cruising on the front end, so I had a pretty good feeling,” said McCarthy.

Owned by Lanni Bloodstock, Madaket Stables, and SF Racing, Hopper debuted for Baffert Feb. 25 in a six-furlong maiden special weight over this surface, getting bumped at the start and again just after the three-eighths pole. He didn't reappear again until May 7 after that troubled beginning, and by then he'd been transferred to the McCarthy barn. Going seven furlongs that day, he went wide to win by 2 1/4 lengths and register an 87 Beyer. The Affirmed was only his third career start. McCarthy has indicated both Hopper and the runner-up will return to Baffert when the Hall of Famer returns from his suspension next month.

Pedigree Notes:
War Front's European champion and MG1SW Declaration of War is the sire of Hopper and 32 other Northern Hemisphere-bred black-type winners. Among his 17 graded winners are Canadian champion Mr. Hustle, GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Fire At Will, GISW Decorated Invader, French G1SW Olmedo (Fr), and MGISW Gufo, who was also third in the GI Manhattan S. Saturday. Declaration of War stood at Coolmore in Ireland, America, and Australia before moving to Shizunai Stallion Station in Japan ahead of the 2019 season.

Hopper is out of Irridescence (SAf), a champion and MG1SW in her native country. She traveled all over the world for major races, winning Hong Kong's G1 Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup, and placing in the GI Beverly D. S. in the U.S., the G1 Falmouth S. in England, and the G2 Haafhd Jebel Hatta in Dubai. Hopper is her first stakes winner. She did not produce foals in 2020 or 2021 after being bred to Noble Mission (GB) both times, and was last bred to Air Force Blue. Her sire, the Nureyev stallion Caesour, has 16 stakes winners out of his daughters, including the 2020 GI Jaipur S. winner Oleksandra (Aus) (Animal Kingdom), a mare who beat the boys more than once.

Saturday, Santa Anita
AFFIRMED S.-GIII, $98,000, Santa Anita, 6-11, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:43.83, ft.
1–HOPPER, 120, c, 3, by Declaration of War
               1st Dam: Irridescence (Saf) (Ch. 3-year-old Filly-SAF, MG1SW-SAF, G1SW-HK,
               SW & GSP-UAE, G1SP-Eng, GISP-USA, $1,578,910), by Caesour
               2nd Dam: Meretricious (Saf), by Dancing Champ
               3rd Dam: Capitoline (Saf), by Elevation (Saf)
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($90,000 Ylg
'20 KEESEP). O-Lanni Bloodstock, Madaket Stables LLC and SF
Racing LLC; B-Green Lantern Stables, LLC (KY); T-Sean
McCarthy; J-Abel Cedillo. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-0,
$100,700. Werk Nick Rating: B+. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–High Connection, 120, c, 3, Connect–Forest Legend, by Forest
Camp. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($75,000
Ylg '20 KEESEP; $290,000 2yo '21 OBSMAR). O-HRH Prince
Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud; B-G. Watts Humphrey (KY); T-Sean
McCarthy. $20,000.
3–Doppelganger, 120, c, 3, Into Mischief–Twice the Lady, by
Quiet American. ($570,000 Ylg '20 FTKSEL). 'TDN Rising Star'.
O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC,
Robert E. Masterson, Jay A. Schoenfarber, Waves Edge
Capital LLC, Catherine M. Donovan, Golconda Stable, Siena
Farm LLC; B-WinStar Farm, LLC (KY); T-Tim Yakteen. $12,000.
Margins: 5 1/4, HF, 35. Odds: 3.30, 1.00, 1.40.
Also Ran: Pioneering Papa. Scratched: Fast Draw Munnings, Newgrange.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Adare Manor Heads Black-Eyed Susan

Michael Petersen's Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) will try to recapture her winning form in Pimlico's Friday feature, the GII George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan S. While under the care of trainer Bob Baffert last season, she debuted with a close up second sprinting six furlongs on Santa Anita's Halloween day card before coming home fourth next time going 6 1/2 panels at Del Mar in November. Shelved for the remainder of the season, the dark bay returned with a gaudy 12-length score in her route bow at Santa Anita and followed up with an equally impressive victory in the Feb. 6 GIII Las Virgenes S. Transferred to Tim Yakteen for her latest in the GII Santa Anita Oaks, she came up a desperate neck short as the favorite and has been with Sean McCarthy, best known as the trainer of Grade 1 winner Majestic Harbor, since that 8 1/2-furlong test. John Velazquez, who has been aboard in her three most recent starts, retains the mount.

Bradley Thoroughbreds, Gary Finder, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Tim Cambron, Anna Cambron and Team Hanley's Distinctlypossible (Curlin), runner-up in her six-furlong career bow at Saratoga last summer, didn't need a win under her belt for trainer Chad Brown to take a shot at Keeneland's GI Alciabiades S. in October. Giving a good account of herself with a solid second behind favored Juju's Map (Liam's Map), who subsequently finished second in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, the daughter of GSW Funny Proposition (Medaglia d'Oro) wouldn't see racing action again this season, when registering a 1 1/4-length graduation at Keeneland Apr. 10.

“She's a lightly-raced horse that we got a little bit of a late start with this year,” explained Brown. “She was a little sick over the winter and I was really trying to get her on the [GI Kentucky] Oaks trail and she just ran out of time. She's a really talented horse, and I'm looking forward to bringing her. This seems like a nice spot to keep her around two turns.”

Deborah Greene and Laurel Park-based trainer Hamilton Smith's Luna Belle (Great Notion) enters the fray off a five-race win skein and tries to bump up her game a notch in the weekend's marquee race for 3-year-old fillies. All of her latest wins have been in stakes company at Laurel, including the one-mile Beyond the Wire S. Mar. 19 and the Apr. 16 Weber City Miss S.

“If she runs the same type of race that she has in the last several, where she's able to relax off the lead a little bit, she should be tough,” said Smith. “I would have to think there will be some speed in the race, more so than what we've had before, really. It should set up pretty good in that respect.”

Second choice at odds of 9-2 on the morning line, Luna Belle drew Post 6 and will be ridden for the sixth straight race by Denis Araujo.

“She's won five in a row and she's stepped up a little farther in distance each time and she's handled it well. Off of her last race, it doesn't look like a mile and an eighth should be a hindrance,” Smith added. “I think the main thing is the competition that she's going to have to run against. You're looking at a tougher bunch of fillies in here than we've had recently.”

Stonestreet Stables' Favor (Pioneerof the Nile), who has shown an affinity for a route of ground, tries to gain some black-type here. A lack-luster fourth in her debut while sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs at the Big A last November, the grey returned to annex her next two going a mile at Gulfstream Jan. 9 and Feb. 6, respectively. Stepping into graded company for her latest–in the GII Fair Grounds Oaks Mar. 26, she over a messy start to be third behind reigning juvenile champion filly Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) and graded stakes scorer Hidden Connection (Connect). Her Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher also won the Black-Eyed Susan with Stopchargingmaria (2014), In Lingerie (2012), Panty Raid (2007) and Spun Sugar (2005).

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Baffert Horses To Yakteen and Sean McCarthy

According to a report in the Daily Racing Form, trainers Sean McCarthy and Tim Yakteen will take over the training of Bob Baffert's stable once his suspension begins Monday.

Baffert was suspended 90 days by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission for the positive test for betamethasone from Medina Spirit (Protonico), who crossed the wire first in the GI Kentucky Derby. Under rules from the California Horse Racing Board, any trainer suspended 60 days or more cannot turn their stable over to a relative or an employee while they are set down.

According to the DRF, McCarthy will take over the majority of the stable, with a few others joining Yakteen. Earlier in the week it was announced that a handful of top 3-year-olds, including GI Santa Anita Derby candidate Messier (Empire Maker) and the top filly Adare Manor (Uncle Mo), have been moved into the Yakteen barn. Yakteen is a former assistant to Baffert.

McCarthy has been training since 1991 and, according to Equibase, has a career record of 141-for-1,431.

After working briefly as an assistant to Michael McCarthy (no relation) he re-opened his stable in early 2020. His biggest career win came with Majestic Harbor (Rockport Harbor) in the 2014 GI Gold Cup at Santa Anita S.

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Exercise Riders a Shrinking Pool of Talent

When Lorna Chavez moved from England to the United States in 1995, the land of abundance had a surfeit of skilled participants willing and able to don helmet and boot and join the nation’s ranks of exercise riders.

“I started in Delaware,” said Chavez, a former jockey, of her time as an exercise rider for Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard. But that was a quarter-century ago. “Now, there aren’t enough riders around,” she said. “Especially good ones.”

And that means busy racetracks of a morning are increasingly populated with riders sometimes ill-equipped to helm their equine vehicles–a potential thorn for the other riders on the track, Chavez said. “Some of them are dangerous,” she added. “It’s dangerous enough being out there anyway without some of these other riders that are out there. And there aren’t any [riders] to replace them.”

The dangers aren’t restricted to humans. There’s also the cyclical wear-and-tear that bad or inexperienced riders can inflict–the uneven grind on joints from a horse that hangs, or the heavy load on the front legs from an iron-mouthed run-off. The sorts of things that pre-dispose horses to catastrophic injury.

Of course, posterity is a keen advocate for the past, when time can cast history in a rosy glow. But Chavez is far from the only industry figure bemoaning a growing scarcity of talented riders. “It is definitely getting tougher,” said California trainer, Sean McCarthy. “There are lots of reasons for it.”

“Those facilities are disappearing”

One common equation bandied around concerns shifting societal trends and a long-in-effect rural flight: The average American is three generations removed from an agrarian lifestyle.

“That’s really the core of it,” said McCarthy. “Kids are not growing up around horses and livestock as they once did, and don’t consequently develop an interest in riding–in the States, anyway.”

What’s more, many young riders seeking exercise rider positions at the track today “haven’t learned to ride properly in the first place,” said McCarthy, pointing to the fundamentals necessary before stirrup-irons can be safely hoisted up and the speed work begins. “In other words, proper equitation and general horse mastership,” he said.

Compounding the problem is a shrinking pool of farms and training centers where young riding talent can be nurtured–a development hitting California especially hard, said McCarthy.

“I think on the East Coast they’ve got a whole host of training centers that are still active,” he said. And while California used to have a good number of these facilities, too–“especially in the Santa Ynez Valley, across the Central Coast,” McCarthy said–they’re disappearing.

“Those were great platforms for kids to get involved in the racing industry, and obviously, learn how to gallop properly from the ground up,” he said. “We don’t have that as much any more–that’s a big part of it.”

The impacts from this aren’t felt uniformly across the board.

“We rarely struggle with exercise riders,” said trainer Mike Stidham. And it’s not because he has had to lower his standards.

“We just will not put up with bad exercise riders,” he said. “Whatever it takes, we’ll hire the best we can.”

In that regard, what helps, Stidham said, is how larger stables like his have in-built appeal attractive to the more talented riders: Better quality of horse, larger more frequent payment of “stakes,” and assurances of reliable work year-in year-out.

“The smaller trainers with either fewer horses, worse horses, or people who have to rely on freelancers, I think that would be a lot tougher,” Stidham said.

A more intractable problem, he said, concerns the number of riders from Central and South America, and the federal government’s hardline immigration policies that are making an already difficult hunt for good riders that much harder.

“Two of my best riders are old,” said Stidham. “They’re not going to be doing this forever, and when they go, I’m going to have to find two more to replace them. That’s going to be hard,” he added. “The government’s making it tough, for sure.”

But the problem as former exercise rider, trainer and jockey Pam Little sees it is one couched upon simple economics, and an evolving job market ever more averse to manual labor–especially when it comes to the American-born workforce.

“Back when I started working in racing, it was always kind of glamorous–they’d put you on a pedestal if you were a good gallop person,” she said, adding how a typical exercise rider’s salary was one that could appeal to a broad demographic.

But over the years, Little said, the average exercise rider salary hasn’t kept up with inflation and spiking living costs in urban centers, so that the job has become an anachronism with unsociable hours waging a losing battle against an ever-increasing number of other less arduous careers paths.

Indeed, Little admitted that she had steered her own children away from a possible career in racing. “I just didn’t want them to have this life,” she said. “It’s seven days a week, and there’s no getting ahead.”

A bad rider–so the saying goes–can undo in minutes the work of months, if not years.

But as outrider Alan Love Jr. sees it, industry veterans–especially the exercise riders and outriders–are too quick to hoard rather than share their knowledge with the latest generations.

“They want to make them look bad so they lose their jobs so they don’t lose their [own] jobs,” said Love, who has been at the job for 16 years.

And it’s not just the nuances of navigating the track of a morning–the getting a horse to settle on a long rein, for example, or to properly engage its hind-end–that aren’t being passed down, Love said. It’s also the subtler diagnostic skills–like accurately pin-pointing lameness–that are becoming a dying art.

“Half these riders couldn’t tell you if they were bad or if they were good, front or back,” he said. “Trainer came by, asked his rider one day, ‘how did your horse go?’ ‘Oh, he went good.’ Trainer turns around to me: ‘that horse is three-legged lame.'”

But education is a two-way street, and patience a virtue.

“A lot of these guys, they don’t want to go to the farm and learn how to ride babies before they come to the track,” he said. “They just want to come to the track, get on a horse and gallop around there. It ain’t as easy as their friends make it look.”

Nor are trainers immune from criticism.

“Some don’t care. As long as they’ve got a rider, that’s all they’re happy about,” Love said. “Every track I’ve been to, I’ve seen that.”

 

Never a High Priority

“The industry itself has never taken the education of racing personnel to be a high priority,” said Reid McClellan, executive director of the national Groom Elite program. As an example, McClellan pointed to a component of the North American Racing Academy that he helped devise focusing on exercise riders.

“If an outrider didn’t think an exercise rider was doing good, for example, they could have sent them over there,” said McClellan. But the course was short-lived. “The industry thought it wasn’t necessary,” he said.

As farms and training centers continue to disappear, however, training schools, like the British Racing School, profiled in a video series in the TDN last year–could offer an obvious substitute. “It would need to be in one of those areas where there used to be a concentration of horses, and maybe a farm where people are retiring or getting out of the business,” he said.

As for a swifter fix, McClellan believes in comparable pay for comparable experience as an incentive for riders to continue honing their skills.

In other words, the industry broadly needs to figure out a better system of recompense so that the more qualified personnel are more uniformly rewarded the higher dividends–something that currently isn’t necessarily the case, McClellan said, pointing to the flat per-horse rates for freelancers.

Towards this end, “owners bear a certain amount of responsibility,” McClellan said. “If a trainer is willing to hire a more qualified exercise rider,” he added, “the owner should be willing to pay the additional cost.”

Other equine disciplines, like show jumping and Western riding, provide horse racing with a relatively untapped pool of riding talent, said McCarthy. He suggested outreach programs, whereby industry representatives target these disciplines, offering things like work experience opportunities to young interested riders.

“That could be a great way to go,” he said, adding that the industry’s Off-Track Thoroughbred program is one such pipeline already connecting horseracing to the broader equine community.

In the same vein, the tracks themselves and the community populating them need to be more receptive to fresh faces, said Little. “If a kid came walking through the gate and said, ‘I want to learn how to gallop.’ What trainer do you know would say, ‘sure–I’ll take you under my wing and teach you’?” she said.

For sure, a towering mountain range stands between the industry and meaningful redress of the problem. But as 2020 has been the year when established norms have been up-rooted, perhaps the socioeconomic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic can offer a few tentative signs for optimism.

A recent Harris Poll found that that nearly 40% of city dwellers are considering moving out of the city as the coronavirus pandemic rages on, and an op/ed in Progressive Farmer speculated that more young people are considering a return to the family business. Many warn, however, that the racing industry cannot passively sit back and hope.

At the end of the day, the industry needs to engage in a “sharing of ideas,” McClellan said. “And we might have to change the way we do business.”

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