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Sutherland Enters Jockey Challenge In Saudi

The Saudi Cup International Jockeys Challenge, led by defending champion Caitlin Jones, plus a mix of international female and male riders like Victoria Alonso, Joanna Mason, Frankie Dettori, Luis Saez, Joao Moreia, and Chantal Sutherland, is set for King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Saudi Arabia on Friday.

The jockeys will compete to receive 15% of prize-money for each of the four $400,000 races in they win with a further $100,000 going to the overall champion.

“It is my first time in Saudi Arabia and I'm actually blown away by the hospitality and the kindness people have shown” said the Florida-based and Canadian-born Sutherland.

The daughter of a Standardbred trainer, Sutherland is no stranger to making history. She was the first woman to win the GI Santa Anita H. and also the first to ride in the G1 Dubai World Cup, both aboard Game On Dude (Awesome Again). Sutherland also piloted him to a second-place finish in the 2011 GI Breeders' Cup Classic behind Drosselmeyer (Distorted Humor), who was ridden by then-boyfriend Mike Smith.

“I was second in the Breeders' Cup Classic and I thought that was around the time to maybe have a child,” said Sutherland. I stopped racing and took about four years out and didn't ever get to have a kid. The marriage [to Dan Kruse] didn't work out either, so I went back to racing, got injured, then got back from the injury, then Covid happened.”

Sutherland's decision to return to the track was prompted by a move to the Sunshine State over the course of the winter in early 2021.

“I was going to ride just before Covid. I was going to ride Turfway [Park] and that was freezing,” she said. “I'd frozen for I don't know how long in my career, in Canada, at Aqueduct. I thought, 'I'm going to Florida,' and I just loved it. It felt like home.”

As far as her mounts for Friday in Saudi Arabia, Sutherland will be aboard the appropriately-named, Fighter (KSA) (Official Flame) in race two over 1600 meters and Inhimr (KSA) (Pomeroy) in race three going 1400 meters, both on dirt. Then in the pair of turf races, she will guide Go Fast Traou Land (Fr) (George Vancouver) in the 1200-meter race five and finish off with Billy Batts (City Zip) in race six over 2100 meters.

She added, “I'm really looking forward to the Jockeys Challenge. I've already worked out the races, watched all the replays and I've spoken to some key handicap people who have put the races together. I feel I am ready, physically, mentally and preparation-wise. I've done my homework. It's going to be exciting.”

Sutherland is looking forward to staying put at Gulfstream Park once she returns from the Middle East, especially since year-round racing continues to draw jockeys from all quadrants.

“I'm very happy in Florida and very happy to be doing what I'm doing again,” Sutherland said. It has been stop-start, but now everything, with the flow, I feel there is an alignment in my life and everything is going well.”

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Weekly Stewards and Commissions Rulings Feb. 14 – 20

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky.

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

With the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) having gone into effect on July 1, the TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant HISA-related rulings from the same week.

NEW YORK

Track: Aqueduct

Date: 02/16/2023

Licensee: Linda Rice, trainer

Penalty: $1,000 fine, 10-day suspension

Violation: Medication violation

Explainer: Having received a report from the NYS Gaming Commission Drug Equine Testing Laboratory of the finding of Phenylbutazone in the post-race sample taken from horse ” Winter Pool ” #(4) which raced at Aqueduct Racetrack in the

1st race and finished 1st on January 7th 2023. Trainer of record Linda Rice having been notified of the post-race findings and having waived her right to an appeal is hereby fined the sum of one thousand ($1,000) dollars and suspended 10 Calandar days effective February 20th 2023, through March 1st 2023 inclusive.

Furthermore, the Stewards order horse ” Winter Pool ” disqualified from any part of the purse and the purse redistributed as follows:

(#5) Kumar
(#2) Scotty
(#3) Goldini
(#6) Icy Storm
(#7) Supply Chain
(#1) Forever Wicked

Ordered that during your period of suspension, you shall not directly nor indirectly participate in New York State Pari-mutuel horse racing. You are denied the privilages 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 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.

NEW HISA STEWARDS RULINGS

The following rulings were reported on HISA's “rulings” portal, except for the voided claim rulings which were sent to the TDN directly. Some of these rulings are from prior weeks as they were not reported contemporaneously.

One important note: HISA's whip use limit is restricted to six strikes during a race.

VIOLATIONS OF CROP RULE

Aqueduct

Heman Kumar Harkie – violation date February 18; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes

Jalon Lateef Abdiel Samuel – violation date February 20; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes

Golden Gate Fields

Francisco Alvarado — violation date February 19; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 8 strikes

Gulfstream Park

Ismerio Villalobos – violation date February 17; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 8 strikes

Mahoning Valey Racecourse

Edilberto Dominguez – violation date February 14; $500 fine and three-day suspension, four-to-nine strikes over limit, on appeal and stay granted

Edilberto Dominguez – violation date February 14; Seven-day suspension, multiple point violations, on appeal and stay granted

Oaklawn Park

Cristian Alexis Torres – violation date February 17; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes

Ramsey Zimmerman – violation date February 18; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes

David Cabrera – violation date February 18; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes

Keith James Asmussen – violation date February 19; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes

Tampa Bay Downs

Melissa Iorio – violation date February 17; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes

Turf Paradise

Enrique Garcia – violation date February 14; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes

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2023 Mating Plans, Presented By Spendthrift: Tracy Farmer

With the 2023 season upon us, the TDN staff is once again sitting down with leading breeders to find out what stallions they have chosen for their mares, and why. Here is what Tracy Farmer had to say about his broodmare band for 2023.

We had a great few years on the track and we retired our GI Belmont Stakes Winner Sir Winston to Crestwood Farm in Lexington, KY this year, so we will offer him a lot of support both in the stallion barn now and in the sales ring in the future. We generally only keep about 10 mares, but we have bought some new mares to support Sir Winston as we plan to breed more than a dozen mares to him in 2023.

ALYDORABLE (m, 13, Arch–Esprit D'Escalier) booked to Sir Winston.

She is a stakes placed Arch mare that has already produced a nice stakes winner by Quality Road. She has a daughter by Ghostzapper that is the dam of multiple stakes winning 3-year-old Girl Trouble, and we want to support Sir Winston with some proven mares, and she is a great match for him. Awesome Again's son Ghostzapper has done great with Arch mares, with Grade I winners like Contested and Nucky.

TROPHY GIRL (m, 10, Warrior's Reward–Storm West) booked to Good Magic.

We generally do not breed to many first year stallions but a few years ago we really were excited about Good Magic and felt like Trophy Girl would be a very good fit. She is a big mare, about 16.3h, had a lot of talent, and broadly speaking, the Smart Strike line has done quite well over the El Prado line. We felt like Good Magic might benefit from a mare with some size to her and he could add speed while not sacrificing our chance to breed a classic horse. The resulting foal was Blazing Sevens, who won the GI Champagne S. this year. She will go back to Good Magic.

BAKSHEESH (f, 4, Summer Front–Spider Dust) booked to Sir Winston.

We bought this very good looking mare specifically to be bred to Sir Winston. She was a stakes-winning 2-year-old at Woodbine and Sid Fernando really liked her pedigree to match up with Sir Winston's. We wanted to buy some mares that were fast and precocious. Don't forget, Sir Winston was also a stakes-winning 2-year-old, so we expect him to sire precocity despite the fact that he trained on to win the Belmont and graded stakes later in his career.

SKYGAZE (m, 6, American Pharoah–Skyscape) booked to Tapit.

Skygaze was champion older mare in Canada in 2021 and we retired her in the middle of 2022. She actually won a Grade III as a 2-year-old but was disqualified, and we felt like she was worth going all the way to the top. Her dam has produced five black-type horses so the family is very strong. We felt like this mare could really use A.P. Indy, and Tapit has a great strike rate with Empire Maker line mares as he has three graded-stakes winners on that cross out of 12 attempts.

LA GRAN BAILADORA (m, 16, Afleet Alex–Affirmed Dancer) booked to Ghostzapper.

She is the dam of Sir Winston (Awesome Again) and also the grand-dam of One Timer (Trappe Shot), who won a Grade II last year. We had a Ghostzapper filly out of her that we felt was very talented but had an injury and we were forced to retire her early. If we can get another foal by Ghostzapper that showed her talent, by the same sire line as Sir Winston, we will be in great shape.

GILDED LILY (m, 9, Speightstown–Handpainted) booked to Sir Winston.

From the moment we retired Sir Winston, we wanted to find some fast fillies by Speightstown to breed to him. On paper, this filly has all the things we look for. She comes from the family of Touch Gold–which makes her 3×4 to Deputy Minister– historically strong inbreeding with Awesome Again as we see in horses like Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) and Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow). Gilded Lily's dam is by A.P. Indy, and Awesome Again and his son Ghostzapper have done great with A.P. Indy line mares.

LA BOHEMIAN (f, 4, Tiznow–La Rambla) booked to Sir Winston.

This filly was a homebred of ours and she is a half sister to two very talented and fast stakes-level sprinters. Needless to say, Tiznow has done well under Awesome Again (Paynter/Oxbow/ Bravazzo etc) but, more importantly, her dam, La Rambla, is by City Zip, who is a half-brother to Ghostzapper. So we know the family has an affinity for Awesome Again.

IMMORTAL LIFE (IRE) (m, 11, Iffraaj {GB}- Pursuit of Life {GB}) booked to Not This Time.

This is a mare we are very high on. Her first foal is graded-stakes winner Neptune's Storm (Stormy Atlantic), who is $10K short of being a millionaire. The 3-year-old filly out of the mare is Fearless Angel (More Than Ready), who was beaten just a nose in a stake as a 2-year-old last year. Not this Time has sired Grade I winner Just One Time, who is out of a Gone West line mare, just like this one. Immortal Life's best foal is by a Storm Cat line as well, and although Not this Time is primarily a dirt stallion, he has gotten some very good horses from European families such as Epicenter.

Interested in sharing your own mating plans? Email garyking@thetdn.com.

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Japanese Superstar Fukunaga To Hang Up The Saddle At Saudi Cup

Yuichi Fukunaga, one of the most decorated jockeys in Japanese racing history, paid an emotional tribute to his fans ahead of his retirement rides at the Saudi Cup.

The 46-year-old had his final rides on the Japan Racing Association (JRA) circuit at Tokyo Racecourse earlier this month but will close the chapter on his storied career when he partners Remake (Jpn) (Lani) in the G3 Riyadh Dirt Sprint presented by Sports Boulevard and Ecoro Ares (Unified) in the G3 Saudi Derby presented by Boutique Group on Saturday.

The veteran rider will concentrate fully on his training career upon his retirement from the saddle and told fans of how that new ambition outweighed his desire to continue riding.

“I have found other things I really want to do as my job,” he said. “I never felt I did not like being a jockey. The attraction of becoming a trainer outweighed the motivation to continue my riding career because I have had enough as a jockey. As a trainer, I can be more deeply involved with horses.”

Fukunaga will retire with a spectacular list of achievements. As an established rider, he has collected 45 Grade/Group 1 wins which include 34 on the JRA circuit, six at the National Association of Racing (NAR) level and five overseas.

Those were the American Oaks on Cesario (Jpn) (Special Week {Jpn}) in 2005, three times in Hong Kong on Eishin Preston (Green Dancer) and the Dubai Duty Free on Just A Way (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) in 2014. In 2022, he won the G1 February S. on Saturday's G1 Saudi Cup entrants Cafe Pharoah (Jpn) (American Pharoah) and Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) on Geoglyph (Jpn) (Drefong), having helped Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) land the Japanese Triple Crown in 2020.

He continued, “I'd like to thank all the racing fans for supporting and cheering the horse racing in Japan, I never thought I wanted to quit as a jockey in these 27 years. I am very grateful to all the people involved in my jockey life. I will go to the next stage as a trainer, and I do hope I can train horses that many people want to cheer.”

Fukunaga added, “I want to express my gratitude to the connections for the chances to ride in Saudi Arabia for my final rides. Hopefully I can show their best runs and bring the best results to all the fans in Japan.”

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