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Joe Orseno to be Interim President of Florida HBPA

The 2022 election for the board of the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) has concluded with trainer Joe Orseno slated to serve as interim president. He replaces Stephen Screnci, who did not run for reelection.

Reelected to the board of directors are owner Adam Lazarus and trainers Orseno, Kathy Davey, and Terri Pompay. New to the board is owner David Rousso. Troy Levy and Ralph Nicks have stepped down. The remainder of the board consists of owners Chester Bishop, Thomas Cannell, and Teresa Palmer, as well as trainers Patrick Biancone, David Fawkes, and Ron Spatz.

The new board will take office at the next board meeting Mar. 24. New officers will be named at that time.

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Fasig-Tipton Digital Sale Kicks Off Thursday

Fasig-Tipton's new standalone digital auction platform–Fasig-Tipton Digital–will launch Thursday with the March Digital Selected Sale. The sale continues through Tuesday, Mar. 22.

“There's a lot of people that have expressed the need for this kind of market,” said Leif Aaron, Fasig-Tipton Director of Digital Sales. “They've been very supportive of our first sale. To them, it's a segment of the market that needs to be filled.”

The catalogue of approximately 15-20 head will be revealed at digital.fasigtipton.com Thursday and bidding will open at that time. The group will include horses of racing age, broodmares, racing/broodmare prospects and a stallion share. The digital website will feature photos, videos, repository, health information, pedigrees, race replays, various past performances and speed figures. Potential buyers can schedule a physical inspection on that platform as well.

“The stallion share is for a young, up-and-coming stallion,” Aaron said. “We have multiple stakes horses in this book, half siblings to Grade I winners, daughters of Grade I winners, horses with conditions left to race and graded-stakes caliber racehorses. It's a very strong group of horses.”

He concluded, “The support that we've gotten from consignors horse wise is very good. It's just a real quality group of horses. I think it's gonna grow eventually with volume, but for right now, we're just focused on quality to try to establish the marketplace.”

For more from Aaron on the March Digital Selected Sale, click here for a recent Q&A session.

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Mack, Brant Return from Humanitarian Mission on Ukraine Border

A horse owner and a philanthropist, Earle Mack has a well-deserved reputation of being there for people in need and getting things done, so it should come as no surprise that he led a delegation that brought medical supplies, food, clothing and other essentials to Ukrainian refugees who had made their way to the border with Hungary. He's back now, after a mission he said was some parts sad, some parts gratifying and some parts inspiring. He achieved what he set out to do, make a difference.

“It was emotionally a very difficult experience, but I'm happy we went,” said Mack, who enlisted Peter Brant to come with him on the trip. “The stories I heard about the indiscriminate shooting of women and children and the looting were horrific and brought me to tears. People who lived there all their lives had to leave their homes in order to save their lives. Wives and mothers left their husbands and sons behind to fight. Some of the women and children I visited at the Budapest Church Refugee Center had to walk in the freezing cold to the western borders, fearing being bombed along the way.”

The Russian invasion of Ukraine hit home with Mack for many reasons, including that he is of Ukranian descent. His grandfather emigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine, arriving at Ellis Island in 1900. The Mack family would enjoy considerable success in the U.S., and Earle Mack has always put his personal wealth to good use. One of his pet causes was the Man o'War Project, the first university-led research trial to establish manualized guidelines for the application of Equine-Assisted Therapy for treating veterans with PTSD.

“Seeing this horrific killing of innocent people that started going on because Vladmir Putin wants to reclaim and rebuild his Soviet empire, I felt like I had to do something,” Mack said.

So one morning he picked up the phone and called former New York Governor George Pataki. Pataki is the founder of the Pataki Leadership Center and a trustee of the Advisory Council of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation. The Appeal of Conscience Foundation is an interfaith partnership of corporate and spiritual leaders from all faiths who come together to promote “peace, tolerance and ethnic conflict resolution.” Mack convinced Pataki to work with him on a project to bring relief to Ukranian refugees.

Photo from Appeal of Conscience Foundation

Rabbi Arthur Schneier is the president and founder of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation and a survivor of the Holocaust.

“Today the world is responding to the people of Ukraine and to lend assistance to Hungary and neighboring countries who have opened their doors to those fleeing,” Schneier said. “As a refugee myself, I know what it means to be hungry and to go days without food. I know what it means to flee your home with little more than just clothing on your back. The terror I lived through is part of my life each and every day. For that reason the Appeal of Conscience Foundation is proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Pataki Leadership Center in this humanitarian mission in helping to provide the essentials that will assist the displaced refugees.”

Mack's next call was to Brant.

“The Ukrainian people really need our help,” Brant said. “Whatever we can do, big or small, we need to do for them now.”

Mack, Brant and Brant's wife, Stephanie Seymour, went to work, gathering as much clothing as they could find. Mack said Seymour spent $30,000 of her own money to buy clothes. Clothes were a big part of the mission because most refugees could bring only a few items of clothing when leaving their homes. Mack said they filled and distributed 40 duffel bags full of clothes.

Mack and Brant departed Florida with a plane load of supplies last Thursday and met Pataki in Hungary. Brant's son and daughter also traveled to Hungary.

“The people were so grateful,” Mack said. “We tried to give the parents money. They had nothing but they wouldn't accept any money from us. They are such proud people. That was inspiring.”

While the clothing they handed out was appreciated, it was a simple gift that seemed to have the most impact. Mack and his crew distributed chocolate bars to the children at the Mukachevo Refugee Center.

“The children were crying when we got there,” said Mack, the former ambassador to Finland. “We played games with the children and brought them chocolate, which I knew would make them smile. One of the directors told us that was the first time they had seen the children laughing since they arrived. I explained to these children that the world was watching them and that they are heroes. They'll remember what their parents went through to get them out of there.”

Brant and Mack have returned, but they left behind a team of professionals who will remain at the Hungarian Ukrainian border to assist local officials and healthcare workers in aiding the refugees. Mack's work in Ukraine may not be done.

“How did it feel? I was so inspired,” he said. “It made me want to do more good, to continue to do good with my life.”

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Insight Outcomes: Gina Romantica Stars at Tampa

This week featured three busy days of profiled runners, with Into Mischief's Gina Romantica the undisputed headliner of the “Insighted” horses. Two others to keep an eye on are a pair of Upstart fillies: Micro Share, who won at Santa Anita, and Green Up, who was victorious at Gulfstream. Micro Share had been a subject of Insights earlier in her career and Green Up was named a 'TDN Rising Star' based on a facile romp.

Friday's Insights: Into Mischief Filly Stretches Out for Baffert

4th-Santa Anita, $67,000, Msw, 3-11, 3yo, f, 1m, 1:38.42, ft, 4 1/2 lengths.

It was MICRO SHARE (f, 3, Upstart–Who'sbeeninmybed, by The Daddy)'s turn to shine after a second last out in eventual GIII Las Virgenes S. winner Adare Manor (Uncle Mo)'s maiden. Shine she did, splitting horses at the five-sixteenths pole, sweeping to the lead under a Mike Smith hand ride, and coasting home 4 1/2 lengths to the best of $750,000 Keeneland September buy Brocade (Into Mischief). Micro Share, herself an OBS April $450,000 purchase after breezing :20 4/5, is conditioned by Richard Mandella and was part of a November Insights. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

9th-Gulfstream, $53,000, Msw, 3-11, 4yo/up, f/m, 1m 70y (AWT) (off turf), 1:41.99, ft, 2 lengths.

It wasn't Watch It (Tapit)'s day in this off-turf maiden, her second of two career starts taken off the turf. With some top Group 1 winners in Europe close up in her family, Watch It would likely appreciate her next start staying on the grass. Barclay Tagg's SANURA (f, 4, Kitten's Joy–Nehantic Kat {MSW & MGSP, $394,481}, by Tomorrows Cat) took home the win. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Saturday's Insights: American Pharoah Filly Arrives at Aqueduct

1st-AQU, $80K, Msw, 3yo, f, 6 1/2f, 1:20 p.m.

Racing was cancelled at Aqueduct Saturday due to a winter storm. With Bells on (American Pharoah) will have to find another spot for her debut.

6th-Tampa Bay Downs, $32,000, Msw, 3-12, 3yo, f, 6f, 1:11.35, gd, 1 1/4 lengths.

The multiple stakes-producing dam of GINA ROMANTICA (f, 3, Into Mischief–Special Me, by Unbridled's Song) was profiled by TDN in 2019, complete with a photo of Gina Romantica as a foal. Sold for $1.025 million at Keeneland September, Gina Romantica looks to be another special one out of her Machmer Hall dam with her 1 1/4-length debut win margin belying the ease of her flying-on-the-outside victory. With her eye-catching debut, big pedigree, and prominent connections–Chad Brown trains her for Peter Brant–it's a good bet this won't be the only time we hear her name. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

6th-Gulfstream, $53,000, Msw, 3-12, 3yo, 7 1/2fT, 1:29.10, fm, neck.

While Gina Romantica was impressing at Tampa, the same connections brought back Watasha (Into Mischief) from a nearly eight-month layoff at Gulfstream only to have the party spoiled by Arnmore Thoroughbreds homebred RIOT HOUSE (g, 3, Violence–Tuttipaesi {Ire} {GSW & GISP-USA, MSW-Ity, $586,313}, by Clodovil {Ire}). A $450,000 Keeneland September purchase, Watasha ran evenly. Riot House was coming off an almost nine-month layoff of his own and a trainer switch from Wesley Ward to Danny Gargan. His sire is currently ranked in the top 15 of active sires standing in the U.S. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

9th-Gulfstream, $53,000, Msw, 3-12, 3yo, 6f, 1:10.53, sy, 2 1/4 lengths.

Second-time starter UNIKEE (c, 3, Unified–Yankee Union {MSP, $164,064}, by Yankee Gentleman) prevailed over debuting Cape Trafalgar (Lord Nelson) in the slop. Hector Berrios aboard Cape Trafalgar alleged interference against Miguel Vasquez and Unikee in the stretch, but stewards disallowed the claim. Both the winner and the runner-up were previous sales horses, with Unikee hammering for $50,000 at OBS last June after working a furlong in :10 1/5 and Cape Trafalgar bringing $325,000 as a yearling at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky. He was the second-highest sales yearling for the late Lord Nelson that year. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Sunday's Insights: Half to Maxfield Debuts in Hallandale

4th-Gulfstream, $53,000, Msw, 3-13, 3yo, f, 6f, 1:10.04, ft, 6 3/4 lengths.

Pedigree handicappers had to love Godolphin homebred Loved (Medaglia d'Oro), a half-sister to MGISW Maxfield (Street Sense), but it was Team Valor's GREEN UP (f, 3, Upstart-Green Punch, by Two Punch) who went to post at 2-5. Green Up sold for a mere $10,000 as a Fasig-Tipton Midlantic yearling, but has had her connections high on her future–including a GI Kentucky Oaks nomination–after consistently working lights out for Todd Pletcher. She more than delivered Sunday, stalking from second before outclassing her opponents for a 6 3/4-length win and 'TDN Rising Star' honors. No one was going to beat Green Up this day, but Loved got some dirt in her face and an education. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

11th-Gulfstream, $60,000, Msw, 3-13, 3yo, f, 7 1/2f T, 1:28.93, gd, 4 1/2 lengths.

Claimed for $50,000 from Steve Asmussen by Jeff Hiles at Churchill last November, HOWBOUTDEMAPPLES (f, 3, Tiznow–Apple Down Under, by Lonhro {Aus}) made her first visit to the winner's circle at the expense of Personal Best (Tapit) and Get By (Get Stormy), who were both making their racing debuts. Both Personal Best–her Grade I-winning dam's first foal–and Get By–a full-sister to 2020 GIII Honey Fox S. winner Getmotherarose–moved up from the rear of the 12-horse field to finish midpack. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

9th-Oaklawn, $90,000, Msw, 3-13, 3yo, 6f, 1:10.70, ft, 3/4 length.

It was firster SISAWAY NOW (c, 3, Tiznow–Run Away's Sis, by City Zip) who graduated over fellow first-timer Be There (Medaglia d'Oro). The latter was knocked sideways by a rival at the start with a fierce slam and never fully recovered. Sisaway Now paid $92.40 for the win. Be There is the first foal out of GIII Miss Grillo S. and GIII Boiling Springs S. winner Tin Type Gal (Tapit). Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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