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Tributes to Gary Lavin

Tributes continue to pour in following the death of noted veterinarian Gary Lavin, who passed away Saturday at the age of 83. Lavin is a past president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, Steward of The Jockey Club, trustee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and the Breeders' Cup, director at Keeneland, and vice-chairman of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.

BILL LANDES, General Manager Hermitage Farm and a successor KTA President to Lavin

“Oh, Gosh!” Not only was that Doc's favorite expression, but my response when asked for memories of him.

When I began at Hermitage on Nov. 1, 1977, the first person Warner Jones insisted I meet was Doc. Thank goodness for that advice for that led to a lifetime of Doc's counsel, information and friendship.

So many afternoons from 1977 to 1992, Doc returned from his Churchill vet practice to spend time in Mr. Jones's Hermitage office. He always brought with him a Racing Form for Jones, gossip and news from the Churchill Downs' backside, and usually some advice as to what changes were needed at Churchill. Sometimes Mr. Jones would heed that advice.

I know Doc identified Shug McGaughey as a young trainer to watch. Jones did heed that advice and he eventually forged a long professional and personal relationship with Shug.

A memorable day was the afternoon when Doc proudly told Mr. Jones he had bought neighboring Lasater Farm and was renaming it Longfield. I'll never forget Mr. Jones's response “Doc, now that we're neighbors, remember, 'Neither a borrower (Jones pronounced it borryer) nor lender be!'”

Life lessons I gleaned from Doc were: Despite a perceived 502/606 (Louisville/Lexington) rivalry, cultivate close relationships with Lexington competitors and friends. It served him well and has done the same for me. He also created mutually respectful friendships with both the small and the mighty. He got on with everyone.

A better example of a husband, father, grandfather, and friend can not be identified. I'll miss him.

PATRICK COOPER of BBA Ireland

'One horse wins and the rest should've.' Dr. A Gary Lavin's withering assessment of turf racing in the 1990s. Slow forward to 2017–Dockie didn't do fast–and I get a call from Kevin. Doc wants to buy a share in this new syndicate you have set up. 'Kevin, there is no dirt racing here in Ireland.' So began three years of reconnecting to a true gentleman.

A born raconteur, his stories didn't really need a beginning or end, just an audience. Time spent with the Doc was just one of life's great pleasures. We had what proved a final lunch in the sunshine on the banks of the Ohio last November. Three hours with Gary and Family Lavin talking horses and nonsense. To Betsy, Allan and Kevin, keep the table. We might not be able to talk to him any more, but we sure as hell can talk about him.

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The Week in Review: Tapit Supplies Favors for 20th Birthday Bash

Birthdays with a zero on the end are supposed to be momentous occasions, and 20-year-old Tapit sure knows how to celebrate in style.

On Saturday, the Gainesway stallion even supplied the party favors for a double-barreled bash in his honor on the GI Kentucky Derby trail.

Exactly two decades after Tapit's Feb. 27, 2001, foaling date, two of his sons delivered sky's-the-limit performances as winning favorites in key 3-year-old prep stakes that firmly established both atop of the current crop of aspirants to wear a blanket of roses on the first Saturday in May.

The near-term debate will now center on which colt–Essential Quality or Greatest Honour–deserves kingpin billing on the sophomore totem pole.

An equally intriguing subplot involves whether either can deliver a first Derby win for the sire who has evolved into the most influential stallion of the 21st Century. Tapit has produced eight divisional champions, six Breeders' Cup winners and three GI Belmont S. victors. But siring a Derby winner has thus far eluded the now-whitened gray, just as the Derby itself did in 2004 when Tapit splashed home ninth as one of the favorites.

Undefeated 'Quality'

Essential Quality had his 3-year-old debut delayed by two weeks because winter weather thrice forced the rescheduling of the GIII Southwest S. at Oaklawn. Yet Mother Nature still managed to intercede by imposing a sloppy (sealed) racing surface Saturday.

The undefeated juvenile champ and 'TDN Rising Star' broke fluidly and responded to a cue to rate from rider Luis Saez, settling fifth into the clubhouse turn while vacating the rail and opting for a three-wide berth (in the gooey going, every jockey in the race avoided the rail like it was strung with barbed wire).

The big matchup in the Southwest was supposed to be the tear-away speed of 6-5 second favorite Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) versus the high-cruise stalking skills of 9-to-10 choice Essential Quality, and the race unfolded as scripted in the early stages with “Jackie” leading the charge through a :23.52 opening quarter that jockey Joel Rosario then milked to a :48.11 breather of a half mile.

“EQ” took firm hold of the bit and wanted to pull, but Saez harnessed that keenness effectively and got the champ to edge forward incrementally while outside and in the clear for the backstretch run. Against the hazy blur of fog, the gray made headway at a metronomic rate of one position per furlong, attaining and releasing each target in a measured manner before focusing adeptly on the next.

EQ had given up real estate on both turns, but was full of momentum coming over the top at the quarter pole, getting second run on the caving Jackie (whose Derby stock slipped considerably after a second failed try at two turns). But Essential Quality had to brace for a fresh challenge in the form of Spielberg (Union Rags), who was unwinding from last and finishing fast after getting off to a stutter-step start.

The champ was up to the task. Essential Quality switched leads and took off when Saez asked, widening to the wire to win by 4 1/4 lengths in 1:45.48 for 1 1/16 miles, which translated to a 96 Beyer Speed Figure, an improvement of one point over his Juvenile win back in November. (The other same-distance races on the card were the GIII Razorback H., run 90 minutes earlier for older males, which clocked :01.15 faster, and an allowance-optional claimer nightcap for older males one race after the Southwest that went :0.75 slower.)

The Apr. 3 GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland (where Essential Quality is 2-for-2) or the Apr. 10 GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn are reportedly under consideration as final Derby tune-ups by trainer Brad Cox.

'Greatest' Without Ease

While Essential Quality's Southwest S. win stamped him as a Derby contender who is fluidly polishing his prowess, the even-money favored win by Greatest Honour in Gulfstream's GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S. (FOY) resonated more like an unleashing of brute force by a deep closer who ate a lot of kickback, totally lost his momentum on the far turn, then stormed home relentlessly despite a short-stretch configuration that does not play to off-the-tailgate tactics.

The raw power demonstrated by Greatest Honour in winning three 1 1/16 miles races this winter at Gulfstream has to be considered within the context that races at that distance at that track start very close to the first turn and end at the sixteenth pole. This often tilts the advantage to speed-centric runners, and the FOY in particular has been a house of horrors for well-backed “headline” horses. Prior to Saturday, FOY faves had lost the last four runnings and 13 of the previous 15 editions.

Jockey Jose Ortiz guided Greatest Honour to his customary spot near the back of the bunch in the FOY. Settling inside, the rugged bay wasn't crazy about being pelted with dirt, but he was hemmed in at the fence until the far turn. When Ortiz tried to edge out, Greatest Honour's back end got bumped by an outside rival, and the favorite appeared for a moment as if he was going to plummet back through the pack.

When a long-striding horse gets stopped like that, it can be difficult to get him back into rhythm. By the three-eighths pole (which is 2 1/2 furlongs from the wire on this configuration), Greatest Honour was still nine lengths adrift. He sparked back into stride when Ortiz switched him outside, but at the top of the lane, one furlong from the short-stretch finish, the colt was still five lengths off the action and under the whip.

Once in the clear on the straightaway though, Greatest Honour fully uncoiled. Granted, he ran down a tiring leader to win by 1 1/4 lengths in 1:44.02 (89 Beyer). But the visual impression he made carries more weight than any speed number. Watching him gobble up ground so voraciously led to automatic thoughts about what havoc a monster like this might be able to wreak given a longer stretch over extended distances.

Trainer Shug McGuaghey indicated the Mar. 27 GI Florida Derby was likely next. “I'm glad we don't have to run a mile and a sixteenth anymore,” he added. “When they're going farther, I think we might see a little better horse.”

Both Essential Quality (Godolphin) and Greatest Honour (Courtlandt Farms) are homebreds.

But for Courtlandt's Donald Adam, the connection to Tapit is gratifying on a different level.

“I bought the mare [Tiffany's Honour] in foal to a Tapit colt, and that colt hit the ground and was killed in a paddock accident,” Adam said post-race. “So, I bred her back to Tapit and got [Greatest Honour].”

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Casse Will Appeal Herecomesthebride DQ

After Spanish Loveaffair (Karakontie {Jpn}) was disqualified for causing interference in the $100,000 GIII Herecomesthebride S. Saturday at Gulfstream, trainer Mark Casse said he would appeal the decision.

“I have the paperwork right here and I am filling it out,” he said just a few minutes after the race.

On the far turn, Spanish Loveaffair got tangled up with I Get It (Get Stormy) and the two appeared to clip heels, which caused I Get It to bounce off the inner rail. It was not exactly clear whether or not I Get It's rider Miguel Vasquez went for a hole that was not there. The stewards reviewed the race for about 10 minutes before making their call.

Tyler Gaffalione was aboard Spanish Loveaffair, who crossed the wire 2 3/4 lengths in front. I Get It crossed the wire fourth, but was elevated to third because of the disqualification. Spanish Loveaffair was placed fourth.

“I've been through a lot of DQ's in my life and have appealed a few. But it's been about 10 years since I've done that,” Casse said. “I don't want to be a crybaby and I take my lickings. But I thought Vasquez moved into a spot he probably shouldn't have been in. There's no question that they clipped heels, but he initiated the contact. Our opinion is that she should not have been DQ'ed.”

Spanish Loveaffair is a half-sister to GI American Oaks winner Spanish Queen (Tribal Rule).

“Do you know what this race meant to her value as a broodmare?” Casse said. “If they hadn't taken her down she would be a half-sister to a Grade I winner who is a Grade III winner herself at Gulfstream Park. The DQ cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

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Former Churchill Downs President Lynn Stone Passes Away

Former Churchill Downs CEO and president Albert Lynn Stone, better known as Lynn Stone, passed away Feb. 22 in Lexington, Ky. He was 95.

During Stone's tenure at the helm of Churchill, from 1970-84, the Louisville track witnessed a remarkable three Triple Crown winners in Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed. As Churchill's ninth president, he was responsible for instituting the 20-horse limit in the Kentucky Derby and also oversaw $10-million in physical improvements that included new Skye Terraces, a press box, jockey quarters, 12 new barns, fire-resistant tack rooms, sprinkling systems in all barns, a recreation building, restroom facilities, and fireproof stairways in the grandstand and clubhouse.

Stone had originally joined the Louisville track in 1961 as resident manager and jointly spent several years as president of both Churchill and Florida's Hialeah Park. He also served two terms as president of the Thoroughbred Racing Association of North America and was on various boards, including the American Horse Council, Jockey Club Round Table, and Kentucky Thoroughbred Breeders' Association.

Born in New Orleans in 1925, Stone was a member of the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II. A career in professional baseball followed. He signed with the New York Yankees and played with other minor league teams, then moved into management. He was part of the 1958 move of the Milwaukee Braves Triple-A team to Louisville and served as general manager of the Louisville Colonels until Churchill beckoned.

After retiring, Stone continued as a consultant to Churchill and other racing and sports organizations. Survivors include his wife, Jane Stokes Stone; three sons: Michael Stone (Katharine Friel) of Versailles, Patrick (Nora) Stone of Lawrenceburg, and Steve (Leslie) Stone of Nicholasville; two step-children: Charles (Christine) Halloran of Washington, D.C. and Ann Tarter Halloran of Lexington; and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.

A public visitation will be held from 3:30-5:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28, at Kerr Brothers Funeral Home-Harrodsburg Road in Lexington. Private funeral services will be held at Kerr Brothers, with private burial to follow at Camp Nelson National Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to either the American Legion Man O' War Post #8 (1230 Man O' War Place, Lexington, KY 40504) or the Alzheimer's Association (Greater Kentucky and Southern Indiana Chapter–Kaden Tower, 6100 Dutchmans Lane, Ste 401, Louisville, KY 40205-3284).

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