Tag: The Biz

In a clear sign signaling that the sport is inching its way back from COVID, the National Steeplechase Association will honor the leading horse and human competitors of 2022 at an awards dinner in Baltimore, Md., on Thursday, Jan. 19, the first such gala in three years.

The evening event, at the Maryland Club beginning at 6 p.m., will also pay homage to the champions of 2020 and 2021, who were deprived of full-scale public accolades because of restrictions and concerns about the pandemic.

Tickets are priced at $150 per person, and can be purchased via the NSA website, www.nationalsteeplechase.com. For information, contact Rosella Hunter, the NSA's new business manager, at rosella@nationalsteeplechase.com. Tickets will go on sale Monday, Dec. 12. Well-known NSA personality Megan Connelly, a familiar commentator at many meets, will be the master of ceremonies.

The recently concluded 2022 season boasted a full slate of meets for the first time since 2019, so there's plenty to celebrate. Here are the honorees:

Lonesome Glory winner – Snap Decision

Bruton Street-US' Snap Decision has been so good for so long, and this year he'll finally get his due as the jumper with the highest earnings. The only two-time Grade 1 winner of the year (Iroquois, Jonathan Sheppard), the eight-year-old Hard Spun gelding, also finished second twice in G1 competition and ended the season with $220,500 in NSA purses. He's the odds-on choice to be voted the Eclipse Award winner, too, when those ceremonies are held in Palm Beach, Fla., on Jan. 26. Trained by Hall of Famer Jack Fisher and ridden by Graham Watters, Snap Decision registered nine straight wins at one point in his remarkable career and toted 164 pounds – the most weight in a generation – to a smashing 13 ¼-length score at Saratoga last summer.

Leading owner – Bruton Street-US

A partnership of three friends (Mike Hankin, Charlie Fenwick, and Charlie Noell) that had its genesis less than a decade ago, Bruton Street has experienced heady success over hurdles and timber in that short span. The trio captured their first Eclipse Award with Scorpiancer, in 2017, and Moscato in 2020, and are likely to secure their third title with Snap Decision. Bruton Street was also the leading owner in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. With trainer Jack Fisher at the helm, the stable had 34 starters in 2022, with seven winners, six seconds, and five thirds, and total earnings of $450,750, $27,000 more than the Irv Naylor stable. Besides Snap Decision, Bruton Street campaigned novice champion Proven Innocent, and impressive maiden winners Neotropic and South Mountain.

Leading trainer – Leslie Young

After coming oh-so-close to dethroning 14-time champion Jack Fisher for honors in 2021, Leslie Young notched her first title with an incredible 37 winners, the most since Fisher hit that mark in 2019. Before that, you'd have to go back to 1994 when the immortal Jonathan Sheppard won that many. Sheppard is the only conditioner since 1974 to have had a season with even more winners. Young's $994,100 in purse earnings was second only to rival Keri Brion, who amassed $1,106,950 – becoming the only trainer other than Fisher to crack the million-dollar mark in NSA history. In all, Young saddled 153 starters, and also had 25 seconds and 19 thirds. Young, who is married to six-time champion rider Paddy Young, has been training on the circuit for 16 years. Her top runners include Ballybristol Farm's multiple stakes winner Andi'amu, who took his second timber title in 2022, Silverton Hill's Bodes well, a stakes winner over hurdles who has become the star of steeplethon events over mixed obstacles; Sharon Sheppard's hard-hitting graded stakes winner Redicean; and timber ace Tomgarrow, the 2021 timber champ, who runs in the colors of Leipers Fork Steeplechasers.

Leading jockey – Parker Hendriks

Talk about a sensational career start. In only his third year on the NSA circuit, teen sensation Parker Hendriks not only rode more winners – and secured more purse money – than anyone else, his total of 25 victories was the highest since Paddy Young's 27 in 2011. Hendriks, who turned 19 last month, has the pedigree to excel. He is the son of former champion rider and current trainer Ricky Hendriks and Sanna Neilson, the trainer of one of the sport's greatest legends, McDynamo. He is also the grandson of the late-great horseman Paddy Neilson, and nephew of trainer Kathy Neilson. In addition to his victories, Hendriks also had 15 seconds, and seven thirds, while riding first-call for Keri Brion. His purses, from 96 starts, totaled $730,850, $93,000 more than runnerup Graham Watters. Hendriks piloted stakes winners Historic Heart (Carolina Cup), Iranistan (G2 Temple Gwathmey), French Light (Queen's Cup), Ljay (Harry Harris), and Molly Fantasy (Montpelier Cup).

Leading apprentice jockey – Freddie Procter

Demonstrating incredible consistency throughout his first season in the U.S., UK-based rider Freddie Procter made the most of his NSA opportunities, securing rides for champion trainer Leslie Young aboard stalwarts including timber champions Andi'amu and Tomgarrow, as well as accomplished veterans Court Ruler, Mercoeur, Perfect Tapatino, and maiden winners Uco Valley, Monbeg Stream, and Boutinniere. For much of the season, Procter's winning percentage topped 50 percent and he ended the year with a strike rate of 36 percent. Beyond that, he racked up 32 in-the-money finishes in just 50 rides, including 18 wins, 10 seconds, and four thirds. He partnered with Andi'amu for four stakes scores, in the Virginia and International Gold Cups, the Genesee Valley Hunt Cup and the Willowdale Steeplechase. Along the way, he picked up $358,400 in purses.

Novice champion – Proven Innocent

A four-year-old son of Blame, bred in Kentucky by Stuart Janney III, Bruton Street-US' Proven Innocent began his jump racing career in April at the Queen's Cup races following five starts on the flat for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. And he turned heads from the get-go. Following a close fourth in his debut, the steely gray broke his maiden at the Iroquois Races for trainer Jack Fisher, then finished a troubled second to Freddy Flintshire in a Saratoga allowance. Bet down to favoritism in his next start in another Spa allowance, Proven Innocent prevailed in a spirited duel with Bandua, then faced what seemed like an insurmountable task against 2021 Eclipse Award winner The Mean Queen, making her first and only start of the year in the $75,000 William Entenmann novice stakes at Aqueduct. In the Entenmann, Proven Innocent and Jamie Bargary stalked the champ, gaining a bit of ground with every stride through the lane, and nipping her at the wire at 9-1. In his final start of the year, the Harry Harris stakes at Far Hills, Proven Innocent came up a bit flat to finish third at even money, but had already secured his place in NSA history.

Filly & Mare champion – Down Royal

At eight years old, Joseph Fowler's Down Royal has been formidable since her NSA debut back in 2017. Stakes placed at age three, she signaled she was ready for bigger conquests with a blowout score in a handicap against males in the spring of 2021 at the Queen's Cup races. But it was following her next start, a close second to eventual Eclipse Award winner The Mean Queen in the Margaret Currey Henley Stakes at Nashville that Down Royal reached a new plateau for the trainer-rider team of Kate and Bernie Dalton, who bred the mare they affectionately call “Princess.” After that impressive effort, the New York-bred daughter of Breeders' Cup Classic winner Alphabet Soup and the Dalton's mare Miss Crown reeled off four straight stakes victories, two of which came in 2022, including the Henley, which gave Bernie Dalton his 100th career victory. However, the best was still yet to come, as Down Royal earned her first Grade 1 in the A.P. Smithwick at Saratoga then put an exclamation point on the season with another open stakes score against males in the G2 Zeke Ferguson at the International Gold Cup Races in October. Her overall record for the year: Three wins in four starts and $165,000 in earnings.

Timber champion – Andi'amu

It's rare for a horse to return from an injury layoff of nearly two years, and rarer still for that horse to come back in top form at the highest level of competition. It's even more remarkable when that comeback involves a 12-year-old. Yet, Ballybristol Farm's Andi'amu overcame all of those obstacles to put together his second championship season under the careful handling of Leslie Young. He previously took the title in 2019. Ridden by Freddie Procter in five of his six starts (and all four victories), Andi'amu made his first start since June 27, 2020 in the Middleburg Hunt Cup in late April, finishing second to rival Storm Team. With a race under his belt, Andi'amu romped in the $100,000 Virginia Gold Cup in May by 23 lengths, then scored by 16 in the Willowdale Steeplechase a week later. Following another second to Storm Team at Shawan, Andi'amu won the Genesee Valley Hunt Cup by 12 lengths. He closed out the year with a dazzling 10-length victory in the $75,000 International Gold Cup, a race that put him over the half-million-dollar mark in his 45-race career that began in 2012. With the title, Andi'amu joins Doc Cebu, Bubble Economy, Saluter, Dosdi, Fort Devon, and Jacko to repeat (at least twice) as timber champion.

Leading three-year-old – Topic Changer

There aren't many opportunities for freshman jumpers, but three-year-old Topic Changer made the most of his two starts, which took place within a two-week span in late fall. A New York-bred son of Flintshire, Jordan Wycoff and Frank Mullins' Topic Changer made the transition to steeplechasing after five starts on the NYRA circuit. Making his debut at Aiken, the Keri Brion-trainee broke his maiden by 4 ½ lengths, then prepared for a showdown in the season finale at Charleston with Irish invader The Insider, who was coming off a 17-length triumph in his only U.S. start, the Gladstone Stakes at Far Hills. In the Alston Cup at Charleston, Topic Changer was miraculously able to avoid a mishap at the last fence that eliminated his two nearest foes, including The Insider, and sprint clear by 13 lengths as one of only two finishers. The victory wasn't pretty, but it was enough to cement the title.

Tribute to previous winners

Also on the Jan. 19 agenda will be awards to the champions the previous two seasons, both of which were shortened due to the pandemic.

The 2020 titlists include Leading owner Bruton Street-US; jockey Gerard Galligan; trainer Jonathan Sheppard (his 25th and final title).

The 2021 list includes Lonesome Glory, Novice, Filly & Mare, and Eclipse Award winner The Mean Queen; owner Buttonwood Farm; jockey Graham Watters; apprentice jockey Skylar McKenna; trainer Jack Fisher; timber horse Tomgarrow; three-year-old Realist.

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The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) and the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA) today announced that a team led by Brendan Kumagai has been selected as the winner of the inaugural Big Data Derby competition. Kumagai, together with Gurashish Bagga, Kimberly Kroetch, Tyrel Stokes, and Liam Welsh, took the $20,000 first prize with the submission, “Bayesian Velocity Models for Horse Race Simulation.”

Kumagai's team created a dynamic model that focused on horses' forward versus lateral speed, and examined the results of sustained momentum and velocity within races. The team also studied jockey performance and how that would impact a horse's running style. Another conclusion in the study posited that with additional biometric data, it would be possible to calculate a horse's welfare and injury probability.

“We're honored to be named the winners of the inaugural Big Data Derby competition,” said Kumagai. “Our team primarily works in financial analytics and hockey statistics, so working with horse racing data has been a unique challenge which allowed us to apply our skills to a relatively new and unexplored domain.”

The Big Data Derby was launched with the goal of analyzing the vast amounts of data available to racing organizations, and to understand how the results of those studies could impact traditional methods of racing and training. The competition was sponsored by the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) and the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA) in partnership with the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, Equibase, The Jockey Club, Breeders' Cup and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA).

A total of 106 submissions were received for the inaugural Big Data Derby. 9,349 potential competitors accessed the competition's four data files over the course of the competition. A wide and varied range of submissions offered models that shed light on injury prevention, jockey decision making metrics, race tactics, track bias and more.

An open notebook of user-created content and data can be viewed at: https://www.kaggle.com/competitions/big-data-derby-2022/code.

“Our main objective with this competition was to usher in an age of technological innovation analyzing horse racing data to suggest improvements in vital topics such as equine performance and welfare,” said NYTHA President Joe Appelbaum. “The enthusiastic response from this community suggests that our tradition-bound sport could benefit by applying knowledge gained from machine learning.”

Kumagai, a Data Science intern at Zelus Analytics, was previously part of a team that won the 2022 Big Data Bowl offered by the National Football League.

The Big Data Derby offered a total of $50,000 in prize money with $20,000 awarded to the winner and $10,000 each to the next three placings. The competition was held on Kaggle, a global data science platform with over 500,000 active users where participants compete by using machine learning to solve problems ranging from the trivial to the extremely complex.

The runners-up included Kyle King's submission “Track Bias,” which explained the calculation of a track bias metric. Timothy Leung and Philip Leung offered “Advanced Horse Race Tactics Using Coordinate Data,” which examined the impact of drafting percentage, path efficiency, race strategy and speed fluctuation. Artem Volgin and Ekaterina Melianova submitted “Winning Strategies: What Works Better,” a study of jockey tactics and race flow.

“Data science can have a profound impact on a number of different aspects of horse racing,” said Joe Longo, GM of NYRA Content Management Services. “It can be applied to enhance our understanding of equine health and safety or day-to-day training methods by providing a new toolkit to even the most knowledgeable racing participants. NYRA is committed to embracing this pursuit moving forward.”

The competition was judged by data analyst Rob Bingel, Rhodes College Economics Professor, avid horseplayer and thoroughbred owner Marshall Gramm, and Craig Milkowski of TimeformUS.

“What came across loud and clear in reviewing all of the presentations was a passion for quantitative analysis and a learning curiosity that was piqued by the intricacies that the data-rich world of horse racing has to offer,” said Bingel, a financial planner and racing data analyst. “This competition served as a valuable introduction of the data scientist community to NYRA/NYTHA and holds the promise for future collaboration. The solutions proposed by the entrants, especially the winners, naturally leads to thoughts about what future important questions they could so capably answer.”

The 2022 fall meet at Aqueduct Racetrack continues through Saturday, December 31. For additional information, and the complete stakes schedule, visit www.NYRA.com.

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Churchill Downs Racetrack today released the 2023 “Official Art of the Kentucky Derby” by renowned international artist, Romero Britto. Considered one of the most celebrated living artists in the world, Britto uses a bold, vibrant aesthetic to evoke a sense of fun and happiness in each of his pieces. From his roots in Brazil to his current home in Miami, Britto has traveled around the world, bringing joy and inspiration to millions with his fresh, colorful work.

Britto's artwork for the 149th Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve highlights his iconic approach of mixing bright colors with unique patterns. With sparkling, textured accents and elements of pop graphics, the art features subtle details that bring the racetrack scene to life, highlighting the energy and excitement of the Derby in a modern way.

“The Kentucky Derby has such a rich history, and we are thrilled to collaborate with Romero Britto to commemorate the 149th running with artwork that brings a modern perspective to our longstanding tradition,” said Casey C. Ramage, VP of Marketing and Partnerships, Churchill Downs. “Working with an icon like Britto is an exciting opportunity for us to connect with new fans around the globe through this visually compelling representation of the fun and exhilaration of the Derby experience.”

In addition to creating the “Official Art of the Kentucky Derby,” Britto will also attend this year's event to watch the race and participate in a variety of the week's special activities, including sitting on the judging panel for the Longines Kentucky Oaks Fashion Contest.

“I'm honored to partner with Churchill Downs to unveil the official art of this year's Kentucky Derby and celebrate this spectacular occasion,” said international artist, Romero Britto. “The race is such an iconic and fun event that no one better than Britto to create a masterpiece that elicits the happiness and passion associated with it,” added Lucas Vidal, CEO of the BRITTO organization.

Britto's “Official Art of the Kentucky Derby” will be featured on the 2023 Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks official racing programs and a variety of merchandise. 1,000 limited-edition prints will be available for purchase starting today, December 6, 2022, at 10:00am ET at www.KentuckyDerbyStore.com. All other items will be available for purchase beginning in late February.

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Ashwood Training Center in Lexington, Ky., is scheduled to reopen in the coming weeks under new management and a new name, according to Michelle Dalton, who will manage the property she is leasing in partnership with trainer Matt Frazier and owner Barry Fowler.

The new name will be Three Diamonds Training Center LLC and it could reopen as soon as Dec. 15, Dalton said.

Ashwood was closed July 1 when owner Anderson Communities sought permission from the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government to have 12 soccer fields and 750 parking spaces developed on the property in association with the Lexington Sporting Club. After pushback from the horse industry and community members, Lexington Sporting Club withdrew their plans and found alternative property along I-75 near Athens-Boonesboro Road south of Lexington.

The training center property, whose entrance is on Russell Cave Road, is adjacent to Fasig-Tipton and Kenny McPeek's Magdalena Farm. It had previously been leased from Anderson Communities by Marc Ricker.

Dalton, a licensed trainer, said the partners signed a multi-year lease on the property, effective Dec. 1, and are beginning renovations and repairs.

“It needs a lot of work,” she said. “The first thing is to peel back the racetrack to see what needs to be done. The starting gate has to be refurbished, and there is electrical, plumbing, and carpentry work that is needed.

“We are in the beginning phases and are putting enough money into the facility to have the upgrades last 15 to 20 years,” she added.

Dalton said property owner Dennis Anderson “wanted it run correctly, to be a nice place for good people to go to train racehorses.”

The facility has approximately 275 stalls, a three-quarter mile dirt track and a turf oval inside the dirt track.

Three Diamonds will charge $300 per month per stall, Dalton said, and there is a “huge demand” already. “When people found out I was trying to reopen it,” she said, “I started getting calls and we have a long list of people waiting for stalls.”

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