The Biz | Horse Racing Free Tips

Stride Racing Club Launches In New Zealand, Offering Fractional Lease Shares

An immersive Thoroughbred ownership experience, Stride Racing Club (SRC) is the newest racing concept to launch in the resurgent New Zealand racing industry.

SRC has collaborated with three of New Zealand's best-known stud farms – Waikato Stud, Windsor Park Stud and Haunui Farm – forming partnerships that allow SRC members to race three quality thoroughbreds through fractional lease shares.

Baby Face (Savabeel – Baby Shacks mare) kicked off SRC is great style winning the Fosters Construction Mile at Te Rapa on Dec. 19.

“Baby Face is a beautifully bred progressive mare that we see getting up through the grades, she will be a lot of fun for SRC members,” said trainer Stephen Marsh.

With a monthly membership fee of only $59 per month, SRC is offering a racing experience that is affordable, educational, social and fun, giving racing enthusiasts the opportunity to enjoy the thrill of thoroughbred ownership for a fraction of the price.

Members will enjoy all the ownership entitlements on race day, with behind-the-scenes opportunities, meet-and-greet with trainers, jockeys and racing personalities.

However, the intention behind the club is to also extend the racing experience and education opportunities beyond race day. Members will also be invited into the majestic grounds of SRC stud farm partners to tour and learn all about the breeding side of the industry. Members will spend time at SRC trainers' stables, gaining insight into the stable life of their horses and meeting and learning from the people who care for them.

Founders Matt Cruickshank and Chris Monaghan come from media and publishing backgrounds, and are long-time Thoroughbred owners and passionate racing enthusiasts. They have always believed that horse ownership should be about experience first.

“We wanted to provide an opportunity for members to not only be owners but to learn about the industry, meet the people that make the industry tick and be treated to visiting the magic places within the industry like our stud farm partner properties,” said Cruickhsnak.

“Stride Racing Club is like nothing else in the industry; it's all about connecting with the horse, the sport and the people involved in our great game. You join online, it's easy, affordable and will have you in the ownership of three equine athletes, how good!” said Monaghan.

There is plenty to look forward to with a calendar of events, including some in partnership with Auckland and Waikato Racing Clubs. SRC members receive preferential booking of free or discounted tickets to all these events.

SRC stable communication will be through UK-founded owners' communication app, The Racing Manager (www.theracingmanager.com).

“We wanted the best owners' communication app in the world,” said Cruickshank. “The Racing Manager is a step above anything we have seen in New Zealand and Australia so we're really excited to partner with TRM to launch into our part of the world.”

“We have really tried to deliver an ownership experience all industry stakeholders can see as a positive way for supporters or racegoers to get more involved in our sport. Ownership is the lifeblood of our industry, so we are asking for your support as we embark on new, progressive initiatives to help sustain the long-term viability of racing in New Zealand.”

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‘Toxic Words And Divisive Behavior’: Guillot Banned Over Horse Name, Social Media Posts

Respect for All.

That's the new name given to an Uncle Mo gelding owner Lawrence Roman claimed for $25,000 out of Friday's first race at Aqueduct racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Bred by Southern Equine Stables LLC, the 3-year-old won the race, his debut, under the name Grape Soda, for owner Cypress Creek Equine and trainer Eric Guillot.

Following the race, an outcry ensued on social media that referenced an earlier Tweet from Guillot showing he gave the horse its original name – which can be interpreted as an offensive racial stereotype – in “honor” of a TVG analyst he has since admitted to be Ken Rudulph, who is Black. The Tweet included a emoji of a Black fist.

Guillot falsely claimed on Twitter after the race he named the horse “after my favorite drink when I was a little boy.”

By then, Rudulph had already called Guillot out on Twitter, saying: “The winner in race #1 from Aqueduct is the perfect example of my issue with horse racing. The winning trainer is a disgusting and racist man. But, if you want to make money in this game you have to be able to ignore that stuff. I can't do it. But y'all carry on with your $11.”

Guillot has posted bigoted or racially tinged comments in the past, including a Tweet in August 2020 saying he had given another horse the name “Uncle Ken's Cabin,” an obvious reference to the Harriet Beecher Stowe novel about slavery. When asked, Guillot said he didn't recall the Tweet.

On Saturday morning, The Jockey Club issued the following statement: “The Jockey Club was notified yesterday that the name Grape Soda, which was approved for a 2018 gelding, was potentially offensive. Upon review we have confirmed that the name is ineligible under Rule 6.F.11. of the Principal Rules and Requirements of The American Stud Book, and we have begun the name change process in consultation with the current owner, which must be completed as soon as possible.”

By early afternoon, the horse's new owner, Roman, told Daily Racing Form's David Grening that the name Respect for All had been approved by The Jockey Club and that he will donate 10% of the gelding's future earnings to the Backstretch Employee Service Team at New York Racing Association tracks. Within hours, the name change was reflected at Equibase, the industry's official database.

But the ripple effects had just begun.

David O'Rourke, president and CEO of the New York Racing Association, issued the following statement: “Racism is completely unacceptable in all forms. NYRA rejects Eric Guillot's toxic words and divisive behavior in the strongest terms. At this time, he will no longer be permitted to enter horses at any NYRA track nor will he be allocated stalls on NYRA grounds. In addition, we will review what further steps may be available to us. Our racing community is diverse, and we stand for inclusion.”

Rudulph's employer, TVG, took its Guillot ban one step further, saying it would not televise any races in which Guillot is participating.

“TVG commends NYRA for taking swift action on the matter involving Eric Guillot,” a company statement said. “There is simply no place in society for racism and we condemn his behavior, a deliberate attempt to slur one of our employees, in the strongest terms. Our network will no longer air races in which he has an entry. We also commend the action by new owner Larry Roman to change the horse's name. We will continue to work toward making racing more inclusive and to attracting a new generation of fans to the sport.”

The Stronach Group and 1/ST Racing chief operating officer Aidan Butler also said Guillot would not be welcome at the company's tracks in California, Maryland or Florida.

“1/ST Racing stands firmly against the inexcusable actions of trainer Eric Guillot,” Butler said. “There is no place in the sport of Thoroughbred racing for racism in any form. Our company will not tolerate the use of hateful and divisive language or behavior.

“1/ST Racing agrees fully with the New York Racing Association's move to ban Mr. Guillot from racing and will take the same action,” added Butler. “Mr. Guillot is no longer welcomed at any 1/ST RACING track.”

Guillot, who only started nine runners in 2020 and 19 the year before that, posted a video on Twitter on Saturday saying that he has now retired from training. Licensed since, 1991, Guillot has won 259 races from 2,348 starts. He's won 19 graded stakes, the most recent coming in 2016 with Laoban in the G2 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga.

When reached by the Paulick Report, Guillot said the entire matter has been overblown, stating nothing would have happened if the horse had finished second in Friday's race.

“I didn't do anything wrong,” said Guillot, who insisted that he is not racist.

When asked why he gave the horse that specific name and said it was “in honor” of TVG's Rudulph, Guillot said, “I was just teasing him. It wasn't meant in a harmful way.

“I did nothing wrong but be a common comedian, and my skin's a little too light to be joking about grape sodas, that's all,” Guillot said. “If Chris Rock or David Chappelle had said it, it would be OK.”

Guillot went on to blame Rudulph for starting a feud with him, calling him “pompous” and the “most privileged Black person I know. … He plays the 180-degree Black Lives Matter racist card and is as condescending as you get. It has nothing to do with me being racist. This is what he wanted; I just fueled the fire is what I did.”

Rudulph declined to comment.

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Thanks To Strong Handle, Fair Grounds Will Increase Purses Another 10 Percent

For the second time in the young 2020-21 meet, Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots has announced a 10 percent purse increase across the board. Much like the first, the boost was inspired by strong simulcast handle during the first seven weeks of the 149th racing season, which includes solid bettor response to the newly implemented traditional early and late Pick 5 wagers.

“Despite losing multiple days of turf racing, handle has remained quite strong,” Fair Grounds' racing secretary Scott Jones said. “Condition book four will be released the beginning of next week, and we're happy to be in a position to raise purses for a second time. We'd once again like to thank the owners, trainers and fans who have been supporting our day-to-day racing product.”

As a result of the increase, which will go into effect for condition book #4 (which starts Feb. 3, 2021), purses on allowance races will be bumped up $5,000, the mid-level races will be boosted by $3,000, while all other races will receive a $2,000 hike. Maiden special weight races will now be worth $55,000. The purse increase includes both open races and Louisiana-bred races.

Entries for the Wednesday, Feb. 3 card will be drawn one week earlier on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021.

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McMahon Summarily Suspended, Off All Mounts At Sam Houston

Jockey Charles “C.J.” McMahon, arrested on Jan. 2 in Lafayette, La., and charged with attempted murder, illegal use of weapons and possession of schedule 1 drugs, has been summarily suspended by Texas Racing Commission stewards and taken off all mounts at Sam Houston Race Park, which kicks off its 2021 meeting on Friday evening.

The ruling states that McMahon “admitted to recent use of Marijuana and tested positive for Marijuana on a field test kit on Jan. 5, 2021. Jockey Charles McMahon is hereby summarily suspended starting on Jan. 5, 2021, pending a hearing.”

Don Ahrens, director of security and parking at Sam Houston, confirmed that McMahon has been “excluded in accordance with the Texas Racing Commission ruling and other related matters.”

The 26-year-old jockey was taken into custody Jan. 2 after a traffic stop in Lafayette when police discovered there were outstanding warrants against McMahon stemming from a Dec. 27 incident in which he allegedly fired a weapon into a car stopped at a traffic light. Traffic cameras were believed to have caught the incident on tape. According to the arrest record, police also found marijuana in McMahon's possession at the time of the arrest.

Bond was set at $80,000 and McMahon was released on Jan. 3.

McMahon last rode at Delta Downs in Louisiana on Dec. 28 and had been working horses in the morning at Sam Houston in preparation for the meet at the Houston track.

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