Tag: The Paddock

“Leonardo da Vinci's mother was a maid, and she gave birth to the greatest mind in history.”

This was Italian bloodstock agent Eugenio Colombo's way of downplaying pedigree when asked about some of the deals he has brokered for one of the world's premier Thoroughbred breeding operations run by the Yoshida family of Japan. Colombo recalled meeting the family patriarch, Zenya Yoshida, in 1970, did bloodstock work for him, then continued to do so with the passing of the torch to Zenya's sons Teruya, Katsumi, and Haruya upon the elder Yoshida's death in 1993.

Put more bluntly, Colombo added, “Pedigree is British autocracy bullshit. Many self-made men have no pedigree but a great brain.”

It was puzzling to me when Colombo helped put together a deal for multiple Grade 1 winner Mind Your Biscuits to stand at the Shadai Stallion Farm on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. In hindsight, it shouldn't have been.

The horse had talent, to be sure, winning the G2 Amsterdam and G1 Malibu at 3, the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen and G2 Belmont Sprint Championship at 4, and the Dubai Golden Shaheen again and the G3 Lukas Classic at 5. In his final year of racing he also suffered a tough beat in the G1 Metropolitan Mile when his stretch rally fell a nose short of Bee Jersey at the wire.

But Mind Your Biscuits is a son of Posse, who started out in Kentucky but then was moved to New York and performed well enough as a regional sire before being exported to Uruguay. Mind Your Biscuits is out of an unraced mare by Toccet, who entered stud in Kentucky before moving on to Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and finally Turkey. Those aren't the most commercial bloodlines, and commerce is what the American Thoroughbred breeding and auction business is all about.

That pedigree, along with the fact that he raced through his 5-year-old season and didn't reside in a leading stable, made Mind Your Biscuits unappealing to most American stallion farms, according to trainer and co-owner Chad Summers.

Enter Colombo, who was willing to overlook these factors and focus on the talent Mind Your Biscuits demonstrated on the racetrack. “A Group 1 winner could be a son or daughter of Pinocchio,” he said. “I believe in the power of the individual.

“He was just a freak,” Colombo said of Mind Your Biscuits. “Super game, super sound, talented, and he retired completely sound. The Yoshidas don't care about pedigree, they care about the racing level.”

Summers recalled his visit to Shadai Stallion Station on a cold, winter day in 2019 when all of the farm's stallions, including Mind Your Biscuits, were shown to local breeders.

“There must have been 500 people at the stallion show, even though it was about 10 degrees and snowing,” Summers said. “When I saw all those people and the condition of the horses – including a 27-year-old stallion who was all dappled out – I realized this was a great opportunity. They give their horses great care at Shadai.”

Mind Your Biscuits was bred to 155 mares upon entering stud in 2019 and his first crop of 103 registered foals won 36 races and about $2.4 million, making him No. 1 among Japanese freshman sires of 2022. Included in that group is Shadai Farm-bred Derma Sotogake, a stakes winner at 2, third in the G3 Saudi Derby  Feb. 25, and winner of Saturday's G2 UAE Derby over 1 3/16 miles on dirt at Meydan in Dubai.

Ridden to victory by Christophe Lemaire, Derma Sotogake led a 1-2-3-4 Japanese finish in the UAE Derby and now takes aim on an even bigger prize: the G1 Kentucky Derby on May 6.

A look at the dam side of Derma Sotogake's pedigree reveals more uncommercial bloodlines mined by the Yoshida family. The Mind Your Biscuits colt was produced from Amour Poesie, a daughter of Neo Universe, a G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) winner and 3-year-old male champion of 2003. Neo Universe was sired by Sunday Silence, the 1989 North American Horse of the Year who entered stud at Shadai Stallion Station after majority owner Arthur B. Hancock III was unable to find enough American breeders willing to support him.

Derma Sotogake's second dam, Happy Request, is by Tony Bin, an Irish-bred by Kampala who did most of his racing in Italy before winning France's G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 1988. When there were no major suitors in Europe for his stallion services, the Yoshidas made an offer to bring Tony Bin to Japan, where he became a leading sire.

Both Colombo and Summers credited the Yoshidas with creative thinking when it comes to bloodlines and planning matings for their extensive broodmare bands, but they also said advanced training facilities and the use of technology in training has given them and other Japanese horsemen an edge on the world racing stage.

“The Japanese have the most advanced, scientific training in the world,” Colombo said. “They have superior facilities with multiple surfaces to train on, including long, uphill straight courses. We train too many American horses on a track that's like a velodrome.”

“They've learned. They've studied. There's a science behind what they do and training is statistically driven,” said Summers. “They weigh their horses every day. Everything is monitored: heart rate, stride analysis. There is such pride in that nation to be successful. Every time they ship horses around the world, they learn more and more.”

Derma Sotogake was one of three Japanese horses that won on the Dubai World Cup program. Reigning Japanese Horse of the Year Equinox (by Sunday Silence grandson Kitasan Black) crushed his G1 Dubai Sheema Classic opposition over a mile and a half on turf in a breathtaking performance. In the night's biggest race, the G1 Dubai World Cup at 1 ¼ miles on dirt, Ushba Tesoro (sired by another Sunday Silence grandson, Orfevre) rallied from last to win going away. The field of 15 included eight Japanese runners, three from Dubai, two from the U.S., and one each from Saudi Arabia and Europe.

Horse racing in Japan dates back to the eighth century, though it wasn't until 1862 when the first Western-style racing was introduced by predominantly British foreigners in Yokohama. Betting was made legal in 1906 and government began promoting the sport through the creation of the Japan Racing Association in 1954.

Though the sport was wildly successful within Japan, racing was a closed market to outsiders, and Japanese breeders did not have any incentive to improve the quality of the breed. The introduction of the Japan Cup in 1981 was an important first step to opening the market, and the JRA gradually expanded that to allow more foreign-born Thoroughbreds to compete in their races. The Yoshidas and other breeders seized the opportunity to introduce more foreign bloodlines into their stud book, and a coordinated and strategic plan by the JRA to encourage improvement of the breed began bearing fruit shortly thereafter.

Zenya Yoshida didn't live to see the day horses bred on his farm would win some of the world's most prestigious races, but that was his goal. At the Northern Horse Park in Hokkaido – a facility modeled after the Kentucky Horse Park – there is a section devoted to the elder Yoshida that includes a plaque with a posthumous message from him.

“Now, as I look around my farm,” it reads in part, “I feel happier when I think that Shadai Farm is approaching the quality found overseas. But I always think that if you stop with satisfaction even once, then you stop making progress. So (to always have a goal to aim for) I try to hold the thought that international success may not come to us in my lifetime.”

The Japanese domination we witnessed on Saturday was no accident. Encouraged by the JRA through forward-looking policies, it was scripted by Zenya Yoshida decades ago and carried out by his family and many others. And there are more chapters to play out.

That's my view from the eighth pole.

The post View From The Eighth Pole: Japan’s Rise On The World Racing Stage appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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On a day that the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association was distributing a commentary from Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry urging Thoroughbred owners and trainers to fight the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, we learned of a jaw-dropping stewards ruling from Delta Downs racetrack in Landry's home state.

“Louisiana horse racing has effectively policed itself for over 200 years, evolving over time to meet modern challenges while maintaining its unique identity,” wrote Landry (emphasis mine). “As in other states, we know how our horses handle our unique climate, our tracks, and our footing. We know the history of our bloodlines, the traditions of our sport, and the nature of this industry far better than anyone else.”

Meanwhile, stewards at Delta Downs had just issued a ruling against trainer Greg Tracy and his brother, assistant trainer Jim Tracy, that read in part: on Feb. 4, 2023, “a search of Barn 9, Tack Room E at Delta Downs, the Louisiana State Police found 59 bottles of injectable medications, 352 hypodermic needles, 256 syringes, and 75 packs of Albuterol Sulfate inhalation solution; 9 syringes with clear liquid were inventoried; the syringes with clear liquid were sent to LSU-EMSL for testing.” The tack room was assigned to Greg Tracy and occupied by his brother, Jim, the ruling said.

Both Greg and Jim Tracy were suspended six months, the maximum stewards in Louisiana can give. The case was referred to the Louisiana State Racing Commission.

The Tracy brothers both appealed the suspensions that were to begin March 5. Stewards granted their appeal and Greg and Jim Tracy are permitted to participate in racing despite the Louisiana State Police's prodigious haul of drugs and paraphernalia that would make Charles Rudolph Walgreen envious.

It's curious how Jim Tracy managed to get licensed in Louisiana in the first place. According to the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission, Jim Tracy was indefinitely suspended  in 2015 for writing $1,000 worth of checks that proved worthless. The issue was never resolved and the suspension is still in place, a Pennsylvania commission executive confirmed.

So much for reciprocity from one racing state to another.

I have to give Landry credit for one thing. He is correct that Louisiana racing has maintained a “unique identity.” Unique is not necessarily good.

I do take issue with his statement that Louisiana's horse racing industry “effectively policed itself for over 200 years.”

That is laugh out loud funny.

Is it really effective policing to allow licensees who allegedly were caught with 742 items the stewards referred to as “contraband” to continue to conduct business as usual? I can't imagine any state racing commission staying a suspension over alleged violations that serious. There are reasons summary suspensions are issued in matters like this.

Louisiana is the place where Sean Alfortish went to jail after orchestrating an election fraud to keep him on as president of the Louisiana HBPA. Federal prosecutors had the goods on Alfortish, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, identity fraud, and health care fraud. Alfortish admitted that funds from the industry's Medical Benefit Trust were used to pay for extravagant gifts, entertainment and travel.

What did the Louisiana Horse Racing Commission do when Alfortish got out of jail? It gave him his owner's license back.

Louisiana is also where jockey Gerard Melancon was arrested last August by Louisiana State Police for what Charles Gardiner III, executive director of the Louisiana Horse Racing Commission, said was “possible possession of an electrical device.”

Only a few weeks earlier, Melancon partnered with  Landry, the Louisiana State Racing Commission, the Louisiana HBPA and others, joining in a lawsuit designed to block the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority from enforcing its federally mandated rules in Louisiana.

Interestingly, since Melancon's arrest more than six months ago, the case has gone cold. No charges have been filed and racing officials have not taken any action against the rider. They also haven't cleared his name while he continues to ride under a cloud of suspicion.

Over the years, there have been so many scandals in Louisiana racing they are too numerous to mention. From race fixing, to the use of sinister drugs like dermorphin (also known as frog juice), to shocking horses with electrical devices, Louisiana is a national leader in horse racing. More accurately, its regulation of the sport is a national disgrace.

That's my view from the eighth pole.

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The following op-ed was penned by Louisiana's Attorney General Jeff Landry.

As a young boy, I spent summers mucking out stalls, painting fences, and helping out on my great-uncle's farm. Early in the mornings, his grandson and I could hear him tapping on the door, telling us to wake up and get moving in Cajun French. “Levez, levez!” We'd jump out of bed and ride down to the track to watch the jockeys breeze the horses as the sun was coming up.

Those are memories I fear the next generation might never experience as we battle the Horseracing Integrity and Security Act (HISA) – legislation slipped into the COVID relief package and passed by Congress in the dark of night to federalize the horseracing industry and give complete regulatory power to a private corporation without consent of the individual states or even input from the horsemen themselves.

Horse racing in Louisiana has its roots in Cajun and Creole culture, where the infamous bush tracks of the 1950s produced some of the finest jockeys in the world. Soon, Acadiana became known as a place where you could start out riding barefoot and work your way up to winning the Kentucky Derby with an entire community to not only cheer you on but also finance the first major racetrack in the region — Evangeline Downs (where the announcer Gene Griffin would say “Ils Sont Partis!”, which means “And they're off!”).

Fueled by this rough and tumble past, Louisiana horse racing has effectively policed itself for over 200 years, evolving over time to meet modern challenges while maintaining its unique identity. It's an industry built with our own sweat and blood, supported by a tight-knit group of horsemen, racing fans, and family businesses. As in other states, we know how our horses handle our unique climate, our tracks, and our footing. We know the history of our bloodlines, the traditions of our sport, and the nature of this industry far better than anyone else.

That hard-won knowledge has created an entire culture within Louisiana, one that has grown from an economic impact of $460 million in 1979 to $1.5 billion today. As Attorney General, it's my job to protect this industry, its culture, and its people. That's why I have been fighting against HISA from the very beginning, even as political players pressured my office to not get involved. But like most Cajuns, when I stand for what's right, I don't back down.

At the core of HISA is this: a handful of wealthy players wish to control the sport through a one-size-fits-all, pay-to-play scheme that will decimate the inclusive culture of horse racing. And while we can all agree that we want integrity and safety in the sport, perhaps it must also be stated that we should never let a few bad actors define the whole. Yet under the guise of “integrity,” the federal government is using the excuse of bad actors to take away the freedoms and liberties of all horsemen while completely ignoring the unique cultures of each individual state and the people who have created it.

As a result, if HISA is successfully enacted, many of those who have been racing horses in their states for generations will be run out of business by ridiculously expensive fees, fines, and other barriers to entry. This will affect breeders, jockeys, farriers, veterinarians, tracks, and supply shops. Entire cultures will be decimated in support of unclear, inconsistent, and oftentimes dangerous new rules designed by political and corporate elites who can't even decide what kind of shoes a horse should wear.

For Louisiana and her people, my Solicitor General Liz Murrill and I took on this battle. We stood up for horsemen when it was neither popular nor politically convenient because we knew that it was the right thing to do. We believe that horse racing should be enjoyed by all — not just an exclusive elite. And our fight is now leading to the U.S. Supreme Court, where a disagreement between two federal courts must be decided. That is why it is absolutely vital everyone stand up now for true integrity in horse racing, for state sovereignty, and for the culture of this sport.

I almost feel like my great-uncle is knocking on your door, asking you all to wake up and fight with us. Place the power back into the hands of the people, where it belongs. I cannot guarantee you a win; but I do believe that the greatest advantage we have are our numbers. So, if the attorney general of your state has joined our coalition in the fight against HISA, please thank them; but if your attorney general is not yet involved, please encourage them to file an amicus brief in support of our cause. And if you run an organization affected by HISA, please join us at the U.S. Supreme Court to voice your opposition to this gross federal overreach.

Now more than ever, your voices must be heard. If we are to protect horse racing, we must take action. And so I say, “levez, levez!” Let's go.

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