thoroughbred | Horse Racing Free Tips

Jockey Told She’d Never Walk Again, Back In The Saddle After Nightmare Fall

Maija Vance, the jockey who was told she would never walk again after a horrific race fall, has started riding trackwork in the latest stage of an extraordinary recovery from life-changing injuries.

In September 2018 the 29-year-old suffered 13 rib fractures and broke her back in five places with the T8 vertebra crushing her spinal cord and leaving her with no feeling or movement from the waist down.

Now she is riding out for trainer Tarissa Mitchell and even talking of one day “riding on racedays” again.

“I'm doing really good,” she said in an interview with Radio TAB Australia. “I've been working very closely with my physio, trying to get back to riding racehorses. So I've just started back on the track now and it's going really, really well.

“I'm just riding some quiet ones pacework, and hopefully will work up from there. I'm riding work for Tarissa Mitchell. She also had an accident a couple of years ago. She's been really helpful and understands.

“It's hard for me to put timeframes on things because my legs don't work like a normal person's, so I kind of just have to try and see what works for them and how long they take to recover, so I leave a few days in between when I ride trackwork to let them recover properly. Then I put my irons up a little bit and ride a bit shorter.

”I'm in a little bit of pain all the time but pain doesn't really affect me that much. The more I do in the gym and the more trackwork I do, the more I am strengthening up my back – and the more I can strengthen the better protected it is.”

Vance, from Cambridge, New Zealand, spent three months in Auckland's Spinal Rehabilitation Unit, where feeling gradually returned, and after 18 months which included time in a wheelchair and using a walker, she completed a 526-step climb to the top of Mount Maunganui.

Doctors said former jockey wouldn't walk again – but now she can climb a mountain.

She is the daughter of former jockey-turned-trainer Bob Vance, a Cox Plate winner in the saddle, and jockey Jenny Vance, who rode in her native Sweden as Jenny Moller.

Maija has ridden 175 winners in New Zealand and Australia but was having only her fourth ride over jumps when she came down on Zedsational in a hurdle race at Arawa Park. The horse's trainer Glynn Brick spent many hours with Vance while she was in hospital, but died in a car crash in March.

“They said it was pretty unlikely that I would walk again,” said Vance. “I had 13 rib fractures, which were probably the most painful. The ribs punctured my lungs so they filled up with blood and they had to drain my lungs. I had five vertebrae broken and when the T8 broke it crushed my spinal cord which was what left me paralyzed.

“Glynn Brick was there with me the whole time. He got to see me walking the mountain, which made him really happy. Glynn would have never put me on something he thought would fall, it was just very unlucky. He felt absolutely terrible. Unfortunately he passed away a few months ago.”

Nearly NZ$40,000 (£21,000) was raised to help Vance get the help she needed to walk again. Her story has been described as inspirational.

“I don't think so,” she said. “I think I am just very lucky.”

This story was originally published at horseracingplanet.com and is reprinted here with permission.

The post Jockey Told She’d Never Walk Again, Back In The Saddle After Nightmare Fall appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Craig Braddick Named Race Caller At Turf Paradise

Turf Paradise announced Wednesday that veteran and international race caller Craig Braddick has been hired for the 2021 Winter meeting, starting on Jan. 4, 2021. Braddick, who has called Arizona his adopted home for the past five years, is excited to call races at his “hometown” track and calling races at Turf Paradise fulfills a career goal of race calling in his own community.

“It's an exciting challenge to call five days per week, but I've always enjoyed that,” Braddick said. “I want to do all I can to positively promote Turf Paradise and grow a fan base for horse racing in my adopted home state of Arizona! We have some great horsemen and I expect the racing to be extremely competitive! I also want to be able to interact with horseplayers online, during racing, and get their opinions.”

Braddick, a native of Cambridge, England, grew up watching horses gallop on the world-famous Newmarket training grounds where he watched some of the greatest Thoroughbreds of the 1980's and 1990's. He also had the good fortune to learn race calling from some of England's best race callers, including Jim McGrath, Simon Holt and the late, Robin Gray. Finding his passion early allowed him to begin learning his chosen profession at a young age, eventually leading him to his first race call in 1991 at Cottenham Point to Point racecourse at the age of only 15.

Since then, Braddick has called all types of horse racing, including Thoroughbred, Quarter-Horse, Arabian, Standardbred, and Jumps racing both in the U.S. and overseas. Most recently, Craig has been the race caller at historic Rillito Park, in Tucson, Arizona since 2018 as well as calling several races at National Steeplechase Association sanctioned events, including races at historic Fair Hill, MD and Camden, SC.

Braddick's extensive social media and web design experience have garnered him note for his tireless and effective promotion of Arizona Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing, particularly over the past two years. Recognizing Braddick's skills in these areas, Turf Paradise has also hired him to maintain the track's social media presence for the 2021 Winter meeting. Braddick will maintain the track's Facebook and Twitter (@turf_paradise).

The post Craig Braddick Named Race Caller At Turf Paradise appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Count Again Will Try To Maintain Momentum In San Gabriel

Canadian-bred Count Again, fresh off the biggest win of his career in what was his first start for Phil D'Amato, will try to employ similar tactics under Juan Hernandez as he heads a field of seven older horses going a mile and one eighth on turf in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 San Gabriel Stakes at Santa Anita.

A 6-year-old gelding by Awesome Again, Count Again is one of five horses exiting the G2 Seabiscuit Stakes, which was run at a mile and one sixteenth over the Del Mar turf on Nov. 28. Previously headquartered in Toronto at Woodbine Racecourse, Count Again took a G3 turf stakes there three starts back at a mile and one quarter and should relish the added sixteenth of mile on Saturday. With four wins from eight starts, Count Again earned a career best 100 Beyer Speed figure in the Seabiscuit.

Peter Miller's Anothertwistafate, fourth as the 2-1 favorite with Joel Rosario in the Seabiscuit, will try to turn the tables on Count Again in what will be his second turf try. A lightly raced 5-year-old colt by Scat Daddy, he won the G3 Longacres Mile in his first start of 2020 on Sept 10. With Rosario riding him back in the San Gabriel, he'll be seeking his fifth win from 10 career starts.

Richard Baltas will be represented by a pair of horses coming off solid third place finishes, Bob and Jackie, who was third going a mile on turf in the G3 City of Hope Mile here Oct. 3, and the venerable Next Shares, who rallied to be third in the Seabiscuit at odds of 20-1.

Off the board in just two of eight starts, Bob and Jackie sat a close second early in the City of Hope and finished third, beaten three lengths while earning a career best 100 Beyer with Heriberto Figueroa, who has guided him to four wins from eight overall starts. A three-time minor stakes winner, this 5-year-old horse by Twirling Candy will seek his first graded win on Saturday.

Next Shares, an 8-year-old gelding by Archarcharch, rallied to be beaten 1 ½ lengths by Count Again in the Seabiscuit and must be respected as a late threat. A winner of the 2019 San Gabriel, Next Shares is the leading money earner in the field with $1,833,071 from an overall mark of 36-7-5-4.

THE GRADE II SAN GABRIEL WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 7 of 9 Approximate post time 3:30 p.m.

Cleopatra's Strike—Kent Desormeaux—120
Next Shares—Jose Valdivia, Jr.—120
Bob and Jackie—Heriberto Figueroa—120
Multiplier—Abel Cedillo—120
Count Again—Juan Hernandez—124
Anothertwistafate—Joel Rosario—122
Bowies Hero—Flavien Prat—120

First post time for a nine-race card on Saturday is at 12:30 p.m. All of Santa Anita's races are offered free of charge at santaanita.com/live and fans can watch and wager at 1st.com/Bet.

The post Count Again Will Try To Maintain Momentum In San Gabriel appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘He Loves The Horses’: 76-Year-Old Gerald Bennett Named Tampa’s Trainer Of The Month

Gerald Bennett skipped the winner's-circle photograph after Wednesday's second race at Tampa Bay Downs. It wasn't that winning races has become old hat; while his 4-year-old homebred filly Princess Livia received the plaudits, Bennett attended to his other entrant in the race, 5-year-old mare Rattlesnakerose, who finished last of six.

“(Jockey) Danny (Centeno) said the ground broke out from under her on the back end – probably trying to get away so quick,” Bennett said after hosing down Rattlesnakerose and assuring himself she was no worse for the experience.

Meanwhile, Princess Livia was led away, having been claimed from the race for $10,000 by owner-trainer Victor Carrasco, Jr. The $10,000 price tag was the lowest Princess Livia has ever run for. Both runners were owned going into the race by Bennett's Winning Stables enterprise, Rattlesnakerose in partnership.

The horses may be Bennett's babies, but sentiment isn't going to take him where he wants to go.

“A lot of owners get afraid to lose their horses (through the claims box), but the name of the game is to win races,” said Bennett, who won today's first race with still another Winning Stables horse, 2-year-old Florida-bred gelding Foreman.

Bennett knows the name of the game. With 15 victories this meeting, he sits atop the trainer standings and is the inaugural 2020-2021 Salt Rock Tavern Trainer of the Month Award winner.

Bennett has a rapport with horses few trainers achieve. As he walks through his barn at Tampa Bay Downs in the pre-dawn hours, some nicker in recognition, while others get close enough for a nudge they hope will be rewarded with a peppermint candy. All are alert, tuned in and eager to heed the man's teachings.

“He loves the horses. He loves the business,” said his wife, trainer Mary Bennett. “He got in the trailer (on a recent off-day) to take horses to Ocala to be laid up, and when he's there he'll watch horses train to see if he can get another good one. He loves everything about it. Racing is his adrenaline rush,” she said.

His numerous followers often get a rush at the betting windows. Turning beaten horses around is a Bennett trademark, and those caught unawares are often kicking themselves in the parking lot – as on Nov. 28, when a couple of Bennett-trained long shots combined for a $2 late daily double payoff of $181.40.

Bennett, a 76-year-old product of Springhill, Nova Scotia, is off to a typically strong start in his bid for a sixth consecutive Oldsmar training title and seventh title overall. Only Jamie Ness has won more (nine in a row, from 2006-2007 through 2014-2015). With 15 victories, Bennett has earned the inaugural Salt Rock Tavern Trainer of the Month Award of the 2020-2021 meeting.

“We kind of plan for this meeting all year, keep our horses fresh and hopefully everything goes well,” said Bennett, who has a string of 45 runners here. “When you keep your horses happy, they'll run for you. Happy horses enjoy the competition.”

There are going to be setbacks – horses get sick, incur injuries or are claimed by another trainer unexpectedly. Photo-finish losses and disqualifications are a downer, but Bennett always bounces back stronger.

“When that other stuff happens, you have to keep going, keep working hard,” Bennett said. “You try to keep things on an even keel and do the job the right way.”

Bennett races many of his horses as an owner under his Winning Stables, Inc., banner, and last season he captured his first Tampa Bay Downs owners title with 24 victories.

Bennett may call Tampa home, but he has enjoyed many big days and excellent horses elsewhere. His top horses includes Grade 1 winner and millionaire Beau Genius, Secret Romeo, Banker's Jet, Fast Flying Rumor and R Angel Katelyn.

Bennett has 3,935 career winners, 14th on the all-time North American list. He trails only the late Frank H. Merrill, Jr. (3,974 victories) among Canadian-born trainers. Then, hopefully, the 4,000-victory milestone and another reminder that somewhere on the Tampa Bay Downs backstretch exists Bennett's private Fountain of Youth.

The post ‘He Loves The Horses’: 76-Year-Old Gerald Bennett Named Tampa’s Trainer Of The Month appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post