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Midnight Memories a First SW for Mastery in Torrey Pines

Midnight Memories made her two-turn and stakes debut a winning one when resolutely holding off favored Desert Dawn to capture the GIII Torrey Pines S. Sunday at Del Mar.

Scoring first out at 4-5 with a 95 Beyer going 6 1/2 furlongs Apr. 30 at Santa Anita, the homebred repeated by a neck after stumbling at the start in an allowance/optional claimer there June 5 before disappointing when a well-beaten third as the chalk with blinkers added here July 28.

Taking the blinkers off for this test, the dark bay made the lead without much resistance under Ramon Vazquez and showed the way through a :23.25 quarter. Desert Dawn, third at the rail, moved off the fence to take up the chase as the half went up in :46.95. The favorite picked up the pressure around the turn and she and Midnight Memories passed three-quarters in 1:11.23 on even terms. Midnight Memories never relinquished the lead however, and started to do the better work around the eighth pole, holding firm from there to score.

Pedigree Notes:
Midnight Memories is the first stakes winner for Claiborne Farm's second-crop stallion Mastery, who retired with a perfect four-for-four record, three of those wins coming in graded stakes company. She is the second foal to race out of Tiz Midnight, who broke her maiden by 11 1/2 lengths with a 102 Beyer in her fourth career start and later won the GII Bayakoa S. Second dam Tough Tiz's Sis was a six-time stakes winner who ended her career with a 12 1/4-length romp and 113 Beyer in the 2008 GI Ruffian H. Tiz Midnight is responsible for a yearling colt by Collected and foaled a filly by Maximum Security this season before being bred to McKinzie.

Sunday, Del Mar
TORREY PINES S.-GIII, $125,500, Del Mar, 9-4, 3yo, f, 1m, 1:36.32, ft.
1–MIDNIGHT MEMORIES, 120, f, 3, by Mastery
                1st Dam: Tiz Midnight (GSW & GISP, $339,800), by Midnight Lute
                2nd Dam: Tough Tiz's Sis, by Tiznow
                3rd Dam: Leaseholder, by Taylor's Falls
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O/B-Michael
Pegram, Paul Weitman & Karl Watson (KY); T-Bob Baffert;
J-Ramon A. Vazquez. $75,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-1,
$166,680. Werk Nick Rating: B.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Desert Dawn, 124, f, 3, Cupid–Ashley's Glory, by Honour and
Glory. ($32,000 RNA Ylg '20 OBSOCT). O/B-H & E Ranch (AZ);
T-Philip D'Amato. $25,000.
3–Grace Adler, 120, f, 3, Curlin–Our Khrysty, by Newfoundland.
($700,000 Ylg '20 FTKSEL). O-Willow Grace Farm & Michael
Lund Petersen; B-Blue Heaven Farm (KY); T-Bob Baffert.
$15,000.
Margins: 3/4, 4 1/4, 7 1/4. Odds: 5.50, 1.20, 6.10.
Also Ran: Cinnamon Cat, Under the Stars, Malibu Marie. Scratched: Kirstenbosch.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Flightline ‘Perfect’ Exiting Pacific Classic Tour de Force

Trainer John Sadler said superstar Flightline (Tapit) came out of his devastating 19 1/4-length romp in Saturday's GI TVG Pacific Classic in good order.

“We're literally talking 14 hours [since the race] but this early, he looks perfect,” Sadler said.

For Sadler, the most impressive aspect of Flightline's record rout was the way he opened up on the rest of the field.

“Obviously, I was thrilled about him putting them away on the [far] turn,” Sadler says. “That was really exciting, probably the most fun part. I was just so happy to see him good and clear. He was always going to have a clear trip once he got going a little bit. A little bump at the start but once he got clear I knew it was going to be good from there.”

So what's in the immediate future for Flightline?

“He'll walk for three days and then he'll probably go back and jog a little bit this week,” Sadler said. “Then ship up to Santa Anita and we'll start finalizing our plans for Breeders' Cup.”

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Practical Joke Filly Upsets Stablemate In Del Mar Opener

1st-Del Mar, $81,000, Msw, 9-4, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 1:03.59, ft, 6 3/4 lengths.
HUNTINGCOCO (f, 2, Practical Joke–Sulis, by Maria's Mon) was dismissed at odds of 36-5, largely due to the presence of $950,000 Keeneland September grad and 1-2 chalk Carla (Medaglia d'Oro), slipped through inside entering the final eighth of a mile and kicked away to best her heavily favored stable companion by a convincing margin in Sunday's opener from Del Mar. Away without incident, Huntingcoco showed ample speed and chased from along the inside in second as She's Inthearmynow (Army Mule) had the most early interest from her outside draw. Asked to come after the pacesetter with 2 1/2 furlongs to travel, Huntingcoco took full advantage when the front-runner rolled away from the fence in upper stretch and powered home to score with good-looking strides. Carla was beaten for speed and had her momentum interrupted when having to steady slightly off the heels of She's Inthearmynow approaching the half-mile marker. Under the bat nearing the stretch, she raced on her incorrect lead, but managed to grind it out for second. A Pennsylvania-bred, Huntingcoco is a veteran of three sales rings, having matured from a $45,000 KEENOV weanling into a $110,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky yearling. She was last seen going through the latter auction house's Midlantic Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, where she fetched $200,000 after breezing an eighth of a mile in :10 2/5. Out of a half-sister to the stakes-winning dam of GISW I'm the Tiger (Siphon {Brz}), Huntingcoco has a yearling half-brother by Classic Empire and a foal half-sister by American Freedom. Sulis visited Instagrand this term. Sales history: $45,000 Wlg '20 KEENOV; $110,000 Ylg '21 FTKOCT; $200,000 2yo '22 EASMAY. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $48,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-Villa Rosa Farm & Harlo Racing; B-HnR Nothhaft Horseracing LLC (PA); T-Bob Baffert.

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Blea to Return As California Equine Medical Director Sept. 21

Jeff Blea, on administrative leave from his post as California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) equine medical director since early January after the California Veterinary Medical Board (VMB) successfully petitioned to have his license temporarily suspended, is set to officially return to the position Sept. 21 having reached a settlement with the VMB, according to Michael Casey, Blea's attorney.

As a condition of the settlement, Blea is required to undergo continuing education classes in record keeping, Casey said. Blea will also be on a three-year probationary period.
“If you look at the disciplinary guidelines, probationary periods are required for record keeping or really any violation, so, it shouldn't be a surprise to anybody that there is a probationary period,” said Casey.

Casey was unable to offer any further information when pressed about the circumstances surrounding Blea's suspension.

In pushing for the interim suspension, the veterinary medical board had charged Blea with various alleged violations, including prescribing, dispensing, and administering medications without performing a proper examination and diagnosis.

The TDN conducted an investigation into the accusations against Blea and found a consensus among several prominent equine veterinarians around the country that the case amounted largely to relatively minor record keeping violations, those typically resulting in fines.

The settlement order has not yet been posted on the VMB's website. The TDN reached out to the California Department of Consumer Affairs for comment but didn't receive a response before deadline.

The CHRB also had no comment prior to publication, but it had hitherto thrown its support behind Blea, and had asked the VMB to withdraw its petition for the interim suspension.

The genesis of this story ostensibly traces back to February of 2021, when the veterinary medical board allegedly received an anonymous complaint concerning the “unsafe treatment of equine patients” by multiple Californian racetrack veterinarians.

On Dec. 17, the veterinary board lodged formal accusations against Blea, accusing him of several violations, including allegedly prescribing, dispensing, and administering medications to racehorses without establishing a veterinarian-client-patient relationship, without performing an examination, and without forming a diagnosis.

At an emergency hearing on Christmas Eve, the veterinary board successfully petitioned an interim suspension of Blea's veterinary license.

The medical board's action to temporarily suspend Blea's license was a rare move, typically reserved for veterinarians charged with some of the more egregious veterinary and professional offenses, and those deemed an imminent danger to the animals in their care.

Blea had not actively practiced veterinary medicine since July of 2021, when he assumed the role of equine medical director.

In arguing the suspension, the medical board also referenced the recent sudden death of the Bob Baffert-trained Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit on Dec. 6, and the horse's ongoing postmortem examination, arguing that Blea presented a danger to “public health, safety and welfare” were he to continue in his role as equine medical director.

The TDN conducted an investigation earlier this year into the board's accusations against Blea, asking whether other events that had occurred around that time–including Medina Spirit's sudden death–rendered the veterinary board's actions more political theater than medical necessity.

The investigation found a consensus among eight veterinary medical experts who described the accusations largely as matters that rarely, if ever, rise to the level of a suspended license, and that the board had misrepresented the unique nature of veterinary practice on the backstretch where veterinarians with multiple barns under their care can build the sort of daily relationship with their animals typically absent from traditional small animal practice.

“We might not even fine him for this,” said Eric Peterson, former member of the Kentucky Veterinary Medical Board, at the time.

Since Jan. 12 when UC Davis–which contracts out to the medical director position to the CHRB–officially placed Blea on administrative leave pending a formal review of his license, his professional status has essentially remained in limbo, having had to temporarily step away from his other professional affiliations, including his post on the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act's committee on Anti-Doping and Medication Control.

Come Sept. 21, there will be “no restrictions on his involvement with any veterinary organization and I fully anticipate Jeff will be back serving the equine community in all capacities where his knowledge and skill will continue to focus on equine safety and welfare,” wrote Casey, in a follow-up text.

The settlement does not put an end to the veterinary medical board's scrutiny of veterinary practices across racetrack backstretches in California.

The VMB is involved in ongoing cases against veterinarians Kim Kuhlmann, Steven Boyer and Kenneth Allison in Northern California, and against veterinarians Sarah Graybill Jones and Vince Baker in Southern California.

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