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Small, But Mighty, Shuvee Field Leads Sunday Graded Action

A lack of competitors doesn't always translate to a lack of competition and the GII Shuvee S. at Saratoga is a case in point, with an abbreviated field of four featuring a pair of titans. Fellow Curlin daughters Clairiere and Malathaat will bring their rivalry to round six in the 1 1/8-mile contest at the Spa; the latter coming out on the better end on four prior occasions. Malathaat will be breaking from the gate sporting blinkers for the first time in her career, likely intended to combat her tendency to wait on her competition, and she has been working with the new equipment in the mornings as well.

Todd Pletcher will be shooting for his fifth victory in this event (Curalina-2016, Stopchargingmaria-2015, Authenticity-2013, Awesome Maria-2011) should their match up here return in her favor, tying his record with the legendary H. Allen Jerkens for most Shuvee wins as conditioner. Steven Asmussen looks to add his name to the race's annuals for the first time after most recently saddling She's a Julie (Elusive Quality) to a third place finish in 2019. Both Clairiere and Malathaat ran career high Beyers of 106 last out in the GI Ogden Phipps, and are the horses to beat here, nearly guaranteeing that history of some kind will be made on Spa Sunday.

To their inside, and hoping to play spoiler, is the aptly named Crazy Beautiful (Liam's Map) for trainer Kenny McPeek, who's riding into the race on the back of a fruitful summer season. The grey has faced Malathaat on three occasions and never been in winning contention in any of those races, but she's the third millionaire in this field, and those purses didn't come without effort. A winner of Turfway Park's Apr. 2 Latonia S. over the synthetic and second last out June 25 in the Lady Jaqueline S. at Thistledown behind MGISP Army Wife (Declaration of War), Crazy Beautiful will be trying for her eighth lifetime win here. Former $40,000 claimer Exotic West (Hard Spun) rounds the field from the rail and faces a tall task having never run a number anywhere close to the divisional leaders on her outside.

'Magic' in Del Mar's Cougar II Marathon
MyRacehorse and Spendthrift Farm's GISP Tizamagician (Tiznow) makes his 5-year-old bow while trying to win the GIII Cougar II S. for the second year in a row where the 'Turf Meets the Surf.' Super consistent Dicey Mo Chara (GB) (Adaay {Ire}) will try to make his first dirt marathon a winning one for his eagle-eyed connections of Red Baron's Barn LLC and Rancho Temescal LLC and conditioner Leonard Powell.

Salty Graded Fields North of the Border
It's Kentucky-vs-European-breds in the turfy GII Dance Smartly S. at 1 1/16-miles at Woodbine. The G1SP Fev Rover (Ire) (Gutaifan {Ire}), a 695,000gns purchase by Tracy Farmer from last year's Tattersalls December Mares Sale, heads the field carrying solid European form including two black-type wins as a juvenile, though both at shorter distances, as well as a placing in Group 1 company in the English 1000 Guineas last year.

The formidable partnership of Team Valor International and Gary Barber will try to circle the field with their two classy fillies, namely GISP Wakanaka (Ire) (Power {GB}) and French stakes-winner Keyflower (Fr) (Kheleyf). Charles Fipke's Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown) and the Josie Carroll-trained Seasons (Tapit) round out the Kentucky-bred contingent, while Ontario-bred horse-for-course Munnyfor Ro (Munnings) will try to parlay her liking for the track into her first seasonal win.

Before the turf fillies get rolling, the synthetic sprinters will shine in the GIII Hendrie S. with heavy favorite Boardroom (Commissioner) slated to take most of the action at the ticket windows. Familiar foes Amalfi Coast (Tapizar), conditioned by Mark Casse, and Artie's Princess (We Miss Artie) return to continue the rivalry triangle, and MGSP La Libertee (Consitution) will try to out finish her Casse stablemate.

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Fishman Appeals Conviction, 11-Year Sentence

Veterinarian Seth Fishman, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison July 11 after two felony drug-supplying convictions in a decades-long international racehorse doping conspiracy, has appealed his case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Fishman's notice of appeal landed on the electronic court docket shortly after 6 p.m. Eastern time Friday.

The filing noted that Fishman is appealing both the conviction and the sentence.

Fishman's 11-year sentence was the longest meted out in the case that led to charges against 31 individuals, including prominent trainers Jorge Navarro (who pleaded guilty last year and is currently serving a five-year sentence) and Jason Servis (who has pleaded not guilty and is set to stand trial in January).

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Mulling HISA Injunction, Judge Says No to Lengthy Hearing

After receiving back-and-forth written briefs from both parties on whether or not to impose a preliminary injunction that would halt the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority's rules until a lawsuit challenging them gets decided in full, the judge in charge of the case on Friday denied a request by the plaintiffs to hold a potentially lengthy in-person hearing to debate the issue any further.

The plaintiffs, led by the states of Louisiana and West Virginia, plus the Jockeys' Guild and various Louisiana-based “covered persons” under HISA rules, had told the judge Thursday that it was imperative to allow them to plead their case for an injunction in person.

The plaintiffs wrote in a July 21 court document that they were prepared to produce at least 10 witnesses to testify to the “extreme level of disruption that the HISA rules are inflicting on the States, racing commissions, industry, and its participants.”

That witness list consisted of Louisiana-based horsemen's group and racing commission executives, plus racing officials, veterinarians, owners, trainers, jockeys, a state steward, and two Jockeys' Guild representatives. Some of the proposed witnesses were also plaintiffs in the case.

Judge Terry Doughty of U.S. District Court (Western District of Louisiana) wasn't persuaded that he needed to hear all of that testimony before making up his mind. Writing in a July 22 order, he stated that his pending decision on whether or not to grant a preliminary injunction will be based solely on the written pleadings.

The defendants, who consist of the HISA Authority, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and board members and overseers of both entities, are alleged to have violated the Fourth, Seventh and Tenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, plus the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), which governs the process by which federal agencies develop and issue regulations.

The defendants have already survived the plaintiffs' motion for a temporary restraining order that accompanied the original lawsuit. That complaint got filed two days before the July 1 effective date for the first phase of HISA's new rules that are now in effect nationwide.

At that time, Doughty wrote that “issuing a temporary restraining order regarding an Act of Congress would be inappropriate.” But he added that the asked-for preliminary injunction could still be a possibility.

The preliminary injunction question the judge must now decide is fundamentally different, but it still has the potential to halt HISA's rules like a temporary restraining order would have.

A temporary restraining order is generally an “emergency” type of injunction to ward off immediate harm, and it has an expiration date. A preliminary injunction, on the other hand, is often used to restrain a party from taking a certain action while a case is pending, and it usually remains in force until the case gets settled in its entirety.

On July 15, the HISA-led defendants wrote in a filing opposing the injunction that, “The vast majority of stakeholders in the horseracing industry recognize the need for uniform regulations and are cooperating with the Authority and the FTC to ensure a smooth transition to this new congressionally mandated regime. But a small contingent of outliers, including Plaintiffs, have long opposed the Act on policy grounds and are growing increasingly desperate in their attempts to thwart its implementation.”

Not so, responded the plaintiffs in their July 22 filing:

“The facts on the ground further expose the flaws in Defendants' description of the horseracing industry since July 1, when HISA's rules took effect. The industry is in chaos because of HISA's hastily adopted and imprudent regulatory scheme. The FTC shares blame for this chaos because it failed to provide proper oversight of a private, nonprofit corporation's takeover-by-regulation of the horseracing industry; its token consideration and rubberstamp approval of HISA's rules fall far short of the substantive and procedural consideration required,” the document stated.

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Despite Heat, Monmouth Officials Confident Haskell Card Will be a Go

With temperatures set to reach the high nineties this weekend in the Mid-Atlantic region, a number of tracks have announced adjusted schedules, but Monmouth Park officials remain confident that the Saturday card featuring the GI Haskell S. will go off as planned.

“First and foremost, we are concerned about the safety of the horses and jockeys and want to make sure we do the right thing,” said Dennis Drazin, who heads the management team at the Jersey Shore track. “But we've been on top of it all week and right now nothing has changed. We think we will be ok.”

The heat was a factor for the running of the 2019 Haskell when temperatures flirted with the 100-degree mark. A decision was made to change the post time of the Haskell from 5:47 p.m. to 8:05 p.m in hopes that the temperatures would drop by the early evening. Six races on the card were cancelled

Drazin explained that the New Jersey Racing Commission rule calls for racing to be halted if the heat index reaches 105. A heat index takes into account the combination of high temperatures and humidity. The Saturday forecast for the Monmouth area is calling for a high temperature of 91 degrees. The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for the area through Wednesday of next week.

Drazin said that adjusting the schedule and times of the races Saturday would be a no-win proposition.

“The bottom line is that you put yourself in jeopardy no matter what you do,” he said. “If you move post time until later and the heat index is still bad at 5, 6 o'clock, then you can't run. If you move it up to 9 o'clock in the morning, you might get some races in but I don't want to start our card at 9 on Haskell day or any other day.”

Post time for Saturday's first race at Monmouth is scheduled for 12:00 and post for the Haskell was listed as 5:45 p.m.

Drazin said the racing commission was monitoring conditions for Friday's card and gave the track the green light to run and hold the races at the regularly scheduled time. Temperatures Friday reached the low nineties.

“We were concerned about the heat index today,” Drazin said Friday. “I've spoken to the racing commission and have been in touch with them all day long. Their executive director has been on top of the weather and we got the blessing to go ahead and start the card. If the heat index ended up later in day to be dangerous, they would stop the racing. Looking at the week and looking at the forecast, we thought Friday and Sunday would be worse than Saturday. So we are hoping it will play out ok and that Saturday will be fine. We are a little concerned about Sunday. We may have to do something about Sunday.”

Meanwhile, tracks in the region were sent scrambling due to the excessive temperatures. The Maryland Jockey Club (MJC) has announced that the Sunday card at Laurel has been cancelled and rescheduled for Thursday. Post time for Saturday's races has been moved from a 12:40 start to 1:50. According to MJC Acting President Mike Rogers, the company uses a protocol called the WetBulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) measurement, which takes into account temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle and cloud cover to determine potential heat stress. It is different than the heat index, which takes into consideration temperature and humidity including for shady areas. Rogers said if the WBGT measurement is at 91.4, there is no choice but to cancel racing.

Colonial Downs has announced that Monday's card has been cancelled due to heat concerns. Their scheduled, featured stakes–the $150,000 Colonial Cup at 1 1/2m on turf–will now be run Wednesday, July 27 as originally drawn.

To the west, Ellis Park has announced that its races this weekend have been moved up to 10:30 a.m. local time because of the heat.

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