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Bobby Flay Talks Breeders’ Cup Triumph On Writers’ Room

Still riding high from a scintillating victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf with fast-finishing Pizza Bianca (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), celebrity chef, restaurateur and owner/breeder Bobby Flay joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Tuesday afternoon. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Flay appreciated the significance of winning on racing's biggest stage with a homebred, teased a potential Royal Ascot trip with Pizza Bianca and discussed how he would approach racing's marketing challenges and more.

Flay made a huge splash at the 2014 Tattersalls October Sale when going to 1,250,000 guineas (around $2,122,050 U.S.) to purchase a regally-bred daughter of Galileo (Ire)–the highest-priced filly sold in the Northern Hemisphere that year–he named White Hot (Ire). But the filly never made it to the races. Flay could've cut his losses and sold the mare back at auction, but instead held onto her to breed, putting trust in her pedigree, and she rewarded him with a Breeders' Cup winner as her first foal.

“She has a lights-out pedigree,” he said. “She's by Galileo, she's a half to Pour Moi (Montjeu {Ire}), who won the English Derby, and that's just the beginning of the pedigree. It goes on for pages. It's a Coolmore family. And one thing about buying into a Coolmore family, those guys are so focused on making their families better and better that they're going to spend money all over that pedigree until the end of time. So I made that bet. I took a leap of faith and it didn't work out. The horse never ran, just wasn't good enough. But I knew I was going to keep this horse for the rest of her life. My feeling was, at some point, the blood will show up. If it's that good, something has to happen, directly or indirectly, that's going to help your family. But you have to be patient. You may have to invest more money actually to continue to breed, but at some point it will work. And I obviously did not expect it to work with the first foal, but it did. It's all gravy from here on out.”

Flay has become a breakthrough celebrity and, as a result, a de facto ambassador of racing. He was asked about how receptive people in his world are to the sport and what can be done to introduce more potential owners and bettors into the game.

“There's only one way to do it. You have to expose them to it,” he said. “If you ask me for a recipe and I just hand you a piece of paper or tell you to go download something off a website and you make it, it's going to be one way. But if I actually show you how to do it, it's going to come out differently and probably better, because I'm showing you as opposed to telling you. It's the same thing for racing. If I tell people about my experience, they're like, 'Oh yeah, that's great.' I take people to the big events, because I want them to see racing at its best, see the best horses and the biggest crowds, and then they're hooked. They're like, 'I can't believe I've never done this before.' I hear that all the time. Every year, I take about 25-30 people to the Belmont Stakes. Half of them have never been to a race before. They become racing fans.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, West Point Thoroughbreds, XBTV, Lane's End and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers discussed their takeaways from last week's interview with Travis Tygart and Tessa Muir of USADA, debated whether or not Lasix-free racing is a big deal anymore and addressed potential remedies for the wagering public in situations like the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf mess. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Rock Hard Ten Dies In Korea

Rock Hard Ten (Kris S.–Tersa, by Mr. Prospector), a Classic-placed Grade I winner at seven and 10 furlongs, passed away Nov. 12 in South Korea, according to the Korean Stud Book. The news was first reported by the Paulick Report.

Rock Hard Ten, whose dam was a half-sister to GI Kentucky Derby winner Gato Del Soul (Cougar II), was bred by Madeleine Paulson and carried her colors to a debut victory in February 2004 before Mercedes Stables bought into the colt. Second, but demoted to third in the GI Santa Anita Derby in just his third career start, the dark bay was the distant runner-up to Smarty Jones (Elusive Quality) in the GI Preakness S. and was unplaced in the GI Belmont S. before bouncing back in the GII Swaps Breeders' Cup S. Transferred from trainer Jason Orman to Richard Mandella at the end of his sophomore season, Rock Hard Ten defeated Lava Man (Slew City Slew) in the GI Malibu S. at seven furlongs before adding the 2005 GII Strub S. and GI Santa Anita H. He returned from a seven-month absence to add the GI Goodwood Breeders' Cup H.

Retired to Lane's End Farm, Rock Hard Ten was responsible for 25 black-type winners, 15 at the graded level, including Nereid, winner of the 2011 GI American Oaks. Among his other graded winners are Doubles Partner, Capital Plan and Puerto Rican champion Tonito M., who took the 2014 GIII Oklahoma Derby once repatriated.

Exported to Korea in late 2012, he has been represented by 77 winners and was a top-10 sire by progeny earnings in 2019. He has been by a dozen winners this season. In total, Rock Hard Ten is the sire of 387 worldwide winners to date.

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NJ Tracks Add Nine Dates for ’22

Thoroughbred racing in New Jersey will get a nine-date boost in 2022.

The New Jersey Racing Commission (NJRC) on Wednesday unanimously approved 60 dates at Monmouth Park (May 7-Sept. 17) and 11 dates of turf-only racing at the Meadowlands (Sept. 23-Oct. 29).

That total of 71 overall dates represents an uptick of seven programs at Monmouth and two at the Meadowlands compared to what had been granted for '21.

The NJRC also unanimously approved carrying over into '22 a $21,457 Jackpot Pick 6 pool that was scheduled to be paid out Oct. 30 but wasn't when this season's final date of the '21 Meadowlands turf meet got cancelled because of a rainstorm.

By NJRC rules, the pool is required to be escrowed in an interest-bearing account until the opening-day program a half-year from now, with that interest to be added into the carryover on opening day of the Monmouth meet next May.

In other NJRC business, the commission voted unanimously to accept a settlement agreement in a 4 1/2-year-old case involving a dextrorphan positive at Monmouth Park.

According to Judith Nason, the NJRC's executive director, Spectacular Me, a mare trained by Steve Klesaris, tested positive for dextrorphan after running second in the eighth race at Monmouth on May 28, 2017. The finding was confirmed by split sample.

Dextrorphan is a metabolite of dextromethorphan, an over-the-counter cough suppressant that is approved for human use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is sometimes used on horses as a non-FDA-approved method to prevent cribbing.

The parent drug is currently classified as Class 4 and Penalty Category B on the Uniform Classification Guidelines for Foreign Substances list published by the Association of Racing Commissioners International.

On Sept. 10, 2017, the Monmouth stewards held a hearing and imposed a 15-day suspension and a $500 fine while also disqualifying the mare from purse money.

Sixteen days later Klesaris appealed his penalties, and the case was referred to New Jersey's Office of Administrative Law.

Now, after years of negotiations, the two sides reached an agreement that cut the suspension down to just seven days while keeping intact the $500 fine and forfeiture of the purse money.

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Proposed Bill Would Gut Flow of Slot Money to NY Racing

Backed by a number of animal rights groups, two New York state lawmakers have introduced a bill that would end payments made to the state's racing and breeding industries from slot machine or video lottery terminal (VLT) revenue.

According to a press release issued Wednesday by the animal rights group NYCLASS, the bill would cancel out the $230-million payment made annually to horse racing and breeding and will redirect the money to “help New York's taxpayers, schools, workers and other social programs.”

NYCLASS has led the effort to ban carriage horses in New York City.

The legislation is sponsored by Linda Rosenthal in the Assembly and Zellnor Myrie in the Senate. Both are Democrats representing New York City. According to NYCLASS, it has the backing of, among others, PETA, Horseracing Wrongs, the New York State Humane Association and the Worker Justice Center of New York. NYCLASS calls the bill something that “counters decades of irresponsible waste” and will “end corporate welfare for horse racing–including millionaires and billionaires.”

“It's time we put an end to multimillion dollar taxpayer-funded subsidies that prop up a dying industry,” the press release quoted Rosenthal as saying. “The industry pockets the money to enhance purses and often abuses and neglects the horses in its care, while workers toil at low-wage jobs. We must stop subsidizing this cruel business and instead reinvest the funds where they're needed most – in public education, our human services sector, community redevelopment and wage theft prevention. My legislation is a statement of New York's evolving values, and I look forward to working with State Senator Myrie and the diverse and growing coalition of advocates to see it become law.”

The consensus among industry stakeholders Wednesday was that the bill had little chance of becoming law, but many were alarmed, nonetheless.

“This would have a disastrous effect, especially on the incentives and the momentum that the New Yor- bred program and our racing and purses have had overall,” said Najja Thompson, the executive director of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders.

About $60 million, or 37.5% of all purse money paid out at the NYRA tracks, comes from VLT revenue. The percentage is much higher at Finger Lakes and at the state's many harness tracks.

The New York Racing Association was quick to denounce the effort Wednesday while labeling advocates of the bill as extremists.

“NYRA will vigorously oppose this legislation in order to protect jobs for working families, preserve the horse racing economy and ensure the sport's success now and in the future,” NYRA spokesman Pat McKenna said in a statement. “Racing support payments are not subsidies. The payments from VLT revenues are made to the thoroughbred industry in part because NYRA transferred land and other intellectual property to the state in 2008, and has acted as the steward of the properties in the years since. The VLT payments are compensation for that transaction rather than subsidies. These payments further the sport's ability to serve as an economic engine–particularly in support of the tourism and hospitality industries, which have suffered significantly due to the COVID crisis.

“NYRA looks forward to the opportunity to engage New Yorkers and lawmakers in a real conversation about the massive industry connected to horse racing throughout the state. This is precisely why NYRA joined We Are NY Racing, the diverse coalition launched in September in support of horse racing.

“Organizations like NYCLASS, PETA and Horseracing Wrongs have long been philosophically opposed to horse racing and make no secret of their desire to end the sport,” he said. “This extreme agenda would deprive working families of jobs and opportunity and would negatively impact union and hourly workers at the worst possible time. Rather than a rational public policy disagreement, these groups are only interested in how best to damage horse racing to further their own political agenda. These groups are completely out of touch with the concerns of working families here in New York, and they cannot be trusted.”

Thompson, whose group is part of the We are NY Racing Coalition, said its incumbent on everyone in the industry to educate lawmakers about the positive economic impact of the sport.

“We have to make sure we educate lawmakers and the public and let them know that these are not subsidies,” he said. “They are payments made for agreements regarding intellectual property and the transfer of land. We need to continue to stress the economic impact that horse racing provides, the jobs, the land preservation, especially from breeding farms. That is the best way to counteract these fringe groups and legislation such as this that wants to do irreparable harm to our industry.”

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