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O’Rourke, Serling, Ortiz Join 100th Writers’ Room

The crew of the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland celebrated a major milestone Tuesday, recording the 100th episode of the ever-growing podcast, and did so with a star-studded show shot from the New York Racing Association's television stand overlooking the majestic paddock at Saratoga. Welcoming as guests NYRA CEO David O'Rourke, America's Day at the Races analyst and Saratoga veteran Andy Serling and Eclipse champion jockey Jose Ortiz, the writers got insight on the future of New York racing both upstate and downstate, the significance of fans returning to Saratoga, what it takes to win a Spa meet rider's title and much more.

First up on the set as the Green Group Guest of the Week was O'Rourke, who touched on a variety of industry issues, including the moral imperative to institute major drug reform, the way forward on partnering with sports betting outfits and whether closing Aqueduct and/or downsizing Belmont figures into NYRA's long-term plans.

“Five, ten years out, if there's one facility [downstate] it will be Belmont Park,” O'Rourke said. “That's really our hub. That's what we're going to attack this winter in terms of planning. What are our options? There are three. You can knock [Belmont] down and build a smaller building, you can redo it, or, one of the things we did this year was build the Triple Crown room on the second floor. That was, in a sense, an experiment. What would it start to look like if we took sections of this building, and build out rooms that we need for big dates like Belmont Stakes Day, or potential Breeders' Cups? So those answers will start to flow out. What you're looking at is a smaller conditioned footprint at Belmont for 10 months a year, and the ability to expand out for something like the Belmont Stakes or Breeders' Cup.”

Next up was Serling, who has been coming to Saratoga for decades and has recently become a key cog in NYRA and FOX Sports' successful daily broadcast from Saratoga and Belmont. Known to many as an outspoken, opinionated personality, Serling was asked whether or not he gets blowback, personally or professionally, for his style of speaking candidly on air.

“I never get that from NYRA,” he said. “[NYRA Bets President and TV Executive Producer] Tony Allevato and Dave O'Rourke have my back actually. If I said something out of line, Tony might say, 'You might want to tone that down,' but he would be right if he said it. I don't understand this whole notion that I'm this incredibly outspoken person, because I've been betting horses my whole life. Horseplayers are argumentative, that's what we do. Isn't that what we like about racing? That we have differing opinions? We throw them around, we say, 'You're an idiot,' 'I'm an idiot', then they run the race and we're probably both wrong, and you move on and try to learn from it. What do people want? Do they want people who say, 'I like the 4-5 favorite, I don't dislike anybody, they're all beautiful.' I thought that's what people want to do about racing is, argue about it. So I'm not going to change what I do. It seems to be working. I mean, at least they're listening. Love, hate, they're all listening.”

Last but not least on the set was Jose Ortiz, 2017's Eclipse Champion Jockey, currently enjoying a successful meet, sitting second as of this writing in the Saratoga jockey standings. He was asked about how the Puerto Rican jockey school and older Puerto Rican trailblazers have helped him and other young riders successfully transition to America.

“It's huge,” Ortiz said of the Escuela Vocacional Hipica. “Angel [Cordero] and Johnny [Velazquez] set the path for us, and hopefully we're setting the path for the ones coming behind us. And it's good for the school because it works on government funds. So if the government keeps seeing the results like they see now, they're going to keep helping the school, and we need that. We work hard, because I have in the back of my head that everything I do is going to be reflected on the school back home and the kids that look up to us now. You've got to keep that in mind at all times.”

Elsewhere on the milestone Writers' Room, which is also sponsored by West Point Thoroughbreds, Spendthrift Farm, Legacy Bloodstock and the 2021 Minnesota Thoroughbred Assoication Yearling Sale, the crew celebrated being back together along with fans at Saratoga, reacted to a huge weekend of turf racing and the unceremonious goodbye some got from Arlington Park, and discussed the suspension of leading trainer Wayne Potts at Monmouth. 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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Racing Stalwart B. Wayne Hughes Dies

B. Wayne Hughes, the billionaire businessman and philanthropist who resurrected Spendthrift Farm and turned it into one of the leading stallion farms in North America, died Wednesday at his residence on the farm surrounded by his family. He was 87 years old.

Born Bradley Wayne Hughes on Sept. 28, 1933, in the small town of Gotebo, OK, he was known by his middle name since childhood. The son of a sharecropper who fled Oklahoma's Dust Bowl and resettled in California shortly after he was born, Hughes grew up poor in the San Gabriel Valley east of Los Angeles. Winning a scholarship to the University of Southern California, he graduated with a degree in business in 1957.

Climbing the professional ladder in real estate, Hughes had recently opened his own firm when business associate Kenneth Volk, Jr. brought him an idea in 1972 for buying and renting out private self-storage locations in major cities. Hughes and Volk pooled $50,000 together and founded Public Storage, which became an immense success and established Hughes's business empire. The company has grown to a $40-billion valuation and was the foundation for Hughes to expand into other successful real estate ventures.

Despite his fortune, Hughes was well known for sticking with his middle-class habits, eating fast food–SoCal staple In 'n' Out Burger was a favorite–dressing modestly and hanging out at the track he was raised in the shadow of, Santa Anita.

Introduced to horse racing by his father as a young boy, Hughes was involved in the sport for decades as an adult before making his big splash with the purchase of Spendthrift in 2004. The historic farm, which once stood Triple Crown winners Seattle Slew and Affirmed, fell into bankruptcy when the Thoroughbred market crashed in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was sold at a foreclosure auction in 1993. He purchased Spendthrift in 2004 and traded in his residence in California for a life on the farm in Lexington. Hughes quickly began restoring the historic brand and its land, renovating almost all the farm's signature structures and returning Spendthrift to a viable commercial breeding operation.

The farm gradually returned to prominence and has soared in the past decade with the breakout of superstar sire Into Mischief. Spendthrift has also campaigned multiple champions Beholder (Henry Hughes) and Authentic (Into Mischief) in recent years and dominated last year's Fasig-Tipton November Night of the Stars, buying dual champion Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) for $9.5 million as one of several multi-million dollar purchases to pair with Into Mischief and the rest of the farm's ever-growing stallion roster.

Following Beholder's 8 1/4-length victory in the 2015 GI Pacific Classic, Hughes said: “I've had a few good horses in the past, but she is the first horse that makes me feel lucky to be the owner. I've never had that feeling before. I think it's called pride.”

“It's a very, very sad day for me personally, and for racing in general,” said Beholder and her half-brother Into Mischief's trainer Richard Mandella. “He was such a stand-up guy, trying to make the world better, and a lot of fun.”
Mandella, who said he had known Hughes for 25 years, described him as a bastion of old-school horsemanship.

“He was like those old owners who used to come to the track and see the horses train and have breakfast and talk about them–the old school type.”

Asked what memory of Hughes stands out above all others, Mandella sidestepped a carnival of indelible moments with the likes of Beholder. “She had so many days you could pick–the last race she ran in at the Breeders' Cup. The Pacific Classic just took your breath away,” he said.

“But if I had one day to pick, it's when I asked him for a favor for my son,” Mandella said, reluctant to elaborate in detail. “My son had some health problems, and Mr. Hughes did something that nobody else could do.”

Said Hughes after being honored as the 2020 Galbreath Award winner by the University of Louisville: “Thoroughbred horse racing has been a tremendous passion of mine ever since my father took me to the races as a young boy. It's something he and I got to share together, and I've been fortunate to be able to make it a large part of my life and share it with so many that are dear to me. There are few thrills greater than what horse racing can provide, and it is our responsibility to do a better job of improving this great sport so that future generations can enjoy it as much as I have.”

Hughes devoted a considerable portion of his wealth to philanthropy, almost always anonymously and without fanfare. He gave a staggering $400 million to his beloved USC and committed over $100 million more to pediatric cancer research after his 8-year-old son Parker died of leukemia in 1998. During the wildfires that killed and displaced horses in California in 2017, Hughes gave $50,000 to relief efforts and flew in veterinary supplies and volunteers from Kentucky on a private plane.

In addition to his philanthropy, Hughes will be remembered as one of the great, consistently innovative business minds of the last 50 years and a true rags to riches story who found his way to success in nearly everything he tried. His investment in and expert management of Spendthrift has risen the farm from the ashes and restored its legacy while disrupting the industry by continually implementing new ideas on both the breeding and racing sides.

Hughes was preceded in death by his father William Lawrence, his mother Blanche, and his son Parker. He is survived by his wife Patricia, his son Wayne Jr. (Molly); his daughter Tamara, wife of Spendthrift's Eric Gustavson; his grandchildren Kylie Barraza (Pat), Skylar Hughes, Grant and Greer Gustavson; his sister Sue Caldwell and family, Frank, Bill, Allen; and a host of beloved cousins and friends.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the B. Wayne Hughes Fund at UK HealthCare, P.O. Box 34184, Lexington, KY, 40588.

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Verrazano’s Chi Town Lady Takes the Bolton Landing

Chi Town Lady outslugged her stablemate Poppy Flower late to take her record to two-for-two in Saratoga's Bolton Landing S. A debut winner at Keeneland Apr. 11, she was given a 5-1 chance in this black-type bow. Last at the break, the chestnut swiftly moved up the outside to be third as her barnmate clocked a first quarter in :22.43. Poppy Flower turned for home in front with Chi Town Lady ranging up on her outside. It was a battle of the wesley Ward-trained chestnuts in the lane with Chi Town Lady forging clear in the final strides to score.

“They both ran great races,” Ward said. “I think she [Chi Town Lady] is better on the grass, it's where she was always meant to be. Unfortunately, she had some minor shin issues that kept her from Ascot, which was originally the plan. It afforded me the time to let her come around and she did what she did today. She was great.”

The winner is the 15th black-type winner for her sire Verrazano. She is also the 31st stakes winner out of a daughter of the late Harlan's Holiday. Toni's Hollyday is also responsible for a yearling colt by Mendelssohn and a 2021 colt by Liam's Map. She was bred back to champion Game Winner.

Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

BOLTON LANDING S., $120,000, Saratoga, 8-18, 2yo, f, 5 1/2fT, 1:05.87, yl.
1–CHI TOWN LADY, 122, f, 2, by Verrazano
1st Dam: Toni's Hollyday (SP, $119,047), by Harlan's Holiday
                2nd Dam: May Day Vow, by Broken Vow
                3rd Dam: May Day Bluff, by Pine Bluff
   1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-Castleton Lyons; B-Castleton Lyons,
Kilboy Estate & Gavin Tierney (KY); T-Wesley A. Ward; J-John
Velazquez. $66,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $102,000.
2–Poppy Flower, 122, f, 2, Lea–Nisharora (Ire), by Excellent Art
(GB). ($9,500 RNA Ylg '20 KEEJAN). O-Arnmore Thoroughbreds,
LLC; B-Brenda Harding & Megan Jones (KY); T-Wesley A. Ward.
$24,000.
3–Kneesnhips, 122, f, 2, Connect–Miss Holiday Inn, by Tactical     Cat. ($30,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Joel Politi; B-Lantern Hill Farm
LLC (KY); T-Thomas M. Amoss. $14,400.
Margins: 1 3/4, 3, HF. Odds: 5.40, 4.80, 12.20.
Also Ran: Stand Up Comic, Derrynane, Charlee O, Flip My Id, Cartel Queen, Fulminate. Scratched: Averly Jane, Golden Bell, Landslid.

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’22 California Schedule Could Include One-Week Break

As the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) begins the planning process for crafting 2022 race dates on both the Southern and Northern circuits, it appears as if there is some consensus for including a one-week break with no racing, although no exact time frame for any proposed hiatus has been publicly identified.

At Wednesday's monthly meeting, CHRB vice chair Oscar Gonzales updated the full board on the two-hour dates subcommittee teleconference that took place Tuesday and included representatives from tracks and horsemen's groups.

“We obviously didn't take a vote on any ideas or measures, although I felt that the groundwork was laid for the 2022 race dates,” Gonzales said.

Gonzales said to expect “mostly what we've seen over the last year or two in terms of dates layout. One of the issues that the board will be having to take up as we look to solidify that calendar will be the idea of a break, a week in which there will be no racing. That was communicated for a variety of reasons.”

Gonzales said that he wants “to make sure that any kind of a break does not happen arbitrarily, but rather with the full understanding of the impact” the time off will have on workers,” both backside and frontside.

To that end, CHRB executive director Scott Chaney said that the concept of breaks generated robust discussion among stakeholders and subcommittee members, including “whether they are effective, what they are for, and whether they should be mandated or association-determined.”

Gonzales also cautioned that the CHRB's planning for 2022 will still have to be mindful of potential COVID-19 contingencies as the global pandemic nears its 18-month mark with no definite signs of abatement.

Gonzales said it's imperative to note that “until we get the all-clear signal…we will be continuing to operate under the emergency rules and the guidelines handed down by the counties and the state.”

Sept. at Los Al Greenlighted

Race dates in California are doled out in blocks for an upcoming year, then the actual applications get approved by the CHRB as each track's race meet approaches.

Thus, the September Thoroughbred meet at Los Alamitos Race Course was approved unanimously by the CHRB at the Aug. 18 meeting.

But it was only nine months ago when debate raged within the CHRB over the course of two separate meetings about whether Los Al was a safe enough track to merit the granting of a year-round Quarter Horse license, as has been routine.

Amid concerns that Los Al wasn't doing enough to mitigate the 29 equine deaths that occurred at the track in 2020, the CHRB in December 2020 voted 5-1 to only grant the track a six-month license.

In the immediate aftermath of that controversial vote, Los Al owner Ed Allred had threatened to close his Quarter Horse track and develop the property for a purpose other than racing, which would also affect the Thoroughbred meets that Los Al hosts in June/July, September and December.

One month later, in January 2021, the CHRB took up the issue again, re-voting 4-3 to grant Los Al its customary full-year Quarter Horse license.

Even though that Quarter Horse license is separate from the Thoroughbred meet that got approved for Los Al on Wednesday, safety still percolated to the top of discussion, with Gonzales wanting to make it known that he now believes Los Al has worked diligently to make improvements.

“I have been part of the commissioners that really have raised the bar on Los Alamitos,” Gonzales said. “And I have seen what I would describe as improvement and the right commitment of leadership, resources and time on the part of Los Alamitos. If I were to ask a direct question about, 'Is Los Alamitos doing better than it has in the past?' I am very, very confident that the answer would be yes.

“Is there room for improvement? Always,” Gonzales continued. “That applies to not just California racing, but across the country. I just want to see continued improvement by the leadership of Los Alamitos. I believe that they have made all of the adjustments and honored the requests of this board. And again, I have gone on record as being among the toughest [safety critics]. But I also want to acknowledge leadership when I see it. And I have seen that effort being made.”

CHRB Chairman Gregory Ferraro, DVM, said that he would endorse what the vice chairman said.

The two commissioners haven't always been in agreement on how to handle Los Al's licensure.

Back in December 2020, Ferraro had been the lone dissenting board member in that 5-1 vote to issue only a six-month license. He said at the time that granting only a half-year license made no sense considering the CHRB has the power to halt any California track's Quarter Horse or Thoroughbred racing at any time over safety issues.

Gonzales, by contrast, had pushed hard for the six-month license and had said back in January that Los Al's safety needed to be more closely monitored.

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