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Dubai World Cup Next for Jesus’ Team

There may not have been a more improved horse in 2020 than Jesus' Team (Tapiture), who began the year in maiden claimers and finished it off with a second-place finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and a win in the Claiming Crown series. He kicked off 2021 with another second-place finish, in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational.

But the best may be yet to come.

Trainer Jose D'Angelo has decided to pass on the $20-million Saudi Cup and will, instead, point the 4-year-old for the G1 Dubai World Cup on March 27. Should Knicks Go (Paynter) and Charlatan (Speightstown) both run in Saudi Arabia that could mean they won't tackle the Dubai World Cup. If so, Jesus' Team could be among the top threats in the race.

“With the Dubai World Cup, I have more time to get him into better form,” D'Angelo said. “I think that I have a real chance to win the Dubai World Cup because it is a two-turn race and the Saudi Cup is one turn. The Dubai World Cup is one furlong farther. I think Jesus' Team will like that.”

Jesus' Team is owned by Grupo 7C Racing, a stable compromised of seven brothers based in Venezuela. He began his career for trainer Jose Garoffalo before being transferred to D'Angelo's barn prior to a $25,000 claimer at Gulfstream on May 8. He won by 6 3/4 lengths that day and then came back to finish second in an allowance.

“When he first worked out for me, I saw something in him,” D'Angelo said. “In his first race for me, he showed me something. He was amazing in that race. In his workouts after that he looked incredible. I talked to the owner and I said that it's only my first year in the USA, but I see something in this horse and I think we can run in the big races.”

Jesus' Team made his stakes debut in the GI Haskell S., where he was fourth and followed that up with third-place finishes in the GII Jim Dandy S. and the GI Preakness S.

Jesus' Team developed into exactly the type of horse D'Angelo hoped to have in his barn when he left Venezuela in 2019 to try to make it in the US.

He is the son of the prominent Venezuelan trainer Francisco D'Angelo and dropped out of college after two years to go out on his own. D'Angelo made his debut as a trainer when just 22. In 2014, he saddled Dreaming of Gold (Ven) (Documentary) to win the Classico Simon Bolivar, one of the most prestigious races in Venezuela. In 2018, D'Angelo was the leading trainer in his native country. Still in his twenties at the time, he had a bright future in Venezuela, but decided to move to Florida. He currently has 17 horses based at Palm Meadows.

“It was always my dream to run in the biggest races in the USA,” he said. “I made the decision to follow my dreams.”

D'Angelo has gotten off to a solid start, saddling his first US winner on June 8, 2019. He's won 37 of 203 starts for a winning percentage of 18%.

“I am happy and proud of what I have done,” he said. “But I think this year will be an amazing year for our barn.”

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Raven Unexpectedly Busy at OBS

Owner/trainer Kerri Raven, based at Tampa Bay Downs this winter with a string of 10 horses, went to the OBS Winter Mixed Sale Tuesday with the expectation of possibly buying a horse out of the auction's racing age section. The Ontario native returned to Tampa Wednesday with three horses, including the $150,000 session topper Bear Brian (Tiznow) (hip 368).

“I just came up to see the horses of racing age, but I didn't really have a plan,” Raven said on the road back to Tampa Wednesday afternoon. “We brought the trailer, but I thought maybe one or none. I wasn't planning on being that aggressive at all. It was just the individuals that really stuck out.”

Raven's first purchase of the day was Jungle Fighter (Animal Kingdom) (hip 257). She paid $60,000 for the 5-year-old gelding who was third in the 2019 GIII Ontario Derby and was most recently seventh in the GI Northern Dancer S. last October for Stronach Stables and trainer Michael Doyle.

Raven then paid $90,000 for an unraced 3-year-old colt by Distorted Humor (hip 315). The sophomore shared the bullet three-furlong drill (:32 2/5) during Monday's under-tack preview.

Following those two purchases, Raven thought she was done shopping. Until she saw Bear Brian.

“The last hip that I bought, who was the sale topper, when that horse came into the ring, he just had so much presence that I couldn't say no to him,” Raven said. “I was done buying until I saw that horse. I was done buying and I wasn't really paying attention to anything anymore and then I saw him and just had to go see what he was about. I'd never quite seen as good-looking a horse as that. He is so well put-together and he has an intelligent head. He's just beautiful. I went and talked to the people and saw he vetted out really good. And that was it.”

Bear Brian was purchased by Stonestreet Stables for $300,000 as a weanling at the 2018 Keeneland November sale. In his lone start, the bay colt won on debut at Sam Houston Race Park Jan. 9.

“I went and looked at him just because of how he looked as an individual and then found everything else about him,” Raven said. “I thought that was really big, a winner in his only start, that's not easy to do.”

Asked if her session-topping $150,000 bid would have been her last, Raven said, “I wasn't stopping. I'm kind of like that.”

Raven grew up in Ontario, but had to find her own way into the racing world.

“My mother is an artist and my dad was a musician,” Raven said. “I just kind of jumped the fence of the nearest horse farm–it was actually a dairy farm that had a horse. I was just horse crazy right from the time I was a kid. I always knew I wanted to work with horses, but I had to go and find it myself.”

Raven eventually found her way to Woodbine, where she worked as a hot walker and then galloped for trainers like Mac Benson and Paul Buttigieg. She also spent six years working for trainers in Europe.

“I think in a way, they let a horse be a horse over there,” Raven said of what she learned in her time in Europe. “Horses are a lot more relaxed. I like having a round pen and I don't like trying to build them up too much. I think they prepare them mentally better over there. I like to take my time, too. If they need the time, I give them the time they need.”

From Tampa Bay, Raven and her now 13-horse stable will move to Canterbury Park in Minnesota in the spring.

“I train for some guys in Minnesota and a couple people in Canada, but I own quite a few myself,” Raven said of the string.

Asked if she was looking to expand her stable, Raven said, “No. I gallop all of my own horses and I thought 10 was a good number.”

She added with a laugh, “And then I went to Ocala.”

As for her plans for Bear Brian, Raven said, “We will see how he starts training to determine where we will point him. He has the potential to be a lot of fun.”

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NYSGC Passes One year on Whip Reform Talk, No Action

The New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) Jan. 26 once again elected not to propose or vote upon any changes to whip use that would be more humane to Thoroughbreds, making it now more than a year since that agency first began discussing how it might address one of the sport's hot-button equine welfare issues the way regulators in other racing states have long since done.

“We have a report that just arrived to us in the last 24 hours on the use of the crop. And staff will be spending time with that report–and the commissioners will be spending time with that report–and hope to address the issues at our next meeting,” NYSGC chairman Barry Sample said at the tail end of Tuesday's teleconference, which included only two other rule-making items: The licensure of veterinary technicians and regulating home-delivery sales of lottery tickets.

Back in December 2019, NYSGC staffers were first directed to discuss crop use among industry stakeholders and report back at a future commission meeting.

Despite that directive, whip use did not get brought up the next time the NYSGC met Feb. 10, 2020, for a meeting that lasted only six minutes (By contrast, most state racing and gaming commission meetings last an hour or more, and it is not uncommon for some to stretch to four or five hours).

At NYSGC's May 19 meeting, commissioner Peter Moschetti cited “the length of today's agenda” (32 minutes) as the reason the topic of whip rule reform had to be pushed off until the summer.

When the board next met July 27 for a meeting that lasted 14 minutes, Moschetti cited the need for the board to review a “lengthy memorandum” that commissioners had just received from its staff on whip use before the NYSGC could deliberate any proposed changes.

When the NYSGC again met for another 14-minute meeting Sept. 21, Sample said, “I think we all agree that [whip reform] is a matter that needs to be brought to closure sooner rather than later. Some of us contend that it's been out there too long.”

Moschetti agreed, adding, “I think the time has come. We want to do this. We've talked about doing this. Staff has done their work.”

By that time, paradigm-shifting whip reform changes had either already been implemented or were in the process of being codified in California, Kentucky, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and Ontario. With the exception of California, whose racing commission had started its reform process several years ago, all of the other jurisdictions had taken up the topic around the same time New York first proposed doing so late in 2019.

While New Jersey eventually banned whipping outright starting in 2021, the other jurisdictions generally carved out new rules based on strike limits, and/or the manner (underhanded or overhanded) in which a jockey can whip.

During the Oct. 19 NYSGC meeting, the board heard 2 1/4 hours of pro and con testimony from industry stakeholders about whip reform. But no new regulations were proposed at that time, nor were any measures floated when the board next met Nov. 30 and proposed or passed more than a dozen other racing-related rules.

If the NYSGC decides to advance whip-related rule proposals at its next (yet-to-be-scheduled) meeting, any proposed measures would (assuming passage) have to published in the New York State Register and get sent out for a general public comment period. Then commissioners would then have to come back for a final vote, pushing the effective date for any whip-related reforms in New York into mid-2021 at the earliest.

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Tiznow Colt Tops OBS Winter Mixed Opener

Three-year-old Bear Brian (Tiznow), a winner in his only trip to the post so far, topped Tuesday's opening session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Winter Mixed Sale when bringing a final bid of $150,000 from Canadian-born trainer Kerri Raven during the day's racehorses in training section. A colt by Practical Joke was the session's top-priced short yearling when selling to Clark Shepherd of Shepherd Equine Advisors for $130,000. Both were consigned by Francis and Barbara Vanlangendonck's Summerfield.

“The only thing that limits you here is the quality of the horse,” Francis Vanlangendonck said of the strength of the market in Ocala Tuesday. “I think there was plenty of money to buy anything that was here. I was pleasantly surprised that we were able to sell almost everything–all but one horse–today, and there were multiple bidders on each one. So I was thrilled, actually, with the action we had. I don't think anybody is going into a sale at any time in the last eight months not worried, but it is holding up.”

During Tuesday's consignor preferred session, 98 head grossed $1,893,300 for an average of $19,319 and a median of $10,050. The buy-back rate was 31.0%. The 2021 figures were down slightly from last year's session, which saw 85 horses sell for $1,912,300 for an average of $22,498 and a median of $13,000.

A total of 73 head sold during Tuesday's horses of racing age section for a gross of $1,676,500. The average was $22,966 and the median was $13,000. A year ago, 70 racehorses grossed $1,366,900. The average was $19,527 and the median was $11,000.

“The racehorses sold really well,” Vanlangendonck said. “I mean, really well. Again, there were multiple people on almost every one of them.”

Bear Brian (hip 368), purchased for $300,000 as a weanling at the 2018 Keeneland November sale, rallied late to get his head in front on the wire in his six-furlong unveiling at Sam Houston Race Park Jan. 9 for Stonestreet Stables and trainer Steve Asmussen.

“There were five or six people on him,” Vanlangendonck said after watching the newly turned sophomore top Tuesday's session when selling for $150,000. “He is a beautiful colt and showed some form. This horse vetted really well, looked good, he's a beautiful horse and he looked good on the track when we galloped. I think everybody was looking at him and saying, 'He won first time out and that's hard to do no matter where you do it.' The fact that he is sound and pretty helped a lot.”

Bear Brian is out of stakes-winner Lil Super Bear (Super Saver).

Raven purchased three horses during the horses of racing age section Tuesday, going to $90,000 to acquire an unraced 3-year-old colt by Distorted Humor (hip 315) and to $60,000 to purchase the 5-year-old Jungle Fighter (Animal Kingdom) (hip 257).

A colt by Practical Joke (hip 182) was the top-priced offering during the consignor preferred section of the Winter Mixed Sale when selling for $130,000 to Shepherd's on-line bid. Shepherd was acting on behalf of Highlander Training Center owner Larry Hirsch who plans on racing the short yearling.

“He fit the mold of most of the good Practical Jokes that I've seen,” Shepherd said of the colt. “They all have a great walk and this colt was no different. He has a great body on him. And from a pedigree standpoint, I think Practical Joke works with a lot of mares. Every time that I see that happen in the very beginning, when they work with a broad base of mares, that dictates a racehorse sire. And they sure look the part.”

A three-time Grade I winner, Practical Joke's first foals are 2-year-olds this year. His 74 yearlings sold in 2020 averaged $120,243 with a high price of $575,000.

Asked if he had been impressed by Practical Joke's progeny, Shepherd said, “From day one. Even his first year standing, I recommended him to a lot of people for a lot of mares. When you go to the sales and start seeing his weanlings, you just have to like the package you see and then they start developing into quality yearlings. And word on the street is that the pinhookers are loving theirs.”

Consigned by Summerfield, the short yearling is the first foal out of Mobeautiful (Uncle Mo). He was bred by Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds.

“Practical Joke has been pretty popular,” Vanlangendonck said when asked about the yearling's appeal. “He is kind of the buzz stallion down here with the training guys. A lot of them are talking about the ones they have are training on. So that helped. And he's out of an Uncle Mo mare and he has an Uncle Mo look to him with some leg. So between the combination of the two, there were seven or eight of the better eyes here on the grounds that were on him. He was that kind of horse.”

Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo purchased Mobeautiful's dam Switchboard (Bernardini) for $160,000 at the 2011 Keeneland September Yearling Sale with the intention of pinhooking her the following spring. An injury ended those plans and the Ocala horsemen added her to their broodmare band. Her first foal was Mobeautiful, who likewise missed the sales. Mobeautiful won two of four starts for Hartley in 2018. The 6-year-old mare was bred to Bolt d'Oro last year.

The Winter Mixed sale marks the fourth OBS auction to offer buyers the option to bid online. Shepherd took advantage of that opportunity Tuesday and was pleased with the result.

“This was kind of a last minute deal, so I wasn't even there,” Shepherd said. “I had people doing some things for me, sending back videos and pictures, and I had the vets doing some work for me. And I bid online. I didn't have the warm fuzzy feeling about it as being there myself, but we put a good team together.”

Of the experience of bidding online, Shepherd said, “I had no idea what to expect. Of course, I got on there yesterday and I was like a kid just trying to surf it and make sure I knew my way around. I was saying to myself, 'Well, surely it's not this simple.' But it was.”

Asked if he planned on doing more bidding online, Shepherd admitted, “Only if I have to. I would rather have my feet on the ground and see what I see. You can buy with more confidence that way. But we adapted on this one and obviously landed on a good horse and had to fight for him.”

The Winter Mixed sale continues with an open session beginning at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

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