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Horse of the Year Azeri Pensioned

American Horse of the Year Azeri (Jade Hunter-Zodiac Miss {Aus}, by Ahonoora {GB}) has been pensioned from broodmare duty. The chestnut will instead become a lead horse, educating weanlings and yearlings at the Northern Horse Park in Japan according to a recent video posted by the park. The news was first reported by Daily Racing Form.

Bred by Allen E. Paulson, Azeri raced in his living trust’s colors to wins in 11 Grade I races, while picking up titles as Champion Older Mare in 2002/03/04 and a Horse of the Year title in 2002. She won three editions of the GI Apple Blossom H. (02-04) and two editions each of the GI Vanity H. (02/03) and GI Milady Breeders’ Cup H. in the same two years, respectively. In addition, she won the 2002 GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff, 2002 GI Santa Margarita Invitational H. as well as the 2004 GI Spinster S. and 2004 GI Go for Wand H. For the first several seasons of her career she was trained by Laura de Seroux before being transferred to D. Wayne Lukas for her 2004 campaign. In total the game chestnut earned $4,079,820 with 17 wins from 24 starts.

During the American portion of her broodmare career Azeri’s three foals were led by MGSW and GI Juddmonte Spinster third Wine Princess (Ghostzapper) and GSP Arienza (Giant’s Causeway). She was purchased for $2.25 million by Katsumi Yoshida at Keeneland November in 2009 and had another nine foals in Japan. From that bunch, the best were the MGSP Leukerbad (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and GSP Shirvanshah (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}). Overall, Azeri foaled nine winners from nine runners. Her latest produce is a Drefong filly of 2020.

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Vitali Resurfaces at Turf Paradise

Trainer Marcus Vitali started a horse Monday at Turf Paradise, finishing third in the Hank Mills Sr. S.s with Be Gone Daddy (Scat Daddy) in what was his first start since July 21, 2019.

Vitali’s career has been marked by numerous drug violations, suspensions and bans. His career stalled in 2019 when, in mid-July, he was suspended for 365 days by the Delaware Racing Commission for “interfering with and impeding an investigation being performed by the DTRC investigator along with Delaware Park Security staff.” Delaware racing officials alleged that Vitali removed an item from a refrigerator in a dorm room during a search and fled. The item was never recovered.

In 2016, Vitali relinquished his Florida trainer’s license to avoid being penalized for seven medication violations between October 2015 and January 2016. Vitali and Florida regulators eventually agreed on a 120-day suspension for the trainer. He made only 29 starts in 2017, but rebuilt his stable and made 334 starts and won 49 races in 2018, the majority of them coming at Gulfstream and Gulfstream Park West.

Vitali’s name resurfaced in August when the Maryland Jockey Club alleged that trainer Wayne Potts was acting as a program trainer for Vitali, who was banned at the Maryland tracks at the time. Because of his alleged association with Vitali, Potts was ordered to vacate the grounds at Laurel.

The TDN reached out to Vitali Tuesday and the trainer claimed that because of bad reception, he could not hear the phone call. He said he would call back, but did not do so.

In a story that ran in February in the Attleboro (Mass.) Sun Chronicle detailing Vitali’s plans at the time to open a marijuana growing business, Vitali downplayed his many suspensions.

“Every trainer has been suspended at one time or another,” Vitali said. “There are so many different rules. Each track has different rules.”

When reached by the TDN, Turf Paradise General Manager Vince Francia referred questions to the Arizona Department of Racing

Vitali has two more horses entered Wednesday at Turf Paradise, as well as one horse each on the cards of Jan. 8 and Jan. 11.

For his career, which began in 1990, Vitali has made 5,636 starts and has won 888 races.

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C.J. McMahon Alleged to Have Fired Shots into Vehicle at Red Light

Jockey Charles Jantzen (C.J.) McMahon allegedly fired a gun into a stopped vehicle at a red light in his hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana, and then sped off Dec. 27, which led to his arrest on attempted murder charges in that city after a Jan. 2 traffic stop.

These new details of the case were confirmed Tuesday afternoon by Wayne Griffin, a spokesperson for the Lafayette Police Department. McMahon posted an $80,000 bond Sunday that freed him from incarceration on charges that also included illegal use of a dangerous weapon and possession of marijuana.

Griffin told TDN that no one in the vehicle that took the gunfire got hurt. “They’re fine,” he added, explaining he could not discuss how many shots were allegedly fired or what the motive might have been because the case is still under investigation.

“[McMahon] was allegedly involved in an incident where a vehicle was parked at a red light. He pulled up in his own vehicle next to the car. He shot into the car. And then he sped off,” Griffin said. “We were able to locate the vehicle through some investigative means and [by using traffic cameras]. And in turn we were able to locate him and make an arrest.”

TDN could not find a working phone number for McMahon, nor could the Lafayette Parish District Court confirm whether he has an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

McMahon, 26, is a third-generation Louisiana-based horseman whose grandfather trained Quarter Horses. His father, a retired jockey, rode them, with C.J.’s mother booking mounts as his agent.

McMahon broke in as a jockey at age 16 in 2011, and one year ago this week he earned his 1,000th lifetime win. He has ridden regularly at various Louisiana and Texas tracks while often at or near the top of the standings, but his number of mounts and win totals have fluctuated in recent seasons.

In 2013, McMahon was suspended in Indiana for making threatening remarks to a starter prior to a race. And in 2017, he was suspended for 30 days in that state after testing positive for levels of methamphetamine and marijuana.

McMahon most recently rode at Delta Downs Dec. 28 and is next named to ride on the opening day program at Sam Houston Race Park Jan. 8.

TDN asked Robert Elrod, the public information officer for the Texas Racing Commission, if McMahon’s jockey license would be affected by the charges.

“The thing with McMahon is his license remains in good standing with us,” Elrod said. “But my understanding is Sam Houston is not going to let him ride. That’s their call. As long as he doesn’t have a conviction, he’s afforded due process.”

Dwight Berube, Sam Houston’s vice president of operations and general manager, did not return a voicemail query about McMahon’s status prior to deadline for this story.

A spokeswoman for the Lafayette Parish District Attorney told TDN that because of the way Louisiana handles criminal complaints, it could be anywhere from a few days to eight weeks before McMahon is formally arraigned on the charges that police filed.

“We’re a little bit different [in Louisiana],” the spokeswoman explained. “Arraignments are set only once the charges are accepted [by the district attorney]. So basically, he was arrested, he got bonded out, and is no longer incarcerated. The next step will be the [police] report’s going to come here. It will go into review and be assigned to a particular assistant district attorney. And then at that point they can answer any questions that are part of the public record. He’s not even in our system yet.”

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Handle on U.S. Racing Off Less Than One Percent in 2020

Despite a racing calendar ravaged by the coronavirus, all-sources handle on U.S. racing in 2020 declined by just .98%. According to Equibase, total handle on the year was $10,925,226,444 or $108,597,919 less than what it was in 2019.

Had the Triple Crown races not been rescheduled, it’s possible that handle might have risen on the year. The total handle for the three race days combined dropped by $208 million, or more than what handle was off for the entire year.

“The horse racing community is extremely resilient as borne out by the fact that despite the widespread and negative impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, pari-mutuel wagering on U.S. races held steady in 2020 at nearly $11 billion,” NTRA President and CEO Alex Waldrop said in a statement. “We thank both our customers and all of our essential participants on the backside and beyond for keeping the sport going and supporting the industry during what continues to be an unprecedented and challenging period, not only in the United States but around the world.”

The 2020 numbers were largely in line with the amount bet every year since 2011, when $10.77 billion was wagered. Since they have been relatively stagnant. However, the handle figure for 2020 represents a sharp decline from racing’s peak year in 2003 when a record $15.18 billion was bet.

The numbers were achieved during a year in which there was a 23.5% decline in the number of races that were run and a 25.38% drop in the number of racing programs that were offered. That was offset by a significant increase in the average amount wagered per race, which was $394,412, for a 29.4% increase over 2019. That could mean that there was little to no growth in the industry went it comes to wagering and that players simply bet the same amount of money that they did in 2019, but spread it around among fewer races.

When the major sports all shut down due to the coronavirus, horse racing had a window where it was the only legal form of sports wagering available and, thanks to its television presence, one of the few sporting events available for viewing. Whether or not racing picked up new customers during that period is open for debate.

“It will remain to be seen what the 2020 numbers mean,” said Marshall Gramm, an economics professor who is also an owner and horseplayer. “I don’t know if it’s reason to be positive or negative. I’m somewhat disappointed to see that we weren’t up on the year. But it’s hard to come out definitively to say this was a bad year or this was great year because there were so many factors involved. In many ways, there is some optimism to take away from this because handle wasn’t down as much as you might have thought with the lost days and lost events.”

Ironically, handle surged in the second half of the year, a time in which the major sports opened back up for business. After handle fell by 10.88% in the first half of the year, it increased by 9.49% in the second half. December proved to be a particularly good month, with $751.7 million wagered, an increase of 6.24%

Perhaps the most alarming number to come out Tuesday when Equibase released the year-end figures was the amount paid out in purses. Purses in 2020 totaled $869.7 million, a 25.53% drop from 2019 and the lowest amount paid out since 1997. The average purse for a race in 2020 was $31,399, a 2.7% decrease from the previous year.

The average field size for the year was 7.94, a 5.51% increase from 2019.

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