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Commissioner King Outslugs Havnameltdown In Saudi Derby

The locally trained American-bred Commissioner King (Commissioner) engaged in a race-long battle with favored US shipper Havnameltdown (Uncaptured) in Saturday's G3 Saudi Derby Cup and proved narrowly best in a war of attrition to scoop the winner's share of the $1.5-million pot.

Unraced since defeating Almurtajiz (Good Magic) by four lengths in the Ministry of the National Guard Cup over this course and 1600-meter distance Dec. 16, the $9,000 Keeneland January graduate would not allow Frankie Dettori to steal away on Havnameltdown, last-out winner of the GII San Vicente S., who was sent off favoured in hthe World Pool in spite of question marks surrounding his ability to handle the trip. As early as 600 metres out, it was clear that the Derby would be a two-horse affair, as nothing was making any sort of progress from behind while the pacesetters continued to eyeball each other on the sharp end. Still shoulder to shoulder as they entered the final furlong, Havnameltdown battled on with good courage down inside, but Commissioner King proved the better stayer, if only just, to post a first Saudi success in the Derby. Japan's Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits) was third.

“The plan was to be close to Havnameltdown and try to test him in the straight,” said Abdulaziz Alyousef, representing the winning owners. “We felt he would run well but we weren't optimistic enough to think he would win. It is just amazing.”

Added winning jockey Luis Morales: “What a tough horse. It was an honour to ride in a race like that and to come out on top is just the best. He was so tough, he kept wanting it and we got there at the line.”

Dettori was always cognizant of the fact that furlong number eight Saturday was uncharted territory, and so it proved.

“After speaking to Bob, I tried to nurse his speed–he has tonnes of speed,” said the Italian. “I tried to save as much as I could, we got into a duel, but unfortunately in the last 50 yards, it ran out. He was absolutely knackered, he put on a great show and he was very brave. It's a shame it wasn't seven-eighths, but this is life.”

Pedigree Notes:

Commissioner King is a 10th black-type winner and fourth group/graded winner for his sire, who just failed to give A.P. Indy a poignant Classic winner when falling just short in the 2014 GI Belmont S. Commissioner's North American graded winners include Boardroom, the late Con Lima and Island Commish.

Commissioner stood for his owners WinStar Farm in Kentucky before a deal was brokered by Andrew Cary in June 2020 to send the stallion to Saudi Arabia to continue his career.

Ek Hassena is the dam of a 2-year-old colt by Always Dreaming and is due to Jimmy Creed for 2023.

Saturday, King Abdulaziz (Riyadh), Saudi Arabia
SAUDI DERBY PRESENTED BY BOUTIQUE GROUP-G3, $1,500,000, King Abdulaziz, 2-25, NH/SH3yo, 1600m, 1:38.82, ft.
1–COMMISSIONER KING, 121, c, 3, by Commissioner
1st Dam: Ek Haseena (MSP, $150,590), by Songandaprayer
2nd Dam: Deed, by Exploit
3rd Dam: Flirty Frosty, by Pleasant Colony
1ST GROUP WIN. 1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. ($9,000 Ylg '21 KEEJAN). O-Faisal Mohammed A Aljadheei; B-Paul Tackett Revocable Trust, Phil Tackett Estate et al (KY); T-Sabah Alshammri; J-; $900,000. Lifetime Record: . Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalog-style pedigree.
2–Havnameltdown, 121, c, 3, Uncaptured–Ashley's Babe, by Put It Back. ($16,000 Ylg '21 OBSOCT; $200,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR). O-Michael E Pegram, Karl Watson & Paul Weitman; B-Katherine S Devall (FL); T-Bob Baffert; J-Frankie Dettori; $300,000.
3–Derma Sotogake (Jpn), 121, c, 3, Mind Your Biscuits–Amour Poesis (Jpn), by Neo Universe (Jpn). (¥18,000,000 Ylg '21 JPNJUL). O-Hiroyuki Asanuma; B-Shadai Farm; T-Hidetaka Otonashi; J-Fuma Matsuwaka; $150,000.
Margins: HD, 1 3/4, NK. Odds: 12-1, 6-5, 7-2.
Also Ran: Es-Unico (Brz), Continuar (Jpn), Almurtajiz, Atta Alghali, My Map, From Dusk, Almulhem, Baalb (Ire), Ecoro Ares, Loreley (Brz).

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Ralph Waldrop Sr., Father of Alex, Dies at 100

Ralph Thomas Waldrop, Sr., a life-long resident of Mayfield, Kentucky and the father of former longtime head of the NTRA Alex Waldrop, passed away Friday, Feb. 24, surrounded by family at his home. He was 100 years old.

Waldrop was born June 7, 1922, near Mayfield. As a young boy growing up during the Great Depression, he worked many jobs including as a newspaper boy for the Louisville Courier-Journal where he was recognized as a statewide top-seller and as a caddy at Mayfield Golf and Country, where he was a member for most of his adult life. In 1941, at the age of 19 after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Mr. Waldrop enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps and was called up for officer training in April, 1943. He was sent to Maxwell Field in Montgomery, Alabama for qualifying tests to become a pilot and in May of 1944 he was stationed with the 340th Bomb Group 444th Squadron on the island of Sardinia off the coast of Italy as the pilot of a B-26 Martin Marauder bomber. During his service, Mr. Waldrop flew 64 bombing missions over Italy, France and Germany and volunteered to fly a C- 47 Cargo plane for 52 supply missions to General Patton's 3rd Army on the front lines of the Battle of the Bulge. He flew one of the first planes into Germany after the end of WWII to assist in the liberation of multiple Nazi concentration camps and witnessed first-hand the atrocities suffered by those imprisoned there. He eventually achieved the rank of Captain. The 340th Bomb Group was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation and the French awarded his Bombing Group the Croix de Guerre, the first such citation made to an American unit in WWII. His personal awards were: Air Medal with 8 Oak Clusters; Campaign Medals, Northern Apennines; Po Valley; Southern France; Ardennes-Alsace; Rhineland; Central Europe; the Victory Medal, and he was inducted into France's National Order of the Legion of Honor as a Chevalier for his service in WWII.

Waldrop attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C. before the war and was a proud member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. After the war, he attended the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, VA, and graduated from Murray State University where he met and in 1950 married the love of his life and the mother of his five children, Mary Julia Moore Waldrop, a fellow graduate of Murray State University.

With his father, H.C. Waldrop, he founded Waldrop & Waldrop Real Estate, where for more than 60 years Mr. Waldrop was a successful realtor and MAI Appraiser. He served as president of the Kentucky Association of Realtors in 1967, was named Kentucky Realtor of the Year in 1968, and then in 1988, he was elected president of the Kentucky Chapter of the Appraisal Institute. Waldrop was a life-long member of the First United Methodist Church in Mayfield where he was active as a Sunday school teacher and a beloved song leader for many years. Waldrop loved the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs and attended the Run for the Roses many times over the last 80 years.

Waldrop is survived by five children: H. Gregory (Nancy) Waldrop of Cadiz, KY, R. Thomas Waldrop, Jr. of Mayfield, Alex Waldrop (Jayne) of Lexington, KY, Julie Waldrop Muscarella (Michael) of Paducah, KY and Jim Waldrop (Charlotte Reynolds) of Jackson, WY; seven grandchildren: one great-grandchild, Penelope Press, Palo Alto, CA; his sister, Ruth Helen Williams, Paducah; and many beloved nieces and nephews.

Mr. Waldrop was preceded in death by his wife of 45 years, Mary Julia, who died in 1995.

The family wishes to thank the many caregivers who helped Mr. Waldrop so wonderfully in the last years of his life as well as the staff at the Veterans Administration in Mayfield including his primary care physician, Lynn Bushor, DNP, APRN.

Funeral arrangements are pending. In lieu of flowers or other gifts, the family asks that any gifts be made to the Murray State University Foundation, Waldrop Scholarship, at 200 Heritage Hall, Murray, KY 42071 or First United Methodist Church, Mayfield, KY, P.O. Box 766, Mayfield, KY 42066.

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First Mares in Foal to Olympiad, Drain the Clock, Keepmeinmind

OLYMPIAD (Speightstown), winner of the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup S. and runner-up in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, has had his first mares scanned in foal, Gainesway Farm announced Friday. He is confirmed in foal to Cheyenne Stables's Navasha (Giant's Causeway), who is from the female family of Grade I winners Fault (Blame) and Juju's Map (Liam's Map). Olympiad stands for $35,000 at Gainesway.

Gainesway also announced that GI Woody Stephens S. winner DRAIN THE CLOCK (Maclean's Music) has his first mare in foal as well–Amelia Island (Hook and Ladder), the dam of Grade III winner Amelia's Wild Ride (D'Wildcat). Drain the Clock stands for $10,000 at Gainesway.

KEEPMEINMIND (Laoban), winner of the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S., covered Wintrily (Carpe Diem), his first mare bred reported to be in foal. He stands for $6,500 at Sequel Stallions New York.

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Investigators Conference Opens Sunday

Officially sold out, the Organization of Racing Investigators (ORI) opens its 27th annual training conference with a reception for attendees on Sunday evening at the Lodge in the Desert in Tucson, Arizona.

The ORI Conference includes a dozen speaker sessions scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, as presenters cover a variety of topics, including money laundering, regulatory oversight, medications, ethics, the media, human trafficking, licensing, drugs and alcohol on the backstretch, employee retention and barn surveillance. The final speaker on Tuesday will be Shawn Loehr, Director of Investigative Operations for the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU), who will give an overview of his office's program.

“We are extremely excited to welcome everyone to this year's ORI event and we want to thank all of our sponsors,” said Chairman Juan Estrada. “We expected around 45 to attend and we more than doubled that, so the interest and understanding about how important our network is can be interpreted as better than ever.”

To go along with this lineup, Monday afternoon will be devoted to a series of case studies and practical searches at Rillito Racetrack, which will be overseen by ORI Board Members. As an onsite teaching classroom, the setting will give participants a first-hand look into the latest techniques when it comes to investigation.

With students from the University of Arizona's Race Track Industry Program serving as volunteers during the conference, Chair Robert Hartman will deliver remarks at a dinner on Monday evening, which will be followed by author Melisa Del Bosque's keynote address. An awards ceremony intended to highlight the accomplishments of ORI members will conclude the banquet.

Click here, for the ORI Conference Program.

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