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John Gosden Earns Third Straight Champion Trainer Title

John Gosden was on Monday named Britain's champion flat trainer for the third year running and fifth time overall. Gosden's runners earned £3,114,226 (US$3.8 million) on the racecourse in 2020, more than £650,000 (US$793,500) ahead of Aidan O'Brien.

Gosden's stable took home seven Group 1 trophies this year, including a third win in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. for Enable (Nathaniel) and for Stradivarius (Sea The Stars) in the G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.

“I would like to thank all of my staff for all of their endeavors in this most difficult of years,” Gosden told Great British Racing. “My thanks to our owners, who have been so supportive, and to the whole racing industry for pulling together so effectively.”

Sheikh Hamdan was named champion owner, his flagbearers including the Gosden-trained G1 Falmouth S. and G1 Sun Chariot S. scorer Nazeef (Invincible Spirit), G1 King's Stand S. and G1 Nunthorpe S. winner Battaash (Dark Angel) and G1 Sussex S. scorer Mohaather (Showcasing). Sheikh Hamdan's prizemoney total in 2020 was £2,309,194 (US$2.8 million) from 112 wins.

Sheikh Hamdan's racing manager Angus Gold said: “To win the champion owner title is a fantastic achievement for everyone involved, it's what we all work hard for and strive to achieve. It's been a difficult year for everyone, but we have been blessed on the track this year with some amazing horses. While it was sad for Sheikh Hamdan not being able to come over to the likes of Royal Ascot to see them in the flesh, he is incredibly enthusiastic, and winning the champion owner title means the world to him and all the team.”

Ben Curtis took the 2020 annual flat jockeys' title with 170 wins. Curtis won a pair of Group 3s in June before a career high with Dandalla (Dandy Man) in the G3 Albany S. at Royal Ascot, on whom he also won the G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. the following month.

“Given the lockdown in March, I set out to pass the 100 winners mark, so to have surpassed that along with the many other talented jockeys in the weighing room at the moment, such as Hollie [Doyle] and Tom [Marquand], is a great achievement,” he said. “For us to have reached those figures, all things considered, is fantastic for British racing.”

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Trainer Brittany Russell Could Make History In Race For Laurel’s Fall Title

The 2020 Thoroughbred season is drawing to an historic close in Maryland, and not just for a pandemic that paused racing for 2 ½ months from mid-March to late May.

With three racing days left in Laurel Park's fall meet that began Oct. 8, Brittany Russell and Claudio Gonzalez are tied atop the trainer standings with 22 wins apiece. Live racing returns Saturday, Dec. 26 with the Christmastide Day program of eight stakes worth $850,000 in purses led by the $150,000 Allaire du Pont (G3).

Laurel will also host live cards Sunday, Dec. 27 and Thursday, Dec. 31 before opening its 2021 winter meet Friday, Jan. 1. Post time is 12:25 p.m.

Gonzalez, a 44-year-old cancer survivor, has won 11 of the last 12 meets in Maryland dating back to Laurel's 2017 spring stand, and owns or shares 14 titles overall. He will finish with the most wins in the state for a fourth consecutive year.

Russell, meanwhile, is in position to join an exclusive club in just the third year since going out on her own. Only two women have ever led the trainer standings in Maryland – Karen Patty (1992 Pimlico Race Course spring) and Mary Eppler (2016 Laurel fall).

“It's funny, because a lot of people ask us about it. We're just trying to stay humble. We're trying to focus on the horses and walk them over there ready to go,” Russell, 31, said. “Each individual getting a win is more the goal as opposed to winning a meet. Yeah, it would be fantastic to win the meet and a huge feat for me from a career standpoint, but we're just trying to stay humble and focus on each horse.”

Russell has three starters on Laurel's nine-race card Saturday – Out of Sorts in the $100,000 Gin Talking for 2-year-old fillies, Reassured in the $100,000 Howard County for 2-year-olds, and Whereshetoldmetogo in the $100,000 Dave's Friend for sprinters 3 and up – and one starter on Sunday.

Gonzalez will run Miss Leslie in the $100,000 Anne Arundel County for 2-year-old fillies, Lebda in the Dave's Friend, Harpers First Ride in the $100,000 Native Dancer for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles and Landing Zone in the du Pont. Leading the meet in starters (116) and purse earnings ($794,790), he has three more entered for Sunday.

Russell's wins have come with just 45 starters at the meet (49 percent).

“It's fun, it's satisfying. This is why we all do it. We all work very hard and we try and have the horses as right as we can every time they walk over,” Russell said. “If I enter a horse, we're entering it because it's doing well and we're trying to put it in a spot where we think it can win. It's rewarding for the team. Everybody wants to win. That's' why we show up every day, to try and help this horses win. Hopefully we can keep it rolling.”

Russell worked for trainers Brad Cox, Jimmy Jerkens, Ron Moquett and Hall of Famer Jonathan Sheppard before going out on her own, winning with her first career starter, Oh My, on Feb. 25, 2018 at Laurel. A former amateur rider married to Laurel's leading jockey Sheldon Russell, she has seen her number of starters, winners and purse earnings increase each year, topping the $1 million mark in 2020.

Brittany Russell has 43 wins from 153 starters in 2020 led by stakes winners Hello Beautiful and Whereshetoldmetogo. She has enjoyed particular success with 2-year-olds, going 15-for-39 (38 percent) this year and finishing in the top three 31 times (79 percent).

“I was lucky this year, they just sent me some nice horses. We do have some good stock in the barn,” Russell said. “I'm not the type to try and push a horse to have them ready for when the first 2-year-old races come out. In 2020, with the first 2-year-old races kind of showing up later, they were just kind of all coming around and getting ready when those races were starting to be written anyway.

“It hasn't been anything special, just good horses and they're ready at the right time. I have good clients and they let me take my time,” she added. “When you start getting pressure and feeling anxious about getting a horse to the races that's when you start doing things and I think if you just let the come along the way they want, it just pays off.”

Sheldon Russell holds a 42-33 lead over Jevian Toledo in the race for the fall meet riding title. Toledo has won with seven of his last 16 mounts, including a four-win day Dec. 20, to close the gap.

Both riders are represented by agent Marty Leonard. Russell was Maryland's overall leading rider in 2011 and owns seven meet titles, the most recent being Laurel winter 2015. Toledo led all local riders in wins in 2015 and 2017 and five meet titles, all at Laurel, the last coming in spring 2018.

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Gosden Feels ‘Let Down’ By BHA After Positive Test Leads To Disqualification

British trainer John Gosden is feeling let down by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) after his disqualification from the Group 2 British Champions Long Distance Cup in October. The BHA ordered the disqualification following the discovery of the anti-inflammatory Triamcinolone Acetonide (TCA) in a pre-race sample of Royal Line, according to the Racing Post, which led to the horse being stripped of his third place finish in the race.

There is a mandatory 14-day stand-down period for TCA, but the BHA has warned that that stand-down period may be shorter than the actual withdrawal period. Gosden's Royal Line received 15 milligrams of Adcortyl, containing TCA, in both hind fetlocks to reduce inflammation 17 days prior to the race, which was confirmed by vet reports. Gosden accepted the results of the positive test, but wanted to make it clear there was no foul play involved.

“I'm very conservative with my use of any medication and the horse's welfare is paramount,” Gosden told racingpost.com. “I followed all guidelines and advice and the negative publicity from this matter reflects badly on the trainer, the highly respected Newmarket Equine Hospital practice and inevitably damages the image of racing. I feel exceptionally let down by this process.”

Gosden proposed that the BHA give more help on the matter and attempt to educate other horsemen to avoid more situations such as this one. He was fined £1,000 (about US$1,200) and his horse was disqualified.

Trainer Federico Villafranco Suspended Through First 30 Days Of Oaklawn Meet For Caffeine Positives

Trainer Federico Villafranco, among the top 10 conditioners by wins at Oaklawn Park in 2020, will miss the first 30 days of the 2021 season at the Hot Springs oval due to a Dec. 14 ruling published by the Arkansas Racing Commission, reports the Thoroughbred Daily News.

Four of Villafranco's trainees, two winners and two second-place finishers, returned positives for caffeine in their post-race test results on dates from Feb. 1 through Feb. 8, 2020. The four horses — Millwood, D'Rapper, Fayette Warrior, and Council Rules — were all disqualified from their placings with purse monies forfeited.

Villafranco was suspended under the “absolute insurer rule,” with his suspension scheduled to run from Jan. 22 through Feb. 20, 2021.

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

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