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Spiess, Klopp Earn Owners’ Title, Klopp Takes Training Race at Indiana

The partnership of Roger Spiess' Spiess Stable and Randy Klopp rounded out the 2022 season at Horseshoe Indianapolis with 31 wins, bringing their purse earnings to just shy of the $1 million mark to earn their second consecutive title for Leading Thoroughbred Owner at the Shelbyville oval. The earnings tally of $979,041 for 2022 sets a new record for most purse earnings recorded by an owner of either breed in track history.

“I'd have to say winning the $250,000 stakes [with Latigo] was the highlight of the year for us,” said Spiess, who is a graduate of The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine. “It's been a really great year and Randy and his crew do an outstanding job.”

Klopp also eked out a training title, earning the distinction after taking the sixth race with Surley. Heading into the final day of action, Klopp led Trainer Genaro Garcia by two wins with a count of 64 to 62. Garcia scored a win in the second race to tighten up the race, but the win by Surley put Klopp at 65 wins on the year for the title. Horses from Klopp's barn have earned more than $1.7 million this season and the stable maintained a 21% win rate and a 53% in-the-money record.

“I'm very thankful,” said Klopp. “I thank all the employees and our crew and the owners. If it weren't for the owners, we couldn't do this. Also, a special thanks to the jockeys and the agents that handle their rides. It's been a great year.”

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Maker Barn Sprints to Early Spa Lead

Mike Maker, with 42 training titles at Kentucky's five racetracks, is very much a contender this summer for the coveted prize at Saratoga Race Course.

A remarkable stretch of nine wins from 25 starters last week pushed Maker to the top of the table with 14 wins in the first 14 days of the 40-day season. He had at least one winner in each of the five racing days of the week and his stable hit the board at a 72% rate. That run of success enabled Maker to finish the week on Sunday with a six-victory lead over Todd Pletcher and Steve Asmussen and he was seven ahead of Chad Brown and Brad Cox. His win streak ended during Wednesday's program he had a third and a fourth with his starters.

Maker, 52, acknowledged that he was optimistic about how his stable might fare in the opening weeks of the Saratoga season.

“The condition book fit us well,” he said. “We had a lot of horses doing well, a lot of babies getting ready to run. It's hard to predict 14 wins, but we have had a good start.”

Maker's stable is typically strong on the turf–he started Wednesday's card with a meet-leading seven wins on the grass– had to deal with what has been an unusually rainy summer in upstate New York. A total of 21 races–10 last week alone–have been moved from the turf to the main track this season.

“It kind of hurt us the first week, but that's racing,” Maker said. “You keep plugging along.”

Maker earned his 11th Saratoga stakes victory, and seventh in the past two seasons, according to Equibase, on Saturday when Three Diamonds Farm's Cross Border (English Channel) picked up a repeat victory in the GII Bowling Green S.

With 44 horses at Saratoga and another 50 at Belmont Park, Maker has a well-stocked stable to compete at Saratoga.

“We've been rotating them in and out and we've got Kentucky to draw from, too,” he said. “We're still going to try to place the horses properly and see what happens.”

Maker had his best showing at Saratoga in 2020, finishing in a tie for third place with Christophe Clement at 20 victories. Todd Pletcher led the way 32 wins, four ahead of Chad Brown.

With a smile and nod, Maker said he thinks about winning the Saratoga title.

“It's a nice thought,” he said. “Chad, Todd, Christophe are tough and we know racing can turn around in a hurry. You've got to have a lot of racing luck.”

Maker said finishing on top at Saratoga is always a goal, but one that has not yet been achieved.

“It'd be great, obviously,” he said. “Very prestigious meet. We're fortunate to be in the position we are.”

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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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Gaffalione, Asmussen Capture September Meet Titles At Churchill Downs

Jockey Tyler Gaffalione has been riding at Churchill Downs since the 2018 Fall Meet and, at the start of racing on Sunday for closing day of the September Meet, the 26-year-old Florida-native has already secured his third leading rider title of his young career.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen held an insurmountable lead, 11 wins to 7 over Brad Cox in the trainer standings, while owner Richard Rigney will battle for the title Sunday amongst a flurry of pursuers.

Gaffalione, who began riding fulltime at Churchill Downs six meets ago, began Sunday eight wins in front of Ricardo Santana Jr., 20-12. Represented by Florida-based agent Matt Muzikar, Gaffalione plans to ride at Keeneland for the next three weeks before the Churchill Downs Fall Meet. This was Gaffalione's second leading rider title in the month of September. He also won the crown at the six-day Kentucky Downs meet.

“It's pretty awesome having the leading title associated with you,” Gaffalione said. “It's been a short but fun meet. I'm very thankful for all of the opportunities that were given to me.”

In the trainer standings, Cox held the early lead over Asmussen following a six-win Kentucky Derby Week but Asmussen took over the proceedings when the September Meet restarted Sept. 17. This is Asmussen's record-extending 24th leading trainer title beneath the historic Twin Spires.

In the owner's standings, Rigney's Rigney Racing was in a tie atop the rankings at the start of Sunday's 10-race program with Gary and Mary West. Rigney had two entries in Races 3 and 10 while the Wests did not have any entered. Three ownership groups with two wins have the opportunity to tie Rigney and the Wests: Albaugh Family Stables (one entry, Race 1); Allied Racing Stable (one entry, Race 9); and Juddmonte Farm (one entry, Race 4).

Sunday's card at Churchill Downs had a first post of 12:45 p.m. There were mandatory payouts in all wagers but no carryovers as the Single 6 Jackpot was hit twice in the last two racing days. Following Sunday's program, racing in the Commonwealth will move to Keeneland from Oct. 2-24.

The Churchill Downs Fall Meet will run from Oct. 25-Nov. 29. There will be a two-day break on Nov. 6-7 for the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland. For more information, visit www.churchilldowns.com.

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