Triple Crown | Horse Racing Free Tips

The Week in Review: Takeaways from Justify-Scopolamine Verdict, and Other Thoughts

The long-running battle to decide whether or not Justify (Scat Daddy) should have been disqualified from his win in the 2018 GI Santa Anita Derby seems to have come to a conclusion last week when the team representing Mick Ruis, the owner and trainer of runner-up Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), obtained an order from Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff, directing the California Horse Racing Board Stewards to set aside their Dec. 9, 2020 decision and issue a new ruling disqualifying Justify from the 2018 Santa Anita Derby. With the ruling, Bolt d'Oro has been declared the winner.

At issue was a report in the New York Times that revealed that Justify had tested positive for the substance scopolamine in the Santa Anita Derby. At the time, scopolamine was on a list of substances that, when found in a horses's system, required that the horse be disqualified. According to reports and Ruis's lawyer, the CHRB acted on recommendations from then-executive director Rick Baedeker and equine medical director Dr. Rick Arthur. It was their call that Justify should not be disqualified because the positive test was the result of contamination linked to jimson weed.

Had the New York Times not broken the story some 17 months after the Santa Anita Derby, probably, no one would have ever known that the horse had tested positive. Once the story was brought to light, Ruis went to work and hired attorney Darrell Vienna. Ruis stood to make $400,000, the difference between first and second-place money in the $1-million Santa Anita Derby.

There are, however, a few remaining questions:

1) Is this the final word or may there be still more appeals and fights in the courts?

“There is the potential for appeal,” Vienna said. “My understanding of the judge's order is that the stewards must now issue an order to disqualify Justify. There's the potential that the stewards' ruling can't be appealed. That's kind of confusing because they're under the order of the court. Now, is there going to be an appeal to the judgment of the Superior Court judge. They could appeal to the stewards, the court, one or the other or both. Hopefully, there will be no more appeals and we can just move on.”

2) All of the qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby that Justify picked up came from the Santa Anita Derby. Had the California stewards disqualified him from that race and did so in a timely manner, he would not have been eligible to run in the Kentucky Derby and obviously wouldn't have won the Triple Crown. Do the owners of the horses who finished behind Justify in the Triple Crown races have a case and could, say, Good Magic (Curlin) eventually be declared the winner of the 2018 Derby?

“I don't think so,” Vienna said. “I am aware of a case in California in which there was the appeal of a winner of a race who had subsequently been disqualified from a qualifying race that got him into the race he won. In that case, the California courts held that the horse's eligibility was determined at time of nomination and participation. Under those circumstances, I don't believe there will be any change in the order of the Kentucky Derby or the other Triple Crown races.”

A spokesperson for Churchill Downs told Horseracing Nation that the track has no plans to alter the result of the 2018 Derby.

3) How did this ever become the mess that it did? And why didn't the CHRB follow its own rules?

Vienna maintains that if the California Horse Racing Board followed it own rules the case would have been cut and dried and dealt with promptly. He maintains that the rules were simple and not open to interpretation. He says that any horse that tested positive for a prohibited substance had to be disqualified.

“It's all very simple,” he said. “All they had to do was follow their own rules. There was never any real determination of what happened after the closed session. The closed session lacked finality and lacked all the indices of true decision making. There was no notice to the involved parties. There were no witnesses. All you had was Dr. Rick Arthur making the argument that scopolamine was the result of contamination. The problem is the rules in California at the time called for the disqualification of a horse who was positive for a prohibited substance that was in classes 2 through 3, which scopolamine was. They could have correctly absolved Mr. Baffert or any one else of any responsibility and still under law be required to disqualify the horse. That was the gist of our case. That's all we ever asked for. Our case was based solely on the fact that there was prohibited medication in that horse's system and, as a result of that, the rules called for the horse to be disqualified. I don't think it was very confusing at all.”

4) The process dragged on for some 4 1/2 years and if not for the New York Times report, it may never have been known that Justify tested plosive for the substance. Was the CHRB trying to sweep this under the rug?

“I think that is the case,” Vienna said. “In one executive session, they were provided with one side of the story and they wanted it to go away. There is a process in California law that provides for dismissal of a complaint, but if you look at the history of the statute in California it really applies to charges against a trainer and not the dismissal of a disqualification. That would conflict with another statute in California that says that no horse can benefit if they are carrying a degree of a substance in his system.

“Mick, like all of us is worn out, but he is pleased. This happened in 2018 and no one knew anything about it until 2019. That's a tremendously long journey for something. It could have been settled right away if horse racing board simply decided to follow their owns rules.”

Can Full-Brothers Win the Derby Back to Back?

With his win in the GII Remsen S., Dornoch (Good Magic) is on his way to the GI Kentucky Derby, where will try to pull off something that has never been done. He is a full-bother to GI 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage and siblings, either full-brothers or half-brothers, have never teamed up to win the Derby.

To show just how difficult that feat is, take Secretariat. His dam, Somethingroyal, produced four foals who made it to the races after Secretariat. They combined to win three races with total earnings of $38,241.

There have been a couple of dams who produced more than one win in a Triple Crown races. Thanks to research done by Randy Moss of NBC Sports, we know that the dam Leisure produced two Preakness winners in Royal Tourist (1908) and Holiday (1914). Better Than Honour was the dam of 2006 GI Belmont S. winner Jazil (Seeking the Gold) and 2007 winner Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy).

As for Dornoch, a lot will have to go right for him to win the 2024 Derby, but at this point in the game, he's far ahead of where Mage was at the same point. The Remsen was Dornoch's fourth career start and with the Remsen, he has added a graded stakes win to his record. Mage didn't start until Jan. 28 of this 3-year-old year and had not won a stakes race coming into the Kentucky Derby.

Noble Indy Makes It Home

Remember the story of Noble Indy (Take Charge Indy), the winner of the 2018 GII Louisiana Derby? He never ran back to that race and wound up being sent to Puerto Rico, where racing can often lead to the worst possible outcomes. Well, Fred Hart, who owned the dam of Noble Indy, Noble Maz (Storm Boot) was determined to bring him back home. Working together with Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare Inc., he has made that happen and Noble Indy landed at Old Friends last week. It's worth noting that Mike Repole and WinStar Farms, who were two of his owners during his prime racing days, foot the costs required to transport the horse back to the U.S. It's good to see owners accept the responsibilities that come with providing a good life for their horses after their careers are over.

The post The Week in Review: Takeaways from Justify-Scopolamine Verdict, and Other Thoughts appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Tenacious Remsen Winner Dornoch Has Gargan Derby Dreaming

After trainer Danny Gargan declared 2-year-old colt Dornoch the greatest horse he has ever trained earlier this summer, the talented son of Good Magic helped to confirm that assessment Saturday when battling back strongly in the stretch to capture the Remsen (G2) by a nose at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Owned by West Paces Racing, R.A. Hill Stable, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Two Eight Racing, and Pine Racing Stables, Dornoch led through swift splits of :23.09, :46.97 and 1:11.56 through six furlongs and appeared defeated a furlong from the finish when he bumped the rail before the Chad Brown-trained Sierra Leone swept past him to take the advantage. But Dornoch showed true heart along the inside and refused to lose the 1 1/8-mile test for juveniles, digging in under Luis Saez to stick his nose back in front and cross the wire first in a final time of 1:50.30.

“It's crazy. Usually when a horse hits the rail at the eighth pole like he did, they just stop running altogether,” said Gargan. “I can't believe he re-rallied after that. He did see the other horse and get running back at him, but hitting the rail knocked him off stride and then it took him a few jumps to get back going. I think if he doesn't hit the rail, he stays in front. I've never seen a horse get passed a length and then come back and win. It was a really good race.”

Dornoch, a full-brother to this year's Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mage, earned the first stakes win of his career on the heels of a dominant third-out graduation when taking a 1 1/16-mile maiden by 6 1/2 lengths on October 14 at Keeneland. He had previously finished a hard-trying second in the one-mile Sapling in August at Monmouth Park and in a 6 1/2-furlong maiden in July at Saratoga Race Course.

For his Remsen victory, Dornoch earned the maximum allotment of the 10-5-3-2-1 Kentucky Derby qualifying points available to the top-five finishers, respectively. With his name now on the list of top Derby prospects, Dornoch has his connections dreaming of the First Saturday in May.

“When you've got a horse like this, you can run second in a big prep and he's in,” said Gargan. “We just have to plan out the right arrangement to get him there.”

Gargan said one key to getting Dornoch into the Derby starting gate will be maturity.

“We need him to focus running. He kind of looks around playing a little bit, and that's why he hit the rail,” said Gargan. “He's got to grow up a lot, and he's still out there goofing off. He did dig in in this race in the end, but he kind of put himself in that situation running green early. I think if another horse is around him, he won't lose focus. What we'll probably do next time is bring him off the pace which he can do. He'll finish in the lane, so he'll get a little more out of the race and mature a little bit from it.”

Dornoch will now likely get a freshening in preparation for his sophomore campaign with potential targets including the Withers (G3) at Aqueduct or the Fountain of Youth (G2) on March 2 at Gulfstream Park, according to Gargan.

“We'll take him down to Palm Meadows and keep him with us. He'll tack walk for two or three weeks and then we'll figure it out from there,” said Gargan. “We'll probably see him around the Fountain of Youth. The Withers is always something you could win real easy if you wanted to win a race, it just depends who's where.”

The post Tenacious Remsen Winner Dornoch Has Gargan Derby Dreaming appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Road To KY Derby: Mage’s Brother Dornoch Re-Rallies, Battles Back To Win Remsen Thriller

By Lynne Snierson for NYRA

Dornoch dug down deep and defeated a rapidly closing Sierra Leone at the wire in Saturday's $250,000 Remsen (G2), a nine-furlong test for 2-year-olds, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

In an exhilarating photo finish, Dornoch, who was seemingly beaten by his rival inside the sixteenths pole when Sierra Leone went by him, courageously re-rallied on the rail under strong urging by Luis Saez and secured the trophy for owners West Paces Racing, R.A. Hill Stable, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Two Eight Racing, and Pine Racing Stables.

Trained by Danny Gargan, the winner of the 2022 Remsen with Dubyuhnell, Dornoch took a major step toward the first Saturday in May by earning 10 qualifying points on the Road to the 150th Kentucky Derby (G1). The bay colt, who is by Good Magic out of the Big Brown mare Puca, and thus a full brother to 2023 Derby victor Mage, refused to lose.

On a muddy and sealed track that had been playing kindly to inside speed all afternoon, he went to the lead in the 10-horse field and set fleet fractions of :23.09 and :46.97 for the first half-mile, 1:11:56 for six furlongs, and 1:37.42 for the mile. He looked like the sure winner late in the race, but then Sierra Leone came storming wide from all the way at the back of the pack and was gaining ground with every stride under Jose Ortiz.

The two colts engaged in a fierce battle to the wire, with Sierra Leone, a $2.3-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale purchase trained by Chad Brown, coming up just short by a nose.

“It was pretty good fractions. I had everyone on top right there, but he was pretty comfortable. When he has pressure, he's OK, but when he feels alone, he kind of look around. But he's learning. He's a pretty good horse,” said Saez of Dornoch. “He's a pretty nice horse, but I feel like he's still learning. When he kind of feels a little alone, he was a little lost. As soon as the other one [Sierra Leone] came to him, he saw him and he want to beat him. I can't describe this. He wants to win the race.

“Jose tried to close, but he's a big horse and he got through,” Saez continued. “It's pretty difficult to come back, but he has a big stride, and two jumps – he was right there. I was pretty surprised. Every day, you learn something new from horses, and this is a pretty special horse. Last time, he kind of was the same, but he ran with different horses. Today was a pretty tough race, and he proved that he's a pretty good horse.”

Two starts back, Dornoch was the runner-up in Monmouth Park's Sapling with Kendrick Carmouche up and in his effort prior to Saturday's test was the dominant 6 1/2 length winner of a 1 1/16 miles maiden at Keeneland on Oct. 14 while never switching leads and running greenly. He was significantly more professional in the Remsen.

“Kendrick told me, when he rode him at Monmouth, he said, 'Danny, if I had more time.' When he saw the horse go by him, he said he gets to playing around, which he bounced off the rail today and when he gets out there by himself he loses focus. He said if he sees another horse, he's going to run back to him and today he proved it,” said Gargan, who called Dornoch the best horse he's ever trained. “It was something that was always said but never proven until today, but that was pretty impressive because I thought the other horse went way past him. For him to dig in and fight back like that, especially after the half mile in :46, three quarters in 1:11, he ran the whole race.”

Dornoch's final time for the 1 1/8 miles was 1:50.30.

Sierra Leone [who earned 5 Derby qualifying points) finished 4 3/4 lengths in front of Drum Roll Please [3 points], with Moonlight [2 points], Where's Chris [1 point], Copper Tax, Domestic Product, Billal, Le Dom Bro, and Private Dancer rounding out the order of finish.

Jose Ortiz said he was pleased with the trip he engineered for Sierra Leone.

“He broke good, they went plenty fast. He just sit there, he was relaxed,” Ortiz said. “I make a move at the half a mile and he responded nicely. He was lugging in a little bit in the stretch and the other horse [Dornoch] looked like he was waiting. When he felt me, he came back. I think it was a good race from him [Sierra Leone]. My horse kept coming. He ran a bit greenly, but I'm proud of him. It was a big step up.”

On his wide bid into the stretch Ortiz explained, “He was running so good to the other horses, and I didn't want to get him stopped. So, I went wide with him.”

Drum Roll Please, a Brad Cox trainee and maiden winner last out, was trying stakes company and the distance for the first time and rider Javier Castellano was pleased with the colt.

“I loved my trip. I liked the way he did it. He stepped up in class and did it very professionally. He ran two turns for the first time, I liked the way he did it from the beginning until the end. He passed horses, was behind horses, took dirt in the face, was a great experience for him, especially with a lot of horses and a lot of kickback. It was very nice and professional,” he said.

Gargan, who said they were lucky to get the colt for $325,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where Oracle Bloodstock, agent signed the ticket, outlined what's next for Dornoch as the connections set sights on the Run for the Roses and the Triple Crown campaign.

“He's a big, big horse. We are going to give him some time off and take him down to Palm Meadows, kind of like Nick Zito taught me when I was his assistant. We will tack walk him for a couple weeks, two to three weeks, play around with him, let him grow into that frame and start looking for races later, probably sometime in March. Two races, maybe three before the Derby,” said the trainer. “He's a very special horse.”

Bred in Kentucky by Grandview Equine, Dornoch banked $137,500 in victory while improving his record to 4 2-2-0. He returned $5.40 for a $2 win bet.

“This is the first leg of a long journey, I hope,” said co-owner Randy Hill, alluding to the Kentucky Derby, in the winner's circle.

The post Road To KY Derby: Mage’s Brother Dornoch Re-Rallies, Battles Back To Win Remsen Thriller appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘We’ll Find Out What He’s Made Of’: Five-Time Winner Copper Tax Stretches Out In Remsen

Rose Petal Stables' multiple stakes-winning Copper Tax will look to extend his win streak to six when making his graded stakes debut in Saturday's Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen, a nine-furlong test for juveniles, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The Remsen, one of four graded events on the lucrative Grade 2 Cigar Mile Handicap presented by NYRA Bets card, offers the top-five finishers 10-5-3-2-1 qualifying points, respectively, towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 4 at Churchill Downs.

Copper Tax, a bay son of Copper Bullet, will vie for his third consecutive stakes conquest for trainer Gary Capuano, looking to add to impressive scores in the one-mile Rocky Run in October at Delaware Park and the six-furlong James F. Lewis, III at Laurel Park last out on November 11.

“He's obviously done everything we've asked of him so far,” said Capuano, who looks to notch his first graded win since the 2005 Salvator Mile Handicap with Cherokee's Boy. “He's run quite a bit this year which kind of caught me by surprise. I wasn't expecting him to be ready that early, but he's pretty seasoned and is coming into the race good. We're stretching out to the mile and an eighth – which is always a question – against some better horses, so we'll find out what he's made of.”

The James F. Lewis saw the talented colt bumped at the start and forced to trail the field in last-of-7, racing farther back than he ever had in his career. Despite the trouble, Copper Tax improved his position at every point of call to find enough late with a move between foes and defeated Inveigled by a neck in a final time of 1:11.30 over the fast main track. The win, which came in his first venture outside of Delaware, garnered a career-best 82 Beyer Speed Figure.

“He didn't get away and got bumped leaving the gate, so he was far back,” said Capuano. “Turning for home, he didn't really have any place to go and bulled his way through. He got bumped around there and surged at the end. He showed a lot of guts and a lot of determination. He seems to go with the flow.”

Copper Tax began his career in the waiver maiden claiming ranks and graduated at that level in June, but Capuano said he always showed he could be something special.

“We always knew he had talent, and those maidens weren't easy, but they weren't extremely tough,” said Capuano. “He just keeps getting better and trains really nice. He has a great personality and he keeps moving forward, which is a good thing. He'll get a little break after this race and then we'll see what happens.”

Copper Tax has made one start beyond sprint distances when taking the one-mile Rocky Run on October 14, acing his first two-turn test with flying colors as he led at each point of call and drew clear to a 6 3/4-length score under Mychel Sanchez. He defeated a field that included impressive maiden winners Thedingoateyobaby and Crazy Mason, the latter of which was a 9 1/2-length winner this summer at Saratoga Race Course.

“We thought there were a few horses in there that they thought pretty high of from the scuttlebutt, but he came out there in good order and just took off and had no issues with the mile anyway,” said Capuano.

While his Rocky Run win came in wire-to-wire fashion, Copper Tax proved with his James F. Lewis score that he can handle adversity and a change in tactics should the need arise as he breaks from post 9-of-10 under Kendrick Carmouche on Saturday [10-1ML].

“There's enough speed in there and he drew the outside post, so that's always a question going into the first turn,” said Capuano. “He's not real quick leaving the gate, but he does have speed if you need it. If he can break in good order, he'll put himself in the race I think. It just depends on the break if he can get a decent position. Everything depends on the break.”

Copper Tax, who has worked one mile over the Laurel Park main track for his last two breezes, was a $45,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale and is out of the stakes-placed Majestic Warrior mare Wilhelmina.

The post ‘We’ll Find Out What He’s Made Of’: Five-Time Winner Copper Tax Stretches Out In Remsen appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post