Buff Bradley, Local Hall of Famer

On the same day it was announced trainer Todd Pletcher had so deservedly been chosen as a member of racing's Hall of Fame, another conditioner confirmed to Daily Racing Form's Marty McGee that he was retiring at the conclusion of the Churchill Downs meeting next month.

This was the first year Pletcher was eligible and the announcement certainly came as a surprise to no one.

Pletcher is one of the most successful trainers of all time, having won more than 5,000 races and holding the earnings record (increasing every day) of more than $405 million.

Last Friday, he sent out Malathaat to win the grade I Kentucky Oaks, his fourth victory in that race. He has won the grade I Kentucky Derby twice and saddled the winners of 11 Breeders' Cup races.

Pletcher has trained 11 champions, won 166 grade I races and been the leader at the conclusion of 60 race meetings at various racetracks.

The 53-year-old has been voted the Eclipse Award as the sport's leading trainer seven times: 2004-07, 2010, 2013 and 2014.

Buff Bradley, on the other hand, will never be nominated for the Hall of Fame, located in the National Museum of Racing in Saratoga Springs, NY. But if his hometown of Frankfort, Ky, of which I am a native and resident, had a Hall of Fame, his inclusion would be a no-brainer.

Located between Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky's capital city is full of racing fans and, like many of the state's towns, after horses and bourbon, well, what else really matters.

Buff Bradley and I both grew up in Frankfort the sons of prominent attorneys who also had a penchant for politics.

My father, Herb Liebman, was in law school at the University of Kentucky when he met Fred Bradley, then an undergraduate student. They became close friends and would remain so for more than half a century. Fred Bradley and I had something in common, both of us earning our degrees in journalism.

Bradley took a short detour before law school. Having graduated from UK with designation as a Distinguished Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corp graduate, he headed off for military service before returning to UK to attend law school. Following active duty, he would spend 30 years in the Air National Guard, retiring as Gen. Bradley.

My dad was a police court judge, served four terms on the county school board, and worked tirelessly in state and local political races.

Bradley served as Franklin County Judge and for 18 years was a Kentucky State Senator. We joked about how he owned a small trucking company named “Fred's Fast Freight.”

Above all else, however, Fred Bradley loved his farm and his Thoroughbred horses. He bred on a small scale, never spending much on stud fees and foaling the mares himself.

That is until he had children and they could help with the farm chores.

Some wondered if young Buff Bradley could really train horses or if his father simply wanted him to head in that direction when he took out his license in 1993. Those who knew the family were not surprised when Buff quickly silenced the naysayers.

Many winners came over the years but in June, 2004 the first “big” score occurred, when homebred Brass Hat (Prized) took the Grade II Ohio Derby.

Brass Hat would become the family's first grade I winner when he won the 2006 Donn H. The gelding retired to live out his days at the Bradley's Indian Ridge Farm near Frankfort with 10 wins (nine stakes) in 40 starts, two track records, and $2,713,561 in earnings.

One of the proudest moments of my life was during Derby week 2010, when the city of Frankfort asked me to serve as emcee for Brass Hat Day. Fred Bradley was beaming, as he should have been. Brass Hat was there, too.

The very next year, the Bradley's newest star hit the racetrack. Groupie Doll (Bowman's Band), bred by Buff and Fred, was the champion sprinter in 2012 and 2013, years in which she won the grade I Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. For the father/son and longtime partners Carl Hurst and Brent Burns, she retired with 12 wins in 23 starts, two track records, and earnings of $2,648,850.

With Fred in failing health but seated on a bench outside the Keeneland sale pavilion, Groupie Doll was sold at the 2013 November sale for $3.1 million.

Proving he could win at the top level with a horse not bred by his family and raised at their farm, Buff guided Gunpower Farm's Divisidero (Kitten's Joy) to wins on three Kentucky Derby undercards. He won the grade II American Turf in 2015 and the next two years scored in the grade I Woodford Reserve Turf Classic.

And who could forget possibly Buff's favorite horse, The Player (by Street Hero), who in 2018 won the GIII Mineshaft S. and subsequently broke both sesamoids in the New Orleans Handicap. The Player, bred by Fred and Buff Bradley and Hurst, had also destroyed his suspensory apparatus. But because of the love between Buff and The Player, the trainer went to extreme lengths to save the horse nicknamed “Angus.”

Fred Bradley was 85 when he died May 20, 2016. He was happiest spending a sultry summer day not at Saratoga but at the “Pea Patch”–Ellis Park. He had 60 years of The Blood-Horse stacked on shelves in the upstairs of his home.

Buff Bradley's world changed when his father died. But with 575 wins to his credit and the aforementioned stars in the stable, he achieved much on the racetrack.

Now, because of various reasons, he has decided to call it a career.

At only 57, Bradley plans to remain a small owner and breeder and perhaps find someone willing to give him a job at a racetrack or within an industry organization.

To those in Frankfort, Ky., he doesn't have to achieve anything else. He's a Hall of Famer.

 

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EDRC Approves Lab Switch For Kentucky Post-Race Testing

The Equine Drug Research Council, a committee of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, unanimously voted to approve a switch from Industrial Laboratories to a new facility at the University of Kentucky for the state's pre- and post-race drug testing. The UK Equine Analytical Chemistry Lab is overseen by Dr. Scott Stanley, formerly the director of the Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Lab at University of California-Davis.

At a regularly scheduled meeting of the committee last week, Stanley reported that the lab has invested $2.5 million in new equipment in the last year or so, and is involved in construction on a new facility. Currently, the lab manages testing for the United States Equestrian Federation. Stanley said the lab has spent the past year and a half validating testing methods.

The UK lab has interim accreditation from the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC). Stanley said it was not yet fully RMTC accredited only because of delays in the accreditation process last year due to COVID-19. The group was “severely delayed” in its ability to send the UK lab proficiency samples for testing.

“We are one of the best equipped laboratories in the country and our target is to be one of the best equipped labs in the world,” said Stanley. “That'll take a little time to make sure we build up an an appropriate rate, but I know we have the best technology of any laboratory out there right now.”

The KHRC staff supported the move and the committee approved the switch unanimously. Stanley anticipated that once the main commission approves, the lab could take over testing as soon as the beginning of the Ellis Park meet on June 27.

Also at the meeting last week, the committee voted to approve financing of a new position to help the KHRC with new veterinary examination requirements. Horses now must have an authorization from their regular veterinarian before each race and workout stating they are fit to compete. When horses are entered in races, horsemen or veterinarians now must also submit the previous 14 days of medical records.

While compiling these records has previously fallen to KHRC staff, equine medical director Dr. Bruce Howard said staff members are already overloaded with their existing jobs and it's time to shift these tasks into a new position. One committee member questioned why the EDRC should fund the position and was assured that there was an unwillingness to go through state government to try to get approval for additional personnel costs right now.

The post EDRC Approves Lab Switch For Kentucky Post-Race Testing appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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UK Gluck Center And VDL Preliminarily Identify Novel Rotavirus

Researchers at the University of Kentucky's Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center and the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory have preliminarily identified a novel Rotavirus associated with diarrhea in very young foals.

This virus could not be detected using current diagnostic tests for equine Rotavirus A and appears to be different than the virus strain used in the currently available commercial vaccine.

Efforts are underway to better characterize the virus and determine its role in the current outbreak of diarrheal disease. Additional investigations are also underway at UK to identify other possible causes, and researchers are sending out an epidemiological survey to farms to better understand the outbreak.

Both the Gluck Center and the Veterinary Diagnostic Lab recommend strict biosecurity protocols as the best protection strategy at this time.

See the March 19 news release for more information on this issue here.

Read more here.

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UK Ag Equine Programs Launches Photography Contest

University of Kentucky Ag Equine Programs announces the launch of its first equine-oriented digital photography contest. Submissions will be accepted through Feb. 28. Students, as well as the general public, are encouraged to participate. There are three age divisions for submissions: youth (17 and under), UK students and open (18 and over).

UK Ag Equine Programs is looking for original photographs that capture horses in any discipline as well as photos that include horses interacting with people or in a farm landscape setting. Photographs will be submitted online via a Google form.

Entries will be judged by a committee of staff, students and trained photographers from March 1-5.

At the conclusion of the contest's entry deadline, each division's top three images will be published on the UK Ag Equine Programs' Facebook page for a “People's Choice Award.” Votes for the award will be determined by the number of likes that each image receives by 5 p.m. EST on Friday, March 12.

Prizes will be awarded to category winners of each age division and winners will have the opportunity to be featured in the program's monthly newsletter, The Wildcat Canter, and other UK publications.

For more information regarding the rules and how to enter, click here.

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