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‘Seasoned Horse’ Essential Quality Arrives In Kentucky For Blue Grass Stakes

Champion 2-year-old Essential Quality has arrived home in the Bluegrass state, shipping in to Keeneland on Monday morning. Trainer Brad Cox spoke with the Kentucky HBPA's Jennie Rees later Monday, regarding the colt's upcoming engagement in the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes this Saturday.

Essential Quality, a homebred son of Tapit for Godolphin, is undefeated across four career starts including his sophomore debut, the two-week delayed edition of the G3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 27. Since then, the colt has been training at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La., breezing regularly ahead of his second start off the layoff.

“He's a very good work horse,” Cox said, explaining that he'd worked Essential Quality in company on Saturday, March 27. “They worked five-eighths from the half mile pole in, I think, a minute and two-fifths, (galloped) out in 1:14, well in hand. It was exactly what we wanted to see.”

That final preparation completed, Cox is looking forward to having Essential Quality back at a familiar track. The colt won both the G1 Breeders' Futurity and Breeders' Cup Juvenile over Keeneland's dirt last fall, and is the expected favorite for Saturday's Blue Grass.

“I'm confident that he doesn't need a certain trip to be able to win,” Cox said. “He's been able to take dirt, he's been able to go inside and outside of horses, you know. He's a seasoned horse as far as the trips he's gotten. It's not like he breaks and he's right there and he just runs away from them. He's won his races, pretty much the first three were all different, different styles of winning.”

Essential Quality will make the Kentucky Derby on May 1 his third start of the winter layoff, and will run out of his own stall at Churchill Downs, both strong points in his favor, according to Cox.

The 2020 champion trainer also has two other Derby contenders in the barn. Mandaloun, winner of the G2 Risen Star, baffled both the betting public and Cox with a dull performance in the Louisiana Derby last out, but returned from the race in pristine condition and will press on to the first Saturday in May.

Caddo River, meanwhile, won the listed Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn in January, but ran fifth last out as the favorite in the G2 Rebel. He'll return in the G1 Arkansas Derby in two weeks' time, with Cox's goal to have Florent Geroux be a bit more aggressive early in the race.

Check out the full interview here:

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The Friday Show Presented By Diamond B Farm’s Rowayton: Ponying Up

Trainers Mike Maker and Wesley Ward aren't the only horsemen who have encountered Thoroughbred owners who have been slow to pay their bills. In their cases, the two trainers filed suit against owners Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey alleging nearly $1 million was owned to each of them for past due training bills and purse earnings. Ken Ramsey has said he'll make good on both cases and that the lawsuits will be dropped.

In the case of Ahmed Zayat and his family's Zayat Stables – now going through bankruptcy – a host of trainers and other businesses are owed a significant amount of money.

It begs the question of how many other trainers have had to “carry” owners for extended periods of time, negotiate fees after the fact or put liens on bloodstock in order to get paid.

Watch this week's Friday Show for a discussion on this subject with Ray Paulick and Paulick Report editor in chief Natalie Voss. Bloodstock editor Joe Nevills joins the show for a retrospective on the late Sheikh Hamdan of Shadwell Stables, a Toast to Vino Rosso and some news about a new product coming next week that covers the auction front.

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The Friday Show Presented By Diamond B Farm’s Rowayton: Whip Reform

Few subjects in racing are more divisive than whip use. In fact, we can't even agree on what to call it. Is it a riding crop or a whip? If it's the former, how do you describe a jockey's actions when he or she strikes the horse: cropping?

In this week's edition of the Friday Show, Ray Paulick and bloodstock editor Joe Nevills review a race from Oaklawn last weekend that saw jockey Ramon Vazquez striking his mount, Rated R Superstar, at least 30 times in the stretch run while finishing second in the Essex Handicap. Vazquez was fined $500 by stewards at the Arkansas track for “striking his horse excessively while not allowing a proper response time.” His cut of the purse was $10,000. Three years ago, the same jockey was fined $1,000 for striking a horse 48 times in the final 3 1/2 furlongs of a race at Prairie Meadows in Iowa.

Racing regulators in various states are beginning to adopt much stricter rules and penalties regarding use of the whip, and the devices themselves are now cushioned and much less likely to leave welts. While some horseplayers and horsemen feel that repeatedly striking a horse to get maximum effort is necessary, the ethics and optics are troubling to many others.

Watch this week's edition of the Friday Show that also includes our Star of the Week and a Toast to Vino Rosso that focuses on one of the 2019 Breeders' Cup Classic winner's first foals.

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Podcast: What Do You Need To Know About Dystocias

The latest episode of Rood and Riddle Veterinary Pharmacy's StallSide podcast has been released and features a discussion with Dr. Maria Schnobrich of the hospital's theriogenology department.

In this episode Dr. Peter Morresey and Dr. Bart Barber along with Dr. Schnobrich tackle the issue of managing dystocia on the farm. Learn about the importance of timing, communication with your veterinarian and warning signs of complications. Also included: the link between murals, chickens, and equine reproduction.

Schnobrich said dystocias occur in about 10 percent of pregnancies, with slightly higher occurrences in some breeds. The birthing process is a rapid one for horses, which also means that foaling complications can develop quickly. Schnobrich offers an overview of a standard foaling, as well as a few tips to recognize and react to a dystocia or other atypical foaling.

Among her suggestions:

Start a stopwatch when the mare's water breaks to help you know when the foal should be emerging from the birth canal. Foals should be fully emerged 20 to 30 minutes after the mare breaks water.
Ideally, veterinarians agree it's best not to intervene and pull a foal if the foal looks to be in the proper position, has a normal amnion, and is emerging at a normal interval. A more relaxed environment tends to result in a better foaling.
Schnobrich suggests that for owners who have never foaled a mare, the best pregnancy plan may be to board the mare at a facility with a staff experienced in foaling as her due date approaches.
An ultrasound ahead of delivery can help anticipate whether a red bag delivery may be on the horizon, and may provide time to provide treatment to preempt the tearing of the membrane that results in the red bag.
Dystocias are considered an emergency not just because of the foal's fragile oxygen supply, but also because the foal can do damage to the mare's internal organs if positioned wrongly.
People can sometimes mistake colic for a foaling that's not progressing properly; a visit from the veterinarian can usually discern the difference. Older pregnant mares may sometimes bleed from the vulva which can also be mistaken for a foaling problem, but that can also be caused by a varicose vein. An immediate trip to the clinic isn't always the best course in those cases, since it's preferable to let a healthy pregnancy progress rather than do a c-section if it's not necessary.

You can find the video version of StallSide on the Rood & Riddle YouTube page and the audio version on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, iHeart Radio or wherever you get your podcasts. Enjoy the video version below.

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