Week in Review | Horse Racing Free Tips

The Week In Review: A Wayne Lukas Renaissance

As Hall of Famer Wayne Lukas entered his mid-eighties, his longevity and his persistence became one of racing's best feel-good stories. A trainer who belongs in the conversation as one of the best of all time, he was still out there every day, physically active, mentally sharp. There didn't seem to be anything stopping him.

But there was a missing ingredient. Lukas, now 87, simply wasn't winning many races, especially important ones. Lukas won the 2018 GII Risen Star S. with Bravazo (Awesome Again) on Feb. 17, 2018. He didn't win another graded stakes until Secret Oath (Arrogate) won the GIII Honeybee S. on Feb. 16, 2022, nearly four years after Bravazo's win. From 2018 through 2021, he won just 69 races and his winning percentage was just 10.8%. It wasn't hard to figure out what was going on. There just weren't many owners willing to trust their horses to a trainer in his mid-eighties. The days of having Eugene Klein, William T. Young. Bob and Beverly Lewis and so many other top owners were long gone.

At his age, Lukas appeared destined to spend the rest of his days with a relatively small stable with the kind of horses that might give him an allowance win here or there. Counting him out seemed like a safe bet. Only it wasn't.

When Last Samurai (Malibu Moon) won Saturday's GIII Essex H. at Oaklawn Lukas picked up his third graded stakes win on the year. He also won the GIII Razorback H. with Last Samurai and the GII Azeri S. with Secret Oath. It's early but both look like Eclipse Award candidates. He has not had an Eclipse Award winner since Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway) was named champion 2-year-old filly in 2014.

He may not be the Wayne Lukas of the mid-eighties when he dominated the sport. What he is is relevant again.

A lot of this has to do with Secret Oath, who put Lukas back in the spotlight last year and proved that he could still get the job done at the highest level. Her win in the GI Kentucky Oaks was arguably Lukas' biggest win since Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song) won the GI Travers S. in 2013. It's not that Lukas remembered how to train. It was that someone-the filly's owners and breeders, Rob and Stacy Mitchell–were willing to give Lukas a chance with a talented horse.

“We've been with him, gosh, 15 or 17 years,” Stacy Mitchell told the TDN's Chris McGrath last year. “He's fair, he's honest, a true gentleman, someone everyone should have the opportunity to sit down and have a coffee with. As he has said, times have changed. Some of his big clients got out of the business, some passed on. Again, he said it himself, people used to love the old guys, now they love the new guys. But a lot of those are people he trained himself. You don't forget how to ride a bicycle, and I don't think you forget how to train a horse. People can say Wayne is back, but in my mind, I don't think he ever went away.”

In mid-summer last year, Willis Horton, who had had several top horses with Lukas over the years, also showed some faith in the Hall of Famer. He made a switch, sending the then 4-year-old Last Samurai from Dallas Stewart to Lukas. (Horton has since passed away and Last Samurai now races for his family). Initially, it looked like Lukas wasn't going to get much out of the horse who lost seven straight after the change in trainers. But Lukas figured something out and Last Samurai is now one of the hottest horses in the sport.

Ask Lukas and he will tell you he's lost nothing off of his fastball.

“Our game is an experience based game,” he said. “There are no how-to books. If you've been at it as long as I have been it becomes a little bit easier. You see things that you can correct. l see things I can do with a horse now that I wouldn't have been aware of when I was in my forties or fifties. The game gets a little easier. Believe it or not, I think it's easier for me now to develop a nice horse than when I was 50 and I had some nice years in that era.”

After all these years, is he still learning?

“If you're in the horse business you are always learning,” Lukas said. “The whole secret to this game is to read the horse. You need to read the horse and figure out what its capabilities are without over doing it. That's where you get in trouble. You think you can develop a horse to a certain level in a certain time frame and when you fail at it you're not going to get the maximum out of the horse. If you can read them and know when to push them and when not to the game can be pretty good.”

Secret Oath is heading to the GI Apple Blossom H., where she'll likely be the favorite. Up next for Last Samurai will likely be the GII Oaklawn H., a race he won last year for Stewart. They're both $1 million races. Lukas also has Caddo River (Hard Spun), who was second in the 2021 GI Arkansas Derby and won a Feb. 25 allowance at Oaklawn, and Major Blue (Flatter), a recent maiden winner at Oaklawn. He's on track to have his best year since 2013.

He'll turn 88 in September. Yes, he's a survivor but this year he's showing that he's something a lot more than just that.

Secretariat | Coglianese

Fifty Years Ago, Secretariat Won His 3-Year-Old Debut

On March 17, 1973, Secretariat made his 3-year-old debut in the GIII Bay Shore S. at Aqueduct. Click here for the replay of the race.

How things have changed. The purse was just $27,750 and the attendance was 32,906. It was the first of his three preps for the GI Kentucky Derby and they would come within a span five weeks, culminating in his defeat in the GI Wood Memorial.

The Bay Shore was not without a dose of controversy. Riding Impecunious, jockey James Moseley claimed foul against Secretariat and rider Ron Turcotte. Secretariat was blocked for much of the race and Turcotte did have to bull his way through horses in the stretch. Trainer Lucien Laurin was not pleased.

“That Moseley,” he said. “He claimed against me in the Garden State, but it turned out that his horse was at fault in that race.”

According to the report in the New York Times, some fans booed when the stewards declared there would be no change in the order of the finish.

“Let them boo,” Penny Tweedy said. “We've won the race.”

But Laurin was pleased with the end result.

“He was wonderful,” he said. “He did everything I expected him to.”

Fifty years after what was the most memorable season in the history of horse racing, it would have been a perfect time for NYRA to announce it had named a stakes races in honor of Big Red. The GI Hopeful S., a race Secretariat won, would have been a perfect candidate. But it was not to be.

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The Week in Review: “Trice” As Nice on the Derby Trail

On a Saturday that included bi-coastal graded stakes for sophomores, the most emphatic performance on the GI Kentucky Derby trail was orchestrated in a first-level allowance race at Gulfstream Park by Tapit Trice (Tapit).

It wasn't just the eight-length blowout margin of victory or the 92 Beyer Speed Figure that made the athletic gray's effort stand out. It's the fluid, three-race progression and unruffled demeanor that suggests Tapit Trice is ascending his developmental arc while honing an air of confident capability.

A $1.3 million KEESEP yearling owned in partnership by Whisper Hill Farm and breeder Gainesway, this Todd Pletcher trainee debuted as the second favorite in a one-turn Aqueduct mile Nov. 6. Green at the break from the outermost post, Tapit Trice willingly tucked in behind traffic, split horses, and finished with interest before galloping out like he had won the race, even though he checked in third.

Start number two was another mile try in New York, this time over sealed mud as the 17-10 fave Dec. 17. Again in no rush out of the gate, Tapit Trice lagged but got maneuvered out to the eight path to avoid getting pelted with kickback. He quickly clicked into “chase” mode, latching on to the back of the first flight a half mile out. He unleashed a field-looping bid in the six path turning for home, picked off the two pacemakers, then seemed unfazed when brushing and bumping with the second fave before nailing the win by a neck. Initially assigned an 89 Beyer, Tapit Trice's figure got recalibrated to an 87 prior to his Feb. 4 start in Florida.

Tapit Trice drew the rail and got first-time Lasix for Saturday's one-turn mile at Gulfstream, and somewhat surprisingly, he wasn't favored in the betting. That distinction went to another Pletcher trainee, Shesterkin (Violence), who had won at first asking over the track and closed at 9-10 odds while Tapit Trice went off at 13-10.

Jockey Luis Saez had to shake the reins at Tapit Trice when the starter sprang the latch, but the colt's characteristically lackadaisical way of getting out of the gate allowed Saez to swing him out to the five path behind everybody else. Tapit Trice then didn't need much encouragement to pick off half the pack as the field cleared the chute, and he assertively took up a stalking spot while gaining methodically through the turn.

Shesterkin got first run on the wilting 13-1 pacemaker. At the same time, Tapit Trice crested the five-sixteenths pole like a rolling, gray wave. He took dead aim on his stablemate and cracked Shesterkin without much of a fight by the time they reached the quarter pole.

Tapit Trice got to gawking around a bit freewheeling off the turn, but Saez saw no need to over-correct the colt. A right-handed crack of the crop nearing the furlong marker and a mild, kept-to-task drive was all it took to produce a focused finish in 1:36.44, with another strong gallop-out whetting the appetite for what this colt might be capable of once he finally gets hooked into a true stretch test.

Post-race, Pletcher was non-committal about a next start beyond affirming that Tapit Trice would next show up in a stakes. The score elevated the colt to 'TDN Rising Star' status.

Double 'Mischief'

A pair of Into Mischief colts swept the pair of Grade III events over 1 1/16 miles at Gulfstream and Santa Anita.

In the Holy Bull S., Rocket Can established a foothold in the Derby pecking order with a visually impressive victory that came back light on the Beyer scale (82).

In the Robert B. Lewis S., 'TDN Rising Star' Newgate won a last-to-first stretch scrap over three so-so stablemates, earning a strong number (a 100 Beyer, shared with the runner-up) while having to work harder than expected for the win.

The Holy Bull in recent history hasn't been a safe haven for favorites, who have lost every edition of this race since 2017, with the exception of Tiz the Law's win in 2020.

Rocket Can was off as the 5-2 second choice for owner Frank Fletcher Racing Operations and trainer Bill Mott, and jockey Junior Alvarado opted to let the gray roll straight out of the gate from the outermost eight draw even though it cost them five paths of real estate on the first turn.

Rocket Can remained comfortably parked in the five lane while three lengths off the lead down the backstraight behind an opening quarter of :23.92 and identical second and third splits of :24.92.

Rolling four deep through the far turn, Alvarado nudged Rocket Can for more run five-sixteenths out, and the colt responded, seizing the lead off the turn and remaining mentally locked in once he hit the front under steady coaxing.

Rocket Can appeared to sense 34-1 stablemate Shadow Dragon (Army Mule) bearing down with a late bid, and maintained a three-quarter length margin under the short-stretch finish wire.

Although the 82 Beyer showed no progression over a same-fig second against allowance company at Churchill last Nov. 26, Rocket Can has now put together three straight races in which he's come out running to establish good early position, and he knows how to pounce off the far turn. This colt has also willingly engaged in deep-stretch showdowns in each of his last three, winning twice and not looking overmatched the day he was a runner-up.

It's also notable that Rocket Can won on Saturday despite the disadvantage of being a midpack stalker drawn outside over a track configuration that starts close to the first turn and ends at the sixteenth pole. He also had to make up ground into a moderate pace before finishing up with a respectable :24.78 final quarter and :6.43 last sixteenth for a final clocking of 1:44.97.

And on the left coast…

Newgate | Benoit Photo

The years-long quantity/quality decline in sophomore stakes on the southern California circuit reached a new nadir Saturday when a four-horse field went to post in the Lewis and every one of the entrants hailed from the same dominant stable.

The effect was like watching a set of trainer Bob Baffert's B-level 3-year-olds work out over 1 1/16 miles. The field was comprised of a maiden, two colts that had not won beyond the maiden ranks, and another who broke his maiden in a restricted stakes at Los Alamitos.

Even Baffert recognized the dysfunctionality of the situation in his post-race comments. “I was actually nervous before the race, worried that something weird might happen,” he said.

Something weird almost did happen: The longest shot of the quartet, the 12-1 Hard to Figure (Hard Spun), nearly stole the race.

In fact, Hard to Figure's gutsy loss by a neck resonated as a better performance than Newgate's all-out, last-to-first winning effort.

That's because Hard to Figure and Ramon Vazquez applied pressure outside of the second favorite, Arabian Lion (Justify), through lively early quarter-mile splits (:23.87, :23.89). The colt then had enough oomph left late to give Newgate and Frankie Dettori a serious run for the money through the lane.

The closing half of the race featured honest third and fourth quarters of :24.22, and :24.67 (plus :6.46 for the last sixteenth) for a final clocking of 1:43.11. Hard to Figure then galloped out past Newgate after the wire.

Hard to Figure is a May 19 foal whose only previous win came in the $75,000 Capote S. over 6 ½ furlongs, a race restricted to non-winners of a $50,000 stakes.

Newgate has been undergoing some change-of-tactics schooling that involves teaching him to make one sustained run instead of pressing the pace like he did at age two. He now sports a Beyer pattern that shows increases in four consecutive races.

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The Week In Review: For Syndicate Partners, What’s In A Name (Or Ten)?

Right now within TDN's Top 12 rankings for the GI Kentucky Derby, seven horses are owned by multiple-entity partnerships. One syndicate maxes out at 10 individual owners, another at eight.

If the horses from those larger partnerships (or other syndicates-there are plenty of them and they are growing in number worldwide) make it into the Derby field, they won't have to worry about getting the satisfaction and distinction of seeing their names in print as owners. But that's only because as a courtesy, Churchill Downs takes the extra step of hiring a graphic designer to rework the traditional program page for America's most historic and important horse race so that no owner of a Derby runner gets left out.

Technically, that practice is at odds with a Kentucky regulation that limits the number of individual owners who can appear on the printed program page to five. At a meeting last week of the rules committee of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC), commission staffers and industry stakeholders tried to take a first pass at updating that rule so that every member of a syndicate (or at least more of them) might get recognized as listed owners in all Kentucky races, not just on Derby day.

“I've been approached by several ownership groups that we make room for more names,” said KHRC commissioner Charlie O'Connor. “As syndicate groups in this country are becoming a big deal, [people] who invest their money in the horse business want to see their name on a program.

“These ownership groups and syndicates are spending a large amount of money in Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton and all the sales houses around the world, and I think it's a fair thing for them to ask for their name to be on the program, and I think that we should be able to accommodate it without any huge, big issues,” O'Connor said.

Others in on the discussion thought so too. But it turns out there are practicality limitations and potential unintended consequences that come into play if the KHRC paves the way for more individuals to get inked into ownership lines.

As for the existing rule itself, KHRC chief state steward Barbara Borden explained it this way: “Currently, our regulation says more than five individual persons shall not be licensed as owners of a single horse. That's why we have limited the number on the program to five. It goes on to say if more than five individual persons own interests, then they shall name one person to be the licensed representative.”

Signator | Chelsea Durand

Still, even within that parameter of five, the ownership line on a Kentucky program does get crowded. Several stakeholders at the meeting referenced the trouble being related to a 200-character limit that is a requirement of the Equibase system. The number for that data field was selected some time ago, well before the proliferation of partnerships in roughly the past decade, and it was once reasonable to assume every ownership entity would fit within that amount of space.

But that equates to just 40 characters per syndicate member if five owners are listed, and even then, to make everything fit, the characters are often squished together without spacing to the point where, as Borden said, the line is “illegible” to anyone trying to decipher the program.

“Part of the problem is two things,” Borden said. “First of all, the owners that want to see their names, they might know their name is on the program. But you can't read it, and neither can anyone else. And the other thing is, the reason we put the ownership on the program to begin with, is for public disclosure. So if it's not legible because we have too many names or the font is too small or whatever, we're defeating our purpose of listing the owners at all.”

Frank Jones, Jr., a KHRC commissioner who chairs the rules committee, wondered if it would be feasible to include a “side document” in the program that would fit all the names in full, while the program page itself got printed in a less cluttered way.

Anna Seitz, who works with Fasig-Tipton and with international syndicates, said that in Australia, “they list all the names. They just do smaller fonts. I know it makes a huge difference. Those owners, that's part of the reason they buy in, because they want their name on there.”

Gary Palmisano, Jr., the executive director of racing for Churchill Downs, Inc., said his company is “all for” syndicates. “But just understand that it is space-limited” and the issue is a “bigger-picture problem” than just learning to deal with the limitations of 200 characters.

“We live this every year with the Derby,” Palmisano said. “Obviously, in the Derby, every owner partnership wants to see their names. Equibase currently doesn't have the capability of putting in more than 200 characters. So we have to physically, manually, white-out portions of the owner [line, and then string together] the text, and try to put it in [with everyone listed].”

But if the rule got changed to list more owners, Palmisano cautioned, “tracks every single day are going to have to have a graphics design person, as we do for the Derby, [to] recreate the program line. [That task] is certainly something that takes our team, manually, a lot of time to do for the Derby program.”

Palmisano continued: “Right now [the rule] says five [owners are the maximum listed]. With the racetracks, assuming Equibase can help us with the language, we can figure out the program piece. We're already actively engaging with Equibase to try to figure out the program piece. But I think the [rules] committee, more so than looking at the program piece, should take a hard look if it should be five, eight, seven, ten [owners listed]. Because that helps us frame what we need to do with Equibase.”

O'Connor said 10 names might be the sweet spot, because he's seeing many partnerships now constructed at the 10% buy-in level aiming for 10 syndicate members.

Borden said that brings up another issue related to disclosure.

“This takes us back two years ago when we had partnership forms, which we no longer require,” Borden said. “Every syndicate would have to report to us all the participants in the syndicate.”

While the partnership forms might raise the unwelcome prospect of more paperwork for everyone involved, Borden said there is an upside to those forms that relates to better transparency.

“We currently don't always know the exact ownership of every horse, so that would probably be a bonus for us,” Borden said. “But it would entail us being advised of all the ownership and the [percentages each entity owns].”

But, Borden said, no matter what expanded number the rule night eventually state, common sense inevitably has to intervene.

Gulfport | Coady Photography

“At some point there has to be, in my opinion, a limit,” Borden said. “It's not infinity. If 100 people own a horse, we can't put 100 names on there.”

Keeneland's vice president of racing, Gatewood Bell, raised another potential red flag related to numerous owners being listed: Although Kentucky has recently loosened its rules regarding coupled mutuel entries in an attempt to bolster field sizes, a single owner still can't run two horses in the same race if it excludes another owner's horse from getting in. So what if one individual was a small-percentage owner in one syndicate and owned another horse either outright or as part of a second partnership? How would preference be fairly determined?

“You wouldn't want to discourage the owners from joining these syndicates and also having horses on their own,” Bell said.

Borden pointed out that any overlapping ownership in a single race, even a tiny percentage, still counts as an owner having an interest in two horses.

The committee ended up not proposing or voting on any rule change. Jones, the committee chair, said the entire issue needed more study, but that it would likely be brought up again in the near future.

“The more you listen, the more you see how complicated a problem this could become,” Jones admitted.

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Three-Year-Layoff Winner a Study in Patient Horsemanship

The Week in Review by T.D. Thornton

When Silver Seeker (Central Banker) made his second start off a nearly three-year layoff Saturday at Aqueduct, the betting public was skeptical of the Midwest shipper's chances, dismissing him at 19-1 in a second-level allowance/optional claimer for New York-breds.

The price seemed about right if all you had to go on were the gelding's past performances, which showed just a ninth-place November prep at Hawthorne for Gene LaCroix, an obscure-to-horseplayers trainer riding an 0-for-30 losing streak that dated to Sept. 20, 2020.

Bettors might have assessed Silver Seeker's chances more favorably had they been aware that even though LaCroix, 74, is only a hobbyist trainer with a several-horse private stable, he is, by many accounts, considered to be an expert layoff conditioner.

Raised in a horse-centric family with decades of multi-breed experience, LaCroix for the past 20 years has operated LaCroix Training Center in La Grange, Kentucky, alongside his wife, Erin. A bit off the beaten path, their facility is a green, 65-stall spread with a half-mile training track; a tranquil oasis where some of America's top Thoroughbred outfits send horses (including a few Grade I winners) for breaking, legging-up and conditioning.

Likewise, even if they didn't have a wager on him, railbirds might have cheered a little more lustily for Silver Seeker himself if they knew the incredible physical obstacles and setbacks the gelding faced just to make it back to the races on a chilly December afternoon, let alone win by two lengths en route to a $41.40 upset.

“This whole thing has been a challenge to bring this horse back, to give him a chance to see if he still had the heart and the will to do it,” Gene LaCroix told TDN by phone several hours after the Dec. 10 win. “Our operation, LaCroix rehab, is well known. But Erin and I are like amateur trainers. We don't do it professionally. We just have a few horses. We're pretty much out of it except for this silver horse. And it's just been such a pleasure to see him come along and how good he looked. He's a big, handsome horse.”

LaCroix grew up accompanying his father, Dr. Eugene E. LaCroix, to the backside of Turf Paradise in Phoenix, Arizona, in the 1950s and 60s. Dr. LaCroix was one of the pioneers of Arabian racing on a pari-mutuel basis, but like his son, his horsemanship was not confined to one specific breed.

The younger Gene was an innovator in Arabian stallion syndication by the 1980s, and prior to focusing their attention on Thoroughbreds, he and Erin enjoyed successful careers in the show horse industry, earning more than 100 U.S. National Championships and two lifetime achievement awards.

After moving to Kentucky, in 2003 the LaCroixes started a rehabilitation and lay-up program for Thoroughbreds at their farm, handling all aspects of the operation, from business management to equine care. Because they live on the property, they are responsible for all the late barn inspections before turning in themselves, although the operation is rounded out by longtime, experienced staffers.

Over the past two decades, trainers and owners such as Tom Amoss, Tim Glyshaw, Maggi Moss, and Padua Stables have utilized the LaCroixes' services. The farm's website even includes a testimonial from Dr. Larry Bramlage, one of the most respected equine surgeons in America, alongside words of praise from other notable veterinarians.

In 2008, Gene became a licensed trainer. But the scope of his own stable has generally been limited to buying a few yearlings, training them. and then either selling them at auction or racing them. Over 15 years, he's only had 127 starters, and just five this year prior to Saturday's race.

Shortly after Silver Seeker was foaled on May 1, 2016, Gene and Erin entered into a partnership on him with breeder Patrick Davis and a third investor.

“The original plan was to send him to an auction in New York,” Gene LaCroix said. “He came in here as a long-legged, shaggy weanling. And when it came time for the X-rays, they didn't come out good. So we decided to scrap the New York auction and put him in Keeneland with a modest reserve.”

There were no takers, and Silver Seeker RNA'd for $7,500 as a yearling.

It turned out that Silver Seeker had developed osteochondrosis in his left stifle. The plan then switched to letting it heal before trying to race against New York-breds.

But, as LaCroix explained, “to make a long story short, we decided to get out of the partnership because we didn't want to be a one-third owner and paying the expense of sending him to another trainer in New York,” when the horse might not be good enough to win there and they had their own training facility in Kentucky.

“But,” LaCroix added, “we suggested that we would take the gamble if we owned 100% of him. And they took us up on it.”

So Gene and Erin bought out the other partners, and were encouraged when Silver Seeker breezed fast as 2-year-old. Then the stifle started bothering him again and he underwent surgery to try and fix it.

That pushed the gelding's debut to age three, when LaCroix entered Silver Seeker in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight at Indiana Grand after training him on the farm for his debut.

“We expected him to do well, but the bettors sure didn't,” LaCroix said. “He went off at 88-1 and won by three.”

The LaCroixes thought Silver Seeker might blossom into a grass router, and they considered sending him to New York. But they first wanted to try him on turf closer to home. A month after his debut upset, the gelding again ran at Indy, but he had trouble on the turns before finishing a credible fourth.

But he came out of that race with a condylar bruise on his left hind, LaCroix said. “They suggested we put a screw in it. And that took another two or three months.”

On Dec. 6, 2019, Silver Seeker returned to action at Turfway Park, prevailing by a head in a 6 1/2-furlong sprint at 16-1 odds in an two-lifetime allowance.

“So I felt pretty good, and we said, 'Okay, he's ready for New York,'” LaCroix recalled. “And we took him to New York and he won that race,” a one-other-than, state-bred allowance over seven furlongs in the slop at Aqueduct on Dec. 31, 2019, this time at 9-1 odds.

But Silver Seeker's left hind lameness returned post-win, and Dr. Bramlage diagnosed a suspensory issue.

“Then in the process of bringing him back, he got a bow in his right front,” LaCroix said. “So we took a year, brought him back slow, just like they told us to do. And one breeze into it, an easy breeze, he showed he was going to tear again. It was minimal, but they thought it was a different spot.”

This meant another entire year off. The list of the veterinarians that the LaCroixes consulted reads like a Who's Who of Kentucky equine practitioners. The gray would eventually miss his entire 4-, 5-, and almost all of his 6-year-old seasons.

“We figured out a plan of bringing him back with a lot of warm-up,” LaCroix said. “Every day, before he went to the track, he went to the exerciser machine for 20 minutes. And he learned to lope at first, not gallop. He'd do a half-mile lope after the jog, and then he would start his gallop. And we built that gallop up starting by getting a mile slow, and then gradually bringing him up.

“My wife is listed as the owner,” LaCroix continued. “But she's really the co-trainer. She's been his caretaker. I go over him too, but it's been a team effort. And we just had so much hope with this horse, that if we could rehab him properly, he could come back.”

Slowly but surely, Silver Seeker regained his fitness and remained sound.

“With all the icing and everything else, we never saw a problem,” LaCroix said.

By the autumn of 2022, he believed that “no horseman could look at either leg and tell which one [had bowed].”

Trouble was, the LaCroixes couldn't find a racing commission vet who would do so much as even glance at Silver Seeker because of the huge gap in his racing career. Their private vets vouched for the gelding's soundness, but the regulatory vets wouldn't budge.

“I can't tell you the effort we went through to get him qualified to race because of the new rule changes,” LaCroix said. “We couldn't get the state vets in Kentucky, Ohio or Indiana to even give him a work to evaluate, pass, or fail him. They wouldn't even look at him.”

Finally, LaCroix said, “Illinois said they would do that. He went up to Hawthorne and had a bullet work, passed with flying colors. So that got him off the vet's list to be eligible to enter.”

Although they still wanted to race him for New York-bred purses, the LaCroixes figured–just like before–that sticking closer to home would be the more prudent first step. Since he worked so well up in Chicago, they entered him at Hawthorne on Nov. 6, 2022, choosing not to run for a tag in an optional $40,000 claiming sprint over six furlongs.

Silver Seeker drew post 10 and went off at 8-1 odds. “He'd never been in an outside post, and the track was lightning fast,” LaCroix explained. “He gained from ninth to fourth, and then he just tired. It made us wonder if it was going to affect him mentally, because it wasn't his fault coming off a 34-month layoff.”

Even if they weren't sure about that potential mental duress, the LaCroixes were certain Silver Seeker was physically ready for a New York race. When the Dec. 10 spot came up in the condition book, Erin, her sister, a groom, and a driver loaded the gray gelding on a van and pointed it 750 miles east to Aqueduct.

“One of us had to stay at the farm,” Gene LaCroix said. “I was there the last time he went to New York, so she went this time. And that was the appropriate way, because Erin has always been more involved in his caretaking.”

Gene watched Silver Seeker's pace-pressing victory at home in Kentucky on TV. Erin told TDN she was “screaming her lungs out” at the rail in New York. The 1:23.99 winning time for seven furlongs equated to a 90 Beyer Speed Figure, a career best for the gelding.

“This horse is very special,” Erin LaCroix said while preparing for the 12-hour ride home. “He's been with us since he was eight months old. And to see him come back like that, he's just a special horse. He is very classy. It's amazing how smart he is. Because he knows what he needs to do to get the job done, and he loves it.”

And how did Silver Seeker come out of the win that ran his lifetime record to 4-for-6 and pushed the one-time $7,500 RNA's purse earnings above the six-figure mark?

“He looks great,” Erin LaCroix said. “Everything's tight. He's happy. He knows he did a good job. He ate all his sweet potatoes and peppermints.”

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