View From The Eighth Pole: Soul Searching, Restitution In Order For Owners Who Supported Jorge Navarro’s Stable

From Jan. 1, 2016, through March 8, 2020, trainer Jorge Navarro won 741 races from 2,468 starts. That's a win percentage of an unfathomable 30%.

The owners of those runners earned $24,360,514 in purse money.

That's 741 wins and millions of dollars in first-place money that, in my opinion, rightfully belongs to someone else. The judge who sentenced Navarro to five years in prison agrees. She has ordered Navarro to pay restitution of $25,860,514, an amount he surely doesn't have unless the owners who benefited from his cheating are willing to fork it over.

Here's just a few examples.

There's the $180,000 that Lael Stable should have received for a win by the stable's Divining Rod in the Grade 2 Kelso Handicap at Belmont Park in 2017. The Arnaud Delacour runner had to settle for $60,000 after finishing second behind what we can only assume was a juiced Sharp Azteca, who raced for the Gelfenstein Farm of Ivan Rodriguez. Divining Rod, a son of Tapit, was deprived of a G2 win, something that also would have had ripple effects on the catalogue page of his family female.

Another horse cheated out of a graded stakes win by Sharp Azteca was Brittlyn Stable's Forevamo, trained at the time by Al Stall. The Uncle Mo gelding finished second in the G3 Pat Day Mile Stakes at Churchill Downs in 2016. He would have earned $141,050 for first place but instead received just $45,500. His owner didn't get the glory of standing in the Churchill Downs winner's circle with the Hall of Fame jockey for whom the race is named or get new hardware for their trophy case.

It is about the money, but it isn't JUST about the money.

I learned that from Josie Martino, who with husband Salvatore Delfino raced Wildcat Red in the colors of their Honors Stable Corp. The son of D'Wildcat won six of 22 starts for trainer Jose Garoffalo, including the G2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park in 2014.

Two years later, Wildcat Red finished second in the Sunshine Millions Sprint Stakes at the South Florida track, earning $29,100. The winner of the $90,210 first-place prize was X Y Jet, who at the time was racing for Gelfenstein Farm and trained by Navarro. The trainer would later admit to injecting the horse with illegal performance enhancing drugs.

X Y Jet dropped dead two months before Navarro was taken into custody as part of the sweeping FBI investigation that led to indictments against more than two dozen trainers, veterinarians and drug suppliers.

No owners have been charged, though those who gave horses to Navarro to train may have benefited the most from his cheating.

Martino and Delfino hit it big with Wildcat Red, a $30,000 OBS 2-year-old purchase who earned $1.1 million in 22 starts. He was one of the first horses campaigned by their small stable. Yet even with the horse's success, Martino said in a phone call to the Paulick Report, she and her husband feel cheated by having to compete against a juiced Navarro runner in the Sunshine Millions. “We are speaking out in Red's honor,” said Martino, an admitted animal lover who was stunned by Navarro's callous treatment of horses. “Red can't talk, but he deserves to be heard. What happened wasn't right and it wasn't fair to the horse.”

In virtually every one of the 741 races won by Navarro from 2016-'20, there are similar stories of horses, owners, trainers and jockeys being deprived of a victory and higher purse money. It might be a claiming race or a stakes, on dirt or turf, in New York, New Jersey or Florida. Cheating is cheating at any level.

The owners of horses trained by Navarro who gained financially by his serial doping might benefit  from some serious soul searching. If it's only about winning, if that's why they sent horses to someone so brazen that he had a customized pair of shoes with #juiceman printed on them in big letters, this game would be better off without them. It will survive.

In the now-famous video filmed at Monmouth Park in the summer of 2017, when Navarro and one of his owners, Randal Gindi of Monster Racing Stables, joked about Navarro being the “juiceman,” the trainer had a brief moment of candor.

“We f – – k everyone,” Navarro said.

He wasn't kidding.

That's my view from the eighth pole.

The post View From The Eighth Pole: Soul Searching, Restitution In Order For Owners Who Supported Jorge Navarro’s Stable appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Kentucky Value Sires for 2021–First Juveniles, Part II

This is the second part of the latest instalment in our ongoing series assessing stallion options for the new covering season, now tackling sires who have just sold their first yearlings. The first part, which appeared in Tuesday’s edition, can be read here.

Dixie Union has achieved quite a legacy as a broodmare sire and, following on from Mohaymen (Tapit), two other stallions in this group are out of his daughters.

KLIMT (Quality Road-Inventive by Dixie Union) has maintained an industrial output through his first three books at Darby Dan, entertaining 222, 187 and 172 guests, duly pegged at $10,000. That volume comes at a risk, of course, and anyone who fancied a Klimt yearling could choose from no fewer than 108 into the ring. Of these, 81 found a new home at $29,890.

Klimt at Darby Dan | EquiSport

Himself a $435,000 Gulfstream 2-year-old, you can certainly picture him landing one or two pinhook coups: he reiterated his precocity by looking the fastest youngster out west, notably as four-length winner of the GI Del Mar Futurity in 1:21.8 (94 Beyer). His sire can’t have had too many juveniles quite like that and, while Klimt himself did not last at three, he does have the genetic base for his stock to progress: his hard-knocking, graded stakes-winning third dam is a sister to Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Concern (the pair out of another Grade I winner). First things first, however—and, with such volume behind him, he surely needs to put himself in the shake-up for the freshman title.

The other who shares the same damsire is UNIFIED (Candy Ride {Arg}-Union City by Dixie Union). Lane’s End launched him at $10,000, which fee he retains after selling 62 of 83 yearlings offered at $43,390, an average magnified by the $450,000 home-run colt who topped a session at Keeneland September.

Unified has very attractive roots, his third dam being a Storm Bird half-sister to Dehere and the next two by Secretariat and Damascus. Though himself unraced at two, his mother is a sister to a Grade II-winning juvenile and Unified certainly landed running with a 99 Beyer on debut before consecutive Grade III and Grade II wins, clocking 1:47.14 in the Peter Pan. Though ultimately confined to seven starts, he missed the GI Carter H. only by a neck and he’s a lovely physical.

Though down to 68 mares in his third season, he has ample ammunition (opening books of 152 and 102) to resume momentum now. In the same, exemplary barn that has housed his sire and damsire, Unified has every chance of making the grade.

Likewise, his chum CONNECT (Curlin-Bullville Belle by Holy Bull) who started alongside at twice the fee after formally gilding a career of similar span and dash with a Grade I in the Cigar Mile. Having maintained numbers at 112 and 114 after an opening book of 165, he gets a friendly clip to $15,000 after selling 49 yearlings (of 84 into the ring) at $52,975.

Another very natural racehorse, Connect packed six wins and four six-figure Beyers into just eight starts and helped to elevate the GII Pennsylvania Derby to elite status by holding the maturing Gun Runner. While of adequate caliber, his family has a conspicuously accommodating outcross quality.

Competition among sons of Curlin is heightened by a cut from $20,000 to $12,500 for KEEN ICE (Curlin-Medomak by Awesome Again). Some such action, admittedly, was looking pretty urgent. Calumet amassed as many as 176 mares for his opening book, and 55 yearlings sales (of 70 into the ring) achieved a lower average than his fee ($15,069). Pretty disastrous, on the face of it, but to me this more realistic tag brings a truly admirable racehorse right back into play.

I’d especially recommend Keen Ice to anyone who might look to retain a filly, as he doubles down that mighty distaff influence Deputy Minister 3 x 3 and his fourth dam is the Emory Hamilton matriarch Chic Shirine (Mr. Prospector). If overstating his GI Travers S. defeat of American Pharoah risks faint praise, then he parlayed these genes into a resilience and durability—24 starts, including 15 at Grade I level, for earnings of $3.4 million—that any breeder should be eager to replicate.

There are some grassy roots in the family, too, so at his revised fee Keen Ice absolutely deserves a fresh look by flexible end-users. That big first book will give him a legitimate platform over the next couple of years to renew traffic that has meanwhile slackened to 73 and 43 mares.

Another now at a still more compelling fee is LORD NELSON (Pulpit-African Jade by Seeking The Gold). Halved to $10,000 by Spendthrift, he is definitely back on the agenda after making plenty of appeal even when opening at $25,000.

His yearlings sold in a good ratio, 37 of 46 offered, at $84,972. Remember that he was knocked out by laminitis when lined up for his debut book and he has been spared the “mass transit” service since, numbers through his first three years controlled at 127, 131 and 123.

Lord Nelson offers an interesting blend. He has all the commercial speed you could ask for, as winner of three consecutive Grade I sprints including the Bing Crosby in 1:07.65, the fastest six furlongs ever clocked electronically at Del Mar. Though he only achieved his peak form at four, that was partly down to experimentation in stretching his speed and he was actually a seven-length stakes winner at two. But he also has a most interesting pedigree: very fast, plainly, for a grandson of A.P. Indy, he evidently kindles a lot of speed from the 3×3 duplication of Mr. Prospector (as Pulpit’s damsire and as grandsire of his own dam). Yet the bottom line balances that with a classy Argentinian family, with all that means in terms of versatility and the robustness we saw in Lord Nelson’s recuperation.

Though himself a speedball, Lord Nelson’s build also suggests that he may be able to draw out some of the stretch latent in his pedigree. We have become accustomed to premium newcomers at Spendthrift, since this guy first arrived, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he turned out to have as much influence as any.

AMERICAN FREEDOM (Pulpit-Gottcha Last by Pleasant Tap) comes from the final crop of the same sire of sires and, as a $500,000 yearling, must have been just about the prettiest. Launched at $10,000 by Airdrie, he has every chance to build fresh momentum from an opening book of 152 mares (if on the customary slide since, to 96 and 54).

That’s a tribute to his physique though, albeit as many as 82 yearlings into the ring gave purchasers ample choice: 60 sales averaged $27,266. More important, perhaps, is the fact that his owners and Airdrie have fired up his engine with 133 mares from their quality herds. Interestingly, moreover the drums seem to be beating quite loudly among 2-year-old consignors.

Now that he’s down to $6,000, American Freedom might prove a timely gamble. After all, he claimed the scalps of Gun Runner plus all three Classic winners in his crop, and got closest of Arrogate’s pursuers in the GI Travers. And a stakes-winning Pleasant Tap mare can only bring in the good stuff, as she had already shown in producing MGSW and Grade I runner-up Gottcha Gold (Coronado’s Quest).

There’s a lot to like about MIDNIGHT STORM (Pioneerof the Nile-My Tina, by Bertrando), down to $7,500 at TaylorMade from an opening $12,500. He offers a mixture of the traditional assets we need to preserve—he won Grade II races four years running in the course of a 10-for-27 career, banking $1.78 million—with the versatility that should be at an increasing premium as the turf/synthetics program expands. He registered multiple triple-digit Beyers on both dirt and turf, and sealed his Grade I by wiring the Shoemaker Mile field, holding off subsequent Breeders’ Cup winner Tourist (Tiznow) in 1:33.55.

Books of 119, 88 and 69 provide a solid enough base and likewise his sales debut: 36 of 48 yearlings sold at $39,856. It’s a fashionable sire-line—and remember that his lamented sire was also versatile, in terms of surface—but there’s no denying that the family adds a genetic dimension to his overall air of flexibility.

Turf was an option never explored by GORMLEY (Malibu Moon-Race To Urga by Bernstein) but it’s certainly something to keep in mind for his stock. His second dam was Classic-placed in Europe and his fourth is champion turf mare Estrapade, while his own sire was out of a top-class French juvenile.

Not that there appeared to be any particular need to leave the main track with a horse who won Grade Is at both two (ended Klimt’s unbeaten spree in the Frontrunner S.) and three (beat Battle Of Midway (Smart Strike) in the Santa Anita Derby). Unfortunately he soon derailed but Spendthrift herded up the customary numbers for a first book of 180, ample to put him in the conversation for the freshmen’s championship—something to keep in mind, now that he is down to $5,000 from an opening $10,000.

Though there was plenty of choice at the yearling sales, he found customers for an excellent ratio (59 of 73 offered) at $37,544. Subsequent books of 127 and 72 suffice to keep him in the game if he can get one or two early headliners, something he is perfectly entitled to do with the depth of Classic influences through his pedigree. Virtually a bet to nothing at his new fee.

Speaking of turf, reverse shuttler ASTERN (Medaglia d’Oro-Essaouira {Aus} by Exceed And Excel {Aus}) is down again to $7,500 from $10,000, after being cut last year from an opening $15,000 at Darley. Albeit he has somewhat puzzled the local market to this point, with 23 of 38 yearlings sold at $35,617, now he gets the chance to show whether they can actually run.

He’s certainly been priced to engage the attention of breeders lacking the regard of their Australian counterparts for a horse who—trading in speed, as an interesting instance of the way this cosmopolitan sire-line obeys the predilections of each local industry—matched the Group 1 success of his half-sister Alizee (Aus) (Sepoy {Aus}), not to mention of their third and fourth dams.

He’s half a year deeper into his career than his Kentucky rivals, with a handful of runners already in his native land. Down there a lot of people would be pretty offended, on Astern’s behalf, by his relative valuation in Kentucky. But we’re about to find out which hemisphere has him right, and books of 116, 90 and 90 are sufficient to permit a rising tide for any breeder enterprising or audacious enough to take a chance on him now.

A Southern Hemisphere import that was able to parade his wares on American tracks is Calumet’s BAL A BALI (Brz) (Put It Back—In My Side {Brz} by Clackson {Brz}). Horse Of The Year in Brazil, he recovered from laminitis after his migration to win a couple of Grade Is on U.S. grass. He proved much too exotic a proposition for the domestic yearling market, 34 of 39 selling at just $7,302, but he does have early numbers behind him (books of 125 and 74 before falling right off to 22 last spring) and also has dirt strains to draw upon in his outcross pedigree. It’s obviously over to him, but he is now realistically priced at $5,000 (started at $15,000) and would hardly represent the first transfusion of South American blood to invigorate the gene pool here.

In contrast the same farm hosts a couple of young stallions trading primarily on very familiar pedigrees. The third dam of MR. Z (Malibu Moon-Stormy Bear, by Storm Cat), indeed, is a Ribot (GB) half-sister to Mr. Prospector himself (who also figures on the page as damsire of Malibu Moon). His own mother is a half-sister to the prolific Canadian turf champion Chief Bearhart (Chief’s Crown) and, while Mr. Z only won twice, he stood up well to aggressive campaigning to become a millionaire. A handful of his yearlings sold mostly for no money but he has now been halved to $2,500 so maybe his first book of 61, more than he’s managed in the two seasons since, can give him a foothold.

Barnmate WAR CORRESPONDENT (War Front-Tempo West, by Rahy) also has a noble pedigree, as a brother to Declaration of War out of a half-sister to Union Rags, and he won a couple of graded stakes on turf. The half-dozen yearlings he sold, of nine offered, averaged $18,576 and he’s now $5,000 from an opening $7,500, again with small numbers behind him.

Though ultimately rescued more or less from oblivion, for a roll of the dice at stud, WILDCAT RED (D’wildcat-Racene, by Miner’s Mark) was a legitimate dasher in his time, as a dual graded stakes winner who was beaten only a neck by Constitution (Tapit) in the GI Florida Derby. He has only covered small books at Buck Pond Farm, but that won’t necessarily stop him outlasting one or two who started with a higher profile. Of just three yearlings sold, after all, one made $180,000 to become the top colt at the OBS Selected Yearling Sale, some yield on a $7,500 fee. Bravo, Wildcat!

That’s the beauty, when we reach this stage of the game. It’s now up to their runners, and nobody can know what will happen once the gates open.

CHRIS McGRATH’S VALUE PODIUM

Gold: Mastery ($25,000 Claiborne)

Always looked the goods and sales debut did nothing to alter that

Silver: Lord Nelson ($10,000 Spendthrift)

What a generous cut for a very fast horse with stretchy genes

Bronze: Gormley ($5,000 Spendthrift)

Bumper first book could give him freshman momentum

The post Kentucky Value Sires for 2021–First Juveniles, Part II appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Stakes Winner Mobil Solution Tops Ohio Mixed Sale

The Ohio Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Mixed Sale took place on Oct. 15 at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in Delaware Ohio, spearheaded by the $88,000 purchase of Ohio-bred year-end award winner Mobil Solution.

Over 150 people turned out on a Thursday afternoon amidst a festive setting at the historic Delaware County Fairgrounds. Seventy-four lots went through the auction ring, with 62 changing hands for revenues of $432,300 and an average sale price of $6,972. Most of the winning bidders were on-site but several horses were purchased through the online and phone-in bidding options.

The sale topper was Hip 12, the Ohio-bred Mobil Solution. Sold by the Estate of Gerald Silver, the multiple stakes-winning 5-year-old gelding was acquired by Carmine Agnello for $88,000. The son of top Ohio sire Mobil will now be trained by Jeff Skerrett.

Mobil Solution was Ohio's champion 3-year-old male of 2018, and last year's champion Ohio-accredited male. He's an eight-time stakes winner with earnings of more than $500,000. Just two days before the sale, Mobil Solution won a Thistledown allowance race by three-quarters of a length for trainer Michael Rone.

The sale's top yearling was Wildcat Bill, a first-crop Wildcat Red colt who sold to William Spitler for $26,000.

The Ohio-bred colt is out of the winning Quiet American mare Polite Company. His extended family includes Peruvian champion Al Kadir, Puerto Rican champion Awesome Warrior, Jamaican champion Sorrentino's Star, and Grade 3-placed stakes winner Val d'Enchere. He was consigned by Stallion Ventures.

“What a fantastic day for Ohio racing,” said OTBO executive director Mike Annechino. “The sales committee of the OTBO, along with the support of the Ohio HBPA and all its horsemen and women, worked extremely hard to provide an attractive marketplace for both buyers and sellers. The horses that went through the ring looked spectacular and offered tremendous value in all categories. The excellent sales results prove once again that racing in Ohio is the best bet in the business.”

The Ohio racing program offers year-round racing with 43 stakes races for Ohio-breds totaling over $3.6 million in annual purses.

To view the auction's full results, click here.

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Not This Time Filly Tops OBS Selected Yearling Sale

Hip No. 149, a daughter of Not This Time consigned by Abbie Road Farm (Lisa McGreevy), Agent, went to Tonja Terranova, Agent for $225,000 to top the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's 2020 Selected Sale of Yearlings. The dark bay or brown filly is out of Midnight Magic, by Midnight Lute, a half-sister to graded stakes winner Coalport.

  • Hip No. 248, a daughter of Into Mischief consigned by Stuart Morris, Agent, was purchased by Colt Pike Bloodstock, Agent for $200,000. The bay filly, a half-sister to stakes winner March X Press, is out of stakes-placed Indian Rush, by Indian Charlie.
  • Hip No. 121, a son of Wildcat Red consigned by Stuart Morris, Agent, was sold to Patrice Miller, EQB Inc., Agent, for $180,000. The chestnut colt is out of Ivory Meadow, by Meadowlake, a daughter of stakes-placed Ivory Dance.
  • Karl and Cathi Glassman paid $140,000 for Hip No. 173, a son of Practical Joke consigned by Stuart Morris, Agent. The bay colt is out of Polyester, by Tiz Wonderful, and is a half-brother to graded stakes winner Harpers First Ride, winner of the Pimlico Special (G3) on Oct. 2.
  • Hip No. 194, a daughter of Uncaptured consigned by Dynasty Thoroughbreds, was sold for $140,000 to Randy Bradshaw. The bay filly, a half-sister to graded stakes winner Elusive Lady, is out of Song of Royalty, by Unbridled's Song.
  • Hip No. 179, Ready's Humor, a son of Distorted Humor consigned by Colin Brennan Bloodstock, Agent, was purchased by Paul Sharp for $125,000. The chestnut colt, a full brother to graded stakes winner Machen, is out of graded stakes winner Ready's Gal, by More Than Ready.
  • Champion Equine LLC paid $125,000 for Hip No. 209, a daughter of Upstart consigned by Silver Oaks Farm (Danielle Loya), Agent. The dark bay or brown filly is out of Who'sbeeninmybed, by The Daddy, a half-sister to graded stakes winner Mr. Bowling.
  • Hip No. 180, a daughter of Valiant Minister consigned by Colin Brennan Bloodstock, Agent for Baoma Corp, went to Quarter Pole Enterprises LLC for $120,000. The gray or roan filly is out of Resilient Humor, by Distorted Humor, a daughter of Grade 1 winner Sassy Image.

Zedan Racing Stables, Inc. went to $155,000 for Hip No. 39, a son of Empire Maker consigned by Top Line Sales LLC, Agent, to top the October Sale's 2-year-olds and horses of racing age section. The 2-year-old bay colt, whose quarter in :21 1/5 was co-fastest at the distance at the Under Tack Show, is a half-brother to graded stakes winner Majestic River out of graded stakes placed stakes winner Tempus Fugit, by Alphabet Soup.

Hip No. 58, Slashing, a 2-year-old son of Nyquist who won impressively in maiden special weight company last Wednesday at Gulfstream Park West, was sold to Red Oak Farm, Inc. for $100,000. The bay colt, consigned by de Meric Sales, Agent, is a half brother to champion Proud Spell out of graded stakes placed Proud Pearl, by Proud Citizen.

For the Selected Yearling Sale, 80 horses sold for a total of $3,338,000, compared with 130 yearlings bringing $5,689,200 a year ago. The average price was $41,725, compared with $43,763 last year, while the median price was $29,000, compared with $30,000 in 2019. The buyback percentage was 40.7 percent; it was 30.1 percent a year ago.

For the 2-year-olds in training and horses of racing age section, 29 horses sold for a total of $816,500, averaging $28,155 with a $16,000 median figure.

The sale continues Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. with Hip No.'s 301 – 721 selling in the open session.

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