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Multiple Grade I Winner Art Collector Euthanized after Developing Laminitis

Art Collector (Bernardini), a winner of eight stakes, including the 2023 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational and the 2021 GI Woodward S., was euthanized Thursday in Saratoga after developing laminitis.

Horse Racing Nation was first with the story.

“This was sudden and a tough experience for me and my wife,” said owner-breeder Bruce Lunsford. “I can summarize this pretty easily. He gave me my highest highs in this business and now my lowest low. That's as simple as I can put it. He will be in my brain and my thoughts for the rest of my life. He was very special. The biggest win of my life was in the Pegasus down in Miami, so this was a really big loss. And he was going to be a great sire.”

Trainer Bill Mott said the problems started only a few days ago but became more serious by the day.

“He started to develop laminitis a couple of days ago and he went in a hurry,” Mott said. “He had a very good work on the fifth of August and was fine the next day. Then he developed what appeared to be a small foot abscess two days later. We were soaking it and treating it. We didn't think it was going to be anything serious, but it developed into laminitis in all four feet. He was with us in Saratoga and was in his stall. He started to get real uncomfortable on Tuesday. Yesterday was a bad day and it was getting worse and we had to make the decision to put him asleep.”

Art Collector was originally trained by Joe Sharp. He was transferred to trainer Tom Drury for his 3-year-old campaign. His first graded stakes win came for Drury in the 2020 GII Blue Grass S., which, because of the pandemic, was run on July 11. He returned with a win in the Ellis Park Derby before finishing fourth in the GI Preakness S., which began a three-race losing streak.

In July of 2021, Lunsford made the decision to turn the horse over to Mott, who helped turn around the horse's career. He won his first three starts for Mott in a streak that included the Alydar S., the GII Charles Town Classic and the Woodward. He scored another win in the Charles Town Classic in 2022. After winning this year's Pegasus, he finished his career with second-place finishes in the GII New Orleans Classic and the GII Alysheba.

He was being pointed for a return visit to this year's Charles Town Classic. Lunsford said the plan was to retire Art Collector after the Charles Town race and then to send him to Claiborne Farm, where he was to stand at stud.

Art Collector won 11 of 21 starts and earned $4,231,290.

“To win the Pegasus, what a brilliant race that was for him,” Mott said. “It may be the biggest race of the year so far in North America. We all have great memories of that. He won 50% of his races. He wasn't just an average race horse. He was pretty special.”

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Woodward, Cigar Mile Among Races Downgraded

The American Graded Stakes Committee released its list of graded stakes for 2023 Friday and it includes five races that were downgraded from Grade I status to Grade II races, including two of NYRA's more prestigious races for older dirt horses, the Woodward and the Cigar Mile H. Also dropping down from the Grade I to the Grade II level were the Clark S. at Churchill Downs, the Starlet S. at Los Alamitos and the Rodeo Drive S. at Santa Anita.

The Woodward was, perhaps, the most surprising inclusion on the list of newly appointed Grade II races. Twenty winners of the race have made their way into the Hall of Fame, including Kelso, Buckpasser, Forego, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, Spectacular Bid and Cigar. But the race has struggled somewhat in recent years as the NYRA racing department tried to figure out where it fit best on the calendar on how to juggle a glut of late summer-early fall races for the handicap division, including the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup. In 2006, the Woodward was moved from Belmont Park to Saratoga. The race was moved back to Belmont in 2021, trading places with the Jockey Club Gold Cup, which was switched to Saratoga. This year's Woodward was won by a top horse in Life Is Good (Into Mischief), but the race drew only four horses and the three challengers to Life Is Good were a fairly weak lot.

The Cigar Mile was inaugurated in 1988 and initially run as the NYRA Mile. Winners include Forty Niner, Cigar, Tonalist (Tapit) and Maximum Security (New Year's Day). This year's race did not come up particularly strong as Mind Control (Stay Thirsty) beat five others.

One race, the Stephen Foster S., was upgraded from Grade II to Grade I status. The race had been a Grade I through 2018 when it was downgraded. This year's winner was Olympiad (Speightstown).

A total of 97 Grade I races will be contested in 2023.

The committee reviewed 901 stakes races and assigned graded status to 440 of them, nine fewer than were graded in 2022.

Three races were upgraded to Grade II's, the Beaumont S., the Franklin S. and the Ladies Sprint S. Seven races were downgraded from Grade II to Grade III status for 2023: the Sorrento S. at Del Mar; Dinner Party S. at Pimlico; Monrovia S., San Carlos S., San Marcos S. and Santa Ynez S. at Santa Anita Park; and Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs. Four races were upgraded to Grade III status for 2023: the Manila S. at Belmont Park; Blame S. and Shawnee S. at Churchill Downs; and Music City S. at Kentucky Downs. Twelve races were downgraded from Grade III to Listed status for 2023.

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GISW Art Collector to Claiborne Upon Retirement

Bruce Lunsford's homebred GI Woodward S. winner Art Collector (Bernardini–Distorted Legacy, by Distorted Humor) will stand at Claiborne Farm near Paris, Ky. upon retirement, the farm announced Wednesday.

Winner of the Woodward in 2021 over Maxfield (Street Sense), Art Collector notched a 107 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort. It was one of seven triple-digit Beyer figures he received in a career that has thus far recorded a tally of 20-10-1-0 and earnings of $2,332,490.

“We are thrilled to stand another exciting stallion prospect for longtime client Bruce Lunsford,” said Claiborne's Walker Hancock. “Art Collector has the qualities we look for in a stallion and we believe he will be very well received among breeders upon his retirement from racing.”

Art Collector began his career in the barn of Thomas Drury, Jr., for whom he raced at two and three and won both the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. and Runhappy Ellis Park Derby. He moved into the barn of Hall of Famer Bill Mott for his four- and five-year-old campaigns, where his victories included the Woodward and back-to-back scores in both the GII Charles Town Classic S. and Saratoga's Alydar S.

A fee for Art Collector will be announced upon retirement.

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Maxfield To Skip Breeders’ Cup Classic In Favor Of Clark

After runner-up finishes in both the G1 Whitney and G1 Woodward this year, Godolphin's Maxfield will skip the Breeders' Cup Classic. According to the Daily Racing Form, the 4-year-old son of Street Sense will instead target the Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs on Nov. 26.

“He has such a good record at Churchill. We're going to skip California with him altogether,” trainer Brendan Walsh told DRF. “It's very important for him to win a Grade 1 this year. This probably gives him his best chance to get a Grade 1 at this stage of his career.”

Maxfield has won each of his four races at Churchill, including the G2 Stephen Foster earlier this year. In his 10 career starts, Maxfield owns seven wins, two seconds, and a third, with earnings of $1,550,902.