Zoe Cadman | Horse Racing Free Tips

Tattersalls Director Jimmy George Joins Writers’ Room

A week out from his company's marquee October Yearling Sale, Tattersalls Director Jimmy George joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Tuesday as the Green Group Guest of the Week to discuss the increasing American participation in the sale, the booming yearling market, opportunities for American buyers with the lopsided exchange rate and more.

“It's not quite buy one, get one free, but it's very nearly that,” George said of the potential sales results of the exchange rate, where pounds are nearly equal to dollars at this point. “Honestly, the weakness of the pound is a little bit alarming in some senses to anybody who actually lives here, but for anybody trading in U.S. dollars, they will come to Book 1 of the October Sale next week and be buying the same quality of horse for 20-25% less than they were paying last year. That is a massive discount. This is an unprecedented opportunity for anyone who wants to race turf horses of the highest quality in North America. So all I can say is, take advantage. It probably won't be like this for a very long time.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the KTOB, Lane's End, XBTV, Three Chimneys, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, host Joe Bianca said his farewell as he moves on from the show, he and Bill Finley welcomed new co-host Zoe Cadman, and all three reacted to the sensational Saturday for superstar stallion Gun Runner. Click here to watch the show; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Ce Ce: A Princess, Years in the Making

They say that some poker players have a “tell,” a change in their behavior that can give away how they feel about their chances of winning a particular hand. Hall of Fame rider Victor Espinoza says that the 2021 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner, Ce Ce (Elusive Quality) is no different.

“Most of the times I ride her, I know before I get to the gate what kind of a race she's going to run,” he said.

“So, did you know in the Breeders' Cup?” I asked eagerly.

“Oh yes, most definitely,” he replied. “The minute she walked onto the track I was like, 'oh yes,' and I looked at the rest of the horses and thought, `oh, I feel sorry for you guys!'”

The rest, of course is history. Ce Ce took down the Breeders' Cup and was crowned champion female sprinter at Santa Anita's Eclipse Award ceremony Feb. 10, but not before tasting defeat at the hands of Merneith (American Pharoah) in the GII Santa Monica S. just days before she was crowned.

I had interviewed CeCe's owner-breeder Bo Hirsch prior to the Santa Monica and asked him, “win lose or draw, what has she left to prove in her 6-year-old year?”

Hirsch was effusive and simply said, “She has nothing to prove and she owes us nothing. I'm getting old and I love to watch my horses run. You know, I may not live long enough to watch her foals run so why not enjoy her another year now?”

This is something the 72-year-old Hirsch echoed in his Eclipse Award speech, where he said, “I love this business. This is the greatest sport in the world.”

So, to find the key to Ce Ce's longevity, I set off to the Mike McCarthy barn.

Horses love routine, and in that, champion Ce Ce is no different. Training every morning with the sunrise at 6:30, she sets out not to Santa Anita's main track, but to the six-furlong training track nestled inside the turf course.

It's something McCarthy started a couple of years ago and it has stuck.

“It's a good walk to and fro, from the training track. It's something she enjoys and we let her take her time.”

So, off we went with her. I followed Ce Ce down into the tunnel, walking as fast as my oh-too-short legs could to try and keep up.

Once on the training track, Ce Ce took up her customary position next to the outrider Camacho and his pony Justin, enjoying cuddles from her rider Lydio as the early morning sun cast a long shadow across the track.

I'm pretty sure she would have stood there all day!

“Jog one, gallop two.” These were the instructions handed out by McCarthy.

Off she went–nothing flashy, just doing her job, three times around before pulling up with a pat. “She's a trainer's dream,” explained McCarthy, later that morning. It has been a huge deal to train a mare like her. She shows up every time, she's all business, she's all racehorse, from breaking her maiden first time out, something the stats say shouldn't happen,” said a deadpan McCarthy, “to winning the GI Beholder.”

“We got a little sidetracked later in the year,” he added. “We had a hard time finding racetracks she likes. She seems to like it a little harder and faster. We've kind of gotten away from that a little bit out here in California, so she's struggled with that a little bit.”

McCarthy went on to elaborate that Ce Ce has got a little picky in her old age, preferring the more glib race tracks of times gone by. When pressed about her Breeders' Cup performance, the ever-reserved trainer perked up.

“Got a perfect set up with Gamine and Bella Sofia in there. Victor asked the question and she responded. I believe that was probably as good a Breeders' Cup performance as you would see on Breeders' Cup day,” he said, with just a bit of pride.

As for what happened in the Santa Monica, McCarthy conceded Baffert led a very good horse over that ran her eyeballs out. Plus, Ce Ce was coming off a brief layoff, with the track against her.

“But I saw what I needed to see and we will go from there,” he added.

But where?

McCarthy did his best dodge-the-question dance, with the usual `keep our options open,' followed by a list of logical choices befitting a champion. “Oaklawn. Keeneland. Could show up in another country. Could stay here.”

“Hold on,” I said. “Another country?”

“Well, we are not the only place that holds racing,” quipped a now-smiling McCarthy. “There are races like the Golden Shaheen in Dubai, or she could even try the grass. We know her likes and dislikes and will try to play to those for the rest of the year.”

Is there added pressure training a six-year-old with seemingly nothing left to prove, I asked?

“There is a little bit of pressure because we want to do right by her, always. I feel like we are responsible for the effort, not the outcome. Sometimes, that's beyond our control.”

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Diego Herrera: A Prepared Young Man is Worth Two

Cauthen, Ouzts, Bourque, Parker, Migliore, Delahoussaye and Baze all have one thing in common–perhaps several, if we are splitting hairs.

They all started from the ground up: mucking stalls, grooming, walking hots. All too often nowadays, young upstarts are appearing and eschewing the shank for the helmet, goggles and jock's license, which is why it's so refreshing to spend some time with apprentice Diego Herrera who, at just 17, is wise beyond his years.

Herrera is currently eighth in the jockey standings at the Santa Anita meet with six winners.

“Just come to Los Al, I will be there all day,” he said. All day? What the hell is he doing there “all day”? Santa Anita is closed Tuesdays to workers so most jockeys take the day off.

Intrigued, I hopped in my car and headed down the 605 to Cypress, California. I arrived about 10:30 a.m., only to be greeted by the gate crew on their way out after finishing up the morning's trials, or “training races.” One horse was left on the track with a jockey riding legs-length and smiling as he walked off the track toward me. It was Herrera.

Once off his mount and at the barn, one thing stood out: there were no fewer than four wheelchairs in various states of disrepair, one of them housing a grinning Oscar Andrade, Sr. and his dog, Fendi. “He's hard on them,” said his wife, Elena, with a giggle.

Andrade was a very successful Quarter Horse jockey who once mimicked Frankie Dettori by winning seven races on a single card at Los Alamitos, a record that still stands today. His son, Oscar, Jr., was just 10 days old when Andrade was paralyzed in a spill in 2001.

It was evident that the Andrade barn was more than just horses. Herrera explained the father-son dynamic between himself and Andrade, who, funnily enough, is no relation at all.

“He's like a father to me, but also has been very hard on me. He has always told me, give 110% and never look back. That's what he did and he has no regrets.”

Herrera went on to talk about learning how to gallop on the farm, how Andrade would make him gallop the babies bareback or take away his stirrups.

Herrera remembers asking, “Why? I'm going to be riding with stirrups!” To which Andrade simply replied, “You never know.”

This invaluable lesson was evident Jan. 14 in the eighth race at Santa Anita, when he was riding a longshot at a mile on the grass. Herrera's stirrup became unbuckled, he lost an iron, kicked out the other one and went on to finish second aboard the Philip Oviedo-trained Explain This Audit (Vancouver {Aus}).

“That really, really opened my eyes,” said Herrera. “I thought after, 'Okay! That's why he did that.'”

Herrera was born in Inglewood, a stone's throw from Hollywood Park. His father owned some Quarter Horses and Herrera as a young boy would spend many days at Los Alamitos. When Herrera wasn't with his father, he would spend time “training” his pony, Sparky, a tiny bundle of fur, through the riverbeds of Los Angeles County.

According to Herrera, Sparky won match races from Long Beach to as far away as Idaho, carrying his flyweight 40-pound, 8-year-old rider, Herrera. It was here the racing bug took off.

Herrera with Oscar Andrade, Jr. | Courtesy of Diego Herrera

Back at Los Alamitos, he made fast friends with Andrade, Jr. The two of them would watch the races on the roof together, race each other on hay bales and even sneak into the jock's room to practice on the Equicizer. In between the fun and games, the two boys would be put to work by Andrade's mother and Quarter Horse trainer Elena, mucking stalls, raking the shedrow, anything that would earn them a leg up.

It was in the Andrade barn that Herrera felt he finally fit in.

“You know, as a kid I didn't really have a lot of friends,” said Herrera. “I talk to everybody but I didn't consider anybody else a real friend. But when I met Oscar, he showed me what that horseman feel is. You don't make relationships with people; you make them with horses.”

As Herrera and Andrade, Jr. grew up, they only had one thing on their mind and that was to go fast. But to go fast meant they would have to put the work in, as Elena Andrade explained: “Our barn, the deal is you have to learn the fundamentals. The foundation. The inside of a horse from the ground up, not just get on a horse and go fast.”

Herrera never intended to be a Thoroughbred jockey, thinking more along the lines of Quarter Horse pilots G. R. Carter and Cody Jensen. But it was at the behest of trainer Angela Aquino–sister of Elena–for Herrera to give Thoroughbreds a go. He was light, could do the weight, so why not?

It didn't take long for Herrera to start winning the regular nighttime 1,000-yard races and 4 1/2-furlong races for Thoroughbreds.

When he rode his first double, Scott Craigmyle–director of racing operations at Los Al–got on the phone, and just like that, he was off to Santa Anita, first under the tutelage of Vince DeGregory, who has handled the books of such luminaries as Shoemaker, Cordero and Pincay, and now under Derek Lawson, who previously managed Flavien Prat. As for his Quarter Horse business, that is handled by April Ward, who books all his mounts.

So, where did his Puritan work ethic come from?

Herrera said he grew up watching his father toil with his landscaping business day and night. “He wants to strive to be a better person in this world.” His father never went to school but always told his son, “A prepared young man is worth two.”

Herrera's GI Quarter Horse win on Kiss Thru Fire | William Zuazo

A pick-up mount on the favorite in a Grade I Quarter Horse event was not something the teenager was expecting the night of Jan. 2. Herrera recalled having 13 mounts already that day, five of them at Santa Anita. He was getting ready to go home when he got a call in the jock's room to pick up a mount.

“It was crazy,” said an animated Herrera. “I didn't know she was the favorite, and when I looked up, I saw she was and I was like, 'Okay, no pressure.'”

The horse in question was Kiss Thru Fire, the defending champ in the GI Charger Bar H., contested at 400 yards. Herrera called it a surreal moment as he hit the line half a length to the good.

Herrera picked up his first turf win going two turns on the Santa Anita sod the very next day.

So, what's next for the teen from Inglewood?

“I'm just going to keep working hard and learning every day,” he said, and then added, “A nomination for an Eclipse Award would be nice.”

Herrera's bug is over in April, but that won't stop this lad dreaming his dreams, now longer than 440 yards.

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Sadler on Flightline: ‘The History is Yet to be Written’

It's been a long time since I have been up at `dark thirty', but here I find myself happily strolling into Santa Anita Park at 4:30 in the morning–a far cry from nearly 10 years ago when I was galloping horses and would find myself running late whilst popping an Altoid and three Advil to quell the night-before activities.

But here I am. Why?

Because I asked John Sadler for a Flightline (Tapit) interview and of course, Flightline trains at 5 a.m.

After a morning of carrots, coffee, and horses, I sat down with John and posed the question: After the likes of Cost of Freedom, Lady of Shamrock, Twirling Candy, Sidney's Candy, Gift Box, Flagstaff, Higher Power, Stellar Wind and Accelerate, has Sadler trained a horse quite as simply brilliant as Flightline?

“I really haven't,” Sadler said on a lazy, uncommonly-cloudy Monday at his barn under the backdrop of the San Gabriel Mountains. “He's probably the best horse I've ever trained. He's an amazing, special kind of horse that you get once in a lifetime, and I'm thrilled to have him.”

Flightline, of course, received Beyer Speed Figures of 105, 114 and 118 over his three lifetime starts. The latter, in the GI Runhappy Malibu S., was the highest given out this year. To put that into perspective, likely Horse of the Year Knicks Go (Paynter) got a 112 Beyer in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic and Life is Good (Into Mischief) got a 109 in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

So, what makes him so brilliant?

“He's so well-proportioned,” said Sadler. “He's powerful. He's correct. He's got everything you like. He's got that inner stallion, which I love. He's got it all.”

The sun finally began to peek across the mountains, reminding me I was up before it. I asked Sadler, “Why train him at 5 a.m.?”

“I think the track is best early,” Sadler said matter-of-factly. “It has a little more moisture in it, especially in the summer. Moisture is the key. We just think the surface is so good. So, a lot of them go in the first set. Stellar Wind loved to go in the first set. Accelerate went early. And then, they go out later when they work. I don't like to work in the dark.”

Lest one think some Sadler horses never see the light of day, never get the sun on their backs, they are all walked outside in the afternoon, something Flightline loves, Sadler said.

So much was made in the lead up to the Malibu, I asked John how he was feeling. He said he got the flu–yes, people still get that, and not just the Coronavirus.

Flightline, on the other hand, was gearing up for his final work with Flavian Prat, an odd move at the time as he had appeared hard to handle for assistant Juan Leyva in his work the week before. Holding an elephant from water comes to mind.

Flightline rolls to an 11 1/2-length victory in the 2021 GI Runhappy Malibu S. | Benoit

So, why let Prat drive the Ferrari the week before the biggest test of his young career?

“It seems Prat can turn him on and off like a switch,” said Sadler. “Yeah, that's why I put him on for his last work. You know you really must have a lot of trust to let somebody work him, and he's been on him a few times now and he gets him to relax in the morning.”

Flightline, of course, did not disappoint in the Malibu. So, what's next and who does Sadler compare him to?

“I think the comparisons come a little later as he does more. But you know, even after his first couple of races the comparables were Uncle Mo and Into Mischief. We will get some good tests down the road. At some point we will run into Todd [Pletcher]'s Life is Good, probably in the Met Mile. That will be exciting. The history is yet to be written on a lot of this.”

So, the plan right now with no hiccups, explained Sadler, “is one race to be determined before the Met Mile, then either the GI Pacific Classic S. or the GI Whitney S., then the Breeders' Cup.”

In other words, a Horse-of-the-Year campaign.

So, what kind of a personality does a potential Horse of the Year have?

“He's a bit of a live wire, you know,” said Sadler. “He's very bright. He's no deadhead. He's a very awake horse so we try to manage that. He will stand on the racetrack with the pony before he goes off and gallops. He's pretty good in the stall, but if there is a large bang, look out!”

When Flightline came out of his stall for pictures, the ever-reserved Sadler loudly exclaimed, “Look at that mother-humper. Is he not a gorgeous-looking horse?”

Flightline struck a pose; ears pricked, head up with that look of eagles. As Sadler's staff nervously looked on, he finally handed his assistant, Leyva, the shank. “Photo time is over,” he said. “Let's get him in. They are worried I will turn him loose.”

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