The centerpiece of The Jockey Club's $5 million marketing campaign to attract more young fans to Thoroughbred racing rolled into Lexington this week.
A brightly painted hospitality bus with six horse-racing "ambassadors" between ages 22 and 27 is on a national tour. The tour began in March at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, and will end in November at the Breeders' Cup outside Los Angeles.
Before leaving Lexington for Louisville on Sunday, the bus will be at The Red Mile on Wednesday for the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers Club meeting, at Thursday Night Live at Cheapside with some well-known jockeys, in the parking lot of Tin Roof on South Limestone on Friday night, and at Keeneland on Friday and Saturday.
Kip Cornett, president of Lexington-based Cornett Integrated Marketing Solutions, said the campaign grew out of a McKinsey & Co. study that The Jockey Club commissioned three years ago.
It concluded that one of racing's biggest opportunities to increase the fan base was by doing more with special events, such as the Kentucky Derby. The research showed that 1.8 million people ages 18 to 34 watch the Derby on television, yet they pay little attention to Thoroughbred racing most of the year, Cornett said.
So the Jockey Club created a strategy similar to ESPN's GameDay events to reach young people. That included an advertising campaign; a website, Followhorseracing-com; and the bus with six ambassadors chosen from 150 videotaped applications.
Three of the ambassadors are from Central Kentucky; the others are from California, Georgia and Tennessee. All plan careers in the Thoroughbred industry and hope this gig will help them learn and make good contacts.
During the 17-stop bus tour, the ambassadors are trying to attract peers not only to the sport of Thoroughbred racing, but to the fashion, celebrity and party "lifestyle" surrounding it. They have given away a lot of souvenir jockey goggles and have registered hundreds of people for a contest to win an all-expenses-paid trip for four to the Derby.
The ambassadors identify young leaders and those with big social media followings in each city, take them to the local track and show them a good time in the hope that they will encourage their friends and social media followers to try racing.
The ambassadors also scout popular venues to take the bus — "places where people like us would hang out," said José Contreras of Long Beach, Calif., who said he "started reading the Daily Racing Form before I could read books."
"I've been surprised by how many people really want to talk to us," said Hallie Hardy of Frankfort, an equestrian for most of her life.
When the bus was at the Florida Derby last month, Chip McGaughey of Lexington said young Miami leaders were given behind-the-scenes tours of Gulfstream Park and showed how pari-mutuel betting works. Based on the initial efforts, the strategy seems to be working.
"Winning them some money definitely helps," McGaughey said.
Read more here: The Jockey Club's bus looks to attract young fans to horse racing | Daily Business Report | Kentucky-com
Sudbury Downs management and a member of the government's transitional panel for the horse racing industry are optimistic there will be races at Sudbury Downs this summer.
Elmer Buchanan and John Snobelen, both members of the Ontario Horse Racing Transition Panel and former Ontario cabinet ministers, met Sudbury Downs management Tuesday to ink out a deal for the government to help cover operational costs as the track loses out on its income from slot machines.
Sudbury Downs was part of a 15-year-old program that shared revenues from slot machines installed at Ontario racetracks. The program injected $345 million into Ontario's horse-racing industry in 2011, but was cancelled on March 31, 2013.
The horse racing transitional panel has already made deals with 10 Ontario race tracks. Buchanan said the potential agreements he discussed with Sudbury Downs are pending approval from the Ontario Racing Commission, which oversees race dates and purse amounts. He added approval could come as early as Friday afternoon.
Buchanan said the government will set aside more than $50 million to help Ontario race tracks transition away from their dependence on income from slot machines. The exact amount set aside for racetracks could be revealed next week, he said.
The Ontario government also created a $30 million fund for a “horse improvement program” that will help support horseman and breeders as the industry transitions away from the slot machine program.
Buchanan said even with initial government support, there are long term concerns about the future viability of horse racing on Ontario. “If Sudbury continues to race where would the purse money come from?” he asked.
“I will be very pleased once we get a resolution one way or the other,” said Patrick MacIsaac, the president of Sudbury Downs. MacIsaac added the track was still in discussions with the transition panel but would not go into further details.
Local horse trainers and breeders told the Sudbury Star earlier this week that they expect the Sudbury Downs to continue operations for at least a season or two thanks to potential government support and leftover funds for purses from the slot machine program.
Mike Noble, a local horse trainer, said the usual 66-race day season will likely but cut by more than half. “We'll be lucky if we race 30 (days),” he said.
Glimmer of hope for horse racing fans | Local | News | Sudbury Star
The faster conditions suited ODDJOB (Chepstow, nap, 5.30) when he tackled a similar handicap here last Saturday and he can win again under his penalty.
Travelling strongly throughout under Andrew Glassonbury, the nine-year-old stayed on to resolutely for his rivals to record a snug six-length triumph.
The talented Kieron Edgar takes over in the saddle today and I’m hopeful that the Welsh venue has avoided any heavy rain in the last 24 hours.
The fitting of the visor helped to concentrate the mind of SCRIBE (Wolverhampton, next best, 6.25) last time and he can supplement his recent win for Irish rider Declan Bates.
The son of Montjeu has taken a while to find his top form but he looked a happy horse when scoring under Adam Kirby and Bates, who has ridden plenty of winners in Ireland over jumps, looks to have a good opportunity of recording his first win since joining Dave Evans.
The half-dozen runners in tomorrow’s PW McGrath Ballysax Stakes may not immediately scream potential Derby winner but if Battle Of Marengo can successfully concede weight all-round it will be a major feather in his potential classic-cap.
Leopardstown’s Group Three feature has a history of throwing up future superstars. Two of Aidan O’Brien’s three Epsom Derby heroes, Galileo and High Chaparral won here. So did Fame And Glory and Yeats.
But the challenge facing O’Brien’s number one hope now is illustrated by how the one time Sinndar got beaten in his illustrious career was when trying to concede a Group One penalty in the Ballysax.
Battle Of Marengo has a Group Two penalty for landing the Beresford last year. He is joined by his stable companion Foundry today and a couple from Jim Bolger’s yard as the in-form trainer chases a record eighth Ballysax victory.
But it could be the 5lbs Battle Of Marengo concedes to the wide-margin Eyrefield winner Sugar Boy that provides a line to his future classic chances and his place in the Ballydoyle pecking order.
Mars was all the rage in the Epsom ante-post market yesterday. But his stable companion is clearly talented too, having overcome a slipped saddle on his last visit to South Dublin.
“He’s a lovely moving horse and the day he won in Leopardstown last year on good ground, my saddle slipped, I couldn’t push him at all in the straight and he still broke the track record,” said Joseph O’Brien.
Form horse
“Seamus (Heffernan) was very impressed with Foundry when he won so hopefully he’ll run a nice race on Sunday as well, but Battle Of Marengo is obviously the form horse,” he added.
Johnny Murtagh has been riding almost exclusively horses from his own Curragh yard so far this season but has a couple of outside mounts tomorrow, including Pop Art for Charles O’Brien in the Group Three 1,000 Guineas Trial.
The 110,000 Guinea purchase was 25 to 1 on her Naas debut last year and overcame a very slow start to beat a couple of Coolmore fillies, including the highly-promising Moth.
Pop Art is the sort of big filly to improve with time and faces a big ask here against eight others who include the Birdcatcher winner Snow Queen and John Oxx’s What Style who beat the Ballydoyle hope here on her debut.
Murtagh’s English-Irish Lincoln winner Sweet Lightning is weighted to beat Declaration Of War in the Heritage Stakes but ratings may not tell the full story. Declaration Of War arrived with a big reputation from France last year and had three starts for Ballydoyle towards the back-end of the season.
He is clearly held in some regard with plenty Group One entries later this season and can prove to be another Ballydoyle horse capable of successfully conceding weight.
A big reputation also surrounds The United States who goes in the 2,000 Trial and sports first-time cheek-pieces. As low as 16 to 1 for the Derby, The United States beat Dibayani by just a head on his debut at the Curragh last season.
Jim Bolger’s Move To Strike made his debut on this day last year, broke his maiden by nine lengths but then failed to justify favouritism in the Chesham at Royal Ascot. He looks one to check out.
Similarly with Ozeta in the final handicap. A Listed winner in France in 2011, she failed to really fire over jumps for Nicky Henderson and also when switched to “Boots” Madden here. But a fine run over an inadequate trip in the Lincoln last time was much more like it. She has slipped slightly in the ratings from her French peak and could make her first handicap start on the level a winning one.
Marengo bids to enhance Derby claims - Racing Results | Horse Racing Times, Race Cards & Winners - Sat, Apr 13, 2013
Ciao Bella Luna surged past pace-setting Magical Moon in midstretch to win the 28th running of the $150,000, Grade II Beaumont Stakes for 3-year-old fillies by 21/2 lengths before a crowd of 18,325 at Keeneland on Sunday.
Trained by Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer and ridden by Joel Rosario, Gillian Campbell, Martin Racing Stable, Greenwood Lodge Farm and Car-Den Racing’s Ciao Bella Luna covered the Beard Course distance of seven furlongs, 184 feet in 1:26.92. The victory marked Hollendorfer’s first stakes victory at Keeneland.
“I got a perfect trip,” said Rosario. “Turning for home, I knew she had plenty left. She did good today.”
The win was worth $90,000 and also netted Ciao Bella Luna, $16.60, her first 20 points toward the 139th running of the $1 million Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 3. The top 14 point earners that pass the entry box earn a spot in the Oaks starting gate.
• Santa Anita: Sister Kate, $18.40, a California-bred 5-year-old full sister to 2006 Santa Anita Derby winner Brother Derek, pressed the pace in Sunday’s $70,000 Santa Lucia and overhauled Candrea and David Flores late to win by three quarters of a length under Corey Nakatani, getting 11/16 miles in 1:45.22.
Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer and owned by her breeder, Mary Caldwell, Sister Kate had been idle since winning an allowance race at the same distance on Feb. 23 at Golden Gate Fields. • Mine That Bird arriving: Mine That Bird, the 2009 Kentucky Derby winner, will arrive today at the Kentucky Derby Museum adjacent to Churchill Downs. He will serve as the resident thoroughbred through the July 4th holiday.
Visitors can see Mine That Bird in the museum’s stable free of charge during normal business hours following his 11 a.m. arrival.
This is the first time the Kentucky Derby Museum has had a Kentucky Derby winner stabled on the grounds to greet the thousands of Derby enthusiasts during this peak time of year. Mine That Bird, a bay gelding retired in the fall of 2010, has been stabled in Roswell, N.M., at co-owner Mark Allen’s Double Eagle Ranch.
KENHOPE (Henri-Alex Pantall/Thierry Jarnet) upet some tall reputations and justified the faith of her trainer when running out winner of this key Classic trial by a lenth from a trio of rivals.
Jarnet wasn't able to settle the daughter of Kendargent early on and in the holding ground she did well to pick up her rivals.
"She showed extraordinary acceleration at Saint-Cloud and she's repeated that here at Longchamp," said Pantall, who campaigned Kenhope in the style of a good horse last autumn.
He added: "She definitely needs pace in her races, because if they go a little faster she relaxes more."
Another not to be suited by the early crawl was Prix Marcel Boussac runner-up Topaze Blanche, who briefly sat down in the stalls and then pulled extremely hard for Olivier Peslier before putting in good work close home.
Carlos Laffon Parias said: "She'll have learnt from that and I was happy that she got involved at the finish. The objective remains the Poule d'Essai in three or four weeks and she'll come on for this. Olivier wasn't too hard on her."
Francois Doumen was also delighted with Dauphine Russe in fourth, and predicted that "on soft ground she will be a serious filly in the autumn."
FRANCE Kenhope lives up to faithfull Pantall's belief | Horse Racing News | Racing Post
The six-year-old mare won her final race in front of a sell-out crowd last Saturday when she claimed the TJ Smith Stakes at Royal Randwick in Sydney.
"We thought 25 was a great number. It's the right time to call it a day on what's been a wonderful career of one of the finest horses we have ever seen," Moody told reporters at Caulfield race course in Melbourne.
"We thought long and hard about racing on for another season. We thought about Royal Ascot, we thought about Brisbane and we thought about Adelaide but we believe she has done everything we've asked her to do.
"She couldn't have possibly done any more."
Widely regarded as the best sprinter in the world, Black Caviar retires with 15 Group One wins to her name.
Last Saturday's triumph eclipsed Kingston Town's Australian record of Group One victories and it placed her in the pantheon of great Australasian racehorses alongside 1930 Melbourne Cup winner Phar Lap and triple Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva.
She won just under £5.4 million in career earnings.
Black Caviar will now embark on a breeding career with retired unbeaten British Thoroughbred Frankel being feted as one of her future stallions.
Horse Racing - Unbeaten sprinter Black Caviar retires - Yahoo! Eurosport UK
One of my five favorite regional wine events is coming up this weekend at Pimlico Race Track, as the Maryland Wineries Association's Decanter will take place Saturday and Sunday.
For one, there's no more unique venue for a wine festival, amid the splash of colors inside the grandstand and beyond the rail. It brings in a largely young crowd that's pulled one way by the samplings of Maryland wine and the various food stations and then tugged in the opposite direction by the call for the next race.
The event will run from noon to 6 both days. A General Admission Pass ($30) offers a grandstand vantage point to the turf and direct races in addition to the wine, food and crafts spread out inside. The Decanter Pass ($50) includes all of the above and a full-size Riedel wine glass, samples of an exclusive Decanter wine from each attending winery, and a six-bottle carrying bag. There's also a two-day pass.
If nothing else, it will get attendees thinking about spring and the Triple Crown, which opens at the Kentucky Derby on May 4 and then moves to Pimlico for the Preakness two weeks later.
On the other side of the Mason-Dixon, the Berks County Wine Trail will hold its annual Grape to Plate event from noon to 5 both Saturday and Sunday. The event is free and no reservations are required. You can learn more here.
GRAND National-winning jockey Ryan Mania is relishing his return to the saddle at Ayr on Friday as he rides for the first time since a heavy fall at Hexham the day after the National resulted in him being airlifted to hospital. Mania partners his Aintree hero Auroras Encore in the Coral Scottish National on Saturday and thinks the 11-year-old has a "great chance" of pulling off a historic double.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live on Thursday morning, Mania said: "I am very much looking forward to riding again. It's what we jockeys do, we don't want to be off too long, missing rides, missing winners.
"I am feeling okay. I am a little bit sore but I will get a bit more physio when I get to the course."
Mania and Auroras Encore finished a close second in last year's Scottish National and the jockey added: "Realistically he has a great chance. He stays the trip, he was second last year and hopefully he can go one better."
The going at Ayr was described as heavy on Thursday morning following a wet and windy 24-hours, although acting clerk of the course Harriet Graham does not anticipate any issues with the two-day fixture going ahead.
She said: "We've had 26mm from 7am on Wednesday. It was torrential and only eased at 4pm. We've had a further 6mm overnight.
"It's currently dry [7.30am] with a forecast for scattered showers that should die out around 10am. It should be dry and breezy from then."
Despite standing water on the track, Graham said racing would have gone ahead if necessary on Thursday. She added: "It's not causing concern. We wouldn't want any more significant rain but we're raceable and can pump most of the water off.
"It's testing but the forecast is for dry weather now, although it will not have time to dry out significantly for either day. No inspections are planned."
Grand National hero Mania relishing Friday return | Horse Racing News | Racing Post
The major prep races in the “Road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by TwinSpires-com” are in the books, but a pair of “wildcard” events will still be offered for horses that haven’t qualified: Saturday’s Lexington Stakes at Keeneland and the April 27 Derby Trial at Churchill Downs.
The top 20 point earners nominated to the Triple Crown will secure a spot in the starting gate for the 139th running of the $2 million Kentucky Derby on May 4, and the wildcard races offer points on a 20-8-4-2 scale to the top four finishers.
Eleven horses are entered for the 1 1/16-mile Lexington, but only six are Triple Crown nominated. Pure Fun, the 7-2 morning-line favorite, isn’t and her connections are using the Lexington strictly as a prep race for the Kentucky Oaks on May 3. The filly will have to overcome the far outside post position to defeat her male rivals.
The other four with no Kentucky Derby aspirations – their owners would need to pay a $200,000 supplemental fee and have less than 20 Triple Crown nominees in the main body of the field – are Examen (5-1 morning line), Pick of the Litter (6-1), General Election (15-1) and Where’s Dominic (20-1).
Sunbean (4-1) and Cerro (5-1) are the most viable candidates to wheel back on two weeks rest in the Kentucky Derby if they should win the Lexington. Both are exiting races against better competition.
Sunbean reeled off three consecutive wins at Fair Grounds before experiencing an extremely rough trip in the March 30 Louisiana Derby, checking in eighth behind Revolutionary after being repeatedly blocked and jostled around during the stretch run. The Louisiana-bred colt will make his first start Saturday for Mike Maker, the leading trainer at the current Keeneland meet, and receives a rider switch to Hall of Famer Gary Stevens.
Cerro stamped himself as a promising Kentucky Derby prospect when capturing a 1 1/8-mile allowance at Gulfstream Park in late January, but he’s been sidelined since finishing sixth to Orb in the February 23 Fountain of Youth. Keeneland’s leading rider, Joel Rosario, has the assignment for trainer Graham Motion.
Winning Cause (5-1) is a dangerous presence for Todd Pletcher, who already has five horses (Charming Kitten, Overanalyze, Palace Malice, Revolutionary and Verrazano) confirmed for the Kentucky Derby. The colt is two for two on Keeneland’s Polytrack, breaking his maiden last October and winning an April 6 allowance, and Winning Cause would most likely head to the middle leg of the Triple Crown, the May 18 Preakness, if he wins the Lexington.
The Lexington does not feature a lot of early speed and River Rocks, an attractive 12-1 on the morning line, figures to be rolling from the start with jockey James Graham. A smart 5 ½-length winner two starts back, the Wayne Catalano-trained colt registered BRIS Early Pace ratings of 106 and 112 when finishing second in a salty Gulfstream allowance most recently.
My selections are:
Winning Cause
Cerro
River Rocks
Sunbean
The Lexington lacks a rich history – the last two winners to contest the Kentucky Derby, Advice (2009) and Derby Kitten (2011), both finished 13th – and we can expect the winner to be a major longshot if his connections elect to pursue this year’s Run for the Roses. However, Charismatic recorded a 31-1 upset in the Kentucky Derby after winning the 1999 Lexington and Proud Citizen finished second at 23-1 after capturing the 2002 edition.
It’s unlikely that this year’s winner could be a major factor two weeks later at Churchill Downs, but anything’s possible.
Derby remains a possibility for Lexington runners - Horse racing- NBC Sports
A day at the races would not be complete without the track-side bookmakers – flamboyant characters known for their fast patter and tic-tac signals.
But Britain’s racecourses may soon be on a collision course with the men in flat caps over plans to boost online gambling at race meetings.
The Jockey Club, which owns 15 of Britain’s most famous racecourses – including Cheltenham, Epsom, Newmarket and Aintree – has been in talks with its media partner Racecourse Media Group about ways to boost the wi-fi and 3G and 4G networks at its venues.
Racecourses are notorious for poor phone reception because of the size of the ground and the number of people at any event causing data traffic jams.
But The Jockey Club is now contemplating a technology revolution.
Richard FitzGerald, chief executive of Racecourse Media Group, which represents the media interests of 33 UK racecourses, worth £46million last year, said: ‘Racecourses are considering the technical complexities of wi-fi access and developing business plans around the substantial investment required.’
One industry source said: ‘The likes of Ladbrokes or William Hill would pay a fortune to be the default site for people using the wi-fi at Cheltenham for example.
‘That could mean if people wanted to place bets using their mobile phones they would automatically be directed to a certain operator.’
The Jockey Club was keen to emphasise that it was taking the on-course bookmakers into account, and a spokesman said they were ‘an absolutely vital part of the theatre of race day.’
But Rob Grossmith of the Rails Bookmakers Association, which represents on-course bookmakers, said: ‘It will be worse for us if connectivity gets better. If it was up to me I’d pull the plug on the whole thing.
‘We’re all competing for the punters’ pound and it’s getting easier for people to just tap their phones and bet rather than betting with the racecourse bookmakers, particularly if it’s raining or they’ve run out of cash.’
Read more: On-course bookies fear a wi-fi revolution that could boost online gambling at race meetings | This is Money
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Will Take Charge, with Jon Court up, worked a mile Sunday at Churchill Downs. Will his match-up zone work come Derby Day? Reed Palmer/Churchill Downs photos
To trainer D. Wayne Lukas, his Kentucky Derby duo of Will Take Charge and Oxbow is like having Wichita State and Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament. Of course, he’s hoping they turn into Louisville and Michigan come May 4 at Churchill Downs.
“This is like the NCAA Tournament,” the former high school basketball coach said of the Derby field. “You get different conference champions coming together, and it’s hard to evaluate how good are the East Coast horses? How good was the Wood? Are the Florida horses better? Is California weak this year? You start analyzing until they all get here and you get to see them a little bit.”
Lukas said Oxbow, the Lecomte winner who was second to Will Take Charge in Oaklawn Park’s Rebel Stakes, is akin to Wichita State. So who is Will Take Charge?
“He’d probably have been Syracuse,” he said. “He’s really highly capable of getting it done. But for some reason the matchup zone (doesn’t always) work.”
As a former coach and one who dreams bigger than about anyone in the business, Lukas was asked about Cardinals coach Rick Pitino going for the unprecedented double of NCAA champion-Derby winner, given that he owns minority interest in Santa Anita Derby winner Goldencents.
“First of all, we’ve got to find out how much of that horse Rick owns,” Lukas said cheerfully. “Five percent? He’s getting a heck of a ride for 5 percent.”
Workout action
It was a busy workout morning Sunday for Kentucky Derby and Oaks contenders at Churchill, headed by expected morning-line favorite Verrazano working five-eighths of a mile in a strong 1:00 1/5.
Will Take Charge had the only mile work of the morning, going in 1:41 3/5 under jockey Jon Court and in company of a stablemate. Will Take Charge will come into the Derby off a seven-week layoff since he won Oaklawn’s Rebel Stakes by a head over Oxbow. That’s an unusual move for Lukas, seeking his fifth Derby.
“He’s 17 hands,” he said. “He’s like the big gangly kid who as a sophomore is stumbling around. And all of a sudden they are seniors playing pretty well. This horse was in such a growth spurt. The horse is either going to use his energy and nutrition in either growing or exercising. I thought if I gave him a lighter month, he might fill out and get a little stronger. And it worked.”
Verrazano impressive
Verrazano, the unbeaten Wood Memorial winner, worked five-eighths of a mile in 1:00 1/5 in company with stablemate Authenticity. Verrazano’s clocking was third-fastest of 40 at the distance. He was ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens, who rides Oxbow in the Derby. John Velazquez, sidelined until next week as he recovers from injuries in a spill, will ride Verrazano in the Derby.
“We wanted a good, solid five-furlong breeze and we wanted to set him behind another horse and have him sit back and relax for a little bit,” said trainer Todd Pletcher, who could have up to a record-breaking six horses in the Derby. “We also wanted to have him finish up good and gallop out strong. He accomplished all that.”
Borel meets Revolutionary
Calvin Borel rode his newly assigned Derby horse, Revolutionary, for the first time, going four furlongs in 48.8 seconds. The workout pleased both jockey and Pletcher.
“Beautiful,” Borel said of the Louisiana Derby winner’s work. “He did everything right, worked good, galloped out good, just what (Pletcher) wanted. Couldn’t ask for no better.” Borel picked up the mount for Revolutionary – No. 3 in the Courier-Journal’s Derby Ratings – a week ago after Javier Castellano chose to stick with his other horse, Wood Memorial runner-up Normandy Invasion.
“I was happy to have Calvin see Revolutionary and get to sit on him as well,” Pletcher said of the jockey nicknamed “Bo-rail” for his affinity for being on the inside and going through holes that don’t exist for other riders. “I thought he got along with him very well, which we anticipated he would, and we put him on the inside to get familiar with the rail because I’m sure that’s where he would like to be (during the race). It went great.”
Borel, a three-time Derby winner who last won aboard Super Saver in 2010, said there’s only so much you can learn about a horse in a single half-mile work, but he’s watched Revolutionary’s previous races and come away impressed with how the horse handled obstacles.
“I think the colt has the potential to (win the Derby),” he said. “He’s a nice horse, and he’s been through everything you want a Derby horse to go through.”
Revolutionary, owned by WinStar Farm, charged from last through heavy traffic to win the Grade III Withers at Aqueduct in February.
“The races I’ve watched, he’ll go through any hole,” Borel said.
Normandy Invasion trainer Chad Brown said Castellano’s decision to stick with his horse is further proof he has a strong contender.
“You’re always happy when a top jockey like that has a choice between two very good horses and sticks with yours,” Brown said after Normandy Invasion worked four furlongs in 48.4 seconds under exercise rider Javier Herrera. “It gives you a little extra confidence for sure.” Normandy Invasion, No. 5 in The C-J’s Derby Ratings, closed fast to overtake Vyjack for second in the Wood, losing to Verrazano by three-fourths of a length. That performance apparently encouraged Castellano – who rode Bernardini to victory in the 2006 Preakness – to stay aboard Fox Hill Farms’ Normandy’s Invasion.
“I was hopeful he’d stay with the horse, but we didn’t apply any pressure,” Brown said. “We didn’t even set up a Plan B really either. We were optimistic he’d stay with him, and we were delighted when he did choose our horse.
“… It was a tough decision, and the horse he (came) off also has the credentials to win the Der
Godolphin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni has admitted making "a catastrophic mistake" after anabolic steroids were found in samples from his horses.
He will attend a British Horseracing Authority inquiry after irregularities were discovered in 11 of 45 horses.
"This is a dark day for Godolphin," Godolphin manager Simon Crisford said. "We are all shocked by what has happened."
The 11 horses include unbeaten Certify, who will not be allowed to run in next month's 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket.
Godolphin is the Maktoum family's private thoroughbred horseracing stable and is overseen by the constitutional monarch of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed, who appointed Al Zarooni three years ago. A statement on Godolphin's website said: "Al Zarooni has admitted that he was responsible for the administration of the prohibited substances."
The trainer said: "Because the horses involved were not racing at the time, I did not realise that what I was doing was in breach of the rules of racing.
"I can only apologise for the damage this will cause to Godolphin and to racing generally."
The substances detected were ethylestrenol and stanozolol. Adam Brickell, director of integrity, legal and risk for the BHA, said: "Ethylestranol and stanozolol are anabolic steroids and therefore prohibited substances under British rules of racing, at any time - either in training or racing."
A former stable groom, 36-year-old Al Zarooni had previously assisted the Godolphin stable's long-term trainer Saeed bin Suroor.
Al Zarooni won his first British Classic in 2011 when Blue Bunting landed the 1,000 Guineas under Frankie Dettori at Newmarket. The filly went on to claim the Irish Oaks.
Rewilding provided a victory at Royal Ascot and Monterosso won the world's richest race, the Dubai World Cup, in March 2012.
In September 2012, he enjoyed a second British Classic success when 25-1 shot Encke upset Camelot to win the St Leger at Doncaster.
The BHA confirmed that on 9 April this year samples were obtained from 45 horses trained by Al Zarooni at Moulton Paddocks Stables in Newmarket and that the Horseracing Forensic Laboratory had detected prohibited substances.
Certify, unbeaten in four career outings and winner of the Shadwell Stud Fillies' Mile at Newmarket in September, had been ante-post favourite through the winter months for the Guineas, but was one of the seven horses whose sample tested positive for ethylestrenol.
Last year's Royal Ascot Gold Cup runner-up Opinion Poll was one of four horses testing positive for stanozolol.
Racing manager Crisford added: "His Highness Sheikh Mohammed was absolutely appalled when he was told and this is completely unacceptable to him. We will await the outcome of the BHA inquiry before taking any further internal action.
"Sheikh Mohammed has instructed me to begin an urgent review of all of our procedures and controls. That is already under way and we will take advice from the BHA in completing it."
No date has yet been announced for the BHA inquiry. However, Brickell said: "The BHA understand the importance of this process being carried out as quickly as possible because of implications for betting markets."
The 11 horses are:
Desert Blossom
Certify
Fair Hill
Ghostflower
Orkney Island
Sweet Rose
Valley Of Queens
Artigiano
Bathrat Amal
Opinion Poll
Restraint Of Trade
BBC Sport - Godolphin trainer Al Zarooni faces horse doping inquiry
A No bookmaker is under any obligation to refund bets on horses trained by Mahmood al-Zarooni which will not be able to take up planned engagements in races such as the 1,000 Guineas. Ante-post bets are traditionally placed on an "all-in, run or not" basis and it is accepted by punters that the price they receive reflects the possibility that, for whatever reason, their horse will not line up. Nonetheless, most major firms have refunded ante-post bets on Certify, who had been a 6-1 chance for the 1,000 Guineas and was the only horse among those to test positive to have attracted significant support. Bets on the Betfair betting exchange, however, are losers.
Q What are the best ways to improve a horse by doping?
A One of the first drugs to be used to boost racing performance was cocaine, which was used by doping gangs in Britain towards the end of the19th century. However, its effects were so powerful that it was not easy to hide. More recently "milkshaking" – the administration of a powerful alkaline solution via a tube to the horse's stomach – has been used to boost performance, particularly in America where horses are trained on the track and the "shake" can be given shortly before a race. Steroids have more long-term effects, however, and muscle bulk built up while a horse is on steroids will be retained once the substance has left its system.
Q How common is 'testing in training'?
A About 7,500 horses are sampled for testing immediately after a race in Britain each year, roughly 8% of the total annual starters. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) does not release details of the number of horses tested in their stables but Zarooni would have been warned in 2012, after two of his horses tested positive for a painkiller, that he could expect a visit from the security department's testing team at some point over the next12 months.
Q Do steroids have welfare implications for racehorses?
A Certainly. Accelerating the process of building up muscle increases the pressure applied through the narrow column of a horse's leg, while steroids are, by definition, powerful hormones and the effects of even a slight change in hormonal balance will be felt throughout a horse's system. Given the stresses that are placed on their bodies during racing, the use of steroids can increase the risk of injuries to horses and, as a result, to their riders.
Q For how long can Zarooni expect to be banned?
A The "entry point" penalty for a positive sample after "testing in training" is a six-month ban but Zarooni has some "previous" in this particular area as he was fined when those two horses tested positive for a painkiller last year. What is more, this case is so extensive, and serious, that the maximum penalty of a 10-year ban is more likely to be closer to the mark. It is also possible that Zarooni will be charged with a "catch-all" offence, similar to a "disrepute" charge in football, which could well carry an additional ban.
Q Who will take over at Moulton Paddocks?
A Unfortunately 150 horses will not sort out their own exercise regimes or make their own entries. Someone will need to be in charge of such a significant string but it is unlikely that there will be a promotion from within, at least until Godolphin has established exactly what – if anything – everyone knew and when they knew it. Zarooni was hired in 2010 because Saeed bin Suroor, who looks after the other half of the Godolphin string in the middle of Newmarket, could not possibly cope with 300 or more thoroughbreds. However, he may be able to keep an eye on them all in the short term at least. As for a long-term replacement for Zarooni, following the excruciating embarrassment of the last two days, Sheikh Mohammed will probably want to take his time overthat decision.
Q How was Zarooni caught by the racing authorities?
A It should have come as no great surprise to Zarooni to find a testing team turn up on his doorstep, given that he had been warned to expect one. But it seems that he was either complacent or overconfident that his use of steroids would not be uncovered.
Q How long has it been going on for at Moulton Paddocks?
A This is a question that the BHA will certainly be desperate to answer. It is difficult to believe that these 11 horses from a sample of 45 were the only ones to have received what seems to have been an almost routine treatment atthe stable. Greg Wood.
What the impact of Godolphin doping furore means to horse racing | Sport | The Guardian
THE news, at the very start of a new flat-racing season, that anabolic steroids have been found in 11 horses belonging to a leading owner has shocked many inside the sport and many more who follow it. When millions of pounds are at stake in prize money and betting, there is always a risk that people will behave badly. But British horseracing has, by and large, shaken off the reputation it once had for dodgy dealing. Save one or two incidents in the last couple of decades, such as low level trainers instructing jockeys to lose races, the sport has been fairly free of corruption.
Unlike racing in America, the reputation of which has been blighted by doping, the sport in Britain has strict policies on drug use. It is in large part thanks to these rules that horseracing is the second-largest spectator sport in the country. Only football is more popular. People trust that they are watching a fair contest, which is why they turn up in their droves (at least for important meetings) and spend millions of pounds betting.
The saddest and most shocking aspect of the scandal is that it has struck the very pinnacle of British racing. Godolphin, to which the 11 horses belong, is one of the biggest operators in the racing world. It is owned by Sheikh Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai, who has invested many millions in the sport. The trainer at the centre of the scandal, Mahmood Al Zarooni, was one of his two British-based trainers, at the heart of his operation. The horses involved are of the highest class. Certify (pictured) is unbeaten: she was among the favourites for the 1,000 Guineas, one of the two most important races for three-year-old fillies, at Newmarket on May 5th. Opinion Poll came second at Royal Ascot in last year’s Gold Cup, another of the best races on the calendar.
There is no implication that Sheikh Mohammed had any knowledge of what was going on. Even so, this is hugely embarrassing for him. He takes a close interest in his racing business, and even ships his horses over from Britain to Dubai every winter so they can enjoy the sun. The news will hit him hard. On April 24th the sheikh, “appalled and angered”, closed Mr Al Zarooni’s yard and said that no horse from there would run until he is satisfied that every one is clean. Sheikh Mohammed’s response is one silver lining in this dark cloud. However, there are others. First, it shows that the rules do work. However late in the day, the British Horseracing Authority found out a cheat. Mr Al Zarooni should be dealt with harshly when he faces a disciplinary hearing on April 25th. A life ban from the sport may deter other would-be dopers.
Second, in the “sport of kings” money and influence are no barrier against prosecution. Sheikh Mohammed is one of the two most powerful men in racing—his only challenger is John Magnier, an Irish magnate—yet the authorities were prepared to pursue his stable despite the embarrassment it would cause.
Of course, the horses are not the only participants in racing to be found with banned substances in their systems. In recent years two of the sport’s most famous jockeys, Keiron Fallon and Frankie Dettori, have both been suspended after testing positive for cocaine.
Drugs in British horseracing: Dopey | The Economist
The trainer at the center of a doping scandal that stunned the world of horse racing was banned for eight years Thursday by the governing body of the sport of Britain.
Mahmood Al Zarooni, who worked at the world famous Godolphin operation in Newmarket, was handed the punishment by a disciplinary panel of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), sitting in London.
The 37-year-old admitted a "catastrophic error" in administering prohibited anabolic steroids -- ethylestranol and stanozolol -- to 15 leading thoroughbreds.
Eleven of the horses tested positive when a doping control team from the BHA visited Godolphin's Moulton Paddocks Stables on April 9. Al Zarooni volunteered information about the other four. All 15 horses, including the former 1,000 Guineas favorite Certify, were banned from racing for six months earlier Thursday by the BHA.
Zero tolerance
"We believe that the eight-year disqualification issued to Mahmood Al Zarooni, together with the six-month racing restriction placed on the horses in question by the BHA, will serve to reassure the public, and the sport's participants, that use of performance-enhancing substances in British racing will not be tolerated," said BHA chief executive Paul Bittar.
Godolphin, one of the world's most successful stables, is owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai. He issued a statement Wednesday admitting he was "appalled and angered" by the revelations of doping in his racing empire and had ordered the lockdown of his British operation.
"I can assure the racing public that no horse will run from that yard this season until I have been absolutely assured by my team that the entire yard is completely clean," he said.
Prompt action
Bittar acknowledged this prompt action: "The next objective for BHA is to take the necessary steps to ensure that overall confidence in the integrity of the sport is not at risk. "We welcome the proactive response of Godolphin and Sheikh Mohammed in announcing their intention to review the procedures of this stable and the need to ensure that all horses formerly trained by Mahmood Al Zarooni are tested and cleared before they race again."
Al Zarooni, who has trained a string of big race winners since joining Godolphin in March 2010, was charged with rule breaches related to prohibited substances, duty to keep medication records, and conduct prejudicial to racing.
After the hearing, he gave his reaction in a statement: "First and foremost, I would like to apologize to his Highness, Sheikh Mohammed, as well as all those involved in Godolphin and the public.
Trainer apology
"I accept it was my responsibility to be aware of the rules regarding prohibited substances in Britain. I can only apologize. I have made a catastrophic error."
Simon Crisford, Godolphin's racing manager, who accompanied Al Zarooni to the hearing, expressed his thoughts to gathered reporters.
"Mr Al Zarooni acted with awful recklessness and caused tremendous damage, not only to Godolphin and British racing," he said.
"I think it will take a very long time for Godolphin to regain the trust of the British public. We're shocked and completely outraged by the actions he has taken."
Bittar said the case had highlighted "inconsistencies" about what substances are permitted to be used in the training of horses in different parts of the world.
The use of anabolic horses is permitted for out-of-competition use in Australian racing, such as helping to overcome injuries.
"While around the world, horseracing bodies quite rightly adopt a zero tolerance policy to the presence of anabolic steroids when carrying out post-race testing, the approach is not so consistent for horses in training.
"In an age of increasing international travel and competition we will put the subject on the agenda for discussion with our international colleagues," Bittar added.
Horse racing drugs scandal trainer banned for eight years - CNN-com
England — It is called the sport of kings and it has been in this haven of racecourses, stables and studs since the 17th century, when King Charles I and his courtiers made the 100-mile journey here by horse-drawn carriages. But the town has never known a darker passage than the past week. Another monarch, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum of Dubai, and Godolphin, his global horse racing enterprise, have been the talk of Britain after what The Times of London described as British racing’s “Lance Armstrong moment.”
On Monday, the British Horseracing Authority announced that 11 of the sheik’s best horses tested positive for banned anabolic steroids, including stanozolol and ethylestrenol, which can give horses a muscle strength that is well beyond their natural capacity. Forty-five Godolphin horses were tested in an out-of-competition sweep earlier this month at the Moulton Paddocks stables.
Godolphin, which has a billion-dollar roster of 5,000 racehorses stabled in 12 countries, including the United States and Japan, quickly announced that its own tests found four more of its Newmarket-based horses had banned steroids in their systems.
Although the drugs are strictly barred in Britain during training and competition, several other countries, including Australia, Dubai and the United States, allow their use in training, as long as they are not present in a horse’s system on the day of a race.
Godolphin announced an immediate lockdown of Moulton Paddocks, with no further competition for its 100 horses until all have cleared drugs tests and the stable is judged to be completely clean. The 15 horses that tested positive for steroids were barred from racing for six months.
At a hastily convened meeting Thursday, the racing authority imposed an eight-year ban from racing activities on Maktoum’s favorite young trainer, Mahmood al-Zarooni, and left to discussion between Godolphin and the racing authority what penalties will be served by a foreman and two grooms on the sheik’s Newmarket payroll.
Horse racing experts in Britain have called it as the worst scandal in the country’s horse racing history and worry that it has the power to severely damage Godolphin.
The episode has been a severe embarrassment to Maktoum, who has taken a leading role in international demands for clean racing. One of his wives, the 38-year-old Oxford-educated Princess Haya of Jordan, was elected president of the International Equestrian Federation in 2006 on a clean sport mandate.
Although the sheik was quick to condemn the doping, saying he was “appalled and angered,” there are concerns about how he may react in the longer term to the blow to his prestige.
Maktoum, 63, also the prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, single-handedly bankrolls a large chunk of horse racing in Britain. He has been one of the few foreign dignitaries invited to join Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, in the ceremonial carriage ride that delivers the British monarch to the royal enclosure at the Royal Ascot meeting every summer that crowns the British racing season. The queen has spoken admiringly of the sheik, and lauded him as an important friend of Britain’s.
Under criticism from some in the Middle East for spending such large sums on a personal pastime, the sheik, who is said to have a fortune of $10 billion, has responded by saying that Godolphin’s successes give an immense boost to Dubai’s reputation. Maktoum made the link between the success and prestige of Godolphin and the reputation of Dubai explicit in his statement on the scandal, presenting it, in effect, as a matter of his and Dubai’s honor.
“I have been involved in British horse racing for 30 years and have deep respect for its traditions and rules,” he said. “I built my country based on the same solid principles.”
The racing authority’s hearing Thursday found that Zarooni brought the banned drugs into Britain from Dubai. After saying initially that he had not known that the steroids were banned during training in Britain, Zarooni changed his account before the hearing, taking sole responsibility for the doping, describing it as a “catastrophic error” and apologizing abjectly to the sheik and the British racing community.
In 2010, Maktoum appointed Zarooni, a former groom in Dubai, to head Moulton Paddocks, effectively making him a rival to Saeed bin Suroor, the trainer who helped build Godolphin into the dominant force in Britain by winning more than 200 first-class races. For the past three years, the two men have worked from separate Newmarket yards.
Zarooni has had some major successes in British racing and overseas, including training Monterosso, who won the 2012 Dubai World Cup. But his performance had come into question by Suroor’s supporters. Zarooni also had a fractious relationship with Godolphin’s top jockey, Frankie Dettori, who is said to have objected to training practices that he considered too harsh and has left the stable. Two of Zarooni’s horses tested positive for banned substances in competition in August, triggering the out-of-competition testing this month at Moulton Paddocks.
Racing officials said investigations would continue into how medications at the yard were controlled, and into who else, including the veterinary staff, may have known what was going on. But they appeared keen to exculpate Maktoum personally, yielding to his request that the hearing be held quickly after the doping was announced, and accepting Zarooni’s confession after four hours of testimony.
If the haste reflected a wider concern in the industry to ease the pressure on Maktoum, a statement after the hearing by Simon Crisford, Godolphin’s racing manager, alluded to the concern that the Dubai ruler might be so upset by the scandal that he would contemplate closing down or cutting back his operations in Britain. The Aga Khan, once about as dominant in British racing as Maktoum, did just that after a doping scanda
The doping scandal at one of the UK’s most elite stables has left a potentially devastating stain on the sport of kings, writes Dani Garavelli
SHEIKH Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and the ******single most influential figure in the world of racehorsing, was relatively new to the British scene when he made his last humiliating mistake. Looking for a foundation stallion for his expanding breeding operations, he paid a then unprecedented $10 million for Snaafi Dancer – a horse that never ran and, when put out to stud, turned out to have fertility problems. Legend has it that, for a time, the Sheikh kept Snaafi ******Dancer close; an emblem to remind him of the limits of his own wisdom.
Today Sheikh Mohammed is facing a much greater humiliation. After three decades at the top, his prestigious Godolphin operation is at the centre of the biggest doping scandal ever to hit the sport. Last week, trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni – a man personally selected by the Sheikh to train 150 horses at the historic Moulton Paddocks in Newmarket, the headquarters of British flat racing – was disqualified for eight years after 11 of them, including the 1,000 Guineas ******favourite, Certify, tested positive for ethyl******estrenol and stanozolol, both anabolic steroids. Al Zarooni has since told the British Horseracing Authority that four more horses were given the performance-enhancing drugs, describing the decision as a “catastrophic mistake”.
The incident is doubly embarrassing for the Sheikh, who has always been vocal in his opposition to drugs, as this year his representative pulled out of the Breeders’ Cup in the US over its decision to allow the use of the anti-bleeding drug Lasix on race day.
Horse racing has never been regarded as the cleanest of sports; race fixing, once endemic, spiked again with a flurry of cases involving horses being bet on to lose on betting exchanges, while leading British jockeys ******Kieren Fallon and Frankie Dettori have both served bans for the use of cocaine. But the doping of horses has been a rarity, so the ******revelation that the injecting of anabolic steroids could have been taking place on such a scale at the most elite stables in the country has shocked the sport to its core. “This is horseracing’s ******cycling moment,” says ******Martin Hannan, Scotland on Sunday’s racing correspondent and author of Rock Of Gibraltar, a book about the stallion owned by Sir Alex Ferguson. “In any ******given year, Godolphin is the world’s number one stable – it has so much influence worldwide. This is the biggest breach in the sport’s history and it must be treated as such.”
The comparison with Lance Armstrong is not overblown; as with the ******cycling idol, this doping scandal involves one of horseracing’s most powerful personalities and places the future of the sport in jeopardy. By all accounts, it has devastated the Sheikh, who invests millions of pounds a year in his stables, prides himself on maintaining the highest ethical standards and will be smarting at the impact this will have on Brand ******Dubai.
But it will also have shaken the confidence of ordinary punters who must now be wondering whether, if doping can take place somewhere with Godolphin’s reputation, it is rampant within the sport. Last week, the country’s biggest bookmakers moved quickly to reassure them, with Ladbrokes, William Hill and Coral all volunteering to refund hundreds of thousand of pounds worth of ante-post bets on four horses, Desert Blossom, Artigiano, Restraint of Trade and Certify, which have been banned from racing until October. The Sheikh, too, has taken drastic action to shore up his image, locking down Moulton Paddocks, insisting comprehensive blood tests will be carried out and promising no horse will run until the stables have been given the all-clear. Doubtless he hopes his response will convince the wider world that the incident, though ******serious, was a one-off carried out by a maverick trainer under pressure to ******produce winners.
Yet the speed of both the BHA’s response and Al Zarooni’s willingness to accept all responsibility raises questions of its own. Did the BHA investigate how long the doping had been going on and to what degree other members of staff were involved? And could the desire to find a scapegoat and wrap the case up quickly signal a reluctance to cause any further embarrassment to a figure on whose wealth so much of the British sport depends?
To understand Sheikh Mohammed’s status in horseracing, one need only look at the £50 billion Meydan complex he has built in Dubai. A lavish temple to the sport, its mile-long grandstand is capable of housing 60,000 spectators and includes a hotel. The Sheikh’s Dubai Al Quoz stable complex, where the Godolphin horses spend the winter, has amenities worthy of The Ritz – air-conditioned boxes, equine pools, separate quarantine areas for its globe-trotting stars.
Though, as a Muslim, Sheikh Mohammed doesn’t gamble, his passion for racing has been at the centre of his attempt to ensure tourists will keep his country prosperous long after the oil, which helped transform it from a fishing village to a 21st-century Metropolis, has run out. The royal blue Godolphin silks under which his horses run have been used to promote its attractions across the world.
Today the most talked-about event in the country’s heady social calendar is the Dubai World Cup, which has a purse of £10m; then US ranchers and Russian oligarchs, wealthy South Africans and Home Counties wags, rock stars, footballers and soap stars all gather for a week-long extravaganza which also ******features golf competitions, luxury cruises on board the Sheikh’s yacht for the lucky few and an Arabian Nights party in the desert for 2,000.
The Sheikh has been a force in UK horseracing since the early 1980s when he bought Gainsborough Stud at Woolton Hill in Berkshire and teamed up with legendary trainer Sir Henry Cecil
A second Newmarket trainer faces a British Horseracing Authority inquiry over giving steroids to racehorses.
Gerard Butler told the Independent several of his horses had treatment for injured joints, but he had been assured the substance did not breach rules.
Godolphin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni was given an eight-year ban on Thursday for using anabolic steroids on horses.
Butler says more than 100 Newmarket-based horses will have been given the same drug.
Anabolic steroids are banned in the UK, although allowed out of competition in countries including Australia, Dubai and the United States.
Butler told the BBC, by email, that the Independent story was correct and that the drug was recommended by a vet.
"Over the last few days I have been very uneasy about the Al Zarooni case and felt that I needed to let the general public know what has happened in my yard," he said.
"Now I would like only to concentrate on helping the BHA with their investigation."
BBC Sport - Gerard Butler faces horse racing steroids inquiry
After six years in the Mexican military and facing corruption charges, special forces Cpl. Jesús Enrique Rejón Aguilar deserted in 1999 and headed for the border state of Tamaulipas.
He went to work for Gulf Cartel boss Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, joining other members of the Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales, known by its acronym GAFEs. The specially trained unit was similar to the U.S. Green Berets, Rejón said.
Rejón is known jokingly as “Mamito” and by the radio call sign “Z-7,” identifying him as the seventh member of the Zetas, the group of former GAFEs hired by Cárdenas as his personal bodyguards and hit squad.
Rejón is likely the first founding member of the Zetas drug cartel ever to take the witness stand in the United States, experts said. He also testified this year in a trial in Washington, D.C., but went largely unnoticed.
Testifying Monday in the case of five men accused of laundering drug money for the Zetas, Rejón told jurors about joining the gang, his involvement in drug trafficking and how the Zetas laundered money in the U.S.
He was extradited to the U.S. last year and has pleaded guilty to drug-trafficking charges. Rejón faces up to life in prison, and he admitted that he is testifying to get a reduced sentence.
Rejón said he acted as an enforcer in his early years for the Gulf Cartel, kidnapping people on the orders of his bosses as they fought the rival Sinaloa Cartel for territory.
“They were picked up, and the orders were given whether they had to be killed, or what had to be done,” he said.
Rejón said he joined the military at 16 and was trained as a sniper, in urban warfare, anti-terrorism and survival techniques.
During his time with the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas, Rejón said, he killed or ordered the killings of 30 people. At the height of his power as a drug trafficker, he oversaw the shipment of 40 tons of cocaine a year into the U.S. and $350 million back to Mexico.
In 2004, Rejón said, he got involved in racing quarter horses. It was an expensive hobby, he said, and one popular in Mexico's criminal underworld. It eventually became a way for the Zetas to launder money in the U.S.
“It's an investment, be it horses, be it property,” he testified. “You have to clean it because it's from drug trafficking. You can't spend it. You can't put it in the bank.”
Prosecutors allege that the five men on trial helped the leaders of the Zetas launder money through U.S. quarter horse breeding and racing operations.
José Treviño Morales, the brother of Zetas leader Miguel Treviño Morales; Francisco Colorado Cessa, a Mexican businessman who made a fortune contracting for that country's state-owned oil company; Fernando Solis Garcia, a Rio Grande Valley-born quarter horse expert; Jesus Maldonado Huitron, an Austin-area homebuilder; and his brother Eusevio Maldonado Huitron, a sought-after horse trainer, are all on trial this week, fighting one count of conspiring to launder money.
Over more than two weeks of testimony, prosecutors have produced witnesses who alleged that the men helped Miguel Treviño, who is known by his call sign “El 40,” launder money through horse sales, race winnings and stud fees.
In 2007 or 2008, Miguel Treviño and his brother Omar, who goes by the call sign “El 42,” joined Rejón in raising and racing quarter horses, he said. Rejón had become close friends with the brothers, and he and 40 even shared a front man named Ramiro Villarreal who would buy horses for them in the U.S. to hide the ownership.
In 2009, Rejón said, he took an interest in a horse named Tempting Dash.
“I had talked to Ramiro and asked him to buy it at auction,” Rejón said. “Afterward, he talked to 40 ... who said he wanted that horse.”
The purchase by 40 of Tempting Dash set off an effort to rig the 2009 Dash for Cash Futurity in Grand Prairie, Rejón said.
Prosecutors played for jurors wire intercepts of Villarreal and others, including 42, discussing bribing track officials. In one recording, Omar Treviño joked about having just been in a firefight.
“Once again, we took care of them,” he boasted on the recording.
In the wiretaps, Villarreal and others also discussed jockeys shocking horses with batteries to make them run faster.
A poster made after Tempting Dash's victory identified Ramiro Villarreal as the horse's owner, but Jose Treviño collected the winnings, an agent for the Internal Revenue Service testified last week.
After decades of living a meager existence, Agent Michael Fernald testified, the fortunes of Treviño and his family suddenly improved with the deposit of $441,855 from Tempting Dash's win. They were soon buying and selling horses, Fernald said, but he didn't know how they would have been able to afford the $25,000 to buy Tempting Dash in the first place.
“He was a contractor, and his wife was working whatever job she could get,” Fernald said. “They needed every single penny to support their family.”
Meanwhile, Villarreal's knowledge of Miguel Treviño's investments cost him his life, Rejón said. In 2011, 40 had Villarreal killed in Mexico and made the death look like a car accident, he said.
Rejón's own fortunes were falling too. In 2010, the Zetas split with their former masters, and the Gulf Cartel took all his horses in Miguel Alemán, across the Rio Grande from Roma.
Then, in 2011, as authorities rounded up members of the Zetas after the killing of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata, Rejón was arrested.
He was held for several days blindfolded before being forced to make a statement before TV cameras. And Rejón has a theory about why he was caught. Under cross-examination, he said he suspects it was his friend 40 who helped Mexican police find him.
Read more: Zetas member tells of killings - San Antonio Express-News
A brightly painted hospitality bus with six horse-racing "ambassadors" between ages 22 and 27 is on a national tour. The tour began in March at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, and will end in November at the Breeders' Cup outside Los Angeles.
Before leaving Lexington for Louisville on Sunday, the bus will be at The Red Mile on Wednesday for the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers Club meeting, at Thursday Night Live at Cheapside with some well-known jockeys, in the parking lot of Tin Roof on South Limestone on Friday night, and at Keeneland on Friday and Saturday.
Kip Cornett, president of Lexington-based Cornett Integrated Marketing Solutions, said the campaign grew out of a McKinsey & Co. study that The Jockey Club commissioned three years ago.
It concluded that one of racing's biggest opportunities to increase the fan base was by doing more with special events, such as the Kentucky Derby. The research showed that 1.8 million people ages 18 to 34 watch the Derby on television, yet they pay little attention to Thoroughbred racing most of the year, Cornett said.
So the Jockey Club created a strategy similar to ESPN's GameDay events to reach young people. That included an advertising campaign; a website, Followhorseracing-com; and the bus with six ambassadors chosen from 150 videotaped applications.
Three of the ambassadors are from Central Kentucky; the others are from California, Georgia and Tennessee. All plan careers in the Thoroughbred industry and hope this gig will help them learn and make good contacts.
During the 17-stop bus tour, the ambassadors are trying to attract peers not only to the sport of Thoroughbred racing, but to the fashion, celebrity and party "lifestyle" surrounding it. They have given away a lot of souvenir jockey goggles and have registered hundreds of people for a contest to win an all-expenses-paid trip for four to the Derby.
The ambassadors identify young leaders and those with big social media followings in each city, take them to the local track and show them a good time in the hope that they will encourage their friends and social media followers to try racing.
The ambassadors also scout popular venues to take the bus — "places where people like us would hang out," said José Contreras of Long Beach, Calif., who said he "started reading the Daily Racing Form before I could read books."
"I've been surprised by how many people really want to talk to us," said Hallie Hardy of Frankfort, an equestrian for most of her life.
When the bus was at the Florida Derby last month, Chip McGaughey of Lexington said young Miami leaders were given behind-the-scenes tours of Gulfstream Park and showed how pari-mutuel betting works. Based on the initial efforts, the strategy seems to be working.
"Winning them some money definitely helps," McGaughey said.
Read more here: The Jockey Club's bus looks to attract young fans to horse racing | Daily Business Report | Kentucky-com