Horse racing isn’t what it used to be. Attendance at most racetracks has been trending down for years, taking on-sight wagering down with it. Off track betting became a staple, picking up some of the slack. But as any New Yorker who ever visited a dreary OTB parlor could tell you, state control turned many of them into political patronage sinkholes that couldn’t stay afloat. OTB closed its doors in 2010 – imagine, the largest bookie operation in the U.S. couldn’t manage to turn a profit. That’s got to be some kind of record.
The folks running Churchill Downs, site of this Saturday’s 139th running of the Kentucky Derby, decided by 2007 that growth lay in modern off track betting online. Developing a site called Twinspires-com, they’ve ramped up their online presence through both acquisition and organic growth to become the market share leader in horse wagering on the web. In 2012, Twinspires-com did $860 million in wagering. Online growth for horse betting has averaged roughly 4% over the past six years, while on-site wagering has been down by about the same amount (netting out to flat growth overall).
Despite owning four race tracks, Churchill Downs knew it had to muscle into the Internet gambling world to stem the negative tide. It cut deals with over 100 horse racing tracks globally, cutting them in for providing the racing “content” that Twinspires presents to its customers online. Want to bet on one of the Derby favorites like Verrazano or Orb this weekend? The pitch is simple: sign up, send some money into your account, and you’re good to go immediately. It’s called ADW in industry jargon, or Advanced Deposit Wagering. And it’s the only segment of the business that’s growing. “The idea is one-stop shopping,” says Ted Gay, president of Churchill Downs Interactive, about customer access to bet on nearly any race in the world through his site.
The biggest challenge: drawing in casual bettors and race fans during the industry’s relative downtime, when the Triple Crown season goes into hibernation for another year. Derby time brings $24 million in wagers for Twinspires-com (a total that includes the Kentucky Oaks, a stakes race for three-year old fillies the previous day), with about 69,000 unique users placing bets. But – while about a third of all Derby bettors are newbies to an online gambling site, a far lower percentage of year-round customers are new. Signing up novices without the benefit of a Triple Crown race is difficult.
Gay’s plan: education. The site offers free bells and whistles like analysis of horses and track conditions, including recent video clips of horses featured on today’s calendar. “We can make it more accessible,” Gay says. “Educate people on what an ‘exacta’ is.” And the biggest hurdle: the impression that so many non-hardcore racing fans have of the Internet gambling world as some kind of underworld. In fact, horse race wagering online has been legal in most states for years.
Drawing enough casual fans to the web to replace the lost revenue of declining track attendance is an uphill climb. Right now, the online business is barely plugging the sinking ship, not turning it around. There’s only so much to milk from premium events like the Derby, which draws over $200 million in bets annually (from all sources). Parlaying the premium stuff into more year-round activity won’t be easy. But it’s their best shot. And it sure beats visiting an OTB.
Churchill Downs Digs For More Derby Bets Online - Forbes
Three congressmen are proposing legislation on the eve of the Kentucky Derby that would crack down on doping in horse racing.
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act is sponsored by U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, a Democrat from New Mexico, and Republican House members Ed Whitfield of Kentucky and Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania. The bill would give the United States Anti-Doping Agency authority to enforce standards in races with simulcast wagering.
USADA, the official anti-doping agency for the U.S. Olympics, would welcome the chance to branch out.
''At the end of the day, what's important is having an effective regulation system that has uniform standards,'' Travis Tygart, the head of USADA, said in a phone interview Wednesday night. ''It gives the public confidence in what ultimately they're watching or, in the case of horse racing in the United States, the betting industry, which is such a big part of it.
''Everyone deserves, particularly in that environment, to have a level playing field. Because if an animal is covertly and secretly gaining a performance advantage by these drugs and is able to defeat a nonexistent or an inconsistent policy that may currently be in place among the states, that detracts away and completely undermines the market from a betting standpoint. That's something congress or the public shouldn't tolerate.''
In a statement released Wednesday, Udall said racing groups have pledged drug reforms before ''but this bill would bring in real standards and enforcement from an organization with a proven record for cleaning up sports.''
Udall, Whitfield and Pitts were involved in Congressional hearings last year that delved into medication and performance enhancing drugs in the sport.
Under the legislation, USADA would draft rules to put an end to race day medication, set a uniform medication policy framework, impose stiff penalties for cheating and ensure that racehorse drug administration complies with veterinary ethics.
Tygart believes this model would be effective in policing horse racing.
''Hopefully, we'll rally around that idea just as the Olympics sports did 15 years ago in setting up WADA and the USADAs of the world,'' Tygart said. ''We'll finally put a stake in the ground and make a mark that they're going to do everything they can to protect the rights of athletes, the public and the integrity of horse racing. We're happy to play whatever role we can toward that end.''
Alex Waldrop, the President and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, said the proposal was promising but the organization will ''withhold comment on any proposed federal legislation until we have had a chance to thoroughly review the actual bill.
''However, we are encouraged by the significant progress the industry has made on the safety and integrity front over the past several years,'' Waldrop said. ''Relying on a broad range of industry input and scientific research, state regulators are setting the stage for nationwide, uniform implementation of strengthened drug and medication rules, testing and penalties by as early as January 1, 2014. The NTRA strongly supports these carefully considered state regulatory reforms and encourages regulators to expedite their adoption and nationwide implementation.''
On Saturday, the Kentucky Derby will be run at Churchill Downs. For those involved, it's the ideal backdrop to bring the issues to the forefront.
''For too long, the safety of jockeys and equine athletes has been neglected for the pursuit of racing profits,'' Whitfield said. ''The doping of injured horses and forcing them to compete is deplorable and must be stopped.
''Despite repeated promises from the racing industry to end this practice, meaningful action and oversight has yet to come forth. This legislation would bring much-needed reforms to an industry that supports thousands of jobs and is enjoyed by spectators nationwide.''
THE doping scandal that led to the downfall of Godolphin trainer Mahmood al-Zarooni could ultimately lead to a global ban on anabolic steroids in horse racing.
Days after al-Zarooni was banned for eight years for using steroids on his horses in Britain, the Australian and American industries are discussing something that a few years ago seemed inconceivable. Currently, only most of Europe has such a ban. Steroids are allowed in training in Australia, the US and United Arab Emirates but banned on race day.
The International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, which includes the world's top racing bodies, is expected to consider a global ban at its annual meeting in October.
"That situation in England will of course be a good wave to surf to reach harmonization around the world," said Roland Devolz, a veterinarian and technical adviser for the IFHA. "There will be discussion to reach a consensus ... to get anabolics out of training everywhere. As a vet, I believe that racing must be a fair game. If people don't apply the same rule, it is an unfair game."
Many view this as a turning point in the sport, like in 2008 when trainer Rick Dutrow said he injected 2008 Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown with anabolic steroids. Even though the trainer did not break any rules, his admission sparked outrage and contributed to the drug ban on race days in the United States, which until then had lagged behind much of the world.
Several jurisdictions, including Kentucky, moved swiftly to ban race day use of anabolic steroids. The Kentucky Derby, to be run tomorrow, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, has barred their use since the 2009 race.
Graham Motion, the trainer of 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom, supports a global ban on anabolic steroids and dismissed any concerns about the ban from the United States.
"Look, in this day and age, any movement to a medication-free sport is what we need to do," Motion said. "There is so much scrutiny in the sport, so that is the way it will have to be in the future. People in America are making excuses why they need medication. I don't buy it. I don't buy the excuses. In America in general, we are constantly looking for a crutch."
Supporters of steroids argue they have their place: to help a sick horse regain its appetite, allow a speedy recovery from a grueling race and especially with geldings that lose natural steroids when they are castrated.
But they are also the ultimate performance-enhancing drug, helping horses build muscle mass to gain an unfair advantage on the track even though it distorts their breeding potential.
The use of steroids in training dates back to the 1950s and was quietly accepted in many places, since top trainers are experienced enough to navigate the myriad rules and regulations of racing internationally. It can take up to several months for the substances to clear a horse's system, and trainers know they have to meet set limits before they are allowed to race.
Those who were caught blamed inconsistencies in testing standards across the world. Takeover Target, an Australian horse which won several top races in Japan and Britain, was withdrawn from the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint in 2006 after testing positive for steroids and its trainer Joe Janiak was fined 200,000 Hong Kong dollars ($25,771.) The horse would have been allowed to race in Australia with the same test outcome.
Al-Zarooni's case was worse, however, and showed the extent some trainers will go to gain an advantage.
When caught, he feigned ignorance of the BHA rules and insisted he was only following what is commonplace in Dubai. But it was revealed at the BHA hearing that the trainer did plenty to hide his actions. He carried the steroids in his luggage to Britain and passed some in unmarked syringes to an unlicensed veterinary assistant at Godolphin's Moulton Paddocks stables.
He also didn't record anything about the steroids as required in the stable's medication book - a decision which the BHA said showed he was "simply not truthful" when he argued he was unaware of the ban.
"The Panel concluded that al-Zarooni sought to confer an unfair advantage on his horses by the underhand administration of illegal medication," according the BHA hearing transcript. "His attempt at cheating was uncovered by the regulatory inspection and he had no justifiable excuse for his behavior."
Sheikh Mohammad moved quickly after the scandal, ordering a review of its internal procedures and vowing that no horse from the stables will run this year until he's assured they are all clean. But the Ruler of Dubai, who has campaigned against the diuretic Lasix at the Breeders' Cup, has yet to say anything about anabolic steroids.
The Emirates Racing Authority, which regulates racing in the United Arab Emirates, also has not indicated there will be any policy change.
The push for a global ban is coming from Asia.
Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, the chief executive of the Hong Kong Jockey Club and an IFHA vice chairman, said he saw no place for anabolic steroids in training and expects a "robust discussion" at the next IFHA meeting on their removal from the sport. Describing them as having a "detrimental effect" on racing, he is troubled from an ethical and "animal welfare" point of view with their use.
"For me, this is not what racing is all about," Engelbrecht-Bresges said. "You should not justify these arguments that the horse eats better afterward. That is not, for me, a reason why you would risk a significant negative influence on the integrity of the sport and the competition."
Dr Brian Stewart, head of Equine Welfare & Veterinary Service for Racing Victoria, acknowledged there is a "long history and culture" of anabolic steroid use in Australian racing and that it wasn't viewed as "cheating as such since everyone has equal access to it."
But Stewart said the Godolphin scandal has sparked a debate in Australia and
Orb’s impressive victory in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby overshadowed what otherwise was a disappointing race for several horses that ran at Gulfstream Park this year.
Charming Kitten finished ninth for the second-best finish among the seven Kentucky Derby entrants that raced at Gulfstream.
Itsmyluckyday, one of this year’s Gulfstream stars, finished 15th in the 19-horse field. Itsmyluckyday won this year’s Gulfstream Park Derby and Holy Bull (Grade 3).
On March 30, he finished second to Orb in the Florida Derby (Grade 1). Orb also won this year’s Fountain of Youth (Grade 2).
Verrazano, another prominent 3-year-old at Gulfstream this year, finished 14th. He was second behind Palace Malice after a fast half-mile of 45.33 seconds and gradually fell back in the field.
Palace Malice, another horse that raced at Gulfstream — Verrazano and Charming Kitten — are among the five Kentucky Derby horses trained by Todd Pletcher.
“That fast pace was just no good for him,” Pletcher said of Verrazano. “He just couldn’t handle it [the sloppy track].”
Verrazano had won all four of his previous starts.
After wining two races at Gulfstream, he won the Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs and the Wood Memorial (Grade 1) at Aqueduct.
The other Kentucky Derby results for horses that raced at Gulfstream were Frac Daddy at 16th and Falling Sky at 19th.
Charming Kitten was a star in Gulfstream turf stakes. He won the Kittens Joy and finished second in the Palm Beach (Grade 3) and Dania Beach.
The Kentucky Derby was Charming Kitten’s first race on a dirt track. He was never better than eighth at any call in the race.
Charming Kitten did “not have any kick left after rounding the final turn,” said his rider Edgar Prado.
Trinniber, whose home track is Calder, finished seventh on Saturday in the seven-furlong Churchill Downs Stakes (Grade 2).
Trinniber, last year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner, sped through the first half-mile of the seven-furlong stakes that was won by Delunay.
Calder Racing
Awesome Belle beat Canadian Mistress by a nose on Saturday in the Mairzy Doates at Calder Casino & Race Course.
Awesome Belle was ridden by Fernando Jara and won the 1 1/16 mile stakes in 1:46.93. The race was scheduled for turf but was moved to dirt due to rains late last week.
Stan Gold trains Awesome Belle for owner Fred Brei. Calder will have 10 races on Sunday with first post time of 12:50 p.m.
The featured ninth race is the $55,000 Sumter at one mile and 70 yards on dirt for 3-year-olds and up.
Read more here: LOUISVILLE, Ky.: Tough day for horses that ran in Florida - Horse Racing - MiamiHerald-com
Now that Shug McGaughey has won the Kentucky Derby, it’s time for the 62-year-old trainer to go after another race missing from his Hall of Fame resume.
Orb will follow up his win at Churchill Downs by running in the Preakness on May 18, giving the colt a shot at the Triple Crown.
Orb arrived back at his home base in New York on Sunday, as did McGaughey and jockey Joel Rosario. The trainer was still absorbing what happened a day earlier. The colt extended his winning streak to five races, splashing through the slop to win the Derby by 2 1/4 lengths, giving McGaughey and Rosario their first Derby wins. Orb rallied from 17th and made a sweeping move on the turn for home to win.
“It did not matter if it was wet or dry, the best horse won,” rival trainer D. Wayne Lukas said
McGaughey has never won the Preakness in two previous attempts. He hasn’t had a horse in the race since 1989, when Easy Goer finished second to Sunday Silence, duplicating their Derby finish that year.
For a trainer who has always shown patience with his horses, McGaughey is eagerly anticipating the grueling Triple Crown campaign that compresses three races into a five-week span.
“I can’t wait to get to the Preakness and do it again,” he said.
It’s fitting that Orb is set to run in Baltimore, the hometown of Stuart Janney III. He and co-owner Ogden Mills “Dinny” Phipps, who also bred Orb, have never won the Preakness.
“The Preakness is important to me. I grew up around it, went there all the time,” Janney said.
McGaughey has worked exclusively for Janney and Phipps for years, training the horses they breed. In a sport known for rampant jealousy, there was an outpouring of goodwill for all three men after the Derby.
Trainers Todd Pletcher and Chad Brown stopped by to wish McGaughey well, while Lukas and Bob Baffert, who didn’t have a horse in the race, spoke warmly of him, too.
“It was a wonderful victory for Stuart Janney and Dinny Phipps. There was a lot of karma there that rewards people that have been great to the sport,” Lukas said. “I saw Dinny before the race and told him that I thought it was going to be his turn and I was a little worried.”
After watching replays of the Derby, McGaughey was more impressed with Orb.
“The maturity he showed yesterday in everything he did, from his Derby day to his experience in the paddock, which was tremendous, going in the post and the way he raced, it was kind of amazing to me,” he said.
Orb will see some familiar challengers in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness. Mylute and Oxbow, who finished fifth and sixth in the Derby, along with Will Take Charge (eighth), Itsmyluckyday (15th) and Goldencents (17th) are likely to face off against him again.
“As good as he is, if Goldencents rebounds and gets back to his Santa Anita Derby effort, I think we have a chance to be right there,” trainer Doug O’Neill said about his horse.
Among the new horses possibly joining the Preakness field are Illinois Derby winner Departing, Sunland Derby winner Govenor Charlie, Southwest runner-up Fear the Kitten and Bellarmine.
Lukas, a five-time Preakness winner, thinks the next race will be the toughest for Orb.
“If he gets by that, he gets to go back home to Belmont and run right out of his stall,” he said.
Golden Soul, who finished second in the Derby as a 34-1 shot, will likely pass on the Preakness and point toward the Belmont Stakes on June 8, trainer Dallas Stewart said.
The final leg of the Triple Crown is where some of Pletcher’s Derby quintet could land, too.
Revolutionary, third in the Derby, and Overanalyze (11th) will likely run in the race.
Pletcher wasn’t sure about future plans for Palace Malice and Verrazano, whose four-race winning streak ended in the Derby. Charming Kitten will go back to turf races.
HORSE RACING: Derby winner Orb prepares for Preakness run - The Mercury
Three thoughts off a gloomy 139th Kentucky Derby won by Orb and Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey:
1. Shug McGaughey finally gets his Kentucky Derby win with Orb's heart-pounding comeback down the stretch.
Orb, the post-time co-favorite at 6-1, negotiated a torrid early pace set by 22-1 Palace Malice, winning the $1,439,800 purse in the 1 1/4-mile Run for the Roses in 2:02.89.
It's the first time a co-favorite or favorite has won the Derby since Big Brown in 2008. Long shot Golden Soul was second and Revolutionary, the other co-favorite, was third.
"Oh my God, this is awesome," were jockey Joel Rosario's first words in his NBC interview shortly after the win on the muddy Churchill Downs track. "Shug McGaughey, I'm so happy for him."
Lexington's McGaughey, 62, entered Orb in his return to the Derby for the first time since 2002. Orb had won his last four races, including the Florida Derby. The Hall of Famer McGaughey owns more than 1,760 race wins since 1979, $100 million in purses, a Belmont Stakes victory and nine Breeders' Cup races. But never a Derby -- until Saturday.
"It means everything to me," he told NBC, emotionally, in his Southern drawl. "I've always dreamed of this day, and it finally came."
Orb fell behind early to 15th or 16th in the 19-horse race in the first half mile, but picked off horses in sloppy conditions. Orb was in prime position down the stretch in the middle of the track with clear space in front and powered ahead to win by two-and-one-half lengths.
Here's how the other big Derby-week stories fared:
• Calvin Borel couldn't pace Revolutionary to his fourth Kentucky Derby victory in seven years, despite a surge in support from fourth-place (10-1) on Thursday to become the 6-1 co-favorite.
• Revolutionary is trained by Todd Pletcher, who won his only Derby with Borel aboard Super Saver in 2010. The meticulous son of a trainer, Pletcher, 45, entered a record-tying five horses among the field of 19 (he is now 1-for-36 at the Derby). His other top entrant was the previously undefeated Verrazano, which Pletcher personified to LeBron James in terms of versatility. John Velazquez, who had missed nearly all of April after injuries sustained from a fall, piloted Verrazano to a disappointing 14th place.
• Goldencents, partially owned by the tattooed Rick Pitino, finished 17th. Its trainer, Doug O'Neill, was trying to become the first trainer to win back-to-back derbies since fellow Californian Bob Baffert in 1997-98. Its jockey, Kevin Krigger, was the second African-American to ride in the Run for the Roses since 1921. No African-American jockey has won the Kentucky Derby since Jimmy (Wink) Winkfield in 1902.
• Rosie Napravnik's second attempt to become the first female jockey to win fell short. She took Mylute to fifth place, the best finish ever by a female jockey.
2. One of the wettest Derby days in recent memory upped the unpredictability.
It began to drizzle as I came off my plane at 9:30 a.m. Saturday and reached steady showers by lunch time—more than a quarter of an inch in the 24 hours before post time, according to Weather-com. It just about subsided as Martina McBride sang the national anthem at 5:08, but the influence was still evident at the 6:34 post time.
Every year, officials describe the track conditions using one of four adjectives—fast, good, muddy and sloppy. The track deteriorated from good to sloppy by early afternoon, just the seventh sloppy Derby ever (but fourth since the thunderstorm-drenched 2004). The last two sloppy Derbies were won by the same jockey: Borel.
A Slip 'n Slide entertained the infield well before peak inebriation. The drenched crowd, announced at 151,616, squeezed like sardines under the stands in oversized ponchos, trash bags and even hazmat suits. Umbrellas aren't allowed entrance at Churchill Downs, so they were piled outside security entrances. Hats were defenseless. It wasn't pretty.
Forty years ago Sunday, Secretariat set the still-standing track record of 1:59.40. There's a tie with Orb, owned by Stuart Janney III and Phipps Stable. The Phipps family could have owned the great Secretariat if not for a 1968 coin-toss decision that left it with a filly named The Bride instead.
3. Onto the Preakness Stakes.
Orb is expected to head to Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore for the second and shortest leg of the Triple Crown on May 18. Thoroughbred racing, a sport vanishing in popularity, is slogging through its longest Triple Crown winner drought since Sir Barton became the first to sweep in 1919, the same year the 18th Amendment (prohibition) was ratified.
It's now been 35 years since Affirmed outdueled Alydar in the Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes to become the 11th Triple Crown winner in 1978. Twelves horses have won the Derby and Preakness since Affirmed. Of them, four took second in the Belmont, five were third, but the two most recent became even greater afterthoughts in the "Test of the Champion."
Under-trained Big Brown eased up in dead last in 2008. Undersized I'll Have Another showed signs of tendinitis in his left front leg in a workout the day before last year's Belmont Stakes, was scratched and retired.
The Boston Marathon bombings influenced security strengthening at Pimlico, where backpacks and duffel bags won't be allowed. And, for what it's worth, the Old Farmer's Almanac's prediction for May 18-23 in Baltimore is, "Sunny, then heavy rain, cool."
Read More: Three thoughts from Orb's victory at the Kentucky Derby - Horse Racing - Nick Zaccardi - SI-com
The following private letter is in response to turf writer Bill Dwyre’s L.A. Times story “Deaths Have Baffert Baffled.” It found its way to HRI on the recommendation of Warren Eves, a journalist for a half century and friend of the author, who felt the message was too important not to share with a wider audience. It is printed here at the author’s request.
Dear Mr. Dwyre:
On the rash of sudden deaths of horses trained by Bob Baffert:
We don’t need the medical director of the California Horse Racing Board Rick Arthur to tell us what an “anomaly” it is when seven healthy horses suddenly die under one trainer’s barn.
You wrote, “oft-misinformed social media stirs the rumor pot to a boil.” You continued, “Baffert is angry that he has been deemed guilty of something that isn't even defined by his accusers. He calls them the hate guys.”
Baffert has an uncanny way of finding straw men to blame. Isn’t this a classic example of slaying the messenger in order to forget the message?
Is it possible people are misinformed due to the reluctance of some, including Baffert himself, to be transparent? Does anyone yet know a single name of any of the horses?
I guess we’ll remember them all as John and Jane Doe. You inferred [that] Wayne Lukas was a defender of Baffert. You quoted Lukas as saying, "Bob will take the high road." That was obviously a diplomatic public comment. Everyone who knows the two will attest to professional animus between the pair.
"The news swept through the barns here [at Churchill Downs]," said Lukas. "Anything that unusual, seven horses…" Lukas continued, "well, it threw up a red flag.”
Those quotes were closer to the [spirit] of Wayne’s sentiment.
Most hardened racetrackers across the nation must be skeptical of seven horses dying suddenly under one barn in the span of 16 months.
Few things surprise me. When I was a young man, I remember a trainer once giving two horses a shot of Strychnine just to make stalls quickly available for a new client and horses of better quality.
You wrote about sudden death syndrome (SDS), saying, “These are not racing accident deaths. They are defined as SDS when a healthy horse, training or racing, returns to the barn and dies, inexplicably, within an hour.”
Did not some of the horses die on the track? “Misinformed?”
You admit the number of SDS deaths is startling. But you lost me when you said, “Also startling is that it happened to one of the most successful trainers in the world.”
Would you not call Rick Dutrow successful? To take it a step further, what about Lance Armstrong and Barry Bonds? I’m sure you’d agree there are times success has a price.
Do not confuse Shakespeare and Sherlock Holmes.
You continued, “His (Baffert) owners love him.” Is that not a partial and presumptuous statement? Have you talked to them all?
You speak of Baffert’s “quote-ability.” Then why the well-crafted press release by a public relations firm and his [near] silence on the matter?
Is his silence recommended by his apparent comrades, Chairman David Israel and Commissioner Bo Derek of the [California Horse Racing Board] until they can squash things?
You are further “misinformed” when making discriminatory and/or off-handed statements like, “This was not Joe Bland, with a five-horse stable of claimers and two of them lame.”
Such horses help fill races for Baffert.
I believe my longtime friend and Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg, who has more experience than most, [would] be equally offended by that statement.
Van Berg has been on both sides of the fence. He has trained good and bad horses alike.
I’m sure Jack would say it takes no added skills to train the most expensive horses sold at auction that [are] well vetted for soundness.
I’m equally as sure he would attest that it takes more skill to train those of little talent and lots of infirmities.
Jack’s father, Marion H Van Berg, was noted as one of the greatest trainers that ever lived. He never ran in a Kentucky Derby or Breeders’ Cup race. He spent a lifetime at the smaller tracks healing “lame” horses to run their best.
When muddying the waters we hear a lot of different defenses; now we are led to believe the barn in which the deaths took place at Hollywood Park was possibly contaminated? What a stretch! Why advance such nonsense?
Dr. Rick Arthur said, "No criticism of Baffert here," Arthur also said that although final toxicology reports will come this summer, [that] he and his investigators have been unable to find a single cause, or any wrongdoing.
Shouldn’t Arthur reserve all judgment? Shouldn’t he stick to his medical expertise and hand the investigation over to others? His investigators?
There is little doubt the state police and other authorities should be looking into this matter. [And] aren’t the results of the toxicology report a foregone conclusion?
This issue was put to rest as soon as it surfaced. How could California’s brightest star be dimmed? After all, he is so much bigger than Armstrong and Bonds. As you stated in seeming awe, he is a multi-millionaire.
The horses’ deaths are only troubling to Baffert because the situation got exposed. Don’t fall for the spin. Start reading the “oft-misinformed social media.” Sometimes they are deep rooted, educated, and right!
Cordially,
Harry Hacek
Horse Racing Blog | Horse Racing | HorseRaceInsider-com
Surprise was the immediate reaction of most racing fans when it was confirmed on Tuesday that Mahmood al-Zarooni had lodged an appeal against his eight-year ban from the sport for administering anabolic steroids to 15 horses at the Godolpin-owned Moulton Paddocks stable in Newmarket. For Sheikh Mohammed, Godolphin’s founder, however, the response is more likely to have been a mixture of fury and frustration.
It is not just that it is all the more difficult to draw a line under the doping and attempt to move on while Zarooni’s appeal is pending, but the ex-trainer’s decision also reinforces the impression that this story now has a momentum of its own. Sheikh Mohammed has been ruler of Dubai since 1995, and he is used to being in charge and being obeyed, but the present situation refuses to bend to his will.
For those in search of answers to the many questions that remain about the Godolphin dopings, however, Zarooni’s decision to appeal must be welcome news. The proceedings will not be open to reporters, despite the huge public interest in the story, as the media can report only those hearings which deal with running and riding offences. As he seeks to mitigate his penalty, however, Zarooni will inevitably provide a much more detailed account of what went on at his stable a few weeks ago than anything we have received to date.
When the original case was heard by the British Horseracing Authority’s disciplinary panel on April 25th, less than 72 hours after news of the doping broke, Zarooni did not have any legal representation. His only companion as he was tried, convicted, sentenced and, in professional terms, executed in the space of a few hours was Simon Crisford, Godolphin’s racing manager, who helped Zarooni to fight his way through a wolfpack of photographers outside the BHA’s offices, but looked all the while as though he would have preferred to let them tear Zarooni apart.
At his appeal, however, Zarooni will be represented by William Clegg QC, one of the most senior and formidable operators in the business, and Clegg will in turn be advised by two specialist solicitors. Zarooni and his team will also have had plenty of time to get their story straight.
The points that Zarooni and his advisors eventually decide to advance as mitigating factors will not be apparent until the appeal board publishes its findings, but this will be his one and only chance to pluck something from the wreckage of his career. There will be no reason to leave anything out, and every incentive to suggest that it would have been difficult to dope 15 horses at one of the biggest yards in Newmarket without at least a little of the blame being apportioned elsewhere. It will be up to the appeal panel to decide where the truth lies.
Unlike the original hearing, this one will not be done and dusted within a few days. The QCs on both sides will need to compare their diaries before a date can be set, and while the word from the BHA is that Zarooni’s appeal might be heard within the next two weeks, it is possible too that it will not even be this month. That will prolong the agony still further for Sheikh Mohammed and Godolphin, as they prepare to send Dawn Approach, the strong favourite, to the Derby in early June.
In the long run, however, it would certainly be in racing’s best interests to gain as much insight as possible into Zarooni, what he did, how often he did it and, most importantly, why. His appeal may well be the last chance to do so.
Zarooni appeal will not have pleased Godolphin owner - Racing Results | Horse Racing Times, Race Cards & Winners - Thu, May 09, 2013
TOUTANCARMONT (Isabelle Pacault/Jonathan Plouganou) just got the better of a near-blanket finish to Europe's longest steeplechase, while Nick Williams's veteran Maljimar survived two serious blunders to finish just a length back in third.
Stablemate Shalimar Fromentro also finished in the money one place further back in fourth.
Another Jewel rattled home from off the pace to claim sixth while Bostons Angel was pulled up before the field headed out on it's final circuit.
Nearing the end of the marathon trip five horses jumped the final fence with a chance of victory.
But it was the six-year-old Toutancarmont, who connections brought here rather than travelling to Punchestown a fortnight ago, who preserved his 100 per cent record since being switched to cross country races at Pau over the winter.
James Reveley led the field well past half-way on Maljimar before a shuddering mistake on an up-bank almost severed the partnership.
By that stage hat-trick chasing Chriseti had already exited the race, while Robbie Power called it a day on Bostons Angel soon afterwards.
Maljimar made another notable mistake five from home but remarkably was back in contention running to the last.
Fabien Dehez deputized aboard Phakos for David Cottin, who earlier injured a collarbone, and the pair almost got up on the line.
Toutancarmont was adding a second Crystal Cup victory to the one he secured at Fontainebleau in April and Pacault said: "He's only six and we've looked after him in the run-up to today. He's found his real calling with these races and he's ridden by a magnificent jockey. To see a finish like one in a flat race after 7300m, it's terrific."
FRANCE Toutancarmont wins marathon Anjou Loire Challenge | Horse Racing News | Racing Post
The legendary Betfair Hollywood Park will end horse racing, training and stabling after its 75th anniversary season, the company announced Thursday.
The Hollywood Park Racing Association will not apply to the California Horse Racing Board for any race dates in 2014, and this year’s autumn meet from Nov. 7 to Dec. 22 will mark the end of the races.
The Inglewood track -- just four miles from Los Angeles International Airport -- will be developed into thousands of residential units such as townhomes, a movie theatre and park, Hollywood Park spokesperson Bob Mieszerski said.
The park was established as the "Hollywood Turf Club" in 1938. Some of the original shareholders included the likes of Walt Disney, Bing Crosby and Jack L. Warner of Warner Bros.
When Hollywood Park Land Co. bought the park from Churchill Downs in 2005, the future of the racetrack was guaranteed for at least three years unless any major changes took place.
“Ownership has been upfront from the beginning that the property would eventually be developed unless there were significant changes in the horse racing business,’’ Betfair Hollywood Park President Jack Liebau said.
“From an economic point of view, the land now simply has a higher and better use,” he said.
Seabiscuit -- the horse whose success sparked the award-winning film -- won the inaugural Hollywood Gold Cup at the park 75 years ago. The famed thoroughbred is on a long list of winners including Noor, Citation, Swaps, Round Table, Ack Ack, Affirmed, Ferdinand, Cigar, Skip Away, Happy Issue, Two Lea and Princessnesian, and three-time winners Native Diver and Lava Man.
Some of the park’s innovations include Sunday racing and wagers like the Rolling Pick 3s, Superfecta, Place Pick All, Pick 4, Players’ Pick 5 and Pick Six, according to a news release announcing the plans.
Hollywood Park Will Stop Horse Races After 2013 | NBC Southern California
Wyoming Horse Racing LLC placed a big bet on the future of equine gaming in the state.
The horse track operator is doubling the number of race days at Sweetwater Downs in Rock Springs from four to eight this summer after state lawmakers passed legislation in February in hopes of giving the industry a boost.
“If it weren’t for the new law, they wouldn’t have doubled the number of races,” said Charlie Moore, executive director of the Wyoming Pari-Mutuel Commission, the state’s horse racing regulator.
Track racing isn’t a money-maker in Wyoming, said Eugene Joyce, general manager of Wyoming Horse Racing.
“It’s the loss leader,” he said.
Wyoming Horse Racing bought out Wyoming Downs in 2011 to become the state’s only horse track operator at a time when the economic downtown threw the industry into a nosedive, Joyce said. There were no races in 2010, and each outdoor race in the prior year cost Wyoming Downs $20,000, the company told the Star-Tribune in 2011. Breeders weren't spending the money on raising racing horses and the industry came to a standstill, Joyce said
Horse track operators in Wyoming make money by simulcasting live races from throughout the country, Joyce said. There are times of the year when horses just aren’t racing, he said. So the new law allows Wyoming Horse Racing to broadcast reruns of “historic” races, on which people can bet. The law will allow Wyomingites to bet on horses year-round, Joyce said.
“Historic horse racing is virtually identical to what we’re currently regulating,” Moore said. “There are the same checks and balances.”
Someone with a photographic memory and a love of horse racing doesn’t have an unfair advantage over other gamblers, Moore said. A random generator selects the race, and no images of the race are seen until the gambler makes a bet, he said.
Historic horse racing is a new type of technology used in the industry, Moore said. Kentucky and Arkansas are the only other states that currently have it.
“They’ve seen incredible increases in their bottom line back to the horsemen and back to the state,” he said.
Joyce expects to see his company’s revenue multiply by 10.
Joyce wanted the legislation so badly he promised to add the four additional race dates when he was lobbying for it, he said.
The law doesn’t only put money into Joyce’s pockets. It will funnel money into state and county coffers. The revenue will also help bring more money to the state’s breeder award -- funds designated to cultivate new horses for racing.
Aside from Sweetwater downs, there are five other locations where off-track betting is legal in the state. The towns and counties where the parlors are located will all see a benefit from the new law. The state will see .5 percent of all money wagered go into the general fund. Sweetwater County and the counties and towns where the five other off-track betting parlors are located will see 1 percent of Wyoming Horse Racing’s earnings. Another 1 percent will go to a breeder fund.
The cost to race horses has kept people out of racing and breeding in the past few years, state Sen. John Schiffer, R-Kaycee, said.
“In the racehorse industry, the ability to run for a purse is why people bring their horses to the track,” he said.
When the economy tanked, the pool of horse racers thinned and the industry began to crumble, he said.
“We’re trying to rebuild the industry,” he said.
The breeder fund will be used to provide an incentive for racers to run for a larger pot of money, he said.
“There is a dedicated group of horsemen and women in this state,” he said. “They came to the Legislature and said, ‘We want to revive the industry.’”
The law takes effect on July 1, and the Wyoming Pari-Mutuel Commission will finish drafting its regulations for the historic events shortly after, Moore said.
Sweetwater Downs will host the races on four consecutive weekends starting Aug. 17.
One of Australia's top thoroughbred horse trainers and a prominent owner have been charged in relation to a race April 27 at Sydney's Randwick when a second favourite placed second-last in a race, prompting a stewards inquiry.
Gai Waterhouse and John Singleton, the trainer and owner, respectively, of mare More Joyous, were charged Monday following testimony at a Racing New South Wales inquiry that heard from former rugby league star Andrew Johns and brothel owner Eddie Hayson.
Waterhouse was charged with failing to report "any condition or occurrence that may affect the running of a horse in a race," chief steward Ray Murrihy said.
She was also charged with failing to keep a record of treatments administered to a horse.
Top trainer, owner charged in Australian horse-racing
There’s a lot of rich history behind Ogden Mills “Dinny” Phipps.
His great-grandfather, Henry Phipps, made his fortune in the iron and steel business with childhood friend and business partner Andrew Carnegie in the late 1800s.
His grandmother, Mrs. Henry Carnegie Phipps, owned Bold Ruler, the sire of 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat, the greatest racehorse in history – and a colt the family lost despite winning a coin flip.
His father, Ogden Phipps, ran the family’s racing empire that included nine champions, among them Buckpasser, Easy Goer and the undefeated filly Personal Ensign.
His first cousin is Stuart Janney III, whose parents owned the great filly Ruffian.
But Dinny Phipps and cousin Stuart may have topped ’em all when their 3-year-old colt Orb gave the family its first Kentucky Derby victory.
“It’s terrific, absolutely wonderful,” Phipps said as he gears up for this week’s trip to Baltimore to see if Orb can win the Preakness on Saturday and set up a Triple Crown try in the Belmont Stakes three weeks after that.
“I’ve received hundreds of emails and texts and we are very lucky with what the reaction has been.”
For a change, it’s been almost all positive.
At a time racing is under intense pressure to come up with uniform medication rules and penalties, it’s refreshing that no dark clouds hang over a renowned stable – or its trainer, Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey – known for patience, priorities and playing fair.
“The popularity of Orb’s victory has a lot to do with what the Phipps family has meant to racing – a long tradition of service to the industry,” said Steven Crist, editor and publisher emeritus of Daily Racing Form. “The family has always believed that wealth and privilege also confer responsibility to improve the sport and the welfare of horses.”
Phipps also is chairman of The Jockey Club, a 119-year-old organization dedicated to improving breeding and racing. Recently, it has taken a lead role in calling for racing commissions to come up with “common medication rules” and dole out stiff penalties to cheaters. That sets Phipps up for plenty of criticism.
“I think we can bring people along to get the cheaters out of the game,” Phipps said this week at his Manhattan office at Bessemer Trust, the private wealth-management firm where he’s a board member. “I don’t think there are a lot, but the public perception is there.”
For all the champions the 72-year-old Phipps has bred and raced over the years, perhaps his most important move was not of the equine kind. In 1985, he was looking for a new trainer and pegged McGaughey as his man.
“We had watched him, saw his fillies run and saw his other horses run, and they looked well taken care of,” Phipps said. “He wasn’t sort of a famous name at that time, but he was up-and-coming, young and bright and his horses looked good and he ran a clean stable.”
Owner and trainer became friends. Champion racehorses followed: 1989 Belmont Stakes winner Easy Goer, Personal Ensign, Inside Information, Rhythm and Storm Flag Flying, to name a few. McGaughey has been fishing on Phipps’ boat, played golf with him at Augusta National and has been a dinner guest at his estates in Palm Beach, Fla., and Old Westbury, N.Y.
Winning isn’t the only reason their long friendship has flourished. Phipps allows McGaughey to make all the calls when it comes to racing.
“Everything that I do and any success that I’ve had I attribute to this being my ball game with horses on the racetrack,” McGaughey said. “The Phipps and Janneys don’t question you, they don’t tell you ‘We want to run in this race, how come the 2-year-olds aren’t running in June?’ They understand. They’re patient with me.”
Says Phipps: “He’s somebody who loves to compete. He gets his horses right, and they look well. I have never gone into his barn and seen something I thought was out of place.”
The Phipps Stable is a breeding business, too, and it’s the backbone of an overall operation totaling about 100 horses, including 20 co-owned with Janney. The stable does not go to sales, like many owners today, to pick out their horses. Instead, they breed their own, and currently have 25 mares at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky.
“Our philosophy is that we love our fillies,” Phipps said. “They will all keep producing as long as we treat them well and put the right ones back into stud. We’ve always tried to have trainers that are good filly trainers because to go out in the marketplace today to buy colts and fillies – with a colt you’ve only got 25-30 of them in a crop that do well out of 20,000-25,000. They are not worth much if they are not in that 25-30. Whereas a filly, if she does decently she is in the position to help you for a long time. We believe the broodmare is the most important quality of the race horse.”
Winning the Derby has always been a dream, but never a priority in the Phipps way of thinking.
“Sure, something would have been missing if we didn’t win, but we’ve had such a wonderful career in racing that it really wouldn’t have been something that was glaring missing,” Phipps said. “It does mean a great deal now that we have won it, but we have never tried to force our horses into that race and I just don’t think we need to do that.”
It’s true there have been some great racing moments for Phipps. He called Personal Ensign’s remarkable, final-stride win over Winning Colors in the 1988 Breeders’ Cup Distaff one of the greatest races he’s ever seen. He ranks Orb’s Derby win right up there, too.
Some ended in defeat. There was Easy Goer finishing second to Sunday Silence in the 1989 Derby, a year after Seeking the Gold was beaten a nose by Forty Niner in the Travers.
Perhaps the family’s toughest defeat came after a fateful coin flip in 1969.
Told by his grandmother he could buy a breeding season to Bold Ruler for $5,000, Phipps was all in. At the time, the Chenery family wanted to breed Somethingroyal to Bold Ruler,
His bad behaviour has cost John Singleton $15,000, but much more in terms of friendship and trust between himself and his former trainer Gai Waterhouse.
After two weeks of publicity over the performance of his mare More Joyous in the All Aged Stakes at Randwick on April 27, Racing NSW stewards said on Monday they were satisfied there was no evidence to suggest the trainer's bookmaker son Tom Waterhouse had passed on any inside knowledge that there was a problem with the horse.
Information Singleton received on race day from former jockey Allan Robinson was that Tom Waterhouse's colleague from the Nine Network, Andrew Johns, had passed on to punter Eddie Hayson that the mare could not win.
In a second drama-filled day at the stewards' hearing, Hayson said he in fact made his own inquiries after talking to Johns at the football on race eve and was told by an unnamed source the vets had been attending More Joyous all week. After hearing this information, Singleton told a pre-race television interview that More Joyous couldn't win "because the trainer's son says it can't".
In other interviews after the race, in which the mare finished second last, Singleton sacked Gai Waterhouse as his trainer and repeated his claims about her son.
After being charged with conduct prejudicial to the image of racing, Singleton said his behaviour was regrettable.
"My behaviour was absolutely unintentional and regrettable and had unintended consequences," Singleton said.
"This is my first and hopefully last stewards' inquiry."
Chief steward Ray Murrihy said Singleton had been given a discounted penalty - down from $20,000 - taking into account his guilty plea and good character in the racing industry.
Earlier Murrihy told all parties there was to be no repetition of the name calling of last week's hearing and that publication of documents in evidence was contempt on the proceedings.
Last week Gai Waterhouse fired back at Singleton during the inquiry sitting, accusing him of being drunk on the day and a "sham".
Singleton gave his side of the story in a weekend column for Fairfax Media which also published a list of phone calls between several parties that was part of the evidence.
The relationship between Gai Waterhouse and Singleton began to crumble after she selected barrier 11 for More Joyous in last year's Cox Plate against the owner's instructions.
"This started with the barrier draw in Melbourne and my finding out advice Eddie Hayson had received," Singleton said.
"Hearing what Andrew Johns had said was the straw that broke the camel's back between Gai and I."
Waterhouse remained silent for most of the day except to plead not guilty to two charges relating to treatment More Joyous received earlier in the week.
The mare was given an antibiotic as instructed by Singleton's vet who also inspected her before the race and passed her fit to run.
The onus is on Waterhouse as a trainer to report anything that might affect a horse's performance to stewards to enable an independent inspection.
That part of the inquiry was adjourned until next week, and Murrihy said the stewards would also look at evidence about the identity of the second person who gave information to Hayson.
Waterhouse was excused from the inquiry before Singleton's penalty was announced.
As he left Singleton said it was time to move on.
"That was yesterday, let's move on to tomorrow," he said.
"[I feel] good. It's over."
As is his 40 year friendship with Waterhouse.
AUSTRALIA Owner Singleton fined in More Joyous affair | Horse Racing News | Racing Post
The Phipps family stable is half the size that it once was but still spends more than $4 million annually maintaining a band of mares, raising their foals into racehorses and paying exorbitant fees for the mares to couple with the finest stallions. Over nearly a century, the family has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the horse business. It may be a family pastime, but it is also a business — an expensive one. And the Phippses, whose ancestors were attached to the Carnegie Steel empire, have used savvy methods in improving their horse racing stock. Their business plan has focused on improving the stable’s female bloodlines, making them ever more valuable, rather than simply throwing large sums of money at auctions for promising sires.
Those methods helped produce Orb, the Kentucky Derby winner, who will go for the second leg of the Triple Crown on Saturday in the Preakness Stakes.
Five years ago, the Phipps brain trust met in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., at the family’s house on Broadway, as it has for nearly a century, to decide how to apply the family’s ample resources to building a better racehorse. Each member of the group proposed stallions to mate with the family’s 25 mares. It was time to argue bloodlines, cross-pedigrees, physical characteristics — the breeding knowledge amassed over four generations in a pursuit that is more art than science.
There were differing opinions on a mare named Lady Liberty. She had produced a couple of lackluster foals, and Ogden Mills Phipps, the family patriarch, who is known as Dinny, wanted to sell her. Others disagreed, and prevailed. The mare was paired with a stallion named Malibu Moon.
On the first Saturday in May, the son of that mating, a colt named Orb, gave the Phipps family its first Kentucky Derby victory and reminded the sporting world of a sepia-toned era in which old-money families with names like Whitney and Mellon and Vanderbilt ran horse racing like a private club, on handshakes and coin tosses.
Orb is a seventh-generation descendant of a mare named Erin, who was bought by Gladys Phipps shortly after she got the family into the horse business in 1926.
The Phippses are survivors of racing’s golden age, one of the few old families that were able to successfully hand down their love of horses as well as a blueprint that requires money and rewards patience.
“We are about the fillies: they provide consistency over generations,” Dinny Phipps said.
The goal has always been to make money, and to do so, the family operates with the same discipline it employs at Bessemer Trust, a company established with the family’s original United States Steel fortune that now manages more than $88 billion for some of the world’s wealthiest people. Steely eyes remain fixed on the bottom line.
The foundation of the family’s breeding and racing operation is cultivating the best broodmare bloodlines in the world. In the late 1960s, for example, the family bought a mare named Dorine who had been a multiple stakes winner in Argentina. She became the grandmother of the undefeated Personal Ensign, who memorably caught the Kentucky Derby-winning filly Winning Colors at the wire of the 1988 Breeders’ Cup Distaff in her 13th, and final, race.
Personal Ensign in turn begot the filly My Flag, who won five stakes races, including the 1995 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. My Flag then passed on her talent to her daughter Storm Flag Flying, who also won the Breeders’ Cup fillies race and was named the 2-year-old filly champion in 2002.
Sid Fernando, a pedigree consultant, said time and money had created an ideal environment to produce runners. The Phippses know the characteristics of the mares and their runners through the generations and have the room for trial and error. But Fernando said the Phippses had demonstrated a gift as breeders in much the same way that painters and musicians do.
“There is a lot of statistical data out there, but it has to be used in an artistic way,” said Fernando, the president of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants Inc. “Just like painting or music, to stay current in breeding, you have to be constantly dipping back and learning and relearning but ultimately relying on your intuition. They have the type of mares everyone wants, and it’s not an accident.”
This talent and the exacting standards have been passed from generation to generation. In the 1940s, when Dinny Phipps was too young to be legally allowed on the racetrack, his father, Ogden, got him a seat on the starting gate at Saratoga every afternoon the family had a horse running. Dinny’s daughter, Daisy, was a teenager nearly 40 years later when she saw Alysheba, the 1987 Derby and Preakness winner, in the paddock of the same racetrack and fell hard for the sport.
“We breed to race, not to sell, and we are trying to win the best races in America in the right way,” Daisy Phipps said.
What that means is allowing a horse to develop on its own schedule rather than pushing it into the Derby and the other Triple Crown races. It is the reason that over 87 years in the sport, the family has saddled only 11 Derby starters: Orb was the stable’s first since Easy Goer finished second to Sunday Silence in 1989.
“We don’t come unless we believe we can win,” Daisy Phipps said. “It doesn’t do us, or the horse, any good to finish ninth.”
It also means choosing the long road over a quick hit. The Phippses do not buy at auctions where unraced yearlings or 2-year-olds can fetch millions of dollars. They do not chase the so-called home run colt, a horse who auction buyers believe will have a successful racing career and then a lucrative life in the breeding shed.
In Orb, however, the Phippses have indeed bred and built a home run colt of their own. They did it before with Bold Ruler in the 1950s, Buckpasser in the 1960s and Seeking the Gold in the 1980s — each became a prominent stallion who not only added value to the family bloodlines, but also gene
As winner of the Kentucky Derby, Orb is the only horse in 2013 with a shot to become the first Triple Crown winner in 35 years. Trainer Doug O'Neill, who aims to beat Orb in Saturday's Preakness with Derby also-ran Goldencents, is among many who have fallen short of the triple. He says Orb might be up to it.
"I definitely think it's well within his range. He's a Triple Crown threat, for sure," says O'Neill, who will send Goldencents to the nine-horse starting gate at Pimlico.
But ...
"But you know, you still need a lucky trip," says O'Neill. "I just really think as good as Orb is, I think if we get a good trip we can win."
The Triple Crown, racing's ultimate prize for horses in their 3-year-old seasons, requires wins in the Derby 1 ¼ miles), the Preakness (1 3/16) and the Belmont (a long haul at a mile and a half). Eleven horses have won it since Sir Barton first pulled it off in 1919. None has done it since Affirmed in 1978, the last of three horses to accomplish it in the 1970s.
Orb, ridden by Joel Rosario, won the Derby by 2 ½ lengths in the mud and is an even favorite on the morning line to win the Preakness.
Baseball broke its Triple Crown drought last season. Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers led the American League in home runs, runs batted in and batting average. Nobody had done that since Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox in 1967.
The difficulty in horse racing's Triple Crown is that the races are at different lengths, at different tracks, requiring different combinations of talents (just like baseball's Triple Crown), with different sets of competitors. Fresh challengers who haven't run in the previous races pop up. The races come in a span of five weeks, making it a test of resilience. But all the above were true in the 1970s.
One theory about why the Triple Crown hasn't been clinched since is that priorities in breeding horses have changed to emphasize speed and attractiveness at sale, overlooking the stamina and durability required to win the Derby, Preakness and Belmont.
Orb's upbringing – with stamina in his family tree and owners who bred him to race, not to be sold -- has all the appearances of being different. But the tests are on the tracks.
Last year, O'Neill won the first two races with I'll Have Another. But the horse was scratched the day before the Belmont with a tendon injury.
In 2008, Big Brown romped in the Derby and Preakness. But he developed a crack in his left front hoof after the Preakness. With the crack repaired by stainless steel sutures, he went off in the Belmont as a big favorite. But jockey Kent Desormeaux said Big Brown was "out of gas" before the final turn. Desormeaux slowed him to a jog and the horse finished last. It was later learned Big Brown had dislodged a shoe on his right hind leg early in the race.
"If it doesn't happen this year, then I'm sure I'm going to wake up on Sunday morning thinking I hope it happens next year," said Orb's Hall of Fame trainer, Shug McGaughey.
Different era, different philosophy
Penny Chenery, who bred and raced 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat, says the breeding, training and development of horses have changed.
"We breed horses to be early winners. … We don't train them the same way," Chenery said at the Preakness draw. "Today, a horse will go six weeks without being in a race. In my day, we raced every other week. And it just built the strength and allowed the horse to mature before you asked the ultimate question.
"It's just people who invest in horses today want a quick return. And in my day, you bred your horse, you trained him yourself, you raced him yourself and you allowed the horse to tell you what he needed. And then you could bring him to his potential rather than saying, 'Oh well, we paid so much money for this horse, he has to run in this race.' And it's not fair to the horse."
Maybe Orb, under the care of McGaughey, is a different animal. And the Belmont, where many potential Triple Crown winners fade, is run at Orb's home, Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. Orb also has the breeding pedigree for the mile and a half. He got his name as a spherical reference to his father, Malibu Moon. But his mother, Lady Liberty, also contributed stamina, winning at distances of up to 1 ½ miles on turf.
Orb is owned by racing traditionalists: cousins Ogden Mills "Dinny" Phipps, chairman of The Jockey Club, founded in 1894 with a mission to improve breeding and racing, and Stuart Janney III, vice chairman of The Jockey Club.
Phipps, whose great grandfather was iron and steel magnate Henry Phipps, bred and raced Easy Goer. Under McGaughey's training, Easy Goer won the 1989 Belmont Stakes. "Their philosophy is pretty much we want to get something that will run long on the dirt," McGaughey said of the owners. "If you look at (Orb's) female family, it's a very, very deep female family. I would say that probably none of them has ever been through a sales ring, so Orb looks more like a throwback to the old times. ... He's more of a tall, lean kind of horse."
Janny, outside Orb's barn Thursday, said he and Phipps do occasionally sell horses.
"I don't want to say this because it may be against my interests, but the ones we sell we kind of think maybe are not going to be good horses," said Janney. "We hope somebody else has a different opinion because we do occasionally sell a horse."
But their fundamental format is to breed horses to race.
"I always thought that gave us a slight advantage in the sense that there are stallions that are not as commercial because they don't produce a horse where you go, 'Oh my God, look at that,'" Janney said. "And I've thought maybe I could breed to them for $20,000 less than I would if they had four horses through the sale last year for $750,000.
"So the idea that I'm going to sell something ... is the furthest thing from my mind. I'm just looking for a sire that can produce a good runner."
The Kentucky Derby winner was in a playful mood the day before the Preakness, making faces for photographers between nibbles of grass outside his stall at Pimlico Race Course.
"He's really settled in well. He seems to be energetic about what he's doing so I couldn't be more pleased," trainer Shug McGaughey said on a warm and sunny Friday morning. "We're excited about giving him a whirl to see if we can get it done and go on to the next step."
Getting it done would mean defeating eight rivals in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness to set up a Triple Crown try in the Belmont Stakes three weeks from today. Orb is the even-money favorite, and there's a growing feeling that this 3-year-old bay colt may be special enough to give thoroughbred racing its first Triple Crown champion since Affirmed in 1978.
"We'd sure love to have that opportunity," said McGaughey, seeming relaxed and confident. "Probably the racing world would love to see it, too. It brings a lot more attention to what we're doing from all standpoints."
Orb extended his winning streak to five with a thrilling victory in the Derby two weeks ago, when jockey Joel Rosario patiently guided the colt from 17th to first in the final half mile over a sloppy track.
In the Preakness, Orb will break from the No. 1 post, a spot that has seen only one winner — Tabasco Cat in 1994 — since 1961.
"Who knows how this race is going to go, but I don't think it will be a problem," Rosario said of the inside post. "He's a horse that comes from behind, so I really don't think it will affect him. I'm just excited to go into this with a horse who has a chance to win."
A chance? While rival trainers aren't conceding the race, most agree Orb is the best of the bunch.
"Orb, he's a freak. Right now, everybody should be rooting for Orb, except for the connections of the other horses in the race," trainer Bob Baffert said — and he's got a horse in the race, 12-1 choice Govenor Charlie. "Anybody who's not rooting for Orb, there's something mentally wrong with them."
Baffert has been there before. Three of his five Preakness winners had also won the Derby, but were unable to complete the Triple Crown with a win in the Belmont. He says the Preakness is the least stressful of the three races.
"There is absolutely no pressure, believe it or not because you've just won the Derby," he said. "You're flying high and everybody's excited. You don't think about it. The next one [the Belmont] is the pressure."
Getting to the next one may sound easy. It isn't. Six of the past eight Derby winners did not win the Preakness.
Horse racing: Orb looks right on track : page 2 - NorthJersey-com
Orb trainer Shug McGaughey said on his colt emerged from the Preakness Stakes in excellent shape and remained at a loss to explain the colt's puzzling performance.
The Kentucky Derby champion was a prohibitive 3-5 favorite in Saturday's $1 million race at Pimlico Race Course but ran out of gas in the stretch and finished fourth.
Oxbow, a 15-1 longshot ridden by Gary Stevens and trained by D. Wayne Lukas, scored an unlikely wire-to-wire victory before more than 117,000 at Pimlico.
Orb and Oxbow could meet again in three weeks during the final stop of the Triple Crown series, the $1 million Belmont Stakes in New York.
Lukas said on Sunday he wanted Oxbow to run in the June 8 Belmont, while McGaughey was being a little more cautious, saying he needs to analyze Orb's condition over the next few days.
"I want to see him bounce back and see his soundness level and his energy level," he told reporters. "I think there are a lot of good wins down the road for him."
McGaughey had no answers after the race for the way Orb ran and found nothing after Orb's Sunday exam to change his tune.
"He came out of it fine. He's sound. Physically, everything is fine," McGaughey said before boarding Orb into a van bound for his home base at Belmont Park.
"We'll get him up the road and evaluate the situation to see where we'll go."
McGaughey said a lot of dirt was being kicked around on Saturday at Pimlico but that he could not explain why Orb failed to find another gear in the final furlong.
The bay son of Malibu Moon had a five-race win streak snapped.
"The racetrack was probably deep down the inside there. There was a lot of throwback," McGaughey said. "We couldn't get to the outside. I thought he was in good position and he took him to the right position, and all of a sudden he had no horse.
"Why that was, I don't know. "I think it wasn't our day and it was Oxbow's day."
The loss made McGaughey's Derby triumph two weeks earlier even more special.
"Winning the Derby was my lifelong dream," said McGaughey, a Hall of Famer still looking for his first trip to the Preakness winner's circle.
"I would have loved to win (Saturday) to take it to the next level, so I do appreciate how tough it is. If I have the opportunity again (to compete in the Derby), I may cherish it even more, because I've seen how tough it is to get it done.
"As brilliant as we were two weeks ago, we weren't as brilliant yesterday.
British horse racing authorities have found that seven more horses in the stable of trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni have tested positive for steroids. Last month, Zarooni was given an eight-year ban from British horse racing after 11 of the horses under his training had been doped with anabolic steroids.
Among the horses testing positive in the latest group were the 2012 St Leger winner Encke. The seven horses, which are all based at Moulton Paddocks in Newcastle, England, are Encke, Energizer, Genius Beast, Improvisation, Stamford, Steeler and Zip Top.
Zarooni is currently appealing his ban.
Last month, when Zarooni's doping practices became public, Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said, "There can be no excuse for any deliberate violation." Sheikh Mohammed, who is also Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, made the comments in a statement sent to Reuters.
"I have been involved in British horse racing for 30 years and have deep respect for its traditions and rules. I built my country based on the same solid principles," said Sheikh Mohammed, adding he was appalled and angered about the case.
Last month, 11 Godolphin horses based at Newmarket in southern England tested positive for steroids, including stanozolol - the substance used by disgraced Olympic sprinter Ben Johnson at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Al Zarooni has said that he regretted what he described as "a catastrophic error".
Test samples were taken from the 391 horses at Godolphin's Moulton Paddocks Stables in the past month.
"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," Sheikh Mohammed said..
One of the horses to test positive was Certify. Unbeaten in four career outings, Certify was one of seven horses to test positive for ethylestranol. Gold Cup runner-up Opinion Poll was one of four to test positive for stanozolol.
"I have worked hard to ensure that Godolphin deserves its reputation for integrity and sportsmanship, and I have reiterated to all Godolphin employees that I will not tolerate this type of behaviour," Sheikh Mohammed said.
Godolphin is the Dubai ruler's private horseracing stable and was named, according to the website, in honor of the Godolphin Arabian, who came from the desert to become one of the three founding stallions of the modern thoroughbred.Founded in 1992, the Godolphin stable has won more than 2,000 races worldwide with winners in 14 countries.
Sheikh Mohammed's brainchild was born out of his frustration at constantly finding his British trainers reluctant to abandon the fight for classic glory at home to travel abroad.
His passion for horses helped transform Dubai into a world power in flat racing; its annual World Cup in March is the world's richest race with a $10 million purse. Godolphin's 2012 racing season was its most successful on record, earning $25.9 million in prize money, its website shows.
7 horses test positive for steroids, say British horseracing officials - CSMonitor-com
Dettori, who has been serving a six-month suspension for taking cocaine, has asked for a B sample to be analysed after the French Racing Authority, France Galop, raised new concerns about an unspecified “medical issue”.
The jockey had been cleared to ride by the BHA, however, his return on Monday was aborted when France Galop refused to re-licence him until he appeared before its medical committee.
It is believed Dettori was tested three times by France Galop and one sample showed up some “irregularities” according to the Racing Post.
Dettori’s solicitor Christopher Stewart-Moore said: “We are in correspondence with France Galop about this and it is a private matter.”
Frankie Dettori shock | Horse Racing | Sport | Daily Express
The folks running Churchill Downs, site of this Saturday’s 139th running of the Kentucky Derby, decided by 2007 that growth lay in modern off track betting online. Developing a site called Twinspires-com, they’ve ramped up their online presence through both acquisition and organic growth to become the market share leader in horse wagering on the web. In 2012, Twinspires-com did $860 million in wagering. Online growth for horse betting has averaged roughly 4% over the past six years, while on-site wagering has been down by about the same amount (netting out to flat growth overall).
Despite owning four race tracks, Churchill Downs knew it had to muscle into the Internet gambling world to stem the negative tide. It cut deals with over 100 horse racing tracks globally, cutting them in for providing the racing “content” that Twinspires presents to its customers online. Want to bet on one of the Derby favorites like Verrazano or Orb this weekend? The pitch is simple: sign up, send some money into your account, and you’re good to go immediately. It’s called ADW in industry jargon, or Advanced Deposit Wagering. And it’s the only segment of the business that’s growing. “The idea is one-stop shopping,” says Ted Gay, president of Churchill Downs Interactive, about customer access to bet on nearly any race in the world through his site.
The biggest challenge: drawing in casual bettors and race fans during the industry’s relative downtime, when the Triple Crown season goes into hibernation for another year. Derby time brings $24 million in wagers for Twinspires-com (a total that includes the Kentucky Oaks, a stakes race for three-year old fillies the previous day), with about 69,000 unique users placing bets. But – while about a third of all Derby bettors are newbies to an online gambling site, a far lower percentage of year-round customers are new. Signing up novices without the benefit of a Triple Crown race is difficult.
Gay’s plan: education. The site offers free bells and whistles like analysis of horses and track conditions, including recent video clips of horses featured on today’s calendar. “We can make it more accessible,” Gay says. “Educate people on what an ‘exacta’ is.” And the biggest hurdle: the impression that so many non-hardcore racing fans have of the Internet gambling world as some kind of underworld. In fact, horse race wagering online has been legal in most states for years.
Drawing enough casual fans to the web to replace the lost revenue of declining track attendance is an uphill climb. Right now, the online business is barely plugging the sinking ship, not turning it around. There’s only so much to milk from premium events like the Derby, which draws over $200 million in bets annually (from all sources). Parlaying the premium stuff into more year-round activity won’t be easy. But it’s their best shot. And it sure beats visiting an OTB.
Churchill Downs Digs For More Derby Bets Online - Forbes