The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers Association today announced that William S. Farish, owner of Lane’s End Farm and a pre-eminent industry leader of multiple organizations and causes, will be honored with the Eclipse Award of Merit for a lifetime of outstanding achievement in Thoroughbred racing.
Farish will receive the Eclipse Award of Merit on Monday, January 18 at the 39th Annual Eclipse Awards ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
“I am so honored to have been selected for a sport which has given me and my family so much pleasure and enjoyment for the past 35 years,” said Farish, who resides in Lexington, Ky. “I am humbled to be chosen to join this list of outstanding people who have received this Award of Merit, many of whom have been long time friends.”
A successful owner and breeder who has served the Thoroughbred industry in a number of high-profile positions, Farish is one of the world’s most well-known and influential horsemen. He is a steward and vice chairman of The Jockey Club, a director and former chair of the executive committee of the Breeders’ Cup (for which his son, Bill, currently serves as chairman of the board), a member of the board of directors of the Keeneland Association, and a Keeneland trustee. He was chairman of the board of Churchill Downs from 1992-2001, where the company grew from a single race track to a multi-track corporation.
“Will Farish is deeply involved in every phase of the Thoroughbred Industry,” said Keeneland president Nick Nicholson. “If you follow the life cycle of the Thoroughbred each stage from mating, breeding, raising, registration, sales, training, racing, and then back to the farm for breeding, Will has positively impacted each step along the way. His knowledge, passion and willingness to give of his time for the betterment of the Industry and the sport have meant so much for the modern Thoroughbred world. We are grateful to have him serve as a trustee of Keeneland and appreciate his advice and counsel.”
In June, the William Stamps Farish Fund donated $1 million to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF). As a member of the PDJF board, and working with its executive director, Nancy LaSala, Farish is helping to raise some $10-12 million to endow a fund that will provide continuous support for disabled riders. “The more I explored the situation,” said Farish, “the more I realized that a sustaining pool of monies was necessary. I feel that everyone who is associated with our sport realizes that a permanent source of funding is needed improve the lives of these disabled riders.”
Farish was born in Houston, Texas and is the grandson of the late William S. Farish II, the founder of Humble Oil and Refining and chairman of Standard Oil of New Jersey. Farish’s grandfather founded the famed Lazy F Ranch in Texas, which campaigned three-time Eclipse Award Champion Horse of the Year Forego in the mid-1970s.
Will Farish purchased his first Thoroughbred in 1963. In 1972, he campaigned Preakness Stakes winner Bee Bee Bee. In 1979, Farish founded Lane’s End, a stallion and breeding farm and public sales operation that covers more than 3,000 acres near Lexington, Ky. Among the 22 stallions currently standing at Lane’s End are 1992 Eclipse Award Champion Horse of the Year A.P. Indy; 2003 Eclipse Award Champion Horse of the Year Mineshaft, which Farish campaigned; leading sire Smart Strike; and Smart Strike’s sons Curlin, Eclipse Award Champion Horse of the Year in 2007 and 2008, and English Channel, 2007 Eclipse Award Champion Turf Male. With the late Warner L. Jones Jr., Farish bred Seattle Dancer, who set the world-record price for a yearling when he was sold for $13.1 million in 1985. Farish is a two-time recipient of the Eclipse Award as leading breeder, including in 1999 when he and his partners bred the winners of all three Triple Crown races that year. Farish has raced more than 150 stakes winners in his name or with various partners.
From 2001-2004, Farish served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Court of Saint James, and the Farishes have hosted Queen Elizabeth II on her visits to Kentucky, most recently to attend the 2007 Kentucky Derby.
“In his many leadership roles over the years, Will Farish has been an immensely important contributor to the sport and business of Thoroughbred racing,” said D.G. Van Clief, Jr., former president and CEO of the Breeders’ Cup and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. “Whether serving as an Epsom Oaks-winning U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain, the chairman of Churchill Downs, a trustee of Keeneland or the master of Lane’s End Farm, his presence has ensured progress and success. I know firsthand that Will’s service as the chairman of the Breeders’ Cup executive committee was instrumental to its successful launch and subsequent growth as a world championship. Without him it would not be the globally respected event it is today. Wherever Will Farish has applied his personal brand of leadership the sport has benefited, and there is no more deserving recipient of this award.”
The Eclipse Awards are bestowed upon horses and individuals whose outstanding achievements in North America have earned them the title of Champion in their respective categories. The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and foundation sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies.
The 39th Annual Eclipse Awards will be held on Monday, January 18 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. For hotel accommodations and Eclipse Awards ceremony reservations, contact Michele Ravencraft at the NTRA’s Lexington office, (800) 792-6872, or e-mail mravencraft@ntra.com.
By Ray Paulick
Buyers at the 2008 Keeneland September yearling sale who stopped by the Taylor Made Sales Agency barn to inspect Hip 1738 would have been looking at a bay colt by leading sire Smart Strike out of a young mare bred and raced by William S. Farish in partnership with Temple Webber Jr.
They would have been looking at a colt whose year-older half brother by Mr. Greeley, broke his maiden impressively at first asking at Saratoga a month earlier and who was entered in the Grade 2 Futurity Stakes at Saratoga on Sept. 13, one day before the yearling colt was to enter the sales ring.
But many of the potential buyers might also have been looking at a veterinarian’s report that said the colt had “mild sesamoiditis” in his left front ankle … “moderate mid-sagittal ridge erosion” in his right front ankle … “moderate sesamoiditis” in his left hind ankle … and a “post-operative lateral trochlear ridge divot” in both his left and right stifle.
Unfortunately, the details of that vet report may be what most buyers focused on, for despite the fact its conclusion was a “favorable prognosis” for racing soundness the colt was bought back by his breeders for $35,000, which wouldn’t even cover his sire’s 2006 stud fee of $50,000.
Who was the colt these buyers were looking at?
It was Lookin at Lucky, who went on to be a $475,000 graduate of the 2009 Keeneland April sale of 2-year-olds in training and is the probable champion 2-year-old Eclipse Award-winning male on the strength of four victories in American Graded Stakes races, including the Grade 1 trio of the Del Mar Futurity, Norfolk Stakes and CashCall Futurity. His only defeat in six starts came when beaten a nose in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile by Vale of York.
Lookin at Lucky is just the latest example of a horse offered at public auction whose sale price was greatly diminished because of perceived physical problems that knowledgeable veterinary professionals believe would not impair its ability to train and race. He will be, as Mark Taylor of Taylor Made Sales Agency said recently, the 2010 poster child to help educate buyers about how physical or radiograph imperfections do not have to affect a horse’s racing ability or soundness.
Mark’s older brother, Duncan Taylor, who probably couldn’t dunk a basketball on an eight-foot hoop, often jokes that if NBA scouts drafted players on the basis of radiographs he might have gotten picked ahead of Michael Jordan because his X-rays are perfect.
Veterinarian Jerry Bailey and Lance Robinson, partners in Gulf Coast Farm, bred Lookin at Lucky after buying his dam, Private Feeling, for $130,000 from the Lane’s End consignment at the 2004 Keeneland November breeding stock sale. They sold Kensei for $300,000 to Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Stables at the 2008 Barretts May 2-year-olds in training sale (Kensei went on to win the 2009 Grade 2 Jim Dandy, and Bailey and Robinson sold Private Feeling for $2 million at the 2009 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November mixed sale).
Robinson and Bailey were high on Kensei’s younger half brother when he was entered in the 2008 Keeneland September sale. But Lookin at Lucky underwent surgery in April 2008 to remove OCD fragments from both stifles, and the aforementioned report prepared by the consignor’s veterinarian indicated other minor issues that the vet did not believe would prevent the colt from racing soundness. But, as has been the case with a long list of successful racehorses who did not sell well because of perceived issues, the report discouraged buyers who feel a horse is stigmatized by the letters OCD (which stands for osteochondritis dissecans),
So Bailey and Robinson put the colt in training and pointed him for Keeneland’s 2-year-old sale in the spring of 2009, offering him in the name of the Jerry Bailey Sales Agency. He caught the eye of trainer Bob Baffert after a one-furlong breeze in 10 seconds and brought the top price of $475,000 on the sale’s second day. Baffert, who said Lookin at Lucky X-rayed fine before the 2-year-old sale, told the Paulick Report he was unaware of the issues that accompanied the colt into the sale ring the previous September. Baffert bought the colt in the name of Mike Pegram, who now races Lookin at Lucky in partnership with Karl Watson and Paul Weitman.
“There’s a lot of times when you’re looking for athletes that it’s better not to have too much information,” the Hall of Fame trainer said. “There are so many horses that don’t ‘vet’ that turn out to be runners. I’ve trained horses that had OCD lesions and it never bothered them.”
Mark Taylor, who serves as president of the Consignors and Commercial Breeders Association, said one of the organization’s primary goals is to educate buyers about veterinary issues that come up at Thoroughbred auctions. To that end, the CBA has published several informative and useful booklets, including one that specifically deals with OCD. (Click here for a copy of that booklet, written by Frank Mitchell, and here to learn more about the CBA.)
Taylor said another one of the CBA’s projects is to gather racing results data for horses in various categories assigned by veterinarians based on radiographs and their prognosis for racing soundness made at the time they were offered at public auction. “Just at Taylor Made, we’ve got 90% of the X-ray reports of all the Grade 1 winners we’ve offered, starting with horses born in 1980 to the present,” he said. “It’s amazing some of the X-ray train wrecks that have gone on to be really good horses.”
Lookin at Lucky wasn’t one of those train wrecks. But the minor issues he had were discouraging enough to potential buyers that they passed on an opportunity to buy a horse who turned into a three-time Grade 1 winner and the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby. That’s the kind of horse that everyone is looking for.
By Ray Paulick Please click here to donate to Breeders’ Cup Charities benefiting the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and V Foundation for Cancer Research. Give a minimum of one penny per mile and you will be eligible for a drawing to win one of 10 Breeders’ Cup caps to be signed by the winning jockeys of all 14 Breeders’ Cup races this Friday and Saturday.
Saturday was supposed to be strictly a driving day for the BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST fundraising drive, but Brad Cummings and I never met a racetrack we didn’t like, so when we saw that Will Rogers Downs was just a couple miles from the Claremore, Okla., exit on I-64, we felt compelled to stop.
The fundraising drive, done in partnership with Breeders’ Cup Charities, will benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and the V Foundation for Cancer Research.
There was no live racing going on at WRD, but plenty of slot machines, simulcasting and a friendly staff. We even saw a patron arriving on horseback—not something you see every day.
The simulcast room was relatively full, and we talked with one of the regulars, a fellow who looked like a love child of Yosemite Sam and ZZ Top. He was a serious player, bringing a briefcase full of trip notes on tracks around the country, but said he was looking forward to the live meeting that begins at WRD in February. “The racing’s gotten pretty good here,” he said. “Some of the horses from the Fair Grounds and Oaklawn Park will show up.”
This is one of those racetracks that probably wouldn’t be in business were it not for slot machines, or in this case Indian gaming. Will Rogers Downs is owned by the Cherokee Nation, one of three Indian tribes that own racetracks in Oklahoma. The Choctaw Nation owns Blue Ribbon Downs in Sallisaw. That’s the track where jockey Mark Pace died earlier this month. Since that tragedy, the Choctaws announced they will be closing the track because of economic reasons related to the track’s location.
Tomorrow, we’ll be visiting Remington Park, which recently was purchased by Global Gaming Solutions, a subsidiary of the Chickasaw Nation. No track has taken ahold of the bit on raising funds for the BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST drive like Remington Park has, and I think we’ve got an exciting and gratifying day ahead of us tomorrow. Scott Wells and his staff have gone above and beyond any of our wildest expectations, and we owe a special thanks to Joy Rose Murphy, the track’s promotions coordinator.
I’m not sure I’ll feel the same way after tomorrow’s “Hippity Hop” race, when Brad and I mount giant rubber balls and bounce our way down the track against members of the local jockey colony. But if you’re going to be humiliated, you might as well do it for a good cause.
On a serious note: If our experiences with Remington Park under its new ownership are any indication, horse racing is going to benefit from the Chickasaws’ involvement in the industry. It appears they understand the value of good corporate citizenship.
The visit with Michael Straight and his family at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago will be with us for a long time. Sadly, just in the last 24 hours we’ve learned of more spills and mishaps involving jockeys, beginning with an accident at Keeneland involving Julia Brimo, a Sovereign Award winner as leading apprentice in Canada. She was listed in critical condition at a Lexington hospital. Apprentice Amanda Casey, who earlier on Friday at Aqueduct celebrated her first win of the meeting, ended up at a New York hospital with a bruised liver after getting kicked in a paddock mishap. Earlier today, we learned that Omar Moreno was involved in a spill at Woodbine in Canada.
The beat goes on, and so does the industry’s need to help provide for jockeys who are permanently disabled from riding accidents. If you haven’t made a donation to Breeders’ Cup Charities to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and the V Foundation for Cancer Research, please do so by clicking here.
After Friday’s visit with the Straight family, we headed south and encountered heavy rainfall alongo the way. We thought we’d stop in and catch some racing at Fairmount Park’s simulcast room late in the afternoon, but didn’t bring our waders to walk through the parking lot to the front door. Apparently we’d just missed a heavy storm that flooded the parking lot and other businesses in the St. Louis area.
Our Saturday began with a tasty breakfast at a Waffle House in Springfield, Mo., in the Ozarks. I thought I’d walked into a bizarre rehearsal for the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but Brad reminded me that it was Halloween morning, and the crew was just having a little fun. Too bad. I think the Rocky Horror Waffle House could be the next big thing in the franchise world.
Sponsors for the Chicago to Oklahoma City portion of this fundraising drive are: Global Gaming Solutions and Remington Park; Terry Finley and his West Point Thoroughbreds partners; Tommy Simon’s Vinery; and Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farm.
Sponsors for our previous segments were
TVG; Bill Casner and WinStar Farm; Barry Irwin of Team Valor International; Kate Lantaff of Tahoma Stud; the William S. Farish’s Lane’s End, Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley, Brereton C. Jones’ Airdrie Stud and the Young family’s Overbrook Farm.
A special thanks to our media partner TVG and the TVG’s online community for playing such a big part in promoting the drive and raising awareness and money for these charities. All sponsorship dollars go directly to Breeders’ Cup Charities, to be divided evenly between the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and the V Foundation for Cancer Research.
Our first day of the BC or Bust trip has started off with a bang. We were fortunate to have about ten jockeys attend an autograph signing including stars Kent Desormeaux, Jon Court, Robby Albarado and Julien Leparoux. We sold nearly 100 hats with all the proceeds of course are going to our two charities, the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and The V Foundation for Cancer Research.
These proceeds are great and will add nicely to the over $20,000 we have already raised privately. A special thanks to our Keeneland to Chicago segment sponsors Lane’s End Farm, Darley, Airdrie Stud and Overbrook Farm for coming through with a generous donation to the charities. The outpouring of support has been remarkable but we still have more money to raise. If you are interested in sponsoring a leg of our trip, drop us an email at info@paulickreport.com. If you would like to give a smaller amount, you can always make secure credit card donation on the Breeders’ Cup Charities page linked here.
It only took two hours into our journey for Ray to cop out so this first blog falls on the shoulders of his humble correspondent, Brad Cummings. I’ve become accustomed to carrying his water so nothing new on my front!
According to Mike Wolken who works at the Equestrian Room, the best bet of the day is the grilled rueben sandwich here. That seems to be a safe bet as Tom Leach, voice of Kentucky Wildcats football and basketball lost his first bet on the opening race with a win bet on the four horse. Here’s to hoping that was our only stroke of bad luck today!
Please drop any suggestions you might have in the comments section below.
A few video clips from today. First is a quick look at the autograph lineup of jockeys. Some of the best in the world are here at Keeneland.
Second is a great interview with Kent Desormeaux who was gracious enough to give his time. (Due to user error, the first 20 seconds were chopped off. I promise this will be my first and last mistake over the next 10 days…)
Two races down and few more bets have failed. Our TVG Community friend Angelo missed on his first leg of the Pick 4, going with the 4 and 11 horses. No worries though, he’s got a couple more bets to go. Due to our association with TVG, we’ve been able to include a couple of their top community handicappers and look forward to much success on their bets.
Be sure to catch Tom Leach and Ray on TVG as they talk about the BC or Bust fundraising drive right after the third race at Keeneland.
Ray’s got his first bet of the day in the fourth race on the three horse. Looks like Tom is going for the ten. Both would be great for our charity drive. May the best man win! (Appropriate that Tom would pick a horse named flexthegoldenpipes since he’s a radio guy)
And another poor showing. We’re bleeding here folks. On a side note, Petecarol won the race. Ray’s wife’s name is Carol and a USC grad. For those of you who don’t know, Pete Carroll happens to be the name of the USC football head coach. I think Ray might be in the dog house for not catching on to the obvious sign here.
By Ray Paulick TO SAY THE WAGERING SELECTIONS HAVE BEEN COLD would be an understatement. My solo wager of the day, Doubles Partner, broke a bit slowly and then rushed up to engage for the lead around the turn. But the son of Rock Hard Ten paid for his early efforts and had nothing left when Petecarol cruised past at the top of the stretch.
Tom Leach, who was kind enough to take time from his busy schedule to go one-on-one with me in a handicapping challenge (he’s calling a Blue-White University of Kentucky basketball scrimmage later today on WLAP/630 and 98.1 FM The Bull) hasn’t had much luck, either, but we’ll both be swinging in the seventh race. Our TVG community partner, Angelo Lieto, has his big bet of the day in the eighth, on the Indian Charlie filly Silver Time.
In the seventh, Tom and I both are trying to beat the favorite, the Bernstein filly Orchestrator, and we’ve wound up on the same horse: Check the Label, a daughter of Stormin’ Fever owned by Brereton Jones and trained by Graham Motion. I’ll not only be playing a straight bet on Check the Label, but I’ll be pulling for the filly because Jones’ Airdrie Stud is one of the four sponsors for the first leg of this fundraising drive, along with Lane’s End, Darley and Overbrook Farm.
Julien Leparoux will be riding Check the Label. He was one of the many jockeys who took time out of their schedule earlier today to sign Breeders’ Cup caps in front of the Keeneland gift shop. Proceeds, as Brad Cummings mentioned, go the two charities.
At the end of the autograph line was Robby Albarado, who was showing the effects of a nasty spill at Keeneland the weekend before last when he went down and was kicked in the eye. This was one of those spills that could have been devastating, and Robby was lucky to escape with "only" an eye completely swollen shut.
Sitting next to Robby in the autograph line was Kent Desormeaux, who lost the hearing in his right ear from a spill 17 years ago. He’s come back and is riding at the top of his game, but both riders know the dangers of their profession and how important it is to have a safety net in the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.
Just 10 minutes to post before our last bet of the day, and unless our TVG online community friend Angelo Lieto is correct, we could be shut out on the day, a tough way to start this portion of the fundraising drive. Silver Time, his pick, Silver Time, has been bet down from her 8-1 morning line to 9-2 with just a few minutes to post time. A win by Silver Time and Jesus Castanon for trainer Larry Jones and the Cottonwood Stables will give us a profit on the day. A loss puts us in a hole that we’ll have to dig out of tomorrow at Hawthorne.
Well, no complaints. Silver Time ran a good race, just not good enough to win. She got a good trip from the inside, bid for the lead turning into the stretch, and was simply outfinished by the late-running Diamond Song, an Unbridled’s Song filly owned and bred by diamond explorer Charles Fipke. Diamond Song was ridden by Kent Desormeaux and trained by Dallas Stewart.
No one said picking winners would be easy. We’ll take our swings tomorrow in Chicago. For Brad and me, it’s our kind of town, Chicago.
Thanks again to the management and staff of Keeneland for helping us launch the BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST fundraising drive, and thanks to the jockeys who gave their time to meet fans and autograph Breeders’ Cup caps, TVG for helping promote the fundraiser and to Tom Leach and TVG online community member Angelo Lieto.
And a special thanks to the four sponsors of this segment of the journey: William S. Farish’s Lane’s End, Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley, Brereton C. Jones’ Airdrie Stud and the Young family’s Overbrook Farm for their generosity toward the two charities.
Please consider a donation of any amount to Breeders’ Cup Charities, to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and the V Foundation for Cancer Research. Click here to donate.
By Ray Paulick I’m one of those folks who like to bet on horses. During my infrequent trips to Las Vegas, the only gambling I do is at the race books. I’ve gone to riverboat casinos, gambling barges, slots parlors at racinos, poker rooms and Native American tribal lands that offer casino gambling simply to get an idea of what the places are like, the kind of crowds they attract, and what type of competition horse racing faces. I’ve never dropped a penny, nickel, dime or quarter into a slot machine, or even bought a lottery ticket. Those things just don’t interest me.
In a perfect world defined by me, people would still have to travel to Las Vegas or Atlantic City to get their gambling jollies. That’s the way it was until April 1, 1991, when the state of Iowa—not exactly known as a gambling mecca—opened the floodgates and launched America’s first state-sanctioned floating casino onto the Mississippi River. It’s taken less than 20 years since then for the landscape of our country to dramatically change.
Where are we today? Eighteen of the largest 20 metropolitan areas of the United States are within a three-hour drive of a slot machine or blackjack table, the lone exceptions being Atlanta and Dallas-Ft. Worth. During a summer cross-country drive, I was stunned at the places that now offer gambling, either through casinos legalized by the state or on Indian reservations made through state compacts in the wake of the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. It made me feel like a stranger in a strange land.
All of this new competition has had an enormous effect on horse racing. Many state legislatures have recognized the competitive imbalance the racing industry faced and enacted measures to “level the playing field.†In most cases, those measures allowed tracks to install Video Lottery Terminals, or slot machines, the most popular form of casino gambling. Those are the “have†states in horse racing: places like Iowa, Delaware, West Virginia, Indiana, Louisiana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Florida, New York and Maryland either have or will have slot machines for an additional revenue stream divided among state government, racetracks and horsemen.
The racing states without these additional forms of revenue, the “have nots,†have suffered: Kentucky, California and Illinois, to name a few. Residents of California have numerous Indian casinos with thousands of slot machines to siphon off potential horse racing gamblers. Illinois has casino “boats†throughout the state. Kentuckians have plenty of gambling choices, too, via a short drive across the state line into Indiana, Illinois or West Virginia. In Kentucky’s case, it’s not only hurt racing, but the breeding industry at its foundation, along with the state budget and the many programs that are in need.
Because of the massive expansion of gambling, VLTs, slot machines or casino wagering has become an economic necessity for racetracks across America (an enlightened Canadian government long ago gave the Ontario Jockey Club the right to compete with casinos at Woodbine). It’s not something I really want to see or particularly enjoy; in my world, racing would be able to survive on its own. But guess what? It’s not my world.
Critics have said slot machines are just a Band-Aid to what ails the sport—and it’s hard to argue that point. But aren’t Band-Aids used to prevent patients from bleeding to death while doctors try to heal the wound? I suggest this industry will bleed to death in some states, including Kentucky, without this help.
Others who oppose the legalization of slot machines say racetrack management is not to be trusted, another good point, given the fact that many tracks are now owned by publicly traded casino companies whose sole interest in racing is in its key to unlocking the casino door. That’s why the late President Ronald Reagan often repeated the phrase “trust, but verify,†when dealing with countries that had a different agenda or priority than ours. In other words, horsemen must be vigilant in dealing with legislators and regulators, get things in writing, and leave nothing to trust.
What’s been missing from the debate in Kentucky over slot machines is a vision for the future of the racing and breeding industry. How will racetracks use their newfound revenue to heal a bleeding patient? Are higher purses all that’s needed, or will tracks be required to invest in marketing the sport of racing, or to modernize their facilities? Will horsemen and tracks work together to readdress a business model that isn’t working, or to lower the takeout and make the game more affordable and attractive to gamblers who have more wagering options than ever before?
The enlightening commentary by Bill Farish of Lane’s End Farm published yesterday demonstrated the resolve that most in Kentucky’s Thoroughbred industry now have to overcome the politics that have prevented a leveling of the playing field with tracks in other states. What’s needed now is a comprehensive plan for how this proposed new revenue would make this sport one on which more fans will want to bet.
Two months ago, the Paulick Report featured the headline REPUBLICANS VS. REPUBLICANS regarding the 527 group started by Will Farish of Lane’s End and Bill Casner of WinStar Farm. Despite both being prominent and generous donors to the Republican Party nationally and locally, they found themselves strange bedfellows with Kentucky Democrats as they helped Robin Webb squeak past Jack Ditty in a State Senate special election in late August.
What created this unusual alliance? Kentucky Republican leadership has decided to champion the anti-slots viewpoint and subsequently leave Kentucky breeders, owners and racetracks at a disadvantage to neighboring states like Indiana and West Virginia. Bill Farish, the son of Will Farish and the chairman of the Breeders’ Cup and former personal aide to George Bush Sr., makes the case that Senate Leader David Williams and others are not pitting Republicans against Democrats but instead pitting Republicans against Republicans in the ultimate display of “eating your own.”
His accurate statement that the industry has never been more united and his call for bipartisanship among Republicans, Democrats and Independents is an earnest effort toward giving the Kentucky Thoroughbred industry equal footing with those in other states.The Paulick Report hope his editorial does not fall on deaf ears. - Bradford Cummings
By Bill Farish
For almost two decades, Kentuckians have been debating the merits of expanded gaming.  As our signature racing and breeding industries have become increasingly threatened by our neighboring states, who use revenue from gaming to substantially increase race purses and breeders incentive funds, Kentucky residents have responded with a near unanimous belief that we must do everything possible to protect Kentucky’s horse industry, and the 100,000 jobs that go with it.
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A recent statewide poll indicated that nearly 70 percent of Kentuckians support putting video lottery terminals (VLTs) at Kentucky racetracks.  That such a large majority of Kentucky residents would agree on what had been a controversial issue is striking, and speaks to our collective belief that Kentucky’s racing and breeding industries should be put on a level competitive playing field.
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Sadly, those who oppose VLTs at racetracks, and who have clearly lost in the court of public opinion, have decided to engage in cynical rhetoric meant to divide our state instead of uniting it.
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Senate President David Williams has made it clear that he intends to make protecting our signature industry a partisan issue. Â After making a promise to every Kentuckian that the issue would receive a fair hearing in the Senate, Sen. Williams sent it to a committee where the chairman declared it dead before even hearing testimony. Â Imagine going on trial and the judge declares you guilty before your lawyer even makes an opening statement. Â Would you consider that a fair hearing? Â
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Now, in an effort to inject partisan politics into the discussion, Sen. Williams has attacked Gov. Beshear and other Democrats for “poisoning the well†in Frankfort.  Sen. Williams also seems to suggest that Republicans should oppose VLTs at racetracks as a tenet of our political philosophy.  As a life-long Republican, and a member of a Kentucky family that has worked on behalf of the Republican Party and Republican administrations, I can say without reservation that protecting our signature industry is not a partisan issue.  In fact, the Republican Party should be standing up for Kentucky businesses, Kentucky jobs, and a free market environment that would allow Kentuckians to fairly compete with their out of state competitors. Due to Sen. Williams’ utter mismanagement, this issue now pits Republicans against Republicans, not Republicans against Democrats, as he would have us believe.
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Sen. Williams and several members of his caucus are currently advocating that the government should stand in the way of our signature industry, and prevent it from being able to compete.  Government interference with Kentucky businesses and job creation does not sound like a Republican philosophy I am familiar with.  But regardless, saving 100,000 jobs and the industry that identifies our state all over the world does not rest in the domain of any political party. It should be the stated goal of all Kentuckians—regardless of political registration.
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The other strategy currently being employed is similarly distressing.  Opponents have decided that the best way to defeat VLTs at racetracks is to pit horse owners and breeders against racetracks.  By suggesting that racetracks are greedy corporations that don’t care about our horse industry, our opponents lay bare their belief that our industry must be divided in order to be defeated.  In ramping up his rhetoric, Sen. Williams has made it clear that he intends to demonize Kentucky racetracks at every turn.
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The horse industry is as united as it has never been in the past. Â Opponents of VLTs have always relied on our discord to defeat the efforts to compete on a level playing field. Â Now that the industry has formed a united front, opponents seek to break us apart again. Â They will be unsuccessful in their efforts to do so. Â Kentucky breeders recognize that we must have a healthy horse economy in this state in order to run successful breeding operations. Â A healthy horse economy includes buyers willing to invest in our product and take their investment to the racetracks in the hopes of recouping their investment. Owners recognize that they need healthy racetracks offering good purses, so that they can attempt to win back some of their initial investment. Â Racetrack operators understand that they need breeders to produce and owners to race their horses at their tracks.
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We are all in this together, and the attempt to break us into factions is disheartening.  A fractured industry cannot survive, and a failed horse industry would be catastrophic for Kentucky’s economy.  Sadly, Sen. Williams seems less concerned about helping our industry, and more concerned about maintaining control over his Senate fiefdom.  Â
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However, as a new legislative session approaches, we will stand together, Republicans and Democrats, owners, trainers, breeders, racetracks, and the 100,000 Kentuckians who rely on the horse industry to make a living. Â We will continue to hold our elected officials accountable, and we will not stop working until our state government gets out of the way and allows us to have the tools necessary to compete.
By Ray Paulick It’s not the least bit surprising to see horses like Giant’s Causeway, A.P. Indy and Unbridled’s Song among the leading sires of American Graded Stakes winners, a weekly feature brought to you by Keeneland. After all, Giant’s Causeway leads all American-based sires by progeny earnings in 2009, A.P. Indy is fifth on the list and Unbridled’s Song ninth, according to bloodhorse.com.
A.P. Indy has seven AGS winners of 2009 that have won 10 graded stakes; Giant’s Causeway has six AGS winners of nine races, and Unbridled’s Song and Pulpit (16th on the general sire list) each have five AGS winners of seven graded stakes.
But right in the middle of those five sires–which had 2009 stud fees ranging from a high of $250,000 for A.P. Indy, $125,000 each for Giant’s Causeway and Unbridled’s Song and $80,000 for Pulpit—is a stallion who is priced much more affordably and is quietly having his best year at stud, as represented by his offspring on the track and the sale ring. That stallion is Dixie Union, a multiple-American Graded Stakes-winning son of Dixieland Band who stands at Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Ky. Dixie Union has been represented by six AGS winners of 2009 that have won eight AGS races.
Dixie Union’s 2009 stud fee was $35,000, payable when foal stands and nurses.
Thoroughbred owners have taken notice of Dixie Union’s success, even though he only ranks 21st on the list of leading American sires by progeny earnings. Through the first three days of the Keeneland September yearling sale, Dixie Union has had five yearlings sell from seven offered for an average price of $235,000 and a median of $205,000. His two RNAs were bought back at $140,000 and $235,000. Those are very good numbers–even at his earlier stud fee of $50,000.
Dixie Union was a top-class racehorse at ages two and three for trainer Richard Mandella and his breeder, Herman Sarkowsky, who co-owned the colt with Gerald Ford of Diamond A Racing. At 2  in 1999 he won three AGS stakes: the Hollywood Juvenile Championship at Hollywood Park, Best Pal at Del Mar and Norfolk Stakes during the Oak Tree Racing Association meeting at Santa Anita. He finished fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and came out of that race with a bone chip in his knee. Dixie Union’s return was too late to make the 2000 Triple Crown races, but he won a pair of Grade 1 races at 3: the Haskell Invitational and Malibu Stakes. He retired to stud with a slight tendon injury following the Malibu.
Dixie Union’s six AGS winners of 2009 are: Justwhistledixie, winner of the Grade 2 Davona Dale and Bonnie Miss Stakes at Gulfstream Park; Dixie Chatter, winner of the Grade 2 Arcadia at Santa Anita; Bold Union, winner of the Grade 3 Endine Stakes at Delaware Park; Dixie Band, unbeaten winner of the Grade 3 Arlington-Washington Futurity; Hot Dixie Chick, a two-time Saratoga stakes winner of the Grade 2 Schuylerville and Grade 1 Spinaway; and most recently, Gone Astray, winner of the Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby.
While Lane’s End has other, higher-profile stallions among its roster of 22 (most notably, Horses of the Year A.P. Indy, Mineshaft and Curlin, and leading sire Smart Strike, among others) no one at Will Farish’s successful Versailles, Ky., operation may offer better value than Dixie Union.
By Ray Paulick
Of the 233 horses that have won an American Graded Stakes (AGS) race this year, 122 of them (52.4%) have sold at public auction in North America or abroad, either as foals or weanlings, yearlings or at 2-year-olds in training or sales of older horses.
Yearling sales dominate the roster of 2009 AGS winners. There are 107 AGS winners this year sold as yearlings (that’s 45.9% of 2009 AGS winners and 87.7% of the 122 sold at any type of sale). Keep in mind, these numbers only reflect American Graded Stakes and do not include horses offered at a sale and either withdrawn or bought back by their consignors. Some horses sold as yearlings were previously bought as foals or weanlings or were later sold as 2-year-olds in training by pinhookers.
Drilling down a little deeper on the yearling statistics, the Paulick Report’s weekly American Graded Stakes Standings brought to you by Keeneland shows that Taylor Made Sales Agency is responsible for selling 18 of those 107 yearlings that subsequently became AGS winners. That means 16.8% of this year’s AGS winners sold at public auction as yearlings passed through the Nicholasville, Ky., operation run by brothers Duncan, Frank, Ben and Mark Taylor and Pat Payne.
Of course, we all know that Taylor Made is the industry’s largest volume of seller of yearlings, so how does that 16.8% compare with the overall percentage of yearlings sold by Taylor Made? Since the AGS winners came from different foal crops and yearling sale years, we’ll arbitrarily select one auction year as an estimated benchmark. Using statistics from the 2007 Thoroughbred Times Auction Review (3-year-olds of 2009), Taylor Made sold 536 yearlings, or 5.3% of the 10,215 yearlings sold that year. In other words, Taylor Made sold about one in 20 of all the yearlings auctioned off in a given year, but sold one in six of the yearling sale graduates that won a 2009 AGS race. If 2007 was an average year for Taylor Made in terms of the number of yearlings sold, then its 18 AGS winners of 2009 equates to a success rate of 3.4% AGS winners from yearlings sold.
The prices of Taylor Made graduates reflect that quality. While the overall average of the 10,215 yearlings sold in North America in 2007 was $55,020 and the median was $15,000, Taylor Made’s 2007 average price was $137,500. Buyers of Taylor Made consigned yearlings that went on to success in 2009 AGS races spent, on average, $346,111 for each yearling that became an AGS winner (the median price of a 2009 AGS winner sold by Taylor Made was $342,500).
For comparison’s sake, of all 107 yearlings sold that went on to win a 2009 AGS, the average hammer price was $211,134 and the median was $120,000.
Eaton Sales is typically second in volume (number of yearlings sold) and is also second behind Taylor Made in producing the highest number of 2009 AGS winners, with 10 (two of which were sold by Eaton as weanlings and eight as yearlings).
Using overall 2007 auction numbers, the eight yearlings sold by Eaton that won a 2009 AGS equates to 2.2% of all the yearlings Eaton sold in 2007. The average sale price of Eaton’s 2009 AGS winners is $131,500, almost identical to Eaton’s 2007 yearling average of $130,970.
Paramount Sales is represented by six AGS winners of 2009, all sold as yearlings for an average price of $92,000, and the six AGS successes represents 2.4% of the total number sold by Paramount in 2007 (again, please remember, we are choosing 2007 arbitrarily, since this year’s AGS winners come from multiple foal crops and sale years). Paramount’s overall yearling average in 2007 was $67,803.
Lane’s End has six 2009 AGS winners, one sold as a weanling; the five sold as yearlings had an average price of $1,021,000, a number spiked by the $3.9 million Storm Cat colt Mr. Sidney. The five AGS winners represent 2.7% of the 184 yearlings Lane’s End sold in 2007. Lane’s End had an overall yearling average of $236,506 in 2007, by far the highest of this group of consignors ranked among the leading sellers of AGS winners. (Another reminder, the statistics do not include overseas graded/group race results.)
Hill ‘n’ Dale sold six 2009 AGS winners, four of them as yearlings for an average price of $148,800. The number sold represents 2.1% of all Hill ‘n’ Dale yearlings sold in 2007. Those yearlings averaged $92,982.
Conclusions? Obviously, Taylor Made is enjoying an outstanding year as the leading seller of 2009 AGS winners, and it’s not only because of the higher volume of horses sold. Using those 2007 auction figures as a benchmark, Taylor Made’s rate of 3.4% AGS winners from yearlings sold is higher than all the other leading consignors shown in the table below demonstrating that quantity in a consignment does not by any means exclude quality.
By Ray Paulick
The leading trainer of American Graded Stakes winners through Aug. 9 is not last year’s Eclipse Award winner Steve Asmussen, the runaway leader in the earnings category that is typically used to rank trainers (Asmussen-trained horses have earned $13.7 million so far this year, $5.7 million more than his closest pursuer). Neither is it Todd Pletcher, the four-time Eclipse Award winner who dominated the trainer’s ranks from 2004-07 before Asmussen’s ascension to the top.
The leader of American Graded Stakes winners, with nine individual horses to win a graded stakes race, is Kiaran McLaughlin. McLaughlin has won graded stakes at six different tracks for six different sets of owners. Only one of his AGS winners has won more than one graded stakes race while in his care (one of them, Seventh Street, was moved to trainer Saeed bin Suroor, and went on to win the G1 Go for Wand at Saratoga).
McLaughlin’s winners are: Albertus Maximus (G1 Donn Handicap for Shadwell Stables); Seventh Street (G1 Apple Blossom Handicap for Darley Stable); Justwhistledixie (G2 Davona Dale and G2 Bonnie Miss for West Point Thoroughbreds, Lakland Farm, and R.D. Hubbard); Dream Play (G2 Comely Stakes for Stewart Armstrong); Charitable Man (G2 Peter Pan for Mr. and Mrs. William K Warren Jr.); Carolyn’s Cat (G2 Vagrancy Handicap for the Warrens); the Japanese-bred Florentino (G2 Jefferson Cup for Darley Stable); Justenuffhumor (G2 Fourstardave Handicap for Darley Stable); and Mr. Fantasy (G3 Withers for West Point Thoroughbreds, Brooks and Cammarano).
All but one of McLaughlin’s AGS winners were purchased at public auction, the exception being Albertus Maximus, who was bought privately by Shadwell and turned over to McLaughlin prior to the Donn Handicap. Those bought publicly weren’t found in the bottom of a barrel, ranging from a low price of $200,000 Charitable Man (bought by agent Mike Ryan from the Lane’s End consignment at the 2007 Keeneland September yearling sale) to a high of $1,226,120 at the Japan Racing Horse Association sale from Katsumi Yoshida’s Northern Farm consignment.
His successes in American graded stakes races have helped elevate McLaughlin to third place in the national trainer standings, with earnings of $4.8 million. He’s won 76 races from 373 starts, according to Equibase’s trainer standings, meaning that roughly one of every seven winners is in a graded stakes race.
Asmussen and Pletcher, with far more starters than McLaughlin, are tied for second, with eight AGS winners apiece, and it figures to be only a matter of time before they surpass the soft-spoken Kentucky native as the leader in this category, given the greater overall firepower of their stables. Previous multiple Eclipse Award winners Bob Baffert and Bobby Frankel are next in AGS winners, with seven and six, respectively.
This final note: readers of the first few installments of the American Graded Stakes Standings brought to you by Keeneland might notice some minor changes in the numbers of AGS winners in certain categories. While reviewing our statistical summaries from earlier in the year, we noticed a handful of late December AGS races that were included in our 2009 statistics. They have since been deleted. We apologize for the error.
By Ray Paulick
How good is Rachel Alexandra? There are several ways to marvel at her extraordinary ability. To the naked eye, she is an impressive combination of grace and power that is seldom seem, her long, smooth strides simply too much for her overmatched competitors to keep up with.
To followers of speed figures, she is a monster. Her Beyer Speed Figure from Sunday’s Haskell Invitational was 116, a huge number. I would think her Ragozin and Thorograph numbers will also reflect superiority over her contemporaries.
What she has done in racking up seven consecutive victories in 2009 by Aug. 2 is equally amazing. In some ways, this daughter of Medaglia d’Oro is a throwback to yesteryear, when horses weren’t treated with kid gloves. In compiling this formidable record, Rachel Alexandra has won six American Graded Stakes—twice as many as any other horse in the country so far this year—and four of the graded races were Grade 1 events (Kentucky Oaks, Preakness, Mother Goose, and Haskell Invitational). Two of them, as any racing fan knows, were outside of her division against colts.
Let’s put those numbers in perspective. There will be something like 50,000 races run this year in the U.S., about 2,600 of them stakes races, or about 5% of all races. Of the 2,600 stakes, only about 500 are graded (1%), and of those 500, there are just 115 Grade 1. So, one-fifth of 1% of all U.S. races have Grade 1 status.
Taken a bit farther, for those 50,000 races there are about 410,000 horses in the starting gate. No more than 115 of those 410,000 starters will be able to claim a Grade 1 victory, or about three horses from every 10,000 starters (three-hundredths of 1%).
What are the odds of one of those horses winning four Grade 1 races in the first eight months of the year? Astronomical!
So, Rachel Alexandra is not quite a one in a million superstar Thoroughbred, but she’s pretty darned close.
THESE NUMBERS AND PERCENTAGES merely serve to illustrate how difficult it is for a Thoroughbred to become a graded stakes winner. The chances of breeding, buying, selling or training one can be equally challenging.
Of course, there is strength in numbers to improve your chances of being associated with a graded stakes winner, whether you are a sire, owner, breeder, trainer, consignor or sales company. But big numbers do not guarantee success.
We’ll look this week at the leading sires of 2009 American Graded Stakes winners so far this year. Three stallions—A.P. Indy, Giant’s Causeway and Unbridled’s Song—each have sired five AGS winners. But Giant’s Causeway has by far had the most starters—265 at this writing—so his percentage of AGS winners to year starters is just 1.9%. A.P. Indy with 126 starters, has sired 4.0% AGS winners, and Unbridled’s Song with 162 starters, has sired 3.1% AGS winners. (Note: the number of starters is worldwide.)
A.P. Indy stood for $250,000 this year. A success rate of 4.0% AGS winners means 1 in 25 runners wins an AGS, so it has taken on average $6,250,000 in stud fees (25 X $250,000) to produce each graded stakes winner among his runners. (Not all foals get to the races, so the number to produce an AGS would be even higher considering all foals.)
Giant’s Causeway and Unbridled’s Song stood for $125,000 each, and their average stud fee price per graded stakes winner using that same formula is $6,579,000 for Giant’s Causeway and $4,032,000 for Unbridled’s Song.
It’s the next group of three sires, Mizzen Mast, Candy Ride and Tapit, with four AGS winners each, where the value is greater. Mizzen Mast has had 126 starters and has a AGS winner percentage of 3.2%; Candy Ride has had 80 starters for a 5.0% AGS strike rate; Tapit has had 84 starters for 4.8%.
Candy Ride, who was recently moved from Hill ‘n’ Dale to Lane’s End, offered the greatest value when considering his $12,500 stud fee. His average stud fee cost per AGS winner was only $250,000. Of course, there is little question that Candy Ride’s fee will be going up in 2010, though no announcement has yet been made.
Of the other two sires with four AGS winners, Mizzen Mast with a $17,500 fee produced each 2009 AGS winner at an average stud fee cost of $547,000; Tapit, with a fee of $35,000 produced each 2009 AGS winner at an average stud fee cost of $729,000—still a bargain compared with the higher-priced stallions.
There was no live racing going on at WRD, but plenty of slot machines, simulcasting and a friendly staff. We even saw a patron arriving on horseback—not something you see every day.
After Friday’s visit with the Straight family, we headed south and encountered heavy rainfall alongo the way. We thought we’d stop in and catch some racing at Fairmount Park’s simulcast room late in the afternoon, but didn’t bring our waders to walk through the parking lot to the front door. Apparently we’d just missed a heavy storm that flooded the parking lot and other businesses in the St. Louis area. 
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