Posts Tagged ‘tampa bay downs’

All eyes will be on last year’s champion fillies, Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta, as they both make their 2010 debuts on Saturday. While the Steve Asmussen-trained Rachel Alexandra is set to race in the ungraded New Orleans Ladies Stakes at the Fair Grounds (approx. post time 6:15 e.t.), Zenyatta has her sights set on the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Handicap at Santa Anita. The John Shirreffs-trained Zenyatta will carry 127 lbs., conceding up to 19 lbs. to her opponents, which include Striking Dancer, Floating Heart and Pretty Unusual. The Santa Margarita is 1 1/8 miles on the Pro-Ride surface; the scheduled post-time is 6:40 e.t.

Also, on Saturday’s card at Santa Anita is the G2 San Felipe, a Derby prep at 1 1/16 miles on the main track. The line-up appears familiar with the first three finishers from the Feb. 13 G2 Robert B. Lewis in action again—Caracortado, Dave In Dixie and American Lion.

The other Derby prep of interest is the G2 Rebel at Oaklawn Park. Shipping in from California is 2009 2-year-old champion Lookin at Lucky, who will be making his 2010 bow for trainer Bob Baffert and regular rider Garrett Gomez. Others in the 1 1/16-mile Rebel with possible Kentucky Derby aspirations are Noble’s Promise, Cardiff Giant and Dublin. Three-year-old fillies are in the spotlight in the G3 Honeybee, also 1 1/16 miles on the dirt. Heading the field is Decelerator, a stakes winner at Oaklawn on Feb. 13. Brereton Jones’s homebred No Such Word and Beautician, runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, are entered as well.

Tampa Bay Downs will host a 12-race card on Saturday which includes three graded stakes. Eclipse winner She Be Wild will try to avenge her fifth-place finish in the Forward Gal in the G3 Florida Oaks (1 1/16 miles on turf for 3-year-old fillies). The G3 Hillsborough, for older females at 1 1/8 miles on turf showcases Mushka, the favorite at 5-2 on the morning line, Lady Shakespeare, and Tottie, who is undefeated in two U.S. starts. The Tampa Bay Derby (G3) has a contentious 7-horse field headed by slight favorite Super Saver. Making his 2010 debut here, the Todd Pletcher trainee last won the Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs by five lengths in November.

The Gulfstream Park Handicap (G2) at one mile on the dirt for older horses will take place Saturday at the South Florida racetrack of the same name. The morning line favorite is This Ones for Phil, from Rick Dutrow’s barn. He will face two entries from Kiaran McLaughlin’s shedrow—Grasshopper and Past the Point, as well as Harlem Rocker (Todd Pletcher) and Cool Coal Man (Nick Zito).

Sunday’s Gulfstream program features the G2 Inside Information, a seven-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares on the main track. The top four finishers of last month’s Hurricane Bertie return for Inside Information. Kays and Jays was the winner of the 6 1/2-furlong Hurricane Bertie, who outfinished Tar Heel Mom, Warbling and Pretty Prolific.

By Ray Paulick
The Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association published a slick brochure a few years ago titled “On Course,” heralding all the good things going on with horse racing and breeding in the Sunshine State. But the organization might want to rethink that title if it publishes an updated version in 2010.

With only a few exceptions where revenue from other forms of gambling has helped ease a business down cycle, most racing and breeding states are hurting. But Florida seems to have been stung the worst by a combination of the global economic crisis, a collapsing real estate market, and the decline in the economics and popularity of Thoroughbred racing.

A more accurate name for that updated FTBOA brochure might be “Off Track.”

Consider that:

- The number of mares being bred and Thoroughbred stallions standing in Florida have fallen faster than any other state, dropping by 23.3% and 24.0%, respectively, from 2008 to 2009. Further declines are expected in both categories in 2010.

- Florida’s foal crop, historically the second-largest in the United States behind Kentucky, has dropped from a high of 4,511 in 2003 to a projected 2,600 in 2010—a decline of 42%. It is conceivable states like Louisiana or Pennsylvania, with more lucrative breeders’ incentive programs, could surpass Florida in foal production in the next few years.

- A number of large stallion operations, including the Sanan family’s Padua and Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs, have pulled out of Florida.

- Numerous Thoroughbred farms are listed as “for sale” in the Ocala area of Marion County, the self-proclaimed “Horse Capital of the World.”

- The declines in Florida breeding have come after 2004 legislation was passed and a statewide referendum supported a constitutional amendment permitting racetracks in Dade and Broward counties to install slot machines if they got local-option approval. Both Gulfstream Park and Calder in South Florida now have casinos with slot machines.

SEEKING LEGISLATIVE HELP
Help could be on the way. The 2010 legislative session begins today (March 2) in the state capital in Tallahassee, and gambling legislation is high on the list of priorities of legislators and lame-duck Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, who is in the midst of a heated primary battle for a U.S. Senate seat.

The two South Florida racetracks, Florida breeders, and the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association are pushing for a reduction in the slot machine tax rate from 50% to 35%, a move that, according to the FHBPA’s Kent Stirling, would nearly double the amount of money going into purses from slot machine revenue.

“Everything is fueled by purses, and things look good to get this tax reduced,” Stirling told the Paulick Report. “That should right things. I don’t envision that happening until July 1, but it will certainly help. We’re one of a number of states in a crisis right now with purses that don’t stand up. If we don’t have the purses, you won’t breed the horses.”

Stirling said 6.75% of gross revenue from slots currently go to overnight purses, with breeders getting an additional 0.75%. If the tax rate is reduced from 50% to 35%, he said, purses will get an extra 5.25%, and the amount going to breeders would increase to 1.2%.

“The deal we would get for purses will be very good for horsemen,” Stirling said. “We have long-term contracts signed with the racetracks.”

One concern Stirling and others have is whether South Florida can support the number of slots casinos in the region: the Seminole Tribe operates a massive Hard Rock casino not far from Gulfstream Park; there is the Pompano Isle of Capri harness track in Pompano Beach; Mardi Gras (the former Hollywood Dog Track near Gulfstream Park; and other Indian casinos in the region, in addition to Gulfstream and Calder.

Legislation being proposed also may include a provision giving the FTBOA flexibility in how it distributes its breeders’ awards program, allow Hialeah Park to operate a slots casino, and create a permit to operate a not-for-profit race meeting in Ocala/Marion County.

But a deal with racetracks is only part of the gaming legislation in the works. Still unresolved is a compact with the Seminoles after a proposal by Crist that was tied to a tax break for pari-mutuel slots was rejected by the legislature. That proposal would have given the Seminoles a full-blown casino monopoly outside of South Florida. The tribe has offered casino games without a compact, something the federal government’s National Indian Gaming Commission said is illegal. Earlier this year a House committee rejected Crist’s compact unanimously and voted to uncouple pari-mutuel legislation from any deal with the Seminoles.

Crist’s proposal, though ultimately thrown out, was unsettling to Peter Berube, who runs Stella Thayer’s Tampa Bay Downs, which has seen its business hurt by a second Hard Rock Casino run by the Seminoles not far from the track in Tampa.

“Obviously we are looking for some type of product that’s going to even out the uneven field we face with the Seminoles and the slots in South Florida,” Berube said. “I’m at a very serious competitive disadvantage at this time.”

Berube said there is a separate push to allow every one of the state’s 22 pari-mutuel facilities outside of South Florida to get a total of 1,500 slot machines. A study showed the state would receive $400 million in taxes (based on a 35% rate) versus the $150 million the state would get from a compact with the Seminoles. “And we feel our numbers were very conservative,” he said of the study done by the Innovation Group.

Berube said he is not betting on a positive result. “I gave up trying to handicap Florida politics a long time ago,” he said. “I am somewhat encouraged by what’s going on up there (in Tallahassee) and some of the rhetoric.” A previous attempt by Tampa Bay to get approval for Instant Racing machines, which saved Oaklawn Park, failed to get legislative support.

“Our industry is in tatters here in Florida; it’s abysmal what’s taking place, especially when you are in proximity to Indian gaming,” said Berube. “I’ve seen a decline of 22% from 2008 to 2009 in the Tampa area. Statewide it’s fallen 14%. Nationally, the numbers are down 11% on pari-mutuel wagering. There’s a direct correlation to the Seminoles. We are suffering more. We’ve been here for 80 years, and it would be a shame for this business to go under.”

Tampa Bay is one of the nation’s most progressive tracks, lowering takeout and offering a very good wagering product. Still, he said, the track depends largely on off-season simulcasting, and he’s seen that fall by 42% because of the increased competition from the Seminoles.

CRITICS FORM GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT
Richard Hancock, executive vice president of the FTBOA, said he is confident the legislature will approve a tax reduction on South Florida’s racetrack slots and give the FTBOA flexibility in its distribution of breeders awards. “One thing I’m not happy with is Tampa Bay Downs,” he said. “They need the same help that the Dade and Broward County tracks got. The pari-mutuels there will get killed if the Seminoles expand any more.”

Hancock has been the FTBOA’s top executive for going on 20 years. He’s got his supporters, especially those on the organization’s board, but he also has an increasingly vocal group of detractors. “We’ve gone from $3 million to $15 million in incentives,” Hancock said, in defending his work with the FTBOA. “We’ve been successful and grown the pie quite a bit.”

Detractors say Hancock has not been effective in Tallahassee in getting the message out about the Thoroughbred industry’s needs and has facilitated board members in running the organization like a private club that has been unresponsive to rank-and-file breeders.

Among Hancock’s loudest critics is Ocala horse insurance agent Gordon Reiss, who helped put together a grassroots organization, the Florida Horseman’s Task Force, that began speaking out at FTBOA open house meetings, attended FTBOA board meetings, and traveled to Tallahassee, met with legislators, and organized breeders to call on their representatives to educate them about the Thoroughbred industry. Reiss said the group helped get House Speaker Larry Cretul, an Ocala Republican, to speak at a recent meeting of the Florida Thoroughbred Farm Managers.

“Legislators had no clue about the impact on the horse industry of Indian casinos,” Reiss said. “They saw horse farms as playgrounds for millionaires. Our meetings with them have made a difference.”

Reiss and others, including Bob Monahan, Bebe Luxon and Dr. Ignacio Leon, told the Paulick Report the FTBOA lacks transparency in much of what it does, communicates poorly with members (despite owning a daily publication, Wire to Wire, and the monthly Florida Horse magazine), and has questionable procedures for board elections. Hancock was accused by the group of keeping the board in the dark on issues like the Instant Racing legislation and making important decisions without consulting the board.

Hancock said Reiss is upset in part because he failed to win election to the board.

He does acknowledge, however, that the grassroots movement has been beneficial. “They actually were of some help in letting people in Tallahassee know how desperate things are down here,” Hancock said. “All the stories they told the legislators about horses and people moving to places like Pennsylvania or New York. I have to say it was helpful in getting the attention of the Pari-Mutuel Committee in the House.”

“The loss of 3,000 mares has taken $75 million to $100 million out of the local economy,” Reiss said. “Land values have dropped considerably, and the bank credit squeeze has hurt. Purses are terrible, and there is a lack of leadership. It got to the point where we couldn’t depend on the FTBOA and felt a grassroots movement was necessary.”

Copyright © 2010, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick
With Santa Anita running extra American Graded Stakes last weekend due to the cancellations the previous week because of drainage problems with the Pro-Ride synthetic track, there were 13 AGS races run over the three-day President’s Day weekend. One stakes, the Southwest at Oaklawn, was lost on President’s Day because of bad weather and has been rescheduled for this Saturday.

A quick review of the 13 races shows there was a parade of chalk into the winner’s circles, with eight favorites winning for a 61.5% rate, nearly double the national average of roughly 33% for all races run in North America.

Four trainers doubled up on AGS victories over the Feb. 13-15 weekend: Todd Pletcher (Rule in the Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs and Munnings in the Gulfstream Park Sprint Championship at Gulfstream Park); Mike Mitchell (Kays and Jays in the Hurricane Bertie at Gulfstream Park and St. Trinians in the Santa Maria Handicap at Santa Anita); Jerry Hollendorfer (Blind Luck in the Las Virgenes and Tuscan Evening in the Buena Vista Handicap, both at Santa Anita); and Christopher Grove (Greenspring in the General George Handicap and Sweet Goodbye in the Barbara Fritchie Handicap, both at Laurel).

There have been 38 AGS races run so far this year, with 18 of the winning horses having sold at public auction (RNAs are not included). Of those 18, eight of them have sold for less than $100,000. Three of those eight sold on two different occasions for less than $100,000—Kinsale King, for $27,000 at the Keeneland September yearling sale and $67,000 at the Barretts May sale of 2-year-olds in training; Cat by the Tale, for $75,000 at the Keeneland September sale and then for $52,000 as a 3-year-old at the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale; and Jeranimo, for $50,000 at the OBS August yearling sale and $70,000 at the Barretts May sale.

At the other end of the spectrum is Munnings, the highest-priced auction horse to win an AGS race so far in 2010, having been purchased by Demi O’Byrne for $1.7 million at the Fasig-Tipton Calder February sale of 2-year-olds in training. Leprechaun Racing pinhooked him at that sale after buying the son of Speightstown for $150,000 at Fasig-Tipton’s August select yearling sale.

Keeneland’s September sale, the largest yearling sale in the world, continues to dominate as expected, with 12 of its graduates winning AGS races thus far in 2010.

Eaton Sales and Taylor Made Sales Agency, the two biggest-volume consignors, each have sold three AGS winners of 2010 (all sold at Keeneland September); Gainesway and Warrendale Sales are next on the list of consignors of 2010 AGS winners, with two each.

El Corredor and Smart Strike are the only two sires to be represented by two AGS winners thus far in 2010. El Corredor, who stands at Hill ‘n’ Dale for $15,000, has sired Santa Ysabel Stakes winners Crisp and Col. E.R. Bradley Handicap winner El Caballo. Smart Strike, who stands for $75,000 at Lane’s End, has sired San Fernando Stakes winner Papa Clem and La Canada Stakes winner Striking Dancer.

 Mother Nature has wreaked havoc on racetracks coast-to-coast. Racing was cancelled last Saturday at Santa Anita; all three graded stakes will be run this Saturday, Feb. 13, in addition to the Grade 2 Santa Maria. Santa Anita’s 10-race program will feature five stakes races, including the G1 Las Virgenes and a pair of Grade 2s, the Strub and the Robert B. Lewis. The Las Virgenes has attracted a field of six 3-year-old fillies to go once around the all-weather track. Blind Luck will be heavily favored based on her final three starts in 2009—she won the G1 Oak Leaf before finishing third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, and ended the year with a seven-length win in G1 Hollywood Starlet. Among those taking on Blind Luck will be Crisp, winner of G3 Santa Ysabel, and Switch, third in G2 Santa Ynez.

The first two finishers in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic will square off in the G2 Santa Maria, the 8th race on the card. In the 1 1/16-mile dirt test, Life Is Sweet will make her 2010 debut against Florida invader Mushka.

Trainer Bob Baffert has his eyes on a couple prizes Saturday. If Misremembered can prove himself in the Strub, he’ll head for the Santa Anita Handicap, more familiarly known as the Big ‘Cap, next month. Misremembered, a ridgling son of Candy Ride last ran second to M One Rifle in the G1 Malibu. The nine-furlong Strub, for 4-year-olds, has also attracted Smart Bid and Rendezvous, second and third, respectively in the G2 San Fernando.

Baffert hopes to have yet another Kentucky Derby prospect with Tiz Chrome. The son of Tiznow comes into the 1 1/16-mile Robert B. Lewis with just two starts, but his debut at Churchill Downs and his winning performance in the Stuka Stakes at Hollywood were eye-catching. Facing him will be Eoin Harty-trained American Lion, also a son of Tiznow, who won the Hollywood Prevue.

At Gulfstream Park on Saturday, a pair of graded sprints will be featured—the G3 Hurricane Bertie, for older fillies and mares going six-and-a-half furlongs, and the G2 Gulfstream Park Sprint Championship, seven furlongs for males, four and up. The first three finishers from the G3 Sugar Swirl (Pretty Prolific, Warbling and Tar Heel Mom) are entered in the Hurricane Bertie, as well as a pair shipping in from California, Pinkarella and Kays and Jays. Barring wet track conditions, Munnings will be favored in the Sprint Championship, despite his lengthy absence from the track.

Tampa Bay Downs will host two G3 stakes on Saturday. The spotlight will be on Rule in the 1 1/16-mile Sam F. Davis. The WinStar Farm homebred has a three-race win coming in, including his most recent win in the Delta Jackpot. Lady Shakespeare takes on an overflow field in the Endeavour, a 1 1/16 mile race for older fillies and mares.

The 1 1/8-mile G2 La Canada on Sunday’s Santa Anita program has attracted a full field of 14 4-year-old fillies, including Stardom Bound, runner-up in the El Encino. Among those facing her are Pretty Unusual, winner of the El Encino, and Unrivaled Belle, who beat Stardom Bound last November in the Gazelle.

On Monday’s Presidents Day card at Laurel, two graded stakes will be presented–the Barbara Fritchie (for fillies and mares) and General George Handicaps. Both are G2 races, run at seven furlongs on the dirt. The General George has such familiar names as The Roundhouse and Ah Day in the entries; Royale Michele, assigned high weight of 121 lbs., takes on a full field in the Barbara Fritchie, spotting her rivals four to 11 lbs.

Holiday racing at Santa Anita will feature the G2 San Vicente, for 3-year-olds going seven furlongs on the Pro-Ride surface, and the G2 Buena Vista Handicap, whose probable entries include Cat by the Tale and Tuscan Evening. The Buena Vista is a one-mile turf affair for older fillies and mares.

The most interesting of the Feb. 15 graded stakes may by the G3 Southwest at Oaklawn Park for 3-year-olds going one mile. Shipping in from California are Conveyance, Cardiff Giant and Domonation, the first three finishers in the San Rafael Stakes.

We are pleased to introduce a new weekly feature today, the Paulick Report Forum brought to you by Breeders’ Cup. Every Wednesday, we’ll talk with a Thoroughbred industry player about the game we all love, trying to get a better understanding of where we’ve been and where we may be headed. One thing I’ve learned throughout my years in this industry is that nothing comes easy. We are a sport and a business fraught with divisiveness, incoherence and confusion. But at the same time we are blessed to have many participants with great intelligence, insights and dedication. In short, we never know where the next good idea may come from.

We hope you will read each week’s Forum, offer your thoughts on the subject being discussed, and suggest to us other areas where we can advance the discussions that need to take place to get our industry moving in the right direction once again. Thanks to the Breeders’ Cup for their sponsorship of this process. 

It surprised me when Christophe Clement said that he has spent half of his 44 years in the United States. Maybe it’s the heavy French accent he still retains, or simply the blur of the years going by so quickly. But the third-generation horseman has made America his permanent home since 1991. He’d spent a couple of years here in the 1980s, working for Taylor Made Farm and trainer Shug McGaughey, before returning to Europe, where he served for four years as assistant to Luca Cumani in Newmarket, England. Earlier in his life, he had apprenticed for the master horseman Alec Head in Chantilly.

Clement, coming off an outstanding year when Gio Ponti won two Eclipse Awards for the Ryan family’s Castleton Lyons as turf male and older male champion, is preparing the 5-year-old son of Tale of the Cat for a possible run at the $10-million Dubai World Cup. He’s looking at a prep race at Tampa Bay Downs on turf in February prior to taking on the world’s best over the Tapeta Footings surface at the new Meydan racetrack in Dubai. Gio Ponti is coming off a second-place finish to Zenyatta in the Breeders’ Cup Classic over the Pro-Ride synthetic track at Santa Anita.

In this, our first Paulick Report Forum brought to you by Breeders’ Cup, Clement provided some insights about the sport of Thoroughbred racing and how it’s changed during his lifetime.

What is it about international racing that is important to you?
First of all, with the Dubai race I can give you 10 million reasons. If it was a million-dollar race, I wouldn’t be going. I would be going instead to the Santa Anita Handicap. In the case of the Dubai World Cup, the purse has a lot to do with it.
 
But international racing is important. I’m just a trainer, but if I was a breeder or an owner, I would say it is very important for the breed to know which horse is the best and which sires are better. I saw an article in the TDN that said, as recently as 20 years ago, 80% of the world’s leading stallions stood in the United States. Today that number is 50%. The United States does not permeate world breeding the way it was 20 years ago.

From a personal standpoint, I don’t get as many fillies or mares sent from Europe to race here and then be bred to American stallions. Their owners are keeping them in Europe.
 
Why the shift?
A couple of things. First there is medication. People refuse to talk about it, but a lot of people in Europe still don’t want to breed to U.S. sires because those horses raced on medication. A lot of Europeans do not understand why we continue to allow medication while the rest of the world is doing OK without it.

That’s one of the factors. It is an issue for some people. There are two things I would like to see changed. I am convinced Grade 1 races should not be handicaps. It’s not healthy to use weight to try and beat the best horses. Allowance conditions are fine. This is something Bobby Frankel and I talked about, and Bobby was against handicaps in Grade 1s. I also believe there should be no medication in Grade 1s because we use these races to improve the breed.

So why do we continue to permit it?
I don’t know. Every track is different. There is no federal authority. No racing commissioner. The Graded Stakes Committee took grades away from Pennsylvania because they failed to do the proper testing, but there is limited means to enforce national rules. I’m just a trainer. These are some of my thoughts. I’m trying to win a race tomorrow.

You said there were two major reasons for the shift in stallion power away from the U.S.
Right. Secondly, the two groups, the Maktoums and Coolmore, have given European breeders access to some very good stallions because they are retaining some of the best racehorses. Twenty or 30 years ago the world’s best horses came to Gainesway—horses like Lyphard, Riverman, and Blushing Groom. This year, apparently no American farms bid for Sea the Stars. 20 years ago an American farm would have. Aside from Giant’s Causeway and Kingmambo, it’s been quite a while since an exciting European horse came to the United States as a sire. The top milers in Europe are no longer coming here, either.

What training methods have you adapted from your European background?
I am more American than European. I’m 44 and have spent more time in this country than anywhere else. But I’ll say this. When Sir Michael Stoute or Andre Fabre wake up in the morning they have a choice of tracks on which to train their horses. Here it’s the main track or the training track. Those guys have a much wider choice for their horses.

We should have access to all surfaces: dirt, turf and Polytrack.  If you have a good dirt track, like in New York, a good turf course, and a good Polytrack surface to race or train over on days when it’s very wet, it would be very popular. But the problem is who pays? It would be very expensive. In an ideal world, that’s the way it would be. A dirt track should be safe if maintained the right way. Turf is safe, and off the turf races could be run on a Polytrack.

You recently cut back on the number of horses you have in California. Is it because of the problems with Santa Anita’s surface?
It’s Mother Nature. I’m not against Santa Anita. They did everything they could. Wherever you are, you have to deal with Mother Nature. It’s been very wet out there. One reason Gio Ponti came back East is I found that the flight to Dubai will be easier from Florida than California.

In the United States all trainers think they are track superintendents, but the track superintendents know their job. There is no ideal surface 365 days a year. Bob Baffert was really negative on Polytrack, but he’s such a smart guy and a good trainer he’s really adapted. He’s doing great on that surface.

What can American trainers learn from others around the world?
When you work for the people I’ve worked for, you learn that change is not always negative. People in racing don’t like change. Change is not always a bad thing. We should be more open minded about change. A typical thing is the synthetic tracks: trainers should be more open minded. Of course it will not be perfect from day one, but it is ridiculous to be so against it, just as it is ridiculous to be against dirt racing. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. The Kentucky Derby is on dirt and should remain on dirt, and the Belmont Stakes is on dirt and should remain on dirt. But we shouldn’t exclude Polytrack from our racing because it represents change.

Finally, how do you feel about Rachel Alexandra’s owner Jess Jackson’s recent comments that the field for the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic was not nearly as good as the 2008 race when his Curlin was defeated?
I think it’s just another reason that he should have participated in the race.

Copyright © 2010, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick
Every kid should be so lucky to have parents like Sandy and Beth Straight.

“They are very inspirational people,” said Nancy LaSala, executive director of the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.

The Straights are parents of 23-year-old twin sons, Michael and Matthew, who were living out their dream together as professional Thoroughbred jockeys until that dream turned into a nightmare in a split second on Aug. 26. That’s the day Michael Straight suffered severe spinal and head injuries in an Arlington Park racing accident. The lives of the family from Albany, N.Y., took a dramatic and tragic change.

Sandy and Beth Straight were watching the race at the Albany OTB parlor. Matthew was riding in Kentucky. All of them knew immediately that this was a bad spill. Arlington Park chairman Dick Duchossois dispatched his private jet to New York to bring Michael’s parents to the hospital. Matthew didn’t need to be told. He got in his car and began driving to Chicago within minutes of the accident.

Sandy and Beth Straight put their lives on hold and have remained with their son in Chicago since August. Every day they come to the hospital, first at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge and now at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, where Michael was moved Oct. 11 and is now undergoing occupational, physical and speech therapy. They are there from nine in the morning till seven at night many days, offering support, love and hope to their son. “It’s one day at a time Michael,” Beth Straight said.

The Straights aren’t wealthy people; they work for the state of New York’s labor department—or used to until Michael was injured. But thanks to fellow riders, friends, family, people in the horse industry and organizations like the Jockey Club Foundation, the Don MacBeth Fund and the Jockeys’ Guild, they are getting able to stay with Michael. Right now, the situation is grim. “No one knows,” Sandy Straight said. “The spine is a mystery. You just can’t give up hope.”

Matthew has been there for his twin, too, spending as much time with him as he can. “He likes us to be around,” Sandy said, “but there’s nothing that lifts his spirits as much as seeing his brother.” Earlier this week, Matthew took Michael out for lunch and cruised the Magnificent Mile on Michigan Avenue, not far from the Rehabilitation Institute.

Michael and Matthew Straight have always been best friends, and they both grew up dreaming of becoming jockeys. Sandy Straight talked about how as young boys he’d seen them straddling the back of a couch, using pillows for saddles and crouching low while driving their mounts to the wire in an imaginary race. When they were nine, the boys went from riding the couch to practicing on an Equicizer, the simulated riding device developed by jockey Frank Lovato and used by professional jockeys to get back in riding shape after taking time off. At 12, Michael and Matthew learned about an organization started by the late Trudy McCaffery, “Kids to the Cup,” which offered expense paid visits to tracks hosting major races around the country including the Breeders’ Cup. Getting a close-up look at their sport through the “Kids to the Cup” program cemented their desire to ride.

Eventually they went to the North American Riding Academy that Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron established at the Kentucky Horse Park, Matthew graduating in 2007 and Michael the following year. As required by the NARA curriculum, Michael served an apprenticeship, working in the stable of trainer Wesley Ward. He launched his career earlier this year, winning with his first mount at Tampa Bay Downs on March 6. He had 39 career wins when Im No Gentleman, the horse he was riding Aug. 26 apparently clipped heels and fell, throwing Michael to the Polytrack surface awkwardly. The horse, which apparently died from a broken neck, did not fall onto or roll over the jockey.

One of the Chicago-area owners Michael rode for, Dan Sullivan, organized a fundraiser for the jockey and his family on Oct. 25 at a restaurant Sullivan owns in a Chicago suburb. “Dan Sullivan has been incredible,” Sandy said. “He’s done so much for us. One of his kids wrote that letter up there on the wall,” he said, pointing to an over-sized, hand-printed letter signed by all of his classmates.

“Bill Thayer (Arlington Park racing executive) just loves Michael and he’s devastated over what happened. Guys like Wesley and Chris are being really hard on themselves, thinking they somehow are to blame for this, but it’s not their fault.”

Sandy and Beth said it was tough to watch Matthew when he rode at Arlington Park for the first time after Michael’s injury, and they watch his races from a completely different perspective today. “We always said ‘just get around the track safely,’” Sandy said, “but now…” He didn’t need to finish the sentence.

We had the opportunity to visit with Michael and his parents, along with the PDJF’s Nancy LaSala on Friday morning, while in Chicago on the second stop of the BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST fundraising drive from Kentucky to California. The drive, in partnership with Breeders’ Cup Charities, is benefiting the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and the V Foundation for Cancer Research. We’ve had some fun raising money for the charities, but today’s visit really hit home what these seriously injured riders go through.

Everyone in racing is hoping that Michael Straight will not have to become the next rider to benefit from the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund—certainly not his parents. But the PDJF has to be there to help these riders when there are no miracles and prayers are not enough.

Michael and Matthew Straight will turn 24 years old in a couple of weeks, on Nov. 12. The best birthday present for them would be an improvement in Michael’s condition, but the odds are against that happening so soon. A donation to Breeders’ Cup Charities to benefit the PDJF and V Foundation would be an appropriate way to recognize their birthdays. Please click here to make a donation.

If you can’t give, please consider sending a birthday card to lift Michael’s spirits. (It can be sent to Michael Straight, c/o Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, 345 E. Superior, Chicago, IL 60611.) It might also lift the spirits of Sandy and Beth Straight. They have shown incredible strength over the last 10 weeks, but the stress they are experiencing and the pain they are feeling is taking a toll on them, too.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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Liberation Farm celebrates the many horsemen and horsewomen who strive each day to make things better for horses and those who work with them.  To learn more about Liberation Farm, click here.

On the eve of some great racing – the 2009 Dubai World Cup and the Florida Derby, it is a good time to point out the times the Paulick Report has highlighted the brighter side of life in the Thoroughbred industry. While the news seems pretty bleak and often is, there are many positive things we can all focus on as we look forward to an exciting 3-year-old season — for both colts and fillies.

Back during the week of Thanksgiving, we spent each day highlighting one of the many strong Thoroughbred charities working hard to make our industry a more humane one for the horses that compete and the people who help put on the show. We began that week with Anna House, an extension of the Belmont Child Care Association AT Belmont Park that provides childcare for the hard-working backstretch employees. There was ReRun, a horse adoption organization that put together an auction of their “Moneigh” collection to raise funds. We explored the multi-faceted mission of Thoroughbred Charities of America, a former colleague of mine at the Bloodhorse and Thoroughbred Times who dedicates much of his time to the Salvation Army, a halfway house of sorts in Tranquility Farm which transitions Thoroughbreds from the racetrack to adoptive homes and the Exceller Fund, named after the hall of fame horse who died tragically in a European slaughterhouse.

We also featured The Pickens Plan…not the one that’s trying to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. This Pickens plan was run by T. Boone’s wife Madeleine who has a passion for saving wild horses and restoring some of our nation’s tradition of mustangs roaming the Western front. Having an extensive background in the industry after being a partner in the Eclipse award-winning racing and breeding operation with her late husband Allen Paulson, she has decided to work towards giving many of these unwanted animals a sanctuary. We wish her luck and will continue to follow her quest in 2009 and beyond.

And then there are the untold stories of racetracks that are doing things right, both morally and financially. We tip our hat to Suffolk Downs, the first track to step up with a “zero-tolerance” horse welfare program that bans trainers whose horses are sold to slaughter. I had the great pleasure of visiting both Tampa Bay Downs and Oaklawn Park early in 2009. In a time when many tracks are struggling and see slot machines as their only salvation, these two are concentrating on the racing in Thoroughbred racing…and creating a winning product.

It has been a strong fund drive this week and I want to thank those who provided us with moral or financial support.  I feel blessed to have this opportunity to help shape the conversation as we travel through these important crossroads. Sometimes it seems like a daunting task to find long-term solutions to this sport we all love so much, but together I believe we can truly change the course of our industry. If you think the Paulick Report is an effective tool in working through these problems, I ask that you consider a donation of $2,000, $1,000, $500, $250, $100 or $50 to help further enhance this site. When considering your donation, compare our value to the $50 cost of a Sports Illustrated subscription, $100 for a year of the Bloodhorse and $1,000 for a full year of the online Racing Form subscription. All donations are kept strictly anonymous.

Click here to support the Paulick Report either via PayPal or the mail.

By Ray Paulick
With four big Kentucky Derby preps on the card today, I just had to get off the couch and go where the horses are and do a real live blog of those races. The big question was where: Tampa Bay Downs to see if General Quarters is for real; Fair Grounds, where Rick Dutrow will try to work his magic on Patena and pull the upset of Friesan Fire; Santa Anita Park, where my No. 1 horse on the Paulick Derby Index, Pioneerof the Nile, should dominate his foes in the San Felipe; or Oaklawn Park, where Old Fashioned looks like a cinch to win the Rebel Stakes?

I chose Oaklawn Park, in part because I haven’t  been to the Hot Springs racetrack since Arkansas Derby day in 1998, when Victory Gallop upset Favorite Trick. Oaklawn Park is also within relaxing driving distance of Lexington. But the real reason is that I got to thinking about how good the corned beef sandwiches are that are served in the Arkansas Sports Tavern inside the Oaklawn grandstand.

So you can imagine my disappointment when — after getting stuck in traffic on Central Avenue on the way to the track (when’s the last time that happened?) and having to park in a homeowner’s front lawn for $15 because the paid lots were full —  the lines were 50 deep for that corned beef sandwich.

I’m sure traffic, parking and food lines would have been easier at Fair Grounds or Santa Anita (I’ll bet Tampa Bay’s doing big business though), but I’ll take a racetrack full of people anytime.

Check back for more on my day at the Oaklawn races, as well as the fastest reports on the web on the San Felipe, Tampa Bay Derby, Louisiana Derby and Rebel Stakes.
 
5:08 p.m. (Eastern) … Pioneerof the Nile wins the San Felipe after a hard drive through the stretch, holding off Feisty Suances by a length and a quarter and not looking like the top pick on my personal Derby list. It wasn’t pretty, but a win’s a win, and there’s a chance that trainer Bob Baffert didn’t want this lemon to be squeezed too tight for a mid-March prep. ("I don’t use that phrase," said Baffert, who said later that Pioneerof the Nile got to waiting on horses after getting in front and prefers a faster face. "We don’t wear our good shoes until Sunday.")  Jeranimo is third and He’s Really Big fourth in a race where the fans made Pioneerof the Nile the 3-10 favorite.

Joe Talamo sent New Bay to the front, tracked by Feisty Suances and Jeranimo in the early going, with Pioneerof the Nile allowed to settle into fifth by Garrett Gomez. Fractions were slow…23:96 for the opening quarter, :48.60 for the half and 1:12.82 for six furlongs. Pioneerof the Nile commenced his rally on the turn, but it wasn’t a walk in the park for the son of Empire Maker, who had to be asked pretty severely down the stretch. Final time on the Pro-Ride synthetic surface was 1:43.35 for the 1 1/16 miles, after a mile clocking of 1:37.09.

It was not a visually impressive race by the winner, who paid $2.60 in what was his third conecutive win. He’s not a horse that wins by open lengths, however,  his Robert B. Lewis margin of victory a half length and his Cash Call Hollywood Futurity victory just a nose.  Pioneerof the Nile now has four wins in seven lifetime starts.

The runner-up, trained by Darrell Vienna, was coming off a fourth-place finish behind Chocolate Candy in the California Derby at Golden Gate Fields Jan. 17.

San Felipe chart.

5:30 p.m. … Oaklawn owner Charles Cella (pictured on Rebel day, left) made a sweep through the press box to shake a few hands and say hello to the out-of-towners, primarily me and Joe Drape of the New York Times. Good old Southern hospitality never hurts. He recognizes my necktie, a souvenir from 1998 Arkansas Derby.

5:37 p.m. … Musket Man gets up in the final strides to win the Tampa Bay Derby by about a head over Join in the Dance. Justdontcallmejeri was third, with Nowhere to Hide Fourth. It was an eventful trip for the winner, who was fourth early as Perfect Bull and Join in the Dance carved out the early fractions. Approaching the far turn, Tampa Bay’s leading rider, Daniel Centeno, shifted Musket Man off the rail and was forced to check, then was shuffled back to eighth or ninth. The Yonaguska colt fought through horses around the turn and put in a strong rally to just get up for the win. He paid $13.80 for his fourth career win in five starts and first in a graded stakes. Musket Man, coming off a third to General Quarters in the Sam F. Davis, was not an early nominee to the Triple Crown.

Derek Ryan trains Musket Man for Eric Fein and Vic Carlson. Big disappointments in the race were Barclay Tagg-trained Hello Broadway, who was made the 2-1 but finished seventh after a wide trip, and General Quarters, the San F. Davis winner who was fifth as the second choice.

Tampa Bay Derby chart.

5:52 p.m. … Whoa! That was one impressive victory by Friesan Fire in the Louisiana Derby. The son of A.P. Indy got a confident ride from Gabriel Saez, coming from just off the pace to blow away the field by 7  1/4 lengths. Saez was doing more celebrating than riding in the final sixteenth, or the margin might have been even bigger. Of course, on sloppy racetracks, the conditions on which the Fair Grounds races were staged, you are more likely to see a horse draw off to a big winning margin. Nonetheless, that was a huge race. Final time was 1:43.46, with fractions of :24.12, :48.75, and 1:13.34 for the first six furlongs.

Papa Clem won the race for second, with early leader Terrain third and Giant Oak making a late run to pass tiring horses to get up for fourth. Patena, after making a four-wide rally on the turn, tired in the stretch and beat just one horse as the 4-1 second betting choice behind Friesan Fire, who paid $6.40 for the win.

Friesan Fire swept the three big races for 3-year-olds at Fair Grounds, the LeComte, Risen Star and Louisiana Derby, after being stakes placed twice at two. Cindy Jones, wife of trainer Larry Jones, filled in for her husband in saddling the horse who races for Vinery Stables and the Fox Hill Farms of Rick Porter, who also decided to go to Oaklawn and watch Old Fashioned in the Rebel. Of course, she did more than saddle the horse; she’s a big part of an operation that has been extremely successful the last three years. Larry Jones is at Oaklawn to put the tack on unbeaten Old Fahioned in the Rebel Stakes.

Louisiana Derby chart.

7:05 p.m. … Had to get out of the press box for a while, check out the lines for the corned beef sandwiches, take a walk through the packed grandstand, and get a closer look at the horses in today’s Rebel Stakes. Old Fashioned, the 1-5 favorite, looked a picture of composure in the infield saddling area. I’m not sure how composed the bridge jumpers are who pounded the show pools ($480,000 or so of the $550,000).

7:12 p.m. … Well, that’s why they run the race. Old Fashioned just got pipped by a 56-1 outsider named Win Willy. The roar of the crowd at the top of the stretch disappeared as Win Willy roared to the lead nearing the finish of the 1 1/16-mile Rebel to win by 2 1/4 lengths for Jer-Mar Stables and trainer McLean Robertson. Old Fashioned finished second, with Poltergeist third and Captain Cherokee fourth.

The winning mutuel was $115.60. But the bridge jumpers got their ten cents on the dollar, with Old Fashioned paying $2.60 to place and $2.20 to show.

Was Old Fashioned suckered into chasing too fast a pace in the race? Silver City set off on fast fractions: 22.54 for the quarter, :46.07 for the half and 1:11.67 for six furlongs. Ramon Dominguez moved Old Fashioned to the lead midway around the far turn, and applied several left-handed strokes when the field turned for home and the gray son of Unbridled’s Song appearing to be in clear control.

But Win Willy, who was last early, came flying down the stretch under Cliff Berry to complete the 1 1/16 miles on a good track (still wet from overnight rains) in 1:44.41 (after a mile split of 1:38.09). Old Fashioned held second by eight lengths. Silver City, who was a stubborn second to Old Fashioned in the Southwest Stakes, paid the price for his fast early fractions, finishing a well beaten eighth in the field of nine.

The winner, a son of Monarchos  bred by Overbrook Farm, was a $25,000 Keeneland September purchase. He won his career debut at Canterbury in Minnesota last August, then finished sixth on the turf at Remington Park in October. He took a liking to the Oaklawn Park surface, winning an optional claimer Feb. 22 going six furlongs, Earlier this meet it looked like he was no more than the second-best 3-year-old in Robertson’s barn behind a Salt Lake colt named Hamazing Destiny, who won his career debut at Oaklawn by 10 1/2 lengths. But when some clients of trainer D. Wayne Lukas wanted a potential Derby horse, they made a bid that Robertson’s clients couldn’t turn down, and Hamazing Destiny was led over to the Lukas barn. Robertson, who said after the Rebel the price for Hamazing Destiny was $1.5 million,had the last laugh on that deal, at least for now.

Rick Porter (pictured, left, with jockey Ramon Dominguez before the Rebel), who owns Old Fashioned and co-owns Friesan Fire, was a little on the nervous side before the Rebel. "Friesan Fire took a little of the pressure off," he said, while admitting that the pressure of having two viable contenders sure beats having a barn of slowpokes. Porter has to be disappointed that  Old Fashioned lost, but it’s hard to chase sprint fractions and stick around for a mile and sixteenth. On the other hand, maybe it’s the only way this horse can go, and the way things look right now, the Kentucky Derby field is going to be packed with early speed.

Quotes from winning trainer Mac Robertson: "After he won his last race I thought the distance would be okay. This race came at the right time frame. I was fairly impressed by his last race, and he did act that the distance would be no problem. This was a home run for us and the horse. If he comes out of this race well, we will keep him here and run in the Arkansas Derby."

Larry Jones, trainer of Old Fashioned, said: "It is hard to say what happened, the track was heavy, and with those kind of fractions it was found to catch up with him. He ran well, and we are proud of what he did."

D. Wayne Lukas said to Robertson: "You sold us the wrong horse! What about that horse that won today?"

Ramon Dominguez said about Old Fashioned: "The drying-out track and those fractions really hurt my colt’s chances. He really felt good under me during the early running, and then I felt him start to tire, when I asked him in the early stretch. Afterwards he galloped out well. Don’t count him out. He still has something to learn."

8:30 p.m. … Of the four Derby preps today, the obvious standout was the Louisiana Derby, where Friesan Fire absolutely toyed with what was a pretty good field of horses. He’ll move up on a lof of Derby lists, and Pioneerof the Nile and Old Fashioned are mostly likely going to lose some support. It’s hard to knock a horse who wins, but Pioneerof the Nile was really under pressure to beat a field that he really should have handled much easier. Add that to the question about whether or not he is going to make a successful transition to dirt, and I can’t see his stock doing anything but falling a couple of notches. But he’ll have a chance to run again before the first Saturday in May and prove me wrong.

Old Fashioned ran what I think was a better than looked race. Funny things can happen in a horse race — especially one where the fractions are so fast — but Terry Wallace, who’s called the races at Oaklawn for 35 years, said he hasn’t seen a more shocking Rebel upset since a maiden, Riverside Sam, beat eventual Preakness winner Elocutionist in 1976. "Sometimes when you call a race you say to yourself, ‘I can’t believe what I’m seeing,’ and today was one of those days," said Wallace.

Chart of the Rebel Stakes.

9:00 p.m. … Some random closing thoughts. If you think horse racing is dead, come to Oaklawn Park on a weekend. Despite damp weather and temperatures in the high 40s or low 50s, the turnstiles clicked 28,240 times, the second-biggest Rebel day crowd in the track’s long history. Handle was also second-best for the Rebel: a total of $6.5 million was wagered on the program on-track and at simulcast sites throughout the country.

There were some familiar faces in the crowd, including John Ed Anthony and his son Edwin (pictured, right), who just began contributing pedigree profiles of some leading Kentucky Derby contenders to the Paulick Report. John Ed raced horses for years in the name of Loblolly Stables with a great deal of success. He now races as Shortleaf Stable, and uses D. Wayne Lukas as trainer. "I’ll tell you one thing," he said. "It’s a lot easier to get a good horse when you’ve 50 or 60 than when you’ve got a dozen." Anthony is an Arkansas native and lumberman who knows as much about the Razorback State as anyone I know. "There’s a lot of wealthy people in Arkansas," he said, "and I think almost all of them want to race horses."

But no one I ran across (other than Charles Cella perhaps) has seen more Oaklawn Park meetings come and go than Don Grisham (pictured, left), the retired Daily Racing Form writer who at 78 years of age still loves coming to the track and assists the media department. Grisham grew up in Hot Springs and started sneaking into Oaklawn Park to watch the races behind some bushes (you had to be 16 to get into the track through the gates), beginning in 1943. Around that time, Grisham said, Triple Crown winner Whirlaway was his hero. "My friends’ heroes were people like Stan Musial (the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famer)," Grisham said, "but Whirlaway was it for me." Grisham said he heard that Whirlaway was stabled at Oaklawn one meeting during World War II, (though he never raced at Oaklawn) and he built up the courage to track down trainer Ben Jones in hopes of getting a look at the horse nicknamed Mr. Longtail. 

"He couldn’t have been nicer when I told him I was Whirlaway’s No.1 fan," Grisham said. "He pulled him out and let me get a look at  him, then gave me three pieces of advice: ‘Listen to your parents. Get a good education. Don’t ever lose your enthusiasm for the game.’ I don’t know where I’d be today if Ben Jones wasn’t nice to me."

Grisham hasn’t lost his enthusiasm for racing, and neither have the Oaklawn Park faithful.

One final note: the wait in the Arkansas Sports Tavern was worth it. I decided to upgrade on the corned beef sandwich and went for the corned beef reuben. Let me tell you…it was mighty tasty — and well worth the trip.

And that’s a wrap from Oaklawn Park. 

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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