Posts Tagged ‘Three Chimneys’
Monday, February 16th, 2009
By Ray Paulick
Three Chimneys stallion Sky Mesa, the leading second-crop sire of 2008, underwent colic surgery Sunday morning and is expected to miss at least a month of the breeding season that got under way this past week. The 9-year-old son of Pulpit out of the graded stakes-winning Storm Cat mare Caress, is recovering at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital near Lexington, where Dr. Scott Hopper performed the surgery.
"The surgery went really well and we expect a full recovery," said Case Clay, president of Three Chimneys. "A six-inch incision was made, there was some displacement but no re-secting was required. We expect him back at the farm Wednesday or Thursday, and on the advice of our veterinarian, Dr. (Jim) Morehead, we’re going to target mid-March for him to start covering mares." Clay said Sky Mesa covered one mare before experiencing colic symptoms on Saturday that eventually led to Sunday’s surgery.
“Sky Mesa was showing mild to moderate signs of colic on Saturday, but they seemed to dissipate with Banamine," said Clay. "Once the Banamine wore off and we saw the symptoms returning, we made the decision to send him to Rood and Riddle.”
(Click here to learn more about colic and colic surgery.)
Currently second on the third-crop sire list behind Harlan’s Holiday, Sky Mesa was represented on Saturday by Grade 3 winner General Quarters, who posted an upset at Tampa Bay Downs in the Sam F. Davis Stakes for 3-year-olds. General Quarters is one of eight stakes winners from the first two crops by Sky Mesa.
Sky Mesa raced for John and Debbie Oxley and was trained by John Ward. Unbeaten as a 2-year-old, Sky Mesa won the Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga and the Grade 2 Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity at Saratoga, but suffered an ankle injury on the eve of the 2002 Breeders’ Cup and was scratched from the Grade 1 Juvenile. He raced three times as a 3-year-old, failing to win, but finished second in the Grade 1 Haskell and third in the Grade 2 Dwyer Stakes.
Bred by Harbor View Farm, Sky Mesa was purchased by the Oxleys for $750,000 at the 2001 Keeneland September yearling sale. He stands for $30,000, due when the foal stands and nurses.
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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Tags: caress, Case Clay, colic, colic surgery, harbor view farm, john oxley, john ward, Paulick Report, pulpit, Ray Paulick, Robert Clay, sky mesa, Three Chimneys
Posted in Breeding, Horse Health, Stallions | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
By Ray Paulick
President Barack Obama, on his first full day in office, called for higher standards in transparency and accountability for his administration. While there already have been some bumps on that road, our new president’s demands are in line with a broader movement toward greater transparency, accountability and openness, not only in government but in private enterprise as well.
A recent scandal in Lexington, Ky., involving the executive director of Blue Grass Airport and several of his key staff was uncovered only after the local newspaper, the Herald-Leader, filed an open records request and examined travel and expense reports of airport executives. What the paper found was shocking: thousands of dollars of taxpayer’s money spent on a night of partying at a Texas strip club, airport credit card purchases of a shotgun, audio systems, DVDs and other items seemingly unrelated to the operation, including scalped tickets to a Hannah Montana concert at Rupp Arena.
The airport’s oversight board at first dismissed the newspaper’s charges that the executive director’s travel and entertainment expenses were exorbitant, but after conducting an internal audit discovered numerous irregularities and suspended him. Shortly thereafter he resigned.
The episode teaches us several valuable lessons, including the importance of a free press, open records law, and vigilance by members of oversight boards. Without transparency or sunshine laws, it’s likely the airport scandal never would have been uncovered and taxpayers would continue to be abused by officials entrusted to serve them.
While I am by no means suggesting similar transgressions are taking place, a call for greater transparency and accountability is also at the heart of Thoroughbred owner and breeder Peter Blum’s recent criticisms of the Breeders’ Cup – a non-profit company funded in part through stallion and foal nominations by thousands of breeders. Following a guest commentary he wrote for the Jan. 10 edition of the Thoroughbred Times and a follow-up letter to the editor published in both the Jan. 31 Thoroughbred Times and Feb. 2 Paulick Report, Blum has heard from a number of fellow horsemen who are in philosophical agreement.
“As a result of my willingness to speak out, many people have contacted me and have expressed their concerns and serious reservations about Breeders’ Cup management,” Blum told the Paulick Report. “One theme that continually comes up when people share their thoughts with me is, ‘What are they trying to cover up?’ Have there been any bonuses recently paid, particularly in this troubling economy when (President Obama) in the last few days referred to bonuses paid to bankers as shameful, outrageous and the height of irresponsibility? If there have been any bonuses, who got them, when they did get them, and how much did they get? And if they were given, why were they given, especially in light of the Breeders’ Cup announcement to cut off supplemental funding for 121 races throughout the year? (That decision was quickly reversed.) Furthermore, have there been any recent senior management contract extensions. If so, who got them, and when and why were they given?”
Blum sees things only getting worse unless there are changes in how the Breeders’ Cup operates. “There is very little transparency and it is apparent that is the core of all major issues,” he said. “Does the Breeders’ Cup management not understand how angry its members are? Unless transparency soon occurs, the Breeders’ Cup cannot succeed in its present form. And has there been any disclosure to membership of an agenda of board member meetings, votes, and minutes? If not, why not?”
The Breeders’ Cup moved toward a democratically elected board in 2006 after complaints from some breeders that it had been run for too long by a handful of people selected by a self-perpetuating board of directors. But as Blum pointed out in his letter to the editor, there are flaws in the revised bylaws that appear to stack the election process in favor of the status quo.
Thirty-nine individuals are elected to the board of members and trustees by stallion and foal nominators (each year, 13 of the 39 seats are up for election to three-year terms). Those members and trustees are responsible for electing the 13-member operating board of directors. However, in addition to the 39 elected members and trustees who vote for the smaller board, also given votes in the small board election are six “founding fathers” of the Breeders’ Cup: Brownell Combs, formerly of Spendthrift Farm; William S. Farish of Lane’s End; Seth Hancock of Claiborne Farm (whose proxy has been permanently bestowed upon farm executive Jim Friess); Brereton Jones of Airdrie Stud, John T. L. Jones, director emeritus of Walmac Farm; and James Philpott, an attorney who has served as Breeders’ Cup secretary. Two former Breeders’ Cup presidents, James E. (Ted) Bassett III and D.G. Van Clief Jr., also are entitled to vote in the small board election, as are four current officers of the Breeders’ Cup, including CEO Greg Avioli.
It strikes me as unfair to “grandfather” any founding fathers onto the board of members and trustees. When the U.S. Constitution was written, individuals who signed the Declaration of Independence were not given a lifetime seat in Congress. Representatives of farms like Coolmore, Darley and Three Chimneys, among many others that have been major financial contributors to the Breeders’ Cup, are forced to actively run for a board seat while those farms associated with founding members get an automatic seat. Furthermore, at least two of the founding Breeders’ Cup members are no longer actively engaged in the business. Doesn’t seem right.
It also seems downright scandalous to allow paid staff, including CEO Avioli, to vote for who their bosses will be on the operating board of directors. Human nature suggests they will always favor those who butter their bread.
Blum also takes issue with how votes are allocated to those farms with stallions (stallion owners are entitled to one vote for each $500 of a stallion’s stud fee).
“It appears that large farms standing stallions may control the outcome of the election of inner and outer board members,” Blum said. “For example, if Gainesway stands a syndicated stallion like Tapit or Mr. Greeley, the farm is given all of the votes, not the actual owners or shareholders of the stallion. If this is true, won’t this inequity come as a surprise to most breeders?” (Editor’s note: It is believed that some stallion syndicate agreements may convey Breeders’ Cup votes to majority shareholders.)
As a result of the inequities he sees in the bylaws, Blum calls for widespread change in the election process.
“In view of the existing controversy, will management agree to submit to membership the right to hold a new election for board members under a more democratic process sooner rather than later?” he asked. “When will the BC provide an accounting of all the nomination fees paid in, and why have we not received them to date?”
Breeders’ Cup board member Satish Sanan wrote a rebuttal to Blum’s commentary that was published in the Thoroughbred Times of Jan. 24. Sanan later spoke with the Paulick Report about some of the issues raised by Blum, along with his own role as chairman of a Breeders’ Cup strategic planning committee.
“Mr. Sanan appears to be a constructive voice at the Breeders’ Cup and I hope his efforts bring much needed changes in transparency and benefits to breeders,” said Blum.
Blum said he hopes his decision to speak out on the management and direction of the Breeders’ Cup is not misinterpreted
“My remarks were intended as constructive criticism of Breeders’ Cup management and recommendations for change,” he said. “In no way were they made to be personal in nature or an attack on the Breeders’ Cup concept or festival of racing. On the contrary, my remarks were intended to encourage needed change and redirection of management.”
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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Tags: airdrie stud, barack obama, blue grass airport, blue grass airport scandal, Breeders' Cup, Breeders' Cup board of directors, brereton jones, brownell combs, Claiborne Farm, coolmore, D.G. Van Clief, darley, gainesway, Greg Avioli, James E. Bassett, james philpoptt, jim friess, John T.L. Jones Jr., Lane's End, Paulick Report, peter blum, Ray Paulick, satish sanan, Seth Hancock, spendthrift farm, Ted Bassett, Three Chimneys, walmac farm, Will Farish, William S. Farish
Posted in Breeders' Cup, Industry Organizations | 21 Comments »
Thursday, December 11th, 2008
By Ray Paulick
WinStar Farm put its home-court advantage to good use Wednesday night, beating a team from Darley and Fasig-Tipton 55-48 to win the first annual WinStar Charity Basketball Tournament and raise more than $10,000 in college scholarship funds for Dara and Chase Mullins, whose father, David Mullins (pictured below), died earlier this year from pancreatic cancer at the age of 51. Mullins, an Irish native who came to the United States in the mid-1970s, operated Doninga Bloodstock.
 The eight-team tournament, held in the indoor gymnasium at WinStar over the last week, was the brainchild of the farm’s president and CEO, Doug Cauthen, and Elliott Walden, WinStar’s vice president. Funds raised for Dara and Chase Mullins are being administered by the Race for Education, a 501(c)3 organization created in 2002 to help children of equine industry families realize their dream of a college education. It also supports students wishing to study in pursuit of equine or agricultural careers.
“It’s amazing the amount of support we’ve received for this event,” said Elisabeth Jensen, president and executive director of the Race for Education. “Each of the teams put up $500 to enter, and we raised another $7,000 this week.”
It’s not too late to contribute to the fund. Click here to make a donation to support the Dara and Chase Mullins scholarship fund.
Dara Mullins, 20, is attending Miami (Ohio) University, although she took the fall semester off after her father’s death in August to carry on the Doninga consignment at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale. Her 13-year-old brother, Chase, also worked the sale. The two Mullins children had the assistance of some of her late father’s many friends in the industry.
The eight teams participating in the WinStar Charity Tournament came from Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, Claiborne Farm, Lane’s End, Pin Oak, Taylor Made, Three Chimneys, along with the two squads that played in the finals. Jensen hopes to attract 16 teams to the tournament next year, and also has plans to create a soccer tournament for area horse farm workers. Both events will benefit the Race for Education’s general scholarship fund.
 WinStar jumped off to a big early lead over a fatigued Darley/Fasig-Tipton team, which only a few minutes earlier had completed a remarkable come-from-behind overtime victory over Taylor Made to make the finals. WinStar won their semi-final game earlier in the evening over Hagyard.
The Darley/Fasig-Tipton team never gave up, however, putting in a torrid third-quarter rally to tie the game, but WinStar shut them down in the final quarter and pulled away down the stretch for a comfortable win.
Trinity Davis, an assistant resident manager for WinStar, led all scorers with 19 points. Walden scored 18, showing a good touch from the outside and using his muscle to dominate in the paint.
None of the players will ever make the top 10 highlights on ESPN’s SportsCenter, but everyone who participated in the WinStar Charity Tournament is a superstar for his (or her) efforts on behalf of Dara and Chase Mullins.
Among those on hand for the action was Joe B. Hall, the legendary longtime coach of the University of Kentucky Wildcats. Hall is one of three men to have both played on and coached an NCAA championship team.
“I’m here scoutin’ for Billy Clyde,” Hall quipped during one of the semi-final games, a reference to Kentucky’s current basketball coach, Billy Clyde Gillispie. “By the looks of these fellas, though, they might be better suited playing for Coach Brooks (Kentucky’s football coach).”
Copyright © 2008, The Paulick Report
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Tags: billy gillispie, Claiborne Farm, dara and chase mullins, darley, david mullins, doninga bloodstock, Doug Cauthen, elisabeth jensen, elliott walden, fasig-tipton, hagyard equine medical institute, horse racing charities, joe b. hall, Lane's End, Paulick Report, pin oak, race for education, Ray Paulick, rich brooks, taylor made farm, Three Chimneys, trinity davis, university of kentucky basketball, winstar charity basketball tournament, winstar farm
Posted in Industry Organizations, People | 5 Comments »
Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
I was in the middle of a dinner celebrating my son’s 20th birthday at the new Malone’s restaurant in the Palomar Center in Lexington (highly recommended, by the way, certainly up to the standards of all the Malone’s and with an appealing outside bar with large plasma screen TVs showing horse racing), so I didn’t get a chance to read the story until sometime later in the evening.
When I did, I was shocked and even more filled with angst when I read the article, written by the interestingly named Frank Angst, a ground soldier in the trade publication army of the Thoroughbred Times I’d crossed paths with on a number of occasions during my tenure as editor in chief of Bloodhorse.
Believe it or not, there are ethical standards among journalists, just as, I suppose, there are among horse traders. One of those standards is that publications that run exclusive stories should receive attribution or credit whenever another publication does a “cover your ass” rewrite, which is clearly what ground soldier Angst was ordered to do from on-high. To quote the leading media critic Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post and CNN’s Reliable Sources, “Making a couple of calls to confirm a story that a journalist would not otherwise know about doesn’t excuse the obligation to give proper credit.” Dick Jerardi, an Eclipse Award-winning writer for the Philadelphia Daily News (and an occasional Thoroughbred Times contributor), found the past-posting article of interest and wrote a story for his paper, giving attribution to the Paulick Report. The story by Frank Angst is not the kind of journalism my old friend Mark Simon, the longtime editor of Thoroughbred Times, expected from his employees 20 years ago when he hired me as the weekly magazine’s managing editor, and I doubt that Mark’s standards have changed very much. So I sent Angst a few angry emails Monday night that he’s had plenty of time to respond to, and hasn’t. (Note to Frank: It’s 2008. If you’re not checking your inbox 24/7, you’re no damned good.)
This is the same Thoroughbred Times and same Angst that was so anxious to report my demise from Bloodhorse last August but failed to run even a brief note about the start-up of the Paulick Report a few weeks back (neither, incidentally, has the Bloodhorse, though traffic reports on the Paulick Report web site show Bloodhorse IP addresses as a frequent, daily visitor…perhaps looking for news leads?). Someone once suggested that there is something Machiavellian about the trade press, that the ends (keeping the trade publications in a cozy, friendly relationship with the industry they cover) justify the means (parsing and lifting from non-trade press). That led me to run a picture of the Italian diplomat and author Niccolo Macchiavelli, especially since Frank Angst isn’t famous enough to have a photo on the Flickr web site. I never read The Prince, Macchiavelli’s most famous written work (I’m sure I’m not the only one who likes to say something is Macchiavellian without knowing what the hell we are talking about), but I do know something about the Thoroughbred trade press and the cozy relationship it has with advertisers and industry organizations it covers. I plead nolo contendere to charges that I was influenced at times during my 15 years at Bloodhorse, succumbing occasionally to brow-beating from advertisers, members of the organization’s board of trustees, its parent at the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, or from a publisher whose frequent jaunts to Margaritaville were made possible by a contented, free-spending group of advertisers. I’ll never forget the chilling words one of the Bloodhorse trustees said to me when I first met him: “We can’t tell you what to do or write. All we can do is fire you.”
The trade publications, for example, are not going to report on something that nearly every breeder in Central Kentucky already knows – that top older stallion Seeking the Gold has been shooting blanks this breeding season and may be finished – because 1) the farm that stands the stallion, Claiborne, is a major advertisers at Bloodhorse and Thoroughbred Times and hasn’t sent out official word yet through a press release, and 2) the stallion is controlled by Dinny Phipps chairman of the Jockey Club, and the people who run the two publications don’t want to do anything to upset Phipps since they enjoy being invited to the Jockey Club Dinner in Saratoga Springs, NY, in August.
Of course, in the Jockey Club’s Macchiavellian manner of controlling as much of the industry as possible (did I just insert Niccolo Macchiavelli again?), one of the members of the board of trustees at Bloodhorse is Bill Farish, who has a double-barrel blast of lucky sperm as the son of Jockey Club vice chairman Will Farish and son-in-law of Dinny Phipps. The chairman of the Bloodhorse board is Stuart Janney, the cousin of Dinny Phipps.
As someone once said to me, “Why should the Jockey Club buy the Bloodhorse when it already controls it?”
The lifting by the Thoroughbred Times of the Philadelphia Park story wasn’t the first time in the brief history of the Paulick Report and certainly won’t be the last time something like this happens. I’m happy to say I may even be influencing their coverage.
In the wake of our breaking story last week on the election of the Breeders’ Cup board of members and trustees, the Paulick Report headline read: CLAY CANNED IN CUP ELECTION. A short time after that story was posted, the Thoroughbred Times apparently did another hasty rewrite, but with the bland headline: BREEDERS’ CUP ELECTS 12 TO BOARD OF MEMBERS AND TRUSTEES. Later that night, apparently someone at the Thoroughbred Times with at least marble-sized testicles changed the story headline to read: CLAY NOT AMONG 12 ELECTED TO BREEDERS’ CUP BOARD OF MEMBERS, TRUSTEES.
Bloodhorse.com apparently transitioned the other way in its brief rewrite and headline treatment. Its original headline, posted hours after the Paulick Report broke the election story, read: CLAY LOSES BREEDERS’ CUP BID. Sometime later, it was changed to the milquetoast: FOUR NOT RE-ELECTED TO CUP BOARD. Perhaps someone thought the latter headline told the story more accurately than the former. It’s more likely that someone reminded the editorial side of Bloodhorse how much money Clay’s Three Chimneys Farm spends on advertising on its web site and magazine.
The Paulick Report will not be beholden to industry organizations like the Jockey Club or to major advertisers. We are operating on the simple premise that the Thoroughbred industry needs and deserves independent reporting and analysis. Similar to listener or viewer supported operations like National Public Radio or Public Television, we believe we will receive support from readers like you.
By Ray Paulick
Copyright ©2008, The Paulick Report
CORRECTION: THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF THIS STORY INCORRECTLY STATED THAT A.P. INDY "HAS BEEN SHOOTING BLANKS" DURING THE 2008 BREEDING SEASON. ACCORDING TO STATISTICS PROIDED BY WILL FARISH, A.P. INDY HAS COVERED 113 MARES AND HAS 80 OF THOSE MARES IN FOAL. THE PAULICK REPORT REGRETS THE ERROR.
Tags: Add new tag, Bill Farish, bloodhorse, dick jerardi, Dinny Phipps, frank angst, Horse Racing, howard kurtz, journalistic ethics, journalistic standards, macchiavellian, mark simon, niccolo macchiavelli, Ogden Mills Phipps, past-posting, Paulick Report, Philadelphia park, Ray Paulick, Robert Clay, thoroughbred times, Three Chimneys, trade publications, Will Farish
Posted in Industry, Industry Organizations, Racing Media | 29 Comments »
Monday, June 23rd, 2008
He is our Felix Unger, almost compulsive in his quest to clean things up in an industry that has more than a few problems. He is Mr. Clean without the earring, standing proudly with arms crossed, a slight smile on his face showing his sense of accomplishment. He is a friend of politicians, a mover and shaker in the Thoroughbred industry, serving on numerous committees and boards on multiple organizations across the alphabetical landscape that is the Thoroughbred industry.
He is Robert Clay, the owner of Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Ky.
Clay has been in the news a great deal this spring. Along with Serengeti Stable, Clay was co-breeder of Eight Belles, the filly who ran a game second in the Kentucky Derby but broke down after the finish and was euthanized. He was blamed by some, including the acting chairman of a Congressional committee that looked into the welfare of the Thoroughbred in a June 19 hearing, for producing “a genetic disaster waiting to happen” in the case of Eight Belles.
Knowledgeable people inside the industry are not questioning his part in producing Eight Belles, who was an exceptionally fast and sound filly before her demise. But some are wondering why Robert Clay (along with son Case, who is president of the farm) was so quick to embrace and recruit Big Brown to his Three Chimneys stallion barn, considering the baggage the son of Boundary brings with him.
Big Brown is trained by Rick Dutrow, a sleazy racetrack character whose list of regulatory violations, stretching from California to New York, is prodigious by any measure. Before Big Brown’s victory in the Kentucky Derby, Dutrow freely admitted that all of his horses, including Big Brown, get regular injections of the anabolic steroid Winstrol. Controversial veterinarian Steve Allday said he stopped working for Dutrow a couple of years ago because Dutrow asked him to do things Allday refused to do.
Then there is the IEAH Stable, the ownership group that bought majority interest in Big Brown last September from Paul Pompa Jr. One of IEAH’s first trainers, Greg Martin, is a confessed cheater who was convicted of a felony for juicing an IEAH runner in 2003. IEAH co-president, Michael Iavarone, is a former penny stock trader who worked at four now-closed “bucket shops,” including one firm shut down by regulators. Iavarone was fined, censured and suspended for making unauthorized trades. Yet IEAH portrayed Iavarone as a “high profile investment banker on Wall Street.” IEAH also stiffed Keeneland on the purchase of several pricey yearlings in 2003.
Clay and the Big Brown team truly are the “odd couple,” with either Dutrow or Iavarone capable of playing the part of Oscar Madison, the sloppy, corner-cutting counterpart to Clay’s pristine Felix Unger, who has the reputation for doing everything by the book.
Perhaps, however, Dutrow and Iavarone are angels with dirty faces. Before the Triple Crown’s final leg, Iavarone and IEAH pledged to give a substantial portion of the Belmont purse Big Brown was expected to win to support a scholarship fund for the son of a stricken police officer on Long Island (I’m not sure where that stands, since Big Brown earned nothing in the Belmont after being eased). In addition, Dutrow said he’d stopped giving Big Brown anabolic steroids before the Preakness. Then, in a surprise announcement on June 22, Iavarone said he was swearing off drugs for his entire stable because of his concerns for the “integrity” of the sport.
So, how did Robert Clay, whose mantra has been personal integrity in the horse business, wind up doing this deal?
“My mother taught me to take people as they come,” Clay told me. “They (Big Brown’s owners) have done nothing but what they said they would do and more, and have been totally straightforward in their business dealings with me.”
Clay wouldn’t comment on the reports about Iavarone’s embellished resume and prior problems, which were published May 28, the same day Case Clay helped Big Brown’s owners ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
Rick Dutrow, however, seems to be another story.
“The trainer and owners are two kettles of fish,” Clay said. “I don’t have a relationship with Dutrow, and Dutrow speaks for himself, obviously. I guess it would be fair to say we don’t have the same styles. I have no control over the trainer, nor his scheduling.”
Published reports valued the Three Chimneys-Big Brown stallion deal at around $50 million, with sources saying Three Chimneys bought just 10% of the horse. That type of valuation would typically command an initial-year stud fee north $100,000, even for a horse like Big Brown who doesn’t have a top stallion pedigree (and no other stakes winners in the female family until the third dam). Big Brown’s puzzling display in the Belmont will make that difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.
“Those days of $100,000 are over,” said one bloodstock agent who specializes in the stallion market. “Of course, how he does in the Haskell and other races could help.” Another bloodstock agent suggested something closer to $50,000 as a realistic first-year fee.
Clay acknowledges that Big Brown will enter stud with question marks. “He’s got feet problems,” Clay said. “Dynaformer’s got feet problem, too; the worst feet of any horse on the farm. Do we not take a horse to stud because of feet problems? Dynaformer does not pass bad feet along. It doesn’t mean that won’t happen (with Big Brown).”
Clay said the publicity over Dutrow’s use of anabolic steroids with Big Brown is “concerning,” though he pointed out that countless other horses have been retired to stud after racing on steroids.
“Steroids is like Lasix,” he said. “You can’t find a trainer who doesn’t use it. It’s the industry’s responsibilities to make the rules that we want to live by, and not the trainer’s responsibility to not abide by the rules. If I were to speculate, I’d say (steroids) don’t have anything to do with their genes. If we are being fooled, then we are taking the wrong genes to the breeding shed. I’m not smart enough to know the answer to that. I think we ought to take any performance enhancing drugs out of the sport…period. But the resistance to that is broad.”
Clay said Three Chimneys doesn’t give its yearlings steroids. “Never have, never will,” he said. “I am a big advocate of what Keeneland is doing, taking steroids out of the sales. I’m not sure taking steroids out of racing is as simple as it sounds.
“Big Brown is the most famous horse that raced on steroids,” he said, “and it concerns me that I’ve got a poster child horse.”
By Ray Paulick
Copyright ©2008, The Paulick Report
Tags: anabolic steroids, Big Brown, Case Clay, eight belles, Horse Racing, IEAH, Michael Iavarone, rick dutrow, Robert Clay, Thoroughbred breeding, Three Chimneys, Winstrol
Posted in Big Brown, Breeding, Medication, People | 11 Comments »
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