Showing posts with label run for the roses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label run for the roses. Show all posts

Thursday, October 24, 2019

America’s beloved Secretariat, the legendary Triple Crown winner whose records still stand today, gets bigger than life honor.






Secretariat, the champion and most beloved thoroughbred racehorse of all time, finally has been honored with a bronze statue worthy of the incredible accomplishments of such a super horse.


A magnificent new statue has been installed in the home of Bluegrass racing, Lexington, Kentucky, to honor the Triple Crown champion of 1973.  Today, forty-six years after the astonishing success of Secretariat, many of the world records Secretariat achieved remain unbroken, a testament of the superiority of the champion.


Renowned sculptor Jocelyn Russell created a larger-than-life monument of Triple Crown racehorse Secretariat.  Known as the “people’s champion” Secretariat completed the most amazing Triple Crown record in history.

   
Nearly 50 years ago he galloped memorably into our lives, muscles pulsing hard beneath a coat of brilliant red, hooves stretching farther forward in a stride longer than any horse before or since. He was a wonder, Secretariat, a vision of the perfect horse who left us all too soon.


Just as Secretariat was red, or chestnut, in real life, his bronze monument bears a red patina. He could not look more lifelike, which was Russell’s concern all along when she accepted this commission 18 months ago.


The artist said many times that she knew her audience would be a tough sell, in the heart of horse country.


Virginia-bred Secretariat’s final home at Claiborne Farm Kentucky just up the road from Lexington in the heart of thoroughbred horse farms, is a revered stop for Kentucky horse fans ever since Secretariat retired from racing in 1973 until his death in 1989 at age 19.


A reprint of an earlier article of the life of Secretariat follows.


Kentucky Derby Countdown - Secretariat 1973 - The Greatest Triple Crown and Thoroughbred Champion of all Time


Secretariat - The People's Champion



It is Kentucky Derby week and once again time to share our top thoroughbred stories of the legends of Horse Racing.  Our next offering is the greatest champion in our history, Secretariat.



I had occasion to see this magnificent horse in Kentucky and to watch the three races along with millions of Americans as Secretariat not only made history but shattered records every time he stepped on a the track at a Triple Crown race.



You should take a few minutes to watch the three videos showing the Triple Crown that year, 1973, when Secretariat became an American legend. Nothing has ever been achieved close to his performance before or since that spring.



Although Seattle Slew and Affirmed both won the Triple Crown the same decade of the 1970's the performance by Secretariat stands alone in the history books.

Enjoy a flashback to the most incredible six minutes in horse racing history.

The Kentucky Derby - 1973



The Preakness Stakes - 1973



The Belmont Stakes - 1973



Secretariat’s Record-Breaking Run, 46 Years Later
(Originally posted 2017)


Forty-six years ago Secretariat galloped to victory at the Belmont Stakes, capturing the final leg of the Triple Crown and becoming the first horse in 25 years to achieve one of sport’s most difficult feats. In a career that spanned just 21 races over the course of a year, the 3-year-old thoroughbred captured the hearts and minds of a nation weary from the soon-to-be-ended Vietnam War and ongoing Watergate investigations. Four decades after Secretariat entered the record books, check out eight surprising facts about one of America’s most famous athletes.


1. Secretariat’s fate rested on a coin toss.

In the fall of 1969, stable owners Ogden Phipps and Penny Chenery met in the offices of the New York Racing Association for what turned out to be one of the most important coin tosses in sports history. The winner would receive the recently born foal of the sire Bold Ruler and the mare Hasty Matelda, while the loser would get a second foal from Bold Ruler with a different mare, Somethingroyal. Phipps won the coin toss, but Chenery won for the record books: In March of the following year Somethinroyal gave birth to a red chestnut colt with three distinctive white “socks” on his legs–Secretariat. Chenery went on to fame as the legendary horse’s owner, while the Phipps family, successful breeders for six generations, didn’t win the Kentucky Derby until May of this year, when Orb captured the 139th Race for the Roses.



2. Secretariat was named Horse of the Year twice.
After losing his very first race, at Aqueduct on July 4, 1972, Secretariat lost just once more in his 2-year-old campaign, and even that was due to a controversial disqualification in a race. At the end of that season, he was unanimously voted the winner of the Eclipse Award as Horse of the Year—the first 2-year-old to be so honored. In fact, only one other 2-year-old has won the award: Favorite Trick, in 1997. He was a shoo-in the following year, when his Triple Crown wins earned him top honors in every major racing award.



3. Nerves were on edge when Secretariat lost the run-up to the Derby.

Secretariat easily won the first two races as a 3-year-old, before running a disappointing third in the Wood Memorial, his final tune-up before Churchill Downs. With many in the racing world dismissing his chances at the Derby, Secretariat’s owner and trainers believed that their horse’s showing at the Wood had little to do with his stamina or possible nerves. Just days before the race, an abscess had been discovered on the top of the colt’s mouth, leaving him in severe pain. While some prognosticators now touting another horse, Sham, a half-cousin of Secretariat’s, as the Derby favorite, Secretariat’s team successfully lanced the painful infection and the horse was soon on the mend.




4. Secretariat set records that are still standing today.

As the 1973 Derby began, Secretariat broke out of the gate last, before quickly moving up on the field. Accelerating with each quarter-mile segment, he crossed the finish line at 1:59 2/5th, a new (and still standing) course record. In the 40 years since, only one other horse, Monarchos, has finished in under 2 minutes. Two weeks later at the Preakness he once again raced to catch up with the rest of the field before winning easily. Though his victory was never in doubt, his official time remained a point of controversy for almost 40 years. Members of the Daily Racing Form had clocked him at 1:53 2/5th, a new track record, while officials at Pimlico posted his official time as 1:54 2/5th. It wasn’t until June 2012 that the Maryland Racing Commission, using a forensic review of the race, determined that not only had Secretariat set a course record in 1973, he had been even faster than previously believed—1:53 flat.




5. Secretariat was a media superstar.

Secretariat-mania reached a fever pitch as he prepared for the final leg of the Triple Crown: The week before the Belmont, Sports Illustrated, Time and Newsweek magazines featured him on their covers in the same week—an unheard of accomplishment that has never been repeated. After his victory, demand for the thoroughbred’s time grew go great that his owners hired the William Morris Agency to oversee his public appearances, surely making him the rare horse with a Hollywood agent. His fame continued long after his career ended. He was inducted into the Horseracing Hall of Fame just a year after winning the Triple Crown. In 1999, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative Secretariat stamp, making him the first equine to earn the honor; and ESPN named him to their list of the 100 greatest athletes of the 20th century.




6. Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by a jaw-dropping margin.

Racing against only four other horses in New York, Secretariat was considered such a favorite that no third-place “show” bets were accepted on him. As was the case at both the Derby and the Preakness, Secretariat faced off against Sham, but this time his cousin was unable to truly challenge him, finishing last. Secretariat, however, opened an enormous lead on the field that kept growing with every stride. By the time he crossed the finish line in yet another record-setting time of 2:24, he was a full 31 lengths in front of the second-place finisher. Secretariat had become the first horse in 25 years to win the Triple Crown. Rather than trade in their winning tickets (which would have netted just $.20 in profit), most people who bet on Secretariat decided to keep them as souvenirs instead.





7. Secretariat bailed out his financially beleaguered owners even before he won the Triple Crown.


Helen “Penny” Chenery had inherited her father’s Meadow Stable in Virginia following his death in 1973, but the organization had begun losing money years earlier. Desperate to shore up the family’s shaky finances, Chenery agreed to a “syndicating” agreement with Seth Hancock, the new owner of one of the country’s most prestigious breeding operations, Kentucky Claiborne Farm. In February 1973, four months before his history-making victory at Churchill Downs, it was announced that 32 breeding “shares” had been sold at a record-breaking price of $190,000 a share, netting Claiborne Farms and Meadow Stable more than $6 million—$30 million in today’s money.




8. Secretariat was euthanized at just 19 years old.
Secretariat’s record off the track was not as successful as it had been on it. Put out to stud in late 1973, he sired nearly 600 foals, including one horse that sold for more than $1 million at auction—but nearly all of his male offspring failed miserably at the racetrack. Secretariat’s grandsires fared a bit better, with grandsons A.P. Indy a Horse of the Year winner and great-granddaughter Rags to Riches the 2007 Belmont Stakes champion. In the fall of 1989, the 19-year-old champion developed laminitis, an incurable hoof condition; he was euthanized in October of that year.

Sunday, May 19, 2019

First the Kentucky Derby - now the Preakness - another X Files like day at the track in Triple Crown Racing


A new thoroughbred hero is born

After the most bizarre Kentucky Derby in history where the winner lost and the loser won in the first disqualification in the 145 years of the Run for the Roses, we thought those mischievous Derby devils would leave the Preakness alone.  It was just not to be.

Bodexpress at birth
You see, the last horse to qualify for the Derby was one Bodexpress, and after two horses scratched (dropped out), leaving Bodexpress in the Number 20 position.  He finished Number 13 in the race, a rather ominous omen heading into the Preakness.

Bodexpress, a substitute for Derby
Then the Derby had the near disastrous finish as horses were bumping off each other like bowling pins from a strike as they thundered toward the finish.  In the end Maximum Security, the winner, was disqualified, the first time in history, and Country House, an unknown 45-1 long shot who finished second was named winner.


There was an official inquiry and after more than 20 minutes, the winner was disqualified.  Because the finish is being contested in court, Maximum Security owners decided not to run in the Preakness, a grueling two weeks after the Derby.  Then the eventual Derby winner was disqualified from the Preakness because of a cough.  The top two Derby finishers were not even going to run in the Preakness.


In the Preakness, a new Thoroughbred Hero of the Twitter age suddenly emerged when the 13th place Derby horse, Bodexpress, tossed his rider out of the starting gate as the other horses broke out.  Not considering losing a rider a big deal, the feisty Bodexpress took off anyway and before long was catching up with the main pack heading into the last turn.


The Bodexpress Preakness riderless ride


He might have even caught the leaders but a track rider tried to pull him from the pack and the Bod Master resumed his riderless race across the finish line.  You really must watch the race video, hearing the stunned announcer trying to explain why a riderless horse was in the race.  The photos i this story tell the rest.


With or without a rider that thoroughbred came to race and race he did, not only finishing in the middle of the pack, but went on to make another circle of the entire racetrack before finally being caught by the officials.


In the end, the very horse that was bumped and knocked out of contention in the Derby by Maximum Security, War of Will, would finally get a well deserved Triple Crown trophy.













         

Wednesday, May 01, 2019

Kentucky Derby Countdown - The Contenders, Post Positions, Odds and Background


With just three days remaining it is time to get serious and here are the tools you need to be serious.  Following you will find the Derby horses in the Run for the Roses, the Post Positions, pretty pictures, and what background I can easily dig up.

It is amazing how few times many of the horses have been run in their two and three year old careers but it is a continuation of a pattern in recent years to only run enough to qualify for the Derby and maybe get a race in at a longer distance.



Pay attention, this stuff is important.

Here's the rundown of the post position and every horse's morning line odds.


Kentucky Derby Horses

PP           Horse                                                Opening Odds

1

War of Will
20-1

2
Tax
20-1

3
By My Standards
20-1

4
Gray Magician
50-1

5
Improbable
6-1

6
Vekoma
20-1

7
Maximum Security
10-1

8
Tacitus
10-1

9
Plus Que Parfait
30-1

10
Cutting Humor
30-1

11
Haikal
30-1

12
Omaha Beach
4-1

13
Code of Honor
15-1

14
Win Win Win
15-1

15
Master Fencer (JPN)
50-1

16
Game Winner
5-1

17
Roadster
6-1

18
Long Range Toddy
30-1

19
Spinoff
30-1

20
Country House
30


Background

War of Will


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
War of Will is a son of hot Sire War Front and out of the Sadler's Wells dam Visions of Clarity (IRE). The family line is very strong with this bay colt. Starting his racing career at Woodbine in Canada, the Southern campaigns have proven more fruitful for the Mark Casse trainee.
War of Will won the Lecomte Stakes and Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds, but won a sneaky maiden special weight at Churchill Downs prior to those efforts. He did finish a competitive 5th in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, 4th in the Dixiana Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland and ran second in the Grade 1 Summer Stakes at Woodbine in September.
With a strong turf favorability in his pedigree, the wins at Fair Grounds leaves no doubt that he can run on dirt as well.

Tax


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
Tax improved from a third-place finish in the Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct, with a first place win in the Withers Stakes. Having traveled over the Churchill Downs surface to place second and eventually break his maiden at Keeneland in his second start, the bay gelding by Arch shows growing potential on the Kentucky Derby Trail. Tax is ridden by jockey Junior Alvarado and trained by Danny Gargan.

By My Standards


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
By My Standards has been training up to the 145th Kentucky Derby off a 22-1 upset score in the Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds in late March. The bay colt was making his stakes bow in that nine-furlong affair after breaking his maiden by 4 1/4 lengths in his fourth try one race prior. By My Standards is the first Kentucky Derby runner for his trainer, Bret Calhoun, who saddled the son of two-time Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) king Goldencents to a runner-up effort at Churchill Downs in his debut last November. Campaigned by Allied Racing Stable LLC, the Kentucky-bred colt is out of dual stakes winner A Jealous Woman.


Gray Magician


rACE HISTORY
FINISH
RACE
GRADE
DISTANCE

DATE
2nd
UAE DERBY
Meydan Racecourse
II
About 1 3/16 Miles

Mar 30, 2019
4th
Sham Stakes
Santa Anita Park
III
1 Mile
Jan 5, 2019

Improbable


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
Improbable is a student of dual Triple Crown winning trainer Bob Baffert. With some of the same connections as Justify in owners WinStar Farm, China Horse Club and Starlight Racing. Undefeated in three starts, with a win in the Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity, the West Coast based chestnut colt did win the Street Sense across the Churchill Downs dirty track. This is a promising sign that he could be a horse for the course when time comes to potentially enter the starting gates for the Kentucky Derby.

Vekoma


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
Vekoma is by Candy Ride (ARG) out of the Las Flores H. and Humana Distaff winner Monda De Momma by Speightstown. Vekoma is trained by George Weaver and has a solid record of hitting the board with wins in his first start, the Nashua S. and most recently the Blue Grass Stakes. His only non winning placement was a third in the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

Maximum Security


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
Maximum Security is by lightly raced sire New Year's Day, who suffered an injury two months after taking the 2013 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) and was retired to stud. The bay colt wired the Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park to earn 100 points and give trainer Jason Servis another shot at Kentucky Derby (G1) glory following Smarty Jones' 2004 victory. Maximum Security was making his stakes bow in the Florida Derby and moved his record to a perfect four-for-four for owners Gary and Mary West. The Kentucky-bred moved up the ranks from a maiden claimer to Grade 1 fame in very short time, something his dam, Lil Indy, was never able to accomplish. Lil Indy was no slouch in the pedigree department, though, being by Anasheed and a half-sister to multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire and sire Flat Out.

Tacitus


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
Tacitus is a gray homebred of the impressive Juddmonte Farms and out of 2014 Champion Older Mare Close Hatches. Close Hatches finished 2nd to Beholder in the 2013 Breeders' Cup Distaff. Tacitus' pedigree suggests minimal concerns with the ability to hit the Kentucky Derby distance of 1 1/4 miles and his racing record shows he is on a roll in putting pieces together. With a win in two Derby prep races, the Wood at Aqueduct and the Tampa Bay Derby in Florida, he demonstrates a lot of upside to watch for while breezing at the track.

Plus Que Parfait


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
Trainer Brendan Walsh will be saddling his first Kentucky Derby runner when sending out Plus Que Parfait on the first Saturday in May. The chestnut ridgling awarded his conditioner with this opportunity by earning his first stakes victory in the U.A.E. Derby (G2) at Medyan in Dubai. Plus Que Parfait picked up 100 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby in that Middle Eastern venture and added it to the four points he garnered last November as a two-year-old when finishing second by a neck in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) under the Twin Spires at Churchill Downs. By Point of Entry, who racked up five Grade 1 victories and nearly $2.5 million in earnings on the turf, Plus Que Parfait is campaigned by the Dubai-based Imperial Racing LLC.

Cutting Humor


BREEDER
Dell Hancock & Bernie Sams
SEX
Colt
COLOR
Dark Bay
BIRTHPLACE
Kentucky
FOAL DATE
Apr 07, 2016


RACE HISTORY
FINISH
RACE
GRADE
DISTANCE


1st
Sunland Park Derby
Sunland Park
III
1 1/8 Miles


7th
Southwest Stakes
Oaklawn Park
III
1 1/16 Miles




Haikal


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
Shadwell Stable homebred Haikal will be trainer Kiaran McLaughlin's ninth runner in the Kentucky Derby (G1) when lining up on the first Saturday in May. The bay colt will also be making his first start outside of New York's Aqueduct, where he has spent his 5-3-1-1 career thus far. At the Big A, Haikal broke his maiden by a neck in his second try and took the Jimmy Winkfield Stakes by that same margin one race later. Following a length victory in the Gotham Stakes (G3) in early March, the son of Grade 1 scorer Daaher came running late from well back in the Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) to be third on the wire. Haikal is out of the unraced Distorted Humor mare Sablah, making him a half-brother to Grade 1-winning sprinter Takaful.

Omaha Beach


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
The last major Kentucky Derby prep of the season was won by Omaha Beach. Worth 100 points for the winner, Omaha Beach would cross the wire in a muddy affair, worth noting if rain should arrive on Derby day. The prep leading up to the Arkansas Derby is the Rebel Stakes, which Omaha Beach also won in Arkansas. The bay son of hot sire War Front is owned by longtime Thoroughbred racing entity Fox Hill Farms and trained by Richard Mandella.

Code of Honor


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
William S. Farish homebred Code of Honor has ping-ponged between talented and mediocre for trainer Shug McGaughey, who claimed his first Kentucky Derby win in 2013 with Orb. Code of Honor broke his maiden at Saratoga and ran second in the Champagne Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park in his two juvenile starts, but was a lackluster fourth in the Mucho Macho Man Stakes at Gulfstream Park to open his sophomore campaign in January. Remaining at that South Florida venue, the chestnut son of multiple Group 1 winner Noble Mission pulled away to a nice win in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) before finishing a well-beaten third in the Florida Derby (G1) last out. Code of Honor receives distance and turf influence from his sire while his dam, Reunited, was a Grade 3 winner sprinting on the main track.

Win Win Win


OWNER
Live Oak Plantation
TRAINER
Michael J. Trombetta
BREEDER
Live Oak Stud
SEX
Colt
COLOR
Dark Bay
BIRTHPLACE
Florida
FOAL DATE
Mar 20, 2016

RACE HISTORY
FINISH
RACE
GRADE
DISTANCE

DATE
2nd
Toyota Blue Grass Stakes
Keeneland
II
1 1/8 Miles
Apr 6, 2019
3rd
Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby
Tampa Bay Downs
II
1 1/16 Miles

Mar 9, 2019


Master Fencer (JPN)


OWNER
Katsumi Yoshizawa
TRAINER
Tsunoda K
BREEDER
Katsumi Yoshizawa
SEX
Colt
COLOR
Chestnut
BIRTHPLACE
JPN
FOAL DATE
Feb 21, 2016



Japan's Master Fencer Accepts Invitation to Compete in Kentucky Derby 145.

RACE HISTORY
FINISH
RACE
GRADE
DISTANCE


2nd
Toyota Blue Grass Stakes
Keeneland
II
  1 1/8 Miles


3rd
South Tampa Bay Derby
Tampa Bay Downs
II
1 1/16 Miles





Gamer Winner


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
Game Winner is a bay colt by Candy Ride out of the A.P. Indy mare Indyan Giving. He remains undefeated in three lifetime starts, as of Oct 1, 2018, which includes stakes wins in the Del Mar Futurity and the American Pharoah Stakes. Trained by Bob Baffert and currently ridden by jockey Joel Rosario, the West Coast based Thoroughbred has strong potential entering the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Roadster


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
Speedway Stable LLC's Roadster catapulted into Kentucky Derby contention with a nice half-length victory over stablemate and champion Game Winner in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) for trainer Bob Baffert. Owned by Speedway Stable LLC, the gray son of 2009 Florida Derby (G1) hero Quality Road enters the Run for the Roses boasting a two-for-two mark on the year and 4-3-0-1 career line. His only loss to date came as a third behind Game Winner in last September's Del Mar Futurity (G1), but the Kentucky-bred has been unbeatable since stretching out past that seven-furlong trip. Roadster is out of the stakes-winning Ghost Dancing and is a half-brother to Grade 1-scoring and track record-setting gelding Ascend.


Long Range Toddy
Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
Long Range Toddy is by accomplished dirt runner Take Charge Indy. Trained by Steve Asmussen, he has settled in a nice circuit between Remington Park and Oaklawn Park. With wins in the Clever Trevor and Springboard Mile Stakes, the latter of whic his a Road to the Kentucky Derby prep-race, he further advanced into the Smarty Jones Stakes and showing gradual improvement. He may be a rising star among his other barn mates and worth a watch along the Kentucky Derby trail.

Spin Off


TRAINER
Todd A. Pletcher 
BREEDER
Wertheimer et Frere
SEX
Colt
COLOR
Chestnut
BIRTHPLACE
Kentucky
FOAL DATE
Feb 18, 2016


RACE HISTORY

FINISH
RACE
                GRADE
DISTANCE


2nd
Louisiana Derby
Fair Grounds
     II
1 1/8 Miles




Country House

Mar 23, 2019


TRAINER
William I. Mott
BREEDER
J. V. Shields Jr.
SEX
Colt
COLOR
Chestnut
BIRTHPLACE
Kentucky
FOAL DATE
May 08, 2016


RACE HISTORY

FINISH
RACE

GRADE
DISTANCE
DATE
3rd
Arkansas Derby
Oaklawn Park
I
1 1/8 Miles
Apr 13, 2019
4th
Louisiana Derby Stakes
Fair Grounds
II
1 1/8 Miles
Mar 23, 2019
2nd
II
1 1/16 Miles


Alternate

Bodeexpress


OWNER
Top Racing, LLC, Global Thoroughbred and GDS Racing Stable
TRAINER
Gustavo Delgado
BREEDER
Martha Jane Mulholland
SEX
Colt
COLOR
Bay
BIRTHPLACE
Kentucky
FOAL DATE
Apr 23, 2016


RACE HISTORY

FINISH
RACE
GRADE
DISTANCE
DATE
2nd
Florida Derby
Gulfstream Park
I
1 1/8 Miles






Dirt
Mar 30, 2019