Thursday,
March 1,
2012 |
NTRA Thoroughbred
Notebook |
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PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
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Awesome Maria and Royal Delta both trend on Twitter last
Saturday following the Grade III Sabin Stakes at
Gulfstream Park |
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Aaroness and her Perfect Soul foal playing at Norse
Ridge Farms in the snow (Image courtesy of Keith
McCalmont) |
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The Factor wins last Saturday’s Grade II San Carlos
Stakes at Santa Anita (Image courtesy of Benoit
Photography) |
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Luck actor John Ortiz with trainer Julio Canani (who
inspired Ortiz’s character in the HBO drama) at
yesterday’s Big ’Cap draw at Santa Anita (image courtesy
of Benoit Photo) |
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FOLLOW US ON TWITTER
@NTRA
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Join cast members from
HBO’s critically acclaimed horse racing drama Luck and
horse racing experts every Monday night at 9 PM
Eastern/6 PM Pacific for
#LuckChat to discuss the show! |
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Dr. Kendall Hansen. Image courtesy of HorsePhotos.com |
Dr. Kendall Hansen is the majority owner of Hansen, the
2011 Champion 2-Year-Old Colt. Dr. Hansen operates a
pain-management clinic in Crestview Hills, Ky., near his
residence in the northern part of the state. He has two
children and has been actively involved with equine
charities, having donated $12,000 of Hansen’s Breeders’
Cup Juvenile winnings to the Thoroughbred retraining
center New Vocations. |
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TWO MINUTE LICK WITH DR. KENDALL
HANSEN
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Name:
Dr. Kendall Hansen
How I got into to horse racing: My first memory is of Secretariat. I
was in high school, and he just put me in such a good mood. I
think he did that for the whole country. After that, I was
working in a Ford factory and noticed that one of the guys was
betting $5 a day. I had lunch with him one time, and he took me
under his wing and taught me what he’d learned over 30 years.
Favorite racetrack:
Turfway is my home, but I probably have the best memories at
Hollywood. I’m a handicapper as well as an owner, and I’ve had
my two biggest wins at Hollywood Park. On Cinco de Mayo, May 5th
[Kentucky Derby Day], I may change my mind on my favorite track.
Favorite racing event:
The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile now, of course! It was the best day
of my life.
What I would like to see more of in Thoroughbred racing:
I’d like to see more of the stars stay around. For example, if
Hansen has a really good three-year-old campaign and gets a big
fan base, I think he should stay around as long as the public’s
interested. I think it helps horse racing.
First racetrack I attended:
Latonia – now Turfway Park.
Favorite Thoroughbred:
Secretariat. And Hansen right there next to him, but I’m not
quite ready to put them in the same sentence!
Best moment in racing:
Duh – the Breeders’ Cup win.
Best racetrack food:
Once, I didn’t have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving, and
everything was closed. The only place I could eat on
Thanksgiving that year was a hot dog at Turfway Park. So that
was the best hot dog I ever had.
Favorite jockey:
Ramon Dominguez… slash Rafael Bejarano.
Favorite Trainer:
Mike Maker!
Person in horse racing I would most like to have dinner with:
Bo Derek
My philosophy on life:
Do whatever it takes to reach happiness. Happiness should be everyone’s goal, and horses make me happy.
Favorite animal other than a horse:
Dogs |
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FAN PHOTO OF THE WEEK
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Congratulations to photographer Terry Ford, winner of the
January 29 Fan Photo contest! From Terry: “This energetic
unraced 3 year old was out behind the Fair Hill Equine Therapy
Center under the care of Amy Jackson. He has a love/hate
relationship with his Jolly Ball! When she throws it in he
smashes and thrashes it, and then throws it back out hoping
someone will throw it back. Never saw a horse play like that
before (like a dog!)” |
WING'S WATCH
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NEW WEEKLY FEATURE:
NTRA.com’s Eric Wing offers up insights on who
he thinks are the Top 40 Triple Crown contenders. (Wing's
Watch PDF) |
VOICES
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FROM THE GRANDSTAND
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Owner Dr. Kendall Hansen on Hansen’s level of motivation
heading in to Saturday’s Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct:
“You don’t want to go against the champion in his first
start after a loss. He was really ticked off [after the
Holy Bull].”
Actress Kerry Condon, who plays the Irish jockey Rosie
in HBO’s Luck,
quoted in NYMag.com on the welfare of the retired
Thoroughbreds used in filming the show:
“You
should see how they take care of them. They are really
loved.”
Trainer Michael Matz, quoted by Bill Finley in The
New York Times, comparing 2006 Kentucky Derby winner
Barbaro to last Sunday’s Fountain of Youth winner Union
Rags:
“Barbaro was an undefeated horse, and we had a lot of
confidence in him. There were no doubts. If it wasn’t
for two feet in the Breeders’ Cup, this horse would be
undefeated also.”
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VIDEOS OF THE WEEK
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Four cast members of HBO’s Luck enjoy and discuss
a day at the races (HBO.com)
Santa Anita looks forward to the Big Cap, even with the
defection of Game On Dude to Dubai (Santa
Anita Park’s YouTube channel)
Union Rags wins the Grade II Fountain of Youth by
daylight (Gulfstream
Park YouTube channel)
El Padrino nabs Mark Valeski on the wire in the Grade II
Risen Star at Fair Grounds (albamia1
YouTube channel)
Catching up with the son of Curlin and Rachel Alexandra
(The
Blood-Horse)
A day in the life of Taylor Made Farms (Taylor
Made YouTube Channel)
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IN THE NEWS
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Centennial Farms founder Donald Little dead after
jumping accident (Daily
Racing Form)
South Florida neighbors remember Davy Jones as friend
and horse lover
(ABCactionnews.com)
From 2002 when Davy Jones visited Colonial Downs (Richmond
Times-Dispatch)
Baker’s dozen entered for Saturday’s Santa Anita
Handicap (Miami-Herald.com)
With no Dude on hand, Ultimate Eagle is favored in
Big Cap
(Los Angeles Times.com)
Chantal Sutherland could be the first female rider in
Dubai World Cup (The National.com)
Hansen faces a dozen in Gotham (The
HandicappersEdge.com)
“All Others” slight favorite over Union Rags in Derby
futures Pool 2
(The
HandicappersEdge.com)
Union Rags the latest Derby contender with Pennsylania
ties
(Daily
Racing Form)
Florida Derby—and a tangle with Union Rags—could be next
for El Padrino
(The Blood-Horse)
Trainer Todd Pletcher has
one fewer Kentucky Derby runner in the hunt; undefeated
Algorithms injured
(Wall
Street Journal.com)
Union Rags takes Fountain of Youth, becoming the Derby front-runner
(New
York Times.com)
Union Rags, Kentucky Derby Favorite (Forbes.com)
Six years after Barbaro,
trainer Michael Matz has another Kentucky Derby
contender (Washington
Post.com)
Kentucky Derby report and
podcast (ESPN.com)
2012 Kentucky Derby Analysis Week 5: The Risen Star
Stakes
(Bleacherreport.com)
Dominguez wins George Woolf Award for Jockeys (NBCsports.com)
California jockeys on
their other turf: the basketball court (Los Angeles
Times.com)
Pimlico Special returning to Preakness Weekend (The Baltimore Sun.com)
The race made famous by Seabiscuit returns to Pimlico
(WBAL.com)
Ward named Executive Director of Kentucky Racing
Commission (Daily
Racing Form)
Zenyatta: wait for first
foal combines science, art and anticipation (Daily
Racing Form)
New evidence suggests
training and racing Thoroughbreds at 2 years promotes
longer career (Equine
UK.com)
Meet the NTRA Aftercare
Horse of the Month, a "Moose" who's worth his weight in
gold (NTRA
Aftercare)
The Jockey Club launches
its 2012 pilot program: the Thoroughbred Incentive
Program (Louisville.com)
“Luck” recap:
Have a heart (EW.com)
“Luck” review: Episode five (Pastemagazine.com)
“Luck” recap:
Horses make even the toughest of gangsters soften
(Complex.com)
Seabiscuit among acclaimed
sports movies that got shut out on Oscars night (Total
Pro Sports)
Looking back at historic
African-American jockey Jimmy Winkfield (Humanities.com)
Live racing set to resume this Friday at Mountaineer (The
Review.com)
World’s oldest horse has stable life in Essex
(Thesun.co.uk) |
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IN THE BLOGOSPHERE
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Union Rags: The freak is back (Horseracingnation.com)
Should we really be that high on Union Rags? (Horseracingnation.com)
Big H hits the Big A (Louisville
Courier-Journal.com)
Handicapping the Gotham (NTRA.com)
Analysis of last weekend’s big Derby preps (Xpressbet.com)
Sweet 16 Derby List (Horseracingnation.com)
Looking back at the supposed top Derby contenders at
this time last year (Bleacherreport.com)
“All others” heavy favorite in Oaks Future Wager (Louisville
Courier-Journal.com)
In Kentucky, 2015 Derby Winner Could Arrive Any Day Now
(NPR.com)
Reality of horse industry: It’s not the top 1 percent (Louisville
Courier-Journal.com)
Recalling some comments by 1963 TOBA President A.G.
Vanderbilt (Brooklynbackstretch.com)
OTTB Willie Cruise gets the job done in all his
post-racing endeavors (Paulick
Report) |
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NHC NEWS
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Gulfstream Park Handicapping Challenge set for March 17-18 (Gulfstream
Park)
Treasure Island to host
100% payback NHC Qualifiers April 7, May 6 and June 10
(NTRA.com)
Learn more about the 2012
Daily Racing Form NHC Tour (NHC)
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CALENDAR
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RACING TO
HISTORY
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March 1, 2005: At a two-year-old-in-training sale in Miami, Sheikh
Mohammed al-Maktoum paid a record $5.2 million for a son of Tale of the
Cat.
March 1, 1969: Tuesdee Testa, 27, became the first female jockey to win
a race at a major American Thoroughbred track when she won the third
race at Santa Anita Park aboard Buz On.
March 1, 1989: Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa, holds its inaugural day
of racing in 20-degree temperatures during a snowfall. Jockey Cindy Noll
wins the first race aboard Holmish in a $2,300 claiming event.
March 1, 1991: Pat Day, 37, became the sixth rider in history whose
mounts earned $100 million when he rode Wild Sierra to a second-place
finish in the first race at Oaklawn Park.
March 2, 1940: Beaten by a nose in both the 1937 and 1938 Santa Anita
Handicaps, Seabiscuit finally won the Big ’Cap in his final race. He
retired the then-leading money-winning horse in the world.
March 2, 1966: Kelso, Horse of the Year 1960-64, ran his last race,
finishing fourth at Hialeah Park.
March 3, 1966: Ogden Phipps’ Buckpasser won the Flamingo Stakes by a
nose, under the guidance of Bill Shoemaker. The colt was such a
prohibitive favorite among the field of nine that the race was declared
a non-wagering contest and was dubbed “The Chicken Flamingo.”
March 3, 1985: Bill Shoemaker became the first jockey in history to win
$100 million in purses after he won the Santa Anita Handicap aboard Lord
at War (ARG).
March 3, 1993: Russell Baze had his 4,000th career win, with Frank
Musso, at Golden Gate Fields.
March 3, 2004: Santa Anita Park set a North American record with a gross
Pick Six pool of $7,302,848, which included a three-day carryover of
$1,413,136. There were three winning tickets worth $1,567,984 each.
March 5, 1988: Carl Gambardella had his 5,000th career winner, aboard
John’s Goldenapple, at Suffolk Downs.
March 5,
2011: Chantal Sutherland became the first
female jockey to win the Grade I Santa Anita Handicap when she piloted
Game On Dude to a nose victory. Before the race was declared official,
Game on Dude and Sutherland had to survive a 12-minute stewards’ inquiry
regarding a bumping incident with favored Twirling Candy who finished
fifth.
March 6, 1965: Jockey Earlie Fires rode his first winner, Carnation Kid,
at Oaklawn Park. By year’s end, Fires had amassed nearly $600,000 in
purse earnings to earn the title of champion apprentice jockey.
March 6, 1988: Julie Krone became the winningest female jockey in racing
history when she won the 1,205th race of her career riding a filly named
Squawter in the ninth race at Aqueduct Racetrack.
March 7, 2009: Helen Pitts-Blasi became the first female to train the
winner of the Grade I Santa Anita Handicap when she saddled 7-year-old
Einstein to victory.
March 8, 1987: Carrying 126 pounds, Zany Tactics set the world record
for six furlongs, 1:06 4/5, at Turf Paradise. On
Feb. 21, 1993, his time was equaled by Honor the Hero, also at Turf
Paradise.
March 8, 1985: Chris McCarron rode his 4,000th career winner, Hawkley
(GB), in the fifth race at Santa Anita Park.
March 9, 1977: Seattle Slew made his three-year-old debut, at Hialeah.
He won a seven-furlong race in 1:20 3/5, breaking
the track record.
March 9, 2009: 2007 Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches gave birth to
her first foal, a filly by Giant’s Causeway, at Ashford Stud near
Versailles, Ky.
March 10, 1808: Diomed, the winner of the inaugural Epsom Derby in 1780,
died in Virginia at age 31. He had been imported to the U.S. 10 years
earlier and subsequently became an influential sire.
March 10, 1993: At age 41, jockey Eddie Delahoussaye had his 5,000th
career winner, aboard Ackler in the fifth race at Santa Anita Park. He
was the 14th rider in North American Thoroughbred racing to reach that
plateau.
March 11, 1943: After siring 350 foals that won over $3 million,
26-year-old Man o’ War was retired from stud duty.
March 12, 1966: In the last race of his 40-year career, John Longden won
the San Juan Capistrano Handicap at Santa Anita Park, aboard George
Royal. He retired with a then-record number of victories, 6,032.
March 13, 2004: Jockey Edgar Prado became the 19th rider to
reach the 5,000-win plateau with his victory aboard Wynn Dot Comma in
the Swale Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
March 14, 1941: Merrick died at age 38, establishing the longevity
record for a Thoroughbred.
March 14, 1973: In his final preparation for the March 17 Bay Shore
Stakes, the first race of his three-year-old season, Secretariat worked
three furlongs in a blistering :32 3/5.
March 14, 1976: Bill Shoemaker gained his 7,000th career victory, aboard
Charlie Whittingham-trained Royal Derby II, in the fifth race at Santa
Anita Park.
March 14, 1987: Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. became the first rider in the
history of Santa Anita Park to win seven races in a single afternoon. In
his only loss of the day, Pincay finished third aboard Bob Back in the
eighth race.
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WEEKEND STAKES RACES top |
FRIDAY, MARCH 2
Bold Brat Stakes, 4&up (f&m), $75,000, 6F, Aqueduct
SATURDAY, MARCH 3
Santa Anita Handicap, 4&up, $750,000, Grade I, 1 1-4M, Santa Anita Park
Gotham Stakes, 3yo, $400,000, Grade III, 1 1-16M, Aqueduct
Frank E. Kilroe Mile, 4&up, $300,000, Grade I, 1M (T), Santa Anita Park
Las Virgenes Stakes, 3yo fillies, $250,000, Grade I, 1M, Santa Anita
Park
Top Flight Handicap, 3&up (f&m), $200,000, Grade II, 1 1-16M, Aqueduct
Tom Fool Handicap, 3&up, $200,000, Grade III, 6F, Aqueduct
Canadian Turf Stakes, 4&up, $150,000, Grade III, 1M (T), Gulfstream Park
Maxxam Gold Cup, 4&up, $150,000, 1 1-8M, Sam Houston Race Park
Fair Grounds Handicap, 4&up, $125,000, Grade III, 1 1-8M (T), Fair
Grounds
John Battaglia Memorial Stakes, 3yo, $100,000, 1 1-16M, Turfway Park
Pelican Stakes, 3yo, $75,000, 5F, Delta Downs
Wide Country Stakes, 3yo fillies, $75,000, 7F, Laurel Park
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