The Florida Horse May 2009

AD bleed check.qx:Layout 1 4/30/09 4:38 PM Page 1


FLORIDA FOCUS 8

DOWN MEMORY LANE 16By Jo Ann Guidry

FTBOA NEWS DIGEST 18

CALDER, FHBPA SIGN CONTRACT 26By Carlos E. Medina

A WINNING HAND 28Involved in the Florida Thoroughbred industry for 12years and counting,Fred and Jane Brei continue to

enjoy success in the name of their Jacks or Better Farm.By Jo Ann Guidry

ALL-STAR STABLE 36Orlando Magic’s All-Star forward Rashard Lewis isfinding success as horse owner. By Nick Fortuna

SUNSHINE STATE SIX PACK 40Florida Cup Day at Tampa Bay Downs featured sixstakes races worth $85,000 each. By Nick Fortuna

46 EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORYThermography can be used to detect abnormalitiesweeks before they cause lameness.By Denise Steffanus

50 WHAT’S BUGGING YOUR HORSE?Understanding pest behavior can help you betterprotect your horses.By Saundra Ten Broeck, Ph. D.

51 FLORIDA’S LEADING SIRES

52 A.P. INDY COLT TOPS OBSAPRIL SALEBy Nick Fortuna

58 FLORIDA-BRED GORGEOUS GOOSELOOKS THE PART

62 PLAYER’S PAGEBy Paul Moran

CONTENTS MAY 2009 • VVOOLL 5522 // IISSSSUUEE 55

Contents.qx:Layout 1 5/6/09 11:17 AM Page 1

NOMINATED TOFlorida Stallion Stakes

899 S.W. 85th Ave., Ocala, FL 34481 � (352) 237-3834 � Fax: (352)237-6069

Also standing: AMERICAN SPIRIT �� PROUD AND TRUE �� WEKIVA SPRINGS

Book Now!Multiple Mare Discounts

Kingmambo—Commodities, by Private Account • $5,000 live foal

ElCrespo,Rey deCafe'shalf-brother,won the recentPalmBeach Stakes (G3)atGulfstreamPark!

The only graded stakes-winning sonof Kingmambo($250,000 stud fee) in Florida!Kingmambo is the sire of 73 stakes winnersand 8 champions.Rey de Café was a winner sprinting androuting on dirt and turf.

His offspring should also excel onsynthetic surfaces.

COG

LIAN

ESE

PHO

TO

Pedigree �Performance � Conformation

www.doublediamondfarm.com

FTBOA OFFICERS ANDBOARD OF DIRECTORS

Gilbert G. Campbell, PresidentEddie Martin, First Vice President J. Michael O’Farrell, Jr., SecondVice PresidentMark Roberts, Secretary Diane Parks, Treasurer

DIRECTORS

EXECUTIVEVICE PRESIDENTRichard E. Hancock

801 SW 60thAvenue • Ocala, Florida 34474(352) 732-8858 • Fax: (352) 867-1979 • www.thefloridahorse.com

American Horse Publications • FLORIDA MAGAZINE ASSOCIATION • MEMBER BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU

© THE FLORIDA HORSE (ISSN 0090-967X) is publishedmonthly except July by THE FLORIDA HORSE, INC., 801SW 60th Ave., Ocala, Florida 34474, including the annual Sta-tistical Review in February.

Opinions expressed herein are those of the authors anddo not necessarily reflect those of Florida Equine Publicationsor the Florida Thoroughbred Breedersʼ and Ownersʼ Associa-tion. Publication of any material originating herein is expresslyforbidden without first obtaining written permission from THEFLORIDA HORSE©.

Statistics in the publication relating to results of racing inNorth America are compiled from data generated by Daily Rac-ing Form, Equibase, Bloodstock Research Information Serv-ices, and The Jockey Club Information Systems Inc., thecopyright owners of said data. Reproduction is prohibited.

AAddvveerrttiissiinngg ccooppyy ddeeaaddlliinnee 55tthh ooff mmoonntthh pprreecceeddiinnggppuubblliiccaattiioonn.. SSuubbssccrriippttiioonnss aanndd cchhaannggee ooff aaddddrreessss:: PPlleeaasseemmaaiill ttoo –– CCiirrccuullaattiioonnss DDeeppaarrttmmeenntt.. TTHHEE FFLLOORRIIDDAA HHOORRSSEE,,880011 SSWW 6600tthh AAvvee..,, OOccaallaa,, FFlloorriiddaa 3344447744..

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Michael Compton

BUSINESS MANAGER

Patrick Vinzant

ADVERTISING MANAGER

Summer Best

ART DIRECTOR

John Filer

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

JoAnn Guidry

WRITERS

Carlos Medina • Nick Fortuna

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

Beverly Kalberkamp

CORRESPONDENTS

Ben Baugh, Jay Friedman, Doug McCoy, Cynthia McFarland, Mark Shuffitt

PUBLISHERFlorida Equine Publications, Inc.

(A corporation owned by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association)

Executive Office - 801 SW 60th Avenue • Ocala, Florida 34474

BOARD OF DIRECTORSGilbert Campbell, President/Board Chairman

Eddie Martin, 1st Vice PresidentJ. Michael O’Farrell, Jr., 2nd Vice President

Mark Roberts, SecretaryDiane Parks, Treasurer

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Richard E. Hancock

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Michael Gilliam

Printed by Boyd Brothers, Inc. BOYD

THE FLORIDA HORSE • MAY 2009 5

Fred Brei Sheila DiMareDonald Dizney Bonnie M. Heath III

Barry W. Eisaman George G. IsaacsMichael Mulligan Jessica Steinbrenner

Peter Vegso Charlotte C. Weber

Masthead.qx:Layout 1 5/5/09 10:30 AM Page 1

6 THE FLORIDA HORSE • MAY 2009

editor’s welcome

Michael Compton

Withthe close of the extended legislative session

inTallahassee just days away as this issue went

to press, Florida’s Thoroughbred industry

stood on the verge of some significant accomplishments.

Combined with strides the FTBOA has made on many

other fronts in the last year, and despite the unprecedented

challenges facing our business, Florida’sThoroughbred in-

dustry appears poised to move forward.

The Board of Directors of the Florida Thoroughbred

Breeders’andOwners’Association rolled out its Economic

Stimulus Plan for the state’sThoroughbred industry in Oc-

tober of 2008.

“Implementing amulti-platformplan of attack, in concert

withAssociationmembers, legislators, racetrackoperators and

horsemen, we will return Thoroughbred racing in the Sun-

shine State to its rightful rank as the

best place tobreed, raise, train, sell and

race Thoroughbreds,” FTBOA Presi-

dentGilCampbell said in announcing

the Economic Stimulus Plan.

As noted in this column last

month, the FTBOA has already

checked off one of the objectives out-

lined to themembership. In conjunc-

tion with the Florida Horsemen’s

Benevolent and Protective Associa-

tion andChurchill Downs, purses for

Calder’s juvenile racing program

have been increased this year.

Straight maiden purses have been

hiked to $32,000, which includes

$5,000 in FSS supplements and

$5,000 in Florida Owners’ Awards, making this year’s

Florida Stallion Stakes series the most lucrative ever.

Prior to the start of the Caldermeet, the FTBOApledged

an additional $300,000 for juvenile purses at the Miami

track to offset a similar amount ofmoneywhichwas threat-

ening to sink a purse contract between the horsemen and

the track. The contract was in peril after Calder’s parent

company, Churchill Downs Inc., objected to changeswhich

would have cost between $250,000 and $300,000.A listing

of the Calder stakes schedule and the six juvenile stakes

races that were bolstered appears on page 27.

“Thanks to our Florida Stallion Stakes Committee

Chairman Fred Brei, we are able to offer one of the best

juvenile racing programs out there,” said RichardHancock,

executive vice president of the FTBOA.“With the added

incentives, it will make it even better.”

Switching leads:At the State Capitol,The FTBOA sup-

ported legislation to secure a non-profitThoroughbred rac-

ing permit for Marion County to run a short race meet

similar to Keeneland and Oak Tree. The FTBOA backed

legislation to reduce the 50-percent tax rate on slots revenue

to 35 percent; and also pushed for legislation that will allow

formore flexibility of the Breeders’Awards program, in re-

sponse to rapidly changing awards programs in other states.

FTBOA’s partnership with

Max/West Environmental Systems

to produce environmentally friendly

energy using horse and wood waste

continues to progress andmay be up

and running by the end of the year.

Initial plans call for the conversion

of 100,000 tons of waste into energy.

The daily output of energy would

power more than 1,400 homes. Ear-

lier this year, the project received a

grant award in the amount of $2.5

million from the Florida Energy and

Climate Commission for a green-en-

ergy project.

In light of the challenges facing

our industry, the FTBOA held open

houses in an effort to increase communication with mem-

bers. The Association has also sent many e-mail blasts to

members with e-mail addresses on file, updating them on

legislative news and information impacting our industry.

To remain updated on news and events impacting

Florida’s Thoroughbred industry, e-mail our office to en-

sure your e-mail address is on file. Send addresses to

[email protected].�

Enjoy the May issue.

MakingStrides

JOE

DIOR

IOPH

OTO

“Thanks to our Florida StallionStakes Committee Chairman FredBrei, we are able to offer one of thebest juvenile racing programs outthere.With the added incentives, itwill make it even better.”—Richard Hancock

EditorsWelcome.qx:EditorWelcome 5/6/09 10:19 AM Page 6

J. Michael O’Farrell, Jr. • P.O. Box 818, Ocala, FL 34478352/237-2171 • FAX 352/873-3223 • www.ocalastud.com

All stallions nominated to Breeders’ Cup, FSS & FTCSMark J. Barrett photo

Best of the RestSkip Trial - Obstinacy, by Valid Appeal

Fee: $1,500 LF

ConcertoChief’s Crown - Undeniably, by In Reality

Fee: $5,000 LF

Concorde’s TuneConcorde Bound - Parisian Tune, by Tunerup

Fee: $2,500 LF

DrewmanUnbridled - Lucky Soph, by Cozzene

Fee: $1,500 LF

New for 2009

Gottcha GoldCoronado’s Quest - Gottcha Last, by Pleasant Tap

Fee: $2,500 LF

High CottonDixie Union - Happy Tune, by A.P. Indy

Fee: $2,500 LF

MontbrookBuckaroo - Secret Papers, by Jet Diplomacy

Fee: $10,000 LF

SweetsouthernsaintSaint Ballado - Sweetsoutherncross, by Tri Jet

Fee: $2,500 LF

Stallions AvailableDaily For Inspection.

if you want a runner, look to Ocala Stud

New MultipleMare incentives

104605-OcalaStud-Roster-FH.indd 1 2/26/09 2:19:49 PM

By NICK FORTUNA

Freshman stallionWildcat Heir did the

equivalent of hitting a home run in his first

major-league at-bat onApril 1, when the first

starter from his debut crop of 2-year-olds won

a two-furlong race at SantaAnita Park.

Florida-bred filly Kitty in the Bag broke

sharply under jockey Tyler Baze to win a

$41,024 maiden special weight race by 3¼

lengths. The filly, out of the unraced

Friendly Lover mare Gold Bag Lady, cov-

ered the quarter-mile on the stretch-run por-

tion of the track in 21.11 seconds.

Kitty in the Bagwas bred by Ken Breiten-

becker Jr., the general manager at Journey-

man Stud inOcala, whereWildcat Heir stands

for a $6,500 stud fee.

“I’ve been saying all along that Wildcat

Heir could get winners early and often, so

we’re really excited about it,” Journeyman

Stud owner Brent Fernung said of the vic-

tory. “The filly won the race easily by three

or four lengths, and the jockey was look-

ing behind him during the second half of

the race.”

Kitty in the Bag is trained byMelvin Stute

for Patrick and Elizabeth Everard. She was a

$20,000 purchase at OBS in October 2007.

Wildcat Heir, a 9-year-old son of Forest

Wildcat, has 122 horses in his first crop of 2-

year-olds. He won six of his 12 starts from

ages 2 to 5 for $424,460 in career earnings.

His best season came at age 4 in 2004,

when he won the $300,000 Frank J. De

Francis Memorial Dash (G1) at Pimlico,

captured the $60,000 Icecapade Stakes at

Monmouth Park and ran second to Cana-

dian Frontier in the $100,000 Teddy Drone

Stakes at Monmouth. Wildcat Heir earned

his third and final stakes victory the fol-

lowing year in the Teddy Drone.

“I have fiveWildcat Heirs that I’m training

myself, and every one of them can run.” Fer-

nung said. “This horse seems awfully consis-

tent, so he’s going to make an impact on the

freshman sires list.”


Freshman Sire Wildcat Heir Gets First Winner

BY NICK FORTUNA

Florida-bred It’s a Bird and Honest

Man were both assigned the high weight of

119 pounds for the $500,000 Oaklawn

Handicap (G2), but at the end of the April

4 race at Oaklawn Park, it was clear who

the real heavyweight was.

It’s a Bird reached a pair of milestones

in romping to a six-length victory, earning

his 10th career victory and becoming

Florida’s newest millionaire. The horse,

bred at White Cross Farm, gave owner Ed-

mund Gann his third winner in the Oaklawn

Handicap, joining Medaglia d’Oro in 2003

and Florida-bred Peace Rules in 2004.

It’s a Bird ran just behind the paceset-

ter, Jonesboro, before taking command

around the final turn and pulling away for

the win, finishing the nine-furlong race in

a time of 1:48.96. The 6-year-old horse

was making his third straight start with

jockey Julien Leparoux aboard.

Brazilian colt Runforthedoe rallied to fin-

ish a distant second, while Jonesboro held on

for third. Honest Man, the 7-5 favorite, fin-

ished sixth.

It’s a Bird has finished in themoney in 16

of his 29 starts and earned $1.17million.The

son of former Florida stallion Birdonthewire

has won five of his nine starts since being

transferred to trainer Marty Wolfson from

Todd Pletcher last summer, including a 5 ¼-

length score in the SunshineMillions Classic

at Gulfstream Park in January.

“He’s in very good form right now and

came into this race training beautifully,”Wolf-

son said. “He’s probably one of the best hand-

icap horses around right now. He ran just like

he did in the Sunshine Millions. I was con-

cernedwhen they ran the half-mile in 46 and3,

It’s a Bird Flying High for WolfsonFlorida-bred hits milestoneswith Oaklawn Handicap win

COAD

YPH

OTO

Kitty in the Bag takes two-furlong sprint at Santa Anita

Kitty in the Bag

BENO

IT&

ASSO

CIAT

ESPH

OTO

Itʼs a Bird winning the Oaklawn Handicap.

Focus.May.qx:Layout 1 5/5/09 4:00 PM Page 8

BY NICK FORTUNA

Marion County-based consignors domi-

nated Keeneland’s sale of 2-year-olds in train-

ingApril 6 and 7 as Ocala’s EddieWoods sold

an A.P. Indy colt named Vallenzeri for $1.9

million, the highest price for a horse sold at a

public auction this year.

Vallenzeri’s sire was named Horse of the

Year in 1992, and his dam, the Jade Hunter

mareAzeri, wasHorse of theYear in 2002.The

colt, listed as hip No. 22, breezed an eighth of

amile in 10.2 seconds during the sale’s preview

day onApril 2. Trainer Bob Baffert signed the

ticket on behalf ofKaleemShah.The horse, the

only million-dollar purchase at the sale, was

bred by theAllen E. Paulson LivingTrust.

“The sales topper was a star,” Woods

said. “He has an international pedigree and

the looks to match, and he brought what he

should have brought. It wouldn’t have been

a surprise if he brought more.

He has everything you look for

in a horse. I was delighted with

the way he worked. That kind of

was expected of him, and he

stepped up and did it.”

Baffert said he was very pleased with the

purchase.

“I am really excited to get him,” Baffert

said. “He’s well-conformed, he has a fluid

way ofmoving, andwith that type of pedigree

– by a champion and out of a champion – you

have to step up to the plate and take a chance.”

Woods led theway during a two-day sale in

which 66 horses sold for $11.8 million, down

28 percent from last year, when 77 juveniles

sold for $16.3 million. Woods consigned nine

horses for a total of $3.13million, or an average

of $348,000, the highest average at the sale.

The sale’s average price was $178,864,

down 15.5 percent from last year’s average of

$211,675. This year’s median price was

$117,500, a dropof21.7percent from last year’s

mark of $150,000.The buy-back rate increased

from38percent last year to 44percent this year.

“The sale was like every other sale – it was

very spotty,” Woods said. “For the better

horses, we had a very successful sale and

were very pleased with it. For the better

horses that vetted well, there were people

there, but for the others, there was no one

there. Some of the middle-of-the-road horses

were very useful, and we were just mystified

that we weren’t able to move some of them.”

Woodshas enjoyed success at theKeeneland

April sale over the years, having consigned last

year’s Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness

Stakes (G1)winner,BigBrown, at the2007sale.

Other local horsemen also were among

the leading consignors at this year’s sale.

John and Jill Stephens’ Morriston-based

Stephens Thoroughbreds ranked

second with sales of $1.35 mil-

lion from seven head. Niall Bren-

nan Stables was third with $1.34

million from five horses, while

Ciaran Dunne’sWavertree Stables

sold seven head for $1.18million.

They were followed by the

Scanlon Training Center, with

eight head sold for $1.14 million;

Leprechaun Racing, seven head for $1.13

million; and the Jerry Bailey Sales Agency,

three head for $900,000.

Baffert purchased Vallenzeri on Monday

and boughtTuesday’s highest-priced horse as

well. Hip No. 203, a Smart Strike colt out of

the Belong to Me mare Private Feeling,

brought a final bid of $475,000 from Baffert

on behalf ofMike Pegram, PaulWeitman and

KarlWatson.The horse, consigned by Bailey

as agent, had worked an eighth of a mile in

10 seconds flat during preview day.

“I wasn’t going to go home without him,”

Baffert said. “He worked well, and he’s a

good mover.”

Leprechaun Racing consigned Tuesday’s

second-highest-priced horse, hip No. 168, a

colt from the first crop of RockHardTen.The

son of the Deputy Minister mare Fiddlin

Devon drew a final bid of $440,000 from

Centennial Farms.

“We’re always looking for a classic colt,”

said Centennial President Donald Little Jr.


but hewas able to put away that horse (Jones-

boro) around the turn and draw off.”

Wolfson said one of the keys to the per-

formance was the condition of the track,

which was labeled as “fast.” Last month,

It’s a Bird ran in second place for much of

the New Orleans Handicap (G2) on a

sloppy track at Fair Grounds Race Course

but wasn’t able to rally down the stretch,

finishing third behind fellow Florida-bred

Macho Again.

“The New Orleans track wasn’t in good

shape, and I don’t think he liked the track,”

Wolfson said. “I think the track beat him

that day.”

The Oaklawn Handicap marked the sec-

ond career graded win for It’s a Bird, who

also captured the Spend A Buck Handicap

(G3) at Calder Race Course in October.That

race capped a three-race winning streak for

It’s a Bird that included a wire-to-wire vic-

tory in the $55,000 Plagiarize Stakes, his

first stakes win.

Local Consignors Lead the Way at KeenelandEddie Woods sells top horse for $1.9 million

Eddie Woods



BY NICK FORTUNA

At about 2 p.m. on Saturday,May 2, there

were few people at Calder Race Course wear-

ing a bigger smile than David Humphrey, and

he owesmost of the credit for his mood to the

Montbrook mare Pocketbrook.

During a one-hour span, that mare sent

two horses to the winner’s circle, and

Humphrey got to see both races – one on tel-

evision and one in person. Accredit captured

the $280,500 Churchill Downs Stakes (G2)

by 1 ¾ lengths at Churchill Downs, and with

a lot less cash on the line, Grand Times won

a $32,000maiden special weight race by four

lengths at theMiami track, giving Humphrey

a day he won’t soon forget.

“I’m not complaining,” Humphrey joked.

“You don’t get days like that too regularly. It’s

nice to know that a small breeder – the little

guy – still has a chance in the game. It’s not

just the big people who have a chance.”

Humphrey lives in South Florida in

Homestead and owns a 17-acre farm in Ocala

that’s home to half a dozen broodmares. The

best horse they’ve ever produced isAccredit,

whowent wire to wire to earn his first graded

victory on May 2.

Accredit set fast fractions of 22.94 sec-

onds for the first quar-

ter-mile and 45.59

seconds for a half-

mile with Julien Lep-

aroux aboard. He then

held on to finish the

seven-furlong race in

a time of 1:23.24 and

improve his record to

5-for-5 on wet tracks.

The colt returned mutuels of $10.60, $5.40

and $4 as the third choice in a field of nine 4-

year-olds and up.

Accredit has won six of his 16 starts for

$427,738. He’s the third-richest horse ever

sired by E Dubai, trailing only Desert Code,

with $1.09 million in earnings, and High

Heels, with $484,636.Accredit was purchased

byKenneth and SarahRamsey for $160,000 at

the Keeneland sale of yearlings in September

2006 and is trained by Michael Maker.

“He was always a nice, correct, long-

legged foal,” Humphrey said.

As a 3-year-old in

December, Accredit

won the $69,100 Par-

lay Me Stakes over a

sloppy track atAque-

duct. Earlier in 2008,

he won optional-

claiming races on

wet tracks at

Saratoga and Aque-

duct. The May 2 race was only the second

graded event of his career, following a third-

place finish behind Semaphore Man in the

$150,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3)

at Oaklawn Park onApril 10.

At Calder, Grand Times prevailed in his

second career start with ElvisTrujillo aboard.

The juvenile is a son of Greatness, a stallion

standing atAdena Springs South inWilliston.

GrandTimes had finished second to Mission

Impazible in his career debut, a $48,000

maiden special weight race at Keeneland on

April 16. Grand Times was purchased by his

trainer,WesleyWard, for $14,000 at OBS last

August.

Humphrey saidAccredit andGrandTimes

owe their ability to Pocketbrook, who had one

victory and earned $14,120 at the racetrack.

The mare has a weanling filly by Consolida-

tor at her side as well as a yearling that’s a full

brother toAccredit.

“She’s a beautiful horse,” Humphrey said.

“She didn’t do too well at the racetrack, and

I’m not really sure why, but I think it’s be-

cause in her first or second race, she knocked

herself into the rail, and she never really

seemed to take to racing after that. But she’s

a nice, big mare, and I like her. She’s from a

family with a lot of nice horses.”

Mare Gives Local Breeder Two Winners on Same Day

BY NYRA PRESS

Lael Stable’s Florida-bred My Princess Jess halted a three-race losing streak and

began her 4-year-old campaign as a winner last month, rallying for a 1 ¾-length victory

over the favored Carribean Sunset (IRE) in the 32nd running of the $109,000 Beaugay

for fillies and mares at a mile and a sixteenth on the inner turf course at Belmont Park.

The StormyAtlantic filly, whose previous victory was in Saratoga’s Grade 2 Lake

George last July, came on strong in the middle of the “good” course under jockey

Cornelio Velasquez after sitting well off a pace of 26.07, 50.57, 1:15.27 and 1:38.97.

AreWe Dreamin had been the early pacesetter but was overtaken on the turn by Sun-

shine for Life, who wilted in midstretch.

“Cornelio rode her perfectly,” trainer Bar-

clayTaggsaid. “I toldhimto tuckher inandwait

until she got past the quarter-pole. He started to

take a littlemoreposition there,whichwas fine.

She reallyexplodes ifyouwaituntil shegetspast

thequarter-pole.Shehas thatquarter-mile inher,

nomore.She reallygivesyouanexplosivequar-

ter-mile. I don’t knowwhat’s next for her.”

AccreditCO

GLIA

NESE

PHOT

O

Accredit captures $280,500 Churchill Downs Stakes

My Princess Jess Wins BeaugayPA

MDI

ORIO

PHOT

O

My Princess Jess


AD bleed check.qx:Layout 1 5/4/09 10:03 AM Page 1


Goldman was born Dec. 26, 1932, in

Cambridge, Massachusetts, son to Rose

and Bob and brother to Sam. He attended

Riverside MilitaryAcademy in Gainesville,

GA and then returned to the Boston area to

attend Brandeis Univer-

sity. Goldman was ac-

cepted to Harvard Law

School, but was then

drafted, serving in the

Navy from 1955-57.

His hobby and great-

est passion was Thor-

oughbred racing, his

father having been one

of the country’s original

turf writers. His love of

racing, together with

his unique gift for writ-

ing, eventually led him

to a life-long career devoted to the Thor-

oughbred industry.

Goldman began his career in Massa-

chusetts, and was a regular at all the New

England tracks, including those long

gone–Narragansett Park, Lincoln Downs,

Scarborough Downs and the county

fairs–Brockton, Northampton and Great

Barrington. He soon left for Ocala, when

he saw Florida emerging in national promi-

nence in theThoroughbred industry. Before

leaving for Ocala, in 1961 Goldman mar-

ried Susanne Ronai, mother to his sons,

Robert, 46, and Peter, 44.

In a career that would ultimately have

him writing for virtually every prestigious

racing publication, domestically and

abroad, he first landed in Ocala in 1962,

becoming the business manager for the

world-renowned Farnsworth Farms. He

then moved to South Florida where he be-

came a marketing executive, at various

times, for each of the racetracks: Hialeah

Park, Gulfstream Park, Tropical Park and

Calder Race Course and later, Florida

Downs near Tampa.

In 1976, he returned

to Ocala to become mar-

keting director for the

Ocala Breeders’ Sales

Company (OBS), and

later formed Florida

Thoroughbred Advertis-

ing, an advertising and

marketing agency. In that

position, he has been re-

sponsible for all the TV

advertising of OBS.

Goldman’s major

claim to fame as a

breeder was Caltech,

winner of the 1989 Budweiser (Washington)

D. C. International (G1) and an earner of

more than $700,000. He then reached his

crowning journalistic achievement (in a

multi-part series for Daily Racing Form),

“The Sunshine Boys,” which chronicled the

colorful and rich history of racing in Florida.

Goldman’s in-depth knowledge of rac-

ing pedigrees and the Thoroughbred indus-

try was unmatched.

In 1983, he married for the second time

–to Catherine Bloomfield Goldman–a

world-class equine artist. Dave then dis-

covered another joy–becoming the proud

grandfather of Julia (11) and Emma (9).

Although he will be sorely missed by

the entire racing industry and anyone who

had the privilege of knowing him, Gold-

man leaves behind a “stable” rich with

friends and family, who loved and adored

him more than words can express.

David Goldman Passes AwayDavid Goldman died on April 23, in Ocala after a longbattle with cancer. He was 76.


AD bleed check.qx:Layout 1 5/4/09 10:02 AM Page 1


Multiple graded stakes-win-

ningmillionaireWestern Pride sired

the first winner from his debut crop,

as 2-year-old filly Straight Western

went gate-to-wire in a Trial race on

April 17th at Turf Paradise.

Straight Western broke well and

opened up on the field of nine, tak-

ing a five-length advantage into the

stretch of the 4 ½-furlong heat. The

bay filly hit the wire on top in a

final time of 53.07 over a fast track.

Out of the Straight Man mare Straight

Time, Straight Western was bred in Florida

by William Schettine. She is trained by

Derek Couch for owner Matt Keneley.

Western Pride, a three-time Derby-win-

ning 3-year-old and four-time graded stakes

winner, stands at Signature Stallions in

Ocala for a fee of $2,500.

Florida-bred Dinner in Odemmade

a four-wide move into the final turn then

ran down the leaders in the final strides

to prevail in a three-horse photo in the

$75,000 Chris Thomas Turf Classic last

month at Tampa Bay Downs.

Fellow Florida-bred Sir Dave moved

from third to briefly gain a short lead in-

side the eighth pole, but had to settle for

second, a neck behind the winner.

Ridden by Phil Teator for trainer Peter

Wasiluk Jr., Dinner in Odem covered

about 1 1/8 miles over a firm turf course

in 1:46.68. The son of Quaker Ridge was

bred in Florida by T.H. Heard Jr.

Dinner in Odem Prevails inTampa’s Chris Thomas

Dinner in Odem

COOL

EYPH

OTO

Millionaire Western Pride Sires First Winner

LOUI

SERE

INAG

ELPH

OTO

Malawi, a 2-year-old filly from the first

crop of Bwana Charlie, became the first

starter and first winner for her sire, impres-

sively drawing off to win her debut by four

lengths in a 4 ½-furlong maiden special

weight race last month.

Heiligbrodt Racing Stable bred and owns

Malawi, a filly out of the Gilded Time mare

Malady. Steve Asmussen trains the filly.

Heiligbrodt and Asmussen also teamed to

campaign Bwana Charlie.

Multiple graded stakes winner Bwana

Charlie, a son of Indian Charlie, stands at

Brent and Crystal Fernung’s Journeyman

Stud. His 2009 fee is $5,000.

Bwana Charlie’s FirstStarter Wins at Keeneland

LOUI

SERE

INAG

ELPH

OTO



By JO ANN GUIDRY

Southern Image led an outstanding

class of 2004 Florida-bred champions,

which won 18 stakes races that in-

cluded 13 graded stakes wins and seven

Grade 1 victories.With a pair of Grade 1 vic-

tories and $1.6 in seasonal earnings, South-

ern Image was named the Florida-bred Horse

of theYear and champion older male.

A 4-year-old colt by Halo’s Image out of

the Dixieland Band mare Pleasant Dixie,

Southern Image kicked off the season in at-

tention-grabbing fashion. On January 24, the

Arthur I. Appleton-bred colt romped to a

three-length win in the $1-million Sunshine

Millions Classic at Santa Anita Park. South-

ern Image encored that with another tally in a

$1-million race, scoring a victory in the Santa

Anita Handicap (G1) on March 6.

Across country trip to theEastCoast did lit-

tle to slow Southern Image down. OnMay 14,

he captured the Pimlico Special (G1). Owned

by the partnership of Blahut Stables, Kagele

Brothers, andAllen and Josh Tepper, Southern

Image closed out his season with a runner-up

finish by a nose to Colonial Colony in the

Stephen Foster Handicap (G1) on June 12 at

Churchill Downs. The Michael Machowsky

trainee banked $1,612,150 on the year in three

wins and one seconds in only four starts.

Southern Image was consigned by Apple-

ton’s Bridlewood Farms to the 2002 Ocala

Breeders’Sales Company’sMarch 2-year-olds

in training sale.Hewas purchased for $300,000

by trainerMachowsky for his current owners.

Other 2004 Florida-bred champions which

wonGrade 1 eventswere: LadyTak, the cham-

pionolder femalewhowon theBallerinaHand-

icap (G1) and Gallant Bloom Handicap (G2);

Afleet Alex, the champion 2-year-old colt,

who won the Hopeful Stakes (G1) and San-

ford Stakes (G2); Splendid Blended, the

champion 2-year-old filly who won the

Hollywood Starlet Stakes (G1); Midas

Eyes, the champion sprinter who won the

Forego Handicap (G1) and Star Over the

Bay, the champion turf horse who won the

Clement L. Hirsch Memorial Turf Champi-

onship Stakes (G1), Del Mar Handicap (G2)

and Sunset Handicap (G2).

Rounding out the season’s roster of

Florida-bred champions were: Limehouse,

the champion 3-year-old colt who won the

Hutcheson Stakes (G2) and Tampa Bay

Derby (G3); and Hopelessly Devoted, the

champion 3-year-old filly who won three

stakes including the listed Calder Oaks.

Bridlewood Farm stallion Halo’s Image,

the sire of Florida-bred Horse of the Year

Southern Image, was the leading Florida stal-

lion by progeny earnings with $3,478,969.

Wild Event, who also stood at Bridlewood

Farm, was the leading Florida juvenile sire

with progeny earnings of $722,940. Adena

Springs South stallion Running Stag was the

leading Florida freshman sire with progeny

earnings of $529,072.

The late John Franks was named the

FloridaBreeder of theYear for the second con-

secutive year. Franks was the leading Florida

breeder by Florida-bred earnings ($8,923,116),

Florida-bred stakeswinners (15), Florida-bred

stakes wins (23) and Florida-bred wins (466).

Lady Tak, the 2004 Florida-bred cham-

pion older female, was Franks’ leading

Florida-bred money earner. Raced by

Heiligbrodt Racing Stable, Lady Tak won

the Ballerina Handicap (G1), Gallant

Bloom Handicap (G2) and Winning Colors

Handicap on her way to earning $439,412

on the season. That total contributed to

Lady Tak becoming a Florida-bred million-

aire with a career bankroll of $1,155,682 at

the end of 2004.

Florida-bred Skip Away, who was the

1998 North American Horse of the Year,

was inducted into the National Museum of

Racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs,

New York. Bred by Anna Marie Barnhart,

owned by Carolyn Hine and trained by Hu-

bert “Sonny” Hine, Skip Away also gar-

nered Eclipse Awards as 1996 champion

3-year-old colt and 1997-98 champion older

male. In a remarkable career from 1995-98,

Skip Away won 16 graded stakes and was

stakes-placed 16 times in 38 starts to earn

$9,616,360. Among his 16 graded stakes

wins were 10 Grade I events: Breeders’Cup

Classic (G1); Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1),

twice;Woodbine Millions (G1); Hollywood

Gold Cup (G1); Haskell Invitational Hand-

icap (G1); Pimlico Special (G1); Gulf-

stream Park Handicap (G1); Woodward

Stakes (G1) and Donn Handicap (G1).

Down Memory Lane

‘04Down Memory Lane

HORS

EPHO

TOS.

COM

Southern Image 2004

MemoryLane.qx:Layout 1 5/5/09 2:16 PM Page 1

Situated on 100 grassy acres in northeastMarionCounty,the Florida Thoroughbred Retirement Farm is home to more than 50Florida-bred ex-racehorses. All of the horses arrive at the farm after theircareers on the racetrack are over. Sure, their racing days are behind them,but after rest and retraining, many of the horses at the Florida TRF areready for adoption. Many go on to enjoy second careers in dressage, trailriding, jumping, pleasure riding and other uses. Even those horsesthat are not rideable may find adoptive homes as companion an-imals. As more horses are adopted into new homes, more spacesare available for horses to join the Florida TRF program.

The farm is operated in conjunction with the Florida Departmentof Corrections and Marion Correctional Institution and all thehorses are cared for by female inmates from the LowellCorrectional Institute.Thewomen, all non-violent offenders, spendtheir days learning barn management skills including grooming,feeding, doctoring, and physical therapy and they help teach thehorses new disciplines. It’s a symbiotic relationshipwhereby the horses learnthe skills they need to go on to new careers and the inmates learn about team-work and trust. At the conclusion of the year-long program,having successfully passed 22written tests covering all aspects of horse care,inmates graduate with a vocational certificate in equine care technology.Upon their release, some of the graduates have gone on to work in theindustry as grooms and stable managers.

Two famous Florida-bred champions permanently reside at the farm:Carterista, the 1993 Florida ChampionTurf Horse andwinner of eight stakesraces, and Shake You Down, the 2003 Florida Champion Sprinter andwinner of nearly $1.5 million.

The Florida TRF currently has a waiting list for incomingThoroughbreds. In order to join the list, the horse should be aFlorida-bred Thoroughbred, coming straight from the track. The

horse should be retired due to age or physical condition. ContactFlorida Thoroughbred Charities for more information at 352-629-2160.A donation is requested along with each horse accepted into the program.

Founded in 2001, the farm is supported though the concentrated effortsof Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association, FloridaThoroughbred Charities, Ocala Breeders’Sales Company, Gulfstream Park,Calder RaceCourse,TampaBayDowns, the FloridaHorsemen’s Benevolentand Protective Association, the national Thoroughbred RetirementFoundation, as well as by many individuals who contribute through dona-tions and fundraising efforts.

For more information on adopting a retired Florida-bred racehorse, pleasecontact the FTBOA offices at 352-629-2160.

Since 1990 Florida Thoroughbred Charities, the non-profit, charitablearm of the FTBOA has raised more than $3.5 million for a variety ofcommunity and Thoroughbred industry causes. Much of the fundraisingefforts are made possible due to thesupport FTBOA and FTC receivefrom corporate sponsorship.

Mer

edith

Woo

dsPh

otos

Florida Thoroughbred Retirement Farm

FLORIDA THOROUGHBREDBREEDERS’ AND OWNERS’ ASSOCIATION

801 SW 60th Ave. • Ocala, FL 34474352-629-2160 • Fax: 352-629-3603www.ftboa.com • [email protected]

34387.FTC.Charities.WTW:Layout 1 4/29/09 11:26 AM Page 1

FTBOA, FHBPA and ChurchillDowns are raising purse money in

the juvenile racing program atCalder this year and growing the

Florida Stallion Stakes, making thepopular series more lucrative

than ever in 2009!

$32,000 minimum pursesfor maiden special weight,

which includes $5,000 FSSsupplements and $5,000Florida Owners’ Awards.

Take advantage of yournext opportunity to purchase

a Florida-bred at theOBS June sale in Ocala!

Weathering.qx:Layout 1 5/5/09 3:35 PM Page 1


Asofpress time, several issues targeted by

the FTBOA as economic stimulus items

necessary to maintain and improve

Thoroughbred racing in Florida are still under

consideration by the Florida Legislature.

Updates will be released by the FTBOA via e-

mail as they are available. Anyone wishing to re-

ceive the latest updates on legislative action and

other issues affecting the Thoroughbred industry

in Florida can sign up by submitting their e-mail

address to our office.

Those wanting the updates can send an e-mail

to [email protected]. Please include your name, ad-

dress, phone number and FTBOA membership

number, if you have one, in the body of the mes-

sage. Membership is not required to sign up for e-

mail updates.

Among the items currently under considera-

tion by the Florida House and Senate are a not-

for-profitThoroughbred racing permit forMarion

County, the reduction of taxes levied on slot ma-

chine revenues from the current 50 percent rate to

35 percent and the Breeders’Flexibility provision,

which would allow more freedom in how breed-

ers’ awards can be distributed.

FLORIDA THOROUGHBREDCHARITIES RAISES $21,000IN AUCTION

The Florida Thoroughbred Charities’ 19th

annual Live/Silent Auction held on April 18

raised more than $21,000.

The event was held on the opening day of

the Ocala Breeders’Sales Spring Sale of 2-year-

olds in training and included such items as tick-

ets to the World Series, the Indy 500 and

Brickyard 400. Other items included a suite at

Gulfstream Park for the Sunshine Millions or

Florida Derby, memberships to Golden Hills

Golf andTurf Club and Golden Ocala Golf and

Equestrian Center and an equine care package

from OBS Feed and Supply.

Themoney raised during the auction is in ad-

dition to the nearly $105,000 the FTC raised dur-

ing its annual Stallion SeasonAuction, also held

at OBS in February. A season to Bridlewood

Farm’s stallion Put it Back received the top bid.

The 2009 foals of stallions who participated

in the auction will be eligible for the Florida

Thoroughbred Charities Stakes, which is run

during the Ocala Breeders’Sales Day of Cham-

pions races. This year Florida-bred Dukes Fly-

ingTiger, by former Hartley/De Renzo stallion

Tiger Ridge, won the race on Feb. 16.

Gilbert G. CampbellPresident

Eddie MartinFirst Vice President

J. Michael O’FarrellSecondVice President

Mark RobertsSecretary

Diane ParksTreasurer

DIRECTORSFred Brei

Donald DizneyBarry W. EisamanMichael Mulligan

Peter VegsoSheila DiMare

Bonnie M. Heath IIIGeorge G. Isaacs

Jessica SteinbrennerCharlotte C. Weber

Richard E. HancockEXECUTIVEVICE PRESIDENT

FloridaThoroughbredBreeders’ and

Owners’Association

801 SW 60th Ave.Ocala, Florida 34474

Phone: (352) 629-2160Fax: (352) 629-3603

visit us at www.ftboa.come-mail: [email protected]

FTBOA to Continue OfferingLegislative e-mail Updates

see Charity Auction page 20

FTBOA.NewsDigest.qx:Layout 1 5/6/09 4:33 PM Page 19

“We’d really like to thank all the stallion

owners and those who donated items to the

auctions, as well as our staff who put somuch

work into the auction.We are appreciative of

all those who participated to help support the

charities and the community organizations

they assist, especially in these difficult times,”

said Richard E. Hancock, executive vice pres-

ident of the FTBOA.

Since 1990, Florida Thoroughbred Chari-

ties Inc. has raised nearly $4 million to bene-

fit thoroughbred industry and community or-

ganizations.The FTC is the charitable arm of

the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and

Owners’Association.

The next FTC event is the annual golf

tournament in October.All proceeds raised at

the event will go toward the FTC scholarship

fund. The scholarship program is open to

FTBOA members, their children, their em-

ployees and children of employees. Last year,

more then $50,000 in scholarships were

awarded to 33 students planning on attending

accredited two or four-year colleges or uni-

versities

Additionally, the Florida Thoroughbred

Retirement Foundation, which is also admin-

istered by the FTBOA,was recently presented

with a check for nearly $6,000 from money

collected during the annual country barbecue

held in conjunction with the Adena Springs

2-year-olds in training sale in March.


Charity Auction continued

Florida-bred Dukes Flying Tiger won this yearʼs Florida Thoroughbred Charities Stakes.PA

MDI

ORIO

PHOT

O

Calendar of eventsMay 16:Preakness Stakes (G1) at PimlicoJune 6:Belmont Stakes (G1) at Belmont ParkJune 13:Calder Race Course’s Summit of Speed Preview,featuring the $100,000 Unbridled Stakes,$100,000 Leave Me Alone Stakes,$75,000 Ponche Handicap and$75,000 U Can Do It HandicapJune 16-17:Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. June sale of 2-year-olds and horses of racing ageJuly 11:Calder Race Course’s Summit of Speed, featur-ing the $350,000 Smile Sprint Handicap (G2), the$350,000 Princess Rooney Handicap (G1),$200,000 Carry Back Stakes (G2), $200,000Azalea Stakes (G3) and the $150,000 BobUmphrey Turf Sprint Handicap

FTBOA.NewsDigest.qx:Layout 1 5/6/09 11:24 AM Page 20


Showing t22 THE FLORIDA HORSE • MAY 2009

Photospread1.qx:Florida Horse_template 5/5/09 11:56 AM Page 22

Florida-bredHooh Why led all the

way to upset heavily favored

champion Stardom Bound in

last month’s Ashland Stakes (G1)

at Keeneland. The daughter of

former Florida sire Cloud

Hopping covered the 1 1/16

miles in 1:43.80.

Owned by Derby Daze Farms

and Mark Hoffman, Hooh Why

was bred by co-owner Gail Gee

at her Derby Daze Farms. The

filly was broke and trained in

Ocala by Dominic Brennan.

KEEN

ELAN

DPH

OTO

BYZthe Way


Project1:Florida Horse_template 5/6/09 5:37 PM Page 23


Photospread2.qx:Florida Horse_template 5/5/09 12:01 PM Page 24

Florida-bredAdvice charged through the stretch toregister a come-from-behind victory in theLexington Stakes (G2) at Keeneland onSaturday, April 18. The son of SignatureStallions’ Chapel Royal earned himself aspot in the starting gate for the KentuckyDerby (G1) with the impressive score.

Bred by Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Rogers,the WinStar Farm colorbearer was raised inMarion County at The Acorn and was sold byEisaman Equine.

Advice, who is trained by Todd Pletcher,covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.33.

KEEN

ELAN

DPH

OTO

BYZ


Photospread2.qx:Florida Horse_template 5/5/09 2:38 PM Page 25

By CARLOS E. MEDINA

Calder Race Course and FHBPA officialssigned a purse contract days before theCalder meet was to kick off, ending the

prospect of a repeat of last year’s extendedstalemate.

The parties agreed to the contract after theFlorida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’Association stepped in and pledged an addi-tional $300,000 for juvenile purses to offset asimilar amount of money at the heart of thedispute.

Both Calder and the Florida Horsemen’sBenevolent and Protective Association ver-bally agreed to a contract in late March, butthe contract hit a snag after Calder’s parentcompany, Churchill Downs Inc., objected to aprovision that could have cost it between$250,000 and $300,000.

“I’m glad that we could help get this pursecontract signed, and I tip my hat to John Mar-shall (Calder general manager and vice presidentof racing) and Sammy Gordon (FHBPA presi-dent) for getting together and agreeing to whatcan be one of the best juvenile meets in recentCalder history,” said Richard E. Hancock,FTBOA executive vice president.

“With the contract now settled, I hope itwill give buyers attending OBS sales confi-dence that they will not only have a place torace, but they will be racing in one of the best

juvenile programs around,” Hancock said.Among the other items in the contract is a

minimum average overnight purse increase to$160,000, a minimum purse target of $10,000from $7,500 and improved reporting of handleand source market fees from Calder.

“I think it is a fair contract, and I am glad wegot it done just in time before the meet starts,”said Kent Stirling, FHBPA executive director.“We appreciate the (FTBOA) stepping up andadding the extra enhancements.”

Calder’s Marshall praised Hancock and theFTBOA board of directors for their efforts inhelping to get the contract signed.

“This agreement is a positive developmentfor everyone with a stake in South Florida rac-ing, especially Thoroughbred racing fans,” hesaid. “Our renewed partnership with the FTBOAand FHBPA could not come at a better time.”

The FHBPA’s Gordon was also thankful forthe FTBOA’s support.

“We are delighted to have a signed agree-ment for the upcoming season,” Gordon said.“We appreciate the partnership we’re formingwith the new management at Calder and lookforward to a successful year.”

The $300,000 in added purse money willbolster six juvenile stakes races. The six $50,000overnight stakes races will double in value to$100,000 with the additional funds pledged bythe FTBOA for winning Florida-breds. Two of

those races are the JJ’s Dream and the FrankGomez Memorial stakes on July 11.

Calder’s Juvenile Showcase card on Aug.29 will have an additional $200,000 in pursesfor four overnight stakes. Again, $50,000 inadditional purses for winning Florida-bredswould double the value of the Seacliff, theLindsay Frolic, the Turf Dash and theCatcharisingstar stakes.

The Juvenile Showcase features the Af-firmed and the Susan’s Girl divisions of theFlorida Stallion Stakes series, which would re-main valued at $150,000 each.

The added purse money further improves anagreement that enhanced the Florida StallionStakes series and increased purses for 2-year-oldmaiden special weight races, as well as theFTBOA Stakes Program.

The original enhancements specificallycalled for a contribution to FSS purses of$100,000 each from the FTBOA, Calder and theFHBPA. Purses for 2-year-old maiden specialweight races would increase to $32,000, whichwould include $5,000 in FSS supplements and$5,000 in Florida owners’ awards.

Last year, Calder operated almost threemonths of the meet without a contract. Calder’stotal purses were down almost $8 million from2007 numbers. Horsemen also lost as purses,some stakes and race days were cut because ofthe lost revenue. �


JOE

DIOR

IOPH

OTO

Calder, FHBPASign Contract

FTBOA Pledges $300,000for Juvenile Purses

Calder.qx:Florida Horse_template 5/6/09 10:22 AM Page 26

For more information, contact the FTBOA at(352) 629-2160

RACE DATE VALUE DIST.Frank Gomez Stakes . . . . . . . . . . . . .7/11/2009 $100,000 (including $50,000 FTBOA Stakes Fund) 6 furlongsJ J’s Dream Stakes-fillies . . . . . . . . . .7/11/2009 $100,000 (including $50,000 FTBOA Stakes Fund) 6 furlongsFSS Desert Vixen Division-fillies . . . . . .8/8/2009 $100,000 FSS (including $50,000 FTBOA Stakes Fund) 6 furlongsFSS Dr. Fager Division . . . . . . . . . . . .8/8/2009 $100,000 FSS (including $50,000 FTBOA Stakes Fund) 6 furlongsFSS Susan’s Girl Division-fillies . . . . .8/29/2009 $150,000 FSS 7 furlongsFSS Affirmed Division . . . . . . . . . . .8/29/2009 $150,000 FSS 7 furlongsSeacliff Stakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8/29/2009 $100,000 (including $50,000 FTBOA Stakes Fund) 1 mileLindsay Frolic Stakes . . . . . . . . . . . .8/29/2009 $100,000 (including $50,000 FTBOA Stakes Fund) 1 mileTurf Dash Stakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8/29/2009 $100,000 (including $50,000 FTBOA Stakes Fund) 5 furlongsCatcharisingstar Stakes . . . . . . . . . .8/29/2009 $100,000 (including $50,000 FTBOA Stakes Fund) 5 furlongsBrave Raj Stakes-fillies . . . . . . . . . . .9/26/2009 $75,000 (including $15,000 FTBOA Stakes Fund) 1 mile and 70 yds.Foolish Pleasure Stakes . . . . . . . . . .9/26/2009 $75,000 (including $15,000 FTBOA Stakes Fund) 1 mile and 70 yds.FSS My Dear Girl Division-fillies . . . .10/17/2009 $400,000 FSS 1 1/16 milesFSS In Reality Division . . . . . . . . . .10/17/2009 $400,000 FSS 1 1/16 milesCassidy Stakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10/17/2009 $75,000 (including $15,000 FTBOA Stakes Fund) 5 1/2 furlongsBirdonthewire Stakes . . . . . . . . . . .10/17/2009 $75,000 (including $15,000 FTBOA Stakes Fund) 5 1/2 furlongs

FLORIDA MILLIONJoe O’Farrell Juvenile Fillies . . . . . .11/14/2009 $150,000 (including $75,000 FTBOA Stakes Fund) 7 furlongsJack Price Juvenile . . . . . . . . . . . . .11/14/2009 $150,000 (including $75,000 FTBOA Stakes Fund) 7 furlongsArthur I. Appleton Juvenile Turf . . . .11/14/2009 $100,000 (including $50,000 FTBOA Stakes Fund) 1 1/16 milesJohn Franks Juvenile Fillies Turf . . .11/14/2009 $100,000 (including $50,000 FTBOA Stakes Fund) 1 1/16 miles

Stakes Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,700,00040 Maiden Special Weight2YO races - $32,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,280,000(including $5,000 FSS & $5,000 FOA) $3,980,000

Quick ReturnsFor Florida-bred Juveniles at Calder

Buy a Florida-bredat the OBS June Sale to take

advantage of these opportunities.


Calder.qx:Florida Horse_template 5/5/09 12:17 PM Page 27

gAWinningInvolved in the Florida Thoroughbred industry for 12 years and counting,

Brei.Fre.Jane.qx:Florida Horse_template 5/5/09 12:06 PM Page 28


By JOANN GUIDRY

Call it a Thoroughbred royal flush.

After establishing their Reddick-based Jacks Or

Better Farm in 1997, Fred and Jane Brei began

to buy broodmares. At that year’s Keeneland

November breeding stock sale, they paid $80,000 for

Bayou Plans. The stakes-winning daughter of Bayou

Hebert had earned $308,959 and was in foal to Moun-

tain Cat. Longtime card players, it was arguably the best

$80,000 bet the Breis ever made.

Bayou Plans has since produced Florida-bred graded

stakes winners Midas Eyes and Bayou’s Lassie, as well

as Florida-bred stakes winner Bourbon N Blues. She is

also the damofCup o’Joe, a 2-year-old colt byMedaglia

d’Orowho theBreis sold for a

sales-topping $1.6 million at

the 2009 Fasig-Tipton Calder

selected juvenile sale.

“Obviously Bayou Plans

has been a great broodmare

for us,” said Fred Brei, who

hails from the Chicago, Illi-

nois area and was briefly in-

volved in that state’s

Thoroughbred industry.

“She’s definitely earned her

keep year after year. She’s the

kind of broodmare that everyone wishes they had.”

But even more impressive is that the Breis’ success

extends beyond Bayou Plans and her accomplished off-

spring. In the name of their Jacks Or Better Farm, the

Breis have bred and/or raced such outstanding Florida-

breds as graded stakes winner Radical Riley and stakes

winners Garter Belt, Honey Honey Honey, Hear No

Evil, Awesome of Course, Monsieur Cat, Ladyinared-

dres, My My Mine, Scrubs, Antsinmypants, Friday’s A

Comin’ and Winnie’s Pooh Bear. Still owned by Jacks

Or Better Farm,Awesome of Course, Hear No Evil and

Monsieur Cat stand stud at Jim and Sheila DiMare’s

Ocala-based Rising Hill Farm.

Jacks Or Better Farm has twice garnered the Needles

Award (2001& 2004), which annually honors the most

successful small Florida breeding operation. In 2008,

horses bred by Jacks Or Better Farm earned $1,045,420.

As an owner last season, Jacks Or Better Farm posted

earnings of $815,539.

COMING TO THE SUNSHINE

Fred and Jane Brei met at Canterbury Corporation,

a long-term retirement facility in Crystal Lake, Illinois,

in the mid-80s. Fred, a longtime builder/developer,

built and became chief executive officer of Canterbury

Corp., where Jane was the director of nursing. Married

in 1991, the Breis left Canterbury in 1995 with

thoughts of early retirement.

They bought a home in Savannah, Georgia, and the

plan was for Jane to renovate the 1910 Southern man-

sion while Fred played golf and went fishing.

“Basically we got bored,” said Fred. “Andwhen Jane

brought up my past involvement in the Thoroughbred

business in Illinois, we started thinking about giving it

another try. We decided against Lexington because we

didn’t want to be where it got cold again.We had heard

“When Jane brought up my past involve-ment in theThoroughbred business in Illinois,we started thinking about giving it anothertry.We decided against Lexington because wedidn’t want to be where it got cold again.Wehad heard plenty about Ocala but had neverbeen there. We took out a road atlas andplanned a trip to Ocala.” –Fred Brei

HandFred and Jane Brei continue to enjoy success in the name of their Jacks Or Better Farm.

SERI

TAHU

LTPH

OTOS

Fred and Jane Breihave found successin Ocala.


plenty about Ocala but had never been there. We took

out a road atlas and planned a trip to Ocala.”

Driving down in the fall of 1996, theBreis knewOcala

was where they wanted to be. By the end of December,

they had bought an 88-acre farm on 225A. Previously

known as Double R Farm, the the card-playing Breis re-

named it Jacks Or Better Farm. Once renovations on the

farm were done, the Breis went broodmare shopping.

At the 1997 Ocala Breeders’Sales Company’s Janu-

arymixed sale, the Breis bought theMaudlinmareWin-

ning For Glory in foal to Silver Buck for $7,000. They

then bought three mares privately: Vogueing, Tudor

Guest and Picnic Basket. Off to Kentucky for the 1997

Keeneland November breeding stock sale, where in ad-

dition to buying Bayou Plans for $80,000, the Breis also

bought graded stakes winner and millionairess Lottsa

Talc for $575,000; stakes winnerMais Oui for $200,000

and multiple stakes producer Nifty Fifty for $170,000.

All money well spent.

From that first batch of mares, the 1998 Jacks Or

Better Farm Florida-bred foal crop produced graded

stakes winner Radical Riley, stakes winners Winnie’s

Pooh Bear,Antsinmypants, Friday’sAComin’andMon-

sieur Cat, as well as stakes-placed IAm Nifty.

“Looking back now, it’s hard to believe how many

years ago that was,” said Brei. “I guess our horses pretty

much hit the ground running.”

BAYOU’S BABIES

Bayou Plans’ successful offspring may have come a

couple of years after those initial stakes winners, but

they’ve definitelymadeup for lost time.BayouPlans’third

foal was Midas Eyes, a very appropriately named 2000

colt by Touch Gold. He made his first start carrying the

JacksOrBetter Farm silks and broke hismaiden by eight.

Sold privately shortly after to EdmundGann,Midas Eyes

definitely brought home the gold. He won the Forego

Handicap (G1), Swale Stakes (G3) andDerbyTrial Stakes

(G3) on his way to banking $616,528. Midas Eyes was

named the 2004 Florida-bred champion sprinter. He cur-

rently stands stud at Empire Stud in Hudson, NewYork.

BourbonNBlues, whowas Bayou Plans’2001 colt by

Lycius, was also raced by JackOr Better Farm.The stakes

winnerof$90,590 stands inNewMexicoatDeGrootFarm.

Also bred and raced by Jacks Or Better Farm was


AWinning Hand

The Breisʼ filly GarterBelt (below) recentlywon the Green Oaks

Stakes at Delta Downs.

“We really breed to race.We like racing and just don’t sell thatmany at the public auctions. But this Medaglia d’Oro colt was

something special from day one. He was the most gorgeous horseever born on our farm and he was always an extraordinary

mover even as a baby. He would just glide across the paddockwith no effort.We thought he’d be a nice yearling to sell.”–Fred Brei

COAD

YPH

OTO

SERI

TAHU

LTPH

OTO


Florida Dept. of Agricultureand Consumer ServicesCharles H. Bronson, Commissioner850-488-4366 • Fax 850-922-0374

e-mail: [email protected] S. Calhoun • 412 Mayo Building, Tallahassee, FL 32399

Florida ThoroughbredBreeders’ and Owners’ Association801 SW 60th Ave. • Ocala, FL 34474352-629-2160 • Fax: 352-629-3603www.ftboa.com • [email protected]

COOK

IESE

RLET

ICPH

OTO

Dept.Ag.33546.qx:Layout 1 12/15/08 10:10 AM Page 1

graded stakes winner Bayou’s Lassie, a 2003 mare by

Outflanker. Racing three seasons, Bayou’s Lassiewon six

stakes, including three graded, andwas stakes-placed four

times in 21 starts to earn $707,207. She won a graded

stakes as a three, four and five-year-old: 2006 FrancesA.

Genter Stakes (G3), 2007 Stage Door Betty Handicap

(G3) and 2008 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes (G3).

Consigned by Hidden Brook, agent for the Breis, to the

2008 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November mixed sale,

Bayou’s Lassie sold for $450,000 to HaruyaYoshida.

“Since Bayou Plans is still going strong at 18 and her

2008 foal was a filly by LemonDropKid, we decided to

sell Bayou’s Lassie,” explained Brei. “She was a super

racehorse and I’m sure she’ll be a good broodmare.”

And it was with Bayou Plans’ 2007 Medaglia d’Oro

colt that Brei hit an even bigger jackpot in the sales ring.

“We really breed to race,” said Brei. “We like racing

and just don’t sell that many at the public auctions. But

thisMedaglia d’Oro colt was something special fromday

one. He was the most gorgeous horse ever born on our

farm and he was always an extraordinary mover even as

a baby. He would just glide across the paddock with no

effort.We thought he’d be a nice yearling to sell.”

The Breis entered the dark bay, nearly black colt now

named Cup o’ Joe in the 2008 Keeneland September

yearling sale. But when he failed to meet his reserve on

a final bid of $325,000, Brei had no qualms about bring-

ing the colt home.

“I’ve never believed in giving our horses away. I’ve

always said that we breed better racehorses than we do

sale horses,” said Brei. “I knew this colt was special. I

decided I’d break and train him then see where to go

with him from there.”

Where Cup o’ Joe eventually went was the 2009

Fasig-Tipton Calder selected juvenile sale. Consigned

by Wavertree Stables, agent for the Breis, the colt was

the sales topper when he sold for $1.6 million to John

Ferguson Bloodstock. The latter representing Sheikh

Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum.

“Once the bidding on the colt got to amillion and then

past that, I was very happy,” said Brei. “It validated what

I knew about this colt. I would’ve been happy to race him,

but I’m also happy he sold for what he did. For someone

who doesn’t breed to sell, that was something special.”

Bayou Plans has a 2008 Lemon Drop Kid filly

named Shesnolemon and a 2009 Awesome of Course

filly. At this writing, Bayou Plans was scheduled to be

bred to Candy Ride (Arg).

BREEDING TO RACE

The Breis maintain a broodmare band of 20-25. In

addition to Bayou Plans, the current 22-member group

also includes stakes producer Sexy Stockings, dam of

2009 Florida-bred stakes winner Garter Belt; stakes

winner Ladyinareddress; stakes-placed IAmNifty; and

stakes winner Precious Feather. The Breis privately

bought Precious Feather, a 1997mare byGoneWest out

of the *Vaguely Noble mare Last Feather, following the


AWinning Hand


1998 Keeneland September yearling sale. Racing for

Jacks Or Better Farm, Precious Feather won four stakes

andwas stakes-placed three times on her way to earning

$257,441. She is the dam of stakes-placed Brooks’n

Down, by Montbrook, has a 2006 Medaglia d’Oro colt

named Precious Beans, a 2007 Congaree filly named

Diary, a 2008 Awesome of Course filly and is in foal

again to the latter.

“We’re very hands-on with our horses,” said Brei,

who in addition to being a

breeder/ owner/ trainer, is also a

director on the Florida Thor-

oughbred Breeders’andOwners’

Association’s board. “I’m there

when every one of our mares

foal. We don’t feed in the pad-

docks so our horses are brought

in twice a day to be fed and han-

dled. We always know what’s

going on with our horses.”

After leasing stalls at various training facilities, the

Breis bought 13-acres at Nelson Jones Farms andTrain-

ing Center. The farm’s training operation includes a 24-

stall training barn, six-stall isolation barn, turn-out

paddocks and use of the facility’s training track. In ad-

dition to the horses in training at the farm, there are an-

other 21with Louisiana-based trainer KennyDecker and

nine with Calder-based trainer Stanley Gold.

“We break and train all our horses here at our train-

ing center,” said Brei. “And because they’re handled so

much early and often, most of our horses are easy to

bring along.We can usually put a bridle and a saddle on

them in the stall on the first day. On the second day, we’ll

get someone up on their backs while they’re still in the

stall. By the fourth day, they’re being handwalked in the

shedrow with a rider on their back. Then we progress to

jogging in the shedrow, usually for about twoweeks. By

then they’re ready to go the training track.”

Brei likes to ship the more advanced group of two

year olds to the track by earlyApril. By that time, they’ve

been to the gates once a week for a month and posted a

couple of half-mile works.

“Our horses are fit when they

go to the racetrack,” said Brei.

“The next step in their education

is acclimating to the racetrack

environment, which depends on

the horse’s personality. But if all

goes well, most of our two years

old are ready to make their first

start on average 28 days after

they got to the racetrack.”

Not surprisingly, Brei is a strong supporter of 2-year-

old racing.

“The FTBOA has been working with Calder to em-

phasize 2-year-old racing again,” said Brei. “The purses

for 2-year-old races, especially the Florida Stallion

Stakes, need to come up to attract owners and trainers.

There has to be purse incentives to encourage people to

buy two year olds and race them. My theory is, and I

could be wrong, is that if people come in as owners of

two year olds and can make some money, they’ll stay in

the game.And if they do that, it impacts not only racing,

but the breeding and sales markets as well.”�


Hip #94 (left) brought$1.6 million at theFasig-Tipton Calderjuvenile sale.

JOEDIORIOPHOTO

“My theory is, and I could bewrong, is that if people come inas owners of two year olds andcan make some money, they’ll

stay in the game. And if they dothat, it impacts not only racing,but the breeding and sales mar-

kets as well.”–Fred Brei


Ocala/Marion County is blessed with mineral-rich soil and water,moderate climate and high concentration of top industry professionals.Florida’s exceptional agriculture and business climate forbreeding, training and racing means Thoroughbredsfrom the Sunshine State start with an advantage.

All of this and more is why Ocala/MarionCounty, Florida, is known around the globeand throughout the equine industry asthe Horse Capital of the World.

DiscoverHorse Heaven on Earth.

DiscoverOcala/Marion/County,Florida!

Horse Heaven on

BARB

ARA

D.LI

VIN

GSTO

NPH

OTO

HeavenOnEarth.32383.qx:Layout 1 5/30/08 1:24 PM Page 1

on Earth

FLORIDA DEPT. OF AGRICULTUREAND CONSUMER SERVICES

Charles H. Bronson, Commissioner850-488-4366 • Fax 850-922-0374 • e-mail: [email protected]

407 S. Calhoun • 412 Mayo Building, Tallahassee, FL 32399

FLORIDA THOROUGHBREDBREEDERS’ AND OWNERS’ ASSOCIATION


HeavenOnEarth.32383.qx:Layout 1 5/30/08 1:16 PM Page 2

By NICK FORTUNA

Asone of the best players on one of the NBA’s

top teams, Rashard Lewis already was as-

sured of a highly competitive playoff season.

But for the Orlando Magic’s All-Star power forward,

game-winning 3-pointers aren’t the only exciting

events he can look forward to this spring.

Lewis and a group of childhood friends have part-

nered to purchase three Thoroughbreds that have al-

ready taken them to some of the biggest races in the

sport of kings. Lewis said he didn’t know much about

horse racing before being introduced to the sport last

year, but now that it’s in his blood, it’s become a passion

that likely will end up becoming his second career.

“It’s most definitely something I see myself involved

in when I retire,” Lewis said.

“With horse racing, even though

I’mnot actually competingmy-

self, it’s still competing.”

Lewis shares ownership of his horses with a group

of friends fromHouston, where he went to high school.

One of those friends is his business manager, Jake Bal-

lis, a real estate developer whose father, John, owned

stakes winners such as Groovy, Cutlass Reality and

Goodbye Halo. Lewis’s other partners are Jake Ballis’s

brother, Reed, an attorney, and brothers Will and Rea-

gan Swinbank, who run a trash-collecting business.

Lewis said he was familiar with horses such as Ken-

tucky Derby winners Street Sense and Big Brown, but

it wasn’t until he saw his first race in person at Saratoga

last summer that he began to fall in love with the sport.

Prior to that race, Lewis and his friends had bought a

Sky Mesa colt named Join in the Dance and sent him

to trainerTodd Pletcher.The colt immediately rewarded

the basketball star for his investment, winning by three

lengths in a $74,000 maiden special weight race.

While at Saratoga, Lewis also met University of

Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino, a Thorough-

bred owner who told him how much fun he’s had in

the sport over the years.

“I brought him to Saratoga, the best track you can

go to and the best environment,” Jake Ballis said.


PHOT

OBY

FERN

ANDO

MEDI

NA/N

BAE

VIAG

ETTY

IMAG

ES

All-Star

OrlandoMagic’sAll-Star forwardhas three-horse stable

Lewis.qx:Florida Horse_template 5/5/09 2:42 PM Page 36


“Join in the Dance broke his maiden there, so there

was a lot of excitement. It got him hooked.”

Since then, Join in the Dance has provided plenty

of excitement for Lewis and his friends. The 3-year-

old colt led for most of the $300,000 Tampa Bay

Derby (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs in March before fin-

ishing second to Musket Man by a neck as a 35-1 long

shot. Join in the Dance also ran fifth last month in the

$750,000 Blue Grass Stakes (G1) at Keeneland and

set the pace in the $2 million Kentucky Derby (G1) at

Churchill Downs before finishing seventh.

Ballis said Join in the Dance might run in the $1

million Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico on May 16.

Lewis and his partners also own Beyond Our

Reach, a 3-year-old, Irish-bred filly. She made her first

three starts in Europe last year before making her U.S.

debut in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at

Santa Anita, where she finished last in a 12-horse

field. Beyond Our Reach spent the winter preparing

for her 3-year-old season at J.J. Pletcher’s Payton

Training Center in Ocala.

Lewis said he was surprised that one of his horses

made it to the sport’s biggest stage in his first year as

an owner.

“It was a fun, but at the same time, it was strange

because they say a lot of people would die to go to the

Breeders’ Cup or the Kentucky Derby, and for me to

be in my first year in the business and have a horse in

the Breeders’ Cup, hopefully it’s a good sign that

they’ll be good things to come,” he said. “But I know

Stable

Join in theDance mightbe slatedfor thePreaknessStakes.

PAM

DIOR

IOPH

OTO


it’s very tough, and it’s not something that just hap-

pens normally. Some people never get a horse that’s

good enough to run in a race like that.”

In addition, Lewis and his friends recently pur-

chased a juvenile colt from the first crop of Florida-

bred Limehouse. Ballis said the horse likely will be

named Dream Shake in honor of Hakeem “The

Dream” Olajuwon, a Hall-of-Fame basketball player

with the Houston Rockets who invested in real estate

deals with the Ballis family. The colt was purchased

from Juvenal Diaz, who owns Omega Farm in Ocala.

Ballis said the colt likely will make his first start in

May at Belmont Park, and plans call for all three of his

group’s horses to compete at Saratoga this summer.

Though Lewis saw the Tampa Bay Derby in person,

his busy schedule with theMagic prevents him from at-

tending many of his horses’ races, including the Breed-

ers’ Cup. Still, Ballis said the basketball star is far more

than just a silent partner.

“He gets updates every day,” Ballis said. “He calls

me about three times a day asking about the horses. He’s

a lot more involved than anybodywould ever think he is.

It’s a lot of fun.”

For Lewis, success in horse racing has come even

quicker than in basketball.After entering the 1998NBA

draft straight out of high school, Lewis watched as his

hometown Rockets chose three players instead of him

in the first round. Lewis was drafted by Seattle in the

second round and averaged just 2.4 points during his

rookie season with the SuperSonics.

Since then, Lewis has blossomed into one of the

NBA’s best talents. He was named an All-Star for the

second time this year, his second season with Orlando

following nine years in Seattle. For his career, he’s aver-

aged 16.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. This sea-

son, he’s partnered withAll-Star center Dwight Howard

to give Orlando one of the best front-court tandems in

the league and a Southeast Division title.

Lewis joined theMagic in 2007with a six-year, $118

million contract. That kind of money obviously can buy

a lot of horses, but Ballis said he plans on keeping the

stable small for the foresee-

able future.

“We have three, and we’ll

probably stick to three for a

while,” he said. “That’s the

plan right now, but it depends

on how the other ones run. If we have success, I’m hop-

ing to get a couple other basketball players involved and

keep it a small group.”

Lewis said he also plans to grow his stable slowly,

though his interest in the sport has grown by leaps and

bounds.

“I’ve gotten really into it,” he said. “When I watch

ESPN, if I see ‘Horse’at the bottom of the screen, I wait

on it to see who they’re talking about and what they’re

talking about. I’ve been readingmore about it and look-

ing at other horses that are running. I catch myself

watching other horses.” �


NBA star Lewis finding success as horse owner

“It’s most definitely something I see myself

involved in when I retire. With horse racing, even though I’m not

actually competing myself, it’s still competing.” —Rashard Lewis

PHOT

OBY

FERN

ANDO

MEDI

NA/N

BAE

VIAG

ETTY

IMAG

ES


Winners – both equineand human – possess a keeneye for opportunity.

Don’t miss yournext opportunity toacquire race ready,Florida-breds!

OBS JuneTwo-Year-Olds & Horsesof RacingAge Sale – June 16-17

Florida’s breeders have produced 46 national champions, including 2008Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Benny the Bull. Two other Florida-breds –Ginger Punch, a previous Eclipse winner, and Vineyard Haven – were alsoEclipse finalists this year.

Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs has been honored as the nation’s leadingbreeder for five consecutive years and swept top breeder and owner cate-gories at this year’s Eclipse Awards.

Success like this is why Florida is the ideal place to breed, raise, sell,and race champion Thoroughbreds.

Don’t let the chance to acquire a po-tential future champion bred and raised in

the Sunshine State pass you by!Florida Dept. of Agriculture

and Consumer ServicesCharles H. Bronson, Commissioner850-488-4366 • Fax 850-922-0374


Florida ThoroughbredBreeders’ and Owners’ Association


ThinkFast.FH.qx:Layout 1 5/5/09 12:26 PM Page 1

By NICK FORTUNA

Asthe horses were loaded into the start-ing gates for the Hilton Garden InnSprint, trainer Lynne Scace couldn’t help

but notice that one of the leading contenderswasn’t very happy to be there. How’sYour Halowas in gate No. 9, just to the inside of her horse,On theVineyard, and was making his displeas-ure known to everyone within earshot.“He was acting up, and I could hear the

banging around in there, and I said, ‘Oh, myGod,’” Scace said. “But On the Vineyard juststood right there and never batted an eye. Henever even twitched.”


PackSixSunshine State

COOL

EY P

HOTO

S

FloridaCupDay.qx:Florida Horse_template 5/5/09 2:45 PM Page 40


Florida Cup Day featured sixstakes races worth $85,000 each


On the Vineyard’s professional approach paid div-

idends that day, as he earned his first stakes victory as

a 30-1 long shot. His performance was part of a mem-

orable Florida Cup Day at Tampa Bay Downs onApril

4, when six stakes races worth $85,000 apiece were

contested by horses bred in the Sunshine State.

On the Vineyard ran just outside the pacesetter,

Stradivinsky, for much of the six-furlong race before

making his move near the top of the stretch. He fin-

ished in a time of 1:09.59 withWillie Martinez aboard

to win by 1¾ lengths and earn his fifth victory in 12

career starts. The 5-year-old son of Lite the Fuse has

earned $130,447 for Scace, who bred him at her Dou-

ble S Farm in Ocala and still owns him.

Scace had scored another victory earlier in the day

with Snow Lass, who won the seven-furlong Stone-

hedge Farm South Sophomore Fillies Stakes by 3 ¼

lengths in a time of 1:23.78. The 3-year-old filly led

the race most of the way to remain undefeated in three

starts and boost her earnings to $77,320. The daugh-

ter of Stormy Atlantic was bred and is owned by

Ocala’s Bridlewood Farm.

“She has a nice turn of foot, and I wanted to get

her away first and keep the other filly with speed in-

side me,” winning rider Rosemary Homeister Jr. said.

“We were clear going to the turn, and I looked around

at the quarter pole to see if anyone was coming – there

wasn’t. I was pretty sure then she would be alright get-

ting seven furlongs for the first time. We were just

breezing along at the wire.”

Along with Scace, trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. and jock-

eys Daniel Centeno and Elvis Trujillo were the big

winners of the day with two stakes victories apiece.

Trujillo steered Quiet Meadow to her first stakes

victory in the 11⁄16-mile L and D Farm Distaff, for fil-

lies and mares ages 4 and up. The 4-year-old filly, bred

by the late Arthur Appleton and owned by Hidden

Brook, entered the top of the stretch with a one-length

lead and held off the favored Scolara to win by half a

length.

The victory gave Quiet Meadow three wins in 11

starts and earnings of $135,008.

“We got away really well early,” Trujillo said. “She

can be a bit eager, and I had to make her relax getting

into the backstretch. We got a break when the leader

drifted out entering the turn and we were suddenly on

the lead, maybe a bit too soon. A horse came at us in

the stretch, and I touched her twice with the whip; she

didn’t like that, so I went back to hand riding, and she

was going again at the end.”

Trujillo also won the nine-furlong Kinsman Farm

Turf Classic aboard Fearless Eagle, who rallied past

Marquet Cat to win by a neck. Fearless Eagle, a son of

Rising Hill Farm stallion Invisible Ink, earned his fourth


Florida Cup Day

Quiet Meadow (below)held off Scolara to win

the L and D Farm Distaff.

CO

OLE

YP

HO

TOS


stakes victory. He had also won the Lord Juban, Jackie

Wackie and PeteAxthelm stakes at Calder Race Course.

FearlessEagle haswon six of his 18 starts for $253,870

for breeder/owner IsaacMuhtar and trainer Plesa.

“I had never ridden the horse before, so I wanted to

be careful and save all the ground I could,” Trujillo

said. “He wanted to get after them in the backstretch,

but I kept him behind horses and made him wait.

When the rail opened going into the stretch, he really

went for it. It might have looked close at the wire, but

we were eating up the ground.”

Centeno and Bee Cee Cee won the seven-furlong

Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore Stakes by three

lengths for Plesa and owner J. Robert Harris Jr. The

3-year-old son of Songandaprayer, bred by Ocala’s

Marion Montanari, had gone winless in seven straight

races since capturing the B L’s Sweep overnight stakes

at Calder in June.

Bee Cee Cee has won three of his 10 starts for

$159,900.


Snow Lass remainedundefeated in threestarts while winning theStonehedge FarmSouth SophomoreFillies Stakes.Fearless Eagle (below)won the Kinsman FarmTurf Classic by a neck.


“When we got clear going into the turn, he really

started to roll,” Centeno said. “Going seven furlongs

was no trouble for him at all.”

Centeno also piloted the heavily favoredTamborim

to a win in the 11⁄16-mile DaytonAndrews Dodge Soph-

omore Turf. Tamborim, a 3-year-old son of Belong to

Me, beat Duke of Mischief by three-quarters of a length

to earn his third victory in seven starts. The colt, bred

and owned by Ocala’s Haras Santa Maria deAraras, also

won the Arthur I. Appleton Juvenile Turf at Calder in

November and has earned $138,976.

“We broke well and got across just off the leaders,

and he did relax nicely,” Centeno said. “I went after them

going into the turn, and he had to work hard to get by.

Maybe he was tiring because he was trying to get in on

me in mid-stretch, but I got him straight, and he pulled

away. I knew something was coming fast outside us, but

we were there first.” �


Florida Cup Day

Heavily favored Tamborim(above) wins the DaytonAndrews Dodge Sopho-more Turf. Bee Cee Cee(at right) won the seven-furlong Ocala Breedersʼ

Sales Sophomore Stakesby three lengths.

COOL

EYPH

OTOS


Florida Dept. of Agricultureand Consumer ServicesCharles H. Bronson, Commissioner850-488-4366 • Fax 850-922-0374


Florida ThoroughbredBreeders’ and Owners’ Association801 SW 60th Ave. • Ocala, FL 34474352-629-2160 • Fax: 352-629-3603www.ftboa.com • [email protected]

Breeders&StallionOwners Awards$7.0 million

Owners’ Awards

$7.0 millionThe Sunshine Millionsat Gulfstream Park

The Florida Millionsat Calder Race Course

Florida Cup Dayat Tampa Bay Downs

$3.0 million(Paid by individual Florida racetracks to the owners ofFTBOA registered Florida-bred winners)

Florida Stallion Stakes$1.3 million(Only foals by eligible Florida Sires registered with the FTBOA)(Total Florida Stallion Stakes Program)

TToottaall FFlloorriiddaa--bbrreedd AAwwaarrddss PPrrooggrraamm$18.3 million

FTBOA Stakes Program

Florida Owners’ Awards

Dept.Ag.33361.qx:Layout 1 11/6/08 11:31 AM Page 1


Thermography can be used todetect abnormalities weeksbefore they cause lameness

Tells a StoryEquineCare

By DENISE STEFFANUS

Pain and swelling often are the first

signs that a horse is going lame.

The groom or trainer may notice

the problem when the horse comes back

from the track, or it may appear out of

the blue with no apparent cause. At this

point, the horse has to be sidelined or its

training cut back to allow time for the

horse to be treated and recover.

EquineCare.qx:Florida Horse_template 5/5/09 3:29 PM Page 46

Thermography, a noninvasive diagnostic

tool, can enable a veterinarian to detect sub-

tle alterations in blood flow weeks before

clinical signs appear. Many times, this early

warning allows trainers to make changes in

the horse’s care and training or seek medical

treatment that can prevent it from becoming

lame.More importantly, thermography’s abil-

ity to reveal stress fractures may save horses

from catastrophic breakdowns.

Tracy Turner, D.V.M., M.S., has been

studying the efficacy of thermography for

more than a decade. His work with actively

racing Thoroughbreds has shown that ther-

mography has merit, although it was received

with skepticism when it was first introduced

to equine veterinary medicine in the 1990s.

RACEHORSES BENEFIT

Thermography records the skin tempera-

ture and presents a pictorial representation of

the surface of the horse. Although images

measure only skin temperature, they also re-

flect alterations in circulation of deeper tissues.

Unusually hot or cold areas may be indicative

of some underlying pathology. This ability to

noninvasively assess inflammationmakes ther-

mography an ideal imaging tool to aid in the

diagnosis of certain lameness conditions, such

as those affecting the upper hind limb.

“We did a study at Canterbury Park in

Minnesota over a two-year period,” said

Turner, a board-certified surgeon at Anoka

EquineVeterinary Services in Elk River,Min-

nesota. “On average, we could pick things up

two weeks before they became clinical.”

Turner performed his first racetrack study

in 1998 at Canterbury Park and Ellis Park in

Kentucky when he was a researcher at the

University of Minnesota. At first, trainers

were skeptical that an image of the skin tem-

perature of the horse could reveal deeper

problems. But as veterinarians looked more

closely at areas flagged by the thermal images

and found underlying problems that no one

knew existed, trainers became more con-

vinced of its validity as a diagnostic tool.

“Several trainers were convincedwemade

their horses winners because we discovered

muscle injuries they were not aware of that

they subsequently treated,” Turner said in

1998 upon completion of the study. “And we

found one horse in every trainer’s barn [who

participated in the study] that the trainer sent

home because of what we found. They were

not lame but had training problems, and we

kept discovering more and more inflamma-

tory spots.”

Turner and his colleagues found that some

stables seemed to have more of a particular

problem, such as sore tendons or inflamed

joints, than other issues. They concluded that

the injuries might be related to the trainer’s

management practices and/or training style.

So they made suggestions on how the trainer

could avoid such injuries, and most trainers

took their advice.

THERMAL PATTERNS

Thermal patterns are the key to thermog-

raphy. Normal horses have a familiar pattern

of temperature variations. Different tempera-

ture ranges are displayed on the image as dif-

ferent colors. Local circulation determines the

thermal pattern.


While factors such as poultices or lini-

ments may indicate the presence of heat on

the thermal image, experienced thermologists

usually can differentiate between artifacts and

valid readings.

“Poultices and things like that tend to give

very telltale signs, so we can look at the image

and determine it was due to a poul-

tice,” Turner said. “But if I’ve had a

poultice on two front legs and I take

it off and look at the horse, and one

leg is still way hotter than the other,

you better look at that leg because it

usually is an indication that some-

thing else is going on.”

Skin temperature increases with

muscle activity, so even subtle

changes in temperature can raise a

red flag for closer investigation. For

example, a horse whose front legs

show up as slightly different col-

ors—one has more blood flow than

the other—may reflect an effort by

the horse to guard a leg that is both-

ering it by moving it more restrictively.

“You have to learn how to read these little

nuances,” Turner said. “It’s not just find the

hot spot and you’re OK. It’s looking for other

subtleties, too.”

Besides problems with tendons, ligaments,

muscles and other soft tissues, thermography

can shine a light on stress fractures that, if left

unattended, could escalate to catastrophic

breakdowns.

“It’s a good screening tool, although it’s not

an absolute,”Turner said. “It can pick up a lot

of stresses before you ever know they’re there.

We can certainly see stress fractures. And

there are things that I’m starting to see now

higher up—stress fractures in tibias and other

things that I’m beginning to recognize. What

you will see are patterns that become abnor-

mal, and once it becomes abnormal, then you

have to figure out why it’s doing that.”

When thermography first was introduced

in equine medicine, both veterinarians and

horsemen were disillusioned when they found

it entailed an extensive learning curve. Lame-

ness problems already showing clinical signs

of heat and swelling displayed as bright-red hot

spots. The challenge was to identify problems

that no one knew existed, and this required ex-

pert interpretation of the thermal image.

An experienced thermologist learns to rec-

ognize certain abnormal thermal patterns and

associate them with specific lameness issues.

When one of these patterns, which Turner

calls “an index of suspicion,” occurs, other di-

agnostic modalities—radiographs, ultrasound

scans, bone scans or magnetic resonance im-

aging (MRI)—can be used to investigate the

areas of concern more closely.

“What everybody would like is for the

thermal image to have a hot spot right where

the problem is, and you could go there and

find the stress fracture,” Turner said. “It’s not

quite that simple. Skin temperature is directly

related to the circulation and the blood flow,

and that’s all regulated by how the animal uses

the leg. If you expect it to be like the StarTrek

tricorder, where it beeps and finds the spot,

it’s not going to do that for you. It does require

some interpretation, but it can be really use-

ful.”

ROUTINE OR LAST-MINUTE

To achieve the best benefit, a trainer ide-

ally should incorporate thermography into

his or her training program. In his racetrack

studies, Turner took 20 key, whole-body im-

ages of each horse at seven- to 14-day in-

tervals. These 20 images, which typically

take about 10 minutes to complete, are ones

that he and his colleagues determined are

the most pertinent and provide the most in-

formation.

Using this protocol, Turner es-

tablished a routine that enabled him

to follow each horse through train-

ing and racing, noting changing pat-

terns in the thermal imaging. If he

found changes that did not look nor-

mal, he would discuss them with the

trainer, and they would decide how

to proceed.

Establishing a baseline reading

and following a horse throughout its

training program is not necessary,

however.

“We can go in blind and look at

them,” Turner said about perform-

ing a thermography scan before en-

tering a horse to ensure it is sound going

into the race. “What you’re trying to do is

make sure nothing happens [to injure it].”

None of the horses in Turner’s study suf-

fered a catastrophic injury, but he is reluctant

to say it was because of the thermographic

monitoring. One horse whose tendon Turner

monitored throughout the study finally

bowed a month after he left the program.

“We had one horse whose tendon we

watched all year long, and it always had

some heat in it, but it never got really hot,”

Turner recalled. “We did some ultrasounds

and watched it and got the horse through the

whole meet, only that 30 days after it left

here, it bowed a tendon finally. I felt like we

had kept it under control by following it

along.”

As veterinarians become more experi-

enced at using thermography, the knowl-

edge base associated with this diagnostic

modality will continue to expand. Once

horsemen recognize its value, imaging a

horse before a big race may become part of

the protocol for making racing safer. �


EquineCare

“Several trainers were convinced we made

their horses winners because we discovered

muscle injuries they were not aware of that

they subsequently treated. And we found

one horse in every trainer’s barn [who par-

ticipated in the study] that the trainer sent

home because of what we found. They were

not lame but had training problems, and we

kept discovering more and more inflamma-

tory spots.”—Tracy Turner, D.V.M., M.S.



By CARLOS E. MEDINA

Florida-bredTrust Or Bust has busted out with three straight

wins in 2009, including his second stakes win in a row, after

taking the $75,000 Panhandle Handicap May 2 in gate-to-

wire fashion at Mountaineer Park.

Bred in Florida by Briggs/Cromartie and CraigWheeler’sMont-

gomery Farm, the 4-year-old son of Trust N Luck has hit the board

in all six of his starts this year.The streak goes back to his 3-year-old

campaign. After a sixth-place finish in March at Gulfstream Park,

Trust Or Bust won or hit the board in his next four sophomore races.

The gelding, out of the Nureyev mare Dance Lead, has only

missed the board twice in his career.

“He is a very versatile horse,” saidWheeler, who sold the horse

privately to Happy Hour Stable a few months ago. “He can run on

the grass, the dirt and the slop. It’s a good thing to have that versa-

tility.We always liked him; we just happened to be in the spot where

it was time to move some horses, and he got caught up in that.

“The only race he ever blew was his first one, when he got

mixed up in the pack and got bumped around some.That’s the only

bad race he’s ever had,” he said. “The new owner has found a niche

for him and has picked his spots well.”

Trust Or Bust went off as a 3-1 pick in the

five-furlong race, but he ran like the favorite.

He broke on top from the third spot and

never let go of the lead. Staying toward the

inside, Trust Or Bust led easily and came

around the turn with a one-length lead. He

was asked by his jockey at the top of the lane

and responded, extending his lead through

the stretch to win by 3 ¼ lengths.

Trust Or Bust paid $7.80 for the win and

extended his career record to five wins in 13

starts. He has now earned $177,120.

In his last start April 18, he won the Webb Snyder Stakes at

Charles Town. Trust Or Bust won that 4 ½-furlong contest by half

a length and scored a Beyer Speed Figure of 95, equaling his best,

which he earned in an allowance race just 16 days earlier.

“We are tickled to death for the owner. When you sell a horse,

you want people to do well with them so they come back,” said

Wheeler. “The owner is also the trainer, and it’s a very hands-on op-

eration.”

Wheeler remembers Trust Or Bust as a easy-going horse.

“They put blinkers on him.We never did becausewe didn’t think

he needed them. He is the kindest horse you’ll ever come across.

When we ran him down south, PeteAnderson had him, and he just

loved him. He was a nice mover and always was easy on himself.

Pete said he almost trained himself,” Wheeler said. “I hope they

bring him back to Florida.We wish him all the luck.” �

Florida-bred Trust Or BustWins Second Straight Stakes

FLORIDANEWS

Craig Wheeler andFlorida-bred TrustOr Bust (above)

have three straightwins in 2009.

Page49.qx:Florida Horse_template 5/6/09 11:40 AM Page 49

What’s

Your Horse?By SAUNDRA TEN BROECK, Ph.D.,University of Florida EquineExtension Specialist

Ifyou own horses, you will certainly have

flies. Horses and horse manure are pow-

erful attractants to a large number of fly

species. Though flies are seasonal, Florida’s

mild winter climate provides ideal conditions

for some species of fly pest year round. Un-

derstanding the seasonal patterns of these

pests, the conditions that are hospitable to

their reproduction and their feeding behaviors

will help horse owners develop strategies to

protect their animals.

The most common fly pests of horses in

Florida are stable flies, house flies, tabanids

(horse, yellow and deer flies), mosquitoes,

horn flies and cullicoides (no-see-ums). Life

cycles of flies vary but they are time depen-

dant upon temperature and moisture. The life

stages include egg, larva, pupae and adult.

The life cycle from egg to adult in ideal

conditions for house flies is 6.5 days, for sta-

ble flies is 10-4 days, and for horn flies is 21

days.

Stable flies thrive in cooler, wet months

when hay residue is available as a breeding

medium.These flies are persistent blood feed-

ers delivering a painful bite. Both male and

females take blood meals during the day and

the preferred feeding site is the lower legs. If

you see a lot of foot stomping, it is likely that

your major problem is stable flies. Cleaning

up hay residue, compostingmanure and drag-

ging pastures are the best methods of control.

Tabanids include several fly groups, most

notable the horse fly, deer fly and yellow fly.

The females take blood meals by inserting

their bayonet-like mouthparts into the horse,

creating a wound and lapping up the blood.

Horses react to the bite and often dislodge the

fly, interrupting the meal. The fly then makes

another wound and continues until full. They

also inject an anticoagulant into the wound so

the blood drip remaining is an attractant to

other flies.They produce only one generation

per year in marshy areas and emerge in early

summer.

Horn flies are cattle pests and the horse is

a dead end host. Horn flies remain on the host

animal at all times, leaving only to lay eggs

in fresh cow patties. If your horses are near

cattle pastures, you will likely see horn flies

on their backs and bellies. Though they take

blood meals and are a nuisance, they are of

little economic consequence.

Cullicoides, also known as no-see-ums,

punkies or biting midges are small flies that

feed on the ears, neck, chest, belly and tail of

horses. Many horses are hypersensitive to

these pests and will develop what some refer

to as muck itch. They feed at dust and dawn

but do not seem to like to come indoors. Fans

and housing horses indoors at night seem to

limit exposure.Application of fly spray in the

evening is also helpful.

House flies can develop in almost any de-

caying matter, but horse dung is a favorite

breeding medium.Though house flies do not

bite, they typically leave a vomit droplet along

with a fecal drop when they visit a feeding

site.Thus, they can serve asmechanical trans-

mitters of harmful microorganisms and are an

intermediate host for stomach worms in

horses. Due to a very short life cycle, house

flies can establish very large populations in a

short time. �


Controlling theFly control is best accomplished by

using several management strategies.Flies need breeding materials, optimummoisture and adequate warmth to com-plete their life cycles. Elimination ofbreeding materials, control of moisture,mechanical control and judicious use ofinsecticides in combination are the bestapproach. Good sanitation, composting,use of fans and removal of standingwater are relatively inexpensive, environ-mentally friendly approaches to fly con-trol. These practices can also get youhigh marks with the neighbors.

about Mosquitoes?Mosquitoes require water to lay eggs

and have a relatively short life cycleunder good conditions. During dryweather, mosquito numbers may below, but 10 days after a rain event, thehatch rate will be noticeable. Mosquitobites are not only irritating, they cantransfer diseases such as Encephalitisor West Nile Virus. It is critical thathorse owners vaccinate prior to theJune rainy season so that horses will beprotected when mosquitoes emerge.Boosters need to be given throughoutthe year based on where you live, theamount of standing water and the rain-fall which will dictate mosquito preva-lence. Mosquitoes feed from dusk untildawn and are not strong fliers. Bringinghorses inside in the evening and run-ning fans can limit the number of mos-quitoes feeding on them.

Understanding pestbehavior can helpyou better protect

your horses.

hatW

lieF s

BugStory.qx:Florida Horse_template 5/5/09 1:21 PM Page 1


The following list includes currently active, deceased, and pensioned stallions, with racing resultsupdated through May 5, 2009. Statistics provided by The Jockey Club Information Systems Inc.

Leading Florida Sires

CHAPEL ROYALPUT IT BACK MONTBROOKNA Stk Gr Leading Leading Yrlg Yrlg 2yo 2yo

Name Sire Name Farm Name Earnings Strtrs Wnrs SW's Wins SW's Earnings Earner Earnings Sold Avg Sold Avg

Put It Back Honour and Glory Bridlewood Farm $1,119,068 93 38 4 5 1 $1,166,786 High Resolve $177,000 5 $12,300 5 $23,000

Chapel Royal Montbrook Signature Stallions $1,011,524 78 29 2 2 1 $1,084,755 Advice $224,240 45 $30,646 9 $44,222

Montbrook Buckaroo Ocala Stud $987,683 89 34 2 2 0 $987,683 Oilgonewile $90,000 13 $19,246 16 $40,013

Concerto Chief's Crown Ocala Stud $943,099 64 26 1 1 1 $943,099 Finallymadeit $270,000 5 $10,500 4 $34,500

Graeme Hall Dehere Winding Oaks Farm $832,182 88 38 1 1 0 $832,182 Stoneyer $50,319 20 $30,370 5 $105,400

Milwaukee Brew Wild Again Adena Springs South $801,477 77 32 2 3 0 $810,746 Milwaukee Appeal $98,760 32 $14,363 14 $32,750

Halo's Image Halo Bridlewood Farm $730,613 72 24 1 1 1 $730,613 How's Your Halo $115,450 6 $19,617 6 $25,583

Alphabet Soup Cozzene Adena Springs South $672,353 109 31 1 1 0 $675,329 Walloon $38,468 19 $23,030 3 $31,667

Double Honor Gone West Get Away Farm $632,849 83 30 0 0 0 $654,577 Double Or Nothing $50,860 8 $6,113 8 $11,525

Untuttable Unbridled Stonehedge Farm South $648,401 51 14 1 2 1 $648,401 This Ones for Phil $265,000 1 $19,000 5 $20,500

LeadingSire.qx:Florida Horse_template 5/5/09 4:38 PM Page 1

By NICK FORTUNA

AnA.P. Indy colt brought a final bid

of $675,000 to top the OBS spring

sale of 2-year-olds in training, be-

coming the highest-priced juvenile sold at

OBS this year. The

horse was purchased

by John Ferguson,

the chief bloodstock adviser for SheikhMo-

hammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Godol-

phin and Darley racing operations.

Seventeenhorses sold for$100,000ormore

at the four-day saleApril 20-23.A total of 809

horseswere sold for $20.2million.That figure

was a 10.6 percent decline from last year’s

sale, where 772 head grossed $22.6 million.

The average price at this year’s sale was

$24,962, a drop of 14.6 percent from last

year’s average of $29,246.The median price

this year was $15,000, down 16.7 percent

from last year’s figure of $18,000. The buy-

back percentage fell to 23.1 percent this year

from 27.6 percent last year.

Barry Eisaman’s Williston-based

Eisaman Equine operation was the leading

consignor at the sale, with 30 head selling

for $1.27 million. Ocala Stud Farm ranked

second with 35 horses going for $981,000.

The sales-topping colt, listed as hipNo. 38,

was consignedbyM.NealSims forCarlBowl-

ing, who purchased the horse for $175,000 at

last September’s Keeneland sale of yearlings.

During the OBS

under-tack show,

the colt breezed an

eighth of amile in 10 2/5 seconds.

Sims said the horse had been scheduled

to be sold in March at Fasig-Tipton’s sale of

selected 2-year-olds in training at Calder

Race Course, but he was pulled out of the

sale after sustaining a deep cut to his hip.

“Carl Bowling told everybody when he


A.P. Indy Colt Tops OBS’s AprilSale of Juveniles

FLORIDA HORSENEWS

JOE

DIOR

IOPH

OTO

Seventeen horses go for $100,000 or more at four-day sale

Hip #38 sold for $675,000 at the OBS Spring saleof Two-Year-Olds in training

OBS.April.NEWS.52,53.qx:Florida Horse_template 5/5/09 1:23 PM Page 52


bought him howmuch he liked him and that

if they didn’t give him $400,000 or above, he

wasn’t going to sell the horse. He was going

to race him and prove that he was a race-

horse,” Sims said. “He has a standout pedi-

gree, and he’s a standout individual. He

trained really well, and he just

has an air of class about him. I

think everybody that was here

looking for the standout horses

really liked him.”

The colt’s sire was the 1992

Horse of theYear after winning

the Belmont Stakes (G1), the

Breeders’Cup Classic (G1) and

the Santa Anita Derby (G1) on

his way to $2.98 million in career earnings.

The colt is out of the Signal Tap mare Got

Koko, who won seven races for $960,946.

As a 3-year-old in 2002, Got Koko earned

the biggest victory of her career in the La

Brea Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park. She

also earned Grade 2 victories at the Califor-

nia track in the El Encino Stakes, the La

Canada Stakes and the Lady’s Secret Breed-

ers’ Cup Handicap.

The horse who brought the sale’s second-

highest price was a Sky Mesa colt, hip No.

105, who sold for $240,000. The colt was

consigned by Casey Newick, agent, and pur-

chased by John Oxley. The horse breezed an

eighth of a mile in 10 3/5 seconds at the

under-tack show.

The colt’s sire won theHope-

ful Stakes (G1) at Saratoga in

2002. The juvenile is out of the

Dr. Blum mare Impulse Shop-

per, who had four victories for

$157,043. That mare has pro-

duced two winners – Dubliner

and Second Marriage.

Hip No. 237, a Tapit colt,

brought a final bid of $190,000

from Bear Stables. The horse, consigned by

Ricky Leppala, agent, breezed a quarter of a

mile in 21 2/5 seconds at the OBS training

track. His sire won theWoodMemorial (G1)

at Aqueduct in 2004. The juvenile is out of

theWildWonder mare Luvthat’ Jackie.

A Florida-bred Snow Ridge filly sold for

$180,000, the fourth-highest price at the sale.

Ferguson purchased the filly, listed as hip

No. 443 and consigned by Leprechaun Rac-

ing, agent. At the under-tack show, the filly

worked an eighth of a mile in 9 4/5 seconds.

Leprechaun Racing owner Mike Mulligan

had purchased the horse for $20,000 last

September at the Fasig-Tipton sale of year-

lings in Timonium, Md.

“She’s just a really special filly,”Mulligan

said. “She worked great and galloped out

perfectly. I got her in 20 flat for the quarter-

mile. She’s done everything right and never

had a bad day. She’s just a superior filly. She

was really impressive and balanced. I just

wish I could have a year where I had 10 or 15

fillies like her. She’s a lovely filly, and every-

body who knows what a good horse looks

like was bidding on her.”

Snow Ridge won the San Carlos Handi-

cap (G1) at SantaAnita in 2002 on his way to

$711,989 in career earnings. Hip No. 443 is

out of the Gilded Time mare Placerita, who

was a winner at age 3 and earned $84,800.

The broodmare has produced four other reg-

istered foals, including three winners.

Rounding out the sale’s top five horses

was a Stormy Atlantic filly who brought a

final bid of $170,000. The filly was con-

signed byRandyMiles, agent, and purchased

by Roger Dreyer.

The horse is out of the Mr. Greeley mare

Virginia Miss, who won three races and

earned $116,375 at the racetrack. Hip No.

859’s sire won the Damitrius Stakes at

Delaware Park and finished his career with

$148,126 in earnings.At the OBS under-tack

show, the filly breezed an eighth of a mile in

10 seconds.

“When she was at the farm, she was just

another good horse,” Miles said. “She did

everything right. But from the time she came

here, she acted like she owned the joint. She

walked to the track like she was a 3-year-old.

She was 110 percent A-plus and handled

everything with class while she was here.

She just thrived.”�

NICK

FORT

UNAP

HOTO

Neal Sims

JOE

DIOR

IOPH

OTO

OBS.April.NEWS.52,53.qx:Florida Horse_template 5/5/09 1:23 PM Page 53

By BETH HARRIS AP Racing Writer

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Calvin Borel

was in a familiar place, along the rail and

urging Mine That Bird to fly through the

mud. Trainer BennieWoolley Jr. was some-

place he never imagined—the Kentucky

Derby, with his horse in the lead.

Together they pulled off one of the great-

est upsets in 135 years ofAmerica’s most fa-

mous horse race.

“It was a Street Sense move,” Borel said

May 2nd, referring to the same rail-hugging

ride he gave that colt to win the Derby two

years ago. “They can only go so fast, so far.

When I hollered at him, he just went on.”

Sent off at 50-1 odds, Mine That Bird

pulled away in the stretch to score a 6¾-

length victory at Churchill Downs, the sec-

ond-biggest upset in Derby history. His

margin was the largest sinceAssault won by

eight lengths in 1946.

The gelding ran 1¼miles on a sloppy dirt

track in 2:02.66 and paid $103.20 to win -

second-largest payout in Derby history be-

hind Donerail ($184.90) in 1913.

Pioneerof the Nile, trained in Ocala at

theMcKathan Bros. Farm in Citra, finished

second for freshly minted Hall of Fame

trainer Bob Baffert, a three-time Derby win-

ner. Musket Man, winner of the Tampa Bay

Derby, was another nose back in third, fol-

lowed by Papa Clem.

Friesan Fire, the 7-2 wagering favorite of

153,563 fans, was 18th in the 19-horse field.

Earlier in the day, IWant Revenge became

the first morning-line favorite to be scratched

onDerbyDay after inflammationwas detected

in the colt’s left front ankle.The injury wasn’t

believed to be career-threatening but worri-

some enough to prompt trainer Jeff Mullins

and owner David Lanzman to withdraw.

MineThat Bird got squeezed coming out

of the starting gate, but Borel took a firm

hold and wrestled the horse to the rail while

they were in last place.

They were 12th and going strong with a

quarter mile to go, after working their way

around Atomic Rain. Borel quickly angled

MineThat Bird back to the inside with three-

sixteenths to go and shot the gelding through

a tight spot approaching the eighth pole.

“I had enough room,” Borel said. “He’s a

small horse.”

Once free,MineThat Bird quickly accel-

erated toward an improbable victory.

“I salute Calvin for his terrific ride,” said

trainer Todd Pletcher, whose Derby losing

streak extended to 0-of-24. “It’s an amazing

story. It just shows you how special this race

is. Anything can happen.”

Woolley, a former Quarter Horse trainer

who spent time on the rodeo circuit as a bare-

back rider, hobbled on crutches to the win-

Calvin Borel celebrates afterwinning the Kentucky Derbyaboard Mine That Bird.


Mine That Bird Pulls Off Upset in Kentucky DerbyFLORIDA HORSENEWS

JOE

DIOR

IOPH

OTOS

DerbyNEWS.54,55.qx:Florida Horse_template 5/5/09 1:25 PM Page 54


ner’s circle. The 45-year-old self-described

cowboy fromNewMexico broke his right leg

in a motorcycle accident two months ago.

“I’m feeling like I never have before,”

Woolley said. “I was just blown away.”

He met up with a tearful Borel, whose

mind was on his parents and paid them trib-

ute by crossing the finish line with his whip

pointing to the overcast sky.

“If they could only be here to seewhat I ac-

complish inmy life,” he said, his voice choking.

Borel became the first jockey since 1993

to complete the Oaks-Derby double, having

ridden Rachel Alexandra to an eye-popping

20¼-length victory Friday.

Woolley joined a parade of trainers who

won with their first Derby starter, the sixth

time in seven years it has happened.

Still, he outfoxed Baffert and three other

Hall of Fame trainers. Bill Mott was 12th

with Hold Me Back, while Nick Zito was

17th with Nowhere to Hide, and D. Wayne

Lukas was last with Flying Private.

“Those cowboys,” Baffert said. “They

came with a good horse.”

MineThat Bird, the son of 2004 Belmont

Stakes winner Birdstone, became the ninth

JIM LITKE AP Sports ColumnistLOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - The horse came out

of nowhere.The trainer might as well have, too.Maybe the reason no one saw Mine That Bird

and Bennie Woolley Jr. coming is because theystarted one of the most improbable journeys inKentucky Derby history some 21 hours and1,700 miles away.

The one-time bareback rider-turned-trainerhitched a horse van to the back of a pickup at hishome base in New Mexico, loaded Mine That Bird,then pointed it toward the finish line at ChurchillDowns. A tick past 6:30 p.m., EDT, they arrived.

“Theyʼll know me now,” Woolley said, “wonʼtthey?”

He was leaning on crutches and drinking inthe scene behind dark glasses, a broad-brimmedblack cowboy hat added the finishing touch. Hishorse got squeezed coming out of the gate, andWoolley had no problem admitting he lost sight ofthe small bay gelding soon after that.

But he had enough confidence in jockeyCalvin Borel, who already had one Derby winunder his belt, that he wasnʼt the least bit worried- not when Mine That Bird got squeezed comingout of the gate and had to settle for dead lastheading into the first turn.

“I never gave him instructions,” Woolley said.“All I asked him was to lay back and pick hisspots.”

Fittingly, he missed the two breathtakingmoves that locked up the race: the first, whenBorel took Mine That Bird off the rail at the farturn and around Atomic Rain; the second, in

mid-stretch, when the jockey squeezed pasttwo more challengers along the rail just beforepulling away.

“I looked up at the eighth pole,” Woolley saidthrough a widening grin, “and he was already in thelead. I was just blown away. ... Usually, when youstart out a race in trouble, it never gets any better.”

Truth be told, Woolley already felt like he wasin the Derby on a free pass.

Mine That Bird won four of five starts atWoodbine in Toronto and was Canadaʼs 2-year-old champion. The plan was torace him at Sunland Park and ifthe gelding did well there, starttalking about the KentuckyDerby. But Mine That Bird ran adisappointing fourth and the tar-get became the Lone Star Derbyin Texas instead. Then Woolleybroke his right leg in a motorcy-cle accident and had to turn mostof the training duties over to hisolder brother, Bill.

“In the meantime, horsesstarted dropping out of theDerby and we kicked up another notch, anothernotch, another notch,” he said. “We finallyreached the point, we were 17th (in gradedstakes earnings) and this is an opportunity youmight never get again,“

When he finally reached Louisville, Woolleyshared the backstretch with Hall of Fame trainershe knew only by reputation. But all those tales heʼdheard about the town and the knowledgeable fansturned out to be true. Reporters largely left him on

his own during the week leading up to the race,but just about every night at a restaurant, fans ap-proached him for an update on Mine That Bird.

“To be honest,” he recalled, “I didnʼt have anyreal feeling that I could win the Derby. All I knewis that weʼd be more competitive than anybodythought we would.”

That could turn out to be the understatementof this thoroughbred racing season.

Like his horse, Woolley just stepped up inclass big-time. Heʼll get plenty of attention from all

those trainers who walked bywith a friendly nod or a few en-couraging words, and little else.He can also count on more at-tention from the same reporterswho scurried by his barn dayafter day on their way to inter-view somebody else.

All Woolley asked is that thenext time his story gets told, thejourney from New Mexico slips afew paragraphs down in the copy.

“Thereʼs been a lot made ofthat and maybe now,” he said

to laughter, “they will start talking about some-thing else.”

That began bright and early the next morning,outside his barn, and that something else was theTriple Crown. Hard as it might be to imagine anundersized gelding going on to win the Preaknessand Belmont, that journey canʼt be much more im-probable than the Kentucky Derby winner arrivingat Americaʼs most famous horse race in a vanhitched to the back of a 40-year-old pickup.

Out of Nowhere

BennieWooley

DerbyNEWS.54,55.qx:Florida Horse_template 5/5/09 1:25 PM Page 55

By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer

LOUISVILLE,Ky. (AP) -DolphusMorri-

son is a racing purist: The Kentucky Derby is

for theboys; theKentuckyOaks is for thegirls.

Youwon’t hear any of the Derby owners

complaining.

Morrison’s spectacular filly Rachel

Alexandra crushed the field by a record

20¼ lengths in the $500,000 Oaks on May

1 at Churchill Downs, perhaps stamping

herself as the best 3-year-old horse in the

world, boy or girl.

“If she stays sound, she’ll be the next

Secretariat,” jockey Calvin Borel said.

She certainly put on a performance that

harkened back to the legendary Triple

Crown winner.

Rachel Alexandra eased past Gabby’s

Golden Gal on the far turn then poured it

on as she entered the stretch, extending the

lead as 100,000 spectators roared with

every stride of her eye-popping victory in

the filly version of the Kentucky Derby.

Borel blew a kiss and tapped her on the

neck as they crossed the finish line for her

fifth straight win, all by convincingmargins.

“I’ve never been on a horse that good, to

tell you the truth,” said Borel, who won the

2007 Kentucky Derby aboard Street Sense.

Stone Legacy was a distant second, with

Flying Spur third.

TrainerD.Wayne Lukas joked during the

week that his three entries - Stone Legacy,

Be Fair and Tweeter - would have a better

chance against RachelAlexandra if they de-

cided to turn the 1 1/8mile Oaks into a relay

race while the bay filly went it alone.

That probably wouldn’t have worked,

either.

“There is no disgrace to get beat by the

winner,” Lukas said. “Once Rachel

Alexandra took off, the front-runner was of

no consequence.”

Rachel Alexandra took her time, loping

along behindGabby’s GoldenGal down the

backstretch before Borel nudged her to the

outside as they entered the far turn. A cou-

ple of quick strides put her in front and

Borel knew it was over.

“I just let her cruise, let her do her

thing,” Borel said. “She loves to do what

she does. When I stood up, I didn’t know

she had won by that far.”

The win was so dominant it did little to

quell speculation that she could more than

hold her own against the boys in Saturday’s

Run for the Roses.

Morrison, however, said there was never

any serious discussion about running

RachelAlexandra in the Derby even though

she ripped off four straight victories after

teaming up with Borel last fall.

“I don’t think a stallion should be

messed up by the occasional really, really

outstanding filly,” the owner said. “They

should run on their own.”

The way she looked as she zoomed

down the stretch, ears pricking, hardly ex-

erting herself as she steadily pulled away,

the guys should consider themselves

lucky she’s not heading to the post on Sat-

urday.

The scary part? Borel still hasn’t

needed to ask her to really run. That lov-

ing pat on the neck as they hit the wire

was the only time he touched her all day.

“As fast as you want to go, you can

go,” Borel said.

Justwhistledixie appeared to have the

best shot at pulling the upset, but was

scratched hours before the race due to a

hot spot in her left front foot.

The decision sent Rachel Alexandra

off as the overwhelming 1-5 favorite. She

covered the distance in 1:48.87 and was

well into her gallop out before the rest of

the field hit the line.

“If I’d have reached and grabbed her by

the 16th pole, she’d have went a lot farther

and broke the track record,” Borel said.

Morrison isn’t sure what’s next. It may

be hard to find enough fillies to take her

on. Walking back to the barn, she didn’t

look like a horse who had just put together

the race of her life.

“She’s the epitome of race cool,” Mor-

rison said.

Jockey Corey Nakatani, a distant speck

in Rachel Alexandra’s rearview mirror

while finishing fifth aboard Nan, isn’t

quite sure there’s a horse out there that can

hang with racing’s leading lady.

“We’d have been all right if I’d have

had a rocket,” he said. “What can you say?

She just ran away and hid.” �

Rachel Alexandra winningthe Kentucky Oaks.


Rachel Alexandra RompsIn Kentucky Oaks

FLORIDA HORSENEWS

PAM

DIOR

IOPH

OTO

OaksNEWS.56.qx:Florida Horse_template 5/5/09 1:54 PM Page 56

For the second consecutive year, The Florida Horse magazine washonored as the top equine regional publication in the industry by

American Horse Publications.

Judges’ comments included:“attention to detail and a catchyeye for imagery help the actionleap off the page.You can almostfeel the ground shaking as youturn the pages.”

The Florida Horse is the official publication of theFlorida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’Association.

Publisher: Richard HancockEditor in chief: Michael ComptonBusiness manager: Patrick VinzantAdvertising manager: Summer BestArt director: John Filer

Get noticed!Advertise in The Florida Horse

Call to reserve your space today

352.732.8858

(ex•cel•lence) nounthe fact or state of excelling;superiority; distinction;possessing good qualitiesin high degree.

AHP.Adv4Gen.Excellence.qx:Layout 1 8/26/08 9:56 AM Page 1

By NICK FORTUNA

Gorgeous Goose’s late-closing running style had been her

undoing in several graded stakes races in which she had

to go very wide to find running room, if she could find

any at all. But on May 2, the Florida-bred filly finally got the

trip she wanted and took full advantage of it, capturing the

$100,000 Wilshire Handicap (G3) at Hollywood Park for her

first graded victory.

Gorgeous Goose ran just off the

pace during the one-mile turf test be-

fore finding a crease and rallying to

gain the lead in deep stretch. She beat

the 9-10 favorite, the British mare Di-

amond Diva, by three-quarters of a

length, finishing the race in 1:34.54

with jockey Corey Nakatani aboard.

Nakatani had ridden the horse

once before, steering her to a third-

place finish in the $85,000 Sandy

Blue Handicap at Del Mar inAugust.

Nakatani became available to ride at

Hollywood Park when his mount in

the Kentucky Derby (G1), Square

Eddie, was scratched because of a

shin injury.

Back in Ocala, Gorgeous Goose’s

victory was met with cheers from

Mary Anne Denes and Mary Ellen

Woelfel, friends and next-door neighbors who bred and own the

horse.

“We were very excited,” Denes said. “It was wonderful. We

just love this filly. We watched the race here, and we really en-

joyed it.We were really happy to have Nakatani ride her. He rode

her once before and did a great job with her.”

Gorgeous Goose returned mutuels of $25.80, $8.80 and

$5.20, while Diamond Diva paid $2.80 and $2.60. The Irish mare

Charming Legacy finished in third place, 1 ½ lengths behind the

winner, and returned $5.20 to show.

Gorgeous Goose has won four of her 14 starts for $223,574

in earnings. The 4-year-old daughter of Mongoose also won an

optional-claiming race at SantaAnita in March following a five-

month layoff. Her other victories came in 2007, when she broke

her maiden at Hollywood and captured the $85,200 Blue Norther

Stakes at Santa Anita.

Gorgeous Goose had come up short in her five previous at-

tempts in graded races, including a loss by a nose to Florida-

bred Tasha’s Miracle in the $106,100 Harold C. Ramser Sr.

Handicap (G3) at Santa Anita in Oc-

tober.

Denes said she and trainer Mike

Puype were expecting big things from

Gorgeous Goose on Saturday because

she had been training sharply, includ-

ing a bullet workout at Hollywood on

April 26 in which the filly handily

covered five furlongs in 59.8 seconds.

“We felt really good about the

race,” Denes said. “With her style,

she relaxes down the backside and

lets the jockey make the call. Being a

come-from-behind horse, she had

gotten blocked or had to go way wide

in a lot of her races, so I thought she

was very unlucky last year. It was

nice to see her get through on Satur-

day. She has that burst of speed at the

end, and she just impresses every-

body when she turns it on like that.”

Denes andWoelfel also bred Gorgeous Goose’s dam, the Big

Spruce mare Gorgeous Me, and sold her a few years ago. The

horse was named Gorgeous Me because Mary Ellen Woelfel’s

first two initials spell “ME.”

Denes and her husband, Paul, own Sidehill Farm in Ocala and

breed four to 10 horses per year, with most of the foals being

born at Bridlewood Farm in Ocala. They bred Forty One Carats,

who set a track record for six furlongs at Calder Race Course in

winning the 2000 Smile Sprint Handicap in a time of 1:08.95.

That horse also won the Pegasus Handicap (G2) at The Mead-

owlands in 1999 before retiring with seven victories and

$828,843 in earnings. �

Gorgeous Goose Looks thePart in Wilshire Handicap

FLORIDANEWS


Florida-bred filly earns first graded victory

Gorgeous Goose

BENO

IT&A

SSOC

IATES

PHOT

O

GorgouseGoos.NEWS.pg.58.qx:Florida Horse_template 5/5/09 1:30 PM Page 1


Trainers BobBaffert and Janet Elliot,

jockey Eddie Maple and the horses

Ben Nevis II, Silverbulletday and

Tiznow have been elected to the National

Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame.

The Class of 2009 will be inducted on

Friday, August 14 in Saratoga Springs in a

ceremony at 10:30 a.m. at the Fasig-Tipton

sales pavilion.

Baffert, Maple, Silverbulletday and

Tiznow were elected in the contemporary

categories by the 181 members of the Hall

of Fame’s voting panel.

Elliot, the secondwoman elected and the

Hall of Fame’s first female trainer, and Ben

Nevis II, winner of the English Grand Na-

tional in 1980, were selected for induction

by the Steeplechase Committee. In 2000,

jockey Julie Krone was the first woman

elected to the Hall of Fame.

Baffert, 56, and the late RobertWheeler

were the finalists in the contemporary train-

ers category. Maple, 60, finished ahead of

Randy Romero and Alex Solis in the con-

temporary jockeys voting. It was Maple’s

seventh time on the ballot.

Tiznow, the only two-time winner of the

Breeders’Cup Classic, received more votes

than Best Pal and Point Given in the con-

temporarymale division. Silverbulletday fin-

ished ahead of Open Mind and Sky Beauty

in the contemporary female category.

Baffert has trained the winners of eight

TripleCrown races, sevenBreeders’

Cup races andhashandled10cham-

pions, including Florida-bred Silver

Charm and Mike Pegram’s Silver-

bulletday.Hewas elected in the first

year that his name appeared on the

ballot. He had been eligible in 2007

and 2008, but had not received

enough votes in the nominating

committee process to become a fi-

nalist and appear on the ballot.

After rising to prominence as a

Quarter Horse trainer, Baffert

began a transition to Thoroughbred racing

at the end of the 1970s. He saddled his first

Thoroughbred winner, Flipper Star, at Ril-

lito Park in Tucson,Arizona on January 28,

1979. Flipper Star’s victory came in a four-

furlong race for 3-year-olds that carried a

purse of $600.Thewinner’s sharewas $330.

In the early 1990s, Baffert completed the

move to Thoroughbred racing and devel-

oped a distinguished record.

He was the leading money-

winner trainer three consecu-

tive years (1998-2000) and

through 2008 ranks fifth all-

time among trainers in earn-

ings at $134,822,227. He has

won the Kentucky Derby

three times, the Preakness

four times and the Belmont

Stakes once.

Baffert wasn’t sure how to

react when told that he has

been elected.

“That is awesome. That is really awe-

some,” he said. “I don’t knowwhat to say. I

never expected this when I got in the busi-

ness. I’m sort of at a loss for words.”

Baffert was quickly back in stride.

“It’s an honor,” he said. “It’s a very hum-

bling feeling right now. I’ve always thought

about it but I really wasn’t mentally pre-

pared for it when I heard about being on the

ballot this year.

“I feel honored. It’s a great honor to be in

the Hall of Fame. I guess I’ve got to call my

mother up and tell her. She’s going to be

happy. She says she’s coming.”

Baffert and Silverbulletday are the first

trainer-horse combination to be inducted

in the same year since Neil Drysdale and

A.P. Indy entered the Hall of Fame to-

gether in 2000.

“I’m excited about Silver-

bulletday,” Baffert said. “She

was a great mare and it will be

great having Mike Pegram

there. Mike Pegram and Hal

Earnhardt are the ones who

motivated me to get in the

Thoroughbred business. Mike

Pegram put me on scholarship

to get into the business and it

looks like it paid off well. It’s

certainly fitting that I get in

with one of Mike’s horses.”

Maple, 60, retired in 1998with a resume

of 4,398 wins in a 34-year career. He won

the Belmont Stakes onTemperenceHill and

Crème Fraiche, three runnings of the Met-

ropolitan Handicap, two Travers and two

Suburban Handicaps. Maple rode Arbees

Boy, Florida-bred Foolish Pleasure and

Quiet Little Table to victories over Forego

and he rode Secretariat to victory in the

Canadian International, the colt’s final start.

He rode regularly for Hall of Fame trainer

Woody Stephens, who put him on

such top horses as Horse of the

Year Conquistador Cielo, Devil’s

Bag, Swale and Forty Niner.

“I’m tickled to death,” Maple

said when told he had been elected.

“It’s an honor. There’s nothing but

great riders, great horses, great

trainers in the Hall of Fame. It’s

just a great honor. I enjoyed riding

all those years and to have some-

thing like this come back is really,

really thrilling.”�

Bob Baffert (above) andTiznow (below) are

elected into RacingʼsHall of Fame.

Six Elected to Racing’s Hall of FameFLORIDA HORSENEWS

NYRA

PHOT

O

HORS

EPHO

TOS.

COM

HallOfFameNEWS.59.qx:Florida Horse_template 5/5/09 3:50 PM Page 59

Before the horses lined up at the gates at Churchill Downs

onMay 2 to run in the KentuckyDerby, veterinarians took

samples of their blood and urine.

Those samples, along with samples taken from the winner and

a few other horses after the race was complete, made their way to

the Florida Racing Laboratory at the UF College of Veterinary

Medicine. There, lab employees tested and analyzed them, look-

ing for drugs that may have enhanced the horses’performances and

unfairly altered the outcome of the race.

Within three working days of receiving the samples, the lab

must submit preliminary results to the Kentucky Horse Racing

Commission, the state agency that monitors the approximately 350

horse races that take place in Kentucky each year.

Full results must be turned in “within 10 work-

ing days of receipt of the samples,” said Richard

Sams, Ph.D., the lab’s director and a professor in

the College ofVeterinaryMedicine’s department of

physiological sciences. Officials will not award

prize money to the winner of the race until these

results are submitted.

The UF racing lab was one of six labs that bid

for the job of analyzing the samples taken before

and after Kentucky’s horse races. It is one of five

labs in the nation accredited by ISO

17025 standards established by the

International Organization for Stan-

dardization.

The selection process required

facilities to conduct proficiency tests

to identify drugs present in samples,

submit written proposals, participate

in interviews and give presentations.

“We had a small group that is affiliated with the racing com-

mission who reviewed all the candidates and University of Florida

stood out as the best of the applicants we reviewed,” said Lisa Un-

derwood, executive director of the KHRC.

The contract is for one year but could be extended without re-

peating the bidding process. Sams said the job will require the lab

to expand its staff and buy additional instruments.

In a tough economy, this increased revenue also helps the lab to

stay open and continue providing services to Floridians, said Glen

Hoffsis, D.V.M.,M.S., dean of the College ofVeterinaryMedicine.

“It is quite an accomplishment to successfully obtain the con-

tract from the state of Kentucky,” Hoffsis said. “And it’s a tribute to

the people that operate and lead this laboratory. This has become

one of the premier, truly high-quality leading laboratories that does

this kind of work in the United States and in the world.”

The lab also does some sampling work for private individuals

and tests samples from horses and greyhounds for Florida’s Divi-

sion of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, a state agency that oversees racing

in Florida.

Standards against drug use in racing horses are higher than those

for Olympic athletes, according to Sams.

“Only two substances are permitted for admin-

istration within a 24-hour period before race time

in Florida,” Sams said.

Why such stringent regulations? He cited three

reasons for the strict rules.

Safety is one issue.An injured horse receiving

drugs before a race to mask pain could be hurt

more than helped by the medicine.

“It may injure itself even more,” Sams said,

“possibly to the extent that there could be a cata-

strophic injury that not only could have conse-

quences to the horse, but other

horses, jockeys.”

Another concern is the betting

that surrounds horse and greyhound

racing.

People placing bets need to be-

lieve the races are fair. Racehorse

owners also are concerned about

fairness for another reason.

“For those horses in the most prestigious races, those horses

will become breeding animals,” Sams explained. “The owners

make very substantial investments in those horses, and a horse

owner wants their horse to compete with other horses without any

of those horses being treated with drugs.”

Sams said there’s a saying that “the horses should compete on

hay, oats and water.”

“Even a drug that you and Imight take for relief of aminor ache

or pain is prohibited in racing for those three reasons,” he said.�

UF Racing Lab SecuresKentucky Derby Contract

FLORIDANEWS


“For those horses in the most prestigiousraces, those horses will become breeding

animals. The owners make very substantialinvestments in those horses, and a horseowner wants their horse to compete withother horses without any of those horsesbeing treated with drugs.”–Dr. Richard Sams

Dr. Richrd Sams

RacingLab.NEWS.pg.60.qx:Florida Horse_template 5/5/09 3:31 PM Page 1

Specializes in Farm PavingASPHALT HAULING • PAVING PARKING LOTS

SEAL COATING • FARM LANESSMALL DRIVEWAYS • ROAD GRADING

Located in Ocala

Fred Burton

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX

PAVING • 800.709.1903

ADENA SPRINGS FARM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

BRIDLEWOOD FARM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 10, 13, 29, 45

DANDY PRODUCTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

DOUBLE DIAMOND FARM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE . . . . . . . . 24, 25

FTBOA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33, 37

FLORIDA HORSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

HARTLEY/DERENZO THOROUGHBREDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

JERRY PARKS INSURANCE GROUP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

JOURNEYMAN STUD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

KUBOTA TRACTOR CORP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

LOSSING STRICKLAND INSURANCE GROUP . . . . . . . . . 44

MARTIN STABLES SOUTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

MCKATHAN FARM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

NTRA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 14

OCALA BREEDERS SALES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

OCALA STUD FARM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

OCD EQUINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

PENROD LUMBER AND FENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

SIGNATURE STALLIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

STONEHEDGE FARM SOUTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

THE SANCTUARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

VINERY LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

TomWilliams INSURANCE, Inc.Farmowners & Livestock Mortality Insurance

352-873-3435www.tomwmsins.com

PHOTOGRAPHY

FARM SERVICES

LLoouuiissee EE.. RReeiinnaaggeellHORSE PHOTOGRAPHER

Visit me at www.horsesites.com/rE-Mail: [email protected]

(352) 237-3809

INSURANCE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY

JOSEPH DIORIO

www.winningimages.bizCell 352-427-9502

REAL ESTATE

WeCreate EquinePhotography & Video

Beverly Harrison Campbellon the web at www.WeCreate.tv

(904) 294-4393

EQUINE

Classified ADSCall (352) 732-8858

Eleanor M. HancockFreelance Photographer

Photography, People, Pets, Events and MoreOn Location

Memory VideosCapture your past and present

with photgraphs, music and text.

Call for details [email protected]











BARN FOR RENT12 stall concrete barn with

2 apts/feed/tack room.Wash rack. 20 acres fenced.

7 paddocks with water.Located near Morriston.

352-207-1494 or 352-624-3030

Classifieds.April.qx:Layout 1 5/5/09 4:30 PM Page 1

May is the bestmonth of the year; or the worst.This

Triple Crown thing can go either way.

The first four months of the year are anticipation

wrapped around the first Saturday of May, the day on

which, despite perhaps the lowest media profile in rac-

ing’s history, everyone is paying attention.A star is born

at Churchill Downs on this day and, as we saw last year,

horrific tragedy can be played out before dozens of

camera angles and the largest audience the game will

enjoy in any year. Always, hearts are won; occasion-

ally, hearts are broken.

There may be less racing than ever on television

and the sport has been shunned by most of the nation’s

most influential newspapers, but Derby day defies

gravity. The winner is immediately larger than life and

sets the tone for the two weeks that follow, a process

that has made famous Big Brown, Barbaro, Smarty

Jones, Funny Cide, War Emblem, Charismatic, Real

Quiet and Silver Charm in the last dozen years. All of

these, save Barbaro, won the Preakness and set the

stage for the sport’s

greatest drama. Barbaro,

undefeated until then,

became the most famous

racehorse in many years

when he was injured in

the Preakness and wrote

his own epic.

The people con-

nected to each of these

horses illustrate in small part the diverse cast of human

characters involved in the sport, each story unique and

plots that go from the homespun group of high school

friends who were partners in Funny Cide to the fabu-

lously wealthy Saudi Prince who died mysteriously in

his native country not long afterWar Emblem stumbled

at the gate in the Belmont Stakes. Real Quiet brought

the Mike Pegram-Bob Baffert story to light for the first

time and Smarty Jones made a temporary celebrity of

his owners, small-time breeders, one wheelchair-bound

but still playing the game. These stories are around all

year long and involve the many people who work at the

game without finding their way to the winner’s circle at

Churchill Downs in a flurry of rose petals. But they are

too seldom told.

Even thebad things thathappenat this timeofyearhave

a beneficial impact beyond the immediate body blow.

Barbaro brought attention to aspects of the sport that

are seldom examined – veterinary medicine, equine

anatomy, the need for research funds and safety. The

long-term benefit: Fans of Barbaro, an organization that

came together at the time, nowadays devotes itself to

fund-raising, rescue and anti-slaughter issues.

The death of Eight Belles after the Derby last year and

discussions during the Triple Crown centered upon ana-

bolic steroids and their use in racingbrought radical animal

rights activists to the streets outside Pimlico and Belmont

Parkbut alsoheightenedawarenesswithin the industry that

has resulted in positive change beginning with a wide-

spreadbanof anabolic steroids inmost racing jurisdictions

and including the NationalThoroughbred RacingAssoci-

ation’s efforts in the areas of safety and integrity.

A thorough self-examination of the racing industry,

which is for lack of a better term the sum of its very dif-

ferent if singularly purposed parts, would lead to an ad-

mission that there is a crisis of public confidence that

persists and is sometimes nourished by the participants.

These stories will provide background noise through

the five-week span between the Derby and the Belmont

and they have nothing to do with horses running against

one another.

Even while this group of three-year-olds was show-

ing signs of being deeply competitive and interesting,

the stories that demanded the biggest headlines and most

discussion revolved around a detention barn violation at

Aqueduct and a horrific revelation of unconscionable

inhumanity on a upstate New York farm operated by a

high profile owner from which 177 neglected and mal-

nourished thoroughbreds were rescued. As Pogo once

said: “We have met the enemy and it is us.”

It’s May.We may see the nextTriple Crown winner.

But in the meantime hold your breath. �

PLAYER’S PAGE

There may be less racing than ever on tele-

vision and the sport has been shunned by

most of the nation’s most influential news-

papers, but Derby day defies gravity. The

winner is immediately larger than life and

sets the tone for the two weeks that follow

The BestAnd theWorst


by Paul Moran

PlayersPage.qx:Florida Horse_template 5/5/09 3:52 PM Page 1



Documents

The Florida Horse May 2009