Category Archives: Racing

Noor Arrives in Kentucky

GEORGETOWN, KY — AUGUST 29, 2011 — Having traveled cross-country from the Loma Rica Ranch in Grass Valley, CA, the body of deceased Hall of Fame champion Noor will be re-interred in Kentucky at Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Facility in Georgetown, on Wednesday August 31.

Members of the press and fans are invited to attend the ceremony, which will be held at 10 am at Old Friends’s Dream Chase Farm, 1841 Paynes Depot Road in Georgetown.

In attendance will be Michael Blowen, president and founder of Old Friends, and Charlotte Farmer, the woman who led the effort to exhume Noor and bring his remains to Kentucky.

Noor died in Grass Valley in 1974 at age 29 and was buried in the infield of the old Loma Rica Ranch Racetrack, but the property is now in development for residential and commercial use. He will be re-interred in a new cemetery for Hall of Fame inductees near the entrance of Old Friends.

Noor, son of the superstar stallion Nasrullah, was campaigned by owner-breeder Charles S. Howard (also the owner of Seabiscuit) after the colt’s 3-year-old season in 1948.

Trained by Burley Parke and ridden by Johnny Longden, Noor was voted 1950 handicap champion after winning four out of five head-to-head sprints with Citation and defeating the then 7-year-old Assault. The victories made Noor the first horse to beat two Triple Crown winners.

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Upcoming All American Futurity Trials Feature Leading Vote-Getters

Three of the top four ranked 2-year-olds in the latest AQHARacing.com-Horseplayernow.com National Top 10 polls are entered in Thursday’s trials for the All American Futurity (G1) at Ruidoso Downs. Among the 26 jam-packed trials will be appearances by No. 2-ranked High Rate Of Return (Trial 21), No. 3 Feature Mr Bojangles (Trial 19) and No. 4 Mighty B Valiant (Trial 1). The All American Futurity hopefuls also include this week’s No. 10-ranked runner, The Long Knife (Trial 16).

There was little change to the 2-year-old rankings this week, as West Coast-based Separate Fire remained on top and awaits lucrative challenges at Los Alamitos this fall. Pollsters shuffled the positions this week for No. 6 Osbaldo and No. 7 Adolph Tres Knockout in the only minor shift among the juveniles.

The older-horse rankings remained unchanged at the top, as Rylees Boy continues his hold on the top spot once again this week. Noconi edged back into the poll at No. 10, nosing out last week’s No. 10 Prospect To The Top, for the final spot in this week’s rankings. Among the top-rated older horses competing in Friday’s trials to the All American Derby (G1) at Ruidoso will be No. 3-ranked Cold Cash 123 and No. 6 Llano Teller.

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Champion Leading Spirit Gets His AQHA Supreme Race Horse Title

The Q-Racing Journal, August 12, 2011 – Champion Leading Spirit earned his AQHA Supreme Race Horse award in 2008, although due to a clerical error, he was only recently awarded his trophy. The honor is given by AQHA to a horse that during its racing career earns $500,000 or more and wins at least 10 races, including two or more open Grade 1 stakes races.

Leading Spirit is a 2003 gelding by Special Leader out of the Special Task mare Sandras Task.

Bred by Dr. Barry Thompson of West, Texas, he is co-owned by Thompson and Dan and Jolene Urschel.

Leading Spirit won 10 of 19 starts, finished second three times and third four times, with earnings of $811,413 in a career that spanned 2005-2008.

The 2005 champion 2-year-old gelding won five stakes, including the Grade 1 West Texas, Ruidoso and Rainbow futurities. He also won the 2007 First Down Dash Handicap (G3) and 2008 Bank of America California Championship Challenge (G2).

Leading Spirit also finished second in the 2007 Go Man Go Handicap (G1) and 2008 Independence Day Handicap (G3). He was third in the 2007 California Championship Challenge (G2) and Z. Wayne Griffin Director’s Stakes, and was a finalist in the 2007 Los Alamitos Invitational Championship (G1).

The Supreme Race Horse award is recorded by hand, and Leading Spirit’s award was overlooked. AQHA apologizes to Dr. Thompson, the Urschels and Leading Spirit’s connections for the oversight.

American Quarter Horse Association
1600 Quarter Horse Drive
Amarillo, TX 79104

Kentucky Derby Winner Go for Gin Retires to Kentucky Horse Park

Photo: Go for Gin, by PixBySteve.com.

LEXINGTON, KY (August 11, 2011) – Go for Gin, the 1994 winner of the Kentucky Derby (G1), has arrived in Lexington, Kentucky, to make his home in the Kentucky Horse Park’s Hall of Champions alongside fellow Derby winner Funny Cide, two-time Breeders’ Cup winner Da Hoss, and racing superstar Cigar.

John Nicholson, executive director of the Kentucky Horse Park, said, “Go for Gin will make another great addition to our Hall of Champions.  We entertain nearly 1 million visitors each year and they will be delighted to have the opportunity to meet a horse of his caliber, who performed so well in all three Triple Crown races.”

Go for Gin was bred in Kentucky by Pamela DuPont Darmstadt, owned by William J. Condren and Joseph M. Cornacchia, and trained by Nick Zito.  As a 2-year-old, the son of Cormorant-Never Knock, by Stage Door Johnny won the Remsen S (G2).  At 3, he was one of the few racehorses to beat the mighty Holy Bull, which he did in winning the Derby.  He followed that win with a second in the Preakness S (G1) to Tabasco Cat and second in the Belmont S (G1), also to Tabasco Cat.  That same year he also came up just short in the Wood Memorial (G1) and Fountain of Youth S (G2) for second.

In all, from ages 2 to 4, Go for Gin was in the money in 14 out of 19 starts with earnings of $1,380,866.

He took up stud duty at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky, and was later sold to Bonita Farm in Maryland, where he has been standing since 2004.  His progeny have earned more than $16.5 million and include Albert the Great, winner of more than $3 million.

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Multiple Stakes Winner Prized Arrives at Old Friends

GEORGETOWN, KY — AUGUST 4, 2011 — Old Friends, Thoroughbred Retirement Center in Georgetown, KY, today welcomed Prized, the 1989 Breeders’ Cup Turf champion and sire of the great Brass Hat.

Michael Blowen, president and founder of Old Friends, made the announcement this morning.

The 25-year-old Prized (Kris S -My Turbulent Miss by My Dad George) arrived at the Georgetown farm in excellent condition from Randy and John Funkhouser’s O’Sullivan Farms near Charles Town, W.VA.

Bred by Florida’s Meadowbrook Farm, which campaigned him along with Clover Racing Stables and trainer Neil Drysdale, Prized raced on both the dirt and the turf and had total career earnings of $2,262,555.

As a 3-year-old, Prized won the GR 1 Molson Million at Woodbine and the GR2 Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park where he famously upset Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Sunday Silence.

Later that year the dark bay stallion won the Breeders’ Cup Turf, which was his first start on grass.

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Mike and Martha Borchetta to Receive WHINNY Awards

Nashville, TN – July 29, 2011 – The Women’s Horse Industry Network, the largest business network in the world for women working in the equine industry, is pleased to announce that Mike and Martha Borchetta will receive WHINNY awards for their efforts and involvement in the equine industry. The WHINNY awards are given to high profile individuals who help save horses and promote the equine industry overall.

Mike Borchetta is a music industry icon and one of the most widely known and respected professionals in the music industry. His illustrious career spans over 50 years and along the way he has helped many of today’s biggest superstars get their start. He booked his first concert when he was in the 11th grade: Bo Diddley. By the time he was 19 he had moved to Los Angeles and become a record promoter. During the years that followed, Borchetta held many jobs in the music industry and it wasn’t long before he became the President of Curb Records. One of the first acts he signed to his label was Tim McGraw. He is now the president of Lofton Creek Records and working with his wife, Martha.

Martha is a former music manager and they worked together in the music industry. When the two of them married, it was a marriage made in heaven. They have seven children and all of them have worked or are working in the music industry. Racing horses started out as a hobby but understanding these two people, it wasn’t long before it became a little more than that. Martha and Mike are now, well known breeders/owners in the thoroughbred industry with some pretty impressive credentials.

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Gold and Silver Cup at Fair Meadows

Q-Racing Journal, July 21, 2011 – Carl Pevehouse’s homebred Haulin Candy Salt tries for her first stakes win in the $385,500 Speedhorse Gold and Silver Cup Futurity (RG2) and Heritage Place Derby (G2) winner Capo De Capi shoots for a second derby victory in the $100,000 Speedhorse Gold and Silver Cup Derby (RG3) at Fair Meadows on Saturday night.

Haulin Candy Salt (PYC Paint Your Wagon-Salt Lake Spitty by Salt Lake (TB)) moves up to the stakes ranks for trainer Clinton Crawford after winning two of her three starts and one second-place finish. She won her career debut at Remington Park and then finished in a dead heat for second in a second-level
allowance race.

Those races put her in top form for the Gold and Silver Cup trials and she responded with a length win in :17.641 for the 350 yards, the fastest-qualifying mark from seven trials.

Mary Passmore’s Second Painted Sign (PYC Paint Your Wagon-Stylish Sign by Vital Sign) also comes into the futurity in winning form. After finishing off the board in his first two starts, he stepped up with a pair of wins. The Jackie Kirby-trained colt rolled to a daylight maiden score with the second-fastest qualifying time of :17.644.

Trainer Eddie Willis has the two-fastest qualifiers to the Gold and Silver Cup Derby with Capo De Capi and Blackwater Command.

James Sills’ Capo De Capi (Corona Cartel-A Shot At Glory by Strawfly Special) has already made six starts this year and is riding a four-race winning streak. Highlighting the winning streak is his neck win at 30-1 odds in the Heritage Place Derby. He substantiated that upset score in his Gold and Silver Cup Derby trial with a length win, and his time of :17.514 was the quickest from the three trials.

Mike Vaughn’s homebred Blackwater Command (PYC Paint Your Wagon-Soxolene by Whirling Fastball) also scored a stakes win at Remington Park last spring with a nose score in the Mr Master Bug Handicap (R) over Oklahoma-breds. The winner of three of four 2011 outs dominated his trial by 1 1/2 lengths with the second-fastest time of :17.573.

American Quarter Horse Association
1600 Quarter Horse Drive
Amarillo, TX 79104

Awad, Winner of the 1995 Arlington Million, Dead at 21

GEORGETOWN, KY – JULY 23, 2011 – Millionaire and four-time GR 1 winner Awad has died.  The 21-year-old stallion was discovered early this morning in his paddock at Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Center in Georgetown, KY, where he has been pensioned since 2006.

According to veterinarian Dr. Douglas Byars and Old Friends founder and President Michael Blowen, the cause of death was a sudden heart attack, but a full necropsy is currently underway at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Lexington.

The hard-knocking son of Caveat, Awad raced for seven seasons as a homebred for Maryland’s Ryehill Farm, capturing 14 of his 70 starts. His career earnings totaled $3,270,131.

Awad’s first GR1 win came in the 1993 Secretariat Stakes at Arlington International, which would prove to be a lucky course for the Maryland bred throughout his career. In 1995 he captured the GR1 Arlington Million in record time, 1:58.69, shaving one-fifth of a second off the course mark set by Perrault in 1982.

With the win he not only gave trainer David Donk and jockey Eddie Maple their first Million triumphs, he also became the first horse to ever win both of those GR1 turf events at Arlington.

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Ontario Racing Commission Expands Clenbuterol Testing

Q-Racing Journal, July 15, 2011 – Starting August 15, testing for clenbuterol in Ontario Quarter Horse racing is expanding to include a 30-day withdrawal period and lower threshold levels, according to a release by Ontario Racing Commission Deputy Director Rob McKinney. The goal of the initiative is to eliminate any abuse, overuse, or non-therapeutic use of this drug, and when used, to confirm that the drug has been legally obtained and correctly administered.

Clenbuterol is a bronchial dilator sold under the name Ventipulmin (trademark of Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica) as an injectable suspension and oral syrup to treat breathing disorders.

This expansion by the Ontario Racing Commission will complement the existing efforts of the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency, which has included clenbuterol in its testing protocol for over 20 years. This new initiative is a result of concerns brought forward by the Quarter Racing Owners of Ontario Inc. regarding alleged misuse of this therapeutic drug and the health and safety of the horse.

On June 16th, the ORC announced the first phase of this project involving random out-of-competition testing for the presence of the drug. ORC investigators will continue to inquire as to the use of clenbuterol and then examine the records of the trainer and veterinarian.

Under this new phase, a 30-day clenbuterol withdrawal period for a horse competing in a race and minimum threshold are: 200 picograms per milliliter (pg/ml) or less in urine and 1-2 picograms per milliliter (pg/ml) in blood.

A directive authorizing this phase of the project is under development, but it is anticipated that the regulatory action for confirmed presence of clenbuterol will include:
· Disqualification of the horse from the race;
· Return and redistribution of all earnings from that race;
· Horse made ineligible to race until owner produces a negative test result; and the ORC investigation is complete.

American Quarter Horse Association
1600 Quarter Horse Drive
Amarillo, TX 79104

Horse Dies on First Night of Calgary Stampede

July 10, 2011 – A horse has died on the first night of chuckwagon racing at the Calgary Stampede in Canada. The death in the fifth race resulted despite changes to rules and standards aimed at minimising the risk to horses taking part in the famous event. The changes were brought about following sharp criticism following the deaths of six horses at the event last year. Stampede spokesman Doug Fraser said: “The leg injury was considered a catastrophic injury, so our veterinarian made the decision to euthanize the horse immediately.” The injury was not as a result of a crash, but happened between turns on the course during the race.

Read more at http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/news/2011/07/063.shtml.