North American Trainer - Spring 2012 - Issue 23

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North American Trainer ISSUE 23 (SPRING 2012)

North American

ISSUE 23 – SPRING 2012 $6.95

www.trainermagazine.com

THE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE FOR THE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE THOROUGHBRED

RIDING HIGH

Trainer Kelly Breen in profile

STANDARDBREDS v THOROUGHBREDS Who’s getting faster?

Publishing Ltd

FOAL SURGERIES Are they worth it?

RELATIVE VALUES

A closer look at the Asmussen dynasty

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE

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ARNOLD KIRKPATRICK

Center – and touched as many lives, human and equine, as anyone in Lexington.

Arnold was such a gift. He was George Bailey. When I told Arnold that, he merely laughed. “You’re crazy,” he said. “I’m glad you’re crazy, but you’re crazy.”

This became a running joke between us.

Every time he would do something kind for someone – help someone in distress, listen to someone’s problems, perform some charitable work – I’d say to him, “That’s my George Bailey!”

I remember one time that he took a couple around Lexington. They were looking for a farm to buy so they could get into the Thoroughbred breeding business. He also knew that their ambitions outran their means to fulfill them, and very gently, very quietly, he

discouraged them. I remember thinking: They want to buy a farm. You sell farms. So what’s the problem? He told me: “They’re in over their heads. It’s not in their best interests.”

How many salesmen would do a thing like that?

Arnold loved people. Material gain was never his driving force. He was the Johnny Appleseed of human joy, everywhere spreading and sowing his seeds of merriment.

To me, he was a Renaissance man in a modern time, a lover of reading and poetry and all good music, from Neil Diamond to Placido Domingo, and the very best chef and master of the grill I ever knew. I can still see him today, sitting on the back patio, grilling even in the dead of winter, looking out across those broad fields of Kentucky that

he loved so much and sipping from his glass of Extra Old Rum. I will always treasure the present he made for me one anniversary years ago. He had found my old date book, the one on which I had written the date of our wedding-to-be in Furlongs, and he framed the page to celebrate the occasion when I hunted him down like a wounded gazelle. Oh yes, a week before he died, he gave me a dozen roses and a card that said, “Thank you for forcing me to marry you.”

And to you my dear sweet Arnold, I love you with all of my heart and I thank you for giving me, your children Joyce, Sara, and Haden, grandchildren Lucy Jane, Elnora, Anna, and Caroline, and so many others “A Wonderful Life.”

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GILES ANDERSON It’s all systems go as spring approaches

011 was certainly a good year for our cover profile trainer Kelly Breen, who was able to put a notch against a Triple Crown race after Ruler On Ice was victorious in the Belmont Stakes. Kelly has quietly gone about his business over the years and when you remember that as a private trainer he runs a small but select stable, his consistency in the graded stakes arena becomes even more impressive.

Hopefully 2012 looks set to continue on a good note, with Ruler On Ice considered a possible for the Emirates Dubai World Cup and with My Adonis, a three-year-old who closed impressively in the Holy Bull. Kelly Breen is certainly a trainer we’re going to be hearing more about over the coming months. Amanda Roxborough went to meet him at his Palm Meadows winter base, where she learned about Kelly’s introduction to the sport and where his love of hats comes from.

This winter we’ve been keeping Bill Heller busy. He has written an interesting profile on the Asmussen family, talking to them as to how family members relate and learn off each other. Bill has also delved deep into the history books as part of his research into how Standardbred horses have, over the past 40 or so years, become so much faster. As much as I’ve been fascinated by the way Standardbreds are trained and warmed up prior to racing, I can’t help but think that one of the reasons why

they’ve become so much quicker is thanks to the selectiveness of the breed and the role of artificial insemination. As we all know, Thoroughbreds are bred to race over multiple distances and over different surfaces so, there are bound to be more variables. But nevertheless the statistics produced in Bill’s work will make your eyes open a bit wider.

We’ve also been keeping busy at the magazine over the winter months and by the time you’re reading this, our new website will be up and running. Take a moment to check it out – www.trainermagazine.com.

We’ve extensively updated our back issue library and thanks to input from our readers like you, you’ll soon be able to download PDF articles from our library as they appeared in print version of the magazine.

Finally, I must thank all those of you who have taken the time and trouble to get in touch following the death of our much loved columnist Arnold Kirkpatrick. Arnold had been with the magazine from the start and for many of you, his column was the first piece to read in the magazine.

He was quite simply unique and for me personally was a big influence in my life over the past 20 years. I wasn’t alone; he touched the lives of so many and will be missed by many people around the world. I felt it appropriate that in this issue, Julia Kirkpatrick should have the last word – her memories of her life with Arnold.

Wherever racing takes you this spring, good luck! n

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WILL’S WAY The views of William Koester When the ground gets good I am honored to have the opportunity to speak on a subject that is important to me as a life-long enthusiast of Thoroughbreds and racing. I currently chair the Association of Racing Commissioners International (RCI), but the opinions and ideas expressed in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily represent either the RCI or the members themselves.

I

N the years prior to the formation of the State Racing Commissions and their oversight of the racing schedule, race meets were run “when the ground gets good.” There was seasonality to the events, a natural inclination to run in spring when the ground was soft and in fall when the heat had broken. Along with the logic of protecting the athletes, a secondary advantage was the seasonality of the race schedule.

Attendance was better in the good weather and the interval schedule elevated the events to a celebratory affair, not made mundane or unappreciated by superabundance.

There came a time when certain tracks within close geography booked the same days for their race meets. Known as “turfwars,” a track would strategically schedule concurrent dates competitively, to challenge their rival tracks for attendance and revenues. The State Racing Commission limited competition by not allowing two or more tracks to run on the same days. Year-round racing was successful at restricting competition between geographically proximate tracks. But in the decades since, it is interesting to notice how regulations enacted for one outcome have influenced another, unexpected outcome.

In the current era of regulated, year-round racing, as the prime race days have been bargained for, the quality of racing across tracks in America has been structured into a definitive rank. There is a distinctive pyramid structure to the sport now: in the minority, are the “haves,” as

in those tracks that “have good ground.” The rest must make do with what dregs they are left.

“Making do” has led to unhealthy habits.

Year-round racing, in spite of its shortfalls, is desperately upheld by various interests. States will not stem a year-round revenue stream, track owners enjoy a window without competition, and the most impoverished horsemen, grooms, trainers, and jockeys qualify to earn many small returns at their matchups. These various interests, upheld by the lobbying of each group, perpetuate inequities and ill health within the sport.

Relatives often ask me about Thoroughbred racing, and I have found that most people not familiar with the sport are intrigued by it and have many questions. However, when I meet friends and family at Keeneland for spring and fall meets, there is not as much to explain. They easily acknowledge the beauty of the athletes and the thrill of the competitive bout. They enjoy the event, the trial, the pageantry, the sport. The crowd of spectators, many of them casual fans or many only fans of Keeneland meets in particular, respond positively to the event. This part of racing is not ailing.

Far from the tens of thousands of radiant revelers at Keeneland in October are the abandoned, frozen grounds of Beulah in January.

Only grooms onsite, even owners are absent to the contest of their own. There are scant fans, though enclosed stands have been built at great expense. The celebratory event has degenerated into little more than a gambling den with only a

narrow public appeal. Winter racing is not healthy, whether for the athletes or for the business of racing.

The metric of public opinion tells us without equivocation where the sport is healthy and where its joints ache from pounding bad ground.

The essence of racing “when the ground gets good” is racing that focuses on the health of the horse primarily. When we race on ground that is not good, we have made decisions to marginalize the health of the horse and thereby the health of the sport. The public, whose positive opinion translates into revenue, responds naturally to the high ideal of fair sport.

Many well-intentioned individuals and groups alike are engaged lately in trying to “save” Thoroughbred racing. It is an impossible task when various groups are competing to script one future for the divergent realities of top tier tracks and those at the bottom. Proposed strategies, projections, or budgets will only work for one tier or the other. Big issues such as raceday medication and racinos are desperately promoted by those dealing with the symptoms of racing on bad ground. The fiscal symptoms are a result of neglecting the basic health of our sport.

Instead of listening to the loud voices, we must look to what is right about racing to direct our decisions about its future: the competition that brings forth the best horses, best jocks, best purses and best crowd. Let our search for the “best ground” be our guide. Bigger is not always better. Perhaps we should start by accepting that there are limits of good ground. n

“There is a distinctive pyramid structure to the sport now: in the minority, are the ‘haves,’ as in those tracks that ‘have good ground.’ The rest must make do with what dregs they are left” 02 TRAINERMAGAZINE.com ISSUE 23

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Issue 23

CONTENTS...

2 Will’s Way The views of William Koester.

8 California Thoroughbred Trainers Alan Balch on Santa Anita and the movies; Trainer Michael Van Pender.

14 TRM trainer of the quarter

David Wells, trainer of record-setting six-year-old gelding Rapid Redux.

16 Kelly Breen Amanda Roxborough profiles the Classic winning trainer under the hat.

22 Standardbreds v Thoroughbreds Bill Heller wonders how it is possible that Standardbred times have improved dramatically, while Thoroughbred times have not.

50 MRI Stacey Oke outlines how the MRI is playing an increasingly important role in diagnosing equine injuries.

56 Racing schools How advanced education is playing a role in putting well-rounded young people into the industry job force,

by Ken Snyder.

28 Thermography David Marlin looks at one of the best tools available for early diagnosis of injury.

63 African Horse Sickness Is there hope on the horizon for horses that have to undergo crippling quarantine measures due to African Horse Sickness? By David Thistleton.

34 Fit not fat Body condition and racing performance,

by Catherine Dunnett.

40 Foal surgeries How much, if any, bearing on a racehorse’s career do corrective surgeries have, or are they more for cosmetic purposes?

By Clive Webb-Carter.

44 The Asmussen dynasty The Asmussen clan: Keith, Cash, and Steve, as profiled by Bill Heller.

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70 72 74 75

State incentives Product Focus Right to reply Stakes Schedules Forthcoming stakes races from North America and around the world.

80 Arnold Kirkpatrick tribute

By Julia Kirkpatrick.

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CONTRIBUTORS NA ISSUE 23_Jerkins feature.qxd 31/01/2012 15:37 Page 1

CONTRIBUTORS Publisher & Editorial Director Giles Anderson Editor Frances Karon Executive Assistant Alice Jefford Design/Production Neil Randon Advertising Sales Giles Anderson Photo Credits

Emma Berry, Benoit Photo, Anthony Correia, Equiscan, Sarah Farnsworth Photography, Hallmarq Veterinary Images, Horsephotos.com, Horseweigh.com, Jim McCue, Rossdale & Partners, Amanda Roxborough, Shutterstock, USTA/Mark Hall Photo, Nigel Soult

Cover Photograph Amanda Roxborough

North American

An Anderson & Co Publishing Ltd publication Main Address – United Kingdom 3 Stibb Hill, West Lavington SN10 4LQ Representative Address – North America PO Box 13248, Lexington, KY 40583-3248 Contact details Tel: 1 888 218 4430 Fax: 1 888 218 4206 info@trainermagazine.com www.trainermagazine.com North American Trainer is the official magazine of the California Thoroughbred Trainers. It is distributed to all ‘Trainer’ members of the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and all members of the Consignors and Commercial Breeders Association

Alan F. Balch was hired as Executive Director of California Thoroughbred Trainers in April 2010. His professional career in racing began at Santa Anita in 1971, where he advanced to the position of Sr. Vice PresidentMarketing and Assistant General Manager, and was in charge there of the Olympic Games Equestrian Events for Los Angeles in 1984. He retired in the early 90s to become volunteer president of the national equestrian federation of the USA, as well as of the National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden. He remains volunteer president of USA Equestrian Trust, Inc. Dr Catherine Dunnett BSc, PhD, R.Nutr. is an independent nutritionist registered with the British Nutrition Society. She has a background in equine research, in the field of nutrition and exercise physiology, with many years spent at The Animal Health Trust in Newmarket. Prior to setting up her own consultancy business, she worked in the equine feed industry on product development and technical marketing.

Bill Heller, Eclipse-Award winner Bill Heller's 22nd book, "Above It All; The Turbulent Life of Jose Santos," was published in March, 2011. Heller, a member of the Harness Racing Hall of Fame Communicators Corner, is 58 and lives in Albany, New York, just 30 miles south of Saratoga Race Course, with his wife Anna and their 22-year-old son Benjamin, a senior honor student at the State University of New York at New Paltz.

Dr David Marlin is a specialist in exercise physiology, thermoregulation, transport, and respiratory physiology. He has authored over 170 scientific papers and book chapters, and Equine Exercise Physiology. Marlin is International Board Chairman of the International Conference on Equine Exercise Physiology, editor of Comparative Exercise Physiology, and holds visiting Professor positions at the Universities of Bristol, Nottingham, and Oklahoma State. He works as a consultant to the racing industry, the British Equestrian Teams, the FEI, and the International League for the Protection of Horses.

Dr. Stacey Oke is a licensed veterinarian and freelance medical writer and editor. In addition to writing for various horse publications, she also contributes to scientific journals, is an editor of an internationally-recognized, peer-reviewed journal, creates continuing education materials for both human and veterinary medicine, and conducts biomedical research studies.

Amanda Roxborough, born in England, began her career in racing as a jockey and trainer in Canada. After moving to the U.S., she worked for top trainers and galloped two Kentucky Derby hopefuls before hanging up her tack in 2005 and merging into the world of television production. She has worked for TVG, ESPN, and is executive producer of her company Kylar Productions in Florida. She has written for several national equine publications.

Ken Snyder is a Louisville, Kentucky based freelance writer.

He is a regular contributor to several other racing publications, a feature writer and essayist for some non-racing magazines, and an advertising marketing writer, as well.

David Thiselton is the chief racing writer for Gold Circle Publishing, who are contracted to produce all of the racing pages for the Independent Newspaper Group in South Africa including eight broadsheets.

Clive Webb-Carter is a British-based bloodstock consultant trading under the name, Clive Webb-Carter Bloodstock Services. As well as bloodstock writing, Clive also specialises in bloodstock and pedigree consultancy. Clive’s services and blog, “Pedigree Thoughts”, can be found at: www.wcbloodstock.co.uk

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CALIFORNIA THOROUGHBRED TRAINERS

Is this racing?

By Alan F. Balch CTT Executive Director

W

ITH HBO now airing the superhyped new series “Luck,” featuring Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte, and Dennis Farina, created and written by David Milch, directed by Michael Mann, we’re in for more than our share of introspection. (And extro-spection, if there is such a thing.)

For me, the real stars just have to be the horses, and that “Art Deco splendor,” Santa Anita herself, as the New York Times described racing’s California grande dame.

But is the series really about racing? Or, instead, is racing just “the canvas on which the artists paint their pictures and develop their characters,” as I’ve been told?

Either way, Thoroughbred racing – and all of horse racing – are going to be in for some searching, searing, and very public analysis and criticism. After all, the horses are innocent of our human foibles and the lesser parts of our nature, and we can’t measure up to their dignity and grace. Never have.

It was my professional good fortune beginning over 40 years ago to try my best to protect and enhance the image of Santa Anita, the legacy of the founding Strub Family. One of my duties in those days was to read every script of any commercial or motion picture or advertisement that featured the track. I soon learned that we had certain rules: no scene could be filmed at Santa Anita in any enterprise which featured crime, wrongdoing, or any significant ethical lapse at all, even if the scene itself did not show any willful wrongdoing at the track! If the general theme of the motion picture was some nefarious plot, Santa Anita couldn’t even be in a single scene. Certainly no hold-ups of the money room were to be permitted, and I saw countless scripts with

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Tobey Maguire as Red Pollard on Seabiscuit (2003), shot at Santa Anita

“We have to consider what impact a ‘realistic’ portrayal of racing will have, through characters we have all seen and known in our racing lives. Is this racing as we know it? Is this the sport we love?” variations of that tired idea. Given the modern definition of drama (even then), we rejected almost every script as not appropriate for Santa Anita. But “The Black Stallion” was suitable through and through, and so were a few other pictures.

About the same time as the “Luck” pilot first aired, I was reminded of all this while watching the Marx Brothers cavort all over Santa Anita creating general mayhem in “A Day At The Races” (1937). And remembering the first two versions (Janet Gaynor and then Judy Garland) of “A Star Is Born,” both of which feature striking Santa Anita scenes with a knockout punch in the ornate Turf Club Chandelier Room. I won’t begin to mention all the bad and good pictures that had to be filmed somewhere else over the decades.

The Strubs weren’t prudes or shut-ins or paternalistic, as some liked to believe, but they were contemporaries of Walt Disney . . . which is precisely why they believed not only in the importance of their own high standards of conduct at the track, but also in showcasing only that to the public. They were well aware of the great incentives in sport – any sport – to cheat and deceive, and particularly one where so much money is at stake. They were exceptionally sensitive to any view of Santa Anita which might involve crime bosses, fixed

races, inhumane treatment of horses, or any of the other innumerable ways in which racing is often portrayed negatively. “The Story of Seabiscuit,” in all its incarnations from Mickey Rooney to Tobey Maguire, was the way the public should see Santa Anita racing, fittingly since the ‘Biscuit was to Santa Anita what Babe Ruth was to Yankee Stadium.

Santa Anita had been instrumental in the founding and preservation of the old TRA – Thoroughbred Racing Associations – and its TRPB – Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau, which “assured racing’s highest standards.” We proudly flew the flag. Literally.

In those days, it seemed as though constitutional rights were suspended at the boundary of the “racing enclosure,” in the name of “public interest,” and the Stewards were Almighty. Any hint of wrongdoing must be stopped at that line and rooted out if ever found inside.

We all know times have changed, whether or not for the better. And human nature has not.

Which brings us back to "Luck." It doesn't feature Shirley Temple.

As I write this, I’ve only seen the pilot – and I have absolutely no inside information, at least none that I will share, as to what will follow. But I’ve seen enough to know that Santa Anita wouldn’t have been its setting back in my earlier days. Contemporary language alone would disqualify it!

We have to consider what impact a “realistic” portrayal of racing will have, through characters we have all seen and known in our racing lives.

Is this racing as we know it? Is this the sport we love?

I think we can all answer truthfully that these latest characters are part of the sport we love, just as National Velvet, Silent Tom Smith, and heroic Red Pollard, in all their incarnations, are part of it, too. And most of us at Santa Anita actually know these “Luck” characters! (We admit with an uncomfortable chuckle.)

Ever since King Henry said, “All men are equal on the turf . . . and under it,” that has been the fundamental selling proposition of The Sport of Kings. Every marketing success in racing is based on it, that the allures of racing mirror the tastes and divisions and lesser natures and populations of humanity writ broad. Look out upon any track in the world on its biggest day and they – we – are all there, from kings to commoners, from tycoon to tyke to trickster, lunatic to librarian.

This is the majesty of racing, though it cannot match the majesty of the horse itself, or its appeal. “Luck” also serves as a timely reminder that racing has always been and is forever endangered to the extent the incentives to cheat exceed the incentives to win. n

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CALIFORNIA THOROUGHBRED TRAINERS

WORDS: Steve Schuelein PhOtOS: BenOit PhOtO

T

he Southern California trainer colony boasts several Racing Hall of Fame members and Eclipse Award winners but only one MVP. Those initials belong to Michael Van Pender, who has risen to prominence on the circuit with the development of major stakes winners Jeranimo and Ultimate Eagle.

Pender explained recently at Santa Anita Park how his paternal grandfather was born with the last name Van Pender and dropped the Van after emigrating to the United States.

Pender’s family honored his Dutch heritage by giving Van to him as his middle name, the same as he has done for his son.

Pender is one of the best educated trainers on the circuit with two degrees in psychology – a B.A. from the University of California at Santa Barbara and an M.A. from Pepperdine University – all the better to get into the heads of horses and horsemen.

Pender put some of that learning to use as a high school teacher for 15 years at La Cañada Flintridge before yielding to a lifelong ambition that he would rather win the La Cañada Stakes, changing careers eight years ago.

“I started out teaching American history and English and did some educational counseling at night as well,” said Pender. “I was promoted to vice principal one time, but they said I was a horrible disciplinarian and too soft to be a veep. So I went back to teaching.”

Pender, who turned 46 on Valentine’s Day, had long yearned for a career on the track. “I started shortening my teaching hours and built a horseracing syndicate called El Presidio Farms with 40 or 50 people and 15 horses,” said Pender.

“I even got parents of my students involved,” said Pender. “One of the parents said I should go into horseracing 100 percent, that it was obviously my passion. I made the switch when I realized that the 10 percent I was making managing the syndicate

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Michael Van Pender: the thinking man’s trainer superseded my salary as a teacher.”

Born in Los Angeles and raised in Glendale, Pender credited most of his early interest in racing to his mother, Mary. “She was from Mexico City and went to the races there as a little girl,” said Pender. “She had siblings and cousins who were trainers and owned a big horse farm.

“She was bit by the bug at an early age,” said Pender, whose late father, Dennis, was also a racing fan. “He enjoyed it, but she was

the one who had the pedigree.”

When Pender was an undergraduate at Santa Barbara, his mother bought a modest two-year-old and told her son he was in charge. Pender chose Warren Stute as the trainer and thought he could be a big help advising at the barn. “I thought I’d micromanage,” said Pender.

Stute, a crusty veteran unimpressed by the incessant chatter of a 20-year-old whippersnapper still wet behind the ears, quickly put

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CALIFORNIA THOROUGHBRED TRAINERS “He had tryouts, I threw a good spiral, and he hired me,” said Pender of the initial meeting.

After the fateful second meeting, “Mr. Wright said that he would send me a horse, and two weeks later he kept his word,” said Pender. “He said if I could break his maiden, he would send me more.”

Pender covered his eyes when the horse arrived. “He was an unraced homebred threeyear-old gelding named Benson Road, an absolute cripple,” said Pender. “He sent me the most challenging horse you could ever imagine.

“The first half I breezed him in went in 54 and change, and I told Mr. Wright that this horse flat out can’t run,” said Pender.

“The one leg that did work, he could paddle from here to China with,” added Pender of his one ray of hope. “I did everything in my power, and in three months, got him down to 47 and change. In his third start, he broke his maiden in a $40,000 claimer during the fall meet at Hollywood Park.”

After that win, Pender discovered that he had found the Mr. Right of owners in B.J. Wright. “I had no idea the floodgates were going to open,” said Pender. “So many owners fill your head with visions of sugarplums and so few follow through. He wasn’t kidding.”

Jeranimo, with Martin Garcia aboard, after victory in the G2 Oak Tree Mile at Santa Anita, congratulated by trainer Mike Pender

“Jeranimo is the smartest horse I’ve seen in 25 years. He’s part human.

He understands we’re here to help him and trusts us and lays his body down in every race”

Pender in his place. “The best thing I learned from Warren Stute was to shut up and listen,” said Pender.

Higher education’s loss was horseracing’s gain. “I needed to get out of education and into entertainment,” said Pender of the change. “I just kind of gravitated into horseracing.

Pender dissolved the syndicate and took the big plunge into becoming a trainer. “After observing and asking as many questions as I could, getting under and rubbing as many horses as I could, hiring as many vets as I could, I decided to do it myself,” he said.

Pender started from scratch and struggled with a two-horse stable in the early going. “I won my first race on February 11, 2005, with a horse named Orange ‘Em in a $5,000 claimer at Los Alamitos,” said Pender. “I jumped him in class and two weeks later won my first race at Santa Anita with him.”

Wright began delivering higher-quality stock, as he had promised, mostly purchased at two-year-old sales. The first was Polonius, a $150,000 purchase at a Barretts March sale, who gave the new kids on the block their first stakes victory in the 2008 Pasadena at Santa Anita and their first graded stakes win in the Grade 3 Will Rogers later that spring at Hollywood Park.

Jeranimo, a six-year-old horse, and Ultimate Eagle, a four-year-old colt, followed soon after and turned the Wright-Pender duo into one of the hottest teams on the circuit.

Jeranimo, who entered the year with seven victories in 24 starts and more than $800,000 in earnings, gave the pair their first Grade 2 win in the 2010 Strub Stakes on synthetic at Santa Anita and added three more Grade 2 scores on turf: the 2010 San Gabriel Stakes and the 2011 Oak Tree Mile and Citation Handicap.

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Pender was greeted by a surprise visitor who would have a dramatic effect on his career as he left the winner’s circle that day.

B.J. Wright, who coached a Pop Warner League football team he quarterbacked as a 12-year-old 27 years earlier in Glendale, congratulated him.

“Mr. Wright said that he was shocked, that he had no idea I was training,” said Pender of the Pasadena resident, who had since made a small fortune in the water filtration business.

The unexpected crossing of paths served as a fortuitous link in the embryonic stage of two careers since Wright had recently entered ownership and was looking for a bright young trainer to “quarterback” his stable.

Wright recalled that the Pop Warner team never lost a game with Pender at quarterback.

“Even at a young age, Mike showed style and ability,” he claimed.

Pender downplayed the lofty assessment.

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MICHAEL VAN PENDER Jeranimo, purchased for $70,000 at a Barretts May sale, relished the role of the underdog most of his career, favored in only one of his seven wins. “Geronimo the Apache Indian was also the underdog in most of his battles, and Jeranimo enjoys that role,” said Pender.

“Before he won the Strub (at 11.40-to-1 odds), a veteran racetracker told me the overunder behind Misrepresentation (the favorite who ran second) was 10 lengths,” said Pender.

“Jeranimo is the smartest horse I’ve seen in 25 years,” said Pender. “He’s part human. He understands we’re here to help him and trusts us and lays his body down in every race. I haven’t seen the movie War Horse, but can only imagine he shares the same qualities.”

Pender credited an early decision in producing Jeranimo’s long and fruitful career.

“We had chips taken out of both of his ankles after we bought him,” said Pender, who did not start the colt until he was three. “If we had not stopped on him two weeks after the sale, he might not be close to how good he is today.

His legs at six are better than many of the twoyear-olds in my barn.”

Ankle surgery at two was nothing compared to the medical crisis Ultimate Eagle encountered two years ago. Purchased for $70,000 at the OBS April sale at Ocala, the colt was turned out at a farm in Bradbury.

“In June, I got a call at 8 p.m.,” said Pender of one of the most traumatic nights of his life.

“He had a case of colic, and we shipped him to the Giacopuzzi Clinic in Ventura County.”

By midnight, veterinarians at the clinic told Pender they were prepared to perform the equine version of last rites on the colt. “They painted a very grim picture,” said Pender of the horse who miraculously defied death.

“Early that morning, the twist in his gut freed itself without surgery,” said Pender of the ultimate survivor. But the ordeal took its toll.

“I was just happy he was alive, but he looked absolutely withdrawn,” said Pender.

“He was emaciated. He lost several hundred pounds. His ribs were sticking out. He had the withers of a camel.”

Ultimate Eagle was sent for several months to Special T Thoroughbreds in Temecula, where Pender thanked manager Rick Taylor for nursing the colt back to health.

Ultimate Eagle soared with his second lease on life. He made his first start last April at Hollywood Park, and after three losses on Cushion Track, strung together four straight turf victories.

Quickly ascending the ladder, Ultimate Eagle broke his maiden at Del Mar in July, captured an optional claimer there in September, won the Grade 2 Oak Tree Derby in October, and gave his connections their first Grade 1 score in the Hollywood Derby in November. Getting even less respect at the windows than Jeranimo, Ultimate Eagle was dismissed at 34.20-to-1 in the Oak Tree

Ultimate Eagle gave Pender his first Grade 1 success in the Hollywood Derby

Derby and 14.70-to-1 in the Hollywood Derby.

“He’s the most ornery horse on the racetrack,” said Pender. “Sometimes in the morning, it takes 20 minutes to catch him in his stall. We’ve even gone to such lengths as to use one of the fillies in the barn as a teaser to lure him to the front of the stall. When he charges the webbing, it’s like releasing a caged tiger.”

Veteran jockey Martin Pedroza called Ultimate Eagle the best horse he had ever ridden after the Hollywood Derby. “When he hits the ground, he registers 8.4 on the Richter Scale,” said Pender. “He hits and springs off the ground like no horse I have ever seen. But he’s not as easy on himself as a skipping type of horse like Jeranimo.”

Pender said he would not mind seeing the pair compete together on the turf since they “possess contrasting styles: Ultimate Eagle,

“Sometimes in the morning, it takes 20 minutes to catch him in his stall. We’ve even gone to such lengths as to use one of the fillies in the barn as a teaser to lure him to the front of the stall”

the front-runner, and Jeranimo, the closer.”

But it may not be in the cards.

Pender would like to have both horses at their peaks for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Santa Anita in November.

He is anxious to test Ultimate Eagle on dirt this winter at Santa Anita, the result of which should have a major bearing as to which Breeders’ Cup race he will be pointed.

Jeranimo will probably try the Breeders’ Cup Mile again, a race in which he faded to seventh, beaten little more than five lengths, on a Churchill Downs surface listed “good” last year. “On a firm turf, Jeranimo can beat the best in the world,” said Pender, hoping for better footing next time.

“Every year we’ve had a legitimate threeyear-old with high Derby expectations,” said Pender of Polonius, Jeranimo, and Ultimate Eagle. “Mr. Wright grew up in Shelbyville, Kentucky, and the Kentucky Derby is still his ultimate goal. When he was a kid, his parents told him stories about Man o’ War that had such an impact on him and were the reason he developed an affinity for horseracing.”

Pender said six of the 20 horses in his stable belong to Wright. In addition to Jeranimo and Ultimate Eagle, they include his leading threeyear-old hope this year, the maiden Beau Trip, a $100,000 Harlan’s Holiday colt.

A new owner, who also has six horses in his stable, is Brian Cunningham, one of his former La Cañada students and a current fireman.

Cunningham Stables owns six three-year-olds, headed by War Face, a son of War Front.

Pender lives in Arcadia with his wife, Andrea, and their two children, Megan, 14, and Matthew, 11. n

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www.trmirelandinc.com

David Wells follows behind his record-breaking gelding, Rapid Redux, who won his 22nd consecutive race in January

TRM Trainer of the Quarter

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WORDS: BILL HELLER PHOTOS: JIM MCCUE

E

VEN trainer David Wells is awed by his record-setting, six-year-old gelding, Rapid Redux, who won his 22nd consecutive race on January 4th, eight days before he was presented a Special Eclipse Award for his 19-for-19 record in 2011. “He

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gave us his all every time he raced,” Wells said. “I don’t know how he did it. It’s just amazing.”

Wells’ entrance into racing was amazing, too. Many horsemen say they’re born into racing. Wells has that topped. When his dad, a trainer, won a race at Wheeling Downs in March of 1964, Wells’ mom was in the winner’s circle picture. So was Wells – in utero.

“I’m in a picture three months before I was born,” Wells laughed. “I had no choice.”

Wells chose to follow his dad into the business after graduating high school. He began galloping horses at Penn National, then worked for 15 years in the starting gate. “It can be pretty dangerous,” he said.

He began training horses there part-time in 1987, took on a business partner, Stephanie Battie, and was hired by Robert Cole, Jr., the president and owner of a mortgage company in Burnie, Maryland. “I was doing well at Charles Town and Robert wanted to join the bandwagon,” Wells said.

That bandwagon expanded exponentially after Cole claimed Rapid Redux for $6,250 at Penn National, October 13th, 2010. “Robert picked him out,” Wells said. “He’s a real good

handicapper. He said, `Let’s claim him and try to stretch him out.’”

First they had to actually claim him. “It was a three-man shake, and I won it,” Wells said.

But soon afterwards, Rapid Redux had a problem. “He was displacing his soft palate,” Well said. “We did a minor surgery. Knock on wood, he hasn’t displaced since.”

Rapid Redux’s winning streak began on December 2nd, 2010, at six furlongs. Three races later, he won an allowance race at a mile and an eighth by 4½ lengths. Eighteen of his 22 victories were in starter allowances.

His 22-race win streak was fashioned at seven different racetracks under seven different jockeys. Rapid Redux was on the front end, or very close to it, in every start.

Obviously, Wells managed his horse magnificently. As the winning streak grew, so did national attention, which was fine with Wells and his horse. “He’s a really intelligent horse,” Wells said. “He enjoys the attention.

He really does.”

The 19 victories Rapid Redux posted in 2011 equaled Citation’s 1958 record for one season. His 22-race winning streak surpassed the 19 consecutive victories by 2010

Horse of the Year Zenyatta and Peppers Pride.

Wells was honored when Penny Chenery, owner of the immortal Secretariat, called to congratulate him. “Mrs. Chenery was so appreciative at how we raced him, not going over his head,” Wells said. “We never got greedy for a stakes race. We were content.”

Rapid Redux’s closest call was a nose-victory over Critical Claim at Penn National on March 19th, 2011. One of his most difficult races was at Thistledown on August 22nd: a half-length victory. “We woke him up in the middle of the night, and it was a six-hour trip,” Wells said.

“He was running on fumes.”

Rapid Redux won his 21st straight at Laurel on December 13th, defeating Awesome Rhythm by half a length. They met again January 4th, and Awesome Rhythm made a bold late run, but Rapid Redux held him safe by three-quarters of a length.

It may have been Rapid Redux’s last race. At the very least, Rapid Redux is getting three months off. If he retires, Rapid Redux may wind up at the Kentucky Horse Park.

The Park will be getting an exceptional tenant. “The horse showed up every time,” Well said. “That’s all there is to it.” n

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PROFILE

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KELLY BREEN

Hats off to...

KELLY BREEN In the world of horseracing, being on the smaller side is as common as bacon and eggs.

The racetrack is dominated by men and women of a shorter stature, and it was that awareness that hit a young Kelly Breen when his father took him to Monmouth Park Racetrack in New Jersey. “I was always the smallest kid in my class. I loved sports: I was in all-star little league baseball –played second base – and I was on the all-star travel soccer team. When I was fourteen, I wrestled at 90 pounds. I don’t like losing…whether it’s video games or sports, I always try to find a way to win. When I was young I saw the gambling at the track and then seeing small athletes, the jockeys, I thought, ‘Hey, this could be for me.’”

WORDS: AmAnDA ROxbOROugh PhOTOS: hORSEPhOTOS.COm, AmAnDA ROxbOROugh

W

ith the seed planted, his determined nature took flight and it was to the surprise and admiration of his parents Jackie and Milvi Breen that they had to shuttle their youngest of four children to a farm every day before and after school to muck out stalls.

“Before I went to high school, my dad would drop me off and then he had to drive an hour into Manhattan to go to work, then my mom would pick me up at school and drive me back to the barn so I could gallop one horse. They did that for me,” says Breen with emotional respect for two people he cares for deeply, and as a father now he can truly absorb the impact of their loving commitment to their family. “I’ve been working seven days a week since I was 13 and I’m sure I ruined many of my parents’ weekends.” He jokes, “My dad would say, ‘The kid’s 14 and every Sunday morning he’s up before me saying, Pop let’s go.’”

Those early patterns became a lifestyle for Breen, who started galloping horses at the track. He had a long and very successful

working relationship with trainer Ben Perkins Sr. as his assistant and was the exercise rider of many of the barn stars, such as Appealing Skier, Forest Wildcat, and Confide. “I worked for Ben and went to a lot of two-year-olds-intraining sales. I paid attention and I learned a lot. Ben is still a part of my life now. If he never retired in 1999, part of me says I wouldn’t be where I am now because I probably would still be working for him,” says Breen.

There was a detour on Breen’s path where he wondered if the racing world was really his

“Things have been going so well for us, the Halls and our stable. We’ve won graded races and had some of the best moments you could ask for in this business”

destiny. In 1990 he questioned his choice of career. “I did a lot of soul searching after I finished riding. I had to make a decision if I could make enough money doing what I was doing, and my father and brothers are steamfitters in the city. I started an apprenticeship at the Local 638 Steamfitters in New Jersey. You have to go to class every Wednesday to learn the trade. I worked in the World Trade Center putting in air conditioners on the 85th floor, and at Coney Island I installed a whole heating system at the station there. It was neat; you see it all from beginning to end. I probably worked a total of five months at it and I didn’t dislike it but it wasn’t winning races; it was just a job.

It’s tough to get winning out of your system,” says Breen.

With the retirement of Perkins, Breen took the leap to go out on his own. Life has moments that test us, and his timing wasn’t without challenges. “My daughter was born end of 1999. I had just bought a townhouse.

I had no clients starting out, only a couple of horses for my dad and I at Philadelphia Park.

I had lots of bills and I know people were thinking, ‘Who’s Kelly Breen?’ For Christmas that year my wife bought me an ad in the

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PROFILE Daily Racing Form announcing I was opening my own stable. I got two calls from that ad.”

Breen’s work ethic and competitive instinct prevailed, and it only took five years until he was on top of his game. He won the training title at Monmouth Park in 2005 and again in 2006. He credits his attention to detail and willingness to continue to learn as much as he can about the sport that he loves. “I pay a lot of attention to what other guys do. I read a book on D. Wayne Lukas because I wanted to know what makes him successful. When horses have come into my barn at Monmouth for stakes races I paid attention. [Bob] Baffert has won three Haskells from my barn. I watch what Bill Mott does. If I have horses similar to theirs I see what works for them and maybe mirror them. I do have my own style. Bold

Breen with his stable star Pants On Fire

“I’ve had some tough losses of both horses and people that have taught me life lessons. I’ve had high hopes for horses that didn’t make it and it’s hard to take sometimes. It makes you tougher and stronger” Union set a track record for 6 furlongs at Penn National – I have a track record. I’ve galloped and worked with track record holders but now I’ve got my own. It was neat.”

But it was the next year that he feels was his homerun moment. “It was a life changer going to work privately for George and Lori Hall in 2007,” says Breen. “Things have been going so well for us, the Halls and our stable. We’ve won graded races and had some of the best moments you could ask for in this business.”

In 2009, Breen saddled his first two Kentucky Derby starters when West Side Bernie and Atomic Rain started in the Classic. Atomic Rain went on to win Monmouth’s Long Branch Stakes before being sold privately in 2010. Breen and the Halls teamed up to win a trio of stakes races in 2011, including a Classic with Ruler On Ice in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes.

The Halls purchased a farm in Versailles, Kentucky, and it is the hub of their breeding program, where their retired racemares are being bred. The star graduate of their program is Grade 1, $1-million Louisiana Derby winner Pants On Fire. “I’m like a proud father.

We had him from the farm to the barn. Farm manager Dale Holly takes care of the farm side. We do have a trilogy for setting up

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mating for the mares. George, Lori and I work together to bring everything to the table, but it’s George who calls all the shots at the end.

They are very good at letting me train the horses. It’s a solid business program.”

Much of Breen’s success stems from his continued ability to stay immersed in the horses as well as the business. You can still find his name on the set list, as he gallops a couple of horses a day. “Part of the reason I still ride is knowing how your horses feel. I haven’t been on as many horses with my busy

schedule but I like getting on a couple of my favorite horses.

“I’m also the shipping rider. When a horse goes out of town for a race, I get on them. I also like staying fit and I enjoy getting to know their personalities.” When he’s not on a racehorse, Breen’s faithful mount is retired barn favorite Fagan’s Legacy. The classy grey gelding has the distinct honor of racing against Barbaro in a few races. “We just don’t mention that he was beat 32 lengths!” chuckles Breen.

“Fagan” has a key role as an equine mentor at

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KELLY BREEN

the Breen stable, as preparation is of key importance to the program. “When I run a first-time starter my horses know what’s going to happen. We put the young horses together to gallop. I put them in front, behind, we school at the gate and with the pony. They’re ready,” says Breen.

One thing that rings clear upon meeting Kelly Breen is his common sense. After having the best year of his career, he will not lose sight of his values and the realities of this game. He is making tougher decisions that come with

“When a horse goes out of town for a race, I get on them. I also like staying fit and I enjoy getting to know their personalities”

having a large stable, but honesty and communication are crucial. “I have enough drive to walk across the Atlantic. People have worked for me for a long time and my team knows my style and my methods.”

He credits learning to be organized and running a tight ship from several vets he has worked with in his career and from his owners who have given him the chance to shine. “Coming to work every day you have the highs and the lows, like trying to get this horse to eat. You know, he’s on the Triple

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PROFILE

Breen’s first Classic success came with Ruler On Ice in the Belmont Stakes last year

Crown trail. He’s a stakes winner already, he’s coming back. I love to see his face still in the feed tub.” The horse is My Adonis, and the task of keeping him interested in his feed tub resulted in Breen buying a juicer and bags of fresh carrots, adding the sloppy mixture to his grain to encourage his appetite.

“I’ve had some tough losses of both horses and people that have taught me life lessons.

I’ve had high hopes for horses that didn’t make it and it’s hard to take sometimes. It makes you tougher and stronger.” Another defining moment was the death of his father-in-law. “He was a great person. He had a heart attack and that day in emergency room the family gave me the phone book to make the calls and every one I made there were tears and it was heartbreaking. I would say I look at things a lot clearer now. ” His goal for this year is crystal clear: keep his top horses competitive. There is discussion in the barn of targeting Ruler On Ice for the Dubai World Cup. “We would love to go and run for the big money. We were third for five million in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, so the

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“When I run a first-time starter my horses know what’s going to happen.

We put the young horses together to gallop. I put them in front, behind, we school at the gate and with the pony. They’re ready” possibility to run for ten million is exciting.

We might run in Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park as a prep race for the World Cup. It’s for George and Lori to decide if the trip is for them.”

Racing is filled with characters, and Breen has developed his own style. “I like getting

dressed up. I want my horses to look great, and I want to represent them the best I can.

Way back when I was galloping for Walter Reese, he gave us a Christmas bonus and I went and bought a suit in Philly Park. It was $99, and the shirt and tie came in a package.”

But the start of the fashion trend that has become his trademark came later. “When we won the Sorority in 2005, my wife says that I’ve got a bald spot starting back there and I should start wearing a hat,” he chuckles. And now George Hall has enhanced the look: “George likes the old days when there were 50,000 people at the track and everybody got dressed up to go to Belmont Park, so he bought me a couple of hats. It’s kind of become my thing. I was in the elevator last month at Gulfstream Park and someone recognized me because of my hat.”

The future is looking bright for this Jersey boy, and his passion for racing and family are the backbone to carry him through.

When asked to recall the highlight of his best year to date the answer came quickly. As much as he is thankful for the opportunity

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KELLY BREEN

Breen had to buy a juicer and bags of carrots to mix into the grain to coax Triple Crown contender My Adonis to eat from his feed tub

to train for people like the Halls and continue to win races, his spotlight moment is the day he stood in the winner’s circle with his family – his wife and two children, his sister,

brother, and the man he calls his mentor, his father – at Belmont Park after Ruler On Ice had won the Belmont Stakes. “My dad gave me the freedom to let me do what I wanted to

do. It was so great to share that emotional triumph with him. If this was to end right now I would be fine and I would have a smile on my face.” n

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TRAINING

Sweet Lou broke the Woodbine two-yearold colt track record in October last year

STANDARDBREDS V

I

N the past 40 years, Standardbreds have closed the equivalent of 40 lengths on Thoroughbreds. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find that Thoroughbreds aren’t racing that much faster than they did 100 years ago.

Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds share their ancestry. All Standardbreds trace their pedigrees to the imported English stallion Messenger, who was brought to America in 1788.

Standardbreds race exclusively on dirt, almost always at one mile. The immortal pacer Dan Patch time-trialed one mile in 1:55 in 1906, a record that stood for 32 years. In 1960, Adios Butler paced the fastest race mile in harness racing history, 1:54 3/5. Forty-six

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Standardbreds are getting faster. Thoroughbreds aren’t. What that means is open to debate, but the facts are startling.

WORDS: BILL HELLER PHOTOS: HORSEPHOTOS.COM, USTA/MARK HALL, NIGEL SOULT

years later, Holborn Hanover lowered the world race record to 1:46 4/5, a time matched

by Somebeachsomewhere in 2008. Cambest’s 1993 time trial of 1:46 1/5 at Springfield, Illinois, remains the fastest mile.

On August 24th, 1968, while carrying 134 pounds in the Washington Park Handicap, Dr. Fager set a Thoroughbred world dirt record of 1:32 1/5 for one mile despite being taken in hand late. The record still stands 43 years later, though Najran is listed as a co-record holder after winning a race in 1:32.24 at Belmont Park on May 7th, 2003.

The 22 3/5 seconds separating Dr. Fager’s mile record and harness racing’s fastest horse in the ‘60s is now 14.

“Standardbreds have closed that gap,” said Tom Charters, the president and CEO of the Hambletonian Society and the Breeders Crown (harness racing’s equivalent of the Breeders’ Cup). “They’re not only getting faster, they’re getting more precocious.”

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STANDARDBREDS V THOROUGHBREDS Secretariat’s 1973 mile-and-a-half world record has never been broken

THOROUGHBREDS Indeed. American Jewel set a world record for two-year-old fillies last September 3rd, when she won the $646,600 She’s A Great Lady Final in 1:50 2/5 at The Meadowlands.

Just two months later, Sweet Lou set a world record for all two-year-olds when he captured the $625,535 Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Colt Pace at Woodbine in 1:49.

Two-year-old Thoroughbreds? Several decades ago, two-year-olds routinely ran in three-furlong baby races early in the season.

“Everybody used to bring their two-year-olds to Florida,” Hall of Fame trainer LeRoy Jolley said. “They had baby races in January, February or March. If you go back historically, eight horses that won a baby race went on to win the Derby. Carry Back broke his maiden at

three furlongs. Dark Star not only broke his maiden, but he won a stakes race at the end of the Hialeah meet, the Hialeah Juvenile, at three furlongs.”

Baby races are a faded memory. Now, thanks to two-year-olds-in-training sales, juveniles are recording eighth of a mile and/or quartermile blowouts in faster times than any of the sport’s greatest champions ever did in races.

“The faster they go, the more they go for in the sale,” Jolley said.

How fast? They work eighths of a mile in under :11 and even under :10 and/or quartermiles under :21. “I’ve never had a horse in my barn do that,” Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens said. “I had them shave :11, but they’re shaving 10 now. I had a horse who

breezed in :21, Virginia Rapids, the day before a stakes (the 1994 Vosburgh). I thought I blew it, but he won the stakes anyway.”

That afternoon, Virginia Rapids won the seven-furlong Vosburgh in 1:22.26. 88 years earlier, in a two-horse, $1,300 allowance race at Belmont Park on October 16th, 1906, Roseben covered seven furlongs in 1:22 while carrying 126 pounds. One hundred and five years later, the world record for seven furlongs shared by Rich Cream and Time to Explode in separate victories at Hollywood Park in 1980 and 1982, respectively, was just 2 3/5 seconds faster, 1:19 2/5. They carried 118 and 117 pounds, respectively.

Even further back, on September 29th, 1895, Domino captured the Matron Stakes at

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TRAINING

Spectacular Bid’s 1980 time of 1:57 4/5 for a mile-and-a-quarter still remains the fastest

Morris Park in 1:09 for six furlongs. The world record 116 years later is 2 2/5 seconds faster, G Malleah’s 1:06 3/5 set at Turf Paradise in 1995.

Even Dr. Fager’s 1:32 1/5 world record mile needs perspective. On August 21st, 1918, in a time trial, Roamed covered one mile at Saratoga Race Course in 1:34 4/5. Dr. Fager’s record 50 years later was only 2 3/5 seconds faster.

Other current world records at the most common distances Thoroughbreds race on dirt have stood for as long as three decades.

Chinook Pass’s five-furlong mark of :55 1/5 at Longacres was set in 1982, 13 years before Plenty Zloty went five-and-a-half furlongs in

1:01 at Turf Paradise. Hoedown’s Day’s mileand-a-sixteenth record in 1:38 2/5 at Bay Meadows came in 1983. Simply Majestic recorded the mile-and-an-eighth mark in 1:45 at Golden Gate in 1988. Spectacular Bid’s 1:57 4/5 victory at Santa Anita in 1980 remains the fastest mile-and-a-quarter, while Secretariat’s 1973 mile-and-a-half world record of 2:24 in his 31-length Belmont Stakes blowout to complete the Triple Crown still stands. In fact, no other Belmont Stakes winner before or after has come within two seconds, the equivalent of 10 lengths, of Secretariat’s performance that historic afternoon.

Many individual track’s dirt records have also been held for a long time, including

Spanish Riddle’s six-furlong mark of 1:08 in 1972 and Darby Creek Road’s seven-furlong track record at Saratoga of 1:20 2/5 six years later. In the space of two summer months at Aqueduct in 1963, Bazaar won a five-furlong race in :57 and Raise a Native a five-and-a-half furlong race in 1:02 3/5. Both records remain.

At Laurel, Dave’s Friend’s five-furlong track record of :57 was set in 1980.

Why aren’t Thoroughbreds getting faster?

“It’s hard to explain,” Jolley said. “Human beings, without selective breeding, have improved their performance.”

Thoroughbreds haven’t. “We’re not breeding them any better,” Jerkens said. “A lot of people are breeding horses for what they can get out of them in a sale. Before, they bred horses for themselves. When I first came around, there were a lot of people who could afford it. Now it’s a different outlook.”

It almost has to be. “We have imposed conditions they didn’t have 40 years ago,” Jolley said. “We weren’t racing horses in the winter in New York when it’s cold. We weren’t running horses in the south in the summer when it’s hot.”

That almost demands training horses differently. “The philosophy of training Thoroughbreds has changed considerably,” Jerkens said. “You can’t train them as hard as you used to. They also say you shouldn’t run them as often. That makes no sense to me.

Every other athlete competes more often.”

Not Thoroughbreds. The average starts per year for Thoroughbreds has declined dramatically since the 1970s, from 10.23 in 1975 to 6.11 in 2010. The decline began right about the time the anti-bleeding medication Lasix and the analgesic Bute were introduced

In 2011 American Jewel set a world record in the She's A Great Lady Stakes, lowering her own mark

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TRAINING

“Standardbreds have closed that gap. They’re not only getting faster, they’re getting more precocious” Tom Charters on the backstretches of America’s racetracks.

Today, more than 95 percent of Thoroughbreds receive Lasix on the day they race.

Is that why, unlike the Thoroughbreds in the ‘70s, today’s Thoroughbreds are less likely to race at long distances and can no longer carry weight in handicaps? The days of Kelso and Forego are long gone.

Is the concept of “improving the breed” extinct?

Not in harness racing.

“I think the trotters and the pacers look as if they’re galloping now,” Jerkens said. “They are moving that fast. I remember when they had to be really good to break two minutes.”

Jerkens’ memory is impeccable. In 1968, there were just 200 races timed under two minutes. The opening of the one-mile Meadowlands in 1976 triggered a speed revolution. That very year, there were 1,846 two-minute miles compared to 713 the previous year. In 2010, there were 56,249.

Two minutes was the defining measure of speed in harness racing in the 1960s.

Standardbreds not only broke that barrier, but additional ones of 1:55 and 1:50, though Greyhound’s record for trotters, 1:55 1/4 at Lexington in 1938, stood until Nevele Pride trotted in 1:55 in 1969.

Since then, trotters, usually three-to-five seconds slower than pacers, have also broken the 1:50 barrier. Enough Talk trotted a mile in 1:49 3/5 at Colonial Downs on October 11th, 2008.

Pacers continue to set speed marks almost annually. In 2011, 26 stakes-winning pacers, including a trio of two-year-olds, took marks

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under 1:50. Older pacers We Will See and Won the West each won races in 1:47 2/5.

Do Standardbreds have limits? “I don’t know if we’ll see them soon,” Hall of Famer John Campbell, harness racing’s all-time leading driver in earnings, said. “I think we’ll see 1:43 or 1:44 in races. We will hit the bottom. It’s to come.”

Why are Standardbreds getting faster? “It’s a much newer breed for one thing,” Campbell said. “The breed has improved tremendously.

The speeds are coming down. More and more horses can pace around the 1:50 mark, even two-year-olds. Better equipment and nutrition are factors, but in my opinion, the refining of the breed is the biggest reason.”

Charters elaborated on Campbell’s point: “It’s only been 150 years of a registered breed vs. 400 years for Thoroughbreds in the stud book. Thoroughbreds may have reached the crest. They gallop as fast as they can in the wild, but they don’t trot or pace in the wild.”

Charters then touched on an interesting contrast between Standardbreds and Thoroughbreds. “There’s much more equipment in harness racing,” he said. “When I was taking care of horses in the late ‘60s, a lot of the equipment wasn’t that much different than what Dan Patch wore at the start of the century. Now, we have lightweight plastic harnesses. Changes in the race bike, using titanium and other materials, have improved aerodynamics. And there has been an absolute improvement in track surfaces and veterinary sciences.”

Author and freelance writer Dean Hoffman,

“The breed has improved tremendously. The speeds are coming down. More and more horses can pace around the 1:50 mark, even two-year-olds” John Campbell

“The philosophy of training Thoroughbreds has changed considerably.

You can’t train them as hard as you used to” Allen Jerkens the former Editor of the monthly harness magazine Hoofbeats, mentioned the importance of catch drivers, drivers hired for one specific race who have replaced horsemen who both trained and drove their horses.

“Catch drivers have made a big difference,” he said. “The catch driver goes hellbent; trainer/drivers don’t. They squeeze every bit of energy out of the horse. I think there are a lot of factors: better sulkies, lighter harnesses and track surfaces. I think you also have to look into the roles of medication and drugs.”

For whatever reasons, Standardbreds are faster than they ever were. And, though it may have little relevancy, eight of 12 current Quarter Horse world records were set between 2009 and 2011.

Curiously, Thoroughbreds’ world records on turf have been toppled more recently. The marks by Dan’s Groovy (four-and-a-half furlongs in :49.26); Procreate (five furlongs in :53.79); Keep the Faith (six furlongs in 1:06.82); Soaring Free (seven furlongs in 1:19.38); Mr. Light (one mile in 1:31.41); and Inaugural Address (one mile-and-threequarters in 2:53.35) were all set from 2003 to 2005.

Why have Thoroughbreds been running faster on grass, but not on dirt? Why haven’t Thoroughbreds continued to evolve as Standardbreds have? Did Thoroughbreds reach their physical limits decades ago? Are we breeding inferior Thoroughbreds for any of a myriad of reasons, be it year-round racing or the overuse of medication?

Maybe now would be a good time to find some answers. n

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ODAY we have many sensitive and specific tools that are used by veterinarians to diagnose the cause of lameness. These include radiography, scintigraphy, ultrasound, and MRI. However, radiography and scintigraphy are unsuitable for regular routine monitoring. Ultrasound, due to its nature, can be used more frequently than the other techniques but its use is focused to soft tissue and in a limited area, e.g. tendons.

These are diagnostic modalities rather than techniques for monitoring.

The most common tools the trainer uses to monitor horses with respect to lameness are eyes and hands. Visual observation of a horse’s gait is used universally. However, several studies have shown that even trained and experienced veterinarians differ in subjective visual lameness assessment. That is, even when examining the same horse they may assign different grades of lameness, disagree on the site of the lameness, and sometimes even disagree on which leg the horse is lame; this is especially true when the lameness is mild! (see Keegan et al. American Journal of Veterinary Research, 1998) The problem with visual observation is that it is subjective. It may be hard, if not impossible, to see very slow deterioration in a horse over several weeks. There has been a move towards developing objective lameness assessment devices, such as the Lameness Locator. These have the potential to be used routinely for monitoring a horse’s gait over time. However, the cost and technical aspects mean they will likely be used by clinicians rather than trainers. And while they may identify a horse as lame, they may not give any clues as to the location of the problem and will not identify a problem in the early stages i.e. when there is inflammation but no effect on gait.

Running hands down a horse’s legs is the second technique used widely. The limitation here is that our hands are relatively insensitive.

We may be able to detect a difference of around 1°C (33.8°F) between legs. Some people may

Areas with abnormal thermal patterns identified during a routine scan and subsequently diagnosed by a veterinarian to be a splint and navicular disease.

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Orthopedic injuries have always been and are almost certainly going to continue to be the most common reason for lost training days for racehorses. The basic premise is that early identification of injuries should allow earlier intervention and lead to quicker resolution. Low-grade orthopedic problems, if unrecognized, can progress over weeks or months into more serious and sometimes careerthreatening injuries.

WORDS: DR DavID MaRLIN PHOTOS: EQUISCaN

“Thermography has a wide range of clinical applications. The most common is the evaluation of the tendons and ligaments of the limbs with a great capacity for preventative applications” only appreciate a difference when this exceeds 2°C (35.6°F). In many cases the difference in temperature of injured tissues may be less than we can detect by hand. The areas of the body over which we use our hands are also fairly limited. When muscle or tendon or even bone or cartilage is damaged or injured, blood flow is usually increased in an attempt to repair the damage. This is what leads to the increase in temperature that we may be able to detect with our hands and which has lead to the use of thermography (thermal imaging) as technique to visualize heat patterns on the surface. Thermal cameras actually only measure the surface temperature of whatever they are pointing at. So

if it’s the back of the front leg we are looking at the temperature of the hairs rather than the skin.

But, if there is inflammation under the skin, then this will result in warmer hairs. And even if the damage is deep down in the tendon, if the degree of inflammation is sufficient, the heat being generated can be conducted through the tendon to the surface.

Thermography has been around for a long time. People seem to fall into one of two categories when it comes to the use of thermography. There are those that are totally invested in it and convinced by it as a technique, and there are those that have no time for it. There’s no middle ground. Thermal cameras even as recent as 15-20 years ago yielded relatively poor quality fuzzy pictures and lacked sensitivity. They were also heavy, unwieldy, and very expensive. Modern cameras offer much higher resolution images with greater sensitivity. The big question is, do they offer any advantage to the trainer looking to monitor horses for signs of orthopedic problems that may lead to lameness?

Infrared thermography is a monitoring tool that allows us to quickly and efficiently identify trauma in an injured animal. It allows early detection of physiological injury, stress, and trauma; it also acts as an aid to monitor racehorses in recovery from injury. By identifying the location of the injury we can prevent further trauma, make a decision on treatment needed, and monitor the recovery. It has also been used by some as a tool to help ensure effective training methods and to help achieve peak performance.

With the use of an infrared camera we can see and measure the thermal energy (heat) from an object. Thermal or infrared energy is light that is not visible to the naked eye because its wavelength is too long to be detected by us. It is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that we perceive as heat unlike visible light. In the infrared world everything with temperature above absolute zero emits heat; even very cold objects, like ice cubes, emit infrared. The higher the object temperature the greater the infrared radiation emitted. In other words infrared allows us to see what our eyes cannot; it also allows us to see what our hands cannot feel.

So when using thermography with

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Abnormal thermal patterns over the tendon identified during a routine scan in a horse with no clinical sign of lameness and subsequently diagnosed as a 30% tear within the superficial flexor tendon

racehorses, this technology gives us a pictorial representation of the surface temperature of the animal; it represents the measured heat emitted from the skin surface. The skin of an animal is approximately five degrees cooler than core body temperature (in temperate conditions; it may be even greater when its very cold) and variations in skin temperature result from tissue perfusion and blood flow in superficial veins. It also reflects alteration of the circulation in deeper tissues and so detects areas of inflammation. Because inflamed tissue has increased circulation, injury will then show up as ‘hot spots’ or, in the case of nerve damage or an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the tissue reducing circulation, ‘cold spots.’ For a thermographer to understand what a scan is showing, it is firstly important for them to understand what is normal. Once that is established they can then identify what is abnormal. A normal, sound horse should show symmetric thermal patterns in its anatomic structures when compared to the same region on the opposite side of the body. Where there

are breaks in the thermal patterns or asymmetry we would investigate further; this may mean the application of another diagnostic tool that would give more detailed information on the animal’s physical state.

Thermography has a wide range of clinical applications. The most common is the evaluation of the tendons and ligaments of the limbs with a great capacity for preventative applications. Tendon and ligament injuries have been known to be identified up to three weeks before the onset of clinical lameness. Laminitis, characterized by the inflammation of the laminar structures, has been identified by thermography. Other applications are foot abscesses, navicular, foot imbalances, and back injuries such as kissing spine and sacroiliac injuries. Thermography has also been proposed to be useful in the early diagnosis of stress fractures in the third metacarpal bone, the radius, and the tibia, which could prevent catastrophic bone failure. Inflammation in the joint produces a characteristic thermal pattern in the overlaying skin. Normal thermal patterns

of joints should be cool compared to the surrounding tissues.

One of the greatest potential applications is for monitoring the muscles in the upper limbs and back. In the upper forelimb, the pectoralis and biceps brachii musculature are most commonly associated with temperature asymmetry. In the upper hind limb, the distal quadriceps musculature, the semitendinosus, and biceps femoris muscles have been most commonly isolated as areas of injury and abnormal thermal patterns. Without the aid of thermography, these injuries can be difficult to identify.

Additionally, injuries of the gluteal musculature, dorsal spinous ligament desmitis, and sacroiliac desmitis are often demonstrated as hot spots thermographically. Once a muscle injury is diagnosed with thermography, ultrasonography can be used to characterize the lesion.

Due to the ability to detect physiological changes quickly, safely, non-invasively, and without any limitation on how often it is used, thermography’s benefits for the trainer should be in its ability to detect small changes that occur.

Being able to identify when training is resulting in more frequent or more severe damage and when it is detrimental to the horse could represent a huge leap towards prevention of injury in the racehorse. To maximize the advantages for the racehorse, thermography should probably be used as a regular monitoring tool before and after training, after racing, and also as a monitoring tool for recovery from injury. Thermography should ideally be applied by a qualified thermographer who has been trained by a reputable longstanding organization, and he or she must be supported by a veterinarian. The aim of thermography is early identification of abnormal thermal patterns, the cause of which can then be investigated and diagnosed by a veterinarian.

Both thermal imaging technology (i.e. cameras) and understanding of how to interpret thermal images have developed over the past 15 years. Thermal imaging has the potential to be a useful tool in the barn. Only time will tell if the advances in technology translate into more widespread use and a clear advantage over the considerably cheaper and time honored technique of... using our hands! n

Abnormal thermal patterns in the right hind during a routine scan subsequently diagnosed as associated with acute tendonitis.

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FIT AND NOT FAT Is body condition important to racing performance?

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BODY CONDITION

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VETERINARY Performance is linked to lean body mass For a horse to become overweight, there has to be a period of time where its energy consumption (calories in) is greater than their energy expenditure (calories used), which is simply a function of what is fed versus daily activity, including exercise.

In youngstock, the combination of a plentiful supply of grass and good forage and concentrate feeds can lead to animals becoming overweight relatively easily. Horses in pre-training may arrive with the equine equivalent of ‘puppy fat,’ which can also be the result of over-conditioning during sales preparation. While the impetus is for youngsters to look their best for the sales ring, there is a balance to be achieved between fit and fat, as overweight yearlings simply cause issues for trainers and pre-trainers in their need to normalize body condition.

While horses in full training are rarely described as being very overweight, they may be overweight for the job of racing. Trainers are generally very aware of the influence of bodyweight on racing performance and so strive to ensure that their horses reach the racecourse in optimum body condition.

A body condition score of no more than 4 to 5 on a scale of 1 to 10 is generally regarded as being optimum for intense exercise such as racing. Body condition score assesses flesh coverage, mostly fat, over the various areas of the body and a score of 1 is extremely thin and 9 is obese.

Studies in human athletes and also more recently in horses suggest that performance is

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Should we really be worried about obesity in racehorses? A quick glance around the paddock of most racetracks in North America would suggest not. However, while the number of horses racing with a much higher than optimum body weight may be low, this doesn’t represent the full story. When evaluating racehorse feed management, it is not uncommon for a nutritionist to hear the words “I have to work the horses harder to keep the weight off.” Also the question of over-conditioning in youngstock should perhaps be discussed in the context of its effect on horses once in training.

WORDS: CatheRine Dunnett BSC, PhD, R.nutR PhOtOS: ShutteRStOCK.COM, WWW.hORSeWeiGh.COM, SaRah FaRnSWORth PhOtOGRaPhY

linked to lean body mass, or in other words, muscle. This makes absolute sense, as the greater the extent of the muscle mass, the higher the power-to-weight ratio becomes, which is important for intense exercise. Any large deviation in body condition score away from 4 to 5 in either direction is detrimental to performance.

A significant fall in body condition score below 4 can mean the loss of lean tissue as well as fat and conversely a horse with a body condition score above 5 is probably carrying too much fat, which will reduce its power-toweight ratio.

Feed less, don’t exercise more It should theoretically be much easier to maintain a horse in training at ideal body condition, as we are firmly in charge of what they are fed. Some horses in training do however rise above their ideal body condition for racing and this can happen for a number of reasons. The most common reason for suboptimal body condition is that horses are not fed as individuals and their feed intake is not adjusted sufficiently to compensate for other factors.

While a minimum amount of forage needs to be fed regardless of activity level (1-1.25% of bodyweight), this needs to be balanced with an appropriate amount of concentrate feed to prevent horses being underweight or overweight. Concentrate feed intake may actually need to be reduced if forage quality is particularly good, or if the horse concerned is proving to be a particularly good doer.

Feeding by the scoop rather than by weight can also be an issue.

Although cubes are convenient and a good choice, they are relatively easier to overfeed, as a bowl of cubes is significantly heavier than a bowl of mix. The difference, for example, between a flat and heaped scoop of cubes over time can make a big difference to energy intake.

Another racing myth that needs to be exploded at this point is the idea that horses are not ready to race unless they are eating a certain poundage of feed. Different horses will require varying amounts of feed at different stages of training and generalizations are risky. Equally, the level of work should always be exclusively dictated by your training needs and should not be regarded as an additional method to reduce body condition.

We should banish the thought that you have to work some horses on some manufacturer’s feeds harder to prevent

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A balance between good forage quality and concentrate feed intake is important to maintain optimum weight

increased storage of energy as fat within the fat cells or adipocyctes, which increase in both number and size. Adipocytes have the ability to release stored energy store in the form of fatty acids as required. It was once believed that adipocytes were largely inactive with no widespread effects within the body.

However, over recent years, research evidence in other species has emerged to suggest that adipocytes are actually very metabolically active and play a key role in the development of a number of obesityrelated diseases in humans such as diabetes, artherosclerosis, osteoarthritis, heart disease, hypertension, and some forms of cancer.

The theory is that when full, adipocytes release a cocktail of inflammatory substances known as adipokines such as tumor necrosis factor- (TNF- ), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and leptin, which collectively have a detrimental effect on the body. Obesity is now associated with a generalized state of chronic inflammation.

Early work in horses suggests that their fat cells may also release some of these inflammatory substances which may contribute to obesity-related conditions such as laminitis and metabolic syndrome. Perhaps of greater relevance to horses in training is the active area of research in humans that is investigating the potential effect of this lowgrade state of inflammation on cartilage health and its implication for joint-related conditions such as osteoarthritis.

Being ahead of the game

them from getting fat – just feed less concentrate.

Obesity brings physical and metabolic issues Why is it that being overweight can be a problem for mares, youngsters, and horses in training? In broodmares, obesity can contribute to difficulties during foaling, and research in other species suggests that it may also adversely affect foal birth weights and lactation. Research in horses has also established a link between obesity and insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance describes the condition when the body’s cells become lazy to the effect of the hormone insulin. This adversely affects the ability of the body to manage glucose distribution to the tissues. Insulin resistance has been linked with certain developmental orthopedic diseases and so is viewed as a negative influence on bone and cartilage development and turnover.

Further bad news for the skeletal system comes with the physical effects of carrying

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excess weight, with extra strain being imposed on joints, tendons, and ligaments.

Additionally, the energetic cost of moving more weight at speed will be greater and therefore also a disadvantage.

The low-grade inflammatory state of obesity An excess energy intake over time leads to

“The level of work should always be exclusively dictated by your training needs and should not be regarded as an additional method to reduce body condition”

My overwhelming feeling is that we should make every attempt to ensure that our horses are fit and not fat and that this should start at the very beginning of the breeding cycle. In other words, broodmares do not become obese and yearlings are not delivered to trainers carrying excess condition. This immediately reduces the need for ‘dieting’ during pre-training, and body shape will be allowed to change slowly as training progresses.

Once in training, the main point to press is that if your horses are overweight, feed them less concentrate and don’t exercise them more or harder than your training program requires. Simple things like appreciating the difference in the digestible energy (DE) content between feeds and even using a smaller feed scoop can help to ensure that weight does not slowly creep on. If a scale is available, use it weekly at the same time of day to record horses weights and allow someone in the yard to body condition score the horses monthly.

We are at the beginning of our cycle of knowledge with respect to the inflammatory effects of obesity, and perhaps we would do well to nip this potential issue in the bud as it is such a straightforward one to resolve. n

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FOAL SURGERIES

Are they really worth it?

T

HE two main most common limb deformities on the front legs that are treated are known as valgus and varus. A foal that has valgus conformation in his front limbs is when the legs move away from the midline between the foals shoulders. This can often be referred to as ‘knock-kneed’ when it occurs through the knees. Varus conformation is the reverse, so when a foal has limbs that bow outwards from the midline. As the movement of limbs suggests, this can be know as ‘bow-legged.’

As you would expect, most of these angular deformities come via the fetlock and knee joints when there is imbalance growth in the plates. Often the conformation issues in newborn foals are rectified as the foal grows and strengthens or with careful management, either via farriery or restricted exercise.

However there will be a certain number who might “need” corrective surgery.

The primary types of correct surgery available are periosteal elevations (P.E.), or stripping, and transphyseal bridging. The first, periosteal stripping, is when a small strip of periosteum is removed from a slower growing side of the growth plate in order to stimulate growth, and therefore one side catches up with the other.

The second type of surgery is transphyseal bridging (screw), where a metal screw is inserted across one side of the growth plate in order to slow down the growth on other side, again as with the P.E. to let both sides catch up. These screws must be removed once the foal’s legs are corrected.

As a foal’s fetlock growth plate is nearly closed by the 90th day of age, it therefore means that if surgery is needed on that joint it needs to done in the early stages of their life.

Before the advances in transphyseal bridging, many breeders were using periosteal stripping, having to make a decision at just 45 days of age and as a result it was often hard to determine, if surgery was performed, whether the corrections were due to time and natural strengthening, or the surgery.

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Foals that are born with correct conformation through their limbs have a far better chance of sustaining the pressures of being a racehorse. They are less likely to suffer lameness injures that could either prevent it from racing for a period of time or end their racing career. With this at the forefront of both commercial and home-bred breeders’ and buyers’ minds, if a foal is born with limb deformities, should corrective surgery be performed in order to give it best possible chance of success on not only the racetrack but also at auction?

WORDS: CLIVE WEBB-CARTER PHOTOS: EMMA BERRY, HORSEPHOTOS.COM

“Where possible, I would prefer to let Mother Nature do the work with the help of good conservative management” James Tate

The transphyseal bridging technique now allows the decision made on a fetlock to be taken at around the 75-day stage, giving breeders a much better idea if surgery is really an option. By leaving surgery to just before the growth plates close (i.e. 75-100 days from birth), rectified limbs cannot revert back as they were. The growth plates in the knees close at a much later stage of a Thoroughbred’s life, therefore these corrections can be done right up into their yearling year.

So how correct does a racehorse need to be in order to sustain the pressures of training?

The Equine Veterinary Journal published a paper in 2004 on the “role of conformation in musculoskeletal problems in the racing Thoroughbred.”

Professors Anderson, McIlwraith, and Douay concluded in their detailed findings that a horse with an “increase in the carpal angle as viewed from the front (carpal valgus) may serve as a protective mechanism, as the odds for a carpal angle fracture and carpal effusion decreased with an increase in the carpal angle.”

James Tate, who is not only a vet but is also a trainer based in Newmarket, England, agrees very much with these findings and feels that only foals with extremely poor conformation require surgery on their limbs if

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VETERINARY they are to have any chance as a racehorse.

Tate’s concern is that “somebody is left with the decision of exactly what angle the foal’s leg should be and this is a very difficult decision to make,” particularly when the decision is being made at such an early stage of it’s life.

With this, Tate feels with many cases, “Where possible, I would prefer to let Mother Nature do the work with the help of good conservative management; for example, good trimming, appropriate exercise, appropriate nutrition, and turn-out in appropriate pastures.” However, from a commercial angle Tate says surgeries can help a yearling or foal gain a higher price at auction due to it having ‘straight legs,’ but would this necessarily be beneficial when it comes to it’s years as a racehorse?

Tate adds that the period of post-surgery rest can also cause plenty of problems.

“Excessive box rest or restrictive exercise after surgeries can cause a growth spurt once normal exercise is resumed, which can then cause more complications, for example, growth plate problems such as physitis or epiphysitis or the development of an osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD) cartilage lesion due to uneven growth.”

Duncan Taylor, President of Taylor Made Farm and Sales Agency, feels that when a joint has severe deformities, a screw helps keep the horse sound on the track while the P.E. is mostly cosmetic. Mark Taylor, Taylor Made’s Vice President of Public Sales, goes on to say that over the last 15 years periosteal stripping has declined by 90%, but despite this they have seen many of their client’s horses win Grade 1 and Group 1's after having periosteal strips and transphyseal bridges. As far as risks of surgeries are concerned, Mark Taylor feels that “the primary risk for the horse is from secondary issues such as infection, bandage problems or being injured coming out of anesthesia.”

Corrective surgery has helped with soundness of some racehorses who had

“Surgeries are done for cosmetic reasons for the sale ring and not done to improve the racecourse performance” Jamie Railton extreme limb deformities, says trainer Richard Mandella; it certainly has its place as an option. He goes on to say that over the years it has helped with some extreme cases where surgery was able to give racecourse opportunities to horses that would otherwise not stand being in training. But Mandella does go on to say that perhaps, at times, we overuse it in some cases.

There are two issues to breeders in America, says international bloodstock agent James Delahooke. Do they want the

Thoroughbreds to score in the sale ring or on the racetrack? Delahooke feels that if a foal has been operated on with the aim of inflating its sale price then he suspects this could jeopardize its chances of staying sound on the racecourse. Surely forcing limbs in directions will put pressure on other limbs and joints.

Delahooke feels that with a good stud manager the correct way to raise young stock is leaving it to develop via Mother Nature taking it course with the help of corrective trimming. “At the end of the day do you want a racehorse?” he asks.

This is also the view taken by European sales consignor Jamie Railton, who pinhooks yearlings in the U.S. and Europe. Railton would also like to see Mother Nature take it course with foals with limb deformities. He says, “Surgeries are done for cosmetic reasons for the sale ring and not done to improve the racecourse performance.” He goes on to say, “I don’t think that there is any evidence to suggest that those that have had any surgery will be any sounder than those who have not.”

However trainer Graham Motion says that he has had not had a problem with training horses under his care that may have had corrective surgery. They would have certainly not been trained any differently to horses that have not been operated on.

Railton poses the final question: “Why is it done (corrective foal surgeries) so much more in the U.S. and not in Europe? Who is right, who is wrong?”

Is there a right or wrong answer? Probably not, but perhaps the issue is corrective surgeries being carried out excessively in order to compete in a competitive commercial market. Although one could make a case of surgery for foals that have extreme limb deformities to perhaps give them a better chance of success on the racetrack, especially if some have managed win at top level. Or would they be just as sound if left to good management and Mother Nature? n

Duncan Taylor of Taylor Made Farm (left) feels a screw helps to keep a horse sound if a joint has a severe deformity, and trainer Richard Mandella (center) also thinks corrective surgery helps with soundness in some racehorses; bloodstock Agent James Delahooke (right) believes that if a foal has been operated on to enhance its sale price it could jeopardize its chances of remaining sound 42 TRAINERMAGAZINE.com ISSUE 23

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EITH, a 69-year-old thirdgeneration horseman, was born in the tiny town of Agar, South Dakota – population 62. He began riding in bush races at the age of 11 and later rode Quarter Horses from Maine to Mexico before partnering briefly with future Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas and moving to Laredo, where he opened the El Primero Training Facility, 20 miles east of Laredo, in 1980. The facility not only grew in size, but also spawned a second farm, the Asmussen Horse Center, also in Laredo.

Graduates of the two farms include three Eclipse Award winners: Tight Spot, Declan’s Moon, and Suave Dancer. Tight Spot and Suave Dancer are two of the nine millionaires who began their training at the farms.

Keith’s 50-year-old son, Cash, won an Eclipse Award as North America’s Champion Apprentice Jockey in 1979, two years after he legally changed his name from Brian Keith to Cash. He was the leading rider in New York in 1979 and 1980, before moving to France, where he had spectacular success, winning five riding titles in 19 years. But even while he was riding in Europe, he returned every winter to Laredo to work on the family ranch.

When he retired from riding with more than 3,000 victories, he set up shop at his family’s farm, breaking yearlings and training horses on his own and racing them in Texas and California.

Cash’s younger brother, Steve, got over his disappointment of growing too big to be a jockey by becoming a two-time Eclipse-Award winning trainer who set a single-season record with 555 victories in 2004. The record didn’t last. Steve broke it himself with 621 victories in 2008, quite a comeback after serving a suspension from July, 2006 through February, 2007, for positive drug tests on two of his horses. In 2010, he again broke his own record with 650 wins. Steve trained three consecutive Horses of the Year, Curlin in 2007 and 2008 and the magnificent filly Rachel Alexandra in 2009, earning the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer in 2008 and 2009.

Curlin retired as racing’s all-time leading earner with more than $10 million.

When Basalt won the first race at Remington Park on Steve’s 46th birthday, November 18th, 2011, he gave Steve his 6,000th training victory. He led the nation in victories for the seventh time in 2011 with 348, while finishing second to Todd Pletcher in earnings with more than $16.2 million.

Steve began 2012 as the fifth all-time leading trainer in victories, trailing just Dale Baird, Jack Van Berg, King Leatherbury and Jerry Hollendorfer.

Both Cash and Steve have compiled incredible resumes. “They grew up in the barn

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RELATIVE VALUES

If working with your family is a bad idea, somebody should break the news to the Asmussens in Laredo, Texas. “We’ve been working together since forever,” Keith Asmussen said.

“We’ve been pretty successful.” You think?

WORDS: BILL HELLER PHOTOS: HORSEPHOTOS.COM, THE ASMUSSEN FAMILY

horses. Cash’s wife Cheryl, the daughter of a United States Air Force master sergeant, ran John T.L. Jones Jr.’s training center in Fayetteville, Texas, for 11 years before marrying Cash. She helped pre-train Hansel, the 1991 Champion Three-Year-Old Colt. At El Primero, she gallops horses, grooms them and videotapes their morning gallops. Cheryl and Cash have three children as do Steve and his wife, Julie. “Julie’s mom and my mom went to school together,” Steve said. “They graduated high school together and they’re still good friends.”

Neither Cash nor Steve asked their kids to begin riding as early as they did. Keith put Cash and Steve on the same horse, a small gray Quarter Horse/Shetland pony named Geronimo, when each boy was two years old.

They’ve never looked back.

DAD

“They grew up in the barn and we’ve been hand-in-hand ever since.

I’m very proud of them” Keith Asmussen

and we’ve been hand-in-hand ever since,” Keith said. “I’m very proud of them.”

The feeling is mutual, for Cash and Steve had an incredible foundation that led to their lasting success. And it wasn’t just from Keith.

Their mom, Marilyn, conditioned the 1978 Quarter Horse Two-Year-Old Champion Gelding, Vespero, who was ridden by Keith and groomed by Steve. Later on, Marilyn ran the training center’s tack shop.

Marilyn isn’t the only maternal member of the Asmussen clan who spent a lifetime with

A visit to the two farms’ website tells you a lot about the family who runs the farms. “Horses are and always have been our only business,” the site says. “At Asmussen Racing Stables, we’re proud to have given the early training and mental and physical conditioning to such top stakes horses as those listed. Granted, not every horse is born to be a stakes winner. But every horse deserves the quality opportunity to perform up to their maximum potential. All successful racing careers are built on solid early training foundations. And that’s what we can provide for your horses.”

A gallery of photos on the website points out, “Life is good! Horses make it better.”

Cash knows how valuable his foundation with his parents was in his career and in his life. “Manners and morals are the key to everything,” he said. “Dad and Mom taught us early on about the importance of both.”

Steve truly appreciates how much his parents influenced his career. “I think it was a great advantage to me as far as growing up,” he said. “I was around very good horses. To be around it and to understand what’s happening, it was very rewarding. How fortunate I’ve been.”

At the head of the list, Steve said, was “learning how to do things right. My mom still trained horses and my father was riding.

We worked collectively. That still continues to be the case. Everybody is on the same page.

You try to continue that. You’re in the middle of it. My dad has a lot of respect for the horse.”

CASH Not too long after he put Cash on Geronimo, Keith reached a conclusion: “Cash, I guess he was just born liking it.”

Before Cash was a teenager, Keith and Marilyn thought enough of his horsemanship to let him ride in races. “I took him around

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THE ASMUSSEN FAMILY 1. The Asmussens in the winners’ circle at Columbus in Texas in 1972

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2. Steve on Geronimo (left) and Cash on Breeze Again at Laredo in 1973 3. Cash in his first year as an apprentice jockey in 1978 4. Marilyn going to the paddock with Oh Jet Van for the 1978 Kansas Futurity at Ruidosa Downs

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5. Keith wins the 1978 Rainbow Futurity on Vespero 6. Steve with Vespero, after the 1978 Rainbow Futurity at Ruidosa Downs 7. Family Christmas at Laredo in 1987

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RELATIVE VALUES “Le Grand Cash.” Keith said, “They made two or three offers before he took one. That was a pretty big jump.”

Steve put it this way: “To have the vision of going to Europe … I probably would have been a lot more content to stay at a lower level. It’s not something everybody wants to do. You’re a long way from your country.

When he was in France, I was still in high school. I was extremely proud.”

Keith was delighted to have Cash back home every winter while he was riding in France. “He hadn’t changed,” Keith said. “He helped us all the time.”

Steve and Cash remain tight. “We’re still very close,” Steve said. “He’s a lot like my father in how much they truly like horses.

Every day. Every day. That’s what they want to do. My parents and my brother still offer support. [My mother] knows every horse I am running. It’s no different. It’s just the way it’s always been.”

STEVE

Steve and his son inspect a yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale

Texas in match races,” Keith said. “He was 12.

I had to sign waivers that the little county fairs weren’t responsible if something bad happened. When he turned 16 in March, he went to New Mexico. My wife had horses out there. He won his first race on his first ride on Pirate Island (on April 15th, 1978 at Sunland Park). Then he went to New Jersey, then to New York.”

Keith thought Cash was talented enough to handle it. “Oh yeah, or I wouldn’t have sent him,” Keith said. “I could have used him around here for a couple more years.”

When Cash won the Eclipse Award for Apprentice Jockey, Keith, Marilyn and Steve went to the Awards Dinner. “We were so proud of him,” Keith said.

Steve said, “When he was presented the Eclipse, it was a little overwhelming hearing him accept the award.”

Steve wasn’t surprised that Cash was successful: “At a young age, he could do the work of three men. It was amazing. He always had things he wanted to do. He’s very different. He went to New York at 16. He wasn’t young; only his age was young. I was fortunate that he was the older brother. It opened my eyes, since an early age, what it could lead to. It’s pretty amazing to accomplish that coming from south Texas.

There’s not a humble way to put it. He instilled a lot of pride in myself.”

And that was before Cash became a sensation in France, where he was known as

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“At a young age, he could do the work of three men. It was amazing. He always had things he wanted to do.

He’s very different” Steve Asmussen on Cash (above)

When Keith put two-year-old Steve on Geronimo, he was surprised how well he handled it, even better than his older brother.

“It was more natural for Steve,” Keith said. “Of course, when you’re two years old, you don’t know what natural is. I don’t ever remember either one disliking it all.”

Steve desperately wanted to follow his brother as a jockey. “He was going to follow in Cash’s footsteps,” Keith said. “He just outgrew it. It was pretty bad.”

But it led to a different path: training. “He started training, and he and I went to Birmingham, Alabama,” Keith said. “I was riding and he was training. He was the leading trainer. We had a real good meet.”

Keith appreciated the work habits he instilled in both Cash and Steve. “One of the things about Steve is he is a hard worker,” Keith said. “We worked them pretty good, so they got used to it.”

Steve got used to winning, and began doing so at a prodigious rate. He is the fifth leading trainer of all time, and, for a trainer, he’s young, just 46 years old. “The most recent milestone, 6,000 wins, it gives you time to assess,” he said. “To be fortunate enough to be involved with horses like Curlin and Rachel ...

I grew up getting on horses for my parents in Laredo, Texas. It’s very much appreciated. But we’re only in the middle of this career.”

Cash predicted greatness for his brother a long time ago. “Considering the ability Steve has, so far he’s only scratched the surface,” Cash told Bill Mooney in a Thoroughbred Times story in 2001, the year before Steve led North American trainers in victories for the first time. “He’s going to be a trainer of great import. I know it. I can see it coming. And we, as a family, are going to help him every way we can.”

Keith said he’s not surprised at Steve’s success, culminating in two Eclipse Awards,

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THE ASMUSSEN FAMILY

“To be fortunate enough to be involved with horses like Curlin and Rachel ... It’s very much appreciated. But we’re only in the middle of this career”

Curlin (left) was Horse of the Year in both 2007 and 2008 for Steve Asmussen, while Rachel Alexandra made it three-in-arow for the trainer in 2009

Steve Asmussen three Horse of the Year titles, and leading North America in earnings seven times. “It was gradual,” Keith said. “Where he is now, you would never dream of that happening. To get to the top of the heap … there’s only one at the top. It’s been great.”

Keith believes that Steve hasn’t let his success go to his head. “He’s still got an open mind,” Keith said. “That’s the key to any

success. He’s still trying to better himself.”

Asked to reflect on Steve’s career, Keith said, “There’s been several great moments. To see Curlin win in Dubai [in the 2008 World Cup]. Rachel at Pimlico [winning the 2009 Preakness]. You don’t even dream of going to

something like that.”

Or a single family accomplishing so much.

But that’s not what Keith mentioned when he was asked what he’d like people to remember about the Asmussen family: “Hard-working and honest.” n

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The value of MRI in diagnosing lameness

Magnetic Resonace Imaging (MRI) is now an increasingly important diagnostic tool for discovering the causes of lameness in horses, particularly inThoroughbreds.

WORDS: Stacey Oke, DVM, MSc PHOtOS: aNtHONy cORReIa/SHUtteRStOck, HaLLMaRQ VeteRINaRy IMaGeS, ROSSDaLe & PaRtNeRS (ScaNS cOURteSy Of SaRaH POWeLL at ROSSDaLe & PaRtNeRS)

What can MRI do for your horse?

Injuries are a way of life for professional athletes, be it horse or human. Take for example NFL players Peyton Manning (35-year-old star quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts) and 28year-old defensive lineman Justin Tuck of the New York Giants. Both are exceptional athletes and both recently suffered neck injuries. What

else is in common with these two players? Both athletes underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for doctors to precisely assess the damage and rapidly manage their injuries to ensure a speedy return to the game.

Manning and Tuck aren’t the only ones being advised to have an MRI. In fact, most professional athletes sustaining an injury to a

tendon, ligament, or joint (to name only a few examples) are whisked away to be scanned. So why aren’t professional equine athletes with these very same injuries having MRIs performed?

The truth is: they are. MRI is an increasingly important diagnostic tool for pinpointing the exact cause of lameness. This is particularly true

Indianapolis Colts quarterback, Peyton Manning (right), recently underwent MRI to assess the damage to his neck

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MRI when X-rays, ultrasounds, and other more “traditional” diagnostic tools have failed to find out what and where the problem is when lameness persists. In these cases, identifying the exact location and cause of the injury can be a time-consuming task that impacts the horse’s training schedule. Enter MRI, a powerful tool that uses a magnet field to create detailed images (called “slices”) of every millimeter of the limb in virtually every possible direction to find those hard-to-diagnose injuries.

Although originally used strictly as a research tool, “MRI is being used with increasing frequency and is considered a valuable tool for diagnosing certain types of lameness, including those commonly seen in Thoroughbreds,” relays Sue Dyson, MA, VetMB, PhD, DEO, FRCVS, head of clinical orthopedics at the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket, England.

Michael Ross, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, a professor of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center, agrees with Dyson and adds, “The most important region imaged is the fetlock (ankle), and MRI is the tool of choice for diagnosing maladapative bone remodeling.”

Ross is referring to a condition also called “bone bruising,” which was previously covered in Issue 19 of North American Trainer. Briefly, bone bruising, also called “the starting back blues,” is a chronic injury of the cannon bone at the bottom of the fetlock joint caused by repetitive stress.

In addition to bone bruising, this article looks at other important causes of lameness that can accurately and quickly be diagnosed in Thoroughbred racehorses. Some important “downsides” of MRI are also discussed.

Merits of MRI: what can it do?

Bone bruising isn’t the only “mystery” lameness that MRI can pinpoint when X-rays are not conclusive. Both Ross and Dyson agree that the MRI is also extremely valuable in identifying other conditions of the fetlock joint, such as incomplete fractures of various bones.

“Studies have shown that MRI of the fetlock joints of Thoroughbred racehorses can diagnose a variety of conditions that radiographs fail to diagnose,” relays Dyson.

For example, in a recent study by Sarah E. Powell MA, VetMB, AECVDI, MRCVS, from Rossdales Equine Diagnostic Centre, Newmarket, United Kingdom, MRI was successfully used to diagnose injuries in 97.8% of the 131 horses (168 joints) scanned while sedated between October 2006 and August 2010. The most common injuries were: l Osteochondral disease within the joint (observed in 54.9% of horses); l Incomplete condylar fractures (19.8%); l Incomplete sagittal fracture of P1 and the pastern (14.5%); and l Soft tissue injuries (12.2%).

One powerful observation made in this study was that in 35.8% of the horses, the MRI findings were consistent with the presence of a fracture that was not evident on X-rays. In addition, MRI

A sedated horse standing in the MRI scanner at Rossdale’s Diagnostic Centre, Newmarket.

The right fore fetlock is positioned for a scan between the poles of the blue coloured magnet

failed to identify any significant bone or soft tissue injury in a mere 5.4% of these cases.

“This study confirms that some incomplete fractures can be diagnosed via MRI that would not necessarily show up on traditional X-rays, and that performing an MRI scan in lame horses could potentially prevent catastrophic injury,” says Dyson.

Suspensory branch desmitis is another

condition of the fetlock that is amenable to an MRI diagnosis.

“The suspensory ligament runs from the back of the knee, down the canon bone to the sesamoid bones in the ankle (fetlock). In most instances suspensory desmitis is diagnosed based on palpation and the application of ultrasonographic imaging. However, early suspensory tears and those that are on the

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VETERINARY

Complete, spiral fracture of the medial condyle of a racehorse sustained during exercise.

The sagittal image to the right shows the predefined areas of bone mineral densification (sclerosis) which develop in trained bones

The image shoes very mild sclerosis developing in the lower cannon, which at this point is largely reversible. (Scans courtesy of Sarah Powell at Rossdale & Partners)

MRI In VeteRInaRy MedIcIne Veterinarians began using magnetic resonance imaging in the 1980s, but it wasn’t until 1992 when the first MR scanner was installed at the Animal Health Trust in the United Kingdom.

It was another four years before the first scanner in the United States was installed at Washington State University’s College of Veterinary medicine. In the early years, the only scanners were in human hospitals. To access the scanners, veterinarians were forced to persuade the hospitals to permit them to use the technology on veterinary patients.

The computers were slow, the patients required prolonged period of anesthesia, and obviously, horses were exempt from these early MRI efforts, which has limited the advancement in equine medicine and surgery somewhat, but with more and more MR units being installed, progress is being made swiftly.

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inside aspect of the suspensory branches (called the axial aspect) can be challenging to diagnose and [can be] missed,” explains Ross.

Early suspensory desmitis, although an unusual injury that occurs in only a small fraction of horses, can be easily seen on MR imaging and therapeutic measures can then be taken, Ross adds.

In a MRI study published by North Carolina State University researchers, suspensory branch desmitis was diagnosed in 7 out of 40 (17.5%) horses with a lameness localized to the fetlock joint.

“MRI provided information that was complementary to radiography, ultrasonography, and nuclear scintigraphy and that allowed for a comprehensive evaluation of all structures in the MP joint region and a diagnosis in all 40 horses,” concluded the researchers.

MRI a “Gold Standard” Like Dyson and Ross, veterinarians from Rood

& Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, consider MRI the “gold standard” for diagnosing certain types of lameness in Thoroughbreds.

“We scan about 60 Thoroughbred racehorses per year. In this population, the most common site we image, just like Drs. Dyson and Ross mentioned, is the fetlock,” relays Katherine Garrett, DVM, Diagnostic Imaging Director and associate veterinarian at Rood & Riddle.

According to Garrett, damage to the articular cartilage that lines the end of the bones as well as damage to the layer of bone underneath this cartilage (called osteochondral damage) of the cannon bone, both in the fore- and hind limbs, is the most common diagnosis made by MRI. “But we also see a fair number of injuries to the distal sesamoidean ligaments, the obliques in particular,” adds Garrett. “MRI is valuable in these cases because injury to these ligaments is not well imaged using ultrasonography.”

Dyson adds, “The carpus is also being increasingly scanned. In one of my most recent studies of 50 lame horses, an abnormality of either the carpal bones or the proximal cannon bone near the knee was found in 29 horses.”

Significant abnormalities were also noted in the suspensory ligament in nine horses.

According to Dyson, none of these abnormalities were detected by conventional imaging (X-rays or ultrasound).

Garrett adds, “At Rood & Riddle we also see osteochondral damage in the carpus and pastern regions, but we don’t scan nearly as many knees (carpi) as fetlocks.”

In addition, Garrett notes that MRI is also useful for the following: l Suspensory ligament injury (particularly in the hind limbs); l Conditions of the foot (navicular apparatus, “bone oedema” in the navicular bone, subtle fractures); l Imaging the head and brain in cases of head trauma and neurologic signs; l Upper airway conditions for identifying congenital (birth) malformations and insidious infections; and l In cases of nonresponsive orthopedic sepsis.

The downside of MRI Although MRI may seem like the coveted “sure thing,” it actually is not the penultimate diagnostic tool for all cases…yet.

One of the main drawbacks to MR scanning is that many of the units are not standing MRIs, which means the horse needs to be laid down (anesthetized). This adds to the cost of the procedure. Plus, there are inherent risks associated with recovering from a general anesthesia (see sidebar).

"Our MRI unit requires putting horses under general anesthesia, so right away, this severely limits the number of Thoroughbred racehorses imaged at the New Bolton Center,” notes Ross.

Rood & Riddle installed a 1.5 Tesla MRI in 2007. This scanner also requires that the horse is anesthetized (for 1–2 hours, usually).

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VETERINARY RIsks assocIated wIth RecoVeRy fRoM anesthesIa

MR Images of a Thoroughbred horse in training showing damage caused by the repetitive above threshold load bearing from galloping

RF coils of different sizes for the foot, fetlock and carpus. The smallest coil that will fit is used for the best image quality.

These coils transmit and receive the radio waves that are used to make the image

MR image of a horse with a complete fracture of the lateral condyle of the fetlock joint

“In general, we don’t tend to have a lot of resistance to general anesthesia when we recommend MRI, but we try to be somewhat practical when talking with clients in order to make sure it makes sense for the particular case.

We definitely want to use it when we need it, but we want to make sure that it’s indicated and will help trainers develop an appropriate plan for the horse,” concludes Garrett.

Even with a standing MR unit, like the Hallmarq unit at Dyson’s hospital, MRI still isn’t guaranteed to deliver a diagnosis each and every time.

Dyson explains, “In order to obtain high quality images that will diagnose lameness, the horse must be compliant. Hind limbs are more difficult than forelimbs because of movement, and narrow-chested horses are particularly difficult because it is not possible for these hor ses to stand squarely because of the large size of the magnet wrapped around the limb being examined.”

Under the influence of powerful sedatives, which are required to perform a standing MRI, the horse can sway. Even with motion

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correction software, too much movement can render the images useless.

Cost may also be a limiting factor for some, although Ross says, “It is difficult to compare pricing because you are comparing apples to oranges, but a whole body bone scan costs about $1,600, a single joint radiographic examination costs about $250, and a single location MRI examination done under general anesthesia cost about $2,500.”

Conclusion: MRI is a valuable tool Dyson adds, “We are learning more about which injuries can heal and which do not, but we need to collate as much information as possible to learn more about the cause of some of the injuries identified.”

Even until these goals are attained, MRI remains an important imaging modality.

According to Ross, “MRI is a very useful tool, especially when used in conjunction with other imaging modalities. It should be used more frequently in racehorses. A tentative diagnosis can be made using careful clinical examination, including diagnostic analgesia and scintigraphy, but MRI is very useful in obtaining additional diagnostic information, not only to diagnose but to allow a good estimate of prognosis. That said, ‘state-ofthe-art nothing’ can replace clinical examination and localizing the authentic source of pain causing lameness using diagnostic blocks.” n

Recovery from general anesthesia in hotblooded thoroughbred racehorses can induce anxiety and tension in even the most experienced surgical team. Although most horses recover uneventfully, an estimated two out of 1,000 horses suffer a fractured bone on recovery. Most recovery-related injuries, however, occur in horses that were undergoing a fracture repair, and not healthy horses undergoing MRI. Typically, horses that injure themselves on recovery incur a fracture near the site of the pre-existing injury or adjacent to orthopaedic implants (such as bone plates or transfixation pins).

To reduce post-anesthesia deaths, the industry has developed various assisted recovery techniques. These include the tilt table, pools, slings, padded mats, inflatable air cushions, and rope recovery systems.

Published studies have demonstrated that the pool, tilt table, and sling are all useful methods for recovering horses. Potential difficulties of these systems include the added expense and manpower required for building, maintaining, and using the equipment, the time-consuming nature of these recoveries, and the failure of some horses to adapt to the recovery system.

Recent adVances In equIne MRI hIghlIghted In specIal JouRnal suppleMent The recent advances made in the field of MRI in diagnosing lameness in horses were recently highlighted in a full-length, virtual edition of the journal Veterinary Radiology and Ultrasound (available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/ (ISSN)1740-8261). The special MRI edition, titled, “Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Equine Limb” was edited by Donald E. Thrall, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVR, a professor in the Department of Molecular Biomedical Science at North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

“The wealth of information published in Veterinary Radiology & Ultrasound…provides an important resource for those involved with clinical MRI of equine patients,” wrote Thrall in the introduction to the supplement.

Sixteen different manuscripts covering all aspects of MRI in equine limbs were included.

Some of the most salient topics of interest to thoroughbred trainers and their owners were: l Assessing the articular cartilage of the distal interphalangeal (coffin) joint; l Comparisons of MRI, computed tomography, and radiography for diagnosing OA of the fetlock joint; and l MRI appearance of surgically-induced core lesions of the superficial digital flexor tendon.

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hat those students will bring is a degree backed by i n c re a s i n gl y innovative education not just from U of L but the “grandfather” of equine higher education in many respects, the University of Arizona (UA), and the University of Kentucky (UK).

The three represent a kind of HarvardPrinceton-Yale triumvirate for equine higher education with the same results in the horse industry as the three Ivy League schools have on Wall Street.

To wit, try not finding a University of Arizona graduate of the Race Track Industry Program (RTIP) in the employ of any track in North America. Ditto for U of L in positions in racing and the horse industry requiring a strong business background. As for the University of Kentucky’s Bachelor of Science in Equine Science and Management program, the Lexington-area horse industry practically clamors for UK students for internships, and there aren’t enough to meet the demand.

Never mind the program is the newest of the three with an equine degree approved by the university as recently as 2009.

Additionally, a unique horsemanship program at the Kentucky Horse Park (KHP) is filling a niche in the horse industry with graduates trained to an unprecedented degree...without a degree. In fact, the KHP Professional Horseman’s Course may be the most difficult in which to gain acceptance.

The program admits only ten students at a time to the one-semester, four-month long course.

Middle management is the niche for graduates, according to Sheila Forbes, KHP director of adult and professional education.

“What we’ve been told is it’s easy to find people to clean stalls or hot walk. What is lacking are people who have the knowledge to do nutrition rations, that you can leave in charge, that are responsible for a barn, that can recognize colic, that can give vaccinations,” she said.

Training in the course, which has a $2,000 tuition, is intense and practical. Students ride two days a week on a horse assigned solely to them. “Being comfortable on horseback and being able to feel if a horse is lame or not is just part of being a good horseman as far as we’re concerned,” said Forbes.

The rest of the time not taken up with lecture or lab work might put students under a horse. “All of our students will spend a week studying, for example, hoof care. Not only will they know about the anatomy of the hoof, but we’ll have different farriers come in and work with them and they will actually trim the horses’ [hooves] themselves. They

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BUSINESS

“There’s no such thing as not being able to find a job with horses” is an assurance Tim Capps shares frequently with students in the Equine Industry Program (EIP) at the University of Louisville (U of L). That the job may not be one a student wants to find shouldn’t be of immediate concern, according to Capps, who is the program director.

“Even with an entry level job, you’re going to bring something to the table that the average person doing the job on a farm or racetrack doesn’t have.”

WORDS: KEN SNYDER

“There’s nine million horses in the U.S., probably two million horse owners and lots of small businesses – thousands of them” Tim Capps can feel what it’s like to be underneath a horse and work on a hoof.

“That’s the whole purpose of our program – not just to learn about something, but to be able to apply it.”

Students, typically, are high school grads a few years out of school trying to get a job in the horse industry and finding they need education, and what Forbes calls “nontraditional” students who might be in their 30s or 40s. “Maybe they have worked with

horses but never had any formal training.

They’ll enroll so they can either refresh their skills, get skills that they don’t have, or get formal training they’ve never had before,” she said.

Students also fall into two categories just like those at four-year institutions: those with specific intentions – ”majors,“ if you will – and undeclared majors. “We had a student who was really interested in possibly running her own rescue. One of the things that you deal with a lot at rescues is geriatric horses that are underweight.” She was assigned an aging horse at the KHP in that very condition.

“She was able to learn how to re-nourish a horse,” said Forbes.

Another student came to the program because she didn’t think college was for her.

She was very successful in the program, worked with horses in a part-time job offered to her during her training, and discovered a surprising direction. “She has enrolled at the University of California-Davis and is pursuing her veterinary degree,” said Forbes.

If the KHP course is unique, so, too, are the equine programs different in emphases at the universities of Arizona, Kentucky, and Louisville. “We are racing. Louisville is horse business. Kentucky is ‘horse-horse,’” offered Doug Reed, director of the RTIP program at UA. While counterparts Capps at Louisville and Dr. Robert Coleman at UK might offer less succinct and perhaps divergent takes on program differences, it is inarguable that Arizona is racing right down to the “Race Track” in the name. Examples of UA’s racing focus abound. Reed, a former racing secretary, teaches, appropriately enough, a class entitled “The Racing Office.” Another course, formally listed as Animal Science 142, is what Reed refers to as “Racing 101.” Perhaps most notably, the school is home to a Thoroughbred herd. Students have the opportunity to prepare, show, and market yearlings at an annual breeder’s association sale.

For RTIP students, education culminates as

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“All of our students will spend a week studying, for example, hoof care.

Not only will they know about the anatomy of the hoof, but they will actually trim the horses’ [hooves] themselves” Sheila Forbes much with the Annual Symposium on Racing and Gaming as their graduation ceremony.

While it is a key gathering of racing executives, it is also a human resources, “placement” event for seniors seeking their first job. Racing executives routinely interview students and students select, invite, and host executives at a “mentor lunch” for valuable one-on-one, “face time.”

Students leave UA with more than just the name of the oldest equine program (established in 1974) on a degree but training from evolving curriculum that keeps pace with racing industry changes. Reed initiated courses in simulcasting after arriving at UA in 1994 as his industry experience had shown him its place and emerging importance in racing at the time.

Sheila Forbes, director of adult and professional education at Kentucky Horse Park

The RTIP program has since added a curriculum on international racing and racinos and is now focusing on education related to advance-deposit wagering.

It is inarguable, too, at least in one sense, that Louisville is “horse business” as Reed described it. While equine studies at Arizona and Kentucky fall under those universities’ agriculture schools, Louisville’s is in its

Robert Coleman, director of the University of Kentucky’s Bachelor of Science in Equine Science and Management degree

business college.

The reasons go beyond U of L’s urban location, absence of an ag school, or desire to differentiate from UA or UK. The business school is highly reputed. As well, the university is in close proximity to Churchill Downs (faculty like to say the race track is “a mile-and-a-quarter away”) and Bluegrass horse farms.

There is a natural marriage for a strength of the university and a nearby horse industry that is, after all, a business. “There’s nine million horses in the U.S., probably two million horse owners and lots of small businesses – thousands of them,” said Capps.

“It’s really a large community of small businesses.”

While there may be many individuals knowledgeable about horses in the Bluegrass, what Capps’ EIP program aims to do is produce students equally well-versed in what he calls “enterprise management.” Speakers invited to lecture students each semester affirm this goal, according to Capps. “Without any prompting, they will say, ‘What I can teach you about horses, I can teach you at my operation. But I can’t teach you economics and marketing and finance.” He added, “We’re trying to explain to them [students] the nuances and subtleties of the industry according to its component parts, but also getting them to understand from the business standpoint the principles are still the same whether I’m running a trade publication or a racetrack or a breeding farm.”

Accordingly, U of L equine students, who graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in Equine Business, take core courses for all

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BUSINESS

“The industry is two parts: the production of the horse and the market for the horse, which is sport and recreation. It may be a career path; it may be part of their lifestyle” Robert Coleman

Students from the KHP professional horseman's course

Guest speaker Dan Silver (former RTIP graduate student and now NYRA Director of Communications and Media Relations, second from right) on campus with current students

business students and 30 hours in specialized equine courses. Equine courses span the business spectrum, covering everything from day-to-day management (Application of Software for Equine Operation, for example) to racing specific courses (Comparative Gaming Systems) to the theoretical (Current Equine Issues).

To supplement and complement the business focus, U of L, in the past couple of years, has begun course swapping with its neighbor 70 miles or so down Interstate 64, the University of Kentucky. The idea is to

60 TRAINERMAGAZINE.com ISSUE 23

share strengths without unnecessary duplication. Capps teaches a course in equine marketing at UK while a senior UK professor teaches equine science at U of L. UK’s relatively new Bachelor of Science in Equine Science and Management degree is an outgrowth of the animal science major that still exists in the university’s ag school. This history, combined with a new major, provide, it might be fair to say, the broadest equine program in comparison to Arizona and Louisville.

“The science track is designed more for

students who want to go to grad school or go to vet school or go on and be a nutritional consultant or pharmaceutical representative,” said Elizabeth LaBonty, lecturer and internship coordinator in the program. “The equine management track is more geared to students who are going into the industry either working farm management or a breed association or hands-on within the industry.”

In short, UK grads from the equine program are educated for virtually any and all segments of the horse industry.

Coleman, who has directed the program since it was launched in 2007 – before the degree was approved – expanded on the role he sees the UK major has in the horse industry: “The industry is two parts: the production of the horse and the market for the horse, which is sport and recreation.” His students, he added, will fall into one of those two parts. “It may be a career path; it may be part of their lifestyle.” Whichever part they find themselves, the objective is a graduate “that can bring knowledge, their education, and their understanding of the horse to the industry.”

The internship opportunities may be as meaningful in producing the kind of graduates the program desires as classroom instruction at UK. Two Lexington equine hospitals – Rood and Riddle and Hagyard – plus the Kentucky Horse Park, breeding farms and sales companies, The Blood-Horse magazine, and an astounding 30 breed associations housed at the Horse Park all provide internships for students, according to LaBonty.

Of course, it is opportunities in the proverbial “real world” that an education is all about. U of L’s Capps is as optimistic about his EIP graduates in those opportunities as he is the supply of openings. It is a likely opinion shared by his counterparts at UA, UK, and the KHP Professional Horseman’s Course.

“You work at it, you do your job, you’re going to impress people and you’re going to move. You’re going to be something out there.” n

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AHS

An industry held to ransom by African Horse Sickness

I

The burgeoning South African thoroughbred industry is currently being held back by crippling quarantine measures due to outbreaks of African Horse Sickness (AHS) in recent years. There’s hope that a new diagnostic test may change all that.

WORDS: DAVID THISTLETON PHOTOS: HORSEPHOTOS.COM

n 1997, shortly after Hong Kong had agreed to follow Europe’s example by allowing direct imports from South Africa, Alec Laird travelled to Sha Tin Racecourse with his South African-bred London News to win the Group 2 Queen Elizabeth II Cup. The South African Thoroughbred industry’s impact on the international stage snowballed remarkably quickly from that memorable starting point and presently finds itself in a state of nervous optimism as a new diagnostic test for African Horse Sickness (AHS) that returns a “yes” or “no” answer within hours of a sample being taken could open their borders like never before.

There has been an explosion of talent among South African Thoroughbreds recently and, harnessed by the world-renowned trainer Mike de Kock and others, they would add value to the international racing stage if allowed to realize their full potential.

Since the momentous date on which the European Union (EU) ratified the South African Horse Export Protocol in 1997, temporary suspensions on direct travel have been put in place following outbreaks of AHS in the AHS Controlled Area in the Western Cape in 1999, 2004, and 2011.

Despite the seasonal characteristic of AHS (absence of infection during winter), “temporary” in these cases meant a two-year shutdown, and the eventual lifting of the

JJ The Jet Plane in quarantine prior to entry into South-East Asia

suspensions has on occasion also seen some countries making rigorous changes to the previous export protocol.

For example, after the 2004 outbreak, and with the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Dubai International Racing Carnival in mind, the entry conditions to both Hong Kong and Dubai were changed. They barred direct travel from South Africa and insisted that horses first spend

30 days in Europe, the EU having permitted direct entry after the suspension was lifted.

Therefore, London News’ relatively straightforward excursion can be seen in contrast to the epic journey of the South African-bred J J The Jet Plane just over a decade later.

The much loved “JJ,” trained by Lucky Houdalakis, began his travels on August 1,

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INDUSTRY 2010, when entering the AHS Free Zone in Cape Town for the compulsory 60 days preentry to Europe. He then spent the mandatory 30 days in the cold climes of the United Kingdom before arriving in Hong Kong in early December, less than two weeks before his target race, the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint.

That he beat some of the world’s top sprinters like Rocket Man and Sacred Kingdom, and left many pondering what South African Thoroughbreds could achieve if the playing fields were level.

If the quarantine measures and travel restrictions J J the Jet Plane was subjected to were not bad enough, they are currently even worse.

The last outbreak of AHS in South Africa’s AHS Controlled Area in late February 2011 saw exports from Kenilworth Quarantine Station in Cape Town being suspended. The alternative option for South Africa’s horse exports is via Mauritius which requires a 21day isolation in Johannesburg followed by 90 days quarantine in Mauritius before undergoing a further residency of 30 or 60 days in the EU en route to Dubai or Hong Kong, meaning the journey could take upward of 150 days!

The sport horse communities in other countries are probably oblivious to the barriers their South African counterparts face as their travel restrictions are a doddle in comparison.

This is despite AHS arguably posing less threat than some diseases from other countries.

South Africa accepts horses directly from one of its chief Thoroughbred trading partners, Australia, yet Australia has never recognized South Africa’s horse export protocol. Their requirements are that South African horses spend an additional 60 days in Europe before entering Australia, making the journey time 120 days!

The export protocol history goes back to an outbreak of AHS in the Middle East in the 1950s, by which time South Africa was thought to have exported 350,000 horses overseas largely in support of the war effort in the First and Second World Wars.

The Middle East outbreak raised global fears of AHS and the international community

64 TRAINERMAGAZINE.com ISSUE 23

“De Kock illustrated how ridiculous the export protocols pertaining to South African Thoroughbreds are by comparing them to a South African sportsman being banned from playing overseas due to a risk of passing on AIDS”

JJ The Jet Plane won Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint (G1) at Sha Tin Racecourse last winter despite spending 90 days in quarantine

deemed Africa to be endemic with a resultant embargo on the movement of horses out of Africa for the next four decades. The exception was the USA which accepted horses from Africa on the basis of a 60-day post-arrival vector-proof quarantine.

Following a combined initiative of the broader equestrian industry, scientific, and veterinary sectors, the EU ratified the export protocol 14 years ago and South Africa has since exported close to 1000 horses from Kenilworth Quarantine Station in the AHS Free Zone in Cape Town. The value of South Africa’s horse exports is worth an estimated R250 million ($30-million) per annum in revenue, a fraction of the global market.

However, the temporary suspensions of imports from South Africa every time there is an outbreak is clearly an unsatisfactory scenario and one that is presently impacting the international ambitions of South Africa’s horseracing fraternity and their 2012 London Olympic bid.

A setback to negotiations is often found in the 1980s Spanish outbreak of AHS, as it proved that the disease was not confined to within African borders. In fact a recent study of emerging diseases predicted that outbreaks of vector-borne diseases like AHS are likely in the near future and that non-infected countries should be developing safeguards to defend against them.

The quarantine restrictions South African horses are subject to are chiefly due to an inherent lack of logic and understanding of the real risk of introducing the AHS virus to another country.

Given the nature of the disease and the layers of protection measures in place preexport, the chances of passing AHS to another country are practically nil.

AHS is a non-contagious virus transmitted by the culicoides midge. The midge can only breed above a certain temperature, so its activity is completely suppressed in the winter months and, therefore, there is a natural window which occurs every year during which the risk of infection is zero.

During the summer months outbreaks occur annually (endemic) in the North Eastern

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INDUSTRY

Only six outbreaks of AHS have occurred in the AHS Controlled Area in the Western Cape since 1960

Provinces, which are greater than 600 miles from Cape Town, and unprotected horses affected have a high mortality rate.

However, since 1960, only six outbreaks of AHS have occurred in the AHS Controlled Area in the Western Cape due to its hot, dry summer climate, its distance from the endemic areas, and geographical barriers including mountain ranges plus the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

Furthermore, there has never been a case of AHS in South Africa’s AHS Free Zone, while Kenilworth Quarantine Station, from which all overseas-bound horses depart South Africa when direct travel is allowed, is a world leader in vector-protection.

Additionally, the exciting recent development of the Real Time PCR test for AHS returns a “yes” or “no” answer within a couple of hours, instead of the less reliable current test that only returns a result after two samples are collected 21 days apart.

The new test has been developed and is in the final stages of validation according to the OIE guidelines.

A stipulation for the 2006 Hong Kong and Dubai export protocols to reinstate direct imports from Cape Town was that the diagnostic test be developed.

On top of the new diagnostic test, the Equine Research Centre, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Onderstepoort, is developing a new vaccine based on recombinant technology, which will offer better protection to native horses and be inherently safe to use internationally.

The initial trial has produced exciting results with proof of concept having been achieved.

Four of the nine serotypes will have been trialled within the next 18 months.

Mike de Kock reckons the chances of passing AHS to another country are around a billion to one and he is probably correct.

De Kock, after winning his country’s most

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prestigious race, the Vodacom Durban July, for the fourth time with the Australian-imported filly Igugu in 2011, lambasted South Africa’s trading partners and said they should “hang their heads in shame.”

He illustrated how ridiculous the export protocols pertaining to South African Thoroughbreds are by comparing them to a South African sportsman being banned from playing overseas due to a risk of passing on AIDS. However, the scientific efforts being made from within South Africa are beginning to tell and it is likely that far-reaching changes to the AHS Code will be adopted at the 2012 OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) General Assembly, which will introduce the following principles: l Official OIE recognition of AHS; l South Africa to define own control measures; l Pre-export quarantine to be significantly

reduced with agent identification testing (RT PCR); l If, in the case of an outbreak, a containment zone is accepted by the OIE, it will be possible to resume exporting 80 days after the last case of AHS is confirmed.

London News gave Hong Kong the international flavor they craved and South Africa has played an important role in building other countries’ international racing programs since then.

In Hong Kong, South Africa’s Group 1 raiding record is certainly unmatched in terms of strike rate as de Kock has landed wins with Eagle Mountain, Archipenko, and the South African-bred Irridescence, while J J the Jet Plane added another Group 1 there last year.

South Africans have made a huge contribution to the success of the Dubai Racing Carnival and de Kock has been the leading trainer by earnings in Dubai on four occasions despite having had to take on the might of Godolphin in their own backyard.

De Kock has won seven international Group 1 races in total in three different countries (Dubai, Hong Kong, and Singapore) and has won many other international Group and Listed races out of his Dubai and Newmarket (UK) yards.

His compatriot Herman Brown has won three international Group 1 races, one in Dubai and two in Singapore.

Of 11 international Group 1 wins by South Africans over the last decade, five have been by South African-bred horses and one by a Zimbabwean-bred.

This is not to mention that South Africa has provided the Hong Kong champion jockey for the past 18 years as well as top ex-pat trainers around the world of the caliber of Tony Millard, David Ferraris, Pat Shaw, and David Payne.

The global success of the likes of de Kock has led to overseas buyers taking a keen interest in South African Yearling Sales and this has given a huge boost to the local breeding

Irridescence is a Group 1 winner for Mike de Kock in Hong Kong

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INDUSTRY

South African-trained Thoroughbreds have had great success at Meydan

“South Africans have made a huge contribution to the success of the Dubai Racing Carnival and de Kock has been the leading trainer by earnings in Dubai on four occasions”

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industry, whose quality of bloodstock gets better and better.

The wish to start showing their talent to the world is not only limited to raids on overseas races as South Africa is already geared to stage its own big international event, the Queen’s Plate, a famous Group 1 weight-for-age race over a mile generally run on the first Saturday of January at Kenilworth Racecourse in Cape Town.

The 2012 renewal was expected to carry a value of US $1-million and to become South Africa’s first international Thoroughbred horseracing event, but the current quarantine restrictions has meant that those plans have had to be postponed for the time being.

De Kock’s recent comment included a wish that the South African government be lobbied as the lifting of stringent travel and quarantine restrictions would have an immensely positive effect on both revenue and employment and this will particularly favor the previously disadvantaged rural communities.

All told, the South African horse community is holding thumbs that the worst of their AHS nightmare is behind them.

It is hoped that their trading partners as well as the international racing community will support them in their dream to reach a level playing field and unleash new life onto the global stage. n

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STATE INCENTIVES ISSUE 23_Jerkins feature.qxd 31/01/2012 15:36 Page 1

STATE BREEDING AND RACING INCENTIVES

BUSINESS Owners Awards

Breeders Awards

Stallion owners Awards

Restricted Races

Restricted Stakes races

Out Of State Race Awards

Contacts

Awards range from 50% to 2% of purse money, for winners down to 8th. If there are fewer than 8 starters, those percentages go to the winner.

50%, 30% and 20% of nomination, entry and starting fees for horses finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively

N/A

N/A

N/A

2-3 races per year, restricted to AL-bred horses.

T: 334 288 0275 E: admin@ALBreds.com W: www.albreds.com

Arizona

Range from 15-25% of the winners share of the purse

Breeders can receive up to 36% of the winners share of the purse

N/A

Daily, with higher purses

Yes

N/A

T: 602 942 1310 W: www.atba.net

Arkansas

Paid annually on earnings at the Oaklawn Park live meet the previous year

Paid annually on earnings in the US and Canada the previous calendar year

Paid annually on earnings in the US and Canada the previous calendar year

Yes

Can receive at least a 20% bonus on the finisher's share for finishing 1st-5th in an open allowance or overnight stakes race; can receive up to a 20% bonus for finishing first in open starters above $15,000 and open claiming races with a gross purse above the predesignated level

For 1st-3rd of any race run in California and any graded stakes in the US: 75% of the remainder of the total incentive award monies after owners awards are paid; individual breeders receive a pro-rated share of the breeders fund. Maximum purses: 1st - $330,000, 2nd - $120,000, 3rd - $90,000

25% of the remainder of the total incentive award monies after owners awards are paid given for progeny who win non-claiming races with purses above $15, 000, and claiming races with a purse above pre-designated levels.Maximum purses: 1st - $330,000, 2nd $120,000, 3rd - $90,000

At least one offered per day. Also California Cup held during Oak Tree meeting

Yes

Breeder and stallion awards for horses finishing 1st-3rd in grade stakes races within the US

T: 800-573-2822 W: www.ctba.com

Delaware

20% of the purse share if horse finishes 1st, 2nd or 3rd in any race, including Stakes races, during the Delaware Park meet (Awards in Stakes races not to exceed $15,000)

20% of the purse share if horse finishes 1st, 2nd or 3rd in any race, including Stakes races, during the Delaware Park meet (Awards in Stakes races not to exceed $15,000)

N/A

Yes

Hold 4, with purses of $75,000.

Two for 2 year olds over 5 1/2f (The Small Wonder and The First State Dash) and two for 3 and up (The Tax Free Shopping Distaff and The New Castle).

N/A

Tel: 302 994 2521 ext 7284 E:info@dtha.com W:www.dtha.com

Florida

Awards vary as they are paid out by the individual racetracks to winners of certain races. Payment is based on a percentage of the gross purse

An award of 15% of the gross purse is given. Each single breeder award may not exceed $15,000. The Breeder Bonus Award can be paid based on the balance of the awards account after certain conditions have been fulfilled

20% of the gross purse of a stakes races is given. Each single stallion owner award may not exceed $15,000

Yes, amount depends on individual racetrack

Yes, amount depends on individual racetrack

N/A

T: 352 629 2160 E:info@ftboa.com W: www.ftboa.com

Illinois

Given if IL Bred comes 1st – 3rd in certain races. Ranges from 40-60% of the purse

Awarded in open races to the winner at 11.5 % of purse won. In restricted races offered from 1st – 4th at 60%, 20%, 15%, and 5% of purse won

Paid to stallion owners registered before 1995 only, in races of $10,000 or more, not including claiming races

Yes, County Fair races for IL breds

Yes. Races offering $75,000, a $25,000 bonus is given to IL bred horses

N/A

T: 618 344 3427 E: itboffp@ whisperhome.com W:www.itbof.org

Indiana

Receive 20% of gross purse for winners in all allowance, stakes and claiming races.

The amount of the award for any race other than restricted races in IN is 25% of the winner's share of the purse

Receive 20% of the gross purse for all stake, allowance and claiming races

Receive 10% of the gross purse for all stake, allowance and claiming races

Hold restricted Indiana bred Allowance, Claiming and Stakes races. IN breds receive 3lb weight allowance in open races except stakes

18 in 2008, with purses of $100,000

Breeder awards for wins in other states or Canada at 10% of purse (only if no live TB meet in Indiana)

Tel:800-450-9895 E:info@itoba.com W:www.itoba.com

Iowa

Receive 40% of purse won for horses 1st – 4th in restricted IA bred races, and 60% of purse in open company races.

Supplements are capped at $50,000 per race

Receive 12% of the winners purse won by an IA bred, paid to breeders at the end of each calendar year through Iowa Breeders Fund

N/A

Required to hold at least 1 race per day that is restricted to IA bred horses

N/A

N/A

Tel:515-957-3002 E:itboa@msn.com W: www.iowathoroughbred.com

Kentucky

For horses foaled in KY & by KY sires and registered with the KTA, KTDF fund available on races distributed as follows 65% for 1st, 20% for 2nd, 10% for 3rd and 5% for 4th

Receive 25% of winning purse for winners of all maiden special weights, allowance and stakes races (maximum bonus is $10,000 per race). Awards also for winners of Gr. 1 races in Kentucky who receive $25 000, or $100 000 for KY Derby/Oaks. Kentucky Claiming Title divided among the breeders of the top three claiming horses at all KY track throughout the year

N/A

N/A

N/A

Breeder awards at 10% of win purse for winners of maiden and allowance races held within US (maximum bonus of $10,000 per race). An incentive will be awarded to the breeders of the winner of each Kentucky-bred Grade I Stakes races held in other states. The award shall be $2,500 for each breeder

T: 859-246-2847 E: Jamie.Eads@ky.gov W:www.khrc.ky.gov

Louisiana

N/A

20% of the purse earned by a LA bred finishing 1st, 2nd, 3rd in any race in LA

Paid for the stallion’s progeny finishing 1st -3rd in an allowance, handicap or stakes race in LA or in a stakes race outside of LA

3 races per day are offered at each track holding a race meeting. LA has four State Bred Days, one at each track

N/A

20% of the purse earned by a LA bred finishing 1st, 2nd, 3rd in any Stakes race outside LA. World Wide Breeders Awards paid to LA bred finishing 1st, 2nd or 3rd in any race outside LA

T: 504-947-4676 E: roger@louisianabred.com W: www.louisianabred.com

Maryland

Awards available for winning Maryland bred horses- except stakes, starter or claiming races (less than $20,000)

Awards available for winners of any race and for stakes-placed horses in MD. Breeders Award usually double the Stallion Award. In stakes races the award is based on the first $100,000 of the gross purse

Awards available for winners of any race and for stakes-placed horses in MD. Stallion Award usually half the Breeders Award. In stakes races the award is based on the first $100,000 of the gross purse

N/A

Around 20

N/A

T:410 252-2100 W: marylandthoroughbred.com

Alabama

California

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Four, at Oaklawn Park in March Yes each year Two, at Louisiana Downs in October/Early November

Tel: 501-624-6328 W:www.atbha.com

The following states either do not have a state incentives fund or do not publish it. Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

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STATE BREEDING AND RACING INCENTIVES

STATE INCENTIVES

(UPDATED JANUARY, 2012)

Owners Awards

Breeders Awards

Stallion owners Awards

Restricted Races

Restricted Stakes races

Out Of State Race Awards

Contacts

Massachusetts

30% of purse won for horses finishing 1st – 3rd in any races except restricted Mass-bred races

25% of purse won for horses finishing 1st – 3rd in any race in Massachusetts

15% of purse won for horses finishing 1st – 3rd in any race in Massachusetts

Yes

At least 8 races in 2008 with purses of $50,000

N/A

Tel: 508-252-3690 E: MTBA@comcast.net W: www.massbreds.com

Michigan

Amount changes depending on betting revenue, paid from 1st-3rd in open races.

10% of gross purse of all races in Michigan

Amount changes depending on betting revenue, paid from 1st-3rd in open races.

Yes

At least one race per day

N/A

Tel: 616-844-5662 E: info@mtoba.com W: www.mtoba.com

Minnesota

62% of the total available paid as Purse supplements to places 1 – 3 in open and restricted overnights and as purses are paid in restricted stakes races

31% of total available paid on earnings for 1st to 3rd place

7% of total available paid to stallion owners whose progemy finish 1st-3rd

N/A

N/A

N/A

Tel: 952-496-7950 E: pam.webber@state.mn.us W: www.mrc.state.mn.us

New Jersey

40% purse supplement for horses finishing 1st – 3rd in open company races in NJ (maximum award of $200,000)

Awarded for horses finishing 1st-3rd in any race in NJ. Ranges from 20-35% depending on if sired by a state stallion or not

10% purse supplement for offspring finishing 1st – 3rd in any race in NJ

In 2010-187 run exclusively for state bred

Minimum 16 through the year

N/A

T:732 542-8880 E: info@njbreds.com W:www.njbreds.com

New Mexico

NM bred horses entering an open overnight race and finishing first, second or third to receive a 20% increase of the original purse

10% breeder awards are available for winners of races in NM

7% for winners of progeny of races in NM

Varies depending on revenue available, usually 4 per day

Varies depending on revenue available

N/A

T: 505 262-0224 W: www. nmhorsebreeders.com

New York

The owner award for a registered New York-bred sired by a registered New York-based stallion is up to 20% of purses earned from finishes in first through third place in races run for a claiming price of $30,000 and upward, with a cap of $20,000 per horse, per race. If a New Yorkbred is by a stallion that is not a Registered NY Stallion, the owner award is up to 10% of purses earned from finishes in first through third place in races run for a claiming price of $30,000 and upward, with a cap of $20,000 per horse, per race

If the horse is by a registered NY stallion, Breeder awards are 30% of the amount won for a first place finish and 15% for 2nd and 3rd place finishes in all races run in New York State. The cap is now $40,000 per horse / race.

15% is paid to out of state or non NY registered stallions for winners and 7.5% to 2nd / 3rd placed finishers. The cap on Breeder awards for non NY sired breds is now $20,000 per horse / race

Stallion awards are 7% with a cap of $10,000 on all races run in NY State (first through third place) by the progeny of NY-sired NY-breds

More than 600 races run annually at NYRA restricted to NY-breds. Finger Lakes also runs NYbred restricted races

TBC for 2012

N/A

T: 518 580 0100 W: www.nybreds.com

Ohio

N/A

Breeders receive 7% of winner’s share of purse on all races other than claiming or starter allowance. Receive 3.5% of winner’s share of purse on all claiming and starter allowance races

3% of purse paid on winners of any races

N/A

At least one per day

N/A

T: 513-574-5888 E: gb.otbo@fuse.net W: www.otbo.com

Oklahoma

Overnight races split 50% 30% - 20% for first three finishers

At all tracks in OK the OK Bred funds are divided 50% to purses and 50% to breeders awards. The breeders money is split 34% to broodmares and 16% to stallions

Required to schedule at least 2 per day

‘Oklahoma Classics’ – 8 restricted stakes races held at Remington Park.

Starting in 2010 Remington and Will Rogers will offer 2 additional stakes for nominated foals and nominated stallions standing in OK

N/A

T:405.330.1006 E: info@otawins.com W: www.otawins.com

Oregon

30% of money earned

Breeders receive 10% of the purse for horses that win in any race in Oregon

N/A

Yes, at least 1 per day

N/A

N/A

T: 503 285 065 E: info@oregontoba.com W: www.oregontoba.com

Pennsylvania

For horses finishing 1st – 3rd in designated overnight races owners receive a designated percentage of the purse share

Receive 30% of the purse won for PA-sired horses finishing 1st – 3rd in any Pari–mutuel race in the state; For non-PAsired horses, the award is 20%

Receive 10% of the purse won for horses finishing 1st – 3rd in any Pari – mutuel race in the state

Hold overnight restricted races for PA breds

Yes

N/A

T: 610-444-1050 W: www.pabred.com

Texas

40% of purse won for horses finishing 1st – 3rd in any race in Texas

40% of purse won for horses finishing 1st – 3rd in any race in Texas

20% of purse won by progeny finishing 1st – 3rd in any race in Texas

At least 2 required daily, with at least one for maidens

Yes

N/A

T:(512) 458-6133 E: maryr@ texasthoroughbred.com. W: www.texasthoroughbred.com

Virginia

100% bonus on all open races at Colonial Downs for winners only

Pro-rata share of earnings based on what other V bred horses have earned

Pro-rata share of earnings based on what other V bred horses have earned

Very little, around 4 annually

6 Restricted stakes with purses of $60,000

Breeder awards paid for wins in races anywhere in US

T: (540) 347-4313 E: vta@vabred.or W: www.vabred.org

Washington

Awarded for owners of horses finishing 1st – 4th, at 15% of the purse won

Awarded for horses finishing 1st – 3rd in races at Emerald Downs. (75% of award goes to first placed horse, 15% to 2nd and 10% to 3rd)

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

T: (253) 288-7878 E: maindesk@ washingtonthoroughbred.com W: www. washingtonthoroughbred.com

West Virginia

Owners will divide 25% of monies available for distribution, not to exceed 35% of each horse's earnings

Breeders will divide 60% of monies available for distribution

Stallion owners will divide 15% of the monies available for distribution, not to exceed 35% of the sire's progeny earnings

2 races/day at Charlestown and 1 race/day at Mountaineer Park

N/A

N/A

T:304.728.6868 E: wvbreeders@gmail.com W: www.wvtba.net

Canada – British Columbia

13% purse supplement on BC bred horses finishing 1st – 5th in any race.

An award is given to breeders for horses finishing 1st – 3rd (except older horses competing in the lowest claiming categories)

Awards are paid when offspring finishes 1st -3rd in any race other than a starter allowance and claiming race

N/A

N/A

N/A

T: (604) 574 -0145 W:www.cthsbc.org

Canada – Ontario

$150,000

Awards available for horses finishing 1st-3rd in races in Ontario

$400,000

Over 200 Ontario Sired Allowance Races - $1,200,000

$5,529,500

$150,000

T: 416-675-3602 F: 416-675-9405 E: cthsont@idirect.com W: www.cthsont.com

If you have any updates for this part of the magazine please call us on 1 888 218 4430 or email us at info@trainermagazine.com ISSUE 23 TRAINERMAGAZINE.com 71

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ADVERTORIAL

Gastric ulceration and colic A significant percentage of horses in training and actively racing are now known to be affected by gastric ulcers (EGUS or Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome) with associated loss of condition, intermittent low-grade colic and performance and this can often be attributed to intermittent feeding, high concentrate / low forage diets, stable confinement and exercise induced stress.

However less well recognised is the fact that youngstock are similarly at risk, due to both environmental and management stresses, including weaning. In these youngsters, the potential effects of EGUS may be even more significant and in just the same way as with experienced horses, using highly specified digestive aids can be of great benefit. Retaining a healthy microbial balance throughout the digestive tract and maintaining normal digestive function are important management considerations, helping to maximise utilisation of feed and facilitate more consistent performance.

Digestion supplements usually contain ingredients that aim to maintain normal digestive function and retain a healthy microbial balance throughout a horse’s

digestive tract. Products such as TRM’s pelleted GNF (Gut Nutrition Formula) also contain specific ‘antacid’ type ingredients such as Calcium Carbonate, Magnesium Hydroxide and seaweed extract to help maintain the integrity of the gastric mucosa, particularly in horses at risk from gastric ulceration.

Other ingredients such as prebiotics (furctooligosaccharides) provide a food source for beneficial microflora within the digestive tract, thus helping to maintain a healthy microbial

balance. Amino acids such as Glutamine are added as they represent a major energy source for enterocytes, which are specialised cells found within the digestive tract. Together with essential nutrients and minerals identified as important in healthy digestion, these amino acids help to enhance the production of protective mucus.

Ian Brennan, Farm Trainer in Vinery Stud (Fl) has pre-trained a number of successful horses including More Than Real (Winner of Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf 2010), Regally Ready (Winner of the Breeders Cup Turf Sprint 2011) and Havre de Grace (Winner of the Gr.1 Woodward Stakes, Saratoga and recipient of the ‘Horse of the Year Award’ 2011.

Ian says “Feeding GNF in our stables has helped us to keep producing stakes winners”.

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New Biomarker test for inflammation now available in the United States The Acute Phase Protein Laboratory at the University of Miami is pleased to announce special biomarker testing for inflammation is now available for the first time in the United States. Sensitive assays for acute phase proteins are the start of positive change to the old routine blood work that forms the mainstay of a diagnostic workup and have far reaching applications in gauging condition and performance.

Acute phase proteins are key markers of inflammation. While these proteins are not specific for a particular disease, they have been valued in human and veterinary medicine for their sensitivity to underlying health problems. The major acute phase protein in horses is called serum amyloid A or SAA. This biomarker has been the focus of over 50 published studies and a highly reproducible assay has been validated in our laboratory.

Our collaborative work on SAA was presented at the recent AAEP meeting.

Versus routine blood measures such as the total white blood count and fibrinogen where only mild (<2 fold) increases were observed, SAA was observed to increase 75-fold in a large study of animals with diverse clinical presentations.

As a sensitive indicator of inflammation, SAA has immediate applications to the assessment of health status including: l SAA is an indicator of health and performance in endurance racing and

72 TRAINERMAGAZINE.com ISSUE 23

anecdotal information has been presented in similar applications in racehorses (Cywinska 2011, Fazio 2010). l SAA is positively correlated to body condition score (Suagee 2011). l SAA can be used to monitor joint inflammation and disease (Hulten 2002, Jacobsen 2006). l SAA can be used for monitoring pregnancy, complications in foals, post surgical complications, and infectious disease (Krakowski 2011, Paltrinieri 2008, Hulten 2002, Jacobsen 2005, Jacobsen 2007). l SAA has key prognostic value. High values are found during inflammation.

As the animal responds to treatment, the biomarker drops very quickly (Jacobsen 2007, Kjelgaard-Hansen, 2011).

Discuss test options with your veterinarian today. To learn more about SAA please visit our website www.cpl.med.miami.edu or call us at | 800-596-7390.

STAKES SCHEDULES NA ISSUE 23_Jerkins feature.qxd 31/01/2012 15:35 Page 2

ADVERTORIAL

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1. Loss of speed.

2. Loss of stride or rhythm.

3. Choking sound or shaking of the head.

4. Repeated swallowing, lacking of energy or poor appetite after the race.

5. Trace of blood on the feed bin after the event.

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American Herbal Laboratories, Inc. Rosemead, CA 1-800-307-0928 herbal@newvita.com, www.newvita.com ISSUE 23 TRAINERMAGAZINE.com 73

STAKES SCHEDULES NA ISSUE 23_Jerkins feature.qxd 31/01/2012 15:35 Page 3

COMMENT

THE RIGHT TO REPLY North American Trainer reader David Williams adds his thoughts to the article on â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The biomechanics of suspensionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; that featured in our last issue Dear Editor I must comment on the recent article published in the Fall/Winter 2011 issue of North American Trainer: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The biomechanics of suspensionâ&#x20AC;?. The author claims that speed can be increased by increasing the stride length, and therefore concludes that, â&#x20AC;&#x153;increasing the suspension phase of the gait will increase the stride length and increase the overall speed.â&#x20AC;?

Can one increase the suspension phase? If so, this could very easily be demonstrated quantitatively. All it would take is to get down on your hands and knees, acquire some marking stakes and a chalk line, a good tape measure, and start measuring the distances within and between

hoof prints left on the track surface by a running horse.

In fact, one could easily design an entire experimental procedure to measure before treatment and after treatment samples including control groups. I have yet to see this reported in any peer reviewed scientific journal addressing the increase of the suspension phase.

Finally, I must comment on the diagnostic method of the author that running your thumb and finger with moderate pressure down the horseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s back as an indicator of injury, and her suggestion of utilizing hoof picks on the horseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s back or sternum to induce exercise to the horses muscles.

I must also comment on the authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s suggestion on the use of a â&#x20AC;&#x153;tape therapy magicâ&#x20AC;?. Being a scientist and a fourth generation horseman, I am extremely leery of diagnostic or treatment protocols preceded by or including the word â&#x20AC;&#x153;magicâ&#x20AC;?. I further suggest that most horsemen know that poking, rubbing, or pressing a racehorse in the belly or back with a hoof pick, or running your fingers repeatedly down the back is very likely to get one kicked!

My lifetime of experience at the racetrack has also shown me that the most effective way to maximize a racehorsesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; genetic potential is to condition it properly, pick the best surface conditions, and make sure that the horse is as sound as it can be. Stride length is the phenotypic expression of genetics and environment.

Genetic possibilities are initially determined by the breeder.

Environment is determined by the trainer. Maximizing the genetic potential of a horse does not include anything â&#x20AC;&#x153;magicâ&#x20AC;?.

Sincerely David Earl Williams M.S., Ph.D.

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74 TRAINERMAGAZINE.com ISSUE 23

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STAKES SCHEDULES

STAKES SCHEDULES RACES

COPYRIGHT

Races are divided by distance and the relevant surface is indicated as follows: AWT - All Weather Track D - Dirt T - Turf The indexes cover all graded races in North America over $50,000 in value, where information was available at the time of publication.

Under Copyright law, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means. This includes but is not limited to: photocopying for commercial redistribution and or facsimile recording without the prior permission of the copyright holder, application for which should be addressed to the publisher.

CLOSING DATES

DISCLAIMER

Dates for Arlington Park have yet to be approved by the state racing board.

Whilst every effort has been made to publish correct information, the publishers will not be held liable for any omission, mistake or change to the races listed in all published indexes.

4.5f (900m)

Call us on 1 888 218 4430 to subscribe from $20 Country USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA

Track Sunland Park Charles Town Sunland Park Sunland Park Charles Town Charles Town SunRay Park SunRay Park Charles Town Charles Town Charles Town Charles Town Charles Town

Race Name & (Sponsor) Mt. Cristo Rey H’cap Webb Snyder St Copper Top Futurity Copper Top Futurity It’s Only Money It’s Binn Too Long C.O. Ken Kendrick Memorial St Totah St Coin Collector St Fancy Buckles St Charles Town Invitational Dash Henry Mercer Memorial Rachel’s Turn St

Class S

USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA

Sam Houston Gulfstream Park Tampa Bay Downs Delta Downs Delta Downs Gulfstream Park Gulfstream Park Evangeline Downs Churchill Downs Evangeline Downs Golden Gate Fields Lone Star Park Lone Star Park Colonial Downs

Rail Splitter St Madcap Escapade Turf Dash Azalea Pelican The Ladies Turf Sprint Touch Gold Need for Speed St Twin Spires Turf Sprint St Tellike St Lost in the Fog St TTA Sales Futurity TTA Sales Futurity Punch Line St

USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA

Oaklawn Park Fair Grounds Fair Grounds Sunland Park Fair Grounds Keeneland Evangeline Downs Keeneland Colonial Downs Evangeline Downs Evangeline Downs Arlington Park Lone Star Park Lone Star Park Colonial Downs Colonial Downs Colonial Downs Colonial Downs Colonial Downs Evangeline Downs Evangeline Downs Evangeline Downs Evangeline Downs

Spring Fever Colonel Power St Happy Ticket S La Coneja St Bayou St. John St Shakertown St Hallowed Dreams St Giant’s Causeway St Buckland St Louisiana Showcase Ladies Sprint Louisiana Showcase Sprint Arlington Sprint Texas Stallion St - Pan Zareta Division Texas Stallion St - Staunch Avenger Division Chenery St Tippett St Oakley St The Bert Allen (formerly The John D Marsh St) Jamestown St D.S. Shine Young Memorial Futurity D.S. Shine Young Memorial Futurity John Franks Memorial Sales St John Franks Memorial Sales St

USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA UAE USA USA USA UAE USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA

Aqueduct Aqueduct Oaklawn Park Oaklawn Park Aqueduct Oaklawn Park Aqueduct Aqueduct Meydan Aqueduct Oaklawn Park Turfway Park Meydan Oaklawn Park Oaklawn Park Fair Grounds Fair Grounds Oaklawn Park Beulah Park Oaklawn Park Sunland Park Tampa Bay Downs Oaklawn Park Oaklawn Park Sunland Park Evangeline Downs

Dearly Precious St Hollie Hughes H’cap Nodouble Breeders Downthedustyroad Breeders Tom Fool Gazebo Fred Cappy Capossela St Cicada St Mahab Al Shimaal Broadway H’cap Hot Springs S Hansel St Dubai Golden Shaheen Rainbow S Rainbow Miss S Duncan F. Kenner St Duncan F. Kenner BC S Prima Donna S Royal North St Bachelor Czaria H Hilton Garden Inn Sprint Carousel H Count Fleet Sprint H KHEY Country Sprint Inaugural St

S S S S S S S S S S

Race Date 10-Mar-12 14-Apr-12 14-Apr-12 14-Apr-12 19-May-12 26-May-12 16-Jun-12 19-Jun-12 30-Jun-12 30-Jun-12 30-Jun-12 22-Sep-12 22-Sep-12

Value $110,000 $50,000 $75,000 $75,000 $50,000 $50,000 $85,000 $85,000 $50,000 $50,000 $70,000 $50,000 $50,000

Age 3+ 3+ 2 C&G 2F 3+ 3F 2F 2 CG (NM Bred) 3 3+ FM 3+ 2F 2F

Surface D D D D D D D D D D D D D

Metres 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900

4+ 3F 3+ 3F 3 4+ F&M 4+ 3+ 3+ 3+ FM 2 2 CG 2F 3+ (VA Bred)

T T T D D T T T T T AWT D D T

1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000

4+ F&M 4+ 4+ F&M LA Bred 4+ FM ( NM Bred) 4+ La Bred 3+ 3F 3+ FM 3+ F&M 3 + FM 3+ 3+ 2F 2 CG 2 2F 3+ F&M (VA Bred) 3+ 2 2F 2 CG 2F 2 CG

D T D D D T D T T T D T D D T T T T T D D D D

1100 1100 1100 1100 1100 1100 1100 1100 1100 1100 1100 1100 1100 1100 1100 1100 1100 1100 1100 1100 1100 1100 1100

3F 3+FM (NY Bred) 3+ C&G (Ark Bred) 3+ F&M 3+ 3 3 3F NH 3yo+ SH 3yo+ 3+ FM 4+ 3 NH 3yo+ SH 3yo+ 3 C&G (Ark Bred) 3 F (Ark Bred) 3+ 3+ 3F 3 F (OH Reg) 3 3+ F&M 4+ 4+ F&M 4+ 3 3

D D D D D D D D AWT D D AWT AWT D D D D D D D D D D D D D

1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200

Visit www.trainermagazine.com/america

S S S Gr 3 R R S

11-Feb-12 12-Feb-12 18-Feb-12 03-Mar-12 03-Mar-12 04-Mar-12 25-Mar-12 18-Apr-12 07-May-12 19-May-12 07-Jun-12 16-Jun-12 16-Jun-12 04-Jul-12

$75,000 $60,000 $75,000 $75,000 $75,000 $60,000 $60,000 $50,000 $100,000 $50,000 $50,000 $100,000 $100,000 $50,000

S S Gr 3 S S S R R S S S S S R R

$60,000 $75,000 $60,000 $110,000 $60,000 $100,000 $50,000 $200,000 $50,000 $100,000 $100,000 $100,000 $100,000 $100,000 $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 $100,000 $100,000 $60,000 $60,000

S S Gr 3 Gr 3 Gr 3 S Gr 1 S S

S

Gr 3 S

$75,000 $75,000 $50,000 $50,000 $200,000 $60,000 $100,000 $150,000 $200,000 $75,000 $75,000 $50,000 $2,000,000 $50,000 $50,000 $150,000 $150,000 $75,000 $50,000 $75,000 $50,000 $75,000 $75,000 $200,000 $50,000 $50,000

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

25-Jan-12 04-Feb-12 18-Feb-12 18-Feb-12 04-May-12 13-Apr-12 04-May-12 07-Jun-12 16-Apr-12 16-Apr-12

5.5f (1100m)

North American Trainer delivered to your door!

11-Feb-12 20-Feb-12 25-Feb-12 25-Feb-12 03-Mar-12 03-Mar-12 10-Mar-12 10-Mar-12 10-Mar-12 24-Mar-12 24-Mar-12 24-Mar-12 31-Mar-12 31-Mar-12 31-Mar-12 01-Apr-12 01-Apr-12 06-Apr-12 07-Apr-12 07-Apr-12 07-Apr-12 07-Apr-12 12-Apr-12 14-Apr-12 17-Apr-12 18-Apr-12

Closing 02-Mar-12 04-Apr-12 15-Oct-11 15-Oct-11 09-May-12 16-May-12 09-Jun-12 12-Jun-12 20-Jun-12 20-Jun-12 20-Jun-12 12-Sep-12 12-Sep-12

5f (1000m)

Now available for iPhone/iPad via Appstore 19-Feb-12 25-Feb-12 24-Mar-12 25-Mar-12 01-Apr-12 14-Apr-12 21-Apr-12 21-Apr-12 23-Jun-12 30-Jun-12 30-Jun-12 07-Jul-12 07-Jul-12 07-Jul-12 21-Jul-12 21-Jul-12 21-Jul-12 27-Jul-12 27-Jul-12 28-Jul-12 28-Jul-12 08-Sep-12 08-Sep-12

Furlongs 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5

5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5

17-Mar-12 07-Apr-12 09-Jun-12 09-Jun-12

02-May-12 02-May-12 18-May-11 18-May-11

6f (1200m) 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

05-Mar-12 15-Mar-12

28-Mar-12 30-Mar-12 24-Mar-12 07-Apr-12 04-Apr-12

ISSUE 23 TRAINERMAGAZINE.com 75

STAKES SCHEDULES NA ISSUE 23_Jerkins feature.qxd 31/01/2012 15:35 Page 5

STAKES SCHEDULES Call us on 1 888 218 4430 to subscribe from $20 USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA

Beulah Park Hawthorne Racecourse Hawthorne Racecourse Hawthorne Racecourse Hawthorne Racecourse Beulah Park Indiana Downs Indiana Downs Churchill Downs Churchill Downs Arlington Park Arlington Park Indiana Downs Indiana Downs Colonial Downs Churchill Downs Churchill Downs Lone Star Park Canterbury Canterbury Canterbury Canterbury Turfway Park Beulah Park Beulah Park Beulah Park Turfway Park Turfway Park Turfway Park

Howard B. Noonan St Governor’s Lady H’cap Land of Lincoln St Pretty Jenny St Robert S. Molaro H’cap Babst/Palacios Memorial H’cap Shelby County William Henry Harrison Winning Colors St Aristides St White Oak H’cap Isaac Murphy H’cap Ellen’s Lucky Star Snack St Chesapeake St Debutante Bashford Manor St Valor Farms St MN Distaff Sprint Championship MN Sprint Championship Northern Lights Debutante St Northern Lights Futurity St Speightstown Kentucky Cup Sprint Scarlet & Gray H’cap Glacial Princess St Ohio Freshman St Holiday Inaugural St Gowell S Holiday Cheer St

S S S S S S R R Gr 3 Gr 3 S S R R

USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA

Sam Houston Race Park Sunland Park Gulfstream Park Santa Anita Santa Anita Sunland Park Gulfstream Park Santa Anita Santa Anita Santa Anita Lone Star Park Lone Star Park Santa Anita SunRay Park Santa Anita SunRay Park SunRay Park SunRay Park SunRay Park Charles Town Charles Town

Champion Energy Services St El Diario H Hurricane Bertie H Las Flores St Irish O’Brien St Bill Thomas Memorial S Sir Shackleton Echo Eddie St Evening Jewel St Potrero Grande St Premiere St JEH Stallion St Las Cienegas H’cap Inaugural H’cap San Simeon H’cap Russell and Helen Foutz Distaff H’cap Budweiser Allowance Stake Dine St Aztec Oaks Lady Charles Town St Miss Shenandoah St

USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA CAN USA USA USA USA USA

Gulfstream Park Tampa Bay Downs Gulfstream Park Laurel Park Santa Anita Laurel Park Laurel Park Santa Anita Laurel Park Gulfstream Park Laurel Park Gulfstream Park Aqueduct Aqueduct Tampa Bay Downs Tampa Bay Downs Keeneland Aqueduct Charles Town Charles Town Charles Town Charles Town Keeneland Keeneland Churchill Downs Churchill Downs Churchill Downs Evangeline Downs Evangeline Downs SunRay Park Arlington Park Charles Town Charles Town Evangeline Downs Charles Town Charles Town Charles Town Charles Town Woodbine Charles Town Charles Town Charles Town Charles Town Charles Town

Hutcheson St Super St Gulfstream Park Sprint Barbara Fritchie H’cap San Vicente St General George H’cap Miracle Wood St San Carlos St Wide Country St Swale S Conniver St Inside Information Carter H’cap Bay Shore St Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore St Stonehedge Farm South Sophomore Fillies St Vinery Madison St Distaff H’cap Confucius Say St Original Gold St Robert Hilton Memorial Sugar Maple St Commonwealth St Beaumont St Eight Belles St Humana Distaff Churchill Downs St The Acadiana St - La Bred The Ragin Cajun St - La Bred Dr. O.G. Fischer Memorial H’cap Chicago H’cap Wild and Wonderful St Red Legend St Oak Hall St Robert G Leavitt St Sadie Hawkins St Frank Gall Memorial Sylvia Bishop Memorial Swynford S Pink Ribbon St Charles Town Oaks Tri-State Futurity West Virginia Futurity (WV) Eleanor Casey Memorial

USA USA USA

Fair Grounds Fair Grounds Evangeline Downs

Black Gold St Allen Lacombe Memorial H’cap Louisiana Showcase Starter St (10,000 or less in 2011-12)

Gr 3 Gr 3 S S S S S Gr 3 S R R S S

21-Apr-12 28-Apr-12 28-Apr-12 28-Apr-12 28-Apr-12 05-May-12 26-May-12 26-May-12 30-May-12 04-Jun-12 16-Jun-12 16-Jun-12 20-Jun-12 20-Jun-12 23-Jun-12 25-Jun-12 02-Jul-12 07-Jul-12 02-Sep-12 02-Sep-12 02-Sep-12 02-Sep-12 22-Sep-12 27-Oct-12 03-Nov-12 17-Nov-12 01-Dec-12 22-Dec-12 29-Dec-12

$50,000 $125,000 $125,000 $125,000 $125,000 $50,000 $84,000 $84,000 $100,000 $100,000 $125,000 $125,000 $84,000 $84,000 $50,000 $100,000 $100,000 $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 $55,000 $55,000 $100,000 $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 $50,000

6f (1200m) 3 4+ FM 3 3F 4+ 3+ (OH Reg) 3+ F&M 3+ 3+ FM 3+ 3+ 3+ FM 3F 3 F 3+ 2F 2 3+ FM 3 FM 3 2F 2 3 3+ FM (OH Reg) 2 F (OH Acc) 2 (OH Acc) 3+ F&M 3+ 3+

D D D D D D D D D D AWT AWT D D D D D D D D D D AWT D D D AWT AWT AWT

1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200

4+ 3+ F&M 4+ F&M 4+ FM 4+ FM 3+ 4+ 3 (CA Bred) F 3 (CA Bred) 4+ 3+ ( TX Bred) 3+ FM (TX Bred) 4+ FM 3+ 4+ 3+ FM 3F 3 CG (NM Bred) 3 F (NM Bred) 3F 2F

T D D AWT T D D D D D D D T D T D D D D D D

1300 1300 1300 1300 1300 1300 1300 1300 1300 1300 1300 1300 1300 1300 1300 1300 1300 1300 1300 1300 1300

3 4+ 4+ 3+ FM 3 3+ 3 4+ 3F 3 3+ FM (ML Bred) 4+ F&M 3+ 3 3 3F 4+ FM 3+ FM 3+ 3+ FM 3 4+ FM 3+ 3F 3F 4+ FM 4+ 3F 3 3+ FM 3+ FM 3+ 3 3+ 3 3+ F&M 3+ 3F 2 3+ FM 3F 2 2 2F

D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D AWT D D D D D AWT AWT D D D D D D AWT D D D D D D D AWT D D D D D

1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400

3 3F 3+ (La Bred)

D T T

1500 1500 1500

Visit www.trainermagazine.com/america S Gr 3 Gr 3 S S S Gr 2 R R Gr 3 S Gr 3 S R S S

11-Feb-12 11-Feb-12 19-Feb-12 11-Mar-12 17-Mar-12 25-Mar-12 31-Mar-12 31-Mar-12 31-Mar-12 07-Apr-12 12-Apr-12 14-Apr-12 14-Apr-12 20-Apr-12 21-Apr-12 21-Apr-12 19-May-12 27-May-12 26-Jun-12 30-Jun-12 22-Sep-12

Gr 2 Gr 2 Gr 2 Gr 2 Gr 2 Gr 2 Gr 2 Gr 1 Gr 3 Gr 1 Gr 2 S S Gr 2 Gr 2 Gr 3 Gr 1 Gr 2

Gr 3

S S S S

R S

11-Feb-12 11-Feb-12 18-Feb-12 18-Feb-12 19-Feb-12 20-Feb-12 25-Feb-12 25-Feb-12 03-Mar-12 10-Mar-12 10-Mar-12 17-Mar-12 07-Apr-12 07-Apr-12 07-Apr-12 07-Apr-12 12-Apr-12 14-Apr-12 14-Apr-12 14-Apr-12 14-Apr-12 14-Apr-12 14-Apr-12 15-Apr-12 06-May-12 07-May-12 07-May-12 01-Jun-12 02-Jun-12 09-Jun-12 30-Jun-12 30-Jun-12 30-Jun-12 14-Jul-12 04-Aug-12 11-Aug-12 18-Aug-12 25-Aug-12 11-Sep-12 22-Sep-12 22-Sep-12 10-Nov-12 01-Dec-12 15-Dec-12

R

$75,000 $75,000 $75,000

Meydan Meydan

Firebreak St UAE 2000 Guineas

76 TRAINERMAGAZINE.com ISSUE 23

Gr 3 Gr 3

09-Feb-12 09-Feb-12

$200,000 $250,000

14-May-12 21-May-12

11-Jun-12 18-Jun-12 28-Jun-12

13-Sep-12 17-Oct-12 24-Oct-12 07-Nov-12 22-Nov-12 13-Dec-12 20-Dec-12

6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5

01-Feb-12 03-Feb-12 01-Mar-12 08-Mar-12 17-Mar-12 22-Mar-12 22-Mar-12 24-Mar-12 05-Apr-12 05-Apr-12 05-Apr-12 13-Apr-12 12-Apr-12 14-Apr-12 12-May-12 20-May-12 19-May-12 20-Jun-12 12-Sep-12

7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7

11-Feb-12 09-Feb-12 09-Feb-12 09-Feb-12 16-Feb-12 16-Feb-12 23-Feb-12 01-Mar-12

24-Mar-12 24-Mar-12 04-Apr-12 04-Apr-12 04-Apr-12 04-Apr-12 13-Apr-12 13-Apr-12 13-Apr-12 25-May-12 25-May-12 02-Jun-12 20-Jun-12 16-Jun-12 29-Jun-12 25-Jul-12 11-Aug-12 08-Aug-12 15-Aug-12 24-Aug-11 12-Sep-12 08-Sep-12 21-Nov-12 05-Dec-12

7.5f (1500m)

Call us on 1 888 218 4430 to subscribe from $20 UAE UAE

24-Apr-12

7f (1400m)

$150,000 $75,000 $150,000 $200,000 $150,000 $200,000 $100,000 $150,000 $100,000 $150,000 $75,000 $150,000 $400,000 $250,000 $75,000 $75,000 $300,000 $200,000 $50,000 $50,000 $250,000 $200,000 $175,000 $150,000 $100,000 $300,000 $300,000 $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 $150,000 $100,000 $400,000 $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 CAN150,000+ $70,000 $400,000 $100,000 50000 $50,000

North American Trainer delivered to your door!

10-Mar-12 10-Mar-12 30-Jun-12

10-Apr-12

6.5f (1300m)

$75,000 $50,000 $150,000 $100,000 $100,000 $100,000 $60,000 $200,000 $200,000 $150,000 $50,000 $50,000 $100,000 $50,000 $100,000 $85,000 $50,000 $85,000 $85,000 $75,000 $75,000

Now available for iPhone/iPad via Appstore Gr 2

6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

SH-bred 3+ & NH-bred 4+ AWT NH 3yo SH 3yo AWT

7.5 7.5 7.5

09-Jun-12

8f (1600m) 1600 1600

8 8

06-Feb-12 06-Feb-12

STAKES SCHEDULES NA ISSUE 23_Jerkins feature.qxd 31/01/2012 15:35 Page 6

STAKES SCHEDULES Visit www.trainermagazine.com/america USA USA USA UAE USA USA USA USA USA USA UAE USA USA USA USA UAE USA USA USA USA USA UAE USA USA USA USA USA USA USA UAE USA USA USA USA USA USA USA HK USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA JPN USA USA

Fair Grounds Oaklawn Park Turfway Park Meydan Sam Houston Race Park Sam Houston Race Park Sunland Park Turfway Park Oaklawn Park Santa Anita Meydan Gulfstream Park Gulfstream Park Turfway Park Sunland Park Meydan Fair Grounds Gulfstream Park Santa Anita Santa Anita Gulfstream Park Meydan Sam Houston Race Park Laurel Park Gulfstream Park Turfway Park Sunland Park Fair Grounds Gulfstream Park Meydan Aqueduct Keeneland Oaklawn Park Oaklawn Park Keeneland Aqueduct Golden Gate Fields Sha Tin Churchill Downs SunRay Park Churchill Downs Lone Star Park Arlington Park Evangeline Downs SunRay Park Golden Gate Fields Churchill Downs Golden Gate Fields Indiana Downs Arlington Park Arlington Park Colonial Downs Evangeline Downs Evangeline Downs Evangeline Downs Canterbury Canterbury Churchill Downs Lone Star Park Indiana Downs Indiana Downs Evangeline Downs Colonial Downs Canterbury Evangeline Downs Arlington Park Arlington Park Nakayama Turfway Park Turfway Park

Tiffany Lass S Martha Washington S Likely Exchange St Al Fahidi Fort Jim’s Orbit S Two Altazano S Sydney Valentini Handicap Dust Commander St Southwest S Buena Vista H’cap Meydan Classic Sabin Davona Dale St Valdale St Island Fashion S Zabeel Mile Sarah Lane’s Oates S Canadian Turf Las Virgenes St Frank E. Kilroe Mile Gulfstream Park H Burj Nahaar Texas Heritage Stakes Private Terms St Honey Fox H Bourbonette Oaks Breeders’ Cup Harry W Henson H Crescent City Oaks Appleton H Godolphin Mile Comely St Maker’s 46 Mile Instant Racing Northern Spur Appalachian St Jerome San Francisco Mile Champions Mile The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial St SunRay Park & Casino H’cap Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Texas Mile Hanshin Cup Opelousas St Jack Cole H’cap Campanile St Dogwood St Silky Sullivan St Oliver S Purple Violet St Springfield St Da Hoss St Louisiana Showcase Distaff Louisiana Showcase Mile - La Bred Fillies Louisiana Showcase Mile - La Bred C&G Dean Kutz Derby Northbound Pride Oaks Firecracker H’cap Assault St Indiana First Lady Distaff S Matron St Brookmeade St Lady Canterbury Breeders’ Cup St Evangeline Mile Arlington-Washington Lassie Arlington-Washington Futurity Keisei Hai Autumn H’cap Tiznow Kentucky Cup Juvenile Fillies WinStar Kentucky Cup

Gr 2 R S Gr 3 Gr 2 L Gr 3 Gr 2 Gr 2 S Gr 3 Gr 1 Gr 1 Gr 2 Gr 3 Gr 3 Gr 3 S Gr 3 Gr 2 Gr 3 Gr 1 Gr 3 Gr 2 Gr 3 Gp 1 Gr 3 Gr 2 Gr 3 Gr 3 S S S Gr 3 S S S S S S S Gr 2 R R S S Gr 3 Gr 3 Gr 3 Gr 2

11-Feb-12 11-Feb-12 11-Feb-12 16-Feb-12 18-Feb-12 18-Feb-12 18-Feb-12 18-Feb-12 20-Feb-12 20-Feb-12 23-Feb-12 25-Feb-12 25-Feb-12 25-Feb-12 26-Feb-12 01-Mar-12 03-Mar-12 03-Mar-12 03-Mar-12 03-Mar-12 10-Mar-12 10-Mar-12 10-Mar-12 17-Mar-12 18-Mar-12 24-Mar-12 25-Mar-12 31-Mar-12 31-Mar-12 31-Mar-12 07-Apr-12 13-Apr-12 13-Apr-12 14-Apr-12 19-Apr-12 21-Apr-12 28-Apr-12 29-Apr-12 30-Apr-12 05-May-12 07-May-12 12-May-12 19-May-12 26-May-12 28-May-12 02-Jun-12 04-Jun-12 09-Jun-12 13-Jun-12 16-Jun-12 16-Jun-12 16-Jun-12 30-Jun-12 30-Jun-12 30-Jun-12 04-Jul-12 04-Jul-12 04-Jul-12 07-Jul-12 11-Jul-12 11-Jul-12 21-Jul-12 27-Jul-12 04-Aug-12 11-Aug-12 08-Sep-12 08-Sep-12 11-Sep-12 22-Sep-12 22-Sep-12

$75,000 $75,000 $50,000 $250,000 $100,000 $100,000 $110,000 $50,000 $250,000 $150,000 $150,000 $100,000 $250,000 $50,000 $50,000 $250,000 $60,000 $150,000 $250,000 $300,000 $300,000 $200,000 $50,000 $100,000 $100,000 $100,000 $100,000 $75,000 $100,000 $1,000,000 $250,000 $300,000 $100,000 $100,000 $100,000 $200,000 $150,000 HK$12,000,000 $200,000 $50,000 $200,000 $200,000 $150,000 $50,000 $110,000 $100,000 $100,000 $100,000 $200,000 $125,000 $125,000 $50,000 $100,000 $100,000 $100,000 $50,000 $50,000 $175,000 $50,000 $200,000 $125,000 $50,000 $50,000 $75,000 $125,000 $150,000 $150,000 $978,000 $100,000 $200,000

8f (1600m) 4 + F&M D 3F D 4+ FM AWT NH 4yo+ SH 3yo+ T 3 C&G D 3 F (Eligable for Texas stallion stakes Series) D 4 F&M (NM Bred) D 4+ AWT 3 D 4+ FM T 3yo T 4+ F&M D 3F D 3F AWT 3F D NH 3yo+ SH 3yo+ T 3 F LA Bred T 4+ T 3F D 4+ T 4+ D NH 4yo+ SH 3yo+ AWT 3+ D 3 D 4+ F&M T 3F AWT 3+ F&M D 3 la. bred F D 4+ T NH 4yo+ SH 3yo+ AWT 3+F D 4+ T 3F D 3 D 3F T 3 D 4+ T 3+ T 3 D 3 D 3+ FM T 3+ D 3+ AWT 3 + FM T 3+ D 3 F (CA Bred) T 3F D 3 (CA Bred) T 3 T 3F AWT 3 AWT 3+ T 3+ F&M D 3F D 3 D 3 T 3F T 3+ T 3+ (TX Bred) D 3F T 3F T 3+ FM T 3+ F&M (VA Bred) T 3+ FM T 3+ D 2F AWT 2 AWT 3+ T 2F AWT 3+ AWT

1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600 1600

Now available for iPhone/iPad via Appstore USA USA

Canterbury Canterbury

Minnesota Derby Minnesota Oaks

USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA

Gulfstream Park Sunland Park Oaklawn Park Santa Anita Fair Grounds Aqueduct Fair Grounds Fair Grounds Fair Grounds Fair Grounds Sam Houston Race Park Sunland Park Tampa Bay Downs Aqueduct Aqueduct Tampa Bay Downs Turfway Park Oaklawn Park Oaklawn Park Santa Anita Tampa Bay Downs Tampa Bay Downs Fair Grounds Oaklawn Park Oaklawn Park Tampa Bay Downs Turfway Park Oaklawn Park Sunland Park Sunland Park Sunland Park Fair Grounds Fair Grounds

Donn H Curribot H Bayakoa S Santa Maria St Mardi Gras St Busher St Rachel Alexandra St Risen Star S Mineshaft H’cap Gentilly S Sam Houston Distaff Borderland Derby The Tampa Bay St Top Flight Gotham St Challenger St John Battaglia Memorial St Honeybee S Razorback H San Felipe St Tampa Bay Derby Stonewall Farm Ocala Suncoast St New Orleans Ladies St Rebel S Azeri S Wayward Lass St Rushaway St Arkansas Breeders (Female Division) New Mexico Breeders’ Derby New Mexico Breeders’ Oaks Sunland Park Oaks Red Camelia St Fair Grounds Oaks

S S

11-Aug-12 11-Aug-12

$60,000 $60,000

Gr 2 Gr 3 Gr 2 Gr 3 S Gr 3 Gr 2 Gr 3 Gr 3 Gr 3 Gr 2 Gr 3 Gr 2 Gr 3 S S S S Gr 2

11-Feb-12 12-Feb-12 18-Feb-12 18-Feb-12 21-Feb-12 25-Feb-12 25-Feb-12 25-Feb-12 25-Feb-12 25-Feb-12 25-Feb-12 25-Feb-12 25-Feb-12 03-Mar-12 03-Mar-12 03-Mar-12 03-Mar-12 10-Mar-12 10-Mar-12 10-Mar-12 10-Mar-12 10-Mar-12 17-Mar-12 17-Mar-12 17-Mar-12 17-Mar-12 24-Mar-12 25-Mar-12 25-Mar-12 25-Mar-12 25-Mar-12 31-Mar-12 31-Mar-12

$500,000 $50,000 $100,000 $200,000 $75,000 $75,000 $200,000 $300,000 $125,000 $60,000 $50,000 $150,000 $150,000 $200,000 $400,000 $60,000 $100,000 $125,000 £125,000 $300,000 $350,000 $100,000 $100,000 $500,000 $150,000 $50,000 $100,000 $50,000 $110,000 $110,000 $200,000 $60,000 $400,000

02-Feb-12 13-Feb-12 31-Dec-11 31-Dec-11 10-Feb-12 09-Feb-12 09-Feb-12 20-Feb-12 16-Feb-12 18-Feb-12 27-Feb-12 18-Feb-12 18-Feb-12 05-Mar-12 22-Feb-12 08-Mar-12 15-Mar-12 17-Mar-12

19-Apr-12 09-Mar-12 13-Apr-12 28-Apr-12 13-Apr-12 19-Apr-12 11-May-12 21-Apr-12 24-May-12 21-May-12 31-May-12

09-Jun-12 09-Jun-12 09-Jun-12 18-Jun-12 18-Jun-12 29-Jun-12 28-Jul-12 02-Aug-11 13-Sep-12 13-Sep-12

8.32f (1664m) 3 CG 3F

D D

1664 1664

4+ 3+ 4+ F&M 4+ FM 4 + FM 3F 3F 3 4+ 3 LA Bred 4+ F&M 3 4+ 3 + F&M 3 4+ 3 3F 4+ 3 3 3F 4+ FM 3 4+ F&M 4+ FM 3 3+ F&M 3 3F 3F 4+ FM La Bred 3F

D D D D T D D D D T D D T D D D AWT D D D D D D D D D AWT D D D D T D

1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700

North American Trainer delivered to your door!

Gr 1

8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8.32 8.32

8.5f (1700m) 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5

03-Feb-12 09-Feb-12

08-Feb-12 17-Feb-12 11-Feb-12 18-Feb-12 23-Feb-12 01-Mar-12 25-Feb-12 25-Feb-12

03-Mar-12 15-Mar-12 17-Mar-12 17-Mar-12 10-Mar-12

ISSUE 23 TRAINERMAGAZINE.com 77

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STAKES SCHEDULES Call us on 1 888 218 4430 to subscribe from $20 USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA

Fair Grounds Fair Grounds Santa Anita Fair Grounds Fair Grounds Oaklawn Park Keeneland Keeneland Tampa Bay Downs Tampa Bay Downs Gulfstream Park Oaklawn Park Oaklawn Park Oaklawn Park Keeneland Keeneland Keeneland Evangeline Downs Hawthorne Racecourse Hawthorne Racecourse Golden Gate Fields Churchill Downs Churchill Downs Churchill Downs Golden Gate Fields Lone Star Park Lone Star Park Arlington Park Golden Gate Fields Lone Star Park Churchill Downs Arlington Park Arlington Park Churchill Downs Churchill Downs Evangeline Downs Evangeline Downs Indiana Downs Indiana Downs Indiana Downs Indiana Downs Colonial Downs Colonial Downs Arlington Park Arlington Park Canterbury Canterbury Turfway Park Turfway Park Beulah Park Turfway Park

Bayou H’cap Bayou BC H Santa Anita Oaks Costa Rising St Crescent City Derby Arkansas Breeders (Male Division) Transylvania St Central Bank Ashland St The First Dude Turf Distaff The Dayton Andrews Sophomore Turf Wait A While Fantasy S Redbud Apple Blossom H Jenny Wiley St Hilliard Lyons Doubledogdare St Coolmore Lexington St John Henry St Milwaukee Avenue H’cap Peach Of It H’cap Golden Poppy St American Turf St La Troienne St Alysheba St Alcatraz St Texas Stallion St - Stymie Division Texas Stallion St - Got Koko Division Arlington Classic Berkeley St Lone Star Park H’cap Early Times Mint Julep H’cap Black Tie Affair H’cap Lincoln Heritage H’cap Matt Winn St Jefferson Cup Louisiana Showcase Turf Louisiana Showcase Classic Governor’s St Golden Bear S Florence Henderson A J Foyt Kitten’s Joy St Daniel Van Clief St Illinois Owners St Illinois Owners St MN Classic Championship MN Distaff Classic Championship Distorted Humor Kentucky Cup Distaff Bluegrass Cat Kentucky Cup Juvenile Bobbie Bricker Memorial H’cap My Charmer St

USA USA USA UAE USA USA USA USA USA USA USA UAE USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA UAE USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA

Gulfstream Park Gulfstream Park Laurel Park Meydan Aqueduct Golden Gate Fields Laurel Park Fair Grounds Gulfstream Park Aqueduct Sam Houston Race Park Meydan Tampa Bay Downs Gulfstream Park Gulfstream Park Aqueduct Santa Anita Laurel Park Turfway Park Santa Anita Sunland Park Gulfstream Park Gulfstream Park Gulfstream Park Meydan Fair Grounds Fair Grounds Fair Grounds Aqueduct Hawthorne Racecourse Santa Anita Santa Anita Tampa Bay Downs Charles Town Keeneland Oaklawn Park Oaklawn Park Sunland Park Hawthorne Racecourse Keeneland Churchill Downs Churchill Downs Arlington Park Colonial Downs Churchill Downs Churchill Downs SunRay Park Canterbury Colonial Downs Arlington Park Canterbury Arlington Park Beulah Park Charles Town Charles Town

Gulfstream Park Turf H Suwannee River Maryland Racing Media St Balanchine Filly & Mare Stymie H’cap El Camino Real Derby John B. Campbell H’cap Fair Grounds H’cap Fountain Of Youth St Kings Point H’cap Maxxam Gold Cup Jebel Hatta Hillsborough St The Palm Beach S The Herecomesthebride S Excelsior Santa Margarita H’Cap Harrison E. Johnson Memorial St Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes (G3) Santa Ana St Sunland Derby The Gulfstream Oaks The Rampart S Florida Derby Dubai Duty Free Louisiana Derby Mervin H Muniz Jr Memorial New Orleans H Resorts World New York Casino Wood Memorial St Illinois Derby Providencia St Santa Anita Derby The Turf Classic Charles Town Classic Toyota Blue Grass St Oaklawn H Arkansas Derby Sunland Park H Sixty Sails H’cap Ben Ali St Kentucky Oaks Woodford Reserve Turf Classic Arlington Matron The Edward P. Evans All Along Stephen Foster H’cap Regret St San Juan County Commissioners H’cap Blair’s Cove St Virginia Oaks Arlington Oaks Princess Elaine St Pucker Up St Ruff/Kirchberg Memorial St My Sister Pearl A Huevo St

Gr 1 S S S Gr 3 Gr 1

Gr 2 Gr 1 Gr 1 Gr 3 Gr 3 S S S Gr 2 Gr 2 Gr 3 R R Gr 3 Gr 3 Gr 3 S S Gr 3 Gr 3 S S R S S S R R S S Gr 3 R S

31-Mar-12 31-Mar-12 31-Mar-12 01-Apr-12 01-Apr-12 01-Apr-12 06-Apr-12 07-Apr-12 07-Apr-12 07-Apr-12 08-Apr-12 11-Apr-12 12-Apr-12 12-Apr-12 14-Apr-12 20-Apr-12 21-Apr-12 28-Apr-12 28-Apr-12 28-Apr-12 05-May-12 06-May-12 06-May-12 06-May-12 12-May-12 12-May-12 12-May-12 26-May-12 28-May-12 28-May-12 11-Jun-12 16-Jun-12 16-Jun-12 18-Jun-12 18-Jun-12 30-Jun-12 30-Jun-12 11-Jul-12 11-Jul-12 11-Jul-12 11-Jul-12 21-Jul-12 21-Jul-12 11-Aug-12 11-Aug-12 02-Sep-12 02-Sep-12 22-Sep-12 22-Sep-12 24-Nov-12 08-Dec-12

$100,000 $100,000 $300,000 $60,000 $75,000 $50,000 $100,000 $400,000 $75,000 $75,000 $60,000 $300,000 $100,000 $500,000 $200,000 $100,000 $200,000 $50,000 $125,000 $100,000 $75,000 $200,000 $300,000 $300,000 $75,000 $100,000 $100,000 $125,000 $100,000 $300,000 $100,000 $125,000 $125,000 $125,000 $100,000 100000 $100,000 $200,000 $100,000 $84,000 $84,000 $50,000 $50,000 $100,000 $100,000 $50,000 $50,000 $100,000 $100,000 $50,000 $50,000

8.5f (1700m) 4+ FM 4+ F&M 3F 4+ La. Bred 3 La. Bred 3+ C&G 3 3F 4+ FM 3 3+ F&M 3F 4+ F&M 4+ F&M 4+ FM 4+ FM 3 3+ 3+ 3+ FM 3 3 3+ FM 3+ 3 3 CG 3F 3 4+ 3+ 3+ FM 3+ 3+ FM 3 3 3+ 3+ 3 3+ 3+ F&M 3+ 3+ 3+ 3+ 3+ FM 3+ 3+ FM 3+ F&M 2 3+ FM (OH Acc) 3+ F&M

T T D D D D T AWT T T T D D D T AWT AWT T D D T T D D T D D T AWT D T T T D T T D T D T T T T T T D D AWT AWT D AWT

1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700 1700

4+ 4+ F&M 3+ FM NH F&M 4yo+ SH F&M 3yo+ 3+ 3 3+ 4+ 3 3+ (NY Bred) 4+ NH 4yo+ SH 3yo+ 4+ FM 3 3F 3+ 4+ FM 3+ 3 4+ FM 3 3F 4+ F&M 3 NH 4yo+ SH 3yo+ 3 4+ 4+ 3 3 3F 3 4+ 4+ 3 4+ 3 3+ 3+ F&M 4+ 3F 3+ 3+ FM 3+ F&M 3+ 3F 3+ 3+ CG 3F 3F 3+ FM 3F 3+ (OH Acc) 3+ F&M 3+

T T D T D AWT D T D D D T T T T D D D AWT T D D D D T D T D D D T D T D AWT D D D D AWT D T AWT T D T D T T AWT T T D D D

1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800

Visit www.trainermagazine.com/america

78 TRAINERMAGAZINE.com ISSUE 23

Gr 1 Gr 3 Gr 2 Gr 3 Gr 3 Gr 2 S Gr 1 Gr 3 Gr 3 Gr 3 Gr 3 Gr 1 Gr 3 Gr 2 Gr 3 Gr 2 Gr 3 Gr 1 Gr 1 Gr 2 Gr 2 Gr 2 Gr 1 Gr 3 Gr 2 Gr 1 Gr 2 Gr 1 Gr 2 Gr 3 Gr 3 Gr 1 Gr 1 Gr 3 Gr 3 Gr 1 Gr 3 S Gr 3 Gr 3 S Gr 3 R S S

11-Feb-12 11-Feb-12 11-Feb-12 17-Feb-12 18-Feb-12 18-Feb-12 18-Feb-12 25-Feb-12 26-Feb-12 03-Mar-12 03-Mar-12 10-Mar-12 10-Mar-12 11-Mar-12 11-Mar-12 17-Mar-12 17-Mar-12 24-Mar-12 24-Mar-12 25-Mar-12 25-Mar-12 31-Mar-12 31-Mar-12 31-Mar-12 31-Mar-12 01-Apr-12 01-Apr-12 01-Apr-12 07-Apr-12 07-Apr-12 07-Apr-12 07-Apr-12 07-Apr-12 14-Apr-12 14-Apr-12 14-Apr-12 14-Apr-12 15-Apr-12 21-Apr-12 22-Apr-12 06-May-12 07-May-12 26-May-12 16-Jun-12 18-Jun-12 18-Jun-12 26-Jun-12 03-Jul-12 04-Jul-12 21-Jul-12 04-Aug-12 15-Sep-12 10-Nov-12 10-Nov-12 17-Nov-12

$300,000 $150,000 $100,000 $200,000 $75,000 $200,000 $100,000 $125,000 $400,000 $75,000 $150,000 $300,000 $150,000 $150,000 $150,000 $150,000 $300,000 $100,000 $500,000 $150,000 $800,000 $300,000 $150,000 $1,000,000 $5,000,000 $1,000,000 $400,000 $400,000 $1,000,000 $500,000 $150,000 $7,500,000 $75,000 $1,000,000 $750,000 $350,000 $1,000,000 $100,000 $200,000 $150,000 $1,000,000 $500,000 $150,000 $100,000 $500,000 $125,000 $100,000 $50,000 $150,000 $150,000 $50,000 $175,000 $50,000 $50,000 $50,000

8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5

22-Mar-12

24-Mar-12 24-Mar-12

14-Apr-12 26-Apr-12 13-Apr-12 13-Apr-12 13-Apr-12 03-May-12

17-May-12 17-May-12 28-May-12 04-Jun-12 04-Jun-12 09-Jun-12 09-Jun-12

13-Sep-12 13-Sep-12 14-Nov-12 29-Nov-12

9f (1800m) 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9

02-Feb-12 13-Feb-12 09-Feb-12 09-Feb-12

15-Feb-12 05-Mar-12 25-Feb-12

08-Mar-12 15-Mar-12 24-Feb-12 15-Mar-12 01-Mar-12

24-Mar-12 24-Mar-12 24-Mar-12 31-Mar-12

07-Apr-12 13-Apr-12 13-Apr-12 04-Jun-12 04-Jun-12 19-Jun-12

31-Oct-11 31-Oct-12 07-Nov-12

STAKES SCHEDULES NA ISSUE 23_Jerkins feature.qxd 31/01/2012 15:35 Page 8

STAKES SCHEDULES Now available for iPhone/iPad via Appstore USA

Turfway Park

Prairie Bayou St

S

15-Dec-12

9f (1800m)

$50,000

3+

AWT

1800

North American Trainer delivered to your door!

UAE UAE UAE USA UAE USA USA USA USA USA

Meydan Meydan Meydan Gulfstream Park Meydan Colonial Downs Arlington Park Arlington Park Arlington Park Arlington Park

Al Maktoum Challenge Rd 2 UAE Oaks Al Bastakiya The Skip Away S UAE Derby Colonial Turf Cup Modesty H’cap American Derby Beverly D. St Washington Park H’cap

USA USA UAE UAE USA HK USA USA USA USA USA USA

Santa Anita Santa Anita Meydan Meydan Santa Anita Sha Tin Churchill Downs Colonial Downs Arlington Park Arlington Park Arlington Park Arlington Park

San Marcos St Santa Anita H’cap Al Maktoum Challenge Rd 3 Dubai World Cup Santa Barbara H’cap Audemars Piguet QE II Cup Kentucky Derby Virginia Derby Arlington H’cap Arlington Million XXVIII Arlington St Leger St Secretariat Stakes

USA USA

Gulfstream Park Gulfstream Park

The Very One Mac Diarmida

UAE USA USA USA USA UAE USA USA USA

Meydan Santa Anita Gulfstream Park Santa Anita Gulfstream Park Meydan Keeneland Keeneland Churchill Downs

Dubai City of Gold San Luis Rey St Pan American H Toyko City Cup Orchid St Dubai Sheema Classic Grey Goose Bewitch St Elkhorn St Louisville H’cap

Gr 3 Gr 3 L Gr 3 Gr 2 Gr 2 Gr 3 Gr 3 Gr 1 Gr 3

09-Feb-12 23-Feb-12 10-Mar-12 31-Mar-12 31-Mar-12 02-Jun-12 14-Jul-12 14-Jul-12 18-Aug-12 01-Sep-12

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ISSUE 23 TRAINERMAGAZINE.com 79

KIRKPATRICK NA ISSUE 23_Jerkins feature.qxd 31/01/2012 13:54 Page 1

TRIBUTE

ARNOLD KIRKPATRICK

O

F all the stories that Arnold Kirkpatrick loved to tell – from a repertoire that stretched from his days as a college student at Tulane, to his years as managing editor of Thoroughbred Record, and to his days helping Mr. Leslie Combs run mighty Spendthrift Farm – the story that he told most often, with the heartiest of laughs and with that enormous twinkle in his eye, was of the day he finally agreed to marry me.

It was late in the summer of 1998, in Furlongs Restaurant on Main Street in Lexington. There was a table of three women – Anita Madden, Cindy Shoemaker and me – determined to get Arnold to the altar. Arnold and I had been dating for four years and he was perfectly content with the current situation. I had other ideas!

So it happened, over much champagne at Furlongs, that we decided the time had come for Arnold and me to get married. And soon!

We got out my date book, checked the Kentucky football schedule to avoid any conflicts and circled November 21. We, then, called Arnold to join us for a drink. Arnold always claimed he was button-holed by Tommy Walters, the restaurant owner, when he came in: “Watch out, they’ve had five bottles of champagne and a small salad between the three of them.”

“Whatcha doin’?” Arnold asked.

“We’re planning a wedding,” Anita said.

“Great!” he said. “Whose?”

We all chimed at once: “Yours...” I pointed to where I had written on the datebook, “Our Wedding.”

Arnold was dumbstruck. For the first time, I had completely shocked him into silence.

Then, slowly, he reached for his pen, pulled the datebook toward him, and wrote: “I Submit. Arnold H. Kirkpatrick.”

80 TRAINERMAGAZINE.com ISSUE 23

By Julia Kirkpatrick Arnold told that story for years, and he would always end it with this flourish: “Julia hunted me down like Frank Buck tracking a wounded gazelle!”

I do believe I fell for him on our very first date, December 30, 1994 – when I saw him throw his head back in laughter as he spun story after story and amazed me with his incredible wit. I remember him telling me

“I had discovered life with Arnold. He was a figure far larger than life, an embracing presence in both body and mind, an emotional force of nature unto himself – at once funny and bawdy, sweet and serious, playful and compassionate – and he was never less than that in all the years that I knew him” about a column he had written while covering a race in Panama. Arnold realized the winning jockey had used a battery so his headline the following morning read, “The Panamanian Horse Shocked the Crowd with an Electrifying Finish.” I had more fun in one night than I’d ever had in my life. We were at The Coach House in Lexington, and by the end of dinner, with Arnold knowing everyone

who came in the restaurant and diners dropping by to say hello, I’d met more people in three hours than I’d met in the past three months. Many of them were Thoroughbred breeders and horsemen who knew him from his time at Spendthrift, or while President of Latonia, or as an Eclipse Award-winning turf writer.

It was unbelievable to me how Arnold could light up a room and I’d never known anything quite like it. I had discovered life with Arnold. He was a figure far larger than life, an embracing presence in both body and mind, an emotional force of nature unto himself – at once funny and bawdy, sweet and serious, playful and compassionate – and he was never less than that in all the years that I knew him.

One Christmas, a year before we got married, I was watching that old holiday favorite, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and as I watched the end of the movie, it suddenly dawned on me that Arnold was a modern incarnation of the film’s protagonist, George Bailey, who affected more lives than he ever knew, and not just limited to his children and grandchildren.

One thing that struck me in the first few years we were together was the extraordinary reach of Arnold’s love and affection for people, no matter their station in life. I still remember the day he told me about Jeff, a homeless man who had wandered into his office looking for help. After many visits from Jeff, Arnold decided to make him “Chief of Security” for Kirkpatrick & Co., Arnold’s real estate firm.

The job paid him for making sure the offices were secure. He told me he thought Jeff would feel better about money earned, rather than by money gifted.

Arnold served on countless charities – he particularly loved the The Hope Center, Virginia’s Place, The Center for Women in Racing, and the Kentucky Equine Humane

ISSUE 23 INSIDE COVERS_Layout 1 31/01/2012 13:40 Page 1

ARNOLD KIRKPATRICK

Center – and touched as many lives, human and equine, as anyone in Lexington.

Arnold was such a gift. He was George Bailey. When I told Arnold that, he merely laughed. “You’re crazy,” he said. “I’m glad you’re crazy, but you’re crazy.”

This became a running joke between us.

Every time he would do something kind for someone – help someone in distress, listen to someone’s problems, perform some charitable work – I’d say to him, “That’s my George Bailey!”

I remember one time that he took a couple around Lexington. They were looking for a farm to buy so they could get into the Thoroughbred breeding business. He also knew that their ambitions outran their means to fulfill them, and very gently, very quietly, he

discouraged them. I remember thinking: They want to buy a farm. You sell farms. So what’s the problem? He told me: “They’re in over their heads. It’s not in their best interests.”

How many salesmen would do a thing like that?

Arnold loved people. Material gain was never his driving force. He was the Johnny Appleseed of human joy, everywhere spreading and sowing his seeds of merriment.

To me, he was a Renaissance man in a modern time, a lover of reading and poetry and all good music, from Neil Diamond to Placido Domingo, and the very best chef and master of the grill I ever knew. I can still see him today, sitting on the back patio, grilling even in the dead of winter, looking out across those broad fields of Kentucky that

he loved so much and sipping from his glass of Extra Old Rum. I will always treasure the present he made for me one anniversary years ago. He had found my old date book, the one on which I had written the date of our wedding-to-be in Furlongs, and he framed the page to celebrate the occasion when I hunted him down like a wounded gazelle. Oh yes, a week before he died, he gave me a dozen roses and a card that said, “Thank you for forcing me to marry you.”

And to you my dear sweet Arnold, I love you with all of my heart and I thank you for giving me, your children Joyce, Sara, and Haden, grandchildren Lucy Jane, Elnora, Anna, and Caroline, and so many others “A Wonderful Life.”

ISSUE 23 OUTSIDE COVERS3_Layout 1 31/01/2012 13:41 Page 1

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ISSUE 23 INSIDE COVERS_Layout 1 31/01/2012 13:40 Page 1

ARNOLD KIRKPATRICK

Center – and touched as many lives, human and equine, as anyone in Lexington.

Arnold was such a gift. He was George Bailey. When I told Arnold that, he merely laughed. “You’re crazy,” he said. “I’m glad you’re crazy, but you’re crazy.”

This became a running joke between us.

Every time he would do something kind for someone – help someone in distress, listen to someone’s problems, perform some charitable work – I’d say to him, “That’s my George Bailey!”

I remember one time that he took a couple around Lexington. They were looking for a farm to buy so they could get into the Thoroughbred breeding business. He also knew that their ambitions outran their means to fulfill them, and very gently, very quietly, he

discouraged them. I remember thinking: They want to buy a farm. You sell farms. So what’s the problem? He told me: “They’re in over their heads. It’s not in their best interests.”

How many salesmen would do a thing like that?

Arnold loved people. Material gain was never his driving force. He was the Johnny Appleseed of human joy, everywhere spreading and sowing his seeds of merriment.

To me, he was a Renaissance man in a modern time, a lover of reading and poetry and all good music, from Neil Diamond to Placido Domingo, and the very best chef and master of the grill I ever knew. I can still see him today, sitting on the back patio, grilling even in the dead of winter, looking out across those broad fields of Kentucky that

he loved so much and sipping from his glass of Extra Old Rum. I will always treasure the present he made for me one anniversary years ago. He had found my old date book, the one on which I had written the date of our wedding-to-be in Furlongs, and he framed the page to celebrate the occasion when I hunted him down like a wounded gazelle. Oh yes, a week before he died, he gave me a dozen roses and a card that said, “Thank you for forcing me to marry you.”

And to you my dear sweet Arnold, I love you with all of my heart and I thank you for giving me, your children Joyce, Sara, and Haden, grandchildren Lucy Jane, Elnora, Anna, and Caroline, and so many others “A Wonderful Life.”