American Racehorse - November/December 2016

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In this Issue:

CHARISMATIC COMES HOME SOCIAL MEDIA FOR HORSEMEN NEW STALLIONS FOR 2017

A Division of Center Hills Farm

OKLAHOMA CLASSICS CONNECTIONS

Dustin Orona Photography

Look at how well the Oklahoma-breds connected to Mighty Acres and Center Hills Farm performed during the Oklahoma Classics on October 21 at Remington Park: Phantom Trip, bred

by Center Hills Farm and foaled, raised and sales prepped at Mighty Acres, wins the $169,250 Oklahoma Classics Cup.

Filly and Mare Starter Allowance Stakes 1st • Connors Gal • Sired by Toccet u 3rd • Kip Debut • Sired by Kipling Distaff Sprint Stakes 2nd • Devious Rumor • Foaled, raised and sales prepped at Mighty Acres

Distaff Stakes 2nd • Mimi’s Money • Sired by Save Big Money • Bred by Center Hills Farm • Foaled, raised and sales prepped at Mighty Acres Distaff Turf Stakes 1st • Gianna’s Dream • Bred by Center Hills Farm and Randy Blair • Foaled, raised and sales prepped at Mighty Acres Sprint Stakes 2nd • Welder • Sired by The Visualiser • Bred by Center Hills Farm • Foaled and raised at Mighty Acres 5th • Pure Chrome • Sired by Kipling • Foaled at Mighty Acres Lassie Stakes 3rd • Natalie’s Mischief • Foaled and raised at Mighty Acres 5th • Cuando Again • Bred by Center Hills Farm • Foaled, raised and sales prepped at Mighty Acres

Classics Cup Stakes 1st • Phantom Trip • Bred by Center Hills Farm • Foaled, raised and sales prepped at Mighty Acres 3rd • Gospel Abe • Sired by Kipling • Bred by Center Hills Farm • Foaled, raised and sales prepped at Mighty Acres Turf Stakes 1st • Runandyrun • Foaled at Mighty Acres

2017 STALLION ROSTER

KIPLING • POLLARD’S VISION • SAVE BIG MONEY • THE VISUALISER New for 2017: DEN’S LEGACY • MR. NIGHTLINGER

All stallions are nominated to the Oklahoma Bred Program, Oklahoma Stallion Stakes and Iowa Stallion Stakes

Mighty Acres

675 W. 470 Rd. • Pryor, Oklahoma 74361 Phone: 918-825-4256 • Fax: 918-825-4255 Randy Blair: 918-271-2266 www.mightyacres.com

Ashley Mueller

Coady Photography

CHECK OUT THE TEXAS SIRE POWER AT VALOR FARM!

TOO MUCH BLING’s daughter BLING ON THE MUSIC sold for $95,000 at the Texas 2YO Sale and has already earned more than $150,000!

TEXAS CHROME-G3, by GRASSHOPPER, was purchased for $10,000 at the Texas yearling sale and has already won two G3 stakes and $842,462!

• TOO MUCH BLING leads all Texas sires in 2016 by stakes winners (six) and earnings ($1.47 million through mid-November), including MSW and G2-placed BLING ON THE MUSIC ($153,082) and IMMA WILD BLING, winner of the My Dandy division of the Clarence Scharbauer Jr. Texas Stallion Stakes by 5 1/4 lengths in just his third career start.

• GRASSHOPPER sires two-time G3 winner and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) runner TEXAS CHROME ($842,462).

• CONGAREE surpasses the $17 million mark in lifetime progeny earnings as one of the most prolific stallions ever to stand in Texas.

• MY GOLDEN SONG, already the sire of two Texas-bred Graded Stakes winners, adds two more stakes winners to his record.

• EARLY FLYER sires two more stakes winners to run his lifetime number to 20 with BRAVURA (2 stakes wins during the Sam Houston meet) and CATTLE COMPANY, an easy winner of the Colorado Derby.

• CROSSBOW’s first runners hit the track and he tops the Texas freshman sire list.

• STONESIDER, a leading stallion with $1.6 million average earnings per year in NY, comes to Valor Farm.

TOO MUCH BLING • MY GOLDEN SONG • GRASSHOPPER • CONGAREE EARLY FLYER • STONESIDER • CROSSBOW • JET PHONE Douglas Scharbauer Ken Carson, General Manager Donny Denton, Farm Manager • David Unnerstall, Attending Veterinarian Post Office Box 966 • Pilot Point, Texas 76258 (940) 686-5552 • Fax (940) 686-2179 www.valorfarm.com • www.facebook.com/valor.farm AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 1

ABOUT AMERICAN RACEHORSE

American Racehorse (formerly Southern Racehorse) covers Thoroughbred racing and breeding in the Southwest, Midwest and Midsouth regions. The magazine is mailed to all members of the following associations: • Alabama Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association • Arkansas Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Horsemen’s Association • Colorado Thoroughbred Breeders Association • Georgia Horse Racing Coalition • Indiana Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association • Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association • Michigan Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association • Minnesota Thoroughbred Association • North Carolina Thoroughbred Association • Thoroughbred Racing Association of Oklahoma • South Carolina Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association • Texas Thoroughbred Association • Plus hundreds of Louisiana horsemen.

For more information or to inquire about advertising, contact Denis Blake at (512) 695-4541 or visit www.americanracehorse.com.

CONNECT WITH AMERICAN RACEHORSE HHH

Online: www.americanracehorse.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/americanracehorse Twitter: @AmerRacehorse Email: info@americanracehorse.com Phone/Text: (512) 695-4541 • Fax: (512) 870-9324

Published by Pangaea Enterprises LLC d/b/a American Racehorse American Racehorse P.O. Box 8645 • Round Rock, TX 78683

Contributors Jennie Rees

Senior Art Director Amie Rittler • arittler3@gmail.com

Photographers Bob Dunn/Winner’s Circle Custom Photography Rick Capone Kelley Carlson Coady Photography Horsephotos.com Barbara D. Livingston Linscott Photography Suzie Oldham Dustin Orona Photography Jennie Rees

Graphic Designer Julie Kennedy • julie@digitalcitydesigns.com

Cover Photo Horsephotos.com

Physical Address American Racehorse 1341 Meadowild Drive • Round Rock, TX 78664 Editor/Publisher Denis Blake • info@americanracehorse.com

Copyeditor Judy L. Marchman

Copyright © 2016 American Racehorse All rights reserved. Articles may not be reprinted without permission. American Racehorse reserves the right to refuse any advertising or copy for any reason. American Racehorse makes a reasonable attempt to ensure that advertising claims are truthful but assumes no responsibility for the truth and accuracy of ads.

2 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

WHAT’S INSIDE

American RACEHORSE

November/ December 2016

17

Charismatic returns from Japan

Departments Editor’s Letter 4 Fast Furlongs 10 State Association News

42

The Marketplace Classifieds

50

Features

23

How technology can help horsemen

Charismatic Comes Home Dual classic winner and Horse of the Year returns to the U.S., will reside at Old Friends thanks to former owner and Tito’s Vodka

17

The (Horse) Power of Social Media Marketing and promotion do not have to be dirty words to horsemen

23

Stallion Spotlight The 2017 breeding season ushers in plenty of new and relocated stallions for the Midwest and Southwest

30

Autumn Action 38 A recap of black-type events in September and October

30 Meet the new stallions for 2017

AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 3

Courtesy John Baker

EDITOR’S LETTER

This photo submitted by reader John Baker shows his late father Scott Baker aboard the tough Nebraska-bred mare Orphan Kist while upsetting the equally tough Nebraska-bred gelding Who Doctor Who and jockey Tommy Greer. Trained by Linda Davidson for breeders and owners Jane and Michael Moreland, the Fort Prevel mare won 28 of 100 career starts and banked more than $600,000. Orphan Kist retired as the all-time leading Nebraska-bred distaffer, while Who Doctor Who did the same as the state’s top male horse.

One of the drawbacks of a print publication is that it’s sometimes difficult to tell what readers think of it, whereas with a website, blog or social media posting, you can get almost instant feedback. With this magazine, I am often pleased to hear some very positive comments when I’m out and about at the races, sales or industry events around the region, but it’s rather uncommon that I get comments on a specific article. That’s where the article in our last issue about Ak-Sar-Ben was different, as I received numerous comments, phone calls and emails commending J. Keeler Johnson on his thorough look back at the importance of the Nebraska track.

We had a few photos that didn’t quite fit with the Ak-Sar-Ben feature, but I thought some of you would enjoy seeing those, so you’ll find them here along with an excellent letter with some more Ak-Sar-Ben memories that likely echo similar ones from other readers.

For the many of you who enjoyed that article, the good news is that we are planning similar pieces about Centennial Race Track in Colorado and Detroit Race Course in Michigan, along with possibly others down the road.

If you have any memories to share from those tracks, or if you never got a chance to send in your recollections of Ak-Sar-Ben, please feel free to email us at info@americanracehorse.com. And of course, we welcome any other comments (even the negative ones) about anything else related to the magazine.

4 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

Bob Dunn/Winner’s Circle Custom Photography

After Ak-Sar-Ben closed for live racing in 1995, Nebraska racing began to struggle even more without a marquee track in the state. Racing did continue, and still does today, with several meets across the state, including at Columbus, where longtime Nebraska track photographer Bob Dunn captured this amazing shot.

Sincerely, Denis Blake, Editor/Publisher

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Thanks for the Memories

I applaud your new format and very much enjoyed J. Keeler Johnson’s article on Ak-Sar-Ben in the September/October issue. I was already a racing fan when I moved to central Iowa in the fall of 1969, having cut my handicapping teeth the previous few years at Thistledown in Cleveland, Ohio, where sometimes in late summer the strange abbreviation “Aks” would begin to appear in some past performance lines. After a little research, I learned that it stood for Ak-Sar-Ben, which was way out west in Nebraska and which was home to a horse named Vale of Tears, who at the time held the world record for six furlongs in a blazing 1:07 2/5.

I’ve still not forgotten the first time I made the 2 1/2-hour drive from my new home in Iowa to Omaha for the races in the spring of 1970. I recall following the stream of traffic into a parking lot and emerging from my car wondering where the track was until I realized I was a standing in the middle of it!

But I have to take issue with your comment in your Editor’s Letter that there was nothing notable about the structure of the track. It was the only track I know of then or since with the practical efficiency (if not the aesthetic judgment) to use the infield as a parking lot. Tunnels underneath the track led to the entrance. Ak-Sar-Ben was also notable for the 3,000 (I believe) seat indoor arena that was attached to the grandstand. It was used year-round for rodeos and such, but on a hot day patrons could find a free seat there and watch the races in air-conditioned comfort on a theater-sized screen. It was a grainy, black-and-white picture, but this was long before the days of toteboard video screens and race replays. I remember, too, an underground concourse that ran the length of the grandstand and contained a restaurant, a couple of bars and some cavernous restrooms.

Ak-Sar-Ben was also one of the few “family-friendly” racetracks in that era and featured a supervised daycare area for small children near the paddock, known as the “Junior Jockey Club.” That first spring, though he was past his prime by then, I had the privilege of watching Vale of Tears run, ridden by his regular jockey and Ak-SarBen’s leading rider L.J. Durousseau. I remember sending the race chart to one of my old handicapping buddies back in Cleveland and telling him, “You wouldn’t believe what a great place this is!”

Thanks to Ameri- Who Doctor Who was a popu lar horse across can Racehorse and the Midwest, but fans in his hom e state Mr. Johnson for the embraced him as a hero, often wearing T-shirts nice memories! and hats bearing the name of

Courtesy Chris Kotulak

the Doctor Stat gelding. The Herb Riecken trainee raced until Todd Lieber, Iowa the age of 9 and won 33 of 64 starts with earnings of $813,870.

This photo provides a unique look back at the fashion style of the 1970s with three women who are believed to be a few of the “seating hostesses” at the track. They would have been in demand as the track often eclipsed the 25,000 mark in attendance during that decade.

AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 5

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Illegal DopIng Meets Its Match trainers praise natural alternative By: Mark hansen

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Happy Holidays from Our Family to Yours!

Asmussen Horse Center and El Primero Training Center would like to thank all of our clients for a successful 2016, and we are looking forward to another big year in 2017!

Keith and Marilyn Asmussen Cash and family

Steve and family

Keith Asmussen, 956-763-8907

Dr. Steve Velasco, veterinarian • Dee Martinez, office manager, 956-763-7594 P.O. Box 1861 • Laredo, TX 78044 • Phone: 956-723-5436 • Fax: 956-723-5845 Email: kaasmussen@aol.com • Website: www.asmussens.com

AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 9

fastfurlongs Texas Chrome Rides Two Grade 3 Wins to the Breeders’ Cup Texas Chrome carried the hopes and dreams of Texas, Oklahoma and In the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, Texas Chrome Colorado into the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Santa Anita stalked the early leaders for a half-mile and then faded to finish last in Park on November 4, and although the 3-year-old colt came up short the field of nine. in his quest to become the first Texas-bred to win during horse racing’s “It’s been a great experience, and we’re just proud to be able to bring marquee event, the son of Grasshopper still had one of the best seasons him here,” Caldwell said after the Breeders’ Cup, which was the first of any horse based in the Southwest region. for the trainer as well as for Keene and McMahon. “We will go over The two biggest wins of Texas Chrome’s campaign were spaced just him completely again when he arrives home [at Remington Park] and 15 days apart, as he captured the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby monitor him…We’ll let him catch up and then plan a 4-year-old camat Remington Park on Septempaign for him. His next start will ber 25 after taking the Grade probably be at Oaklawn.”

3, $392,000 Super Derby at Texas Chrome debuted as a Harrah’s Louisiana Downs on 2-year-old at Lone Star Park, September 10. where he broke his maiden at In the richest race of the meet first asking and then took the at Remington, Texas Chrome TTA Sales Futurity (now the and jockey C.J. McMahon were Texas Thoroughbred Futurity). in contention going three-wide From there, he shipped to Arapat the top of the stretch but had ahoe Park in Colorado and won to find racing room in order to the Gold Rush Futurity. He reach the finish line first. Mcbecame just the second horse Mahon guided the Texas-bred ever to race in Colorado and to the inside to challenge the Breeders’ Cup, joining 2011 Sticksstatelydude, and they Gold Rush winner Chips All In, went by that runner despite bewho ran in the 2013 Breeders’ ing in relatively tight quarters Cup Turf Sprint.

Kelley Carlson along the rail, causing track anBred by Craig Upham, Texas Texas Chrome gallops out after the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at nouncer Dale Day to proclaim Santa Anita Park.

Chrome is the leading runner “he’s all heart, and he wins the Oklahoma Derby!”

by Texas stallion Grasshopper, who formerly stood at Lane’s End Texas Texas Chrome covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.94 and gave owner and then relocated to Valor Farm near Pilot Point for the 2017 breeding Danny Keene and trainer J.R. Caldwell the impetus to try him against season. Texas Chrome sold for a bargain price of $10,000 at the 2014 the best horses in the world.

Texas Summer Yearling Sale from the consignment of Stoneview Farm, “I know the horse has plenty of heart,” said Keene, who lives in which is owned by Upham and his wife, Sue Dowling.

Greeneville, Texas, and campaigns his horses as Keene Thoroughbreds Texas Chrome ended his 3-year-old campaign with four wins, a LLC. “That’s why he runs like he does. I’ve been telling everybody that, second and two thirds from eight starts with earnings of $660,245. but they don’t believe me. He’s got heart. I was really worried when His overall record now stands at 14-8-1-3 with a bankroll of he was coming down the stretch and he was squeezed in there. I can’t $842,807, putting him in position to become just the second believe he got through there to start with. He’s not a quitter. A lot of Texas-bred millionaire in history and chase all-time leading earner Groovy ($1,346,956). horses will quit.”

10 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

Coady Photography

Texas Champion Promise Me Silver Retired, Sold at Keeneland

Promise Me Silver winning the Grade 3 Eight Belles Stakes at Churchill Downs Promise Me Silver, a graded stakes winner and two-time Texas Champion, has been retired from racing and was sold at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale for $325,000 to Adena Springs Farm from

the consignment of Taylor Made Sales Agency.

A homebred running for Robert and Myrna Luttrell, the daughter of former Valor Farm stallion Silver City won 10 of 14 starts and banked $486,681. Named the Texas Champion 2-Year-Old Filly in 2014 and Texas Champion 3-Year-Old Filly in 2015, the Bret Calhoun trainee began her career with eight straight victories, including seven against stakes foes. Most of her success came against open company with stakes wins at Oaklawn and Fair Grounds and two at Churchill Downs, highlighted by the Grade 3 Eight Belles Stakes on the undercard of the Kentucky Oaks. She also had plenty of success in her home state with stakes victories at Retama Park, Sam Houston Race Park and Lone Star Park. Fittingly, her last victory came at Lone Star in this year’s Valor Farm Stakes, named for the farm near Pilot Point, Texas, where she was bred and foaled.

“Her two biggest attributes were her class and heart,” Calhoun told Mary Rampellini of Daily Racing Form. “She just had a lot of class about her. She won her first eight races, and you think about it, she won over six different tracks. For her to handle all that mentally and physically, you don’t see that much. She had troubled trips from time to time, as all horses do, and she just overcame it. She had that will to win.”

AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 11

fF Coady Photography

Sweet Posse Gives Trainer Donnie Von Hemel his 1,000th Victory at Remington Park Donnie Von Hemel, Remington Park’s alltime leading trainer, earned his 1,000th career win in Oklahoma City on October 13 when Sweet Posse battled to win a maiden special weight race by a nose.

Von Hemel came into the Remington Park season with 986 local wins, needing 14 to reach the milestone. He picked up No. 999 on October 7 and had to wait three more racing Donnie Von Hemel has days to gain No. 1,000. Owned by The Elktrained more than 2,100 winners, with nearly half stone Group, Sweet Posse was ridden by Jareth coming at Remington Park. Loveberry.

Von Hemel was not in attendance for the milestone but acknowledged it via the Von Hemel Racing account on Twitter after the win: “Thanks to all of the staff at the barn, the great owners, wonderful horses, the many fine jockeys, Remington Park and the horse community in Oklahoma.”

Bred in Oklahoma by Tracy Strachan, Sweet Posse is by Caleb’s Posse from the Blushing John mare Plenty Sweet. Von Hemel also trained Caleb’s Posse, who won the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile in 2011, a year after winning the Clever Trevor Stakes at Remington Park when he was a 2-year-old.

In addition to Caleb’s Posse, Von Hemel’s top charges at Remington Park include Clever Trevor, Mr. Ross, Going Ballistic, Alternation, She’s All In, Peach Brew, Marq French and Suddenbreakingnews, among a long list of stakes winners. Von Hemel has won the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby three times—the most of any trainer—with Clever Trevor (1989), Queen’s Gray Bee (1991) and Going Ballistic (2007).

Von Hemel has won the Remington Park training title 12 times, more than any other trainer. A member of the Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame at Remington Park, he trains his horses primarily at Oaklawn Park and Churchill Downs prior to Remington Park’s Thoroughbred season opening in August.

Take advantage of the Arkansas-bred program! ● Breeder awards for 2015 paid 15% on money earned in North America.

Stallions for 2017 ● DOUBLE IRISH – By TAPIT out of graded stakes winner of $423,000

● Maiden special weight purses for Arkansas-breds are $72,000 at Oaklawn Park in 2017.

● LAURIE’S ROCKET – Multiple graded stakes-placed and stakes winner of $515,000 by BLUEGRASS CAT

● Foal your mare in Arkansas and breed back to an Arkansas stallion, and you’ve got an Arkansas-bred.

● JUST A COINCIDENCE – A Grade 1-placed and six-time winner by FORESTRY out of a FORTY NINER mare

● McDowell Farm’s Arkansas-breds have earned $800,000 in 2016. ● 30 years of experience foaling and breeding Thoroughbreds.

Rates: Long-term board: $16 and $18 for pairs

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$1,000 live foal on all stud fees

Short-term board: $18 and $20 for pairs

McDowell Farm

Bill and Mary McDowell 623 Palmetto Rd. Sparkman, AR 71763 Phone: 870-366-4377 ● Cell: 870-403-1781 12 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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Foaling fee: $350

Heritage Place Thoroughbred Sale Records Increase in Yearling Average Heritage Place held its fifth annual Thoroughbred Yearling and Mixed Sale in Oklahoma City on October 9. The yearling session saw a 22 percent increase in average compared to last year, and the gross dollars for the sale were almost even with the prior year’s numbers.

In the yearling and mixed sale session, 73 of 96 offered sold for a total of $226,850 and an average of $3,108. That represents a slight increase from last year’s average of $3,025 when 84 of 107 head sold for $254,100.

As usual, the highest prices came during the yearling session, topped by an Oklahoma-bred colt by young Kentucky stallion Astrology. Al and Bill Ulwelling purchased the colt for $18,000 from the consignment of Rusty Roberts, agent. The March foal is out of the Vanlandingham mare

Diamond Ruth, who has produced two stakes winners.

The highest-priced filly, a daughter of former Oklahoma stallion Omega Code, sold for $16,000 to David Foster from Brewster Ranch, agent for Clark Brewster. The Oklahoma-bred is out of the stakes-winning and graded stakes-placed Wild Again mare Tuff Chick.

The average for the yearling session was $5,075, up 22.7 percent from last year’s yearling average of $4,137.

Heritage Place would like to thank the consignors and buyers for their participation in the fifth annual sale and wish everyone success with their purchases. The sale company will begin planning for next year’s sale and explore all ideas to help grow this event.

For complete results, visit heritageplace.com.

Equine Sales Company Enjoys Strong Yearling Sale Season While the yearling sale market experienced some struggles on a nationwide basis, the market in Louisiana and around the surrounding region remained strong based on the results of two auctions held by Equine Sales Company in Opelousas.

The September 7 Consignor Select Yearling Sale recorded significant gains over last year with an all-time record price for a yearling at the sale.

All told, 139 of 208 head sold for $1,510,400 with an average of $10,866 and a median of $5,500.

Gross sales were up 41.5 percent from last year’s gross of $1,060,600, the average jumped 24 percent from $8,765 and the median increased 37.5 percent from $4,000. Buybacks were 33.2 percent this year compared to 31.6 percent last year.

This marked the first unified yearling sale held by Equine Sales Company together with the Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association, which had previously conducted its own yearling sale as the Breeders Sales Company of Louisiana.

Eddie Woods’ Quarter Pole Enterprises LLC made the two largest purchases, topped by a bay colt by Into Mischief who brought $145,000. That was the highest price for a yearling at the sale since Equine Sales Company started in 2012. Bred and consigned by Clear Creek Stud LLC, agent, the Louisiana-bred is out of the stakes-placed and stakes-producing Capote mare Mystery at Sea. The second-highest price, and top-selling filly, was a Louisiana-bred daughter of Overanalyze who sold to Woods for $60,000 from the consignment of breeder 4M Ranch, agent.

“I thought we had a good sale, especially considering the current national market,” said Foster Bridewell, sales director for Equine Sales Company. “By teaming with the LTBA to present a unified sale, we were able to increase the average, median and gross sales from last year. The consignors did their part by bringing quality horses to the sale, and the buyers responded to that.”

At the Open Yearling and Mixed Sale on October 16, a colt from the first crop of Grade 1 winner Justin Phillip brought $22,000 to top the auction. Consigned by Select Sales, agent, and purchased by Scott Gelner, the sale-topper is a Louisiana-bred yearling out of the stakes-placed A. P Jet mare Jet’s Tradition.

A total of 114 head sold from 181 offered for $305,000. The average was $2,675 with a median of $1,550. Those numbers were off from last year’s auction when 127 of 190 sold for $414,700 with an average of $3,265 and median of $1,400.

“After setting a record yearling price in our select yearling sale in September and also posting big increases in gross sales, average and median, it’s not surprising that the numbers for this auction were down a little,” Bridewell said. “We had a mare in foal to Uncle Mo last year that brought $55,000 and another mare go for $48,000, so that kind of skewed the average for that auction. When you discount those, we were pretty much on par with that sale.”

Next up for Equine Sales Company is the 2-year-olds in training sale next year on May 9 with the breeze show on May 7.

AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 13

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Sam Houston Announces 2017 Stakes Schedule Sam Houston Race Park has announced its 2017 stakes schedule after approval of a 32-day Thoroughbred meet by the Texas Racing Commission.

The slate of stakes will offer nearly $2 million in purses and begins with the traditional Texas Champions Weekend, featuring the best Texas-breds competing over two days in seven divisions. Friday, January 20, will feature the fillies and mares in three $50,000 stakes: the San Jacinto Turf, Yellow Rose and Bara Lass. Colts and geldings will be featured the next night with four $50,000 stakes: the Star of Texas Stakes, Richard King Turf, Spirit of Texas and Groovy.

The Houston Racing Festival, scheduled for January 29, will again be anchored by the Grade 3, $400,000 Houston Ladies Classic. New for 2017, the purse for the John B. Connally Turf Cup (G3) has been boosted $50,000 to $250,000. Rounding out the richest day in Texas Thoroughbred racing will be the $75,000 Frontier Utilities Turf Sprint, $50,000 Space City Stakes and a new fifth stakes, the $50,000 Houston Distaff, which has historically been run later in the meet.

“The most exciting change in 2017 is our decision to move the richest day in Texas racing to Sunday, January 29, beginning at 12 noon,” said

Sam Houston Race Park President Andrea B. Young. “We made the call to move this traditional Saturday evening affair to Sunday and create a one-of-a-kind daytime event to showcase the best of Thoroughbred racing and pageantry along with the best our chefs and mixologists have to offer. Our goal is to create a unique special event unlike anything else offered in Houston or even Texas.”

Stakes are carded most weekends during the remainder of the meet with the $50,000 Sam Houston Sprint Cup and $50,000 Houston Turf Stakes on February 11 and two $75,000 divisions of the Clarence Scharbauer Jr. Texas Stallions Stakes on February 18. The MAXXAM Gold Cup Racing Festival will take place February 25 and will feature the $100,000 MAXXAM Gold Cup, $50,000 Jersey Lilly Turf Stakes, $50,000 Bucharest Turf Sprint and $50,000 Texas Heritage Stakes.

Friday and Saturday post times for the 2017 Thoroughbred meet will be 7 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively. Lunchtime racing will continue every Monday and Tuesday afternoon with a 12 noon post time. The Houston Racing Festival will take place on the only Sunday of the meet.

For a complete stakes schedule, go to shrp.com.

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Texas-bred Arabian Paddys Day Wins Emirates Cup at Churchill Downs with Calvin Borel Up

Arabian Paddys Day and jockey Calvin Borel For the fourth time since 2011, a race for purebred Arabian horses—one of the world’s oldest breeds of equines—was held at Churchill Downs, and the winner this year was a Texas-bred named Paddys Day who has raced at all three Class 1 tracks in the Lone Star State and is the reigning American Arabian Racing Horse of the Year. Owned by Quarter Moon Ranch LLC and trained by Scott Powell, the 5-year-old horse was ridden by top Thoroughbred jockey Calvin Borel on September 24 in the

Grade 1, $100,000 President of the United Arab Emirates Cup, sponsored by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council.

Paddys Day, who was bred by Jane Teutsch, won by 8 ¼ lengths and clocked 1 1/16 miles in 1:53.49. The Texas-bred won for the 16th time in 23 starts and the $61,752 winner’s share jumped the son of Burning Sand’s earnings to $317,075.

The 3-5 betting choice in the field of nine could be on his way to a repeat Horse of the Year title. This was his third Grade 1 win of the year after successful runs in the $48,000 HH Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup at Sam Houston Race Park and the $51,000 Delaware Park Arabian Classic Handicap. In addition to his stakes win this year at Sam Houston, he’s recorded stakes victories in Texas at Lone Star Park and Retama Park and in Colorado at Arapahoe Park.

“He’s like a little Thoroughbred,” said Borel, who recently returned to the saddle after a short retirement. “Every time I asked him, he put me in a spot. He’s very athletic and does everything like a Thoroughbred does.

He ran a good race. He didn’t break as sharp as I thought he would. Once I found a hole, I just picked my spot and he took off. I’m just happy to be back. I’ve won a few races this week so it’s back to rolling so everything’s going good.”

Paddys Day went on to run eighth in the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Joe Rocco Jr. rode the Texas-bred in that race, which offered a purse of $1.2 million Euros, or approximately $1.34 million.

For more racing and breeding news, go to AmericanRacehorse.com Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale to Return in 2017 The Texas Thoroughbred Association has announced that it will hold its second Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale on April 4, 2017, at Lone Star Park. The under tack show will be April 2, also at Lone Star. Entries for the sale will close January 16.

The TTA, in partnership with Lone Star Park, held its first 2-yearold sale in April, taking over the auction from Fasig-Tipton. This year’s sale posted an average of $18,515 and a buyback rate of 19.7 percent, both significant improvements over the last Fasig-Tipton juvenile sale in 2015. As was the case this year, graduates of the 2017 sale will be eligible for the Texas Thoroughbred Futurity to be run in two divisions at $100,000-estimated apiece at Lone Star. The sale will again be managed

by Tim Boyce.

The 2016 2-year-old sale has already produced three stakes winners from 53 head sold, highlighted by Bling on the Music, a Texas-bred daughter of Too Much Bling who topped the sale at $95,000 and has recorded two stakes wins and a placing in the Grade 2 Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs with earnings of $153,082.

“The results of our first 2-year-old sale, and our first yearling and mixed sale in August, have shown that Texas and the surrounding region can support a strong auction market for both buyers and sellers,” said Mary Ruyle, executive director of the TTA. “With the experience of those auctions and more time to market the 2-year-old sale, we expect to grow both TTA sales in 2017.”

For more information, go to ttasales.com.

AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 15

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Dual classic winner and Horse of the Year returns to the U.S., will reside at Old Friends thanks to former owner and Tito’s Vodka

Horsephotos.com

Charismatic (center) captured the attention of the racing world with a victory in the Kentucky Derby at odds of 31-1.

ld Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Center in Georgetown, Kentucky, has announced that Charismatic, the 1999 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner and Horse of the Year, is coming home.

The 20-year-old stallion is returning to the United States from the JBBA Shizunai Stallion Station in Japan, where he has stood since 2002, and will be pensioned at Old Friends.

His journey is being sponsored in large part by a gift from his former owners through the Robert and Beverly Lewis Family Foundation and also from Austin, Texas-based Tito’s Handmade Vodka.

This marks the third Kentucky Derby winner to be repatriated from Japan by Old Friends. In 2014 the farm welcomed 1997 champion Silver Charm (also owned by the Lewis family) and the following year, War Emblem, winner of the 2002 Derby. With the arrival of Charismatic, Old Friends will become one of the only farms in the country to be home to three Derby champions.

“This is yet another dream come true,” said Old Friends founder and President Michael Blowen. “Charismatic holds such special memories for so many racing fans, so it’s particularly meaningful to be able to bring him home.

“We’d like to thank the people at Narvick International, Megumi Igarashi and the JBBA’s Kaori Matsuda for keeping us apprised of his career in Japan all these years and for making all of the arrangements for his trip,” Blowen added. “And, of

course, we are eternally grateful to the Lewis family for their unmatched generosity and to everyone at Tito’s Vodka for helping us make this happen.”

“My family and I are so pleased to learn that our Horse of the Year Charismatic will be returning from Japan and will be joining our beloved Silver Charm at Old Friends,” said Beverly Lewis, who campaigned the horse with her late husband, Robert. “Charismatic’s star shone very brightly, though only for a few weeks in 1999, when he won the Derby, the Preakness, and took a shot at Triple Crown immortality. Unfortunately, he was injured in that last race and was never able to run again, but now we are all looking forward to visiting him when he arrives!”

“Tito’s Handmade Vodka has been a staunch supporter of equine charities, and animal charities in general are near and dear to Tito’s heart,” said Eric Barlund, a VP of Sales for Tito’s.

“We are ecstatic that we are able to participate in bringing horse racing stars like Charismatic back home where they can be revered by the public and help raise awareness for the cause.”

Bred in Kentucky by Parrish Hill Farm and William S. Farish and trained by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, Charismatic had a career that was nothing short of a Cinderella story.

Debuting as a 2-year-old in Southern California, the son of Summer Squall finished last in two of his first three starts and didn’t find the winner’s circle until he was dropped into a $62,500 maiden claiming contest in his sixth outing of the season.

AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 17

Popular Louisiana Stallion Ide Pensioned to Old Friends Ide, a perennial leading sire in Louisiana since coming to that state for the 2003 breeding season, has been pensioned and will join Kentucky Derby winner Charismatic and more than 165 other retired racehorses at Old Friends in Kentucky where a place has been reserved for the 24-year-old chestnut son of Forty Niner.

Ide was among the early favorites for the 1996 Kentucky Derby before an injury ended his career. At ages two and three, Ide won seven consecutive races, including five stakes, four of which were graded.

He was on the board in eight of nine starts and earned $363,780.

Pete Willmott, who raced Ide through his Willmott Stables and maintained a business interest in his stud career, expressed his thoughts: “I can only say positive things about this horse. He was a relatively small horse with a huge heart … his trainer called me about his injury on April 1, and I thought it was an April Fools’ joke. That was a real blow. He deserved a shot at the classics … He always had a positive attitude, and that can be said of him as a stallion as well.”

After entering stud in Kentucky, Ide moved to Louisiana and stood the remainder of his career at Clear Creek Stud in Folsom for The Ide Group. In addition to Willmott, The Ide Group consists of partners Bryan Harang (Georgia Farms Inc.), Allen Peltier and Harvey “Drew” Peltier III. Ide was the leading sire in Louisiana for 2003 by number of winners and North American earnings, and he stayed at or near the top of the leading Louisiana sires list for many years. He was the A.L. “Red” Erwin Louisiana Sire of the Year in both 2009 and 2013, leading all other sires of Louisiana-breds in earnings those years.

His progeny earnings recently eclipsed $25 million.

“Ide has been really great for Clear Creek and the entire Thoroughbred industry in Louisiana,” said Val Murrell, general manager of Clear Creek Stud. “He has consistently produced runners that have been highly competitive at every level. They often run early, and more importantly I think, they last. They hold together and reward owners over the long haul. He has been incredibly kind and easy to deal with and he will be missed by many. However, we are very comfortable in knowing that Mr. Willmott has him accepted to go to Old Friends. He deserves it.”

“We are honored The Ide Group has chosen us for their wonderful stallion,” said Michael Blowen, president and founder of Old Friends. “It’s really a privilege to care for these great athletes when their careers are over. We’re looking forward to all of Ide’s fans visiting the farm.”

Courtesy Tito’s Handmade Vodka

His three subsequent starts against winners were less than stellar, and he had to revisit the claiming ranks to win again. Even though it was the same level as his maiden win with a high-priced tag of $62,500, he only had his picture taken because the original winner was disqualified for interference.

He was a nice horse for sure, but the colt was not on anyone’s Kentucky Derby list.

That last claiming win Texas-based Tito’s Handmade came on February 11 Vodka, founded by Tito Bevof his 3-year-old season, eridge, is a frequent sponsor and less than three of horse racing events and a months later he had a supporter of retired racehorse garland of roses draped programs. over him at Churchill Downs in what surely is one of Lukas’ most impressive training feats in a career filled with impressive feats.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been fooled so much by a horse,” Lukas told The New York Times about one of his four Derby winners. “I just didn’t have any grasp on where I was going with him. I felt there was something I was missing all the time.

I felt I wasn’t pushing the right buttons. But I felt he hadn’t won a race and needed some confidence.”

Charismatic was purchased privately as a weanling for a reported price of $200,000, so entering him in a $62,500 claimer amounted to a fire sale of nearly 70 percent off, not including other expenses of course.

As Lukas told the Times about twice entering him for that price, “We were lucky nobody took him.”

As 3-year-olds sometimes do, Charismatic improved dramatically as he matured and earned his first stakes-placing with a runner-up effort in the Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby in early March at Bay Meadows. He followed that with a decent fourth in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby. He punched his ticket to Churchill by winning the Grade 2 Coolmore Lexington at Keeneland Race Course just two weeks prior to the first Saturday in May. Then the former claimer went on to victories in that year’s Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes at long odds and suddenly found himself at the threshold of becoming the 12th Triple Crown winner in history.

In the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes, Charismatic took the lead and surged while a crowd of more than 85,000 cheered. Then he dropped back suddenly and was passed by eventual winner 18 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

Barbara D. Livingston

Ide won seven straight races before being retired due to injury, and he passed on his tremendous talent to his offspring.

Lemon Drop Kid. As he crossed the finish in third-place, Charismatic was quickly pulled up having suffered multiple fractures in his left front leg.

In a very memorable moment, his jockey, the late Chris Antley, jumped off and held the colt’s leg off the ground until help arrived, thus avoiding more serious damage. As Daily Racing Form’s Jay Hovdey noted at the time: “The Triple Crown was lost, but Charismatic was saved.”

The injuries, while not life threatening, did end his racing career. But Charismatic earned that year’s Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old colt as well as Horse of the Year honors and retired with five wins from 17 starts and earnings of $2,038,064.

Originally sent to stud at Farish’s Lane’s End Farm in Kentucky, Charismatic was sent to Japan after standing three seasons in the U.S. His leading North American runner is multiple graded stakes winner and $2.2 million earner Sun King. H Old Friends is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that cares for more than 165 retired racehorses. Its Dream Chase Farm, located in Georgetown, Kentucky, is open to tourists daily by appointment.

Old Friends also has two satellite facilities: Old Friends at Cabin Creek: The Bobby Frankel Division in Greenfield Center, New York, and Old Friends at Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Kentucky.

For more information on tours or to make a donation, contact the main farm at (502) 863-1775 or see their website at oldfriendsequine.org.

Rick Capone

Charismatic will join Kentucky Derby winners War Emblem (top) and Silver Charm at Old Friends.

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The (Horse) Power of Social Media Marketing and promotion do not have to be dirty words to horsemen

By Jennie Rees

L

et’s face reality: In this digital age, trainers must take advantage of the tools offered by social media. If not, the guy or gal in the next barn will. And that might be who your potential client sees in cyberspace, and perhaps subsequently sends horses. The same concept applies to other aspects of the horse industry as well, whether you are standing stallions, providing sale prep or selling hay.

“You have to realize that it’s part of what the future is, part of life whether you like it or not,” said trainer Eddie Kenneally, who recently redesigned his website and started utilizing Twitter. “If you’re going to run a successful business, you have to be involved in it and evolve with it. There was a point that I didn’t think it was necessary. Now I think it’s a must.”

The concept of horsemen and the racing industry using social media to reach the public directly, rather than relying on the sometimes biased or uninformed general media, was one of the topics discussed at the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association’s winter convention earlier this year, and it appears many are heeding that advice.

Giving the Public an Insider’s Look at Racing Doing basic things to get your name out to the public is not mutually exclusive with horsemanship. What it does is let

people know about you and your operation while sending the message that you are accessible and on the cutting edge.

Trainer Murat Sancal credits 99 percent of the business he has today to the powers of social media: Twitter and Facebook.

He’s also in the process of developing a website.

The Kentucky-based conditioner has a growing racing stable in addition to a breeding and sales operation for which he leases Elmendorf Farm in Lexington.

“We have so many horses at the farm, so many horses at the track,” he said. “They are quality horses, but nobody knows who we are and who they are. Last year we sold a $2 million horse at Keeneland, but nobody knows it. All the good you are doing, you have to share with people. What if you turn a horse out in the field and he’s happy and you’re sharing with the people how happy this horse is? [That is] on our Facebook page, and almost 4,000 people watched that video and commented on it.

“They ask, ‘Is that a show horse?’ ‘No, he’s a racehorse and a very nice horse and he’s just resting there for 20 days.’ ‘Oh, I want to see the farm.’ When they go there, they see those [famous Elmendorf ] columns, the history, and then their mind just changes. I think social media is very good right now for our business. You can reach everybody.”

AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 23

24 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

Sol Aller Courtesy Maria

raphy Coady Photog

One of the benefits of social media and websites is a global reach, and Sancal’s clientele currently is all overseas, primarily connected to his native Turkey. He started his racing stable four years ago with one horse, $160,000-earner Stoptalkingmaria, owned by assistant trainer Maria Sol Aller, who also handles much of the social media for which he credits with his full barn today.

Sancal told racing digital media consultant Gwen Davis that he views the commitment and cost for the website she’s designing for him as having another horse.

“And I need to pay attention to this horse and do what I need to do to get it ready to go,” he said. “Except this horse is going to pay off much more, because this horse will bring in owners. This is an investment, and it will pay off.”

Trainer Tom Amoss got on Twitter at the insistence of his two daughters, who both work in social media in New Orleans.

“Look, I’m late to the party,” he said. “And my only real excuse is that I’m old-fashioned, No. 1, and No. 2, I didn’t perceive Twitter correctly. My perception was it was egodriven and a platform where you had the opportunity to say, ‘Look at me.’ My opinion of Twitter has changed 180 degrees since then. Surprisingly, what convinced me was the number of people who started following me. It led me to believe that people have a real interest in that stuff. And the second thing I liked, particularly as it pertains to video clips or pictures, is that people have an interest in what we do. I don’t mean me. I mean what the horse industry does.”

Trainer Michelle Lovell puts pictures of her horses, including win photos, on Facebook in part because her owners are on Facebook, and they like to share the posts with their friends.

Lovell can’t say that she’s picked up owners because of social media, “but it gives them a chance to vet you out. They see your face, what you do, catch a few glimpses of your morning.”

With websites, budget definitely comes into play, though there are some good free templates, such as WordPress. For the do-it-yourselfers, or those with technologically inclined children or grandchildren to do the legwork, a basic website can be had for less than $100 a year. Of course, a professionally designed website can cost many times that amount. Keep in mind that a website is the first impression a lot of people will have of you, so it needs to be well done and kept updated.

An excellent free resource is OwnerView.com’s profile pages for trainers and owners. The information website was developed

by The Jockey Club and Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association for new, prospective and current Thoroughbred owners and has a wealth of information. You (or your emissary) can create your profile page or ask for assistance from Suzie Oldham, who administers the program.

OwnerView has categories not just for trainers, but also for stallion farms, owners (including syndicates) and advisors. For trainers, the online directory will list pertinent statistics, plus a bio, contact information and client references can be added.

Beaten up in some media outlets, two-time Kentucky Derbywinning trainer Doug O’Neill has very effectively used his Davisdesigned website and social media to go directly to the public to show his philosophy and how he cares for his horses.

“It’s all just trying to add value and to try and bring what’s going on behind the scenes to more people,” O’Neill told the Los Angeles Times’ John Cherwa. “When they get to see the care that racehorses get and get to see the personalities of the people involved, it’s something that we’re proud of.”

Davis enlisted and paid a nominal fee to University of Louisville equine industry students to help with O’Neill’s Nyquist social media coverage during the colt’s run-up to a Kentucky Derby victory.

a Grand Courtesy Indian

Courtesy Maria

Sol Aller

“That’s a great way to get these kids experience and also to bring younger people into the industry and get them engaged behind the scenes,” Davis said. “There are so many young people with such great talent, especially where technology is concerned. We have to do something to appeal to young people where they are, and they’re on their phones.”

Kentucky HBPA Vice President Dale Romans still doesn’t know a lot about the mechanics of social media, but he quickly understood it was something horsemen and the sport needed to embrace. He began with his bookkeeper, horsewoman Laura Hernan, doing a Facebook page and a rudimentary website that Davis subsequently redesigned. Then he went all in.

Calling it Raceday Live, Romans teamed with Davis, Hernan and photographer Lawrence Van Garrett to give fans backside access in real time to Keen Ice’s pre-Travers Stakes and race-day preparation on Periscope (a live video app), along with Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. It paid off in spades when Keen Ice pulled off the upset of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and social media users got to experience that in a way not possible years ago.

Horsemen Marketing Horse Racing Everyone who makes a living in racing or cares about the future of the sport should be an ambassador. Traditional media have cut back on horse racing coverage and many tracks have eliminated or reduced their publicity presence. It’s in the entire horse industry’s best interest to take steps to help fill the void.

That can be as simple as taking phone pictures and posting them to Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Many HBPA affiliates and state owner/breeder associations have Twitter accounts and Facebook pages. But the key, as with websites, is a stream of current, engaging content. Davis emphasizes that it doesn’t

have to be the actual trainer or a horsemen’s organization staffer doing the posts. You can enlist tech-savvy employees and family, as many trainers do. Horsemen’s organizations could consider interns from the area.

The Indiana and Kentucky HBPA affiliates have taken marketing involvement to heart.

Taking a page from Oaklawn Park’s highly successful program, the Indiana horsemen in conjunction with Indiana Grand stage “Grand Mornings at the Track” one Saturday morning a month during training hours, with a free continental breakfast and each session featuring a different aspect of the sport.

“It’s not a huge turnout at this stage; we consistently have 20-25,” said Indiana HBPA Executive Director Mike Brown.

“But we think they’ll tell their friends and we see a lot of people coming back, so we think there’s some value in what we’re doing.”

Brown said the Indiana HBPA is lucky because the slots legislation includes a percentage to horsemen for equine promotion.

“We recognize we have a responsibility to get some fannies in the stands, too,” he said. “Not everybody has access to a funding stream, which makes a huge difference. There’s no limitation beyond our own imaginations in terms of what we can try to do. … We need to try to be involved in co-promoting with our track partners.”

The Indiana HBPA had an event at the State Fair and recently put on a “Back to School” night, having drawings for backpacks stuffed with school supplies and iPads. Another educational program after the Friday races was less successful, with Brown saying they’ll probably look to tweak it for 2017.

But he says it’s important to try things to get the successes.

The Indiana HBPA recently started using Facebook but is not yet on Twitter. Brown cheerfully attributes the delay to the “intellectual limitations of the person who is supposed to implement it—me.

“I do see Facebook as a really good way to reach people,” the former newspaper reporter added. “This is a 20th century sport or business that happens to be happening in the 21st, so it’s a challenge to use social media and have it be worthwhile. … It’s a brave new world out there, and among the many duties the staff of an affiliate has, certainly marketing is going to be one of them.”

Kentucky HBPA board member John Hancock, a thirdgeneration trainer based at Ellis Park, long thought his hometown track should take advantage of having morning gate schooling in the mile chute next to the parking lot, giving fans rare public access. When Ellis hired me to do racing publicity, Hancock shared his concept, and the Saturday morning fan experience called “Making of a Racehorse” was held July 30 with the HBPA partnering with the track.

Such ventures cost little more than sweat equity and passion.

And social media is a powerful way to help promote them.

The Kentucky HBPA, for whom I created a Twitter account, loved my idea to have the sons and daughters of the Kentucky

AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 25

Jennie Rees

Derby trainers tweet on @KyHBPA about the experience. We had more than a dozen kids participate and more than tripled the number of Twitter followers for the Kentucky HBPA. The venture received extensive exposure in print and on radio and television that week.

The program now has its own Twitter handle, @KyDerbyKids, and has been expanded for horsemen’s children to tweet about the 2-year-olds with which they are connected, as well as any aspect of horse racing. Others can participate by tagging #KyDerbyKids or @KyDerbyKids.

Kentucky HBPA Executive Director Marty Maline said racetracks should embrace horsemen’s marketing ideas.

“Some of our horsemen are very creative thinkers, just a wealth of knowledge and experience on the backside and people from all walks of life who come into this,” he said. “If people are willing to listen, there are ideas back there.” H Jennie Rees, a five-time Eclipse Award-winning writer, spent 34 years with the Louisville Courier-Journal and now is a racing communications specialist. Follow her on Twitter at @TracksideJennie.

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STALLION SPOTLIGHT The 2017 breeding season ushers in plenty of new and relocated stallions for the Midwest and Southwest

By Denis Blake • Photos by Suzie Oldham

The 2017 Thoroughbred breeding season across the states covered by American Racehorse looks to be robust with a significant number of stallions visiting the breeding shed for the first time, along with quite a few current stallions who will be taking up a new residence. Following is a look at the new commercial stallions and relocations as reported to American Racehorse since the September/October issue, which included profiles of American Lion moving to River Oaks Farms in Oklahoma and Shermanesque to Broughton Farm in Texas, along with Too Much Bling, Grasshopper and Congaree relocating from Lane’s End Texas to Valor Farm.

30 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

OKLAHOMA Den’s Legacy and Mr. Nightlinger • Mighty Acres Den’s Legacy, winner of the Grade 3 Generous Stakes and placed in the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity, will stand at Dr. Warren Center’s Mighty Acres, a division of Center Hills Farm, in Pryor, in a deal brokered by Chad Schumer of Schumer Bloodstock. The 6-year-old son of leading international sire Medaglia d’Oro made his final start in October and will stand for $2,500.

Den’s Legacy earned $692,917 for Westrock Stables LLC with a career record of 39-4-10-6. A high-class 2-year-old, he won a six-furlong maiden special weight at Del Mar, and then ran second in the Zuma Beach and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint Preview stakes at Santa Anita Park before capturing the Generous Stakes at Hollywood Park. He signed off the year by running third to Violence in the CashCall Futurity.

He was later a consistent graded stakes runner at three, when his performances included a third-place finish behind subsequent Grade 1 winners Will Take Charge and Oxbow in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes. He was also placed in the Grade 2 Robert B. Lewis Stakes, Grade 2 La Jolla Handicap, Grade 2 Del Mar Derby, Grade 3 Affirmed Handicap and Grade 3 Sham Stakes.

Bred in Florida by Gaye Swartz, Den’s Legacy is out of the War Chant mare Sunshine Song, a half sister to Grade 1 winner C. S. Silk and Grade 3 winner Remember Sheikh.

One of Oklahoma’s leading stallions, Mr. Nightlinger has been relocated within the state to stand at Mighty Acres.

Center Hills Farm has also acquired 50 percent ownership of the stallion and will stand him in partnership with Martin Racing Stable LLC and Carl Moore Management LLC, which campaigned Mr. Nightlinger throughout his racing career.

Mr. Nightlinger formerly stood at JEH Stallion Station, and for the 2017 season he will stand for a $2,000 fee.

A son of Indian Charlie, Mr. Nightlinger earned $644,403 on the track with a record of 25-10-3-5. He won five stakes and placed in six others. His stakes victories included two graded events, the Grade 3 Aegon Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs and Grade 3 Shakertown Stakes at Keeneland, and a 5 ½-furlong turf course record in the Arlington Sprint Handicap.

While most of his success came in turf sprints, he was also a winner going long and short on dirt and synthetic surfaces and had three stakes-placings on dirt, including the Grade 3 Lone Star Derby.

Mr. Nightlinger was Oklahoma’s leading first-crop sire in 2013, the second-ranked second-crop sire in 2014 and the leading third-crop sire in 2015. His leading runner is stakes winner and $195,883-earner Lingerlonger.

Kennedy and Wilburn • River Oaks Farms Kennedy, a three-quarters brother to leading national stallion Bernardini, has been relocated to Lori and Francisco Bravo’s River Oaks Farms in Sulphur. The 8-year-old stallion previously stood at Rockin’ Z Ranch.

A winner on the track, Kennedy is a son of preeminent stallion A.P. Indy and the Deputy Minister mare Lovely Regina, who is the dam of multiple Grade 3 winner Theskyhasnolimit.

Lovely Regina, in turn, is out of Grade 1 winner Cara Rafaela, who produced perhaps A.P. Indy’s most successful son on the track and in the breeding shed, Bernardini.

Kennedy has two crops of racing age. His leading earner is the 3-year-old Cash King, who since late September has won a maiden special weight and allowance race at Remington Park by a combined total of more than 12 lengths to improve his earnings to $61,037. Kennedy is also the sire of Baby K, the runner-up in the 2016 Oklahoma Classics Lassie Stakes at Remington Park with earnings of $46,614 in three starts.

Kennedy will stand for a fee of $1,250.

Wilburn, a Grade 2-winning son of Bernardini, has also been relocated River Oaks. The 8-year-old stallion, who formerly stood at Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky, will stand for a $2,500 fee.

A $625,000 Keeneland 2-year-old, Wilburn won at first asking as a 3-year-old at Santa Anita Park and went on to win four more races in his lone season on the track. His two stakes wins include the $300,000 Smarty Jones Stakes at Parx Racing and the Grade 2, $510,900 Indiana Derby at Hoosier Park, where he soundly defeated Grade 1 Preakness Stakes winner AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 31

Shackleford and eventual Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Caleb’s Posse. Wilburn retired with five wins from nine starts and earnings of $586,515.

From two crops to race, Wilburn has sired the earners of nearly $2 million, including six stakes horses.

Wilburn’s dam is Moonlight Sonata, a Grade 3 winner by Carson City who is also the dam of Grade 2 winner Beethoven.

Home of the Brave • Caines Stallion Station Caines Stallion Station near Wynnewood has added Home of the Brave to stand his first season at stud in 2017. The 2013 son of Horse of the Year and two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner Tiznow will stand for an introductory fee of $1,000.

The unraced Home of the Brave is a full brother to WinStar Farm homebred Well Armed, an earner of nearly $5.2 million who won the Group 1, $6 million Dubai World Cup by a record-breaking 14 lengths in 2009. Well Armed also won three graded stakes in the United States, including the Grade 1 Goodwood Stakes, Grade 2 San Diego Handicap and Grade 2 San Antonio Handicap in California.

With Well Armed being a gelding, Home of the Brave is the only stallion by Tiznow out of the stakes-winning Notebook mare Well Dressed. Her other foals include Grade 3 winner Witty and Grade 1-placed Helsinki. There are a total of four track records under the first dam.

Song of the Sword • Lee Farm Song of the Sword, a multiple graded stakes-placed son of Unbridled’s Song, will stand at Lee Farm in Claremore, as property of Cowboy Stables LLC, for a $1,000 fee.

Song of the Sword won his first three starts in New York as a 3-year-old and then hit the Kentucky Derby trail, where he finished second in the Grade 2 Illinois Derby and third in the Grade 2 Coolmore Lexington Stakes. He went on to run in both the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and retired as a 4-year-old with a record of 12-4-2-2 and earnings of $269,555.

He is out of the Crusader Sword mare Appealing Ms Sword, who is also the dam of graded stakes runners Mr Sword (third in the Grade 2 Lane’s End Stakes) and Valerie’s Dream (second in Grade 2 Astarita Stakes).

From a limited number of starters, Song of the Sword has sired multiple winner Double Edged Sword, an earner of $82,932 in 11 starts, and Oklahoma-bred Sonic Run, a daylight maiden special weight winner at Remington Park in September.

32 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

INDIANA Fort Prado and Majestic Harbor • Swifty Farms Fort Prado, a multiple stakes-winning millionaire, has been relocated to Swifty Farms in Seymour with a fee of $2,000. The El Prado (Ire) stallion formerly stood at Buck Pond Farm in Kentucky.

An Illinois Horse of the Year and eight-time champion in that state, Fort Prado raced until age 8 and compiled a record of 59-18-10-8 with earnings of $1.21 million. He won 13 stakes during his career, mostly on the turf, from 5 ½ furlongs to 1 1⁄8 miles. His graded stakes wins include the Grade 3 John B. Connally Breeders’ Cup Turf Handicap at Sam Houston Race Park and Fair Grounds Breeders’ Cup Handicap in Louisiana.

From four crops to race, he has sired the earners of more than $2.7 million with his top earner being Prado’s Sweet Ride, who won last year’s Grade 3 Regret Stakes and has banked $205,412.

Fort Prado is owned and was raced by Team Block, the Illinois racing family that includes his breeder David Block and trainer Chris Block. His connections indicated that the breeding incentives in Indiana were the reason for the move.

Majestic Harbor, the 8-year-old multiple graded stakeswinning son of Rockport Harbor, has been retired from racing and will enter stud at Swifty Farms. He will stand for a fee of $4,000.

Campaigned by Gallant Stable LLC, Majestic Harbor raced every year from ages 2 to 8 and was trained alternately by Paul McGee in the Midwest and Sean McCarthy in Southern California. From 42 career starts, he registered 10 wins, eight seconds and seven thirds while compiling earnings of $1,295,814.

Majestic Harbor won at distances of one mile to 1 1⁄2 miles, over a variety of track conditions, and raced at 10 different courses across the United States. In all, he competed in 27 stakes races, 23 of which were graded. He won four stakes, all of them graded: the Grade 1 Santa Anita Gold Cup, Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes, Grade 3 Mineshaft Handicap and Grade 3 Tokyo City Cup Stakes.

Bred in Kentucky by Liberation Farm and Brandywine Farm, Majestic Harbor is the most successful son of Rockport Harbor and is a half brother to Grade 1 winner Danza, now standing in Kentucky.

Sahara Sky and Taprize • R Star Stallions Sahara Sky, a Grade 1-winning millionaire, has been retired from racing and will stand his first year at stud at Kerry Hopper’s R Star Stallions in Anderson. Jerry Hollendorfer, who trained and co-owned the son of Pleasant Tap, remains a coowner with Kim Lloyd and MB Stallions.

An earner of $1,181,583 from a record of 27-8-4-5, Sahara Sky enjoyed his finest season on the track in 2013 when he recorded three wins and a second, all against Grade 1 and 2 company. He recorded wins in the Grade 2 San Carlos and Palos Verdes stakes at Santa Anita Park, and then shifted to New York where he took second in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap before winning the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap.

Legendary Tartan Farm trainer/breeder John Nerud often said that “the best milers make the best stallions,” and that adage has been pegged to the “Met Mile” for good reason.

The Met Mile has been the proving ground for potential sire power for decades, and Sahara Sky joins a list of past Met Mile winners that includes such successful stallions as Buckpasser, Fappiano, Ghostzapper and Honor Code.

Sahara Sky’s dam, Grade 3 winner Seeking the Sky, by Storm Cat, is a three-quarters sister to the dam of Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) winner Nyquist.

Sahara Sky will stand for a fee of $4,000.

R Star Stallions also announced the addition of Taprize, who will become the first son of Tapit to stand in Indiana.

Tapit has been the leading sire in North America by progeny earnings the past three years and is also the continent’s most expensive stallion with a 2017 stud fee of $300,000. Taprize will stand his first season for a fee of $2,500.

Taprize’s dam is the Prized mare Fun House, who was named the 2014 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year. A Grade 2 winner on the track, Fun House is the dam of Untapable, a full sister to Taprize who won five Grade 1 stakes, including the Kentucky Oaks and Breeders’ Cup Distaff, while earning nearly $4 million and an Eclipse Award as champion 3-yearold filly. Fun House is also the dam of Paddy O’Prado, a Grade 1-winning son of El Prado who ranked among the top 10 firstcrop and second-crop stallions the past two years.

LOUISIANA Court Vision Acadiana Equine @ Copper Crowne Court Vision, a five-time Grade 1 winner who punctuated a brilliant racing career with a late-running win in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile, has been relocated from Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky to stand at Acadiana Equine @ Copper Crowne in Opelousas. He will stand for a $3,500 fee as property of a partnership.

A son of champion Gulch out of a half sister to Horse of the Year A.P. Indy and full sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Summer Squall, Court Vision won at least one Grade 1 or 2 stakes in five straight years on the track from ages 2 to 6. While much of his success came on the turf with wins in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby, Shadwell Turf Mile, Woodbine Mile and Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap in addition to his Breeders’ Cup triumph, he also recorded graded victories on the dirt in the Grade 2 Remsen and

First Winners for Star Guitar, Noble’s Promise Four-time Louisiana-bred Horse of the Year Star Guitar was represented by his first winner as a stallion on September 24 when his Louisianabred son Senor Guitar broke his maiden against $50,000 claiming company at Churchill Downs.

The colt is trained by Helen Pitts for breeder and owner Clifford Grum. Ricardo Santana Jr. rode the 2-year-old to a 1 ¼-length win in 1:11.90 for six furlongs.

A son of Quiet American out of the stakeswinning and stakes-producing Malagra mare Minit Towinit, Star Guitar won 24 of 30 career starts and retired as the all-time leading Louisiana-bred runner with a bankroll of nearly $1.75 million. He raced from ages 2 to 7 and recorded at least one stakes win each year on the track. While much of his success came against fellow Louisiana-breds, he also proved he could run against top-tier open company with three straight wins in the Evangeline Mile Handicap.

Star Guitar stood the 2016 breeding season at Clear Creek Stud in Folsom, Louisiana, for a $4,000 fee as property of his breeder, Brittlyn Stable Inc. Indiana stallion Noble’s Promise was represented by both his first winner and stakes winner in October thanks to his Indiana-bred son Reverend John. Trained by Christopher Melton, the 2-year-old colt broke his maiden on October 12 at Indiana Grand by 1 ¼ lengths with jockey Rodney Prescott up for the one-mile trip in 1:40.95. Reverend John runs for Larry Rodgers and John Shelley III and was bred by Shelley and R and M Stables Inc. The colt followed up his maiden score with a victory in the Indiana Futurity on October 29, winning the one-mile and 70 yard race by 2 3⁄4 lengths.

Reverend John had been knocking on the door for his first win with second- and third-place finishes in six of his first seven starts, including a third at Keeneland and a second at Churchill Downs. His record now stands at 9-2-2-4 with earnings of $110,215.

Noble’s Promise, a son of Cuvee, was one of the top 2-year-olds of 2009 with a victory in the Grade 1 Dixiana Breeders’ Futurity, a second in the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity and a third in the Grade 1 Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He also won stakes at 3 and 4, including the Grade 3 Aristides Stakes at Churchill Downs, and retired with a record of 27-6-7-3 and earnings of nearly $1.2 million.

Noble’s Promise stood the 2016 season at Breakway Farm in Dillsboro, Indiana, for a $2,500 fee.

AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 33

Grade 3 Iroquois stakes as a 2-year-old. All told, he recorded eight graded stakes wins with earnings of more than $3.7 million.

From two crops of racing age, Court Vision has sired six stakes horses, including Conquest Vivi, an undefeated two-time stakes winner at Woodbine with earnings of $153,057; stakes winner Crumlin Spirit, an earner of $228,337; and Hammers Vision, who placed in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special and has banked $192,324.

Take Charge and eventual Preakness Stakes winner Oxbow in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn. Texas Bling also captured two editions of the Assault Stakes at Lone Star Park.

Texas Bling is out of the Country Pine mare Anythingmore, who produced another stakes winner by Too Much Bling for Durham and Hall in Everything Bling.

IOWA Pimpernel • Cherokee Ridge Horse Farm My Italian Ex • H Bar 6 The Elusive Quality stallion Pimpernel has been relocated from Oklahoma to stand at Cherokee Ridge Horse Farm LLC in Carencro. He will stand for a fee of $1,500 as property of Larry Steinberg.

A three-time winner in Southern California, Pimpernel showed plenty of promise running for trainer Bob Baffert and owner Juddmonte Farms. The $525,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase defeated eventual Grade 1 winner Hoppertunity at seven furlongs before an injury late in his 3-year-old season. He retired with earnings of $119,140.

Pimpernel is out of the remarkable racemare Xtra Heat, a daughter of Dixieland Heat who won 26 of 35 starts and an Eclipse Award as 2001 champion 3-year-old filly. An inductee into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame last year, Xtra Heat is the dam of three stakes horses, including Southwestern Heat, a leading sire in New Mexico.

My Italian Ex, a multiple winning son of champion and Preakness Stakes winner Bernardini, will stand his first season as a commercial stallion at Jim and Natalie Ogg’s H Bar 6 in Elliott. He will stand for a fee of $1,000.

A consistent performer throughout his racing career, My Italian Ex won seven times in 21 starts and banked more than $150,000.

He is out of the stakes-placed Exceller mare Exing (Chi), who has been a prolific producer of stakes horses in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Her offspring include Mash One (Chi), a Chilean Group 1 winner and a two-time U.S. Grade 1 winner; Reciclada, a Chilean Group 2 winner and U.S. Grade 2 winner; Gran Mujer, a Chilean Group 2 winner and U.S. stakes winner; two other stakes winners; plus A. P. Xcellent, runner-up in the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup. H

TEXAS

Texas Bling, a multiple stakes-winning earner of more than $400,000, has been retired from racing and will stand at ESMS On the Brazos Equine Reproduction Center in Weatherford.

He will stand for a private fee with special considerations for approved mares as property of his breeder Lewis Hall Jr. in the name of Hall’s Family Trust.

Trained throughout his career by Danele Durham, Texas Bling is a son of leading Texas sire Too Much Bling. He retires with six victories in 39 starts and a bankroll of $406,072.

The Texas-bred scored the biggest win of his career in the $300,000 Remington Springboard Mile Stakes in 2012.

Despite having only a maiden victory on the turf to his credit at the time, Texas Bling upset one of the year’s best fields of 2-year-olds. Among the horses he defeated was Will Take Charge, who went on to win the Grade 1 Travers Stakes and finish second in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic to earn Eclipse Award honors in 2013 as top 3-year-old colt.

Following that victory at Remington Park, Texas Bling took to the Kentucky Derby trail and finished second by a neck to Will Take Charge in the Smarty Jones Stakes and fourth to Will 34 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

Look for the 2017 American Racehorse Stallion Register

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SWIFTY FARMS INC. Property of Bad Boy Racing LLC Inquiries to Sue Berger 351 South U.S. Highway 31 Seymour, Indiana 47274 Phone: (502) 680-6385 Fax: (812) 524-1449 Email: swiftyfarms@swiftyfarms.com Website: www.swiftyfarms.com Nominated to the Indiana-bred Program and Breeders’ Cup

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Autumn A C T I O N recap of black - type events in

Coady Photography

A

After winning just once in his first 12 starts, Texas-bred Can’t Be Wrong scored his third victory in the span of a month while making his stakes debut in the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame Stakes at Retama Park. The Broken Vow gelding could have been claimed for $15,000 in September, and in his three subsequent wins he banked nearly $50,000.

BUCCHERO $105,150 Brickyard Stakes and $153,836 To Much Coffee Stakes • Indiana Grand 4yo colt by Kantharos • Breeder: Southern Chase Farm Inc. and Karen Dodd (Indiana) Owner: Ironhorse Racing LLC • Trainer: Tim Glyshaw • Jockey: Marcelino Pedroza, Fernando De La Cruz CAN’T BE WRONG $50,000 Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame Stakes • Retama Park • 3yo gelding by Broken Vow • Breeder/Owner: Macassar Corporation (Texas) • Trainer: Danny Pish Jockey: Ted Gondron CARMALLEY CHROME $103,500 Merrillville Stakes • Indiana Grand 3yo filly by Cat Dreams • Breeder: Carmalley Valley Farm LLC (Indiana) • Owner: Tom Roche Trainer: Michael Nance • Jockey: Rodney Prescott CHANEL’S LEGACY $50,000 E.L. Gaylord Memorial Stakes Remington Park • 2yo filly by Dominus Breeder: H. Allen Poindexter (Iowa) • Owner: Poindexter Thoroughbreds LLC • Trainer: Lynn Chleborad • Jockey: Ramon Vazquez DEFINING HOPE $103,600 City of Anderson Stakes and $105,100 Miss Indiana Stakes • Indiana Grand 2yo filly by Strong Hope • Breeder/Owner: Colette Marie Vanmatre (Indiana) • Trainer: Barbara McBride • Jockey: Malcolm Franklin Strong Hope stands in Indiana at Midwest Equine and Veterinary Hospital

S eptember

October

Two of the tracks with the most populated stakes schedules, Indiana Grand and Remington Park, offered a cornucopia of events for state-breds as summer wound down and the fall season kicked in. Indiana Grand highlighted the top horses in the Hoosier State with a quartet of stakes on closing night, October 29, while the Sooner State had the spotlight on October 21 with Oklahoma Classics Night in Oklahoma City.

Five horses picked up a pair of stakes wins during the months of September and October, with Bucchero, Defining Hope and Lady Fog Horn turning the trick in Indiana and Euro K Shotgun and Gianna’s Dream doubling up in Oklahoma.

Following is a list of winners bred in the states covered by American Racehorse who won stakes worth $50,000 or more.

DEVIOUS RUMOR $50,000 Remington Park Turf Sprint Stakes Remington Park • 5yo mare by Street Boss Breeder: Rendell Saddler (Oklahoma) Owner: Doyle Williams • Trainer: Scott Young Jockey: Belen Quinonez EURO K SHOTGUN $50,000 Oklahoma Stallion Fillies Stakes and $118,900 Oklahoma Classics Distaff Sprint Stakes • Remington Park • 3yo filly by Euroears • Breeder/Owner/Trainer: C.R. Trout (Oklahoma) • Jockey: Luis Quinonez Euroears stands in Oklahoma at J & M Equine Reproduction Center GIANNA’S DREAM $50,000 Bob Barry Memorial Stakes and $118,900 Oklahoma Classics Distaff Turf Stakes • Remington Park • 3yo filly by Twirling Candy • Breeder: Center Hills Farm and Randy Blair (Oklahoma) • Owner: Jordan V. Wycoff Trainer: Mike Maker • Jockey: Joel Rosario and C.J. McMahon GIFTED JUSTICE $103,650 Hillsdale Stakes • Indiana Grand 2yo colt by Haynesfield • Breeder: Justice Farm/Greg Justice (Indiana) • Owner: PTK LLC • Trainer: Dane Kobiskie Jockey: Declan Cannon HYPER DRIVE $50,000 Oklahoma Stallion Stakes Remington Park • 3yo gelding by Don’t Get Mad • Breeder: Tracy Strachan (Oklahoma) Owner: Henry Thilmony • Trainer: Randy Oberlander • Jockey: David Cabrera

38 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

and

I CAME TO PRAISE $103,150 Indiana Stallion Stakes • Indiana Grand • 2yo filly by Star Cat • Breeder: Richard and Connie Snyder (Indiana) Owner: Bruce Dillenbeck • Trainer: Duane Swingley Jockey: David Flores Star Cat stands in Indiana at Breakway Farm IBAKA $50,000 Red Earth Stakes • Remington Park 5yo gelding by Uncle Abbie • Breeder/Owner: Doug Wall (Oklahoma) • Trainer: Bret Calhoun Jockey: C.J. McMahon • Uncle Abbie stands in Texas at Key Ranch IVAN FALLUNOVALOT $150,450 David M. Vance Sprint Stakes Remington Park • 6yo gelding by Valid Expectations • Breeder: Eileen H. Hartis (Texas) • Owner: Lewis Mathews Jr. • Trainer: Tom Howard • Jockey: Lindey Wade LADY FOG HORN $104,050 Florence Henderson Stakes and $174,761 Frances Slocum Stakes • Indiana Grand • 4yo filly by Zavata • Breeder/Owner: The Elkstone Group LLC (Indiana) • Trainer: Anthony Granitz • Jockey: Albin Jimenez MORE THAN MOST $50,000 Fiesta Mile Stakes • Retama Park 3yo filly by Indygo Mountain • Breeder: Clarence Scharbauer Jr. (Texas) • Owner: Douglas Scharbauer • Trainer: Bret Calhoun Jockey: C.J. McMahon OKIE DIVA $85,500 Oklahoma Classics Lassie Stakes Remington Park • 2yo filly by Chitoz Breeder/Owner: Richter Family Trust (Oklahoma) • Trainer: Donnie Von Hemel Jockey: Luis Quinonez • Chitoz stands in Oklahoma at River Oaks Farms

OKIE RIDE $122,800 Oklahoma Classics Sprint Stakes Remington Park • 9yo gelding by Candy Ride (Arg) • Breeder/Owner: Richter Family Trust (Oklahoma) • Trainer: Kenneth Nolen Jockey: Luis Quinonez

Linscott Photography

ONE FINE DREAM $53,900 MTA Stallion Auction Stakes Canterbury Park • 3yo gelding by Woke Up Dreamin • Breeder: Gary E. Lucas and Linda Woods (Iowa) • Owner: Umbrella Stables II LLC • Trainer: Kelly Von Hemel • Jockey: Alex Canchari • Woke Up Dreamin stands in Iowa at Madison County Thoroughbreds

Dustin Orona Photography

Making four starts over a two-month period at Indiana Grand, Indiana-bred Defining Hope broke her maiden, ran second in the Indiana Stallion Stakes and captured the City of Anderson and Miss Indiana (pictured) stakes. The daughter of Strong Hope earned $158,729 in those starts.

Oklahoma-bred Euro K Shotgun became the first stakes winner for her sire Euroears when she won the Oklahoma Stallion Fillies Stakes in September, and then she added the Oklahoma Classics Distaff Sprint at Remington Park in October. She went on to add an allowance win for her fourth victory in four starts and increased her earnings to

$152,245.

PENGUINI $79,500 Ricks Memorial Stakes • Remington Park • 4yo filly by Omega Code • Breeder/ Owner: Georgie Stuart (Oklahoma) • Trainer: Clinton Stuart • Jockey: Geovanni Franco

RUNANDYRUN $120,850 OKC Turf Classic Stakes Remington Park • 7yo gelding by Wilko Breeder/Owner: Walter Jones (Oklahoma) Trainer: Tyrone Shaw • Jockey: Belen Quinonez SHE MABEE WILD $103,300 Richmond Stakes • Indiana Grand 4yo filly by Mr. Mabee • Breeder/Owner: Michelle Shaw (Indiana) • Trainer: Mark Danner • Jockey: Jesus Castanon STEEL CUT $133,500 Oklahoma Classics Distaff Stakes Remington Park • 5yo mare by Cactus Ridge Breeder: Dream Walkin’ Farms Inc. (Oklahoma) Owner/Trainer: Wesley Hawley • Jockey: Chris Landeros

SUCESS IS RACING $104,350 Gus Grissom Stakes • Indiana Grand 6yo gelding by Major Success • Breeder: Everett Hammond (Indiana) • Owner: Charles PHANTOM TRIP Watt and Willowbrook Stables Ltd. • Trainer: $169,250 Oklahoma Classics Cup Stakes Remington Park • 3yo gelding by Summer Bird Kim Hammond • Jockey: Eduardo Perez Breeder: Center Hills Farm (Oklahoma) TAXMAN’S QUEST Owner: Lester Ellenz • Trainer: Clinton Stuart $85,500 Oklahoma Classics Juvenile Stakes Jockey: David Cabrera Remington Park • 2yo gelding by Euroears Breeder/Owner: Litsch Family LLC (Oklahoma) REVEREND JOHN Trainer: Roger Engel • Jockey: Bryan McNeil $105,050 Indiana Futurity • Indiana Grand Euroears stands in Oklahoma at J & M Equine 2yo colt by Noble’s Promise • Breeder: R and Reproduction Center M Stables Inc. and John M. Shelley III (Indiana) • Owner: Larry Rodgers and John Shelley III • Trainer: Christopher Melton UNDERWOOD Jockey: Rodney Prescott • Noble’s Promise $50,000 Governor’s Cup Stakes • Zia Park stands in Indiana at Breakway Farm 2yo gelding by Old Fashioned • Breeder: Jack Sims (Iowa) • Owner: Harry L. Veruchi • Trainer: Justin Evans • Jockey: Ry Eikleberry RON $103,050 Crown Ambassador Stakes • Indiana VICTOR JARA Grand • 2yo gelding by Mondavi • Breeder: $105,450 A.J. Foyt Stakes • Indiana Grand Carol Renn (Indiana) • Owner/Trainer: Marvin 5yo gelding by Notional • Breeder/Owner: Johnson • Jockey: Fernando De La Cruz Kingswood Farm (Indiana) • Trainer: Joseph Mondavi stands in Indiana at Breakway Farm Davis • Jockey: Fernando De La Cruz

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P hantom T rip got hot at the right time at R emington P ark with three wins in less than a month , capped by a late - running victory in the O klahoma C lassics C up . T he $101,550 winner ’ s

share for that race more than doubled his career

earnings to $185,494. T he O klahoma - bred S ummer B ird gelding sold for $48,000 at the 2014 C arter S ales C o . OKC S ummer S ale as the second - highest price at that auction .

AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 39

THANK YOU TO ALL THE BUYERS AND SELLERS FOR A GREAT YEAR! Equine Sales Company enjoyed a banner year in 2016. Our 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale recorded big increases from 2105 as gross sales jumped 27.4%, the average increased 11% and the median soared 60.6%. Then our Consignor Select Yearling Sale recorded an increase of 41.5% in gross sales, 24% in average and 37.5% in median, with a $145,000 yearling to set a new sale record!

JOIN US IN 2017 FOR OUR 2-YEAR-OLDS IN TRAINING SALE! Auction: May 9, 2017 • Breeze Show: May 7, 2017 All sale graduates will be eligible for the Equine Sales Oaks and Equine Sales Derby to be run at Evangeline Downs in 2018 for a purse of $75,000 per division.

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40 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016

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STATE ASSOCIATION NEWS ALABAMA HBPA NEWS Magic City Classic Reminder The $51,000 Magic City Classic is set for December 9 at Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots in New Orleans. Nominations for the one-mile race for Alabama-breds closed November 9, and starters will be named through the entry box on December 1.

The Alabama HBPA will be reimbursing verified shipping and gas expenses up to $500 for horses that run fourth and below in the Magic City Classic.

We still have supplemental purse funds available for Alabama-bred horses running in open company with $800 for first, $600 for second, $400 for third and $200 for fourth. Please contact Nancy Delony at nancy.m.delony@ms.com or (205) 969-7048 to let us know when your horse qualifies.

The Louisiana HBPA has been instrumental in helping with the supplemental purse account for Alabama-breds running in open company at the various Louisiana tracks. There are still funds for racing at Fair Grounds, Evangeline Downs and Delta Downs.

These funds are paid directly to the owner from the horsemen’s purse account.

ARKANSAS THOROUGHBRED BREEDERS’ AND HORSEMEN’S ASSOCIATION NEWS Deadlines, Oaklawn Meet Coming Up Horsemen are reminded of the December 31 deadline for Arkansas-bred foal registration applications and also for stakes nominations for Arkansas-bred foals of 2015. Forms are available on the ATBHA website at atbha.com or call (501) 624-6328 for more information.

Also a reminder that Oaklawn Park, which earlier this year announced a historic $8.25 million stakes schedule, opens January 13, 2017. The stable area opened November 14 and the track opened for training November 21.

The Oaklawn stakes schedule includes five events for registered Arkansas-breds, each offering a purse of $100,000.

To view the complete stakes schedule, condition books and more information, go to oaklawn.com.

COLORADO THOROUGHBRED BREEDERS ASSOCIATION NEWS 2016 CTBA Stakes Winners Congratulations to our Colorado Thoroughbred Breeders Association stakes winners from the 2016 meet at Arapahoe Park: Super One—Ingrid Knotts Stakes • Breeder: Monk Hall Owner: Mason King Banker Bob—Aspen Stakes • Breeder and Owner: Mason King Dugaboy Brown—CTBA Derby • Breeder: Menoken Farms Owner: Annette Bishop Last Dragoness—CTBA Lassie • Breeder: Mark Hillman Owner: Hilltop Stable LLC Way Out West—Silver Cup Futurity • Breeder: Menoken Farms Owners: Kent Bamford and Randy Patterson 42 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

A J’s Grand—CTBA Breeders Oaks • Breeder and Owner: Robert Schreiber Magical Twist—Mt. Elbert Stakes • Breeder: Menoken Farms Owner: Eli Diamant Twisted Regan—Spicy Stakes • Breeder: Linda Gleason Owner: David Robertson

INDIANA THOROUGHBRED OWNERS AND BREEDERS ASSOCIATION NEWS Working Hard to Boost Indiana Racing at Indiana Grand Indiana Grand Racing & Casino just completed its 13th season of racing, and over the past decade the racing industry in the state has seen a vast improvement thanks to several entities that have stepped up to ensure the quality of racing improves. One of those organizations is the Indiana Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (ITOBA), a great partner with both Indiana Grand and the Indiana Horse Racing Commission.

ITOBA is the official representative of Thoroughbred owners and breeders in the state of Indiana. Its leadership is fully dedicated to improving the quantity and quality of Thoroughbreds in the state and continuing to elevate the racing product and maximizing the industry’s considerable agricultural economic impact.

“Indiana Grand and Centaur values its long-standing relationship with ITOBA, and we continue to work closely with them to ensure the breeding and racing facets of the Indiana Thoroughbred industry are in sync as we both try to maximize the benefits of racing to the state of Indiana,” said Jon Schuster, vice president and general manager of racing at Indiana Grand. “As the racing season winds down and the breeding and foaling season fast approaches, we want to acknowledge our appreciation for ITOBA’s partnership and effort.”

Even though racing at Indiana Grand concluded October 29, ITOBA is a year-round organization that continues to strive for the betterment of the racing industry even when horses are not on the state’s only Thoroughbred track.

“The ITOBA folks’ hard work is about to get underway very soon, as the lights at the racetrack go dark for the next six months,” Schuster continued. “The breeders are the backbone of our agribusiness, and people should know that this industry never sleeps in Indiana. The track’s dark for a while, and during that time they are hustling and bustling and ensuring future generations of Indiana-bred and Indiana-sired horses are there, and improving, to keep the wheels rolling.”

Other groups have formed, but none have ever come close to offering the enormous positives that ITOBA has continued to produce year after year all around the state. Centaur Gaming, which owns Indiana Grand, has always been open to new ideas from these other groups, but none have lasted. Currently, there is another new group known as the Indiana Breeders Alliance that has used Indiana Grand as a site to hold meetings and also an upcoming seminar, but Indiana Grand is not affiliated with them in any way.

“It always seems that ITOBA has the best and broadest interest of the entire Indiana industry at heart, and they have always been

outstanding partners that deliver what they say they will in trying to elevate our industry—they’re extremely dependable,” Schuster said. “If any new groups find any new solutions, we’re glad to listen to them, too, as we always have, but at this time we wanted to recognize the enormous value ITOBA has to our industry.”

This year, ITOBA brought back sales for the state, with a successful sale in June featuring horses of racing age. The organization also hosted a Fall Mixed Sale on October 30 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds (see recap on the next page).

The June sale produced several winners almost immediately, proving to be an excellent place to get into the Thoroughbred racing industry.

Graduates from recent ITOBA auctions include Cora Ann, who was purchased for $10,000 and was a winner of a $34,000 maiden special weight within the first month after the sale, and Justiceonthebeach, an $18,000 purchase who was also a $34,000 maiden special weight winner a month later. The biggest return on investment to date is Two Stepping Groom, a $700 purchase who was a winner one month later in a $34,000 maiden special weight.

Other horses coming out of ITOBA sales that earned wins within two months after the sale include Regal Justice, El Coco Loco and Dream Mon.

Four Inducted into Indiana Horse Racing Hall of Fame The Indiana Horse Racing Association Inc. held its third Hall of Fame induction ceremony on October 17 at the Columbia Club in downtown Indianapolis. The evening’s honorees included Harold Barnes, Mari Hulman George, Senator Robert Jackman and Don Myers (posthumously).

The event, sponsored by Centaur Gaming, was hosted by Peter Lurie, an internationally renowned horse racing commentator.

The evening featured a reading of resolution for each inductee followed by a portrait unveiling. Portraits of the 2016 inductees were painted by Mark Dillman of Indianapolis and will be displayed in the clubhouse at Indiana Grand.

“The Indiana Horse Racing Association’s Hall of Fame was created to acknowledge those individuals and organizations that have worked tirelessly to bring the horse racing industry in Indiana to the forefront of the sport,” said Rick Moore, president of the IHRA. “The four newest members of the Hall of Fame are pillars of Indiana horse racing, and their passion and dedication have collectively helped pave the way for the growth of our industry.”

Amoss, Moss, De La Cruz Top Indiana Grand Standings as Meet Posts Increased Numbers Indiana Grand concluded its 120-day race meet on October 29 with an increase of 16 percent in all-sources handle versus 2015, a year which saw a 22 percent increase in that metric over the 2014 season.

Tom Amoss pulled in his fifth leading trainer title in six years and his primary owner, Maggi Moss, also recorded her second leading owner title. Amoss completed the 2016 season with 41 wins and purses in excess of $850,000, while horses owned by Moss won 33 races, accumulating purse earnings of more than $600,000.

A native of New Orleans, Amoss rewrote the Indiana Grand record books in 2013. He set new records for most wins in one season by a trainer (81) and most purse money earned by a trainer ($1,548,715). His success goes far beyond Indiana as he maintains several strings of horses all across the United States.

Amoss has more than 3,300 career wins and celebrated his 3,000th win at Indiana Grand in 2014. Many of those have been for Moss, an attorney from the Des Moines, Iowa, area.

Annually one of the top owners in the country with more than 2,100 career wins, Moss made her first trip to Indiana Grand this past July to watch her standout, Pilot House, compete in the Grade 2 Indiana Derby.

“Having raced at tracks throughout the U.S., Indiana Grand is one of my favorites,” Moss said. “Its management and personnel there truly care. It’s a gem of a racetrack and after a sabbatical in 2015, it was so great to be back and be leading owner.”

Jockey Fernando De La Cruz was a force the entire 2016 racing season. The native of Peru led the standings almost wire-towire and eventually pulled away from the field, 48 wins ahead of his next closest opponent en route to his second title at Indiana Grand. He ended the season with 131 wins.

De La Cruz was the leading jockey at Hoosier Park for its final Thoroughbred meet in 2012. He also maintains a spot among the track’s top 10 jockeys at Tampa Bay Downs each winter.

Eduardo Gallardo earned honors as the track’s top apprentice rider for the year. Despite several weeks off due to an injury, Gallardo, a native of Mexico, retained the top spot among all apprentice riders during the duration of the meet to be named the second recipient of the Juan Saez Leading Apprentice Jockey.

The award is named in honor of Saez, a 17-year-old apprentice rider from Panama who died after a riding accident in 2014 at Indiana Grand.

Horse of the Meet honors went to Indiana-bred Carmalley Chrome. Unraced at two, Carmalley Chrome proved to trainer Mike Nance and owner Tom Roche she was worth the wait. The 3-year-old Cat Dreams filly earned five wins during the season to top the standings as the leading Thoroughbred for 2016.

Carmalley Chrome started off her career with two wins before finishing third in her first stakes attempt in the $100,000 Swifty Sired Fillies Stakes. The flashy chestnut sophomore then returned to score wins in the $75,000 ITOBA Stallion Season Fillies Linda Swingley Memorial Stakes and the $150,000 Indiana First Lady Stakes. She added one more stakes win to her credentials in the $100,000 Merrillville Stakes. In all, Carmalley Chrome completed the 2016 racing season with five wins in 10 starts and purse earnings in excess of $255,000. She was bred by Carmalley Valley Farm LLC. Racing dates for 2017 will be approved and announced soon by the Indiana Horse Racing Commission.

AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 43

STATE ASSOCIATION NEWS ITOBA Stallion Season Auction Information The ITOBA Stallion Season Auction is set for January 13-17, 2017, and will be hosted by Starquine.com.

In donating to our auction, you have the opportunity to showcase your stallion in our auction promotions and help increase the earning potential of his 2018 progeny. When a stallion season is purchased at the auction, all of that stallion’s 2018 Indiana-bred foals will become eligible for nomination to the 2021 Indiana Stallion Season Auction Stakes with divisions for fillies and colts/geldings.

Participating stallions, bidding information, donation forms and stakes information are all available at itoba.com or by contacting info@itoba.com or (317) 709-1100.

Thank You to Indiana Grand and All of Our Indiana Racing Partners ITOBA would like to thank Indiana Grand Racing & Casino and the Indiana Horse Racing Commission for another successful racing season and for being tremendous partners in our common goal of promoting racing and breeding in the state.

This season we enjoyed a purse increase on all of our stakes while maintaining the number of races, and we also had an increase in the number of Indiana-bred races.

We have seen growing interest in Indiana racing and breeding from within the state and also from around the country. A new group of stallions has come to Indiana for the 2017 breeding season, adding to what was already a solid stallion roster in the state.

This is further proof that the enhancements to the Indiana Breed Development Program are having the desired effect.

In addition to thanking Indiana Grand, Centaur Gaming and the IHRC, we would also like to thank the Indiana HBPA for working together with all entities to create and maintain a strong program for Indiana.

Now that the Indiana Grand meet has concluded, we will not stop working to promote and improve racing and breeding in Indiana. We fully expect to see many Indiana-breds racing and earning breeder awards across the country.

To find out more about breeding, owning and racing an Indiana-bred, go to ITOBA’s website at itoba.com or the IHRC’s website at in.gov/hrc.

ITOBA Fall Sale Records Big Increases The ITOBA Fall Mixed Sale was held October 30 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds and from 36 head offered, 23 sold for gross receipts of $117,550 with an average of $5,111, a jump of 85 percent from last year’s average of $2,762 when 35 of 56 sold for a total of $96,700.

The high-seller was the last horse through the ring, an Indiana-bred yearling colt by freshman sire Flat Out who sold for $20,000 to Ranch Monarca from the consignment of Justice Farm.

Justice Farm also consigned last year’s sale-topper, Justiceonthebeach. That filly by Spanish Steps sold for $18,000 to Gary Patrick and has already earned $36,370 after breaking her maiden this year at Indiana Grand.

For complete results, go to itobasales.com.

Look for more information to come about the 2017 ITOBA Spring Sale of 2-year-olds in training and horses of racing age and the Fall Mixed Sale.

44 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

IOWA THOROUGHBRED BREEDERS AND OWNERS ASSOCIATION NEWS ITBOA Fall Sale Posts Solid Numbers The ITBOA Fall Sale was held October 16 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines and recorded results almost on par with the 2015 auction that had the highest gross receipts in the history of the sale at $363,550. This year’s auction total came in at $326,100 with an overall average of $6,522 and a yearling average of $7,204.

From 65 horses through the ring, 50 were sold.

The sale-topper was an Iowa-foaled gelding by Hold Me Back who attracted a bid of $35,000 from Makbrook Capital LLC. The yearling was consigned by Clifton Farm LLC. Go to iowathoroughbred.com for complete results and video of the sale.

ITBOA Stallion Auction Information The ITBOA Stallion Auction will be held online December 3-10.

Please consider donating your stallion to this growing program or bidding on a season. Visit iowathoroughbred.com for more information. Here are some facts to consider: Through late October, we have 49 stallions donated from 12 states.

All monies raised from our stallion auction are used to fund three Stallion Stakes races, with the races from the 2015 auction offering total purses of $207,375.

This is the only stallion auction where the donor of the stallion season is eligible to receive a $5,000 per race bonus. This year Darley in Kentucky, Robert Zoellner and Clark Brewster in Oklahoma and Madison County Thoroughbreds in Iowa each received $5,000 because foals by their stallions won the Iowa Stallion Futurity, Stallion Stakes and Filly Stallion Stakes. Past recipients of the bonus include Adena Springs, Alfred Nuckols Jr., Diamond G Ranch, Margaux Farm, Mighty Acres, Swifty Farms and Special K Stables.

All foals born in 2018, regardless of what state they are foaled in, are eligible to nominate to our 2020 ITBOA Stallion Futurity for 2-year-olds and 2021 Stallion Stakes for 3-year-olds. (The Stallion Stakes will have a filly and a colt/gelding division.)

Every year, before the Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton auctions, breeders contact ITBOA and request a list of mares in foal or foals by stallions that have sold in our Stallion Auction because they want to have foals eligible for our races.

Last year’s auction sold 116 seasons for a total of $180,000 with buyers from 22 states and Canada!

MICHIGAN THOROUGHBRED OWNERS AND BREEDERS ASSOCIATION NEWS ADW and Stallion Season Auction News We are looking forward to 2017, as our state has passed ADW (advanced deposit wagering). The Michigan Gaming Control Board is currently working out policies and procedures. This should bring a boost to our purses and a boost to Michigan racing as well.

Beginning in 2017, MTOBA, in conjunction with the Michigan

Department of Agriculture, will require stallion owners to verify the status of their stallions as (1) still in Michigan, (2) left the state, (3) deceased or (4) other by September 30 annually in order to receive stallion awards. Forms will be mailed out to members early in January.

The 2017 MTOBA Stallion Season Auction will be January 23-24 at mtoba.com. We will have a list of donated seasons on our website beginning in January and will be updating it as additional seasons come in. Donation forms are available on our website for download or call our office at (231) 457-4979 to have one mailed or emailed to you.

MTOBA would like to wish all of the horsemen a happy, healthy and prosperous holiday season.

MINNESOTA THOROUGHBRED ASSOCIATION NEWS 2017 Stallion Service Auction The Minnesota Thoroughbred Association is pleased to announce that our 2017 Stallion Service Auction will be held online at thoroughlybred.com January 2-8. This is a terrific opportunity for mare owners from around the country to bid on stallion seasons throughout the United States. We are hard at work recruiting stallions for our auction, and we’re looking forward to offering an extensive list of top quality stallions. As seasons are donated, we will update our stallion auction page at minnesotabred.com.

All 2018 progeny of stallions sold during our auction, regardless of where they are foaled, will be eligible for nomination to the 2021 MTA Stallion Auction Stakes at Canterbury Park. This 3-year-old race will run for an estimated $75,000 purse, in addition to special bonuses. Mare owners purchasing a season during the 2017 online auction will have the opportunity to name the mare bred by October 31, 2017. If the foal resulting from this breeding wins the 2021 MTA Stallion Auction Stakes, the mare owner and the stallion donor will share a $10,000 bonus. In addition, if a Minnesota-bred finishes first, second or third in the stakes, it will receive the usual percentage of an additional $5,000 bonus.

Nominating to the 2021 MTA Stallion Auction Stakes is easy.

Owners have several opportunities to ensure that their 2018 foals are eligible for this race. A $300 nomination, paid on or before June 1, 2020, is the first and least expensive option. A late nomination, paid on or before June 1, 2021, will cost $1,000. And finally, a late nomination paid on entry day for the race will come at a price of $10,000.

Do you have a stallion season you’d like to donate? The MTA is accepting stallion season donations until December 30. Donation forms are available on our website at minnesotabred.com or by calling (952) 233-4802.

As you look ahead, please keep in mind that you may have horses in your stables that could run in the MTA Stallion Auction Stakes.

There’s no better place to visit than Canterbury Park during the summer. As you acquire horses, know that they could also be eligible for nomination since there is no restriction as to where these horses are foaled. All progeny of eligible stallions, regardless of where they are born, are eligible to be nominated to the MTA Stal-

lion Auction Stakes. Please feel free to contact us with questions at (952) 233-4802 or email kay@minnesotabred.com.

A complete list of eligible stallions organized by foaling year is available on the MTA website.

Robertson Wins Another Canterbury Training Title, Track Reports Increased Handle Canterbury Park’s 69-day race meet came to a close September 17 with the leading Thoroughbred trainer Mac Robertson winning the first four races on the 11-race program. Robertson concluded the season with 71 wins and a Canterbury record $1,571,658 in purse earnings, tallying his 10th training title at the Shakopee, Minnesota, racetrack. Robertson trainee Majestic Pride, winner of four races this meet including the Brooks Fields and John Bullit stakes, was named Horse of the Year along with titles for top older and grass horse.

Determining the leading Thoroughbred rider of the meet came down to the meet’s final race. Alex Canchari trailed Dean Butler by one win. The Shakopee-native had already won three times on the day and Butler once. Canchari and Il Brigante chased the eventual winner, Break In and jockey Orlando Mojica, in deep stretch but settled for second-place, giving Butler his fifth riding title and first since 2013. Butler ended the meet with 82 wins and also set the record for jockey purse earnings with $1,800,261.

Joe Novogratz of Chanhassen, Minnesota, racing as Novogratz Racing Stables, was the leading Thoroughbred owner with 18 wins.

Nik Goodwin won the American Quarter Horse riding title with 19 wins. Trainer Jason Olmstead led all Quarter Horse trainers with 23 wins. Summer Run Inc. was the leading Quarter Horse owner with seven victories.

Handle for the meet totaled $43.3 million, an increase of 5.3 percent over 2015. Average daily handle increased by 6.8 percent, with the on-track average decreasing by 1.5 percent but out-ofstate showing an increase of 10.5 percent over 2015. Daily attendance averaged 6,560, down 2 percent from last season. A record of $14,401,205 in purse money, an increase of 1.8 percent over last season, was paid during the meet’s 654 races.

Following are Canterbury Park’s 2016 divisional champions: Horse of the Year, Grass Horse and Older Horse—Majestic Pride Owner: Hugh Robertson, Jeff Ryan and Gary Chanen • Trainer: Mac Robertson 3-Year-Old Colt or Gelding—One Mean Man • Owner: L.T.B. Inc. and Hillerich Racing LLC • Trainer: Bernard Flint 3-Year-Old Filly and Sprinter—Honey’s Sox Appeal • Owner: Bob Lindgren • Trainer: Mac Robertson Older Filly or Mare—Secret Someone • Owner: Mt. Brilliant Stable LLC • Trainer: Michael Stidham 2-Year-Old—Line Judge • Owner: Barry and Joni Butzow Trainer: Joe Sharp Claimer—True West • Owner: Cheryl Sprick and Richard Bremer Trainer: Karl Broberg Quarter Horse—PYC Jess Bite Mydust • Owner: Lunderborg LLC Trainer: Jason Olmstead

AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 45

STATE ASSOCIATION NEWS NORTH CAROLINA THOROUGHBRED ASSOCIATION NEWS Message from the President The year is almost over, and the holiday season is here. I am sure everyone is very busy and hopefully planning on spending time with those closest to you, both two- and four-legged. So, I want to thank you for taking the time to read this.

My trip to Lexington in October for the opening weekend of Keeneland proved to be successful. It was great to see so many people from North Carolina attending the races. I wasn’t there five minutes before I ran into fellow member Chris Stiller. We had a good time being paddock pals and railbirds for a few days along with our friend from Nebraska and Horse Racing Nation’s 2016 Fan of the Year Erica Harris.

As an added bonus, after Chris’ big win, he treated Erica and me to ice cream—the large size. Chris is an excellent NCTA track ambassador. He knows just about everyone employed at the track, and they all know him and his home state. If you ever get the opportunity to spend a day or two with him at this beautiful racing venue, don’t pass it up. He will introduce you to all of his friends. There were several other Tar Heels mingling around, and although they aren’t currently members, they will be soon. It’s just so much fun telling people about our organization and the members.

We have so many people to thank for their support and willingness to contribute to keep the NCTA a viable, thriving part of racing. I literally chased down poor Ken Ramsey as he was leaving Keeneland on Friday. After a brief introduction, I asked him for a Kitten’s Joy halter for our auction. He said he was so relieved because he thought I was going to ask him to donate a breeding. His son Jeff was also present.

He told me he used to be a NCTA member when he resided here and that his horse was two-time North Carolina broodmare of the year. Sarah Ramsey, the original kitten, is a graduate from Duke. So, they are sending a halter! Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado couldn’t escape fast enough after his big win on Miss Temple City in the Shadwell Turf Mile. He is donating a pair of autographed goggles. Gallery Racing allowed multiple Grade 1 winner Runhappy to “paint” a picture for us. They also donated one of his shoes. Artist Robert Clark is donating a 2017 Robert Clark Artist Calendar. These calendars are not sold but given to his high-profile clients. Each month features a different horse portrait he was commissioned to paint. If you want to view his work or inquire about a painting of your horse, visit his website at robertclark.us.

I hope that all of you attend the NCTA Awards Banquet on February 11, 2017, at Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill to bid on these and other items. Please consider donating items to the silent auction. If you have something, just let me know. We all need each other to help our organization grow and become stronger so we can do more. For each of you who help out, contribute stories and ideas, I send you my deepest and sincerest gratitude.

Rebecca Montaldo, NCTA President

A Contribution from Beth Muirhead

There’s a very special trainer and his wife at Laurel Park whom I hope to meet in person someday. So far we’ve only talked by phone, but these two have changed my life and the life of a 7-yearold racehorse named Special Congrats. I’d like to share this story.

46 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

As most of you know, ours is a very small breeding operation and its “grand dame” is an attractive mare, both mentally and physically, named Frisky Cheerleader (aka Cheers). Special Congrats (aka Whistle) was her fourth youngster, and though he never made the stakes ranks, he remains Cheers’ leading money winner to date. I have to laugh because he never did quite make it to a quarter-million in earnings, but it was close enough to give us bragging rights!

Whistle was claimed no fewer than nine times and by some trainers more than once which, in my book, spoke volumes about his “try,” and it was only when he had a really bad trip out of the gate during the last year that I called the racetrack in an effort to reach his trainer. I was pleasantly surprised that they were very pleasantly surprised to find out that I had cared enough to call! (Anyone who thinks they don’t care just doesn’t know, so I’m putting that bit of information out there for any of you to use as you see fit.)

At any rate, to make a long story short, the trainer assured me that Whistle was fine and indeed, he went on to win his eighth race. It wasn’t until this summer that I called again to check in when it seemed that he was beginning to lose his “spark.” And, guess what? Special Congrats is now here at Gretna Green happily munching the green grass of home with another retiree, his cousin Special Answer, and we all have trainer Richard Shelansky to thank for helping us to bring him home! Indeed, our heartiest thanks go out to Richard and all the trainers and owners out there who care enough to help these horses have a life after racing. You’re the best, guys (and that includes the gals), and we appreciate you!

Winner’s Circle We have a few recent winners with ties to NCTA members to recognize from September and October. As always, you can find a complete list of all runners on the NCTA Facebook page.

Charitable Heart, owned and bred by Clint Lowery, won a maiden special weight at Charles Town; Seeing’n’believing, a homebred running for Jim Chandley, took a starter optional claiming race at Laurel Park; and Rydell, bred by Michael Stone, won a maiden race at Parx Racing.

Nancy Shuford had multiple successes with horses she bred, including Fitzfarris (whom she also owns) winning a claiming race at Penn National, Coronado Again capturing a maiden special weight at Gulfstream Park West and Beach Patrol running second in the Grade 3 Hill Prince Stakes at Belmont Park.

THOROUGHBRED RACING ASSOCIATION OF OKLAHOMA NEWS TRAO Board Election Reminder Ballots were mailed out on November 14 for the 2017 Trainer or Owner/Trainer TRAO Board of Directors election.

All ballots need to be postmarked by December 31, and mailed to the TRAO office. If you are a TRAO member and did not receive a ballot, please contact the TRAO office at (405) 427-8753 or Election Director H. Ric Hedges to receive a duplicate ballot. Please note that to receive a duplicate ballot, you will be required to sign a receipt acknowledging the ballot was not previously received and that you otherwise have not voted in the election.

Two Stewards with Ties to Oklahoma Earn ROAP Honor The Racing Officials Accreditation Program announced five winners of the 2016 Pete Pedersen Award, which is presented to stewards who have made important contributions to the American Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred racing industries. Among the winners were two racing officials with ties to Oklahoma, Michael Corey and Jerry Burgess.

Pete Pedersen, for whom the award is named, worked as a steward in California for 50 years before retiring at the age of 85 in 2005.

The Seattle native became the second steward to receive the Eclipse Award of Merit in 2002, and he was also the recipient of the Laffit Pincay Jr. Award in 2008 for serving the racing industry with integrity, dedication, determination and distinction. Pedersen worked at nearly every track on the West Coast, and his reputation for objectivity and kindness was widely known.

The recipients will be recognized December 6 at the annual awards luncheon at the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program’s Global Symposium on Racing and Gaming in Tucson, Arizona.

For the past 25 years Michael Corey has served as chief state steward at Oklahoma tracks including Remington Park, Fair Meadows and Will Rogers Downs. He began his career as a tattoo technician for the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau in 1978. He also spent time as an identifier, placing judge, paddock judge, assistant racing secretary and ultimately a steward. Corey is known among his colleagues to be “clearly guided by a great passion for the sport of horse racing and an innate sense of fairness.” Corey still works as chief state steward for the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission.

Jerry Burgess began his career as a jockey in 1963 and was licensed in Colorado, New Mexico, California and Oklahoma until 1987. He was the leading rider at Le Mesa Park, Raton and Centennial Race Track.

Burgess has worked as a steward for the Texas Racing Commission since 1992 with experience as a steward at Ruidoso Downs and Hialeah Park. Burgess has been a member of the Jockeys’ Guild for 45 years. In 2010 he was inducted into the Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame, and in 2011 he was inducted into the New Mexico Horse Racing Hall of Fame. Burgess is regarded by his colleagues as honest and diplomatic with a reputation for upholding integrity within the sport.

The other winners were Peter Kosiba Jr., who served at Arlington Park, Fair Grounds and Penn National among other tracks; the late Calvin Rainey, a racing official, steward and executive director for The Jockey Club; and Dennis Nevin, who has spent 50 years involved with California racing.

“I would like to thank our special selection committee for volunteering their time for our annual awards process,” said ROAP Chair Hugh Gallagher. “Again, their time-consuming efforts have produced five outstanding award-winning stewards.”

SOUTH CAROLINA THOROUGHBRED OWNERS AND BREEDERS ASSOCIATION NEWS Matthew Hits South Carolina Coast As Category 4 Hurricane Matthew turned toward the South Carolina coast, Governor Nikki Haley urged residents to evacuate.

Horsemen in target areas loaded up and headed for higher ground, and the coordinated equine evacuation went smoothly.

South Carolina Department of Agriculture equine specialist Marsha Hewitt coordinated emergency evacuation efforts. Facilities receiving horses included the South Carolina Horse Park in Camden, Riverbend Equestrian Park in Greenville, various Aiken stables and FENCE in Tryon, North Carolina. Volunteers assisted with feeding, mucking stalls and walking horses.

There were no reported equine casualties due to the storm. A special thank you goes out to all who assisted in the emergency evacuation of South Carolina’s horses.

One Mean Man Puts Smiles on Faces One Mean Man, a graduate of Franklin “Goree” Smith’s Elloree Training Center, is one special colt. After capturing the $100,000 Jefferson Cup at Churchill Downs on October 1, he has four stakes victories at four different racetracks over dirt and grass this year.

In 2016 One Mean Man, trained by Bernie Flint, has come home first in the Grade 3 American Derby at Arlington Park, the Mystic Lake Derby at Canterbury Park and the Keith Gee Memorial at Fair Grounds.

How did this son of Mizzen Mast get his name? Owner Ron Hillerich reports his wife once commented, “I’ve got two sweet babies, and one mean man.” Odds are the “mean man” paid for dinner following the Jefferson Cup!

TEXAS THOROUGHBRED ASSOCIATION NEWS Board of Directors Election Each December, TTA members elect five at-large directors as well as two regional directors to represent their region of the state.

The following candidates have been approved to run for a three-year at-large term on the TTA Board of Directors: Keith Asmussen of Laredo (incumbent), Ken Carson of Pilot Point (incumbent), Sonny Ellen of Bryan, Stan Huntsinger of Waco (incumbent), Teo Mallet of Hempstead, Tracy Sheffield of Wimberley, Bill Tracy of Fredericksburg (incumbent) and Henry Witt Jr. of Waco (incumbent).

No opponents could be found for incumbent North Central Region director Phil Adams of Gainesville or incumbent West Region director Alfred Vardeman, DVM, of Colorado City, so they will automatically serve another three-year term for their respective regions.

Ballots have been sent to all current TTA members with a December 15 deadline for receipt of votes.

AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 47

STATE ASSOCIATION NEWS Congrats to Texas Breeder of the Year Eileen Hartis

As reported in Blood-Horse, just as a good horse can come from anywhere, so too can good horse people. That was readily apparent September 10 at the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association’s 31st annual national awards dinner where breeders and owners of all walks of life mingled under a tent at Stonestreet Farm near Lexington, Kentucky.

Honored were some of racing’s titans and some of racing’s smaller breeders, including Texas Breeder of the Year Eileen Hartis. The state breeders were honored earlier in the afternoon at a luncheon at Dudley’s downtown.

“I have always been a tiny, tiny breeder,” Hartis said. Her “spread” is limited to 40 acres because “it’s about all I can take care of. I feed ’em in the morning. I clean their stalls. I put them out at night. I brush and groom them. I do everything,” she added.

She had one colt to sell at the Keeneland September yearling sale, adding, “I hand walk him myself. My walker is me.”

Hartis has been named Texas Breeder of the Year three times, starting with multiple graded stakes winner Got Koko in 2003, graded stakes winner Princess Haya in 2009 and most recently with graded stakes-placed Ivan Fallunovalot. The award goes to the breeder of the Texas-bred with the highest earnings for the year.

Congratulations!

Important December 31 Deadlines TTA members and all horsemen are reminded of these important December 31 deadlines. That date is the final deadline to: • Accredit Texas-bred foals of 2015 for $200 (after December 31 the fee is $1,500). Add $50 for non-TTA members.

• Nominate stallions to the Clarence Scharbauer Jr. Texas Stallion Stakes Series for the 2017 breeding season. The amount due is $750 to nominate toward the fee of $1,500 or advertised stud fee, whichever is greater. If the full fee is paid

by December 31, take a 10 percent discount.

• Nominate eligible foals of 2016 to the Texas Stallion Stakes for $100.

• Nominate eligible foals of 2015 to the Texas Stallion Stakes for $500.

• Nominate eligible foals of 2015 to the 2017 Texas Thoroughbred Sales Futurity. Eligible foals of 2015 will be graduates of the Texas Summer Yearling and Mixed Sale and those that will be entered in and go through the ring at the 2017 Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. Also eligible are Accredited Texas-breds who are foals of 2015 (that are not sale grads) that are nominated by berth. Berths were issued to consignors and buyers of any horse that went through the ring at the yearling/mixed sale, and those berths may only be used by the original berth recipients. See the next story for more details about the Texas Thoroughbred Futurity.

48 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

Texas Thoroughbred Futurity Deadline Coming Up

Any foal of 2015 that passed through the ring in the 2016 Texas Summer Yearling and Mixed Sale or is consigned to and subsequently passes through the ring at the 2017 Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale at Lone Star Park will become eligible for nomination and sustainment to the appropriate division of the 2017 Texas Thoroughbred Sales Futurity to be run at Lone Star Park.

For every horse that passed through the ring at the 2016 Texas Summer Yearling and Mixed Sale, each consignor and each buyer will receive a non-transferable berth into either division of the race.

Any Thoroughbred foal of 2015 is eligible to be sold in the sales and nominated to the Futurity. Additional berths must be filled with an Accredited Texas-bred Thoroughbred foal of 2015 that did not pass through the ring at the 2016 Texas Summer Yearling and Mixed Sale. The nomination deadline for such berths is December 31. Please see ttasales.com/forms for complete information. Contact Jennifer Gibbs at (512) 458-6133 with any questions.

Roses to Ribbons at Retama Park The latest Roses to Ribbons Old-Fashioned Horse Fair was held at Retama Park on November 12, just after press time for this issue.

To view photos from this event and previous ones, please go to paddockfoundation.com.

The Old-Fashioned Horse Fair continues to grow in popularity and has been very successful in placing dozens of Thoroughbred racehorses into new homes and new careers. This is not an adoption program, but rather a fun, low-pressure way to connect owners and trainers of racehorses ready to leave the track with potential buyers.

We plan to hold at least one event at each of the Class 1 tracks in Texas next year. Check the website for more details to come.

Another Successful Texas HOF Gala The Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame once again honored individuals who have enriched the tradition and sport of horse racing in Texas with a very well-attended gala on October 29 at Retama Park.

The gala benefited the Saddle Light Center, Groom Elite and the Race Track Chaplaincies at Lone Star Park, Sam Houston Race Park and Retama Park.

The 2016 inductees included Hugh Fitzsimons, Dr. Nat Kieffer, John T.L. Jones Jr., Quarter Horse First Down Dash and John Boyce “Jay” Pumphrey (deceased).

Kudos to Retama Park and to the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame for putting together a wonderful gala and for their continued efforts to highlight the history of Texas racing.

TTA Online Stallion Season Auction

The TTA is pleased to announce that, through the generosity of many stallion owners, we are able to offer breeding seasons for 2017 at a special price in the TTA Online Stallion Season Auction.

The first round of bidding is already complete, but there is still time to purchase a season through a later round of bidding or on a first-come, first-served basis after bidding ends.

More seasons are expected to be added, so be sure to check back often.

Please go to texasthoroughbred.com to view the auction.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! January 7th, 2017

KANSAS THOROUGHBRED ASSOCIATION’S

ONLINE STALLION SEASON AUCTION Seasons to stallions from across the nation!

For more information or to add your stallion to our growing list, contact our office at 913-522-3203 or visit our website www.kansasthoroughbred.com to download a service contract.

Auction to be conducted by Starquine.com

Stemmans.Com 800.544.6773

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Call 1 (877) 905-0004 to Save! www.EquineEquipment.com AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 49

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Stephenson Thoroughbred Farms Quality Care for Thoroughbreds • Professional Hands-On Mare Care Provided Year Round • Excellent Prospects For Sale at All Times • Horse Transportation KC HORSE TRANSPORTATION

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American Racehorse Advertisers Index 7S Racing Stables..................................... 51

Foal to Yearling Halter............................ 50

Oaklawn Rental Property.........................14

Amerijet..................................................... 51

Glasses Creek Ranch........................... IBC

The Paddock Foundation........................52

The Art of Horse Racing........................ 50

Harmony Training Center.......................16

Pike Racing.............................................. 22

Asmussen Horse Center...........................9

Heritage Place......................................... 27

River Oaks Farms Inc..............19, 21, 36, 37

Biomedical Research Laboratories.......... 7

John Deere/NTRA................................. 29

Santa Fe Horse Transport...................... 50

Blueskiesnrainbows..................................35

Kansas Thoroughbred Association........49

Southwest Shavings LLC....................... 26

Brandon Jenkins Racing Stable.............. 50

KC Horse Transportation...................... 50

Stemmans.com.........................................49

Channon Farm LLC................................ 51

Mallory Farm........................................... 50

Thoroughbred Racing Association

Equine Equipment............................ 41, 49

MBM Horse Transport.......................... 50

of Oklahoma.......................................... 28

Equine Sales Company...........................40

McDowell Farm.......................................12

Travis Turner Real Estate.......................16

Equiwinner............................................... 11

Mid States Race Horse Sale.................... 13

Valor Farm..........................................1, BC

Eureka Thoroughbred Farm.................. 20

Mighty Acres.........................................IFC

Yearling Filly For Sale............................. 50

AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 51

THINK THOROUGHBREDS ARE JUST FOR RACING? THINK AGAIN! Thoroughbred horses are amazing, intelligent athletes, and when they are through racing they excel in a variety of other equestrian events. Just ask Olympian Boyd Martin, who rode the Thoroughbred ex-racehorse Blackfoot Mystery in the eventing competition at the Rio Summer Games!

The Paddock Foundation, formed by the Texas Thoroughbred Association, works tirelessly to find second careers and new homes for ex-racehorses.

Our Roses to Ribbons Old Fashioned Horse Fairs offer you the chance to meet and purchase these athletes in a relaxed, informative environment.

We invite you to visit us online at www.paddockfoundation.com and attend one of our upcoming Horse Fairs: November 12, 2016 • Retama Park near San Antonio March 2017 • Sam Houston Race Park in Houston July 2017 • Lone Star Park near Dallas/Ft. Worth

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THOROUGHBRED RACING AND RETIRED RACEHORSES? American Racehorse magazine covers the Thoroughbred racing and breeding industry in Texas and around the country, plus each issue features an article about an off-track Thoroughbred (OTTB).

Check us out online at www.americanracehorse.com and learn how you can subscribe.

Or visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/americanracehorse or follow us on Twitter at @AmerRacehorse.

52 AMERICAN RACEHORSE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

Glasses Creek • 11499 HWY 199 • Madill, Oklahoma 73446 Phone: 580.795.3940 • Frankie Williams: 580.263.9224 www.glassescreek.com

2017 VALOR FARM STALLION ROSTER Offering the most dynamic stallion lineup in the region CONGAREE

Arazi – Mari’s Sheba, by Mari’s Book

2017 FEE: $3,000

CROSSBOW

Bernardini – Forest Heiress,

by Forest Wildcat

2017 FEE: $2,000

EARLY FLYER

Gilded Time – Bistra, by Classic Go Go

2017 FEE: $2,500

GRASSHOPPER

2017 FEE: $3,500

JET PHONE

Barbara D. Livingston

Dixie Union – Grass Skirt,

by Mr. Prospector

Phone Trick – Jet Route, by Alydar

2017 FEE: $1,500

MY GOLDEN SONG

Unbridled’s Song – Golden Par, by Gold Meridian

2017 FEE: $4,000

STONESIDER

Giant’s Causeway – Added Gold, by Gilded Time

2017 FEE: $3,000

TOO MUCH BLING

Rubiano – Rose Colored Lady,

by Formal Dinner

Douglas Scharbauer Ken Carson, General Manager Donny Denton, Farm Manager • David Unnerstall, Attending Veterinarian Post Office Box 966 • Pilot Point, Texas 76258 (940) 686-5552 • Fax (940) 686-2179 www.valorfarm.com • www.facebook.com/valor.farm

Bee Silva

2017 FEE: $4,500