Category: 2021

UNIFIED REPORT TAKES THE $100,000 LOUISIANA LEGACY STAKES AT DELTA DOWNS

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– JOCKEY TIM THORNTON RIDES A RECORD SEVEN WINNERS ON THE PROGRAM –

 

Unified Report wins the Louisiana Legacy Stakes at Delta Downs. Coady Photography.

 

VINTON, LA. – Delta Downs hosted the $100,000 Louisiana Legacy Stakes (Louisiana-breds) on Saturday and the heavy favorite, Unified Report, did not disappoint his backers as he stormed home under jockey Tim Thornton to win his stakes debut for owner Valene Farms LLC (Murray Valene) and trainer Dallas Stewart. The win by Thornton was also his sixth of seven on the day, making it the best single race day of his career and marking a new Delta Downs Boyd Gaming era record.

 

Unified Report left the gate at odds of 1-5 in the Legacy after a maiden-breaking win at first asking while running at Churchill Downs on September 24th. His win in the Legacy set up much like his first race as he stalked the early pace set by Family Creed, who went the opening quarter mile in 23.53 seconds, and the half mile in 49.15. Unified Report engaged Family Creed with a furlong to go and the pair matched strides until they reached the sixteenth pole, where the former edged clear and went on to a 2-1/4 length victory. Fiesty Fist rounded out the trifecta finishing third, another 1-1/2 lengths behind the top pair.

 

Unified Report finished the seven-furlong distance of the Legacy in a time of 1:28.81 while racing over a track listed as fast.

 

Unified Report earned $60,000 for the win in the Legacy which raised his career bankroll up to $94,720.

 

Bred in Louisiana by Stephen Brown, Unified Report is a 2-year-old bay colt by Unified, out of the Closing Argument mare Closing Report. He was purchased as a yearling in 2020 for $33,000.

 

Unified Report was a popular winner for the fans as he paid $2.40 to win, $2.10 to place and $2.10 to show. Family Creed was worth $3.20 to place and $2.40 to show. Fiesty Fist returned $2.40 to show.

 

In addition to his big win the Legacy with Unified Report, Thornton also won with Relax Town ($2.80) in the first race; Blue Darter ($6) in the second; Dreaming of Neany ($8.60) in the third; Laughing Latinos ($14) in the fifth; Shackleford Strong ($4.20) in the sixth; and Interactif Moment ($9.60) in the ninth.

 

Delta Downs will conduct its third week of racing next week, Wednesday through Saturday. Post time each day is at 12:55 pm.

For more information about the current season visit the track’s website at www.deltadownsracing.com. Fans can also get information about the track through Facebook by visiting the page ‘Delta Downs Racing’. The track’s Twitter handle is @deltaracing.

 

Delta Downs Racetrack Casino and Hotel, a property of Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD), features exciting casino action, live horse racing and fun dining experiences. Delta Downs is located in Vinton, Louisiana, on Delta Downs Drive. From Lake Charles, take Exit 7 and from Texas, take Exit 4.

 

A DOMINANT PERFORMANCE FOR FREE LIKE A GIRL IN LOUISIANA JEWEL STAKES AT DELTA DOWNS

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– PEDRO COTTO, JR. RIDES BAY FILLY TO SECOND CONSECUTIVE STAKES TALLY –

 

Free Like A Girl wins the 13th running of the Louisiana Jewel S. at Delta Downs. Coady Photography.

 

VINTON, LA. – Delta Downs hosted the $100,000 Louisiana Jewel Stakes on Friday afternoon and the event turned into a runaway by Gerald Bruno, Jr.’s Free Like a Girl, who had Pedro Cotto, Jr. in the saddle for trainer Chasey Deville Pomier.

 

Free Like a Girl came into the Jewel off a winning performance at Evangeline Downs in the D. S. Shine Young Futurity on September 18 and was attempting a two-turn race for the first time in her career as the Jewel was contested at seven furlongs. Delta Downs is a six-furlong racetrack.

 

The challenge to win back-to-back in stakes company by Free Like a Girl was accepted as she rallied from off the pace of 24.79 seconds for the opening quarter mile and 47.94 for the half set by Averi Ever After before taking the lead turning for home. In the upper-stretch Free Like a Girl kept widening her margin and finished the race an astounding 18 ½ lengths to the good of Streak of Silver who finished second. Serape was another

2 ¼-lengths behind in third.

 

Free Like a Girl covered the distance over a fast track in 1:28.38.

 

Free Like a Girl has now won three of seven lifetime races and has never finished off the board. Her career bankroll now stands at $135,713 after earning $60,000 for her effort in the Jewel.

 

Bred in Louisiana by Kim Renee Stover & Lisa Osborne, Free Like a Girl is a 2-year-old bay filly by El Deal, out of the Munnings mare Flashy Prize.

 

Installed as the 5-2 morning line favorite, Free Like a Girl was not respected on the toteboard as she left the gate at 6-1 and returned $15.20 to win, $5 to place and $4.40 to show. Streak of Silver was worth $4.60 to place and $3.60 to show. Serape paid $5.40 to show.

 

Delta Downs will close out the race week on Saturday with another 10-race program set to kick off at 12:55 pm CT. Headlining the card will be the $100,000 Louisiana Legacy for 2-year-olds scheduled as the eighth race.

 

For more information about the current season visit the track’s website at www.deltadownsracing.com. Fans can also get information about the track through Facebook by visiting the page ‘Delta Downs Racing’. The track’s Twitter handle is @deltaracing.

 

Delta Downs Racetrack Casino and Hotel, a property of Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD), features exciting casino action, live horse racing and fun dining experiences. Delta Downs is located in Vinton, Louisiana, on Delta Downs Drive. From Lake Charles, take Exit 7 and from Texas, take Exit 4.

 

Equibase Adds Results Charts Featuring GPS Data

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Equibase, the Thoroughbred industry’s official database for racing information, announced Oct. 22 the addition of result charts that include data collected from global positioning satellite systems.

“After many years of evaluating GPS to deliver expanded data, Equibase is pleased to be successfully leveraging this technology for racing,” said Sal Sinatra, president and chief operating officer for Equibase. “GPS technology provides comprehensive data for each horse during the entire running of a race, and we are excited to now be able to provide this rich data on the website.”

During the running of the race, the GPS system collects a comprehensive data set every half second for every horse in the race. The charts will enable users to see this data at the traditional points of call, as well as at one-sixteenth-mile intervals. In addition to traditional information such as lengths ahead and lengths behind, data such as each horse’s sectional and cumulative time, average speed, number of strides, average stride length, and average strides per second are included in each GPS chart.

 

Read BloodHorse Article

Delta Downs Cancels Racing Under New LED Lighting System

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by

 

Delta Downs was forced to cancel the remainder of its Friday night program after a third-race spill and will not conduct its scheduled Saturday night program.

The Vinton, La., racetrack, which opened its 2021-22 meet with two afternoon programs on Oct. 13-14, was racing under its new LED lighting system for the first time on Friday when Its a Deal fell at the top of the stretch in the third race. Jockey Jorge Guzman fell heavily to the track.

According to the Equibase chart, Its a Deal walked off after the incident. Guzman’s condition is not known.

 

Read Paulick Report Article

Ballots for LTBA Board of Directors to Mail October 15

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Ballots for the 2021 Election of Louisiana Thoroughbred Thoroughbred Breeders Association Board of Directors will be mailing Friday, October 15th.

There are eight (8) nominees vying for five (5) spots on the board.

The affairs of this Association are entrusted to the Board of Directors, which shall have full power to authorize and make contracts, expend funds for the purposes, aims, objectives and operations of this Association.

There are currently thirteen members on the Board. Each board member elected shall serve for three years. The board membership terms are staggered which shall result in approximately 1/3 of the board being subject to election annually.

Ballots are mailing from MK Election Services in New Haven, CT and must be returned via USPS by November 15th. Please make your selections and return as quickly as possible. Ballots received after November 15th will not be counted. Please allow time for mail to reach MK Election Services in New Haven, CT.

Jockey Club Reports 2021 Foal Crop Down 3.3%

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October 8, 2021

 

The Jockey Club reported that 1,447 stallions covered 29,699 mares in North America during 2020, according to statistics compiled through October 4, 2021. These breedings have resulted in 19,021 live foals of 2021 being reported to The Jockey Club on Live Foal Reports.

The Jockey Club estimates that the number of live foals reported so far is 85-90 percent complete. The reporting of live foals of 2021 is down 3.3 percent from last year at this time when The Jockey Club had received reports for 19,677 live foals of 2020.

In addition to the 19,021 live foals of 2021 reported through October 4, The Jockey Club also received 2,195 No Foal Reports for the 2021 foaling season. Ultimately, the 2021 registered foal crop is projected to reach 19,200.

The number of stallions declined 6.8 percent from the 1,552 reported for 2019 at this time last year, while the number of mares bred declined 4.8 percent from the 31,198 reported for 2019.

The 2020 breeding statistics are available alphabetically by stallion name through the Resources – Fact Book link on The Jockey Club homepage at jockeyclub.com.

Kentucky annually leads all states and provinces in terms of Thoroughbred breeding activity. Kentucky-based stallions accounted for 55.5 percent of the mares reported bred in North America in 2020 and 60.6 percent of the live foals reported for 2021.

The 16,485 mares reported bred to 212 Kentucky stallions in 2020 have produced 11,535 live foals, a 2.7 percent decrease on the 11,851 Kentucky-sired live foals of 2020 reported at this time last year. The number of mares reported bred to Kentucky stallions in 2020 decreased 4.4 percent compared to the 17,240 reported for 2019 at this time last year.

Among the 10 states and provinces with the most mares covered in 2020, three produced more live foals in 2021 than in 2020 as reported at this time last year: Maryland, Ontario, and New Mexico. The following table shows the top 10 states and provinces ranked by number of state/province-sired live foals of 2021 reported through October 4, 2021.

2020 Mares Bred 2020 Live Foals 2021 Live Foals Percent Change in Live Foals
Kentucky 16,485 11,851 11,535 -2.7%
California 1,877 1,390 1,253 -9.9%
Florida 1,811 1,156 1,002 -13.3%
New York 1,032 652 649 -0.5%
Louisiana 1,101 647 631 -2.5%
Maryland 832 506 524 3.6%
Pennsylvania 793 510 449 -12.0%
Ontario 594 350 359 2.6%
New Mexico 637 313 326 4.2%
Oklahoma 576 342 271 -20.8%

The statistics include 243 progeny of stallions standing in North America but foaled abroad, as reported by foreign stud book authorities at the time of publication.

Country Live Foals Country Live Foals
Saudi Arabia 66 Philippines 3
Japan 54 Panama 2
Ireland 47 Australia 1
Republic of Korea 30 Italy 1
France 16 Jamaica 1
Great Britain 16 Mexico 1
Turkey 4 Sweden 1

The report also includes 64 mares bred to 23 stallions in North America on Southern Hemisphere time; the majority of these mares have not foaled.

As customary, a report listing the number of mares bred in 2021 will be released later this month.

Obituary: ROBERT CARTER NICHOLAS STOCKETT JR.

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Robert was born December 24, 1940 in Jackson, Mississippi. He is the son of Robert Carter Nicholas Stockett and Caroline Price Stockett. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Jackson for over 60 years. He was a graduate of Murrah High School class of 1959, The University of Mississippi Class of 1963, and the Jackson School of Law Class of 1965. He was admitted to the Mississippi Bar Association in 1966. He was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order. He served as a director of the Rankin Hinds Pearl River Flood & Drainage District for over 20 years, a founding director of Jackson Preparatory School, founder and past president of Lake Caroline Inc., General Partner of Coliseum Ramada Inn, Metro Ramada Inn, Ramada Renaissance Hotel and McComb Ramada Inn. He enjoyed raising and racing Thoroughbreds and was a member of the Jockey Club as an owner.

Robert was preceded in death by his father Robert Carter Nicholas Stockett, his mother Caroline Armstead Price Stockett and his brother Samuel Henry Stockett.

Survivors include his wife Barbara Burke Stockett; his children, Susan Stockett Carnell (Glenn) of Corinth, TX; Robert Carter Nicholas Stockett III (Carroll) of Jackson; Kathryn Rutledge Stockett of Church Hill, MS; Samuel Nicholas Stockett (Mary Claire) of Jackson; and Charles Burke Stockett (Samantha) of Oxford, MS; 9 Grandchildren; and uncle Dr. H. Richard Johnson.

Honorary pallbearers are Johnny Stewart, Joe Speed, Dr. Bob McLean, Vaughn Watkins, John Lenoir, Trent Carnell, Phillip Carnell and Carter Stockett.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to French Camp Academy, 1 Fine Place, French Camp, MS 39754.

ENTRIES TAKEN FOR OPENING DAY AT DELTA DOWNS RACETRACK CASINO & HOTEL

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– NEW 84-DAY THOROUGHBRED SEASON KICKS OFF WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13 –

 

 

VINTON, LA. – Delta Downs racing office took entries on Tuesday for the opening day program of its upcoming 2021-22 Thoroughbred season. The 84-day stand will kick off on October 13 and run through March 5. First post time each Wednesday and Thursday will be at 12:55 pm Central Time and the first race every Friday and Saturday night will begin at 5:55 pm.

 

A total of 92 horses, including also eligible horses, were entered in the nine-race program to start the season. Delta Downs allows a maximum of 10 horses to compete in each race, however the track does include up to two ‘also eligible’ horses in each event if there are enough entries to warrant it. The track began using ‘also eligible’ horses a few years ago and it has led to larger average field sizes and more betting opportunities for the wagering public.

 

The first stakes activity of the season will take place on opening weekend with the $100,000 Magnolia Stakes for 3-year-olds and up fillies and mares on Friday night, October 15 and the $100,000 Gold Cup for 3-year-olds and up going as the Saturday night headliner. Both races are restricted to horses bred in Louisiana.

 

Several streaks will be on the line this season in the horsemen ranks at Delta Downs this year. Karl Broberg will attempt to win his 11th consecutive training title while Tim Thornton will try to extend his streak to four straight riding titles. The ownership group of End Zone Athletices, Inc., which includes Broberg and Matt Johanson, will be looking to extend their run of six titles in a row this meet. Overall, they have captured nine of the last 10 owner crowns at the southwest Louisiana oval.

 

For more information about the upcoming season, including the entire stakes schedule, visit the track’s website at www.deltadownsracing.com. Fans can also get information about the track through Facebook by visiting the page ‘Delta Downs Racing’. The track’s Twitter handle is @deltaracing.

 

LTBA Breeders Sales Company of Louisiana 2021 Yearling Sale Results

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The Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association’s Breeders Sales Company of Louisiana held its 2021 Yearling Sale followed by Mixed Session, Saturday, October 2nd at the Equine Sales Facility in Opelousas. With 13 outs and 22 RNAs, a total of 87 head sold for $898,000.  The yearling average was $13,027. The weanling average was $3,117, and the mare average was $2,167.

 

Hip number 7,  a Custom For Carlos colt out of Labadeel, a Forest Wildcat mare, was purchased by Ricky Lagrange for $47,000 to top the sale. The bay colt was consigned by Clear Creek Stud, agent.

 

Hip number 54, also out of the Clear Creek Stud consignment, was purchased by Norman Stables for $45,000, the second highest price of the day.  A half sister to stakes placed Raising the Ante, the bay filly is by Midnight Storm out of the Majestic Warrior mare, Ante Up Annie.

 

Look for complete results Monday.

Brian Hernandez Jr. 12th Jockey To Ride 700 Churchill Downs Winners

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Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr.

Brian Hernandez Jr. became only the 12th jockey in Churchill Downs history to ride 700 winners at the Louisville, Ky., home of the Kentucky Derby when the 35-year-old won Thursday’s third race aboard Dream On It for trainer Dallas Stewart.

Hernandez Jr., who began riding professionally in 2003, won his first race at Churchill Downs aboard Machine to Tower on May 27, 2004. Overall, the native of Lafayette, La., has won 2,233 races and his mounts have amassed more than $95.7 million from 16,164 starts during an 18-year riding career.

He won the Eclipse Award in 2004 as the nation’s champion apprentice jockey. In 2012, Hernandez Jr. won the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita aboard Fort Larned for his biggest career win.

The top 12 jockeys in races won at Churchill Downs: 1. Pat Day (2,482), 2. Calvin Borel (1,232), 3. Robby Albarado (1,192), 4. Corey Lanerie (1,151), 5. Julien Leparoux (982), 6. Don Brumfield (925), 7. Larry Melancon (914), 8. Jim McKnight (883), 9. Charlie Woods Jr. (757), 10. Shane Sellers (738), 11. Shaun Bridgmohan (728) and 12. Brian Hernandez Jr. (700).