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Louisiana-Bred Not This Time Colt Tops Keeneland Session 8

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Colt bought by bloodstock agent Donato Lanni for $320,000

There were high fives all around at Keeneland during the Sept. 21 session of the September Yearling Sale after a Not This Time colt (Hip 2739) was sold for $320,000 to top the auction’s eighth session.

Consigned by Stuart Morris, the Louisiana-bred colt’s sale to agent Donato Lanni—who was acting on behalf of a unidentified client—represented a major home run for breeders Phillip and Nancy Stelly.

By Taylor Made Stallions’ Not This Time—the son of Giant’s Causeway whose first crop to race as 2-year-olds this year includes Del Mar Debutante (G1) winner Princess Noor—the colt named Mardi Gras Time is out of the winning More Than Ready  mare Ready At Nine, who has also produced stakes-placed Drummer Boy.

The colt was the first at Keeneland for the Stellys, who have been breeding since 2011. They credited Morris as well as Al and Salley Pike, and the Pikes’ son Colt, for their big score in the sale ring. Colt Pike had helped obtain the mating to Not This Time, and his parents had prepped the colt for auction.

“I just couldn’t be any more excited; it’s like catching lightning in a bottle,” said Phillip Stelly, who resides in Louisiana and said that both his father and grandfather were self-described “backyard trainers.”

“We’ve raised some babies and I always thought they were nice, but this is the nicest one we’ve ever raised,” he added.

L-R Nancy and Phillip Stelly, consignor Stuart Morris, Colt, Salley and Al Pike, 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale
Photo: Keeneland Photo

(L-R): Nancy and Phillip Stelly, Stuart Morris, Colt, Salley, and Al Pike at Keeneland

Lanni said the early success of Not This Time played a role in the purchase.

“The sire has done his job,” Lanni said. “You have to respect any yearling by that sire. He was a strong horse and straightforward, good-looking horse.”

The colt’s extended female family includes grade 1 winner Classy Cathy—the dam of British group 2 winner Placerville—millionaire Rieno Tesoro, and Xpressbet Florida Derby (G1) winner Audible .

Asmussen Second Thoroughbred Trainer to Win 9,000 Races

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Hall of Fame conditioner accomplished milestone Sept. 18 at Remington.

Trainer Steve Asmussen became only the second trainer in Thoroughbred racing history to win for the 9,000th time in his career, bringing home Troy Ounce in Race 2 Sept. 18 at Remington Park.

He needs 446 more victories to become the all-time winningest trainer in North American Thoroughbred history. The current leader is Dale Baird, who went to the winner’s circle 9,445 times in his career.

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New Jersey to Ban Riding Crop Use Except for Safety

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The regulation, the strictest in North America, was opposed by the Jockeys’ Guild.

A regulation passed Sept. 16 by the New Jersey Racing Commission will prohibit jockeys and exercise riders in the state from using the riding crop “except when necessary to control the horse for the safety of the horse or rider” beginning next year.

The ruling makes it the strictest in North America following earlier decisions by some regulatory bodies that have limited the number of strikes a horse can receive from a jockey. According to Daily Racing Form, the riding-crop restriction will take effect when Monmouth Park opens in 2021. The track customarily begins its race meet in May.

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Longtime Racing Official Hooper Retires

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He headed the Univerity of Arizona Race Track Industry Program in the early 1990s.

Dave Hooper, a longtime racing official and former head of the Texas Thoroughbred Association and University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program, is retiring upon the conclusion of the Canterbury Park meet that ends Sept. 17.

Hooper, 85, has served on the Canterbury board of stewards the past eight years, he said, the last six as chief state steward at the Minnesota track. During his time there, he was one of several recipients of the 2018 Pete Pedersen Award, which is presented to stewards who have demonstrated professional excellence and integrity in the performance of their duties.

Hooper worked in the racing industry for approximately 60 years, nearly 30 in a regulatory capacity. He has also worked as an association or state steward in Kentucky, Arizona, Idaho, Louisiana, Oregon, Washington, and Texas.

He said Canterbury was one of his favorite stops, praising track management and the people of Minnesota.

“I couldn’t have finished at a better place,” he said.

Before wrapping up his career as a regulator, Hooper was appreciated for his contributions as executive director for three breed organizations and one horsemen’s association. He was also a favorite among students at the University of Arizona, where he served as coordinator of the Race Track Industry Program in the early 1990s.

He plans to retire to Georgetown, Texas with his wife of 22 years, Martha.

“We have some bucket-list items we’d like to check off,” he said.

Jockey Hernandez Tests Positive for COVID-19

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Rider off Churchill Downs mounts Sept 1.

 

Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. reported Sept. 1 that he had tested positive for COVID-19, but that he is no longer contagious since he is also positive for the virus antibodies.

Hernandez was taken off the four mounts on which he was named for the Tuesday card at Churchill Downs that kicks off the week leading up to the rescheduled Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), and it was unclear when he would be able to resume riding. He had 25 mounts lined up for Sept. 1-4.

“We got the antibody results back,” Hernandez wrote in a text message. “I am positive for the virus but positive for the antibodies as well, which means I am no longer contagious. Now we are waiting for Churchill and the health department to tell us when we can go back to riding.”

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Louisiana Horsemen Assess Storm Damage

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Louisiana horsemen were spending the morning of Aug. 27 checking in on one another and assessing any damage after Hurricane Laura battered the state’s coastline overnight.

Karl Broberg, who has finished as the leading trainer by wins in North America multiple times, said his farm near Delta Downs in Vinton, La., sustained heavy damage but no workers or horses were injured. He said there was significant flooding, but the turned-out horses were fine on higher ground.

“It’s draining pretty fast, but there’s still about a foot of water on some parts of the property,” Broberg said. “There’s extensive damage, but all things considered, we’re alright. It just seems that we’re seeing more and more of these powerful hurricanes.”

According to multiple news outlets, the hurricane was listed as a Category 4 storm as it reached landfall near Lake Charles, La., and as of 9:30 a.m. Aug. 27 a number of news sites said the storm was still at Category 2 level as it traveled inland.

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Lone Star Ends Meet With Off-Track Handle Record

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The track reported $2.1 million in average daily handle from off-track sources.

 

Lone Star Park concluded its 24th Thoroughbred racing season Aug. 12 with a record $2.1 million in average daily handle from off-track sources. The previous high mark was in 2002 when the average was just over $2 million per day. The meet saw a record increase of 131% in average daily all-source handle from 2019.

The average daily handle was the highest since 2004, the year Lone Star Park hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships and reported an average daily all-source handle of just over $2.2 million.

 

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Horse Racing Viewership on Fox Networks Rises 300%

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Network will show the Runhappy Travers (G1) and two other stakes Aug. 8.

 

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Finding something positive amid the COVID-19 pandemic is surely as difficult as finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. Yet for Thoroughbred racing and, in particular, the New York Racing Association, the loss of numerous racing dates and on-track wagering at many venues has also created a situation in which the sport has gained far more television exposure with professional and collegiate sports shuttered than it would have in a traditional and less turbulent year.

“Looking across the whole portfolios of sports properties we have across sports television, the two properties that have managed the circumstances (during the pandemic) the best are NASCAR and horse racing. They are the two that have risen to meet this moment and have put themselves in a better position for the future,” said Michael Mulvihill, Fox Sports’ executive vice president of research, league operations, and strategy. “I think horse racing and our NYRA programming has really stepped up to fill the void, and it’s been beneficial to horse racing and to us.”

Mulvihill’s Aug. 6 comments came two days before the $1 million Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course will be presented on a 90-minute, 5-6:30 p.m. (ET) show on the main Fox broadcast channel, providing an added half-hour of coverage this year.

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Remington Park Cuts Stakes Purses Due to COVID-19

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Total stakes purse money for 2020 is $2.88 million, an $820,000 reduction from 2019.

Remington Park, set to begin a 67-date Thoroughbred season Aug. 21, released a stakes schedule July 29 that features 32 races and a reduced purse structure due to COVID-19.

Total purse money for the stakes schedule is $2.88 million, a reduction of $820,000 from 2019. The lower structure is due to two months of inactivity from mid-March to late-May when Remington Park halted simulcast racing and casino gaming for health and safety measures because of the pandemic.

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Negative COVID-19 Tests Required for Keeneland Sale

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Tests must be performed on attendees within five days of the sale.

 

In a July 29 announcement targeted toward those planning to attend the upcoming Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Keeneland president-elect Shannon Arvin informed patrons and horsemen that any party entering the grounds will be required to present proof of a negative COVID-19 test.

Further requirements state that the negative test must be performed within five days of arriving at the sale, which starts Sept. 13 and runs through Sept. 26. For any sales participant who does not have access to testing ahead of the auction, Keeneland has made arrangements for onsite testing to be available.

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