Category: BloodHorse

Recent Expansion of H-2B Visas Could Help Horsemen

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Dollars & Sense With Frank Angst

 

A federal program that will allow more temporary workers from three Central American countries, as well as Haiti, could provide some options for horsemen.

The federal government recently provided some good news for horsemen searching for labor options by expanding the H-2B program that provides temporary nonagricultural worker visas. Beginning this month and continuing through September, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor will make an additional 35,000 H-2B visas available.

 

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Un Ojo On Target for Kentucky Derby After Rough Trip

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One-eyed gelding has scrapes, stiffness after hitting rail in Arkansas Derby (G1).

 

The one-eyed New York State-bred gelding Un Ojo  came out of a tumultuous eighth-place finish in the Arkansas Derby (G1) with some shoulder scrapes and stiffness but remains on course for a start in the May 7 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).

Trainer Ricky Courville said April 5 that the son of Laoban needed some surgical staples in his left shoulder blade after hitting the rail April 2 during the $1 million stakes at Oaklawn Park, and will be walked the rest of this week as he recovers from the rough trip.

 

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Coteau Grove Receives ‘Gift’ of Healthy Twin Colts

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Villa d’Este gave birth to the Gift Box colts April 3 at the Louisiana farm.

 

Staff at Coteau Grove Farms in Louisiana received the gift of a lifetime April 3 when their mare Villa d’Este foaled not one, but two healthy colts by Gift Box  .

In the months leading up to the birth, broodmare manager Jacob Cyprian said the mare’s size had them questioning her due date.

“We’ve been looking at her since January, we knew she wasn’t due until the beginning of April … We were like, ‘Man, she’s so big,’ so we just started keeping an eye of her and started watching her,” Cyprian said. “We never knew it was twins. When she got in foal, we always thought she was just having one.”

“(We thought) the date could be wrong so we started backtracking, trying to see what was going on, and we were right (about the due date). When she started getting close, we just kept an eye on her and she was just getting real slow and real heavy. I said, ‘Well, she’s going to go soon.'”

 

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Challenge to HISA Denied by Ruling in Texas Case

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Claims brought by the National HBPA to enjoin enforcement of HISA were dismissed.

 

Claims brought in a Texas federal court to stop the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act from going forward were dismissed on March 31 by U. S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix.

The lawsuit, filed by the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association and joined by affiliated HBPAs, sought to have the court enjoin enforcement of the Act as unconstitutional. The HBPAs argued that HISA gave unlawful regulatory power to a private entity it created, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.

After finding the HBPAs have standing to bring the case and that an actual controversy exists, Hendrix also found there is no disagreement about the material facts, leading the way to a decision based on the application of law.

 

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75-1 Win Puts Spotlight on One-Eyed Un Ojo, Courville

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Longshot Rebel winner runs in Arkansas Derby with Kentucky Derby spot assured.

 

For the last few weeks, Ricky Courville’s family and friends have been peppering him with suggestions for the first week in May. They have been urging the Louisiana-based trainer to buy airline tickets or make hotel and restaurant reservations. Some have recommended buying a new suit. But at the moment, Courville would prefer to wait until next week before handling all those details.

“It’s been an exciting time,” Courville said, “but I know anything can happen in this game so I just keep on working like normal and think about what’s going on. I’ve got family talking about making reservations in Kentucky but I tell them, ‘Whoa, we have one more race to go. Let’s not jinx anything now.”‘

For Courville, who has a string of about 30 horses based in Louisiana and spent the first 13 years of his training career without experiencing the thrill of a graded stakes win, his life finally shifted into the fast lane Feb. 26 through the heroics of Un Ojo , a one-eyed gelding by the late stallion Laoban owned by Cypress Creek Equine and Whispering Oaks Farm.

 

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HBPA Panel Offers Advice on Engaging With Lawmakers

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Panel was part of the National HBPA conference in Hot Springs, Ark.

 

As government affairs consultant Joe Clabes sees it, when horse racing conducts industry days on state capitol steps it’s perfectly all right for many of racing’s participants to show up in jeans.

“It’s OK if there’s a cowboy hat or two and big belt buckles,” Clabes noted during a panel discussion on how horsemen can interact and build relationships with lawmakers March 3 during the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association conference at the Oaklawn Park hotel in Hot Springs, Ark.

Clabes, who has lobbied for the Kentucky industry and the Kentucky HBPA, said seeing that everyday fashion helps remind lawmakers that while racing may be the Sport of Kings, there are plenty of people going to work each day to make a living in the sport and the ancillary businesses that keep it up and running.

 

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Aurelius Maximus Sires First Reported Foal in Louisiana

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A filly out of Platinum Patty was born at Hebert Farms Feb. 10.

 

The first reported foal by Aurelius Maximus  , a grade 2-placed son of Pioneerof the Nile, was born Feb. 10 at Hebert Farms in Maurice, La.

The dark bay filly was produced by the Pomeroy  mare Platinum Patty , owned by William Meaux. Platinum Patty was a $100,000 purchase from Fasig-Tipton’s Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale in 2014 by Charles Castille Jr. and an impressive 2-year-old maiden special weight winner at first asking.

Aurelius Maximus stands the 2022 season for an advertised fee of $2,000, live foal, at the Adcock family’s Red River Farm in Coushatta, La.

 

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Graham ‘s Cruiser First Winner for Hard Aces

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Hard Aces, by Hard Spun, won the 2015 Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes (G1).

 

 

Graham ‘s Cruiser  became the first winner for Louisiana stallion Hard Aces  when he won a state-bred maiden race at Delta Downs Feb. 11.

The 3-year-old raced in fourth for the first three-eighths of a mile before gaining on the leaders and taking the lead in the final furlong. He won by three-quarters of a length, racing five furlongs in 1:00.78 under C. J. McMahon. He earned $22,800 for winning the $38,000 race.

Hard Aces was retired after running 11th in the Berkeley Handicap (G3) at Golden Gate Fields in November 2017 and went to stud the following year at Averett Farm in Louisiana. He currently stands there for a $2,000 fee.

 

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Honor A. P.’s First Reported Foal Born in Louisiana

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The filly was bred by Coteau Grove Farms out of stakes winner Joanie’s Catch.

 

Lane’s End’s grade 1 winner Honor A. P.   sired his first reported foal Jan. 27 at Coteau Grove Farms near Sunset, La. Bred by Coteau Grove, the filly is out of multiple graded-placed stakes winner Joanie’s Catch .

“The resemblance of this filly to her sire is uncanny, right down to her four white socks,” said Andrew Cary, Coteau Grove Farms’ bloodstock adviser. “There is no doubt about who her sire is. Honor A. P. was right up there with the best of his generation, and we likely only saw a fraction of what he was capable of. We have two more mares due to foal to Honor A. P., including a mare who produced a $400,000 Saratoga yearling for us.”

“This filly is really nice, she has good size and a great shape to her with a beautiful head,” said Coteau Grove’s broodmare manager Jacob Cyprian

 

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Strike Power to Enter Stud at Red River Farms

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Grade 3 winner by Speightstown will stand for $2,000.

 

A partnership recently closed on a deal to buy multiple graded-placed, grade 3 winner Strike Power , who will enter stud at Red River Farms near Coushatta, La. The 7-year-old son of Speightstown   will stand for $2,000 with a stands and nurses guarantee.

“It’s a bit late but we think we’ll get a good first book of mares to him,” said Jay Adcock with Red River Farms. “Being by Speightstown and running a 102 Beyer in his first start were the first things that got our attention. Then he showed he could run two turns in the Fountain of Youth.”

A homebred for Don and Donna Adam’s Courtlandt Farm, Strike Power won his debut at 2 at Gulfstream Park by eight lengths with trainer Mark Hennig. At 3, he started off by winning the Swale Stakes (G3) and was second in the Xpressbet Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) to Promises Fulfilled  . He would go on to place second in two more graded stakes with both Hennig and trainer Steve Asmussen, the True North Stakes (G2) and Maryland Sprint Match Series Stakes (G3), respectively. Strike Power retired with a 4-4-1 record from 20 starts and earned $497,935.

 

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