Tag: Preakness Stakes

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Birthday, Breezing, Betting and Backside

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One week ago today I got a little older.  So what does a Thoroughbred blogger do to celebrate her birthday?  She spends her time with the horses!  I had a great time at The Thoroughbred Center, Churchill Downs, and again at Churchill, to visit the backside.

The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington, KY is owned by the Keeneland Association.  This property is the home for up to 1,000 horses.  The facility has 32 barns and 10 paddocks.  I went out early Saturday morning to meet power couple, Mr. and Mrs. V.  They took me to meet with their friend’s horses and trainer Geoff Mulcahy.  Mulcahy Equine has been in operation in Lexington for 10 years and is a premier equine operation. Mulcahy Stables has a barn on the property.  There I met 2 year olds Ma’am and Tidal as well as several other beautiful horses and a barn cat.  Ma’am and Tidal went onto the track and got their 2nd ever turn to run.  I watched the exercise riders work the horses on the track.  It was a great time and I plan to return.  The Thoroughbred Center offers tours as well.  Tours

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That same evening, I got dressed up and headed to Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY, home of the Kentucky Derby.  My friends and I sat in a nice box  to watch the Night Racing and by great fortune we were sandwiched between the famous trainer, D. Wayne Lukas and his exercise rider, Jessica Sheffield.  Sheffield was excited that my friends and I were spending my birthday following the Thoroughbreds so she invited us back to the Lukas barn on the backside in the morning.  We took in all 11 races that night including race 8 where Skyring ran for Lukas.  When that race concluded Lukas left promptly.  He awakens daily at 3:30 a.m. and heads to his barn, which is located on Churchill’s property.

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Somehow, my group and I struggled but after three and a half hours of sleep we woke at 4:45 a.m. to get to the backside by 5:30 a.m.  These horse people start their days way too early.  It was pitch black outside but Churchill’s backside was busy with horses, horsemen, and barn cats everywhere.  My weary but excited group seemed to be the only tourist that morning.  We were taken by Sheffield directly to be introduced to Lukas.  He was very welcoming as his busy barn had the horses up and training.  D. Wayne Lukas is a top trainer.  He is a Hall of Famer and an Eclipse Outstanding Trainer.  He has trained 26 world champions, 20 Breeders’ Cup champions, 4 Kentucky Derby winners, 6 Preakness winners, 4 Belmont winners, has 14 world champion training titles and has had 3 horse of the year champions.  In his barn we met Take Charge Brandi, Hillbilly Style, Mr. Z. and more.  We watched the horses be exercised in the barn and on the track.  The track kitchen has direct track side views as well as biscuits and gravy.  We walked all over the backside and it was a very good time.  Hillbilly Style will race today, July 3rd 2015, at Ellis Park and he looked great to me Sunday morning.

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My birthday weekend was wonderful and I am glad I got to share my experience with all of you as well.  If given the chance you should check out The Thoroughbred Center and Churchill Downs.  I hope you all get to watch some good racing this weekend and enjoy all the 4th of July festivities!

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Mother Goose

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I am horsing around today for sure.  I got an early start this morning at the Thoroughbred Center watching the horses breeze and petting them and a barn cat. Tonight, I am attending Downs After Dark at Churchill Downs for some live racing, including some graded stakes.  In between, I am watching the Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park.  It is a busy day for this blogger and I will share some trip photos and stories later but now let’s focus on the Mother Goose Stakes.

The Thoroughbred Center

Downs after Dark

The Mother Goose Stakes started in 1957 and was named for Mother Goose, herself.  She had the distinction of being the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Futurity in 1924.  The Grade 1 stakes race is 1 and 1/16 miles on dirt.  It is currently held at Belmont Park in New York, where we recently saw American Pharoah win the Triple Crown.  The Mother Goose is for 3 year old fillies.  The purse is $300,000.  At different periods, in our nation’s history, this race has been considered part of the filly triple crown or triple tiara.  The other legs were usually the Acorn and the Coaching Club American Oaks.  Those two races and the Alabama Stakes are currently considered the New York Triple Tiara.  The fastest and largest margin to win the Mother Goose was Rachel Alexandra.  She also won the Kentucky Oaks and the Preakness.  She holds the record for the largest win at the Kentucky Oaks too.  She was the first filly to win the Preakness in 85 years.  She has the record for speed at the Mother Goose and was less than a second from Secretariat’s speed record.   Tonight at 5:28 pm, the Mother Goose Stakes will be race 9 at Belmont.  The Acorn and Coaching Club American Oaks won’t take place until late July and August.  It has only been 3 weeks since the Acorn.  Curalina won the Acorn Stakes and she will not be participating in the Mother Goose.  In fact, only one horse in this stakes race was entered at the Acorn. The 10 featured horses are:

  1. Embellish the Lace
  2. Include Betty
  3. Hot City Girl
  4. Munasara
  5. Chide
  6. Pleasant Tales
  7. Money’soncharlotte
  8. Danessa Deluxe
  9. Eskenformoney
  10. Wondergal

Embellish the Line won both of her 2 starts this year.  This will be her 1st stakes race.  Include Betty came in 8th at the Kentucky Oaks and 2nd in the Black-Eyed Susan stakes.  She is the horse with the experience to win this, having 9 career starts including 4 graded stakes, 1 of which she won.  Hot City Girl is one of only 2 New York bred horses in this race, the rest are from Kentucky.  She has 7 starts but just 1 win, back in January, and none of her races have been graded stakes.  Munasara is my favorite.  She is undefeated but she has had just 2 entries.  The last win was at Belmont Park.  I like her tainer Kiaran McLaughlin and her jockey John Velazquez.  Her jockey won the Mother Goose last year on American Champion 3 Year Old, Untapable.  Chide has won 2 of her 3 starts.  Her last two races were at Churchill Downs.  Pleasant Tales has been in a total of 4 races at Churchill, of her 8 starts, and she won her last race there.  Moneysoncharlotte came in lucky 13 in the Kentucky Oaks.  That was her last race of 7 career starts.  Danessa Deluxe was 4th in the Black-Eyed Susan when she had John Velazquez for a jockey.  Tonight, Manuel Franco will ride her.  She has not won in 2015 but she has 7 lifetime starts, with the last 3 being graded stakes.  Eskenformoney came in 10th in the Kentucky Oaks.  She has had 10 starts with 3 of them being graded.  In those graded stakes she was third and then 2nd before her Kentucky Oaks race.  Finally, Wondergal is considered the favorite.  She is the other New York filly.  She was 3rd in the Acorn as well as the 14 Hands Winery Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies race.  5 of her 6 starts were graded stakes.

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Preakness Planning

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Here we are, its 5/16/15, time for the 140th running of the Grade I Preakness Stakes!  In the lucky 13th Pimlico race of the day, at 6:18 p.m. EST, the 1.5 million dollar purse race will begin.  Just 8 of 14 possible horses, the smallest field since 2000, are competing in this race and only one of them could someday be a Triple Crown winner!

The Preakness Stakes takes place at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.  Just like the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes it shares the same dirt track, flower, and drink.  See yesterdays post Filly Friday.  They also eat crabcakes, yuk!  To make the Black-Eyed Susan flower blanket, for the winning horse, since 1940, they painted the centers of about 4 thousand daisies black, now they use Viking Poms.  I fudged a little on my own flower pic above too and darkened up the middle.  The race is called “The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans.”  The reason they use the wrong flower is because the Black Eyed Susan blooms in June in Maryland and it is only May so daisies are in season.  I just need to take more flower pictures, myself.  The winning owner gets a silver trophy replica of The Woodlawn Vase, made in 1860 and valued at 1 million dollars.  This copy is sterling valued at $30,000.  They also paint the jockey silks on the weather vane on top of the Old Clubhouse to match the winning owner’s colors after the race is won.  The song of the day is “Maryland, My Maryland.”  It reminds me of “O Christmas Tree.”

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The first race occurred in 1873.  By 1932 it was the second leg of the Triple Crown series. Secretariat ran the speed record at 1:53.  Smarty Jones won by the most lengths at 11 and 1/2.

Let’s check out the contenders, listed in post position…

  1. American Pharoah
  2. Dortmund
  3. Mr. Z
  4. Danzig Moon
  5. Tale of Verve
  6. Bodhisattva
  7. Divining Rod
  8. Firing Line

I want a Triple Crown winner.  We have not seen one since 1978 with Affirmed.  Thus, I’m pulling for the favorite, American Pharoah.  The KY Derby was his 5th win straight of 6 starts.  4 of those wins were Grade I stakes. He won an Eclipse Award at 2 years old.  This horse won the KY Derby by a length.  He is a California horse just like last years winner, California Chrome.  Right next to American Pharoah on the rail is Dortmund, these two horses have the same trainer Bob Baffert.  All 3 of his previous KY Derby winners have gone on to win the Preakness.  Baffert  has trained 5 Preakness winners total.  Dortmond lost his first race ever at the KY Derby but still managed to come in 3rd, 3 lengths behind the winner.  Mr. Z was just involved in a quick sale.  He was owned by Zayat Stables when he came in 13th in a field of 18 at the KY Derby.  Just days ago, Calumet Farm in Lexington, KY bought him and decided to give him the chance Zayat was not.  Zayat still has American Pharoah in the race and he was going to give Mr. Z a break to build confidence.  The trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, remained throughout and he thinks the horse is ready now.  The fun thing about studying horse racing is the learning.  I would have figured horses hated the transportation part but his trainer says the scenic van ride from Kentucky to Maryland was very good for the horse.  Calumet Farms has the most wins of any owner in the Preakness.  Lukas has the 2nd most wins of any trainer in the Preakness. Danzig Moon also ran in the KY Derby.  He came in 5th place running from the 5th pole position. This Thoroughbred is close to the same post now.  He lost by more than 6 lengths.  Of the 8 horses running the Preakness, 5 ran in the KY Derby and he was the 2nd to last of these.  Jockey Julien Leparoux did prefer this horse to ride over Divining Rod.  Tale of the Verve wanted to run in the KY Derby but he didn’t make the cut.  He has won a Gr. I stakes of the same length as the Preakness. He won his maiden race at Keeneland.  Tale of the Verve is probably your biggest long shot of the day.  Bodhisattva was not a KY Derby horse.  He is however, the only horse in the race with a win at Pimlico.  Divining Rod did not run in the KY Derby either.  He is probably the best of the 3 without KY Derby experience.   This horse did win the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland and he has Javier Castellano for a jockey.  He just won the 2015 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at this same track yesterday!  Last but not least, Firing Line, was 2nd place by a length in the KY Derby.  Thus we have the top 3 KY Derby horses running in the Preakness.  That has happened 7 times in the prior 20 years and never have they come in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in repeat order.

My handicapper says, “Historically, horses that win the derby from on or near the pace do extremely well in the Preakness. Derby winners that come from far back have struggled in the Preakness. Since the top three finishers in the KY Derby were all very close to the lead, I expect all three of them to run very well in Baltimore. I will be boxing American Pharoah, Firing Line, and Dortmund in the exacta and I’ll add Danzig Moon in a trifecta and superfecta box.”

My tipster also inspired me to consider the strong possibility of rain.  Looks like the favorite American Pharoah loves mud.  34 horses have won the KY Derby and the Preakness.  Fingers crossed, I want the chance at the Triple Crown!

Update: A record crowd of 131,680 attended the Preakness to see American Pharoah win. This was the 14th time since 1978’s Triple Crown that a horse has won both the KY Derby at the Preakness.  Finish order was:

  1. American Pharoah
  2. Tale of Verve
  3. Divining Rod
  4. Dortmund
  5. Mr. Z
  6. Danzig M00n
  7. Firing Line
  8. Bodhisattva  

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Cash Is King

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Winning money on a horse race is fun but do you ever think about how much you are winning even when you don’t bet?  The Thoroughbred racing industry is a cash horse cow for the local, state, and national economy.

The horse industry in America pays 1.9 billion dollars in taxes.  It employs 4.6 million workers generating 39 billion dollars directly and the figure explodes to 102 billion after figuring in the money from suppliers, employees and spectators. There are horses in every state.  When live racing is in season the local shops, restaurants, hotels, etc. get a massive boost in visitors  and money.

This past weekend featured The Kentucky Oaks and Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY.  Churchill won’t release it exact figures but it is estimated to have made 100 million dollars in revenues.  Nationally, the horse industry has a 3.5 billion dollar impact on Kentucky’s economy.  194,300 Kentuckians work in the industry.  Visitors to Keeneland race track for 2 meets and 4 sales in 2014 brought $590 million dollars to Lexington, KY’s economy.

On May 16, 2015 Pimlico in Baltimore, MD will hold the 140th running of the Preakness Stakes.  In 2013 this race brought in 2.2 million dollars to state and local taxes.  All expenditures figures in at 34.7 million dollars supporting 393 full-time jobs.

The 3rd leg of the Triple Crown series will be run at Belmont Park in Nassau County in New York.  In 2012 this race brought a 9 million dollar boost to the county’s economy before consideration of the money made at local businesses.

Lucky Kentucky gets yet another boost this Fall when Keeneland will host the Breeders’ Cup for the first time.  When the race ran in Los Angeles in 2008 and 2009 it brought in over 60 million dollars for the city.  This race was held at Churchill in 2010 and it generated 53.3 million dollars in regional revenue.  The economic impact expected in 2015 is over 80 million dollars.

Keep in mind most tracks and many horseman provide a wealth of donations and funding in the name of charity and philanthropy on their own.  I have had the pleasure of eating breakfast with James E. “Ted” Bassett III and he signed my copy of his book “Keeneland’s Ted Bassett My Life” for me.  He is a leader in the horse industry and former chairman and president of Keeneland and president of the Breeders’ Cup Ltd. among many other things.  He just funded the construction of Bassett Hall for student residence in 2016 at Transylvania University in Lexington, KY.

In the Thoroughbred racing industry we are all winners.  The economic impact is outstanding.  Cash is king, and it is also the name of the partnership that ran the 2005 Preakness winner, Afleet Alex.  My mind is stirring with excitement for the Preakness that is just around the corner.  Afleet Alex was owned by Cash is King Stable.  He ran third in the Kentucky Derby and 1st in both the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.  He almost fell while running the Preakness.  He earned a career 2.7 million dollars before retiring to stud at Gainsway in Lexington, KY.  He is still a sire there and his son Materiality just ran 6th in the Kentucky Derby and is a contender for the Preakness. 

Yes, I will have a full Preakness Stakes story before race day.  Until then, I will be reading and learning so I can keep on sharing.  Thank you for following my posts.

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