Breeders' Cup
Sam Ross, co-owner with Mike Hall of Breeze Easy, LLC, passed Dec. 22, at the age of 79, in Jupiter, Florida. Described as "a visionary behind many companies"--all of which were based in his hometown of Parkersburg, West Virginia--Ross sold his SBR group in 2006, but continued to own Woodcraft Supply, LLC, a chain of woodworking specialty related stores which operates in 34 states, and to participate in the oil and gas exploration and production industry. In addition to the sale of SBR, 2006 also marked the formation of the...
Three key events will highlight the Horse Racing Women's Summit for 2023. The second annual edition will take place at Santa Anita Park during the final week of September next year, coinciding with the opening of the Autumn Meet which culminates with the 40th Breeders' Cup on Nov. 3 and 4. Prior to that, the Horse Racing Women's Summit community will have the opportunity to participate in two events on the East Coast, starting with a HRWS Meet Up at Gulfstream Park on January 27, followed by a HRWS Series...
Forte (Violence), the soon-to-be-named champion 2-year-old male of 2022, will kick off his 3-year-old campaign in the GII Fountain of Youth S. at Gulfstream, reports trainer Todd Pletcher. The Mar. 4 race will be his first since he won the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. "I like the timing of the Fountain of Youth for his first race back," Pletcher said in a text message. Pletcher has won the Fountain of Youth three times. He said that after the Fountain of Youth he will look to run Forte in either the...
Bret Jones is the vice president at Airdrie Stud located in Midway, KY, a 2,500-acre breeding operation founded in 1972 by his parents, Governor Brereton Jones and his wife, Elizabeth. He is a graduate of the University of the South (Suwanee) and has formally been a member of the team at Airdrie since 2006. He also serves on the Board of the Breeders' Cup, a position he's held since 2011, and was a commissioner on the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission from 2016-2020. He currently serves on the board of trustees...
Edited Press Release Elizabeth M. Merryman, who bred Caravel (Mizzen Mast), winner of the $1-million GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint Nov. 5 at Keeneland Race Course, has been named the 2022 recipient of the John Deere Award, in recognition of the breeders who participated this year in the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In and in the Breeders' Cup World Championships. The John Deere Award, presented by Breeders' Cup Limited and NTRA Advantage, emphasizes the contributions of breeders to the Breeders' Cup program. The industry's breeders and nominators...
After some test rings last spring, Oaklawn's fund-raising efforts for local Thoroughbred aftercare began in earnest Dec. 9 with the opening of its scheduled 68-day live racing season. The final six days of the 2021-2022 meeting raised $14,000 through the new "Ring the Bell" program, which gives winning connections following each race an opportunity to donate at least $100 toward aftercare. Money raised is earmarked for the Arkansas Thoroughbred Retirement Program and Rehabilitation Foundation Inc., a collaboration between the Arkansas division of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and Oaklawn....
The Board of Directors of the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) unanimously named Gary Barber to fill the board vacancy created by the recent resignation of Bill Strauss. Barber is a long-time Thoroughbred owner, both on his own and in partnership with others, whose stars include Grade I-stakes winners/champions: War of Will, Got Stormy, Belvoir Bay, Salty, The Deputy, Wonder Gadot, Lexie Lou, Comma to the Top, Tourist, Catch a Glimpse, Becrux, Cost of Freedom, Jack Milton, Channel Maker, Get Her Number, Vequist, and Gretzky the Great. In addition to...
Beginning in 1980, Frank Brothers trained Thoroughbreds for nearly 30 years. During that time, he amassed a career win percentage of just over 23%, with 2,291 races to his credit, including 262 stakes victors of which 50 were graded. Chief among them was Hansel (Woodman), a multiple Grade I winner of the Preakness S. and Belmont S., who was the 1991 three-year-old Champion. Others in his barn included Grade I winners like Secret Hello (Private Account), Arch (Kris S.), Oath (Known Fact), Madcap Escapade (Hennessy), First Samurai (Giant's Causeway), and...
The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) and the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA) announced that a team led by Brendan Kumagai has been selected as the winner of the inaugural Big Data Derby competition, beating out 105 other submissions for first prize. Kumagai, together with Gurashish Bagga, Kimberly Kroetch, Tyrel Stokes, and Liam Welsh, took the $20,000 first prize with the submission, "Bayesian Velocity Models for Horse Race Simulation." Kumagai's team created a dynamic model that focused on horses' forward versus lateral speed and examined the results of...
For the second straight year, Newmarket-based trainer Charlie Appleby was honored with the Derby Award as 2022's champion flat trainer by the Horserace Writers and Photographers Association (HWPA). The 47-year-old Appleby so far this year has been represented by 150 winners and 225 seconds from 478 starters-a 31 percent win rate-and his runners have earned £6,225,397. Among those victories were 18 European Group winners-three Group 1s-including a one-two finish in the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas with Coroebus (Dubawi [Ire]) and Native Trail (Oasis Dream {GB}), a first victory for the...
After a failed attempt in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint in which he bled, Tyler's Tribe (Sharp Azteca) will return to his comfort zone for his next start. Trainer and co-owner Tim Martin reports that his Iowa-bred gelding will start next in the Dec. 9 Advent S. at Oaklawn at 5 1/2 furlongs on the dirt for 2-year-olds. "This will give him five weeks between races," Martin said. "We worked him last week and he didn't bleed. Everything looked good. I'll breeze him again Saturday. In this race...
Len Green joins this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss DJ Stables' Breeders' Cup-winning filly Wonder Wheel and to advise on changes that will have implications for horse owners' taxes in 2022.