David Ingordo

When Matt Dorman spent 3,240,000 guineas on eight yearling fillies at last year's Tattersalls October Book 1, he pretty much accepted that he'd never again see the 10-15% tariffs he paid on the horses again. The tariffs, a result of Donald Trump's invocation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to implement taxes on goods being imported from foreign countries in 2025, included a 10-percent rate. The figure was levied on goods coming from the U.K., while 15 percent was assessed on other European Union countries. That meant that...

It was the most literal of dream scenarios. The thing is, it had happened before. From time to time, Valerie Mastromonaco will have a dream--always about a horse--and then something will happen to bring it to life. Nothing dramatic, most of the time. True, once she dreamed that a particular horse in the barn had a problem, and unfortunately turned out to be right. But she doesn't take the phenomenon too seriously, as a rule; nor expect anyone else to do so. "I've no theories," she says. "I just think...

It was only a few days ago, on April 21 to be exact, that a horse racing at Thistledown sustained a slab fracture during morning training. That didn't mean that he had to be euthanized, but it could have. With many lower-level horses, when a career-ending injury occurs, the owner is often faced with a difficult decision, to either pay for surgery or have the horse put down. But thanks to a recently launched initiative, the HISA Equine Recovery Foundation (HERF), there is another option. The owner can turn the...

Tuesday's Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) virtual town hall was a free-wheeling affair, with the bulk of the two-hour meeting spent on a discursive question-and-answer segment moderated by trainer Ron Moquett and bloodstock agent David Ingordo, two members of HISA's horsemen's advisory board. The initial focus of the town hall was HISA's 2026 budget. This year's gross budget, recently approved by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), comes to $77.2 million. If all the available credits are utilized by the industry, the net budget comes out to $60.6 million (though...

'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', Further Ado (Gun Runner) was tabbed by track oddsmaker Nick Tammaro as the 8-5 morning line favorite in a field of nine 3-year-olds for Saturday's 102nd running of the $1.25 million GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, Keeneland said via a press release on Tuesday. Contested at 1 1/8 miles on the main track, the Blue Grass offers 200 qualifying points for the GI Kentucky Derby. The winner receives 100 points with a sliding scale of 50-25-15-10 points to the second- through fifth-place finishers. The...

Okay, so probably we're just running these animals in sufficient circles for the squeaking of the hamster wheel eventually, randomly, to yield something that seems curiously meaningful. But there are times when horses give the impression that they are participating in some mysterious wider scheme in human affairs. Last week, however inadequately, I joined the many in our community grieving the abrupt loss of one of its great horsemen, and gentlemen. The very next day, at Fair Grounds, a colt saturated with the legacy of John Shirreffs missed Olympiad's track...

Though she had risen rapidly through the ranks to become one of the sport's top trainers, Cherie DeVaux has yet to start a horse in the GI Kentucky Derby. That may soon be about to change. DeVaux unleashed one of the more impressive 3-year-old winners of the year last week at the Fair Grounds when her Reagan's Honor (Honor A.P.) destroyed a field of older horses to win an allowance at the Fair Grounds by 6 3/4-lengths. The colt earned a Beyer figure of 96. "I was obviously very impressed...

West Point Thoroughbreds, David Ingordo and Gabriel Duignan's REAGAN'S HONOR (c, 3, Honor A. P.--Rutile, by Medaglia d'Oro)--a horse with the fingerprints of the late John Shirreffs all over him--was forced to tackle older horses in his first go against winners Thursday afternoon at the Fair Grounds, but he passed the test with flying colors, leading past every pole en route to an easy 6 3/4-length victory. After touching 2-5 in the wagering, the $140,000 Keeneland September yearling was off to an awkward beginning as the 11-10 chalk, bumping with...

A trainer built equal parts brilliant and idiosyncratic, John Shirreffs passed away quietly in his sleep overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning. He was 80 years old. He leaves behind the kind of record unmatched by all but a select few. At the summit of Shirreffs's mammoth achievements was of course Zenyatta--elegant and imperious, who between 2007 and 2010 achieved the near impossible: 19 straight wins and 13 Grade I victories including back-to-back Breeders' Cup crowns, one of them a Classic. Zenyatta was just denied an exquisite send-off in the Breeders'...

Perhaps the most salient aspect of Cherie DeVaux's 1-2 in one of the first GI Kentucky Derby rehearsals was that it didn't particularly feel like any kind of statement. It was just the sort of thing that now feels natural for a barn that took only six years to go from its first winner to a $10-million campaign, and has just housed its first Eclipse champion in She Feels Pretty (Karakontie {Jpn}). By sheer force of talent, DeVaux has rapidly dismantled some pretty lazy characterizations. She is no longer, for...

The vet scratch is a baked-in component of the sport. It isn't going away. But is there a way to make the system better, more efficient? On the one hand is the regulatory vet world, arguing that criticism of their vital role is not only damaging to the sport but often misleading (the latter argument they back up with statistical support). On the other hand are the trainers and owners on the receiving end of a vet scratch decision who feel that too many sound horses are getting caught up...

Matt Dorman went from zero to 60 when starting his broodmare band with the purchase of 20 mares in 2020, but five years later, the native Marylander is happy to take a long-term approach to building his Determined Stud breeding operation. Dorman made his first in-person trip to the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale last week and came home with eight yearlings--all fillies who, hopefully, will race for the operation before joining the broodmare band. "We really wanted to get some of the sire power that exists in Europe," Dorman said....