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TEXAS-BREDS TAPTAM AND CHIEF OF AFFAIRS 2ND IN GRADED OAKLAWN STAKES
Texas-breds Taptam and Chief Affairs, who are both conditioned by Bret Calhoun and race in the partnership interests of Wayne Sanders and Larry Hirsch, acquitted themselves very well by finishing second in graded stakes that were run on Oaklawn Park’s penultimate program last Friday afternoon.
Taptam’s placing came at the direct expense of the unbeaten Zenyatta in the $500.000 Grade 1 Apple Blossom Invitational. The longest price in the 5-horse field at 35-1, Taptam proved competitive from flagfall to finish, stalking pacesetter Be Fair to the top of the stretch where both were passed in a few giant strides by Zenyatta, who went on to record her 16th win by negotiating the 1 1/8 miles in 1:50 3/5. Taptam added $100,000 to her growing bankroll.
Chief of Affairs led every step of the 6-furlong $150,000 Count Fleet Handicap (G3) except the last stride or two when top sprinter and odds-on favorite Custom for Carlos surged to the wire a neck in front in 1:09. Bred by Dr. Jacquelyn Rich, Chief of Affairs was sold to the Sanders-Hirsch partnership for $25,000 at the 2008 Fasig-Tipton Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale after being selected by Calhoun, who now conditions one of the fastest sprinters in North America.
COYOTE LEGEND BEATS ELDERS IN PREMIERE; FORMAL FLYER POSTS JEH UPSET
Clarence Scharbauer Jr.’s Texas homebred Coyote Legend taught his elders a lesson in winning Lone Star Park’s $50,000 Premiere Stakes, the traditional one-mile first race of the Thoroughbred meet, which started a 60-day run on April 8. The 3-year-old son of Gold Legend, out of Coyote Café, held off the late run of Huntersrunaway to post a half-length victory as a 4-5 favorite in 1:37.83. Poltergeist finished another half-length back in third with Lissa’s Star fourth.
Bobby Walker Jr. posted his fourth consecutive win aboard Coyote Legend, who was saddled by Bret Calhoun. Next stop for Coyote Legend is expected to be the $100,000 Stymie Division of the Texas Stallion Stakes, the last race in the series for foals of 2007, carded at 1 1/16 miles on May 8.
John Silverthorne Ranch Inc.’s Formal Flyer rallied from last to first in a field of 10 fillies and mares running 6 ½ furlongs on Lone Star’s opening Saturday to post a $48.40 surprise in the JEH Stallion Station Stakes. The 5-year-old daughter of Early Flyer—Formal Companion blew by 5-2 Tin Top Cat and 2-l choice No Other Tone to win going away by 2 ¾ lengths in 1:17 1/5. Danny Pish saddled the winner.
RMTC LOWERS TESTING THRESHOLD FOR BUTE, LAUNCHES RULINGS DATABASE
The Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) board of directors, responding to a recommendation of its Scientific Advisory Committee, has revised the testing threshold for the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug phenylbutazone from 5 micrograms per milliliter to 2 micrograms per milliliter of plasma or serum. Regulatory veterinarians had expressed concerns that pre-race examinations in some instances were being compromised by administrations at the 5-microgram level.
Meeting in Lexington, KY, in conjunction with the annual Association of Racing Commissioners International confab, RMTC also announced the creation of a Recent Rulings Database that is accessible to racing fans and participants alike at rmtcnet.com. Dr. Scot Waterman, RMTC’s executive director, said, “To our knowledge, this is the only database that allows viewers to see not only the infractions, but also a description of the possible uses and effects of the drug in the horse. We hope this will begin the process of better clarifying the difference between medication management mistakes and serious drug violations.”
RMTC’s board also received an update on research progress being made by four drug-testing laboratories to determine threshold levels and withdrawal times for 13 medications often used in the treatment of racehorses by practicing veterinarians. Publication of withdrawal time recommendations is expected to be forthcoming in 90 to 120 days for acepromazine, boldenone, butorphanol, detomidine, firocoxib, fluphenazine, testosterone, nandroline, stanozolol and glycopyrrolate.
Once withdrawal times are made known, it will be interesting to see the response of the Texas Racing Commission and other state regulatory agencies who have been enforcing “zero tolerance.”
TONY SANCHEZ MEMORIAL, MANOR DOWNS FUTURITY TOP CLOSING WEEKEND
The 14-day Manor Downs mixed meet concludes this weekend with a full field of 10 older horses set to go postward in the $50,000 Tony Sanchez Memorial, the next to last race on Saturday’s 13-race card. On Sunday, Markpoint Stable’s heavily favored entry of Blushing Sis and Lady Primal, winners of the two divisions of the Manor Downs Thoroughbred Futurity Trials, has seven rivals in the $50,000 Final to be contested at 4 ½ furlongs as the 10th of 13 races.
REARDON’S BOOK ‘BEYOND THE HOMESTRETCH’ AMONG 6 AWARD FINALISTS
Lynn Rorke Reardon’s book “Beyond the Homestretch: What I’ve Learned from Saving Racehorses” is one of six published works on Thoroughbreds in 2009 being considered for the fourth annual Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, which will be presented jointly by Castleton Lyons Farm and Thoroughbred Times in Lexington, KY, on April 23.
Reardon chronicled the unique stories of some of the more than 750 former racehorses she has encountered at her LOPE Texas farm in Bastrop while transitioning them from racing into new careers.
The winning author receives a $10,000 prize and a trophy made of custom-designed Irish crystal. The runners-up will each receive a trophy and a check for $1,000.
Fast furlongs...The Texas Racing Commission will hold a regularly scheduled meeting next Tuesday, April 20, in Austin...The Maryland Jockey Club has organized a “Lady Legends Race for the Cure” to be run on the eve of this year’s Preakness Stakes as the first race of Friday’s card with eight retired female jockeys committed to ride to benefit the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation...The New York Racing Association has scrapped any overnight stakes planned for the spring-summer Belmont Park meet in order to keep overnight purses as competitive as possible with Monmouth Park’s $1 million daily overnight purse structure...Will the third time be the charm as New York officials start anew the process of selecting a video slots gaming operator for Aqueduct?...The Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale on August 2 and 3rd will be conducted in a newly renovated auction arena after the second phase of remodeling the Fasig-Tipton sales facility is completed early this summer...The bankrupt New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation will shut down at the close of business this coming Sunday now that state legislators failed to enact a short-term bailout to keep the legal bookmaker afloat, which means some OTB players may find out going to the local track is more fun and there are no surcharges on winning wagers...Historic Charles Town racetrack in West Virginia is going Hollywood with Penn National Gaming, the present owner, deciding to rename it Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in conjunction with the incorporation of table games, including baccarat, blackjack, craps, poker and roulette, into operations this summer...Charles Town, which had an average daily overnight purse distribution of less than $30,000 before slots revenue began flowing, will run the $1,000,000 Charles Town Classic on Saturday night and the Phipps Family’s Gone Astray is one of several graded stakes winners in the full field of 10...The Massachusetts House of Representatives has passed a bill to permit two casinos and four track slot machine operations, including Suffolk Downs, with Speaker Robert DeLeo in the forefront of the effort and the measure now goes to the Senate...The New Hampshire Senate has voted to ban live greyhound racing, a move that Massachusetts recently took...Congratulations to TRC Executive Director Charla Ann King, who was voted by her ARCI peers as this year’s recipient of the Len Foote Award, named for the late longtime executive director of the California Horse Racing Board, in recognition of her commitment to ensuring racing integrity...Get well wishes go to Dr. Barry Thompson, prominent Quarter Horse owner/breeder and former chancellor of Texas A&M University, as he recovers from a recent heart attack.