TAKING STOCK: COOLMORE's AFTER BLOWN PURSE CONTRACT DEADLINE, NEW YEAR's GAMBIT HORSEMEN CLAIM ARLINGTON OFFICIALS WON't MEET by T.D
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FRIDAY, JANUARY 3, 2020 TAKING STOCK: COOLMORE'S AFTER BLOWN PURSE CONTRACT DEADLINE, NEW YEAR'S GAMBIT HORSEMEN CLAIM ARLINGTON OFFICIALS WON'T MEET by T.D. Thornton Barely 18 hours after a state-mandated Dec. 31 deadline elapsed for having a purse contract in place, the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (ITHA) lashed out at Arlington International Racecourse and its publicly traded ownership, Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), claiming that the gaming company "deceived Illinois" and is now "threatening the future of live racing at Arlington by refusing to commit" to funding adequate purses for the 2020 meet. Cont. p7 IN TDN EUROPE TODAY Maximum Security | Sarah Andrew DARK ANGEL FILLY SHOWS DIRT PROMISE by Sid Fernando Final Song (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) got trainer Saeed bin Suroor’s On New Year's Day, David Grening broke the news in the Daily Dubai World Cup Carnival off to a winning start at Meydan on Racing Form that Coolmore had purchased a 50% interest in the Thursday with a win in the opener. Click or tap here to go racing and breeding rights of Gary and Mary West's homebred straight to TDN Europe. Maximum Security (New Year's Day). (Disclosure: The Wests and their racing manager, Ben Glass, are retained clients of WTC, Inc.). The colt is to stand at Coolmore America (Ashford Stud) in Kentucky at the end of his career, but he is scheduled to race this year and has some major targets on his slate, including the new $20-million race in Saudi Arabia, which is incentive enough for Coolmore to want to participate in a potentially lucrative racing season. Moreover, Maximum Security is one of the leading contenders for an Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old male of 2019, and Coolmore has a penchant for prospects with hardware: American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile), Classic Empire (Pioneerof the Nile), Justify (Scat Daddy), Lookin At Lucky (Smart Strike), and Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie) own Eclipses at Ashford. The Eclipse may not be a foregone conclusion, however, despite an excellent season for a colt who began his career at two in a $16,000 maiden claimer and remarkably ended his 3-year-old season with three Grade l victories--in the Xpressbet Florida Derby, the TVG.com Haskell Invitational S., and the Cigar Mile H.--with an overall career record of seven wins from nine starts and earnings of $1.8 million. Cont. p3 PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Friday, January 3, 2020 Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN Deputy Editor Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Associate Editors Christina Bossinakis @CBossTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN News and Features Editor In Memoriam: Ben Massam (1988-2019) ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistant/Dir. Of Distribution Rachel McCaffrey Advertising Assistant Amie Morosco Photographer/Photo Editor Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew [email protected] Social Media Strategist The GI Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Bricks and Mortar (Giant’s Causeway) led all Justina Severni Thoroughbreds in North American earnings with $6,723,650. Story p9. | Breeders’ Director of Customer Service Cup/Eclipse Sportswire Vicki Forbes [email protected] SINGLE SEASON EARNINGS RECORDS ESTABLISHED 9 Marketing Manager Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables, Inc. and William H. Lawrence finished the year as the leading owner by earnings, while jockey Director of IT/Accounting Irad Ortiz, Jr. and trainer Chad Brown not only repeated as the Ray Villa top earners for jockeys and trainers, respectively, but each [email protected] [email protected] established single-season earnings records, according to final statistics released Thursday by Equibase Company LLC. WORLDWIDE INFORMATION International Editor SOLIS GAINESWAY DIRECTOR OF BLOODSTOCK 10 Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN Alex Solis, II has been named the Director of Bloodstock at [email protected] European Editor Gainesway Farm, the farm announced Thursday. Emma Berry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 12 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • JANUARY 3, 2020 Maximum Security | Horsephotos After Maximum Security was controversially disqualified from first in the Gl Kentucky Derby, Gary West became something of an unpopular figure in the media by challenging the DQ in court and by challenging some Derby owners to side bets in future races against his colt. West's recent criticisms of The Stronach Group's lowering of the Gl Pegasus purse to $3 million--with its 2% levy for aftercare--as the reasoning for bypassing it for the far more lucrative Saudi Cup has only upped the vitriol in some corners, including among some turf writers who'll presumably be voting on the awards. To win the championship, Maximum Security's record alone will have to sway enough voters away from two other worthy and well-connected establishment rivals, Lane's End owner W.S. Farish's Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB}), trained by the venerable Shug McGaughey; and Fox Hill Farms owner Rick Porter's Omaha Beach (War Front), who's conditioned by the immensely popular Dick Mandella. Next to McGaughey and Mandella and their owners, Maximum Security's trainer Jason Servis, whose gaudy win percentage has been fodder for innuendo, wears the same figurative black Stetson that West apparently rocks low on his forehead, tilted down. But Coolmore boss John Magnier is nobody's fool and he can read the cards as well as anyone, and what the hand shows is this: three aces up for the colt he and his partners bought into. One, Maximum Security finished first and ahead of Code of Honor in the only two times they met on the track, in the Derby and in the Florida Derby. TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 12 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • JANUARY 3, 2020 Two, Maximum Security had 9 1/4 lengths on Spun to Run in 2020 as a 4-year-old before he goes to stud. West Coast also (Hard Spun) in the Haskell and 3 1/2 lengths on him in the Cigar raced at four and will serve his second book of mares at Lane's Mile. And, three, Spun to Run won the Gl Big Ass Fans Breeders' End in 2020. At the least, nobody can say that West prematurely Cup Dirt Mile by 2 3/4 lengths whisks his colts off to stud at the from none other than Omaha first signs of big bucks. Beach. The latter also won three Grade l races in 2019, Stallion Game while Code of Honor won two-- West fielded several offers for one by DQ--but on form, both West Coast and Game Maximum Security has the Winner before deciding on Lane's obvious edge, personality End for them, chose Airdrie from biases aside. several other candidates for If Maximum Security does American Freedom (Pulpit), and secure the 3-year-old had plenty of interest in championship in the voting Maximum Security before booth, it will give the Wests deciding on Coolmore. "I had three consecutive Eclipses with several people who wanted to three different colts, which may buy all of or various parts of be unprecedented. West Coast Gary West & West Coast | Sarah Andrew Max's future as a racehorse (Flatter) was the champion and/or sire prospect," West said 3-year-old colt in 2017 and Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}) was on Wednesday. "I wanted Max to have a good farm to stand at the champion 2-year-old colt in 2018. Ironically, the latter two stud when his racing career was over, and the Coolmore deal were tied up by Lane's End, the farm whose owner bred and made the most sense to me. I am very pleased to have them as races Code of Honor, though Game Winner is scheduled to race a partner. No one makes more stallions than Coolmore." HIP Mo Better Grade 1 Hollywood Derby winner Mo Forza, by Uncle Mo, wins his third straight graded stake on 12/29. Next stop the $1M Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes. Mo Forza is the first foal out of INFLAMED, Hip 795E, consigned by Glen Hill Farm. You won’t find Mo Better than this at Keeneland January. Keeneland January Consignment Contact: [email protected] Barn 19 TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 5 OF 12 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • JANUARY 3, 2020 New Year=s Day | Benoit West has long-admired Coolmore's abilities in that arena, particularly while he was trying his hand at making New Year's Day (Street Cry {Ire}), Flashback (Tapit), and Power Broker (Pulpit) at Hill 'N' Dale through the mid-parts of the decade. What he found was an unforgiving commercial marketplace that was particularly hard on less-expensive horses, especially after their first two years at stud, even though the Wests had offered significant bonuses and breeding incentives on them. New Year's Day, winner of the Gl Breeders' Cup Juvenile, was sold to Brazilian interests in November of 2018, when his first crop was three. At that juncture, the stallion was represented by only three moderate black-type winners--Day Raider and Dat Day, winners in British Columbia; and Cafe Du Monde, a restricted stakes winner in Louisiana--and the prospects of attracting mares in Kentucky in 2019 were dim.