Pioneerof the Nile Dead at 13 (Cont
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TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 2019 IN FLANDERS FIELDS THE POPPIES GROW PIONEEROF THE NILE by Earle Mack DEAD AT 13 In the wake of the death of 22 Thoroughbreds at Santa Anita, Belinda Stronach and The Stronach Group have taken the bold action to ban race-day Lasix, including more stringent regulations on painkillers and more transparency in veterinary records. I believe these reforms, implemented correctly, will substantially enhance the sport=s integrity, and by extension the very future of horse racing. For the past 50 years, as an owner, breeder, administrator and operator, the use of Lasix has been one of the most controversial and complex topics that has faced the sport of Thoroughbred racing. These reforms have been proposed before and are under attack again today. In the history of racing, many advocates of reform have been laid to rest in a veritable "Flanders Fields" of heroes. Cont. p10 Pioneerof the Nile | WinStar photo IN TDN EUROPE TODAY Multiple Grade I winner and star stallion Pioneerof the Nile (Empire Maker--Star of Goshen, by Lord At War {Arg}), perhaps STAKEHOLDERS POSITIVE AHEAD OF BREEZE-UPS best known for siring 2015 Triple Crown winner American Kelsey Riley speaks with industry stakeholders regarding the upcoming European breeze-up sales season. Pharoah, has died suddenly at the age of 13, WinStar Farm Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. announced. According to the farm, Pioneerof the Nile bred a mare Monday morning and started acting uncomfortable once he was back in his stall. He was en route to the clinic when he died. AWe are all extremely saddened by the loss of Pioneerof the Nile,@ said WinStar Farm=s Elliott Walden. AHe was a superior physical specimen, a Triple Crown sire, and a unique personality. All of us at WinStar are heartbroken.@ Bred and owned by Zayat Stables during his racing career, Pioneerof the Nile won both the 2008 GI CashCall Futurity and 2009 GI Santa Anita Derby and was runner-up in the GI Kentucky Derby later that spring. He entered stud at Vinery in 2010 and spent three years there before transferring to WinStar in 2013. He was a perennially among the leading sires and was represented by Eclipse 2-Year-Old champion Classic Empire in 2016. Ahmed Zayat made his first foray into horse racing in 2005 and Pioneerof the Nile was at the forefront of his family=s breeding operation. It was that year that Zayat purchased his first broodmare, Star of Goshen, carrying the future Grade I winner. Cont. p3 PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Tuesday, March 19, 2019 Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN News and Features Editor Ben Massam @BMassamTDN Associate Editors Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistants Alexa Reisfield Amie Morosco Advertising Assistant/Dir. Of Distribution Rachel McCaffrey Photographer/Photo Editor Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew [email protected] Social Media Strategist Justina Severni Director of Customer Service Vicki Forbes Chindi (El Prado {Ire}-Rousing, by Alydar) hits the track at Oaklawn Park with trainer [email protected] Steve Hobby. The 25-year-old millionaire and multiple graded stakes winner lives a Marketing Manager comfortable life as a beloved stable pony. | Sarah Andrew Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen Director of Information Technology Ray Villa SONS MAY PROLONG NILE'S FERTILE FLOW 13 [email protected] Chris McGrath looks at the legacy Pioneerof the Nile Bookkeeper leaves behind in the form of his talented sons at stud. Terry May [email protected] IFHA CHAIRMAN ADVOCATES MEDICATION REFORM 11 WORLDWIDE INFORMATION International Editor International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) chairman Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN Louis Romanet issued a statement Monday in response to recent [email protected] race-day medication reforms in California. European Editor 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 11 • THETDN.COM TUESDAY • MARCH 19, 2019 Pioneerof the Nile Dead at 13 (cont. from p1) AI=m stunned and hurting from this news,@ Justin Zayat tweeted. AIt=s hard to even put into words what Pioneerof the Ahmed Zayat took to Twitter Monday to express his grief at Nile meant to me and to my family. He was the first horse we the passing of his first homebred. ever bred, who then became a stallion himself siring our Triple AI=m incredibly shocked and saddened by the sudden loss of Crown champ American Pharoah. Pioneerof the Nile had true my Pioneer of the Nile,@ Zayat world-class intelligence, tweeted. AHe was not only my athleticism and personality. Thank first homebred he was one of you for all the victories, my GREATEST. He was the memories, and game-changing proud father of American success you created for me, my Pharoah and a true sire of family, and for the lives of sires. Pioneerof the Nile will be everyone you touched.@ greatly missed by all of us here Pioneerof the Nile gave his first at Zayat Stables and by all of hint of talent on the racetrack the racing and breeding world. with a third-place finish in the Thank you to Bob Baffert for 2008 GI Lane=s End Breeders= training him, thank you to Futurity at Keeneland. Fifth WinStar Farm for standing him behind Midshipman in the and caring for him these last GI Breeders= Cup Juvenile, he years. He is gone way too soon, concluded his juvenile campaign but never to be forgotten. It American Pharoah ends Triple Crown drought with a win in the CashCall truly does take a Pioneer.@ with Belmont Stakes win | Sarah Andrew Futurity. Zayat=s son Justin echoed his father=s sentiments. Cont. p4 TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 11 • THETDN.COM TUESDAY • MARCH 19, 2019 Pioneerof the Nile proved he was Triple Crown material when opening 2009 with three straight wins on the West Coast, taking the GII Robert B. Lewis S. and GII San Felipe S. before heading to Louisville with a one-length victory in the Santa Anita Derby. The dark bay looked like a likely winner at the head of the Churchill stretch on the first Saturday in May, but was passed late by longshot Mine That Bird. Pioneerof the Nile was eased in the GI Preakness S. and was retired that July with a soft tissue injury to his left front leg. Pioneerof the Nile began his stud career at Vinery in 2010 before moving to WinStar in 2013. His initial stud fee at WinStar was $15,000. By 2019, with the stallion already represented by four champions and 11 graded stakes winners, it had soared to $110,000. In addition to American Pharoah and Classic Empire, Pioneerof the Nile was also represented on the track by 2016 GI Shoemaker Mile S. winner Midnight Storm and 2014 GII Holy Bull S. winner Cairo Prince. His progeny have grossed over $35 million to date. AHe was nothing short of perfect,@ said Tom Ryan of S.F. Bloodstock, a committed shareholder in the stallion. AA brilliant racehorse, a generational influence, and a cool customer. He started at the bottom and leaves an indelible mark on our industry. My heart goes out to [WinStar stallion manager] Larry [McGinnis] and his team who cared for Pioneerof the Nile every day at WinStar Farm.@ In the sales ring, Pioneerof the Nile was represented by three million-dollar sales in 2018. His weanling daughter out of Stopchargingmaria (Tale of the Cat) sold for $1.9 million to Mandy Pope=s Whisper Hill Farm at last year=s Fasig-Tipton November sale. Cont. p5 TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 5 OF 11 • THETDN.COM TUESDAY • MARCH 19, 2019 A colt out of Pomeroy=s Pistol (Pomeroy) brought $1 million from Albaugh Family and Spendthrift at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale and a filly out of Graeme Six (Graeme Hall) sold for $1.05 million to bloodstock agent Shawn Dugan at the same auction. During last week=s OBS March sale, Larry Best=s OXO Equine purchased colt by the sire out of Golden Artemis (Malibu Moon) for $1.2 million. Pioneerof the Nile also was represented by seven-figure juveniles at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Florida sale and at the 2017 OBS March sale. Pioneerof the Nile colt sells for $1.2 million at OBS | Photos by Z Pioneerof the Nile=s young graded-stakes winning sons have already made an impact in the sales ring. Triple Crown winner American Pharoah was represented by five seven-figure sales from his first crop at the yearling auctions last fall and he also had a weanling filly and a short yearling colt bring $1 million last winter. He towered over his fellow first-crop sires, with 67 yearlings selling for an average of $467,307 and he was the third overall leading sire at the Keeneland September sale. Pioneerof the Nile weanling filly sells for $1.9 million Fasig-Tipton photo TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 6 OF 11 • THETDN.COM TUESDAY • MARCH 19, 2019 The first crop of multiple graded stakes winner Cairo Prince was also popular in the sales ring. Led by a colt selling for $900,000 at the 2017 Keeneland September sale, Cairo Prince was the year=s second-leading first crop sire of yearlings.