SPECIAL .COM SARATOGA Saratoga Statues: Seabiscuit’S Cross-Country Journey to the Hall of Fame by Joe Nevills
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MarchAugust 28, 6, 2019 2018 SPECIAL .COM SARATOGA Saratoga Statues: Seabiscuit’s Cross-Country Journey To The Hall Of Fame By Joe Nevills The story of Seabiscuit’s rise from By the time the sun set on the day the low rungs of the industry lad- of that second Saratoga win, How- der to become the sport’s highest- ard had purchased Seabiscuit for earning runner of his time has been $8,000 – about $148,500 today, immortalized in myriad forms of film adjusted for inflation. and print. The story of the bronze statue built in his honor saw its own The rest of Seabiscuit’s story is twists and turns, but the roads for dyed in the very fabric of horse rac- both ended at the National Museum ing lore, from his ascent into the of Racing and Hall of Fame. sport’s upper echelon, to his con- nections’ pursuit of a match race Seabiscuit and his bronze likeness with the towering War Admiral that also share major turning points in led to a memorable victory, to his Saratoga Springs, N.Y., that ultimate- return from injury to win the Santa COURTESY NATIONAL MUSEUM OF RACING AND HALL OF FAME ly left an impression on the West Anita Handicap. He retired with 33 Coast. Seabiscuit Statue victories in 89 starts for earnings Continued on Page 5 Seabiscuit’s first start at Saratoga Race Course complet- ed a grinding trudge up the eastern seaboard that began at Hialeah Park in January of his 2-year-old season, reach- ing the Spa in his 15th career start. It was still August of INTO his juvenile campaign – one that would comprise 35 total starts - running as a homebred for Wheatley Stable and trainer “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons. His first foray into competition at Saratoga was formful for him at the time, in that he was a nonfactor. He was 12 lengths back at the first point of call in a six-furlong allowance race, and he improved mildly to finish sixth by 8 ½ lengths. The winner of that race was future Kentucky Derby victor Bold Venture. The Only Sire Ever With 5 “TDN Rising Star” 2YOs His first taste of Saratoga in 1935 was utterly forgettable, Before August In Any Given Year. but Seabiscuit’s next trip to upstate New York the follow- ing year set the wheels of history in motion. COMICAL California-based car magnate Charles Howard and his Santa Anita debut by 6L wife Marcela were in Saratoga Springs for the races with FRANK’S ROCKETTE trainer Tom Smith, who had first come across Seabiscuit Churchill debut by 8 3/4L at Suffolk Downs. The major motion picture portrayed Seabiscuit as a horse potentially at the end of the line SHOPLIFTED when Smith first made contact with him – and he was Saratoga debut by 4 1/2L certainly no sight to behold - but he came into the Mohawk Claiming Stakes at Saratoga with a win at Suffolk Downs IMMEDIATE IMPACT two starts back. Del Mar debut by 6 3/4L RISKY MISCHIEF Seabiscuit led at every point of call in the Mohawk, and Saratoga debut by 7 1/2L drew off to win by six lengths in the one-mile race. He came back a week later to take a 1 1/8-mile handicap at spendthriftfarm.com Saratoga by four lengths, again going wire-to-wire. Page 2 Stallion Spotlight Exaggerator Carries Curlin’s Legacy By Joe Nevills Curlin’s streak of siring horses that cess north of the border. His dam is won or placed in at least one Triple Ontario-bred stakes-placed Vindication Crown race through his first six crops mare Dawn Raid, who is a half-sister was nothing short of prodigious, and to Canadian champion older female now those sons are taking the next Embur’s Song. step to ensure their sire’s name re- mains in the stud books for genera- Exaggerator wasted little time assert- tions to come. ing his place among the top of his class on the racetrack, winning his Among sires of yearlings in 2019, no second career start at Del Mar, then son of Curlin will have more chances at shipping cross-country to take the producing that transcendent runner G2 Saratoga Special Stakes. His next than 2016 Preakness Stakes winner start came in flyover country, finishing Exaggerator, who has 126 foals in his LOUISE REINAGEL second in the G1 Breeders’ Futurity initial class. Exaggerator at Keeneland. After a fourth-place fin- ish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Five of them will be on offer at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Keeneland, Exaggerator completed his campaign with a Yearling Sale, giving him the third-most among the first-crop brave victory in the G3 Delta Downs Jackpot Stakes. sires represented in this year’s renewal. He kept his name in the papers as a 3-year-old with a second It’s already been an active yearling season for the 6-year-old in the G2 San Vicente Stakes and third in the G2 San Felipe resident of WinStar Farm in Versailles, Ky. His slate of offer- Stakes before uncorking in the G1 Santa Anita Derby to win by ings at the recent Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July Yearling Sale 6 ¼ lengths. was topped by a colt out of the Tale of the Cat mare Radiant Ruby who sold to North London Bloodstock for $170,000. This led into a Triple Crown season that cemented Exag- gerator’s position in the pantheon of his crop, finishing Exaggerator’s weanlings sold for an average of $116,333 in second in the Kentucky Derby, then closing deep from six 2018, safely clearing his initial stud fee of $30,000. wide over a sloppy Pimlico Race Course main course to win the Preakness Stakes. His sire won the same race The most expensive offering from his first class of youngsters nine years earlier. last fall was a Virginia-bred colt out of the Include mare Sun Salutation who sold to de Meric Stables, agent, for $230,000 Later in the summer, Exaggerator added one more esteemed at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. The dam is prize to his mantle when he won the G1 Haskell Invitational a full sister to Grade 2 winner Redeemed, from the family of Stakes at Monmouth Park. Japanese champion Red Falx. Exaggerator retired at the end of his sophomore campaign Exaggerator proved himself in the top races available to him with six wins in 15 career starts – at 10 different tracks - for in the U.S., but his extended family has seen its greatest suc- earnings of $3,581,120. PRS FHBPA Seeks Executive Director Send Resumes To [email protected] By August 30, 2019 Scan QR Code for Job Details THE FACTOR War Front - Greyciousness, by Miswaki #4 GENERAL ACTIVE SIRE BY BTW Rank Stallion BTW 1 TAPIT 21 2 CURLIN 14 3 CANDY RIDE 11 4 THE FACTOR 10 5 INTO MISCHIEF 9 CISTRON, BING CROSBY (G1) *TDN stats, as of 7/31 lanesend.com t: 859.873.7300 Page 4 PRESENTED BY ASK YOUR VETERINARIAN Is It EPM? By Dr. Steve Reed Email us at [email protected] if you have a question In my opinion the most important aid is immunodi- for a veterinarian. agnostic testing of serum and cerebrospinal fluid to confirm antibody production against S. neurona or QUESTION: My horse has mild, N. hughesi. A negative serum test usually indicates intermittent hind-end lameness. that the horse has not been infected, but retesting in What are the chances it’s equine 10 to 14 days is recommended since there may be a protozoal myeloencephalitis delay between infection and conversion of the serum. (EPM)? A whole organism indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) is currently available from the University of Cali- DR. STEVE REED: EPM is one of fornia Diagnostic Laboratory and may provide more the most commonly diagnosed information. neurologic diseases of the horse in the Western Hemisphere. The Dr. Reed is currently an Internal Medicine Special- Dr. Reed cause was first identified as an ist and shareholder of the Practice at Rood & Riddle organism cultured from the spinal cord of an affected Equine Hospital, Emeritus Professor of The Ohio State horse and named Sarcocystis neurona. A second pro- University, an Adjunct Professor at the University of tozoan parasite (Neospora hughesi) has since been Kentucky and is currently the Chairman of the Gray- shown to be a cause of EPM in the horse. Horses used son-Jockey Club Research Advisory Committee. He is primarily for racing have a greater risk compared with world renowned for his expertise in internal medicine horses used primarily for pleasure. Young horses had and neurological disorders. PRS a higher risk of developing EPM than older ones and recent transportation increased odds of disease. Improve the life of your horse. Despite the often-high rate of exposure to the organ- ism, only a small percentage of horses develop clini- cal illness. This suggests that immune clearance of THIS IS A JOINT EFFORT. the parasite is very effective but that factors such as parasite dose, physiologic stress associated with ship- ping, training, showing, and pregnancy appear to make animals more susceptible to EPM. The clinical signs associated with S. neurona infection vary from acute to chronic. The variable nature of the clinical signs reflects the random distribution of the lesions that may occur within the nervous system. Many times, horses will present for lameness which is difficult to localize but often involves one limb. Signs include localized muscle atrophy and weakness with some loss of coordination, which is what makes sepa- ration of this problem from a lameness difficult.