Justify to Wear China Horse Club Silks in Belmont
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THURSDAY, MAY 31, 2018 JUSTIFY TO WEAR AMERICAN-BRED ROARING LION TAKES ON THE EPSOM DERBY CHINA HORSE CLUB SILKS By Lucas Marquardt On Saturday, Roaring Lion (Kitten=s Joy) will attempt to become IN BELMONT the first American-bred Epsom Derby winner in 15 years. Lucas Marquardt sat down with Taylor Made=s Vice President of Sales and Operations, Mark Taylor, who raised and sold Roaring Lion, about what he was like as a young horse and if the American- breds-abroad trend figures to continue and grow stronger. LM: What do you remember about Roaring Lion as a young horse? MT: Roaring Lion was born here on Taylor Made and grew up here the whole time, and we ended up consigning him for Jan Naify of RanJan Racing at the September sale, and he was picked out by David Redvers for Qatari Racing. But, my recollection of Roaring Lion was that he was always a beautiful mover. Cont. p4 Justify in the red-and-yellow silks of the China Horse Club IN TDN EUROPE TODAY Mar. 11 at Santa Anita. He=ll wear their silks in the Belmont AN AUSTRALIAN REVOLUTION Benoit photo Russian Revolution (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}) could have Wednesday’s top two lots at the Magic Millions National by Sue Finley Broodmare Sale both in his inaugural book this year. Click or tap >TDN Rising Star= Justify (Scat Daddy), who wore the silks of here to go straight to TDN Europe. their major shareholder WinStar Farm in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, will wear the red-and-yellow silks of the China Horse Club in the Belmont Stakes, according to Eden Harrington, the Vice President of the China Horse Club. AThe China Horse Club and WinStar Farm share the use of colors on the horses we race in partnership,@ said Harrington. AEvery fourth start, a horse will race in China Horse Club silks. The sharing of silks ensures both the WinStar brand and China Horse Club brand are promoted. As an ownership group, we are very tight-knit. The credit for the quality of our relationship rests with Mr. Kenny Troutt and Mr. Teo Ah Khing. Regardless of the colors that are worn on our horses, we all cheer passionately; we all cheer as one. As a club, we are very fortunate that the rotation will see Justify race in China Horse Club silks in the Belmont Stakes. It will be the second time Justify has raced in them having worn them at his second career start. Win, lose or draw he will do us all proud in them.@ 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 Thursday, May 31, 2018 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 Rachel McCaffrey Photo Editor/Dir. of Distribution Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew [email protected] Out like a lion. On Saturday, Roaring Lion (Kitten’s Joy), pictured winning the G2 Social Media Strategist Betfred Dante S. earlier this month, will attempt to become the first American-bred Justina Severni Epsom Derby winner in 15 years. Lucas Marquardt’s interview with Taylor Made’s Vice Director of Customer Service President of Sales and Operations, Mark Taylor, continues on page 4. | racingfotos.com Vicki Forbes [email protected] Marketing Manager GRAVES, FASIG-TIPTON EXECUTIVE, DIES 7 Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen Respected horseman Bill Graves, since 1992 an intergal part of Director of Information Technology the management and selection team with Fasig-Tipton Company, Ray Villa passed away Wednesday. Among his survivors are his son Brian, [email protected] director of public sales at Gainesway, who was by his father’s side throughout his final days. Bookkeeper Terry May [email protected] TIF ADDS DONOVAN, REYNOLDS TO BOARD 7 WORLDWIDE INFORMATION Catherine Donovan and Tom Reynolds have joined the board of International Editor Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation, it was announced Wednesday. [email protected] European Editor TODAY’S GRADED STAKES Emma Berry [email protected] EST Race Click for TV Associate International Editor 10:35a Badener Meile-G2, BAD -------------- ----- 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 8 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • MAY 31, 2018 Justify cont. from p1 Justify debuted in WinStar silks on Feb. 18 at Santa Anita, but followed that up with a second-time out win March 11 in the China Horse Club=s silks (video). Per the rotation, starts three (Santa Anita Derby), four (Kentucky Derby) and five (Preakness) were in WinStar=s silks, making the Belmont Stakes the CHC=s turn. AIn our short history as a club we have been very fortunate to have our silks carried in some very big races and at some very big race days,@ said Harrington. ABut the importance of having our red-and-yellow silks worn by Mike Smith as he rides Justify in the Belmont Stakes for a tilt at the Triple Crown will undoubtedly be the most important. Its significance cannot be quantified. Not only will all of America be watching, the world will be watching. And for all the Chinese fans who are new to horse racing, seeing the colors of Chinese owners on Justify on the biggest of stages this year carries immense resonance. America has been and remains the standard of excellence in so many industries including many sports, so for Chinese to be seen by their countrymen and women as having reached the pinnacle of this sport in America by having their colors represented on such a big occasion will bring a great deal of pride. It could be the catalyst for an influx of new participants in the sport internationally. It will almost certainly have a positive impact across myriad areas of China=s fast emerging domestic thoroughbred industry.@ Elliott Walden, CEO and president of WinStar, added, AThe partnership has been great and we=re excited for Mr. Teo and the China Horse Club to have the opportunity to have Justify wear their silks in the Belmont. While we would love to have him in our silks, I=m excited about the fact that he=s wearing the China Horse Club=s, too, and that they can share in the fun of the Triple Crown.@ Justify training at Churchill | Horsephotos TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 8 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • MAY 31, 2018 Cont. from p1 MT: That was kind of his claim to fame. He was a well-balanced horse, well-made, had a lot of quality. And he's another horse that we've had here just for great breeders that we've been blessed to represent. That's the main thing that keeps Taylor Made going, is just we represent a lot of really great breeders, and I think Jan Naify is one of those. And right from this family, a lot of good horses. So it was a pleasure to have him here and it's really fun looking back and just remembering these horses. They were right here in your care and then they're going on to compete on the world stage. So it's pretty neat. Click the photo above to listen to Lucas Marquardt=s interview with Mark Taylor LM: Can you describe him physically? MT: I would describe Roaring Lion as kind of a typical Kitten's Joy. He didn't have overly bulky muscle to him, but he was very well put together. He had good length of neck, good shoulder. I actually looked up all of our notes on him, and they were very consistent throughout his whole life. My brother, Frank, dealt with him a lot more when he was a young baby, and then I kind of picked up once he was a yearling looking at him more often. But he had a beautiful frame to him. Not overly bulky. He was pretty correct. He wanted toe in just a touch. All of our notes said, "Just toes in a touch on one front," but it was inconsequential. But just beautiful flowing walk, a lot of class. On our scale, like a B+ is a very nice horse. Like, you've gotta be...to get an A, it's a rare thing. So he was a B+ almost the whole way through. He didn't really go through a lot of dips or low points or whatever, just always very straightforward. I was actually disappointed that he didn't bring more money. And I credit David Redvers for finding value at $160,000. Cont. p5 TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 5 OF 8 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • MAY 31, 2018 The Big Interview cont. But it goes to show you; he was by Kitten's Joy. Some American trainers kind of stereotype them as turf. And then, he was out a Street Sense mare, and I think on the surface, maybe a lot of Europeans thought, "Oh, that's got a little too much dirt to it." Actually, if you dig deeper--and maybe that's what David saw--there is a lot of grass quality. But I think he was kind of one of those tweener horses that if you would've had that exact same physical and he would've been by an American dirt horse, he might have brought twice as much money.