MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2019 IN STRONACH FEUD, DID KENTUCKY DERBY DOINGS: UNEXPECTED COMPANY FOR TACITUS, COUNTRY HOUSE FRANK FIGHT FAIR? In what became the most dramatic work on a busy Sunday for GI Kentucky Derby contenders at Churchill Downs, Bill Mott trainees Tacitus (Tapit) and Country House (Lookin at Lucky) had unexpected company when joined by Mike Trombetta- trained Win Win Win (Hat Trick {Jpn}) and workmate Souper Courage (Giant=s Causeway). Win Win Win and Souper Courage spontaneously joined the Mott duo to their outside on the far turn with the quartet running four abreast turning for home. Win Win Win closed to pass the Mott pair, who finished on even terms by design. Tacitus and Country House completed their five-furlong work in 1:00 flat (4/25), working in fractions of :12.20, :24.20, :35.80, :48 and out six furlongs in 1:12.80, seven furlongs in 1:26 and a mile in 1:39.80. Cont. p6 Belinda and Frank Stronach | Horsephotos IN TDN EUROPE TODAY The Week in Review, By Bill Finley WALDGEIST POWERS TO GANAY SUCCESS Say what you want, think what you want about Frank Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) scored a facile win in the G1 Prix Stronach, but no one can deny that he loves horse racing and Ganay at ParisLongchamp on Sunday. wants to see his tracks and the entire sport prosper. It=s hard to Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. imagine how difficult it must be for him to be cast to the side while his daughter, Belinda, runs what he created, The Stronach Group (TSG). For most of his life, he has been a powerful man and has been in charge. No more. So far, he=s on the losing end of a fight for control of the company and has no say in how it is run. He wanted to be heard, which is why he rented out a conference room at a local hotel and invited the Southern California racing community to hear what was on his mind. His primary idea was that he wanted to place the TSG tracks in a trust, which would guarantee that the tracks could not be bulldozed and the land developed. It=s a very good idea. The problem is, as of now, Stronach has no say whatsoever when it comes to the future of Santa Anita or any of the TSG tracks. That won=t change unless he wins the lawsuit he filed against Belinda seeking to regain control of the company. At 86, time is not on his side as the Stronach vs. Stronach lawsuit is likely to drag on in the Canadian courts for years. Frank strongly implied that Belinda has ulterior motives, one of them being to shut down Santa Anita and to cash in on its immense value as real estate. 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 Monday, April 29, 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 Senior Senator (Domestic Dispute) and Eric Poretz (black cap) retake the lead and race [email protected] to the wire ahead of Drift Society (Ire) (Jackson’s Drift) and Hadden Frost (blue cap) Marketing Manager after clearing the 22nd and final fence on the four-mile course in Saturday’s 123rd Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen running of the Maryland Hunt Cup in Worthington Valley, MD. Click here to read Bill Director of Information Technology Finley's 2017 story about the quirky timber star, who is now the ninth three-time Ray Villa winner in the 125-year history of this race. | Lydia Williams [email protected] Bookkeeper Terry May [email protected] MOCITO ROJO ON TOP IN SEXTON MILE 10 Consistent 5-year-old Mocito Rojo (Mutadda) earned the first WORLDWIDE INFORMATION graded victory of his career in Sunday’s GIII Steve Sexton International Editor Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN Mile S. at Lone Star Park. “He’s just been a dream come true,” [email protected] said winning trainer Shane Wilson. 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 12 • THETDN.COM MONDAY • APRIL 29, 2019 The Week in Review (cont. from p1) Her latest move was to hire the respected vet Dr. Dionne Benson, who has been appointed as the Chief Veterinary Officer AWithin management, we have forces who do not want to for The Stronach Group. race,@ he said. AThey want to see the tracks developed. I=m She doesn=t seem to want to run away from the problems; she totally against that, and for the past few years, I've been wants to fix them. If not, the wrecking ball would have arrived outspoken about that.@ weeks ago. That was his money quote, and the facts so far seem to prove Father and daughter might not like one another, but one thing him to be off base. With all that has happened at Santa Anita they apparently share is a love of racing and determination to since this nightmarish meet began, few could have blamed see that the sport survives well into the future. Surely, Frank Belinda if she threw up her hands, said AI want out@ and put the knows that about Belinda. for sale sign out in front of the track. With PETA and the media on her back, all the headaches and all the ill will that has been The Gangsta Gardener? directed her way, why put up with all the aggravation? The easy Sometimes, when it comes to Frank Stronach, all you can do is way out would be to close the track, sell the land to developers scratch your head. This Ron Finley (no relation), who goes by the and add a large fortune to her bank account. In fact, according name of the AGangsta Gardener,@ seems like a terrific person. To to several sources, some prominent owners came to her and better poor neighborhoods and better the lives of people who offered to purchase the track. She said no. live in them, Finley has started a movement to plant gardens in Instead of bailing on Santa Anita, she has dug her heels in and impoverished areas like South Central Los Angeles. has vowed, not only to keep it open, but to do everything in her But what, exactly, does that have to do with Frank Stronach, power to make it the safest racetrack in America. You might not the problems at Santa Anita and his feud with his daughter, like her ideas about Lasix, whips, etc., but her trying to curtail Belinda? When Stronach held the public meeting last week to the use of both is her way of trying to get the animal activists to voice his opinions on what is going wrong with Santa Anita and calm down and not put together a drive to put an initiative on go public with some of his gripes with his daughter, he was the ballot to ban racing in the state. So far, it=s working. Better joined on the dais by owner William Deburgh and the Gangsta to have racing without Lasix than no racing at all. Gardener. TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 12 • THETDN.COM MONDAY • APRIL 29, 2019 Yes, the Gangsta Gardener. harder than ever for males to make the Hall of Fame. If a colt Okay, Finley has planted some gardens in neighborhoods near has Hall of Fame ability, they likely won=t have had a career that Pimlico, but is that really a qualification for having a seat next to is long enough to convince voters they=ve done enough to merit Stronach at a meeting to discuss problems at Santa Anita? And induction. the neighborhood around Santa Anita is hardly a poor area. It=s very rare these days for a male horse to remain in training if they have any kind of pedigree and have won a Grade I race at Once Again, It Was Ladies= Day at the Hall of two or three. It=s a matter of simple economics: they=re going to make more money Fame breeding than racing. When it was announced that Royal As for the last seven Delta was the only horse that would mares to make it into the be inducted into the Hall of Fame this Hall of Fame, Goldikova August, it should have come as no and Zenyatta raced until surprise that she is a she. A modern- they were six; Royal Delta, era male race horse has not been Heavenly Prize and Xtra inducted since Lava Man in 2015, and Heat raced until they were he was a gelding. No non-gelded five; Ashado and Rachel horse has been inducted since Curlin Alexandra made it through in 2014. In the meantime, six females their 4-year-old seasons.