For John Mazza, 82 Is Just a Number
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2019 FOR JOHN MAZZA, THE JOCKEY CLUB ENGAGES GENOMICS EXPERT TO EVALUATE MERITS OF 82 IS JUST A NUMBER PROPOSAL OF CAPS ON STALLIONS By Bill Finley Plusvital Ltd, an Irish-based company that is considered among the leaders in the study of equine genetics and the equine genome, announced Thursday that it is working with The Jockey Club regarding the breed registry=s proposal to cap the number of mares a stallion can be bred to at 140. A genome is an organism=s set of complete DNA, including all of its genes. The horse genome was released in 2007, soon after research was completed on the genomes for humans and other species. Cont. p4 Cameron Beatty & John Mazza | Sue Finley photo IN TDN EUROPE TODAY APPLEBY BASKING IN PINATUBO PERFORMANCE By Bill Finley Four days removed from Pinatubo’s victory in the He gets up every morning every day at 4 a.m. and tends to the G1 National S., trainer Charlie Appleby reflects on his star horses at both his Monmouth Park barn and at Holly Crest Farm, 2-year-old’s performance. a New Jersey breeder that he has been associated with for Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. nearly 60 years. When he was seven, his family bought a cow farm in Wayside, New Jersey and converted it to a horse farm. Everyone in the family had to pitch in, so 7-year-old John Mazza was put to work. Seventy-five years later, he=s still at it. Starting off as an assistant to trainer Joe Kulina in the 1950s, John Mazza, 82, started training on his own in the 70s and is as much a part of Monmouth Park as the ocean breeze. He=s been there since the track opened in 1956. AGuys like John, they are lifers,@ said Bob Kulina, Joe Kulina=s son and the former president of Monmouth Park. There are others like Mazza. Good, dedicated horsemen, guys who stick around forever, but ones who never get much acclaim or have deep-pocketed owners sending them the types of horses with the potential to win at racing=s highest level. Mazza did enjoy a taste of success when he won the 1992 GI Hopeful S. with Great Navigator, but 27 years later and at an age when most people wouldn=t have nearly the energy to do what he does, he was still waiting for the next star to come along. It looks like the wait may be over. Cont. p3 max power The Fastest 2YO Ever By Into Mischief. Ragozin Beyer MAXIMUS MISCHIEF 7 98 Vicar’s in Trouble 7 1/4 97 Goldencents 8 93 Instagrand 8 88 Audible 8 3/4 84 Practical Joke 9 1/2 90 NEW FOR 2020 Into Mischief - Reina Maria Now available for inspection. $7,500 S&N The Breeders’ Farm | 859-294-0030 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 Friday, September 20, 2019 Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN 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] Gulfstream Park jockeys Carlos Montalvo, Cristian Torres, Edgard Zayas, and Luca Panici brought smiles and gifts to patients Wednesday at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Social Media Strategist Justina Severni Hospital in Hollywood, Florida. | The Stronach Group Director of Customer Service Vicki Forbes MACLEAN’S MUSIC COLT LEADS WAY AT KEESEP [email protected] 6 Gatewood Bell's Cromwell Bloodstock agency has played at a Marketing Manager variety of levels during the opening 10 days of the Keeneland Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen September Yearling Sale, filling orders for as low as $35,000 all the way up to a $950,000 purchase in Book 1. Bell remained busy Director of Information Technology Ray Villa during Thursday's first of two Book 5 sessions in Lexington and [email protected] signed the ticket at $300,000 on the session's most expensive offering, the Eaton Sales-consigned hip 3147. Bookkeeper Terry May [email protected] FALL MEET TO BE RUN IN ITS ENTIRETY AT BELMONT 7 WORLDWIDE INFORMATION Following consultation with horsemen and the New York International Editor Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, and the approval of Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN the New York State Gaming Commission, the 37-day Belmont [email protected] European Editor fall meet will be held in its entirety at Belmont Park. 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 10 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • SEPTEMBER 20, 2019 Mazza cont. from p1 Horologist | Sarah Andrew New Jersey-bred Horologist (Gemologist) won=t be the favorite in the GI Cotillion S. Saturday at Parx, but she is a serious contender. Once a filly that looked to be just an above- average Jersey-bred, she defeated Eclipse Award winner Jaywalk (Cross Traffic) last time out in the GIII Monmouth Oaks and has won four straight races. AI liked this horse from the start because I could see she had a lot of heart,@ Mazza said. AShe=s game, she=ll fight another horse. When I ran her the first time, I thought she=d run well because Sometimes, there has been a long time between her races, but she had showed me a little bit of talent here and there. But she she runs better fresh. The Beyer numbers go way up when she was growing. She was a young horse.@ runs fresh. I took my time and the owner let me do that. That's Horologist exceeded the expectations of Mazza and owner the way you're supposed to do it. That's what I learned from Joe Cameron Beatty when she broke her maiden by 20 3/4 lengths. Kulina.@ But the Beyer number was just a 63 and with the New Jersey- Mazza is a product of a different time in racing, when it was bred program so depleted, the quality of the horses she beat less corporate and competitive, a friendlier environment. He has was suspect. Whatever enthusiasm she generated that day no enemies, knows everyone on the backstretch at Monmouth waned when she lost her next five starts. and no one has a bad word to say about him. Most everyone at But she turned a corner winning an allowance race at Monmouth Park will be rooting for him Saturday. Gulfstream in March and hasn=t looked back since. Kulina said AJohn is from the old school, where everybody on the backside not all trainers could have done what Mazza has done. is part of his family,@ Kulina said. AGuys like John, when they get a horse that has some sort of Kulina says that with or without Horologist, Mazza is the type ability, they have to get the most out of them,@ Kulina said. who will keep training until he is no longer physically able to do AThere aren=t enough opportunities for really good horsemen so. who aren=t maybe your salesmen or promoters that are so AWith most horsemen, racing gets in your blood and you=re in prominent in the game today. There are a lot of guys who take it for life,@ Kulina said. AVery few trainers, as long as they are good physical care of the horses and maximize the horse=s physically able to continue, walk away. As long as he can get up ability, sometimes more than the guys who get the $1-million in the morning and still go out, he=s going to do that until he yearlings given to them. People like John, when they get a can=t do it anymore.@ chance with a good horse they can=t afford to make a mistake. But most trainers, when they get to Mazza=s age, have only a They can=t hurt them. They have to protect them.@ handful of horses and their old owners gave up on them a long "I took my time with her," Mazza said. "She never had any time ago, convinced that they needed someone younger to do problems, but I wanted her to grow more and she did. the job. Between the horses he has stabled at the track and the TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 10 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • SEPTEMBER 20, 2019 broodmares, weanlings and yearlings at Holly Crest, Mazza is in charge of 41 horses. How does he do it? AWith good help,@ he said. AI have three really good guys at the farm. You have to have good help, the proper help. I could never do all this without them. I=ve had some physical problems. I=ve been having problems walking lately, but I=m getting better.@ Against horses like Guarana (Ghostzapper), Serengeti Empress (Alternation), Bellafina (Quality Road) and Jaywalk, Mazza knows this will be a very hard race for Horologist to win. But he also didn=t think she could beat Jaywalk in the Monmouth Oaks. And if he does win the Cotillion, a $1 million, Grade I race? ASomebody will have to pick me up off the floor,@ he said.