January 12, 2016 www.PaulickReport.com SPECIAL

ICU Does Not Spell End For Foals By Natalie Voss

When Dr. Peter Morresey greets a foal in the Intensive Care Without the established risk factors, it’s remarkable how Unit (ICU) at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital, its prospects much neonatal patients can overcome, and how quickly they might look bleak to the outside observer. Premature foals or can do so. Morresey cited a 2012 study by Irish researchers those with complicated births can experience a host of issues that found no significant difference in sale price between 63 from seizures to the inability to ingest food, and their stay in neonatal foals and a control group comprised of horses next the hospital can carry on for weeks. to the former neonates in sale catalogues.

That doesn’t mean they won’t grow up to be racehorses, or There’s also every indication that a former ICU case can go that they won’t keep their breeders’ books in the black by the on to do great things. Morresey wouldn’t name names but time they go to auction. confirmed he has treated neonatal foals that went on to be- come graded stakes winners. Morresey presented a review of research, along with his own experience working with neonatal foals, during a lecture at the “Every year I look out in the aisle and say, ‘I wonder what stakes 61st Annual Convention of the American Association of Equine horses are out there,’ because you don’t know,” he said. Practitioners in December. His aim was to learn which symp- Continued on Page 7 toms and parameters correlated with positive long-term out- comes for foals, and which correlated with negative outcomes. Some of the results were a little counter-intuitive.

For example, Morresey found literature indicating neither a foal’s age nor its degree of immaturity had an impact on its odds of survival. But the length of time between the onset of the foal’s symptoms and its admission to a hospital did — in one study, risk of death went up 5.8 times for every day of symptoms before admission.

Instead, his review of the research found that a neonatal foal’s likelihood of survival was affected by other factors, most of which would not be obvious without blood tests. Foals with indications of sepsis (an overwhelming response to an internal infection) and high amounts of lactate (indi- cating poor circulation) were less likely to ever leave the hospital. If a foal is without a suckle reflex at admission or has mouth or gum issues, that’s a bad sign. ASK RAY

QUESTION: Why aren’t the Awards tele- vised?

ANSWER: HRTV televised the show before but they were bought by TVG. The Stronach Group is putting up a lot of money to offer free broadcast-quality live streaming at Xpressbet.com. More people have access to the Inter- net than to TVG. This is a better deal than being on TV, in my opinion. www.PaulickReport.com Page 2

Stallion Spotlight ’s Song and Malibu Moon By Frank Mitchell

History shows the best stallions often make the best brood- It is noteworthy that four of the five – A.P. Indy, Unbridled’s Song, mare sires. , , and Mr. Prospector Storm Cat, and Deputy Minister – were G1 winners at 2, but all earned top marks as the sires of champions and as leading their performances thereafter run the gamut. A.P. Indy sires before moving on to become superb broodmare sires. won the Belmont Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Classic, was named Horse of the Year. Storm Cat did not train on due to A broodmare sire, however, has a time limit. The stallion has to problems with his feet and went to stud with little fanfare. generate a sufficient volume of producers to climb the ranks of that list, and by that time, the sire is frequently “getting along.” All of them, however, became undisputedly influential sires, and Then there is a time limit before the stallions’ best qualities are also being the stallion’s daughters age transmitted by their daughters. out of the broodmare pool to the extent that he has no real Looking down the list, relatively young chance to lead the list unless … broodmare sires with upward mobil- like Double Jay, he has a daugh- ity include Distorted Humor (foal of ter who produces a Horse of 1993), Smart Strike and Mr. Greeley the Year like John Henry, who (both 1992), Pulpit (1994), and Gi- keeps on going forever. ant’s Causeway (1997).

Aging out of the population is They fit the criteria of being both impor- what happened with Mr. P, tant sires and having an increasing num- who has no daughters con- ber of daughters coming into production. signed to the Keeneland Janu- ary sale this year, but younger Another of this ilk is A.P. Indy’s son top broodmare sires are well Malibu Moon, the sire of 2013 Ken- represented this year. tucky Derby winner Orb. Already with Malibu Moon 18 stakes to the credit of his daugh- Second to A.P. Indy on this year’s list of leading broodmare ters, Malibu Moon is still in the early days of his potential as sires, Unbridled’s Song has 1,550 foals out of 17 crops, with a broodmare sire because he began in a regional program his youngest being 2-year-olds. From those, the stallion has without the customary volume of foals in his early crops. 322 dams of runners so far, and those numbers will increase rapidly as more of his daughters from large crops age into the In 2015, the stallion had only 105 producers working broodmare production pool. for him, roughly 30 to 40 percent of the total that the top-ranking broodmare sires have. But with perform- Unbridled’s Song is competing at the top of the tree with star ers like multiple graded stakes winner sires like A.P. Indy (337 producing daughters), Storm Cat (381), to represent his daughter Evening Star, bigger things Deputy Minister (228), and Seeking the Gold (272). Those are are on the way. Sixteen broodmares or broodmare the top five American-based broodmare sires in 2015. prospects by the stallion are set to go through the ring here at Keeneland January. Watch for them. PRS Florida Thoroughbred Farm Managers’, Inc.

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Auction Preview is January 12th, Auction is Live on January 13th and ends at 8:00 pm, Friday, January 15th. www.starquine.com ARGUABLY THE BEST BRED SON OF FOUR GENERATIONS OF GRADE 1 WINNERS “Strong Mandate checks all my boxes. Big impressive physical, superior 2YO form, by the right sire from an important female family.” -Dr. E.C. Pug Hart

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POSTED THE FASTEST 3YO TURF RAGOZIN OF THE YEAR AT A MILE OR MORE IN 2014 www.PaulickReport.com Page 5

Honor Roll Far Right’s antics pave way to Kentucky Derby By Scott Jagow

“I kept hearing about this horse from California,” Mo- quett recalled. “I kept trying to find reasons that he wouldn’t be that good, and then when he came here, I thought, ‘my goodness.’”

Far Right “ran as hard as he could” to capture second but was beaten eight lengths by eventual Triple Crown winner . In the Kentucky Derby and later the Ohio Derby and Indiana Derby, Far Right had difficulty working out good trips and appeared to finally be losing some of his boundless energy.

“I just wanted to give him a little break because he de- served it,” Moquett said.

Off since mid-July, Far Right has bounced back in training and is preparing for a 2016 campaign that could include the Oaklawn Handicap. A victory in that 2012 Chestnut Ridgling, Notional - Zindi, by Vindi- race would likely push his career earnings above $1 cation. Consigned by Darby Dan Farm to 2013 KEE million. PRS Jan., bought by Jon Jazdzewski for $2,500.

In his first start, Far Right proved difficult to catch, but it wasn’t during the running of the race. The ridgling dumped his jockey in the post parade and bolted for a couple of furlongs before being corralled by Keeneland outriders.

In hindsight, the incident might have been the biggest reason the $2,500 yearling purchase wound up in the 2015 Kentucky Derby. Watching from the stands that April 2014 afternoon, trainer Ron Moquett was curi- ous how the horse might perform after using up so much energy in the post parade. FEATURED YEARLING “I thought it was a good race (he finished second), and SESSION the horse he ran against was a nice horse, so I thought maybe he would be the kind of horse I could sneak in and buy and improve,” said Moquett.

Owners Robert LaPenta and Harry Rosenblum later arranged a private deal to buy Far Right, and Moquett took on the task of trying to understand the horse. MIXED SALE – HORSES OF ALL AGES “He’s got enough speed to make you think he’d be a frontrunner and a sprinter, but he’s got an engine. He OCTOBER 9, 2016 just keeps going and going.” Reasonable Rates Serving the Equine The trainer wanted Far Right to relax early and use his Great Facility Industry for 38 Years! staying power to swoop past fading frontrunners late. The strategy paid dividends when Mike Smith got in Entry Deadline the irons and propelled Far Right to come-from-behind Aug. 25th, 2016 2829 South MacArthur Blvd., victories in the Smarty Jones and Grade 3 Southwest www.heritageplace.com Oklahoma City OK 73128 Stakes at Oaklawn. Suddenly, winning the G1 Arkansas email: [email protected] 405.682.4551 Derby seemed achievable — except for one problem. www.PaulickReport.com Page 6

Eclipse Award Preview One man’s opinion on who will win By Ray Paulick

Spoiler alert. Triple Crown and Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic win- Blue Kitten and Golden Horn, though it’s not a lock. ner American Pharoah will be named 2015 Horse of the Year at Saturday’s Eclipse Awards at Gulfstream Park in Florida. The vote It’s likely Zayat Stables also wins the Eclipse Award as outstanding almost certainly will be unanimous. That top honor and the son of breeder, but I don’t see the odds as short as in the owner category. Pioneerof the Nile’s Eclipse Award as outstanding 3-year-old male Ken and Sarah Ramsey and Darley are the other finalists. are two of nine categories that are as close to an absolute lock as you can get. That leaves eight categories for which an argument Javier Castellano had a tremendous year and may outpoll Ameri- can be made for more than one horse or human. can Pharoah’s rider, Victor Espinoza. Irad Ortiz Jr. will finish third in the outstanding jockey category. Tyler Gaffalione figures to edge Eric The seven other certainties in the Eclipse Awards are: Cancel in the apprentice jockey category, with Angel Cruz third.

Nyquist, 2-year-old male and , 2-year-old filly; , Steeplechase? I don’t know enough about it. as outstanding older dirt female, wins her third Eclipse Award; , outstanding male sprinter, as a 3-year-old; and Te- If American Pharoah’s human connections all win, it will be the first pin, outstanding female turf runner. complete sweep since John Henry’s 1981 Horse of the Year title when Dotsam Stable (owner), Golden Chance Farm (breeder), Ron There are five human categories (owner, breeder, trainer, jock- McAnally (trainer) and Bill Shoemaker (jockey) won Eclipse Awards. ey, apprentice jockey). American Pharoah will carry at least two Eclipse Award winners on his back: as outstanding Disclosure: I no longer vote in Eclipse Awards competition (my trainer and Zayat Stables as outstanding owner. choosing), but I still have opinions. PRS

Now, for the categories whose winners aren’t quite so obvious.

The 3-year-old filly division pits Aidan O’Brien-trained G1 Breed- ers’ Cup Turf winner Found against I’m a Chatterbox and Stellar Brilliant G1 Winner by Awesomest Again Wind. Slight edge to I’m a Chatterbox. TWO 1 Crop SWs The older dirt male category has three excellent racehorses with impeccable pedigrees: Honor Code, Liam’s Map and Tonal- ist. Each had two G1 wins in 2015. Edge to Honor Code off his Met Mile and Whitney victories. ALBERTUS In the female sprint division, La Verdad lost to Wavell Avenue MAXIMUS in the Breeders’ Cup but owns a better record throughout the Albert thePR SGreat – year and has the edge over Wavell Avenue and Lady Shipman. Chasethewildwind, I have favored in the male turf division over Big by Forty Niner Complimentary to About Approved Mares One of Only Three 1st Crop Kentucky Stallions For advertising inquiries please With at Least Two Blacktype SWs, call Emily at 859.913.9633 Including a Graded SW: Ray Paulick - Publisher [email protected] Emily Alberti - Director of Advertising [email protected] MY HEART GOES ON ST ND Scott Jagow - Editor-in-Chief [email protected] 1 ANGIE C. STAKES | 2 GOTTSTEIN FUTURITY Mary Schweitzer - News Editor [email protected] DOBLE FONDO Natalie Voss - Features Writer [email protected] 1ST CLASICO GERMAN RUIZ-G2 | 2ND CLASICO GENERAL JOSE ANTONIO REMON CANTERA-G3 Chelsea Hackbarth - Asst Editor [email protected] Frank Mitchell - Contributing Writer Kent Barnes, 4600 Ft. Springs Rd., Esther Marr - Custom Publishing Editor Stallion Manager Lexington, KY 40513 Inquiries to 859-224-4585 shadwellfarm.com COPYRIGHT © 2016, BLENHEIM PUBLISHING LLC www.PaulickReport.com Page 7

Continued from Page 1 Even though hospital bills can total in the thousands for an ICU stay, Morresey thinks it’s a worthwhile investment for many owners.

“The amount they spend in the ICU is actually pretty minimal when you look at the cost of maintaining the mare, the cost of breeding the mare, the cost of treating the foal is actu- ally relatively small,” he said. “The other thing is you’ve got to frame what we spend on the foal in the value of the mare, because one day she’s going to be sold. If you look at her progeny record, and she starts to get goose eggs alongside her name, that severely hurts the value of the mare.”

Still, there are orthopedic impacts from premature birth that can impact a horse’s racing career years later. Dr. Lil- lian Haywood, also of Rood and Riddle, presented research at the same convention exploring the effects of incomplete ossification on horses’ racing careers. Normally, ossifi- cation — the process of converting cartilage into bone — takes place rapidly in the last few weeks of a horse’s gesta- tion and slows right after birth. That means a premature foal could begin life with soft bone material, increasing its chances of developmental orthopedic disease or fracture.

Haywood examined x-rays from young foals taken between 1994 and 2011 and graded the amount of incomplete ossi- fication she found in knees and hocks, with Grade 1 being the least complete ossification and Grade 4 being the closest to normal. She found that while the majority of the 136 horses she studied had Grade 3 or 4 incomplete ossification, horses with Grades 1 through 3 were significantly less likely to race than their maternal siblings, and horses with any kind of incom- plete ossification earned less money than their siblings.

Haywood recommended that farm managers have pre- mature foals checked and monitored via x-ray to check for ossification problems, and to consider confining affected horses early in life to allow the bones to finish development before taking too much trauma. She estimated that Grade 2 or 3 should be the cutoff level of incomplete ossification when considering a horse’s racing prospects.

Even if a horse is not bound for the track, a breeding farm may put the money into salvaging the horse as a pasture pet. Mor- resey sees cases in which farms know the foal is unlikely to race, but will spend several thousand dollars expecting to end up with a Thoroughbred they must rehome. He then must help the farm manager or owner decide how far it’s reasonable to go to save the foal’s life, which can sometimes be hard because his clients don’t see horses as mere investments.

“You’ve always got to think about the welfare of the horse,” he said. “Everybody gets invested; the techs get invested, and I want to see them do well. Sometimes you’ve got to say, ‘I’m not sure that we’re doing the right thing here.’ I’ve got to advocate for the horse, and I’ve got to protect the client’s interest.” PRS www.PaulickReport.com Page 8

Five to Watch A look at some of the sale’s top hips By Frank Mitchell

Hip 403 Easy Action (Bay mare 1997 by Crafty Prospec- 17 cover to leading international sire War Front. Like the re- tor x Tipsy Girl, by Raise a Cup): This mare is by Crafty Pros- cently deceased Scat Daddy, Peace Burg’s sire Sageburg was pector (by Mr. Prospector), sire of 87 stakes winners and sire a G1 winner by champion Johannesburg. Peace Burg’s dam is of broodmares who have produced 95 more stakes winners. a half-sister to European highweight Pistolet Bleu. Easy Action is the dam of stakes winner My Due Process (Hen- ny Hughes), plus two stakes-placed runners, including Futurity Hip 559 Preach It (Dark brown mare 2001 by Saint Ballado x Stakes third Kong’s Revenge (Dixie Union). She is in foal to the Arrested Dreams, by Dehere): By leading sire Saint Ballado, sire hot young stallion Violence on a March 19 cover. of 68 stakes winners, Preach It is stakes-placed and is a half-sister to G2 winner Oratory (Pulpit). Out of multiple stakes winner Arrest- Hip 408 Ellesmere (Chestnut mare by Tabasco Cat x Em- ed Dreams (Dehere), winner of 8 races from 12 starts, Preach It press Aly, by ): The dam of three stakes winners, includ- is the dam of G3 stakes winner Speechify (Harlan’s Holiday) and ing Bridgetown (Speightstown) and Carnacks Choice (Carson in foal to Kentucky Derby winner on a May 6 cover. City), Ellesmere is in foal to Belmont Stakes winner Union Rags on a Feb. 28 cover. A stakes-placed daughter of multiple classic Hip 645 Two Item Limit (Bay mare 1998 by Twining x Spa winner Tabasco Cat (Storm Cat), Ellesmere is also half-sister Warning, by Caveat): Twice a winner at the G2 level, Two Item to a stakes winner. Their dam is a full sister to Kentucky Derby Limit was five-times G1-placed, earning more than $1 million. winner Strike the Gold. She is the dam of G2 winner Arena Elvira (Ghostzapper), foaled before dam’s export to Japan. Sold for $525,000 in foal to Hip 547 Peace Burg (Dark bay mare 2010 by Sageburg x at Keeneland January in 2008, Two Item Limit re- Peace Talk, by Sadler’s Wells): Winner of the G2 Prix de San- mained in Japan until 2015, and she is the only mare in the dringham, Peace Burg is pregnant with her first foal on a Feb. January sale in foal to Empire Maker. PRS