Taking Stock
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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2018 EAST VS. WEST IN AMERICAN OAKS TAKING STOCK: THE HORSE An intriguing cast of locally based runners and East Coast OF THE YEAR DEBATE invaders will square off in Saturday=s GI American Oaks at Santa Anita. Alice Bamford homebred Californiagoldrush (Cape Blanco {Ire}) took the first two starts of her career locally before checking in third in the GI Del Mar Oaks Aug. 18. She made the reverse journey to Belmont to annex the GII Sands Point S. over yielding sod Sept. 15 and will be looking to provide Hall of Famer Neil Drysdale with a first American Oaks trophy. Paved (Quality Road) also merits consideration among the California contingent mostly due to the strength of her second- place finish over this course and 10-furlong distance when facing her elders in the GI Rodeo Drive S. Sept. 29. The winner was Vasilika (Skipshot), who was taking her seventh of eight straight that day. Cont. p3 IN TDN EUROPE TODAY Justify & Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert | Sarah K. Andrew DUAL ROLE MAKES PIM BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR by Sid Fernando Chris McGrath catches up with Alastair Pim, who balances What a time to be alive! roles as an auctioneer for Tattersalls and running his family’s I=ve seen it said on Twitter and elsewhere that the Triple Anngrove Stud in Ireland. Crown races are nothing more than a series of Arestricted@ races Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. for 3-year-olds, and, therefore, not as important as the Aunrestricted@ Grade I races for older horses. To diminish the accomplishments of Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy) in this way is either ignorance or a line of historical revisionism used by some to make a case for Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) as Horse of the Year. Racing is a microcosm of society, and just as some longstanding institutions of the social order are under threat these days, perhaps it=s not that surprising to see the Triple Crown, one of racing=s greatest institutions, spoken of so cavalierly. We are living through a period where the significance of the past is being conveniently ignored for the construction of newer narratives within a historical void. But this conceit won=t hold water in the long run because it is on precedence that historical significance is measured. And historical significance should be at the heart of the debate of Accelerate versus Justify for Horse of the Year. In the modern era of the last 50 years or so, there have been five Triple Crown winners in the U.S.: Secretariat (>73), Seattle Slew (>77), Affirmed (>78), American Pharoah (>15), and Justify (>18). Cont. p4 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 Saturday, December 29, 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 COLUMNIST Chris McGrath 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] Smartly-attired competitors line up before a crowd of 15,559 for Friday’s Savills Style Awards at Leopardstown Racecourse in Dublin, Ireland. The four-day Leopardstown Social Media Strategist Christmas Festival concludes on Saturday. | INPHO Photography/Tommy Dickson Justina Severni Director of Customer Service Vicki Forbes THE LAST WORD: DALE ROMANS 7 [email protected] Dale Romans is among the sport's top trainers. But there's a lot more Marketing Manager to the person than what you see on the racetrack. In this edition of Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen "The Last Word," we touch all the bases with Dale Romans. Director of Information Technology Ray Villa [email protected] RISING STAR WATCH 10 Members of the TDN staff reveal what ‘TDN Rising Star’ they're most Bookkeeper Terry May excited to see race in 2019. Senior Editor Steve Sherack is up next with [email protected] ‘Rising Star’ Mucho (Blame) from the Bill Mott barn. WORLDWIDE INFORMATION International Editor TODAY’S GRADED STAKES Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN EST Race Click for TV [email protected] 3:30a Tokyo Daishoten-G1, OHI -------------- ----- European Editor 4:34p Robert J. Frankel S.-GIII, SA TJCIS PPs TVG Emma Berry [email protected] 6:34p American Oaks-GI, SA TJCIS PPs TVG 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 SATURDAY • DECEMBER 29, 2018 American Oaks Preview cont. Californiagoldrush | Joe Labozzetta Paved also boasts a convincing victory in the GII Honeymoon S. here in June, but is looking to bounce back from a 12th-place run in the much-tougher GI Breeders= Cup F/M Turf Nov. 3. Amandine (GB) (Shamardal) is now two-for-two in the States after an impressive score in the Lady of Shamrock S. here Wednesday. Trainer Jeff Mullins told TDN=s Bill Finley Friday that a decision about wheeling back on short rest likely wouldn=t be made until raceday. Colonia (Fr) (Champs Elysees {GB}) was extremely impressive going last to first in her Stateside debut in Arlington=s Hatoof S. in July, but she settled for fifth and third, respectively, behind Californiagoldrush in the Del Mar Oaks and Sands Point. She returned to winning ways in Keeneland=s Oct. 19 GIII Pin Oak Valley View S. after weaving her way through horses and then avoiding a foe who crashed into the rail. Ken McPeek shipped in Daddy=s Lil Darling (Scat Daddy) to score here 12 months ago, and he=ll look to double up the Nov. 23 GII Mrs Revere S. upsetter Princess Warrior (Midshipman). Chad Brown will look to check another Grade I off his ever- shrinking career checklist with Competitionofideas (Speightstown). A $325,000 KEESEP yearling, the relatively under-the-radar runner paired up maiden and first-level allowance wins at Belmont before finishing a late-on-the-scene third in the rained-off Winter Memories S. going a one-turn mile at Aqueduct Nov. 22. Brown teamed up with pilot Joel Rosario earlier this month at Del Mar to annex both the GI Hollywood Derby and GI Matriarch S., and he sent out fellow Klaravich Stables colorbearer Identity Politics (Into Mischief) to a runner- up finish in the GI Malibu S. here on opening day Wednesday. TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 12 • THETDN.COM SATURDAY • DECEMBER 29, 2018 wrote in the Washington Post in =93 is still the case today: AThe Triple Crown is exceptionally demanding and difficult--but that=s what it=s supposed to be. There are no tests in horse racing, and few in any sport, that are so reliable as a measurement of Horse of the Year Debate cont. from p1 excellence. One might think that in a weak year a moderately Each of these colts had to win the 10-furlong GI Kentucky talented animal might be able to get lucky and dominate his Derby, the 9.5-furlong GI Preakness, and the 12-furlong GI rivals over a five-week period. But this never happens. The four Belmont S. within a period of five weeks, which is a debilitating horses who have swept the series in the last 45 years--Citation, task and an exceptional achievement, and it=s why there have Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed--ran among the very best been so few to accomplish the feat. In fact, as the 37 years of all time.@ between Affirmed and American Pharoah dragged along, there The Classics are for 3-year-olds--as they are in Europe, from was talk from many quarters about changing the format of the where they were modeled--and the best of each crop is aimed Classics, either by reducing race distances or extending time for them. They are the races that make reputations, garner the between them, as a method for manufacturing the possibility of most prestige for owners and breeders, and have the greatest another Triple Crown winner. That=s how hopeless things fan interest, particularly when a Triple Crown is on the line. And seemed, and breeders specifically were blamed during this span as Beyer wrote, to sweep all three has never been easy. There for producing softer and speedier horses lacking toughness and have been only 13 Triple Crown winners dating back almost 100 the requisite stamina. But in the end, the institution stood as it years. And every Triple Crown winner since the >70s, except for had, despite repeated efforts for change, and American Pharoah Justify--who was retired after the Belmont because of an injury-- and Justify arrived as examples of excellence that linked them by has also gone on to defeat older horses. More tellingly, achievement to America=s past Golden Age. however, each was voted Horse of the Year at three, because Some have forgotten this. Others, including Andy Beyer, who those voters at the time knew the enormity of their recently said that Accelerate should be Horse of the Year over accomplishments. Justify, have changed their minds. But what Beyer compellingly TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 5 OF 12 • THETDN.COM SATURDAY • DECEMBER 29, 2018 Some Case Histories... Accelerate | Horsephotos Justify was undefeated and the winner of four Grade l races in six starts.