FRI DAY, JANUARY 19, 2018 ©2018 HORSEMAN PUBLISHING CO., LEXINGTON, KY USA •J FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION C ALL (8 59) 276 -4026 A Legacy Of Accomplishments, But Also A Gentle Giant PLAN TO ATTEND! Winter is well known as a season of discontent, the phrase originating with William Shakespeare in Richard III and then the hottest sale this winter the title for the John Steinbeck classic, “The Winter of Our Discontent.” Besides the dark days that winter can bring, it seems they are often accompanied by death. My job includes writing obituaries of our participants, both human and equine, and while I have never tallied these biographies, it certainly seems I have done more of this work while gazing out a window at a gray sky. ONE BIG DAY! Over 400 Entries! My first notable obituary during the dark days of winter is memorable for a couple of reasons. On a sun-filled, spring- February 12, 2018 like day at historic Stoner Creek Farm in Paris, Ky., in Janu - ary 1982, the great pacing progenitor Meadow Skipper had Catalog will be posted when available at died in his paddock, apparently of a heart attack. And now another great has passed on in the days of win - www.bloodedhorse.com ter. On Sunday afternoon, Jan. 14, Somebeachsomewhere was euthanized at Mid-Atlantic Equine Center in Ringoes, N.J., where he had been undergoing chemotherapy treat - “There’s No Substitute for Experience” JERRY HAWS • P.O. Box 187 • Wilmore, Kentucky 40390 Phone: (859) 858-4415 • Fax: (859) 858-8498 WHAT’S INSIDE . MacGrath remembers “Beach”— pg. 5 Foiled Again aims for 100— pg. 7 o t Burn Out Hanover ready for Snowshoe— pg. 9 o h P e l y A new New Jersey governor— pg. 9 K h p e Somebeachsomewhere Brown optimistic for 2018— pg. 10 s o J “I mean, when cancer is mentioned, you’ve got to be pre - ments for cancer. Somebeachsomewhere had just turned 13 pared for the worst,” said MacGrath in a statement sent out on Jan. 1. on behalf of the Schooner Stable. “I wasn’t expecting it “It’s devastating. It’s a terrible day,” said Brent MacGrath, quite this quickly, but, you know, the last few days haven’t who trained Somebeachsomewhere and shared ownership been good, obviously, so mentally I was a little more pre - of the horse as part of a syndicate that included the six- pared than I was at this time last week. member Schooner Stable of Bible Hill, Nova Scotia. Mac - “For a horse that was so healthy his whole life, it’s just a Grath had purchased Somebeachsomewhere as a yearling shame to see him end up this way.” for just $40,000 from breeder Stephanie Smith-Rothaug. MacGrath said all six of the original owners are animal MacGrath was joined in campaigning the colt by fellow lovers and when Somebeachsomewhere’s health deterio - Maritimers Garry Pye, Stu Rath, Reg Petitpas, Pamela Dean rated to the point that he would soon suffer, they quickly and Jamie Bagnell. “Beach” earned $3.2 million on the track. made the decision to euthanize him. Continues on page 2 ›››› HarnessRacing Weekend Preview, 2 of 14 January 19, 2018 www.harnessracing.com “He was going downhill fast, he lost a lot of weight, he REE lost a lot of muscle tone. At the end of it, he was down and F ogram struggling to get up because his balance was off. His white Pr HIS EEK END S Pages T W ’ count was through the roof and it appears as though he be - EATURED ACES came septic,” MacGrath said. “We’ll know a little bit more F R when we get the autopsy.” Friday, January 19 All times listed are local. When Somebeachsomewhere was retired from racing in 7:10p Wdb1 Snowshoe Pace div. Trackmaster PPs the fall of 2008 as one of 7:25p MVR5 F&M Open Pace Trackmaster PPs “If you love horses and the sport’s greats, he settled 7:50p Wdb3 Snowshoe Pace div. Trackmaster PPs you knew Beach, you in for a breeding career at 8:10p Wdb4 Snowshoe Pace div. Trackmaster PPs loved him. He was a Hanover Shoe Farms. His 8:50p Wdb5 Snowshoe Pace div. Trackmaster PPs horse that wanted to resume certainly distin - Click here to download all Friday PPs please people.” guished him from other Saturday, January 20 —Dr. Bridgette Jablonsky horses on the farm, but so 6:50p YR1 Cond. Pace Trackmaster PPs did his personality. He be - 8:45p M7 Preferred Pace Trackmaster PPs came a beloved member of the Hanover Shoe Farms family. Click here to download all Saturday PPs “Not all horses are endearing. If you love horses and you knew Beach, you loved him,” said Dr. Bridgette Jablonsky, Sunday, January 21 farm manager at Hanover, who worked with Somebeach - 11:30a YR1 Open Trot Trackmaster PPs somewhere for nine years. “He was a horse that wanted to Click here to download all Sunday PPs please people. He was classy, but humble. If a horse could Visit www .trackmaster .com be humble, that was Beach. He was just a kind, happy horse. and subscribe to download He loved it when you scratched him on the side of his head. full cards from your favorite tracks! He could stand there for 30 minutes if you’d do that.” Although Hanover’s stallions spend most of their hours turned out in paddocks, where they can live naturally, the HarnessRacing Weekend Preview farm staff learned the stallion was a gentle giant with a Kathy Parker Heather Kemper huge appetite. kparker @harnessracing .com hkemper@ harnessracing .com Editor / General Manager Editorial Production “I spent the first eight years Lynne Myers Vanessa Flannery vflannery@ harnessracing .com of his life at Hanover trying to lmyers @harnessracing .com Accounting & Circulation keep weight off him, yet be - Advertising Manager cause of the cancer he was Gordon Waterstone losing weight,” said Dr. gwaterstone @harnessracing .com For mail sent via U.S. Postal Service, Associate Editor either P.O. Box 8480, Jablonsky wistfully. “Early we Lexington, KY 40533, bought an exercise machine Suzanne Starbuck or 1910 Harrodsburg Rd., Suite 200, Lexington, KY 40503. (859) 276-4026 for him and he was on it 45 sstarbuck@ harnessracing .com Production Manager minutes a day because he would gain weight on a very © Copyright Horseman Publishing Company . Dr. Jablonsky with Somebeach- small amount of feed. If you A product of Horseman Publishing Company , publishers of the website www .harnessracing .com and The Horseman And Fair World magazine . somewhere in December at put two flakes of hay in the Mid-Atlantic Equine. This newspaper may not be reproduced in any form or by any means , stall and walked away and electronic or mechanical , without prior written permission . then turned back around, they would be gone.” To sign up for the Weekend Preview please visit Last December, when Dr. Jablonsky flew to Mid-Atlantic www.harnessracing.com/members_sign_up.php with Hanover’s Jim Simpson and Patti Murphy (Hanover’s assistant farm manager) for a quick visit with “Beach,” she took him his favorite treat. son got underway, he was again schooled in mounting the “He loved carrots, the ones with the greens still on top of phantom, but was reluctant. them,” shared Dr. Jablonsky. “He ate them so quickly I felt One day Dr. Jablonsky was not in the breeding shed, but the guilty because I only brought one bunch.” training continued. She recounted that the staff “put the AV The Hanover staff had more human contact with Beach (artificial vagina) on him and had him standing next to the during the breeding season, and that interaction brought phantom. Then he laid himself down very gently and ejacu - further insights into his personality. Dr. Jablonsky recalled lated in the AV. Horses don’t do that. It was so unexpected.” that when he was initially unwilling to mount a phantom The following week Somebeachsomewhere had things fig - mare for breeding, she decided to collect him off of a mare ured out and was breeding on the phantom. But Beach was his first year at stud. Before Beach’s second breeding sea - still showing his unique personality. Continues on page 3 ›››› HarnessRacing Weekend Preview, 3 of 14 January 19, 2018 www.harnessracing.com “Sometimes he was a little picky about the (tease) mare,” said Dr. Jablonsky. “Some stallions do have a little more of a preference, but you “...you could not coax could not coax him into him into breeding if he breeding if he didn’t like didn’t like the mare.” the mare. Some days —Dr. Bridgette Jablonsky he’d go through five or six mares. And there were some mares that he loved.” When Somebeachsomewhere was being bred by jumping a tease mare in his first season, he developed an affinity for one particular mare. At first glance, Beach’s fondness for the mare was confounding. She was in her 20s, was blind, and had Cushing’s disease, which causes horses to have a long, unruly coat of hair. “I think the reason he loved this old lady with all this hair is because the ideal jump mare stands still for the stallion, and I think he mounted her so many times before he learned how to mount the phantom that he remembered her,” explained Dr. Jablonsky. Last March, Somebeachsomewhere was diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease. While cancer was ruled out at the time, the horse had to be treated with steroids to keep the inflammation in check. “He responded well to the steroids, and he was still happy and eating well,” said Dr.