WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2014 732-747-8060 $ TDN Home Page Click Here HONOR CODE WORKS AT PAYSON KOCH KEEPING EGG DROP OPTIONS OPEN by Heather Likins by Jessica Martini Honor Code (A.P. Indy) worked three furlongs at When Egg Drop (Alphabet Soup--Rehocracy, by Payson Park in :39.00 yesterday morning in his first Adhocracy) battled back for a gritty victory in the breeze since his Dec. 1 GI Matriarch S. (video) at GII Remsen S. victory Hollywood Park, it created a Nov. 30. pleasant quandary for Little Red AIt was the first time Feather Racing=s managing he worked since he partner Billy Koch, as well as the ran,@ confirmed the 4-year-old filly=s 15 owners. Egg colt=s trainer, Shug Drop is catalogued as hip 159 McGaughey. AIt was and is scheduled to sell during an easy 3/8's at Monday=s opening session of the Payson Park to get him Keeneland January Horses of All back in the swing of Honor Code Ages Sale, but Koch things. I thought it Adam Coglianese acknowledges that it is no sure was fine.@ thing the striking gray filly will It=s a long road to the first Saturday in May, and keep her engagement in McGaughey, despite winning the GI Kentucky Derby Lexington. last year with Orb (Malibu Moon) knows there are no AThe Matriarch made our guarantees in this business. decision-making process a little Egg Drop Benoit AWe=re glad to have a chance to be back on [the more difficult,@ Koch admitted. Kentucky Derby trail],@ he said. AIt=s still a long while AIt=s something that we=ve and a lot of things have to happen.@ thought of long and hard and there have been a lot of Honor Code has already done more in his three-start interesting developments along the way. When it=s all career than Orb, up to this point. Breaking his maiden said and done, I=ve got a lot of partners who really love at first asking at Saratoga Aug. 31, Honor Code this filly and they love watching her run.@ finished second to Havana (Dunkirk) in the GI Egg Drop, who has now won three straight graded Champagne S. Havana went on to finish second in the events on the lawn, was entered in the January sale GI Breeders= Cup Juvenile. before her start in the Matriarch. Cont. p4 After getting his first graded stakes victory in the Remsen, the colt has had a relaxed December. AWe haven=t been doing much with him,@ McGaughey said. AIt=s only been 30 days. I feel that now that he=s been doing some more work, if he=s going to start growing up, it will be now.@ McGaughey has no definitive answer concerning the dark bay=s next start. AWe have the [GII] Fountain of Youth [S. at Gulfstream Feb. 22] penciled in, but it is only penciled in,@ said McGaughey. AI=d like to get him up to the Derby, though. Then, it=d be fine.@ ITSMYLUCKYDAY FIRES BULLET IN RETURN By J.M. Severni GI Preakness S. runner-up Itsmyluckyday (Lawyer Ron) went three panels in :36.00 yesterday morning at Palm Meadows Training Center, the fastest of 31 on the day, in his first breeze since suffering a fractured ilium in the GIII Pegasus S. at Monmouth Park June 16. AHe was working a quarter and galloping out 3/8ths and he just did it effortlessly,@ trainer Eddie Plesa, Jr. said of the work. AIt was one of those things--how can I put it-- did I expect it? No, but it didn=t surprise me.@ Cont. p3 In This Issue 60 Broad St., Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 (732) 747-8060 (732) 747-8955 (fax) www.thoroughbreddailynews.com www.thetdn.com CO-PUBLISHERS Barry Weisbord, President [email protected] • @barryweisbord Sue Finley, Vice President [email protected] • @suefinley BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Gary King, Director of Business Development [email protected] Egg Drop (pictured with her connections in the winner’s circle after the Matriarch) is catalogued in the Keeneland January Sale EDITORIAL Horse Photos [email protected] Jessica Martini, Editor-in-Chief Alan Carasso, Managing Editor Steve Sherack, Racing Editor Brian DiDonato, Racing Analyst/Soc. Media Dir. Justina Severni, Assistant Editor News Today Christie DeBernardis, Assistant Editor Heather Likins, Assistant Editor Catlyn Spivey, Assistant Editor Penn National has wrapped up its 2013 season with an all-time record in ADVERTISING average daily handle after its record-shattering inaugural Penn Mile card. [email protected] Alycia Borer, Director of Advertising Lia Kusch, Senior Advertising Designer Page 6 Sarah K. Andrew, Senior Advertising Coordinator/Director of Distribution Amanda Crelin, Advertising Designer Amanda Foster, Advertising Assistant CUSTOMER SERVICE [email protected] From the Desk Of... Vicki Forbes, Director of Customer Service INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Robert Williams, Director of IT Bill Oppenheim takes a thorough look back at a year of significant gains in [email protected] the year in the sales ring. Gregg Casillo, DB Administrator, Programming [email protected] WORLDWIDE INFORMATION Page 8 Kelsey Riley, International Editor [email protected] Sean Cronin, Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Tom Frary, Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing [email protected] TDN P HEADLINE NEWS • 1/1/14 • PAGE 3 of 11 • thoroughbreddailynews.com Itsmyluckday Fires Bullet in Return (cont. from p1) As Itsmyluckyday revs up for a return to the races, Itsmylucyday was successful in his Florida campaign promising rising 3-year-old Yes I=m Lucky (Yes It=s as a sophomore, romping in the Gulfstream Park Derby True), who is campaigned by the same connections, a year ago before will be given some time off following a fourth-place winning the GIII effort in the GII Dania Beach S. Dec. 21. AI=m kind of Holly Bull S. and backing off him a little bit,@ Plesa offered of the bay finishing second colt, who tallied turf sprint victories in Calder=s Frank behind Orb (Malibu Gomez Memorial S. June 22, Monmouth=s Tryo S. Aug. 4 and the Laurel Futurity Sept. 21. AI think his best Moon) in the GI races are going to be sprint races--turf sprints might be Florida Derby. the best for him and he=s had a full campaign up until However, Plesa is in now, so I figured we=d kind of back off for 30 days or no rush to get his so and just go through the motions and get him happy stable star back to mentally. Physically, he=s in great shape, but again, the track. AI=m not they=re not machines and need a bit of a break, so looking for a race that=s what we=ll give him.@ right now,@ he explained. AI=m just Sharing Tools Now Available on Itsmyluckyday looking to get him Kenny Martin up there. He TDN Alerts & In Today’s TDN exceeded what I Read something you liked on the TDN homepage thought he would have done [yesterday], but it didn=t and want to share it with your friends? surprise me. He just looks fantastic. He=s his old self, Sharing tools now enable you to do so easily. meaning he=s a handful around the barn when you=re walking him, whether it be cooling him out or getting Links to your facebook page, twitter feed, him ready to go to the race track or walking him around Google +1, and Google + accounts now accompany the barn, he=s a handful--not in a mean sense, he=s just each story on the homepage; and an Email a friend a good-feeling horse and that was him today and that=s button allows been him during this whole process of having him back you to easily on the racetrack.@ TDN P HEADLINE NEWS • 1/1/14 • PAGE 4 of 11 • thoroughbreddailynews.com Koch Keeping Egg Drop Option Open (cont. from p1) Whether Egg Drop sells in January or next November, AWe entered in the sale for two reasons; God forbid, Koch knows her Matriarch win will always stay part of if something happened and she got hurt, we wanted a her resume. place we could sell her,@ Koch explained. AAlso, if she AThe good news is she=s got her Grade I,@ Koch said. won, we would have the option of selling. And she AThey can=t take that away happened to win.@ from her, so if she goes to While he is representing 15 partners, the final the sale next year in decision on whether to keep Egg Drop in training for November, she still has that another year or put the filly through the sales ring rests Grade I and, hopefully, we=ll squarely with Koch. add a couple more.@ AThis is a game that, if you are not financially Egg Drop started out responsible, you=re doing an injustice to yourself and to inauspiciously when your people,@ Koch said. AI have a fiduciary bloodstock agent Tom responsibility as a managing partner of our partnership McCrocklin bought the filly to make those kind of decisions. Ultimately, I=m the for $12,000 as an OBS managing partner, so the decision will rest in my hands August yearling in 2010. and I take full responsibility. But I do listen to my ATom McCrocklin does partners. I have to. Like in any business, you have to most of our bloodstock take the pulse of the people who are responsible for agenting, we call him our Billy Koch your business. I have the best partners in the world. executive bloodstock agent, They are incredible and everybody loves the animals he=s amazing,@ Koch said.