THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2018 GARY BUSH'S SLICE OF HEAVEN AGUIAR MAKES HIS by Chris McGrath CASE AT OBS MARCH People making their way, horses making their way; you never know how they're going to end up. Spend any time with someone who has earned his stripes in this business, and you're only ever a step or two away from champions. When Animal Kingdom turned out to be, well, Animal Kingdom, and everyone started asking Gary Bush what he had been like to foal and raise, the Denali Stud manager didn't quite know what to say. "I remember thinking I've got to go back to the office and see what I wrote about this guy," he said. "You know, he wasn't anything special. But he never did anything wrong. All the parts were there; he was big, strong, couldn't fault him in any way; he just did his own thing. He was just one of the other boys out there." Cont. p4 Craig ASam@ Aguiar and family enjoying a day at Churchill Downs IN TDN EUROPE TODAY COAKLEY’S WINTER WARMED BY COMBAT by Steve Sherack Berkshire Downs trainer Denis Coakley has enjoyed a fruitful As a Louisville-based trial lawyer handling high-pressure cases, Dubai carnival with Hors de Combat. spending time at the racetrack is Alike a sanctuary@ for relatively Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. new owner Craig ASam@ Aguiar. Represented by a trio of winners from a handful of his inaugural Alow budget@ yearling purchases in 2016, the 36-year- old personal injury attorney--his clients know him as Sam, but he races under his first name Craig--will seek a different kind of refuge in Ocala as a first-time pinhooker at next week=s two-day OBS March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. AI really don=t treat it like an investment,@ Aguiar said of his approach as an owner. AI think anybody that does is either way smarter or way dumber than me. I told my wife when we were getting into this that it=s an expensive hobby, but if we even have a month where we make our money back, we really need to be celebrating that night.@ With Tom McCrocklin consigning, Aguiar=s trio of prospects at OBS March includes: Hip 137, a colt by Bodemeister ($100,000 KEESEP yearling); Hip 158, a colt by Trappe Shot from the female family of champion Hansen (Tapit) ($90,000 KEESEP yearling); and Hip 557, a filly by Declaration of War ($100,000 KEESEP yearling). Cont. p3 PRESIDENT & CO-PUBLISHER Barry Weisbord @barryweisbord [email protected] SR. V.P. & CO-PUBLISHER Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Thursday, March 8, 2018 Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor 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 Assistant Editor Bobby Klatt ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistants Alexa Reisfield Michelle Benson Photo Editor/Dir. of Distribution Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew Maryland’s new ‘Boss.’ One day after his half-sister Holy Helena (Ghostzapper)’s [email protected] stylish victory in Saturday’s GIII The Very One S. at Gulfstream, first-season sire and Social Media Strategist ‘TDN Rising Star’ Holy Boss joined stallions Bourbon Courage and Imagining for Justina Severni Sunday’s open house inspections at Anchor & Hope Farm in Port Deposit, Maryland. Director of Customer Service More photos follow News Roundup. | Sarah Andrew Vicki Forbes [email protected] Marketing Manager HERPES QUARANTINE PARTIALLY LIFTED IN KY 7 Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen Barn 3 at The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington was released from Director of Information Technology an equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) quarantine on Mar. 7 after the Ray Villa Kentucky State Veterinarian's office confirmed that samples collected [email protected] from each horse in that stable came back negative. According to a Bookkeeper news release from the Equine Disease Communication Center, however, Terry May Barn 30 remains under quarantine. Officials are continuing daily [email protected] monitoring. WORLDWIDE INFORMATION International Editor Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN [email protected] European Editor 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 9 • THETDN.COM THURSDAY • MARCH 8, 2018 Aguiar Makes His Case cont. from p1 Sam & Janelle Aguiar at last year=s Breeders= Cup AThe one that I=m most excited about is the Bodemeister colt,@ said Aguiar, who added that the Trappe Shot colt has been scratched to await the OBS April Sale. ATom is a true pro and he=s real humble, so anytime he sends text messages about the Bodemeister like, >I couldn=t be more excited,= that=s a lot coming from him. He has plenty of class and has been breezing really well.@ Aguiar=s path to horse ownership, and, believe it or not, marriage, both began with some luck on the First Saturday in May. After cashing in on the Animal Kingdom over Nehro exacta (paid $329.80) in the 2011 GI Kentucky Derby, the graduate of Murray State University and the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law purchased an engagement ring for his wife Janelle and also began investing in racehorses with Pocket Aces Racing. He immediately hit it off with the syndicate=s trainer Steve Margolis and decided to launch his own stable a couple of years later. AI went over to the backside one day at Churchill and was like, >Man, this is cool!= I kind of started drinking the Kool-Aid,@ Aguiar said with a laugh. AWithin a couple of months of me probably bugging Steve too much, he picked us out a Dialed In Louisiana- bred for $50,000 at the [2016] OBS June 2-Year-Old Sale. My wife said, >Oh good, you got me a horse.= And she was cool with us getting more at the Keeneland yearling sales that year, too. If I give credit to one thing, it would be getting introduced to Steve. He=s a class act and he introduced me to Tom. They=re both phenomenal people.@ Cont. p4 TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 9 • THETDN.COM THURSDAY • MARCH 8, 2018 One of those first yearling purchases for Aguiar was Ebben could do well off it too, it=s kind of my way of saying thanks for (Trappe Shot), who brought $25,000 at the 2016 Keeneland all you=ve done for me.@ September Sale. Trained by Margolis, the chestnut graduated at The first of three breeze shows for the OBS March Sale begins second asking in a maiden special weight at Indiana Downs last Thursday at 8 a.m. summer and was also fourth in the GIII Iroquois S. at Churchill Downs. He rolled a pair of sixes in both the GIII Lecomte S. and GII Risen Star S. earlier this year. AHe=s named after my son Evan, who will be starting college at Gary Bush's Slice of Heaven Cont. George Mason in the fall,@ Aguiar said. AMy 5-year-old son You hear that a lot: how a star in the making was never an couldn=t pronounce his V=s, so he=d call him Ebben. I thought it obvious alpha male, just never gave any trouble. Whereas the would be a good name for a horse and it=s been pretty cool yearlings who come in from the paddock with nicks or bruises running in a few Derby preps with him.@ often turn out to be unlucky on the track, as well. But then a Aguiar has also acquired a few via the claim box, including horseman as seasoned as Bush, after 38 years in the game, can subsequent three-time winner Diamonds For Leah (Fusaichi also take you up close and personal with animals whose quirks Pegasus), who was haltered for just $30,000 last March. He has were developed precisely through their status as pack leader. another four juveniles in Ocala slated to join his racing stable-- During his days at Three Chimneys, for instance, Bush soon to be rebranded JS Stables (Janelle and Sam)--this spring. remembers a thunderstorm brewing up one evening. If one of Aguiar=s pinhook prospects hits it out of the park next "I was the broodmare manager but my stallion manager was Tuesday or Wednesday, don=t expect that money to be sitting in off and I lived across the street from the stallion barn," he his pocket for long. recalled. "And this storm was rolling in. So I went to help get the AThat would awesome [if one sold big], but the reality is if that stallions in, we went and grabbed horses and put them in the happened I=ll either probably parlay it into more next year or barn. But when I went out to Seattle Slew's paddock, he came buy another one at the OBS April Sale,@ he concluded. AI=m up to the gate and I saw the whites in his eyes." Bush paused excited to be partnering with Tom. If we could do well and he and laughed. "I have never seen that look before.