Alex Brown 25 August 2009

Again, for this week’s update, I am going to highlight the ‘highlights’ from last week’s ‘tweets’ from Alex Brown Racing: http://www.twitter.com/AlexBrownRacing

The week began, on Tuesday, with the terrific win of Sea The Stars in the Juddmonte Stakes at York. OK, so that was not here, but very cool nonetheless. It will be terrific if he comes over for the Breeders’ Cup.  

We also tweeted a story, written by a food critic, that highlighted the food safety concerns of horsemeat. And there are significant food safety issues with respect to horses slaughtered in North America and Mexico and exported to Europe.  

Finally we learned about the retirement of Storm in May, who had run in the 2007 Derby (he is also blind in one eye) who was not running so well now on the Florida circuit: read more here. 

On Wednesday, my co-hosts Bob Hatfield and Paul Breedon joined me for our weekly radio show. We discussed the European races of Goldikova and Sea The Stars. The throat surgery of Mine That Bird and debated where Rachel Alexandra will run next. And much more. I think our format is getting better: listen here.  

Lisa Grimm, who hosts http://superfectablog.blogspot.com  will join us and help handicap the upcoming Travers Stakes during this week’s radio show. 

We also learned this week that Ernie Paragallo entered a “no plea” for his 35 counts of animal cruelty: read more here. 

On Thursday, the racing secretary at Presque Isle, Dave Frizzell, quit. Just a bit of odd news. We also learned that the New York Breeders’ Fund is taking measures to avoid dispersing money to those who abuse horses, in light of the Ernie Paragallo abuse case.
 
On Friday the second season of Jockeys got underway. This ABR Facebook Group eclipsed 2,000 members on Friday. As a geek this rocks! Thanks for your support. Now to gain more membership (hint, feel free to e-mail your friends to join) take a look here. We also learned that Mine That Bird, the Kentucky Derby winner, has recovered well from his recent throat surgery and will continue to point towards the Travers.  
 
On Saturday a Woodbine-based horse won the Alabama at Saratoga, and a Woodbine-based horse was second! Careless Jewell was extremely impressive with her victory and Milwaukee Appeal keeps running terrific races, even when defeated. It was also jockey Rob Landry’s biggest win outside of Canada:http://twitpic.com/8zfbx      

Sunday was a quiet day, but we did learn about a nice story involving trainer Chip Woolley, Mine That Bird’s trainer, and a disappointed horse fan.
 
On Monday we heard the news we had all been waiting for for a little too long. Rachel Alexandra will not run in the Travers, but will run in the $750,000 Woodward the following week instead. Rachel Alexandra also worked on Monday, as did Quality Road as he prepares for the Travers. Likely Quality Road will now be favorite for the midsummer Derby.  

The New York Times wrote a nice video story about the retirement ofTour of the Cat. The video is very cool and illustrates how our claiming system in the US is not very good for the horse in the long run.

All along the way I kept taking pictures and adding to our Woodbine Characters series.

That’s it for last week!

Alex Brown writes his Letter from North America blog weekly for www.eclipsemagazine.co.uk 

Alex Brown 18 August 2009

Again, for this week’s update, I am going to highlight the ‘highlights’ from last week’s ‘tweets’ from Alex Brown Racing: http://www.twitter.com/AlexBrownRacing 

On Tuesday I went to the OLEX kill auction again. There were a decent number of horses, half of which went to kill. There were two kill buyers in attendance. The one horse that really got to me was a standard bred who had made more than $330,000 (according to the auctioneer), and had also done some dressage. He went to kill at 33 cents / pound. A 12yo standard bred mare, who was slow on the track, went for 34 cents / pound and was purchased privately (Amish). A mare with a foal were bought by the kill buyer.

On Wednesday we hosted our ABR radio show: Bob Hatfield was my co-host, and Paul Breedon, from Saratoga, was our guest. Three Brits together, talking horseracing! We discussed the previous weekend’s key races at Saratoga, Arlington Park and Del Mar. I think this has been our best format to date for the radio show, and we will try the same again this week: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/AlexBrownRacing/2009/08/19/Alex-Brown-Racing-on-the-radio Although this week we are likely to talk more about European racing than US racing! 

We also heard about the arrival of Boule D’Or at Old Friends: Boule D’Or had recently been retired from racing at Pleasanton, in California. And finally we learned about 10yo Redraw running unremarkably at Cantebury Park, from a racing fan.  

Thursday not much happened.

On Friday it was the Hall of Fame ceremony at Saratoga, and jockey Eddie Maple spoke of the need to support the racehorse in retirement as “vital to the integrity of our sport”: read more here. I think we are getting more horsemen really stepping up to help our horses in our industry. A very cool trend.

On Saturday Woodbine jockey Jimmy McAleney celebrated his 40th birthday by winning three races. And 10yo Better Talk Now ran a terrific second in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga, beaten by 33-1 longshot Telling. Better Talk Now is starting to get a little more respect as the old man in the turf division. It was later reported that his next start, at Belmont, may be his final start of his illustrious career. He won the Breeders’ Cup Turf race in 2004!

On Sunday Woodbine jockey Rob Landry rode four winners. I don’t think it was his birthday. Of course the most exciting race of the weekend was actually in France! Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Goldikova won her sixth Group 1 event in devastating style. Early Kentucky Derby favorite Quality Road worked 3/4s of a mile in 1:13 and change. All appears well ahead of his next start in the Travers.

On Monday Rachel Alexandra worked 5/8ths in preparation of her next race, which is still unknown. She worked very well, 5/8ths in a minute and change galloping out in 12 seconds. Mine That Bird also worked, more slowly. After his work it was discovered that he had an entrapped epiglottis. He will undergo surgery and is still being targeted to run in the Travers, which is a little under two weeks away. 

All along the way I kept taking pictures and adding to our Woodbine Characters series.
 
And that’s it for last week!

Alex Brown writes his Letter from North America blog weekly for www.eclipsemagazine.co.uk 

Alex Brown 11 August 2009

Again, for this week’s update, I am going to highlight the ‘highlights’ from last week’s ‘tweets’ from Alex Brown Racing: http://www.twitter.com/AlexBrownRacing

On Tuesday we learned some pretty big news on the horse slaughter front. The EU may change some rules to require quarantine for horses headed to slaughter from North America, in order to make sure the horses are “drug free“. The EU is a major horse meat market for North American based horses. Basically, this may bring the horse meat trade in line with other livestock trade where there are significant requirements for ensuring the meat is not tainted. It also could bring the US-based horses (meat from US-based horses that are shipped to slaughter in Canada and Mexico for consumption in the EU) more in line with EU-based horses shipped to slaughter. 

As things currently stand, horses that are slaughtered that originate from the US, can be loaded with whatever drugs horses are given for their day-to-day activities. In horseracing that includes Bute, but even pleasure horses have worming drugs and so forth. These rule changes would significantly increase the costs of ‘processing’ a horse for horse meat, and may essentially kill the trade from North America. One can only hope! More details: http://forums.delphiforums.com/alexbrown/messages?msg=39773 
 
Also on Tuesday there were tremendous floods in the Louisville area which required the evacuation of a few horses from Churchill Downs, here is a picture of the Barbaro statue surrounded by water: http://twitpic.com/cqp0l

On Wednesday we hosted our weekly radio show on blogtalkradio. Here it is. Unfortunately Peter Brette could not make it, but new co-host Bob Hatfield did. So now we have a new format for the show, Bob Hatfield and I talking American horse racing for 30 minutes. And we are both Brits! Here is this upcoming Wednesday’s show. 

It was also reported on Wednesday that Finallymadeit was euthanized after a workout at Saratoga in preparation for the upcoming Whitney: read the report here.  

On Thursday Ernie Paragallo was indicted, with additional charges, in hisabuse case. Ernie Paragallo also owns half of Unbridled’s Song. On Friday it was reported that Ernie Paragallo may decide to sue the local Humane Society:read the report here. 

On Saturday we learned that Well Armed, who ran poorly in his first race after his Dubai World Cup win, has an injury and will be out for a while. The injury perhaps explains his sub-par performance last weekend. Saturday was also the day for the Fairmount Park paddock sale. The Fairmount Park meet, in Illinois, is closing early. 

We of course were focused on horseracing with the Arlington Million, Beverely D and Secretariat at Arlington Park, and the Whitney at Saratoga. Some great racing with a favourite winning the Million, Gio Ponti, and an outsider winning the Whitney, Bullsbay. The Million was run on perhaps less than ideal footing, and it appeared that Einstein, the second choice, was never comfortable in the race. In the Whitney Commentator, at seven, tried to go gate to wire. In his younger days perhaps he could have done this. Not on Saturday. Zito made it clear after the race his wish was to retire the horse. Here is the Arlington Million. Here is the Whitney. 

We also celebrated the three year anniversary of the ABR discussion boards, eclipsing 1.2 million posts in the process. I am a geek and I think this is very cool. 

On Sunday racing attention went further west. Zenyatta ran in another Grade 1 race, and won again to remain undefeated. Personally I thought her win was not as impressive as usual and she appeared to be less comfortable. We shall see. The fact remains, Zenyatta is undefeated running in top calibre races which is very impressive. 

Fabulous Strike also won the Vanderbilt at Saratoga. This was a very tough sprint race and Fabulous Strike was very impressive. Woodbine-based Fatal Bullet finished last of six which was a little disappointing given how impressive he was when he returned to the races this year at Woodbine. It was also announced on Sunday that Commentator is retired.

On Monday I published the ABR Top Five, which included a few new additions based on the racing over the last two weekends. Here is the list: Gio Ponti, Kensei, Quality Road, Rachel Alexandra, and Zenyatta. And in the afternoon I met with jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson and visited her new horse Belle Gully, aka Gus: http://twitpic.com/dfdyu Emma recently purchased and retired Gus from Mountaineer Park. Gus was one of Emma’s early winners and a little over a year ago she determined to try to retire him and bring him home. Very cool. While Emma is from Canada, her parents came over to Canada from Essex. Emma has also ridden at Ascot!

All along the way I kept taking pictures and adding to our Woodbine Characters series.

That’s it for last week!
Cheers, Alex

Alex Brown writes his Letter from North America blog weekly for www.eclipsemagazine.co.uk 

Alex Brown 3 August 2009

Again, for this week’s update, I am going to highlight the ‘highlights’ from last week’s ‘tweets’ from Alex Brown Racing: http://www.twitter.com/AlexBrownRacing

On Tuesday of last week I chose not to attend the OLEX auction in Kitchener, Ontario. Frankly I needed a break. And I had also just returned from a two-day ‘mini vacation’ on Kill Kare Island, 30,000 Islands in Georgian Bay. It was gorgeous, here is a picture of me relaxing, with book, dog, and beer: http://twitpic.com/bv6n4
 
On Wednesday I hosted our third ABR Radio show on blogtalkradio: Chantal Sutherland was due to be our guest, but technical difficulties messed that up. So I had to ‘ad lib’ a little.  Anyway, it gave me a chance to discuss Ernie Paragallo and a few other topical issues. And then thankfully Lynn Reardon, of LOPE called in for a chat. LOPE is a racehorse rehab center in Austinm Texas. This week we are hoping to have Peter Brette, Michael Matz’s assistant, as our guest. We will discuss Barbaro and his brothers Nicanor and Lentenor. We will also discuss the terrific racing action from last weekend: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/AlexBrownRacing/2009/08/05/Alex-Brown-Racing-on-the-radio  

We also learned on Wednesday that owner Jess Jackson is adamant about not running Rachel Alexandra in this year’s Breeders’ Cup.  This will most likely mean that there will be no match up between Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta this year, which is a real shame for our sport over here. And if Zenyatta were to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and that is a big ‘if’ when you consider the quality of the European horses this year, it will make voting for horse of the year this year very interesting.  

I also tweeted on Wednesday about the cool TV coverage of Lights on Broadway, a Top Bunk-listed horse who has probably the mostamazing story of all Top Bunk-listed horses ($500,000 earner, kill truck passenger, fair meet runner).  

And finally we had an auction report from a first time visitor and buyer at a kill auction in Montana.
 
On Thursday we saw some new pictures of Barbaro’s youngest brother, at Mill Ridge Farm. The ABR facebook group also passed the 1800 member mark. I just think that is so cool!

On Friday we learned that Blue Horse Charities had made its awards for the year, a total of $218,685. This is to Thoroughbred Horse Rescues. The awards are based on the number of thoroughbreds that are adopted out into their new homes.
 
On Saturday we wished all Southern Hemisphere thoroughbreds a happy birthday! We tweeted a cool video of Rachel Alexandra paddock schooling on Friday at Monmouth Park. We tweeted the West Virginia Derby, which included remarking that Mine That Bird was not favourite. That Big Drama’s early pace may have been a function of a sliding saddle, and finally watching Mine That Bird come up short in his bid for victory. We (Steve Asmussen) won the race with Soul Warrior. We also won two races here at Woodbine, which was very cool! Here is one of our winners, Dragooner, back in his stall after his victory: http://twitpic.com/cfkj4  We also won the Jim Dandy with Kensei, so a good day for the Asmussen stable all around!  
 
On Sunday we learned that Mike Smith took responsibility for Mine That Bird’s defeat on Saturday. Bertrando’s Flag, out in California, is now in the ownership of a kill buyer, we have a couple of days tofind him a home. The Breeders’, the third leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, was run at Woodbine. Roger Attfield and Jono Jones won with Perfect Shower, at 45-1. But of course all the focus was really on Rachel Alexandra and a very sloppy Monmouth Park. Rachel did what she has been doing lately. She won, and won very comfortably. There is no doubt now that she is the best 3yo in North America. Let’s see where she goes next. Well Armed, the Dubai World Cup winner, made his reappearance at Del Mar. Not good, he finished last!
 
On Monday we had a visitor to the barn area at Woodbine, looking for his mum I suspect: http://twitpic.com/cm5rj  I also updated the wiki pages for both Rachel Alexandra and Mine That Bird while learning that Rachel Alexandra received a beyer of 116 in the Haskell, the highest beyer of the year so far for any horse. And Rachel Alexandra returned to Saratoga with her options wide open and a decision for her next start not likely for a couple of weeks.
 
All along the way I kept taking pictures and adding to our Woodbine Characters series.
 
And that’s it for this week!

Alex Brown writes his Letter from North America blog weekly for www.eclipsemagazine.co.uk

Alex Brown 21 July 2009

Again, for this week’s update, I am going to highlight the “highlights” from last week’s “tweets” from Alex Brown Racing: http://www.twitter.com/AlexBrownRacing 

As has been usual, after work on Tuesday I headed out to the OLEX auction, and tweeted the sale. Two thirds of the horses sold were bought by the kill buyer. Just not a good day for the horses. And mostly healthy horses that were just in an unfortunate situation. 

It was also announced on Tuesday that Rachel Alexandra would run in the Haskell Stakes at Monmouth for her next start. While this is the marquee 3yo stake at Monmouth Park, it is widely considered a prep race for the Travers Stakes at Saratoga at the end of August.  The decision to run Rachel in the Haskell scared off at least one contender.  
 
On Wednesday it was announced that Boule d’Or had been retired, and was scheduled to ship to Old Friends. A Grade 2 Stakes winning earner of over $600,000, Boule d’Or had recently finished last in an $8,000 claiming race at Pleasanton. A small track in California. This retirement appears to be a case where everybody did the right thing by the horse including his current owner who also made a gift to Old Friends. 

Also on Wednesday I hosted the first radio show for Alex Brown Racing on blogtalkradio.  It was a fifteen minute “demo” show.  The archive is here. Thanks to Caroline Betts of http://www.sctbrescue.org/ for being our first guest. We will now host four more shows, each Wednesday at 11:30 am (East coast time). Each show will include a guest, this upcoming show our guest will be Michael Blowen of Old Friends. 
 
On Thursday we learned that my boss, Steve Asmussen, will receive a 6 month ban and a $1,500 fine regarding a lidocaine case in Texas. I cannot objectively comment on this situation, obviously, but will make two points. 1. I have worked for Steve now for a year and a half and really do not think he cheats. Working for Steve is very convenient for me, but my integrity is more important. 2. Steve is a super smart guy. Cheating in an attempt to win a $20k maiden race just makes no sense when he had horses like Curlin to manage. The ban is being appealed and in the meantime we have a ‘stay’ so we can continue training and running horses. And that’s all I have to say on that matter. 

Finally Tour of the Cat, a millionaire, ran in a $5,000 claiming race at Presque Isle. He was a well beaten 6th. He was claimed to retire him. He had previously been a ‘vet scratch’ at Finger Lakes, which basically meant that the vets at Finger Lakes Race Track did not think he was sound enough to run.  
 
On Friday we learned that Barbaro’s full brother Nicanor, who was the morning line favorite for Saturday’s $750,000 Virginia Derby, was scratched. He had suffered an injury earlier in the week. A setback, but let’s hope we will seem him back at the races soon.  And on Friday I took the afternoon off: http://twitpic.com/ao5o1
 
On Saturday we noted that the Restore Our American Mustangs Act passed the House, it now needs to be voted on in the Senate. And after a swift call to Mrs Jackson and Peter Brette I reported that Nicanor’s injury is a bone bruise. He will need a little rest and further evaluation before returning to work.  
 
On Sunday, at Woodbine, Canadian Horse of the Year Fatal Bullet made his return to the races a winning one. We also learned about Mad for Plaid’s training accident at Del Mar and the unpreparedness of the track for such an incident. It was also the Barbaro Stakes at Delaware Park, part of the biggest weekend of racing for Delaware Park.  

On Monday Tour of the Cat, who was claimed and retired earlier in the week, arrived at Old Friends. His new home. Both Rachel Alexandra and Mine That Bird continued their preparations for their next starts by working on Monday. Rachel drilled 3/4s in a minute and thirteen seconds and change at Saratoga. A bullet work that went very smoothly. Scott Blasi, Steve Asmussen’s assistant said: “She looked like her usual self; she was impressive and got over the ground well. We wanted [to give her] a nice, smooth three quarters and a long gallop. Dominic did a great job with her.” Mine That Bird worked a sharp half a mile in 48.2 at Churchill Downs. Jamie Theriot who was on board for the work: “He finished up well and he’s going into the race very well. You can’t ask for any better. I told Chip that he’s going into the race fantastic.”
 
All along the way I kept taking pictures and adding to our Woodbine Characters series: http://twitpic.com/tag/woodbine+characters
And that’s it for this week.

Alex Brown writes his Letter from North America blog weekly for www.eclipsemagazine.co.uk

Alex Brown 14 July

Again, for this week’s update, I am going to highlight the “highlights” from last week’s “tweets” from Alex Brown Racing: http://www.twitter.com/AlexBrownRacing
 
As has been usual, after work on Tuesday I headed out to the OLEX auction, and tweeted the sale. Less horses this week, about 40, half of which sold to the kill buyer. ‘Followers’ were struck by the thoroughbred “broodmare prospect” who had been eventing and had come up lame. She went to kill: http://twitpic.com/9lmmx. I also tweeted what I thought was a very strong example of kill buyer ‘buyer behavior’ here in North America, outlined in update 5276 here.
 
It was also reported on Tuesday that Nicanor, Barbaro’s 3yo brother, worked in preparation for the forthcoming Virginia Derby.  This will be Nicanor’s first start in stakes company.  
 
On Wednesday Chantal Sutherland won with her first ride of the day at Woodbine. Chantal had just returned from California, where she participated in a photoshoot for the second series of Jockeys, a reality show aired on Animal Planet. You can follow Chantal’s tweets here: http://twitter.com/jockeychantal 

Apprentice jockey Catherine O’Brien rode her first winner for the Woodbine meet. She had recently returned to race riding after an accident last year. It was also reported later that apprentice Beth Wyard injured her ankle during a morning work out on the turf.  Beth will be out of action for a little while.  
 
On Thursday it was reported that Bobby Frankel, a big time California trainer who also runs a few here at Woodbine, is ill and has not been at the track for a while. Frankel is a private person and there is not much information regarding his illness. There is afacebook group page for well wishes. 

It was announced on Thursday that there was support for horses via horsemen and horsemen’s groups in New York (update 5284). Also on Thursday Sam Houston Race Park, currently running a quarter horse meet, announced that they had 60,000 patrons attend over the 4 July holiday weekend. They must be doing something right! And sadly we also learned that the very popular Papi Chullo, recently retired, had died. 

On Friday we learned that Takeover Target, a very popular “rags to riches” sprinter from Australia, had to undergo surgery after running in the July Cup in Newmarket. He is now recovering from that surgery. I am looking forward to the film and book that are in the works about this horse’s terrific story. We also learned on Friday thatLuis’s Especial, who had earned $183,000 at the races and was then purchased for $250 at a low end auction, was now on his way to a new home.

On Saturday we learned about the passing of Lawyer Ron. Lawyer Ron ran in Barbaro’s 2006 Kentucky Derby and went on to a strong 2007 campaign before being retired. 

On a happier note Gio Ponti won his third Grade 1 race in a row by winning the Man o’ War at Belmont Park. Our jockey Luis Contreras won the Dance Smartly here at Woodbine for trainer Malcolm Pierce. This has been Luis’ best week at Woodbine thus far. He rode four winners for us, one for Mac Benson (owner George Strawbridge) as well as this Grade 2 win.  
 
On Sunday I announced we are moving into radio! For real, we will host our first show on BlogTalkRadio on Wednesday of this week at Noon (USA-time). It will be a 15-minute show. This is a test, and hopefully we will begin to host a weekly radio show if it works out!  

Sunday was Fort Erie‘s day and the Prince of Wales Stakes, the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. Maiden winner Gallant, trained by Mark Casse and ridden by Corey Fraser (Patrick Husbands remained at Woodbine), provided the upset by winning by a horse’s whisker over the brave filly Milwaukee Appeal. A short field of six, but a cool race. Da’ Tara also ran on Sunday. Da’ Tara won the Belmont Stakes last year, and is winless since that race. He is still seeking his third win and finished a distant second in an “optional claiming, non winners of two other than” condition at Belmont Park.  
 
On Monday we noted the ABR Top Five list remained unchanged.  Both Rachel Alexandra and Mine That Bird worked.  Mine That Bird remains on schedule to start in the West Virginia Derby on August 1. Rachel Alexandra’s next start remains unannounced.
 
All along the way I kept taking pictures and adding to our Woodbine Characters series: http://twitpic.com/tag/woodbine+characters

And that’s it for this week.

Alex Brown writes his Letter from North America blog weekly for www.eclipsemagazine.co.uk

Alex Brown 7 July 2009

Again, for this week’s update, I am going to highlight the “highlights” from last week’s “tweets” from Alex Brown Racing: http://www.twitter.com/AlexBrownRacing 

Tuesday began with the publication of a comprehensive article on Horse Slaughter in the United States on Salon.com. I was interviewed for this piece and was quoted on the second page. My quote essentially is a result of all the visits I have made to the OLEX auction and observations on price and demand for horse meat. I did visit OLEX again on Tuesday. And I tweeted the sale. The kill buyer bought about 30 horses, half of all horses sold. 

We also learned on Tuesday that La Ville Rouge, Barbaro’s mum, is likely to have a filly foal next year. This I am sure is very good news for her owners, the Jacksons!
 
Wednesday 1 July was Canada Day. A day to celebrate Canada’s birthday. And we did so at Steve Asmussen’s barn by having a little cook out after work and during the races. Trainer Terry Jordan won two races on the program. He has a 50% win record for the meet so far. Jockey Catherine O’Brien rode her first race of the meet, finishing third. Catherine is coming back off an injury from last year. And jockey Rob Landry rode his 2,000th winner. It was also reported on Wednesday that Mine That Bird was looking for a new jockey. Calvin Borel was unable to commit to riding the Kentucky Derby winner and had made a commitment to Warrior’s Rewardfor his next two races. Finally I noted that Thoroughbred Charities of America is looking to profile a retired race horse for a PSA announcement.

On Thursday I recommended Chantal Sutherland be considered for the vacancy aboard Mine That Bird. It was reported that Rachel Alexandra memorabilia will be auctioned off to support cancer research: I labelled this “horse helping humans”. 
 
Friday, after morning work, I went over to the jocks’ room to helpChantal Sutherland get set up on twitter with her iPhone. This is what she tweeted. You can follow Chantal here:http://www.twitter.com/jockeychantal. 

I also started reading a manuscript titled ‘Beyond The Homestretch’ authored by Lynn Reardon who runs LOPETX. I am not one to gush, unless it is about Chantal Sutherland, but I have to say this is looking like a terrific book. Lynn really brings out the individual characters of her horses while also making you live the life of living on a ranch in Texas.  
 
The highlight for racing on Saturday, despite it being a 4th July holiday with lots of racing here, was clearly Sea The Stars defeating older horses for the first time in the Eclipse Stakes. The top 3yos over here won’t take on their older counterparts until late September early October. 

It was announced on Saturday that Mike Smith will ride Mine That Bird in his next two starts. He is unable to commit to the Breeders’ Cup as he is the regular rider for Zenyatta. Calvin Borel was defeated aboard Warrior’s Reward in the Dwyer Stakes in New York. We won the race with Kensei. 

HRTV-Inside Information released a video of the unveiling of theMemorial to Barbaro at Churchill Downs. This includes some great coverage of Fans of Barbaro too. I also noted my experience with some classless gamblers at Woodbine. They bet a horse. The horse lost. They wanted to shoot the horse. 
 
On Sunday my favorite horse Salty Langfuhn ran.  He ran a terrific race just falling short in a very tough spot. Here he is cooling outafter his race. I also learned that Chantal Sutherland was on her way to California for a photoshoot for the second series of Animal Planet’s show Jockeys. Chantal tweeted the news.  
 
Monday Rachel Alexandra had an easy half mile work at Saratoga. Her first work since her Mother Goose stroll. Mine That Bird’s work was postponed a day due to the track conditions at Churchill Downs and the ABR Top Five list of horses remained unchanged for the week.
 
All along the way I kept taking pictures and adding to our Woodbine Characters series. 
 
And that’s all for last week!

Alex Brown writes his Letter from North America blog weekly for www.eclipsemagazine.co.uk

The week’s highlights from Alex Brown Racing

Again, for this week’s update, I am going to highlight the ‘highlights’ from last week’s ‘tweets’ from Alex Brown Racing

On Tuesday I went to the OLEX auction, again. And I tweeted 52 updates from the auction. You can check out my picture after the sale. My rationale for doing this, the 52 updates, is to bring more transparency to all aspects of the horse industry.

There are glorious aspects (Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta dominating over the weekend) and less glorious aspects to the industry. I believe we shouldn’t ignore what we don’t like, if it persists as an element of our industry. Anyway my ‘tweets’ did lead to some discussion on Twitter regarding whether the updates were too much. And I know of at least one person who decided to no longer follow my updates: read for yourself.

When I next go to the auction, I will tweet aggressively.

Also on Tuesday Rachel Alexandra arrived at Belmont Park ahead of her race in the Mother Goose on Saturday. And fellow blogger, Green But Game, wrote about my Chantal Sutherland interview.

 On Wednesday we learned that Rachel Alexandra was to face only four horses in the Mother Goose. No surprise there. Horses in her division are running for second money at this point. Rachel took her first trip around the Belmont Park oval and all was well.

The Ernie Paragallo abuse case, which was scheduled for Tuesday evening, was postponed. The current date is now 27 July.

On Thursday we learned that Chad Beckon is continuing to recover well from his injuries sustained in last Wednesday night’s tragic spill at Woodbine. He has moved out of the ICU unit. Woodbine trainer Greg De Gannes also had five hours of surgery on Wednesday. Greg has had ongoing health problems.

And fellow blogger, Triple Dead Heat, wrote a nice article on my recent interview with Knowledge @ Wharton.

On Friday IEAH Stables’ Michael Iavorone and Rick Dutrow (Big Brown’s connections) were in town at Woodbine, and left empty-handed. This meet gets tougher and tougher!

We learned that the prosecutors in the Ernie Paragallo abuse case are seeking a plea bargain deal. We also learned that Rene Douglas’ recovery has hit a bit of a bump. Here is his Facebook Group.

On Saturday I met actress Kelly Carlson. Kelly is interested in coming with me to an OLEX auction. Her company would certainly make the trip more enjoyable.

Two scratches were reported from Rachel Alexandra’s race, reducing the contest to a three-horse field.

We learned on Saturday that Olredlgetcha, who won the 2yo Stakes here not too long ago as a first-time-starter, had to be euthanized earlier in the week due to an infection. For Greg De Gannes, his trainer, a terrible week.

The highlight of racing at Woodbine on Saturday was the rematch between Sterwins and Rahy’s Attorney. We were not disappointed. We witnessed a terrific horse race. Rahy’s Attorney, under a masterful ride by Slade Callaghan, went gate to wire and set a new course record. A terrific prelude to what was to come next: Rachel Alexandra running in the Mother Goose at Belmont Park and Zenyatta running in the Vanity at Hollywood Park .

Both fillies did not disappoint, and that is a major understatement. Rachel Alexandra was perhaps visually more impressive as she won her race in a Stakes’ record time and by a Stakes’ record winning distance (over 19 lengths).

 Zenyatta did not look as impressive, but her move inside the eighth pole was strong, and she was carrying 129 pounds. Both races are on the ABR YouTube Group. One thing that did strike me though: I was at Woodbine watching these races and there was very little effort made to market these two races to the patrons of Woodbine. They were just two more races among the many races on many TV screens broadcasting races from across North America.

On Sunday we learned that Tour of the Cat, who has made more than $1 million in his career, was a vet scratch from a $6250 claiming race at Finger Lakes (at most racetracks a runner is checked before the race by a state vet). This was a quick wake-up call from the highs of racing we witnessed on Saturday.

We did however also learn that Siphon City, who was a Grade 2 Stakes winner in his career, was claimed out of a $5,000 claiming race and retired from racing in Florida. Very cool.

Woodbine’s feature race was the Bison City, the middle leg of the ‘Triple Tiara’ (Triple Crown for fillies at Woodbine). It was won by three ladies, Dance for Us, Barb Minshall (trainer) and Chantal Sutherland. Very appropriate. 

And Chantal just got the better of her colleague Emma Wilson in the tightest of photo finishes. A great race. 
 
On Monday it was posted on the ABR Facebook Group page that Frazee’s Folly, a retired member of the Top Bunk list  successfully completed his first dressage test  Cool. The ABR Top Five list of horses remained unchanged with the dominating performances of Rachel Alexandra (now comfortably at Saratoga) and Zenyatta. 

And all week I have been taking more pictures for the Woodbine Characters series. 

That’s it for this week!

The big news last week was the withdrawal of Rachel Alexandra…

The big news last week was the withdrawal of Rachel Alexandra from consideration for the Belmont this upcoming Saturday. I was bummed because I know it would have been great for our sport to see Mine That Bird and Rachel Alexandra back again in the final leg of the Triple Crown. However I understood the decision, and it was a good decision for Rachel herself. I wrote about the decision for The Rail: you can read it here and Rachel has since proven her wellbeing by working on Monday, going a nice 5/8ths.

I do suspect that horsemen still have their lingering doubts over the quality of Mine That Bird. I do hope he proves to everyone, once and for all, that he is the real deal on Saturday in the Belmont. He will have Calvin Borel back in the saddle, who himself will attempt to accomplish something rather unsual, a Triple Crown on two different horses.

Not as remarkable as a Triple Crown winning horse, but cool nonetheless. Charitable Man appears to be the new shooter that might be a cause for concern. If he gets an easy lead he may lead for a long time. Dunkirk comes back to take on Mine That Bird after his poor performance in the Kentucky Derby. These two horses will likely be the main challengers to the Bird.

The race has no doubt lost some lustre with the withdrawal of Rachel, but it is the Belmont and we do have the Kentucky Derby winner back again. He will be one of two horses to run in all three legs of the Triple Crown, the other being Lukas’ Flying Private.

On the Ernie Paragallo front (he’s the guy who has been accused of severly neglecting his horses) we heard last week that he is trying to disperse his racing stock. His trainer, Campo, is no longer working for him, and his daughters may sue. Bizarre stuff: read more here.

 Woodbine’s feature race last weekend was the Plate Trial. Three more weeks and the Canadian Triple Crown gets underway here with the Queen’s Plate. The loss of Square Eddie as a contender is a shame. It looks like he would have been a prohibitive favorite in the Queen’s Plate. The Plate Trial was won by Eye of the Leopard in a tight finish with Southdale. Both horses are lightly raced at this stage of their careers.

We had a couple of winners at Woodbine last week which was very cool. And one of those winners was a first time starter 2yo who went off at better than 10-1! Shame I don’t bet.

Pay Attention, a Top Bunk listed horse was retired last week to a new home with FOB Amanda.

Jockey Rene Douglas, who suffered a terrible fall at Arlington Park a couple of weekends ago, remains hospitalized. You can keep up with his condition here.

On Wednesday night of last week apprentice jockey Natasha Sihota suffered a nasty looking fall when her horse went down in the sixth race at Woodbine. Her horse was fine, and early reports were that Natasha was fine. However she was hospitalized for a couple of days and will be out of action for a while. When I visited her in hospital on Thursday, which itself is a very grim place, she was obviously sore and bummed out. It was a shame for Natasha as she had recently ridden a good second, and she was on a live one for Terry Jordan in the last race that night.

Last week I again visited the OLEX auction in Ontario. The following includes my report. That’s it for last week! Cheers, Alex

Ending horse slaughter: http://alexbrownracing.com

Me: http://www.udel.edu/alex

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