March 1999
1998 Eclipse Winners Announced
Carolyn and Sonny Hine's Skip Away left no doubt that he truly was indeed the outstanding Thoroughbred in training in 1998 and earned the Horse of the Year vote by an overwhelming margin. He also repeated as the nation's outstanding older horse and retired at the end of the year with 18 wins from 38 starts and $9.6 million in earnings, less than $300,000 shy of catching Cigar as the leading money winner of all time.
Although the big gray horse lost his last two races and could not successfully defend his Breeders' Cup Classic victory from the year before, he toured the country last year and won his first seven starts, including five grade I races, in impressive fashion to outpoll Awesome Again and Silver Charm for both titles.
"The four years we had him were an incredible time," Sonny Hine told Daily Racing Form. "I wish everyone in racing could experience something like that."
And while Skip Away's Horse of the Year title may have been a year overdue, at least as far as the Hines were concerned after losing out to the undefeated two-year-old Favorite Trick in 1997--the Eclipse Award voters also redressed a nagging injustice of far greater duration by finally voting for Gary Stevens as the year's outstanding jockey. Stevens led the earnings list in 1998 with purses of $18.8 million, which included his victory aboard Silver Charm in the Dubai World Cup and his Belmont Stakes win with Victory Gallop, in which he ruined Real Quiet's sweep of the Triple Crown. Stevens received 164 votes, with the rest spread among seven other riders.
Stevens, in fact, led a strong West Coast contingent of Eclipse winners that also saw Bob Baffert taking his second straight title as North America's outstanding trainer. Baffert trained two Eclipse champions in 1998: Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Real Quiet, who was voted the year's outstanding three-year-old male, and Silverbulletday, the outstanding two-year-old filly. Frank Stronach, who purchased Santa Anita in December and campaigned Breeders' Cup Classic winner Awesome Again, received the Eclipse Award as outstanding owner. John and Betty Mabee were named outstanding breeders by a special selection committee. It was their second consecutive Eclipse Award in this category.
Other Eclipse Award winners include Answer Lively, two-year-old male; Banshee Breeze, three-year-old filly; Escena, older female; Buck's Boy, outstanding male turf horse; Fiji (GB), outstanding female turf horse; Reraise, outstanding sprinter; and Flat Top, outstanding steeplechaser. Shaun Bridgmohan received the Eclipse Award as the outstanding apprentice jockey. D. G. Van Clief Jr., president of Breeders' Cup Ltd. and one of the driving forces behind the launch of the NTRA, received the Eclipse Award of Merit for 1998.
Oak Tree Racing Association Receives Special Eclipse Award
The Oak Tree Racing Association, a nonprofit organization that has funneled revenue from its fall racing meet at Santa Anita into philanthropic causes for horses, has been awarded a Special Eclipse Award for outstanding service to racing.
Founded in 1969 by a horseman's group headed by Clement J. Hirsch, Jack Robbins, Lou Rowan and B. J. Ridder, Oak Tree has contributed nearly $13 million to Thoroughbred related groups. Oak Tree's major thrust has been in California, whereIt has helped to finance educational programs, backstretch relief, and veterinary research, but it has also made donations to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and is a charter member of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.
Mabees Honored as Nation's Top Breeders
John and Betty Mabee led the nation in earnings as breeders in 1998. Led by four runners who ranked among the top 100 leading North American money earners last year, horses bred by the San Diego couple bankrolled $8,221,982 in 1998.
Farnsworth Farms actually topped the national list with earnings of $9,058,917 to finish ahead of the Mabees, but this figure was compiled from several horses they bred in partnership with others. The Mabees did not breed any horses in partnership.
Led by their two-year-old filly Excellent Meeting, the Mabees had a huge year moneywise in 1998. Excellent Meeting, a Kentucky-bred daughter of the hot young California stallion General Meeting, captured the Del Mar Debutante, Oak Leaf Stakes, Hollywood Starlet Stakes, and finished second behind Silverbulletday in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Churchill Downs for single-season earnings of $773,824.
Their other top runners were Event of the Year ($511,600), and the California-bred champions Magical Allure ($452,680) and Fleet Lady ($385,980). The couple also bred and raced Worldly Manner to a Del Mar Futurity win and earnings of $250,104 before selling him to Godolphin Racing for a reported $5 million last fall.
Maddy Diagnosed With Lung Cancer
Ken Maddy, who recently retired from the California State Senate after a long and successful career in politics (see the January, 1999, issue of California Thoroughbred, page 22), has been diagnosed with lung cancer.
Doctors in Sacramento found a tumor in Maddy's left lung during tests for shoulder pain in January. He complained of chronic pain in his left arm and shoulder for several weeks and doctors initially suspected a golf-related injury. Maddy is a non-smoker.
"His doctors told him it was something they think is treatable," said Sal Russo, a longtime political consultant and close friend of the Senator, in a Fresno Bee interview. "Ken always has been in excellent health."
Maddy left the legislature in December after term limits forced an end to his career in California politics that included seven years as the Senate's Republican leader and an unsuccessful run for governor in 1976. His district stretched from Fresno to Bakersfield. He was associated with virtually every bill that involved horse racing in California, and capped his career as the author of Senate Bill 27, which went into effect Jan. 1 and provides the industry with $40 million in tax relief.
Shortly before his illness was diagnosed, Maddy and Russo announced they would become partners with Fleischman-Hillard in Sacramento, the nation's fifth largest public relations firm.
Del Mar to Make $1.5 Million in Improvements
The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club plans to spend $1.5 million for track and stable-area improvements before its summer meet opens in July.
"We will be spending about $400,000 on the track surface," explained Joe Harper, president, chief executive officer and general manager of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. "We're putting in a limestone sub-base to prevent leaching. We did the far turn, and now we're doing the balance of the track." The remaining $1.1 million has been directed toward stable-area renovations.
CHRB Reports Increases in Wagering
The California Horse Racing Board reported at its January meeting at Bay Meadows that wagering at California tracks is skyrocketing, thanks to early returns from full-card simulcasting. According to John Reagan, senior management auditor for the CHRB, total handle for the first three weeks of 1999 increased 10 percent, led by a 132 percent increase in wagering on imported races, which more than doubled the figure reported at this respective time last year. The handle on live California races jumped more than 5 percent. Full-card simulcasting, a provision of SB 27, went into effect Jan. 1.
"There was some concern that increased wagering on imported races might hurt the handle on live races," CHRB Vice Chairman George Nicholaw told Thoroughbred Times. "But from what we're hearing, it appears that in addition to the money they are wagering (on the cards from Aqueduct and Gulfstream Park), fans are betting just as much, if not more, on the California product."
Zimmerman Selected for Who's Who
Amy Zimmerman, director of broadcasting at Santa Anita, has been selected to the 2000 edition of Who's Who in America. Zimmerman, a former staff writer for California Thoroughbred, has worked in the publicity and broadcasting departments at both Santa Anita and Hollywood Park. As part of the NBC Sports team, she won an Emmy Award in 1992 for her network's coverage of the 1992 Breeders' Cup.
Stronach Nearing San Luis Rey Downs Purchase
Frank Stronach is reportedly close to completing a deal for the San Luis Rey Downs Training Center in Bonsall, Calif., which would prevent the facility from being sold to developers.
"Mr. Stronach has toured the facility twice and we are near a deal," said San Luis Rey Downs owner Frank (Scoop) Vessels III in a Thoroughbred Times interview. "What's exciting to me is that it will go into the hands of someone who will continue to use it as a training center."
"I tried to hold on to it (for) a number of years, and asked the state and other racing facilities for help and was turned down," he added. "If Mr. Stronach had not come along, I would have probably sold it to real estate developers."
Located about 30 miles northeast of Del Mar and 100 miles south of Santa Anita, San Luis Rey Downs has about 450 of its 552 stalls currently occupied. The facility includes a mile track with a 12-stall starting gate, a three-eighths-mile jogging track, 110 paddocks, a feed store, tack shop, and veterinarians and farriers on the premises.
"In the old days, before free stabling started at the other tracks, we were completely filled and had a waiting list," Vessels added. "When Mr. Stronach looked at Santa Anita and realized he needed to upgrade the barn area, he also realized he needed a place for the overflow. I expect he will upgrade this facility as well. This will help fill the fields tremendously."
Recently elected to the CTBA board of directors, Vessels will continue to operate the San Luis Rey Downs Golf and Tennis Resort and his 2,000 acre farm, of which 450 acres are devoted to Vessels Stallion Farm.
Historic Westerly Stud Sold
Brothers Fred and Ron Beaton recently bought historic Westerly Stud near Santa Ynez for a reported $3.4 million. In the radio broadcasting business, the Beatons sold KIEV-AM in Glendale, Calif., for $33.4 million after 37 years of ownership.
"We're moving in a new direction," explained Fred Beaton in a Thoroughbred Times interview. "We bought the 210-acre farm and are in the process of refurbishing it. It had gone into a bit of bad shape."
The Beatons bought Westerly Stud from Katherine Yermakov. It was once the property of Fletcher Jones, who was killed in a plane crash near his home there more than 20 years ago. It had previously belonged to the renowned California horsewoman and Thoroughbred breeder Amory Hare Hutchinson.
Westerly boasts of eye-catching architecture, including a large U-shaped main barn and circular foaling barn. The Beatons hope to recapture the manicured look of the past once the cleanup and remodeling is completed. The property also includes an airplane landing strip and hangar, and the brothers may use part of the property as a vinery. The Westerly Training Center, located about a half-mile from the farm, will remain the property of D. Wayne Lukas.
The Beatons have been longtime fans of Thoroughbred racing and KIEV, for years, carried a daily racing show hosted by Bill Garr.
"We have about 25 horses at Westerly now with our manager, Bill Cameron," Fred Beaton continued. "It's too soon to tell what we are going to do with the farm, but we are looking for more horse breeding property."
For the Record
The stud fee for The Good Life who recently entered stud at Van Mar Farms was reported incorrectly in the February issue of California Thoroughbred. He is free to approved mares.
Eddie Delahoussaye Notches 6,000th Win
Just a few short hours before Free House made his triumphant return in the San Antonio Handicap, jockey Eddie Delahoussaye achieved his long-awaited milestone by becoming the 14th jockey to score 6,000 wins. The victory came aboard the California-bred filly Sweetcakesanshakes in the third race at Santa Anita on Feb. 7.
"You never think about numbers when you start riding," he said. "You just want to ride. When I reached 5,000 in 1993, I never thought about another thousand." Delahoussaye's 6,000th winner came 30 years and seven months after his first, Brown Shill, at Evangeline Downs in south Louisiana, near his hometown of New Iberia.
Delahoussaye began the current Santa Anita stand in December needing 13 winners to reach the goal, but he struggled through most of January. His 5,999th winner came Feb. 5 in the 5th race aboard Optical Solution, but it took another eight mounts before he reached 6,000. Sweetcakesanshakes, a four-year-old daughter of Something Lucky--Tami U Bar, by Kennedy Road, is owned by Nikki Hunt and Mike Willman, co-host (with Kurt Hoover) of KRLA's Thoroughbred Los Angeles radio show.
The 47-year-old Delahoussaye said there will be no push to reach 7,000. He doesn't expect to continue riding for too many more years. He is also one of only four riders in history to win back-to-back Kentucky Derbies, doing so with Gato Del Sol in 1982 and Sunny's Halo in 1983.
Baze Wins Fourth Murphy Award
Russell Baze, the dominant rider in Northern California for more than a decade, was awarded his fourth consecutive Isaac Murphy Award for the highest winning percentage among North American jockeys. Baze is the only rider to win this award since its inception in 1995.
To qualify for the award, a jockey must have a minimum of 500 mounts during the year. Baze won with 404 of 1,466 mounts in 1998 to record a winning percentage of 27.6 percent. Jerry Bailey finished second at 25.2 percent, followed by Edgar Prado at 23.9 percent. The Murphy Award is named in honor of the legendary African-American jockey of the late 19th century who captured three Kentucky Derbies and won on 44 percent of his career mounts.
Last year also marked the seventh consecutive year Baze rode 400 or more winners, and no other rider in history has ever ridden at that level for five seasons in a row. Then, on Jan. 13 at Golden Gate Fields, he rode career win number 6,450 and moved into eighth place on the all-time win list. The victory came aboard Mr. Megabucks in the fifth race. Baze is now about 369 wins away from catching Chris McCarron, who is at currently sitting in seventh place with 6,719 wins.
Robert Kieckhefer Honored
Robert Kieckhefer, who bred and campaigned California-bred sprint sensation Gundaghia with partner John K. Goodman, was honored by the Arizona Racing Commission in January for outstanding service to the racing industry.
An Arizona resident and past commissioner, Kieckhefer breeds and races both Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses. His best runner was Gundaghia, a gelded son of Ole Bob Bowers. The Cal-bred won 19 races and earned over $800,000 while racing from ages three through eight. He captured six stakes at Fairplex Park in Pomona, which equals a record for the Los Angeles County Fair.
Santa Anita Joins Ubet.com
Youbet.com Inc. and Santa Anita Park reached an agreement on Jan. 29 to offer the track's races for wagering on the You Bet interactive on-line horse racing network. However, shortly after You Bet started carrying the Santa Anita signal, California residents were able to get through to an out-of-state operator and place wagers on the Santa Anita races, a situation that forced Youbet.com to modify its software package and block the Santa Anita signal from its California subscribers.
Youbet.com offers and accepts bets on races from 17 tracks across the country to players who live in the eight states where in-home wagering is legal. California still does not allow this type of wagering.
John Van de Kamp, the president of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, said he relayed concerns to Santa Anita about the legality of an out-of-state operator accepting wagers from California residents on California races.
"We're not going to take any chances in this area," he told Daily Racing Form, and added that You Bet's quick action to block the California bets more than likely satisfied the TOC's concerns.
RCA Signs With NTRA
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) recently added RCA to its growing list of sponsors, where it will also serve as the official consumer electronics supplier to the NTRA and its members.
RCA, which will advertise during NTRA television events, is the latest major corporation to sign with the NTRA. Telecommunications giant AT & T officially got on board during the University of Arizona Symposium in December, along with Daily Racing Form and James McIngvale's Gallery Furniture.
In a related matter, the Miami, Florida-based Weinstein, Jones & Associates has become the official insurance provider to the NTRA and its members. The company has provided risk management and insurance brokerage services to the Thoroughbred industry since 1988, and will provide the insurance coverage for the $5 million bonus for the NTRA Champions on Fox series.
Silver Charm to Benefit NTRA Charities
In a move designed to raise money for charity, the licensing and merchandising rights to champion Silver Charm have been donated to the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) by owners Robert and Beverly Lewis. Royalties from NTRA-licensed Silver Charm merchandise will be donated to several charities, including the newly formed NTRA Charities.
"One of the things this industry needs so badly is stars," Robert Lewis told Thoroughbred Times. "Beverly and I are so thrilled that we are able to share a part of Silver Charm with his growing legion of fans while supporting charitable causes that benefit Thoroughbred racing."
The first selection of Silver Charm memorabilia will be a four T-shirt series featuring the gray champion and the Lewises' green and yellow silks. One of the shirts will feature a drawing by renowned racing illustrator Peb.
Silver Charm becomes the second Thoroughbred to be licensed by the NTRA. Last year, Silver Charm's stablemate Real Quiet was licensed during his unsuccessful attempt to become racing's 12th Triple Crown winner.