Breeders' Cup World Championships XXX - Washington Connection Recap

   Beginning with the pre-Breeders' Cup stakes on Friday, November 1, former Washington trainer Mike Harrington and his wife Patricia's homebred two-year-old Better Bet, a California-bred son of Southern Image-Short Sentence, a daughter of Harrington-trained Swiss Yodeler (who would sire the winner, Swiss Lake Yodeler, of the Golden State Juvenile Fillies Stakes one race later), won the Golden State Juvenile Stakes.

   The $500,000 Breeders' Cup Marathon (G2) got the World Championship officially underway. London Bridge won the 14-furlong race with Blueskiesnrainbow, a half-brother to former Gibson Thoroughbred Farm broodmare Cho Cho San, by Deputy Minister, finishing second.

   Three-year-old Goldencents, who scored an almost three-length win in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) and has earned $1,990,000, is a son of Into Mischief, whose half-sister, three-year-old Beholder, would win the $2-million Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) by over four lengths under Gary Stevens. Beholder, who upped her earnings to $3,075,000, was one of three horses two win back-to-back Breeders' Cup events this year. She was also 2012's national champion two-year-old filly. Both Beholder, by Henny Hughes, and her Grade 1-winning half-brother Into Mischief , by the recently deceased Harlan's Holiday, are out of $187,014 stakes winner Leslie's Lady, a granddaughter of Washington broodmare One Last Bird, dam of $311,152 Washington-bred stakes winner and Grade 3-placed WTBOA sales graduate Melanyhasthepapers, a 2001 son of Game Plan. Beholder scored the highest BRIS Speed Rating among the week's stakes winners at 112 and Goldencents was awarded a 103 rating.

   Vann Belvoir-trained Nesso, a two-year-old daughter of Roman Ruler, led for the first six furlongs in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) before fading to 10th in the 14-horse field.

   Race one on the Saturday Santa Anita card was the Juvenile Turf Sprint Stakes, which was won by the Wesley Ward co-owned and -trained Riches Party Girl, a daughter of Any Given Saturday who has won half of her six starts and earned $142,282.

   Three-year-old Zeewat, also by Harlan's Holiday, won the next race, the seven-furlong Damascus Stakes, for Dr. George Todaro and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. The three-time stakes winner has won six of 11 starts and earned $283,150. Zeewat was given a 104 BRIS Speed Rating for his most recent stakes win.

   Mark Dedomenico, Allen Aldrich, Lisa Hernandez, Stuart Downey and Philip Lebherz-owned She's a Tiger, ridden by Gary Stevens, finished first by a nose in the $2-million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), only to be disqualified to second after bumping eventual winner Ria Antonia in deep stretch.

    A three-quarter sister to three-time Grade 1 winner Smiling Tiger, She's a Tiger is among the finalists for two-year-old filly honors after her record of 3-3-0 in six starts. The daughter of Tale of the Cat, who has earned $725,680, was pulled from the November 4 Fasig-Tipton sale and will be on R & R until 2014.

    Both She's a Tiger and Smiling Tiger were bred by Dr. Rodney Orr, of Silverton, Oregon, out of his 2001 Federal Way Handicap winner Shandra Smiles, a daughter of the late top Washington sire Cahill Road.

    2012 champion Groupie Doll took the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) for the second year in a row by a half-length over Wesley Ward-owned and -trained Judy the Beauty, by Ghostzapper. Five-year-old Groupie Doll, a daughter of Bowman's Mill who has now won 11 of her 21 starts and earned $32,478,850, is out of the Deputy Minister mare Deputy Doll - a half-sister to Seawind Stables LLC's (Russell Moore) 1997 Emerald Downs stakes winner and sire Russellthemussell. Groupie Doll was given a 106 BRIS Speed Rating for the win.

    Four-year-old Secret Circle, who is owned by former Washington resident Mike Pegram and partners Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, won the $1.5-million Xpressbet Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1). It was the first grade one victory for the son of Eddington who has now earned $1,878,790 in trainer Bob Baffert's stable and earned a 102 BRIS Speed Rating for the Grade 1 win.

    Group 1 winner Declaration of War finished third, only a neck and a nose behind Mucho Macho Man and Will Take Charge, in an exciting renewal of the $5-million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). The $1,847,489 earner is a four-year-old son of War Front and a half-brother to Gibson Thoroughbred Farm stallion War Power.

   Smarty's Echo, a two-year-old Grade 2-placed colt by Smarty Jones bred by Northwest Farms out of Emerald stakes-placed Silver Echo, and stakes winner and Grade 2-placed Boat Trip, a half-brother by Harlan's Holiday to Allaire Farms' Grade 3-placed stallion Rallying Cry (whose first foals are yearlings of 2014), finished out of the money in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Stakes (G1) and Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1), respectively.

   Grade 1 winners Graydar and Ron the Greek, who both hail from the immediate family of Washington-bred stakes winners or broodmares Cielator, Sweet Saga, Cielo Dulce and Cielo Otono, were scratched from 2013 Breeders' Cup starts due to quarter cracks.

    It was announced on November 6 that Ron the Greek, a three-time Grade 1-winning son of Full Mandate, has been sold to an undisclosed overseas buyer.

   The following day came the announcement that four-year-old Graydar, who won five of his six lifetime starts - including a trio of graded stakes - and earned $841,560, had been retired from racing. He will stand the 2014 season at Taylor Made Stallions in Kentucky for a fee $15,000, live foal stands and nurses.

2013 Washington Breeders' Awards and Owners' Bonuses to Be Mailed Out Shortly

   The Washington Horse Racing Commission (WHRC) will be mailing out Breeders' Awards and Owners' Bonuses from the 2013 Emerald Downs meet in the next week. Payment factors for both Breeders' Awards and Owners' Bonuses are down this year due to having more Washington-bred runners finishing in the top spots during the meet.

   Owners' Bonuses will be mailed on November 8 and total $530,218.40. The allocation factor for this year's Owners' Bonus, which is paid to owners of Washington-breds who run first through fourth at Emerald, is 13.0259 percent and will be distributed among 330 owners.

   Breeders' Awards, which totaled $353,047.69, will be put in the mail on November 13. The 2013 Breeders' Awards had the following payment factors: first, 11.4106 percent; second, 6.1937 percent; and third, 6.0832 percent. Two hundred and twenty breeders will be receiving checks.

   For more information, contact the WHRC (www.whrc.wa.gov) at (360) 459-6424 or whrc@whrc.state.wa.us.

November Kentucky Breeding Stock Sales

   Fasig-Tipton kicked off the Kentucky breeding stock sales with their The November Sale held on November 4. Among the 129 horses sold (from 222 horses cataloged) was Grade 1 winner In Lingerie, a four-year-old daughter of Empire Maker bred to European super star Frankel. The $712,265 winner, who is out of stakes winner Cat Chat - a daughter of Herman Sarkowsky's champion Phone Chatter who traces to Washington broodmare of the year Beadah - was sold to Japan's Shadai Stud for $2.4-million.

   Grade 2 stakes winner Washington Bridge, who was raced by Dr. Mark Dedomenico before being sold by him for $330,000 at the 2012 Keeneland January sale, was resold bred to Tapit (her first foal is a 2013 filly by Unbridled's Song) for $750,000 to the Chilean-based Haras Don Alberto, who recently purchased the 440-acre Vinery Ltd in Central Kentucky. Washington Bridge is one of four stakes horses, including 2013 juvenile stakes winner Jose Sea View, out of $179,890 stake winner and 1996 WTBOA sale yearling Stirling Bridge, who had been pinhooked through the Washington sale by Dr. Duane and Susan Hopp.

   Dave Mowat's Ten Broeck Farm purchased a weanling filly by Street Sense at the Fasig-Tipton sale who is half-sister to Grade 3 stakes winner Feline Story, for $80,000.

   While the average for the Fasig-Tipton sale dropped to $572,500 from the 2012 sale when 87 horses averaged $692,184, the 2013 median rose significantly to $250,000 from $190,000 seen last year.

   Heading across town to the Keeneland sale on November 5, the first horse spotted with a Washington connection was Hip 98, $283,736 stakes winner and Grade 1-placed Burban, a five-year-old daughter of Speightstown who was being sold as a racing or broodmare prospect. The mare, whose dam is a Washington-breed stakes-winning daughter of Slewdledo from the family of Washington stakes winners A Dollar One (state juvenile filly champion) Mr. Easy Money and Talk's Cheap, was sold for $310,000.

    Upperline, a multiple Grade 3-winning daughter of Maria's Mon who raced for a partnership which included Jack and Teresa Hodge, was sold for $1.75-million while carrying her first foal, an offspring of hot sire War Front.

 Hip 278, a filly from the first crop of champion Uncle Mo and from the family of Washington stakes winners Sweet Saga and Cielator, was sold for $110,000.

   Ten Broeck Farm's name was also seen on day three of the Keeneland sale results as the purchaser of a $80,000 weanling filly by Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner Pioneerof the Nile, the first foal out of a winning half-sister to Grade 3 winner and Grade 1-placed Blazing Fury.

   Ten Broeck's name later appeared on the $52,000 ticket for a weanling filly sired by the recently pensioned Broken Vow. The January-foaled miss is the second foal out of $140,590 earner Light of a Star, who finished third in the 2008 Angie C. Stakes at Emerald Downs for Chris and Dianna Randall. Bred by Ken and Jan Heidt in California, Light of a Star was sired by Muqtarib and is a half-sister to 2013 Grade 3 stakes winner Summer Hit and Emerald champion sprinter and four-time stakes winner Starbird Road. The trio's dam, the Tough Knight mare Mia F Eighteen, is a member of the Griffin Place LLC broodmare band.

   Grade 2 stakes winner Arena Elvira, the daughter of Ghostzapper out of Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) winner Two Item Limit sold bred to Tapit sold for $1.5-million. The nearly $500,000 earner was bred in Kentucky by Northwest Farms LLC.

   Fancy Datt, a three-year-old unraced daughter of Medaglia d'Oro bred to Speightstown, sold for $200,000. A half-sister to Grade 1 winner Gozzip Girl, their second dam, stakes winner Shapiro's Mistress, is out of Anytime Ms., a half or full sister to Washington horses of the year Any Time Girl and Table Hands.

   2012 champion female sprinter and two-time Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) winner Groupie Doll was sold as a racing or broodmare prospect for $3.1-million. Her dam, Deputy Doll, is a half-sister to Seawind Stables' Washington and Arizona stakes winner and Washington sire Russellthemussell.

   $122,372 winner Canary Diamond, a seven-year-old daughter of Alphabet Soup bred to Ghostzapper, brought $80,000. Canary Diamond and her $295,551 stakes-winning half-sister Classy Charm are daughters of Washington champion, Grade 2 winner and Grade 1-placed Classy Cara, who was a 1998 WTBOA sale graduate.

   Stakes-placed Divine Line, a 15-year-old daughter of Boundary bred to Trappe Shot, sold for $40,000. The dam of $687,929 Grade 3 stakes winner Demarcation, Divine Lass is one of six winners produced out of Del Mar stakes winner Affordable Price, a 1985 daughter of Washington sire Drouilly (Fr) bred and raced in partnership by Dan Agnew and Jerre Paxton, who also bred one (Buy the Barrel) of the mare's four stakes winners.

WTBOA Sales Graduate in the News

   1992 winter sale weanling and stakes winner What a Knight, by Tough Knight - a full or three-quarter sister to three Washington-bred stakes winners - had her fourth winner, when her two-year-old daughter What a Lute, by Midnight Lute, went gate-to-wire to take a 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race at Charles Town Races on October 31. What a Knight is also the dam of unbeaten Grade 2 winning juvenile What a Song and 2013 stakes winner Right to Vote.

Other News

    Joe and Lola Samples' Dance Humor took a mile maiden special weight race over Golden Gate Fields' turf course on November 1. Trained by Duane Offield and ridden by Russell Baze, the new winner is a three-year-old Kentucky-bred gelding by Sharp Humor. The following day the Samples' three-year-old Mah Gellin - who was bred in the name of the Samples' Racing Edge Inc. - won a six-furlong allowance at the Albany track. Also trained by Offield, the son of Skimming-Mahrin, by Maheras, has a record of 4-3-0 from ten starts and has earned $105,958. On the same November 2 card, Northwest Farms LLC-bred Kumiva, a seven-year-old son of Giant's Causeway, upped his earnings to $127,210 after taking a 1 1/16-mile race over Golden Gate's turf course. He is out of the Smart Strike mare Bisbee's Prospect, who won the 2003 US Bank Stakes at Emerald Downs in Northwest Farms' colors.

    Blaine Wright-owned, -bred and -trained Gale Creek became the third winner for her freshman sire, Blue Ribbon Farm's Nationhood, when she won her first start, a $12,500 maiden claiming race at Golden Gate on November 1, by 3 1/4 lengths. The Washington-bred filly is out of Marlinda, by Jump Start.

    First-time starter Happy Idea took a six-furlong maiden claiming race at Golden Gate for Tim and Ray McCanna. The two-year-old gelding by El Dorado Farms LLC's Private Gold out of Exclusive Molly, by La Saboteur, was bred in Washington by Billie Klokstad.

   After finishing second in a mile allowance at Turf Paradise on October 15, Willow Creek Farm Inc. (Dr. Jack and Claire Lein) homebred She's Stella Maria returned to the winner's circle after taking an about mile turf test by 1 1/2 lengths over the Phoenix track on November 2. Trained by Jeff Metz, the four-year-old California-bred filly is by Leroidesanimaux (Brz) out of the stakes-winning and stakes-producing Pleasant Colony mare Stellerina.

   First-time two-year-old starters Rever de Vous - who is owned by Mark Dedomenico LLC, Dr. George Todaro, George Smith and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and was ridden by Russell Baze - and Lotta Attitude - who is owned by John and Janene Maryanski and Gerald Schneider - ran one-two in a six-panel maiden special weight race at Golden Gate on November 2. The winner is a daughter of Distorted Humor-Dreaming of Liz. Both second place Lotta Attitude, a filly by Sharp Humor who is trained by Blaine Wright, and third place Find Your Spot (Nationhood-Sudden Departure), who is trained by Jim Penney and was making her second start, were 2012 WTBOA sale graduates.

The two-page photo feature spread in the November 2013 Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred was a close-up of Ben's Cat winning the Laurel Dash Stakes last September at Laurel Park. The turf sprint specialist is a multiple graded stakes-winning son of Gibson Thoroughbred Farm's three-time leading Washington sire Parker's Storm Cat.

   Two-year-old stakes winner Lexie Lou, who won the $190,939 Muskoka Stakes at Woodbine in August, is out of $143,695 winner Oneexecssivenite, a daughter of 1994 and 1995 Washington champion and graded stakes winner Favored One, by Son of Briartic. Ontario-bred Lexie Lou, by Sligo Bay (Ire), ran second to her paternal half-sister Paladin Bay in the $240,645 Princess Elizabeth Stakes held at Woodbine on November 2. Ridden by former three-time leading Longacres rider Gary Boulanger in each of her six starts, Lexie Lou has earned $223,331.

Freelance Writer/Photographer Merri Melde Releases Racehorse Tales

    Freelance writer, photographer and rider, Merri Melde - whose work has appeared in the Washington Thoroughbred - has authored a series of short e-stories, Racehorse Tales, recounting her compelling times and experiences with some of the unique racehorses she cared for during her stint as a groom at Longacres racetrack.

    In Sunstorm: The Rugged One, no two racehorses are created equal. Sunstorm may not run for a million bucks, but the macho chestnut gelding's attitude and rugged good looks are what Melde falls for instantly. The cheap claimer leaves a great indelible mark on Melde's heart in his barn at Longacres.

   In Safe To Say: The Comet, fate briefly throws Melde together with this kindly, intelligent gelding and brilliant runner at Longacres.

   Ol' Holme: The Witch shows some horses are like people: born on the wrong side of the barnyard. Ol' Holme is bad news, and she and groom Melde have to figure out a way to get along during the filly's racing career at Longacres.

   Claim the Trick: The Royal Ass tells the tale of a little racehorse who has a mind of his own and is as strong as a mule. He entertains people as he drags groom Melde on unplanned detours whenever and wherever he feels like it, as he trains and runs at Longacres.

   Racehorse Tales are available on Amazon, and through Melde's website, www.TheEquestrianVagabond.com.

A. Allan Juell Releases Second Book - The Littlest RaceHorse

   A. Allan Juell has been writing about horses and the people who own them for over 35 years. His work has appeared in Washington Thoroughbred, as well as EQUUS, Chronicle of the Horse, Thoroughbred Times, Western Horsemen, Anvil Magazine and others. The Littlest RaceHorse (Dog Ear Publishing) is his second book.

   Set in late October, 1962, the US and the Soviet Union stand toe to toe, poised to unleash their nuclear arsenals over the deployment of offensive missiles in Cuba. Apprehension flows, and a pair of kids, suddenly cast adrift by the weeks' escalating events, find themselves forced on a journey not of their own choosing. They are forced to choose between the past and perhaps a very different future that seems to share an improbable link to a young Thoroughbred. Lives that are stolen one day are returned the next, irreversibly changed.

   Juell's first book, Mares, Foals & Ferraris, was published in 2011. That book is a serialization of columns first penned for the Washington Thoroughbred in the 1980s. During that period, he was a Thoroughbred farm manager and a professional farrier. He holds a degree in history/international affairs and currently resides in Port Orford, Oregon. His work appears regularly at horsetrionics.blogspot.com and histryonics.blogspot.com. His books are available at most retail outlets, as well as through his websites.

Thoroughbred Economic Figures for October 2013

   Per Equibase's November 5, 2013, Media Advisory on Thoroughbred Racing Economic Indicators, wagering on US races in October was up 8.3 percent over 2012 figures ($804,303,623 vs. $742,671,714) and purses were up by .31 percent to $93,286,965 while US race days were down 5.76 percent (409 vs. 434) from last year.

   When 2012 stats are compared to the first ten months of 2013, wagering in the US is up just over a half percent (.56) from 2012 figures to $9,268,404,702, purses are up .30 percent to $951,152,650 and race days are down 3.2 percent (4,449 compared to 4,596) for the current year.

In Memoriam

Eugene Merle Bailey

   Eugene "Gene" M. Bailey, 79, of Yakima and formerly of New Port, died on October 2, 2013. He was born on August 25, 1934, to Paul and Irene Bailey and grew up on the family farm. Gene graduated from New Port High School.

   As a teenager Gene began shoeing and training Thoroughbreds in Spokane. He loved all animals.

   Gene attended CalPoly in California to improve his skills as a farrier and welder, which became his main occupations.

   He worked for the Herald Ring family near Kelly Ferry and later became a cattleman.

   Gene was active in the Back Country Horsemen of Yakima and Washington and had a string of mules which he packed and rode.

   He also had served with the armed forces in Korea.

   Gene was preceded in death by his parents; sister, Milly Brewer; and niece, Christy Bailey. He is survived by his wife, Billie D.; sons, Bill (Glen) Bailey and family and Merle Eugene Bailey; stepchildren, Steve Van Kester, Debra Jean (Kim) Bloomer and Barbara Jolene (Joe) Mills; 11 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; brother, Wes Bailey and family; sister, Edith Brewer and Lila Holiston and family; and brother-in-law James Brewer and family.