WTBOA Sales Graduates in the News

   1994 WTBOA sale graduate and stakes winner St. Helens Shadow, one of a trio of stakes winners Northwest Farms LLC bred out of stakes winner Little Bar Fly, is the dam five winners, including Giant Shadow, a three-year-old filly by Giant's Causeway, who took a 1 1/16-mile turf allowance at Laurel Park on September 5.  The Kentucky-bred filly is a half-sister to Grade 1 two-year-old winner and sire Officer. 

  Three-year-old Not a Love Song, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Langfuhr out of Sarna, a multiple stakes-producing daughter of Son of Briartic, went gate-to-wire to win a $10,000 maiden claiming race by 13 1/4 lengths at Parx Racing on August 30. Bred by Jill Heerensperger, Not a Love Song was claimed from Todd and Shawn Hansen and trainer Keith Nations out of the mile and 70-yard race. Both Not a Love Song and her dam went through the WTBOA sales program.

  Stakes-placed Touch the Sun, a six-year-old gelding by Bertrando-Sweethrtofsigmachi, by General Meeting, bred by Dr. Duane and Sue Hopp, won a 12-furlong starter handicap in gate-to-wire fashion at Assiniboia Downs on September 1. His 6 1/4-length victory improved his record to 13-6-7 from 45 starts and upped his earnings to $112,467.

  Deb's Royal Flush, a 1998 daughter of Demons Begone who placed in three Golden Gate stakes and earned $143,770, had her fifth winner after her two-year-old daughter Deb's Wildcard, by Desert Code, won her first start, a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race at Golden Gate by 2 1/4 lengths on August 30. Deb's Royal Flush was one of nine winners, including $318,822 stakes winner Slew of the Night and $68,924 stakes winner Mobius, produced out of the Strong Ruler mare Miss Tree Miss.

  Jim and Mona Hour's 2014 Longacres Mile (G3) winner Stryker Phd will head south to trainer Larry Ross's Golden Gate Fields base after the Emerald Downs meet closes on September 28. Ross said he is pointing his handicap star to an overnight handicap at Santa Anita Park, which is scheduled for the week before the Breeders' Cup World Championships.

  "It will be one or two races down there, probably," said Ross, who expects turn out the five-year-old gelding for some "R & R" before Christmas.

  Three-year-old Country Boy, a son of Matty G-Persephonie, by Conquistador Cielo, bred by Nina and Ron Hagen, took a maiden special weight race at the Harney County Fair on September 5.

  Three-year-old Oldtimers Vision - ridden by Leslie Mawing - was awarded the win in an allowance/$40,000 optional claiming race at Emerald Downs on September 6 after longshot Dark Brago was disqualified from his head decision after drifting into Oldtimers Vision's path in the closing yards. Owned by trainer Neil Knapp and Dr. William Lien, it marked the fourth win in 13 starts for the Kentucky-bred son of Pollard's Vision-Quantuck, by Real Quiet, who has earned $40,588.

  2012 WTBOA sale offering Flemings Beach, a three-year-old British Columbia-bred son of Cause to Believe-Flower Hill, by Bertrando, bred and raced by Dr. Bryan and Carol Anderson, won for the third time in a row - and fourth in six lifetime starts - when he took a $12,500 claiming race at Hastings Racecourse on September 7. The $28,070 earner was claimed out of his latest win.

2014 THRUST Grant Recipients

   In a continuing effort to promote education within the equine industry, the Washington Thoroughbred Foundation, through the auspices of its Thoroughbred Horse Racing's United Scholarship Trust (THRUST) program, presents up to six $500 educational grants annually. All educational endeavors will be considered, although grant recipients will be determined at the discretion of Foundation's board of directors (i.e., the selection committee). THRUST scholarships are available to immediate family members of WTBOA and WHBPA members and other local industry affiliated individuals.

  The following individuals received 2014 THRUST educational grants: Paul Gentsh, Issaquah; Camille Goodale, Lacey; Zoe Metz, San Dimas, California; Haley O'Connell, Kent; Susie Sharp, Newcastle; and Julia Wolters, Auburn.

  In addition, equine veterinary student O'Connell received a special $1,000 grant through the generosity of Ken and Marleen Alhadeff's MOJO Fund. This special grant is available to a qualified applicant who is pursuing an equine-related field of study. 

  Grade 2 juvenile filly Sunset Glow, who races for Dave Mowat's Ten Broeck Farm and is trained by Wesley Ward, took the $300,000 Del Mar Debutante Stakes (G1) on August 30, and the .90-to-one favorite and 122-pound highweight defeated second betting choice Her Emmynency, by Successful Appeal, by a neck.

  Sunset Glow, a gray/roan Kentucky-bred daughter of Exchange Rate out of stakes-placed Perfectforthepart, by Dynaformer, improved her record to 3-2-0 from five starts and earnings to $377,640.

  Mowat's two-year-old Cool Comfort, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Big Brown-Singing Sensation, by Coronado's Quest, won a six-furlong maiden special weight race in gate-to-wire fashion over Kentucky Downs' turf course by 4 3/4 lengths on September 10. Cool Comfort is also trained by Ward.

Smiling Tiger to Move to Harris Farms

   Philip Lebherz and Alan Klein's three-time Grade 1 winner, Eclipse Award Sprint finalist and WTBOA Sale poster boy Smiling Tiger has been moved to Harris Farms in Coalinga, California, where he will stand his second season at stud for a $5,000 stud fee. The seven-year-old chestnut son of Hold That Tiger-Shandra Smiles, by Cahill Road, has been reported as having over 80 mares confirmed in foal from his first season at Premier Thoroughbreds LLC.

  "He is a big good-looking horse, very consistent and hard-knocking, and was on the board in tough races, 19 of 23 times," said John Harris, owner of Harris Farms, which also includes 2014 double classic winner California Chrome's sire Lucky Pulpit and four-time leading California sire Unusual Heat on its now eight-stallion roster.  "He keeps the Storm Cat line going and will be a fabulous sire for California and the nation. We plan to breed some of our best mares to him."

   2008 Emerald Downs champion two-year-old male Gallant Son, who took a trio of stakes - including the Gottstein Futurity and WTBOA Lads Stakes - in his four wins at two and has been a stakes winner in five of his six seasons of racing since, will retire at the end of the year to stand his first season at stud and Pam and Neal Christopherson's Bar C Racing Stables in Hermiston, Oregon.

  Gallant Son, who began his race career at Emerald Downs for Chris and Dianna Randall and currently races for Randall and Rossi LLC, has made all his starts under the tutelage of Emerald Downs five-time leading (by wins) trainer Frank Lucarelli.

  A son of Grade 3 stakes winner and $325,622 earner Malabar Gold - a son of champion Unbridled - Gallant Son is one of three colts out of $40,960 winner Explicitly, a 2001 daughter of Exploit who was sold to Korean interests the fall after Gallant Son was born and has since produced 2011 KRA Cup Classic winner Ace Galloper, by Chapel Royal, and Royal Galloper, a son of Commendable who finished third in the 2013 Sports Chosun Cup.

  In addition to his three stakes victories at Emerald, Gallant Son has won six stakes in California, including a win in the Grade 3 Inglewood Handicap at Hollywood Park in 2010. His latest victory came in his first start in 2014, in the Jess Jackson Owners' Handicap at Santa Rosa on August 9. Among his seven other stakes placements, were five Grade 3 performances. His current record stands at 11-5-6 from 39 starts with $552,278 in earnings.

  According to Lucarelli, Gallant Son is scheduled for up to three more races, including the 6 1/2-furlong Grade 3 Eddie D Stakes run over Santa Anita's downhill turf course on September 26, before his retirement. "He's doing great, and he looks like a million bucks."

  The runner's stud fee and conditions will be announced after his retirement.

Russell Baze to Face South America's Jorge Ricardo

   The leading North American - 56-year-old Russell Baze - and leading South American - 52-year-old Jorge Ricardo - jockeys will face off in a Champions Challenge to be held at Jockey Club Rio Grande do Sol in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on September 18. The two riders will be face each other in five races with each assigned the favorite in two of the five races.

  Through September 7, 2014, Baze has been aboard 12,365 winners, including 246 this year. Between the two riders they have won more than 24,000 races. Ricardo led Baze before being seriously injured in a riding accident last year. He currently ranks slightly behind the National and Washington Racing Hall of Fame jockey.

  The two top reinsmen have only met once before on the track, in the 2008 Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup at Ascot in England.

British Columbia Sale Holds Steady in Median and Average

   The 2014 Canadian Thoroughbred, British Columbia division, Yearling and Mixed Sale was held on September 9 at the Thunderbird Show Park in Langley, BC. Ninety-five horses were cataloged, of which 94 were foals of 2013.

  Topping the venue for $78,000 was a colt by Old Forester out of $228,000 stakes-placed Miss Juicy, by Trajectory, one of two yearlings in Jim Alendal's consignment. The bay colt was one of five yearlings Peter Redekop BC Ltd purchased for a $169,000 total.

  Among the other high-selling yearlings were: a Harbor the Gold-Archery filly, consigned by Mike Anderson and Terry Clyde, who was purchased by Craig Robertson for $46,000; a Rosberg-Groovy Minister filly, consigned by Tod Mountain Thoroughbreds, who was purchased by Swift Thoroughbreds Inc. for $43,000; and a Kafwain-Harmony Creator colt, consigned by Whitewood Farm, and purchased by Redekop for $39,000. At total of 19 yearlings went for $20,000 or more.

  Overall 62 horses sold, down 29.5 percent from the 88 which changed hands in 2013. While the median remained at $9,000 and the average price fell only one-tenth of a percent from $14,928 to $14,782, the gross dropped 30.2 percent ($916,600 in 2014 versus $1,313,700 in 2013) and the buybacks (RNAs) rose from 19.3 percent last year to 29.2 percent.

(Note: All sales figures reported are in Canadian dollars.)

Portland Meadows 2014-15 Stakes Schedule

   The 2014-15 Portland Meadows stakes schedule will feature 25 Thoroughbred stakes worth a $336,000 total, ranging from $7,000 to the $35,000 Portland Mile; and ten Quarter Horse stakes, worth a $93,500 total. The Thoroughbred stakes are as follows:

Date - Race, Conditions, Distance, Value

10/12/14 - Diamond Lake HF&M, 3YO & up, 5 1/2 f., $  9,000

10/12/14 - Frog Lake H., 3YO & up, 5 1/2 f., $  9,000

11/2/14 - Willamette River, 2YO*, 5 1/2 f., $20,000

11/2/14 - Mt. St. Helens, F&M, 3YO & up, 6 f., $20,000

11/2/14 - Mt. Hood, 3YO & up, 6 f., $20,000

11/23/14 - Stallion S., 3YO, 6 f., $21,000

11/30/14 - Foster Lake H., 2YO, 6 f., $9,000

11/30/14 - Paulina Lake H., F&M, 3YO & up, 6 f., $9,000

11/30/14 - Detroit Lake H., 3YO & up, 6 f., $9,000

Oregon Day Championship

12/14/14 - Janet Wineberg S., F, 2YO, OB, 6 f., $13,000

12/14/14 - Wineberg SC&G, 2YO, OB, 6 f., $13,000

12/14/14 - Oregon Hers, F, 3YO, OB, mile, $11,000

12/14/14 - Oregon His, C&G, 3YO, OB, mile, $11,000

12/14/14 - Lethal Grande Oregon Sprint Champ. 3YO & up, OB, 6 f., $11,000

12/14/14 - OB Distaff Starter HF&M, 3YO & up. OB, 6 f., $7,000

12/14/14 - OB Fall Starter H., 3YO & up, OB, 6 f., $7,000

01/01/15 - East Lake H., 3YO, mile, $9,000

01/01/15 - Crescent Lake H., F&M, 4YO & up, mile, $9,000

01/25/15 - Columbia River, 3YO*, mile, $20,000

01/25/15 - Portland Distaff, F&M, 4YO & up, mile, $20,000

01/25/15 - Portland Mile, 4YO & up, mile, $35,000

02/08/15 - Revillew Slew Starter H., F&M, 4YO & up, OB, 6 f., $7,500

02/08/15 - Mioland Starter H., 4YO & up, OB, 6 f., $7,500

02/08/15 - Oregon Derby, 3YO, OB, mile, $20,000

*Race may be divided into filly and colt/gelding divisions worth $14,000 each. OB = Oregon-bred.

  For more information, click here.

Other News

  The August 23, 2014, issue of The Blood-Horse featured an article by Steve Haskin titled "The Need for Speed" in which he gave his ten picks for top sprinters of the last 50 years. Noted in ninth place was Washington's own Chinook Pass, for which he wrote "One would be hard-pressed to find a horse with more natural blazing speed than this speedball from the Pacific Northwest. The only thing preventing him from being ranked higher is the scarcity of graded stakes success on his résumé." Haskin did acknowledge his Longacres Mile (G2) win and the fact that among the other stakes Chinook Pass won - the Bing Crosby, Palos Verdes, Potrero Grande, San Simeon and Sierra Madre handicaps - all are now graded events. Topping Haskin's sprinter list were the champion half-siblings Dr. Fager and Ta Wee.

  Stakes winner Quatre Cat, a two-year-old British Columbia-bred daughter of El Dorado Farms LLC's Abraaj,earned her second stakes placement when she finished runner-up to Finality's Charmer in the two-year-old filly division of the CTHS Sales Stakes held at Hastings Racecourse on September 1. She upped her three-race earnings total to $49,357.

  Ben's Cat added another $60,000 to his earnings after finishing second by a neck to four-year-old Sharp Sensation, by Sharp Humor, while giving his younger rival an eight-pound advantage, in the $300,000 Turf Monster Handicap (G3) held at Parx Racing on September 1. Ben's Cat, who won the 2011-12 renewals of the turf race, had finished third in the five-furlong sprint last year.

   Ben's Cat is one of three champions sired by three-time Washington leading sire Parker's Storm Cat. The son of Storm Cat and half-brother to major sire Malibu Moon, holds court at Gibson Thoroughbred Farm in Thorp. Through September 9, Parker's Storm Cat leads the 2014 Washington sire list with $578,837.

  After an eight-month layoff, Horseplayers Racing Club'sthree-year-old Seeing Silver, a Louisiana-bred daughter of Sightseeing-Daleo's Angel, won a maiden claimer by 11 lengths at Louisiana Downs on August 31. The new winner was bred by HPRC and Richard Hills.

  Horseplayers Racing Club LLC's two-year-old filly Lemonsgonemad, a Louisiana-bred daughter of Don't Get Mad-Lemony Cricket, by Lemon Drop Kid, became the Renton-based racing partnership's first juvenile winner of the year when she took a mile and 70 yard, $12,500 maiden claiming race at Louisiana Downs by 2 1/4 lengths on September 7.

  On August 30, Rozamund Barclay and Kay Kasmerski's three-year-old Hawk's Glen, a California-bred colt by Afleet Alex out of Forest Miss, by Forestry, won a $25,000 maiden claiming race at Golden Gate by one length. The new winner is trained by Len Kasmerski.

  Dr. George Todaro, Mark Dedomenico LLC and partners' three-year-old Sam's Sister, by Brother Derek, made it two-for-two after she added a 3 1/2-length victory in an allowance/$40,000 optional claiming (N) race at Del Mar on August 30 and boosted her earnings to $91,200.

  Dedomenico, Todaroand trainer Jerry Hollendorfer's Grade 2 stakes winner Broken Sword went gate-to-wire to take the $90,000 Tranquility Lake Stakes at Del Mar by 5 1/4 lengths on August 31. The four-year-old daughter of Broken Vow-Katana (NZ), by Volksraad, improved her record to 4-1-3 from 11 starts and increased her earnings to $277,660.

  Al and Sandee Kirkwood's four-year-old gelding Boozer, a California-bred son of Unusual Heat-Kitty and Boo, by Cape Canaveral, won a nine-furlong turf allowance at Del Mar on September 1. The Mark Glatt-trained runner improved his record to 4-2-2 from 11 starts and has earned $232,672.

  On September 3, Dr. Rodney Orr's homebred Ankeny Hill, a four-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Sharp Humor out of 2001 Emerald Downs juvenile filly champion Ashbecca, who is trained by Mark Glatt, defeated four other runners to win the $90,000 Pirate's Bounty Stakes at Del Mar. Ridden by Tyler Baze, he defeated Ain't No Other by a half-length in the six-furlong test. He has earned $208,307.

  On August 29, Orr's Beach Fever, a three-year-old California-bred son of Stormin Fever-Crystal Marina, finished first in a mile maiden special weight race at Del Mar, but was disqualified to second after the Glatt trainee "drifted out in the final furlong and bumping runner-up (Missing Groom) near the wire."

  Five-year-old Washington-bred Quarter Horse geldingSnowbound Superchick, a son of former Washington sire Snowbound bred by Robert F. Pulse, won the $6,630 Redds Apple Ale Stakes, a 400-yard event, at the Elko State Fair on August 30. Ridden by Ruben Camacho, Snowbound Superchick improved his record to 6-4-4 from 20 starts and has earned $36,513.

  John and Janene Maryanski's three-year-old California-bred filly Vanuatu won for the third time in six starts - all at Golden Gate - when she took a $20,000 claiming race by 2 1/2 lengths. The daughter of Spensive-Rosarita Beach, by Tossofthecoin, who is trained by Blaine Wright, has earned $63,920.

  Clear Pearl, a four-year-old daughter of Giant's Causeway-Clear in the West, by Gone West, bred by Northwest Farms LLC in Kentucky, won a 1 1/16-mile allowance race at Golden Gate on September 6. Clear Pearl, whose other win came in a 2013 handicap race at Great Yarmouth in Great Britain, is a half-sister to $114,234 earner Rainier Ice, who was second in Emerald Downs Budweiser Handicap in 2012.