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Einstein Makes a Successful Leap
2/25/2006
By MIKE WELSCH
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Winning the Grade 1, $250,000 Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup Turf is becoming second nature to Helen Pitts.
Pitts served as an assistant to trainer Ken McPeek when he won the race in 2004 with Hard Buck and again last year with Prince Arch. Pitts took out her own training license later during the 2005 campaign, and on Saturday she sent out the lightly raced Einstein, who outgamed Go Deputy for a neck victory in the 21st renewal of the race.
A Brazilian-bred son of Spend a Buck, Einstein was taking a huge step up in class on Saturday, making his stakes debut against Grade 1 competition after winning a second-level allowance race in his previous start. He was allowed to set a slow pace over the yielding turf course, fended off a bid from 2-1 favorite Gun Salute around the final bend, then withstood a stretch-long battle with Go Deputy to narrowly prevail.
Gun Salute finished a tiring third, followed by Mustanfar, Broadway View, Honor in War, Request for Parole, and Continuously.
Einstein, foaled in October 2002, is listed as a 4-year-old in the U.S. but is considered a 3-year-old in the Southern Hemisphere. He is owned by the Midnight Cry Stable of owners Shirley Cunningham and Bill Gallion. He paid $16.40 after covering 1 7/16 miles in 2:23.91 over the wet course.
"I thought I bit off more than I could chew until now," said Pitts. "But I've said all along, he's a special horse. He may be only 3, but he's got lots of heart and he's still maturing and developing with each race."
Pitts said Einstein had already been invited to the UAE Derby in Dubai, a dirt race for 3-year-olds on March 25.
"I'm not sure what we'll do next," said Pitts. "We also have a lot of options here for him, too."
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Only The Photo Knows: Sweet Talker Takes QEll By A Whisker
10/16/2005
Sunday, October 16, 2005
By Jennie Rees
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- With three horses surging together toward the finish in Keeneland's $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup for 3-year-old fillies yesterday, Louisville-based trainer Helen Pitts appeared to have won her first Grade I stakes, only to apparently have it snatched away at the wire.
"I thought we were beat for sure," she said.
Her Sweet Talker had a half-length lead with an eighth-mile to go, but she quickly was joined by British invader Karen's Caper on the outside and French import Gorella on the rail. To many in the crowd of 24,896, including Pitts, Karen's Caper prevailed on a head-bob. But the photo-finish camera had a different take. Sweet Talker, an 18-1 shot, won by a nose over Karen's Caper, who finished a head in front of Gorella.
"When I saw the photo on the head bob, I still wasn't sure," Pitts said, admitting that she "didn't know whether to cry or laugh" when the official order of finish was posted.
Sweet Talker, who was ridden by Rafael Bejarano, stalked a slow pace before taking the lead in upper stretch. What worried Pitts was the QE II's 11/8-mile distance, a sixteenth-mile past what she considers Sweet Talker's optimum.
"I saw everyone kind of swallow her up and I thought, 'Oh, no,' " Pitts said.
Bejarano also was surprised at the victory.
"I knew it was really close," he said. "I was not so sure who'd won the race. I knew there would be a picture, and I thought I might be second. That other horse was flying. But my horse was trying so hard."
Sweet Talker paid $39.40 as the outsider in a field of seven. The daughter of Stormin Fever was timed in 1:51.20, the last eighth-mile going in a nifty 11.75 seconds.
Robby Albarado, who rode Karen's Caper, said he had no doubt he'd won.
"It's really bittersweet when you think you've won it to get beat a nose like that," he said. "But that was a great horse race."
Jockey Gary Stevens was happy with the effort of Gorella.
"She's a great filly, and she's going to win some Grade I's," he said.
Sweet Talker now is 7-2-1 in 13 starts and has earned $682,723. She's 4-1-0 in her past five starts, including a victory in Churchill's May 6 Edgewood, and is 2 for 2 for Pitts, who took over when her former boss, Kenny McPeek, gave up training. Owner Eliah Kahn said he never thought about switching trainers.
"I have full confidence and trust in this woman," he said. "And I'm hoping to have a lot more Grade I wins with her in the future. She watches and cares for these animals more than anybody I've ever seen."
Naissance Royale was only another half-length back in fourth, with Three Degrees another nose back and one length in front of 2-1 favorite Luas Line. Last-place Singhalese was less than three lengths behind the winner.
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Durban Thunder Skims Rail
9/25/2005
Jockey Calvin Borel added to his reputation for rail-skimming rides by winning the $100,000 Kentucky Cup Turf Dash with the inside-rallying Durban Thunder.
Although Borel was able to save ground, the trip was anything but easy. Atticus Kristy, the eventual runner-up, drifted in through the stretch run, leaning into the winner and intimidating that one into the fence. Durban Thunder got through, however, with Borel quipping after the rough trip that "the rail is a little bent."
Durban Thunder, a 4-year-old who began his career in Brazil where he was a Group 1 winner, won for the second time in two U.S. starts.
Durban Thunder ($8.40) raced six furlongs in 1:10.30, the third-fastest time in the eight-year history of the Kentucky Cup Turf Dash.
His win gave trainer Helen Pitts the first stakes victory of her short training career. A longtime assistant to trainer Kenny McPeek, she went out on her own this spring at Churchill Downs after McPeek left training to become a bloodstock agent. Pitts also won the Martha Washington, Saturday's feature at Laurel Park, with Sweet Talker.
Atticus Kristy, who finished two lengths in front of Super Fuse in third, survived a stewards' inquiry to hold the runner-up spot. Jockey Bill Troilo, who rode fourth-place Sgt. Bert, claimed interference in the stretch. Sgt. Bert had raced between Atticus Kristy and Durban Thunder in the stretch.
Tacirring, the 6-5 favorite following four consecutive stakes victories, was a non-factor, finishing fifth.
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Sweet Talker Scores
9/25/2005
Sweet Talker, never worse than third in five previous starts on turf, picked up right where she left off before a three-month freshening when she drew clear to win the $150,000 Martha Washington Breeders' Cup for 3-year-old fillies at Laurel Park.
Sweet Talker ($6.40) made a three-wide move to challenge 7-5 favorite Victory Lap and 33-1 longshot Lucrezia coming into the stretch and pulled clear in midstretch to defeat Lucrezia by 1 1/4 lengths. The New York-based Dynamite Lass was third. Victory Lap faded to fourth.
Sweet Talker, now 6 for 12 lifetime and 4 for 6 on the grass, covered 1 1/16 miles on firm turf in 1:41.63.
Helen Pitts, the former assistant to Ken McPeek before he retired this summer, had given Sweet Talk time off after a hard spring campaign in which she won the Edgewood and finished a close second in the Grade 3 Regret, both at Churchill Downs.
Pitts also won the Kentucky Cup Turf Dash at Kentucky Downs Saturday with Durban Thunder. The stakes wins were the first of Pitts's career.
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Prince Arch Noses Out Gigli To Win Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup
3/7/2005
Prince Arch noses out Gigli to win Gulfstream Park Breeders’ Cup
Making his first start of the season after winning the Saranac Handicap (G3) on September 6, Prince Arch gave owner Raymond Cottrell Sr. his first Grade 1 victory as he edged Gigli (Brz) by a nose to win the $230,000 Gulfstream Park Breeders’ Cup Handicap (G1) on Sunday.
Rating in reserve from fifth, then fourth, Prince Arch and Brice Blanc tracked front-running Niigon through moderate early fractions as Demeteor and Quest Star tracked the pace from second and third, respectively.
Prince Arch, galloping along in fourth in the field of 11, made a game charge in late stretch along with six other rivals, bunched together less than a length apart, and the four-year-old son of Arch defiantly nosed out Brazilian Group 1 winner Gigli.
Multiple Grade 3 winner and 7-to-5 favorite Mustanfar, winner of an allowance/optional claiming race on February 10 at Gulfstream, gained ground to finish a half-length back in third.
Trained by Ken McPeek, Prince Arch covered 1 3/8 miles over a firm turf course in 2:11.44.
"It was an easy trip that worked out great," Blanc said. "He’s very competitive and it all just worked out tremendous."
McPeek said Prince Arch is expected to ship to the United Arab Emirates for the Dubai Sheema Classic (UAE-G1) on March 26 at Nad al Sheba.
Explaining Prince Arch’s layoff, McPeek said he was just being careful.
"The horse ran very well after such a long layoff at Saratoga [Race Course]," he continued. "There was nothing seriously wrong with him, we just decided to back off on him for awhile so he could be a good older horse."
Prince Arch has won four stakes races, including last year’s Jefferson Cup Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs and Forerunner Stakes at Keeneland Race Course.
Bred in Kentucky by Pine Lake Bloodstock, he is out of the Kris mare Princess Kris (GB). He has won six of 14 starts and has earned $569,186.
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Galloping Gal Breaks in New Gulfstream Turf
12/30/2004
By MIKE WELSCH
MIAMI - Trainers who came to south Florida this winter with a barn full of grass horses may be breathing just a little bit easier after Gulfstream Park's new turf course passed its first real test with flying colors Wednesday morning.
Galloping Gal, a multiple-stakes-winning filly trained by Ken McPeek, became the first runner to step foot onto the course, and the sight of a horse on the turf attracted a good deal of interest throughout the backstretch. Galloping Gal traveled once around the one-mile oval under exercise rider Helen Pitts, with the dogs set out well past the middle of the course.
"It's beautiful," said McPeek, who has 24 horses at Gulfstream and another 20 at Palm Meadows for the winter. "It will be fine. The whole renovation project here this year centered around the quality of the racetracks, and up to now everything's been just great. I'm looking forward to running my horses over both the main and turf tracks this winter."
After dismounting from Galloping Gal, Pitts was as enthusiastic as McPeek.
"It's real nice," said Pitts. "She traveled awesome over the course. There's not much bounce to it and the grass isn't real high, but it's smooth and rides beautifully. And it's nice when you come out of that last turn and see all that stretch in front of you."
Among those looking on anxiously from the newly constructed officials' stand high above the finish line was Tom Dillon, executive vice president of Magna International Developments. Dillon watched closely to see how the grass, which was not planted until mid-July, handled its first pounding from a horse's hooves.
"It looks great and sounds great," Dillon said as Galloping Gal passed underneath the stand. "The only thing to come up was a little dust, and that's just the top cover from the dirt blowing onto the course. This grass is absolutely top-of-the-line. It should be perfect."
Racing secretary Dave Bailey, also on hand for Galloping Gal's test run, will use the course sparingly during the early stages of the meet, carding only two grass races a day in January. He hopes to be able to run three or four turf races a day beginning in February.
Galloping Gal, one of many stakes-caliber horses in McPeek's barn, is being pointed for the $60,000 Marshua's River Stakes on Jan. 9.
McPeek is also hoping for big things this winter from Saranac Stakes winner Prince Arch; 2-year-olds Diamond Isle and Summer Man; and a couple of Brazilian imports, Durban Thunder and Givememore.
"I gave Prince Arch some time off after the Saranac," said McPeek. "I'm pointing him for the Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup and would like to take him to Dubai for the Sheema Classic in March. Summer Man just broke his maiden and will run in the Aventura Stakes. Durban Thunder was the champion 2-year-old colt and Givememore the champion 2-year-old filly in Brazil this year, although they are officially listed as 3-year-olds in North America."
Givememore won her U.S. debut at Calder on Tuesday, rallying to upset the odds-on favorite Forestier in the Our Dear Peggy Stakes.
"I was really pleased with her performance, especially since she went into the race about only 80 percent fit," said McPeek.
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Millionaire Hard Buck to Cloverleaf Farms ll in Florida
12/14/2004
Millionaire Hard Buck to Cloverleaf Farms II in Florida
Date Posted: 12/14/2004 1:52:52 PM
Last Updated: 12/14/2004 2:30:29 PM
Hard Buck, a millionaire and grade I winner, will enter stud at John Sykes' Cloverleaf Farms II near Reddick, Fla.
A group I winner in his native Brazil, Hard Buck won his first three starts, all Kentucky turf stakes, following his arrival in the U.S. in 2003. Trained by Kenneth McPeek, he started out with a triumph in the Tri-State Handicap, then took the Kentucky Cup Mile Stakes and River City Handicap (gr. IIIT).
As a 5-year-old this year, Hard Buck captured the Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup Handicap (gr. IT) over established runners Balto Star, Kicken Kris, and Request for Parole and was second in the Opening Verse Handicap on grass. He also ran second in two prominent overseas events, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes (Eng-I) and The Palm Dubai Sheema Classic (UAE-I).
A son of Spend a Buck out of the Secreto mare Social Secret, Hard Buck retired with nine wins and five seconds from 19 starts and earnings of $1,073,674. His second dam is a full sister to French champion Mississipian and a half-sister to North American and French champion Youth.
Hard Buck will stand for $2,500 live foal as the property of a partnership headed by managing partner McPeek.
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McPeek Thrives on Young Horses in Strong Meet
11/25/2004
McPEEK THRIVES ON YOUNG HORSES IN STRONG MEET (Churchill Down's Barn Notes) - Trainer Ken McPeek started the year with Hard Buck, one of the best horses in the world, as the star of his barn - but that older star is now retired and McPeek is ending the season with rush of success by stars of the future. The latest is Sarah-Lyn Stables LLC and Carl Gessler, Jr.'s Kansas City Boy, a 2-year-old son of Boston Harbor that scored an 8 ½-length victory in a mile and a sixteenth maiden race to complete Thursday's racing program. The win was the seventh for McPeek in Churchill Downs' "Fall Festival Of Racing" and all of those victories were achieved by 2-year-olds.
"The young ones we've had have come around, but that's kind of been our pattern," McPeek said. "I don't think it's a great big surprise. We've got some nice young horses right now and I think they're going to get even better next year."
Most notable among his winners have been the filly Sweet Talker, who won last week's Caressing Handicap on the turf, and Exceptional Ride, a two-time winner in the meet who took the Grand Canyon Handicap on the turf to give McPeek a sweep of those new grass races for juveniles. Both are owned by Eliah and Lisa Kahn, who have won three races in as many starts for the meet and are tied for third in the "Leading Owner" standings. Both were purchased at sales by McPeek and were the first horses he had purchased for the Kahns.
Other stars on McPeek's roster of juveniles include Wild Desert, a stakes-placed son of Wild Rush owned by Sarah-Lyn Stables that will run in Saturday's Kentucky Jockey Club (GII); John R. Parker's Boggy Creek, who won last week's Sam Houston Texan Juvenile at Sam Houston Park; and Buckram Oak Farm's Diamond Isle, a son of Gilded Time who was runner-up in the Cradle at River Downs and third in Keeneland's Lane's End Breeders' Futurity (GI).
"We stopped on Diamond Isle, but he's a very nice horse and might be the best of the group," said McPeek. "But Kansas City Boy has always been impressive. He's trained like a good horse, but didn't run as well as we would have hoped when he was sprinting. But his first route in yesterday's race was very good, so we were pretty pleased." McPeek said there was no significant physical problem that prompted the early halt to Diamond Isle's campaign. He said Buckram Oak simply wanted to give the colt some time before gearing up for his 3-year-old campaign.
"We just made a decision to stop on him," said McPeek. "He had some skin disease after the Breeders' Futurity. I think he's a really nice horse." Diamond Isle has a record of 1-1-2 in his four career starts and has earned $122,030.
McPeek has some talent among his older horses, including some purchases from Brazil that have yet to make their U.S. debuts, but he is clearly looking forward to next year with the youngsters that have stepped forward for his stable this fall. "(Belmont Stakes winner) Sarava won the same race as Kansas City Boy as a 2-year-old and I've always felt that Kansas City Boy was one of the top three 2-year-olds in the barn," he said. "He's got a huge future. Diamond Isle's got a huge future. Exceptional Ride has a big future on the grass and I'll probably take Sweet Talker back to the dirt in her next race. She's probably not going to run until February or so."
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Prince Arch Runs Down Mustanfar In Saranac
9/7/2004
By DAVE LITFIN
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Prince Arch, who had been racing against the likes of multiple stakes winners Kittens Joy and Artie Schiller, returned from a layoff of nearly two months to win the $108,200 Saranac Stakes for 3-year-olds on the Mellon turf course.
Prince Arch, who won the Forerunner and the Jefferson Cup with strong closing runs earlier this year, had been freshened since a third-place finish in the Virginia Derby and needed every inch of the 1 3/16 miles to run down Mustanfar, who had collared pacesetter Catch the Glory in midstretch and opened a clear lead.
The 123-pound highweight, Prince Arch trailed early in a tightly bunched field of six, came widest into the stretch under Javier Castellano, and caught Mustanfar two strides from the wire.
Trained by Ken McPeek, Prince Arch ran the distance in 1:53.89 on firm turf to prevail by a head, and returned $6.10 to win as the slight favorite over Mustanfar among the Labor Day crowd of 21,648. It was another 2 1/4 lengths back to Catch the Glory, who held for third by 1 1/2 lengths over Good Reward.
Prince Arch earned $64,920 for his fourth win from nine starts on turf and was the fourth of five winners on the card for Castellano.
"I know some of the other jockeys were out of town," he said. "I have been waiting for an opportunity like this, and it came today."
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McPeek Enjoys Second Sight of Hard Bucks
7/25/2004
McPeek enjoys second sight of Hard Bucks
By Nick Townsend, Chief Sports Writer
25 July 2004
Sheikh Mohammed briefly picked up his binoculars as the field streamed into the straight. He scarcely needed to have troubled himself, and duly put them down again almost immediately. No need for viewing aids here.
The only belated excitement was whether, in the slipstream of the triumphant Doyen, his Godolphin stablemate Sulamani could get up for second to complete a remarkable one-two for the stables they refer to as "The Boys in Blue".
In fact, despite running a fine race, with the prevailing fast ground apparently against him, Sulamani just failed to overtake the American visitor Hard Buck.
The Sheikh, and other members of the ruling Maktoum family of Dubai and their acolytes - with their team of over 200 horses worldwide and whose Godolphin operation have harvested this race four times previously - could afford to be magnanimous about losing that runners-up position.
Certainly, the Sheikh loves to win, any prize, but the man who makes a habit of garnering the world's leading showpiece races, places that desire only marginally above his wish for the development of international competition.
He couldn't have been more delighted for Kenny McPeek than the Kentucky trainer himself in his own far-sightedness.
Some will submit that this wasn't a classic renewal of the marvellous inter-age race, first introduced in 1951, and they may be correct. But that will not trouble the 41-year-old McPeek, who, in his twenties was supposed to start work as a stockbroker in New York, but went to Belmont Park racecourse instead. Hard Buck's £165,000 second prize is not to be sniffed at. It sound even better in hard bucks. But mostly, he will be thrilled that his initiative has paid off.
American sportsmen - golfers apart, and even them sometimes - have often been parochial in their thinking, but McPeek had no qualms about this transAtlantic adventure with the Brazilian-bred five-year-old. It was six years ago, that he read some articles about major European courses and races. "I saved them all and thought if I ever get the chance, I'm going to go there. What's there to be scared of? Why not go? It's not life or death - it's just a horserace. It's fun, and I don't have anything to lose.
"The logistics of coming here are quite complicated and so much depends on the help you can get. We have been wonderfully looked after," he said.
The horse, purchased by McPeek himself, having travelled two and half hours outside Rio de Janeiro to find him, was partnered by Gary Stevens, who appeared in the movie Seabiscuit, and just briefly, he must have believed that his mount, already winner of the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup earlier this year, would establish himself in a similar starring role.
But once in the straight, there was only one victor, with Frankie Dettori accepting the almost hysterical acclaim of the faithful well before the line. Yet, Hard Buck, generously priced at 33-1, stayed the 12 furlong valiantly and McPeek maintained: "I am very proud of what we have achieved and we will be back. From the moment I first saw this horse I was sure that he was up to winning in the best company in the world, and I am delighted with what he has done here."
McPeek had an interesting tactical strategy that appeared to have more in keeping with a New York police precinct than a British racecourse. "I told Gary to keep an eye out for Doyen and the plan was for Hard Buck to try to eyeball him, but he just came past us and swept away. What a fantastic horse he is."
The trainer, who stabled the runner-up at Geoff Wragg's Newmarket yard, added: "We shall look at the Arc [Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, for which he is around 20-1] and the big races in Germany. If he is in the same form in 12 months' time as he has been in the lead-up to this race today, we shall certainly be back. This is a good race for us to target."
McPeek has now saddled his charges to finish second in the Kentucky Derby, the Kentucky Oaks, the Breeders' Cup and now here. "I would like to think that one of those races has my name on it somewhere," he reflected.
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Hard Buck Primed for Assault on Ascot
7/20/2004
Hard Buck primed for assault on Ascot
American trainer has King George in his sights
Greg Wood
Tuesday July 20, 2004
The Guardian
You start to sense that Kenny McPeek has broader horizons than many racehorse trainers when he suddenly starts speaking fluent Portuguese. Fortunately, he is also happy to translate.
"What I was saying," he explains, now back with his Lexington twang, "is that if you're going to buy horses in Brazil, then it helps if you speak the language."
Meet Kenny McPeek: horse trainer, linguist and a man who must never be under-estimated. Two years ago he went to the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the American Triple Crown, with a 70-1 chance, the outsider of the entire field. He came away with the biggest-priced winner in Belmont history.
On Saturday he will saddle Hard Buck, who is already a Grade One winner in the States, in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot. The bookies reckon Hard Buck is a 33-1 no-hoper. "Hey," McPeek says. "That's a great number."
But there is more than mere cheerful optimism behind this rare, indeed almost unprecedented, attempt to win a major British Flat race from a base in America. McPeek is a man who likes a challenge, certainly, but a man, too, who plots a meticulous path through life. His website, www.mcpeekracing.com, tells you that much.
One of its many pages lists the performance of every horse McPeek has saddled in a race since 1997. Elsewhere, it notes that his several stables at various tracks are run by rules set down in The One Minute Manager, a guide to business management. McPeek graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1984 with a degree in business administration and this is not an operation where anything is overlooked.
"We don't train horses according to that structure, we train horses artistically," McPeek says, "but the day-to-day care has to be structured. If you don't have a structure, then the organisation is weak.
"The first good horse I had was Tejano Run [who finished second in the 1995 Kentucky Derby]. After that horse I had a lot of new business and I had a hard time managing the details of multiple divisions.
"Now, what time people arrive, what they do while they're here, every task has somebody assigned to it so that we can make sure that the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed."
Like most American trainers, McPeek started out with a few, very cheap horses in a single racetrack barn. Now there are 36 horses at his main base at Churchill Downs in Kentucky, 27 at Arlington Park in Chicago and 10 more at Saratoga in New York. And he is always on the lookout for more, which is how he came to learn Portuguese, and to happen upon a colt called Hard Buck, who was running in races at Gavea in Rio de Janeiro.
"I started going down to Brazil a couple of years ago," he says, "and I found that there's some very good horses and very good value there.
"Portuguese is a very unusual language and Brazil is a bit of an island, surrounded by Spanish-speaking countries yet totally Portuguese-speaking itself. When you're negotiating for a horse, you need to speak it.
"I've now got clients that will allow me to go there regularly, find horses, buy the ones I like and bring them back, and we've probably got a dozen in here right now. Other trainers might try and do the same, but even if they did, they've got to speak the language, have the connections, and know where to go and who to talk to."
McPeek appreciates that Hard Buck, who is currently stabled at Geoff Wragg's Newmarket yard under the care of assistant trainer Hanne Jorgensen, faces an immense task on his first British start.
But his five-year-old does have proven form at a mile and a half on turf, and shares his trainer's determination to get the job done. "He's won Grade Ones on two continents already and nearly won a third when he was second in the Sheema Classic in Dubai [in March]. We do a lot of shipping and running here. I think the horse merits a chance and I want to try.
"I think his best races are closer to the pace, because he's a horse that likes something to aim at. But if he had to take the lead, he's a fighter. He'll fight other horses off, he's very brave and in the right circumstances he's very tough." Win or lose on Saturday, McPeek expects to learn a great deal from the experience, and perhaps put down a marker for other American trainers.
"I think it's an international game nowadays and although it's deep water, we're wading into it," he says.
"Sending horses abroad is easy now and it's not very expensive either, so I think you're going to see more of us.
"I'm going to use this as a measuring stick on what kind of horse it takes to come next time, whether he wins or loses. I realise that he's probably going to lose, but I do think he'll run a respectable race, and then the next time we come we'll be a little bit better prepared and a little more knowledgeable.
"The first time I ran in the Belmont I made a mistake with the horse. I learned from it and I came back and won it the second time."
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Knox Rallies From Last
7/18/2004
Ellis Park
Ellis Park: Knox rallies from last
By BYRON KING
Brice Blanc, known best for his skill as a turf jockey, rode Knox to victory in the $75,000 Regaey Island Stakes at Ellis Park, a one-mile stakes race that was transferred from a rain-soaked turf course to a fast main track.
Early in the race, Knox appeared an unlikely winner. He trailed as 6-5 favorite Big City Spender raced comfortably on the lead with opening fractions of 24.41 seconds and 48.61.
Big City Spender was joined on the final turn by Rogue Scholar and Cold Water, and the six-furlong fraction was a respectable 1:12.92. At this point, Blanc got Knox in gear, and as the leaders neared the stretch, Knox sat well placed in fourth.
Swung four wide for the drive, he easily ran down the leaders and drew away to win by 1 3/4 lengths. He raced a mile in 1:37.43 and paid $6.40.
Big City Spender bravely held second, 1 1/4 lengths in front of Cold Water. Rogue Scholar, Exploited Storm, and Heroic Deed completed the six-horse field, which was reduced by four when the race was moved to the main track.
Knox, a 3-year-old son of Menifee trained by Ken McPeek, won his first stakes. Last year as a juvenile, he was stakes placed on turf at Arlington.
Knox won for the third time in 11 starts. He is owned by Runnymede Farm and Arthur Hancock, who co-bred the colt with Catesby Clay. The $46,250 share of the purse improved his earnings to $128,282.
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His hope: Arch to triumph
7/13/2004
NEW KENT -- His ticker back in working order, Ray Cottrell, Sr. will be at Colonial Downs on Saturday to watch Prince Arch in the seventh Virginia Derby.
Cottrell, 72, suffered a heart attack June 2 and had to watch Prince Arch's win 10 days later from the office of his car dealership, Ray's Ford-Mercury in Brandenburg, Ky.
"I got too excited - I jumped up and got dizzy so I had to sit down," he said.
Doctors have cleared Cottrell to fly to Richmond and attend the race Saturday (5:40 p.m.). It will be a homecoming for Cottrell, who grew up in Chesterfield.
"I'm really, really looking forward to coming back home," he said Wednesday. "I'm more excited for the Virginia Derby than I was for the Kentucky Derby."
Cottrell has saddled two Kentucky Derby starters - Fighting Fantasy and Wilder Than Ever finished 15th in 1990 and 1991, respectively.
Prince Arch has a better chance to win Saturday than those two longshots. He is the third favorite (3-1) and will start from the rail in a 10-horse field. Prince Arch is 3-for-7 this year, 4-for-11 lifetime and comes in off a head-bob win over Kitten's Joy in the Grade III Jefferson Cup June 12 at Churchill Downs.
When Cottrell was growing up, he was not exposed to horse racing. He left Virginia when he lied about his age (he was 16) to enlist in the Army, beginning a 241/2-year military career. He served in the Korean War in 1950-51 and Vietnam in 1964-65. In Vietnam, he received a Purple Heart after being wounded in the face and legs.
"I'm proud of everybody and love everybody who served (in Vietnam)," he said. "We never got the credit we deserved for going over there. We did what we were ordered to do - we didn't start the war."
When he retired from the military in July 1972 as a Command Sergeant Major, Cottrell had been awarded three Silver Stars, four Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantry Badge. He opened his car dealership in suburban Louisville, Ky., and didn't get into racing until 1986 when he bought a former steeplechase horse for $6,000 and named him Mobil.
At its high point, Cottrell's stable numbered 40, but now has seven thoroughbreds in training. He has worked with trainer Ken McPeek for 15 years.
"He's been like a surrogate father to me," McPeek said. "We've had a lot of success together - I'm going to estimate we've won over 200 races and had several stakes winners. He stuck with me through thick and thin when I was young and always believed in me."
Said Cottrell: "I saw very early that Kenny had an eye to pick out a horse at a sale or at a claiming race and I'm unable to do that to this day. Some people can look at a horse and see how it's made and how it will run. Kenny is one of those people."
Cottrell has never paid more than $60,000 for a horse and he was on the phone with McPeek when the trainer bought Prince Arch for $37,000.
"That's a pretty high price for me," Cottrell said. "I was thinking $25,000 but told Kenny to keep going and then it got to $30,000 and told him to keep going again. He ended up being a bargain."
Prince Arch has found a home on the turf, going 3-for-7 with three seconds on the grass. But he broke through in the Jefferson Cup - he had lost his last two head-to-head races against Kitten's Joy, the Virginia Derby favorite.
"From the beginning, he was slow at learning things," Cottrell said. "Kenny has had a lot of great horses and it would have been easy for him to overlook a horse that wasn't learning as quick. But he stayed with him."
Initially, Cottrell was worried he would not be permitted to make the trip home. But he quickly proved to his doctors he was rebounding.
"I've been told to change my lifestyle, but I'm used to working seven days a week, 14-16 hours a day," he said. "When I left the hospital, I came straight to work. I've cut my work to 12 hours a day."
Cottrell will take a few days off this weekend to visit Colonial Downs for the first time. His wife, Lovell, will accompany him - the couple celebrated their 53rd anniversary on July 3. The couple raised two kids and a foster daughter.
"If the horse could win the race, that's great. If he doesn't run well, that's fine, too," he said. "But I know he's going to try harder than anybody."
-- Ryan O'Halloran, dailypress.com, July 8, 2004
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McPeek Finds Brazilian Gems
6/11/2004
McPeek finds Brazilian gems
By MARCUS HERSH
CHICAGO - To buy a racehorse you can go to an air-conditioned sales pavilion in central Kentucky or central Florida.
Or, to delve slightly deeper, you can catch a plane to Brazil.
Many take the first approach; only a handful take the second, including Ken McPeek, whose Brazilian excursions have been turning up runners.
On Saturday, McPeek was to send Hard Buck, one of the better older turf horses in the country, to the Opening Verse Stakes at Churchill Downs. On Sunday, two more Brazilians trained by McPeek, Prodigus and Art Variety, contest a $38,000 overnight handicap at Arlington. The race is carded for 1 1/2 miles on turf, but heavy rain pounded Chicagoland on Thursday night and more was forecast before Sunday, so the race could be moved to dirt.
"I think if it goes to dirt, Prodigus is better," McPeek said. "On turf, I think Art Variety is better."
They are both pretty good, and McPeek has been impressed with the horseflesh presented to him in Brazil.
"There's a lot to choose from, but it can be difficult seeing horses there," he said. "Some of them are around Rio, some are around Sao Paulo. Some are at the racetrack, some are at obscure training centers."
McPeek said some of the best Brazilian horses train high in the mountains. "You're driving, and it's like you were going to get lost, and then all of a sudden you're out in this amazing training center."
Brazil produces 3,000 to 4,000 Thoroughbred foals each year, and McPeek said he expects he'll be "buying horses there for the next 20 years." And he says he thinks he has found his next star, a horse named New Famous, who had his first day of U.S.-style training on Friday at Churchill.
Art Variety just ran May 31, finishing fourth in the Grade 3 Louisville Handicap. "He runs good on two weeks' rest," McPeek said.
A repeat of the Louisville performance would probably give Art Variety a win over his five foes here Sunday, but that is assuming the race stays on turf. Art Variety has started only once on dirt, finishing off the board on a wet track. Prodigus, on the other hand, has made seven main-track starts, winning three of them.
Two others in the race, National Anthem and Prospect Green, seem unlikely to run on dirt, but both Blackinton and Apalachee Special, a 9-year-old, have multiple main-track victories. Prospect Green just won a 12-furlong turf race at Arlington, albeit over $30,000 claimers.
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Hard Buck Faces World of Challengers in Dubai Sheema Classic
3/24/2004
Posted: 3/24/2004 8:39:00 AM ET
Hard Buck faces world of challengers in Dubai Sheema Classic
After conquering both North and South America, Hard Buck (Brz) will attempt to win a Group/Grade 1 event on his third continent when he takes on a dozen rivals from around the world in the $2-million Dubai Sheema Classic (UAE-G1) on Saturday at Nad al Sheba.
Countries represented in the 2,400-meter (11.93-furlong) turf event include the United States, England, Brazil, France, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.
Hard Buck comes off a victory in the Gulfstream Park Breeders’ Cup Handicap (G1) on February 22, his second graded stakes victory in the U.S. He previously won the Grande Premio Linneo de Paula Machado (Brz-G1) in his native Brazil. Before he came to the U.S., Hard Buck stopped in Dubai last year to try the UAE Derby (UAE-G2) and finished ninth. He has matured since then and his calm demeanor is that of a seasoned competitor who has won nine of his 15 starts and loves the Nad al Sheba racecourse.
Gary Stevens will embark on his new occupation as the stable jockey for French trainer Andre Fabre when he takes the reins of Polish Summer (GB), runner-up in the Hong Kong Vase (HK-G1) last December at Sha Tin racecourse. Polish Summer, who finished fourth behind Sulamani (Ire) in last year’s Dubai Sheema Classic, started his 2004 campaign with a nose victory over Bright Sky (Ire) in the Prix Exbury (Fr-G3).
The Maktoum family or its Godolphin Racing has won four of the six previous editions of the Sheema Classic and this year the Godolphin juggernaut has entered Lunar Sovereign as its main entry. Sheikh Rashid bin Mohammed al Maktoum, the son of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, has entered Razkalla.
Lunar Sovereign’s last victory came in the Man o’ War Stakes (G1) on September 6 at Belmont Park. He responded to a five-month layoff with a solid performance to finish third in the Dubai City of Gold (UAE-G3) on March 6 at Nad al Sheba. Razkalla finished a neck behind him in the same race.
"Razkalla is in good form," said jockey Ted Durcan after taking him for a gallop on Saturday at Nad al Sheba. "He has a good engine."
Fair Mix, who won the Dubai City of Gold by two lengths, appears to be peaking from a winter in Dubai following his fifth-place finish in the Hong Kong Vase. He has taken to the Nad al Sheba course well and has not had to face the shipping and quarantine of the other French-based horses.
Hard Buck will not be the only Brazilian-bred horse in the Sheema Classic, as trainer Antonio Alvani hopes the 2003 Argentine Horse of the Year Gorylla will duplicate his winning effort in the Carlos Pellegrini (Arg-G1) on December 13. Gorylla has finished first, second, or third in 19 of 30 career starts.—K. T. Donovan The field, in post-position order, with (sire), jockey, and trainer (all starters carry 124 pounds):
1. Rawyaan (Machiavellian), Richard Hills, John Gosden;
2. Razkalla (Caerleon), Ted Durcan, David Loder;
3. Delsarte (Theatrical [Ire]), Kerrin McEvoy, Saeed bin Suroor;
4. Lunar Sovereign (Cobra King), Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor;
5. Compton Bolter (Ire) (Red Sunset), Eddie Ahern, Saeed bin Suroor;
6. Polish Summer (GB) (Polish Precedent), Gary Stevens, Andre Fabre;
7. Scott’s View (Selkirk), Stanley Chin, Mark Johnston;
8. Grand Ekinoks (Barnato), Alex Solis, Aditiyan Selvaratnam;
9. Warrsan (Caerleon), Michael Kinane, Clive Brittain;
10. Hard Buck (Brz) (Spend a Buck), John Velazquez, Ken McPeek;
11. Martaline (Linamix), Jerry Bailey, Andre Fabre;
12. Fair Mix (Linamix), Olivier Peslier, Marcel Rolland; and
13. Gorylla (New Colony), Alex Mota, Antonio Alvani.
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Hard Buck wins the River City Handicap (G3)
11/16/2003
Hard Buck (BRZ) had his third consecutive win today since coming to the United States. This time he won the River City Handicap (G3). This Brazilian import has brought much excitement to the people who know him in both North and South America, and with each start, he is stamping himself as a major force with which to be reckoned. He races in the silks of Team Victory, and is owned by a partnership that includes Jose Carlos Carnivale, Bill and Joe Gallion, and, yes, Kenny and Sue McPeek. Kenny always wanted to tap into a different market for good older horses, and spoke for years of the possibility of looking to South America as a source for good horses. With the help of Brazilian bloodstock agent Renato Gameiro, his dream is becoming a reality. Renato will organize for Kenny a list of horses to review during, and Kenny's sharp eye has been successful in selecting some nice individuals. A side benefit is that we have met so many wonderful people from Brazil and Argentina and we now have expanded our own world a bit to include our neighbors to the south. Congratulations to all involved!
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