OXBOW WINS PREAKNESS STAKES 138

Watch Oxbow winning the Preakness Stakes (G1)
(Image : Herald Sun - Footage : CNBC)

PREAKNESS STAKES (Grade 1)
Pimlico, Dirt, 9.5 Furlongs
18 May 2013

A Triple Crown will have to wait yet another year after Calumet Farm’s Oxbow (Awesome Again) gave Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas - age 77 - a sixth win and fellow Hall of Famer Gary Stevens - age 50 and a handful of months removed from a seven year retirement - a third victory in Saturday’s Grade 1 Preakness Stakes at Old Hilltop in Baltimore. Itsmyluckyday (Lawyer Ron) looked a danger in deep stretch before settling for second, while Mylute (Midnight Lute) came from the back of the pack to be third.

GI Kentucky Derby hero Orb (Malibu Moon) was sent off at prohibitive odds of 3-5 to take this middle jewel, but raced in a bit of traffic and closer to the pace than is his custom on the back stretch and only a belated rally carried him into fourth.

In the capable hands of Gary Stevens, whose two previous Preakness wins came for Bob Baffert (Silver Charm, 1997 and Point Given, 2001), Oxbow was given rein and edged past Goldencents (Into Mischief) to lead with a circuit to travel, while Itsmyluckyday and Titletown Five (Tiznow) were the next-closest pursuers. Orb and GIII Illinois Derby hero Departing (War Front) raced as a team further back, while Govenor Charlie (Midnight Lute), Will Take Charge and Mylute comprised the latter third of the field into the clubhouse turn.

Oxbow traveled sweetly turning up the backstretch and there were no real deltas until Joel Rosario guided Orb off the inside and into the two path to launch a middle move between Titletown Five and Itsmyluckyday that carried him to within two lengths of the pacesetter nearing the half-mile pole. But Titletown Five countered up the fence and Departing ranged up to his outside, and all at once, Orb was relegated to sixth and was sending out distress signals as he was niggled along by Rosario. Back at the head of affairs, Stevens was a mere passenger as Oxbow took them around the final turn after breezing the opening six furlongs in 1:13.26, and, surprisingly, his host of pursuers did not include the Derby winner.

Itsmyluckyday, three or four wide the whole journey, took aim from the outside and Departing appeared dangerous for a stride or two in upper stretch, but Oxbow had managed to conserve enough energy for that crucial final furlong and stayed on well for the win. Itsmyluckyday was a gallant second ahead of Mylute, who validated his fifth in the Derby with another creditable effort.

Extracts from Thoroughbred Daily News

PREAKNESS STAKES 138 : POST DRAW

Orb at Pimlico Race Course
(Photo : Washington Post)

PREAKNESS STAKES (Grade 1)
Pimlico, Dirt, 9.5 Furlongs
18 May 2013

In the moments leading up to Wednesday’s Preakness post position draw at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Shug McGaughey - the trainer of Orb (Malibu Moon) - admitted to HRTV’s Zoe Cadman that, in an ideal world, he would get the eight hole for his GI Kentucky Derby hero.

The racing Gods, however, had other plans for Saturday’s likely favorite and the thriving bay was granted post one instead. On the morning line, the colt was installed the even-money choice in the nine-horse field. “There is nothing we can do about it,” said McGaughey. “It wasn’t the one I would have picked out, but it’s just a nine-horse field and it all evens itself out. Jockey Joel Rosario will know what to do.” he added. “He won the GII Fountain of Youth Stakes from the 1. His first race wasfrom the ‘1’ and he finished third in a very good race at Saratoga August 18.”

While McGaughey was, for the most part, accepting of drawing the rail, Orb’s regular exercise rider, Jenn Patterson, appeared much more concerned. “We’ll get her calmed down, she’ll be fine,” said McGaughey with a smile. “They always told me therail was the shortest way around, so maybe that’s what we’ll do.”

Listed as the third choice on the morning line at 6-1 is Departing (War Front), who drew post position four. The Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider home-bred won the April 20 GIII Illinois Derby in his latest start. “Everything’s fine,” said trainer Al Stall. “There are only nine horses, so the position isn’t that important. Orb isn’t going to go on with it, so he’s going to have to go around. Out of the nine numbers, the 1 is probably the one you want the least.”

PREAKNESS STAKES 138
Final Field

Draw	Horse	Sire	Trainer	Jockey	Odds
1	ORB	Malibu Moon	Claude McGaughey	Joey Rasario	Even
2	GOLDENCENTS	Into Mischief	Doug O’Neill	Kevin Krigger	8-1
3	TITLETOWN FIVE	Tiznow	D Wayne Lukas	Julien Leparoux	30-1
4	DEPARTING	War Front	Al Stall	Brian Hernandez	6-1
5	MYLUTE	Midnight Lute	Thomas Amoss	Rosie Napravnik	5-1
6	OXBOW	Awesome Again	D Wayne Lukas	Gary Stevens	15-1
7	WILL TAKE CHARGE	Unbridled’s Song	D Wayne Lukas	Mike Smith	12-1
8	GOVENOR CHARLIE	Midnight Lute	Bob Baffert	Martin Garcia	12-1
9	ITSMYLUCKYDAY	Lawyer Ron	Eddie Plesa	John Velazquez	10-1

Extracts from Thoroughbred Daily News

www.preakness.com

STARS AND STRIPES AND STAR-SPANGLED BANNERS

Jean Cruguet with A.P. Arrow
(Image : Leigh Willson)

JEAN CRUGUET
“1977 US Triple Crown Winning Jockey”

If there’s any virtue in hardship, it’s that it makes us appreciate the good times when they come around, and there are any number of stories among the champions of the business, political and sporting worlds of people who grew up tough. How many kids have emerged from poverty with a greater hunger than their coddled contemporaries, how many rags-to-riches stories are there of people who’ve been driven by the memories of their deprivation and their envy of those who had it all?

Just as France’s “impregnable” Maginot Line was overrun by German invasionary forces in the spring of 1939, a toddler who was to inscribe his name into thoroughbred lore, was born to an impoverished French family in Agen. At the tender age of 5, Jean Cruguet was placed in an orphanage after his father abandoned the family, leaving his mother destitute. She had no choice, and from 10 to 16, the young Cruguet lived at a secondary school run by Catholic priests, where he faced all sorts of abuses, not the least because he was the smallest guy in the school. At 16, his size became his greatest asset, as an associate of his grandfather offered him work at a thoroughbred racetrack. A budding career in its embryo stages as a jockey was interrupted by mandatory military service in the French Foreign Legion in Algeria. Cruguet returned to thoroughbred racing after four years, and replaced the army-bound future champion, Yves St-Martin at the all-conquering stable of Francois Mathet, famed for his association with the Dupre horses which were to form the foundation in later years of the Aga Khan’s powerful breeding enterprise. A chance liaison led to his marriage to the supremely talented horsewoman, Denyse, a pioneering female in the French racing industry. Later in life, Jean acknowledged her abundant skills of horsemanship, when he said she was “the best horse I ever rode”. They soon decided to take their chances in the United States; it was the beginning of an explosion.

Cruguet had hardly arrived when he was offered the plum position of stable jockey for the celebrated conditioner, Horatio Luro, famed for polishing the talents of one of America’s greatest racehorses and certainly the world’s greatest stallion of all time, Northern Dancer. In 1969 he gave notice of things to come when he replaced Roberto’s rider, Braulio Baeza on the future Hall Of Fame inductee, Arts And Letters, charging home in the time-honoured Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park. In 1971, he was connected with the horse he claimed was the best he’d thrown a leg over thus far, coaxing Hoist The Flag to an unbeaten two and three-year-old campaign. Hoist The Flag suffered a career-ending injury in his preparation for the Wood Memorial in the lead up to the Kentucky Derby; the decision to pack him off to stud at the Hancock’s Claiborne Farm denying the colt a shot at the Triple Crown. That was the beginning of a highly productive career at stud where his progeny included the dual Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe champion, Alleged. The cruelty of fate raised its head again, when Hoist The Flag broke a leg at a time when his stud life was just beginning to blossom.

Little did Cruguet realise that there were even bigger fish to fry in the United States, as he and his wife decided to return to France for the 1972 season; this time he landed with his proverbial “bum-in-the-butter”, as he swept the major Group One races for fillies including the Prix Vermeille and the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches in France, as well as the Champion Stakes in England and wound up second in an abbreviated calendar in the French Jockey’s Championship. In the final session, he strapped his saddle over the back of the champion San San, whom he rode to all her wins, including the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth II Stakes for the storied Angel Penna Snr, bar one, and that was the only one that mattered to a Frenchman. He was prevented by injury from taking the ride in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, and the filly duly obliged for the flamboyant Countess Bathiany.

Jean Cruguet
Career Record 

MAJOR RACING WINS
Travers Stakes	1968
Metropolitan Handicap	1969
Toboggan Handicap	1969
Lawrence Realization Stakes	1969/1970/1975/1978
Cowdin Stakes	1970
Laurel Futurity	1970
Prix Vermeille	1972
Poule d’Essai des Pouliches	1972
Champion Stakes	1973
Manhattan Handicap	1974
Stuyvesant Handicap	1974
Alabama Stakes	1975/1983
Hopeful Stakes	1975/1976
Champagne Stakes	1976
Mother Goose Stakes	1976/1977
Flamingo Stakes	1977
Wood Memorial Stakes	1977/1984
Kentucky Derby	1977
Preakness Stakes	1977
Belmont Stakes	1977
US Triple Crown	1977
Futurity Stakes	1978
Washington DC International Stakes	1978/1993
Canadian International Stakes	1978/1989
Jerome Handicap	1979
Ladies Handicap	1979
Saranac Handicap	1979
Withers Stakes	1979
Blue Grass Stakes	1983
Tremont Stakes	1983
Coaching Club American Oaks	1984
Dwyer Stakes	1984
Knickerbocker Handicap	1985/1986/1988/1992

Cruguet paid us a surprise visit on Sunday, having been advised by any number of Kentucky horseman, that if he was to make the journey to South Africa, he was compelled to visit Summerhill. He tells us that his childhood reminds him constantly that life gives you one chance, and you need to make the best of it while you have your faculties about you. He and Denyse returned to the United States in 1973, and it wasn’t long before the diminutive Frenchman was setting the tracks of America alight again. The crowning moment came in 1976, when he teamed up with Billy Turner to ride the two-year-old colt Seattle Slew, who’d at $17,000 had been pretty much overlooked at the sales. “Slew” cruised to victory in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park, crowning an unbeaten season, and claiming the Juvenile champion’s title, as well as putting his hand up as a legitimate contender for the Triple Crown. To put this into perspective, the previous Triple Crown winner was Secretariat in 1971, and before him you’d have to go back to Citation in the 40s. The most recent Triple Crown winner was Affirmed in 1978, and no horse or rider since has been good enough to do it.

Watch Seattle Slew winning the 1977 Kentucky Derby
(Image : Racing Archives - Footage : Awis Dooger)

Seattle Slew warmed up for the Kentucky Derby with facile victories in the Wood Memorial and Flamingo Stakes (both Group Ones) on his way to the Twin Spires at Churchill Downs. His running style was on the lead, and as he took his place in the stalls for the 103^rd renewal of America’s most famous race, he was the only unbeaten aspirant for the Triple Crown in history, never headed for a single yard in any race before. He jumped awkwardly however, and for the first time, he missed the break: within a hundred yards there was just one horse behind him, and Cruguet knew he was in trouble. He shook the reigns for a moment, and surged through the field to be second before the horses entered the clubhouse turn, then proceeded to destroy his field in the closing 600 metres with a spectacular display of power galloping. It was the same story in the Preakness Stakes, and while Cruguet maintains to this day that Seattle Slew’s best trip was at a mile, his class carried him unchallenged to heroism in the Belmont Stakes, to complete the third leg.

In a moment which still occupies the columns of journals more than 35 years down the road, attracting praise and derision in equal measure, with more than 30 yards to the finish line, Cruguet raised himself out of the saddle in triumph in the manner of a gladiator, extending his right arm over his head and saluting jubilantly to an equally jubilant mass numbering well over 150,000. It’s against the rules, we know, but this was a Triple Crown hero in the true sense of the word, and in any event, there was nothing in sight to alter the outcome.

Seattle Slew
Career Record

MAJOR WINS
Champagne Stakes	1976
Wood Memorial Stakes	1977
Flamingo Stakes	1977
Kentucky Derby	1977
Preakness Stakes	1977
Belmont Stakes	1977
Woodward Stakes	1978
Marlboro Cup	1978
Stuyvesant Handicap	1978
AWARDS
US Champion 2-year-old Colt	1976
US Triple Crown Champion	1977
US Champion 3-year-old Colt	1977
American Horse Of The Year	1977
US Champion Older Male Horse	1978
Leading Sire in North America	1984
North American leading Broodmare Sire	1995/1996

While Cruguet was equally effective on both American surfaces, he was without peer on the turf, and a year later he was on board Mac Diarmada, whose victories in the Washington DC International and the Canadian Turf Championship saw him voted Champion Turf horse. The journeyman announced his retirement at 41 in July 1980 to join his wife as a full-time trainer, but the lure of riding had him back in the saddle two years later. His last major Grade One Stakes victory came aboard Hodges Bay, again in the Canadian International at Woodbine. Today he lives in historic Midway just outside Lexington in the vicinity of one of the world’s great stallion stations, Winstar Farm, and the late Sheikh Maktoum al Maktoum’s Gainsborough Stud. It’s no coincidence that the Woodford Bourbon Distillery is in the vicinity. For many years after his retirement, he made guest appearances for organisations such as Old Friends, a retirement and rescue facility for pensioned thoroughbreds. He almost completely disappeared from the public eye when he became the caregiver to his wife Denyse, when bedridden from a stroke in 2003, until she passed on in 2010 at age 80.

At 74 he remains active, working horses daily at the track, and he’s in excellent shape for a man who came off horses more often than he’d care to remember. He puts that down to a determination to make the number one box his home, and the fact that it often involves calculated risks which turned nasty. His pluck, his natural intuitions, his athleticism and dare we say, his upbringing, took him to the winner’s circle countless times, yet you know this is a man who remains comfortable in his own skin, “I crossed the line in front in more than 7000 races, but the truth is, I only won 500 them. Good horses did the rest”.

A couple of hours with Cruguet is riveting, and he speaks easily of the legends that forged the golden years of the game, Penna, Maurice Zilber, (for whom he rode the great Dahlia), Luro, Bill Mott, Woody Stevens and Charlie Whittingham. When you ask him to name the greatest horse of all time, and you toss in the names of Secretariat and Affirmed, he’s unhesitating: “There was none better than Slew. He could do a mile in 1 minute 31, and seven furlongs in 1 minute 20, and there’s no horse in history could go with that”.

If it’s at all possible, Cruguet offers that Slew’s legacy at stud may even have eclipsed his feats at the races. The dominant sire-line of the current era comes courtesy of his son A.P. Indy, and we owe it to Slew and his masterful rider, that we have A.P. Arrow at Summerhill today.

Enquiries :
Linda Norval +27 (0) 33 263 1081
or email linda@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za

I'LL HAVE ANOTHER WINS PREAKNESS THRILLER

Click above to watch I’ll Have Another winning the 137th Preakness Stakes…
(Image : Daily Mail - Footage : M Pearson)

PREAKNESS STAKES (Grade 1)
Pimlico, Dirt, 1900m
19 May 2012

Maybe it wasn’t Sunday Silence and Easy Goer coming down to settle the GI Preakness Stakes Saturday at Old Hilltop, but J. Paul Reddam’s I’ll Have Another (Flower Alley) and Bodemeister (Empire Maker) put on an outstanding show in their own right, duplicating their 1-2 finish from the GI Kentucky Derby two weeks ago and creating the first Triple Crown bid since Big Brown (Boundary) went for the sweep back in 2008.

Bodemeister, favored in the rematch at 17-10, won the break and made the lead passing the stands for the first time, while - somewhat surprisingly - Creative Cause emerged as the nearest pace presence. I’ll Have Another jumped fairly and was handy enough while racing in about the three path, but was nudged out a bit wider by Went The Day Well (Proud Citizen) approaching the clubhouse turn. The Team Valor runner backed off a bit, and that allowed Mario Gutierrez to tuck into a three-wide spot around the turn and into the backstretch. Back on the front end, Bodemeister and Mike Smith were coasting along through an opening half-mile in :47.68, not taxing on paper, but perhaps an above-par pace over a dull strip. Creative Cause was in good striking position from second, while I’ll Have Another was three wide, but covered up behind his grey fellow Californian.

Bodemeister was still going smartly on the engine at the three eighths marker, and Gutierrez seemed to have a few seconds of hesitation as he tried to decide whether to go inside or outside of Creative Cause. He remained off that one’s heels to the quarter pole, was switched out thereafter and was a bit clumsy in switching his leads. It looked for a few strides as if I’ll Have Another might have work to do to catch the free-wheeling Bodemeister, but he continued to plug away with dour determination, took aim on the Bob Baffert runner entering the final half-furlong and pegged him back in the final two strides. Creative Cause finished third, though nearly nine lengths off the top two. The winning rider admitted to expecting a dogfight in the waning stages. “I knew it was going to be a little bit of a tough race,” he said. “But I’ll Have Another had a tremendous kick in the end. So I could feel my horse racing ground and everything was definitely the way. So it’s a great feeling when you’re riding a horse that’s giving you a hundred percent. He’s an amazing horse.”

For every trainer who has not excelled under the Triple Crown spotlight, there is a Doug O’Neill. His leadup to Saturday’s Preakness included throwing out the first pitch prior to the Orioles-Yankees game at nearby Camden Yards and various public appearances. In fact, O’Neill took time out on national television in the winner’s enclosure, to call out the first names of at least a dozen people, most likely young people, whose acquaintance he had made during his time in the city.

Much maligned, O’Neill is clearly cut from a different mold and has flourished in the aftermath of the Kentucky Derby. He was very much at ease after finally making his way to the post-Preakness press gathering.

Q: Your wife is known for being allergic to horses. Is she allergic to I’ll Have Another?

A: It’s amazing. The large checks seem to keep her from itching and coughing.

Q: And what about the next three weeks?

A: Certainly the intensity and pressure will be on the rise.

Q: Are you looking forward to it?

A: I am. I’m excited. I’m surrounded by so many fun people. Just having fun with them. That is kind of doing our thing around the barn. We work hard and take good care of the horses. When injuries come up, we just regroup, take care of them, and we just have a really good atmosphere in the barn. That helps us have time to keep everything very loose for me and the horses and the staff.

So look out NYC. Team O’Neill is on their way.

Extract from Thorougbred Daily News

ANIMAL KINGDOM REWARDED FOR CLASSIC SUCCESS

Click above to watch Animal Kingdom winning the 2011 Kentucky Derby (Grade 1)
(Image : Yahoo Sports - Footage : Churchill Downs)

ECLIPSE AWARDS
16 January 2012

Never before had the top two Eclipse Award vote getters in the 3-year-old male division been so much like the proverbial apples and oranges comparison, which made voting in 2011 so unique and difficult.

That is how different the two protagonists, Animal Kingdom (USA) (by Leroidesanimaux - Dalicia, by Acatenango) and Caleb’s Posse (USA) (by Posse - Abbey’s Missy, by Slewacide), were from each other. Voters had to decide between a Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) winner and Preakness Stakes (G1) runner-up who didn’t race after June 11 and a one-turn specialist who was just another of the nondescript 3-year-olds on the Derby trail until he had a big breakthrough after being shortened up to one turn.

In the end the voters went classic as Animal Kingdom was honored this week with an Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old male. He edged Caleb’s Posse by a first-place vote tally of 114 to 111. Shackleford, the Preakness Stakes (Gr1) winner, received 12 first-place votes, followed by Ruler On Ice (5), Stay Thirsty (4), and Uncle Mo (1). There was one abstention in this category.

Owned and bred Team Valor International and trained by Graham Motion, Animal Kingdom was not even considered his owner’s main Derby hopeful in late March when he was entered in the non-graded Rushaway Stakes at Turfway, while Crimson China went in the rich Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes (G3) on the same card. But when Crimson China failed to make the starting field due to lack of earnings, their roles were reversed, with Animal Kingdom having earned slightly more money.

When Animal Kingdom won the Spiral on Polytrack, he thrust himself into the Derby picture and on the first Saturday in May he defeated 18 of the best 3-year-olds in training at the time. Animal Kingdom won the classic by an impressive win by 2 3/4 lengths in his first start ever on dirt, something that had never been achieved before.

A fast-closing second in the Preakness, Animal Kingdom was sent off as the 5-2 favorite for the Belmont Stakes (G1). But a disastrous start, in which he stumbled badly, nearly falling and unseating jockey John Velazquez, cost him all chance. After making a spectacular run on the far turn, he faded to sixth in what was to be his final start of the year, due to a hind leg fracture.

Extract from Blood Horse