Author Archives: Debbie Easter

UNCHAINED MELODY, BRED BY ANNE AND DICK POULSON’S HARE FOREST FARM CAPTURES GRADE II MOTHER GOOSE

UNCHAINED MELODY SCORES RIGHTEOUS WIN IN MOTHER GOOSE

By Alicia Wincze Hughes t @BH_AHughes
Reprinted from the Bloodhorse Daily July 2, 2017

Unchained Melody is going to need a harder question asked of her for her next test. Making  just her fourth start and first attempt at the stakes level, the daughter of Smart Strike was in control at every point of call in the $250,000 Mother Goose Stakes (G2), as she turned back six challengers in gate-to-wire fashion at Belmont Park July 1.

Graded accolades were destined to be handed out for the first time in the 1 1/16-mile test, as none of the seven entrants prevailed at that level prior to Saturday. It didn’t take long to figure out which distaffer that would be.

The Brian Lynch-trained Unchained Melody broke sharply from post 2 under jockey Joel Rosario and had a response for every challenge that tried to come at her during her 1:42.45 tour around Big Sandy. After Spanish Harlem chased the pacesetter through an opening quarter in :23.62, Vexatious tried to mount her own bid three-wide through the half-mile in :46.62.

It was then Lockdown’s turn to take a shot at Unchained Melody, as she surged up from sixth on the far outside coming around the turn. The third-place finisher in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) could get no closer than within a couple lengths of the leader, however, as Unchained Melody found more gears in the middle of the lane to cross the wire three lengths in front.

“She’s got such a high cruising speed and there didn’t look like there was going to be a lot of pace in the race, so we hoped she’d get comfortable on the lead,” Lynch said. “Not that those were slow fractions. She cracked out a half in :46, but she’s tough to get by, obviously. ”

“She was enjoying the middle of the track, so I just kept her there where she felt most comfortable,” added Rosario. “I worked her in the morning the other day, so I was able to get a feel for her and she moved very good.”

Bred by Hare Forest Farm, which owns her in partnership with Hidden Brook Farm, Unchained Melody came into the Mother Goose off a two-length win a 1 1/16- mile allowance test at Belmont June 1. She broke her maiden first time out at Gulfstream Park March 19 and came in second going six furlongs at Keeneland in April.

“The (grade 1) Alabama (Aug. 19) would be the next step, I think,” Lynch said. “We’ll give her some time and set her for that. I think she’s certainly stamped her card in that direction today.”

Lockdown held for second, followed by Moana, My Miss Tapit, Vexatious, Lights of Medina, and Spanish Harlem, to complete the order of finish.

Sent off at 2-1 odds, Unchained Melody paid $6.40, $3.50, and $2.90 across the board and improved her earnings to $233,400. She is out of the grade 3-winning Partner’s Hero mare Love Match. BH

Virginia Breds Sire Kentucky Oaks and Derby Winners

FOILED VA-BRED DERBY HOPEFULS EARN REDEMPTION
by Nick Hahn | May 10,2017
Reprinted with permission of the Racing Biz

Virginia swept the Oaks/Derby double over the weekend at Churchill Downs — though you might not know it — in manners that couldn’t be more opposite. Under a masterful, measured, front running ride of jockey John Velazquez Always Dreaming won the Kentucky Derby. Jockey Mike Smith kept passing fillies aboard Abel Tasman in going from last to first in the Kentucky Oaks.

Abel Tasman- Benoit Photo

Always Dreaming was sired by Virginia-bred Bodemeister, who stands at Winstar Farm in Kentucky. Abel Tasman is by Virginia-bred Quality Road, who stands at Lane’s End, also in Kentucky.

In Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, Always Dreaming finished where his sire fell short, and just short. In 2012, Bodemeister blazed out of both Derby and Preakness starting gates, stubborn with the lead until just steps before the wire. Perhaps aided by a sloppy racetrack, Always Dreaming turned back every attempt made at him and stayed well ahead of those that still had their bids underway.

Trainer Todd Pletcher who endured inquisitive looks nearly every morning of Derby week for his colt’s “all too happy” gallops, had settled his colt enough during the week to get the best out of him on Saturday.

Bodemeister’s first crop of three-year-old progeny are racing this year, and Always Dreaming will be quite a beacon. Bodemeister, the Derby and Preakness runner up of 2012, was bred by Audley Farm in Berryville and sired by Empire Maker out of the Storm Cat mare Untouched Talent.

The Clarke County farm, along the West Virginia border, once stood Sir Barton, the first winner of the Triple Crown, before it was even titled as such.

“It brought back memories of 2012, that’s for sure. We were wondering about the distance but he just kept going. It’s redemption,” observed Turner Kobayashi, Audley’s General Manager. “Always Dreaming is a dream for us as well. We’re part of the stallion syndicate with Winstar.”

The Kentucky Derby is settled. Always Dreaming shipped to Pimlico on Tuesday seeking to avenge Bodemeister’s near miss in the Preakness on May 20th.

Abel Tasman, didn’t follow quite the same parade route as Always Dreaming. She was last out of the gate, and jockey Mike Smith steadied his filly off the first turn, went six wide in the second turn and cleared to win by a length and a quarter. Smith timed his rally astutely.

“I felt they were going quick enough for as far back as I was,” said Smith after the race.

Quality Road, who has four crops of foals of racing age, has seen five of his progeny win graded stakes this year. And with the win in the $1 million Kentucky Oaks, Abel Tasman shot to the top of that list.

While Bodemeister’s racing career ended with the Triple Crown — like I’ll Have Another, who ran him down in both the Derby and the Preakness, he never raced again after the latter race — in many ways Quality Road’s was just beginning after the Triple Crown.

Coming into the 2009 Kentucky Derby, Quality Road was expected to be favored after wins in the Florida Derby and Fountain of Youth. But a quarter crack in the days before the Derby forced him to the sidelines. He would later win three Grade 1 races — the Woodward, the Metropolitan Handicap and the Donn Handicap — during his 4-year-old campaign.

One of Virginia’s most successful breeders, the late Edward P. Evans, bred Quality Road, a son of Elusive Quality out of Kobla, by Strawberry Road (AUS). Evans’ Spring Hill Farm in Casanova Farm in Fauquier County was sold last year.

Two native sons of Virginia, now standing in Kentucky, channeling their brilliance through their offspring.

Sportsman, business impresario Randolph ‘Randy’ Rouse dies at 100

Reprinted from the Fauquier Times

By Vicky Moon and Leonard Shapiro: Apr 8, 2017

Randolph D. “Randy” Rouse, a business impresario and a dashing, dapper and daring sportsman died on Friday, April 7. He was 100 years old.

Widely known throughout Northern Virginia, and particularly in the horse country of Fauquier and Loudoun counties, Rouse recently also showed his philanthropic side when he donated the Middleburg Training Track, which he’d owned since 2006, to the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation.

He signed the papers on Dec. 29, the day before he turned 100, and told the Fauquier Times “at my age, you have to start thinking about the future.”

 

Rouse maintained a 10-acre estate as his home in Arlington. He would often pick up his beloved saxophone and entertain awe-struck guests who gathered all around to hear him play. The walls of his home are lined with photos of his many champion point-to-point and steeplechase horses, including – Cinzano (caught up in a controversial horse swap) and Ricacho winner of the 1960 Virginia Gold Cup with the late legendary Joe Aitchenson Jr., up. There are also many images in his home of memorable moments in the hunt field.

Rouse joined the Fairfax Hunt in the late 1940s and became Joint Master of Foxhounds (Jt. MFH) in MFH in the mid-50s, a title and position he maintained for 55 years until his death. “He WAS the Fairfax Hunt,” his friend, Joseph Keusch of Middleburg, said. Keusch also served as a Jt. MFH. “He was a true Southern gentleman.”

“His real love was the world of fox-hunting,” said another long-time friend, Will Allison of Warrenton, the president of the Virginia Gold Cup Races. “He was a legend, and to be invited to hunt with Randy Rouse was the ultimate invitation. To be invited to come up front and hunt with him, it was like sitting at the right hand of God.”

After first joining Fairfax Hunt, Rouse built a clubhouse for the group while it was located in Reston at Sunset Hills Farm and owned by the Bowman family. He also built a steeplechase course in Reston and later at Belmont along Route 7 in Fairfax. Due to creeping civilization and development, the hunt, along with many others, eventually migrated west. It is now known as the Loudoun-Fairfax Hunt.

He also was also the oldest steeplechase trainer to saddle a winner at age 99 with Hishi Soar at the Foxfield races in Charlottesville last spring. That horse was a also a winner at the Orange County Point-to- Point races recently.

As a rider and competitor, Rouse will be forever noted as one of the winningest amateur steeplechase and point-to-point jockeys of this era. He supported steeplechasing through his sponsorship of the Virginia Professional Horseman Benefit races, the Gold Cup races at Great Meadow and Colonial Downs. He recently was honored with the F. Ambrose Clarke award from the National Steeplechase Association as one who has “improved, encouraged and promoted the sport’s growth and welfare.”

Rouse’s first wife was the late actress Audrey Meadows, a co-star with the late comedian Jackie Gleason in “The Honeymooners,” the wildly popular 1950s television series. They divorced in 1958 after two years.

Between wives, Rouse was a frequent escort to many A-list Washington area women. With his own charming demeanor, good looks, and elegant manners, he was usually considered the arm candy. He swirled in high circles on the dance floor at the Washington International Horse Show, hunt balls and embassy receptions, yet was equally comfortable and welcome in the stables and at race tracks everywhere.

“He was a great sportsman, a great lover and one of the great story-tellers of all time,” Allison said. “He kept you enthralled for hours with his exploits.”

Everyone was his friend, including the flamboyant and bombastic late Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke. Rouse was a regular in Cooke’s private box at RFK Stadium and later, FedEx Field, and more than occasionally had a seat on the team plane to away games.

His widow, Michele Rouse, who he married in 1983, told the Washington Post in 1998: “He’s just amazing. He attacks every day with enormous passion.”

Indeed, the day before he died, he tried to reach a friend in Middleburg from his hospital bed to say he was sorry he couldn’t make it for lunch that day.

Arrangements for services are pending.

Board Of Director Election Results Announced

On the 18th, VTA Board of Director election results were announced at the Board/Annual Meeting in Warrenton. The newly elected Board Members listed below will serve from January 2017 through December 2019:

Capital District:  Richard (Dick) Freer, Richmond
Potomac District:  Jim Fitzgerald, Marshall
Blue Ridge District: Sue Hart, Charlottesville

At-Large Directors:
Wayne Chatfield-Taylor, Front Royal
Donna Dennehy, Ashland
Gillian (Jill) Gordon-Moore, Berryville
Tommy Lee Jones, Warrenton
Brooke Royster, Gordonsville
Cynthia (Cindy) Tucker Curtis, Upperville

VTA Board members may serve two consecutive terms(4 years total) before they are required to step down. They may run again after a one year hiatus.

 

Backer Virginia’s Leading Breeder in 2016

At the beginning of February award checks will be distributed to Virginia Breeders and Stallion owners for wins during the 2016 racing year. $400,000 in Breeder’s Fund award money will be split among Virginia Breeders, while stallion owners will split a total of $20,000.

Mr. William Backer’s Smitten Farm was Virginia’s leading breeder in 2016, with 35 wins, including stakes winners Sweet Victory, Rose Brier and Moon River. Mr. Backer’s passion was breeding and racing Thoroughbred horses, unfortunately he passed away in 2016 before he could enjoy his leading breeder status. Backer bred horses such as Chorus Line, who was second in Friday’s $100,000 Ladies Handicap at Aqueduct, will continue to uphold the Smitten Farm legacy in 2017 and beyond. Wayne and Susie Chatfield-Taylor’s Morgan’s Ford Farm was Virginia’s second leading breeder with 33 wins. Queen Caroline, winner of three stakes in 2016 was Morgan’s Ford’s highest earner.

bill backer - HOV PhotographyBill Backer and Wayne Chatfield-Taylor at the 2015 VTA Breeder’s Awards party

2015 Virginia Horse of the Year, Stellar Wind was the leading Virginia earner in 2016 with $540,000 in purse money. The Curlin filly, co-bred by Peggy Augustas’ Keswick Stables and Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, did all of her running in grade one company in 2016. She beat champion Beholder to win the Clement L. Hirsh and the Zenyatta stakes while placing second in the Vanity and fourth in the Breeder’s Cup Distaff.

Tough Weather, bred by Sam English, was the leading Virginia-bred winner. The six year old Wiseman’s Ferry mare had 8 wins in 2016 and earned $119,989.

Leading freshman sire, Friend or Foe earned $7,048.11 in stallion awards for Smallwood Farm with two New York winners from two starters. Lady Olivia at Northcliff’s, Cosa Vera was the second leading earner and was the sire of 5 winners in 2016.

Mr. Buff by Friend or Foe breaks his maiden at Belmont on September 23, 2016

Mr. Buff by Friend or Foe breaks his maiden at Belmont on September 23, 2016

Below is the list of Breeder and Stallion award winners:

                                                   BREEDER’S AWARDS

William M. Backer Revocable Trust
$56,524.00
Sara E. Collette
$3,120.00
Morgan’s Ford Farm
$47,903.00
Mr. & Mrs. Sidney B. Cox Jr.
$3,102.00
Morgans Ford Farm & William Mott
$1,117.00
Mede Cahaba Stable & Stud, LLC
$2,752.00
Larry Johnson
$26,703.00
S. Barton Inc.
$2,717.00
Mr. & Mrs. Bertram R. Firestone
$26,543.00
James H. Falk, Sr.
$2,699.00
Keswick Stables & Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC
$26,122.00
Christopher Kuhn
$2,489.00
Keswick Stables
$265.00
James M. Hackman
$2,482.00
Estate of Edward P. Evans
$23,516.00
Anne N. Tucker
$2,053.00
Mr. & Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin
$19,387.00
James Sumter Carter
$2,027.00
Lazy Lane Farms, LLC.
$17,532.00
Susan S. Cooney
$1,861.00
Sam E. English II
$11,680.00
Susan S. Cooney and Partners
$566.00
Lady Olivia at North Cliff, LLC
$11,169.00
Thomas L. Teal
$1,829.00
Audley Farm
$10,304.00
Suzanne A. Dempsey
$1,737.00
Canyon Lake Thoroughbreds
$9,883.00
Susan Minor
$1,689.00
Hart Farm
$7,924.00
Atkins Homes, Inc.
$1,263.00
Henry L. Carroll
$6,705.00
Nancy M. Rizer & Eric A. Rizer
$1,117.00
Quest Realty
$5,442.00
Hickory Tree Farm LLC
$1,045.00
Magalen O. Bryant
$5,377.00
Eagle Point Farm
$993.00
Corner Farm (Carlos S. E. Moore & Gillian Gordon-Moore)
$5,266.00
Jackie Hinson
$993.00
Corner Farm & Stormy Atlantic Syndicate
$470.00
Vermont Farm LLC
$862.00
Corner Farm & John T. Behrendt
$2,151.00
Tim Hulings
$853.00
Snow Lantern Thoroughbreds
$5,048.00
Carol Holden
$784.00
Daybreak Stables, Inc.
$4,950.00
Falls Church Racing Stables, LLC
$744.00
Johnson Brothers Stable
$4,262.00
Rose Ann Howell
$744.00
Mary Slade
$3,940.00
Belinda Whitson
$740.00
Althea D. Richards
$3,762.00
Mr. & Mrs. C. W. McNeely III
$740.00
Althea D. Richards & Adena Springs
$265.00
Dr. James E Bryant & Linda P Davis
$707.00
Blue Lotus Breeding and Racing LLC
$3,708.00
David A. Ross
$457.00
Douglas Kent Daniels
$3,583.00
Big Lick Farm
$431.00
Albert P. Coppola
$3,195.00
Terry Allen Corbin
$427.00
Albert Coppola & The Stormy Atlantic Syndicate
$859.00
Darlene H Bowlin
$422.00

                                                    STALLION AWARDS

Smallwood Farm (Friend or Foe)…………………….$7,048.11
Lady Olivia at Northcliff, LLC (Cosa Vera)……………$5,553.33
Sara E. Collette (Xenodon)……………………………$4,209.29
Susan Minor (Fierce Wind)……………………………$2,278.89
Lazy Lane Farm (Hanzel)………………………………$  910.38

 

 

 

 

 

Past VTA President, Dr. R. Reynolds Cowles, Jr., DVM Named President of AAEP

HEADING_TITLE
Courtesy of AAEP website, 12/6/2016

R. Reynolds Cowles, Jr., DVM, founder and past president of Blue Ridge Equine Clinic in Earlysville, Va., was installed as president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) during the Dec. 6 President’s Luncheon at the 62nd Annual Convention in Orlando, Fla.

 

Raised on a dairy farm in Statesville, N.C., Dr. Cowles received his veterinary degree from Oklahoma State University in 1967. Following graduation, he accepted a position at Georgetown Veterinary Hospital in Charlottesville, Va., where he later became a partner.

 

After 11 years, the practice split three ways, and Dr. Cowles established Blue Ridge Equine Clinic in 1979. The full-service clinic serves central Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. The practice consisted of as many as 12 veterinarians, including Dr. Paul Stephens who became a partner in 1995. Drs. Cowles and Stephens sold their ownership in 2016, although Dr. Cowles remains involved with the clinic, where the bulk of his practice focuses on lameness in race and performance horses.

 

Dr. Cowles served as treasurer of the AAEP from 2006-2008; on the board of directors from 2000-2002; as chair of the Professional Conduct and Ethics Committee; and as a member of numerous other committees, including Educational Programs, Finance, Foundation Advisory, Nominating, Political Liaison, Practice Management and Public Policy.

 

Dr. Cowles is a longtime advocate of the horse industry, particularly in Virginia where he currently serves on the Virginia Racing Commission’s Racing Safety and Medication Committee. He also serves on the National Steeplechase Association board of directors and chairs the NSA’s Safety Committee. Recipient of the Virginia Veterinary Medical Association’s Distinguished Veterinarian Award in 2009, Dr. Cowles is a past president of the Virginia Thoroughbred Association and served on the Advisory Committee for the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center at Virginia Tech as well as the Research Advisory Committee for Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.

 

The American Association of Equine Practitioners, headquartered in Lexington, Ky., was founded in 1954 as a non-profit organization dedicated to the health and welfare of the horse. Currently, AAEP reaches more than 5 million horse owners through its over 9,000 members worldwide and is actively involved in ethics issues, practice management, research and continuing education in the equine veterinary profession and horse industry.

 

Friday’s Virginia-Breds at Keeneland

The last of the Virginia-bred yearlings go through the ring Friday at Keeneland. Listed below are those that are offered:

Hip #3481, a gray colt by Dunkirk out of $596,824 winner Silver Heart Bred by Nancy Terhune & Ernest Frohboese

              Hip #3481, a gray colt by Dunkirk out of $596,824 winner Silver Heart
                               Bred by Nancy Terhune & Ernest Frohboese

 

Hip #3695, a Mizzen Mast out of Gone Surfin' Bred by the William M. Backer revocable Trust

                                      Hip# 3695, a Mizzen Mast filly out of Gone Surfin
                                         Bred by the William M. Backer revocable Trust

 

Hip # 3777, Audley Farm Equine, LLC's Eskendereya filly out of Midtown Miss

         Hip # 3777, Audley Farm Equine, LLC’s Eskendereya filly out of Midtown Miss

 

Hip # 3861, a colt by Exchange Rate out of Runninglikeandangel

Hip # 3861, a colt by Exchange Rate out of Runninglikeandangel bred by Audley Farm Equine

 

Book 4 Virginia-Breds at Keeneland

Four Virginia-breds went through the ring on Tuesday:

Hip #2354, a Union Rags colt out of Aristra ( from the family of Hymn Book and Data Link), bred by Mrs. Oliver C. Iselin sold to Oracle Bloodstock, Agt. for $80,000.DE_hip-2354_1489

Hip #2399, a Colt by Colonel John out of Casanova Story, RNA’d for $14,000.

DE_hip-2399_1461

Hip #2434, a filly out of Delicate Affair by Midnight Lute, bred by Forever Spring Farm was sold to Ruis Racing for $100,000.

DE_hip-2434_1473

Hip #2496, a filly by City Zip out of Hawaiian Love, bred by Mrs. Iselin was sold to Victor Bahna for $20,000DE_hip-2496_1479

Eight Commonwealth Day Stakes Draw 219 Nominations

Courtesy of LaurelPark.com
Sept. 24 Card Offers Eight Stakes, Three Graded, Worth $850,000 in Purses
LAUREL, MD – A total of 219 horses were nominated to eight stakes, three of them graded, worth $850,000 in purses on Commonwealth Day, Saturday Sept. 24, at Laurel Park.
All eight stakes will be contested over Laurel’s world-class turf course, topped by the $200,000 Commonwealth Turf Cup (G2) for 3-year-olds and up at a mile, and the $200,000 Commonwealth Derby (G2) for 3-year-olds and $150,000 Commonwealth Oaks (G3) for 3-year-old fillies, both at 1 1/8 miles.
Also on tap are five $60,000 stakes for Virginia-bred/sired horses: the Jamestown for 2-year-olds, Punch Line for 3-year-olds and up and Oakley for females 3 and up, all at 5 ½ furlongs; and the Bert Allen for 3-year-olds and up and Brookmeade for females 3 and up, each at 1 1/16 miles.
The Turf Cup (G2) had the most nominations with 36 led by Grade 1 winners Force the Pass and Chiropractor; French Group 1 winner Full Mast; multiple stakes winner A Lot, most recently second in the Fourstardave (G1) at Saratoga; Grade 3 winners Blacktype, Coalport, Dubai Sky, Long On Value, Reporting Star and Surgical Strike; Ghost Hunter, a winner of four straight for trainer Jamie Ness; March, a multiple graded-stakes winner on dirt last year; Laurel-based multiple stakes winner Phlash Phelps; Rose Brier, undefeated at Laurel with three stakes wins; and 2016 Mervin Muniz (G2) winner Take the Stand.
Graded stakes winners American Patriot, Conquest Daddyo, Isotherm, Oscar Nominated; 2015 Maryland Million Nursery winner Corvus; stakes winners Franklin Towers, He’ll Pay, Keystoneforvictory, Rafting and Whatawonderflworld; and Scholar Athlete, fourth in two legs of Canada’s Triple Crown this year, are among the 31 horses nominated to the Commonwealth Derby.
Won last year by Onus, who set the Fort Marcy Turf Course record winning the Lady Baltimore Stakes Sept. 10 at Laurel, the Commonwealth Oaks attracted 29 nominations including Family Tree, a multiple graded stakes winner on dirt this year; graded stakes winners Cheekaboo, Noble Beauty, Pricedtoperfection and Tin Type Gal; graded stakes-placed Elysea’s World and Galileo’s Song; and stakes winners Involuntary, My Impression, On Leave, Shake Down Baby, Super Allison and Try Your Luck.
Trainer Jane Cibelli also made defending champion Rose Brier one of 30 nominees to the Bert Allen, joined by 2015 Commonwealth Derby winner One Go All Go; 2014 Jerome (G2) winner Noble Moon; Cat Fiftyfive, third to Rose Brier in the Edward P. Evans June 25 at Pimlico; and stakes winners Code West and Long On Value.
The Jamestown attracted 25 nominations, while 2015 Jamestown winner Away We Go is among 23 nominees to the Oakley and the top three finishers from the June 25 White Oak Stakes at Pimlico – Two Notch Road, Moon River and Available, top 23 horses nominated to the Punch Line. The Brookmeade had 22 horses nominated led by Queen Caroline, a winner of four straight including the Nellie Mae Cox June 25 at Pimlico.