Keeneland Barn Notes – Tuesday, April 23

By Amy Owens —-

TUESDAY, APRIL 23

Racing resumes Wednesday with eight races that begin at 1:05 p.m.
The 16-day Spring Meet runs through Friday. First post is 1:05 p.m. ET.
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• TEN LONG-DISTANCE TURF RUNNERS ENTERED IN CLOSING-DAY BEWITCH
• KEENELAND REPRESENTED BY RACING HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
• GALLOPING OUT
• CLOSING WEEK SPECIAL EVENTS
• SPRING MEET LEADERS

TEN LONG-DISTANCE TURF RUNNERS
ENTERED IN CLOSING-DAY BEWITCH

Juddmonte Farms’ homebred Gaining (GB) will make her North American debut as the 120-pound highweight in the field of 10 entered Tuesday for Friday’s 58th running of the $150,000 Bewitch (G3) for fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up, going 1½ miles on the turf.

The Bewitch will go as the ninth race on closing day of the Spring Meet with a 5:30 p.m. post time. First post for the 10-race card is 1:05 p.m.

Now trained by Brad Cox, Gaining won the 2018 Prix Fille de l’Air (G3) in France. Florent Geroux will ride the 5-year-old mare, who drew post eight.

The Bewitch will mark the second North American starts for both Phoenix Thoroughbred III’s Sky Full of Stars (GER), a Grade 2 winner in Germany, and Manganaro Bloodstock and West Point Thoroughbreds’ Maroubra (FR), a stakes winner in France.
Sky Full of Stars made her North American debut at Woodbine last October, running seventh in the E.P. Taylor (G1). The Bewitch will mark her 2019 debut.

Julien Leparoux will ride Sky Full of Stars, who will start from post position two for trainer Christophe Clement.
Maroubra is coming off a fourth-place finish in the Orchid (G3) at Gulfstream on March 29.

Joel Rosario will ride Maroubra, who will start from post seven, for trainer Cherie DeVaux.

The field for the Bewitch, with riders and weights from the rail out, is: Beach Flower (John Velazquez, 118 pounds), Sky Full of Stars (GER) (Leparoux, 118), Flower Party (IRE) (Adam Beschizza, 118), Ickymasho (GB) (Jose Ortiz, 118), Peru (GB) (Luis Saez, 118), Samuna (FR) (Tyler Gaffalione, 118), Maroubra (FR) (Rosario, 118), Gaining (GB) (Geroux, 120), Coachwhip (Tyler Baze, 118) and Dynabee (Corey Lanerie, 118).

KEENELAND REPRESENTED BY RACING HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

Champion Royal Delta, jockey Craig Perret and industry stalwarts James E. “Ted” Bassett III and William S. Farish are among the 2019 inductees in the Racing Hall of Fame with Keeneland connections. The inductees were announced Monday by the National Museum of Racing in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Trained by Bill Mott, Royal Delta captured a Keeneland allowance during the 2011 Spring Meet in her third career start.
She went on to win that year’s Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic (G1) (now the Distaff) and earn the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old filly.

A few days after her 2011 Breeders’ Cup win, Royal Delta sold for $8.5 million at Keeneland’s November Breeding Stock Sale as part of the dispersal of Palides Investments N.V. Inc. for which Chanteclair Farm was agent. Her buyer was Ben Leon’s Besilu Stables, who spent a Keeneland record for the highest amount paid for a horse in training and the eighth-highest price for a horse of any age in Keeneland history.

Leon returned Royal Delta to Mott, and she won the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic a second time. She was honored as champion older mare in 2012 and 2013.

By Empire Maker, Royal Delta won 12 races from 22 starts and earned $4,811,126 from 2010-2013. She won nine graded stakes, including six Grade 1 events.

Perret, who rode from 1967-2005, won 4,415 races, including 245 races at Keeneland. His 32 Keeneland stakes victories include the 1976 Spinster (G1) on Optimistic Gal and the 1992 Ashland (G1) on Prospectors Delite.

North America’s leading apprentice jockey by earnings in 1967 (prior to the Eclipse Awards), Perret won the 1990 Eclipse Award for outstanding jockey. His wins included the 1987 Belmont (G1) on Bet Twice, denying Alysheba the Triple Crown, and the 1990 Kentucky Derby (G1) on Unbridled. His other notable wins include four Breeders’ Cup races as well as two runnings of both the Travers (G1) and Queen’s Plate.

Bassett and Farish were selected as Pillars of the Turf.

Bassett began working for the Keeneland Association in 1968, initially as the assistant to Louis Lee Haggin II. In 1969, he became Keeneland’s President, serving in that capacity until 1986, when he became Chairman of the Board. In 2003, Bassett became a Keeneland Trustee. He now holds the title of Trustee Emeritus and remains a beloved figure at Keeneland.

From 1988-1996, Bassett served as the President of Breeders’ Cup Ltd. A member of The Jockey Club, he is a Past President of Thoroughbred Racing Associations of America. He formerly served as a Trustee of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, University of Kentucky Equine Research Foundation and Transylvania University. He also served as Chairman of Equibase and the Kentucky Horse Park.

Bassett received the Eclipse Award of Merit in 1996 and the Lord Derby Award in 1998. Further, he is an Honorary Member of the Victoria Racing Club of Australia, the Hong Kong Race Horse Owners Association and the Association of Jockey Clubs of Latin America.

Farish recently retired as a Keeneland Trustee, a position he had held since 2006.

Farish owns 2,300-acre Lane’s End Farm, recognized as one of the world’s leading breeding operations and a successful consignor at Keeneland sales. A two-time Eclipse Award winner for outstanding breeder (1992, 1999), Farish served as the Chairman of the Board of Churchill Downs from 1992-2001 and won the Eclipse Award of Merit in 2009.

Farish has campaigned more than 165 stakes winners and Lane’s End has bred more than 300 stakes winners, including Horse of the Year winners A.P. Indy, Charismatic and Mineshaft, and champion Lemon Drop Kid.

Farish has been a Steward and Vice Chairman of The Jockey Club, a Director and Chairman of the executive committee of the Breeders’ Cup and a Keeneland Director. In 2001, he was appointed by President George W. Bush as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom and served in the role for three years.

The 2019 class includes a total of 16 people and horses who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Aug. 2.

GALLOPING OUT

Matthew C. Yates earned his first Keeneland training victory when Brothers Love Stable’s Its Yes won the first race Saturday. Declan Cannon rode the 3-year-old Yes It’s True colt to a 2¾-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile race in 1:47.49. …
St. George Stable’s Jala Jala (MEX), scratched from Saturday’s Hilliard Lyons-Baird Doubledogdare (G3), is among the entrants in Thursday’s second race. Mexico’s Horse of the Year in 2017, the 5-year-old mare is coming off three starts at Gulfstream Park. She won the Confraternity Caribbean Cup in December, was second in the Royal Delta (G3) in February and was fifth in the Inside Information (G2) in March.

CLOSING WEEK SPECIAL EVENTS

Celebrating its 80th anniversary, the Keeneland Library is one of the world’s largest repositories of information related to the Thoroughbred. In its exhibit “Herbert Haseltine: The Gold Standard,” visitors will see two prominent works from the latter period of the acclaimed sculptor of the early 20th century: “The Thoroughbred Horse” and “Portrait of the Racehorse Tom Fool.” The exhibit “From the Vault: Jockeys” features 26 images dating from the late 1800s to the mid-20th century from the Library’s archive of more than 1 million negatives and photographic prints. Varied memorabilia from Hall of Fame jockeys Eddie Arcaro, Ted Atkinson and Bill Shoemaker accompany the photographs. The Library is open weekdays at no charge from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Official Keeneland Tours – Keeneland offers a selection of year-round, guided racing and sales tours, including Behind-the-Scenes Racing Tours, Owner’s Experience Tours and Backstretch Tours with a Day at the Races.
Wednesday, April 24
WINS-Day Challenge – This is an inexpensive way for beginning handicappers to test their skills and give handicapping contests a try. The contest has a $2,500-guaranteed pool. Enter for $10 at Wagering Central and place a mythical $2 win and place wager – no actual money required – on Keeneland races 3-8. Limit three entries per person. The first 200 participants receive a card for a free Malone’s appetizer and a complimentary copy of Daily Racing Form.
Thursday, April 25
Horses and Hope Pink Day – Fans are encouraged to wear pink and support Horses and Hope, which works to increase cancer awareness, education, screening and treatment referral among Kentucky’s horse industry workers and special populations across the commonwealth. The event, in its 11th year at Keeneland, features a Horses and Hope race to honor breast cancer survivors.
Jockey Autograph Signing Benefiting Shantel Lanerie Breast Cancer Foundation – In conjunction with Horses and Hope, Keeneland and the Shantel Lanerie Breast Cancer Foundation will host a Jockey Autograph Signing with current and retired riders. All proceeds will go directly to the Lanerie Foundation. Hats may be signed for ($30), posters ($20), jockey goggles ($15) and personal items ($5). The signing is from 11:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. outside the Walking Ring.
The Keeneland Shop Trunk Show – Frederique.

Friday, April 26 – Closing Day
The Hill – Fans who like to tailgate will enjoy the festive atmosphere of The Hill, where they can watch races on a jumbo TV and place wagers. The Hill also features food trucks, The Keeneland Shop kiosk and complimentary shuttles to the track. Live music is presented by The Burl, a popular live music venue in Lexington, from noon to 4 p.m.

The Keeneland Shop Trunk Show – Frederique.

SPRING MEET LEADERS

Jockey Starts Wins 2nd 3rd Purses

Javier Castellano 33 14 7 4 $1,905,914
Florent Geroux 65 12 10 4 $734,577
Joel Rosario 43 12 7 4 $651,775
Tyler Gaffalione 74 11 4 11 $911,698
Luis Saez 58 11 9 7 $677,585

Trainer Starts Wins 2nd 3rd Purses

Chad Brown 25 9 7 3 $846,754
Brad Cox 21 7 5 0 $444,877
Wesley Ward 30 6 6 4 $445,225
Ian Wilkes 26 5 2 1 $314,776
Brendan Walsh 19 5 1 3 $168,346

Owner Wins

e Five Racing Thoroughbreds (Robert J. Edwards Jr.) 3
Hronis Racing (Kosta Hronis) 3
Juddmonte Farms (Khalid Abdullah) 3