Daily Racing Form

May 20, 2012

Breeder let Stoney Fleece get away for $1,100
By Steve Andersen

Joseph Alvarez is the breeder of the multiple stakes winner Stoney Fleece, who won the Alcatraz Stakes at Golden Gate Fields last weekend.

That is about the extent of Alvarez’s involvement in the colt. These days, the quickest way for Alvarez to benefit from Stoney Fleece’s success is to cash a bet.

Alvarez sold the California-bred Stoney Fleece for just $1,100 at the 2011 Barretts January mixed sale, ending his involvement in Thoroughbred ownership and breeding. Alvarez still closely follows the sport – he has a table in the turf club at Del Mar – but no longer owns any horses.

Alvarez’s reward for breeding Stoney Fleece is the breeder awards paid by the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association. If Stoney Fleece continues his recent form, Alvarez will receive a tidy check this year.

The amounts dedicated to breeder awards can vary from year to year, but of the $121,000 that Stoney Fleece has earned this year, Alvarez is likely to receive in excess of $9,000.

“It’s nice I’ve been able to get some breeder award for this little colt,” he said Thursday. “Otherwise, it would have been a loss to sell him for $1,100.”

Alvarez, who owned and operated the television station KSWB in San Diego until the mid-1990s, lives in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., just inland from Del Mar.

He raced Stoney Fleece’s dam, Gold Fleece, a Maryland-bred by 1983 Preakness Stakes winner Deputed Testamony, who earned $289,875. Gold Fleece won a division of the Grade 3 Buena Vista Handicap at Santa Anita in 1992 and was second to Toussaud in the Grade 1 Gamely Handicap at Hollywood Park in 1993.

Stoney Fleece is Gold Fleece’s second stakes winner. She produced Golden Rahy, winner of the Grade 3 Carleton Burke Handicap over 1 1/2 miles on turf at Santa Anita in 2005. Stoney Fleece is by Decarchy, whose dam is Toussaud.

Decarchy stands at Magali Farms in Santa Ynez, Calif.

The $1,100 purchase price at auction was not a complete surprise to Alvarez.

“Not too many would have picked him out of the sale because of his stature and his weight,” Alvarez said. “He was a little on the small side.”

As for Gold Fleece, Alvarez gave her away, too, he said, to a woman in San Diego County who said she needed a companion mare for an older broodmare.

“She’s up there at that farm as far as I know,” he said.

After Stoney Fleece was purchased in 2011 as a young 2-year-old, the colt made his debut at Del Mar in July 2011 in a $40,000 claiming race for California-bred maidens. He was claimed by his current owners and trainer – Gary and Cecil Barber and trainer John Sadler – in that race.

For them, Stoney Fleece won the Grade 3 Generous Stakes on turf at Hollywood Park last November and has placed in four other stakes, including a second in the $300,000 Snow Chief Stakes at Hollywood Park on April 28.

In the Alcatraz Stakes, for 3-year-olds over 1 1/16 miles on turf, Stoney Fleece was always near the front and won by a nose over the multiple stakes winner Chips All In.

Stoney Fleece has won 5 of 12 starts and $291,860 in his career. Sadler said earlier this week that Stoney Fleece will make a return trip to Golden Gate Fields for the $100,000 Silky Sullivan Stakes for California-breds 3-year-olds over a mile on turf June 9.

Alvarez will be rooting for Stoney Fleece, even though he has left racehorse ownership.

“It was too expensive,” he said. “It was too cash intensive. I just bailed out.”

Breeder awards from Stoney Fleece are helping to balance that account.

April 29, 2012

California breeding notes: California Flag, 8, finds best form again in San Simeon
By Steve Andersen

Age is apparently an asset for California Flag, the 8-year-old turf sprinter.

Making his first start of 2012, California Flag won the eighth stakes of his career in the $100,000 San Simeon Handicap at Santa Anita on April 21. He looked every bit as competitive through the race, run on the track’s hillside turf course, as he did earlier in his career.

The victory left trainer Brian Koriner thinking of a fifth consecutive start in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in November for California Flag.

In 2009 at Santa Anita, California Flag won the richest race of his career in the $1 million BC Turf Sprint. He was honored at the end of that season as the co-California-bred Horse of the Year. California Flag finished 10th in the BC Turf Sprint in 2008, eighth in 2010, and 12th last fall in the BC Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs.

While California Flag won the Grade 3 Morvich last year, Koriner heard rumblings that the gelding should be retired. He said that the San Simeon win should put an end to that argument.

“It’s exciting,” Koriner said. “You don’t have to listen people saying, ‘Retire the horse.’ There is no question if he should be racing. The pressure is off.”

Typical of recent seasons, California Flag will be raced sparingly this year. Koriner said after the San Simeon that California Flag may return for the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar on July 29, the Morvich Handicap at Santa Anita in late September or early October, and the BC Turf Sprint.

A California-bred by Avenue of Flags out of the Afleet mare Ultrafleet, California Flag has won 11 of 26 starts and $1,288,825. Bred by Hi Card Ranch, California Flag is raced by Barbara Card, John Fradkin, Kevin Jacobsen and Jim Atwell.

Fradkin and his wife, Diane, bred California Flag’s sister Cambiocorsa, who won 9 of 18 starts and $522,055. Cambiocorsa has produced two foals. One of them is Schiaparelli, a Kentucky-bred by Ghostzapper who won an allowance race on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita on April 22.

“I think the family likes the hill,” Fradkin said.

Foal crop stabilizing

The California foal crop is likely to stabilize or show growth this year, according to Doug Burge, the executive director of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association.

In 2011, there were 1,762 live foals in California, a drop of 6.8 percent from the 1,891 foals in 2010. Burge said he expects this year’s figure to be about the same.

“I think we’re going to be on par or better than last year,” he said in a recent interview. “We’re in the 1,700 to 1,800 range.”

There is a chance with an improving economy and other factors, such as higher stakes purses, that the foal crop could show growth. The Golden State Series of stakes, launched this year, has been well received. The first two stakes for 3-year-olds in the series – the Echo Eddie and Evening Jewel Stakes at Santa Anita on March 31 – drew fields of 11.

For Saturday’s Gold Rush program at Betfair Hollywood Park, the purses for two stakes for 3-year-olds were increased to $300,000. The Melair Stakes for 3-year-old fillies drew seven runners, while the Snow Chief Stakes had 10 entrants.

The Golden State Series includes stakes for horses of all ages throughout the year, with an emphasis on stakes for 2- and 3-year-olds.

April 22, 2012

Santa Anita: Acclamation looks ready to go
By Steve Andersen

ARCADIA, Calif. – Acclamation, the California-bred honored with the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding older male of 2011 begins his 2012 season in Friday’s $100,000 Inglewood Handicap at Hollywood Park.

For trainer Don Warren, the campaign cannot begin soon enough.

Warren was left anxious to see Acclamation in action after watching the 6-year-old work a mile on turf in 1:38.20 at Santa Anita on Thursday.

“The way he worked, the way he pulled up, and the way he recovered after the work was very pleasing,” Warren said. “He looked every bit as good as he did.”

Acclamation has a very high standard to match this year. In 2011, he won 5 of 7 starts, including five consecutive graded stakes, and earned $1,126,000.

Owned by a partnership led by Bud Johnston, Acclamation’s 2011 season was highlighted by wins in the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar, on a synthetic track, and two other Grade 1 races on turf – the Charles Whittingham Handicap at Hollywood Park and the Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar.

Acclamation was taken out of training in October after bruising a foot while being prepared for the Breeders’ Cup races at Churchill Downs.

Thursday’s workout was Acclamation’s fifth recorded workout since he resumed training earlier this year. Warren said last month that he gave Acclamation several slow workouts – such as five furlongs in 1:06 or 1:07 – that were not listed as official workouts before the horse had his first timed workout on March 24.

Thursday, Acclamation was ridden by Patrick Valenzuela, who announced last week that he is returning to riding after a four-month retirement.

Valenzuela is expected to start riding when the Hollywood Park spring-summer meeting begins on Thursday.

Valenzuela rode Acclamation to wins in the Pacific Classic and Grade 2 Clement Hirsch Turf Championship at Santa Anita last October.

“He’s back just in time,” Warren said of Valenzuela. “It’s hard enough.

“I’ve got to get the horse ready to run, and I’ve got to get the jockey ready to ride.”

Warren said that Acclamation worked the final quarter-mile of Thursday’s workout in approximately 23 seconds.

“I had to get a pretty strong mile in him, and he was up to the task,” Warren said. “That was a terrific work around the dogs, going [almost] on the outside fence. It was done very well.

“It’s hard to catch the last quarter-mile, but I think he came home in about 23. He looked like he was ready to me.”

Friday’s Inglewood Handicap is run over 1 1/8 miles on turf, and is a prep for the $250,000 Charles Whittingham Handicap over 1 1/4 miles on turf on June 9. Acclamation will be after his third consecutive win in the Whittingham.

Later this year, the Eddie Read and Pacific Classic are logical targets at Del Mar, Warren said. The long-term goal is the Breeders’ Cup, which will be run at Santa Anita on Nov. 2-3.

“We’ll probably have him on about the same schedule and hopefully get to the Breeders’ Cup this time,” Warren said.

April 15, 2012

Less bonus money for Cal-bred maiden winners

By Steve Andersen
ARCADIA, Calif. – The bonus for California-bred runners who win maiden special weight races in Southern California will be reduced from $20,000 to $17,500, effective with the start of the Hollywood Park spring-summer meeting on April 26, the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association announced earlier this week.

The decision to reduce the bonus by 15 percent was one of economics, according to CTBA executive vice president Doug Burge. The program has become too successful, and paid out too many dollars in recent years, he said.

Burge said the bonus was paid to the owners of approximately 120 race winners in 2011, of which approximately 100 won maiden special weight races for California-breds. The other 20 winners won maiden special weight races against open company.

As a result, the cost of the bonuses in 2011 was $2.4 million, a higher sum than projected when the program was launched in the fall of 2009.

The program is financed by a portion of revenue from handle.

“When we put the numbers together, we did it on five days a week of racing and what it would generate in handle,” Burge said on Thursday.

“Now, with four days a week [of racing], we’re generating less money for the program.

“We’ve had a 50 percent increase in the number of maiden special weight winners since the bonus has been in place.”

Burge said that some horses that may have started in maiden claiming races have won maiden special weight races, adding further obligations to the bonus fund. The bonus is not paid to owners of maiden claiming races.

“It’s somewhat of a good problem to have,” he said. “We’ve been able to increase the number of maiden special weight winners.”

There will be no change to the structure of the bonus in Northern California, which will remain at $10,000 for a maiden special weight winner, Burge said.

Even with a reduction, the bonus is still part of a lucrative payoff.

For example, Hollywood Park is scheduled to offer a $52,000 maiden race for fillies and mares over 1 1/16 miles on May 3. If a California-bred wins that race, the winning owner would receive approximately $58,060 – $31,200 from the winner’s share, $9,360 for a California-bred winning against open company, and $17,500 from the maiden special weight bonus program.

“It’s still a lot of money,” Burge said. “It’s not like we’re cutting it severely. We’re trying to make sure that it can remain sustainable.

April 8, 2012

Derby Gold just may live up to his name
By Steve Andersen

ARCADIA, Calif. – Derby Gold was already named when Arnold Zetcher paid $105,000 for the colt at the 2010 Barretts California Cup yearling sale. Judging from the colt’s first two starts, the name may turn out to be appropriate.

On March 31, Derby Gold won his stakes debut in the $200,000 Echo Eddie Stakes for California-bred 3-year-olds at Santa Anita. By Bertrando, Derby Gold will make his two-turn debut in the $300,000 Snow Chief Stakes at Hollywood Park on April 28, California Gold Rush Day.

As far as starting in a race called a derby, that could come later, Zetcher said.

“They didn’t say which derby,” Zetcher said of the colt’s name. “We’ve got a lot of time as long as he stays healthy.”

The Echo Eddie was Derby Gold’s second start, preceded by a second by a neck in a six-furlong maiden race for California-breds on March 8. Derby Gold led by 3 1/2 lengths before being caught near the finish.

“The first race we considered a win,” Zetcher said. “He just got nailed at the wire.”

Derby Gold was part of a list of prospects that trainer Bob Baffert suggested to Zetcher at the 2010 Barretts sale. The colt is out of River Gold, an unraced mare by Seeking the Gold who was bred in Kentucky by Overbrook Farm.

Bred by Win More Farm of Temecula, Calif., Derby Gold is River Gold’s first winner.

The jump from a loss in a maiden race to a $200,000 stakes did not concern Zetcher.

“I thought he had a good chance,” he said. “Right now, [the Snow Chief] is the next logical step.”

Evening Jewel's top pair of fillies targeting Melair

The winner of the companion race for California-bred fillies on March 31, the Evening Jewel Stakes, has more modest bloodlines.

Warren’s Amber, who could have been claimed for $30,000 last November, won the Evening Jewel in an 11-1 upset. She finished three-quarters of a length in front of 8-5 favorite Starlight Magic in the field of 11.

The first two finishers are expected to start in the $300,000 Melair Stakes for statebred fillies over 1 1/8 miles on Gold Rush Day.

Warren’s Amber is the first stakes winner for her sire Broadway Moon, who is by Theatrical, and her dam, I’m a Cat’s Meow, by Mud Route.

Warren’s Amber is the first foal of I’m a Cat’s Meow to race.

Bred by owner Ben Warren and trained by Jorge Gutierrez, Warren’s Amber has won 2 of 7 starts and $155,550. Gutierrez said the leap to 1 1/8 miles in the Melair will be a test.

“I’m a little worried about the mile-and-an-eighth after the shorter race,” he said.

Warren’s Amber has not won beyond 6 1/2 furlongs. Third in the fillies division of the California Breeders’ Champion Stakes on Dec. 26, Warren’s Amber was third in her first start of 2012, a starter allowance over a mile on turf on Feb. 23. Gutierrez was encouraged by that loss, thinking that she will be adaptable to races around two turns.

“I ran her long on the grass first time and she handled it quite well,” he said. “She got in a bit of trouble. She only ran the last sixteenth.”

Starlight Magic will start in the Melair Stakes, if she trains well in coming weeks, trainer Mark Glatt said.

He considered the $100,000 Railbird Stakes over seven furlongs at Hollywood Park on May 19, but said the purse of the Melair has swayed his opinion.

“$300,000 is $300,000,” he said. “We’ll point for the Melair. She has to come back and breeze strongly – twice – and we’ll take it from there.

Owned by Corey Wagner, Starlight Magic won the California Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita last October.

March 11, 2012

Tribal Rule proves popular at stud, in sales ring
By Steve Andersen

At the breeding shed and the year’s first major juvenile sale, Tribal Rule is proving to be a popular stallion in California.
 
Last Monday at the Barretts March sale of selected 2-year-olds in training in Pomona, Calif., colts by Tribal Rule sold for $130,000, $105,000, and $30,000. He was by far the leading stallion of California-breds at the one-day sale, by gross and average.
 
Tribal Rule has been a busy stallion this year, too. Mike Jimenez, the broodmare manager at Ballena Vista Farm, in Ramona, Calif., where Tribal Rule stands, said the 16-year-old will be bred to approximately 110 mares this year. He stands for $5,500, live foal.
 
“We closed the book at 110” mares, Jimenez said. “He’s doing pretty well. It makes our job easy.”
 
Tribal Rule, by Storm Cat, finished 2011 ranked second in progeny earnings for California-based stallions, with $3,488,563. In 2010, he ranked 10th, with $1,870,920. Through Thursday, Tribal Rule ranks second in 2012 earnings with $476,071, trailing leader Unusual Heat with $756,075.
 
At Monday’s sale, a Tribal Rule colt was sold to Dave Heerensperger for $130,000. The colt was purchased for $25,000 at the Barretts October yearling sale last fall and had a pre-sale workout of 10.80 seconds on March 2.
 
Another Tribal Rule colt sold for $105,000 to Jamie McCalmont, agent for Paul Reddam. The colt worked a furlong in 10.40 seconds on March 2 and will be trained by Ben Cecil. Cecil said Reddam bought the colt as a prospect for statebred stakes this year, which have been enhanced by the newly formed Golden State Series of stakes.
 
“That was partly our thinking, the way they’ve raised the prizes on the Cal-breds,” Cecil said. “Hopefully, that’s a nice one.”
 
Reddam’s Tribal Rule colt was purchased for $37,000 at the Barretts October sale.
 
Trainer George Papaprodromou bought a Tribal Rule colt for $30,000. The colt was purchased for $62,000 at the Barretts October sale.
 
There were 21 California-breds in the Barretts catalog. Of those, nine were bought back, four were withdrawn, and eight were sold for an average of $55,625, according to sale company statistics.
 
Cassidy reflects on The Usual Q. T.
 
The owners of those horses can only hope to emulate the success the partnership that owned The Usual Q. T. enjoyed.
 
A 6-year-old California-bred gelding, The Usual Q. T. was retired earlier this week after winning 8 of 23 starts and $1,531,240 in a five-year career.
 
The highlights included wins in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby in 2009 and the Grade 1 Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar in 2010. Trainer Jim Cassidy ranks the Eddie Read as one of The Usual Q.T .’s finest performances.
 
Thursday, Cassidy recalled that The Usual Q. T.’s first graded stakes win, in the Grade 2 Oak Tree Derby at Santa Anita in fall 2009, was somewhat overshadowed. In the preceding race, Zenyatta became the first female to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
 
“I felt like I won a maiden 32,” Cassidy said. “It was a bit anticlimactic. It was a hard act to follow.”
 
Early in The Usual Q. T.’s career, Cassidy was reluctant to ship the gelding because of concern over nerves. That was not an issue over time. The Usual Q. T. became a good traveler. He was fourth in the Dubai Duty Free in the Middle East in 2010 and later that year was second in the Woodbine Mile in Canada and third to Goldikova and Gio Ponti in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Churchill Downs.
 
“When I took him to Dubai, he stood there like an old pony horse,” Cassidy said.

March 4, 2012

Many familiar faces among California-breds at Barretts March sale
By Steve Andersen

The California-breds offered at Monday’s Barretts March sale of selected 2-year-olds in training may look familiar to prospective buyers.

Of the 21 California-breds in Monday’s catalog, 13 went through the ring at the Barretts October Yearling sale last fall and are being pinhooked to the 2-year-olds in-training sale. That group includes colts by Candy Ride and Tribal Rule who were among the most expensive hips sold at the yearling sale.

The Candy Ride colt, out of the stakes winner Magnificent Val, sold for $65,000 to trainer Carl O’Callaghan, agent for Patrick Sheehy’s Super Horse, Inc. Named Racing King, the Candy Ride colt is consigned to Monday’s sale by Andy Havens Bloodstock, agent.

The Tribal Rule colt, out of Work the Room, was purchased as a yearling for $62,000 by Dan Northrup’s Sunset Stable. The Tribal Rule colt is one of five 2-year-olds bought as yearlings last fall that are being offered on Monday from the Callaway Thoroughbreds consignment. The group includes an Unusual Heat colt bought for $59,000, another Tribal Rule colt bought for $25,000, a colt by Kitaphla bought for $23,000, and a Bedford Falls filly bought for $8,000.

Tribal Rule, who ranked second among California sires in 2011 progeny earnings, is represented by three colts in Monday’s sale. Aside from the Callaway horses, there is a colt purchased for $37,000 by SGV Thoroughbreds at the 2011 Barretts yearling sale.

Unusual Heat was the leading stallion by progeny earnings in 2011 and has a colt and a filly in the sale. The colt is part of the Callaway Thoroughbred consignment. The filly, consigned by Sam Hendricks, agent, is out of Sookloozy, by Avenue of Flags. In 2006, a 2-year-old Red Bullet colt by Sookloozy sold for $2.5 million at the Barretts March 2-year-olds in-training sale.

There is a colt and a filly in the sale by Awesome Gambler, California’s leading freshman sire in 2011. The colt, out of High Warning, is a half-brother to Faisca, the winner of the 2010 Phil Shepherd Stakes at Fairplex Park. The filly is out of On London Time, who placed in three stakes.

February 26, 2012

Santa Anita Handicap longshot Holliday Road works briskly

By Steve Andersen
ARCADIA, Calif. – Holladay Road, a former claimer, has had an adventuresome journey to the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap next Saturday.

A California-bred, Holladay Road became a stakes winner earlier at this meeting, in the $100,000 Crystal Water Stakes for statebreds on Jan. 28. But the 7-year-old Holladay Road will need to show considerable improvement to be a factor in the Big Cap, and to keep up with several of his more accomplished siblings.

Bred by Warren Williamson, and claimed from him for $25,000 last July, Holladay Road will be an outsider in the Big Cap, a race led by defending champion and 2011 Breeders’ Cup Classic runner-up Game On Dude.

Friday, Holladay Road, who is best racing from off the pace, worked six furlongs in 1:11.80, the fastest of 22 recorded works at the distance at Santa Anita.

“He’s doing good,” trainer Julio Canani said. “There’s going to be some speed [in the Big Cap].”

Canani timed the last quarter-mile in 23.80 seconds.

Remarkably, Holladay Road is the fourth stakes winner produced by Blending Element, a graded stakes winner during her racing career. Blending Element was kept in California for the first few years of her time as a broodmare and is now in Kentucky.

Blending Element is the dam of the California-bred stakes winners Tiz a Blend ($186,354), Tiz Elemental ($483,740), and Excessive Blend ($173,175). The Kentucky-bred foals out of Blending Element include War Element, who was second in the Grade 2 Citation Handicap last November but is currently sidelined; and the lightly raced American Blend, who was nominated for the Big Cap but will not start, according to trainer Carla Gaines.

Gaines had Holladay Road in her stable until he was claimed by current owners Gary and Wendy Broad. When Holladay Road was claimed it was the third time that he appeared in a $25,000 claiming race, having finished second and first in maiden claimers at the 2009-2010 Santa Anita winter-spring meeting.

For the Broads and Canani, Holladay Road has won 3 of 5 starts, and was a fast-closing third in the California Cup Classic on turf last October. The Big Cap will be his first start in a graded stakes and first start in a Grade 1.

Holladay Road is by the Kentucky-based stallion Street Cry. He is considered a Cal-bred because he was foaled in this state, and Blending Element was bred back to California stallion In Excess the following year, producing Excessive Blend.

In recent years in Kentucky, Blending Element has produced colts by Artie Schiller, now a 2-year-old, and a yearling colt by Curlin. The colt by Artie Schiller will join Gaines’s stable later this year, she said. Blending Element is in foal to Smart Strike for an expected April foal.

Fewer than expected 2-year-olds for new series

The newly-formed Golden State Series has attracted approximately 825 nominations from the current 2-year-old crop, according to Doug Burge, the executive director of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association.

The Golden State Series of stakes for statebreds began in January, but the first races for 2-year-olds are not until late July at Del Mar. Only 2-year-olds of 2010 had to be nominated for the stakes series, at a cost of $300. Horses of older ages were grandfathered into the series, which features 29 races for all ages from late January to late December.

CTBA officials had hoped to attract 1,000 of the approximately 1,900 foals born in the state in 2010.

At Thursday’s California Horse Racing Board meeting, chairman Keith Brackpool described the absence of more nominations “mystifying.”

“I’m staggered that 60 percent were not subscribed for the program that is available,” he said.

Burge told the racing board that horses can be supplemented to the program for the duration of their racing careers for a $25,000 fee.

“I think it’s too early to say it’s a disappointment,” Burge said of the number of nominations.

 

February 19, 2012

California stud farms make push for mares

By Steve Andersen
ARCADIA, Calif. – The California breeding market continues to favor mare owners, who have an increasing list of bargains available among potential stallions, according to the managers of two prominent farms.
 
With breeding season starting this week, farm managers are actively pursuing mares to book to their stallions, hoping that hints of growth in the economy and more racing incentives for California-breds will lead to more activity for breeding farms.
 
In recent years, mare owners in the state have been able to wait until the breeding season starts, inspect the foals their mares produce, and then chose a stallion, if the mare was even to be bred. There is a sense of optimism that there will be more activity this year, although farm personnel would appreciate if that would start sooner than later.
 
Stallion prices, already low to begin with, are being cut further, in an effort to secure business, according to Tom Hudson of Magali Farms and Mike Allen of Tommy Town Thoroughbreds. Both farms are in Santa Ynez in central California.
 
“We all need those mares,” Allen said.
 
Hudson has discounted three of the 11 stallions that stand at his farm for matings through March 15. The stud fees for Good Journey ($2,500) and Decarchy ($2,000) were cut in half, while Ten Most Wanted was reduced from $2,500 to $1,500.
 
“It’s got to be numbers now,” he said. “We’ve got to get [the foals] on the racetrack and collect the [stallion] awards.”
 
Allen said the Tommy Town operation has offered discounts of $1,000 per stud fee when multiple mares are booked, with further discounts to mare owners who ship horses from out of state.
 
Allen said that Kafwain, who finished the 2011 breeding season ranked fourth in the state in progeny earnings with $2,847,642, will be bred to more than 50 mares this year, while Aragorn, who finished 2011 ranked 10th, will get about 40 mares. Kafwain stands for $5,000, while Aragorn is priced at $4,000.
 
He was hoping for 20 to 30 more mares to each stallion this year.
 
“It’s not what we want,” he said.
 
Still, Allen says there are signs of growth.
 
“It does seem a little bit better,” he said. “We have more mares booked than last year at this time.”
 
Farms such as Magali and Tommy Town must have successful breeding seasons this year for the state’s foal crop to show growth. The 2011 crop was 1,891 foals, according to California Thoroughbred Breeders Association records, a decline of 6.8 percent from 2010. As recently as 2005, there were 3,707 live foals registered in the state.
 
The development of the Golden State Series of stakes, which heavily increased purses and racing opportunities for 2- and 3-year-olds in the state this year, and a bonus program that pays $20,000 to the owner of a California-bred that wins a maiden special weight race in Southern California ($10,000 in the north) are seen as ways to entice breeders to become active in the state.
 
The Magali team has a prominent new stallion in Giacomo, winner of the 2005 Kentucky Derby. He stands for $5,000 and has 35 mares in his book, about 15 less than Hudson envisioned at this time of the breeding season. Last year Giacomo had progeny earnings of $1.45 million while standing in Kentucky.
 
“You’d think as well as he did last year on the track, he’d be a no-brainer at the price he’s at,” Hudson said. “My anticipation was probably higher than what the results are at this point.”
 
Lit de Justice pensioned from study duty
 
Lit de Justice, the Eclipse Award winner as the champion sprinter of 1996, has been pensioned from stud duty because of infertility, Hudson said.
 
“He’s willing to do the job,” Hudson said. “He’ll live out his years on the farm here.”
 
A 22-year-old by El Gran Senor, Lit de Justice won 10 of 36 starts and $1,397,649 racing in France and the United States. Trained by Jenine Sahadi in the United States, Lit de Justice won 4 of 7 starts in 1996, including the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Woodbine and two other stakes in Southern California.
 
At stud, Lit de Justice began his career in Kentucky and moved to California for the 2003 breeding season. He had progeny earnings of more than $20.7 million. His leading earner has been the New York stakes winner No Parole, who earned $555,067.

February 12, 2012

Golden State Series could exceed 1,000 nominations for inaugural season

By Steve Andersen
ARCADIA, Calif. – The newly created Golden State Series for California-breds, a calendar of lucrative stakes this year, could attract more than 1,000 nominations by Wednesday’s deadline, according to California Thoroughbred Breeders Association executive director Doug Burge.

The series, first announced last fall, includes stakes for horses of all ages, but 2-year-olds of 2012 must be nominated to the program for $300 by Wednesday. Horses aged 3 or older in 2012 have been grandfathered into the series without a preliminary nomination fee.

The 2010 foal crop in California was approximately 1,891, and Burge expects more than half of those now 2-year-olds to be nominated to the Golden State Series.

“Early on, it’s been very positive,” he said of the response. “Even some of the larger farms are in to the 70 to 75 percent range in regards to nominating 2-year-olds. That’s way above what we budgeted. We thought it would be good if we could get 55 percent of the foal crop. We are hoping for a little more than 1,000.”

The 27-race program, worth $4.65 million, emphasizes races for 2- and 3-year-olds. Opportunities for those age groups were increased from 12 races worth $1.275 million in 2011 to 18 races worth $3.6 million this year. Some races in the series have been run in the past, while others are new. The first new races are two $200,000 sprints for 3-year-olds over 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita on March 31 – the Echo Eddie Stakes and the Evening Jewel Stakes for fillies.

Two upcoming races for 3-year-olds have had purses greatly enhanced. At Hollywood Park on April 28, the Snow Chief Stakes for 3-year-olds over 1 1/8 miles will be worth $300,000, an increase of $150,000 from 2011. The Melair Stakes for 3-year-old fillies over 1 1/16 miles on the same day has been raised from $125,000 to $300,000.

In October at Santa Anita, the California Cup Juvenile and Juvenile Fillies will be worth a record $250,000 as part of the program.

Burge said purses for races of $200,000 or more will be pay prize money to eighth place.

“When we talked to a lot of major owners and breeders, that was an idea that was considered,” he said. “You want to encourage participation and field size. We hate to see five- or six-horse fields.”

Organizers hope that the development of the Golden State Series, and a three-year program that pays bonuses to California-breds that win maiden special weight races, will boost the state’s foal crop.

The 2011 foal crop declined 6.8 percent to 1,762. As recently as 2005, there were 3,707 live foals registered in the state. Burge said the financial programs and inclusion of new stallions in the state could lead to a more stable foal crop, and possibly growth in coming years. Giacomo, the 2005 Kentucky Derby winner, and Heatseeker, a Grade 1 winner, are standing in the state for the first time this year.

“This will give us more of a boost,” Burge said. “If we can stabilize this year, then we’ll still have 1,800 to 2,000 foals. I’m encouraged by what I’ve heard.”

February 5, 2012

Acclamation front-runner to be chosen top Cal-bred of 2011
By Steve Andersen
Acclamation’s haul of year-end awards for his 2011 season is likely to grow on Monday when the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association announces its Horse of the Year at its annual dinner on Monday in Pasadena, Calif.

Already recognized with the Eclipse Award for the nation’s outstanding older male of 2011, Acclamation has earned honors as the top California-bred turf horse and older male of the year. He was the only horse to win two divisional titles in the statebred category in 2011.

Amazombie, the Eclipse Award winner as the nation’s outstanding sprinter of 2011, was recognized as the season’s top sprinter among California-breds. Along with the Grade 1 winner Ultra Blend, Amazombie is also a finalist for California-bred of the year.

The California-bred Horse of the Year title is an honor that both of the male horses deserve, having raced at the highest level through the season and being nationally recognized.

Amazombie won two Grade 1 races in 2011, highlighted by a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs in November. Acclamation won five consecutive graded stakes, including three Grade 1 races at Hollywood Park and Del Mar last spring and summer.

Other divisional titles went to Ismene, champion 2-year-old filly; Rousing Sermon, 3-year-old male; Teddy’s Promise, 3-year-old filly; Burns, 3-year-old male; and Ultra Blend, older filly or mare.

Sadly, Burns is being honored posthumously. The winner of the Grade 2 La Jolla Handicap at Del Mar in August, Burns suffered a catastrophic injury during the running of the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby in September.

Ultra Blend, the winner of the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar in August, and three other stakes in 2011, has since been retired to be bred.

The people behind Acclamation are being honored for their success in 2011 – and their lifelong contributions to racing. Don Warren was named outstanding trainer, while majority owner Bud Johnston and the racehorses Brown Bess and Quicken Tree will be inducted into the CTBA’s Hall of Fame.

The Oak Tree Racing Association, which operated not-for-profit race meetings at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park from 1969 to 2010, will receive the Scoop Vessels award for service to racing.

Going Ballistic joins Victory Rose band of stallions
By Steve Andersen

ARCADIA, Calif. – Going Ballistic, the latest addition to California’s stallion ranks, is scheduled to arrive at Victory Rose Thoroughbreds at Vacaville, Calif., by Wednesday, farm owner Ellen Jackson said on Friday.

The 8-year-old Going Ballistic will give Victory Rose seven stallions for its 2012 roster. Earlier this year, Bold Chieftain was retired from racing and will begin his stud career at Victory Rose when the breeding season starts in earnest later this month.

Jackson said negotiations were completed with Going Ballistic’s owner, Mike Kindred, in late January for the stallion to be shipped west.

“It came as a complete surprise,” she said. “Over a week, we hammered out an agreement.”

By Lite the Fuse, Going Ballistic won 7 of 46 starts and $1,195,567. In a career that spanned from 2006 to last year, Going Ballistic won six stakes, including the Grade 2 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs in 2007 and races at Lone Star Park, Remington Park, and Retama Park.

Going Ballistic was trained by Donnie Von Hemel.

Going Ballistic will stand for $3,000, and Jackson is hopeful of attracting approximately 40 mares.

“I hope we can get that,” she said. “We’ve got mares waiting.”

Jackson expects stallion books at Victory Rose to grow substantially, and perhaps double this year, after a poor 2011 breeding season. She said that the farm bred “90 to 100” mares last year, a number that she described as “dangerously scary. It was nothing like years gone by. This year, I would hope to have close to 200. The mare population is starting to pick up around here.”

January 29, 2012

Barretts purchase made for worthwhile shopping trip
By Steve Andersen

Ron Stolich made the 80-mile drive from Rancho Mirage, Calif., to Pomona last Monday with a singular purpose. The mare Sci Fi Kin was available at the Barretts January mixed sale, and she was the one Stolich wanted for his Kentucky broodmare band.

“That’s the only reason I went there,” he said on Thursday.

He got her for the right price. Stolich said the $60,000 final bid, which topped the sale, was his last bid. “I thought if I could get her for $60,000, that was a good buy,” he said.

By the end of the week, Sci Fi Kin was in Kentucky. The Unusual Heat foal she is carrying will be eligible for California-bred races because the foal is by a California-based sire, but Sci Fi Kin will stay in Kentucky. Stolich, the former owner of Blooming Hills Farm in Clements, Calif., keeps a group of approximately six broodmares in Kentucky. His old farm was purchased by Pete Parrella and is now known as Legacy Ranch.

Stolich said he has not decided a stallion mating for Sci Fi Kin this spring.

“I’m trying to get better mares all the time,” Stolich said. “I was really thrilled to buy her. She’s my kind of mares, big with a lot of bone. This is a nice mare.”

“I hope that I have a good baby and get her back in foal.”

Sci Fi Kin, consigned by Harris Farms, agent for Madeline Auerbach, is by Siphon out of the multiple stakes winner Akinemod. The foal that Sci Fi Kin will produced this spring is already related to two talented runners.

Sci Fi Kin is the dam of Pretty Unusual, a mare by Unusual Heat who won the Grade 2 El Encino Stakes for 4-year-old fillies at Santa Anita in 2010. She has also produced Jax El, an Unusual Heat mare who has placed in two stakes.

The presence of Sci Fi Kin as the most expensive horse in the sale did not surprise Barretts vice-president Kim Lloyd.

“She figured to sell well,” he said. “She produced a Grade 2 winner and a stakes-placed horse. She was well sold and well purchased, too.”

Overall, the Barretts sale saw 162 horses sell for $982,500. The average rose 14 percent, to $6,065 from $5,310 in 2011, while the median increased 20 percent, to $3,000 from $2,500 last year.

A colt by Awesome Gambler was purchased for $40,000 by trainer Doug O’Neill, the leading 2-year-old at the sale. The colt, consigned by Lovacres Ranch, agent, is out of Rachel’s Edition, 16, who was stakes-placed in Ontario during a three-year racing career. Rachel’s Edition is by Ascot Knight.

The 2-year-old colt, a California-bred, has been galloping for 90 days, according to a note in the sale catalog. Awesome Gambler was the leading freshman sire in California in 2011 and stands at Lovacres Ranch.

Two 4-year-old fillies and a 5-year-old mare sold for $30,000 – Miss Nicole, an unraced 4-year-old mare by Street Cry, who sold as a broodmare prospect; Alala, a maiden race winner at Hollywood Park in December; and Smart Striking, 5, a two-time winner in Ireland who was second in an optional claimer at Santa Anita on Dec. 30.

The uptick in the market was expected, Lloyd said.

“Things are getting better,” he said. “We’re getting solid action in this sale. People are calling from all over the country looking to buy. It gives you a feeling of confidence going forward.”

January 22, 2012

Barretts starts its season with modest expectations
By Steve Andersen

Barretts starts its 2012 sale season with a one-day January mixed sale in Pomona, Calif., on Tuesday that features 2-year-olds, breeding stock, horses of racing age, and yearlings.

Unlike the 2010 sale, which included a reduction in horses owned by Jenny Craig, there is no dispersal or reduction in this year’s sale, which begins at 11 a.m.

“The January sale is for us a service sale,” said Kim Lloyd, vice-president of sales at Barretts. “It’s not like a March [2-year-olds in-training] sale where you have great expectations. We expect this sale to be pretty good and kind of solid.”

The 2011 January mixed sale had an average price of $5,310 from 256 horses listed as sold. In 2010, fueled by the Craig reduction, there were 275 horses listed as sold for an average of $7,320.

Lloyd said a reduction in breeding stock in California has fallen enough in recent years that the market could be boosted at Tuesday’s sale. “We’re seeing a little more interest in the market, even with broodmares,” he said. “They can get bought and get sold.”

In addition, the development of the Golden State Series, a newly-formed group of races for California-breds of all ages this year could make statebreds more attractive. “I’m excited about that Golden State Series,” Lloyd said. “It’s well thought out, a good incentive.”

Among the broodmares, there are expectations for Sci Fi Kin, a 13-year-old mare who produced Pretty Unusual, the winner of the Grade 2 El Encino Stakes at Santa Anita in 2010. Sci Fi Kin sells in foal to Unusual Heat, the state’s leading sire by progeny earnings. “Those kinds of horses will sell well no matter where or when,” Lloyd said.

Following Tuesday’s sale, the next event on the Barretts calendar is the March Sale of select 2-year-olds in training on the evening of March. 5. Lloyd said the sale has 140 entries. Last year, there were 106 entries, and 55 horses listed as sold.

Pair of Eclipses for statebreds

For the first time in a decade, there are two California-breds among the list of Eclipse Award winners.

Acclamation was named champion older male, and Amazombie was named champion sprinter. The last time that happened was 2001, when Tiznow was champion older male and Gourmet Girl was champion older female.

Tiznow won the California-bred Horse of the Year title that year, an award that has yet to be decided this year. Voting for statebred horse of the year is underway through the members of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association. The title will be revealed at organization’s annual awards dinner in Pasadena on Feb. 13.

Cases can be made for both horses. Acclamation won 5 of 7 starts and $1,126,000 in a California-based campaign. Three of the wins were in Grade 1 races – the Charles Whittingham Handicap, Eddie Read Stakes and Pacific Classic.

A 6-year-old horse by Unusual Heat, Acclamation won on turf and on Del Mar’s Polytrack synthetic surface.

Amazombie was at his best in October and November. He won the Grade 1 Ancient Title Stakes on Oct 1, followed five weeks later by a career-defining win in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Overall, Amazombie won 5 of 9 starts and $1,327,000, with all the wins coming in stakes. They ranged in quality from the Sunshine Millions Sprint and Sensational Star for restricted company in the winter to the Grade 1 races in the fall.

It is easy to argue that Amazombie should have had a record of 6 wins in 9 starts. He finished first in the Grade 3 Los Angeles Handicap at Hollywood Park on May 30, but was disqualified and placed third for causing interference in early stretch.

In a way, they both deserve the title. It would not be unheard-of if the title was shared. In 2009, California Flag and Dancing in Silks were recognized as co-California-bred Horses of the Year after season in which they won the BC Turf Sprint and BC Sprint, respectively.

January 15, 2012

Thirtyfirststreet staying closer to home in 2012
By Steve Andersen

ARCADIA, Calif. – Thirtyfirststreet spent almost as much time on the road in 2011 as he did racing in his home state of California. Of his nine races, four were outside the state, including a win in the Lone Star Derby in Texas last May.

For 2012, there is unlikely to be too many plane flights for the 4-year-old California-bred colt. Thursday at Santa Anita, Thirtyfirststreet won for the first time since May in an optional claimer over 1 1/16 miles against open company. Ridden by Rafael Bejarano, Thirtyfirststreet stalked the pace in early stretch and pulled away in the final furlong to win by 6 1/2 lengths.

“We’ve been waiting for that for a long time,” co-owner Mark Gorman said. “It set up perfect. Bejarano has those magic hands. Now, we have a lot of fun choices.”

The primary choice for Gorman and his partners, Neil Haymes and Sterling Stable, is the $200,000 Strub Stakes for 4-year-olds over 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita on Feb. 4. The race could lead to a start in the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap on March 3.

“He likes the track at Santa Anita, and the plan is to keep him on the main track,” Gorman said. “It’s very exciting when you wait a long time for something and it comes to fruition.”

Gorman bred Thirtyfirststreet with trainer Doug O’Neill. A winner of 4 of 13 starts and $345,200, Thirtyfirststreet won the California Breeders’ Champion Stakes in December 2010, but the Lone Star Derby was his only win in nine starts in 2011. The 2011 season also included a second in the Zia Park Derby in New Mexico in December, a 10th in the Virginia Derby in July, and a third in the Grade 2 La Jolla Handicap on turf at Del Mar in August.

“When you ship out of town, it can take a toll on a horse,” O’Neill said.

Thirtyfirststreet is by Good Journey out of Avian, a Sky Classic mare. O’Neill trained Avian, who won six races in a six-year career and earned $124,960. Gorman said that there is a yearling full brother to Thirtyfirststreet, named Fortysecondstreet, and that Avian is expected to deliver a foal by Good Journey this spring.

Caracortado eyeing Sensational Star

Caracortado, winner of the Grade 3 Daytona Stakes on the hillside turf course Jan. 8, may not have long between starts.

Trainer and co-owner Mike Machowsky said the 5-year-old gelding may start in the $100,000 Sensational Star Handicap for statebreds on the hillside turf course Jan. 28, with the $300,000 Frank Kilroe Mile on turf on March 3 as a late winter goal.

“If I run in the Cal-bred race, it will give me more time for the Kilroe Mile,” Machowsky said.

After Sunday’s race, Machowsky traveled to Kentucky, where he watched Caracortado’s dam, Mons Venus, sell for $250,000 at Keeneland. Caracortado, by Cat Dreams, is likely to be the last foal of Mons Venus’s that Machowsky trains. He said there is a Giant’s Causeway yearling out of Mons Venus who will sell at Keeneland in September as part of a foal-sharing agreement.

The family includes an unraced 3-year-old filly trained in Southern California by Hector Palma who was sold as a yearling and a 2-year-old at an in-training sale in 2011.

Later this year, Machowsky has the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita in November as a long-term goal for Caracortado, a winner of 9 of 19 and $864,105.

“I want to give him a couple of races and then give him a break,” Machowsky said Friday. “He went back and jogged today.”

Machowsky has a promising California-bred 3-year-old filly in Twelve Folds, by Cindago, who won a maiden race for statebred fillies over 5 1/2 furlongs in her third start Jan. 8. She is a filly with high expectations, Machowsky said.

“I think she’ll win some stakes,” he said.

January 8, 2012

Unusual Heat again tops California stallions in progeny earnings
By Steve Andersen

ARCADIA, Calif. – Unusual Heat defended his title as California’s leading stallion by progeny earnings in 2011 with earnings of $4,495,713, slightly edging his 2010 total. The 2011 season was the fourth consecutive year in which Unusual Heat has led the state’s stallions.

In 2011, Unusual Heat’s progeny was led by a nationally prominent horse in Acclamation, who earned $1,126,000 and is a finalist for the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding older male and outstanding turf male. Acclamation, who won three Grade 1 races in California in 2011, was one of three stakes winners by Unusual Heat, who combined to win eight stakes last year.

In overall 2011 earnings, Unusual Heat finished well clear of runner-up Tribal Rule ($3,488,563), who was followed in the top five by Benchmark ($2,921,641), Kafwain ($2,847,642), and Southern Image ($2,351,448).

Unusual Heat’s 2011 total surpassed his 2010 year-end total of $4,342,128, but well shy of his 2008 mark of $5,827,513, an all-time record for a California-based stallion. Unusual Heat, 22, stands for $20,000 at Harris Farms in Coalinga, Calif. He is expected to be bred to approximately 60 mares in 2012, or about the same number as in 2011.

The price is the highest in the state for a stallion, but could be more of a value if Acclamation wins an Eclipse Award or two when presentations are made on Jan. 16.

“Let’s see what happens at the Eclipse Award,” said breeder Madeline Auerbach, part of the group that owns Unusual Heat. “At least, he is getting some recognition.”

Awesome Gambler leads freshmen

Awesome Gambler was the leading freshman stallion in California in 2011, and the only one of the first-year group to surpass six figures in progeny earnings.

The bulk of his earnings – $287,692 – was generated by the filly Willa B Awesome, who won 2 of 9 starts and $173,896 in a season highlighted by a win in the Barretts Debutante Stakes at Fairplex Park. Owned by a partnership and trained by Walther Solis, Willa B Awesome was second or third in five stakes from June to September.

Awesome Gambler had 15 runners in 2011, and five winners. Willa B Awesome was his lone stakes winner. Awesome Gambler stands for $5,000 at Terry Lovingier’s Lovacres Ranch near Warner Springs, Calif., and will have a much bigger crop of runners in 2012.

“He’s loaded with horses for next year,” Lovingier said.

Lovingier said that Awesome Gambler was bred to 40 mares in 2011, a number that could increase by more than 50 percent this year. “They want to see how that first crop runs,” he said of breeders. “We’ll get 60 or 70 mares to him this year.”

As for Willa B Awesome, she is a 3-year-old in an ideal year this season. The 2012 calendar features the start of the Golden State Series for California-breds, with higher prize money for many divisions. The first major race in the series for 3-year-old fillies is the $200,000 Evening Jewel Stakes over 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita on March 31.

Willa B Awesome earned a break at Lov Acres Ranch after her second-place finish in the filly division of the California Breeders’ Champion Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26. “We give her long enough between races and given her time at the ranch,” Lovingier said.

The California Thoroughbred Breeders Association is holding a stallion season auction on Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. The auction will be conducted via telephone at (626) 445-7800, with proceeds going toward the organization’s political action committee.

Awesome Gambler and Southern Image are among the stallions in the auction.

January 1, 2012

Warren gets out of the breeding business
By Steve Andersen

ARCADIA, Calif. – Ben Warren, one of California’s most prolific owner-breeders in recent years, has stopped breeding and will wind down his racing operation in coming years, he said on Thursday.

Warren does not plan to breed any horses in 2012, but said he will continue to race the approximately 150 horses of racing age and 2-year-olds he owns. In addition, Warren has a crop of horses that will be yearlings in 2012.

“The breeding is done,” he said at Santa Anita.

At one point, Warren said he had approximately 800 horses spread across “seven or eight ranches” in California. The cost related to keeping that many horses was “$750,000 a month,” he said. “It was ridiculous.”

As a breeder, Warren, 78, is well-known for the volume of Thoroughbreds his farms produced, and for naming horses after himself.

On Thursday at Santa Anita, Warren’s Hopeful won the first race for maiden claimers, Warren’s Mad Dawg finished last of seven in a $20,000 claimer, and Warren’s Knockout finished sixth in a $40,000 claimer for turf sprinters. Warren bred all three runners, but does not own Warren’s Hopeful.

He described his upcoming 2-year-old crop as “the best we’ve had.” Warren said he currently has 50 horses in training at Santa Anita with private trainer Jorge Gutierrez.

“We’ve got enough at home for five years,” he said of his future racehorses.

Warren’s operation was at its height in the late 2000s when his stable had more than 100 broodmares. During that time, his breeding farm in Hemet, Calif., had 25 stallions, most of whom he owned. Many of the stallions stood for modest fees, ranging from $1,000 to $2,500. He bought his first horses in the early 2000s, initially getting involved through claiming.

As he wound down his breeding operation in recent months, Warren said he kept only two stallions and disbanded his broodmares.

“I gave them all away,” he said, adding he could not recall where the broodmares and stallions were relocated.

Warren won the 2010 Solana Beach Stakes at Del Mar with Warren’s Jitterbug. More recently, his Warren’s Flyer was third in the Melair Stakes at Hollywood Park in April, Warren’s Blossom was second in the Desert Stormer Handicap in June, and Warren’s Amber was third in the filly division of the California Breeders’ Champion Stakes at Santa Anita last Monday.

In business, Warren transports automobiles internationally for the U.S. Army and Navy. He said his firm moved 85,000 cars in 2011. Recently remarried, Warrren said he plans to retire from that job in October 2013.

Two new stallions in California

The stallions Elusive Bluff and Recap will begin their stud careers in California in 2012.

Elusive Bluff, the winner of the Grade 3 Pilgrim Stakes at Belmont Park in 2008, has been moved from Louisiana to E.A. Ranches, in Santa Ysabel, for the upcoming breeding season.

By Elusive Quality, Elusive Bluff will stand for $1,000. He was bred to 22 mares in 2011, according to Jockey Club statistics. Elusive Bluff was unbeaten in two starts at 2, earning $127,380.

Recap, a full brother to the Grade 1 winners Courageous Cat and After Market but winless at the racetrack, enters stud at Ballena Vista Farm in Ramona.

Recap is by Storm Cat out of Tranquility Lake, a millionaire and Grade 1 winner on the racetrack. Courageous Cat, who enters stud in Kentucky this year, won the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Hollywood Park last July. After Market won the Grade 1 Charles Whittingham and Eddie Read handicaps during his racing career. He stands at stud in Kentucky.

Raced by breeders Marty and Pam Wygod, Recap, who made two starts, will stand complimentary to approved mares. As an incentive to attract mares, a bonus program has been introduced for Recap’s first crop, 2-year-olds of 2015. The registered breeder of the first Grade 1 stakes winner of that crop will receive a $100,000 payment. The breeder of the first stakes winner, in races worth a minimum of $55,000, will receive a $50,000 bonus.