NEWS
Midwest: Leading runners
Posted: Saturday, December 15, 2001
Kentucky is a world unto itself, while state breeding programs produce noteworthy horses
Within the continental United States, size is defined by California's population and Texas's geographic area. In North American Thoroughbred racing, size is defined by Kentucky. Each year, it produces the most foals, breeds the most mares, houses many of the industry's most popular stallions, and is home to the world's largest commercial breedering farms.
For Kentucky, numbers often translate into performance. While Cigar is North America's leading earner, he was bred in Maryland and has called Kentucky home since his retirement. This year, Kentucky again will hold that honor, with dual classic winner Point Given atop the North American earnings list at $3.35-million.
Indeed, Kentucky is a world unto itself, and its numbers dwarf those of other states within the Midwest region. But this does not mean that other states do not produce quality runners. This year, a Michigan-bred filly was among the year's leading two-year-old fillies, and an Illinois-bred three-year-old filly placed in the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1).
Even those state-breds that do not star in graded stakes play an important role in the industry, especially in the states where they were bred. State-breds often are the bread and butter of track racing programs, and those races in turn provide purses and incentive payments to the state's breeders.
The following descriptions of leading earners by state where bred and the accompanying tables cover the 2001 calendar year through December 4 and are limited to North American earnings. The narratives are arranged by the earnings of each state's leading runner.
Kentucky
Bred and raced by The Thoroughbred Corp. of Ahmed bin Salman, a Saudi prince and publications mogul, Point Given stands atop Kentucky-bred runners by 2001 North American earnings, and he is a leading candidate for Horse of the Year, along with the reigning overall champion, Tiznow. The Horse of the Year race might not have been a race at all if California-bred Tiznow had not pulled out a dramatic second victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) on October 27.
Point Given was not around for the year's finale. After winning the Travers Stakes (G1), his fourth straight victory in a $1-million race, the Thunder Gulch three-year-old was retired with a leg injury. He will stand his first season in 2002 at Three Chimneys Farm near Midway, Kentucky.
Co-highweighted on the Experimental Free Handicap with juvenile male champion Macho Uno, the hulking colt was regarded as a potential Triple Crown winner after dominating victories in the San Felipe Stakes (G2) and Santa Anita Derby (G1), but he ran poorly at Churchill Downs and finished fifth in the Kentucky Derby (G1). The Derby, as disappointing as it was for Prince Salman and trainer Bob Baffert, would be his only defeat of the year.
Point Given crushed his opponents in the Preakness (G1) and Belmont (G1) Stakes before narrowly winning Monmouth Park's Haskell Invitational Handicap (G1) and humbling his opponents in the Travers on August 25. His string of victories gave him 2001 earnings of $3.35-million and virtually assures him the Eclipse Award as champion three-year-old male.
Albert the Great, who blossomed last year for trainer Nick Zito, put together an exemplary 2001 season, with two Grade 2 victories, a Hialeah Park track record for 1 1/8 miles (1:45.52) in the Widener Handicap (G3), and four second-place finishes in Grade 1 races. Bred by Albert Clay and owned by Tracy Farmer, the four-year-old Go for Gin colt finished second in the Woodward Stakes (G1) on September 8 and was fourth in the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1), a race he won in 2000 and his only off-the-board finish in '01.
He closed out the season with a third-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Classic, 1 3/4 lengths behind Tiznow and Sakhee. Still, his $1.74-million earnings were slightly more than half those of Point Given.
In third position by North American earnings was Monarchos, bred by Jim D. Squires and the winner of the Derby who finished third in the Belmont for owner John Oxley. A substantial part of his $1.71-million in 2001 earnings came from the Derby and his victory in the Florida Derby (G1) in March. Fourth was Unbridled Elaine, who upset the Breeders' Cup Distaff but then threw the divisional race into disarray by finishing third in Churchill's Falls City Handicap (G3) in November.
The Kentucky standings would be substantially different if earnings outside the U.S. were included in the tally. With his victory in the Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1), Captain Steve banked $4.2-million in 2001 for owner Mike Pegram and thus would have headed the '01 list. Fantastic Light, sparkling winner of the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) and Europe's Horse of the Year, would have been third after Captain Steve and Point Given with more than $2.6-million in 2001 purses.
Illinois
Such top-quality runners as champion Buck's Boy and Polar Expedition have proved that Illinois-breds can run anywhere, and 2001 top earner Two Item Limit made $648,760 while running on both coasts. Second in the Las Virgenes Stakes (G1), the three-year-old Twining filly trounced her competition in Aqueduct's Comely Stakes (G3) and then won the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) at Pimlico Race Course on May 18. The filly, bred by Hal Snowden Jr. and Raymond Simpson and owned by Joseph Graffeo, finished third in the Breeders' Cup Distaff.
Chicago Six, a six-year-old Wild Again horse bred by Richard Duchossois's Hill 'N Dale Farm, capped a sharp spring campaign by upsetting even-money favorite Guided Tour in the National Jockey Club Handicap (G3) at Sportsman's Park. He also won the Prairie Meadows Handicap in Iowa and scored a second straight win in Hawthorne Race Course's restricted Illinois Coronet Handicap.
Illinois's third-leading earner in 2001 was Fan Club's Mister, a three-year-old Mr. Greeley colt who prospered on the grass, winning Arlington Park's American Derby (G2) in July.
Iowa
Prairie Meadows Racetrack's slot machines have done wonders for Iowa purses, and Sure Shot Biscuit is clear proof of how much purses have improved in the heartland state. Bred by Shady Bend TB and owned by Okoboji Racing Stables, Sure Shot Biscuit earned $359,885 last year and $368,985 this year.
Although the five-year-old Miracle Heights horse won a stakes race in Nebraska this year, he has cleaned up in his home state. He won six stakes races at Prairie Meadows, including repeat victories in the Precisionist Handicap and John Wayne Stakes.
Sharky's Review, a three-year-old Sharkey filly, won the Iowa Breeders' Oaks and two other Prairie Meadows stakes to finish second in 2001 earnings with $195,403.
Michigan
Michigan lost more than a racetrack when Ladbrokes shut down and sold Detroit Race Course in 1998. Although Thoroughbred racing was preserved at Great Lakes Downs, the state's racing industry lost James and Laura Jackson to Kentucky. Their Michigan-breds are still on the track and are still racking up significant numbers, though.
The Jacksons bred Cashier's Dream, a two-year-old Service Stripe filly who made a brilliant start and was sold to Heiligbrodt Racing Stable and Team Valor in early summer. For her new owners and trainer Steve Asmussen, Cashier's Dream scored a runaway victory in Saratoga Race Course's Spinaway Stakes (G1) and was second to You in the Frizette Stakes (G1). Her earnings totaled $353,230.
In second position was Jacksons-bred Secret Romeo, who earned $241,895 this year while cleaning up at Great Lakes. The three-year-old Service Stripe colt, owned by A. A. C. Stables, won seven stakes races at the Muskegon track, as well as the Shamrock Stakes at Sportsman's this year.
Ohio
Three-year-olds and older males usually are the end-of-year leading earners because they have more opportunities and run more often. In Ohio, however, the leading 2001 earners were both two-year-olds who did not begin racing until late spring.
Topping the list by earnings was Harlan's Holiday, bred by Double D Farm Corp. near Akron and owned by Starlight Stable. Second in his career debut for trainer Ken McPeek, Harlan's Holiday scored consecutive victories in the Cleveland Kindergarten Stakes at Thistledown and in the Hoover and Cradle Stakes at River Downs. Second in the Lane's End Breeders' Futurity (G2) at Keeneland Race Course in October, the Harlan colt came back to win Churchill's Iroquois Stakes (G3). He earned $341,564.
Runner-up Joanies Bella, a Mercer Mill filly owned by breeder Daniel Martin and Jerry Ayres, came to hand in late summer for trainer Timothy Hamm and reeled off victories in the Bassinet Stakes, Arlington-Washington Lassie Stakes (G3), and Best of Ohio Juvenile Fillies Championship Stakes.
Indiana
Without revenue from riverboat admissions, Indiana racing most likely would be struggling-if it existed at all. The subsidy has benefited Hoosier Park, which has held a pari-mutuel monopoly since its 1994 opening. (That monopoly is scheduled to end with the prospective opening of Indianapolis Downs next year.)
Topping the Indiana list in 2001 was Ronald McKee's homebred Red's Honor, a three-year-old Glitterman colt who banked $172,208. Trained by Dale Romans, Red's Honor won three Hoosier stakes races this year: the Brickyard, Fort Wayne, and Benjamin Harrison Stakes.
Missouri
Without accredited racetracks in the state, Missouri-breds must hit the road in search of race purses, often in neighboring Illinois or Iowa. Fort Metfield, Missouri's leading earner, traveled widely, finishing second in Tampa Bay Downs's Super Stakes before winning two overnight races at Hawthorne and Arlington Park. The seven-year-old Metfield gelding's 2001 earnings totaled $70,660 through December 4.
Second in the 2001 standings was well-traveled Page Two, a seven-year-old Victorious gelding bred, co-owned, and trained by Tom Pryor. Page Two won claiming races at Oaklawn Park and Prairie Meadows while accumulating 2001 earnings of $47,715.
Minnesota
Bred by Audrey E. Sterriker and owned by Jim Sterriker, Blumin Bauble led Minnesota-bred runners in 2001 with earnings of $68,322. The three-year-old Blumin Affair filly won the Minnesota Oaks at Canterbury Park and placed in two other stakes, finishing second in the Frances Genter Stakes and third in the Minnesota Distaff Sprint Championship Stakes, at the Minneapolis-area track.
North Dakota
Dakota Prospect, a four-year-old Slewdledo colt co-bred and owned by retired farmer Darrell Sundsbak, topped North Dakota's list with earnings of $65,850 in 2001. Dakota Prospect won Mountaineer Park's Independence Day Handicap in course-record time (one mile on grass in 1:33.81) at generous 28.10-to-1 odds and subsequently finished second in the Yaqthan Stakes at Kentucky Downs, an all-turf course.
Nebraska
Tauke, a three-year-old Bengal Bay colt bred and owned by trainer Marvin A. Johnson and Charles R. Salem, won the 2001 Horsemen's Park Breeders' Derby and led all
Nebraska-breds with earnings slightly below $65,000 through December 4. He also placed in two Fonner Park stakes races. Second with earnings of $62,900 was High Dice, a six-year-old gelding bred, owned, and trained by Herb Riecken. By Lytrump, High Dice won the Dreisbach's Dowd Mile Handicap at Fonner and three nonblack-type races at the Nebraska State Fair Park in Lincoln.
Kansas
I Dancer, bred and owned by B. E. Howerter, M.D., topped all Kansas-breds with earnings of $62,150. The six-year-old I Enclose gelding's three 2001 wins included allowance scores at Oaklawn Park and Prairie Meadows. Second was Scarlet Lad, winner of the 2001 Woodlands Derby and second in the Kansas Thoroughbred Derby, also at the Woodlands.
Wisconsin
Just Jammin' a three-year-old Hold the Sauce filly bred and owned by Jeffrey Candler, topped Wisconsin-breds with earnings exceeding $12,000 from two claiming race wins.
South Dakota
Senor Mas, bred and trained by Dean Hansen, scored a claiming victory at Prairie Meadows and led all South Dakota-breds with earnings of more than $9,000.
Don Clippinger is features editor of Thoroughbred Times.
