Archives » Trainers/Training
Now, That's Funny
Trainer Rick Dutrow on racing's shady side: "Sometimes I get beat in races, and I know something wasn't done right. I know they can't beat us fairly. It aggravates me. I don't ever say anything, but I know they got over."...
Posted by JC, May 1, 2008 12:30 PM
Biancone Suspended
The Kentucky Horse Racing Authority has slapped trainer Patrick Biancone with a one year suspension for possession of three vials of cobra venom (DRF). Scheduled to start on October 15, the suspension won't impede Biancone's saddling of likely favorite Irish Smoke in today's Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland, where Biancone was leading trainer last spring. And according to attorney Frank Becker, Biancone plans to appeal the suspension, which means horses could be running under his name in the Breeders' Cup. Well, that'll look terrific on World Championship Day. Biancone was issued additional suspensions, which KHRA will allow him to serve concurrently,...
Posted by JC, Oct 5, 2007 11:35 AM
Biancone Barn Searched
Blood-Horse broke the story this afternoon that trainer Patrick Biancone's Keeneland barn has been searched by the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority, which has opened an investigation: John Veitch, chief steward for the KHRA, would not comment June 26 on the nature of the investigation or whether the search yielded anything illegal or that violates state racing regulations. Veitch said the search was conducted by KHRA personnel June 22, but also would not say what led to the search. No comment from Biancone, currently the seventh-leading trainer at Churchill Downs with 11 wins from 50 starters this spring. The Thoroughbred Times...
Posted by JC, Jun 26, 2007 09:00 PM
Pletcher Fined, Suspended
Trainer Todd Pletcher has been fined $3,000 and suspended for 45 days by the New York stewards for a drug positive from last summer (ESPN). Tales of Glory won an allowance race at Saratoga last August and tested positive for mepivacaine, an anesthetic that has "a high potential to affect performance." Pletcher has appealed the ruling. Whispers about the use of performance enhancing substances have long dogged the trainer, and this positive, which is Pletcher's first, will give gossips plenty to talk about. It's unlikely there'll be much other fallout. As Alan notes over on Left at the Gate, trainer...
Posted by JC, Jul 3, 2005 03:45 PM
Mullins Apologizes
"I said things I didn't mean and shouldn't have said," trainer Jeff Mullins said in a TVG interview on Sunday night. "Believe me, I'd take them back if I could. I didn't mean to offend anybody." Thank you, Mr. Mullins. Let's put the affair behind us now. (LA Times) Comment: I've been surprised by the vociferous reaction to Mullins' remarks about bettors being "idiots" and "addicts." Had D.G. Van Clief or Frank Stronach said such things, I'd understand the outcry. Had Mullins said these things in a horsemen's meeting and all the other trainers around him nodded in agreement, I'd...
Posted by JC, Mar 14, 2005 06:05 AM
L'Affaire Mullins, Cont.
Trainer Jeff Mullins "expressed regret" today that his comments to LA Times columnist T.J. Simers last weekend offended anyone. "The conditioner said he lost his temper at Simers when they had a heated discussion outside the Mullins barn early Saturday." Simers quoted Mullins as saying, "If you bet on horses, I would call you an idiot," and, "I train to win and that's all I care about. It's not my problem [if the general public is deceived]. They ought to bring in slot machines, then we could run our horses and make a living without worrying about some crybaby calling...
Posted by JC, Mar 9, 2005 11:40 PM
Who's the Idiot Here?
Trainer Jeff Mullins, perhaps feeling a little grumpy now that he's been busted for cheating, tells writer T.J. Simers that the problem with racing is "all the addicts and idiots crying because they lost a $2 bet." Ouch. Of course, if it weren't for racing fans, there'd be no purse money for trainers. The cranky Mullins had sharp words for fellow trainers and racing officials as well: "For a guy who has won as many Breeders' Cup races as Mandella has, I'd like to see his tests.... I would think Bruce Headley's horses are over [the testing limit] every time...
Posted by JC, Mar 6, 2005 03:10 PM
Volume, Volume, Volume
Trainer Steve Asmussen's stable has 180 horses and stretches from coast to coast, notes Ralph Siraco, and it's no surprise that he blew by Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg's record of 496 winners in one year on Saturday. "Asmussen is the Wal-Mart of horse race trainers. He is a volume dealer. On Saturday, he started a career-high 30 horses. In one day!" (Las Vegas Sun)...
Posted by JC, Nov 22, 2004 02:25 PM
A Day In the Life
Of trainer Todd Pletcher. "Pletcher's home is 3.1 miles from his Belmont Park barn. On this morning, Sunday, Oct. 17, he arrived at his barn at 4:26, but only after he had inspected both the training track and main track. Pletcher wanted to see how overnight showers affected both tracks. He was satisfied with the condition of the main track, so all workouts would be conducted there. Pletcher had 40 horses to take to the track in six sets, 16 to work, 22 to gallop, and 2 to jog." And that's just the start. (Daily Racing Form)...
Posted by JC, Oct 23, 2004 10:06 AM
One Busy Day
"Trainer Todd Pletcher could have as many as six horses in this year's Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships if all goes well leading up the races in the next 25 days." (Thoroughbred Times)...
Posted by JC, Oct 6, 2004 07:30 AM
Missing Smarty
The Pennsylvania Derby was supposed to be Smarty Jones' return to racing, the start of a dashing fall campaign culminating on Breeders' Cup day. Instead, the three-year-old colt was retired at the end of the July. For trainer John Servis, "All that's left is the memories of an incredible run that ... started last November when Smarty Jones began his racing career." (Bucks County Courier Times)...
Posted by JC, Sep 7, 2004 07:43 AM
"Early to rise, Lukas is wise"
"Jay Leno and David Letterman are complete strangers to trainer Wayne Lukas. The Hall of Fame horseman's legendary work ethic doesn't include late-night chat shows. It does involve starting every workday at 3:30 a.m., a schedule Lukas says he has maintained ever since he started training racehorses more than 30 years ago." (New York Daily News) Related: "Lukas loaded for big weekend" (ESPN)...
Posted by JC, Aug 17, 2004 09:05 PM
Trainer Phil Johnson Dies
Phil Johnson, the trainer who won the 2002 Breeders' Cup with Volponi, died on Friday at age 78. (New York Times) Related: "New York racing loses a gem" (Daily Racing Form)...
Posted by JC, Aug 7, 2004 06:40 PM
Getting It Right at the Gate
"Thoroughbreds, most of them tending toward paranoid schizophrenia, have a deep-rooted fear of restraint, narrow enclosure, and loud noises. The starting gate requires them to hold still in a claustrophobic pen while men shout, horses squeal, and metal doors bang open and shut. There is also a loud bell, just for yucks" (Daily Racing Form)....
Posted by JC, Jul 12, 2004 07:55 PM
