Smarty statue update

Jean Clagett, who has been commissioned to create the bronze sculpture of Smarty Jones for Parx Racing, reports that the sculpture will not be unveiled tomorrow at the Pennsylvania's Day at the Races celebration as planned, but instead it may occur on September 25, the day of the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby.

Clagett said the statue is finished, but will stay in Unionville, Pa., for the Laurels at Landhope CDE Saturday and Sunday, and will arrive in Bensalem early next week.  A pedestal and plaque for the piece have yet to be completed by the racetrack.

In other news, Pennsylvania's owners and breeders will celebrate the fruits of their labors at the annual "Pennsylvania's Day at the Races" tomorrow at Parx Racing.  This year, the gala moves from a tent at the far end of the Picnic Grove to the 5th floor of the grandstand.

Tomorrow's card features 10 races for Pennsylvania-breds, including several maiden races with well-bred juveniles.  An interesting horse to watch is Delaware River, who seems to rise to the occasion each year on this date and is entered in the $100,000 PHBA Classic at 1-1/16 miles.  For the last two years, the son of Quiet American captured the Smarty Jones Classic for owner/trainer William A. Campbell; in his most recent start at Delaware Park, he was haltered for $40,000 by trainer Brad H. Cox and owner Midwest Thoroughbreds.  Now 9, Delaware River has won 18 of 73 starts, and more than $680,000.  He was bred in the Keystone State by Land of Believe Farm.

Another horse, Coastal Solace, who is entered in the $150,000 PHBA Distaff at 1-1/16 miles, is living proof that sometimes you don't have to pay a lot to come up with a talented competitor.  Plucked for a mere $2,000 out of the Mountain Springs Arena 2007 mixed sale, this 5-year-old daughter of Coastal Storm (by Storm Cat) has won nearly $400,000 for owner Ruby Stables and Steve Klesaris.  Coastal Solace was bred by former PHBA president Dr. Bill Solomon.

First post tomorrow is 12:25 p.m.

The mystery of the Smarty statue ... and a pleasant surprise at Parx

While I’m still not crazy about its new name, I was pleasantly surprised when I strolled into Philadelphia Park … er, Parx Racing … last Saturday, which was christened Smarty Jones Day.

From the outside, the place looks pretty much like it always has – the “big box on Street Road,” as Dick Jerardi of the Philadelphia Daily News once called it. But once inside, it was obvious that a lot of money and thought had gone into the renovation, as the place fairly glowed in tones of red and gold.

The first floor features a large sports bar and 50 individual betting desks with flat-screen TVs and marble tops. The horsemen’s restaurant has returned, and there is a snack bar just inside the paddock, which I was happy to see offered a large menu of reasonably-priced food and drink. Hey, when a racetrack only charges $2.75 for domestic beer and $2.50 for a slice of pizza, you know it’s a bargain (check out the prices at tracks like Saratoga and Monmouth).

I wandered up to the third floor and was delighted to find lots of tables and chairs where fans can spread out their Forms and programs, and four walls filled with flat-screen TVs of various sizes and shapes. The only drawback I could see was that there were only 2 mutuel clerks punching tickets and two automated tellers, but it appeared that part of that area was still under construction.

Three key players from “Team Smarty” – trainer John Servis, jockey Stewart Elliott, and owner Pat Chapman – all graciously signed autographs and talked with fans, and the commemorative Smarty Jones coin that was given out to the first 5,000 fans was actually quite nice, made of a heavy metal and packaged in a clear, snap-front case. My daughters were thrilled to each get one, and later that night I saw one had already been put up on Ebay with an opening bid of $10.00.

I took the opportunity down by the winner’s circle to ask Pat Chapman, who was wearing a blue jacket quite similar to the color of Someday Farm’s silks, if there was any news concerning where Smarty might stand next year, since talk is rampant that he may come to Pennsylvania.

Chapman said that “she would love” for him to come home to the Keystone State, where he was foaled, but that it was a complicated issue due to the horse’s many syndicate owners. She did confirm that she had fielded several offers from the Japanese for Smarty, but had no intention of sending him there.

Finally, there was a bit of confusion over the Smarty Jones statue that was to be unveiled on Saturday. Greenwood Racing, the owner of the racetrack, had advertised heavily that the statue would be unveiled on Smarty Jones Day, but it was nowhere to be found, sparking many wild rumors ranging from “bad weather prevented the statue from being delivered” to “Greenwood didn’t pay for it.”

To find out the truth, we contacted Virginia sculptress Jean Clagett, who was commissioned to craft Smarty’s statue, and asked why the likeness of the dual classic winner wasn’t in Bensalem. It turned out none of the rumors were correct.

“No one was more disappointed that Smarty's cold cast could not be ready for the event than I was,” said Clagett, whose exquisite statues of equines adorn places such as the Kentucky Horse Park and private homes of thoroughbred owners like George Strawbridge, Jr. “Even though it is a temporary substitute for the bronze sculpture, it is still important that it be presented at its best when people see the model. A section didn't cast right, so I need to redo that section, which required my ordering more materials from my supplier.”

Clagett said that the piece would be assembled on Thursday, shipped to Parx on Friday, and unveiled on Saturday, just in time for Pennsylvania’s Day at the Races, which honors the state’s breeders.

To get a sneak-peek preview of what the statue might look like, check out Clagett’s web site, Atelier West, and click on this link: http://www.atelierwest.com/defaultatelierwest_002.htm

Get ready for the Smarty Party

For the last 2 years, we have heard rumblings about dual classic winner Smarty Jones coming back to Pennsylvania, the land of his birth, to stand at stud.

Last year, two farms that we know of actually made pitches to the powers that be at Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky, hoping to strike a deal. For whatever reason, those overtures were spurned, and Smarty stayed in the Bluegrass State, covering a book of 50-something mares at a $10,000 stud fee (the Report of Mares Bred for 2010 has yet to be released by The Jockey Club).

This year, Smarty’s owner, Pat Chapman, has expressed a desire to “bring him home,” and it appears a deal is very close with a Pennsylvania farm to stand him in 2011.

We will not be at liberty to reveal what farm Smarty may be headed to until later this month, but suffice it to say it is a professional operation, and it welcomes the publicity and fan attention Smarty will bring along with him.

Stay tuned to this blog for more details as we are allowed to release them.

Smarty Jones (right) lost the Belmont Stakes, and the Triple Crown, when he was upset by Birdstone.

Playing it Safe

While reading the minutes from the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission's meeting on July 20, 2010, the most recent available on its web site, we came across this information provided by Delaware Park to the Commission concerning breakdowns and fatalities (scroll down to the last page of the document):

Delaware Park Breakdown Statistics

What struck us was the detailed information contained in this report, and also that the track seems to be a very safe place to race.  Although only two months of information are shown, for May and June, 2010, you can see there were no racing fatalities in May from 1,332 starters, and two in June, from 1,386 starters.  That translates to 0.74 fatal M-S racing injuries per 1,000 starters, an excellent number.  Looking back over the years, in 2006 Delaware Park only had 12 racing fatalities from 9,318 starters, or 0.97 fatal M-S racing injuries per 1,000 starters. In 2007, it had 11 fatalities from 8,536 starters, or 1.17 fatal injuries; in 2008, it had 16 fatalities from 8,460, or 1.77, and in 2009, it had 14 from 8,188, or 1.59.

What makes Delaware's numbers so good is that the national injury incidence rate is much higher.  In March, The Jockey Club announced data on racing fatalities in North America.  Based upon a year’s worth of data beginning November 1, 2008 to October 31, 2009, from 378,864 total starts in Thoroughbred flat races at 73 racetracks participating in the Equine Injury Database, 2.04 fatal injuries were recorded per 1,000 starts.

Here is The Jockey Club's data sheet:

http://www.jockeyclub.com/resources/SDA_062310.pdf

It would be a welcome change if all racetracks followed Delaware Park's lead and let the "sunshine in," providing detailed information about breakdowns and safety.

Midsummer musings

Unlike Kentucky, California and Florida, there are only a handful of stallions in Pennsylvania whose first crops hit the races in any given year.  That's because, traditionally, most of the Keystone State's stallion roster is comprised of horses that have stood in other states - usually Kentucky or Florida - and were moved in order to breathe new life and generate renewed interest in often-faltering stud careers.

But once the Pennsylvania Breeding Fund began soaring to astronomical heights thanks to slot machine revenue, stallions owners began eyeballing Pennsylvania as a desirable and lucrative destination, not as a last resort.  Consider this: In 2003, the year before slots legislation was passed by state legislators, the total money in the Breeding Fund was $8,489,644.  In 2008, three years after the legislation was passed, the Breeding Fund had risen to $21,702,888.  Last year, due to cash-strapped state coffers, the Breeding Fund was raided by budget-balancers in Harrisburg, and it topped out at $16,429,679, where it is again projected to be in 2010.

In the last three years, the parade of new stallions to Pennsylvania began like never before.  Among them was Grade 2 winner Fairbanks, who retired to new Northview-Pa in Peach Bottom in 2009 for a stud fee of $7,500, a record for a freshman sire. In 2010, Jump Start and Honour and Glory, two former Kentucky sires, came to Ghost Ridge Farms with stud fees of $10,000 and $6,500, respectively.  Castleton-Lyons, a well-respected Kentucky farm, sent four stallions to Gayle Gerth's Dana Point Farm in Lenhartsville in 2009-10, including millionaire Sir Shackleton, whose first foals are 2-year-olds of 2010, and third-crop sire Toccet.  Other sires to begin their stud careers in Pennsylvania within the last two years include millionaire Buzzards Bay, who stands at Timber Ridge Farm in Felton, and Talent Search, who retired to Diamond B Farm in Mohrsville. 

In just a few weeks the announcements will begin as to what stallions will be calling Pennsylvania their home for 2011, as well as who among the current corps will be leaving.  It's always an exciting time of year, but we have a feeling that there may be a bombshell announcement or two that will have breeders buzzing.  Stay tuned right here for the latest as we hear it.

* * * *

At least five times over the summer, parents left their kids unattended in the Parx Casino parking lot, and the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is none too happy about it.

The Gaming Board said on Thursday that Parx officials and Bensalem police are not doing enough to stop this potentially deadly act from occurring.  Apparently the urge to gamble is so strong that the lives of children are being put at risk. 

"The Board stressed to Parx that this is really a life-or-death issue and we want it taken seriously," said Gaming Board spokesman Doug Harbach.

Training at Philadelphia Park Racetrack, tucked in behind the massive Parx Casino, is set to resume this weekend after three weeks hiatus for track maintenance.  Live racing will return on August 29, with the renovated grandstand taking center stage.

Some nice horses - and places - I've seen

As a follow-up to the previous post, "Some pretty places I've been," I thought I would do a posting that features some horses and places I've been lucky enough to photograph over the past few years, not necessarily restricted to Pennsylvania and Maryland. 

The first is a picture of Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Real Quiet, photographed last January at Penn Ridge Farm's Open House in Harrisburg, Pa.:

Here's a picture of Penn Ridge's barn and the Open House tent from that day:

Next is a picture of the stallion Gators N Bears, taken at Bonita Farm's Open House last winter in Maryland:

Here is Preakness Stakes winner Deputed Testamony, also taken at Bonita Farm:

From my trip to Kentucky last August, here's Malibu Moon at Spendthrift Farm:

Birdstone, photographed at Gainesway Farm last August:

The Adena Springs stallion barn and fountain:

A broodmare barn and fountain at Gainesway Farm, last August:

The entranceway to WinStar Farm, home to Tiznow, Distorted Humor and other fine stallions:

The stall door of Medaglia d'Oro, taken at Darley:

Speaking of Tiznow, here he is:

My daughter Devon, next to a halter display in WinStar's stallion barn:

The main barn at WynOaks Farm in Delta, Pa.:

And finally, the stallion Fastness (Ire), with Timber Ridge Farm's owner Boggs Shoemaker:

Some pretty places I've been

In the last three years, I have been lucky enough to visit nearly every thoroughbred farm in Pennsylvania and many in Maryland, meeting some really great people in the process.  I thought I would post some pictures from those visits and share their beauty with you. 

First up is Gayle Gerth's picturesque Dana Point Farm in Lenhartsville, Pa.  Here are shots from both winter and summer:

Here is Travis and Wendy Kinnamon's main house on their lovely Break Away Farm in Kirkwood, Pa.:

And here is Sylmar Farm in Christiana, Pa., owned by Ronnie and Betsy Houghton (Wendy Kinnamon's parents).  The Houghtons were Pennsylvania's leading breeders last year and in 2004:

Here is gorgeous Timber Ridge Farm in Felton, Pa., last October.  It's owned by Boggs Shoemaker:

A pasture scene from new Northview-Pa. in Peach Bottom:

And finally, here's the now-defunct Maryland Stallion Station that was located in Darlington, Md.  What a beautiful farm, especially in the autumn. 

If you choose to use any of these photos, please credit Linda Dougherty.  Thanks for reading this blog!