The weekly TRC industry digest - a round-up of the international racing news from the past week.
Cheating in U.S. racing: They still haven’t learned, says Janney
North America: A year on from the news that rocked this industry, when 27 individuals, including trainers Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro, were arrested following federal indictments, the first defendant has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Scott Robinson, 46, was punished for the years-long sale and distribution of adulterated and misbranded drugs, including performance-enhancing drugs marketed to trainers and others in the industry. He pleaded guilty to a one-count information on September 16, 2020, before U.S. District Judge J Paul Oetken, who imposed the sentence.
Audrey Strauss, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Robinson “created and profited from a system designed to exploit racehorses in the pursuit of speed and prize money, risking their safety and wellbeing”. What’s more, she believed that he “misled and deceived regulators and law enforcement in the process”.
In addition to his prison sentence, the Florida native, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and forfeiture of $3.8 million.
Meanwhile, Jockey Club chairman Stuart Janney III has said that last year’s indictments will not be the last, and retribution will be followed through.
“I would have gotten the message a year ago if I was a trainer, but I don’t know if some people did,” said Janney. “It’s great when they are caught in the regulatory framework and penalties become more severe, but people need to go to jail. This is stealing. It’s not fun and games.”
“Unfortunately, we continue to see things that look to be suspicious to us,” he added. “We have been communicating with 5 Stones intelligence [a leading private investigation firm retained by the Jockey Club)] and they are not indicating that we’ve gotten to the bottom of the bucket. To the extent that we have knowledge, we believe there is a long tail to this.
“Maybe people are more careful of how they are cheating, but I don’t see a lot of evidence that people have stopped cheating.”
Death of Frankel’s dam
Europe: Juddmonte has announced the passing of Kind, the dam of Frankel and his homebred G1-winning brother Noble Mission, due to complications after foaling a colt by Kingman earlier this month at the age of 20.
The daughter of Danehill was herself a second-generation Juddmonte homebred. Her family came into the Juddmonte Stud Book through the mare Rockfest – who was purchased privately in 1983 as part of a bloodstock package from the John ‘Jock’ Hay Whitney dispersal.
Stud Director UK Simon Mockridge admitted that she will “rightfully always be best remembered as the dam of Frankel and Noble Mission” but to those at the late Prince Khalid’s Newmarket operation he conceded that she will “always be Kind by name and Kind by nature”.
She won six of her 13 races, including the listed Flower of Scotland Stakes and Kilvington Stakes, as well as being placed in the G3 Ballyogan Stakes. Her true legacy is that five of her sons are at stud and her daughter Joyeuse and granddaughters Jubiloso and Jovial are in the Juddmonte broodmare band.
Winx part-owner dies at 90
Oceania: Richard Treweeke, part-owner of Winx, passed away at the age of 90 on Tuesday, a day after a Winx statue was unveiled at Rosehill Gardens racecourse where his he was represented by his daughter Elizabeth.
Treweeke is credited with the cheeky naming the winner of a world record 25 G1s. He told Racenet’s Ray Thomas that the reason was due to her being out of Vegas Showgirl. “if you have been to Vegas and watched the showgirls, they might flash some skin and the blokes will give them a wink. I suppose it’s easy to remember.”
Winx’s trainer, Chris Waller, described him as a “lovely man to deal with”, remembering him being “very supportive of me and my stable’’ and “always so appreciative of my staff and in awe of what was achieved with Winx”.
Peter Tighe, who raced the mare voted TRC’s World Horse of the Decade in 2019 with Debbie Kepitis and Treweeke, said he raced horses successfully with Treweeke for many years before Winx and called Treweeke his “lucky charm’’ and that he was “glad he lived long enough to see the unveiling of Winx’s statue”.
The Moores are already going their separate ways
Oceania: Just a few weeks after brothers Gary and John Moore officially formed their much-heralded training partnership, it has been revealed that the high-profile duo is to dissolve the enterprise.
“It is an amicable split between brother John and I,’’ said Gary, who will continue to operate his business out of his Rosehill stable base.
John, on the other hand, is likely to live on the Gold Coast but is believed to have made licence inquires of Racing NSW. With his long-term aim to help his son, George, secure a trainer’s licence in Hong Kong, where he was so prolific.
The pair are sons of legendary Australian jockey George Moore, who went on to become champion trainer in Hong Kong for 11 of 13 seasons between 1973 and 1985, when he retired.
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Read JA McGrath’s 2020 TRC article on the Moore family
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Gary followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming a champion jockey - in France first and then a seven-time premiership-winning jockey in Hong Kong. He then took up training, winning Macau’s title eight times before becoming a G1-winning trainer in his homeland.
John began working in Hong Kong racing as an assistant to his father in 1971 before taking out his own licence in 1985. He has won the Hong Kong premiership five times and in 2005 broke the record for most career wins by a trainer in Hong Kong racing.
The 70-year-old was forced into retirement in Hong Kong earlier this year due to his age.
Royal Ascot purse fund back up to £6m
Europe: Ascot has confirmed its 2021 schedule and prize money for its two summer showpieces, the Royal meeting and King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes.
Over the five days of Royal Ascot between June 15 and 19, overall prize money will be £6 million, a 66 percent increase on the £3.61 million offered in 2020. This, though, is “75 per cent of what we had originally planned for 2020” before the pandemic, according to Ascot CEO Guy Henderson.
“With restricted attendances in 2021 and pandemic insurance cover no longer available, the business will need to absorb a significant loss this year in order to deliver our wish to support the industry with the most prize money that we can prudently afford,” he said.
The King George, on July 24, will be run for £875,000, over double the 2020 pot of £400,000. To see the full schedule, click here
Stevenson takes the reins at RMG
Europe: Racecourse Media Group (RMG) has named Martin Stevenson as its new chief executive, succeeding long-serving CEO Richard FitzGerald, who left the post in September.
Stevenson (pictured) joined the the media and data rights holding company for the UK and Ireland’s leading racecourses as its finance director in 2007, following previous experience as managing director of the Newspaper Licensing Agency and group financial controller of Trinity Mirror, then publishers of the Racing Post.
Stevenson said, “RMG has been a phenomenal success story since its inception as Racing UK back in 2004, having posted year-on-year increases in licence fees payable to its racecourse shareholders nearly every year of trading. It shows what can be achieved via a collective approach to commercialising our racecourses’ media and data rights.
“But RMG never stands still. We will continue to innovate with our output, as evidenced by the recent launch of the Racing TV virtual studio, which follows the introduction of the broadcast and publication of in-race timing information.”
Roger Lewis, chairman of RMG, said that the board “unanimously voted for this appointment” and highlighted Stevenson’s “bold and imaginative” vision for the business, adding that his “relationship with our shareholder racecourses is very special”.
Elsewhere in racing …
North America: The Arlington Million, the first Thoroughbred race to offer a $1 million purse, will be run this year for just $600,000. More here
Europe: Disgraced jumps jockey Rob James has been banned for 12 months after a video was released showing him jumping on a dead horse. More here
Europe: British champion trainer John Gosden will hold a joint-licence licence with his son Thady from the start of the new British flat turf season March 27. More here
Oceania: A colt by Fastnet Rock has broken a 15-year record on a stunning day one of the 2021 Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale at Morphettville. More here
North America: Prime Attraction, G1-placed son of Unbridled’s Song, has been retired to Stud in Ontario. More here
Oceania: Dual G1 winner King’s Legacy has been retired to stand at Coolmore Australia. More here