Paulick Report

21/03/2025

“Their unwavering commitment to the sport is matched by their deep compassion for our equine athletes and the dedicated horsemen and horsewomen who make racing possible."

21/03/2025

Though John Hancock is the Louisiana Derby morning line favorite, at 7-2 he is a lukewarm one. It makes sense as the undefeated Constitution c**t has only raced twice. On the other hand, his stablemate Instant Replay has five races of foundation and seasoning and was tabbed as the 6-1 fourth choice.

Read more: https://bit.ly/41Ll42d

21/03/2025

Check out Sandman and American Promise training at Oaklawn in preparation for their next starts on the Road to the Kentucky Derby!

📷 Coady Media

21/03/2025

Congratulations to trainer Mike DePaulo on his 1,000th win!

“We’ve had some good horses along the way. We had a Horse of the Year and been fortunate to win some big races,” DePaulo said.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4iOWS60

📷Coglianese Photo

21/03/2025

“I kind of need a race in him," said trainer Lonnie Briley. "It would be 10 weeks before the (Kentucky) Derby if I wouldn’t have done it. It was either the Arkansas Derby or the Blue Grass. The Blue Grass, to me, would have been a little close. And this one’s kind of in the middle, so I’ll probably go in this one.”

Read more: https://bit.ly/4iNR2lq

21/03/2025

Gear Jockey, a Grade 2 and seven-figure earner, died due to complications from a shipping illness while being exported to Korea: https://paulickreport.com/news/bloodstock/graded-winner-gear-jockey-dies-in-korea-at-age-8

21/03/2025

A quarter century ago, Torres won the race aboard Globalize for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.

A quarter century ago, Torres won the race aboard Globalize for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer

21/03/2025

Make plans to shop the Texas 2-Year-Old Sale on Wednesday, April 2 at Lone Star Park.

Check out the catalog here: https://www.ttasales.com/2-year-old-sale/2025-2-year-old-sale/

21/03/2025

It's Golden Slipper day! Play the world's richest race for 2-year-olds, among five G1 races on the Rosehill card, on Sky Racing World. First Post: 9:30 p.m. Eastern/6.30 p.m. Pacific.

Learn more: https://www.skyracingworld.com/TV/live

21/03/2025

Payne has well learned the difference between the racetrack and the show ring – and what makes a horse good at each, beyond their foundational training. He groomed Idle Dice, Rodney Jenkins’ OTTB who went on to the Show Jumping Hall of Fame. There was nothing Idle Dice couldn’t jump at great speeds, but according to Payne, “he couldn’t outrun a fat man, let alone a $2,500 claimer at Charles Town.”

https://bit.ly/41Bgrrq

21/03/2025

Reimbursement for approved skull caps tops the list, along with continuation of fall and concussion protocol and related, web-based reporting-recording protocol. New safety vests will be provided to licensed riders this season, and an innovative sports counseling service is being made available, free of charge and without limit of use, to riders on the U.S. circuit.

The programs are funded by grants from the Temple Gwathmey Steeplechase Foundation

21/03/2025

The USDA announced there will be no changes to the Act from the 2024 to the 2025 show season: https://bit.ly/4iJl2yM

20/03/2025

The new Pleasanton investors, led by owners and breeders John Harris and George Schmitt, need to file paperwork with the California Horse Racing Board by Friday in order to conduct race days in 2025: https://bit.ly/4hA7g0w

20/03/2025

John Williams blames Seattle Slew, who was notoriously disinterested in mares at the beginning of his stud career, for his crown of white hair. The c**t had been syndicated for $12 million, a record at the time, and in the autumn months ahead of his first season, Williams was struggling to get a test breeding from him. His handler, Clem Brooks, whom Williams credits as “the best guy that ever had his hands on a stallion shank” was also stumped. After another too-quiet day in the breeding shed, Williams had an idea. Maybe Slew just needed to feel full of himself again. So, he asked a groom to grab some tack so they could saddle one of the decade’s greatest runners up in the breeding shed, and Williams rode him through the courtyard to his paddock.

“I turned left down that field, and I grabbed him, and I shouldn’t have done that,” Williams said. “He dropped his neck, chin against his chest, and I felt my irons go out. He had ahold of me. And I thought, ‘Dear Lord, please get us back safe. But if you’ve only got one favor today, get this horse back safe.’”

Tucked away in an office above Main Street in Versailles, Ky., sits a retired farm manager whose career could fill a book. John Williams, now in his seventies,

20/03/2025

Gutierrez hasn't ridden since Feb. 23, 2025 at Oaklawn Park, but is booked on two mounts Friday at Santa Anita and says he'll be in the saddle for the Keeneland meeting in April: https://bit.ly/4kNgRUv

20/03/2025

"William du Pont, father to Marion du Pont Scott, built a pony barn for Marion and William Jr. on the family farm at Montpelier, the estate of fourth U.S. president James Madison. Scott rode Hackneys and Saddlebreds but ultimately turned out to be a talented show jumper -- so talented, in fact, that she became the first woman to ride astride in a jumping competition at Madison Square Garden in 1915. The move was upsetting to some in attendance, and it seems Scott adopted the style more as a statement than practical preference—she switched back to sidesaddle for her remaining classes—but the judges heard her. They also sent her home with a blue ribbon.

That victory, which would have been a lifetime landmark for many, paled in comparison to what Scott accomplished on the racetrack. In her decades-long stint as an owner of both flat and jumping runners she bred/owned five steeplechase champions (Rogue Dragon, Neji, Shipboard, Benguala, and Soothsayer) and two year-end champions (Mongo and Parks).

Battleship, a diminutive son of Man o’ War, also picked up some significant hardware for Scott as the first American-bred horse to win the famous Grand National at Aintree, and remains the only ‘chaser to win both the English and American Grand Nationals. Scott was on hand for the landmark victory in England, though she didn’t know at first where the 15.2-hand horse ended up.

'When we got down off the stands to the unsaddling enclosure, I was hopping along. I’d lost the heel off one of my shoes,' recalled the petite Scott years later. ‘The unsaddling stalls were numbered one, two, and three. I couldn’t see anything until friends made a seat for me with their hands and pushed me up. I could see chestnut ears in number one. The other ears were bay.

'That’s when I knew. Battleship was a chestnut.'"

One can hardly flip through the pages of racing (or, for that matter, U.S.) history books without finding the fingerprints of the du Pont family. The American

20/03/2025

Solid fields have signed on for each of this Saturday's 100-point prep races on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, but perhaps the highlights will come on the Louisiana Derby undercard: undefeated Good Cheer will try to cement her spot in the Kentucky Oaks starting gate in the Fair Grounds Oaks, and Breeders' Cup Classic winner Sierra Leone will make his 2025 debut for trainer Chad Brown in the G2 New Orleans Classic.

For a full chart with race times and locations: https://bit.ly/41G1DYB

20/03/2025

A colder winter has likely put the caterpillars, which are linked to Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome, behind their usual schedule.

A colder winter has likely put the caterpillars, which are linked to Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome, behind their usual schedule