Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders have elected three new members to its Board of Directors. Conrad Bandoroff, vice president of Denali Stud; Rowland Hancock, a Thoroughbred owner and breeder based in Paducah, Kentucky; and Craig Brogden, co-owner of Machmer Hall, have each been elected to three-year terms by the full membership of the organization. Incumbents Ned Toffey, Michael Banahan, Price Bell, Dr. Natanya Nieman-McMahon, Dr. Stuart Brown, Fergus Galvin, Jeffrey Thornbury, Neil Pessin, Tommy Drury, and Paul McGee were re-elected. The election was facilitated by...

Four newly-elected board members of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association (KTA) and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders (KTOB) were announced by the organizations Friday. Whit Beckman, Kelsey Danner, Austin Luttrell and Michael Snyder were elected to serve three-year terms while incumbents William Daugherty, Walker Hancock, Dermot Ryan and Kim Smith were also reelected. "We would like to thank Patrick Costello and James Baker for their service," the KTA said in a press release Friday. "Pat and Jimmy were instrumental in both shaping policy for marketing investments and our advocacy for...

Next (Not This Time) isn't just winning races. He is destroying the competition. A marathon-race specialist, he did it again last week at Parx, when he won the GIII Greenwood Cup S. by an astounding 25 lengths. It's been quite a ride for his trainer, Doug Cowans, who claimed the now 5-year-old last year for $62,500. To talk about Next and to discuss his future plans, Cowans joined this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. He was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week. Despite his horse's...

As the sport continues in its efforts to drastically reduced the number of fatalities that occur in races and in morning training, there's little doubt that StrideSAFE is going to play an important role in preventing breakdowns. StrideSAFE is a biometric sensor mechanism that slips into the saddle cloth to detect minute changes in a horses's gait at high speed. Those changes can, and often do, signal that a horse is in the early stages of having a problem that could lead to a fatal injury. If the StrideSAFE data...

Appearing as the Green Group Guest of the Week on this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland, Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse grew emotional when the subject of the rash of fatalities that have plagued the sport this year came up. Believing that the industry has not done all that it can to help alleviate the situation and that tracks must embrace a return to synthetic surfaces, Casse admitted that his outlook on his profession and the sport has changed for the worse. "This is sad to...

Because of a number of developments over the last few weeks that can be characterized as missteps, Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) Chief Executive Officer Lisa Lazarus has had a chance to reflect on what's gone right and what's gone wrong since the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program went into effect in May. Appearing as this week's Green Group Guest of the Week on the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland, Lazarus addressed the problems and made no attempt to sugarcoat them. "If we look at the...

Owners Leslie and Pierre Amestoy have been involved with a bunch of good horses, some of them stakes-winning Quarter Horses, but never anything like Practical Move (Practical Joke). The winner of the GII San Felipe S. and the GI Santa Anita Derby so far this year, he will be among the favorites in the upcoming GI Kentucky Derby. The TDN Writers' Room podcast, presented by Keeneland caught up with the Amestoys this week to find out more about their operation, their background and their thoughts on Practical Move. They were...

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Association (KTA) and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders (KTOB) awards dinner Apr. 5 in Lexington named Dreaming of Julia (A.P. Indy), dam of Grade I winner Malathaat (Curlin) and Grade II winner Julia Shining (Curlin), the 2022 Broodmare of the Year. Summer Wind Equine was awarded a bronze mare and foal as the breeder of Flightline (Tapit), who was crowned Champion Kentucky-Bred Horse of the Year and Champion Kentucky-Bred Older Dirt Male. Godolphin received multiple bronzes as the recipient of the P.A.B. Widener Trophy, best known...

David Richardson, M.D., a distinguished Kentucky-based surgeon who owned and bred Thoroughbreds for nearly half a century and was known as a thoughtful, cerebral racing regulator whose zeal for the sport shone through in his volunteer service on numerous industry-related boards, died Sept. 7 in Saratoga Springs, New York, after developing pneumonia related to COVID-19. Richardson had been briefly hospitalized in the intensive care unit at Saratoga Hospital; he was believed to be 76 years old. Chauncey Morris, the executive director of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners...

John T. Ward Jr., whose many wins included a victory in the 2001 GI Kentucky Derby with Monarchos, passed away Saturday at age 75. His death was reported by Churchill Downs, which released a statement from track president Mike Anderson. "John Ward Jr. personified the phrase 'Kentucky hard-boot,'" Anderson said. "He was a third-generation horseman who worked tirelessly throughout his career, culminating with service as Executive Director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. The dedication to his craft as a trainer was amplified 20 years ago when he patiently prepared...

Drumette (Henny Hughes), dam of last year's champion older mare Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) as well as GII Risen Star S. winner Mr. Monomoy (Palace Malice), has been named the 2020 Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Broodmare of the Year. Both Monomoy Girl and Mr. Monomoy were bred by Frankfort Park Farm and Michael Hernon's Highfield Ranch, who sold for $1.85 million in foal to Mastery to Bridlewood Farm at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton November sale. GI Kentucky Derby and GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic winner Authentic (Into Mischief) was named Kentucky-Bred...

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners will present the William T. Young Humanitarian Award to Blue Grass Farms Charities during its annual awards presentation which will be held at the Keeneland Sales Pavilion Apr. 7 beginning at 10:30 a.m. Blue Grass Farms Charities provides health and human services to people working on Central Kentucky's Thoroughbred farms. "On behalf of the board of directors and staff, we are honored to accept the accolade," said BGFC executive director Julie Berry. "The meaning of the William T. Young Humanitarian Award is definitely symbolic...