Two major limited age cutting events concluded this week with Cattalou and Beau Gaylean claiming the biggest check, in the PCCHA Open Derby in Las Vegas, Nev. Cattalou, owned by Curtis Chester, scored 223 points for his win and $14,863; Neat Little Nellie, shown by Mackie Hursh for Rick and Debbie Reeves, marked 222.5 points for reserve and $13,262.

Meanwhile in Oklahoma City, TGI Playtime and Skip Queen scored 219 points to win $7,500 and the championship of the 4-Year-Old Open Non-Pro for Carroll’s Cutting LLC. Mo Faye Rey and Grant Setnicka placed second with 218 points to earn $5,000 for Charlie and Denise Seiz. Setnika also scored 216 points to tie for third place on Hi Ho Nabisco, owned by Charles Burger. Reys Your Bet, shown by Clay Volmer and owned by Viki Williamson, scored 216 to tie for third, as well.

Cattalou, by High Brow Cat, is a full brother to Louellas Cat ($210,436), out of the leading producer Louella Again, also dam of Movin Downtown ($334,523), by Movin On Hickory. In a nod to serendipity, Neat Little Nellie, by Neat Little Cat, is out of a daughter of Peppys Lil Wil, owned at one time by Curtis Chester.

Trainer Morgan Cromer claimed the the most money in the PCCHA Open Derby – $25,244 – with third place on Duals Dancer, owned by Bitterroot Spring Ranch; sixth on Melodys Pepto, owned by Catherine and Bill Lacy; 12th on Bueno Chex Madi, owned by Lesley Day; and 14th with RBR Lady Boon, owned by Holy Cow Performance horses.

Sean Flynn dominated the 5/6-year-old division of the Non-Pro Open Finals with a 223.5-point-$7,500 win on Reycy Moon, owned by Gary and Shannon Barker, and 222 points for reserve and $5,000 with Cat Man Blue, owned by Lazy M Cattle Co. Flynn also placed 15th on Peptos Kitty, owned by the Barkers, and 17th on Rey N Style, for Eddie Young.

Fortune Bend scored 225 points to claim the PCCHA Open Derby championship with Cookie Banuelos for Gerald and Theresa Gillock, while the reserve was a tie at 222 points for My Lizzy Babe, ridden by Tim Smith, and This Kittys Smart with Morgan Cromer.

For complete results of all divisions of the PCCHA Derby and Classic/Challenge click here and here for The Non-Pro Derby and Classic.

Instead of the winning horse, there was an elephant in the winner’s circle for the $700,000 G1 Ruidoso Futurity at Ruidoso Downs on Sunday, June 9.

Obviously in distress, Cartel Quick was vanned off the track before the ceremony, where owner Sergio Enriquez, trainer Alonso Orozco, and jockey Tanner Thedford were congratulated for the win.

The official press release from Ruidoso Downs noted that Cartel Quick “did not make it back to the winner’s circle due to stress and exhaustion.” On June 10, the day after the race, he was euthanized due to kidney failure. The cause of death is pending results of an autopsy.

Following revelation that eight winners of 25 trials for the 2012 Ruidoso Futurity tested positive for the powerful painkiller dermorphin, as well as a well-timed series in the New York Times about illegal drug use on tracks, including Ruidoso Downs, the heat has been on the racing industry for reform.

On April 2, 2013, legislation that will more than double funds available to the State Racing Commission for drug-testing was signed into law by New Mexico governor Susana Martinez. The same day she also signed a law to allow the commission to impose penalties of up to $100,000, or the amount of a horse’s winnings if that is greater (Cartel Quick’s winnings in the Ruidoso Futurity were $315,000) for violation of the rule against the use of illegal drugs. Current penalties are limited to $10,000 for each violation. The new laws go into effect in 2014.

Meanwhile, U.S. Senator Tom Udall, D-N.M., announced in May that he will sponsor a bill giving authority to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to police all race tracks with simulcast wagering. Udall is being backed by Republican senators Ed Whitfield of Kentucky and Joe Pitts pf Pennsylvania.

“This is the organization that cleaned up bicycle racing with Lance Armstrong and the Olympics,” Udall said. “Racing groups have promised drug reform for decades, but this bill would bring in real standards and enforcement from an organization with a proven record for cleaning up sports.”

The idea of federal legislation does not sit well with many in the racing industry. While it remains to be seen whether the newly created state bills will make a difference with New Mexico racing, the chance of Udall’s proposal becoming law is deemed a longshot.

In the meantime, what will Cartel Quick’s autopsy results reveal about his death? – Anyone taking bets?

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/04/30/us/breakdown-horses-series.html?_r=0

Western Bloodstock, for over 20 years the premier sale company for the cutting horse industry, has been sold by Ben Emison and Milt Bradford to Jeremy and Candace Barwick of Stephenville, Tex.

“I could not be happier,” said Emison, 75, a licensed auctioner with over 40 years experience in the cutting horse business. “Milt and I are still going to be on the Western Bloodstock team. Don’t look for any changes, except for having a young guy with a lot of bright ideas to move things forward.

“Jeremy knows as much as I do about the horse industry,” added Emison, who first met Barwick at a Silverbrook Ranch Sale in the late nineties, when Barwick was a teenager, and has known Candace and her family for 30 years.

The Barwicks, who also own Shadow Oak Ranch, a Quarter Horse breeding, training and rehabilitation center, are both NCHA World Champions. Jeremy, 36, claimed the NCHA Open World Championship in 2006, 2007, and 2009 on Dual Rey Me, the career winner of $818,177, ranked third among cutting’s all-time leading money earners. Candace was 2008 NCHA Non-Pro Reserve World Champion on Dual Rey Me.

“I’ve trained horses for the last 15 years, along with operating the breeding and rehab facility, but the biggest part of my business has been fitting people with horses to show or breed,” said Barwick. “It’s the part of the business I love the best and this is an opportunity of a lifetime for Candy and me.

“When I first approached Ben and Milt about it, I thought we’d probably never be able to get it done. But part of the arrangement is that they both will be working very closely with us and all of the policies and procedures will remain the same.

“They have obviously built a very successful business and we will not make any changes without consulting with them.”

Western Bloodstock was founded in 2000, and it’s first venue was the 2000 NCHA Futurity Sale. Since then the company, which also produces farm and ranch sales and dispersals, has become an integral part of the cutting horse industry through three major sales in Forth Worth: the NCHA Futurity Sale, the NCHA Super Stakes Sale, and the NCHA Summer Spectacular Sale. In the past 20 years, more than 26,000 horses have gone under the hammer at Western Bloodstock auctions.

“We had a meeting with the NCHA Sale Committee before we went ahead with the transaction and everyone was very enthusiastic about it,” said Milt Bradford who, at 63, has been involved with equine sales for over 30 years. “Jeremy and Candace have the business experience and resources behind them to make a very positive impact for horse owners and breeders, as well as for the NCHA.”

Candace Barwick’s mother, Mary Lee Dixon, is the granddaughter of Charles W. Lamar Sr., founder of Lamar Outdoor Advertising Company, the nation’s largest owner and provider of highway billboards and signs.

“My mom and my step-dad, Bill, have kind of guided us in the right direction through this,” said Candace. “They were our sounding board and have been a big factor in everything we’ve done.”

Western Bloodstock’s next venue in Fort Worth is the NCHA Summer Spectacular Sales, August 2 and 3, 2013, at Will Rogers Equestrian Center. For details: www.westernbloodstock.com

15-1 shot Palace Malice scored a 3 1/4-length win over Preakness winner Oxbow in the 145th running of the Belmont Stakes; Kentucky Derby winner and 2-1 favorite Orb finished third. Winning time for the 1 1/2 mile route on a fast track was 2:30.70.

After a disappointing 12th-place finish with Palace Malice in the Kentucky Derby, trainer Todd Pletcher skipped the Preakness with the colt and made the decision to run him in the Belmont without the blinkers he had added for the Derby.

“Removing the blinkers made all the difference,” said Palace Malice’s Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, 47, who won the 2010 Belmont on Drosselmeyer and finished second in 2012 on Paynter. “He was full of run all the way home.”

Owned by Dogwood Stables, Palace Malice broke his maiden by 3 1/2 lengths at Saratoga, in his second start at two. In February, he finished third by a half-length in the G2 Risen Star at Fair Grounds, and in April was second by a neck to Javas War in the G1 Blue Grass Stakes.

One of a record five entries for Pletcher in the race, Palace Malice is from the first crop of 2-time Horse of the Year Curlin.

“(Palace Malice) had been the best two-year-old in the barn; I always felt he had a big win in him,” said Pletcher, who won the 2007 Belmont Stakes with Rags to Riches, the first filly to claim the race in 100 years.

Pletcher’s other 2013 Belmont entries finished fifth (second-favorite Revolutionary); sixth (Unlimited Budget); seventh (Overanalyze); and twelfth (Midnight Taboo). All except Midnight Taboo at 27-1 went to post with shorter odds than Palace Malice.

The order of finish: Palace Malice; Oxbow; Orb; Incognito; Revolutionary; Unlimited Budget; Overanalyze; Vyjack; Golden Soul; Will Take Charge; Giant Finish; Midnight Taboo; Freedom Child; Frac Daddy.

June 5, 1999. Official Lone Star Park handicapper Chuck Badone hardly noticed the dispirited journalists, as he bounded into the press room, waving his ticket on Lemon Drop Kid who, at 30-1 in the Belmont Stakes, had just spoiled Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Charismatic’s bid for the Triple Crown.

Badone, who died in 2004 at the age of 67, had a palpable passion for his work and over 40 years of experience. In addition to Lone Star Park, he had served as a handicapper for Turf Paradise, Monmouth Park, and the Daily Racing Form; taught college level courses on the art of handicapping; and wrote the classic text for race fans, “Winning Horseracing Handicapping: Secrets of a Successful Horseracing Handicapper.”

At the time of the 1999 Belmont Stakes, I was co-editor of Lone Star Today, Lone Star Park’s daily race program modeled after the Daily Racing Form, and I also produced a daily tip sheet called Ladies Choice. The schedule was grueling, with five days of racing, nine to eleven races a day, fields of up to 14 horses. But I could never indulge in self-pity without thinking of Chuck Badone and his contribution to the program – written commentary on every horse in each of the day’s races, usually between 100 to 120 comments every day with morning line odds.

It was up to me to proofread Chuck’s comments, a job that afforded me an opportunity to learn from a master of handicapping, as well as enjoy a wordsmith in his field. While it was not unusual for him to write 50 words on the merits and risks of individual entries, it was Chuck’s succinct and sometimes humorous summaries that stand out in my memory.

A 30-1 shot in a claiming race for older horses drew this comment: “Form is as bad as you can get. Will take up sales of aluminum siding if he wins.”

In another race, with a similar entry, he wrote: “I don’t care if the jockey’s name is Jesus [it was], this horse doesn’t have a prayer.”

Yet another: “Will need to improve about 40 lengths to threaten.”

And another: “Play on him is very risky, if not suicidal.”

And: “Won’t have to be much, but evidence seems to say that he isn’t.”

Chuck could also nail the prospects of possible (as opposed to probable) top finishers in his summaries:

“With the drop and a bit more improvement, he could be in the thick of things.”

“Neither a stand-out or a throw-out.”

“Mixed signals.”

And my all-time favorite, which applies to much more than just racing: “Iffy, but not hopeless.”

Popular horseman Pat Earnheart of Hernando, Mississippi, passed away May 28 following a long illness. Earnheart, who was inducted into the NCHA Riders Hall of Fame in 1994, and the Members Hall of Fame in 2009, was associated with great horses like Dual Pep, Cals San Badger and Colonel Leo Bar.

Earnheart started cutting on the ranch and in his local association at age 10. When he was 14, he met trainer Jimmy Orrell and “got serious” about the sport.

“I set to do some serious learning, and as soon as I got my driver’s license at age 15, I spent as much time as I could at the ranch with Jimmy and the horses,” he once recalled.

His first major success came in 1971 when he rode Royal Hank to third place in the NCHA Open World Standings. He first qualified for the NCHA Futurity finals in 1972, and he was reserve champion with Cals San Badger in 1986.

Earnheart said Dual Pep was the smartest horse he ever rode, and together they won the NCHA Classic, the Augusta Classic, the Pacific Coast Classic Challenge and the Bonanza Cutting.

At one point, Earnheart counted 60 horses in his barn. “I didn’t realize I had them,” he said. “I went down to around 35.

“I was pretty busy over the years, and I always had a good hand breaking horses. Most of those boys became good horse trainers.”

Earnheart’s work ethic and hands-on experience were valuable assets when he turned to show production. He produced major events in Louisiana and Mississippi that were fixtures on the limited age calendar for years.

Visitation for Pat Earnheart will be Sunday, June 2 from 5-8 p.m. at the Hernando Funeral Home. Services will be Monday, June 3 at 11 a.m. at Eudora Baptist Church in Hernando, 9670 Highway 304, Hernando, MS 38632. (662) 429-6129

It was a dazzling conclusion to 15 days of competition – Lil Catbaloo’s 227-point Open Derby win under Lloyd Cox at the Breeder’s Invitational in Tulsa. Reyzin and Phil Rapp claimed reserve with 222.5 points and Dark And Sultry placed third with 222.

Bill Cowan and Merada Jo scored 220 points for the Non-Pro championship, while Kristen Galyean was reserve with 219 points on Tattoos On This Town, as well as third with 216 points on Dark And Sultry. Wes Galyean, champion in April of the NCHA Super Stakes on Hes A Hot Cat, also tied for seventh in the BI Open aboard Tattoos On This Town.

Altogether, Wes and Kristen Galyean, Claremore, Okla., won $92,876; Lloyd Cox and his wife Christina, who placed 11th and 21st in the Non-Pro, won $95,356; and Phil and Mary Ann Rapp, tied for fourth in the Non-Pro on Reyzin, earned $84,466 (Phil also placed fifth on Waco Bend’s mare Manytimes).

Lil Catbaloo, owned by Gene and Michelle Morris, Florence, Mont., placed fourth with Cox in the NCHA Futurity; qualified for the Abilene Spectacular; was reserve champion of the Arbuckle Mountain Derby; and placed sixth in the Bonanza.

Sired by High Brow Cat, bred by John Harrah and sold for $20,000 at the NCHA Futurity Yearling Sales, Lil Catbaloo is out of a half-sister to the dam High Brow CD, an all-time leading money earner and sire of Reyzin, owned by Phil and Mary Ann Rapp.

Manytimes, Phil Rapp’s fifth-placed mount (219 points), is out of Cats Twisted Whisker, who Phil rode to win the 2007 Breeder’s Invitational Derby.

Dark And Sultry, sired by Spots Hot, was bred by Jeff and Jennifer Foland out of Hissy Cat, who earned over $300,000 under Darren Simpkins and Jennifer Foland. Jennifer also tied for 15th in the Breeder’s Invitational Derby Non-Pro division on Hissterya, a half-brother, by Dual Rey, to Dark And Sultry.

Click here for the full roster of Breeder’s Invitational results.