Oaks, Derby Victors Show How To Win With Class
May 4, 2015 22:00:06 GMT -5
Post by Evelyn on May 4, 2015 22:00:06 GMT -5
Nice article. I give him kudos for not comparing to last year!
Oaks, Derby Victors Show How To Win With Class
by Ray Paulick
is something to be said for winning with class.
That characteristic was shown in spades on Friday when Lovely Maria gave former Kentucky Gov. Brereton Jones his third victory in the Kentucky Oaks – all three trained by Larry Jones and the latest winner ridden by the 56-year-old “overnight sensation” Kerwin Clark.
Ahmed Zayat also demonstrated class on Saturday after winning the Kentucky Derby with American Pharoah – his first Derby win after three excruciating runner-up performances in the last seven years.
“Let me begin by saying I know that I and my family are blessed,” Brereton Jones said at the opening of a post-race press conference following the 2 3/4-length victory by the 3-year-old filly from the first crop of Majesticperfection, who stands at Jones Airdrie Stud near Midway, Ky.
“Don’t ask me why it has happened, but for some reason it’s happened. And we could not be more thankful. And we recognize that this happened because of a big team effort. It happened because people at the farm have done the right things. Tim Thorton, general manager of the farm, has done the right things. The people that hae done the vet work have done the right things. And we give them to the trainer. And the trainer then gets to look them over and start training them. And we leave him alone. And then he gets the jockey. And he gets the good jockey. And he leaves the jockey alone.
“I just kind of sit back and say, ‘Man, this is fun.’ And, sure enough, it all works.”
Jones reminisced about his childhood in West Virginia and the dreams he had as a little boy of five or six years old.
“At that time, our family lived on a (cattle) farm,” Jones said. “My parents were having some people in that evening. And, as they came up to me, they would pat me on the top of the head as people often do with kids that age and say, ‘What are you going to be when you grow up, son?’
“And I always said, ‘I’m going to raise horses in Kentucky.’ They looked at me like, ‘Where did that boy get that crazy idea?’ Because in West Virginia on a cattle farm – a stock farm, actually a dairy farm as well – nobody ever thought about going into the horse business. So that’s really when it started.”
Ahmed Zayat probably never heard of Kentucky while a young boy growing up in Egypt. But he loved horses – his family had them on farmland they owned and he rode horses at a nearby club – and when he came to the United States and later sold his beverage company, he renewed his love with the animals.
He liked action, too, and built a sizable racing stable that in 2008 – only its fourth of operation – was the North American leader by money won.
It wasn’t all lollipops and roses, though.
The year after being the top money-winning owner, Zayat Stables was sued by a bank that called in its loans and tried to take possession of the horses that were used as collateral. Zayat countersued and filed voluntary bankruptcy, eventually settling with all parties.
He’s had some rough patches with his trainers, too, including Bob Baffert, the Hall of Famer who put the saddle on American Pharoah to give Zayat his first Derby win. Baffert also trained Pioneerof the Nile, the sire of American Pharoah that finished second in the 2009 Derby.
He was asked about his on-again, off-again working relationship with Baffert following the Derby.
“Simple,” Zayat said. “I want results. He’s the best trainer in America. But I also have grown up. I’ve matured. As a person, you hope you’re getting better day after day.”
As if to demonstrate that maturation process, Zayat went out of his way to commend the hospitality of Churchill Downs – which only a year ago was mercilessly battered over their behavior toward past and present Derby connections.
“In the past there has been a lot of criticism about Churchill,” said Zayat. “As a person who has been coming here and had more than one Derby runner, I have seen a 180 percent change in all attitudes. And the whole organization, from A to Z, it’s something that I would like personally to thank them for their hospitality for what they have done for all owners and horsemen.”
Whether they like it or not, Thoroughbred owners can be role models. Their actions and statements matter.
Early in Derby week I picked up a copy of LEO, an alternate weekly newspaper published in Louisville, and read an article about Penny Chenery entitled “Secretariat’s Queen,” written by an African-American woman named Ashley Miller. Miller grew up on Louisville’s West End, a daughter of drug-addicted parents who often failed to provide her with the most basic of life’s essentials.
She overcame that rough childhood, graduated from Berea College and later the University of Louisville. She is now a nurse practitioner who tries to help underprivileged young women overcome their challenges.
She called Secretariat’s owner a “powerful inspiration” – having learned about her through the Disney movie released several years ago.
“There is so much to learn from the Penny Chenery story,” Miller wrote. “I admire the strength it took to follow her inner convictions even when that required her to do things that were unpopular with the people she loved and knew loved her.”
The 93-year-old Chenery “stands as a symbol of what can be if you believe in yourself,” Miller wrote, “if you trust your gut and focus on your vision, even when those around you don’t understand it.
“You have taught us to be bold, to be brave,” Miller said of Chenery, “and, for that, your name will live on for generations.”
There’s an old saying in horse racing that “class matters.” Always has and always will.
Oaks, Derby Victors Show How To Win With Class
by Ray Paulick
is something to be said for winning with class.
That characteristic was shown in spades on Friday when Lovely Maria gave former Kentucky Gov. Brereton Jones his third victory in the Kentucky Oaks – all three trained by Larry Jones and the latest winner ridden by the 56-year-old “overnight sensation” Kerwin Clark.
Ahmed Zayat also demonstrated class on Saturday after winning the Kentucky Derby with American Pharoah – his first Derby win after three excruciating runner-up performances in the last seven years.
“Let me begin by saying I know that I and my family are blessed,” Brereton Jones said at the opening of a post-race press conference following the 2 3/4-length victory by the 3-year-old filly from the first crop of Majesticperfection, who stands at Jones Airdrie Stud near Midway, Ky.
“Don’t ask me why it has happened, but for some reason it’s happened. And we could not be more thankful. And we recognize that this happened because of a big team effort. It happened because people at the farm have done the right things. Tim Thorton, general manager of the farm, has done the right things. The people that hae done the vet work have done the right things. And we give them to the trainer. And the trainer then gets to look them over and start training them. And we leave him alone. And then he gets the jockey. And he gets the good jockey. And he leaves the jockey alone.
“I just kind of sit back and say, ‘Man, this is fun.’ And, sure enough, it all works.”
Jones reminisced about his childhood in West Virginia and the dreams he had as a little boy of five or six years old.
“At that time, our family lived on a (cattle) farm,” Jones said. “My parents were having some people in that evening. And, as they came up to me, they would pat me on the top of the head as people often do with kids that age and say, ‘What are you going to be when you grow up, son?’
“And I always said, ‘I’m going to raise horses in Kentucky.’ They looked at me like, ‘Where did that boy get that crazy idea?’ Because in West Virginia on a cattle farm – a stock farm, actually a dairy farm as well – nobody ever thought about going into the horse business. So that’s really when it started.”
Ahmed Zayat probably never heard of Kentucky while a young boy growing up in Egypt. But he loved horses – his family had them on farmland they owned and he rode horses at a nearby club – and when he came to the United States and later sold his beverage company, he renewed his love with the animals.
He liked action, too, and built a sizable racing stable that in 2008 – only its fourth of operation – was the North American leader by money won.
It wasn’t all lollipops and roses, though.
The year after being the top money-winning owner, Zayat Stables was sued by a bank that called in its loans and tried to take possession of the horses that were used as collateral. Zayat countersued and filed voluntary bankruptcy, eventually settling with all parties.
He’s had some rough patches with his trainers, too, including Bob Baffert, the Hall of Famer who put the saddle on American Pharoah to give Zayat his first Derby win. Baffert also trained Pioneerof the Nile, the sire of American Pharoah that finished second in the 2009 Derby.
He was asked about his on-again, off-again working relationship with Baffert following the Derby.
“Simple,” Zayat said. “I want results. He’s the best trainer in America. But I also have grown up. I’ve matured. As a person, you hope you’re getting better day after day.”
As if to demonstrate that maturation process, Zayat went out of his way to commend the hospitality of Churchill Downs – which only a year ago was mercilessly battered over their behavior toward past and present Derby connections.
“In the past there has been a lot of criticism about Churchill,” said Zayat. “As a person who has been coming here and had more than one Derby runner, I have seen a 180 percent change in all attitudes. And the whole organization, from A to Z, it’s something that I would like personally to thank them for their hospitality for what they have done for all owners and horsemen.”
Whether they like it or not, Thoroughbred owners can be role models. Their actions and statements matter.
Early in Derby week I picked up a copy of LEO, an alternate weekly newspaper published in Louisville, and read an article about Penny Chenery entitled “Secretariat’s Queen,” written by an African-American woman named Ashley Miller. Miller grew up on Louisville’s West End, a daughter of drug-addicted parents who often failed to provide her with the most basic of life’s essentials.
She overcame that rough childhood, graduated from Berea College and later the University of Louisville. She is now a nurse practitioner who tries to help underprivileged young women overcome their challenges.
She called Secretariat’s owner a “powerful inspiration” – having learned about her through the Disney movie released several years ago.
“There is so much to learn from the Penny Chenery story,” Miller wrote. “I admire the strength it took to follow her inner convictions even when that required her to do things that were unpopular with the people she loved and knew loved her.”
The 93-year-old Chenery “stands as a symbol of what can be if you believe in yourself,” Miller wrote, “if you trust your gut and focus on your vision, even when those around you don’t understand it.
“You have taught us to be bold, to be brave,” Miller said of Chenery, “and, for that, your name will live on for generations.”
There’s an old saying in horse racing that “class matters.” Always has and always will.