Grand Forks in the 5th @ CD on Wed.

[fiveouttasix]

My favorite angle... First off the 9 year Lay-Off with an 0/84 apprentice aboard!

[macguy]

I'd love to know the story behind that horse.

[jotb]

My favorite angle... First off the 9 year Lay-Off with an 0/84 apprentice aboard!

Yes, I noticed that myself..I'm pretty sure nobody wanted to ride her and that's why the bug picked up the mount. I wouldn't be suprised if the connections pay a double jocks mount fee come tomorrow and put another rider on..Jerry Bailey where are you?

[slew101]

Claimed for $32,000 last out at Del Mar in August 2000. When you see Eddie D. in the jockey line, it's pretty funny.

Hopefully, the horse/jockey don't get hurt here.

[SMOO]

I wonder what the average ROI is on this type of layoff. :confused:

[JustRalph]

Won the Arizona Oaks and went bad............

Amazing.......somebody has got to do an article on this horse

[cmoore]

If she can return to her Feb. form of 2000. She'll win easily. :rolleyes:

[Show Me the Wire]

She must have slowed down enough for them to finally catch her? :lol:

I wonder what she did wrong to piss off her owners, that they want to sell her?

Seriously, I think a case of cruelty to an animal could be made here about returning a 12 year old mare to the race track after being pastured for nine years.

CD has some explaining to do, Tracks have to draw the line, like they use to, about elgibility requirements to compete.

This type of entrant is disruptive to the integrity of the industry.

[JustRalph]

I sent an email to Equidaily to alert them to this......asked them to try to find something out for an article.........we shall see

probably not the right place.........to alert........

[sandpit]

Well, she does have some legitimate works from a recognized training center, but they are slow...the mare has been bred a couple of times, but the foals passed away. I'd be willing to bet she gets scratched by the state vet tomorrow during the prerace exams; plus it looks like the track will be sloppy with all the rain here in the area today and more expected overnight. Mike Battaglia made her 50-1, and that was being generous.

[JustRalph]

Let's get a pool together and claim her :lol: :lol:

[WinterTriangle]

The mare is 12 years old.

And has been bred.

Appears to have been a pretty decent horse at one time.

What would be the motivation to enter a 12 year old bred mare in a race after 9 years?

Squeezing the lemon, or hoping she will end up on the meat truck or something?

Explain.

Costello is both the owner, and the trainer. And no horses entered by her in 2009. Maybe she believes in the horse, OR...........

[toussaud]

well it's not like she has to worry about there being a 3 way shake for a 12 year old mare lmao

if she can run it's brilliant if you ask me. shove this 12 year old down your throat, you aren't going to claim her.

that's wishful thinking.

I hope she just finishs the race and comes out okay

[nijinski]

Who is Kathleen Costello anyway?

[SMOO]

Who is Kathleen Costello anyway?

Lou Costello's granddaughter?

Who's finishing 1st?
What's finishing 2nd?

[WinterTriangle]

Assuming she is in condition, she is likely safer now than she was at 2. Actually, 12 is not at all old for a horse. Usually breeding of these horses takes precedence over racing. Assuming the trainer is an ethical one, I can't wait to see how she does.

I'd like to see more 12 year olds racing than 2 year olds. You'd probably see less breakdowns.

[andymays]

Mare returns after nine-year layoff Wednesday at Churchill


http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing-news/2009/November/18/Mare-returns-after-nine-year-layoff-Wednesday-at-Churchill.aspx

Excerpt:

Grand Forks, a 12-year-old stakes-winning Quiet American mare, will make her first start in more than nine years on Wednesday at Churchill Downs in a $5,000 claiming race.

Kathleen Costello said she bought the mare privately from Rick Trontz of Hopewell Farm this spring after Grand Forks went five consecutive years without producing a foal. She delivered a Skip Away filly in 2004, but the foal died a month later.

“[Hopewell] basically gave up on her because she couldn’t carry a foal to term,” Costello said. “They were looking to give her away this spring, and I got the bug to start riding again, so I bought her.

“She loved to gallop and had so much spirit, so I decided to give her a shot and took her to the track.”

[Show Me the Wire]

Mare returns after nine-year layoff Wednesday at Churchill


http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing-news/2009/November/18/Mare-returns-after-nine-year-layoff-Wednesday-at-Churchill.aspx

Excerpt:

.................................................. .................................................. ..

“She loved to gallop and had so much spirit, so I decided to give her a shot and took her to the track.”

She loved to galluop :lol: And that means she wants to experience the stress and rigors of competitive racing.

Tracks need to limit elgibility again, like they use too.

[JustRalph]

Scratched!!!!!

[CBedo]

First a jockey change; then scratched.

Oops, sorry, didn't see Ralph's post.

[deathandgravity]

http://drf.com/news/article/109010.html

Churchill Downs | Posted 11/18/2009, 4:31 pm
Stewards' scratch prevents 12-year-old's return
By Marty McGee
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A potentially unsavory situation turned into a tearful one Wednesday when a 12-year-old mare who had not raced in more than nine years was scratched in the paddock prior to the fifth race at Churchill Downs.

Grand Forks, whose last race had come Aug. 7, 2000, at Del Mar, was 15-1 with 11 minutes to post for the $5,000 claiming race when chief steward John Veitch conferred for several minutes with owner-trainer Kathleen Costello, ultimately informing her that the mare had to be scratched. Costello, 27, broke into tears, denied of her chance to make her debut as a trainer.

"I can't afford to bring her down here and not run her," Costello, based in Lexington, said between sobs.

Rick Trontz, a central Kentucky breeder who had claimed the horse for $32,000 from the Del Mar race but had no luck with her as a producer, said Tuesday he gave the mare to Costello, a former employee, but only with the stipulation that Grand Forks be used strictly as a pleasure horse.

John Odom, who was assisting Costello in the care of the horse Wednesday, said: "The bill of sale only says the mare cannot be bred. It doesn't say anything about not racing her. Nothing was ever said about that." When he learned the mare would not be permitted to run, Odom screamed at Veitch: "Why is she scratched?!"

Costello, who got her trainer's license several months ago, had put Grand Forks through three recorded workouts this month at the Thoroughbred Training Center in Lexington, but Veitch told Costello the mare would have to work in front of a state veterinarian before being permitted to race.

Said Odom: "We met all the requirements posted," including the standard pre-race physical examination by the state veterinarian. "They should have told us we were scratched before we went through all this."

Veitch released a statement that read in part: "We decided to err on the side of caution and to protect the animal and the betting public . . . It was a tough call." He conceded that no specific rules were broken.

Veitch said later: "We've told Ms. Costello that we would be willing to work with her but that we need more information about the health and well-being of the horse."

He said the delay in scratching the horse was because he and the other stewards "had not been fully appraised of the situation" and that other commitments delayed their informing Costello of the scratch.

Costello had worked for about six months with broodmares when employed by Trontz at his Hopewell Farm in Midway, Ky., before being laid off in June.

Trontz said Tuesday that he was dismayed that Costello would attempt to race Grand Forks and that he feared for the well-being of the horse, considering her advanced age and the length of time since she had raced.

Trontz said Grand Forks, by Quiet American, had failed to get in foal almost every year, although "she did have a baby that I believe died at a very early age after some sort of accident." After so many years of futility, Grand Forks became a riding horse, and when Costello was laid off, according to Trontz, she asked to take the horse with her, and he agreed.

Trontz said Costello later contacted him to get the Jockey Club registry papers for the mare, assuring him it was for the purposes of entering her in a dressage event, so he gave her the papers.

"This is all very disturbing to me," Trontz said.

Grand Forks was scheduled to be ridden Wednesday by Bonnie Castaneda. A crowd of curiosity seekers had gathered around the paddock to take a look at the horse when the unusual scene unfolded.

Veitch said he would "look into reimbursing some expenses" incurred by Costello and Castaneda.

[slew101]

The stewards did the right thing, but Churchill should reimburse any fees because the owner followed and did not break any rules. And how can this get to the point to 11 minutes to post before they scratch her? Should have been done well before.

[Steve 'StatMan']

Horse hadn't raced since Clinton was President!

[WinterTriangle]

The stewards did the right thing, but Churchill should reimburse any fees because the owner followed and did not break any rules. And how can this get to the point to 11 minutes to post before they scratch her? Should have been done well before.

It appears that this young woman wanted to build a racing stable, and in one interview mentioned she would place a large bet on the mare, to that end.

She seems a bit clueless and inexperienced, but I agree, she broke NO RULES.

From reading on other forums, people were calling into Churchill, emailing, writing on facebook, etc. about racing this mare.......so I think the officials at CHD got a bead on her.

(I doubt the mare was in worse shape than many horses out there on the racetrack, but this girl has no references as a trainer and doesn't fill cards. :rolleyes: )

I can't say they did the right thing, because I don't know what kind of condition the horse was in. She appeared to put in some nice breezes, etc. but if Trontz said not to race her, but didn't put in the contract, it's rather confusing. It also sounds that she was less than honest with Trontz when asking for papers for dressage?

I hope they reimburse her. She sounds like she has some dreams but no practical way of getting there, and can ill afford this situation.

[Stillriledup]

I'd love to know the story behind that horse.

Your wish has been granted.

[Stillriledup]

Horse hadn't raced since Clinton was President!

9/11 hadn't happened yet either.

[elhelmete]

9/11 hadn't happened yet either.

Zenyatta's sire was running baby races too... :)

[Show Me the Wire]

It appears that this young woman wanted to build a racing stable, and in one interview mentioned she would place a large bet on the mare, to that end.

She seems a bit clueless and inexperienced, but I agree, she broke NO RULES.

..........

One can act inappropriately without breaking rules.

[JustRalph]

One can act inappropriately without breaking rules.


Excellent point...............

[WinterTriangle]

One can act inappropriately without breaking rules.

Yes I agree.

Sure there's plenty of trainers out there already doing just that. :)

Hopefully, she gives up thinking of being one of them.

[Stillriledup]

One can act inappropriately without breaking rules.


Great point. Horse racing would be able to reach great heights if it was a game of honesty and integrity.

This was a situation that reared its ugly head at Del Mar a couple years ago when the racing board said 'no more steroids'. They gave the trainers a 'grace period' but some trainers took advantage of that and then said "but it wasn't against the rules"

[macguy]

Your wish has been granted.


...and what a story! :eek: