In memoriam 2017

[Northport]

Up and coming chaser Starchitect broke down in the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup at Cheltenham today. He was pulling away from the field very impressively, with two fences left to jump. He slipped behind a few strides out from the second last and something just went terribly wrong, I watched the replay a few minutes after the race was run, before reading the result. I wish I hadn't.

[Prairie Bayou]

Cape Town

http://www.abcpcc.com.br/noticias/post/ ... -sao-paulo

[serenassong]

LeRoy Jolley
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing ... dies-at-80

[BaroqueAgain1]

Genuine Risk was a tremendous racehorse, and it can be argued that if a certain jockey hadn't played hardball with her in the Preakness, she would have gone into the Belmont with a good chance to be a Triple Crown-winning filly.
RIP, Mr. Jolley.

[Ridan_Remembered]

LeRoy's father trained champion Ridan, one of the very first Thoroughbreds my then very young self loved. Ridan and his full siblings, Lt. Sevens (the better sire), Moccasin, and Thong, and their half sister, Gambetta, are still an influence in pedigrees today. In particular, Thong gave us the dams of Nureyev and Sadler's Wells. Moccasin was the dam of Apalachee.

Rest in peace LeRoy and thanks to you and your dad for the memories.

[genuinerizk]

Funny that a horse could influence my life as much as Genuine Risk did - but being a young girl- she was my hero and proved a girl could be just as tough as the boys. I still need to get to Old Friends and see her last remaining baby. Rip Mr. Jolley- your filly made a huge difference in my life.

[Sparrow Castle]

Some of us may remember him as the man who covered many different major sports, as well as the first Breeders Cup, and did a great job with all of them. Certainly one of the best broadcasters I've ever witnessed.

Ray Paulick‏ @raypaulick
40m40 minutes ago
Ray Paulick Retweeted Jay Posner
RIP Dick Enberg. A voice for several generations of sports fans and a GREAT friend of horseracing. All class and a true gentleman.

Jay Posner‏Verified account @sdutPosner
Here's the sad news about an all-time great, confirmed by @Bryce_A_Miller:
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/new ... story.html

[PJMIII]

Some of us may remember him as the man who covered many different major sports, as well as the first Breeders Cup, and did a great job with all of them. Certainly one of the best broadcasters I've ever witnessed.

Ray Paulick‏ @raypaulick
40m40 minutes ago
Ray Paulick Retweeted Jay Posner
RIP Dick Enberg. A voice for several generations of sports fans and a GREAT friend of horseracing. All class and a true gentleman.

Jay Posner‏Verified account @sdutPosner
Here's the sad news about an all-time great, confirmed by @Bryce_A_Miller:
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/new ... story.html

No doubt it, he was one of the greatest announcers of all time.

[BaroqueAgain1]

The CHRB has released the names of all the horses who died at SLR, although three remain "unknown."

CHRB Identifies Horses Dead From San Luis Rey Fire
43 horses have been identified or are presumed among those who died.
By Jeremy Balan
Three horses who died in the fire remain "unknown," according to the CHRB. Thirty-seven Thoroughbred racehorses, four yearling Thoroughbreds, and two ponies are listed among the dead (the paint pony of injured outrider Les Baker is not listed below, because its name is not known).
Here is the full list, organized by trainer:
Herman Ackerson: Handsome Beau
Martine Bellocq: Royal Kuna, Wild Bill Hickory
Phil D'Amato: Oddsmaker, Riri
Dan Dunham: Packin Heat, Sir Charmalot
Scott Hansen: Monster Man, Oughttobeking, Puig, Stormin Norman, Aussie Rock Star (IRE), Baby Bruin, Chrysaor, Dodgertown, Fregosi, He's a Pleasure, Malibu Vixen, Mr. Hockey, Rocknrollallnight, Sunset Grill, Potent, Cat Dreamer (pony)
Joe Herrick: Call Me First, Everlovin Woman, Only One Love, Ourroseofthenile, Ral Rue, Sarah Sunshine
Juan C. Lopez: Fast Freddie, yearling colt (Slew's Tiznow -Chalula One)
Peter Miller: Amalfi Drive, California Diamond, Doc Raj, Lizmeister, Los Borrachos
Kimberly Schaffer-Marrs: Shortstormcoming
Cliff Sise: Candy Twist, Scat Home Lady, yearling colt (City Zip-Sweet Thoughts), yearling colt (Quality Road -Cool Flame), yearling filly (Into Mischief -Warm Hugs)
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing ... s-rey-fire

There are so many names I recognize. My heart breaks for every one of them, but especially for those connections who lost SO many out of their barns, like Scott, Peter and Cliff.
Seeing so many horses that have run regularly on SoCal tracks on this list also means that California racing may be impacted pretty badly.

[serenassong]

Just got a notification that Jack Van Berg died this morning.
All of our old friends from the glory days of racing are leaving us one by one

I will never forget his comments on closing day at Hollywood Park- it was so spot on- as well as all of his accomplishments over the years

May he R. I. P.

https://www.paulickreport.com/news/peop ... berg-dies/

[lurkey mclurker]

Another of the legends. Rest peacefully, sir.

[serenassong]

Service Stripe
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing ... to-old-age

[Sparrow Castle]

RIP Jack, you were one-of-kind, "a horseman's horseman, a trainer's trainer."

2017 Statistics
Starts: 269
Starters: 66
Starts Per Starter: 4.08
Firsts: 42
Seconds: 40
Thirds: 25
Earnings: $1,223,503
Avg. Earnings Per Start: $4,548
Avg. Earnings Per Starter: $18,538

Career Statistics:
Starts: 41,164
Firsts: 6,523
Seconds: 5,556
Thirds: 4,962
Earnings: $85,925,482
Avg. Earnings Per Start: $2,087

From the SI Vault, April 25, 1988:
Oh, Give Me A Phone...
https://www.si.com/vault/1988/04/25/117 ... e-operator

[Sparrow Castle]

Service Stripe
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing ... to-old-age

Out of an old Pin Oak female family line. Some of my favorite horses came out of that line. Service Stripe's dam was Wedding Picture (Blushing Groom). Wedding Picture's dam, Strike a Pose (Iron Ruler) also produced Strike a Balance (Green Dancer) the dam of Peaks and Valleys. Strike a Balance also produced Alternate (Seattle Slew), the dam of Alternation (current Pin Oak stallion). Wedding Picture also produced Wedding Vow (Nijinsky) the dam of Broken Vow (current Pin Oak stallion), as well as Constant Companion (Relaunch) the dam of Forever Together. (LOL, I think I got the relationships straight.) Now I'm following some of their babies.

[Flanders]

It was posted elsewhere that, Archipenko, had passed but here is a nice write up about how important he was to his owner.
http://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/ar ... ngs-heart/

[serenassong]

Poor babies- sounds like the smoke make them go to sleep- about 40 minutes from me. R. I. P.
http://www.wfsb.com/story/37151437/24-h ... n-simsbury

[Prairie Bayou]

Nichols Canyon

https://www.racingpost.com/news/big-rac ... all/313768

[Catalina]

Nichols Canyon

https://www.racingpost.com/news/big-rac ... all/313768

RIP Nichols Canyon, RIP.

[Diver52]

Time in Motion, a $650,000 firster by Uncle Mo x Flirting with Fate, pulled up in the 7th (MSW) at Gulfstream and was reportedly euthanized. He was a half-brother to Dancing With Fate (or maybe it was Dances With Fate?) who suffered a fatal training injury to end a fine career. RIP youngster.

[BaroqueAgain1]

Aww.
I was watching the race, but missed it when he was pulled up. The TVG guys had talked about his pedigree, his auction price and what a good-looking colt he was, so they really noticed when he was eased.
I didn't hear about his loss during their racing coverage...maybe the colt was vanned back to his barn and then diagnosed with an untreatable injury?
What a shame.