Hibiscus Stables Newsletter

Welcome to the December, year-end edition of the Hibiscus Stables Newsletter! This issue includes a look back at 2009, trivia and news. Please forward this to friends and family members that may be interested.

Reflections on 2009

With 48 ½ hours remaining in 2009 I’m pleased to be able to look back and reflect on a few very positive achievements in what is widely considered a very difficult year for many people all around.

We started off the year with two very impressive wins, back-to-back, by Salt Water Reign at her favorite track, Aqueduct. She first handled a nice field of open company N1X horses on January 7 and then came right back and rolled over a field of open company N2X horses on February 11. In that second race she made this incredible last-to-first move as she rolled down the middle of the racetrack under the skilful ride of Rosie Napravnik. Salt Water Reign is typically a stalking type with excellent tactical speed. Rallying from last is not her style and that performance will always be one of my favorites.

We attended the spring 2-year-old sales and achieved our stated goal to acquire quality. We added to our stable a very nice Tale of the Cat filly out of an A.P. Indy mare. Her name is My Indy Kitty and she’s in California right now very close to a debut for Ron Ellis. We also added an athletic Grand Slam colt named Slamentine to our New York-bred program with Steve Klesaris. He’s breezing in Ocala and should be ready to ship to Fair Hill in a few weeks. We’re all extremely excited to see these new faces at the racetrack.

The stable rattled off six wins throughout the first six months of the year. We were on a pace to post twelve wins and crush my personal benchmark annual goal of a 20% winning percentage. However, the stable hit a serious slump in July as injuries and some bad racing luck took its toll. We were in jeopardy of finishing south of that number when old faithful Portuguesemano’war cruised wire-to-wire at Penn National on November 27. Then William Thomas, after five attempts over wet tracks, finally caught a fast track and went wire-to-wire on December 4 and crushed NY-bred N1X foes at Aqueduct. The barn put up back-to-back wins with both horses traveling never behind another horse at any point of call. Those two late-inning wins allowed the stable to finish the year with a 21% winning percent.

I can’t close out the year without honoring the memory of our fallen warrior Iron Curtain. Many of us have had dreams from a very early age of winning a race at Saratoga and standing in the winner’s circle there. No one could have known at the time of his purchase that it would be Iron Curtain who would have given us that accomplishment. I cherish that memory, reflecting on it often. It’s a gift that Iron Curtain gave to me that I’ll carry with me for the remainder of my life.

He was a fantastic horse. I can vividly picture him in his stall at Belmont Park excitedly swinging his head around as if to say, “Come on, let’s play.” He was an honest horse that never gave a partial effort. He was a hard worker; a hard knocker. He loved to run and he was cranked for a return to the track where he had his best success, Saratoga, when we lost him. I have to tip my hat to him. I miss ya buddy.

2009 was a memorable year for Hibiscus Stables, although it seems we say that every December. That’s the fantastic part about horseracing. There are ups and downs, highs and lows, but it’s never, ever, boring. I have absolutely no idea what 2010 has up its sleeve for us but I can tell you that I can’t wait to get into it and find out.

Happy New Year!

- Mike Oliveto, CEO Hibiscus Stables

Hialeah Re-opens

On November 28, 2009, the granddame of Florida racing opened up her hallowed gates once more to close to 27,000 racing fans. She’s been shuttered since 2001. (see 2/2009 newsletter). The overgrowth was cleared from the track, a new roof was placed on the Renaissance Revival style clubhouse which was also given a fresh coat of paint, and water lilies were placed in the Citation pool to herald the return of customers. But they didn’t come to see Thoroughbred racing- it was Quarter horses that brought out a record number of fans (they were only expecting about 10,000). John Brunetti, the current owner has spent close to $30 million to start renovations and obtain the necessary permits. He has lofty aspirations indeed as he plans to next add a poker room then slots and ultimately, Thoroughbred racing. He expects to spend a total of $100 million over the next 10 years to see his dream come to full fruition. Right now, with the state’s approval of 40 days of Quarter horse racing until February 2, 2010 he’s overcome his first hurdle.

Quarter Horses have been racing in America since Colonial times. In the 1600s, they would race them on the streets! Often Thoroughbreds were bred to sprinters to produce the fastest horses. In 1752 a grandson of the Darley Arabian named Janus was imported to Virginia and became the foundation sire for American Quarter Horses. Bred for speed, not stamina they typically race between 100 and 870 yards with the classic distance 440 yards or ¼ mile. The Quarter horses have their own Triple Crown-all three races are for 2 year olds, run in June, July and September. Only 1 horse has won the Quarter Horse Triple Crown-Special Effort in 1981.

Can Mr. Brunetti’s dream come true? There is stiff competition for winter racing dates in Florida and that’s partly what hastened her demise in 2001. Things aren’t going so well over at Calder and Gulfstream. On December 2^nd, he applied for Thoroughbred racing dates for 2010/2011. Wesley Ward has applied for stalls at Hialeah maybe other prominent trainers will follow his lead and once again, the Queen of Florida Racing will reign.

- Doris Ann Hayes, Hibiscus Stables

D.A.'s Trivia Corner - Trivia Rewind
Eclipse Awards: And the winner is......

This month we take a look back at December 2007's trivia to test your knowledge of horse racing as well as Hibiscus Trivia. Each January since 1971, when the calendar has turned another page, the horse racing world turns its attention to the Eclipse awards. These are considered the Oscars of Thoroughbred Racing. Named after one of the three foundation sires, eleven horses are voted best in their categories and one is singled out and celebrated as Horse of the Year.

Along with equine awards there are human awards for Owner, Breeder, Jockey and Trainer of the Year and several media awards.

1. In the 1960s this DuPont homebred won Horse of the Year 5 successive times.

     A. Kelso
     B. Buckpasser
     C. Damascus
     D. Dr. Fager

2. This Triple Crown winner won top honors as a 2 and 3 year old.

     A. Whirlaway
     B. Citation
     C. Secretariat
     D. Affirmed

3. He’s taken home the statue five times as Outstanding Trainer.

     A. Todd Pletcher
     B. Bobby Frankel
     C. Bob Baffert
     D. B. Wayne Lukas

4. He’s won Outstanding Jockey a record seven times.

     A. Laffitt Pincay, Jr
     B. Jerry Bailey
     C. Bill Shoemaker
     D. Pat Day

5. The Eclipse Award trophy is made of what material?

     A. Shefield Silver
     B. Waterford Crystal
     C. Plexiglas
     D. Bronze

6. The winner of the Breeder’s Cup Classic often presages Horse of the Year Honors. This horse won two back to back Classics but only one Horse of the Year.

     A. Alysheba
     B. Sunday Silence
     C. Cigar
     D. Tiznow

See end of newsletter for answers.

- Doris Ann Hayes, Hibiscus Stables

Answers to Trivia:

1. Answer: A. Kelso (no other horse has accomplished this feat since) When his racing career was over, Mrs. DuPont would ride him during fox hunts. Forego won 4 years in a row as Older Male

2. Answer: C. Secretariat. Whirlaway and Affirmed won as 3 and 4 year olds.

3. Answer: B. Bobby Frankel, he trained Empire Maker and Ghostzapper.

4. Answer: B. Jerry Bailey. Both Laffitt Pincay and Pat Day have 4 wins. Hard to believe, but Bill Shoemaker only took home the trophy one time.

5. Answer: D. Bronze. The award is a 4 inch high bronze replica of Eclipse which sits atop a rosewood base. The Horse of the Year trophy is gold-plated.

6. Answer: D. Tiznow. He took the Classic in 2000 and 2001, but Point Given was named Horse of the Year in 2001.

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