BARRY and JUSTY: News from Japan. 11-22-09

November 22, 2009 (Sunday)

FOREIGN ENTRIES - JAPAN CUP
*The following horse, completed his stay at the Shiroi International Quarantine Center, departed the facilities at 10:02 this morning and safely arrived at Tokyo Racecourse at 11:49.

*The following comments are excerpts from quotes given by the connections and transcribed as faithfully to the original text as possible.

At Tokyo Racecourse



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JUST AS WELL (USA, h6, dark bay or brown)

“He seemed fine traveling over here. (Tomorrow,) He’s going to gallop and then on Thursday we’re going to breeze him on the grass—probably a mile and 3/8, a mile and a half, something like that, it’s just feeling off…to some degree he dictates the schedule. I think all the horses at the quarantine were becoming a little bit picky about their feed (don’t get me wrong, he’s getting a good ration), but I’m hoping that the travel doesn’t stress him out—though I don’t think so with this horse. He’s a pretty steady guy.”

(Comments taken from Barry Wiseman

THE JAPAN CUP and Just As Well

PICTURED ABOVE IS FUCHU RACE COURSE WHERE JUST AS WELL WILL MAKE HIS BID FOR THE $5.28 MILLION JAPAN CUP PURSE!

This year's Japan Cup on Nov. 29 at the state-of-the-art Tokyo Racecourse will see five entries from abroad, three from the United States, two from Britain: Conduit, Scintillo, Interpatation, Just as Well and Marsh Side. Four-time Grade 1 champion Conduit is eligible for the Japan Autumn International bonus, having the opportunity to collect an additional 130 million yen to the 250 million yen the 4-year-old will be awarded should he win the 2,400-meter race.

The first ever Japan Cup was open to North American and Asian horses before Europe and Oceania were added to the list the following year. In 1992, the Japan Cup became the JRA’s first Grade 1 race approved by the International Cataloguing. From 1999 to 2005, it was part of the World Racing Championship, then the game’s preeminent international series.

The Japan Cup has been held at Fuchu every year apart from 2002, when it was held at Nakayama at a distance of 2,200 meters while Tokyo was under renovation. The race record is held by Alkaased (2 minutes, 22.1 seconds), with Dettori having won a record three Japan Cups. Sir Michael Stoute is the only trainer to have lifted two Japan Cups in 1996 and 1997; Stoute trains Conduit.

The 2,400 meters at Tokyo starts on the home stretch, with a run of 400 meters to the first turn bending left for 550 meters, into the back straight. After another 400-meter run, the course curves again for two furlongs before leading back home, a straight of 525 meters which slopes upward for the first 225 meters.

Emails from Barry G. Wiseman indicate that the 10 hour time change is tough, the horse is doing well, and this is one of the most "interesting" experiences Barry has ever had.

JUST AS WELL TO RUN IN JAPAN CUP TURF

Barry Wiseman, leads the six-year-old contender, Just As Well, on November 17 before the stallion's November 28th run in the Japan Cup Turf race.

The Japanese Racing Association reports: Two American horses scheduled to run in the Grade 1 Japan Cup - Interpatation and Just as Well - arrived safely to Japan on Monday, Nov. 16, and both horses were transported to the JRA Horseracing School Quarantine Center to prepare for the 29th running of Japan's largest prize money race.

Both horses arrived at the Horseracing School at 1:53 p.m., completing a 17-hour trip from the United States. They handled the trip well, despite this being their first time crossing the Pacific.

"The horse is relaxed after the trip, in great shape," said Just as Well's assistant trainer Barry Wiseman. "Like Interpatation, we won't go to the tracks tomorrow and will walk him around the stable area. We will gradually speed up his training."

Just as Well, the 6-year-old horse by A.P. Indy, has won twice and finished runnerup three times in his 2009 campaign. Before finishing fifth in the Canadian International Stakes (Grade 1) in October at Woodbine, the Jonathan Sheppard-trained-and-owned horse took the crown in the Northern Dancer Turf Stakes (G1) and came in second in the Grade 1 Arlington Million and Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap. Just as Well is 5-for-20 with five runnerups and three third-place finishes, earning $1,034,912 in the process.

With a total purse of 533.5 million yen, the Japan Cup will be held over 2,400 meters at Tokyo Racecourse on Nov. 29. The race will be the third leg of the "Japan Autumn International," a four-race series with a total value of 1,217,100,000 yen in prize money - not including the bonuses allocated to the qualified horse

Can't Believe I'm off to the Breeders Cup!

I'm hopping an early flight tomorrow to LAX for the 2009 Breeder's Cup in Arcadia, CA. Since I joined Facebook in March, I have made so many horse racing friends. It appears about 50 of them will be in Arcadia. My FB friend, Paula Weglarz, who I met in Kentucky last spring (see http://nobettorride.blogspot.com/) arrives at LAX about one-half-hour before me. Another local Facebook friend is picking us up at the airport and driving us to Arcadia. Who knew social networking was this good!

Some of these gals have made dinner reservations and have party plans. Me, I just want to see the horse races and the two grey wonders who are running in Breeders Cup races, Forever Together and Informed Decision. They are both in the story noted above. I also am very much looking forward to seeing Jonathan Sheppard, his wife, Cathy, and the most excellent assistant trainer, Barry G. Wiseman. For more on them, (see http://sasscerstories.blogspot.com/)

It will be fun to see George Strawbridge and his lovely companion Julia again, as well. And I will get to meet Breeder’s Cup contender Cloudy’s Knight, too. Right now, I have to go to bed.

Got to catch that early plane. More to come!

WHEN DOGS RUN WILD

If this were a video, you’d be hearing “Running with the Pack,” by Bad Company.


In August of 2009, I got a call from my friend and neighbor, Jerry, to warn me there was a pack of pit bulls running wild in the area. They had killed his neighbor’s longtime cat, a beautiful longhair, named Miss Kitty. Miss Kitty’s owner, Ruth, saw these dogs destroy her cat.

She was too terrified of the dogs to attempt a rescue. “There was a big nursing-bitch, just full of milk. She had small puppies with her, and several black-and-white adult dogs, too. They shook my little cat like she was a rag doll!”

Yet another neighbor, an older woman, just made it into her house when these dogs went after her in her yard. Though not bitten, she spent three days in the hospital with a heart condition caused by the trauma.

My neighbor Jerry had a Labrador retriever named Sammy. I watched this dog grow from a puppy, to a teenage terror that got into the trash -- and everything else – carrying his trophies about proudly. He dug up unknown objects, leaving them at the kitchen door, and after swimming in Jerry’s pond, happily rubbed green pond slime and mud on everyone. In the past year, Sammy graduated from all things puppy, and became a large, dignified dog that Jerry and his wife, Pinky, adored.

When I was over there for a drink one time, Pinky said, “Sammy makes me feel safe when I’m outside working the garden. He’s always at my side.”

But this week, the pack came through and left Sammy looking like “a piece of ground meat.” It happened while Jerry and Pinky weren’t home. Jerry found Sammy still alive.

Four thousand bucks worth of vet bills later, Sammy died.

Across the country road from Jerry and Ruth’s homes is our ten-acre farm, which is surrounded by 250 lonely acres of parkland. My dog Rosco, a certified mutt, is about the size of a border collie. My two Thoroughbred colts are only foals, one of them not even weaned yet. Knowing this pack of dogs can show up any time, day or night, left me shaken and fearful. I took to carrying my revolver with me whenever I’d go out to feed the horses or do farm chores. Always listening, I’d sometimes hear dogs barking and yipping in the distance.

Jerry called Prince Georges County Animal Control after Miss Kitty died. He and the animal control officer thought the dogs came from a place on Chew Road, the next road over. Animal control had earlier found a bunch of dogs in a wire pen at a home on that road. The dogs fit Ruth’s description of the pack that killed Miss Kitty. Animal Control said they’d already cited this family, and after Sammy was attacked, they cited these irresponsible people again. But the law states that a dog must be found loose without tags to be taken into the animal control facility. These dogs run home, get locked up, and are not easily touched by the law.

Yesterday morning, Jerry shot and killed two dogs when a pack of nine stormed his yard and went after his chickens. Being a retired Prince Georges County homicide detective, Jerry’s a good shot and always armed. He called me about ten o’clock, and he sounded upset. I put Rosco’s leash on, put him in the car with me, and drove right over.

Pinky was there with the neighbor who’d been chased into her house by the pit bulls, and a Prince Georges County Animal Control van was parked in the driveway. A small black-and-white puppy lay dead on the ground with a bullet hole in its side. The other dog had apparently made it into the woods and down a steep bank to the creek before dying from his gunshot wound. The rest of the pack had fled through the woods toward Chew Road.

Pinky said the animal control officer was down in the creek with Jerry and Ruth, who was looking to see if the dead dog was one of those that killed Miss Kitty.

Rosco and I worked our way down there through the woods, following the sound of voices and avoiding briars and vines as best we could. The mosquitoes were terrible. We found the people on the bank staring at an adult black-and-white dog that lay dead in the creek.

Ruth said it was one of the dogs that killed her cat.

The uniformed animal control officer introduced herself as Kim Montgomery. She had blond hair with pink streaks, pierced ears, and tattoos of dogs on her arms. She told me later they were various dogs she’d owned that had passed from old age.
She took off her boots and socks, and rolled up her jeans, revealing more tattoos on her legs.

She clambered down into the creek, tied a rope around the dog’s head and dragged it up the bank, through the woods and back to her van.

I felt bad that I’d brought Rosco, for when Kim dragged the dog past us, Rosco sat down and started whining. But I’d been afraid to let him out of my sight.

We followed Kim and watched while she put the dogs inside compartments in the van. She said she knew where the dogs came from on Chew Road. She was going to the house to ask the people if the dead dogs belonged to them.

Chew road is a tough, shanty town area and I knew the people down there wouldn’t look kindly on a county officer butting into their lives.

I studied Kim. She appeared about thirty. And though she looked sturdy and tough, she wasn’t a big or tall woman by any means.

“Do you have any backup?” I asked her.

She rolled her eyes. “There’s only three of us working the whole county.”

“Do you want some help?” I asked.

“No. I can take care of it.”

I wanted to go with her, but knew better than to ask.

She left in her van, and I climbed up the steps to Jerry’s deck where we sat and drank coffee. Rosco was very alert about the coffee, thinking maybe he should have some.

After a while, Jerry started talking about Sammy. Though he’s seen more homicide victims than I ever want to think about, he almost broke down.

“I’m upset,” he said, “because they killed my damn dog, and I just shot a puppy.”

I felt terrible for him. “Jerry,” I said. “I’m glad you killed those dogs. Only one bullet each. It was good work. That puppy never knew what hit him. Besides, he’s been running with that pack, killing things. Those little puppies are like a school of piranhas!”

By this time, Rosco was pressing against my leg, wondering what was wrong with the humans. I gave him a hug and said it was time to go home.

Jerry called me this morning and told me that officer Kim Montgomery did go to the home on Chew Road. By herself. The woman who lived there admitted they owned the dogs. She said her two daughters, both in their twenties, were out of control and she couldn’t make them do anything about the dogs. But the daughters weren’t at home, and Kim loaded all the dogs she found into her van. Five new dogs and the two dead ones were taken into animal control.

I’m unsure of how many dogs are still at large, but I am very grateful to Jerry and Kim. Jerry has calmed down, and Pinky, Ruth and I are less afraid.

But that Kim, I don’t think she’s afraid of anything.

JUST AS WELL WINS GRADE I STAKE!

Barry G. Wiseman, assistant trainer to Jonathan Sheppard, leads just as well in the paddock before the Northern Dancer. Julien Leparoux up.


Though Just As Well Won the $750,000 Northern Dancer Turf (Can-IT) Stake Due to Marsh Side’s Disqualification, a Review of the Race Shows Jonathan Sheppard’s Colt to be Much the Best!

Following a lengthy inquiry, Ontario Racing Commission stewards decided that the Neil Drysdale trainee Marsh Side, clinging to a narrow lead under right-handed urging from jockey Javier Castellano approaching the sixteenth pole, impeded both Quijano to his immediate inside, and the favored Champs Elysees, rallying at the rail.

Marsh Side, who went on to win by a half-length, was placed fourth, behind Champs Elysees. But Just as Well, blocked by the wall of skirmishing horses, lost ground when forced to circle the field. His amazing turn of foot once he saw daylight convinced this reviewer that Just as Well, was who almost nipped Marsh Side and finished second, was much the best!

Just as Well, bred by George Strawbridge, is out of the 2000 Del Mar Oaks (gr. I) winner No Matter What. Just as Well, now sporting a mark of 19-5-5-3, $978,155, is in career-best form at the age of six. After placing in the Gulfstream Park Turf S. (G1), Maker's Mark Mile S. (G1) and Dixie S. (G2) earlier this season for his owner/trainer, the dark bay broke through with his first stakes coup in the Arlington H. (G3) in July. Just as Well followed up with a solid second to divisional leader Gio Ponti (Tale of the Cat) in the Arlington Million (G1) last time out.

Sheppard had mixed feelings about the result, which was Just as Well's first grade I win.

“I feel badly," he said. "Neil (Drysdale) is a good friend. He’s got an awfully good horse. He possibly was the best horse but he certainly beared across the course in the late stages.

“Even though we weren’t really the recipient of it, I give Julien a lot of credit because he easily could have been in the melee. I think he saw it coming up and managed to sneak out from behind them and have a clear run down the middle. The horse ran a superb race.”

“We thought coming out of two consecutive 1 1/4 races where he was closing well that this is a good time to try him at the 1 1/2-mile (distance),” said Sheppard. “Julien got him settled very nicely. He relaxed for him and he came with his run. He probably just took a while extricating himself. If he had a clear run right when they first turned from home he maybe would have got there anyway.”

This reviewer believes he definitely would have gotten there. The final time for the 1 1/2-mile event was a swift 2:26.68 on a firm course.

“Once Bullish Racing Industry Faces Slow Death from Maryland “Matador” Michael Busch and The Amazing Political Picadors”

THIS LETTER APPEARED IN THE AUGUST 2 ISSUE OF THE "BLOOD HORSE."


# After Maryland legislators blocked the passing of slots for years, many of our best trainers, farms, and Maryland-bred horses left the area for neighboring states with slots gambling. West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Delaware provided lucrative bonus opportunities in their state bred programs and huge purses to owners of state bred horses. As Maryland-breds and Maryland racetracks had little to offer in comparison, our industry’s lifeblood began its slow trickle toward death.
# Our politicians pulled a cape of misinformation over the eyes of the public, insisting slots gambling would increase crime and "take the food out of the mouth’s of children."
# By 2008, Maryland was facing a financial deficit so huge that state legislators finally backed off the slots issue, and the public was allowed to vote on a referendum in the November 2008 ballot. Even Speaker of the Maryland House, Michael Busch, stopped waving his cape. On November 4, 2009, the people voted and the referendum for slots passed by an overwhelming majority.
# But the games started again late in 2008 when Governor Martin O’Malley and Maryland legislative leaders appointed a Maryland Slots Commission. Most of us had expected to see the slot machines installed at Laurel Racetrack, but we didn’t grasp the significance of the fine print within the Comission’s bidding rules. In February of 2009, Magna subsidiary, Laurel Racing Association, refused to hand over $28.5 million for the chance to bid on a slots license.
# It seems the Association had concerns about getting its money back if local zoning rules created hurdles for their project. Laurel contended the requirement of the licensing fee was without clarity, or legal authority to ensure refundability – that it was unlawful and should not be enforced. Laurel was, however, willing to put the money into escrow.
# At a scheduled hearing, the Slots Commission voted to deny Laurel a bid after ignoring representatives from the Laurel Racing Association and their request for a chance to speak.
# Meanwhile the Baltimore-based developer, Cordish Companies put up $28.5 million and waited to be granted a slot’s license. But in an effort to get the bidding reopened, Laurel sued the Maryland Slots Commission. The case finally wound up with the Maryland Court of Appeals, Maryland’s highest court. Laurel’s insistence there was no legal safeguard for the return of their money, was one of the issues the court was supposed to rule on.
# Being a longtime Maryland horse breeder and hoping to see slots installed at Laurel – a site which would have by far the most positive effect on Maryland racing and breeding – I checked the internet daily for word of the court’s ruling. I even called the court near the end of June and the woman who answered the phone said the decision would come "anytime now."
# Imagine my surprise when I checked the website early in July and read this.: "After June 9, 2009, the Court will recess until September 2, 2009." What a joke. A whole industry waits for a decision and they're in recess!
# But wait! Don’t forget the Cordish Companies’s $28.5 million. The State of Maryland still holds the money and, I assume, receives fat interest payments.
# Meanwhile, Anne Arundel County, where Cordish plans to put slots, had some zoning issues. After indicating a zoning change was required, the County leaders decided not to rule on the issue until September. Do you think Cordish is being screwed? Do you think Laurel Racing was right?
# If you’re a supporter of Kentucky racing no doubt you were dismayed last week to learn the politicians there had dashed your hopes of legalizing slots. My God, you Kentuckians ask, are we following in Maryland’s bloody wake?
# You might ask yourself, "Who benefits from not having slots?" I'd bet my farm that money has been paid in both states, to some person or entity to stop the legalization of slots. Webster's Dictionary should remove the word altruism altogether.
# Maybe I should just have a vodka gimlet and not worry about this stuff. My concerns and efforts to follow the money and figure out who or what is behind each political roadblock are about as useful as beating the carrion eaters off a dead horse.