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Houston businessman, philanthropist, and longtime owner/breeder Jim McIngvale is getting out of all his Thoroughbred racing and breeding interests because he said the sport lacks integrity.

The UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH) has opened the All Species Imaging Center. This central hub for all advanced diagnostic imaging is outfitted with the latest in advanced imaging technology.

Racing has a serious integrity problem, Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale believes, and that is why he has pulled the plug and is leaving the game entirely.

The Blood-Horse was the first to report the story.

“We couldn't compete with all the drugs and all the injections when we were running on just hay, oats and water,” he said. “It was an uphill battle. Runhappy climbed that hill but the rest of them couldn't. I'm not going to damage my integrity by drugging them and injecting them. I do right by the horses and what was right for the horses didn't allow us to win anymore. It was time to get out.”

McIngvale's horses always ran drug free. He did not even use Lasix.

“Absolutely, this sport has an integrity problem,” he said.

He includes in that the CAW phenomenon where bettors using computer models are betting huge amounts of money and are allowed to wager at the very last second, which often creates significant changes in the odds after a race starts.

“I'm a big gambler and you can't gamble on horse racing anymore,” he said. “You bet and then they let these CAW guys come in. You bet the horse at 4-1 and then it goes off at even-money. I bet a bunch of money the other night when my boy (boxer) Bud Crawford fought Canelo Alvarez. I got it at plus 140 at Caesars. It went up to plus 150. But I got what I got at 140 because of fixed odds and I was happy with that.”

Crawford won the fight.

He also became upset about the dysfunctional nature of the sport and the various fiefdoms refusing to work together.

“Horse racing has 80 million factions all at war with one another and there's no general direction,” he said. “In the NFL they all head in the same direction and that's why it is so successful.”

Runhappy (Super Saver), who stood at Claiborne Farm, struggled as a sire but he was still McIngvale's most valuable racing asset. According to McIngvale, the horse has been sold and will stand next year in South Korea.

McIngvale said that he made a considerable amount of money with Runhappy, but lost money overall on the sport.

“I have no idea how much money I've lost,” he said. “I had a lot of fun in horse racing and the people were great, but the cheating just beat me down to the point where I had to throw up the white flag.  I lost a lot of money, but made a lot of money with Runhappy. Obviously, for the whole experience I lost money. But if Runhappy had turned out to be the next Storm Cat I would have gotten all my money back. I've got a lot of other things going on. I fought it as hard as I could and as long as I could. I got better things to do than fight an uphill battle all the time.”

McIngvale bought Runhappy for $200,000 at the 2013 Keeneland September sale. In 2015, the colt won three Grade I races, including the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. He also won an Eclipse Award that year as the sport's top sprinter and was 7-for-10 lifetime and earned $1,496,250. But Runhappy could not live up to McIngvale's expectations as a sire. He's had eight crops and 556 foals but has produced only four graded stakes winners. His leading runner was Smile Happy, a Grade II stakes winner who earned $1,060,080.

After sending the horse to Claiborne, McIngvale promoted and marketed Runhappy extensively, sponsoring races, offering bonuses to any of his offspring who won maiden races at Saratoga, Del Mar or Kentucky Downs,

His second best horse may have been During (Cherokee Run) who won four graded stakes. He also campaigned Wimbledon (Wild Rush), the winner of the 2004 GII Louisiana Derby. McIngvale's horses won 207 races in 1,395 starts and compiled $9,743,963 in earnings.

As recently as 2021, McIngvale began to discuss the problems he had with the sport.  McIngvale was a guest speaker as part of the University of Louisville Equine Program's speaker series that year.

“Horse racing needs to be the most transparent sport in the world, and it will be the greatest sport in the world,” McIngvale said. “We've got to get bigger fields and run on the grass like they do in England and Australia with those great, big grass gallops. They can get 20- or 30-horse fields, and all of a sudden you get some big payoffs, and you get a great bang for your buck.”

McIngvale, the self-promoting owner of the Gallery Furniture chain in Houston, was also known for his philanthropy as he supported several racing-related charities. He was also known for making huge bets on a horse in the GI Kentucky Derby, which he tied into promotions at his furniture stores.

The post Saying He’s Fed Up with Racing, McIngvale Gets Out of the Sport; Runhappy Sold to South Korea appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Spirit of New York fends off Black Volt late to win the Bertram F. Bongard Saturday at Aqueduct. Coglianese Photo.

Spirit of New York bounced back from a solid effort in his open company stakes debut to score in Saturday’s $150,000 Bertram F. Bongard Stakes for New York-bred 2-year-olds.

Owned by Michael Dubb, Stuart Grant’s The Elkstone Group, Winners Win and Mark Parkinson, Spirit of New York won the 6-furlong Bongard by a half-length under Manny Franco. Trained by Adam Rice, Spirit of New York came into the Bongard off a third in the Skidmore Stakes August 16 at Saratoga Race Course.

“He seemed to find his friends,” Rice said. “He was up against it pretty good last time at Saratoga, so maybe New York-bred (company) helped him – three-quarters, big turns here. It was a nice race.

“I’ll be honest with you, I think I left him a little short last time. The way he came back and looked after the race and the way he looked today – that’s going back to the drawing board and taking notes of him. Maybe I made a mistake that he should have been a little more honest. I didn’t think that he was that bad off against open company, but I could have been wrong.

Sent off as the 2-1 favorite in the field of six, Spirit of New York raced third early while Funny Factor and Cristobal clicked off the opening quarter-mile in :22.50 over the firm turf.

Funny Factor still led by a half-length through the half-mile split in :45.25. Spirit of New York came wide out of the far turn and into the lane. He took the lead in upper stretch and led by a length past 5 furlongs in :56.76. Spirit of New York widened his advantage from there while Black Volt, coming out of an open-company maiden win September 1 at Colonial Downs, made a late run in the stretch.

“I had the trip that I wanted,” Franco said. “I wanted to sit right off of horses. This horse was helping me the whole way. I felt like I had horse under me. I was just waiting for the moment to move. I made my move and he made the lead. He kind of waited a little bit on horses. As soon as he felt the horse outside of him, he kept on going. He got it done.”

Spirit of New York held off Black Volt to win in 1:08.55. Lawyer Mason finished another 3 ¼ lengths back in third.

Bred by Magic Oaks Farm, Spirit of New York is the third foal and second winner out of the Candy Ride mare Unbroken Spirit.

Magic Oaks bought Unbroken Spirit for $4,500 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky winter mixed sale. Her first foal, the 3-year-old New York-bred Mo Town gelding Skippy Town, is 2-1-1 in seven starts with $42,844 in earnings.

Spirit of New York made his debut July 16 at Saratoga for owner and trainer Adam Rice, winning a 5 ½-furlong state-bred turf maiden by 3 1/4 lengths. Rice sold the gelding privately after that win and his current connections owned him when he finished 4 3/4 lengths behind Bobrovsky in the $139,500 Skidmore.

“I like the horse a lot,” Rice said. “I’m blessed to be able to keep him after the new ownership took over. I’m really just glad to win for them and to win here. It’s awesome.”

Spirit of New York collected $82,500 for his win in the Bongard and boosted his bankroll to $150,000.

The post Spirit of New York hangs on to win Bertram F. Bongard appeared first on New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. News.

Sweet Montreal takes field all the way to win Friday’s Joseph A. Gimma at Aqueduct. Coglianese Photo/Susie Raisher.

Sweet Montreal blew up the tote board when she won her debut at 42-1 last month at Saratoga Race Course, and pulled another upset Friday with an 11-1 score in the $150,000 Joseph A. Gimma for 2-year-old New York-bred fillies at Aqueduct.

Owned by DiRico Racing and Breeding, the 2-year-old daughter of Instagrand went to the front from the start under Stewart Elliott and stayed there throughout the 6-furlong turf stakes. Sweet Montreal won by 3 1/4 lengths over Arinata with Grazie third and Sacred Goddess fourth in the field of eight.

Elliott and trainer Jim Ryerson talked tactics for the Gimma, a former 2-year-old dirt stakes, before the race and came up with a plan.

“There’s a little speed in here,” Elliott said.

“Well, you be aggressive and if you want to adjust to that, that’s fine,” Ryerson said.

Ryerson said he thought Sweet Montreal, a winner going 5 ½ furlongs on the turf August 6 at Saratoga, would show speed and she did.

“She’s always been quick,” Ryerson said after the race. “Some of her works leading up to her first start were pedestrian, but it was more the company she was keeping in the morning; it wasn’t her. She was waiting on everybody in those works. She’s fast. She’s pretty fast.”

Sweet Montreal showed how fast from the break. She took the lead and zipped through the opening quarter-mile in :22.60, a length in front of Vernon Valley, Trading Trouble and Charlottesuniverse.

“I didn’t really think she’d clear them like that but when she did, and I know he’s not riding her to do that, then I’m feeling pretty good,” Ryerson said.

Sweet Montreal continued from there, clicking past the half in :45.60, still a length in front of Vernon Valley. She spurted away in the stretch, opened up by 2 lengths in midstretch and past 5 furlongs in :57.06 and drew off from there. She won in 1:08.73. Arinata closed from second, overcoming some traffic at the top of the stretch to finish a neck in front of Grazie.

“The original plan was to sit off the speed, but she broke so well – I thought there was quite a bit of speed in the race, but it worked out great,” Elliott said. “She broke good, did it in hand and she’s very, very classy. It worked out. She was doing it easy, for her anyways, she was doing it smooth. She felt great. She was giving me 110 percent the whole way, so that’s all we can ask for.”

Sweet Montreal picked up $82,500 for the win, boosting her bankroll to $132,000 for her two starts.

Bred by Torie Gladwell and foaled at Stonegate Stables in Fort Edward, Sweet Montreal sold to Joseph DiRico out of the Top Line Sales consignment for $120,000 at this year’s OBS March sale.

Sweet Montreal is the ninth foal out of the Rockport Harbor mare Passeporta, who is the dam of the stakes-placed $187,888-earning New York-bred Solomini filly Sohana and three other winners. Passeporta is also the dam of a yearling filly by Solomini and a weanling filly by Drain the Clock, both bred by Gladwell in New York.

The post Sweet Montreal surprises again in Joseph A. Gimma appeared first on New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. News.

Trainer Dylan Cunha's desire to compete at the highest level is seeing him hitting the sales ground hard once more, including a visit to the United States to chance his arm at the cream of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale offerings.

The California Horse Racing Board authorizes the Keeneland Championship Sale to conduct its second such horse sale Oct. 29 in the Del Mar paddock in conjunction with the Breeders' Cup.

Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez and retired jockeys Trevor McCarthy and Rosie Napravnik participated with other athletes in a mental health roundtable Sept. 16 in the United States Capitol.

Four races not contested at Canterbury Park the evening of Sept. 18 due to inclement weather will be run Sept. 20. They will follow the existing races scheduled on Saturday, Canterbury's final day of its meet.

Immersive, champion 2-year-old filly of 2024, looks to get back in a winning groove with a class drop into the $175,000 Seneca Overnight Stakes Sept. 20 at Churchill Downs.

Philanthropist and owner Ken Freirich: "I want to send two messages to the industry—we need to do more, and we need to plan now for the future of the sport we all love."

Woodbine-based Norm McKnight is a multiple graded stakes-winning trainer.

The Challenge, presented by Gainesway

Sept. 18 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where a colt by Liam's Map topped the 10th session at $480,000, cumulative sales topped $500 million for the first time with two sessions still remaining.

Beginning with the start of the Classic Meet at Santa Anita Park Dec. 26, all maiden special weight races in restricted and open company run at Santa Anita will receive a $2,500 increase in the maiden bonus awards.

Michael Kent Jr. believes the stars are aligning for a mare "you'd want to go to war with" as Miss Roumbini looks to translate her astonishing consistency into group 1 glory in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (G1) at Caulfield Sept. 20.

Hawthorne Race Course, despite more than six years of delay, remains committed to construction of a casino at its suburban Chicago location, track president Tim Carey told the Illinois Racing Board at the annual dates hearing Sept. 18.

Joe Bravo, sidelined by a broken finger for about three months, resumes riding Sept. 19 at Gulfstream Park. Bravo is named on Fausto Gutierrez-trained 3-year-old colt Rashid in the seventh race.

Keeneland has announced that Taylor Made Sales Agency will offer a share in Not This Time at the second edition of the Keeneland Championship Sale, to be held in the Del Mar paddock Oct. 29, two days before the Breeders' Cup.

'Stigma and Suicide: Breaking the Silence to Save Lives' will be held at Eastern Kentucky University Perkins Conference Center on Friday, Sept. 26.

Panelists from a variety of professional backgrounds, including Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, will discuss the problem of stigma as a barrier to help-seeking and what we can do to address it. Smith will also talk about the significance of stigma in the Thoroughbred industry and how it threatens the lives of jockeys and trainers alike.

September is Suicide Prevention Month with Sept. 10 recognized as World Suicide Prevention Day.

“At the EKU Psychology Clinic and Trauma and Suicide Prevention Specialty Clinic, our mission is to save lives—one client, one family, and one community at a time,” EKU Psychology Clinic Director, Dr. Theresa Botts said.

“From comprehensive trauma assessments to specialized therapies, and outreach trainings, our clinicians help others become more trauma informed and responsive. Through suicide intervention treatments such as CAMS, and suicide prevention programs like ASIST, safeTALK, and QPR, we not only support individuals in crisis but also empower families and communities to recognize signs of suicidality, respond with courage and support, and bring hope where it feels lost. Every service we provide carries one unwavering promise: no one should face their darkest moments alone and our clinicians are here to help.”

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