California

   In this TDN series, we curry lessons and wise counsel from veteran Californian figures who, like gold nuggets panned from the Tuolomne River in the High Sierras, have unearthed career riches on arguably the toughest circuit in the States.    The series started with John Shirreffs and continues here with Art Sherman, son of a barber who would go on to train, for a period, the richest horse in history. Last month, Sherman announced his retirement. His last runner is expected this weekend. The golf cart plunges out of...

Trainer Art Sherman, best known for conditioning dual Classic winner California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit), plans to retire at the end of the year. The story was originally published by the Blood-Horse. Upon his retirement, the 84-year-old's horses will likely be split between his sons Steve and Alan. In addition to traveling and spending time with his family, the elder Sherman will do a little bloodstock work. Sherman was an exercise rider and jockey prior to taking up training. He was the regular exercise rider of Hall of Famer Swaps. Sherman's...

GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint runner-up Go Bears Go (Ire) (Kodi Bear {GB}) and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf fifth Hello You (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) have both exited their Del Mar starts well and are pointing to 3-year-old campaigns. Trainer David Loughnane was pleased with his Group 2 winners, with Go Bears Go taking the G2 Railway S. earlier this year and Hello You winning the G2 Rockfel S. at Newmarket. The colt will be aimed for the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, while Hello You...

If reception is any guide, the main takeaway by far from Tuesday's California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) Medication, Safety, and Welfare Committee meeting was the suggestion of an accident prevention taskforce to systematically study the myriad factors behind fatal equine injury. The primary discussion on the meeting agenda was a highly anticipated one, concerning the possibility of penalizing trainers for injuries and fatalities for horses in their care. During the meeting introduction, CHRB executive director, Scott Chaney, and CHRB chairman, Gregory Ferraro, explained that while California has witnessed a sharp...

The Breeders' Cup has made arrangements with FedEx to charter two equine flights that will transport horses to California to compete in the 2021 World Championships Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar. Both FedEx charters will be making direct trips to San Diego International Airport. The first charter flight will leave Newark International Airport Sunday, Oct. 31. The second charter will leave from Indianapolis International Airport Monday, Nov. 1. Each flight will carry up to a maximum of 33 horses. Breeders' Cup will pay the round-trip cost for all horses competing...

Grade I winner Cistron (The Factor--Major Allie, by Officer) has been retired from racing and will stand stud at Harris Farms in California. He is now available for inspection and a stud fee will be announced in the fall. Scoring his first black-type win in Oaklawn's Northern Spur S. in 2017, the Hronis Racing colorbearer's other career highlights include victories in the GI Bing Crosby S., GII Kona Gold S. and GIII San Simeon S. The $180,000 KEESEP buy retires with 30-6-7-6 and earnings of $768,719.

As the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) begins the planning process for crafting 2022 race dates on both the Southern and Northern circuits, it appears as if there is some consensus for including a one-week break with no racing, although no exact time frame for any proposed hiatus has been publicly identified. At Wednesday's monthly meeting, CHRB vice chair Oscar Gonzales updated the full board on the two-hour dates subcommittee teleconference that took place Tuesday and included representatives from tracks and horsemen's groups. "We obviously didn't take a vote on...

Trainer Richard Mandella has been fined $500 by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) for a Class 4 and Penalty Category C methocarbamol positive that turned up in the post-race test of Jolie Olimpica (Brz) (Drosselmeyer) after the MGSW mare ran third in the GIII San Simeon S. at Santa Anita Mar. 13. The stewards' ruling was issued May 29. According to the original May 7 complaint, split-sample blood testing had confirmed the presence of the skeletal muscle relaxant. Methocarbamol's 4C categorization is on the least-severe side of the scale...

Jockey Trevor McCarthy is moving his tack to California later this month. A leading rider in Maryland, McCarthy began riding in New York this winter, enjoying a successful Aqueduct winter meet. As of Sunday, he was fourth in the Belmont spring standings. McCarthy will be represented by Derek Lawson, former agent to Flavien Prat. "I needed a rider and was not going to take one away from another agent here," said Lawson. "I recruited him. I started looking at riders who might fit out here, called him up, he made...

Over the years, the rise of the so-called super trainer has prompted many a clutched pearl by virtue of a perceived monopoly on the sport. Anecdotally, it can certainly appear as though the same few names wield an outsized impact. But what does the data say? The TDN has crunched the numbers in California from 2007 onward. This is far from a comprehensive overview of the situation, and what emerges is a picture that can be viewed from multiple angles. On the one hand, the numbers suggest that the biggest...

The spoils of victory typically come with a nice polish. Gleaming trophies. Glossy plaques. But not always. "He offered me an egg roll at Clocker's Corner on Sunday morning," said trainer John Sadler, on Ron McAnally's act of largesse the day after Rock Your World (Candy Ride {Arg}), the horse the veteran conditioner bred, careened away with the GI Santa Anita Derby. "It was pretty good, but I don't think it was breakfast food," Sadler added, tongue firmly in cheek, before explaining that McAnally-who also trained both Rock Your World's...

At the start of last month, a small cadre of animal rights protestors snuck onto the Golden Gate Fields racetrack, lay down with arms interlocked in pipes, and halted live racing--as well as a vaccination drive on facility grounds--until police intervention saw their removal. While the incident had a flash-in-the-pan quality, it had the corollary effect of reminding those within the sport here in the Golden State of the somewhat precarious position in which it still finds itself--an important part of the economic puzzle, employing tens of thousands, but one...