From Harnessracing.com

Equinox Bi, who won this year’s Breeders Crown and Maple Leaf Trotting Classic and is scheduled to begin a career as a sire at Blue Chip Farms in New York next February, has been kidnapped from the Gina Biasuzzi Farm near Padua, Italy. There has been no official information regarding the circumstances of the kidnapping, but news of it began spreading throughout Italy, Europe and the US early Friday morning.

Equinox Bi, who is 6 years old, is the fourth trotter of renown to be kidnapped in Italy in the past 10 years. About two years ago Lemon Dra was kidnapped and that horse has never been found.

Equinox Bi was bred by the Biasuzzi family and trained at their farm in northern Italy by Jan Nordin.

Equinox Bi came to the US this summer and competed at the Meadowlands and Mohawk. He finished second in the Nat Ray on Hambletonian Day, then won the Breeders Crown and Maple Leaf Trot at Mohawk in September. He earned $774,348 in purses in North America this year, giving him a career bankroll of $1.3 million.

Equinox Bi carries a royal American pedigree. His sire, Valley Boss Bi, is a full brother to Valley Victory. His dam, Personal Banner, raced for George Steinbrenner in the US and was sold to the Biasuzzis before she won the Breeders Crown as a 3 year old. Personal Banner hails from the family of the great Delmonica Hanover.

A top sire can make millions in stud fees for its owner. The only trouble I see is if the horse is stolen, how do you sell Equinox Bi’s progeny? They obviously would be worth quite a bit of money. If the breeding papers say the father was Equinox Bi, I’d think a buyer wouldn’t want to risk money(and his liberty) purchasing stolen property. If the papers don’t say Equinox Bi, then the colt or filly won’t raise as much money at sale time.

Anyone who knows more about the horsebreeding business, please pipe in. I’d love to hear some theories as to what the horsenappers plans could be with Equinox Bi.

Update- Just occurred to me. The kidnappers could ask ransom of Equinox Bi’s owners in return for their horse.

I can not recall ever seeing Joe race, but his son Walter drove many races I attended at Pompano Park here in Florida. Wally is in the Hall of Fame, and I’m sure his father Joe is a great part of why he made it. RIP.

Joe Hennessey, the father of Hall of Fame driver Wally Hennessey, died Monday in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island at the age of 82. Mr. Hennessey was the patriarch of one of the province’s most well-known harness racing families.Mr. Hennessey drove his first winner in 1943 at Summerside Raceway, directing his father Wal’s horse Dale H to a 4-2-1 summary finish, with the 2:11 victory being the fastest on the race card that day. He went on to drive 923 winners over his career.

Officials there want to end its racing season early.

VERNON, N.Y. (AP) - After struggling to open this year, a harness track in central New York wants to pull the plug on its racing season to save money.

Officials at Vernon Downs near Utica say they want to cancel the last four racing days of the year. The track’s owners want to close for the season after Saturday’s races. Vernon Downs had been scheduled to race on weekends until November 10th.

The track’s owners were hoping that legislation would be passed in the state Assembly earlier this week that would increase vendor license fees for video lottery at New York’s race tracks.

That would have given track operators a higher percentage of revenue from their video lottery terminals.

The state Senate approved a bill in June, but the Assembly postponed voting on Tuesday because of revenue concerns raised by horsemen’s groups across the state.

The decision to close early must be approved by the state’s Racing and Wagering Board.

My father took me to Vernon Downs once, it was in 1972. The track was 3/4 of a mile then, which is an unusual length for a standardbred venue. Most racing are done on 1/2 mile, 5/8 mile or mile tracks. Pompano Park here in Florida is 5/8ths of a mile around.

Sadly Vernon, like many horse tracks, can’t survive on horse racing alone. In this track’s case, other forms of gambling haven’t created adequate enough revenue to finance racing.(Note Vernon Downs financial difficulties go back many years) Having grown up around the sport of horse, I feel sad at what is happening. In honest truth, I don’t even follow the sport much any more. Take for instance, The Little Brown Jug which some call The Kentucky Derby for Standardbred Pacers, was raced last month. It went totally unnoticed by me.

Side note- The Little Brown Jug website contradicts itself. Saying that Strike Out in 1972 went 156.3 then both a Jug and I believe World Record for a 3-year-old on a half mile track at the time, but on another page saying a record set in 1965 stood till 1977.

I know about Strike Out’s record outing, for I was there. My father owned Fast Clip, the horse who came in second to Strike Out. Clip went 156.4 for the race.

Back to Vernon Downs. Rather than hoping for help from the state legislature, the owners of the track may want to re-evaluate whether horse racing should continue at the track. Another band aid is only putting off the inevitable.

She was married for over 50 years to my late father’s horse racing stable partner.

The matron of the Nickells family, Kathyrn Joanne Nickells, of Lighthouse Point, Florida, passed away on Sunday, June 24, 2024, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Celebrating her birthday on June 13, she had just turned 73.

Mrs. Nickells had been in poor health for some time, but had attended the races at Hoosier Park on many evenings until just a few weeks ago.

She was the wife of noted filly conditioner Bruce Nickells for over 50 years. Nickells’ standout performers have included Miss Easy, p,3,1:51.1 ($1,777,656); Immortality, p,3,1:51 ($1,614,939); Follow My Star, p,4,T1:52.3 ($1,537,503); Park Avenue Kathy, 3,1:56.4 ($553,521); and Central Park West, p,2,1:53.3f ($534,863). His recent promising performer is Me And My Baby, p,2,1:53.1 ($207,336), who is currently competing at the Meadowlands.

In addition to Bruce, Mrs. Nickells is survived by two children. Assisting in the family stable, son Sep Nickells is a trainer-driver. Mrs. Nickells’ daughter, L. Brooke Nickells, runs the Nickells Stable, LLC, currently competing at the tracks in Indiana.

An owner in the Nickells Stable for many years, Mrs. Nickells campaigned horses like Cosmic Crunch, 7,1:54.4 ($287,809); Midnight Cowboy K, 5,1:57.2f ($92,650); Out Of Sight, p,3,1:52.2 ($200,142); and Padre Hanover, 5,1:54.4 ($169,987).

Mrs. Nickells was considered by many as the glue which held the Nickells Stable together. The stable currently includes a filly named in her honor, Kathyrn’s Secret.

She was an avid gardener and enjoyed antiquing. Serving as president of her garden club, the group often raised funds to benefit underprivileged children.

Note- That’s Joanne on the left. This old photo was ironically taken place at the Indiana State Fair in 1973. Indiana was where Joanne died, and where her daughter Brooke still races.

From age 10 till I was 15, I spent many weeks during the summertime traveling with my father as he pursued the race horses of BruBill stables in the mid-west. The horses usually racing at the tracks in the Chicago area, mostly Sportsmans Park, but also at Scioto Down outside of Columbus Ohio. Bruce Nickells, the Bru in Brubill, was an excellent trainer and adequate driver of harness horses. He was also friends with my father, so I spent many days at the Nickells apartment outside Chicago, at their Lighthouse Point home during the winter. My family coming to Florida on vacation for many years before moving to The Sunshine State in 1976.

I blogged about the Nickells family before in this post, mostly concerning Joanne’s daughter Brooke. My memories of Joanne Nickells are good ones, she was very kind to me and my brother George. Unfortunately my father and Bruce had a falling out in the late 70’s. Other than when Joanne came to my mother’s wake and funeral in 1985, I hadn’t seen her in thirty years.

My condolences to the Nickells family. RIP Joanne.

A very weird incident took place in the world of New Zealand harness racing last week.

A decision about charges being laid over a horse mix-up could be made by the end of the week, says Harness Racing New Zealand chief executive Edward Rennell.

At a Forbury Park meeting in Dunedin last week a pacer ran in a race for trotters after being confused with another horse.

For those not knowledgable about harness racing, here is how to tell the difference.

Pacers move both legs on the same side forward in unison. Most wear hopples - straps connecting front and rear legs on the same side. Hopples help the horse keep stride without limiting speed. Trotters move left front and right rear legs forward almost simultaneously, then follow suit with right front and left rear.

Usually trotters do not wear hopples, so tend to go off stride in inexperienced or trying to trot too fast. This is called ‘breaking.’

My father owned harness horses off and on for thirty years. Most were Pacers. The only trotter I remember Dad owning was one named Charlie Zam. He raced in the early 70’s at tracks like Freehold(NJ), Atlantic City and Brandywine(DE).

The two horses were from the Canterbury stable of Murray Edmonds and it wasn’t until after the pacer ran in the trotting race that the error was realised.

Edmonds did not attend the meeting himself and left the horses in the care of fellow trainer Darryn Simpson.

One report said the identities were switched when the horse covers, which carried the horses’ names, were placed on the wrong horses by the driver of the truck that had transported them to Dunedin. In the race itself, the pacer refused to trot and was pulled up soon after the start.

The trotter that was meant to have run in the race was reasonably well supported to be the seventh favourite in a field of 14.

Rennell said investigations were under way and a decision would be made in a few days.

AdvertisementIt appears there was nothing sinister in the mix-up and Rennell said it was unlikely any charges would be in the category of serious, which would attract a very heavy penalty.

I’m, pardon the pun, betting there was nothing sinister in what happened. The other drivers probably said nothing because it meant one less competitor to beat.(The pacer would have been disqualified if he hadn’t been pulled up.) Why the pacer’s driver didn’t notice, is a whole other matter. I’ve never been in a sulky for a race, but I was around horses often enough when age 10 or 11 to see the obvious difference. Was the driver inebriated or daydreaming?

As to the bettors, were their tickets refunded? If I had to make a guess, I’d say no.

The 2024 Kentucky Derby winner was euthanized this morning.

KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. - Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was euthanized Monday after complications from his gruesome breakdown at last year’s Preakness, ending an eight-month ordeal that prompted an outpouring of support across the country.

“We just reached a point where it was going to be difficult for him to go on without pain,” co-owner Roy Jackson said. “It was the right decision, it was the right thing to do. We said all along if there was a situation where it would become more difficult for him then it would be time.”

A series of ailments, including laminitis in the left rear hoof and a recent abscess in the right rear hoof, proved too much for the gallant colt.

Barbaro battled in his ICU stall for eight months. The 4-year-old colt underwent several procedures and was fitted with fiberglass casts. He spent time in a sling to ease pressure on his legs, had pins inserted and was fitted at the end with an external brace. These were all extraordinary measures for a horse with such injuries.

Roy and Gretchen Jackson were with Barbaro on Monday morning, with the owners making the decision in consultation with chief surgeon Dr. Dean Richardson.

“I would say thank you for everything, and all your thoughts and prayers over the last eight months or so,” Jackson said to Barbaro’s fans.

On May 20, Barbaro was rushed to the New Bolton Center, about 30 miles from Philadelphia in Kennett Square, hours after shattering his right hind leg just a few strides into the Preakness Stakes. The bay colt underwent a five-hour operation that fused two joints, recovering from an injury most horses never survive. But Barbaro never regained his natural gait.

He suffered a significant setback over the weekend, and surgery was required to insert two steel pins in a bone — one of three shattered in the Preakness but now healthy — to eliminate all weight bearing on the ailing right rear foot.

The procedure Saturday was a risky one, because it transferred more weight to the leg while the foot rests on the ground bearing no weight.

The leg was on the mend until the abscess began causing discomfort last week. Until then, the major concern was Barbaro’s left rear leg, which developed laminitis in July, and 80 percent of the hoof was removed.

Richardson said Monday morning that Barbaro did not have a good night.

I believe Barbaro is the first former Triple Crown race winner in modern history to be euthanized due to race related injuries.

Barbaro’s death is sad but not unexpected. I never thought the horse had much of a chance and was surprised to see him live as long as he did.

What I say next may sound harsh, but I bet the only sadness the horse’s owners feel are in not in regards to the tragic death Barbaro suffered but to the hit to their pocket books from the vet bills and lost of income from Barbaro’s future as a stud horse. I’ve been around the horse racing business for a good chunk of my life. These animals are considered PROPERTY not pets to almost all those involved in the sport.

Note- I corrected my Triple Crown reference.

Cross Posted at OTB Sports