May 10, 2012

Doug O’Neill has had his share of notoriety following last Saturday’s Kentucky Derby (G1) triumph with Paul Reddam’s I’ll Have Another.

 

The Southern California-based conditioner has enjoyed the days following the milestone Derby score on May 5.

“It’s been incredible,” said O’Neill during an NTRA Triple Crown conference call on Thursday. “He came out of the Derby in fantastic shape. He galloped Thursday morning and I loved it. He will gallop up to the race.

“Like every sport, you have to stay injury free,” he added. “The horse’s appetite has remained strong. He’s sound. Fortunately, we haven’t had any hiccups. He looked fantastic out there today.”

O’Neill is enjoying the busy schedule and opportunities coming his way. Among them, he has accepted an invitation to throw out the first pitch of next Tuesday night’s game between the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.

“I’m having an absolute blast,” O’Neill told Maryland Jockey Club Publicity. “I did the Jim Rome Show. I did all these cool interviews. I was at the Lakers game the other night and they interviewed us, Mario and I. It’s been an absolute dream. Who knows if we’ll ever do this again? Hopefully, we’ll do this multiple times, but we’re soaking it all up and enjoying every moment of it.”

O’Neill arrived at Pimlico about 30 minutes before I’ll Have Another’s visit to the track on Thursday.As far as becoming the first horse since Florida-bred Affirmed in 1978 to win the Triple Crown, O’Neill remains optimistic that I’ll Have Another can maintain his current form.

“I know he has stamina. I know he has heart,” O’Neill said. “It’s just a matter of being lucky and staying healthy. I don’t see any reason why he can’t repeat the same form.”

Doug’s brother, Dennis, bought the Flower Alley colt out of the OBS April Sale last year for $35,000.

“It’s unbelievable,” O’Neill said. “Dennis is self-taught, but he has a really good eye for these two-year-olds in training sales. He ran this one by Paul. He runs a lot of them by Paul. Dennis had a lot of confidence in this colt. We’ve had a lot of success with these kinds of horses.”

O’Neill shipped I’ll Have Another just two days following his Derby victory.

“The thinking was to get to Baltimore as soon as we could,” he said, “and get him primed and ready for the Preakness. He’s a brilliant horse. We’re pumped and excited about the Preakness.”

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May 6, 2012

“I’m going to Disneyland,” is the phrase most often associated with the star of a major sporting event shortly after a glorious triumph in the spotlight.

 

Saturday, following the 138^th running of the Kentucky Derby, trainer Doug O’Neill mentioned something about a hot tub to the national television audience watching on NBC. Before the second leg of the Triple Crown takes place at Pimlico in Maryland in two weeks, it seems O’Neill has some pressing business to attend to at home in California.

“When we started talking about the Derby, I told the kids (son Daniel and daughter Kaylin Dixie) that we would get a hot tub if we won the Derby,” O’Neill said. “We are going to have to do some shopping now.”

In all seriousness, O’Neill reported I’ll Have Another is in fine fettle in Barn 3 on Sunday morning, the day after his historical win. He became the first horse in history to win the Derby from post position No. 19.

“The highest of the highs,” O’Neill said. “He looks great this morning and a key thing is he ate up last night after the race.”

I’ll Have Another heads to Pimlico as the latest horse in a position to become the first Triple Crown winner since Florida-bred Affirmed in 1978.

“I get goose bumps just thinking about it,” O’Neill said. “I think he is the kind of horse who can maintain his form and keep it going.”

Also making the trip to Pimlico with I’ll Have Another is Lava Man, the 11-year-old earner of more than $5.2 million, who ponied the Derby winner during his Churchill Downs stay.

“He has taken three horses to the post,” O’Neill said of Lava Man. “They won the Santa Anita Derby, the Kentucky Derby and a horse I ran here Friday, Unex Dali (GB), who ran second on Friday but thinks he won. Lava Man makes a pretty good caddie.”

With a quick turnaround in the Preakness for his Kentucky Derby hero, O’Neill is likely to be busy in the coming days. He may have to save the rest and relaxation of the hot tub until after the Triple Crown.

–Churchill Downs Communications contributed to this report.

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Apr 13, 2012

Trainer Doug O’Neill is no stranger to winning big races. But the California conditioner is still excited a week after his charge I’ll Have Another won the Santa Anita Derby (G1).

 

“What an unbelievable race,” O’Neill said this week on the Pass the Buck Radio Show. “We were confident going into the race but you never know until they run them. He showed up the way he had been training in the mornings. I’m still on Cloud Nine.”

Owned by J. Paul Reddam’s Reddam Racing, I’ll Have Another won the Santa Anita Derby in front of a large home crowd. According to O’Neill, Reddam extended an invitation to more than 1,000 employees at his company, CashCall, to attend the races and cheer on I’ll Have Another.

“The fan part of Paul wanted everyone he knew to come out to the races and root for I’ll Have Another,” O’Neill related. “Four hundred people took him up on it. He arranged a party bus with an open bar for transportation and gave them all $25 betting vouchers. So, basically a lot of the people that work their butts off for him were there arm and arm with him. I can’t say enough about the Reddams. They’re great friends and great people to be involved with.

“We enjoy the heck out of this business,” he added. “It’s a great, great sport.”

O’Neill plans to ship I’ll Have Another, a graduate of the OBS April sale, to Louisville on April 28 for the Kentucky Derby on May 5.'

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February 08, 2012

If trainer Doug O’Neill had had his way, I’ll Have Another would have made his first start in five months in an allowance race.

Instead, he may have a horse for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum Brands (G1) after J. Paul Reddam’s chestnut Flower Alley colt captured the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G2) on Saturday at Santa Anita Park at odds of 43.30-to-1.

It was Reddam that, when he heard O’Neill and his brother Dennis talking about the allowance race, let them know that their sights were not set nearly high enough.

“He’d had a slight injury in his previous race in September, and we just thought that we’d take the conservative route and maybe get him in a one-turn race to try to ease him back into things,” O’Neill said. “Paul wanted none of that. He reminded us how special we thought this colt was and that if we had any real thoughts of the first Saturday in May, we’d better toss him into the deep end to see if he could swim.”

Instead of the low-profile allowance race, I’ll Have Another was entered in the 1 1/16-mile Robert B. Lewis Stakes—an early but important West Coast prep for the 1¼-mile Kentucky Derby—and swim he did.

I’ll Have Another, who had not started since finishing sixth of ten in the Three Chimneys Hopeful Stakes (G1) on September 5 at Saratoga Race Course, tracked pacesetter Isn’t He Clever from second through six furlongs under jockey Mario Gutierrez before storming past that opponent nearing the stretch to take command en route to a 2 ¾-length victory that paid $88.60 for a $2 win bet.

“Awesome is the only way to describe it,” O’Neill said with a chuckle. “We’ve always been high on this colt, but I’d be lying if I said we thought he was going to come back after five months in his first start at two turns and run like that.

“Realistically, we wanted to see a real-solid effort and for him to be competitive. If he could hit the board, we’d have something to build upon. He hit the board all right, and [Reddam] deserves a lot of the credit for that.”

The O’Neills and Reddam, a one-time college professor who founded the quick-loan company CashCall Inc., had several reasons to be high on I’ll Have Another early in his development as he won his career debut by 1¾ lengths in July at Hollywood Park and then finished second to highly regarded Creative Cause in the Best Pal Stakes (G2) in August at Del Mar.

They decided to throw out the result of the Hopeful when he came back with the injury and, with Reddam’s input, put him on a probable path toward Churchill Downs.

“Paul is just ultra-competitive, and he likes to play at the top end of the game whenever possible,” O’Neill said. “He works his butt off every day and likes to be aggressive when he can be, and this time it could not have worked out any better. He has put so much money and enthusiasm into the game and is just so great for the sport.”

O’Neill said he has been impressed with the way I’ll Have Another has matured in such a short period of time.

“He’s got a good body and an even better mind,” O’Neill said. “He’s got a long, fluid stride—as trainers, we’re not always blessed to have many of those—with good acceleration. And he’s built like a two-turn horse, which always helps with horses this young.

“He handled everything so beautifully [in the Robert B. Lewis]. It was a big crowd and a pretty festive atmosphere—a really good environment for racing—and he didn’t turn a hair in the paddock or in the [starting] gate. He was as professional and composed as he could be.”

O’Neill said I’ll Have Another probably will make one more start in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) on April 7 before a final decision is made on the Kentucky Derby.

“He came out in great shape, knock on wood, and he handled himself so well that we just don’t think there’s any need for multiple races,” he said. “We think he’ll handle himself fine.”

O’Neill hopes to handle himself just as well if I’ll Have Another does earn a spot in the first classic race of the season. In his last—and only—trip to the Derby, O’Neill saddled a pair of Reddam horses, Great Hunter and Liquidity, to 13th and 14th-place finishes, respectively.

“I think we all—I know I did—kind of got caught up in the whole feeling that we’d made it. We’d gotten two horses to the Derby and, in a sense, that was good enough,” O’Neill recalled. “I was really conservative with the horses training up to the race and don’t think I had them prepared as well as they could have been.

“I told Mr. Reddam that the next time it would be different. I think I’ll be better equipped to handle the whole ordeal this time around after being there, and I know I’d be much more aggressive in the way I got the horse fit, both mentally and physically, to run to the best of its ability. It would be really great to get that chance.”

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Martin Gardner, David Kenney and Michael Vielle's Willyconker settled for second behind Mr. Commons in the Grade 2 Arcadia on February 4, but the reformed claimer upstaged the heavy 4-5 favorite in their rematch in Saturday's Grade 1, $300,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita. Claimed by trainer Doug O'Neill for $40,000 at Del Mar last August, the 10-1 shot bested Mr. Commons by a neck to earn his first career stakes victory, and returned $23.20, $6 and $3.60. Unlike the Arcadia, where Willyconker rallied too late, the Irish-bred gelding enjoyed a better tactical position for new rider Joel Rosario. Jimmy Simms carved out splits of :23, :46 4/5 and 1:10 3/5, with Compari in close attendance, and Willyconker well placed in third. Jeranimo was anchored in midpack, but Mr. Commons was unhurried near the tail of the field. As Compari forged his way to the front in the stretch, Willyconker went after him, and wider out, Mr. Commons and Jeranimo were also set down for the drive. Ironically, unlike his recent scrapes with traffic trouble, Mr. Commons had clear sailing, but couldn't capitalize. Willyconker found the best turn of foot to overtake Compari. Although Mr. Commons was finally galvanized, and began to inch closer, he could not pass the resolute Willyconker. The upset winner stopped the teletimer in 1:33 4/5 on the firm turf.

"What a great ride -- that's why you use a guy like Rosario," O'Neill enthused. "He just had him in a perfect spot and then as soon as they turned for home, he got in the right line and just got it done."

"The race set up perfect for me today," Rosario said. "I just tried to lay in behind the speed, save ground and make one run with him. He tried hard today to beat Mr. Commons and ran a really good race today. I was very happy to turn the tables on Mr. Commons today; my horse gave everything he had. I just tried to run my race and see how far I could go."

Jockey Mike Smith believed that Mr. Commons ran well, but not quite up to his best.

"He ran great -- I had an eighth of a mile to get by him, and I didn't do it," Smith said. "That's pretty much what it is. He was a bit dull on his punch. He's got a quicker turn of foot than that. He accelerated really well for about three jumps, and then he kind of hung at that point, kind of idled.

"I reached back and encouraged him a time or two with the stick, and that didn't seem to help. He kind of pinned his ears back, and I went to a hand ride, using the reins. But the winner never folded. They went a mile in 33, so I can't complain. It was a good race. We'll just have to come back and see if we can get them next time." Another length back in third came Compari, who held off Jeranimo by a half-length. Jimmy Simms retreated to fifth, trailed by Massone, Mega Heat and Make Music for Me. Willyconker's coup has doubled his bankroll to $363,106 from his 20-7-4-1 line. First based in his native Ireland, the son of Pyrus captured two handicaps over the Polytrack at Dundalk before coming to Southern California. Willyconker's debut for Eoin Harty resulted in an eighth in the 2010 Harry Henson, and he soon found himself descending into claiming company. He won at the $32,000 level at Del Mar, stepped up to $40,000, and was haltered by O'Neill out of a second-place effort.

Seventh in his debut for the barn at the same level, Willyconker dropped down to the $25,000 level and got back on the winning track at Santa Anita -- over the same course and distance as the Kilroe. Now ready for a class hike, he scored for a $40,000 tag at Hollywood Park, and romped in a $62,500 optional claimer. Willyconker hooked a stakes-quality field in an $80,000 optional claimer January 5 back at Santa Anita, where he was not eligible to be claimed, and finished a solid second to Compari. That punched his ticket to the Arcadia for his graded debut.

Bred by Islanmore Stud in Ireland, Willyconker was produced by the Trempolino mare Arme Fatale. This is the family of Mill Native, the Grade 1 Arlington Million hero of 1988; multiple Group 3 victor and classic-placed French Stress; Italian Group 1 winner Terreno; English highweight older miler First Island; and German highweight older stayer Caudillo.

For the actual article visit, www.brisnet.com/cgi-bin/editorial/news/article.cgi

 

February 7, 2012

One of the most selective owners of racehorses, Harvey Clarke, is the breeder of I'll Have Another, the winner of the Grade 2 Robert Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday. Clarke raced four graded stakes winners in 2010 from seven starters: Soldat, Yankee Fortune, Eye of Taurus, and Krypton. Last year, his stable's star was Fountain of Youth Stakes winner Soldat, but Clarke bred and sold I'll Have Another.
 
Clearly a believer in quality over quantity, Clarke has “five broodmares in Kentucky and is co-owner of a sixth with Fred Seitz,” according to Steve Shahinian, who selects racing prospects for Clarke.Shahinian also is the man responsible for kicking I'll Have Another out of the stable. He said, “As a yearling, I considered him immature and weak behind, and I recommended selling him because I didn't think he'd improve enough.”
 
The chestnut son of Travers winner Flower Alley and the mare Arch's Gal Edith (by Arch) improved so much by the following April, however, that Shahinian put him back on the radar for Clarke at the Ocala Breeders' Sales April auction of 2-year-olds in training.
 
Shahinian said, “I liked the colt at the 2-year-old sales, and out of 1,200 horses, he still made my short list. I spoke to Harvey about him, told him that I might have made a mistake with this one, but at the end of the day, I made another one and let him slip off.”
 
In fairness, there weren't a lot of buyers with an itch for this colt. He sold for only $11,000 as a yearling, when most buyers agreed with Shahinian that he wasn't the “sales type” with the precocious development of mass that guarantees some speed. At the 2-year-old sales, the colt went a sharp furlong in :10.2 seconds, but even there he didn't catch too many eyes. He wasn't truly a 2-year-old sales type who wanted to sprint, even though he went fast.
 
Without Shahinian in the bidding on the colt for Clarke, the price for I'll Have Another was only $35,000, and the winning bidder was Dennis O'Neill, brother to trainer Doug O'Neill and agent for owner J. Paul Reddam. Dennis O'Neill said that I'll Have Another "trained like a really good horse, trained like a two-turn horse, from day one."??The Flower Alley colt won a sharp-looking maiden special last summer, then ran second to Creative Cause in the Best Pal, before finishing off the board in the Hopeful at Saratoga, where he reportedly came out of the race with sore shins.
 

The Lewis was his first start since, and I'll Have Another has made the transition from interesting prospect to major stakes winner very nicely. And despite his early perception of I'll Have Another, Shahinian was one of those least surprised that this colt's dam, Arch's Gal Edith, could produce a high-class racer.
 
Shahinian said, “Everyone, including trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, liked the mare. She was a really nice 2-year-old that we got at the OBS March sale for $80,000 but didn't get to the races early because she fractured a hock from kicking a stall wall. We gave her the time, she came back fine, and won a good maiden special at Belmont at 3. Then, she came up with a P1 chip in an ankle following a workout, we did surgery, and it didn't work out well. We had a high opinion of her as a racehorse and thought she'd make a good broodmare.”
 
Unbeaten in a single start, Arch's Gal Edith has made a good start as a producer. Shahinian said, “Her first foal [the Thunder Gulch gelding Those Wer the Days] had soundness issues but has ability, with four wins and a second in five starts [and earnings of $116,860]. The second foal was a Soto colt that I recommended to sell, and that was the right call. The third is I'll Have Another.”
 

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Copyright © 2011, Frank Mitchell

Frank Mitchell is author of Racehorse Breeding Theories, as well as the book Great Breeders and Their Methods: The Hancocks. In addition to writing the column “Sires and Dams” in Daily Racing Form for nearly 15 years, he has contributed articles to Thoroughbred Daily News, Thoroughbred Times, Thoroughbred Record, International Thoroughbred, and other major publications. In addition, Frank is a private consultant to breeders on pedigrees, matings, and conformation. He is a hands-on caretaker of his own broodmares and foals in central Kentucky.

Handsome Mike, who most recently finished a game second in the grassy Generous Stakes (gr.III) on Nov. 27, returns to the synthetic main track in his first start for the Reddams and O'Neill after being privately purchased earlier this month. The bay son of Scat Daddy will have jockey Corey Nakatani in the irons for the first time in the 1 1/16-mile feature and the pair will break from the innermost post position in the field of 13.

"He's the closest thing that I've had to a 2-year-old who is anything like Stevie Wonderboy," O'Neill said referring to his Eclipse Award-winning juvenile of 2005. "He acts like an older horse. He's beautiful, big-bodied, great minded, and is really a pleasure to have in the barn.

"He has a lot of natural speed, so I'm not really concerned (about the draw.) He was pushed early on in his last race and finished strong, so I'm okay with the post. Corey is a big-time rider with ice in his veins and matches up well with most horses, but especially this one and will only help with the extra strength for the finish."

Basmati, fresh off a impressive runner-up finish in the $1 million Delta Jackpot Stakes (gr.III) on Nov. 19, will break from the outside post 12 in the 13-runner field and completes the O'Neill bookends for the race. The chestnut son of Borrego will have jockey Hector Berrios in the saddle for the first time on Saturday.

"(Basmati) has enough natural speed to not get caught six- or seven-wide," O'Neill said. "His last race was exceptional and with a lucky trip he should run well. I'm excited to use Hector; he's a good jockey, a Bejarano-ish type rider who has good hands and the horses respond well to him, especially late in the race. This will match-up well at the end (of the race) with the confidence Basmati has."

O'Neill finds Saturday's feature the perfect spot for Basmati, as the colt has already banked $278,800 with one win and three seconds from seven career starts, and O'Neill intends a carefully planned-out sophomore campaign for Basmati with no extra pressure to gain the graded stakes earnings necessary to make the gate for the Run for the Roses.

O'Neill, who currently ranks third in the Hollywood Park trainer standings, was last year's third-leading trainer at Santa Anita's winter-spring meeting and with a loyal crew of owners and a promising stable full of top runners, the conditioner expects an even better finish to the upcoming meeting, which gets underway on the day after Christmas.

W.C Racing, Westside Rentals.com and Russ Sarno's stakes winner Luckarack will get the acid test in the Malibu Stakes (g.I), the Great Race Place's opening-day feature. The California-bred son of Lucky Pulpit, who won the Jim Kostoff Stakes at Fairplex Park in September, most recently annexed a six-furlong $40,000 claiming event at Hollywood Park by 3 3/4 lengths.

"He's in great form and he recently ran a dynamite race," O'Neill said. "We know it's a big jump in class, but this is his 'Breeders' Cup' and he'll be running against his own age group." Mark Gorman, Sterling Stables & Neil Haymes' Thirtyfirststreet will also be in action on opening day to contest the $150,000 Sir Beaufort Stakes (gr.II) at a mile over the turf course.

"He's proven on all surfaces," O'Neill said. "And he's shown his class and quality throughout the year. This is a logical spot for Thirtyfirststreet."

The last runner from the O'Neill barn to make a stakes appearance on opening day is Mark Gorman's Motown Men, most recently a game fourth in the Nov. 27 Generous Stakes. O'Neill said the colt will be reunited with Rafael Bejarano, who was in the irons when the juvenile captured his maiden victory in his very first start at Del Mar Sept. 5.

"I'm very optimistic about this horse," O'Neill said. "He's a hard-knocking type and I'm especially confident with Bejarano back aboard. He's made no mistakes in the morning and his competition better bring their 'A' game if they want to beat him."

With a barn full of seasoned veterans and promising future stars, O'Neill has singled out one runner in particular who he expects big things from in the New Year. George Bolton's Fit to Rule, a juvenile son of Hard Spun and The Prime Minister mare Sweet Minister, who has posted one third from two career starts, is back under O'Neill's shedrow and beginning his preparations for a top-notch sophomore campaign.

"He looks like new money," O'Neill said. "We gave him some time, and he's grown up and matured even better than we could have expected; he's impressed us all. We're going to take our time with him (and) let him tell us when he's ready to run again, but so far he's shown us he is absolutely the real deal and we expect we'll have a lot of fun with him in 2012. The sky could be the limit with a colt like this."

 

November 17, 2011     

 

Zillah Reddam’s Basmati makes his return to stakes action for trainer Doug O'Neill on Saturday, as the 2-year-old son of Borrego will face a field of nine rivals in the $1 million Delta Jackpot Stakes (gr. III) at Delta Downs near Vinton, Louisiana. The chestnut colt drew post position four and was made the morning line's co-fourth choice at 8-1.The $600,000 winner’s share of the Delta Jackpot purse virtually guarantees any hopeful for next year’s Kentucky Derby (g. I) a spot in the starting gate under the Twin Spires on the first Saturday in May.  

 

Basmati, who broke his maiden by 2 ½ lengths at Santa Anita on October 28, will be ridden by jockey Corey Nakatani in the 1 1/16-mile event. The now Kentucky-based jockey has maintained a longtime friendship with both O’Neill and the Reddam family over the years, which is why he was a logical choice to ride Basmati in the Delta Jackpot.

 

 “(Basmati) has been training wonderfully, full of energy,” O'Neill said. “After his ultra-competitive race this summer in the Del Mar Futurity (where he finished fifth, beaten just 1 ½ lengths) we decided that the Norfolk (at Santa Anita October 1) would be his next stop and he ran a really credible fourth behind top juvenile prospects, including the very talented Creative Cause.  

 

“The Reddams and I decided together that we would enter him into a maiden race to get that first win under his belt and with the win, the decision was made to focus on his preparation for the Jackpot. We’re thrilled to be teaming with Corey again, too. We expect a top effort.”  

 

Also on Saturday, O'Neill will tighten the girth on Matto Mondo for the $125,000 Delta Mile on the Jackpot undercard. The 7-year-old Chilean-bred gelding will be piloted by top local jockey Diego Saenz in the field of eight 3-year-olds and up. Matto Mondo, who won the 2009 Thunder Road Handicap (gr. III) at Santa Anita and was haltered by O’Neill for $62,500 from the stable of Richard Mandella in late September, most recently finished second, beaten a head bob, in a tough allowance at Santa Anita on Oct. 21.  

 

“He ran huge on the dirt the last time out,” O'Neill said. “With a purse of $125,000, the owner and I felt the Delta Mile was a great opportunity for him. Matto Mondo has been training great; he's big hearted beautiful son-of-a-gun.”  

 

Doug O'Neill is expected to arrive in Louisiana on Saturday morning.

 

 

 

Among the 11 winners at Fairplex were California Nectar in the Beverly J. Lewis Stakes, Luckarack in the Jim Kostoff Stakes and Runstevierun in the C.B Afflerbaugh Stakes. All three runners are headed into return appearances in stakes company this month. California Nectar has already departed for the Big Fresno Fair, where she will contest Saturday's Harvest Stakes, a $50,000 six-furlong test for fillies and mares, while Runstevierun will line up and face the starter in the $75,000 Charlie Palmer Futurity on Oct. 16.

Grade 1 winner Square Eddie, who owns the track record at Santa Anita for 6 1/2 furlongs when he stopped the clock in 1:13.11 this past January, is set to run in the Ancient Title Stakes (gr. 1) on Saturday. The six-furlong main track event is a Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" race and while a victory would guarantee a trip to Racing's Championship Day at Churchill Downs on Nov. 5, a top performance would also cement a spot for J. Paul Reddam's chestnut son of Smart Strike in the gate for the $1.5 million event.

Additionally, stakes-placed Streakin' Mohican, the fourth-place finisher in the Turf Monster Stakes (gr. 3) at Parx, has a date in the 5 1/2-furlong grassy Woodford Stakes (gr. 3) on Saturday, October 8.

"It's going to be a busy weekend for Team O'Neill for sure," the trainer said. "We're very pleased with how they're all doing so, fingers crossed, they'll all show what I know they're capable of. Streakin' Mohican was beaten just three-quarters of a a length (in the Turf Monster) and has been training exceptionally well since. He's a great shipper and I think he earned his shot to run at Keeneland. So we'll see."

O'Neill also reluctantly said goodbye to a barn favorite in September, grade 2 winner Enriched. The half-brother to millionaire and California champion Lava Man is transitioning into a new career as a riding horse, thanks to co-owner Josh Kaplan and his wife.

"Running him in a claiming race was never an option," O'Neill said. "He just lost a step or two, so we all agreed that it was time to retire him. We'll all miss him, but it was a pleasure to have had him and trained him and I know he'll have an amazing life."

September 27, 2011

  Trainer Doug O'Neill won his third consecutive training title -- and eighth in the last 10 years -- at the recently concluded Fairplex Park meeting, saddling 11 winners overall, with seven seconds and seven thirds for earnings of $224,960. The 43-year-old conditioner also moved into second on the all-time Fairplex victory list with 152 wins, passing veterans Jerry Fanning (148) and Ted West (141) and trailing only Mel Stute, who has 188 winners over his career at the Pomona, CA, oval.

"What an honor to pass (Ted West and Jerry Fanning)," O'Neill said. "I love racing at Fairplex! It's a great track with a ton of classic history, both (grade 1 winners) Sky Jack and Lava Man won there for us before going on to bigger wins in their careers.

"This is a total team effort. I'm very proud of Team O'Neill and none of it would be possible without them, and the support of my amazing owners."

O'Neill started 44 horses overall at Fairplex and returned to the winner's circle at a 25 percent clip, and also annexed the bulk of the stakes races during the meet with three runners -- California Nectar in the Beverly J. Lewis Stakes, Luckarack in the Jim Kostoff Stakes and Runstevierun in the C.B Afflerbaugh Stakes. Currently O'Neill ranks 22nd in the nation in number of victories heading into Santa Anita's fall meeting, which gets underway on Friday, Sept. 30.

"The start of the Santa Anita fall meet means the Breeders' Cup is right around the corner," O'Neill said, "with Square Eddie (a likely Breeders' Cup Sprint candidate) leading the way we hope for a safe and successful meet."

Read more on BloodHorse.com: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/69655/oneill-makes-a-wish-come-true#ixzz1vnrOEBwh

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Meet Team O'Neill.

A group of 6 men who have ridden into Baltimore on a mission.

They came here from Southern California via Louisville.


While they will all have different responsibilities during their stay in Baltimore, their goal is common.....to work together to help Kentucky Derby-winner I'll Have Another be all he can be on the 3rd Saturday in May.


An assistant trainer, an equine therapist, an exercise rider, grooms and hot walkers who have set-up shop in the northwest corner of Stakes Barn D at Pimlico.


The Doug O'Neill trained chestnut colt is the first Kentucky Derby winner in more than a decade to ship into Pimlico within a week of the race in Louisville.


Since O’Neill is based in California and he does not have a division stabled in Kentucky, he decided to send his Derby winner straight to Baltimore and give him plenty of time to adjust to a new track. A trip to Baltimore on a Tex Sutton charter that did not inlcude the 43-yr-old trainer who instead returned to SoCal to care of business in his stable at Santa Anita before focusing all of his attention on getting I'll Have Another first to the finish line in the Preakness.


To that end, O'Neill deputized assistant trainer Jack Sisterson (above) to supervise I’ll Have Another’s trip to Baltimore and the horse's first three days at Old Hilltop. And if you didn't know better, observers along the backstretch at Pimlico would think the 27-year-old native of Durham, England was a seasoned Triple Crown winning trainer as he orchestrated the efforts of his crew at Barn D.


And what a job the former Equine Administration major in the business school at the University of Louisville has done leading Team O'Neill. But standing in front of the 17 Stall 17 that I'll Have Another calls home ahead of the Preakness, Sisterson made it very clear that it's a team effort when it comes to catering to all of I'll Have Another needs.


"I'm sure if you go home and look up in the dictionary Team O'Neill it would be like one big happy family," said former assistant to Todd Pletcher and Eddie Kenneally.


He says working for Doug O'Neill is "brilliant" and taking O'Neill's lead, he and his colleagues do everything as a team.


In fact, while most assistant trainers, excersize riders and grooms go their separate ways when they leave the track, Team O'Neill is sharing a house they have rented here in Baltimore.

Team O'Neill even all made the long walk together from the backstretch to the track at Pimlico to see their horse jog for the first time since winning the Derby.



Exercise rider Johnny Garcia Garcia moved from Mexico to California nine years ago and has been a member of Team O'Neill for five years now.


He has been aboard I'll Have Another daily since the colt arrived at O'Neill's barn at Santa Anita last year. And while most mornings, he rides 10 to 12 horses, during his 12 day stay in Baltimore one horse, I'll Have Another, will have all his attention.


And how about Team O'Neill's Tyler Cerin. He's a horse therapist.


A horse therapist, how cool is that?

It's a 12 hour a day job for the 6-man crew of Team O'Neill in Baltimore right now as they leave no stone unturned as they cater to all of I'll Have Another Needs at Stake Barn D.


For more than a decade now Team O'Neill patriarch Doug O'Neill has been considered one of the top trainers on the West Coast running his stable out of Santa Anita.


And all you have to do is check out the job Team O'Neill is doing right now along the backstretch at Pimlico preparing I'll Have Another for the Preakness and you'll see why Doug O'Neill's crew is the only team in the racing bussiness who still has a chance at a Triple Crown.

May 23, 2012

 

I’ll Have Another returned to the track for the first time since his victory in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes, jogging Belmont’s mile-and-a-half oval under exercise rider Hector Ramos.

The 3-year-old chestnut colt will try to become racing’s first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed swept the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes in 1978.

“I think it hasn’t quite sunk in, the position that we’re in,” said Jack Sisterson, assistant to trainer Doug O’Neill. “We go out to dinner and lunch, and we always pull out our phones and watch the replays. It sends shivers down our spines. It's just super.”

O’Neill is expected to arrive at Belmont Park from his Hollywood Park base this weekend.

Rosie Napravnik picked up a Belmont Stakes mount when she was named to ride longshot Five Sixteen in the June 9 race. Julie Krone remains the lone female jockey to ever win a Triple Crown race when she took the 1993 Belmont aboard Colonial Affair. Earlier this year, Napravnik became the first female jockey to win the Kentucky Oaks, aboard Believe You Can. Napravnik became available after the connections of Peter Pan Stakes winner Mark Valeski decided to pass the Belmont.

Hall of Fame jockeys Steve Cauthen and Jorge Velasquez will be at Belmont on Saturday to autograph postcards commemorating their rivalry aboard Affirmed and Alydar in the 1978 Triple Crown. The postcards will be given away free with paid admission, while the autograph will cost you $5, with all proceeds going to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys’ Fund.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more-sports/returns-track-time-saturday-preakness-stakes-win-article-1.1083510#ixzz1vtejXgFq