Between June 20 and July 19, four South Carolina training center graduates won Stakes races.

Book’em Danno continued his fantastic 2024 campaign winning the Jersey Shore Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 19. Book’em Danno, a graduate of the Rentz Farm Training Center, dropped a half dozen lengths off the lead early on before flying down the stretch getting up at the wire to win by a nose! He has now won 5 Stakes in only 8 career starts consisting of 6 wins and 2 second place finishes. His career earnings have climbed to $910,624.

On June 21, L’Imperator became a Grade 1 Stakes winner capturing the Beverly R. Steinman Hurdle Handicap at Aqueduct. L’Imperator, trained by Arch Kingsley, raced mid-pack, jumping well, before gaining the lead in the stretch and proving best winning by 2 lengths. L’Imperator is a Graded Stakes winner on both the flat and over jumps. During his career, he has 10 wins, a second and 8 third place finishes earning $635,779.

Vodka With a Twist is a two time winner at Churchill Downs as a 2-year-old. She broke her maiden on May 17 and won the Debutant Stakes on June 30. Vodka With a Twist quickly went to the front, comfortably dictated the pace and would not let anyone really threaten her in the stretch crossing the finish line 3 lengths in front. Vodka With a Twist was developed for her racing career by Bobby and Jason McCutchen at their training center in Kingstree, SC. This filly ran and won her second start with SCTOBA Vice-President Debby McCutchen being listed as owner. The filly was then sold in a private transaction before the Debutant.

Little J P, a graduate of Randy and Kala’s Rentz Farm Training Center breaking program, broke on top and never looked back in the Sprint Series Leg One Stakes at Grand Prairie on July 13 winning by a neck. This 4-year-old gelding has won 4 of his last 5 starts.

Dam of Classic Winners Has SC Connection

Puca, by Big Brown out of Boat’s Ghost, is the dam of Classic winners Mage and Dornach. As a yearling, Puca was prepared for her racing career at Franklin “Goree” Smith’s Elloree Training Center. As a racehorse, Puca recorded 4 wins, 2 seconds and a 3rd place finish earning $299,406. She won the Steve Pini Memorial Stakes at Suffolk Downs in 2017.

Puca’s sons, 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage and 2024 Belmont Stakes winner Dornach are full brothers, both being by Good Magic. Mage accumulated earnings of $2,507,450. Dornach, also the winner of the Blue Grass Stakes-G1 and last month’s Haskell Stakes-G1, has career earnings of $2,352,275.

Puca’s 2024 foal is a full brother to these two.

Photo credit: Thoroughbred Daily News

Goree Smith To Be Honored

For the twelfth time in the past fourteen years, Goree Smith has earned the title as South Carolina’s leading breeder. Based at the Elloree Training Center, the Smith family has been a major player in the state of South Carolina’s breeding and racing scene since the 1940s.

The National Awards Luncheon to honor the winning breeders will be held on Friday, September 6, 2024 at the Thoroughbred Club of America, followed by the National Awards Dinner on Saturday, September 7, 2024 at Fasig-Tipton.

Dan Metzger, President of TOBA says, “TOBA is honored to recognize the outstanding achievements of the state breeders.”

Sadler Nominated for TEI Award

Your SCTOBA President and editor of this newsletter is honored as well as humbled to share this news announced by Aron Wellman, founder and President of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners:

“We have some very, very exciting news to share as Eclipse's V.P. of Operations, Jack Sadler, has been selected as a Top 3 Finalist for a Thoroughbred Industry Employee Award! Jack is a lifer in the thoroughbred horse racing industry, having cut his teeth on the backside of Mid-Atlantic racetracks in his younger days before transitioning to his multi-decade roll as Cot Campbell's right-hand man at Dogwood Stable before joining the Eclipse team in 2013 when Dogwood and Eclipse formed a historic merger. Jack was voted from a record number of nominees by an esteemed panel of judges as a Top 3 Finalist in the Managerial category and he and his devoted wife, Susan, will be flown out to Kentucky in October to be interviewed by the Committee before the official awards ceremony at Keeneland.“

Second Career Success

A common concern is what happens to a horse when their career as a racehorse comes to an end. Many are retrained for the show ring. We recently heard from Jennifer Helgren, the owner of Pipes, the last horse to campaign wearing the green and yellow silks of Cot Campbell’s Dogwood Stable.

“Pipes has been doing very well this year even though we haven't done much in the last couple of months.  BUT...we ARE heading to Lexington, KY at the end of the month to compete in the American Eventing Championships at the Novice level. He is certainly capable of much, much more but we qualified earlier this year and didn't feel the need to push him until after AEC. This will be his first experience in such an electric atmosphere since his racing days (fingers crossed he settles right in). If we can nail down a respectable dressage test, the jumping is nothing for him! 

The following week, he will be participating in the TIP Championships at Stable View (Aiken) again. After that, we intend to move him up to Training Level and see how far he can go.”

Welcome Aboard

We welcome aboard Kingstree,SC residents Hunter Holliday and Hampton Beard as new Thoroughbred racehorse owners. They purchased an interest in Bottoms Up and are now co-owners with Bobby McCutchen. Bottoms Up is a recent maiden two-year-old winner at Colonial Downs.

We are always happy to hear about new owners in our state.

Debut Winners

Our South Carolina training centers saw several debut winners recently. On June 28,

Oncourtcommentator, developed for her racing career by Donna Freyer, won at Laurel Park.

Sweet Anniversary, a product of Randy and Kala Rentz’s breaking program, has won her first two starts. Victorious in her career debut on July 4 at Finger Lakes, she came back and won again at Finger Lakes on July 30. Rentz Farm also saw former student Tap That Magic win at Presque Isle Downs on July 9.

The Travis Durr Training Center has had two recent first time out winners. Howler proved best in her race at Monmouth Park on July 4 and Bellacose was a winner at Saratoga on July 17.

On July 11, Perfect Lady Bee, who learned her early lessons at the Elloree Training Center, proved best in her inaugural race at Woodbine.

It's that time!

Time to renew your membership to SCTOBA. Please renew to keep our organization strong.

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