Kentucky Derby favorite Journalism facing his | College News

Aron Wellman is aware of a factor or two about horse racing. He gave up a profitable apply as a litigator to comply with this loopy dream of working a racing partnership, the place there are no negotiated settlements and your probabilities of dropping are a lot better on the observe than in a courtroom.

He shaped a partnership group referred to as Eclipse, identical to the awards given out for the best horses within the nation. In reality Eclipse has an Eclipse, successful the 2022 3-year-old filly division with Nest. Eclipse additionally received the 2017 Belmont Stakes with Tapwrit and has had some moderately good showings within the Kentucky Derby.

But this yr is completely different. Very completely different.

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, which is managed by Wellman, is entrance and heart within the street to the Kentucky Derby with a standout colt named Journalism. The son of Curlin is the long run guide chief at 4-1, with betting within the ultimate Derby advance pool set to close Saturday at 1 p.m. PDT.

Before he travels to Churchill Downs, nonetheless, he should show himself again Saturday when he runs in a small however proficient discipline within the Grade 1 $500,000 Santa Anita Derby.

Journalism doesn’t must win, and even end second, within the five-horse discipline as he already has 47.5 factors after wins within the Los Alamitos Futurity and San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita. Even ending final in Saturday’s race will convey him more factors, most assuredly gaining him a spot within the Derby beginning gate. Although if he runs poorly, it would make Wellman and coach Michael McCarthy rethink a journey to Louisville.

“This is a Grade 1 that carries with it a lot of importance and it would be a huge feather in Journalism’s cap to add it to his resume,” Wellman stated this week. “So we are going out there on Saturday with every intention of him competing to the fullest extent of his abilities. We have an enormous amount of respect for Citizen Bull. He’s the champion. So until somebody knocks him off his throne, he’s the champ.”

Citizen Bull received the Eclipse Award as best 2-year-old male final yr for coach Bob Baffert after successful the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in November. Citizen Bull received the Robert Lewis Stakes on Feb. 1 and is the 9-5 second selection on the morning line behind Journalism at 6-5. Also within the Santa Anita Derby is Barnes, named after Baffert’s longtime assistant Jimmy Barnes, who’s 3-1. Unlike Journalism and Citizen Bull, Barnes, a $3.2-million buy, wants a good end to get enough factors to make the Kentucky Derby beginning gate.

“The analogy that I’ve used this entire season is that these are all battles building up to the war and the war, of course, is the Kentucky Derby,” the 47-year-old Wellman stated. “So, dating back to his 2-year-old season, he ran three times in seven weeks. He sprinted to get education, got a lot of dirt in his face first time out and came running to be third [in a maiden special at Santa Anita]. We knew [six furlongs] was going to be too short for him. Then he came back in three weeks and won going two turns at Del Mar and we came back in a month’s time and won the Los Alamitos Futurity, a Grade 2 to cap off this season.

“Then we started the year in the San Felipe, off a little bit longer layoff than we had really hoped for to start his 3-year-old campaign. But he certainly rose to the occasion and stamped himself as a true Classic prospect right there. He’s just a very intelligent, manageable, smart, ratable kind of horse that will do anything his rider tells him to do. He and [jockey] Umberto Rispoli have a great war with one another. Umberto has been part of his development from the beginning, along with, of course, trainer Mike McCarthy.”

Partnerships in racing just isn’t new. The exorbitant price of shopping for a well-bred racehorse just isn’t for the faint of pockets. Perhaps probably the most profitable possession group was put collectively by Tom Ryan, who represents SF Racing and consists of Madaket Stables (Sol Kumin), Stonestreet Stables (Barbara Banke) and others. The group swimming pools its appreciable property and lets Baffert buy horses that may win the Derby. Citizen Bull is one of these horses.

“When we decided to bring Journalism to Southern California it was with the knowledge that we were going to have to take on the Baffert behemoths. We did it in the Los Alamitos Futurity. We did it in the San Felipe, and now the waters are going to get just that much deeper having to face both Citizen Bull and Barnes, a two-headed monster from the Baffert stable on Saturday,” Wellman stated.

“It’s not like we stole him for $825,000, which is a ton of money. But thankfully he’s made himself worth that and then even multiples more.

“We have a ballpark for what we are willing to pay for horses that are on what we call our short list. It’s usually a ballpark, but in an environment like the Saratoga sale, you know that the major players in the sport are there with extremely deep pockets. So, you just have to be there so that if you feel as though there’s potential value at the bid then you go for it, and a lot of times you get blown out of the water and you got to move on to the next. You pick and choose your spots and we’ve taken a lot of pride over the years of being very selective.”

Journalism, with Umberto Rispoli aboard, wins the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita on March 1.

(Benoit Photo through the Associated Press)

Journalism has earned $338,880 and this week signed a breeding rights deal with Coolmore Farm to start on the conclusion of his racing profession.

Eclipse is the equity associate in Journalism, which additionally lists as house owners Bridlewood Farm (Joan and Leslie Malone), Don Alberto Stable, Elayne Stable 5 and Robert V. LaPenta.

Eclipse purchased 11 horses during what could be Journalism’s yearling crop. And it has two potential Kentucky Derby qualifiers in Journalism and Built, though it’s probably Built can be pointed to the shorter Pat Day Mile.

“At public options and buying horses in the private market, you’re going to be wrong way more than you’re going to be right,” Wellman stated. “It’s the ones that you’re right about that you hope make up for the duds that you’re going to encounter along the way.

“I actually can’t stand it when people congratulate me for buying a horse at sale or privately. All that means is you might be the only fool in the world that’s going to pay as much for that horse. I much prefer being congratulated after a horse won a race, not than when you’re signing a ticket at the sale.”

The industry consensus is that one of each 10 horses you buy can be a success, a phrase that Wellman says belongs in thick quotes.

“You could define success any number of ways,” Wellman stated. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that it translates into financial success in this crazy business. But the cardinal rule of one of my mentors, Cot Campbell, who was a pioneer of racing partnerships with Dogwood Stables, said that about one out of every 10 that you buy will be a success. And you just hope that that one makes up for the nine inevitable duds that you are going to encounter.

“To have two colts on the Kentucky Derby trail this deep into the season, with basically the season concluding this week and then a month leading up to the Derby, it’s a big feather in our cap. True to form, we’ve got a filly that’s qualified for the Kentucky Oaks with Fondly, who won the Virginia Oaks, and we’re going to run in the Kentucky Oaks.”

There is no doubt that Journalism is an odd identify for a horse in a sport that appears more suspicious of the media than embracing it.

“We believe that good horses should have good names,” stated Wellman, the previous sports activities editor of the Beverly Hills High School newspaper. “We’ve historically followed the Claiborne Farm way of naming horses, which tries to tie the name to the pedigree.

“He’s out of a mare called Mopotism, so we thought ending in an ‘ism’ was a way to go. So, we came up with Journalism. I’ve always been a huge fan of journalists and journalism.”