One more reason why the Phipps family is good for racing
 

http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=36358

We need more owners making a commitment to try to breed sound horses to sound horses and try to identify those studs that ran on drugs (legal or otherwise) and not breed to them. Kudos to this family for their efforts.

I agree 100%. They exemplify old school excellence.

The last comment from him is interesting to me. He says they try to look for stallions that were more drug-free than others. Won't that lead him to breeding to more stallions that had really short careers on the track and thus were less proven as racehorses? I'm thinking that as a general rule, the longer u were on the track and the more u raced, the more chance that u were on some kind of drugs.

maybe...
but one could also argue that a more sound animal wouldn't need drugs to run...who know's really...but IMO steroids etc are not a great addition to the industry and if he can find horses that didn't receive them while racing (not sure that's possible) and that horse was any good at all...well since they breed to race and not to sell then he can afford to make that gamble and breed to said stud.

One of the reasons I have such respect for Mineshaft being trained by Howard who I have a lot of respect for as a clean guy.

I also respect the trainer and the horse. :)

I'm thrilled to see the Phipps story getting some play here. I just read it on Blood-horse... his operation personifies what we need more of in horse racing.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a nicer guy on the backside.

ohhhhhhh my!

travis great job at churchill...congrats..

I have nothing but the highest regard for the Phipps family and Shug.
I've seen how meticulous they've been with my own eyes.
I was outside the barn when Storm Flag Flying came back from her win at Toga and saw the care. I've seen winner after winner.
Shug's barn is the best. Hanging flower baskets, not a blade of grass out of place.
Total professionals in every sense. Even then, tragedies can happen.
I only know that they give their horses the very best of care, because they show their love.
Details make the picture.
I wish them the best in their continued excellence and contributions to the sport we also love.
DTS

Billionaires that like to race dont grow on trees.

Thank you. That one mile chute is a long ways out there!

Not to throw coldwater on the Phippsfest but many of the problems at NYRA came on Ol Dinny's watch. They do run a classy racing/breeding operation but the idea that a stallion that may be "less" drug free is better for the breed just ideological BS. It may sound rational but as I have said so many times before drugs and genetics are not interrelated. Nowdays a horse has to do so little on the track to be considered a stallion prospect. And what about unraced mares? Since many of them got hurt or were so slow and not raced as not to expose them, why do we breed them? Some of our best horses are out of unraced mares.

i suppose it's so difficult to find any completely free of drugs, he's doing the best he can with what he has to work with.
as for unraced, there are many reasons horses don't race. conformation issues, injuries, illness, or they're just plain too slow.
i remember reading a write up on a good broodmare, she dropped some nice runners, but her poor conformation was felt to be too much of a detriment to racing. a gamble as far as breeding her, but her foals all did fine.

Cannon,
Your last sentence is plenty true. Ask Mary Lou W if any of hers have ever seen the track. Not many.
Winners there? Yes.
As far as the Phipps and Shug, I've already said my piece.
DTS

yeah, i didn't put that i put that as a reason--fillies go right to the broodmare band, rather than racing first. some think, rightly or wrongly--depends on who you ask--that if a filly or mare puts out all she's got on the track, there won't be anything left in her to pass on....now, if you look at genuine risk, you would think that--but if you consider personal ensign, you wouldn't.

I just find the argument that its bad for the breed for the stallion to be "artificially enhanced" while the mare, who is 1/2 of the equation, can be a complete slowpoke silly.

Danzig,
I'm really not sure of the answer either. There are different ways of thinking.
As far as "drugs" or being used up on the track, I don't think that's necessarily so. The drugs wear off after a few months. Racing doesn't have a lot to do with fertility...that's just my opinion.
As I said, different breeders have different views. Both of my mares raced.
Both won. And both made very nice babies.
You roll the dice, you take your chances.
DTS

Yeah, the grizzly bear is a good dude...need more horsemen like him.