Sloppy track at Churchhill Downs on Kentucky Derby will no longer carry bad memories for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. Orb took home the roses Saturday, May 5, easily defeating a field of 19 in the 139th Kentucky Derby.

Easy Goer tries to catch Sunday Silence in the stretch of the 1989 Kentucky Derby.

There will be four special guests on Millionaire’s Row at the Kentucky Derby on Saturday to cheer on 12-1 Normandy Invasion as he takes on 18 other 3-year-olds in the 2013 run for the roses.

“We name a lot of horses after patriotic things. And when I went to Normandy in 1994, which was the 50th anniversary, we spent three days there. I was blown away by everything, and they were memories I’ll never forget,” said owner Rick Porter.
 
Porter, who is a veteran of the Korean War, invited four D-Day veterans to watch his bay Tapit colt. They are:

• Ray Woods, who was a was a Navy chief radar man on the U.S.S. O’Brien, which Woods said shelled the beach defenses, including after the beach landings to assist in the protection and evacuation of the wounded.
• Bill Wilch, 89, who was a private in the Army when he hit the beach in the Fox Green sector of Omaha Beach.
• J.J. Witmeyer Jr., 92, who was an infantry officer. “My job was to lead them ashore. I was in charge of a company of infantry men, Utah Beach,” he said. 
• Alan Reeves, 91, who in 1944, Reeves was involved in civil affairs with the Army and worked in Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Supreme Command. 

Normandy Invasion was fifth in the Grade II Risen Star but followed that with an impressive second to Verrazano in the Wood Memorial. He prefers to run hard late in the race and catch the leaders in the stretch. Jockey Javier Castellano chose to ride Normandy Invasion over Louisiana Derby winner Revolutionary Road.

Normandy Invasion’s training leading up to the Derby has been focused on making the colt a bit quicker earlier in the race. On Thursday, he ran off during training and had an unexpected fast workout just two days before the biggest race of his life. Whether that misstep and his inexperience (he’s only run twice this year with no wins) will hurt his chances is anyone’s guess. For those looking for a price, his 12-1 odds are favorable, but his great backstory is likely to garner him more fans and his price may not be as high by post time.

From left, Ray Woods, Rick Porter  (owner of Normandy Invasion) Ray Woods, Alan Reeves, J. J. Witmeyer, and Chad Brown, trainer of Normandy Invasion stand with the colt at Churchhill Downs on Friday.

New photos of Penn State’s twin quarter horse foals were recently released showing the two bays romping in a field around their dam, PSU Shadows Bonita.

Penn State reports that so far the mare is producing enough milk for both babies and they are growing well.

The smaller of the two foals is a colt and the larger is a filly.

For more photos of their romp outside, see below.

All photos courtesy Penn State.

Twenty horses are set to go in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs and Shug McGaughey’s colt, Orb, very well may be the Derby favorite come post time Saturday. Coming off a four-race win streak, the bay colt is taking to the track well with a strong workout on Monday that has many talking. 

Orb is bred to handle the 10-furlong trip. A grandson of A.P. Indy and Unbridled, he is undefeated around two turns. In both the Fountain of Youth Stakes and the Florida Derby, Orb ran his opposition down in the final furlong and won going away. He prefers to sit near the back of the pack and close in the stretch. But he has also shown that he’s able to sit closer to the leaders if there is a slow pace.

Orb has plenty of experience backing him up. He is owned by Stuart S. Janney III and the Phipps Stable, who have been among the bluest of the blue-bloods of American racing for almost a century. Mrs. Henry Carnegie Phipps raced Bold Ruler under the purple and gold colors of Wheatley Stable in the 1950s. Her son, Ogden Phipps, owned and raced Buckpasser during the following decade. Janney’s parents raced the great filly Ruffian.

For 28 years, the Phipps horses have been trained by Hall of Fame member, Shug McGaughey III.  He is no stranger to preparing some of racing’s superstars for big races, including Easy Goer and Personal Ensign. However neither McGaughey or the colt’s owners has ever won the Derby. Orb would be just the second Derby starter for McGaughey since he saddled Easy Goer to a runner-up finish behind Sunday Silence in 1989. His other horse, Awe Inspiring, finished third that year.

Orb is also impressing other trainers around the track.Bob Baffert, himself a Hall of Fame trainer and a three-time Derby winner, said, “I love the way Orb moves over the ground. He just floats. He looks the part.”

Orb will be ridden by Joel Rosario, 28. This is his fourth Derby mount, with his best finish being fourth on long shot Make Music for Me in 2010.

PSU Krymsun In Blue was the high seller at the Penn State Quarter Horse sale on April 27. 
 
Emily Smetanick Fennell bought the 2-year-old gelding for $5,500.  “We are so excited about him! We certainly weren’t planning on being high bidder, but he’s definitely worth it —  what a sweet guy!” said Fennell, who also said the showring would be in the gelding’s future.

The 15.3 hand sorrel gelding is by PSU Dynamic Krymsun and by MLF Rhapsody In Blue, a daughter of Sky’s Blue Boy. Last year, Rhapsody In Blue’s 2010 foal, PSU Shaded in Blue, by Image of Shadow, sold for $3,600.

Andrew Nicholson’s incredible eventer Quimbo is more than an incredible athlete, he’s a stunning gelding. The 10-year-old Spanish-bred is by far one of the best looking horses on course at Rolex. With big, kind eyes, a wide forehead, neat ears and a tapered nose, he immediately stands out during the inspection.

When Nicholson first rode Quimbo he said he thought his future may lie in show jumping, but the black gelding was quick to prove he is talented in all three eventing disciplines.Quimbo has been rising through the ranks in New Zealand where they have high hopes for the young gelding.

Six-time Olympian Andrew Nicholson of New Zealand is sitting in the top two spots at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event going into the final phase Sunday, April 28. He’s in first place on Quimbo (38.0 penalties) and in second place on Calico Joe (40.8).

Nicholson will have a one-rail margin of error Sunday over third place rider Buck Davidson (Florida) on Ballynoe Castle. 

If Nicholson wins in Kentucky on Sunday, the victory would put him two-thirds of the way to the $350,000 Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing. He won Burghley (England) last September. He would need to win at Badminton (England) next weekend to become the second rider to claim the prize.

Quimbo is considered to be a particularly good showjumper, so he may be in good shape to take a victory in Lexington on Sunday.

If you can’t attend the Penn State Quarter Horse Sale on Saturday, April 27, you can watch it live online. If you’d like to bid over the phone, contact Brian Egan to set up a bidder number at 814-863-0569.

Doors open at Snider arena at 8:30 a.m. with the sale horse demonstration at 10. Farm tours will be given at noon and the bidding begins at 2 p.m. A used tack and clothing sale will be held starting at 8:30 a.m.

Eleven 2-year-olds and five yearlings will be sold at the sale. View the catalog of sale horses including videos.    The reserve on 2-year-olds will be set at $1,500. Last year’s sale average was $3,300.

The Penn State breeding program features the AQHA stallion Dynamic Krymsun, who placed at the 2012 Congress (7th, Green Western Riding; 5th Limited, 6th Open Performance Halter Stallions) He has earned his Performance ROM with points in Western Pleasure and Western Riding and was the recipient of the 2011 PQHA Breeder Award and the Joyce Armstrong Memorial QIP Stallion Award. Point Earning producer in first foal crop including a finalist at the 2012 Quarter Horse Congress. See his Congress Western Riding run at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHigccd81y0.

The 15.2 hand bay stallion is by One Hot Krymsun and out of the Dynamic Deluxe mare, Dynamic Zippo. He was bred by Penn State with a donated breeding from One Hot Krymsun. Offspring in the sale by Dynamic Krymsun include:

• Lot No. 1: Krymsun in Blue: 15.3 hand 2011 sorrel gelding out of  MLF Rhapsody In Blue (Sky’s Blue Boy)
• Lot. No. 2: PSU Willy Be Krymsun: 15.2 hand 2011 red roan gelding by Willy Invite Her.
• Lot No. 7: Coby Zipped in Black: 14 hand yearling bay gelding, out of Zipped To A Te

The sale also includes several horses by the university’s reining-bred quarter horses. Willie Be Nimble, a 1994 chestnut stallion by The Jac Be Nimble, is the sire of Lot No. 11: PSU Smart N Nimble, a yearling gelding. Willie B Nimble was donated to the Penn State program after the university’s reining stallion, Kuel Minnick (Minnick Minder) died. Kuel Minnick is the sire of  four of the sale’s 2-year-olds.
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Also in the sale are offspring of Image of Shadow, Time to Score, Suddenly Secret and Genetically Loaded.

PSU Solid Investment

Lot No. 3: PSU Solid Investment is by reserve world champion Potential Investment out of Dynamic Krymsun’s dam, Dynamic Zippo.

PSU Shadows Bonita, a 7 year old AQHA mare, gave birth Saturday, April 20, to twin bay foals at Penn State. This was her second pregnancy. The foals, a colt and a filly, are by the university’s stallion PSU Dynamic Krymsun (One Hot Krymsun). Both are healthy and doing well.

While some view allowing twins to be born as poor breeding management, Brian Egan, an instructor in Equine Science and Penn State Horse Farm coordinator, said “PSU has been breeding Quarter Horses for over 50 years and have had two sets of twins during that time while foaling between 15 and 20 mares per year. What needs to be considered is the work that our farm management staff put into the last 6 weeks since the mare started to act like she was going into early labor. During this time, the mare was maintained in foal and now she has delivered two live, healthy foals just 7 days short of her due date.”

Penn State is holding its annual quarter horse sale Saturday, April 27, at the university’s Snider Ag Arena. Bidding begins at 2 p.m. Eleven 2-year-olds and five yearlings will be sold.