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Mom4Gloria.wiretowire

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Nov 1 15 4:56 PM

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From her twitter feed:

Waiting hear back from @mattessmack. Racing manager laura telling me she will be training after I argued with her this morning..


had fill and heat in an ankle this morning , laura wanted to send him to the track. Now she tells me I'm gone.


Just went from the best day of my life to the worst day of my life.


My heart is in a million pieces.


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Last Edited By: Mom4Gloria Jan 2 16 1:15 AM. Edited 2 times

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Mom4Gloria.wiretowire

Posts: 769 Member Since:03/08/15

#1 [url]

Nov 1 15 5:03 PM

also found this: http://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/horses/breeders/2015/11/01/argument-could-lead-to-new-trainer-for-breeders-cup-sprint-winner-runhappy/75012804/

Argument could lead to new trainer for Runhappy

635606578813434386-Jonathan-lintner.jpg Jonathan Lintner, @JonathanLintner5:57 p.m. EST November 1, 2015

Maria Borell, just the sixth trainer to saddle a Breeders' Cup winner, took to Twitter a day after her Runhappy won the $1.5 million Sprint saying Sunday "went from the best day of my life to the worst day of my life."

Borell posted to the social media site that she has been replaced as trainer of the champion 3-year-old, who outlasted Private Zone in the six-furlong race at Keeneland.

Borell said a racing manager for owner Jim McIngvale, the noted Gallery Furniture founder, wanted to send Runhappy out for training this morning even with filling and heat in one of his ankles.

When Borell argued with the manager, former Runhappy trainer Laura Wohlers, she Borell was informed she's "gone," per a tweet.

"My heart is in a million pieces," Borell added.

Runhappy, who came to the 32-year-old trainer's care in April, has been unbeatable since. He crushed fields at Indiana Grand and Ellis Park before roaring to a win in the Grade I King's Bishop at Saratoga, then Keeneland's Grade III Phoenix.

Borell said Saturday she had plans to stretch Runhappy out to a mile for next year's campaign. She also touted not running the son of Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver on medication.

In addition to training four horses, Borell, a New York native, operates a 120-acre farm near Lexington.



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Last Edited By: Mom4Gloria Nov 1 15 5:49 PM. Edited 2 times.

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GarlandTex.wiretowire

Posts: 3,637 Member Since:03/03/15

#2 [url]

Nov 1 15 5:16 PM

Absolutely incredible! This is the reward Maria gets for making a champion of Runhappy? Disgusting. Sounds to me like sour grapes since Wohlers had been kind of training the filly before Maria was hired. Maria was right one way or the other, she is the trainer. If Runhappy had 'fill and heat' in an ankle, the safe thing was to rest her and see what if anything developed. A racing manager runs the farm, the trainer makes decisions like that for the horse's benefit. What the hell did it matter if Runhappy took to the track or not today?

"My bets never lose, they just don't win."

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GarlandTex.wiretowire

Posts: 3,637 Member Since:03/03/15

#4 [url]

Nov 1 15 5:26 PM

The owner's Twitter account is @MattressMack. I just tweeted him my thoughtd. If you have a Twitter account, let him know how we feel as fans.



2m2 minutes ago

C'mon Sir... firing the trainer who just won you a Breeders Cup for trying to protect the horse. Wrong person was fired IMHO.


"My bets never lose, they just don't win."

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Mom4Gloria.wiretowire

Posts: 769 Member Since:03/08/15

#6 [url]

Nov 1 15 5:54 PM

update from http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/95679/borell-out-as-trainer-for-runhappy

Borell Out as Trainer for Runhappy
By Jeremy Balan, November 1, 2015 6:26 PM 11 CommentsRacing, Breeders' Cup, Kentucky


A day after Maria Borell won the TwinSpires Breeders’ Cup Sprint (gr. I) with Runhappy, the trainer learned she will no longer be conditioning the horse for owner James McIngvale.

Borell took to Twitter Nov. 1 to inform her followers of the switch.

“(Runhappy) had fill and heat in an ankle this morning, (and McIngvale’s racing manager Laura Wohlers) wanted to send him to the track,” Borell said on the social network. “Now she tells me I'm gone… Just went from the best day of my life to the worst day of my life… Since the King’s Bishop, it's been a fight about everyone wanting to change everything.”





Wohlers, who trained the Super Saver colt previously, said the decision to change trainers was made well before the disagreement in the morning. Wohlers also said they always jog Runhappy after races and that a vet did not find any problems with his front legs.
Added Laura McIngvale Brown, owner McIngvale's daughter, "We wanted to take him to the track to jog and Maria said she felt some heat; Laura didn't, so it was decided to go ahead and tack-walk him instead. Runhappy went outside to graze in his paddock and had a great day.

"This is an issue that has actually been going on for quite awhile. My dad wants to be very honest with people and if people want to come out and see the horse tomorrow and watch him train, they are more than welcome to. We really respect Maria. We think she's done a great job, but unfortunately it was time for us, as a team, to move forward."

Runhappy will remain under the care of Wohlers, who may train the colt toward the Malibu Stakes (gr. I) late in the year at Santa Anita Park, or another trainer could take over.
NOVAK: Runhappy Sets Track Record in BC Sprint

“The decision to move in a different direction was not made today,” Wohlers said. “This morning there was no filling. I’ve checked horses 100,000 times in my life. He had some heat, but nothing more than any other horse who ran 1:08 and change. We jog him after races to get rid of lactic acid buildup and (Borrel) has disagreed in the past.”

Wohlers said she is considering sending Runhappy to San Luis Rey Training Center where he can train toward the Malibu, a fact McIngvale Brown reiterated.

"We plan on possibly taking him to the West Coast to possibly run in some other races and when we were discussing that plan awhile back Maria noted that she runs a farm here and has her own horses here (at the Thoroughbred Training Center in Kentucky) and that wasn't going to be an option for her, so we have to plan on what's best for the horse and his career," McIngvale Brown said.

Racing without the anti-bleeding drug Lasix, Runhappy has won five races in a row, including the Sprint Oct. 31 in a track-record 1:08.58 at Keeneland. Wohlers was listed as the trainer of record for the colt's maiden start Dec. 28 of last year, a Turfway Park sprint on the all-weather track won by 8 1/4 lengths. He raced under her name for a ninth in the Jan. 17 LeComte Stakes (gr. III) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in his next start, then went to the sidelines until July of this year when he returned victorious in an allowance at Indiana Grand Race Course. Borell was listed as his trainer then and for the following four races, including victories in the NYRA.com King's Bishop Stakes (gr. I) and the Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix (gr. III).

“It was a conflict of interest,” Wohlers said. “I wish her the best. She’s been a big part of this horse’s success, but we’re going to be headed in a different direction.”

Wohlers also bristled at the implication Borrel made that the racing manager was not doing what was in the best interest of the horse.

“I’ve always cared about this horse,” Wohlers said. “Her implication that I don’t care about this horse—that’s not going to be said to me.”

"Laura Wohlers, more than anything else, has done completely right by these horses," said McIngvale Brown. "She lives and breathes and dies by these horses. That is the reason she was brought here from Houston before the King's Bishop was to make sure that this barn runs properly. Laura is the trainer of record now."

Borell did not immediately respond to phone calls and text messages from Blood-Horse.

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jerseybled.wiretowire

Posts: 877 Member Since:03/05/15

#8 [url]

Nov 1 15 6:29 PM

Seems like something we would have seen on the show "Dallas". Good life long lesson for Maria to avoid these types of owners. If the racing manager was so good, why wasn't she in charge from the beginning?

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gazuntit.wiretowire

Posts: 108 Member Since:03/08/15

#10 [url]

Nov 1 15 7:44 PM

Sounds like in this bloodhorse article that the connections are twisting this story around.

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Mom4Gloria.wiretowire

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#11 [url]

Nov 1 15 7:56 PM

Well, even if the "racing manager" didn't feel heat, don't you think with a BC champ and soon to be Eclipse champ, that it would be better to err on the side of caution. Geez...

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Mom4Gloria.wiretowire

Posts: 769 Member Since:03/08/15

#12 [url]

Nov 1 15 9:35 PM

So, let's go back a while, to say 1998...



A quote: "Horse owner James McIngvale made the news in Kentucky early this year when he went through trainers like George Steinbrenner went through baseball managers years ago."

and 2004 http://www.utsandiego.com/sports/20040429-9999-1s29derby.html (I laughed at the title, apparently it was too soon.)

Furniture baron isn't meddling with trainers the way he used to do

UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

April 29, 2004


KEVIN FUJII / Houston Chronicle
James McIngvale, tennis buff and furniture baron, hopes for a Derby ace with Wimbledon. 

Kentucky Derby field
trans_1x1.gif

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – When James McIngvale plunged into horse racing, he became both a trainer's dream and nightmare.

A dream because, as the founder of Gallery Furniture, he had plenty of money to spend on promising stock. A nightmare because of his tendency to meddle and be impatient.

But since McIngvale hooked up with three-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Bob Baffert, he is, he says, "a changed man." And if a gray colt named Wimbledon can get to the wire first Saturday in the 130th Kentucky Derby, McIngvale will join the list of rich and, in some cases, colorful clients – Mike Pegram, Prince Ahmed bin Salman, Bob and Beverly Lewis – Baffert has escorted to racing's promised land.

"He got into the business because he wants to win the Kentucky Derby," Baffert said yesterday. "And he's going to win the Derby. I don't know if it's going to be this year or when, but he's going to win one."

McIngvale, 53, was a successful furniture salesman in Dallas before starting his own enterprise, Gallery Furniture, in Houston in 1981.

The story goes that McIngvale began Gallery Furniture with a $5,000 investment and it has grown to annual sales of more than $100 million.

McIngvale's personal involvement in the promotion of the business cannot be overstated. The company spends $8 million to $10 million annually on advertising, and the vintage TV ads in Houston, which mercifully are not shown nationwide, have topped the "worst" list in voting by marketing students at the University of Houston for at least a decade.

Think Cal Worthington, only more bizarre.

"You know, I'm a shameless promoter," said McIngvale, who these days wears patriotic red, white and blue almost everywhere he goes. "And I sell mattresses. I figure if I wear a mattress, people can associate me with what I sell. So I started wearing a mattress, with holes for arms, legs and the head cut out. And I became known as 'Mattress Mac.' "

Born in Starkville, Miss., McIngvale plunged into the racing business in 1996, investing $1 million in five yearlings at various sales with an eye toward the 1998 Triple Crown.

A series of injuries during the winter 1998 racing season at Gulfstream Park in Florida ended that dream and started McIngvale on a jag of interfering with and then firing trainers the way George Steinbrenner used to do with Yankees managers.

He took 15 horses from Nick Zito's barn and moved them to former Zito assistant Steve Moyer. He replaced Moyer with a former night watchman, considered going with Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg – whose last big horse was Alysheba in 1987 – but instead chose his sister-in-law Laura Wohlers as his trainer of record.

"If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't buy so many horses so fast," McIngvale said. "I overbought horses and I bought a lot of bad ones. The lesson I learned was that I should stay the hell out of it and let the people who devote their lives to horse racing run the horse racing business."

That is what he has done since hooking up with Baffert. McIngvale started sending horses to Baffert a couple of years ago, but the two didn't meet face-to-face until last summer at Del Mar. McIngvale has 12 horses with Baffert, and 10 more 2-year-olds are soon to populate the Baffert barns.

"It's hard for people who come into the horse business after being successful in something else to give up the kind of control they're used to having in (the other successful venture)," Baffert said.

"But you can't control a horse and you can't control a horse race like you can other things.

"As a trainer, you almost don't want to be the first (for a hands-on owner). Chances are you're going to get fired and so will a couple of others before (the owner) learns the business."

Wimbledon was a $425,000 purchase at a Florida 2-year-old sale in February of last year. Baffert brought the colt to Del Mar for his racing debut last summer with high praises and expectations.

But Wimbledon ran only once there, finishing fifth of 10 in a 5½-furlong maiden sprint in which the first three finishers – Siphonizer, Cooperation and Minister Eric – have gone on to achieve success. Minister Eric is a Derby entrant.

Wimbledon didn't get his first win until his fifth start, second this year, in February at Santa Anita. A win in the Louisiana Derby in March legitimized his Kentucky Derby candidacy. A ninth-place showing in the Santa Anita Derby dropped his stock somewhat.

Javier Santiago, a top Puerto Rican rider who had been in the United States just over a month, was aboard for the two victories and the Santa Anita Derby disappointment. Jerry Bailey, the top rider in North America and a two-time Derby winner, has taken over for the Run for the Roses.

McIngvale is a tennis buff. He owns the West Side Tennis Club in Houston, which has grass courts modeled on the more famous ones at Wimbledon, the place for which the colt is named.

"I've got a friend with the United States Tennis Association who keeps asking when I'm going to name a horse U.S. Open," McIngvale said.


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Mom4Gloria.wiretowire

Posts: 769 Member Since:03/08/15

#13 [url]

Nov 1 15 10:15 PM

Interesting. This Laura Wohlers is his wife's twin sister. Hmmm....

http://www.shrp.com/2015-WHERE-ARE-YOU-NOW.html

"Although quite of bit of the national media spotlight has been on trainer Maria Borell, McIngvale is quick to give credit to Laura Wohlers, his stable manager. The twin sister of his wife, Linda, Wohlers has been involved in selecting horses at yearling sales and overseeing their management for close to a decade.

"Laura calls all the shots and deserves the credit for the success of this horse," stated McIngvale."

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gazuntit.wiretowire

Posts: 108 Member Since:03/08/15

#14 [url]

Nov 1 15 10:51 PM

I remembers earlier in the year listening to a Steve Byk show episode, Steve was talking about Runhappy's FG race where Runhappy was rank n crazy and he mentioned how Laura Wohlers ruined the horse..took 5 months to fix. Now after finally being fixed by Maria Borell, Wohlers taking over the horse again. Wonder what Steve will say on tomorrow's show about this.

I hope Steve has Maria on his show tomorrow to say her side more of this story. He's had her on in the past shortly after the King's Bishop win she was a guest on his show.

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GarlandTex.wiretowire

Posts: 3,637 Member Since:03/03/15

#17 [url]

Nov 3 15 8:14 PM

gazuntit wrote:
Steve Byk talks about the situation at the beginning of the 2nd hour of his show:
http://stevebyk.com/broadcast/hour-2-doug-bredar-chad-brown/

Thanks, I meant to post this but got busy and forgot... Steve was as critical as I ever heard him... I cracked up this AM when he said Wohlers mentioned that she had felt 100,000 legs and knew when there was heat... Steve said the only 100,000 legs she had felt were attached to dinettes.smiley: roll or something to that effect. That's why I always try to catch his show at SteveByk.com 9AM ET Monday thru Friday.

"My bets never lose, they just don't win."

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gazuntit.wiretowire

Posts: 108 Member Since:03/08/15

#18 [url]

Nov 3 15 8:23 PM

Here are some interesting tweets from a guy named Bruno De Julio:

Racingwithbruno ‏@Racingwithbruno Nov 1
"Wow, what is up with this woman, Laura Wohlers, IMO Can't train and can't manage, yet takes over Runhappy. I fear for the horse."

Racingwithbruno ‏@Racingwithbruno Nov 1
"Shame on you @MattressMack to hand such an awesome animal to an egotistical power hungry individual. Shame on you. Digusting."

Racingwithbruno ‏@Racingwithbruno Nov 1
"Also, @IMariaValentine allegedly not paid 10% of purse stake on Runhappy. These people are despicable, do not deserve this wonderful horse"

Racingwithbruno ‏@Racingwithbruno Nov 1
"I ask voters for Eclipse Awards not vote Runhappy Champion Sprinter, boycotting these peoples practices, they are an embarassment to sport"

Racingwithbruno ‏@Racingwithbruno Nov 1
"I have said my piece, there comes time when have to take a stand and speak our mind and I spoke mine today.It's my opinion its my editorial"

Racingwithbruno ‏@Racingwithbruno Nov 1
"On Sep 22nd I watched Runhappy go 59.2, Wohlers after the work "he didn't go fast enough'' loud enough for the group to hear, wanted 57..."

Racingwithbruno ‏@Racingwithbruno Nov 1
"Now those of you that were upset me cold watering Runhappy into Kings Bishop understand now, there was underlying theme, there was a problem"

Today's tweet from him:

"  So, since Sunday I outlined everything now being written in Bloodhorse, think my tweets were very accurate and to the point, not speculation"

Last Edited By: gazuntit Nov 3 15 8:28 PM. Edited 1 time.

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gazuntit.wiretowire

Posts: 108 Member Since:03/08/15

#19 [url]

Nov 3 15 8:25 PM

GarlandTex wrote:
gazuntit wrote:
Steve Byk talks about the situation at the beginning of the 2nd hour of his show:
http://stevebyk.com/broadcast/hour-2-doug-bredar-chad-brown/

Thanks, I meant to post this but got busy and forgot... Steve was as critical as I ever heard him... I cracked up this AM when he said Wohlers mentioned that she had felt 100,000 legs and knew when there was heat... Steve said the only 100,000 legs she had felt were attached to dinettes.smiley: roll or something to that effect. That's why I always try to catch his show at SteveByk.com 9AM ET Monday thru Friday.

He also was critical of the connections earlier in the year leading up to the stake race at Fair Grounds back in January when Laura had the horse.
  

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gazuntit.wiretowire

Posts: 108 Member Since:03/08/15

#20 [url]

Nov 3 15 8:26 PM

Here are a serious of tweets leading up to the stakes race in January at the Fair Grounds:

"Marcus Hersh ‏@DRFHersh  Jan 15 Alvin, TX
Spoke to trainer Laura Wohlers. Runhappy & Killingit both run in Lecomte Saturday @fairgroundsnola. Said she hopes Runhappy to lead.

Steve Byk ‏@Steve_Byk  Jan 18
.@DRFHersh Embarrassment from laughable outfit that will never win. Pretty sad. Ruined good work of @thomasherding, @petedenk, @cannonshell.

"Marcus Hersh ‏@DRFHersh
.@Steve_Byk @thomasherding @petedenk @cannonshell As I said on DRF Live in day's wrap-up, horse has no idea what he's doing out there.

charles simon ‏@cannonshell  Jan 18 Sunshine Parkway, FL
@DRFHersh @Steve_Byk @thomasherding @petedenk sore/miserable from being forced to do far more than ready to do. Never issue through Mid-Oct

Michael Muscato ‏@muscatoracing   Jan 18 Delmar, NY
@DRFHersh @Steve_Byk @thomasherding @petedenk @cannonshell Just had this conversation as race was being run. Terrible choices made to enter
 
Pete Denk ‏@petedenk
@muscatoracing @DRFHersh @Steve_Byk @thomasherding @cannonshell It's Social Inclusion all over again, but worse. Talented horse mistreated."

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