TRAINER REID FRANCE THRIVES AS AN “UP AND COMER” IN THE TRAINING RANKS
Last Friday, trainer Reid France won a trio of races, continuing what has been a phenomenal 2021 for the 37-year-old conditioner. From 78 starters this year, France has made 25 trips to the winner’s circle, equating to a 32%-win rate.
“I’m just really thankful to the owners,” said France when asked about his success. “The owners have stuck with it through some pretty difficult times, and they’ve been very supportive of my operation.”
Reid, a native of San Mateo, grew up a short way from Bay Meadows Racecourse. From the time he began making trips to the track with his father, France was hooked.
“My dad owned a piece of a few racehorses,” said France. “I enjoyed going to the track and watching the horses.”
As a junior in high school, France was old enough to begin working, and he started his ascension in racing walking hots for trainer Jeff Bonde. He progressed to being a groom quickly, and, in 2011, moved to the East Coast to work as a foreman under recently inducted Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher. After a meaningful stint with Pletcher, France moved to Southern California and worked for high-profile trainers Tom Proctor and Bob Baffert.
Eventually, his hometown roots brought Reid back to the Bay Area, where he was given an opportunity to work as the assistant to trainer John Martin.
“Jonathan Wong was the assistant for John before I was,” said France. “[Wong] went out on his own in 2015 and I filled the [assistant trainer’s] position.”
Side-by-side with Martin for over three years, Reid learned a plethora of information.
“John was just an exceptionally good horseman and mentor,” said France. “The biggest thing John taught me was you can’t go over the horses enough. He was big on attention to detail. He taught me to be consistent. He was also very good at reading the condition book and placing the horses in the right spots to succeed. He really had a lot of strengths.”
In 2018, France ventured out on his own. For many trainers, a transition from assistant to the head honcho is never easy. In France’s case, he started his own business with minimal nerves.
“I was confident in my ability to do this,” said France. “I went to Del Mar three times with a handful of horses for John and he didn’t spend too much time down there; he left things up to me. So in that regard, I had a bit of a trial run. When I was working for John, he was doing really well, we had a lot of horses and there was a lot of action going on. I felt like I was ready.”
France was given his “breakout horse” in the middle of 2019. Top Secret Indy, a son of Take Charge Indy, had poor form for the Bill Mott stable in Florida and moved west in search of improvement. Under the watchful eye of France, Top Secret Indy rattled off three consecutive victories, including a first level allowance win
“Top Secret Indy was a neat horse,” said France. “For a lot of trainers, there’s a horse or two that helps put them on the map. For me, it was Top Secret Indy. Once he won a few races, my business started picking up and we got some more opportunities.”
France indicated he was excited for the future and hopes to hang many more winners circle photos in his office.
“We’ve got about 30 horses in training right now and some two-year-olds coming in soon,” said France. “I just go out there every day and try to put the horses in the right spots.”
GOLDEN GATE WINNER HEAVEN SHINES IS THE FIRST WINNER BY STANFORD
In last Sunday’s fourth race, 2-year-old colt Heaven Shines became the first winner for California-stallion Stanford. Owned by his breeder, Tommy Town Thoroughbreds, Heaven Shines went to the lead and never stopped, hitting the wire two and three-quarter lengths ahead of the runner up finisher. Kyle Frey was aboard for the winning ride.
“[Tommy Town farm manager] Mike Allen and [co-owner] Tom Stull said, ‘You’re going to like this horse’ before they sent him to us from the farm,” said trainer Jonathan Wong. “He was coming into the race with some nice works and we knew he had some talent, but he wasn’t 100% cranked. We were happy with the result.”
Wong trains a handful of Stanford’s babies and noted that each of them possess positive qualities.
“One thing I’ve noticed is that they are all really smart. They all have a good head on their shoulders,” said Wong. “All of them have good confirmation. Heaven Shines…he has early speed, but I think he’ll be better with more distance. He wants to run farther.”
Wong noted that the $75,000 Fasig Tipton Futurity on Sunday, June 20 at Santa Anita is a possible next target for Heaven Shines.
Stanford, trained by Todd Pletcher from 2014 to 2017, won the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic, placed in a pair of additional Grade 2 races, earned $1.3 million in purse winnings. By Malibu Moon out of a Distorted Humor mare, Stanford currently stands at Tommy Town Thoroughbreds for $5,000.
EL CAMINO REAL DERBY WINNER ROMBAUER “TRAVELS WELL”, SETTLED IN AT PIMLICO FOR SATURDAY’S PREAKNESS
2021 El Camino Real Derby winner Rombauer returns to action in the 2021 Preakness Stakes this Saturday at Pimlico. The $1.5 million Preakness, run at one-mile and three-sixteenths on dirt, is the second leg of the Triple Crown.
Rombauer drew post six in the field of ten and is listed at 12-1 on the morning line. Leading Southern California jockey Flavien Prat rides for the first time.
“He’s a horse that travels well,” said McCarthy on Wednesday morning. “He’s taking everything in stride. He’s an easy horse to keep fit so we just try to keep him happy. He had a very good work before he left [to Pimlico]. He’s a horse that’s naturally suited to come from [off the pace]. I don’t know how that’ll work this weekend, but we’ll leave it up to Flavien.”
The Preakness goes as Race 13 at Pimlico on Saturday, with post time at 6:47 ET/3:47 PM PT. Live racing on Saturday at Golden Gate has a scheduled first post of 1:18 PM PT.
CLAIMS REPORT
Below is a list of claims from last week:
Thursday
Race 1: My Sunshine (New trainer Manny Badilla…new owner(s) Brett Tahajian and Badilla)
Race 5: Implicitly (Eddie Rich…Run For Us Stables LLC)
Race 5: Tough It Out (Mike Lenzini…John Parker)
Race 5: Tyler’s Tek (Isidro Tamayo…Keron Thomas)
Friday
Race 1: Missed the Boat (Trainer Blaine Wright…Blaine D. Wright Racing Stable)
Race 1: Power Times Two (Owner/Trainer Cesar DeAlba)
Race 1: Rally Cat (Reid France…Francis Lagattuta and France)
Race 2: Big City Bane (Victor Trujillo…Lester Hunsucker)
Race 2: Robber Baron (Owner/Trainer Dan Franko)
Saturday
Race 1: Kaline (Victor Trujillo…Lester Hunsucker and Trujillo)
Race 2: Jenpirestrikesback (Jonathan Wong…Johnny Taboada)
Race 8: Friend of Autism (Ed Moger Jr…Steve Moger)
Race 8: Illapawnie (Jonathan Wong…Madden Racing, MJVET Stables and Strohmaier Racing)
Race 9: Northern Gem (Blaine Wright…Bryan Smith)
Sunday
Race 2: Glitter Lake (Reid France…Hat Trick Racing)
Race 2: Stradari (Reed Saldana…Johnny Taboada)
Race 2: Take Her Temp (Blaine Wright…Blaine D. Wright Racing Stable LLC)
Race 4: Crack a Cold One (Frank Lucarelli…Lucarelli Racing Corp.)
FINISH LINES: Kyle Frey holds an 88-82 lead in the jockey standings over Evin Roman while Jonathan Wong continues to pave the way in the trainer standings…Three allowance races and two maiden special weights highlight a good-quality Preakness Day card at Golden Gate this Saturday. Remember: first post on Saturday is 1:18 PM PT…Campanile Stakes runner up Amazen Grazen returns in Race 6 on Saturday, a one-mile turf route for 3-year-old fillies…Silky Sullivan Stakes fourth place finisher I’ll Stand Taller competes in the Grade 3 Laz Barrera Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday…Good luck to jockey Julien Couton, who moves his tack to Emerald Downs for the spring and summer season…Leg B (the second leg) of The Stronach 5 wager goes as Race 3 at Golden Gate Fields on Friday…$52,896 is carried over into the Golden Pick Six jackpot wager on Thursday…Happy birthday to Dr. Casille Batten, who celebrates her birthday this Sunday.