Michael Gill?

[Shammy Davis]

Michael Gill finally wins an Eclipse Award and he deserved it. He has definitely made an investment in racing and reaped the rewards. He has also been controversial. What turns me off about him is his attitude. He acts like it is the racing world against him. He concludes his award acceptance with "I'm going to miss racing and I'm sure racing will miss me." Am I missing something here? Is he getting out of the business? If he is getting out, he is definitely making his exit with little or no class.

[JimP]

Hi Guys,

He is leaving racing again??? I wish I had a nickel for everytime he has threatened to leave racing. He probably will leave now that he has won the Eclipse Award. He probably deserved the award but hey let's have some class.

[Sam]

He acts like it is the racing world against him.

It is. There are certain 'unwritten rules' you just don't break, but he did and that got him blacklisted from a lot of tracks.

He's BEEN leaving (not a "I'm leaving, no I'm not, yes I am" thing) for a few years now. The guy had about a thousand horses at one point .. short of a serious pull out auction where you dump EVERYthing and damn the selling price, it takes times to unload all those horses and make a profit. He's been slowly dumping his horses in appropriate claiming races or selling the better ones privately and not replacing them as they've been claimed.

Last I heard he's still got about 100 head, including a decent 3yo that he has Derby aspirations for, so it will be at least another 2 years before he's 100% gone.

Simple arrogance tends not to bug me like it does others (arrogrance coupled with ignorance and blind self-rightousness, on the other hand = Herr Bush, Jr.).

You need to be arrogant in life. If you don't believe in yourself, no one else's opinion of you matters a damn and a perceived overabundance of self-confidence is often labeled as "arrogance". I've also noticed (and this is NOT directed at anyone, just something I picked up from my psych classes) that the first to point fingers in disdain with cries of "He's an arrogant SOB" are generally those who lack self-confidence in themselves. Humans tend to not like seeing in others what they lack in themselves. You can recognize arrogance without it being a slam ... most people just don't.

But then, I'm also amused that what gets a man labeled as "arrogant" just gets women labeled as "Bitch."

[Morningside]

haha... well said

[FoxMulder]

In a pre-awards interview on TVG last night, he mentioned the name of that 3YO that he has Derby aspirations for; Travelin Leroy. This is a Two Punch colt out of a Holy Bull mare who won his only start. Gill says he named this guy after a favorite groom of his.

[ZiaLand]

In a pre-awards interview on TVG last night, he mentioned the name of that 3YO that he has Derby aspirations for; Travelin Leroy. This is a Two Punch colt out of a Holy Bull mare who won his only start. Gill says he named this guy after a favorite groom of his.

I saw that, too. The quote was something to the effect that the horse was named in honor of the best damn groom he ever had, because this colt is the "best damn horse" he's ever had. Interesting linebreeding...a little unusual to say the least.

It will be interesting to see how Travelin Leroy turns out.

Laurie

[Sam]

It will be interesting to see how Travelin Leroy turns out.

I've got him on my list of horses to consider for that Run to the Roses contest they do every year ... but he isn't likely to make the cut if he doesn't do something NOW.

[Sysonby]

Gill has been talking up Travelin Leroy for the last 6 months and shopping him privately but no takers. I hope the horse is the real deal--I hope every horse is the real deal --but TL needs to go out and do something on the track and not just in Gill's wishful thinking.

[chumsalmon]

He acts like it is the racing world against him.

It is. There are certain 'unwritten rules' you just don't break, but he did and that got him blacklisted from a lot of tracks.

He's BEEN leaving (not a "I'm leaving, no I'm not, yes I am" thing) for a few years now. The guy had about a thousand horses at one point .. short of a serious pull out auction where you dump EVERYthing and damn the selling price, it takes times to unload all those horses and make a profit. He's been slowly dumping his horses in appropriate claiming races or selling the better ones privately and not replacing them as they've been claimed.

Last I heard he's still got about 100 head, including a decent 3yo that he has Derby aspirations for, so it will be at least another 2 years before he's 100% gone.

Simple arrogance tends not to bug me like it does others (arrogrance coupled with ignorance and blind self-rightousness, on the other hand = Herr Bush, Jr.).

You need to be arrogant in life. If you don't believe in yourself, no one else's opinion of you matters a damn and a perceived overabundance of self-confidence is often labeled as "arrogance". I've also noticed (and this is NOT directed at anyone, just something I picked up from my psych classes) that the first to point fingers in disdain with cries of "He's an arrogant SOB" are generally those who lack self-confidence in themselves. Humans tend to not like seeing in others what they lack in themselves. You can recognize arrogance without it being a slam ... most people just don't.

But then, I'm also amused that what gets a man labeled as "arrogant" just gets women labeled as "Bitch."

Which unwritten rules? I would like to talk about that. I know that some of the issues were claiming and then moving the horse across the country which upsets the racing office because it throws off the balance and makes it hard for them to write and fill races. What are the others? I had heard some people were upset that he claimed from them, such as track administrator types and I don't agree with that. but what else was there? Not being confrontational at all, I kind of admire what he has done in the short time he has been in the business, shows me that beyond being rich, he must have a good handle on the business.

thoughts?

[summerhorse]

I think mostly he claimed horses that were "not supposed to be claimed" and a lot of them. People got mad because he didn't respect the unspoken you don't claim X horse (and I won't claim yours). But that is ridiculous, put your horse in a claiming race and you are saying HE'S FOR SALE. If he can't run fast enough to get out of claimers and you don't want to lose him find a new career for him. And yeah he ruffled the secretary's feathers by moving them around but it seems he still had a pretty large string for them to pick from. Basically he is like a bull in a china shop, does not work or play well with others was probably on his report card at 8 but you can't argue with success. He was very successful and a lot of people made money because he bought their horses, filled the races, hired the people to take care of his horses, etc. etc. Then they wonder why they can't get new blood in the business...

[Vindicated]

I am aware of Michael Gills "aggressive" tactics. I know of the allegations regarding some controversial ethics. There was the post mortem amputation of a horse (Finger Lakes maybe?).
What has the guy actually done (proven) that other than playing a little outside the rules (which everyone does) that he gets critizied for due to his technique. So lets make this black and white-gossip-proven facts-

[madelyn]

I think it might have something to do with what I call the "claiming stigma." He went out and claimed horses. He didn't buy yearlings, etc. He sort of cleaned up a bit. Probably a pretty good businessman, and he wanted to spend some money, have some fun, but MOST IMPORTANTLY, win some races. For people like Mr. Gill, it's seldom about the purse, but all about the winner's circle photo. One such owner who is much smaller but works along the same lines calls it "getting his (the horse) picture made." It always amazes me... every card is nearly always more than half comprised of claiming races. Most tracks have many more "claimers" than "stakes horses".. and yet you fault the guy for buying "used" instead of "new". In his case he was buying Proven as opposed to Unproven.

There ARE rules regarding what you can do with a horse once claimed.. the horse usually has to run back at that track a few times. There was a trainer severely fined a few years back for claiming and shipping out (Michael Tomlinson?). Most tracks require the claimed horse to remain through the end of the meet.. which might explain why so many are claimed in the last two weeks of a racemeet.

[UmmYeah]

<snip>

There ARE rules regarding what you can do with a horse once claimed.. the horse usually has to run back at that track a few times. There was a trainer severely fined a few years back for claiming and shipping out (Michael Tomlinson?). Most tracks require the claimed horse to remain through the end of the meet.. which might explain why so many are claimed in the last two weeks of a racemeet.

Yeah, that's my understanding too, but I know it varies from state to state and even from track to track. Is it different in California? Otherwise, how got Full Moon Madness get claimed and then shipped to New Mexico for his next race? Is that new trainer breaking a rule or is it just more lax in CA?

[parsixfarms]

The general rule is that you can't run somewhere else until the end of the meet. However, there is typically an exception for stakes races run elsewhere. The race in which FMM is entered is a $50K stakes, so that probably explains why his owners are able to run him at Sunland even though the SA meet runs through April.

[parsixfarms]

The general rule is that you can't run somewhere else until the end of the meet. However, there is typically an exception for stakes races run elsewhere. The race in which FMM is entered is a $50K stakes, so that probably explains why his owners are able to run him at Sunland even though the SA meet runs through April.