Barn Tour: Riding out the storm, Block leads Hawthorne trainers

The state of racing in Chicago has reached the point where trainer Chris Block, a lifelong Illinoisan, is considering moving his operation to Kentucky.

Noting the loss of Arlington Park and the inability of Hawthorne to add a casino, Block told Horse Racing Nation this week, "we are absolutely beyond life support. So I should probably be in Kentucky."

Block's parents are Illinois breeders, operating as Team Block. "We have a big operation, and so my roots are here. So I stayed here in the hopes that we'd have at least Hawthorne with a racino and something similar to the Parx model, how they have almost year-round racing and a $55 million purse account. And then I would be very pleased to be (at Hawthorne), and I have a good clientele from Illinois and some from out of state that would support me here. And of course my family would probably be more rooted into it if that was the case.

"But I've ridden out the storm so far," he continued. "And I even took on being president of the (Illinois Thoroughbred) Horsemen's Association during a very difficult time to try to do what I could to help save the industry and hopefully rebuild it at some point. I want to be part of that process. But I'm not sure that's going to happen."

It's not just family that keeps him in Chicago. "I love the racetrack at Hawthorne. It's in a crummy area, and it's old and it's run down. But the surface is one of the best in the country, in my opinion, to train over, and we like to train on it and prepare horses. And if we need to go somewhere to run, that's what we do."

The Carey family, which owns Hawthorne, hasn't given up on trying to save the track, Block said.

"The problem is that the point of where this would have been beneficial, we're kind of losing that. Because our horse population on the racetrack now, we only run two days a week and we've got about 650 head there, I'd say. But each year, it's 100 less," he said. "It's going to be hard to put on a race meet next year if that number dwindles again."

And his stable? "In the heyday, when things were good at Arlington and we were having five days of racing per week and we had a schedule that went from March to the end of December, with six months at Arlington, I had up to 50 to 60 head of horses." The last two years, he's had 30 to 35.

Hence the attraction to move south. "I think I'm going to start next spring, start establishing some roots in Kentucky and start to build a stable there," he said. "But also keep my foot in the door here, because I am the president here until it falls apart, I guess you could say. And I'm not going to give up trying here, because there's a lot of hard-working horsemen and horsewomen here that deserve better than what we have. …

"Certainly Kentucky has just become the spot to be, of course. Everybody wants to be there and I credit the industry there, of growing it the way they have. And of course a lot of it's because alternative gaming has built the purse structures and that drives the industry at every level. Whether you're selling, buying, racing, no matter what, the purse structure is what drives it. And I love Kentucky, I really do. But my heart is here."

And his work is still in Illinois too. Block leads the trainers standings at Hawthorne with 24 wins from 83 starts. He provided updates on his top runners for HRN's Barn Tour series.

Mondogetsbuckets. This 4-year-old gelding by Omaha Beach has won four straight, starting when he broke his maiden in April and continuing through a black-type stakes at Hawthorne on July 27. Block had considered entering him in Saturday's Louisville Thoroughbred Society Stakes at Churchill Downs, "but it came up way too difficult. So we're going to have to find a new course of a race for him. … He had a breathing issue early on in his life, and we got that corrected and it took us a long time to get him on course. He's a horse that I've seen move forward, not just physically, but mentally. He's got a lot of confidence and turned into be a pretty darn good horse and has an affinity for the Hawthorne surface. So we'd like to branch out and see what we can do outside of Hawthorne."

Moonlight. The 4-year-old Audible colt had wins at Fair Grounds and Churchill Downs in the spring before finishing fifth in a Horseshoe Indianapolis stakes last out in July. "Moonlight is an interesting story because he's a horse that we kind of found that likes a long one-turn race, so like a mile at Churchill Downs. He can go two turns, so his next race is either going to be the (Grade 3) Ack Ack at Churchill on the 27th of this month or the following day an allowance race, a three-other-than condition, going a mile and a 16th."

Goldenageactress. This 3-year-old Street Sense filly broke her maiden in May at Churchill Downs but then finished seventh and eighth in two starts at Ellis Park. All of her starts have been on turf. "Golden Age Actress is a well-bred filly that has hit her spot where I think she is what she is. Her last two races have not been up to par, so we're going to switch gears, try the dirt at Churchill Downs on her next start."

Oeuvre. The 6-year-old mare by Shackleford topped the million-dollar mark in earnings this year, though she has won only one of five starts. She's entered in an optional-claiming allowance at Kentucky Downs on Wednesday. "She's been incredible for us. Got over the million mark this past spring. Has probably lost a couple steps due to her age. So she's got three more races, and then she's going to be retired. So she'll run Wednesday, then hopefully back in Chicago against Illinois-breds, because she's an Illinois-bred. And then we'll finish out her career at Keeneland in an allowance race there, and then she'll head to a farm to get ready to be bred next spring."

Not Falling Back. This 4-year-old gelding by Bold d'Oro broke his maiden at Hawthorne in May and then won an allowance before finishing fifth last out in an optional-claiming allowance at Ellis Park. He's entered in an optional claimer Thursday at Churchill Downs. "The course for him is to kind of find out how good he is. He was an easy winner twice at Hawthorne earlier this year and we want to try to find out whether he fits with the better-quality horses. He ran a pretty good race at Ellis Park in his last start, but we're anxious to get him started on Thursday at Churchill. And if he's competitive there, then we can stay on the Kentucky circuit with him through the fall."

No Ah A. A 3-year-old colt by Caravaggio, "he's only run twice. He broke his maiden at Hawthorne really nicely going five and a half furlongs, and then I ran him back at Kentucky Downs last week, and he had a troubled trip there (to finish fifth). Probably should have been second, wasn't going to beat the winner. But I think he might be a really, I don't want to say a Grade 1 winner, but I think he could be a stakes winner at some point in his life if he stays healthy. And he shows a lot of talent. So he'd be one that I'd certainly have on my list of some of my better horses in the barn." He's pointed to a Keeneland allowance.

Another Mystery. Block said his family has "carried the torch" for this 9-year-old Temple City gelding, who is 1-for-5 this year. "He's close to a million dollars in earnings, and he's 9 now. His next start will be the Robert F. Carey here at Hawthorne. It's on the grass, $150,000, he won it last year. He's worth mentioning because he's been the model of consistency for us over the last six years.

Whatever. A half-brother to Oeuvre, this 2-year-old Lookin at Lucky colt will debut Wednesday in a maiden special weight at Kentucky Downs. "He's completely different from her. He's a horse with a lot of speed and early foot. He's a big, strapping 2-year-old with a lot of size, a lot of scope to him. And he appears to be strictly grass, where Oeuvre can do about anything. She'll do dirt, turf. And so he looks to me like strictly grass. We're anxious to get him started on Wednesday. I think he'll run OK. I don't think he can win, but I think he'll run well. It's time to get him started. But I think he has a big future ahead of him. I think he's the kind of horse that will improve with racing, and we're kind of excited about his future."