Better Talk Now

Better Talk Now
Better Talk Now in the paddock prior to the 2008 Manhattan Handicap
Sire	Talkin Man
Grandsire	With Approval
Dam	Bendita
Damsire	Baldski
Sex	Gelding
Foaled	(1999-02-25)February 25, 1999
Died	June 27, 2017(2017-06-27) (aged 18)
Land	Vereinigte Staaten
Colour	Dark Bay
Breeder	Wimborne Farm, Inc.
Owner	Bushwood Racing Partners LLC
Trainer	H. Graham Motion
Record	51: 14-8-5
Earnings	$4,356,664
Major wins
Knickerbocker Handicap (2003) Sword Dancer Invitational Handicap (2004) Fort Marcy Handicap (2005) United Nations Handicap (2005) Man o' War Stakes (2005) Dixie Stakes (2006) Sky Classic Stakes (2006) Manhattan Handicap (2007) Breeders' Cup wins: Breeders' Cup Turf (2004)

Better Talk Now (February 25, 1999–June 27, 2017) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the Breeders' Cup Turf in 2004. His racing career stretched over nine seasons, during which he won 14 times, five of them Grade I stakes, with earnings of over $4.3 million.

Background

Better Talk Now was a nearly black gelding bred in Kentucky by Wimborne Farm. His sire Talkin Man, the 1994 Canadian Champion Two-Year-Old Colt, was in turn sired by With Approval, the 1989 Canadian Triple Crown Champion and a Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee. Better Talk Now was out of the stakes-placed mare Bendita, by Baldski, a son of English Triple Crown Champion Nijinsky. Bendita is from the family of Folle Nuit, which also includes major winners Stage Door Johnny, Vision d'Etat and Shaamit.

As a weanling, Better Talk Now failed to meet his reserve at the Keenland November 1999 Sale of Breeding Stock. He originally raced for Wimborne Farm and was trained by Diane Perkins. In mid 2002 just after his fist win, he was privately purchased by Bushwood Racing Partners, consisting of Brent Johnson, Karl Barth, and Chris Dwyer, who transferred him to trainer Graham Motion.

Better Talk Now, nicknamed "Blackie", spent most of the rest of his life at Motion's Herringswell Stables, part of the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland. Jockey Ramon Dominguez, who rode him in many of his biggest races, described him as "very consistent but also a problem child" as he could be obstinate and aggressive, and tended to "lug in" (move towards the rail instead of maintaining a straight path).

Racing Career

Better Talk Now made only one start at age two, finishing a badly beaten tenth in a 7-furlong maiden special weight on the dirt at Keeneland on October 21, 2001. He returned on April 7 in a similar race at Keeneland but could only finish sixth. After a brief layoff, he finished second in two races at Churchill Downs in June, both at 1+1⁄16 miles on the dirt. On July 6, he was switched to turf and responded with a nine length win. Moved to the barn of trainer Graham Motion, Better Talk Now made five more starts at age three, winning two allowance races. He finished a distant sixth though in his first graded stakes effort, the Saranac Handicap.

At age four, Better Talk Now continued to improve, winning three of seven races with one second and two third-place finishes. On January 18, 2003, he won an allowance race at Gulfstream Park by a neck. That summer, he won the Eight Thirty Stakes at Delaware Park by a neck and then was beaten by a neck in the Arlington Handicap. He earned his first graded stakes race win on November 1, capturing the Knickerbocker Handicap at New York's Aqueduct Racetrack and earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 101.

At age five, he developed into a high quality, if inconsistent, turf horse, especially in races run at 1+1⁄2 miles. His first two starts were not promising as he finished eighth in the John B. Connally Breeders' Cup Turf Handicap on April 10, 2004 and ninth in the Dixie Stakes on May 15. On June 12, he improved to finish second in the Battlefield Stakes, followed up by another second in the Bowling Green Handicap on July 17.

On August 14, he had a breakthrough performance in the Grade I Sword Dancer Invitational Handicap at a distance of 1+1⁄2 miles over a yielding turf course at Saratoga. The favorite, Balto Star, went to the early lead and set moderate fractions for the first mile, then was passed in the stretch by Request For Parole. Better Talk Now saved ground early in the race then swung wide in the stretch and accelerated rapidly, winning by 1+1⁄2 lengths. "I felt like I had a lot of horse," said Dominguez, "but once you get them out, you never know if they're going to respond. When I got him out, he responded so nicely." Better Talk Now earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 106 for the win.

Better Talk Now was next entered in the Man o' War Stakes at Belmont on September 11, where he finished fourth behind Magistretti. In part due to that loss, he was dismissed at odds of 28-1 in the Breeders' Cup Turf, held that year at Lone Star Park on October 30. Because of the expected heat and the tight turns of Lone Star's turf course, most European horses bypassed the event. The only European entry was Powerscourt, who had been disqualified after winning the Arlington Million. The heavy favorite was Kitten's Joy, who had won six of his seven starts during 2004 including the Secretariat Stakes and Joe Hirsch Turf Classic.

Over a yielding turf course, Star Over the Bay went to the early lead with Kitten's Joy tracking in third and Better Talk Now near the back of the pack. With a half mile remaining, Powerscourt made his move while Star Over the Bay started to tire, eventually finishing last. Looking for racing room at the top of the stretch, Kitten's Joy swung out just as Better Talk Now was starting his run on the outside of the field. Kitten's Joy checked sharply due to a lack of racing room and his jockey later claimed foul, saying contact between the two horses caused Kitten's Joy to lose momentum. Regardless, Better Talk Now continued with a powerful run down the stretch, then started to drift in, brushing with Powerscourt as he moved to the lead. Better Talk Now won by 1+3⁄4 lengths over a late-finishing Kitten's Joy, with Powerscourt in third.

After an inquiry, the stewards allowed the result to stand. "Even though the betting public could see there were some problems there, we felt that (Better Talk Now) was obviously going to win the race, and it didn't really affect the placing of the horses," explained Chuck Nuber, one of Lone Star's three stewards. "(Kitten's Joy) comes on and finishes second, about the best that it was going to finish. It was a little rough, but it was the correct order of finish."

The win was the first in a Breeders' Cup race for both jockey Ramon Dominguez and trainer Graham Motion.

In 2005, the six-year-old Better Talk Now continued to win Grade I races, taking the United Nations Stakes and Man o' War Stakes before finishing seventh in the Breeders' Cup Turf and twelfth in the Japan Cup. Back on the track in 2006, Better Talk Now won the Dixie Stakes at Pimlico Race Course and the Sky Classic Stakes in a three-way photo finish at Woodbine Racetrack before finishing a very close second in his third Breeders' Cup Turf appearance.

In 2007, the eight-year-old gelding won the Grade 1 Manhattan Handicap by a head over arch rival English Channel. In the ensuing Grade I United Nations Stakes in July, a race Better Talk Now won in 2005, English Channel came out on top with Better Talk Now taking third place. An injury to his left front ankle became infected, and resulting soreness kept him out of racing until he ran fourth in October's Breeders' Cup Turf race. In March 2008, Better Talk Now ran ninth in the Dubai Sheema Classic. His rabbit of 2004-2005, Shake the Bank, retired from racing in 2008 and has begun a career as a jumper in Maryland.

Better Talk Now began his 10-year-old season with a third-place finish in the Manhattan Handicap on June 6, 2009. He finished second in the Sword Dancer Invitational Handicap at Saratoga in August. He was planned to start in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic on October 3, but was retired on September 29, 2009, after injuring the suspensory ligament in his left hind leg.

Better Talk Now made 51 starts, finishing with 14 wins and 27 in the money finishes and career earnings of $4,356,664. He started in 41 stakes races, including 24 grade I races.

Retirement

Better Talk Now was retired in 2009 to Herringswell Stables in Fair Hill, Maryland where he enjoyed meeting some of his loyal followers. In 2011, he developed a gastrointestinal problem, thought to be due to botulism, that interfered with the normal function of his esophagus and small intestine. He was successfully treated at the New Bolton Center, part of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. In 2017, he underwent colic surgery at New Bolton on June 7 and then underwent a second surgery June 15. He was euthanized late June 27 due to complications from the colic surgery.

Pedigree

Pedigree of Better Talk Now, dark bay gelding, February 25, 1999

Sire Talkin Man 1992	With Approval 1986	Caro (IRE)	Fortino (FR)
			Chambord (GB)
		Passing Mood	Buckpasser
			Cool Mood
	Pookette 1986	Miswaki	Mr. Prospector
			Hopespringseternal
		Pensioner	Irish Stronghold
			Stone Cottage
Dam Bendita 1985	Baldski 1974	Miswaki	Northern Dancer
			Flaming Page
		Too Bald	Bald Eagle
			Hidden Talent
	Bonne Note (FR) 1972	Bon Mot (FR)	Worden (FR)
			Djebel IRA (FR)
		Mandolina (FR)	Ocarina (FR)
			Folle Nuit (family: 1-L)

Better Talk Now is inbred 5 x 4 to Northern Dancer, meaning Northern Dancer appears once in the fifth generation of his pedigree and once in the fourth generation.

References

• Better Talk Now's pedigree and partial racing stats
• 11/5/2007 NTRA report by Karen M. Johnson of The Blood-Horse on the 2008 plans for Better Talk Now
• Better Talk Now AlexBrownRacing
• Better Talk Now to Race at 10
• Bloodhorse.com article on Shake the Bank in retirement
• [1] "Road's End Near for Better Talk Now," Daily Racing Form.
• [2] "Better Talk Now retired with injury" NTRA.com