Bal A Bali
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Bal a Bali (foaled September 22, 2010) is a
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
ian-bred
Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...
racehorse that won the Brazilian Rio de Janeiro Triple Crown in 2014, the twelfth horse to do so. He was named the Brazilian Horse of the Year of 2013/2014, having won all eight starts that year with several track records to his credit. In July 2014, he was sold to new owners and shipped to America but came down with a life-threatening bout of
laminitis Laminitis is a disease of the feet of ungulates, found mostly in horses and cattle involving inflammation of the laminae. Clinical signs include foot tenderness progressing to inability to walk, increased digital pulses, and increased temperatur ...
. After intensive treatment, he was finally able to return to the race track a year later, with mixed results. Late in 2016, he was sold again, this time to
Calumet Farm Calumet Farm is a Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company. Calumet is located in the heart of the Bluegrass ...
for use as a breeding stallion. However, his trainer
Richard Mandella Richard Eugene Mandella (born November 5, 1950, in Altadena, California), is a Thoroughbred horse trainer and a member of the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame. Mandella's father, a blacksmith, introduced him to horses at an early age and while still i ...
convinced the owners to keep the horse active for another year and Bal a Bali responded by winning the Frank E. Kilroe Mile and
Shoemaker Mile Stakes The Shoemaker Mile Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for horses age three years old and older over a distance of one mile on the turf held annually in late May at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, USA. The event current ...
. He is the second survivor of laminitis to return and win a
Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
race (the first being
Lady Eli Lady Eli (foaled February 2, 2012 in Kentucky) is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse who was named the American Champion Female Turf Horse of 2017. She first came to national attention when she won the 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. She ...
in the 2016 Flower Bowl), marking significant progress in the treatment of the disease.


Background

Bal a Bali is a dark bay stallion who was bred by
Haras Santa Maria de Araras Haras Santa Maria de Araras is a Thoroughbred racehorse breeding and training farm in Brazil. It is one of the most successful breeders of racehorses in Brazilian history. History Haras Santa Maria de Araras was founded in 1965 when Julio Rapha ...
, which is owned by Brazilian banker Julio Bozano. Bal a Bali is sired by Put It Back, a stakes winning son of Honour and Glory. Put It Back became a leading sire in Florida and also has sired multiple winners in Brazil where Bozano had arranged for him to stand during the southern hemisphere's breeding season. As a descendant of the relatively rare
In Reality In Reality (March 1, 1964 – May 8, 1989) was an American bred racehorse. Bred in Florida, he was a son of Intentionally and out of the mare My Dear Girl, the 1959 American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly. His damsire was Santa Anita Derby winner R ...
sire line that traces back through
Man o' War Man o' War was a thoroughbred racehorse considered an all-time great. Man o' War (or capitalization variations thereof) may also refer to: Animals * Portuguese man o' war, a floating marine animal found in the Atlantic that resembles a jellyfish ...
to the
Godolphin Arabian The Godolphin Arabian (–1753), also known as the Godolphin Barb, was an Arabian horse The Arabian or Arab horse ( , DIN 31635, DMG ''al-ḥiṣān al-ʿarabī'') is a horse breed, breed of horse with historic roots on the Arabian Peninsul ...
, Put It Back is an
outcross Out-crossing or out-breeding is the technique of crossing between different breeds. This is the practice of introducing distantly related genetic material into a breeding line, thereby increasing genetic diversity. Outcrossing in animals Out ...
for most mares. Bal a Bali is out of the stakes-winning mare In My Side, who was bought by Bozano at a dispersal sale in Brazil. The resulting foal, named Bal a Bali by Bozano's wife, was a well-built colt who was calm and easy to handle. He was sold as a yearling to Alvaro Novis, a successful Brazilian businessman. He was originally trained by Dulcino Guignoni, who had previously trained Brazilian Triple Crown winners
Virginie ''Virginie'' is a French-language Canadian television series that aired Monday through Thursday on Radio-Canada (the French-language CBC television network). It debuted in 1996. The show examined the public and private lives of teachers, studen ...
(1998) and Be Fair (2000).


Racing career

At age two, Bal a Bali won three of four races, all held at the
Hipódromo da Gávea Hipódromo da Gávea, originally known as Hipódromo Brasileiro, is a horse racing course, located in the Gávea neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. History Hipódromo da Gávea was built in 1926 and opened in July of that year under t ...
in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
. He won his debut on February 2, 2013, raced at a distance of 1000m (about 5 furlongs), by lengths. He followed up with wins in the Classico Jose Calmon on March 2 and the Group III Grande Prêmio Mario de Azevedo Ribeiro on March 31 before suffering his first loss in the Group II Grande Prêmio Conde de Herzberg on May 26.


2013/2014: three-year-old season

Bal a Bali started his three-year-old campaign on September 14, 2013 in the Leiloes Jockey Club Brasileiro - Versao Potros, run at a distance of 1600m (about 1 mile), and won by lengths in a time of 1:33.37 on soft turf. He next won the Ernani De Freitas on October 26 and the Group III Grande Prêmio Julio Capua on December 1. On January 12, he won his first Group I race, the
Grande Prêmio Estado do Rio de Janeiro Grande means "large" or "great" in many of the Romance languages. It may also refer to: Places *Grande, Germany, a municipality in Germany * Grande Communications, a telecommunications firm based in Texas * Grande-Rivière (disambiguation) *Arro ...
, which is the first leg of the Rio de Janeiro Triple Crown. His time of 1:31.36 for the 1600m was not only a track record, it was also one of the fastest times ever run at the distance. On February 16, Bal a Bali returned to win the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Grande Prêmio Francisco Eduardo de Paula Machado, in a time of 1:59.25 for the distance of 2,000m. He then completed the Triple Crown by winning the Grande Prêmio Cruzeiro do Sul on March 16. His time of 2:23.25 for the distance of 2,400m (about 12 furlongs) was a new track record. Bal a Bali rounded out his three-year-old season with wins in the Group II Grande Prêmio Doutor Frontin on May 11 and the Group I
Grande Prêmio Brasil The Grande Prêmio Brasil is a Group 1 stakes race at Hipódromo da Gávea, at the city of Rio de Janeiro. The race is run left-handed on a turf track, for thoroughbreds three-years-old and up (3yo+), and is the main race in the Brazilian racing c ...
on June 8. The latter victory gave Bal a Bali an automatic berth in the
Breeders' Cup Turf The Breeders' Cup Turf is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race on turf for three-year-olds and up. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships. The race's current ...
as part of the
Breeders' Cup Challenge The Breeders' Cup Challenge is a series of Thoroughbred horse races in which the winner earns an automatic spot in a specified Breeders' Cup race. The challenge races change somewhat each year. The Challenge series began in 2007 with 24 "Win and Yo ...
"Win and You're In" series. Bal a Bali was named the Brazilian Champion Three-Year-Old Colt and Horse of the Year of 2013/2014.


Laminitis

In July 2014, Bal a Bali was sold for $1.5 million to Fox Hill Farm, owned by Rick Porter, and Siena Farm. He was shipped to a quarantine facility in Miami and arrived with a scrape on his hind leg. A veterinarian was called in and detected signs of impending
laminitis Laminitis is a disease of the feet of ungulates, found mostly in horses and cattle involving inflammation of the laminae. Clinical signs include foot tenderness progressing to inability to walk, increased digital pulses, and increased temperatur ...
, a hoof condition that causes serious pain and is a leading cause of death in horses. The horse was quickly moved to Palm Beach Equine Clinic, where early and aggressive action proved to be the key to the horse's survival. Dr Vernon Dryden of Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital said that Bal a Bali had full-blown laminitis: the
coffin bone The coffin bone, also known as the pedal bone (U.S.), is the Phalanx bones, distal phalanx, the bottommost bone in the Limbs of the horse#Legs, front and rear legs of horses, cattle, pigs and other ruminants. It is encased by the horse hoof, hoo ...
was displaced and had rotated down and away from the wall of the hoof. Treatments included use of a cold water spa (cryotherapy) and injection of several doses of
stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can change into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of cell ...
s into the bone marrow. Bal a Bali developed a large abscess on his foot that Dryden opened and then treated with sterile maggots to prevent sepsis. Bal a Bali also had issues with his kidneys and dorsal
colitis Colitis is swelling or inflammation Inflammation (from ) is part of the biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. The five cardinal signs are heat, pain, redness, swelling, and ...
that required further care. "He had a gamut of issues and was a pretty sick boy for a while," said Dryden. "He was definitely a lucky guy to get through it." By September, Bal a Bali had recovered enough to be sent from Miami to Siena Farm in Kentucky. His handlers continued with the spa treatment and were soon able to turn the horse out for brief periods to forage for grass. A vibration plate was also used to help restore circulation in the hoof. Over the next months, his handlers gradually increased the amount of exercise to build up muscle while regrowing the hoof. He was first put on a walker, then had weight added, then finally started light jogging on a nearby training track.


2015: five-year-old season

Bal a Bali finally returned to the racetrack on May 9, 2015 after an absence of nearly 11 months in the Grade III American Stakes at Santa Anita. Racing behind the early pace, Bal a Bali squeezed between horses to find racing room in the stretch, then drew off to win by a length from Talco. "He has worked so good in the mornings, so I was pretty confident," said jockey
Flavien Prat Flavien Prat (born August 4, 1992, in Melun, Seine-et-Marne, France) is a French jockey in Thoroughbred racing who was a Champion Apprentice Jockey and Group 1 race winner in France before moving full-time to the United States in 2015 where he ha ...
. "He just repeated his works today. I wasn't really surprised. He was the champion in Brazil, so he can be the champion here. Why not?" Bal a Bali made his next start on June 15 in the Grade I Shoemaker Mile, where he was moving well around the turn and looked like a possible winner. However, he flattened in the stretch and finished fifth behind Talco. Mandella subsequently detected a small bone chip in one of his ankles, but the condition was not serious. Bal a Bali returned on August 23 in the
Del Mar Handicap The Del Mar Handicap is an American thoroughbred horse race run each year during the third week of August at the Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. The Grade II race is open to horses, age three and up, willing to race one and three-eighths ...
, where he finished eighth. On October 30, Mandella entered him in an allowance optional claiming race at Del Mar, and Bal a Bali responded with a -length victory. He completed the year by finishing second to Midnight Storm in the Seabiscuit Handicap.


2016: six-year-old season

Bal a Bali had a disappointing six-year-old campaign, going winless in five starts. He finished third in the San Gabriel Stakes on January 2, 2016, third in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile on March 12 and third again in the San Francisco Mile on April 30. On May 29, he finished fourth in the Charles Whittingham Stakes and then finished eighth in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita on June 25 in his first start on the dirt.


2017: seven-year-old season

Bal a Bali was originally scheduled to retire to stud at
Calumet Farm Calumet Farm is a Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company. Calumet is located in the heart of the Bluegrass ...
in 2017 but Mandella had other ideas. "I gave him some time off, and they thought, if he didn't train well, he could go to stud," Mandella said. "But he's training too good to go to stud." Instead, Bal a Bali was entered in the Group I Frank E. Kilroe Mile on March 11, 2017 where he was the 9-1 longshot in a highly competitive field of six. Bal a Bali raced in the middle of the pack during the early going, then gradually closed ground in the stretch to win by a head over What a View, who had won the 2016 renewal of the race. Bal a Bali became one of the first horses to come back from laminitis and win a Grade I race. Bal a Bali finished fifth in his next start, the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic on a rain-softened course at
Churchill Downs Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States that hosts the annual Kentucky Derby. It opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was prominent in Kentucky for many years. The first ...
on May 6. On June 3, he returned to win the Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita with a powerful closing run. "He's had some problems in his life and overcame them," said Mandella. "He's very fortunate to have had two sets of owners that are the best in the business and were willing to do what's right for him, and the results of that are what we saw today." On August 20, Bal a Bali made what would prove to be his final start in the Del Mar Mile Handicap, finishing sixth. He was next being pointed to the Breeders' Cup Mile but Mandella felt he was not training at a high enough level so the decision was made to retire him. "He's had problems ever since he came here and he's dealt with them and had success – success beyond expectations", said Mandella.


Retirement

Bal a Bali was retired to stud at Calumet Farm, where he stood his first season in 2018 for a fee of $15,000. His first foals came of racing age in 2021. That year, he was #16 on the first-crop sire list in the United States. He was ranked 19th as a second-crop sire in 2022. As of 2024, Bal a Bali stands at Calumet Farm for an advertised stud fee of $5,000.


Pedigree

Bal a Bali is
inbred Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders an ...
4S × 4D to the mare Gonfalon, meaning that she appears fourth generation on the sire side of his pedigree and fourth generation on the dam side of his pedigree.


References

{{reflist 2010 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Brazil Racehorses trained in the United States Racehorses trained in Brazil Thoroughbred family 3 Godolphin Arabian sire line