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Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) winner Rodriguez will miss the May 17 Preakness Stakes (G1) because of a foot issue, but his connections have another colt in mind for the second leg of the Triple Crown, undefeated Goal Oriented.View the full article

Meeting News Rotorua Track – Saturday Update   A further inspection of the Rotorua track early Saturday morning has shown it fit for racing. Heavy rain eased around 9pm Friday and despite being a Heavy10 the track is good order for racing after not being used on raceday for over four months.

So Riccarton Turf gets transferred to Riccarton Poly due to heavy rain and a heavy 10. Some Owners and Trainers moan.  Fair enough. Rotorua heavy rain and a heavy 10 today. Fields have good numbers and scratchings minimal yet some people are complaining that the track will be stuffed.  

Kathy Walsh, who started training as an interloper among the nation's almost hermetically-sealed male ranks and who pursued her career with a rare combination of grit, guts, gumption and generosity, passed quietly in her sleep at the age of 85. A consummate horsewoman, Walsh brooked no fools and minced no words, yet garnered the kind of deeply held reverence and affection typically extended to those of royal lineage. There's a reason she was nicknamed The Queen. “She probably hired and fired me more times than she changed her underwear, I used to tell her,” said jockey Mike Smith. “She could be tough on you–but once you were part of the family, buddy, you were part of the family, man.” Walsh was born into racing. Her father James trained. She cultivated great taste in mentors. Walsh spent the formative years of her equine education mining nuggets of wisdom from the likes Allen Jerkens, Charlie Whittingham and Buster Millerick, who she viewed as her “adoptive grandfather.” Walsh started training in the early 1970s, taking over her father's stable upon his death. She soon hung out her shingle as a trainer to note, winning multiple titles at Longacres in Washington State and Canterbury Downs in Minnesota. “We go way back, me and Kathy, back to the old Canterbury Downs days,” said Smith. “She's a great horsewoman. She had a strong stable back then. She was someone you wanted to ride for all the time.” Once becoming a permanent fixture of the California circuit, so the overall quality of her stock improved in leaps. She won 15 graded stakes during a career comprising 1231 individual wins. This includes the 2001 GI Santa Monica Handicap with Nany's Sweep. Walsh's moon shot came in 2007, and the arrival in her barn of Cal-bred Georgie Boy (Tribal Rule), who took that year's GI Del Mar Futurity. The following spring, Georgie Boy claimed wins in the GII San Vicente Stakes and San Felipe Stakes, on the way to what was expected to be a bold tilt at the Kentucky Derby. He missed the race, however, with pulled muscles in his back, but he returned to action later that year before claiming the GII San Carlos Stakes, his final race. As a two-year-old still learning his craft, Georgie Boy was headstrong, a real bruiser. “But we knew he could run,” said Smith, who rode the horse to second in the GII Best Pal Stakes, a prep for his next race, the Del Mar Futurity. “He was so aggressive with the blinkers on when we finished second. And she was pretty aggravated because we'd gone pretty quick. And I said 'Kathy, he doesn't need these blinkers anymore. I know he did when he was young, bless him, but he needs to relax. Take them off,” Smith recalled. “Well, she took the blinkers off but she took me off with them!” said Smith. “Of course, the horse relaxed beautifully in the Futurity and won it. “I ran into her the next day and I said, 'Well, first of all congratulations. But if I knew I was attached to those damned blinkers, I would never have told you to take them off!' That's just the game, isn't it,” said Smith. “And you know, we were having dinner together two nights after that.” Walsh was a pioneer among female trainers–a distinction she would begrudgingly acknowledge but more readily downplay. “So many other people are deserving to be here, men and women,” Walsh told the LA Times in 1988, before her trainee, Hanuman Highway, took a shot at the Kentucky Derby. He finished seventh. “But really, this horse doesn't know me as a woman or a man. He just knows me as an individual. I don't mean this as a put-down on women, but I think the respect I might get has more to do with getting a horse to the Derby than what sex I am.” Former trainer Mike Puhich, now trainer and director of horse operations at the Pegasus Training and Rehabilitation Center in Redmond, Washington, knew Walsh since he was knee-high to a pastern. She was Puhich's godmother. “My dad's the one who gave her the nickname The Queen,” said Puhich, of his father, Nick. “She was a great horseperson and a great person. It's hard to think she's gone.” Marietta Gelalich was a long-time owner with Walsh, and one of her closest friends. “Not only was she good with the horses and honest with me about when they should run and shouldn't run, but when my husband ['Tiny'] died–and she loved my husband–she stayed with me 24-7 to help me get back on my feet. She was a true, true friend,” said Gelalich. “I miss her and I love her and she was a true friend and a good trainer. And she did not like a lot of women, you know. You had to cuddle up to her to make her like you. She'd been a woman in a man's world for so long,” said Gelalich. “They broke the mold–thank god–when they made The Queen. She was made of cast iron,” said XBTV and TDN Writers Room presenter Zoe Cadman, who became close friends with Walsh after working for her as a freelance exercise rider. “She loved her horses, cussed like a sailor and tolerated people. She tried for years to get me to work for her full-time but would never acquiesce to giving me a day off. She said I could sleep when I was dead. I declined! Sleep tight, Queen.” Said Smith, “She led a wonderful life. She wouldn't have traded her life for anybody. I can guarantee you that.” The post The Queen Of Racing Kathy Walsh Passes At 85 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Yeah only one I could pick too

Albaugh Family Stables and Castleton Lyons's Cyclone Mischief (Into Mischief–Areyoucominghere, by Bernardini), third to 'TDN Rising Star' and champion Forte (Violence) in the GI Curlin Florida Derby and GII Fountain of Youth Stakes in 2022, will enter stud at Haras Don Florentino in Argentina for the 2025 breeding season, Turf Diario reported on Friday. Bred in Kentucky by Castleton Lyons and Kilboy Estate, Cyclone Mischief cost $450,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September Sale and won two of his first four starts for trainer Dale Romans, including a 5 3/4-length allowance success that saw him jump as the 6-5 favorite in the GIII Holy Bull Stakes. A troubled seventh on that occasion, he bounced back in the final two Gulfstream legs on the Derby trail before finishing down the field in the Run for the Roses. He added allowance victories at Ellis Park last August and back in Hallandale Beach on Jan. 26 and amassed a record of 4-1-4 from 18 starts for earnings of $405,528. Bred on the exact same cross as last weekend's GI Kentucky Derby hero Sovereignty, Cyclone Mischief is out of a half-sister to Suddenbreakingnews (Mineshaft), a 3-year-old of note in 2016 when taking out the GIII Southwest Stakes ahead of a runner-up effort in the GI Arkansas Derby. The Grade III-winning and G1/GISP third dam Party Cited (Alleged) produced seven winners, including GIII West Virginia Derby scorer Ready Set (Touch Gold) and dual Grade I winner Composure (Touch Gold), the dam of GSW & GISP Penwith (Bernardini). A Munnings half-sister to Cyclone Mischief was purchased by Frank Fletcher Racing for $225,000 at Keeneland September last fall. The post Cyclone Mischief To Stand In Argentina appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

An 81-year-old Penn National-based veterinarian charged in February by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) with allegedly intentional, conspirational and repeated violations of intra-articular injection rules designed to safeguard the health of horses has consented to an “agreed order” of a lifetime ban of practicing medicine on Thoroughbreds covered by HISA. Allen Post Bonnell, a veterinarian who has been practicing for 45 years, signed the consent order May 7, according to documentation provided by HISA. Beyond his work as a veterinarian, Bonnell is barred from “participating in any activity” at a racetrack or training facility. According to the consent order, Bonnell agreed to a stipulation that his acceptance of the lifetime ban resolves only the HISA charges against him, and that the penalty is separate from charges, “if any,” that might be issued by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU). An investigation initially led by the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission last year had revealed that Bonnell allegedly conspired with 13 implicated trainers from May 2023 through November 2024 to administer intra-articular injections to the joints of Thoroughbreds within the prohibited stand-down periods, in direct violation of HISA's Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) and Racetrack Safety Programs. According to the PSHRC investigative report that was later handed over to HISA, “Dr. Bonnell informed investigators that trainers will request his services for intra-articular injections because they know he will not report them as required, allowing them to run their horses during the time they should have been placed on the veterinarians list… “Dr. Bonnell went on to [tell investigators] that he feels what he is doing is harmless and it just helps the horse with pain and inflammation. He said the reason he does not report it is that the injections he gives are worthless if it's done too far out because it eventually wears off. If he reports it and the horse is put on the veterinarians list for 14 days, it could be an additional 14 days to a month, even two months, before it runs in a race,” the PSHRC report stated. In a November article published by the Paulick Report in the wake of Bonnell's summary suspension by the PSHRC, the veterinarian told Ray Paulick that he believes the “HISA rules are a nightmare” because they “don't make any sense.” HISA disagreed, stating in a press release in February that of the more than 100 unique horses alleged to have breezed or raced in violation of HISA's intra-articular stand-down times, 30% never raced again, “strongly suggesting these injections were used to mask pain.” Approximately 10% were observed to be lame post-race by a regulatory veterinarian. Three horses were euthanized as a direct result of injuries sustained in those races, HISA stated. Under HISA's rules, horses treated with intra-articular injections are not permitted to race within 14 days or perform a workout within seven days of the treatment. The post Penn Vet Agrees To Lifetime Ban To Resolve HISA Allegations Of 18-Month Joint Injection Conspiracy appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-bred horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Saturday's Observations features a half-brother to multiple Group 1 winner Vandeek. 2.35 Naas, Mdn, €18,000, 2yo, 5f 205yT Besides Ballydoyle buzz horse Albert Einstein (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Aidan O'Brien will also saddle GSTAAD (GB) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), a 450,000gns Tattersalls December purchase who is a half-brother to the G1 Prix Morny and Middle Park Stakes hero Vandeek in their Naas debuts. The post Ballydoyle Duo Debut At Naas appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Michael Behrens and MyRacehorse, owners of last year's GI Preakness Stakes winner Seize the Grey (Arrogate), will be celebrated at Thursday's Alibi Breakfast with the role of Honorary Postmaster for Preakness 150. Previous Honorary Postmasters have included Hall of Fame trainers D. Wayne Lukas, Nick Zito, and Bob Baffert; Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado; and Horse of the Year recipients Cigar and Knicks Go. Behrens is the Founder and CEO of MyRacehorse, the platform that brought fractional racehorse ownership to the masses. Under his leadership, MyRacehorse has opened the gates of the sport to over 100,000 fans worldwide. “It is an incredible honor to be named Honorary Postmaster for Preakness 150,” said Behrens. “This race means the world to us. Winning it last year with over 2,000 MyRacehorse owners behind the horse was one of the most powerful moments in our journey. To be back here a year later in this role is truly special.” The post Preakness Names Michael Behrens, MyRaceHorse Honorary Postmaster appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article