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In a pair of prior starts facing statebreds, Innergy Racing Corp. and Alfred Pais's Unrivaled Time (Not This Time) had closed well in the late stages while showing marked improvement. Closing from the back of a 10-horse field going a mile at Del Mar on Aug. 29, the bay was situated a bit closer to the pace last time, while trying the same distance at Santa Anita on Oct. 19. Finishing full of run when winning as the 2-1 choice for Leonard Powell and jockey Diego Herrera that day, the homebred was given a 5-1 chance in Sunday's GIII Cecil B. DeMille Stakes at Del Mar while a crew that included Grade III winner Hey Nay Nay (Ire) (No Nay Never), who was looking to regain the winning thread after a lackluster 10th in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at the seaside oval on Halloween. Showing early foot from his inside draw, Laurel Futurity winner Proton (Astern {Ire}) went to the front while the flashy Track Tiger (Sharp Azteca) gave chase from a higher draw. While both Unrivaled Time and Hey Nay Nay were content to stalk as Proton carved out an opening quarter in :22.97, Track Tiger was eager to get to the fore and sprinted to the front following a half in :47.52. Regaining the lead leaving the far turn and approaching the quarter pole, 7-2 Proton was still narrowly in front straightening for home as Unrivaled Time, who was closely pursued by Hey Nay Nay, was within striking distance. The leader gave up the advantage midstretch as Unrivaled Time poked a head in front with Iriseach (Ire) (Ubettabelieveit {Ire}) in hot pursuit along the outside, and despite some jostling in the late stages, it was Unrivaled Time that was able to hold on to a half-length score over Iriseach with Hey Nay Nay a close third. Prompted by a rider's objection, the Stewards had a long look at the stretch drive when the favorite appeared to alter course in the final strides, however, the result ultimately remained unchanged. Pedigree Notes: Bred in California by Alfred Pais, Unrivaled Time is out of Margot Machance (GB) (Creachadoir {Ire}), a three-time winner that won for a $20,000 tag in a 23-start racing career for Pais. Her most notable offspring, Margot's Boy (Clubhouse Ride), also ended up winning in the claiming ranks late in his career, however, was a narrowly-beaten second in the 2020 renewal of the GII Del Mar Derby. Subsequent to Unrivaled Time, the English-bred mare produced a filly by Mr. Big last season. She was bred back to Brickyard Ride for 2026. With Sunday DeMille score, Unrivaled Time becomes the 55th graded/group winner for Taylor Made's standout sire Not This Time. Sunday, Del Mar CECIL B. DEMILLE S.-GIII, $101,000, Del Mar, 11-30, 2yo, 1mT, 1:36.42, fm. 1–UNRIVALED TIME, 120, c, 2, by Not This Time 1st Dam: Margot Machance (GB), by Creachadoir (Ire) 2nd Dam: Margot Mine (Ire), by Choisir (Aus) 3rd Dam: Delisha (GB), by Salse 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O-Innergy Racing Corp and Pais, Alfred; B-Alfred A. Pais (CA); T-Leonard Powell; J-Diego A. Herrera. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-0, $97,600. *1/2 to Margot's Boy (Clubhouse Ride), GSP, $395,626. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. 2–Iriseach (Ire), 120, c, 2, Ubettabelieveit (Ire)–Max's Dandy (Ire), by Dandy Man (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. (15,000gns 2yo '25 TAOJN). O-Benowitz Family Trust, CYBT, McLean Racing Stables, Strand Beach LLC and Nentwig, Michael; B-Hyde Park Stud (IRE); T-Philip D'Amato. $20,000. 3–Hey Nay Nay (Ire), 124, c, 2, No Nay Never–Travel, by Street Cry (Ire). ($300,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP). O-Hronis Racing LLC and Iapetus Racing LLC; B-Lynch Bages, Camas Park & Summerhill B/S (IRE); T-John W. Sadler. $12,000. Margins: 3/4, NK, 3/4. Odds: 5.50, 10.10, 0.50. Also Ran: Proton, Caro Buono (Fr), Brigante, Track Tiger. Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV. It's official! Unrivaled Time splits horses to capture the Grade III Cecil B DeMille Stakes under @JockeyHerrera. pic.twitter.com/4qHWzSWugN — Del Mar Racetrack (@DelMarRacing) November 30, 2025 The post Not This Time’s Unrivaled Time Survives Inquiry To Take DeMille At Del Mar appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

WOW! A breakthrough! I do detect a glimmer of optimism from you. Did the home provide a full English Breakfast today?

Probably nothing but Ellerslie will probably keep the subsidies.

The New York Racing Association was forced to cancel the final eight races of the nine-race card Nov. 30 at Aqueduct Racetrack due to a protest lodged by the jockeys resulting in their refusal to ride.View the full article

Probably wasn't a Grand Tour event @Wingman ? Those events really provide atmosphere ,sparkle and non stop vibes! ... ask @Chief Stipe

Massively overpriced

Why does any of this matter? its most likely Levin RC would like to race on their own home track but have been done the dirty on by NZTR . How much do Otaki pay to have their G1 at Ellerslie?

Officials from Jamaica's Mouttet Mile asked jockey Javier Castellano to participate in the Caribbean's largest purse race in 2023 and 2024. But other obligations compelled Castellano to decline their overtures. This year, he couldn't say no.View the full article

No I'm asking you if you think it is a fair charge for the use of an event venue including track and all the facilities PLUS an expectation that the OTAKI track manager will do their job properly and ALL the facilities will be up to scratch. You wouldn't much change out of $10k for a wedding venue hire for 250 people. Well Masterton and Tauherenikau are another interesting case - however Tauherenikau have a good source of non-racing income to support Masterton which essentially run the training centre at Opaki. I don't have to trash it out with anyone. It is all in the two Clubs accounts. However Levin is transparent with their Racing Club accounts which essentially is the raceday transactions and equity balances but a not very transparent with the detail of the three trusts that effectively run the activity at the Levin racecourse. From what I see if Otaki had the full revenue from the 3 Levin Racing Club racedates giving the a total of 13 then Otaki would probably be profitable. At this stage neither are and the only advantage Levin has is the Capital they banked when selling land. What is clear that although the Levin Racing Club does a grand job providing jumpouts for the region it isn't a profitable business and Levin relies on the subsidisation from Otaki. I wouldn't be surprised if in the past when Otaki have squeaked Levin has just well if you want to increase the fee we may as well shift out dates to RACE at Awapuni. I suspect that may have happened if it wasn't for the problems with the Awapuni track.

NEWMARKET, UK — Britain doesn't yet have its own equivalent of the Irish Stallion Trail or La Route des Etalons, but credit must go to the seven farms in and around Newmarket that have thrown open their doors to breeders for an extended run to coincide with the concluding sessions of the Tattersalls December Sale. Opening times over the next few days vary for each farm but, on Sunday, it was possible to view 26 stallions parading within a 30-mile radius of British Flat racing's headquarters. Spared the fuss of having to parade were a couple of the town's elder statesman in Dubawi and Oasis Dream. The Darley behemoth was sure to keep a close eye on proceedings from the comfort of his box at Dalham Hall Stud, however, while Oasis Dream, now rising 26, cut a fine figure when giving a buck and a kick in the paddock that runs parallel to the yellow brick road leading to the stallion yard at Juddmonte's Banstead Manor Stud. For many, the road's end brought a cherished encounter with the living legend that is Frankel, as well as the first glimpse of Lead Artist in his new home, preparing to embark on his first season at a fee of £12,500 next year. “It's a crucial week,” Shane Horan, Juddmonte's nominations manager, said of the opportunity to showcase this year's G1 Lockinge Stakes hero to the breeders that arrived in droves on Sunday. “He's gone down really well. He's a Dubawi out of a Frankel mare and a Group 1-winning miler. He was an obvious one for us to stand and, any new horse that comes here, there is always huge interest in them. Already, lots of people have asked us to hold one [a nomination] and then they'll come down and see him and have a think about what mares would suit him. That's where the process starts and we'll finalise things once the sales are over.” Among those in attendance to be taken with Lead Artist was Daniel Creighton, the bloodstock agent and co-founder of Salcey Forest Stud in Warwickshire, who also took the opportunity to voice some concerns with regards the dilemma so many breeders face when it comes to mating plans. “He's a very nice horse. It's obviously an impeccable pedigree and they've priced him at a very reasonable level,” Creighton said of Lead Artist. “For a commercial breeder like myself, it's important to have stallions that are affordable. England is kind of lacking in stallions at the moment and, unfortunately, the market has just gone so polarised towards first-season sires that, if you use horses in their second or third season, you could be in trouble. They don't keep stallions like Territories that were affordable and could get you a winner. Now, you have to go to a first-season sire or spend 100 grand to send your mare to a proven stallion.” Next year, Creighton will be spoilt for choice should he choose to go down the first-season sire route, with Lead Artist being joined in Newmarket by this year's G1 Prix Jacques le Marois winner Diego Velazquez at the National Stud, as well as the triple Group 1 scorer Rosallion and G1 Commonwealth Cup hero Inisherin at Dalham Hall. The dual Group 1-winning juvenile Shadow Of Light, new to Darley's Kildangan Stud for 2026, also paraded at Dalham Hall on Sunday before his move to Ireland later this year. “He came here about six weeks ago and he's settled in very well,” Jamie Jackson, the National Stud's sales and nominations manager, said of the striking Diego Velazquez, who has been introduced at a fee of £17,500. “He's been able to put on some weight and condition, he's showing amazingly, and everyone's been very complimentary. We'd love to cover a full book for the syndicate behind him and Sam Sangster. If he gets 160 mares, we'd be absolutely delighted – and there's no reason why he wouldn't.” Whilst the team at the National Stud prepared to host a bumper crowd for a special event later on Sunday, it was all hands to the pump at Dalham Hall as Darley's UK base welcomed a relentless stream of visitors eager to inspect the trio of newcomers. “We can get hundreds and hundreds of people here,” Dawn Laidlaw, Darley's head of nominations, said of the five-day open house which got underway there on Saturday. “It's brilliant for us, particularly when you have new stallions. And it's a good chance for people to see the horses that have been here a year or two and how they've changed.” Of the new recruits, she added, “I would say one of the winners for people has been Inisherin. He's a lovely, big stamp of a horse and was obviously very fast. Shadow Of Light was a brilliant two-year-old and seems to be going down well, while Rosallion was an absolutely fantastic racehorse. He's probably a little bit light at the moment – he obviously had quite a hard season – but he moves really well and is exceptionally athletic. I think, this time next year, he'll look like a totally different horse.” Those views were echoed by Dwayne Woods, the bloodstock agent and owner of Brook Stud, who was quick to highlight the obvious potential of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum's Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James's Palace Stakes winner. “It's obviously very early days for them to look good, straight out of training,” Woods said of Darley's three newcomers. “But I thought Rosallion was an absolutely beautiful horse with plenty of scope and size. He's going to look fabulous in a year's time and I think he'll go down really well with breeders.” He continued, “We've obviously seen them when they were racing, but I always love to see them close up as stallions and to envisage the way they're going to progress.” Brook Stud had a busy December Foal Sale when offering 11 weanlings, including a Study Of Man filly who sold to Daithi Harvey for 175,000gns. Another to enjoy a successful time of things at Tattersalls was the dual Group 1-winning sprinter Shaquille, who averaged 64,371gns from 35 of his first-crop representatives. Little wonder the team at Ace Stud was in a buoyant mood as Shaquille's dappled bay coat glistened in the Sunday morning sunshine, with breeders Fiona and Mick Denniff featuring among the interesting onlookers. “We sold two foals by him this week, we've got a mare in foal to him, and another couple will be coming back to him,” Fiona said of their fierce patronage of the young stallion. “As I stood and looked at him there, I said to my husband, 'I don't need to make any notes on this stallion.' I like him that much. I watched him when he was racing and thought he was a phenomenal racehorse. Then, when I saw him for the first time, he looked like a miler and not a sprinter. He walked so well and had so much about him. For me, it was a no-brainer – I had to use him.” Similarly, many breeders who thought it a no-brainer to support Chaldean when he stood his first season at Banstead Manor in 2024 have seen their judgement well rewarded at Park Paddocks in recent days. With an average of 107,440gns from 25 foals, the Classic-winning son of Frankel also featured prominently among the leading first-crop sires at the December Foal Sale. “We could not be happier with Chaldean,” Horan summed up ahead of the sire's imminent return from Cambridge Stud in New Zealand, his base for the Southern Hemisphere breeding season. “We were quietly confident coming into the sale that he would go really well. We were very pleased with the Juddmonte foals that we have on the farm and we knew that he'd covered an exceptional book of mares. All of the right people were buying them and the amount of people that stopped me to say, 'Well done with the Chaldeans, you must be very pleased with the Chaldeans.' He was a very sought-after foal himself when he was offered and people remember him.” Just a short hop away at Shadwell's Beech House Stud, another son of Frankel, Mostahdaf, prowled for breeders on Sunday in the wake of his first foals selling at Tattersalls, headlined by a filly Shadwell signed for themselves at 100,000gns. As the curtain prepares to come down on 2025, however, we can be forgiven for turning our attentions to Shadwell poster boy Baaeed and the countdown to his first runners arriving on European racecourses in 2026. “It's a massive year for Shadwell and our stallion operation,” said the team's UK nominations and EU marketing manager, Will Wright. “Obviously, we've got Baaeed whose legacy goes all the way back to Height Of Fashion, our foundation mare. It's a story in the making, really, and his first yearlings were incredibly well received, selling for up to €800,000. Almost half of his first crop have been retained by their owner-breeders without sending them to the sales. He's everything that a stallion should be and must be one of the most exciting prospects of recent times heading into next year.” The post ‘It’s A Crucial Week’ – New Stallions On Show As Breeders Flock to Newmarket Open Houses appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The final eight races of Sunday's nine-race card at Aqueduct Racetrack were cancelled by the New York Racing Association due to a protest lodged by the jockeys resulting in their refusal to ride. Following Race 1, jockeys expressed a concern regarding the duties of the NYRA Clerk of Scales and Assistant Clerk of Scales. Despite the efforts of NYRA management, the jockeys refused to ride and have abandoned live racing on Sunday at Aqueduct. “NYRA is responsible for oversight of the Clerk of Scales, Assistant Clerk of Scales and all racing officials in accordance with New York State Gaming Commission rules,” said Andrew Offerman, NYRA Senior Vice President of Racing and Operations. “The procedures employed by those officials are designed to protect the integrity of racing and are NYRA's responsibility to maintain and enforce.” The jockeys expressed no objections to the condition of the track or weather. Aqueduct Racetrack will remain open for simulcasting, and online wagering is available through NYRA Bets at www.NYRABets.com. Live racing is scheduled to resume Thursday at Aqueduct with an eight-race card. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern. The post Live Racing Cancelled at Aqueduct on Sunday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Delta Downs decided to give horseplayers an unprecedented break last week. For their daytime cards on Tuesday and Wednesday, the track lowered the takeout in all pools to just 10%. While other tracks have experimented with lowering the takeout in some pools, never before had anyone decided to slash the take in all pools. By doing so, it looked like Delta would provide the industry with some much needed data. What effect would such a low takeout have on handle and how would the ADWs and the CAW players react? But the experiment didn't necessarily accomplish that. It may have raised more questions than it answered. On the first day of the takeout promotion, Delta had, for a small track, big numbers. It handled $1,428,848, a 38.6% increase over the comparable program in 2024. But the good fortune lasted only a day. On Day Two of the experiment, the handle was nearly the same as Day One with Delta handling $1,486,485. But that represented a 15.6% decrease from the 2024 handle. The reason why handle fell on Wednesday is pretty clear. Delta went head-to-head with some very strong competitors, including Parx, Tampa Bay Downs and, especially Churchill Downs. The competition was much softer on Tuesday when the only tracks to run daytime cards were Finger Lakes, Mahoning Valley, Parx and Zia Park. Delta decided to go the daytime route to give a break to its employees and horsemen around the Thanksgiving holiday, but it might have backfired. Delta rarely runs during the day and one of the reasons is that, during the night, it is typically one of, if not the, strongest signals offered to the player. That's why Delta proudly calls itself “America's favorite nighttime track.” “Would we have been better off running at night? We don't know yet. Maybe,” said Delta Downs Director of Racing Operations John Simon, who was the one who came up with the idea for the promotion. Another important mitigating factor for both days was that the Churchill Downs-owned TwinSpires ADW did not take the Delta signal on both days. That wasn't a complete surprise since such low takeouts mean less of a profit margin for an ADW. “We were a little surprised that they didn't take us after they were, at first, supportive of the idea,” Simon said. “Did they give us an explanation why they didn't take us? No, they did not.” However, all the other major ADWs–Xpressbet, TVG, NYRA Bets and AmWager–offered Delta to their customers, perhaps realizing that it wasn't the worst thing to let their Delta-playing customers get a big break when only two cards would be involved. The other unknown was how would the CAW players react. They generally don't like to play wagers with low takeouts because higher takeouts mean they are entitled to larger rebates. Simon said he had yet to receive the data regarding the play of CAW customers. But there was at least one race that indicated CAW play strongly influenced the odds. In Wednesday's feature, the $100,000 Jean Lafitte Stakes, the Tom Amoss-trained Oscar's Hope (Twirling Candy) looked like a standout on paper, worth even-money or less. At 3:57.30 pm, roughly 90 seconds before the race went off, he was 7-5. With each subsequent flash, his odds kept going down, but only slightly. At 4:56.32, he took a big hit and was all the way down to 2-5. In the last two flashes, he was down to 3-10. He won and paid $2.60, a lot less than the price that was being offered to the “regular player” less than two minutes before the race went off. Though we don't yet know 100% that was CAW play that slashed the odds, the evidence suggests that it was. Simon said it was too early to say whether Delta would try a similar promotion again, but let's hope they do. And if they do, let's hope that TwinSpires and all the other ADWs take the signal. The industry needs to give a lot more thought to making life easier on the everyday horseplayer, who has never had it worse because they are being hammered by the CAW players, causing many to simply walk away from the sport. Whether it worked or not, Delta should be commended for thinking of the horseplayer first. More on CAWs Not everyone is ready to sit by and let the CAW players make gambling a frustrating experience for them. Someone posted an online petition on social media sites under the name of “CAW Tracker,” asking players to sign a petition expressing their unhappiness with CAW play and the need for passage of the Fair Horse Wagering Act. The petition can be found at https://cawtracker.com/sign-the-petition/#. It reads: “Signing the Fair Horse Wagering Act sends a clear message that everyday fans are no longer willing to let computer-assisted wagering quietly distort the sport they love. By adding your name, you help shine a spotlight on an issue that has grown unchecked for years, raising public awareness and pushing regulators to take meaningful action. A unified show of support not only amplifies the voices of horseplayers who feel drowned out by automated betting groups, but it also helps protect the integrity of wagering pools, preserve competitive balance, and restore trust in a game that depends on transparency.” Well said. At Del Mar, Chad Brown Does It Again While no one is more dangerous with a turf stakes horse in New York than Chad Brown, he's even better at Del Mar, where his success continued during the weekend's Turf Festival at the seaside track. Brown won two of three grass stakes on Saturday's card at Del Mar and with the only two horses he started that day. He won the GIII Jimmy Durante Stakes with Just Aloof (Justify), who paid $8.00. He came right back and won the only Grade I on the card with Salamis (Speightstown) in the GI Hollywood Derby. It was his fifth win in the Hollywood Derby as he surpassed Charlie Whittingham for most career wins in the Grade I event. It was his third win in the Jimmy Durate. He did not have a starter in the GII Hollywood Turf Cup on Friday, a race he has yet to win. On Sunday's card he had Segesta (Ghostzapper) in the GI Matriarch. (The race was run after the deadline for this story). That's a race he has won six times, including each of the last four years. He is bearing down on the record for most Matriarch wins, which is eight and was set by his former boss Bobby Frankel. Overall, Brown, despite not winning a race at this year's Breeders' Cup, is entering the Matriarch 21-for-104 all-time at Del Mar for a winning rate of 21%. For him, that's actually a lower percentage than the one he normally puts up in New York, but what is so remarkable is that all 21 wins have come in graded stakes races. The post Delta’s Takeout Promotion Yields Mixed Results appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Impossible to impress you @Huey given you want a 100% discount and a money back guarantee on everything.

The aptly-named Easy has been billed as one of the star attractions to Monday's Sceptre Sessions at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale and Brian Slattery says that the Listed-winning daughter of Kodiac boasts “international appeal” and a successful sale would put the cherry on top of what has been a dream year for his brother and trainer, Andy. The landscape of Irish racing has changed even in the past few years alone. The bigger trainers have become behemoths and it has become harder and harder for the middle to lower tier handlers to remain competitive. By attacking the yearling sales and identifying talent on a budget, the Slatterys have not just remained relevant, they have thrived in one of the most competitive jurisdictions there is. This year's tally of 28 Flat wins on the turf is the best-ever for the stable. So, too, is the €541,500 amassed in prize-money. What's even more impressive is that the jumps arm of the County Tipperary yard has been humming along sweeter still; there are 17 wins on the board with the National Hunt season only in its infancy. Again, that's a personal best for Andy. There are not many stables that can boast such numbers over both codes and, in many ways, it all comes to a crescendo on Monday. Brian Slattery said, “We do an awful lot of breeze-up horses as well as racing them on the track but we are sellers. In order to survive in Ireland, you need to be selling and, I suppose, for the money we spend at the yearling sales, we've had a phenomenal year. Jamie Osborne's horse, Heart Of Honor (Honor A.P.), is probably the flag-bearer for the breeze-up operation, Meadowview Stables, but thankfully we've managed to have a good time of it on the track as well. We genuinely get as much of a kick out of a horse we sold winning a big race as we do when we win one ourselves.” He added, “We sold a very good horse to Hong Kong, Fiach McHugh (Belardo), whose name was changed to Red Lion. He ended up winning a Group 1 down there. Then there is Almendares (Havana Grey), who we also raced and sold to America. He's going for a Grade I in the new year so that's extremely exciting. I suppose this is a different type of excitement with Easy and, to be a part of the whole Sceptre Sessions is special, really.” Easy | Racingfotos.com Easy will be offered for sale as part of the Sceptre Sessions in foal to Mehmas. A Listed winner when successful for the Slatterys at Cork last season, she reached a career-high rating of 102 for that outfit. Not only did she win her Stakes race last season, but she came close to bagging a Group 3 victory earlier this year, only finding Copacabana Sands too good in the Barberstown Castle Stakes at Leopardstown. Slattery said, “To be selling Easy on behalf of Team Valor and Gary Barber, sure it doesn't get much better than this. Listen, we always knew how good Easy is and, if we can end the story on a good note for our owners, it would be brilliant. She started out with us and, although she had a little bit of a hiatus after she won her maiden, we enjoyed some brilliant days with her and I think she showed people what she could do when she won her Listed race at Cork. I still believe that we never actually saw the best of Easy on the track. The ability that she had was frightening but, she's such a big filly and she put so much into her work, she used to go weak. That's one of the main reasons we didn't see the best of her. She always had a lot of brilliance and you don't name a horse Easy for no reason.” The Mehmas cross with Kodiac has produced a massive 74% winners-to-runners strike-rate. The headline acts within that impressive statistic are Group 1-winning sprinter Believing, Group 2 scorer West Acre and Group performer Diego Ventura. Slattery is in little doubt that his mare, who hails from the family of Cassandra Go, boasts international appeal. He concluded, “It's the old cliche, but she's a queen. She's absolutely gorgeous. She's selling in foal to Mehmas and it's a very good cross. What Tally-Ho has done with those stallions, particularly in the past few years, is amazing. There are a lot of top stallions in Easy's page and, I know I am biased, but she would be an addition to any breeding operation in the world. She has international appeal and we've literally had people from all over the world looking at her today. For a period of about three hours, she wasn't in her box. She was seriously busy showing. The footfall is amazing and, like I said, it's fairly special to be a part of it all. We just want to end the story on a good note and, please God, we can make that happen on Monday.” The post ‘Easy Has International Appeal And We Can’t Wait For The Sceptre Sessions’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The Jockey Club has donated HK$70.2 million to the victims of the Tai Po fire after a subdued afternoon of racing at Sha Tin on Sunday. A minute’s silence was observed before Sunday’s closed-door meeting, which was restricted to owners, stewards, voting members and their invited guests, and there was none of the colour and buzz of a normal Sha Tin meeting. “I want to express my deep condolences to all of those who have been affected by this tragic fire,” said Jockey Club chief executive Winfried...View the full article

Dazzling Fit enhanced his Classic Series claims with a herculean performance and Colourful King came from the clouds in a sensational display as David Eustace celebrated a double at Sha Tin on Sunday. Despite facing tough draws in their respective races, Colourful King exploded from last to smash his rivals in the Class Two 1,000m Turf Handicap before Dazzling Fit sealed Eustace’s brace with a gutsy victory in the Class Three 1,600m Turf Handicap. “You’re hopeful when you go to the races with a...View the full article

The world's top-rated horse, Calandagan, was all out to defeat Japan's best, Masquerade Ball, by a head at the end of the 1 1/2 miles of the Japan Cup (G1) Nov. 30 at Tokyo Racecourse.View the full article

Libertad produced the biggest performance of his career and one of the most dramatic finishes of The Pinnacles when the 5-year-old entire lunged late to deny Overpass the Winterbottom Stakes.View the full article

Otaki would set the fee so, if you think venue hireage is too low maybe have a chat to them. I don't know which clubs you are comparing with for fairness. I note Masterton pay $8K venue hire. Funding is made up of many aspects. I'm picking the $17K is for being a part of the Christmas at the Races model for one of the meetings. The other amounts allocated to funding have been negotiated over the years, you'd have to thrash it out with whoever is looking after that now at club and/or NZTR level, if you are concerned Levin is receiving more than their share. Until recently the LRC ran a Group 1 and two listed races, probably deserving the level of funding received.

Hong Lok Golf could be heading for Group One targets after getting back on track with a game performance to win the Class Two 1,600m Turf Handicap at Sha Tin on Sunday. Chris So Wai-yin’s galloper won six of his seven starts in a breakout first campaign, but had kicked off this season with a pair of defeats, most recently by two and a half lengths in disappointing fashion. Sent off the $4.6 joint favourite under Harry Bentley, there were some anxious moments for his backers when he turned into...View the full article

TOKYO, JAPAN — It turns out that it takes the world's best horse to win what what will surely be judged for the second time in three years to have been the world's best race. For 20 years the Europeans have come and failed to conquer but Calandagan (Gleneagles), already at the summit of the world rankings for 2025 and with Mount Fuji as the backdrop for his most towering challenge to date, lowered the record of the great Almond Eye when outbattling race favourite Masquerade Ball (Duramente) to win the 45th running of the Japan Cup. They say that two out of three ain't bad and, in a pinch-me year for trainer Francis Graffard and the team at the Aga Khan Studs, they have combined to have two of the top three horses in the world rankings. This week the name of the Arc winner Daryz (Sea The Stars) has been mentioned more than once in press conferences by racing manager Nemone Routh and then by Princess Zahra Aga Khan after Sunday's victory, but this particular day was owned by Calandagan, a reformed character from his juvenile season whose only tearaway characteristics now are in streaking home to glory. Mickael Barzalona, too, was a flamboyant youngster, notably when standing in his irons to salute the crowd at Epsom before he was even over the line in the Derby, but the jockey's transition into a calm and collected professional is now complete, along with that of his horse. In a dramatic start to the race which saw Yuga Kawada ejected from the stumbling Admire Terra on leaving the stalls, Barzalona had Calandagan switched off towards the rear of the remaining 16 runners, travelling smoothly, eyes presumably fixed on the imaginary target on Christophe Lemaire's back aboard Masquerade Ball. Moving up on the outside of the favourite mid-stretch, Barzalona temporarily had Lemaire pinned for room as Shin Emperor weakened in his run, but the looming pair shifted out just enough for both to pass last year's runner-up with ease. From there the battle commenced, with Calandagan and Masquerade Ball locked together to the line. Only the grey Admire Terra could pass them, and he was unencumbered by the weight of a rider. “We were a little bit caught for speed in the early part of the race but Mickael caught a good lead behind Christophe Lemaire,” said Graffard. “He travelled the whole way behind the right horse in the race so that gave me a lot of confidence, and then we then never had any trouble in running especially into the last bend, and the horse after that has been really brave.” The trainer still has some important work to be done in Hong Kong in a fortnight's time, but with the year he's had already – winning Classics, a Breeders' Cup and three Group 1 races with Calandagan alone prior to today – it could have been imagined that the pressure may be off a little when it came to this challenge at the end of a long season for the four-year-old. One look at Graffard's face before the race told another story, however, especially with a recently earned title to uphold. “I was really stressed today. I knew I was bringing the best horse in the world and I was re-exposing him in a race that is almost impossible to win,” he said. Almost, but not quite. And in achieving the near-impossible Calandagan collected the equivalent of $3.3m in prize-money, with a further $3m bonus as the winner of a selection of Group 1 races in Europe this year. Just one would have done but he had three to choose from. “I said to myself it wasn't really fair on the horse to ask that of him and I really felt that pressure today. I thought to myself it would be awful to have take him back home to his box where there would be a plaque saying best horse in the world and for his year to end in disappointment,” he continued. “We were asking him to do something quite incredible after he had already proved he was the best, so I felt an enormous weight on my shoulders. I love taking on the big challenges but this morning I was really wondering why were putting ourselves through it.” For Princess Zahra, there must also be pressure in striving to uphold the standards which have been set down over the last century by three generations of her forebears. The Aga Khan Studs, founded by her great grandfather Aga Khan III, have become a byword for excellence in Thoroughbred breeding. Her father's long tenure ended only with his passing in February. Racing in Japan has existed for almost the same amount of time that the Aga Khan Studs have been in existence, and the leaders in this nation have steadily amassed a national broodmare band whose offspring have become the envy of the old world order. This emergence of Japan as one of the global leaders in bloodstock has of course not been lost on Princess Zahra, who on Saturday inspected the impressive line-up of sires at Hokkaido's Shadai Stallion Station. It surely won't be long before one or two of them are visited by mares from the Aga Khan Studs. “It has been a very good year thanks to the people sitting next to me and to the rest of the team,” she said, positioned between Graffard and Barzalona after a lengthy presentation ceremony during which she looked almost embarrassed to receive gift after prize after medal and then, best of all, the Japan Cup itself. “It's the best year we've had in a very long time. Of course I miss my father very much. He was very involved, but in terms of the operation, I think we continue to do what we do and with our new training policies, thanks to Francis and the collaboration with Mickael, we've had a very good year.” She continued, “Calandagan has shown himself to be an improving horse throughout the year and I think both Francis and Mickael have learned how to read the horse and to bring him to the best place on the right day at the right time. “Calandagan, as Francis said from the beginning of the year, was the horse for this race and he had planned this for a very long time. I wasn't sure in March that we were going to get here.” Of her visit to Shadai with her team of Pat Downes, Nemone Routh and Pierre Gasnier, she added, “As a breeding operation it is fascinating to see the bloodlines that exist in this country that are actually remote from the European bloodlines that we have today. It is very interesting to me to see what Japan has produced in terms of stallions, in terms of bloodlines, and I think it is going to be fascinating to see what those bloodlines produce in the future.” The development of those bloodlines has indeed been seen to increasingly devastating effect around the world. At home, the development of the sport of racing is equally impressive. Under a spotless blue sky 77,029 fans crammed into the vast Tokyo grandstand, lining the parade ring ten deep at least and creating a wall of sound as the race reached its climax that is surely unmatched at any racecourse. It was clear that for many professionals involved in the Japan Cup that there was a sense of pride that the race had this year attracted the top-rated Calandagan. The local racing fans may have preferred their favoured Tenno Sho winner Masquerade Ball to prevail – and he only went down by a head at the line, with the last two Derby winners Danon Decile (Epiphaneia) and Croix Du Nord (Kitasan Black) filling the minor places – but they know a good horse when they see one. Calandagan was duly afforded the hero's welcome that he deserved as he was brought back out to the track for the presentation ceremony. “He's a real champion, as everybody saw today,” Graffard said. “Mickael has so much faith in this horse and he's never let him down.” Calandagan, only the second French-trained horse to win the Japan Cup since Le Glorieux in 1987, was serenaded after his triumph by the on-course band playing Land of Hope and Glory. At first it seemed an incongruous anthem but, for his own Last Night of the Proms, a quest that began in hope and some trepidation for Calandagan's connections had indeed ended in unforgettable glory. The post ‘A Real Champion’: Calandagan Wows Japan With Record-Breaking Cup Victory appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Considering the funding that Levin gets for their 3 racedays do you think a rental of $10,000 per meeting for the Otaki track and facilities is fair and reasonable? To Otaki?

Carter champion 🏆

According to the performance report on the Incorporated Societies website course rental for 2024 and 2025 are both the same at $30,000. With 3 meetings, each one cost $10,000. Like every other cost in New Zealand those fees are destined to increase.

Its not hard to impress you @Chief Stipe