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Good comments, I'd have to say you can give him a swish if he irritates you, but he doesn't take offence. And yes, wishing all contributors good fortune and good health going forward.

I know the Chief won't do it, because he doesn't really go for that warm fuzzy stuff, but best New Year wishes to all those that read and contribute to BOAY. It is after all what makes a chat site, a chat site. Personally, I have found this to be the best of the social media chat sites about racing. Why? I think a lot of it is to do with the Chiefs knowledge of racing and intelligence, something which I think appeals to a lot of people who read this site. Yes, he may give you a serve if you post stuff that in his mind does not stack up, but that should not deter people from having a say. There is a big difference between rampant negativity that seems to be the hallmark for social media, and rigorous, fact based, critical appraisal of the issues in racing

some names spring to mind?

Hours before the new year, Santa Anita Park hosts the final graded stakes race of 2025: the $100,000 Robert J. Frankel Stakes (G3T). Trainer Phil D'Amato runs Public Assembly and Sun Of Hill.View the full article

Maybe a sign of what you are talking about, but no horse racing people in the 2026 Honours list and only one last year, Terry Campbell, long time president at the Taupo RC

Beholder's Grade I-winning daughter Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) has been retired to Spendthrift Farm following an injury that occurred after training Saturday. The news, first reported by the Daily Racing Form, comes as the latest blow for the soon to be 5-year-old whose career has been a progression of starts and stops dating back through her 2-year-old campaign. Trainer Richard Mandella told the DRF's Steve Anderson that Tamara's post-workout X-rays were “clean, but she is off a little in her right front. They're planning to retire her, and I'm all for that.” The injury occurred Saturday after the 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' worked five furlongs in :57.80. Tamara had been prepping for a start in Sunday's GIII Las Flores Stakes at Santa Anita Park. Named a 'Rising Star' for her debut win at Del Mar in Aug. 2023, Tamara showed immediate class with a next-out win in the GI FanDuel Racing Del Mar Debutante Stakes that September. Sent off as the favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, she faded from the lead to finish seventh and exited the race with an injury which would keep her from the track nearly the entirety of 2024. She did return to get second in allowance company at Del Mar in late November last year but another long layoff followed as Tamara would not race again until her win in this year's GIII Chillingworth Stakes at Santa Anita Oct. 4. She has since been disqualified from that win due to a medication overage. An expected next start in this year's GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint also failed to happen as Tamara was scratched by the track veterinarians for unsoundness the morning of the race. She underwent several tests before returning to training for Mandella. A homebred for Spendthrift Farm, who purchased her illustrious dam as a yearling for $180,000, Tamara retires with five total starts. The post Tamara Retired To Spendthrift After Injury Setback appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

I've mentioned where to start. However any position of power, leadership or voice for the industry. Retention and recruitment are critical, as the police are finding out.

Gee I missed out again, my long dedicated service and generosity to the TAB and lotto should be worthy of recognition..🤠 My New Years resolution for the 35th year in a row is to give up gambling 😎

At some point, the final day of a given year will also close out his reign. For now, however, its seamless extension has secured Into Mischief parity with Bold Ruler himself, his seventh consecutive general sires' championship matching the Claiborne legend's monopoly between 1963 and 1969. Bold Ruler actually added an eighth title in 1973, courtesy of Secretariat's Triple Crown, but even the clear emergence of two young pretenders to his crown may not prevent Into Mischief extending his reign in 2026. In the meantime we must qualify this as a modern record, the 19th Century career of Lexington necessarily set aside as belonging to a wholly different environment. In the process, however, we must question whether the Into Mischief era–which he bestrides not just as its highest achiever, but also as its template–can be any more pertinently compared with that of Bold Ruler. Into Mischief has had 451 starters this year alone. His lifetime tally of 187 black-type winners represents 10.4 percent of 1,802 named foals to date. Even aged 20, and at a prohibitive $250,000, he covered 176 mares last spring. No big deal, perhaps, relative to the books of 274 and 273, respectively, corralled by Tiz the Law and Arabian Knight–yet a world apart from Bold Ruler, whose average crop comprised 28 named foals. In total he sired 366 of those, between 1959 and his death, aged 17, in 1971. His 82 stakes winners therefore work out at 22.4 percent. The industrial model, enabled by veterinary science and branded by its rags-to-riches paragon, has obviously brought many incidental challenges. In the old days, if you wanted to get your mare to Bold Ruler, she absolutely had to earn the right. Genetic quality was duly locked in. Any time you see a Bold Ruler mare in a pedigree, you can guarantee that she was either an elite runner or producer, and very often both. But we now have a situation where each new intake of stallions will include several that are each permitted a bigger individual contribution to the gene pool than Born Ruler, even though most will (as a matter of statistical inevitability) subsequently be revealed as corrosive influences. Bold Ruler | Horsephotos The irony, of course, is that Into Mischief himself did not contribute to that syndrome. His debut crop comprised 46 live foals; his second, 29. He was so short of support that he notoriously inspired the late B. Wayne Hughes to shake up the whole business with incentive schemes that thoroughly provoked certain more traditional farms. Spendthrift's owner then proved himself an adept player of the numbers game, when populating the roster below his emerging champion: fees were pitched accessibly to smaller breeders, who instead had to accept the cost of a potential catalogue glut. Since his death, there has been a quiet but striking reset at Spendthrift, even as several other farms, following the defeat of a proposed mare cap, have conspicuously released the brakes on stallion books. It may well prove, yet again, that the Spendthrift team are ahead of the curve; and that their pursuers, and imitators, will find themselves ingesting the same old dust! A digression, plainly, but some such context does feel necessary in obliging the venerable Bold Ruler to share a summit he had previously commanded alone. And it is certainly wholesome to remind ourselves that Into Mischief, while the most modern of sires, emerged from nowhere by the old-fashioned means of proving his sheer genetic prowess. He has also proved a textbook case in terms of the way his stock evolved in response to the upgrading of his mares. That is by no means automatic. He was certainly upgrading plebeian mares at the outset, and his commercial speed might equally have dominated the aristocrats he began to entertain at higher fees. Instead he has allowed them to stretch out his speed to become a legitimate Classic influence, as we saw with his third GI Kentucky Derby winner in 2025. True, I will believe that he can sire the winner of a “proper” GI Belmont Stakes when I see it! The fact that no authentic Triple Crown was available neutralized what would otherwise have been an infuriating decision to bypass the GI Preakness with Sovereignty. In the event, of course, the attempt to preserve his fuel backfired when he had to be scratched from the Breeders' Cup anyway. As it was, Into Mischief as usual maintained sufficient clear water on his pursuers to be able to boast that he would still have been champion, with or without his flagship: Sovereignty contributed $5.7 million to a total $32,527,005, which kept Into Mischief $8,560,788 clear of runner-up Not This Time. (All tallies correct through December 29, and duly subject to final updating after some good sport on New Year's Eve.) That aggregate is second only to the $35,486,571 banked by Into Mischief last year. Remarkable to reflect that when he first raised the purse money bar, in 2020, it was to $22.5 million-a sum actually eclipsed by Not This Time this year, at $23,966,217. In 2025 Into Mischief has precisely replicated his five Grade I and 17 graded stakes winners last year, but his 27 stakes winners fall shy of the remarkable 36 he amassed then. Likewise, 224 individual winners could not quite match 254 from 476 starters last year-never mind the preposterous ceiling he reached with 262 winners in 2021. No other sire, incidentally, has ever managed 200. Significantly, with the future in mind, Not This Time just edges Into Mischief with 29 stakes winners, from 295 starters, representing a stellar ratio of 9.8 percent of starters. (Stellar by modern standards, that is: Bold Ruler might not be so impressed…) While it may be too early to speak of a seven-year itch, with Into Mischief maintaining apparently inexhaustible libido and fertility, Not This Time and Gun Runner have this year contested the runner-up spot between them for the first time-and in the process left little doubt that it will be one of this pair that eventually usurps Into Mischief. Not This Time | Sarah Andrew Not This Time also registered the highest clip for black-type and graded stakes horses, with 51 and 35 respectively representing 17.3 and 11.9 percent of starters. He also led all comers on earnings per starter, at $81,241. The 11th hour contribution of Goal Oriented, in the GI Malibu Stakes, enabled Not This Time to match Gun Runner with a fourth Grade I winner of the year; and he wins the tiebreaker with 15 graded stakes against 14. In the end, the $2,237,937 million that separates Not This Time from Gun Runner's haul of $21,728,280 can be clearly credited to his especially prolific campaign on grass. He tops the turf table on $12,778,483, representing 53.3 percent of his overall earnings; and also sent out 17 stakes winners on grass, including nine at graded stakes and three at Grade I level. Not This Time, who also had a couple of graded stakes winners on synthetics, finishes no higher than eighth in the dirt standings. To be clear, this is all to the good. If he is going to consolidate his sire-line as a brand that combines versatility and class, then he is a stallion equipped not just for the 21st Century but for global influence. It must be acknowledged that the big European programs have proved remarkably obtuse so far, but Not This Time is going to penetrate there eventually. In the meantime, the frightening fact is that his present juveniles were still only conceived at $45,000! We saw at the yearling sales what to expect from his first crop sired at $135,000, and his upgraded mares will doubtless be making some Classic dirt genes tell in his profile. Gun Runner is further along his trajectory, his current 2-year-olds sired at $125,000. But if he's also a year older, turning 13, he has one fewer crop in play than Not This Time, whose career was of course curtailed at two. But Gun Runner has had an anointed air from the outset, and has not looked back since producing four Grade I winners among his first sophomores. With Into Mischief entering the evening of his career, these two have crystallized their candidature for the succession. Significantly, even a champion 2-year-old for Into Mischief (35 such winners from 77 starters, six black-type, for $5.5 million) can't fend off Not This Time (40 winners of $5.6 million, nine in stakes, from 83 starters) as leading sire of juveniles, with Gun Runner (30 from 75, eight in stakes, $4.5 million) clear of the rest in third. It has been a superb year meanwhile for Twirling Candy, his three Grade I winners helping him to fourth in the general sires' table; and second place by turf earnings. You may be sure that his $75,000 fee will be receiving some attention when our ongoing Value Sires series reaches the top of the pyramid… Yaupon the Fresh Name among Other Categories Whatever gentle shifting of gear may meanwhile be taking place at Spendthrift, the industrial approach has certainly played out well in the freshman table over recent years. In 2023, indeed, the farm supplied the first four; an achievement sandwiched by laurels for Bolt d'Oro in 2022 and Vekoma in 2024. Those were all tight races, but it has been clear for a long time now that Yaupon was going to make it four in a row. He fielded 82 of no fewer than 150 named foals in his first crop, 30 of them winners and eight in stakes company. The latter number, as a ratio of starters, demonstrates that Yaupon is not just dominating by quantity, so he has really followed through on rave reviews for his physique when he entered stud. Yaupon | Sarah Andrew While speed was clearly his forte, it augurs well for the Darley pair in second and third-Maxfield and Essential Quality-that they should have laid these foundations while certain to get their stock stretching out profitably with maturity. Overall, however, this intake should be mortified by the fact that for now they have a solitary graded stakes success between them: the GIII Pocahontas Stakes won by Rock Your World's daughter Taken by the Wind. That is even more embarrassing than the three graded stakes winners mustered by the class of 2023, never mind when compared with the 11 put together by last year's rookies. You can't have it both ways: if the annual stampede to new sires is partly explained by the self-fulfilling logic that most of them will be receiving the biggest and best books of their careers, then they need to make it count. The Spendthrift team will now be hoping that Yaupon can proceed after the manner of Vekoma, who with a second crop in play has pulled away from the rivals who pushed him so close as a freshman. His seven graded stakes winners this year nearly match their combined tally, Tiz the Law producing five and McKinzie three. True to form, however, two of McKinzie's trio came at Grade I level: his cumulative ratios remain fairly pedestrian, at least matched by several peers, but his good ones have an extremely lucrative habit of making headlines. The cream has also been rising among third-crop sires, with Omaha Beach's fee duly multiplying after adding 16 stakes scorers this year, five at graded level. Finally we must salute Tapit, whose books are being carefully managed as he turns 25. He really is a living legend and regains the broodmare title he surrendered last year to the late Street Cry (Ire). The retirement of Medaglia d'Oro leaves Tapit as the single sire still in service among the top 10, with his daughters producing 13 graded stakes winners in 2025. Bernardini's legacy in this sphere, which was so precociously evident, continues to grow as he moves up to second as damsire of 28 stakes winners including three at Grade I level-though Distorted Humor, seventh overall, stands alone in this column. Ambaya (Ghostzapper) in the GI American Oaks became the fifth elite winner out of a Distorted Humor mare in 2025. The post Into Mischief Ties Bold Ruler’s Record Sequence appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Michael Trombetta, the long-time trainer for the late Larry Johnson, visited the owner's farm in 2022 to inspect the new crop of yearlings and was struck by one in particular. The yearling was Mindframe (Constitution). “The first time I saw Mindframe, he just stood out like a sore thumb,” Trombetta said. But Trombetta knew then that he would not get the chance to train the horse who went on to win the GI Stephen Foster Stakes, the GI Churchill Downs Stakes and finish second in the GI Belmont Stakes. According to Trombetta, Johnson was spending about $1 million alone each year on stud fees and would help pay the bills by taking his best three or four prospects to the sales. “I knew I'd never be the trainer of that horse,” Trombetta said. “Larry would always cherry-pick a handful of horses that he thought were good enough to go to the sales. Larry's words–and I can still hear them in my head all the time–were, 'sometimes we have to take some chips off the table.' He had to help fund everything. He had to be able to fund his operation properly.” Johnson wasn't wrong. Mindframe was sold at the 2022 Keeneland September Sale for $600,000, and was purchased by the partnership of Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables LLC. But while it was Todd Pletcher, and not Trombetta, who guided the career of Mindframe, Trombetta now has the next best thing in his barn. He is the trainer of Mindframe's soon-to-be 4-year-old half-brother, Lonesome Road (Maclean's Music). In his third lifetime start and his first on the dirt, Lonesome Road ran off the screen in a Dec. 26 maiden at Laurel. He won the six-furlong race by 8 ½ lengths and earned a 93 Beyer figure. “It's always nice to have the half-brother to a really good horse,” Trombetta said. “I've been at this long enough to know some of them are good and some of them are not. But to see this horse put it together in the afternoon was what I was waiting for. I don't remember having a horse running a 93 Beyer number as easily as he did. Usually, they are put to a drive and asked to extend themselves. He was doing that rather comfortably. So that was exciting to see. I was expecting a good race based on the way the horse was training. Did I think he would run like that? Honestly, no. It was very nice to see. I'm not surprised that he took a jump forward because he had been training very well. It was nice for him to put it all together.” From the start, Lonesome Road was a project, which is the reason why he didn't debut until halfway through his 3-year-old year. “He was late coming around,” Trombetta said. “He didn't put it together as quickly as some of my other horses. He was one of those horses that needed a little more time. I think being able to give him that time really made a big difference.” While winning a maiden race in the dead of winter might not seem like such a big deal, all one has to do is dig a little deeper and they will see that Lonesome Road might just have a bright future. He began his career at Colonial Downs in a July 16 maiden race on the grass and finished a lackluster seventh. Trombetta put him back on the grass for a Sept. 12 maiden at Colonial and was rewarded with a second-place finish. He stayed on the grass only because he couldn't find a maiden dirt race for the horse that would fill. “This may be a conversation for another day, but I had to enter him four times before [the Dec. 26] race went,” the trainer said. “That is a huge issue nowadays. As a horse trainer, when you want to run and when you actually get into the starting gate…a lot of times it is a weeks and weeks difference. That is the reality of racing these days.” Johnson passed away in February and his two daughters took over the day-to-day operations of the stable. They huddled with Trombetta and it was decided that they would give Lonesome Road some time and that they would geld him. Upon his return, he was a different horse. “I had some conversations with the ownership and the recommendation was to geld him and kind of take a step back and freshen him up,” Trombetta said. “I knew that the turf season was over and that it might be a little easier to find dirt races to go for him. Maybe his being gelded helped him. Maybe it was the time off. Maybe it was the surface change. You can pick any one of the three. Maybe it was a combination of all three. It seemed to all come together for him.” Trombetta understands that Lonesome Road is unlikely to achieve what Mindframe did and he is prepared to take his time with him. He said he will point for a first-level allowance race. He's not worried about what the distance of that race might be. “Preferably, I can find one at seven-eighths or a mile and that would be perfect,” he said. “Usually those races, from what I see, they have a little better chance of going. I trained his mother [Walk of Stars]. She was better going farther. Obviously, Mindframe was a good solid two-turn horse with a lot of talent. I don't think this guy will have any limits when it comes to distance. He may not be a mile-and-a-quarter horse, but I think I can run him anywhere from three-quarters to a mile-and-a-sixteenth without a lot of worry.” Johnson died on Feb. 4 at the age of 78 after a lengthy battle with cancer. Trombetta wishes he were still around to watch his horses compete, particularly Lonesome Road. Johnson's estate also owns Future Is Now (Great Notion), the winner of this year's GIII Caress Stakes at Saratoga. “This year has been bittersweet,” Trombetta said. “We've done very well this year and it's just a shame that he wasn't here to see it.” The post Mindframe’s Half-Brother is an Intriguing Prospect appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Maiden Watch: Week of Dec. 22-28View the full article

The death of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum has been described as “a hammer blow of epic proportions” as those who worked closely with the owner-breeder come to terms with his unexpected passing. Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, a cousin of the Ruler of Dubai and Godolphin founder Sheikh Mohammned bin Rashid Al Maktoum, died in Dubai on Monday. He is believed to have been in his mid-70s. Liam O'Rourke, director of studs, stallions and breeding for the Godolphin and Darley operation, has for many years overseen the broodmare band of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, which has included Zomaradah, the dam of Darley's flagship sire Dubawi. It currently features the celebrated matriarch Reem Three and a number of her daughters, including G1 Prix Jean Romanet winner Ajman Princess. O'Rourke said, “I am so sorry for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's family, to whom he was incredibly close. He saw his grandchildren on a daily basis, consistently mentioned them, and took a keen interest in my family, with whom he was also close. He's a huge loss by any metric.” He continued, “He didn't suffer fools. He squared us all up from time to time, and the trainers would tell you the same thing. But he had incredible vision, great foresight, and was very frequently proved right when he came up with what we thought was a strange suggestion. So he was very much a man to support his own stable with a conviction that's rare. He had every confidence in his own abilities, and ever so often made the correct decisions as a consequence. “He was a wonderful man to work with. He gave me a free hand with the broodmares.” Sheikh Mohammed Obaid purchased Reem Three's granddam Donya from her breeder Vincent O'Brien and set about nurturing the ensuing generations. The fact that the stallion yard at Dalham Hall Stud currently features a son of Reem Three – Triple Time, one of her eight black-type performers – and two grandsons in Inisherin (out of Ajman Princess) and Rosallion is testament to the skill with which this has been carried out. Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's major success on the track, which stretches back to the 1998 Derby winner High-Rise and has been particularly noteworthy of late, reaches far beyond this one family. Zeus Olympios, a dual Group winner in 2025 trained by Karl Burke, is out of the young Siyouni mare Rhea, whose current juvenile Valenday, by the sheikh's multiple Group 1 winner Postponed, has looked promising in two starts for Kevin Ryan. Arguably the most exciting of the crop about to turn three is the George Boughey-trained Bow Echo, a son of champion sire Night Of Thunder, while the owner also celebrated victory in the G3 Autumn Stakes with another Night Of Thunder colt, Hankelow. O'Rourke continued, “We've had some tremendous luck in the last few years and he's got more to come. We were particularly excited, and are, albeit now in very bittersweet terms, looking forward to next season. He had both Zeus Olympios as an older horse, and Bow Echo as a Classic contender, so he was very excited about that. I think we're only building it, to be honest, and this is a hammer blow of epic proportions. “He never failed to call me every Monday morning. We would have a long conversation about just about anything really. Mainly horse-related, of course, but he was a man of the world, so he had an opinion on politics and was a very interesting man to converse with on any range of topics. So I'll miss him hugely.” Shadwell, the operation founded by another of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's cousins, the late Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, released a statement on Tuesday which read, “Shadwell is deeply saddened by the passing of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum, a hugely successful and influential owner and breeder. He will be long remembered throughout international horse racing for his extraordinary contributions to the sport. “Everyone connected with the Shadwell operation extends their sincere condolences to all of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's family and friends. Our thoughts are with them during this profoundly sad time.” Kevin Ryan, who enjoyed Group 1 victories at back-to-back Royal Ascot meetings with Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's homebreds Triple Time and Inisherin, also paid tribute. He said, “He loved his family, and he was a great owner to me; not only was he an owner, he was like a friend. He was very, very good to me and we had some lovely horses for him. “He loved his horses, he loved his racing and he was a very knowledgeable man. He was great company, told some great stories, and a very kind, generous man. He was fantastic to train for.” Ryan added, “You'd look forward to getting the list through every year, the homebreds that were coming to you. It's been a privilege and an honour to have trained those horses for him, and he'll be sadly missed. Our thoughts are with his family.” Within a fortnight in the summer of 1998, first Zomaradah won the Oak's d'Italia and then High-Rise followed up in the Derby. Two homebred Classic winners in two weeks, both trained by Luca Cumani, who for many years was Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's principal trainer. Cumani also saddled Postponed to win the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes before the colt was transferred to Roger Varian, for whom he won the Juddmonte International, Coronation Cup and Dubai Sheema Classic. Varian, who trained for the sheikh for nine years, added another four Group/Grade 1 winners to the tally through Ajman Princess, Defoe, Sheikha Reika and Zabeel Prince, while Kevin Ryan also trained the top-level winners Fonteyn and Emaraaty Ana. Richard Hannon Jr masterminded the career of Classic winner Rosallion, and Simon and Ed Crisford were responsible for Without A Fight in his early years, guiding him to Group 3 and Listed victories before he remained in Australia under the care of Anthony and Sam Freedman, for whom he won both the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup in 2023. The extent to which the stallions from Reem Three's family will make an impact beyond their own Group 1 successes on the track remains to be seen but Zomaradah's legacy is secure. Her own offspring include not only Darley's first champion sire, Dubawi, but also the G2 Lancashire Oaks winner Emirates Queen. She in turn provided her breeder with his final group winner during his lifetime when her son Royal Champion added the G2 Bahrain Trophy to a record which includes the G2 York Stakes and G3 Winter Derby in 2025 alone. It is another of Zomaradah's five black-type earners, the Kingmambo mare Dubai Queen, whose branch of the family could yet bestow further Classic honours on the family via her grandson Bow Echo. That colt's trainer George Boughey was the most recent addition to Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's roster. Speaking about the owner-breeder on Tuesday, he said, “He was a man who was still so passionate about his horses, and with an awful lot to look forward to. With his stallions at stud and some very high-class colts, mainly, in training at the moment, there was a huge amount to be excited about. We were chatting about Bow Echo and the Guineas just 36 hours ago.” Boughey added, “I'll never forget when I got the call to train for him. I've watched those colours winning Classics and major races since I was a child, and these are bloodlines that we've all followed. To be able to be a small part of it for a couple of years was a huge privilege.” The post ‘A Huge Loss By Any Metric’: Racing World Mourns Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

One of the younger faces on the sales circuit, Fabienne Parkin has certainly made a big impact in a short space of time. Best known as the face of Branton Court Stud, Parkin has enjoyed a colourful year on and off the track. She is next up in the Hot Seat, where she shares everything from her biggest ambitions in the game to funniest moments of 2025. What was your defining moment of 2025? Was there a highlight? Watching Fallen Angel emphatically win her fifth Group 1 in the Sun Chariot Stakes has got to be up there – what a filly to have been involved with, winning Group 1s at two, three, and four. On a personal level, I was also really pleased that we had a great result at the Fairyhouse September Yearling Sale. It was my first experience running a sales consignment, so that meant a lot. Tell us something people don't know about Fabienne Parkin? Perhaps that I graduated with an honours degree from Durham University. Oh, and I've been known to rearrange a seating plan or two… but you can ask Anita Wigan for more details on that one! What motivates you? All the usual things… fame, fortune, rock & roll! But truly, surrounding myself with people I respect and constantly learn from is what drives me. The saying goes, you are never going to be the cleverest person in the room, but I believe there is no harm in trying. And without a doubt the motivation of watching foals you deliver mature into yearlings you present at a sale gives you an undeniable sense of accomplishment. Then seeing them succeed on the track – that is addictive. Funniest moment of the year? Ooh that is a tough one; I'll go for an unbelievable experience at the Dubai World Cup… a food fight may or may not have broken out, but I won't name and shame! Nominate four dinner guests from the sales circuit that would guarantee entertainment in the Red Room… I've had some memorable meals in the Red Room of late. I'd start with Barry Lynch – he'd definitely provide the laughs and is the king of a good impression. Adam Potts would almost certainly be there; he and I could turn Red Room lunches into a competitive sport. Henry Hannon would add impeccable comedic timing and taste. And of course, my partner in crime, Eliza McCalmont – she would take charge of ordering the Aperols. If we could squeeze in one more chair, James Yallop would be a clever addition to curate the menu. Your favourite sale/place and why? Any sale in Arqana or raceday in Deauville is hard to beat. With a name like Fabienne, it's no surprise I think the French do it right – fast horses, good wine, great food, and plenty of hilarious sightings in 'Le Club' at the end of the night! What's your go-to karaoke song? The Fear, by Lily Allen. You know the line, “Now, I'm not a saint, but I'm not a sinner!” Who is your inspiration? It's hard to list everyone, but among the strong, successful women I look up to are Violet Hesketh and Mimi Wadham of WH Bloodstock. They are both great friends whom I hugely respect and who do a fantastic job. Katie Walsh is another I really admire. I'm lucky to have some incredible people I count as mentors. Karl Burke would have to be top of that list – he, his wife Elaine, and daughters Lucy and Kelly are like family to me. I aspire to their resilience and dedication. Jamie McCalmont has also been very good to me. I definitely hope to have as many great stories to tell one day and to be as good a judge of a horse. Your guilty pleasure? This is one of my favourite questions! Anyone who knows me would say it would be anything Irish… I'm a big fan of Guinness. Give us one horse to look out for in 2026… Maybe an obvious one, but I'm excited to see what heights Hankelow can reach in 2026. I was shadowing Karl when he bought the horse at the October Sales last year. He was impossible not to like – a big, strong son of Night of Thunder. Arguably, he's unlucky not to be unbeaten and looks to possess all the attributes to make into a lovely three-year-old. And finally, any goals or ambitions for the new year? I'd like to travel more – although, anyone following me on social media would argue that's physically impossible. I would love more experience across the racing and bloodstock industries in the US and Australia. And of course, maintaining my Red Room lunch invitations remains an ongoing professional priority. The post In The Hot Seat: Fabienne Parkin appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Yedsit Hazlewood and Brittany Russell concluded 2025 in style, capturing the jockey and trainer titles at the Laurel Park fall meeting.View the full article

Silver Prince (Cairo Prince–Silver Reunion, by Harlan's Holiday)), offered in a one-horse flash sale on Fasig-Tipton Digital, was sold post-sale for $450,000 to Reeves Thoroughbred Racing. Bidding opened on Dec. 23 and closed on Dec. 29. Silver Prince finished second in his career debut to TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard, D'code in a hotly contested maiden special weight at Oaklawn Park on Dec. 14, earning an 80 Beyer speed figure. The 2-year-old son of Cairo Prince was consigned to the sale by his trainer, Ron Moquett, on behalf of his owners. “Fasig-Tipton did an excellent job facilitating a positive result for us, moving quickly when needed to get a deal done before the New Year on this colt,” said Moquett. “The digital format may be how deals are done moving forward. All the information is out there, the market establishes itself in real time, and the colt sold in an efficient and professional manner.” Leif Aaron, Fasig-Tipton Director of Digital Sales, added, “We are very pleased to conclude 2025 with another successful sales result. We look forward to watching Silver Prince race in 2026 and hope his connections enjoy much success.” Fasig-Tipton Digital's next scheduled auction is its January Digital Sale, scheduled for Jan. 15-20. Entries close Jan. 5. The post Silver Prince Yields $450K in Fasig-Tipton Digital Flash Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

In this BH monthly interview, Karen M. Johnson profiles young racing personalities. View the full article

Industry Voices, Christine Sanchez outlines the need for finding ways to keep horses in training.View the full article

Good work, few of mine raring to go today, literally, not in the way I wanted, that's horses.

With less than five weeks until the first leg of the 2025/26 Four-Year-Old Classic Series – the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) on 1 February – and with the 149th HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) on 22 March on the horizon, Karaka graduate Invincible Ibis (Hellbent) is on the march after recently posting his third successive victory. While only relatively new to the Hong Kong scene, Newnham knows what it takes to give the Classic Series a shake after he prepared My Wish to snare last season’s Hong Kong Classic Mile before running second in the Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) and the BMW Hong Kong Derby. “You’d say he’d have to be in the top three (favourites for the Hong Kong Classic Mile) at the moment. He’s improved every run and that’s what you need to keep doing,” said Newnham. “I was in a similar position last year with My Wish and he improved all the way through, so we’re hopeful that we can do the same thing this year.” Secured by Newnham for the Ibis Syndicate from the Kilgravin Lodge draft at the 2023 Ready to Run Sale at Karaka, Invincible Ibis posted two seconds from as many starts as a three-year-old in his debut season before returning a more mature animal this season. After finishing third on the opening day of the 2025/26 season, Invincible Ibis has reeled off three straight victories culminating in a one-and-three-quarter-length victory under Zac Purton in the Class 3 Poinsettia Handicap (1600m) at Sha Tin on 20 December. It was that most recent victory over a mile that gives Newnham confidence that his son of Hellbent will be competitive deep into the Four-Year-Old series. Settled on the fence behind midfield by Purton, $2.95 chance Invincible Ibis took ground off his rivals on turning before coming off the rail soon after straightening, attacking the gap when it presented and striding clear of his rivals, which included fellow Four-Year-Old Classic Series hopefuls Fortune Boy (NZ) (Contributer) and Dazzling Fit (NZ) (Ribchester). “That was important because as we work through the whole four-year-old series he’s going to have to go past a mile,” said the trainer. “He’s got the right racing pattern for it – he relaxes well during his races so he gives himself every opportunity to finish the race off if he’s conserved energy. “He gives himself every opportunity to run further than a mile. They went fairly steady the other day but he still had to finish the race off. “He looked like he still had more to give over the last 100m, so things are trending in the right direction.” Before trying to emulate the feats of My Wish, who has gone on to be a strong Group 1 performer, Invincible Ibis will have one more chance to add to his mark of 83 when he runs in a Class 3 1600m contest restricted to four-year-olds at Sha Tin on 11 January. View the full article

Last Friday was a bittersweet day for White Robe Lodge. The Otago stud farm lost their Group One-producing stallion Ghibellines, but their fortunes quickly took a turn for the better when their young sire Ancient Spirit recorded his first stakes win when his daughter Bobby Mcgee (NZ) (Ancient Spirit) took out the Listed NZB Airfreight Stakes (1400m) down the road at Wingatui. “It was a good result, we thought that filly was above average and she won well,” White Robe Lodge Stud Manager Wayne Stewart said. While saddened by the passing of Ghibellines, the southern horseman is choosing to take a silver lining view to recent events. “It was a sad day what happened before that but there are plenty of good things to look forward to,” he said. A son of champion sire Shamardal and Group One-winning mare Camarilla, Ghibellines was a half-brother to four-time Group One winner Guelph and Dazzler, the dam of triple Group One winner and subsequent Group One-producing sire Bivouac. Ghibellines had just the eight career starts, all at stakes level, with his highlight being victory in the Gr.2 Todman Stakes (1200m), while he also placed in the Gr.2 Danehill Stakes (1200m) and Listed Canonbury Stakes (1100m). He retired to stud at White Robe Lodge where he sired nine stakes winners, including Group One winner Smokin’ Romans. “He consistently left reasonable horses right from the start,” Stewart said. “He left that Dunedin Guineas winner (El Gladiador) in his first crop and most seasons he had multiple winners. “As time went on, they did take a wee bit of time to develop and mature, and today’s market is hard, people want those two and three-year-old winners. He did a good job, he was a good bread and butter sire.” The farm is now looking forward to the future with their two stallions, Ancient Spirit and Alflaila, with the latter having just finished serving his first book of mares. Stewart was buoyed by Ancient Spirit’s stakes-winning result last week, and is hopeful other promising horses from the same crop can build on his momentum. “He has had quite a few three-year-old runners and we always thought his best would be in the autumn, so it is always really nice to get spring horses,” he said. “He has never covered big books of mares, but he has had good quality books of mares. He has got a good chance. “He has had quite a few placegetters lately that have been a bit unlucky so hopefully they turn into winners now.” That next win could come at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day where his promising daughter Fly Zenno (NZ) (Ancient Spirit) will line-up in the Gr.2 Sir Patrick Hogan Stakes (2000m). Bred by Stewart and his wife Karen, Fly Zenno was offered through White Robe Lodge’s 2024 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 2 Yearling Sale draft where she was purchased by Conor and Sarah Fahy, under their Kawa Park banner, for $30,000. She showed promise when runner-up over a mile at Ellerslie earlier this month and Stewart said she will be ideally suited to the step-up to 2000m on Thursday. “She is bred to get a trip. She is from a lovely family,” Stewart said of the half-sister to stakes winner New York Minute. “I know they have always thought that she could be an Oaks type of filly, so it would be good to head that way. 2000m should suit her really well.” White Robe Lodge will head to Karaka next month with two yearlings in New Zealand Bloodstock’s Book 2 Sale, including 579, an Ancient Spirit colt out of stakes winner Ortem Fire, a half-sister to Group Three winner Inferno, the dam of Smokin’ Romans. View the full article

Shaun and Emma Clotworthy are hoping a couple of their runners can bounce back from subpar showings at Ellerslie on Boxing Day when they return to the Auckland track on New Year’s Day. Six-year-old gelding Aftermath (NZ) (Rock ‘N Pop) has been a model of consistency for most of his preparation, posting a series of fourth placings, including in the Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m) and Gr.3 Balmerino Stakes (2000m), before securing black-type when third in last month’s Gr.3 Counties Cup (2100m). Injury ruled him out of the Gr.3 Waikato Cup (2400m) earlier this month, but he resumed in the Gr.1 Zabeel Classic (2000m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day where he beat just the one runner home in the nine-horse field. His trainers have been pleased with the way he has come through the race and they are looking forward to getting him back to handicap conditions on Thursday in the Gr.3 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2400m), where he will carry 53kg. “He had a little bit of an issue, a slight muscle twinge, before the Waikato Cup so he missed a bit of work,” Shaun Clotworthy said. “It (Zabeel Classic) was a very strange run race. If you took into account he finished just under three-lengths away from El Vencedor and Waitak, it wasn’t too bad under weight-for-age conditions. “I wasn’t totally disappointed in his run. He has been at the beach after the race and he had an easy bit of work yesterday (Monday) and he seems nice and bright. “I expect him to improve and obviously under handicap conditions he is a lot better.” Aftermath has drawn barrier 10 and will be ridden by Joe Doyle. “Joe can just see how he jumps and get him across,” Clotworthy said. “He did relax the other day, even off that slow pace, which I was pleased with. He can get in a habit of going quite fierce. Hopefully he can get him into a nice rhythm.” Stablemate Pulsatilla (NZ) (Redwood) will also be looking to bounce back to form when she contests the Gr.2 Sir Patrick Hogan Stakes (2000m). The three-year-old daughter of Redwood won the Listed Trevor & Coralie Eagle Memorial 3YO (1500m) impressively last month before disappointing when seventh in the Gr.2 Eight Carat Classic (1600m) on Boxing Day. The filly has been mixing her form, and Clotworthy is hoping the step up to 2000m can help her return to her winning ways. “She was a touch disappointing in the Eight Carat,” he said. “She looked like she was going to come into the race and then she battled on a bit. She may just be looking for the 2000m already.” On the undercard, the stable will also be represented by Espadas (Ace High) in the TAB 1200 and Jack Crabb (NZ) (Redwood) in the Horizon by SkyCity 1600. “It was disappointing on Boxing Day having to late scratch (Espadas) after pulling his shoe off. He is a big, strong horse and a good galloper. He has drawn the outside (13), but he will still start and we are happy with him. He is a good animal on his day. “Jack Crabb has drawn a nice barrier (1) and has blinkers on for the first time. His work was good the other morning, it is a good stake and he will take his place, he is there to win.” Meanwhile, Clotworthy said he and his fellow $4 million NZB Kiwi (1500m) slot holder syndicate members are still in search of their representative ahead of the March feature. “We are still looking,” he said. “We haven’t secured anything yet but we have got a couple of irons in the fire, so we will just see what happens over this next week of racing. There is still a bit of time, so we are not in a panic yet. “The first year was great and it has been a great experience and all of our crew have really enjoyed it. It is just trying to find the right horse.” View the full article

Everyone at Kurow will be breathing a sigh of relief, done and dusted, bet that happens more often than night.

The Mot nearly broke 2 million, according to HRNZ, knocks off Westport in 2020 for the record, and Cambridge last week was up a long way but the fields did have great depth for once, but it still comes down to per race so figures could be a bit sqewd.

So rain does not affect large town/city tracks then?

Maybe be nothing but have noted that the top TA horses, seem to put in a blinder of a race every so often, against top horses What You Wish For - Taupo Cup Qali Al Farrasha - Thoroughbred Breeders Quintessa - Proisir Plate