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As updates go, being a half-sister to the Cartier Horse of the Year is not a bad one, especially when the mare in question is carrying to Calandagan's sire, Gleneagles. Caliyza has plenty more in her favour to boot. She's a dual winner by the late Le Havre and, only five, she is in foal for the first time. Offered as lot 1452 by Overbury Stud on Monday during the first of two Sceptre Sessions, the Aga Khan Studs-bred mare is returning to Tattersalls just 12 months after being bought in the same ring for 155,000gns by Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock. Since then, her year-younger half-brother has won three consecutive Group 1s and could even deliver yet another update on Sunday in the Japan Cup. “I would stress that anything that looks clever that happens at Overbury Stud has been organised by Richard Brown,” says Overbury's Simon Sweeting modestly. “There's no point in saying otherwise. We're incredibly lucky that he can be bothered because he's got far more important things to do than to be buying horses for Charlie and me. So it's not me that's being clever.” The Charlie in question is Charlie Wyatt of Dukes Stud, with whom Sweeting has had a 25-year business partnership and a friendship that stretches back even farther to his days working in Newmarket for Luca Cumani and Henry Cecil. Traditionally, Overbury Stud and Dukes Stud combine forces to sell as foals, and this year is no exception, aside from the fact that this year they are selling a half-brother to this year's G1 Dewhurst Stakes winner Gewan (Night Of Thunder), which does make the Overbury draft a little exceptional. The colt (lot 747) is from the first crop of another Dewhurst winner in Native Trail, whose 35 foals sold last week at Goffs returned an average of €40,772, including a top price of €150,000. It has been quite the year for the Overbury Stud and Dukes Stud partnership, as not only did the Yuesheng Zhang-owned Gewan win the Dewhurst and G3 Acomb Stakes among his three victories for Andrew Balding but Havana Anna (Havana Grey) – a Tattersalls December Foal Sale graduate at 42,000gns – won twice, including the Listed Marwell Stakes, as well as finishing runner-up to True Love in the G1 Cheveley Park Stakes. “We've got some nice foals,” Sweeting says. “A half-sister to the second in the Cheveley Park and a half-brother to the winner of the Dewhurst. So I'm excited – well, nervous, but excited. “Havana Anna's sister we've actually put in on Saturday. She's a lovely foal. She's by Caturra and she'll just stand out there,” he adds of the daughter of the Danehill Dancer mare Miss Villefranche. “I would definitely rather sell on a lesser day. I always feel that a horse might make a bit more than it deserves. If it was going to make below the average of Friday, it'd sell better on Wednesday. “The Miss Villefranche foal should be a Friday horse, but she'll still make her money on the Saturday, I'm sure. There'll be some people who haven't bought what they want, and we might get lucky. I spend a lot of time trying to work out what days to put them on, and I always try and undersell them a little bit rather than over.” He continues, “We've been lucky selling on Saturday, and that's where we sell most of our stock. We've been at it for 25-odd years together now. We were both getting started in our respective farms at the same time, and we thought if we combined our forces, we could get a slightly better mare. And it's gone on from there. “And, yes, we've produced something decent this year. I mean, there have been some lovely horses along the way, as well as some bad luck, and it just seems to have come together this time, which is wonderful. But, as Charlie said, we've chucked an awful lot of money against the wall.” Some of it has clearly stuck, however, and this is not the first twirl in the spotlight for Sweeting, a successful dual-purpose breeder who is in an elite group to have produced top-level winners on the Flat and over jumps. On the National Hunt side he has bred the Grade 1-winning hurdlers Thyme Hill and Cornerstone Lad, by the late Overbury stallions Kayf Tara and Delegator. So does having the Dewhurst winner and a live Classic prospect top that? “Of course. It's wonderful. And you just have to pinch yourself to believe it really has happened, ” he says. “And, of course, we've got the winter now to dream about it all again. The great thing is [Gewan] is in the best place. There might be trainers as good as Andrew, but there's none better. He's trained the Guineas winner twice in the last few years, so the horse has got the best possible chance to go on and do that. “The whole thing is really exciting. But we've had 25 years of knowing what the flip side is, so it helps keep you very grounded.” Simon Sweeting and Charlie Wyatt | Tattersalls There was indeed a time when it looked as though events were conspiring against Sweeting and Wyatt when it came to Gewan's dam Grey Mystere (Lethal Force), another Blandford purchase, this time from Arqana four years ago. “We thought we'd had terrible luck with the mare in that she lost her foal last year. That was dreadful but it happens. And last year we were kicking ourselves because we got 100,000gns for Gewan. It might sound like a lot of money, but actually it was a slap in the face for a Night Of Thunder colt but it was because his x-rays weren't great. “Rob Dallas, who's our vet, said he was absolutely fine for racing. And we sold him to Mick [Murphy, Longways Stables], who is one of Rob's clients, so he was able to reassure him. But if he had had good x-rays, that horse would have been bought by Mick Kinane and he'd be in Hong Kong now and we wouldn't have had the Dewhurst winner. So it can work out. When it seems like a bad result at the time, it can actually work out in your favour, and it has done in this case.” The eight-year-old Grey Mystere is now booked in for a return visit to the soon-to-be-crowned champion sire Night Of Thunder. Sweeting of course has his own team of stallions to manage at Overbury in Gloucestershire, where the roster is led by Jayne McGivern's popular dual-purpose stallion Golden Horn, whose son Trawlerman was last week named Cartier Stayer of the Year. “Jayne limits the number he can cover. We could sell 250 nominations but we're restricted to 175 or thereabouts,” says Sweeting, who added that Golden Horn's 2026 book will contain more Flat mares than in his three previous seasons at Overbury. “It's straightforward for him to get through a book like that. He's very fertile and he's a pretty straightforward animal to work with. “And he rewards us. He's had an absolute marquee year. Everything that you thought could come together for him has done all at the same time. To have Cheltenham winners and Royal Ascot winners is beyond dreams.” “We've booked a lot of really nice Flat mares for next year – ones that I'd be excited about.” With his mix of six Flat and National Hunt stallions, Sweeting is well in tune with the changing fortunes of the bloodstock sector as breeders exercise more caution and foal crop numbers reduce. “As long as you get the [stallion fees] right and you're sensible about it, then we are in a position with these stallions to get the mares. But the problem is that there isn't the breadth anymore,” he says. “At Overbury, we're very lucky with the horses we've got. They do seem to be popular. Yes, a horse in his fourth year, like Caturra last year, is always going to be a little bit more difficult. But when you've got Golden Horn, when you've got Ardad, who this year has had 37 two-year-old winners, more than any other UK-based stallion, he's absolutely bang up there. But there aren't enough stallions about to give a chance to some of those to pop up that nobody would have expected necessarily to be the successful ones. There has always been some of those around, and we're going to start missing those now because only the commercial, attractive-looking horses are the ones that are actually going to be given the chance in the first place. Thank goodness there are some fairly attractive horses coming to stud for the first time this year.” The covering season can be a concern for another day, however. In Sweeting's immediate future, he has some select foals to sell, along with potentially one of the jewels of the Sceptre Sessions in Caliyza. “Everything that could have fallen into place has fallen into place for her,” he says. “Calandagan has done what we hoped that he might. His half-sister Calamandra is Group 3-placed now. Their dam is in foal to Siyouni. “Caliyza is a great outcross. She's very easy to mate. There's no Northern Dancer blood in there, and it's Clodovil's family.” Sweeting adds, “I hope people will appreciate the mating. When we sat down and we were thinking about it, we weren't sure that we were going to sell at that stage and we wanted to breed a racehorse rather than something that would draw attention at the sales, and I think Gleneagles has had a good year. He's popular. And I hope what is inside can go on and be a great racehorse.” The post A Big December Sale in Store for Overbury with Siblings to Calandagan and Gewan appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The first edition of the Emirates Racing Authority Online Sale, hosted by Tattersalls Online, was topped by the lightly-raced three-year-old Daayyem at AED58,000 [roughly £12,000] to Khalifa Alneyadi. Leading vendor of the day was Jebel Ali-based trainer Michael Costa. who consigned a draft of four lots on behalf of Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, which all sold for an aggregate of AED138,500 [£28,500]. The draft was highlighted by lightly-raced three-year-old Daayyem (Bolt D'Oro), who holds a ERA rating of 67. As the first online auction to be held by the Emirates Racing Authority, the sale marked a milestone for the region's racing industry and represents a significant evolution in the world of digital bloodstock trading. At the conclusion of the sale, Tattersalls Online Sales Manager Katherine Sheridan commented, “Today's sale marks an important advance in the global thoroughbred online market. We were honoured to have been entrusted with staging the inaugural Emirates Racing Authority Online Sale. “The initial support from vendors together with the international depth of bidders underlined the potential of this initiative. Our thanks go to the Emirates Racing Authority for their confidence in the Tattersalls Online platform and to our consignors and purchasers for their enthusiastic participation. We look forward to building on this concept in the future, broadening its reach and continuing to set the standard for innovation in our industry.” Unsold lots remain available and offers can be made through the Make An Offer facility on the Tattersalls Online website. Enquiries are also welcome by phone or via email to the Tattersalls Online team to tattersallsonline@tattersalls.com. The final sale of the year to take place on the Tattersalls Online platform will be the Online December Sale on 10th – 11th December with entries closing on Friday 28th November. All entries can be submitted through the Tattersalls Online website at www.tattersallsonline.com. The post Daayyem Tops Inaugural Tattersalls Online Emirates Racing Authority Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Sunday’s Sha Tin race meeting will be held behind closed doors as a mark of respect for the victims of this week’s tragic Tai Po fire. All gross income from the meeting, which the Jockey Club estimates to be around HK$70 million, will be donated to support those affected by the tragedy, while Saturday’s Mark Six draw has been postponed to next Tuesday. “The Hong Kong Jockey Club is deeply saddened by the loss of so many lives during the tragic fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, as well as the...View the full article

St Jean (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), sire of G1 Caulfield Cup and G1 Melbourne Cup winner Half Yours, died in a paddock accident at Brackley Park on Nov. 25. Stud manager Grant Dwyer said the 15-year-old had covered the mare Memory Lane on Nov. 24 and was returned to his usual paddock. “For reasons unknown, St Jean ran into a fence post overnight, breaking it off at ground level and shattering his near-side front leg,” Dwyer said. “His death was very untimely, just as breeders were beginning to appreciate his pedigree.” A Group 3 winner by Teofilo (Ire), St Jean sired 35 named foals, 22 runners and 12 winners, with Half Yours his lone stakes winner. The post St Jean, Sire of Melbourne Cup Hero Half Yours, Dies at 15 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Taupiri, let the restricted punters on for what these employees of the TAB are allowed! Anyone with any sense of fairness can see that this policy that allows OTG to wager as much as they want on any bet and with no restrictions, when they restrict non employess is blatantly misguided! Brodie is more than happy for them to punt away on the greyhound favourites but then everyone should be allowed the same luxury! Hope the boys keep the winning up but they need to talk to management about how unjust the current policy is! At the end of the day Andrew Vouros did say he wanted to increase turnover!

saying theres always a way,ignores reality to whats actually is happening. what i have read,from people like myself,was a criticism of entain pushing hrnz into focusing on the 2 year bonuses, which very obviously benefitted small high profile interest groups ,with the biggest beneficiary being the man in charge of entain at the time.Thats just a fact. Also we were told by hrnz the 2 year old bonuses would lead to increased numbers being bred, but the first year proved that was a miserable failure. But as to entain money that went with the government deal,no one has criticised that. its how that money is being used by hrnz that is the subject of the criticism. i don't know where you get this idea that stud farms and millionaires are going to put more money into sponsorship. that seems unrealistic thinking. have you not noticed that sponsorship seems to be declining in the sport. Look at the races names and its obvious. Also,its also so obvious,that if you run more and more races ,then less and less races will have sponsors.Thats just a fact as well. and these stud farms and millionaires that you refer to,again,have a look at where the money from bonuses and high end stakes are going.They may well spend a lot of money on their horses,but hrnz gives them preferential treatment and they are the ones getting the money that hrnz throws around. you would know the people who own the horses that come to nz and take away all the stakemoney are owned by the rich.Whether it be bonuses or the high end races,the rich benefit and the average person doesn't. Thats in a nutshell is why the indutsry has lost all the small timers who collectively formed the strong base that used to exist within the industry.They're gone,as have their mares. Again just reality. as to slot races. You would know hrnz is propping them uip with stakemoney that would be better kept for when hrnz run short on money. Cambridge is in a financial hole that hrnz seem intent on bailing them out of,and part of the reason for that hole is the slot races. So you can advocate away as much as you like about slot races,but thats advocating for more bail out money to go to whoever runs them. you always try to be positive,but wishing doesn't change reality.

Watching big-name Longines Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) runners fall away is nothing new, however the speed at which Calandagan went from in the fields to not coming was quite something. In a turn of events that sparked memories of the time Aidan O’Brien’s Magical was in the Group One Hong Kong Cup (2,000m) field for little more than 12 hours – but never actually coming to Hong Kong – Calandagan was listed in the Cup field by the Jockey Club on Wednesday afternoon before being ruled out...View the full article

For anyone who didn't watch any coverage of Out The Gate tonight (perhaps they had contributed funds previous weeks and lost!): Starting Balance $15,761 Closing Balance $52,644 To coin their phrase = PROFIT LAND 🤑

I’m lead to believe the Broadster is a former two time Rangiora line dancing champion so he will appreciate the celebration.

Celebrations are very awkward and I am going download the "unsee" app tomorrow

I accept this point, and it is fair, especially on hounds.

@Brodie what are you more impressed with? There punting ability or there celebrations when they win?

Totally Irrelevant, it is Out The Gate punting an unrestricted amount of money at full odds with no slashing of odds, for a group, not individuals! if it is 300 people punting at the same time then the odds would be slashed accordingly. It is about the liability to the TAB for each bet and it is just a continuation of how the TAB treats some very loyal punters poorly, whereas others get favouritism! This policy of treating punters differently has gone on for a long time but does not make it right, and if you knew the full story then you would understand more!

TOKYO, Japan — Under the vast, silent stand of Tokyo racecourse the best horse in the world enjoys a saunter around the turf track which will become his stage for the final act of a tremendous season. Calandagan (Gleneagles) will encounter an altogether different atmosphere on Sunday when that same grandstand will sing with the anticipation of around 100,000 racegoers come to bear witness to one of the world's great horse races. The passion with which the Japanese fans approach racing means that the Japan Cup is more pilgrimage than sports event and an 18-strong field which boasts the last three winners of the Japanese Derby means that the home team will have plenty to absorb them beyond this sole international visitor. But it is a compliment to the race and of vital importance to its global standing to have attracted the Aga Khan Studs' representative, who will bid for a fourth consecutive Group/Grade 1 victory after winning the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and then emulating Brigadier Gerard by taking both the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Champion Stakes in the same season. Just think, this time last year Calandagan was branded a bridesmaid horse. Now, after a racing year which began in Dubai and has continued through three trips to England as well as one performance on home turf in Paris, here he is in Japan, looking perky of mind and a bit more substantial of body. It would be a stretch to call Calandagan physically imposing, but in his talent he has imposed himself on the racing scene to a degree which makes it now impossible not to barrack for him. That his trainer Francis Graffard is similarly talented is beyond dispute to even casual racing observers these days. There's barely been a major meeting this year where he hasn't popped up and made his presence felt. Such is the strength in depth of Graffard's Chantilly yard that Calandagan has to battle internally to be labelled as stable star. But even in a season in which Zarigana and Gezora handed him French Classic victories before the latter delivered Graffard a longed-for first Breeders' Cup success, and Daryz capped the domestic season with his Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe win, it is Calandagan who stands out, and the very nature of his gelded status means that his trainer can take a different approach to his racing season. “My only focus for him is winning races,” Graffard says after watching Calandagan and his travelling companion Le Nomade complete half a lap of the Tokyo turf in a swinging canter. “I don't have to plan what will happen after racing, and what distance he should be racing over to be commercially interesting for a stallion career, or things like that. You only do it for the horse and for the sport, and I think that's why I like these geldings – I think they are great for the sport.” He's been here before of course, just last year, with Goliath (Adlerflug), who will be heading instead for Hong Kong next month. Goliath finished a creditable sixth last year behind Do Deuce (Heart's Cry), but the fact that he too is a gelded King George winner is where the comparison ends with Calandangan, according to their trainer. “The two horses are very different, so I have had to prepare them completely differently,” he says of the challenge of keeping a horse at his peak this late in the year. “I do it according to the horse, not to the race, and I know how to get Calandagan to his best. So that's what we are focused on, and the preparation has been right for Calandagan but different to last year.” Having settled upon the Japan Cup as a target with Princess Zahra Aga Khan after Calandagan's King George victory, Graffard said that the pressure was off when using the Champion Stakes – a revered Group 1 in its own right – almost as a prep race for Tokyo. “We said that this was where we wanted to go over the autumn and I was looking for a race to get him ready for the Japan Cup. The only suitable race for that was at Ascot in the Champion Stakes. It sounds a little bit silly because it was a very, very strong race, and the horse would need to be a champion that day. And obviously, winning the Champion Stakes, he proved to be the best horse in Europe anyway. It was a risk to prep for the Japan Cup in the Champion Stakes in England but I didn't have much pressure, because if he was beaten, it's okay. You take a risk, and I think it's very good for the sport, and I'm lucky because my owners have complete trust in me.” Nemone Routh and Francis Graffard at the Japan Cup press conference | Emma Berry Graffard is clearly relishing the luxury of knowing that, soundness and willingness permitting, Calandagan will be in his stable for some seasons to come. “We have got to know him well,” he says of the four-year-old. “But horses change, they mature, and we have to adapt all the time, but that's why this job is so interesting, because they're all different, and you have to go with their way. And with a colt, as they get more mature, they get heavier, and there is a line where they start to think more with their body, thinking about another job. So with a horse like Calandagan, it's much easier, and you can really train him as an athlete.” An athlete is exactly what Calandagan looks this unusually warm autumnal morning in the Tokyo sunshine, pointing his toe under his regular rider Jeremy Lobel. The only trace of the well reported former antics of his days as an enfant terrible is in the wearing of a hood – more familiarity perhaps than necessity these days. Nemone Routh, racing manager for the Aga Khan Studs, is in Tokyo already along with her colleague Pierre Gasnier ahead of the arrival of Princess Zahra Aga Khan for the big race. Success breeds success has long been the simple catchphrase of the operation's marketing division, and in a year in which it lost its figurehead with the death of His Highness Aga Khan IV in February, it can also now be said that the succession is breeding success. Princess Zahra Aga Khan, who has long played a key role in the development of the Aga Khan Studs, doubtless wishes that no such official changing of the guard had been necessary, but in the inevitable passing of familial duties from one generation to the next the horses – and those charged with their care – have not let her down. “Really, we couldn't dream of a year like this,” Routh says. “For the year to finish with us having the world's best horse, trained by Francis – and also a quick shout out to Daryz, who is the third-best-rated horse in the world and who won the Arc – and for it to fall in this difficult year at the beginning, and for the horses to perform at the top level throughout, it's indescribable, really. “We're very proud of the year that we've had. And it's wonderful to come here with such a good horse who's at the top of his game and who seems to have travelled very well. We're under no illusions that it will be difficult. It's a hard trip for a horse to take at the end of the year but he seems very well and we're very confident in his abilities.” During the press conference, Graffard referred to the things over which he had no control – the post position draw and a race start which takes place right in front of what will by Sunday be a grandstand humming with excitement. “I'll be happy with any number less than 10,” he said of a starting position, and by the afternoon another bounce of the ball had gone his way with a draw in stall eight. The rest now is up to Calandagan, to keep calm and carry on winning. The post ‘We Couldn’t Dream of a Year Like This’: Calandagan Team on One Last Push for the Japan Cup appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Brodie, if the syndicate has 300 members and the bet is $1000, that is, roughly a $3 bet per person (I know different people have different stakes). This isn't one person having a big bet, this is 100s of people, collectively having a little bet in unison.

Great that they are winning betting on Greyhounds. what it does show though is the ethics of the TAB! Dont get me wrong I hope they continue to win for those that continue to chuck their hard earned into the pot each week! What is morally wrong is the way that their employees are allowed to wager any amount they want and have no limits as to how much they can win!!!! Whereas if you are not an employee of the TAB you are restricted to a net very little and also stopped from taking some of the options available to others! Will be very Interesting To see if the hypocrisy and favouritism to some is allowed to continue as any other punter in NZ would now be restricted to winning buggerall.

Add another one of the many fallen sires to paddock injury, bloody shame but happens more often than ya think, you won't get any comments from the anti racing crowd, as they only like to emphasize the racing injuries on the track for all to see.

Cha Ching Cha Ching

you do need some though. Those Marketplace v Got The Chocolates clashes this year have been amazing. and you can show off your next 2 NZ Superstars. generated a bit of excitement . The Velocity and the NZ Derby were very exciting I've been Spruiking QLDer GUS the trotter to the Galah all year telling him how good he was. Paid $8 there twice , so you punting blokes might of got something. ( I backed GUS the 2nd time in the trotting FFA but missed the first unfortunately ) Good on ya GUS 🏆 . whatta beauty he is. Here's Another $8 winner for you Brodster. in the video. Shouldn't of paid so much against those very Weak South Island horses. About 8 of them in this video. The good horse tried to show some LEAP TO FAME death seat toughness though. great memories mate 😁😉

Who can't ? Give us some names? Doesn't have to be the ones you're going to glorify with you presence on their committees , just specific examples.

there's always a way. There's Sponsors and interested parties such as the stud farms and millionaires who chip in to keep it going. They already chip in to the large prize Slot races you guys All hate . Races are just run to what money sponsors put up at the time . I went to Tasmania with a few Queenslanders when Blacks A Fake won the Interdominion . He picked up a million dollars as First prize. sometimes Sponsors mean you can race for better money . other years not so much. The WAY it's ALWAYS been. ENTAIN /Ladbrokes have been great for harness racing. I can't condemn their input like you blokes do. we need them as are a good sponsor. Do they help the NZ Gallops out as well ? Chief might know ?

I'm beyond worrying about you @Chief Stipe , your delusion is absolutely scary at this stage. But as I have stated I'm more than willing to help once you actually put your money where your mouth is or rather become a "doer and not a sayer" ... P.S. My paint brush is right next to the LaZy Boy now , I await your call!

We are all starting to worry about your state of mind @Huey. It seems to be getting more and depressed and irrational. Now you are backing Australian racing when they do everything you despise at level 10 times above NZ. I gather you have had a bad experience in NZ racing and you havent got over it. Please share with us your specific issues so we can all work to help get you to move on.

Their own land that they can't afford to maintain properly.

So are you suggesting there are more than the usual😎