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Ian Balding, who has died at the age of 87, made an indelible impression on the turf, not only as the trainer of some wonderful horses including Mill Reef, but also as mentor to many young people who subsequently graduated to success in the sport. Most notable is his son Andrew, who succeeded him at the helm of Kingsclere in 2002 and who has subsequently ensured that Kingsclere remains synonymous with both success and class. Ian Balding and his elder brother Toby were born in the USA where their father Gerald, a professional polo player, was living at the time. The family returned to Britain after the war and Gerald started training at Weyhill. It soon became clear that the boys were destined to follow their father into the sport. Toby, a keen point-to-point rider, took over his father's stable when he turned 21 in 1957; while Ian's progress towards holding a licence was only slightly more gradual. Ian's first major sporting achievements came when he was an undergraduate at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he earned a blue for rugby (a sport in which he was to make 92 appearances for Bath). He was never far from the turf, however, and rode out whenever he could at Royston for Willie Stephenson, who at the time was one of the leading dual-purpose trainers in the country. Ian was a natural athlete, very good at many sports including riding, ending up with over 70 wins over jumps as an amateur to his credit. Training was always his aim, though, and on leaving Cambridge he spent a year at The Grange, Beckhampton, as a pupil under Herbert Blagrave, who achieved conspicuous success over an extended period training only his own and his wife's (mostly home-bred) horses. A position followed as assistant to Captain Peter Hastings-Bass at Kingsclere but sadly tragedy struck after only a year. Peter Hastings-Bass was the son of a great trainer (the Hon Aubrey Hastings, who trained four Grand National winners including one, Ascetic Silver in 1906, whom he rode to victory himself) and in the late '50s and early '60s, training at Kingsclere which he had bought in 1953, he looked set to build a similarly imposing record. The icing on the cake came in the autumn of 1963 when he received eight yearlings from the Queen, who thus supplanted the popular American sportsman and philanthropist Paul Mellon as the stable's most distinguished patron. Tragically, Peter Hastings-Bass succumbed to a terminal illness the following summer. There was no possibility of his widow Priscilla taking over the licence at Kingsclere because the Jockey Club at the time did not grant licences to women; while their son most likely to follow in his father's footsteps, William (later Lord Huntingdon), who did in time become a successful trainer, was aged only 16 at the time. Consequently, Ian became the trainer at Kingsclere, aged 25. The link between the Hastings and Balding families was further strengthened in 1969 when Ian married Peter and Priscilla Hastings' daughter Emma. The two-year-olds at Kingsclere that summer included the Queen's Planta Genista, who had won at Lingfield in April. The best of the bunch, though, seemed to be Mr Mellon's home-bred American colt Silly Season (Tom Fool) who was beaten on debut at Salisbury before heading to Royal Ascot shortly after Ian Balding had officially become his trainer. Fairytales do occasionally come true and Silly Season duly broke his maiden by winning the Coventry Stakes, giving a heartening endorsement that it would remain a case of business as usual at Kingsclere. Silly Season ended his first season by winning the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket. At three he won the Greenham Stakes at Newbury, the St. James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Champion Stakes at Newmarket; at four he landed both the Lockinge Stakes and the Hungerford Stakes at Newbury. He became a successful stallion at New England Stud with many of his best progeny trained by Ian Balding, including 1972 Greenham Stakes winner Martinmas and 1973 Cambridgeshire heroine Siliciana. Silly Season, for all that his seven wins included some of Britain's greatest races, was almost as notable for a string of narrow defeats as he was for his triumphs. In later years Ian Balding would recount a discussion which he had with Mellon after the horse's retirement, a conversation which spoke well of both men. Thanking Mellon for having entrusted so talented a horse to an inexperienced trainer, he suggested that Silly Season might have been the best horse they would ever have and that he perhaps had not got the best out of him. Mellon, with typical kindness, assured him that he had trained the horse very well before adding, “And don't worry: I'll soon find a better one to send to you anyway”. As ever, he was as good as his word and a better one did indeed soon arrive: Mill Reef. Mill Reef is led in by Paul Mellon after the Derby | Getty Images Ian Balding will be remembered as the trainer of some very special horses but the one who will always be at the top of anyone's list is Mill Reef (Never Bend). Bred by Paul Mellon at Rokeby Stud in Virginia, the little colt headed across the Atlantic to Kingsclere as a yearling in the autumn of 1969. Over the next three years Mill Reef proved himself one of the greatest horses ever to have graced the British turf. The story is beautifully told in Lord Oaksey's book The Story of Mill Reef and in Brough Scott's film Something to Brighten the Morning which, narrated by Albert Finney, has helped to ensure that the names Mill Reef, Paul Mellon, Ian Balding, Geoff Lewis (the stable jockey) and John Hallum (who looked after the horse) will forever loom large in the romance of the turf. A champion at two, three and four, Mill Reef was beaten only once (by Brigadier Gerard in the 2,000 Guineas) and won some of the greatest races including the Coventry, Gimcrack and Dewhurst Stakes at two, the Derby, Eclipse Stakes, King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at three (in a season which Ian Balding ended as champion trainer); and the Prix Ganay and Coronation Cup at four. He retired to the National Stud, from which he twice became Champion Sire (in 1978 and 1987) thanks to his Derby-winning sons Shirley Heights (who in turn sired the 1985 Derby winner Slip Anchor) and Reference Point. While Ian Balding trained some notable horses for the Queen, including the 1970 Doncaster Cup winner Magna Carta (Charlottesville), Mellon's 'black, gold cross front and back; black cap, gold stripe' stands as the livery most synonymous with the trainer, and not solely thanks to Mill Reef. Several sons of Mill Reef carried them with great distinction including the multiple Group 1-winning full-brothers Glint Of Gold and Diamond Shoal, as well as King Of Clubs. Over jumps Crystal Spirit (Kris), a half-brother to Glint Of Gold and Diamond Shoal won the Cleeve Hurdle and the Sun Alliance Hurdle at Cheltenham in 1991; while another Mellon home-bred who ranked up with Glint Of Gold and Diamond Shoal was Gold And Ivory (Key To The Mint). Other top-class colts for the stable included George Strawbridge's Selkirk (Sharpen Up), Jeff Smith's Dashing Blade (Elegant Air) and Mr and Mrs Robert Hitchens' Tagula (Taufan), all of whom went on to make a significant mark at stud. Classic-winning fillies for Ian Balding were Eric Kronfeld's 1980 Prix de Diane heroine Mrs Penny (Great Nephew) and Paul Mellon's tiny home-bred tigress Forest Flower (Green Forest). The latter's dam Leap Lively (Nijinsky) had been a good filly for owner and trainer, winning the Fillies' Mile at Ascot in 1980 before finishing third to Blue Wind in the following year's Oaks. Forest Flower belied her lack of size by doing even better, landing the Queen Mary Stakes, Cherry Hinton Stakes and, fittingly, Mill Reef Stakes as a two-year-old in 1986 before taking the Irish 1,000 Guineas the following year. It is lovely that those famous Mellon colours are now carried by the Kingsclere Stud horses produced by Emma Balding, whose proteges include the Andrew Balding-trained Group 1 winners Side Glance and Elm Park, both of whose sires (Passing Glance and Phoenix Reach) had been trained at Kingsclere. Ian Balding, right, with long-term Kingsclere supporter Jeff Smith | Racingfotos It turned out that Forest Flower was not the mightiest amazon trained by Ian Balding because she was followed by Jeff Smith's home-bred Lochsong (Song), whose career provided arguably the greatest tribute to Ian Balding's skill. She spent most of her two- and three-year-old seasons proving nothing other than that she was a very hard-puller who was difficult to keep sound. Unraced at two in 1990, she won a maiden race at Redcar and an apprentice handicap at Newbury towards the end of a three-race campaign in 1991, suggesting that perhaps it was worth persevering with her. Over the next three seasons Lochsong was sublime (bar in the 1994 July Cup, when she reminded us that she was still very much a handful, doing her best of her running on the way to post). She raced 24 times over those three seasons, winning 13 times and being placed six. At four she completed the Stewards' Cup, Portland and Ayr Gold Cup treble. At five her wins included the King George Stakes, Nunthorpe Stakes and Prix de l'Abbaye. At six she won consecutively the Palace House Stakes, Temple Stakes and King's Stand Stakes (by five lengths) before landing repeat wins in the King George Stakes and Prix de l'Abbaye. She was voted Cartier Champion Sprinter in both 1993 and '94 and Cartier Horse of the Year in 1994. Throughout his career, Ian Balding showed himself equally good at educating both horses and jockeys. The first of his apprentices to be champion was Ernie Johnson (in 1967) who had started his apprenticeship under Peter Hastings. Next came Philip Waldron in 1970. Subsequently stable jockey to Henry Candy, Philip Waldron served his time alongside John Matthias, who became the Kingsclere jockey for several years, most notably riding Glint Of Gold in most of his races. The tradition of promoting the stable's apprentices again shone brightly when Francis Arrowsmith won the Ayr Gold Cup on Lochsong after Willie Carson had been on her in the first two legs of her great treble. It has continued under Andrew Balding, with William Buick and David Probert sharing the apprentices' title in 2008, Oisin Murphy taking it in 2014 (before going on to be, to date, champion jockey five times) and Jason Watson doing so in 2018. Ian Balding will deservedly be remembered as one of the great trainers of the modern era, notable for training his horses kindly and being adept at nurturing them for long careers, even those who started out as precocious two-year-olds. Aside from the horses' many great victories, further sources of pride for the family have been the outstanding careers developed by his and Emma's children Clare (whose broadcasting achievements need no introduction) and Andrew. The latter succeeded his father at the end of the 2002 season and has fully maintained Kingsclere's position as one of the world's greatest and most successful stables. The tone was set on a magical afternoon in June 2003 when Will Farish's Casual Look (Red Ransom) won the Oaks for first-season trainer Andrew Balding, ridden by former Ian Balding apprentice Martin Dwyer, with the BBC broadcast of the race presented by Clare Balding. Two very proud parents could rest easy that the future was in safe hands. Ian Balding is survived by Emma, their children Clare and Andrew, and by their grandchildren Jonno, Toby and Flora. We join the entire racing world in offering this very popular family our condolences. The post Ian Balding: A Sporting Great Remembered appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The nominees for the 2026 G1 Saudi Cup meeting feature 57 Group/Grade 1 winners from 22 different countries, among them GI Breeders' Cup Classic and 2025 Saudi Cup hero Forever Young (Real Steel). The two-day stand on February 13-14 will be worth $39.6 million in prize-money. Besides trainer Yoshito Yahagi's star in the main event are fellow Breeders' Cup Classic winner White Abarrio (Race Day), GI Preakness Stakes hero Journalism (Curlin), as well as GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile victor Nysos (Nyquist), and GII Clark Stakes winner Magnitude (Not This Time). G1 Champions Cup heroine W Heart Bond (Kizuna) and G1 Tokyo Daishoten one-two Diktaean (King Kamehameha) and Mikki Fight (Drefong) add depth to Japan's challenge. In the newly elevated $3-million G1 Neom Turf Cup sponsored by Howden includes two-time Breeders' Cup hero Rebel's Romance (Dubawi), G2 Bahrain International Trophy winner Royal Champion (Shamardal), and Aidan O'Brien's multiple Group 1-placed The Lion In Winter (Sea The Stars). Besides the Group 1s on tap for Saturday, the $2.5-million G2 Red Sea Turf Handicap features turf stayers Durezza (Duramente) for Japan and Joseph O'Brien's Al Riffa (Wootton Bassett). Among the nominees for the $2-million G2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint are Book'em Danno (Bucchero), and Bentornato (Valiant Minister), as well as Meydan Group 1 winners Tuz (Oxbow) and Dark Saffron (Flameaway). In the $2-million 1351 Turf Sprint are GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner Shisospicy (Mitole) and Group 1 winner Lazzat (Territories). In The $1.5-million G3 Saudi Derby, G1 Premio Derby Nacional hero Khamal (Mendelssohn) is signed on. During Friday's card, the International Jockey Challenge will be staged, and the $500,000 Saudi International Handicap sponsored by LUCID will take place. Nominees specifically for the Saudi Cup itself are listed here. HRH Prince Bandar bin Khaled Al Faisal, chairman of the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia said, “This is only the seventh time we have staged the Saudi Cup meeting and it has already delivered countless memorable races and performances. “We are delighted and honoured that so many people have chosen to aim their horses for the 2026 Saudi Cup races and, on behalf of everyone at the JCSA, I would like to extend our gratitude to those owners and trainers. “It has been especially pleasing to see the races recognised by the international authorities, too. The Saudi Cup has held Group 1 status since 2022 but we will now be staging our first ever Group 1 race on grass, the Neom Turf Cup, after its consistent level of performance. “The Saudi Cup meeting is not only about world-class racing; it is a celebration of the horse as well as the culture and the hospitality of the Kingdom. The list of nominations only increases the excitement and we look forward to welcoming connections and racing fans alike next month for an event that has quickly made a huge impact on the global calendar.” The post Forever Young Among 57 Group 1 Winners Nominated To 2026 Saudi Cup Programme appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Keeneland has supplement three additional hips to its January Horses of All Ages Sale to be held Jan. 12 and 13 in Lexington, KY. The newest supplements are: Sherbini (Cairo Prince): a 4-year-old filly who was an impressive debut winner at Churchill Downs at two before she was runner-up in the Schuylerville Stakes and placed in the GI Spinaway Stakes, both at Saratoga. Also placed in the Rags to Riches Stakes at Churchill, Sherbini is cataloged as a racing or broodmare prospect and is consigned by ELiTE, agent. Tigerish (Tiz the Law), a 4-year-old filly and one of five black-type performers out of Lerici, by Woodman. Graded stakes-placed at two, Tigerish is a half-sister to Grade I winner Avenge (War Front) and Grade II winner Liguria (War Front). She is from the family of such international stars as Canadian Horse of the Year Wonder Gadot (Medaglia d'Oro) and European champion miler Mark of Esteem (Ire) (Darshaan {Ire}). Bluegrass Thoroughbred Services, agent, consigns Tigerish as a racing or broodmare prospect. 2025 filly by Gun Runner consigned by Four Star Sales, agent. Her dam, Dragic, by Broken Vow, is a half-sister to Gun Runner's juvenile champion Echo Zulu and to Grade I winner Echo Town (Speightstown). Dragic, a multiple stakes performer, is the dam of Saturday Flirt, who is undefeated in four starts in North America, including the 2025 Soaring Softly Stakes at Saratoga. These three supplements increase the total number of horses cataloged to the January Sale to 1,095. The post Sherbini, Tigerish Among Latest Keeneland January Supplements appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The promising young stallion King Of Change (Farhh) has left Ireland to stand at Tweenhills Stud for the forthcoming season in a move which stud owner David Redvers has described as “potentially game-changing for us”. Runner-up to Magna Grecia in the 2,000 Guineas, King Of Change won three of his six lifetime starts, closing out his career by winning the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on QIPCO British Champions Day. His first two crops of racing age have collectively numbered 76 foals, 37 of which have run to date, including the four Listed winners Lady With The Lamp, Shayem, Miss Of Change and Onemoredance, making King Of Change the leader among the second-crop sires of 2025 with a cumulative figure of 12.9 per cent stakes winners to runners. He is listed as having covered 125 mares in 2024 and 38 in 2025. King Of Change, who is by the subfertile but proven stallion Farhh out of the Echo Of Light mare Salacia, was bred by Rabbah Bloodstock and raced in the colours of Ali Abdulla Saeed, as did his Group 2-winning half-brother Century Dream (Cape Cross), who also stands in the UK at Norton Grove Stud. Now aged 10, King Of Change stood his first two seasons at Shadwell's Derrinstown Stud, before moving to Starfield Stud, where he has been based for the last three seasons. Redvers said that he had tried hard to buy Sands Of Mali when he was auctioned last month by Tattersalls Ireland and was eventually sold to Gay O'Callaghan of Yeomanstown Stud. He told TDN, “I bid a very large number for Sands Of Mali but I was still only about fifth in the running. But I listened to Gay Callaghan's reasoning for giving what a lot of people would consider a telephone number for the horse and it really struck a chord with me. And you know that when you stand a stallion off the track, only one in ten of them, at best, work out. “You are at risk of polluting your broodmare band with ordinary semen and devaluing all of it. Whereas, if you've got a stallion you've got confidence in, with proven numbers, then the likelihood is that you're going to increase the value of your broodmare band. And, you know, you've only got to see what the likes of Whitsbury [Manor Stud] have managed to achieve with Havana Grey to realise how powerful a good stallion is.” King Of Change will stand alongside fellow Group 1 winners Kameko and Lightning Spear at Tweenhills in Gloucestershire. Earlier advertised at Starfield Stud for €5,000 for 2026, King Of Change's fee at Tweenhills will be announced in the coming days. Redvers continued, “I've been looking hard for a proven stallion and [King Of Change] was the stallion I most wanted to send mares to and use. And I thought, well, it was worth asking the question, and I was rather surprised when the answer came back as yes. “This fellow is extremely fertile. He's had very exciting results, and then he's got 100-odd foals on the ground this year. So, as a result, there's a lot of good stuff to come. I'm going to send him more mares this year of our own than he covered all of last year. I couldn't really be any more excited about him, to be honest. “To be in a position to buy this horse ourselves with a couple of partners is potentially game-changing for us. Even if it's relatively small numbers we're working with, the stats don't lie.” He added, “From very limited opportunities King Of Change has delivered outstanding results, and it is mouthwatering to think what he could achieve going forward with more quality and quantity. It goes without saying that we will be supporting King Of Change with our broodmare band and our partners in the stallion will do likewise. “At the beginning of our thirtieth anniversary as a stallion farm, King Of Change's arrival heralds an exciting new chapter for Tweenhills.” The post ‘I Couldn’t Really Be Any More Excited’: Redvers Welcomes King Of Change To Tweenhills For 2026 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

FanDuel TV will televise the live announcement of the finalists for the 2025 Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards on Sunday, Jan. 4 at Noon ET, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), National Turf Writers And Broadcasters (NTWAB), and Daily Racing Form announced Friday. The Eclipse Awards, honoring excellence in Thoroughbred racing, are voted upon by the NTRA, represented by member racetrack racing officials and Equibase field personnel, NTWAB, and Daily Racing Form, and are produced by the NTRA. The announcement of the Eclipse Awards finalists on FanDuel TV is sponsored by John Deere, The Jockey Club, and the NTRA. FanDuel TV also will televise live the 55th Annual Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. The evening will begin with the Red Carpet show at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed by the awards ceremony at 7:30 p.m. ET. The ceremony will be co-hosted by Britney Eurton and Lindsay Czarniak, and Caton Bredar will again serve as the Ceremony Announcer. The evening will culminate with the announcement of the 2025 Horse of the Year. Finalists in the Horse of the Year category also will be announced earlier that evening. Also back again this year will be an Eclipse Awards Charity Golf Tournament benefitting the PDJF which will be held Thursday morning prior to the awards ceremony on The Ocean Course at The Breakers. Also, one lucky fan and a guest will win a chance to attend this year's year show as part of the Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards Sweepstakes. The grand prize winner and their guest will also accompany Resolute Racing at the Pegasus World Cup. There is no purchase necessary to participate in the promotion and entries may be made on the NTRA website, or its accompanying social media channels, and the Resolute Racing website, or its accompanying social media channels. Fans can enter the contest by submitting their name, information, and explanation as to why they want to win this once in a lifetime experience. Entries are now open online and continue through Jan. 9 at 11:59 p.m. ET, with the winner drawn on Jan. 10. The post FanDuel TV To Air Live Announcement Of Eclipse Award Finalists appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Karwin Farm will be sold, with the 2026 breeding season its last under Gregory and Ambre Vayre. The couple announced the news on Facebook. A statement from the Vayres read in part, “It is with a touch of nostalgia but without any regrets that we announce that 2026 will be the last breeding season at Karwin Farm. We have decided to prioritize our family, and a new adventure awaits us… “The stud farm will be for sale at the beginning of the year. We would like to thank Brice, who supported us at the stud farm every day, Marine for all the sales and her help at the farm and all our interns. But above all, we want to thank all our owners, breeders, friends, and family who have supported us throughout this wonderful adventure.” The stud began operation in 2022, and currently stands five stallions: Van Beethoven, Keiai Nautique, God Blessing, Nerium and newcomer Grey Man. The post Karwin Farm To Be Placed On The Market appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

A trio of Italian-based stallions standing for Renew Italian Breeding have had their stud fees revealed on Friday. Inns Of Court, who is located at Allevamento Alessandro Antonini, will stand for €7,000. The group sire will be standing his second season in Italy. Both Far Above–new to Italy for 2026–and Italy third-year sire Kessaar will each command €6,000. The former will be based at Allevamento Massimo Farina, while the latter is established at Azienda Agricola Antezzate. Far Above, a group winner by Farhh, is the sire of G3 Premio Ribot winner Kabir. The post Fees Revealed For Renew Italian Breeding Trio appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The band we reach today, between $20,000 and $29,999, perhaps represents the sweet spot of the entire pyramid. It features sires of adequate achievement to have elevated themselves clear of the basement, yet without obtaining the kind of commercial luster that puts them beyond mortal pockets. The most established names retain their customary place on our Value Podium, not least as a tremendous route to proving a mare; but this tier also features one or two that could be on the point of cycling through delayed rewards for their early endeavors. As such, given that we can't single out each and every sire anyway, we certainly won't be dwelling too long on those yet to establish any kind of competence in their new careers. True, I can return to a recurring theme of this series to point out that if GUNITE was deserving of a preposterous 256 mares when entering stud in 2024, at $35,000, it's hard to see why you wouldn't go back to him now at $25,000. Of the 39 weanlings presented to market, 34 found a new home at $166,764. Their consistency was reflected by a significantly strong median of $157,500. He will probably become an imperative play next time round–when his fee will presumably subside again–ahead of a cavalry of juveniles bursting with the precocity that won him the GI Hopeful Stakes, and the speed that saw him trade blows with Elite Power as a 4-year-old. By the same token, then, we should be taking a keen interest in JACKIE'S WARRIOR at $25,000–half the sum paid by 247 mares in 2023. His first yearlings repaid their $50,000 conception fee very solidly, 82 of 103 selling at an average $225,102 (median $165,000). He's another Hopeful winner, who returned to Saratoga to win Grade I sprints at three and four. He seems bound to make some noise in the freshman table and, with his third book holding up at 166, now is actually the time to be doubling down. After all, the “judgement” exercised by so many breeders when he entered stud could be on the point of vindication. That mindset admittedly would not have paid off, in the preceding class, with ESSENTIAL QUALITY. Having reached $50,000 last year, from an opening $75,000, he has been slashed to $25,000 after a perfectly steady start by his first juveniles (three stakes winners putting him third in the freshman table). But while he was a champion juvenile, he's also a Belmont winner by Tapit and it would be perfectly natural for mares with Classic blood of their own to draw a great deal of improvement from his stock with maturity round a second turn. For now a fee cut became inevitable, however, after his second crop averaged $88,564–with a median that only matched the conception fee. Essential Quality | Sarah Andrew COMPLEXITY made a contrastingly lively start, the previous year, setting a storming early pace in the freshman table until inevitably worn down by rivals with industrial volume behind them. With a second crop in play, he's up to a dozen stakes winners–four at graded level–at 6.5 percent of named foals, from a conception fee of $12,500. That is actually the same ratio boasted by class leader Vekoma for his 18 stakes winners, yet he is up to $100,000 while Complexity has been eased to $20,000 (from $25,000). Two other peers in huge demand, Tiz the Law and McKinzie, are meanwhile getting their black-type winners at 5.1 and 3.3 percent. Complexity's problem in the short term is that his incoming juveniles graduate from a book of 59, but he was back up to 119 last spring and mares sent to him now will be able to ride that wave by the time their foals go to market. MAXIMUS MISCHIEF is an interesting proposition. Having set out as a straightforward, low-budget commercial option, he had a nice moment this time last year with the GI Malibu Stakes winner. But that has turned into an authentic breakout, and not just because Raging Torrent has meanwhile followed up in the GI Met Mile. Two other members of his debut crop won graded stakes, confirming that a sire whose own career had been curtailed could get his stock to thrive with maturity; and then a third-crop son won the GI American Pharoah Stakes. Yet his fee has only nudged up from $15,000 to $20,000, and with his numbers never having let up–incoming juveniles from a crop of 105 live foals, while he covered another 161 mares last spring–he stands at an auspicious crossroads. BOLT D'ORO has had an up-and-down career already. His latest yearlings, conceived at $35,000 after he won freshman laurels in 2022, achieved an uneven yield: he boasted a $1.4 million colt at Saratoga, and a six-figure average, but a median of $60,000 puts the pressure on (his next crop sired at exactly that sum). Halved to $30,000 last year, when he duly maintained traffic, he takes another trim to $25,000–solid value after he regrouped with 11 stakes winners in 2025, four at graded level. He may be finding his level but that is a solid one: he has consistent volume behind him and, in principle, that mare upgrade should help him gain further track quality over the next two or three years. But it is the most established operators in this category that pack in most value, and I would suspect that an awful lot of you might land on the same few names for a Value Podium. ARMY MULE misses out only narrowly, having had a mild hike from $20,000 to $25,000, an acknowledgment of some strong results at ringside (72 of 83 yearlings sold at $83,215, albeit the median was considerably less at $51,000) and with his early impact beginning to cycle through. He has still had no more than 206 starters, of which 21 are stakes winners. That's a tremendous ratio for a horse that started out at $10,000 and sired even his incoming sophomores at $7,500. He welcomed 160 mares when initially raised to $25,000, in 2024, and another 140 last year, so the “pipeline” is pretty loaded. There's every chance he could be standing at a rather higher fee before long, assuming he can consolidate with his somewhat upgraded materials. As things stand, his single graded stakes winner of 2025–his fourth overall–augurs well as GII Miss Grillo Stakes winner Ground Support, first home for the home team in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies' Turf. Blame " width="601" height="437" /> Blame | Sara Gordon VALUE PODIUM Bronze: BLAME Arch–Liable (Seeking the Gold) $25,000 Claiborne Though now entering the veteran stage, in turning 20, Blame remains a precocious achiever as a distaff influence. In 2025, his daughters were represented by 199 starters–compared with 776 for champion broodmare sire Tapit–of which four won Grade I races. While it remains easier to recognize the phenomenon of a broodmare sire than to account for it, it has been clear for a while now that this horse is an essential option for anyone who wouldn't mind hanging onto a filly. And little wonder: the underrated Arch was himself from a noble line, and Blame blends it with none other than Special (Forli {Arg}) as third dam. Of course, Blame is a thoroughly competent sire of runners in his own right. In 2025 he notched his seventh elite scorer, over in Europe, while GII Oak Leaf Stakes winner Explora only narrowly failed to reel in the winner in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. His current tally of 54 stakes winners and 25 at graded level represent extremely solid ratios: 6.5 and 3.0 percent of named foals. That puts him essentially level with Constitution and Twirling Candy, to name just two sires too excellent to be embarrassed by the comparison. And, guess what? While Blame's book of 73 last spring implies that not everyone is keeping the faith quite so resolutely, his growing reputation as a broodmare sire is quietly converting him, fairly late into his career, into a more commercial proposition. Of 43 yearlings offered from his latest crop, 36 sold at a solid average of $83,215. Admittedly the median was lower, at $57,500–but that is itself instructive. The fact is that enough people have now cottoned onto Blame's particular strength to contest his nicer fillies quite avidly. Though the most expensive of the crop, at $475,000, was actually a colt, the next seven (between $110,000 and $370,000) were all fillies. Stick or twist, race or sell, at least half the time Blame can be a win-win scenario. Silver: UPSTART Flatter–Party Silks (Touch Gold) $25,000 Airdrie A solitary graded stakes winner for Upstart this year doesn't begin to tell the story about a horse going places every bit as purposefully as his witty naming suggests. When on the bubble, in 2020, he had just 27 live foals. But then his second crop disclosed the talent he had imparted to Zandon and others–especially as sophomores in 2022, when Upstart matched Not This Time and Nyquist in the third-crop table with three Grade I performers apiece–and his fee the following spring was hoisted from $10,000 to $30,000. That trajectory has been reflected in his yearling returns: $42,071 in 2023, $67,564 in 2024, and this time round a stellar $108,477 for the graduates of that upgraded book. That was for 66 sold, of 82 offered, and the median was milder at $70,000: but you're obviously looking at a mixed bag, still bred at a budget fee, and the nicer ones completed home runs as high as $650,000, £425,000 and $350,000. Upstart | Sarah Andrew Even ahead of their arrival on the racetrack, things already appear to be afoot. Of Upstart's eight stakes winners in 2025, five were juveniles–including triple Grade I-placed Percy's Bar. As it stands, Upstart's 25 black-type scorers to date represent 6.7 percent of named foals. By the restrained standards of his exemplary farm, his book has basically been fully subscribed for the past four years, with another 147 paying this fee last spring–appreciating a mild clip pending the new cycle of success that now feels imminent. Gold: HARD SPUN Danzig–Turkish Tryst (Turkoman) $20,000 Darley Okay, so he has never really won over the ringside speculators. But that's their problem, not his. Of 68 yearlings offered in 2025, 54 retailed at just under $50,000 (median $40,500) off a conception fee of $35,000. And that's probably not going to change, after a fairly sedate year on the track as well–at least by his standards–with eight stakes winners, including three at graded level, from 307 starters. But. But. But… Twenty grand! For a sire whose lifetime bank is exceeded, among the Kentucky competition, only by Into Mischief, Tapit, Curlin and Candy Ride (Arg). For the sire of a dozen elite winners in the Northern Hemisphere, besides three others in Australia. For the sire of four sons at stud in Kentucky. For the last available short cut (besides War Front, now private) to his breed-shaping sire Danzig. One of just 28 foals in the patriarch's final crop, he taps directly into a seam of gold meanwhile diluted by all the thousands of mares wasted on failed stallions. For a horse to have achieved so much, and only once to have charged even as much as he did in his debut season, is a weird reflection on the commercial breeding era. He was tremendous value, for anyone trying to put a hard-knocking winner under their mare, at $35,000 in 2024. To have now taken his second cut since will keep his loyal clientele returning, even as he turns 22, in incredulous gratitude. The post Kentucky Value Sires For 2026: Part 4–The 20-Somethings appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Richard Kingscote has been granted a licence extension by the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), and will ride from February 18 through the end of the 2025/2026 season at Sha Tin on July 12. The Derby-winning jockey currently has four wins and 28 placings from 165 rides with earnings of approximately £1.2 million. Overall, the 39-year-old boasts eight Hong Kong wins, having accrued four during the 2024/25 Hong Kong season, as well. Another jockey granted a licence extension is Australian James Orman, who has 12 wins to his name. The next Hong Kong meeting is at Sha Tin on January 4. The 11-race card features the G3 Bauhinia Sprint Trophy over 1000 metres. The post Richard Kingscote Extends Hong Kong Riding Stint appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Diane Crump, the first female to ride a pari-mutuel race and also the first female to ride in the GI Kentucky Derby, passed away Thursday evening after battling an aggressive form of brain cancer. She was 77. The news was confirmed by Crump's family on social media Friday via her GoFundMe. According to Equibase, Crump rode only 228 winners in a career that spanned 1969 through 1988. But her mark on the sport goes well beyond the number of races she won. Female jockeys were widely rejected in the late sixties. It got so bad that when she left the jockeys room at Hialeah to ride in her first ever race on Feb. 7, 1969, she had to have a police escort to make it to the paddock. After she received clearance to ride a horse named Bridle 'n Bit in the race at Hialeah, six male jockeys took off their mounts. That a female was riding in a horse race was such an oddity that she was mobbed by reporters from newspapers and television stations and photographers. The horse finished 10th, but Crump received a positive review in the New York Times, which noted, “Even the most bitter opponents of girl riders had to admit she looked good on Bridle 'n Bit.” She was determined to win the fight and gain acceptance, which eventually happened. She was not one to give up easily. “I was just so excited that I was finally going to get to ride a race,” Crump told the Louisville Courier-Journal in 2020. “I read all the negative press, but I just never let that negative press deter me.” In 1970, she recorded another milestone, becoming the first female jockey to ride in the GI Kentucky Derby. She finished 15th aboard a horse named Fathom. “It wasn't that big of a deal in the Derby because he was a longshot,” Crump told writer Bob Ehalt in 2017. “There were some things written about it, but I had been riding for a year and people knew I was capable so there wasn't a big deal made of it. Yet to me it was a dream you always have if you're a jockey. Just to go through that experience gave me one of the greatest feelings you could ever imagine. Just the fact that I was there meant so much to me.” She said that in time the threats and harassment started to disappear. It also helped that other female riders were following her path and taking out a jockey license. “A lot of the harassment and most of the issues occurred before I ever got to ride,” Crump told the TDN in 2020. “The first two or three months were the worst. At the Derby, it was a little over a year since I started and by then, things had calmed down. I was fairly well received in Kentucky, more so than in other states. There was less dissension. After the first several months it died down so far as the male jockeys went. It wasn't perfect, but it definitely improved.” Crump said that, eventually, getting mounts was not a problem. But getting the assignment on horses that had a chance was. “I think I was a very good rider,” she told the TDN. “I won races I never should have won. I think I rode a good race and I had the potential to be a really good rider. I never got to show it because I was never put on a top horse. I won races on horses that paid $100, horses that were 99-1. I beat top riders coming down to the wire. You need to ride a certain amount of horses to get proficient at it. It took longer for me because of how few horses I got to ride. That my biggest disappointment.” Crump retired in 1988, but her work had already been done. She was the one that led the way for a generation of talented female riders, including Hall of Famer Julie Krone, Rosie Napravnik and Donna Barton Brothers. “Those pioneer women jockeys are my idols,” Jacqueline Davis, who has been a jockey since 2008, told Ehat. “They had to have a lot of courage. I don't know if I could have gone through what they did and made it as a jockey back then.” In 2020, she released her autobiography “Diane Crump: A Horse Racing Pioneer's Life in the Saddle.' It was co-authored by Mark Shrager. After her retirement, Crump settled in Virginia, where she operated Diane Crump: Equine Sales, Inc., an equine sales business. The post Pioneering Female Jockey Diane Crump Passes Away appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Ian Balding, trainer of the great Mill Reef among of a host of top-class horses to have passed through his Kingsclere stable, has died at the age of 87. Balding was champion trainer in 1971, the year in which Paul Mellon's homebred Mill Reef won the Derby, Eclipse, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. His father Gerald and brother Toby were both trainers, and in 2002 Balding handed over the licence at Park House Stables to his son, Andrew, who has continued to expand the powerful yard and is now a multiple Classic-winning trainer in his own right. An accomplished sportsman, Balding was a Cambridge Blue in rugby and rode successfully over jumps as an amateur. He was married to Emma, a successful breeder and owner of Kingsclere Stud whose father Peter Hastings-Bass trained at Kingsclere prior to Balding. Their daughter Clare is the celebrated BBC broadcaster and author. This story is being updated. The post Classic-Winning Trainer Ian Balding Dies at 87 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

BloodHorse has reprised its online year-end survey to ask some of the sport's leading individuals for their opinions on pertinent issues facing the sport.View the full article

The Telegraph has been a true handicap race from its inception in 1890 through till 2014, then in 2015 run as set weights and penalties then from 2016 on as a WFA. As you know, with WFA, horses carry weight based on age and sex, not race record. The theory is it attracts the top horses. A horse like Crocetti would be carrying more weight under handicap conditions as would Grail Seeker, whereas a horse like First Five is poorly off at the same weight as Crocetti. I guess it also encourages 3-year-olds like To Cap It All to have a go

You've lost me?

John Size will be hoping to continue his march up the trainers’ premiership standings when he unleashes a two-pronged assault on Sunday’s Group Three Bauhinia Sprint Trophy (1,000m) at Sha Tin. As is customary with the 13-time champion, he made a slow start to the season and after a few months to get his well-oiled machine up and running, his stable has certainly arrived to the party. Victories for Endued and Raging Rapids on New Year’s Day ticked off another brace for Size, with the 71-year-old...View the full article

Possibly the exotics at the Mot especially the 10000 guaranteed first 4 that were carried over in some races probably boost the Mot over Omakau but the win pool in the main race today is only beaten strangely by the race before, Kaikoura, Westport,The Mot and Omakau and possibly Richmond, once use too, top the turnovers for racedays away from Addington and probably beats most of them too.

Does this work as a WFA?

1 3120X Crocetti(5g Zacinto (GB) - Gracehill) 2 91616 Spencer(6g Derryn (AUS) - Darcistar) 3 0X600 Sacred Satono(6h Satono Aladdin (JPN) - Belle Joie) 4 86X0X Navigator(6g El Roca (AUS) - Joiya (AUS)) 5 50X97 Our Echo(9g Echoes Of Heaven (AUS) - Sakura Cluden) 6 26284 Lhasa (AUS)(6g Hellbent (AUS) - Rupavari (AUS)) 7 X0X12 Master Fay (AUS)(8g Deep Field (AUS) - Keeping Score) 8 26X12 Platinum Attack (AUS)(5g Santos (AUS) - Conchita (AUS)) 9 X1373 Tardelli (AUS)(4h I Am Invincible (AUS) - Pierro Moss (AUS)) 10 2X421 First Five(5g Almanzor (FR) - Payette (AUS)) 11 X5447 Slipper Island (AUS)(6g No Nay Never (USA) - Pedicel (AUS)) 12 28591 Party Rocking(5g Belardo (IRE) - Party Lights) 13 60X06 Grail Seeker(5m Iffraaj (GB) - Starwish (AUS)) 14 31X3X Tomodachi(5m Tarzino - Quintessentially) 15 71X41 Ardalio(4m Ardrossan (AUS) - Bridgewater (AUS)) 16 42022 To Cap It All (AUS)(3f Capitalist (AUS) - Oh My Mimi (AUS)) Fields Quick Trials Gear Barrier Stats ›Download PDF › Draw RTG WGT Jockey Trainer Win Place 9 107 58.5 Warren Kennedy Danny Walker & Arron Tata - - 13 103 58.5 Elen Nicholas (a) Peter & Shaun McKay - - 1 100 58.5 Bruce Wallace & Grant Cooksley - - 4 95 58.5 Ryan Elliot Cody Cole - - 2 94 58.5 Kate Hercock Danny Frye - - 10 93 58.5 Tayla Mitchell (a) Mark Treweek - - 14 92 58.5 Opie Bosson Chad Ormsby - - 16 92 58.5 Craig Grylls Lisa Latta - - 8 92 58.5 Matt Cartwright Stephen Marsh - - 6 89 58.5 Wiremu Pinn David Greene - - 12 87 58.5 Sam Weatherley Tony Pike - - 7 74 58.5 Jim Chung (a) John Bary - - 3 104 56.5 Joe Doyle Lance O'Sullivan & Andrew Scott - - 15 98 56.5 James McDonald Lance O'Sullivan & Andrew Scott - - 11 94 56.5 Daniel Stackhouse Stephen Marsh - - 5 74 53.0 Masa Hashizume Stephen Marsh -

Matamata trainer Pam Gererad will head south to Trentham on Saturday with a quality team of three runners engaged for the day’s feature meeting. Spearheading the attack will be last start Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) winner Romanoff who will be stepping out on raceday for the first time since defeating stablemate Affirmative Action in the Riccarton blue riband classic. His mission on the weekend is the Gr.2 Levin Track Supporters Levin Classic (1400m) with Gerard keen to see him perform to expectations as she prepares the son of Belardo for a pair of major assignments at Ellerslie. “He had a nice freshen-up after returning from Christchurch and this was the race we felt would be best to kick him off in,” Gerard said. “He has been working along nicely at home and we want to see him perform to expectations, albeit knowing this isn’t his main aim and that the 1400m might be a little on the short side for him. “He is a real character and loves a trip away as he just puts his head down and eats everything you put in front of him, so the whole journey to Wellington and back, along with the race will be perfect for him.” Safely through Saturday, Gerard is eying the $1.5million TAB Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m) at Ellerslie on 24 January followed by the $4million NZB Kiwi (1500m) on 7 March where Romanoff will take up the Canterbury Jockey Club slot he secured with his 2000 Guines victory. “As long as he pulls up well on Saturday he will then go straight to the Karaka Million and then into the NZB Kiwi,” Gerard said. “The key will be to keep him fresh enough while also getting the miles into his legs that he needs, so it is likely he will have an exhibition gallop or similar between those two races. “He has earned his chance at those races and having a runner with a decent chance is what racing is all about.” The second member of Gerard’s Trentham team is last season’s Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) runner-up Dubai Gold who will tackle the Gr.3 Ron Stanley Memorial Phar Lap Stakes (1600m). Gerard admitted she has been struggling to find appropriate races for the four-year-old mare after the first two starts in her current campaign. “She (Dubai Gold) trialled really well before her first-up run at Counties back in November but then everything went wrong during the race where she got trapped wide throughout,” she said. “We really wanted to see where she stood at weight-for-age against the best fillies and mares so we rolled the dice and ran her second up at Te Rapa in the Cal Isuzu (Gr.2, 1600m) where she just got outsprinted in the closing stages, while she was also feeling the hard track a little. “That has convinced me she really is a better mare in the autumn as that was where she excelled last season when there was some cut in the tracks. “It has been tough to find a suitable race for her, but the pieces have fallen into place for Trentham as they have had a bit of rain, she loves the track and she really impressed me this week with her work. “She has dappled up nicely so we decided on Friday morning to send her south and I’m hoping that is the right decision. “If she goes well we can go back for the Remutaka Classic ($350,000, 2100m) on the 31st (of January) and then look again at what is available after that. “She is still on her learning curve and we know if she comes up like she did last year then there is always Brisbane in the Winter as an option.” Last start maiden winner Dragon Blossom rounds out Gerard’s Trentham team and her trainer believes she is a strong chance in the Blue Star Group 1600. “She (Dragon Blossom) is flying and while she took a long time to win a maiden she had been running in very strong fields without much luck,” she said. “She is only small but she is tough and has been to Trentham before and gone a cracker, so I’m hoping she can do the same again on Saturday.” View the full article

Matamata trainer Cody Cole is following a similar blueprint to last year with his Group One performer Navigator, who will head into the Gr.1 TAB Telegraph (1200m) at Trentham on Saturday fresh-up. The six-year-old son of El Roca was also in a fresh state when placing in the race last year, and Cole saw no reason not to follow that same path this year. “We did that last year with him and that’s the way to have him,” Cole said. “He performed well there last year and I feel like we have got him going a bit better than that this year.” The Navigator hasn’t been sighted on raceday since he was unplaced in his sole start over spring in the Gr.1 Proisir Plate (1400m) at Ellerslie in September, but Cole is happy with the way he has come up this time in and is hopeful of a bold showing on Saturday. “He had a jumpout at Te Rapa and he won that comfortably on the bridle, so we know he is back to himself,” Cole said. “He had a few niggles in the spring and we have put those behind us and hopefully the best version of him turns up tomorrow, and if he does, he shouldn’t be too far off them.” Cole is also excited about the prospects of two-year-old filly Silhouette, who will line-up in the Listed JR & N Berkett Wellesley Stakes (1100m). The daughter of Armory won on debut over 900m at Trentham in October, and she was set to return to the Upper Hutt track last month to contest the Gr.2 Wakefield Challenge Stakes (1100m), but a bout of colic thwarted those plans. She has made a pleasing recovery and Cole is hopeful she can secure black-type this weekend. “She was meant to go down for the Wakefield, but she had a bit of colic leading into it and disappointedly we didn’t get there, but she seems right now,” he said. “They don’t give away stakes races, but she looks to be a nice chance on paper and if she performs up to her best, and puts the last couple of weeks behind us, I think she can go pretty close to it.” Stablemate Bow Hill will be given her first tilt at stakes level when she contests the Listed Vernon & Vazey Truck Parts LTD Marton Cup (2200m), and she heads into the race in good form, having placed in her last two outings. “It is a bit of a throw at the stumps with her but she is probably in the best form that we have had her in,” Cole said. “She has run a couple of really bold races in her last two starts and she has done it the hard way coming from back. I think she deserves a chance and a bit of the first three money would be great.” Latrelle just missed out on securing black-type when fourth in the Gr.2 Manawatu Challenge Stakes (1400m) at Trentham last month and Cole said she has progressed in the right direction since, believing she will be a major player in the Gr.3 Ron Stanley Memorial Phar Lap Trophy (1600m) on Saturday. “She was unlucky not to get a bit of black-type there last time at Trentham in the Group Two,” Cole said. “She was three-wide with no cover in weight-for-age, and it took its toll in the last 50m and she just came to the end of it. She will be better for that run, she has bounced through it well and she typically goes well at Trentham.” There’s plenty of pressure on Cole’s shoulders as his promising filly Cheerio gets set to contest the Gr.2 Levin Track Supporters Levin Classic (1400m) carrying the well-known silks of owner-breeder John Messara of Arrowfield Stud. The daughter of Maurice placed on debut over 1200m at Tauranga in October before winning at Ruakaka last month and will take on a strong line-up when making her stakes debut this weekend. “There is a little bit pressure going around in those silks,” Cole said. “There are some well proven horses there, it is a pretty tough field. The manner in which she won last start and what she has shown us at home has been pleasing, we have always had a decent opinion of her. “It is a tough ask from a sticky gate (12), but her work has been really good and she is probably a filly that is still on the up and she has got plenty of upside to come, whether it is going to be just yet or she needs a bit more time, we will find out on Saturday.” On the Trentham undercard, Cole looks to have three strong contenders in Renovations, Miss Jones and Bradley. Previously racing in Australia, the Trelawney Stud-raced Miss Jones won her New Zealand debut for Cole at Ellerslie last start and he believes she can double her tally if she brings her manners this weekend. “She has come from Australia and she is a mare that has got ability, she just wants to do a bit wrong,” he said. “I think down the chute at Trentham will suit her and with Opie on, there are a couple of positives there. “She has just got to put it all together and after her last run we have learned a bit about her and popped the shadow roll on her and fingers-crossed she settles enough early and she can round it out like she did at Ellerslie.” Group Three performer Renovations disappointed when seventh over 1400m at Te Rapa last month and Cole believes the recent wet weather will assist his mare on Saturday. “She was a bit disappointing last start. I just think the track got a bit too firm towards the end of the day,” Cole said. “She probably appreciates her toe in the ground a bit more and it shouldn’t be too firm at Trentham with the rain around throughout the week.” Cole’s team will be rounded out by Bradley, who is rated a $3.90 favourite to take out the Blue Star Group 1600. “It has taken me a little while to figure him out,” Cole said. “He won really well fresh-up and he was a bit disappointing second-up at Counties, but I am putting that down to trainer error, I just backed him up a bit soon, which is just not his style. “We put him in the paddock for 10 days leading into Trentham last start and it was a different performance to what we had the start before, and we have done the same thing again this time. Opie (Bosson, jockey) has obviously had a sit on him and he knows what he is capable of.” Cole has had a good association with Trentham over the last few years and he is hoping to continue that this weekend. “It has been really good to me over the years, I couldn’t say why,” he said. “Last season we had a lot of luck there and fingers-crossed we can keep it rolling. We have had a bit of luck so far this season and a good day tomorrow would be great.” View the full article

Trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson are hoping Towering Vision’s win in the Eagle Technology 1600 at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day is a good omen as they look towards the Gr.1 Trackside New Zealand Derby (2400m) in March with the progressive three-year-old. The last two winners of the New Year’s Day three-year-old mile, Orchestral (2024) and Willydoit (2025), have gone on to win the Derby, and Walker and Bergerson are hoping Towering Vision can continue that trend. The stakes winner was fresh-up on Thursday, and punters supported him late, backing him into $3.30 favouritism before the jump. In-form hoop Opie Bosson settled his charge towards the rear of the field where he bided his time before presenting him out wide at the top of the straight and Towering Vision was able to show his class when running over the top of his rivals to score by three-quarters of a length over Sweet Ice. “It was a really good patient ride by Opie,” Bergerson said. “It was good to see him relax so well in the blinkers, he still settled well and tracked into the race nicely. “We have been working back from the Derby the whole way through and we are back on track now. “He will take really good confidence from that. He has only won once before and that was a pretty good field today. The way he hit the line gives us confidence to go up in trip now. We are certainly targeting the middle of March and potentially onto the Waikato Guineas (Gr.2, 2000m) now.” The win continued a great start to the year for Te Akau, having won two races earlier in the meeting, including Kinnaird in the Gr.2 Eclipse Stakes (1200m) and Drops of God in the TAB 1200. Both runners are set to return to Ellerslie for Karaka Millions night later this month where Kinnaird will contest the TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m), while Drops of God will likely line-up in the Gr.3 Cambridge Stud Almanzor Trophy (1400m). Drops Of God was an eye-catching debut winner, scoring by 5-1/2 lengths at Te Aroha last month, and backed that up with a convincing three-quarter of a length victory on Thursday in the hands of Bosson. The senior hoop said Drops Of God is still racing greenly, but he was impressed by her talent and expects her to go on with the job. “She has still got quite a bit to learn, she does a bit wrong and gets on the wrong leg, but she has a lot of ability,” he said. “She is definitely well above average. Once she puts everything together, I think she is going to be a very smart sprinter.” Bergerson was pleased with what he saw from the Nearco Stud-bred and part-owned three-year-old, who he said would likely return to Ellerslie on January 24 to contest the Gr.3 Cambridge Stud Almanzor Trophy (1400m). “A three-year-old filly against the older horses up in grade, it was a really good effort,” he said. “It was a positive ride and she had to do a bit of work to hold her spot and gave a really good kick trough to the line. It sets her up hopefully for some nice targets coming up. “It is hard to know what her trip is at this stage. She is bred to get a little bit further, but the Almanzor Trophy looks like a really nice race for her on Karaka Millions night, all going well. “There is a lot to get excited about.” Bergerson is hoping the stable can continue their great start to the year at Trentham on Saturday, where they will be represented by a trio of runners. Undefeated juvenile Out Of The Blue will lead their charge in the Listed JR & N Berkett Wellesley Stakes (1100m), for which he is an equal $3.10 favourite alongside Silhouette. “He was meant to run at Ellerslie on Boxing Day but unfortunately he drew barrier 10 with 58kg, so we elected to scratch and go to Trentham,” Bergerson said. “He has had two looks down a chute at Riccarton, not the Trentham chute, but they are similar. He has got a nice gate (2) and has Gryllsy (Craig Grylls, jockey) aboard. I would imagine he would be in the first one or two. “He is quite bold in his going and he likes to get out in front and truck along at his own speed. We won’t be trying to ride him back like we did at the Avondale trials where he was quite bold. “He is going really well and that trial has brought him on nicely. It is hard to line-up all of the different form lines, but he goes in in really good order.” The stable will also have a two-pronged attack in the Gr.2 Levin Track Supporters Levin Classic (1400m) courtesy of Sibling Rivalry and La Dorada. Sibling Rivalry has been victorious in her last starts and Bergerson is looking forward to testing her at stakes level for the first time. “We think she deserves her chance at black-type,” he said. “1400m is a little bit of a query. She is not overly big but she makes up for it in toughness, she tries really hard. “I can’t fault her from her last start win at Pukekohe, which was really good against the older horses in 65 grade.” Bergerson is hoping last season’s Champion New Zealand Two-Year-Old La Dorada can return to form after failing to fire in her three three-year-old starts to date, including a fourth placed resuming run in New Zealand at Te Rapa last month. “La Dorada should strip a lot fitter for that first-up run,” Bergerson said. “We weren’t able to get a trial into her heading into it (first-up New Zealand run), but she had the two exhibition gallops. “She had a really good blow on pulling up and will take really good improvement. She is a Group One winner at 1400m at Wellington, which I think is a big plus, and ha drawn barrier one with Gryllsy on. Hopefully she can bounce back to a bit of form.” View the full article

Trainers Roger James and Robert Wellwood have taken a patient approach with their exciting sprinter Sweynesday, and they could be rewarded with a Group One result in a couple of weeks. The five-year-old son of Sweyneese extended his impressive form line when reeling in Shoes to win the SkyCity 1200 at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day, setting up a return to the Auckland track on January 24 to contest the Gr.1 Sistema Railway (1200m). From his wide gate, Sweynesday was forced to travel three-wide without cover for much of the journey, but he got on the back of an improving Silent Is Gold when rounding the final bend. Shoes, who had set a solid tempo throughout, kicked clear down the home straight, but Sweynesday took chase and under the urgings of jockey Masa Hashizume he was able to reel her in and nab her on the line to win by a head. “He sat three-wide throughout, he did it tough, but he is a good horse,” Wellwood said. “That’s eight starts now and he hasn’t finished outside the first two. “The second horse is a talented galloper and had a three-kilo claim as well. He did a good job to pick her up. I am very happy.” With a record of five wins and three runner-up results from eight career starts, Sweynesday’s trainers believe he is up to the task of taking the step up to stakes grade, and they have circled the Railway on Karaka Millions night as his target. “Today was a test to see where we were at and with that (performance) it means that he gets a chance there,” Wellwood said. “I would just love to see him draw a gate, he didn’t have it easy today. He gets in nicely at set weights and penalties in the Railway hence why we didn’t go down to the Telegraph (Gr.1, 1200m) at weight-for-age. “It was nice to see him do that and it would be pretty special if we could do the same on Karaka Millions night.” Sweynesday was purchased out of Pertbab Racing’s 2022 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale draft by Eric Koh, King Power and Bevan Smith Bloodstock for $80,000, and he races in the colours of Koh’s Falcon Racing for whom he has earned $192,000 to date. View the full article

Fresh from booting home a winner apiece at Sha Tin on Thursday, Richard Kingscote and James Orman’s start to the new year got even better when their licences were extended until the end of the Hong Kong season. The Jockey Club on Friday confirmed the extensions from February 18 to the season finale on July 12, with both riders elated by the announcement. It can be tough going in one of the world’s most competitive riding ranks and that has been the case for Kingscote, who battled a winless...View the full article

Looks like Omakau might give the Mot a shake for turnover, 12 races v 13 might be the difference, that big on course crowd of holiday makers are boosted the tote figures, that's why I say this meeting should have stakes boosted and let Alexndra Park move the Cup or just accept southerners won't go. Wagering for a 2000m race best of the holiday circuit, you really need those 8 runners.

@Thomass your screenshots are selectively timed to create a false narrative. That isn't free speech.