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Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-bred horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Wednesday's Observations features the return a 'TDN Rising Star'. 6.30 Kempton, Novice, 2yo, 8f (AWT) NATION'S HOPE (IRE) (Ghaiyyath {Ire}) was an instant hit here last month, earning TDN Rising Star status with a dazzling debut display and Charlie Appleby has opted to return for further education at the track he used for Notable Speech's initial forays. The half-brother to the stable's multiple Grade I-winning Nations Pride (Teofilo) has a seven-pound penalty meeting four maidens and this should be as straightforward as it gets for Godolphin's exciting prospect. 4.25 Kempton, Novice, 2yo, f, 7f (AWT) ASMERALDA (IRE) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) debuts over a year on from causing a stir at the Goffs Orby Book 1 when she sold for €640,000 to Blue Diamond Stud. John and Thady Gosden introduces Imad Al Sagar's half-sister to California Chrome's GII Jessamine Stakes winner California Angel against Godolphin's penalised winner Pierchic (GB) (Palace Pier {GB}), a Charlie Appleby-trained half-sister to three Stakes performers headed by the Oaks runner-up Dance Sequence (Dubawi). The post Back To Kempton For Nation’s Hope appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association announced Dec. 9 that one lucky fan and a guest will win a chance to attend the 55th annual Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards as part of the Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards Sweepstakes.View the full article

Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna), the 2024 Horse of the Year, will be bred during the upcoming season to sire Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}), it was announced by the superstar filly's majority owner, John Sikura, the owner of Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa. Sikura and the others in the Thorpedo Anna ownership have already chosen who she will be bred to in 2027, and that is Curlin (Smart Strike). Curlin stands at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, while Gun Runner stands at Three Chimneys Farm. “We usually take this one year at a time, but to breed to the two over the next two years was the consensus among the owners, so that's what we are going to do,” Sikura said. “With every partnership we have we are always respectful of all the owners, regardless of the fact that I might own the majority of the horse. Both are outstanding sires. Let's hope Curlin is breeding strong, two, three, four, five years from now. But for now, Gun Runner will be the choice the first time around, and that's what we are doing. Both on the racetrack and in the sales ring, he is, among the younger sires, clearly a uniquely successful North American dirt sire. That was her aptitude and that's what we are trying to breed for the marketplace. This will be great on great and we will hope for the best.” In choosing Gun Runner now and Curlin later, Sikura believes he can tap into both sires' best attributes. “It wasn't either/or with the sires,” he said. “We are trying to capitalize a little bit on the immediacy of Gun Runner's success and also the legend and legacy of Curlin. Let's hope that Journalism (Curlin) has a great year and emerges as a very top class horse in 2026. If so, we can capitalize on both sires at the exact right times.” Sikura said he normally tries to keep his breeding plans quiet, but realized that with Thorpedo Anna that wasn't an option. “She has a great following and was such a uniquely accomplished race mare,” he said. “I try to keep most of my decisions quiet until I'm ready to reveal them. To a large degree, she is in the public domain, so I don't have a problem sharing that information.” No plans have been made as of yet as to whether or not the Thorpedo Anna babies will be sold or raced by the current partners, but Sikura is best known as a commercial breeder and not as an owner. “To make that sort of decision now would be really premature,” he said. “I'm a commercial breeder. In some form or fashion we can monetize these foals, recognizing the enormous investment we made in the mare. We would be open to some kind of partnership, in which we would sell an interest. All avenues are open.  Let's have a live foal first and then we can go over the options. People ask what are you going to name the foal? Let it be born first and then a name will be selected.” In August, 2025, Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa acquired a half-interest in Thorpedo Anna. The price was never publicly disclosed.  In October, 2025, Sikura acquired another 20 percent fractional ownership interest in the mare for $1 million at the Keeneland Championship Sale. Sikura said that Thorpedo Anna has taken to her new life on his farm well. “She has settled in well,” he said. “She has been turned out in our paddock and she dropped her head and acclimatized to this part of her career. She's been here with us for weeks.” Thorpedo Anna will go down as one of the greatest fillies of her generation. A winner of 12 of 16 career starts, she won eight Grade I stakes, including the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff and the GI Kentucky Oaks. Trained by Kenny McPeek, who picked her out at the sales for just $40,000, she was named Horse of the Year and 3-Year-Old Champion Filly in 2024. Gun Runner has quickly established himself as one of the top sires in the world. To date, he has had 51 stakes winners, 34 graded stakes winners and 12 Grade I stakes winners. He has seven sons at stud and, thus far this year, he is the third leading sire in earnings behind Into Mischief and Not This Time. His stud fee for the 2026 breeding season will be $250,000. The post Thorpedo Anna Will Be Bred To Gun Runner In 2026, Curlin In ’27 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Come the start of January next year, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) will limit Computer Assisted Wagering (CAW) play one minute to post in all pools, according to NYRA president and CEO David O'Rourke during Tuesday's Global Symposium on Racing in Tuscon, Arizona. By far the most aggressive step taken yet to manage CAW play by any track operator in the country, this will mean that all CAW players will be limited to six bets per second when they bet into the NYRA product within one minute to post, putting them on the same footing as retail players. The steps that NYRA has already taken to manage these high-volume players–limiting their access to the win pool and the Late Pick 5 and Pick 6 pools–will remain unchanged. O'Rourke was part of a panel titled, “The Sustainability Algorithm: Balancing CAW Growth with Racing's Long-Term Health,” arguably the most eagerly awaited of the whole symposium given the sharp focus on these high-volume players and their impacts on the sport's coffers. O'Rourke also floated another new idea soon to be made available through NYRA, which is a centralized hub of raw data accessible for every player, large and small. This story will be updated…. The post NYRA Taking Aggressive Steps To Curb CAW Play In All Pools appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Keeneland's January Horses of All Ages Sale, which produced 2025 GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner Shisospicy, has cataloged 1,046 horses for the 70th edition of the auction, which will cover two sessions on Jan. 12-13, 2026, that each begin at 10 a.m. ET. Click here for the catalog, which offers broodmares and broodmare prospects, newly turned yearlings, horses of racing age and stallion prospects. “The January Sale is where breeders and owners are able to launch the new year with confidence,” Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said. “The auction, which is scheduled just before the start of breeding season, is an ideal platform to showcase broodmares, broodmare prospects, 'short' yearlings and racehorses to a global audience of buyers.” Print catalogs for the January Sale are scheduled to be mailed around Dec. 17. Premier offerings in the January Sale catalog who already have been announced are: Simply in Front, a Grade I winner and $2.8 million earner who is a 4-year-old daughter of Summer Front. She is consigned by Richard G. Hogan, agent for Colebrook Farms, and cataloged as a broodmare prospect. Tiffany Case, dam of top-ranked 3-year-old filly Nitrogen who is in foal to Not This Time. Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent, consigns the 12-year-old mare, a winning stakes-placed daughter of Uncle Mo whose two foals to race are both stakes winners. Broodmares in the January Sale catalog are in foal to such successful sires and emerging young stallions as American Pharoah, Candy Ride (Arg), Charlatan, City of Light, Cody's Wish, Cogburn, Constitution, Curlin, Domestic Product, Dornoch, Epicenter, Essential Quality, Flightline, Forte, Girvin, Golden Pal, Good Magic, Gunite, Hard Spun, Jackie's Warrior, Justify, Kingsbarns, Liam's Map, Maclean's Music, Maxfield, McKinzie, Munnings, Muth, Newgate, Not This Time, Nyquist, Omaha Beach, Practical Joke, Prince of Monaco, Seize the Grey, Tapit, Timberlake, Tiz the Law, Twirling Candy, Up to the Mark, Upstart, Vekoma, War Front and Yaupon. Yearlings in the catalog are by such stallions as American Pharoah, Annapolis, Candy Ride (ARG), Charlatan, City of Light, Cody's Wish, Complexity, Constitution, Corniche, Cyberknife, Drain The Clock, Elite Power, Forte, Girvin, Gun Runner, Gunite, Jackie's Warrior, Justify, Knicks Go, Liam's Map, Life Is Good, Maclean's Music, Mage, Maxfield, McKinzie, Munnings, Not This Time, Nyquist, Olympiad, Omaha Beach, Pappacap, Quality Road, Tapit, Twirling Candy, Uncle Mo, Upstart, Vekoma, War Front, Wootton Bassett (GB) and Yaupon. The first round of supplements to the January Sale are to be announced Thursday, Dec. 11. The January Sale will be livestreamed at Keeneland.com. The post Keeneland Catalogs 1,046 Horses for 2026 January Horses of All Ages Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article