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The extent of Hawthorne Race Course's financial troubles, and with it the enormous ramifications for industry stakeholders in the state, were made glaringly clear during Wednesday's Illinois Racing Board (IRB) meeting. On Monday, the racing board suspended the operating license of Suburban Downs, Inc., which manages Hawthorne's harness meet, for “failure to provide documentation demonstrating its financial integrity, and proof that they can meet the minimum standards” as outlined in state law. According to representatives from the Illinois Harness Horsemen's Association (IHHA) who attended Wednesday's meeting, Hawthorne–which is owned and operated by the Carey family–is responsible for more than $580,000 in bounced checks between some 66 individuals in recent months. With the 2026 Thoroughbred meet scheduled to begin March 29, representatives from the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (ITHA) detailed both the sense of urgency with which they're seeking assurances from Hawthorne the meet can go ahead, as well as the consequences if it doesn't. The ITHA alone is apparently owed around $600,000 from Hawthorne for payments dating back seven months. “There's a very good chance that the last horse race in the Chicago area has been raced. Ever. Imagine that,” said ITHA executive director David McCaffrey. “Washington Park. Arlington. Maywood. There's a very good chance that it could be over.” Rather than offer concrete assurances over a Thoroughbred meet this year, representatives from Hawthorne asked the commissioners and the attending stakeholders to put their trust in a vaguely detailed sense of optimism that a last-minute deal over the next few weeks could be cobbled together. Specifics surrounding this alleged deal were in short supply. Hawthorne president and general manager Tim Carey was scheduled to provide an update for the commission. He pulled out before Wednesday's meeting. In his place sat John Walsh, Hawthorne's assistant general manager. “For the optimistic part of things, we have moved in a different direction in the last month and a half as far as getting these casinos and racinos up and running,” said Walsh. “We're working with a new partner, someone nearby, someone interested in Illinois and Illinois racing, who really wants all of this to succeed and move quickly,” said Walsh. “Whatever's going to happen is going to happen in the next two or three weeks.” The racing board did not ask about the identity of this alleged partner nor any substantive details about the purported deal. Walsh did not offer this information up voluntarily either. At the same time, Walsh strongly suggested that if this alleged deal cannot come to fruition by Feb. 16–when the facility would need to switch over operations from harness racing to Thoroughbreds–Hawthorne's 2026 Thoroughbred meet would be effectively over. “We will have something in place by that date… or we don't,” said Walsh. “If we don't turn over the track, I'm sure Tim will contact the board and just say where he is. But I just know things have to be done by then [Feb. 16]. They will be done. They have to be done.” In 2019, the state granted Hawthorne the go-ahead to convert its old grandstand into a casino. Since then, nothing concrete has materialized on that possibility despite repeated promises to the contrary by track operators. Indeed, ITHA president Chris Block voiced during Wednesday's meeting what he described as “growing alarm” through the years “over Hawthorne's delays finalizing a deal to open and operate this casino. “Amidst those delays, we've seen the precipitous decline of racing in Hawthorne. In 2021, we had 909 horses on the backstretch. Last summer, we peaked at 635. A drop of nearly 30%. Just five years ago, Thoroughbred purses in Northern Illinois totaled $19.27 million. Last year, we ran for $8.6 million. A drop of more than 50%,” Block said. And why should the industry trust that this time things will be different? “When I say I'm optimistic, I think everything is going the right way,” said Walsh, who described himself as a natural pessimist. “At our February meeting, if we have one, I'll be here and I'll be smiling.” The next scheduled IRB meeting is in March. Peppered throughout the meeting were glimpses into the sheer scale of Hawthorne's financial mismanagement, and the toll it's having on the horsemen and women facing economic dire straits. “We have some trainers in the audience that aren't eating because they're feeding the horses first,” said one Standardbred trainer during the public comment period. “The horsemen who depend on Hawthorne for their livelihoods, who have not been paid since before Christmas, deserve to hear directly from the person responsible for that,” said Jeff Davis, the IHHA president, noting Tim Carey's failure to appear at the meeting. “His absence I think is disrespectful not only to the horsemen but to you as a board,” Davis said, adding that there are some $414,000 in state funds “that remain inaccessible in Hawthorne's frozen accounts.” During his presentation, Davis explained how he had just learned “Churchill Downs obtained a judgment against Hawthorne Race Course in December for $1.64 million.” He added: “I'm not an attorney, but it was a judgment based on confession, they called it, which means they weren't, Hawthorne wasn't fighting that. They admitted it. And they owe it.” Walsh appeared to refute Davis's assertions, but his response raised more questions than it answered. “As far as the Churchill Downs settlement, it's not correct. There hasn't been a settlement. We haven't paid anybody anything. And the amount is not quite correct. It's much lower,” said Walsh. Pressed by one of the commissioners, Walsh explained how he and other Hawthorne employees–like the clerks and security personnel–had continued to receive their salaries during this time. The banks, he said, were deciding seniority of payments. “I'm never good with these. I'm never very good with speaking in public. However, I want to assure the horsemen that Hawthorne, its employees and the Carey family are disgusted by this turn of events. It was unexpected–Hawthorne would never decide to write checks that didn't go through,” Walsh said, at the opening of his remarks. In a press release Monday, the racing board stated that it would consider reinstating the licenses of Suburban Downs, Inc. should they “cure the violations and provide documentation demonstrating they meet the minimum standards, including but not limited to its financial integrity, under the Act and rules contained in Title 11 of the Illinois Administrative Code.” Block voiced his fears that the financial turmoil that has roiled the current harness meet at Hawthorne will bleed over into this year's scheduled Thoroughbred meet, if indeed it goes ahead. “We want to race this year at Hawthorne. All our horsemen are looking forward to it. Only, I hope that Tim and his family are taking the necessary steps to create the correct financial conditions,” said Block. The post Illinois Thoroughbred Racing ‘At a Critical Juncture’ Due to Hawthorne’s Financial Woes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. 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I’m extremely sceptical that Brodie is the railway sleeper person that people seem to think he is. 

Rancho San Miguel stallion Brickyard Ride (Clubhouse Ride–Brickyard Helen, by Southern Image), a multiple graded winner and eight-time black-type winner, was represented by his first foal, a filly born Jan. 24 out of To the Limits (Swiss Yodeler). The filly was bred in California by Jerry Engelauf. “I am very impressed by the quality of this first foal by Brickyard Ride,” said Tom Clark, owner of Rancho San Miguel. “Her sire exhibited great class, speed, and longevity on the extremely tough Southern California racing circuit, and this smart-looking filly is an excellent early representative of those strengths.” Brickyard Ride's graded wins included the GII San Carlos Stakes and consecutive runnings of the GIII Kona Gold Stakes. With 13 wins on his CV, the chestnut won or placed 21 times in his racing career. After covering 44 mares in 2025, Brickyard Ride will stand the 2026 breeding season at Rancho San Miguel for $4,000, live foal guarantee. The post First Foal for Multiple Graded Winner Brickyard Ride is a Filly appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

So a strong sale.

When Karaka shrank, the market sharpened: a deeper look at the metrics Written by Renee Geelen Australian buyers didn’t just turn up at Karaka in 2026 - they shaped it. With fewer horses on offer and the same competitive pressure, prices lifted across the board, particularly at the lower end, as scarcity did what it always does. Cover image courtesy of New Zealand Bloodstock Data from New Zealand Bloodstock website as at 28 January 2026 Karaka’s shift in 2026 wasn’t subtle: the catalogue was cut by 240 yearlings, the sale was compressed from five days to three, and the market responded exactly the way markets do when supply tightens. Book 1’s median lifted to NZ$140,000 (up from NZ$110,000) - but the real story was Book 2, where the median surged to NZ$60,000 from NZ$26,750. Tightening comes with a trade-off; with fewer horses offered, headline gross growth is always going to be capped, and total turnover now reflects volume discipline rather than demand fatigue. So it was particularly notable that gross increased across both books. A smaller sale, a tougher fight Across both books, 848 yearlings were catalogued in 2026 compared to 1008 in 2025. After four straight years sitting around the 1100 mark, the shape of the sale materially changed. Fewer lots meant more competition per horse, and a clearer lift in the floor, reflected in the averages, medians, and clearance rates. The biggest change came in book 2, moving from 448 lots in 2025 to 281 in 2026, a removal of 146 horses from that sector of the market and a reduction from two days to one. Book 1 tightened by 94 horses from 661 catalogued in 2025 over three days to 567 catalogued in 2026 over two days of selling. year   catalogued   offered   sold   clearance   gross   average   median   2026 567 520 422 81% $ 79,022,500 $ 187,257 $ 140,000 2025 661 588 457 78% $ 75,332,500 $ 164,841 $ 110,000 2024 682 607 473 78% $ 79,585,500 $ 168,257 $ 120,000 2023 644 582 461 79% $ 70,063,000 $ 151,980 $ 130,000 2022 636 558 430 77% $ 63,127,500 $ 146,808 $ 100,000 Table: Book 1 of Overall 5-year metrics NZB National Yearling Sale year   catalogued   offered   sold   clearance   gross   average   median   2026 281 248 188 76% $ 12,247,000 $ 65,144 $ 60,000 2025 427 355 270 76% $ 9,759,000 $ 36,144 $ 26,750 2024 443 378 265 70% $ 11,444,000 $ 43,185 $ 32,500 2023 435 376 267 71% $ 11,516,000 $ 43,131 $ 32,000 2022 466 385 247 64% $ 10,036,000 $ 40,632 $ 30,000 Table: Book 2 of Overall 5-year metrics NZB National Yearling Sale Where the lift really occurred Breaking Book 1 into quartiles shows where the tightening actually did its work. Rather than the gains being isolated to the very top of the market, every price band moved higher in 2026 - a sign that improved quality wasn’t confined to elite lots, but spread through the catalogue. Looking back across the past five years helps put that shift into context. While 2023 delivered a relatively strong median, it did so with a softer top quartile and a heavier reliance on the middle of the market. In contrast, 2026 shows broader strength, with each quartile lifting year-on-year, despite fewer horses changing hands. In 2026, every quartile average lifted by at least 12% on 2025. Rather than inflation driven by a handful of top-end outliers, the data points to a deeper, more competitive market across the whole of Book 1. year   book 1 sold https://bitofayarn.com   book 1 median   b1 q1 average   b1 q2 average   b1 q3 average   b1 q4 average   2026 422 $140,000 $396,699 $182,736 $110,943 $64,500 2025 457 $110,000 $347,958 $149,915 $92,161 $52,648 2024 473 $120,000 $341,829 $160,164 $98,934 $59,333 2023 461 $130,000 $292,797 $156,992 $97,500 $50,936 2022 430 $100,000 $316,116 $135,670 $80,938 $44,491 Table: NZB National Yearling Sale Book 1 Quartile analysishttps://bitofayarn.com Measured by median, 2026 stands as the strongest Book 1 result of the past five years, with NZ$140,000 marking a clear step up from the NZ$110,000 recorded in 2025. Importantly, that lift came without an expansion in catalogue size - reinforcing that the market moved because buyers were prepared to pay more per horse, not because more horses were offered.https://bitofayarn.com The most pronounced gains came at the lower end. The bottom 25% of Book 1 horses averaged NZ$64,500, up from the previous peak of NZ$59,333 in 2024. Over the past four years, the cheapest quartile has lifted 31%, outpacing gains in the top end and confirming that the tighter catalogue materially reset the market floor. By reducing numbers at Karaka and diverting marginal stock into the Summer Sale and National Online Sale, New Zealand Bloodstock has effectively protected the integrity of Book 1. The result was greater consistency through the lower and middle bands, and a Book 2 market that responded even more sharply.https://bitofayarn.com Australian money set the tone New Zealand Bloodstock tracks buyer origin in two ways. Publicly reported results record the location of the purchasing entity, while internal data captures the end-user - the party funding the purchase. In most cases the two align, but where agents are involved, the internal data provides a clearer picture of where the capital is actually coming from. New Zealand Bloodstock provided this internal buyer-location data to The Thoroughbred Report. Using that internal measure, Australian buyers accounted for 48% of total gross sales across both books in 2026, up from 43% in 2025. funding buyer   2026 lots   2026 gross   2025 lots   2025 gross   Australia 242 48% 438 43% New Zealand 283 34% 227 41% Hong Kong 49 9% 44 10% China 24 4% 16 0% South Africa 9 2% 5 1% Singapore 9 1% 8 1% Table: NZB internal data by % of gross spend A broader buying bench In 2026, 218 individual buying groups competed for 422 Book 1 yearlings, purchasing an average of 1.94 horses per buyer. That compares with 217 buying groups in 2025, who purchased an average of 2.11 horses from 457 horses sold.https://bitofayarn.com David Ellis has been the leading buyer at Karaka for more than two decades and his influence on the sale remains significant. Over the past five years, however, his purchasing profile has evolved alongside the expansion of Te Akau’s Australian operations. In 2026, Ellis purchased 17 Book 1 yearlings for NZ$4.26 million, down from 31 yearlings and NZ$8.07 million in 2022.https://bitofayarn.com David Ellis | Image courtesy of Trish Dunell In practical terms, a similar number of buyers were ending up with fewer horses, increasing competitive pressure and reducing the ability of any one buyer to dominate the catalogue. year https://bitofayarn.com   lots   sold   median   buyers   lots per buyers   number of buyers who bought one lot   per cent buyers one lot   top buyer by volume   lots bought   top buyer gross   2026 567 422 $140,000 218 2 139 64% David Ellis CNZM (BAFNZ) 17 $4,260,000 2025 661 457 $110,000 217 2 130 60% Mr DC Ellis CNZM (BAFNZ) 26 $4,497,500 2024 682 473 $120,000 253 2 159 63% Mr DC Ellis CNZM (BAFNZ) 25 $5,700,000 2023 644 461 $130,000 229 2 138 60% Mr DC Ellis CNZM (BAFNZ) 26 $6,035,000 2022 636 430 $100,000 212 2 133 63% Mr DC Ellis 31 $8,070,000 Table: Buyer behavoiur at NZB Contracted catalogue but similar vendor figures Despite the reduction in sale size, the number of vendors represented in Book 1 has stayed fairly static across the past five years. In 2026, the 567 yearlings catalogued were spread across 42 vendors, who presented an average of 13.5 yearlings each. The peak number of vendors was in 2023 when 48 different vendors showcased horses in book 1. Cambridge Stud | Image courtesy of Cambridge Stud Cambridge Stud was the leading vendors by lots sold in 2026, beating Waikato Stud into second from the top slot they’d held the previous four years.https://bitofayarn.com Cambridge Stud sold 50 yearlings in 2026. year   lots   sold   median   vendors   avg yearlings catalogued per vendor   biggest vendor   lots sold   gross   2026 567 422 140,000 42 14 Cambridge Stud 50 $10,640,000 2025 661 457 110,000 44 15 Waikato Stud Ltd 47 $6,010,000 2024 682 473 120,000 46 15 Waikato Stud Ltd 59 $8,730,000 2023 644 461 130,000 48 13 Waikato Stud Ltd 53 $7,792,500 2022 636 430 100,000 44 15 Waikato Stud Ltd 39 $7,860,000 Table: Vendor data over the last five years Stallion mix in Book 1 Across the past five years, the percentage of yearlings by New Zealand based stallions has stayed static at 72% of the catalogue, with Australian-based stallions making up the remainder of the yearlings presented.https://bitofayarn.com year   lots   nz based   aus based   international   nz %   2026 567 406 159 2 72% 2025 661 465 195 1 70% 2024 682 509 171 2 75% 2023 644 452 192 0 70% 2022 636 458 178 0 72% Table: Sire location in NZB Book 1