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By Chief Stipe · Posted
I'm not the one wriggling. You are the one that hasn't posted any evidence to support your assertion. -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Saffie Joseph Jr. is no stranger to rejection. In the early years of his training career, there were moments when he wondered if chasing his dream had been a big mistake. In what is now a familiar part of Joseph's origin story, his father had warned him against leaving Barbados to launch a stable in America. Joseph came anyway. He arrived at Calder Race Course in 2011 only to be told that there was no stall space available, but he went back to the racing secretary week after week until finally securing a spot. A few years into his career, Joseph still had little to show for his efforts. With only a handful of owners–most of them from back home in Barbados–he had been turned down more times than he could count. At his breaking point, he told his dad it was time to go home. “But he told me no,” Joseph said. “He said that we'd come too far to go back. For me, that gave me confidence. It was like he finally believed in me. From then on, everything just went to a different level.” It was the best 'no' that Joseph could have received. Not long after that conversation, he scored his first graded win with Math Wizard (Algorithms) in the 2019 GI Pennsylvania Derby. He had another breakout year in 2024 with 16 graded stakes wins and his first Breeders' Cup victory with Soul of an Angel (Atreides) in the GI Filly and Mare Sprint. Though Soul of an Angel is no longer in his barn, Joseph is determined to return to the Breeders' Cup this year. And after a fast start to the season, he looks poised to do just that. Saffie Joseph Sr. and Jr. in Barbados | photo courtesy Saffie Joseph Joseph's childhood in Barbados revolved around the racetrack. His father was a trainer and his grandfather was an owner. “When I was really young–like six, seven, eight–the grooms would put me on the horses after they had trained and my dad would get really pissed if he saw it,” Joseph recalled with a fond smile. “Cleaning a stall brought so much joy to me as a kid. Even just picking out a horse's foot at that age was like the most amazing thing ever.” At age 22, Joseph became the youngest trainer in history to win Barbados's Triple Crown. Two years later, he arrived in the U.S. with a stable of just two horses. Looking back now, he admits that his decision to start fresh was fueled more by ego than experience. “You have dreams to be the best in the world,” he explained. “You couldn't do that in Barbados. Over there it's more for prestige and for fun. When I was 22, I thought I was the greatest thing around a horse. Then you come to American and you get a reality check. You realize it's not about you anymore. It's about the horses. I look back at that time and I realize that the horses were training me. I wasn't training the horses.” Even after launching his stable, Joseph kept learning from his father, who eventually joined him in South Florida as his assistant and advisor. That guidance and mentorship played a crucial role in Joseph's growth and helped pave the way for his eventual success. When Math Wizard took Joseph to his first Breeders' Cup in 2019, the colt ran a credible fifth in the Classic and left Joseph feeling eager to get back to the World Championships. Saffie Joseph gets his first Grade I win with Math Wizard in 2019 | Sarah Andrew “The Breeders' Cup puts on a show,” he said. “It feels like everyone is there during the week leading up to it. It's fun to be a part of. You look around and there is a good horse on every side of you. There are good trainers there, the best of the best from all over. That's what makes it so unique and so entertaining. All the horses are training there for that week and the camaraderie just makes it an amazing vibe.” In 2023, Joseph's stable notched a pair of third-place Breeders' Cup efforts and in 2024, he got his first victory. After sitting at the back of the pack through speedy early fractions of :21.94 and :44.42, Soul of an Angel pulled off a 19-1 upset in the Filly and Mare Sprint when she came flying late to get a photo-finish win. “When you grow up watching the Breeders' Cup, getting our first win with Soul of an Angel was a dream come true,” said Joseph. “It was a moment that you cherish for life. The way she won it, after the first furlong I was like, 'Whoa, she has no chance.' I didn't think she could win. And then every furlong started getting better and better. By the eighth pole, I felt like she was going to get there. It was like she got there in slow motion.” Joseph watched the race from near the sixteenth pole at Del Mar. When Soul of an Angel switched to the outside and started to make her move, he found himself sprinting down the track apron urging her home. When she hit the wire, he turned to the person who had helped him reach that pinnacle win. Looking back, the memory of hugging his father before they made their way to the winner's circle together still brings a wave of emotion. “I told him that I loved him,” he said. “It was just a special moment. That's what racing brings. I wish more people could enjoy it because I can only describe it so much. You have to almost feel it to believe it.” Joseph celebrates first Breeders' Cup victory | Breeders' Cup Eclipse Sportwire Earlier this year, Soul of an Angel sold for $2.6 million to Chatsworth Stud in Australia, breaking the record for the highest sale to date on Fasig-Tipton's digital platform. Although there's no replacing that stable star, Joseph now finds himself with a growing roster of Breeders' Cup hopefuls. Turf specialist Be Your Best (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}) earned her first Grade I score last month in the Gamely Stakes and is now pointing for the GI Diana Stakes on July 12. White Abarrio (Race Day), who won the 2023 Breeders' Cup Classic under the tutelage of Rick Dutrow, was transferred back to Joseph's barn last year. In his most start, he finished fourth in the GI Metropolitan Handicap. Joseph reported that the 6-year-old is pointing for the GI Whitney Stakes, a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Classic. Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator) has already secured two graded stakes wins this year, including the GII Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes in his most recent start. Joseph said he will point to either the Whitney or next weekend's GI Stephen Foster Stakes, another Classic 'Win and You're In' qualifier. Now that Joseph has one Breeders' Cup win on his resume, he is hoping to build on that momentum and attract more top-level talent. “I think when you win the Breeders' Cup it gives owners confidence to say, 'Hey, we want him to train our horses,'” Joseph explained. “At the end of the day, those are the races the big owners want to win–the Breeders' Cup, the Classics, the Grade Is. Until you're able to do that, you don't really get the first-tier horses. I think as you win those races, they also open opportunities. It may not happen immediately, but it definitely gets people to consider you.” More than 10 years after relocating his stable to the U.S., Joseph has proven he can compete at the highest level of the sport, but he stops short of saying that he feels a sense of belonging amongst the best. “There's too much ego in that,” he explained. “I feel thankful and blessed. I thought we weren't going to break through, so it means a lot when you put your whole life into something and you get there finally. It's a full-team moment. There is no hero in this other than the horses. We're just pieces of the puzzle putting everything together to hopefully get the results.” The post Breeders’ Cup Breakthrough: Saffie Joseph Defying the Odds appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Ghostwriter (Invincible Spirit), who twice finished third behind City Of Troy last year in the G1 Eclipse and G1 Juddmonte International, is set to continue his racing career in the Amo Racing colours after being bought for £2,000,000 at Monday's Goffs London Sale. Consigned by trainer Clive Cox's Beechdown Farm Stables, the four-year-old could make his first start for his new owners in Saturday's G2 Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot, having finished sixth on his most recent outing in last month's G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup. Successful in the G2 Royal Lodge Stakes as a juvenile, he is out of the Listed Cheshire Oaks runner-up Moorside (Champs Elysees), from the family of the 2,000 Guineas-winning sire Zafonic. The post Ghostwriter Bought by Amo Racing for £2 Million at Goffs London Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
LONDON, UK — On the eve of Royal Ascot, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Racing and Bloodstock (APPG) has delivered a stark warning regarding the sport's future in Britain, which it fears “risks being tipped into terminal decline”. At a launch in Westminster in the shadow of the British government's seat of power, MPs Dan Carden and Nick Timothy, co-chairs of the APPG, delivered a report demanding urgent action to stave off the threat from a “triple whammy of challenges that represent no less than an existential threat to the sport”. Entitled Securing Racing's Future: The Threat to British Horseracing, the report highlights the potential damage to racing's financial structure from the proposed harmonisation of gambling duties as well as affordability checks on punters, which it claims has already led to a £1.6bn fall in betting turnover on racing. It also highlights the need to reform the Levy to include bets placed domestically on overseas racing, as is the norm in other major racing jurisdictions. The proposed unified Remote Betting and Gaming Duty across sports betting, pool betting, and online casinos and slots is likely to be close to the current 21 per cent rate for the latter. Currently, the tax on sports and pool betting is 15 per cent. This has prompted fears of a loss of more than £40m per year to operators, which would in turn affect the revenue flow to areas such as prize-money and equine welfare via the Levy. Described in the report as “a national institution woven into the fabric of our culture”, racing is the second-largest spectator sport in the country. Thoroughbred racing and breeding and their subsidiary businesses have been assessed to contribute more than £4bn annually to the British economy, supporting around 85,000 jobs, many of which are in small, rural communities. Polling undertaken for the report found that 53 per cent of the public consider horseracing to be an important part of British culture, while 56 per cent support the implementation of a law requiring greater reinvestment into British racing. With the backing and assistance of the British Horseracing Authority, Carden and Timothy are urging their colleagues in government to consider also the “Millions of pounds of international investment…drawn in from key trading markets by the world-leading standards of care, science and animal welfare found at British stud farms and training yards.” At Tattersalls alone last year, in the heart of Timothy's West Suffolk constituency, more than £450m was traded on bloodstock. He said, “Horseracing is one of the crown jewels of British sport and culture. Newmarket, in my constituency, is the centre of racing and breeding in Britain. Some of the most important racing operations in the world are based in Suffolk, and these businesses invest huge sums of money into the local economy. “This is a story we could tell across the country, from rural villages to towns like Cheltenham and Doncaster, where horseracing is part of the social fabric and has been for centuries. “The public recognise this. Nobody will forgive ministers if their decisions lead to the decline of the nation's second-biggest spectator sport. The time for warm words has ended – we now demand action. The government must listen to the public and take immediate measures to secure the future of horseracing in Britain.” Carden's Liverpool Walton constituency is home to the Grand National, the most gambled-on race of the year in Britain. “The message from this report is clear: British racing needs this Labour government to be on its side,” Carden said. “Racing is part of our national story, and its enjoyment and support extends all the way from rural to urban working class communities. “I'm calling on the government to listen and to act in order to secure a fair funding model, protect jobs and allow horseracing to thrive for future generations.” He added, “Hopefully this campaign will grow. The people who rely on horseracing for their livelihoods and for their passion are speaking out and making sure the government is listening. I'm a Labour MP and I want my government to do the right thing and to back British racing for the future.” Among those in London for the presentation were trainer John Gosden and his wife, former ROA president and Newmarket town councillor Rachel Hood, Epsom-based trainer Jim Boyle, Jockey Club senior steward Dido Harding, National Trainers Federation chief executive Paul Johnson, and Martin Cruddace, CEO of Arena Racing Company. Johnson told the gathering, “Racehorse trainers employ thousands of people across the country and they are 15 per cent fewer in number than they were 10 years ago. If I spoke to them about where their businesses are going around half of them would say that their businesses are vulnerable. So, the triple whammy that we are looking at today is potentially going to have far-reaching consequences for the whole sport, because we need those people to be doing what they are doing for the sport and for their local communities.” Gosden referred to his frustration of previous meetings with the government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). He said, “I tried to impress upon them the enormous international investment in the breeding industry – people forget about that – but the thousands of millions of pounds invested in the development of the stud farms, the stallions, the bloodstock that has been brought to this country to cause us to have the highest standard of Flat racing horses on the turf.” He added, “Here we have a gene pool of the Thoroughbred which is far superior to anything else in the world and yet we are about to blow it down the river. What makes me beyond angry is that it is never grasped how important this is internationally.” Timothy, who described the issue of tax harmonisation as a “mad proposal”, spoke of renewed efforts to argue racing's case at this highest level. He said, “It's definitely the case that there is a lot more energy around the industry in parliament, and with the BHA and the All-Party Parliamentary Group, in trying to get these issues to the top of the agenda and to try to make the arguments we need to get our way with government. “It has to be the case that the government is on the side of the second-most popular spectator sport in the country. It's hugely important economically, socially and culturally.” The post BHA and MPs Unite in Urgent Call For Action on Betting Tax Proposals appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
The Royal Ascot meeting at Ascot racecourse in Berkshire, England will begin streaming, exclusively on Peacock, Tuesday, June 17 at 8:30 a.m. ET and will continue with five-hour shows Wednesday through Friday beginning each day at 8:30 a.m. ET. NBC and Peacock will present a live 4.5-hour Royal Ascot program on Saturday, June 21, starting at 9 a.m. ET. Britney Eurton and Nick Luck host Saturday's coverage on NBC and Peacock, with NBC News' Dylan Dreyer on-site with access to the Royal Enclosure. Steve Kornacki, chief data analyst for NBC News and NBC Sports, returns to NBC Sports' Royal Ascot coverage as an insights analyst. NBC Sports' Royal Ascot coverage schedule this week: Tues., June 17 8:30 a.m. Peacock Wed., June 18 8:30 a.m. Peacock Thurs., June 19 8:30 a.m. Peacock Fri., June 20 8:30 a.m. Peacock Sat., June 21 9 a.m. NBC, Peacock The post Peacock Streams Five Days of Live Coverage of Royal Ascot; Saturday Coverage Also on NBC appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
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