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    Weigh In, March 2

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    • It can be easy to read the headlines from Book 1 and conclude that this is a sale for the big boys and, unless you have millions in the bank, you cannot compete.  Pinhooker Fearghal Hogan put that theory in the bin on Wednesday when a St Mark's Basilica colt that he bought for €120,000 sold for a whopping 800,000gns to Amo Racing.  It was the type of pinhooking profit that left Hogan puffing for air down in the gangway as the numbers kept on climbing. And when the gavel eventually fell, the man behind Apollo Bloodstock nearly collapsed to his knees. “My legs just went to jelly,” Hogan said. “I don't even know what was going through my mind. I couldn't believe it – it's just an unbelievable feeling. I knew the horse was going really well yesterday. We had 20 vets on the horse. And today, he just took off again. I had a good feeling going to bed last night that something good was going to happen. Now, I didn't think he could go and make 800,000gns. But I thought that maybe he might make half of that.” He added, “I rang my mother straight away. She doesn't really understand the horse business so she can't wrap her head around it. To see that kind of money exchanging hands, she was just like, 'oh my God.' I really can't explain what I am feeling. I'm still in shock to be honest.” Hogan purchased the St Mark's Basilica colt at the Goffs November Foal Sale last year. He admits that taking a chance on the progeny of a first-season sire was a big risk but qualified the six-figure outlay by saying he was a massive fan of St Mark's Basilica as a racehorse and that this colt was an excellent model by the multiple Group 1-winning son of Siyouni. However, saying all of that is well and good now, but because Hogan admits there were times this year where he didn't feel so clever.  He explained, “Spending €120,000 on a foal, that's a big throw for me. And people were laughing at me during the summer when St Mark's Basilica wasn't going as well as he is now. Everyone kept reminding me that St Mark's Basilica was a half-brother to Magna Grecia but I kept telling them to keep the faith. I loved St Mark's Basilica as a racehorse and I loved this foal at the sales. Basically, I just took a chance and St Mark's Basilica has enjoyed an excellent second half to the season. He looks as though he's going to be a very good stallion. “The first-season sires are so dangerous and oftentimes you can be either a hero or a zero when you pinhook a foal by one of them. But I loved everything about St Mark's Basilica so I wanted to take a chance on him, basically, and that's what happened. There were one or two other people involved and I am delighted for them. Fair play to Pa Doyle of Galbertstown who consigned him for me as well – he's done a brilliant job.” Hogan added, “I'll be completely honest with you, my costs are massive. I rent a farm on the Curragh and I have one girl, Jackie Mooney, who works for me and I would be completely lost without her. My landlords Philip and Sheena O'Connor are unbelievable as well. But there are a lot of people who have helped me and they know who they are. Even the vets not ringing and annoying you for money and having a farrier who works with you, all of those things matter because, as a pinhooker, you only get one payday every year. After that, you might be short on cash so there are so many people who help you through the tougher times and I just want them to know that it is appreciated. People in the horse game are great people. It really is a great game. The good days can be just around the corner and, if you don't try, you'll have no chance. If you can keep your head above water during the bad years and just survive, survive, survive, you can hit on a result like this. When you do, you don't even remember the bad times!” The post ‘My Legs Went To Jelly’ –  Massive Pinhooking Profit For Fearghal Hogan At Book 1 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
    • Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez was unanimously voted Jockey of the Week for Sept. 29-Oct. 5 after winning eight races, including four stakes.View the full article
    • Having endured bad luck with Crypto Force (Time Test) after his G2 Beresford Stakes victory as a juvenile, Kia Joorabchian will be praying that things pan out more smoothly for the Wootton Bassett half-brother who cost the Amo Racing founder 2,200,000gns during the second session at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. Matching the sum fetched by the Fittocks Stud-consigned Frankel colt earlier in the day, lot 247 is the fourth foal out of the winning Galileo mare Luna Mare, from the family of Lord Weinstock's globetrotting champion Pilsudski. Her first foal was the aforementioned Crypto Force, who won two of his three starts as a juvenile and later finished third in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup after missing his entire three-year-old campaign. Luna Mare was bought by Marlhill House Stud for 500,000gns at the 2022 Tattersalls December Mares Sale, just a couple of months after Crypto Force's win in the Beresford. She has a filly foal, also by Wootton Bassett, but is not in foal this year, according to Marlhill House manager Brian McConnon, who was understandably delighted with the result. He said, “The plan always was, when we bought the mare here three years ago, that we'd send her to Wootton Bassett. She was a young Galileo mare, and Crypto Force was one of the flagbearers for her, so she had a great profile. “This is the first Wootton Bassett we got out of the mare, so the plan came to fruition. It's fantastic. We were hopeful that he'd sell well, but you obviously don't know until you get here. Then all the right people vetted him and you just need them to step up. We were obviously delighted that Coolmore and Amo Racing locked horns again.” Having been pushed all the way by the Coolmore team, Joorabchian admitted that the colt had proved harder to get his hands on than he had originally hoped. “To be honest with you, I was hoping it would be half of that [fee],” he conceded. “Unfortunately, when you're bidding against the other big guys, you have to really go for it. You don't have a choice. “We own the half-brother, Crypto Force, and he won a Group 2 for us in Ireland. So, we know the mare and we know she can produce a good horse. We love Crypto, really. He's been a bit fragile for us. He had a couple of bad injuries at the end of his two-year-old career and never really managed to pick up that velocity that he had as a two-year-old. “But we know what happened to him and and this is a big upgrade with Wootton Bassett who is now gone. It's a family that we know and we thought we had to have him.” On future plans for the colt, Joorabchain added, “He'll go to Freemason [Lodge]. He'll go to our own yard here and we'll see how he goes. Hopefully, he'll be an earlier type of Wootton Bassett.” Amo Racing's total spend at Book 1 now stands at 8,145,000gns from seven yearlings, including one bought in partnership with Valmont. Earlier on Wednesday, lot 231, a St Mark's Basilica colt from Galbertstown Stables, was added to the team at a cost of 800,000gns. He previously sold to Fearghal Hogan for €120,000 at the Goffs November Foal Sale. The post Wootton Bassett Colt Joins Wednesday’s Toppers at Book 1 with 2.2m Gns Sale to Amo Racing appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
    • At Tattersalls on Wednesday, MV Magnier confirmed that Delacroix will retire to Coolmore Stud for the 2026 breeding season.  The winner of the G1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes and G1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes, Delacroix is set to appear first on Qipco British Champions Day where he holds entries for the G1 Champion Stakes and G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. The three-year-old son of Dubawi and the brilliant racemare Tepin is the winner of six of his 11 races and he was beaten just a nose when second last year in the G1 Futurity Stakes. Along with his two Group 1 victories this season, Delacroix won two Group 3 Classic trials at Leopardstown in the spring and was also runner-up to Ombudsman in the G1 Juddmonte International at York. That pair could clash again in the Champion Stakes. The Coolmore team added another son of Dubawi to its string for next year when buying the second offspring of the G1 Nassau Stakes winner Lady Bowthorpe (Nathaniel) from breeder Emma Banks at Tattersalls. The chestnut colt was sold for 1,300,000gns from the draft of Fittocks Stud. Magnier said of the yearling colt, “He's a lovely horse and Lady Bowthorpe was a very good race filly, as we all know. It's a great result for Emma Banks. She's a very nice lady and well done to her.” He added, “Dubawi is still going very well and we are going to retire Delacroix this year. Delacroix is probably one of the most important horses we have retired in Ireland in a good while. He has everything: race record, pedigree, and he's a complete outcross, so we can really get behind him.”   The post Champions Day Beckons for Delacroix; Will Stand at Coolmore in 2026 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
    • New Vocation has launched its 16th annual Breeders' Cup Pledge, giving contenders the opportunity to donate a percentage of their earnings from the championships to support the charity's mission of rehabilitating, retraining, and rehoming retired racehorses. Since its inception in 2009, the pledge has raised more than $1.2 million for aftercare. This year, in conjunction with New Vocations' recently launched Capital Campaign Phase II, participants in the pledge will receive a complimentary personalized brick, which will be placed along the walkway at the organization's Lexington facility. “We are very grateful for the tremendous support we've received over the years through the pledge,” said New Vocations' Thoroughbred Program Director Anna Ford. “The pledge offers an easy way for connections to give back to the horses and support their transition into new careers. The funds raised play a vital role in our mission, allowing us to serve more than 600 horses annually. We hope many will be inspired to join this year, and we look forward to placing a large number of new bricks as part of our Lexington expansion.” In 2024, the Pledge raised over $120,000, with more than 50 championship contenders represented by owners and/or trainers who pledged a percentage of their earnings. New Vocations will continue to accept pledges from owners and trainers until Oct. 30. For more information about the pledge, visit www.newvocations.org/events or contact anna@horseadoption.com or carey@horseadoption.com. The post New Vocations Launches Annual Breeders’ Cup Pledge, With an Added Incentive 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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