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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
TDN Book Review There's so much to cover in Oisin Murphy's recently released autobiography, “Sacrifice, A Year in the Life of a Champion Jockey,” that it's hard to know where to start. But when it comes to trying to capture what he had to say in this compelling, 224-page book, there is no better place to begin with than his many off-the-track troubles, which have been one of the central themes of his career. In the midst of a booming career, Murphy was handed a 14-month suspension in 2022 by the British Horseracing Authority. It was a combined ban for COVID-19 protocol breaches (he misled the BHA about a trip to Mykonos during COVID-19) and two failed breath tests for alcohol in 2021. It was the longest of many suspensions or fines he has received during his career, many of which had to do with his drinking Murphy, a five-time British Flat Champion Jockey, is open about his troubles with alcohol and airs out many skeletons in his closet in this book, which is written in diary format and covers the 2024 flat racing season. Murphy admits that putting his thoughts down on paper was a therapeutic experience. “(Writing the book) has actually been therapeutic,” he wrote. “I have my therapy sessions twice a week but there's only so much we can fit in and this has supplemented that.” In the book's introduction, he writes, “This book is an honest account of how a deeply flawed young man from the small town of Killarney in the south-west of Ireland, who it's fair to say has led a fairly eventful life so far, copes with being a jockey and copes with being himself…My own personal form of jeopardy comes in the shape of a self-destruct button. A self-destruct button that is omnipresent and varies in size depending on how things are going for me generally and how I feel inside.” His problems aside, Murphy is someone you want to root for. Not only is he a brilliant jockey, but he comes across as thoughtful and kind. And who doesn't want someone to beat what can be a life-ruining love affair with the bottle? So when he writes, “I have fortunately been able to control (his alcohol addiction) so far and will hopefully continue to do so,” you want to cheer. But what the book doesn't tell you is that since its last diary entry was written on Dec. 2, 2024, Murphy's troubles apparently were not behind him. Last July, he was banned from driving for 20 months and fined £70,000 by a magistrates' court for a drunk-driving conviction. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) allowed him to continue riding but placed strict new conditions on his license. Another part of the book that raises more questions than answers is his declaration that after the conclusion of the 2024 racing season that he would not shoot for a fifth title Champion Jockey title. He writes frequently of how much of a mental and physical toll the pursuit of the title takes on him. “I knew (trying to win the title) had become an obsession for me but I'd underestimated the effect it was having on me,” he wrote. “You have to do more than just ride good horses and focus on top races to win the title. You must have a hunger within that drives you to accept as many mounts as you can, even if that means riding on dreary nights on all-weather tracks for small purses, to satisfy an insatiable need to keep winning.” Murphy writes that he was ready to move on to a less pressure-filled existence, yet he came right back and won the 2025 title with 143 winners. (The British horse racing season actually awards two different “Champion Jockey” titles. The title that Murphy has won five times is for the jockey who wins the most races during the prime months of the British flat season, which runs from early May to mid-October. The other title is the “Annual Flat Jockey Championship, which covers the entire calendar year. That title went to Billy Loughnane in 2025.) But it would be unfair to Murphy and his book to dwell solely on his battles, his setbacks, and his thirst for winning, which appears to be something he just cannot shake. Jockeys for the most part are closed books, which Murphy alludes to. They don't want to come across as weak or vulnerable or discuss issues like mental and physical exhaustion and what it's like to weigh 25 or 30 pounds less than Mother Nature intended them to weigh. To do so might cost you mounts in what is still a sport and a profession where machismo matters. That's one of the reasons that in both in the U.S. and in Europe, the issue of jockeys' mental health has, finally, become something people are no longer afraid to talk about. It's eye-opening what Murphy has had to put himself through to achieve what he has. Because the weights for jockeys in America are generally lighter than they are in Europe, Murphy was forced to lose a substantial amount of weight in order to be able to ride in the 2024 Breeders' Cup at Del Mar. “It was such a hard process,” he said of the weight-loss process and what he refers to as “wasting.” “I spent every day, including Thursday, either walking around with a sweatsuit on or lying in a hot bath. The only relief I had was getting into the pool which cooled me down and regulated my heart rate before I went racing…Food-wise, I have had very, very little since I arrived. Just some salad and a bit of fish every day. For my height and build (I'm five foot six inches and slim) my ideal body weight is a probably about 10 stone (140 pounds), which means I spend my entire life about a stone and a half (21 pounds) under that.” He also writes of an exhausting schedule. Always looking to keep clients happy, he spends many of his mornings traveling through England to work horses. From there, it's off to a racecourse somewhere. It's not atypical for Murphy to travel hundreds of miles during a day that can begin when he rises from his bed in his home in Lambourn at 4:30 a.m. and doesn't end until he arrives home after a long trip back from the racecourse. He writes that he gets very little sleep, and admits that is a problem. Then there's the foreign travel. Murphy is fortunate that his skills are in demand all over the world, and that often means that he is jetting back and forth to countries, particularly after the main British flat season is over. He writes of one three-day stretch where he rode in Japan on a Friday, in England on the following Saturday, and in Madrid on the following day. “Ten and a half thousand miles traversed by spending twenty-three hours on various planes and at least 10 hours in several cars to ride four horses,” he wrote. The book ends with him writing that while he's looking forward to the future, he has no idea what the future has in store for him. “One thing's for sure; whatever happens it won't be boring,” he wrote. You can count on that. The post Oisin Murphy’s Autobiography is Insightful and Educational but Leaves Some Questions Unanswered 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
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. Tuesday's Observations features a Joseph O'Brien-trained newcomer. 3.30 Dundalk, Cond, 3yo, 6f (AWT) PASSAGE OF POWER (Into Mischief) is the headline act at Dundalk on Tuesday, being the first foal out of Joseph Allen's 2020 Flower Bowl heroine Civil Union (War Front). Joseph O'Brien has charge of the homebred, whose family includes one of his past rides in War Front's Lines Of Battle, who went on to win the 2015 G1 Champions & Chater Cup as Helene Super Star. The post Civil Union’s Son Passage Of Power Debuts for Joseph Allen at Dundalk 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
Pool 3 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, featuring GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Ted Noffey (Into Mischief) as the 6-1 individual favorite, will open Friday at noon (all times Eastern) and close Sunday at 6 p.m. Additionally, All Other 3-Year-Olds not listed among the 39 individual interests are listed as the overall 4-1 choice. The three-day pools feature $2 Win and Exacta wagering. In 2025, Ted Noffey was undefeated through four starts winning the GI Hopeful, GI Breeders Futurity and Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Ted Noffey closed as the individual in the first two pools at 10-1 and 7-1, respectively. The complete field for Pool 3 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager (with trainer, sire and odds): #1 Balboa (Brittany Russell, Not This Time, 80-1) #2 Blackout Time (Kenny McPeek, Not This Time, 60-1) #3 Boyd (Bob Baffert, Violence, 60-1) #4 Brant (Bob Baffert, Gun Runner, 30-1) #5 Buetane (Bob Baffert, Tiz the Law, 75-1) #6 Cannoneer (Brad Cox, Into Mischief, 15-1) #7 Chief Wallabee (Bill Mott, Constitution, 60-1) #8 Chip Honcho (Steve Asmussen, Connect, 50-1) #9 Class President (Todd Pletcher, Uncle Mo, 80-1) #10 Commandment (Brad Cox, Into Mischief, 20-1) #11 Crossingthechannel (Mike Trombetta, Omaha Beach, 90-1) #12 Crown the Buckeye (Mike Maker, Yaupon, 75-1) #13 D'code (Ray Ashford Jr., Speightstown, 80-1) #14 Desert Gate (Bob Baffert, Omaha Beach, 50-1) #15 Englishman (Cherie DeVaux, Maxfield, 60-1) #16 Ewing (Mark Casse, Knicks Go, 60-1) #17 Express Kid (Justin Evans, Bodexpress, 60-1) #18 Further Ado (Brad Cox, Gun Runner, 10-1) #19 Incredibolt (Riley Mott, Bolt d'Oro, 30-1) #20 Intrepido (Jeff Mullins, Maximus Mischief, 80-1) #21 Iron Honor (Chad Brown, Nyquist, 75-1) #22 Liberty National (Kenny McPeek, Maxfield, 80-1) #23 Litmus Test (Bob Baffert, Nyquist, 20-1) #24 Mesquite (Cherie DeVaux, Union Rags, 90-1) #25 Mob (Brian Lynch, Gun Runner, 80-1) #26 My World (Brad Cox, Essential Quality, 50-1) #27 Napoleon Solo (Chad Summers, Liam's Map, 40-1) #28 Nearly (Todd Pletcher, Not This Time, 50-1) #29 Ottinho (Chad Brown, Quality Road, 90-1) #30 Paladin (Chad Brown, Gun Runner, 10-1) #31 Renegade (Todd Pletcher, Into Mischief, 60-1) #32 Secured Freedom (Tim Yakteen, Practical Joke, 80-1) #33 So Happy (Mark Glatt, Runhappy, 75-1) #34 Strategic Risk (Mark Casse, Noble Bird, 40-1) #35 Ted Noffey (Todd Pletcher, Into Mischief, 6-1) #36 Thunder Buck (Brad Cox, Gun Runner, 80-1) #37 Thunderously (Bill Mott, Gun Runner, 60-1) #38 Waymark (Brad Cox, Liam's Map, 90-1) #39 White Tiger (Brad Cox, Constitution, 80-1) #40 All Other 3-Year-Olds (4-1) In last year's third Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool, eventual Kentucky Derby 151 winner Sovereignty closed at 21-1. There are no refunds in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager. If Churchill Downs officials determine during the duration of this week's pool that one of the wagering interests experiences an injury, illness, or other circumstance that would prevent the horse from participating in the Kentucky Derby, betting on the individual horse will be suspended immediately. Other Future Wager dates are set for Feb. 13-15 (Pool 4); Mar. 13-15 (Pool 5) and Apr. 2-4 (Pool 6). Pool 5 also will include the Longines Kentucky Oaks Future Wager. More information, Brisnet.com past performances and real-time odds on the Kentucky Derby Future Wager will be available before the pools open Thursday at www.KentuckyDerby.com. The post Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Winner Ted Noffey 6-1 in Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 3 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
Trevor Denman will be honored with the Special Eclipse Award for Career Excellence, according to a release by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters on Monday. Denman's award will be celebrated at the 55th annual Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards at the Breakers Palm Beach in Florida on Jan. 22. “What a wonderful way to end a 53 year career,” said Denman “I am so honored to receive this award and will treasure it forever. I wish to thank Alan Balch of Santa Anita and Joe Harper of Del Mar for giving an unknown kid a chance to call at such prestigious tracks back in 1983. I also thank all the fans for their tremendous support over the years. Thank you all!” Born in Germiston, South Africa, Denman began calling races at 18 in 1971 in South Africa, and sometime later he was noticed by Californian Bill Kolberg, who was in South Africa and caught Denman's race calls. When Santa Anita was looking for a new racecaller, Kolberg gave racetrack officials a ringing endorsement of Denman, who was given an audition and passed it at age 31. He began calling races at the Oak Tree Meeting in 1983. “What Claude Monet did for water lilies with a brush and canvas Trevor Denman did for the Thoroughbred with his voice and a microphone over the course of a 40-plus-year career as the race caller at Southern California's iconic race tracks,” said longtime industry executive and current partner and senior advisor at Brown Advisory, Craig Fravel. “Those of us fortunate to have heard him work day-in and day-out at Del Mar, Hollywood Park, Pomona and Santa Anita were treated to the art of storytelling that made the pace, drama and dynamics of a race clear from start to finish even with your eyes closed. His iconic calls in the 1989 Preakness Stakes with Sunday Silence and Easy Goer and the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic won unbelievably by Zenyatta will live on as perfect complements to the greatness of the equine athletes on the track. This is an award richly deserved.” At one time, Denman was calling the races at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park, Del Mar and Pomona (Fairplex) during a prolific annual schedule. Denman called the races at Santa Anita until 2015, and at Del Mar from 1984 through 2024. He announced his retirement from Del Mar on March 6, 2025. “This is one of the hardest decisions I have ever made,” Denman said to Del Mar publicity. “But my soul is telling me that now is the time.” Denman called races for more than 50 years. In addition to his work in Southern California, he worked at tracks in the Bay Area and on the East Coast, as well as calling the Breeders' Cup races when ESPN had the TV rights to the championship event. Additionally, he provided the calls in several racing movies and dozens of television shows. He currently lives with his wife, Robin, on a 500-acre farm in the Minnesota countryside. The post Trevor Denman to Receive Special Eclipse Award 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
Being a leading broodmare sire is so often a posthumous honour. It is also one that tends to come on the back of a stallion either having been sent strong books of mares from the outset, or having earned that right through eye-catching early results in his stud career. Of the top 20 broodmare sires in Europe in 2025, only half of them are still living, and of that 10, eight remain active. It is hardly earth-shattering news to reveal that Galileo's name was at the top of the list, as it has been for the last six years, just as Deep Impact is now a dual champion broodmare sire in Japan. Their own sires, Sadler's Wells and Sunday Silence, were similarly dominant in that same field before then. Where the line is drawn between excellence and opportunity is hard to say, but the tide of opinion soon turns against a stallion at the slightest hint of waning prepotency. The trend for sending more speedily-bred mares to middle-distance stallions means that we have seen the likes of Exceed And Excel, Green Desert, Danehill Dancer, and Scat Daddy appear as broodmares sires of Derby winners – but they were all also just very good stallions themselves. So what is it that breeders look for in selecting a mare for breeding? Does her sire matter, or is it all just a game of luck and chance? Once again, we asked our panel of experts for their thoughts on this topic, and their answers are below. If you missed their views on stallion-making races, you can read the article via this link. John O'Connor, Ballylinch Stud “My overarching view would be that the top broodmare sires of an era are usually the ones whose stock blend very well with the dominant sire-lines of that period. So I'm thinking of Darshaan, who was an outstanding broodmare sire, but he had a fantastic record with Sadler's Wells. It seemed to work. “And certainly Danehill, who was a really good broodmare sire as well, seemed to work particularly well with Galileo. And we found from right from the start that he worked particularly well with Lope De Vega – Danehill and his sons did. “So I think it's probably fair to say that what makes a good broodmare sire in any particular era is their ability to cross well with the dominant sires of the same era. And I'd also think it's nothing you would expect that they wouldn't get in their own right as stallions, in that they would get plenty of good fillies. “If I was looking for a good broodmare sire, I would certainly be looking at their own dam-line and thinking that it would be better if that was a very strong broodmare-line. “I think that Montjeu line brings a lot of quality, elegance and class to broodmares. It can bring a bit of temperament as well, but overall, I think that line is good as a broodmare-line.” Andreas Putsch, Haras de Saint Pair “The older I get, the more I try to get away from set rules, so I wonder if there's such a thing as a good broodmare sire per se. I'm not convinced. “First of all, I think any stallion who early in his career gets very good mares, for whatever reason, will automatically have a fantastic chance to be considered 10 years later as a good broodmare sire. “And then there are examples like Invincible Spirit, who had atrocious mares early in his career, and when the first offspring of those mares started running, he was labelled as a bad broodmare sire. But then he had better mares, and he hit, and today, he's one of the top broodmare sires in Europe. “So to me, that's proof that it really has just to do with the quality of mares and the strength of the families that the stallion is covering that gives him the best chance to become a good broodmare sire. But I don't think that they make it by themselves. “The reverse example is Spectacular Bid. He was a super horse. He was retired to stud in Kentucky and in his first years he got the cream of the broodmare population in Kentucky. And then they figured out he wasn't doing it and they shipped him up to New York. But he was a top broodmare sire 10 years after he started his career. And at one point, he was leading broodmare sire and everybody was looking for Spectacular Bid mares. “Obviously, if you don't have the budget, and you look for a mare at a bargain price, you go for family over performance, then why not go for a good broodmare sire? It's probably a better chance than to go for one that is not good. But if you have the budget, then you can ignore what stallion she's by.” Alex Scrope, pedigree expert and matings advisor “I think sire is important when buying a broodmare, but I think it's very difficult to identify a successful broodmare sire until they've got enough runners on the ground that you know what they're clicking with. “A horse who was a disaster as a stallion but covered very good mares because he was such a good racehorse was Arazi. Once Arazi's daughters found their metier and found the stallions that suited them, he was a brilliant broodmare sire. And if you look at Invincible Spirit and Oasis Dream: I always think they've gone in parallel all the way, but one was much more fashionable than the other. But then when they started being broodmare sires, Oasis Dream just floated ahead. And so I think there's a lot to be said for horses that were very good racehorses and not fashionable stallions because in their first three years they would have had very good mares. And if you can pick the fillies by a stallion who may have failed but he was good enough racehorse to cover very good mares, then you've got the female family. So, you know, for somebody like Gerald [Leigh], for instance, we used to use old stallions who'd gone completely out of fashion. So we used horses like Sharpen Up, Kris, Sir Ivor, Nijinsky and that sort of thing. Although they'd gone out of fashion, genetically they hadn't changed, the only thing that had changed was instead of being $250,000, they were $10,000.” Joe Foley, Ballyhane Stud “I'm not a big believer in the broodmare sire concept either, I think that's a bit of a myth. But what I look for in a broodmare sire: number one, ability. And I think a very important one is temperament, or the temperament that a stallion imbues in his progeny. So if a stallion gets a lot mad fillies, I think that's a negative. “Pedigree also comes into it. I like well-bred stallions out of good mares. I think they have a better chance of being a positive as a broodmare sire than other less well-bred horses. For example, Galileo, Sea The Stars, out of Urban Sea. Rainbow Quest was out of I Will Follow, who was out of Where You Lead. Dansili, another well-regarded broodmare sire, is out of Hasili. So I think when a stallion is extremely well bred, out of a very good mare – like Kingmambo and Miesque – that's another thing I really look for.” Jim Bolger, Classic-winning breeder and trainer “Well, I didn't have that choice because I was producing the fillies myself, which went on to be mares. And I didn't always keep the right ones either, but there you are. “But if I was 30 again and starting out, I'd be very selective with regard to the fillies that I would keep. But having said that, I now go on to contradict myself. A few of mine couldn't win an egg-and-spoon race and they went on to breed Classic winners. So what do I know about it then? You shouldn't even be talking to me. “My view of the whole breeding game is it's a bit like pebble-dashing. You throw enough of the stuff and some of it will stick. “I think whether you're talking about a stallion's pedigree or a mare's pedigree, you definitely have to avoid the spoilers along the way. So as you can identify those and make sure that you don't have one of them in the pedigree, you're in with a chance. “A lot of mares will throw one Group 1 winner and the special ones can produce two. And then you can go back and try and breed full-brothers and full-sisters and that doesn't work either. “I suppose we go back to what people were saying in the middle of the last century, and that's breed the best to the best, and hope for the best. And that's probably the short answer. “I don't recall ever reading anything that the late Arthur Budget had to say about how to do it, and he's the one with the real record. He bred and trained two Derby winners [Blakeney and Morston]. Mathieu Alex, Haras de Beaumont “I just don't know if there is such a thing as a good broodmare sire. To become a good broodmare sire, you have to be a good sire, and because you're a good sire, you're covering good mares, and then you become a good broodmare sire. “I mean, we all remember Sadler's Wells and Darshaan, but they were very good horses themselves. Nowadays, the leaders Galileo, Sea The Stars and Dubawi – they're very good stallions. Really, I think it's a bit of everything, and the support from the stallion owner is massively important as well. The mares you are sending them, the way you raise them, the way you're going to train the progeny. I mean, everything is important.” Nicolas de Chambure, Haras d'Etreham “If I'm trying to buy a mare and am in the process of setting a valuation, the broodmare sire is a big part of it, but I'm happy to give a chance to young horses that haven't proven themselves as a broodmare sire if they have the attributes that I feel could make them a good broodmare sire. “The only thing I do is, once I feel they've proven themselves not to be good broodmare sire, that tends to be a bit of a killer for me in terms of buying those mares. I'm quite strict on that.” Kirsten Rausing, Lanwades To my mind, it's one of these self-fulfilling prophesies. All this business about nicks – Bold Ruler, Princequillo and vice versa, Sadler's Wells, Darshaan, backwards and forwards, and Galileo Danehill, and so on. We all know why this happens: it's because a horse early in his career, such as Sadler's Wells covering some mares by Darshaan, and the results were very good. Therefore, anyone who had a Darshaan mare sent her to Sadler's Wells, and vice versa. “What I would like in a broodmare sire first and foremost is soundness in limb and wind as well. And some broodmare sires do stand out – Selkirk not least. He was an exceptional broodmare sire. Was that to do with the fact that he was a reasonable outcross for the many, many sons of the Northern Dancer-line sires that then proliferated? He went very well with Green Desert. “But Selkirk was a great sire and certainly an equally great broodmare sire, and Darshaan was another one. “For obvious reasons, Archipenko has done me very well, and Hernando has given me an Arc winner as a broodmare sire. I personally like Invincible Spirit, but I know a lot of people don't, which I don't know why. “An outlier in my opinion, and again, very subjectively, is Stormy Atlantic, who never won a graded race. I bred to him on numerous occasions, and my attraction to him was really his dam-line, which is also that of Special. It was a long-term project and he got me quite a few winners, but only one stakes winner, Kinetica. But I then bred his daughters to Archipenko in order to duplicate Special's family.” Ed Harper, Whitsbury Manor Stud “The main factor is being sent good mares from the get-go. What's really impressive is when a stallion that starts off at a cheap fee ends up being a proper broodmare sire. It's not until the fifth or sixth crop that these stallions start covering mares with better pedigrees. It then takes another five or six years for the female offspring of those matings to start breeding runners themselves, so these sires are likely to be 17 or older before people realise their talents as a broodmare sire. That's why sires such as Pivotal and Acclamation are so impressive. “It was too late before I worked out that Compton Place was a magic broodmare sire. He never covered smart mares but soon after he died we couldn't stop breeding black-type horses out of the few daughters we'd kept. Hindsight is 20/20 but we should have kept more of his daughters because you could breed them to any stallion as he was a complete outcross.” The post What Makes A Good Broodmare Sire? 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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