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Guy Walter Stakes
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Sword In Stone Eyes Auckland Cup Berth
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Three-peat the Perfect Scenario in White Robe
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Legendary trainer Michael Moroney passes away
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The Box Seat – February 27
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Channel Surfer Shines Fresh-Up at Taupo
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Three-peat is the Perfect Scenario in White Robe
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Soleil Fighter lands Happy Valley riches
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HRNZ Update from the Chair
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Ryder is likely for I Wish I Win
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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
The 2025 Triple Crown season delivered something even more elusive than a sweep of the series by a single horse–a legitimately intriguing rivalry between two talented colts that could end up on par with the likes of Affirmed vs. Alydar or Sunday Silence vs. Easy Goer. The afterglow of the GI Belmont Stakes at Saratoga includes plenty of anticipation and speculation about when one-two finishers Sovereignty (Into Mischief) and Journalism (Curlin) might meet again. In the meantime, here are seven takeaways from Saturday's card at the Spa. 1) The Preakness Predicament: Journalism had plenty of backers rooting for him from the “throwback” perspective of wanting to see a top-level horse rewarded for running in all three legs of the Triple Crown. If he had managed to beat Sovereignty in the Belmont Stakes, the win might have resonated as a theoretical victory for the idea that contenders who run in the GI Kentucky Derby don't necessarily need to sit out the GI Preakness Stakes. Instead, the opposite happened: Sovereignty's connections opted out of the Preakness based on their belief that running back in two weeks would likely be too demanding. That decision ended up looking like precisely the right move when Sovereignty uncorked a no-doubt effort that clearly established him as the sophomore kingpin. Journalism's connections bucked the current “less is more” training convention by racing him in all three Classics within five weeks. He went off favored in each of the Triple Crown races, finishing second in the Derby behind Sovereignty, winning the Preakness despite a troubled trip, and again running second-best behind Sovereignty in the Belmont Stakes. The mindset of skipping the Preakness wasn't going to change the industry overnight if Journalism had bested Sovereignty in their return engagement. But it might have tilted that line of thinking in a slightly different direction. Sovereignty's winning Derby-Belmont double, on the other hand, will only reinforce the reasoning that sending the Derby winner on to the Preakness is no longer the near-automatic “obligation” that it once was. 2) Derby Deja Vu: How often would you have guessed that in the roughly century and a half history of the Triple Crown races, the Belmont Stakes yielded the same 1-2-3 finishers as the Kentucky Derby? It's actually happened only once before, in 1977. Triple Crown champ Seattle Slew beat Run Dusty Run and Sanhedrin in the Derby 48 years ago, then polished them off again in that order of finish in the Belmont Stakes. Not only was Saturday's trifecta of Sovereignty, Journalism and Baeza (McKinzie) a repeat of this year's Derby result, but it was remarkable how closely the tactics of the late stages of the race matched the performance five weeks ago when circumstances were very different in a 19-horse field at Churchill Downs. In the Derby, the early speed unfolded more or less as it projected to, and Journalism was on the move from midpack while outside entering the far turn with Sovereignty shadowing him after being farther back. They turned for home as the obvious horses to beat, five wide and seven wide, respectively. The frontrunners in the Belmont also came out of the gate true to form, but this time, in a smaller field, Sovereignty (from post two) and Journalism (after an inconsequential stumble at the start) were parked closer to the pace, with Journalism outside and Sovereignty nearer to the fence, alternating heads third and fourth down the backside. Journalism was the first to make his run at the leaders, sizing them up before pouncing nearing the quarter pole. Sovereignty got repositioned outside and never let Journalism out of striking range, building serious far-turn torque. They again turned for home together tipped toward the outside, clearly with more momentum than anyone in their wake. This time they were in paths four and five, with Journalism again inside and just in front of Sovereignty. In the Derby, Sovereignty took over a furlong and a half from the wire, and he was emboldened when Journalism dug back in and fought him hard for another sixteenth before Sovereignty opened up in the run to the wire, winning by 1 ½ lengths. In the Belmont, Sovereignty didn't take over until just outside the eighth pole. And while Journalism once again responded to the challenge, this time his counter-kick was only for about three strides. The difference this time was that Sovereignty's move was more overpowering, doubling the margin of victory to three lengths. The Beyer Speed Figures in the Derby for Sovereignty, Journalism and Baeza were 104, 102 and another 102. In the Belmont, they were 109, 105 and 100. In between, Journalism won the Preakness with a 98 Beyer. 3) Did Rispoli Move Too Soon? This question will be ripe for debate in the coming months as the sophomore season unfolds and the Journalism-Sovereignty rematch looms. My opinion is no, he didn't–not in light of the circumstances of the Preakness. You can even wind the discussion back further to Journalism's win in the GI Santa Anita Derby for deeper context. In that race, Umberto Rispoli absorbed some criticism for getting Journalism stuck on the rail three furlongs out in a five-horse field. The colt had to shoulder aside a rival to fight free, and he endured a more arduous trip than he should have in his final prep before the Kentucky Derby. In Louisville, Rispoli seemed intent not to get trapped inside again, so he gave up a fair amount of ground on the turn before fully unwinding when he thought he could wait no longer. In that instance, Journalism got collared by a better colt who had executed a better-timed move. Even though the post-Preakness focus centered on Journalism overcoming a rowdy stretch run to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in a visually arresting effort, Rispoli admitted post-win that he had a difficult time getting his colt interested down the backstretch and around the far turn, and that he “just didn't have the horse” at the quarter pole. So it only made sense in the Belmont Stakes that Rispoli launched Journalism into full flight when he did. Even though he again got overtaken by a superior rival after reeling in his pacemaking targets, waiting any longer was not going to change the end result. 4) California Is Dead–Long Live California! For a circuit that has constantly been in the news as a racing region that is supposedly sliding off the grid, Southern California-based horses capped a productive Triple Crown season with a big day at the Spa on Saturday. Horses from Santa Anita ran 2-3 in the Kentucky Derby, won the Preakness, and finished 2-3-4 in the Belmont Stakes. In addition, the last two winners of the GI Metropolitan Handicap, the nation's most prestigious one-mile dirt stakes that is now slotted on the Belmont Stakes undercard, have both been SoCal-based. National Treasure captured the 2024 edition, while Raging Torrent (Maximus Mischief) wired the Met Mile on Saturday. Raging Torrent | Sarah Andrew 5) Juvy Champs Take It on the Chin: Here's another historical oddity–the two most recent champion 2-year-old colts (and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winners) both lost separate races within two hours of each other on the same Saturday card at Saratoga. 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light), the 2023 juvenile male Eclipse Award champ, ran second as the 3-4 favorite behind Raging Torrent in the Met Mile. Citizen Bull (Into Mischief), the 2024 juvenile champ, was fourth at 9-2 odds in the GI Woody Stephens Stakes. Has this ever happened on the same card? TDN would welcome input from someone with access to a more robust database (or a better memory) than me. 6) Big Day Overload: It doesn't matter how much gravitas a Triple Crown race day carries, or how special Saratoga is. A marathon Saturday card that with a first race that goes off at 10:47 a.m. and ends with a final post time of 8:05 p.m. is simply too much. We're talking nearly 9 1/2 hours here, a time frame that got stretched even more thinly when wet weather necessitated the cancellation of two grass stakes that got rescheduled for Sunday's card. Running 12 races in a span allotted for 14 (with the feature race immovable because of national TV broadcast constraints) meant over an hour's wait between races at one point, with other gaps exceeding 50 minutes throughout the day. 7) Looking Ahead: Although the possibility exists that the under-construction Belmont Park could host a festival-style Belmont Stakes meet in 2026 before the revitalized track's planned grand opening in September of next year, the most likely Triple Crown scenario for '26 will see the Derby in its usual first-Saturday-in-May spot, followed by the Preakness at Laurel Park (while Pimlico also gets rebuilt), and the Belmont Stakes again at Saratoga while shortened to 10 furlongs instead of the traditional 12. Think about this: By the time the Belmont Stakes reverts to its namesake track and historic distance in 2027, the third jewel of the Triple Crown will have been contested at the truncated distance of 1 1/4 miles four times within seven years. One of those shortened Belmont Stakes was the 1 1/8-miles version in 2020 because of the pandemic. The 2024-26 editions at Saratoga got sliced to 10 furlongs because the New York Racing Association didn't want to start the race on the far turn over the Spa's nine-furlong main track configuration. It will be interesting to see if the recent seasons of getting away from 12 furlongs for the final leg of the Triple Crown will be a catalyst for arguments in favor of permanently keeping the Belmont Stakes at 10 furlongs. The post Seven Takeaways From Belmont Stakes Saturday at the Spa appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
That would make a lot more sense than the current arrangement. -
By Mustang Kenny · Posted
Will have a dramatic impact on either Timaru or Oamaru fields this coming Sunday. Surely common sense would say postpone Oamaru until the following Thursday. No meeting in NZ that day and it would enable many horses to back up that will not otherwise back up 4 days later after very hard runs at Timaru. I have phoned that suggestion through to NZTR but got no joy -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Looking to get back on track in the GIII Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs on Sunday, 'TDN Rising Star' East Avenue (Medaglia d'Oro-Dance Music, by Ghostzapper) went the distance on Sunday afternoon. Rolling out of the outside gate as the 7-5 favorite, East Avenue made the front and continued to lead through the top of the lane. The battle-tested Coal Battle (Coal Front) tried to get by the leader, but the Godolphin homebred was stubborn. Burnham Square (Liam's Map) was up for second, while Coal Battle finished third. Sunday, Churchill Downs MATT WINN S.-GIII, $387,000, Churchill Downs, 6-8, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:42.12, ft. 1–EAST AVENUE, 123, c, 3, by Medaglia d'Oro 1st Dam: Dance Music, by Ghostzapper 2nd Dam: Dance Card, by Tapit 3rd Dam: Tempting Note, by Editor's Note 'TDN Rising Star'. O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brendan P. Walsh; J-Luis Saez. $247,000. Lifetime Record: GISW & GISP, 7-3-1-0, $901,395. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. 2–Burnham Square, 123, g, 3, Liam's Map–Linda, by Scat Daddy. O-Whitham Thoroughbreds LLC; B-Whitham Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-Ian R. Wilkes. $80,000. 3–Coal Battle, 123, c, 3, Coal Front–Wolfblade, by Midshipman. ($70,000 Ylg '23 TTAYRL). O-Norman Stables LLC; B-Hume Wornall & Jay Adcock (KY); T-Lonnie Briley. $40,000. Margins: HF, 3/4, 3HF. Odds: 1.47, 2.65, 6.73. Also Ran: Final Gambit. Scratched: Chunk of Gold, Gaming, Just a Fair Shake. Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV. The post ‘Rising Star’ East Avenue Goes The Distance In The Matt Winn At Churchill appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By muzenza365 · Posted
Ross may improve his golf handicap now with the spare time he will have. The recently retired Ivan Bridge, Ross's golf partner may also get his golf score, not to look like a score that a cricket player would love. Both are top blokes and they do enjoy their efforts to master the game of golf at Clarks Beach
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