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2025 NZB Karaka Yearling Sale Preview
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Leica Lucy primed for Group 3 Desert Gold Stakes
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In-form Ears Back on stakes path
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A lot to like about Lucy in Desert Gold
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Selections | Blenheim
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Banker’s Choice chasing two straight
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One More Moment the one to beat
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A warning from Dunn ahead of Marlborough
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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
It is nearly 20 years since Speciosa (Ire) became the first Classic winner to emanate from the breeze-up sales. The man who sold her, Willie Browne, had been plying his trade in that sector since 1978, and, as the breeze-ups close in on their 50th anniversary, it is good to see that the Mocklershill maestro is still very much at the top of his game. In fact, last week's Craven Sale at Tattersalls was a good one for the founding fathers of the breeze-up game. There was Browne turning €70,000 into 1.4 million gns like a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat. This set a new record for the sale just 12 lots after Con Marnane had been given 650,000gns for a Havana Grey (GB) colt who had been unsold at 50,000gns in the same ring the previous September. The showbiz of the sale ring is not something that would appeal much to Malcolm Bastard, who prefers salmon fishing and sheepdog trials and once opened an interview with this hack by saying “I'm pretty quiet and boring”. That may be true, but it is also true that Bastard is a skilled horseman whose pre-training services are sought by some of the biggest owner-breeders in the land. By the second night of the Craven he had outshone his old muckers Willie and Con when breaking the newly-set record when selling yet another Havana Grey juvenile for 1.75 million gns to Amo Racing. The colt had been sold by his breeder Max Weston at the foal sales for 55,000gns. If you were chiselling these men's faces into granite, Mount Rushmore-style, you'd add Brendan 'Blarney' Holland to complete the quartet. Plenty are attempting to follow in their wake, and many are doing so successfully, but the newer consignors owe plenty of their success to these pioneers. Browne, Marnane and Holland have all consigned subsequent Classic winners at the breeze-up sales, and even one of Browne's slowest, and thus cheapest, breezers won the Gold Cup: in fact, the 20,000-guinea Trip To Paris (Ire) earned more than £800,000 in a 27-race career. Bastard sold a 'slow one', too, in Libertarian (GB), who won the G2 Dante Stakes and was second in the Derby, some eight years after the Mocklershill breezer Walk In The Park (Ire) had filled the same place at Epsom behind Motivator (GB). By now, close observers of the scene will know many of the names on the long list of black-type graduates from the breeze-ups. Obviously plenty of those selected for these sales don't end up putting in the slick breeze which seems to be essential for a six- or seven-figure sale, and some of those who do won't go on to become stars on the racecourse. Just as it is throughout the bloodstock world, it is a case of many are called and few are chosen. Be that as it may, it is undeniable that the breeze-ups have changed the face of the sales scene, both in their bolstering of the yearling market and by their luring of a certain sector of devout and international buyers. Since the turn of the century, the Craven Sale alone has expanded from turnover of around 3.8 million gns to last week's whopping trade of 18.8 million gns. Younger operators may be snapping at their heels for a stake in what is now a lucrative sector of the market, but those such as Browne, who was in from the start and was followed not long after by Bastard and Marnane, are still setting a fierce pace up front. Look beyond the mile marker While we are on the subject of breeze-ups, it is worth noting that among the top 20 stallions by average prices at the Craven Sale, only five of those had ever won a race beyond a mile: St Mark's Basilica (Fr), New Bay (GB), Knicks Go, Street Sense, and Union Rags. For this Thursday's Goffs UK Breeze-up Sale, only six of the 206 juveniles catalogued are by stallions who won beyond a mile. In Europe, most of the leading consignors say they are against official breeze timings, yet unofficial timings are widely available and those horses who have clocked the fastest, even by infinitesimal margins, command a premium. Despite some success by breeze-up graduates in middle-distance and staying races, the offspring of this type of stallion still doesn't get much of a look-in, even though the numbers improve a little for the later sales at Tattersalls and Arqana. One of the reasons for this is likely because so many of the progeny of the top middle-distance stallions are in the hands of owner-breeders. However, in order to help those 10- or 12-furlong stallions emerging from the pack, it would be a great initiative for one of the sales companies to host a middle-distance showcase auction in order to promote the type of horse that Europe still breeds better than elsewhere. There's no point moaning about prize-money if the stallions capable of providing horses suitable for winning the most valuable sector of races continue to be largely overlooked. Powerhouses gearing up for Classics So far this season it has been hard to see beyond the Classics being dominated by the major owner-breeder operations. With Jonquil (GB), Cosmic Year (GB) and the foal purchase Field Of Gold (Ire), Juddmonte is well stocked with colts, and there's also Windlord (GB) and Detain (Ire) to consider. Among the outfit's possible Classic fillies are Swelter (GB), Red Letter (GB), Babouche (GB), Better Together (GB), Flaming Stone (GB) and Tabiti (GB). The Aga Khan Studs, too, have had plenty of success so far on the turf, with Zarigana (Fr) and Ridari (Ire) each winning their Classic trials, along with Princess Zahra Aga Khan's Mandanaba (Fr). Mandanaba, left, is the final foal of treble Group 1 winner Mandesha | Scoop Dyga In a year in which those associated with the operation are mourning the death of HH Aga Khan IV, it is perhaps heartening to see the fillies Mandanaba and Zarigana in particular come to the fore. They are each eleventh-generation descendants of Mumtaz Mahal (GB) (The Tetrarch {Ire}), the filly who really was the cornerstone of the Aga Khan Studs as one of the very early yearling purchases, bought in 1922. The passing of a figurehead of a major breeding operation always brings with it a degree of uncertainty as to what the future holds. In the cases of Juddmonte and Shadwell, which lost Prince Khalid Abdullah and Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum respectively in early 2021, there has been some restructuring and trimming, but there has also been renewed success. Baaeed (GB), Hukum (Ire), Mostahdaf (Ire), Anmaat (Ire), Al Husn (Ire), Eshaada (GB) and Minzaal (Ire) have kept the Group 1 flag flying for Shadwell, while Juddmonte's top-level winners in Europe in the last four years include Westover (GB), Chaldean (GB), Babouche (GB), Kalpana (GB) and Bluestocking (GB), while they also owned the co-top-rated horse in the world last year, Laurel River. There is every reason to believe that the Aga Khan Studs will continue to thrive, particularly when looking at the results through the early stages of 2025. As ever, Coolmore and Godolphin will be unleashing any number of smart three-year-olds in the coming weeks, and they account for two of the most exciting fillies in training in Lake Victoria (Ire) and Desert Flower (GB). A stable whose fortunes it will be particularly interesting to follow over the next month or so is that of Ralph Beckett. Along with nine Oaks entries, the trainer currently has 12 colts in the Derby, and that could become a baker's dozen if Prince Of The Seas (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) prevails in Tuesday's Blue Riband Trial at Epsom, which carries with it automatic entry to the Derby for the winner. A sad parting It had looked like being a nice piece of symmetry: Hugo Palmer represented in the 2,000 Guineas by Seagulls Eleven (Ire), a son of his 2016 winner Galileo Gold (GB), and Andrew Balding by New Century (GB), a son of his 2020 winner Kameko. While it appears to be all systems go for Palmer and his merry band of footballing owners, Balding has now lost New Century, who has already played a significant part in boosting the profile of his young sire by winning the GI Summer Stakes at Woodbine last year. He was among a group of five Qatar Racing-owned horses to leave his stable last week. This came hard on the heels of New Century running fifth in the Craven. By the following day the colt had been assigned to James Ferguson with a view to racing in America in the coming weeks. While it is surely not easy to wave farewell to a Grade I winner, the bigger loser in this fallout may be Qatar Racing. Balding has given Sheikh Fahad Al Thani plenty of high days – including with the aforementioned father and son, and also with the Group 1 winners Elm Park (GB) and Side Glance (GB), both of whom were bred by the trainer's mother, Emma. His Kingsclere stable is in ripping form at present, with Balding riding high in the trainers' table on a strike-rate of 21 per cent and prize-money earnings of £920,509 already banked at the time of writing. Owners moving their horses around is nothing new – and it of course every owner's prerogative to do so, particularly in this case when Sheikh Fahad is reportedly now spending the majority of his time in the US. But it is an unfortunate time to move a colt with such potential, particularly one who could be key to the success of the same owner's stallion. Such was the significance at Kingsclere of Kameko, the first of two 2,000 Guineas winners for Balding, that there is a new barn there named in his honour. Even more significantly, Kameko's three-year-old full-sister was named Kingsclere, but she too is no longer trained there. Balding still has the Greenham Stakes winner Jonquil to aim at the 2,000 Guineas, some 14 years after Frankel (GB), a half-brother to the colt's Listed-winning granddam Joyeuse (GB), blazed an unforgettable trail down the Rowley Mile. The post Seven Days: The Old Guard 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
Brian Hernandez Jr., who joined trainer Ken McPeek in completing the Kentucky Oaks (G1)–Kentucky Derby sweep last year with Thorpedo Anna and Mystik Dan, is back again with mounts in the marquee events.View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Tuesday, Epsom Downs, Britain, post time: 14:10, BETFRED BLUE RIBAND TRIAL-Listed, £50,000, 3yo, 10f 17y Field: Devil's Advocate (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}), Mirabeau (GB) (Territories {Ire}), Prince Of The Seas (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), Sea Scout (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), The Cursor (GB) (Frankel {GB}), Tiberius Thunder (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) and Trinity College (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). TDN Verdict: Ballydoyle begin their crucial sonar mapping process in the various overseas Derby pointers, with TDN Rising Star Trinity College the chosen one in this revived prep sporting Paul Smith's St Leger-winning colours for the first time. Up in trip having beaten his promising stablemate Acapulco Bay (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in a mile conditions race at Naas last month, he strips fit and rates as one of the yard's key 3-year-olds for the season ahead as he should as a son of Hermosa (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). He encounters the obligatory Clarehaven prospect in Devil's Advocate, a 7 1/2-length winner at Chelmsford in October with abundant stamina on the dam's side, compatriot Tiberius Thunder who provides a marker to Rosegreen's Delacroix (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and an unknown quantity from Ralph Beckett's talent-rich 3-year-old arsenal in the Sandown maiden winner Prince Of The Seas, a relative of Stravinsky. Click here for the complete fields with owner and breeder information. The post Black-Type Analysis: Trinity College Faces Six Rivals in Blue Riband Trial 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 video game publisher and developer Cygames, Inc. has announced a partnership with Churchill Downs, which will run the Unbridled Sidney Stakes Presented by Cygames on the GI Kentucky Oaks undercard May 2. In addition, on Derby and Oaks days at Churchill Downs, Cygames will have an on-site activation where visitors can play video game demos and take photos. The Cygames Booth in the track's infield will feature demos of various Cygames titles including: Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, Granblue Fantasy: Relink, and Umamusume: Pretty Derby. A 360-degree panoramic photo spot will also be set up for visitors to take photos. “The Kentucky Derby has a long and prestigious history as the first of the races that make up the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, and I consider it a great joy for Cygames to be a sponsor,” said Koichi Watanabe, President of Cygames. “My hope is that, through our partnership, we can provide an opportunity for potential fans to get to know Cygames and its content.” The post Cygames to Sponsor Unbridled Sidney Stakes 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
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