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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Ante-post favourite Scandinavia (Justify) and dual Derby hero Lambourn (Australia) headline eight confirmations for Saturday's G1 Betfred St Leger at Doncaster. The pair are both trained by Aidan O'Brien, who is responsible for half of the possible runners in the final Classic of the season, with Stay True (Galileo) and likely outsider Saratoga (Camelot) also featuring. Scandinavia will be back against his own age group on Town Moor, after beating his older rivals in the G1 Goodwood Cup last time, while Lambourn needs to bounce back from a below-par display when finishing only fifth in the G2 Great Voltigeur Stakes at York. Stay True, who finished one place ahead of Lambourn on the Knavesmire, gives the Ballydoyle handler a live third option. Carmers filled the runner-up spot behind Pride Of Arras (New Bay) in the Voltigeur and makes up the potential Irish challenge for Paddy Twomey. The son of Wootton Bassett previously won the G3 Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot, beating the subsequent G3 Geoffrey Freer Stakes scorer Furthur (Waldgeist) by three quarters of a length. Andrew Balding's Furthur is set to reoppose on Saturday, along with stablemate Tarriance (Frankel), who faces a significant step up in grade after winning York's Melrose Handicap The Roger Varian-trained Rahiebb (Frankel), who finished fourth in the G3 Gordon Stakes at Goodwood last time, after a close-up third in the Queen's Vase, completes the list of possibles. The post Eight Confirmed for St Leger, Scandinavia and Lambourn Lead Ballydoyle Challenge 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
When I moved to Kentucky in 2019 to work for Taylor Made, I didn't know a single person, I didn't know the first thing about the racehorse industry, I had never seen anything like a Lexington horse sale, and I certainly didn't drink bourbon. With no real guidance except to watch, absorb, and help where I could, my first day on the job was the Keeneland January sale. Everyone was polite but busy – clients to help, horses to show – and I mostly stayed out of the way. But Stu, ever aware of every face and name, found me within 48 hours. He pressed a steaming cup of tea into my hands, parked us in front of the space heaters at the stalls, and in the middle of juggling clients and buyers, patiently explained the inner workings of the sales. From that day forward, he never stopped looking out for me. That night he took me to Shamrock's. He didn't just ask polite questions, he asked the kind that made you feel your story mattered. He cracked jokes, put me at ease, and ordered me my first bourbon on the rocks. When I couldn't get down more than a sip, he grinned, eyes twinkling, finished it for me, and said, “We'll work on that.” After that night, I wasn't just a stranger in Lexington. I was someone Stu had decided to bring under his wing. Bourbon became the backdrop of our friendship. Lunches, dinners, handicapping races – he taught me, one pour at a time, not just how to drink it but how to savor it. Bourbon with Stu wasn't about the glass in your hand. It was about slowing down, enjoying the people at your table, the stories being told, and the laughter spilling out between sips. Over time, I acquired a taste for bourbon. But more than that, I acquired a taste for the way Stu lived: present, curious, generous, always pulling people closer. He believed in me fiercely, too. Six months into my job, Stu left for a week-long cattle drive in Montana and handed me his entire business. No check-ins, no second-guessing, just complete trust. That was Stu: lifting you up, bragging on you, and making you feel capable of more than you thought. By the time my year at Taylor Made was ending, we marked it the only way that felt right: with a flight of Pappy's. It wasn't just a celebration of my time there, but of the friendship and mentorship that carried me from that first sip I couldn't swallow to a bond that, with Taylor Made and with Stuart, felt like family. What started with a wince at Shamrock's had become something I cherished, flavored with Stu's laughter, his lessons, and his friendship. Even after I moved back to Texas, bourbon kept us connected. I probably have forty bottles now, many of them ones Stu picked out and mailed with a handwritten note saying, “You'll like this one.” Truth be told, I don't know if I love bourbon itself as much as I love what it represents – Stu's way of making sure every moment, every success, was worth raising a glass to. Like the time he surprised me with a box of ball caps printed with my horse's picture after my biggest sale, just to make sure I stopped to celebrate. One of my last great memories with him was in Ireland last summer. I am forever grateful to Liam and Taylor for letting me crash their wedding – not just to celebrate with them, but to spend more time with Stu. We wandered cobblestone streets, slipped into pubs, sampled whiskeys, watched races, and raised glass after glass to nothing more than the joy of being there. It was Stu in his purest form: good friends beside you, a good drink in your hand, and time enough to enjoy both. For me, bourbon will always remind me of Stu – strong, generous, a little fiery, and best savored slowly with friends. Every pour carries his memory, and every bottle on my shelf reminds me of the privilege of calling him my friend. —Brooke Wharton The post Letter to the Editor: Stu Story #8 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
Francis Graffard has had his horses on song from early spring, and anyone who felt that the trainer surely could not maintain such a good run of form is now being proved wrong. He is so far clear of Andre Fabre in the French trainers' table that a first champion title for Graffard is starting to look a mere formality. As if to underline his dominance, the trainer secured two more Group 1 victories on Sunday. Goliath struck in the Grosser Preis von Baden – a first top-level win for the Adlerflug gelding since last year's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes triumph – and then less than an hour later at Longchamp the supplemented three-year-old Sahlan (Wootton Bassett), who has been brought along steadily, saw off some proven horses to claim his first Group 1 strike in the Prix du Moulin. The latter may now head to the Breeders' Cup Mile. Forty-three stakes races have fallen to a Graffard-trained runner this season, including eight Group 1s. While he can of course rely an a constant stream of well-bred horses as the principal trainer for the Aga Khan Studs, Graffard's octet of top winners has been spread across a range of connections. The Aga Khan Studs and Peter Brant own his two Classic fillies, Zarigana and Gezora, while the former is also the owner of Calandagan, who gave his trainer back-to-back wins in the King George after winning the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, and Candelari, winner of the upgraded Prix Vicomtesse Vigier. Sahlan and Quisisana are homebreds for Al Shaqab Racing and Haras de la Perelle respectively, while John Stewart's Resolute Racing owns the Prix Jean Prat winner Woodshauna and co-owns Goliath with Baron Philip von Ullmann. Bow Echo Ascending While the aforementioned Sahlan, who became Wootton Bassett's 16th Group 1 winner, is undoubtedly progressive, Rosallion continues to try the patience of his followers and was beaten only a short-head by the three-year-old when coming from an impossibly deep position in the Moulin. It is easy to see why Richard Hannon has kept the faith with Rosallion. Sometimes races are settled by the merest of margins, and this year the son of Blue Point has been separated from two extra Group 1 victories by a nose and a short-head respectively. For Rosallion's owner-breeder Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, there was some compensation on Saturday with a stakes double at Haydock. Those winners, Zeus Olympios and Bow Echo, are both sons of Night Of Thunder, who has drawn farther clear of the chasing pack of Wootton Bassett, Dubawi and Frankel at the head of the stallion championship for Britain and Ireland. Wootton Bassett, however, has the edge in the European championship, largely thanks to the Group 1 victories in France of Henri Matisse, Camille Pissarro and Sahlan. “He's a Guineas horse and that's what we'll be training him for,” said trainer George Boughey of Ascendant Stakes winner Bow Echo, who had been awarded a TDN Rising Star on his only previous start at Newbury on August 15. There was plenty to like about his attitude when he was headed by Juddmonte's Publish (Kingman) before fighting his was back to remain unbeaten. Bow Echo is an intriguingly bred colt from a family with which Sheikh Mohammed Obaid has long been associated, and which gave us Dubawi. Out of the sprint winner Aristocratic Lady (Invincible Spirit), Bow Echo's granddam Dubai Queen is a half-sister to Dubawi, who also appears on his top-line as sire of Night Of Thunder, meaning that the colt is inbred 3×3 to his owner's homebred G1 Oaks d'Italia winner Zomaradah (Deploy). Four years ago, the sheikh won the Ascendant Stakes with Triple Time (Frankel), a member of his other high-flying family of Reem Three who went on to win the G1 Queen Anne Stakes, Hopes are indeed high for Bow Echo to ascend to a similar level. His win followed that a race earlier of Zeus Olympios in the G3 Superior Mile Stakes on just his third start. He is the first foal of Rhea (Siyouni), who had been bought by the sheikh as a yearling. It was a good weekend for the young mare as her two-year-old Valenday (Postponed) made a promising debut at York when finishing less than a length second to Proud Nation (Sioux Nation) in the seven-furlong maiden. Arc Reshuffle There was a shuffling of positions at the head of the betting for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe after a weekend of performances on ground that may well have been much livelier than that which will be encountered at Longchamp on the first weekend of October. First, on Kempton's all-weather track, Kalpana (Study Of Man) was downed by Giavellotto (Mastercraftsman) in the G3 September Stakes, the race she won last year en route to victory in the G1 Qipco British Champion Fillies and Mares Stakes. She has run admirably this season without winning, and her trainer Andrew Balding did not seem overly concerned with her defeat by Giavellotto, who is being primed by Marco Botti to defend his title in the G1 Hong Kong Vase. Aventure (Sea The Stars), who had had to play bridesmaid to Bluestocking (Camelot) in both the Prix Vermeille and Arc last year, finally bagged a deserved win at the top tier when emulating her half-sister Left Hand (Dubawi) by winning the Vermeille for the Wertheimers and Christophe Ferland. The Japanese challenge strengthened when Byzantine Dream (Epiphaneia), trained by Tomoyasu Sakaguchi, outran treble Group 1 winner Sosie (Sea The Stars) in the G2 Prix Foy. There was better news for Sosie's trainer Andre Fabre, however, with the late flourish of the boxed-in Cualificar (Lope De Vega) in the G2 Prix Niel, to beat Bay City Roller (New Bay) by a short neck. The winner, who had himself been beaten only half a length by Camille Pissarro when second in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club, is as long as 25/1 with some bookmakers for the Arc, which seems generous considering this success on his first attempt at a mile and a half. Out of the Oaks winner Qualify, whose sire Fastnet Rock died on Monday, Cualificar's second and third dams are by the Derby winners Galileo and The Minstrel, and he handles some cut in the ground. Then there is the small matter of his trainer having won the Arc eight times since 1987. This is by no means a tipping column, but it is worth noting that three of the current top six in the Arc betting are trained in Japan: the Tokyo Yushun winner Croix Du Nord (Kitasan Black) is third choice behind Minnie Hauk (Frankel) and Aventure, followed by Byzantine Dream, who understandably shortened following his Foy victory, and Alohi Alii (Duramente), who beat Rashabar and Cualificar in the G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano at Deauville last month. Balding and Haggas Making Hay Despite Kalpana's defeat, Andrew Balding still had a successful day at Kempton on Saturday where he won the G3 Sirenia Stakes with Five Ways (Kameko), a fourth-generation homebred for Dr John Hobby, while up at Thirsk fellow juvenile Simplify (Profitable) joined the list of winners. Capping a good afternoon, Norman Court Stud and Susan Bunney's Miss Information (Blue Point) landed the Listed Wackenhut Fillies Cup at Baden-Baden, while Flora Of Bermuda (Dark Angel) was third in the the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup. The latter represented a major breakthrough for Shadwell sire Mohaather, whose son Big Mojo became his first Group 1 winner in the contest. William Haggas had a similarly productive weekend, with five of his 12 runners on Saturday returning to the winner's enclosure, including a one-two in Haydock's Old Borough Cup with The Reverend (Lope De Vega) and Dramatic Star (Sea The Stars). The Haggas team suffered mixed fortunes on Sunday when favourite Almeraq (Dark Angel) clipped heels and fell in the Listed Garrowby Stakes at York, bringing down Tiger Bay (Harry Angel). Victory went the way of the Haggas/Shadwell second string Elmonjed (Blue Point) but little celebration will have ensued as jockeys Jim Crowley and Trevor Whelan were tended to on the track and will now face time on the sidelines with broken legs. Fortunately, neither horse appeared to have been injured in the melee, but this sadly was not the case following a similar incident at Ascot on Friday when Excellent Echo (Due Diligence) suffered a fatal injury at Ascot after under Oisin Murphy after clipping heels and falling, with Nordic Norm (Saxon Warrior) also being brought down. Murphy walked away unscathed but Nordic Norm's jockey Sam James was stood down from his rides over the next few days with concussion. Study Of Man Goes Global On Sunday, Study of Man was represented by his first winner in Japan, the land where he was conceived, with the victory of two-year-old Kikko Bello on debut at Hanshin. This current crop of two-year-olds for the Lanwades stallion numbers 65 and has so far supplied winners in Britain, France, Germany and Japan. Study Of Man is bred on the same Deep Impact-Storm Cat cross as Japan's reigning champion sire Kizuna, who is again at the head of the table for this season. The post Seven Days: Graffard Approaches the Grail 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
Impressive Acomb Stakes winner Gewan will line out for the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster on September 13 in the colours of Yuesheng Zhang after the Yulong boss struck a deal for the unbeaten son of Night Of Thunder who could one day end up at the powerful outfit's Ace Stud. Trained by Andrew Balding, Gewan was bought by bloodstock agent Billy Jackson-Stops on behalf of Al Rabban Racing from Mick Murphy of Longways Stables for €80,000 at the Arqana Breeze-Up Sale. He created a massive impression on debut at Newbury, winning a 7f contest at his ease, before taking the scalp of a couple of talking horses in the G3 Acomb Stakes at York. Gewan will line out for the G2 Champagne Stakes on Saturday before his new connections eye a potential tilt at the G1 Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket, for which the colt is as short as 8-1. Paul Curran, bloodstock and racing manager at Ace Stud, commented, “The plan is for Gewan to run in the Champagne Stakes and, obviously, we will reassess after Doncaster but the plan would be to go for the Dewhurst at Newmarket. We have done our homework on him and like him a lot. He fits exactly what we are looking for and is a very exciting horse for the future.” Gewan was sent to post at odds of 11-2 in an Acomb market that was dominated by TDN Rising Star Distant Storm [11-10 favourite] and Aidan O'Brien's highly-regarded Italy. While Distant Storm, himself a €1.9 million breeze-up graduate from Arqana, ran freely and eventually finished third, Gewan pulled a-length-and-a-half clear of Italy in second to post one of the more impressive juvenile displays of the season thus far. Notable Acomb Stakes winners include subsequent 2,000 Guineas hero Chaldean while subsequent Irish 2,000 Guineas scorer Phoenix Of Spain won the race in 2018. The post Leading Champagne And Dewhurst Stakes Fancy Snapped Up By Yulong 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
Atlantic Six Racing received an offer for Book'em Danno last season when he was a 3-year-old, a proposition so substantial it led each partner to take a deep breath and assess priorities.View the full article
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