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Stakes-Winning Jockey Ernst Dies at 84
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Week In Review: Louisiana Lightning Touchuponastar Shows He’s Among the Best Older Horse in the Country
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Final Gambit Makes Winning Move in Jeff Ruby
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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Mark Casse shares his thoughts on Arkansas Derby (G1) winner Sandman's first breeze on turf Aug. 10. The son of Tapit went :49.70 with jockey Jose Ortiz aboard in preparation for the $3.5 million Nashville Derby (G3T) Aug. 30 at Kentucky Downs.View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
1st-Niigata, ¥10,600,000 ($71,603), Maiden, 2yo, 1200m, 1:10.8, ft. SATONO VOYAGE (JPN) (c, 2, Into Mischief–Jolie Olimpica {Brz} {Horse of the Year, Ch. 2yo Filly & G1SW-Brz, Ch. Turf Female-Can, MGSW & GISP-US, GSW-Can, $460,507}, by Drosselmeyer) was beaten 1 1/2 lengths into second when trying 1200 meters on the turf at Hanshin June 14 and was the 9-10 chalk to go one better with a move to the dirt track at Niigata. Drawn gate one, Satono Voyage was driven along by Keita Tosaki and made the lead before the end of the first 400 meters. Cruising in hand thereafter, he widened without being asked in upper stretch and was geared down in the final 50 meters, graduating by 10 lengths. The Apr. 3 foal is the first produce from his dam, Brazil's Horse of the Year and champion of her generation at two in 2019 and acquired by the late Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farm to her continue her career in this country with Richard Mandella. The chestnut earned her keep with three victories at the graded level in North American, including the GII Nassau Stakes at Woodbine that earned her a Sovereign Award as Canada's champion turf female of 2021. She was also runner-up to champion Rushing Fall (More Than Ready) in the COVID-delayed running of the GI Coolmore Jenny Wiley Stakes in 2020. Purchased by Shimokobe Farm for $675,000 at Fasig-Tipton November in 2021, Jolie Olimpica was put in foal to this leading sire and was exported to Japan. Barren to Triple Crown winner Contrail (Jpn) for 2024, the mare foaled a colt by dual Horse of the Year Equinox (Jpn) on Feb. 12 of this year. Into Mischief is now the sire of 36 Japanese winners from 41 starters. Lifetime Record: 2-1-1-0, $58,724. O-Hajime Satomi; B-Shimokobe Farm; T-Hiroyasu Tanaka. The post Into Mischief Son Of Jolie Olimpica Impresses On Dirt Debut at Niigata 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
Wednesday, Salisbury, post time: 15:30, THE BRITISH STALLION STUDS EBF STONEHENGE STAKES-Listed, £40,000, 2yo, 8fT Field: A Bit Of Spirit (Ire) (Palace Pier {GB}), Morris Dancer (Ire) (Palace Pier {GB}), Mystic Moment (GB) (Time Test {GB}). TDN Verdict: Despite the fact that Eve Johnson Houghton seems to have the midas touch this year, the class deficit of her runner Mystic Moment means that this boils down to match between the Vintage runner-up Morris Dancer and the Listed Pat Eddery Stakes runner-up A Bit Of Spirit. The Gosdens' runner has the edge on that form, but the Rooneys' representative has track experience having won here in July. [Tom Frary] Click here for the complete field. The post Black-Type Analysis: Palace Pier Colts Go Head-To-Head at Salisbury 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
Legendary BBA Ireland bloodstock agent Adrian Nicoll relives some of his greatest days in the business They say that stories lived are better than stories told. And by God, Adrian Nicoll has lived through his share of good times. The former BBA Ireland bloodstock agent has purchased his share of Group 1 winners, too. Think Dark Angel, Kooyonga, Alexander Goldrun, Serenade Rose and more. He also played a part in the shuttling of the stallions to Australia which was the brainchild of his close friend John Magnier. More recently, he is celebrated for purchasing Cabaret, the dam of Classic winners St Mark's Basilica and Magna Grecia, while he still retains a share in the Victorian Oaks winner Personal in Australia, the country in which he arguably enjoyed the most amount of success. But what you may not know about the man who wears the title of 'The King', which was coined by his good friend and trainer David Hayes following a golden period of purchasing Group 1 winners during the 2005 Melbourne Carnival, is that he also trained a jumper in South Africa, rode in amateur races in Singapore and is the son of the Olympic bronze medal-winning show jumper. Now 76, Nicoll admits to having enjoyed “a colourful existence” but credits a life well lived in bloodstock to being born in the right era and having surrounded himself with some of the best minds in the business. “I never get tired of speaking about the good old days,” he says from the comfort of his beautiful Mount Juliet home in County Kilkenny, which he shares with his wife Yvonne, the daughter of trainer Phonsie O'Brien. “It's good to remember the good days and sometimes you remember some days more than others. I think there was more fun involved in racing in the '70s and '80s as far more people went racing. Unfortunately, that has been curtailed by the advancement of television and the curtailing of drink driving. I remember going to the Irish Derby when there were forty thousand people there. My first Irish Derby was Nijinsky in 1970.” And there was huge significance to that first trip to the Curragh. Not only did Nijinsky waltz to victory and, in doing so, become only the third colt to complete the Derby double at the time. But away from the bright lights and razzmatazz that came with such a momentous achievement, another important chapter was being written in the world of bloodstock, as it was here where Nicoll met BBA Ireland's founder Tom Cooper for a formal interview. Nicoll recalled, “I grew up with horses and I had some very good teachers along the way, including Tom Cooper, one of the finest judges of a thoroughbred. I just heard today that they are to name the Futurity Stakes at the Curragh in his memory. That is a nice compliment to the man who died far too young. It is a very nice thought of John Magnier to do so because Coolmore sponsors the race.” Exploring Australia Back in 1974, BBA Ireland had no representative in Australia so a decision was made that Nicoll and Jonathan Irwin – who left to join Goffs the following year – would go down and explore the market. As luck would have it, Robert Sangster happened to board the plane in London, with that chance first encounter proving pivotal to the success that followed. “I didn't know Robert but Jonathan did, so he invited us up to the first-class lounge where we played cards and backgammon for most of the trip. Australia was a huge part of my life and meeting Robert on the plane down there provided a huge introduction to the country for me. It was through him that I did an awful lot of business in Australia. In those days, you could go and identify the relation to a good horse in the Southern Hemisphere up here before it was public knowledge. Now, it's overnight. We had a lot of fun and we met a lot of good people. It was just a different era. When I started back in 1970, there was no such thing as the mobile telephone. We didn't even have a fax machine.” He added, “I can remember Robert winning the Golden Slipper with Marauding in 1987. Anyway, we went to this party afterwards and there was a fella who came up to us and said he'd love to buy some mares. We didn't know if this man was genuine or not but he came around the next day, had a look at the pedigrees, decided what he liked and he ended up buying something like 28 mares, including Princess Tracy, one the foundation mares in Australia.” Shuttling stallions with John Magnier The shuttling of stallions to Australia began around a decade previously. It was Nicoll's role to find the studs for the stallions on behalf of John Magnier. Horses like Green God, Deep River and Godswalk stood on Southern Hemisphere time with varying degrees of success before Danehill became one of the most influential dual-purpose stallions of all time. He recalls, “There is no greater genius in the industry than John Magnier. I used to go down and stay with him in Grange Stud before Coolmore even existed. We'd go hunting on a Sunday and we had a lot of craic together.” “Now, Wootton Bassett has become one of the most expensive shuttle stallions following just one crop of runners in Australia. It looks like he is going to work very well in Australia.” One story rolls into another when you are in Nicoll's company, many of which couldn't possibly be consigned to print, and it doesn't take long to realise why Sangster described the bloodstock agent as one of the most colourful characters within the industry. “Robert was great craic,” he remembers of his great ally. “He loved fun and loved a punt. He was a very kind person, too. Very generous. Probably, if he had a weakness, it was that he'd never say no. If you went to him with an idea, he'd say, 'ah yeah, we'll have a crack at that.' He was a great help to me. I didn't buy that many horses for him but I bought a lot of horses from him. Mainly broodmares to go to Australia. “But when I say Robert loved a bet, there is one memory that sticks out. Yvonne and I used to live in Dunlavin in County Wicklow. Two years before Robert died, he came to stay with us for the Irish 2,000 Guineas in 2002, which he won with Rock Of Gibraltar. At the same time, Sir Alex Ferguson was still flavor of the month, so when he came back from the races, he told me that we had to back Brazil to win the World Cup. I asked 'why?' He explained that Ferguson had told him this and that and that Brazil were the ones to beat. “So that night, a whole group of us went to Rathsallagh for dinner. Lo and behold, there was an Australian bookmaker, Michael Sullivan, on the table next to us, who ironically became a client of mine much later on. Robert said to him, 'what price Brazil?' I'm not going to tell you how much he had on it, but the bookmaker replied, 'and in what currency would that be?' Robert replied, 'the lot'. So he had x amounts in euros, sterling, dollars, Australian dollars etc. I was a part of this bet, too, and I was thinking, 'what have I got myself into?' As you know, they won the World Cup and we got paid a fortune. Michael, who was Sportingbet Australia, ended up selling his business to William Hill, and then came into the yearling partnerships, which included Serenade Rose. It's just funny how these things happen and you've got to be lucky.” He added, “I suppose I was quite a social animal, but we did meet some great people over the years, all of whom were very loyal. I had clients from the beginning and they'd never quibble and they'd all pay their commission. Basically, we as bloodstock agents had the advantage of every person not having one of those things [raises his smartphone] and getting all of the information instantaneously. I don't think you've got the same edge anymore and, if I was starting out again, I don't think it's a route I'd go down. I think it's much more difficult in this day and age.” Deadly Duo One of the most enduring relationships that Nicoll forged was with the legendary trainer Barry Hills, who passed away earlier this year having trained the majority of the brilliant horses that the bloodstock agent had bought in this part of the world. Nicoll said, “I mentioned Tom Cooper was one of my great teachers but Barry was the other. From the first crop of horses I bought Barry, we had Gaelic League, and he was a Group 1 winner having cost only twenty grand. Barry was a fantastic judge and most of the horses we bought were bought on spec and he got them sold afterwards. Never in the thirty years we spent working together did he let me down. A great man, he will be sadly missed. “I actually saw him on the Tuesday of Royal Ascot. At that stage, he could hardly speak and he was in a hospital bed at home in his room. When I was leaving, he shook my hand, smiled and gave me the thumbs up. He died about ten days later and the memorial service at Lambourn was vast.” He added, “Not only was I buying the horses for Barry, but I had clients who sent him horses as well, such as Marston Stud, for whom I bought all the mares on behalf of. They sent Barry two fillies who they couldn't sell as yearlings. One was Maids Causeway and the other was Spinning Queen. Both fillies won Group 1s for Barry and Spinning Queen was sold for what was then a record three million gns at Tattersalls. “Dick Bonnycastle, who was Canadian, was the part-breeder of Spinning Queen and also owned a number of horses with Barry that we bought, including the Chester Vase winner and Derby fourth Mr Combustible, who was named after the trainer! But the best colt we bought together was Dark Angel. He only ran as a two-year-old but has become the most fabulous stallion. Then we had Classic winners like Hula Angel and Just The Judge but we never spent much money. It was very rare that we'd spend six figures but having someone as good as Barry to train the horses was just a massive help.” Greatest memories Nicoll's office at home is by no means small. Given there is no more wallspace in that office tells you everything you need to know about Nicoll's achievements in the game. “Buying yearlings that go on to win Group 1 races was the most exciting aspect of the job,” he says. “With the mares, you buy them and if they do well, you do well.” He added, “But there were a few great days and they were nearly all with fillies. Serenade Rose being one of them. For about fifty years, she was the only filly who won the Oaks in Melbourne and the Oaks in Sydney. Kooyonga was another one. She won four Group 1s and is one of only three fillies – along with Enable and Pebbles – to have won the Eclipse. And then there was Alexander Goldrun. I bought her as a foal for forty grand and Noel O'Callaghan of Mountarmstrong Stud rang me the next day asking if I had bought any foals. I told him I had and that it was by a stallion that he'd probably never heard of in Gold Away, and he said, 'I'll have her.' She went on to win five Group 1s, including the Hong Kong International when trained by Jim Bolger.” A gifted horseman with a keen eye for a good filly, Nicoll scaled heights others could scarcely imagine. He lorded it up with some of the best in the business and had a lot of fun doing it. Those memories made are what matter the most now more than anything. “We were very lucky with our lives. It was great fun. There were some great times and with a little bit of help from some very important people, some of whom are not around anymore, we got things done.” The post ‘I Don’t Think Agents Nowadays Have The Same Edge As We Had’ 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
A Territories half-brother to this year's G1 July Cup heroine No Half Measures is among the potential highlights in the newly-published catalogue for Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, which is scheduled to take place from Monday, October 13 to Wednesday, October 15. The sibling to No Half Measures will be offered as lot 789 by Finbar Kent, on behalf of Sally Nicholls. Another star performer from this year's Newmarket July Festival, the unbeaten two-year-old colt Zavateri, features among the high-profile graduates of Book 2 in recent years, along with G1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes winner Ombudsman and Hong Kong champion Romantic Warrior. Of the 812 yearlings catalogued to sell this year, 206 of them have a Group- or Listed-winning sibling. Lot 824 is another well-related offering as a Calyx half-sister to the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches runner-up Shes Perfect, along with lot 865, a Wootton Bassett half-brother to the Group 1-winning siblings Glorious Forever and Time Warp; lot 921, a Study Of Man half-brother to the multiple Group 1 hero Zaaki; and lot 1298, a Lope De Vega full-sister to the G1 Prix de l'Opera victrix Place Du Carrousel. In addition, the catalogue features sons and daughters of 119 Group- and Listed-winning mares. They include lot 663, the Zarak colt out of the G1 Matron Stakes winner Chachamaidee, and lot 1193, the Ghaiyyath colt out of the G1 Prix de l'Opera scorer Shalanaya. Meanwhile, first-season sire Baaeed will be represented by lot 1183, a colt out of the G1 British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes winner Seal Of Approval, and lot 1242, a colt out of the G1 Prix de Diane winner Star Of Seville, among others. Fellow first-crop sires Bayside Boy, Blackbeard, Epicenter, Golden Pal, Minzaal, Naval Crown, Perfect Power, State Of Rest, Stradivarius and Thunder Moon will also be represented, while Havana Grey has the biggest representation of any stallion with 41 yearlings catalogued, ahead of Blue Point (36) and Mehmas (33). The catalogue for Book 3 of the October Yearling Sale is also available online, featuring 558 lots scheduled to go under the hammer from Thursday, October 16 to Friday, October 17. All of the yearlings catalogued in Book 3 will be eligible for the £200,000 Tattersalls October Auction Stakes and the £200,000 Tattersalls Somerville Auction Stakes. Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony said, “Book 2 continues to go from strength to strength, with this year's racecourse ambassadors including Prince Of Wales's Stakes winner Ombudsman, global stars Romantic Warrior, Dubai Honour, and Believing, plus exciting two-year-old Zavateri, purchased for just 35,000 guineas. “Book 3 has also excelled, producing 2025 European Classic winners Lady Ilze and Molveno for only 11,000 and 32,000 guineas respectively. Together, they showcase the outstanding quality and value on offer during the second week of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.” The post Tattersalls Book 2 Catalogue Now Online, Sale Goes ‘From Strength to Strength’ 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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