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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Unbridled joy was present in bundles at Hamburg on Sunday as recent amateur-turned-apprentice Nina Baltromei urged Hochkonig to victory on the line in the 156th Deutsches Derby, denying the Karl Burke-trained Convergent (Fastnet Rock) by the merest of margins. Hochkonig is by the Lomitas stallion Polish Vulcano, who stands at the Darboven family's Gestut Idee, which sponsors the Derby and is where the 17-year-old was bred. We'll be hearing from the stallion's breeder Albert Darboven in tomorrow's TDN, but for the breeders of Hochkonig, racing photographers Marc and Gabi Ruehl, Sunday's victory was somewhat surreal. Marc has been photographing Derby winners at Hamburg since Walter Swinburn won aboard Luigi back in 1988. He told TDN on Monday, “It was unbelievable. But the day before I told Nina that I was just going to focus on her and Hochkonig – and it worked!” Hochkonig was the second Classic winner of the season for trainer Yasmin Almenrader after the victory of Matilda in the G2 German 2,000 Guineas. The Soldier Hollow filly has subsequently been bought by Peter Brant of White Birch Farm and switched to the French stable of Francis Graffard. “Yasmin does a great job every time,” said Gabi. “We've seen it this year with Matilda and Hocking, but we have won so many races with Yasmin and she is all about the horse. We are in touch with her daily.” The Ruehls live near Cologne, about ten minutes from Gestut Schlenderhan where, for them, the Hochkonig story began 25 years ago with the purchase of his Schlenderhan-bred granddam Habina, by 1977 Derby winner The Minstrel. In fact, Derby winners from various nations run free in Hochkonig's pedigree. Though his grandsire Lomitas could manage only second in the Deutsches Derby back in 1991, the subsequent German Horse of the Year is himself a grandson of the most recent winner of the British Triple Crown, Nijinsky. Hochkonig's dam is by the Derby Italiano winner Kallisto and, as mentioned, has The Minstrel as her damsire. Six generations back on the page you will find Violetta, bred by the Moller family of White Lodge Stud and herself by Sir Victor Sassoon's 1953 Derby winner Pinza. She in turn features as the granddam of Teenoso (Youth), the winner at Epsom 30 years after Pinza, and the third dam of 2006 Derby hero Sir Percy (Mark Of Esteem). “We are just happy to have provided the next Derby winner for this line,” said Marc. “The German preference is for stamina, this is what Germany is famous for, we don't have too many horses running over 1,000 metres.” The Ruehls usually welcome “two or three foals a year” and currently have six mares at their property. “I had my first horse when I was nine and and later bought a Thoroughbred mare with my father, so the horses came first but I have been a professional photographer since I was 18,” said Marc. “I was concentrating on taking the photos but it was easy because I could see Hochkonig was near the front fighting. After he crossed the line I was sure he had won but I was a little bit nervous until we had the result.” Of the couple's decision to use Polish Vulcano for Halinara, he explained, “He is a son of Lomitas and we wanted the cross with The Minstrel because of Nijinsky, and also he is a really nice stallion. He doesn't have many runners but those who have run have done very well. It's the same with Kallisto. We used him often and we had great success with him.” Halinara will return to Polish Vulcano next season, as will her daughter Halima (Tertullian), and this year she has a filly foal by Alter Adler. Modestly, there were no photos of the Ruehls with Hochkonig displayed among the reams of photos of the Derby winner on their website. We did however coax them into tracking down the attached image of Marc celebrating in fine style. “We are not the owner, we are only the breeder,” Marc said, and his wife added, “But we enjoyed yesterday evening with the owner and the trainer. It is so important to enjoy these wonderful moments.” It is indeed. Delacroix Proves His Worth The feature race in Britain over the weekend was the Coral-Eclipse Stakes, in which Aidan O'Brien scored another perfect ten when Delacroix followed the likes of Giant's Causeway, St Mark's Basilica and City Of Troy in handing another win to the trainer. Only just though. In a hard scrabble of a finish, Ryan Moore rousted Delacroix home down the outside to deny favourite Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder), having been temporarily boxed in and bumped by stable-mate Camille Pissarro (Wootton Bassett), ridden by Christophe Soumillon. 'The lads have been looking for a Dubawi all their lives and he is out of a champion. He is a total outcross for all the mares,” said O'Brien of Delacroix, and we hope that Henry Longfellow, presumably happily out grazing in a Coolmore paddock after a busy covering season, took no offence. But of course, Delacroix, as suggested, is indeed a much more useful future option to the Coolmore broodmare band than the similarly good-looking Henry Longfellow as Delacroix is out of the Bernstein mare Tepin, and therefore free of Galileo blood, while the latter is out of Minding. Two sons of Dubawi out of two top-class racemares. It will be interesting to see which one ends up as the better sire, but that's a puzzle for the future. For now, Delacroix has bounced back from Derby disappointment to deliver a blow for the three-year-olds in the first generational clash of the season. His victory means that O'Brien's tally of Group 1 wins for the year now runs to ten and includes the Derby, Oaks, Irish Derby, Prix du Jockey Club and Poule d'Essai des Poulains. And we're only halfway through the season. The Wootton Boys With the Prix de Diane having fallen to Almanzor's daughter Gezora, it was time for another of Wootton Bassett's stallion sons to shine on Sunday when Wooded provided the winner of the Prix Jean Prat, Woodshauna. The latter, like his sire, is trained by Francis Graffard, and Woodshauna, from his first crop, becomes the first Group 1 winner – and stakes winner of any description – for Wooded, who stands at Al Shaqab's Haras de Bouquetot. Bred by Patrick Lemarié of Haras de Magouet, Woodshauna's victory gave a terrific boost to the form of the G3 Prix Texanita, which he won on May 16, beating subsequent G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Time For Sandals (Sands Of Mali) by a head. For that run, he had been wearing the colours of Al Shaqab Racing, but Woodshauna landed his Group 1 success in the silks of John Stewart's Resolute Racing, having been bought at the Goffs London Sale for £625,000 and kept in training with Graffard. It was a good day for graduates of Arqana's October Yearling Sale, as Woodshauna had originally been, as over in Warsaw, Chestnut Rocket (Intello) landed the Polish Derby for owner JK Grzegorowski. From the same sale the following year came Cape Ashizuri, who became the second winner for his young sire St Mark's Basilica with a two-length victory at Ayr on Sunday. Bred by Barrownstown Stud, the colt is a half-brother to G1 Prix Morny winner The Wow Signal (Starspangledbanner) and, like him, is trained by John and Sean Quinn, who picked him up at Arqana for €75,000. Wootton Bassett was himself represented by his latest stakes winner on Deauville's cracking Sunday card when Nighttime got the ball rolling in the opening Listed Prix Roland de Chambure, named in honour of the former owner of Haras d'Etreham, where Wootton Bassett famously started his stud career. This came a day after fellow juvenile Daytona took the inaugural running of the Listed Pat Smullen Irish EBF Stakes at Naas. Nighttime represents a nice mixture of two major owner-breeders as, though she runs in the blue and white livery of the Wertheimers, who bred her, she is out of Daytime, a once-raced Juddmonte-bred daughter of those overachieving parents Frankel and Midday (Oasis Dream). Blood will out. Palace Pier Emerging It is probably fair to say that Palace Pier has been the surprise chart-riser in the freshman sire ranks in recent weeks, and he now has seven winners to his credit, including the Listed-placed Sirius A. All seven of those winners have come in Britain, including a double at Sandown and Beverley last Friday, and, most tellingly, at a strike-rate of 44 per cent winners to runners. Palace Pier, by Kingman, was a later starter himself, but was unbeaten at two when winning a maiden and a novice contest on August 30 and September 18, before bursting onto the scene when winning the following season's G1 St James's Palace Stakes on his first start in Pattern company. His closest rival on strike-rate among the first-season sires is Haras de Bouquetot's Armor, who has three winners from seven runners (43 per cent), while Nando Parrado and Starman are operating at 28 and 27 per cent respectively. With 12 winners, including Group 3 winners Lady Iman and Venetian Sun, Starman remains at the head of the table overall. Looming Threat to British Racing The British Horseracing Authority may currently be missing a chief executive and a chair but it means business when it comes to addressing the serious threat to British racing from the proposals for a flat rate of tax across all forms of gambling. Following a Royal Ascot week launch of the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Racing and Bloodstock (APPG), the campaign stepped up a notch last week with a visit to Newmarket by a group of senior Conservative politicians, including Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch MP, to hear the concerns of some of racing's participants. This was followed by an appearance on Luck on Sunday of APPG co-chair and Labour MP Dan Carden. Newmarket, Britain's largest training and breeding hub, is a Conservative stronghold and has Carden's co-chair Nick Timothy as its representative in parliament, but cross-party support to quash the idea of a racing tax rise is vital. Speaking at last week's meeting at Tattersalls, William Haggas questioned the sway that shadow ministers could have in this issue, asking Badenoch, “Actually, what can you do about it? With all due respect you are not in power at the moment.” Her reply appeared to offer some reassurance. She said, “We can get the message to them. That is our job.” Indeed, from the benches of power, Lisa Nandy, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, answered a question in the House of Commons from Caroline Dinenage MP regarding the “looming and imminent crisis” facing the sport. Nandy said, “We understand not just the joy that horseracing brings to millions of people in the UK and across the world but also the huge economic benefits and we are absolutely determined to back British horseracing to the hilt.” Encouraging words. Let's hope her government in turn backs the minister. The post Seven Days: A Photo Finish Like No Other 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
GoffsGo, a new online sales platform that allows vendors to sell when they're ready, has been introduced by Goffs, with the first horses expected to be on the market and selling in the coming week. In a press release issued by Goffs on Monday, GoffsGo is described as “an easy to use, always on sales facility, that takes the waiting out of selling horses online”. Horses will be available for bidding as soon as they are published on the website, with bidding remaining open for around three to five days before closing. Entries for GoffsGo are open now and can be made on Goffs.com at a special launch fee of £49. The release continues, “Offering a point of significant difference to the existing online marketplace, GoffsGo is designed to get your horse onto the market fast, cutting waiting times and allowing people to maximise their horse's value by selling when the time is right. Entries are always open, 365 days of the year and Goffs will work with each vendor to arrange the fastest available date to put their horse on the market.” Like with other online sales, buyers will still need to register to bid with GoffsGo, with approved registrations being given a term length for their credit. This leaves buyers free to bid across all Goffs sales, both physical and online, that are held during the approved credit period. Goffs Group chief executive Henry Beeby said, “We mentioned earlier in the year we had been working on something in the online sale sphere and we are very excited to announce our new service, GoffsGo. “Designed to offer a point of difference in the online sale market, GoffsGo allows people to sell when they are ready, so when people ask us, 'When is your next sale?', we can say, 'Now', as we always have a sale in action. “We have built this service with flexibility in mind and part of that point of difference that GoffsGo offers is the option of discretion. So for those who wish to utilise all the benefits of selling with Goffs, and all our renowned service and integrity, but want to do so in a controlled, confidential manner, GoffsGo can provide that. “The other feature we are introducing with GoffsGo is our new preferences tool. So if you login and submit your preferences, the platform will send you an email when a horse that matches your preferences comes to market, so you never miss a horse but equally are not inundated with information irrelevant to you. “As with every Goffs sale, GoffsGo aspires to the highest standards of integrity and welfare. Therefore, all lots offered on GoffsGo will be accompanied with a vendor supplied Veterinary Certificate against which buyers can vet whilst the Goffs Conditions of Sale have been specially adapted for this service but still provide the protection and transparency clients know and appreciate when utilising the Goffs service.” He added, “This has been a huge project for the Goffs Group. GoffsGo is a concept that has taken a year to plan, design and build, and we are delighted to release it to the market. Entries for GoffsGo are open now. We are offering great value to introduce the service with entry fees from just £49, and we expect to launch the website in the coming week or so with horses on the market and selling. “Ruairi Breen, who is based in Kildare, is our online sales executive and will be in charge of running GoffsGo. Ruairi comes to Goffs from Jessica Harrington where he held the position of race planner and owner communications and brings a wealth of racing knowledge to the role. We look forward to seeing him drive this new and unique service forward.” Once an entry has been made, Goffs will contact the vendor regarding all required documentation and will organise the earliest possible date to get their horse on the market. For more information on GoffsGo, please read the FAQ here. The post Goffs Announce Launch of GoffsGo, The New Always-On Online Sales Platform 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
Trainers Andrew Balding and Warren Greatrex were among those to take part in Racing Welfare's Castle to Abbey Challenge on Sunday, raising over £100,000 in the process. A total of 80 participants from across the racing industry completed the North Yorkshire coastline walk, from the historic Scarborough Castle to the iconic Whitby Abbey. Together, the grand total raised so far is £100,507, with donations remaining open via this link. Dawn Goodfellow, chief executive of Racing Welfare, said, “I wanted to say such a heartfelt thank you from Racing Welfare to every single person who has taken part, from the first past the post to the last, for all of the miles they've covered and the fundraising and the promotion they've done. “It has been probably our biggest challenge event to date, and probably the most money raised from any challenge event we've ever done from individual sponsors, so I can't thank everybody enough. The support has been truly humbling. “The funds raised will make a real difference to those in our industry facing difficult times, whether that's through mental health support, housing advice or financial assistance.” The post Racing Welfare’s Castle to Abbey Challenge Raises Over £100,000 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
If you're looking for a single word to sum up the catalogue for the Tattersalls July Sale, chances are that 'mammoth' will do the trick. In what other week would you find a recent Royal Ascot winner among the 17 horses who boast Timeform ratings in excess of 100, along with a list of mares as long as your arm that hail from deep Godolphin, Juddmonte and Shadwell families. Don't forget Baroda Stud offering the first mare in foal to champion racehorse City Of Troy. Put simply, there is something for everyone among the over 900 horses set to sell between Tuesday [sale gets underway at 9.30am] and Thursday at Park Paddocks. Andrew Balding will doubtless be one of the busiest trainers this week. As well as managing a typically-strong assault at the Newmarket July meeting, which includes leading July Cup hope Flora Of Bermuda, Balding will be overseeing a draft of 25 horses. Among them is Golden Gates Stakes winner Quai De Bethune, successful at the royal meeting on just his sixth start and one of the hottest properties on the sale ground. But he is not alone in the Kingsclere corner of the Highflyer Paddock, with fellow three-year-olds Humam (Kodiac) and Gallant (Hello Youmzain) boasting similarly-attractive profiles and ratings. Balding commented, “Obviously Quai De Bethune has been an improver and has been very consistent in his races. I thought that was a very good performance at Ascot and he's being sold to dissolve a partnership. I'm sure there are more miles on the clock so I hope he sells well.” As far as British-based trainers are concerned, few hit the yearling sales quite like Balding, who does a lot of the heavy lifting himself on behalf of a wide variety of clients. Many of those owners need to cut their cloth to measure, which means the wheels need to turn. Hence, here we are. “Exactly,” Balding agreed. “And when you sell at this time of the year, it tends to give you a little more ammunition when it comes to the yearling sales. Plenty of our owners need to keep the wheel turning. We are selling a lot of horses this week and, while I don't know the exact number, a lot of them have won their latest start. I'd like to think we have a really good consignment this week.” Some of the breeding stock on offer this week would not look out of place here in December. Within the 48 lots that powerhouse operation Godolphin will offer, there are sisters to champion older horse Ghaiyyath [lot 244], Sea Silk Road [265] and the Derby winner Masar [852] to name just a few. But if it's a novelty factor that you're after, look no further than Miaharris (Zoustar) [180], the only mare to be sold in foal to City Of Troy. A classy filly on the track, Miaharris reached a rating of 99 and landed a Listed success over the minimum trip at Newbury. She will be sold this week by Baroda Stud, whose owner David Cox said, “She was a very good racemare and there is definitely a bit of a novelty factor involved with her given she is in foal to a champion in City Of Troy. There are three well-related maiden mares – Hala Be Zain (Zoffany) [66], Queen Of Mercia (Golden Horn) [142] and Heavenly Fire (Harry Angel) [145] – who are all in foal to Shaquille and are going down well as well so it is shaping up to be an interesting sale. But, definitely, there is a bit of a novelty factor with Miaharris with her covering.” Marconi: a bloodstock agent on the rise| Tattersalls One man who can be expected to get in on the action for the highly-rated racing prospects is bloodstock agent Alessandro Marconi. The Italian native, best known for unearthing last year's French 2,000 Guineas winner Metropolitan, has been a growing force at the major breeze-up, online and horses-in-training sales in recent times. Being in demand brings its own challenges with Marconi ruing the fact he didn't get in on the action at Arqana last week in order to help lighten his load ahead of the July Sale. He explained, “There was an article with Mr Stuart [Boman, bloodstock agent] in one of the papers the other day and he was very right in what he said – it is easy to split horses for America, Australia, the Middle East or wherever. Where it becomes tricky is when you have multiple clients from the same region, which I have, because they all want the same horses. “I can give directions and coordinate the traffic on the roundabout but the main issue is, for example, if you take Dubai, it will be the same three or four trainers who have the clients that I have. So, how are you going to solve the equation? You just need to do your best to fill the orders but you need to buy the right ones. The majority of the horses that I am buying are for Middle Eastern clients.” Explaining his upsurge in popularity and approach to this week's sale, the former assistant trainer to Dubai trainer Ahmad Bin Harmash, said, “The horses I bought two years ago started winning and are doing better and better. So the clients that I lost started coming back. That's the way it is. The Marconi horses are winning. I want to get the job done properly and the most important thing for that is buying the right horse. There were five horses in Arqana last week that we tried to buy and now I am regretting not buying at least one. But we must be hopeful of being active this week.” The post Royal Ascot Winner Features Among Jam-Packed Tattersalls July Sale Offering 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 King's Cup, which was run as a Group 3 for the first time this year, will be worth $400,000 in 2026, after the Bahrain Turf Club announced a doubling of the prize fund for the most prestigious contest in the Kingdom's racing calendar. In conjunction with the boost in value to The King's Cup, the international race programme has also been strengthened, creating a clearly signposted 'Road to the King's Cup' for highly-rated horses over both a mile and middle-distances. This programme culminates with the $120,000 Listed Al Methaq Mile (1600m) and the $400,000 G3 King's Cup (2400m), which will be run next year on Friday, March 6. Yusuf Buheji, CEO of the Bahrain Turf Club, said, “As the quality of international horse attracted to compete in Bahrain improves, we want to ensure there are attractive and valuable options available to owners and trainers outside of the now established Bahrain Turf Series races. This has led to a strengthening of the international programme and the developing of a 'Road to the King's Cup', which takes in the Crown Prince's Cup and other premier races. “The King's Cup, run in honour of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, is the most prestigious prize in the Kingdom's racing calendar. The introduction of floodlights last year enabled us to create The King's Cup Festival, with consecutive nights of high-class racing and international competition.” He added, “Our goal is to keep developing and improving the quality of racing in Bahrain, together with the facilities, thereby making Bahrain an even more attractive and compelling proposition to international visitors.” The headline race in the first half of the season remains the G2 Bahrain International Trophy, with the $1-million contest taking place this year on Friday, November 14. Last year Spirit Dancer, trained by Richard Fahey and co-owned by Sir Alex Ferguson, made history when becoming the first horse to retain the trophy, beating the subsequent Group 1 winner Lead Artist. Meanwhile, the Bahrain Turf Series returns with 12 races, worth a total of $1 million and a further $80,000 available in bonuses. With both sprint and middle-distances races, the series gets underway on Friday, December 19 and concludes with two handicaps, each worth $100,000, at The King's Cup Festival in March. The post Bahrain Turf Club Increases Investment with $400,000 King’s Cup 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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