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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
In her first start since winning the Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) in late March, Five G will try to secure the first grade 1 win of her career when she closes out her 3-year-old season in the $300,000 La Brea Stakes (G1) Dec. 28 at Santa Anita Park.View the full article -
By Murray Fish · Posted
They once had 7000+ at a 'Sunday trail meeting' back in the 70's. a few weeks ago 5000 on course... "Organisers estimate about 5500 people turned out for last Saturday’s races, which they said continued to grow in popularity." https://www.odt.co.nz/southland/southland-express/festive-feel-fashion-fans -
By Murray Fish · Posted
Racing club's $750k punt that's still paying out 17 years on “It is a big outlay, and a risk, because it is too expensive to insure against a loss, so if we slipped on a banana skin, it could be catastrophic." Logan Savory Dec 10, 2025 Southland Racing Club president Sean Bellew says its annual Christmas at the Races meeting costs the club $750,000 to put on. That’s a number not for the faint-hearted, let alone a small sporting club with limited resources. “It is a big outlay, and a risk, because it is too expensive to insure against a loss, so if we slipped on a banana skin, it could be catastrophic,” Bellew says. “We haven’t had an abandonment at Ascot Park for over five years, and I don’t want to tempt fate. “I have so much confidence in our track manager and his protocols.” Get more from Logan Savory in the Substack app Available for iOS and Android Get the app Year after year, for 17 years, the public has continued to turn up in big numbers and remains the Southland Racing Club’s “hay-making day”, in terms of the money it brings in. Bellew says on a good day, Christmas at the Races provides about a $120,000 in profit for the club, with the majority of that coming from the hospitality offerings, rather than punting. “I would say that 40% of the people there have their backs to the track. They are there catching up with friends and family. “We expect that and understand that. We don’t expect to convert 100% of them into race participants.” That $120,000 or so profit that is made from the Christmas at the Races meeting is vital in helping prop up the club for the rest of the season. It is used to help fund a portion of the club’s stake money at other meetings. That it is important for the health of the southern thoroughbred industry, Bellew says. Southland Racing Club president says profits from Christmas at the Races help boost the club’s stake money for the rest of the season. There are 3500 pre-booked tickets for this Saturday’s Christmas at the Races meeting, including those in close to 100 marquees. “It just never gets old… I would have thought it would work its way through its shelf life, but we keep working away at it, and it manifests in front of you each year.” “It’s been 17 years, and it keeps staying at capacity.” Why does Bellew believe Invercargill’s Christmas at the Races has held onto its appeal for so long? “It’s the colour and the pageantry. I think it’s the glamour… I watch people walk onto the course, and they have put in a huge effort. “It is the best-dressed public event in Southland… We are talking glitz and glamour.” Southland Racing Club president Sean Bellew believes it’s the glamour attached to Christmas at the Races which is why the event has remained popular for 17 years. The event doesn’t just provide the racing industry with a handy financial boost; it is also an economic winner for the city as a whole. Last year, only Stag Day surpassed Christmas at the Races, as far as an ILT trading day. “We’d have to inject seven figures into the economy, because you’ve got to buy a dress, then you get your makeup done, and your hair done, and fake tans, and of course the boys follow and buy a shirt and a tie,” Bellew says. Race 1 on Saturday is scheduled for 12.40pm, which is the first of nine races. The last race of the day is scheduled to jump at 5.20pm. -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Who says it never rains in Southern California? Well, for any music trivia buffs in the audience, it was the little-known Albert Hammond who sang those lyrics, but those living in and around metropolitan Los Angeles will confirm that the precipitation came with a vengeance this Christmas week, flooding parts of Interstate 5 and causing power outages and even the (very) odd threat of tornadoes. Nearly two inches of rainfall was recorded at Los Angeles International Airport, breaking a 54-year-old mark, while nearly four inches fell upon Woodland Hills and 2.91 inches in East Pasadena. So far. While the streets of Pasadena will have dried out ahead of next week's Tournament of Roses Parade, it's a bit more unclear what the underfoot conditions may be like a bit farther to the east at Santa Anita in Arcadia, which plays host to its booming opening day program, wisely pushed back by a couple of days to Dec. 28. Bob Baffert has five chances for a record-breaking seventh victory in the GI Malibu Stakes, a race he won for the first time with The Factor in 2011. At $3.2 million, Barnes (Into Mischief) was the second-dearest offering at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale (to the $4-million Curlin–Beholder colt) and he is likely to go favored in what has become a stallion-making heat. Winner of this the GII San Vicente Stakes over this course and seven-furlong distance at second asking, the bay was a sound third in the GI H. Allen Jerkens Stakes in August at Saratoga and most recently plundered Keeneland's GIII Perryville Stakes Oct. 18 when he was somehow not favored. Barnes has stablemates either side of him Sunday afternoon. Cornucopian (Into Mischief) was accorded 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard status for a smashing debut score at Oaklawn last February, but was only fourth in the GI Arkansas Derby after getting used up on a suicidal pace and was a very disappointing runner-up in a one-mile Aqueduct allowance when last seen Apr. 27. The $1.1-million Keeneland September grad gets the blinkers off and he and Barnes both drilled six furlongs in 1:12 4/5 on Dec. 20. 'Rising Star' Goal Oriented (Not This Time), twice Grade I-placed going two turns, Madaket Road (Quality Road), second in the GI Woody Stephens Stakes at this specialist trip, and the first-time blinkered and progressive Midland Money (Maclean's Music) round out the Baffert challenge. California-based 3-year-old fillies have more or less dominated the GI La Brea Stakes, with only Birdatthewire (Summer Bird) and Fair Maiden (Street Boss) launching successful raids in 2015 and 2020, respectively. The George Weaver-trained Five G (Vekoma) has a fair shot at backing up that every-five-year pattern as she returns to the races for the first time since wiring the GIII Gulfstream Park Oaks back at the end of March. The Gatsas Stable runner has trained nicely at Palm Beach Downs and got a feel for the local strip with an easy four furlongs in :49 flat on Dec. 19. Irad Ortiz, Jr. is in to ride. Baffert saddles three in the La Brea in search of a 10th victory dating back to Arches of Gold in 1992, but none of the trio is close to a lock. New York-bred Usha (Tiz the Law) was very good at Del Mar this summer, winning her maiden by better than 11 lengths before adding a 5 1/4-length allowance, but she faded tamely to be seventh in the GII Raven Run Stakes at Keeneland Oct. 18. Silent Law (Tiz the Law) set the pace before yielding to Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) in the GIII Chillingworth Stakes Oct. 4, while Brilliantly (Uncle Mo) spots her rivals a world of experience. On the evidence of her European form for Donnacha O'Brien, Atsila (Ire) (Phoenix of Spain {Ire}) is strictly the one to beat in the GI American Oaks to close the card–providing, that is–that it remains on the rain-softened turf course. All the bay filly's experience has come in 2025, as she beat the boys to open her account at first asking before besting her peers in the G3 Athasi Stakes at The Curragh in May. She overcame a bit of a slow start to finish third as a 25-1 chance in the G1 Matron Stakes going a mile around Leopardstown Sept. 13 and was a latest sixth in the G1 Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket Oct. 4. An intended runner in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf, she was one of several vet scratches and is now based in the U.S. with Richard Baltas. She is back with her own age group for the first time since a seventh in the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas in May. German listed winner and Group 2-placed Namaron (Ger) (Amaron {GB}) adds blinkers and gets Flavien Prat back in the boot for Sunday's GII Mathis Mile, a race that has also attracted Let It Ride Stakes winner and GI Hollywood Derby fourth Tempus Volat (Not This Time). 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Nysos (Nyquist) and his GI Awesome Again Stakes-winning stable companion Nevada Beach (Omaha Beach) look set to dominate the GII Laffit Pincay, Jr. Stakes in what might be a springboard to valuable Middle East targets, while a wide-open field of 11 is set to load the gate for the GII San Gabriel Stakes. The post Santa Anita Opening Day Always Worth The Wait 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
Three from Augustin Stables will vie in a field of 11 3-year-old fillies on the turf at Santa Anita Park.View the full article
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