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    • Juan Hernandez earns Jockey of the Week after winning three stakes at Santa Anita Park.View the full article
    • Francis Lui Kin-wai joined an elite group of trainers to reach 1,000 wins in Hong Kong when Speed Dragon stormed home from last for a stunning victory in Wednesday night’s Group Three January Cup (1,800m) at Happy Valley. Champion trainer in 2023-24 and the handler of champion galloper Golden Sixty, Lui joined John Moore (1,735 wins), John Size (1,629), Tony Cruz (1,583), Caspar Fownes (1,196) and Ricky Yiu (1,082) in reaching the major milestone when Winning Money and Speed Dragon won at the...View the full article
    • by George Adams Wasabi Ventures Stables & Stallions continues to upgrade the quality of their breeding stock and the commerciality of the foals that they're producing on their Serendipity Springs Farm. There is a very interesting group of stallions retiring for 2026, and Wasabi has shares in several which we'll be supporting. TICKLE THE IVORIES, 5, Justify-Gagnoa (Ire), by Sadler's Wells. Will be bred to Mindframe. The highest profile of the new stallions with whom Wasabi is involved is the multiple GI winner Mindframe, who retired to Claiborne. He's a horse that I was personally invested in early on, having claimed his half-sister as a broodmare prospect before Mindframe was named, and he comes from a deep Mid-Atlantic female family. Mindframe is a gorgeous physical, and it's quite a snub that he didn't make the list of Eclipse finalists even though he was the only older male to win two G1s in '25, beating Sierra Leone in one and Nysos in the other. But still, he's got every right to be a fantastic stallion and Wasabi purchased a young Justify mare from Coolmore in November specifically to send to him. Her name is Tickle the Ivories, she's due early to Munnings with her first foal, and we were able to steal her a couple months ago because she was literally the first mare through the ring in November. Like Mindframe, she's a leggy, strapping individual, and she should suit him very well.   WHY NOT TONIGHT, 8, Tapiture-Pay the Lady, by Not For Love, and PAW PRINTS, 6, Kitten's Joy-Hachita, by Gone West. Will be bred to Johannes. Wasabi is also supporting Claiborne's other new stallion, Johannes. He was a heck of a racehorse, and Nyquist is one of the best young stallions out there, so Johannes has a lot going for him. Wasabi has never shied away from producing a turf horse, and will be sending two young mares to Johannes. The first is their first ever black-type winner Why Not Tonight, a daughter of Tapiture. Like Johannes, she is bred for dirt but did her best running on turf, and Nyquist has had success with Tapit-line mares, having sired the likes of Tenma and Gosger on that cross. The second mare that Wasabi is sending to Johannes is Paw Prints, a Juddmonte-bred daughter of Kitten's Joy from the immediate family of Final Gambit. We're leaning into Johannes's turf success again here, and the Uncle Mo/El Prado cross has produced the likes of Seismic Beauty, Showcase and Scalding.   'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', Locked joins the sire ranks at Gainesway | Sara Gordon ITGETSGREATERLATER,6, Justify-Sotto Voce, by Tapit, and SAUCILY, 6, Curlin-Leslie May, by Tapit. Will be bred to Locked. Wasabi was very lucky to get involved early with Locked, who is another first-year stallion that we're very excited about. He was an absolutely top-class two-year-old, beat older horses in the Cigar Mile at three, and scored by a record margin in the Santa Anita Handicap this past season at four. As a son of Gun Runner, he has everything going for him, and we're sending two mares to him at Gainesway. The first will be the Justify mare Itgetsgreaterlater, whose 2025 colt by Gunite topped the weanlings in his session at Keeneland November when selling to Wesley Ward for $160,000, so it made plenty of sense to go back to another son of Gun Runner with the mare. And Locked's leg and length will suit her very well, as she's a touch more compact herself. The second mare Wasabi will send to Locked is Saucily, a Stonestreet-bred daughter of Curlin. This is a very commercial family, and we've been giving Saucily plenty of chances. She's another whose own physical is a bit more compact, so Locked should suit her well, too.   WILD FOR LOVE, 6, Not For Love, Sticky, by Concern and EBB TIDE, 7, Medaglia d'Oro-Magdalena Bay, by Distorted Humor. Will be bred to Arthur's Ride. We took a share in Arthur's Ride after seeing him in person at Taylor Made during the November sale, as he just blew us away physically. Obviously he was brilliant on his best day, and is a very well-bred horse, so he's got plenty going for him. Wasabi will send him Wild For Love, who has already produced a multiple black-type winner by a son of Tapit, as well as the Godolphin-bred mare Ebb Tide, whose female family has had lots of success with A.P. Indy-line stallions, including a full-sister to the dam of Ebb Tide having produced Tapit's leading son Constitution.   GIVING SPIRIT, 6, Ghostzapper-Hallie Belle, by Medaglia d'Oro and QUEEN MUM, 11, Paynter-For Royalty, by Not for Love. Will be bred to Straight No Chaser. Eclipse Champion Sprinter Straight No Chaser at WinStar is another horse with a really awesome physical.  He has a lot more leg and scope to him than I was expecting for a fast son of Speightster out of a Johannesburg mare. Wasabi will be sending him the Godolphin-bred Giving Spirit, who is a half-sister to a talented horse called Maycocks Bay by Speightster's sire Speightstown. And they'll also send the Black-Type two-year-old Queen Mum, who is half-sister to the dam of a nice Munnings filly named Cougar Cocktail who looks like a stakes horse, so this sire-line has worked with her female family.   AQUATIC APPROACH, 5, Omaha Beach-Secret Mission, by Smart Strike and PIVOTAL WOMAN (Fr), 9, Siyouni (Fr)-Candinie, by Bernadini. Will be bred to Arzak. Although Wasabi is focused on Kentucky these days, we were sufficiently intrigued and impressed by Arzak to take a share in him, also. He's a Grade II-winning millionaire by Not This Time that will stand at Amsterdam Two Farm in New York, and we'll be sending him the young mare Aquatic Approach, whose female family has produced several good horses by Giant's Causeway (sire of Not This Time), and also a really neat mare called Pivotal Woman (FR), who is by Siyouni and from the productive Overbrook Farm family that produced Grand Slam and Leestown.   Tiz the Law | Coolmore FLORAL HALL, 7, Bodemeister-Painted Lady, by Broad Brush. Will be bred to Tiz The Law. Some of the other matings that we're particularly excited about this spring are the Godolphin-bred Bodemeister mare Floral Hall, who we got into Tiz the Law at Ashford before they increased his fee following that graded stakes double he had at Aqueduct during the November sale.   MAD GRACE, 11, English Channel-Floating Island, by A.P. Indy. Will be bred to Karakontie. We'll be sending a really hard-knocking, well-bred turf mare named Mad Grace to Karakontie at Gainesway. He gets runners, and they're classy, too, and – as mentioned earlier, Wasabi doesn't hesitate to breed for turf.   WAND WORK, 6, Uncle Mo-Mrs. Norris, by Bernardini. Will be bred to Jimmy Creed. I've been a big fan of Jimmy Creed at Spendthrift for a long time now, and we'll be sending a young Uncle Mo mare to him. Her name is Wand Work, and she's a half to a nice Black-Type horse named Hedwig from the Distorted Humor sire-line, so hopefully Jimmy Creed can help her get a nice runner.   C'EST MARDI, 10, Tiznow-Surging Storm, by Storm Creek. Will be bred to Thousand Words. We're also sending our Tiznow mare C'est Mardi, who won a couple of races in Wasabi's silks during her racing days, to Thousand Words at Spendthrift. He's had some really impressive results with his first two crops now, despite a Comp Index of less than 1.00, and he already has two black-type winners out of mares by Tiznow and a son of Tiznow, from just five runners. So we'll take a shot with him and a cross that looks very promising. He's a beautiful horse and had plenty of talent, and the mare could run a little bit, too. The post Mating Plans For 2026, Presented By Spendthrift: Wasabi Ventures appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
    • yes , sadder times are approaching. The sport is on borrowed time now as you say. We had a couple of miracles in Aus that has saved the day in some States when it would of collapsed . so wishing NZ some luck that the Sport can re-vitalise. My favourite of the Interdominion got re-vamped and is on again so things are possible. Alas NZ has run it only once the past 15 years so the sport lost all publicity.  Victoria gone broke , and already running with the slashed stakemoney. yes I guess NZ will follow suit with the same amount of participants and interest I guess. ( QLD has even less generally but has Millionaire owners and Entain Ladbrokes propping it up for cohort of 500 horses racing weekly.) A lot of the NZ participants are retiring soon when the game closes there in North Island. They're ALL very old now. Mike Berger already did. But Ray Green, Maurice McKendry,  Barry Purdon, Mark Purdon, AGH,  old man Hughes, old Ferguson, Old Mango, Old David Butcher, even Bernie H  don't really need to go round with them anymore after all these decades of success. No one has been good enough to challenge them generally? which has left very few even trying. for as long as I can remember.  Perhaps the younger ones who might continue in the sport like Matty White and Arna Donnelly could shift to the South Island ? or Queensland would be better for them as get a lot more winners like Graeme Harris and Tim Butt did.    some like Delaney and Phelan and Zac Butcher and Tony Cameron should tackle Menangle and really make a name for themselves . ? like Jack Trainor did for NZ.   
    • The Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale carried on its momentum from opening day, with another five yearlings fetching seven-figure prices. A $2 million Extreme Choice topped the leaderboard when selling to Yulong Investments, while strong clearance rates continued to rise from yesterday's figures. Five horses sold for seven figures on Day 2, bringing the sale total so far to eight, one less than this time last year. At a glance Yulong splashed out $2 million for the day's top lot, Lot 345, a full brother to G3 Vanity Stakes winner Wollombi (Extreme Choice). The average lifted sightly to $288,266 on Day 2, slightly above the $277,145 average at the same point last year. The median remained at $200,000, and level with the $200,000 median at this stage in 2025. With 326 lots sold over the first two days, the gross sits at $93,975,000, down from 2025's record gross of $97,555,000 for the same stage, with 26 less lots sold so far. By the close of Day 2 the clearance rate had risen five points to 83%, up from 81% at the same stage last year. Segenhoe Stud sits clear on top of the vendor table with 16 yearlings sold over the first two days for $8.16 million, at an average of $510,000. Newgate Farm is in second with 20 yearlings sold for $6.5 million. Milburn Creek leads the averages with five sold at an average of $570,000. Snitzel leads sires, with 13 lots grossing $9.58 million at an average of $736,923. I Am Invincible sits in second with 13 lots selling for $8.19 million at an average of $630,000. Extreme Choice leads the table by average (2 or more sold) with seven yearlings averaging $840,000. Anamoe is the leading first season sire by both gross ($5.82 million) and average ($415,714). Tom Magnier of Coolmore Stud leads the buyer's table by both average and gross, having bought four yearlings for $4.7 million at an average of $1.175 million. Ciaron Maher and David Redvers have spent $3.8 million on seven yearlings to be second by gross expenditure. Lot 345 – Extreme Choice (Aus) x Hazlebrook (Aus), colt – $2,000,000 Money was no object for Yulong Investments, who were determined not to stop until they secured Lot 345, with the gavel eventually falling at $2 million, making him the second lot of the sale to reach that milestone. The chestnut colt by Extreme Choice was offered by Kingstar Farm and is a full brother to G3 Vanity Stakes winner Wollombi (Extreme Choice). “He's a very special colt, he was our only target that we definitely needed to buy,” Jun Zhang, General Manager of Yulong Australia, said. “We can see some stallion potential with him and also we own the sister as well, she has a foal by Diatonic, so we try and create our own families, so that is another reason why we had to get him. Extreme Choice is a very successful stallion and could be a history-making stallion in the future, so this is why Mr Zhang is trying to get every Extreme Choice he can.” The powerful colt is out of Hazlebrook (Hinchinbrook), who is a half-sister to stakes winner Everage (Zizou) and has produced three winners from three runners. The family traces back to G3 Debutante Stakes winner Alshandegha (Vain). Hazlebrook's first foal, an unraced 2-year-old by Tiger of Malay, was sold at the Magic Millions last year for $75,000 to Shane McGrath Bloodstock. Hazlebrook missed in 2025 but returned to Extreme Choice this spring. Lot 252 – Snitzel (Aus) x Embrace Me (NZ), colt – $1,500,000 The first seven-figure lot of Day 2 at the 2026 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale set a high standard for the session when China Horse Club, Clarke Bloodstock (FBAA) and Newgate & Partners combined to secure Lot 252 for $1.5 million. The athletic chestnut colt, by champion sire Snitzel, was offered by Milburn Creek and is the second foal of Group 3-winning mare Embrace Me (Shamexpress {NZ}). “We're delighted to get the colt. Beautiful horse from a fast mare and from a great farm,” Henry Field said. “We loved the horse. We've had so much success with the likes of Invader, Russian Revolution, In The Congo. We've had five Group 1 winners just by Snitzel himself. “I think it is one of those things where you have to buy what you love and hopefully he's a good horse for us. He is very much in the mould of some of those horses. He's neat and he's sharp, strong. He's got attitude.” Lot 373 – Snitzel (Aus) x Iffranesia (FR), colt – $1,500,000 With buyers snapping up the final progeny of champion sire Snitzel following his death in June 2025, Lot 372 immediately drew strong interest before Coolmore's Tom Magnier stepped in and secured the colt for $1.5 million. Offered by Arrowfield Stud, the chestnut is a full brother to Group 3 winner Beadman (Snitzel) and the fifth foal of French stakes winner Iffranesia (Iffraaj). “He's a lovely colt. Arrowfield, we've had a little bit of luck there before, obviously the Messaras know how to breed a good horse by Snitzel and we've had a bit of luck with Snitzel, obviously with Shinzo and Switzerland,” Magnier said. “There's a great group of people in our colts fund. Chris Waller will train him. They all loved the horse, he's one of the best colts on the ground. We couldn't be happier with the type, we think he's a mature type and everybody on the team really liked him, so fingers crossed.” Lot 420 – I Am Invincible (Aus) x Key (Aus), filly – $1,200,000 Rising Sun Syndicate Director Kosi Kawakami made it clear they were determined to secure the best filly in the sale, and that resolve saw them team with Knine Inc to land Lot 420 for $1.2 million. The chestnut filly, offered by Kia Ora Stud, is out of stakes-placed mare Key (Exceed and Excel), a full sister to Oz Empress (Exceed and Excel) and dam of Breeders' Plate runner-up I'm Ya Huckleberry (Home Affairs), who sold at last year's Magic Millions for $400,000 to Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott and the pair will now get the chance to train his half-brother. “We're obviously looking for the best filly we can get from this whole catalogue for our owner from Japan,” Kawakami said. “We looked at this horse and we fell in love with her. She's the best. Obviously, knowing her brother being trained by Gai and Adrian, they would be the best trainers to go for. We were both in love, so we just went harder and I'm happy to secure her. It's a real honour to be able to buy a million-dollar filly from this catalogue. I'm really excited.” Adrian Bott further explained why the filly was so compelling. “It's a very current family, a family of so much black-type depth, a family I know very well,” Bott said. “We've got the half-brother in training who we've got a very high opinion of. Physically and the way she presented at this sale really made her a must-have for us. We were really fortunate we were able to partner up here on this filly and I must say we're delighted we've been able to secure her.” Lot 429 – Snitzel (Aus) x Krone (Aus), colt – $1,200,000 Snitzel stamped his authority late in the session, with his third yearling for the day breaking the seven-figure barrier when James Harron Bloodstock in partnership with Tony Fung Colts secured Lot 429 for $1.2 million. Offered by Rosemont Stud, the colt is the second foal of G1 Coolmore Classic winner Krone (Eurozone), combining elite racetrack performance with a pedigree littered from top to bottom with black type. “Lovely colt, he was one of our picks across the board with all the team – ourselves and TFI – everyone just loved him,” Harron said. “He's an athletic horse and Krone was obviously very successful on the track, a very sound, consistent mare, so he was a great package. We're very happy to get him.” Harron expects the colt to get up and running early. “I think he'll be early. He's very light on his feet, he doesn't carry a lot of excess and he's very easy on himself – a real quality colt,” he said. “He's really elastic in how he moves and how he gets about the ground. I get the impression he'll just skip across the ground and be one of those really athletic types. He caught the eye from the very beginning.” The post Yulong Goes To A$2 million To Secure Extreme Choice Colt At Magic Millions 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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