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    Monomoy Girl Proves Best in Distaff

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    Roy H Defends his Sprint Title

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    Fasig-Tipton November Sale Sunday

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    • Geez "blowing things up" - Trump needs you!
    • One of the un-heralded greats of the harness track , has finally reached his lifetime achievement award . One of my favourite horses ever. can still run near 1.51 now lol. TURN IT UP joined a special group of horses that raced for years on end , racking up $100,000 quietly each season for 5-6. years .  And last Saturday the young New Zealander new on the scene out-finished him . youngster WHO's DELIGHT taking the win after arriving from Dunn's. But 2nd place Prizemoney was enough to carry him over the magic $1,000,000 earnings, a spot reserved for the true greats of harness history.  Turn It Up had won an Auckland Cup in his younger more athletic days 😅  for owner Mark Purdon . (he's raced here 5-6 seasons on lease for Natalies sister Vicki Rasmussen once the kiwi's got to quick for him , like stable-mate Self Assured and Co.) here's a part clipping of a tribute to him this week .   Who's Delight sneaking up the inside of the old Warrior to take the Win . But he tried hard as always.  Turn It Up reaches magic milestone 02 March 2026 | Jordan Gerrans   Shane Graham would have loved to achieve the rare milestone with a victory, but nonetheless, he was chuffed to tick past the magical $1 million mark with veteran speedster Turn It Up on Saturday evening. Renowned for his lighting gate speed, Turn It Up has been chipping away at reaching the rich prizemoney level in recent months. The 11-year-old did so finally on Saturday when he went within a head of beating the Grant Dixon-prepared and driven Whos Delight in the Junior Free For All event over 1660 metres. The popular pacer joins an esteemed list of Sunshine State racehorses who have earned $1 million or more in stakes across their careers. Turn It Up was welcomed into the ‘millionaire club’ alongside Leap To Fame, Blacks A Fake, Colt Thirty One, Flashing Red, Be Good Johnny, Slipnslide, Fleur De Lil, Washakie and For A Reason, among others. Trainer and driver Graham has considered retirement for his evergreen gelding in recent times and was hopeful of achieving the prizemoney milestone with a victory and then pacing into retirement. “For a split second, it looked like it was going to be that way on Saturday night, but the other horse was too good for us,” he said. “You don't get too many opportunities to train a pacer that's earned $1 million. “I have had the horse for so long, it was pretty great to get it. He's been at that level for so long now, he's just kept sort of turning up year in, year out. “He races the best and he is always facing the new kid on the block that is coming through.
    • Guillaume Herrnberger, currently managing director of AFASEC, has been appointed to the role of deputy managing director of France Galop, alongside Henri Pouret who has held the same title since February 2024. France Galop will now be managed in tandem by Pouret and Herrnberger, both of whom will report to the president, Guillaume de Saint-Seine, who chaired a meeting of the Board of Directors on Monday. The appointment of Herrnberger and changes to the leadership structure follow the departure of Elie Hennau from his role as managing director last month. “I am very pleased to join France Galop to lead the transformation alongside Henri Pouret,” said Herrnberger, who has been the CEO of AFASEC since 2021. “I have been a racing enthusiast since my youth, having been a breeder and owner with a high school friend. My background, involved in corporate transformation as an employee and expert consultant in this field, is an asset for meeting the challenges ahead alongside Henri Pouret. “I thank Guillaume de Saint-Seine and the members of the Board of Directors for their confidence.” Guillaume de Saint-Seine added, “Our ambition is to accelerate the recovery of French flat racing, to evolve our economic model and our way of working, while preserving our equestrian culture, unique in the world of sports and leisure. “The partnership between Henri Pouret and Guillaume Herrnberger, who have two very complementary profiles, is perfectly suited to our ambition to lead modernization while respecting our fundamentals.” The post Guillaume Herrnberger Named Deputy Managing Director of France Galop appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
    • Among the top trainers on the New York circuit for decades, John Kimmel has announced his retirement. Citing the economic difficulties facing many trainers these days, Kimmel, 71, said he would devote his time to building his business as a bloodstock agent. Kimmel has been doing double duty over the last three or four years, continuing his training operation while acting as a bloodstock agent to outside clients. While training full-time, he was known for having a keen eye when it came to picking horses out at the sales, including the many future stars that became part of his stable. His recent success stories include the purchase of Chancer McPatrick (McKinzie), whom he purchased on behalf of Flanagan Racing for $725,000 at the 2024 OBS Spring Sale. Trained by Chad Brown, Chancer McPatrick won the GI Hopeful Stakes and the GI Champagne Stakes. “It's been a long time for me, working seven days a week as a trainer,” Kimmel said. “But all during this time, I've always had an affinity for going to the sales. I first started going to the sales with my father when I was in high school. I've developed a very good eye for a horse and what I look for in a horse. Probably the majority of the Grade I and top graded horses I've had are horses that I've purchased for my clientele. I think that's something that I can use. I think people recognize it, but they might be a little reluctant to use me as their bloodstock agent fearing that as a trainer, I might be adversely affecting their clients. “I've bought horses in the last few years for Linda Rice and Chad Brown. We've had a lot of luck with Chancer McPatrick, who is a multiple Grade I winner. We've also had With the Angels, who just won the Correction, and Hot Currency, two horses we bought for Winning Move Stable. The long and the short of it is, that I think I can bring to the table a wealth of experience that can't be matched by many people that are in the bloodstock industry. I hope I can use that to my advantage and see if I can generate some new business.” Kimmel said he will be working closely with bloodstock agent Nick Sallusto. Kimmel plans to hit the ground running, saying he will be active at the upcoming OBS March sale. Though his training business slowed in recent years, Kimmel was a major force in New York throughout the 1990s and the 2000s. He was introduced to the sport by his father, the owner Caesar Kimmel, but began his path in racing as a veterinarian. He holds a pre-med undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder and then graduated from the University of Pennsylvania's veterinary school in 1980 before starting his training career in 1984. His first winner came at Calder on Oct. 29, 1984 with a horse named Chachi Man. He has won 1,449 races during his career, and his best year came in 2001 when he won 105 races. He won 89 graded stakes races and trained 10 horses that won Grade I events. His best horse may have been Hidden Lake (Quiet American), who was named Champion Older Female in 1997. She won five graded stakes including the GI Beldame Stakes, the GI Hempstead Handicap and the GI Go for Wand Stakes. Kimmel trained three horses that earned over $1 million, including Bar of Gold (Medgalia d'Oro), who won the 2017 GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. He was the first trainer of eventual GI Kentucky Derby winner Thunder Gulch. After four starts with Kimmel, the horse was sold privately to Michael Tabor and landed in the barn of D. Wayne Lukas. Kimmel won six training titles on the NYRA circuit outright, and in 1997 he finished in a tie with Bill Mott for leading trainer at Saratoga with 15 wins at the meet. In 1999, he led all NYRA trainers in the category of money earned. But as has happened in the era of the “super trainer,” Kimmel, who, for much of his career had a stable that numbered about 44 horses, was having trouble keeping up with his rivals. He won 11 races in 2023, 14 in 2024, and seven in 2025. So far this year, he was winless from seven starts. “The super-trainer thing has gotten to the point where if you're not on the front pages of every big racing day, it seems like people have a very short memory about what you have accomplished,” Kimmel said. “A lot of the new money that's come into this game may not even know my track record or my past history. The fact is that there is a new business model. With this business model, it is extremely difficult to make ends meet. If you're not making significant money through purses or buying and selling horses, there's no way that you can offset the cost of doing business, particularly in New York. It might be better in some states, like Kentucky, where businesses seems to be doing much better than they are in New York. Here, maintaining a stable and dealing with the labor laws and the costs of the labor to run things the way I like to do it, it just became a very inequitable formula. “The labor costs, the fee costs, the costs of doing business, just outweigh what you can charge on a day rate. It's absolutely crazy. You could run literally millions of dollars through your training accounts. And at the end of the day, you look at your profit/loss and you're not making any money on your day rate. It's just a losing proposition. That's a reality that most trainers face. I'm sure you've heard the same thing from many trainers.” Kimmel said he will send out his final starters this weekend at Aqueduct, adding that he currently has just five horses in his stable. In 2024, Kimmel was featured in a story in the TDN written by Chris McGrath. The post John Kimmel Steps Away from Training to Focus on Bloodstock Business appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
    • Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-bred horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Tuesday's Observations features a horse to follow at Chantilly. 3.05 Chantilly, Debutantes, 3yo, f, 9 1/2f (AWT) MAINE (FR) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) is the 12th foal out of the Wertheimers' G2 Prix de Royallieu winner and outstanding broodmare Balladeuse (Singspiel), who is responsible for the Prix Vermeille heroine and Arc runner-up Aventure (Sea The Stars) and another Vermeille-winning luminary in Left Hand by Night Of Thunder's sire Dubawi. Also the second dam of the Group 2-winning Prix du Jockey Club runner-up First Look (Lope De Vega) and Dubawi's Group 2-placed Audubon Park, her latest progeny is in the care of Aventure's trainer Christophe Ferland who pitches her into a contest also featuring the Andre Fabre-trained Moussac Family colour-bearer Mennula (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), a daughter of the Long Island Handicap winner Aigue Marine (Galileo). The post Aventure’s Half-Sister Maine Debuts at Chantilly 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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