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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Tally-Ho Stud took the unprecedented decision earlier this month to announce that Starman, the runaway winner of the first-season sires' championship in Britain and Ireland, was fully subscribed at a fee of €40,000 – up from €10,000 this year – for 2026. So, did the O'Callaghans make a boo-boo by setting the fee too low given they have effectively had to turn breeders away? How fully booked correlates to paying customers remains to be seen but you can bet your bottom dollar that Starman will cover in excess of 200 mares next season. And it's easy to see why. He didn't just win the first-season sires' championship, he annihilated his rivals by amassing 41 individual winners and 52 wins from 103 runners in Britain and Ireland. Across Europe, he has had 45 winners in total. Given the demand, it's hard to argue that many, if any, of those lucky breeders booked to visit Starman with a mare next year would have baulked at a fee of €50,000 or even more. But maybe the O'Callaghans haven't got the fee wrong at all. We can all agree that stallions like Starman don't come along very often and, when they do, commercial operations like Tally-Ho need to make hay when the sun shines. Yes, the stud has been blessed with Kodiac and Mehmas in the past but the anticipation appears to be even stronger for what Starman might be able to achieve off the back of siring four Group winners – Group 1 scorer Venetian Sun, Group 2 winner Green Sense and Group 3 winners North Coast and Lady Iman – in his debut crop. Having a sire as hot as him on the roster can only be good news for every other stallion within the ranks at Tally-Ho given potential breeders are likely to support younger guns like Good Guess, Big Evs, Maranoa Charlie and King Of Steel in order to secure a slot to Starman. A win-win for everyone, if you like, and nobody can see the bigger picture better than the O'Callaghans can. But the trickle-down effect doesn't end there. One of the fascinating subplots to Starman's supersonic performance has been the number of smaller breeders who got a touch out of the stallion in the sales ring. Again, this is more good news. Venetian Sun: provided Starman with a Group 1 success | Scoop Dyga Tally-Ho boss Tony O'Callaghan summed it up brilliantly at the November Foal Sale at Goffs when he revealed one breeder, who had described himself as “disillusioned” with the game earlier in the year and didn't cover any mares as a result, had regained his appetite for breeding following the sale of his Starman foal for €125,000. Such price tags were made possible after a memorable season on the track that just didn't let up; from Lady Iman delivering on all of the hype to win one of the opening maidens of the season at Dundalk in March before going on to land the G3 Molecomb Stakes right through to Venetian Sun's defeat of Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) in the G1 Prix Morny Stakes at Deaville, there didn't appear to be a week or big festival that went by without Starman making an impact. And while it must be noted that a large portion of Starman's highest-rated runners are fillies, Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf-placed North Coast and Mill Reef runner-up Into The Sky illustrates that the young stallion is more than capable of coming up with a high-class colt. Not only did Starman win the first-season sires' championship in a canter, but his 41 individual juvenile winners were only bettered by Wootton Bassett on 45. Furthermore, only elite stallions Wootton Bassett, Starspangledbanner and Night Of Thunder managed to amass more prize-money with their juveniles in Britain and Ireland than Starman managed to achieve (€1,402,212). Starman finished the year with no fewer than 11 black-type horses. A remarkable performance from a stallion who has all the capabilities of going on to bigger and better things. He looks the real deal so there's no surprise to see a queue out the door at Tally-Ho. Big Things Expected From Classy St Mark's Basilica St Mark's Basilica was a pretty outstanding racehorse and the early evidence suggests that he will not disappoint at stud. The exceptionally-bred Diamond Necklace, who is out of Ecurie des Monceaux's Blue Hen Prudenzia, has provided an early indication of what St Mark's Basilica might be capable of. Trained by Aidan O'Brien, Diamond Necklace signed off on her unbeaten juvenile campaign with victory in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac and is as short as 7-1 for the 1,000 Guineas. She is one of two Group winners the stallion was represented by in 2025, with the second being the Karl Burke-trained Aylin, who landed the G2 May Hill Stakes at Doncaster. All told, St Mark's Basilica sired 22 individual winners – who achieved 26 wins – from 53 runners in Britain and Ireland. That haul included six black-type performers and St Mark's Basilica can call upon a host of high-class entries for next year which would suggest that much better things can be expected from those runners at three. Fair to say the future is extremely exciting for the young Coolmore stallion who was left unchanged at €40,000 for 2026. Space Blues Deserving Of More Respect Space Blues | Marc Ruhl A strong case can be made for Space Blues not being given the credit he deserves for coming up with a Group 1 winner in Power Blue in his first crop given Starman and St Mark's Basilica are the only other stallions to have managed to achieve such a feat this year. A winner of the opening two-year-old maiden of the year at the Curragh, which connections have managed with similarly classy horses Bucanero Fuerte and Arizona Blaze in previous years, Power Blue went from strength to strength in 2025 and his all-the-way win in the G1 Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh was by no means a fluke. The form of that race was provided with a significant boost when the second, True Love (No Nay Never), landed the G1 Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket on her next start and Power Blue rates a pretty serious colt for Robson Aguiar and the Amo Racing team to look forward to in 2026. So, why has Space Blues been dropped ever-so-slightly from €16,000 to €15,000 at Kildangan Stud? Despite coming up with a Group 1 winner in his debut crop, the market didn't exactly flock towards Space Blues, which was evident with a 36% drop in his yearling average in Britain and Ireland to 34,629gns. That can only be described as one of the oddities of this breeding game as Power Blue was not the only classy runner that Space Blues came up with in 2025. Bourbon Blues and Polly Shelby have done well for the stallion in France, with the former hitting the frame in a Group 3 and the latter placing in at Listed level while the maiden, Do Or Do Not, chased home Gstaad in the Coventry Stakes, filled the runner-up spot behind Zavateri (Without Parole) in the July Stakes and also managed to fill the frame in pair of Group 2 contests for Ed Walker before being snapped up by Jamie Osborne, who is campaigning the colt in Dubai over the winter. Put simply, Space Blues is far from a one-hit wonder. He enjoyed 14 individual winners from 44 runners and his prize-money tally of €669,454 was only bettered by Starman. The case can be made that he represents value at €15,000 given what he achieved in 2025. Meanwhile, fellow Darley stallion Palace Pier made a massive impression with three Group winners to call upon in Europe, headed by G2 Lowther Stakes winner Royal Fixation and G3 Solario Stakes winner A Bit Of Spirit. What's more impressive is that Palace Pier can call upon six different horses rated 98 or above in Britain and Ireland this year. Notable performers include Morris Dancer, beaten just a short head behind Zavateri in the G2 Champagne Stakes before landing the Listed Stonehenge Stakes at Salisbury at his leisure along with the Group 3-placed pair of Pacifica Pier and Sirius A. While Palace Pier didn't set the world alight in terms of winners -11 winners from 49 runners – he certainly came up trumps in terms of producing quality performers. With seven per cent black-type winners to runners, he rates a pretty serious stallion going forward and few will crib his unchanged £32,000 fee for 2026 at Dalham Hall Stud. Lucky Vega Looks Up To The Task Lucky Vega: has made a good impression | ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy It wouldn't be a stretch to say that there were some anxious moments for the supporters of Lucky Vega in Europe earlier in the year. This may well have been fueled by the fantastic start the stallion made in Australia, where he was represented by the Group 2 winner and Group 1-placed Within The Law, coupled with his big first-season sire rival Starman blazing a trail and then, most likely, down to the fact Lucky Vega's progeny took a little longer to come to hand than they did in the southern hemisphere. The 15 individual wins that Lucky Vega posted in Britain and Ireland placed him fourth in the table on that metric but, more importantly, there was plenty of quality in there. Lam Yai flew the flag with distinction in Britain for the son of Lope De Vega, going down fighting in the G3 Firth Of Clyde before signing off on her campaign with a Listed win at Doncaster. The 97-rated Senorita Vega, who placed third in the G3 Oh So Sharp Stakes, along with the lightly-raced Poatan, Jungle Ruler, Lost Signal and more contributed to a highly respectable debut performance in the northern hemisphere for the stallion. As a result, the Irish National Stud have held firm on a stud fee of €12,500 – the same fee that he has been operating at since 2004 – which is more than fair for a stallion who appears to have a lot more to offer next year and beyond. Fernandez Fires In Winners Lope Y Fernandez, another son of Lope De Vega, performed creditably with 19 individual winners accounting for 21 wins in total. Isle Of Fernandez, placed in the G3 Firth Of Clyde, and the Listed-placed Spanish Waltz were Lope Y Fernandez's only black-type performers and plenty will crib the fact that they are among only three horses by the stallion to achieve an official rating of 90 or above in Britain and Ireland this year. However, 140,000gns yearling purchase Ray Mon Dough couldn't have won any more impressively than he did on debut in the Valmont silks at Lingfield last month and he could be a nice horse to follow by the stallion next year. Similar sentiment applies to the French-trained Chill Y Flama, who wasn't far off bagging black-type this year. The post Supersonic Starman Sets First-Season Sires’ Championship Ablaze 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 Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and Gulfstream Park announced Dec. 31 a three-year agreement that, with each passing year, lowers the minimum number of required racing days at Gulfstream Park in South Florida.View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Very near the final hour, the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (FHBPA) and Gulfstream Park have landed on a three-year live racing agreement, some details of which were shared in joint press releases issued Tuesday. This agreement is a federal requirement for a racetrack to conduct live racing and simulcast its signal nationwide. Gulfstream Park, owned by The Stronach Group (TSG), is statutorily required to conduct a minimum of 40-days live racing to operate its casino. Without a horsemen's agreement, Gulfstream Park would still have been able to conduct live racing–and presumably by extension, its casino–but it wouldn't have been able to export its signal out of state. According to the FHBPA press release, the agreement is for three-years and provides for the following minimum live racing schedule, with flexibility to add more race days: No less than 180 live race days for calendar year 2026 No less than 140 live race days for calendar year 2027 No less than 120 live race days for calendar year 2028 This year, Gulfstream Park has carded 199 race days. “These agreed upon days establish the minimum number of guaranteed racing days for the next three years, but leave open the opportunity for additional days to be added. In order to provide horsemen and women time to plan, the racing schedules will be set well in advance. The schedule for 2027 racing will be finalized in March 2026, and the schedule for 2028 racing will be finalized no later than March 2027,” the FHBPA press release states. According to Gulfstream Park's press release, the agreement reached reflects “a commitment of the parties to run as much live racing as possible provided average field sizes and the condition of the purse account remain commercially reasonable.” “As always, our objective is to run as much as we can,” wrote Aidan Butler, CEO of TSG's 1/ST Racing. “The reality is that the industry is changing and this framework is focused on providing a quality racing product rooted in economic reality giving horsemen and women, fans, our employees and the industry greater clarity and stability.” According to a source familiar with the negotiations, Florida horsemen did not agree to provide a financial “backstop” to support the track's operational budget, as was reportedly demanded by Gulfstream Park's corporate leadership. Gulfstream Park already receives considerable financial support from the state. Earlier this year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a budget package that included $15 million annually for purses and facility maintenance for Gulfstream Park alone. The track also gets $6 million from the state to be used as purses and purses supplements specifically for Florida-bred and sired horses, and is exempt from having to pay its $2 million annual slot machine licensing fee. In their respective press releases, both organizations allude to the fragile nature of the relationship between Gulfstream Park's corporate owners and the state racing industry's stakeholders, as well as to the long-term future of racing in Florida. Efforts by Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs to decouple the live racing requirement to operate their respective casino and card rooms were ultimately thwarted in the state legislature. In August, Gulfstream Park filed a lawsuit suing the Florida Gaming Control Commission over the decoupling requirement. The commission subsequently asked the Florida state court to dismiss the lawsuit. A new decoupling bill was introduced last week, meaning the fight will spill over into the latest legislative session in Tallahassee. “While the Agreement guarantees racing through 2028, it does not state that racing will end at that time or prohibit an extension or new agreement. With this level of stability secured, the FHBPA will continue to look for opportunities to enhance racing in the short-term and explore solutions for the long-term future of racing in South Florida,” the FHPBA stated in their press release. FHBPA president Tom Cannell added: “There are many unknowns in the world today, especially in horse racing; I am so proud of the work of your Board of Directors and their tenacity to fight to provide some clarity to our membership over the next three years.” In Gulfstream Park's press release, Butler wrote, “this proposal is grounded in good-faith collaboration with the FHBPA and an understanding that together we must work toward a new model for racing in Florida that is operationally sound, financially responsible and aligned with the long-term interests of racing in the state.” The post Florida HBPA And Gulfstream Park Reach Three-Year Horsemen’s Agreement 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
Billy Loughnane set a 21st century record for winners in a calendar year when taking his 222nd race of the year at Lingfield Park on December 31. Loughnane was the first to ride 200 British winners earlier this year. He was aboard George Boughey trainee Invited (Kodiac) on Wednesday. The previous record holder was Kieren Fallon, who rode 221 winners in 2003. Oisin Murphy earned 220 victories in 2019. Loughnane told Sky Sports Racing, “I'm feeling relieved, there was a little bit of pressure today, but I'm delighted to get it done and on one of George's as well means a lot. “I wouldn't be where I am without George and he's been everything for me since I started and has supported me the whole way up. I'm delighted to get him his 100th winner of the year as well. “I've been trying to ride as much as possible, I'm bored when I'm not riding and I love my job. I'm very lucky to partner some really nice horses now and to George, dad [Mark Loughnane] and everyone at Charlie's [Appleby] and the Gololphin team and anyone who has supported me, I need to say a massive thank you. “I can't believe I've broken the record, I was looking it last night and the list of jockeys to be at the top of it is extraordinary. I'm nowhere near as good as a lot of them yet, but hopefully one day I will be. It's great, and a relief, the last couple of days have been full on, but it's a great feeling.” Boughey added, “It's an amazing achievement and the biggest thing for me is he wanted to ride 200 winners at the start of the year, which was always going to be a hard ask with him going to Australia for much of the winter. “He was always going to build his book of rides around our horses and I think between Billy, Tony Hind [agent] and myself we tried to make sure he was on the best horses wherever he could be. “To stay fit and healthy and be able to ride at every meeting – he hasn't missed a ride all year – is huge credit to him and he deserves every success he gets. “I think the most fundamental part of it is whether it's a 0-55 handicap at Wolverhampton on a Saturday night or a Group 1 on a weekend, Billy is meticulous in his preparation. I have always said he knows more about what's going on in races than anyone I've ever worked with, which just makes him a pleasure to deal with.” Loughnane senior said, “It's some achievement isn't it? Fair play to him as he is so dedicated and hard working and it is paying off. “He has some top people behind him, George Boughey and Charlie Appleby, and Ian Williams has given him lots of winners, and as a family it is a very proud moment for us because he is just some young man. “We're bursting with pride and we are busy at the moment so had to watch the race at home and didn't go. There was me, his mum and his brother Jack and it is just a phenomenal achievement. “We know how hard he works behind the scenes and the dedication he has and what he puts into it, we see it every day. “He was pushing for 200 winners and always sets a new goal so once he got to 200 he wanted this 222 and it's great, what a year and it will be very hard to top it next year won't it?” The post Billy Loughnane Wins Record 222nd Race In 2025 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
Caoimhe Doherty is best known for managing Forenaghts Stud and co-founding the hugely-successful Treo Eile organisation which specialises in rehoming thoroughbred racehorses in Ireland. But did you know that Doherty came dangerously close to becoming an Olympian? There is plenty more that Doherty shares in today's Hot Seat Q&A. Enjoy! What is your defining memory of 2025? I don't think I have just one memory. For me, it seems to have been a year where things have just seemed to come together for us professionally. I think the biggest kick I got out of the horse game was seeing Chicago Call win his maiden.That kick-started a great summer of fun and a successful yearling sale season. Away from that, I have also taken huge satisfaction in seeing Treo Eile grow so much and seeing so many horses now in second careers. Tell us something people don't know about you? My family spent five years in the Middle East when I was young and so I spent a lot of time in the swimming pool. I had aimed to be an Olympic swimmer and spent years on high performance and youth development squads before I decided I would rather spend the time on a horse. I still swim a lot….just much slower now! What keeps you awake at night? I try not to worry at night because the nighttime worries are never actually a problem during the day. Stay positive! What motivates you? I love life and I love my job. And if you choose to see the good parts it makes it very easy to get up in the morning. Give us an underrated sire to follow… There are quite a few. I complain all the time about the lack of proven horses that are commercially priced. But if the sales ring wasn't so important for so many breeders to make a living, maybe we would look differently at stallions who consistently produce winners and top class horses year on year. Make Believe, for instance, is a good example as he had two Group 1 winners in 2025. Biggest regret? Not being an Olympian! Realistically, I wish I made more of my summers when I was younger, travelling and seeing more of the world. Other than that, I don't have many regrets. I like to think most things happen for a reason. You live and you learn. Your favourite sale? Tattersalls September Yearlings at Fairyhouse. There is always a great atmosphere there and we are stabled with a great bunch of neighbours. It's a fun sale. Go-to karaoke song? Hakuna Matata. After my time in Japan I'm a professional at it these days. Biggest inspiration? Professionally, I think Helen Jones and Donna Vowles are geniuses. They manage fabulous farms, produce beautiful sales horses that go on to be racehorses and they're also just great people. But on a larger scale, I think it's similar to the motivation question, I just want to do my best and be happy. Guilty Pleasure? Doing nothing. It's such a treat to actually do nothing but, alas, what's rare is wonderful! Horse to look out for … Hankelow. I know it's probably a bit obvious but he was pinhooked by great friends of mine, Mimi Wadham and Violet Hesketh, and I'm proud of them that they've found another nice horse. I hope he is a proper horse for next year. The post In The Hot Seat: Caoimhe Doherty 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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