-
Available Subscriptions
The Rest of the World
81,766 topics in this forum
-
- Journalists
$1M City of Light Colt Leaves Serious Impression
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 173 views
-
- Journalists
Dubai World Cup Runner-Up Algiers Retired
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 187 views
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 195 views
-
-
- Journalists
Auctav’s First 2024 Sale Goes Live Tuesday
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 178 views
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 283 views
-
-
- Journalists
Sunlit Song Named Texas-bred Horse of the Year
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 201 views
-
- Journalists
Game Over for Macau Horse Racing
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 183 views
-
- Journalists
Sunlit Song Headlines 2023 Texas-Bred Honors
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 196 views
-
- Journalists
New Recruits in Demand at Spendthrift
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 234 views
-
- Journalists
Tamara Won’t Make Kentucky Oaks
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 181 views
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 202 views
-
-
- Journalists
Sam Houston Cancels Monday Card
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 176 views
-
- Journalists
Track Phantom, Nash Rematch in Lecomte Stakes
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 178 views
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 242 views
-
-
- Journalists
Parx, Sam Houston Cancel Monday Cards
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 196 views
-
- Journalists
At the Senate Cafe in Heaven
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 204 views
-
- Journalists
Newbury Prize-Money Upped to Record £7m
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 179 views
-
- Journalists
Game Over For Macau Horse Racing
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 225 views
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 345 views
-
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 368 views
-
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 272 views
-
-
- Journalists
Seymore Retires, Ruston Promoted at Arapahoe
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 222 views
-
- Journalists
Racing to Cease in Macau from April
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 194 views
-
- Journalists
Honey Pants Edges Elm Drive in Las Cienegas
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 244 views
-
- Journalists
New Scoring System Will Reduce Non-Listed Stakes
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 230 views
Announcements
-
Posts
-
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
After his win in the Holy Bull Stakes (G3), Nearly replaced Todd Pletcher-trained stablemate Ted Noffey in the No. 1 spot on the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's Top 3-Year-Old Poll.View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Turfway Park will shift its Feb. 4-5 live racing cards to afternoon programs with a 1 p.m. ET first post in response to forecasted single-digit wind chills expected during the evening hours.View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Martin Hassett, who worked with Coolmore for 36 years before concentrating on training, sent out Moonverrin to win at the Dublin Racing Festival National Hunt racing returned to its roots on Sunday when small-time trainer Martin Hassett hit the headlines with 20-1 shot Moonverrin battling to victory in the Grade 2 Mares Bumper at the Dublin Racing Festival. This was a success that Hassett, who overcame a near-death experience before walking away from full-time employment at Coolmore Stud in a bid to concentrate entirely on training, had worked all of his life for. And boy did he celebrate. However, the 61-year-old on Tuesday morning shared contrasting emotions after stablemate Battle Of Ridgeway could not be saved after suffering an injury and being forced to pull up in Monday's 2m1f handicap chase at Leopardstown. “We're gutted,” the County Tipperary handler said. “It's after ruining the whole thing to be honest. Couldn't have been better above in Leopardstown on Sunday and then the horse died on Monday. It's just gutting. We're absolutely devastated. We don't have a big number of horses and, to go to a Dublin Racing Festival with two of them, it's dream stuff. We really get behind our horses as well and sure this fella was a legend – he was only getting going.” He added, “We only ran him on Monday because we thought he'd win and that would guarantee us a spot at Cheltenham. We were on top of the world on Sunday and I couldn't sleep that night because I was so wound up from the excitement of it all. I couldn't sleep last night but for a completely different reason – I was so depressed after losing the horse. It's an awful game at times.” It was around this time six months ago that Hassett faced an altogether more serious setback. In two minds whether or not to ignore a little flutter in his chest, he decided to visit his doctor. It was then that the room fell silent and Hassett was provided with a whole new outlook on life. “I had a triple bypass about six months ago,” he said, just the same as if he was telling you he picked up bread and milk from the shop. “Before that, I gave 36 good years to Coolmore. My brother, Michael, is the same – he worked for Coolmore and Ballydoyle and only retired recently as well. I worked in one of the outside farms mainly with broodmares and a bit of weanlings in the off season. They were 36 great years and I worked with some seriously great people – the likes of Christy Grassick, Tom Lynch and Aidan Archdeacon, who is probably the greatest horseman I have ever come across. I could not say one bad word about my time there.” He continued, “I had the triple bypass and the Magnier family never flinched. They were very good to me during that time and, it's as simple as this, if I had ignored the problem I'd be dead by now. I never drank, never smoked and I used to run when I was younger. I always considered myself to be the last man that would get heart problems. In fairness, I went to the doctor and I was lucky. He came to me and he said, 'bad news'.” Just a few weeks later, stalwart sprinter Harry's Hill won at Tipperary. Up until that point, Hassett deservedly wore the title as being Irish racing's great early riser by getting his work done while many others were only rolling over in the bed. Training by and large in the dark before scuttling off to the day job at Coolmore wasn't exactly going badly, either. Hassett has consistently enjoyed decent tallies under both codes in recent times. But the triple heart bypass provided him with an opportunity to step back and take stock of it all. He explained, “Harry's Hill won for us in Tipperary shortly afterwards and your perspective on life changes when things like that happen. That's when I decided to give this training thing a proper go. We were going well with the horses we had but I was getting up mad early to muck out and get the work done here before going to the day job at Coolmore. We're going to give it one shot here and we've got 24 horses in at the minute. We're going to give it a right, good crack, I can tell you that. We always felt we could train a bit but it's all about getting the right horses. In Moonverrin, now we have the horse.” Moonverrin's win was achieved in fortunate circumstances with Royal Hillsborough's rider Stephen O'Connor misjudging the winning post. Just a short head separated the two fillies at the line. Yet, Hassett admitted to being slightly peeved about the fact the postscript revolved around the runner-up rather than Moonverrin, who he believes is not being given the credit she deserves. He said, “I'll be honest, I'm a small bit p****d off over the whole thing because I don't think we've got the credit we deserve. Now, I'm not downing the runner-up [Royal Hillsborough] and I genuinely feel sorry for the young fella, [Stephen O'Connor] but she's been a small bit disrespected given the manner in which the win came on Sunday.” On the added emotion surrounding Moonverrin's emergence as a top-notch prospect, Hassett added, “Ned Morris bred her and owns her. After she won at Cork, he said to me that he wasn't selling her unless we got a lot of money. There were plenty of offers but I did what Ned told me to do and I asked for a lot of money. I'd say they [the buyers] got shied off for the money we were asking for and, in the meantime, Ned's poor grandchild, David Lahart, was killed in a car accident just before Christmas. He was only 19 years of age. Ned didn't know whether to laugh or cry after the mare won shortly after David's passing. It was bloody emotional. I never felt as much pressure with a horse before in my life. It was nothing to do with winning or losing, nor money either. It was because the man was broken and all we were trying to do was provide the Lahart and Morris family with a reason to smile. That's all we were trying to do. “Genuinely, when the mare won in Cork, I shed tears myself. After that, he told me not to sell the mare. But what's very funny about the whole thing is that I felt absolutely no pressure going to Leopardstown on Sunday. I don't know why but, in the build-up to the race, my biggest worry was the jeep breaking down on the way up to the races. I know lads will say, 'easy to say it now,' but I couldn't see her getting beaten. That's a fact.” Hassett is leaning towards side-stepping the Cheltenham festival with Moonverrin in favour of a tilt at either Aintree or Fairyhouse in the spring. What's most exciting about the filly, according to the effervescent handler, is that she should develop into an even better jumper next season and beyond. Successes like this, and indeed Declan Queally's breakthrough Grade 1 triumph last month with I'll Sort That, have breathed new life into the National Hunt sphere of late and Hassett's outlook on the game – for all that it can tame lions at times – is a refreshing one. He concluded, “It was bred into us to just drive on – keep trying, keep trying, keep trying. My father used to train a few under a permit and I suppose that's where the love came into it. We're well able to do it. And so are a lot of other lads. Lads will say the game is dominated by Gordon Elliott or Willie Mullins but that's a narrative that lads put out there to down everyone else. What about Declan Queally and all of the other trainers who've had a great time of it over the jumps? There are plenty of trainers who are having a go at this game and that's what National Hunt racing was built on. If you know what you're doing, you'll make a living. We feel like we know what we're doing and we're not lying down. We're having a go.” The post ‘I’d Be Dead If I Didn’t Go To The Doctor – That Gave Me The Perspective I Needed To Give Training A Go’ 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
Ocala Breeders' Sales Company has catalogued 816 horses for its 2026 March Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training, which will be held over three days March 10-12, the auction company said via a Tuesday press release. Sessions will begin at 11 a.m. ET each day. Hips 1-272 will sell Mar. 10 with Hips 273-544 going Mar. 11 and 545-816 selling Mar. 12. The under-tack show will run from Mar. 4-7 starting at 8 a.m. ET each day. Hips 1-204 are slated for Mar. 4 followed by Hips 205-408 Mar. 5, Hips 409-612 Mar. 6, and Hips 613-816 Mar. 7. The under-tack show and sale will be streamed live via the OBS website as well as the TDN, DRF, BloodHorse, and Past The Wire websites. The 2025 March auction posted year-to-year gains in gross and average and was highlighted by the sale of Brant (Gun Runner–Tynan, by Liam's Map) who was purchased by Zedan Racing from the Eddie Woods consignment for an all-time OBS record price of $3 million after breezing in :9 3/5. Brant went on to capture the Grade I Del Mar Futurity and was an Eclipse Awards finalist for champion 2-year-old male. Trained by Bob Baffert, Brant is featured on the back cover along with 2025 GI Cygames Breeders' Cup Sprint winner and Eclipse Awards finalist Bentornato (Valiant Minister–Her Special Way, by Put It Back), multiple Grade I winner White Abarrio (Race Day–Catching Diamonds, by Into Mischief), and multiple Grade I winner Scottish Lassie (McKinzie–Bodebabe, by Bodemeister). Other notable OBS March Sale graduates include Grade I winner and GI Kentucky Derby starter Sandman (Tapit), Grade I winner Argos, a graduate of the 2025 March Sale, fellow Grade I winners Gaming (Game Winner), Iscreamuscream (Twirling Candy), Muth (Good Magic), and Velocity (Nyquist) and graded stakes winner Nooni (Win Win Win). OBS will again offer online bidding during the March Sale. Buyers may go to the OBS website and register to gain bidding approval, then access the OBS Bidding Screen with their credentials. For complete information on registration and online bidding please go to the OBS website: obs-internet-bidding. The iPad version of the catalogue can be accessed via the equineline Sales Catalog App. The App allows users to download and view the catalog, receive updates and results, record notes and provides innovative search, sort, and rating capability. For more information and downloads go to: equineline.com. Current information about OBS sales, consignors and graduates is now also available via social media sites Facebook and “X”. The post OBS Catalogues 816 For 2026 March Two-Year-Olds In Training Sale 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
Were you part of the INS Class of 1976 or 2001? In June, the Irish National Stud is hosting a get-together for all individuals who embarked on the Thoroughbred Breeding Management course in either of those years. If interested in attending the reunion, all relevant parties should get in touch at achannon@irishnationalstud.ie or +353 45 521251. The post Calling All INS Class Members from 1976 and 2001 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
-
-
Topics
-
