-
Available Subscriptions
Hong Kong News
5,549 topics in this forum
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 131 views
-
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 144 views
-
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 144 views
-
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 150 views
-
-
- Journalists
Silvestre de Sousa returns to Hong Kong for start of new season, adds much-needed strength to jockey roster
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 218 views
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 162 views
-
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 144 views
-
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 142 views
-
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 148 views
-
-
- Journalists
‘It’s like doing the Tour de France on a motorbike’: trainer William Haggas enthused by Baaeed win
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 131 views
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 142 views
-
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 129 views
-
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 227 views
-
-
- Journalists
Stradivarius bids for fifth Goodwood Cup without Frankie Dettori after owner blames him for Ascot loss
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 168 views
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 140 views
-
-
- Journalists
King George provides fascinating clash at Ascot
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 162 views
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 190 views
-
-
- Journalists
Jockey Club posts record HK$140.4 billion in turnover, Matthew Chadwick claims Tony Cruz Award
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 166 views
-
- Journalists
Zac Purton storms to fifth jockeys’ title, shaking off Joao Moreira with emphatic four-timer
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 145 views
-
- Journalists
Emotional Paul O’Sullivan signs off with a winner as Frankie Lor is confirmed champion trainer
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 138 views
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 174 views
-
-
- Journalists
Golden Sixty again tops the bill as this year’s stars are celebrated at Jockey Club’s Champion Awards
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 180 views
-
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 149 views
-
-
- Journalists
Paul O’Sullivan remembers ‘great warrior’ Aerovelocity and his best Hong Kong moment ‘by far’
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 159 views
-
- Journalists
Jaded Zac Purton hoping to hang on in thrilling title race: ‘I’m ready to go, I’ve had enough’
-
- Journalists
- 0 replies
- 146 views
Announcements
-
Posts
-
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
The winner of this year's £100,000 Cardinal Stakes will receive an automatic berth in the starting gate for the $1 million GI American Turf Stakes at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby undercard, Chelmsford City Racecourse announced on Monday. Scheduled for Thursday, April 3, the Cardinal Stakes is a conditions race run over a mile and open to three-year-olds who will compete for the £51,540 on offer to the successful owner. The race also offers prize-money up to sixth place, a refund on entry fees if declared and financial support for international runners. The American Turf was recently elevated to Grade I status by the American Graded Stakes Committee and received a prize-money boost from $600,000 to $1 million for 2025. Staged annually on the undercard of the GI Kentucky Derby, which takes place this year on Saturday, May 3, it is run over an extended mile for three-year-olds. Neil Graham, racing director at Chelmsford City Racecourse, said, ”Chelmsford City Racecourse is delighted to be able to offer the winner of the Cardinal Stakes free entry into the $1,000,000 Grade 1 American Turf. This is an exciting opportunity for the winner of the Cardinal Stakes to be eligible to run in such a valuable race on Kentucky Derby day. “We have been working closely with our partners at Churchill Downs since the race's inception in 2019, so it's great to be collaborating on something new which will hopefully see an increased participation from our runners in Kentucky.” Entries for this year's Cardinal Stakes close on Friday, March 28. It was won in 2024 by the Richard Hughes-trained Bracken's Laugh (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}). The post Chelmsford Winner to Receive Free Entry into the GI American Turf Stakes 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 preliminary schedule for the 2025 Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) educational clinics has been released, the group revealed Monday. The events will feature an assortment of topics for prospective, new, and established Thoroughbred owners and breeders. A breeding clinic will be hosted May 30-31 in Lexington with host farms including Airdrie Stud and Shamrock Glen in Woodford County. Additional farms and veterinary clinics will be announced in coming weeks. Events in the fall will include a pedigree and conformation clinic held in conjunction with Fasig-Tipton's Kentucky October Yearlings sale Oct. 20. Seminars and clinics are open to both TOBA members and non-members. The full schedule will be available here. The post 2025 TOBA Educational Clinic Schedule Announced 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
A nine race card at Manawatu today kicks off another busy harness racing week, with eight meetings between today and Sunday. Auckland on Friday will see Heat 2 of the $16,000 Metro Trotters and Pacers Series ahead of the $35,000 final at Alexandra Park on March 21 as well as the Group 3 $40,000 Greenland Cup Handicap Trot, the Group 2 $70,000 Caduceus Club Ladyship Stakes for the 3YO Fillies, the $60,000 Group 2 Alabar 3YO Classic and the $40,000 Group 3 Founders Cup. As part of Friday Night Lights Addington’s meeting will feature the $100,000 Group 1 Fred Shaw Memorial New Zealand Trotting Championship. Invercargill will have a short and sharp meeting on Wednesday with Wyndham on Saturday while Manawatu is on today and on Thursday and the annual Team Teal campaign will wind up at Motukarara and Wingatui on Sunday. Mike Ross one to watch fresh up at Manawatu By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk A winner last campaign, Mike Ross returns to the races at Manawatu today, with plenty of confidence in the camp. The Dylan and Jo Ferguson-trained three-year-old has won one from eight with an upset victory at Cambridge last October. Dylan Ferguson, who has six drives at Palmerston North, says Mike Ross is looking like the pick of them in Race 4, the Arna Donnelly Stables Mobile pace (5.42pm). “We think a trip away will do him good and it was a case of finding a nice first up option for him and I think he’ll be hard to beat. An there are some big races at Alexandra Park in his immediate future. “He’ll go to the Harness Million and the Derby not necessarily because we think he can win it,” he says, “if he could run in the top five in either of those races we’d be ecstatic.” Since markets opened Mike Ross has come in for some support, and is now at $3.20. As for the rest of Ferguson’s drives? “They are honest enough chances and at the end of the day a lot of the fields are even and it will come down to who gets the run. If I can pick up a few cheques to pay for the diesel I’ll be happy.” Ferguson will kick off his day with one of their own, Monaro Meg who has been backed and beaten of late in Race 1, the D S Electrical Handicap Trot (4.19pm). “She was a little bit disappointing last time (Alexandra Park, February 28) but maybe it was a case of second up syndrome. We couldn’t find anything wrong with her and that’s why she’s on the truck to Palmy. “If she can get away and she has a 30 metre start on the others so she won’t be out of place.” Ferguson-trained stablemate Scott will line up in the second, the Bryant-Walker Mobile Pace (4.49pm). “He’s run the odd good race – he’s just our galloping pacemaker at home but we have a space on the float.” “We thought we’d throw the hobbles back on and give him a run.” “If he earns a bit of money we’d be rapt, we don’t know how he is going to go to be honest but he’s fit enough and this class of horse suits.” Other drives on the day : Cool Phelan for trainer Brodie Ellis in Race 3, the Michael House Stables Handicap Trot – “she’s always honest and whatever she does she will improve on” Benson Dude for trainer John Kriechbaumer in Race 6, the Equivets NZ Mobile pace – “not driven him before, and it’s a good draw for him ..and he’s right at home with that field.” and Bugalugs for trainer Chris Webber in Race 7, the Outback Trading Mobile pace – “Ðrawing one suits as he likes the fence …. I think it’s about eight years since I last sat behind that horse, I don’t know who has matured better – him or me!” This week’s meetings : Tuesday, March 11 – Manawatu Wednesday, March 12 – Invercargill Thursday, March 13 – Manawatu Friday, March 14 – Auckland Friday, March 14 – Addington Saturday, March 15 – Wyndham Sunday, March 16 – Motukarara Sunday, March 16 – Wingatui View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
I have come to really enjoy sharing this aspect of our farm. Last year after I finished describing some of the matings and crazy ways we had found certain mares, I had myself in stitches laughing so much remembering all of the fun stories. So, once again, I will try to keep you all entertained while also sharing why and how we came up with the pairings for some of our 117 (OMG) mares. We breed solely for the physical athlete; we do not use nicks, Goldmine, x-factor, measurements, linebreeding, outcrossing, meditation, tarot cards or psychics. We do use proven crosses that are often manifested in the physical needs from the stallion and mare. Chilled Fireball (5, Malibu Moon–Chilly Fashion, by Artie Schiller) to be bred to Twirling Candy. We bred this filly and sold her as a yearling for $385,000, the highest-priced Malibu Moon of her year. We were not planning on buying her back since we already own her dam and her dam's half-sister, even after seeing her cataloged in foal to Twirling Candy in November. I am walking down the halls of Keeneland during the sale and John Moynihan stops me and says, in his most animated tone, “Carrie, Carrie that filly we bought off you, Chilled Fireball, she was outworking every graded stakes winner we had in a hand ride before she started. Such a terrible shame she got hurt after her first start. She seriously had Grade I talent.” Hmmmm…the wheels start turning. We are going to buy our Grade I-talent mare back cheap with this inside information! So, her hip number comes up and our former stunning yearling Chilled Fireball walks into the ring. The bids start flying…50k, 75k, 100k, BLAM, BLAM, BLAM…I turn to Craig and say, `oh hell, John has told everyone this story and worse yet, they all believed him!!!' A $190,000 bid later, our placed-in-one-start mare with Grade I talent comes back home to Machmer Hall. She has already foaled a strapping colt and is booked back to Twirling Candy for 2026. Yatta (4, Yoshida {Jpn}–Final Reward, by Arch) to be bred to Nyquist. I was working at my Mac the night before the Fasig-Tipton February sale and I hear, `ping!' Look up to see a message from one of my best friends, Rob Tribbett. “Did you look at Meg's graded stakes mare?” I replied, `no, no way I can afford her. The videos of her look unreal.' Reply: “Well, she is being announced as a cribber and you know we cannot buy them.” Cribber…the golden word of a broodmare discount. I sit straight up and a large grin overcomes my face in the spirit of Jim Carrey portraying the Grinch that stole Christmas. Rare is it that we can possibly buy a graded stakes mare with her looks in our budget unless the dreaded C word is used. First thing next a.m. go and see this 16.2 hh cat-like walking adonis also known as Yatta. Meg tells me that they have not seen her crib at the farm or at the sale but that she was believed to be a cribber at the track, so she is being announced that way. `Fair enough,' I exclaim as I break into giddy laughter practically skipping back to the pavilion. Yatta comes home as a broodmare prospect to the tune of $175,000 and she is booked to super sire Nyquist. We have yet to see her crib. A Nite in Cairo (5, Cairo Prince–With Pleasure, by Cape Blanco {Ire}) to be bred to Arabian Knight. This is a young, stakes-placed mare by Cairo Prince that sold at the Keeneland November sale with Taylor Made. She was a good-selling yearling for her sire, very attractive, nice family and best of all in my mind, a stakes-placed two-year-old to boot! I only looked at her at the barn once, which is one time more than I normally do, depending on the resultant outside temperature that day at the sale. Craig, Mom and I all came up with a budget of $75,000 to buy this filly, give or take a bid. Hip 1792 walks in the ring, I am prepared and somehow buy her for $8,000. I look to my left, look to my right…what did I miss? Colic surgery? Announced as not breeding sound? No no… just a nice stakes mare cheap. Tom Hamm, whose brother Tim trained her, comes up to me to congratulate me and I commit the ultimate consignor cardinal sin…the thing that I hate the most that buyers do to me and yet, in those shoes, here it comes. `Don't say it!' my brain is yelling silently! In my best DOH! Homer Simpson moment, I hear my mouth open and say, “I CAN”T BELIEVE I GOT HER SOOOOOOOOO CHEAP!!!”. Immediately realizing that I have committed blasphemy in the unwritten code of consignment and buyer conduct, I close my mouth and add a sheepish grin. Well, A Nite in Cairo had a beast of a Maxfield colt and is booked back to one of the best-looking first-year sires in Kentucky, Arabian Knight. Batucada (right) just misses to Raging Sea | Joe Labozetta Batucada (5, Union Rags–Lady Pamela, by Tapit) to be bred to Curlin. We bought the majority of Batucada after she became a Listed stakes winner. She is a gorgeous grey daughter of Union Rags with huge family. This filly had nine starts in 2024 over four different tracks, never missed a work, the epitome of soundness. Her last start, she gets nipped at the wire in the GII Beldame caught by GI winner Raging Sea. We decide to follow the dream of all dreams and run as an owner (yes! me!) in the Breeders' Cup Distaff. She gets to California, and this filly–whose record of soundness should go down in the encyclopedia of what we are looking for in breeding a racehorse–is flagged by the vets. Jogs 100% sound at the barn but they do not like how she is moving on the track. So what was to be one of the greatest weekends of my life was smashed into a million pieces. I literally wanted to sell the farm and liquidate all my horses the Wednesday morning when I was told that they were going to force her to scratch. That moment, that day, I hated horse racing and it took me a while to come out of it. We cancelled our trip but all of our “friends” that were going went without Craig and me. (They had a blast.) Batucada ships back to Florida, and has two works in Palm Meadows, perfect at usual, perfect lead changes, joints tight, cold. Cannot get her off the vets list. Proactively do PET scan, CT scan, X-rays (clean) in February, but still cannot get her off the vets' list. Cannot even get the Florida vets to commit to a timeline to getting her off the vets' list. So, my sound filly is forced to retire and another horse lost to the graded stakes ranks that could be running. Batucada shipped into our farm off the van from Florida and her joints and legs looked like she had never started a day in her life. I understand and support HISA 100% as everyone knows but there are occasions of sound horses being scratched and retired because the owners have no option and she is one of those stories. She is booked to Curlin and she deserves to go to him as she almost beat one of his greatest daughters in what I thought was going to be the beginning of a storied five-year-old year. Rose Parade (5, Curlin–Rose Garden, by Pioneerof the Nile_ to be bred to Into Mischief. One of the nicest agents I know, Jay Ethridge, called me about a stakes-placed Curlin filly that was a former Saratoga yearling for sale privately. Of course! What farm in Kentucky would not want one of these and the price was right, a deal was made. I got a call the next day: Tonni, Toby Kieth's sister, is having sellers' remorse. `Toby would never have sold this mare that brought him so much joy if he were alive,' she says. So I say to Tonni (who I have come to realize is just as wonderful as her brother), `Why don't we buy half and you keep half?' There was the solution that made her heart happy, and mine too. There is something so loved by him here at Machmer Hall and the connection to his family and his passion for horses I feel through Rose Parade, even as I type this. Our new Curlin mare is going to the most incredible stallion of my generation, Into Mischief. She is one of six Machmer Hall mares being bred to him on a package of no-guarantee seasons we purchased from Spendthrift Farm. Warm Sunshine (11, Unbridled's Song–Carolina Surprise, by Awesome Again) to be bred to Practical Joke. Warm Sunshine '25 | Carrie Brogden From the last crop of Unbridled's Song, what has this 15.1 hh mare not done for Machmer Hall? We bought her as a yearling and raced her. We also own her full-sister and her half-sister, both claimed into our broodmare band. Her first foal is our homebred Steal Sunshine who has won a GII and over $700,000 in his career. Next month he is taking us to the Dubai World Cup races on an invite to the Godolphin Mile. Can you believe that? His mama has already had a 139-pound Cody's Wish filly and was booked back to the late great Uncle Mo for 2026. With that stallion's untimely passing, we pivoted to the rising superstar Practical Joke. The same cross off our farm has produced the likes of Graded Stakes winners Gina Romantica, Intense Holiday, Maximus Mischief, etc. Clear Voice (4, Kantharos–Heidi Maria, by Rockport Harbor) to be bred to More Than Looks. We bred this filly and her entire family including most of the stakes horses in her first two dams: Sweet Whiskey, Vegas Magic, Five Sixteen and her own mother, Heidi Maria. This filly is stunning and when I say stunning I mean a 10/10 physical. Maybe an 11. David Ingordo loved her as much as we did at the yearling sale, so he bought her and Cherie trained her as we stayed in for half. Unfortunately, a physical issue stopped her from fulfilling her potential on the track so she came back to the farm. When deciding her mating, Breeders' Cup winner More Than Looks came to the forefront and when the question of “would it work” came up, the answer was well, gorgeous to gorgeous usually gets gorgeous! Her half-sister, Family, who we also retained to race, this week just demolished a Maiden Special Weight field at Turfway, earning an 82 Beyer for her trainer, Michelle Elliott. Hopefully, she will continue on and we will have a monster update in that already wonderful family. A maiden mare, Clear Voice is booked to More Than Looks. Sweet Lollipop '25 | Carrie Brogden Sweet Lollipop (12, Candy Ride {Arg}–Unbridled Beauty, by Unbridled's Song) to be bred to Domestic Product. This foaling mare has had the worst luck and none of it is her fault! Since we purchased her in foal in foal to Practical Joke for $280,000, her family has absolutely exploded! Her Practical Joke filly was absolutely lovely, and one day mare and foal come in from the paddock and Craig is like what on earth? Somehow, she has broken a piece of her head where the spine attaches, and had to be euthanized. Her next colt, by More than Ready, colics at the sale. We have to take him to the clinic overnight and were going to scratch him but buyers came to see him at the sale that loved him and were like, `bring him back! We will buy him if you guarantee his health for 30 days.' We bring him back and that horse goes on to be the stakes-placed Demain. Next filly, an absolutely gorgeous Quality Road dies of Tyzzers around 30 days of age. Next foal aborted… Good lord! 2024 rolls around and we get a magnificent Uncle Mo filly! This mare's live foal rate for stakes horses is now 100% from named foals! Sweet Lollipop has already foaled a lovely Uncle Mo colt from his last crop and is booked back to a stallion that I literally could not find a physical fault in. There just isn't any. She is booked to Domestic Product. Up Up Up (5, Bernardini–Lady Melesi, by Colonial Affair) to be bred to Prince of Monaco. Up Up Up has foaled a Jackie's Warrior filly for her first foal. This mare was a homebred for us out of our grand old Lady Melesi. I have seen articles about not selling mares past a certain age and I would like to say that our purchases of Voodoo Lily, Lady Melesi, Saudia, Harbor Springs, Joop, Binalegend, Jeanie's Gift, etc.–all who have been supreme successes on our farm and all of whom died of old age retired there–would certainly counter that argument. We bought Up Up Up's dam in foal to Oxbow for $32,000 in 2015. At that time, Lady Melesi was a stakes-winning, GI stakes-placed mare and the dam of GIII-placed Doc Cheney, stakes winner and GII-placed Seruni, GII-placed Liberated. After we purchased her, her daughter English Affair become a GIII stakes winner and Amiche, her Malibu Moon filly bred by us and sold as a $325,000 Saratoga yearling also became a stakes horse. The grand old girl died at 24 of old age on our farm. Up Up Up was her final foal and a Bernardini filly! We were thrilled, to say the least. Her first mating to Jackie's Warrior was because I was in awe looking at that horse over at Spendthrift. We bred four mares to him for 2025 and bought a beautiful weanling by him in November and certainly will continue to support him. For her 2025 mating, I was inspired by an event in 2022: in the Saratoga sale of 2022, I was sitting at our consignment waiting for a yearling to finish top off to head to the ring. There was a colt walking back to his barn after selling that sauntered by me with his handler. This colt was so striking and held himself with such presence that I ran to our office and grabbed the catalog to see who on earth hip 56 was. The page said he was a Speightstown colt out of Rainer, and I found out subsequently that he had sold for $950,000. His image of strength and beauty was burned into my mind and when I read about the GI Del Mar Futurity winner, I looked at the results and saw he had been named Prince Of Monaco. She is booked back to this beautifully bred stallion standing his first year at Claiborne. The post 2025 Mating Plans, Presented by Spendthrift Farm: Machmer Hall 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
On the morning of Sunday, June 7, 2015, a small gathering at John Gosden's Clarehaven Stables celebrated the previous day's Derby one-two of stable-mates Golden Horn (GB) and Jack Hobbs (GB). The two colts posed either side of their trainer, with their regular riders, the late Michael Curran and Taffy Williams, proudly at their sides. Golden Horn would end the season as Horse of the Year, thanks to his subsequent triumphs in the Eclipse, Irish Champion Stakes and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Only the fillies Arabian Queen (GB) and Found (Ire) would get the better of him, in the Juddmonte International and Breeders' Cup Turf respectively. Jack Hobbs went on to win the Irish Derby and stayed in training for another two seasons, adding the Dubai Sheema Classic to his list of wins before retirement. A decade after their Classic season, Golden Horn and Jack Hobbs are back together in the same yard at Overbury Stud, as they have been for the last few years, and in their different ways they are beginning to compile decent records as National Hunt sires. For Jack Hobbs that had always been the plan: the strapping son of Halling went straight into the care of Simon Sweeting's Gloucestershire operation upon retirement. In the case of Golden Horn, this was very much Plan B but, as back-up plans go, it is working out rather well. Anthony Oppenheimer's homebred son of Cape Cross (Ire) retired with some fanfare to Dalham Hall Stud in 2016, where his opening fee of £60,000 was held for three years before gradually being trimmed. While Golden Horn is unquestionably a useful Flat stallion, he had not fulfilled the lofty expectations of those breeders who had backed him in the early years to maintain his position in Newmarket and, ahead of the 2023 covering season, with some notable early success from a smattering of runners over jumps, he was sold. Thankfully for British breeding, it was Jayne McGivern of Dash Grange Stud who stepped in to buy Golden Horn, opting to stand him not too far from her home at Overbury, which has a proven track record with its National Hunt stallions. Indeed, not long after Golden Horn's arrival, the Overbury stalwart and multiple leading jumps sire in Britain, Kayf Tara, died, leaving a vacancy to be filled in the British standings. It didn't take long for Golden Horn to stick his hand up to apply. “It's huge good fortune, really,” says Sweeting as he looks forward to a week of decent contenders by Golden Horn at the Cheltenham Festival. These include last year's G2 Ryanair Mares' Novices' Hurdle winner Golden Ace (GB) – famed conqueror of the mighty Brighterdaysahead (Ire) – along with Nemean Lion (GB), East India Dock (GB), First Street (GB) and, potentially, Poniros (GB) and Too Bossy For Us (Ire), both of whom have now joined Willie Mullins but are unraced over hurdles to date. He continues, “What are the chances of it happening? We are very, very lucky to have them both here. So you enjoy it, but you can't rest on your laurels.” Mention of the good seasons currently being enjoyed by Golden Horn and Jack Hobbs prompt Sweeting to a swift response. “Don't forget Kayf Tara, as well. He's having an amazing time.” He is understandably sentimental about the stallion who put Overbury Stud on the map under his tenure and lived with him in the Cotswolds until the age of 28. This season alone, Kaya Tara has been represented by the The New Lion (GB), currently favourite for the G1 Turners Novices' Hurdle, and G1 Future Champions Novice Hurdle winner Romeo Coolio (GB) among others, and he sits in 12th position in the National Hunt sires' table for Britain and Ireland. In the jumping game, it takes a long time for them really to leave us. “When Midnight Legend died, I said to David [Holmes], 'You've got 10 more years of Saturday afternoon racing that you can enjoy',” recalls Sweeting, who is now experiencing the same bittersweet aftermath with Kayf Tara. “Obviously it's much more fun when you've got a good horse that is keeping you busy through the day and you can enjoy watching the racing in the afternoon as well. That's really what it's all about, isn't it? So, lucky us.” Golden Horn at Overbury Stud | Emma Berry Golden Horn has now embarked on his third covering season at Overbury and, as in the previous two, it certainly looks as though he will be keeping Sweeting and his team busy. “Jayne has always said 175 mares maximum and the first two years we had to turn mares away,” he says. “This year, I would be surprised if the same thing doesn't happen, but it's a good position to be in. It's a sensible number. It's a working number. It's fairly straightforward for him to get that number covered and it works for us. And there is no finer way of advertising a horse than turning a few people down. But, from the word go, he was very well received, and the way the horses are running, it just helps.” Golden Horn still comes up with some good Flat runners, of course, with Caius Chorister (GB), Gregory (GB), Botanik (GB), Higher Leaves (GB) and Goldenas (GB) among the group winners to have advertised his prowess in this sphere. In this week's G1 JCB Triumph Hurdle, the Gredley family's 90-rated Flat winner East India Dock will bid to maintain his unbeaten record over hurdles. Sweeting says, “It's a very unfashionable aim to breed a dual-purpose horse these days. But if you could breed a horse that could run sound and well on the Flat and then go on over jumps, who could want any more? East India Dock is the absolute classic example of that.” Golden Ace and Lorcan Williams triumph at the 2024 Cheltenham Festival | Racingfotos The runners for Jack Hobbs – bar the 91-rated The Gadget Man (GB) who was sold for 310,000gns to race in Australia – have predominantly been seen in point-to-points and under National Hunt rules. Members of his first crop are now six-year-olds and, collectively, his offspring appear to be gathering a head of steam this season. “They're finding their feet, ” Sweeting agrees. “Jax Junior and Intense Approach are entered in the Albert Bartlett at Cheltenham. And Bossman Jack's run at Wincanton for Dan Skelton was absolutely extraordinary. “I talked to Dan about his Jack Hobbs [horses] at the end of last season and he said that he thought they just all needed a little bit of time. And this is one of those typical horses where he's been given lots of time, and he's still not going to be rushed but you just wonder what a horse like that is going to be capable of in a year or so.” He adds, “There are still some nice point-to-point winners coming out of Ireland and there's one coming up for sale this week at Cheltenham. So it's all go for him, and hopefully moving in the right direction now.” Golden Horn, with his impressive 40 per cent winners to runners over jumps this season, has edged into 31st position in the National Hunt sires' table and is currently the leading active sire in Britain, which routinely struggles to match step with the strength and depth of the jump sires available in Ireland. Telescope (Ire) and Yorton Farm's Pether's Moon (Ire), who has a similarly eye-catching strike-rate to Golden Horn, come next among the Brit pack, followed by Passing Glance (GB) and then Jack Hobbs. With some more traditionally National Hunt-bred crops on the way through, it would be no surprise to see Golden Horn take higher order in the years to come, and he may yet have Jack Hobbs breathing down his neck once more, just as he did at Epsom. The post Stable-Mates to Stud-Mates: Golden Horn and Jack Hobbs Together Again appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
-
-
Topics
-
