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The catalogue for the Goffs February Sale, set for February 11-12, is now online. A total of 416 Flat and National Hunt horses of all ages will go through the Kildare Paddocks ring on that Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday's session will feature 266 weanlings, while the Thursday session will include juveniles, stores, horses-in-training, and breeding stock. The inaugural Goffs February Point-to-Point Sale will take place immediately after the conclusion of the Goffs February Sale. Its catalogue will be available in the coming days. Some of the Flat weanling sires represented are: Ace Impact, Baaeed, Galiway, Ghaiyyath, Good Guess, Harzand, Havana Grey, Mehmas, Minzaal, Native Trail, New Bay, Persian Force, Sands of Mali, Shaquille, Sioux Nation and Starman. Among the standout lots is lot 41, a Sands Of Mali half-brother to Group 1 winner Champers Elysees (Elzaam); while a Siyouni colt (lot 104) out of a full-sister to Group 2 winner Plumatic (Dubawi) will also go under the hammer. Havana Grey is represented by lot 199, a colt out of a full-sister to Lady In France (Showcasing). Talking horse Shaquille has a half-brother to Group 3 winner New Providence (Bahamian Bounty) set to sell as lot 213. Group 1 sire Phoenix Of Spain has lot 244, a half-sister to G1 Hong Kong Champions Mile hero Fiach McHugh (Belardo). Among the National Hunt sires represented by young stock are: Crystal Ocean, Doctor Dino, Goliath Du Berlais, Jukebox Jury, Kapgarde, Nirvana Du Berlais, No Risk At All and Walk In The Park. Some notable lots include: lot 73, a No Risk At All colt out of a sister to dual Grade 1 winner Identity Thief (Kayf Tara); a Nirvana Du Berlais colt (lot 96) out of a sister to dual Grade 1 winner Petit Mouchoir (Al Namix); lot 136, a Walk In The Park colt out of Grade 3 winner Shewearsitwell (Shirocco); and a Kapgarde filly (lot 154) out of Grade 1 winner Styline (Martaline). Henry Longfellow, Look de Vega, Mill Stream, Minzaal, Sands of Mali, Shaquille, Sioux Nation, Starman, Teofilo are among the covering sires represented. Among the horses offered during Thursday's session is lot 311, a Too Darn Hot filly, Tracy Beaker out of a the multiple stakes-performing mare First City (Diktat). Katashuna (Night Of Thunder) (lot 324) has won and is from a deep Aga Khan family. Listed winners Sacaya (The Grey Gatsby) (lot 359) and La Guapisima (City Light) (lot 360) are also signed on. Lot 364, Shamalza (Lope De Vega), is a half-sister to Group 2 winner Shartash (Invincible Spirit). Empress Of Hope (Holy Roman Emperor) (lot 398), carrying to Shaquille, is a full-sister to Group 3 winner Valeria Messalina. In 2025, the gross was €3,857,500 for 214 sold (67%). The average was €18,026 and the median was €10,000. Topping proceedings was a short yearling colt by Blue Point out of Tina Angelina (Dansili) at €250,000. Goffs Group chief executive Henry Beeby said, “Goffs February Sale offers unrivalled choice for Flat and National Hunt breeders, pinhookers and end-users at this time of year. We are grateful to our vendors for making February their first choice at this time of year resulting in a catalogue of real quality and incredible depth. Together with the team at Irish Thoroughbred Marketing, we look forward to welcoming buyers from home and abroad to Kildare Paddocks to get our 2026 sales season off to a strong start. “Following significant vendor requests we have added the inaugural February Point-To-Point Sale which is an exciting addition to our portfolio of sales in this sector, which already includes the Punchestown, Aintree, Doncaster Spring and Newbury Sales.” The sale will begin at 10 a.m. local time each day, with print catalogues available next week. The post Quality Catalogue For Goffs February Sale Revealed appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The saga that is the future of Monmouth Park took another twist Thursday. According to an e-mail sent to its members by the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association of New Jersey, the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee has chosen not to vote on Senate Bill 5028 . Senate Bill 5028 would allow Monmouth Park, if it chose to do so, to run an annual meet of just 25 days. The State Assembly's committee also did not take a vote on a similarly worded bill. In 2026, there will be 50 days of racing at Monmouth, plus Monmouth will control nine days of all-turf Thoroughbred racing at the Meadowlands. Dennis Drazin, who heads Darby Development, which manages the racetrack on behalf of the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, has said that a date reduction may become a necessity if the track loses a $10 million annual purse supplement it has received from the state since 2019. “Thanks to your advocacy on behalf of the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association of New Jersey–and the horses you breed and own–the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee chose not to vote on Senate Bill 5028 this afternoon and removed it from the agenda,” said Michael Campbell, the executive director of the breeders' group. “The bill may be reintroduced during the next legislative session, which begins next week.” Knowing that it would be hard to convince anyone to breed a horse in a state that had only 25 days of racing, the breeders are particularly concerned about the threats to reduce the meet. Campbell said that his group wants to be part of the solution and will work with horsemen and track management in an effort to help New Jersey racing prosper. “The Association remains committed to working collaboratively with the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, Darby Development, and Monmouth Park to support and strengthen the future of New Jersey's equine industry, and we will continue these efforts going forward,” he said. “Monmouth Park is one of the premier racing venues in the country, and the efforts of Dennis Drazin, Darby Development, and the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association to preserve and promote Thoroughbred racing are deeply appreciated throughout New Jersey's equine industry. While the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association of New Jersey had concerns with the language of Senate Bill 5028 that would allow the Monmouth Park permit holder to reduce the minimum number of required Thoroughbred race dates to 25, I am confident there is room for compromise. By working collaboratively, our organizations can support and strengthen the long-term future of New Jersey's equine industry.” The post Bills That Could Lead To Dates Reduction At Monmouth Hit A Roadblock appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Owner Steve De'Lemos paid a tearful tribute to Nunthorpe Stakes (G1) winner Live In The Dream, who died this week. He and his wife Jolene were with the sprinter as his life ended at Donnington Grove Equine Vets Newbury.View the full article

Roger and Tony O'Callaghan talk about Tally-Ho Stud's new addition Maranoa Charlie, buying into Group 1 winner Zavateri and more “We prefer not to say too much, we rather row in behind the horses and let them do the talking,” says Tony O'Callaghan from his kitchen table at Tally-Ho Stud.  Both he and his son Roger don't bother to conceal the fact that this is their least favourite part of the job. There is, of course, a silver lining to the fact a journalist with an expectant face and a microphone is sitting across from the deadly duo; it means there is a new stallion to talk about. “We're always looking for the next good one – keep at it,” Tony responds to being asked how he'd sum up the appeal of Maranoa Charlie. Tony could have gone with the fact that Maranoa Charlie was a mightily impressive winner of the G1 Prix de la Foret at ParisLongchamp. That he is a gorgeous-looking son of the much-missed Wootton Bassett and from the family of lightning-quick Tiggy Wiggy. That he won his first three starts as a juvenile, which included an eight length romp in a Group 3. Or maybe the fact that he is just about the classiest stallion to have ever retired to the County Westmeath-based stud. But no, that wouldn't be Tony's style.  “We try to buy one every year,” Roger adds, in that unmistakably wry tone. “Why does a trainer buy yearlings every year? You can't rest.” The O'Callaghans may say little, but they offer a lot. They wear exhausted expressions when stupid question after stupid question is levelled their way. But perhaps it's not that stupid to think that, when the stallion roster is already filled by the reigning first-season sire champion Starman, multiple Group 1 producer Mehmas, exciting youngsters Big Evs, Good Guess, King Of Steel, Persian Force and the Daddy of them all, Kodiac, then thou shall in fact rest. Not when you are serial workaholics whose lifelong obsession revolves around one thing and one thing alone: producing quality racehorses.  Speaking about when Maranoa Charlie first came onto the radar at Tally-Ho, Roger said, “He was always on the radar but I met Laurent Benoit [bloodstock agent] coming out of Ascot last summer and he said, 'watch, there will be something to be done.' Shortly after that, they sold him to Jason [Kelly, bloodstock agent] on behalf of Charlie Bond and we all know what happened next. We actually met Charlie at York the day Lady Iman ran. We were both out walking the track. He's a pleasant fella and he wants to win.” Tony O'Callaghan | Goffs Stallion deals are not like soccer signings in that the sum that changes hands is rarely made public but Maranoa Charlie joining the ranks at Tally-Ho was said to be the stud business's equivalent to Alexander Isak joining Liverpool for a Premier League record fee of £125m or even Florian Wirtz joining the same club for £108m. By no means were these world record figures, a la Neymar and Kylian Mbappe to PSG for a combined €422m, but it was an eye-watering transaction in its own right. In other words, just like the inflated figures that are being bandied about for the world's best soccer stars, stud farms are being forced to pay for stallions on the basis that they are going to be a success.  “Every stallion is bought on that basis,” Tony says, chuckling at the ignorance of such a question. “That's what we're saying to you – we're trying to find the next good one. The good ones carry the bad ones. Look at Inns Of Court, Bushranger and Kessaar. They all went pewshhh,” he says, making the sound of a balloon deflating as he places the palm of his hand on the table.  He continued, “We did okay [financially] with Bushranger because he covered so many mares but, when it came to his first runners….”  Roger finishes the sentence, “it was like you turned the tap off. I came back one morning after working a bunch of two-year-olds and told Dad they didn't go great and he didn't believe me.” “The breeze-up boys damned him,” Tony responds. They were probably right? “Not probably,” says Roger, “they were right.” So that's what can happen when things go badly. When an independent stud farm like Tally-Ho happens upon a stallion who can't get a duck to swim, the losses incurred don't bear thinking about. But when they win, they win big.  Even so, no farm, not even one as successful as Tally-Ho, can afford to sign the brightest young stallion prospect year after year, season after season. It just doesn't work that way. So, in order to stay ahead of the curve, a certain amount of outside-the-box thinking is applied every now and again.  Zavateri: Tally-Ho Stud has bought into the Group 1-winning stallion prospect | Racingfotos.com There is the odd occasion when Tally-Ho will try to get in early on a stallion prospect and they have done exactly that with the Group 1 National Stakes-winning Zavateri, whose career they will be following with heightened interest this season having partnered up with the Without Parole colt's owners Mick and Janice Mariscotti. Roger explained, “Maybe we got in too early? Like, we bought G Force early and he fell out the back of the telly every week. D'ya know?” “High risk,” Tony adds.  Roger continues, “You have Haras d'Etreham, Rathbarry, Yeomanstown, the National Stud, Haras de Beaumont, Yulong – there are an awful lot of people who are brave in their own right when it comes to buying a stallion. It's competitive.” We can probably surmise from that how Tally-Ho were not the only show in town when it came to securing the signature of Maranoa Charlie. Cards on the table, Roger agrees that he is one of the classiest horses to have ever set foot in Tally-Ho, but reminds that Starman was in fact champion sprinter and wasn't exactly a shrinking violet either. Tony, rather typically, takes this particular discussion in before simply adding, 'I hope you are right' about Maranoa Charlie being just about the most exciting stallion prospect, certainly on paper, to have joined Tally-Ho in its long and storied history.  There's something rather refreshing about the, 'maybe he makes it, maybe he doesn't' attitude to the whole thing, though. One thing that's not in doubt, however, is the fact he will be given the best possible chance to fulfill his potential as a top-class stallion here.  “Maranoa is a class horse – he has a class pedigree,” Roger says. “Hopefully he's luckier than the last one [son of Wootton Bassett] to retire here! Bucanero Fuerte didn't get one mare in foal so that's what can happen. We'll give our fella as good a chance as anyone, though.” He added, “Sons of Wootton Bassett would want to step up. It's a bit of a risk. Everyone sees Wootton Bassett as the real thing, but his few sons that have gone to stud haven't quite put their heads above water yet, have they?” Once again illustrating his canny ability to say an awful lot without saying much at all, Tony adds, with the benefit of a lifetime's experience, “They're all individuals. Only some of them will do it.” Roger knows exactly what he's saying, and agrees, “Yea, because everyone slagged the sons of Dutch Art for a long time. A lot of people pooh-poohed Starman for being a son of Dutch Art.” Conversation turns to how Starman, and some of his contemporaries who have hogged headlines and got breeders giddy with the prospects of sending mares, share one thing in common; that they are all by relatively unfashionable stallions.  With Starman there was the Dutch Art factor, then there is Havana Grey, who is by Havana Gold, Sands Of Mali, who's by Panis, and of course, the late Wootton Bassett, who was by Iffraaj. All of the breakout stallions of the current era have drastically out-performed their own sires. They've done it the hard way. “That's the beauty of the game,” Roger says with a smile, before adding, “so maybe Zavateri is the one.” He added, “I just loved the way that he did it at Goodwood [winning the Vintage Stakes] and at the Curragh [out-battling Gstaad in the G1 National Stakes]. He showed a great attitude.” We can talk about all of that in time. Perhaps back here at the kitchen table next January. What happens in between is anyone's guess but there are a few likelihoods. For starters, you can expect that Starman and Mehmas will continue to churn out big-race winners while the not-to-be underestimated Persian Force could throw his hat in the ring for first-season sire honours.  Maranoa Charlie: will stand for €20,000 | Alice Fitzgerald And what about Maranoa Charlie? The horse that Tony describes as having “the whole package” is understood to be receiving rave reviews from breeders. He's becoming an easy horse to row in behind.  “Maranoa Charlie is going well,” Roger says. “He'd be popular. He'd be well-liked. We were here from nine o'clock in the morning until five in the evening on Monday with people coming to see him. And we'll do the same all week. There are plenty of breeders, the majority of them from England, who are doing the tours. He is kind of exciting to be honest. Here, I'll show you this.” And with that, Roger takes out his phone and scrolls up to one of the most recent What'sApp messages he sent to Charlie Bond. It reads, 'If he's good, Charlie, he'll take us to places we have never been to before.'  Roger concluded, “I'd agree that he's a little bit different. If he works out, he could be very good. That's the big if.” And that says it all, really. The post Roger O’Callaghan: ‘Maranoa Charlie Is A Class Horse – He Could Be A Bit Different’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued 350 entries for the main catalogue of its Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale, to be held Monday, February 9, in Lexington, Kentucky, the company announced Friday. The sale will begin at 10 a.m. “Strategically positioned before the start of breeding season, Kentucky Winter Mixed is an important marketplace within our industry,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. “There is plenty of quality for buyers to choose from in 2026, including 200 yearlings with strong sire power.” Covering sires represented include Army Mule, Beau Liam, Bolt d'Oro, Charlatan, Cogburn, Constitution, Curlin, Cyberknife, Elite Power, Gun Pilot, Gunite, Jack Christopher, Kingsbarns, Knicks Go, Life Is Good, Maclean's Music, Mage, Maxfield, Munnings, Omaha Beach, Prince of Monaco, Seize the Grey, and Vekoma. Yearling sires catalogued include American Pharoah, Arcangelo, Army Mule, Beau Liam, Blame, Bolt d'Oro, City of Light, Corniche, Cyberknife, Drain the Clock, Early Voting, Elite Power, Epicenter, Essential Quality, Forte, Girvin, Golden Pal, Gun Runner, Gunite, Into Mischief, Jackie's Warrior, Knicks Go, Mage, Practical Joke, Street Sense, Taiba, Tiz the Law, Twirling Candy, Uncle Mo, Up To The Mark, Vekoma, and Yaupon. This year's catalogue cover features three recent graded stakes winning sale graduates in Ready for Candy (Twirling Candy), Running Bee (English Channel), and Whatchatalkinabout (Dialed In). Ready for Candy is an undefeated multiple graded stakes for owner Lindy Farms and trainer Phil Antonacci since her purchase by West Bloodstock at last year's Kentucky Winter Mixed sale. Entries remain open for the sale's supplemental catalogue. Fasig-Tipton will continue to accept supplemental entries over the next few weeks. “We have already begun taking entries for the supplement and look forward to announcing those in the coming weeks,” noted Browning. The main catalogue for Kentucky Winter Mixed may now be viewed online. Print catalogues will be available beginning January 15. The catalogue will also be available via the equineline sales catalogue app. Online bidding and phone bidding services will be available. The post Fasig-Tipton Catalogues 350 Entries For Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article