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Satono Voyage set sail on a voyage that could find him at Churchill Downs in May with a victory Nov. 29 in the first leg of the "Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby."View the full article

Having already conquered trips of 1200 meters and 1400 meters on the dirt, owner Hajime Satomi's immaculately bred Satono Voyage (Jpn) (Into Mischief) successfully negotiated a stretchout to the metric mile and reported home a comfortable 1 1/2-length winner of Saturday's $194,621 Cattleya Stakes, good for 10 points on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. The 1600-meter contest is run under allowance conditions around a left-handed bend at Tokyo Racecourse. The son of Brazilian Horse of the Year and three-times North American graded winner Jolie Olimpica (Brz) (Drosselmeyer) had annexed those two previous tries on the main track by some 15 combined lengths and the betting public sent him off as the $1.70 (7-10) favorite in a field that also included $1-million OBS March grad Magna Victor (Maxfield), named a 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard off a nine-length debut score in September, and Arcadia Cafe (Into Mischief), a half-brother to Tokyo stakes winners champion Cafe Pharoah (American Pharoah) and Luxor Cafe (American Pharoah). Off to an uneventful beginning from gate four, Satono Voyage was ridden positively by Keita Tosaki and was an inside third chasing a moderate early tempo before easing off the inside and into the clear with 1000 meters to travel. Allowed to creep into contention three deep with about three furlongs to race, the bay colt was held together into the long Tokyo straight and traveled strongly as Magna Victor and Arcadia Cafe came with challenges outside and inside, respectively. Magna Victor was soon hard at it and retreated, and Satono Voyage put away Arcadia Cafe inside the final furlong before staying on nicely for the victory. Don Erectus (Jpn) (Danon Legend), the 132-1 second roughest chance in the field of 12, covered his final 600 meters in a race-fastest :36.4 to finish second. The winner was home in a respectable :37.1, while Magna Victor, the 3-2 second choice, was beaten 11 lengths into ninth. Just 39 years of age, Hiroyasu Tanaka knows how to train a top horse on the main track, having helped orchestrate the career of two-time G1 Champions Cup hero and dual Japanese champion dirt horse Lemon Pop (Lemon Drop Kid), who took this event in 2020 at his second career start. He clearly relishes what might lie ahead for Satono Voyage. “The Kentucky Derby is of course one of the most prestigious races that this quality of horse can target, but it's not easy to say at this point whether we will target the Kentucky Derby,” Tanaka said in an impromptu post-race press conference, attended by TDN's Emma Berry on-site in Tokyo. “Before this race I was thinking about the [Feb. 14 G3] Saudi Derby if he ran well here. I will talk to the jockey after this and see what he thinks, but it is one of the options.” Asked if he would consider the G2 UAE Derby (1900m) to earn extra points towards Kentucky, Tanaka replied, “I just want to concentrate on the next race, which might be the Saudi Derby.” Among Tanaka's other stable stars is Rousham Park (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}), a neck second to Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the 2024 GI Breeders' Cup Turf, and the trainer admits that Japan's success on American soil has fed his desire to travel one over. “Forever Young's great performance has certainly encouraged us, and me, to send horses overseas, including America,” he said, referring to this year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic. “This horse has a lot of potential and I am personally very happy to be able to train a horse of this caliber. He's by Into Mischief, whose crops do very well in the United States, and I think he has a good chance to perform well in the U.S. as well. “Going into a race with two turns will be one of the tasks for him because he hasn't raced over that distance so I would like to be able to condition him to handle two turns. I've been training top dirt horses in my stable so my next aim is to get my first win in an overseas Grade I race.” Jolie Olimpica, also a Sovereign Award winner, was purchased by Shimokobe Farm for $675,000 carrying a full-brother to Satono Voyage at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton November Sale, and the mare was bred back to the Spendthrift stallion prior to her export to Japan, where she foaled Satono Voyage on Apr. 3, 2023. Breeders' Cup Classic-winning broodmare sire Drosselmeyer is a son of Distorted Humor, and the cross of Into Mischief over mares going back to the latter's sire Forty Niner has been sensationally productive, accounting for the likes of Grade I winners Life Is Good, Goldencents, Practical Joke, Citizen Bull, the recently retired Patch Adams and Tappan Street. Jolie Olimpica did not produce a foal to the cover of Contrail (Jpn) in 2024 and is responsible for a weanling colt by Horse of the Year Equinox (Jpn). The Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby continues with the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun (1600m around two turns) at Kawasaki Dec. 17 (20-10-6-4-2), the Listed Hyacinth Stakes back at Tokyo on Feb. 2, 2026 (30-15-9-6-3) and the Fukuryu Stakes (allowance) over 1800 meters at Nakayama Mar. 28, 2026 (40-20-12-8-4). Saturday's Results: CATTLEYA S. (Allowance), ¥30,400,000 ($194,621), Tokyo, 11-29, 3yo, 1600m, 1:37.2, ft. 1–SATONO VOYAGE (JPN), 126, c, 2, Into Mischief–Jolie Olimpica (Brz), by Drosselmeyer. O-Hajime Satomi; B-Shimokobe Farm; T-Hiroyasu Tanaka; J-Keita Tosaki; ¥16,000,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-1-0, $235,800. 2–Don Erectus (Jpn), 123, c, 2, Danon Legend–Dona Primo (Jpn), by Furioso (Jpn). O/B-Koichi Yamada; T-Noboru Takagi; J-Akira Sugawara; ¥6,400,000. 3–Arcadia Cafe, 123, c, 2, Into Mischief–Mary's Follies, by More Than Ready. ($550,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP). O-Koichi Nishikawa; B-Orpendale/Chelston/Wynatt & Westerberg Ireland ULC; T-Noriyuki Hori; J-Damian Lane; ¥4,000,000. Margins: 1HF, HF, 1 1/4. Odds: 0.70, 132.20, 8.70.   The post Derby ‘Voyage’ Commences In Cattleya Stakes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

HISA has issued a $6,000 fine and a 10-day suspension to trainer Danny Gargan for breezing a horse six days after it had received an intra-articular joint injection. The horse, the 2-year-old maiden Capo Di Tutti, experienced a fatal injury.View the full article

Sam Agars EVER LUCK - R4 (1) Produced a remarkable debut success and looks far too good for this grade   Jay Rooney THE GOLDEN KNIGHT - R5 (8) Will relish the mile after two strong runs this season   Owen Goulding SUPER STRONG KID - R9 (6) Progressive sort looked to relish 1,200m last time and remains unexposed   Phillip Woo AUDACIOUS PURSUIT - R5 (5) Looks hard to beat from a better draw   Shannon (Vincent Wong) SUPER STRONG KID - R9 (6) Consistent type who has drawn low and looks primed to...View the full article

Is it the same as this @Special Agent? https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360902636/battle-save-small-town-racing-club-its-own-national-body

Group 1-winning juvenile Scorthy Champ will stand at Barton Stud in 2026 and his fee has been set at £8,500. The son of Mehmas was trained by Joseph O'Brien to win the National Stakes at the Curragh last year.  He finished that season with an official rating of 117, which makes him the joint-highest two-year-old of 2024 to retire to stud in the UK in 2025 – and second only to Shadow Of Light in Europe. Standing Scorthy Champ marks a new venture for Tom Blain's Barton Stud, which is located just over 15 miles from Newmarket and has specialised in breeding top-quality thoroughbreds for the sales ring and global racing. Blain said, “It's always been my dream to stand stallions. We have built the business up over the last 10 years and this feels like a natural and incredibly exciting step for us. “Despite the much-discussed headwinds we are facing as an industry, especially here in the UK, I remain excited and optimistic about what can be achieved with the right horses. “We are absolutely thrilled to have secured Scorthy Champ for the 2026 breeding season. We've been looking very hard for a stallion throughout the year and he was always right up there on our wish-list. The truth is we thought he would be unattainable, so it's fantastic we've been able to acquire a horse that ticks as many boxes as he does.” He added, “Scorthy Champ hails from a superb family. His dam Fidaaha has produced multiple stakes performers such as Malavath, a Group 2 winner and twice a Group 1 runner-up, and Knight, who was victorious in the Group 3 Horris Hill Stakes. Second dam Ceist Eile's offspring includes two Group winners and also an unraced daughter Ceistiu, mother of 2025 Glorious Goodwood Group 3 Gordon Stakes victor Merchant. “Physically, Scorthy Champ, is an incredibly good-looking horse from a famously attractive family. He possesses plenty of size, scope and an impressive walk. I feel he offers breeders across Europe real value. We are selling limited breeding rights in the horse. The deal is highly attractive to investors, who I hope will be with us for the long term on this journey.” Blain's team are due to take charge of Scorthy Champ in the coming days and the horse will be available to see from mid-December. Blain welcomes breeder enquiries at Tom@bartonstud.co.uk and archie@bartonstud.co.uk. The post Exciting New Chapter As Group 1 Winner Scorthy Champ To Stand At Barton Stud appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

You can’t make a living out of them unless you can live on less than $200 a week and sometimes they’ll cut you before that. Helps if you have a big family but it’s very hard work. To be fair it was the same before the monopoly but that’s one of the reasons we went offshore. What’s the point of bringing in a monopoly to get back punters you don’t want

Thanks. I’ll keep an eye out for these yellow stars. Would be good to get some petrol money back for having to go down to the tab.