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Meaning what? They still improve those fields , especially the Railway,  any kiwi horses in the Railway you think could win an Aus G2 sprint?

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen intends to run Soldier N Diplomat in the $1 million Southwest Stakes (G3) Jan. 31 at Oaklawn, with stablemate Obliteration headed to the $1.5 million Saudi Derby (G3) Feb. 14 in Saudi Arabia. View the full article

By Michael Guerin This is the campaign in which Bazooka needs to stand up but trainer Steven Reid isn’t entirely sure tonight’s main pace at Addington will be the moment it happens. Bazooka resumes after a month away in the Touchdown Rentals Pace (8.55pm) in which he faces barrier 9 in the 1980m mobile but meets few horses with his natural ability. While Beside Me ($1.85) looked a superstar filly this time last year Bazooka ($3.70) looked an open class horse in the making a year ago. “To be honest I thought he would have gone further by now,” admits Reid. “He has real ability but he went through a bit of a flat patch. “But I was a lot happier with his second at Invercargill last start (behind J T Boe) and he has been very good at the trials since. “I reckon the next three to six months we will find out what we really have with him. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he went through to the verge of open class but that is up to him now.” While an open class horse would be winning tonight’s race Reid says the barrier draw does concern him. “Being his first run in five weeks I am not that fussed about him rushing forward and trying to lead,” he explains. “I actually think he might be even better driven with a sit anyway but I realise that makes him harder to back. “I like a bet and I am keen on the horse but to be backing him this week I’d want $4 or $5,” says Reid, somewhat optimistically. Reid also has a real chance in the $35,000 Majestic Horse Floats Tasman Empress Final (7.56pm) with Nothing But You drawn barrier 1 in the small field. “She is a mare who has taken time to mature,” explains Reid. “But she is getting there now. She went two good races at Nelson and I think she will go well again.”   Reid is counting down to the public return of his little superstar pacer Jumal, who was our best juvenile last season. “He will be back at the trials on February 11,” says Reid. “I’d say he will have two trials and then resume at Alexandra Park on March 13 and into the Harness Million on March 20. “I just love this horse and he has come back great. He hasn’t grown much, which always makes you wonder the others will catch up, but he has filled out. “But he looks really well so I am stoked and can’t wait to get him back.” View the full article

By Michael Guerin Nathan Purdon has plenty of reasons to be excited as he heads to the first Alexandra Park meeting of the year tonight. Because not only does the meeting boast the first juvenile race of the season but Purdon dominates it with four of the seven starters. The $17,000 Breckon Farms Young Gun heat (8.05pm) starts a run toward the $100,000 final at Alexandra Park on March 20 and the series looks set to provide a great advertisement for Purdon’s new business now that he is training on his own account. Things are looking good, we have 25 horses in work and 37 on the books,” he explained. “And this is a stage of the season we really love, when the two-year-olds start stepping out. “It has always been a big part of Dad’s career as he loved training the babies and I am the same.” Purdon says Coal Face (R7, No.6) is the clear best chance of his quartet tonight.  “He is a very natural pacer who has been good at the workouts,” he explains. “Andre (Poutama) who will do most of my main driving when Dad isn’t available will be on him this week and I am have been really happy with how he has been handling our horses. “I think Dontgetmestarted (Sweet Lou) is the next best for this Friday as he is very professional and ready to go whereas I think the other two are more staying types of horses who will get better as the series goes on.” Earlier in the night Purdon will be represented by the enigmatic Pantani off the front line in the first race. Pantani once looked a budding open class trotter before his manners consistently let him down and they threatened to do so again in first outing for Purdon at Cambridge on December 24 before he recovered from a skip at the top of the straight to win. “He is a tricky horse and has a few issues,” says Nathan. “He can go out and trot faultlessly for five or six trackwork sessions in a row and then gallop in the next one for no reason. “I think the key is getting his confidence back and being off the front this week if he can step and stay in front it could suit him.” Pantani does step a long way up in grade though as he has proven group horses like One More Moment and Courmayeur just 10m behind him at the start. Tonight’s meeting also hosts two Metro heats for both the pacers and the trotters leading into $35,000 finals back at The Park on January 30. View the full article

8th-GP, $84k, Msw, 3yo, f, 1m, 3:50 p.m. ET Shadwell Stable's ELGHEED (Tapit), a $1.2-million Keeneland September purchase in 2024, makes her first trip to the post for trainer Todd Pletcher. The filly is the first foal out of Immediate Impact (Into Mischief), a half-sister to champion Arrogate (Unbridled's Song) who won her lone racetrack appearance for Bob Baffert in 2019. The mare's second foal, a filly by Flightline, sold for $1.6 million to Douglas Scharbauer at the 2025 Keeneland September sale. Brad Cox saddles firster Prom Queen (Quality Road), a homebred for Gary and Mary West. The filly is out of Miss Bling Bling (Tapit), a daughter of Canadian champion Milwaukee Appeal (Milwaukee Brew) and a full-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Actress, dam of G1 Dubai World Cup winner Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}). TJCIS PPs   The post Friday Insights: Pricey Tapit Filly Debuts at Gulfstream Park appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

ThoroFan is a national non-profit Thoroughbred Racing Fan Association, Inc (501 (c)(3)) with 18 years of experience representing the interest of Thoroughbred racing fans across the country. We are proud of our monikers, “Giving the Fan a Voice” and “An educated Fan is a Better Fan.” With the current takeout rates present in parimutuel racing today, the average fan contributes, at minimum, 20-30 percent of the money that sustains the success of the industry (with larger retail handicappers/players contributing much more) yet is not allowed anywhere near that type of representation or a seat at the table with the regulatory bodies of racing. If racing is to thrive and grow by the year 2036, we see the following as being present in the industry in some form:   For the Fans 1. A sport where the on-track experience draws fans to the racetrack, not just to watch on their phones or at home. While younger generations and the affluent gravitate toward premium amenities, racetracks should also create welcoming spaces for the game's veterans: those who value comfort over spectacle and deserve recognition as vital contributors to racing. 2. Industry recognition that fans and handicappers are as important to racing as horsemen, owners, breeders, jockeys, backstretch community, etc. They need to have a seat at the table. A Fan/Handicapper is given a seat on every Racing Commission or Horse Racing Board. This would not just be a “member of the public” spot, but a dedicated seat for an experienced player who understands the fan/handicapper experiences and desires. 3. Greater access for fans to all aspects of the racing industry, from breeding to racing to aftercare opportunities. This will bring more fans into the sport, not only as fans but also as participants in other areas, keeping the industry vibrant for years to come. 4. While some retail horseplayers truly wish that CAWs would be outlawed from racing entirely, ThoroFan recognizes their importance in generating purse revenue. We envision a 2036 where CAWs exist but are fairly regulated, and where a broad range of wagering options gives regular and retail players access to pools free from CAW influence. 5. True transparency of all health care given to these great equine athletes, and complete explanations to the public of what these treatments mean and are designed for.   For the Industry 1. A change in the current business model to make it as lucrative to continue racing as it is to rush horses off to the breeding shed. This can be achieved through better racing “series” and better-structured local racing circuits that would provide critical support to the smaller tracks that will not survive the next decade under current economic conditions. 2. Bring back handicap races. Change the condition books based on the horse's current performance level, not age or number of wins. Under the current system, horses can win a maiden and three allowance races before they must either step into stakes or down to the claiming ranks. This was successfully implemented at Sam Houston Park Jan. 17, 2026. This system gives owners a choice, better opportunities for their horses through improved race placement, and another betting opportunity for handicappers. 3. Rule changes put in place to further ensure the health, welfare, and safety of all the athletes of the sport. These changes would ensure the highest levels of integrity in the sport, leading to more trust and wagering done by the public on it.   For the Horse 1. A thriving aftercare program for these horses where there is true transparency that the fans can see and access showing exactly where each racehorse goes after their racing days are over. Ten years is a very short time in the grand scheme of things (especially considering racing's long and storied history), but this upcoming decade may become one of the most important ever in racing's history. If the industry takes a real hard look at what is best not for the individual, but for the whole, then ThoroFan sees a 2036 where we look back on the last 10 years and marvel at how far the sport has come back. If not, we may be spending 2036 merely looking back and saying, “Hey, remember when this place used to be a racetrack? Man, I miss that.” The post Letter To The Editor: ThoroFan’s Look At Racing In 2036 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Due to a major winter storm set to hit a sizable portion of the United States, many racetracks have canceled their upcoming cards.View the full article

Bill Casner's Rafter C Ranch went to $260,000 to acquire Alisal (Uncle Mo), a 3-year-old stakes-placed filly, from Tuesday's Fasig-Tipton January Digital Sale. The priciest filly or mare sold Tuesday, Alisal raced exclusively at Remington Park for trainer H. Ray Ashford, Jr., breaking her maiden in her second start Oct. 9 and adding an allowance win next out Nov. 15 before capping off her season with a runner-up effort in the Toby Keith Stakes Dec. 20. Consigned by Warrendale Sales as a racing or broodmare prospect, Casner seems fit to retire his newest acquisition to a growing broodmare band. “She's a big, pretty mare,” Casner said. “She was precocious as a 2-year-old. I watched the replays [of her stakes race] and she was really wide on both turns. When she ran, she did it the tough way, lost a lot of ground and still showed speed. She's by Uncle Mo who is arguably becoming one of the best broodmare sires out there.” Out of a winning Gone West mare, Alisal is a half-sister to MGSW/GISP Secret Message (Hat Trick {Jpn}) who was acquired by Spendthrift Farm for $625,000 out of the 2020 Keeneland November Sale and has since produced three straight foals by leading sire Into Mischief. “Secret Message was certainly a very, very good racehorse, and she's still a young mare and active,” Casner continued. “Maybe one of those [Into Mischief foals] will go on, so there's an opportunity for the pedigree to continue to improve. I think [Alisal] is the kind of mare that, if you breed her to the right stallion, you've got an opportunity to get a really good racehorse.” Alisal was one of two broodmares purchased by Casner in the January Digital Sale, the other being Fay's Rhonda Cares (Mendelssohn), the half-sister to young stallion Flameaway (Scat Daddy) who was hammered down at just $30,000. “The market's gone up on these mares,” said Casner. “You're going to have to pay a little more for these quality mares but that's the market right now. Inventory is down. It's supply and demand.” Casner acknowledged that while Alisal may still be fit to race and potentially even at a higher level, she was more than likely set to be in foal in the coming season. “We'll find something that we really like to breed her to. We'll breed her to a good stallion, for sure. In truth, she looks sound enough to where she could continue to run. But you question what upside is. It costs $50,000 to keep [her] in training and I know she could certainly pay her way and perhaps make some money. Would she be able to step up to graded stakes? I think she probably could. But I'll probably just go ahead and breed her and put her into the broodmare band, let her be a mama.” The post Rafter C Ranch Adds Alisal To Growing Broodmare Band appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

World Pool races will return across three fixtures on Friday-Sunday split between the UAE, New Zealand and Hong Kong. Four races in the UAE on Friday including the G1 Jebel Hatta and the G1 Al Maktoum Challenge, six races in New Zealand on Saturday, among them the G1 Railway Stakes and in Hong Kong on Sunday the G1 Centenary Sprint and the G1 Stewards' Cup complete an even dozen World Pool races for the weekend. The second World Pool Moment of the Day will be chosen from Ellerslie. The Railway Stakes, Centenary Sprint Cup and the Stewards' Cup all featured in the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) Top 100 Group 1 races in the last three years. The post Triple World Pool Fixtures On The Weekend appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article