Wandering Eyes

Multiple graded stakes winning jockey Edwin Gonzalez earned his 2,000th career victory July 20 aboard Bobby Bob in the sixth race at Gulfstream Park for trainer Antonio Sano.View the full article

BH Interview: R and H Stable's Rick Hiles and Howard ReedView the full article

On the July 21 episode of BloodHorse Monday, we recap Journalism's Haskell Stakes (G1) victory, Jonathan Green of D. J. Stable talks Sandman before the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2), and Monmouth Park's Dennis Drazin talks New Jersey racing.View the full article

Wednesday, Naas, Ireland, post time: 17:37, ARQANA IRISH EBF MARWELL STAKES-Listed, €30,000, 2yo, f, 5f 0y Field: Cardiff By The Sea (Ire) (St Mark's Basilica {Fr}), Duskaura (Ire) (Twilight Son {GB}), Havana Anna (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}), Ipanema Queen (Ire) (Sands Of Mali {Fr}), Lam Yai (Ire) (Lucky Vega {Ire}), Magny Cours (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}), Solana Rose (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), Wateen (Ire) (Profitable {Ire}). TDN Verdict: Fozzy Stack trainee Cardiff By The Sea gets a third opportunity of shedding maiden status in this open edition. She encountered Charles Darwin when runner-up on debut and ran a cracker to finish fourth, ahead of Solana Rose, in Royal Ascot's G2 Queen Mary last month. Ipanema Queen and Magny Cours both made winning debuts before running unplaced in a stellar renewal of the G3 Albany and that contest is producing its fair share of subsequent winners. Havana Anna comes back off a six-length tally over course and distance while British raiders Duskaura, Lam Yai, and Wateen all have prior wins on record and shouldn't be discounted. [Sean Cronin]. Click here for the complete field. The post Black-Type Analysis: Royal Ascot Competitors Get Another Chance In Marwell appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

After bumping into odds-on favorite Stradale (also by Yaupon), Emphasis reacted with aplomb, recovering quickly to win gate-to-wire.View the full article

See The Fire will aim for a breakthrough group 1 success when she lines up for the Nassau Stakes (G1) at the Goodwood Festival July 31—a key fixture in the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series. View the full article

Juddmonte's group 1 winner Kalpana is raring to go in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1) July 26 at Ascot. The field is headed by Grand Prix de Saint Cloud (G1) winner Calandagan. View the full article

From the outside looking in, Jaron Kohari had an idyllic childhood growing up in Belfry, Kentucky. Raised by his mother and step-father, alongside two half-brothers, Kohari found his place in the world of sports as he played basketball, baseball and football. Though he maintained good grades, participated in plenty of extracurricular activities and even won two state championships at Belfry High School, Kohari was plagued with an underlying darkness in the form of manic-depressive bipolar disorder. Always looking to quell the constant turmoil in his mind, he found the solution in the form of alcohol, a discovery that eventually led him to more addictive substances. “I drank in high school, but it was more of a social thing. It's what everyone in a small town does after winning a game, but I regretted my nights a lot. I probably had alcoholic tendencies from a young age. I drank more than the other people, I blacked out and embarrassed myself a lot,” reflected Kohari. “I didn't realize at the time that I was already different than the rest of them.” After a few semesters at Eastern Kentucky University, Kohari returned home where he took up a job working underground in the coal mines. “When I was underground, the thing to do was work all week and party all weekend. I was young, living at home with my parents, I had no responsibilities and I made a lot of money [working in the coal mines]. So, I would drink. Then if I had a drug test, I would make up some excuse why I couldn't take it because I was using cocaine, taking pills, and doing other things. That's when I got introduced,” said Kohari. “It was really drinking at first. I was an alcoholic before I was a drug addict.” Jaron Kohari | Kelcey Loges/Taylor Made Farm Between the ages of 19 to 29, he moved around a bit before eventually ending up in Lexington. It was during this time that he was dealing with the repercussions of an unhealthy marriage while bouncing around between psych wards, treatment and detox centers as he struggled with a severe drug addiction. “I would have jobs but I couldn't be productive because I wasn't a dependable employee. This whole time my drug use was getting worse. I went from pills to heroin, because the pills became non-existent, then eventually went to fentanyl and around that time went to meth, because the two were mixed together,” said Kohari. “By the age of 19 or 20 it had already become unmanageable. After that, I just bounced around trying to maintain it.” He finally hit rock bottom following the unexpected passing of his mother. It was a time where the addiction had taken over completely, creating a great divide between Kohari and the people closest to him. “It spiraled me out for a little while. I'm married and have two kids, and they didn't want me around. My stepdad here in Lexington didn't want me. So, I was just up here running around high. Eventually, I got arrested and I was handcuffed to a bed at the hospital. My face was all scabbed over, I looked awful. I remember leaving the hospital and as soon as I got out, I got high one more time. Then I called my lawyer and he told me about Stable Recovery,” said Kohari. “I was so broken. I had nowhere to go, so I decided to give it a chance. “I feel like my mother loved me almost to death, she bailed me out of everything. I think my mother dying actually gave me a chance to live again. I know that sounds awful, but I don't think I could have gotten sober with her because she always picked me up when I was down.” When he arrived, Kohari didn't know what he was looking for. Sobriety was the obvious answer, yes. But he'd been through a variety of treatment programs prior to this one. It had come down to his search for something more: a reason to live. “When I got here, I was so broken that no matter what they told me to do, I was going to do it. I had nothing going for me,” said Kohari. “I thrive off of having a schedule, a routine, hard work. It was difficult at first, going from not doing much labor in a while to coming in here and being busy 24/7. But I got in here with a group of guys, most of them are staff here now so they're doing really well, and I stuck with them. The brotherhood is huge here. Even though I had brothers of my own, I felt like I never fit in. So, that is something that is very important to me, having people around me that are like me, that I can count on.” Jaron Kohari | Kelcey Loges/Taylor Made Farm Though working with and around the horses wasn't the initial draw of Stable Recovery, it was something that evolved from a task into a privilege for Kohari. For someone who had struggled so long with the war in his mind, the gentle and quiet reassurance the horses provided was a comfort Kohari welcomed. “When I started in the barn, I was actually scared of the horses, but I felt the growth in myself. It felt good to be able to get in there and overcome some of my fears. When I look at a horse, they tell me how I'm feeling that day. They're like a mirror reflection of my feelings,” said Kohari. “The horses play a huge role in this. I don't even have to touch a horse to feel it, just being in the barn is healing. “I've been to multiple treatment centers. When you leave, you've just sat around and you haven't accomplished anything. Yes, you've got some time under your belt, but you leave and the same problems you've had are still there. When you get to Stable Recovery, you're working the whole time. You're building a career, you're bettering yourself. You actually accomplish things and you build confidence here. [Stable Recovery] offers people a productive life, giving them careers they can pursue, and I didn't get that anywhere else.” After graduating from Stable Recovery in October of 2023, Kohari worked at WinStar Farm up until this April, when he returned to Taylor Made Farm to take on the role of program coordinator for the School of Horsemanship. Along the way, he's been slowly gluing the broken pieces back together as he rebuilds the relationships with his stepfather, wife and two kids. “It's nice that I get to come home and be dependable. I can give [my kids] the things they ask for, and not just material things, but I'm there for support. I can be the father that my mother wanted me to be,” said Kohari. “When I got here, I only spoke to my wife and kids three times the first year because I knew I had to separate myself and buckle down. I had to take a small amount of time in my life to have the big picture and I'm really reaping the benefits of that now.” Though Kohari is soft spoken, the story he shares is profound, and one experienced by many that have made their way to Stable Recovery and come out on the other side of it sober, healed, and reinspired. “I wish my mother could have seen it. That one's hard. But there's also a lot of guys in this program that have lost family members, mothers and fathers, so it's beneficial to have each other. When I first came here, I can remember sitting there and not even thinking it was possible to be in this position, but now I am. It's surreal.” –Stable Recovery is a recovery housing program in Lexington, Kentucky that offers men in the early stages of recovery access to 12-step meetings, life skills training and-through the Taylor Made School of Horsemanship-the opportunity to develop a trade in the equine field. To learn more about Stable Recovery, click here. The post The Road Back: Kohari Living Proof That The Path Less Traveled Can Also Bring You Home appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The early part of last week was spent covering the JRHA Select Sale in Japan, a trip that is always illuminating, to an auction that remains extraordinary. Number one of the list of most surprising things from the five days spent in Hokkaido was Teruya Yoshida picking up his guitar to serenade guests with a rendition of John Denver's Take Me Home, Country Roads. An excellent choice of song, well performed. The Shadai Farm principal should be encouraged to form a Travelling Wilburys-style bloodstock supergroup. Bluegrass enthusiast and songwriter Arthur Hancock can surely be persuaded to pen a few original tunes for the band. John Messara could join on bass guitar, with Kirsten Rausing on keyboards. John Magnier prefers to stay out of the limelight so we'll have him towards the rear of the stage on drums, while Henri Bozo has the coiffed air of a lead singer about him. Angus Gold, Hubie de Burgh and Con Marnane look like they've had a few wild rock star nights out in their time and would make the perfect trio of backing singers, and we could call up Bob Dylan fan John Gosden to be our tambourine man. Johnny Cash's Tennessee Stud is odds-on to be played for an encore. Back to reality, if you can call the eye-watering trade in Hokkaido reality. In fact, Yoshida himself, in a closing address to the media after the yearling and foal sale, referred to it as “unreal”. Plenty of people felt that way after Book 1 at Tattersalls last year, and if the solid increases in turnover at the JRHA Select Sale are in any way emulated as the elite yearling sales get underway in Europe there will be smiles all round. Yearling prep is already underway across many farms, and as ever there have been tweaks to the sales calendar. In Newmarket, the Tattersalls Somerville Sale is back to its original format of one day, while Book 4 of the October Yearling Sale has been replaced by a return of the Autumn Yearling Sale, which takes place on the final day (October 31) of the mammoth Horses-in-Training Sale. Trade will undoubtedly become trickier as the less prestigious sales come around but 'twas ever thus, and that is the sort of reality that must be conveyed to politicians who will have some sway when it comes to matters of the gambling duty harmonisation and Levy reform. No matter how the headlines may suggest otherwise, all is not rosy in the bloodstock gardens of Britain and Ireland, and even France, so often held up as a shining example within Europe, has been hit by cuts to prize-money this year. It is undoubtedly becoming tougher for breeders, some of whom are giving up completely, while others restrict the number of mares they have in operation. The only one upside to the shrinking foal crop could be that eventually it might become easier to get your yearling into a sale, but in that regard we must be careful what we wish for. For those of you in Britain with MPs who are not the very much on-side Nick Timothy (West Suffolk) or Dan Carden (Liverpool Walton), there is still time, up to this autumn's Budget, to register your concerns regarding the serious threat to British racing and breeding from the proposed harmonisation of gambling duty, which would bring betting on racing in line with other types of online games and casinos, which are taxed at a higher rate. The Racing and Bloodstock All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) has now submitted its reports to parliament, with the consultation period for these proposals scheduled to close on July 21. But it is still worth getting in touch with your local MP. Racing TV has set up an online template which allows you to do this easily. It can be found here and only takes a few minutes to fill in. A Bonanza for the Budget Breeders An oft-heard lament is that stallion nomination fees are too high but it's been a rather good year for the underdogs. Dual Derby winner Lambourn is the poster boy so far, though admittedly his sire Australia was advertised at €25,000 in the year he was conceived. But he was down to his career low of €10,000 in 2025, which puts him firmly in bargain territory, with Coronation Stakes heroine Cercene serving a reminder that Australia is not just capable of producing middle-distance types. Here's hoping that Lambourn can strike a blow for the three-year-old division should he stand his ground for Saturday's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. The Queen Anne Stakes winner Docklands is by Massaat, whose fee is currently £3,500, as is that for Washington DC, the sire of King Charles III Stakes winner American Affair. Time For Sandals, winner of the Commonwealth Cup, is by Sands Of Mali, a €5,000 stallion between 2022-24 whose fee was listed as private this year, though it is unlikely to have been much higher than that advertised for his previous seasons. And in a great Royal Ascot for the value stallions, Lazzat, by Territories, took the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. He was last seen at Dalham Hall Stud at £10,000 but stood this season at Poonawalla Stud Farms in India. Mickey Stud sire Massaat and Finn Kent | Racingfotos We could add to this list Golden Horn, sire of the Gold Cup winner Trawlerman, though he of course started out at £60,000. He is now, however, settled at the £10,000 mark at Overbury Stud, and a busy boy he has been since his relocation. Then there's the July Cup winner No Half Measures, whose sire Cable Bay last stood at £8,000 in Britain before also being exported to India, where he resides at Mebajeona Stud Farm. The Prix Jean Prat winner Woodshauna is by Wooded, whose fee dropped to €7,000 this year, while Deutsches Derby hero Hochkonig is a son of the under-the-radar Polish Vulcano, whose fee at Gestut Idee has been as low as €800 but was €2,000 in 2025. So that's 11 Group 1 races this season to have fallen to the offspring of stallions who could very much be considered to be in the value bracket, that is indeed if they have not left Europe for far-flung places. These are results worth remembering when the stampede begins for next year's matings, and indeed sooner, when deciding on yearling purchases. It often pays to buy the animal standing in front of you rather than the one on the page. Next on the List? Could we yet be adding to this list above the names of Nahraan and his sire Make Believe, whose fee was down to a low of €8,000 this year? The colt's owner-breeder Prince Faisal, who also raced Make Believe and his best son Mishriff with great success, looks to have another smart one on his hands in the unbeaten winner of Friday's British Stallions Studs EBF Glasgow Stakes. Trained by John and Thady Gosden, Nahraan followed Kalpana, Postponed, Subjectivist, and Defoe onto the list of winners of the Hamilton listed contest, and that quartet all went on to Group 1 glory. We've only seen him out three times but he has done nothing to disappoint so far, and he hails from the family of another of Make Believe's good runners, Sajir, who is a half-brother to Nahraan's dam First Kingdom (Frankel). There is also every reason to believe that we have not yet seen the best of the highly promising Weatherbys Super Sprint winner Anthelia, who is the standout performer to date for her first-crop sire Supremacy. For a start, her trainer Rod Millman has already proved himself more than capable of keeping his sprinters sweet well into their advanced years by racing standards. His decision to avoid Royal Ascot with one eye on such races as the Cheveley Park Stakes later in the season could yet be further rewarded. In a way, Saturday's major results represented the David and Goliath of sales graduates. In Britain, the Super Sprint was the focus of a quieter Saturday and Anthelia had been bought for just £6,000 at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale. Over in Ireland, the Goffs Orby Sale topper of 2023, the €1.85m Minnie Hauk (Frankel), became the 16th filly to complete the Oaks/Irish Oaks double. The latter is keeping the flag flying both for Frankel and for the Classic generation of fillies. Aidan O'Brien reported on Saturday that we may not see the Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Lake Victoria in action again this season – which surely suggests we may have seen the last of the champion two-year-old filly on the track. Godolphin's 1,000 Guineas winner Desert Flower (Night Of Thunder) was subsequently third at Epsom but she currently has no entries. While O'Brien's powerful team at Ballydoyle continues to dominate many of the major races on either side of the Irish Sea, two of the trainer's leading juveniles have also suffered setbacks to their training schedules. The dual winner Albert Einstein (Wootton Bassett) was sidelined after winning the G3 Marble Hill Stakes in May, and he too may not run again this year, while the G2 Norfolk Stakes winner Charles Darwin (No Nay Never) has also been ruled out of lining up for the G1 Nunthorpe Stakes with an unspecified problem having arisen since Royal Ascot. Trotting Hot to a Hundred Five-year-old mare Rage Of Bamby (Saxon Warrior) left some pretty smart individuals trailing in her wake when winning the G3 Hackwood Stakes on Saturday at odds of 33/1. She duly became the 100th winner for the Hot To Trot Syndicate run by Sam Hoskins and Luke Lillingston, which specialises in leasing fillies from their breeders and has enjoyed success with the likes of G2 Queen Mary Stakes winner Heartache. Rage Of Bamby's trainer Eve Johnson Houghton enjoyed her best season statistically last year and she is well on her way to exceeding that in 2025 with three stakes winners already in the books. Zavateri (Without Parole) had landed the G2 July Stakes just nine days before Rage Of Bamby's victory, while Havana Hurricane (Havana Gold), who was just touched off in the Super Sprint by Anthelia, won the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot. Another Egan to Note On Friday, 20-year-old apprentice Alexandra Egan notched her first win in Britain on her first ride when steering the Jane Chapple-Hyam-trained First Officer to victory at Newmarket. This came almost exactly a year after she rode her first winner in Ireland for Eddie and Patrick Harty, to whom she is apprenticed. It was a good week for the Egan family of jockeys as her brother David won the G2 Sapphire Stakes aboard Arizona Blaze (Sergei Prokofiev) for Amo Racing, having been aboard Grace Harris's winner Nakaaha the previous day at Newbury. Their father John Egan had brought home another winner for Harris earlier in the week when Oasis Sunrise struck at Bath. Riding and training runs in the family on both sides as David and Alexandra's mother is Sandra Hughes, a former trainer herself, and the sister of July Cup-winning jockey and trainer Richard, and daughter of Dessie Hughes. The post Seven Days: Supergroups and Underdogs appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The seven-year-old Bumpy Evans (lot 49) topped Monday's Goffs Summer Sale at Doncaster when going the way of Richard Lee Racing for £60,000. Consigned by trainer Tim Vaughan, the son of Ocovango came into the sale as the winner of three of his four starts over fences, having added to that tally on Saturday with a 28-length victory at Cartmel. Other highlights included Stuart Crawford's seven-year-old Bleu d'Enfer (lot 43), who opened his account over fences on his most recent start at Carlisle. He was bought by Jimmy Fyffe for £55,000, while a two-year-old gelding by Golden Horn (lot 146) topped the Niall Farrell Dispersal. Offered by Mill House Stud, he sold to Dan Astbury and Joey Logan for £48,000. Goffs UK managing director Tim Kent said, “As we have seen in other sales across the sector, trade was strong for those who supplied what the market wanted, and as we saw at May's Spring HIT/PTP Sale, trade for the horses-in-training was strong, as evidenced by prices of £60,000 for the promising chaser Bumpy Evans, £55,000 for Bleu d'Enfer and £41,000 for Irish pointer Pigeon Forge. The Niall Farrell Dispersal also offered some quality horses, with youngstock by the likes of Nathaniel and Golden Horn selling for up to £48,000.” He added, “The store section of the sale was unfortunately much tougher and certainly reflected the challenges this sector of the market has been facing over the last 18 months. Overall, we are happy with the results achieved and we now turn our attention to the Premier Yearling Sale which will be held here at Doncaster on Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 August from 10am.” The post Improving Chaser Bumpy Evans Stars at Goffs Summer Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Atlantic Six Racing's Book'em Danno (Bucchero) has emerged from his career-best effort in a Grade I-quality renewal of the GII A. G. Vanderbilt Stakes on July 19 in good order, and connections are currently mulling over their options as they chart a course for the back end of the gelding's 4-year-old season. In posting a lofty 111 Beyer Speed Figure, the New Jersey-bred was taking his career record to 9-3-1 from 15 starts and his $220,000 paycheck over the weekend lifted his earnings to $1,580,425 “You always hope these horses get better as they get older and he's bigger, stronger and faster, if that's possible,” said Atlantic Six Racing's Jay Briscione, who missed the Vanderbilt owing to his son's wedding. “He's just a professional. I was at the barn the morning after and saw Paco Lopez and he said he just goes about his business, puts his game face on and does his job.” Having won the GI Woody Stephens Stakes at the Spa last summer and the GIII True North Stakes during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival last month, the next logical spot for Book'em Danno comes in Saratoga's GI Forego Stakes on Aug. 23, a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. It is the Sprint on championship weekend that the Atlantic Six partners are eyeing up as a possible target beyond the Forego. “We've always taken the 'one-race-at-a-time' approach, so we'll see how he comes out of [the Vanderbilt] and how he responds and then we'll look at our options,” Briscione said. “Obviously he seems to love it at Saratoga just as much as people do. We've always said he was a smart horse, so he's showing that. He loves it up there, we love it up there, so if it works out, that's probably where we'll be heading. “The Forego would be the logical target and though the Breeders' Cup is a long way off, if we're fortunate enough to be healthy and in the same sort of form he's been in, it would certainly be an honor for us to be considered and participate in that kind of event.” Briscione also mentioned the GIII Vosburgh Stakes at Aqueduct on Sept. 27 as a possible alternative. That seven-furlong contest is a Breeders' Cup Challenge race for the Sprint. For now, Briscione, Atlantic Six and trainer Derek Ryan are continuing to enjoy every minute of the journey with Book'em Danno. “I keep pinching myself that we've been blessed with these opportunities with this horse, it's just been so special,” Briscione said. WATCH: Book'em Danno sails home in the Vanderbilt The post BC Sprint Berth Would Be An ‘Honor’ For ‘Bigger, Stronger, Faster’ Book’em Danno appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The 30th edition of Dubai World Cup night will be held on Saturday, March 28, 2026. The Dubai Racing Carnival, spanning 17 race meetings, begins on Friday, November 7 and ends on Dubai World Cup night. Dubai Racing Club released the 2025/2026 racing calendar on Monday. There will be four major race days this season beginning on December 19 with Festive Friday with the G2 Al Maktoum Mile the highlight. Fashion Friday, featuring the G1 Al Maktoum Challenge, is set for January 23. Emirates Super Saturday is scheduled for Saturday, February 28, with its key race the G2 Al Maktoum Classic. Finally, the season finale is Dubai World Cup night on March 28. Sheikh Rashed bin Dalmook Al Maktoum, chairman of Dubai Racing Club, said, “The Dubai World Cup is firmly established as one of the world's great sporting and social spectacles. As we prepare for its 30th edition in 2026, a milestone to be truly celebrated, we look forward to welcoming the finest horses, jockeys, and connections from around the world. “The 16 lead-up meetings of the Dubai Racing Carnival promise exceptional competition and international flair. Thanks to the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, the Carnival continues to elevate Dubai's position on the global racing stage.” The post Dubai World Cup Turns 30 In 2026, As 2025/2026 Racing Calendar Released appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Trainer Mike Maker is a man of few words. Really, he is. Don't take it personally. The 56-year-old is just not naturally blabby. The TDN's Tim Wilkin sat down with him in his office on the backstretch at Saratoga Race Course, and found that Maker has some things to say. A former assistant to the late, great D. Wayne Lukas (you know there are stories there), Maker has a favorite horse he has trained, a favorite sports team, and a definitive answer on what actor would play him in a movie on his life. Here is the Saratoga Q&A. TDN: You have a reputation of not saying much. You've heard that, I'm sure. Mike Maker: Oh yeah. TDN: What is your answer to that? MM: It's my pedigree (smiles). TDN: But you do have things to say. MM: I joke around. Sometimes I have a lot of things going on. I'm quiet. TDN: Have you always been a quiet guy? MM: Yup. My father was quiet. His philosophy was 'don't open your mouth too much and people won't know how stupid you are' (smiles). TDN: Some people might think it's aloofness. It's not like you are ignoring people, right? MM: No. Not at all. TDN: What is a long answer for you? MM: Sometimes David Woods (a cameraman at Gulfstream Park and Churchill Downs) and I will joke when we do interviews: 'how many words do you want me to say?' TDN: Really. What are some of the numbers you have come up with? MM: A couple times it was one or two. Or seven- or eight-word answers. TDN: So, you have a little bit of fun with it (not fun for the writers). MM: Oh yeah. TDN: In your career, you have won a lot of training titles in Kentucky. Last year here, you tied for second with Todd (Pletcher) even though Chad Brown ran away with it. What is your secret to training horses? MM: Not much of a secret. I just try to enter the horses in the best race possible. It's not always possible. I just try to place them well and take care of them well. Not really rocket science. TDN: Favorite horse you have ever trained. MM: I guess, Hansen (won five of nine career starts, including 2011 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile). TDN: What puts him there? MM: He was a little challenge from day one, but it was no secret that he had the desire, and he had the talent. TDN: If you had five stalls open in your barn and you could put five horses from history in those stalls, who would they be? MM: Ruffian. Man 'o War. Secretariat. Affirmed. Alydar. TDN: Those are five pretty good ones. If you were not a horse trainer, what do you think you'd be doing? MM: You know, I went to college to get into accounting, but I just couldn't see myself being in an office. I was always good with numbers. TDN: Where did you go to school? MM: I grew up in Madison Heights (Michigan) and went to Langford High School. I went to college at Wayne State University. TDN: You also went to the college of Lukas. You were an assistant to D. Wayne Lukas. Do you have a good Wayne Lukas story for me? MM: A bunch of them. Wayne used to always joke when we ride from Louisville to Keeneland for the races. He said the way I was driving, if I was in California, I would've got run over. One day, I got pulled over. Wayne told the cops, “I've been trying to tell him to slow down for miles.' I got a ticket and had to go to traffic school. TDN: Everyone knows what a legend Wayne was. What was the experience like working for him? MM: It was great. As a kid, you had your sports heroes. Baseball players, football players, basketball players. Mine was Wayne Lukas and I was fortunate enough to work for him. I was lucky to work for him for 10 years. He was like a father to me as he was to others. He kept you motivated, was always positive. TDN: You have trained at tracks all over the country. Is there one that is your favorite? MM: Churchill Downs. It's home. And all the history. TDN: Where do you put Saratoga? MM: Right there, below Churchill. TDN: What do you like about summers in Saratoga? MM: You have the best of the best up here and it's always fun. The competition is great. You see a lot of great horses. Owners come to the races more here than other tracks. TDN: Nights are probably longer because there are so many owners in town. MM: That is correct. TDN: Is that fun for you? MM: Sometimes. If you have a bad day and you are down in the dumps and you want to be left alone–at least I do. TDN: This is one of the only sports that I can think of that as soon as the event–the race–is over you have microphones and tape recorders in your face asking for reaction. It has to be tough especially if you have had a tough beat. In other sports, there is a cooling off period. MM: That doesn't really bother me. It's like pretty much what happens, happens. And there is nothing you can do about it. Turn the page. There is always tomorrow. TDN: I talked to you about doing this Q&A last year at Kentucky Downs. One question I gave you last year–and you said you would think about it for a year–was if you could pick the guy to play you in a movie about yourself, who would it be? Well, here we are. MM: Dave Chappelle. TDN: Wow. I did not see that one coming. Why him? MM: One, I'm a fan of his. And I've got a bit of a smart-ass in me as well. Movies have to be entertaining, and I don't think anyone is interested in what happened in my life, so he would have to kick it up a notch. TDN: Favorite horse racing movie? MM: “Let It Ride.” TDN: If you could have dinner with three people, living or dead, who would they be? MM: My dad. Wayne (Lukas). And my mom. TDN: Are your parents still with us? MM: No. TDN: Would you be able to get a word in with Wayne there? MM: No (laughs). TDN: Favorite holiday? MM: Christmas. Obvious reasons. I have a 12-year-old son, and we have a really good time. TDN: Are you big into gifts? MM: Yes. I like to give more than receive. I don't care if I get gifts. I prefer not to. TDN: If there is a day that you have just to yourself –and, I know in this business that day never comes– but if you did, what are you doing? MM: Just trying to hang out with my kids. My 12-year-old (Caden) is pretty entertaining. Michael is 19 and is going to be a sophomore at U of K this fall. TDN: Are they into the horses? MM: When Caden was young, he really was. He had a pony. He took care of it, bathed it. We worked the 2-year-old sale, and he would clock the horses with his own stopwatch. The first year that he was doing it, I bought a horse–and that was the year Justify won the Triple Crown–and he said he was going to call the horse Lucky because he's the fastest horse in the world. He ran one day. I came home and I said, 'did you see Lucky run?' He went to the lead and got caught in the last jump or two. (Caden) fell to the ground and said he was not going to watch another horse race the rest of his life. TDN: Is he watching now? MM: He's watching now. He has been to the barn with me this summer. TDN: I know we talked about Dave Chappelle, but do you have any movie actors you like watching? MM: Brad Pitt. George Clooney. And I like watching Dave Chappelle skits. TDN: But Pitt and Clooney don't get the call to play you. MM: Nah. TDN: What is your favorite time of day? MM: I'm an early morning person. TDN: What time do you get to the barn in the morning? MM: Between 4 and 4:30. I'm usually up by 3:30. TDN: When time do you go to bed? MM: Whenever I fall asleep. I'll say I get six hours a night. TDN: The race you haven't won that you want to win most of all. MM: Same as everybody else. The Kentucky Derby. TDN: Your best chance in the Derby. Which was it (he is 0-10 for his career in the Run for the Roses)? MM: A lot of my horses got in the Derby from artificial surfaces. Hansen, I was always suspicious he could not go that far (finished ninth in 2012). TDN: Hansen was a big story because his owner (Dr. Kendall Hansen) had his tail painted blue. Whatever happened to that guy? MM: His clinic got raided (in 2019 by Federal agents and he was accused of overprescribing opioids to patients), it went to trail, and he was acquitted. TDN: He's not in the game anymore, is he? MM: No. I talk to him every now and again. TDN: When you have an owner that wants to do something outrageous like paint a horse's tail blue, do you just have to shake your head and go with it? MM: It's all you can do. They were good times. He was always in the right place, a very generous guy and enjoyed the game. TDN: Walking through the crowd at Saratoga, or any racetrack for that matter, you are going to hear some things after a race. MM: Oh, yeah. TDN: If you hear things, is it like water off your back? MM: It doesn't bother me. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. TDN: Do you ever say anything back? MM: One guy, he actually emailed me, and I open my emails early in the morning. He left his phone number, and I decided to give him a call. It was early in my (solo) career. If I remember correctly, he made it sound like I was winning races, and I just came out of nowhere and I had been doing this since 1979. I wanted him to know I was not just showing up in the afternoon and saddling horses. TDN: The guy must have been shocked you called him. MM: Yeah, he was. I was on my way to work. TDN: He was most likely in bed. MM: He was. TDN: You loved that. MM: Yes. I did. TDN: So, you are a funny guy. MM (smiles). When Charismatic won the Kentucky Derby, we were walking back. Somebody yelled, 'that horse is never going to win another race again.' I said, 'he doesn't have to.' Mike Maker and Laurel Valley | Sarah Andrew TDN: Ideal night for you after you get home. MM: My son Caden and I have a lot of fun. Joking. Playing tricks on each other. TDN: Favorite sport other than horse racing. MM: Pro football. TDN: Do you have a team? MM: Detroit Lions. I think they will have a great year although there is the scuttlebutt about all the assistant coaches they have lost (to be head coaches of other NFL teams). TDN: Do you go to games? MM: Sure do. Last year, I went to the Colts game (in Indianapolis, a 24-6 win) and we had front row seats so that was a good afternoon. Before they were good, I took my family for one at Ford Field for Christmas. TDN: If you had to describe yourself in one word, what would it be? MM: What you see is what you get. TDN: That works for me. The post Saratoga Q & A With Mike Maker appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

French ace Calandagan (Gleneagles), G1 Coronation Cup winner Jan Brueghel (Galileo), globetrotter Rebel's Romance (Dubawi) and star filly Kalpana (Study Of Man) headline the confirmations for Saturday's G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot. Worth a record £1.5m in 2025, the King George is Britain's richest all-aged contest and the most valuable race ever run at Ascot. Francis-Henri Graffard is chasing back-to-back victories following Goliath's surprise win in 2024. This year the trainer will be represented by Calandagan, who gained a deserved Group 1 success in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud last time, a victory that ended a run of four consecutive seconds at the highest level. Jan Brueghel, winner of last season's G1 St Leger, had Calandagan's measure when the pair clashed in the G1 Coronation Cup at Epsom. Conduit in 2009 is the most recent St Leger victor to follow up in the King George. Aidan O'Brien reported on Saturday that Jan Brueghel and 2023 St Leger winner Continuous (Heart's Cry) were the most likely runners in the race from Ballydoyle, although dual Derby hero Lambourn (Australia) and G1 Pretty Polly Stakes scorer Whirl (Wootton Bassett) both stood their ground at Monday's confirmation stage. Seven-year-old Rebel's Romance would become the oldest winner of the King George, supplanting Swain, Enable and Hukum who all won the race at the age of six. Charlie Appleby's stalwart, the winner of 18 races around the world, will look to add a first domestic Group 1 to his glittering CV. Meanwhile, Kalpana is set to return to the scene of her biggest victory, with Andrew Balding's filly having ended 2024 with a dominant success in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies and Mares Stakes. The Juddmonte homebred was last seen filling the runner-up spot behind Whirl in the Pretty Polly at the Curragh. Barry Mahon, Juddmonte's European racing manager, said, “Kalpana is all systems go for the King George. This has been her intended target since her last run in Ireland and she is in good shape. “I think her two runs this year have been very solid. We know she is proven over a mile and a half on soft ground, so for her to produce those performances over 10 furlongs on quicker ground is very promising. “We would be hopeful of a strong showing on Saturday back over 12 furlongs, for all it looks a competitive race. Calandagan is a top-class horse and we all saw what Jan Brueghel did at Epsom. I don't know if Lambourn will line up as well but a Derby winner always commands respect.” The Jessica Harrington-trained Green Impact (Wootton Bassett), who was sixth in the G1 Irish Derby on his most recent outing, completes the eight confirmations. The post Coronation Cup Principals Headline Stellar King George Confirmations appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

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