Wandering Eyes

The final session of NZB’s 100th National Yearling Sale took place at Karaka on Thursday, with a strong inaugural Karaka Summer Sale. 112 yearlings sold for a total aggregate of more than $3.4 million at an average of $30,612. Six lots sold for $100,000 or more which added to a solid clearance rate of 81%. NZB Managing Director Andrew Seabrook was elated for all those involved in the historic week. “To sum it up, this week we’ve turned over $9.6 million more than last year, with 79 less horses catalogued.” “We’re just over the moon, seeing these results from the new format. “The Karaka Summer Sale today was one of the strongest sessions, almost matching Book 2 results from last year. “It’s just been a phenomenal week all around, celebrating such a big milestone in New Zealand thoroughbred history, and returning almost $96 million back to breeders. “Our vendors have done an incredible job presenting their yearlings, our buyers supporting the Sale so well and our whole NZB team who have all contributed to its success. “We’re looking forward to the demand for our yearlings continuing to our Online Yearling Sale, where of course the outstanding filly Well Written was purchased from.” The top lot of the day came when first time vendor Stew McGregor offered his sole yearling. The colt by emerging sire Armory out of Satono Aladdin mare Hanako (Lot 958), was knocked down to John Foote Bloodstock for $130,000. Westbury Stud were leading vendors & their resident stallion Redwood was leading sire. Pictured: Lot 958 Photo: supplied “We’re so, so thrilled,” commented an emotional McGregor. “To have that amount of people and trainers come through and inspect him, it’s really neat. We hope he’s got an exciting future for us to follow.” The well-known Waikato Hunt member praised his surrounding stud farms for all their help. “Dean Hawkins, Windsor Park Stud and others around me have been instrumental in helping me along the way,” added McGregor. “It’s a team sport, alright.” The leading vendor by aggregate and average for the Karaka Summer Sale was Westbury Stud who sold seven lots for $432,000 at an average of $61,714. The leading buyer at the end of selling of the final session was Victorian trainer Patrick Payne, having purchased three lots for $236,000. This included Lot 938, a colt for $100,000 out of the leading sire of the session in Redwood. All yearlings purchased are eligible for the Karaka Millions Series featuring the $1m TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m), followed by the $1.5m TAB Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m) as well as the NZB Mega Maiden Bonus Series with $1m in bonuses up for grabs across 40 maiden races each season. The Karaka Summer Sale is further boosted by a $200,000 Karaka Millions bonus. For the first Karaka Summer Sale graduate home in both the 2027 $1m TAB Karaka Millions 2YO and 2028 $1.5m TAB Karaka Millions 3YO, $100,000 will be split evenly between the vendor and purchaser for each race. Entries close Monday 2 March 2026. To enquire about Passed Lots from the Karaka Summer Sale contact Patrick Cunningham on +64 21 181 5898 or email Patrick.Cunningham@nzb.co.nz, or Andrew Buick on +64 27 555 0640 or email Andrew.Buick@nzb.co.nz. Attention now turns to the National Online Yearling Sale, where superstar filly Well Written (Written Tycoon) was purchased for $80,000. Set to take place on Gavelhouse Plus, with bidding closing from 6pm on 14 April. Entries open early February via NZB’s portal. View the full Karaka Summer Sale results here. Catch the highlights and Lot-by-Lot footage from the Karaka Summer Sale here. 2026 SALE SCHEDULE National Online Yearling Sale 14 April on Gavelhouse Plus National Weanling Sale 25 June at Karaka NZB Ready to Run Sale of 2YOs 18 & 19 November at Karaka View the full article

Respected international bloodstock agent John Foote has been attending the National Yearling Sale in New Zealand for over 50 years, and he returned to Karaka for the historic 100th National Yearling Sale this week. The Queensland-based agent was active across all three Books at Karaka, purchasing 14 lots in total. His final purchase was a colt by Armory catalogued as Lot 958 out of the Satono Aladdin mare Hanako, beautifully prepared by Putaruru vendor Stew McGregor. Lot 958 Armory – Hanako Colt led by vendor Stew McGregor. Photo: Trish Dunell Foote paid $130,000 for the colt, which was the highest price of Thursday’s inaugural Karaka Summer Sale. “He’s a lovely big three-year-old type,” Foote said. “He’s a lovely moving horse with plenty of him. His pedigree’s quite good when you go back into it, being from the family of Zirna and the three-time Hong Kong winner Super Football. “I just took to him, so we bought him.” Foote has been impressed with the progeny of Armory, who also had a pair of colts sell for $65,000 each on Thursday and had progeny sell for up to $625,000 at the Ready to Run Sale in November. The Mapperley Stud stallion’s oldest progeny are two-year-olds, and he has already been represented by early winner Silhouette. “There was one sold earlier for about $65,000 that was with Little Avondale, which was a nice horse and I saw a few last year that I liked as well, so I have liked a good few of them,” Foote said. Foote’s other Summer Sale purchase on Thursday was Lot 951, a Redwood colt from the draft of Westbury Stud. Foote paid $100,000 for the son of the Sebring mare Florid Affair, who won two races and is the dam of winners Part Time Lover, Mossfair, Ornate and Bid In A Hurry. Lot 951 Rewood – Florid Affair Colt. Photo: Trish Dunell “Russell Warwick told me about six weeks ago, ‘I’ve got one horse for you to buy, and you’ve got to buy it,’” Foote said. “He said it’s the best horse he’s bred for a long time. So we’ll see.” Both Summer Sale colts, along with the majority of Foote’s dozen other purchases for the week, are destined for Hong Kong. Following on from record-breaking results in the Book 1 and Book 2 sessions, the brand-new Summer Sale achieved an aggregate of $3.43 million, an average price of $31,000, a median of $20,000 and a clearance rate of 81 percent. “It’s an improvement on the old Festival Sale and Book 3,” Foote said. “There are a lot of horses here that could have been in Book 2. We have been quite impressed with the standard here.” View the full article

Taking on the reigning New Zealand Horse of the Year at Ellerslie is a challenge with benefits for the Lance Noble-prepared Jaarffi. Multiple Group One winner El Vencedor will oppose the in-form mare in Saturday’s Listed Fulton Family Stakes (1500m) and has taken a degree of weight off the Karaka trainer’s mind. “Being a handicap isn’t ideal, but it’s nice to see El Vencedor pay up and instead of carrying 60kg or thereabouts, she’ll carry 58.5kg,” Noble said. “That’s a plus and I’m really happy with her.” The Cambridge Stud-bred and owned Jaarffi finished a last-start runner-up in the Gr.1 Zabeel Classic (2000m) behind Kingswood, whose bold move 800m from home off a slow pace won the race. “To be fair, Warren (Kennedy) was probably one of the few jockeys in the race who couldn’t do anything about it,” Noble said. “Rory (Hutchings) did do something about it, but where we were three back on the fence he couldn’t inject any speed into the race. “We had to take our medicine, but she was strong to the line.” The consistent Iffraaj mare has won four races but has risen to be the fifth highest ranked New Zealand-trained horse on a rating of 109. “She’s never won a black-type race and for her consistency, she’s gone up the ratings to a point where El Vencedor, who’s won 13 races, isn’t that far ahead of her,” Noble said. “It’s just the way the handicap system works, she’s been penalised for not winning but she’s only three points below El Vencedor (four Group One wins) and Legarto (three). “She’s yet to win a black-type race and hopefully we can fix that on Saturday.” All going well, Jaarffi will continue on a feature event path after the weekend. “We decided not to go for the Herbie Dyke Stakes (Gr.1, 2000m), this race leads nicely into the Otaki Maori WFA (Gr.1, 1600m) and then into the Bonecrusher (Gr.1, 2000m),” Noble said. Stablemate Frostfair has also earned her place in the Fulton line-up. “It was a funny run race last time when she got back and the first three around the corner were the first three home,” Noble said. “She made ground and if she can jump and put herself in it with 53kg, we would be thrilled if she can pick up some black type.” Liguria was a strong fourth on debut and Noble fancies the Snitzel filly’s chances in the Gr.3 Colin Jillings 2YO Classic (1200m). “I like her and she ran a really nice fourth on debut. It’s a tidy field for the week after the Karaka Million but she has improved with the race day experience,” Noble said. Stablemate Hey Dana will also have the chance to press her claims for top level honours when she runs in the Cloudsoft Accounting Handicap (2100m). “This is a test to see if we can get to the Oaks (Gr.1, 2400m) so she really needs to put her hand up. We’re happy with her and she looks great,” Noble said. Noble’s other runner at Ellerslie is Kakasisisi in the Myracehorse Maiden (1600m). “She’s run two good fourths and hasn’t done much wrong. She’s drawn okay (seven) and if she runs up to her first two starts, she should be in the mix,” he said. View the full article

Unbeaten Group One-winning colt Return To Conquer has been retired. The son of Snitzel was purchased out of Blue Gum Farm’s 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale draft by Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis for $1.3 million, and he went on to remain unbeaten as a juvenile last season. In the care of trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson, Return To Conquer won on debut in the Listed Counties Challenge Stakes (1100m) before repeating the result in the Gr.3 Colin Jillings 2YO Classic (1200m), Gr.3 Matamata Slipper (1200m) and Gr.1 Sistema Stakes (1200m), the 100th elite-level success for Te Akau Racing. He crossed the Tasman to join Te Akau’s Cranbourne barn late last season but sustained an injury when placing in his first jumpout at his new home base and the decision has now been made to retire him to stud. “He was a great athlete and it was the first time in my 30-year training career that I’d started a two-year-old first-up in a Listed race, and he duly won it,” Walker said. “Every one of his four starts were in stakes races and to win them all shows the calibre of horse that he was. “Winning the Group One was the highlight, on such a big day at Ellerslie, and to record the 100th Group One for the stable was incredibly special. “We thought he was well up to Melbourne class, hence we took him to our stable at Cranbourne, but he unfortunately injured himself in his first jump out in the spring and we weren’t able to get him back to the races. “He had an unbelievable temperament for a colt, huge anaerobic capacity, very clean-winded, and an absolute gentleman to deal with. “I think he’ll make a high-class sire and he reminds me so much of Sword Of State. He has a similar brain, similar action, and we look forward to watching the progress of his stud career.” Ellis was taken by Return To Conquer as a yearling and he was pleased he was able to vindicate his early assessment on the track. “We thought he was the best Snitzel colt in the sale when we bought him and could not fault him in any way,” Ellis said. “There was some very spirited bidding, but we were able to secure him, and he turned out to be a terrific colt.” While disappointed his racing career has been cut short, Ellis believes he has the attributes to make a successful transition to a career at stud. “Unfortunately, he has been unable to race as a three-year-old, but he’s by the right sire and has the right pedigree to make a stallion, and there are quite a few interested parties in standing him, which is great.” View the full article

Royal Flower has one cup to her name and she will be seeking to earn another for breeder-owner-trainer Gail Temperton when she heads to Trentham on Saturday to tackle the Gr.3 NZ Campus Of Innovation & Sport Wellington Cup (3200m). The Foxton mare won her local cup last year and has subsequently run fourth in the Gr.3 Manawatu Cup (2100m) before an eye-catching runner-up result behind Rosso in the Gr.3 Trentham Stakes (2100m) at Trentham a fortnight ago. Temperton was duly rapt with that effort and has been pleased with her mare’s progression heading into Saturday, but she is wary of the extra distance and her outside gate of 18. “She was very pleasing (last start),” Temperton said. “I think she has finally matured, she is easy to get along with now, she wasn’t when she was younger. “She will have Mereana (Hudson, jockey) on again, who rode her very well that day. We have just got to extend the distance, but it is a lot longer. “On her dam side she has got a little bit of staying blood. The Proisirs (sire) can go the distance, but I don’t think I have seen any of them over 3200m. “There are some very good horses in this field and they are real stayers. She will have to be at her best but will be doing her best, but the draw is no help.” While disappointed with Royal Flower’s outside gate, in contrasting fortune, she is rapt with stablemate Procul Boy’s draw of barrier two in the John Turkington Forestry Douro Cup (1600m), although the last start winner’s impost of 59.5kg does have her concerned. “He (Procul Boy) has got the good draw and half the distance, but he has got quite a fair bit of weight,” Temperton said. “He is not a big horse, he is quite a bit smaller than her, so I would have liked to have swapped the draw and the weight. He has won with 59 on his back, but as you go through the grades it gets harder.” “But he is a nice horse, the Proisirs are nice horses.” View the full article

Riccarton trainer Lance Robinson will trek south to Gore with just the one run runner on Sunday, but he is hopeful that will be enough to bring home a winner’s cheque. Promising Tagaloa gelding Alottago will be seeking to bounce back in the Listed Liquorland Gore Guineas (1335m) following his seventh placing in the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) in November, the only blemish on his seven-start career. Robinson said the Heavy9 conditions were not to his gelding’s liking on that day and he was proud of his tenacity when fighting on for a seventh placed finish, in a race headed by the $4 million NZB Kiwi (1500m) bound stablemates Romanoff and Affirmative Action. “His run in the Guineas was outstanding,” Robinson said. “He drew two and he was down in the worst of the ground in a mile race. To his credit he pressed on really well. “We were really proud of the horse that day and we gave him a nice break after that and he has come back really well.” Alottago was runner-up in a 1200m trial at Ashburton earlier this month and pleased Robinson with an exhibition gallop last week, giving him plenty of confidence leading into the southern assignment. “We are really happy with him. He had a really nice trial a fortnight ago at Ashburton,” Robinson said. “We took him to Riccarton the other day where he had an exhibition gallop between races and we were really happy with that. “He is as forward as we can have him for a fresh-up run.” Robinson will be keeping a close eye on the weather in the lead-up to Saturday, with the Canterbury horseman loathe to run his charge on a rain-affected track. “As long as it doesn’t get too wet down here, that’s my only concern,” he said. “If the track got really wet I would probably pull him out. The forecast is good until Monday, so hopefully that rain holds off and we can get a good track, and he should run really well.” A $20,000 purchase by Robinson out of Apex Bloodstock’s 2024 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale draft, Alottago has gone on to win two and place in four of his seven starts, including placings in the Listed Welcome Stakes (1000m), Listed Champagne Stakes (1200m) and Gr.3 Barneswood Farm Stakes (1400m), and has earned more than $80,000 to date. All going to plan post-Saturday, Robinson is keen to chase the other two legs of the Southern Guineas Series with his charge – the Listed ILT Ascot Park Hotel Southland Guineas (1400m) and Listed Property Brokers – Ray Kean Dunedin Guineas (1600m). “We will get Sunday out of the way, get him home and reassess after that, but we will follow that series and then he can have a winter break,” Robinson said. Alottago is currently rated a $6 second favourite for Sunday’s feature behind the John and Karen Parsons-trained Miss Starlight at $3.90. View the full article

Samantha and Francis Finnegan followed a successful pattern when going to $125,000 to purchase a sharp filly by Written By at the Summer Sale at Karaka on Thursday. Awapuni conditioner Samantha Finnegan picked up her first winner as a trainer when Written By filly Bona Sforza swept home on debut to take out the Listed Welcome Stakes (1000m) at Riccarton and she also finished fourth in the Gr.1 1000 Guineas (1600m) behind star filly Well Written. Bona Sforza was a $150,000 Karaka yearling purchase and the Finnegans went to $125,000 to purchase Hallmark Stud’s filly by the same sire as Lot 954. Lot 954 – Written By – Glowing Trait Filly Photo: Trish Dunell The filly is out of the More Than Ready mare Glowing Trait who has now had three foals to race, all winners, including Written Glow, a debut winner for Cody Cole and subsequently sold to the Hayes family’s Lindsay Park. “She was just a smashing filly,” Francis Finnegan said. “On type, she was as good as you could get in any of the books. And when a dam’s three from three and they’re all closely related, it’s a bit easier. “I suppose when a full sibling’s winning, it’s always a help. And it’s gone to Lindsay Park in Australia, so there’s a chance of an Australian black type update for this filly too. “She vetted well and we have a good one by the stallion, so you tend to go where you’ve found success before. “We had Tuesday gallops, so we weren’t really able to get away. So it suited us that this filly was later in the catalogue, as we could only get up for the summer sale.” View the full article

Trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott have been putting in the hard yards over the past few weeks as they look to amass their next stable stars and they struck early at the Summer Sale session of the New Zealand National Yearling Sales at Karaka on Thursday. Bidding remotely through New Zealand Bloodstock’s Andrew Seabrook, O’Sullivan went to $80,000 to buy a striking filly by Noverre out of the four-win El Roca mare Royal Roc as Lot 865. “She is just athletic and a really nice filly. She walked well, and she looked to have a good mind. She looked like a Savabeel (grand sire). “We’ve got two in the stable by Noverre and we like both of them,” O’Sullivan said. “We saw everything on the complex yesterday, but she was the one that we really wanted. “We were looking for something that was going to get up and run and have a bit of a punt and I feel like if she was in the other sale would have made a lot more.” O’Sullivan said he was pleased with what they had sourced at Karaka, headed by a Super Seth filly in Book 1 for $260,000. “You always want more, and we certainly tried on a few that we missed out on, or some that we thought were going to go in the ring and have a good go and we didn’t even have a bid,” he said. “I think it was a very strong sale, the Australians were certainly helped by just how weak our dollar is and we’re trying to compete with them, which makes it very difficult. The good ones certainly made very good money. “We purchased eight, including the one today, and then we have been given another three or four to train at this stage.” The Matamata horseman said there were shares available in a number of their purchases, including the Noverre filly. “She was my type of horse and we just put them all up on the Wexford website,” he said. View the full article

It is that time of year when stars of Hong Kong’s racecourses take centre stage, which means that now is as good a time as any to take a look at several names that stand out from the crowd. There are three equine icons that define racing in Hong Kong: the one who lifted our spirits, the one who is a local hero and the one who conquered global riches. More than just a horse Walking into Sha Tin Racecourse, visitors are greeted by a life-size bronze statue that makes the importance of one horse...View the full article

The extent of Hawthorne Race Course's financial troubles, and with it the enormous ramifications for industry stakeholders in the state, were made glaringly clear during Wednesday's Illinois Racing Board (IRB) meeting. On Monday, the racing board suspended the operating license of Suburban Downs, Inc., which manages Hawthorne's harness meet, for “failure to provide documentation demonstrating its financial integrity, and proof that they can meet the minimum standards” as outlined in state law. According to representatives from the Illinois Harness Horsemen's Association (IHHA) who attended Wednesday's meeting, Hawthorne–which is owned and operated by the Carey family–is responsible for more than $580,000 in bounced checks between some 66 individuals in recent months. With the 2026 Thoroughbred meet scheduled to begin March 29, representatives from the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (ITHA) detailed both the sense of urgency with which they're seeking assurances from Hawthorne the meet can go ahead, as well as the consequences if it doesn't. The ITHA alone is apparently owed around $600,000 from Hawthorne for payments dating back seven months. “There's a very good chance that the last horse race in the Chicago area has been raced. Ever. Imagine that,” said ITHA executive director David McCaffrey. “Washington Park. Arlington. Maywood. There's a very good chance that it could be over.” Rather than offer concrete assurances over a Thoroughbred meet this year, representatives from Hawthorne asked the commissioners and the attending stakeholders to put their trust in a vaguely detailed sense of optimism that a last-minute deal over the next few weeks could be cobbled together. Specifics surrounding this alleged deal were in short supply. Hawthorne president and general manager Tim Carey was scheduled to provide an update for the commission. He pulled out before Wednesday's meeting. In his place sat John Walsh, Hawthorne's assistant general manager. “For the optimistic part of things, we have moved in a different direction in the last month and a half as far as getting these casinos and racinos up and running,” said Walsh. “We're working with a new partner, someone nearby, someone interested in Illinois and Illinois racing, who really wants all of this to succeed and move quickly,” said Walsh. “Whatever's going to happen is going to happen in the next two or three weeks.” The racing board did not ask about the identity of this alleged partner nor any substantive details about the purported deal. Walsh did not offer this information up voluntarily either. At the same time, Walsh strongly suggested that if this alleged deal cannot come to fruition by Feb. 16–when the facility would need to switch over operations from harness racing to Thoroughbreds–Hawthorne's 2026 Thoroughbred meet would be effectively over. “We will have something in place by that date… or we don't,” said Walsh. “If we don't turn over the track, I'm sure Tim will contact the board and just say where he is. But I just know things have to be done by then [Feb. 16]. They will be done. They have to be done.” In 2019, the state granted Hawthorne the go-ahead to convert its old grandstand into a casino. Since then, nothing concrete has materialized on that possibility despite repeated promises to the contrary by track operators. Indeed, ITHA president Chris Block voiced during Wednesday's meeting what he described as “growing alarm” through the years “over Hawthorne's delays finalizing a deal to open and operate this casino. “Amidst those delays, we've seen the precipitous decline of racing in Hawthorne. In 2021, we had 909 horses on the backstretch. Last summer, we peaked at 635. A drop of nearly 30%. Just five years ago, Thoroughbred purses in Northern Illinois totaled $19.27 million. Last year, we ran for $8.6 million. A drop of more than 50%,” Block said. And why should the industry trust that this time things will be different? “When I say I'm optimistic, I think everything is going the right way,” said Walsh, who described himself as a natural pessimist. “At our February meeting, if we have one, I'll be here and I'll be smiling.” The next scheduled IRB meeting is in March. Peppered throughout the meeting were glimpses into the sheer scale of Hawthorne's financial mismanagement, and the toll it's having on the horsemen and women facing economic dire straits. “We have some trainers in the audience that aren't eating because they're feeding the horses first,” said one Standardbred trainer during the public comment period. “The horsemen who depend on Hawthorne for their livelihoods, who have not been paid since before Christmas, deserve to hear directly from the person responsible for that,” said Jeff Davis, the IHHA president, noting Tim Carey's failure to appear at the meeting. “His absence I think is disrespectful not only to the horsemen but to you as a board,” Davis said, adding that there are some $414,000 in state funds “that remain inaccessible in Hawthorne's frozen accounts.” During his presentation, Davis explained how he had just learned “Churchill Downs obtained a judgment against Hawthorne Race Course in December for $1.64 million.” He added: “I'm not an attorney, but it was a judgment based on confession, they called it, which means they weren't, Hawthorne wasn't fighting that. They admitted it. And they owe it.” Walsh appeared to refute Davis's assertions, but his response raised more questions than it answered. “As far as the Churchill Downs settlement, it's not correct. There hasn't been a settlement. We haven't paid anybody anything. And the amount is not quite correct. It's much lower,” said Walsh. Pressed by one of the commissioners, Walsh explained how he and other Hawthorne employees–like the clerks and security personnel–had continued to receive their salaries during this time. The banks, he said, were deciding seniority of payments. “I'm never good with these. I'm never very good with speaking in public. However, I want to assure the horsemen that Hawthorne, its employees and the Carey family are disgusted by this turn of events. It was unexpected–Hawthorne would never decide to write checks that didn't go through,” Walsh said, at the opening of his remarks. In a press release Monday, the racing board stated that it would consider reinstating the licenses of Suburban Downs, Inc. should they “cure the violations and provide documentation demonstrating they meet the minimum standards, including but not limited to its financial integrity, under the Act and rules contained in Title 11 of the Illinois Administrative Code.” Block voiced his fears that the financial turmoil that has roiled the current harness meet at Hawthorne will bleed over into this year's scheduled Thoroughbred meet, if indeed it goes ahead. “We want to race this year at Hawthorne. All our horsemen are looking forward to it. Only, I hope that Tim and his family are taking the necessary steps to create the correct financial conditions,” said Block. The post Illinois Thoroughbred Racing ‘At a Critical Juncture’ Due to Hawthorne’s Financial Woes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Rancho San Miguel stallion Brickyard Ride (Clubhouse Ride–Brickyard Helen, by Southern Image), a multiple graded winner and eight-time black-type winner, was represented by his first foal, a filly born Jan. 24 out of To the Limits (Swiss Yodeler). The filly was bred in California by Jerry Engelauf. “I am very impressed by the quality of this first foal by Brickyard Ride,” said Tom Clark, owner of Rancho San Miguel. “Her sire exhibited great class, speed, and longevity on the extremely tough Southern California racing circuit, and this smart-looking filly is an excellent early representative of those strengths.” Brickyard Ride's graded wins included the GII San Carlos Stakes and consecutive runnings of the GIII Kona Gold Stakes. With 13 wins on his CV, the chestnut won or placed 21 times in his racing career. After covering 44 mares in 2025, Brickyard Ride will stand the 2026 breeding season at Rancho San Miguel for $4,000, live foal guarantee. The post First Foal for Multiple Graded Winner Brickyard Ride is a Filly appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Trainer Brad Cox is not prone to any delusions of grandeur where it comes to the chances of Bishops Bay (Uncle Mo) against the likes of champion Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}), 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Nysos (Nyquist) and GII Clark Stakes hero Magnitude (Not This Time) in the G1 Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse on Feb. 14. He also realizes that $20 million is a lot to play for and is keen to seize upon the opportunity that presents itself, knowing that he has his horse the best he can be in advance of the 1800-meter contest. “He's done very well, he deserves an opportunity and I'm glad he's been invited and excited about giving him a chance,” Cox said from South Florida, where the mercury reached a balmy 66 degrees Wednesday afternoon, significantly warmer than home in Kentucky. Having made the GIII Forty Niner Stakes the third graded success of his career Nov. 2, Bishops Bay went on to top the Keeneland November Horses of Racing Age Sale on a bid of $1.3 million from Pedro Lanz on behalf of the Saudi-based KAS Stables. The bay was on trial for a potential trip to the desert in the Dec. 6 GII Cigar Mile Stakes, came through that effort with flying colors and has since held his form, according to Cox. “He's training very well since the Cigar Mile here at Payson, he's had all his works here,” the trainer said. “He's doing very well and he looks amazing. It's going to be a tall task–with $20 million on the line, it's supposed to be.” Bishops Bay has recorded weekly breezes on a Saturday schedule over the deep surface at Payson since the first of the year, most recently drilling five furlongs in 1:01.60 on Jan. 24. He is scheduled to turn in his final local work this coming weekend. “He's been really good here,” Cox said. “Sometimes this Payson surface can get to some of them, but he's been handling it incredibly well. It's gives you confidence. He's a good horse and lots of times good horses work good on just about anything and he shows that. He's a classy horse to be around, beautiful horse physically. I remember loving him the first time I saw him at Warrendale Sales and he's been very good to us.” A $450,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase in 2021, Bishops Bay was a head second to next-out GI Belmont Stakes winner Arcangelo (Arrogate) in the 2023 GIII Peter Pan Stakes and also rounded out the exacta underneath GI Kentucky Derby runner-up Two Phil's (Hard Spun) in the GIII Ohio Derby. Victorious in a single appearance at four, he well and truly arrived in 2025, with six wins in eight appearances, capped by the Cigar Mile. Though his best form of late has come at the mile, Cox is quietly confident that Bishops Bay can handle the added distance in Riyadh. “More confidence doing it around one turn as opposed to two turns based off what we've seen from him,” he said. “You have to look at it and treat it like an extended mile race. That track can be demanding and tiring late, I think he's going to have to be ridden properly. “It can be a challenging track, but I do like the idea that it's a one-turn mile and an eighth. If it were a two-turn mile and an eighth, it wouldn't be what I'd think would suit him, but the one turn definitely gives us a bit more confidence.” Cox will have a Saudi Cup entrant for the fourth time in the seven-year history of the race, his best result coming when Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming) was beaten less than a length into third by Senor Buscador (Mineshaft) two years ago. Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) struck for the barn in last year's G1 Dubai World Cup, and the trainer continues to learn on the job where it comes to traveling horses. “Saudi Crown gave us a big thrill and what I learned that day is that it's a long stretch and a tiring track there,” Cox said with a laugh. “I do think there is something about having the experience going over to places like Saudi and Dubai and it's definitely valuable to have that experience from a personnel standpoint.” Cox is of that mindset that goes 'you miss 100% of the shots you don't take.' He remains realistic about his Saudi Cup chances, but is clearly embracing the challenge that lies straight ahead. “He has to step forward, there is no doubt,” Cox said of his charge. “We've given him one opportunity in a Grade I to date. He ran a very respectable race there at Saratoga going seven furlongs [sixth in the Forego Stakes] and he probably wants to go a little further. He needs to step up and move forward and if he does and gets the right trip and some racing luck, I think we can be in the mix.” Bishops Bay flies to Saudi with the other Florida-based entrants for the program on Feb. 2. A record $1.3 million in the ring for multiple graded stakes winner Bishops Bay at the November Horses of Racing Age Sale! Purchased by Pedro Lanz, Agent for KAS Stables and consigned by @EliteRaceSales. #KeeNov pic.twitter.com/IMiT0EWW2X — Keeneland Sales (@keenelandsales) November 12, 2025 The post Bishops Bay Thriving Ahead of Saudi Sojourn appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Florida-bred Mythical takes on seven rivals in the Forward Gal Stakes (G3) Jan. 31 at Gulfstream Park. View the full article

It was nothing less than a perfect GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., who finished one-two in the $3-million race with Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator) and White Abarrio (Race Day). To talk about his big day at Gulfstream, his concerns that White Abarrio would not run well, and plans for the two 7-year-olds going forward, Joseph joined this week's TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland. Joseph was the Gainesway Guest of the Week. White Abarrio had not run since the Aug. 31 GI Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga and was then a vet scratch in the minutes before the running of the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. Joseph admitted that he wasn't sure whether White Abarrio could overcome all the obstacles that had been thrown at him. Even though White Abarrio was beaten by his stablemate, Joseph was openly emotional over how well he ran. “I reacted the way I did because of everything he's been through,” Joseph said. “There was a lot of pressure. There was his high-profile scratch before the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile as he got on the track. Whether the reason was legitimate or not, the vets decided to scratch him. So when something like that happens, you have to go through all these protocols where you have to make sure that you go over this horse from head to toe. You have many different people look at him and almost every person who looks at a horse is going to have a different opinion. So just to go through all that was hard. “And then the horse was good until Thanksgiving and then, after Thanksgiving, we were searching to try to get something out of him that basically wasn't there. That's the worst thing you can do as far as training a horse. We went ahead and we pulled his shoes and went to a different type of shoe. We went back to nail-on shoes, and that was a big mistake. We went from being good for a couple of weeks to where we were way behind schedule. [Blacksmith] Ian McKinley came in from New York and he looked at him and he said he would get him to how we wanted him. He did a marvelous job. All the credit goes to him.” Joseph knew that if White Abarrio ran poorly, he would be subject to second-guessing. “The situation created a lot of pressure,” he said. “We worked the horse and everything is checking out fine, but there is pressure that you don't want something to happen to the horse. And then someone would say, 'I told you, we told you that.' That could happen to any horse on any given day. You just don't want the horse to go out there and run tenth or eleventh because it's going to be the same kind of talk from the naysayers. It's always easy to talk after. Before, it's a lot harder. Thank God the horse went out there and showed up and ran big.” The only thing White Abarrio did wrong was that he wasn't quite good enough to beat Skippylongstocking, the veteran campaigner who picked up his first Grade I win during a career that spanned 36 starts. “[Skippylongstocking] had everything go right for him,” Joseph said. “We went into the Harlan's Holiday and that was kind of like a barrier going into the Pegasus. We thought he was getting there, but he was coming off a bad run at Charles Town. We needed to see him run well before we could have any confidence. When he won the Harlan's Holiday, we felt good and we felt like he should move forward quite a bit. He gave us all the confidence going into the Pegasus that he was going to run one of his best races, but you never know until they do it.” The main reason that both Joseph horses are still running at seven is because they are not fashionably enough bred to be sought after by the major breeding farms and they keep making money on the racetrack. Still, Joseph said this likely would be the last year for both. “I think it would be good for them to go off next year to stud,” he said. “There have been offers for White Abarrio, but nothing the owners were ready to accept or good enough for them. White Abarrio definitely has a great resume. He's won the Breeders' Cup Classic, the Whitney, two runnings of the Pegasus, the Florida Derby. So to have a horse with that resume…there's not many that have that kind of resume.” Joseph said he was not yet sure where the two would run next but added that the GII Oaklawn Handicap and the GI Dubai World Cup would be under consideration for both. The “Fastest Horse of the Week” was Knightsbridge (Nyquist), who earned a 105 Beyer figure when winning the Jan. 24 GIII Fred Hooper Stakes on the Pegasus World Cup undercard. The Fastest Horse of the Week segment is sponsored by WinStar, which stands Timberlake. Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the PHBA, 1/ST TV, the KTOB and West Point Thoroughbreds, Randy Moss and Bill Finley took a look back at the Eclipse Awards and discussed Finley's suggestion that a rule be instituted that requires a horse to make at least two starts in North America to be eligible for championship honors. They also looked back at Graham Motion's one-two finish with Test Score (Lookin At Lucky) and One Stripe (SAf) (One World {SAf}) in the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational. Looking ahead, Moss and Finley gave their picks for this week's major prep for the GI Kentucky Derby, the GIII Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The post Saffie Joseph Jr. Joins The TDN Writers’ Room Podcast Presented by Keeneland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Godolphin and Charlie Appleby have dominated Kempton's Unibet Supports Safer Gambling Maiden Stakes in recent years, annexing recent renewals with elite-level winners Opera Ballo (Ghaiyyath), Notable Speech (Dubawi) and Measured Time (Frankel). The axis unleashed another potential heavyweight on Wednesday evening as 750,000gns Tattersalls Book 1 yearling Palladas (Lope De Vega) delivered a power-packed debut display to attain 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' status in the one-mile contest. Palladas settled into a smooth rhythm and lobbed along in sixth after an alert getaway. Cruising forward once into the home straight, the 6-5 favourite powered to the front passing the furlong marker and thundered clear in the latter stages to easily outclass Al Azd (Dubawi) by an impressive 2 3/4 lengths. Palladas is the fourth of five foals and third scorer from as many runners produced by Listed River Eden Stakes third Isabella (Galileo), herself a daughter of Listed Blenheim Stakes victrix Song Of My Heart (Footstepsinthesand). Song Of My Heart is also the dam of G3 Musidora Stakes third Pandora (Galileo) and the dual stakes-placed Allegio (Galileo). The March-foaled chestnut is a half-brother to GIII La Jolla Handicap victor and GII Del Mar Derby runner-up Maltese Falcon (Caravaggio) and the unraced two-year-old colt Helvellyn (Pinatubo). 2026 2025 2024 2203 2022 2021 Palladas, a 750,000gns son of Lope De Vega, continues stunning run of Charlie Appleby in this Kempton maiden.@godolphin pic.twitter.com/GCB2Je2ybz — Racing TV (@RacingTV) January 28, 2026 The post Godolphin’s Palladas Powers to TDN Rising Stardom at Kempton appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article