Wandering Eyes

On the Dec. 8 episode of BloodHorse Monday: Brook Smith back on Derby trail with Paladin, BloodHorse's Bob Kieckhefer previews this weekend's Hong Kong International Races.View the full article

Edited Press Release The launch of a comprehensive review aimed at updating the veterinarians' list and stewards' list categories across U.S. Thoroughbred racing, with changes targeted for 2026, was announced Monday by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA). Through this initiative, HISA aims to modernize and harmonize these oversight tools, providing additional insights into national safety metrics. Beginning in 2026, HISA will conduct a detailed audit of existing veterinarians' and relevant stewards' list categories across racetracks, state racing commissions and HISA's rules. As part of this process, HISA will distribute a comprehensive survey in early 2026 to regulatory veterinarians and stewards, and will conduct in-person interviews with those groups to gather information on current practices. The collected responses will be used to document the range of vets' list practices and identify areas where differences exist across jurisdictions. Once the information-gathering phase is complete, HISA will conduct an internal analysis of the findings to identify patterns, gaps and areas where updates may be needed. Following this review, the organization will work with its advisory groups to evaluate potential approaches for future veterinarians' and stewards' list categories. The process will include consultation with a broad range of stakeholders, including owners, trainers, racing offices, attending veterinarians and other industry participants. Input from these groups will inform the development of a system that is practical, fair and aligned with the industry's commitment to equine welfare. “The current structure of the veterinarians' list and relevant stewards' lists, which are based on legacy categories created decades ago, varies widely across states and racetracks and, in some cases, is no longer fit for purpose in a modern, national racing environment,” said Dr. Jennifer Durenberger, director of equine safety and welfare at HISA. “We're thrilled to be launching this initiative, which will provide clarity, consistency and fairness in a system that affects horses, veterinarians, trainers and owners alike.” “As with any HISA initiative, our goal is to promote equity among all stakeholders and ensure more transparency into national safety metrics, while providing appropriate protections for horses identified as being at increased risk for injury.” At the conclusion of this project, HISA will release its findings publicly and outline a set of modernized veterinarians' list and stewards' list categories. The post HISA to Conduct Comprehensive Review of Vet and Stewards’ List Categories appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Dual Melbourne Cup (G1)-winning trainer Joseph O'Brien believes Al Riffa can provide him with a first winner at Hong Kong's prestigious International meeting when the entire takes his chance in the Dec. 14 Hong Kong Vase (G1) at Sha Tin Racecourse.View the full article

Frankie Dettori's farewell tour moves on to South America this week, although there has been a change of plan for where his glittering career, will finish early next year.View the full article

By Michael Guerin If some of the biggest names heading to Alexandra Park on Friday are going to win they are going to need to do it the hard way. Because plenty of the favourites face either handicaps or tricky draws in the five richest races as things start to hot up in northern harness. Friday hosts two Group 1s, one each for the female trotters and pacers and both 2200m mobiles have seen early favourites cop second line draws. The $100,000 Woodlands Stud Queen of Hearts will see impressive recent winners Esmeralda and Francent drawn alongside each other on the second line and if the second emergency Melody Banner is scratched then the two South Island mares will start from barriers 1 and 2 on the second line. That will see them follow out Group 1-winning fillies Arafura (barrier 1) and Captains Mistress (2), with Ruby Roe alongside them at 3 on the front line. That could prove to be advantageous for one of the mares following through but it is hard to see it being good for them both in what could become a very tactical race. The draws were enough to see the TAB bookies open Arafura the $3.50 favourite even though she was beaten fair and square by Francent after leading last Friday. The $100,000 TAB Queen of Diamonds Trot also sees one of the favourites in Belle Neige draw barrier 1 on the front line with her stablemates American Muscle and Faith In Manchester drawn wider but southerners Walkinonsunshine (1 second line), Hidden Talent and Ya Rite Darl have all drawn the second line. Akuta and Merlin resume their rivalry sharing a 20m backmark in the $60,000 Lincoln Farms Franklin Cup and while they were on par in the Kaikoura Cup their subsequent NZ Cup week form sees Merlin open the $1.75 favourite over Akuta at $3.80 in a race where Arna Donnelly has three reps, Barry Purdon and Scott Phelan have two with Akuta the only other runner in the six-horse field. Also drawing a small field but with the potential for the favourites to find themselves having to swoop is the Co-Op Taxis Northern Stakes for three-year-olds pacers. Captain Sampson and Greased Lightnin are the two tightest-assessed in the field but are drawn barrier four and five so their tactics early will be interesting. And the main trot both Oscar Bonavena and Mighty Logan will start from 20m behind albeit in a race lacking front line depth and few other open class regulars. To see Auckland’s fields click here View the full article

Grade I winner and $2.8 million earner Simply in Front (Summer Front–Complicated, by Blame) has been cataloged to the 2026 January Horses of All Ages Sale on Monday, Jan. 12. Richard G. Hogan, agent for Colebrook Farms, is consigning the 4-year-old who is cataloged as a broodmare prospect. Simply in Front is a three-quarter sister to both GISW And One More Time (Omaha Beach) and stakes winner Churchtown (Air Force Blue). She is a half-sister to Grade II winner Honor D Lady (Honor Code). “Simply in Front is a gorgeous mare who comes from a deep, active family with what could have even more black type on the horizon,” Hogan said. “There is real upside for buyers in 2026 and beyond.” In Keeneland's GI First Lady on Oct. 4, Simply in Front collared GISW Choisya (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) inside the sixteenth pole and held off subsequent GI Matriarch winner Segesta (Ghostzapper) to win by a neck. With the performance, Simply in Front scored her third victory in five starts in 2025. She also won the GII Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile and the KY Downs Preview Ladies Turf Mile at Ellis Park in August. At 3, she won the GII Music City Stakes and during her juvenile season, she was runner-up to five-time GISW She Feels Pretty (Karakontie {Jpn}) in the Natalma. “Simply in Front gave us one of the highlights of the Fall Meet with her First Lady win,” Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said. “To offer a Grade I winner this January is truly special, and she is exactly the quality that buyers will be seeking for their broodmare bands.” Simply in Front's dam, Complicated, is from an established Phipps family of champion Inside Information and Grade I winner Educated Risk. The online catalog for the January Sale is scheduled to be available Tuesday, Dec. 9. The post Grade I Winner Simply In Front to Sell At Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Billy Loughnane rode his 200th winner of the year aboard Dandy Khan (Dandy Man) in a Lingfield handicap on Monday. The 19-year-old has enjoyed a memorable campaign and his ridden frequently for Georgey Boughey, as well as Charlie Appleby. Loughnane, a former champion apprentice also rode his first Group 1 winner with Rebel's Romance (Dubawi) in the G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin in Germany. Loughnane told Sky Sports Racing, “It's been on my mind since I hit 100 earlier in the year and a goal I set up. “I wouldn't be able to do it without my agent, Tony Hind, so I have to give him a massive shout and all the trainers that have supported me – George, Charlie, everyone at team Godolphin and I also have to mention dad [Mark Loughnane]. “I've had great support and without everyone I couldn't be here.” Loughnane's previous highest win total was 162 from the 2024 season. “I'm very lucky and I want to go racing every day and ride as much as possible,” continued Loughnane. “To be able to start getting some quality there is great and what we all dream of. Next year I have some targets I want to be ticking off again, like some more Group 1s, and I'll be trying. “Whether it's next year or in years to come, winning the title would be my main goal – it's everyone's goal really. I'm going to be trying to do it as best as I can. I've got some stiff opposition to try to pass, but I'll be giving it my best shot.” The post Billy Loughnane Reaches 200-Win Mark For The Year appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

A day after sending out Derby runner-up Ambiente Friendly to win over hurdles at Huntingdon, trainer James Owen has advised of a return to the Flat for another of his dual-purpose campaigners, Burdett Road. The five year-old son of Muharaar was bred and is raced by the Gredley Family, for whom he has already won at Royal Ascot as well as landing two Graded hurdle races at Cheltenham. He has been placed twice this National Hunt season but now looks set for warmer climes. “He is going to Dubai just before Christmas to go for some of the long-distance races out there and then he will go for the Red Sea Turf Handicap in Saudi Arabia, which is massive prize-money. He will have two runs in Dubai then Saudi,” Owen explained. The trainer had an encouraging outing to the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar, where Aspect Island, a full-brother to Tasleet, was third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. “Me and Tim [Gredley have enjoyed our foreign trips and have been successful with Wimbledon Hawkeye and Aspect Island and I just think with horses like Burdett Road, this is a good option,” he added. “[Burdett Road] finished third in the Arkle Trial and there are better ones still to come out, so we were not going to win an Arkle [Chase]. Do we really want to be trying to get four runs into him over fences to run in a handicap chase? And we are not going to win a County Hurdle off his mark. “He could go for the Champion Hurdle again, but again it is tough, so let's give him a chance of winning some proper prize-money.” The post Versatile Burdett Road Targets Middle East Prize-Money appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

A jockey, veterinarian and a podcaster, Ferrin Peterson juggles all her duties and juggles them well. Peterson has released a new episode of her “The Boundless” podcast. Her guest is Andres Martinez, who is a foreman for Chief Stipe O'Neill. Martinez grew up in Mexico City before his family moved to Tijuana. There he worked briefly at the old Caliente Racetrack before emigrating to the U.S. and the California racing circuit. He got his big break 12 years ago when going to work for O'Neill. Peterson calls Martinez the “Globetrotting Foreman.” One of Martinez's main jobs is to accompany the O'Neill horses when they leave the U.S. for international races. He has been to Dubai, South Korea and Japan and tells of his adventures in each place and the differences between each culture. The Boundless podcast can be heard on the following platforms: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/andres-martinez-from-tijuana-to-dubai-a-foremans/id1791259243?i=1000739797533 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Tajk_CYsg; Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5gJ9J1d1TybxAOrP5xRyY5?si=qwr5lh27RUuw6nxTioqIDw&nd=1&dlsi=1e604e5acb9a4879 The post Season Two of Ferrin Peterson’s Podcast Now Available appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The Sporting Art Auction, a partnership between Cross Gate Gallery of Lexington and Keeneland, concluded its 13th edition by achieving total sales of $2.7 million. The high seller was LeRoy Neiman's Lady Liberty, a signed oil on board that realized $229,125. Held at the Keeneland Sales Pavilion on Nov. 13, the auction drew collectors from seven countries who participated in person and remotely. Of the 206 pieces spanning sporting art, American paintings and sculpture, 90% sold. Sale topper: Lady Liberty by Leroy Neiman “We are thrilled with the result of this year's Sporting Art Auction,” said Catherine Ladd Kenneally of Cross Gate Gallery. “The international participation through the online platforms was incredible and really a first for us. As the Sporting Art Auction continues to flourish, we are grateful for our partnership with Keeneland and the community's continued support.” The second- and third-highest-priced sellers were two works by Polish-American artist Andre Pater. His oil-on-canvas Breeders' Cup 1999 realized $141,000, while Watermelon Jockey, a vibrant pastel, recorded $117,500. “The vibrant energy at this year's Sporting Art Auction made for a wonderful event,” said Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin. “Seeing our Sales Pavilion filled with our community, collectors and enthusiasts who appreciate sporting art is a special way to close our 2025 sales season. We appreciate all of the work by the Ladds and Cross Gate Gallery to make this event happen, and we're delighted to watch its reach and participation grow each year.” The post Leroy Neiman’s Lady Liberty Tops Keeneland’s Sporting Art Auction appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Umberto Rispoli, who captured his first riding title at the recently concluded Del Mar meet, will make a return visit to Hong Kong for Wednesday's Longines International Jockeys' Championship at Happy Valley. The Italian ex-pat spent six years riding in Hong Kong before relocating to Southern California in 2019. For Rispoli, who flew into Hong Kong last Tuesday–just two days after claiming the Del Mar title–the trip is part sentiment, part family vacation, and part professional competition. “I rode here for six years, so obviously Hong Kong is a place that I carry in my heart,” Rispoli said. “It's a beautiful city. When I was a young jockey, when I moved from France to Hong Kong, it's a place that taught me a lot in terms of building a strong character, mentally as well. They race only twice a week, so there aren't many opportunities. It builds your personality, you know. It's a special place.” In advance of the championship, Rispoli returned to Happy Valley last week and was gratified by the response he received. “I was there [last Wednesday] actually as a tourist,” he said. “Just to put myself in the mood again and breathe a little bit of the atmosphere of the races at night at a very charismatic track. It was very fun, very good. I had a warm welcome from everybody, from the riders and trainers and some people working behind the scenes, too. That proves to me that I left something important here. People were happy to see me and I was happy to see them. The most important thing that is wherever you go, you left a mark on people and they appreciate your presence at the track. I was very happy in the way they received me.” Rispoli made the return trip to Hong Kong with his wife, Kimberley Mosse Rispole, and their two young sons, Hayden, eight, and Aramis, three. “The reason we left right after Del Mar–I am here with the family,” Rispoli said. “My son when we left Hong Kong, he was only 2 1/2, so I wanted to show him where he grew up for his first years. And the other child wasn't even born yet. We planned on doing a lot of things, seeing a lot of friends, having nice dinners and some attractions for kids. Hong Kong gives you this opportunity, the chance to enjoy the city and have fun. It's a place you have to visit, because it gives you so much to do. It's a lot of entertainment. For family trips and couple trips, it would be one of the best trips people would take for sure.” Rispoli said his time riding races in Hong Kong presented him with challenges that he has used to develop his skills in the saddle. “It's tight, competitive races,” Rispoli said of racing in Hong Kong. “Almost every day is a handicap, so it's more strategy, more tactical. That's what you don't find anywhere else probably in the world. The handicap system works so very well here. That's what makes Hong Kong racing different.” Rispoli aboard Preakness winner Journalism | Horsephotos In Wednesday's jockey championship, Rispoli will face off against a group of international stars, including last year's championship winner Mickael Barzalona, as well as James McDonald, Ryan Moore, Hollie Doyle, William Buick, Joao Moreira, Christophe Lemaire, Rachel King, Zac Purton, Vincent Ho Chak-yiu, and Hugh Bowman. The 12 riders will compete against each other while earning points in four races worth HK$7.5 million (US$963,743) in prize money, along with total bonus awards of HK$1 million for the top three riders. “It's all about what horses you are going to ride and what draw you get,” Rispoli said of his championship mindset. “That's the important key in those kind of races. I will just try to be myself and no overthinking, just more focused on my horses.” Rispoli will be representing the United States when he makes his championship debut Wednesday. “It's an honor and a privilege,” he said of representing the Stars and Stripes in Hong Kong. “It's a country that, since I have been there at the end of 2019, has given me a lot. So many opportunities. A lot of people, trainers and owners, gave me opportunities without most of them knowing me, who I was and what I had done in the past. So I will definitely try to represent the United States in the best way possible and try to bring the cup home. The Italian enters the jockey championship on the back of a career year in the saddle. In addition to his Del Mar riding title, he also rode Journalism (Curlin) to victory in the GI Preakness Stakes and runner-up efforts in the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes. “It's been an amazing year so far,” Rispoli said. “Obviously, having this opportunity to ride at this challenge at Happy Valley, and if I have a chance to win it, it would be a cherry on the cake to just close the year in an amazing way. “Happy Valley is one of the most iconic racetracks in the world. So I am glad to be back and I am glad this opportunity came up.” The post Fresh Off Del Mar Riding Title, Rispole Returns to Hong Kong for Jockey Championship appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

“Phil,” he told his son. “No Tackett ever gave $95,000 for a horse. We're in pretty precarious territory here.” Partly, of course, that was simply a matter of inflation. By the 2014 Keeneland January Sale, Paul Tackett had already been selling horses for half a century. From his first Keeneland consignment, in 1961, he sold six yearlings for $6,100 and imagined himself rich. Even so, the bid felt uncomfortably steep-albeit Morrow Cove (Yes It's True), carrying a first foal by Big Brown, was a big young mare with two stakes wins to her name. “My mother used to make dresses for my sisters out of feed sacks,” Tackett remembers now. “We were poor, but my parents had decided that didn't mean we had to stay that way. They had a lot of work ethic, and a lot of pride. Every night, those dresses would be starched and ironed, she'd put my sisters' hair in rollers and make them shine their shoes. And when they got on that bus, they looked like they'd stepped out of a bandbox.” But subsequent events have only made Tackett grateful that they went to their limit for this mare-first and foremost, the tragedy that claimed Phil in 2020, at just 52. “Congestive heart failure,” Tackett explains. “And he never said anything, was still working seven days before passing away. Even as a boy, he'd pick out what he thought the smartest horses in a sale. And often he would be uncannily right. He put a filly through the ring when he was 11 years old. I had a man walk beside him, so he wouldn't get in any trouble, but Phil had rubbed the filly at home and brought her up to the ring.” Phil's knack had not deserted him here, either. The mare's Big Brown colt would retrieve $70,000 of their outlay, and subsequent foals did better yet: notably a Pioneerof the Nile foal-share at $370,000. And then, at the 2023 September Sale, Tackett brought her Omaha Beach colt down from his little farm near Georgetown. “Nice colt, kind of big and gangly,” he recalls. “We had him in Book 4 and Donato Lanni bought him for $260,000.” Nevada Beach did not start as a juvenile and only surfaced in April. By September he was winning the GI Goodwood Stakes. Tackett remembers watching the horse hook up and go, shouting to his wife, “Look here, look at this country horse!” And while Nevada Beach never got involved in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, he regrouped a few days ago to win the GIII Native Diver Stakes. In the process he further elevated his American Pharoah half-sister, rejected by the tire-kickers when offered at Fasig-Tipton last October. Fortunately Coolmore allowed Tackett to buy out the foal-share, and someday she will return to her native farm to take the place of her mother. “I lost the mare, she colicked,” Tackett explains. “And they had to do a Caesarean to get the filly. But now I've an American Pharoah half-sister to a Grade I winner that couldn't bring $30,000 at auction. The only filly the mare ever had.” Nor is she the only legacy of his late son's ability to push Tackett into a gamble. Phil had always been a fan of Arrogate, and in 2020 proposed sending him their stakes-placed homebred mare Saharan (Desert Party). Having initially protested that Arrogate was beyond their means, Tackett eventually managed to arrange a foal-share. But Phil never lived to see the resulting filly, who realized $350,000 as a yearling. Then her purchaser John Rogitz wrote to Tackett out of the blue. He had read about Phil, and asked whether he could honor his memory by naming the filly Philippa. “Now that is a good human being,” says Tackett, still palpably moved by the gesture. “She broke her maiden on the turf this fall, and now he's said that he'll be sending Philippa back to the farm. That's the reason I get up in the morning, the reason I stay in this business: when you can meet individuals like that.” He has seen many come and go in this business, and knows that those who stay humble are worth more than any balance sheet. Depression Era values were still prized when he was born, in 1937; certainly his father never forgot where he had come from. “He had a sixth-grade education,” Tackett says. “But once he got on his feet, he helped so many people. Small farmers working for him would say, 'We've a chance to buy a little place of our own.' And, though he'd be losing them, he'd say, 'Let me go to the bank with you and I'll sign for you until you get on your feet.' At his funeral, I had 15 or 20 people come up and say, 'If it hadn't been for your father, I'd never have owned my farm.'” In his own youth Tackett was expected to show all the same drive, but he had also been shown the poetry of life-and of the Thoroughbred, in particular. “I must have been about eight when my dad first brought me to Keeneland,” he recalls. “I couldn't see over the rail, but could climb up with my toe in the V-mesh fence and look over. And I thought, 'These are the most gorgeous animals I ever saw.'” At home in Stamping Ground they raised tobacco and cattle, some sheep and hogs, but there were also draft horses and a pony the boy could ride. When no more than 12 or 13, Tackett bought a Tennessee walking mare and started a little showing. “But I guess the judges must have kind of aggravated me,” he says wryly. “Because one day I decided to buy a Thoroughbred: if he could put his nose down on the wire, we wouldn't need anyone to tell us who's best.” Tackett did start at the University of Kentucky but once marrying Jean Ann, he was expected to go to work. “My sister said, 'The cutest girl walks by my house to school every day,'” Tackett recalls. “I said I didn't have time for any of that. But then I went to a football game and she was a majorette. And when I saw her twirling that baton, I told my sister, 'I don't think I'm as busy as I thought I was.'” They will have been married 69 years next month. Back then Tackett was working at a Lexington stockyard part-owned by his father. Mondays they staged a horse sale: drafts and ponies, mostly, but one day a fellow came through with a Thoroughbred mare. He would take $1,000 for her and her weanling. “So I bought her,” Tackett recalls. “My dad wasn't very happy but that fall a man gave me $950 just for the weanling. I thought, 'This is pretty good.' So then I brought those six yearlings to Keeneland. I was so green. If I'd worked a year at Spendthrift or Calumet, I could have seen things it took me 10 years to see for myself. So the whole business was self-taught. But that's why I don't know much!” He gives a self-deprecating chuckle. But somehow he made it all work. Like many of the best stockmen, he had honed an eye for conformation working with steers, and always checked over the stakes horses in the paddock. One day he read Bull Hancock saying that Nasrullah and Princequillo crossed well. Well, Tackett had his $3,000 mare by Mt. Hope, who was by Nasrullah's son Nantallah; so he bred her to Princequillo's grandson Verbatim. The poor man's version, he called it. “I sold the yearling for $16,500,” he recalls. “His name was Hopeful Word, and he won over $1 million: won the Clark, the Stephen Foster. And the only reason I bought the mare was that I had a friend racing at Charlestown, who'd bought a $1,600 yearling out of her. He'd already won something like eight races with that horse, ended up running him till he was 11.” It's hard, he acknowledges, to outrun pedigree. His best angle has been to buy well-bred mares with unfashionable covers. It's a long game, and you can give her a better shot only a year later. Not that he is terribly comfortable with the “halter show” sales environment, altered beyond recognition since 1961. “Back then, see, it was a sport,” he laments. “People kept most of the horses they raised. So horses weren't prepped very much, whether you were a small or big farm. Now here come the agents, the vets, the scoping, the video, the X-ray. When they don't X-ray, mostly they're just immature. So I'll take those home, castrate them, turn them out. Might wait till they're two to break them, run them at three. They all win.” Obviously he needs to put bread on the table, and accepts that some kind of sales prep is necessary through summer. “But you have to know how to take care of land,” Tackett says. “Horses are a crop like any other. So you've always got to be putting down some lime or sowing some clover. And land will get a little stale on you. Tesio had 1,800 acres, and used 600 at a time, so every parcel got two years' rest.” These days Tackett himself is down to 85 acres and 10 mares. “This was my 64th straight year to sell a yearling at Keeneland,” he reflects. “I love selling horses, but what I love most is raising a runner. When I breed, I'm really not thinking about what it'll bring at the sale. Even though I want to sell, and sell good, I don't want to handicap him one bit to sell him. I want him to be a racehorse.” To that end, young stock is reared outdoors. “You take a boy that stays home playing piano with his mother, and a kid from the ghetto, who's going to win if you put them in the boxing ring?” Tackett asks. “We'll bring them in two or three times a week: trim them regularly, worm them, handle them some. But they're out 24 hours and we feed them in tubs out in the fields. Fillies and colts run together till January 15. They have to compete out there.” Tackett teases his wife that no more should be carved on his tombstone than: “An old horse farmer from down on Stamping Ground Road.” But you don't have to spend much time in the company of this delightful gentleman before deciding that few of us could aspire any higher. “The way I've lived my life satisfied me fine,” he says. “I've made my own decisions, some good, some bad. I didn't have to work for somebody else, and I got to be outside with these horses. And if I never raised a champion horse, I did raise a champion family. I've outlived many friends but been lucky in the ones I've had, and still have. Us little guys all fight the uphill battle. “We've done it a long time. But to breed a nice horse is still a big thrill. I've always felt like I was the underdog, and that everybody else was probably smarter than me. So I always felt like I had to get up earlier than they did, and work harder, if I was going to compete at all. And I still feel that way. I'm very humble about what little we've accomplished. I've had such good employees over the years, and vets and farriers.” Beyond that, it just comes down to treating people right. “If you don't, it'll come back to you,” he says with a shrug. “I probably never did sell a horse to a man that I couldn't sell him the second one. Because I never tried to cheat, I just tried to present a good, sound, honest horse. Really my reputation, and my father's reputation, we worked all our lives to make it good-and keep it good. And that's worth more than all the money you'll ever get.” The post Paul Tackett: Selling at Keeneland 64 Years Straight appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Approaching Christmas four years ago, a still slightly gawky chestnut two-year-old jumped from the stalls for his debut in the 1m3f British Stallion Studs EBF Novice Stakes and had to be rousted along by his jockey just to remain in touch with the rest of the field. In last place around the first bend and along the back stretch, he looked as though his 100/1 starting price was justified. But then he woke up. And on the home turn and down the straight he started to scythe through his opponents until the lead was his, the two joint-favourites trailing in his wake at the line. Hopefully the name Giavellotto went into a few notebooks that day, but most of us were probably a little preoccupied by Christmas shopping. We know his name now of course, and on Friday the son of Mastercraftsman hopped back on a plane in preparation to defend his crown in the G1 Hong Kong Vase this coming Sunday. That victory a year ago over his Newmarket neighbour Dubai Honour was Giavellotto's first at the highest level, but he has an impressive record now, which includes back-to-back wins in the G2 Yorkshire Cup, as well as a G2 Princess of Wales's Stakes victory at his home track and third-place finishes in the St Leger, Irish St Leger and Coronation Cup. His latest eye-catching run was to finish fourth in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, though this important race had not initially been on his trainer Marco Botti's plans for the horse in 2025. “It's always been the case that it's best not to overface him,” says Botti of his stable star. “He likes a little bit of time between races. Unfortunately, we were forced to miss the Princess of Wales's at the July meeting. His scope wasn't great, and luckily the owners understood, because we had won it last year and it was a race we wanted to run in. But we weren't 100 per cent happy with him, so we were forced to give him a little bit more time and then bring him back for the September Stakes. And it was only after that race, when he beat Kalpana, that we thought we would have to seriously consider the Arc. She was the [Arc] favourite, so it would have been silly not to.” He continues, “When the decision was made, the forecast looked really good. Two weeks before the Arc, it looked like it was going in the direction of a dry spell. Then, obviously, everything changed and when that storm came across it didn't do us any favours, but in that bad ground he was still terrific, wasn't he? You could see in the first part of the race he took a while to just find his feet. And actually, I was worried after a couple of furlongs that he wasn't really travelling, and I thought he was just struggling a bit, but Andrea [Atzeni, jockey] just patiently left him to find his rhythm and then in the straight he picked up.” Freshened up after that run in early October, Giavellotto is pleasing his trainer still. He had his last piece of serious work on the Al Bahathri on Thursday morning under Marco Ghiani before boarding the horsebox to catch his flight to Hong Kong on Friday. This he does with relish, apparently. “He loves to travel,” says Botti. It's just as well because so far he has taken his owner-breeder Francesca Franchini of Scuderia La Tesa to many of the major tracks around Britain, as well as Dubai, Saudi Arabia, France, and of course Hong Kong. Franchini is plainly smitten with the statuesque stallion she bred from the Galileo mare Gerika. To the headcollar Giavellotto wears at Botti's Prestige Place she has attached a tag which proclaims 'I'm the King'. Since April 2024, she has owned him in partnership with Vaibhav Shah. Botti says that no stallion stud has yet been forthcoming with an offer to stand the horse, who almost ended up racing in Australia in his earlier days. “It's been a good journey because most of these horses, as we all know, get sold, so unfortunately most of the trainers, we lose these horses and you don't have a chance to go for the good meetings. He was almost sold as a three-year-old then it fell through, otherwise he would have gone to Australia and that would have been it,” he says. “Luckily for us – and now I can say we were lucky it didn't happen – we get to have him as a six-year-old. He ran well in the St Leger as a three-year-old, he did well as a four-year-old, five, and now six. “As a two-year-old, he was a bit of a handful, and he can be on some days. He likes his routine but generally overall he's fine. My head man Andrew [Morris] gets on so well with him. He's one of the horses that if you change the rider he can get upset. But Andrew, knows him inside out and they get on well, so him being a colt hasn't been a problem at all.” 'I'm The King' reads the tag on Giavellotto's headcollar | Emma Berry Of the prospect of Giavellotto racing on as a seven-year-old, he adds, “Ajay Anne is the racing manager for Mr Shah and we all are thinking the same in that, let's see how it goes in Hong Kong. But the general feeling is that unless something happens in terms of a stud wanting to stand him, he will probably race on next year.” Botti is also overseeing Giavellotto's youngest and final half-brother Gioco Di Squadra, by St Mark's Basilica, who is also chestnut and is out on Warren Hill in the lot after his more celebrated sibling. “Marco Ghiani has ridden most of his gallops and he said Giavellotto felt as good [on Thursday] as he was last year before he went to Hong Kong,” says Botti. “He looks enthusiastic and happy, he's got a good skin. Touch wood, I don't think we could be happier with what we've seen so far. He looks great.” The trainer does admit to having been surprised to a degree by his win at Sha Tin last year. “We kept campaigning him over a mile and six [furlongs] thinking, yes, he was showing more speed, but at the same time, before going to Hong Kong, I felt maybe the mile and a half there was a bit of a sharper than we have in Europe. The straight is just over two furlongs. But then he surprised me, with the turn of foot he showed that day. I mean, obviously he's a solid horse, he's a good horse. He always gives his best on the track, but to get checked and just reorganise himself, he found an extra gear to then pick up and win the race going away. I thought it was quite impressive,” he says. Giavellotto's half-brother Gioco Di Squadra | Emma Berry “Maybe it looks a slightly better field this year than last year, and you always hope you won't draw on the outside and those kind of things. Andrea is going to take the ride. I thought he rode a very good race in the Arc. “It's huge prize-money and when you've got a horse that can travel there and run so well, it makes sense. His owner-breeder Francesca Franchini had the greatest experience winning the race. She couldn't believe it, the set-up on race day and the experience of Hong Kong. So after the race, it was like, well, we've got to come back next year. It has been the priority this season.” Botti, whose training career has been defined by international success through the likes of North American Grade I winners Capla Temptress, Euro Charline, Gitano Hernando and Joshua Tree, as well as globetrotters Jakkalberry, Planteur and Tac De Boistron, is only too aware of his good fortune in still being able to muse over plans for Giavellotto as he approaches his seventh birthday. “Like I said, mostly we have had to sell our better horses as two- or three-year-olds, like Folgaria and Tatsumaki,” he says. “So to actually be able to still have him in the yard – I think it's been a great story, for the yard and the staff, we all need that kind of horse, to be able to enjoy a few nice trips abroad. He's been all over the place and he owes no one anything, really.” The post ‘I Don’t Think We Could Be Happier’: Marco Botti on Giavellotto’s Return to Hong Kong 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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