Wandering Eyes

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

With his background in real estate, NYRA chairman and Jockey Club steward Marc Holliday is the ideal person to guide the organization's future and construction of Belmont Park. View the full article

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Irish hopefuls The Lion In Winter, Los Angeles, Al Riffa and Galen have all hit the ground running ahead of their intended targets on Sunday’s Longines Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) at Sha Tin. Aidan O’Brien has been a perennial figure at the meeting, winning the Group One Hong Kong Vase (2,400m) three times courtesy of Highland Reel (2015 and 2017) and Mogul (2020). He will be represented in the same race on Sunday by Group One winner Los Angeles, who will head to stud following his run,...View the full article

David Hayes has his sights firmly set on the HK$300,000 International Jockeys’ Championship (IJC) trainers’ bonus with a battalion of seven horses across the four legs of Wednesday’s lucrative competition. The top trainer won the prize in 2021 and will have every chance to do the same at Happy Valley with an in-form squad that includes the strong pair of Akashvani and Romantic Son in the fourth leg, a Class Three contest over 1,200m. Romantic Son ran riot in the grade on his most recent start,...View the full article

He may have been a touch jaded when he left Hong Kong in 2019, but Umberto Rispoli is back in town with a spring in his step and boasting every bit of the infectious energy he’s so well known for. Frustrated by a lack of opportunity after 122 Hong Kong wins across almost eight years, Rispoli packed his bags and headed for the United States. Almost six years to the day, he returns in the midst of his “best year as a rider” after 127 wins including a superb victory aboard Journalism in the Group...View the full article

Australia’s newest Group One winner, Cosmic Crusader (NZ) (Maurice), will back-up in Saturday’s Gr.3 Gold Rush (1400m) at Ascot, assuming he comes through the weekend’s heroics in good order. After a luckless campaign, which saw him finish third in both the Gr.3 Asian Beau Stakes (1400m) and Gr.3 RJ Peters Stakes (1500m), both at an odds-on quote, Cosmic Crusader took out the Listed Carbine Club Stakes (1400m) on November 22, before his gutsy Northerly triumph. Having gone from 1400 metres up to 1800 metres, the five-year-old gelded son of Maurice, who was bred by and is raced by Bob Peters, will now drop back to 1400 metres in the Gold Rush. Michael Grantham knows it’s somewhat of an unorthodox preparation, and it’s certainly a challenge, but it’s one he’s looking forward to. “He’s pulled up well this morning,” Grantham told SEN Track. “We’ll probably accept for the Gold Rush and I’ll just keep monitoring him during the week and keep the work up to him, because I don’t want him to get away from me. “It will be a very big test for him. I know it was a big test on Saturday.” Cosmic Crusader will meet a quality field on Saturday, with defending champion Western Empire (NZ) (Iffraaj), who placed third in the Northerly, also set to back-up. Beaten Winterbottom Stakes contestants Overpass (Vancouver), Jokers Grin (Maschino), Rey Magnerio (Magnus) and Rope Them In (Playing God) will also tackle the race. Western Empire’s stablemate, Watch Me Rock (Awesome Rock), who was narrowly beaten by Cosmic Crusader in the Northerly, won’t be there; the Gr.1 Railway Stakes victor has gone to the paddock. “That Gold Rush, with those couple of handy sprinters that can really turn on the speed, it might bring him undone, but you’re racing for $1.5 million so you’ve got to have a crack while you’ve got the horse,” Grantham added. View the full article

A graduate trifecta in the Group One New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) provided a timely reminder of the quality that can be found in Book 2 of NZB’s National Yearling Sale, and more of the same can be expected at Karaka 2026. A new-look Book 2 will take place on just one day – Tuesday 27 January – and features a select catalogue of 280 yearlings. The catalogue contains plenty of yearlings with the credentials to follow in the footsteps of Romanoff (NZ) (Belardo), Affirmative Action (Yes Yes Yes) and Shoma (NZ) (Contributer), who were bought for $75,000, $115,000 and $20,000 respectively from Book 2 of Karaka 2024. They finished first, second and third in the $700,000 New Zealand 2000 Guineas at Riccarton on November 15. Book 2 of Karaka 2026 features siblings and progeny of numerous black-type performers, including Lot 613, a colt by Divine Prophet from the draft of Mapperley Stud. The colt is a half-brother to Snazzytavi (NZ) (Tavistock), whose nine wins include last season’s Group One Zabeel Classic (2000m), Group One Livamol Classic (2040m) and Group Two Cal Isuzu Stakes (1600m). Another half-sister, Le Societe (Anabaa), was stakes-placed and is a black-type producer, while their dam Ritzy Lady (NZ) (Zabeel) herself won at Listed level. Lot 572 is an Ardrossan colt whose dam is a half-sister to the dam of Perth’s recent Group One Railway Stakes (1600m) winner Watch Me Rock (Awesome Rock). Ardrossan is also the sire of Lot 624, a filly out of the Group Three-winning mare Seven Schillings (NZ) (O’Reilly). She is the dam of four winners including Group Two winner Emily Margaret (NZ) (Pins) and stakes-placed Heptagon (NZ) (Jimmy Choux), while Emily Margaret is the dam of the stakes-placed Ha’penny Hatch (NZ) (Circus Maximus). Lot 633 is a colt by exciting Cambridge Stud stallion Sword Of State, whose first crop of two-year-olds has already produced the stakes-winning Australian filly Torture (NZ). This colt is out of a half-sister to the brilliant triple Group One winner Sunlight (Zoustar) along with fellow stakes winners Sisstar (Zoustar) and Clean Energy (Zoustar). Lot 655 is a half-brother to Von Hauke (NZ) (Savabeel), who claimed the biggest win of his career in the Group Two Crystal Mile (1600m) on Cox Plate at Moonee Valley in October. Lot 737 is an Acrobat colt who is a three-quarter-brother to the Group One Levin Classic (1600m) winner Age Of Fire (Fastnet Rock). He is also a three-quarter-brother to the dam of Group Two Wakeful Stakes (2000m) winner Amazonian Lass (More Than Ready). Lot 785 is a colt by Tarzino (NZ) out of the Group One New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) winner and NZB Filly of the Year Insouciant (NZ) (Keeper). Other catalogue highlights include: Lot 579, an Ancient Spirit colt whose half-sister Inflamed (NZ) (Ghibellines) won the Listed Stewards’ Stakes (1200m) during the recent New Zealand Cup Carnival in Christchurch. Their dam Ortem Fire (NZ) (Gallant Guru) was herself a winner at Listed level. Lot 590, a colt by King’s Legacy out of the Group Three Quezette Stakes (1100m) winner Petits Filous (Street Boss). Lot 596, a filly by Dundeel (NZ) out of the five-time Group placegetter Promise To Reign (Manhattan Rain). Lot 610, a filly by Noverre (NZ) out of the Group Three winner and Group One-placed Reilly Lincoln (NZ) (Pins). Lot 611, a Satono Aladdin colt who is a half-brother to stakes winners Arby (NZ) (Proisir) and Ess Vee Are (NZ) (Shocking). Lot 612, a U S Navy Flag filly whose dam is a half-sister to Group One winner Devise (NZ) (Darci Brahma) and three-quarter-sister to Group One winner Catalyst (NZ) (Darci Brahma). Lot 619, a filly by Super Seth out of stakes-winning mare Ruby Armani (NZ) (Makfi). Lot 620, a colt by Noverre (NZ) out of the Group Two-placed Safura (NZ) (Almanzor). Lot 623, a full-sister to the multiple black-type placegetter Poetic Drama (NZ) (Proisir). Lot 625, a full-brother to the Group Three Rough Habit Plate (2000m) winner Shocking Luck (NZ) (Shocking) and the stakes-placed Analytica (NZ) (Shocking). Lot 638, a Tarzino (NZ) half-brother to Group Three placegetter Baby Wong (Press Statement). Lot 641, a Sword Of State colt who is a half-brother to the stakes-placed Manzor Magic (NZ) (Almanzor). Another by Sword Of State, Lot 644, whose dam Taroni (NZ) (Showcasing) placed in the $1m Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m). Lot 647, a Proisir half-brother to Group One South Australian Derby (2500m) runner-up Let’s Karaka Deel (NZ) (Dundeel). Lots 650 and 651, fillies out of unraced half-sisters to Group One winner Thee Auld Floozie (NZ) (Mastercraftsman). Lot 671, a filly by freshman sire Profondo out of Group Two-winning mare Yearn (NZ) (Savabeel). Lot 684, a Hello Youmzain half-sister to stakes winner Viva Vienna (NZ) (All Too Hard) and the black-type-placed Divine Inanna (Real Impact). Another filly by Hello Youmzain, Lot 697, whose dam Beyond The Fort (NZ) (Niagara) won the Listed Warstep Stakes (2000m) and placed in the Group One New Zealand Oaks (2400m). Lot 700, a filly by Satono Aladdin out of Group Two winner Bisou Bisou (Shaft). Lot 714, an Ardrossan half-sister to Group Two winner Shamus (NZ) (Shamexpress). Lot 716, a Profondo colt who is a half-brother to two stakes performers including Group Two winner Tavidream (NZ) (Tavistock). Lot 719, an Ace High filly who is the first foal out of dual Group Two placegetter Contagious (NZ) (Proisir). Lot 724, a Profondo half-sister to Listed winner and Group Three placegetter Sheez Dominant (NZ) (Vanbrugh). Lot 747, a full-brother to Group Three winner Soleseifei (NZ) (Shocking). Lot 751, a Tarzino (NZ) filly who is a half-sister to $1m Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m) winner Scott Base (NZ) (Dalghar). Lot 767, a Profondo half-sister to stakes winner Family Ties (NZ) (Contributer). Lot 788, a Hello Youmzain colt whose dam Italian Princess (NZ) (Bertolini) won at Listed level. This colt is also a half-brother to the Group Three placegetter Tevere (NZ) (Contributer). Lot 812, a Sweynesse colt whose dam is a half-sister to the recent Group One New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) winner Romanoff (NZ) (Belardo). Lot 813, a Hello Youmzain half-sister to multiple Group winner Belardo Boy (NZ) (Belardo) and the stakes-placed Cheveux (NZ) (Belardo). Their dam L’Amour (NZ) (Towkay) also placed at stakes level. Lot 814, a Derryn half-sister to stakes winner and Group One placegetter Lightning Jack (NZ) (Per Incanto). Lot 815, a Hello Youmzain filly whose half-brother Show Pony (NZ) (Vespa) and dam Last Sight (NZ) (Showcasing) are both multiple black-type placegetters. Karaka 2026 will take place at the Karaka Sales Centre from 25 to 29 January, with Book 2 taking place Tuesday 27 January. 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. SALE SCHEDULE: TAB Karaka Millions Raceday: Saturday 24 January at Ellerslie Book 1 Sale: Sunday 25 & Monday 26 January at Karaka Book 2 Sale: Tuesday 27 January at Karaka Karaka Summer Sale: Thursday 29 January at Karaka View the full article

Just weeks after tasting the bitterness of a short-margin defeat in a Group One, jockey George Rooke is savouring the sweetness of scoring his first elite-level success over the weekend. The expat Englishman thought he had nailed his first Group One victory aboard Affirmative Action (Yes Yes Yes) in last month’s New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton, but the photo finish revealed his stablemate Romanoff (NZ) (Belardo) got the nod. Rooke was once again caught in a short-margin struggle aboard the Stephen Marsh-trained Provence (NZ) (Savabeel) in Saturday’s Gr.1 TAB Mufhasa Classic (1600m) at Trentham, and had an agonising wait to hear the judge’s call as a result of a malfunction with the photo finish camera. “It was very nerve-racking because two weeks before I learnt my lesson,” Rooke said, referring to Affirmative Action’s defeat. “It was very close that day and I thought I had won, and I was devastated (when I didn’t). “The camera not working wasn’t ideal for a Group One race (on Saturday), they said the software seemed to fail. It was a painful wait, but we got the right result.” The victory fulfilled a lifelong ambition for Rooke, who moved to New Zealand last year in search of further opportunities. “It was my first Group One, so I am over the moon,” he said. “It has always been a lifetime goal for me. It is what we do it for and why we get up at the crack of dawn. “I had two stakes winners in England, it is just very competitive and hard to get on the good horses. Over here there is a bit more opportunity and I have put in the hard work, and the trainers and owners have always supported me since I have been here. It is just nice to get that Group One, the one everyone wants.” While Rooke’s day ended on a high, having also taken out the last race aboard the Robert Wellwood and Roger James-trained Foreverintime (Written Tycoon), the start was a complete contrast. He was dislodged from Atkins during the preliminary in race three and had to undergo a head injury assessment before being declared to resume riding at the meeting. “The day didn’t start off that well, I had a fall and got stood down for one race,” he said. “I was beaten on two favourites and it wasn’t going too well, but I won the last two races, so it all turned around.” Rooke is hoping he can continue his winning momentum through the remainder of the season, particularly over the busy summer period. “I am looking forward to what Provence, Affirmative Action and a few others can do through the rest of the season,” he said. “Now that the weather is coming good, the racing is coming and the money is coming, hopefully I can have a really good summer.” Rooke is enjoying his time in New Zealand and sees himself staying long-term. “I have been here just over a year now,” he said. “I hit the ground running and did really well when I started. The lifestyle, the weather, the people, everything has just been brilliant, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” View the full article

Simms Davison is more than happy to play the long game with his broodmare gem Bella Carolina (NZ) (O’Reilly) and her family. O’Reilly’s daughter continues to do the Mapperley Stud principal proud with future stakes contender Stella Ma Bella (Contributer) the latest to shine. Davison bred and races the Contributor filly, a sister to the Gr.1 Zabeel Classic (2000m) winner Campionessa (NZ), who was an impressive winner for trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson at her second start at Te Aroha on Sunday. “She’s a better physical type than Campionessa, she’s more forward as a younger horse and showing that. She’s got a real physical presence about her, she’s a ripper,” Davison said. “She will go to the three-year-old filly’s race (Gr.2 Eight Carat Classic, 1600m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day, that’s the plan at this stage. “I only had 10 percent of Campionessa so it’s nice to own 100 percent of a nice horse, Te Akau did a great job with her and they’re doing it again with Stella Ma Bella.” Campionessa was also a four-time Group Two winner and is now back in the Mapperley Stud broodmare band. “I sold Campionessa after she had been passed in twice at two different sales,” Davison said. “I bought her back at the Gold Coast (for A$380,000) so there’s probably more money going out so far than in with that family, but hopefully it will reward us in the long term.” A sister to Campionessa and Stella Ma Bella will be offered as Lot 306 in Mapperley’s draft at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale in January. “She’s a really good type, you can’t keep everything and we’ve got Campionessa and Stella Ma Bella, so I’ve got two fillies out of the family and hopefully that’s enough,” Davison said. “Bella Carolina’s also got a really nice Profondo colt on her and she’s gone back to him, I have always supported my own stallions with those nice mares.” Meanwhile, Campionessa has also begun her breeding career with a trip across the Tasman to Arrowfield Stud. “She went over to The Autumn Sun, she’s positive and back here on the farm now,” Davison said. “We wanted to breed Oaks types out of her and he’s had another huge spring, so I think we’ve made the right call. “There was a lot of discussion about it to maybe get a bit more speed, Campionessa needed time and distance, but we decided to stick to our knitting. “I think everyone can get a bit carried away about injecting speed, New Zealand is known for producing those Oaks type fillies so we’ve gone to a stallion we think can deliver that.” View the full article

Klaravich Stables' Fully Subscribed notched her second graded stakes score Dec. 7 in the $200,000 Comely Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack, winning by 4 lengths over multiple graded stakes winner Quietside.View the full article

Despite losing a shoe in Saturday's GII Remsen Stakes, Paladin (Gun Runner) came out of his win no worse for wear, according to trainer Chad Brown on Sunday. “He looks good,” confirmed Brown. “He lost his right front shoe in the race, so we'll give him a few days and get him down to Payson Park next week.” “Overall, he looks like he's in good shape. It's nice to see that he got a lot of experience that will help him down the road. This horse is for real. He's a serious horse, and to get his career started with two wins off the bat–we couldn't ask for more.” Demoted to second behind Renegade (Into Mischief) in his career debut going a mile at the Big A on Oct. 17, the chestnut turned the table on that rival when adding an eighth of a mile while taking on stakes company for the first time in the Remsen. The $1.9 million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale purchase is campaigned by Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Brook Smith and Summer Wind Equine, who also bred the colt. The Coolmore partners and Smith also campaigned Champion 3-year-old and last year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Sierra Leone (Gun Runner). “He's running faster figures than any of [Brown's Classic runners] in the past,” Brown said. “He's a little ahead of where they were to be honest. He's got good forward, positional speed, all things that are very good things to work with going forward.” Sierra Leone was retired from racing after his runner-up finish in this year's Classic and will stand the 2026 season at Ashford Stud. “It's rewarding because you send a great horse home, and you hope to have a replacement right away,” Brown said. “They've supported me with plenty of expensive prospects in recent years, so to be able to keep it going and have a new, fresh horse on the Derby trail and a potential exciting stallion prospect – which is the broader plan here–is [exciting]. I feel I am doing my part in keeping something in the pipeline for the whole big picture here.” The post Paladin Exits Remsen Win in Good Shape appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Dual Group One winner Orchestral has been retired. The Roger James and Robert Wellwood-trained mare suffered an atrial fibrillation when running 10th in last month’s Gr.2 Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1400m), and the decision was made to bring the curtain down on her racing career. “Unfortunately, she had an atrial fibrillation in the race and her heart hasn’t come back to a normal rhythm,” Wellwood said. “That counts her out as being a racing prospect, so she has been officially retired and is going to be a mum.” Orchestral was a standout on the track, particularly as a three-year-old, when she strung together five consecutive wins, including the Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m), Gr.2 Avondale Guineas (2100m), Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) and Gr.1 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m), before placing in the Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m). Last season she went on to win the $1 million Aotearoa Classic (1600m) and placed in the Gr.1 Otaki-Maori WFA Classic (1600m), bringing her career tally to seven wins and four placings from 18 starts, with earnings north of $2.7 million. “She has been a wonderful mare,” Wellwood said. “When you look back through her record you pinch yourself that you are involved with a horse like her. “The Karaka Millions was very exciting, that is probably when she announced herself. To be able to win a Derby with Roger was a dream come true. I joked with him when we first started training together that he needed to teach me how to win a Derby and I remember when he came down the stairs after the Derby he said, ‘job done’. “To win a Group One in Australia too just capped it off, she really showed her class. She is certainly one out of the box and you feel very privileged to be involved with a horse like her. “It has been a dream run and although it is gutting to not have another season with her, we look forward to the Litt family hopefully breeding some superstars from her. “We have unfortunately missed this (breeding) season. She will have a nice break for 10 or 11 months and look for a boyfriend in the new season.” While disappointed to lose Orchestral from his barn, Wellwood was pleased with his team’s efforts over the weekend, recording three wins over as many venues. Regally-bred filly Dance The Night got the stable off to a winning start when taking out the Dunstan Horsefeeds 1600 at Pukekohe at just her third start. A daughter of Group One winner Stolen Dance, Dance The Night has shown good progression, finishing seventh on debut in a stacked three-year-old maiden field at Taupo in September before finishing runner-up behind stablemate Ariadne over a mile at Pukekohe last month. She returned to the South Auckland venue on Saturday, where she was backed into a $5.30 second favourite by punters, and duly delivered against older rivals. “She is a nice filly,” Wellwood said. “It is always hard for those fillies against those older horses. She was only getting 3.5 kilos from a four-year-old gelding. I thought it was a tough effort and she is probably only going to get better from the run.” Attaining black-type has become the focus with the filly, and her trainers are eyeing some stakes targets with her over the holiday period. “We need to sit down and have a talk with the owners, but whether we go to one of those miles, the Eulogy (Gr.3, 1600m) or Boxing Day (Gr.2 Eight Carat Classic, 1600m), or whether we look at heading to New Year’s Day over 2000m (Gr.2 Sir Patrick Hogan Stakes),” Wellwood said. “Hopefully she is going to be able to pick-up some black-type in one of those races.” At Trentham on Saturday, stablemate Foreverintime made a winning return to New Zealand in the Wellington Seamarket Sprint (1200m), having previously raced out of Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman’s Pakenham barn, for whom she won one of her 10 starts across the Tasman. The Barneswood Farm-raced mare was previously in the care of Peter and Dawn Williams in New Zealand, for whom she won on debut before running fifth in the Gr.1 Sistema Stakes (1200m). “She looks very exciting,” Wellwood said. “We didn’t really know what to expect as it was her first run for the stable and we gave her a very quiet trial. “Peter and Dawn Williams had her in New Zealand, and I know they had a high opinion of her when she was here. For whatever reason she didn’t quite fire in Australia, but it was great for her to come back here and do that. “Off that effort you would like to think that she can put her hand up in some nice races going forward.” On Sunday, the stable celebrated the maiden win of four-year-old mare Honour Mission in the Mike Fraser-Jones @ Bayleys 2200 at Te Aroha. “She did that nicely, but I think with more time she could make into a nice staying mare,” Wellwood said. Looking ahead to this coming weekend, Wellwood is excited to head to Te Rapa on Saturday with last start stakes performer Spellbound and three-win mare She’s A Dealer, while stakes performer Dealt With will head to Trentham on Sunday. View the full article