Wandering Eyes

Voyage Bubble’s historic Triple Crown triumph prompted Ascot officials to invite the Hong Kong superstar to run in July’s Group One King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2,406m), but connections have knocked back the offer. Voyage Bubble gained international attention for his stunning Group One Champions & Chater Cup (2,400m) victory last month, which saw him become the first horse in 31 years and second all time to claim Hong Kong’s Triple Crown. The Deep Field gelding demolished his...View the full article

Race 6 PROPERTY BROKERS * RAY KEAN 1200m WELLAINTSHE (A Goindasamy) – Trainer Ms. L Beck advised Stewards, she was satisfied with the post-race condition of WELLAINTSHE, and it is the intention to continue her preparation. The post Otago Racing Club @ Wingatui, Sunday 1 June 2025 appeared first on RIB. View the full article

Race 1 GRAND NATIONAL TICKETS ON SALE NOW MAIDEN 1200m LOOSE ‘N’ VEGAS (N Yuen) – Trainer Mr. D Walsh reported to Stewards, that on Friday 30 May, LOOSE ‘N’ VEGAS underwent a veterinary examination, which included an endoscopic examination and blood tests. The blood results showed no abnormalities, however, the endoscopic examination revealed the presence of mucus in the trachea. As a result, LOOSE ‘N’ VEGAS has been sent for a short spell. Race 6 PARSONS PARTNERSHIP 1000 WINS 2200m SCHEDAR (R Mudhoo) – Trainer Mr. M McCann reported to Stewards, he was satisfied with the post-race condition of SCHEDAR, and it is the intention to continue her preparation. Race 7 BOOK A SUITE MID-WINTER XMAS RACES 21 JUNE 1200m KNOWLEDGE IS POWER (T Davies) – Te Akau Racing Manager Mr. R Trumper reported to Stewards, the stable is satisfied with the post-race condition of KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, and it is their intention to continue with the gelding’s current preparation. R Trumper further advised that the stable intends to relocate KNOWLEDGE IS POWER to its North Island stable and may consider nominating the gelding for races over shorter distances. The post Canterbury Jockey Club @ Riccarton Park, Thursday 29 May 2025 appeared first on RIB. View the full article

Race 5 JRA TROPHY MAIDEN 1400m LIECHTENSTEIN (M McNab) – Trainer Mr. T Pike advised Stewards, he was satisfied with the post-race condition of the filly, however, LIECHTENSTEIN has now been sent for a short freshen up. The post Auckland Thoroughbred Racing @ Ellerslie, Sunday 25 May 2025 appeared first on RIB. View the full article

Promising hurdler Never Look Back will encounter a stern test early in his jumping career when he takes on the seasoned campaigners in Saturday’s Manawatu ITM Manawatu Hurdles (2500m) at Trentham. An accomplished flat galloper, Never Look Back looked the consummate professional in his jumping debut at Wanganui last month, having finished runner-up in the Foxton Cup (2100m) just five days prior. Now straight into open grade, Never Look Back was set for the Manawatu feature with a run on the flat last Saturday, which was up to the satisfaction of his trainer Gail Temperton. “He did everything I’d hoped he would on the flat, he’s quite a good doer and I felt that with a couple of weeks apart between his races and the likelihood of a heavy track (at Trentham), he would need the run,” she said. “He had a wide draw, and he doesn’t go well with those over distance, so I was perfectly happy with that.” While impressed with his first effort over fences last month, Temperton is under no illusions around the challenge he faces on Saturday, with top-class hurdlers Suliman and Verry Flash heading a competitive line-up. “The system with jumpers at the moment is that if you’ve won a maiden, you’re straight into the opens against the proper open hurdlers,” she said. “It’s not going to be easy going from his first hurdle race into Saturday, so while I’m optimistic of a good showing, I’m not expecting him to win. He’ll keep improving, he’s only been competition over fences once, so he’s got a lot to learn in comparison to what he’s racing against.” Temperton has a similar perspective on Name The Game, a five-start maidener on the flat, who has put in some solid performances ahead of his hurdle debut in the Aztech Engineering Maiden Hurdles (2500m). “He’s by Nom de Jeu out of a Zabeel mare, and he’s a full-brother to a horse (Nom du Beel) I raced over fences quite successfully,” Temperton said. “Nom de Jeus are known to be a bit cantankerous, and he can be a little bit difficult, but he’s a very good jumper and once he’s got the experience of one round of jumping, I think he’ll be quite quick. “I’ve been teaching him on and off for about three years, just waiting for him to furnish into a stronger-looking horse. I think he’s just about there. I don’t expect him to win either, but if runs in the first four or five I’d be very happy.” With four winners in her last eight starters, Temperton is enjoying a purple patch of form, enhanced by the recent rise of progressive sprinter Procul Boy. A homebred by Proisir, Temperton was in no rush with Procul Boy and that patience was rewarded immediately when the five-year-old won his first start with some authority at Waverley. He produced a similar effort at start three, and while each of his victories have come on a Heavy track, Temperton will not hesitate to scratch from the Hallmark and Stone 1300 if track conditions become too testing. “He looks great, he’s working well, and I think he’s going to be quite a handy horse,” she said. “I don’t think he really understands what he’s doing yet, Mereana (Hudson, jockey) complains that he goes around the outside and I say ‘it doesn’t matter, as long as he wins’. I really looked at the race that he didn’t win, when he had to go through the field, and you’d say he just went okay. “He’s in the last race of the day on Saturday and I know he’s gone on the wet twice successfully, but looking at the numbers for the day, if I think the track is going to be too much of a test, I probably won’t start him. “We’ll see what the weather does over the next couple of the days and make a decision.” View the full article

Race 2 MCMILLAN EQUINE FEEDS 1700m ZAPPA JAK (T Davies) – Trainer Ms. K Lawrence informed Stewards, ZAPPA JACK has been retired from racing. The post Feilding Jockey Club @ Awapuni Synthetic, Sunday 25 May 2025 appeared first on RIB. View the full article

2025 The Everest: Ka Ying Rising slot details confirmed www.racenet.com.au Hong Kong superstar Ka Ying Rising, the world's number one-ranked sprinter, has been confirmed as a starter in the Group 1 $20 million The Everest. Ka Ying Rising will race for new slot-holder the Hong Kong Jockey Club which is understood to have negotiated a lease arrangement for the Australian Turf Club's slot. There is a synergy with the two race clubs' Everest alignment as the rich Royal Randwick sprint is part of the World Pool which is managed by HKJC, and the deal also ensures the world's best sprinter, Ka Ya Rising, races in Sydney during spring. It is understood ATC and HKJC are negotiating to expand the World Pool's commingling parimutuel betting operation to include more major Sydney race meetings including the Golden Slipper. Final details of the Ka Ying Rising Everest slot deal are expected to be announced later today. Hall of Fame trainer David Hayes has been anticipating Ka Ying Rising's Everest selection and is already planning the champion's two-start Sydney spring campaign. "I've had stables at Randwick before and always had a good relationship with the club (Australian Turf Club) so I'm pleased that it seems likely the Hong Kong Jockey Club has come to a deal with them,'' Hayes said. "Now we can concentrate on getting Ka Ying Rising ready for The Everest.'' Hayes said he has had discussions with James Ross, the former ATC executive who is now working with HKJC, about the quarantine and training facilities at Canterbury where Ka Ying Rising will stabled during the spring. "I haven't had a horse stabled at Canterbury before but I've seen the success the internationals have had out of there so I'm not worried about having a horse there,'' Hayes said. Ka Ying Rising returned to Hayes' Hong Kong stables this week to begin pre-training ahead of his Sydney spring campaign. Hayes confirmed Ka Ying Rising would contest The Everest, the world's richest turf race run at Royal Randwick over 1200m on October 18, and then back up two weeks later in the $3 million Russell Balding Stakes (1300m) at Rosehill Gardens. If Ka Ying Rising wins both sprints, he would collect more than $10 million prizemoney. Bella Nipotina became the first to win both races last spring. Champion Ka Ying Rising, who has won 12 races in succession, is already $1.90 favourite with TAB Fixed Odds for The Everest and is set to start the shortest favourite in the race's history. Nature Strip was $1.90 when he ran fourth to Giga Kick in the 2022 The Everest. Ka Ying Rising has risen to the top of the world rankings after completing a perfect season in Hong Kong, winning all eight races including four at Group 1 level. "We gave Ka Ying Rising a five-week spell and he returned to my stables this week,'' Hayes revealed. "I'm still working out his program but I'm building him up slowly with a view he may run at Sha Tin on the opening day of the new season in early September and then go into quarantine for Sydney. "I've got another horse to travel with him to Sydney so he has a bit of company. Ka Ying Rising is a terrific trackworker and doesn't have to work with anything but it would be good for him to have a mate when he's in quarantine at Canterbury.'' Ka Ying Rising strolls to victory in the Chairman's Sprint at Sha Tin in April. Hayes said the $1 million bonus on offer for any sprinter that could win the Everest-Russell Balding double and also Racing Victoria's strict veterinary protocols had led to his decision to keep Ka Ying Rising in Sydney after The Everest and not aim the freakish sprinter at the Group 1 Champion's Sprint at Flemington. Hayes said he believed there was enough time after the two Sydney races to get Ka Ying Rising back to Hong Kong to prepare for his defence of the Hong Kong International Sprint (1200m) at Sha Tin in December.

One thing is certain: there's never been a May like it. Godolphin threw down the graded gauntlet in May with such an unprecedented and historic achievement surely no one dreamed it could be possible. A Classic double in America for the operation turned into a Classic quadruple on both sides of the pond, all in the same weekend. While that feat stands tall among the month's graded races, the rest of May did its part to deliver additional drama, special moments, and superb racing. We take a look at trends and notable items from the continent's graded races for the past month. North America hosted 52 graded stakes in the month of May. Among the 10 Grade I races were two Classics for colts, plus the Kentucky Oaks for fillies. Another 14 races were held with a Grade II designation and 28 as Grade III. Just half of the 52 graded races were run on dirt, with another 22 on turf and four on Woodbine's all-weather surface. Unsurprisingly, with the focus firmly on the GI Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs held more graded races in May than anyone else with a count of 23. The Belmont at Aqueduct meet was next (9), followed by Pimlico (7) and Santa Anita (7), Woodbine (5), and Lone Star (1). Twenty-two graded stakes were held around North America on Derby weekend. Three graded races in May were run at 1 1/4 miles, including the Derby, while two were at 11 furlongs and one at 12 furlongs. All except for the Derby and the GII Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes were contested on turf. Middle distances remain the most frequently run distances for graded events on the continent. Sprints were carded more often than routes, with 16 graded races contested at seven furlongs or less. Thirteen of May's graded races were won by 3-year-olds, with another 24 won by 4-year-olds. The remaining 15 winners were ages five to eight. Nine were won by geldings. A total of 37 individual trainers won May's 52 graded races. Multiple graded-winning trainers for the month included Chad Brown (5), Brad Cox (4), Bob Baffert (2), Martin Drexler (2), Michael McCarthy (2), and Todd Pletcher (2). Saffie Joseph, Jr. won three, including the May 26 GI Gamely Stakes with Be Your Best (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}) for his first win at Santa Anita, then turned right around and also captured the Hollywood Gold Cup with Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator) in the very next race. Poignantly, the late Christophe Clement also won three, including the GII Man o' War Stakes May 10 with Far Bridge (English Channel), who would mark his final graded winner–the 239th of his too-brief career–before his passing near the end of the month. Trainer Rohan Crichton got his first graded win with Macho Music (Maclean's Music) in the May 3 GII Pat Day Mile Stakes at Churchill Downs, while trainer Kevin Rice got first graded win with Ms. Tart (Maximus Mischief), a $35,000 claim at Gulfstream in January, in the May 31 GIII Royal North Stakes at Woodbine. Seventeen of the 52 graded winners in May were homebreds, many with partners added in for the ownership. It's hard to imagine a sweeter homebred double than Godolphin's feat of winning both the Kentucky Derby and Oaks, the first time homebreds won both in the same year for an operation since Calumet did it in 1952. Sovereignty (Into Mischief) and Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) will both return to action this weekend in the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. Godolphin was one of two breeders with multiple graded winners in May. The operation closed out the month with three, while Woods Edge Farm, LLC bred two (one in partnership). The 52 graded races for the month were won by the progeny of 41 individual stallions. Medaglia d'Oro had three, two of which were Grade I winners, and Curlin also had two Grade I winners. Twirling Candy had three graded winners, while English Channel, Liam's Map, Mitole, Omaha Beach, Siyouni (Fr), and Uncle Mo each had two. Six-time leading sire Into Mischief sired his record-tying third Derby winner in just six years. In addition, his son Goldencents sired last year's Derby winner, making Into Mischief responsible for four of the last six Derby winners. Medaglia d'Oro sired three graded winners on Derby weekend, including his record-tying third Kentucky Oaks winner. Three different sons of War Front sired graded winners May 3. Lane's End's Honor A. P. was one of three stallions to tally a first graded winner during Preakness weekend | Sarah Andrew Twenty-six of the 41 May sires are active in Kentucky, while another four closed out their careers in Kentucky, but are deceased or pensioned. Two currently stand in Louisiana, with one each in Indiana and New York, as well as in Australia, France, Ireland, Japan, and Turkey. Active stallions who sired graded winners in May and also had multiple sire sons to sire graded winners during the month included Into Mischief with sire sons Goldencents, Maximus Mischief, and Practical Joke; War Front with Summer Front, Omaha Beach, and The Factor; and Medaglia d'Oro with Bolt d'Oro and Violence. A number of other currently active sires whose sons sired graded winners in May includes Candy Ride (Arg), who had two sons sire graded winners: Gun Runner and Twirling Candy. Both Lane's End's Honor A. P. and Ashford's Echo Town got their first graded winners May 16 at Pimlico, with Margie's Intention in the GII Black-Eyed Susan Stakes and Echo Sound in the GIII Miss Preakness Stakes, respectively. The following day, Indiana Stallion Station's Qurbaan notched his first graded winner with Charlene's Dream in the GII Gallorette Stakes, also at Pimlico. The least expensive U.S. buys to win graded races in May were the $15,000 for Skippylongstocking at the 2020 Keeneland September sale and the $18,000 for Classic Mo Town (Mo Town) at the 2021 OBS October yearling sale, while the most expensive were the $925,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September sale for Two Sharp (Twirling Candy) and the $825,000 for Journalism (Curlin) at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale. Forty individual broodmare sires were represented in May's graded contests. Giant's Causeway, Into Mischief, Lemon Drop Kid, and Street Sense were damsires of three each, while Bernardini, Medaglia d'Oro, Pioneerof the Nile, and Uncle Mo all doubled up. The late English Channel got the exacta in the aforementioned May 10 Man o' War, with the late Kitten's Joy also serving as the broodmare sire for both runners. Mystik Dan (Goldencents)'s win in the May 31 GIII Blame Stakes marked the first time since Silver Charm in the late 1990s a Kentucky Derby winner returned to win another graded race at Churchill Downs. Preakness winner Journalism holds three of the top eight Beyer Speed Figures for 3-year-olds in 2025. The top graded Beyer for May was the 109 set by Kopion (Omaha Beach) in the May 3 GI Derby City Distaff Stakes. Both the Derby winner and the Preakness winner received their early instruction at Bridlewood Farm in Florida. The post Numbers Game: Much to Unpack in 52 Graded Races in May appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Saturday, Epsom Downs, post time: 15:30, THE BETFRED DERBY-G1, £1,604,000, 3yo, c/f, 12f 6yT Field: Al Wasl storm (Ire) (Affinisea {Ire}), Damysus (GB) (Frankel {GB}), Delacroix (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Green Storm (Ire) (Circus Maximus {Ire}), Lambourn (Ire) (Australia {GB}), Lazy Griff (Ger) (Protectionist {Ger}), Midak (Fr) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}), New Ground (GB) (New Bay {GB}), Nightime Dancer (Ire) (Ghaiyyath {Ire}), Nightwalker (GB) (Frankel {GB}), Pride Of Arras (Ire) (New Bay {GB}), Rogue Impact (GB) (Study Of Man {Ire}), Ruling Court (Justify), Sea Scout (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), Stanhope Gardens (Ire) (Ghaiyyath {Ire}), Tennessee Stud (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), The Lion In Winter (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), Tornado Alert (Ire) (Too Darn Hot {GB}), Tuscan Hills (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}). Friday, Epsom Downs, post time: 16:00, THE BETFRED OAKS-G1, £573,150, 3yo, f, 12f 6yT Field: Desert Flower (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Elwateen (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Giselle (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), Go Go Boots (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Minnie Hauk (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), Qilin Queen (Ire) (Pinatubo {Ire}), Revoir (GB) (Study Of Man {Ire}), Wemighttakedlongway (Ire) (Australia {GB}), Whirl (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}). Friday, Epsom Downs, post time: 14:40, THE BETFRED CORONATION CUP-G1, £450,000, 4yo/up, 12f 6yT Field: Ancient Wisdom (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}), Bellum Justum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), Calandagan (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), Continuous (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), Giavellotto (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), Jan Brueghel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), You Got To Me (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}). Thursday, Leopardstown, post time: 17:25, KING GEORGE V CUP-Listed, €27,000, 3yo, 12fT Field: Acapulco Bay (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Arouet (Fr) (Galiway {GB}), Rock Of Cashel (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Titanium Emperor (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {GB}), What's Your Game (Ire) (Waldgeist {GB}), Zahrann (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Bay Colony (Ire) (New Bay {GB}), Dawn Spirit (Ire) (Australia {GB}), Nuit (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). TDN Verdict: TDN Rising Star Acapulco Bay disappointed for the first time in his life when last of five in the 10-furlong G3 Derby Trial here, but his previous form suggests he is worth another chance. Zahrann scored by seven lengths at Cork last month and is one of a few from the Johnny Murtagh stable who could make their presence felt in 2025. [Tom Frary]. Click here for the complete fields. The post Black-Type Analysis: Can Ruling Court Complete The Classic Double? appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. The following rulings were reported on HISA's “rulings” portal and through the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) “pending” and “resolved” cases portals. Among this week's rulings, trainer Efren Loza Jr. has been suspended an additional four years and fined a total of $38,000 (including arbitration costs) for a Clenbuterol positive stemming from last September, adding to an 18-month suspension he is already serving, again for a Clenbuterol positive. According to the arbitrator's final decision, an out-of-competition hair test taken from Lucago on Sept. 3 last year returned positive findings for the controversial bronchodilator Clenbuterol, which is banned under HISA except under certain circumstances. At the time that sample was pulled, Loza was not the covered person responsible for Lucago, and was already serving his 18-month suspension. Loza had officially transferred responsibility for Lucago to trainer Luis Ramirez on June 20 last year. But according to the arbitrator's ruling based on expert testimony, the Clenbuterol had been administered prior to the June 20 switch in responsibility. “Based on sound scientific reasoning-and common sense-Lucago's exposure to clenbuterol had to have occurred prior to June 3, 2024,” the ruling states. In Loza's post-hearing brief, he argued that the most plausible explanation for the positive was accidental contamination. Loza's current 18 month suspension ends Oct. 16 this year. This additional four-year suspension begins the same day. Resolved ADMC Violations Date: 06/03/2025 Licensee: Samuel Valdivia, trainer Penalty: Disqualification of Covered Horse's Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender (as applicable); a fine of $500; imposition of 1.5 Penalty Points. Admission. Explainer: Medication violation for the presence of Isoflupredone–a controlled substance (Class C)–in a sample taken from Computing Champ, who finished second at Will Rogers on 4/29/25. Date: 06/03/2025 Licensee: Steve Williams, trainer Penalty: Disqualification of Covered Horse's Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender (as applicable); a fine of $500; imposition of 1.5 Penalty Points. Final decision by HIWU. Explainer: Medication violation for the presence of Phenylbutazone–a controlled substance (Class C)–in a sample taken from Gospel Mark, who finished second at Will Rogers on 4/21/25. Date: 06/03/2025 Licensee: Glenn Wismer, trainer Penalty: 7-day period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on June 4; Disqualification of Covered Horse's Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender (as applicable); a fine of $1,000; imposition of 2 Penalty Points. Admission. Explainer: Medication violation for the presence of Acepromazine–a controlled substance (Class B)–in a sample taken from Ask Arthur, who finished fifth at Keeneland on 4/19/25. Date: 06/02/2025 Licensee: Efren Loza Jr., trainer Penalty: Four (4) year period of Ineligibility, beginning on October 16, 2025; $30,000 fine; payment of $8,000 toward the arbitration costs of the proceeding; and (14) month period of Ineligibility for the Covered Horse Lucago, beginning on April 3, 2024. Final decision by arbitral body. Explainer: Out-of-competition medication violation for the use or attempted use of Clenbuterol–a banned substance except in strict circumstances–on the horse, Lucago. Date: 05/30/2025 Licensee: Gregory Foley, trainer Penalty: A fine of $500 per violation, for a total of $1,000; imposition of 1.5 Penalty Points per violation, for a total of 3 Penalty Points. Final decision by HIWU. Explainer: Vets' list medication violation for the presence of Dexamethasone and Phenylbutazone–both controlled substances (Class C)–in a sample taken from Hard to Get on 4/15/25. Date: 05/30/2025 Licensee: Dr. Margaret Smyth, veterinarian Penalty: Three (3) month period of Ineligibility, beginning on May 30, with a credit of twenty-five (25) days for the Provisional Suspension served in 2023. Admission. Explainer: Possession of Pitcher Plant Extract (Sarapin), Levothyroxine and Hemo 15–all banned substances–for an event dated 10/4/23. Date: 05/30/2025 Licensee: Dr. Barbara Hippie, veterinarian Penalty: Three (3) month period of Ineligibility, beginning on May 30, with a credit of twenty-five (25) days for the Provisional Suspension served in 2023. Admission. Explainer: Possession of Clodronate (Bisphosphonate), Pitcher Plant Extract (Sarapin), Levothyroxine, Isoxsuprine and Hemo 15–all banned substances–for an event dated 9/28/23. Date: 05/29/2025 Licensee: Emmanuel Tzortzakis, trainer Penalty: 15-day period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on May 30, 2025; Disqualification of Covered Horse's Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender (as applicable); a fine of $2,500; imposition of 2 Penalty Points. Admission. Explainer: Pending vets' list medication violation for the presence of Cannabidiol (CBD)–a controlled substance (Class B)–in a sample taken from Whoosh on 3/18/25. Pending ADMC Violations 06/03/2025, Jorge Abreu, trainer: Pending vets' list medication violation for the presence of Dantrolene–a controlled substance (Class C)–in a sample taken from Curlin's Angel on 5/2/25. 06/03/2025, Luis Fernando Gonzalez, trainer: Pending medication violation for the presence of Phenylbutazone and Flunixin–a controlled substance (Class C)–in a sample taken from Swen on 5/2/25. 06/02/2025, Mike Miceli, trainer: Pending medication violations for the presence of Dexamethasone–a controlled substance (Class C)–in samples taken from Montauk Mystique, who finished second at Aqueduct on 3/28/25, and from Mighty Atlas who won at Aqueduct on 3/21/25. 05/29/2025, Carmelo Ortiz-Ruiz, trainer: Pending vets' list medication violation for the presence of Phenylbutazone–a controlled substance (Class C)–in a sample taken from Boxster on 4/6/25. Violations of Crop Rule Belterra Park Antioco Murgia–violation date May 29; $250 fine, one-day suspension Churchill Downs Abel Cedillo–violation date May 29; $1,500 fine, three-day suspension Gulfstream Park Miguel Angel Vasquez–violation date May 30; $250 fine, one-day suspension Hawthorne Alexis Centeno–violation date May 29; $250 fine, one-day suspension The post Weekly National Regulatory Rulings, May 29-June 4 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

By Jordyn Bublitz A move to the North Island for former southerner Jacob Dunn wasn’t originally the plan. The first year junior driver, and the older of John and Jenna Dunn’s two children, made the trip from Canterbury to help tend to a busy team at Robert and Jenna Dunn’s Pukekohe barn before deciding to make the move permanent. “I got a good opportunity to get a few drives so that was the main reason for the move,” Dunn said. “I’ve been up here since the start of March when the big racing kicked off, I’d come with our horses that were travelling, and things became quite busy.” Since leaving the mainland the highlight so far has been his first win on northern soil with Allets at Alexandra Park on May 23. It followed his first ever success with Sophia Bromac at Addington in February. “That was great, it was really cool especially getting my first win for grandad and mum. That was only my second win, and it felt good to get another one.” Tonight, at Cambridge Raceway the reinsman will be chasing that winning feeling again. He pilots the Andre Poutama-trained Desert Dawn in Race 2, the NZMCA Parking at Cambridge Raceway Mobile Pace (6.03pm). The five-year-old gelding won for Poutama two starts back, before a sixth at Cambridge on May 15. “I thought his run last start wasn’t too bad, he burned early and was still firing on at the line,” said Dunn. “He’s drawn tricky out wide but is well suited to having one run so hopefully they go a bit up front, and we can get over the top of them late.” Jacob will also hit the track under the lights at Alexandra Park tomorrow night, with two drives for the Dunns’ Diamond Racing team. In heat 3 of the Marlin Transport – Silk Road Northern Series, he takes the reins again of Allets. “Last start was a good win, and she comes up with a nice enough draw again. She’s got good gate speed and seems to have come through that last run well.” He also takes a drive in the last race of the evening, the Peter Alabaster Memorial Handicap Trot aboard Johnny Trotter (8.43pm). “He’s come through his last start good. He’s been racing week in week out but its not affecting him at all. He’s just cost himself his last few starts not copping the bends that well but we’re hopeful we’ve gotten on top of that,” he said. “There’s only two of us off the front so we’ll aim to make a quick beginning and try to make it harder for those back markers” View the full article

While the rematch between GI Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty (Into Mischief) and GI Preakness Stakes winner Journalism (Curlin) has received top billing, the camp surrounding the blue-blooded Baeza (McKinzie) sees a slightly different storyline ahead of Saturday's GI Belmont Stakes at Saratoga. “They talk about the challenge of the two of them. I think it's more the challenge of the three of us,” said Lee Searing of C R K Stable, who campaigns Baeza in partnership with the colt's breeder Robert Clay of Grandview Equine. “This horse can really run.” Baeza rallied smartly for third at odds of 13-1–beaten 1 3/4 lengths by Sovereignty and just a neck for second by Journalism–after somewhat of an eventful journey on the first Saturday in May. Widest of all in post 19 after drawing in off the also-eligible list, Baeza was bumped and steadied beneath Flavien Prat at a very crucial juncture at the five-sixteenths and came flying home while completely covered in mud to pass the top two shortly after the wire. Baeza was previously a fantastic second to Journalism while making his stakes debut in the GI Santa Anita Derby. “We only got beat a neck for second, and we didn't have the greatest of trips, either,” Searing said. “We had one of the best riders in the world riding him and he blames himself for the path he took. The stretch he had to move him in and out and he finally got free.” C R K Stable (those are the initials of Lee and Susan Searing's three adult children–Christina, Richard and Katherine) has also finished a rallying fourth with GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby winner Honor A. P. (Honor Code) in the COVID-delayed Kentucky Derby in 2020 and a troubled 13th with Candy Boy (Candy Ride {Arg}) in 2014. Skinner (Curlin) was scratched due to a fever from the 2023 Run for the Roses. “When you start going to the racetrack when you're eight years old, which goes back to 70 years ago, you start hearing about the big races, the great jockeys and great horses, and the Kentucky Derby comes right up,” Searing said. “Then you go through the years and think, 'Can I ever get a horse good enough to go?' We've had four and we haven't had a clean trip yet. It's a dream to win it. I have some really nice horses for next year and we'll try again. But the focus right now is on Baeza.” And, of course, that pedigree page of his. Hailing from the first crop of McKinzie, Baeza brought $1.2 million to top the third session of the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling sale. He can become an unprecedented third American Classic winner for Broodmare of the Year and 'TDN Rising Star' Puca (Big Brown), who has also produced 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) and last year's Belmont Stakes winner Dornoch (Good Magic). Only Better Than Honour has produced back-to-back Belmont winners–Jazil (2006) and Rags to Riches (2007). The 13-year-old Puca, also responsible for a Good Magic colt of 2024 and a Good Magic filly of this year, sold to John Stewart for $2.9 million at the 2023 Keeneland November Sale. “The quality of his breeding and the bloodlines that he comes from–I have a partner in Robert Clay that bred him and is sitting on the fact that mare would be the first to have three winners in Triple Crown races,” Searing said. “He's a great man, good partner and fun to be around. We're both gonna root really hard. God, if he gets it done it will be a tremendous feat.” The purple-and-yellow colors of C R K Stable (Searing's silks pay homage to the Los Angeles Lakers and the late Kobe Bryant) have been carried by 1,713 starters (according to Equibase stats), including Grade I winners Beyond Brilliant, Express Train and Switch. Just never one at the Spa. “I've never run a horse at Saratoga,” said Searing, who will also be represented by 'TDN Rising Star' Justique (Justify) in Friday's GII Bed o' Roses S. “That's an amazing statistic as many good horses as we've had.” Searing, the CEO of Searing Industries, a California- and Wyoming-based, family-run business specializing in manufacturing steel-tubing products, will have another rooting interest of sorts via the aforementioned Honor A. P., who is the sire of Heart of Honor (GB), a 30-1 longshot in the Belmont Stakes. The sophomore sire stands at Lane's End. Baeza is listed as the third choice at 4-1. “It's gonna be fun going to Saratoga and it's gonna be fun watching the race,” Searing said. “I think with a good track–seven, eight horses–and a clean trip, it's gonna be a really really good horse race. But I think we got a really good horse.” The post Baeza Gets Another Shot at Kentucky Derby Top Two in Belmont Stakes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.–The sting of missing the GI Kentucky Derby has faded. Ditto for the GI Preakness Stakes. Rodriguez (Authentic) is well rested, healthy and a ready to roll 'TDN Rising Star.' The colt, trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, will make his Triple Crown debut in Saturday's GI $2 million Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. Owned by SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Robert Masterson, Tom Ryan, Waves Edge Capital LLC and Catherine Donovan, Rodriguez turned heads earlier this year when he rolled to a front-running 3 1/2-length win the GII Wood Memorial at Aqueduct Apr. 5. Baffert had to scratch Rodriguez from the Kentucky Derby due to a foot issue; that kept him out of the Preakness, too. Rodriguez, who will be ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith, is 6-1 on the Belmont morning line. “It was unfortunate we could not make the Derby,” Baffert said on the Saratoga backstretch Wednesday morning. “We tried to make the Preakness, and we just needed some extra time. We took him back home and felt if we could get him going good and get him back to where he was … his last works were good enough to bring him up here.” Rodriguez looks sharp | Sarah Andrew The Belmont strategy for Rodriguez is simple enough. Let the big horse roll. “We know what his style is,” Baffert said. “He needs to be out there running. We tried rating him and he just doesn't like it; he wants no part of it. We will just let him do his thing. If he does it, he does it.” Other trainers in the Belmont are well aware of Rodriguez's ability on the front end. It was some comfort to them when Crudo (Justify) was entered at the last minute. He has two wins in three starts (by a combined 14 1/2 lengths) and both of them came on the lead. He could keep Rodriguez company. “You always have to be concerned with a Bob Baffert horse,” said Michael McCarthy, the trainer of Belmont 8-5 morning-line favorite Journalism (Curlin). “His works, from what I can tell, have been very good.” Baffert said Rodriguez is a horse he thinks will get better as he gets older. Whether he is ready to jump up and be a major player in the Belmont remains to be seen. “This is a good crop of 3-year-olds,” he said. “We just don't know how he is going to stack up. He won the Wood, but this is a different kind of field of horses. He is running against the best.” Casse Hoping Nitrogen Still Has The Gas Ask Mark Casse who the best 3-year-old grass filly in the land is and he'll point to his barn. Of course, he'll tell you, that is Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro). She has won all four of her starts this year–three of them graded stakes–and will shoot for No. 5 on Saturday. Nitrogen is the even-money morning-line favorite in the GIII Wonder Again, a 1 1/16-mile event on the inner turf course. “I hope she remains at the top of the heap,” Casse said outside his barn on the Saratoga backstretch Wednesday morning. Nitrogen turf move | Sarah Andrew Casse admits the success of the filly, owned by D J Stable LLC, came as a surprise. When she was two, Nitrogen was winless in three starts but the light came on in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar when she was third at 49-1. She has won at four different race tracks this year, the latest win coming in the GII Edgewood Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Churchill Downs May 2. Jockey Jose Ortiz has been aboard for all four wins. “She just runs faster than everyone else,” Casse said. “She is quiet and will shut off and you can place her wherever you want. If the pace is fast, she will be up close. If it isn't–if she needs to–she will sit off.” Casse has trained some good fillies during his Hall of Fame career, the best being Tepin (Bernstein), who was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2022 after winning 13 of 23 career starts. Casse was not about to compare the two horses but did offer this: “At this point of her career, she is much better than Tepin was,” Casse said. “Tepin did not really take off until she was four. She struggled at three and excelled at four. This one has done a lot more at three than Tepin ever did. Excited? How can you not be excited?” Pletcher Will Keep His Big Horses Separated As Long As He Can Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher has three of the best older horses in training in 4-year-olds Fierceness (City of Light), Mindframe (Constitution) and Locked (Gun Runner)–all are 'TDN Rising Stars.' His job is to keep them away from each other for as long as he can. So far, so good. Fierceness up close | Sarah Andrew Fierceness will represent the Big Three on Saturday in the $1 million GI Metropolitan Handicap at Saratoga. He is the even-money morning-line favorite. Mindframe has won both his starts this year, the last being the GI Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day. He will head back to Louisville June 28 for the GI Stephen Foster. Locked, winner of the GI Santa Anita Handicap earlier this year, is being pointed to the GII Suburban Stakes at Saratoga on the Fourth of July. Eventually, the stablemates will meet, but the longer Pletcher can keep them apart, the better. “After (the Suburban), we will see,” Pletcher said outside his barn on the Oklahoma Training Track. Fierceness won his 2025 debut with a 1 1/2-length win in the GII Alysheba May 2 at Churchill. Owned by Derrick Smith, Repole Stable. Michael Tabor and Mrs. John Magnier, Fierceness is three-for-three at Saratoga, his biggest win being last year's GI Travers. “He has put on weight, and he has gotten stronger,” Pletcher said. “He has always been a laid-back horse to train. He is kind of unassuming until you breeze him. When you breeze him, he will go as good as you want him to go. On his daily gallops he is more laid back.” Hall of Famer John Velazquez, who has ridden Fierceness in his last eight starts, will ride. The post Rodriguez Finally Gets His Chance In Triple Crown Finale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-bred horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Thursday's Observations features the return of a Group 2 winner. 5.55 Leopardstown, Listed Glencairn Stakes, 3yo/up, 9fT GREEN IMPACT (IRE) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) beat Delacroix twice at two, latterly in this track's G2 Champions Juvenile Stakes, and after a comeback sixth in the 2,000 Guineas is dropped in class for by Jessie Harrington. Marc Chan's homebred probably has most to fear from the Listed Tetrarch Stakes runner-up Currawood (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) and he does have a five-pound penalty. 4.20 Leopardstown, Mdn, 2yo, f, 7f 60yT MINERVA (IRE) (Frankel {GB}) is the 1.5 million gns Tattersalls October Book 1 daughter of the multiple graded-stakes-winning dam Prize Exhibit, who has already produced the fellow Ballydoyle group winner History by Frankel's sire Galileo. From the immediate family of Mohaather, she debuts in the maiden won 12 months ago by stablemate Bedtime Story and encounters the Niarchos colour-bearer Thenandnow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), a Jessica Harrington-trained daughter of the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac heroine Albigna. The post Green Impact Takes Aim At The Glencairn appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Strada Del Sogno (Street Boss), who topped the Fasig-Tipton June Digital Sale Tuesday on a final bid of $150,000, will ship north to join the Elkin Family Racing string in Kentucky racing for trainer Genevieve Londono. Consigned by Taylor Made Sales, the filly, from the family of 3-year-old champion filly Questing (GB) (Hard Spun), debuted running third in the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies at Gulfstream Park May 10 behind Royal Ascot-bound Lennilu (Leinster). “We just got to see her race that one time,” said Dwayne Elkin, who operates Elkin Family Racing with his wife. “I was a little bit [impressed]. My trainer is in Kentucky so she'll head there.” Now in its fourth year of operation, Elkin Family Racing is a small operation numbering just eight horses but is coming off its best year to date with earnings over $130,000 in 2024 and already north of six figures just halfway through 2025. And with a stakes-placed runner joining the barn, Elkin was keen to keep Strada Del Sogno on an upward trajectory. He also added that, despite not purchasing the filly with an eye towards breeding, he would consider keeping her for such a purpose should she continue to run well. “I would like to see how she does in another stakes,” he said. “We didn't get her to breed her, but you never know what the future holds. It depends on what kind of horse she is. If she's a good horse, then we'll probably breed her.” And while he's more keen to race rather than to breed, Elkin added that a filly he purchased out of OBS April last year for $125,000, the unraced Practical Joke filly Nana's My Angel, was in foal in New York to Firing Line this year. Elkin, who owns a welding fabrication company in Arkansas, got his start at Oaklawn Park. “I've loved horses since I was in high school,” he said. “My first job was cleaning the track at Oaklawn after everyone went home. That's how I learned to be around [the horses]. And my wife loves loving on them, so we just put the two together.” No stranger to the Fasig-Tipton Digital scene, Elkin Family Racing previously signed the ticket on Midnight Vengeance (Violence) for $75,000 at the January Digital Sale this year. The stable also added a pair of runners from last year's July Digital Sale–Publicity (Into Mischief) for $90,000 and Liar's Poker (Empire Maker), who races this upcoming Sunday at Churchill Downs, for $95,000. Elkin acknowledged that the digital sales could be tricky to navigate. “They have their ups and downs,” he said. “But that's just part of the game.” As for the future, Elkin has no plans of going anywhere anytime soon. “Depends how the money holds out,” he said with a laugh. “I don't have the billions like everybody else does. But we're going to keep going.” The post Elkin Family Racing Adds Stakes Runner To The Fold In FT June Digital Topper Strada Del Sogno appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The most important asset the horse industry has are the brands of the Kentucky Derby and the Triple Crown. Nothing else comes close in our dying business. Nothing in Major League Baseball, the Indy 500 or the Masters can match the number of TV viewers every year for the Derby. Outside of the Super Bowl (115 million viewers) and the NBA Finals (17.8 million), one couldn't spend enough money to get 16 million TV viewers for a sporting event today in America. When a horse wins the Preakness and the Derby, TV viewers increase by 75% for the Belmont. In this industry, we take the Triple Crown for granted and as an industry we do very little today to promote it and make it better. In the past, we had the three racing entities working together through an organization known as Triple Crown Productions. No longer–in fact, track management don't even speak to one another. Sure, the Derby and Preakness are televised by NBC and the Belmont by Fox, but that doesn't mean closer coordination can't help the product. Leaders from all three racetracks have told me recently they could work together now. The states of New York and Maryland have committed over $400 million apiece to upgrade the racing product in their states. They see the need for their Triple Crown races. The year 2027 offers a great opportunity for our industry to make the Triple Crown great again. If some racing organization or racing leader wants to create a lasting legacy, get these three tracks together and space out the races. I reckon 80% of our fans recognize the need for the Preakness to be three weeks or more after the Derby. Recreate Triple Crown Productions. Remember, they got Chrysler and Visa to offer a $5-million bonus for a Triple Crown winner. More importantly, create a national bet, and make the modern-day bookies give some profits back to the Triple Crown entity to fund it. The point leader that runs in all three events earns a big bonus. You can bet on it before the Derby, then make new bets after the Derby and Preakness. Hey, and what about a Triple Crown series for the fillies? That would be easy! –John Stuart is the owner of Bluegrass Thoroughbred Services The post Letter To The Editor: The Importance Of The Triple Crown appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

It was exactly 20 years ago on Wednesday that Motivator made history with his scintillating success in the Derby, becoming the first ever syndicate-owned winner of the Classic for the 230 members of the Royal Ascot Racing Club. Inevitably, Michael Bell's new superstar was the centre of attention in the immediate aftermath, swarmed in a crowd the likes of which the Epsom winner's enclosure had never seen before. Meanwhile, just a short distance away out on the track, connections of the placed horses, Walk In The Park and Dubawi, were left to lick their wounds after what had ultimately been a comprehensive beating at the hands of racing's next big thing. Little did we know then the significant role that they too would come to play in the annals of this great sport, one now a colossus of the National Hunt stallion ranks and the other one of the world's most successful Flat sires of his generation. Here, we trace the steps of Motivator and the cast of A-listers left trailing in his wake, from that fateful day at Epsom to their collective achievements since which make the 2005 Derby, arguably, one of the most impactful races of the 21st century. The Race A field of 13 went to post for the 2005 edition of the Derby, but the race itself proved an entirely one-sided affair as 3/1 favourite Motivator stormed to an emphatic five-length victory in the hands of Johnny Murtagh. That stretched his unbeaten record to four races, having already won the G1 Racing Post Trophy at two and G2 Dante Stakes on his return to action at three. In a remarkable one-two for Montjeu from his first crop of three-year-olds, Motivator was followed home by the French raider Walk In The Park, who was trained, like Montjeu, by John Hammond, and arrived at Epsom on the back of a narrow defeat in the Lingfield Derby Trial. The winner was already away and gone by the time Walk In The Park hit top stride, but he ran on stoutly in the final furlong to finish a clear second ahead of the tiring Dubawi, a clear non-stayer on his first start beyond a mile. The Aftermath Irish 2,000 Guineas hero Dubawi, who'd also struck at the top level as a juvenile when landing the National Stakes, unsurprisingly dropped back to a mile after his creditable effort in defeat at Epsom, returning over two months later with a stylish win in a vintage renewal of the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois. The next three home–Whipper, Valixir and Divine Proportions–arrived at Deauville as the winners of 10 Group 1 races between them, but Dubawi stamped his class on proceedings as he strode to victory by a length and a half with Kerrin McEvoy deputising for Frankie Dettori. As it turned out, that would be the only subsequent win achieved by the first three from the 2005 Derby. Dubawi ended his career with a runner-up effort behind Starcraft in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, while Motivator went on to fill the same position in the G1 Eclipse and G1 Irish Champion Stakes, both times behind Oratorio, before signing off with a fifth-place finish as another son of Montjeu, Hurricane Run, dominated the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. As for Walk In The Park, he missed the remainder of his three-year-old campaign after finishing only eighth in the Irish Derby won by Hurricane Run. He raced for another couple of seasons, producing one of his better efforts when hitting the frame in the G3 Prix d'Hedouville as a four-year-old, before suffering the ignominy for a Derby second of being sent hurdling. His solitary outing in that sphere saw him finish fifth in a Listed event at Auteuil. The Early Years at Stud Following in the footsteps of illustrious names such as Bustino and Shirley Heights, Motivator was retired at the end of his three-year-old season to stand at the Queen's Royal Studs at Sandringham. However, having been introduced at a fee of £20,000, he was denied the opportunity to cover a full book of mares after injuring himself in a paddock accident. From 63 foals, that first crop of juveniles yielded eight individual winners (from 32 runners), headed by the G2 May Hill Stakes heroine Pollenator. In 2010, Motivator's stud career met with another setback when a tendon injury forced him to miss the breeding season in its entirety. He stood for £8,000 when he returned in 2011 and then just £5,000 in 2012. Only 33 foals came from that final crop bred at the Royal Studs, before he was on his way to Haras du Quesnay in France for 2013, having sired 10 individual stakes winners up until the end of 2012. The bright spark was Ridasiyna, his first Group 1 winner when landing that year's Prix de l'Opera. Things were looking altogether rosier for Dubawi at the same stage of his career, though even he had found himself covering smaller books of mares in his third and fourth seasons at stud, like so many other stallions before and since. Having commanded a fee of £25,000 in his first two seasons at Dalham Hall Stud, he then stood for €40,000 at Kildangan Stud in Ireland in 2008, before returning to Newmarket where he stood for a career-low fee of £10,000 the following year. That fourth crop conceived in 2009 numbered only 61 foals, but then his first juveniles hit the ground running with 34 individual winners (from 71 runners), including the G2 Champagne Stakes hero Poet's Voice and G2 Flying Childers Stakes scorer Sand Vixen. Poet's Voice would go on to win the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes as a three-year-old, by which time Dubawi had already made the breakthrough at the top level, and in the best possible fashion, as Makfi tasted Classic glory in the 2,000 Guineas. By the end of 2012, Dubawi had amassed 39 individual stakes winners, with Dubai World Cup hero Monterosso, Deutsches Derby victor Waldpark and Hong Kong Sprint sensation Lucky Nine featuring among his other Group 1 winners. Meanwhile, far away from the lavish surroundings of the Royal Studs and those at Dalham Hall, Walk In The Park was taking the formative steps in a stallion career which would ultimately lead him down the National Hunt path. Based at Haras du Val Raquet in France, he came up with his sole black-type winner on the Flat from his second crop, namely the Listed scorer Dance In The Park, conceived at a fee of just €3,000 in 2009. That second crop, numbering just 39 foals, also featured a certain Douvan, whose success rather foretold what was to come in later years. After getting off the mark over hurdles on his second try at Compiegne, he was then bought privately on behalf of Rich Ricci and would go on to prove himself one of the most talented horses Willie Mullins has ever trained with eight Grade 1 wins. The Building of a Legacy Having sported the colours of Michael Tabor in his racing days, Walk In The Park found himself back in the Coolmore fold at the start of the 2016 breeding season as he relocated to Grange Stud, less than a year after Douvan had first announced himself on the big stage with a romp in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. That first year in Fermoy, Co. Cork yielded 179 foals, a remarkable upturn on the nine–yes, nine–he conceived in his first of three seasons at Haras des Granges in France in 2013. Walk In The Park has been covering bumper books of high-quality mares at a private fee ever since, with the ultimate accolade coming his way in 2023/24 when he was crowned Britain and Ireland's champion National Hunt sire for the first time. Douvan's full brother, Jonbon, led the charge with a hat-trick of Grade 1 victories, before repeating that feat during the latest season when Walk In The Park defended his crown by a country mile. Jonbon was joined among Walk In The Park's top three prize-money earners by Inothewayurthinkin and Nick Rockett, who ticked off a couple of notable firsts for their sire when winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National, respectively. With Walk In The Park's oldest Irish-bred crop having only just turned eight, the potential is there for him to dominate for many years to come, while already the sharp minds at Coolmore, never ones to rest on their laurels, have turned to the next generation. Earlier this year it was revealed that the team is busy sourcing the stallion's best young stock and putting them into training with Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm in France, with the express purpose of trying to uncover one or more top-class sons to continue the line. Whilst those efforts are still very much in their infancy, it's fair to say that Dubawi's legacy as a sire of sires is already secure, with Group 1-winning sons such as Night Of Thunder, Too Darn Hot, New Bay and Zarak–to name just a few–all making a tremendous fist of their second careers at stud. It simply isn't possible to do justice to Dubawi's game-changing achievements in this small space, but he brought his number of individual stakes winners to a nice neat figure towards the end of last month when Marksman Queen made it 300 with her win in the Keertana Stakes at Churchill Downs. That total includes 61 individual Group 1 winners and 192 individual Group winners. It's a tale of metronomic consistency at the upper echelons of the sport which has seen Dubawi finish among the top five sires in Britain and Ireland every year since 2013. After filling the runner-up spot behind Galileo on six occasions, he was finally crowned champion sire for the first time in 2022, when his star performers included Coroebus, the third of his four winners of the 2,000 Guineas, and Eldar Eldarov, who delivered his sire a first success in the St Leger. In 2023, Dubawi's fee at Dalham Hall Stud was increased to £350,000, identifying him as the most expensive stallion standing in Europe, a position he has shared with Frankel for the last two years. And then there's good old Motivator who, in 2025, is standing his third consecutive season at Haras du Hoguenet at the rather more modest fee of €5,000, whilst proving a popular visitor attraction at that Normandy farm as he starts to wind down a stallion career which has had more ups and downs than the Epsom terrain he conquered so masterfully all those years ago. The undoubted highs came courtesy of the magnificent dual Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Treve who, funnily enough, was a superior racehorse to anything Dubawi has produced thus far, using Timeform ratings as a steer. The four-time Group 1 winner Ghaiyyath provides the stiffest competition, with a rating of 133 to Treve's 134. Treve's exploits as a three-year-old in 2013 saw Motivator sustain the strong support he'd received in his first season at Haras du Quesnay. Introduced at €7,000, he produced 99 foals from that first crop conceived in France and another 92 the following year, at the increased fee of €15,000, after Treve had rattled off a Group 1 hat-trick. But whilst seven stakes winners emerged from those two crops, he was unable to really kick on with his Flat runners in the way that might have been hoped. Instead, the most accomplished performers conceived in his later years at Haras du Quesnay were in the National Hunt sphere, headed by the Grade 1-winning hurdlers For Fun, Pentland Hills and Stormy Ireland, as well as Jigme, who now stands alongside his sire at Haras du Hoguenet. Happily, it was reported that Motivator himself covered 80 mares in 2024, with the success of Jigme in the Prix Cambaceres the previous autumn no doubt contributing to this latest spike in popularity. The Missing Piece Collectively, the first three from that 2005 Derby have achieved nearly everything in the two decades since, from giving us Group 1-winning sprinters to Grand National heroes, but the one thing missing is a winner of the Classic in which their paths crossed for the one and only time. That opportunity to produce an Epsom colt in his image has surely long passed for Motivator, while even the creative campaigning of 'the lads' is unlikely to see any sons of Walk In The Park go down the Flat route at this late stage of his life, whatever their determination to find his successor. That puts all of the pressure of expectation squarely on the shoulders of Dubawi, who on Saturday has a golden opportunity to finally break his Derby duck with Delacroix, the market leader after his impressive win in the Leopardstown Derby Trial. For good measure, Dubawi is also the grandsire of six of the other 18 runners, via his sons New Bay (Pride Of Arras and New Ground), Ghaiyyath (Stanhope Gardens and Nightime Dancer), Too Darn Hot (Tornado Alert) and Night Of Thunder (Tuscan Hills). Dubawi can already count a Derby winner on his CV as a broodmare sire, courtesy of Adayar in 2021, but he's never had a son of his own finish better than fifth, while his record in the Oaks had been similarly underwhelming for a stallion of his stature, before Ezeliya and Dance Sequence righted that wrong by completing a one-two in last year's renewal. We'll know by 3.40pm on Saturday whether that missing piece of the puzzle has been slotted into place, with the big doubt facing Delacroix being that of stamina–the same quality his sire was found lacking for in a race for the ages, all of 20 years ago. The post Remembering Motivator’s Derby, Two Decades On appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

A total of 931 lots have been catalogued for the Tattersalls July Sale, which takes place from July 8-10 and features consignments from leading owner-breeders including Godolphin, Juddmonte and Shadwell Estate Company. The full catalogue is available to view here. Potential highlights among the breeding stock catalogued include Triggers Broom, the dam of Group 1-winning young sire Supremacy, who will be offered in foal to Chaldean by the National Stud. Listed winner Miaharris will be offered in foal to City Of Troy by Baroda Stud, while black-type producer Majmu is among the draft from Shadwell Estate Company. A multiple Group 1 winner herself in South Africa, the daughter of Redoute's Choice will be offered in foal to Pinatubo. Meanwhile, Hi Royal is one of the most accomplished horses in training set to go under the hammer. Trained by Kevin Ryan, the five-year-old was runner-up to Chaldean in the 2023 edition of the 2,000 Guineas and showed he retains plenty of ability when last seen filling the same position in the Thirsk Hunt Cup in May. He will be joined in this section of the sale by the recent winners Kylian and Green Triangle, both of whom feature as part of the Castlebridge Consignment. Kylian gained the second Listed victory of his career in Sunday's Baden-Baden Silberne Peitsche, while Green Triangle ran out a determined winner of Monday's €200,000 Gowran Classic. Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony said, “Camille Pissarro's Classic victory in the Prix du Jockey Club was the latest example of the Tattersalls July Sale's extraordinary record of producing broodmares of the very highest calibre on the international stage. His dam [Entreat] was purchased for just 14,000 guineas and illustrates the outstanding quality to be found at all levels of the market. “Along with Group 1-winning sprinter Regional and Grade 1 Champion Hurdle winner Golden Ace, purchased for 3,500 guineas and 12,000 guineas respectively, they reflect the immense value and diversity that is available at Europe's leading midsummer sale. “This year's Tattersalls July catalogue features the usual compelling combination of well-bred fillies and in-foal mares, high-class horses in training and significant consignments from leading owner-breeders, all of which look set to attract plenty of interest from domestic and international buyers alike.” The post Tattersalls July Sale Catalogue Now Online appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

With possible afternoon thunderstorms in the forecast for Saratoga's Thursday card, Godolphin's Spirit of Hope (Street Sense) looks to draw in off the Main Track Only list in the 1 1/16-mile test. Out of Grade I winner Dance Card (Tapit), the Bill Mott trainee is also a half to MGSW Endorsed (Medaglia d'Oro). The sophomore filly has been working steadily over the Oklahoma track in preparation for this career unveiling, including a most recent four-furlong move in :51 2/5 May 26. Also making her career bow, Summer Wind's Cleopatra's Key (American Pharoah) gets a start for Bill Mott. Accompanied by Junior Alvarado, the bay is out of Key to My Heart (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a daughter of Grade I scorer A Z Warrior (Bernardini). The post Thursday’s Insights: Half-Sister to Cody’s Wish in For Main Track Only at the Spa Thursday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

English based trainer Jamie Osborne doesn't think like everyone else does. Which explains why he paid €160,000 at the 2024 Arqana May Breeze-Up sale for a horse that was bred to be a dirt horse and looked like a dirt horse. The horse turned out to be Heart of Honor (GB) (Honor A.P.) who is among the eight horses that will contest Saturday's GI Belmont Stakes. Could Heart of Honor, with his breeding have become a top turf horse in Europe. The answer is “probably not.” But racing this horse in Europe was never Osborne's intention. On this week's Thoroughbred Daily News Writers' Room Podcast, presented by Keeneland, Osborne came across as a man who has a plan. He was this week's Gainesway Guest of the Week. Osborne likes to run in Dubai, but only in dirt races. He said the competition is too tough in the grass races, but says the quality of the horses racing on the dirt there is modest. They can be beaten and for good purses. “The motivation for buying him was that we were taking squads of horses to the Middle East for the winter and just banging our heads up against Charlie Appleby,” Osborne said. “So 60% of the racing in Meydan in the winter in Dubai is dirt racing. Godolphin is so strong out there, they're really tough to beat. Now we have had success there, but a good example this year on the turf, I think we had seven seconds to Charlie [Appleby]. So it can be a little bit frustrating. So we thought, why don't we try something different and see if training a dirt horse is possible. So we bought a handful. I can only do this with the backing of my owners, Jim and Claire Bryce, who very much enjoy being in Dubai for the winter. So Heart of Honor was bought, not with the American Triple Crown in mind, he was bought to entertain them in Dubai during the winter racing on the dirt. And thankfully he did.” Heart of Honor's best performance in Dubai came in the G2 UAE Derby, where he finished second, beaten a nose. Now that he had an established dirt stakes horse, Osborne needed a place to run him with the Dubai racing nearing an end. So he picked the American Triple Crown. Heart of Honor was fifth in the GI Preakness Stakes and will try again Saturday in the Belmont. The jockey will again be Osborne's 23-year-old daughter Saffie. “It is good. It's a whole different dimension to what I'm doing. Imagine if she was just an ordinary rider and I'd have to sack her for the good of my business,” Osborne said. “It wouldn't go down very well, would it? But no, thankfully she can ride. She doesn't lack strength, this child, she's like a little weightlifter. It's quite extraordinary. She won the genetic lottery really, because she's got three elder brothers that, believe it or not, are six-foot-four, six-foot-three, and six-foot-two. She's just five-foot-two. She is very strong and I do enjoy working with her. It has its moments. But it's different. If you take away the fact that she's my daughter, she does a great job for us. And I'm not saying that every winner doesn't give her enormous pleasure, but I think she gets extra pleasure from one of ours. She knows how hard I've had to struggle through the last 20 years.” Jamie Osborne began his career in racing as a steeplechase rider, and was among the best in the business. In 1999, he decided to go in a different direction and retired. The decision was then made to being a flat trainer. “I switched over to flat racing because I don't like the English winters,” he said. “The worst thing about being a jump jockey is it happens in the winter and England is a horrible place in the winter. The days are very short and it's always raining and cold. There were lots of reasons at the time. I didn't really want to be a trainer at all until retirement was really looming and I had to face reality that the first career was over or about to be over. I had all sorts of ideas when I was riding about what I would do and wouldn't do. Then I just felt I wasn't kind of ready to leave the sport. I'd done nothing else all my life. I'd been in it since I left school at 17. And I thought, 'Well, maybe it's a bit silly trying to go and earn a living elsewhere when the only thing I know is this sport.'” In our “Fastest Horse of the Week,” segment, which is sponsored by WinStar, we went over the many reasons there are to breed to WinStar stallion Constitution. The fastest horse of the week was Nysos (Nyquist), who ran a 108 Beyer when winning the GIII Triple Bend Stakes at Santa Anita. Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders' Association, West Point Thoroughbreds, 1/ST Racing and 1/ST TV, the team of Randy Moss, Zoe Cadman and Bill Finley went over the Belmont Stakes, horse by horse. Finley liked Sovereignty (Into Mischief), Moss thought the race came down to Sovereignty and Baeza (McKinzie) and Cadman thought the same way. The team also previewed the many Grade I stakes that will be offered on Friday and Saturday at Saratoga. To watch the Writers' Room, click here. To view the show as a podcast, click here. The post Jamie Osborne Joins 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

Amplify Horse Racing is currently accepting applications for the Fall 2025 session of its Mentorship Program. The deadline for applications is June 24 at 11:59 PM ET. The fall session will run from Aug. 1 through Oct. 31. The free program is designed for individuals aged 15 to 25 who are curious about careers in the Thoroughbred racing and breeding industry with no prior experience or academic qualifications required. Amplify is also seeking qualified mentors with substantial industry experience who are willing to meet training, background check, and time commitment requirements. To learn about the program and apply, prospective mentors and mentees can visit amplifyhorseracing.org/mentorship or contact info@amplifyhorseracing.org for more information. The post Amplify Accepting Mentorship Applications appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Caspar Fownes rocketed to the top of the unofficial Happy Valley trainers’ championship and Ellis Wong Chi-wang continued his strong form as the pair bagged doubles at the city circuit on Wednesday night. Wins from Joy Of Spring in the Class Three Tai Tam Gap Handicap (1,800m) and Kaholo Angel in the card-closing Class Two Wan Chai Gap Handicap (1,200m) took Fownes to 23 victories at the track this season, with the “King of the Valley” leapfrogging Mark Newnham to assume the lead. “We’re back in...View the full article

An all-apprentice six-race racecard will take place at Goodwood on Friday, June 6. The evening meeting is part of the Three Friday Nights racing fixture held by the course this year. After the conclusion of the card, the 2025 Leading Apprentice Jockey will be crowned. The title is awarded through points accrued throughout the card by the competing apprentices. Kaiya Fraser won the title in 2024. Senior racing executive at the Professional Jockeys Association (PJA), Adam McNamara, said, “The all-apprentice race day from Goodwood has always been an initiative the PJA is fully behind. It cannot be understated how beneficial it is to our apprentice jockeys to have the opportunity to showcase their talents in front of a big crowd on a premier track. Over the last number of years, it has been the springboard for a number of apprentices to kick start their seasons and potentially their careers.” The post All-Apprentice Racecard Set For Goodwood On June 6 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

A trio of Flat horses-in-training have been added to the Arqana Summer Sale as wildcards. The sale will be held from Monday, June 30-Thursday, July 3. The Satoshi Kobayashi-trained Short Final, who won the G3 Kronimus Badener Meile in Germany last week will be consigned as lot 412. Rated 108, the son of Zelzal will be joined by lot 400, Dioptase. By New Bay and rated 102, Dioptase was runner-up in the G3 Prix Greffulhe and is a winner over 1500m and 2000m. Rounding out the trio is Kirchner (Pinatubo) (lot 396). A winner at two, he was most recently fourth in the Listed Derby du Languedoc. For the full catalogue, please visit the Arqana website. The post Group Winner Among Wildcard Trio Added To Arqana Summer Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Marygate Stakes winner Secret Hideaway is the latest juvenile to have been snapped up by new connections ahead of Royal Ascot with Medallion Racing and partners purchasing an interest in the Adrian Keatley-trained daughter of Starspangledbanner. Secret Hideaway was a gritty winner of the Marygate at York for owner-breeder Paul Shanahan and would appear to have a host of options at the Royal meeting, including the Queen Mary Stakes, for which she is generally available at odds of 20-1. Mark McStay commented, “I was delighted to help secure an interest in Marygate Stakes winner Secret Hideaway on behalf of Medallion Racing, Stave Weston and Evan Trommer, who will now partner with her owner-breeders Paul Shanahan and Timmy Hyde.” He added, “She did well to win her race at York having sustained a significant bump at the start. There looks to be plenty more to come. I was very impressed with the filly when I inspected her at Adrian Keatley's stable in Malton. She's hopefully a filly with a bright future looking to Ascot and beyond.” The post Medallion Racing And Partners Buy Into Queen Mary Contender Secret Hideaway appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article