Wandering Eyes

Blue Grass Stakes (G1) winner and leading Kentucky Derby (G1) contender Sierra Leone made his first trip around the Churchill Downs oval at 7:30 a.m. April 22 after arriving from Keeneland the previous morning.View the full article

Ten runners came together to raise more than £15,000 for Racing Welfare when participating in the London Marathon, the charity organisation announced on Monday. The group who completed the 26.2-mile course on Sunday included Richard Cosgrave, who has received support from Racing Welfare having sustained a fall four years ago which resulted in a broken neck. He was joined by the likes of Chris Martin, assistant trainer to Archie Watson in Lambourn, Harrison Mills, strategy manager at the Jockey Club, and Sophie Webber, brand marketing assistant at Goffs. Daisy Felton, Racing Welfare fundraising executive, said, “All of the participants running in aid of Racing Welfare at this year's London Marathon put in a stellar effort to raise more that £15k for the charity, with more funds continuing to come in following the event. The dedication they've shown to train, fundraise and complete the event is admirable and all of us at Racing Welfare would like to thank them and celebrate their achievements. Their hard work will help to ensure we can continue to be there for racing's people when they need us most.” The post London Marathon Runners Raise Funds For Racing Welfare appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

According to one of his longstanding clients, Arthur Hancock, Dr. Robert Hunt may be only the third best veterinarian in Kentucky. So who are his two rivals? “Dr. Green,” Hancock replies. “And Dr. Time.” Besides these complementary therapies of grazing and rest, however, he is adamant that an ailing Thoroughbred could have no better helper in the Bluegrass than the Hagyard surgeon: a byword for dedication, integrity and horsemanship. Determinedly self-effacing as he is, Hunt readily acknowledges that Hancock's two other “doctors” have contributed much to his own work. In fact, he suspects that clients would identify his trademark (“if anything”) as a determination to avoid crisis surgery wherever possible. “I've saved way more horses by not operating than by trying to be a hero,” Hunt says. “Just by staying out of the way, based on a lot of experience in making bad decisions.” At the same time, his passion nonetheless remains emergency work: colics, dystocias, traumas. This is when he deals with a living creature at its most vulnerable and it's also when he remembers the response of an early mentor, in veterinary school, when asked why he did farm animal practice. “This,” he told Hunt, “is the one thing I can do that's going to help a guy put bread on his table.” “And I've always taken that with me,” Hunt says. “Especially with the emergencies where you have an animal that's going to die, but if you do the right intervention, it's going to live and stay in production. That's always been a very impactful, meaningful part of my job. Especially the dystocias, where somebody has well over a year's investment and you have a matter of minutes to make the difference. If everything works out, you may have a million-dollar commodity at the end. But we also need to recognize early, hard as it is, if this is not going to be a viable individual and you need to cut your losses now.” But even when the stakes aren't quite so awful, the engagement is perennial. Hunt invokes another mentor, from his first experience of practice out in California. When filling a vacancy, Charlie Bowles would ask the interviewee whether he or she were here for a job. “Yes, Dr. Bowles, a job.” Hearing that, he'd immediately ask the candidate to leave. Then, as they got to their feet in confusion, he would add: “If you want a career, a profession, I'll give you that. But if you're just here for a job, go to a factory somewhere.” For Hunt, as for so many horsemen, life and work are seamless. That may mean that he never stops working–but it also means he never stops living. “Because you dedicate your life to what you're doing, that becomes your whole personality,” he says. “I know that won't ever be a life goal for some people. And we do have a huge problem with recruitment of young veterinarians. That whole work-life balance issue is in play, people are pressing for a four-day week. But that just appalls me. Because if I'm on an operating table, having a serious procedure done, I don't want someone that plays golf half the week. I want somebody that looks like me: gray hair, worn out, and does like 5,000 of them a year. Billy Strings didn't get good playing guitar four days a week.” But that very analogy introduces the paradox that Hunt, while fanatically immersed in his vocation, also has an unusually wide hinterland. If his focus is out of the ordinary, then so is his perspective–from farrier to pilot, musician to trainer. “I'm a very distracted person!” he admits. “I have a little hobby farm, raise horses, cattle. Work is my biggest passion, and everybody's always fussed at me about how much I put into it. But having always had these other distractions, I've never experienced burnout.” And, actually, one of the things that keeps him fresh is precisely those young proteges he wants to infect with the same sense of vocation: whether Hagyard interns, or the Flying Start students he addresses every year. “Boy, there's nothing more rewarding than just seeing that bulb come on,” he says. “And you know they're hooked. 'Yeah,' you say, 'Got this one.' And from my own point of view, they probably help to prevent burnout as well. I love hanging around young people. They're energetic, their minds are bright, they want to learn.” Few among them, however, will have as many sanctuaries from the pressures of their calling. He's always played the guitar, for instance. Americana and country music, garage bands, college bands, and he's still doing party gigs. The pilot's license? He got that back in California, flew for a few years until deciding he wasn't really being careful enough (“scared myself a few times, my passengers probably more”). Nowadays he makes do with the exhilarations available on terra firma with a motorbike. First and foremost, however, Hunt remains ever a horseman. The bond was forged very young, showing in rural Georgia in the early 1960s. “My mom was passionate about horses, and my older brother's a trainer, so it's definitely in the blood,” he recalls. “He and I were both farriers from quite a young age. I've always dabbled with racehorses. I had good friends that would take them for me, and was then lucky enough to be an assistant trainer under my brother, so for quite a long time rode on the track every morning before surgery.” He still puts in a lot of saddle miles on the farm. And that's why Hunt is the horseman's vet: because he has always been one himself. “I wanted to be frontline, saddling horses in the paddock, just experiencing everything,” he explains. “And that's a reason I still shoe horses, too. If I'm going to be talking the talk, I better walk the walk.” The coalface was where he always learned best and he even paid his way through the University of Georgia by farrier work and breaking horses. He wanted to know the animal inside out. He has always loved physiology (cardiovascular his graduate specialism) and biomechanics and, with his background, naturally podiatry too. “But the one thing you learn is that whatever you're working on, a foot or any other part of the horse, you can't separate from the whole,” he says. “You always need the 'global' picture, and every application is a little different depending on the horse, and the client.” Coady Photography So has that grasp of functionality given an extra dimension to his aesthetic admiration? “I hope so,” he says. “If anything, I'm probably not critical enough. Evaluating sale horses, say, I tend to be a little bit too much of an optimist. I see all the upside.” Not a typical sales vet, then! “I think we should recognize the good qualities in a horse and then see if there are any holes,” he replies. “But you're just defining potential risk, things that are unpredictable. There are very few black-and-whites. It doesn't mean that he can't be a Grade I horse.” Hunt will, moreover, be rather more forgiving of imperfections in the elite models–because those won't stoop to be troubled by trifles. “There are probably six or eight radiographic things that I consider 'unforgivable' no matter how good a yearling is,” he admits. “But these little lumps and bumps, these incongruities or blemishes? I just don't get excited about those. Of course, you might have to wear different hats for different buyers. Some people just won't have anything to do with a horse once they've heard any kind of negative. Others, some of the trainers especially, are more willing to take a swing.” After his stint in California, Hunt had returned to Georgia to work on faculty when invited to Lexington to meet Dr. Paul Thorpe at Hagyard. “They were looking for a surgeon and it took about five minutes to know what I was going to do,” Hunt recalls. “He was the most like-minded guy, already doing a lot of the things I had ideas about. But the biggest thing was just his philosophy, which was very much that of a food animal practitioner. He knew how to keep things simple, not to cause complications. And he was a true pioneer.” Often, presumably, innovation happens only because there's no alternative but an experimental gamble? “Exactly,” Hunt replies. “If you're looking at a situation where an animal's not going to survive, you really don't have anything to lose–so long as you're not going to create extra suffering. It's worked many times, and it's extremely fulfilling when it does.” Many of his own breakthroughs Hunt modestly ascribes not to extraordinary perception, but to sheer exposure. “Just the numbers, the traffic that we'd see, you recognize deficits and where things need to be improved,” he explains. “Some of the techniques we'd use on colics, abdominal surgeries, dystocias, you do enough of them, you'll figure out ways to reduce your complications. We were able to design more efficient techniques for some of the limb corrective procedures. We did a lot of the first standing fracture repair. And I have a passion for imaging, so I had the first nuclear scintigraphy–a gamma camera–in this area, back in the early '90s. And then we brought in digital radiography as well. We don't have to mention that we were a little slow on some of the other things! But those got us off the blocks pretty well.” In terms of surgery, Dr. Robert Copelan furnished Hunt with “the most influential 15 minutes of my entire life” during a lecture in 1982. “He drove it home that if you got one shot, it better be perfect,” Hunt recalls. “With these high-intensity athletes, you don't get it right the first time, you may as well not show up.” In striving to meet those standards, Hunt has penetrated deep into the mystery of how physiology relates to performance, maybe even to competitive spirit. So is the elite Thoroughbred also superior in adversity or is there no real pattern? “Totally different species,” Hunt says flatly. “Your Breeders' Cup horse, that's a whole different animal. Yes, even as a patient.” But not always in a good way, it seems. “By far the worst animals you want to do a colic surgery on,” Hunt remarks. “Whether it's catecholamine levels or just their immune response, they're just geared so tight, wound so tight… The heart's so in tune, it's ready to stop any second under anesthesia. We hand recover everything on a big thick mat, and their flight instinct is wide open, so you're going to have your best people with them.” Hunt also reckons these superior athletes the most vulnerable to injury. “Because they don't tell you when they're hurting like regular horses,” Hunt explains. “They have the same number of injuries, but we have to watch them so close because they're not going to tell you something's wrong. You have to dig deeper on them. They can have a little stress fracture somewhere that could propagate into something more serious. That's where the advanced imaging comes in. They're all going to light up changes on a PET or nuclear scintigraphic scan. It's then our duty to figure out if something is going to become structurally unstable, and place the horse at risk.” Hunt is well aware of the high stakes for the industry, monitoring this stuff, and anticipates a strengthening of vigilance, whether in screening or track surfaces. “I hate all the negative publicity,” he admits. “Most of our track [maintenance] people are phenomenal. One injury is still one too many. But when you look at the raw numbers, 1.5 or even 1.8 per thousand starts, that's still an infinitesimally small number. I think what really needs to come out is the attrition rate on horses that didn't make the track. There's no published data. What if a trainer has 300 horses enter their program, and only 20 of them surface? We really need to fine comb some of that stuff.” He also recognizes that some vets have been complicit in the reputational damage caused by pharmacist-trainers. “Medication is beneficial, used appropriately,” he says. “But I mean, as far as injecting joints, things like that? My horses just won't run.” He says that much of it is simply due diligence. If a horse betrays some kind of pain, maybe a gait discrepancy, you must be confident that nothing is structurally awry. But medication remains important in keeping a horse in balance. Coglianese “If you're training hard, doesn't matter if you're human or horse or dog, there's not an athlete in the world that doesn't have a sprain, a minor injury, something where he needs an aspirin or whatever to stay balanced,” he emphasizes. “And that's where horses can get in trouble. Nothing else on earth runs 40mph supporting 1,200lbs on a structure the same diameter as our legs. And I think maybe the pendulum has come back too far. If we allow them to run imbalanced, we're not really taking care of them. These are high-speed, high-intensity situations. “If not necessarily with the naked eye, then riding, you can tell when a horse just isn't right. They're vibrating, moving a little rougher. And those horses are prone to further injury, usually in another leg. When everything comes apart, they're protecting themselves and suffer an overload. Recognizing those, it's a challenge. But my own philosophy is, just take care of them. No race in the world is worth the life of a horse.” Quality being drawn to quality, Hunt's clients themselves dependably show the best of our industry. In turn, that has secured him privileged access to greatness in the breed. Arrogate, for instance, from his youth at Clearsky right through his track career. Empire Maker was another cherished Juddmonte customer, not least because of Hunt's familiarity with his dam Toussaud as “one of the most fun horses you could ever communicate with.” Equine character of that kind has always been a lock to which Hunt has enjoyed seeking a key. “I love the quirky stuff,” he enthuses. “Because once you get inside their head and figure out what they're trying to say, it's very rewarding. But it's just another spin on the game. I hate a lot of pressure on horses. The way I grew up, you just learned to be a cowboy and they were forced into everything they did. You manhandled the horse and basically overpowered them. Around here there are so many good horsemen that know better than that. They truly communicate with their animals, and the horses tell them how much pressure they need to get a job done.” Even going to scope a horse at the sales, Hunt will notice and enjoy a horse's rapport with exceptional people. Whereas if he sees someone trying to bully a horse, “that's when I'm going to get bumped in the head!” Every horse has a lethal weapon on each corner, and that's why you want your vet to be a horseman. In a confined space, mutual trust is priceless. “Usually, when I've gotten hurt, it's my own fault,” Hunt says, raising a hand. “This finger is broken and it's sort of my fault, but it's my dog's fault too! Just wrong place, wrong time, not calculating it right. There are very few times as a veterinarian that you should feel in jeopardy. You just evaluate the situation, decide who's dangerous. These really tough mares come in for a reproductive surgery, you touch them and they start double barreling. But we have tons of medications for those situations. Scoping, same thing. Some of them just get the wrong person on the head.” Toussaud at Juddmonte Farms, 2003 | Horsephotos Skilled and delicate as the role is, it also calls for great stamina: mental, physical, emotional. Hence the imperative for unflagging vocational engagement. If Hunt never backs off, never switches off, that's because the magic abides even through the bitterest hours. It all comes down to a horseman and a horse. “Just doing the right thing by them, trying to keep them out of harm's way,” Hunt says with a shrug. “I've loved the latitude to be innovative, when needed, whether in surgery or some of our treatments, some of the training techniques. And then the people I've been able to work around, not just my mentors, but the clients as well. I've learned so much from them.” Hunt is well known for making more farm visits than most. He's been going to some for 30 years–including some of the real superpowers, but also others whose boardrooms are a kitchen table–learning human and equine traits through the generations. “I'd love it if all I had to do was walk in the surgery room every day and not drive 200 miles,” he says. “As it is, I get three days in there and usually three days on the road, sometimes four. But that means I can do a lot of volume without the clients having to stress their horse.” What tells you everything, ultimately, is the one alternative Hunt might entertain to a dream career. “Oh,” he says with a chuckle. “That would be taking a string of eight grass horses to Colonial Downs middle of July, and having me a little camper and riding those horses every day. I love it down there, during the heat of summer. I'm from Georgia, remember! But I think there'd still have to be a veterinary quota I'd have to fulfill daily and then I could go do other things. “Just by nature of this job, I do a lot of everything. And my clients are basically my family. I try not to let that skew the clinical judgment. But I don't have a single one that can't call me at midnight if they have a question. And I have a huge weakness for becoming attached to the patients. But, you know, that just makes me the luckiest guy in the world.” The post Vocation Beats Vacation for the Ultimate Horsemen’s Vet appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

For the second time in five days, Bill Mott sent his duo of Wood Memorial (G2) winner Resilience and 2023 champion 2-year-old filly Just F Y I to the Churchill Downs track for a published workout.View the full article

Arqana has strengthened its overseas department with the addition of Ajay Anne, who becomes the company's new thoroughbred representative for the Middle East and India. A graduate of the Darley Flying Start and the Indian Racing Academy, Anne started his career with Darley as their Middle East, Indian and South African bloodstock representative. Since the creation of his own agency New Approach Bloodstock in 2010, he has guided numerous clients in their purchases both privately and at auction for racing and breeding. Anne has also been a registered steward with UAE Racing since 2006. Commenting on his appointment, Anne said, “I'm delighted to be joining the Arqana team of representatives. Having lived in Dubai for 18 years now, I've been able to observe first-hand the evolution of racing in the Middle East. “The thoroughbred market is booming and investment is high, particularly in the yearling segment. India, my home country with which I have close ties, has many passionate owners and breeders, whose demand is mainly geared towards breeding and finding good mares and stallions. I'm excited and looking forward to what promises to be a great new chapter.” Freddy Powell, Managing Director at Arqana, added, “We are delighted to add Ajay Anne to the team of Arqana representatives around the world. Ajay's profile is quite unique, combining his excellent knowledge of the Middle East, where he is based, with his expertise in the Indian market, where Arqana has been present for many years. “We wanted to give ourselves the means to redevelop our network in India, and Ajay is the ideal candidate to achieve this alongside us. As for the Middle East, this is obviously a key region for an auction house like Arqana. The investor base is evolving fast and it was important to be able to count on a representative totally dedicated to the thoroughbred market alongside our existing representative, Faisal Al Rhamani, who focuses on Arabians.” The post Ajay Anne Becomes Arqana’s Middle East And Indian Representative appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

ECL Entertainment and its joint venture partner Clairvest Group have entered into an agreement to purchase Wyoming Downs in Evanston, as well as the track's historic racing locations across Wyoming, the partners announced Monday. The sale is expected to be finalized in the second quarter of 2024, pending all required regulatory approvals and standard closing conditions. Based in Las Vegas, ECL operates live horse racing and four historic horse racing locations in Kentucky, including the Mint Gaming Hall at Kentucky Downs, as well as charitable gaming locations in New Hampshire that also operate historic horse racing machines. “We are very excited to continue the growth of Wyoming Downs' racing and historic racing businesses and look forward to investing in the great state of Wyoming,” said Marc Falcone, co- founder of ECL. Wyoming Downs opens for its 2024 season June 8. “Given our company's deep roots in horse racing, the purchase of Wyoming Downs is a natural extension of our business,” said ECL co-founder Ron Winchell. “We look forward to working with all of the Wyoming Downs stakeholders.” Clairvest, based in Toronto, is a private equity firm with over $3 billion of assets under management. This transaction would represent Clairvest's 16th investment in the gaming space, building on Clairvest's 24-year successful track record in the gaming industry. “We are excited to partner with ECL for our second joint investment in horse racing in the United States,” said Michael Wagman, President and Managing Director of Clairvest. “We look forward to continuing to build the business in Wyoming.” Wyoming Downs has been owned for the last 10 years by a partnership led by Wyoming Equity Investors, LLC, and Eric Nelson. In addition to its horse racing track in Evanston, Wyoming Downs also operates 18 off-track betting locations throughout the state in Evanston, Casper, Cheyenne, Evansville, Gillette, Green River, Laramie, Mills, Sheridan, Rock Springs, and Thermopolis. Wyoming Downs employs 163 people across the state. “This is a huge win for the State of Wyoming. ECL is the right operator at the right time for Wyoming Downs and will make the state proud,” said Nelson. Valtus Capital Group, an investment bank specializing in the gaming and real estate industry, is advising Wyoming Downs on the transaction. The post ECL Entertainment, Clairvest Purchase Wyoming Downs appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

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Bidding to give David Hall his first success in the Gr.1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (28 April), Flying Ace (NZ) (Swiss Ace) cruised through a 1050m barrier trial this morning as the course and distance specialist prepared for the HK$22 million feature. Pitted against only five rivals, Flying Ace settled close to the speed under Matthew Poon before finishing off sedately to cross the line in second place, five and three-quarter lengths behind One For All, who clocked 1m 02.08s. With five wins and seven minor placings over Sha Tin’s 1200m course, Flying Ace impressed jockey Matthew Poon with this morning’s workout. “He jumped quite fast today and travelled nice. I just gave him a very easy trial. The horse is happy and he pulled up well, so it’s good,” Poon said. Rated 103, Flying Ace will bid to give Zac Purton his third Chairman’s Sprint Prize triumph after Ivictory (Mossman) (2018) and Lucky Sweynesse (NZ) (Sweynesse) (2023). A fast-finishing third behind Lucky Sweynesse in the G2.2 Sprint Cup (1200m) on 7 April, Flying Ace will be joined in Sunday’s speed test by stablemate Invincible Sage (Thronum), who will be partnered by Hugh Bowman. Hall, who has 30 winners so far this season, has previously had only one FWD Champions Day runner – Little Giant (NZ) (Swiss Ace), who finished third to Beat The Clock (Hinchinbrook) in the 2019 Chairman’s Sprint Prize. This Sunday’s field is headed by Group One winners California Spangle (Starpangledbanner), Mad Cool (Dark Angel), Victor The Winner (Torodado) and Little Brose (NZ) (Per Incanto), along with Lucky With You (Heredera), Howdeepisyourlove (Deep Field), Sunrise Ronaldo (Harbinger), Mugen (Deep Field), Believing (Mehmas), Invincible Sage and Flying Ace. View the full article

Ballyhane Stud resident Sands Of Mali (Fr) (Panis) became Europe's latest first-crop sire to get off the mark when his Florian Guyader-trained daughter Hide The Evidence (Ire) shed maiden status with a two-length debut win over five furlongs in Monday's Prix du Medoc at Bordeaux. 1st-Bordeaux-Le Bouscat, €23,000, Cond, 4-22, 2yo, 5fT, 1:01.80, g/s. HIDE THE EVIDENCE (IRE) (f, 2, Sands Of Mali {Fr}–Silent Agenda {GB}, by Kyllachy {GB}) raced in third through the early fractions of this unveiling. Nudged along to turn for home in second, the 51-10 chance came under sterner urging in the straight and kept on strongly once sweeping by long-time leader Sunset Bikini (Fr) (Le Brivido {Fr}) inside the final furlong to defeat that rival by two lengths. Hide The Evidence, full-sister to a yearling colt, is the first of two foals out of a winning half-sister to Listed Two-Year-Old Trophy victrix and G3 Firth Of Clyde S. third Ventura Mist (GB) (Pastoral Pursuits {GB}). The March-foaled bay's stakes-placed third dam Jetbeeah (Ire) (Lomond), herself a daughter of G2 Gallinule S. winner Welsh Fantasy (Ire) (Welsh Pageant {Fr}), is the dam of G3 Prix de Royaumont victrix Lady's Purse (GB) (Doyen {Ire}) and the multiple stakes-placed Dazilyn Lady (Zilzal). Lady's Purse, in turn, is the dam of stakes-winning G2 Superlative S. runner-up Masekela (Ire) (El Kabeir) and G2 Cape Verdi second Asoof (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). Sales history: €10,000 Ylg '23 TIRSEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, €11,500. Video, sponsored by FanDuel TV. O-Amy Marnane & Olivia Marnane; B-Ballyhane Stud (IRE); T-Florian Guyader. The post Freshman Sire Sands Of Mali Off The Mark At Bordeaux appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

A person whose job it is to promote horse racing was, rather disappointingly, being sniffy about the Craven meeting on social media last week. I understand that some people don't like racing at the Rowley Mile and, yes, last Tuesday in particular was a little challenging on the weather front. But if you're a Flat racing person, and particularly one who is being paid to tell other people that they should come racing, then you really should appreciate all that is wonderful about these weeks of Classic trials across Europe. They may not offer racecourses packed full of people, but they are packed full of clues for those days, not far off now, when the crowds will come and another little piece of racing history will be consigned to the books. In short, they matter. It warmed up incrementally in Newmarket last week from the diabolical conditions faced by the breezers for the Tattersalls Craven Sale on Monday morning. By Wednesday we were down to just seven layers of clothing. I went to the old wooden fence by the stands' rail to watch the Nell Gwyn and stood alongside two senior gentlemen with their members' badges pinned to their coats. “Might see something special here, you never know,” one said to the other. Quite. Is Pretty Crystal (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) pretty special? She was certainly pretty game in batting away the favourite and another daughter of Dubawi, Dance Sequence (GB) to win the Nell Gwyn. And, as long as she is supplemented for the 1,000 Guineas, at least her trainer Richard Fahey and owner Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum know now that she acts through Newmarket's famous Dip that has been the undoing of so many youngsters. Over at Newbury on Saturday Folgaria (Ire) (Due Diligence) continued her unbeaten run with victory on her first start outside Italy. Champion two-year-old in her former home nation, the G3 Fred Darling winner had claimed four stakes races last season, including the G2 Premio Dormello for Italy's champion trainer Stefano Botti, who then handed her over to his brother Marco in Newmarket. This was another big step forward for the filly, who races for Maurizio Dainotto's Scuderia Sagam and is entered for the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches. Marco Botti has done well over the years for his compatriots who have decided to have a horse in training in England, and won last year's G2 Yorkshire Cup with Scuderia La Tesa's Giavellotto (Ire) (Mastercraftsman [Ire}). The homebred five-year-old is entered to defend his crown on May 17. Folgaria's breeder Turlough Boylan also bred her dam, Full Moon Fever (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}). He purchased her granddam Hasaiyda (Ire) (Hector Protector) from the Aga Khan Studs for €20,000 when carrying to Azamour. That foal became Glorious Protector (Ire), a Listed winner for Ed Walker, and Full Moon Fever followed her brother to the same stable after SackvilleDonald bought her as a yearling for €12,000. She won two races for Walker and eventually ended up at Goffs as a nine-year-old mare in 2020, where Boylan bought her back through Eamonn Reilly of BBA Ireland for just €2,000. Considering that the filly she was carrying at the time is now the six-time winner and Classic prospect Folgaria, that looks to have been a sound bit of business. The mare was covered last year by Invincible Army (Ire). Folgaria's victory came on an emotional day for the Botti stable and for many in Italian racing as Stefano Cherchi was laid to rest in Sardinia. A further memorial service for the young jockey takes place in Newmarket this coming Sunday, April 28, at 12 noon at Our Lady Immaculate and Saint Etheldreda Church. Hot in Both Hemispheres It only seems a minute ago that the big-striding Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) beat Too Darn Hot (GB) in the Irish 2,000 Guineas and now both horses are making their mark in the second-crop sires' table. Phoenix Of Spain's star performer to date has been Haatem (Ire), the winner of the G2 Vintage S. who looked highly impressive when giving trainer Richard Hannon his third victory in the G3 Craven S. on Thursday after Toormore (Ire) in 2014 and Kool Kompany (Ire) a year later. Two years after Cachet (Ire) (Aclaim {Ire}) won the 1,000 Guineas her breeder John Bourke of Hyde Park Stud now has a serious chance to add the 2,000 Guineas to his collection as the breeder of Haatem. The Hannon stable is rolling along in fine form and enjoyed a treble at Newbury on Friday, which included the Derby entrant Voyage (GB), who struck at 28/1 on debut for Julie Wood. The son of Golden Horn (GB) had been selected by his stalwart owner as a foal for 40,000gns and was another at Newbury to have an Italian connection as he was co-bred by the Botti family's Razza del Velino. Voyage is now around 33/1 for Epsom after his taking win in the Darley Novice S. and, though his first two dams are unraced, there is plenty to recommend him for a shot at the Classic on the first weekend of June. For a start his sire Golden Horn won the Derby in 2015 en route to becoming Horse of the Year, and so did the sires of two of his first three dams: Galileo (Ire) and Charlottown (GB). On Sunday Voyage's family was given a further boost when Mr Fisk (Arrogate) won the GIII Californian S. at Santa Anita. The four-year-old is out of Voyage's Listed-winning half-sister Plein Air (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}), who was also fourth in the G1 Premio Lydia Tesio for Stefano Botti before switching to the stable of Bob Baffert, who now trains her first foal, Mr Fisk. Darley's Too Darn Hot has Classic prospects left, right and centre, including Wood's Greenham fourth Son (GB) – yet another with an Italian breeder behind him in Scuderia Blueberry. Warming up in racecourse gallops in the last week were Too Darn Hot's Fallen Angel (GB) and Alyanaabi (Ire), while Darnation (Ire), Boiling Point (Ire) and Native Approach (GB) are also among his Guineas entries. The son of Dubawi is currently leading the first-season sires' table in Australia with eight winners and he notched his second Group 1 winner over the weekend when Godolphin's Broadsiding (Aus) landed the Champagne S. at Randwick for James Cummings. Study Of Man Building on Good Start Another second-crop sire whose profile continues to rise is the 2018 Prix du Jockey Club winner Study Of Man (Ire). A particularly good week for the Lanwades stallion included Sunday's Listed Prix Caravelle winner Birthe (Ire), who became the first black-type winner for her Finnish-born trainer Laura Vanska. Birthe will take aim next at the G2 Prix Saint-Alary on France's Guineas weekend, and also holds an entry for the G1 Prix de Diane. At Newmarket, Juddmonte's Kalpana (GB) streaked to victory by 10 lengths in a Class 3 handicap for Andrew Balding and will surely be seen next in stakes company, while Sons And Lovers (GB), owned by Hugo Morriss in partnership with breeder Kirsten Rausing, looked to be learning with every stride he took in the Craven S., in which he finished third for Jane Chapple-Hyam. The icing on the cake for Rausing was the victory of Sinology (GB) at Newbury on Friday. The daughter of Study Of Man and Group 1 winner Madame Chiang (GB) is another for the notebook, and became the fifth winner from five foals for her dam. With Madame Chiang being by the late Lanwades stallion Archipenko, a son of Kingmambo, Sinology's pedigree features inbreeding to not one but two superior mares: Miesque, a granddam of both Study Of Man and Archipenko, and Special, who is Archipenko's other granddam through her daughter Bound, as well as being a granddam of Miesque. Fabre's Flyers Andre Fabre may have been out of luck with his three runners at Newmarket last week but the French trainer has unleashed some smart-looking three-year-olds at home of late, with the colts Will Scarlet (GB) (Masar {Ire}) and Ocean Viking (GB) (Farhh {GB}) and fillies Rock'n Swing (GB) (Camelot {GB}) and Montemesola (Fr) (Kingman {GB}) all winning for Godolphin, while Hamavi (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) continued a great spring for the Wertheimers. Perhaps most encouraging of all was the victory of Sajir (Ire) in the G3 Prix Sigy. The colt races for his breeder Prince AA Faisal, who also raced his sire Make Believe (GB) and bred that stallion's most famous son to date, Mishriff (Ire). It has been a good month in France for Make Believe, whose daughter Making Dreams (Ire) won the G3 Prix Penelope for Karl Burke. Meanwhile, five of Make Believe's last eight runners in Britain have all won, including at Newbury on Saturday where Jack Channon's Metal Merchant (Ire) lifted the Spring Cup. Make Believe's fellow Ballylinch Stud resident Lope De Vega (Ire) is also enjoying a decent run and has been represented by four Group/Graded winners so far this year. The most recent of those was Saturday's GII Elkhorn S. victor Silver Knott (GB), one of a dozen horses currently stabled in America for Charlie Appleby. Lope De Vega also features as the damsire of the aforementioned stakes winner Birthe. Three Times Three The last word must go to the mighty mare Reem Three (GB) (Mark Of Esteem {Ire}), who was represented by her ninth winner from nine runners when Bolsena (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) landed a good fillies' maiden at Newmarket last Wednesday for her owner-breeder Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum and Kevin Ryan. The star of Ryan's stable last season was Reem Three's G1 Queen Anne-winning son Triple Time (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who is now midway through covering his first full book of mares at Darley's Dalham Hall Stud. He is one of seven black-type earners for his dam, along with fellow Group 1 winner Ajman Princess (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}). Following Bolsena, the 21-year-old mare has a Night Of Thunder (Ire) two-year-old named Triple Tempest (GB) and a Pinatubo (Ire) yearling filly who was born last May. The post Seven Days: Something Special appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. 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William Haggas has described the Lockinge S. as “a long shot” for Maljoom (Ire) (Caravaggio) but said the talented older horse could get his campaign underway in the Paradise S. at Ascot. The German 2,000 Guineas winner has endured his share of training problems and was only seen once last season when disappointing in the Joel S. when returning from over a year's absence. However, the five-year-old is undoubtedly classy on his day, and Haggas is holding out hope that the real Maljoom can show up on the racecourse this season. The trainer said, “He's going to the Paradise Stakes on May 1 and then we will decide if he goes for the Lockinge. I wanted to run him earlier than that so the Lockinge is probably a long shot, but I need to get his show back on the road. He's in good shape. “He's only run once since the St James's Palace and he's very much trying to get his show back on the road.” Haggas added, “He's a talented horse but a fragile one, but to be fair to him he's trained very well this spring.” Stablemate Montassib (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) started his season on a high note when landing the Cammidge Trophy at Doncaster on the opening weekend of the turf season. The Duke Of York could await Haggas' runner and there are French contests also on the table. “He needs a bit of cut in the ground and he's in the Duke Of York, he might go there,” the trainer said. “The form of his race at Doncaster fell in a heap in the Abernant the other day and he could go for a Listed race at Chantilly on May 14-we might do that.” One Haggas runner that will not be seen on a racecourse again is Sense Of Duty (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), a talented Group-winning mare whose career has been cut short by an injury. “Regrettably, I think she has fractured her pelvis, so she will sadly be retired,” Haggas said. “It's very frustrating for Andrew Stone who owns her, but she will make a broodmare for him. It's always horrible for a trainer when you know a horse has talent and you never get to the bottom of her.” The post Haggas Says “Fragile” Maljoom Ready To Return But Lockinge “A Long Shot” appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

What Happy Valley Races Where Happy Valley Racecourse – Wong Nai Chung Rd, Happy Valley, Hong Kong When Wednesday, April 24, 2024 First Race 6:40pm HKT (8:40pm AEST) Visit Dabble Happy Valley is the destination for Hong Kong racing on Wednesday evening, with a bumper nine-race program set to get underway at 6:40pm local time. The rail is in the C+3 position, which usually favours on-speed runners. Heavy rain is forecast in the lead-up, however, so with testing conditions throughout the night, it may simply be a matter of which gallopers get through the yielding ground. Best Bet at Happy Valley: Can’t Go Wong Can’t Go Wong dominated his rivals by two lengths at this course and distance on March 27, proving far too strong for Class 5 company. He has since found the minor money at Sha Tin behind Californiatotality, giving chase on the three-wide line throughout. Getting back to Happy Valley should be ideal for the son of Per Incanto, and provided he handles the conditions, Can’t Go Wong will loom as a major threat when the whips are cracking. Best Bet Race 6 – #10 Can’t Go Wong (3) 5yo Gelding | T: Frankie Lor | J: Alexis Badel (56kg) Bet with Bet365 Next Best at Happy Valley: Noble Pursuit Noble Pursuit couldn’t reel in the winning margin of Ivy League on April 10, but was finishing off best of the rest. The Caspar Fownes-trained gelding was given a mighty task from near-last turning for home, barrelling down the centre of the course to finishing within a length. The step up in trip should suit, and with a soft run in transit from stall one, Noble Pursuit should be closing in on a fourth Hong Kong success. Next Best Race 9 – #3 Noble Pursuit (1) 4yo Gelding | T: Caspar Fownes | J: Andrea Atzeni (57.5kg) Bet with Bet365 Best Value t Happy Valley: Grand Nova Grand Nova makes his Hong Kong debut on the back of three impressive barrier trials. His most recent outing on the Sha Tin all-weather circuit particularly caught the eye, reined in under a hold as he matched motors with Raging Blizzard passing the winning post. Hugh Bowman hops aboard from barrier seven, and provided he can slot in for cover throughout, Grand Nova will be doing his best work late. Best Value Race 4 – #4 Grand Nova (7) 3yo Gelding | T: John Size | J: Hugh Bowman (57.5kg) Bet with Bet365 Hong Kong quaddie tips – Wednesday 24/4/2024 Happy Valley quadrella selections Wednesday, April 24, 2024 2-10 1-2-3-6-7-12 1-2-4-5-10 1-3-4-9 Horse racing tips
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Kiwi will ride in Japan for the second time when he partners with Danny Shum Chap-shing’s stable star on June 2: ‘I’d love to win the QE II first’View the full article

What Geelong Races Where Geelong Racecourse – 99 Breakwater Rd, Breakwater VIC 3219 When Wednesday, April 24, 2024 First Race 1pm AEST Visit Dabble Geelong is the destination for racing in Victoria on Wednesday, with a competitive eight-race card on the menu. The forecast promises cool conditions but no rain, and with the track rated a Good 4 and the rail out 3m for the entire circuit, there are no excuses for fancied runners. The action at Geelong will commence at 1pm AEST. Best Bet at Geelong: Verifier Despite winning just once in 17 starts, Verifier is without doubt the class horse in this BM64. His form lines this campaign are elite, finishing 3.9 lengths off Another Wil and 1.15 lengths behind El Soleado in much harder races than this. Beau Mertens will have the son of Tivaci settled midfield with cover, and if Verifier puts his best hoof forward, he should exert his class on his rivals late. Best Bet Race 5 – #1 Verifier (6) 4yo Gelding | T: Nigel Blackiston | J: Beau Mertens (60.5kg) +170 with Dabble Next Best at Geelong: Ruakaka Raider Cindy Alderson’s Ruakaka Raider caught the eye when flashing home for third at Pakenham over 1600m, with his best work coming late. The step up the 1715m in just his third career start looks ideal in what shapes as a winnable maiden. Barrier one may not be the best for this three-year-old gelding who tends to settle deep, but if the breaks come, Ruakaka Raider should prove too hard to hold out. Next Best Race 3 – #4 Ruakaka Raider (1) 3yo Gelding | T: Cindy Alderson | J: Jamie Mott (59kg) +170 with Playup Best Value at Geelong: Arqana Arqana could not have been any more impressive when breaking her maiden first-up at Echuca, giving her rivals a massive start and an emphatic beating. The Merchant Navy mare was next to last on the home turn before unleashing a powerful finish to get the job done in soft fashion. Barrier 17 is offset by her desire to settle at the rear of the field, and with a genuinely run 1412m expected, Arqana should get the chance to salute again at a nice price with online bookmakers. Best Value Race 6 – #11 Arqana (17) 4yo Mare | T: Anthony & Sam Freedman | J: Luke Currie (57kg) +1000 with Neds Wednesday quaddie tips for Geelong races Geelong quadrella selections Wednesday, April 24, 2024 1-6-7 5-6-7-9-11-14 1-4-8-9-12-13 4-7-8-11 | Copy this bet straight to your betslip More horse racing tips View the full article

John Blackadder will travel down to Phar Lap Raceway on Wednesday with the appeal of an Entain – NZB Insurance Pearl Series bonus for Yoshime. Yoshime has produced a pair of strong runner-up finishes to Rubicon Reigns and subsequent Rating 65 winner Contemplation Bay in early March and looks a strong chance of breaking maiden status in the fillies and mares event. “I gave her a couple of weeks off after her last race to give her a freshen-up, she had a pretty hard run and she’s progressed very well since then,” Blackadder said. The Rangiora horseman nominated Yoshime for the enhanced Pearl Series this season, with a potential $26,000 winning bonus proving a strong case to head south with the four-year-old mare. “She’s drawn barrier one which is great and having Warren Kennedy up as well. Hopefully she can sit up in behind the leaders, 1400m is probably more her go, but she’s nice and fresh so there’s no reason why she won’t get the 1200m at this stage,” he said. “I think she’s going to be a really nice mare later on.” Yoshime’s sire Echoes Of Heaven is based at Timaru nursery Clearview Park Stud, who will sponsor her stablemate In The Navy’s 1600m three-year-old contest earlier on the card. “There’s two or three that have won a couple of races in there, and the rest are on pretty even key,” Blackadder said. “He’s got three kilos off with Denby-Rose (Tait, apprentice jockey) which will help, he’s just taken a while to come into his racing really.” Blackadder will also be represented by Aladdins Cave in the Equine Veterinary Services 2200m, while he is looking forward to heading to Wingatui on Sunday with Ardrossan filly Ledecky. After starting her career with owner Clinton Isdale, the three-year-old joined Blackadder last month and was strong in third at Riverton at her first start for the stable. “Ledecky will run in the maiden 1400m again, and I think she’ll be very competitive,” Blackadder said. View the full article

Westbury Stud stalwart Swiss Ace continues to be a reliable source of winners and the Group One-winning sprinter was again to the fore at the weekend. His unbeaten son Domain Ace was an impressive juvenile stakes winner at Te Rapa on Saturday while Sabah Ace continued his march through the grades in Singapore with victory at Kranji on Sunday evening. Swiss Ace’s genuine three-year-old daughter Race Ace also collected her third black-type placing when the Fraser Auret-trained filly finished a game third in the Listed Warstep Stakes (2000m) at Riccarton. “Swiss Ace has had a great season and for an older sire he is still great bread and butter value and there’s no doubt he can match the better stallions, be it here, Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore,” Westbury General Manager Russell Warwick said. The winner of 12 races including the Gr.1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m), Swiss Ace retired to stud in 2010. He took his tally to 19 individual stakes winners, headed by his Gr.1 Railway Stakes (1200m) winner Julius, when the Team Rogerson-trained Domain Ace followed up his debut win at Otaki with victory in the Listed Star Way Stakes (120m) at Te Rapa. “Domain Ace is still very raw and it was only his second start and first one right-handed, so he’s got plenty going for him,” Warwick said. Bred by stud owner Gerry Harvey, he is out of the Hussonet mare Internet whose half-brother Delago De Luxe was the champion juvenile colt of his year in South Africa and two-time Group One winner of the Golden Horse Casino Sprint and the Gold Medallion Stakes. Internet has a yearling sister to Domain Ace and produced a colt by Reliable Man last year and is back in foal to Swiss Ace. “We liked the mating with Swiss Ace, Hussonet has been a good broodmare sire, and the Reliable Man is a really nice colt as well,” Warwick said. Domain Ace was offered at last year’s Magic Millions National Yearling Sale by Westbury and was knocked down to Rogerson for A$35,000. He was subsequently passed in at New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale later that year, with Rogerson remaining in the ownership group. The stable went close to another black-type winner at Te Rapa where Westbury graduate Solidify, a son of Redwood, finished runner-up in the Gr.3 Championship Stakes (2100m). Sabah Ace, who has now won six of his 13 starts from David Kok’s stable, was also bred by Harvey and purchased out of Westbury’s New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale draft at Karaka for $50,000. He is a son of the late Danehill mare Show Exhibit, whose last foal is an unraced two-year-old son of Tarzino. “Sabah Ace is quite an impressive type, a big and robust sort of horse, and that was the first time on Sunday that he had been out to a mile. It was a good effort as that’s probably at the end of his distance range,” Warwick said. Swiss Ace’s associate sire Tarzino also emphasised his versatility when he chipped in with a winning trans-Tasman weekend double at opposing ends of the distance spectrum. His son Star Ballot, another Westbury graduate, posted his fifth career success at Riccarton for trainers Michael and Matthew Pitman while Pretty Tavi added a third victory to her record at Bendigo. “It was quite amazing, Star Ballot won over 2600m and Pretty Tavi won over 1100m for the Freedmans (Anthony and Sam), so she’s quite sharp,” Warwick said. “The racing has been pretty good to us this year, we’ve had half a-dozen stakes winners or so and we’re hopefully looking forward to one or two more before the season closes.” View the full article

Little Avondale would like to advise breeders that resident stallion Per Incanto remains at $50,000 plus GST for the 2024 season. The son of Street Cry has had another successful season highlighted by Belclare’s second consecutive win in New Zealand’s premier fillies and mare race, the Group 1 NZ Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes. In the salering his 29 Karaka Book 1 yearlings averaged $170,000 and at Sydney Easter he was leading NZ based sire with the Dreamlife colt selling for $650,000 and averaging $310,000. Time Test won’t be shuttling for the 2024 southern hemisphere season. LA have decided to give the son of Dubawi a season off and the intention is that he returns in 2025. He is currently completing his seventh northern hemisphere season at the National Stud in Newmarket, England, at a service fee of £8,500. For further enquiries, please phone Sam Williams +64 274 853 400. View the full article

Aimee Peterken has only been breeding thoroughbreds for a few years, but she is already starting to leave her mark. The Auckland-based marketing professional had previously been involved in competing and breeding sport horses, but a chance encounter at a social event led her to change tack and enter the thoroughbred world. “I used to be a show rider,” Peterken said. “It was an introduction to Micaela Murray (that got me involved with thoroughbreds), we were out at an event, and we shared mutual friends. She offered to lease me a couple of thoroughbred mares which I was going to put across my sport horse stallion. “It was only when I started looking into the lines that I realised I could probably do what I was doing with sport horses in a more commercial way. “I love the science of it (breeding) and to come in and attempt something different excites me, so I thought I would give it (thoroughbreds) a go.” Peterken has struck near immediate success, with the first foal out of her Savabeel mare Saveadance, a half-sister to Group Two winner Fire Song, being Sassy Merlot. Peterken offered the Burgundy filly under her Advantageous Ventures banner at New Zealand Bloodstock’s 2020 Book 3 Yearling Sale where she was purchased by bloodstock agent Paul Moroney and Ballymore Stables for $24,000. She has gone on to place in the Gr.2 Wellington Guineas (1400m), Gr.3 Desert Gold Stakes (1600m) and Gr.3 Rotorua Stakes (1400m), before her crowning achievement at Riccarton last Saturday when she won the Listed Easter Stakes (1400m). “She was one of the first that I bred,” Peterken said. “She has done well for herself, which is absolutely awesome. It is pretty exciting to be so lucky so early on in my breeding career.” Sassy Merlot is by Cambridge Stud’s ill-fated stallion Burgundy, and Peterken said she did a lot of homework before deciding that initial mating with Saveadance. “It was the Redoute’s Choice line, which Saveadance had crossed well with in the past, that attracted me to Burgundy,” Peterken said. “She had been crossed twice with Duelled (a son of Redoute’s Choice), with (six-win gelding) All the Rage her second foal. “Burgundy on type was very athletic and tall, and was a very good offset to her (Saveadance) type – she is very short and stumpy. You needed something with really good leg, and Burgundy presented that type that I needed to cross with her to give her that length of leg. Temperament-wise he was great as well.” Saveadance’s subsequent two matings were to Rich Hill Stud stallion Ace High, with the resulting foals being Texas Dolly, who was unplaced in the Listed Warstep Stakes (2000m) at Riccarton on Saturday, and two-year-old filly Line Dancer. “I think Texas Dolly presents quite an exciting future as well,” Peterken said. “With her cross I chose Ace High because of Redoute’s Choice (damsire), and he presented all the right things of what I needed for her. “Line Dancer is also coming through. She went into Book 1 but unfortunately, she injured herself a week before going through (the sale ring) and just didn’t show well. She will hopefully trial in the backend of this year.” In subsequent years, Saveadance was left empty for a year before losing her Turn Me Loose foal earlier this year, and is back in-foal to the Windsor Park Stud stallion. “We lost a foal this year, a colt, which I have been waiting for many years, so that was a bit heartbreaking,” Peterken said. “She is back in-foal to Turn Me Loose and I am just weighing up who to send her to this coming season.” Peterken said she is now fully immersed in the thoroughbred industry and is hoping to build her broodmare band in the coming years, but for now, she is enjoying concentrating on her small broodmare band and lives in hope of breeding another stakes winner. “I am fully committed to the thoroughbreds now, I don’t even ride these days,” she said. “I am breeding from the three mares and our horses are like part of our family.” View the full article

Rangiora trainer John Blackadder with Jasmine Fawcett. Photo: Race Images South John Blackadder will travel down to Phar Lap Raceway on Wednesday with the appeal of an Entain – NZB Insurance Pearl Series bonus for Yoshime. Yoshime has produced a pair of strong runner-up finishes to Rubicon Reigns and subsequent Rating 65 winner Contemplation Bay in early March and looks a strong chance of breaking maiden status in the fillies and mares event. “I gave her a couple of weeks off after her last race to give her a freshen-up, she had a pretty hard run and she’s progressed very well since then,” Blackadder said. The Rangiora horseman nominated Yoshime for the enhanced Pearl Series this season, with a potential $26,000 winning bonus proving a strong case to head south with the four-year-old mare. “She’s drawn barrier one which is great and having Warren Kennedy up as well. Hopefully she can sit up in behind the leaders, 1400m is probably more her go, but she’s nice and fresh so there’s no reason why she won’t get the 1200m at this stage,” he said. “I think she’s going to be a really nice mare later on.” Yoshime’s sire Echoes Of Heaven is based at Timaru nursery Clearview Park Stud, who will sponsor her stablemate In The Navy’s 1600m three-year-old contest earlier on the card. “There’s two or three that have won a couple of races in there, and the rest are on pretty even key,” Blackadder said. “He’s got three kilos off with Denby-Rose (Tait, apprentice jockey) which will help, he’s just taken a while to come into his racing really.” Blackadder will also be represented by Aladdins Cave in the Equine Veterinary Services 2200m, while he is looking forward to heading to Wingatui on Sunday with Ardrossan filly Ledecky. After starting her career with owner Clinton Isdale, the three-year-old joined Blackadder last month and was strong in third at Riverton at her first start for the stable. “Ledecky will run in the maiden 1400m again, and I think she’ll be very competitive,” Blackadder said. Horse racing news View the full article

Domain Ace winning the Listed Starway Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie on Saturday. Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images) Westbury Stud stalwart Swiss Ace continues to be a reliable source of winners and the Group 1-winning sprinter was again to the fore at the weekend. His unbeaten son Domain Ace was an impressive juvenile stakes winner at Te Rapa on Saturday while Sabah Ace continued his march through the grades in Singapore with victory at Kranji on Sunday evening. Swiss Ace’s genuine three-year-old daughter Race Ace also collected her third black-type placing when the Fraser Auret-trained filly finished a game third in the Listed Warstep Stakes (2000m) at Riccarton. “Swiss Ace has had a great season and for an older sire he is still great bread and butter value and there’s no doubt he can match the better stallions, be it here, Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore,” Westbury General Manager Russell Warwick said. The winner of 12 races including the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m), Swiss Ace retired to stud in 2010. He took his tally to 19 individual stakes winners, headed by his Group 1 Railway Stakes (1200m) winner Julius, when the Team Rogerson-trained Domain Ace followed up his debut win at Otaki with victory in the Listed Star Way Stakes (120m) at Te Rapa. “Domain Ace is still very raw and it was only his second start and first one right-handed, so he’s got plenty going for him,” Warwick said. Bred by stud owner Gerry Harvey, he is out of the Hussonet mare Internet whose half-brother Delago De Luxe was the champion juvenile colt of his year in South Africa and two-time Group 1 winner of the Golden Horse Casino Sprint and the Gold Medallion Stakes. Internet has a yearling sister to Domain Ace and produced a colt by Reliable Man last year and is back in foal to Swiss Ace. “We liked the mating with Swiss Ace, Hussonet has been a good broodmare sire, and the Reliable Man is a really nice colt as well,” Warwick said. Domain Ace was offered at last year’s Magic Millions National Yearling Sale by Westbury and was knocked down to Rogerson for A$35,000. He was subsequently passed in at New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale later that year, with Rogerson remaining in the ownership group. The stable went close to another black-type winner at Te Rapa where Westbury graduate Solidify, a son of Redwood, finished runner-up in the Group 3 Championship Stakes (2100m). Sabah Ace, who has now won six of his 13 starts from David Kok’s stable, was also bred by Harvey and purchased out of Westbury’s New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale draft at Karaka for $50,000. He is a son of the late Danehill mare Show Exhibit, whose last foal is an unraced two-year-old son of Tarzino. “Sabah Ace is quite an impressive type, a big and robust sort of horse, and that was the first time on Sunday that he had been out to a mile. It was a good effort as that’s probably at the end of his distance range,” Warwick said. Swiss Ace’s associate sire Tarzino also emphasised his versatility when he chipped in with a winning trans-Tasman weekend double at opposing ends of the distance spectrum. His son Star Ballot, another Westbury graduate, posted his fifth career success at Riccarton for trainers Michael and Matthew Pitman while Pretty Tavi added a third victory to her record at Bendigo. “It was quite amazing, Star Ballot won over 2600m and Pretty Tavi won over 1100m for the Freedmans (Anthony and Sam), so she’s quite sharp,” Warwick said. “The racing has been pretty good to us this year, we’ve had half a-dozen stakes winners or so and we’re hopefully looking forward to one or two more before the season closes.” Horse racing news View the full article

Espadas winning at Ellerslie on Saturday. Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images) Espadas could be destined for a future across the Tasman following his maiden victory at Ellerslie on Saturday. The three-year-old son of Ace High put in a pleasing performance for third on debut over 1200m at Pukekohe last month and was duly backed into +270 favouritism with horse racing bookmakers at Ellerslie on Saturday. From his wide draw, Espadas was caught out three-wide early and jockey Ace Lawson-Carroll elected to press on with his charge. The pair had no favours and were posted three and four-wide for the trip, but Espadas showed his tenacity when rallying in the straight to record a neck victory over Night Night Dora. “He is a nice horse,” said Shaun Clotworthy, who trains the gelding in partnership with his wife Emma. “He has had a bit of a reputation on him for a while, so it was good to see him deliver nicely like that. “He hadn’t had a trial before he went into that first start, just a couple of easy jumpouts. We knew he had plenty of ability and we expected bold performances from him.” His talents haven’t escaped the eyes of bloodstock agents, with Espadas likely to head to Melbourne if a deal can be struck. “There has been a fair bit of interest in him,” Clotworthy said. “We do send a lot of horses over to Australia and we have got shares in a few at Mick Price’s, so there is a chance that he may head there, but we will see what happens.” If he does stay in New Zealand, Clotworthy said he will go for a spell in preparation for the spring. “He is still pretty immature, he is a big horse, so we will probably ease off him and look at somewhere in the spring for him as a four-year-old if he is still in New Zealand,” he said. Ellerslie’s Saturday meeting was abandoned later in the day due to safety concerns, and Clotworthy, who is also the National President of the New Zealand Trainers’ Association, said it was frustrating to have two meetings abandoned at the newly-installed StrathAyr track in the space 10 days, but the industry needs to be understanding. “It is not ideal. It is paramount for jockeys’ safety but it was just a very unusual fact that they could race six races without any incidents and then get to that race and there was a problem,” he said. “I think everyone has just got to take a bit of a breath and understand that it is a new track. It is going to be a great track in the future, and you can see that in the amount of rain we had, and they broke 1:10 in the first race. “For the future it is going to be outstanding for our industry, but it just needs to bed in, and we all need to understand how to work with it, it will probably just take a bit of time.” Horse racing news View the full article

Nimble Nimbus (No. 12) is a six-time winner in Hong Kong. Nimble Nimbus has been one of this season’s surprise packages and trainer Ricky Yiu is remaining optimistic the Sacred Falls gelding can step it up again when he contests the HK$28 million Group 1 FWD QEII Cup (2000m) at Sha Tin on Sunday, April 28. The six-year-old has been a solid competitor with six wins across his 29-start career. He didn’t tackle his first Group race until his 24th outing, however, since then he has evolved into a Group 3 winner and Group 1 placegetter across five appearances. “He’s a magnificent horse. You can never see that he’s had a setback or that he is tired. He’s always very energetic and always seems as though he’s ready to race,” Yiu said. The New Zealand-bred elevated expectations with victory in the HK$4.2 million Group 3 Centenary Vase Handicap (1800m) in February before placing third behind Romantic Warrior in the HK$13 million Group 1 Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m). “That’s the surprise (continued improvement). He’s six now and it seems that the older he gets, the better he gets. You don’t see too many horses do it this way,” Yiu said. Nimble Nimbus is rated 108 at present after beginning this season on a mark of 86. He stepped out for a barrier trial last Thursday (April 18) at Sha Tin, finishing a comfortable ninth under Andrea Atzeni, who rides him again this weekend. “He’s stronger and tougher now that he’s older. He’s getting to a tough rating. He’s been racing in hard races, so we gave him a soft trial – just to keep him happy,” Yiu said. Showers and thunderstorms are forecast throughout the week, including on Sunday for FWD Champions Day. “Rain will definitely help him. It was raining the time he won by a big margin (five lengths) at the Valley,” Yiu said. Nimble Nimbus finished fourth in the HK$5.35 million Group 2 Chairman’s Trophy (1600m) last start on April 7 at Sha Tin behind Beauty Joy. Yiu also saddles Voyage Bubble in the HK$22 million Group 1 FWD Champions Mile (1600m). Horse racing news View the full article

North Bridge is a six-time winner. A six-year-old, North Bridge has been selected to run the HK$28 million Group 1 FWD QEII Cup (2000m) with two fellow Japanese compatriots, Prognosis and Hishi Iguazu, on FWD Champions Day at Sha Tin on Sunday, April 28. North Bridge is a son of three-time winner in Hong Kong, Maurice. He won a newcomer race over 2000m in 2020 at Chukyo to commence his career before grabbing his first Group race win in the 2022 Group 3 Epsom Cup (1800m) – first-up after a four month break. North Bridge’s second Group race win came seven months after the Epsom Cup in the 2023 Group 2 American Jockey Club Cup (2200m) at Nakayama, however, he showed little in his following three runs of last season. In 2024, North Bridge kicked off his campaign in Doha, Qatar, where he raced for the first time on the global stage in the Group 3 H.H. The Amir Trophy (2400m) and finished fourth behind Godolphin’s Rebel’s Romance at Al Rayyan in February. That was trainer Takeshi Okumura’s first runner outside of Japan. “We started to make a plan to go to the QEII Cup after the race in Qatar,” Okumura said. “We discussed it with the owner and decided to target the race. The reason is because he will handle the ground at Sha Tin and his international rating (113) made it possible to be selected.” 47-year-old Okumura started training on the JRA circuit in 2014. Hong Kong is a familiar place for him, making his first overseas travel with a horse in 2008. He was an assistant for trainer Sakae Kunieda, who handled Triple Tiara winners Apapane (2010) and Almond Eye (2018). Okumura travelled Matsurida Gogh for the QEII Cup and Meiner Segal for the Champions Mile with Kunieda. Matsurida Gogh, a son of Sunday Silence, upset the 2007 Group 1 Arima Kinen (2500m) and won the Group 2 Nikkei Sho (2500m) before he ran in Hong Kong. Okumura recalled: “We, of course, did our best effort to prepare for the race. But due to a big typhoon hitting Hong Kong on the day of our trip, our flight was delayed, and horses had to wait long hours before departing.” “Everything including the unfortunate start was a great experience for me. I was impressed that Hong Kong horse racing was at an advanced level and the local people were widely enthusiastic of horse racing. I really wanted to bring my horse to Hong Kong one day.” North Bridge had a final piece of work before his trip to Hong Kong at Miho on April 17. His regular jockey Yasunari Iwata came to Miho from Ritto, near Osaka, to work him for 1000m, covering the final 200m in 10.7 seconds over the woodchip track. Iwata said: “I focused on keeping his rhythm and balance in the gallop. He was in good form. The 2000 (metres) must be his best trip, so hopefully he can run his race.” Okumura watched the gallop and said: “The time for the last 200 (metres) was as expected. The horse is improving a lot and I feel his progress. The 2000 (metres) should be more suitable for him than 2400 (metres) last time (in Qatar). “The track condition at Sha Tin, which is similar to Sapporo, is a likely fit for him. Above all, I hope he will be safe and healthy. It’s exciting to see how North Bridge runs in Hong Kong.” Horse racing news View the full article

Kiwi handler turns to 1,000m city circuit specialist in bid to end his winless streak of 59 runnersView the full article

Passive Aggressive will chasing Group 1 glory at Morphettville. (Racing Photos) Grahame Begg’s charge, Passive Aggressive, is gearing up to take on the Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville this Saturday, marking a significant return to the track after her initial retirement last year, which followed her eighth-place finish in the 2023 renewal of the same race. Despite the retirement announcement, owner Jonathan Munz brought her back to Begg after she failed to conceive to I Am Invincible. The decision proved fruitful, with the five-year-old daughter of Fastnet Rock triumphing first-up in the Group 2 Challenge Stakes (1000m) before securing a respectable sixth place in The Galaxy (1100m) in her last outing. Reflecting on her recent performance, Begg shared insights with Racing.com, stating, “She didn’t have a lot of luck in the Galaxy. It was a quick turnaround of only a fortnight from the Challenge, and if it wasn’t a Group 1 she wouldn’t have been running.” He continued, “She had a positive experience though as she ran well. She only got beaten just over two lengths and she had a wide passage throughout.” Expressing his satisfaction with her progress, Begg mentioned, “I’m very happy with her. She had a nice tick over jump-out at Cranbourne last week, which she won. “She seems to be going very well but it’s going to be a very strong edition with the likes of Estriella and Benedetta in the race. It’s a very strong race.” Horse racing news View the full article