Wandering Eyes

Just nine months after coming to the U.S. from his native Puerto Rico, and at 20 years old, Eniel Cordero is preparing to saddle Vicente Stella's Le Dom Bro March 30 in the $1 million Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park.View the full article

Emerald Downs will offer Penny Breakage on all wagers Emerald Downs commencing with its 55-day 2024 season that begins on Saturday, May 4. Historically, wagers were rounded down payouts to the nickel or dime which made sense when most wagers were made with cash on track. However, the change was made because of the evolution of account wagering and vouchers on track. Emerald Downs estimates that penny breakage will return approximately $400,000 in additional payouts to bettors. Also starting in 2024, Emerald Downs will offer a “Dynamic Morning Line.” The morning line, which is typically made 4-7 days prior to race day, will now be updated using the same system and formula before each race day to reflect scratches and changes. Then, beginning in the second race each day, the line will be updated approximately 20 minutes to post time. This update will reflect wagering in closed pools such as the Daily Double, Pick 3, and Pick 4. The updated lines will be displayed on the track's simulcast broadcast. “There have been effects to calculate live projected payouts, but Emerald Downs will be the first to update and use the morning line in a format that can be efficiently communicated to bettors,” explained track president Phil Ziegler. “If a 5-1 morning line horse has lower will-pays than a 3-1 horse, we will update the line to reflect this wagering which should help guide bettors.” Emerald Downs will also assist players by keeping live odds displayed until the final horse enters the gate. Emerald Downs offers a traditional 50 cent Pick 6 each race day featuring an 8% takeout, along with a Pentafecta (Super High 5) on the final race, also with an 8% takeout. All Win, Place and Show wagers will be at 16%, Exactas and Daily Doubles at 21% and all other wagers at 23%. The post Penny Breakage, ‘Dynamic Morning Line’ Added to Emerald Downs Lineup appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Arrest (Ire), who filled the runner-up spot in the G1 St Leger at Doncaster on his final start of 2023, is being prepared to make his return to action in the G3 John Porter S. at Newbury on Saturday, April 20. Though no match for the high-class Continuous (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) on Town Moor, Arrest showed that he belongs at the top level with an admirable effort in defeat, having previously failed to give his running when sent off the 4/1 favourite for the G1 Derby at Epsom. The son of Frankel (GB) had put himself in the picture for the blue riband when running out a wide-margin winner of the G3 Chester Vase S. on the Roodee, while his runner-up finish in the St Leger was preceded by a second pattern-race victory when landing the G3 Geoffrey Freer S. at Newbury. A return to the last-named venue is now on the agenda for the John and Thady Gosden-trained Arrest as he embarks on what his connections hope will be a productive four-year-old campaign in the top middle-distance events. “He was consistent all year apart from the Derby, which I think was our own fault,” said Barry Mahon, European racing manager for owners Juddmonte. “John, Thady and myself got wrapped up a little bit in it being the Derby and we probably shouldn't have run as the ground was a bit quick and the track obviously didn't suit. “He showed his true form on his next couple of starts and has wintered very well. John and Thady were very happy with him when speaking to them last week and the current plan, all being well, is to start in the John Porter. I think we will start off at middle-distances and see how we go. If he shows us in the middle of the summer he wants a bit further, then we will try it. But I think he has shown enough class at a mile and a half to suggest he can be competitive in those top mile-and-a-half races throughout the year.” Mahon also issued a positive update on fellow Gosden trainee Laurel (GB) (Kingman {GB}), who has been on the sidelines since finishing down the field in last year's G1 Lockinge S. at Newbury. Beaten just once in four starts prior to that, when runner-up in the 2022 G1 Sun Chariot S. at Newmarket, Laurel reportedly has the G2 Duke Of Cambridge S. at Royal Ascot as her main target in the first part of the season. “Laurel is back in training and John and Thady are happy with her,” Mahon added. “She's just having a slow preparation with a view to getting her to Royal Ascot later in the year, so we will probably just give her a prep run at the end of May or the beginning of June and then it will be straight to Royal Ascot if all is well with her. She is in good shape and seems to have got over her little injury, so with a bit of luck, if she stays injury free she could be an exciting prospect for the year.” The post Juddmonte Nominate Early-Season Targets for Gosden Stars appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The Online Breeze-Up Session, scheduled to feature as part of the June Online Sale June 5-6, will be available to consignors located in Britain and Ireland with breeze-ups to be held at Chelmsford City Racecourse and at Dundalk Stadium, announced Tattersalls via press release on Monday. The under-tack previews will take place Tuesday, May 21 at Chelmsford City and Tuesday, May 28 at Dundalk Stadium. Both options are available for unraced juveniles and there will be gallop opportunities for entries on the all-weather tracks. Spectators are welcome to attend at both locations where vendors will breeze over a distance of their choice and each lot will be filmed with footage published on Thursday, May 30. All lots will be catalogued with their vendor details to allow for enquiries and to arrange inspections prior to the sale. Entries for the Online Breeze-Up Session can be submitted online and will close on Friday, May 10. “The Online Breeze Up provides vendors with a cost-effective opportunity to breeze domestically whilst reaching an international audience via the Tattersalls Online platform,” said Katherine Sheridan, Tattersalls' online sales executive. “We believe the facilities at Chelmsford and Dundalk offer an excellent option for those wishing to present their breeze-up two-year-olds to a global market in the June Online Sale and we anticipate the concept will be well supported by consignors and purchasers alike.” The post Details Released for Tattersalls Online Breeze-Up Session appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The deadline to apply for the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association paid social media internship in Saratoga is Monday, Apr. 1. Over the course of the seven-week meet this summer, the intent is to produce engaging videos and images for NYTHA's social media accounts. “This is a fantastic opportunity for a young person interested in racing to experience an insider's access and share their fresh perspective on the sport,” said Marie Kizenko, NYTHA's Communications Manager. “We look forward to sharing NYTHA's mission with all those interested.” Interested applicants should send a resume and any relevant links to jobs@nytha.com by Monday, Apr. 1. The post Deadline Approaching for NYTHA Internship Applications appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

After seven years at the helm of France-Galop, the governing body of horse racing in France, Olivier Delloye arrived back at Arqana, and will take up the position of CEO upon the retirement of Eric Hoyeau on April 1. For Delloye, it's a homecoming, as he served for 10 years as their managing director before leaving to fill the same role at France-Galop in 2016. As Delloye got started again at Arqana, we sat down with him to learn what it was like to be back in Normandy, and what differences the buying and selling public could expect to see this year and beyond. TDN: First, what's it like to be back? OD: I'm very happy to be back–both back here and in the sales business and connecting with the community of buyers and vendors alike. And I'm really looking forward to the next sale and of course, the August yearling sale, which is, and has always been, the highlight of the of the year. TDN: What was the thing you missed the most about this job when you were at France-Galop? OD: Definitely it was going to farms, inspecting yearlings in spring, meeting with vendors and breeders and driving back to the office thinking that you may have seen the future stars of the sale. TDN: And what is it about France-Galop that you'll miss the most now that you're back at Arqana? OD: It's all about people. So probably the great people I have had the chance to work with and who tolerated me for about eight years. Luckily, now that I'm back, I'm finding a great team here as well. TDN: What is your ideal work-life balance? OD: It's a very difficult question. I would say it's close to ideal when both your colleagues and clients on one side and your family and friends on the other side feel that you give them enough time and attention. That's when you're close to perfection. But it never happens. TDN: What changes at Arqana can we expect this year and beyond? OD: It's a little bit early to ask me that question. I'm just coming back now. But I am coming back at a time when the company is enjoying quite a great success, so there's no need for a big revolution in the very short term. Probably the first changes that will be implemented will be purely internal, in order to make the organization ever more efficient and enable the team to have a greater focus on the horses and the clients. I'm sure there are some areas in which we can improve upon the way we operate, in the processes that are in place, so that really people can focus on their main job and on our clients. TDN: I see there is some work going on here. OD: Yes. The first thing, which is good news for all the people attending the sales, is there will be a brand new WiFi system as of the breeze-up sale. Over the next few weeks, another thing we are undergoing is that we are renovating the main yard at Arqana in the sales complex. We are actually currently raising the roofs (on the stalls) of the main yard to just provide some more comfort to horses staying in these boxes during the sales. We will do that in three phases and the first phase will be completed by the summer. TDN: How did your experience at France-Galop change or broaden your view of the overall industry? OD: I was born in the horse world as my father was a trainer and then was more involved in the institution and the ruling of racing. And then I went to work for Arqana for 10 years. Going to France-Galop was definitely the right place to go to deal with all aspects of the industry, with France-Galop being the racing authority and the operator of the major racing in France as well. So dealing with gambling with the PMU, dealing with the ministries in charge of supervising racing, dealing with anti-doping control, dealing with riding schools, but also how to run big, big events, like we do at France-Galop with the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Prix Diane Longines and so on. So it was just a perfect place to learn so many things. And, during all those years, I also had the chance to be involved in the IFHA, working alongside with Louis Romanet first and then Winfriend Engelbrecht-Bresges and its leadership team. So it really opened new doors to me as well, being exposed to other racing jurisdictions and understanding the big issues that racing can face on a global scale. TDN: What did you learn there that you can apply here? OD: Event organization is something that I probably learned quite a lot about working at France-Galop. But above all, I would say that at France-Galop, because of all it has to run with a fairly limited number of employees-there are only 350 people working full-time. It operates five racecourses, three training centres, and is a racing authority in France. It has to be a pretty well-organized company. So I'm sure that in trying to replicate a bit of that know-how in terms of process and organization in a much smaller company like Arqana, I can help it be even faster and move more quickly and be more efficient. TDN: Your successor-and predecessor–Eric Hoyeau–was known to take to the microphone. Do you have any intention of doing the same? OD: You mean at the rostrum? No plan at all. I did ask myself this question years ago when I first worked with Arqana. Now, I'm not sure I have the right talent for the job. And I see my role as just making sure that we have the best people everywhere in the place, to offer the best possible service. So we'll try to, enhance the quality of our auctioneers, to better serve our clients. But, I'm not necessarily one of them. TDN: Paris or Deauville? OD: I couldn't answer. It's like choosing between my my sons or my my daughters. TDN: Le Drakkar, or Le Buddha Bar? OD: Le Drakkar. Definitely. TDN: Bike ride in the Bois de Boulogne, or jogging on Les Planches? OD: Jogging on Les Planches. But also a little further, because it's too short. TDN: Traffic jam on the Peripherique or tractors blocking the A13? OD: Traffic jam on the Peripherique. There is always an exit nearby to escape from it. TDN: Is there anyone in the French government you feel you resemble? OD: I've often heard people say I look a little bit like Emmanuel Macron. And I've always answered that my wife is much younger. The post TDN’s Ten Questions for Olivier Delloye, Now Back at Arqana appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

It was the third win in four starts for the 3-year-old, who made his debut finishing 10th in a Dec. 3, 2023 maiden optional claimer at Gulfstream Park, where he ran his first three races. View the full article

Tony Calo has been named the new track announcer at Ellis Park. Calo, a veteran in the horse racing industry, will continue to serve as the announcer at Turfway Park along with being a handicapping analyst at Churchill Downs.View the full article

Grade 1 winners Muth and Timberlake square off in search of a second top-level victory when an expected field of 10 3-year-olds compete in the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby (G1) at Oaklawn Park March 30.View the full article

Graded stakes winners Steal Sunshine and Tumbarumba will meet again March 30 in the 1 1/16-mile $150,000 Ghostzapper Stakes (G3) after a nose separated the pair the last time they met at Gulfstream Park.View the full article

Lillian Jenkinson Holder was one of the best riders many in her area had seen. Yet her long career on bush tracks and pursuit of a license to ride at pari-mutuel racetracks remained a story hidden—until now.View the full article

Richard Hughes is eyeing a breakthrough Classic as a trainer this season–but admitted that high-class prospects Queen Of Zafeen (Ire) (Ten Sovereigns {Ire}) and Star Music (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}) would likely bid for big-race glory in Germany or France rather than take on the big guns domestically. Both fillies will test their Classic credentials next month with Hughes stating that he has built up his strongest team yet. Queen Of Zafeen and Star Music are owned by Jaber Abdullah and, while they hold entries in the Qipco 1,000 Guineas, the Weathercock House handler is exploring options outside of Newmarket. He said, “I'm probably going to run Queen Of Zafeen in the Nell Gwyn because she has no experience on grass and it has all happened a bit quick for her really. “She will have had a nice break from the Spring Cup to the Nell Gwyn and I'm thinking the German 1,000 Guineas rather than the English version, but we will let her do the talking first.” Star Music will also be in action that week with the Oh So Sharp S. third set for a run in the Dubai Duty Free S.–better known as the Fred Darling–at Newbury on April 20. “She will go for the Fred Darling and a theory I have, which might be wrong, is that Zoustars prefer a really flat track,” Hughes continued. “They are a bit like Exceed And Excels and just seem to act better when it is really flat. She was particularly impressive when she won at Kempton but I just feel Newmarket might not be her track, even though she ran a blinder in the Oh So Sharp. I might think of Longchamp for her if she runs well in her trial.” Hughes is also holding plenty of hope for Derby entrant Kamboo (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}), who is set for an early season appearance in the Bet365 Feilden S. at Newmarket, while the former champion jockey turned trainer feels he is entering the season with some real talent at his disposal. “Kamboo is one for the Feilden and is showing up well at home,” he added. “It's all a bit undecided at the moment but it's the first time I've had a handful of Group horses in my yard. “Normally we have one that is a hopeful, but this time I'm pretty confident I have four or five to go to war with, which is pretty good for a small enough string. “I'm a bit of a realist and Lizzie [Hughes's wife] says I'm negative at times. It's just this year I know I have nice horses to go to war with, so it's been a little bit different in the spring. “Now they are running so well it is a bonus–everything we seem to be running at the moment is winning or going close, so it's going really well. Meanwhile, Dominic Ffrench Davis says he is doing a rain dance ahead of a potential tilt at the 1,000 Guineas with the Amo Racing-owned Persian Dreamer (Calyx {GB}). “Persian Dreamer is not back in the yard yet, she's over with Robson Aguiar in Ireland but he tells me she's doing well so we're looking forward to her coming back,” the trainer said. “I hope this rain continues because to win a Group 1 with her would be the aim, but she needs to get her toe in.” The post Hughes Eyes Breakthrough Classic Success With His Queen And Star appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

1/ST Racing's $1 Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 wager featuring Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park will be seeded with an additional $100,000 for Saturday, Mar. 30, highlighted by Gulfstream's GI Curlin Florida Derby. Additionally, the Coast-to-Coast Pick 5, which is offered every Saturday and Sunday with a 15% takeout has been extended through Santa Anita's closing day Sunday, June 16. The only exception is Apr. 13 and Apr. 14 when Santa Anita transitions to its Hollywood Meet. With the Coast to Coast's “no-consolation” provision, if there are no tickets with five correct winners then 100% of the net pool carries over to the next Coast-to-Coast Pick 5. The Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 will begin after the late Pick 4 and Pick 5 begin at Gulfstream Park. The complete sequence for Saturday's Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 will be announced Wednesday after entries are taken at Santa Anita. The post 1/ST Racing Adds $100K Bonus to Saturday’s Coast-To-Coast Pick 5 Pool appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Tony Calo has been named the new track announcer at Ellis Park Racing & Gaming, Churchill Downs Incorporated announced Monday. The North California native, who replaces the departing Scott Shapiro, will continue to serve as the announcer at Turfway Park Racing & Gaming in addition to a handicapping analyst at Churchill Downs. Aside from his duties as an announcer, Calo will join Joe Kristufek, Kaitlin Free and, newly-promoted handicapping analyst, Kevin Kilroy on the Churchill Downs simulcast feed for the Spring, September and Fall Meets. “I'm honored to become the new announcer at Ellis Park,” Calo said. “Thank you to everyone at Churchill Downs Incorporated for this opportunity. Kentucky has become one of the strongest year-round circuits in North America and I'm thrilled to be a part of the great teams at Churchill Downs, Ellis Park and Turfway Park.” Calo previously served as the announcer at Bay Meadows, Golden Gate Fields and, most recently, Finger Lakes. Kilroy, who served as a member of the media relations department for the past two seasons at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, joins the handicapping team at Churchill Downs where he will be an analyst covering the racing at Churchill Downs, Colonial Downs, Ellis Park, Fair Grounds and Turfway Park. Calo and Kilroy will begin their new roles at the start of the Churchill Downs Spring Meet Apr. 27. The post Tony Calo Named New Track Announcer at Ellis appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Asfoora (Aus) (Flying Artie {Aus}), a multiple Group 2 winner in her native Australia, is likely to travel to Britain next month with a view to running in some of the top sprints in Europe. The five-year-old Asfoora is yet to win in Group 1 company on home soil, but she proved her wellbeing when finishing a close-up fourth in Saturday's G1 Galaxy H. at Rosehill for the second year in succession. That run teed her up perfectly for an overseas campaign according to trainer Henry Dwyer, who cited a lack of opportunities in Australia in the coming weeks as a key reason behind the decision to travel. Reflecting on Asfoora's run in the Galaxy, Dwyer told Racing.com, “She was great, [it was] just a bit frustrating to get beaten 0.8 lengths and run fourth but she ran as well as she could. I've got a few calls to make in the next couple of days to work out what's what, [but I'm] still keen for us to head over there. “At the end of the day, there are zero races for her here and there are six races for her over there, so we may as well go over. She's come through the run well, she's just travelled so well, which is great knowing what's ahead.” The post European Campaign on the Cards for Aussie Star Asfoora appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Annaf (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}) has been ruled out of the G1 Al Quoz Sprint on Dubai World Cup night having picked up a respiratory illness in transit. Trained by Mick Appleby, Annaf was last seen securing a lucrative payday for his connections when landing the $2-million G2 1351 Turf Sprint in Saudi Arabia, bursting clear in the closing stages to win by three quarters of a length. The five-year-old had another big pot in his sights in the shape of the $1.5-million Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan on Saturday, March 30, but those plans have now had to be shelved as he prepares to return to his trainer's Oakham base. Appleby said, “He got taken ill on the flight over, but it is not life threatening or anything and he's hopefully going to be fine, it's just prevented him from running. It's a shame but it's a risk you take when they are flying a fair bit. He came home after Saudi and was heading back out so maybe it was just a bit too much for him. “He should be fine and the vets out in Dubai in the hospital are happy with him–he should be fine to come back home when the other one [Roberto Escobarr] does. We'll probably get him ready for Ascot now, that will probably be the main aim.” A run at Royal Ascot could also be on the cards for Annaf's stablemate, Big Evs (Ire), who won four of his six starts as a two-year-old in 2023, culminating with another high-profile international success for his stable when landing the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Santa Anita in November. “He's great and has wintered really well,” Appleby said of the son of Blue Point (Ire). “He's not far off being ready to run, we just need to decide where we are going to run. The obvious race would have been the Commonwealth Cup, but that is six furlongs and we don't really want to try him over six first time back, so we're not really sure where we will start back. The weather is not helping and it's raining again here now. “I think in the early season we will definitely be sticking to five furlongs. We're obviously going to have to try him at six at some point and the way he won at Goodwood on that heavy ground, you would say he would stay the six.” The post Annaf Misses Dubai Date Due to Travel Setback appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

He's such a fixture here, he's even on the sandwich menu. Here you go: the Copelan, grilled cheddar and onion on pumpernickel. True, that only makes Dr. Robert Copelan an institution within an institution. Lunch at Lil's Coffee House on Main Street is a ritual cherished by many other horse folk in the neighborhood of Paris, Kentucky. But it's certainly a joy, for all of them, to see the great veterinarian seated alongside veteran radio host Ercel Ellis Jr., at their usual table in the corner, exchanging wit and wisdom accumulated through an aggregate 189 years-the vast majority among horsemen and horses. And when I say horses, I mean horses. Copelan once held Citation on the end of a shank. Ellis, for his part, remembers being taken to see a stallion by his father, who had 20 years previously been the first to slip a halter over the same horse's ears as a foal. His name was Man o' War. It's a genuine privilege, then, to sample the pristine recollection and observation that unites the old friends, especially on a day when they're able to make up for TDN's intrusion with the company of a rather more welcome interloper in Arthur B. Hancock III-a mere stripling, barely into his 80s. (Ellis is 92, Copelan 97.) Man o' War, Citation, Sunday Silence. Where do we start? How can we ever finish? Somehow we must make do with an hour or so of chat and this inadequate record. Right now Ellis is talking about his maternal grandfather, a Civil War veteran who seems to have spent his entire waking life in the saddle. “He died the year I was born,” he says. “I don't believe he ever was in a car. One time he rode a horse up the steps of the Phoenix Hotel in downtown Lexington. He was up and down those courthouse steps all the time, as well. They'd ask him to lead the Labor Day parade down Main Street. My mother was standing there watching and she heard this lady behind her saying, 'Look at old Colonel Redd, leading the Labor Day parade. Never worked a day in his life!'” In 1929 Ellis's father was hired to manage Dixiana Farm by its new owner, Charles T. Fisher. “And he was there until he died in 1964,” Ellis says. “Wonderful place to grow up. Mata Hari was foaled in the same 'crop' as me, 1931. She was top of the Experimental Handicap over the colts. Ended up dam of Spy Song, good speed horse for Dixiana and a very good sire as well. “Mata Hari was out a Man o' War mare named War Woman. I'm pretty sure she was supposed to go to E.R. Bradley's to breed to one of those stud horses over there, but they just couldn't get her loaded. Next day, same thing. And they had this unraced horse named Peter Hastings turned out there. They said, 'We gotta breed this damned mare!' So they brought her round to him, and the only runner he ever sired was Mata Hari.” But it was on tales of Man o' War that Ellis was raised. Like the time a clocker sought out his groom at Saratoga. “What's the name of that big red colt?” “Man o' War.” “Who's he by?” “By himself, mostly.” Sunday Silence in Japan | Junji Fukuda Or the day he came to stand at Elizabeth Dangerfield's farm. “They'd turned him out the first time and, that horse, all he ever wanted to do was run,” Ellis says. “So he was flying, and she called the groom out and said: 'Tom, God's sake go catch that horse before he gets hurt.' And he said, 'Miss Elizabeth, if all those good horses in New York couldn't catch him, how d'you expect me to?'” “I'd trade anything to have been brought up at a place like Dixiana,” Copelan complains. “I was raised in the city. My father was managing editor of the Cincinnati Times-Star, which was owned by the Taft family. I always wanted a pony, but my parents would never get me one. So I had to wait until I was in Ohio State when I borrowed a fraternity brother's car, went out to Darby Dan and got a job with the broodmares.” Copelan always had the build to be a jockey and, back then, that was still his dream. “There was a mile racetrack on the farm,” he recalls. “We weren't allowed up there, but I couldn't get my mind off it while I was rubbing these broodmares. So one day I waited until after everybody left at 4 p.m. They had this spotted pony there and I put a saddle on him and rode down between these paddocks, where they had a yearling that was going to be sold at Keeneland. I remember one of them was out of Bloodroot [1946 Broodmare of the Year]. Well, these yearlings had never seen a spotted pony. And so one of them came running, jumped out onto the road in front of me, jumped into the other paddock, then with that other yearling raced down to the end, they both jumped that fence, and down into Big Darby Creek.” Copelan pauses. He's a masterly storyteller, unfurling the words with dry precision. “I wanted to be dead,” he resumes. “I'd done something that was illegal and dishonest, and didn't know but what those two colts were drowned. So I rode that pony up to Will Corman's house-he was the manager-and knocked the front door. And Mrs. Corman came to the door. 'It's suppertime!' 'Yes ma'am, I know, but I need to see Will.' 'You come back after supper!' And she started shutting the door. 'Mrs. Corman, please God, listen to me: I've done something and I need Will.' So Will came out. 'Well, what the **** you done now?' So we went down there and by now it's getting dark. It was eight or nine feet down into the Creek, but finally we saw their eyes in the flashlight. And we put shanks on them and didn't they just hop up that bank. We hosed them off, and Will said, 'These two S.O.B.s can't be worth a quarter. There's not a goddamned scratch on either of them!' And sure as the world, neither one broke their maiden.” Next morning Copelan was on the carpet before the hardboot legend, Olin Gentry. “And he was very calm,” Copelan says, still exuding relief and gratitude 75 years later. “He said, 'You did a damned foolish thing yesterday. I hope you learned a lesson. I know you wanted to be a jockey. I remember when I did.' And no matter what anybody ever said about Mr. Gentry, after that they couldn't say it in front of me.” During veterinary college Copelan spent a couple of summers as an exercise rider at Calumet. For one of them, Citation was on the farm for running repairs. Once having held a medical tray for that horse, not even a patient like Secretariat was going to find Copelan overawed. As for Ellis, he served with the navy in Korea before joining Dixiana's trainer Jack Hodgins at the Fair Grounds. That was where he first became aware of Copelan, who had just started in practice there. “We knew that we both came from this area,” Copelan says. “I saw him every day, and he saw me every day. But we never spoke to one another.” “He had time to run around with girls,” Ellis retorts teasingly. “When you worked for Jack Hodgins, all you ever wanted was to grab an hour of sleep. He had a lot of old time racetrackers working for him, and after payday I never knew how many stalls, I'd have to clean next morning. When we shipped back up to Kentucky or Chicago, first you had to load the horses and then you had to load the drunks. But though he was a tough old so-and-so, he kept them on.” The first time their paths crossed unavoidably, Copelan was sent to inspect a couple of 2-year-olds Ellis was trying to sell. “He turned them both down,” Ellis says. “I thought to myself: what a ****. But he was right. Neither one of them was worth a ham sandwich.” Deciding that the racetrack was no place for a newlywed, Ellis switched to press and advertising. In 1958 he started filling in for the regular host of a 15-minute radio broadcast, “Post Time,” long the principal national hub for the latest results. Eventually he took over–and he's been “too stupid to stop” ever since, since 1998 entertaining devotees with two hours of “Horse Tales” every Saturday morning. In fact, neither of these gentlemen have made much concession to age, albeit Ellis has conceded that he can no longer tend the couple of retired claimers he used to train. Instead he visits them every Sunday at Old Friends, where they rub shoulders with household names. Yet Copelan yields nothing to his friend in terms of professional longevity. Five years the senior of the pair, he only ended a 65-year career in 2018, at 91-a career so pioneering that you routinely hear him invoked as an inspiration by outstanding practitioners of the next generation. But does Copelan want to tell us about the innovations he authored, or the champions he repaired? Nope: once again, he's instead telling a story against himself. “Lester Joffrion trained a horse for a wealthy man from Chicago, and thought he was off behind,” Copelan recalls. “So I went to Arlington and they brought him up with a rider on. I said, 'Okay, jog him up there 100 yards, and then turn around and jog him back.' 'Oh man,' he said, 'you can't do that with this horse.' 'What d'you mean?' 'Jog him up there, he'd run off with you.' And I said, 'Let's get this straight, you mean to tell me you can't jog this S.O.B. 100 yards?' 'That's right.' 'Get down off that goddamned horse.'” Copelan went back to the car for the boots he'd used to pay his way through college, exercising horses at Beulah Park. “And I had a white coverall, remember when veterinarians used to wear those? So up I get onto that horse, with Lester on the pony next to me. So we jogged the 100 yards, turned round, jogged back. And just for the hell of it I jogged him another 100. So now we're on the racetrack and I said, 'Let's just jog him off here as well.' And Lester said, 'Doc, you know what you're doing?' 'Of course I do.' 'Because, listen to me, this S.O.B. is tougher than hell.' 'Well, we'll see. Turn him loose.'” Copelan pauses. We know what's coming. Sure enough, the horse takes off. Copelan recalls yelling back, asking how far this horse was ready to go? “And I just heard this voice fading away: 'To the Rocky Mountaaaiins…” You really need to hear those unhurried, wry tones for the full, hilarious effect. “I hadn't been on a horse for a number of years,” Copelan continues. “And soon my ace leg, the shorter of the two stirrups, went paralyzed: I had no feeling in it. So I was putting my weight on the outside, and this horse was running his butt off. I really was afraid for my life. And I thought to myself: 'You wanted to show them? Now look at you, you're going to kill yourself.' “I didn't even know whether I'd gone by the wire and was going round again. But suddenly I saw this crowd at the gate, where the gallopers were coming on, so I just eased him to the outside, woah, and he pulled right up. And Lester galloped over and said, 'You can't breathe can you, you dumb so-and-so?'” He shook his head, panting. And we, too, find ourselves wordless-only with mirth-after the pay-off. “And you know the second last page of the Racing Form, where they published the workouts, and the horse that worked the fastest was in black letters? Well, I got black letters for my half-mile.” But that episode had a happy sequel. It turned out that the horse's groom Sonny Henderson was originally from Lexington and, later, when he'd had enough shipping up and down between Chicago and New Orleans, he applied for a job at the surgery. “And he worked with us for maybe 35 years,” Copelan says. “He meant a great deal to me: a wonderful man, knew his job so well. He and I were about the same size, and he's buried in one of my suits.” The presence at the table of his old friend's son now prompts Copelan to share a couple of memories of Bull Hancock. Like the time at Hialeah when Bull asked him to X-ray a horse's knee. Copelan developed the picture and was coming back through the gate when Bull spotted him. “And he came toward me at what I considered a higher speed than normal,” Copelan recalls. “As you know, he was an imposing figure. And he had that hat on, that the sweat had leaked through. 'Well, what did the X-ray show?' 'Bull, he's got a slab fracture.' And he took off that hat, threw it on the ground and stomped on it. 'Hell, I promise you one thing, I'm not going to operate on that S.O.B., I'll tell you that!' And he turned around and started back over toward the barn. And I was glad he was going that way. And then turned round and said, 'What day you want him up there?'” Arthur Hancock at Stone Farm | EquiSport Drone was another that had the same injury. Copelan remembers arriving at the Thoroughbred Club dinner straight after getting the results. When told, the big man was again distraught. “Goddamit!” he bellowed. “Right, I'm going to stand him, $25,000 a share! Are you in?” “And I said yes!” says Copelan with a chuckle. “I didn't have anything like that money. But John Thornbury [his partner in Sunnyside Farm] and I bought a share, and he was certainly a good investment.” “Daddy said he was best horse he ever had,” Hancock observes. “He could outrun Dike by 10 lengths, and Dike was third to Majestic Prince and Arts And Letters in the Derby. It broke Daddy's heart when he had that fracture. I remember him saying at supper, 'Lord's got his finger pointed at me, I'm never going to win the goddamned Derby. Best horse I ever had, and this happens.'” As a celebrated raconteur himself, Hancock is soon on a roll. He's telling us how Forli came to Claiborne after being confined to his stall for some time, recuperating from injury. This was before tranquillizers were available, so his father suggested they walk the horse three or four hours before turning him out. Hancock mimics the reply made by the farm veterinarian, Colonel Sager, in his upstate New York accents: “Oh, Mr. Bull, he's like a hospital patient that's been in bed two months. He's not going to have any energy.” “So Daddy said okay, and we took him out in the field,” Hancock recalls. “We lined the paddock, I was there in one of corners. Well, Forli took off, jumped a double fence, cleared the first, hit the second, flipped over. I jumped across into the other paddock and caught him. All he'd done was skin a stifle. And Daddy just said, 'Goddam, Colonel!'” Another time Sager decided that he would solve a curious quirk in Nasrullah, who never wanted to be observed eating. “As soon as you walked up to his stall, he'd just stop,” Hancock says. “Wouldn't eat, wouldn't chew, he'd just stand there like a statue. So the Colonel said, 'I'm going to break the old gentleman of that habit.' And he pulled a chair up right in front of the stall. Eventually he came back and said, 'I sat there for three hours and in all that time the old gentleman didn't move once. So I decided to let him enjoy his meal and left.'” All too soon, it's time to go. The talk has been regularly interrupted by friends and admirers, several women planting a kiss on Copelan's pate. These are all remarkable men, of a vigor and sparkle that amply entitles them to outstay even Fred W. Hooper, who lived to 103. It was Hooper who sent Susan's Girl to Copelan after she broke down in California. He patched her up so well that she was able to return and win a championship at six, adding to those already won at three and four. Hooper expressed his gratitude by naming her son by Tri Jet for the man who had salvaged her. Copelan, the horse, won three Grade Is as a 2-year-old. In terms of caliber, however, even that puts him behind his human namesake. At the end of lunch Copelan gives a flawless recital of High Flight, the extraordinary poem written by the Spitfire pilot John Gillespie Magee Jr., who was just 19 when killed in a mid-air collision in 1941: Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds – and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of… What amazing things we humans are capable of, at 19 or 97! It is the “surly bonds” of time itself that these gentlemen appear to have slipped. And if a younger person will always leave their company feeling younger still, that has absolutely nothing to do with a mere contrast in years. It's because these men remind us, whatever our age, to live to the full each new day that we're granted. The post Lunching With Legends at Lil’s appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. 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The ban on direct equine exports to the European Union (EU) from South Africa has been lifted, South African Equine Health and Protocols (SAEHP) announced on Monday. It is 13 years since South Africa was last able to export registered equines directly to the EU. SAEHP was formed in 2018 and has been working with the South African Government for the past six years to achieve this export milestone, with the timing of the first official EU audit, scheduled for 2020, having to be delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, after the audit was rescheduled and carried out in 2022, the South African Department of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has now received official notification that the reinstatement of direct EU equine exports has been approved, following a meeting of the EU Commission Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed – Controls and Import Conditions Section. Dr Mpho Maja, director of animal health at DALRRD, said, “I am very pleased with the outcome; this shows that when we work together, we can achieve what is thought to be impossible. I send my gratitude to the equine industry and provincial veterinary services for the support provided in ensuring compliance to the requirements. I look forward to our horses flying the flag internationally and making us all proud.” David Abery, chairman of SAEHP, added, “This is very exciting news, and thank you to everyone involved in making it happen. It is anticipated that this opening up of direct EU exports will, over time, give a significant boost to not just the South African thoroughbred racing and breeding industry, but also to the other equine disciplines, all of which have been somewhat internationally isolated for many years. “It is vital that what has now been achieved is maintained, and we look forward to working with all relevant stakeholders to ensure the functions of SAEHP are well funded and developed as required, so that we can support industry in maximising the value which flows from an efficient and strong horse export system.” The post Direct Equine Exports from South Africa to the EU Approved After Lengthy Ban 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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Stakes assignments are in the offing for promising three-year-old Paragon following his convincing win in the Life Flight Save Time Saves Lives (1300m) at Tauherenikau on Sunday. Bred by Cambridge Stud principals Brendan and Jo Lindsay, the couple race the son of Embellish with Alan and Kerry Harper, who have enjoyed early success with the Roger James and Robert Wellwood-trained youngster in just a handful of starts. He had particularly shown promise as a two-year-old when finishing runner-up in both of his juvenile starts, including the Listed Futurity Stakes (1400m) at Pukekohe last May. He was spelled following a disappointing two-start spring preparation, and his connections were pleased to see him bounce back first-up on Sunday. Paragon was fair away and was sent forward to take up the pace-making role by jockey Jonathan Riddell. The pair didn’t relinquish their advantage and Paragon ran out a two-length victor over Tivaci’s Affair, with Rosalita a further short neck back in third. “He has shown plenty of promise, so it is good to get a maiden win out of the way,” Cambridge Stud’s head of sales and nominations Scott Calder said. “It was a really nice win, and it was nice to see him do it so convincingly. “He was a stakes performer as a two-year-old, so he has always shown plenty, particularly considering he is a mid-November foal. “The way he is bred, and being by Embellish, we always hoped he was going to get better at three, so it was nice to see him get a win on the board. “We are getting later in the season, but I am sure Rob and Roger will hatch a plan, he is a horse we think can go on with it from here.” Paragon descends from Cambridge Stud royalty, with his second-dam being Group One winner Tristalove, who has produced Group One winner Viking Ruler and Group One performers Lovetrista, Kempinksy, and Diamond Like. Paragon’s dam Love Diamonds has also been a successful producer, leaving the likes of Group Two winner and New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of her Year Queen Of Diamonds, and Group Three performer Lovetessa. View the full article

Kenny Moore resisted the urge to chase the $650,000 Summer Series Bonus with his Group One performer Lady Telena in favour of targeting southern riches, and his decision is looking to have paid off. Following Lady Telena’s placing in the Gr.1 Thorndon Mile (1600m) at Trentham in January and seventh-placed run in the Gr.1 Herbie Dyle Stakes (2000m) at Te Rapa in February, the daughter of Vespa was in contention for the $100,000 and $50,000 bonuses for the second and third series placegetters, but trainer and part-owner Moore elected to resist heading north once more to tackle the final leg of the series, the Gr.1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie earlier this month. “She was in the hunt, but we didn’t go to the Bonecrusher because at the time I thought Legarto was unbeatable, but as it happened she was,” Moore said. “We had to get back here because we had to have two starts in the South Island to be eligible for that $350,000 race (Southern Alps Challenge), so she couldn’t have gone to the Bonecrusher and gone for that, so I chose to go for the South Island one instead. “It is good to have a home too, I was getting sick of travelling and I like having my babies with me.” Lady Telena showed she is more than up to the task of tackling next month’s Southern Alps Challenge (1600m) when finishing runner-up behind Burgie in the Gr.3 South Island Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) at Riccarton on Saturday. “It was a brilliant finish with amazing sectionals, it was just a shame we couldn’t be a tad closer on the turn, but that is racing,” Moore said. “It is a Group Three, as well as a Group One placing now, so that is great. “She is just such a good girl, she is that little horse that could, and she does.” Moore has been pleased with the way she has come through Saturday’s run and can’t wait to try and snare the lion’s share of the big prizemoney up for grabs in the last innovation race of the season. “She is jumping out of her skin. I couldn’t be happier with her,” he said. “She is going to go forward for the Southern Alps, it is a nice chance for us little chaps to have a chance at something a little bit bigger without the big boys being in the picture.” Lady Telena has really come of age this year and Moore said he is pleasantly surprised by the success she has been having in the top echelon of racing in New Zealand. “In the first month of training her I thought she had the ability to win a race or two, but she kept improving,” he said. “She is nothing to look at, she is quite a plain, ordinary horse and you wouldn’t think she is anything special, but whatever we throw at her, she just steps up to the mark and takes it on.” Meanwhile, Moore is looking forward to kicking off the winter campaigns of a couple of his team next week. “We have got the winter team coming along now,” he said. “Steve Austin and Franni Caccini will kick-off at Ashburton next week.” View the full article

Brian Anderton’s association with Burgie’s family goes back decades and it’s one that continues to deliver stakes successes. With son and training partner Shane, the New Zealand Hall of Famer celebrated another satisfying victory with the Ghibellines mare when she won the Gr.3 South Island Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) at Riccarton on Saturday in the hands of Corey Campbell. It also signalled a deserved change of fortune for Burgie, who lost her rider at barrier rise in the Gr.3 White Robe Lodge WFA (1600m) before she was narrowly denied at Gore. “It’s been pretty frustrating with her, but we got the prize and it was a good ride by Corey,” Anderton said. “Shane puts a hell of a lot of work into the training now, I’m more of an observer, so I’m thrilled for him. “Burgie’s a great autumn mare as she comes in season a lot during the summer and can be quite difficult, but at this time of the year she’s a different horse altogether. “Unfortunately, there’s not a lot more coming up for her so we’ll probably look at the weight-for-age race at Christchurch (Gr.3 Canterbury Gold Cup, 2000m).” Anderton bred Burgie at the family’s White Robe Lodge operation with his late wife Lorraine and races her with long-standing clients BJ’s Southern Syndicate. “That all goes back to a horse called Master Mellay, that’s when I first started training for that syndicate and they’ve had a lot of nice horses along the way,” he said. Master Mellay entered Anderton’s stable half a decade ago as a four-year-old and was a winner on the flat and over hurdles. “It’s the longest I’ve ever trained for a syndicate, it was yonks ago,” he said. Anderton’s entry into the Burgie family began in 1992 at a New Zealand Bloodstock Sale in the South Island. “One of my best mates Dennis Roughan and Jack Mears, who were clients of mine years and years ago, said they wouldn’t mind buying a broodmare,” he said. “Two mares sold after the sale, one was the Mellay mare Bright Girl who I bought for them. “Then Josie came up and she was by Ribotlight, who I loved, out of Bright Girl and I bought her to breed out of and have had a lot of luck.” Dam of the Gr.3 Stewards’ Handicap winner Renee, Josie was successful on four occasions and is the granddam of the Gallant Guru mare Norah. She won six races and is the mother of Burgie, who has now added the Breeders’ Stakes to her previous black type victory in the Listed Warstep Stakes (2000m). Norah also has a four-year-old sister to Burgie named Mabel, who has placed in a brief career. “She has got the ability but isn’t strong enough, so we decided to leave her until next autumn and give her a good, long break,” Anderton said. The mare also has a juvenile colt by Jon Snow, a Ghibellines yearling and is in foal to associate White Robe sire Ancient Spirit. View the full article

Independent research has shown that Te Akau Racing Principal David Ellis is the leading buyer of yearlings and he knows more about finding the right horses than almost anybody else on the planet! View the full article

Nucleonic is proving to be a broodmare gem for Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis, who shares in the ownership of the mare with Westonlea Bloodstock’s David and Matthew Peacocke. The family have been put up in lights by the recent deeds of her daughter Qali Al Farrasha, with the Almanzor filly finishing runner-up in the Gr.3 Sunline Vase (2100m) at Ellerslie earlier this month before running third in the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) at Trentham. While there is plenty of excitement surrounding the three-year-old filly, her year younger full-brother Nucleozor is showing he has inherited the family talent when extending his undefeated streak to two at Riccarton on Saturday when taking out the Entain – NZB Insurance Pearl Series Race (1000m) at Riccarton on Saturday by 3-1/4 lengths. “It was another really good win by Nucleozor,” said Mark Walker, who trains in partnership with Sam Bergerson. “He’s a horse with a lot of scope and size about him and obviously has plenty of natural ability. “We expect he’ll only get better with time and age, so whatever he’s doing now is just a bonus. He has the makings of a lovely three-year-old.” Nucleozor will now likely head to the Listed Welcome Stakes (1000m) at Riccarton next month ahead of the Listed Champagne Stakes (1200m) in May. The family is entrenched at Te Akau Stud, with Ellis having raced their granddam Mexican Rose, who was a Champion 2YO & 3YO in Singapore, after impressing when winning two of her three starts in New Zealand. “Greg Tomlinson (Nearco Stud) and I bought Mexican Rose,” Ellis said. “We sold two O’Reilly colts out of her for a good return and her weanling topped the sale in 2016. “She was pretty smart, Nucleonic, and this is her third foal, so it’s great to get another promising horse like this early in her breeding career. “The Peacocke family has had a lot of success with Te Akau, racing Avantage among others, and have a long family involvement in racing. “Nucleozor is a really professional young horse with plenty of ability, and Hunter (Durrant, Riccarton Stable Foreman) and our team of staff at Riccarton are doing a great job with him and all the horse there.” Later on the card, Beau Brummell secured a stable double when taking out the Selwyn District Council TAB Southern Alps Qualifier (1600m). “It was very good win and positive ride by Ashvin (Goindasamy),” Walker said. “He’s really starting to come of age. “He’s maturing nicely with age, like other three-year-olds we’ve got in the stable by Embellish, and they look like they’re going to continue improving.” Bred by David Ellis and Karyn Fenton-Ellis, Beau Brummell is shared by the couple in ownership with Waikato Thoroughbred Racing board of directors Glenn Holmes and his wife Cathie Holmes. Ellis purchased his sire Embellish as a yearling at Karaka, and the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) winner stands at Cambridge Stud, with his oldest progeny being three-year-olds. Held in high regard as a racehorse and future stallion by Ellis, his belief has been vindicated as the stable leads way with six individual winners by the young sire. “He’s made a great start to his stallion career with winners in New Zealand and Australia, and this bloke (Beau Brummell) joins some really nice winners we’ve had by him in the stable,” Ellis said. “He ran a good race for fourth in Southland Guineas after only winning his Maiden the week beforehand, and he displayed really good attributes to win. “Talisker recorded a hat-trick of wins before finishing second in the 2000 Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m) and What You Wish For and Glitzy Glory are another couple of promising winners by Embellish that we’ve got in the stable. “His oldest are only three-year-olds and I think he’s doing a great job at stud.” View the full article

Lightweight rider eager to hang around in the city after Jockey Club extends his licence until May 1View the full article