Wandering Eyes

A new equine anti-doping and medication control initiative was announced by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) on Thursday. The initiative underpins their commitment to the regulation of medicine use and zero tolerance of doping in horse racing on both sides of the Irish Sea. The IHRB and BHA are now formally conducting joint out-of-competition-testing operations across both jurisdictions. These inspections started this week with almost 250 samples taken from more than 120 horses that are entered for the upcoming Cheltenham Festival in an operation across 14 training premises in Ireland over the last two days. In Ireland, the organisations will work together and operate under IHRB Standard Operating Procedures, and all samples will be considered as IHRB samples. BHA protocols will be in effect when the BHA and IHRB are working together in the UK, and they will be under BHA jurisdiction. In both instances, there will be transparent exchange of any adverse results or screening findings that arise from these tests, with all samples being tested by LGC Laboratory, one of six laboratories worldwide which is recognised as a referenced laboratory by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA). Dr Lynn Hillyer, chief veterinary officer for the IHRB said, “The IHRB Strategy 2024-2027 commits us to close engagement with international horseracing bodies and benchmarking ourselves against best international practice. This new venture shows stakeholders and the racing public that we collaborate as professionals across both sides of the Irish Sea, sharing best practice and resources and demonstrating equally stringent regulatory processes and standards to the extent that our anti-doping and medication control programmes are interoperable.” James Given, director of Equine Regulation, Safety and Welfare said, “Not only will our Medication Control and Anti-Doping (MCAD) team have access to more information about visiting horses, but there will be opportunities for our wider team to share ideas and best practice in other areas of our work.” The post New Equine Anti-Doping And Medication Control Initiative Launched By BHA And IHRB appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

With a weather forecast calling for persistent rain, Santa Anita Park has announced that the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) and three other graded stakes will be shifted to Sunday, March 3.View the full article

Natalia Lupini has confirmed that stable star Kitty Rose (GB) (Invincible Army {Ire}) has been sold to owner Tim Porter but will remain in the care of the County Down-based trainer until after the Qipco 1,000 Guineas at least. Porter's colours were carried in Ireland last season aboard the Joseph O'Brien-trained Honey Girl (GB) (Mayson {GB}). It is understood that Kitty Rose, who won the Listed Ingabelle S. at the Irish Champions Festival before finishing second in a Group 3, will continue her career in Australia later this summer. Before then, Lupini, one of the most upwardly mobile trainers in Ireland, says she is dreaming of a breakthrough Classic victory with a filly who can be backed at odds of 33-1 for the Newmarket showpiece. Lupini told TDN Europe, “Kitty Rose has been sold [by former owner Nigel O'Hare] to a new owner but she stays in the yard. She will stay with us for the spring but she might head to Australia towards the end of the year. It is great news that she will stay with us for a few runs at least before heading to Australia. We're really excited and very grateful to the new owners for giving us the chance to train her for her next couple of races at least.” She added, “We were just speaking with the owners during the week and they are keen to run in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket. We are aiming for the Irish 1,000 Guineas Trial on April 7 at Leopardstown first. After that, we can make a decision on Newmarket.” Kitty Rose | Racingfotos.com Lupini enjoyed her greatest ever tally of domestic winners last term. The Milan native sent out 16 winners from 102 runners. The figure stood at 14 wins from 56 runners the previous year. Prior to that, Lupini's greatest number of five wins was posted in 2021. Things have been progressing nicely and top-notch breeze-up handler and respected pre-trainer Robson Aguiar was showered with praise by the trainer for pointing her in the direction of Kitty Rose. Lupini explained, “We bought Kitty Rose from Robson Aguiar last year. We try to work closely with him and, for the past few seasons, we have bought a few horses from him. We get great feedback from Robson and we usually go to him with a plan. We have some new owners who have really embraced this new venture with us. He's a very good person to deliver exactly what an owner wants, be that a handicapper of a Group performer. He's able to say exactly what he thinks about each horse and then to put a price on it. Thankfully, Kitty Rose turned out to be very good. The relationship is working well.” Away from Kitty Rose, there is plenty to look forward to for Lupini and her team, with a record number of juveniles in the system and high-class older horse Dunum pencilled in for a trip to Royal Ascot. She said, “It's been really exciting and we are working with the biggest number of horses we have ever had this season. We're still a small yard but we have a good number of two-year-olds and we're growing. We're thrilled with the team of horses that we have to work with this season. Not only the two-year-old, but horses like Dunum as well. He will be aimed at the Emerald Mile on Irish Guineas weekend at the Curragh. We could look at Royal Ascot for him as well.” The post Trainer Lupini Confirms New Owner For 1,000 Guineas Contender Kitty Rose appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Successful owner/breeder Lord Jacob Rothschild, who found Group 1 riches as a co-owner with Nathaniel (Ire) among others, has passed away at the age of 87 earlier this week, according to multiple reports. The fourth Baron Rothschild, OM, was prominent in both banking and finance, and also was active on the art scene. The chairman of the trustees of the National Gallery from 1985 to 1991, he operated his bloodstock interests out of Waddesdon Stud in Buckinghamshire with his late wife Serena. Later appointed the chairman of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Rothschild partnered with the National Trust and turned Waddesdon Manor into a historical landmark open to the public housing an extensive art collection. Many luminaries of the turf have carried the navy and yellow silks to glory, including Channel (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}), who won the 2019 G1 Prix de Diane and 2014 G1 Pretty Polly S. victress Thistle Bird (GB) (Selkirk). In Nathaniel's case, his dam, G3 Musidora S. heroine Magnificient Style (Silver Hawk), was purchased privately after delivering six stakes winners. During her time at stud for Rothschild, she left both the now-Newsells Park Stud-based Group 1 sire Nathaniel, who won the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S., as well as the G1 Eclipse S. and Great Heavens (GB) (Galileo {Ire}). The last-named mare won the G1 Irish Oaks. Pounced (Rahy) also represented Rothschild when taking the GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf in 2009. Rothschild was pre-deceased by his wife, who died in 2019. He is survived by his son Nathaniel, who is now the fifth Baron Rothschild, and three daughters–Hannah, Beth, and Emily and their families. The post Group 1 Owner/Breeder Lord Rothschild Dies At 87 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Opening an occasional series focused on Irish expatriates in Kentucky, TDN meets a son of Co. Meath testing the GI Kentucky Derby water with his impressive Leonatus S. winner. As migrations go, one is rather less surprising than the other. On the one hand, over the past two years the synthetic circuit at Turfway has consecutively delivered the winner and runner-up in the definitive test of a dirt Thoroughbred. On the other, the trainer hoping to produce another GI Kentucky Derby horse from the same unlikely platform is only the latest in a perennial line of Irish expatriates to have successfully adapted their skills to a new environment in the Bluegrass. Most of the compatriots to be featured in this series will do so through their endeavors on horse farms, rather than on the racetrack. But almost of all of them have a similar story to John Ennis, in having crossed the water with little more than a willingness to work for chances in “the land of opportunity” that might never have been found in their homeland. “No chance,” replies Ennis, asked whether he could have achieved similar things back home. “Absolutely zero. You'd have to go back there with $1 million and probably still fail. That's the long and short of it. I love going jump racing, when I'm back home, love it. But could I do it there? Not a chance. “When I came over here, I was going absolutely nowhere. Ireland, Newmarket, Dubai, it had all dried up. And I got here with nothing. I'd say I had $500 or $600 to my name, didn't have a phone. But it's amazing how things can snowball over here.” As it is, continuing the momentum of his best campaign to date in 2023, Ennis has already saddled 11 winners from 33 starters this year and one of those, Epic Ride (Blame), looks the horse to beat for 20 Derby points in the John Battaglia S. at Turfway on Saturday. Whatever happens, just finding himself with a potential Derby type suggests that Ennis is entering a new phase after laying the foundations of his Stateside career with a pragmatic eye for precocity. Hitherto his modus operandi at the Thoroughbred Center near Lexington has been to showcase speed in early juveniles, in the hope of selling them on. It's almost been like transferring the breeze-up pinhook to racetrack competition. “And we're still doing the same model,” he stresses. “I've plenty of sharp-looking individuals for the spring. But yes, if we can, going forward hopefully we're trying to get that bigger, maybe classier horse. I'm not trying to change things that are working, but every trainer wants to get up to the Premier League. You don't want to get labeled just with that cheap, early sprinting type. You always want better quality.” Not that the two are mutually exclusive. As Wesley Ward has shown, you can upgrade while still dealing primarily with speed. “Correct,” Ennis responds. “There's plenty that do go on from winning early in the spring to become Breeders' Cup horses, and then have a good 3-year-old career as well. So all I'm trying to do is get that better quality, whether it's five furlongs or two turns. Good horses make good trainers. The top trainers will tell you that those horses basically train themselves.” Up to now, however, necessity has been the mother of invention. Since early, commercial types were more affordable, they became the seed corn. And, in contrast with the breeze-up programs, Ennis could also avoid the artificial deadline of a 2-year-old sale catalogue. “It's just kind of a win-win situation,” Ennis says. “It was a quick turnover: I could get these horses to run fast, keep them sound, get them to the Keeneland spring meet. And I could make a little money, because I'd own a piece myself. There didn't seem to be many people doing it, and I thought that it could be a way to survive over here. “For the 2-year-old sales, you get one day where they have to be ready. But if we're not ready for Keeneland opening weekend, we've still got the whole month, and then Churchill. Prize money is good, so if you can win you might get paid twice: you get your purse, and you can sell.” The foundations were admittedly precarious. Ennis bought his first yearling, a $7,000 colt by Yes It's True, at Fasig-Tipton's October Sale in 2017. Other than dabbling with the odd bit of rehab or pre-training, in the five years since his arrival he had subsisted chiefly on freelance trackwork. Even $7,000, then, was more than he could afford. “I was getting older, and it was getting harder on the body to be galloping all the time,” he recalls. “But it looked like I would just have to carry on as I was unless I could develop the training side. I remember going over to Fasig and thinking, 'Look, no one is going to give me horses. No one knows me. No one trusts me. So I'll have to buy my own.'” Erin, meanwhile, his wife and mother to their twins Jack and Eleanor, was supportive as ever. Somehow they scraped the money together, with the help of friends, and Weiland showed a bit of dash before fading into fifth on debut at Keeneland. Ennis rolled the dice immediately, entering the colt for a stakes at Churchill, and was rewarded when Weiland just prevailed after a tense stretch drive. “So after that we got him sold, and it just snowballed from there,” Ennis says. “And I just kept reinvesting, kept doing it, again and again.” Deep in the Keeneland September Sale of 2019, for instance, he found an Oxbow colt for $9,500. The following July, as a Churchill debut winner and GIII Bashford Manor S. runner-up, County Final topped Fasig-Tipton's Horses of Racing Age auction at $475,000. But now Epic Ride is threatening to elevate Ennis to new heights. He already did that, in fairness, simply by walking into the barn as a $160,000 yearling. He had been found at the Keeneland September Sale by Welch Racing, who were recommended to Ennis by his friend and client Martha Jane Mulholland of Mulholland Springs Farm. “So it was great to be given that opportunity,” Ennis says gratefully. “It's a group round Jennifer and Mark Welch from Tennessee, lovely people and kind of new in the game. I think it was Mark's dad that always wanted to have a Derby horse, and for his ambition to be carried on, so that's why they named him Epic Ride. “He's a beautiful, scopey horse; big but not too big, if you know what I mean. On looks he certainly wouldn't be out of place in the Derby paddock. And he's fast, but he carries it. The thing I really like is that he's uber professional, just settles so well. He probably should have won first time, sprinting, but it actually probably worked out better that he just got beat, as it got that extra race into him and he was able to win his maiden impressively. And then he came back for the Leonatus S. I didn't think he was quite ready, physically, but he won easy, didn't get a smack or anything and galloped out strong.” Ennis is too familiar with the challenging margins of his profession to be getting carried away, but the reality is that a similar performance against a deeper field on Saturday could not fail to evoke the recent examples of Two Phil's and Rich Strike. The latter was probably not as effective on a synthetic track, but Two Phil's turned out to be one of those horses that are simply more adaptable than people tend to expect. “And before those you've obviously had others, like Animal Kingdom, that switched between surfaces,” Ennis muses. “And you know what, one thing about Turfway, they come out of their races really good. They don't have the grueling, punishing races that they sometimes do on the dirt. These horses that have been coming out of the Jeff Ruby [the Grade III climax of the Turfway series], they've bounced out of it and they've run well in the Derby. So, look, we'll see if he can get the points, and then we can start thinking about the Ruby or the [GI] Blue Grass.” Long before he started training on this scale, Ennis had always noticed the different effects of different surfaces in conditioning a horse. “For years, I was riding a lot of nice horses for some of the bigger trainers,” he notes. “And when you're riding that many horses, every day, you'd get to feel how some of them were getting tired and labored underneath you. So I never want to empty a horse on the dirt, because it can bottom them fairly fast. At the Thoroughbred Center, it's a heavy enough dirt, it takes a bit of getting. You could easily overcook a horse if you trained them too much. So, yeah, less can be more.” That earlier experience riding trackwork also introduced Ennis to what elevates the best horses from the herd. For he was once the regular exercise partner of a future dual Horse of the Year in Wise Dan (Wiseman's Ferry). “He was just a different gear, a freak,” he says with enthusiasm. “He was your American Frankel (GB), he was that good. He'd have been quick enough to go six furlongs, his cruising speed was that fast. And he'd probably have stayed a mile and a half, too.” Ennis has never attended the Derby and nor does he intend to do so–unless he meets one condition. “It's only down the road, obviously, but I've always said that I'd never go until I have a runner,” he says. “If this horse doesn't make it, I won't go. But it would be a dream, just to be part of it. The Derby's not the be-all and end-all, but it would be huge just to do that walk over, with 130,000 people screaming at you. That stuff doesn't happen. It would be madness.” In the meantime, Ennis is keeping his feet on the ground and sticking to the process. Here, after all, is a man who started with nothing. The first to support him was Allen Greathouse, now an investor in nearly every yearling project. “I've got some great clients now, but he was the first,” Ennis says. “He trusts me, and he's doing well with it. We bought a Collected yearling off Stone Farm at Keeneland for $2,500, Gewurztraminer, and after he won easy at Churchill we sold him for $250,000. And actually I was out at Stone Farm the other day, and hopefully they'll be sending me his siblings. “I've now got Three Diamonds Farm, Cheyenne Stables, Dixiana. Bourbon Lane are sending me some. It's building up crazily; really, I need more room. When I started out, I was subleasing a couple of stalls. Then I might have had two horses in this barn, four in that one, all spread out. Now I've got a whole barn of 40, plus 10 in another one. And 30 of them are 2-year-olds. Thank God, they've been running consistently well for quite a while now. Maybe it's the better horses, maybe I'm placing them better, maybe it's a combination. But momentum is key, isn't it? So, yeah, just keep the foot down.” It's a world apart, certainly, from the cul-de-sac he had reached at the end of his 20s back in the Old World. Unlike so many Irishmen who have preceded him here, Ennis was by no means born into the game. His dad, a truck driver, would take him from their home in Co. Meath to the old Phoenix Park, and the boy would gaze in awe at Steve Cauthen riding out of the parade ring in the old Sheikh Mohammed silks. He left school at 15 and entered the apprentice academy at the Curragh with little sense of vocation. By the time he boarded that plane, his path with horses appeared to be fading. All he knew was that he had a friend to stay with, and hoped to pick up some trackwork. Within two or three months he was riding through to mid-afternoon daily, making good money, already beginning to sense that this was a place where a striver could make things happen. “And let me tell you this, the Irish expat community in Lexington is the best in the world, bar none,” he says. “If something goes wrong, or someone's in trouble, they all come together and look after you. I've seen it time and again. Everyone will get together to get you out of a hole. It's amazing. We're all competing, all trying to buy and sell horses, all trying to make money–but we're all in it together.” Last year his father came over and found himself being photographed with Cauthen in the Keeneland paddock–a barn client, in his role with Dixiana–and watching races from the farm's box. “I trained a Dixiana homebred filly [Icicles (Frosted)] to win a stakes at Turfway at the start of the year,” Ennis says proudly. “They're all so easy to deal with, Steve, Rob Tillyer, everyone. “I'm 42 now and have still never had money. But the reason I don't have money now is because I keep buying horses! And at least I can provide for my family. I would definitely encourage other guys to come over. There's so many good people in Ireland and England, just wasting away. Come over here and give it five years. If you don't like it, go home. But give it a go.” Of course, a spirit of adventure brings no guarantees. If Ennis has earned unusual success, he evidently has aptitudes that are no less common. “American Dream, that's basically what it is,” he says with a shrug. “But it is all about hard work. You get over here, and you work. Look after whatever dollars or cents you can get, try to keep things together–and always invest in yourself.” The post ‘Shamrocks in the Bluegrass’: John Ennis Enjoying the Ride appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

With a forecast of heavy rains, Santa Anita has shifted its Saturday racing card–which was to feature the GI Santa Anita H.–to Sunday. Heavy rain is expected in the Arcadia area into Saturday afternoon, but Sunday's forecast calls for sunny skies and a high temperature of 62 degrees. The decision to move Saturday's card was done in consultation with Dennis and Robert Moore, who oversee Santa Anita track maintenance, as well as with officials from the CHRB, TOC, CTT and Jockeys' Guild. The Santa Anita H., GI Kilroe Mile, GII DK Horse San Felipe S. and the GII Buena Vista S. will now all be run Sunday with a first post time of 12:30 p.m. Entries for the 10-race card will be available Thursday afternoon. Races originally scheduled for Sunday will be drawn Thursday and carded on Monday, with regular first post time at 12:30 p.m. The post Santa Anita Shifts Big ‘Cap Saturday Card to Sunday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

LRE Racing LLC and JEH Racing Stable's four-time Grade I winner Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed) has recovered from fever that forced him to miss last weekend's G2 1351 Turf Sprint in Saudi Arabia and is now being prepared for an appearance in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint on the Dubai World Cup undercard Mar. 30, co-owner Lee Einsidler confirmed Thursday. “You know, it's funny, if the Saudi race had been in Florida, we wouldn't have had to miss it,” Einsidler said of last weekend's contest, in which Casa Creed was beaten a neck in 2022 and a head in 2023. “He had a fever for one day and we were on the cusp, but we didn't want to put that stress on him of shipping halfway around the world if he wasn't 100%. We didn't want him to get off the plane in Saudi Arabia not feeling good. He's been training great, he'd been training up to the [Saudi] race great, but we had the fortunate alternative of going to Dubai, so we said let's just wait.” Casa Creed returned to the worktab at Payson Park Feb. 23, breezing an easy half-mile in :50.20 for trainer Bill Mott. “The plan was never to go to Saudi Arabia and then to Dubai,” Einsidler continued. “The plan was to go to Saudi and come home like we did last year, so we'll just go straight to Dubai instead. We're very excited. I've never been, so there's a good chance that my son Jeffrey, who is totally into it with me, is going to come with me.” A two-time winner of the GI Jaipur S. over six furlongs and the two-time defending champion of the GI Fourstardave H. going a mile, the 8-year-old Casa Creed holds a special place in Einsidler's heart. “He's meant so much to us in our lives. You think about a horse like Casa Creed every day,” he said. “He's just been so special to us. From the time we got him, he told us all that he loves to be a racehorse and for me, racing is the ultimate escape from the daily trials and tribulations of life. He's been a great separation from things you deal with in your life.” Casa Creed has provided Einsidler, the CEO of the Casamigos brand of tequila, a measure of peace and joy after tragically losing his son Aaron to an automobile accident in August 2020. “Casa Creed brought us and continues to bring us so much joy and so much pleasure and excitement,” he said. “We're just thrilled to have him as part of our life. To be running at eight years of age and competing at the highest level, it's a dream come true for a horse owner, it's so rare. We've been truly blessed.” Tentative plans call for Casa Creed to pass this year's Jaipur, as it has been shortened to 5 1/2 furlongs during the Belmont at Saratoga meeting and he is a candidate for the $350,000 GIII Poker S. on the Belmont S. undercard the same afternoon, June 8. The long-term goal would be the Fourstardave, where Casa Creed was third in 2020 and 2021 before winning the prestigious race the last two seasons. “That would be just ridiculous,” Einsidler exclaimed. “Just to be in the race five times is incredible, to win it for a third time would be an amazing accomplishment.” Luis Saez has ridden Casa Creed in his last 11 starts and has a return call for the 1200-meter Al Quoz. The post Casa Creed On Track For Al Quoz Sprint appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Multiple Group 1 winner A Case Of You (Ire) (Hot Streak {Ire}–Karjera {Ire}, by Key Of Luck) will enter stud at Drakenstein Stud in South Africa later this year, Sporting Post reported on Thursday. The deal was brokered by Robin Bruss of Northfields Bloodstock. Bred by Limestone and Tara Studs in Ireland, the Gary Devlin-owned entire claimed the G3 Anglesey S. at two, before going on to take the G3 Lacken S. at three. He progressed that year to run second in the G1 Flying Five S. and later won the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye by a nose in October of 2021. Trying Meydan in March of 2022, he ran second in the G3 Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint, and then added the G1 Al Quoz Sprint later that month. Purchased by Australian interests, he traveled Down Under in March of 2023 and raced four more times before retiring with a mark of 22-7-2-3 and $1,427,755. “A Case Of You represented a great opportunity to get a terrifically fast horse with different bloodlines into South Africa,” Drakenstein said in a statement. “We are excited to stand him and look forward to his career going forward.” The son of Hot Streak, who is from the family of stakes winner Akanti (Ire) (Key Of Luck) and G3 Prix Gladiateur winner Big Call (Animal Kingdom), is in the process of being syndicated and will stand alongside What A Winter (SAf), One World (SAf), Futura (SAf), Jet Dark (SAf), and Charles Dickens (SAf) for the upcoming breeding season. The post A Case Of You To Enter Stud At Drakenstein In South Africa appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Steve Weston hoped to produce a nice turf horse when he sent his mare Jody's Song (Scat Daddy) to Coolmore's American Pharoah. Jody's Song had been undefeated in two starts on the grass in New York and American Pharoah had already shown his versatility as a sire when he produced several Grade I-winning turfers from his first few crops. Everyone spoke highly of the resulting filly, whom he named Jody's Pride, throughout her early years, but when it came time for the dark bay to make her debut last August at Saratoga, the race got rained off the turf. Trainer Jorge Abreu opted to keep the filly entered anyways and to her connections' pleasant surprise, she sprinted away to win by over 10 lengths. Again in her next start in the Matron S., the race was switched to the main track. Again, Jody's Pride won going away. “So then we tried the grass for a third time in the Breeders' Cup,” recalled Weston. “But they said they didn't have room for us. So we said, 'Okay, we'll try the dirt. We don't know how she'll do. She's never gone two turns, but we'll see.'” Sent off at 18-1 odds in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, Jody's Pride and jockey Flavien Prat trailed heavy favorite Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) along the rail before swinging out to close in on winner Just FYI (Justify) in the final strides and finish second by a neck. A newborn Jody's Pride with dam Jody's Song | courtesy Ashford Stud At that point it was a pretty easy decision that Jody's Pride would be sticking to dirt, at least for the time being, as she points toward the GI Kentucky Oaks. “Believe me, I'm not complaining,” Weston said with a laugh. “It's very hard to be able to get a good dirt horse that can go two turns. I'm blessed right now to have one.” Steve and Debbie Weston's Parkland Thoroughbreds has excelled at the top level of the sport in recent years by partnering up on the likes of Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio), who won the G3 Albany S. at Ascot last year, 2023 GII Appalachian S. victress Papilio (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), and other graded stakes winners like Royal Charlotte (Cairo Prince) and Horologist (Gemologist). But Jody's Pride stands out as a rare homebred for their stable and she's the one that Weston said is “by far” the best he's ever bred. Weston, who is based in Parkland, Florida but spends his summers in Saratoga, purchased the filly's dam as a yearling for $250,000 at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale. The daughter of Scat Daddy was bred by Avanti Stable, whose owners Mario and Dawn Martinez lived just a few doors down from the Westons on Fifth Avenue. Named after Weston's sister who had recently passed away, Jody's Song showed talent early on and won on debut by three lengths, but injuries cut her career short. Jody's Pride was only the mare's second foal, but sadly Jody's Song passed away from colic a week before Jody's Pride made her debut last year. “It was a terrible loss,” Weston said. “She had two surgeries and she lived for about a month, but we just couldn't save her.” Jody's Song produced three other foals including a 4-year-old daughter of Uncle Mo who broke her maiden last summer at Belmont and retired to Weston's broodmare band this year. She also has a 2-year-old colt by American Pharoah training in Ocala and another American Pharoah yearling colt. Weston's boutique breeding program is strictly a breed-to-race operation. Along with a handful of mares in New York, he owns Sabrina's Angel (Scat Daddy), a half-sister to WinStar sire Audible. Weston said that he considers breeding a filly like Jody's Pride to be one of the highlights of his time in the game. “It's a different feeling,” he explained. “Not that I don't enjoy Porta Fortuna and the others because I do, but it's a different feeling when you breed one and you're racing it, especially at a high level.” Jody's Pride as a yearling at Ashford | courtesy Ashford Stud Weston co-owns Jody's Pride with his good friend Joe D'Agostino of Sportsmen Stable. The pair has been counting down the days until their star filly's 3-year-old debut. Jody's Pride was originally pointing for the GII Davona Dale S., but after she put in two works at Gulfstream, Abreu decided to send her to the Busher S. at Aqueduct, where she has won once before. “She's up there now and she's ready to go,” Weston reported. “It was different when we went into the Breeders' Cup because we were not expecting much. There wasn't much pressure and we were just happy to be there. Now I'm sorry to say that our hopes are so high that going into New York, sure we hope we win, but we expect to run really well.” Weston has followed this same path to the Oaks before. In 2022 Venti Valentine (Firing Line), a filly Parkland Thoroughbreds co-owns with NY Final Furling Racing Stable, won the Busher and was second in the GII Gazelle S. before taking her connections to the Oaks. While the Abreu trainee finished well back in 14th that day, she has since proven to be a skilled New York-bred stakes filly for the group, most recently finishing second in the Broadway S. at Aqueduct on Feb. 17. Weston has a lot to look forward to this spring as many of his top horses are set to return to the racetrack in the coming weeks. Porta Fortuna, who ran second in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, has returned to training for the partnership of Medallion Racing, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Barry Fowler and will make her 3-year-old debut back in her home country of Ireland in early April. Papilio, who is co-owned by DJ Stable, Medallion Racing and Barry Fowler, made her 4-year-old debut at Gulfstream this past weekend and finished a close second to MSW Sweet Dani Girl (Jess's Dream). Mischievous Angel (Into Mischief) is a 4-year-old out of Weston's broodmare Sabrina's Angel. The gelding broke his maiden on debut last June and then finished sixth in the GII Hall of Fame S. While the Chad Brown trainee hasn't seen the starting gate since, Weston said he has been putting in solid works at Palm Meadows this year and is set to make his 4-year-old debut at Keeneland this spring. “I have had a lot of lean years, but the last couple of years have really improved,” he said, and then grinned. “I think I'm actually almost breaking even.” The post Breeders’ Cup Runner-Up Jody’s Pride Takes Next Step on Oaks Trail appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance and Tampa Bay Downs will highlight accredited aftercare during Saturday's card, which features the GIII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby. The track will honor TAA with a named race on the day's undercard. Following the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance named race, a presentation will be made in the winner's circle and winning connections will be given a TAA blanket and gift bag with branded merchandise. A representative from TAA will also be on-site to host the winners of the VIP Experience from the “Off to the Races” online benefit auction. Generously donated by Tampa Bay Downs and Tom Cannell, the winners of this VIP Experience will enjoy premium dining, access to the paddock and winner's circle for the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Race. “We are very excited to welcome back Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance to the 2024 Tampa Bay Derby,” said Margo Flynn, Vice President of Marketing, Tampa Bay Downs. “We are proud to support their mission and spread awareness for accredited aftercare.” Emily Dresen, TAA's Director of Funding and Events, said, “We are so excited to be back at Tampa Bay Downs for the Tampa Bay Derby. Tampa Bay Downs has remained a committed partner and advocate for accredited aftercare, and we are thrilled to participate on one of their biggest days of racing.” The TAA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that accredits, inspects, and awards grants to approved aftercare organizations to retrain, retire, and rehome Thoroughbreds using industry-wide funding. The post TAA on Hand for Tampa Bay Derby Day appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The board of directors of Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation has authorized expenditure of $2,455,164 to fund 11 new projects and 13 continuing projects at 14 universities, as well as three career development awards. “Once again, this year's projects affect all types of horses in every stage of development demonstrating Grayson's commitment to all breeds and disciplines,” said Jamie Haydon, president of Grayson. “I am especially pleased that we were able to offer a special career development award this year in honor of Nancy Kelly, who was Grayson's vice president of development for many years and was an advocate for nurturing young researchers.” The projects, listed alphabetically by school, are: Diet Nonstructural Carbohydrates Alter Ovarian Functions (Elaine Carnevale, Colorado State University); Equine Tendinopathy: Advanced Imaging and Tenex Efficacy (Brad Nelson, Colorado State University); Shining A Light On The Black Box Of Early Pregnancy Loss (Amanda de Mestre, Cornell University); Ketodoxapram As A Treatment For Atrial Fibrillation (Annelies Decloedt, Ghent University); Adiponectin as a Clinical Biomarker for Laminitis Risk (Melody De Laat, Queensland University of Technology); Role of C1q in Rhodococcal Infection (Angela Bordin, Texas A&M AgriLife Research); Novel Protein Targets for R. equi Serology and Vaccines (Noah Cohen, Texas A&M AgriLife Research); Insulin Dysregulation: Placental Changes And Foal Health (Elaine Norton, University of Arizona); Novel Method for Diagnosis of Nocardioform Placentitis (Shavahn Loux, University of Kentucky); Polyacrylamide For Joint Therapy-Critical Things Unknown (Bruno Menarim, University of Kentucky (Gluck)); Risk Assessment For Proximal Sesamoid Bone Fracture (Peter Muir, University of Wisconsin-Madison). Dr. Rebecca Bishop, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was awarded the Storm Cat Career Development Award. Inaugurated in 2006, the award grants $20,000 to an individual considering a career in equine research. Dr. Bishop's prosposed study is a multiomic investigation of peritoneal fluid in colic. Dr. Rebecca Legere, Texas A&M University, was awarded the the Elaine and Bertram Klein Career Development Award. First awarded in 2015, the award grants $20,000 to a prospective equine researcher. Dr. Legere's project, passive immunization against Rhodococcus equi using MRNA, will attempt to deliver mRNA encoding monoclonal antibody to the lungs of foals to enable more effective immunoprophylaxis of rhodococcal pneumonia. Additionally, Grayson will sponsor a one-time career development award in honor of Nancy C. Kelly, who died Feb. 9. As the vice president of development for Grayson, Kelly helped raise millions of dollars for equine research. She was also the executive director of The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation, organizing countless fundraising events. The recipient of this special award is Lauren Hughes, University of Minnesota, and her project is “Genetics of Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction (PPID) Risk.” Since 1940, Grayson has provided more than $42.3 million to underwrite more than 437 projects at 47 universities. The post Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation Approves over $2.4 Million in 2024 Funding appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

New Zealand horses making hit-and-run visits to Australia are not uncommon, but there are not many horses that do it in reverse. The Ciaron Maher-trained Holymanz (NZ) (Almanzor), a New Zealand-bred four-year-old, made a hit-and-run trip to Ellerslie last month for the inaugural running of the Aotearoa Classic (1600m). Holymanz finished fourth and was soon after shipped back to the Cranbourne stables of his trainer to prepare for a tilt at the Group 2 Blamey Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on Saturday. Victory in the Blamey offers a ‘win and you’re in’ ticket into the All-Star Mile (1600m) at Caulfield on March 16. Jack Turnbull, an assistant-trainer with Ciaron Maher Racing, said Holymanz had returned in good order from his trip to New Zealand where not everything went to plan. “He had a rough run in transit and he slipped a little bit, as a couple did that day, but to pick himself up and run on to finish fourth, we thought he ran a huge race,” Turnbull said. “He’s travelled back in good order. He’s had a maintenance jump out since and he got back and wasn’t asked to do much.” Turnbull said Michael Dee will be reunited with Holymanz on Saturday having ridden the gelding in his two previous starts before heading to Ellerslie, including a win at Geelong on January 6. View the full article

Debutante two-year-old Altari (NZ) (Savabeel) produced a smart victory in the Congrats Captured By Love & Te Akau Racing Maiden 2YO (1200m) at Matamata on Thursday. When trialling on 20 February at Tauranga, Altari was trapped out, steadied 600m, ranged wide and flattened out 200m for a smart win, and his first race day outing was not dissimilar. Away well from barrier eight, Altari was caught on a limb three wide under Opie Bosson, challenged turning for home, lifted to level 200m out and went on win with an air of superiority. “He’s a nice horse and even after being three wide in the open he kept coming up underneath me when I gave him a niggle,” Bosson said. Held in very high regard by trainers Mark Walker & Sam Bergerson, Altari will now be prepared for the Gr.1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) on Saturday 6 April at Trentham. “It was a great first-up win today and he certainly didn’t get all favours in the run,” Walker said. “I loved the way he changed legs at the 200m and really wanted to win. He found extra and that’s the sign of a good horse. “He’s got a really exciting future and has the makings of developing into a lovely three-year-old. “He’ll only improve with today’s experience and overall we’re pretty impressed with his performance. Not a lot went right, but as usual Opie (Bosson) keeps them balanced and the horse kept producing.” Owned by Te Akau Bohemian Beauty Racing Partnership (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM), Altari was purchased by David Ellis CNZM for $360,000 at the 2022 New Zealand Bloodstock National Weanling Sale, from the draft of Valachi Downs. “He’s got a lovely temperament and has a good brain on him,” said racing manager Reece Trumper. Trumper said Altari reminded them of Noverre, a Savabeel colt also purchased by Ellis at Karaka, before winning the 2000 Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m) and now standing at Waikato Stud. “His nature and the way he goes about everything reminds us of Noverre, just a slightly neater type. “He was a beautiful weanling colt that David (Ellis) bought, has a beautiful pedigree, and by Savabeel, with David being the most successful buyer of Savabeel progeny, it’s exciting for the owners to see him win so well on debut. “I’d also like to thank the Matamata Racing Club for taking on this meeting. Obviously we had a big day here last Saturday, and some rain since, but the track is still playing very fair. “It’s a real credit to all the track staff here to produce the best track in New Zealand, in my opinion, and it takes the racing very well.” By eight-time Champion Sire Savabeel, his dam Bohemian Lily (NZ) (O’Reilly) won the Gr.2 The Roses (2020m) at Doomben, while second dam, Bohemian Blues (NZ) (Blues Traveller), won five races and in turn at stud has left Champion 3YO Filly in Australia Shamrocker (NZ) (O’Reilly), winner of the Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m) and Gr.1 VRC Australian Guineas (1600m), Gr.1 Auckland Cup (3200m) winner Rock Diva (NZ) (Lucky Unicorn), and Gr.3 Taranaki Cup (1800m) winner Vernanme (NZ) (O’Reilly). View the full article

A promising three-year-old sourced from Taranaki in New Zealand has made a flawless start to his racing career in Hong Kong. Super Joy N Fun (NZ) (What’s The Story) made his Hong Kong debut over 1200m at Happy Valley on February 7, winning by a head. His next start came over the same course and distance three weeks later, when dominating from the front and winning by three-quarters of a length. The gelding is trained by Benno Yung and has quickly banked more than HK$1.3 million for owners Johnny Wong Chun Nam, Nancy Wong, Maizie Wong and Wong Chi Poh. Super Joy N Fun was bred by Westend Partnership and is by the Savabeel stallion What’s The Story, who finished second in the New Zealand Derby in an injury-shortened racetrack career. What’s The Story stands at Norwegian Park for a service fee of just NZ$4,000, and Super Joy N Fun is among his five winners from only 13 runners so far in his stud career. Originally named Buyback, Super Joy N Fun had his early education in the New Plymouth stable of Debbie Harris, for whom he won a trial in July of 2023. His initial ownership group included Peter Mack, a Hawera businessman and former president of the local Egmont Racing Club. “I’ve had a few horses in the past for Chris Thompson, Mike Swift and Peter Mack, who owned his dam Citycenta and leased her out,” Harris said. “They bought this horse for $8,000 at the weanling sale and named him Buyback and sent him to me to train. “I broke him in and did all of the early education with him. I’d always thought he was quite an impressive type. He showed a fair bit of ability in his very first gallop, and then from there he just continued to improve with every gallop, jumpout and trial that he had from that point on. “It’s pretty exciting to see what he’s gone on to do. He’s off to a great start in Hong Kong and has won both of those races impressively. “Of course it was a bit of a shame to lose him from the stable, but that’s just how it goes – anything with ability usually ends up going overseas. But you can be proud of the work that you do with these horses along the way and get a lot of enjoyment from their success further down the track.” Harris has held a training licence for a decade, and during that time she has been credited with 13 winners from only 80 runners. “I never have a big team, but I’ve been lucky enough to have a few nice ones,” she said. “I think I’ve got a handful of quite nice two-year-olds coming through that are just starting to have their first run along now. Hopefully there’s some good prospects among them. I’m looking forward to seeing how they go.” View the full article

The progress on racing surfaces is due in large part to the Racing Surface Testing Laboratory, whose work grew out of the first Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit held in 2006 at Keeneland. View the full article

Sir Alex Ferguson was back in Britain by Monday after enjoying a second major international victory with his homebred Spirit Dancer (GB) at the Saudi Cup meeting in Riyadh. “It's been fantastic. He's an improving horse. As a younger horse he had some issues but now he seems to be getting better every year,” Ferguson told TDN. “In his races in Bahrain and Saudi there was no catching him. There's no end to him at the moment. The next question is can he go a mile and four furlongs? That would give us other options.” Either side of Christmas the seven-year-old son of Frankel (GB) has given his owner-breeder an excuse for a trip to the sun while picking up around £1.5 million in prize-money, first in the G2 Bahrain International Trophy and then in last Saturday's G2 Howden Neom Turf Cup. These two races are relative blow-ins on the international circuit, and at the end of March Spirit Dancer will be aimed at his own version of a Middle East triple crown when lining up on Dubai World Cup night. The options currently being pondered by Ferguson and Spirit Dancer's trainer Richard Fahey are whether to attempt the G1 Dubai Turf over nine furlongs, a distance easily within his range, or to test the horse in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic, which would be asking him to go a furlong and a half farther than he's been before. “I'm swaying towards the mile and a half,” Fahey admits. “But we're going to take our time to think about it. In the back of mind I've been wanting to try him over a mile and a half for a while. I'm undecided but if I had to put a percentage on it, I'm leaning 8o per cent towards running in the Sheema Classic. I'm leaving it as long as I can. Both races look very strong, but you never know, one or two might drop out.” The trainer adds of Spirit Dancer, “He arrived in Dubai two days after his win in Saudi and he's in great order.” The latest bulletin will be music to the ears of Ferguson, who races Spirit Dancer in partnership with his friends Ged Mason and Peter Done. The three men are also partners in a number of smart jumpers, meaning that Ferguson's loyalties are for the time being a little torn. On Saturday, just ahead of Spirit Dancer's triumph, the exciting young prospect Kalif du Berlais (Fr) (Masked Marvel {GB}) maintained his unbeaten run in Britain with victory in the G2 Adonis Juvenile Hurdle at Kempton Park. He says, “I was definitely looking forward to the National Hunt for a long time and then along comes Spirit Dancer and spoils it all. All of a sudden the excitement is just fantastic. “We've got so many good National Hunt horses. Kalif du Berlais, who won on Saturday, and I think we're in quite a good position for Cheltenham.” Through my life I have always tried to keep my feet on the ground but there are occasions when it takes you, like the reception we got in Bahrain The Cheltenham Festival will be on Ferguson's agenda before he returns to the Middle East, and he is hopeful that Hitman (Fr) (Falco) can improve on his third-place finish last year when he returns for another crack at the G1 Ryanair Chase. Like Kalif Du Berlais and former star chasers What A Friend (GB) and Clan des Obeaux (Fr), Hitman is trained by Paul Nicholls, who has also recently taken charge of Caldwell Potter (Fr) (Martaline {GB}), bought by Ferguson, Mason, Done and another regular partner, John Hales, for €740,000, a record sum for a National Hunt horse at public auction. “I think Hitman will do well,” Ferguson says. “I just feel that he seems to die in the last couple of fences over three miles, but he's back running over two miles and four furlongs. He might just surprise people.” Ferguson admits to having had “some great fun” with his National Hunt string, and there has been no disguising his sheer joy at the performances this winter of Spirit Dancer, who has taken full advantage of the rapidly expanding race programme in the Gulf. “Bahrain in five years' time will be really big,” he says. “It's developing all the time. Of course Saudi is a wee bit ahead of it at the moment but in five years' time Dubai, Saudi and Bahrain will all be fantastic. The prize-money is unbelievable.” He adds, “Richard has been very good at communicating his thoughts and ideas with me. When he won at York, he said he was going to send him to Bahrain. I had to ask, 'What's going on in Bahrain?' He said it was a two-million-dollar race and I thought, 'Oh, okay.' They looked after us so well.” During his legendary career as manager of Manchester United, Ferguson was famed for nurturing young talent on the pitch. Now his eye can't help but assess the ability of the man who has ridden Spirit Dancer in his last 14 starts, 26-year-old Oisin Orr. “The jockey is very calm. He's a very composed lad. He doesn't panic,” says Ferguson. “I said to him in Bahrain – it was a big race for him and he is quiet and unassuming – and I said, 'One thing I am going to tell you is, see that Frankel, he will never let you down. He'll run up a mountain for you.'” The image of Frankel winning the 2,000 Guineas remains at the forefront of Ferguson's mind as he reminisces about the great horse's dominance at Newmarket that day. “I think in sport one superstar comes along every four or five years,” he says. “You get an exceptional horse – a Frankel, a Constitution Hill, or going way back, Arkle or Shergar. It's like that with players – like [Paul] Gascoigne, who was an unbelievable kid. He was one of the best English players, after Bobby Charlton, without question. You get exceptional players, like Ronaldo and Messi, and sport does that, you know.” Spirit Dancer and Oisin Orr up after the Neom Turf Cup | Racingfotos Ferguson is clearly still buoyed by the events of last weekend and he delights in recounting that Spirit Dancer's groom, Hayley Irvine, won the equivalent of £4,000 after being awarded World Pool's Moment of the Day. “And she gets married in two weeks' time,” he says. He and his partners weren't the only ones to revel in Spirit Dancer's success, however. “It was amazing, the number of Manchester United fans in Bahrain and Saudi,” Ferguson says. “It was incredible. I came out of my bedroom early one morning in Bahrain and there were about 20 kids in the foyer waiting for me. They put two security guards outside my door. You always have to give autographs and photographs to kids, and they were there every morning, and when we won in Bahrain they were cheering like hell as if we'd scored a goal. It was really good, it was impressive, and it cheered me up.” The last comment is all the more poignant for Spirit Dancer's Bahrain victory coming a little over a month after the death of his wife of 57 years, Lady Cathy Ferguson. He continues, “Through my life I have always tried to keep my feet on the ground but there are occasions when it takes you, like the reception we got in Bahrain and the other day [in Riyadh].” Breeders will tell you that winning a race is even sweeter with a homebred. Ferguson's own path into breeding racehorses has been guided by his bloodstock advisor Alan Perry and by Greg and Lottie Parsons, the owners of Upperwood Farm Stud near Hemel Hempstead, where Spirit Dancer's dam, Queen's Dream (Ger) (Oasis Dream {GB}) is a permanent boarder. Whenever I go racing it does a lot for me. I never expected that the horse would be as good as this. And he's getting better “We bought Queen's Dream from Andreas Wohler and Alan Perry recommended that we send her to Hemel Hempstead. Alan worked for Juddmonte for a few years and he talked them into taking the mare for Frankel. Alan has done a great job there, and so have Greg and Lottie Parsons. It's a lovely, quiet operation in the middle of nowhere almost, and they've been great. The mare has had six foals for me now,” he says. “We have [three-year-old] Road To Wembley – a really nice name – with Richard Hughes and then there's a really nice horse, Hampden Park – another nice name – with Andrew Balding. He got a knee knock and was sidelined for a couple of months but he's now back in training and I'm going down there soon to see him. Andrew is very excited about him and he won very nicely at Ascot. “Her two-year-old by Masar is a bit weak at the moment so we'll give him a bit of time, and that's what Greg is really good at. He's so patient.” Ferguson admits that at the age of 82 he is unlikely to expand his breeding interests, but there is still much to look forward to within Spirit Dancer's own family. Sir Alex Ferguson and Greg Parsons with Spirit Dancer as a foal | Upperwood Farm Stud “We had a foal last week by Stradivarius and it's great to have a filly. She's quite petite. I just have to make my mind up who the mare is going to this year,” he says. “To be honest I didn't know what I was getting into, but when I went to the stud and met them I was very impressed with the care that they take with their horses. It's worked very well.” Ever questioning the psychological aspect of sport, Ferguson discussed last Saturday's race with his trainer on Sunday morning and asked Fahey if he thought that Spirit Dancer knew he had won. “He told me, 'Absolutely, they know they've beaten other horses.' I think they must know what they're doing, and Richard has a good point when he says that when Spirit Dancer wins it does something for him,” says Ferguson. “It's the same for me. Whenever I go racing it does a lot for me. I never expected that the horse would be as good as this. And he's getting better. I don't know how far he's going to go. We're going to Dubai now and he must have a chance. He's not shown any weakness at all. He went by Luxembourg and the second horse [Killer Ability] and they were never going to catch him.” It's addictive, winning, and it is something Ferguson became accustomed to during his 26 years with Manchester United. In Spirit Dancer, the horse he has been associated with since his birth, by one of the greatest equine winning machines of all time, he has found the perfect conduit for that addiction. The post From Football to Racing, Ferguson Retains the Winning Spirit appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Veteran trainer hopes his decision to call upon the Australian ace is vindicated in Sunday’s featureView the full article

Trainers, jockeys and stable staff make impassioned plea to city’s chief executive Ho Iat-seng in a letter sent on ThursdayView the full article

What Verry Elleegant Stakes Day Where Royal Randwick Racecourse – Alison Rd, Randwick NSW 2031 When Saturday, March 2, 2024 First Race 12:30pm AEDT Visit Dabble Randwick is the destination for NSW Group 1 racing this Saturday, with the Group 1 Verry Elleegant Stakes (1600m) headlining a bumper 10-race program that kicks off at 12:30pm AEDT. There is black-type racing scattered throughout the afternoon, with the Group 1 Surround Stakes (1400m) to go along with some quality two-year-old races as the juveniles build into some hefty autumn targets. The rail returns to the true position for the entire circuit, and with no rain expected to hinder the Good 4 surface, it should be a fair track for all participants. Race 1: Midway Handicap BM72 (1100m) We kick things off with a wide-open BM72 contest, where the Jarrod Austin-trained Vindication appears perfectly placed on resumption. The son of Deep Field returned a winner last preparation at Wyong on July 15, and although he didn’t put up another win in his next six starts, he still proved to be ultra-consistent with minor placings behind the likes of Mogo Magic and Eye Pea Oh. He returns on the back of an eye-catching piece of work at this track on February 22, and with the speed engaged sure to be genuine, watch for Vindication to be flashing through the wire under Regan Bayliss. Selections: 8 VINDICATION 17 ARTFUL PERSUASION 12 THE EXTREME CAT 14 MAD DARCEY Race 2: BM88 Handicap (1200m) It is hard to go past Our Kobison as he searches for a hat-trick of wins on Saturday. He smashed the clock in his latest effort at Rosehill on February 3, clearing out on his rivals by 3.2 lengths. He does cop a 3.5kg weight penalty while staying in BM88 company, but it simply won’t matter if he can repeat what he produced in his most recent start. The +100 is short enough considering the opposition he faces; however, unless James McDonald doesn’t get clear running from stall one when the whips are cracking, Our Kobison will take a power of beating. Selections: 3 OUR KOBISON 2 MORAVIA 4 PEREILLE 5 TINTOOKIE Best Bet Race 2 – #3 Our Kobison (1) 4yo Gelding | T: Angela Davies | J: James McDonald (58.5kg) +210 with Dabble Race 3: Class 3 Highway Handicap (1000m) There is plenty of depth in this Highway Handicap, so it makes sense to default to the undefeated Perennial. The Paul Messara & Leah Gavranich-trained gelding put together two impressive wins before heading to the paddock and recently resumed his winning ways at Newcastle on February 3 when scoring by 1.7 lengths. It looks like an ideal setup for the three-year-old to continue his rise through the grades, and with the stable flying on the provincial circuit, it looks like Perennial can make the jump to metro class this weekend. Selections: 2 PERENNIAL 5 ONCE AGAIN MY GIRL 3 COMPELLING TRUTH 1 REMEMBERING JACK Race 4: Group 2 Skyline Stakes (1200m) The undefeated Storm Boy has impressed at every turn in his short career, scorching the turf in his most recent effort in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic (1200m) on the Gold Coast when scoring by 2.5 lengths. The Justify colt is versatile, classy, and has been the long-standing favourite for the Group 1 Golden Slipper Stakes (1200m) for a reason, and he should prove why once again in the 2024 Skyline Stakes. Selections: 1 STORM BOY 4 PARKOUR 3 PROST 6 INDECISIVE Skyline Stakes Race 4 – #1 Storm Boy (1) 2yo Colt | T: Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | J:James McDonald (55.5kg) +190 with Bet365 Race 5: BM88 Handicap (2000m) Redstone Well picked up his first Australian win at start three for the Annabel Neasham barn, grinding his way to victory at this track on February 17. He should only improve as he gets out further in trip to the 2000m for the first time in the preparation. Many of his key rivals in this BM88 contest he beat home last start, and although the son of Cotai Glory must give them a significant swing in the weights, Redstone Well appears classy enough to fend off all challengers once again. Selections: 1 REDSTONE WELL 10 LOUISVILLE 8 MIRRACLE SPIN 7 FLOATING Next Best Race 5 – #1 Redstone Well (2) 5yo Gelding | T: Annabel Neasham | J: James McDonald (59.5kg) +1100 with Dabble Race 6: Group 2 Sweet Embrace Stakes (1200m) It is the fillies’ turn to put their hands up for Golden Slipper contention in the Group 2 Sweet Embrace Stakes (1200m), where the Michael Freedman barn sends out Manaal as a short-priced commodity. The daughter of Tassort finished off best of the rest in the Group 3 Widden Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill behind Lady Of Camelot, who would go on to impress with a runner-up effort in the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) last Saturday. Manaal simply found the 1100m too sharp first-up from a 126-day spell, and with this 1200m contest allowing her build the revs, watch for this girl to storm over the top late. Selections: 1 MANAAL 7 WAVE BREAKER 4 CHATEAU MIRAVAL 2 CASTANYA Sweet Embrace Stakes Race 6 – #1 Manaal (6) 2yo Filly | T: Michael Freedman | J: Tommy Berry (55.5kg) +700 with Betfair Race 7: Group 1 Verry Elleegant Stakes (1600m) The feature of the afternoon comes with the newly named Group 1 Verry Elleegant Stakes, where Fangirl has throttled the market since dominating her rivals first-up in the Group 2 Apollo Stakes. The star mare meets a similar field with a sprinkling of new contenders as she looks to stake her claim as one of the best milers in the country. Will she carve them up again, or is there an upset brewing on Saturday? Click here for our full preview of the 2024 Verry Elleegant Stakes Race 8: Group 1 Surround Stakes (1400m) Learning To Fly gets the nod in the Group 1 Surround Stakes after an outstanding first-up display in the Group 2 Light Fingers Stakes (1200m) a fortnight ago. The daughter of Justify hadn’t been sighted since last year’s Golden Slipper, and after almost a full year off the scene, she couldn’t have been more impressive in a losing effort. She should only take improvement from that, and with gate six allowing Chad Schofield to sit handier throughout the journey, Learning To Fly can go one better second-up. Selections: 4 LEARNING TO FLY 5 TIZ INVINCIBLE 2 ZARDOZI 8 MAKARENA Surround Stakes Race 8 – #4 Learning To Fly (6) 3yo Filly | T: Annabel Neasham | J: Chad Schofield (56kg) +700 with Betfair Race 9: Group 2 Guy Walter Stakes (1400m) Most would consider Olentia unlucky first-up in the Group 3 Triscay Stakes (1200m), as she was crowded for room at a crucial stage and lost momentum when trying to sneak rails runs under Tommy Berry. Semana was impressive, so it’s inconclusive to suggest this four-year-old should’ve won, but she is worthy of forgiving heading into Saturday. Berry retains the ride and draws to gain a economical run in transit from gate three, and provided the Chris Waller-trained mare has taken a step forward this preparation, Olentia will justify the short quote with online bookmakers. Selections: 3 OLENTIA 2 HINGED 5 MORE SECRETS 1 DUAIS Sweet Embrace Stakes Race 9 – #3 Olentia (3) 4yo Mare | T: Chris Waller | J: Tommy Berry (55kg) +700 with Betfair Race 10: Group 3 Liverpool City Cup (1300m) The Group 3 Liverpool City Cup (1300m) rounds out a stellar day of racing at Randwick, and it is worth having a throw at the stumps with the Ciaron Maher-trained New Energy on his Australian debut. Despite the European import only having one win to his name across 11 career starts, the son of New Bay brings a promising resume that includes a runner-up effort in the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas (1609m). He won a Cranbourne jump-out prior to this event, and with barrier three giving Jason Collett plenty of options, New Energy appears a solid each-way play in the last. Selections: 6 NEW ENERGY 4 KOVALICA 2 COAL CRUSHER 5 DEMOCRACY MANIFEST Liverpool City Cup Race 10 – #6 New Energy (3) 5yo Gelding | T: Ciaron Maher | J: Jason Collett (56kg) +450 with Picklebet Randwick free Saturday quaddie tips Randwick quadrella selections Saturday, March 2, 2024 4-5-9 1-2-4-5-8-10-12 2-3-5 2-3-4-5-6-7-13 | Copy this bet straight to your betslip Horse racing tips View the full article

Group One winner Jon Snow got off the mark as a sire on Thursday when his son King Of The North took out the Farewell Dave Bradford (1400m) at Matamata. It was the Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott-trained gelding’s third start, having run fourth on debut over 1200m at the Waikato track in January before placing over 1300m at Te Rapa a fortnight later. Jon Snow stands at Clearview Park, near Timaru, and farm principal Aaron Tapper was rapt to see King Of The North get his sire on the board. “It was very exciting,” Tapper said. “He raced the day before we had a filly go through at Karaka where he got third at Te Rapa. It would have been nice if it was that day (he won), but it is really good to get a win.” The victory was made even more special for Tapper given the fact King Of The North was foaled and raised on his property for breeder Tim Harrison prior to heading north to Te Runga Stud where he went through their 2022 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft and was purchased by Wexford Stables for $60,000. “He was born and raised on the farm here before he went north. He was pretty impressive then,” Tapper said. “He was a typical Jon Snow, they are all pretty leggy as foals and they grow into their body really well. “I remember going up to Lance and Andrew at the sales when they bought King Of The North just to say congratulations and thank you. They said that they bought him as their next Derby runner. He is a couple of months behind, but there are a couple of Derbys coming up, so who knows?” A New Zealand Bloodstock graduate himself, Jon Snow was purchased by Andrew Forsman on behalf of the Zame Partnership out of Haunui Farm’s 2015 Select Yearling Sale draft for $65,000. Forsman, alongside Murray Baker, trained the son of Iffraaj to four wins and eight placings from 23 starts, including victories in the Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m), Gr.2 Tulloch Stakes (2000m), and Gr.3 JRA Cup (2040m). He also placed in the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m), Gr.1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m), Gr.1 Caulfield Stakes (2000m), Gr.1 Zabeel Classic (2000m), and Gr.1 Levin Classic (1600m). “We lease him off the Zame Parnership,” Tapper said. “When we were offered him it was a given that we would take him because he was such an impressive racehorse. “For the South Island to get something of his quality was great, so we jumped at the chance. “His temperament is fantastic and all of his foals seem so much more relaxed, they are nice types, and we are pretty happy with him. “His pedigree is awesome. We just need more on the track. “I got a booking for him yesterday for this coming season and to have a winner on the board will certainly help.” Earlier on the card, Tapper celebrated another success for his other stallion Echoes Of Heaven when his son Manawa took out the Matamata Function Centre 1600 for trainer John Bell. View the full article

Wexford Stables look to have a strong hand in the Gr.3 Haunui Farm King’s Plate (1200m) at Ellerslie on Saturday where they will be represented by Group One winner Waitak and Group One performer Dragon Leap. Waitak will be seeking to return to his winning ways for trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott, having finished eighth in the Gr.1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa earlier this month having posted back-to-back wins in his previous outings, including the Gr.1 Railway (1200m) at Pukekohe on New Year’s Day. “Waitak is flying, he is really going well,” Scott told TAB NZ. “He got three wide in the Waikato Sprint and had a tough gig there, but he pressed on well and his sectionals were still really good.” Stablemate Dragon Leap will be out to continue his great association with Ellerslie, having experienced a memorable three-year-old season on the track, having won the Gr.2 Auckland Guineas (1600m), placed in the Listed Trevor Eagle Memorial 3YO (1500m), and finished fourth in the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m). The seven-year-old gelding has been unplaced in his three starts this summer, after experiencing a successful spring where he won the Gr.2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m) and was runner-up in the Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m). “Dragon Leap is going well, but he is just having no luck,” Scott said. “He came home the quickest last 400m of the race (in the BCD Group Sprint), but he just got out wide where they weren’t winning on that day. Opie (Bosson) is back on and he has a great affinity with the horse. “We are pleased with them both. They are both holding up to the summer racing well, so they should sprint well again. They just need a bit of luck.” Waitak is currently a $4.20 second favourite behind last start Group One winner Bonny Lass ($2.50), while Dragon Leap is the third equal fancied runner alongside Mercurial ($5). View the full article

Cambridge trainer Andrew Forsman will be looking to secure his first Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) in his own right at Ellerslie on Saturday when First Innings contests the Trackside-sponsored feature. Forsman has won the Classic on two previous occasions when training in partnership with Murray Baker, securing his first NZ Derby with Mongolian Khan in 2015, while Vin De Dance was victorious in the race three years later. First Innings has shown plenty of potential in his four career starts to date, capped by his last start victory over 2100m at Pukekohe last week. Forsman is confident in First Innings’ staying abilities, but admits he faces a stiff task this weekend up against $1.40 favourite Orchrestral. “We haven’t had to do too much with him, he was a pretty fit horse going into it (last start),” Forsman told TAB NZ. “He has had three runs over ground now, so he has had a very quiet week since then. “We have drawn well enough (7) and Orchestral has drawn out a little bit wider than us (9). In my mind, she will need to be very unlucky or have things not go right for her, to (not) be right in the finish. “For us, we just need a good, evenly run race, and he will stay the 2400m.” Co-owner Michael Hughes drew gate seven for his gelding at Tuesday evening’s barrier draw, and while he knows First Innings has a tough assignment to beat a short-priced favourite this weekend, he said it has been done in the past. “I didn’t think they could beat La Crique, and she was a pretty short-priced favourite,” Hughes said. “I am pretty happy with the way things have gone. He will be fit enough and he will be running on.” Meanwhile, Forsman was pleased to secure a slot in the NZB Kiwi (1500m) on Tuesday evening with his bid of $675,000. “You wanted to be a part of it but there is also a point where they are value, and then you have to temper that with where we landed. We went slightly over budget on what we thought we would have to pay, but I am happy to have secured a slot,” Forsman said. “Hopefully we can come up with one good enough.” View the full article

Dual Guineas winner Aberlour’s (NZ) (Mongolian Falcon) racing future lies in Australia, following her majority sale to clients of Warwick Farm trainer Joe Pride. The daughter of Mongolian Falcon was trained in New Zealand by Riverton horseman Kelvin Tyler, for whom she won three and placed in two of her six starts, including victories in the Listed Gore Guineas (1335m) and Listed Southland Guineas (1600m). Her performances piqued the interest of a number of potential buyers, but it was Pride who came out in top, with Tyler retaining 30 percent in Aberlour, and he is pleased his filly is going to a stable he has a good association with. Former Stable runner King Of The Castle (NZ) (Castledale) was sold to Pride in a similar deal, and Tyler has enjoyed watching him perform well across the Tasman, including being trackside for his fourth placed run in the A$3 million Big Dance (1600m) at Randwick on Melbourne Cup Day. The son of Castledale has subsequently gone on to place in the Listed Santa Cup (2000m). “She leaves here on Sunday morning, it is pretty exciting to see if she matches up over there,” Tyler said. “Joe Pride is a good trainer and a good guy. I am pleased she is going there, I am quite sure he will do a good job with her. “There is a lot of prizemoney over there if they match up. We are quite excited to see how she goes.” Tyler has enjoyed crossing the Tasman with his family to watch King Of The Castle compete, and he is looking forward to doing the same with Aberlour. “We have got two reasons to go over there now,” he said. “You have got to enjoy it on the way through. It is all well having these horses, but you have still got to live a life too. Hopefully we can get over there and see her and enjoy it.” View the full article

While Kelvin Tyler was pleased to take out the Listed Southland Guineas (1600m) with Aberlour (NZ) (Mongolian Falcon) at Ascot Park earlier this month, the Riverton trainer was left scratching his head after stablemate Lady Sass (NZ) (Staphanos) refused to jump from the gates and took no part in the race. She was duly required to participate in a barrier trial to the satisfaction of the stewards, which she carried out with aplomb earlier this week, and Tyler is hoping she can replicate those manners in Saturday’s Listed NZB Airfreight Stakes (1400m) at Wingatui. “She went to the jumpouts on Monday and did the opposite (of her last start), so hopefully she does that again,” Tyler said. “I can’t fault her at all, she is as fresh as a daisy. If she gets away with them, she will go a good race.” While frustrated with Lady Sass’s barrier manners last start, Tyler said he wasn’t particularly surprised, and said the quirky filly well and truly lives up to her name. “She has got a bag of tricks, she has had them since she was a foal,” he said. “We have changed a bit of gear on her – put the ear covers and side winkers on – and she flew the gate on Monday.” Tyler has always had plenty of time for Lady Sass, campaigning the daughter of Staphanos in the north over the last couple of months where she ran fourth in the Gr.3 Eulogy Stakes (1600m), fifth in the Gr.3 Desert Gold Stakes (1600m), and 11th in the Gr.1 Levin Classic (1600m). “There is not much between her and Aberlour,” Tyler said. “They are both high quality horses and the way she was racing up in the North Island in those Group Ones, she will be competitive on Saturday.” Tyler is also looking forward to Lady Sass’s younger sister More Sass (NZ) (Mongolian Falcon) making her debut in the Dakota Boutique + Lifestyle (820m). More Sass is another daughter of Mongolian Falcon, and Tyler said she has inherited her sister’s quirky nature. “She is a half to Lady Sass and she has got the same kind of attitude,” he said. “She is quite fast, but she is going to be a bit green as she has only had one jumpout and she has drawn out a bit. “I am just hoping she does everything right, which she seems to do here. She is a bit faster out of the gates than her older sister normally. She will go a good cheeky race, but she is still quite green.” Stablemate Mamaea (NZ) (Ribchester) will also make her debut in the same race, having trialled at Ruakaka last year for part-owners Shaun and Emma Clotworthy, and Kerri Spence Bloodstock, who secured a slot in the NZB Kiwi (1500m) earlier this week. “She came down from Shaun and Emma Clotworthy’s stable. She had a trial up north and she has progressed quite nicely, but she has drawn 11 of 11, so over 800m it is going to be a bit tough for her,” Tyler said. “If she settles nicely and runs on it will be a good starting point for her.” View the full article

Stephen Autridge has already made one smart move this week, which has set him up with a stronger hand to play in Saturday’s fillies’ feature at Ellerslie. The Matamata trainer had fortunately withdrawn Livid Sky (NZ) (Proisir) from Wednesday’s Gr.2 Lowland Stakes (2100m) at Hastings, which subsequently fell foul of the weather and was abandoned. Livid Sky will now line up the pre-post favourite in the Gr.3 McKee Family Sunline Vase (2100m), in which she will be joined by her talented stablemate Still Bangon (NZ) (Satono Aladdin). “Both my fillies are well and I pulled the right rein by not going to Hawke’s Bay,” Autridge said. “Looking at it, I thought Ellerslie was the better option for Livid Sky and that’s why I had pulled her out.” Proisir’s daughter Livid Sky stepped up to a middle distance for the first time at Pukekohe when third in the Gr.2 Sir Patrick Hogan Stakes (2050m) and filled the same placing in the Gr.2 David & Karyn Ellis Fillies’ Classic (2000m) at Te Rapa where she copped an interrupted passage. Still Bangon won the Gr.3 Eulogy Stakes (1600m) at Awapuni three runs back and then came from last to finish runner-up in the Sir Patrick Hogan on New Year’s Day. At her most recent appearance, the Satono Aladdin filly was well off the pace in the Fillies’ Classic. “It was too big a space between runs for Still Bangon at her last start,” Autridge said. “I couldn’t give her enough work and she was a run short, so hopefully she’s back on target.” Matthew Cameron will take the mount on Still Bangon at Ellerslie where she is at $16 in pre-post betting while Sam Weatherley will continue his association with the $3.50 market elect Livid Sky. “Still Bangon has beaten the other filly every time they have clashed before that last run, so I guess they put the line through her,” Autridge said. “She has worked well and looks great and I think they are very hard to split.” Both fillies hold nominations for the Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand Oaks (2400m) at Trentham on March 16. Autridge is confident Livid Sky, whose brother Lauding (NZ) was a last-start middle distance winner at The Valley, will handle the Classic distance while Saturday is D-Day for her stablemate. “We are at the stage now where we are going to find out, one way or another, whether Still Bangon is going to stay,” he said. “She is from a sprinting family, but everything about the filly indicates she will stay. We couldn’t get a true line on her at her last start and she can be forgiven for that.” Still Bangon has a speed-based pedigree and is out of the Le Bec Fin mare Shebang (NZ), who was successful on five occasions up to 1200m while her sister Elle Tresor (NZ) was also a short-course performer with three sprint successes. View the full article