Wandering Eyes

Derby Day - one for the racing and punting purists. It also marks the start of the four-day Flemington Spring Carnival which also includes next Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup, Thursday’s Oaks meeting (Ladies Day) before concluding on Saturday November 11 with Stakes Day. View the full article

Race 2 ENTAIN – NZB INSURANCE PEARL SERIES RACE 800m CAPITAL LISTING (L Allpress) – Trainer Mr. A Carston advised Stewards, that on Tuesday 31 October, CAPITAL LISTING underwent a veterinary examination which included blood tests with no abnormalities being detected. A Carston further advised it is his intention to continue on with the filly’s current preparation. Race 5 NZB AIRFREIGHT ROAD TO JERICHO 3000m HONESTY (L Allpress) – Trainer Mrs. L Beck reported to Stewards, that upon return to the stable the mare developed an abscess to the offside front coronet. L Beck further advised, HONESTY, has now been sent for a freshen up. The post Canterbury Jockey Club at Riccarton Park, Saturday, 28 October 2023 appeared first on RIB. View the full article

Race 8 JAMIESON PARK SOLILOQUY STAKES 1400 (G2) LUBERON (C Gaudray) – Trainer Mr. L Nobel reported to Stewards, LUBERON, was examined by the Veterinarian on Monday 30 October, and the Physiotherapist on Tuesday 21 October, with no abnormalities being detected. L Nobel further advised it is his intention to continue on with the filly’s current preparation. The post Auckland Thoroughbred Rading @ Pukekohe Park, Saturday, 28 October 2023 appeared first on RIB. View the full article

Race 1 TE RAPA EVENT CENTRE 1400 PAUL DAVID (C Grylls) – Trainer Mr. C Cole advised Stewards, the gelding pulled up post-race showing signs of jarring up and underwent treatment on its back. C Cole further advised the gelding has now been sent for a freshen up. The post Waikato Thoroughbred Racing @ Te Rapa, Saturday, 21 October 2023 appeared first on RIB. View the full article

French rider believes the longest-priced winner of the season can prove it was no fluke on WednesdayView the full article

Following the recent defections of Mage and Arcangelo from the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Santa Anita Park, there will be no American-trained alumni from the 2023 Triple Crown in the $6 million main event.View the full article

Awapuni trainer Peter Didham is looking forward to heading to Wanganui and Trentham this week where he will be represented by a handful of runners. His more immediate interest will be at Wanganui on Thursday where he rates a couple of his runners as good prospects. “Morus always gallops well so he’s a chance with a good run and Glorifilia has had a few knee problems, but has a lot of ability,” Didham said. A son of Savabeel, Morus ran third when resuming at Waverley and has improved further for the G Bristol & Sons Handicap (1600m) after making late ground for sixth at his most recent appearance at Waverley. The lightly raced Zed mare Glorifilia has had two trials ahead of her return in the Wanganui Insurance Brokers Maiden (1360m). Didham is also keen on the chances of the in-form Moon Money in the intowin.co.nz Join A Syndicate Handicap (1400m) at Trentham on Saturday. The Per Incanto mare placed in both outings last preparation before she successfully opened her current campaign off the back of a trial victory. “She’s really good and has worked really well since her win at Taupo,” he said. View the full article

Peter Didham will be on a two-fold mission to Christchurch this month with his promising three-year-old Danjuro (NZ) (Saxon Warrior). The Awapuni trainer is firstly focussing on a crack at the Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton on November 11, but is also mindful of the future benefits the southern venture will bring. Danjuro has earned his place in the age group feature with quality performances in his two appearances and the trip away will stand the son of Saxon Warrior in good stead for assignments later in the season. “He’s really well and galloped nicely on Tuesday. It would probably have been nice to go there for his fourth run and not his third and he’s going to learn a lot from it all going forward,” Didham said. “All the good trainers take their horses away and they just keep improving, so the trip is going to do him good.” Danjuro was a debut winner over 1200m at Woodville in September and last month overcame a slow start at Trentham to finish runner-up behind the Kevin Myers-trained Bozo (NZ) (Satono Aladdin). “The ability is there now but he is a big, raw sort and will improve mentally and physically and I think he is a chance of being a Derby (Gr.1, 2400m) horse,” Didham said. “He went super at Wellington, it was a really good run and Bozo is pretty smart.” Bred by Cambridge Hunt, Danjuro was secured by Didham for $140,000 out of Curraghmore’s draft at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale. He is a son of the Shinko King mare Kabuki (NZ), who is a half-sister to the late Group One winner and successful sire Tavistock and the family of the dual Gr.2 Moonee Valley Cup (2600m) Precedence and the Listed Japan Cup (2400m) winner Jupiter Island. “He’s a lovely horse and I’ve always had a lot of time for him,” Didham said. Danjuro is currently sharing the fifth line of betting at $14 in the Guineas market. “Crocetti is obviously pretty good, but I think the others look quite even. It’s good stake money and we’ve got to go and chase it,” Didham said. View the full article

The long-awaited return of racing to Te Aroha following track renovations will take place on Friday, having been postponed from its initial Wednesday time slot due to adverse weather. Te Aroha received 85mm of rain on Monday night and the decision was made to postpone the Wednesday meeting following a track inspection on Tuesday. Local horseman Gavin Opie is particularly looking forward to the return and is hoping to get a few of his owners there on raceday, having entered seven horses. “We have been trekking everywhere (since the track renovations) and the owners have copped the travel expenses the whole way through. I have got a few in to try and get all the owners to the races,” Opie said. “I have got a couple of syndicates. I am sure a lot of them will be there and hopefully we can get a nice result somewhere along the day for them.” While the track renovation wasn’t ideal early on for Opie’s training routine, he said patience has paid off and he is pleased with the surfaces now on offer at the Waikato venue. “It will be two years in January (since they started the renovation),” Opie said. “It was a bit frustrating to start off with because we didn’t have a galloping track, so I was trucking a few to Matamata to gallop. We have never been without a pacework track, and we have just been rolling with the punches. “They moved every inch of soil to start with and cambered the chutes and the bends. I don’t think there is another track in New Zealand like it now. The 1600m chute has a bit of an up and a down and the same at the 1200m. It is pretty unique what they have done.” While the track was earmarked to return to racing earlier this year, Opie said he is glad it was delayed until spring. “It was probably a blessing in disguise that it didn’t kick-off when they wanted to eight or nine months ago,” he said. “The winter has been and the ground has had a good time to consolidate. “It’s full steam ahead now – we have got a perfect plough, a nice sand track, and we are getting to use the course proper for galloping as well.” Opie is hopeful of some bold showings from his seven runners on Friday and has highlighted Koro’s Princess (NZ) (Proisir) in the Mainfreight 1400 as one of his better chances. “Koro’s Princess has been waiting for a bit of moisture. She is a pretty handy mare, but she just needs a bit of cut in the track,” he said. Opie is also upbeat about the chances of debutant Palace Princess (NZ) (Belardo) in the Donaghys Pro-Abamac 1200, as well as Mister Pucci (NZ) (Puccini) and Flight Plan in the Donaghys Pro-Equine 1400. “I have got a first starter called Palace Princess and we have got a bit of time for her. She might not win (on Friday), but she will be winning a race in the near future,” he said. “Flight Plan is bouncing out of his skin. He went to one of those abandoned meetings and we have been trying to find him moisture and it has finally come. I am expecting a bold run from him. “With Mister Pucci, it was a leaders bias the other day at Te Rapa, he got back and his last 200m was the second fastest of the race even though he ran 10th. He should run well.” View the full article

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) on Tuesday approved a Thoroughbred racing calendar for 2024 that largely mirrors the template that has been in place for the past three seasons. The board's unanimous approval included a conditional “optional dates” placeholder for Ellis Park's July and August calendar that has to be solidified into a three-dates-per-week commitment before the end of this year. The gaming company Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), which owns Ellis, Churchill Downs Racetrack, and Turfway Park, had requested additional time to figure out if swapping Fridays for Mondays will be feasible for 2024. So Ellis got awarded 18 mandatory dates (which will be run on Saturdays and Sundays) and 30 optional dates. Waqas Ahmed, the KHRC's executive deputy director, told commissioners that he expected Ellis would eventually end up picking up seven more mandatory dates from that optional allotment of 30. “The obvious goal at Ellis is to run three days a week,” Gary Palmisano, Jr., CDI's executive director of racing, said during the KHRC meeting. “As we approached the race dates application deadline, the idea was tossed around of potentially running Saturday, Sunday, Monday rather than [this season's] Friday, Saturday, Sunday.” Leaving that placeholder for now, Palmisano said, “is going to allow our team a little bit more time to conduct some due diligence [and] make sure the horsemen are on board; make sure test barn workers can get there; make sure we can actually cover potential Monday racing.” CDI must notify the KHRC by Dec. 31 as to how it will satisfy the commission's condition that calls for “at least” three days of racing per week at Ellis in 2024. Assuming Ellis ends up with 25 mandatory dates, the total number of race dates in Kentucky will rise slightly in 2024 compared to the assigned dates for 2023, up from 211 to 215. The total mandatory dates for the other tracks are Churchill (83), Turfway (67), Keeneland (33) and Kentucky Downs (7). Here's a chronological look at the state's 2024 Thoroughbred schedule: Turfway: Jan. 3-Mar. 30 on a Wednesday-Saturday evening schedule. Keeneland: Apr. 5-26 on a Wednesday-Sunday schedule. Churchill Downs: Apr. 27-June 30 on a Wednesday-Sunday schedule, with exceptions on GI Kentucky Derby week and the Memorial Day holiday week. Ellis Park: July 4-Aug. 27 with Saturdays and Sundays anchoring the schedule, plus additional dates to be announced and an opening-day Thursday card on Independence Day. Kentucky Downs: Aug. 29-Sept. 11 for seven dates with three “optional” dates in case of rainouts. Churchill: Sep. 12-29 on a Wednesday-Sunday schedule. Keeneland: Oct. 4-26 on a Wednesday-Sunday schedule. Churchill: Oct. 27-Dec. 1 on a Wednesday-Sunday schedule. Turfway: Dec. 4-28 on a Wednesday-Saturday evening schedule with a Christmas Day exception. The post 2024 Kentucky Race Dates Set appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Maybe our sport is still capable of bringing together four such people round a dinner table. But you have to doubt it. “They were comparing the theaters that they had played on the Vaudeville circuit,” Dave Johnson recalls. “Which had the best backstage dressing rooms? Which had the best eating places, that you could walk to still with your costume and makeup on?” These memories were being shared between Johnson's mother and Fred Astaire. Moreover, both of those who were listening on, fascinated, had remarkable stories of their own: Astaire's wife, the former jockey Robyn Smith, and Johnson himself-the man whose call, for those present at the 1973 Belmont S., will forever be synonymous with one of the greatest performances in the story of the breed. Whether or not the world has moved on, it has certainly turned plenty since. Next Saturday, indeed, is the 50th anniversary of Secretariat's final start. And this dinner itself took place over 40 years ago, in Los Angeles, during Johnson's tenure as the caller at Santa Anita. “Afterwards Fred sent my mother an autographed picture,” Johnson recalls. “I think things like that helped keep her alive. My dad died early, he was only 52. But my mother passed away at 93. I have a picture of her as a dancer in 1930, when she was nine or so, with the whole McLeod Troupe on the Orpheum Circuit: my grandfather, my grandmother, their oldest son who was an attorney, then a daughter who was in the chorus, and then my mother, and then baby Jackie, who was about four or five.” It was a different world, clearly. His grandparents, indeed, were blackface comedians. But the timeless dividend, for Johnson, was to be raised on the stories of a nomadic community, full of incident and character; and, moreover, with a genetic flair of his own. Because it was performance, of course, that united all four of those gathered round the table at the Palm that night. McLeod Troupe on the Orpheum Circuit: Johnson's mother is second from the left next to brother Jackie | Dave Johnson “Robyn was much younger than Fred, but each was equally dependent on the other,” Johnson recalls. “Robyn's a wonder. She was a terrific rider, but a great person. Still is. And of course Fred was just a hell of a guy. Loved the game. He would get emotional about his horses. If one got claimed, just like Burt Bacharach, he would buy it back. “At one point during that dinner Fred leaned across the table to me, just so serious, and I thought, 'Oh gosh, what's coming now?' And he said, 'Dave, I really have an important question to ask you.'” Johnson pauses and chuckles. “'Dave,' he said. 'How do you win the Pick Six?'” Now here we are, on the opposite coast, in the Manhattan apartment that Johnson even then called home. (He bought it 51 years ago.) And we're wondering what has happened to our game since; how to retrieve the glamor of those days, when the golden age of the silver screen retained at least a copper glow; when Marje Everett ran Hollywood Park and made sure that friends like Elizabeth Taylor would show up for the inaugural Breeders' Cup. Johnson knows that horseracing today is a very different world from when his mother taught him, aged just four or five, how to read the Racing Form: they were on the train from St. Louis to New Orleans, in the last months of the war, visiting his father's military posting. “The arc of what has happened, in racing, seems so evident to me,” Johnson says. “I first started to go to the races as a very young guy. My family was never in the game as owners, trainers, anything. But we all loved to go to Fairmount Park, over the river from St. Louis, and it was always a wonderful holiday. “In 2023, racing is a television production. There's no longer people at the track, or only very few. For the Derby, Oaks, the Breeders' Cup, Royal Ascot, a destination like Saratoga or Keeneland: yes. But on a day-to-day basis, year round, it's a television production. So what we have now, with some racing executives, is people making decisions about television without knowing anything about broadcasting. Of course, some are terrific. I've worked for good and bad; and it's no different on the TV side, some know their racing, some don't.” At 82, naturally enough, Johnson doesn't find it quite so easy to get around. But he remains fully engaged, and feels due gratitude for precisely the reach of all the broadcasting platforms that are available today. Shortly before welcoming TDN, indeed, he had already been watching British racing on his phone over a morning coffee. But breadth of access does not equate to breadth of engagement. Dick Enberg and Dave Johnson at the 1984 Breeders' Cup | NBC Sports One of the things that sustained the sport's popular heyday, he feels, was simply the way horses were bred or trained (or both). Johnson wonders whether longer intervals between races have partly become standard because of medication levels; less speculatively, he deplores the sensitivity of trainers to their win percentages, above all now that so many potential runners are concentrated in so few hands. Johnson remembers when even someone like Woody Stephens would have no more than 40 horses. “I knew Woody very well, and his assistants Sandy Bruno and David Donk,” Johnson recalls. “I knew that whole barn. Wonderful people. And Lucille, Woody's wife. That was before the age of flying horses around, which was really started by Wayne Lukas. I mean, how would you begin to know 200 horses? I don't know how they do it. “Woody was very funny. And very self-centered! 'Let's see what time it is. Oh, by the way, did I tell you that Laurel gave me this watch for winning five Selimas?' But he was a hell of a horse trainer, wasn't he? I mean, a real hardboot. Hardworking, old school. A throwback. Owners had some input, too, but the trainers ran their horses where they thought. I mean, Woody is a perfect example: winning the Met Mile with Conquistador Cielo Monday, and winning the Belmont on Saturday. I think there are some traditions which should stay, including the Triple Crown. To move the Met Mile to the Belmont undercard, that hurt me. Maybe I'm old school too.” But maybe that's just what we're missing-the sense of participation that spreads down from the barns to the public. Horses weren't just financial or career devices, whether for breeders or trainers: they put on a show. After all, Johnson himself would never have got started without an innate sense of theater. “I called my first race in '65 at Cahokia Downs,” he recalls. “And it's like the script of a B movie. I was 24, working for a law firm. I'd do wills, I'd go out and take pictures of where an accident happened, I'd go and talk to a guy in prison. Anyway we had a box at the track, for the clients, and that evening I'd gone over there to wheel a horse in the double. And the announcer, Todd Creed, became ill. A stretcher went by, behind the box, and an announcement was made: 'Ladies and gentlemen, there'll be no more announcing tonight. Please watch the tote board. Thank you, and good night.' “Now, I knew the general manager, Ann Detchemendy. She was an Ethel Merman type: a brash, wonderful lady. She'd say to me, 'Hey sweetheart, you want to split a double with me?' 'Oh yes, Miss Ann, I'd love to.' Her office was right behind, so I went in and said, 'Miss Ann, I could call the races for you. I can memorize the 10 points of the Yalta Agreement, so I can certainly manage the seven horses in this race.'” Miss Ann picked up the phone, there was some back and forth, and she hung up. “Thanks, Dave, but the announcer's son is going to fill in.” “That was Todd's son, Mike,” Johnson recalls. “So he's in there with the engineer, and the 'musician' who would put the stylus on the record to play the bugle. (They had to have a member of the Music Union do that for every race!) And so the three of them stood there as the horses broke out of the gate.” “That's number five going to the lead,” says Mike. “I don't think it's the five,” interjects the engineer. Then a third voice: “I think it's Blue Boy.” “And you heard the three of them argue for five furlongs,” Johnson says. “It was hilarious. Immediately after the race, Miss Ann came into the box. 'You're next!'” Johnson pauses and smiles. “I'd told my friend Tony Marino that I was going over to the track, but he was going to have some dinner first and drive over later. So he parks his car, and as he's coming through the parking lot he hears the fourth or fifth race being called. And he said, 'Geez, that sounds like Dave.'” Johnson shakes his head and chuckles. “And that was it. And here we are, almost 60 years later.” Johnson did other stuff around the track, too: booked group parties, wrote stories, did selections for both the local newspapers. (They had to be different!) He carried on working during the day and called races at night. Meanwhile he was still reading history at Southern Illinois University, albeit graduation had to be squeezed in between the fourth and fifth races one night. “And the people, I loved the people,” he stresses. “That's what is so wonderful about working at the track. They're like family. Because you spend more time with them than you do at home.” Calling a race just came naturally: that performance gene coming through. Having provided cover on other, less extempore occasions, Johnson took over at Cahokia and Fairmount when Creed went to Ak-Sar-Ben. Then, in 1970, he got the NYRA gig on the retirement of Fred Capossela. Secretariat was foaled that year, and so the wheel of destiny turned. Pete Axthelm, Dick Enberg and Dave Johnson in 1984 | NBC Sports With time, Johnson's trademark call (“And down the stretch they come…”) became literally that: he was able to charge its unauthorized use to charity. But however entertaining his style, he always felt that his first priority was to inform. “Say what you see,” he says. “That was my only job. All the extraneous B.S. of the announcer coming on, and telling who they like, that's somebody else's job.” That said, even the informing was constrained in the old days. “At the track, you had to shut the microphone off at the 16th pole,” he recalls. “That was because of a federal law called the Wire Act. They didn't want the result to get outside the confines of the racetrack, for fear that illegal bookmakers would churn the money. Prior to the first race, the string of payphones at Belmont Park would be locked up-and they'd only unlocked after the ninth.” There was one time, admittedly, when Johnson finished the call too early even for the strictures of the Wire Act-in a race at Cahokia that he called as a sprint when it was really a route. (“I saw these jocks with the brakes on,” he recalls. “And I thought, 'Oh my God, it's a fixed race!' They went around the clubhouse turn, I hung up the microphone off, and the engineer said to me, 'Dave, they go around again!'”) Not all change is for the worse, plainly. “No, that's true,” Johnson acknowledges. “One time Angel Cordero was going for his fourth win of the day. And early in the stretch I said, 'And Cordero moves to the front.' And then at the 16th pole I said who was in front, who was second, shut it off. [Next day] my boss Pat Lynch called me in and said, 'I got a memorandum. From a board member. “Please inform Mr. Johnson, it's horse racing-not jockey racing!” The mentality… I mean, see how much it's changed? “But if you listen to Fred Capossela-a wonderful man, just a great human being-his calls were never jockey-, or trainer-related. But it was all very good. And that's our job: to identify, and give the margins, and who's moving. And from the top of the stretch, maybe only concentrate on the horses in contention.” One way or another, however, Johnson showed that inherited flair for performance. And, in time, that actually extended as far as playing roles on stage and screen. Back in St. Louis, for instance, he performed in musicals like My Fair Lady, Can-Can and Unsinkable Molly Brown in front of 12,000 at the outdoor theater in Forest Park. Above all, however, Johnson has adapted his racetrack nose for a wager to investment in Broadway productions. “That also came from a St. Louis connection,” he says. “Rocco Landesman, who I knew from the racetrack 20, 25 years ago. Owned six theaters here in New York, called the Jujamcyn Theaters. We had always talked about The Producers, which was one of my favorite films, with Zero Mostel. So when he said there was a chance he might do it as a stage play, I said, 'Count me in.'” Johnson had already backed a theatrical winner in London, a city he would get to know very well through attending 24 consecutive Royal Ascots. In 1983 he saw the West End debut of Michael Frayn's Noises Off, and virtually camped on the producers' doorstep. “I begged them to take my money!” he says. “And it was a big success, mainly because they sold the film rights for $5 million. But I didn't invest in another show until The Producers, nearly 20 years later. Rocco came up to me at the memorial service for David Merrick and said, 'I think we've got Matthew Broderick.' And that was it. Biggest bet I ever made. But it paid very well.” The show opened at the St. James Theater on 19 April 2001, and ran for 2,502 performances, harvesting a record 12 Tony Awards. And Johnson remains immersed in that cosmopolitan community, still telephoning and corresponding with folks from behind and in front of the footlights. Asked what draws him to their world, his answer is succinct and emphatic. “Talent, and honesty,” Johnson declares. “I have a lot of friends whose talent I really admire. They give it all. But it's not just the performing, it's everything that goes into making any of these things: a television show, a commercial, a stage show, a movie. Because, really, can't you see through people that are phony? I can, at least I think I can. So it's not just talent, it's also the honesty: people, like Rocco, who always do the right thing. I don't want anything to do with anybody who isn't above board, who's shady, who cuts corners.” But come on, Dave, how does that account for where you spent the rest of your time? You must have seen a few phonies on the racetrack. “Oh, yeah!” he says with a chuckle. “And in the management of racetracks, too.” This, in fact, is one of his pet vexations: track executives who didn't come up through the game; people who would never go to the races on their day off. But the beauty of Johnson's own story is the way he has straddled the margins between these two cosmopolitan, theatrical worlds: the stage and the Turf. “There's only one job at the racetrack that is a performer,” he reflects. “As announcers, we are performers. If you're doing it on television, you're not doing it for the crowd. Yeah. Isn't that funny? Only one job. “And it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing. In anything, like a movie, that's going to be on videotape or film, you can change it. You can do take two, whatever. At the racetrack, you get one shot, and it'll never be the same. Ever. Run the same horses, your call is never going to be the same.” What luck, then, that he took his cue that night back in 1965: an unscheduled audition for the rest of his life. “There's a little article in The New York Times called Tiny Love Stories,” Johnson says. “It has to be 100 words or less. And so many times it's about people who met their mate in a cab, or on a corner, or in a rainstorm. I love those stories. It's the same kind of thing. What if I hadn't gone to the track that evening? Who knows? How lucky was I? And then I get to see Secretariat, Ruffian, Affirmed. I really have been lucky. I have no regrets. I've had a great career, and a wonderful life. I love the line in the movie Braveheart, where Mel Gibson says: 'Every man dies. But not every man lives.' And boy, have I lived.” The post Dave Johnson: What a Performance! appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Seabhac (Scat Daddy) will stand for €4,000 at Haras du Taillis in 2024, the stud announced on Tuesday. He stood for €3,000 this season. A winner of the GIII Pilgrim S. in the U.S., the 8-year-old's eldest foals are 3-year-olds of this year. Both Angers (Fr) and Rue Boissonade (Fr) have won Group 2 events, the former the G2 Mehl-Mulhens Rennen and the latter the G2 Prix de Malleret. Of his 65 runners worldwide, the stallion sports 27 winners. Alexandre Lacour, speaking to Jour de Galop on behalf of the syndicate that manages Seabhac, said, “He is a stallion who produces and is certainly transmitting quality. We want to capitalise on the success of his first starters by leaving his fee at a very low, attractive price for 2024.” The post Seabhac’s Fee Released By Haras Du Taillis appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

A homebred for Gary Seidler and Peter Vegso, Unrivaled Belle's Breeders' Cup win came at the expense of the following year's Horse of the Year Havre de Grace, who finished third. The two mares would eventually share common ownership, both being purchased by Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm, and live together at Timber Town before Havre de Grace's passing earlier this year. The crown jewel among Unrivaled Belle's foals to date is two-time champion Unique Bella. Unrivaled Belle has a 2-year-old full-sister to Unique Bella named Tap My Belle, as well as yearling and weanling colts by Into Mischief. She was bred to Flightline for next term. “Our time with Unrivaled Belle was amazing and super fun,” said Vegso, best known outside of racing as publisher of the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series. “She was a wonderful horse and loved racing. Bill Mott did a super job with her; he's a special soul as is 'the Belle.' It's always so special when a horse we foal does so super well; makes having a farm and mares and mating–and the Mother Nature surrounding that comes with it–magical.” Unrivaled Belle (2006 gray or roan mare, Unbridled's Song–Queenie Belle, by Bertrando) Lifetime record: GISW, 14-6-6-1, $1,854,706 Breeders' Cup connections: B/O-Gary Seidler & Peter Vegso (KY); T-Bill Mott; J-Kent Desormeaux. Current location: Timber Town Stable, Lexington, Ky. The post Catching Up with 2010 Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic Winner Unrivaled Belle appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Wedneday's Observations features a son of six-time American Grade I winner Abel Tasman (Quality Road) at Dundalk 15.30 Dundalk, €15,000, Mdn, 2yo, 7f (AWT) Aidan O'Brien trainee HALLOWED (Galileo {Ire}) is a son of six-time Grade I heroine Abel Tasman (Quality Road), who was knocked down for a sale-topping $5-million at Keeneland's 2019 January All-Aged sale. The April-foaled bay encounters a baker's dozen on debut, headed by twice-raced stablemate Greenfinch (Justify), who is kin to three-time Group 1 winners Roly Poly (War Front) and U S Navy Flag (War Front) out of four-time elite-level victrix Misty For Me (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Rivals also include Teme Valley Racing's hitherto untested Celestial Reighn (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), who is a Joseph O'Brien-trained full-brother to G1 Gran Premio Del Jockey Club hero Ventura Storm (Ire). The post Son of Six-Time Grade I Heroine Abel Tasman On Deck for Dundalk Bow appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The Golden Mile and Senator Ken Maddy Stakes are two $150,000 open turf stakes carded as race 1 and 3, respectively, Nov. 3, on Breeders' Cup Friday at Santa Anita Park. View the full article

MGSW Tom's Ready (More Than Ready) was euthanized on Monday, Oct. 30 at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, due to complications following colic surgery, Old Friends Farm announced on Tuesday. The 10-year old dark bay stallion was donated to Old Friends by owner Gayle Benson in November of 2020. The $145,000 Saratoga Select Yearling amassed a career line of 21-5-4-3, $1,036,357 over three seasons and captured the 2016 GII Woody Stephens S. and GIII Ack Ack S., and the 2017 GIII Bold Ruler S. He also placed in six other graded stakes in the care of trainer Dallas Stewart. “Tom's Ready helped Old Friends a lot,” said Michael Blowen, President and founder of Old Friends. “He was donated by Gayle Benson of GMB Racing, sending a message that a first rate breeding and racing operation trusted us to provide superior retirement and health care for their horse.” The post Old Friends Resident Tom’s Ready Dead at Age 10 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

ARCADIA, USA–Against the most stunning backdrop in world racing, just as the pre-dawn sky started to pinken with promise, a metaphorical dark cloud was cast across Santa Anita racetrack. Practical Move (Practical Joke), a leading contender for the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, collapsed and died of an apparent heart attack on his way back in from exercise in front of onlookers on the apron. The screens arrived eventually, but not soon enough to remind those present of the occasionally desperate nature of the sport we love, and how such a scene threatens its very future. This fatality, coming on the back of Saturday's serious injury to supposed Classic runner Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) and the withdrawal on Tuesday morning from that same race of Arcangelo (Arrogate), one of this season's feel-good stories, means that the 40th running of the Breeders' Cup will take place in less than auspicious circumstances. Work continued on the track after a pause. It had to, of course. This was the morning when the international shippers were released from quarantine and into the big wide open expanse of the Santa Anita dirt, wrapped around the turf. Take your pick. John Gosden, striding down the track alongside his long-term lieutenant Tony Proctor, chose the green grass of home for the first spin of Mostahdaf (Ire) and Inspiral (GB). It made perfect sense, as the son and daughter of Frankel (GB) are the leading lights in their respective targets, both on that surface. Gosden is of course more familiar with Santa Anita than his fellow travellers, having been based here for a time during the 1980s and among the winners of the inaugural Breeders' Cup at Hollywood Park in 1984, when Royal Heroine (Ire) landed the Mile for Robert Sangster. With the post-work debrief drifting from his own horses to the outstanding performance of Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) at the weekend, Gosden cast his mind back to that champion's great grandsire. “He is an absolute freak, isn't he, an extraordinary horse,” he said of Sunday's GI Tenno Sho winner. “When you look at him, he looks almost like a Stubbs painting, or a JF Herring Sr painting. He's not what we are used to. He's just one of those extraordinary athletes who can go at an incredibly strong pace and maintain and maintain it. “The Japanese breed for this. Deep Impact went two miles, and what a star he was. Sunday Silence, such a great horse, trained by Charlie [Whittingham] right over there,” he added, gesturing across to the barns beyond the quarantine facility. “This aversion to horses who can win over a mile and a half, a mile six, we've gone too far the other way, and we have to be careful. Suddenly a mile and a half becomes a marathon.” Of his own pair, Gosden added, “They're very happy, they were pleased to get out. They've been behind those screens [of the quarantine area] and they were thrilled to get out and have some fresh air. They flew on Saturday and they cleared quarantine at six o'clock last night.” Frankie Dettori was aboard Inspiral for her morning exertions, ponied on and off the track by a companion, while Mostahdaf followed at a distance on his own, each of them having an easy stretch of a canter on the turf before taking several turns of the paddock. Once they and the trio of Japanese turf workers, Win Marilyn (Jpn) (Screen Hero {Jpn}), Shahryar (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Jaspar Crone (Frosted), had made their way back to the barns, another wave of Europeans took to the track. The O'Brien clan was out in force. Led by Joseph and Lumiere Rock (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}), Donnacha took to the saddle of a quarter horse to accompany Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio) and the Juvenile Turf Sprint reserve Asean (Ire) (Ten Sovereigns). Finally Aidan, along with a group including his wife Annemarie, owner Paul Smith and vet John Halley, made his way along the apron close to the winning post to watch his team of ten trot the reverse way round the track before turning and hack-cantering back. The dual Derby winner Auguste Rodin (Ire), himself from the final crop of the aforementioned Deep Impact, took in his surroundings with a keen eye, with the sturdy juvenile Mountain Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) a little on his toes some way behind him, and the neat and composed Warm Heart (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) further back still and looking every bit as delightful as her name suggests. Ralph Beckett, who has enjoyed a tremendous season back home and notched another stakes win only a day earlier at Saint-Cloud, was on foot between his duo of State Occasion (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}) and the youngster Starlust (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}) as they proceeded to the main track for an easy exercise. The riding skills of Robson Aguiar were on show aboard the Norfolk S. winner Valiant Force (Malibu Moon), a horse plucked from the Keeneland September Yearling Sale by him and Roger O'Callaghan and now trained by Adrian Murray for a partnership involving their two wives and Amo Racing. Aguiar has also been associated with Champion S. winner and Breeders' Cup Turf runner King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) since his early days, having broken him in for the Amo team, of which he is a key part. He was back on board the giant grey on Tuesday morning and reported that he felt in good order after the exertions of Ascot less than a fortnight ago. “It is a short straight though,” he cautioned of the Santa Anita turf track. When the sun has risen fully over Santa Anita, defining the contours of the San Gabriel mountains that set the stage for the unmistakable “Great RIP”, the visual assault is so striking that it is hard to feel that there is much wrong with the world. Young Thoroughbreds appear from every which way, the equine players adorned here and there with colour-coded Breeders' Cup saddle cloths to identify the 'special ones'. But anyone involved closely with horses should know that they are all special, whether they make it to this exalted level, or perhaps just run with great heart in a bog at Catterick, as this correspondent's shared horse was doing, watched from a small screen in the palm of a hand, with the almost bizarre juxtaposition of Auguste Rodin striding alongside in the Californian sun. Even with such brilliant beauty close at hand, it was hard to revel in what should have been a joyful morning as the image of the prone Practical Move lingered on in the mind's eye. The post Europeans Unleashed as Santa Anita is Struck by Tragedy appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Join hosts Greg O’Connor and Michael Guerin for this week’s edition of The Box Seat. View the full article

James Doyle will quit Godolphin to ride for the Emir of Qatar's fast-growing Wathnan Racing operation in 2024, a move the jockey described Monday as an "amazing opportunity."View the full article

As is the case every four years, the approximately 9,000 members of the France Galop Association, in charge of horse racing in France, voted from Friday to Tuesday to elect their representatives within the institution. These representatives are categorised as owners, breeders, trainers, and jockeys. In total, 7,926 votes were counted, 15% fewer than in 2019 when electronic voting was first introduced. Among the owners, two lists gained one seat each: Alliance Galop went from two to three elected representatives, while the Association of Trainers-Owners (AEP) now has two representatives, compared to just one in this category in 2019. Among the breeders, the French Thoroughbred Breeders' Association leads with 43.3% of the 1,528 votes and gains a fourth representative, while Alliance Galop maintains its three seats. These three associations secured 15 of the 18 available seats in these two main categories. Alliance Galop, which participated in its first elections in 2019, brings together many figures from the jumping world but not only, as this year it welcomed more Flat owners and breeders, including Anthony Baudouin (Haras du Hoguenet), who led the list of breeders. The Thoroughbred Breeders Federation is a traditional player on the French and European scene. The list was led by Pierric Rouxel (Haras de Maulepaire), but Loïc Malivet has been the association president for 12 years. Loïc Malivet, Vice President of France Galop, could not run in the election due to reaching the age limit (72 years). Haras d'Etreham's Nicolas de Chambure was also elected on the French TBA's list. The third winning list is the Association of Trainers-Owners, created by highly involved professionals often cumulating functions, as their name suggests. Probably more radical in its approach, it benefited this year from the support of Philippe Germond, President of PMU (French Tote) from 2009 to 2014, who was elected among the owners. In the trainers' category, Nicolas Clément and Gabriel Leenders were elected for the Trainers Association, while Cédric Boutin and Isabelle Gallorini will represent AEP, bringing the representation of this organisation to five seats. Thierry Gillet, the sole candidate among the jockeys, remains their representative. The regional representatives of France Galop members were also elected during this vote. On November 30, the regional bodies where these local representatives sit will, in turn, designate their five representatives to the France Galop Committee, bringing the total number of elected members on the Committee to 28. The Committee consists of 56 members, with the rest being co-opted members, racecourse presidents, or regional council members. This newly formed Committee will convene for the first time on Tuesday, December 12, 2023, to elect the new President of France Galop, as Edouard de Rothschild steps down after 16 years in charge. Upon the proposal of the next President, Vice Presidents for Flat and Jumps, as well as the other nine members of the Board of Directors, will be elected for four years. Detailed results can be found on the France Galop website. The post France Galop Committee Set; Presidential Selection Next appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Dr. Schivel (Violence-Lil Nugget, by Mining for Money), a Grade I winner at both two and three, will retire after making his final start in this weekend's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint and take up stud duty at Taylor Made Stallions in 2024, the farm confirmed Tuesday. A fee will be announced at a later date. First or second in nine of 14 lifetime starts, the earner of $1,327,100 was campaigned by Red Baron's Barn, Rancho Temescal, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, and William A. Branch, and trained by Mark Glatt. “We are very excited for the opportunity to stand Dr. Schivel in partnership with Tim Cohen, Dean Reeves, and Bill Branch,” said Taylor Made's Travis White. “It's very special to have a horse that was talented and precocious enough to win a Grade I at two and then come back to win another Grade I as a 3-year-old, beating older horses. Dr. Schivel, who has defeated 13 Grade I winners in his career, has been a sound, extremely consistent horse and his Breeders' Cup Sprint as a 3-year-old was a remarkable performance.” Winner of the GI Del Mar Futurity at two, he returned at three to add a win in the GI Bing Crosby S. and GII Santa Anita Sprint Championship before rounding out the season with a close-up second in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. This year, he was third in the Bing Crosby and won the Santa Anita Sprint Championship in his latest start Sept. 30. White added, “He has remained in Grade I form throughout his racing career, and Mark Glatt said Dr. Schivel has been all class from day one. He is a big, good-looking son of Violence and breeders will really like what they see.” Bred in Kentucky by William A. Branch and Arnold R. Hill, the 5-year-old is out of Lil Nugget, a half-sister to multiple Grade I winner and millionaire Ultra Blend. Dr. Schivel's first two dams are both Grade I producers. Dr. Schivel is the second-highest earner for his sire Violence, a Top 10 General Sire in 2023. In addition to Dr. Schivel, Violence is also represented by the reigning Champion 2-Year-Old Male Forte, a four-time Grade I winner. Violence is also the sire of GISW Volatile, who had yearlings sell for $1,150,000 and $700,000 at the Keeneland September Sale. With a current yearling average of $134,973, Volatile has the third-highest yearling of all first-crop sires. The post MGISW Dr. Schivel to Stand at Taylor Made After BC Sprint Finale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

His Highness The Aga Khan Studs' draft took pride of place during Tuesday's Goffs Autumn Horses-in-Training Sale. The top two lots bore the forest green blankets and crimson trim of His Highness, as they circled the ring yesterday. Leading proceedings was the 3-year-old New Approach (Ire) colt Kadeen (Ire) (lot 85), who sports one victory–at the Curragh–and four placings in five starts to date. He was picked up by Gordon Elliott and Bective Stud for €100,000. His dam, the listed winner Kadra (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), is from the same family as the top-class Kahyasi (Ire) (Ile De Bourbon)), etc. Second on the list was the 3-year-old colt Zariygann (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) (lot 58), who went to Joe O'Flaherty for €62,000. The bay is a half-brother to multiple Grade 2-winning hurdler Zanahiyr (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}), who has been placed at the highest table six times. Rathbride Stables' Fernao (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) (lot 97) was sold to Carol Walsh for €55,000, while John McConnell snapped up Churchwarden (Ire) (Parish Hall {Ire}) (lot 33) from Baroda Stud for €54,000. The clearance rate, for the 92 sold of 121 offered, was 76%. They grossed €1,275,700. The average was €13,867 (-18%) and the median was €7,500 (-32%). Said Goffs Group chief executive Henry Beeby, “As is nearly always the case on this day of the year we reflect on a busy and vibrant day of trade for horses-in-training but bemoan the lack of entries. We so want to do more and will continue to strive to grow the catalogue as the time and date makes so much sense with so many overseas buyers combining a visit with our large two-day Autumn Yearling Sale. Goffs HIT is a convenient, low-cost option when compared to the alternative and is promoted around the globe by Irish Thoroughbred Marketing and our network of international agents, but they can only work with what we have which makes it a challenge. That said trade today has been strong for those that stood out and, as ever, we are indebted to the HH Aga Khan draft who have topped the sale with another six-figure winner. “So I make no apology for repeating our annual cry following this sale as we're here, we're keen and everything is in place for today to be the natural choice for Irish horses-in-training but, as with every category, we cannot do it without the horses. The buyers are here as today's results will see horses heading for the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Sweden as well as the UK whilst, of course, many will stay on these shores and the prices exceed expectations in so many cases. So it's really up to Irish owners and trainers to give us the chance as we are confident we will deliver. All that said it is disappointing that the statistics have fallen back although the upper end of the market has proved marginally stronger with a higher top price and more at €50,000 and above. We now turn our attention to yearlings and our two-day Autumn Yearling Sale that is once again packed full of potential and value.” The post Aga Khan Studs’ Draft Popular At Goffs Autumn HIT Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner collapsed following a gallop at Santa Anita Park. His rider was reportedly uninjured. The 3-year-old son of Practical Joke had been entered in the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).View the full article

Cody's Wish aims to defend his title Nov. 4 in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).View the full article

Belmont Stakes (G1) and Travers Stakes (G1) winner Arcangelo will be scratched from the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), trainer Jena Antonucci said in an interview on the Breeders' Cup social media channel on X.View the full article