Wandering Eyes

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Nearly seventy years ago, Sports Illustrated turf writer, Jim Murray, penned a love-letter to Santa Anita, and its opening day sonata of sun and sport unmatched by any East Coast oval stunned into icy retreat by the “fierce howlings of blue northers spun across finish lines.” Santa Anita, Murray wrote, was an “extravagance of beauty.” It was also a well-oiled money-spinner. Huge purses lured the best horses to Los Angeles, and the best horses lured the biggest crowds, their pockets brimming with the spoils of a post-war industrial boom transforming this callow cow-town into a maven of modernity. “One day (Handicap Day in 1947), so many people showed up (85,500) that a crisis was created (the plumbing caved in under the strain) and the card almost had to be canceled,” Murray wrote. This year's opening day at Santa Anita tells a different tale. A crowd of over 37,000 contributed to the “best handle ever among a total of 17 opening dates conducted on a Tuesday,” as the track's publicity department put it. Putting inflation adjustments aside for the moment, that still constitutes a 30% drop from last year's total–the sort of back-foot number stakeholders desperately wanted to avoid as the track embarks upon another grueling six-month marathon into one of the most consequential years yet for the state's racing industry. Amid an economic landscape of consolidation and contraction–which gives the distinct impression of a giant puzzle set where the pieces don't quite fit together–decisions will be made that will set this ship's course for the foreseeable future. Icebergs abound. The compass guiding many of these decisions is this spinning dial: Can a sustainable long-term racing circuit in Northern California be pieced together in the void left by Golden Gate Fields? TDN tried unsuccessfully in recent weeks to reach California Association of Racing Fairs (CARF) executive director, Larry Swartzlander. The LA Times, however, this week quoted Swartzlander as saying that he was “60%” certain a deal could be reached whereby the fair circuit would take over Golden Gate's dates, though would likely reduce them from 132 days a year to 103. Tom “Bomber” Doutrich, CARF racing secretary, told the TDN he's “hopeful” an announcement about any such plan will arrive early in 2024. “There are two things you can say about CARF,” he added. “We need to get the purses right. And we've got to get a facility that we can turn into a top-class facility. We're working on that right now.” NORCAL To say that time is of the essence when it comes to these negotiations does a gross disservice to ticking clocks everywhere, as well as to the heads of racing operations juggling families, employees and their own tentative futures. Golden Gate Fields is scheduled to race through June 9, 2024, after which the facility is set to close permanently. Next year's fair schedule is currently set to close out with a fall fair meet at Fresno from Oct. 2 through the 13th. In the aftermath of the announced closure of Golden Gate, Swartzlander made several proposals for a restructured Northern California circuit, including a permanent base split between Santa Rosa and Cal Expo, or only at the latter track. But such plans would require reaching an agreement with California's harness racing industry, which only last year extended its lease of operations of the Cal Expo Harness racetrack until May 2030. Jack Liebau (right) with Tim Yakteen | Benoit In the event no concrete proposal for Northern California materializes, a legislative fix may be sought to expand the menu of Thoroughbred races offered at Los Alamitos, said Bill Nader, president of the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC). “We're on the clock and we're moving into 2024, so we have come up with alignment between the three tracks in the south for horses in the north to have suitable opportunities to compete in the south at Los Alamitos, Del Mar or Santa Anita,” said Nader. This “alignment,” explained Nader, would include a statutory change to permit Los Alamitos–outside of their scheduled Thoroughbred meets–to stage Thoroughbred races beyond the current limit: 4 1/2 furlong races capped at a $5,000 claiming price. “Provided there's no operator or plan that comes forth in the north, it would allow for those horses to remain in California and have a suitable opportunity to compete within their own state seamlessly. At least we have that,” said Nader, about such a proposal. According to Jack Liebau, vice president of Los Alamitos, a legislative fix to go into immediate effect–as opposed to the start of January 2025, like most bills passed next year–needs an “urgency clause” requiring a two-thirds vote by the legislature. “I think we can get the legislative change if it's fully supported by the industry as a whole. I don't know why anybody would oppose that,” said Liebau. “The devil, of course, will be in the details.” According to Liebau, Los Alamitos can accommodate around 300 additional horses. In Golden Gate right now, there are around 1,150 horses. But how motivated are trainers currently stabled at Golden Gate to funnel their horses south, in the event plans to furnish an alternative Northern calendar fall apart? Answers are buffeted by other gusty headwinds. Purses at Golden Gate's final meet have been slashed by 25%, a result of the purse account being overdrawn by $3.1 million. (Nader told the TDN that Santa Anita's purse account is also in the red to the tune of $3.7 million) In January, Berkeley City Council might vote on an ordinance that could essentially close Golden Gate before its anticipated June curtain call. Ed Moger, a leading trainer at Golden Gate, recently said that while a 25% purse cut would likely spur some barns to cross state lines and relocate to Turf Paradise, he might shift a significant portion of his horses to Santa Anita instead. “It's tougher to win a race at Santa Anita,” said Moger, at the time. “I'll have to play it by ear.” But not everyone appears as ready to pack up box and truck for a trip south–not trainer Tim McCanna, who said that such a wholesale move would come only after every other alternative had been exhausted. Blaine Wright | Benoit “Seventy-five percent of the horses in the north won't fit the south,” McCanna explained, estimating that about 15 of his 40-horse Golden Gate string might suit the Southern circuit. “Most of the trainers can't go there either,” he added, alluding to the increased costs of Southern California living. McCanna said he's “quite hopeful” an alternative Northern California circuit can be pieced together. But he also feels as though the Northern California trainer colony has been largely ignored by industry leadership during the travails of the past year. “We were ambushed by this,” said McCanna, adding that an ownership group had recently moved five of his horses to Turfway Park, because of the purse cuts. “The mood around the track is that it feels like we've been shot in the back,” said trainer Blaine Wright, who currently has around 50 horses at Golden Gate. “My clientele is not very happy with this purse reduction.” Like McCanna, Wright is playing it by ear, hoping that in the New Year, news of a new viable Northern California circuit will trickle through. If it doesn't, Wright said that he's already warned two of his staunchest patrons that the tough economics of maintaining a SoCal barn might behoove them to shut up shop. “I said to them, 'if you don't want to race on the West Coast and you'd like to go to the Midwest or East where things are happening good, that would be fine,'” said Wright. “But I warned them, 'if you want to stay on the West Coast, my advice would be to get out of the business because the horses we have aren't going to do at Santa Anita.'” Wright added: “How do you tell the people who have basically made your living for 16 years to get out of the business? I'm just trying to be truthful when I'm telling them I think the writing's on the wall here and the end's coming soon.” BREEDERS Back in August, long-time owner and breeder, Nick Alexander, warned the consolidation of racing in the south would be a body blow for the state's breeding industry. Has his thinking evolved since? “No, is the short answer,” said Alexander, who added that he still expects to maintain his 35-strong broodmare band through next year. Adrian Gonzalez | Fasig-Tipton From a squad of five racehorses previously at Golden Gate, Alexander has shifted three south, and plans to do the same with one of the other two horses remaining. More broadly, he said he's “not optimistic” an alternative Northern racing circuit can be formed. “It's a damn shame for the breeders up there,” said Alexander. “I'm 81 years old. If I was fifty and had kids in college and was trying to be a trainer in Northern California, what the hell would I do?” Adrian Gonzalez of Checkmate Farm-a 66-acre ranch in Parkfield, California-is one of those trying to build a business for his young family. Of Gonzalez's 30-strong broodmare band, about half are headed to Kentucky stallions, he said, and he's in two minds whether to bring them back to California to foal. “If there's no commercial market left in California, we need to make sure our stock is something that can be sought after in other markets,” Gonzalez said. “Most of our clients are doing something similar,” he added. Given this trend, Gonzalez said he's concerned about a sharp dip in Cal-breds in three years–what would be especially troubling if the state racing industry can be fortified against further erosion in the meantime, he added. “The long-term impacts are definitely something we need to be focused on,” said California Thoroughbred Breeding Association (CTBA) president, Doug Burge. As positives, Burge singled out how active California buyers were at Keeneland's November breeding stock sale. While Golden Gate's purses have been cut, he added, lucrative Cal-bred bonuses remain in place. “I think in the future we'll see a major focus on quality,” Burge said, pointing to the recent run high-profile successes for horses bred in the state, including a 1-2 finish in the recent G1 La Brea S. for Cal-breds. “But we obviously need the numbers as well.” Indeed, while California's foal crop has steadily declined–by nearly 25% between 2012 and 2021–Cal-breds have been playing an ever more important role in propping up the California racing calendar. During Santa Anita's 2022-2023 six-month meet, Cal-breds made up about 37% of all individual starts, and Cal-bred races constituted more than 20% of the overall races carded. Is there a number of foals bred annually below which the state's breeding industry becomes an unsustainable model? Tom Clark | Jill Williams “That depends on how much racing we'll have here in the next few years,” Burge said. “When you announce the closure of a major racetrack, it's obviously going to have a major impact.” Tom Clark, the owner and manager of Rancho San Miguel–a mainstay of the state's breeding industry–estimates double digit declines in the number of mares bred in the state next year. Last year, 1,874 mares were bred to California stallions. Twenty years prior, the number was about three-times that. “The response so far from clients generally has been to cut back or exit the breeding industry in the state,” said Clark. “The only exceptions are some of the larger farms–Barton [Thoroughbreds] and John Harris and Loveacres [Ranch]–who have continued to invest in broodmares for their own account.” While the popularity of Clark's stallions means Rancho San Miguel has so far been fairly insulated from the worst of the declines, he said, unintended consequences are percolating through. “I've got about 20 mares people want me to find homes for,” said Clark. “I just gave three away to new homes as of this morning. It's happening.” Which begs the question: How will recent events impact California's flagship off-track Thoroughbred rehoming program? “When they first announced that Golden Gate Fields would close, I had three different owners call me, and I took in three different horses,” said Lucinda Lovitt, executive director of the California Retirement Management Account (CARMA). “They didn't know what the future was, and they just wanted to make sure their horse had a good place.” As the sport rolls into the New Year, however, Lovitt said she doesn't anticipate a situation where California's aftercare facilities are swamped with urgent requests. That said, “I would expect we will continue to see what we've seen this past year, which is less space available in aftercare charities, and higher demand for these fewer slots,” said Lovitt. STATISTICS It was the author Fletcher Knebel who made the observation, “smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics.” If only horse racing could so readily dismiss its numerical DNA. This recent New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA) backed study by a cohort of Yale undergrads highlighted how a common feature of a contracting market is consolidation, and how this trend is impacting everything from the training population to racetrack management. Indeed, nationally over the last 20 years, the industry has lost nearly 55% of its trainers, they found. Most have been “micro-trainers” and “midsize” trainers with a maximum 40 discreet horses respectively. At the opposite end of the scale are “super trainers” who operate stables with 80 or more horses. Bill Nader | Horsephotos The number of super trainers has stayed relatively constant in the midst of declining trainer numbers. In 2003 there were 123 super trainers, and in 2022 there were 114. The same trends play out in California, with the bottom end getting clobbered while the top end stays remarkably strong. According to numbers crunched for the TDN using DRF chart data, the number of trainers making at least one individual start in California decreased by nearly 50% between 2007 and 2022. The trainers with 20 or less individual annual starters decreased a similar 50% during that period. The number of trainers with at least 100 individual annual starters in California, however, has remained around the 8-10 mark since 2009. Last year, nine trainers with at least 100 individual annual starters in California–just 3% of the total trainer colony–accrued 35% of the total prize money and made 21% of the total starts. In another worrying trend, training in California is becoming less and less of a young person's game. According to data put together by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), the median age of a licensed trainer in California was 52 in 2003. As of this year, that statistic has matured to 61. The guiding light behind these numbers is field size, which in turn drives handle, which in turn fuels purses. Field size has been especially problematic during Santa Anita's six-month winter-spring meet these past five years, though it has rebounded very slightly. For the six-month meet in 2021-2022, the combined dirt and turf field size was 7.12. For the 2022-2023 meet, the combined field size was 7.2. With that in mind, Nader said he doesn't expect the recently announced purse cuts to make a dent into the $3.7 million Santa Anita purse overpayment. “I don't think it'll reduce at all, based on the current trends in business. If anything, the overpayment might even go up a little bit,” said Nader. “That's why the wish list for 2024 is to secure a secondary source of income to preserve and protect the purse structure and the industry going forward.” But what could that be? Twin sports wagering measures were torpedoed on last year's state ballot, casting dark clouds over future efforts. And though horse racing's standing in Sacramento has improved since the nadir of the 2019 Santa Anita welfare crisis, how likely is legislative support, even for an industry estimated to directly contribute over $4.5 billion to the state's economy, and over 77,700 jobs? “It's incumbent upon all of us here to try to get something where the state legislature provides some type of recognition to the industry, and a level of support–again, maybe not the same advantages the other competing states enjoy–but something that gives us a chance to compete,” said Nader, declining, however, to speculate upon any specifics of what that “recognition” might look like. Furthermore, should the heightened impact from the state's super trainers on field size during a period of such accelerated contraction be high up on the TOC's agenda for next year? “In terms of trying to get more competitive field sizes and better business results, it's better if there's more parity. Sure. But how you manufacture that, it's tricky,” said Nader. “It's hard to say to an owner, 'you need to give your horse to this trainer and not that trainer.' It has to be carefully thought through.” SANTA ANITA The variables weighing in on the future of the sport are–for want of a less utilitarian phrase–multifactorial. Just take the topic of Computer Assisted Wagering (CAW). CAW players constitute a small group of high-volume and largely anonymous gamblers with an outsized impact on the betting markets—including in California—due to the use of sophisticated wagering tools. Because of their high stakes play, they're offered inducements in the form of rebates and reduced takeout rates largely not available to the average punter. Last summer, Del Mar introduced measures to help curb CAW play. By the meet's end, Del Mar's total handle was down some 10% compared to the year prior, according to the DRF. The TDN asked the CHRB for a breakdown of CAW play per-pool for last summer's meet at Del Mar. The agency said it does not yet have those granular figures. Santa Anita's new Tapeta surface being installed | Santa Anita But the CHRB provided a total breakdown of handle per betting location, including from the most influential of these computer syndicates, the Elite Turf Club, a Curacao-based company owned by The Stronach Group and NYRA Bets LLC. According to this data, Elite Turf Club total handle during Del Mar's summer meet dropped 23.7% from 2022 to 2023: $116.9 million last year compared to $89.1 million this year. How industry leaders in California manage the thorny topic of CAW play next year, therefore, will be a key driver of revenues. For many stakeholders, another key tangible will be the roll-out of TSG's much vaunted $30 million-plus investment into the Southern California racing furniture, including new stabling at Santa Anita, new tracks at the facility, and industry support funds. The replacement of Santa Anita's dirt training track with Tapeta is scheduled for a mid-January finish. According to Craig Fravel, chief executive office at 1/ST Racing, there are tentative plans to modify one of the barns at Santa Anita next summer. The other big-ticket items slated for development in 2024–including a new one-mile turf chute, an equine swimming pool and horse exercisers–have been put on hold, however. “We've wanted to focus on getting the synthetic surface done. The price tag on that has come in higher than we had expected,” said Fravel. “Right now, we're just very much focused on the racing calendar, trying to enhance the prospects for horses moving down here and improving the product in Southern California.” The post What Does Next Year Hold For California Racing? appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Oaklawn Park's top sprinter from its prior meet is ready to return. Red Lane Thoroughbreds' multiple stakes winner Skelly is entered in the eighth race Dec. 30 at the Arkansas track, a six-furlong $143,000 allowance.View the full article

Gulfstream Park's Saturday program will offer four stakes races– three graded–including the GIII Harlan's Holiday S., a prep for the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational, and the GII Fort Lauderdale S., a prep for the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational. The Harlan's Holiday drew a field of 11, including last out GII Hagyard Fayette S. winner and 5-2 morning-line favorite O'Connor (Chi) (Boboman); last year's GII Remsen S. winner Dubyuhnell (Good Magic), who returned from the shelf with an optional claiming win at Keeneland Oct. 28; and the streaking $1.7-million OBS April graduate and 'TDN Rising Star' Signator (Tapit), who makes his stakes debut for trainer Shug McGaughey following two straight wins at Aqueduct Oct. 21 and Nov. 12. “In the Keeneland race, he was off the pace, but he was handy the whole way. He was into the bridle and traveled well for Tyler (Gaffalione),” trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. said of O'Connor's win in the Fayette. “If he can travel the same way, it will increase his chances Saturday.” The Fort Lauderdale has attracted a field of 10, including the Chad Brown-trained duo of 2-1 morning-line favorite Running Bee (English Channel), who resurfaced from a lengthy layoff with a wire-to-wire victory in an optional claimer at Aqueduct Nov. 17; and Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), runner-up in the 2022 GI Breeders' Cup Turf. The latter adds blinkers following a fifth-place finish in the GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic S. Oct. 7. The 11-race card at Gulfstream also includes: the GIII Suwannee River S. and the Rampart S. Santa Anita, meanwhile, boasts a pair of grassy graded races Saturday, the GII Joe Hernandez S. and the GIII Robert J. Frankel S. The post Pegasus Preview Day at Gulfstream Park Saturday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Regardless of whether the Dec. 30 Robert J. Frankel Stakes (G3T) is run as scheduled on turf or moved to the Santa Anita Park main track due to rain, trainers Phil D'Amato and Paddy Gallagher seem well-positioned. View the full article

The first stakes race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby for newly-turned 3-year-olds takes place Jan. 1 when Oaklawn Park stages the $300,000 Smarty Jones Stakes.View the full article

North America's winningest Thoroughbred in terms of victories this year will have 10 wins, but the final weekend of 2023 will determine if the Midwest-based gelding Fayette Warrior (Exchange Rate) ends up alone atop the leaderboard or if he has to share the honor with two nine-win rivals in the mid-Atlantic who could tie the mark either Dec. 30 or 31. The 7-year-old Fayette Warrior, who sports a lifetime record of 19-11-7 from 71 starts with $241,772 in earnings, has topped the continent since his last victory at Columbus against starter-allowance company Oct. 21. He then finished second Oct. 29, also at the Nebraska track, before owner/trainer Troy Bethke gave him a break to prepare for a 2024 campaign. With Troy's son, Scott Bethke, riding Fayette Warrior in all 18 starts this year, the pair also posed for winner's circle photos at Energy Downs (three times), plus Fonner Park, Sweetwater County Fair, and Wyoming Downs (twice each). “He's a little bitty horse. He probably barely reaches 15 hands. Just a small-statured horse, but he's got a big heart, and he likes to run,” Troy Bethke told TDN. “Every time we lead him up there, he gives you 100%. He's a spunky, cocky little guy; a good-looking rascal. He likes to train, likes to race–just a good little horse. “We only had a couple of races where he didn't run great this year, and both of them he got in trouble,” Bethke said, noting that Fayette Warrior only finished out of the money three times. “One was on the backside where he got pinched into the rail, and then another one it was really muddy and he just didn't seem to handle the track that day. Scott's kind of grown attached to him, and in that particular race I think he kind of took care of him a little bit. A $90,000 KEEJAN purchase for Calumet Farm back in 2017, Fayette Warrior debuted for trainer Wesley Ward at Saratoga in 2018 (seventh at the MSW level). But he won his next start at Kentucky Downs by 4 1/4 lengths, and was then was fourth and third in listed stakes at Belmont Park and Laurel Park After that, Fayette Warrior drifted downward in class to circuits in Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota while switching stables 13 times before finally landing with Bethke. “I claimed him two years ago. We ran him at Canterbury, then in Nebraska and Colorado,” Bethke said. “This last summer, we started in Nebraska, then a gal who was an assistant for me went out to Wyoming and ran that circuit out there. Then he came back to Nebraska. “We were trying to put him in races where he would run well. We knew that he was doing well, up towards the top [of the North American leaderboard],” Bethke said. No matter the level of racing, achieving 10 victories “is a lot of wins” for any horse, Bethke said. “He'll be coming back next year,” Bethke said. “He had a pretty hard, long campaign, so we stopped on him. I've got a little place in Minnesota, so we've got him turned out at the house here right now. Anthony Farrior | Jim McCue Reached by phone Dec. 29, Bethke said he wasn't aware there were two other horses entered this weekend to potentially tie Fayette Warrior. Both of those runners are trained by Anthony Farrior, who told TDN in a separate phone interview that it wasn't his intent to go after the winningest horse title. “It's just how the races came up,” said Farrior, whose stable primarily competes in Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Farrior will run the 4-year-old filly Divine Fashion (Divining Rod) in the third race Saturday at Mahoning Valley, where she's the 7-5 morning-line favorite for a $5,000 starter-allowance. He's also got the 3-year-old gelding Uncaptured Storm (Uncaptured) on the also-eligible list in the first race at Laurel on Sunday as the 5-2 morning-line choice. That's a $25,000 claimer open to non-winners of three (any age) or straight 3-year-olds (regardless of the number of victories). “Uncaptured Storm, me and [trainer Mario] Serey claimed him back and forth [twice each this year]. He just seemed to get better as a grew up as a 3-year-old,” Farrior said, adding that being able to take advantage of a condition that pits a nine-time winner against horses who haven't broken through the three-lifetime level is “a little advantage.” Divine Fashion is going to have to prove she's able to win on the road. All nine of her wins this season have come at Charles Town. The two times she's shipped elsewhere in 2023 (both to Laurel), she's lost. “She just loves Charles Town,” Farrior said. “She always shows up and runs her race. When you get a nice starter filly at Charles Town [the condition goes back to] two years from the date, so that helps out a lot. She'd probably have won more if my other filly wasn't beating her earlier in the year.” Farrior was referring to Dulcimer Dame (Mineshaft) a 6-year-old who won seven straight before the month of March ended but has been 0-for-5 since. She'll aim for win No. 8 on Sunday at Laurel. “They're just sound horses and you can keep them running. So it's worked out great,” Farrior said. All three of those Farrior-trained winners are owned, either in whole or in partnership, by Richard Burnsworth, whose record as a solo owner in 2023 is an impressive 79-for-298 (26%). Beverly Park | Coady Photography “He likes to win. He doesn't mess with me, and he lets me put them in where they belong,” Farrior said of his client. One other gelding with nine wins, the 6-year-old Never Compromise (Graydar), most recently ran third at Charles Town Dec. 16 and won't make a subsequent start before the year is out. He's owned by Robert Cole Jr. and trained by Stephen Murdock. In 2022, the continent's winningest horse was Beverly Park (Munnings) with 14 victories. He came back to win four this year. Between 2012 and 2021, the North American leaderboard was topped by horses who won between eight (in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign) and 12 times. You have to go back to 2011 to find a truly freakish outlier, which was when the Cole-owned starter-allowance stalwart Rapid Redux ran the table with a 19-for-19 record for trainer David Wells. The post Race For Winningest Horse Comes Down To Final Weekend Of ’23 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Forty-two starts into his career and with 25 wins, Greeley and Ben (Greeley's Conquest) is in top form as he will look to close out 2023 with a win over four rivals in Saturday's Gravesend S. at Aqueduct. It will, however, be his last ever start at an NYRA track, where horses who are 10 or older are not allowed to compete. That's fine with his connections. They can race him next year at just about anywhere else and are confident that the story of one of the true iron horses in the sport will continue for some time. “I think he's a long way from being done,” said trainer Horacio De Paz. It's easy to see why De Paz doesn't think that age has caught up with Greeley and Ben and why he'll be bringing the horse back off of just one week's rest in the Gravesend. Greeley and Ben won last year's GIII Fall Highweight H. at the advanced age of eight and, after a layoff of nearly 12 months, has come back running this year. After finishing sixth in an allowance race at Laurel, he's won two straight, including the Dec. 23 Dave's Friend, also at Laurel. Greeley and Ben began his career racing for trainer John Ortiz and won six times before being claimed for just $10,000 on March 7, 2021 by Karl Broberg. He won 13 of 17 starts for Broberg before he was claimed again and wound up in the barn of David Jacobson. He made three starts for Jacobson, his last in a 2022 $40,000 claimer at Saratoga. It was there that he caught the attention of his current owner, Darryl Abramowitz. “His age didn't bother me,” Abramowitz said. “This game is about dreams and taking chances. I thought that for $40,000 the worst-case scenario was we'd have to drop him into a $20,000 claimer and we'd win and get our money back. You only live once.” So Abramowitz spent the $40,000 to claim a horse who was eight at the time and, at least according to his Beyer numbers, was starting to slow down. Little did he know that the future for the gelding would include four wins in his next seven starts and two stakes wins, including his first graded stakes victory in the Fall Highweight. “He's a combination of Mike Tyson and Cal Ripken,” Abramowitz said. “He's an iron horse and he's a fighter.” Greeley and Ben | Coglianese After winning the Fall Highweight, Greeley and Ben disappeared, but that would not prove to be the end of his career. “He's an old war horse and as time has gone on he has come up with a few leg issues,” Abramowitz said. “Nothing serious. He just needed the time to heal up. Would other people spend 352 days on the shelf and spend all that money while he wasn't racing? I don't think so. I could have brought him back earlier, but if we did, we'd have to have dropped into a lower level of claimers. We coaxed him along and gave him the time that was necessary. He's sound and he's solid right now. With the way he's going he could keep running for another two years. This guy loves to run. He just thrives on it.” Abramowitz initially had the horse with Jeffrey Englehart and then moved him into the barn of Faith Wilson for the Fall Highweight. The next move was to give him to De Paz, who has had him since September. Greeley and Ben could do no better than to finish sixth in his return race, but De Paz was not discouraged. “When we got him he had to build back the foundation that he had lost,” the trainer said. “He carries good flesh, so we had to work past that. In his first race back, we figured we'd give him a race rather than just breezing him. We thought a race would do him more good than breezing him every week. That first run showed he still wanted to compete. He just got tired.” Twenty-two days later, he won the allowance and followed that up with the win in the Dave's Friend, which upped his career earnings to $981,138. After that start, De Paz and Abramowitz started searching for a race. On whether they should enter him in the Gravesend, it came down to the question of, why not? “That we're running here doesn't have anything to do with the rules in New York,” Abramowitz said. “We were watching nominations for this race and knew there would be a small field and I didn't think the race would be that difficult. At Laurel, he ran three solid furlongs. It was like having a spectacular workout. For the first three furlongs he was in the back just enjoying himself and having a good time. I knew he was going good and Horacio told me he's better than ever and is going extremely good. We looked at all the factors, like the $150,000 purse, and decided to give it a go.” Abramowitz is so bullish on the gelding's future that he said if the horse runs well in the Gravesend he will consider sending him to the Middle East–Saudi Arabia and Dubai. First though, they have to get past the Gravesend. On paper, Greeley and Ben is stepping up in class and could have a tough time in the six-furlong stakes. But Abramowitz doesn't think that will be the case. “He fits in this race and I think he might surprise a lot of people,” the owner said. Win or lose, Greeley and Ben's place in the sport has already been assured. Where else can you find an active 9-year-old who is still at the top of his game and has won more races than he has lost? “It's a tremendous story,” De Paz said. “He's run at all these different racetracks and has run for different trainers and he's been honest for everyone who has had him. He's just a special horse.” The post In His New York Swan Song, Golden Oldie Greeley And Ben Looks For 26th Career Win In Gravesend appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

They are always the colours to follow over the West Coast circuit, and today at Reefton punters can find some value in the Woodend Beach trainers Greg and Nina Hope team as they line up six solid chances. Driver Ben Hope talks us through their chances runner by runner. Race two Racingmissgracie ($8.50FF) comes in fresh, but with good standing start manners will look to race handy. “Her trials have been okay. I think today’s run will do her the world of good.” Race four Juliette Shard ($21.00FF), the well bred Bettors Delight mare will be looking for some form reversal with an unfavourable draw. “Wide draw. Will be needing a bit of luck.” Race seven second day Westport winner Anna’s Boy ($7.00FF) give the Hopes a solid chance in the $20,000 Dawson’s Hotel Reefton Trotters Cup. “Great win the other day. Its ashame its not 3200m again because i think that distance really suits him. It will be hard off 10m over 2600m. He won’t be the worst place chance.” Race eight sees Homebush Lad ($3.80FF) shooting for his third consecutive Reefton Cup. The 2023 version is sponsored by Rosco Contractors for a stake of $25,000. “I give him a really good chance. It will be nice to win a third Reefton cup. He felt really good the otherday. I think he’s the best chance for us today.” Race nine the Hope’s line up two runners, Krystal Delight ($3.50FF) and Tremendous Lover ($7.00FF). Krystal Delight comes into today after some strong placings at the Westport meetings and will be driven by Mia Holbrough. “She should go well. She’s been bubbling under the radar for awhile so hopefully she can finish the trip on a high.” Tremendous Lover comes off the back of a second day Westport win and will be driven by Hope. “It was great to get a win for the owners. They are very loyal owners of the stable. Up in grade today but he’ll still be competitive enough.” Hope lines up his own runner Pure Courage ($7.50FF) in race ten. The five year old A Rocknroll Dance gelding is arguably in career best form, and will be the fresh legs to the circuit. “He seems well. It’s not a bad field but he’s a solid place chance.” Race one gets underway at 12:25pm. View the full article

Ascot's director of racing and public affairs, Nick Smith, has been named to the New Year's Honours list. Smith, who started at Ascot in 2000, was made a lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order, which rewards personal service to the monarch and their household. In 2023, King Charles III and Queen Camilla celebrated their first Royal Ascot winner with Desert Hero (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who would subsequently be Classic placed in the G1 St Leger. Other highlights of Ascot's year include Hukum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB})'s battle in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S., and Frankie Dettori's Royal Ascot resurgence aboard G1 Gold Cup winner Courage Mon Ami (GB) (Frankel {GB}) among others. Smith said, “I'm obviously absolutely delighted and honoured. It's been a fantastic journey working for Ascot for so long and it's nice to have it recognised. “It's been a brilliant year at the racecourse with the King and Queen having a winner, Frankie Dettori lighting up Royal Ascot this year, a vintage King George and full fields for the Shergar Cup, so we really couldn't ask for much more.” Smith added, “We're just about to start our overseas campaign in Australia, Japan, the United States and suchlike, looking for those horses to populate the Royal meeting. That will all start in earnest and hopefully build up to another fantastic meeting in June.” Smith was not the only racing industry figure to be honoured, with the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (TBA)'s Julian Richmond-Watson receiving an OBE. Richard Linley was recognised with an MBE. Linley was the former British Horseracing Authority (BHA) senior inspector of courses. The post Ascot’s Nick Smith Receives New Year Honours appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Trainer Linda Rice is setting personal records and approaching record numbers in New York this year.View the full article

1st-GP, $70K, Msw, 2yo, 7f, 12:10 p.m. A pair of Todd Pletcher trainees headlines the action Saturday for Gulfstream's Pegasus Preview Day led by $700,000 2-year-old BAIL US OUT (Lookin At Lucky). Picked up at OBSAPR by Repole Stable off a breeze in :10 flat, the bay is a son of a stakes-winning dam from the family of MGSW/MGISP Topicount (Private Account). Bail Us Out will break from the inside under Jose Ortiz. Stablemate Born Noble (Constitution), himself a $725,000 KEESEP yearling for St. Elias Stable and West Point Thoroughbreds, is the first foal out of GISP Zapperkat while third dam Rokeby Rosie counts dual champion Silverbulletday (Silver Deputy) as her half-sister. Pletcher tabs the other Ortiz brother, Irad, for the ride from the far outside. Breaking between that pair is Mo Go (Medalia d'Oro), a $400,000 KEENOV weanling for Tom Durant and Jose D'Angelo. The colt was a $625,000 RNA at OBSAPR earlier in the year. Big City (City of Light) has the same owner and trainer as Mo Go and his own $300,000 FTKNOV price tag after RNA'ing for $445,000 also out of OBSAPR. His dam, bought for $325,000 at KEENOV with this runner in-utero, is a daughter of MGISW and $1.8m KEENOV broodmare Ask the Moon (Malibu Moon). TJCIS PPS 1st-AQU, $85K, Msw, 2yo, f, 1m, 12:20 p.m. Summer Wind Equine's Greatest Gift (Curlin) is the latest foal out of Lil Indy, also the dam of champion 3-year-old colt Maximum Security (New Year's Day). Summer Wind bought Lil Indy, a half-sister to MGISW Flat Out (Flatter), out of the 2019 KEENOV Sale for $1.85m. TJCIS PPS The post Saturday Insights: Pletcher Duo Kicks Off Pegasus Preview Day At Gulfstream appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

There will be a lot of I-told-you-sos when looking back on the first-season sires' championship with Blue Point (Ire) living up to his lofty billing by amassing 50 individual winners in Europe including two Group 1 scorers in what can only be described as a dream debut season. The pledge of support behind Blue Point from a very early stage, in what was viewed by many as the most competitive first-season sires' championship in a long time, was telling. Perhaps one of the most accurate predictions came from trainer Richard Hannon in his TDN two-year-old tour back in April. He said, “I don't think I will be able to afford many of these Blue Points next year–he could have a big year which will make them very expensive.” Little did Hannon know at the time but it was the stable's Rosallion (Ire) who would go on to add to that growing reputation for the stallion in running out an impressive winner of the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at ParisLongchamp on Arc weekend. Add that to the exploits of Big Evs (Ire), winner of the Windsor Castle S. at Royal Ascot before signing off on a brilliant campaign by scorching to G1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint honours at Santa Anita, Blue Point didn't just live up to expectations in 2023; he smashed it. So, how does he compare to previous champion first-season sires and is his fee jump to €60,000 justified? The answer is that Blue Point compares favourably with each of the past five leading first-season sires–Havana Grey (GB), Cotai Glory (GB), Mehmas (Ire), Gutaifan (Ire) and No Nay Never–on almost every metric. In terms of prize-money amassed, only Havana Grey has managed to better Blue Point's debut season haul of €1,235,165 in Britain and Ireland, albeit by just €21,747. Standing on 41 individual winners in Britain and Ireland, Blue Point has bettered each of the previous five leading first crop sires bar Mehmas, who ended his respective campaign with 46. Meanwhile, 57 wins all told in Britain and Ireland is just eight shy of what Mehmas recorded in 2020 but is on a par with what Havana Grey achieved last year. These are the sort of statistics that led Con Marnane, one of the titans of the game, to label Blue Point as 'pound for pound the best stallion in Europe' while top pinhooker Paul McCartan is another man to have been heard singing the praises of the young stallion on the sales circuit this year. It is one thing having a clatter of winners but something altogether different to produce quality performers and this is another area where Blue Point excelled this season. Along with top-notchers Rosallion and Big Evs, Blue Point was responsible for another 100-plus rated juvenile in Action Point (Ire), who scored at listed level and reached an official rating of 101 for Archie Watson. It is clear that Blue Point, a tremendous racehorse in his own right who recorded an amazing Royal Ascot double when landing the King's Stand S. and the Diamond Jubilee S. in the same week, is injecting a lot of class into his offspring with 17 of his two-year-olds ending the campaign on an official rating of 90 or above. Too Darn Hot (GB) put the cherry on top of what was a memorable year for the Darley roster by ending the campaign strongly with a host of high-class winners, including G1 Moyglare Stud S. winner Fallen Angel (GB). A genuine 1,000 Guineas contender for Karl Burke to look forward to next season, Fallen Angel was one of five juveniles by Too Darn Hot to achieve official ratings of 100 or more. Too Darn Hot ended the year with 22 individual winners in Britain and Ireland, which was the same number that Soldier's Call (GB) managed. However, the latter amassed 29 total winners, which was just one more than Too Darn Hot managed. Too Darn Hot is set to stand for £65,000 in 2024 while Soldier's Call, who has recently switched from Joe Foley's Ballyhane Stud in Ireland, where he has stood since 2020, to Dullingham Park, will command a fee of £8,500. The move makes sense. For all that Soldier's Call lived up to what was expected from him in 2023, and in many ways hardened his reputation as a rock-solid producer of sprinting talent, he might stand out a little better in the British market compared to in Ireland, where there are plenty of options at a similar level. Calyx (GB) may not have racked up the numbers Soldier's Call managed but he was represented by a number of talented juveniles, not least the Dewhurst third Eben Shaddad and the unexposed Purple Lily (Ire), who justified her €155,000 price tag at the breeze-ups when winning on debut at Galway for Paddy Twomey. She rates an exciting filly going forward for the stallion next season and featured among the 19 individual winners and 26 total wins recorded by Calyx in 2023. Advertise (GB) [19 individual winners in Britain and Ireland], Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) [17], Inns Of Court (Ire) [16], Land Force (Ire) [14], Ten Sovereigns (Ire) [14] and Invincible Army (Ire) [12] were others who managed to get into double figures this year. Perhaps Phoenix Of Spain is deserving of most credit out of that group for what he achieved with his first crop two-year-olds as his progeny are almost certain to improve at three and beyond. Study Of Man (Ire) could fit into that category as well. Nobody would have predicted that the G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner would have blasted out a host of two-year-old winners with his debut crop and he probably exceeded expectations through the exploits of Deepone (GB). Winner of the G2 Beresford S., historically a good guide for future Derby contenders, Deepone would appear to have leading Classic claims in 2024 for Twomey and his owner Vimal Khosla. Like Study Of Man, Magna Grecia (Ire) ended the year with six individual winners in Britain and Ireland while Masar (Ire) was just two behind that pair on four. Given Magna Grecia is out of a Galileo (Ire) mare, it will be wise to judge him properly at the end of 2024 while Derby winner Masar is another deserving of more time. It should also be noted that City Light (Fr) enjoyed a banner year in France and ended the campaign as the clear leading first-crop sire with 15 individual winners and 19 total wins. A son of Siyouni, City Light also had a winner in Britain and Ireland is shaping up to be an interesting stallion in his own right. The post Blue Point Blasts His Way To Champion First-Season Sire Honours appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Hong Kong's dual Horse of the Year Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) has been removed from consideration for the G1 Stewards' Cup on Jan. 21 after sustained a minor injury to his left front leg. A two-time winner of that prize in 2021 and 2023, the 8-year-old gelding will face a restricted workout schedule for the next three to four weeks. Owned by Stanley Chan Ka Leung, the bay has won 10 Group 1s in Hong Kong. “We found, the day before yesterday [Wednesday] in the morning, a little bit of filling and a little bit of heat [in his front left leg],” said trainer Francis Lui. “The vets did a check, a scan and an MRI–there's nothing serious, but they sent a report to England. “It's very slight but, of course, for the safety side, we don't want to push him because the race is only three weeks' time. The vets said we can give him light trotting for three or four weeks and progressively we can check on him. The issue is just inside the pastern on his front left leg.” The post Hong Kong Star Golden Sixty Rules Out Of Stewards’ Cup With A Setback appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Friday's G1 Tokyo Daishoten marked a first and much-anticipated battle between reigning G1 Dubai World Cup hero Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) and the upstart 3-year-old Mick Fire (Jpn) (Sinister Minister), perfect in his seven starts and winner of the unofficial Japan Dirt Triple Crown this past season. The showdown never really materialized, however, as the latter never reached contention after playing up in the stalls, and the odds-on Ushba Tesoro ran down his commonly owner front-runner Wilson Tesoro (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) to successfully defend his title in the 2000-metre contest. Dura Erede (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}), who won the G1 Hopeful S. on the turf 12 months ago, but has thrived on the dirt this term, stayed on well for third after chasing the pace. As it was on World Cup night, Ushba Tesoro was not particularly quickly away and therefore settled last but one into the first corner, as Wilson Tesoro, who flashed home to finish second behind Lemon Pop (Lemon Drop Kid) and ahead of Dura Erede in the Dec. 8 G1 Champions Cup (1800m), galloped them along at a decent tempo over the notoriously deep surface at Oi. Racing three wide as Mick Fire provided some crucial cover down the back straight, Ushba Tesoro was pulled out and around his younger rival at the 600 metres, with Wilson Tesoro and Dura Erede a good eight to 10 lengths ahead. Steered out widest leaving the 400-metre peg behind, Ushba Tesoro leveled out and grabbed Wilson Tesoro in the dying strides, covering those final 600 metres in a race-fastest :37 flat. Mick Fire could produce no rally and beat just one home. Given a lengthy spell to recover from his World Cup success, Ushba Tesoro was an easy winner of the Listed Nippon TV Hai at Funabashi Sept. 27 as a single prep for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. He put in a long, sustained rally over the Santa Anita mile and a quarter Nov. 4, but had too much to do and finished a creditable fifth to White Abarrio (Race Day) and compatriot Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits). “He's a very tough horse, so I was hoping he could run well,” winning jockey Yuga Kawada told Netkeiba. “The horse will remain active next year, so we appreciate the support as he goes to challenge the world again.” Trainer Noboru Takagi indicated that the early-season goals could include the G1 Saudi Cup in February in addition to a defence of his title at Meydan the following month. Of the eighth-placed Mick Fire, trainer Kazuo Watanabe told Netkeiba: “The start for him was a pity. Even if he finished second or third and lost, I wanted to see him run his race. There is room for growth and we will be starting from scratch again.” USHBA TESORO https://t.co/oI2McTcTGi — Graham Pavey (@LongBallToNoOne) December 29, 2023 Pedigree Notes: Ushba Tesoro's second dam Sixieme Sens was ridden by Freddy Head to victory in the 1995 Listed Prix Bagatelle for trainer David Smaga and Mme Marc de Chambure and went on to continue her career in the US under the tutelage of the late Bobby Frankel for whom she won the GIII Athenia S. in New York and the GII Dahlia H. in 1996 and the GII San Gorgonio H. the following season. Dr Masatake Iida purchased Sixieme Sens for $750,000 when offered in foal to Gone West at the 1997 Keeneland November Sale and exported her to Japan. Her second foal for Iida's Chiyoda Farm Shizunai became the stakes-winning Bold Brian (Jpn) (Brian's Time), while Millefeui Attach, a three-time winner of better than $466,000, was Sixieme Sens's eighth produce and one of her nine winners from 12 to the races. Ushba Tesoro races for the Ryotokuji Kenji Holdings Co., which has also campaigned the likes of US-bred Japanese listed winner Aurora Tesoro (Malibu Moon) and the multiple stakes winner and Group 1-placed Rieno Tesoro (Speightstown) to name but a few. Ushba Tesoro cost the operation ¥25 million ($219,250) as a foal when consigned by Chiyoda Farm to the 2017 JRHA Select Sales. The operation purchased the dam of Wilson Tesoro for $225,000 at the 2015 Fasig-Tipton Florida Sale and sent her to Equinox's sire Kitasan Black (Jpn) in 2018 after winning a pair of minor races in Japan. Millefeui Attach is also the dam of a 2-year-old colt by Asia Express (Henny Hughes) and a yearling filly from the first crop of 2019 G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen hero Mr Melody (Scat Daddy). The mare foaled a filly by Group 1-winning turf sprinter Matera Sky (Speightstown) this past Apr. 29 and was reunited with Orfevre this year. Friday, Oi, Japan TOKYO DAISHOTEN-G1, ¥170,000,000, Oi, 12-29, 3yo/up, 2000m, 2:07.30, std. 1–USHBA TESORO (JPN), 126, h, 6, Orfevre (Jpn) 1st Dam: Millefeui Attach (Jpn), by King Kamehameha (Jpn) 2nd Dam: Sixieme Sens, by Septieme Ciel 3rd Dam: Samalex (GB), by Ela-Mana-Mou (Ire) (¥25,000,000 Wlg '17 JRHAJUL). O-Kenji Ryotokuji Holdings; B-Chiyoda Farm (Jpn); T-Noboru Takagi; J-Yuga Kawada; ¥100,000,000. Lifetime Record: G1SW-UAE, 32-11-1-5, $10,427,845. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue- style pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. 2–Wilson Tesoro (Jpn), 126, c, 4, Kitasan Black (Jpn)–Chesutoke Rose, by Uncle Mo. O-Kenji Ryotokuji Holdings; B-Ryoken Farm (Jpn); T-Hitoshi Kotegawa; J-Yusuke Hara; ¥35,000,000. 3–Dura Erede (Jpn), 123, c, 3, Duramente (Jpn)–Marchesa (Jpn), by Orfevre (Jpn) (¥100,000,000 Ylg '21 JRHAJUL). O-Three H Racing; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); T-Manabu Ikezoe; J-Bauyrzhan Murzabayev; ¥20,000,000. Margins: HF, NK, 3/4. Odds: 0.70, 13.20, 10.90. Also Ran: Notturno (Jpn), King's Sword (Jpn), Gloria Mundi (Jpn), Tenkaharu (Jpn), Mick Fire (Jpn), Mangan (Jpn). Click for the goracing.jp chart. The post Ushba Tesoro Plays Role of ‘Fire’ Extinguisher in Tokyo Daishoten appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Ushba Tesoro, the reigning Dubai World Cup (G1) champion, rebounded from a fifth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) to win the Dec. 29 Tokyo Daishoten (G1) and set up a return to the Middle East.View the full article

As 2023 draws to a close, the TDN is asking industry members to name their favorite moment of the year. Send yours to suefinley@thetdn.com My favorite '23 moment was watching Jena Antonucci and her team, 'vigorously' rooting home Arcangelo in the Belmont and then becoming the 'spokesperson extraordinaire' on behalf of our industry! –Headley Bell, Mill Ridge Farm The post What Was Your Favorite Moment Of 2023: Headley Bell appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Setback puts the brakes on superstar miler’s farewell season three weeks after his mind-boggling Hong Kong Mile victoryView the full article

Part three of BloodHorse's 2023 year-end survey.View the full article

Continuing the profiles of the favourite horses of TDN Europe's editorial team in 2023, Tom Frary selects the horse be believes is the best of Aidan O'Brien's nine Derby winners. Sectional timing wasn't around when Dancing Brave tanked down the outer to get within just under a length of Shahrastani in 1986. If it had been, we'd have been able to gauge just how unlucky he was (he was). Maybe if it had been there could also have been a proper assessment of whether El Gran Senor should have prevailed two years earlier, but hey ho. Now we have it, we know just what the elite of their generation can do in cold, clear figures and in particular during that last surging period of what is still the world's most exciting horse race. This year's Derby was visually a lovely throwback to those wonderful ones of the 1970s and 1980s, with little between two sensational colts primed to the minute able to stamp their superiority on the rest during the last three furlongs. Unfortunately for connections of the gargantuan yet surprisingly nimble King Of Steel, who produced the fastest individual furlong of 10.66 seconds between the three and the two on what was remarkably his first start of the season, there was another in the line-up who had the ace up his sleeve. Auguste Rodin (Ire), that melange of Japan's deity Deep Impact (Jpn) and one of the best of the faster Galileo (Ire) mares, took a while to get to fever pitch but on the first Saturday in June he caught fire. On the summer fast ground he would prove in time was essential, and granted the perfect ride from a jockey with the Epsom aptitude of the Longfellow, he thrust himself into the top of the charts of Derby heroes with an outlandish final two furlongs of 22.18 seconds. He almost broke 33 seconds for the last three! Upstaging his damsire in the process, he became to my eyes Ballydoyle's best Derby winner, under Aidan O'Brien's tenure at least. He needed to do it again, of course, and duly did so in what was for me the race of the year in the Irish Champion Stakes. Luxembourg (Ire) killed everything bar the uber-talented Auguste Rodin, who had the audacity to idle once he had passed his truly on-song stablemate, much as his dam Rhododendron (Ire) tended to do in her day. The Leopardstown race was not for the faint-hearted, yet he found it all well within his capabilities much as he did next time in the Breeders' Cup Turf. Thankfully, he's going to be around in 2024 and by rights he should be even better. He may never win an Arc, as ironically the one year the ground rode fast he was already being routed elsewhere, but if the rains stay away he'll probably win the King George and another Breeders' Cup Turf, much as Aidan O'Brien's other brilliant colt High Chaparral (Ire) did. And then the Japan Cup perhaps? What a shame Equinox (Jpn) will not be around to stretch him more than his contemporaries did this year. I think only in time will that Derby performance be truly appreciated as the benchmark it really was. It is up to those who follow now to meet the standard of that barnstorming finish. Horse of the Year 2023 unquestionably for me, but whether 2024 will follow the same tune remains to be seen. In a story reminiscent of that of Riva Ridge and Secretariat, it could be that his thunder will be stolen by the “special one” housed in his own barn! The post TDN Horses of the Year: Auguste Rodin appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Lingjun Xiongfeng will contest the Group 2 Rich Hill Mile (1600m) at Pukekohe on New Year’s Day. Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images) Mike Moroney and Pam Gerard made a big splash on Boxing Day with a rapidly improving three-year-old at the top of his game, and they are hoping New Year’s Day might bring something similar. The Matamata trainers struck Group 2 Auckland Guineas (1400m) gold at Pukekohe on Tuesday with the overlooked $21 outsider Pendragon, who was unplaced in the first three starts of his career but has won three in a row since then. Gerard sees some similarities among the New Year’s Day contingent of Lingjun Xiongfeng, Force Of Law and Skaw Valley, who all head to Pukekohe on Monday with their confidence and form on an upward trajectory. In-form five-year-old Lingjun Xiongfeng is the stable’s headline act, currently holding $5 favouritism with horse racing betting sites for the Group 2 Rich Hill Mile (1600m). Lingjun Xiongfeng was a maiden winner as a three-year-old in March of 2022, then placed in the Group 2 Championship Stakes (2100m) a month later. He later struggled to push on from that early potential, and by the time he lined up in a Rating 65 at Pukekohe on December 9, he had gone 21 long months without a win. But he broke that drought with a spectacular finish from last among a 14-horse field, then stepped up to open company at Te Rapa two weeks later and produced an even more remarkable performance. The grey entire again dropped out the back, then produced an explosive finish to sail past his seven opponents and score by five and a half lengths. “He’s going super,” Gerard said. “He’s always shown us a huge amount of potential, but just in these last few weeks he’s really got a bit of confidence up. He also hasn’t been as colty as he used to be, so it’s been a real turnaround. “I’ve been really happy with him since that last-start performance at Te Rapa. He just keeps improving every day. He’s absolutely flying at the moment. “Our only reservation would be the weather forecast. We’re not quite sure how much rain they’re going to get between now and then. He’ll handle a little bit of cut out of the ground, but he probably wouldn’t want it to get too bad. Our other runners should handle an off track okay.” Moroney and Gerard’s other runners are last-start placegetter Force Of Law in a star-studded Group 2 Eclipse Stakes (1200m) and smart debut winner Skaw Valley. “Force Of Law is another one that’s just starting to put it all together,” Gerard said. “That placing in his second start was a big step forward from his debut. He’s really going ahead in leaps and bounds. “It’s a smallish but very good field on New Year’s Day, and we know that he’s a fair way down the list. But we’re really happy with him and he’s definitely going the right way. We wouldn’t be surprised to see him run well. “Skaw Valley won nicely in his first start, although that was midweek and down the line. This is going to be a huge step up for him. But he’s another one that’s going in the right direction. He’s previously been quite a lazy worker, but he’s just recently starting to show a lot more interest in his work. If there’s a bit of rain around, it definitely won’t bother him.” More horse racing news View the full article

Velocious (outside) will contest the Group 2 Eclipse Stakes (1200m) at Pukekohe on New Year’s Day. Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images) Stephen Marsh is confident of Velocious giving another bold account of herself at Pukekohe Park on New Year’s Day, although his confidence is tempered by an unfavourable forecast. The Cambridge trainer will run the daughter of Written Tycoon in the Group 2 Eclipse Stakes (1200m) ahead of the Karaka Million 2YO (1200m) at Ellerslie on January 27. Velocious has impressed in both of her outings and while Marsh is more than happy with the filly’s condition, it is a factor out of his control that is a worry. “She is going really well, but there does look like there is rain coming and she’s certainly not a wet- tracker, so it is a concern,” Marsh said. “Move To Strike obviously looks very exciting, but our filly will race well. I do think she might be vulnerable, but she needs this run and then she will be cherry ripe for the Karaka Million.” Velocious was a debut winner at Te Rapa in November and a fortnight later she was untroubled to claim the Listed Counties Challenge Stakes (1100m) with Sam Spratt to take the reins again. She currently heads the Karaka Million market at $3.20 and will bid to roll back the years for Marsh and Albert Bosma’s Go Racing syndication company after they won the juvenile feature in 2013 with Ruud Awakening. Marsh will also be represented on New Year’s Day by Mercurial in the Group 1 Railway (1200m) and El Vencedor in the Group 2 Rich Hill Mile (1600m), but again the forecast has him worried. “Mercurial is just racing so well, he’s going terrific. He jumps and puts himself there and is so honest,” Marsh said. “It’s a good, even field and he is up to running a hell of a race, but he won’t want too much rain around. He’s always been better on top of the ground.” Spratt will partner Mercurial, who was a course and distance winner two runs back before a sound runner-up finish on Boxing Day. El Vencedor is another in fine form and followed up his second in the Listed Fulton Family Stakes (1500m) with a hollow victory in the Group 3 Eagle Technology Stakes (1600m) and Joe Doyle retains the mount. “Again, he won’t want a lot of rain and funnily enough he used to like the wetter tracks earlier on, but he’s a bit fussier now,” Marsh said. “He has drawn well (seven) and it’s an even field, so I think he’s a good chance again.” Marsh will also have runners at Taupo on Saturday and tipped Provence as his best winning chance when she resumes in the Mort Webber Memorial (1200m). “She is fresh and I really like her. She had a long spell after her last prep and she’s come back well and doing everything right,” he said. Doyle will partner the Savabeel four-year-old who hasn’t raced since February, but showed her readiness to return with a trial win at Te Awamutu earlier this month. More horse racing news View the full article

Nom De Plume will contest the Taupo Cup (2000m) on Saturday. Photo: Peter Rubery (Race Images Palmerston North) Robbie Patterson has already successfully raided the Group 3 Counties Cup (2100m) this season, and the New Plymouth trainer has another two northern staying features in his sights over the next few days. Patterson trained a career-best 50 winners last season and has started 2023-24 in a similar vein. He already has 20 wins to his name, headed by Puntura in the Group 2 Manawatu Breeders’ Stakes (1400m) and Group 3 Coupland’s Bakeries Mile (1600m), along with One Bold Cat in last month’s Counties Cup at Pukekohe. Last-start winner Nom De Plume is the $2.80 favourite with horse racing bookmakers to continue Patterson’s strong form in Saturday’s $80,000 Taupo Cup (2000m), while Mary Louise is rated an $8 chance for the Group 3 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2400m) at Pukekohe on New Year’s Day. Patterson was delighted with Nom De Plume’s performance at Trentham on December 16, charging home from last for an emphatic victory over 1600m. “She was very impressive at Wellington last start and has continued to go ahead since then,” Patterson said. “I’m really happy with her. She’s going to appreciate the step up to 2000m on Saturday and won’t mind if there’s any easing in the ground, so she should be a good chance.” With another strong performance at Taupo on Saturday, Nom De Plume could earn the opportunity to pursue black-type targets through the rest of her campaign. “If she acquits herself well at Taupo, I’m keen to get her to the Trentham Stakes (Group 3, 2100m) on January 13,” Patterson said. “It would be great if we could add some black type to her record.” Mary Louise heads into Monday’s $220,000 Queen Elizabeth II Cup as the winner of six of her 13 starts, and she was a last-start fourth behind Dionysus, Prise De Fer and Coruba Jak in the Group 3 Waikato Cup (2400m) at Te Rapa on December 16. None of those three rivals are in the New Year’s Day line-up. Mary Louise has the second-highest rating in the field with 87, but will share the 53kg bottom weight with seven of her eight opponents. Platinum Invador is the clear topweight with 58kg. “It was a solid enough run at Te Rapa,” Patterson said. “She was just a little bit one-paced when they sprinted, but she stuck on okay. She gets in well for this race and won’t mind at all if they have any rain around leading into the meeting.” Nom De Plume and Mary Louise will be the only runners all weekend for Patterson, who had 12 entries for Friday’s abandoned meeting on his home track. “It’s pretty disappointing to lose the local meeting, and as it turned out we probably haven’t really had the amount of rain they were expecting, so we might have been okay to race,” Patterson said. “But that’s racing. At least we’ve got a couple of decent chances to look forward to over the weekend.” More horse racing news View the full article

Burgie beating stablemate Mayor of Norwood in last season’s Southern Mile Final (1600m). Photo: Tayler Strong The race has begun to qualify for the $200,000 Southern Mile Final (1600m) at Wingatui in March, and local trainers Brian and Shane Anderton are keen to once again be in the mix. The father-and-son duo took out this year’s edition of the race with their stakes winner Burgie and they are keen to chase the big prizemoney on offer with a number of their runners this season. “We were lucky enough to win it last season. It was only the first heat the other day so we will try and get a few qualified. It is a good incentive, so it is well worth having a crack at,” Shane Anderton said. “We have run three so far (in the first two heats), we have got a bit more time yet (to qualify), so we will just see how we go.” Stablemates Bauble and Country Boy will attempt to gain a spot in the final when they contest the third heat of the series over a mile at Riverton on New Year’s Day. The pair contested the second heat of the series at Wingatui on Boxing Day but were tripped up by the unseasonable Heavy10 track conditions, finishing ninth and 11th respectively behind winner Sistena. The Andertons are hoping for improved track conditions, with the track rated a Soft 5 on Friday morning and rain forecast in the lead-up to Monday’s meeting. “Bauble was a wee bit disappointing the other day, I don’t know if that wet track might have just pulled him up a bit. He was in pretty good form before that (placing in his four previous outings),” Anderton said. “Country Boy was a bit disappointing the other day too. He hasn’t had a lot of form on heavy ground before that, so hopefully the weather holds off. “Going from a Good 3 to a Heavy 10 tripped a few of them up the other day, so we will see what happens.” Stablemate Inflamed put in a better showing for fifth in the opening heat of the series behind the Danny Crozier-trained Corista and collected five points for the series to put her in a good position to qualify for the final. The Andertons will bring more Southern Mile series flavour to Riverton earlier on the card when this year’s Final victor Burgie and runner-up Mayor Of Norwood contest the Summer Cup (2147m). Burgie has been lumbered with topweight of 60.5kg, while Mayor Of Norwood has the second highest impost at 57.5kg, however, the Andertons have secured the services of four-kilogram claiming apprentice jockeys Kevin Rathoar and Ruvanesh Muniandy to help ease their load. “We have got an allowance off both of them,” Anderton said. “Burgie is up in the weights but she ran a good race at Invercargill the other day. It is hard to pick up ground there late. If she gets a decent run, she will be competitive. “Mayor Of Norwood ran all the sectionals the other day. It was a slow run race, they cantered around and sprinted home. He was probably four or five lengths in front about 10 strides after the post, so if things go right he should be competitive as well.” The Andertons are also looking forward to Ghibellines filly Central Gold making her debut. “She has had a couple of jump outs and is going along alright,” Anderton said. “She will learn a lot from the outing but she has pleased me with what she has done so far.” Rounding out the stable’s representation at Riverton will be Bowler. “Bowler has been racing fairly well and is due to get one soon with a bit of luck,” Anderton said. More horse racing news View the full article