Wandering Eyes

Two foals in the last crop at Airdrie the late Brereton Jones would see will give the owner/breeder a chance at enhancing one of the most consequential biographies in Kentucky history: becoming the breeder of a Kentucky Derby (G1) winner.View the full article

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-bred horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Thursday's Observations features the return of a Rising Star. 15.15 Great Yarmouth, £8,000, Nov, 3yo/up, f/m, 7f 3yT Godolphin's TDN Rising Star VERSE OF LOVE (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) failed to fire on all cylinders when seventh in Newmarket's G3 Nell Gwyn Stakes two weeks ago and gets an almost-immediate opportunity of redemption in a low-key affair. Journeying up the A11 to the Norfolk Coast for this straight seven-furlong heat, the March-foaled bay meets Apple Tree Stud's debutante and fellow HQ day-tripper Rumba Numba (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}), who is a homebred half-sister to three stakes performers out of Listed Princess Royal Stakes victrix Astonishing (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), from the Roger Varian stable. 15.50 Saint-Cloud, €30,000, Cond, 2yo, 6fT Alain and Gerard Wertheimer entry INDIFFERENTE (IRE) (Siyouni {Fr}) is a Yann Barberot-conditioned daughter of G1 Prix Marcel Boussac victrix Indonesienne (Ire) (Muhtathir {GB}) from the family of Poule d'Essai des Pouliches heroine Matiara (Bering {GB}). The February-foaled homebred bay is a full-sister to G3 Prix d'Aumale third Bahasa (Ire) and a half-sister to Listed Grand Criterium de Bordeaux second Precious Sea (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). She returns for this step up to six furlongs, and encounters 11 rivals, bouncing back off a six-length first-up fifth tackling five at Deauville earlier in the month. The post Rising Star Verse Of Love Seeks Redemption By The Sea appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

9th-CD, $141K, OC100K/N3X, 3yo/up, 6f, 5:13 p.m. ET. WORLD RECORD (Gun Runner) in his second start for WinStar and BBN Racing going seven over Churchill's main track last May was certainly impressive when he won by 6 1/4 lengths. That effort garnered the colt 'TDN Rising Star' honors and the Rodolphe Brisset trainee proceeded to run third in the Maxfield Stakes over course and distance, and then he checked off the GII Amsterdam Stakes at the Spa in late July. Despite finishing sixth in the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes upstate, the bay cleared an optional claimer at Keeneland in October. To close out his year in late November, World Record hit the board in the Steel Valley Sprint Stakes at Mahoning Valley. Out of Marwa (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), the '21 $410,000 Keeneland November buy is part of an extended female family which includes sire Sir Cherokee (Cherokee Run) and MGSW Miss Isella (Silver Charm). TJCIS PPS The post Thursday Racing Insights: ‘Rising Star’ World Record Back In The Starting Blocks appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Steve Kornacki is more than the political junkie who, for years, has had a way of explaining things when it comes to elections that help make everything make sense. He does so by turning statistics into an easy-to-understand formula and displaying his findings on an interactive map that is known as the big board. But Kornacki sometimes needs a break from politics, and he has found one in horse racing. It's been his passion since his uncle started taking him to the harness races at Scarborough Downs in Maine. He loves to handicap and approaches racing with the same sort of mind set he uses for politics. The numbers matter. Kornacki will once again be part of NBC's coverage of this week's GI Kentucky Derby. But before he left we grabbed him for the TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland. He was this week's Gainesway Guest of the Week. Like many others, Kornacki believes that the pace may just decide the race. “We're hardly alone in this, I'm sure, but I'll be looking at the pace scenario in the race,” he said. “There was that sense after they introduced the point system back in 2013, that all the sprinters are out of it now and it's slowed down and the speed is holding a lot more. And we saw that for a long time there. It seems that over the last three years that's changed. You had that torrid pace in 2022 that got Rich Strike to the wire first. Mage came from off the pace and then last year Mystik Dan was sort of mid-pack. Sierra Leone and Forever Young rounded out the trifecta and they also came from behind. You had closers coming in there, taking advantage of a pace that heated up a little. So that seems to be the mini-trend. Then, obviously, when you look at the composition of the field this year, you just see speed, speed, speed, especially on the inside. You just see so much of it.” He hasn't made his pick yet but he has a few horses in mind. “I haven't landed yet and I'm torn, to be honest,” Kornacki said. “I've got a couple of closers that I'm really interested in. I'm really interested mainly in the closers. Grande really interests me. I was a little curious about Tiztastic, and maybe to get even a little crazier about it, Chunk of Gold. This is a gut thing, this is not a numbers thing, but I can't shake the feeling that it's just all about the pace. Then again, watch, maybe a couple of them won't break and a couple of them take back because they're afraid of a hot pace. In that case, maybe Rodriguez with Mike Smith, goes to the front and takes him to the lead and they wire the field.” So, what kind of handicapper is he? “Not a good one,” he joked. “I'm always hoping to do better. I do like speed figures. I pay a lot of attention to speed figures, to the Beyers. It's been really interesting hearing Randy (Moss) , talk about those, just given that he's part of the team that complies them. I also like trying to figure out the pace scenario in a race.” In our “Fastest Horse of the Week” segment, which is sponsored by WinStar, we went over the many reasons there are breed to WinStar stallion Heartland. The fastest horse of the week was Keeneland allowance winner Unmatched Wisdom (Cairo Prince), who ran a 103. Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders' Association, West Point Thoroughbreds, 1/ST Racing and 1/ST TV, the team of Moss, Zoe Cadman and Bill Finley held the first ever TDN Writers' Room Oaks-Derby draft. All 20 horses in the GI Kentucky Derby and all 14 in the GI Kentucky Oaks were drafted and points will be awarded on a 5-3-1 basis. Zoe Cadman took Journalism (Curlin) with the first overall pick. They also handicapped the major stakes on the Oaks and Derby undercards. Click here to watch the podcast or here to listen. The post Steve Kornacki Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast Presented by Keeneland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The $1 million Turf Classic Stakes (G1T) promises a field of 12 talented runners. But because many of those runners are looking for consistency, the morning-line favorite is listed at a healthy 4-1. View the full article

Major immigration reform has been talked about for decades, but torpedoed legislation is as far as that has gone. Indeed, President Ronald Reagan was still just in his second term when he signed the last comprehensive immigration reform bill successfully steered through congress. Amid the cavalcade of immigration-related actions that the current administration has sanctioned, however, the possibility has appeared for that trend to be bucked. In the process, it opens the door for some of the nation's backstretch immigrant workforce to potentially find themselves on a new pathway towards legal status. “This is not a new problem, and I'm encouraged by the fact that the president is talking about it,” said James O'Neill, director of legislative affairs for the American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC), a nationwide bipartisan coalition of over 1,700 employers and CEOs, about comments made by President Donald Trump at an April 10 cabinet meeting. At that gathering, Trump intimated of a new program to help farm, hotel and other workers leave the country and then return legally with the support of their U.S. employer. “We are also going to work with farmers, that if they have strong recommendations from their farms for certain people, we're going to let them stay in for a while and work with the farmers and then come back and go through a process, a legal process,” Trump said. “We have to take care of our farmers and hotels and, you know, various places where they use, where they need the people. And we're going to be working with you very carefully on that,” the president added. Federally, the backstretch workforce falls under the umbrella of the fair labor standards act, limiting them to H-2B visas only. The H-2B visa program–which affords non-agriculture seasonal immigrant workers jobs in such industries as hospitality or with animals–has its limitations. It comes with a restrictive annual quota. The visa is typically only granted for a year or less, but it can be extended for up to three years. While Trump's wording at the meeting was vague, the pathways available to bring such concepts to life appear largely two-fold: Through executive order or through legislation. If he takes the executive order route, said O'Neill, “then the scope of the program may be more limited. But it may be faster from a procedural standpoint.” A legislative fix may take longer, O'Neill added, but it would likely be a “more comprehensive or more permanent solution to some of the problems that we're seeing.” While the current administration's aggressive approach to immigration enforcement towards individuals both documented and undocumented has so far largely left horse racing alone, other industries haven't fared as well, like in the breadbasket of Central California, for example, of the Midwest. Indeed, Trump's comments came off the back of much push back from industry groups and immigration reform organizations in recent months. According to O'Neill, ABIC brought over 150 business owners to Washington to meet with over 121 offices at the end of March. They included representatives from the racing industry like trainer Dale Romans and California Horse Racing Board vice president, Oscar Gonzalez. Their message? “What we need to see is a secure border and a secure workforce. And we need policy that provides employers with the talent that they need to keep their business running and their business growing,” said O'Neill. There are possible blueprints for a new immigration bill to follow, including the language written into the stalled 2022 Affordable and Secure Food Act, which, among other things, provided a pathway to a green card after 10 years of work for farm and equine workers in the program. According to immigration attorney Will Velie, who also represents individuals from horse racing, Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colo)–the law maker who introduced that 2022 bill–is still pursuing similar legislative reforms. “He needs a Republican co-sponsor, which is where the bill is right now,” said Velie. Velie added that the federal budget is expected to contain tens of billions of dollars for immigration enforcement only. That, weighted against the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, could be the impetus needed for comprehensive immigration reform to finally find the needed traction, said Velie. “Trump is so mercurial when it comes to policy. And his party is so lock-step with him that if he on one-day says enforcement only, and on the next day says 'oh, we'll save the farm workers,' then all of a sudden it's a possibility,” said Velie. On Thursday morning at Churchill Downs, Velie will be one of the attendees at a joint ABIC and Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association media briefing to discuss this renewed push for bipartisan immigration reform. The post Amid Immigration Crackdown, Possible Opportunity For Immigrant Backstretch Workers appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bob Baffert stood in front of Barn 33–covered once again with green-and-white plaques celebrating his six GI Kentucky Derby winners and three GI Kentucky Oaks winners– and held court with the media and posed for pictures with fans on a humid Wednesday morning at Churchill Downs. Following a well-documented, three-year suspension following the medication disqualification of Medina Spirit in the 2021 Kentucky Derby, it was business as usual for the Hall of Fame trainer, who will make his highly anticipated return beneath the Twin Spires this weekend with Tenma (Nyquist) in the Kentucky Oaks and champion 2-year-old colt Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) and 'TDN Rising Star' Rodriguez (Authentic) in the Kentucky Derby. He will also saddle the comebacking, unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Nysos (Nyquist) in a loaded renewal of the GI Churchill Downs S., Hope Road (Quality Road) in the GI Derby City Distaff S. and turning-back Madaket Road (Quality Road) in the GII Pat Day Mile S., all on the Derby undercard. How does it feel to be back? “It's been good,” Baffert replied on the go after watching a set train by his usual spot by the gap. “The horses, so far, they've settled in well and that's the main thing. It's normal–to me, it feels like just another Derby week.” He continued, “We've got a lot of fans. The fans want to come out and they want to see the good horses and all the top trainers. It's like anything. It's just like going to the Masters again, everybody wants to see the main players. Louisville is a great city. They really love it when people show up everywhere we go. It's nice.” Journalism galloping beneath the Twin Spires Wednesday | Sherackatthetrack All of those “main players,” including Baffert's aforementioned inside-drawn Derby duo, were in action during the 7:15-7:30 a.m. training window reserved for Derby and Oaks entrants. Imposing Kentucky Derby favorite Journalism (Curlin) continues to dominate the headlines on that front since shipping in from Michael McCarthy's Santa Anita base, as does the Brad Cox-trained unbeaten Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro), who is favored at 6-5 on the morning line in the female equivalent. Journalism continues do everything you want to see, displaying terrific energy while galloping powerfully as well as showcasing that massive stride of his. Sovereignty (Into Mischief) is another who has been training like he owns the place while striking grays Final Gambit (Not This Time) and Sandman (Tapit) and Burnham Square (Liam's Map) all left lasting impressions. Sovereignty getting over the track very nicely this morning beneath the Twin Spires pic.twitter.com/KRBChHDWR6 — Steve Sherack (@SteveSherackTDN) April 30, 2025 The post ‘It’s Just Like Going to the Masters Again’ – Following Three-Year Suspension, Baffert Back in Spotlight for Kentucky Derby appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

California Governor Gavin Newsom has appointed Peter Stern to the California Horse Racing Board, the CHRB announced Wednesday. Stern, who will require Senate approval for the appointment, has been Chief Revenue Officer at Skedulo and an Advisor at Berkeley SkyDeck since 2025. Additionally, he held several roles at Authorium from 2024 to 2025, including Advisor and Executive Vice President and was the Co-Founder of VoiceBrain from 2021 to 2023. The post Newsom Appoints Peter Stern To California Horse Racing Board appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Precocious kid, streaks ahead of his peers, brought crashing to earth? Hang in there, boy. Because if that's pretty much where the champion juvenile finds himself, heading into the GI Kentucky Derby off a disappointing run at Santa Anita, he need not seek far for inspiration. Robert Low bred Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) with his wife Lawana from their mare No Joke (Distorted Humor), who had cost them $750,000 as a yearling at the 2017 Keeneland September Sale–just days after her half-sister Moonshine Memories (Malibu Moon) had won the GI Debutante Stakes. Unfortunately, No Joke never made the racetrack. “Just one of these hard-luck fillies,” Low explains. “Plagued by little, niggling issues. She did show flashes of brilliance, in her works, even as we were trying to take it easy and let her work through those things. But she's absolutely gorgeous, a wonderful physical, so at some point we decided to turn her into a broodmare. And that has obviously turned out a good decision.” But this was hardly the first time Low had discovered how a hard road will often lead to the summit. He was still a University of Missouri student when buying himself a dump truck in 1970. “Really, it was downpayment on a dump truck,” he clarifies. “A pretty old one, too, and not that profitable because it kept breaking down.” But still–what kind of 19-year-old does that, when his buddies are boozing and chasing girls? “Some of my fraternity brothers and classmates did say I was crazy,” Low admits. “But I was a pretty enterprising youth, raised on a farm, and I'm sure my parents had helped spot me a couple cows, that kind of thing. So when I went to college, I had a few dollars stored away that I could invest. And driving that dump truck, it was really like a summer job.” Except then he remembered what everyone in the meatpacking trade had always told his father, a market news reporter: the guys who made the real money were the truckers. Citizen Bull works at Churchill | Coady Media “I would find out that it wasn't necessarily true,” Low recalls. “But it got me interested, the talk at the kitchen table about over-the-road trucks. So when my dump truck wasn't working out, I decided I'd trade it for one of those. And that's how we got started.” He didn't just do well. He did too well, a sapling rocketing too tall for its roots. “Early, mid-'70s, we were essentially doubling the size of the company: one truck, two, four, eight, and up,” Low explains. “Pretty soon, say just prior to 1980, we had 300. But that kind of rapid growth, I don't know where you can do that now. High-tech, maybe, but in trucking you have assets that are expensive. So going like that, you create a lot of debt–and your debt-to-equity really hasn't had a chance to catch up.” And then, at that peak of vulnerability, he ran into a historic spike in interest rates: 20 percent and more, plus he was borrowing at two to four points above the prime rate. In 1979, not yet 30 years old, Low cleared $1 million profit. The following year, he found himself in a bankruptcy court. Through around four years in Chapter 11, he learned to live scrupulously according to his means: not a cent spent that hadn't been earned. He would come to work every morning terrified of a call from the bank. Would the day's cashflow hold out? It was a highwire and, just as it seemed ready to snap, Low's mother insisted that she should help. “And actually that became a tremendous motivation,” Low says. “Because she was just a regular working person that had gotten her home free and clear. She borrowed $50,000 and gave it to me, at one of the darkest points, to keep the company going. And I think that really turned the situation around, emotionally. I mean, you can't leave your mother hanging out there with nothing. You are very highly motivated, to get her paid back!” Today, looking back as CEO of Prime Inc.–with a fleet of 6,500 trucks and revenues exceeding $2 billion–Low recognizes that the furnace must first be endured before steel can cool and harden. “I was a prideful country boy,” he says. “My parents, my relatives, had always paid their bills. It was a stark awakening. But I learned so many lessons about business, and about life and people. We got it together, got the company reorganized–a different business model, a different attitude–and really never looked back.” It was also to his parents that Low owed his passion for horses, first through the hogs-and-cattle environment in which he was raised and then, more specifically, by introducing him to Oaklawn. Sweet Melania with the Lows | Keeneland “I was farm boy,” Low recalls. “Fancied myself a bit of a cowboy, and took pretty naturally to it. I rode my horse in the Christmas parade, that kind of thing.” Doing so, in fact, produced a life-changing opportunity to flirt with a girl in the fifth grade. “Though Lawana's memory is different from mine,” Low says with a chuckle. “I'm quite sure that she didn't invite me to put her on the horse, but that I invited her.” One way or another, horses have remained a bond in a marriage now extending beyond half a century. “Oh, she loves them,” Low confirms. “She works on the matings and likes handicapping, though she doesn't seem to give me many of her winners! But yes, from early in our marriage we would go to Hot Springs together. Having been there with my parents, as a kid, I just have so many good memories down there, and it's become very dear to our hearts.” So when the business began thriving more sustainably, in the early 1990s, the Lows could have no more fulfilling reward than to start a stable. One of their earliest investments was Capote Belle, who won the GI Test Stakes, and they have twice since followed the Derby trail all the way to the first Saturday in May. Needless to say, both Steppenwolfer (2006) and Magnum Moon (2018) took the Oaklawn route, albeit there was quite a contrast in their fortunes at Churchill. Steppenwolfer, only placed in the Rebel and the Arkansas Derby, outran his odds in third; Magnum Moon, who had won both races emphatically, trailed home covered in mud. “Steppenwolfer was a great ride,” Low recalls. “He was trained by Danny Peitz, who's primarily a local Oaklawn trainer. Actually his brother worked for us in our shop here at Prime. So it was a big family deal, one of those experiences that really reinforce your enthusiasm. “Same with Magnum Moon, going into the Derby as leading points scorer: to have won those races at our home track, around friends and family, created memories to last a lifetime. But I think it remains the rainiest Derby on record, just a bog, and he lost all chance getting bumped around out of the 16 hole.” Tragically, Magnum Moon would never get a shot at redemption. That summer he was struck by laminitis and, despite showing prodigious courage and patience over the following months, eventually succumbed. Built cruises along on the tab at Churchill | Coady Media “We loved that horse so much,” Low says. “Probably even beyond his talent as a racehorse, he had an incredible will to live. He was in that clinic for almost a year, trying to recover. We'd have signs of progress, then a setback, but all the way through he was totally classy, smart, did everything right. “The game obviously has its highs and lows, so you need to cherish those highs and learn to cope with the lows. If it's going to be destructive to your life, you need to be doing something else. Because all it takes is a stroke of very bad luck, one bad step.” Returning to the Derby this time obviously feels different, rooting for a horse in someone else's silks. But the Lows retain plenty of skin in the game, between breeder's prizes and Citizen Bull's family. “We have the mare and the half-sister, who just foaled a beautiful colt by our stallion Colonel Liam,” Low notes. “No Joke has a fantastic Mandaloun yearling colt and a spectacular Life is Good weanling colt–but I think she may be going back to Into Mischief from now on!” There were Derby dreams for Colonel Liam when bought as a juvenile for $1.2 million, but he only paid off that investment once switched to turf. Now building a new career under the skilled supervision of Ocala Stud, his unexpected flowering reminds us that horses, for better or worse, remain ever unpredictable. That leaves the Lows, like anyone else, facing tricky strategic calls to maintain a viable program. The dam of GII Pat Day Mile contender Built (Hard Spun), for instance, was sold when he was a weanling for just $40,000 at the Keeneland November Sale. Both No Joke's previous foals having been retained, moreover, Citizen Bull was allowed to go for $675,000 after catching the expert eye of Donato Lanni for a partnership headed by SF/Starlight/Madaket. “Hindsight's always 20/20,” Low says. “Sometimes you'll make the wrong call. You hate to give up those beautiful Curlin mares, for sure, but before Built we felt like she hadn't produced for us, and needed moving on. I mean, I'm a businessman. Nobody likes just losing money year after year, so you need to manage things somewhat in the hope of ending up with a good, profitable venture. “We get together, try to evaluate where we are, make a decision and go with it. We really appreciate and respect the Taylor Made operation–Mark Taylor and Jeff Hayslett are very helpful–along with our farm manager Denny Wilson, and Jacob West as our bloodstock manager. And as we've said, we still have very good reasons to be cheering for Citizen Bull.” A breeding program of your own, of course, loads residual value into well-bred acquisitions like No Joke. That spurred the Lows into an extra bid or two in stretching for a $1.9 million Curlin filly out of Matera (Tapit), stakes-winning half-sister to Not This Time and Colonel Liam's sire Liam's Map, at Saratoga last summer. “Being farmers, breeders, that gives us a little backstop,” Low acknowledges. “That filly's with J.J. Pletcher in Ocala and it looks like she'll be going on to Todd pretty early, maybe in four or five weeks, hopefully then Saratoga. So we're excited about her.” The Lows lead Colonel Liam into the winner's circle after the Pegasus Turf | Coglianese But there is a further, clinching satisfaction for their whole program: the fact that the Lows have their mares and foals at Primatara Farm, right on the doorstep of the palatial home they built near Springfield, Missouri. “We love being round the horses, and really it's why we have the farm,” Low says. “And we take a great deal of pride that a champion 2-year-old was raised outside of Kentucky. Of course we do the Kentucky-bred thing, we ferry back and forth. But Denny, and Holly Hurshman and the rest of the crew, just do a great job. It's so gratifying to watch these horses growing up, a big part of the enjoyment that we get out of the sport.” No doubt as many people told Low he was crazy, trying to raise champion Thoroughbreds in Missouri, as they did when he bought that truck as a teenager. “They talk about the limestone and water in Kentucky,” Low says. “Well, we have limestone, we have good clean water, rolling hills. It's a beautiful environment. We know we need luck, everyone does. But while luck is always nice, it's also about having a good game plan. And, especially, good people. In the end, that's what gets you through. Whether racing, or trucking, logistics, whatever it is, if you can surround yourself with good people, that's going to make the difference.” The post Breeder Spotlight: Proud Missouri Citizen A Model For Bull Run, Presented By Keeneland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk The “House” party looks set to continue at Manawatu today. The red juggernaut will be represented by 11 runners at Palmerston North this evening with all of them backing up from Tuesday’s meeting. Trainer Michael House had five winners then to take him to 903 career victories while son Wilson drove three of them on his 21st birthday – not that there was any huge celebration to mark the big event. “It was just a few drinks with dinner, nothing out of the ordinary.” With 51 wins in 2025, House is the country’s leading junior driver and second in the overall drivers’ premiership behind seven-time champion Blair Orange. He looks a great chance to add to that with six drives tonight, starting with Shezabettorgirl in Race 1, the Andrew and Lyn Neal Stables Mobile Pace “She’s a nice tough mare who won well for Harry (Harrison Orange) the first day – it was a great drive.” “She’d be one of my better drives on the day.” In race 3 he partners up with another Tuesday winner in Matai Harry in the Smale Logistics Mobile Pace (6.04pm). Two days ago he kicked through to lead and won well by over a length from Ragnar Lothbrok. “He’s a keen traveller who’s held his condition well.” “The best one seems to be Kevin Kline who’s drawn out well.” Oakley Shard is another Tuesday winner who shapes up as an each way chance in Race 4, the D and M Webb Mobile Pace. “He’s drawn exactly where he drew the first day (two on the second line) and that could be a good draw from there,” says House. In race 5, the Herb Stent Memorial Handicap Pace House partners with Avenger. After a big second two starts ago at Addington the Sweet Lou six-year-old was fourth on Tuesday. “I was slow away and then he had a bit of gallop so I was three deep which cost me second or third.” “But he’s in a bit of trouble on the second day because it’s 2500 and those back markers will catch you.” House is especially mindful of Rough And Ready in a field that also includes Iron Brigade, Lord Delmar and Nelson’s Boy. House is quietly confident about Koko Kaboom in the Colin Goss Memorial Handicap Trot (7.29pm) though manners will again be critical. “He was third after galloping (on Tuesday) and if he gets around trotting the 2500 will suit him more than the 2000 on the first day.” House’s last drive for the night is with La Bamba in the DSL Electrical Mobile Pace. He was backed into favouritism on Tuesday but finished sixth of seven. “I was stuck three deep and you can’t make ground. The horse went fine, he’ll be fine on the second day as long as we don’t pushed down on the fence.” Race 1 starts at 5.09pm. View the full article

Thursday, Saint-Cloud, France, post time: 16:25, PRIX DU MUGUET-G2, €130,000, 4yo/up, 8fT Field: Ozat (Fr) (Kingman {GB}), Tribalist (GB) (Farhh {GB}), Vertbois (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Aigle Vaillant (Fr) (Wings Of Eagles {Fr}), Tumbler (Fr) (Kingman {GB}), No Lunch (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Zoom (Fr) (No Nay Never). TDN Verdict: Tribalist goes for three consecutive editions of this May Day special, having memorably put Charyn (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in his place in the G1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp in September. The only question mark is whether his comprehensive defeat by No Lunch in the Prix Montjeu on Chantilly's Polytrack in March was down to the fact that he was needing his comeback and racing under a six-pound penalty, or was it a sign of a slight decline. The fact is that he does like it softer than it is likely to be here, so there is hope for No Lunch if he hasn't been put off his stride by a subsequent no-show in the G2 Godolphin Mile on dirt. [Tom Frary]. Thursday, Munich, Germany, post time: 15:55, WETTSTAR.DE – BAVARIAN CLASSIC-G3, €55,000, 3yo, 10fT Field: Abando (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}), Aquaman (Ger) (Cracksman {GB}), Lazio (Ger) (Make Believe {GB}), Oriental Star (Ger) (Reliable Man {GB}), Path Of Soldier (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}), Zuckerhut (Ger) (Almanzor {Fr}). TDN Verdict: Early sparring between the G1 Deutsches Derby hopes sees the eight-length G2 Gran Criterium winner Lazio encounter some up-and-comers including the Mulheim winner Zuckerhut and Cologne scorer Aquaman. The latter represents the Henk Grewe stable successful three times since 2019. [Tom Frary]. Thursday, Chelmsford City, Britain, post time: 19:15, BET365 CHELMER FILLIES' STAKES-Listed, £80,000, 3yo, f, 6f 0y Field: Arabian Dusk (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}), Englemere (Ire) (Goken {Fr}), Enola Holmes (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), Hold A Dream (Ire) (Bated Breath {GB}), Lady With The Lamp (Ire) (King Of Change {GB}), Liberalised (GB) (Kodiac {GB}), Neytiri Te Tskaha (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}), Proudly Yours (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), Running Queen (GB) (Kingman {GB}), Spirit D'Or (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), Star Of Mehmas (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), Wewilldanceagain (Ire) (Wooded {Ire}). TDN Verdict: It's back to sprinting for last year's G2 Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes winner and G1 Cheveley Park Stakes third Arabian Dusk who failed to see out the seven furlongs of the G3 Nell Gwyn Stakes. Lady With The Lamp beat some significant older horses in the Listed Cork Stakes and rates her biggest threat, while the Listed Harry Rosebery Stakes scorer Star Of Mehmas gets the Ryan Moore treatment which could be significant. [Tom Frary] Click here for the complete fields. The post Black-Type Analysis: Lazio Eyeing Bavarian Classic Laurels appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Jockey Jareth Loveberry has not scored in the Kentucky Derby (G1), but he knows almost what it feels like to win it, having just missed in the 2023 race with Two Phil's with his first Derby mount. This year, Loveberry returns, riding Chunk of Gold.View the full article

Led by Arturo R. y Arturo Bullrich (G2) winner Martana, a field of seven fillies and mares has been entered for the May 1 Gran Premio Criadores (G1) in Argentina. The winner will earn an automatic starting berth into the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1). View the full article

In the fifth start of his career, East Avenue picked up some valuable experience ahead of his start in the $5 million Kentucky Derby (G1) May 3 at Churchill Downs.View the full article

Breaking sharp out of the gate, Sassy C W easily dominated eight rivals in her debut April 30 at Churchill Downs and earned Spendthrift Farm stallion Yaupon his first winner.View the full article

Group 3 winner Orne (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) (lot 52) is one of the star lots among the 96 horses catalogued during the upcoming Tattersalls Online May Sale. Successful in the Horris Hill Stakes for John and Thady Gosden, he was also second in the G2 Sandy Lane Stakes and currently holds a Timeform mark of 100. Other lots of note in the mixed sale are a quartet from trainer Willie Mullins including the G2 Killashee Handicap Hurdle winner Bialystock (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) (lot 11); and G3 Scottish Grand National runner-up Klarc Kent (Fr) (Spanish Moon) (lot 39). There is also a yearling filly by Caturra (Ire) (lot 91), whose half-brother by Havana Grey (GB) made 650,000gns at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale when sold by Bansha House Stables to Godolphin. Overall, the sale consists of 84 horses in- and out-of-training, six point-to-pointers, three stores, and three yearlings. Bidding will open at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, May 7, and close beginning at 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 8. The post Orne Highlights Tattersalls Online May Sale Catalogue appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

In Australasian stallion news, Swettenham Stud and Waikato Stud revealed their 2025 rosters and fees on Wednesday, while Group 1 winner Schwarz (Aus) will stand at Rosemont Stud after his run in the upcoming G1 Doomben 10,000. Leading Swettenham's roster is former shuttle stallion and now permanent Southern Hemisphere resident Toronado (Ire), who will stand for an unchanged fee of A$88,000 this season. The leading active sire based in Victoria, the son of High Chaparral (Ire) was one of only two Australian stallions ranked among the world's top five sires for winners in 2024. Besides siring an A$1 million yearling at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale, Toronado's runners have been performing well despite being sired at a fee of A$27,500 or less, barring his current crop of juveniles who were sired at A$49,500. “The quality of mares that he has served has gone up a level, and this year's yearlings were the first of his progeny conceived off the higher service fee,” said Swettenham's Marcus Heritage. “It was great to see him have his first million-dollar yearling this year. He is so well received across the board, he is hugely desired in the Asian market, but also local trainers and breeders want his progeny, he is a high-class stallion, and he deserves the success he is getting.” Swettenham also stands Wootton Bassett (GB)'s Wooded (Ire), who was a Group 1-winning sprinter in Europe. Already the sire of 20 winners from his first crop in the Northern Hemisphere, the dark bay also has a group winner to his credit in Woodshauna (Fr). His fee has been reduced to A$16,500 (inc GST). “Being a son of Wootton Bassett can only be positive after the way he started with his first Australian crop, and he is the only son of Wootton Bassett in Australia, although I'm sure that will change with time,” said Heritage. Waikato Kingpin Continues His Reign Anchoring the Waikato roster is multiple champion New Zealand sire Savabeel (Aus), who will stand for an unchanged fee of NZ$100,000. He is over NZ$2.7 million ahead of his nearest rivals on the current New Zealand General Sires' List and appears to be poised to collect his 10th sire title. The son of Zabeel (NZ) will be inducted into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame this May. In the 2024/2025 season, he's sired two new Group 1 winners, bringing his total to 35 individual top-level winners, on top of Atishu (NZ), who was already a seasoned Group 1 winner scoring at that level again. His ratio of stakes winners to runners is 11.1% and his group winners to runners ratio is 7.3%. He also sired his highest-priced yearling ever–a NZ$2.4 million filly this season. “He deserves every accolade, and we are very proud of everything he's done and is doing for the New Zealand industry,” said Chittick. “He has great vitality and we're heading into the season with a bright, happy and healthy horse–the only thing we will avoid breeding this year at his age is maidens.” Receiving a hefty fee boost to NZ$75,000, Super Seth (Aus) is now the sire of three Group 1 winners this season from just two crops of racing age–Australian Guineas winner Feroce (NZ), Linebacker (NZ) won the Randwick Guineas, and La Dorada (NZ) won the Manawatu Sires' Produce Stakes. Super Seth boasts a stakes winners to runners strike rate of 8%, with his yearlings having sold for as much as NZ$700,000 in recent sales. Due to the stallion's restricted nomination availability and exceptional demand, bookings will close by application at 5 p.m. (NZT) on Wednesday, June 4. Chittick added, “An unbelievable stallion. I don't feel as though we have had a stallion start like this in New Zealand for a long time. Three Group 1 winners across two countries in a month is freakish, and he keeps backing up with Trans-Tasman winners every single week.” Schwartz Coming Up Roses A winner of the G1 William Reid Stakes, Schwarz will become the first A$1-million plus yearling and Group 1 weight-for-age-winning sprinter over distances of 1200 metres or less to head to stud in Australian in over a decade. The son of Group 2 winner Summer Sham (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}) also won a trio of other group races and was bred by Widden Stud. “We believe he's not only Zoustar's greatest, most successful son, but also his best-looking and indeed best-bred stallion,” said Rosemont bloodstock manager Ryan McEvoy. “As an A$1.25 million Magic Millions purchase from a Group 2-winning daughter of Not A Single Doubt, who descends directly from the family of Redoute's Choice (Aus), he offers everything you'd want in a top-class stallion prospect; type, sire-line, pedigree, attitude, and Group 1-winning speed.” His fee will be on a price-on-application basis with an official fee set after his final race, the Doomben 10,000 on May 17. The post Toronado Leads Swettenham Roster; Savabeel On Top Of Waikato’s Team appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Considered well enough to get backed down to 6-5 favoritism for this first career go, Sassy C W (Yaupon–Sassy Miss Sue, by Tiznow) broke with her running shoes squarely on, sprinting clear within strides as second and third choice Wakuda (Gun Runner) and Baffle (Violence) gave chase. Not for catching late, the $375,000 OBS March graduate was well clear of her rivals turning for home and ultimately crossed the wire 5-lengths ahead of Wakuda with Baffle back in third. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $72,000. O-Patricias Hope & Carolyn Wilson; B-Harun Kahraman (KY); T-Larry Rivelli. The post Yaupon’s Sassy C W Blasts to TDN Rising Star Win at Churchill appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

A share in Zoustar (Aus) topped the Inglis Digital April (Late) Sale when knocked down to Boomer Bloodstock for A$1.1 million on Wednesday. This marks only the second time a share in the Widden Stud-based sire has been available at public auction, with both shares being offered by Qatar Bloodstock. The first share was sold to Julie Ritchie for A$1.3 million last June. “I have various clients that I work for that are always on the lookout for opportunities, and this one fit well into their portfolio,” said Craig Rounsefell of Boomer Bloodstock. “I'm very pleased with the purchase, it was around the price I thought we would have to pay, one went for A$1.3 million last year and the stallion is going from strength to strength. In terms of the top class proven stallions, there is a big age gap from the others to him, so there's a bit of longevity there, and it's great to get involved with such a good stud like Widden. “In terms of Zoustar's profile, his fee may even go higher in years to come, he's going great at the sales, he's got sons retiring to stud, and I have no doubt he will be a top broodmare sire of the future.” The 14-year-old son of Northern Meteor (Aus), who will stand the upcoming season for A$275,000, has sired 10 Group 1 winners among his 65 black-type winners. His current progeny earnings are over A$20.9 million and he currently sits second on the Australian General Sires Premiership. Zoustar's yearlings have averaged A$492,000 at the sales this season with a quintet of seven-figure lots led by an A$2.6 million filly who sold to Resolute Racing at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale. For the full sale results, please visit the Inglis Digital website. The post Boomer Bloodstock Buys Zoustar Share For A$1.1 Million On Inglis Digital appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Six days after trainer Philip Serpe argued that an attempt by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) to drop its pursuit of a $25,000 penalty in his ongoing Clenbuterol positive case was an alleged end-around to prejudicially stymie his legal efforts in a lawsuit against the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a federal judge in Florida ordered that a letter about that non-pursuit that was issued by HIWU Apr. 23 is not enough to moot Serpe's contention that he has been wrongfully denied his Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial. As TDN's Dan Ross reported Apr. 29, in a joint motion filed last week, attorneys for the FTC and the HISA Authority wrote in an Apr. 24 motion to vacate a supplemental briefing order that the lack of a monetary fine in the case “moots Plaintiff's Seventh Amendment claim and removes any risk of cognizable harm with respect to it,” and that the judge in the case “should dispose of Plaintiff's Seventh Amendment claim, and Plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction relating to that claim.” Serpe had replied in a same-day legal response to the defendants' motion to vacate that the “late-stage motion should be seen for what it probably is-part of a concerted effort with HIWU to prejudicially moot Serpe's claims during the pendency of this case.” And in an Apr. 30 order-writing that he “need not await” a reply from the defendants before ruling on this matter-Judge David Leibowitz of United States District Court (Southern District of Florida) granted in part and denied in part the motion to vacate, stating that HIWU's sending of a letter via email to Serpe's legal team was not enough to allow for a ruling either way on the Seventh Amendment contention. “The Court finds that HIWU's barebones statement by letter, notifying Plaintiff 'that HIWU will not be seeking a fine to be imposed against [Plaintiff] pursuant to ADMC Program Rule 3323,' is insufficient to apprise the Court clearly as to the types of remedies being pursued in this case by both Defendants and HIWU, and therefore the ultimate impact upon Plaintiff's Seventh Amendment claim,” the judge wrote. “If Defendants want to obtain the relief they seek, [both the FTC and the HISA Authority] must file in the record a declaration or affidavit that sets forth the following: “1. All specific forms of relief being sought or potentially sought (by HIWU or the Defendant filing the declaration or affidavit) against Plaintiff in the upcoming June 2025 arbitration, as well as in any subsequent adjudication or determination. Defendants must list every form of relief being pursued, even potentially (e.g., suspension, disgorgement, civil fine, etc.). “2. All specific forms of relief not being sought or potentially sought (by HIWU or the Defendant filing the declaration or affidavit) against Plaintiff in the upcoming June 2025 arbitration, as well as in any subsequent adjudication or determination. “In other words, what form(s) of relief do Defendants stipulate or attest will not be pursued against Plaintiff in the upcoming arbitration or any subsequent adjudications or determinations?” the order stated. In addition to filing the above-described declaration/affidavit, the judge ordered that the HISA Authority and the FTC each must also brief the following legal questions: “1. As to each form of relief being sought or potentially sought against Plaintiff in the upcoming June 2025 arbitration or any subsequent adjudication or determination [is] HIWU, the Authority, and the FTC immune from suit by Plaintiff (under the doctrine of sovereign immunity or otherwise), or has that immunity been waived? “2. As to each form of relief not being sought or potentially sought against Plaintiff in the upcoming June 2025 arbitration or any subsequent adjudication or determination [does] HIWU, the Authority, and the FTC have the discretion to stipulate ab initio that those forms of relief will never be sought against Plaintiff under the relevant statute and regulations?” The defendants were given 10 days to comply with the judge's order. The post Federal Judge Orders HIWU, FTC, To Be More Specific In What Relief Is Sought In Serpe Case appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

With a lot of the negative news we often confront in racing, sometimes it's important to also see the good, like how taking just five minutes to talk to a young person who is just beginning their journey in the racing business can be. By my estimate, each person listed below graciously spent five to 10 minutes of his or her time during a very busy Derby week visiting with a dozen students from Bluegrass Community and Technical College's Equine Studies program. Yet the impressions they left will last far, far longer than those five minutes. Until Tuesday morning, many of these young newcomers to racing NEVER thought that someday they might actually have a chance to meet these stars of our sport. And now they have. And hearing from Todd Pletcher himself that, yes, like each of them, he too had to muck stalls when he was starting out, now makes reaching their career goals somehow…reachable. Last year's Derby winning jockey Brian Hernandez (center, purple t-shirt) meets with the BCTC students | KCTSC Marketing That small but powerful one-on-one connection is something that can never be taught from a book or in a classroom lecture. So thank you to: Wayne Lukas, Bill Mott, Steve Asmussen, Todd Pletcher, Bob Baffert, Brian Hernandez, Jr., Ken McPeek, Steve Cauthen, Gary Stevens, Randy Moss, Jerry Bailey, Michelle Lovell, Erica Herrforth (BCTC Equine Alumna), Churchill Downs's Mike Ziegler and Andie Biancone. You made a difference. Remi Bellocq, Dixie Kendall and Amy Heitzman BCTC Equine Program The post Letter to the Editor: Paying it Forward appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

From Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel to James Ingram, the personal playlist of Phil Cunningham, carried in the names of many of his horses over the years, has provided the perfect accompaniment to some memorable days on the turf. In fact, back in 2007, legendary singer/songwriter Steve Harley, who died last year, was spotted among the merry throng after Cunningham's Cockney Rebel (Ire) sprang a 25/1 surprise in the 2,000 Guineas. He would go on to complete a Classic double at the Curragh three weeks later. On Saturday, Cunningham returns to the Rowley Mile with another long shot for the first Classic of the British season in Yah Mo Be There (GB). The son of Mohaather (GB) is no forlorn hope, however, certainly not in the eyes of his owner. Cunningham's passion for racing burns as brightly as the day he had a first taste of life at the sport's top table 20 years ago when Rebel Rebel (Ire) (Revoque {Ire}) belied his 100/1 starting price to finish second in the 2,000 Guineas to Footstepsinthesand (GB) (Giant's Causeway). A young colt by the name of Dubawi (Ire) was a couple of lengths behind him in fifth. Then, in 2011, Cunningham's first homebred Slim Shadey (GB) – sent off at 200/1 – ran fourth in Frankel's Guineas, all of which makes the 66/1 about Yah Mo Be There look like the each-way bet of the weekend. “We're trying to keep everything in check but I just feel like the stars are aligning,” says Cunningham of his next shot at Classic glory. “The faster the ground the better, the horse is fit and well and quite a few around us are pulling out. He's a big price and he's got to improve a lot on what he's done so far, but we've been here before.” He continues, “Yah Mo Be There is under the radar. It suits us to be the underdog. It sounds ridiculous but when we went to Ireland [with Cockney Rebel] as 6/4 favourite it wasn't enjoyable. I was 37 and there have been a lot of horses in between but, crazy as it seems now, I look back and I was probably too young and too inexperienced in the game to enjoy it as much as I possibly could have done. I was a little bit like a lottery winner. “He was the first horse I owned on my own. Rebel Rebel, who was second in the Guineas in 2005, was owned by myself and my dad and four friends, and we sold him, went to the sale and bought Cockney Rebel.” Cockney Rebel after the 2,000 Guineas; Steve Harley is being interviewed in the background for Channel 4 Racing | Racingfotos Yah Mo Be There had a tune-up run to be fifth in the G3 Greenham Stakes a fortnight ago, having taken Newbury's Listed Rose Bowl Stakes last August. Like Cockney Rebel, he was picked up by Cunningham as a yearling at Doncaster and, as a £95,000 purchase from Manor House Farm Stud, he was one of the early standouts from his sire's first crop. The colt is also bidding to give his co-breeder Stuart McPhee Classic success in consecutive seasons after Metropolitan (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}) won last year's Poule d'Essai des Poulains. Cunningham says, “He needed the run in the Greenham and the trials are there for a reason. If you look at all of his races he quickens, he's got that ability at the end of his races to take off, and the classic example of that was at Newbury last year. We went into the Coventry more confident than we were with Rajasinghe but he got bashed into at the start and it was all over. “Jamie [Spencer] rode him last Friday and on the faster ground it was the best piece of work that he's done. So he's coming into the race fit and well and we've just got to pray that he stays safe, but I think he is going to outrun his odds. I think the diminishing field size will suit as well, and by my maths, from what I am reading, I think we are looking at a maximum field of 12. But the favourite [Field Of Gold] looks a really lovely horse.” Cockney Rebel retired to the National Stud after his Classic season, and it is there that Cunningham stands his 2017 Coventry Stakes winner Rajasinghe (Ire). In the intervening years he has bought Swynford Paddocks Stud and two historic Newmarket stables – first Albert House then Sefton Lodge. It is at the latter that he installed Richard Spencer to train the horses who run under his Rebel Racing banner. His father, also named Phil, and son Aidan are also fully involved in the project and the family hopes to have five runners at the Rowley Mile on Saturday, including Twilight Calls (GB) (Twilight Son {GB}), who was bought from Cheveley Park Stud last autumn, in the G3 Palace House Stakes, and three Rajasinghe homebreds. Against a backdrop of tough times for smaller breeders, in February Cunningham took the unusual and enterprising step to announce publicly that the services of Rajasinghe would be free to the owners of mares rated 70 or above, or mares who have produced runners rated at least 70. He has been pleased with the response. Cockney Rebel and his devoted stallion man, the late Paddy Meehan | Tattersalls “He's been supported so well,” Cunningham says of Rajasinghe, who is now in the middle of his seventh stud season. “If you look at it from a financial perspective, he was standing at £3,000, and obviously there were deals being done downwards so the income he would have generated was negligible. When I went to meet the lads at the stud in the early part of the year he was down at about 10 mares. His strike-rate is phenomenal, and he's still the track record-holder at Ascot. We kicked around a few ideas and thought why not stand him for free to give him one last chance at stud. Now he's at over 50 mares, so it has worked and he's got another chance. Obviously we'll have to wait a few years to see, but he deserved a chance.” He adds, “The people who have used him are mostly people without a significant number of mares and I've had people coming up to me at the races and letting me know that they've used him and thanking me for the deal. It's nice to know that people have appreciated it.” As well as being a breeder himself, Cunningham is an enthusiastic buyer at the yearling sales, and has recently extended his investment to the Australian market. Two years ago, he enlisted the help of a notable judge in Highflyer Bloodstock's Anthony Bromley. “We changed things around a little bit, we were at a crossroads, and Anthony Bromley came in,” he says. “We increased our budget significantly and changed the focus on what we were looking to buy, and Yah Mo has come out of that first crop. We put a little plan together with Richard and this is where we are – it's working. “My dad and my son are both involved in this with me and it's great to have something that the three of us can enjoy together. Hopefully we can get back to turning up and having some big days out. Whilst we love the racing it's the big days that we do it for.” The post ‘It’s The Big Days That We Do It For’: Cunningham Bidding For More Guineas Glory appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Middleham Park Racing boss Tim Palin and 13-time champion trainer in Norway Niels Petersen, two men who have been associated with recognisable Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-Up Sale graduates in The Platinum Queen and Queen Azteca, have returned to source of their respective stars in the hope of finding another bargain. The Platinum Queen (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}), who was bought for just 57,000gns at this sale in 2022, carried Middleham Park's blue and orange colours to Group 1 glory in the Prix de l'Abbaye that same season while Petersen sent out 30,000gns purchase Queen Azteca (Sharp Azteca) to win the G3 UAE Oaks at Meydan this year. Both buyers have extolled the Guineas Breeze-Up Sale as an avenue for finding high-class runners at a realistic price, although Petersen admits that the secret is beginning to get out about the sale. He says that he expects to face off with fellow trainers Bhupat Seemar and Jamie Osborne on the later-maturing dirt-bred horses in the sales ring on Thursday. He explained, “There are a couple of potentially nice ones so we're hopeful of striking again. Compared to the Craven, I think this sale is more our market. We got a New Bay (GB) colt at the Craven for 85,000gns but we tend to see more later-maturing horses who are not as fast and precocious as at the Craven, which is why we like coming here.” Petersen added, “This sale has suited us better over the years. It has become a thing with Jamie Osborne, Bhupat Seemar and plenty of others coming here so everybody is aware of the same thing but sometimes you can get lucky. You've always got the top ones but if you stay away from them you can buy a nice horse in the middle market. We might just get lucky again!” Petersen: alongside bloodstock agent Edgar Byrne | Tattersalls While Middleham Park did not strike at the Craven, the leading syndicate, which has been in operation for over 30 years, added two juveniles to the roster at Doncaster last week. Palin agrees with Petersen that concentrating outside of that top bracket can pay huge dividends for buyers. He said, “The Platinum Queen was a superstar for us. She took us on a whirlwind journey and we sold her on for 1.2 million gns at the end of the year having bought her for just 57,000gns at this sale. That was absolutely a dream come true off the back of winning a Group 1 along the way. She was the dream ticket and is exactly the type of horse that can come from the Guineas Sale. We've had a huge amount of success buying off Tally-Ho Stud and that's where she came from.” Palin added, “We actually bought The Strikin Viking (Ire) (Inns Of Court {Ire}) off Tally-Ho at this sale last year as well and he went on to finish second in the Railway Stakes at the Curragh. Because the pedigrees are possibly not quite as sexy as the Craven, there can be immense value to be had at the Guineas Sale. When you are operating in that middle market, it can actually be the very best spend of a pound.” There were plenty of pointers to be taken from last week's Goffs Breeze-Up Sale at Doncaster with a view towards how things might play out at Park Paddocks this week. Certainly with regards to the middle market, what played out at Doncaster may well be more closely aligned to the Guineas Breeze-Up Sale compared to the Craven. Looking back on Doncaster, the 83% clearance rate–which happens to be the same as what was posted at the Craven-reads all well and good on paper but when you delve a little deeper all is not as rosy as it seems. Make no mistake, last week was on a par with the Craven and was undoubtedly another blockbuster of a sale. But only for those vendors who brought the right product to the marketplace. And the definition of what the right product is right now is definitely changing. If a vendor happens to land on the list for Amo Racing, Godolphin or Wathnan Racing, the sky's the limit. Johnny and Danielle Hurley's Kodi Bear (Ire) colt selling to Godolphin for £500,000 at Doncaster is a prime example of what can happen. But there is a long way to fall if you are not making those lists, which is illustrated by the fact that only a handful of other buyers-Yulong, Jamie McCalmont, Anthony Stroud on behalf of KHK Racing, Mark McStay, and MV Magnier-have spent north of 300,000 at the Craven or at Doncaster. Leading handler George Peckham, who sold Queen Mary Stakes winner Leovanni (Ire) (Kodi Bear {Ire}) at Doncaster last year, has revealed he is finding the going tough and says the middle market has become trickier than ever due to the rising costs facing middle-tier owners. Peckham said, “It hasn't been quite such a good year this year but you've got to roll with the punches. The middle market, as we have seen year on year, is a tricky old place to be. Things have only got worse, certainly this year, with the national insurance contributions going up. A lot of the people who buy breeze-up horses within the 20 to 50 grand bracket are really the ones who are feeling the pinch and they are nearly getting blown away. Your average purchaser is obviously feeling the pinch and they are having to reevaluate. A racehorse is obviously not at the top of those people's wishlist right now. But it can be a little bit demoralising for a vendor, I've got to be honest, when your horse has done a nice, professional breeze but struggles in the ring.” Despite what appeared to be a strong clearance rate at Doncaster, a lot of the pinhookers took a kicking. Only 43% of the 155 pinhooks made a profit compared to the 60% that worked out at the Craven. On top of that, there were 30 private sales within the 140 horses that sold last week, with many of those deals involving vendors staying in for a share. George Peckham | Tattersalls To that extent, Palin revealed that Middleham are actively engaging with one vendor who failed to sell his horse at Doncaster last week and, while he agrees with Peckham's comments about what he describes as the “feast or famine” nature to the market at present, he shared that the demand from syndicate members to get involved with breeze-up horses has never slipped. Palin said, “It's been a little bit feast or famine for consignors but this sale should be a marriage made in heaven for the vendors and the buyers because there will be sensibly-priced horses and plenty of middle market people there to buy them. Of course, there will be some telephone numbers spent on the choice-and arguably the fastest-horses but, if you delve a little bit beneath that level, you can literally find a pot of gold.” He added, “We've traded through three recessions and the spend of the leisure pound on bloodstock has never gone away. We bought two at Doncaster last week and we've already sold out one-and-a-half of those horses. We're actually trying to buy one privately from that sale as well but I'm not sure if it will happen or not. But the thirst for shares in racehorses has never gone away. People are as hungry as they've ever been and we'd be hoping to buy six to eight breeze-up horses between now and the end of the season.” One thing about this great game is that fortunes can change from sale to sale and, while Peckham has not had a year to remember thus far, he has cause for optimism with Kodi Bear [lot 204] and Havana Grey (GB) [286] fillies, both of whom posted good, solid breezes and should have no trouble finding a suitor. Peckham concluded, “This game is all about fine margin and unfortunately two of our intended lots didn't make it this week. Obviously, we're all trying to make a few quid and to survive in business but our prime objective is to produce racehorses. We've only been doing this job for four or five years now and I'm well aware that horses like Leovanni don't come around very often but hopefully we won't have to wait too long for the next filly or colt of that standard. We have another Kodi Bear filly this week. She is probably a six- or seven-furlong filly and has a lovely big stride on her. The Havana Grey filly is ready to rock and roll now and is from a very speedy family–she's out of a Kodiac (GB) mare. Excited to offer these two.” The post ‘There’s Immense Value At The Guineas Sale – It Can Be The Best Spend Of A Pound’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Godolphin's homebred Victory Queen (GB) (Kingman {GB}) backed up a half-length debut triumph at Newmarket's Craven meeting with a narrow victory, racing under a six-pound penalty, in Wednesday's Darley British EBF Fillies' Novice Stakes on the Royal Ascot trials undercard. The February-foaled half-sister to the ill-fated dual Group 1 winner Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), whose Apr. 15 debut success came over the same one-mile distance at HQ, broke sharply and made an immediate impact on the front end. Enjoying a soft lead at a moderate tempo for the most part, the 3-1 second choice came under pressure when threatened soon after turning for home and was driven out inside the final furlong to withstand the late charge of the unlucky-in-running 6-4 favourite Gulya (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) by a short-head. “She has backed up just two weeks after her first run and win, so I was very happy with that,” commented William Buick, who rode the winner's dam to a career high in the 2015 G3 Oh So Sharp Stakes. “It wasn't necessarily the plan to lead, it was just the way it unfolded, and she responded well. She's pretty quick, but is still learning and will get quicker. She still feels like she's got a bit of maturing to do and I think she's a miler for now. You'd have to think a mile-and-a-quarter will be within her grasp in time, but it's a pretty speedy family all through.” Victory Queen is the latest of four foals, all winners, produced by G3 Oh So Sharp Stakes victrix First Victory (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), herself kin to five black-type winners headed by multiple Group 1-winning dual Dubai World Cup hero Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}), dual Group-winning G1 1000 Guineas and G1 Fillies' Mile third Ihtimal (Ire) (Shamardal) and stakes-winning G1 Sun Chariot Stakes runner-up Always Smile (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}). Her second dam Eastern Joy (GB) (Dubai Destination) is a half-sister to G1 Prix de Diane heroine West Wind (GB) (Machiavellian). The February-foaled homebred bay is a half-sister to the ill-fated G1 2000 Guineas and G1 St James's Palace Stakes winner Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). The gap appears a stride too late for Gulya, who can't get to Victory Queen (Kingman x First Victory) in the Darley British EBF Fillies' Novice Stakes at @Ascot!@WilliamBuickX | @godolphin pic.twitter.com/qmDeaCM31w — At The Races (@AtTheRaces) April 30, 2025 The post Victory Queen, Kingman Half to Coroebus, Remains Undefeated After Brave Ascot Showing appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Two stakes wins for Midwest rider Kevin Roman and career win 2,000 in North America for Ricardo Santana Jr. riding at Oaklawn Park led to a tie in the voting by the panel of racing experts for Jockey of the week of April 21-27.View the full article