Wandering Eyes

Pride Of Aspen (Pride Of Dubai) looked right at home when she scored a decisive victory in the Cavallo Farms and Chris Rutten Bloodstock Handicap (2200m) at Otaki’s rescheduled meeting on Tuesday. The daughter of Pride Of Dubai was previously trained at the Central Districts venue by Johno Benner and Hollie Wynyard before relocating with the latter to Cambridge this season. She often brings out her best on her old home turf, winning on three prior occasions, and continued that strong form when runner-up to Benefactor a fortnight ago. Wynyard elected to leave the mare in the care of Benner leading into Tuesday’s event where she started favourite narrowly over Boomtown Boy, who was coming off a second placing in the Raukawa Cup (2100m). In a small field of five there was no speed early, so Amber Riddell took matters into her own hands aboard Pride Of Aspen, striding to the lead and dictating terms throughout. After shaking off a challenge from Carpe Diem at the 600m, Pride Of Aspen was clear in the lead turning for home and safely held the threat of Boomtown Boy to score by 1-¾ lengths. Wynyard was rapt with the result, having hoped to press on to The Callinan Family Taumarunui Gold Cup (2200m), run for $100,000 at Te Rapa later this month. “I thought Carpe Diem would go forward and we’d probably end up outside him, but when he decided to take a sit, Amber used her initiative, took the lead and rated her very well,” Wynyard said. “She stayed down there with Johno after her last run, he knows this horse just as well, if not better than I do, so he’s done all of the work with her leading up to today. “If she did win impressively today, the next target for her would probably be the Taumarunui Cup at Te Rapa. She definitely does off-tracks and appreciates the moisture, so as long as she pulls up well, we’ll bring her back up here and have a go at that. “She’s a big girl with a strong mind, she’s always known what she wants to do and you can’t really tell her otherwise. But she’s beautiful to look at and is very tough, so she ticks a lot of boxes as a good racehorse.” Pride Of Aspen was purchased out of the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale by Graham Causer’s Aspen Bloodstock, a strong supporter of the stable. “Graham Causer buys really lovely horses, a lot from Australia, and he’s really into pedigrees,” Wynyard said. “He’s hoping to have a nice broodmare band around him, which it looks like he’s going to have. “We’ve had a great association with him with the likes of Colorado Silver, Hold The Press, and obviously this mare, so I’m very thankful for the opportunity. “His daughter, Makenzie Causer, is a very good show jumping rider, so they love their horses and that’s what they do.” Wynyard had watched Tuesday’s race from afar, having had Pride Of Aspen’s juvenile half-sister, Sweet Talkin Gal (Anders), trialling this morning in the Waikato. “I had her half-sister trialling at Waipa today and she went very well, so it’s been a good day for the sisters,” she said. “She’s owned by a different person, it was just a fluke that we ended up with them both in the stable. “She’s by Anders and is similar to Pride Of Aspen, a big, scopey filly with plenty of ability. I think she’s really one to watch going into her three-year-old year.” View the full article

Te Akau Racing looks set to be a major player on the all-weather track at Riccarton with a particularly strong hand to play in the age group event on Wednesday’s card. Trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson will be represented by the in-form duo of Queen Of Naples and Porcia Catonis in the Red Rose Raceday – 24 July Three-Year-Old (1400m). Stablemate Vivacious also looks a strong chance in the Join TAB Racing Club Rating 74 off the back of two wins on the bounce. Queen Of Naples (NZ) (Darci Brahma) has made an encouraging start to her career and followed up a debut fourth at Wanganui before heading south. The daughter of Darci Brahma was then runner-up on the synthetic before going one better on the course to romp to her maiden victory in the hands of Bruno Queiroz, who retains the ride. “We’d probably lean more toward Queen Of Naples if it was a mile, but we’ve kept her nice and fresh to come back to the 1400m,” Bergerson said. “Porcia Catonis (Super Seth) has a bit more experience and she has run in the Rating 75 grade, which is always really tough for a three-year-old. “She certainly didn’t disgrace herself and they are very hard to split so it will probably come down to luck in the running. “It looks quite an even field on paper, but we are really happy with our two.” To be ridden by Courtney Barnes, Porcia Catonis has a pair of track and distance wins to her credit form her last four appearances before the Super Seth filly stepped up in grade to finish a last-start fourth. Querioz partnered Vivacious (NZ) (Dundeel) to her most recent victory, her fourth from 15 appearances, and a gear addition has helped the Dundeel mare’s starting manners. “She has really taken to racing on the synthetic down there,” Bergerson said. “She was being a bit slowly away at times and ratting home, but as soon as we put the visor blinkers on it seemed to do the trick.” Another bold performance from Vivacious would likely earn her a crack at a bigger prize. “Hopefully, she runs well again and then head on to one of the finals, whether it’s at Awapuni over 1400m or Riccarton and the 1200m,” Bergerson said. “She’s always been a mare we have had a lot of time for and she has finally strengthened up, Hunter (Durrant, assistant trainer) and the team have done a fantastic job with her.” The stable will also have back-up in the Rating 75 sprint in Sorcha (NZ) (Burgundy) while Rule Of Law (NZ) (Justify) is in the Racecourse Hotel & Motel Lodge (1600m) and Purple Prose (NZ) (Embellish) lines up in the Speights Summit Ultra On Tap Maiden (1600m). “Sorcha tries really hard, Rule Of Law is always there or thereabouts and Purple Prose has drawn a bit niggly, but is knocking on the door,” Bergerson said. The other team member in action is Beau Brummell (NZ) (Embellish) in the Cup Week Hospitality On Sale Now Rating 75 (2200m). He was a resuming winner over a mile on the course but was never a factor from a wide gate last time and an inside barrier will be in his favour this time. View the full article

Ann Browne, widely known as Mrs Browne, is a trailblazer and heroine in New Zealand racing, and would be the first to share her passion for jumpers. As Ann Fraser, Browne spent her early years living on a farm off the East Coast of the North Island where her horse-oriented family felt anything but isolated. “All of my relations are from Gisborne and I grew up on a farm inland from Tikitiki, off the East Coast,” Browne said. “I lived there until I was 14, until my father bought a farm in Tirau, and we shifted to the Waikato in 1953. “Living on a farm, we didn’t have tractors or anything like that, so you had to have horses. We had pack horses to cart fencing gear, and we’d go to shows and sports meetings, all of the little towns on the East Coast had them. “I did correspondence school for most of my life, right up until high school, and I did one year in Gisborne and two years in Hamilton. Because we had the sports meetings, and we’d go socialise and play tennis at our friend’s houses, it was an easy transition from correspondence. “My mother was always interested in racing and my step-grandfather was A.B Williams, he owned a lot of racehorses. Some of those were Star Stranger, Gasbag, and Bandmaster, who won the Grand National Steeplechase. “My Dad’s father was Tom Fraser, he owned a horse called Hunting Crime, he was a very good horse in the 1930’s that won the Railway and the Great Northern Derby.” That family involvement would spark Browne’s interest in the industry, but it wasn’t until she met her soon-to-be husband, Ken Browne, that a life in racing would become a reality. “Kenny knew who I was because my aunty lived near the boundary of his farm and we just got to talking at a hunt one day,” Browne said. “We got married when I was 20, had two kids by the time I was 22, and I was back riding in a couple of weeks after having Roger, our youngest. “We didn’t have many racehorses to start with and we went overseas with polo a few times, but as we got a bit older, we got a few more and it grew from there.” Browne recalled that a number of the earlier horses were gifted, or purchased cheaply, including Choc Wallace, a horse she fondly remembers. “Kenny started with one or two horses that were given to him to try for various reasons,” she said. “I had a half Clydesdale horse that I sold to Japan for $800, and the owner of Choc Wallace was hoping to sell him to the Japanese as well. We offered to buy him and ended up paying $230, and he won a lot more than that. “He won the Waikato Hunt Cup, while it was run in October, and a couple of weeks later, he won the big round the ring jump at the Waikato Show. He would do the shows in the summer, and racing in the winter, and he won 11 races.” While they enjoyed success with a number of the ‘second-hand’ horses, the Brownes decided to invest in their future with young stock purchased from the sales. “After a while, we decided to go to the sales and buy yearlings instead,” she said. “We wouldn’t pay a lot for them, but Kenny and I worked in unison, I’d be outside looking at the horses and letting him know which were possibly suitable, and he would do the bidding. “We didn’t care how little they cost, the horses didn’t know how much we bought them for and we had a good success rate. A number of them won good flat races, and we taught the whole lot how to jump right from the beginning.” The Brownes were able to educate their horses from their property out of Cambridge, with a hill-based training style that would continue to produce champion jumpers and plenty of talented flat gallopers as well. “I learned a lot from reading and Kenny was a great do-it-yourselfer,” Browne said. “Between the two of us, we would be able to bring together ideas and establish our way of doing things. “We used to go into the track at Cambridge to gallop the horses, but by the time we would get the truck ready, take the horses in, work two or three and then take them home, it was lunch time. “We bought a bit more land around the neighbouring properties, and decided we were able to work the horses entirely at home. We gradually changed things and figured out how to use the farm to our advantage, and we won a lot of races using that system. “The horses absolutely loved working up the hill, they never got sour. They got up there and they could see for miles, it was a natural way of training. “We had a set up with logs and jumps, and we taught horses to jump right from the start. Some of them never ended up jumping, but they all did it. Horses could be good jumpers, but they might never win a jumping race, because they just couldn’t see that distance out. “We had horses with over 100 starts, and they were just happy horses living that lifestyle. A lot of the horses would relax here as well, if they came and were a bit go-ey, they tended to settle down. “A lot of the horses would retire here, we were lucky with the acres we had, we would look after them for the rest of their lives. On our schooling days, some of the retired horses would come in, so that the budding jumping riders could have a turn on an experienced horse.” The Brownes dominated the New Zealand jumping scene for over 40 years, with Ken initially training the horses under his own name before Ann joined the official partnership in 1983. Often with Kenny in the saddle, they won every feature race on offer, and it was the Great Northern Steeplechase at Ellerslie where they were a formidable force. Ken’s first triumphs as a trainer, owner and jockey came in 1977 and 1979 with Ascona, and Ann got her name on the trophy for the first time in 1990 with Ardri. Over the next 10 years, they won the Northern another five times, with the most memorable coming in 2001 with a dead-heat between their horse, Smart Hunter, and Kevin O’Connor’s Sir Avion. Not long before the iconic meeting, Ken had sustained a serious injury when falling off a horse at home, leaving him a quadriplegic, and he was still in hospital when Smart Hunter won the Great Northern Hurdles two days prior. “It wasn’t long after Kenny was hurt, so he was still in the hospital, but he’d planned to start Smart Hunter in both races,” Browne said. “Knowing that, I went through with the plan, and to end up in a dead heat in the steeplechase, it was just amazing. “I still enjoy watching that race to this day, and Smart Hunter was a beautiful horse to do anything with, I used to take him on treks as well. “We seemed to keep finding horses that could really do it, and we were fortunate to have very good riders on them.” In 2004, Wanderlust would deliver the Brownes’ final Northern victory prior to Ken’s passing in 2006, but Ann would continue their legacy, adding another three crowns to the mantelpiece, with Fair King (2009), Ima Heroine (2011) and Tom’s Myth (2012), with the latter becoming the first horse to win a Wellington Steeplechase, Pakuranga Hunt Cup and Northern in the same season. Fair King and Ima Heroine were two of a select number of horses bred by the Brownes, with Kenny’s background in polo influencing them to pursue breeding on a small scale. That journey began after a picnic meeting in Taihape, where Kenny rode a mare called Miss Luca, who had the size for polo and the bloodlines for producing jumpers, as proven through her progeny. “Kenny rode Miss Luca in a picnic meeting and he was able to get her as a polo pony, but she was a full-sister to a horse that won the Pakuranga Hunt Cup,” Browne said. “She had a foal with our polo pony stallion, Mokowai, and then had a couple of foals by North Pole. “North Pole came from England, he was a nice horse with good breeding, and he’d won flat and hurdle races over there. He didn’t have many foals, but he was a useful stallion because we weren’t doing it in a big way. “One of those, out of Miss Luca, was Pulka, who won three steeplechases before we sent her to Paul Nelson and he bred some horses from her. One of Pulka’s foals was Ima Hunter, who Paul gave to us because she kept getting ryegrass staggers. “She would become the dam of Ima Heroine, who won the Great Northern Steeplechase, and the next generation is Ima Wonder, who won the Pakuranga Hunt Cup last year. “After North Pole, we didn’t want to do the stallions ourselves, but we’ve bred a few with other stallions, and nearer the end, we got Heroicity, and he ended up in America.” While Ken guided their horses to many victories over the years, Ann made her own mark in the saddle, becoming the first female amateur to ride in a race, and later, she became the first to ride a winner. Some four decades have passed since that first outing, but she remembers an encounter prior to the start vividly. “I was the first female amateur to ride in a tote flat race, on a horse called Stipulation,” she said. “I became a grandmother three days before that race, because David (Browne), my grandson who now lives in Australia, was born. “I remember we were in the starting stalls, and the man next to me said, ‘now that girls are allowed to ride in this race, it’s time for me to give up’. I asked him if it was really so bad, but off we went, and now most of the riders are females, both professionally and in the amateurs. “I kept riding in them for a while, I won four races and I rode in the point to points and ladies steeplechases as well. When I was going out with Kenny, he let me have a horse called Funds, who I kept up at my Dad’s place and I won most of the time riding him. “He did a bit of everything, I’d also take him to the shows and even went chasing wild Kaimanawas. We did a lot of different things, and eventually I sold him to Ken Kelso, he was about 16 or 17 and a very good showjumping rider. “Kenny wasn’t much into going to the shows, because there was a lot of hanging around and you didn’t know when you’d have your class, but at the races, everything would run to time. But girls weren’t allowed to ride in the races, and they didn’t care about that at the shows, so I did a lot of show jumping.” Despite not being able to ply her trade on the track to a larger degree, Browne got enough satisfaction from working the horses at home, going to the races, and balancing the administration for both their farm and racing ventures. “I liked riding certain horses a lot, I got pleasure out of working them,” she said. “Crown Star is the one everyone remembers, he was a fairly cheap buy and he cut his hoof really badly before he was broken in, but we got that healed up, and he ended up being such a good horse. “Some of my favourite horses are those that people would’ve hardly heard of, one was called Bencathra, he was just a lovely horse, as was Norfolk Boy, he was quite a good racehorse too. I just loved riding them, they didn’t have to be the best or fastest horses. “I kept all the records, right from about 1963, of each horse, each race, and who rode them. I was the accountant as well, paid the bills and organised the stud sheep and cattle. “I led the horses around at the races, Kenny would ride them, and if we had more than one, we’d have other people riding them, all friends of ours. That’s just the way that jumping worked, you’re rivals and friends, and if you can’t win, you hope they can. “I was always proud of the way our horses looked at the races, but they were never stabled, they lived out in the paddock with two or three other horses. They’d often be covered in mud on the morning of the races, so we’d clean them all up and they were always presented well.” Browne maintained the same standard of presentation and performance with her horses right up to her retirement from training in 2018, with 626 domestic winners to her name, and 43 of those at stakes level. “It was an easy decision because my knee was getting a bit sore, so I wasn’t able to ride anymore,” she said. “I’d gone through life without getting any concussions, or major broken bones, so I wanted to keep it that way. “I just had one or two horses, which meant I’d have to get someone out to just ride those couple of horses, or go into the track. I didn’t want to get up at five o’clock in the morning, so I decided to let someone else train them. “I’ve only got Ima Wonder and Brother Max, and 10 percent of two other horses at the Brosnans. It’s good fun, I enjoy having the horses. “I can talk to Peter (Brosnan) about all sorts of things and I’m friends with Jess (Brosnan) and Tarissa McDonald as well, the horses are in good hands.” Aside from her horses, the Brownes influence on New Zealand jumps racing lives on in a unique form, with the line of picturesque live hedges through the centre of the course at Te Rapa introduced by the couple. “We went to England and Kenny rode in a race at Sandown, where they had a lot of jumps down the back straight,” Browne said. “He thought they would look really good in the straight at Te Rapa, so we planted these bamboo jumps, and they’re still there today. “Myself, Kenny and Brian Timms were the first people to jump those jumps, we schooled a couple of ours over them. “They’re there and they don’t take a lot of effort to get ready, the course caretaker can just trim them up and they’re ready to go. The horses seem to jump them well too. “The same was then done at Ellerslie, Paeroa, Te Aroha, Rotorua, Te Awamutu and Matamata, but unfortunately now there is just Te Aroha and Te Rapa.” Browne will scarcely miss a meeting at the Waikato venues, with a passion for horses and jumping that has kept her full of life, right from the start. “If there are races around here, I’ll be there, particularly at Te Rapa,” she said. “I’m not big on travelling during the winter-time because I like to know I’m going to a nice warm motel, I feel the cold a bit now. “I enjoy watching the races on the TV, I watch races in France and England, and I watch the good overseas show jumping on YouTube and a bit of eventing too. “I tell people I’ve never been bored in my life, even when I lived in the back blocks of Tikitiki, I never got bored. “I’ve always had the horses.” View the full article

It will be a case of one and done for New Zealand-bred sprinting sensation Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress) in his Australian spring campaign, with trainer David Hayes confirming the A$20 million The Everest (1200m) will be his sole target down under. “It’s been decided that we’ll give Ka Ying Rising one run in The Everest and then the owner is keen to concentrate on Hong Kong,” Hayes told the South China Morning Post. “He’s avoiding the temptation of the big money in Australia. He’s decided win, lose or draw, to come back after the race. “It’s nice to have it locked in so we can plan. The owner’s really committed to Hong Kong racing and the Hong Kong Jockey Club have been so helpful with the slot that he wants to do the right thing by the club.” Ka Ying Rising will represent the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s slot in the October 18 showpiece at Randwick, for which he is currently a $1.90 favourite in futures markets with bookmakers. Bred by Marton horseman Fraser Auret under his Grandmoral Lodge Racing banner, the four-year-old gelding has been an unstoppable force for Hayes in Hong Kong, winning 13 of his 15 starts in the competitive racing jurisdiction. He is undefeated in the current term, recording eight successive victories, including the Gr.1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m), Gr.1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m), Gr.1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m), Gr.1 Hong Kong Sprint (1200m), Gr.2 Spring Cup (1200m), Gr.2 BOCHK Private Banking Jockey Club Sprint (1400m), and Gr.2 Premier Bowl (1200m). His feats on the track earned him a rating of 126, ranking the son of Shamexpress as the world’s best turf horse in the latest Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings. View the full article

Rich Hill Stud is a prominent player in the 2025 National Online Breeding Stock Sale on Gavelhouse Plus, offering more than 10 percent of the 87-lot catalogue. The Rich Hill consignment features 10 mares, six of which are in foal to the stud’s promising sire Ace High. Two others are carrying pregnancies to the well-performed Rich Hill resident Shocking, while another is in foal to Embellish (NZ). “There’s certainly some nice young mares from good families, and most of them are going to have foals on the ground within the next couple of months,” Rich Hill Stud’s managing director John Thompson said. “Some of the mares are being sold on behalf of clients, some are owned by partnerships that are being dissolved, and some are our own mares. I think there’ll be some very good buying.” The Ace High pregnancies are a particular drawcard. The son of High Chaparral has sired 21 winners in New Zealand this season and 17 in Australia, with his progeny including the new Group Three winner My Lips Are Sealed (NZ) along with promising up-and-comers such as the Listed Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m) and Uncle Remus Stakes (1400m) placegetter Dealt With (NZ). Another of his progeny, the Rich Hill Stud homebred She’s A Dealer (NZ), was a close fifth in last month’s Group One Queensland Oaks (2200m) in only the fifth start of her career. “Ace High has a lot of quite exciting progeny around,” Thompson said. “She’s A Dealer ran a massive race in the Oaks, particularly for such a lightly raced filly. She copped a check at the wrong time and should definitely have finished fourth, if not in the top three. She missed fourth by the barest of margins. I think we have a lot to look forward to with her. “Dealt With is another very good prospect, and there’s a number of others around as well that could make their presence felt next season. “The mares in foal to Ace High include Queen Of Bordeaux (Pierro), who comes from the Typhoon Tracy (Red Ransom), Danasinga (Danehill) and Alligator Blood (All Too Hard) family. It’s a beautiful family and she’s an attractive young mare. “Another one, Ardere (Hidden Dragon), has been a successful producer already with four winners from six foals including the Australian black-type performer Klabel (NZ) (Vadamos).” Giverny (NZ) (Vadamos), who is being offered in foal to Shocking, is a half-sister to a multiple Group One placegetter in Sydney. “Giverny’s a lovely young mare who’s a half-brother to Riodini (NZ) (Proisir),” Thompson said. “So there’s some good pedigree credentials there, along with Octavia Rose (NZ) (Shocking) who comes from the Eight Carat family. “Miss Labasa (NZ) (Swiss Ace) won six races and is a half-sister to the dam of Skew Wiff (NZ) (Savabeel). Miss Labasa produced a filly foal by Proisir last spring, which the client is going to retain. “There’s also Rosaleen Dubh (NZ) (Shocking), who’s a daughter of a Group One winner and comes from the Solveig family. Akela’s Charm (NZ) (Charm Spirit), who’s being sold because a partnership is being wound up, comes from the very good family of horses like Lady Kipling (NZ) (Savabeel). So there’s some very good families represented.” Bidding is open in the 2025 National Online Breeding Stock Sale on Gavelhouse Plus with the first lot closing from 7pm (NZT) on Wednesday 9th July. View the full article

Emily Murphy brings you Winter Weigh In, your place for Thoroughbred racing news, reviews and insights throughout the colder months. The team look back at racing from Te Rapa, and trainer Tony Pike joins the show to chat about his apprentice jockeys and horses for the spring. Winter Weigh In, July 7 View the full article

A “delighted” Hugh Bowman is itching to head off to Europe for a break and maybe even a few race rides, but first he’s keen to better his Hong Kong personal best of 69 wins in a season. The star Australian sits on 68 victories with three meetings to go in the 2024-25 campaign and he has six chances to add to his tally at Happy Valley on Wednesday night. “I’m delighted – it’s been a pretty consistent year for me,” said the jockey. “It’s been a good, consistent flow of winners with the exception...View the full article

OUR LADY (f, 3, Bolt d'Oro–Summer's Ready, by More Than Ready) made those that swallowed the 3-10 starting price sweat it out to the very finish, but the Canadian-based galloper saved her best for the final 100 yards, racing over the top of her fellow Pennsylvania-bred rivals to remain unbeaten in her three career starts to date in Monday's state-bred restricted Malvern Rose Stakes at Presque Isle Downs. A 6 1/4-length maiden winner at first asking over the Woodbine Tapeta on May 4, the $75,000 Fasig-Tipton February yearling turned $160,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic breezer added a May 24 optional claimer by better than four lengths against older rivals as the 1-4 chalk and was facing what appeared to be a step down in class for the Malvern Rose. Off only fairly, Our Lady was taken back to race at the tail of the field behind slow fractions, and Patrick Husbands was in no hurry to make his move around the turn. Electing to chart an inside course as opposed to trying to loop the field, the Barbadian rider finally found daylight for Our Lady about five off the inside at the furlong grounds, and she lengthened her stride nicely to score in a fashion easier than the half-length margin of victory might indicate. Our Lady is the 17th black-type winner for her sire in a race–then run over a two-turn mile–won by Shamrock Rose (First Dude) en route to a victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in her 3-year-old season in 2018. Sales history: $75,000 Ylg '23 FTKFEB; $160,000 2yo '24 FTMMAY. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0. O-JDLP Holdings Inc; B-Blackstone Farm LLC (PA); T-Steven Chircop. The heavy favorite #4 OUR LADY ($2.60) went from last to first to win the $75,000 Malvern Rose Stakes at @PID_Casino. The daughter of @spendthriftfarm's Bolt d'Oro is now a perfect 3 for 3 in her young career. Patrick Husbands was up for @chircopracing. pic.twitter.com/4ebX5CSih6 — FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) July 7, 2025 The post Bolt d’Oro Filly Our Lady Along In Time In Malvern Rose appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

On the July 7 episode of BloodHorse Monday, Louie Rabaut, Sean Collins, and Steve Kornacki select their picks for a "Mid-Season" Eclipse Awards based off the first half of the racing year.View the full article

LEXINGTON, KY – The Fasig-Tipton July Selected Yearling Sale kicks off, not just the yearling sales season, but also a bidding-packed day of action at Newtown Paddocks in Lexington Tuesday. The auction, with 261 head catalogued, begins at 10 a.m. and will be followed immediately by the Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale, with 70 catalogued ready-to-race offerings. Buyers were out in force at the sales barns on a steamy day in the Bluegrass Monday, with temperatures inching over the 90- degree mark. “We have been slammed all day today,” Mark Taylor said from the front of the Taylor Made Sales Agency barn around midday Monday. “I think the foot traffic, looking at data this year versus last year, we are trending right on par, but I feel good about it. There just seems to be good energy and optimism.” Taylor sees plenty to be optimistic about ahead of the first yearling sale of the year, starting right out of the gate with 94 yearlings in the July sale's traditional Freshman Sire Showcase. “This sale has a strong representation of first-crop sires and I think it's an exceptional group,” Taylor said. “Not only in their popularity, but also in the physical specimens they are putting on the ground. There are some years that the freshman sires maybe aren't producing the quality and so this sale suffers. I think this year is a banner year for these first-crop stallions.” Taylor continued, “And the recent tax legislation that got reinstated as far as bonus depreciation, I just think that is going to help the yearling market the whole way through. It just makes the economics of buying yearlings a lot better than it would have been otherwise.” Mark Taylor || Fasig-Tipton The July sale has perennially been known to attract a strong buying bench of pinhookers and, following a spring of record-setting juvenile sales, there were plenty of pinhookers looking to restock at the sales barns Monday. “Fasig always tries to promote this as a trainer's sale, but at the end of the day I think the pinhookers are always the backbone of it,” Taylor said. “I've been talking to a lot of the Ocala guys coming through here and, by and large, most of them had a pretty good year. That always helps. Because they are so important to us yearling sellers, so I think that was a real blessing that most of them came out in pretty good shape.” For the first time this year, Fasig-Tipton will award a bonus of $25,000 to the trainer who purchases the highest number of yearlings at the July sale. John Henry Mulholland of Mulholland Springs hopes efforts like that attract additional end-users to broaden the July buying bench. “I think this sale is pretty dependent, generally speaking, on what kind of year the Ocala pinhookers have had,” Mulholland said. “So I think the ones that were pretty successful and had a good year, I think they will be here ready to shop. I am just hopeful that we get as many trainers and end-users as we can here. This is–for whatever reason–thought of as a sale mainly for pinhookers. We don't always get a whole ton of trainers, but I think as long as we get both pinhookers and end users, it will be fine. It will be a good, solid consistent sale.” With a whole summer and fall of yearling sales to come, Mulholland thinks some buyers might take more of a wait-and-see approach at the July sale. “It's the first sale of the year and everybody is probably going to tread lightly,” he said. “We've got a lot of sales in front of us. It's the transition for everyone. It's the sale that kind of gets the ball rolling for everybody. I don't expect any fireworks. I just think it's going to be the same thing. Whatever everybody perceives to be the top 20% of the sale, those horses will sell extremely well. And the middle market will be okay. I just hope that there are plenty of end-users, plenty of trainers that want to go to the races that come to this sale.” Gabriel Duignan | Fasug-Tipton From his Paramount Sales barn, Gabriel Duignan said he saw plenty of end-user shoppers. “There were quite a few end users walking around today,” Duignan said. “It's the same old, same old. You have the right horse, I think you can sell them well here.” He continued, “I think there is a lot of positivity in our business at the moment. We're running for record pots, we are coming off a good 2-year-old season, and the economy seems to be good.” Freshman to the Fore Of the seven horses in the Mulholland Springs' yearling consignment, six are by freshman sires, including Early Voting, Highly Motivated, Pinehurst, Drain the Clock, and Mo Donegal. “I think it's a nice group,” Mulholland said of this year's class of freshman sires. “Those will be a lot of the ones people will want.” With divisional leaders Flightline and Life is Good not represented in the July catalogue, Jackie's Warrior is the leading freshman sire by weanling average in the auction. Last year, 28 weanlings by the sprint champion sold for an average of $151,482. The stallion has six catalogued in the July Freshman Sire Showcase, including a filly from the Taylor Made consignment, which also features yearlings by first-crop sires Nashville, Drain the Clock, Early Voting, Pinehurst, Cyberknife, Epicenter, Olympiad, Idol, Mo Donegal, Corniche, Jack Christopher, and Golden Pal. Jackie's Warrior | Sarah Andrew The Freshman Sire Showcase brings a little extra buzz to the sales grounds and to the start of the July sale, according to Taylor. “I think there are a lot of breeders who have supported these horses and they might have one going to September, but they like to walk around here and see what everybody else's look like,” Taylor said. “It's kind of a fun part of the sale.” He continued, “Fasig actually put photos of all the new crop sires that are represented in the sale. There are conformation photos of each stallion and I've seen a lot of buyers looking at the horse that we are showing them and then they flip back to look at the stallion, so they can see if they are throwing themselves. I thought it was a cool touch.” Other sires in the Freshman Sire Showcase include Mystic Guide, Happy Saver, Greatest Honour, Mandaloun, and Speaker's Corner The July sale is an important step for the commercial success of these young sires, Taylor agreed. “You look at some of the higher priced horses, they are not going to have a lot of representation here,” Taylor said. “But for those other sires, let's just say the $15,000 to $40,000 range, I don't think it's make or break by any means, but it definitely sets the tone. You're going to have a lot of them here and you're going to have a few in Saratoga. So if people have a positive outlook going into September, I think that it's easier for the momentum to continue. If they have a negative feeling, then they go in and the horse has to re-prove themselves. This is a select sale, so you have nice individuals in here, but the ones we have by first-crop sires are really knockouts.” While the July sale may not be make or break, the clock is ticking in a fickle commercial market, according to Mulholland. “You have such a narrow window,” Mulholland said. “They have to get off to a good start with weanlings and yearlings at the sale and then they have to do well at the 2-year-old sales or they have to come out running big early in the year at Churchill and Saratoga. It's an extremely unforgiving market anymore. I think that's because we are such a commercially driven industry. I understand we are losing a lot of tracks, I get all of the contraction of the racing business and all of that, there is a lot that needs to be solved there as well. But if you can get yourself a nice, decent racehorse, you can have a great time enjoying yourself and you can also make a hobby financially solvent. You can go have fun and actually make some money. These purses are just outrageous everywhere you look. I don't see why more people aren't on that end of the game, as opposed to just the commercial sales aspect of it.” Perfect Time for a Horses of Racing Age Sale The Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale begins immediately following the yearling auction and will offer buyers the chance to bid on horses ready to compete during a busy–and lucrative–time on the racing calendar. “It's so well-placed on the calendar,” Duignan said of the horses of racing age sale. “You can get a quick reward for your buck because you have a whole lot of races in the next couple of months with great purses at a high level.” The Paramount Sales consignment will provide a little extra sizzle to the end of the racing age sale when it offers the 2-year-old Romeo (Honor A. P.) (hip 370), who was supplemented to the auction after winning the June 29 Bashford Manor Stakes in stakes-record time for owner Joseph Lloyd and trainer John Robb. “I want to give a shout-out to Paddy Campion who recruited him and did a good job landing him,” Dugnian said. “It's not every day you get a chance to buy a 2-year-old of his caliber at public auction, coming off a win where he broke the stakes record in a prestigious stakes.” Romeo romped by 10 1/4 lengths in his debut at Laurel Park in May before finishing third in the June 5 Tremont Stakes. Romeo | Fasig-Tipton “It's such a good time of the year to buy a horse like him with the whole summer ahead,” Duignan said. “He's got everything you'd desire. We are looking forward to selling him.” Mulholland Springs will offer six horses of racing age from the estate of the late Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who passed away June 28. “Wayne is the trainer who started the whole trend that we see now,” Mulholland said. “He was decades ahead of everyone else. It's an honor for us to be selling his horses. Just that they came from Wayne's barn, they will sell themselves. It's a humbling, rewarding feeling to be able to help out his wife, Laurie, and his grandchildren and his partners. I am looking forward to them going off to good homes and continuing on. It's very special to both Martha Jane and me and everyone at the farm to be handling his horses.” The group of horses from the Lukas estate includes the unraced 2-year-olds Summer Date (Essential Quality) (hip 362), a $125,000 purchase at last year's Keeneland September sale, Lost Valley (Liam's Map) (hip 363), a $90,000 acquisition last September, and Delancey Street (Street Sense) (hip 368). All three have been working in Kentucky towards their debuts. Martha Jane and John Mulholland | Fasig-Tipton Mulholland agreed July was a perfect spot on the calendar to sell racehorses. “You've got every track that you would want open and you have the whole summer and fall of racing in front of you,” Mulholland said. “You've got great financial opportunities across the country. I am very happy to have some racehorses to sell.” The post Fasig-Tipton July Yearling Sale ‘Gets the Ball Rolling’ Tuesday in Lexington appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The Illinois-based trainer Gerald Butler, who is currently suspended 20 months and was fined $10,000 after a Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA)'s arbitration panel for Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program (ADMC) matters ruled in February that he possessed the banned substance levothyroxine (Thyro-L) in his Fairmount Park barn last summer, sued HISA in federal court July 3, seeking a stay of his penalties in a case that challenges the definition of the word “possession.” According to the sequence of events described in the arbitrator's decision, on June 13, 2024, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), which enforces the ADMC rules for HISA, received an anonymous tip stating that Butler, a licensed trainer since 1991, was administering Thyro-L to his horses. Eight days later, on June 21, four HIWU investigators conducted a search of Butler's premises in Barn I. The search turned up a powder form of Thyro-L in the trainer's feed room. Butler denied the Thyro-L was his or that he had been administering it to his horses. A part-time worker at Butler's stable, Tory Hughes, subsequently said that the Thyro-L belonged to her, and that she used it for her non-HISA-covered ponies that were stabled nearby. Eight months later, on Feb. 13, 2025, the arbitrator ruled that, “there is no evidence that Trainer Butler had actual, physical possession or that he had had 'exclusive control over the Prohibited Substance.'” The arbitrator also wrote that, “Trainer Butler presented credible evidence by way of his own testimony, as well as the testimony of Assistant Trainer [Stacy] Muskopf, Ms. Hughes, and Dr. [Donald] McCrosky, a veterinarian from whom Ms. Hughes' brother had purchased Thyro-L in July 2022 for Ms. Hughes' pony horse, that the Thyro-L belonged to Ms. Hughes.” The arbitrator further wrote that, “There is no evidence that Trainer Butler ever administered Thyro-L to any Covered Horse after the ADMC Program came into effect. In other words, there is no evidence that Trainer Butler intended to cheat or did cheat.” But, the arbitrator continued, the totality of those points of evidence still wasn't enough to get Butler off the hook for the possession penalty. Although the arbitrator's final decision did shave four months off of what could have been a 24-month suspension, and Butler's fine was reduced to $10,000 from a possible $25,000, the HISA arbitrator wrote that, “there can be no doubt that Trainer Butler had exclusive control over the premises where the Thyro-L was found [and that] it is undisputed that Trainer Butler was in charge of, and had control over, Barn I, including the feed room where the Thyro-L was found.” Now, five months later, Butler has initiated litigation against HISA in United States District Court (Southern District of Illinois), seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction enjoining HISA from enforcing the arbitration decision. “This decision imposes severe and irreparable sanctions,” Butler's civil complaint stated, noting that the charge has cost him an additional $5,000 in adjudication costs. “Plaintiff is likely to succeed on the merits of his claim that the arbitration decision, based on HISA's definition and application of 'Possession' under Rule 3214(a) and Rule 1020, violates his Fifth Amendment right to due process. “The rule, as applied, imposes strict liability for unknowing possession of a banned substance, even when that substance belongs to a third party and Plaintiff was unaware of its presence, thereby failing to provide fair notice or safeguard against arbitrary enforcement,” the lawsuit stated. Butler's lawsuit asserted that, “the balance of equities tips in Plaintiff's favor, as the harm to Plaintiff from immediate enforcement far outweighs any prejudice to HISA from a temporary stay.” Butler's suit further contended that, “An injunction serves the public interest by ensuring that administrative decisions made under federal authority adhere to constitutional protections and promote fairness within the horse racing industry.” The complaint also stated that the requested injunction “is narrowly tailored [and] seeks to enjoin HISA from enforcing the specific arbitration decision only as it applies to Plaintiff Gerald Butler, without seeking to broadly invalidate HISA rules or affect other parties.” On July 7, a spokesperson for HISA acknowledged an emailed request from TDN asking for the Authority's side of the story regarding Butler's lawsuit, but declined the opportunity to comment. Butler's lawsuit explained his case like this: “Although structured as a private organization, HISA exercises authority delegated by Congress under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020, and is thus subject to constitutional constraints, including the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Due process requires, at a minimum, fair notice of prohibited conduct and safeguards against arbitrary enforcement. “In this case, HISA's Rule 3214(a) on 'Possession,' as defined in Rule 1020 and applied by the arbitration panel, fails to meet these fundamental due process requirements. Rule 1020 defines 'Possession' to include 'constructive possession (which shall be found only if the Covered Person has exclusive control or intends to exercise exclusive control over the Prohibited Substance or Prohibited Method or the premises in which a Prohibited Substance or Prohibited Method exists),'” the lawsuit stated. “The Arbitrator explicitly found that Plaintiff had 'exclusive control over the premises (his barn) and that, under HISA's rule, Plaintiff's lack of awareness of the Thyro-L's presence was 'of no legal consequence,'” the lawsuit stated. “This strict liability interpretation, which holds a trainer accountable for a banned substance found on their premises even when they have no knowledge of its presence and it belongs to a third party, is unconstitutional as applied. “It creates a punitive regime where an individual can be subjected to severe professional and financial penalties without any showing of intent. Such a standard is particularly egregious when applied to a rule that purports to regulate 'possession,' a term that inherently implies some degree of knowledge or control in common legal understanding,” the lawsuit stated. “Furthermore, while the Arbitrator assessed 'significant fault' against Plaintiff for failing to inquire about substances Ms. Hughes was bringing onto his premises, this 'utmost caution' standard, when coupled with strict liability for unknowing possession, creates an impossible and arbitrary burden. “It effectively requires trainers to constantly police every item brought onto their property by any individual with access, regardless of their relationship or the nature of the items, to avoid a violation,” the lawsuit stated. “This places an unreasonable and unpredictable burden on individuals, leading to potentially arbitrary enforcement and a lack of fair notice regarding the precise conduct that constitutes a violation,” the lawsuit stated. “The application of HISA Rule 3214(a) through its definition of 'Possession' under Rule 1020 is also unconstitutionally vague and overbroad,” the lawsuit stated. “A regulation is unconstitutionally vague if it fails to provide people of ordinary intelligence a reasonable opportunity to understand what conduct it prohibits. “It is overbroad if it prohibits a substantial amount of constitutionally protected conduct. While the latter may not be directly applicable here, the vagueness argument is potent,” the lawsuit stated. The post Trainer Butler, Suspended for Having Employee’s Thyro-L in Barn, Sues HISA over Definition of ‘Possession’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

In this new series, we'll spotlight the dams and connections of some of 2025's racetrack superstars. First up, we'll set the scene by explaining our objective and search for trends, then for a curtain raiser we'll kick off the series by checking in with the dam of one of the top older horses of 2025. Tabbed to be something special from the start, 'TDN Rising Star' Locked (Gun Runner) is a multiple Grade I stakes winner and future Gainesway stallion. Grade I-Winning Trends The end of June marked the halfway point of 2025, with 34 of the 93 scheduled Grade I races for the year already in the books. With five dual Grade I winners to date, that leaves 29 individual Grade I winners in 2025 through June. So much is made of the sires and broodmare sires of those elite horses–and rightfully so–but it takes two to tango. What about the broodmares? Twenty-nine broodmares have produced Grade I winners this year through June. While it's vitally important to stallion careers to get those top-level winners, it's somewhat of a 'unicorn' situation for a mare to do it. Based on numbers alone, broodmares have so few chances in comparison to stallions. It's not an overstatement to say it changes everything when they do. Not only can a Grade I winner change the trajectory of the mare's future produce in value and in the quality of the stallions she visits, but it changes the people around that mare, too. In the extreme, a Grade I producer can help pay off a farm if she or her future progeny are sold. At the very least, a mare like that in the field delivers a sense of pride and a heavy–but welcome–responsibility to those who care for her. We tried to identify trends among the year's Grade I producers, but it will surprise no one to learn there seems to be no clear-cut rhyme or reason behind the special mares responsible for the year's top runners beyond astute bloodstock decisions, hard work by good teams, and that elusive element known as luck. Sure, breeders can increase their chances by using the leading sires (Into Mischief has the most individual Grade I winners this year with three) and top broodmare sires (Distorted Humor leads that category with three), but other patterns? Forget about it. Sarah Andrew Only one mare this year was producing a second career Grade I winner (Spirit of St Louis's dam, the late Khancord Kid); some were young (White Abarrio's dam Catching Diamonds was four when he was foaled); and some were in the latter part of their producing careers (Choisya (GB)'s dam Fragrancy (Ire) was 16 when she was born). Some mares were unraced, some only placed. About two-thirds of the producers broke their own maidens, while about half earned black-type. Many of the mares have been through an auction ring themselves, with Keeneland selling the most among the 2025 Grade I producers to date. About a third of the mares sold for under $100,000 publicly at some point in their lives. A few brought seven figures. The sires of the 2025 Grade I winners are similarly tough to pin down: with most currently standing in Kentucky, where they usually need an exceptional race record to earn a shot, they stand for a variety of fees. Their ages, too, are all over the place. The seemingly ageless Medaglia d'Oro is the elder statesman (age 23 when Good Cheer was foaled), while Maximus Mischief and Omaha Beach were only five when Raging Torrent and Kopion, respectively, were born. Right around half of the sires were 10 or under when their 2025 Grade I winner was foaled. With no discernable patterns, where does that leave us? Perhaps simply with a reminder that hope prevails as the foundation of our great sport. If it were easy to breed a Grade I winner, everyone would do it. These mares are something special, yes, but so many factors have to go right along the way, from planning a mating to conception to foaling to every single step that gets those horses into a starting gate and finally the winner's circle at the elite level. That's why only 29 mares in the first six months of the year can carry the banner of Grade I producer for 2025. Over the coming weeks, we'll take a look at several of those mares and check in with some of their connections and the people who care for them. What makes these mares so special? What do they have in the pipeline? What goes into their matings? First up is Locked's dam, Luna Rosa (Malibu Moon). Locked wins the Santa Anita Handicap, his second Grade I | Benoit Luna Rosa, dam of Locked Already a Grade I winner at two, Locked registered a 109 Beyer Speed Figure in his eye-popping 8 1/2-length score in the GI Santa Anita Handicap in March. Dr. Naoya Yoshida and his wife, Marie Yoshida-Debeusscher, foaled and raised not only Locked, but also his dam, Luna Rosa. It all stemmed from a meeting in 1995 in Ireland, when Federico Barberini, a Newmarket bloodstock agent based at that time in Italy, paid a visit to Kildangan Stud, where Dr. Yoshida worked. That chance meeting would lead to a cherished client and multiple generations of Locked's family for the Yoshidas. In 2008, Barberini bought a mare named Gabriellina Giof (GB) (Ashkalani {Ire}) at the Keeneland January sale for $75,000 for his client, Roman restauratrice Rosa Colasanti. The mare had previously been a 2-year-old stakes winner in Italy for Colasanti, and had since been sold and exported to this country, where she won another black-type event and placed in the 2001 GII San Clemente Handicap at Del Mar for Arnold Zetcher. Now she was back in Colasanti's hands, but an ocean away. Luna Rosa last month near Lexington | Sarah Andrew Barberini advised Colasanti to keep Gabriellina Giof at Dr. Yoshida's Winchester Farm near Lexington. Although they hadn't yet made it to the races when Dr. Yoshida began caring for Gabriellina Giof in the same pastures where 1983 Broodmare of the Year Courtly Dee once grazed, the mare had already produced MGISW Gabby's Golden Gal (Medaglia d'Oro) and MGSW & GISP Always a Princess (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}). Under Dr. Yoshida's watch, she would produce Luna Rosa, her final foal before she passed away. Colasanti retained Luna Rosa, racing her as a homebred. While campaigning under trainer Rodolphe Brisset–around the same time he went out on his own after more than a decade as assistant to Hall of Famer Bill Mott–she ran well at two, finishing a strong second in a Keeneland maiden special weight. Luna Rosa then broke her maiden at three while going eight furlongs on the turf at Horseshoe Indianapolis in 2018. “Rodolphe Brisset, whom we've supported from early in his career, loved Luna Rosa,” remembered Dr. Yoshida. “She really showed ability. While she won only one race from her five starts, she performed very well on both dirt and on turf. She was a beautiful mover. “She also had her own mind. She's very tough, as was her mother, so even now we treat her like a queen,” said Dr. Yoshida with a laugh. After going to Frosted for her first foal–a now-5-year-old gelding named Mega Moon who was last seen finishing second in an optional claimer at Santa Anita at the end of May–Luna Rosa was sent to Gun Runner as part of his third book. Dr. Yoshida felt the Three Chimneys stallion would be ideally suited to the mare. “I saw Gun Runner on the racetrack and thought he was very unique. Obviously, he was a very good dirt horse, but he had really good action like one running on the turf, almost like he was flying. It was very light, very smooth, and I thought we could produce a Classic-type horse in using Gun Runner for Luna Rosa. That's the main reason we chose him, although he was still a new stallion. “Ms. Colasanti has a very good artistic eye when she's evaluating a horse. Each horse has to pass her test. That means we have to produce a world-class and a Classic-type horse.” Dr. Naoya Yoshida | Sarah Andrew Dr. Yoshida said Locked passed Colasanti's test and really stood out from the start. . “We were very happy because he had presence–a lovely presence–and a certain dignity from the time he was born, but he was easy to handle. He also had an impressive walk. “Luna Rosa is a powerful mare, but Locked is built more like Gun Runner. Although when looking at Luna Rosa from the side, I can see the same kind of square line which Locked has. In addition, any tough mentality he has most certainly comes from Luna Rosa.” While Dr. Yoshida may have brought the suggestion of Gun Runner for Luna Rosa to the table, he said mating plans for the mare are a group decision. “We work together with all of our boarding clients to make decisions for mating arrangements. Ms. Colasanti has been so kind to trust our suggestions since she started to keep her horses at the farm, but we always give our comments and suggestions to her to make our final decision together. There are so many important factors, of course–ability, race performance, commercial value, budget.” Luna Rosa went to Caravaggio and Tiz the Law in the two years following Locked, and visited Gun Runner's GI Preakness Stakes-winning son Early Voting for the current yearling. That colt is scheduled to go through the Keeneland September sale as part of Book 1. Dr. Yoshida said he looks like a Classic horse. “When we decided to enter the yearling for the Keeneland sale, Ms. Colasanti considered keeping him because he is very nice. This Early Voting colt has a very classy shape with a nice top line. He's a little different type from Locked, but extremely nice.” Locked himself sold at the 2022 Keeneland September sale for $425,000 to Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm. They sent him to Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher and the colt quickly rewarded Dr. Yoshida's vision, breaking his maiden in his second start at two at Saratoga in a 'TDN Rising Star' performance, then adding a win in the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity before hitting the board in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. He missed the Classics with a minor ligament injury. Since coming back late last year, he's captured the GII Cigar Mile and the Big 'Cap in addition to a runner-up effort in the GI Pegasus World Cup. He was last seen finishing third in Friday's GII Suburban Stakes at Saratoga. Rosa Colasanti's Luna Rosa | Sarah Andrew Luna Rosa has a full-brother to Locked on the ground and was bred back to Gun Runner again for next term. Dr. Yoshida said the foal reminds him of Locked and is showing signs of being another top colt. “I have a really good feeling on this foal, too,” said Dr. Yoshida. Both Locked and last year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Sierra Leone are bred on the identical cross, being by Gun Runner and out of Malibu Moon mares. They are also both foals of 2021. Even when getting in on the ground floor of a cross works so well, Dr. Yoshida is not one to rest on his laurels. “It's lovely to have Locked racing well, but we are also constantly thinking ahead to the next winner from this family. We always need to work harder and update our strategy.” Dr. Yoshida continued, “Ms. Colasanti most enjoys breeding and racing in Europe, so having first Gabriellina Giof and now Luna Rosa at the farm gives our team the mission to protect her passion. I hope we have more success for Ms. Colasanti. Her success helps promote cooperation between Europe and the United States, and that's what we try to do.” Up next, we'll check in with the dams and some of the breeding decisions behind a few key 3-year-old colts of 2025: GI Curlin Florida Derby winner Tappan Street and GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes winner Burnham Square. The post The Producers: Part 1, Locked and Bloodstock appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

(This story is courtesy of the The Thoroughbred Breeders' Association of New Jersey) There are many reasons that Kelso is considered one of the best horses of the 20th century, but the ones that stand out are his class, consistency and durability. Back when the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup was still considered one of the most important races on the calendar, Kelso won it five years in a row, from 1960 through 1964. It's considered one of the greatest feats in racing history. It would seem that accomplishment–winning the same stakes race five years in a row–would be beyond the reach of the modern thoroughbred. How many horses today even last five years? Not many. It's not what horses do anymore. Then there's the New Jersey-bred He'spuregold (Vancouver {Aus}). The 7-year-old gelding, who is owned and was bred by John Bowers's Roseland Farm Stable, celebrated the holiday weekend in style by winning his fifth straight Irish War Cry Handicap, a grass race restricted to New Jersey breds. “John stopped by the barn this morning and said you seemed really excited about the race yesterday,” trainer Kelly Breen said. “I said, 'Do you realize what your horse just did? He won the same race five years in a row.' It's unheard of. It's incredible.” Way back in 2020, He'spuregold made his debut finishing third in a maiden race at Keeneland while going off at odds of 70-1. Six starts later, he broke his maiden in a Jersey-bred race at Monmouth. Breen knew what he had, a horse with a lot of potential but one that also had ankle issues. “We've had some ankle problems with him and they are just as bad now that he's seven-years-old as they were when he was he was three,” Breen said. “He's had those issues, so we've worked hard to keep the problems in check. He's made his visits to Patty Hogan and he has had surgery. But he keeps going. He's a warrior.” “Kelly is over the moon,” Bowers said. “Kelly appreciates what he's done, with the five straight wins. We bred the horse in hopes that he'd be a good grass horse and he's always run great on the grass. The Irish War Cry is a New Jersey-bred race on the grass, so when he won it the first two times I wasn't really that surprised. Winning it five times in a row is really a thrill. It's something to be proud of.” As a 3-year-old, He'spuregold won the race for the first time in 2021. Breen tried him in a couple of graded, open races, but he wasn't up to the challenge. So it was right back to the Irish War Cry, which, as a 4-year-old he won by 2 1/2 lengths. He picked up his only career win on the dirt when capturing the 2022 Charles Hesse III Stakes at Monmouth for Jersey-breds. And he would go on to beat a tough field of allowance runners in 2023 at Gulfstream. He lost his next three starts, but the 2024 Irish War Cry awaited. With Paco Lopez, his regular rider throughout his career aboard, he had to fight this time, wining by just a neck over One Time Willard (Micromange), who is also trained by Breen. The secret to his success? “His demeanor helps,” Breen said. “He's a pleasure to be around. He's overall just a nice horse. He's nice to be around. He's a classy horse. It's hard to put into words sometimes, but he's nice to be around, nice to train. He's the best athlete on your sports team. My son plays hockey. It's like training Gretzky. My style of training really fits with him. I tell them to go out there and work a half-mile in 48 flat and he does it. He is the perfect athlete.” He beat open company in the 2024 Red Bank Stakes but that would be his last win coming into the 2025 Irish War Cry. This time he won by three-quarters of a length over the same One Time Willard. “You have to give Kelly a lot of credit because the horse has had ankle issues since he was three,” Bowers said. “Kelly has kept the horse going. One thing Kelly said to me is that the horse runs easily once he starts running. That's what kept him in high class races for so long.” The 2025 Irish War Cry win upped his career earnings to $687,170. He's won 10 races, five of them being the Irish War Cry. There won't be a sixth straight. Though He'spuregold is obviously still on top of his game, Bowers doesn't want to assume any of the risks that come with campaigning an 8-year-old. “We don't plan on running him next year,” Bowers said. “I don't want to see him running in claiming races. By the end of this year, he will have done everything we had hoped for and more. I appreciate it when people recognize him and his accomplishments.” The post New Jersey’s Version of Kelso, It’s He’spuregold appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Tuesday, Hamburg, Germany, post time: 18:25, GROSSER PREIS VON LOTTO HAMBURG-G3, €55,000, 3yo/up, 10fT Field: Quest The Moon (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}), Wintertraum (Ger) (Lord Of England {Ger}), Atoso (Ger) (Guiliani {Ire}), Calyx Rose (Ire) (Calyx {GB}), Daydream Express (GB) (Kingman {GB}), Egina (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}), New York City (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}), Eagle Emblem (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}). TDN Verdict: Christoph Berglar's Tattersalls October Book 2 graduate Eagle Emblem is the lone sophomore on display and gets a crucial nine pounds, and more, allowance from his elders. He was one length adrift of runner-up, and subsequent G1 Deutsches Derby fourth, Path Of Soldier when fourth in Baden-Baden's G3 Derby-Trial at the end of May and brings solid form to the table. Egina was rewarded for her consistency at black-type level with a brace of Listed victories in May and remains undefeated in two starts this term. Atoso annexed this last year but is winless in six outings since, while Wintertraum, Calyx Rose and Daydream Express already have black-type wins in the bag this year. The Sarah Steinberg-trained duo Quest The Moon and New York City complete a wide-open renewal, with Deutsches Derby heroine Nina Baltromei teaming up with the latter. [Sean Cronin]. Click here for the complete field. The post Black-Type Analysis: Eagle Emblem Tackles His Elders at Hamburg appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The following is a note from Dauna Moths, the sister of the late D. Wayne Lukas, to TDN's Christina Bossinakis. I just watched the TDN tribute to Wayne. I wish I could talk with each of those who commented–I consider us all “family.” Also, thank you for your recent comments on his life. My heart overflows to read all the remembrances to him. I have been overwhelmed by calls and e-mails from my friends and I am still trying to accept this reality. My heartfelt wish is to thank those who made kind comments and were a part of Wayne's life. For Wayne's 80th birthday, I sent him many scrapbooks of his life and I enclosed a card and blank pages, telling him he had to finish the books. Well, he certainly has done that. Many of the pictures of his early life were in Sermon on the Mount. Of course, I'm proud of all his achievements, but what really counts to me are the memories of our childhood. The many remembrances of his kindness and giving to others from others that knew him are comforting. My brother, Lowell, and I try to live the same way–and this is a tribute to a mother and father who taught us these values and way to live. It is ironic that I have a bulletin board with some of the same quotes that Wayne had on his, but that it was unknown to each of us! I wish there was a way for me to respond to all those who have remembered him and their gracious comments comfort me. Thank you for being a part of his life. The post Letter to the Editor: All in the Family – Remembering Wayne Lukas appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Unbridled joy was present in bundles at Hamburg on Sunday as recent amateur-turned-apprentice Nina Baltromei urged Hochkonig to victory on the line in the 156th Deutsches Derby, denying the Karl Burke-trained Convergent (Fastnet Rock) by the merest of margins. Hochkonig is by the Lomitas stallion Polish Vulcano, who stands at the Darboven family's Gestut Idee, which sponsors the Derby and is where the 17-year-old was bred. We'll be hearing from the stallion's breeder Albert Darboven in tomorrow's TDN, but for the breeders of Hochkonig, racing photographers Marc and Gabi Ruehl, Sunday's victory was somewhat surreal. Marc has been photographing Derby winners at Hamburg since Walter Swinburn won aboard Luigi back in 1988. He told TDN on Monday, “It was unbelievable. But the day before I told Nina that I was just going to focus on her and Hochkonig – and it worked!” Hochkonig was the second Classic winner of the season for trainer Yasmin Almenrader after the victory of Matilda in the G2 German 2,000 Guineas. The Soldier Hollow filly has subsequently been bought by Peter Brant of White Birch Farm and switched to the French stable of Francis Graffard. “Yasmin does a great job every time,” said Gabi. “We've seen it this year with Matilda and Hocking, but we have won so many races with Yasmin and she is all about the horse. We are in touch with her daily.” The Ruehls live near Cologne, about ten minutes from Gestut Schlenderhan where, for them, the Hochkonig story began 25 years ago with the purchase of his Schlenderhan-bred granddam Habina, by 1977 Derby winner The Minstrel. In fact, Derby winners from various nations run free in Hochkonig's pedigree. Though his grandsire Lomitas could manage only second in the Deutsches Derby back in 1991, the subsequent German Horse of the Year is himself a grandson of the most recent winner of the British Triple Crown, Nijinsky. Hochkonig's dam is by the Derby Italiano winner Kallisto and, as mentioned, has The Minstrel as her damsire. Six generations back on the page you will find Violetta, bred by the Moller family of White Lodge Stud and herself by Sir Victor Sassoon's 1953 Derby winner Pinza. She in turn features as the granddam of Teenoso (Youth), the winner at Epsom 30 years after Pinza, and the third dam of 2006 Derby hero Sir Percy (Mark Of Esteem). “We are just happy to have provided the next Derby winner for this line,” said Marc. “The German preference is for stamina, this is what Germany is famous for, we don't have too many horses running over 1,000 metres.” The Ruehls usually welcome “two or three foals a year” and currently have six mares at their property. “I had my first horse when I was nine and and later bought a Thoroughbred mare with my father, so the horses came first but I have been a professional photographer since I was 18,” said Marc. “I was concentrating on taking the photos but it was easy because I could see Hochkonig was near the front fighting. After he crossed the line I was sure he had won but I was a little bit nervous until we had the result.” Of the couple's decision to use Polish Vulcano for Halinara, he explained, “He is a son of Lomitas and we wanted the cross with The Minstrel because of Nijinsky, and also he is a really nice stallion. He doesn't have many runners but those who have run have done very well. It's the same with Kallisto. We used him often and we had great success with him.” Halinara will return to Polish Vulcano next season, as will her daughter Halima (Tertullian), and this year she has a filly foal by Alter Adler. Modestly, there were no photos of the Ruehls with Hochkonig displayed among the reams of photos of the Derby winner on their website. We did however coax them into tracking down the attached image of Marc celebrating in fine style. “We are not the owner, we are only the breeder,” Marc said, and his wife added, “But we enjoyed yesterday evening with the owner and the trainer. It is so important to enjoy these wonderful moments.” It is indeed. Delacroix Proves His Worth The feature race in Britain over the weekend was the Coral-Eclipse Stakes, in which Aidan O'Brien scored another perfect ten when Delacroix followed the likes of Giant's Causeway, St Mark's Basilica and City Of Troy in handing another win to the trainer. Only just though. In a hard scrabble of a finish, Ryan Moore rousted Delacroix home down the outside to deny favourite Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder), having been temporarily boxed in and bumped by stable-mate Camille Pissarro (Wootton Bassett), ridden by Christophe Soumillon. 'The lads have been looking for a Dubawi all their lives and he is out of a champion. He is a total outcross for all the mares,” said O'Brien of Delacroix, and we hope that Henry Longfellow, presumably happily out grazing in a Coolmore paddock after a busy covering season, took no offence. But of course, Delacroix, as suggested, is indeed a much more useful future option to the Coolmore broodmare band than the similarly good-looking Henry Longfellow as Delacroix is out of the Bernstein mare Tepin, and therefore free of Galileo blood, while the latter is out of Minding. Two sons of Dubawi out of two top-class racemares. It will be interesting to see which one ends up as the better sire, but that's a puzzle for the future. For now, Delacroix has bounced back from Derby disappointment to deliver a blow for the three-year-olds in the first generational clash of the season. His victory means that O'Brien's tally of Group 1 wins for the year now runs to ten and includes the Derby, Oaks, Irish Derby, Prix du Jockey Club and Poule d'Essai des Poulains. And we're only halfway through the season. The Wootton Boys With the Prix de Diane having fallen to Almanzor's daughter Gezora, it was time for another of Wootton Bassett's stallion sons to shine on Sunday when Wooded provided the winner of the Prix Jean Prat, Woodshauna. The latter, like his sire, is trained by Francis Graffard, and Woodshauna, from his first crop, becomes the first Group 1 winner – and stakes winner of any description – for Wooded, who stands at Al Shaqab's Haras de Bouquetot. Bred by Patrick Lemarié of Haras de Magouet, Woodshauna's victory gave a terrific boost to the form of the G3 Prix Texanita, which he won on May 16, beating subsequent G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Time For Sandals (Sands Of Mali) by a head. For that run, he had been wearing the colours of Al Shaqab Racing, but Woodshauna landed his Group 1 success in the silks of John Stewart's Resolute Racing, having been bought at the Goffs London Sale for £625,000 and kept in training with Graffard. It was a good day for graduates of Arqana's October Yearling Sale, as Woodshauna had originally been, as over in Warsaw, Chestnut Rocket (Intello) landed the Polish Derby for owner JK Grzegorowski. From the same sale the following year came Cape Ashizuri, who became the second winner for his young sire St Mark's Basilica with a two-length victory at Ayr on Sunday. Bred by Barrownstown Stud, the colt is a half-brother to G1 Prix Morny winner The Wow Signal (Starspangledbanner) and, like him, is trained by John and Sean Quinn, who picked him up at Arqana for €75,000. Wootton Bassett was himself represented by his latest stakes winner on Deauville's cracking Sunday card when Nighttime got the ball rolling in the opening Listed Prix Roland de Chambure, named in honour of the former owner of Haras d'Etreham, where Wootton Bassett famously started his stud career. This came a day after fellow juvenile Daytona took the inaugural running of the Listed Pat Smullen Irish EBF Stakes at Naas. Nighttime represents a nice mixture of two major owner-breeders as, though she runs in the blue and white livery of the Wertheimers, who bred her, she is out of Daytime, a once-raced Juddmonte-bred daughter of those overachieving parents Frankel and Midday (Oasis Dream). Blood will out. Palace Pier Emerging It is probably fair to say that Palace Pier has been the surprise chart-riser in the freshman sire ranks in recent weeks, and he now has seven winners to his credit, including the Listed-placed Sirius A. All seven of those winners have come in Britain, including a double at Sandown and Beverley last Friday, and, most tellingly, at a strike-rate of 44 per cent winners to runners. Palace Pier, by Kingman, was a later starter himself, but was unbeaten at two when winning a maiden and a novice contest on August 30 and September 18, before bursting onto the scene when winning the following season's G1 St James's Palace Stakes on his first start in Pattern company. His closest rival on strike-rate among the first-season sires is Haras de Bouquetot's Armor, who has three winners from seven runners (43 per cent), while Nando Parrado and Starman are operating at 28 and 27 per cent respectively. With 12 winners, including Group 3 winners Lady Iman and Venetian Sun, Starman remains at the head of the table overall. Looming Threat to British Racing The British Horseracing Authority may currently be missing a chief executive and a chair but it means business when it comes to addressing the serious threat to British racing from the proposals for a flat rate of tax across all forms of gambling. Following a Royal Ascot week launch of the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Racing and Bloodstock (APPG), the campaign stepped up a notch last week with a visit to Newmarket by a group of senior Conservative politicians, including Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch MP, to hear the concerns of some of racing's participants. This was followed by an appearance on Luck on Sunday of APPG co-chair and Labour MP Dan Carden. Newmarket, Britain's largest training and breeding hub, is a Conservative stronghold and has Carden's co-chair Nick Timothy as its representative in parliament, but cross-party support to quash the idea of a racing tax rise is vital. Speaking at last week's meeting at Tattersalls, William Haggas questioned the sway that shadow ministers could have in this issue, asking Badenoch, “Actually, what can you do about it? With all due respect you are not in power at the moment.” Her reply appeared to offer some reassurance. She said, “We can get the message to them. That is our job.” Indeed, from the benches of power, Lisa Nandy, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, answered a question in the House of Commons from Caroline Dinenage MP regarding the “looming and imminent crisis” facing the sport. Nandy said, “We understand not just the joy that horseracing brings to millions of people in the UK and across the world but also the huge economic benefits and we are absolutely determined to back British horseracing to the hilt.” Encouraging words. Let's hope her government in turn backs the minister. The post Seven Days: A Photo Finish Like No Other appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

GoffsGo, a new online sales platform that allows vendors to sell when they're ready, has been introduced by Goffs, with the first horses expected to be on the market and selling in the coming week. In a press release issued by Goffs on Monday, GoffsGo is described as “an easy to use, always on sales facility, that takes the waiting out of selling horses online”. Horses will be available for bidding as soon as they are published on the website, with bidding remaining open for around three to five days before closing. Entries for GoffsGo are open now and can be made on Goffs.com at a special launch fee of £49. The release continues, “Offering a point of significant difference to the existing online marketplace, GoffsGo is designed to get your horse onto the market fast, cutting waiting times and allowing people to maximise their horse's value by selling when the time is right. Entries are always open, 365 days of the year and Goffs will work with each vendor to arrange the fastest available date to put their horse on the market.” Like with other online sales, buyers will still need to register to bid with GoffsGo, with approved registrations being given a term length for their credit. This leaves buyers free to bid across all Goffs sales, both physical and online, that are held during the approved credit period. Goffs Group chief executive Henry Beeby said, “We mentioned earlier in the year we had been working on something in the online sale sphere and we are very excited to announce our new service, GoffsGo. “Designed to offer a point of difference in the online sale market, GoffsGo allows people to sell when they are ready, so when people ask us, 'When is your next sale?', we can say, 'Now', as we always have a sale in action. “We have built this service with flexibility in mind and part of that point of difference that GoffsGo offers is the option of discretion. So for those who wish to utilise all the benefits of selling with Goffs, and all our renowned service and integrity, but want to do so in a controlled, confidential manner, GoffsGo can provide that. “The other feature we are introducing with GoffsGo is our new preferences tool. So if you login and submit your preferences, the platform will send you an email when a horse that matches your preferences comes to market, so you never miss a horse but equally are not inundated with information irrelevant to you. “As with every Goffs sale, GoffsGo aspires to the highest standards of integrity and welfare. Therefore, all lots offered on GoffsGo will be accompanied with a vendor supplied Veterinary Certificate against which buyers can vet whilst the Goffs Conditions of Sale have been specially adapted for this service but still provide the protection and transparency clients know and appreciate when utilising the Goffs service.” He added, “This has been a huge project for the Goffs Group. GoffsGo is a concept that has taken a year to plan, design and build, and we are delighted to release it to the market. Entries for GoffsGo are open now. We are offering great value to introduce the service with entry fees from just £49, and we expect to launch the website in the coming week or so with horses on the market and selling. “Ruairi Breen, who is based in Kildare, is our online sales executive and will be in charge of running GoffsGo. Ruairi comes to Goffs from Jessica Harrington where he held the position of race planner and owner communications and brings a wealth of racing knowledge to the role. We look forward to seeing him drive this new and unique service forward.” Once an entry has been made, Goffs will contact the vendor regarding all required documentation and will organise the earliest possible date to get their horse on the market. For more information on GoffsGo, please read the FAQ here. The post Goffs Announce Launch of GoffsGo, The New Always-On Online Sales Platform appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Trainers Andrew Balding and Warren Greatrex were among those to take part in Racing Welfare's Castle to Abbey Challenge on Sunday, raising over £100,000 in the process. A total of 80 participants from across the racing industry completed the North Yorkshire coastline walk, from the historic Scarborough Castle to the iconic Whitby Abbey. Together, the grand total raised so far is £100,507, with donations remaining open via this link. Dawn Goodfellow, chief executive of Racing Welfare, said, “I wanted to say such a heartfelt thank you from Racing Welfare to every single person who has taken part, from the first past the post to the last, for all of the miles they've covered and the fundraising and the promotion they've done. “It has been probably our biggest challenge event to date, and probably the most money raised from any challenge event we've ever done from individual sponsors, so I can't thank everybody enough. The support has been truly humbling. “The funds raised will make a real difference to those in our industry facing difficult times, whether that's through mental health support, housing advice or financial assistance.” The post Racing Welfare’s Castle to Abbey Challenge Raises Over £100,000 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

If you're looking for a single word to sum up the catalogue for the Tattersalls July Sale, chances are that 'mammoth' will do the trick. In what other week would you find a recent Royal Ascot winner among the 17 horses who boast Timeform ratings in excess of 100, along with a list of mares as long as your arm that hail from deep Godolphin, Juddmonte and Shadwell families. Don't forget Baroda Stud offering the first mare in foal to champion racehorse City Of Troy. Put simply, there is something for everyone among the over 900 horses set to sell between Tuesday [sale gets underway at 9.30am] and Thursday at Park Paddocks. Andrew Balding will doubtless be one of the busiest trainers this week. As well as managing a typically-strong assault at the Newmarket July meeting, which includes leading July Cup hope Flora Of Bermuda, Balding will be overseeing a draft of 25 horses. Among them is Golden Gates Stakes winner Quai De Bethune, successful at the royal meeting on just his sixth start and one of the hottest properties on the sale ground. But he is not alone in the Kingsclere corner of the Highflyer Paddock, with fellow three-year-olds Humam (Kodiac) and Gallant (Hello Youmzain) boasting similarly-attractive profiles and ratings. Balding commented, “Obviously Quai De Bethune has been an improver and has been very consistent in his races. I thought that was a very good performance at Ascot and he's being sold to dissolve a partnership. I'm sure there are more miles on the clock so I hope he sells well.” As far as British-based trainers are concerned, few hit the yearling sales quite like Balding, who does a lot of the heavy lifting himself on behalf of a wide variety of clients. Many of those owners need to cut their cloth to measure, which means the wheels need to turn. Hence, here we are. “Exactly,” Balding agreed. “And when you sell at this time of the year, it tends to give you a little more ammunition when it comes to the yearling sales. Plenty of our owners need to keep the wheel turning. We are selling a lot of horses this week and, while I don't know the exact number, a lot of them have won their latest start. I'd like to think we have a really good consignment this week.” Some of the breeding stock on offer this week would not look out of place here in December. Within the 48 lots that powerhouse operation Godolphin will offer, there are sisters to champion older horse Ghaiyyath [lot 244], Sea Silk Road [265] and the Derby winner Masar [852] to name just a few. But if it's a novelty factor that you're after, look no further than Miaharris (Zoustar) [180], the only mare to be sold in foal to City Of Troy. A classy filly on the track, Miaharris reached a rating of 99 and landed a Listed success over the minimum trip at Newbury. She will be sold this week by Baroda Stud, whose owner David Cox said, “She was a very good racemare and there is definitely a bit of a novelty factor involved with her given she is in foal to a champion in City Of Troy. There are three well-related maiden mares – Hala Be Zain (Zoffany) [66], Queen Of Mercia (Golden Horn) [142] and Heavenly Fire (Harry Angel) [145] – who are all in foal to Shaquille and are going down well as well so it is shaping up to be an interesting sale. But, definitely, there is a bit of a novelty factor with Miaharris with her covering.” Marconi: a bloodstock agent on the rise| Tattersalls One man who can be expected to get in on the action for the highly-rated racing prospects is bloodstock agent Alessandro Marconi. The Italian native, best known for unearthing last year's French 2,000 Guineas winner Metropolitan, has been a growing force at the major breeze-up, online and horses-in-training sales in recent times. Being in demand brings its own challenges with Marconi ruing the fact he didn't get in on the action at Arqana last week in order to help lighten his load ahead of the July Sale. He explained, “There was an article with Mr Stuart [Boman, bloodstock agent] in one of the papers the other day and he was very right in what he said – it is easy to split horses for America, Australia, the Middle East or wherever. Where it becomes tricky is when you have multiple clients from the same region, which I have, because they all want the same horses. “I can give directions and coordinate the traffic on the roundabout but the main issue is, for example, if you take Dubai, it will be the same three or four trainers who have the clients that I have. So, how are you going to solve the equation? You just need to do your best to fill the orders but you need to buy the right ones. The majority of the horses that I am buying are for Middle Eastern clients.” Explaining his upsurge in popularity and approach to this week's sale, the former assistant trainer to Dubai trainer Ahmad Bin Harmash, said, “The horses I bought two years ago started winning and are doing better and better. So the clients that I lost started coming back. That's the way it is. The Marconi horses are winning. I want to get the job done properly and the most important thing for that is buying the right horse. There were five horses in Arqana last week that we tried to buy and now I am regretting not buying at least one. But we must be hopeful of being active this week.” The post Royal Ascot Winner Features Among Jam-Packed Tattersalls July Sale Offering appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The King's Cup, which was run as a Group 3 for the first time this year, will be worth $400,000 in 2026, after the Bahrain Turf Club announced a doubling of the prize fund for the most prestigious contest in the Kingdom's racing calendar. In conjunction with the boost in value to The King's Cup, the international race programme has also been strengthened, creating a clearly signposted 'Road to the King's Cup' for highly-rated horses over both a mile and middle-distances. This programme culminates with the $120,000 Listed Al Methaq Mile (1600m) and the $400,000 G3 King's Cup (2400m), which will be run next year on Friday, March 6. Yusuf Buheji, CEO of the Bahrain Turf Club, said, “As the quality of international horse attracted to compete in Bahrain improves, we want to ensure there are attractive and valuable options available to owners and trainers outside of the now established Bahrain Turf Series races. This has led to a strengthening of the international programme and the developing of a 'Road to the King's Cup', which takes in the Crown Prince's Cup and other premier races. “The King's Cup, run in honour of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, is the most prestigious prize in the Kingdom's racing calendar. The introduction of floodlights last year enabled us to create The King's Cup Festival, with consecutive nights of high-class racing and international competition.” He added, “Our goal is to keep developing and improving the quality of racing in Bahrain, together with the facilities, thereby making Bahrain an even more attractive and compelling proposition to international visitors.” The headline race in the first half of the season remains the G2 Bahrain International Trophy, with the $1-million contest taking place this year on Friday, November 14. Last year Spirit Dancer, trained by Richard Fahey and co-owned by Sir Alex Ferguson, made history when becoming the first horse to retain the trophy, beating the subsequent Group 1 winner Lead Artist. Meanwhile, the Bahrain Turf Series returns with 12 races, worth a total of $1 million and a further $80,000 available in bonuses. With both sprint and middle-distances races, the series gets underway on Friday, December 19 and concludes with two handicaps, each worth $100,000, at The King's Cup Festival in March. The post Bahrain Turf Club Increases Investment with $400,000 King’s Cup appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

St. Louis native and multi-diamond, award winning artist Nelly has taken a significant ownership role in a National Thoroughbred League (NTL) team that will move to St. Louis from its original Seattle base, the group announced Monday. Renamed as the “Nellies” in honor of its newest owner, the team is an expansion of the rapper's involvement after having been an early investor in the venture. Nelly will also serve as host of the NTL's Nelly Cup at Fairmount Park Saturday, July 19 for the track's centennial celebration. There will be music headlined by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member of A Tribe Called Quest, Jarobi White, as well as refreshments, a Nelly-inspired fashion show, and a trophy presentation by the artist. The NTL is the first team-based professional league in horse racing, giving fans recurring favorites and rivalries, while turning race weekends into lifestyle experiences and opportunities to support the community. “Nelly was an early investor in the National Thoroughbred League and his expanded ownership role is a testament to the momentum and success we've built so far,” said Randall Lane, co-founder of the NTL. “Our mission is rooted in creating authentic connections and fan bases in every city we're in, which is why each team's ownership group includes individuals who have strong, personal ties to their local communities.” For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit the NTL website. The post Award Winning Artist Nelly Purchases Seattle-Based National Thoroughbred League Team appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Last year's 2,000 Guineas winner Notable Speech heads a list of 16 contenders for Saturday's G1 Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai July Cup at Newmarket, after being supplemented on Monday at a cost of £36,000. Trained by Charlie Appleby, Notable Speech has raced exclusively over a mile in his 10 career starts to date, with last year's G1 Sussex Stakes at Goodwood featuring among his other significant victories. Last seen finishing fourth in the G1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot, the son of Dubawi now faces a two-furlong drop in distance, having impressed his connections in a recent piece of work. Godolphin posted on social media on Monday, “Update from Moulton Paddocks: Following a very pleasing piece of work over the weekend, the decision has been made to supplement Dubawi's 2,000 Guineas hero Notable Speech for the G1 July Cup @NewmarketRace.” Notable Speech is one of two supplementary entries for the July Cup made by Godolphin, along with the John and Thady Gosden-trained Spy Chief (Kingman), who produced a career-best effort when filling the runner-up spot in the G3 Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot last time. Symbol Of Honour (Havana Grey) could also represent Appleby and Godolphin, following his success in the G2 Sandy Lane Stakes at Haydock, while Whistlejacket (No Nay Never), Big Mojo (Mohaather) and Ides Of March (Wootton Bassett) will also be trying to land a blow for the three-year-olds in the first big clash of the generations in this division. That trio all contested the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, with Whistlejacket finishing one place ahead of Big Mojo in sixth as stablemate Ides Of March came home towards the rear of the field. Andrew Balding's Flora Of Bermuda (Dark Angel) is among the market leaders after her third-place finish in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot. The first two from that Group 1, Lazzat and Satono Reve, will be missing from Saturday's July Cup, but five of the next six look set to be in action at Newmarket, with Iberian (Lope De Vega), Jasour (Havana Grey), Inisherin (Shamardal) and Run To Freedom (Muhaarar) all trying to turn the tables on Flora Of Bermuda. Wathnan Racing, the owners of Flora Of Bermuda, could be represented by up to three runners with Night Raider (Dark Angel) and Rogue Lightning (Kodiac) also in the mix, while this year's G1 Al Quoz Sprint heroine Believing (Mehmas) is set to make her final appearance on a racecourse for George Boughey. The potential field is completed by the Richard Hughes-trained No Half Measures (Cable Bay) and Richard Spencer's Twilight Calls (Twilight Son). The post Supplemented Notable Speech Features Among 16 July Cup Contenders appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Bloodstock agent Ed Sackville has been appointed by Juddmonte in the new position of Head of European Sales. Sackville, a graduate of the Godolphin Flying Start programme and Highclere Stud, will be responsible for commercial aspects of the European business, including overall responsibility for the sale of European stallion nominations, working closely and directly with Juddmonte's Nominations Manager Shane Horan and the nominations team. In a press release issued by Juddmonte, it was also confirmed that Sackville will continue to work with clients of SackvilleDonald as an independent breeding adviser. Douglas Erskine Crum, CEO Juddmonte Group, said, “As we look to expand our stallion roster in Europe, we have identified the need also to expand our nominations team to continue to serve our growing client base to the highest standards. “We have worked for many years with Ed. He is one of the most respected advisers in our industry and has close connections with Juddmonte. All of us in the team look forward to working even more closely with him in future.” Sackville added, “Juddmonte has a long history of racing top class horses which go on to become world class stallions. Frankel and Kingman are the epitome of this success, which has been carefully nurtured and developed over 40 years. With Frankel's Classic-winning son Chaldean already in the stallion roster and Kingman's Classic-winning son Field Of Gold to follow, Juddmonte's history of standing successful sires looks set to continue. “I am hugely excited to be a part of this journey and look forward to working with Shane, his team at Juddmonte, and with breeders throughout Europe.” The post Ed Sackville Named Juddmonte’s Head of European Sales appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Another record-setting performance by Sweet Azteca, a record pool in the Players' Pick 5, increased field size for a second consecutive year, and a first local riding title for jockey Kazushi Kimura highlighted the Los Angeles County Fair meet.View the full article

The nine-day Los Angeles County Fair Meet concluded Sunday with increased field sizes for a second consecutive year and with Kazushi Kimura claiming his first local riding title, the track announced. Several metrics improved for the 2025 season in addition to the field size–a bump up to 7.6 starters per race from slightly less than seven over the corresponding season a year ago. The total Players' Pick 5 pool of $974,636 eclipsed the previous high of $410,783 from 2016 when two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome had been the meet marquee attraction. While Kimura claimed sole ownership of the riding title with 10 victories–one more than Diego Herrera in second–for the LACF season, trainers Steve Knapp and Peter Miller tied for the top spot in the trainer standings with six victories apiece. Knapp led the 2024 Winter Meet, and Miller has led outright or shared the title on eight occasions since daytime racing returned to Los Alamitos in 2014. The second daytime meet of 2025 will begin Friday, Sept. 12 with six scheduled racing days through Sunday, Sept. 21 on a Friday-Sunday time frame both weeks (Sept. 13-15 and Sept. 20-22). Post time will be 1:00 p.m. The post Kazushi Kimura Claims First Riding Title at Los Angeles County Fair Meet appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article