Wandering Eyes

Standout turf horse Bricks and Mortar and Rushing Fall, undefeated in four races at Keeneland, are among the multiple grade 1 winners nominated to this year's Fall Stars Weekend on Oct. 4-6, opening weekend of Keeneland's 17-day Fall Meet. View the full article

Michael Veitch, who covered the sport of Thoroughbred racing as a decorated journalist for nearly 40 years and is the author of three books on the sport's history, has been named the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame's historian. View the full article

The Illinois Racing Board voted Sept. 24 to grant Arlington International Racecourse its requested dates for 2020 despite casting the track's future into question after owner Churchill Downs Inc. decided not to open a casino at the track. View the full article

Porter on Pedigrees View the full article

Less than a week after tying Jerry Bailey's modern-day record of 660 graded stakes-winning rides, Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez has three chances to surpass Bailey Sept. 27 on opening day of the autumn meet at Santa Anita Park. View the full article

Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider's 5-year-old homebred mare Elate has jumped into the Top 10 in the latest poll of the Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings, while Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman's 4-year-old McKinzie remains in first place. View the full article

The SuperCoach salary cap means we can’t spend like Godolphin founder Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and so it behooves a savvy player to target those races which offer the best return for dollars spent. View the full article

The inaugural Fasig-Tipton California Fall Yearlings Sale will be held Thursday at the Fairplex Sales Pavilion in Pomona, with bidding scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. PT. The one-day auction features a catalogue of 285 yearlings, with 25 withdrawn as of Tuesday afternoon. Fasig-Tipton will be hosting its second California auction, following its inaugural Santa Anita 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale in June. The sales company took over from the now-defunct Barretts this year and, as showing at the sales barns began Tuesday in Pomona, consignors are hoping to see plenty of out-of-town shoppers. “Fasig-Tipton brings a bigger group of people, so I think that’s exciting,” said Kim McCarthy, whose McCarthy Bloodstock will send 31 yearlings through the sales ring Thursday. “We have a few more pinhookers coming out from Florida and Kentucky, so hopefully we’ll have some fun.” Fairplex, the longtime home of Barretts sales, hosted its final Thoroughbred auction with the company’s Fall Sale last October. It has been used sparingly as a sales pavilion since Barretts moved its 2-year-olds in training sales to Del Mar and Fasig-Tipton opened its California training sale at Santa Anita. “This was what it was built for–this is a sales pavilion,” McCarthy said of the venue. “They built it to do exactly what we’re doing. It’s a shame it doesn’t get used more often.” With the closure of Barretts and uncertainties in the California racing circuit, McCarthy agreed the success of the sale was vital to the state’s breeding industry. “It’s huge,” she said of the auction’s importance. “We are down to one yearling and one 2-year-olds in training sale, so we need these to go well and that will keep all the breeders going. I think we are all kind of holding our breath and hoping it all goes well.” The post Inaugural Fasig-Tipton California Fall Sale Thursday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Post times for the two-day Breeders’ Cup World Championships, consisting of 14 races with purses and awards totaling more than $30 million, which will be held Nov. 1-2 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, were announced Tuesday. The official race order and wagering menu for both days of the Championships will be announced Wednesday, Oct. 23. The 36th Breeders’ Cup begins Friday, Nov. 1 with Future Stars Friday, featuring all five Breeders’ Cup World Championships races for 2-year-olds, which comprises half of the 10-race program. There will be four undercard races preceding the first Breeders’ Cup race, with first race post time at 10:45 a.m. PT. Friday’s first Breeders’ Cup race will be Race #5, which will have a post time of 1:12 p.m. PT. The $2-million GI TVG Breeders’ Cup Juvenile will be the ninth race on the card, with a post time of 4:03 p.m. PT. Post time for the 10th and final race will be 4:43 p.m. PT. There will be 12 races on the Saturday, Nov. 2 program, featuring nine Breeders’ Cup World Championships races. The day begins with three undercard races with a first race post time of 10:07 a.m. PT. The first Breeders’ Cup race will be Race #4, which will have a post time of 11:55 a.m. PT. Post time for the $6-million GI Breeders’ Cup Classic, Race #12, will be 5:44 p.m. PT. The post Post Times Set for 2019 BC World Championships appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

FAIRYHOUSE, Ireland–The Irish yearling sale season got underway at Tattersalls Ireland on Tuesday and the solid trade that was evident elsewhere in England, France and Germany so far this year continued. A trimmed down catalogue compared to last year, coupled with a diverse buying bench saw the session culminating with a healthy clearance rate of 86%. The aggregate of €5,045,500 compared favourably with last year’s total off a bigger catalogue and the average of €25,612 was also on par with 2018. The median of €22,000 (+10%) was up slightly on last year’s figure of €20,000. While the session topping price of €100,000 fell short of last year’s corresponding price of €180,000, encouragement can be taken from the fact that 27 lots sold for €50,000 or more. This number, compared to 22 last year from circa 40 more yearlings suggests there was plenty of competition for the choicer lots. “He’s a lovely stamp of a horse and the sire works very well in Hong Kong; so let’s hope he’s lucky,” were the words from former legendary jockey Mick Kinane after he signed the docket at €100,000 for lot 126. The sire in question was Holy Roman Emperor (Ire), responsible for such stars in Hong Kong as Designs On Rome (Ire), Beauty Only (Ire) and Charles The Great (Ire). The colt was offered by The Castlebridge Consignment on behalf of breeder Chasemore Farm and is the fourth produce out of the Nayef mare Ape Attack (GB). Another sire to have done well in Hong Kong is Dandy Man (GB) and Kinane added a colt by the Ballyhane sire to the HKJC purchases later in the day. Lot 192 from Loughtown Stud is out of the stakes placed Cristal Fashion (Ire) (Jeremy) and was knocked down to Kinane for €50,000. SackvilleDonald Procures Dark Angel Colt SackvilleDonald have been long term supporters of this sale and the agency’s Ed Sackville, along with trainer Tom Dascombe, combined to land lot 226 from Michael Ryan’s Al Eile Stud for €90,000. The colt by Dark Angel (Ire) is out of Ryan’s former smart race-mare Duchess Andorra (Ire) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}) and also shares a sire with Dascombe’s recent Ayr Gold Cup winner Angel Alexander (Ire). After fending off bids from Paddy Twomey and signing the buyer’s docket Sackville said, “We’ve been very lucky with Dark Angel, last weekend being the most recent example. I was delighted Angel Alexander won at Ayr as his owners are great supporters of Tom’s yard. This is a lovely individual from a highly rated mare.” While Tom Dascombe invariable enjoys his trips to this sale this trip will be even more memorable as he also added a nice stakes win to his already good season when Sir Boris (GB) (Due Diligence) won the Listed Ballyhane Blenheim S. across the road at Fairyhouse on Monday. Acclamation Colt Bound for States The third highest priced yearling of the day is bound for America after the BBA Ireland’s Eamonn Reilly signed for lot 183, an Acclamation (GB) colt from Rathbarry Stud. The €80,000 colt is the first produce out of Click And Roll (Smart Strike), a half-sister to GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf and Royal Ascot winner Hootenanny (Quality Road) and it is that horse’s former trainer Wesley Ward who will also train this yearling. “He has been bought for a client of Wesley Ward’s,” Reilly said. “I bought a few yearlings for Wesley last year and they have all won so let’s hope this lad does the same.” Demand for “War” and “Thunder” Heating Up For the first half of the session the mantle of top lot was held by lot 26, a filly by Declaration of War, offered by Peter Nolan Bloodstock. The hammer came down at €70,000 for the January born chestnut out of the winning Montjeu (Ire) mare Silky (Ire) in favour of Marco Bozzi who was bidding on behalf of Justin Casse. One of the best pinhooks of the day was undoubtedly lot 106 who went the way of Federico Barberini for €65,000. The bay colt by Night Of Thunder (Ire) was offered by Jimmy Murphy’s Redpender Stud having cost just €5,000 at Goffs last November. There were no significant updates on the dam’s side but his sire’s impressive start with his first crop of runners coupled with the yearling’s positive physical development seemed to work the oracle. Skiffington Strikes for Australia Colt Amanda Skiffington was another who went to €65,000 to acquire a colt by Australia (GB) offered by Castlehyde Stud as lot 143. Skiffington has unearthed a couple of Classic winners from this sale in the past in Galileo Gold (GB) and Hawksmoor (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}) and the responsibility of maintaining Skiffington’s successful track record now rests with Newmarket trainer Tom Clover who will be taking charge of the colt. “He is a lovely athletic colt, my pick of the sale and I am thrilled to get him,” Skiffington said. Starspangledbanner’s Fillies Shine Hubie De Burgh, standing alongside Fozzy Stack, struck for lot 94 from Brendan Holland’s Grove Stud. The daughter of Starspangledbanner (Aus) and the unraced Zain Art (Ire) (Excellent Art {GB}) was pin-hooked as a foal by Holland for €42,000 at Goffs last year and it took De Burgh’s bid of €67,000 to secure the filly. The same buying team kept things simple later in the day when buying another daughter of Starspangledbanner for €70,000. Lot 164 was offered by Denis Brosnan’s Croom House Stud and is a half-sister to Hong Kong Group 2 winner Endowing (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}). “We love Starspangledbanner, he really upgrades his mares and has done so well for a horse that has suffered fertility problems in the past,” said De Burgh. “This is a lovely, athletic, scopey filly from a great family and is just the type of filly that Fozzy excels with.” Established Sires & New Shooters Popular Brendan Holland had another good result when offering a Dark Angel (Ire) filly (lot 117) out of a half-sister to Authorized (Ire). Holland had bought her from the Bobby Flay dispersal at Tattersalls last year for 27,000gns. He recently described her as a “weak foal at that time” that had done very well since and so it proved in the ring when Ado McGuinness and his assistant Stephen Thorne saw off competition from Nick Bradley to secure the filly for €55,000. Zhang Yuesheng, the principal of China based Yulong Investments was present at the sale and accompanied by Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland, the increasingly influential investor acquired a number of yearlings. Among the more expensive ones was lot 138, a colt by Footstepsinthesand (GB), consigned by Tally-Ho Stud and purchased for €60,000. Soon after the Yulong/BBA axis signed for lot 147, a filly by The Last Lion (Ire) for €50,000. It was a successful pin-hook for Dermot Dunne’s Rockview Stables who had bought the filly for €17,500 at Goffs last November. Mark McStay of Avenue Bloodstock was another active at the upper end of the sale and among his purchases was lot 200, a Showcasing (GB) colt bought in conjunction with Hugo Palmer for €65,000 and lot 139, a colt by Mastercraftsman (Ire) that cost €52,000. Another yearling destined for Newmarket is lot 216 who was knocked down to Blandford Bloodstock for €62,000. The Mount Coote Stud-offered filly by Territories (Ire) will join Archie Watson. A “Famous” Reunion There was a reunion of sorts represented early in the day regarding the transaction of lot 6. The son of Famous Name (GB), offered by Ringfort Stud on behalf of neighbouring breeders Pat and Frances Smullen, was bought by Bobby O’Ryan on behalf of Dermot Weld for €50,000. Weld of course trained Famous Name to win 21 races, and he was steered to each of those victories by Pat Smullen. In fact, in a 38-race career only one other jockey rode Famous Name and that was Mick Kinane. Weld’s purchase was bred by the Smullens out of Saying Grace (Ire) (Brief Truce) and is a full-brother to the 105-rated Escobar (Ire), a winner at York for David O’Meara in July. The sale continues on Wednesday at 10 a.m. The post Solid Start to Tattersalls Ireland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The Thoroughbred Education and Research Foundation (TERF) has awarded nearly $80,000 in grants to nine organizations. In 2019, $15,000 was awarded to Wilson College; $14,285 to New Bolton Center; $10,000 to Equine Advocates; $6,000 to Cornell University; and $5,000 to Retired Racehorse Project to fund scholarships and education. In addition, TERF granted $10,000 to Belmont Child Care Association; $10,000 to Maryland Horse Industry Foundation; and $3,000 to Fair Hill Thoroughbred Show. The funds will support these organizations’ general operating budgets. Lastly, $5,000 was awarded to Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation to support their research efforts. TERF’s grants reflect the values set forth by founders Herb and Ellen Moelis during TERF’s 2013 inception. TERF’s current Board includes co-Chairs Kathleen Anderson, DVM, and James Orsini, DVM, Margaret H. Duprey, Gretchen and Roy Jackson, Ellen and Herb Moelis, Wendy Moon, Anita Motion, Toni Orsini, Scott Palmer, Josh Pons and Lucy Zungailia. Contributions to TERF’s financial capacity have been aided by Roy and Gretchen Jackson of Lael Stables, who recently announced a donation of 5% of their 2019 winnings to TERF. The post Thoroughbred Education and Research Foundation Awards $80,000 in Grants appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Wednesday’s Insights features a daughter of Classic heroine Lahaleeb (Ire) (Redback {GB}). 6.45 Newcastle, Novice, £5,800, 2yo, f, 6fT ZEZENIA (IRE) (Oasis Dream {GB}) is out of the GI E. P. Taylor S. heroine and G1 1000 Guineas runner-up Lahaleeb (Ire) (Redback {GB}) and she debuts for her breeder Khaled Abdul Rahaim and the Roger Varian stable. She gets seven pounds from Juddmonte’s winning Jovial (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), a Sir Michael Stoute-trained daughter of Joyeuse (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) who is responsible for the stable’s TDN Rising Star and G1 Coronation S. third Jubiloso (GB) (Shamardal). The post Daughter of Lahaleeb Debuts at Newcastle appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Hats off to you, Mr. Genaro Garcia–and the very best of luck with your filly. For yours is the signature on the last of 2,855 sale dockets processed through 13 sessions of the Keeneland September Sale. A daughter of Haynesfield, out of a War Front mare; fourth dam won the GI Flower Bowl S. back in 1990. And the beauty of this business is that she retains every right, at $1,300, to overcome all the vagaries of fortune that may no less afflict the $8.2 million daughter of American Pharoah and Leslie’s Lady who had the previous week become the most expensive filly ever sold at this auction. Between the pair, admittedly, the odds of pedigree and conformation will not favor Hip 4642. But the fact is that neither has ever had a saddle on her back, and it now boils down to how destiny chooses to reward the faith and perseverance required for both transactions. For Mandy Pope, in making her only purchase of the fortnight, it was a case of holding out to thwart Sheikh Mohammed himself for the sale-topper. For Mr. Genaro, it was about being literally the last man standing. Ten of the last 11 yearlings in the catalogue had been scratched, but the Haynesfield filly kept her appointment; the hard-working Four Star Sales team secured their 118th sale; and that worn gavel came down one last time. The commercial abyss dividing these two fillies reflects the unique nature of Keeneland September. It’s not so much a market as the market. The frenzied closing session of Book 1 was off the charts, the $8.2-million filly being one of eight to make seven figures on the day. But while the top end of the bloodstock market has been wild for a while now, on both sides of the Atlantic, it was only when the Amish and others had completed their shopping on Sunday that we could get the full picture. The three Fasig-Tipton summer yearling sales–July in Lexington, plus the Select and New York auctions in Saratoga–between them cover plenty of ground, and have duly become a pretty good signpost to September. Last year, Fasig’s summer business had anticipated huge KEESEP numbers by tipping $100 million for the first time, up from $75 million just two years previously. Sure enough, Keeneland went through the roof, its $377-million turnover comparing with $308 million in 2017 and $273 million in 2016. This time around, understandably enough, the Fasig summer subsided 10.6% by gross; and 8% by average. The volume of trade had been very similar (69.9% of 523 hips finding a new home, compared with 70.7% of 538 the previous year) so it looked as though the big spenders at the top end, still rolling in the cash glut of post-recession fiscal policy, might just have begun to go too hard to drag the rest of the market into their slipstream. In the event, however, Keeneland shed just 4.5% of its monster 2018 market as turnover dipped to $360 million. With the RNA rate virtually unchanged, around 24%, the average eased to $126,096 from $129,335. TABLE A US SUMMER & SEPTEMBER YEARLING MARKET PERFORMANCE 2012-19 FASIG-TIPTON JULY, SARATOGA & NY KEENELAND SEPT TOTAL sold aggregate average sold aggregate average sold aggregate average 2019 523 90,368,000 172,778 2,855 360,004,700 126,096 3,378 450,372,700 133,325 2018 538 101,048,500 187,822 2,916 377,140,400 129,335 3,454 478,188,900 138,445 2017 510 85,316,000 167,286 2,555 307,845,000 120,487 3,065 393,161,000 128,274 2016 516 74,998,500 145,346 2,792 272,890,500 97,740 3,308 347,889,000 105,166 2015 532 81,636,500 153,452 2,745 281,496,100 102,549 3,277 363,132,600 110,812 2014 452 62,636,000 138,575 2,819 279,960,000 99,312 3,271 342,596,000 104,737 2013 467 60,711,000 130,002 2,744 280,491,300 102,220 3,211 341,202,300 106,260 2012 434 55,996,000 129,023 2,516 219,723,000 87,330 2,950 275,719,000 93,464 In sum, a $450-million North American yearling market so far this year has lost $27,816,200 in value, or 5.8%. It has still maintained a giddy advance on the post-recession consolidation of 2013 to 2016, when it was worth between $341 million and $363 million. All bull runs contain the seeds of their own destruction, of course, and it’s worth noting that the KEESEP median slipped from $50,000 to $45,000. A lot of people sieving this catalogue need to recycle the value they find there, for instance as pinhookers at the 2-year-old sales. And there’s little question that the elite sector of the bloodstock market is pretty faithfully reflecting the way a decade of recovery has principally reinforced great wealth. But the biggest single impetus to the past two Septembers has not, of course, been a domestic investor. Even in a market like this one, the return of Sheikh Mohammed in person–having for many years previously left his investment here to his representatives–has made an enormous impact. In 2016, his former bloodstock manager John Ferguson gave $2,245,000 for five hips; in 2017, his Godolphin team ranked third on the ledger with $8,065,000 for 17 hips. With the boss back in town, to see the horseflesh and call the bidding, Godolphin has acquired 33 yearlings over the past two Septembers for a total of $35,290,000. And that’s without an $8-million underbid! It took the Sheikh that long to figure out that Mandy Pope was going to stop at nothing for the half-sister to Into Mischief, Beholder and Mendelssohn. As it was, he had to settle for the sale’s four most expensive colts. Once again, moreover, his brother Sheikh Hamdan came through as its second-highest investor. This time around, between them, their Godolphin and Shadwell operations gave $27,070,000 for 28 hips. Nobody in this industry should ever, for one thoughtless moment, take for granted the global benefits arising from the Maktoums’ love for the Thoroughbred. Their investment has been unprecedented not only in its scale but also in its commitment. That the American market also owes much to the broader echelon of the big spenders is evident from the steady increase in the portion of KEESEP turnover claimed by a) seven-figure hips and b) the top ten investors each year. TABLE B TOP OF THE KEENELAND SEPTEMBER MARKET 2013-19 $1 MILLION-PLUS HIPS TOP 10 BUYERS aggregate hips % of gross aggregate hips % of gross 2019 40,900,000 22 11.4 79,330,000 130 22 2018 36,525,000 27 9.7 86,820,000 166 23 2017 19,950,000 13 6.5 66,950,000 162 21.8 2016 13,900,000 9 5.1 53,386,000 152 19.6 2015 14,525,000 11 5.2 43,340,000 147 16.1 2014 18,300,000 13 6.5 51,180,000 130 18.3 2013 25,250,000 18 9 50,974,000 146 18.2 Leslie’s Lady rather distorts the first group this time around, with 22 sales representing 11.4% of the gross after 27 accounted for 9.7% last year. But both plainly represent a bigger slice of the pie than before. The top 10 buyers at each sale, similarly, are consistently hitting above the level of four or five years ago. Though they came away with just 130 animals this time, compared with 166 last year, they still accounted for 22% of the gross (similar to 2018, but until recently that share was consistently in the teens). Their tastes remain predictable, and they reliably left to pinhookers the challenge of finding physicals likely to punch above their sires’ weight. Of the 86 hips to make over $600,000, 75 were by stallions that now stand (or, in a couple of cases, did so previously) at six-figure fees. Exceptional kudos, therefore, goes to Union Rags for producing no fewer than five of the remaining 11 at a 2017 conception fee of $50,000. Nine of those realizing more than $600,000 resulted from a book of 235 that made Into Mischief the busiest sire in the land in 2017, at a new fee of $75,000. That, of course, was 10 times the going rate just five years previously, and he has since continued soaring to $175,000. Curiously, he still has a solitary seven-figure yearling to his name, having another near-miss with a $950,000 colt here. His half-sister helped American Pharoah to overtake Into Mischief as the sale’s leading sire by gross (55 sold for $24,044,000, against 68 for $23,438,000) but the conservative books of War Front again permitted 14 of his collectors’ items to top the averages at $579,643. (Leaving aside, that is, the tiny sample for Dubawi {Ire}.) His tryst with Leslie’s Lady also helped American Pharoah into the top five by average, at $437,164, though also rather stretched out the gap to a median of $240,000. His debut here last year brought him 47 sales at $416,702, with a median of $320,000. He’s had plenty of early action on the track, of course, though some of his peers deserve a lot more patience. If there’s anything as ridiculous as the stampede for unproven new stallions, it’s the impatience the market then shows in demanding proof of their merits. Very often they aren’t even permitted time to get horses on the track before the market runs away screaming. But I can’t alter the fact that the result is a significant sector within the overall marketplace. In grudging complicity, then, let’s take a look at how the latest group of rookies fared at their first September Sale. TABLE C FIRST-SEASON SIRES AT KEENELAND SEPTEMBER min four sold and $50,000 gross 2017 fee ring sold % sold gross average Nyquist 40,000 38 24 63.2 6,033,000 251,375 Runhappy 25,000 47 39 83 9,472,000 242,872 Frosted 50,000 61 44 72.1 10,025,000 227,841 Tamarkuz 12,500 8 8 100 903,000 112,875 Outwork 15,000 33 23 69.7 2,365,000 102,826 California Chrome 40,000 48 27 56.3 2,685,000 99,444 Air Force Blue 25,000 47 28 59.6 2,572,000 91,857 Exaggerator 30,000 63 38 60.3 3,369,000 88,658 Not This Time 15,000 54 37 68.5 2,999,200 81,059 Hit It A Bomb 7,000 5 4 80 282,000 70,500 Upstart 10,000 49 32 65.3 1,874,500 58,578 Speightster 10,000 46 33 71.7 1,851,000 56,091 Brody’s Cause 12,500 20 14 70 687,500 49,107 Anchor Down 10,000 17 15 88.2 709,000 47,267 Flintshire 20,000 30 27 90 996,000 36,889 Vancouver 15,000 30 19 63.3 667,700 35,142 Tourist 12,500 28 20 71.4 673,500 33,675 Mshawish 20,000 27 20 74.1 658,700 32,935 Firing Line 5,000 14 13 92.9 275,000 21,154 Texas Red 7,500 6 5 83.3 64,500 12,900 Big Blue Kitten 15,000 23 22 95.6 75,400 3,427 Putting aside as an outlier the first Triple Crown winner since the 1970s, the best average among other new sires last September was the work of Honor Code at $228,095. That mark was comfortably passed by both Nyquist and Runhappy, and essentially matched by Frosted. Runhappy did especially well in processing his stock, 39 of 47 finding a new home, and for a $25,000 cover, hit the ball out of the ground with a $700,000 colt (Hip 551). From a smaller sample, however, the star turn was Tamarkuz. He housed all eight of his hips, and five of them made six figures. An average of $112,875 stacks up impressively against a $12,500 conception fee, never mind against his revised tag of $10,000. Here’s a horse who beat two future Breeders’ Cup Classic winners in the Dirt Mile, while his half-brother has become a Group 1 winner at Royal Ascot since these yearlings were born. Yet they result from a debut book of just 38 mares. Others plainly need to look to their laurels, though it’s always worth looking past the bald numbers. Exaggerator, for instance, achieved only an ordinary clearance rate in selling 38 of 63 into the ring. But if you add his RNAs, the average of his “last bids” actually falls pretty close to his $88,658 average, at $84,810. In other words, his unsold stock was not being allowed to go cheaply. Similar testing of Mshawish show that his RNA average, extremely unusually, actually exceeded that of his sales. So while his numbers may look disappointing, he has already had a businesslike fee cut–and it’s good to know that sensible people are prepared to hang onto his stock long enough to let them show what they can do with a saddle on their backs. Not that the RNA would always be a reliable instrument to avoid “rewarding” sires, when ranked by average sales, for failing to shift their weakest stock. Either way, it’s easy to identify one or two huge talents who are going to pay with their fees. But they retain every right to turn things around once their stock get onto the track. The trouble is that $360 million, changing hands in 13 sessions, will always mess with people’s heads and skew their priorities. Scrolling down the list of averages, it’s hard to stifle an impotent rage at the idiotic haste with which stallions are discarded. But I guess that gives us all a chance. Right down to a $1,300 Haynesfield filly. The post September Market Strains to Maintain Boom appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The Illinois Racing Board (IRB) on Tuesday averted a showdown on 2020 race dates by unanimously voting in a statewide schedule that includes a 68-date, Apr. 27-Sep. 30 Thoroughbred season at Arlington International Racecourse. But the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (ITHA) expressed consternation and befuddlement over the decision, because too many unanswered questions about the future of Arlington’s racing are still up in the air. The entire Illinois racing community had been in crisis mode for the past week over whether or not Arlington—the showcase venue on the two-track Chicago circuit—would race in 2020. Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), which owns Arlington, stunned Illinois horsemen last month by intentionally missing a deadline to apply for recently legalized racino licensure that would have bolstered purses at the track. The decision took on an added layer of controversy because CDI has an ownership stake in a nearby competing casino and has stated an intent to open another near Chicago. This alleged conflict has fueled accusations that the corporation used the horsemen’s support to get gaming legislation passed, but is now abandoning the idea of operating a racino at Arlington over concerns that gaming there will hurt the bottom line at its existing and proposed casinos. At a Sept. 17 race dates hearing, the IRB verbally grilled CDI executives over the corporation’s apparent lack of commitment to Thoroughbred racing at Arlington, postponed its vote on 2020 dates, and gave CDI a mandate to come back before the board in a week’s time to demonstrate some form of long-term dedication to racing in Illinois. (By contrast, Hawthorne Race Course and Fairmount Park, the state’s two other Thoroughbred tracks, are both swiftly moving ahead with the licensing and construction phases of their purse-boosting racinos, which were made possible by the June passage of the Illinois Gaming Act.) At Tuesday’s hearing, CDI executives once again faced difficult big-picture questions from commissioners about the corporation’s long-term intentions for Arlington. Largely though, the CDI executives who spoke under oath did not budge from a publicly stated stance against applying for racino licensure. So after listening to more than an hour’s worth of testimony, the IRB’s vote to go ahead and grant Arlington 2020 dates primarily came down to a consensus among board members that not having any racing at Arlington next year would likely inflict more harm than good on the racing circuit and the state. Thus, the IRB ended up not disallowing Arlington’s race dates, as it implicitly threatened to do last week. Nor did the board include any type of forward-thinking stipulations or requirements that pertained to Arlington’s future when the motion for race dates came to the floor for a vote. “If you look at this as a soap opera, we had left in the last episode with the racing board telling Arlington that they had a week to come back and demonstrate a dedication to racing, and preferably a commitment to applying for the gaming license,” David McCaffrey, the ITHA’s executive director, told TDN via phone after the meeting. “But the very first thing [CDI] said is ‘We are not going to apply for the gaming license.’ That was a down moment for us, because we thought that they were going to be pressed hard on that issue.” Another factor that contributed to commissioners voting to give Arlington the go-ahead to race in 2020 was that CDI and several commissioners stated a belief that the gaming-enhanced era of Illinois racing won’t truly start until 2021 (because the racinos have to get up and running) and that the IRB’s decision on the race dates applications on Tuesday only applied to 2020. “It is very important to keep in mind that, realistically, the first gaming license has not been issued,” said IRB chairman Jeffrey Brincat prior to voting on the 2020 dates motion. “The first shovelful of dirt has not been turned, nor has the first wager been dropped and executed.” But the ITHA’s McCaffrey strongly disagreed with that line of reasoning. He pointed out that both Hawthorne and Fairmount expect to be bolstering purses with gaming revenues by the fourth quarter of 2020, and the IRB’s voting on 2020 race dates should reflect that expectation. “It’s a stunningly superficial understanding of the sport to say something like that because breeders, owners and horsemen make their plans based on what the future looks like,” McCaffrey said. “If Arlington had committed to a gaming license like Hawthorne had, it would have had a gigantic 2020 effect on recruiting, people going out to buy horses, and future breeding plans.” IRB commissioner Thomas McCauley, who on Sept. 17 had chastised CDI for lacking “any regard for social responsibility whatsoever” preceded his affirmative vote on race dates by explaining that he now believed that the multi-year agreement that has been in place between Arlington and Hawthorne to maintain a shared racing circuit “ought to be given a lot of weight, at least for 2020,” he said. “At this point, there would be so much disruption with respect to [horse] workers’ lives if this schedule materially changed that I’m going to vote yes,” McCauley added. Bradley Blackwell, CDI’s senior vice president and general counsel, fielded the bulk of questioning from IRB commissioners at Tuesday’s meeting. Although he affirmed statements that CDI made in a press release last week about being committed to racing at Arlington in 2020 and 2021, Blackwell often relied on corporate-speak responses (“we can only speak to what we’ve said publicly, and about our commitment to find a solution here”) when commissioners pressed him on issues related to CDI’s intentions and future strategies for Arlington. At one point under questioning from McCauley—who eventually began to show hints of frustration when his direct queries were sidestepped—Blackwell wouldn’t even agree to the broad statement that higher purses are generally in the best interest of Illinois racing. “I can’t go into detail what’s in the best interest of Illinois racing…” Blackwell started to reply. But his testimony was immediately drowned out by a chorus of objections from horsemen at the heavily attended meeting, prompting Brincat to threaten the horsemen with removal if they interrupted a speaker again. “It was the most obnoxious comment I’ve ever heard,” the ITHA’s McCaffrey said of Blackwell’s take on the importance of purses. “And what does the chairman of the racing board do? He admonishes us for being out of line.” Prior to voting, IRB commissioners lobbed several ideas at CDI officials that they suggested might demonstrate a commitment to racing. One idea—previously advocated by the ITHA—involved CDI giving back the “recapture” money that it has been legally allowed to reclaim from the purse account. For 2020, the estimated figure is about $4.5 million. That suggestion did not strike CDI executives as financially appealing, and they would not commit to doing so. Another IRB commissioner suggested even something as seemingly innocuous as CDI restoring Hawthorne’s former Illinois Derby to the “Road to the GI Kentucky Derby” schedule to bring a bit of national attention to the state. But that idea too was politely rebuffed by CDI officials. “When push came to shove today, [CDI] was basically asked how they would demonstrate commitment to all of these options,” McCaffrey said. “Gaming license? Recapture? Illinois Derby? And they said, ‘Nope, nope, nope.’ Then the racing board granted them the license anyway. I can’t explain it. My hands are figuratively in the air wondering what [the one-week voting delay] was all about.” Hawthorne was awarded a 37-date autumn race meet (its traditional spring meet is on a one-year hiatus to allow for racino construction). Fairmount Park, 300 miles downstate, will race 60 dates in 2020. The post IRB Averts Showdown by Granting Arlington 2020 Race Dates appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

In California, a proposed new rule would, if passed, prohibit horses at California Horse Racing Board (CHRB)-regulated facilities from racing or working within 30 days of being treated with extracorporeal shockwave therapy. At the moment in California, horses are unable to race or work for 10 days after a shockwave therapy. Should the rule go into effect, it would be by far the toughest of its kind throughout the country. At the same time, the proposed rule change reignites the debate on one of the more controversial veterinary technologies in modern veterinary medicine, raising hard questions about the suitability of such machines on U.S. racetracks and training centers at a time of laser-focused scrutiny on animal welfare. On the one hand are those who see therapeutic value to shockwave therapy as long it’s used with an appropriate diagnosis and treatment plan. On the flip side are those who see the machine’s analgesic effects as reason enough to fundamentally restrict its use. Furthering our understanding of shockwave therapy can only bring clarity to this dialogue. We know, for example, that the analgesic effect that comes with a treatment wears off after about three days. But do we know exactly how and why shockwave therapy appears beneficial in the treatment of certain injuries? Not quite. What’s more, there had been little to no empirical data to determine whether shockwave treatments are associated with a higher risk of catastrophic injury in racehorses, as some fear. A recent study that Tim Parkin, a University of Glasgow professor of veterinary epidemiology, conducted for racing officials seeking to learn more about the practice offers important insights into just that, however. Working with these officials and using the Equine Injury Database (EID), Parkin looked at horses that had been reported on the vet’s list for shockwave treatment, then counted the number of days and races since the treatment before that horse was fatally injured. Parkin found it”statistically significant” that horses that received shockwave therapy in the last 90 days, 180 days, and ever were between 54% and 79% more likely to suffer a fatal injury than horses that had never received such treatments. For horses that received shockwave therapy in the last 30 and 60 days, the risk of fatal injury was also elevated: 26% and 65%, percent respectively, but these numbers (due to small numbers of horses treated so close to a race day) were not statistically significant. The confidential study–conducted for research purposes and not published in any peer-reviewed journal–isn’t definitive proof that shockwave therapy is a single factor predisposing horses to a greater likelihood of fatal injury. For example, the locations of the shockwave treatments weren’t identified in the data–an important point if causal links are to be made between treatments and the site of the fatal injury (more on this later in the story). The numbers do suggest, however, that there might be a correlation between underlying physical issues that necessitate shockwave treatments and a higher prevalence for catastrophic breakdown, said Parkin. “Essentially, the pathology that drove the use of shockwave or drove the use of getting on the vet’s list remains–at least the impact of that in terms of risk of injury is retained in that horse for the rest of its racing career,” said Parkin. “It may drop off a little bit,” he added. “But however far away you go from the vet’s list listing, or the shockwave use, then the horse is still at greater risk than before the vet listing of shockwave treatment.” What is shockwave therapy? In summary, a shockwave machine works like this: it emits sound waves (that resemble loud cracks) in doses that can be increased and decreased, depending on the severity of the injury. Treatments usually are delivered multiple times over a series of weeks. How do these sound waves hasten and promote the healing process? Studies on humans and animals show that they trigger an anti-inflammatory response within the body and promote the growth of new blood vessels, among other effects. Nevertheless, exactly how it works on racehorses is still open to debate. Generally, veterinarians who use the machine say that it’s most effective on concussive injuries in racehorses like suspensory problems, sore shins, tendonitis, and sacroiliac issues. According to French-born trainer Leonard Powell, it’s used in France to treat back problems with greater frequency than in the U.S. “The rider will spend a lot more time on their back in France,” explained Powell. “The riders are a bit heavier over there, too.” When it comes to the analgesic effects from shockwave application, the scientific consensus is that it lasts between two to three days after treatment. One 2004 study found that analgesia could last up to 35 days after treatment, but experts argue the parameters of that particular study aren’t relevant to the way shockwave treatments are administered to horses. Most jurisdictions follow either in full or in part the Association of Racing Commissioners International’s model rule on shockwave usage. This includes requirements that shockwave machines are registered with a commission and used only by licensed veterinarians in designated locations, as well as how horses given a treatment are placed on a vet’s list and prevented from racing or breeze for at least 10 days. However, while most jurisdictions are strict about who can use the machine, fewer of them require shockwave therapy to be performed at specific locations at a licensed facility, which, when factored alongside the current absence of any way to test whether a horse has received a shockwave treatment or not, leads vets and others to this central worry: Without adequate oversight, the machine could be used on a horse to numb the pain of an injury before a workout or race. This fear is why Mary Scollay, the newly minted Racing Medication and Testing Consortium executive director and chief operating officer, is concerned about the movement of horses to locations that fall outside the jurisdiction of a racing commission. “It defies regulation in Kentucky” as a result of that, said Scollay, the state’s former equine medical director. “I have a real reluctance to write rules that can’t be enforced,” she added. “I think that constrains the people who would do the right thing anyway and empowers the people who make poor decisions.” Because of these reporting holes, Scollay said she’s unable to gauge the full extent of shockwave use in Kentucky. As an example of how prodigiously shockwave is used elsewhere, there were 143 individual shockwave treatments during this summer’s Del Mar meet. At the same time, there are those, like Ryan Carpenter, a practicing veterinarian in Southern California, who regard shockwave therapy as a legitimate veterinary practice when used within the rules and with necessary caution. “It’s got a bad name and people automatically assume that it’s a bad thing, and it’s not,” said Carpenter. “All the science supports the way we use it as safe and effective, and to arbitrarily remove it because you don’t understand it makes no sense to me.” In 2017, Carpenter and Jeff Blea, current chair of the American Association of Equine Practitioners’ Racing Committee, co-authored a report on shockwave therapy for the CHRB when it last considered a shockwave rule change. The report’s findings didn’t call for further tightening of the rules, and indeed the proposed change was quashed. The way in which Carpenter uses shockwave, he said, has become more conservative with time, and his methodology before a treatment typically looks like this. The day after a horse works, Carpenter will evaluate it using one or more of a variety of tools, including nerve blocks, radiographs, ultra-sound, and nuclear scintigraphy. If, during the evaluation, the horse is shown to have a problem in something like its upper suspensory, “that’s a perfect candidate for shockwave, and that horse benefits for that procedure,” said Carpenter, who added that the horse will then be placed on a regime of light work–just walking, jogging or slow galloping. He said he couldn’t remember the last time he administered shockwave treatment to a horse 10 days before a run, as the current rules permit. Nonetheless, he agrees with Scollay that strict policing of the procedure is vital. “You could, if you were somewhere away from here, shockwave a horse the day of a race, put it on the van,” he said. “There’s no way to test for it. So, a lot of it is the honor system.” “It’s unlikely any individual horse has pathology at a single site” Which brings us back to the study Parkin recently conducted, and the import of his findings. Carpenter said that about 90% of the shockwave treatments he conducts are to the high suspensory and to the shin. “Catastrophic breakdowns related to shins and high suspensory [injuries] are essentially non-existent. The thing we worry about in the racehorse is the fetlock,” Carpenter said. “We’re not shockwaving the areas where they have catastrophic injuries,” Carpenter added. “You can’t say, ‘because the horse was shockwaved that’s the reason why they broke down.’ Look at the diagnosis–what was going on? Was there a misdiagnosis?” During her time as Kentucky’s equine medical director, Scollay was aware of only one instance of a horse fatally injured after receiving a recent shockwave treatment, and the physical site of the treatment didn’t match the site of the breakdown, she confirmed. Nevertheless, Scollay wouldn’t be surprised “if there is a correlation between a site being treated and subsequent failure,” she said, adding that it ‘ties in’ with current understanding of pre-existing diseases, and the accumulation of damage over time. On top of that, there remain lingering questions about exactly why shockwave is an effective technology, and the specific biological responses triggered via a treatment. Which leads to what she calls the bigger question: “Is there a correlation between shockwave treatment and fatal injury at a different site?” she said. “Does the shockwave cause the systemic release of a locally released mediator that can exert effects elsewhere in the body—potentially increasing risk at other sites of bone injury?” Parkin said he agreed that the area of the shockwave treatment doesn’t necessarily tally up with the site of a catastrophic breakdown. Rather, he emphasized how the treatment, and the horse’s inclusion on the vet’s list, is an indicator of elevated risk of catastrophic injury–that the horse is probably lame, likely suffers pathology of some kind, and needs treatment. “It’s unlikely any individual horse has pathology at a single site,” he added. Which explains why this kind of information is “an extra bit of kit in the kit bag” for regulators to use as a screening tool, Parkin said. “The more information we get, the better we can be at predicting true risk before a race.” The trick, Parkin added, is that the information given regulators is as granular and specific as possible. “At the moment we have quite a lot of uncertainty about all of these risk profiles, but the more detail we have about exactly what the horses have experienced, that risk will only be more precise,” he said. “There are tons and tons of things that we would love to get a handle on,” he added. “We’d like to look at the whole history of the horse in terms of veterinary records, everything that’s gone wrong with them. You’d be pretty sure lots of those things would each contribute some level of risk to the individual animal.” Right now, Parkin is widening the net. He and his researchers are currently coding about 150 million data points over a 10-year period using as many as 50 different variables–things like work data, races, and shockwave use. Alone, some 3 1/2 million individual starts have been inputted, said Parkin. “The code is running one week at a time to generate new variables,” he said. From that large national database, Parkin will then be able to zero in on regional jurisdictions, build an individual model for specifics tracks, to see whether things like shockwave usage represent a significant risk or not in that peculiar location– something he’s currently doing for Southern California. “We may see an elevated risk through shockwave in Southern California or it may disappear altogether because it’s accounted for by other things,” he said, adding that he hopes to have results prior to the Breeders’ Cup this year. “Racing is so different from north to east to south to west,” he said. “We genuinely don’t know what we’re going to find.” The post Shockwave Therapy: New Research Suggests Possible Link to Catastrophic Injury appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

MGSW & MG1SP Inns of Court (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}-Learned Friend {Ger}, by Seeking the Gold) will stand at Tally-Ho Stud in Ireland in 2020, the stud announced on Monday. Bred by Darley, the Godolphin colourbearer captured four group races from 2017-2019, including the June 2 G2 Prix du Gros-Chene at Chantilly for trainer Andre Fabre. The bay was also runner-up in the 2017 G1 Prix du Jacques Le Marois and the 2018 G1 Prix de la Foret. Second in the July 13 G3 Prix de Ris-Orangis last out, Inns of Court’s record stands at 18-7-5-1 with earnings of $652,854. A fee will be announced later. Out of a half-sister to Japanese MG1SW Fierement (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), his second dam is Italian highweight and G1 Premio Lydia Tesio victress Lune d’Or (Fr) (Green Tune). The post Inns of Court to Tally-Ho appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The jockeys’ championship in Ireland is really hotting up. Donnacha O’Brien and Colin Keane are fighting it out at the top and at this time of the year, when bodies are starting to get a little bit tired, every winner counts. It’s a very tight race for the title at the moment with only one winner between them at the time of writing. Colin has great support from Ger Lyons whose stable is absolutely flying, and he also gets decent support from many other trainers. I have found myself in this position in the past, when you’d be hopeful of trying to win the championship but whoever is riding for Ballydoyle is always very much feared. Every day you pick up the paper and your heart sinks when you see all those back-end maidens being produced by Aidan O’Brien. I just feel it may swing in Donnacha’s favour between now and the end of the year with the ammunition that comes from that stable at this time of the season. Colin has had a tremendous year through his association with Ger, and Siskin has been their flagship horse. He obviously has a little bit of an advantage in that he can ride a bit lighter than Donnacha. I think it will give us great entertainment between now and the end of the season, following two exceptionally good riders that have improved beyond recognition in the past couple of seasons. Donnacha has done remarkably well to have kept his weight in check. I must admit, throughout last winter when I saw him at several different times, I thought that he would struggle even to ride this year, but he has managed to get his weight back in check and has been riding really well. It would be nice to see him be champion again because time is not on his side, whereas Colin has a whole career ahead of him. Donnacha, the reigning champion, is quite similar in style to his brother Joseph, who won the championship twice in his riding days. They also have similar use of tactics and I’m quite sure that is down to how they have been tutored by their father over the years. Aidan has always been a very strict teacher for how he wants people to ride and you can see that in both Joseph and Donnacha, in their technique and their style. It’s unfair to compare them—they have both done exceptionally well—and I never bought into the argument that they only had success because they are their father’s sons. They are both very talented riders and they have proved that on the track. Apprentice Race Also Tight The apprentice championship is going to be equally compelling to the end of the season. Oisin Orr and Andrew Slattery are neck and neck at the moment and are both on 35 winners. They are both being very well supported by Dermot Weld, so he could be very influential in deciding who becomes champion apprentice. Andrew is having a huge amount of support from a lot of other trainers as well. He has that valuable five-pound claim which I don’t think he will have for that much longer, but even once he gets down to three people will still want to use him as that allowance is so valuable. Oisin is riding extremely well. The opportunities that Dermot has given him over the last few seasons have really improved him and brought him forward. He’s a beautiful rider but he struggles with his weight and that’s going to be a disadvantage to him, whereas Andrew is a naturally lightweight rider. Andrew has only improved from week to week and with trainers wanting to avail themselves of his allowance, in my opinion that will swing the championship in his favour. He only finished his leaving cert in the summer and now he’s concentrating fully on riding. Andrew is a rider that I always thought was going to go a long way—he still has a long way to go and he realises that himself. I am in contact with him on a regular basis and I try to help him as much as I can. He knows he has a lot of work to do to become the finished article but the progress he is making is noticeable and he has a really good attitude which will take him a long way. Saying that, Oisin also rides extremely well and he was the champion apprentice two years ago then he had a quiet season. His association with Dermot has really revived his career and he will continue to do well, I’m sure. We all know that race-riding is only one aspect of being a jockey. You have to be able to conduct yourself properly, speak to owners and trainers, and go about it in a very professional way with a good attitude, and they both have that. Whatever happens, it is going to be exciting and there’s still a long way to go between now and the end of the season. The post The Pat Smullen Column: Race Is On To Be Champion appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Pinatubo (Ire) (Shamardal) has been given an official rating of 128 by British Horseracing Authority handicapper Graeme Smith, putting him ahead of Frankel (GB) at the same stage of that unbeaten champion’s career. Frankel ended his juvenile campaign in 2010 as joint-top 2-year-old with Dream Ahead at 126. “You’ve got to be very impressed with what he has done so far, haven’t you?” Smith said. “We’re not saying he’s a better horse than Frankel, but so far he has achieved more as a 2-year-old than Frankel did. Frankel went on to achieve a rating of 136 as a 3-year-old, and 140 as a 4-year-old in 2012, so Pinatubo has still got a lot of improving to do to become the horse Frankel was.” Also reaching a mark of 126 as a 2-year-old in 2007 was New Approach (Ire), while a decade earlier Xaar (GB) had reached 127. Pinatubo is the highest-rated 2-year-old since Celtic Swing (GB) with a mark of 130 in 1994. “Pinatubo is the highest-rated 2-year-old since Celtic Swing, who was rated 130 after winning the Racing Post Trophy by 12 lengths in 1994, with the runner-up Annus Mirabilis having previously won the Somerville Tattersalls S.,” Smith said. “Another horse you can compare him to is Xaar–rated 127 after winning the Dewhurst by seven lengths from Tamarisk, who had previously won a maiden and a couple of conditions races. “In my opinion, Pinatubo has achieved more than Xaar but not quite as much as Celtic Swing, although 128 is his current rating and not his end-of-season rating.” Pinatubo could have one more outing this season in the G1 Dewhurst S. on Oct. 12. “The more you look through his form, the better it looks, and it’s backed up by very good times,” said Smith. “The clock doesn’t usually lie, but it’s nice to see him winning in good times by five lengths and nine lengths, as he has on his last couple of starts. On the clock alone, you could rate him in the mid-130s. “We’ll see what turns up to take him on in the Dewhurst. It could be that those who might be able to give him a proper examination might duck him to try to win a Group 1 elsewhere, but we’ll see.” The post Pinatubo Rated Higher Than Frankel appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

I consider Chris McGrath’s article on ‘spreading genetic credit’ a must-read for those of us who are breeders, buyers, or agents. McGrath uses the phenomenal Leslie’s Lady to shine light on misconceptions that negatively impact our industry. McGrath’s detailed exploration of Leslie’s Lady’s pedigree and how she came to be exposes false notions or myths that percolate through our breeding and sales scene, eventually impacting racing and the development of our American gene pool. I’m going to briefly touch on two of them. Myth #1. Foals out of older mares have diminished quality. Of course, some do. But when older mares lose their mojo, the resulting foal will tell the story. It will be obvious to anyone who knows what they’re looking at. Using 23 year old Leslie’s Lady and her spectacular $8.2-million filly as an example, McGrath pokes fun at the “glib prejudice against older producers.” As I wrote a dozen years ago in the CBA sales booklet, Buying Sales Yearlings –Plain and Simple, “If an older mare is healthy, physically and reproductively, she is just as likely to produce a hardy and vigorous foal as a younger mare.” Those who disagree are probably not aware of the maternal origins of Secretariat, Go For Wand, Silverbulletday, Ouija Board, Sea The Stars, over 20 Breeders’ Cup champions, and many thousands of stakes horses out of aging mares. Myth #2. Stallions and sire lines provide the best evaluation of genetic quality and potential. As McGrath writes, “Stick to your sire lines if you really think such a coarse tool can interpret the myriad genetic variations” of racehorses. In other words, follow the crowd if you don’t want to give females their due or bother digging into a full, refined picture of genetic influence. For sure, top lines are important, but as McGrath points out, the world of breeding and racing is far more complex. To me, the extent of fascination with sires seems just another remnant of a pervasive chauvinism that has dominated American racing since inception, a chauvinism that commands every cross-section of the business from breeding, sales, and training to industry leadership. Within this crucible, the inherent talent and person-to-horse communication of women in general have forever been undervalued in the sport; and like our horsewomen, so has the importance and DNA of our mares been under-appreciated and undervalued. Our sport’s history of male domination may even partially explain the seeming man-love embrace of sire lines at the core of commercial nicking programs, often used as a crutch in mating or purchase decisions. As a student of pedigrees with a doctoral level background in research, I find it stunning that alleged “nicks” in their current form are popular and widely used by people who want to be successful. Not only are nick ratings predominantly based on too few occurrences of a direct cross to have statistical significance, but it is not uncommon to see the granddad or great granddad used in place of the subject stallion. But the biggest nicking fallacy of all is that the ratings leave out half of the pedigree, a very crucial half … the female family. Thus, I very much appreciate McGrath’s in-depth analysis of Leslie’s Lady’s female family which details the importance of distaff contributions and exposes the folly of ignoring or not properly valuing quality females. In the case of Leslie’s Lady, this would mean ignoring the likes of Quill, Flower Bowl, Shenanigans, and Nothirdchance, etc. Failure to include the contribution of mares, especially great mares, into a nicking calculus is like driving our car down the road on two tires. My suggestion to mare owners and buyers, therefore, is to do your own homework rather than rely on a methodology that has structural and statistical flaws and that contains more fluff than substance or utility. And, specifically to mare owners, I recommend that you do what the astute David Hager did to mate Crystal Lady and produce Leslie’s Lady. Begin your mating plans by considering the physical characteristics of sire and dam, and try to blend both to get a well-balanced, athletic individual. Next examine the female family for deep and enduring quality. You’ll have a lot more success over time if you follow these first two steps and avoid the temptation to simply go for the fashionable sire of the day, or breed a page to a page, or listen to hogwash like “breed the best to the best and hope for the best,” or jump for an A+ sire nick. Finally, no matter how long we’ve been in the business, we should heed Chris McGrath’s words when he writes that Leslie’s Lady and “the $8.2 million paid for Hip 498 last week requires professional horsemen everywhere to ask fresh questions of themselves.” Rob Whiteley Liberation Farm The post Letter to the Editor: Rob Whiteley appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

For many shopping at Keeneland September last week, when the seven-figure action started to drop away was when the real work began. One such buyer was Newmarket-based trainer Robert Cowell, who jetted in for the start of Book 3 and signed for 10 yearlings through Book 5 for an average of $40,100. This was nothing new for Cowell, known domestically as the ‘sprint king’ for his penchant with short-course runners. Cowell has been attending Keeneland September for about 10 years, but his 2019 count marks a significant up tick in business. “I had originally been going over every other year, and then about three or four years ago I decided to start going every year and buy three or four, which then turned into four or five. This year, some other owners got on board and said, ‘let’s grab a few while you’re there.’ So we signed for 10 yearlings in the end.” It is likely not a coincidence that the spike in interest from Cowell’s clients comes the year after Pocket Dynamo (Dialed In), a $35,000 find by Cowell at Keeneland in 2017, finished second by a nose to Wesley Ward’s Shang Shang Shang (Shanghai Bobby) in Royal Ascot’s G2 Norfolk S. Pocket Dynamo was subsequently bought privately by Phoenix Thoroughbreds from owner Tom Morley. “Tom Morley wasn’t really keen on getting any yearlings a few years ago,” Cowell said. “I told him I was going over to Keeneland, and when I got over there the first one I bought for him was Pocket Dynamo. This year he has [2-year-old listed winner] Strive For Glory, another Dialed In from Keeneland, so he’s excited by that sale and true to his word he was keen to buy a few more. Let’s hope we’ve got something that can fly the flag next year for us.” “The type of horse we’re looking for is something that is first and foremost a good model, looks almost like a dragster, so slightly up behind and big thick shoulder in front, well balanced and with a good walk,” Cowell added. “The mare must have been a producer, or it’s a first foal. And by sires that predominantly breed speed. Those would be the four main ingredients of what we try to buy. I’m trying to buy horses to go to Royal Ascot for the Norfolk or the Queen Mary, that sort of thing; I’m just trying to buy a nice sprinter.” While Cowell lamented not being able to secure another by Darby Dan’s Dialed In this time around, he was able to sign for Morley for lot 1925, a Kantharos colt for $70,000; lot 2504, a Congrats filly for $35,000; lot 2605, a Palace filly for $40,000; lot 2763, a Violence colt for $50,000; lot 3009, a Super Saver filly for $12,000; lot 3039, an Mshawish colt for $37,000; and lot 3106, a Fed Biz colt for $27,000. Cowell also signed for lot 2322, a Super Saver colt for $50,000; lot 2421, a Distorted Humor colt for $45,000; and lot 2801, a Speightster colt for $35,000. A good few of those sires will be foreign to Europeans, but Cowell said that doesn’t scare him in the slightest. “I’m not a massive believer in that myth [that dirt-bred horses don’t go on the turf],” Cowell said. “A lot of horses that come over from America and go to the breeze-up sales would be dirt-bred, yet they come over here and breeze on grass without any problem at all. They have to have a good set of feet on them, but as long as they’re not great massive feet or tiny little feet I guess it doesn’t really matter. “With Dialed In, when we brought Pocket Dynamo over here the owner said to me, ‘what are the chances of this horse racing on the grass?’ And I said, ‘why not? What stops them?’ I’m not a massive believer in that myth; I know that some horses prefer the dirt or all-weather or grass, but I’m not a massive believer in it. I think what happens is that people think that’s the case, so they don’t buy them and they’re never tried on grass. Typically, it’s not really proven that they can’t go on grass.” With such a large sample size to judge from, Cowell said there were a few sires that caught his eye. “I would have loved to come home with a Runhappy,” he said. “He seemed to stamp his stock really well. And I would have loved to come home with an American Pharoah. There were a few of those that went a bit above our budget, but those were two sires in particular that I thought seemed to stamp their stock really well. There were many others, but those two in particular we seemed to follow a few of them into the sales ring.” Cowell said the sheer numbers at Keeneland and the hot pace of the sale means that there are plenty of opportunities to land on a gem that others may have missed. “There is so much choice out there at Keeneland,” he said. “You have 4,500 horses going through over two weeks and with not that many buyers, so statistically, you can find one that others haven’t seen in Keeneland. At [other sales], everyone sees everything 10,000 times. At Keeneland, things fall through the net. And the sale goes through so quickly in Keeneland that you have to be on the ball. You can miss something if you put a sugar in a coffee or you grab yourself a quick sandwich; you might miss five horses that look the part. You just have to be on the ball the whole time. “The other thing I like about Keeneland is that essentially you know when it starts and you know when it stops. A lot of sales companies can go on too long and spend a lot of time selling horses, whereas it’s quick and efficient. I like the routine of how it all works. It would be nice if other companies got through these horses a bit quicker because it can become a bit tedious waiting and waiting and waiting long into the night especially in Europe to watch the horse go through. The system works really well out there and I enjoy it.” The post Cowell Pockets Ten At Keeneland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Fancy bagging yourself a pair or free tickets to York on Friday 11th Ocotber? Here is your chance! We have 5 pairs of County Enclosure badges to give away, York’s Premier Enclosure where you’ll have access to the award winning Ebor stand as well as being able to stand by the winning post and see […] The post York Ticket Competition appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Young jockey Lyle Hewitson concedes his four-meeting suspension came at the worst possible time in his fledging Hong Kong career but hopes his work ethic can win the support of trainers and owners.The 21-year-old was rubbed out for two weeks just two meetings into his Hong Kong career for a previous offence in South Africa five months ago but will return on Wednesday night for what will be his first time riding competitively at Happy Valley.Hewitson elected to stay in Hong Kong and ride work… View the full article

Boom speedster Aethero looks set for a new jockey this preparation as trainer John Moore looks to rapidly increase his rating in time for December’s Group One Longines Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m).South African Aldo Domeyer will take over the reins from champion jockey Zac Purton in what would be his second start this preparation should he race in the Group Two Premier Bowl (1,200m) under handicap conditions next month.The 89-rated gelding will begin his preparation next week on National Day in… View the full article

Champion galloper Beauty Generation will be at his most vulnerable when he steps out for the first time this season on National Day.The two-time Horse of the Year winner will have to give most of his rivals a 20-pound weight advantage in next week’s Group Three Celebration Cup (1,400m) as he begins his path to three consecutive Group One Hong Kong International Mile wins.Trainer John Moore said he would not lose sight of the big picture with his 137-rated superstar as he attempts to cap off his… View the full article

The Metropolitan is a Group One race run over 2400m at Randwick. View the full article