Wandering Eyes

About once a quarter I sit down with Christa Marrillia, Keeneland’s VP of Marketing, to kick around ideas for the paper, talk about our kids, and, of course, pitch the latest advertising opportunities for Keeneland in the TDN. It was during our latest chat over coffee at Keeneland’s January Sale that Price Bell stopped by our table to join our brainstorm session. Never short on ideas, Price came up with his best ever. “It’s too bad that Keeneland isn’t still recording the life histories of the prominent people in racing,” he said, “so that we’ll have them for posterity.” For decades, Keeneland had collected video and audio interviews of icons in the industry and preserved them in the Keeneland Library. While Keeneland still occasionally records these testimonials, lack of bandwidth, interviewers and resources had drastically slowed down progress on the project. After one cup of coffee turned to three, Christa and I had quickly drafted the beginnings of what would become the Life’s Work Oral History Project. When considering who to conduct the interviews, there was no better candidate than Chris McGrath, who loves nothing more than a good profile piece of an industry figure. Over the next few months, we all threw out names, switched from just audio to video, made a long list, then a longer list, stole Chris from his family in England for three weeks, set him up at the cottage at Keeneland and let him run with it. Every day, he and the Keeneland broadcast crew sat down and spent hours with one of the sport’s iconic figures–Seth and Arthur Hancock, Gus Koch, John Phillips, Dr. John Chandler, and more: in fact, more than a dozen have been recorded and are in the process of being turned into a multitude of written, oral, video and searchable media products. The project is a joint collaboration between TDN, Keeneland, the Keeneland Library, and the University of Kentucky’s Nunn Center for Oral History. At the TDN, we will release them once a month in our TDN Look Series, where they will be comprised of a written story, video interview, and podcast. The podcasts will also soon be available through iTunes and Spotify. Keeneland, with the Patty Wolfe Media Group, will create a monthly longer Facebook documentary series. And at the Nunn Center, the videos will live in their entirety and be viewable and searchable by the public. Today, we kick the series off with Seth Hancock. The first section of the interview appears on page one of today’s TDN, and is viewable in its entirety in the TDN Look. We hope you enjoy it. The post TDN, Keeneland Library, UK, Kick Off Oral History Project appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

American Pharoah and Constitution currently lead the freshman sire standing as the top two, respectively, and both young stallions have a chance to sire their third stakes winner this year in the Aug. 28 With Anticipation Stakes (G3T) at Saratoga. View the full article

Editor’s Note: TDN is proud to partner with the Keeneland Library and the Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky Libraries in a very special new collaboration: the Keeneland ‘Life’s Work’ Oral History Project, a series of filmed interviews with significant figures in the Thoroughbred industry. (See details in our story here.) The first of these, with Seth Hancock of Claiborne Farm, appears today. “You ever see me around the sales wearing short pants, you better run for cover–because the world’s getting ready to come to an end.” Seth Hancock is remembering Swale. Bittersweet animal! He slaked Claiborne’s ancestral thirst for a Kentucky Derby, trained by the great Woody Stephens. A week after Swale added the Belmont, Hancock was back in New York to see one of the farm’s fillies run in the Mother Goose. “I went over to the barn, it was a nice, late spring day, and Swale was standing there, head out over the webbing,” he recalls. “Breeze blowing foretop, looked like the happiest horse on the face of the earth. Came home that night and Woody called next morning and said, ‘You sitting down?’ I said, ‘Well, yeah. What’s going on?’ He said, ‘Swale dropped dead this morning, Seth.'” The whole saga comes flooding back. How his late father, the force of nature that was “Bull” Hancock, had raged when one of the best Claiborne mares not only delivered another damned filly–and so prolonged the wait for a Derby colt–but a filly with one eye. How Tuerta, Spanish for “one-eyed girl,” was retained only because she had become the last stakes winner in his father’s name. And how her yearling colt by Seattle Slew had gone missing from a paddock one misty morning. They figured he must have jumped the fence, they called and hollered. And eventually found him asleep, overlooked in a swale. That was the kind of horse he was: all the hoopla of Derby day was never going to bother him. The joy Hancock felt, when Swale exorcised the farm’s Derby curse, was not so much on his own account. At 35, he hoped he might yet get another shot someday. But he exulted for his mother, after all those years of Derby frustration and disappointment shared with Bull; and also for his wonderful partners in the horse. Now, out of a clear blue sky, Swale was gone forever. He would never become another Bold Ruler, or Nasrullah, or Princequillo; never become the next link in the chain forged by his father, and his grandfather before him. “And you’re like, ‘Damn,'” Hancock says now, looking back across another 35 years. “‘What am I doing in this thing here? This might be a little rough… But what the hell, I ain’t the first that was dealt a bitter pill, and I won’t be the last for sure.’ And I haven’t been. LeRoy Jolley said it best: ‘This game wasn’t meant to be played by people wearing short pants.'” Click here to read the whole story, or see the entire 30-minute video here. The post Life’s Work No. 1: Seth Hancock appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued an initial 410 entries for its Midlantic Fall Yearlings Sale, to be held Monday, Sept. 30, and Tuesday, Oct. 1. The sale will be held at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, Maryland. Fasig-Tipton will continue to accept supplemental entries for the sale through Sept. 18. The Monday session will begin at 4 p.m. and offer hips 1-150. The Tuesday session will begin at 10 a.m. and offer hips 151-410, followed by all supplemental entries. “Midlantic Fall grads have notched more than 180 stakes wins or stakes placings since last year, a strong statistic that all buyers should take notice of,” said Midlantic Director of Sales Paget Bennett. “Henley’s Joy, winner of this year’s GI Belmont Derby, is just the latest top-rung horse to come from this sale, and he is joined on this year’s catalogue cover by graded stakes winners in California, Florida, and Canada.” The catalogue may now be viewed online. It will also be available via the equineline sales catalogue app. Print catalogues will be available from all Fasig-Tipton offices beginning Sept. 6. The post Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Fall Yearlings Catalogue Online appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

DONCASTER, UK—If trade is anywhere near as hot as the roasting temperatures across England this bank holiday weekend then the team at Goffs UK will doubtless be delighted. Rain or shine, there’s every reason to expect that the British yearling sales season should get off to a positive start when the two-day Premier Sale opens for business at 10am today (Tuesday), followed by Thursday’s Silver Sale. The first test of the European season as a whole came in Deauville and results were better than expected, leading to record figures in almost all sectors. Admittedly Arqana’s August Sale and the Goffs UK Premier Sale say rather different things on the tin but if the aim is to buy a racehorse who will take you places then there are at least three very good reasons why the sale yards were packed ahead of the start of the sale: Advertise (GB), A’Ali (Ire) and Daahyeh (GB). Readers will have varying views on whether the obsession with Royal Ascot is good or bad but few owners would turn down the chance to don a nice hat and head to Berkshire with a live chance in mid-June—witness the popularity of the unique boutique that is the Goffs London Sale—but arguably it is the company’s Doncaster outlet which has done the best job of providing winners in this sphere for an international client base. Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), bought at the Premier Sale two years ago by Dermot Farrington for £60,000, has been a terrific flag-bearer for the early days of the Phoenix Thoroughbred racing operation and he converted his G2 Coventry S. second place to victory in this year’s G1 Commonwealth Cup—one of his three wins at the highest level. The 3-year-old’s success was backed up by two juveniles bought from last year’s sale. A’Ali (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}), a £135,000 purchase for Shaikh Duaij Al Khalifa, landing the G2 Norfolk S. and going on to win the G2 Prix Robert Papin, while Daahyeh (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) took out the G3 Albany S. for HH SH Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa after being selected by Oliver St Lawrence for £75,000. Laurens (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) may have been headed at York on Saturday but she has continued to be the most regal of poster girls for a sale that has had a decidedly up-and-coming feel to it over the last five years. During that time, turnover has increased from £15,512,500 to £19,066,5000, with top prices also rising, from £230,000 to last year’s record sum for a Gleneagles (Ire) colt of £380,000. The record-holding vendor is Newsells Park Stud, which routinely has a sizeable draft for the Tattersalls October Sale and brings a select bunch to Doncaster most years. “I know that most people will realise that we don’t have the most precocious of broodmare bands. We try to breed Classic horses and horses that maybe stay a bit further, but it’s a good sale and the guys here are trying to widen the spectrum of horses that suit this sale and if we become too narrow about where we go it’s probably not too healthy,” said Newsells Park’s managing director Julian Dollar as brothers Joseph and Donnacha O’Brien inspected members of his consignment on Monday afternoon. A strong Irish contingent, along with plenty of British trainers, and a few notable new faces from France, such as Henri-Francois Devin, ensured that despite the heat there was no lull in proceedings on the eve of the sale. Dollar continued, “It’s been pretty busy. We had some horses getting over 50 looks yesterday, which I always think is good for yearlings. With foals you can get 70 or even more but to get 50-plus looks on a yearling is pretty healthy. The results of the sale have been good and there are plenty of people here. If you’re coming over from France or Ireland, the euro is strong and the pound is weak so it must make buying horses in the UK good for people outside the UK, and it’s probably the best value for those owners and trainers based in the UK.” A knee replacement operation has not slowed down agent Bobby O’Ryan as he patrolled the sales ground with his son Mouse and cousin Robin. A Doncaster stalwart, O’Ryan was full of praise for the yearlings he has been perusing over the last few days and said, “There’s a really nice bunch of horses here, probably the best I’ve ever seen at this sale. The days of the little sharp 2-year-old are gone.” Goffs UK’s managing director Tony Williams admitted that the focus has shifted slightly when it comes to catalogue compilation. He said, “I keep hearing the old ‘Donny 2-year-old type’ quote and, make no mistake, a lot of these horses are 2-year-old types, but there are 2-year-old types who can go on to be good sprinters, and in addition to that there are sprinter-miler types. There are not many here who could stretch out to be stayers—predominantly they are sprinter-milers—and I think the level of stock has really risen.” He continued, “Across the board when you go and have a look at them, they seem to be a really nice bunch of horses and everyone who is looking is saying that. I don’t know whether we can achieve the top price that we did last year but I’ve seen a lot of horses you should make six figures, many more than they were last year. “I always think if the first sale of the year—no matter where it is or what level it’s at—if it kicks off well it sets it for the rest of the year. The Arqana sale was really good but from our perspective there were a lot of English trainers missing and they are here. The boys have done a fantastic job putting the catalogue together and we have worked hard to get buyers here. Every year we work hard trying to do that but it seems to be falling into place now and we’ve had such a good year on a track, not only the Premier Sale but also with the Silver Sale. Last year our Premier average was around £45,000 and I’d like to see that take another leap forward. If we could turn over more than £20 million I’d be really pleased. One never knows until it’s over but it all has the right feel.” After withdrawals, 450 yearlings are set to be put through the ring for the Premier Sale over the next two days. They include lot 319, Highclere Stud’s half-brother to another graduate of the sale, the G2 Qatar Richmond S. winner Golden Horde (GB) (Lethal Force {Ire}), from the first crop of Mehmas (Ire). In a catalogue with a strong representation from the freshman sires, Mehmas is joined by Adaay (Ire), Ajaya (GB), Awtaad (Ire), Belardo (Ire), Bobby’s Kitten, Buratino (Ire), Charming Thought (GB), Coulsty (Ire), Estidhkaar (Ire), Fascinating Rock (Ire), Kodi Bear (Ire), Markaz (Ire), New Bay (GB), Pearl Secret (GB), Pride Of Dubai (Aus), Prince Of Lir (Ire), Territories (Ire), The Gurkha (Ire), The Last Lion (Ire), Twilight Son (GB), Vadamos (Fr), all of whom have members of their first crop for sale, as well as the debutant who led his peers at Arqana’s August Sale, Shalaa (Ire). The post Goffs UK Set For Hot Start To Yearling Season appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

First of all, I want to congratulate Shug McGaughey on the Travers win. Shug worked for me when we were both young men starting out and I couldn’t be happier for him. Great horseman. Another great horseman, who I have been around since his start, is John Sadler. I moved my stable to California in 1977 and when John started training we shared a barn at Santa Anita. We were together in that barn until I changed careers at the end of 1988 and moved into the bloodstock business. I recognized, immediately, that John was a complete horseman. One of the best that I have been around in my 49 years in this industry. All that he ever lacked was quality stock. When you ran against Sadler you had to have your horse at his best because you knew that his would be. John Sadler belongs in the Hall of Fame. Period. John Fulton Corrientes, Argentina The post Letters to the Editor: Put Sadler in Hall of Fame appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

For this correspondent last week’s York Ebor Festival was definitely the most memorable one since Frankel (GB) breezed home by seven lengths in the G1 Juddmonte International in 2012. The meeting is a credit to the York team, headed by William Derby and it isn’t a surprise that the venue was chosen to babysit Royal Ascot in 2005 when Ascot was being redeveloped. Last week was a journalist’s benefit with so many heartwarming moments to latch on to and in similar fashion to that famous Juddmonte silk bearer in 2005 when the crowds were ten deep to catch a glimpse of Frankel, a captive audience arrived on Thursday to most likely say their farewells to Khalid Abdullah’s exceptional homebred Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}). The brilliant mare is likely the only horse to have rendered Frankie Dettori almost speechless and her effort in beating Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G1 Darley Yorkshire Oaks–herself a top notch filly whose misfortune it was to be dispatched by Enable for the fourth time–was arguably as good as any performance she has posted. Furthermore with John Gosden alluding to the fact the race was more of a prep rather than an objective, the build up to Paris on Oct. 6 is going to be nail-biting. International racing really has been spoiled in the last decade to have borne witness to some truly outstanding Thoroughbred athletes, both male and female, and the powers that be at ParisLongchamp will need to double down on their efforts to cater for the throng of supporters that are likely to travel from both Britain and Ireland to, hopefully, see Enable land an historic third Arc. While Enable took the lion’s share of the headlines, York also saw Ballydoyle’s Japan (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) emerge as a contender for the title of leading 3-year-old colt in Europe, especially as his immediate victim in the Juddmonte International was Crystal Ocean (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who held the mantle of the world’s highest rated horse pre-race. Interestingly, few of the pundits gave Japan much of a chance of beating Crystal Ocean, siding instead with the Sir Michael Stoute ‘being a genius with an older horse’ theory and rather forgetting that Aidan O’Brien doesn’t do too bad a job either with 3-year-old colts. The win also sets up the slightly unusual situation in the Irish Champion S. at Leopardstown where Japan will be representing Ireland and Deirdre (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) will be representing Japan. Further ahead the Arc will also obviously be on the agenda for Japan but beyond that the Breeders’ Cup could be an option. The Juddmonte is a ‘Win and You’re In’ race, not for the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf as one might expect but for the Classic. Team Ballydoyle have long made it known the Classic is a race they would dearly love to win and they may just have been granted an invitation that is hard to turn down. The Kings of Stamina and Speed The theory that some racing fans prefer jumps racing to flat racing because the equine stars appear year in year out over jumps appears to have little basis when you consider the likes of Friday’s G2 Lonsdale Cup winner Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). Bjorn Nielsen’s homebred is now in his fourth season racing and with a bit of luck he has a few more years left in him. The double million pound bonus winner has such a high cruising speed that he rarely seems to be under pressure in a race and his potent turn of foot means that he tends to be only flat out for a furlong or two. He also doesn’t do a stroke when he invariably hits the front and such a run style has almost certainly contributed to his longevity to date and will hopefully see the 5-year-old maintain his stranglehold at the head of the stayers division for a few more years. Though judging by Nielsen’s ‘lump in throat’ moment when interviewed after the race the journey this efficient and relentless machine of a horse is taking him and his family on is proving quite emotional. On the opposite end of the distance spectrum Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) finally laid his York hoodoo at the third attempt when blitzing his rivals in the G1 Nunthorpe S. After about a furlong it was clear to see that Battaash was on going day whereas chief market rival Ten Sovereigns (Ire) (No Nay Never) was finding the drop back to the minimum trip a bit too much and the smile on Jim Crowley’s face in the last hundred yards certainly backed up his post-race comments about enjoying the ride. It was also great to see Battaash’s long suffering groom Bob Grace there to enjoy the moment. Battaash hasn’t always been the easiest to deal with, hence the gelding operation as a 2-year-old, but the patience and attention to detail shown by Grace and Charlie Hills towards Batttaash and his quirks has certainly paid off. Now that the speedster has mellowed a bit in his fourth season of competitive action hopefully we can be treated to similar displays of raw speed for years to come. Parkin Looking To The Future The runner up in the Nunthorpe Soldier’s Call (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) deserves plenty of credit and his owner Steve Parkin enjoyed a memorable week at his local Knavesmire. It all kicked off for Parkin and his band of merry men when Living In The Past (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {GB}) landed the G2 Lowther S. for trainer Karl Burke on Thursday. Parkin had won the Lowther with Rosdhu Queen (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) in 2012 and since then he has invested considerably in building a powerful string of horses with the help of his close friend Joe Foley. Foley’s good judgement was highlighted by Living In The Past, a €65,000 yearling purchase at the Sportsman’s Sale at Goffs last year. Her success was also a fine boost for breeders Newlands House Stud who will offer a full-sister to Living In The Past as lot 588 in the Sportsman’s in October. Parkin’s week also finished on a high when one of his stalwarts Suedois (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), who he owns with George Turner, landed a maiden British win in the G3 Supreme S. at Goodwood on Sunday. The David O’Meara trained 8-year-old has now won group races in France, Ireland, America and England. Hannon Steps Up With His Juveniles The handful of vendors at Goffs UK this week with yearlings on offer by Coolmore sire Footstepsinthesand (GB) will be on good terms with themselves after the stallion was responsible for two top notch performances by 2-year-old colts at York. Mums Tipple (GB) simply spread-eagled the opposition in the £300,000 Goffs UK Premier Yearling S. pulling farther and farther clear and looking like a man amongst boys. Peter and Ross Doyle have found some gems at Doncaster over the years, the fellow Hannon trained Canford Cliffs (Ire) springs to mind and their purchase of Mums Tipple for £45,000 last year looks some gift for owners Marian Lyons & Patricia Zanelli. Richard Hannon’s other York winner came in the G2 Gimcrack S. when the Cheveley Park Stud owned Threat (Ire) came good under Oisin Murphy. The colt was bred at Derek and Gay Veitch’s Ringfort Stud in Ireland and was sold by them as a foal in Tattersalls for 100,000gns. His trajectory suggests he may have a future stallion career at Cheveley Park Stud but the competitive nature of the stallion business was also evident last week when Cheveley Park made the decision to transfer their Unfortunately (Ire), himself a Group 1 winner at two, to Linda and Reddy Coffey’s Springfield House Stud in Tipperary to avail of a larger pool of potential mares in 2020. Lyons And Spratt A Winning Team York’s festival closed out with the first running of the £1-million Ebor H. on Saturday and it again served to showcase the training skills of Ger Lyons whose astute handling of the winner Mustajeer (GB) (Medicean {GB}) has been military like in its precision since the 6-year-old’s fine effort when finishing fourth in the race last year. While Lyons and stable-jockey Colin Kean have formed a formidable partnership the role played by owner David Spratt in the success of the Lyons yard over the past few years should not be underestimated. The Cork man has an eagle eye for form and time and again he has plundered the horse in training sales and come home with some classy raw material for Lyons to work his magic on. Karawaan (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Buffer Zone (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) were both HIT purchases last year by Spratt and both have won premier handicaps this season for the team, while the recent 2-year-old debut winner Yaxeni (Ire) (Maxios {GB}) was picked up for just €8,000 at Goffs last February and is now worth many multiple of that. Spratt also had 2016 Irish Cambridgeshire winner Sea Wolf (GB) (Amadeus Wolf {GB}) with Lyons until selling a share in him and switching him to Chris Waller in Australia. Rebranded as Mister Sea Wolf the gelding won a Group 3 at Rosehill in March and with the news that Mustajeer will continue his career in Australia with Spratt also retaining a significant share, he looks set to enjoy some exciting times in the Southern Hemisphere in the coming months. The cream of Ireland’s juvenile crop is also starting to rise to the top and while the Ger Lyons trained Siskin (First Defence) has already staked his claim by winning the G1 Phoenix S. there was always the likelihood that Ballydoyle would unleash a few more potential stars in the second half of the season. Armory (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) looks just that after his straightforward win in the G2 Futurity S. at The Curragh last Friday and it would be a fascinating prospect if both Siskin and Armory happened to face off in the G1 Darley Dewhurst S. at the end of the season, assuming both passed their next tests in the G1 Juddmonte Middle Park and G1 Goffs Vincent O’Brien National S. respectively. Jessica Harrington’s Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) took the step up to stakes company in her stride when winning a deep renewal of the G2 Debutante S. and while this half-sister to Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) has a lot to live up to on pedigree she is certainly going the right way. While her sister excelled at a mile this daughter of the brilliant German Derby winner has Oaks 2020 written all over her. Sea The Moon stands at Lanwades Stud and that farm’s owner Kirsten Rausing enjoyed a fine day at York on Saturday breeding two stakes winners when Zaaki (GB) (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}) won the G3 Strensall S. and Shine So Bright (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) won the G2 City Of York S. Meanwhile Betfair co-founder Andrew Black’s Chasemore Farm has also enjoyed a purple spell both on the track and in the sales ring. Fresh from receiving €500,000 at Arqana for a Frankel (GB) colt, that yearling’s half-brother Brad The Brief (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) became the mare Kenzadargent (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr})’s first winner when making a successful debut at Bath last Wednesday. That win was confidently predicted by Black at Arqana and even better was to come for the farm when homebred Boomer (GB) (Kingman {GB}) won the G3 Prestige S. at Goodwood on Saturday for trainer Tom Dascombe. The Ecstasy And The Agony While tears of joy were being spilled by various connections at York on Friday these were quickly replaced with tears of despair from the wider racing community when news emerged that two champions of different disciplines had their lives prematurely cut short. Last year’s Champion 3-year-old colt Roaring Lion lost few battles on the racetrack but his system, unfortunately, could not cope with the dreaded complications related to an attack of colic. He was the pride and joy of the Qatar Racing team and had the potential to be a genuine breed shaper and his loss is immense. Meanwhile Espoir D’Allen (Fr) (Voix Du Nord {Fr}), who ignored the statistics to become a 5-year-old Champion Hurdle winner, had the jumps world at his feet. He had been meticulously campaigned by Gavin Cromwell and his team, only meeting with defeat once in his career and his 15-length demolition job in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham in March was a joy to behold. However, he failed to recover from a freak accident soon after he returned to Cromwell’s yard having spent his summer holiday at owner JP McManus’s Martinstown Stud. These type of horses are irreplaceable and the fact that neither was killed in competitive action just shows what fragile animals they are. Finally, a mention must go to trainer Ed Walker whose international raids are becoming increasingly successful. Walker has already enjoyed group success in Germany and Italy this year with stable stalwart Stormy Antarctic (GB) (Stormy Atlantic) and the Lambourn trainer, whose landlord is Bjorn Nielsen, almost pulled off a major transatlantic double over the weekend. Walker’s Indian Blessing (GB) (Sepoy {Aus}), a Group 3 winner in Germany and Grade I placed in America last year, was just touched off when a neck second in the GII Ballston Spa S. at Saratoga and then on Sunday Royal Intervention (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) continued the trainer’s fine record in Germany when landing the G2 Goldene Peitsche at Baden Baden. The post The Weekly Wrap: York at It’s Finest appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Keeneland announced Monday the Keeneland Library’s creation of the Life’s Work Oral History Project, a new initiative designed to capture treasured stories from the Thoroughbred industry and preserve and promote them for future generations. Life’s Work represents a unique collaboration of the Keeneland Library, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, along with the University of Kentucky Libraries’ Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History and Thoroughbred Daily News. The first installment of the series featuring Claiborne Farm’s Seth Hancock is being released today. Life’s Work features video and oral interviews from prominent figures in the equine industry whose passion and livelihood have been devoted to the Thoroughbred. Conducted by respected journalist Chris McGrath and filmed by Keeneland Broadcast Services, the interviews will appear as monthly feature articles in TDN and TDN Look as well as a feature video series. In addition to Hancock, those who have participated in interviews include John Phillips of Darby Dan Farm, Keeneland Trustee Emeritus James E. “Ted” Bassett III and Shadwell Farm Vice President and General Manager Rick Nichols, among others. In keeping with the Keeneland Library’s mission to preserve and promote the rich history of Thoroughbred racing, the Library engaged the prestigious University of Kentucky Libraries’ Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History to support the project. The Nunn Center’s state-of-the-art archives will index and preserve each Life’s Work video interview. Over the coming months, interviews will be released through the video catalog, which will be fully searchable and made available to the public for decades to come. In addition to the full video interview, which is available on the Nunn Center’s website, elements of the project include a video and podcast series produced by the Patty Wolfe Media Group. To view the first feature video, click here. The post Keeneland Library Launches Life’s Work Oral History Project With TDN appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Sadly, the stallion career of the hugely popular Giant’s Causeway petered out a little earlier than his many admirers would have wanted, with the champion son of Storm Cat being credited with only 15 foals in 2018, the year he covered nine mares before his death in April. He was 21 at the time, whereas Storm Cat was 26 when his last few foals were born and lived to be 30. However, Giant’s Causeway had been considerably busier than his sire, thanks partly to his being shuttled to Australia and South America. Equineline credits him with 2,548 foals of racing age (with his final total set to be a little higher), compared to Storm Cat’s 1,452. It is already clear that Giant’s Causeway’s worldwide legacy is going to be considerable. The news came a few weeks ago that his top-class turf son Bricks and Mortar, now a four-time Grade I winner following his success in the Arlington Million, will spend his stallion career at Shadai Farm in Japan, where the deaths of Deep Impact and King Kamehameha have left something of a void. American breeders still have several other young sons of Giant’s Causeway, such as the promising Creative Cause and the yet-to-be-proven Carpe Diem, Not This Time and Brody’s Cause. Last week also saw several of Giant’s Causeway’s grandsons continue in fine form, on both sides of the Atlantic. In the U.S., the Eskendereya colt Mitole cruised to victory in the GI Forego S. to record his ninth success in a 13-race career and his third Grade I success of the year. This impressive 4-year-old also earned himself a place in the Spendthrift Farm stallion team. Over in Europe it was the turn of Footstepsinthesand, winner of the 2005 2,000 Guineas, to make an impact on the 2-year-old scene, in much the same way that another of Giant’s Causeway’s European Classic winners, Shamardal, has been doing. Two of Footstepsinthesand’s juvenile sons scored valuable victories on consecutive days at York, with Threat taking the G2 Gimcrack S. a day after Mums Tipple turned in a breath-taking display over the same course and distance in the Goffs UK Premier Yearling S. Thanks to their efforts, the Coolmore veteran–he’s 18 next year–now tops the Anglo-Irish table of sires of 2-year-olds, ahead of No Nay Never, Cable Bay and Galileo. Noone could say that Threat didn’t deserve an important success, following his second places–beaten less than a length each time–behind Arizona in the G2 Coventry S. and Golden Horde in the G2 Richmond S. While Threat’s win in the Gimcrack carried more prestige, as a Group 2 event, than Goffs UK Premier Yearling S., his performance left him ranking no higher than joint-eighth, by Racing Post ratings, among Europe’s 2-year-olds. Mums Tipple, on the other hand, shot up to second in the rankings, his figure of 119 placing him between Shamardal’s sons Pinatubo (121) and Earthlight (118). Altogether Giant’s Causeway ranks as the grandsire of four of the top nine. This isn’t too surprising, as Footstepsinthesand and Shamardal were both unbeaten 2-year-old group winners from Giant’s Causeway’s one and only Irish crop. That said, Shamardal was officially rated the best of his generation, on 123, whereas Footstepsinthesand only scraped into the classification, on 110. Giant’s Causeway was also unbeaten at two, when he was officially rated joint second with Distant Music on 120, behind the runaway leader Fasliyev on 125. Although his Classic success suggests that Footstepsinthesand was undoubtedly more effective at three than two, several of his progeny have become group winners at two, with Larchmont Lad, Formosina, Sandiva, Sent From Heaven and Marie’s Diamond preceding Threat. It will surely be only a matter of time before Mums Tipple’s name is added to the list, judging by the way he strode 11-lengths clear in a 21-horse field at York. This €45,000 yearling has a pedigree which suggests he should have no problems staying a mile. His dam Colomone Cross never finished better than seventh in four starts in Ireland and she has never made a big splash in the sales ring, though her Mastercraftsman colt sold for €55,000 as a foal in 2013. Other foals have sold for as little as 2,800gns and €1,000. However, she has the attraction of being a daughter of Xaar, the outstanding 2-year-old of 1997, when his Group 1 victories in the Prix de la Salamandre and Dewhurst S. resulted in his being rated 8lbs superior to the next-best juvenile. Although less successful at three and four, Xaar was placed in both the Irish Champion S. and Eclipse S., so he was suited by a mile and a quarter. As a broodmare sire, Xaar has already been represented by a star in the dual Derby winner Harzand, and the Australian filly Yankee Rose was a major Group 1 winner over seven furlongs as a 2-year-old and a mile and a quarter at three. Accidental Agent became Group 1 winner number three when he took last year’s Queen Anne S. Mums Tipple’s dam has a few notable relatives, as she’s a half-sister to the Cape Cross colt Gwaihir, who earned a Timeform rating of 105 during a good juvenile career, and the Mujadil gelding Mombassa, a useful performer at around six furlongs as a 2- and 3-year-old. Mombassa’s sister Masai Queen also produced a good 2-year-old winner, with her Choisir colt Chandlery winning the G2 Vintage S. at Goodwood in 2011. This female line has been even more successful in previous generations, as it traces back to Lady Peregrine, dam of the 1928 2,000 Guineas winner Flamingo and second dam of the 1946 Champion S. winner Honeyway. Several of the mares linking Lady Peregrine to Colomone Cross also made their mark. Mums Tipple’s second dam, Twilight Tango, was a sister to the G3 Chester Vase winner Twist And Turn, while his third dam, the useful 2-year-old six-furlong winner Twyla, was a sister to Defecting Dancer, who earned a Timeform rating of 115 in the process of winning the Windsor Castle S. and Sirenia S. The next dam, Nijinsky’s daughter Running Ballerina, was a half-sister to several smart middle-distance performers, including the Irish Derby third Sir Penfro. The post Pedigree Insights: Mums Tipple appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Grade I-winning millionaire Force the Pass (Speightstown–Social Queen, by Dynaformer) has been retired from racing and will enter stud in Maryland in 2020 as the property of T.K. Kuegler’s Wasabi Ventures Stallions, LLC, who recently acquired the son of Speightstown from his owner/breeder Richard Santulli. Force the Pass will stand at Louis & Grace Merryman’s Anchor & Hope Farm as Wasabi’s first foray into the stallion business. Kuegler has recently expanded his operation to include more than a dozen broodmares. “We believe in the health and strength of the Maryland racing and breeding industry and we think Force the Pass offers incredible value to Mid-Atlantic breeders given his combination of race record, pedigree, and physique,” Kuegler said. “We expect to use an aggressive marketing campaign to get 100 mares to the horse in his first season, which will give him every chance to live up to his potential at stud.” Force the Pass made history when becoming the first horse to win the GI Belmont Derby Invitational S. in 2015, and he added three other stakes wins in his career, most recently in the Cliff Hanger S. last year at Monmouth. He retires with a record of 21/5-6-5 and earnings of $1,359,114. The post Force the Pass Retired, To Stand in Maryland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

With a small stable of runners all owned by himself and his brother, 30-year-old trainer Orlando Noda has enjoyed a very strong start to his career on the super-competitive NYRA circuit. He made his first start as a listed conditioner at Aqueduct in March, has now won five times from 24 tries (21%) while hitting the board with half of his starters. Among those victories have been three at the Saratoga meet, where he’s batting 33% with two thirds of those nine runners cracking the trifecta. A Miami native, Noda inherited his make-it-on-your-own style from his father Jose Noda-Fernandez, an owner/trainer himself who ran third in the 2017 GIII Smile Sprint S. with a 134-1 shot. “My dad has always had horses, off and on, just training for himself as an owner,” Noda said. “So, we bought a few horses in New Jersey in 2012 and we were racing in that area–Delaware, Pennsylvania, Charles Town. We were based at Westhampton Farm and that’s where I learned to gallop. My brother [Jonathan] and I were just taking advice from my dad over the phone. That’s how we started.” From that initial group of horses, Noda kept one mare, Bfit (The Cliff’s Edge), who he sent to Joe Pickerell and Courtney Roberts at Pick View LLC in Ocala to be bred. Noda soon headed to Ocala himself to continue his training education. “When that foal [out of Bfit] was a yearling, I ended up moving to Ocala,” he said. “I wanted to see what the big outfits who were breaking babies were doing. I worked for Hartley/DeRenzo and Crupi’s New Castle and then I ended up going to work for Mark Casse at his farm. In the summer of 2017, my wife [Melani Cruz] and I ended up coming up to work for Casse in Saratoga for the first time and that really opened my eyes.” What did he learn in his time in Ocala? “There’s definitely a difference between training a baby for the sale, and training them for the racetrack,” Noda noted. “I learned a lot from [the team at Pick View] because they’re more of a family operation. They bred my mare, and I worked for them breaking horses, and because they’re smaller they were really hands-on with each horse. I learned to really pay attention to the horses and communicate it back to whoever was in charge.” Fittingly, Bfit’s first and only foal, G. T. Sonia (Brethren), was Noda’s first starter. She broke her maiden last month for him at the Spa. Noda admits that starting out on the NYRA circuit might have been ambitious, but it certainly appears to be paying off. “Everyone told me, ‘No, don’t go to New York! It’s real tough.’ But I wanted to start in the big leagues,” he said. “That’s where the money is and where you can make a name for yourself.” Noda credits his brother Jonathan, who is in the car business, for financing his dream. Runners for Noda Brothers LLC have earned $208,672 so far this year. The brothers’ biggest success thus far has been T Loves a Fight (Girolamo). Claimed for just $10,000 out of a fourth-place effort at Belmont in May, the 5-year-old gave Noda his first win two starts later June 13. He successfully climbed the class ladder in his next two outings to cap a three-race win streak in a New York-bred optional claimer at the Spa July 14, and was a close fourth in the John Morrisey S. for state-breds earlier this month. T Loves a Fight was most recently a strong third from far back in a salty open first-level allowance on Travers Day. “He had back class for sure,” said Noda of what caught his eye about T Loves a Fight, who took the Mike Lee S. as a sophomore in 2017. “Physically, he looked the part. He’s a sound horse, very classy on the track and in the stall–all around. We got him figured out, and he won three in a row for me. It was a dream–he’s definitely the horse who put me on the map.” But Noda is quick to point out that his early success hasn’t simply been the result of one lucky claim: “To have three winners with different horses at Saratoga has shined a little spotlight on me. Lots of people were thinking that I’d just figured out the trick for that one horse, but those other ones helped me show I could do it with others too.” Outside owners have started to take notice. Noda picked up his first client, who sent him a pair of 2-year-olds, after T Loves a Fight won at Saratoga, putting his head count up to 10. He’s also found another prospective owner since then, but as is always part of the process when growing a small stable, must line up more help before he can take on the additional horses. For now, he’ll continue to keep an eye out for potential claims while he tries to build up his client base and workforce. “I’m trying to do everything,” he said. “I know the new stock is what gets you to the big races for 3-year-olds, so of course we’ll keep looking to pick up young horses. But I feel there are also good claiming horses here in New York with room for improvement. Some of the big operations here look past some details because they have so many horses… My short-term goal is to be one of the leading trainers at next year’s Aqueduct meet. Long term, of course, I’d love to have some stakes horses.” The post From Out of Nowhere, Noda Getting It Done on NYRA Circuit appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Trackside Radio’s Des Coppins catches up with Dr Tim Pearce, of Southern Rangitikei Veterinary Service, about an upcoming nationwide stem cell lecture series.... View the full article

Trackside Radio’s Des Coppins speaks with trainer Anna Clement after Miss Lizzie’s victory at New Plymouth on Saturday.... View the full article

Trackside Radio’s Des Coppins catches up with Shaun Phelan after his win aboard Lacustre in the Pakuranga Hunt Cup (4900m) at Ellerslie on Saturday.... View the full article

Alex Lai Hoi-wing admits he feared he would never ride again as he prepares to bring to an end what will have been a 721-day absence from the saddle by the time the gates crash back at Sha Tin on Sunday.After overcoming a persistent wrist injury, Lai has secured four rides on opening day and the 36-year-old says he is full of confidence ahead of his return.“I’m just happy I have been able to come back, for a long time I didn’t think I would be able to ride again. It hasn’t been easy and I’m so… View the full article

After two years away from race riding, Reece Cole was back in the winner’s circle at Ellerslie on Saturday possibly opening the door for a bigger assignment on the track in a fortnight. Cole signalled his comeback with a decisive seven-length win on Magic Cannon, who broke through for his first victory over fences for trainer Mark Brosnan. Straight after the race Brosnan was considering taking a big step with Magic Cannon and lining him up in the Boutique Body Corporates Great Northern Hurdle... View the full article

Former Levin jockey Tony Allan has capped off placings with a double in Queensland. Allan has been making the most of all opportunities since arriving in Queensland a few weeks ago, some times riding at two meetings in a day. He made the trip from his Deagon base to Toowoomba on Saturday night and was successful on the favourite Wall Street Tycoon in the first event, then ended the six-race meeting with victory in the last race on the second favourite Aladina, a five-year-old daughter of Darci ... View the full article

Craig Thornton received a great welcome home gift at Ellerslie on Saturday when Lacustre took out the CLC Pakuranga Hunt Cup (4900m) for trainer Samantha Logan. Thornton has recently returned from a seven month training stint in China and he was pleased to be trackside on Saturday to watch the horse he formerly trained, and still part-owns, take out the time-honoured race. “To get home and have him back at Ellerslie and to get the job done it was a pretty special occasion,” he said. Thornton... View the full article

A largely fine weather week in Hastings ahead of day one of the Bostock New Zealand Spring Carnival is expected to provide perfect footing for all runners on Saturday, which marks the return to Group One racing with a strong field to be assembled for the Tarzino Trophy (1400m). “Richard Fenwick (Racecourse Manager) did a reading on the track this morning and it came up a Dead5,” Hawke’s Bay Racing General Manager Andrew Castles said. “There might be a shower on Tuesday and the possibilit... View the full article

Last season’s premiership winning jumps jockey Aaron Kuru secured the biggest scalp of his riding career when taking out the Grand National Steeplechase (4500m) at Ballarat on Sunday aboard the Patrick Payne-trained Tallyho Twinkletoe. The duo have formed a formidable partnership, retaining their 100 percent strike-rate after combining to win the Grand National Hurdle (4200m) at Sandown earlier this month. Kuru was delighted with the win although he said the nine-year-old gelding was overly ea... View the full article

WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, and Starlight Racing's Improbable returned an easy winner Aug. 25, drawing clear to take Del Mar's $98,000 Shared Belief Stakes under Drayden Van Dyke. View the full article

James McDonald will ride Epsom Handicap favourite Te Akau Shark when he makes his Australian debut in the Tramway Stakes. Now Sydney's premier jockey, McDonald was formerly the stable rider for the powerful Te Akau operation in New Zealand. Te Akau Shark is the TAB's $6 favourite for the Epsom (1600m) at Randwick on October 5 and will have his lead-up in the Group Two Tramway (1400m) on September 7. McDonald will also be aboard Te Akau's Probabeel who who will take on Libertini in the Furious St... View the full article

WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, and Starlight Racing's Improbable returned an easy winner Aug. 25, drawing clear to take Del Mar's $98,000 Shared Belief Stakes in a hand ride under Drayden Van Dyke. View the full article

Riversedge Racing Stables' Bare Back Jack became the first black-type stakes winner for Bakken when he claimed the Aug. 25 Birdcatcher Stakes by a head at Century Mile. View the full article

Tom London, Terry Lovingier, and Eugene Zondlo's Side Street Dave broke through the maiden ranks Aug. 25 at Del Mar, taking a $33,755 maiden claiming race and marking the first winner for freshman sire Govenor Charlie. View the full article