Wandering Eyes

Cambridge jockey Jason Waddell has been forced to delay his return to raceday riding. Waddell underwent surgery on his right leg on May 27 and had planned to resume at the start of this season, but a setback has left him unsure of the exact date of his return. “The operation went well and I rode at the trials (Te Rapa on July 29), but I got a small infection in the leg,” he said. “I got a bit over-eager and probably tried to come back a touch too soon. “I won’t take a ride until I’. View the full article

Vigor Winner may not have got the results his connections were looking for in Australia last season, but the trip across the Tasman has been the making of the now four-year-old according to trainer Lauren Brennan. He won three of his four starts in New Zealand, including dead-heating the Gr.3 Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes (1200m), before finishing unplaced in his two Australian starts. “He has improved from the trip away,” Brennan said. “Both jockeys said give him six months and he will be . View the full article

Debbie Rogerson is trusting race fitness to give Malambo and Comeback their edge as they prepare to face the stars of Saturday's Gr.2 US Navy Flag Foxbridge Plate (1200m) at Te Rapa. The Hamilton trainer is happy with both Team Rogerson's runners for the weight-for-age sprint which has attracted five Group One winners. TAB bookmakers have Group Two winner Te Akau Shark a $2.20 favourite ahead of six-time Group One winner Melody Belle at $3.80, last-start Listed Opunake Cup (1400m) winner He. View the full article

Since returning from a nine-month layoff in late June, owner and trainer Hugh Robertson's Hotshot Anna has continued her consistent ways and Aug. 19 landed a repeat victory of the $100,000 Satin and Lace Stakes at Presque Isle Downs. View the full article

EFS visits STC as part of its retraining programme of ex-racehorses into equestrian sport View the full article

One Moor jockey for the Count View the full article

One Moor jockey for the Count View the full article

Merlion a nice launchpad as Blizzard brews View the full article

Updates on Stewards' follow-ups to Friday and Sunday meetings View the full article

Hronis Racing's Higher Power came out of his breakthrough victory in Del Mar's TVG Pacific Classic (G1) well, trainer John Sadler reported Aug. 19. View the full article

Everyone in this business understands that each day of joy tends to be earned by a month of strife. Seldom, however, do horses spin us between extremes at quite the giddy rate experienced by Richard Klein this summer. Klein, whose stable builds on long groundwork by his late parents Bert and Elaine, had been struggling to draw attention to his homebred stallion Country Day (Speightstown). It was tough going for him at Crestwood, competing with all those big Kentucky farms, and this year Klein took the decision to transfer the 13-year-old to Peach Lane Farms in Louisiana, where he now stands at just $2,000. But at least his first big flagbearer was still going. Will Call, bred from the family’s stakes-winning mare Vote Early (More Than Ready), had won a Grade III on the Kentucky Oaks undercard last year and went on to finish fifth in the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint–a race in which seven-time winner Country Day had himself enjoyed his finest moment, when second in the 2011 running. On June 29, however, the cherished 5-year-old returned to Churchill Downs, and dropped dead–out there on Klein’s local track–after finishing down the field. “Will Call meant everything to us,” Klein reflects. “He was the very first Country Day to win. His first stakes winner, and graded stakes winner. The first stakes winner the Kleins have ever had on Oaks or Derby day. So I was ready in my mind, if he didn’t run good that day, to go ahead and retire him. Send him up to Amy and Charlie LoPresti’s farm, with a couple of other retired horses I have there, let him have a life. And instead he dies of a heart attack. He was as sound as they come. It can be such a tough game.” Just a few days later, however, Klein could exult in one of the most vivacious and dynamic performances of the Saratoga summer–by Country Day’s freakish new talent, Break Even. And the 3-year-old filly, who had progressed from a Fair Grounds maiden on January 1 to emulate Will Call with a Grade II success of her own on Kentucky Oaks day, in the Eight Belles S., will next bid to make it seven-for-seven in the GII Prioress S. on Aug. 31. She really is an extraordinary creature, retaining an air of absolute leisure in setting the kind of fractions generally forged only by the frenetic, flat-out runaway type. And her Saratoga stakes win, in the $100,000 Coronation Cup S., showed that she is every bit as hard to catch on turf as she had previously been on dirt. “Two weeks,” says Klein. “Two weeks between losing Will Call and winning that race. And the dam of Break Even, a mare we really liked, unfortunately we had to put her down at the beginning of the year. She was 20. So this filly is very special to us. Look, we’ve had a lot of very nice horses in our family, without ever putting up a lot of money at the sales: over 110 stakes winners, 28 in graded stakes. And this filly, she looks like she may be right up there with the most talented we have ever had.” As it happens, Break Even’s mother Exotic Wager (Saint Ballado) was the most expensive horse the Kleins ever bought at auction, as a $285,000 Keeneland 2-year-old in 2001. At that stage, they were assembling what became a fairly boutique broodmare band, typically numbering a dozen or so. By breeding to race, they haven’t needed to supplement their stud for around 15 years now. Quite how it has sieved out a filly like this, however, is hard to fathom. “The mare produced some hard-knocking claiming horses, and one that maybe won a cheap stake race somewhere,” says Klein. “I was just trying to support my stallion when he was in Kentucky, so I bred him to this mare. And Country Day, he was a nice horse. He’s well bred. His dam produced five stakes winners, including one that was a multiple graded stakes winner. “So yes, I would hope some of it’s coming from the stallion. Maybe it was a good match. She has a yearling brother at the farm they say is beautiful. But I don’t know. So much of this game is luck. I mean, look at Mine That Bird (Birdstone). People go out and spend $800,000 for a horse and it can’t outrun you or me. And I go breed a horse like this, and she’s six-for-six.” But whatever luck comes your way, you have to make the most of it. Klein should take some credit, then, for the patience that is the hallmark of his program. “We try never to hurry them, try to give them the best opportunity to be horses,” he explains. “There’s a lot of turnout, they’re raised on a farm, kicked out at night while they’re being broken. And if doing what’s best means sending them home from the track, giving them a break, that’s what our philosophy has always been.” Break Even duly took the time she was given to blossom. Sure, the Mitchells liked her well enough, raising her at Clarkland Farm; likewise Amy LoPresti, breaking her at Forest Lane; and Brad Cox’s assistant at Ellis Park, Tessa Bisha, albeit she had to back off a few shin issues. “And then suddenly I’m hearing from Fair Grounds that Brad has nothing that can beat her,” Klein recalls. “They’re putting her up against colts, they’re breaking her out the gate. They had a real nice Tapit colt she breezed head-to-head with. And I just kept hearing better and better things about her.” Country Day having operated well on the turf, Break Even was given her first entry on the same surface–only for the race to be moved onto the main track. “Which I guess was fortunate for us, because otherwise I’m not sure we’d ever have figured out to put her on the dirt,” Klein admits. “It turned out she loved the slop.” She hasn’t looked back since, though Cox and Klein resisted the temptation to run her against her equally explosive barnmate Covfefe (Into Mischief) in the GI Test S. “Brad says he wouldn’t be frightened to run her five and a half on turf, against the girls or the boys, anywhere in the country,” Klein explains. “But seven furlongs on a deep and cuppy track like that? And I knew down deep Brad didn’t want to race them against each other, while the turf was always going to suit her. So he said, okay, let’s do that–but then bring her back at the end of the meet for the Prioress, on the dirt. “Shaun Bridgmohan [her jockey] says she’s very smart, very laidback. She gets a little geared up going into raceday, but never stupid, doesn’t wash out or anything. She’ll do whatever you ask of her. Shaun says she doesn’t need to lead, she can rate. It’s just she’s so quick out of the gate, after her third, fourth step she’s two in front. And she can run on anything. She’s won at five different racetracks, on dirt, turf, slop, everything.” According to TDN statistics for fourth-crop stallions, Country Day has only 114 named foals to his name–compared, among the most popular of their intake, with Bodemeister (482), The Factor (414), Union Rags (384), Shackleford (381), Gemologist (376) and Tapizar (341). Of his 67 starters to date, 51 are winners. “His stats are unbelievable,” enthuses Klein. “Besides the two graded stakes winners, he has had another stakes winner for us. He’s stamping every one of his horses with that big rear end of his. They all have good bone to them, they’re laidback, they’re smart. And they’re versatile like he was. He won stakes on three different surfaces. But they don’t tend to be too early, and that’s the problem when people want to start horses in May. But the breeding program is good in Louisiana, so we’ll see what happens down there.” Country Day was bred from the Mt. Livermore mare Hidden Assets, who was another Keeneland 2-year-old, at $230,000, when the Klein family were seeding their stable in 1999. She won a Grade III on dirt at Gulfstream and, as already noted by Klein, proved a fertile producer of good winners. In 2016, in fact, two of her daughters won stakes on the same day. The next dam, an unplaced daughter of Roberto, was a half-sister to a couple of graded stakes winners and also to the dam of GI Preakness winner Codex (Arts and Letters). It’s also the family of a triple Group 1 winner in Europe, Oratorio (Ire) (Danehill), but perhaps the most striking ingredient in his pedigree is the fact that the granddams of both Speightstown and Hidden Assets were by Tom Rolfe’s half-brother by Bold Ruler, Chieftain. This source of durability and speed might not ring too many bells nowadays, but just take a look at the first three dams of a great stallion who famously traded in toughness and class, Giant’s Causeway: they are respectively by Rahy, Roberto and Chieftain. Now look at Country Day. His damsire Mt. Livermore, like Rahy, is by Blushing Groom (Fr); and his next two dams are by Roberto and Chieftain. The echoes go deeper still, as Country Day’s fourth dam was by a son of Heliopolis, who was also sire of the fifth dam of Giant’s Causeway. Where the lines do part is at Country Day’s fifth dam, but that’s no bad thing because she is Calumet’s Hall of Famer Real Delight, one of three Kentucky Oaks winners out of Blue Delight. For whatever it may be worth, moreover, the daughter of Chieftain who produced the dam of Country Day’s sire Speightstown did so with Storm Cat–the sire, of course, of Giant’s Causeway. So, all in all, maybe it’s not quite such a mystery if Country Day has really pulled a monster out of his hat in Break Even, despite her own fairly plain antecedents. (Though a curiosity worth noting is that her fifth dam is by none other than Chieftain.) But even if Country Day can’t get sufficient traction in Louisiana to keep punching above his weight–after all, he never even won a graded stakes himself–then Klein is determined to enjoy the ride. “Country Day always meant a lot to us,” Klein says. “He was named after the school my kids went to, here in Louisville. And even though my parents are no longer here, I still view them as part of our stable. There’s no better way of honoring my two best partners, and now my kids want to get involved too: my daughter is finishing her internship in large animals, and wants to be in equine surgery, and my son’s in sports management. “We have always kept everything we breed, to race. We only ever sold one horse at the sale. That was probably over 15 years ago, when we were told we had to sell–and we got $1.9 million! But other than that, what we see is what we get; whatever happens, happens. So much breeding is now commercialised, all about the sales ring. To see these new stallions book 150 mares in North America, and then shuttle to the Southern Hemisphere, it’s ridiculous. And unfortunately it’s the smaller stallions like Country Day, and the proven stallions on the racetrack, that get lost in the shuffle. “But now we’ve got this filly and it’s a neat story. I’m not selling her. I’ve been approached by a few people but she’s going to be part of my broodmare band. Nor do I have an ego in this game that I have to be seen in those Grade I races. We’ll just keep running her in the best spots we can, and see how it all shakes down.” The post Break Even Looks a ‘Day’ to Remember appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Jack Whitaker, an Emmy Award-winning broadcaster who covered many sports, horse racing among them, died on Sunday at his home in Devon, Pa. He was 95. His death was announced by CBS Sports. “There will never be another Jack Whitaker in sports broadcasting,” CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus said in a statement. “His amazing writing ability, on-air presence and humanity are unmatched. His unique perspective on sports ranging from horse racing to golf to NFL football was extraordinary.” The many events he covered included the first Super Bowl, major golfing events and the Olympics, but he was also a familiar figure on network broadcasts of the Triple Crown races and was part of the on-air team that covered Secretariat’s victory in the 1973 Belmont Stakes. After working for local stations in his native Pennsylvania, Whitaker started at CBS in 1961. In addition to Secretariat’s Belmont, he covered the ill-fated 1975 match race between Ruffian and Foolish Pleasure. Perhaps as articulate as any broadcaster ever and known for his essays, his commentary leading up to the 1973 Belmont, as always, captured the moment perfectly. “There may be some people who do now know what or who Secretariat is at this time…people who have been marooned on Pacific islands or lost in Amazonian jungles,” he said. “But for those of you who may have just gotten to know him in the last week or 10 days, here is a brief biographical sketch: First of all, you must know that he is quite the handsomest of horses to come along in decades. Secondly, he was voted Horse of the Year as a 2 year-old, an unprecedented event, unheard of since that award always goes to older horses. If that wasn’t enough to distinguish him from his peers, Secretariat was syndicated for $6,080,000 before he raced as a 3 year-old. Not only was that unheard of before, it had scarcely been dreamt.” Commenting on the 1973 Belmont and as to where it stood among his favorite sporting events, he told turf writer Jay Hovdey: “There were so many great moments. But just to have been part of that 1973 Belmont was worth a whole career.” When Ruffian broke down in the match race, he said: “A false step here and the years of planning and breeding and training and loving came to an end. A horse with the speed and stamina and heart … a horse, like the Bible says, ‘whose neck is clothed in thunder.'” Whitaker joined ABC in 1982 at a time when that network covered the bulk of the sport’s most important races. “He was a very funny, charming man,” said Dave Johnson, who worked with Whitaker on the ABC broadcasts. “When we were working with ABC, I remember going to the Wishing Well with him in Saratoga for dinner along with Jim McKay and a couple of other people from the ABC crew and he was just so entertaining. He was an incredible person. What a nice man. What a good human he was. I never heard anyone say a bad word about him.” What impressed Johnson most about Whitaker’s on-air talents were his eloquence and his ability to throw his essays together within a matter of just a few minutes. “He was a brilliant writer. His essays were fantastic,” Johnson said. “It was his job to set the scene. He did two essays. One was at the beginning of the show as to what the race was in context to the sport and the human stories. And then he did one at the end, a wrap-up. He must have prepared a lot of different things for the end of the show because he would always include what happened in the race. He would always know just not who won the race but why, and he didn’t have more than a few minutes before he had to go on. He was just a great writer and I know he loved the sport.” Whitaker won an Eclipse Award for National Television Achievement in 1977, and was presented in 2013 with the Jim McKay Award for excellence in racing broadcasting by the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association. Whitaker was born May 18, 1924 and, according to The New York Times, became interested in college sports as a teenager when attending Penn football games at Franklin Field. After he graduated from St. Joseph’s University, he was hired by a small radio station in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. His first high-profile job came in 1950 with WCAU, a television station in Philadelphia. He was also a decorated veteran of World War II, fighting in the Normandy Campaign, and was wounded by an artillery strike. The post Jack Whitaker Passes Away at 95 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

On Aug. 19 on the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga Race Course, William S. Farish homebred Code of Honor, a chestnut son of Noble Mission, posted his final workout in preparation for the grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1). 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. Today’s Observations features a daughter of G1 Nunthorpe S. winner Margot Did (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}). 2.32 Deauville, Debutantes, €27,000, 2yo, c/g, 8fT LEGENDE D’ART (IRE) (Kingman {GB}) starts out for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum and the Henri-Francois Devin stable, having cost 400,000gns at the Tattersalls October Book 2 Sale. Out of a half to several black-type performers headed by the GII San Marcos S.-winning sire Loup Breton (Ire) (Anabaa), the February-foaled bay encounters some other choicely-bred individuals including The Niarchos Family’s Farout (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), a Francis-Henri Graffard-trained grandson of the operation’s luminary Coup de Genie (Mr. Prospector). 3.12 Deauville, Debutantes, €27,000, 2yo, f, 8fT MAGIC ATTITUDE (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) is a daughter of the surprise G1 Nunthorpe S. winner Margot Did (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) who debuts for Haras du Saubouas and the Fabrice Chappet stable. The full-sister to G2 Prix de Sandringham scorer and GI Queen Elizabeth II Cup runner-up Mission Impassible (Ire) who was led out unsold at €850,000 at the 2018 Arqana August, encounters Hidaka (Fr) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), a Wertheimer-Fabre project whose listed-winning and group-placed dam Royalmania (GB) (Elusive Quality) was fourth in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac. The post Observations: Aug. 20, 2019 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

DEAUVILLE, France–There’s always plenty of focus on Arqana August, not just as it is France’s flagship yearling sale but also because it ushers in the new season in Europe. Amid political and financial uncertainty in the wider world, the bloodstock market—at the top end at least—appears to be continuing in rude health. The results in Deauville, which included record turnover of €43,579,000 (+14%), a record average of €187,310 (+17%) and a record median of €125,000 will have assuaged some fears ahead of other leading events in Britain, Germany and Ireland in the coming months. None of those countries, however, can compete with French racing’s lucrative premiums system and though the August catalogue is by no means restricted to French-breds and the prize-money is about to drop, the vibrancy of the domestic breeding industry combined with a stronger than usual international line-up led to record-breaking trade. The fact that the sale’s top 20 lots were bought by 13 independent entities representing Dubai, Japan, Britain, America, Denmark and Ireland is an encouraging place to start. At times, the identities of the top buyers can be almost intimidatingly familiar and while Godolphin—boosted by Sheikh Mohammed’s presence at Arqana for the first time in many years—was a dominant name with eight horses bought for €4,945,000, it was not along in its big spending. Amanda Skiffington signed for six yearlings on behalf of effervescent owner Fiona Carmichael, who loves Deauville and was a significant investor in the sale, spending €2,305,000. Japanese trainer Mitsu Nakauchida signed for a pair of smart colts with stallions’ pedigrees just waiting for the race record to match, and they included the second-top lot of the sale, the Galileo (Ire) colt out of Prudente (GB) (Dansili {GB}) at €1.5 million. Eleven buyers spent seven-figure sums, including Gerard Larrieu, Phoenix Thoroughbreds, King Power Racing and Satomi Horse Farm, while Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm followed up on what has been a terrific season on the track in France and America by purchasing three yearlings for €840,000 through Michel Zerolo’s Oceanic Bloodstock. “It’s very encouraging,” said Arqana’s executive director Freddy Powell as the third and final day of the sale drew to a close. “When we were going around Japan and Saratoga recently it was good to see people opening the catalogues in front of us and being impressed by the pages. That is thanks to all the breeders who have invested in good, young mares and sent them to good stallions. It was the catalogue which made the buyers come here.” A slightly tightened catalogue meant that those record figures were achieved from the sale of 229 horses at an improved clearance rate of 76%. Powell added, “It gives us all hope for the season ahead. It’s a long season until we are all back here in December and we’ll see what happens, but one thing is for sure, we have happy vendors and they will be the ones reinvesting at the breeding stock sale.” Following the two select evening sessions of Saturday and Sunday, Monday’s trade always drops down a level, but the session had a thoroughly solid feel to it. The day’s turnover rose by 6% on last year, with €10,119,000 accrued from the sale of 160 horses at an average of €86,802 (+5%), while the median dropped slightly to €65,500. Once again, Ecurie des Monceaux led the vendors’ list, accounting for almost a quarter of the sale’s aggregate when selling 29 yearlings for €10,251,000, including the only two seven-figure lots. Haras des Capucines weighed in next with 27 sold for €4,692,000. Anthony Stroud may have already vacated Deauville after a busy weekend at the sales, including signing the tickets on eight Godolphin purchases that made them leading buyer at €4.945-million, but his absence didn’t stop Stroud from securing lot 193, Monceaux’s daughter of Sea The Stars (Ire), for €320,000. With Sally Ann Grassick conducting the bidding, Stroud emerged successful on behalf of an undisclosed client. The filly boasts a pedigree to be envied, her third dam being the blue hen producer Rafha (GB) (Kris {GB}), whose dynasty includes the half-brother sires Invincible Spirit (Ire) and Kodiac (GB) as well as young sires Gustav Klimt (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Pride of Dubai (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}). Group 1-winning fillies Nayarra (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) and Chinese White (Ire) (Dalakhani {Ire}) also appear on the page. The second yearling crop of Golden Horn (GB) hits the ring this season and the Darley sire’s top price at Arqana was achieved on Monday via lot 298, Haras du Mezeray’s colt out of the multiple winner and listed-placed Lumiere Rose (GB) (Motivator {GB}). He was another to meet the approval of Anthony Stroud who, bidding via telephone, went to €200,000 for an undisclosed client. “I’ve been hearing plenty of positive things about Golden Horn’s stock and this was a very nice colt for an owner who has been a long-time client of mine,” he said. Shalaa In Front Again Shalaa (Ire) was the leading first-season sire during the select portion of the Arqana August Yearling Sale over the weekend, his seven selling on Saturday and Sunday averaging €242,143, and the son of Invincible Spirit (Ire) continued in a similar vein on Monday. His top seller on Monday was lot 169, Haras de Montaigu’s granddaughter of the G1 Prix de l’Opera winner Satwa Queen (Fr) (Muhtathir {GB}). The second foal out of the twice-placed Satiriste (GB) (Shamardal) was bought by Mandore International on behalf of Alain Jathiere for €260,000. “I didn’t think I’d have to pay so much but I’m happy,” Jathiere said. “She’ll go into training in Chantilly. I also bought her for her broodmare potential.” A short time later, American trainer Kenny McPeek went to €160,000 for lot 174, a Shalaa filly out of an unraced full-sister to dual Australian Group 1 winner Contributer (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}). McPeek, who also bought a daughter of first-crop sire New Bay (Ire) for €140,000 on Sunday evening, said he has been to Arqana August before and jumped on a last-minute flight on the weekend. “I came on short notice because I didn’t know if I was going to have runners at Saratoga this weekend,” he explained. “I was hoping to have an Alabama runner because I won it last year but Restless Rider didn’t make the race, so I thought it was a good time to come and I popped over and got the work done.” McPeek said that both fillies were bought for longtime client Rick Greenberg. “They will ship back to the U.S. to my farm in Lexington, Magdalena,” he said. “Both fillies that I bought were for Rick Greenberg and we’re going to offer some shares to some Magdalena partnership people. It’s exciting, Rick wanted to add some [future] broodmares and he’s over here with his fiance and he loves racing. I’ve had horses for Rick for 10 or 15 years. We raced the filly My Baby Baby [Grade III winner] and [listed winner] House of Grace and some others, but he’s a great guy and just loves the game.” McPeek, who selected American Horse of the Year and leading sire Curlin (Smart Strike) as a yearling for $57,000 and who also trained the future champion broodmare Take Charge Lady to become a Grade I winner, has never been afraid to leave his own backyard to source runners. He regularly buys out of South America and selected the likes of Grade I winner Hard Buck (Brz). He has also started horses at Royal Ascot and in Dubai. “When I came two years ago I learned a bit about the French pedigrees,” McPeek said. “It’s a small world nowadays, I see a lot of people here that I know, and some horses in these pedigrees have even run in the U.S. They’ll be an outcross for some American stallions later on, and we’ll see. More than anything we want to win big races with them.” McPeek’s New Bay filly also provided a good advertisement for her sire, who stands at Ballylinch Stud for €15,000. New Bay won the G1 Prix du Jockey Club and was second in the G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches in 2015 and is from the family of Oasis Dream (GB) and Kingman (GB). Lot 139 is a half-sister to listed winner Ship Of Dreams (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) and from the family of four-time Group 1 winner Shirocco (Ger). Yeguada Packs A Punch For Teofilo Colt Spanish-based entity Yeguada Centurion broadened the sale’s international buyers’ list with a late purchase on Monday evening when going to €220,000 for lot 325, a Teofilo (Ire) colt out of the listed-winning Dubawi (Ire) mare Quanzhou (Fr), a half-sister to the outstanding stayer Mille Et Mille (Fr) (Muhtathir {GB}). “It’s the Dubawi-Galileo cross that convinced us to buy her,” said the owner’s representative. “She’ll be broken in and pre-trained in Spain before joining Carlos Laffon-Parias, who has horses for us already.” Yeguada Centurion will have its first runner in France today [Tuesday] when Venus Espagnola (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) lines up for the Arqana Prix de Montaigu. Lesbordes ‘Sea’ ing Double Jean Lesbordes was the man with the privilege of training the great Urban Sea (Miswaki), and he said it was “love at first sight” when he laid eyes on a daughter of Urban Sea’s son Sea The Stars (Ire) (lot 186) at Arqana. He and Nicolas de Watrigant of Mandore International, who signed the ticket, duly went to €200,000 for Ecurie des Monceaux’s daughter of Soho Rose (Ire) (Hernando {Fr}) on behalf of Sea The Stars’s owner Ling Tsui. Soho Rose was a listed winner in Germany and produced this year’s G3 Derrinstown Stud 1000 Guineas Trial second Dean Street Doll (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}). “Jean Lesbordes trained Urban Sea, and he said she looks like Urban Sea herself. He said he had a flashback when he saw her,” said de Watrigant. “We’re very pleased to purchase this filly, especially for Mrs. Tsui who is such a good supporter of the stallion. She’s going to be trained by William Haggas.” De Watrigant said hopes are naturally high that the filly will emulate her Arc-winning paternal granddam or even Sea Of Class, who was trained by Haggas and carried the Tsuis’ yellow silks to victories in last year’s G1 Irish Oaks and G1 Yorkshire Oaks. “We hope she’ll be another Urban Sea or Sea Of Class,” he said. “She’s a great individual but mentally she’s just so calm and so professional. Everything is so smooth with her and we really like her.” De Watrigant later in the session added lot 306, a son of No Nay Never, to his haul on behalf of MV Magnier for €230,000. Last year’s champion first-season sire has provided the Coolmore connections with this year’s G2 Coventry S. winner Arizona (Ire), a graduate of this sale last year, in addition to the G1 July Cup winner Ten Sovereigns (Ire). Lot 306 is out of the winning Morello (Aus) (Commands {Aus}), a full-sister to a pair of Australian stakes winners. Phoenix Strikes For Cobra Eye Brother Amer Abdulaziz’s Phoenix Thoroughbreds went to €150,000 to secure a colt by Kodiac (GB) during part one of last year’s Arqana August Yearling Sale. Subsequently named Cobra Eye (GB), that colt broke his maiden at Glorious Goodwood for trainer John Quinn and ensured that the Phoenix team of Tom Ludt and Dermot Farrington had to stretch further, to €200,000, to secure his half-brother by Iffraaj (GB) (lot 224) at Deauville on Monday. “Cobra Eye is a nice 2-year-old and this is a very good-looking horse too,” said Farrington. “She’s obviously a good mare, she’s breeding nice-looking horses so that’s why Amer decided to buy this relation. We paid enough for him but it’s a good sire and good dam, so fingers crossed.” In addition to Cobra Eye, the placed dam Annie The Doc (GB) (Nayef) has produced a pair of winners of the Listed Prix Fontainbleau: Biraaj (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}) and Lida (GB) (Lope de Vega {Ire}). Lot 224 is also closely related to the French champion 2-year-old and exciting young sire Wootton Bassett (GB); they share the same sire as well as second dam Susquehanna Days (Chief’s Crown). Achieving the same €200,000 pricetag a short time later was lot 233, Capucines’s Siyouni (Fr) colt out of Candide (Bernardini). He was bought by Oliver St Lawrence on behalf of Fawzi Nass. “He’ll go back to England but I’m not sure what trainer he’ll go to,” St Lawrence explained. “I thought he was as nice an individual who was here today; he’s a lovely individual.” In addition to being a half-brother to the listed winner over jumps Candalex (Fr) (Alex the Winner), the bay colt is from the family of Grade I winner and former leading American sire Grand Slam. St Lawrence said he had managed to buy a yearling each day of the sale, but it wasn’t easy. “It’s a very strong sale,” he said. “We’ve bought one on each night so far before this but we’ve struggled on all the big lots.” Family Ties For Wootton Bassett Filly Haras d’Etreham’s Wootton Bassett (GB) ended the sale with a healthy average of €122,500 for eight yearlings sold and among them was lot 319, a filly from the German Group 3 winner Peaceful Love (Ger) (Dashing Blade {GB}) whose five winners include the stakes-placed Fort Hastings (Ger) (Aragorn {Ger}). Bred in partnership by her consignor La Motteraye and Gerard Ferron, lot 319 will eventually race in the colours of Steve Burggraf’s Ecurie de Montlahuc after Laurent Benoit placed the final bid on his behalf at €190,000. The filly’s new owner, who has enjoyed high-level success with the Group 3 winner and Group 1-placed Homerique (Exchange Rate) and also raced listed winner Penny Lane (Ger) (Lord Of England {Ger}), a half-sister to the yearling’s dam, said, “We know the family well. Penny Lane gave us lots of joy. This filly is an exceptional individual and I had also seen her at the stud. She’s by a stallion who is producing good results and she will join Francis-Henri Graffard. Why change a winning team?” Wootton Bassett has his first big crop of yearlings this year since his flagship son Almanzor (Fr) was named Cartier champion 3-year-old in 2016 courtesy of wins in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club, G1 Irish Champion S. and G1 Champion S., and he did not go unnoticed at Arqana. In addition to Lot 319 there was lot 223, a half-sister to listed winner King Of Leogrance (Fr) (Camelot {GB}) (lot 223) scooped up by trainer Jean-Claude Rouget for €170,000. Rouget should know what he’s looking at especially when it comes to the progeny of Wootton Bassett: he purchased Almanzor himself at this sale for €100,000 in 2014. Rouget also trained Lot 223’s dam, the listed-placed Amourette (GB) (Halling), and said he’d bought her fourth foal for a syndicate. Later in the session Wootton Bassett had two more fillies sell for €150,000 and €105,000, respectively. Princely Sum For Iffraaj Colt A three-parts brother to G2 Lancashire Oaks winner The Black Princess (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}) will follow his close relative to the UK to be trained having been bought by Mark McStay for €195,000. The agent couldn’t name his client but was full of praise for the Iffraaj colt (lot 297) who is the first foal of Lucelle (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}), a treble-winning half-sister to The Black Princess. Their dam Larceny (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) is herself a half-sister to the Group 1 winners Lawman (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and Latice (Ire) (Inchinor {GB}). “I love Iffraaj—he’s a stallion I know well from my Godolphin days—and this colt has a fantastic pedigree,” McStay said. “It’s a cross that has already worked well and he’s from the family of a Classic winner. The trade has been strong and they’ve been hard to buy but we waited especially to try for this one.” The colt was bred by Lucien Urano’s Ecurie des Charmes in partnership with Joelle Mestrallet’s Haras de la Morsangliere and was consigned through the latter’s cousin Julie Mestrallet of Haras de l’Aumonerie. Head Scoops Up Treve Relative Should Haras du Quesnay’s Motivator (GB) filly (lot 199) live up to half the expectations that her pedigree promises, she would be worth many multiples of the €170,000 she cost trainer Freddy Head at Arqana on Monday as a three-quarter sister in blood to the great dual G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and six-time Group 1 winner Treve (Fr) (Movitator {GB}). The filly is the second foal out of Treve’s unraced half-sister Toride (Fr) (Fuisse {Fr}), who has a 2-year-old colt by Quesnay sire Intello (Ger) named Welcome Moon (Fr). Lot 199 was bred, like her great relative, by the Head family’s Haras du Quesnay. Whereas Treve was trained by the now-retired Criquette Head, this filly will go into the yard of her brother Freddy Head, who purchased her for Madame de Ganay. “She’s a very nice filly that will progress a lot in her physique,” Head said. “She’s going to be outstanding in six months.” The post Stars And Shalaa Lead August Closer appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The first graded stakes victory of Higher Power's career proved eye-catching enough to voters as the 4-year-old son of Medaglia d'Oro debuted in the 10th position in this week's National Thoroughbred Racing Association Top Thoroughbred Poll. View the full article

On Aug. 19 on the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga Race Course, William S. Farish homebred Code of Honor, a chestnut son of Noble Mission (GB), posted his final workout in preparation for the grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1). View the full article

The three winners of stakes in the 3-Year-Olds and Up Sprint—Dirt Division are among the nominees for the fourth leg of the MATCH Series, which shifts to Parx Racing in Pennsylvania Labor Day, Sept. 2. View the full article

Bob Baffert, who seemingly lost his best chance at taking down this year’s GI Runhappy Travers S. when his champion Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}) was declared from the race last week, will have a hopeful in the Midsummer Derby after all, as Michael Lund Petersen’s Mucho Gusto (Mucho Macho Man) will make the cross-country ship after a bullet five-furlong workout Monday. A four-time graded stakes winner, the ‘TDN Rising Star’ most recently finished second in the GI TVG.com Haskell Invitational, and covered five panels in :59 1/5 (1/39) Monday at Del Mar. “He came out of the Haskell really well, and he breezed [Monday] morning, and went really well, really strong,” said Baffert. “When they work like that, I like to run them the next week. With that work, he punched his own ticket to the Travers. We think he’s ready to do something big.” Baffert added that Mucho Gusto will ship to Saratoga Tuesday, with assistant Jimmy Barnes coming in for the race and regular rider Joe Talamo having the call. The post Mucho Gusto Makes 12 in Travers appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Keeneland is preparing for its 2019 Fall Meet, to be held Oct. 4-26, by conducting a Hiring Center and Job Fair in September to recruit more than 2,000 seasonal workers. Staffing offers a variety of opportunities, including Keeneland Hospitality’s food and beverage services, Parking and Security, The Keeneland Shop, Admissions, Programs, Track Maintenance and Guest Services. Seasonal employees are key members of the Keeneland team, and they travel from near and far to work at the historic track. During the Spring Meet in April, Keeneland staff represented 28 states, some as far away as Arizona, and 107 Kentucky cities. “We are pleased to welcome many talented people to the Keeneland team through these seasonal opportunities,” Keeneland President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Thomason said. “Many of them return meet after meet and take particular pride in their roles. Keeneland’s average seasonal team member has been a part of at least six consecutive race meets, and more than 10 percent of our employees have 15 or more years of service. In fact, 55 team members have been with us 35 years or more–our longest tenured seasonal employee has been part of the fun for 42 years.” The post Keeneland to Host Job Fair for Fall Meet appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Winston C came to hand for trainer Jonathan Sheppard and his Pennsylvania-based crew early in the summer, and he polished off a solid field in Saratoga Race Course's A. P. Smithwick Memorial Steeplechase S. (NSA-G1) July 25. View the full article

Winston C (IRE) came to hand for trainer Jonathan Sheppard and his Pennsylvania-based crew early in the summer, and he polished off a solid field in Saratoga Race Course's A. P. Smithwick Memorial Steeplechase S. (NSA-G1) on July 25. View the full article

Traveling the roads of the Normandy countryside breathing in the fresh open air and exquisite scenery I had to pinch myself to remember how I got there–specifically in the sidecar of a motorcycle like Batman’s sidekick if she were a 55-year-old woman wearing a heart rate monitor. Our second annual European Thoroughbred Daily News group trip kicked off in usual fashion with Publisher Sue Finley doling out assignments. We strive to make these jaunts as productive as possible with individuals or teams spreading out in various directions to capture local flavor as well as Thoroughbred news. Sue says something like this, “Kelsey, you are going to interview the impossibly handsome farm owner. Emma, the sale. Chris, the winery. Diana, a heartwarming retired horse story. And, Patty, how can we send you to your death this year?” I surprised my associates by surviving last year’s Palio assignment in Sienna, Italy where I “covered the race” from the track. The humans wreaked more havoc than the horses (typically) and caused lasting bruises (on my pride). This year in Deauville, France, I was sent out to cover a sidecar tour of the Normandy cider region given by Retro Tour company with the three teenagers along on the trip, Sarah, Tallulah and James. This found me in one of the two sidecars since the teenagers thought (wisely) it was cooler to hang on to the back of the universally fantastic looking motorcycle drivers. It is important to note that inclusive of the drivers I was the only person in our group of six over the age of 25. And it was apparent…constantly. The helmet they provided me proved challenging (read: impossible) to squeeze down over my head but I muscled into it assuming we would wear them for the duration of our tour. This was not true. My latest sartorial affliction, my aforementioned 30-day heart rate monitor, had wires that hung out the bottom of my on-loan leather motorcycle jacket. I further hurt my look by sitting in the sidecar under a blanket clutching my tiny pink purse on my lap. (It doesn’t sound true, but it is.) We bounded along the brick village roads as I tried to film (this was my actual function) our two beautiful young women, Sarah and Tallulah, on their motorcycle sidecar driven by Thomas, their future shared husband if all goes according to their plan. They were smiling and giggling and taking the fresh air onto their fresh faces as my head bounced left and right trying to balance the 14-pound helmet consuming my head. I must have pushed the limits of my sidecar’s shock absorption so my lower back took over with none of the attributes of a spring. We finally found the highway and the ride smoothed out. The boy-drivers then put the pedals to the metals. The teenage girls shrieked with joy as they momentarily tilted onto two wheels around turns. I glanced up at our driver Alex with my best mother glare shaming him to back off. He did. James, my son, rode behind Alex and I encouraged him to hug and hang onto him for dear life. My son smartly ignored me maintaining a chill he did not inherit from his mother. Our first stop was, by all accounts, the most stunning little village in France. Here we were to grab a quick bite which required removing our helmets. I put distance between myself and the crowd as I bent over and struggled to disengage from my helmet. Thomas and Alex swiftly came to my rescue. Alex held my shoulders while Thomas pulled the helmet (and my ears) from my head. We would repeat this show three more times before the end of our tour. Fortunately, the girls were too busy with selfie production to turn their cameras my direction. I remain grateful. I walked something of a zig zag into the café and wondered what level of shaken baby syndrome I had suffered this far into the trip and how much more I would sustain by day’s end. Back on the road soon enough we sped along the glorious countryside toward the Famille Dupont cidery. The sun flickered through the trees that were gloriously flying past us. My eyes were overwhelmed with beauty as my helmet reshaped my skull into a more perfect spherical shape. Another helmet extraction extravaganza ensued (this time with a helpful person pointing out that my helmet was labeled “large” and, also, wasn’t I too short to have such a big head?). At Famille Dupont the scenery was spectacular and felt like a walk into a previous century. We were shown around the orchard and the distillery while being offered ciders of various alcohol content levels, all of which I declined in favor of juice (later to shoot back up my esophagus on first bounce back in the side car). Everything we tasted was delicious and so we filled our side car trunks with bottles of each flavor for the TDN team. (Bribery? Maybe.) The day was a gorgeous experience from beginning to end. I recommend Retro Tour, Normandy to everyone wanting to see the French countryside in style with very cool and experienced drivers. Their tours include most French villages, cities and attractions. And Retro Tour will work with just about any itinerary. Saying goodbye to our drivers, Thomas and Alex, was an emotional experience for Sarah and Tallulah. I too had trouble saying goodbye to our gracious hosts and hugged Alex a little tighter when he pointed out that my “large” helmet was actually child sized. Thomas remained the subject of the girls’ dreams and loud squeals (shrieks really), much to the dismay of my expanding head, as we road back to town in the boring confines of our indoor car. The post Touring Normandy in Style appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Denford Stud has confirmed that Coronet will be retired as a valuable broodmare prospect following a final outing in October's QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes (G1) at Ascot. View the full article

David Menuisier is getting Danceteria (Fr) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}) ready for a campaign in Australia at the end of the year following his Group 1 victory in Germany last month. The Pulborough handler gave the 4-year-old gelding a break after he took the Grosser Dallmayr-Preis–Bayerisches Zuchtrennan at Munich and is now counting the days until Danceteria is shipped to the Southern Hemisphere. Menuisier has mapped out an ambitious three-race programme that includes the G1 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley in October. “After Munich we gave him a bit of a break and he’s going to go straight to Australia and goes into quarantine in mid-September,” he said. “He’ll be leaving on the 26th, so he won’t run again in Europe this year. All being well, the plan is to run him in the Caulfield S. over one mile two, then the Cox Plate will be his main target and then probably the Mackinnon.” The post Danceteria Oz Plan Mapped Out appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article