Wandering Eyes

Sporting press rooms around the world have lost a bit of both joie de vivre and gravitas with the passing of Hugh McIlvanney OBE at the age of 84. McIlvanney, who retired in March 2016, was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in February 1934 and started his working life with the Kilmarnock Standard before moving to the Scottish Daily Express. He is, though, most synonymous with two of Britain’s most respected Sunday newspapers, The Observer and The Sunday Times. He was the principal sports writer for the former for 30 years before occupying the same role with the latter for 23 years. The only sports journalist ever to have been voted Journalist of the Year in Great Britain, McIlvanney was an authority and a passionate devotee of all sports, and published critically acclaimed books on three: McIlvanney on Boxing (1982), McIlvanney on Football (1994) and McIlvanney on Horseracing (1995, co-written with Sir Peter O’Sullevan). Of all the sports, though, one got the impression that racing was his first love. To sum up the magic of McIlvanney’s writing, one could pick from any one of several hundred articles. One, though, springs particularly to mind. ‘QIPCO British Champions’ Day’ is actually British racing’s second attempt at holding a showpiece autumn fixture at Ascot, following the Ascot September Meeting becoming ‘The Festival of British Racing’ in 1989. At the time this was a very big deal, and a commemorative booklet, Sport Of Kings, was published to mark the occasion. The best racing writers contributed, including Peter Willett, Joe Hirsch, Ivor Herbert, Ian Wooldridge, Paul Haigh and Howard Wright, but McIlvanney’s piece was the icing on the cake. Under the headline ‘In Pursuit of a Punter’s Paradise’, McIlvanney’s golden prose walked the reader through the author’s lifelong love affair with the turf. He recited a litany of great sporting occasions into which he had been able to insert an unscheduled day at the races, starting with the Moscow Olympics in 1989, during which he managed to sneak away from the business in hand to sample the delights of the Moscow Hippodrome. “Emptying our pockets seemed to be official policy. The fact that the lady who took our wagers did her reckoning on an abacus was disconcerting enough but it was much more disturbing to discover that selecting winners was almost irrelevant as far as the prospects of profit were concerned. We hit three in a row and were still just marginally in front. We did not investigate the details of the tax applied to our bets in that far-off era before glasnost and perestroika but it had to be on a scale to make the Levy Board drool. Still, even that inconvenience was a tolerable penalty to pay for the pleasures of the afternoon. Next day Seb Coe, Steve Ovett or some of the other great athletes who enabled the Olympics of 1980 to rise above their problems (which, you will recall, included little aggravations like a U.S. boycott) might be enthralling us again. But for the moment we were glad to be away from de Coubertin’s Games and back at the punting game. “I have made similar defections in many corners of the globe, slipping away from a touring England football team in Australia to scuffle with the bookmakers at the Warwick Farm course in Sydney, interrupting coverage of Super Bowl preparations in San Diego to cross the Mexican border and engage the enemy at Agua Caliente in Tijuana, briefly deserting the World Cup in Argentina to sample the Buenos Aires equivalent of Sandown, using a heavyweight championship fight in Caracas, Venezuela, as an excuse to visit a track which offered breathtaking views but not a glimpse of a winner. And, of course, dozens of assignments in the States have encouraged me to play truant at Aqueduct and Belmont, Santa Anita, Hialeah, Gulfstream, Churchill Downs, Saratoga and those two smaller Maryland battlegrounds, Laurel Park and Bowie.” The article ends with McIlvanney explaining the greatest sporting omission of his life: he was in New York on Saturday June 9, 1973, the day that Secretariat won the Belmont S., but he was in an office in Manhattan, rather than at Belmont Park, when the race was run. He thus enjoyed the glorious but agonising delight of seeing the greatest racing performance of all time live on television from a spot only a few miles away from the action. “As a result, I had a direct, contemporaneous experience of watching what Secretariat did that afternoon. Yet, though that in itself was unforgettable, it wasn’t at all the same as being one of the 68,000 who watched the big red horse in the flesh while he surged through what may well have been the greatest mile-and-a-half ever galloped by a Thoroughbred. “In June of this year I was in the Press Box for the 121st running of the Belmont, and seeing Easy Goer win by eight lengths in the second-fastest time the race has produced was a tremendous thrill, especially as it came only four days after witnessing Nashwan’s pulverising brilliance at Epsom. But to appreciate how miraculous Secretariat’s run was we need only remember that in annihilating his nearest challenger by 31 lengths he covered the 12 furlongs in 2 minutes 24 sec. dead, two full seconds inside Easy Goer’s time, and shattered the world record out of recognition. The official account from 1973 tells us that the wind was against Secretariat in the backstretch. The wind should have known better. For a couple of minutes at least, he was a greater force of nature than it was. “None of us can ever expect to see the like of that again. But let’s go on climbing up into the stands, just in case.” Recent generations of readers have been very fortunate that Hugh McIlvanney did indeed go on climbing up into the stands and then sharing his wonder at what he saw. He was a titan of sports reporting, and racing was truly blessed that he loved the sport so dearly. View the full article

Fresh on the heels of being crowned champion female sprinter of 2018 at the Eclipse Awards at Gulfstream Park Thursday night, Conrad Farms’ Shamrock Rose (First Dude) will have the opportunity to extend her four-race win streak into 2019 when she goes postward in a competitive renewal of the GIII Fasig-Tipton Hurricane Bertie S. at the Hallandale oval. Shamrock Rose catapulted herself to the forefront of her division with an impressive second half of the 2018 season, which included a convincing score in the Oct. 20 GII Lexus Raven Run S. and a furious last-to-first rally in the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint Nov. 3. While both of those victories came at the Hurricane Bertie’s seven-furlong distance, the Mark Casse trainee finds herself in a spot with significantly less confirmed early speed signed on, perhaps necessitating a slight change in tactics. Cleber J. Massey’s Blamed (Blame) appears to be the likely pacesetter, having set a pressured tempo en route to a runner-up finish behind Shamrock Rose in the Raven Run prior to wiring the field in the GIII Comely S. over nine furlongs at Aqueduct Nov. 23. The filly, who began her career competing in New Mexico for trainer Joel Marr before being transferred to the barn of Hall of Famer Bill Mott, has never finished out of the exacta in eight career starts. Once-beaten ‘TDN Rising Star’ Dream Pauline (Tapit) enters off a victory in the Dec. 15 GIII Sugar Swirl S. over a sloppy local track–a race in which she struck the front at the quarter pole and had enough gas left to hold off the reopposing Stormy Embrace (Circular Quay) by a neck. A Stonestreet Stables homebred, Dream Pauline will make her first start at a distance beyond six furlongs Saturday. View the full article

The inaugural running of the $7-million GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational adds to the luster of a stakes-laden card at Gulfstream Park Saturday, having attracted a contentious field of 10, headlined by dual Grade I-winner and 5-2 morning line favorite Yoshida (Jpn) (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}). The Bill Mott-trained ‘TDN Rising Star’ will meet a diverse group in the starting gate, including fellow Japanese-bred Aerolithe (Jpn) (Kurofune)–who makes her first appearance outside of her homeland off a November layoff–and Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who returns to the States and cuts back in distance off an honest fourth-place effort in the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf Nov. 3. Yoshida proved his versatility in 2018, capturing nine-furlong Grade I events on both turf (May 5 GI Old Forester Turf Classic S.) and dirt (Sept. 1 GI Woodward S.) before ultimately closing out his campaign with a rallying fourth-place finish behind GI Pegasus World Cup favorite Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) in the Nov. 3 GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. The newly turned 5-year-old has trained steadily at Payson Park in recent weeks and could use the Pegasus as a stepping stone towards a return to dirt in the Mar. 30 G1 Dubai World Cup, according to Mott, who also saddles GISW Channel Maker (English Channel) in the Turf Cup. With showers in the forecast for Hallandale Beach Saturday, a perfectly firm turf course seems like far from a given, but the local ground could provide a boost for rail-drawn Magic Wand, who notched a pair of close runner-up finishes over firm going at Longchamp in the G1 Qatar Prix Vermeille and the G1 Prix de l’Opera Longines last year. Aerolithe, too, has put forth her best efforts over firm turf in Japan, including a close second-place finish behind Mozu Ascot (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 Yasuda Kinen last June. As is the case in nearly every major North American turf race, three-time reigning Eclipse Award champion trainer Chad Brown appears to have a live runner in the form of GSW Bricks and Mortar (Giant’s Causeway). The Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence colorbearer was hard to separate from Yoshida when the pair met three times in New York as sophomores, finishing within a length of each other in each event. Bricks and Mortar was subsequently sent to the sidelines for over 14 months, but returned to action with a confident allowance score going a mile over the local turf course Dec. 22. “He’s a horse that always showed a lot of promise as a 3-year-old and unfortunately had some injuries and needed a long time away from racing,” Brown told the Gulfstream notes team. “We were able to get him back in time to have a real productive allowance race, and he seems ready to move forward.” Bricks and Mortar will meet his former stablemate Catapult (Kitten’s Joy), who notched a pair of Grade II wins in Southern California for new trainer John Sadler before finishing a narrowly beaten second behind Expert Eye (Acclamation {GB}) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile Nov. 3. View the full article

1st-GP, $60K, Msw, 3yo, 1 1/16mT, post time: 11:30 a.m. As is frequently the case with blockbuster racing days, maiden special weights on the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational card Saturday at Gulfstream came up salty, and the action gets underway early with the morning opener featuring a full field of 14 sophomore males going two turns on the grass. Headlining the field is John C. Oxley and Baccari Racing Stable’s debuting BROADWAY D’ORO (Medaglia d’Oro), who easily topped all lots at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton October Fall Yearling Sale when hammering for $700,000. The dark bay is a full-brother to MGSW Golden Lad and a half to MGSW/GISP Broadway’s Alibi (Vindication) and MSW/GISP R Gypsy Gold (Bernardini) out of the SW Broadway Gold (Seeking the Gold), herself a half to GISW and successful young sire Dialed In (Mineshaft). Broadway d’Oro shows a steady stream of Palm Meadows works for trainer Mark Casse, finished with an easy half-mile in :51 (81/103) over the dirt Jan. 19. Adding intrigue to the party is another firster, Colts Neck Stables’ homebred Friary (War Front). The bay is a half to GISW and young sire Wicked Strong (Hard Spun) out of Moyne Abbey (Charismatic), a half to MGSW/GISP Gulch Approval (Gulch) and MGSW/GISP Rusty Slipper (Lemon Drop Kid) who hammered for a cool $1 million at Fasig-Tipton November in 2014. Friary also has been prepping at Palm Meadows for his unveiling and drilled a full six furlongs in 1:13 4/5 (2/3) on the turf there Jan. 19. TJCIS PPs 4th-GP, $60K, Msw, 3yo, 1m, post time: 1:00 p.m. Sumaya US Stables went to $725,000 at Keeneland September to bring home SAMARONTI (Violence), who debuts for the Chad Brown barn in this dirt mile. Stabling at Palm Meadows since early November, the bay shows an upbeat series of works, capped by a half-mile spin in :49 1/5 (16/103) Jan. 19. Second dam Get Ready Bertie (More Than Ready) was a SW/MGSP full-sister to GSW Uptown Bertie and a half to GSW Whirlie Bertie (Stormin Fever). Juddmonte Farms homebred Hidden Scroll (Hard Spun) has the look of a runner for trainer Bill Mott, rattling off a handful of quick breezes at Payson Park, topped by a half-mile move in :49 flat (2/23) Jan. 21. The rail-drawn colt is out of an unraced half-sister to four-time GSW Starformer (Dynaformer) and his second dam is G1SW Etoile Montante (Miswaki). TJCIS PPs View the full article

Soon-to-be barnmates on the Lane’s End Farm stallion roster, newly crowned champion Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) and versatile GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner City of Light (Quality Road) have one final score to settle on the racetrack as the clear headliners in the third renewal of the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park Saturday. With both horses’ careers set to come to a close at the conclusion of the $9-million affair and a green light seemingly given to run both tanks down to empty, the nine-furlong Pegasus seems likely to play out as a clash between City of Light’s tactical speed and Accelerate’s staying power. The duo met over the Pegasus’s distance in the GII Oaklawn H. in April, with Mr. and Mrs. William K. Warren’s City of Light besting Hronis Racing’s Accelerate by a neck in what would ultimately be the lone defeat of the latter’s 2018 campaign. Accelerate turned the tables on his third-place-finishing rival over ten furlongs in the GI Gold Cup at Santa Anita in May, but the pair subsequently went their separate ways in campaigns that landed both in the winner’s circle at the Breeders’ Cup in November. Accelerate’s well-documented sweep of the major handicap events throughout the year in Southern California served as a precursor to a decisive victory in the 1 1/4-mile Classic for trainer John Sadler, while City of Light added a third Grade I victory to his resume with a wire-to-wire score in the Dirt Mile. City of Light figures to be forwardly placed once again from post three Saturday, while Accelerate also drew favorably in gate five. “He’s a horse that carries his speed a long way, so hopefully we get a nice, clean break and find ourselves in a good position going into the first turn and turning up the backside,” said City of Light’s trainer Mike McCarthy. Klaravich Stables and William H. Lawrence’s Patternrecognition (Adios Charlie) could play a major role in the Pegasus pace scenario, having drawn the often-problematic post 12 for his first try around two turns. The Chad Brown trainee was last seen wiring the GI Cigar Mile H. at Aqueduct Dec. 1. Should a lively pace develop, late-running local favorite Gunnevera (Dialed In) could add another feather to his cap, having finished third in last year’s Pegasus and runner-up, beaten just a length by Accelerate, at the World Championships in November. While Gunnevera qualifies as a horse for course as a four-time winner over the local strip, Todd Pletcher-trained Audible (Into Mischief)’s bid to stamp himself as a Gulfstream specialist was met with a surprising setback when the colt could do no better than second as the 1-10 favorite in the GIII Harlan’s Holiday S. Dec. 15. Audible, who captured the GI Florida Derby earlier in 2018 en route to a third-place finish in the GI Kentucky Derby, appeared to struggle to find his best stride over the sloppy/sealed surface and could not reel in longshot winner Sir Anthony (Mineshaft) late. By all accounts, Audible has trained forwardly in the wake of that effort and will unite with jockey Flavien Prat for the first time in his career Saturday. Calumet Farm’s Bravazo (Awesome Again) seemingly danced every dance in the 3-year-old division last year and returns from a brief freshening in search of his first Grade I win for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. View the full article

Justify delivered a dominating performance in earning Eclipse Awards as champion 3-year-old male and Horse of the Year but racing's 13th Triple Crown winner didn't have the coattails when it came to many of his human connections. View the full article

Unless you've been on Mars for the last little while, you're aware the epicenter of the Thoroughbred racing universe Saturday, Jan. 26 is Gulfstream Park. View the full article

Eight supplementary lots have been added to the Goffs February Sale on Feb. 5 and 6. Supplemented to the first day’s yearling session is a colt by Sea The Stars (Ire) who is the second foal out of the G3 Prix du Bois winner Fly On The Night (GB) (Equiano {Fr}). He will be offered as lot 140A from Ballintry Stud. The second day features 2-year-olds, horses in training and breeding stock, and the supplementary entries for that session include 2-year-old fillies by Heeraat (Ire) (lot 292A) and Gale Force Ten (GB) (lot 302A) from Shamrock Bloodstock. Sommersby consigns Navajo Storm (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) (lot 347A), a maiden mare from the family of Group 1 winners Wince (GB) and Quiff (GB). View the full article

15:35 Cheltenham – Cleeve Hurdle Just 45 days to go until we hear the first roar of the crowd as the Cheltenham Festival gets underway but don’t worry we don’t have to wait that long to bear witness to some top class horses charging up that illustrious Gloucestershire hill. With a total of 7 Grade […] The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Saturday 26th January appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

The New Mexico Horse Breeders' Association honored its 2018 Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse champions during its Zia Awards Banquet at the Marriott Uptown Hotel in Albuquerque Jan. 24. View the full article

A field of 13 go to post for the G1 Sun Met at Kenilworth Racecourse on Saturday, with trainer Justin Snaith holding a very strong hand in the 10-furlong contest. Snaith is responsible for four challengers and they include both last year’s winner Oh Susanna (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) and market leader Do It Again (SAf) (Twice Over {GB}), who arrives to the Met on the back of two top-class displays in winning the G1 L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate at Kenilworth earlier this month and the G1 Vodacom Durban July last year. With top-level wins over both a mile and 11 furlongs, Saturday’s trip holds no fears for him. Drakenstein Stud’s Oh Susanna also comes into the race in top form, having won the G1 Cartier Paddock S. on Queen’s Plate day Jan. 5. Snaith is struggling to split the pair and speaking to the Cape Times said, “If Do It Again wants to win the Met he is going to have to beat Oh Susanna. Since her win last year this is the best I have had her. But that said, it is going to be tough to beat Do It Again. He has won the July and the Queen’s Plate and he deserves to be favourite.” Snaith also saddles Made To Conquer (SAf) (Dynasty {SAf}), who finished second to the favourite in the Durban July and sports first-time blinkers in an effort to bridge that gap. Sean Tarry’s eight-time Group 1 winner Legal Eagle (SAf) (Greys Inn) returns for a fourth time in his bid for an elusive first Met but has his work cut out on the evidence on his most recent fourth behind Do It Again in the Queen’s Plate. There is also the strong suspicion that he is better over a mile. Another with genuine claims is the Eric Sands-trained Rainbow Bridge (SAf) (Ideal World), who has the services of former champion jockey Anton Marcus. View the full article

It’s been a quiet week so far for this time of year owed mainly due to the abandonment’s on Wednesday and Thursday though it was great to see It’s All Lark winning in great style up at Kelso on Tuesday with my daughter Abbie in the saddle. Constancio winning so impressively on Friday at Doncaster […] The post Donald McCain Blog – Weekend Runners & More appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Within hollering distance of jump racing’s unofficial headquarters of Cheltenham sits Overbury Stud. There could be no more appropriate base for the horse who has been Britain’s champion National Hunt sire nine times, but there is much more to lure breeders to step inside the honeystone walls of this understated farm than just Kayf Tara (GB) (Sadler’s Wells). At 25, the Meon Valley Stud-bred dual G1 Ascot Gold Cup winner has bragging rights as the stallion who put Overbury, in its current guise, on the map, but he is far from the only top-class racehorse within the stallion yard. Kayf Tara’s fellow residents have been well travelled in their quest for success. Top of the tree on prize-money earnings is the horse who is instantly synonymous with his Melbourne Cup victory of 2011, but it should not be forgotten than among the 10 career wins of Sheikh Fahad Al Thani’s Dunaden (Fr) (Nicobar {GB}) are also the G1 Caulfield Cup and G1 Hong Kong Vase. Then there’s G1 Irish Derby hero Jack Hobbs (GB) (Halling), a fellow high-earner thanks also to his victory in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic. Another to have landed the spoils on Dubai’s biggest raceday is Cityscape (GB) (Selkirk), the Juddmonte-bred G1 Dubai Duty Free winner who made eye-catching strides with his first crop of 3-year-old runners last season. To reinforce the breadth of stallion talent on offer at Overbury, one of the busiest members of the crew last year was Ardad (Ire), whose similarity to his sire Kodiac (GB) mixed with his commercial market appeal of speed and precocity had the owners of 132 mares beating a path to his door during his debut season. In looks and background, he is almost a polar opposite to the 16.3-hand Schiaparelli (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}), whose 12 victories–including five Group 1s–from 21 starts across four seasons tell their own tale of his particular brand of reliable German engineering. And as if this line-up wasn’t enough, a late entry announced just last week is the well-bred Frontiersman (GB), a son of Dubawi (Ire) and Ouija Board (GB), no less, who didn’t quite scale the heights of his Derby-winning half-brother Australia (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) on the track but on pedigree alone deserves a chance at stud. From the newest arrival to the farm’s lynchpin, eagle-eyed observers will have spotted a link with Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation. It is an association which has helped Simon Sweeting, who leases the stud from the Bossom family, return Overbury to a thriving Thoroughbred breeding operation since his arrival there in late 2000. “I was very fortunate that Sheikh Mohammed was happy to trust, on his agent’s advice, to send horses here,” says Sweeting, a former assistant to Luca Cumani and Henry Cecil who grew up on his family’s Conduit Farm Stud in Oxfordshire. “They were horses that [Darley] wanted to retire, but didn’t necessarily want to have at Dalham Hall Stud at that stage. An example of that was Bertolini, who came here in 2002, and was a huge success in his first year. They didn’t necessarily want to be selling all the stallions or the potential stallions as they had done in the past. So it helped us get established, particularly on the Flat side of things as well.” He continues, “Tim Holland-Martin had finished and moved on, and Penelope Bossom, who owns the estate, didn’t want to carry on the breeding enterprise, which had obviously been hugely successful with [treble Classic winner] Grundy (GB) being the pinnacle.” Sweeting’s arrival marked a new era for the farm as a stallion operation, with Kayf Tara, freshly retired with eight victories at Group 1 and Group 2 level to his credit, a notable first incumbent. The stallion master can be forgiven his obvious soft spot for his veteran. “He’s been an absolute superstar–a horse that you dream about but you’d never expect to get,” he says. “Really, if I’d known how difficult it is, and how tough it is to find a horse like that I probably never would have started the enterprise at all. He came and he was popular, and he’s never put a foot wrong for us. He’s been the horse that we’ve built the business on, it’s as simple as that. He’s kept going, he’s been very fertile, he’s got tremendous libido, and he’s been a success at stud. He’s done everything for us that we could have possibly dreamt that he might do.” With a much smaller pool of National Hunt mares in Britain compared to Ireland and France, the UK has often struggled to compete when attempting to attract appealing jump stallions. To an extent, Kayf Tara can be credited with turning the tide, and the recent retirement of Telescope (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) to Shade Oak Stud, as well as some classy French imports to Yorton Farm, means that the British National Hunt stallion scene is gradually improving. Whether Schiaparelli can follow the example set by a number of other sons of Monsun in the jumping ranks remains to be seen, and it will also take time to establish the imposing Jack Hobbs, who drew many favourable comments at this week’s TBA National Hunt Stallion Showcase at Goffs UK, and whose book of 168 in 2018 contained only four Flat mares. Sweeting says, “He is a horse who 20 years ago would have been very popular at the start of his career as a Flat stallion. Nowadays, unless you are the Derby winner, and a highly-rated one at that, middle-distance horses don’t get the same opportunities at stud. Commercially, people want faster stallions, they want more precocious stallions. So in a way it’s good luck for us, really. We’ve had a chance to stand him as a National Hunt stallion from the start. It’s great for UK-based National Hunt breeders to have a horse like that. I think he is as good a racehorse to retire to the National Hunt ranks, or to be priced up as a National Hunt stallion straight away, that I can remember.” With the Sharpen Up sireline hanging on by a thread, Overbury Stud is a rarity in being able provide a double dose, with Cityscape backing up Jack Hobbs in this regard. Physically reminiscent of both his sire and grandsire, the long-striding chestnut with the broad blaze made many breeders sit up and take note last season when he was responsible for the Classic trial winners Dan’s Dream (GB) and Give And Take (GB), as well as listed-winning sprinter The Broghie Man (GB). Furthermore, his son formerly known as Urban Aspect (GB) and trained by Andrew Balding, recently made an explosive debut in Hong Kong under his new moniker of Ka Ying Star and runs Sunday in the Hong Kong Classic Mile. “Now that he’s had 3-year-old runners we know what he can do. I think that owner-breeder interest in him will be picking up now that they can see the results,” says Sweeting who bought Cityscape from Juddmonte in a partnership which includes Dan’s Dream’s breeder Steven Smith of Hunscote Stud. “Breeders know what they can expect from mares that they might use, and they can use him with confidence. The fact that he has 9.4% stakes horses to runners, which is a huge number for any stallion really, but particularly an animal that hasn’t had Group 1 mares all the way through, people know that he’s going to upgrade.” He adds, “We’re very excited about Urban Icon (GB), who’s with Richard Hannon. He was bred by Willie Carson, who incidentally bred Jack Hobbs, and he was two-for-two last year as a juvenile.” Hopes will be high that Dunaden, who may just have been usurped as Sheikh Fahad’s favourite horse by Roaring Lion, can post a similarly positive record with his first 3-year-old runners this season, with breeders and owners of this particular crop in the running for extra reward from the premium scheme set up by the sheikh to help Dunaden on his way at stud. And as we work our way down the distance spectrum we arrive, eventually, at the speedball Ardad, whose first foal arrived last week and who, like Jack Hobbs, joined Overbury Stud last season from John Gosden’s Clarehaven Stables. “He’s totally the opposite kind of animal [to Jack Hobbs],” says Sweeting of the G2 Flying Childers S. winner. “He’s a small horse, he’s well put together, a ball of muscle, really. He always looked a sharp type of horse and he is what the market wants at the moment. He’s by Kodiac, he’s a Royal Ascot-winning 2-year-old, and he made plenty of money at the breeze-up sales. So if he can produce foals that look like him, I very much hope that the breeders will make some money from him, and that we’ll have another good stallion. He’s had some shrewd support, a lot of what I would describe as the hard-nosed commercial breeders have supported him. That’s only going to help him, but it’s all in the lap of the gods. We’ll wait and see what his foals look like.” View the full article

Cheltenham 2.25 – Costswold Chase The rapid rise of Bryony Frost will reach new levels if Frodon can land the Grade 2 Cotsowld Chase. Ultra-consistent this season with wins in the Old Roan and Caspian Caviar Gold Cup he’ll be tough to beat if his form holds up in open company. Elegant Escape holds a […] The post Weekend Preview – Paisley Park to be the Prince of Prestbury Park appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

14:55 Lingfield The Jamie Osbourne yard continue in red-hot form through the all-weather flat campaign and they look to have another live chance here today with Dotty Grand. The horse was backed off the board last time out as if defeat was out of the question, but the performance suggested the 3yo perhaps needed the […] The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Friday 25th January appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Hallandale Beach, Fla. – Once again, to little surprise, it was the year’s Triple Crown champion who proved to be Thoroughbred racing’s brightest star. At Thursday’s 48th annual Eclipse Awards, the retired Justify (Scat Daddy) added Horse of the Year and Champion 3-Year-Old Male laurels to a sterling resume that will be forever topped by his stature as the sport’s 13th Triple Crown champion. WinStar Farm owner Kenny Troutt, in accepting the Horse of the Year trophy for Justify on behalf of his partners China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners and Starlight Racing, expressed thanks to everyone involved in the undefeated 3-year-old and was thankful for the joy the sport has brought to his family. “Horse racing and this farm has been a blessing and has brought my family together,” Troutt said during a rather brief acceptance speech that lasted only about a minute-and-a-half and closed out an amazingly quick program. “My wife and our three kids just love horse racing. It’s been a blessing.” Surprisingly, Justify did not have the coattails of past Triple Crown/Horse of the Year recipients as the only other members of Team Justify to be honored at the black-tie Gulfstream Park affair were breeder John D. Gunther and Justify’s win in the GI Belmont S., which was voted the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s Moment of the Year. In accepting his Eclipse Award as the Outstanding Breeder, Gunther voiced sincere thanks to his daughter, Tanya. “It is such an honor to achieve this award and if not for my daughter, I would not be standing here,” Gunther said. Fittingly, the NTRA Moment of the Year produced one of the more humorous moments of the night when Master of Ceremonies Jeannine Edwards presented the award to Jack Wolf, managing partner and CEO of Starlight Racing. In handing the trophy to Wolf, she asked him if he knew about the significance of 6:52 on the trophy. A confused Wolf said, “No.” Edwards then explained that 6:52 was the time when Justify crossed the finish line in the Belmont, eliciting a laugh from Wolf, whose nickname may now be Jack “6:52” Wolf. There were several light-hearted moments, highlighted by the speech of longtime Del Mar Thoroughbred Club head Joe Harper in receiving the Eclipse Award of Merit. Harper started by thanking his parents for imparting some “wisdom” on him. “After flunking out of college for the third time, I was concerned about what to tell my parents, so I tried the truth. I said to my dad, ‘Sorry, Dad, flunked out again, I think I’m just not that smart,’ and he said, ‘Your mother and I figured that out a long time ago, but you were smart enough to figure that out so here’s some advice for you, always try to surround yourself with people smarter than you.’ That turned out to be fairly easy at first but when I got to Del Mar that became more difficult because I needed some really smart people. I can’t tell you how much this award means to Del Mar.” In thanking the many people who worked for him at Del Mar, Harper also managed to work in a little dig at another California track. “It just came to me, half of those people were fired at Santa Anita. All you racetrack managers out there, if you need some good and talented people, just go down to the Arcadia unemployment office. They’re all there. Racing secretaries, race callers.” While some Eclipse Awards ceremonies have dragged on longer than Justify’s career, the 48th edition was streamlined and completed in about 1:39. Some speeches were limited to a minute, making the night’s busiest people the band members who began playing when some recipients exceeded their time. The champion in that division was Sol Kumin of Monomoy Stable, who owns Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Monomoy Girl (Tapizar). In starting his speech, Kumin warned, “There’s no shot at doing this in a minute. Not with this group.” True to his word, Kumin was able to thank trainer Brad Cox for giving the filly “unbelievable care” and Liz Crow of BSW Bloodstock for signing the $100,000 sale slip for Monomoy Girl at the 2016 Keeneland September sale before the music started. The music grew louder as Kumin tried to add praise for jockey Florent Geroux and then as he tried to squeeze in kudos for few other folks, the nominations for the Champion 3-Year-Old Male started rolling and he waived the white flag. “I understand the process of trying to shorten the speeches, but it seemed a little bit short to me. You have all these people who have spent a lot of money and time trying to find a great horse and finally get a chance to be in the spotlight and a minute is a little aggressive. I hope they expand that a little bit to say two minutes.” As for the thank-yous that could not be heard, Kumin said, “I was going for Florent when I stopped. I wanted to thank Paul Sharp for breaking the filly. Her groom Darwin Agular and exercise rider Mario Garcia, too, and I was going to thank my dad, Steve Kumin. He got cut off. He showed up from Boston. We’ve always had a tight relationship and the last few years we’ve traveled around the world together for races.” The music started playing for Chad Brown while he was in the midst of his speech after winning a third straight Eclipse Award as the leading trainer, but he tugged at the heartstrings for a few extra moments. “You’re not going to cut me off while I’m thanking my kids, are you?” Brown said. Harper had the best way of stopping the clock on his speech. “I paid off the band,” he said. “Three minutes, okay.” The quick hook brought back memories for Jonathan Green, who owns 2-Year-Old Champion Filly Jaywalk (Cross Traffic) with his father, Leonard, and his mother, Lois, and Cash is King LLC. “A long time ago, my mother was the leading owner at Keystone Park and she talked for 15 minutes,” he said. “She won the award the next year and they mailed it to her.” Perhaps the most priceless moment came when the award for the Outstanding Jockey went to Irad Ortiz, Jr., the brother of 2017’s Eclipse Award-winning jockey, Jose Ortiz. Irad walked on stage with his 18-month-old daughter Leilani who waved and posed for the crowd as her father talked from the heart. “I want to thank my family for their support and I want to dedicate this trophy to a very special person, my brother (Jose) who dedicated his (Eclipse Award) to me a year ago,” Irad said. “This is for him. Love you, bro. And I know the happiest person in the room right now is my dad. Thank you, Dad.” View the full article

Justify, who appeared and then departed in what seemed like a wink of an eye, nevertheless left an indelible impression and was rewarded with Horse of the Year honors and the trophy as top 3-year-old male. View the full article

This year’s Hong Kong Derby is still the best part of two month’s away but Tony Millard will have the 2020 renewal in his thoughts during Saturday’s Group One Cape Derby (2,000m) on South Africa’s famed Met Day. Held at Kenilworth racecourse in Cape Town, Met Day features four Group One races, including the three-year-old Derby, and Millard will be keeping a close eye on the Alan Greeff-trained Lloyd George. Millard hopes to bring the horse, who is owned by Hong Kong... View the full article

In what ended as another incredible season, Brown sent out the winners of 224 races from 839 starts for total earnings of $27,546,057. On par with last year's tally, he again notched 47 graded stakes, an impressive 36 of which were won on turf. View the full article

Justify, who appeared and then departed in what seemed like a wink of an eye, nevertheless left an indelible impression and was rewarded with Horse of the Year honors and the trophy as top 3-year-old male. View the full article

‘TDN Rising Star’ Justify (Scat Daddy–Stage Magic, by Ghostzapper) was the definition of perfection during his brief, but brilliant career. There was no question he would win the Eclipse for top sophomore male and, while there was some debate in the Horse of the Year category with GI Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky), the mighty Justify won out there too after a history-making campaign. Campaigned by China Horse Club, WinStar Farm, Head of Plains Partners and Starlight Racing and bred by John D. Gunther, the 2018 Triple Crown winner was trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. He was a $500,000 KEESEP yearling. View the full article

Chad Brown made it three straight Eclipse Awards as outstanding trainer after posting another spectacular season in 2018. The 40-year-old captured 20 Grade I events throughout the season. Brown’s stable posted 224 wins from 839 starters (27%), good for a nation-leading $27,546,057 in earnings. Both Brown’s win total and earnings were career highs. View the full article

In closing the year with four straight victories, a stretch capped by a defense of his Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) score, Stormy Liberal becomes the first sprinter to earn an Eclipse Award in the Turf Male division. View the full article

Don Alberto Stable's big gray daughter of Tapit was retired Aug. 18 when a sesamoid chip was discovered in her ankle, but memories of her two grade 1 wins and a runner-up performance in grade 1 company stuck with voters through the end of the year. View the full article

That Accelerate challenged a Triple Crown winner for Horse of the Year honors tells you all you need to know about the kind of year the son of Lookin At Lucky had in 2018. View the full article