Wandering Eyes

Freedman expecting change of Fortunes for trio View the full article

Equine Sales Company has released its complete 2019 schedule of sales after previously announcing that the 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale will be held Apr. 2. All auctions will be held in Opelousas, Louisiana. The 2019 schedule includes the Consignor Select Yearling Sale Thursday, Sept. 5, and the Open Yearling and Mixed Sale Sunday, Oct. 27. “We think the earlier 2-year-old sale will work well for buyers and consignors according to the feedback we received,” said Sales Director Foster Bridewell. “But we also heard that the other two sales were already scheduled well. Our select sale last year was one of our best ever, so we want to stick with what is working.” Entries are being accepted through Feb. 7 for the 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale Tuesday, Apr. 2. The breeze show is set for Sunday, Mar. 31. For more information go to www.equinesalescompany.com. View the full article

Three Diamonds Farm's Bigger Picture will try to become the second horse in the history of the John B. Connally Turf Cup Stakes (G3T) to win the race three years in a row Jan. 27 at Sam Houston Race Park. View the full article

Dr. No must have been a veterinarian. Such, at least, was the implied verdict of many horsemen and women responding to a tweet posted by Gray Lyster of Ashview Farm the other day. One of Lyster’s many appealing qualities is that you are more likely to find him breaking powder at Jackson Hole than glazing his eyeballs on social media all day. On Saturday, however, he was prompted into one of his sporadic messages by the fact that the “two worst vetted yearlings” in Ashview’s past two crops had both won on debut last week. “When you are vetting horses to purchase, please keep that in the back of your mind,” he added. The reaction was impassioned: “likes” by the hundred, retweets by the dozen, each comment creating ripples of further comment. Mark Taylor, for instance, observed that Taylor Made’s poster of a hundred Grade I winners could equally be titled the “failed vetting poster,” adding: “I actually believe that failing the vet as a yearling could be the most accurate indicator of elite talent we have!” Bluewater Sales, endorsing Taylor, said that its clients are told: “This one may have just enough wrong with it to be a runner.” Yet those most incensed by each other’s perceived positions often turn out to have plenty in common. As so often, the difficulty comes when nuances of grey are stripped out for a black-and-white, right-and-wrong polemic; reduced, in this case, to the catch-all notion that a horse can “pass” or “fail” the vet according to some objective and immutable scientific standard. Even the most cursory consultation of vendors, buyers and veterinarians quickly shows that different people, with different priorities, are absolutely entitled to different perspectives on a highly subjective challenge. They’re all dealing with adolescent, changing animals, whose inevitable and hugely varied imperfections of flesh and bone place them somewhere on a spectrum of risk. Few know the market better than David Ingordo. “The term ‘pass the vet’ is totally subjective,” the agent says. “Vetting is a tool. Some people live or die according to what the vet says. We take a different approach. I can’t read X-rays; don’t want to. I can’t scope horses, don’t want to. So I send a vet in there and he comes back with the information. I only ask him to vet a horse if I have an intention to buy it. I’m not asking him to practice using a scope: I want the okay to buy a horse and sometimes, in a nice way, it becomes a big fight. We’re not just failing them wholesale if a horse has a problem. But I do want the information that’s available.” As one who understands both sides of the deal, also being a pinhooker, Ingordo stresses that different standards must be applied to horses for different purposes. “Horses have problems that may or may not affect their racing ability,” he says. “But if you’re going to resell you must have a horse literally everybody can buy. When I’m doing that, I’m not trying to sell the horse to myself next year; I’m trying to sell to a pool of buyers that have money to spend and an opinion about how to spend it. And what I can accept and what they can accept are two different things. “There are tons of horses with issues that will be fine to race. But when you’re buying them, there’s an associated amount of risk. And it’s a dollar amount. I’m willing to lay out $30,000 for this risk, associated with this vetting report; or I’m willing to shell out $1 million on this one. So there’s a risk and reward in it. “I buy a lot of horses that don’t pass everybody else’s vet but that pass my criteria for what I’m doing. It may be a simple case of some sesamoiditis, the ultrasound shows the branches are clean but the horse just needs an additional 30, 60 or 90 days for the bone to settle down so I can move forward with it. So it ‘passes’ for me, because I’m willing to take the time—but it ‘fails’ for someone else, because they aren’t. These things get labelled in general terms but there’s always more layers to this conversation.” Equally he remembers his vet producing a research paper that surveyed 100 horses with the same problem they were contemplating in a yearling: a spur projecting from the back of the knee into a ligament. Not one of the 100 had made the track. Yet this horse, duly rejected by Ingordo and his team, changed hands for $475,000. So he plainly “passed” the vet, and big time, for someone else. Different things work for different people. Carrie Brogden of Machmer Hall, who applauded Lyster for igniting the debate, gives an example from the recent January Sale at Keeneland. She was underbidder on a $40,000 colt, who had been certified by a vet she recognised. Subsequently she received a call from the consignors explaining that the buyer, who had not had him vetted beforehand, was “freaking out” after his own vet subsequently diagnosed moderate sesamoiditis in the front ankles. “This buyer was having a meltdown, wanted to return the horse, so I said send me the pictures,” Brogden says. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a vet, but I’ve seen hundreds and thousands of X-rays now. And when I saw them I was like: ‘Huh!?’ So we ended up purchasing the horse for a discount. An example of a horse being completely failed for something my vet wouldn’t have called. Nor had the original vet. But the purchaser’s vet is killing the horse. It’s this stuff we deal with all the time.” To Brogden, the key is trust between consignor and buyers. Tepin, the champion who put her on the map, herself had an issue not dissimilar to this colt. “And she didn’t have a perfect throat,” Brogden recalls. “That’s why she was $140,000 as a Saratoga yearling. I lost a lot of buyers.” But the Greathouses knew they could take Brogden at her word, and did so when she assured them that the young Bernstein filly’s hind ankles had never blown up. As the other side of the same coin, she recalls frankly turning Niall Brennan against a very handsome and well-bred horse, whose ankle problems had indeed reached a clinical level. Sure enough, that horse never got to the track—and she trusts that Brennan will remember her candour whenever she gives him the green light in future. “It’s the same farms that raise the graded stakes horses year after year,” she notes. “And to me, the ones that raise a lot of runners don’t raise them like sale horses. They raise them tough and strong. We don’t separate our yearling colts until they go into sales prep and sometimes I watch them and think, ‘My God they’re going to kill each other out there.’ It’s the clash of the titans, a battle zone. So, sure, somebody’s going to get a defect in their sesamoid; somebody’s going to chip here; somebody’s come up with this there. But we try to walk that line. And plenty of times we kick on to the 2-year-old sales with horses that have gotten crunched by the vets as yearlings—just like Maximus Mischief (Into Mischief), for what I thought was b.s.—and… surprise! They vet great.” Ingordo, coming at it from a different side, equally deplores the notion that horses have to be bubble-wrapped to get past a sales vet. “That’s absolutely the opposite of what should happen, if you want horses to perform and be sound and be horses,” he says. “A little cosmetic thing, a cut or whatever, who cares? It’s frustrating [to hear that] because it’s never as simple as someone giving a rubberstamp to say these all vetted, and these didn’t.” If anything, Ingordo wonders whether there might be a chicken-and-egg element, in that prepping young stock is nowadays so intense. If a horse is forced through the commercial process too early, it may come up with marginal issues that simply require a little patience. And that’s where the guy signing the check comes in. Sometimes he will want a horse to be in Ocala on Oct. 1 to start the breaking process. Ingordo will sometimes plead on behalf of a nice horse: it only needs a P1 flake [first/proximal phalanx] taken out, say, the equivalent of a tonsil for us. But if his client doesn’t want to wait, he doesn’t want to wait. “You know, nobody has a crystal ball,” Ingordo says. “But good vets will tell you that in their experience a problem may not manifest itself in one race, or ever, but could become a problem somewhere down the line. And then the people getting the information have to be able to process it. Unfortunately, in the sales environment we’re in today, some people don’t know [how to do that]. Their reliance is on the vet—and the vets, through no fault of their own, are then in a no-win position. Because if they ‘approve’ the horse and anything goes wrong, somebody’s going to get blamed.” Lyster himself actually takes a similar view on that: unlike many consignors, he does not resent the vets themselves for failing horses, instead suspecting that they are given little margin by their patrons. “I don’t buy the ‘vets-are-screwing-us’ scenario you hear from some peers,” Lyster says. “I think it’s the principal, at the end of the line, we need to try to educate a little. It’s all a risk assessment, right. And people are spending a lot of money. And a vet is saying: ‘Hey, to me this yearling is more risky than this yearling.’ And then basically someone takes a pen and marks that number off their list. Any kind of blemish, the horse becomes valueless to that person. So the term ‘a horse fails the vet’ has turned into ‘well, he doesn’t have a perfect set of X-rays.’ “I do think fewer and fewer principals have hands-on horsemanship. They’re not familiar with a lot of the advice they’re getting, and simply sum it up as: ‘Well that horse doesn’t vet.’ And part of me understands that. Honestly, vet work has become very difficult to understand. It used to be you’d have a vet go over something and if there wasn’t a big problem you’d buy the horse. But now it’s become that when a vet talks to an owner, I’ve got to tell you—as a professional in this industry—a lot of the time I can’t understand what the heck they’re saying. When I get confused and owners get confused it turns into: ‘Well, that horse failed.’ What was it? ‘Oh, something in the ankle.'” Lyster accepts that in a crop of 20 there will typically be one that comes with blatantly high risk. But nowadays he feels that a major issue will be made of anything that is “remarkable,” rather than significant: anything, literally, you can “remark” on. And he reckons that maybe half those 20 horses will today be “crucified” for something of that ilk: something merely mentionable. A couple of years ago a prospector came up to him at the sales and said: “I had six horses on my list today but they all failed the vet.” “Do you know what you need to do?” replied Lyster. “No, what’s that?” “You need to fire your vet!” As he elaborates: “Because it’s not possible to hand-pick six yearlings and for all six of them to fail the vet. It’s not possible to vet 20 horses and have 14 fail the vet. You’ve X-ray machines that all of a sudden are seeing three or four times the detail they used to see, and I don’t think that’s benefiting anyone. Because they’re finding more reasons to say: ‘Oh my gosh, that doesn’t look like what the perfect X-ray looked like when we went to vet school.” Brogden concurs. “I don’t think the horses have changed,” she says. “What’s changed is digital X-rays. Before, in 10 years I had one horse called for a knee spur. One horse, a Mr. Greeley colt. Fast forward to digital X-ray, now have maybe 20% called for 2mm knee spurs, and probably 40 or 50% of yearlings called for sesamoiditis.” Of course, the ultimate corrective to the market is the racetrack. If people are letting good runners slip through the net, there is value there for the discerning shopper. “I understand how we have a limited amount of buyers, and how each year people are taking tons of risk in our industry,” Lyster says. “If you’re going out there to buy one or two yearlings, I understand why you’d want to be super picky. But it’s got out of control if horses with a couple of ‘remarkable’ findings, that rarely bother horses, become valueless. “But there are people out there smart enough to go out and target that value. If Horse A and Horse B are both perfect X-rays, they’re both worth half a million dollars. But if Horse A has perfect X-rays and Horse B some ‘remarkable’ findings, Horse A becomes worth $750,000 and Horse B $150,000. The gap just seems to get wider and wider. It seems like with 10% more risk, Horse B will be literally 20% of the cost of Horse A.” At the same time, in Lyster’s view, the gap is narrowing between the horse that legitimately shouldn’t be touched with a bargepole, and those with a “laundry list” of trivial drawbacks. One of the Ashview graduates who won last week had a congenital defect in an ankle—not that the technical diagnosis made particular sense to Lyster. “All I can tell you is that I was told this horse will never stand training,” he says. “So when he runs off the screen you think: ‘Woah, I didn’t think he was able to breeze a half-mile!'” To be fair to the veterinarians, they too object when their own judgements on matters of degree are presented as absolutes. And, as both Ingordo and Lyster have acknowledged, often it is actually the vets’ clients who do that. “We would very rarely use the terms ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ when we’re looking at horses,” stresses Dr. Scott Hay, president of Florida racetrack practice Teigland, Franklin and Brokken DVMs and vice-president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners. “Now, some clients don’t understand anything other than pass, fail; and sometimes they drag us into that terminology. But we really resist it. The most important part, typically, is to be working for people with whom we’ve developed a good relationship over time, and whose tolerances for certain findings we have come to understand. “Now over time we may change our level of tolerance for a certain finding, if we realize that maybe we missed a horse because we had a prejudice against a certain finding. The flipside is that sometimes we may prove too tolerant, and horses have a poorer racing career than expected because of something we were happy enough to accept. “We try not to get prejudiced about findings we think will probably be all right for a horse’s racing career. The issue is that some clients just don’t want to take a risk of any sort. I’m not trying to sit here and tell you it’s always the clients, if we miss a good horse. Sometimes the vet leads them down that path as well. But I do think we all take a bad rap for turning down a horse. “My philosophy is that we report on what we see; try to explain what we think that means; try to weigh up the risk tolerance; and let them be the ultimate decision-makers on whether or not to buy. We try to educate them the best we can. But it’s their money they’re spending. And they’re the ones who know how much they want to stick their neck out on something that may, or may not, be an issue.” Everyone knows of champions rejected as young horses on veterinary advice. One consignor who sold a horse now at stud remembers how his spectacular physique was legitimately undermined, as a yearling, by severe question marks over an ankle. A big Kentucky farm sent three different vets to try and get him cleared, but none was prepared to oblige. Nonetheless the horse met his (relatively conservative) reserve. After his championship campaign, the trainer rang the consignor and asked for his yearling X-rays, because they had just taken a new set that suggested they must have deteriorated to a shocking degree. “No problem,” said the consignor. “And I bet you’ll find they’re exactly the same as your new ones.” On receiving them, the trainer rang back and said: “This is incredible. Our vet can’t believe that this horse has never been clinically lame.” But stories like that shouldn’t necessarily alter anyone’s position. If it’s all a question of degree, then those that do survive doubt and prosper as runners don’t—in themselves—prove that the original doubt was misplaced. “Sometimes you’ll see a beautiful horse by a leading sire out of a Grade I winner,” Ingordo says. “And he’s an A-plus physical. And he brings 30 grand. He’s been vetted 20 times, and he brings 30 grand. Were all those people wrong? And if he breaks his maiden by 15 lengths, and goes on to win a Grade I, were all those people wrong on their assessment at the time? I would argue probably not. Everyone would say: ‘Look, he didn’t pass the vet and now look what he did!’ But how many of the horses we all turn down never run because they have an issue that gives them a 1% chance to make it?” “People hire us for a reason,” Dr Hay says. “That’s not necessarily to overly protect them, but certainly to protect their interests. You’re talking about percentage risk—and any time you do that, some of them are on one side of that line and some on the other. If we could figure out which, we’d all be geniuses. But we’re not, so we have to weigh it out and see where that individual lands. Hopefully, we make the right choice and take the right risks but that’s not always going to work out in everyone’s favour. Somebody’s going to miss that horse, and someone else’s going to buy that horse. And they’re the ones who are going to do good or bad, with that horse, because of that risk that was there.” As Ingordo said at the outset, the same issue can look radically different from one perspective to the next. And, as he also emphasises, nobody—on any side of this equation—is always right. “Vets vary in opinions but they all have the opportunity and the right to work,” he says. “So there are some who would turn down Secretariat at the head of the stretch in the Belmont and say he doesn’t vet; and there are others who’ll pretty much wave them through, no matter what. Buyers can be too stringent. Myself, I’m pretty forgiving. We have good clients and use horsemanship in every process. But the buyer’s the one putting up the money and if they want things a certain way, that’s their prerogative. Nobody’s perfect in this game. But the term ‘does not vet’ is very subjective and needs qualification. “I understand people being frustrated when they’ve never had a problem with a horse. Okay, it’s never had a problem for you. But as buyers our job is to assess whether it might become a problem. You hear about the ones that go on and are successful—but never about those that didn’t make it.” Again, different ways of looking at the same thing. Brogden turns it round: “As one of my very dear friends, a 2-year-old consignor, said to me: ‘Carrie, you have to look at it this way. They fail as many horses that can run as they pass horses that cannot.’ And I thought that was spot on.” But that beauty of this business is that we don’t establish who’s wrong or right by arguing about it. We have that oval out there, with a wooden stick opposite the stand. And we can sort it all out there, every day of the week. That said, you would be very welcome to carry on thrashing things out in the horseman’s forum that is TDN. If so, we’d love to hear your views. Email us at suefinley@thetdn.com if you have comments for publication. View the full article

Midnight Bisou, a two-time grade 1 winner last year, is the 3-5 morning-line favorite for the Jan. 27 Houston Ladies Classic (G3) at Sam Houston Race Park. The 1 1/16-mile race for older fillies and mares is the meet's richest race at $300,000. View the full article

National Stud stallions Aclaim (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), who won the G1 Prix de la Foret, and G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup hero Lancaster Bomber (War Front) will stand for live foal terms instead of Oct. 1 terms in 2019, Avenue Bloodstock announced on Tuesday. Aclaim stands for £9,500 in his second season at stud, while Lancaster Bomber will command £8,500 in his first year. “Breeders in Britain and Ireland are enduring a tough few years and the foal market in 2018 was especially punishing,” said Mark McStay, who founded Avenue Bloodstock with John Ferguson. “Sure, we’re stallion managers but we’re mare owners too, and we know exactly what breeders are going through–which is why we’ve changed our terms to give breeders who send their mares to us as much support as we possibly can. “Live Foal terms, where the fee is only payable when the mare has a foal who’s up and suckling, are much fairer than the industry standard. Breeders who send mares to Aclaim and Lancaster Bomber–both popular speed stallions with fast pedigrees–will only have to pay after they get what they’re signing up for, not months and months before. Live Foal terms are the norm in Australia, America and in France–we strongly think that, these days, mare owners need a bit of slack to keep their businesses thriving, and we are happy to give it to them. We’d encourage breeders to talk to us, discuss their mares and their ambitions, and we hope that our favourable terms will help them to breed a racehorse, manage their cashflow and–with luck–make some money at the sales.” View the full article

While the field for the inaugural running of the $7 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T) Jan. 26 at Gulfstream Park has been subject to more than a little speculation over the past months, the wait is finally over. View the full article

Trainers based in Newmarket saddled 37 Group 1 winners in Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia in 2018, breaking the 2014 record of 28, The Jockey Club announced on Tuesday. A total of 1,850 races were won by Newmarket-trained horses, a jump of almost 10% on 2017, with 157 more winners, with the monthly average of horses using the gallops down 0.9% to 2,575 horses. Champion trainer John Gosden sent out the most top-flight winners with 13, with his Roaring Lion (Kitten’s Joy) taking four, Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}) three, Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) two, Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) two and one apiece for Too Darn Hot (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Without Parole (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor lifted nine, and Sir Micheal Stoute and William Haggas each took four. “2018 was a fantastic year for Newmarket trained horses,” said Nick Patton, Managing Director of Jockey Club Estates. “The results reflect very well on trainers, their staff and our staff considering the challenging weather conditions, with the ‘Beast from the East’ and a very cold spring followed by an exceptionally dry summer. Since 2010, Jockey Club Estates has invested £3.4million in improvements to the Newmarket Training Grounds and the benefit of that on-going investment in the facilities is evident in the results of 2018. As well as breaking the record for the number of Group 1 wins, several of the smaller yards enjoyed notably successful seasons too and the beauty of Newmarket is that the facilities are open to all trainers.” View the full article

Say what you will about the overall quality of the fields for the first two editions of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1), but the early season event has never been lacking for a big horse—or two. View the full article

In this continuing series, TDN’s Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. In this edition, Standup (Into Mischief), a flashy second on debut sprinting on the Gulfstream lawn last week, is highlighted. Previous runners featured in this column include: MGISW and ‘TDN Rising Star’ Paradise Woods (Union Rags), GSW Backyard Heaven (Tizway) and MSW and ‘TDN Rising Star’ Gidu (Ire) (Frankel {GB}). Clocking his final eighth in a scorching :11.18, Standup (c, 3, Into Mischief–Well, by Well Decorated) stamped himself as one to watch with a visually impressive debut second sprinting five furlongs on the grass at Gulfstream Park Jan. 17 (video). Off at odds of 4-1 sporting a worktab that included a four-furlong bullet in :48 (1/6) on the lawn at Todd Pletcher’s Palm Beach Downs base Dec. 23, the gray was outsprinted in ninth through an opening quarter in :21.35. He took the overland route beneath Javier Castellano while still well out of it on the turn for home and came flying like a wild horse down the center of the course in the stretch to finish within 3/4 of a length of the winner. “For him to produce the type of wicked flourish he did from the quarter-pole to the wire was something you rarely see on that course, especially for a first-time starter,” Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners President Aron Wellman said of the $280,000 OBS March purchase, who is campaigned in partnership with Mike Repole. Bred in Kentucky by Joanne R. Mummert and John C. Barrett Jr., Standup is a half-brother to the talented sprinter Kobe’s Back (Flatter), MGSW & MGISP, $1,116,595; and Well Spelled (Spellbinder), GSW, $364,160. Failing to meet his reserve when the bidding stalled at $190,000 at Keeneland September, Standup brought $270,000 from Cary Frommer at the Fasig-Tipton October Yearling Sale. He breezed an eighth in :10 1/5 from Frommer’s OBS March consignment. “We initially thought he’d be a precocious 2-year-old cut out for Saratoga, but he proved to be a bit too immature during the summer, so we peeled back and gave him some time to grow up,” Wellman said. “When he came back to Todd in the fall, we were actually pretty concerned because he wasn’t showing us much at all on the dirt. Fortunately, we had the luxury of breezing him on the turf at Palm Beach Downs and he took a massive step forward.” As for what may be next, Wellman said, “We always envisioned him to be a pure sprinter. We have no intention of stretching him out at this stage, and while our hands are tied most likely with just five-furlong grass dashes at Gulfstream for the time being, we envision him relishing the one-turn sprints and elongated sprints at Belmont in the spring. Hopefully, he can execute at the next level in due time.” View the full article

Say what you will about the overall quality of the fields for the first two editions of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1), but the early season event has never been lacking for a big horse—or two. View the full article

An agreement reached earlier this month between the New York Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund (“the Fund”) and Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack (FLGR) will see purse enrichments that will finance 40-50% increases for maiden special weight races and at the first two allowance levels this coming season at Finger Lakes Racetrack in upstate Farmington, NY. Maiden special weight race purses will increase by nearly 49% in 2019, with total money available of $31,270, which includes up to $4,770 of open-company awards from the Fund’s incentive program. Horses bred in New York won 90$ of FLGR maiden specials last year, of which 68% were won by New York-sired progeny. First-level allowance races are set to be worth $30,680 (including $4,680 open-company awards) while second-level allowance races will be contested for purse money of $31,860 (including up to $4,860 of open-company awards). “By enhancing multiple conditioned races, we hope to provide a strong incentive for horses to come to Finger Lakes and stay stabled on the grounds for subsequent conditions of value,” said Jeff Cannizzo, executive director of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders. “Also, breeders, owners and stallion owners will get the additional benefit of an opportunity to earn increased incentive awards from the Fund commensurate with the increased purses. This year will see the largest purses at Finger Lakes on record for maiden specials and the first two levels of allowance races. Breeders, owners and stallion businesses will now see 40-50% increases in the awards they earn on these races. It’s a win-win for everyone. Horsemen with stock that belong at this level across the northeast region should truly give Finger Lakes a close look when this enhanced purse structure appears in the spring condition book next week.” Finger Lakes will continue to offer state-bred restricted third-level allowance races. In 2018, New York-breds won 97% of all allowance races at the track, 54% by New York-sired progeny. View the full article

Belinda Stronach, the chairman and president of The Stronach Group (TSG) and the primary defendant in a bombshell October lawsuit initiated by her father, Frank Stronach, has chosen the week of the racing company’s highest profile race, the GI Pegasus World Cup, to fire back with her own allegations of financial mismanagement by her dad that she claims have cost the family empire some $800 million (CDN). In a statement of defense and counter-suit filed Jan. 21 in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Belinda Stronach’s legal team is arguing that “The conflict that underlies this lawsuit is a fundamental disagreement over the proper test to be applied to managing the business and affairs of TSG. Frank Stronach firmly believes that, having been the principal creator of the family wealth, he may direct the business and affairs of TSG as he sees fit. Belinda and other TSG management firmly believe that their obligation is to manage the business and affairs of TSG in a prudent manner that is in the best interests of TSG and its stakeholders.” The 217 pages of court documents obtained by TDN paint a picture of ill-advised “passion projects” initiated by Frank Stronach, the 86-year-old family patriarch, including $55 million for two bronze statues of a 12-story high Pegasus horse. One statue is the signature focal point of Gulfstream Park, while the other is crated up in storage in China and has never been publicly displayed. “While Frank had great success in creating one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers, he has also experienced significant failures in nearly all of his other non-auto parts ventures and his political affairs,” Belinda Stronach’s filing contends. “[Frank’s] lawsuit is an attempt to force TSG to fund Frank’s imprudent, and, in some cases, fanciful schemes to the detriment of TSG and its stakeholders. “Belinda has engaged in no unlawful conduct. To the contrary she has taken steps to rectify the irregular affairs of TSG she inherited from Frank,” the documents allege. “Over time…Frank began to engage in activities, many unauthorized, which placed the business and assets of TSG at considerable risk. These activities escalated to a point where they became a significant distraction for the management of TSG,” the documents allege. TDN will be updating this story through the day on Tuesday. (This story was reported and written collaboratively by Bill Finley, Perry Lefko, and T.D. Thornton) View the full article

Hronis Racing’s reigning GI Breeders’ Cup Classic hero and Horse of the Year candidate Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) was assigned gate five in a field of 12 and was made the 9-5 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s $9-million GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park. Joel Rosario has the call for John Sadler, who was more than satisfied with the draw. He will try to become the third straight Classic winner swansong victoriously in the Pegasus. “I’m relaxed, we’re settled in,” he told TVG. “I’m very happy to be in the middle, it’s where we wanted to be. We wanted to be outside of City Of Light (Quality Road), we’ll kind of just follow him, I like him being on the inside of us.” City Of Light handed Accelerate his lone defeat of 2018 in a stirring renewal of the GII Oaklawn H., but cut back in distance for the GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, in which he defeated fellow Pegasus entrant Seeking the Soul (Perfect Soul {Ire}) by a convincing 2 1/2 lengths. Javier Castellano has the call for trainer Mike McCarthy. WinStar Farm, who will be represented in the Pegasus Dirt by last year’s course-and-distance GI Florida Derby winner Audible (Into Mischief), will send out Yoshida (Jpn) (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}) in as the 5-2 favorite in the Turf. Winner of the GI Turf Classic on Derby Day last May, he defeated Gunnevera (Dialed In) in the GI Woodward S. and returns to the grass off a very respectable fourth to Accelerate in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He is one of two Japanese-breds in the race, as the filly Aerolithe (Jpn) (Kurofune), a Group 1 winner over a mile at home, adds a fair bit of intrigue to the race. Last year’s G2 Ribblesdale S. victress Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) invades for Team Ballydoyle off a solid fourth to Eclipse Award candidate Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf Nov. 3. PEGASUS WORLD CUP INVITATIONAL S.-GI, $9,000,000, 3yo/up, 1 1/8m 1 Bravazo (Awesome Again), Lukas, Saez, 12-1 2 Something Awesome (Awesome Again), Corrales, Prado, 20-1 3 City of Light (Quality Road), McCarthy, Castellano, 5-2 4 Seeking the Soul (Perfect Soul {Ire}), Stewart, Velazquez, 12-1 5 Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky), Sadler, Rosario, 9-5 6 Tom’s D’Etat (Smart Strike), Stall Jr., Bridgmohan, 20-1 7 True Timber (Mineshaft), McLaughlin, Bravo, 30-1 8 Gunnevera (Dialed In), Sano, Ortiz Jr., 8-1 9 Kukulcan (Mex) (Point Determined), Gutierrez, Dettori, 30-1 10 Audible (Into Mischief), Pletcher, Prat, 10-1 11 Imperative (Bernardini), Quartarolo, Gaffalione, 30-1 12 Patternrecognition (Adios Charlie), Brown, Ortiz, 10-1 PEGASUS WORLD CUP TURF-GI, $7,000,000, 3yo/up, 1 3/16mT 1 Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), O’Brien, Lordan, 9-2 2 Yoshida (Jpn) (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}), Mott, Ortiz, 5-2 3 Channel Maker (English Channel), Mott, Castellano, 12-1 4 Aerolithe (Jpn) (Kurofune), Kikuzawa, Geroux, 8-1 5 Next Shares (Archarcharch), Baltas, Gaffalione, 15-1 6 Fahan Mura (English Channel), Cerin, Maldonado, 30-1 7 Bricks and Mortar (Giant’s Causeway), Brown, Ortiz Jr., 5-1 8 Delta Prince (Street Cry {Ire}), Jerkens, Dettori, 15-1 9 Catapult (Kitten’s Joy), Sadler, Van Dyke, 7-2 10 Dubby Dubbie (Ice Box), Hess Jr., Panici, 30-1 View the full article

After watching a Santa Anita Park turf stakes on New Year's Day, 2018, Michael Iavarone got the itch again. View the full article

Leading bloodstock agent and yearling buyer Tom McGreevy will join the Fasig-Tipton yearling inspection team this spring for the company’s 2019 selected yearling sales. McGreevy will continue to serve as the exclusive agent and advisor for client Michael Stinson. “We are delighted to have Tom join our yearling inspection team for 2019,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. “He will bring a new and different perspective to the process as he joins our other highly qualified inspectors to provide guidance to our customers on sales selection and placement.” McGreevy has been a fixture on the sales scene for nearly 35 years. Top horses purchased by McGreevy include champions and Grade 1 winners Battle of Midway, Havre de Grace, Joyful Victory, Midnight Lute, and Songbird, in addition to many other graded stakes winners. “I’m very much looking forward to working with Fasig-Tipton, with whom I’ve had a close working relationship through the years as a buyer,” commented McGreevy. “To be involved in their selection process is a unique opportunity, and I’m most appreciative to Mike Stinson for allowing me to work with Fasig-Tipton this spring. I will continue to work for Mike on an exclusive, year-round basis.” Fasig-Tipton’s 2019 selected yearling sales consist of The July Sale July 9-10; The Saratoga Sale August 5-6; and the New York-Bred Yearlings Sale, scheduled for August 11-12 in Saratoga. View the full article

18:15 Kempton Robert Cowell has a terrific record at Kempton and especially in sprint races, so no surprise to see him have yet another live chance here tonight with Ballistic in this 7f handicap. The horse was beaten less than a length in third behind the Richard Hannon trained Black Medick last time out and […] The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Wednesday 23rd January appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

This year the Hot Springs, Ark. track will intorduce a new schedule, dubbed "Stay Until May." This year, the season will run three additional weeks through Saturday, May 4—Kentucky Derby Day. View the full article

Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA–The ninth edition of the Cape Thoroughbred Sales’s Cape Premier Yearling Sale takes place in the Cape Town Convention Centre on Wednesday with 226 yearlings catalogued over a single session, compared to a two- day affair last year when 236 lots were offered from a catalogue of 254 yearlings. Last year the sale had to do without one of South Africa’s biggest Thoroughbred investors of recent times in Markus Jooste, and his absence was felt by a 28% drop in turnover to R111,475,000 ($8,021,302/£6,221,834/€7,061,649). Last year’s clearance rate held firm at 93%, but the average dipped 27% to R504,411 ($36,295/£28,153/€31,953), with the median coming in at R300,000 ($21,586/,£16,744/€19,004). With 12 months to regroup and take stock of the market, the CTS team has decided a slight restructure of the event was worth a try to attempt to re-establish some positive momentum. “For me, it made sense to stage the sale over one day,” CTS Chief Executive Officer Wehann Smith said. “We’re selling more or less the same number of horses as in the past and I feel we often lost momentum on the second day. We are also trying to accommodate some of our international buyers who may want to go to the Karaka sale in New Zealand. It is encouraging to see so many familiar faces returning to Cape Town for the sale and we are confident the catalogue is of a high enough quality. There are a large number of yearlings by first-season sires, but all the top South African sires are well represented as are several of the leading international stallions,” Smith added. Last year the top price was R4-million when John Freeman signed for a Frankel (GB) colt, and with 12 lots catalogued that are out of Grade 1-winning mares and 14 that are siblings to Grade 1 winners, there is every likelihood that price could be matched or exceeded. Yearlings are catalogued alphabetically beginning with the letter Y, and the first offering into the ring, a filly by Greys Inn out of Young Sensation (SAf) (National Emblem {Saf}) should prove popular. The Klawervlei Stud-consigned filly is a full-sister to South African champion and eight-time Group 1 winner Legal Eagle (SAf), who goes in search of an elusive first win in the G1 Sun Met at Kenilworth on Saturday. It will be interesting to see how the first yearlings by Klawervlei Stud’s Coup De Grace fare today. The son of Tapit was high-class on the track, winning the GII Amsterdam S. at Saratoga and finishing third in the GI King’s Bishop S. at the same track. He is not short of representatives in the sale with 18 catalogued and probably his best bred offering is lot 29. This filly holds the distinction of being out of a champion in G1 Greyville Golden Slipper winner and South African champion 2-year-old Consensual (SAf) (Camden Park), but also being a half-sister to a champion in Just Sensual (SAf) (Dynasty {SAf}). Just Sensual won the G1 Cape Fillies Guineas at Kenilworth in 2016 while the mare’s other two offspring to race have both won. Coup De Grace also has a colt catalogued that is sure to attract interest. Lot 172, a chestnut colt from Riverton Stud, is a half-brother to triple Group 1 winner Captain Of All (SAf) (Captain Al {SAf}), while the dam Serious Side (SAf) (Fard {Ire}) has also produced the stakes performer Intimateconnection (SAf) (Lake Coniston {Ire}). Although his eldest crop in the Northern Hemisphere have just turned four, Camelot (GB) has already proven himself a top-class stallion through Group 1/Grade I winners Latrobe (Ire) and Athena (Ire). Following one withdrawal, the Coolmore stallion now has three yearlings to go through the ring, all from Klawervlei and perhaps the pick of the trio is lot 46. This well-developed filly is the first foal out of the Fastnet Rock (Aus) mare Egyptian Sky (Ire), who in turn is out of Henrythenavigator’s stakes-winning full-sister Queen Cleopatra (Ire) (Kingmambo). The grand-dam has bred two stakes winners while the page traces back to Ireland’s champion 2-year-old filly of the year 2000, Sequoyah (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells). Not many will disagree that Last Winter (SAf) (Western Winter) was the unlucky horse in the 2018 Sun Met, with Dean Kannemeyer’s 5-year-old flashing home from the widest draw to finish second, and a chance to acquire a half-brother to the talented colt presents itself with lot 54. Offered by Black Swan Stud, the colt by Elusive Fort (SAf) is out of Field Flower (SAf) (Silvano {Ger}), who won the G1 Cape Fillies Guineas. Among the first produce on offer in Cape Town from some top-class race mares of recent seasons are lot 57, a filly by Trippi out of Fly By Night (SAf) (Jet Master {SAf}) who won the G1 Mercury Sprint, and lot 91 from Drakenstein Stud, a colt by Dynasty out of MGSW Lanner Falcon (SAf) (Trippi). Lot 137, a Slivano (Ger) colt from Maine Chance Farm, is the first produce of G1 South African Oaks winner Pine Princess (SAf) (Captain Al {SAf}), while lot 173 is a filly by Duke Of Marmalade (Ire) out of G1 South African Fillies Classic winner Siren’s Call (SAf) (Elusive Fort {SAf}). Frankel has two catalogued on Wednesday, both from Klawervlei Stud. The first, lot 69, is a colt out of Hadarama (Ire) (Sinndar {Ire}) from the family of dual Derby winner Harzand (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), while the second is a filly, lot 100, who is the first foal out of the Dark Angel (Ire) mare Lost In Love (Ire) and hails from the family of Group 1 winning 2-year-old Sudirman (Henrythenavigator). Wednesday offers the last opportunity to buy a yearling at this sale by the late Captain Al (SAf), and among his nine catalogued is lot 129. This filly’s dam Pagan Princess (SAf) (Fort Wood) has already bred two Group 1 winners from just four runners including this yearling’s full-brother William Longsword (SAf). The mare has also produced G1 South African Fillies Sprint winner Real Princess (SAf) (Trippi). American stallion Uncle Mo has two catalogued in the sale including lot 194, a colt from Klawervlei Stud who is a half-brother to GI Hollywood Gold Cup winner Rail Trip (Jump Start), while another first-crop stallion with a well-bred yearling to represent him is Global View. Winner of the GII American Turf S., Global View is by Galileo (Ire) out of the Storm Cat mare Egyptian Queen, and lot 189 from Ascot Stud lacks little on the dam side being out of the 14-time winner Stormy Appeal (SAf) (Kilconnel), who has already produced three stakes winners. View the full article

There is tough competition on the Flat in Yorkshire these days, with at least half a dozen trainers from the region jostling for attention against the powerhouses from Newmarket. County Durham, meanwhile, is not recognised as one of the modern hotbeds of the sport yet it can claim a man who has enjoyed as much top-level success in recent times as his any of his colleagues a little farther south. Since taking over Denton Hall following the sudden death of his father Dickie back in 1990, Michael Dods has been learning and building, hitting 30 or 40 winners a season for most of this century. Only in the last four years has this most unassuming of trainers become prominent on the bigger stage, firstly through winning the G1 Nunthorpe S. back-to-back with Mecca’s Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) before her sprinting successor Mabs Cross (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) arrived. Her agonising nose defeat to Alpha Delphini (GB) (Captain Gerrard {Ire}) in the Nunthorpe was swiftly followed by a reversal of head-bobs with Gold Vibe (Ire) (Dream Ahead) in the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye, sweeping Dods past the £1-million mark across Europe. “It’s not very often you get a horse of Mecca’s Angel’s calibre and for one to come along again as good within two or three years, for a smallish yard anyway,” he says. “Obviously the downside was the Nunthorpe, when it was so close. You don’t normally get a second chance in a race like that again, but to go and win the Abbaye was very exciting and the horse deserved it.” Dods had taken that loss stoically. “You’ve got to be sporting, that’s the game you’re in, but you’re sort of devastated inside when it’s that close and it took so long for the result. They kept splitting it and splitting it, and couldn’t split them. Ten years ago it would have been a dead-heat, that’s it, let’s be fair. “We knew the Group 1 would come but we knew we only had one race left and whether it was last season or we’d have to wait for another season.” Although that prize at ParisLongchamp enhanced what was already a considerable page for the homebred from David Armstrong’s Highfield Farm in Lancashire, she is not destined for the paddocks just yet. The fast-finishing 5-year-old is due back shortly from the Armstrongs’ base, where she has been overseen by the owner’s daughter, Sophie. “It was always the plan that he’d like to race her this season coming and then decide whether to breed off her himself or let someone else breed off her,” Dods explains. “David’s done very well when you think they’ve got a small breeding operation and he’s now bred two Group 1 winners. He’s raced three with Garswood, but bred Mayson and Mabs Cross. He hasn’t got hundreds of broodmares so it’s unbelievable. “With a horse like this the races pick themselves, let’s be fair. We’ll have a close look abroad in Ireland and France as well but obviously we’d be looking at Haydock [G2 Temple S.], Royal Ascot, York and the Abbaye again and see what else we have to take in.” There could be one difference, with Dods disclosing: “Until the last couple of runs we always felt she would be a better filly over six furlongs but then as she raced last year, she seemed to get faster and it might not be her cup of tea. I’d had her pencilled in for the Summer S. at York last year as an intended run but we sort of shelved the idea and kept her at five. If we were stuck for a race and it fitted in, we might give her a try at six.” The rest of the progeny of Armstrong’s Miss Meggy (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) have not been an unqualified success, with a half-brother by Invincible Spirit {Ire} called Samlesbury (GB) failing to cut the mustard as a juvenile. Dods has been quietly encouraged by the look of the 2-year-old colt by Iffraaj (GB), although he is in the earliest of days. There is another in the yard of whom the 56-year-old can have more immediate hopes in the shape of Intense Romance (Ire) (Intense Focus), who is the same age as Mabs Cross and became a dual listed winner at sprint distances at Ayr and Ascot in the autumn. “For some reason she took forever to come to hand; she wasn’t thriving or showing me a lot,” he recalls. “I remember seeing a bit of work one day in the middle of the season at home–she just started to show a little bit of sparkle. “She went to Carlisle and finished second to another of my horses, and never looked back after that. She improved tremendously in her last three runs last year, with no way of knowing where that would end. Especially if she got the conditions she wants, proper soft ground, and she’s exciting to look forward to again this year. You’d have to look at the penalty structure in the listed races and you could see her being very competitive in a Group 3.” Denton Hall, in secluded countryside just outside Darlington, is on the land that two earlier generations have farmed, and the family business still includes arable and sheep, along with fattening beef cattle. His wife, Carole, is an integral part of the racing operation and daughters Chloe and Sophie have both ridden as amateur riders as well alongside professional careers. A bespectacled, reassuring figure, Dods seems the sort of character to engender loyalty in his stable. In a sport where many are after a fast buck, it is even more heartening to hear him espouse that virtue himself. “There are odd people who were here when my father was training. He had a permit and had just got his licence for one year but within the first two or three years we started training, there are owners that were here then and are here now,” he says. “We’ve been lucky that by having those good horses, we’ve attracted owners who can maybe buy a better quality horse–we’ve had a couple from Paul and Clare Rooney and others have sort of noticed. “We don’t mind around 80, 85, but I don’t really want any more than that. We have turned away horses this year, to be honest, we couldn’t fit them in. But I’ve had very loyal owners and when you’ve got the likes of Geoff and Sandra Turnbull and David Armstrong, they’ve got breeding operations and you’ve got to look after them because they’ve been here a long time, rather than take new owners that have never been in the yard. They got us there, and we’ll never forget that either.” Dods is too modest to make any self-congratulatory explanation of how any improvements have been made, but it is clear that there has been some refinement to the regime. “You’ve got to keep learning, mind,” he says. “I think nowadays that some of these horses don’t need as much work as everyone thinks, especially the sprinters. The days when you’d gallop them hard; I don’t know whether those horses last as long. We would have them very fit, the gallops are on a hill, but they tend to last and enjoy their racing. We like to see horses still racing here at 10, 11, 12 if possible. It’s not quite the graft of maybe 10-15 years ago.” Careers can also be sustained by gentle starts with Mabs Cross, who was a little small and backward to make her debut before she was three, a case in point. “Last year we had three that hadn’t raced that came out after mid-October, and all three won as well, even up to couple weeks ago,” Dods says. “That’s sometimes difficult because people like to see them on the racecourse, but if they’re not ready, they’ve got to wait. And some of the late maturing horses, like the Archipenkos, Sea The Moons, the distance horses, there’s no point trying to run them in May, is there, if they don’t want to be running until September. “We’re lucky the owners understand that. David Armstrong is a prime example. If we think one’s no good, he’s gone, but if a horse needs time he’ll give it as much as it needs.” With a promising bunch of 3-year-olds and another fine season in the offing, it is those owners with the foresight to give Michael Dods their time who should be reaping the rewards. View the full article

After yesterdays great tipping which yielded 8 winners across the 3 meetings including winners at 7/1 and 5/1, Picks From The Paddock will be hoping their strong form continues today where they have a tip for every race alongside their best bet and next best bets of the day. Bet of the Day 18:15 Newcastle […] The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Tuesday 22nd January appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Matthew Chadwick has an affinity with Happy Valley – two thirds of his winners have come at the city track this season – and he is hoping to keep that rolling with a solid book of seven rides on Wednesday night. Chadwick feels the Valley gives those jockeys who ride horses down in the market more of a chance of snaring a victory and he relishes his opportunities there. The 28-year-old certainly boasts a better strike rate at Happy Valley this season with eight of his 12 winners... View the full article

While all the focus has rightfully been on Douglas Whyte’s switch from the saddle to the trainers’ tower, the Jockey Club also refreshed the riding ranks by granting short-term licences to Australian Regan Bayliss and Irishman Martin Harley. The licensing committee announced the moves on Tuesday morning, the two fresh faces replacing Sam Clipperton, who is heading home to Sydney, and South African Callan Murray, who will take his talents to Singapore. Alberto Sanna and Grant van... View the full article

Australian jockey Sam Clipperton will return home to Sydney after agreeing to end his contract with the Hong Kong Jockey Club earlier than expected. The 25-year-old will finish riding in Hong Kong next Wednesday, January 30 before riding in Sydney that weekend. Clipperton has had 62 winners in his Hong Kong career, spanning over two-and-a-half years which included success at Group Two and Group Three level along with four Group One runners-up. After 40 winners in his first season in Hong Kong,... View the full article

Douglas Whyte, an icon of Hong Kong racing, is retiring. The 13-time champion jockey will switch from a career in the saddle to the trainers’ tower after the Jockey Club licensing committee gave him a licence for the 2019-20 season. Whyte said it was not a hard decision. “I’m overwhelmed to say the least, I didn’t think it would happen this quickly,” he said. “It’s always been a goal of mine to train in Hong Kong and I was hopeful I would be afforded... View the full article