Wandering Eyes

The 7-year-old More Than Ready gelding didn't seem to require much direction from jockey Paco Lopez in the $200,000 Palos Verdes Stakes (G2), his first start since he notched his second consecutive win in the TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1). View the full article

Howling Pigeon Farms, Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable, and Madaket Stables' sophomore filly Needs Supervision broke through at the stakes level Jan. 19 in the $150,000 Silverbulletday Stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. View the full article

Four-time Eclipse Award winner and three-time Breeders’ Cup champion Beholder (Henny Hughes) delivered a bay filly by Curlin at 4:25 p.m. at her owner B. Wayne Hughes’s Spendthrift Farm in Lexington. The filly “jumped right up” according to Spendthrift General Manager Ned Toffey. “Beholder had a very nice Curlin filly this afternoon, and we’re happy to report both mother and foal are doing really well,” said Toffey. “We couldn’t be prouder of Beholder. She is such a professional and continues to perform beautifully in her second career as a broodmare. We’ve been very fortunate. The delivery was as normal and straightforward as you could ask for. Our entire broodmare crew, led by broodmare manager Aimee Compton, deserves a lot of credit for the management and care of Beholder since her arrival on the farm.” Beholder retired following her 6-year-old campaign in 2016 after posting victories in 18 of her 26 career starts for earnings of $6,156,000. She was the Eclipse Award winner of her generation in 2012 and 2013 and champion older female in 2015 and 2016. Beholder’s first foal is an Uncle Mo colt named Q B One. Mating plans have yet to be finalized for 2019. View the full article

It was a speedy day at Tampa Bay Downs, where Win Win Win broke the track and stakes record in the Pasco Stakes, Molto Bella set a stakes record in the Gasparilla Stakes, and Tapa Tapa Tapa established a new standard in the Wayward Lass Stakes. View the full article

ROY H (g, 7, More Than Ready–Elusive Diva, by Elusive Quality), last seen asserting his superiority with a second-straight score in the GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint Nov. 3, showed here that he’s certainly still got it at the age of seven. Installed as the 1-5 chalk seeking to defend his title in this event, the bay sat in a perfect stalking spot early. He ranged up to challenge after a :44.35 half and, after a patented Paco Lopez peek back, galloped home the most facile of four-length winners. The already $3-million earner and Eclipse Award shoe-in stopped the clock in 1:08.89. Kanthaka (Jimmy Creed) completed the exacta. Roy H’s stablemate Conquest Tsunami (Stormy Atlantic) rounded out the trifecta. A close third in last year’s G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen, the Peter Miller trainee is expected to return to Meydan this March. Sales history: $115,000 yrl ’13 KEESEP; $310,000 2yo ’14 KEEAPR. Lifetime Record: 23-10-5-2 O-Rockingham Ranch & David Bernsen. B-Ramona S. Bass LLC. T-Peter Miller. View the full article

WAR OF WILL (c, 3, War Front–Visions of Clarity {Ire}, by Sadler’s Wells), last seen romping by five lengths at fifth asking first time on the dirt (and in the slop) at Churchill Nov. 24, was crushed in the wagering all the way down to 8-5 and soon showed why. Sitting just perched off fairly moderate early splits, the handsome bay took over at the head of the lane and kept finding to prevail by about four lengths in 1:43.44. Hog Creek Hustle (Overanalyze) was second, while Manny Wah (Will Take Charge) held on for third. War of Will, hailing from a very strong Flaxman family that includes his G1SW Pathfork (Distorted Humor), War of Will is the 79 black-type winner and 43rd at the graded/group level for his superstar sire. Owner Gary Barber also co-owns Needs Supervision (Paynter), who annexed the Silverbulletday S. one race earlier. Sales history: $175,000 yrl ’17 KEESEP; €250,000 2yo ’18 ARQMAY. Lifetime Record: 6-2-1-1. O-Gary Barber. B-Flaxman Holdings Ltd. (KY). T-Mark Casse. View the full article

Zac Purton has a message to any jockey with an itchy trigger finger hoping to expose a weakness in Beauty Generation – good luck. The reigning Horse of the Year returns to the track for the first time since his stunning Longines Hong Kong Mile victory last month and will start a prohibitive favourite in Sunday’s Group One Stewards’ Cup (1,600m), a race with just six horses. Beauty Generation has already shown his versatility this season – coming from the back of the... View the full article

Close call but Nimble stays undefated View the full article

Invincible Ryker produced at the right time View the full article

Takaoka-Lerner team gathers further momentum View the full article

Jack Jumps straight back to winner's circle View the full article

Horses' test results January 19 View the full article

Track conditions and course scratchings January 20 View the full article

Horses' body weights January 20 View the full article

NEEDS SUPERVISION (f, 3, Paynter–Moroccan Rose, by Carson City) proved her big-figure Churchill optional claiming score in the slop was far from a fluke as she passed the class test with aplomb in Saturday’s Silverbulletday S. A second-out graduate at Laurel Nov. 2, she shipped down from trainer Jerry O’Dwyer’s Maryland base to air by five lengths with an 83 Beyer under the Twin Spires going a mile Nov. 24. Campaigned by Howling Pigeon Farms in her first two outings, she had been bough into by Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Madaket Stables since then. Tracking from third out in the clear, the 5-2 shot pulled clear late by about a length in 1:45.34. Longshot Eres Tu (Malibu Moon) was second, while favored Grandaria (Curlin) was a far-back third. This was the first stakes victory for Needs Supervision’s young trainer and sixth black-type winner for her sire. Sales history: $22,000 yrl ’17 KEESEP; $55,000 2yo ’18 EASMAY. Lifetime Record: 4-3-1-0. O-Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable, Madaket Stables & Howling Pigeon Farms. B-Mike Abraham. T-Jeremy O’Dwyer. View the full article

DESSMAN (c, 3, Union Rags–Frolic’s Appeal, by Trippi), installed the heavy 4-5 favorite for the omnipresent Bob Baffert barn, lived up to advanced billing to garner the ‘TDN Rising Star’ nod. Off a step slowly, he was pushed along by Flavien Prat to chase the pace out wide in third. The $750,000 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream buy ranged up ominously to challenge the leader after a :22.24 opening quarter, and was clearly going better of the top two approaching the quarter pole as stablemate Scalper (Uncle Mo)–$850,000 at the same sale–revved up behind. Dessman proved to be in a class of his own in the lane, however, as he leveled off powerfully to run up the score by close to double-digit lengths. He topped the clock in 1:11.37. Norski (Liaison) took third over Scalper. Sales history: $120,000 yrl ’17 KEESEP; $750,000 2yo ’18 FTFMAR. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0. O-Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum. B-Wind Hill Farm (FL). T-Bob Baffert. View the full article

A New York senator has re-introduced legislation banning any kind of performance-enhancing drug in all horse races in the state, including furosemide. View the full article

Gary Barber's Solid Wager lived up to his name with a last-to-first rush to capture the 126th running of the $100,000 Toboggan Stakes (G3) at odds of 5-1 Jan. 19 at Aqueduct Racetrack. View the full article

• Mr. and Mrs. William K. Warren Jr.’s MGISW City of Light (Quality Road) sparkled in his first local work and final breeze ahead of a final career start in the $9-million GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational Jan. 26 at Gulfstream Park. Hall of Famer Javier Castellano was up for the breeze, which saw the GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile hero go a half-mile in :47.26 over a fast main track–fastest of 103 horses at the distance. “I thought it was a very good work,” trainer Mike McCarthy said. “It looked like the horse got over the racetrack nicely. Javier was very pleased. He cooled out well and looks good.” • Likely Pegasus favorite and 2018 Horse of the Year finalist Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) put in his final breeze for the race Saturday at Santa Anita, going five furlongs in a bullet :58.80 (1/45). The GI Breeders’ Cup Classic winner is scheduled to arrive at Gulfstream Jan. 22. “The track has a good bottom to it,” trainer John Sadler said. “It’s still got a little moisture in it and I wanted to go on Saturday all along. We got here and walked on it about four in the morning and felt it was pretty good, so cross your fingers and off we go.” • Also working for the Pegasus Saturday were Gunnevera (Dialed In), third in last year’s race, who covered six furlongs in 1:13.20 (1/2) at Gulfstream Park West; 2018 GI Florida Derby winner Audible (Into Mischief), who worked four furlongs in a bullet :48.42 (1/21) at Palm Beach Downs; and GI Cigar Mile H. winner Patternrecognition (Adios Charlie), who covered four furlongs in :49.45 (16/95) at Palm Meadows. • Seeking the Soul (Perfect Soul {Ire}) worked five furlongs in :59.80 (2/42) Saturday morning at the Fair Grounds in his final major training move ahead of the Pegasus. “The horse worked great,” trainer Dallas Stewart said. “He’s doing great.” • After revealing to TDN’s Bill Finley Jan. 12 that MGISW McKinzie (Street Sense) was “very doubtful” for the Pegasus, Bob Baffert said in Saturday’s Santa Anita Stable Notes that he will point the ‘TDN Rising Star’ to the GI Santa Anita H., using the GII San Pasqual S. as a prep. “We’re going to run here [at Santa Anita] if all’s well,” Baffert said. View the full article

Hronis Racing's five-time grade 1 winner Accelerate turned in the final work of his career Jan. 19 at Santa Anita Park in preparation for the Jan. 26 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) at Gulfstream Park. View the full article

Never mind all this talk of walls; and never mind the fact that Matt Koch was actually putting up a fence when the idea was first put to him. Because here, in these notoriously fractured times, is a young Republican eager to build bridges. As co-owner of Shawhan Place, Koch was supervising a consignment at the Keeneland January Sale last week when breaking off to Frankfort to be sworn in as the new state representative for the 72nd District of Kentucky. The day after his election last November, similarly, it was at Keeneland that you would have found him, showing horses with his team. That’s how symbiotic is the connection he wants to maintain, not just between his professional duties and those he has embraced at the capitol; but also between the industry in which he was raised (and which, of course, employs much of his electorate) and the forum where the broadest interests of the Bluegrass are weighed. Koch is the first Republican to represent Bourbon County and its environs in the Kentucky House of Representatives since 1974–when the seat was held by none other than his partner in Shawhan, Teddy Kuster. And it was Kuster who accosted him just over a year ago, while Koch was busy digging post holes round the foaling barn, to lament that nobody had yet filed to run on the Republican ticket; and that there were now only a couple of days before the deadline. “Being a politician was never anywhere in my wheelhouse,” Koch admits. “Teddy was really the push. He’s the one who put the idea in my head. He came out there while we were putting up some fencing, and I was complaining about the current situation, talking like we always do. And Teddy said, ‘Well, do something about it!’ And I said, ‘Well, by God, maybe I will!’ So Teddy and I drove to Frankfort and met a few people; my wife and I had a long talk that night; and next day went up there and signed the papers on the filing deadline. And here I am.” One Democrat friend assured the writer that he would gladly have voted for Koch, in his own district, as the kind of local figure who can transcend the virulent partisanship of the national stage. Sure enough, though it plainly remains very early days, Koch is already able to say: “I think the greatest thing so far is that I’ve met some amazing people on both sides. You may not always agree on everything, but the fact that we can sit down and have these conversations, that’s a big starting point–and that’s how eventually we’ll see some of these issues get ironed out.” If he entered the field almost inadvertently, moreover, Koch could not have a more natural affinity with the concept of service. Even the current divisions infecting national political discourse, after all, are pretty trifling compared to the kind of thing Koch witnessed during his four-year stint as second lieutenant in the Marine Corps, when exposed to the volatile and violent theatres of Kosovo and Afghanistan. As an intelligence officer, Koch had to show wisdom beyond his years to make the best use of authority and responsibilities that would have daunted many an older man. “You’re 24, 25 years old, moving into a town with your Marines, and all of a sudden you’re kind of the mayor, you’re the most powerful force there,” Koch reflects. “So it was all about learning how to deal and work with the local people. You’re not there to shove them around. You’re there to help them have a better life and to provide protection. You can’t just come in and say: ‘Well, we’re modern, we’re sophisticated, and by God, this is the way we’re gonna do it!’ “Because if you can make them successful, can teach them to be self-sufficient, they won’t have to grow the opioids; they won’t have to do all that for the Taliban. I learned how to listen in the Marine Corps. Your way’s not always the best way. You sit down with the local elders, with your interpreter, and you listen. They’ve been here for generations. You need to be able to adapt: take some of what you know and some of what they know, and put it together.” So while the idea of “working a room” like a politician may remain alien, Koch is actually one step ahead. He wouldn’t do that because it’s expedient, but because it fits the way he has learned to deal with problems. “As a Marine, you deal with the highest all the way down to the poorest of the poor,” he says. “I was very lucky to have such an experience. You can’t even imagine what poverty is until you saw some of those people in Afghanistan. And yet an hour later you’d be with the head of state.” Nor is it as though these seeds were ever falling on fallow soil. Koch is indebted to parents who raised their many children to have a sense of social duty, an instinct for giving something back. His father, of course, is Gus Koch Sr.–long-serving manager at Claiborne, and himself a Marine veteran. So the young Koch absorbed much of value, growing up on that storied farm, besides the horsemanship he has applied in his own post-military career. “Where I grew up was the best place you could be raised, whether as a horse or a kid,” he says. “I’m very blessed to have grown up in a big family. You learn how to share. You’re number five of 10 kids? You don’t always get your way! But we’re very lucky in that when we were ready to leave home, the one thing we left with was our last name. That’s one thing nobody can ever take away from you, so it’s up to you to maintain that integrity and the honesty in your name, the number one thing Dad instilled in all us brothers and sisters. And the only way you can do that is get out there, work hard and do a good job.” Despite a battle with cancer extending nearly two decades, Koch’s father remains a daily sounding board in the professional dimension to this living legacy. That traces right back to his boyhood, and the great Moccasin: only 2-year-old filly to be named Horse of the Year and, along with her sister Thong, one of those who immortalised their dam Rough Shod II. “I’ll never forget Moccasin,” Koch says. “She was a paddock buddy for this other mare, I can’t remember if she was blind or just had health problems. But obviously Moccasin was very friendly because I would hold her, when just six or seven, while Dad would treat the other mare. And [after Mocassin passed, aged just eight] whenever her daughter Flippers was going to foal, Dad would always try to get me to the foaling barn.” Koch was only 10 or 11 when he worked his first November Sale, and it became unremarkable for him to be around mares as resonant as Personal Ensign, Relaxing and Inside Information. “Every Saturday morning, my brother Steve and I would go down when the eight o’clock session was over, cleaning all the mats and the breeding shed,” he recalls. “So you learned a work ethic even while you were being around some of those great mares.” His favorite job was to hold tools for the farrier and, after himself learning the art of shoeing, he paid his way through the University of Kentucky trimming mares. After his military service, his father sent Koch to Teddy Kuster and together they started the Shawhan consignment in 2006. Daniel Shawhan bought the land in 1788 after sampling what he declared to be the cleanest spring water he had ever tasted and promptly built a distillery. The same water, and the limestone pasture, quickly put the latest Shawhan venture on the map. After a $7,000 purchase named Queen Randi (Fly So Free) threw a stakes winner, client Jeff Anderson was emboldened to mate her with Mineshaft (A.P. Indy). The result was Fly Down, who finished second in the GI Travers S. and GI Belmont S. and third in the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. From breeding half a dozen mares in its first year, Shawhan now processes sufficient numbers for Matt to supervise the breeding and foaling; and brother Gus Jr., the babies and breaking and sales prep; while Courtney Schneider serves as director of sales. “But we’ve learned that where we have most success is that when the clients call us, we’re the ones to answer the phone,” Koch stresses. “We’ve tried a bunch of things, but learned that big numbers weren’t the way to go. A lot of our clients just have one or two mares–but when they call us, they know that either myself or Gus or Courtney has handled their horse that day, and can talk to them about it. We’ve kind of learned that’s where our niche is. “I was very lucky when getting started because I could just go to Dad or Teddy, and you have two walking encyclopedias right there. You can say, ‘Hey, what about this?’ But it’s hard to go to them with anything new. They’ve seen it at some point. I mean, yeah, maybe there’s some new ways to treat something, or do something. But at the end of the day, it’s old-school horsemanship. Yes, you do adapt. We take some of the old ways, things we learned at Claiborne growing up. But Gus and Courtney did the equine program at UK, and Courtney went over to the Irish National Stud, so we just kind of mixed things until we found what worked for us.” That teamwork will be more important than ever now that Koch finds himself suddenly having to devote himself to civic duty. “But I think it’s mutually beneficial,” he argues. “I’m all in with the horses. It’s all I’ve got. So what better way to help my business than to be part of the decision-making that’s going to drive our whole industry in the future? I’m thrilled to be part of that. And I’m very lucky to have Gus and Courtney, they’ve been doing a heck of a job running the farm during the campaign this past year–and it’s doing better than it ever has.” Here’s a regular guy, then: married to a schoolteacher, a father of three, determined to stay attuned to the hopes and fears of his constituents, regardless of formal political allegiance. He’ll not charge in promising to change the world overnight, but he’ll quietly make it his business to figure who does what at the capitol and who needs what back in the 72nd District. “You get more and more comfortable, you get so you can walk in and talk to people,” he says with a shrug. “It’s not much different from being at the horse sales. Being my first session, I understand there’s going to be a lot of that. But I won’t be afraid to stick my head out on stuff I feel strongly about.” Personal, daily exposure to the challenges that count for so much in Bourbon County, however, is only one guarantee of his eligibility. The other is that grounding: first of all from one of the most respected horsemen in the Bluegrass, and then from military mentors. While he shows the Marine’s habitual reluctance to dwell on the dangers he endured, he does acknowledge the power of the experience. “You do grow up,” he reflects. “I mean, you’re looking at young men and women in their early 20s, corporals and sergeants, in charge of armory that’s worth $8 million. Or they’re out there leading squads, actually in charge of human lives. It’s so much responsibility that coming home is sometimes a let-down. I think that’s why a lot of veterans have a hard time when they return. “But you will also have learned to know where you stand, and to be behind people in what’s right. I give a lot of credit to the Marine Corps for being my own man; for being able to come in [to Frankfort] and not care what side of the house you’re on. You’re just ready to work, and to do the right thing.” View the full article

In this series, we ask agents and others who book a lot of mares for their clients which sires might be flying slightly under the radar in this breeding season. Who might be getting overlooked in the rush for the new, hot thing? Read on. Marie Yoshida, Winchester Farm AIR FORCE BLUE, Ashford Stud, $20,000 It is essential for breeders who sell or race to select, if they can afford it, a stallion who was a dominant champion 2-year-old racehorse. There are not so many of these racehorses around and Air Force Blue is definitely one of the rare ones. He won three Group 1 races at 2 in England and Ireland (6-7f) and was crowned the European Champion 2-year-old in 2015. It is essential for breeders to use the Danzig/Northern Dancer sire line with War Front, who is developing into a sire of sires. War Front himself only breeds around 80 top select mares per year and his record is outstanding; he’s a superior stallion, an “improver.” Air Force Blue has a completely American pedigree and was bred by world-renowned expert breeder Arthur Hancock of Stone Farm, from a deep female family including champion 2-year-old filly Flanders who produced champion 3-year-old filly Surfside. It is the responsibility of every breeder to optimize every year his mating program. Many can be tempted to follow the present “bubble economy” and only breed to first-season sires, even though most of them lack pedigree, race records or physical soundness and conformation. A stallion like Air Force Blue is exceptional and is standing for extremely good value at $20,000 LFSN in 2019. View the full article

Red Rocks (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}-Pharmacist {Ire}, by Machiavellian), one of four Group 1 winners from his sire’s first crop and the first of Galileo’s four winners of the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf, died in September at Calumet Farm in Kentucky, Racing Post reports. Winner of the 2006 Listed Fairway S. at three for owner Paul Reddam, Red Rocks was then runner-up consecutively in the G2 King Edward VII S. at Royal Ascot, the G1 Grand Prix de Paris and the G2 Great Voltigeur S. before finishing third behind fellow first-crop Galileo colts Sixties Icon (GB) and The Last Drop (Ire) in the G1 St Leger. He gave trainer Brian Meehan his first Breeders’ Cup win next out in the GI Turf. Red Rocks finished third behind English Channel in the same race the following year before going on to beat Curlin and Better Talk Now in the GI Man O’War S. in 2008. Red Rocks started out at stud in Italy at Centro Equino Arcadia in 2010, and after five years crossed the Atlantic to stand at Calumet. A five-year stint there was broken by one more year back in Italy in 2017. He has thus far sired three stakes winners from seven crops of racing age. View the full article

It has been six weeks since reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year Beauty Generation (NZ) (Road to Rock {Aus}) and Mr Stunning (Aus) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) successfully defended their respective titles in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile and G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint, and those two gallopers rate the marquee in Sunday’s G1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m) and G1 Centenary Sprint Cup at Sha Tin. On an international rating of 127, Beauty Generation is the joint highest-rated horse in Hong Kong history alongside former John Moore trainee Able Friend (Aus) (Shamardal), and has developed a true sense of invincibility this season. He shouldered top weight of 133 pounds in winning a pair of pattern handicaps to begin the year, was given a sensational Zac Purton ride to win the G2 Jockey Club Mile two back and pummeled a high-class field to win his second HK Mile Dec. 9. Beauty Generation bounced off the track following his pre-race blowout Thursday to the delight of Moore. “That’s how we want him going into another Group 1 race,” the trainer told the HKJC’s David Morgan. “He’s going into the race in perfect shape, if not better than he’s ever been. He’s relaxed in his work, he’s a happy horse and we couldn’t be happier.” Just five horses will oppose the champ Sunday, including Mile third placegetter Southern Legend (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}), ‘TDN Rising Star‘ Pakistan Star (Ger) (Shamardal) and the race’s X-factor Conte (Aus) (Starcraft {NZ}), who weighs in at an Able Friend-like 1308 pounds and makes his Group 1 debut with Joao Moreira off a smooth score in the G3 Chinese Club Challenge Cup H. (1400m). Mr Stunning faces a slightly stiffer challenge as the three horses that finished in his wake in the Sprint re-oppose here, with some things in their favour. D B Pin (NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}) nearly beat Mr Stunning in the 2017 Sprint, then turned the tables in this event before missing an intended start in the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen via injury. The 6-year-old goes third-up Sunday, having run Mr Stunning to three-parts of a length on International day. Beat the Clock (Aus) (Hinchinbrook {Aus}) gets the services of the ‘Magic Man’, who feels that his ride is as good as he’s ever been. Moreira rode D B Pin and Beat the Clock in barrier trials over the Sha Tin all-weather Jan. 11 and opted for the latter, who ‘won’ his heat by 7 1/2 lengths. “Based on that trial I don’t think anyone else would choose the other one,” Moreira told the Club’s Graham Cunningham. “Beat The Clock’s trial was very impressive and I don’t remember him trialling any better. I think he’s a little bit more mature now and that’s a big plus.” The progressive Little Giant (NZ) (Swiss Ace {Aus}), a very good fourth in the Sprint, and 3-year-old Styling City (Aus) (Starspangledbanner {Aus})–who gets a seven-pound age allowance–have puncher’s chances in a high-class test. Click for a TDNAus/NZ story on Mr Stunning and his breeder. View the full article

After its popularity last year, Young Guns returns with all new questions and young professionals. Today we speak with Valentin Adam, who works on the bloodstock team at Arqana TDN: Tell us about your career to date. VA: I have always been around horses. My grandparents had a farm with National Hunt mares, which my father took over. At the age of 13, I started riding racehorses in a training centre close to the farm in the west of France, and later had various experiences in England as an exercise rider for Gary Moore, Tom George and Roger Varian. In 2016, I came back to France with the firm intention to work in the industry and I had the chance to meet Eric Hoyeau. I did a first internship at Arqana as a project manager for the 2016 edition of the Arc sale at Chantilly. This started my collaboration with the auction sales agency and I was then sent to the U.S. for work experience. This is how I did a couple of months at Santa Anita as a work rider and pupil assistant for Leonard Powell, before heading to Kentucky where Tony Lacy welcomed me at Four Star Sales. I also had various experiences in sales prep at Three Chimneys, and at Hagyard Equine Hospital. I ended my trip at Saratoga where I met Christophe Clement, who gave me few rides in the morning and I was able to follow Mike Ryan in the afternoons for the selected sale inspections. I then came back to France to finish my degree in business development and worked as a trainee with Arqana before being employed. TDN: If you could be one person in the industry for a day, who would it be and why? VA: It would probably be a jockey, like Ryan Moore, on a day he rides a few Group 1s on the best horses in the world, or Ruby Walsh during the Cheltenham festival. Being a rider myself, I always watch the jockeys with a lot of admiration and envy. TDN: What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? VA: When I first got on a Thoroughbred, someone told me that to learn with horses, you just have to observe the animals; they’ll tell you what to do. Since then I use it as a leitmotiv: you can learn from everyone, either on what to do or what not to do, so open your eyes. TDN: What is the best aspect of your current job? VA: As part of the bloodstock team, we are selecting the future horses that will go through the ring, and it is very interesting to be able to go and look for the best around our network of clients. I am relatively new in this exercise but if we look at the results of Arqana’s graduates in recent years, I feel that I’m in the right spot to learn. I like the fact that we are working side by side with the breeders in order to bring to the market good horses for our buyers and for the competition; it’s a win-win situation. The job is very diverse. I do a lot of tracking, attending meetings, organising tours of inspections, supervising the logistics of pop-up sales like the Arc or the Auteuil sales. Public auction is very theatrical and you feel the energy–I like it. TDN: If you weren’t working in the horse racing industry what would you be doing? VA: I would probably be a cook in a restaurant somewhere around the world. I could barely see myself working outside the horse racing industry at the moment but I keep my mind open. TDN: If you had 24 hours to get someone interested in the horse racing industry, how would you do it? VA: First I would wake them up early to see the horses in the morning. Then I would take them to the races and introduce them to some friends to let them explain what they do in the industry. I would take time to explain and answer the questions and would propose to stay after the last for a few drinks. Usually when they stay until the last step, they are happy to come back. It has to be fun. This is what the Association Aux Courses les Jeunes does in France, which I was a member of in 2018. We did a lot of immersion days and brought a lot of young novices to the races. TDN: What was your biggest achievement in 2018? VA: It was a busy year. First I finished school, which can be considered an achievement, and I had a lot of interesting projects to work on at Arqana. TDN: Who was your horse of 2018, and why? VA: It has to be Enable. Winning the Arc twice in a row is obviously something special, but even more so, she went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Turf at the end of an intense fight with Magical, and between the two best jockeys in the world. A beautiful race to watch. View the full article