Wandering Eyes

It is now 11 Group 1s for Frankie in two months as he steered TDN Rising Star Too Darn Hot (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) to success in Wednesday’s G1 Qatar Sussex S. at Goodwood. Gaining revenge on his G1 St James’s Palace S. conqueror Circus Maximus (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the process, the Lloyd-Webbers’ homebred stayed in a pocket behind Phoenix of Spain (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) and that rival and swooped on the Ballydoyle runner a furlong out. Asserting for a half-length success, the even-money favourite who took the G1 Prix Jean Prat over seven furlongs at Deauville July 7 may be about to drop back in trip after this pace-packed display. “He is very good and had a smooth run into this race–he’s got so much speed,” Dettori said. “I can’t feel my arms at the moment! He’s blessed with so much natural speed.” 1–TOO DARN HOT (GB), 126, c, 3, by Dubawi (Ire) 1st Dam: Dar Re Mi (GB) (Hwt. Older Mare-Eng at 11-14f, G1SW-Eng, Ire & UAE, GSW & G1SP-Fr, GISP-US, $4,359,112), by Singspiel (Ire) 2nd Dam: Darara (Ire), by Top Ville (Ire) 3rd Dam: Delsy (Fr), by Abdos (Fr) O-Lord Lloyd-Webber; B-Watership Down Stud (GB); T-John Gosden; J-Lanfranco Dettori. £593,392. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Fr & G1SP-Ire, 9-6-2-1, £1,320,181. *Full to Lah Ti Dar (GB), GSW & MG1SP-Eng, G1SP-Fr, $541,171; So Mi Dar (GB), GSW-Eng & G1SP-Fr, $242,742; and 1/2 to De Treville (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), MGSP-Fr, $114,187. The post Too Darn Hot Stretches Frankie’s Streak In the Sussex appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Sent off the 11-8 favourite on the basis of her 3 1/4-length success in the Listed Dragon S. at Sandown July 5, Philip Wilkins’s Liberty Beach (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}) mastered a clutch of the fastest juveniles that could be mustered in opposition in Goodwood’s five-furlong G3 Molecomb S. Always travelling strongly behind the speed, the bay was short of room passing the two-furlong pole but was undeterred and split the Matthieu Palussiere-trained pair Fan Club Rules (Ire) (Gutaifan {Ire}) and Wheels On Fire (Fr) (Sidestep {Aus}) to lead with 150 yards remaining. At the line, she had a length to spare over Alligator Alley (GB) (Kingman {GB}) and jockey Jason Hart was left relieved it had come off. “She was very brave and tough to go through that tight gap,” he commented. “I planned to follow Frankie [on Maven (American Pharoah)] and I had hoped he would take me a bit further, so I got dragged out of the race a tiny bit and had to make my move sooner than ideal.” 1–LIBERTY BEACH (GB), 124, f, 2, by Cable Bay (Ire) 1st Dam: Flirtinaskirt (GB), by Avonbridge (GB) 2nd Dam: Talampaya, by Elusive Quality 3rd Dam: Argentina, by Storm Cat 1ST GROUP WIN. (£16,000 RNA Ylg ’18 TASAYG). O/B-Philip Wilkins (GB); T-John Quinn; J-Jason Hart. £42,533. Lifetime Record: 5-4-0-0, £94,870. The post Cable Bay’s Liberty Beach Takes the Molecomb appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

West Melton trainers Tony and Lyn Prendergast have two runners in Saturday’s Gr.3 Winning Edge Presentations 122nd Winter Cup (1600m) at Riccarton. The husband and wife duo will be represented by the top weight of the field, Who Dares Wins, and Trudeau. Who Dares Wins strung together three wins in a row earlier this preparation, including the Listed Easter Cup (1600m) and Gr.3 Canterbury Gold Cup (2000m), however, the seven-year-old gelding put in an uncustomary poor performance at Ri... View the full article

Noel Riordan, best remembered as the only jockey able to get the best out of champion stayer Il Tempo, died on Tuesday morning, aged 84. Riordan, a quietly spoken, humble man, maintained his interest in horse racing throughout his adult life and passed away at Country Lodge, Matamata. Riordan’s father died when he was four and he was one of 10 children brought up by their mother. At the age of 13 he and his brothers, Des (then 15) and John (11) left their New Plymouth home in 1948 to sign on a... View the full article

Write photo caption here by replacing this text. TAB News Pick6 this week $25 Pick6 at Cambridge on Thursday night. $40 Pick6 Friday night at Addington. August and September – Harness First4 $6,000 Bonus First4 on a Race 4 Every Friday Night in Aug/Sept and on Race 4 at Addington on Thu 19 Sept. Cambridge Raceway News – New Season Launch 1 August You’re invited to a birthday party! Join us to celebrate the brand new racing season and the horse’s birthday! We are holding a special season launch event on Thursday 1 August at Cambridge Raceway in the Skyline Lounge (level 2). Kick off is 5pm, first race 5.21pm. And entry is free! Alexandra Park News – Friday 2 August Christmas at the Races featuring the Inter Dominion Championship 2019 Christmas at the Races are some of the hottest nights on the Alexandra Park Harness Racing calendar. Choose from our various rooms and packages the best option to suit your guests, get into the festive spirit with our amazing Christmas themed all-you-can-eat buffet and keep your eye out for Santa. There will be competitions, entertainment, photographers and non-stop harness racing excitement, plus live entertainment after the last race. This year offers added value with the Inter Dominion Championship being run in New Zealand for the first time in 8 years. Explore the best Alexandra Park has to offer, but don’t forget to book quickly as these popular nights don’t last long. For more information visit: https://www.alexandrapark.co.nz/whats-on/christmas-races-2019/ To make a booking, do it online or contact us 09 631 1165 or email dining@alexandrapark.co.nz Gore Harness Racing Club return of the SPRING FLING BONUS Following the success of this bonus last season the Club would like to announce that the SPRING FLING BONUS returns this season to be run over their race meetings on the 10th and 25th August and the 12th October. Two categories, fillies/mares and colts/geldings. Winner (highest points scorer) of each category to receive $1,000 plus cool down rug. Points: 1st = 10pts, 2nd = 6pts, 3rd = 3pts, 4th = 2 pts, 5th = 1 pt. Southern Harness Racing – Southern Awards – Sunday 11 August Sunday 11 August 2019 Ascot Park Hotel, Invercargill Doors open 5.15pm, starting 6 pm sharp Master of ceremonies – Jess Smith Tickets $70 online $75 cash or cheque Please use the following link to purchase your tickets https://forms.gle/gWyNZ7bAKhMsibda7 Any problems phone Karen 03 206 6545 or Nicole 03 206 6965 Canterbury Harness Racing Awards – 21 September 2019 Woodlands Stud Canterbury Harness Awards Dinner – Saturday 21 September Silks Lounge – Addington Raceway, Addington 6.30pm for a 7.15pm start Tickets $60.00 incl. GST Drinks extra at individual’s cost. Watch our for our stallion tender for Downbytheseaside and Pegasus Spur services which close on 02 September 2019. All enquiries to 021 969 969 or cantyawardsdinner@gmail.com View the full article

AUSSIE punters expect Kiwi trainer Phil Williamson to steal the show at Australia’s biggest trotting meeting on Sunday. Williamson’s exciting pair Ultimate Stride and Liberty Stride dominate opening betting markets in their respective Group 1 assignments. Ultimate Stride, who looked so good winning his only Aussie run, is a $2.10 favourite in the $50,000 Group 1 Volstead Redwood Classic for baby trotters. Ultimate Stride has barrier nine – two-out on the back row – in the standing start feature. And filly Liberty Stride, who stunned locals with a monstrous first Aussie wins, is $2.15 against the boys after drawing gate four in the $75,000 Group 1 Haras Des Trotteurs Victoria Trotters’ Derby. Williamson has booked former Kiwi driver Anthony Butt for both races. Butt replaced Chris Alford on Ultimate Stride as Alford is committed to his own family runner, Dreamee, from gate six. Ultimate Stride’s main danger looks to be local Powerkeg, who he did beat easily last outing. In the Derby, another Kiwi Kratos from the John and Josh Dickie barn is a clear $3.60 second elect despite the back row (gate 10). The other highlight of the massive day is the return to racing of Inter Dominion trotting champion Tornado Valley in a free-for-all (race seven). Tornado Valley missed a planned return race a couple weeks back with a minor setback. Despite being first-up for almost five months and drawing the back row (gate nine), Tornado Valley is still a $1.90 favourite. Main dangers will be fellow Inter Dominion finalists Big Jack Hammer (gate six, $3.50) and Save Our Pennys (gate seven, $6). View the full article

It took just two scintillating bursts of speed for Jazzy Star’s season to go full circle in the past two weeks. The Brent White trained 4yr-old dashed along the passing lane to make it two wins from two starts in a perfect winter preparation. Jazzy Star also started his season by winning his first two starts, before things went pear shaped for the pacer during a summer campaign in Auckland. “He went awful up there,” White said. “I wouldn’t have sent him up there if I didn’t think he was a chance to pay his way.” “Nothing worked out for him, really.” “We think he might have picked up a bug on the way up there.” The Auckland Reactor pacer immediately put his failed trip behind him when he produced a jaw-dropping burst of speed to win fresh up for driver Stephen McNally. Jazzy Star backed that effort up with another impressive performance at Addington on Friday night. What talent the pacer posses is not yet matched in his ringcraft. Jazzy’s Star’s greenness meant driver Ricky May elected to ease the favourite to a gap three back on the markers after he failed to make the lead. Though it may have caused some of the horse’s backers some nervous moments, it proved to be masterstroke from May when he found clear air in the straight.” “He is still learning the game a wee bit,” White said. “He relaxes far better on the back of another horse. “He had a dig for the lead and he can over race a wee bit, so when the gap opened.” “Ricky thought he would take the punt and the horse fell back to sleep then.” “Around the bend he was just jogging and it was just a matter of finding a gap.” Jazzy’s Star’s troubles were not simply over when he left the spelling paddock following his Auckland campaign. The pacer’s return to racing was set back around two months ago when he was struck by illness. “I had him ready to go to a race at Ashburton six or eight weeks ago and I pulled him out of the box and he had snot running out of his nose,” White said. “So we had to start again with him.” “I have to take my hat off to his owners Dave and Gay Luke, they have been patient with me and let me do what I have got to do with him.” Jazzy’s Star’s back to back wins have earned him a small break. The pacer was likely to have three weeks off before resuming in the spring, White said. View the full article

Former champion trotter Stent has died prematurely. The million-dollar earner, rising 11, had been enjoying a new life as a riding horse in Timaru. “He had a paddock accident yesterday and, unfortunately, the only humane thing to do was put him down,” said his breeder and owner, Trevor Casey. “The lady that had him was most upset when she rung to tell me. “It’s a real shame but unfortunately that’s what can happen with livestock.” Stent had a storied career under the tutelage of Colin and Julie DeFilippi, though one that was cut short through injury. “He certainly was a talent, though I don’t think we ever really saw the best of him,” said Casey. “He could have gone a lot further had he not broken down when he did.” Stent suffered a leg injury as a seven-year-old and then after nearly two years away from the track returned for one final run at the start of last season before the same injury reoccurred. His watershed year came in the 2014-15 season, when he won Trotter of the Year in both Australia and New Zealand. He recorded seven Group 1 wins that term, including the Rowe Cup, Great Southern Star, New Zealand Trotting Championship and New Zealand Trotting Free For All. For Casey, winning the two-mile Rowe Cup at Alexandra Cup was a personal highlight amongst his 30 wins. “Winning the Rowe Cup was a special moment after people said he couldn’t stay. “The Great Southern Star was another great win; he won that really well. “He was just head and shoulders above them that year – he really was just playing with them.” Casey is immensely grateful for all the time and effort the DeFilippis put in to Stent and said they would be keenly feeling his loss as well. “He will always be remembered as a big part of all our lives for a long time. “Colin and Julie did such a fantastic job.” And while the unforgettable ride of owning champion pacer Lazarus is probably at the forefront of Casey’s racing memories, he has very personal reasons for being enamored with Stent, a horse he bred. “Yes, I’ve had Lazarus, but Stent still holds a special place in my heart. “In fact, he is named after a stent that was put in my heart ten years ago.” Casey is still breeding out of Stent’s dam, Belle Galleon, and his half-sister, Arya. “And I’m racing his full brother, Lone Star Lad.” Casey has quite an elite band of trotting broodmares at his Christchurch property, but it’s a group of 21 other mares that have him excited for the coming breeding season. They are all in foal to his former star pacer, Sky Major, who he brought home from North America last Spring to stand at Wai Eyre Farm. “I’m backing him. I advertised for mares and got offered about 50, so I picked out the best ones and put them all in foal. “So, there will be a few going through the sale ring in the next few years, and I’ll try a few myself. “The first ones are due in August and that’s a really exciting time for us.” As for Lazarus, Casey says it is unlikely he will be breeding any mares to him in his first season at stud, in New South Wales. “Unfortunately, I won’t be as all my pacing mares can’t go to him. “They’re either from his family or by Bettor’s Delight and Christian Cullen. “So, I guess I’ll be looking at the sales instead.” View the full article

Van Blanc winning at Tauranga on Wednesday. Pukekohe trainer Nigel Tiley picked up an early quinella at Tauranga on Wednesday courtesy of Van Blanc and Hunua Hank in the Gartshore 1600. Under torrential rain Van Blank looked a beaten runner at the 800m as he drifted back to the rear of the field, however, under the urgings of jockey Vinnie Colgan, the four-year-old made a resurgence and came storming home late out wide to run down his stablemate to record a short-margin victory. “He was very wide and then he drifted right out of it, I actually took my eyes off him and was watching the other horse (Hunua Hank),” stable foreman Karen Zimmerman said. “He came home really well. They both really deserved to win today. It was a good effort by both of them.” Jockey Vinnie Colgan thought he was on a beaten horse midway through the race, but was pleased with the way his charge fought back down the home straight. “It was hard work,” he said. “There was a decent downpour as we raced and there was a lot of mud coming back. It was hard to see and the track is very deep. “My horse was going backwards at the half-mile, it wasn’t until I got him wide and into a bit of clear space that he got going again. It was a really good effort by the horse. View the full article

No Change winning at Hastings last month. Hastings trainers Paul Nelson and Corrina McDougal will take a trio of runners to Riccarton on Saturday, but they are slightly concerned with the heavy track conditions heading into the weekend. “We are just not too sure about the track. It appears that it is getting worse, it has gone to a Heavy11,” Nelson said. “I think the rain has gone through, but it will be what damage it has done really.” No Change will be their first runner of the day in the Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge Sydenham Hurdles (3100m) and he heads into Saturday in winning form after taking out the Hawke’s Bay Hurdle (3100m) at Hastings last month. “Hawke’s Bay suited him, the track (Slow7) was pretty much to his liking,” Nelson said. “He has been a bit long without a run, but hopefully that won’t count against him.” While the 11-year-old son of Shinko King has won twice on a heavy surface, Nelson would like to see the track improve before Saturday. “He has won on a heavy track, but it’s been a wet and loose track. He will probably run on Saturday and then we will see after that.” Nelson holds the same concerns with Zardetto heading into the Yesberg Insurance Services Koral Steeplechase (4250m) on Saturday after he was pulled up in the Wellington Steeplechase (5500m) on the testing Heavy11 track last start. “He’s been pretty good (since that run), I am just not too sure that we didn’t have a bug go through (the stable),” Nelson said. “Even though his record hasn’t been huge lately on wet tracks, I thought he would have finished the race alright.” The 12-year-old gelding pleased his connections in his previous three starts over fences where he placed in the Waikato Steeplechase (3900m) and Hawke’s Bay Steeplechase (4800m) and they elected to travel him south in search of better tracks. “We thought that we were going to get better tracks and then we made a plan to bring the other horses down,” Nelson said. “They are here and the fields aren’t very strong, so he will run and we will see after that. “He has won on a heavy track, but probably as he has got older he hasn’t been as keen on them. “The good thing is that steeplechase track hasn’t been used. We will just have to play it by ear really. “We’ll see how he goes on Saturday.” Meanwhile, Ooee pleased Nelson with his debut placing over the bigger fences at Te Rapa a fortnight ago and he is hoping the addition of a tongue-tie will assist the gelding on Saturday when he contests the Maneline (NZ) Safety Trackx Raceplates Maiden Steeplechase (3200m). “He had his first chase the other day and he looked like he was in it and he just struggled a bit from the second-to-last fence,” Nelson said. “We have put a tongue-tie on him and hope that might help him. “His best form has been on better ground too, but it is the first race on that track, so we might get away with it.” View the full article

Pukekohe trainer Nigel Tiley picked up an early quinella at Tauranga on Wednesday courtesy of Van Blanc and Hunua Hank in the Gartshore 1600. Under torrential rain Van Blank looked a beaten runner at the 800m as he drifted back to the rear of the field, however, under the urgings of jockey Vinnie Colgan, the four-year-old made a resurgence and came storming home late out wide to run down his stablemate to record a short-margin victory. “He was very wide and then he drifted right out of it, I a... View the full article

If the Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap (G1) still rates as "The Race of the Year," then the 92nd running of the $1 million Whitney Stakes (G1) looms a nice option for completing the exacta. View the full article

Hastings trainers Paul Nelson and Corrina McDougal will take a trio of runners to Riccarton on Saturday, but they are slightly concerned with the heavy track conditions heading into the weekend. “We are just not too sure about the track. It appears that it is getting worse, it has gone to a Heavy11,” Nelson said. “I think the rain has gone through, but it will be what damage it has done really.” No Change will be their first runner of the day in the Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge Sydenh... View the full article

Five horses are in contention for the Champion Jumper title at the 2019 New Zealand Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Awards. New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing has announced another batch of finalists for the 2018-19 season. Jackfrost, winner of both the Grand National Hurdles (4200m) and Great Northern Hurdles (4200m), joins the major steeplechase winners Chocolate Fish (Great Northern Steeplechase, 6300m), Gagarin (Wellington Steeplechase, 5500m), Perry Mason (Hawke’s Bay & Pakuranga Hunt Cup) and Shamal (Grand National and Waikato) as finalists in the jumping category. Finalists have also been confirmed in the trainer, jockey, jumps jockey and owner categories. The winners will be announced at a gala dinner in Auckland, at the Ellerslie Racecourse, on Sunday, September 8. Champion jumper: Chocolate Fish, Gagarin, Jackfrost, Perry Mason, Shamal. Trainer of the Year: Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman, Jamie Richards. Jockey of the Year: Lisa Allpress, Opie Bosson, Matthew Cameron, Johnathan Parkes. Jumps Jockey of the Year: Aaron Kuru, Buddy Lammas, Shaun Phelan. Owner of the Year: Archer Equine Investments, China Horse Club Racing, JML Bloodstock, Kevin Hickman, Kamada Racing and Bloodstock, Brendan and Jo Lindsay Partnership, NZ Thoroughbred Holdings, Raffles Dancers (NZ), Kelvin Tyler, Sir Peter Vela. View the full article

Glory Days winning the Gr.1 Auckland Cup (3200m). Group One-winning stayer Glory Days made a pleasing return to the track at the Foxton trials on Tuesday in preparation for a Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) campaign this spring. The pride of Waverley finished unplaced in her 1000m heat, but pleased trainer Bill Thurlow with her efforts. “I was happy with her, she went well,” he said. “We didn’t ask much of her, but she did everything she was asked of. “She’s been back in about eight weeks. She has been through to New Plymouth and had a gallop last Saturday between races and we were happy with that. “She has come through it well and she had another nice trip away today. She’s back home now and has come through that well. “We will just keep doing a few different things with her and see where we end up. She is good at this stage, we haven’t got any problems.” The rising seven-year-old mare took her connections on a great ride this season, winning seven of her 13 starts, including the Listed Wanganui Cup (2040m), Gr.2 Avondale Cup (2400m), and Gr.1 Auckland Cup (3200m). She then travelled to Sydney and put in a bold run to finish third in the Gr.1 Sydney Cup (3200m) at Randwick in April. “She was awesome this season, but sometimes they don’t come back up,” Thurlow said. “Hopefully she will and it looks like she is going to. We are pretty happy at this stage.” Thurlow is now eyeing the only remaining two mile Group One race in Australasia this year, the Melbourne Cup. Glory Days after securing Group One success in the Auckland Cup (3200m) Trish Dunell While Thurlow has marked her major target this spring he is still yet to finalise a path to get to Flemington on the first Tuesday of November. “The Melbourne Cup is the main aim, it’s where we would like to end up,” he said. “We have just got to pick a path to get there. “Our style would be to try and stay away from the best for a while if we could. “At this stage she will probably kick-off at Otaki on the 17th (of August). I was told the Otaki track was as heavy as it has ever been the other day, which is disappointing because we haven’t really had that much rain. “If it was like that we would have to reconsider. If it is reasonable we will go there, otherwise we may have to go straight to Australia. “We haven’t mapped out a set in stone programme with her. We have got two or three races on the radar that we could run in as a lead up to the Melbourne Cup. “We just wanted to get through today and get through the next couple of weeks and make sure she is all good and then we will set those programmes in stone.” Meanwhile, Thurlow’s star filly of the season, Beyond The Fort, will likely make a raceday return later this spring. The daughter of Niagara had an impeccable three-year-old season, winning three of her four starts, including the Listed Warstep Stakes (2000m), and finished runner-up in the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m). “We had a great season with her,” Thurlow said. “She really stepped up and is a really nice filly. She is back in work, but she is a little bit behind at this stage. “She won’t be out in the early part of the spring, but we will look forward to (seeing) her later in the spring or early summer.” View the full article

Leading Japanese stallion Deep Impact has passed away after suffering a cervical fracture. The sire of 39 individual Group One winners stood at Shadai Stallion Station in Japan. Deep Impact was crowned Horse of the Year in Japan in 2005 and 2006 and recorded two Group One victories on the track, including the Japan Cup (2400m) and Takarazuka Kinen (2200m). Deep Impact is the sire of Rich Hill Stud stallion Satono Aladdin, who served 91 mares in his debut season at stud in New Zealand. He is also the sire of Novara Park Stud’s new stallion Staphanos, who will be available to breeders in the upcoming season for a fee of $7,000+GST. View the full article

Tan plots Revolution as favourite race nears View the full article

The deadline for the 2019 Pete Pedersen Awards has been extended to Sept. 15, it was announced by the Racing Officials Accreditation Program (ROAP). The Pete Pedersen Award is presented annually to stewards who have made important contributions to the Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing industries. The award is named in honor of the longtime outstanding steward and noted journalist Pete Pedersen. The recipients will be recognized Tuesday, Dec. 10, at the annual awards luncheon at the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program’s Global Symposium on Racing and Gaming in Tucson, Ariz. Click here for more information. The post Pete Pedersen Outstanding Steward Awards Nominations Deadline Extended appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

When Joe Murphy purchased the 350-acre Stoneleigh Farm 13 years ago, the Lexington businessman admitted the land was mostly for “relaxation,” but the operation hit the big time as the breeder of multiple Grade I winner Exaggerator (Curlin) and again when selling that star’s half-sister by Medaglia d’Oro for $1.3 million at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale last August. Murphy returns to Saratoga next week with a yearling full-sister to Exaggerator who sells as hip 206 through the Warrendale Sales consignment during Tuesday’s second session of the auction. Murphy, who owns Buds Gun Shop and Range, credits his father, J.B. Murphy, with his interest in racing and breeding. “It pretty much all started with my dad,” Murphy said. “He was always around horses and he got involved in the Thoroughbred business in the mid-80s. He bought a mare and bred her and his intention was to sell the offspring, but he got too attached and decided to keep them and started racing them. He did that through the late 80s and early 90’s and then got out of the business.” Murphy purchased Stoneleigh Farm in Paris in 2006, but racing and breeding wasn’t originally in the plan. “I bought the farm with the intention of just having the green space,” he explained. “But then I kind of got the bug and decided to buy a few mares.” The fledgling breeding operation soon became a partnership between Murphy and the man who had first introduced him to the sport. “I started buying some mares and my dad realized that I probably didn’t know what I was doing, so he said, ‘I’ll tell you what. I’ll split the mares with you.’ So we started going in 50-50 on them and that’s where I am today.” Murphy and his father partnered to purchase then 3-year-old Dawn Raid (Vindication) for $50,000 at the 2008 Keeneland November sale. The filly raced in their colors just once, finishing a well-beaten seventh in a Turfway optional claimer that December. “We sent Dawn Raid to Ken McPeek and she really didn’t perform very well,” Murphy said. “We didn’t know if she had a breathing issue or what, so we sent her to Rood and Riddle [Equine Hospital] and they did a treadmill test with her. They said she was the fastest horse that they’d had on a treadmill. My dad was trying to find a treadmill race and he couldn’t find any, so we decided to breed her.” Exaggerator, who was Dawn Raid’s third foal, sold for $110,000 at the 2014 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The dark bay went on to win the 2016 GI Preakness S., GI Haskell Invitational and GI Santa Anita Derby. He was second behind Nyquist (Uncle Mo) in the GI Kentucky Derby. Asked if there were mixed emotions in watching a horse he had bred have such success on the track, Murphy said pragmatically, “I went up to the Derby and watched him and that was really exciting and we went up to the [GI] Belmont [S.]. It was a really fun experience. But the way I look at it, if we had owned him, he probably wouldn’t have been where he was. That’s just Murphy’s law. I was just glad for the success of the owners.” The Murphys campaigned Dawn Raid’s Pioneerof the Nile filly Nile Queen, who was claimed away before Exaggerator made headlines. “My dad was miffed about that,” Murphy said of the claim. “I tried to claim her back–this was when Exaggerator was a 2-year-old and he was starting to get hot. She was entered in a claiming race and I had it set up to try and put a claim on her, but they ended up scratching her and she didn’t race again. They ended up breeding her [to Bernardini] and flipping her for $525,000 [at the 2016 Keeneland November sale].” The father-son team have maintained one member of the family for their two-horse broodmare band partnership. Dawn Raid’s 3-year-old daughter Mischieviousmaximus (Curlin) will be bred next year. “She cracked her sesamoid last year,” Murphy said of the unraced filly. “We thought, with the way she was progressing, we could probably race her and there was a chance, but it really wasn’t worth the risk. Dr. [Larry] Bramlage thought there was a good percentage that she would reinjure it, so we just decided to turn her out. I wasn’t in any rush to breed her, so she’s just been enjoying the grass.” Exaggerator’s six-figure yearling price tag was the most Murphy had ever sold a horse for–until last year’s Saratoga sale when Phoenix Thoroughbreds made the final bid of $1.3 million to acquire the filly now named Morning Dream (Medaglia d’Oro). “It was really neat,” Murphy said of the experience. “My dad’s health is marginal. So my wife and I went a couple days before and then I flew my dad up the day of the sale. As the numbers kept getting higher, my dad was sitting there saying, ‘We shouldn’t have sold her. We shouldn’t have sold her.’ And my mom was sitting next to him and she was saying, ‘Thank you, Jesus.’ She is a CPA and she’s seen the numbers, from back in the ’80s when he was involved, and she works on my finances–being in this industry can be tough. He was struggling letting go and she was all excited that we’d finally broken even.” Murphy admitted last year’s success will be difficult to duplicate with Exaggerator’s full-sister this year. “This filly looks really, really good and I think she’ll do well,” Murphy said of Dawn Raid’s Curlin yearling. “But I’d say it would be hard to top last year.” Dawn Raid produced a colt by Medaglia d’Oro this year and Murphy has high expectations for the weanling. “He looks phenomenal,” Murphy said of the foal. “The wise thing would probably be to sell him, depending on my dad’s temperature. He’s 83 years old and, like I said, he doesn’t really like to sell anything. So I don’t know what we’ll do. Chances are we will sell him, but there is still a possibility that we might keep him.” In addition to the two mares he owns in partnership with his father, Murphy also has two mares of his own with the main goal of breeding to sell. “Our intent is to sell–that’s why I got into it,” he explained. “It was more for the breeding. I don’t mind racing, but it’s really hard to make money on the racing side. But if we have something we think is quality and we aren’t going to get the right price, we’ll keep and race it and see what happens.” Murphy downsized Stoneleigh Farm three years ago, selling 300 acres to Archie St. George. “I’ve got a little over 50 acres,” he said. “It’s more manageable. Even before I sold to Archie, I probably still had the same number of horses and was using almost the same space that I use now. But it’s taken some of the pressure off, I don’t have to worry about mowing or neighbors complaining about fencing or anything like that.” The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale of Selected Yearlings will be held next Monday and Tuesday at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion. Each sessions begins at 6:30 p.m. The post Murphy’s Success No Exaggeration appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

McKinzie leads Thunder Snow, Vino Rosso and Preservationist in the latest Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings poll, and are all expected to start in Saturday's $1 million Whitney (G1) from Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. View the full article

Given that his own sire had overcome a pretty mediocre family to become no less potent, it might seem misplaced to insist on due credit for the other genetic contributors to the legacy of Deep Impact (Jpn). On the face of it, after all, the career of Sunday Silence might suggest that the bull–in his case, Halo–really can be more than half the herd. For some of us, however, even the most successful sire-line can only ever be one strand in a complex mesh–and, as such, there will always be latent influences that combine to produce a runner and/or stallion. To cling stubbornly only to the sire-line, or a combination of sire-lines, is a lazy conflation of statistical convenience (above all, in this era of such huge books) with statistical fact. And it would be churlish, as such, to survey the striking balance in Deep Impact’s pedigree–matching influences starkly associated with both turf and dirt–without wondering whether it might contain lessons for an industry so prescriptive, nowadays, in keeping apart the bloodlines perceived to serve those different disciplines. Deep Impact was out of Wind In Her Hair (Ire), and duly keeps alive the memory of a true gentleman in her late trainer, John Hills. In finishing second in the Oaks, Wind In Her Hair extended the distinctions clustered around her grand-dam Highclere, who won Classics in England and France in the royal silks and also produced an exceptional matriarch in Height Of Fashion, dam of Nashwan, Unfuwain and Nayef among others. Height Of Fashion was by Bustino, a son of Busted; while Wind In Her Hair’s dam Burghclere was by Busted himself, a slow-burning source of stamina. Highclere’s grand-dam Hypericum, meanwhile, won the 1,000 Guineas in the silks of King George VI, while the next dam was placed in both that Classic and the Oaks. So this is a bottom line saturated not just with quality but with chlorophyll–and it was lined up squarely against a great dirt runner in Sunday Silence. The first thing that leaps out at you, given that Deep Impact was by a son of Halo out of a mare by a grandson of Northern Dancer, is that here is another stallion of international influence (like Danehill) who doubles up the great Almahmoud–as second dam of both Halo and Northern Dancer. For what it may be worth, moreover, her sire Mahmoud also recurs, top and bottom, lurking behind the dams of both Sunday Silence and Alzao–whose dam Lady Rebecca was by Sir Ivor, a son of Mahmoud’s grand-daughter Attica. As an exported Derby winner, Mahmoud is only one of several dynamic European conduits in Lady Rebecca’s background. She carries Princequillo and Sir Gallahad on both sides. Turn-To and the brothers Pharamond and Sickle are also there, while her own sire, Sir Ivor, famously made the reverse trip to win at Epsom. In those days, happily, people didn’t have the same fatuous prejudice that turf is turf, and dirt is dirt, and never the twain shall meet. At the top of Deep Impact’s pedigree, Halo replicates some of these transatlantic influences, notably as a grandson of Turn-To. Pharamond was grandsire of Halo’s dam, Almahmoud’s daughter Cosmah; while his sire Hail To Reason’s grand-dam was a Sir Gallahad mare. But it was Sunday Silence’s maternal family, combined with a build that found equal disfavour with purists, that made him a serial reject–both in the sales ring, and also when it came to finding a domestic farm prepared to match the Japanese valuation of a superlative dirt runner. Wishing Well, his dam, was a grand-daughter of Promised Land, a hard-knocking performer in the 1950s. Himself out of a Mahmoud mare, Promised Land achieved his most immediate celebrity as broodmare sire of Spectacular Bid, so while Wishing Well was a Grade II winner on turf you might say there’s a bit of dirt efficiency in that neighbourhood. But Sunday Silence’s next several dams were notoriously lacking in accomplishment. True, there was dormant brilliance in his seventh dam, the English Classic winner Cinna. A grand-daughter of a genuine track legend in La Fleche, Cinna was inbred 3×3 to La Fleche’s mother Quiver, who was also second dam of her great sire Polymelus. But nobody can get too carried away by these parchments of scroll. Perhaps there was more alchemy than could be guessed, however, through Wishing Well’s dam–who was by an Argentinian grandson of Hyperion named Montparnasse. His first four dams were all bred in the Pampas, so who can say what kind of hybrid spark may have been preserved down there, igniting only once restored to the Northern Hemisphere mainstream? The theory goes that Sunday Silence fortuitously stumbled on a gene pool that gave him a chance he would never have taken in Kentucky. But the fact is that his principal heir brought together genes of a breadth and balance you only get with the kind of adventure largely resisted by American and European breeders in recent times. Even in creating his own empire, in Japan, Deep Impact himself suffered from the way reputations become self-fulfilling according to environment. His most proficient European runner, Saxon Warrior, had a turf family but a running style tailormade for dirt. Kept to grass, he ended up being viewed as rather an enigma, without an optimum distance. Who knows? Had Saxon Warrior been tried on dirt, he might now be standing at Ashford, instead of in Co Tipperary. That way, the legacy of his grandsire might yet have found some expression on the surface across which Sunday Silence achieved greatness. As it is, Deep Impact has been taken from us at 17, living only a year longer than his sire. And, with his books dominated by turf mares, you have to doubt whether the versatility and variegation stored in his pedigree will ever be allowed to percolate with the same freedom. The post Impact Only So Deep Because Broad as Well appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

He keeps on playing the same old tune and never with less than a bravura performance, as was wonderfully evident yet again when flat racing's supreme marathon man Stradivarius made Qatar Goodwood Cup (G1) history July 30. View the full article

Day 3 of the festival sees dual 1000 Guineas heroine Hermosa try to get her season back on track having come up short at Ascot. Threat looks the standout runner in the Richmond Stakes, with Aidan looking to complete a quickfire double with Constantinople in the Gordon Stakes. Goodwood Handicap Walkinthesand has to give lots […] The post Glorious Goodwood Day 3 Preview – Hermosa Has Nassau Notions appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Natagora (Fr) (Divine Light {Jpn}-Reinamixa {Fr}, by Linamix {Fr}), winner of the 2008 G1 1000 Guineas for owner Stefan Friborg and trainer Pascal Bary, has died at Shadwell Stud aged 14, according to Racing Post. A €30,000 Arqana October yearling purchase by Patrick Barbe, Natagora was never worse than second in seven starts at two and posted five wins, including the G1 Cheveley Park S., G2 Prix Robert Papin and G3 Prix du Bois. She won the 1000 Guineas by a half-length under Christophe Lemaire and while she wouldn’t visit the winner’s enclosure again in six starts, she was third in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club and G1 Prix Jacques le Marois, and also picked up placings behind the brilliant older milers Goldikova (Ire) (Anabaa) and Paco Boy (Ire) (Desert Style {Ire}) in the G1 Prix Rothschild and the G1 Prix de la Foret. She was retired upon the conclusion of her 3-year-old campaign and sold privately to Shadwell. Natagora produced nine live foals, headed by the listed-winning Mankib (GB) (Tamayuz {GB}) and the listed-placed Raaqy (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), and she is also the second dam of the G3 Sweet Solera S. winner Tajaanus (Ire) (Arcano {Ire}). She has an as-yet unraced 2-year-old colt by Invincible Spirit (Ire) named Haidarah (GB), a yearling filly by Frankel and a colt foal by Sea The Stars (Ire). The post Guineas Winner Natagora Dies appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

With Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) delivering for Frankie on Tuesday, the weight of expectation now rests on Too Darn Hot (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) to maintain the run in Wednesday’s G1 Qatar Sussex S. at Goodwood. In many ways, the Lloyd-Webbers’ ‘TDN Rising Star’ was the one who at the start of the season promised most to make this a memorable season for Dettori with his unbeaten streak culminating in juvenile champion status. That it has hardly gone to any kind of plan so far in 2019 is well-documented, but now that his year has been redeemed in authoritative style in the G1 Prix Jean Prat at Deauville July 7 he comes to these famous Downs with confidence of horse and jockey at an optimum. Tuesday’s rain was insufficient to stretch his stamina beyond its limit and John Gosden has no concerns on that score. “He handles any ground,” he said. “Finally, we are letting the horse do what he wants to do–run and show his speed and class. He is an extremely fast horse with bundles of natural speed and we were stupidly trying to take that away from him. When you watch him, he is powerful and Frankie said that his stride pattern is so quick. We went to France with a lot of confidence, because his work was brilliant going in. He just showed he had come back to himself, because he went through a hellish spring.” Surprising many at a rain-afflicted opening day at Royal Ascot, Circus Maximus (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) bids to repeat his G1 St James’s Palace S. heroics having been trained specifically for a miling campaign in the interim. Aidan O’Brien spoke after that June 18 contest of how the Niarchos colour-bearer had been rushed into the race having run sixth in the G1 Epsom Derby 17 days beforehand, but he will arrive here with greater fine-tuning to cope with a more pronounced speed test. “He gets that mile well,” his trainer commented. “He was left in the Guineas up to a late enough stage, as we always thought he was a very nice horse last year.” Disappointing when sixth in the St James’s Palace, Tony Wechsler and Ann Plummer’s Phoenix of Spain (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) has been revitalised at home by Charlie Hills in an attempt to engage the spirit of the dynamic G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner. At least part of that May 25 Classic-winning performance is due to The Curragh’s crazy pace bias when the ground rides fast and he has a question to answer now. “It was horrible conditions for that race [the St James’s Palace] and it was getting quite loose on top. I felt he didn’t handle that surface too well,” Hills explained. “He ran a huge race in Ireland after a long lay-off, so there was always a chance of a bounce. He was quite stiff after Ascot and not quite 100% sound, but he came good after three or four days. I am really pleased with the way he is moving now and I think he must have just tweaked a muscle at Ascot. He seems in a much better place and I am really happy with him.” The older milers continue to beat each other in turn, but veteran journeymen horses have managed to win this for the past two years in the 7-year-olds Here Comes When (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) and Lightning Spear (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) and Lord Glitters (Fr) (Whipper) and Zabeel Prince (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) take up the mantle this time. Both Group 1 winners at or around this trip, they have been ignored by the punters largely due to the fact that they have been exposed in unfavourable conditions. Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum’s Zabeel Prince in particular is a fascinating contender over a distance at which he was second in the G2 Joel S. at Newmarket in September. Roger Varian said of Zabeel Prince, “I don’t think it’s gone his way over 10 furlongs. Unfortunately I’ve run over that trip at two of the stiffest tracks in the country, in Ascot and Sandown. I still feel he might get an easy 10, but we are bringing him back for the time being. At Ascot the ground was bottomless and in the Eclipse nothing was going better two out, but he got stopped in his run so Andrea [Atzeni] had to check him which lost him his momentum. You don’t find easy Group 1s and the Sussex is certainly no exception, but I think he’s still in great form. He deserves his chance and I think he’s capable of running a big race.” In the five-furlong G3 Molecomb S., Liberty Beach (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}) bids to confirm the impression that she created with an emphatic success in the Listed Dragon S. at Sandown July 5. Her trainer John Quinn is a master when it comes to bringing smart 2-year-olds to these signature races, had the winner of Tuesday’s maiden here and is happy with his latest filly sensation. “She’s been a revelation and this looked the logical place to come after Sandown,” he commented. “We’ve been very pleased with her and she seems in very good form, but this is another step up for her. All these races she has to run in are very competitive, but we’re happy with her and we’re hoping for a very big run. She’s won on quick ground twice, but she coped with very soft ground at Ascot so you can’t say she’s ground-dependent.” Richard Ravin’s Maven (American Pharoah) held on to win Chantilly’s G3 Prix du Bois over this trip last time June 29 and has to improve off that. Wesley Ward said, “I know they called it good-to-soft at Chantilly and, while I wasn’t there, I don’t see how it could have been because they moved the meeting back a few hours as it was so hot. He really wouldn’t want much rain. The horse is in great form. He’s been training really well, so we’ve just got to hope there’s not much rain. The same thing happened a couple of years ago when we wanted to run Happy Like a Fool–the heavens opened. We’ve got the right man on board anyway, the magic man Frankie, so we’ll see what happens.” Clive Cox saddled a top juvenile prospect in Positive (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) to be second in Tuesday’s G2 Vintage S. and supplies Hand On My Heart (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}) for the Molecomb. She took a Windsor conditions event on the same day that Maven captured the Bois and is well-regarded by connections. “Clive has always spoken highly of her since day one,” Sam Hoskins, representing owners Hot To Trot Racing, said. “We’ve been lucky enough to be associated with her two sisters–Heartache who won the Queen Mary and Heartwarming who is very talented. She wouldn’t want too much rain, but from what Clive is saying it won’t be lack of ability that will beat her. In saying that, it is a hot race and Liberty Beach will be very hard to beat. We’ve definitely got an each-way shout and it’s great to have Ryan Moore on board as well.” The post Over Too You appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article