Wandering Eyes

Horses that arrive in Hong Kong carrying high expectations often take time to reach their best, however Ricky Yiu Poon-fai believes Shining Gem may be able to buck that trend at Sha Tin on Saturday. The smart three-year-old, who has won at Group level in Australia, runs in the Class Three Sha Tin Racecourse 40th Anniversary Handicap (1,000m) this weekend and Yiu is looking forward to seeing what his gelding can produce. “He’s a nice horse. He’s had a few trials and had looked... View the full article

Star jockey Tye Angland is facing the prospect he could be left a quadriplegic after an update on his conditon following his horror fall in Hong Kong last month. View the full article

Jockey Tye Angland faces the “likelihood” of being a quadriplegic after suffering a serious spinal cord injury in a horror fall at Sha Tin on November 25. The Australian Jockeys’ Association provided an update on his condition on Thursday, revealing Angland fractured and dislocated his spine when he was speared headfirst into the ground after Go Beauty Go stumbled just after the start of the ninth race. “As a result of the fall, Tye had a fracture and dislocation of the... View the full article

Maybe he liked the warm weather, or maybe he liked the track. Whatever the difference, Hronis Racing's Gift Box stepped to the next level in his first start in Southern California Dec. 26 with a win in the $300,000 San Antonio Stakes (G2). View the full article

River Boyne posted his fourth stakes win of the season on the Santa Anita Park turf and fifth stakes score overall in 2018 when he held off challenges from his inside and outside to prevail in the Mathis Brothers Mile Stakes (G2T) Dec. 26. View the full article

The silks of Karl Watson, Mike Pegram, and Paul Weitman burst to the front, and McKinzie powered away from an overmatched field to win the Malibu Stakes (G1) by 4 3/4 lengths under jockey Mike Smith. View the full article

MCKINZIE (c, 3, Street Sense–Runway Model, by Petionville) asserted his superiority over a strong group of sophomores as the 6-5 favorite in Wednesday’s GI Malibu S. The ‘TDN Rising Star‘annexed the GI Pennsylvania Derby with a strong 107 Beyer Speed Figure two back Sept. 22, but had last been seen finishing a far-back 12th in the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. Sitting off a crowded pace early, the bay circled up outside of foes heading for home and kicked away convincingly in midstretch to romp by some eight lengths in 1:22.48. Identity Politics (Into Mischief) completed the exacta before surviving an objection. Still Having Fun (Old Fashioned) and Axelrod (Warrior’s Reward) were third and fourth, respectively. Sales history: $170,000 yrl ’16 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 7-5-1-0. O-Pegram, Watson & Weitman. B-Summer Wind Farm (Ky). T-Bob Baffert. View the full article

Dare to Dream Stable so far has been a fitting ownership name for a horse like Spiced Perfection, who put it all together Dec. 26 at Santa Anita Park. View the full article

Moor aiming higher in 2019 View the full article

Jerome Tan to train at Kranji View the full article

GIFT BOX (h, 5, Twirling Candy–Special Me, by Unbridled’s Song), making his first start for these high-profile West Coast connections, stalked and pounced heading for home and eventually wore down the stubborn Battle of Midway (Smart Strike) to make the grade in the GII San Antonio S. The grey stopped the clock in 1:43.88. Dabster (Curlin) was third. Originally campaigned by W. S. Farish and conditioned by Chad Brown, Gift Box was named a ‘TDN Rising Star‘ for a Belmont allowance romp in May of 2016. He had already finished third in the GII Remsen S. the prior November and subsequently finished second in Saratoga’s Curlin S. later that year. Winless in two more graded tries that term, he was 0-for-4 with three seconds as a 4-year-old and missed by a nose in an Aqueduct optional claimer this past February before airing in a similar spot in March. He was acquired privately thereafter. Sales history: $135,000 wnlg ’13 FTKNOV. Lifetime Record: 14-4-5-2. O-Hronis Racing LLC. B-Machmer Hall, Carrie & Craig Brogden (Ky). T-John W Sadler. View the full article

Dan Kenny, a Kentucky-based bloodstock agent also known for his work as a television commentator on racing broadcasts, died Christmas Day in Atlanta after battling Lewy body dementia. Tony Lacy, the sales and bloodstock consultant for Four Star Sales, where Kenny had been a partner, confirmed the death via phone on Wednesday. He said he believed Kenny was 73. “He handled his illness very bravely. Dan was an inspiration to us all. Not only was he a mentor to a lot of people, but he was just an all-around great person,” Lacy said. Kenny had moved into an assisted living center about a year ago, and recently had to be switched to hospice care because of the progression of his illness, Lacy said. “He was with his family–his son and his brother live down there. It wasn’t unexpected, but obviously we’re sad to see him go,” Lacy said. “To be quite Frank, Dan was a good horseman, but an even better person,” Lacy said. “And I think it’s a true testament to anybody’s character to be remembered that way. Dan lived life to the fullest. He never missed an opportunity to experience something that was worthwhile. To him, a stranger was a friend he hadn’t met yet.” According to his Four Star Sales biography, Kenny was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and began his bloodstock work in 1972 after first embarking upon a career as a journalist. He honed his Thoroughbred experience in Canada and California before establishing his own farm in Kentucky in 1993, advising clients through the firm Dan Kenny Bloodstock. Outside of the auction scene, broodmares and matings were Kenny’s specialty, and his bio noted that he was most proud of having purchased In Neon, the eventual 1998 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year, for longtime client John Franks. Kenny was also known for selecting the future dam of Eclipse Award winner Chilukki, the champion 2-year-old filly of 1999. Kenny was also involved in the Thoroughbred industry as an auction announcer, bloodstock appraiser, sales consignor, horse owner, and broadcast commentator with NBC, ESPN and CBC. He had served as a director of the Kentucky Equine Education Project and as chairman for the Oral History Committee at the University of Kentucky. “He loved to travel, he loved the industry, he loved the sport,” Lacy said. “He was always in the press box at various racetracks, and if there was a microphone or a camera, he was always in front of it. Dan was very knowledgeable, very shrewd, a great handicapper. He had a true, true passion for the sport. “He loved the characters that were involved, at all levels,” Lacy summed up. “He was a person who could speak to a Hollywood celebrity, and be just as comfortable chatting with a hotwalker in the barn. I’ve never met anybody who didn’t like him, and I think the way he lived his life was an example to all of us.” Funeral arrangements are pending. View the full article

Dare to Dream Stable so far has been a fitting ownership name for a horse like Spiced Perfection, who put it all together Dec. 26 at Santa Anita Park. View the full article

SPICED PERFECTION (f, 3, Smiling Tiger–Perfect Feat, by Pleasantly Perfect) led home a one-two finish for Cal-bred fillies in the GI La Brea S. Wednesday. The bay kicked on from midpack and rallied over the top to defeat Hot Autumn (Tiz Wonderful) by about two lengths. Emboldened (Elusive Quality) went for a very early run before flattening out some in the lane and settling for third. Her heavily favored and previously unbeaten stablemate Dream Tree (Uncle Mo) came up empty turning for home and finished far back. The winner, a $6,500 BAROCT yearling turned $50,000 BARMAR juvenile, had last been seen annexing Del Mar’s Betty Grable S. going this distance Nov. 11. Lifetime Record: 14-6-4-2. O-Dare to Dream Stable LLC. B-Premier Thoroughbreds LLC (CA). T-Brian Koriner. View the full article

National Flag (Speightstown–Date to Remember, by Bernardini) will stand the 2019 breeding season at Blazing Meadows Farm as part of an expanded partnership between WinStar Farm and Tim Hamm’s Ohio farm. “He is a beautiful horse that was loaded with talent,” WinStar Farm CEO Elliott Walden said of the 3-year-old. “He came down with a severe case of EPM after the GIII Pat Day Mile on Derby day that unfortunately ended his career prematurely. He showed his class and talent at the best racetracks in the country, winning at Saratoga, Gulfstream and Aqueduct, and is by the versatile sire Speightstown, who I love as a sire of sires.” Racing for WinStar, China Horse Club International and SF Racing, National Flag won three of six starts, including this year’s GIII Bay Shore S. for trainer Todd Pletcher. “We have produced some top Ohio-breds with WinStar over the last few years and I am excited about the talent, looks, and pedigree that National Flag brings to Ohio,” Hamm said. “Our partnership bought 10 mares at the Keeneland November sale, and we have seen local interest in National Flag with over 20 mares on his book already. We hope he will be a leading sire in Ohio for the next decade.” National Flag will participate in WinStar’s popular “Dream Big” program and will offer breeders an opportunity to earn a lifetime breeding right when they breed and produce two live foals at the advertised fee of $2,500. For more information on the program, contact Gavin O’Connor of WinStar Farm at 859-285-2871 or goconnor@winstarfarm.com. View the full article

Usually when a horse is entered in a pair of races a few days apart, it means they'll run in one and scratch out of the other. That may not be the case for Red Baron's Barn, Rancho Temescal, and Shanderella Stables' Amandine. View the full article

Morning Line (Tiznow–Indian Snow, by A.P. Indy) has been sold and will stand the 2019 breeding season at Fred Alexander’s A & A Ranch in Anthony, New Mexico. The 11-year-old stallion, who previously stood at Lane’s End, is the sire of stakes winners Surrender Now and Empire Line, as well as Grade I placed Seven Trumpets. On the racetrack, Morning Line won the 2011 GI Carter H., 2010 GII Pennsylvania Derby and 2012 GII Mervyn LeRoy H. He was second in the 2010 GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and 2011 GI Donn H. Morning Line will stand for $3,500 in 2019. View the full article

So here we are, into a fourth intake of stallions, and we still don’t have even a bullet breeze to show whether or not they can produce stock that actually run. But at least the group we consider today is finally on the brink of testing the water, with their first yearlings now broken and preparing to launch on the track as juveniles of 2019. Unfortunately for some, the lack of meaningful evidence to this point means that impetuous breeders have already over-reacted to the few straws in the wind. Fees and books are beginning to slide. A stallion’s only chance to protect his reputation has come at the weanling and especially yearling sales–and many breeders will already have fled, knowing that future crops will be judged not according to market whims, but by his stock’s deeds on the track. It’s hard to feel sorry for those marketed as commercial prospects, if they already find themselves going out of fashion. For it was security from exposure on the track that first drove business their way–and breeders of nervous disposition have meanwhile been offered three fresh cycles of new sires. The end user, in contrast, is getting better and better value. And, of course, even commercial breeders can strike gold by holding their nerve now. By the time you sell a yearling conceived this coming spring, these sires will have put three previous books into play. In other words, it won’t just be those producing precocious 2-year-olds who will have had a chance to show what they can do. After all, it’s hardly as though the market has established an unerring sixth sense for the sires that are going to work. Year after year, the table of yearling sale averages is predictably dominated by the sires who retired at the highest fees. There will only be the odd one that slips or climbs markedly out of order, and even these bring no guarantee, one way or the other. We all know that many of the megasires, like Tapit (Pulpit) and War Front (Danzig), suffered the customary cooling in fee and demand until put in lights by their own flesh and blood on the track. The stallions eligible to sire a good horse are seldom identified through their debut at the yearling sales. In this latest group to endure trial by sales fire, then, we unsurprisingly find the top four averages achieved by stallions who respectively retired at the top, second, equal-fourth and equal-fourth fees of their intake. (They had filled the same slots, naturally from a smaller sample, in the table of foal averages the previous year.) Now as it happens they do look a legitimately strong group. But all of them, even the first Triple Crown winner in more than a generation, must take a deep breath now that the moment of truth approaches. Sure enough, having set out at $200,000 and been listed as “private” last year, AMERICAN PHAROAH (Pioneerof the Nile) courts his fourth book of mares at $110,000–despite having proved able to make even his giddy opening fee stand up at the yearling sales. With the experienced Coolmore team putting their shoulders reliably to the wheel, he sold 67 out of 85 yearlings at an average of $449,389, including half a dozen at seven figures. One way or another, it’s quite an achievement to keep up his end of the bargain so well that after covering 208 and 214 mares in his first two years, he managed to hold together 182 this time round. Throw in his Australian foals, and he already represents untold millions of investment. Perhaps the best thing that has happened for him this year is the emergence of his young half-sister Chasing Yesterday (Tapit), who now matches him as a juvenile Grade I winner. Another sibling had already been placed at that level, again at two, while their dam is a half-sister to two GSWs. So, it’s all working somehow, which warms the cockles for those of us who like to see some invigorating diversity along the bottom line: first three dams by Yankee Gentleman, Ecliptical and Tri Jet. As previously noted in this series, there have always been stellar Thoroughbreds who challenge us to think more deeply about the genetic threads they entwine. ‘TDN Rising Star‘ HONOR CODE (A.P. Indy), in contrast, could hardly have brought a more aristocratic family tree back to Lane’s End. From the last crop of his sire, he’s out of a Storm Cat grand-daughter of Serena’s Song (Rahy), the 11-time Grade I winner whose own date with Storm Cat produced Group 1 winner Sophisticat. It is a family brimming with GSWs and Honor Code played his full part, nosing out Cairo Prince (Pioneerof the Nile) in the GII Remsen and regrouping, after largely missing out at three, to win Grade Is in the Met Mile and Whitney with Beyers of 112 and 113, respectively. Many of his first yearlings bore an eerie stamp of Honor Code’s dark, glossy glamour and 61 of them changed hands, from 77 offered, at $220,303–with a significantly consistent median of $200,000. These numbers are well able to sustain him at his starting fee of $40,000, bearing in mind the resilience of his book: 154 mates this year, after 144 and 153 in his first two seasons. His buddy ‘TDN Rising Star‘ LIAM’S MAP (Unbridled’s Song) has fared every bit as well off a $25,000 start-up. He sold 64 out of 80 yearlings at $162,293, with a $150,000 median, again underlining the consistency in his stock. Great work from Lane’s End with these two, then, albeit they have given Liam’s Map a precautionary trim to $20,000 after his book dwindled to 114 this year from 148 and then 157. That’s pretty tempting when you recall the way Liam’s Map carried his speed for 114 Beyers in both his Grade Is, the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and the Woodward S., while only Honor Code himself could run him down in the Whitney. Though a late starter on the track, Liam’s Map is a half-brother to a precocious achiever in Not This Time (Giant’s Causeway)– whose own stud credentials got him on the value podium in the previous instalment of this series. As noted in connection with Not This Time, this is a bottom line that soon touches greatness: a third dam, for instance, by Damascus out of the daughter of Secretariat and Dr Fager’s half-sister Ta Wee! Not This Time’s late sire has another potential heir in ‘TDN Rising Star‘ CARPE DIEM (Giant’s Causeway), whose fee at WinStar is held at $25,000 after he weighed in fourth in the yearling averages with 73 of 94 selling at $134,704. He burned briefly, but brightly on the track, disappearing after finishing down the field in the Kentucky Derby, but an impressive Grade I winner at both two (second start, by over six lengths) and three, besides chasing home Texas Red (Afleet Alex) in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. At $1.6 million, Carpe Diem was his great sire’s most expensive yearling and duly proceeded to become his premier American earner, besides being his only Grade I winner on dirt. That yearling tag reflected not only his physique, but also a page that shows him to be a half-brother to a fellow GI Breeders’ Futurity S. winner in J.B.’s Thunder (Thunder Gulch) and dual Grade II winner Farrell (Malibu Moon) as well as two other GSP siblings. There are some pretty quirky names along the bottom line, but we’ve already observed how that can spice up a pedigree. His book held up pretty well this year–133 partners, after 162 and then 144 in his first two years–and it’s easy to envisage some early firecrackers on the track to keep the door revolving. At number five in the sales table, punching splendidly above weight off $15,000 at Hill ‘n’ Dale, take a bow ‘TDN Rising Star‘ BAYERN (Offlee Wild). An average of $107,634 for 52 sold, out of 64, represents a nine-fold yield on his fee–highlighted by a $600,000 filly. Bayern covered 139 mares in his first year, followed by books of 105 and 106. Turns out that these latter are ahead of the game. Had he not persevered for an unproductive campaign at four, nor had such an offbeat sire, Bayern could have retired at twice the fee or more. Once he got rolling at three, he piled it on from the front to win the GII Woody Stephens S. by 7 1/2 lengths (in 1:20.75) and the GI Haskell by 7 1/4 lengths, before regrouping after bombing in the Travers to take the GII Pennsylvania Derby by 5 3/4 lengths, and finally held out to break two minutes for the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. Offlee Wild made a promising start at stud, champion freshman sire of a champion juvenile filly, but failed to consolidate and was dispatched to Turkey the year Bayern was making hay. But the bottom line certainly shores things up: Bayern’s second dam is Grade II turf winner Aqualegia (Alydar), daughter of blue hen Courtly Dee (Never Bend); sister of champion juvenile filly Althea; and mother of Bertolini (Danzig), runner-up in three Group 1 sprints in England. Though what is especially fun about this pedigree is how quickly it spans the decades: Bayern’s fourth dam is by War Admiral! The way Bayern carried his seven-furlong speed is exactly what unites the commercial breeder with the one trying to breed a Derby horse. And with that bottom line, plus a sire and damsire (Thunder Gulch) who excelled at Classic distances, you really can’t put a limit on what you might get for a $15,000 cover. A no-brainer for the value podium. Next in the sale yields is a stallion who’s finding the going rather stickier in ‘TDN Rising Star‘ TONALIST (Tapit). Lane’s End have done so well with the other pair in this intake–who also, as it happens, had the measure of Tonalist when relegating him to third in the GI Whitney S.–but quickly repented of advertising this four-time Grade I winner at $40,000. Consecutive cuts to $30,000 and $20,000 enabled him to stabilise his book impressively, at 124 after covering 138 and 115 mares in his first two seasons, but he now shrinks to $15,000. Perhaps the drastic correction to his fee infected the psychology of the market, where 41 of 61 yearlings found a home at $103,036. (Remember that his first weanlings had actually been processed at a far better clearance rate than those of Honor Code, for instance). But his latest fee actually looks very fair value for an exemplary Thoroughbred whose stock, after all, has yet to be given a hearing on the track. Because Tonalist packages together much that a far-sighted breeder might want to replicate, as a Belmont winner who rounded off with a Grade I win at a mile, in the meantime retaining the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup at the intermediate distance. You could set your watch by his 11 triple-digit Beyers, and he backs all this up with a spectacular bottom line: his dam is a half-sister to the mothers of Horse of the Year Havre de Grace (Saint Liam) and dual Grade I winner Riskaverse (Dynaformer), out of a half-sister to champion Plugged Nickle (Key to the Mint). The next dam Toll Booth was not only Broodmare of the Year, but also a half-sister to Gay Missile, ancestress of A.P. Indy among many other high achievers on and off the track. PALACE MALICE (Curlin) had a similar career, winning the Belmont before dropping back to win a Grade I mile–the Met, no less–at four and racking up eight consecutive Beyers in three figures. He also joins Tonalist this year at $15,000, from an opening fee at Three Chimneys of $20,000, having sold 59 of 84 yearlings at $74,644. From the first crop of his sire, he could not reward connections for keeping him in training at five, but similar perseverance may yet pay off for breeders. It must be said that his book has dropped pretty steeply, down to 65 this year, but he will have a chance with a first crop of 158 covers. Splitting Tonalist and Palace Malice in seventh in the sales averages is LEA (First Samurai), a highly creditable achievement for one who started at $12,500. He’s an interesting case. Though his weanlings were very well received, he had meanwhile mustered only 46 mares (down from 100) for his second book so Claiborne threw down the gauntlet with a cut to $7,500. A characteristically smart move: he received 125 guests this time round, and then sold 41 of 52 yearlings at $87,200. Admittedly that’s more than double his median, but the vendors of a $650,000 colt won’t be bothered about that. Out of a Galileo (Ire) half-sister to three Group winners on turf, Lea nonetheless won the GI Donn H. on dirt and chased home Liam’s Map in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Only caught late when switched back onto the lawn for the GI Woodbine Mile, Lea was as versatile as he was hardy (better than ever in his fourth season on the track). By an under-rated sire, he looks a very solid wager at these odds. No stallion in their intake put more yearlings into the ring than the one who narrowly denied Lea in his defence of the Donn, ‘TDN Rising Star‘ CONSTITUTION (Tapit) moving on 73 out of 98 at $71,424. Having hitherto stood at $25,000, he gets a businesslike cut to $15,000 from WinStar after a typical third-season slide, from books of 172 and 143 to 110. His Donn performance got a 111 Beyer, he already had a GI Florida Derby to his name, and his dam–also responsible for a Group 2-winning juvenile in England–is a Distorted Humor half-sister to Grade I Forego S. winner Emcee (Unbridled’s Song). The top 10 on the sales chart is completed by FAST ANNA (Medaglia d’Oro), whose 31 sales (from 42 in the ring) worked out at $55,919-good work off his $7,500 start-up at Three Chimneys. As with Lea, that’s quite a lot higher than his median, but again there was one particularly happy customer, who sold a $400,000 colt. Though unraced at two, he proved full of natural speed when blitzing his first two races and was then only cut down late in no less a race than the GI King’s Bishop S. That proved to be as good as it would get, but that was plenty good enough for 120 mares in his first season. He covered half as many this year, but his performance at the sales may encourage breeders to have a second look at his pedigree. Obviously his own career reiterates the amazing diversity funnelled through his sire and grandsire, but his family is classy and connects him to another major conduit of that grandsire’s legacy–his second dam being a half-sister to none other than Kitten’s Joy (El Prado {Ire}). And Fast Anna owes his peculiar name, of course, to his dam Dreaming Of Anna, champion 2-year-old filly and a sister to a fast horse in dual GII winner Lewis Michael (Rahy). Kitten’s Joy, incidentally, is damsire of a stallion that appealed strongly this time last year, after a very warm reception for his weanlings. SUMMER FRONT (War Front)’s yearling sales went well enough–48 of 68 sold at $52,645–for Airdrie to hold him at $10,000. He’s another of those whose average doubles his median, but again that reflects a couple of home-run paydays, for instance a colt for $325,000 and filly for $275,000. He’s a physical knockout: War Front was not yet War Front, remember, when he changed hands for $475,000 as a second- crop yearling. And he underwrote his class with a fifth Grade I podium at the age of six, having held his form every season from two onwards (GSW at three, four and five). He’s a half-brother to one Grade I winner in Laragh (Tapit) out of a half-sister to another in Siphonic (Siphon {Brz}), and managed a third three-figure book after starting out with 137 mares. Perhaps the most remarkable set of covering statistics has been assembled by TAPITURE (Tapit) at Darby Dan. Having started off with 176 partners at $7,500, he covered 165 last year and this time round maintained an industrial output of no fewer than 184. Transactions were also brisk at the sales, 67 yearlings processed out of 88 at $50,219. A multiple GSW who also chased home Goldencents (Into Mischief) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, he does have a pretty plain page–first graded success appears only under the fourth dam–albeit he has two stakes-placed brothers. Actually his damsire Olympio (Naskra), if hardly a potent influence, is a quietly effective broodmare sire: daughters have produced elite winners in France, Japan and the U.S. Another son of Tapit hoping to contest what is becoming a pretty competitive legacy is RACE DAY, who started at Spendthrift off $7,000 and has had a small trim to $6,000 after 38 of 52 yearlings averaged $32,263. His books have proved less resilient than those of Tapiture, down from 155 to 96 and 82, but he is a triple GSW with a bunch of big times to his name; and he’s out of a half-sister to GI Kentucky Oaks winner Lite Light (Majestic Light). On the face of it COMPETITIVE EDGE (Super Saver) took a pretty thin page to Ashford, albeit his third dam produced a GII Blue Grass S. winner. But the next dam Anjelicco (Angle Light) produced several elite performers or producers, and there was no denying the natural speed manifested by Competitive Edge as a juvenile at Saratoga: a 10-length maiden winner early in the meet, and then a 5 3/4-length success in the GI Hopeful S. The world appeared to be at his feet when he resumed the following spring with two more daylight scores, but he lost his way terminally in only three more starts. Predictably there was plenty of commercial demand for that precocious speed, and he covered 160 mares at $12,500 in his first season, and moved on 62 of 80 yearlings at $48,252. But he will need help from that big initial crop if he is to regroup, after two troubled years since, at $7,500. COMMISSIONER (A.P. Indy), nailed on the line by Tonalist in the Belmont, later won two Grade IIIs and a Grade II to earn as many as 154 partners for his first season at WinStar, at $7,500. His two subsequent books measured 119 and 92, but his GSP dam is by a model broodmare sire in Touch Gold and has also produced GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint runner-up Laugh Track (Distorted Humor). Besides being one of his sire’s last sons to retire to stud, Commissioner has a lot of senatorial names up-and-down his family tree: notably that of Buckpasser, who recurs as damsire of both Touch Gold and A.P. Indy’s dam Weekend Surprise (Secretariat). That gives a legitimate foundation for his 55 yearlings sold, out of 72, at $44,534. In fact a bottom line tracing to the venerable Rough Shod II clinches him a place on the value podium. Another venerable sire, though one sadly departed, also makes PALACE (City Zip) of interest. He was very fairly priced indeed by Spendthrift, at $6,000, given that he was the hard-knocking winner of two Grade I dashes at Saratoga as resonant as the Forego S. and the Vanderbilt H. Much less accomplished racehorses in the intake nonetheless benefited from bigger opening books than 134 and 93, so it’s good to see his third book rallying to 116 after a $170,000 filly crowned 39 yearlings sales (of 52) at $41,467. His is admittedly not the deepest page you’ll ever see, but his dam is a half-sister to a Grade II winner out of a Grade II-placed mare. The same farm found a staggering 190 escorts for the opening book of WICKED STRONG (Hard Spun) at $10,000–exceeded nationally only by Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie), Into Mischief (Harlan’s Holiday), American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) and Kitten’s Joy (El Prado). The inundation did not pay off at the sales, 67 of 88 moved on for an average $29,221, and he has dropped to $7,500 after his book shrank to 139 and now 67. To be fair, it is every bit as silly to write him off without seeing his stock on the track as it was to stampede to an unproven stallion in the first place. He was good enough at two to get within half a length of Honor Code and Cairo Prince in the GII Remsen, got his Grade I in the Wood Memorial and finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby before beating Tonalist in the GII Jim Dandy S. Though he couldn’t win at four, he kept the best of company and showed up every time. He’s out of a half-sister to several Graded stakes animals and a big initial footprint on the track could very easily renew his momentum. KARAKONTIE (JPN) (Bernstein) represented an awful lot of horse at an opening fee of $15,000 but Gainesway have now had to trim him to $10,000 to help myopic breeders see the sheer class on offer. It’s rather pathetic to see him dignified by just 57 and 43 mares over the past two seasons, down from an opening book of 113, but these things tend to be self-fulfilling and his 50 yearling sales, from 63 offered, averaged no more than $38,770. Hardly the only turf sire to struggle at auction in the U.S., of course, but those who have kept the faith will surely have the last laugh. A Group 1 winner at two and Classic winner at three in his homeland, he advertised his genetic wares to the American market in the Breeders’ Cup Mile with a 110 Beyer. And what wares! Out of Miesque’s granddaughter by Sunday Silence, he is from one of the elite families in the book. It did not help his cause that he was unable to justify his owners in persevering on the track at four, or that his sire remains underrated despite Tepin. But Karakontie certainly offers real value to the end-user. DAREDEVIL (More Than Ready) has a more obvious profile for many commercial breeders, having melted the clock in the GI Champagne S. He didn’t go on, but does have a proper page: his dam, also responsible for GI Donn H. winner Albertus Maximus (Albert The Great), is out of a Grade I winner who has also produced a couple of elite turf runners in Europe. His 43 yearling sales, out of 61, achieved an ordinary $33,939 off a $12,500 cover, but WinStar had already taken action, cutting him to $7,500. And they had a very auspicious response, getting him his biggest book in his third year-up to 140, from 123 and 113. Lane’s End have held MR SPEAKER (Pulpit) at $10,000 despite a low-key market reception, 36 of 48 yearlings selling at $31,630. Obviously losing a year after his suspension for Chilean ticks made his an uphill cause, but he’s a good-looking Grade I winner out of a Grade II-placed daughter of the great Personal Ensign. He was welcomed back by 86 mares this year and Mr Speaker deserves a second hearing. SECRET CIRCLE (Eddington) was a very accomplished runner, winner of the GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint and G1 Golden Shaheen, and you have to love the way he held his form through five years. Hill ‘n’ Dale made full allowance for the fact that he’s much the best by his sire when starting him at $5,000, and he’s out of a half-sister to a Grade I-placed GSW. His book this year was small, but he did sell his yearlings at a very brisk ratio, 21 out of only 25 weighing in at $36,673-including one filly for $180,000. The same fee will get you access to some stellar genes through SKY KINGDOM (Empire Maker) at Darby Dan, albeit he could not translate them into success beyond Grade III level. His dam is out of a Classic-placed sister to A.P. Indy, and his good looks and page told in a $185,000 filly, one of 16 yearlings sold out of 19 at $31,281. CONVEYANCE (Indian Charlie), standing for the same tag at Buck Pond Farm, was an unbeaten juvenile who resumed with two Grade III wins as a sophomore. He did not appear to stand regular racing thereafter but had plenty of dash on his day, sold all but one of his 25 yearlings at $25,041, and has a bottom line that gets pretty royal in time. That is also true of JACK MILTON (War Front), who extends a classy Claiborne family for $6,500 at Crestwood. Winner of the Grade I Maker’s 46 Mile, he is a brother to a Grade III winner (also on turf) and their second dam is a half-sister to the dam of champion juvenile War Pass (Cherokee Run). His yearlings found the going tough at market, however, and likewise the Spendthrift pair MEDAL COUNT (Dynaformer) and Kentucky Derby third DANZA (Street Boss). The latter pair struggled for mares this year and now stand at $3,500, but all these sires–from American Pharoah down–now have the chance at least to let their runners do the talking. CHRIS McGRATH’S VALUE PODIUM Gold: Liam’s Map $20,000, Lane’s End Silver: Bayern $15,000, Hill ‘n’ Dale Bronze: Commissioner $7,500, WinStar View the full article

BIG SCOTT DADDY (c, 2, Scat Daddy–Last Song {GSW & GISP, $336,483}, by Unbridled’s Song), purchased at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Turf Showcase but debuting here on the main track, took some early nibbles in the wagering before settling at 8-1. Away well from his wide draw, he was unable to ever really tuck in and was parked far out in the track behind splits of :21.65 and :45.23. He picked off horses ominously heading for home, took over in upper stretch and held sway late by 3/4 of a length from now two-time runner-up Ka’nah (Gio Ponti). Sales history: $140,000 yrl ’17 FTKTUR. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0. O-Slugo Racing or Paymaster Racing LLC. B-Southern Equine Stables LLC (Ky). T-Mike Puype. View the full article

AMANDINE (GB) (f, 3, Shamardal–Kissable {Ire} {G1SP-Ire, SW & GSP-US, $225,919}, by Danehill Dancer {Ire}) had competed mostly in handicaps in her native country for trainer David Simcock and her breeder, but is now two-for-two Stateside after an impressive score in Wednesday afternoon’s Lady Shamrock S. Purchased privately after a runner-up finish at Newmarket Sept. 22, the bay resurfaced going this distance at Del Mar Nov. 22 and blew away her competition from far back to score by 3 1/4 lengths. Made the 9-5 second choice here behind only SW/MGSP Ms Bad Behavior (Blame), the dark bay showed more early speed to sit in midpack along the fence. Tipped off the fence to tackle Ms Bad Behavior in upper stretch, she inhaled that foe willingly and ran up the score to three lengths, stopping the clock in 1:35.10. The winner’s dam was Group 1-placed in Ireland before coming to the U.S. and winning Saratoga’s Waya S. over 1 1/2 miles and finishing third in that venue’s GIII Glens Falls S. over 11 furlongs. She hails from the family of G1SW Brian Boru (GB) (Sadler’s Wells), MG1SW Workforce (GB) (King’s Best) and GI Breeders’ Cup Turf runner-up Sea Moon (GB) (Beat Hollow {GB}). Lifetime Record: 13-3-4-3. O-Red Baron’s Barn LLC, Rancho Temescal LLC & Shanderella Stables. B-Lordship Stud (GB). T-Jeff Mullins. View the full article

In this continuing series, Alan Carasso takes a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running on a rare Friday program at Hanshin, the first of a three-day weekend of racing to close out 2018: Friday, December 28, 2018 2nd-HSN, ¥9,550,000 ($86k), Maiden, 2yo, 1400m TOKYO SABAKU (c, 2, Verrazano–Night and Day, by Unbridled’s Song), a $250K Keeneland September acquisition, is a close relative of Made You Look (More Than Ready), a graded winner on the turf at ages two and three, and is out of an unplaced daughter of the legendary champion and 11-time Grade I winner Serena’s Song (Rahy). The latter is the dam of 10 winners from 13 to race, including G1SW Sophisticat (Storm Cat) and GSW Harlington (Unbridled). B-The Robert & Beverly Lewis Trust (KY) 8th-HSN, ¥14,250,000 ($128k), Allowance, 3yo/up, 1600mT MOZU DADDY (c, 3, Scat Daddy–Batalha, by Smart Strike) finished a close second in an 1800m maiden at Hanshin in September (video, gate 17) and since defeated inferior competition in a pair of tries on the dirt at Sonoda on the NAR circuit, including a 10-length romp Oct. 25. A $300K KEESEP grad, the chestnut is out of a stakes-placed half-sister to GSW & MGISP Strong Contender (Maria’s Mon). B-Mr & Mrs Oliver S Tait (KY) View the full article

It was a banner 2018 season for owner Peter Brant, who picked up no fewer than seven Grade I victories alone and in partnership, four of those courtesy of Eclipse Award candidate Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}). Brant has turned to European-breds for a good deal of success and it was the meticulously bred Demarchelier (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) who was tagged a ‘TDN Rising Star’ with a sensational debut victory at Aqueduct in late October. Purchased by Brant for 425,000gns ($592,486) out of the 2017 Tattersalls October Book 1 sale, attractive bay settled in midpack after leaving from gate one and travelled sweetly on the turn. He looked to have too much to do with a furlong to travel, but finished full of run to take it by a head (video). Bred by Newsells Park, Demarchelier hails from an outstanding female family including champions Yesterday (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells) and Quarter Moon (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells), each of whom posted victories in the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas at three. With races like the $1.2-million GI Belmont Derby and $500,000 GII Hill Prince S. in his summer backyard and other lucrative events for sophomore turfers across the country, the future looks very bright for Demarchelier. –Alan Carasso, Managing Editor View the full article

After its popularity earlier this year, Young Guns returns with all new questions for young professionals. Today we speak with trainer Carla O’Halloran who is a trainer based in Chantilly, France. TDN: Tell us about your career to date? Carla O’Halloran: Showjumping until I was 16, amateur rider in Spain and Italy (champion in 2003 and in 2007, respectively) and jockey in France while working for Alain de Royer Dupre before starting my career as a trainer. TDN: If you could be one person in the industry for a day who would it be and why? COH: Maybe John Gosden, I could spy on all of his good horses on a day out at work. TDN: What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? COH: Never give up. TDN: What is the best aspect of your current job? COH: It’s a privilege to be surrounded by horses every day. It’s a passion, to dream about better things in the future, hoping to have a nice horse for your next season. TDN: If you weren’t working in the horseracing industry what would you be doing? COH: Travelling the world. TDN: If you had 24 hours to get someone interested in the horseracing industry how would you do it? COH: Take them to a day at the races knowing we have a good runner, it’s a great feeling seeing the horses win, it’s impossible to explain, you would have to be there! TDN: What was your biggest achievement in 2018? COH: We probably didn’t achieve what we expected, let’s try in 2019. TDN: Who was your horse of 2018 and why? COH: Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), for her victories in the Arc and the Breeders’ Cup. TDN: What is your New Year’s resolution? COH: Hopefully to buy a stable yard. View the full article

For a jockey who has been widely praised for her determination, Nicola Currie has not been immune to periods of self-doubt. A comparatively late-bloomer at 25, she struggled without any tangible reward for some years and even briefly dropped out of race-riding altogether as she contemplated her future. Thrown a lifeline by trainer Richard Hughes, her turning point came in an apprentice handicap at Kempton on Dec. 20, 2016. The horse’s name, by sheer serendipity, was Believe It (Ire) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}). “I think it was probably after I rode my first winner, I then realised ‘right, I can actually do this’,” Currie recalls. “You kind of go out, and in your head you’re not very good. Another ride, another ride, great, but you ride to ride and to learn and not for the winners. When you do get that winner, you get that ‘sh*t, this is actually amazing and I could actually make a go of this’. To be able to watch the TV and go ‘I looked a bit better there’, and ‘I could do that better’. Seeing myself progress, that gave me the kick up the bum more than anything.” In another neat piece of symmetry, Currie notched the 100th winner of her career on that very same date, at Southwell last Thursday. She still rides out for Hughes once a week and is continuing a useful link with Newmarket trainer Phil McEntee. But the securing of a formal arrangement with Jamie Osborne, for whom she had that soul-searching tenure as well as her biggest victory to date on the well-backed Raising Sand (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) in a £180,000 handicap at Ascot, has clearly created particular satisfaction. “I was absolutely stone-dead useless when I started there, he gave me my first few rides and I just wasn’t dedicated enough at the time,” she says. “It took going to a bigger yard with Richard Hughes, which was fantastic, as the help he can give you is second to none after what he’s done, along with my jockey coach John Reid. “I’d just come to Lambourn, I wanted to be a jockey but I didn’t know what it took. I thought you’d just swan in and I needed that kick up the bum, which I got. Jamie has been good to me, he knows what it’s like, and for him to come back and see that I’ve realised you have to put every ounce of your time and effort in to make it work…he’s almost given me a second chance.” It was only in the early stages of 2018 when Currie started to get more widely noticed through a horse who became the face of the all-weather season. Spare Parts (Ire) (Choisir {Aus}), bought for a pittance by McEntee and owner Steve Jakes, gave her five wins and a ride on Finals day last Easter. “Phil would watch the apprentices throughout the summer and at the start of every winter he would pick out who he thought was progressing,” she explains of the link. “His horses kind of need claiming off and luckily he’d been watching me ride and asked me. “We had a lot of winners together and the publicity that came from Spare Parts was just unbelievable. So many people followed him and, being a front-runner, when you won on him people noticed.” Currie speaks adoringly about Spare Parts, the handicapper with the amusingly mundane stable nickname ‘Graham’. “He’s the most laid-back, placid horse you’ll sit on. He’s very genuine, and it’s difficult to find genuine horses. Not every horse wants to gallop to the line and win, and if a horse joins you, you’ll feel him try to find another gear even if he hasn’t got one. The will he has to win…I’ve not sat on many horses that do that, even good ones. “Phil’s daughter Grace rides him every day and he’s been going around Newmarket with antlers on his head. We still get messages every time he runs, saying people are watching out, best of luck and so on. It’s brilliant, it really is.” There has not been a triumphant resumption of the Spare Parts tale in three chapters this winter but his jockey urges his supporters to keep the faith. “Everyone comes up to me and says he won’t win off his mark, but I’m almost certain he will. He’s grown upwards and outwards, he looks like a different animal to last winter. We forget that when we got him he’d had a few runs in his old yard under his belt, with the break he’s going to take that bit longer to get back into it. We’ve been disappointed but he’ll come back.” McEntee’s yard is one of those which should supply a steady stream of chances but Currie, who lost her claim in mid-November, is only too aware of the choppy waters post-apprenticeship. She talks candidly of the same risks prevalent to most freelancers in even taking a week’s holiday lest a rival should swoop on one of her rides. “It’s tough, there are so many good jockeys now, you can be forgotten about in a few days.” Nonetheless, Currie has the ability to stand out from the crowd. Open and friendly with a soft Scottish accent, she is a rare sporting success story from the isle of Arran. Her exploits have prompted the locals to switch the racing on in her local pub, and a small fan club has evolved. She is also very much part of the small wave of female rising stars, being awarded Lady Jockey of the Year at the recent Stobart Lesters, and can take encouragement from the strides that the likes of Josephine Gordon and Hollie Doyle have made. Much like her close friend Gordon, she does not exactly wear her brand of feminism overtly, but it is certainly visible. View the full article

Jockey Joel Rosario has been riding at a career peak, piling up grade 1 wins, including three Breeders' Cup triumphs at Churchill Downs. View the full article