Wandering Eyes

Saturday Fin And Game Track: Haydock – 11:50 Jockey: Brian Hughes He his a nice horse but I am finding it hard to place him over fences at the moment, but he’s ready for a run so he will take his chance. I think he is fairly handicapped and although the ground may be an issue, I […] The post Donald McCain Blog – Saturday Runners appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Ascot My Pension Expert Handicap Chase The formidable partnership of Henderson and Jacob team up with the French import Janika. He was a four-time winner in his native country and now makes his British debut. He has been gelded since his last run and could just be anything. Paul Nicholls is responsible for another French […] The post Saturday Preview – Harry Hoping To Get His Head In Front Again appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

14:05 Southwell Mark Johnston’s progressive 3yo Matterhorn looks the one to beat here today. He could not have been more impressive when accounting easily for a decent field on handicap debut at Lingfield last time out by two lengths. The quick return out indicates there is plenty more to come and despite giving weight away […] The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Friday 21st December appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

About 2,200 miles away from Gulfstream Park, only a short walk apart in the Santa Anita Park barn area, reside the two favorites for the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1). View the full article

Newly minted graded stakes winner Life in Shambles will look to close out his 2018 campaign on a strong note, headlining a field of six in the $100,000 Gravesend Stakes for 3-year-olds and upward going six furlongs Dec. 23 at Aqueduct Racetrack. View the full article

The scheduled Dec. 21 racing card and morning training at Tampa Bay Downs have been cancelled because of ongoing heavy rain and anticipation of high winds in the Tampa Bay, Fla. area. View the full article

The Minnesota Racing Commission has reached settlements to resolve three high-level positives found in recent equine post-race drug tests. View the full article

When Sunday’s 11th race at Gulfstream came off the turf after overnight rains, it lost a lot of its luster, as the field of lightly raced 2-year-old fillies scratched down significantly, leaving little proven dirt form. But the group was not devoid of talent, as one promising young filly showed when romping to a professional score at first asking. Point of Honor (Curlin) was a popular item when put through the ring as hip 123 at the 2017 Keeneland September sale. After an intense round of bidding, the Siena Farms-bred chestnut topped out at $825,000. That wasn’t enough to reach her reserve, though the sum would’ve represented the second-highest lot for progeny of her sire at the marquee yearling auction had she sold. Instead, she was privately purchased by Donato Lanni of Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms and showed up Sunday in Hallandale in the relatively unfamiliar blue, lime green and white silks of Stetson Racing for trainer George Weaver. Comfortably settling in a stalking position as the narrow 19-10 race favorite, Point of Honor pounced on the pacesetters nearing the turn for home, switched leads without asking and drew off strongly to a sharp, six-length tally going 1 1/16 miles, always a demanding distance for a first-time starter (video). “We had kind of had some mixed signals; she had some good works on the dirt and the turf and she had come to the point where she was plenty fit enough,” Weaver said. “I chose to enter her in a turf race just to give her a run and see what she would do, but we did expect her to perform well and when they took it off the turf, I knew that she could handle the dirt very well. I definitely thought she had a decent chance to win and we were glad that not only did she win, but she did it pretty stylishly.” Weaver may not have exactly nailed down which surface his filly was cut out for prior to her debut, but the former assistant to Todd Pletcher purposefully looked for a two-turn race to open her account with, which made sense given her morning activity. “We liked her going in there, but she’s always been a filly that’s been workmanlike in her breezes,” he said. “She’s not the type of filly that’s going to break stopwatches and go in :46, but she always has acted like she’s had some class and quality to her. I didn’t want her to have to be chased after early in the race. I wanted her to have a chance to break and get in the bridle and not have to be hustling for the first quarter-mile, half-mile to keep up, because she’s just not a sprinter. It worked out very well and came together as I thought it would, so we’re very happy.” As for Point of Honor’s ownership, Stetson Racing is the brainchild of John Connelly, who made brief waves in the mid and late-2000s with trainer Bob Baffert under the name Stetson Land and Cattle, a California-based ranching company. The outfit’s crowning achievement came when capturing the 2007 GI Oak Leaf S. with Cry and Catch Me (Street Cry {Ire}), a Baffert trainee from the first crop of her Darley sire which also happened to feature a champion that year in GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile hero and eventual GI Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense. The dark bay was shelved for eight-plus months following her top-level tally and failed to recreate her peak form as a sophomore, but Connelly and Lanni took advantage of a significant update and realized a hefty profit when the former $150,000 Keeneland September buy and half-sister to 2012’s Cartier-winning Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Certify (Elusive Quality) hammered for $3.5 million to Live Oak Plantation at that term’s Fasig-Tipton November Sale. That, however, effectively marked the end of Stetson Land and Cattle’s involvement in racing, as it failed to win a race from just three starters afterward. “[Connelly] got out of the business and now he’s back in a little bit and I buy him horses,” Lanni said. “He’s in California and spreads his horses around. He’s a really good guy, real quiet. Hopefully we’ll see his name a lot more often.” Much of that may rely on the future of Point of Honor, who has impressed her conditioner with a temperament beyond her years thus far, particularly in Sunday’s unveiling. “It wasn’t a surprise when she went over there and performed the way she did and she really handled everything in the paddock and the post parade,” Weaver said. “She showed the class that she’s always been showing us in the morning.” Though Point of Honor earned a modest 71 Beyer for her performance, she’s bred to be precocious as a half-sister to juvenile SW Velvet Mood (Lonhro {Aus}) out of a half-sister to MGSP juvenile Capitano (Belong to Me), GSP juvenile Dilemma (Grand Slam) and Mr Freeze (To Honor and Serve), who flashed lofty talent as a 3-year-old this summer when crushing the GIII West Virginia Derby field by eight lengths. Weaver isn’t shy about having expectations for his filly, and he knows this is a good spot on the calendar to take your shots. “We’ll see how the filly’s doing, but she’s got a nice pedigree and we’ll definitely want to take advantage of any stakes opportunities that present themselves,” he said. “Gulfstream’s got a nice program, Tampa’s across the way there too. At this time of year, any time you have a 3-year-old that can handle going a distance of ground and can run well on the dirt, you’ve got to be thinking about those spots. We think she’s good enough to perform in them, so we’ll be looking at them.” View the full article

About 2,700 miles away from Gulfstream Park, only a short walk apart in the Santa Anita Park barn area, reside the two favorites for the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1). View the full article

About 3,700 miles away from Gulfstream Park, only a short walk apart in the Santa Anita Park barn area, reside the two favorites for the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1). View the full article

Tampa Bay Downs cancelled live racing and morning training Friday due to ongoing heavy rain and high winds in the area. The track will remain open for simulcasting and no-limits action in The Silks Poker Room. “We’re disappointed to lose a day of racing, but our No. 1 priority is the safety of our horses, jockeys and fans,” said Peter Berube, the track’s Vice President-General Manager. “Proper track maintenance is virtually impossible with the type of weather we’ve been getting. We appreciate the patience and understanding of our fans and look forward to putting on a full 10-race card Saturday, when sunshine is expected to return.” Berube said there is a possibility the lost date could be made up later in the meeting or by adding races to existing dates. View the full article

Daughters of the great A. P. Indy produced more North American stakes winners in 2018 than any other sire. He has sired the dams of 24 stakes winners so far this year, but is finishing 2018 with a real flourish through triple Grade I scorer and GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile hero Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}) and the recent GI Los Alamitos Futurity winner Improbable (City Zip). A. P. Indy’s tenure as one of the foremost broodmare sires in recent years may be coming to an end, but it looks like his influence–and that of his great sire Seattle Slew–among young broodmare sires is set to continue for some time yet. The youngest sire on our list is A. P. Indy’s son Bernardini, whose daughters have produced 13 stakes winners this year, including Grade I scorer Catholic Boy (More Than Ready). What’s really impressive so far about Bernardini’s performance is his career strike rate. Although it’s early days, his 9.5% stakes winner to runner score is hugely impressive. It’s a number the vast majority of sires struggle to attain with their own offspring, never mind as a broodmare sire. It’s the best on our list and higher than A. P. Indy’s 8.7%. Remarkably, it’s even better than Bernardini’s own strike rate as a sire. But we should not be surprised. Bernardini, after all, was bred to some of the finest broodmares throughout his career, particularly in the early part of it. A. P. Indy’s other younger broodmare sire sons Mineshaft–with 11 stakes winners–and Malibu Moon also did well in 2018, as did the Seattle Slew sire Vindication. Special mention must be made of Unbridled’s Song, whose daughters produced five Grade I winners in 2018, three more than any other sire. View the full article

From managing to tie with Joseph O’Brien and Gary Carroll for the Irish apprentice title without a major backer to conducting exhaustive tours of the stables of Britain in search of his latest opportunity, Ben Curtis always seems to be a man in a hurry. Even this interview is carried out from the golf course, issued in rat-a-tat fashion between shots. “I’ve always been the same,” he says. “I don’t really come from a racing background, so I’ve kind of had to work a bit, not harder than everyone else, but to get established I’ve probably always had to put in that bit of extra effort. I’ve always ridden out everywhere possible, and it paid off after a while.” He very much bucks the trend in a family of white collar workers originating from Kinsale, the salubrious seaside town near Cork. A late starter, he rather fell into the sport aged 14. “With racing you don’t plan it, you’re either good at it or not, and I suppose I got into it at the right time,” Curtis explains. “I couldn’t sit behind a desk, people were saying I could ride and to give it a shot. Dad’s a property investor, mum’s an accountant, my brother works in law and my sister works in marketing, they’d be as far detached from racing as possible. But through my racing, Mum and Dad started riding. They love it now too.” Even in his freshman season in 2006, Curtis collected rides from nine different trainers. His father Dane and the locally-based trainer and agent Ruaidhri Tierney went halves on the cheaply-bought mare Always On Top (Ire) (Desert Story {Ire}) in an attempt to get him started, and she provided the aspiring teenager’s first winner at Galway that August. Four years on, he reached that junior championship from 482 rides sourced from a hotchpotch of avenues, but operating at a modest strike-rate of 8%. “Winning jointly with Joseph was a big achievement,” he says. “He had had a lot of ammunition behind him, obviously, and for me it was something out of the blue. I was riding 20-1, 33-1 shot winners for smaller trainers, that’s what got me through. But sometimes you need a bit of luck behind you and that year everything seemed to go my way.” Such a passage was not always going to be so charmed. Whilst Curtis managed to mine his extensive network ever deeper and remained in demand, more formal associations with the likes of John Oxx failed to materialise into first-choice positions. By 2013 he was making successful flying visits for the late Yorkshire trainer Alan Swinbank and the following season his transfer across the Irish Sea became permanent. “I was very comfortable in Ireland, had lots of very good friends and a house and a girlfriend there,” he recalls. “She didn’t really want to move to England, so I put a lot of that in jeopardy as well. Sometimes you’ve got to go where the work is, go where you can improve yourself and that was the deciding factor. “Luckily the girlfriend came over, she became my wife and we’ve got a kid now. It turned out to be the best decision ever, but was it a hard decision? My God, I wouldn’t want to make it every day, put it that way.” He had nearly 500 rides again that season and steadily built up his totals through the 50s and 70s. This year has shown a marked improvement again as he reached a maiden 113, largely through the help of two other significant Yorkshire operations. “I’m in at Karl Burke’s once a week, David Barron’s one a week, then try to get round as many yards as possible after that,” Curtis explains. “I might try to go and ride out for Hugo Palmer or William Haggas. Wherever I’m staying, I’ll ride out down there. “Thankfully my family has been very understanding for always being away and my agents, Ruaidhri and Simon Dodds, have been a massive help and influence. I think the key is to spread yourself around and ride for as many trainers as possible. That way you get as many rides as possible. When I’m at it, I’m flat out at it and could be in seven days a week in seven different yards.” There is further method to this restless approach. The 29-year-old has few prestigious victories to his name and is keen for a taste of more after taking this year’s G3 Chipchase S. at Newcastle aboard the Barron-trained Above The Rest (Ire) (Excellent Art {GB}). “The best way to get noticed is to get a good horse, so I’ve got to do that. If you can win a Group 1, people will put you on better ones. You might be like Silvestre de Sousa, who rides hundreds of winners on bad horses, he goes round the country riding winners for everyone, on every different track, but he still doesn’t get the quality that he deserves. That’s racing though–if he got the better horses, he’d win on them. “A lot of the big names that they throw up on the bigger days, they have the experience and they deserve it, so you need that one big horse to put you into that elite group. I’ve found it a massive frustration but you’ve just got to keep plugging away and hope it all comes together at some stage.” Plugging away is rather understating it for a jockey who once bolted a six-week busman’s holiday in Perth onto the end of his honeymoon in Langkawi. He also went close to defying physical possibilities late last summer. “I rode a treble at Carlisle one day which took me up to the hundred,” he recalls. “My wife Shona came up with my little lad (Brodi) for some reason, I thought I’d have no chance of doing it then, but it was a nice little touch to do that with them there. Then I rode a winner at Newcastle the next day and got a fall, and it was a stupid fall as well, the horse jinked after the line and I popped my shoulder out. “Four weeks was kind of the best-case scenario but luckily I was back on the track in 11 days, which was fairly unexpected. I worked hard at it in Jack Berry House–I wanted to be back in a week, but it was probably right to wait.” His latest mission has taken him to Dubai with a winter stint for Musabah Al Muhairi. Although Dane O’Neill has the pick of the yard’s Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum horses, there should be spares through the Carnival and Curtis has already converted a few winners for the trainer in the early season. With fewer weekly meetings in the UAE, a slightly slower pace of life is somewhat forced upon him and Shona and eight-month-old Brodi have been out to visit. “It’s actually nice to have a bit of downtime. You’re still working out here but you have a bit more time to yourself to spend with the family.” Nonetheless, he still has half an eye on a potential Carnival challenge from Above The Rest in the new year. “When everything goes right for him he’s a very good horse, he’s rated 111 now, and he’s rated that for a reason,” he says. “I imagine he’ll be on the turf first up but he won the Chipchase on the all-weather and was fourth on his comeback at Lingfield so there’s no reason not to try him on the dirt later. If he takes to it, he could easily thrive as there’s a lot right for him there.” He continues, “I’m playing it by ear but hopefully I’ll see out the Carnival. There are a few other horses coming out that we’ll be trying our hardest to get on, then hopefully get the foot back in the door fresh and fit to build on what was a great year.” Few, one imagines, will be trying harder than Ben Curtis to do so. View the full article

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame will debut Foal Patrol Season 2 online Dec. 28 at www.foalpatrol.com, and celebrate the new season with Foal Patrol Kids! open house at the Museum from 10 a.m. to noon. The open house will feature numerous educational initiatives, including the opportunity to meet a mare and foal on the premises, as well as the miniature horse Upset. Admission to the Museum is free during the open house. The first season of Foal Patrol had more than 1.6 million views from December 2017 through September 2018. The following horses are participating in Season 2: Frosted (Darley stallion), Lassofthemohicans (Lael Stables/Denali Stud), Starr Bear (Double Diamond Farm), Viva Sheila (Lady Sheila Stable/Edition Farm), Frivolous (Shawnee Farm), Silver Colors (Gainesway Farm), With Honors (LNJ Foxwoods/Claiborne Farm), Love and Pride (Three Chimneys Farm) and Comme Chez Soi (Old Tavern Farm). The Foal Patrol Kids! event will include the launch of the Foal Patrol Education Site, an interactive new component of foalpatrol.com, where people can learn about various aspects of Thoroughbred breeding and care. There will be snacks, giveaways, and a variety of fun and educational activities. View the full article

After its popularity earlier this year, Young Guns returns with all new questions and young professionals. In the first edition we speak with Bobby Jackson, the Digital Marketing Executive at Tattersalls in Newmarket TDN: Tell us about your career to date? Bobby Jackson: I did the BHA Graduate Programme straight out of university in 2013 which was a great first step into the industry. I then had a variety of roles; working at Whitsbury Manor Stud, Salisbury Racecourse, the Licensing Department at the BHA, before spending two years at Great British Racing International. It was in September last year that I started at Tattersalls and I absolutely love it. TDN: If you could be one person in the industry for a day who would it be and why? BJ: There’s so many to choose from. If I was hard pressed then it would have to be Aidan O’Brien. I’d love to get a better understanding of how he operates and the processes behind the high-pressure decisions that he makes. I’d also be able to find out for definite who he’s on the phone to when he wins all the Group 1s. TDN: What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? BJ: Jeremy Martin, Chief Executive at Salisbury Racecourse, told me when I was working there to keep working hard and take whatever opportunities arise as you can never have too much experience. Simple advice, but it was particularly meaningful to me as it was then that I kept getting told ‘you’ve not got enough experience’ in job applications and questioned my future in the industry. I persevered, took the opportunities when they came and am delighted that I did. TDN: What is the best aspect of your current job? BJ: I love how varied my job is as it’s rare to have a five-day week in the office. One aspect I particularly enjoy is visiting a trainer’s yard to watch horses work. I’ve started doing trainer interviews when a Tattersalls graduate has either won a big race or is about to run in a big race for our digital platforms. From visiting Ian Williams to see Magic Circle (Ire) (Makfi {GB}) to a morning at William Haggas’s with Sea Of Class (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), not only is the resulting content fantastic for my work but it’s also a lovely way to spend a morning. TDN: If you weren’t working in the horseracing industry what would you be doing? BJ: I have a first class degree in economics so if I wasn’t in racing then I’d most likely have some sort of financial role in the city. I could be in the Premier League though, refereeing rather than playing. I’m a qualified football referee, which was my job during sixth form and university, but I decided I’d rather spend my Saturdays going racing than running around a football pitch. TDN: If you had 24 hours to get someone interested in the horse racing industry how would you do it? BJ: Simple: a morning on the gallops with a trainer followed by an afternoon at the Cheltenham Festival, rounded off with dinner in a cosy pub somewhere in the Cotswolds. TDN: What was your biggest achievement in 2018? BJ: Tattersalls sponsored the G3 Sovereign S. at Salisbury Racecourse in August, the richest race ever held at the track. Being the first race sponsorship that I organised in my role, it was a particularly proud moment. The date of the race worked perfectly with the release of the October Book 1 catalogue and it all couldn’t have gone much better. To do this at the racecourse that I grew up going to and spent a season working at made it even more rewarding. TDN: Who was your horse of 2018 and why? BJ: My horse of the year is Justify (Scat Daddy). Going against statistics is always commendable so for him to become the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby without running as a 2-year-old makes him a pretty special animal. To then go on and win the Triple Crown in such a dominant way marks him as one of the best ever and it’s a huge shame that we weren’t able to see him tackle older horses at the Breeders’ Cup. I definitely didn’t bet on him ante-post for the Derby. TDN: What is your New Year’s resolution? BJ: Eat more fruit. Boring, I know. View the full article

Triumph Books in Chicago has entered into an agreement with Eddie Olczyk to publish a book about his life, his careers in hockey and broadcasting and his successful battle beating Stage 3 colon cancer. Olczyk, known as “Eddie O.,” played 16 years in the National Hockey League and was later inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. He transitioned into broadcasting and has won Emmy Awards for his work with NBC Sports Sports and NBC Sports Chicago on their hockey coverage. He joined NBC’s Thoroughbred racing coverage in 2014 and has become its lead handicapper. The book is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2019. Multiple best-selling author/award-winning writer Perry Lefko is helping Olczyk write the book. View the full article

The 2019 prize money contributions of the Jockey Club Racecourses will remain at £27.1 million, despite the news that there will be a multi-million pound reduction in revenues from licensed betting office media rights after the goverment’s Gambling Review, the Jockey Club Racecourses announced on Thursday. The prize money will be split across a total of 347 programmed fixtures at the 15 JCR venues, but it will be sourced from the Jockey Club Racecourses own resources. The industry’s Appearance Money Scheme (AMS) will be unlocked, for as long as this remains an industry-agreed funding model. “Every independent estimate has us facing a significant hit to our revenues from reduced media rights income as betting shops close across Britain on the back of the Gambling Review,” said JCR’s Chief Executive Paul Fisher. “We’ve had some tough decisions to make and we’ve chosen to prioritise our contribution to prize money because we know how important it is to racing’s participants. We will maintain this record contribution from our resources for as long as we can, which comes at a cost to other areas of investment, such as improving our facilities. We already reinvest every penny we make so a reduction in revenues means less to go back into the sport.” View the full article

Members of the TDN staff share what TDN Rising Star they’re most excited to see race in 2019. Instagrand (Into Mischief) has to be considered one of the most-anticipated runners of next year, both due to the brilliance he showed this season and the much-talked-about decision by his owner Larry Best to cut short his juvenile campaign with an eye towards the future. The $1.2-million Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream co-topper (:10 flat breeze) couldn’t have been more powerful taking his Los Alamitos debut by 10 lengths in June (replay), and just floated away from his overmatched rivals to win as he pleased in the GII Best Pal S. Aug. 11 (replay). There’s absolutely no denying Instagrand’s talent, but part of what makes him such an interesting 2019 prospect to watch is that he still has questions to answer. He’s yet to try further than six furlongs, and with a brilliant, speedy runner like him there’s always a question of how far they’ll go (pedigree suggests he should route). Plus, it’ll be interesting to see how Best’s surprising decision to bypass the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile will play out. The relative newcomer may look like a genius come the first Saturday in May, but it remains to be seen whether or not attempting to pause the career of an uninjured horse like Instagrand will work out the way it was designed to. View the full article

Australian MGSW Kuroshio (Aus) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}-Arctic Drift, by Gone West), who shuttled to Overbury Stud in Great Britain for a single season in 2015, will stand at Compas Stallion in Ireland in 2019. The 8-year-old’s Northern Hemisphere breeding rights were purchased from Darley by young Qatari Businessman Abdulaziz Al Rabban to stand in partnership with Michael Orlandi of Compas Stallions in a deal brokered by Jackson-Stops Bloodstock. Kuroshio, who stands Southern Hemisphere time at Darley’s Northwood Park in Victoria, will command a fee of €6,000. Breeding rights in the full-brother to Australian Group 3 winner and Group 1 producer Believe’n’succeed (Aus) are also available. Despite a low level of patronage in 2015 which resulted in just 22 foals from his initial Northern Hemisphere crop, Kuroshio already has six winners from 16 runners, including G2 Vintage Crop S. runner-up Dunkerron (GB). The gelding is joined by listed bridesmaid Daphinia (GB) and Kurious (GB), who placed fourth in a listed race at Newmarket in early November. “Kuroshio epitomises what the commercial breeder is looking for, he’s incredibly good looking, correct and has proven to supply speed and precocity to his progeny,” said Billy Jackson-Stops of Jackson-Stops Bloodstock. “Dunkerron showed exactly what Kuroshio can do as a sire when he finished second in the G2 Vintage S. His direct family have also had a fruitful year with his sister [Believe’n’succeed] being the dam of current Aidan O’Brien Derby hopeful Antony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Added Orlandi, “He is the type of horse, most breeders dream about sending their mare to. A powerful, imposing horse with great depth, a chip off the old block really, very similar to his sire. He is proven to sire group horses at two and breeders will fall in love with his walk. He has a super temperament.” Believen’n’succeed has also produced Bounding (Aus) (Lonhro {Aus}), who was champion sprinter in New Zealand and victorious in the G1 Railway S. 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 at Hanshin Racecourse: Saturday, December 22, 2018 2nd-HSN, ¥9,550,000 ($86k), Maiden, 2yo, 1800m BASIN STREET (c, 2, Curlin–Judith Basin, by Danzig) makes his second trip to the post, having finished a respectable fourth going this trip on his Kyoto debut Nov. 24 (see below, gate 6). A May foal, his first two dams are devoid of black-type, but his third dam is Lassie Dear (Buckpasser), whose daughter Weekend Surprise (Secretariat) produced the legendary A. P. Indy (Seattle Slew) and Classic winner Summer Squall (Storm Bird) among others. Basin Street was a $72K KEENOV weanling, a $110K KEESEP yearling and a $250K OBSMAR juvenile. B-Dixiana Farms LLC (KY) 6th-HSN, ¥13,400,000 ($120k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1400m SMART ALCHEMY (c, 2, Super Saver–Runway Model, by Petionville), a $45K KEESEP yearling acquisition, is out of the 2004 GII Darley Alcibiades S. winner and GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ third who was represented this year by ‘TDN Rising Star’ McKinzie (Street Sense), winner of the GI Pennsylvania Derby first off a lengthy absence and pointing for next Wednesday’s GI Malibu S. The colt’s stakes-winning second dam Ticket to Houston (Houston) also bred SW & MGSP Mambo Train (Kingmambo). B-Summer Wind Equine (KY) Sunday, December 23, 2018 4th-HSN, ¥9,550,000 ($86k), Maiden, 2yo, 2000mT LE LIEN FORT (f, 2, Noble Mission {GB}–Clare Skies Ahead, by Sky Classic) debuted at this track in October over a 1200-meter trip that was always likely to be insufficient and she finished eighth in a field of 13. This extended distance should be much more to her liking, as her dam was a stakes winner and twice Grade III-placed going long on the grass and her damsire was a Grade I winner and track-record setter over 12 furlongs. B-Dr Stephen G & Debbie Jackson (KY) View the full article

Kukulkan (Mex) (Point Determined) has already proven that he is among the greatest horses ever bred and raced in Mexico, but how will he fare against some of the best dirt horses in the U.S.? That question will be answered Jan. 28 at Gulfstream when the soon-to-be- 4-year-old will take on Accelerate (Lookin at Lucky) and other major stars in the GI. Pegasus World Cup. Trainer Fausto Gutierrez has confirmed to the Thoroughbred Daily News that his unbeaten horse will return to Gulfstream for the $9 million race. He was last seen in South Florida demolishing a field of fellow horses from Latin American countries in the $300,000 Caribbean Classic S., a race he won by 10 1/4 lengths. Before coming to Florida, Kukulkan was 13 fort 13 in his native country and the winner of the Mexican Triple Crown. Sent off at 3-10 in the Caribbean Classic he never faced a serious challenge from his fellow horses from Latin America. Gutierrez is well aware that the Pegasus World Cup will be a much tougher assignment. “We understand how much more difficult this race will be than the Caribbean Classic,” he said. “But we had a good experience in his first race at Gulfstream and we think we have to give the opportunity to the horse. It is like a dream for us. We know how hard this is going to be, but we feel like it’s something we have to do. It’ the type experience we’ll only get once chance once in our lifetimes.” While Gutierrez said he has confidence his horse can win, he added: “I’d be very happy if the horse finished in the first three or four.” The horse will arrive back at Gulfstream Jan. 17. He was ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. in the Caribbean Classic, but Ortiz is committed to Gunnevera (Dialed In). Gutierrez said he was planning to reach out to John Velazquez to see if he were available to ride. He also mentioned Frankie Dettori as an another alternative. The speed figures earned by Kukulkan in the Caribbean Classic indicate that he will not be competitive with the top American horses in the Classic. In fact, it would come as no surprise if he were to lose by 20 or 30 lengths. But Gutierrez said his owner is a sportsman and wants to give his horse as chance to prove himself against the best in the world. Of course, that opportunity, does not come cheaply. It costs $500,000 to secure a spot in the Pegasus. That may not be much of an imposition for owner Germán Larrea, who runs under the stable name Cuadra San Jorge. He is also the breeder of the horse. Larrea, 77, is the CEO of Grupo México, Mexico’s largest mining corporation, and the third largest copper producer in the world. According to Forbes, he is worth $17 billion, making him the second richest person in Mexico behind Carlos Slim. “He’s a person who loves the horse,” Gutierrez said. “He has 200 horses stabled at the track in Mexico City. He has to be one of the biggest owners in the world. I don’t know of any other owner who had 200 horses stabled at the same racetrack like he does.” Larrea also won the 2017 Carribean Classic, the first run at Gulfstream with Jala Jala (MEX) (Point Determined). View the full article

This week is a recap of Gallorette's victory in the 1947 Queens County Handicap June 2 at Aqueduct Racetrack. The recap and stakes story ran in the June 14, 1947 magazine. The recap carried the headline, "Gallorette is Back Again." View the full article

Alberto Sanna’s remarkable recovery from a shattered hip will be complete on Sunday when the Italian returns to race riding for the first time in two months. Despite being told by doctors he would not ride for up to five months, Sanna has beaten the odds with a gruelling training and physiotherapy regime. He returns at Sha Tin with four rides for trainers Chris So Wai-yin, Me Tsui Yu-sak, Caspar Fownes and Tony Cruz. It would be fitting, however, if Sanna was able to win on Fownes’... View the full article

Addressing your thoughts, questions and statements about Hong Kong racing. Have something to say? Send a tweet to @SCMPRacingPost In the winners’ enclosure once again and Silvestre de Sousa has now ridden for every one of Hong Kong’s 21 active trainers since his four-month contract began just over six weeks ago – @HongKong_Racing The Brazilian is having a terrific time of it in Hong Kong – he is already ninth in the jockeys’ championship with 11 winners, 13 seconds... View the full article

14:50 Southwell Any low-grade handicap can be utterly unpredictable and considering the fact we’re looking to predict the outcome it may seem odd to find our selection residing in a class 6 contest on the all-weather at Southwell however we hope to have unearthed a small gem in the form of course and distance victor […] The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Thursday 20th December appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article