Wandering Eyes

Comebacks proved rewarding last Saturday for a couple of female apprentice jockeys, Erin Leighton and Mereana Hudson. Leighton (27) notched her first win for six years when successful on No Loitering at Te Rapa, while Hudson (33) registered her first win for the season, and her third since a comeback last term, with a relentless ride on Hard To Be Humble in the final event at New Plymouth. Leighton made a promising start to her career when kicking home six winners within 30 rides, all the wins b... View the full article

Rupp Racing's multiple grade 3 winner Owendale will look to make his next start in the Aug. 24 Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, trainer Brad Cox said. View the full article

Agave Racing Stable, ERJ Racing, Madaket Stables, and Rockin Robin Racing Stable's Bowies Hero found the winner's circle for the first time in over a year July 21, rallying to a clear score in Del Mar's $250,351 Eddie Read Stakes (G2T). View the full article

Summer Wind Equine's Golden Award turned in a dominating performance July 21 and earned the first graded stakes score of her career in the $194,000 Shuvee Stakes (G3) at Saratoga Race Course. View the full article

It was business as usual July 21 for Anne and William J. Scott's Summer Sunday, who took home her third win of the season with a strong performance in the CA$196,000 (US$150,430) Royal North Stakes (G2T) at Woodbine. View the full article

Collusion Illusion (2, c, Twirling Candy–Nathalie Grace, by First Dude), a $50,000 Keeneland September Yearling who flourished into a $300,000 OBS April juvenile, was given a 5-1 chance following a pair of sharp morning works, including the most recent going four panels in :48.00 (4/35). The Florida bred was far back in the early going as favored Bronn (Conveyance) and Disco Ball (Orb) duked it out through fractions of 22:27 and :46.08. Turning for home, Bronn was already working hard to keep position and Disco Ball wrested the advantage along the inside. However, moving fastest of all was Collusion Illusion, who swung out well wide into the stretch and was closing with purpose on the front runner down the center of the track. Also rallying from behind, Defense Wins (Flatter) cut his way through the center of the pack, however, it was Collusion Illusion who was moving fastest of all and was a half length ahead of his grey rival at the wire. Disco Ball held on for third over Bronn. Final time for the five-furlong test was :59.00. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $36,600. O-Dan Agnew; Rodney Orr; Jerry Schneider; and John Xitco; B-Donald Dizney LLC (Fl); T-Mark Glatt. The post Twirling Candy Colt Wins Debut at Del Mar appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

It was business as usual July 21 for Anne and William J. Scott's Summer Sunday, who took home her third win of the season with a strong performance in the CA$196,000 (US$150,430) Royal North Stakes (G2T) at Woodbine. View the full article

Thompson, Melham, Krisna suspended View the full article

Odds-on favourite On Line did not let his backers down after he posted a convincing win courtesy of another textbook ride from champion jockey Vlad Duric on Sunday. The O’Reilly three-year-old was stepping up to the mile after his closing head-second to Quadcopter in a Novice race over 1400m last Friday week. Eased back down to Restricted Maiden company in the $75,000 Infantry 2017 Stakes (1600m), On Line vindicated trainer Michael Clements’ decision to back him up within nine days with a so... View the full article

It’s been a long time between drinks for talented apprentice jockey Amirul Ismadi, and the thirst quencher could not have come on a more auspicious occasion than Singapore Derby day. The brakes had indeed been slammed on the win counter for the Ipoh-born rider since Spur Me On on May 5, but riding Wecando (NZ) (Per Incanto) for his master Stephen Gray in the $70,000 Chase Me 2012 Stakes, a Class 3 race over 1400m on Sunday, he was bouncing back into the winner’s enclosure. Riding the rails f... View the full article

Golden Award (f, 4, Medaglia d’Oro–Arch’s Gal Edith, by Arch) came into this event with three wins under her belt–never in black-type company–but proved more than capable to get the job done at that level when she strolled home an easy winner of Sunday’s GIII Shuvee S. at Saratoga. Putting mild pressure on 8-5 choice She’s a Julie (Elusive Quality) early on, the pair doled out poky early splits of :25.24 and :50.24 as Wow Cat (Chi) (Lookin At Lucky) took up her customary spot at the back. Looking strong turning into the stretch as She’s a Julie began to weaken slightly to her inside, the half sister to GI Kentucky Derby hero I’ll have Another (Flower Alley), appeared to be home free, and despite Wow Cat making a run at her late, Golden Award was moving best of all late, winning by about two lengths. She’s a Julie held on for third. Final time for the nine-furlong test was 1:49.64. Lifetime Record: 9-4-3-0, $304,600. O-Summer Wind Equine; B-Harvey Clarke (Ky); T-William Mott. The post Golden Award Shines in Shuvee appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Jackpot Ranch's Basin became the first winner for freshman sire Liam's Map when he took over early in a six-furlong maiden special weight at Saratoga Race Course July 21 and pulled clear to win by 1 1/4 lengths. View the full article

Sayjay Racing, Greg Hall, and Brooke Hubbard's Queen's Plate winner One Bad Boy is entered back in the CA$400,000 Prince of Wale's Stakes July 23 at Fort Erie Racetrack to contest the second leg of the OLG Canadian Triple Crown. View the full article

The Week in Review, by T.D. Thornton Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) doesn’t catch many breaks. Luckily–for him at least–the gutsy bay is pretty adept at grinding out his own special brand of mojo that nearly always gets his nose down in front at the wire. I’m not entirely sure that Maximum Security’s 1 1/4-length slugfest score in Saturday’s GI TVG.com Haskell Invitational edged him any closer to laying claim to an eventual Horse of the Year title, or even to bragging rights of being the current divisional leader of a schizophrenic sophomore class. But the 5-for-7 former $16,000 maiden-claimer who crossed the finish line first and was controversially disqualified from a front-running win in the GI Kentucky Derby sure gets my vote for the most accomplished elite-level overachiever we’ve seen in years. Putting aside for the moment the bizarre heat-related delay and partial cancellation of the card on Monmouth Park’s biggest day of the summer (colleague Bill Finley was on the scene and described it in detail here), Maximum Security stood out on Saturday for fighting through three distinct instances of in-race adversity that could have derailed his chances of winning his second Grade I stakes of the year (technically his third if a federal judge ever sides with the colt’s owners, who are suing the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, et al, over the precedent-setting Derby DQ). The first tactical obstacle Maximum Security had to overcome was at the gate break of the Haskell, when he bounced out alertly from the outside stall in the six-horse race but was denied an inside position by two dueling leaders. Jockey Luis Saez also couldn’t tuck in right behind the speed setup, because another rival had snagged that stalking spot, so he opted for a three-deep position through the clubhouse turn and onto the back straight. It was only the second time in his career that Maximum Security was not leading a quarter mile into the race. Maximum Security crept closer as the field bunched nearing the half-mile pole, but Saez waited for the stronger of the two duelers, King for a Day (Uncle Mo), to peel away from the pack three-eighths out before cueing his 4-5 favorite to go after the 5-2 shot. For about half a furlong this tandem accelerated in earnest, but “Max” (in the two path) was already in the process of cracking “King” (at the rail) as they neared the five-sixteenths pole and a fresh challenge loomed in the form of ‘TDN Rising Star’ Mucho Gusto (Mucho Macho Man), the 3-1 third choice. This threesome tightened up as the field spun off the far turn, with the tiring King for a Day bailing out of the battle by checking while closest to the fence. Now the Haskell was clearly down to Maximum Security and Mucho Gusto. If you could have stopped the race right there, knowing that Max already didn’t get his own way on the lead and that he had expended a big burst of mid-race energy in 93-degree heat by gunning for first run at the main speed threat–and further knowing that the horse taking dead aim on him was trained by eight-time Haskell winner Bob Baffert–which would have gotten your money to prevail in the final quarter mile? Mucho Gusto might have been the logical choice. But every time he edged within striking distance through the length of the stretch, Maximum Security dug in and fought harder, incrementally widening the margin so that finally there was daylight (even at 8:14 p.m.) between them at the wire. Max also survived a stewards’ inquiry into the far-turn logjam, but no foul or DQ was ruled. Trainer Jason Servis told Daily Racing Form Sunday that Maximum Security was “pretty tired” the day after his Haskell score, but that the next-race target would still be the Aug. 24 GI Travers S. if the colt rebounded well in training up at Saratoga. He added that the GI Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Sept. 21 was a secondary option. Just the knowledge of how sapping the stifling heat was on Saturday might be reason enough for many bettors to try and take a swing against Maximum Security if he starts back on five weeks’ rest in the Travers. But wager against this admirable overachiever at your own peril, because Maximum Security continues to outrun expectations and–more importantly–most of his competition. Does Lasix reduction help in heat? Although no one is claiming that several months worth of anecdotal evidence equates to a scientific study, an interesting side note emerged from last Thursday’s California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) meeting: The house-rule reduction of the maximum allowable race-day Lasix dosage from 500 mg to 250 mg at Santa Anita the last several months of the spring meet resulted in fewer horses having problems related to heat. Some context is in order here. Dionne Benson, DVM, the chief veterinary officer for The Stronach Group, which owns Santa Anita, told the CHRB at that meeting that since the board approved the reduced Lasix policy earlier this year, only one horse had an instance of epistaxis, or bleeding from the nostrils. That one case, Benson said, “is not outside of the numbers that we would expect with full doses on Lasix, so clearly horses are able to run under” the reduced dosages. When asked by one CHRB member if she was surprised at that result, Benson said no, but added that “I will tell you one thing that I found surprising: We didn’t see that many heat exhaustion cases.” When a CHRB member postulated that might be related to lower-dosed Lasix horses being able to retain more fluids, thus allowing them to better combat extreme heat, Benson said “That’s perhaps the case. And hopefully it will be the case in the future.” Droning on… One of the aspects of the Haskell inquiry that was debated online in the aftermath of Saturday’s non-DQ was the fact that the far-turn spot where King for a Day checked is not very well covered by traditional patrol camera angles. The Monmouth pan shot in that area is partially blocked by infield trees, and the rear-view and head-on shots are not always definitive. Similar blind spots exist at just about every track in the nation. So what about the idea of using an overhead drone camera to assist in officiating? Indiana Grand might be the first U.S. Thoroughbred track to test out that idea. According to an online job posting on Indeed.com that popped up last week, the track is seeking a drone pilot whose chief task will be “capturing quality footage of fast moving horses, while flying steadily at a safe distance away from horses.” The ad further states that “This job will assist the A/V Department, and will help the Stewards of the Indiana Horse Racing Commission complete their task of determining that each race is run fairly, cleanly, and with integrity. Video from a drone is necessary to cover approximately 100 yards of the race course that is underserved by current video installations ” Last week TDN emailed Jon Schuster, the track’s general manager, asking for details about the concept. That query has yet to be answered. The guess here (forced pun very much intended) is that the drone project is still up in the air. The post Haskell No Breeze, But Overachieving ‘Max’ Keeps Scorching Foes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

A day after serving up a reminder of his brilliance in the spring, Gary and Mary West's Maximum Security was enjoying a well-deserved day of a rest in his Monmouth Park stall. View the full article

Gatsas Stables, R. A. Hill Stable, and Swick Stable's Funny Guy will stretch out in distance in his second turf start July 24 in the $100,000 Cab Calloway division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series at Saratoga Race Course. View the full article

Rupp Racing's multiple grade 3 winner Owendale will look to make his next start in the Aug. 24 Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, trainer Brad Cox said. View the full article

7th-Ellis, $49,775, Alw (NW1X)/Opt. Clm ($25,000), 7-21, 3yo/up, f/m, 1m, 1:37.13, ft. GOLD STANDARD (f, 3, Medaglia d’Oro–Mi Vida {SP}, by Distorted Humor), who co-topped last year’s Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale off a :10 flat breeze, made it two-for-two on the dirt Sunday while winning as she pleased. Beaten a head after rallying from far back on the Fair Grounds grass Mar. 23, the dark bay settled for third in a similar spot at Churchill on GI Kentucky Derby day May 4. She broke through by an emphatic 7 1/2 lengths in the Louisville slop in an off-the-turfer June 8, and was 1-2 this time while looking like a major standout on paper. Tucked in along the fence in third early, the dark bay was tipped out into the clear heading for home and took over midway on the turn for home. She ran up the score from there, cruising away to a no-doubt-about-it nine-length drubbing. Devilite (Tapit) was second best. The winner’s second dam is SW Crystal Current (A.P. Indy), a full-sister to Grade I winner Majestic Warrior out of MGISW Dream Supreme (Seeking the Gold). She has an unraced 2-year-old half-brother by Tapit and a yearling full-sister. Mi Vida was bred back to Medaglia d’Oro this year. Sales history: $200,000 Ylg ’17 KEESEP; $1,200,000 2yo ’18 FTFMAR. Lifetime Record: 4-2-1-1, $105,448. Click for the Equibase.com chart. O-Stonestreet Stables LLC & LNJ Foxwoods; B-Don Alberto Corporation (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. The post Medaglia d’Oro Co-Topper Crushes Winners at Ellis appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Rupp Racing's multiple grade 3 winner Owendale will look to make his next start in the Aug. 24 Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, trainer Brad Cox said. View the full article

Joel Politi's Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Serengeti Empress drilled a half-mile in :47 3/5 on Saratoga Race Course's main track July 21 in preparation for the Longines Test Stakes (G1) Aug. 3. View the full article

Basin (c, 2, Liam’s Map–Appenzell, by Johannesburg) kicked off his career with a close-up second behind By Your Side (Constitution) in a June 14 maiden at Churchill and that form was flattered when that rival came back to take the GIII Sanford S. in his next start. Installed the 2-1 second choice behind favored Three Technique (Mr Speaker) this time, Basin took to the front early and slugged it out with Federale (Dsicreetly Mine) through an opening quarter mile in :22.32. Federale was soon spent, but Basin continued on as Yankee Empire (Cairo Prince) and Three Technique began to make their presence known. Turning for home, Basin was in the clear and Three Technique was doing his best running up along the inside, however, the frontrunner had too much left in reserve and powered home a two-length winner over Three Technique. 11-1 chance Lucky Curlin (Curlin) closed to be third. With the victory, Basin became the first winner for his freshman sire (by Unbridled’s Song). Final time for six furlongs was 1:09.77. Lifetime Record: 2-1-1-0, $73,000. O-Jackpot Ranch; B-Cottonwood Stables LLC (Ky); T-Steve Asmussen. The post Basin Records First Win for Liam’s Map at the Spa appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Three Chimneys Farm's homebred Guarana remained undefeated in three starts July 21 when she led every step of the $485,000 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. View the full article

It may or may not have been the hottest Haskell Day ever, but it certainly wasn’t the first time the race had been run amid blistering heat. That’s what happens when you race horses in late July or early August. It was a pretty rough day when Forty Niner (Mr. Prospector) won the 1988 GI Haskell S. by a nose over Seeking the Gold (Mr. Prospector). According to the charts, it was 94 degrees when the first race began and it likely got hotter as the day went on. (On Saturday, it was 96 degrees when the first race went off). But the two degrees in temperature is not what separates those two days. Thirty-one years ago, that it was a very hot day was not an issue. I read as many stories as I could find on the race and not one even mentioned the weather. When the 2019 Haskell was completed, some two hours and 42 minutes after its original post time, Monmouth had somehow navigated through a day that neared crisis proportions, all because it was a hot day. The first race was delayed by 38 minutes, six races were cancelled and the racetrack sat empty for about four hours before racing continued amid hopes that it would cool down a couple of degrees. When racing resumed a little after 6 p.m., only the stakes races that were left on the card were held. All of this was proceeded by a phone call from New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy to Monmouth’s de facto CEO Dennis Drazin. Murphy had heard from those screaming about the supposed cruelty of asking horses to race under such conditions and he was well aware of the firestorm surrounding the sport. He did not want the headline on the stories written about one of the most important sporting events in his state being all about a horse or two dying in the heat at Monmouth Park. That bears repeating: a state governor actually got involved in the decision over whether or not a racetrack should or should not hold a scheduled day of racing. Should Monmouth have cancelled the entire card a few days earlier, like so many other tracks in the East had done? Should they have just kept going after the second race, the last one held before the delay, particularly when you consider the early double went off without a hitch? Did they do the right thing by delaying the card and holding the Haskell while the sun was setting on the Jersey Shore? Considering that no horses broke down during the day and there were no reports of any suffering any severe heat-related problems, arguably Drazin picked the right choice among his many options. But that was only a footnote when you consider what this day was really all about, that horse racing in 2019, post Santa Anita, is facing a level of scrutiny far beyond anything it has ever faced before. And it cannot afford to make any mistakes. “Five years ago, if we had this heat, nobody would have said a word or asked us to cancel and we wouldn’t have canceled,” Drazin said. Several weeks before the Haskell, Drazin had already had an encounter with animal rights protestors at a racetrack and saw the level of devotion some have to bringing the sport down. “It seems like there’s no place that I go that there aren’t PETA people that are protesting,” he said. “I went to Royal Ascot for the first time this year and when we were walking in we saw this PETA person who was protesting and carrying a sign. The person I was with had brought their kids. She came right over to us and said, ‘How can you bring your children in to see this?’ It has become part of the culture.” A new culture that is: “The truth of the matter is there will always be breakdowns in racing, but there wasn’t a lot of public scrutiny about it,” he said. “But now, because of what happened at Santa Anita, there is heightened attention when it comes to people paying attention to horse racing. Look at that Real Sports show they had on HBO with Bryant Gumbel. Look at everything that PETA keeps saying and doing. It’s a big issue with the public that has all of us concerned because we want to protect the industry. Do I think PETA, in and of itself, can take the industry down? No. But people need to be sensitive to doing the right things.” If you look at things that way, maybe the animal rights activists have done racing a favor. Way back in 1988, was it the right thing to do to hold the Haskell card on such a hot day and not come up with some sort of outside-the-box plan like Monmouth did this year? And what about the 1991 Monmouth Oaks, where the temperature was 95? On the same day, they ran a $500,000 race at Rockingham Park called the New England Classic. A wire service report of the race noted that it was 100 degrees with “high humidity.” I know. I was at Rockingham that day and, looking back, they never should have run. Though it’s very difficult to know where to draw the lines and what issues are real and what are not, the industry, as Drazin said, does need to be sensitive to doing the right things. Take that approach and nothing bad can come from that. Things were a lot easier for horse racing on that sweltering day when Forty Niner nosed out Seeking the Gold in the Haskell. People may long for a time when you could run a race on a hot day and not have protestors, calls from a governor and media there more interested in whether or not there would be a calamity than the story of who won the Haskell. But those days are long gone and they are never coming back. Fate was on Monmouth’s side Saturday as management tried its best to make decisions based on the best interests of the horses while also realizing the tremendous pressures that came with the possibility of something going terribly wrong on the racetrack. They took a risk by running, one I would not have taken if the call were left up to me. But in the end, it all worked out fine. Still, with everything that went on, it was a tough day for the sport. You don’t have to like it. But you had better get used to it. The post Op/Ed: The Stress, Anxiety and Craziness of Haskell 2019: Welcome to Racing’s New Normal appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

2019 G1 Investec Derby hero Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who ran second to stablemate Sovereign (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby on June 29, will take part in the July 27 G1 King George V and Queen Elizabeth QIPCO S. at Ascot, O’Brien confirmed to Racing Post on Sunday. O’Brien told Racing Post, “The plan is to run Anthony Van Dyck on Saturday–we’re happy with him. Sovereign, who won the Irish Derby, is on a break and won’t be running and neither will Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who is also on a break. Hunting Horn (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Norway (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) are all entered and are possible runners, although we won’t be finalising plans until later in the week.” At Ascot, the Derby victor will face dual Arc heroine Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), as well as recent G1 Prince Of Wales’s S. victor Crystal Ocean (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). The post Anthony Van Dyck to Return in King George appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

G1SW Pretty Pollyanna (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) will bid for a second Group 1 victory at Deauville next month in the Prix Maurice de Gheest on Aug. 4. Michael Bell’s filly claimed top-level honours in the Prix Morny at the Normandy circuit last summer. The daughter of Oasis Dream emerged with plenty of credit when runner-up in the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas on her seasonal reappearance–and although she then finished down the field in the G1 Coronation S. at Royal Ascot, she bounced back to be fourth in last weekend’s G1 July Cup at Newmarket. Bell said, “It was a very good run in the July Cup, and the plan is the Maurice de Gheest. She obviously likes Deauville, and that is the plan as we stand. The unfortunate thing in the July Cup was that she missed the break so badly. That didn’t help–and although I’m not saying she would have beaten the winner, she would have been two or three lengths closer. The post Pretty Pollyanna Bids for Maurice de Gheest appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article