Wandering Eyes

TDN: Favourite racing moment of the year? DC: It would have to be Skitter Scatter (Scat Daddy)’s win in the G1 Moyglare S. I loved the enthusiasm of the filly, the trainer, and especially the owners. In an era of mega owners, it renewed my faith in the sport of racing and the possibility that if we try and try again it could be our turn. TDN: A horse that really stood out for you in 2018? DC: I was very impressed with Calyx (GB) (Kingman {GB}) in the G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot. Unfortunately he meet with a setback but the second, Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), subsequently franked the form in winning a Group 1. TDN: An outstanding achievement by a breeder, owner or trainer? DC: It would have to be how quickly Charlie Appleby has progressed to become a master of his craft. TDN: Big hope for 2019? DC: That the dawn of the “new” Curragh racecourse brings about a new racing clientele in Ireland, badly needed for our sport. TDN: Your New Year’s resolution? DC: To find out from Horse Racing Ireland what are the criteria needed for Naas racecourse to become a Premier racetrack. View the full article

Darby Development, the operator of Monmouth Park, and the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association have reached an agreement with theScore, Inc. to launch a mobile sportsbook in the United States in 2019. The agreement paves the way for theScore to offer online and mobile sports betting across New Jersey, subject to receiving all required approvals and licenses from the State of New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement and the New Jersey Racing Commission. Subject to those approvals, theScore anticipates rolling out its platform in New Jersey in mid-2019. Fans can sign up to receive updates on the company’s launch plans here. “theScore has one of the leading sports apps in North America, a world-class reputation for mobile sports development, and a large and highly-engaged audience,” said Dennis Drazin, CEO and Chairman of Darby Development. “We’re thrilled to welcome them to our exclusive family of partners offering sports wagering in New Jersey.” View the full article

The Darley stallion roster is ever growing and with five new stallions retiring across Europe, TDN‘s Alayna Cullen spoke with a few members of the nominations team about the new boys on the block. TDN: How important is it to have new sires retiring each year? Sam Bullard: We run a stallion operation with the aim being to get the best stallions of tomorrow. You can’t get the best stallions of tomorrow if you don’t have new horses coming in. The market moves very fast nowadays, and people are moving on to the next horse very quickly. And I think all stallion operations are looking for exciting new horses to come in. We only want to have horses that are capable of producing top-class runners themselves. Dawn Laidlaw: There is always a lot of excitement behind the new horses so this year we are really lucky, we have two world champions in Harry Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}) so that gets a lot of people up here to see them and keeps refreshing the roster. TDN: The new horses are an exciting bunch, but Sam I know you are particularly eager to talk about one of them who is that? SB: Cracksman, the highest-rated horse in the world for the last two years. We’re incredibly lucky to have him here at Dalham as a new headline act on the roster. Mr. Oppenheimer very kindly wanted to stand the horse with us, and Sheikh Mohammed fortunately was delighted to buy into the horse. He’s a beautiful looking horse and by 13 pounds, the best son of the great Frankel, to have raced to date. So we’re thrilled to have him. TDN: What would you say were some of his best performances on the racetrack? SB: Well, I think you can’t deny that his two [G1] Champion stakes at Ascot probably were the two greatest days. Whether you prefer the 3-year-old or the 4-year-old race is up to you. People talk about them a lot. I actually refer to the [G1 Prix] Ganay as one of his greatest races. The ground was fast, the trainer would say faster than was ideal for him, but he put a very good field to the sword in a very impressive way on his very first outing as a 4-year-old in France this year. {"id":3,"instanceName":"Articles No Playlist","videos":[{"videoType":"HTML5","title":"Darley Q and A: New Stallions for 2019","description":"","info":"","thumbImg":"http://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/DarleyVideo.jpg","mp4":"https://player.vimeo.com/external/306989516.sd.mp4?s=eb4d5618dd8370f5f66cf1bf59163f4b564c16f5&profile_id=165","enable_mp4_download":"no","prerollAD":"yes","prerollGotoLink":"prerollGotoLink","preroll_mp4_title":"preroll_mp4_title","preroll_mp4":"https://player.vimeo.com/external/281298709.sd.mp4?s=2b01634a796fce8bfb74512ac43b06158d7a3cfb&profile_id=165","prerollSkipTimer":"5","midrollAD":"no","midrollAD_displayTime":"midrollAD_displayTime","midrollGotoLink":"midrollGotoLink","midroll_mp4":"midroll_mp4","midrollSkipTimer":"midrollSkipTimer","postrollAD":"no","postrollGotoLink":"postrollGotoLink","postroll_mp4":"postroll_mp4","postrollSkipTimer":"postrollSkipTimer","popupAdShow":"no","popupImg":"popupImg","popupAdStartTime":"popupAdStartTime","popupAdEndTime":"popupAdEndTime","popupAdGoToLink":"popupAdGoToLink"}],"instanceTheme":"light","playerLayout":"fitToContainer","videoPlayerWidth":720,"videoPlayerHeight":405,"videoRatio":1.7777777777778,"videoRatioStretch":true,"videoPlayerShadow":"effect1","colorAccent":"#000000","posterImg":"","posterImgOnVideoFinish":"","logoShow":"No","logoPath":"","logoPosition":"bottom-right","logoClickable":"No","logoGoToLink":"","allowSkipAd":true,"advertisementTitle":"Ad","skipAdvertisementText":"Skip Ad","skipAdText":"You can skip this ad in","playBtnTooltipTxt":"Play","pauseBtnTooltipTxt":"Pause","rewindBtnTooltipTxt":"Rewind","downloadVideoBtnTooltipTxt":"Download video","qualityBtnOpenedTooltipTxt":"Close settings","qualityBtnClosedTooltipTxt":"Settings","muteBtnTooltipTxt":"Mute","unmuteBtnTooltipTxt":"Unmute","fullscreenBtnTooltipTxt":"Fullscreen","exitFullscreenBtnTooltipTxt":"Exit fullscreen","infoBtnTooltipTxt":"Show info","embedBtnTooltipTxt":"Embed","shareBtnTooltipTxt":"Share","volumeTooltipTxt":"Volume","playlistBtnClosedTooltipTxt":"Show playlist","playlistBtnOpenedTooltipTxt":"Hide playlist","facebookBtnTooltipTxt":"Share on Facebook","twitterBtnTooltipTxt":"Share on Twitter","googlePlusBtnTooltipTxt":"Share on Google+","lastBtnTooltipTxt":"Go to last video","firstBtnTooltipTxt":"Go to first video","nextBtnTooltipTxt":"Play next video","previousBtnTooltipTxt":"Play previous video","shuffleBtnOnTooltipTxt":"Shuffle on","shuffleBtnOffTooltipTxt":"Shuffle off","nowPlayingTooltipTxt":"NOW PLAYING","embedWindowTitle1":"SHARE THIS PLAYER:","embedWindowTitle2":"EMBED THIS VIDEO IN YOUR SITE:","embedWindowTitle3":"SHARE LINK TO THIS PLAYER:","lightBox":false,"lightBoxAutoplay":false,"lightBoxThumbnail":"","lightBoxThumbnailWidth":400,"lightBoxThumbnailHeight":220,"lightBoxCloseOnOutsideClick":true,"onFinish":"Play next video","autoplay":false,"loadRandomVideoOnStart":"No","shuffle":"No","playlist":"Off","playlistBehaviourOnPageload":"opened (default)","playlistScrollType":"light","preloadSelfHosted":"none","hideVideoSource":true,"showAllControls":true,"rightClickMenu":true,"autohideControls":2,"hideControlsOnMouseOut":"No","nowPlayingText":"Yes","infoShow":"No","shareShow":"No","facebookShow":"No","twitterShow":"No","mailShow":"No","facebookShareName":"","facebookShareLink":"","facebookShareDescription":"","facebookSharePicture":"","twitterText":"","twitterLink":"","twitterHashtags":"","twitterVia":"","googlePlus":"","embedShow":"No","embedCodeSrc":"","embedCodeW":720,"embedCodeH":405,"embedShareLink":"","youtubeControls":"custom controls","youtubeSkin":"dark","youtubeColor":"red","youtubeQuality":"default","youtubeShowRelatedVideos":"Yes","vimeoColor":"00adef","showGlobalPrerollAds":false,"globalPrerollAds":"url1;url2;url3;url4;url5","globalPrerollAdsSkipTimer":5,"globalPrerollAdsGotoLink":"","videoType":"HTML5 (self-hosted)","submit":"Save Changes","rootFolder":"http:\/\/wp.tdn.pmadv.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/Elite-video-player\/"} TDN: Dawn you’ve mentioned before that you have a soft spot for one of the new stallions, which one? DL: I love Harry Angel. Harry Angel is just, for me, a lovely horse. He’s not an overly big horse, he has a little bit of Acclamation (GB) length about him, great color, lovely hair, great eye and a great attitude. I just think he could be our next superstar. TDN: He was electric on the racecourse. Can you sum up his career? DL: He was just beaten, first time out, in his maiden but then he broke his maiden in the [G2] Mill Reef which gave him a TimeFrom rating of 111. That mark was a full nine pounds higher than his own father achieved when he won the same race. As a 3-year-old he was second in the [G1] Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot just behind Caravaggio (Scat Daddy). After that he came back in the [G1] July Cup here at Newmarket and reversed that form. There were a lot of good horses behind him that day, a lot of other Group 1 winners. His next outing was at Haydock and it was touch and go whether he was going to run that day. It was very soft ground and it was a last minute decision after Clive had walked the course. Harry put up a really impressive performance that day, easily winning by four lengths. TDN: He was bred by a renowned Irish breeder. What in his pedigree suggests he could be a great sire? DL: Well he’s by another great stallion, Dark Angel, but he is also out of Cadeaux Genereux (GB) mare, Cadeaux Genereux himself [being] a July Cup winner. So you’ve got a lot of speed on both sides of that family. His mother is a half-sister to dual Group 1 winner Xtension (Ire) too, so I think there is lot going for Harry Angel. TDN: David there is a son of Kitten’s Joy retiring to Dalham this year. What can you tell us about Hawkbill? David Walsh: As you said Hawkbill is by Kitten’s Joy. He was a $350,000 yearling from Keeneland and he’s from the family of Cozzene which has a champion turf influence on the pedigree, so I think it made sense for him to run in Europe. He had his international campaign on the turf which was incredible for Charlie and for Godolphin. His most impressive performance, for me anyway, was definitely his third run as a 3-year-old when he won the [G1] Eclipse. He beat the likes of Time Test (GB) and The Gurkha (Ire) so impressively, it was an amazing run really. TDN: He also had a winning campaign in Dubai. I’m sure that was a great thrill for the team? DW: Yes, he won the [G2] Dubai City of Gold and then progressed on to win the [G1] Dubai Sheema Classic on Dubai World Cup night. Having winners anywhere in the world is important for Sheik Mohammed but having them on World Cup night is extra special so it was incredible for him to do that. TDN: How is he going down with breeders so far? DW: He is a really good looking horse. He came in from Charlie’s about a month ago and he’s just progressed and progressed. He’s a good looking, good walking horse. He’s gone down really well with breeders in the UK. We had open days at Dalham Hall over the Tattersalls December Sales and the horse that everybody’s talking about is Hawkbill and how well he walks. TDN: We can’t forget the new horse retiring to Ireland which is Jungle Cat (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}). Anthony is he an attractive sire prospect for Irish breeders? Anthony O’Donnell: I suppose there’s a number of different lines of appeal to him. The fact that he’s great value, especially in this current market, is one of them. He’s the son of Iffraaj who Irish breeders have had huge amounts of success with when he retired to stud in Kildangan in 2007. We are very excited about standing him and also being able to supply breeding rights in him to British and Irish clients. TDN: He seems to have a great mind and constitution. What would you say on those qualities? AD: He has a fantastic temperament. He was trained by Mark Johnson as a 2-year-old and then went to Charlie Appleby at three. He ran 32 times in total and never had a lame step. So from a temperament and soundness aspect, he is right up there. He’s a good looking horse too. A lot of Irish breeders, who’ve seen him over the last couple of weeks, who have seen Iffraaj can see the resemblance between him and his father. So we’re very excited about showing him to more Irish clients over the next couple of months. TDN: You mentioned he ran 32 times. What were some of his career highlights? AD: He had a very good 2-year-old career, being placed in the [G2] Coventry S. at Royal Ascot. He was also placed in the [G2] Richmond S. The highlight of his 2-year-old career would have been when he was just beaten a nose in the [G2] Gimcrack behind Muhaarar (GB). Earlier this year he won two group races in Dubai one of which was the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint, over six furlongs. He traveled to Australia this year too and won the G1 Sir Rupert Clarke over seven furlongs. View the full article

Triple Crown-winning jockey Victor Espinoza could resume his riding career next month at Santa Anita Park after recovering from serious injuries in a training mishap July 22 at Del Mar. View the full article

13:15 Lingfield Jason Watson’s appointment as new stable jockey for the Roger Charlton yard has the whole racing world on notice and he might just have a statement winner here today at Lingfield to prove why he landed the job. Watson takes the mount on Saeed Bin Suroor trained, Blue Mountain, who goes handicapping for […] The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Wednesday 19th December appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

12:25 Southwell The second race of the day on the artificial surface at Southwell sees 7 set to try and claim their first ever victory. This maiden sees a handful of newcomers make their racing debuts with the nicely bred Orient Express the likeliest to go well on paper but with any maiden, I […] The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Tuesday 18th December appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Wins have been hard to come by for trainer Paul O’Sullivan this season but he has one of his best chances yet to kick-start his term at Sha Tin on Wednesday night. The conservative New Zealander has had the fewest runners of any trainer this season and admits he is feeling the after-effects of a successful run, with a lot of his horses now handicapped out of races. “We had a pretty good year last year so we have plenty of horses that are high in the handicap and are going to have to... View the full article

Karis Teetan and Frankie Lor Fu-chuen have already combined for Group One glory this season and they are hoping to continue their good form together under lights at Sha Tin on Wednesday. The in-form Mauritian, who is enjoying a career-best start to a season in Hong Kong, has secured the first-up ride on Lor’s promising four-year-old Mission Tycoon in the Class Two Penfold Park Handicap (1,200m). Teetan picked up the mount with his former rider Joao Moreira forced to ride one of John Size... View the full article

The $400,000 Springboard Mile Dec. 16 at Remington Park concludes the main Road to the Kentucky Derby races for 2-year-olds. View the full article

California Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. has appointed Dennis Alfieri and Debra Reed to the California Horse Racing Board of Directors. Alfieri has been chief executive officer of the Sheriff’s Youth Foundation since 2017. He was principal and a founding partner at Bantry Property Services LLC from 2005 to 2010 and general partner and founder of Twin Palms Restaurants from 1991 to 2005. Reed held several positions at Sempra Energy from 2010 to 2018, including executive chairman, chairman, president and chief executive officer and executive vice president. These appointments require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. View the full article

Italian champion sire Mujahid (Danzig-Elrafa Ah, by Storm Cat) has been pensioned at Allevamento di Besnate, the Racing Post reported on Monday. The rising 23-year-old, bred and owned by Shadwell, will claim his fourth consecutive champion sire title by progeny earnings in his adopted land at year’s end. Originally at Beech House Stud in Great Britain, Mujahid moved to Allevamento di Besnate for the 2008 covering season. A winner of the 1998 G1 Dewhurst S. and third in the 1999 G1 2000 Guineas a year later for John Dunlop, Mujahid has sired 29 black-type winners, 11 of them at the group level, with Australian MG1SW Danleigh (Aus) and Italian Group 1 winner Cleo Fan (Ity) leading the way. As a broodmare sire, Mujahid is responsible for G1 English/Irish 1000 Guineas bridesmaid Lightning Thunder (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}), MGSW & MG1SP Tasaday (Nayef) and SW & G1SP Bailey’s Jubilee (GB) (Bahamian Bounty {GB}). View the full article

Trainer Bob Baffert has three likely starters set to line up in the Dec. 26 GI Malibu S., led by GI Pennsylvania Derby winner McKinzie (Street Sense). The sophomore colt, looking to rebound from a 12th-place finish in the Nov. 3 GI Breeders’ Cup Classic, worked six furlongs in a bullet 1:13.20 (1/23) Sunday at Santa Anita. “He worked really nice,” Baffert said Monday. “He’s doing really well. I freshened him up a little after the Breeders’ Cup, and, in retrospect, he wasn’t ready to go a mile and a quarter… but I thought I had him back. The Breeders’ Cup took me out of my normal program. It’s a lot of money and it seemed right, but he just didn’t show up. I like the way he’s training here for seven-eighths.” Ax Man (Misremembered), off since finishing third in the July 14 GIII Los Alamitos Derby, earned the bullet for his six-furlong work at Santa Anita Saturday when he covered the distance in 1:12.20 (1/19). “He’s doing really well,” Baffert said of the gelding. “We cut him. He had a meltdown at Churchill Downs [when third in the June 16 GIII] Matt Winn], so we gave him some time off and he’s been working exceptionally well.” Also expected for the Malibu is Solomini (Curlin), who has not raced since finishing third in the June 10 GIII Affirmed S. The chestnut colt worked six furlongs Saturday in 1:13.60 (4/19). “Solomini is coming off a layoff and has been freshened up,” Baffert said. “He’s an off-the-pace sort. I’d prefer running him in a little allowance race, but the Malibu is a Grade I, and when you have horses with their breeding, you have to take a shot.” View the full article

Make Happy, a California-bred Square Eddie filly, seeks to double down on her victory in the series' first race when she faces 13 male rivals Dec. 19 in the listed Zen-Nipon Nisai Yushun Stakes at Kawasaki Racecourse near Haneda Airport. View the full article

The New Jersey state Senate passed a bill that would guarantee a five-year, $10 million annual purse subsidy for Monmouth Park by a 40-0 vote Monday. The vote came one week after the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee approved the bill by a vote of 13-0 and sets it up for a vote in the State Assembly in early January. Should the bill pass the Assembly, Governor Phil Murphy would need to approve it before it becomes law. Beginning in 2019, Bill 2992 would appropriate $20 million per year out of the state’s general fund to be divided equally between the state’s Thoroughbred and Standardbred industries. Because Monmouth Park is the only operating Thoroughbred racetrack in the state, 100% of the Thoroughbred industry’s allotment would be dedicated toward overnight purses at the Oceanport oval. The subsidy would presumably provide a much-needed boost to the racing industry in the state, which has struggled to stay afloat in the years since Governor Chris Christie eliminated a $17 million annual purse supplement funded by Atlantic City casinos in 2011. View the full article

Santa Anita and Mathis Brothers Furniture will team up to donate $10,000 in college scholarships when racing returns to the Arcadia track Dec. 26. Santa Anita will provide free clubhouse admission to all college students with a current student I.D. and, along with Mathis Brothers, will tender a total of four $2,500 college scholarships which will be given away throughout the day. All currently enrolled college students can enter the random drawing at any of three official sweepstakes entry tables, located at three different admission gates; the East Admission Gate, adjacent to the Clubhouse East Gate, the South Admission Gate, next to the Jockeys’ Room, and the Infield Thoroughbreds Club Center, next to the center fountain. Students may also enter in advance of opening day at santaanita.com/college. Online entries must be made prior to 4 p.m. PT Dec. 20. The opening-day card also includes the GII Mathis Brothers Mile. The Oklahoma-based company is a major supporter of Thoroughbred racing and philanthropic causes and has a retail outlet near Santa Anita in Ontario, California. View the full article

Positive post-race tests for Class 1A and 2A prohibited substances at Canterbury Park have resulted in $2,500 fines and 90-day suspensions for two trainers. The penalties imposed upon Ray E. Tracy Jr. and Judd William Becker could have been doubled. But their $5,000 fines/180-day suspensions were halved as the result of a Dec. 13 negotiation with the Minnesota Racing Commission (MRC). Under the terms of the deal, half the amount of the penalties will be stayed in exchange for a clean one-year probation, the trainers’ acknowledgement that they violated the rules, and their agreeing not to further appeal the case. “It was a negotiated settlement,” Tom DiPasquale, the MRC’s executive director, told TDN on Monday. “In Minnesota, our statute requires contested cases for penalties or suspensions beyond a certain amount. [The trainers’] exposure [to penalization] was more than what we settled for. But we think they’re fair penalties given the circumstances, the prior rulings history of the licensees, and the gravity of the offense.” DiPasquale said Tracy had two horses test positive for pemoline, which is listed as a Class 1A drug (the most dangerous category) on the Association of Racing Commissioners International Uniform Classification of Foreign Substances list. Pemoline (often branded Cylert) is a central nervous system stimulant used in humans to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy. In 2017, the Racing Medication & Testing Consortium (RMTC) issued an advisory related to the off-brand use of the common deworming drug Levamisole causing some horses to metabolize it into pemoline, which could trigger a positive test Tracy’s two positives came from Oh Newman (Munnings), who ran seventh in a Sep. 1 starter-optional claimer, and According to Aspen (English Channel), who ran 12th in a Sep. 2 allowance. DiPasquale said Becker was penalized for cardarine, which was only very recently proposed for 2A classification by the ARCI. Although initially marketed as a drug to prevent human prostate and breast tumors, a Google search reveals numerous hits for its use as a muscle-building and endurance elixir for bodybuilders. Becker’s positive belonged to Bushrod (Grey Memo), who ran seventh in the $100,000 Mystic Lake Turf Express S. Aug. 25. In a written comment regarding cardarine, the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Associate submitted the following memo prior to 20 of 21 RMTC members voting for its proposed 2A classification: “At present cardarine, we know has similar properties to zipaterol and ractopamine and they are both currently in class 2A. However, we are also aware cardarine is being used by bodybuilders and may very well be a substance where environmental contamination could become an issue. Again, if that arises, we need to be prepared to address these as such with less severe rulings/suspensions/fines.” DiPasquale said that although he could not discuss details of the negotiated settlement beyond what appears in the rulings, he could confirm that the MRC did not consider the positives to be the result of any accidental (i.e., from the hands of a groom) or environmental (like tainted feed) contamination. View the full article

A second consecutive sweep of the Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity (G1) and Starlet (G1) by Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert highlighted the Winter Thoroughbred meet, which concluded Dec. 16. View the full article

Taking the jockey and trainer meet titles, Eurico Rosa da Silva and Norm McKnight put the finishing touches on their respective record-breaking seasons during the closing weekend. View the full article

Following a cut in the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) from £100 to £2 by the British government in November, the Arena Racing Company has opted to forgo unlocking qualifying races across its race program beginning on Feb. 11, 2019, the company announced on Monday. As a result, the purse contribution from ARC will drop by £3 million annually across the ARC’s 3,406 races. Its total prize money contribution will be £15.3 million in 2019. If ARC had instead opted to unlock qualifying races, including the Race Incentive Fund (RIF) and the Appearance Money Scheme (AMS) which extended prize money payments to placed horses, the additional prize money would have instead gone to bolster the lower levels of the racing program. ARC also noted that further reductions in prize money were still a possibility. “The British racing industry is today in a considerably different position than when we underwent the funding review of 2017 which came about as a direct result of the increase in Levy income to the sport, itself a result of the Levy being extended to cover online betting companies,” said ARC Chief Executive Officer Martin Cruddace in a statement released by the company on Monday. “This increase of approximately £40 million per annum to the Levy, through this extension to cover online operators was, to a large degree, a result of the Authorised Betting Partner policy adopted by British racing in 2016. ARC played a central role in leading and supporting this policy, albeit at the cost of some very significant sums in sponsorship agreements. “At the time of the 2017 funding review it was agreed that the Race Incentive Fund and Appearance Money Scheme, paid for by these Levy increases, should be unlocked alongside further direct investment from racecourses.” He continued, “Today, however, the well-publicised impact of betting shop closures on racecourses’ media rights income has already started to take effect, and will only increase in the months and years to come. As a result of this, ARC simply cannot continue to support our current levels of executive contribution to prize money and unlock all qualifying races, as was the case throughout 2018. We fully understand the importance of prize money across the industry, and do not take such a decision lightly.” View the full article

Centennial Farms’ Mihos (Cairo Prince), tabbed a ‘TDN Rising Star’ after his maiden-breaking score at Aqueduct Nov. 24, recorded his first work at Palm Meadows Training Center Monday, going four furlongs in :50.00 (17/22). The bay colt could be in line for a first stakes assignment in the one-mile Mucho Macho Man S. Jan. 5 at Gulfstream Park. “He worked well,” trainer Jimmy Jerkens said Monday afternoon. “He worked with a stablemate of his, Illudere (Ghostzapper), a decent 3-year-old. The track looked like it was a little on the slow side, but they went the way they were supposed to go for this first go-around.” Mihos worked four furlongs in :51.10 at Belmont Park Dec. 5 and shipped south to Jerkens’s winter base last week. “We just got down here on Wednesday,” Jerkens said. “So this was the first work for both of them since they got here.” As for what is next for Mihos, Jerkens said, “We will nominate to the Mucho Macho Man and see how his next work goes. That will give us a better idea.” Mihos finished third behind subsequent GIII Nashua S. winner Vekoma (Candy Ride {Arg}) in his six-furlong debut at Belmont Sept. 23. Favored at 3-5 in his second outing and again going six furlongs, the handsome bay strode home an effortless 1 1/4-length winner despite a wide trip (video). “I thought his first race was a key race–the two horses who finished in front of him came back and ran good,” Jerkens said. “And he came back and won pretty handily. He lost a lot of ground and he still looked like he won pretty easily. He acts like he’s pretty genuine and he looks like he’s all business. So we’re pretty excited about him.” Also Monday at Palm Meadows, Jerkens sent out multiple graded stakes winner Holy Helena (Ghostzapper) to work four furlongs in a bullet :48.00 (1/22). “She is nominated to the [Dec. 29] Via Borghese,” Jerkens said. “It’s not set in stone, but it’s a logical spot to get her back going again. It looks like the distance is good, 1 3/16 miles seems to be her thing.” Holy Helena, winner of the 2017 Queen’s Plate and Canada’s champion 3-year-old filly that season, won last year’s GII Sheepshead Bay S. and GIII The Very One S. She was most recently third in the Nov. 3 GIII Turnback the Alarm S. View the full article

Welcome to the first in our series sifting the value among Kentucky sires for 2019. It’s worth noting straightaway that we’ll take a separate a look at the regional market, once we have assessed the Bluegrass stallions. We’ll go through these according to the stage they have reached in their careers: moving on next, for instance, to those with first foals due in the new year, and winding up with those supported by an established population of runners. In each case, we’ll finish up by awarding a few medals for those we think offer you most for your buck. New sires, of course, generally offer the worst value on the whole market, simply because most will never again command so high a fee. Even those who do manage to work their way into the elite must very often first suffer a slide before their genetic wares begin to be properly advertised on the track. Yet appalling numbers of mares are thrown at new sires every year, in the hope of stumbling across the one who gets a buzz at the sales. Sure enough, even in the event that his stock proves able to run as well as they can walk, those same mares will then be faithlessly sent to the next new kid on the block. Value is in the eye of the beholder, I guess, so we’ll work on the quaint premise that a stallion is priced well if he has a better chance of producing a good racehorse than his market level might suggest. Nowhere else to start a review of this intake but Justify (Scat Daddy), who finds himself in a rather curious position. Retired to Ashford at $150,000, a fee perfectly commensurate with his meteoric career, at any time over the past generation he would be a unique proposition. As it is, he isn’t even the only young Triple Crown winner on his own farm. Someday the pair will perhaps end up dating each other’s daughters, for a little Storm Cat inbreeding, but for now the sale yields of American Pharoah (Pioneerof The Nile) confirm how the Coolmore team can put their shoulders to the wheel even for a stallion starting at such a giddy fee. Often physical matching is fairly nuanced, but few champions of recent times have retired with such blatant potential to transfer brawn and power as well as class. Justify threw all that into Classic dirt assets, carrying his speed relentlessly, but his sire and grandsire should embolden top European breeders to back him for versatility too. He will be beyond most pockets but Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy)–starting at the same farm on $35,000–shares a sire with Justify and sometimes appeared also to have a good portion of his talent, notably when winning the G2 UAE Derby in his dirt debut by 18 1/2 lengths. If Mendelssohn fails, we can all give up because he has the whole package. A Keeneland sale-topper, a Breeders’ Cup winner at two, elite form on both surfaces, and the standout stallion’s pedigree of the intake: half-brother not just to a self-made sensation in Into Mischief, but also to 11-time Grade I winner Beholder. A theory developed that he wasn’t quite seeing out the trip, but then no horse could when exposed to such a wild pace in the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup. Unfortunately a gruelling campaign seemed to have caught up with him by the time he was dropped in distance for his final start. Mendelssohn would surely have repaid perseverance if kept in training, granted more refined tactics. Conceivably he will be able to make immediate commercial sense of his starting fee. If he does happen to tread water at any stage, however, he will definitely be worth following through. Ashford’s other rookie is Mo Town (Uncle Mo), who like Justify bears those skilled Gunther fingerprints. He looked the real deal as a juvenile, winning the GII Remsen S., and regrouped at three to show a lively turn of foot on turf in the GI Hollywood Derby. His dam was highly regarded until derailed by injury, and was out of a Grade I-placed mare, while the fifth dam is sister to none other than Raise A Native. A recent visit to Ashford confirmed him a very athletic model, and he has been given every chance at $12,500. Another farm starting up a trio of rookies is Lane’s End–whose $20,000 fee for Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky), Justify’s only challenger as Horse of the Year, looks extraordinarily aggressive. Okay, so that is no more than his own sire can command, but that’s another story, as he too is great value. And it’s not as though Accelerate has that plain a page: brothers placed at Grade I and Grade III level, and their dam a stakes-placed half-sister to a Grade I winner. He is also inbred to a Broodmare of the Year: fifth dam Smartaire, whose son Smarten is broodmare sire of Lookin At Lucky’s sire Smart Strike. Lane’s End clearly know what they are about, so if they feel obliged to offer such an accomplished animal at this kind of money, the only possible inference is that the priorities of commercial breeders are certifiably deranged. Accelerate’s virtues of soundness and relentless progress are precisely the kind of thing we should be replicating in the breed; and no less than you would expect browsing through his pedigree. Starting with a dam by Awesome Again, son of the fabled broodmare sire Deputy Minister, and taking in one resonant Classic sire after another on both sides: second dam a grand-daughter of Damascus, etc. His looks were underwritten by a $380,000 yearling docket signed by one of the best judges in the business, plenty for a sire so under-rated at the sales. Let’s hope there’s nothing self-fulfilling, in that respect, about Accelerate’s fee. Even if that were to be the case, he will remain insane value for the end-user. As such, it almost feels invidious to invite his two new studmates to justify a higher fee. But City of Light (Quality Road) shares very similar assets to those observed in Mendelssohn in also starting at $35,000. Another great physical, attested by his $710,000 KEESEP tag; and ultimately an even better track CV, his three Grade I wins crowned by a brilliant exhibition of speed in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Above all, his family brings together a superb mesh of broodmare sires: his dam is by Deputy Minister’s son Dehere, and his Grade I-winning second dam (who produced a Grade I winner by Deputy Minister) is by Somethingfabulous, half-brother to two great distaff influences in Secretariat and Sir Gaylord. In fact, their dam Somethingroyal runs a dye across the pedigree: Secretariat is broodmare sire of Dehere; while Quality Road’s sire Elusive Quality features Secretariat and Sir Ivor, a grandson of Somethingroyal, as the respective damsires of his sire and dam. Under the third dam, incidentally, are a series of elite turf runners. Granted the interesting variegation in Quality Road’s own family tree, City Of Light should be on the radar of any European breeders with the imagination to see past his trademark local asset of carrying speed on dirt. He’d be a personal preference over West Coast (Flatter), whose page hinges largely on the shock Breeders’ Cup success of his dam, but he will doubtless have his supporters at the same fee. Though he proved unable to win at four, you cannot “lose” more lucratively than by finishing second in both the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational and G1 Dubai World Cup; and if beating all three Classic winners in the GI Travers S. last year is a fairly technical credit, in that nobody would sensibly propose that they all remained in the same form that day, the bottom line was that he ended up 3-year-old champion. Mind you, if West Coast gets $35,000 and Gun Runner $70,000, then you have to say that Airdrie’s Collected (City Zip) is value at $17,500 after splitting them in the 2017 Classic. We all admire his late sire more than ever, and he collected triple-digit Beyers for fun. In a way, Collected was a victim of his own success against Arrogate (Unbridled’s Song), who soon proved to be on the wane; conversely Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) was still on the rise when next home in the GI Pacific Classic. But Collected has the looks and, from the family of Blushing Groom, owes his first four dams to Johannesburg, Danehill, Lyphard and Alleged. He carried his speed in classic dirt fashion, but nobody could be surprised if he also ended up a major force in the burgeoning turf programme. He’s another the Euros should definitely be checking out. The Airdrie team, who did such a good job launching Cairo Prince (Pioneerof The Nile), have also given McCraken (Ghostzapper) every chance at $10,000. It’s a fast and classy family: he’s out of a GSP half-sister to a Grade I winner, the pair out of a Grade I runner-up. The solitary graded stakes-winning juvenile by the mighty Ghostzapper, McCraken was nailed only on the line in GI Haskell Invitational S. and had that miler’s turn of foot breeders so like to see. Of the three Classic winners down the field behind West Coast in the Travers, meanwhile, Always Dreaming (Bodemeister) gets the highest ticket from WinStar at $25,000. Everyone accepts that you now need a pretty long memory to remember the champ he looked in the Kentucky Derby. His subsequent derailment, however, should not detract from what he had achieved to that point, melting the clock in the GI Florida Derby and then carrying his speed through a brutal pace on the big day. That was no less than he was entitled to do, granted a page that mixes a trademark Classic sire-line with some quality speed along the bottom: he’s out of the very fast Grade I-placed Above Perfection (In Excess {Ire}), who has besides produced another Grade I winner and now a runaway winner of the GII Demoiselle S. (Nice to see Somethingfabulous in exactly the same slot as in City Of Light’s pedigree, too.) Tapwrit (Tapit) was a $1.2 million Saratoga yearling and, having started to pay that back as a Belmont winner, gets to work alongside his sire at Gainesway at $12,500. Like the other two Classic winners, he could not go on, but he’s a fine specimen out of a Grade I-winning 2-year-old (whose Grade II winner Ride A Comet (Candy Ride {Arg}) reportedly stays in training). The farm will be giving him the best possible shot, granted how young sons of Tapit in this kind of range will only gain competition with the ongoing improvement of his books. Spendthrift start Preakness winner Cloud Computing (Maclean’s Music) at $7,500. His Classic success (within three months of debut) stands out from the rest of his work, but he came from the first crop of a horse who notoriously disappeared after his only start and, between them, there’s clearly a lot of raw talent floating around. He looks the part, too, as yet another who started out with an outlying yearling tag. His Grade II-placed dam by A.P. Indy is out of a Grade I winner; in fact proper Classic sires are seamless through generations four and five. So while he comes with risks, he has been priced accordingly and you never know. The farm that gambled on Cloud Computing’s sire, Hill ‘n’ Dale, launches another brilliant but troubled animal in Army Mule (Friesian Fire) at $10,000. There’s no question he had wild ability. An $825,000 2-year-old, he won a Grade I by 6 1/4 lengths on only his third start. Unfortunately it was also the final one of a career that did not last four minutes. He made hay while the sun shone, anyhow, winning by an aggregate 22 lengths in monster times, and they say he fills the eye. There have obviously been some hugely influential stallions that were similarly too-fast-to-last, albeit often with pedigrees to paper over the cracks, and there’s no shortage of traders in this game who might roll the dice on the “fast” bit. But Hill ‘n’ Dale’s headline recruit at $35,000 is Kentucky Derby runner-up Good Magic (Curlin), a champion juvenile who also had an authoritative Grade I score at three. Yet another to have made his first splash in the sales ring–a seven-figure yearling–he would probably have won the Preakness as well as the Derby but for Justify, having torn off the gloves with the champ at Pimlico. Pity he’s not sticking around to exploit his rival’s retirement, but at least he showed toughness as well as class during the time he did get on the track. His Grade II-placed dam is one of half a dozen stakes winners out of a Miswaki (oh yes) half-sister to Grade I winner and producer Magical Maiden. Bolt d’Oro (Medaglia d’Oro) finished third to Good Magic in the Juvenile but was previously a dual Grade I winner–a precocious achievement for a Classic-bred son of Medaglia d’Oro out of an A.P. Indy mare. His sophomore career was another that tapered off, but his status as clearly one of the best of his generation translates into a fee of $25,000 at Spendthrift. A physique that combines scope and elegance augurs well for only the second American son of his sire to have won a Grade I at two. The other is Violence, who is shaping so well–and you have to like a second dam by Lord Of War, broodmare sire of Pioneerof The Nile and Raven’s Pass. Spendthrift also welcome Mor Spirit (Eskendereya) at $10,000, which would have sounded mighty generous the day he added the stallion-making GI Met Mile, by half the stretch for a 117 Beyer, to his Grade I win at two. Unfortunately he had a fallow 2018, so let’s hope he can remind us that we lost a potentially fertile conduit of Giant’s Causeway when his sire was exported to Japan so early in his career. His family, which also produced Stellar Wind (Curlin), gives him a nice, old-fashioned profile matched by a very fair price. Much the same holds true of the horse who followed him home (off a post-Dubai lay-off) in the Met, Sharp Azteca (Freud). He, too, ended up basically writing off 2018, no reflection on his superb consistency through a relentless schedule of demanding races beforehand. With Giant’s Causeway sadly gone, and his brother Freud now 20, Sharp Azteca has a future to play for at Three Chimneys off $10,000; quite apart from keeping alive the legacy of Saint Liam through his dam. A dasher in looks and deeds, he crowned his resume with a five-length win in the GI Cigar Mile (115 Beyer) and a deep family is seeded top-to-bottom by Classic influences. This year’s Met Mile winner Bee Jersey (Jersey Town) arrives at Darby Dan very competitively priced at $5,000. He was given an unconventional grounding in Dubai but blossomed at four as one of the fastest milers around, wiring the Met field for a 109 Beyer. While some may hesitate with his sire now standing for $3,000 in California–and let’s at least give him credit for coming up with a horse this fast from his first crop–Bee Jersey is from one of the very best families in the book, with pervasive Classic seeding. He has the looks too, so you really couldn’t rule out a rags-to-riches story here. Another Charles Fipke homebred bringing an immaculate bottom line to Kentucky is Tale of Verve (Tale Of Ekati), tracing directly to the Claiborne mare Continue, whose daughters produced Forty Niner and Swale. And right close up are the Grade I “Z” team of Zoftig (Cozzene), Zaftig (Gone West) and Zo Impressive (Hard Spun). Fipke has his own way of doing things–witness promoting this horse from maiden to Classic company to chase home American Pharoah (Pioneerof The Nile) in the Preakness–but every purist has to appreciate the depth of blood underpinning these two horses. You can tap into Tale Of Verve’s for just $2,000 at C.F. Farms. Free Drop Billy (Union Rags) starts alongside Mor Spirit at Spendthrift at the same fee, $10,000. A Grade I winner at two, he’s out of a terrific mare in Trensa (Giant’s Causeway) from the family of the splendid Cozzene. In fact there’s a fair bit of turf in this horse’s background. His subsequent disappearance suggests that there may have been other issues behind his disappointing experiment on grass at Saratoga, so it might yet be that Free Drop Billy can become a versatile influence. Speaking of which, nice to see Mill Ridge again standing a top-class horse of transatlantic appeal in Oscar Performance (Kitten’s Joy) at $20,000. He’s a four-time Grade I winner, across ages two to four, with zero Lasix. Kitten’s Joy famously earned his stripes with limited mares but the one who produced Oscar Performance traces back to the influential Lady Pitt; and her previous tryst with Kitten’s Joy produced the dual Grade I-placed Oscar Nominated. Good Samaritan (Harlan’s Holiday), third to Oscar Performance in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, looks reasonably priced by WinStar at $12,500. He made a successful switch to dirt to win the GII Jim Dandy, failed by just half a length to crack a Grade I in the Clark H., and his family gets better the farther you go back. He showed up time and again, through his first career, and you suspect he’s gonna get busy again as he embarks on his second. Funtastic (More Than Ready) landed his Grade I shock on turf in the United Nations S. and, if he rather stole that race from the front, then $7,500 at Three Chimneys will get you some priceless genes: he’s a half-brother to Saint Liam and to the dam of Gun Runner. In terms of track career, Ransom the Moon (Malibu Moon) is a completely different proposition starting off the same fee at Calumet: a dirt sprinter, who beat champion Roy H (More Than Ready) in consecutive runnings of the GI Bing Crosby S. But that was hardly the kind of metier he was born for, with plenty of Classic blood through the page and evidently a physique to match. His second dam is a Grade I winner so overall he looks an interesting genetic lucky dip. CHRIS MCGRATH’S VALUE PODIUM: Gold: Accelerate $20,000, Lane’s End Silver: Collected $17,500, Airdrie; Sharp Azteca $10,000, Three Chimneys Bronze: Bee Jersey $5,000, Darby Dan; City Of Light $35,000, Lane’s End; Mor Spirit $10,000, Spendthrift View the full article

The Safeguarding Policy, a policy designed to complement and underpin the existing safeguarding policies that various racing organisations already have in place, will go into effect on Jan. 1, the British Horseracing Authority announced on Monday. In addition to the policy, a body of Safeguarding Regulations and a Code of Conduct for the sport will also begin on the first of the year. The policy will cover areas like abuse, inappropriate relationships, reporting safeguarding concerns and safer recruitment practices. “For this sport to have the bright future we are all working together to achieve, we must attract the interest and participation of people of all ages,” said BHA Chief Executive Nick Rust. “It is vital that those people who we do attract to the sport have a positive and fulfilling experience and are protected from all forms of abuse and harm. As the governing body of racing, the BHA has a particular duty to protect young people and adults at risk from harm that may arise from their participation in racing. “However, this duty is not confined to the BHA. It is shared by everyone in racing. We all have a role to play in promoting a positive culture and experience for everyone involved in our sport. We trust that the new safeguarding obligations will be positively received, demonstrating racing’s commitment to the protection of its youngest and most vulnerable participants.” View the full article

As a sideline to my role with TDN, I dabble in breeding the odd slow horse and do a fairly moderate job of being a trainer’s wife. Our stable is one of the smallest yards in the largest training centre in Britain. I love living in Newmarket. It revolves around Thoroughbreds, from the training of them on the Heath in the heart of town to the breeding of the next batch of superstars and also-rans on the stud farms in surrounding villages. Racehorses have been trained here for almost 400 years. I’ve been in Newmarket for only 15 of those years but even in that time there’s been a significant change, and it’s one which is mirrored across the sport. The big yards are now so much in demand that many of the horses on their books are with pre-trainers until spaces become available at the trainer’s yard(s). Elsewhere, boxes stand empty as small or medium-sized stables struggle for patronage and, in some cases, go out of business. There are more horses in Newmarket than when I first came here but they are spread among fewer trainers. Of course, owning a racehorse is firmly in the luxury goods category of life. Nobody needs to have one, but if they have enough money to be able to buy a horse or two, then they’ll want the best that they can afford and to be able to send them to a fashionable trainer. To a degree—and there are certain notable exceptions, both good and bad—the level of opportunity determines the trainers’ championship. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not railing against the unfairness of life. I feel privileged to be involved in racing, albeit as a bit-part player, and anyway, I save my rants for Brexit these days. Long before I left London for Newmarket I was a racing fan, and I will remain one until I die. Fans of any sport need heroes to look up to and they will invariably be the big names. I moved to this town nearly pinching myself that I could walk a furlong from my front door every morning and be on the Heath watching Henry Cecil float about on his grey hack. The great man has gone but my feelings haven’t changed. One of the most memorable mornings of this year involved a press call for Too Darn Hot (GB) ahead of the Dewhurst. I wandered out imagining we’d see him with a lead horse while the rest of John Gosden’s string went elsewhere but instead the handful of unworthy scribblers and snappers gathered on Warren Hill were treated to the full pomp and circumstance march of Enable (GB), Roaring Lion, Cracksman (GB) and Stradivarius (Ire)—all repeat Group 1 winners within the fortnight. Roaring Lion became a favourite through the year. His panache on the racecourse was always well disguised at morning exercise. He’d purr along quietly mid-string, poised, but with no bad-boy antics of a superstar. Quite the reverse could be said for another grey in the town who is a little closer to home. Roy Rocket (Fr) is a somewhat unruly 8-year-old gelding, bred by his trainer and daily rider, John Berry, who doubles as my husband. Roy didn’t trouble the judge until he was five and he has thus far achieved a career-high rating of 74, recording all nine of his wins at one of Britain’s most peculiar and unfashionable tracks, Brighton. We co-own him with two longstanding friends and patrons, Iris and Larry McCarthy, who love nothing more than a good old knees-up at the races. Rather extraordinarily, Roy has developed a burgeoning fan club. He’s always been beloved by the faithful crowd at Brighton, where he gives them a good run for their money with his late charge from the back of the field. In return they roar him home as he swings wide to make his challenge, yelling “Here he comes” as if Frankel himself has suddenly made a comeback appearance on the Sussex Downs. A combination of his silly name, snowy white coat and wayward tendencies is perhaps at the root of Roy’s popularity. He is instantly recognisable, but it’s also easy to see when he’s running that he’s a proper battler, always trying. No matter how hard he tries, he’ll never be a Roaring Lion, but he has the heart of one, and has done as much to raise the profile of our small stable as any Group 1 winner would. I’ve talked to people at the races who have come especially to see him, likewise the many visitors we had in the pouring rain of Newmarket’s open weekend. On an otherwise fairly wretched morning a few months ago, spirits were lifted considerably by the delivery of a hand-drawn card and packet of Polos sent to Roy by two young sisters in Ireland. We all know that many of the current problems within racing in Britain stem from a lack of prize-money and there have been calls to reduce the number of low-grade races. Admittedly, they can be unedifying spectacles, but we should be careful what we wish for. A huge proportion of the horses in training are eligible only for this level of race, providing a wide base for the streamlined top of the pyramid. Every breeder, owner and trainer dreams of having a top-class horse but more often than not we have to settle for a winner, if we’re lucky, at a much more lowly level. And in their own way those horses do as much for the sport as their elite friends gracing the turf at Ascot or Cheltenham. Last week, the middle-of-the-road handicapper Roy Rocket was recognised with the ROA Award for Special Achievement in a category which included the much more talented Accidental Agent (GB), Billesdon Brook (GB) and Take Cover (GB). It’s the only time Roy will ‘beat’ group winners, and it’s almost certainly the only time that his owners will stand on the same stage as the connections of Enable, Roaring Lion, Altior (Ire) and co. Yes, we were perhaps out of place, but we took great pride in it, not least for the enjoyment that our little horse has given so many fellow fans. That is, after all, what sport is all about. View the full article

Darley stallion Frosted has been added to the line-up for the second season of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame’s Foal Patrol. The 6-year-old, winner of the 2016 GI Metropolitan H., will be the season’s only stallion. Live cameras will provide coverage of his daily routine in his paddock and stall at Jonabell Farm. The second season of Foal Patrol begins Dec. 28 at www.foalpatrol.com. View the full article

When it comes to Japanese racing, Deep Impact has long appeared to be here, there and everywhere. In recent months the perennial champion sire has been responsible for eight of the 17 contestants in the G1 Shuka Sho, for six of the 18 runners in the G1 Mile Championship and for five of the 12 high-class contenders for the G1 Tenno Sho. It therefore seems a little surprising that the Japanese superstar had only one representative in last Sunday’s G1 Asahi Hai Futurity S. and only two in the previous week’s G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies. He still managed to come up with his third winner of the fillies’ contest, when Danon Fantasy scored for the third time in four starts. However, it was a different story in the Asahi Hai Futurity, when Deep Impact’s representative Gran Alegria was the only filly in the 15-strong field. She had been so dominant in winning the G3 Saudi Arabia Royal Cup in October that she started 1-2 to become Deep Impact’s fourth winner of the Asahi Hai in the space of five years. The filly ran well without being able to withstand the finishing efforts of Admire Mars and Kurino Gaudi. Despite this setback, Deep Impact still holds a comfortable lead among the sires of 2-year-olds, thanks to his achievement of siring 45 winners from 89 juvenile starters–pretty good going for a stallion who many Europeans mistakenly pigeonhole as a sire of stayers. With only the G1 Hopeful S. to come for the Japanese 2-year-olds, Deep Impact looks poised to record his eighth juvenile sires’ championship in the nine years he’s had runners. Spare a thought, though, for his fellow Shadai Stallion Station resident Daiwa Major, who stood the 2018 season at a fee of ¥5 million, compared to the ¥40 million charged for Deep Impact’s services. In addition to interrupting Deep Impact’s sequence of 2-year-old sires’ championships when he took the title in 2015, Daiwa Major has been champion first-crop sire in 2011 and has finished runner-up to Deep Impact three times in the 2-year-old category. And now he is responsible for the Asahi Hai Futurity winner Admire Mars, who extended his unbeaten record to four victories, beginning with a newcomers’ race success at the end of June. Depending on what happens in the Hopeful S. on Dec. 28, Admire Mars must have a good chance of taking the title of champion juvenile colt, to add to the championship taken by Daiwa Major’s 2-year-old daughter Major Emblem in 2015. Major Emblem went on to take the G1 NHK Mile Cup and Daiwa Major has also enjoyed Group 1 success with Reine Minoru (Oka Sho-Japanese 1,000 Guineas), Curren Black Hill (NHK Mile Cup) and Copano Richard (Takamatsunomiya Kinen over six furlongs). The fact that Daiwa Major’s previous Group 1 winners shone at a mile or less is a reminder that he possessed ample speed, even though he was capable of very smart form at around a mile and a half (he once finished third to Deep Impact in the G1 Arima Kinen over an extended mile and a half). Although he won the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) over a mile and a quarter, it is surely significant that his three subsequent Group 1 victories were all gained over a mile (two in the Mile Championship and the other in the Yasuda Kinen). He was also admirably durable, as he raced 28 times from two to six years and was at his most successful at the ages of five and six. He is, of course, a son of the great Sunday Silence, who is currently represented by four of the five top stallions in Japan–Deep Impact, Heart’s Cry, Stay Gold and Daiwa Major–even though he died as long ago as 2002. Admire Mars represents a sizeable dividend on the €480,000 paid for his dam Via Medici at Arqana’s 2014 December Sale. This Medicean filly was unproven as a broodmare, as her first foal was a then-unraced 2-year-old filly by Pivotal. However, that filly–Via Pisa–became a listed winner over a mile in 2015 and Via Medici’s second foal, the Dansili filly Via Firenze, also developed into a group-placed listed winner. Via Medici also has a 2017 filly by Sunday Silence’s grandson Kinshasa No Kiseki and a 2018 daughter by the dual Classic winner Duramente. Performance is often more important to Japanese buyers than a star-studded pedigree and Via Medici’s main attraction–apart from being in foal to the reliable Dansili–was arguably her racing record. She had won the G3 Prix de Lieurey over a mile at Deauville and her dam, the Singspiel filly Via Milano, had also been a Group 3 winner over a mile at Deauville, in the Prix de Reservoir as a 2-year-old. Admire Mars follows the Grand Prix de Paris winner Shakeel as the second Group 1 winner produced by a daughter of Medicean, who is now the broodmare sire of eight group winners. The fact that Via Mediici’s broodmare sire was Singspiel must also have been appealing to a Japanese buyer. The Japan Cup featured among the victories which made Singspiel an international star and his progeny later enjoyed plenty of success in Japan, with Asakusa Den’en winning the G1 Yasuda Kinen and Lohengrin the G2 Yomiuri Milers’ Cup. Lohengrin later sired Logotype, who appropriately numbered the Asahi Hai Futurity among his Group 1 successes, along with the Satsuki Sho. View the full article