Wandering Eyes

“Sports betting is an incredible opportunity to diversify your business. The time is now. You have everything in place to move sports betting forward.” That’s the message that Richard McGuire, Executive Chairman of Sports Tech PLC, delivered to attendees at the Global Symposium on Racing in Tucson on Wednesday. Although McGuire acknowledges that there has historically been a disconnect between sports betting and horse racing betting, he predicted that there will be a “shared wallet” allowing customers to easily bet sports contests and pari-mutuel horse racing. “The customer will demand it,” McGuire emphasized. He added, “Sports betting is both the greatest single opportunity and the greatest threat to racing. Unfortunately, consumer spending will quickly move away from racing, but racing and sports betting can coexist if sports betting is well integrated with racing.” He added a cautionary note that how sports wagers are structured is critical. “As soon as you overtax, you can kill your market,” McGuire said. “Participants will bet less or head to the illegal market. If too many hurdles are placed in sports betting, your customers will go to the off-shore operations, which are quite vibrant. Horse racing and sports betting can coexist if the two are fully integrated.” He pointed to Portugal and France as two countries with have high tax rates, which has created a strong demand for illegal betting markets there. “Racetracks have the infrastructure to offer sports betting, and I would encourage tracks to do that,” he told the audience of several hundred attendees. McGuire was one of three speakers on sports wagering that kicked off the second day of the symposium. Each one emphasized that the mobile platform is where sports betting will land. Kate Lowenhar-Fisher, a gaming lawyer with Dickinson-Wright PLLC in Las Vegas, added that she hated to throw cold water on the enthusiasm but reminded attendees of possible pitfalls. “Sports betting has hovered for years as the golden goose,” she said. “The economics of sports betting is no mystery. Sports books can be profitable or they can be murdered, depending on the regulatory environment. They have never been big money makers. There’s a lot of risk involved in operating a sports book. They operate with very narrow margins. A sports book is mostly an amenity to casino customers.” She agreed with McGuire that the profitability of a sports book depends on taxes and fees. “Operators see sports betting as the Golden Goose,” continued Lowenhar-Fisher, “But that’s not so. My advice is that if your taxes and fees are in excess of Las Vegas, you might be in trouble.” She also echoed McGuire in saying that customers can easily bet through illegal markets if they offer a better deal. “The more efficiencies you can create in a sports book, the better,” she stated. “My takeaway for racetrack operators is to be mindful of all the business killers you might encounter.” The panelists agreed that sports betting will spread to other states but that tax rates and licensing fees in each state will vary, and that will affect profitability. Pennsylvania was singled out as a state having high taxes and fees to help the state plug budget gaps. In a separate panel on sports betting, Scott Finley of the French betting organization PMU, conceded that sports betting is not going to happen overnight, but the racing industry must be part of the discussion. Finley agreed with Lowenhar-Fisher in emphasizing that sports betting is not like racing. “You can lose money taking sports bets,” Finley said. “It’s not like sitting back and taking a percentage of pari-mutuel handle.” Bill Knauf, VP of Business Operations for Monmouth Park in New Jersey, gave the background of the court case which ultimately went to the U.S. Supreme Court and was decided 6-3 in favor of sports betting on May 14 of this year. Monmouth opened its Sports Book by William Hill exactly a month later. It was opened in a renovated pari-mutuel area in the grandstand, and a sports bar was added nearby. Handle on Monmouth Park’s races went up significantly. (Sports betting not only came to Monmouth Park in New Jersey, but also to the Meadowlands and Atlantic City casinos.) Knauf said that the advantage of locating sports betting at tracks is that they are already the site of state-regulated gambling and they have ample parking and interior space, plus TV rooms with multiple channels. “We can show 60 sports games at once,” said Knauf. “No sports bar around us can do that.” Scott Duruty, a vice president with The Stronach Group, asked symposium attendees, “Is sports betting a friend or foe?” The answer, Duruty says, depends on who you ask and what jurisdiction that person is from. He said that The Stronach Group has not yet entered the sports betting market, but certainly has examined it carefully in four states: California, Florida, Oregon, and Maryland. It looks like a longshot in California, Duruty conceded. A proposed bill on sports betting did not move past committee in the past legislative session. “The tribal interests in California are not interested in online or mobile sports betting,” he said. “They just want to get customers to their casinos.” He acknowledged that California is a large and lucrative market, but racetracks face significant challenges in the quest to offer sports betting there. Duruty noted that Florida residents voted to phase out greyhound racing recently and added there will be no additional casino gambling without a ballot issue. Duruty said, “Some people said ‘There goes Florida.'” He said many people thought that the recent vote diminished the hopes for sports wagering at racetracks, but he emphasized that sports betting in Florida is still unresolved. Oregon scrapped sports betting in 2007 and that future participation by racing and tribal casinos is far from clear. Duruty said that if sports betting comes to Oregon it will may be operated by state lottery. “I don’t see much chance for tracks in Oregon,” he admitted. He is far more positive on Maryland, and thinks that soon sports wagering will come to land-based casinos and racetracks. “Sports betting in Maryland will require a statewide vote,” Duruty said. “Polls show approval, but voters must wait until legislation is approved. It would be very beneficial in Maryland.” He’s confident that sports betting will attract customers who also will be attracted to betting on horses. Horseplayers were the focus of a lively session in which tracks came under strong criticism from core customers. Attendees heard impassioned pleas for racing to listen to racing fans and to treat them better. Chris Larmey, chairman of the NHC Players Committee of the National Thoroughbred Racing Assn., said, “Racing is dying one horseplayer at a time.” He said racing’s core product is “the bet” and says that product is overpriced. “Takeout is too high in general,” he said, “Maybe not in all cases, but the serious players have to make a long-term profit. The price of betting–the takeout–is a big deal. The price of playing is much lower in sports betting. So takeout is a real challenge to the racing industry. If you don’t reduce takeout, it will slowly eat away at racing.” Larmey said that every track’s goals should be to present large and competitive fields for customers to bet. “A five-horse field with a 2-5 shot is not fun to handicap,” he said. Larmey said that there are a lot of easy fixes and wonders why racing hasn’t addressed those problems. “Do you not care about the customer?” he asked pointedly. He mentioned that racing’s tote system has been patched over many years but the basic infrastructure is the same as 25-30 years ago. “Where is the innovation in player experience?” Larmey asked. Larmey also criticized the video presentation of racing, saying, “In the last five years, I have watched many sports events in high-definition…except for racing. Horseplayers watch races. They watch replays. They need high-definition technology.” Michael Amo, a member of the New York Racing Fan Advisory Council, said, “Fans are more than customers and players. They are stakeholders, too.” Amo said that tracks have forgotten fans and emphasized the need for more state racing councils to serve as a voice for fans. He strongly believes that fans should be represented on organizations that govern racing. If tracks respect and listen to fans, it will give them a sense of ownership in racing to help grow the sport. “Excluding fans will certainly not give them a sense of ownership,” Amo said. He was emphatic in the need for racing to change. “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them,” Amo said. Patrick Cummings, Executive Director of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation, cited the issue of breakage as one way that the customer is being cheated by racing. “Breakage is the difference between what winning bettors should receive on winning bets, and what they actually receive,” Cummings said. In this year’s Triple Crown races, there was almost $1 million in breakage not paid to bettors. “Takeout rates are actually higher in racing than published because of breakage,” Cummings said. “Breakage has been unchallenged for 90 years. We have to treat racing’s core players with respect. Breakage is retained by tracks, and that’s no longer necessary.” Cummings advocated that reducing penny breakage would eliminate minus pools and would create a massive stimulus for horseplayers, and that money would ultimately go back to owners and horsemen. Cummings criticized racing for its lack of innovation. “Horse players are not happy with the status quo,” he said. “Customers are leaving.” Speaking from the track management perspective, Matt Vance of Remington Park in Oklahoma emphasized that Remington is not a track that values gaming customers over horseplayers. “We’ve been adamant about keeping horse racing relevant in our Remington Park operation,” he said. “From day one, it was key that we maintained that crossover. We wanted to showcase racing. We are lucky in Oklahoma because our gaming license is dependent on horse racing. Our racing commission understands the importance of keeping horse racing relevant. We have to keep the core player interested, and yet still get the new people coming to the casino to cross over to racing. We try to cross-promote both the gaming and racing. We worked hand-in-hand with our horsemen and it’s a partnership with us.” View the full article

Experts warned those in the racing that sports wagering may not be a windfall for the industry. View the full article

Multiple graded stakes winner Vertical Oak will headline a competitive field of five in the $100,000 Garland of Roses for fillies and mares going six furlongs Dec. 8 at Aqueduct Racetrack. View the full article

Redesdale (Speightstown–Harpia, by Danzig), produced by a graded-stakes winning full-sister to Danehill, has been retired to Hidden Lake Farm at Questroyal North in New York. He will stand for a fee of $5,000, stands and nurses, and a limited number of lifetime breeding rights are available. A winner of his first three career starts sprinting on dirt, the 5-year-old retires to stud as the property of Hidden Lake Farm, LLC, Schumer Bloodstock and 3C Stable, LLC. “Redesdale offers every element for what I look for in a stallion,” Hidden Lake’s Chris Bernhard said. “Speed, looks and pedigree. His family is second to none. How often can you get Danehill under the second dam? Danehill is arguably the most important sire/sire of sires in Europe and Australia, and Northern Dancer is in my opinion the most important sire line period.” View the full article

Even by his standards, Bob Baffert's current spoils are overflowing at a rate to where he must take a measured step back in order to take them all in. View the full article

Calumet Farm’s Bravazo (Awesome Again), third in the GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile Nov. 3 and a close second in the GI Clark H. Nov. 23, is being pointed toward the $9-million GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational Saturday, Jan 26 at Gulfstream Park. The GI Preakness S. runner-up has raced in eight consecutive Grade I events at six different tracks. “We’ve got a window of about seven weeks so we’ll get him in a work pattern,” Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said. “We did ship him to Arkansas where he’s getting a week to just take it easy. We’ll start picking up a work tab schedule in mid- December. He’s really done well. He’s fit, his weight is excellent.” Lukas continued, “I think [Pegasus] is a significant development in the big picture of racing. One of things we’ve struggled with in Thoroughbred racing is keeping superstars on the track. I think this is a step in the right direction.” 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 a family-friendly Foal Patrol Kids! open house at the Museum that day 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. The first season of Foal Patrol, a collection of live cameras following the daily activities of in-foal mares, had more than 1.6 million views from December 2017 through September 2018. View the full article

NEWMARKET, UK—The traditional Wednesday evening slot for the Juddmonte fillies in and out of training delivered exactly what has come to be expected as the December Sale cranked down a notch from the frenetic trade of Tuesday. A pair of 3-year-olds from celebrated families and by top-class sires shared the spotlight when each selling for 400,000gns just four lots apart. A number of the international visitors had disappeared from Park Paddocks by the third session of the sale but still in situ and waiting for the second part of their favourite draft were John Gunther and his daughter Tanya, who have enjoyed the sort of year that all breeders dream about. It will be hard to top a year in which Glennwood Farm produced a Triple Crown winner in Justify and then celebrated a Group 1 winner at Royal Ascot in the Gunthers’ own colours, but the family is reinvesting in some European bloodlines in a bid to keep the top-level winners coming. “You have to keep working,” John Gunther said with a smile as he signed the docket for lot 2204, Weekday (GB), a once-raced daughter of Dansili (GB), whose recent accomplishments as a broodmare sire include the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Expert Eye (GB) (Acclamation {GB}) and Saturday’s GI Matriarch S. winner Uni (GB) (More Than Ready). “I bought Posset from the same spot so I just couldn’t stop bidding,” he adds. “She’s a lovely mare from a Juddmonte family with a couple of Dubawis to come [from her dam]. I’ve been so lucky with Juddmonte over the years—Without Parole is by Frankel—and I didn’t want to leave without buying something from the draft.” Posset (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), a sister to Midday (GB) and a 625,000gns purchase four years ago, could yet be responsible for the Gunthers’ silks being carried to further glory in Britain and her first foal, the unraced 2-year-old Make My Day (GB) (Galileo {GB}), is in training with John Gosden and holds a Derby entry. Weekday will join her fellow Juddmonte-bred to Newsells Park Stud, the Gunthers’ choice of boarding farm in Britain, and is likely to visit Kingman (GB). Reflecting on a memorable 2018, Gunther added, “It’s been a very exciting year with Justify winning the Triple Crown. You know, you just dream of breeding a Kentucky Derby winner and then for him to win the Triple Crown, it still hasn’t really sunk in yet. And then we went to Royal Ascot with our first runner and Without Parole won the St James’s Palace. To top it all, Prince Harry and Meghan presented us with the trophy. It was the best day of my life.” The other Juddmonte filly to reach 400,000gns was Supporter (2200), a daughter of Dubawi and, more importantly, a grand-daughter of Hasili (GB) being out of the unraced Very Good News (Empire Maker). Trainer Roger Varian was charged with bidding on behalf of his patron Nurlan Bizakov, whose Group 3 winner Altyn Orda (Ire) (Kyllachy {GB}) chased home Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) for second in the G1 Falmouth S. Also among the string of horses Varian trains for Bizakov are the G3 Chartwell Fillies’ S. winner Tomyris (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and listed winner Rasima (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}). “Nurlan Bizakov is building a strong broodmare band at Hesmonds Stud and looking to add some decent blood the farm, so she certainly fits the profile,” said Varian of Supporter, a half-sister to the G1 Irish St Leger-placed Weekender (GB) (Frankel {GB}). “He’s had a very good year on the track and has some nice fillies in training.” The third day of the mares’ sale couldn’t match last year’s equivalent session, with reductions in all sectors bar a very strong clearance rate of 86%. With 205 horses sold—22 more than on the same day last year—turnover was down by 19% to 5,257,800gns, while the average fell by 28% to 25,648gns and the median by 47% to 10,000gns. Frankel Fillies In Demand While the idea of digging deep for a Frankel (GB) cover is first and foremost to get yourself a racehorse, it would be easy to argue that the same kind of sum simply to take his unraced daughter Rekindle (GB) to the paddocks still represents pretty good value, given the page she brings with her. That was certainly the way Jono Mills of Rabbah was viewing things after securing lot 2196, another of the Juddmonte fillies, at 170,000gns. The 3-year-old Rekindle (GB) is the first foal out of the G3 Nell Gwyn S. winner and Group 1-placed Hot Snap (GB) (Pivotal {GB})—obviously by a celebrated broodmare sire, and a half-sister to the six-time Group/Grade 1 winner Midday (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}). Their dam, moreover, is a half-sister to two elite performers in Elmaamul (Diesis {GB}) and Reams Of Verse (Nureyev). It would be hard to put a price on access to such a family, not least as the dam is so young—this filly so far being followed only by a juvenile full-brother named Home Fire (GB), and a filly foal by Galileo (Ire). Moreover Midday’s half-sister by Frankel, Sun Maiden (GB), is staying in training after her Group 2 podium in the Ribblesdale S. “Yes, obviously it’s a cracking pedigree but you’d like to think it can only go one way,” Mills reasoned. “They say the brother’s very nice, so fingers crossed we can get a few updates under the first dam, because that is a lovely page.” Mills, who shortly afterwards walked away as underbidder to the joint-highest price of the day (2204), said that Rekindle had not been bought with a specific cover in mind. Another unraced daughter of Frankel, lot 2203 Truva (GB), brought 150,000gns from Ever Union Shokai. She is a half-sister to the smart juvenile Sangarius (GB) (Kingman {GB}), who ran fourth in the G1 Dewhurst S. after his Listed success at Doncaster this year, out of an Empire Maker daughter of Banks Hill (GB)—one of the champion performers who qualified her dam Hasili (Ire) (Kahyasi {Ire}) as one of the all-time broodmare legends. Casse Steps Up For Etreham Haras d’Etreham enjoyed Grade 1 success as breeders over the weekend via the Matriarch S. victrix Uni (GB) (More Than Ready) and the French farm added a member of the Juddmonte draft to its ranks on Wednesday with the purchase of At Your Pleasure (War Front). Justin Casse stepped in to do the bidding on behalf of the absent Nicolas de Chambure and, after signing the ticket for lot 2182 for 175,000gns, said, “I agreed with Nicolas in thinking that she is very good physically—a good walker with a nice shape to her. She’s a winner and of course the stallion is very popular. The plan is for her to go to Almanzor (Fr).” Also on the side of the 3-year-old filly is the fact that she is the daughter of four-time American and Canadian Grade I winner Ventura (Chester House) but her page also includes plenty of black-type winners from farther afield—Australia, Hong Kong, France, Ireland and Britain included. John and Peter Fagan had bought the listed-winning Havre De Paix (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) for 230,000gns through agent Suzanne Roberts on Tuesday and returned to the ring on Wednesday to add Clique (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) to their Deerpark Stud broodmare band for 110,000gns. Sold as lot 2186, the 3-year-old was a winner earlier this year for Dermot Weld and is a half-sister to three stakes winners in Stronghold (GB) (Danehill), Convey (GB) (Dansili {GB}) and Take The Hint (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}). Musical Art To The Paddocks Though he was unable to share details of his clients or their plans, beyond her staying in Europe to be covered, a familiar and welcome face was on hand to sign—in the name of Avenue Bloodstock—for lot 2216 Musical Art (Ire) (Dutch Art {GB}). John Ferguson, Sheikh Mohammed’s former bloodstock manager, is spending a lot of time nowadays exploring opportunities in the Australian and Japanese markets, but had picked out an appealing prospect here at 190,000gns. The 3-year-old did not go on this year but was placed in the G3 Princess Margaret S. for Paul Cole as a juvenile, after winning at Newbury on her debut. She is out of a Listed-placed Barathea (Ire) half-sister to that top-class filly Finsceal Beo (Ire) (Mr Greeley) as well as to another Classic winner in Frozen Power (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}), who won the G2 Mehl-Mulhens Rennen (German 2,000 Guineas). Vivianite to Watson The Ballygallon Stud homebred Vivianite (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) will continue her racing career in the UK after Tom Biggs of Blandford Bloodstock went to 160,000gns to buy her for a client of Lambourn trainer Archie Watson. “She’ll race on next year after a little break to freshen her up,” said Biggs. “Her form is decent and she has plenty to recommend her on pedigree.” Fourth in a listed race on her most recent start at Naas for Michael Halford, the 3-year-old (lot 2177) is now rated 93 and was a winner over a mile back in August. A half-sister to four winners, she is out of the listed-placed Crystany (Ire) (Green Desert), herself a daughter of Watership Down Stud’s G1 Fillies’ Mile winner Crystal Music (Nureyev). Roedean Heads To Smart Nursery Kingman (GB) has quickly made a fan of David Redvers, who credits the young Juddmonte sire not only with the best juvenile in whom his Qatar Racing patrons have a stake—namely the impressive Haydock winner Sparkle Roll (Fr), a half-sister to Wings Of Eagles (Fr)—but also with one of their very best acquisitions at the yearling sales. But a Kingman cover was just the icing on the cake as Redvers gave 125,000gns for lot 2117, Roedean (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}), a half-sister to G3 Fred Darling and G3 Princess Margaret S. winner Maureen (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). “She’s by Oratorio, who I like as a broodmare sire, out of a mare by Linamix (Fr), who I love as a broodmare sire,” Redvers said of the 9-year-old, evidently repatriated from Saudi Arabia since commencing a covering career that began with four-time winner Beepeecee (GB) (Henrythenavigator). “We have the yearling out of Maureen, who we absolutely love and is going to William Haggas; and we also own Lady Dragon (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) [stakes-placed daughter of the dam’s half-sister], and we think it’s a very active, lively family.” Redvers specified that he had been acting on his own account, being eager to capitalise on exciting times at Tweenhills Stud—where there are three outstanding new names on the roster for 2019. “We’re trying to buy some high-quality mares to maximise the opportunity presented by standing stallions of the calibre of Zoustar (Aus), Lightning Spear (GB) and obviously Roaring Lion,” he explained. “And the covering should suit her, physically, besides everything we all know Kingman has done. With that, and a following wind, you’d be optimistic you could be out [of the red] in one year.” O’Callaghans Strike Early The only six-figure sales of a sluggish morning session were both picked out by the expert eyes of the O’Callaghan clan. First was lot 2018, Annie Capri (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), an unraced 3-year-old half-sister to half a dozen winners—including dual Listed scorer Mister Manannan (Ire) (Desert Style {Ire}) and the Group-placed dam of G1 Phoenix S. winner Sudirman (Henrythebavigator)—and from the further family of Dandy Man (Ire). Consigned by Castlefarm Stud, she was knocked down for 100,000gns to return to Yeomanstown, where she had been prepared when raising £210,000 as a Goffs UK Premier yearling. Tally-Ho Stud meanwhile gave the same sum for lot 2065, the hard-knocking 6-year-old Home Cummins (Ire) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}), a Listed-placed four-time winner for Richard Fahey. She is a half-sister to the stable’s dual Group winner Forest Ranger (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}), their dam Alava (Ire) (Anabaa) being a Listed winner in France, and arrived with the benefit of a Twilight Son (GB) cover. The final session of the December Sale starts today at 9.30am. View the full article

Feedback from last week’s trial of City Racing has been so positive that no more of its type are planned and an announcement of the first venue is expected early in the new year. London, Melbourne and Paris are among the cities in the frame to stage the event first, after a dummy run at Aintree went without a hitch. The venture is the brainchild of the Queen’s grandson, Peter Phillips, with backing from various stakeholders, including the Jockey Club. An artificial track was installed on the old motor racing circuit at Aintree, with the speed in which it could be put down and taken back up again of paramount importance. “The feedback has been amazing, incredibly positive–we knew the demonstration event was key because a lot of people doubted whether the track could go down and up within the required time,” said City Racing spokesman Johnno Spence. “We weren’t under a 48-hour deadline, but we wanted to see how long it would take, because in London, Paris or Melbourne we would only have 48 hours and we are now far more comfortable we can achieve that.” “Everyone involved realises this is very much on the cards and very achievable, so the next step is to secure our first venue, Spence said. “No more trials are planned, the next time will be the real thing. Melbourne, London and Paris are all under strong consideration and we hope to announce it early in the new year.” The requirements for the raceday have already been revealed, and Spence continued, “We’re looking at horses rated 0-90, six races over five furlongs, building up from the lowest rated to the highest. We’re looking to attract the top jockeys from around the world–I’ve spoken to Ryan Moore and Frankie Dettori and they are very interested in taking part. This is all about attracting more people to racing, particularly the younger generation. The ‘Twenty 20 of horse racing’ analogy has been used and that is a very good one. City Racing can also showcase other elements of the sport, and horse welfare is paramount, obviously.” Giving its latest position, a British Horseracing Authority spokesman said, “When a formal proposal is received the BHA will give it due consideration, in discussion with City Racing and the sport’s stakeholders.” View the full article

Stakes winner Counterforce (Smart Strike–Achieving, by Bernardini) will enter stud for the 2019 season at Road’s End Farm near Abbotsford, British Columbia. The 5-year-old will stand for a fee of $2,000, Canadian funds, as the property of a partnership. Counterforce posted a record of 24-5-7-5 and earnings of $323,708. He won Oaklawn’s 2016 Bachelor S. His third dam is 2007 Broodmare of the Year Better Than Honour. View the full article

2nd-Newcastle, £5,800, Cond, 12-5, 2yo, 7f 14y (AWT), 1:27.23, st. ALMASHRIQ (c, 2, War Front–Theyskens’ Theory {GSW & G1SP-Eng, GISP-US, $195,502}, by Bernardini) was rousted along from a slumbering start to track the leaders in midfield after the early stages of this unveiling. Inching ever closer from halfway, the 8-11 pick loomed large inside the two pole and was pushed out once seizing control approaching the final eighth to assert by 1 3/4 lengths from Cape Victory (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}). Half to a yearling filly by Uncle Mo and a filly foal by Pioneerof the Nile, the $1.2m Keeneland September yearling is the fourth foal and third winner produced by G3 Prestige S. victress and G1 Fillies’ Mile and GI Garden City S. placegetter Theyskens’ Theory (Bernardini). His dam, who was bred to Uncle Mo this year, is kin to US champion and GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile-winning sire Stevie Wonderboy (Stephen Got Even) and a granddaughter of MGISP GIII Schuylerville S. victress Mystical Mood (Roberto). Sales history: $1,200,000 Ylg ’17 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $4,773. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. 1ST-TIME STARTER. O-Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum; B-AR Enterprises LLC (KY); T-John Gosden. View the full article

Lester Piggott has been hospitalised in London and is expected to remain there for “the next few days” after being admitted over the weekend. One of the sport’s all-time great figures, Piggott, 83, is undergoing tests while doctors monitor his condition, according to his daughter Maureen Haggas, wife of Classic-winning trainer William Haggas. Speaking on Wednesday afternoon, Haggas said, “He’s in hospital having tests and he’s going to be there for the next few days while those continue.” Piggott– who had a spell in intensive care in 2007 in a Swiss hospital with a heart complaint–won the Derby a remarkable nine times. He was associated with many equine greats, including Nijinsky II, dual G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Alleged, triple Ascot Gold Cup winner Sagaro (GB) and the globetrotting wonder mare Dahlia. View the full article

A wide-open field of seven, including stakes winners Underpressure, Grande Basin, and Mageez, is entered in the $150,000 Louisiana Champions Day Classic Stakes, the featured race on the Dec. 8 Louisiana Champions Day program at Fair Grounds. View the full article

It, of course, narrows down to the two horses, Accelerate and Justify. You often wonder if you put them head-to-head what would happen? My second thought on it is, how great of an accomplishment did each one of them have? What impact did each one of them have? When you talk about Horse of the Year you shouldn’t have to ever explain it. You’d like to have a clear-cut winner where you don’t have to explain to the lay person why the horse should be Horse of the Year. I would vote for Justify. My opinion is that the difficulty of getting through the Triple Crown uninjured, beating the best horses, I think that’s still one of the greatest achievements there is in racing. The thing that makes it easier for an older horse is that you can pick your spots. If you can pick your spots, pick your races, pick your competition and manage your horses, that’s admirable, don’t get me wrong, but it makes things easier. With the Triple Crown, everything is already dictated for you. You can’t come out of the Derby and say, I think I’ll wait until the Travers because I need a little time. The Preakness comes up in two weeks and there you are again. The job that Bob Baffert did with that horse was extraordinary. If they had ever met, the only place would have been in the Breeders’ Cup. The 3-year-olds have always showed up well in the Breeders’ Cup and by that late in the year the age difference is less of a factor. I think Justify would have prevailed over Accelerate. I will say this, it would have been a helluva race. Wayne Lukas is not an Eclipse Award voter View the full article

His name runs like a seam of silver through the daily annals of the sport–an understated, patient presence to contrast with the brash, fleeting meteors among rival stables. Last weekend was typical: G. Watts Humphrey Jr. was listed as co-breeder of Dabster (Curlin), who ran Battle Of Midway (Smart Strike) to a neck in the GIII Native Diver S. at Del Mar on Sunday; and as owner of High Regard (Will Take Charge), third in the GII Golden Rod S. at Churchill the previous day. True, the most exciting animal lately through his hands appears destined to benefit only his reputation, rather than his pocket. Humphrey co-bred Improbable (City Zip), who is due to test his status among the leading juveniles in the GI Los Alamitos Futurity S. this weekend, but unfortunately culled the dam five minutes after selling him as a weanling. But then however little Humphrey’s pocket might need a boost–relatively speaking, at any rate–then his reputation would need one even less. Humphrey is one of the pillars of the modern American Turf. Until stepping down as chairman in the spring, he had served for more than 20 years on the board of Churchill Downs, Inc. He is a director of the Keeneland Association, has held multiple senior positions at the Breeders’ Cup, and served four terms as a Steward of the Jockey Club. The alphabet soup goes on–the NTRA, the American Horse Council–and far beyond racing, too: back in Pittsburgh, for instance, from the university to the symphony orchestra. All this, of course, simply reflects those principles of public service long recognized by patricians as integral to privilege. “I think all of us involved in the horse business are obligated to try and look to its best interests,” Humphrey says with a shrug. “Some people would rather be in the racing side, on racetrack boards, some in breeding organizations, but all of us should give of our time and hopefully some wisdom. “If you look at other sports–football has done it, soccer has done it–they’ve recognized it’s about entertainment, about the experience, and that state-of-the-art facilities are required as a result. That’s what they’ve done at Newmarket and Ascot, or in this country at Churchill Downs. Better experience turns into higher attendance, that turns into higher pools and it’s the betting that drives the whole engine. But as well as rebuilding our fan base, we have to get new owners into the business. And I think the partnerships are doing a very good job about that, offering excitement and hopefully success without the managerial responsibility.” Needless to say, Humphrey also has to meet a more literal price for his passions. As such, all those responsibilities on the Turf have had been embraced alongside a lifetime at the helm of various industrial and investment enterprises. Certainly the scrupulous modesty of his bearing, combined with the quietness of his tone, gives no indication of the breadth of his accomplishment. Sure, it is well known that Humphrey–as a partner in the St. Louis Cardinals–saw them win the 2011 World Series the day before he finished Keeneland’s fall meet as leading owner. But how many people know that he was the quarterback of the Yale football team and, after joining the Marine Corps on graduation in 1966, was ultimately awarded three Purple Hearts, a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and a Navy Commendation Medal as a first lieutenant in Vietnam? One thing you can guarantee: among those who do know, none will have discovered as much from Humphrey himself. “I started off as a platoon commander, and one day you became the company commander because you were the last one left!” he says, in wry effacement of his military record. Neither Humphrey’s natural authority in the field, nor the sense of duty he has manifested in a private capacity since, can be considered the slightest surprise in view of his pedigree–his grandfather George M. Humphrey having served as Secretary of the Treasury under Eisenhower. But besides that willingness to serve, and a certain physical resemblance, there would be another very important legacy. “It was my grandfather who really got me interested in racehorses,” Humphrey explains. “In fact, he took me to Saratoga for the first time when I was seven years old. We were very close and I spent quite a bit of time with him in Washington, and we’d go out to the farms in Virginia and, because my grandmother wasn’t that interested, to the races.” Back in rural Ohio, his own household had been more oriented to show horses and foxhunters; but his aunt, Pansy Poe, had bought Shawnee Farm in Kentucky in 1939 and after the war began to broaden the family foothold in Thoroughbreds. After Secretary Humphrey left Washington in 1957, moreover, he bought Whileaway Farm and began to assemble what became a highly influential band of broodmares. He died in 1970, bequeathing his grandson a first broodmare. Having just graduated from the Harvard Business School, Humphrey came to assist Pansy Poe in running Shawnee while beginning to race a few with his close friend Will Farish of Lane’s End. On Pansy’s death in 1978, Humphrey bought Shawnee from her estate and began developing his own stock, in partnership with his mother; another aunt, Pamela Firman; Farish; and Brereton Jones of Airdrie. Another important mentor was Paul Mellon, who had been a close friend of Secretary Humphrey. As Humphrey started out, Mellon told him: “The only thing I can tell you about breeding that you may not already know is to be sure you don’t end up drowning in your own blood.” In other words, as Humphrey clarifies: “Don’t wake up and find out you have a whole bunch of half-sisters to six winners that aren’t stakes winners.” And that is the perennial balance he has sought to strike. In principle, the policy would otherwise be the standard one: race the fillies, sell the colts. Naturally that doesn’t always work out, and if, for instance, a colt of stallion potential fails to realize adequate value, Humphrey will try to get a racing partnership together. The other angle is to have a stake in maybe half the stallions they support, and he retains a strong relationship with Farish’s team at Lane’s End. “I think you have to be on both sides,” Humphrey says. “Each year we’re probably breeding 55 mares but selling 10, because the core broodmare band is about 45, taking us down to around 38 foals–and the way we’ve set up the farm over the years is to accommodate those kind of numbers. Obviously the foundation females we’ll retire and keep. But even the mares that have been very good to us, when we get to three or four fillies out of them, we’ll probably sell either the mare or some of the daughters.” Inevitably, that kind of pragmatism means that there will be the odd one that got away. Improbable’s performance in the Street Sense S., on the Breeders’ Cup undercard, left many wondering whether he might return to Churchill Downs next May. If so, Humphrey may come to regret allowing his dam Rare Event (A.P. Indy) to go to Calumet for $150,000 when in foal to Quality Road at the Keeneland November Sale in 2016–immediately after the weanling Improbable himself was sold for $110,000. But Rare Event had failed to muster any black type and an enterprise on this scale needs it efficiencies. “I think you need to have some sound business plan of what you’re trying to do,” Humphrey observes. “From the time I first owned horses with Will Farish, we tried to run it as a business: here’s what the plan is, here’s what we’re trying to accomplish, and how are we doing against that? And just like anything in life, you measure how well you’re doing against your goals. But I do think of it as a first love. You have to operate it as a business but it’s really a sport for us, something enjoyed by our whole family and all our friends.” And the real joy, to that extent, is in developing families. Rare Event was a ship that passed in the night. Some of his stock, in contrast, extends to an eighth generation lines developed by his own kin. Moreover Humphrey’s wife Sally has always been equally devoted to horses, while now their daughter Vicki Oliver trains for them as well. Both Watts and Sally Humphrey, in fact, have bred a Classic winner. Genuine Risk, indeed, represented Sally’s debut as a breeder when (very aptly, in the circumstances) beating the boys in the 1980 Kentucky Derby. “Sally would follow us around when we were buying yearlings, and one day said she’d like to have a mare of her own,” recalls Humphrey. “So I said: ‘Okay, for your 30th birthday I’ll buy you a mare, but you have to pick the pedigree, you have to go find her, and you have to do the bidding.’ And she could have $30,000, to match her birthday. So she bid to 30–but then stopped. There were two more bids. And then I came in and bid! The mare had her colt [in utero] and then when we bred her to Exclusive Native, the result was Genuine Risk.” Five years late Humphrey himself was responsible (in partnership with Aunt Pamela) for Belmont winner Crème Fraiche. “She was out of Likely Exchange, who won the Grade I Delaware H.,” Humphrey explains. “She was a wonderful mare we raced until she was seven, in fact she was carrying Crème Fraiche in her last race at Keeneland.” What made Likely Exchange so special was the fact the she was a great-granddaughter of a mare bought by Secretary Humphrey. Another of her foals to win at Grade I level was Dream Deal (Sharpen Up {GB})–in turn dam of Clear Mandate (Deputy Minister), a coast-to-coast achiever and also an important mare in her own right. She died in 2011 after delivering Strong Mandate (Tiznow), himself winner of the GI Hopeful S. and now standing at Three Chimneys. “Clear Mandate was one of our favorite horses,” Humphrey says. “She did something few mares have ever been able to do, winning Grade Is at a mile, a mile and an eighth, and a mile and a quarter. To me, that’s how you judge a great horse: if they can win at seven-eighths when they’re young, and then go through like that, it’s an owner’s dream.” Clear Mandate was trained by Humphrey’s longstanding ally “Rusty” Arnold. “Rusty is not only a very good horseman but a very good friend,” Humphrey says. “He started training for us in 1991, almost 30 years ago now. His attention is always on the horse’s best interests; he takes time to develop them, which is our style, too. For Rusty, it’s not a numbers game. Some trainers maybe treat them all the same, and the ones that survive win under that regime. Our whole programme is to develop each horses as an individual, to the utmost of their ability.” It is not just in his standards of horsemanship, however, that Humphrey belongs to the old school. As they say, you can take the boy out of the Marines but you can’t take the Marines out of the boy. And while reluctant to dwell on his military distinctions, Humphrey is too courteous to deny that Vietnam left its scars–both on the nation, and those who served there–and too immune to cynicism not to suggest the positives that could also be derived from the experience. “I think the way I’d phrase it is that you learn to live with it, but you never really get over it,” he says of what he saw. “But probably the most important lesson the Marine Corps teaches you is teamwork. Everybody has to pull their oar, if you will. To contribute to the team. Some will lead; some will be the specialists; but everyone will be part of the team. And that’s true in business, it’s true in everything.” Humphrey duly applied this same philosophy in corporate life; even in labour relations. He has an interesting story about one of his steel enterprises in Pittsburgh, during a tough period for the industry in the mid-1980s: how the board resolved that the best way to prevent militant union action making the situation worse was to render unions unnecessary. “So everybody was a salaried worker, from the janitor to the chairman,” he explains. “There were no layoffs, we were in it together and we’d hold out. And there were some very interesting remuneration systems: bonuses were paid on a monthly basis, but everybody got it or nobody got it. And we decided what should be accomplished on a monthly basis, as well, as opposed to the eight-hour turns [used elsewhere] in the industry at that point, which didn’t build teamwork. And the final piece of the puzzle: a profit-sharing plan. Again, on a monthly basis. And for the lowest person on the floor to earn the same dollar amount as the chairman. “When business was down, sometimes for weeks, they’d be out painting the lines in the parking lot. But they were still working, and their pay was the same. Obviously bonuses weren’t, because we weren’t producing the same amount of steel. But they all understood that. They knew that if we were going to succeed, we were going to succeed together. It was a wonderful experience, and worked great for everybody.” This mild, dignified septuagenarian becomes quite animated by the memory. On the one hand, Humphrey comes over as a realist, who knows that every walk of life requires tough decisions–whether in the pursuit of pleasure or profit. He also knows these are again divided times in America. But he has seen those before; and the one resource everyone needs in this game, besides funds, is a still deeper well of optimism. “I’m very optimistic about this country, and about all our allies,” he says, with a calm firmness. “And about what can be done, by going back to working together, to co-operation, to understanding what’s for the greater good.” By the same token, what he values most in horses cannot, you suspect, be very different from what he most values in people. “Good horses obviously come in all different shapes and sizes,” he says. “But I think the most important characteristic, in the best, is heart–that, and a sound mind.” And if we apply the same criteria, then three Purple Hearts and that story of Pittsburgh steel together permit no doubt that here is a man of authentic Grade I caliber. View the full article

Mike Ryan and trainer Rodolphe Brisset looks to follow up the success of their GII Demoiselle S. romper Positive Spirit (Pioneerof the Nile) with debutante LADY ROSALIE (IRE) (Dubawi {Ire}) in this Hallandale grass heat. The homebred is a half-sister to GISW juvenile Laragh (Tapit) and Summer Front, the three-time GSW turfer whose first crop of foals hits the track in 2019. Her dam is also a half to GISW juvenile Siphonic (Siphon {Brz}). Parkland Thoroughbreds went to $200,000 to secure Heavenly Scat (Scat Daddy) at OBS April after a :10 4/5 breeze. The Jorge Abreu trainee is a half to Champagne Problems (Ghostzapper), who captured this summer’s GIII Groupie Doll S. and was runner-up in the GI Juddmonte Spinster S. before selling to the British-based Stroud Coleman Bloodstock for $950,000 at Fasig-Tipton November. Her unraced dam is a half to MGISW Southern Image (Halo’s Image), as well as the dam of GI United Nations S. hero and young sire Turbo Compressor (Halo’s Image). Sensational Charge (Will Take Charge) has a right to like the lawn in her career bow as well. The chestnut is a half to the MSW/GSP turfer Our Way (Tizway) out of a MSW half-sister to Lady of Shamrock (Scat Daddy), a six-time SW on the green whose conquests included the GI American Oaks S. and GI Del Mar Oaks. Her second dam is also a half to GI Hollywood Turf Cup victor Royal Chariot (Strawberry Road {Aus}). TJCIS PPs —@JBiancaTDN View the full article

NAP Of The Day 15:40 Wincanton Some may see it as a “mad” decision to not only tip but NAP a horse who’s yet to even set foot on the track however by looking through the last race at Wincanton that’s exactly what we’re going to do. Of the fourteen runners set to go to post eleven make their racecourse debut so to call this a wide open race is somewhat of an understatement. On the flat sphere, top class group race winner Nathaniel had a fantastic career but as a sire he seems to be excelling just as much. Two of today’s runners can call Nathaniel their father in the form of Handsome Samson and Dimmesdale. The latter comes from the yard of Tom Lacey who has his horses in blistering form of late with 6 winners from just 13 runners in the past two weeks. The yard are going great guns and the booking of champion jockey Richard Johnson is also a huge positive. There’s a tonne of unknown questions in a race of this nature but Dimmesdale certainly looks worth taking a chance on. DIMMESDALE (WIN) – NAP 21:00 Chelmsford To send a horse a major distance is far from cheap and Tidal’s Baby heads all the way from his home in Athlone down to Essex for the final race on the card. Connections won’t be doing that if the horse didn’t have a lovely chance and as trainer Adrian Brendan Joyce has a 50% strike rate here at Chelmsford you have to stand up and take notice. The 9 year old hasn’t tasted victory since July 2013 but this looks a great opportunity for him to be in the mix once again. Course and distance winner Monarch Maid looks a viable alternative especially with Luke Morris on board and seems the best of the rest. TIDAL’S BABY (E/W) Chelmsford: 18:00 – Deep Intrigue (WIN) 18:30 – Yusra (E/W) 19:00 – Firmament (E/W) 19:30 – Crossing The Line (WIN) 20:00 – Cuillin (E/W) 20:30 – Choice Encounter (WIN) 21:00 – Tidal’s Baby (E/W)* Clonmel: 12:05 – Longtimesincejaspr (E/W) 12:40 – Just A Boy (WIN) 13:15 – Scarpeta (WIN) 13:45 – Redwood Boy (E/W) 14:20 – Manatomic (WIN) 14:50 – Peacocks Secret (WIN) 15:25 – Castlebawn West (WIN) Leicester: 12:35 – Ekayburg (WIN) 13:10 – Rightdownthemiddle (WIN) 13:40 – Chez Hans (WIN) 14:15 – Aza Run (E/W) 14:45 – Larch Hill (WIN) 15:20 – Top Rock Talula (WIN) Market Rasen: 12:15 – Adjali (WIN) 12:50 – Soldier Of Love (WIN) 13:20 – Hope For Glory (E/W) 13:55 – Blakerigg (WIN) 14:25 – Renwick (WIN) 15:00 – Dolly’s Dot (E/W) 15:30 – Tobbogan’s Fire (E/W) Wincanton: 12:25 – Rhythm Is A Dancer (WIN) 13:00 – Printing Dollars (WIN) 13:30 – Cobolobo (WIN) 14:05 – Minellaforleisure (E/W) 14:35 – Tikkapick (WIN) 15:10 – Cernunnos (WIN) 15:40 – Dimmesdale (WIN) NAP The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Thursday 6th December appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas confirmed Dec. 5 that Calumet Farm's homebred graded stakes winner Bravazo is being pointed toward the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) Jan 26 at Gulfstream Park. View the full article

Brazilian-born Silvestre de Sousa, the leading jockey in England in 2015, 2017 and again this past season, racked up a pair of winners, a second and a third and amassed 34 points to easily outdistance Ireland’s Colin Keane (16 points) en route to victory in the Longines International Jockeys’ Championship on an intermittently rainy Wednesday evening at Hong Kong’s iconic Happy Valley Racecourse. Keane, the champion Irish apprentice of 2014 and the 2017 leading journeyman jockey, landed the first blow in the competition in a Class 4 over the 1000 metres, producing second-time starter Special Stars (Aus) (Kuroshio {Aus}) from the tail of the field for a 1 1/4-length success as the 18-5 favourite (video). De Sousa got on the board with a runner-up effort atop 21-1 Midnight Rattler (Aus) (Clang {Aus}). De Sousa got his picture taken in the second leg of the series, a Class 4 over an extended mile, kicking 5-1 chance Glory Star (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}) straight into the lead from the outside barrier in the field of 12 and making all the running for a 1 1/2-length defeat of the Javier Castellano-ridden Good For You (NZ) (Thorn Park {Aus}) (video). Keane once again came from well back astride C P Power (Aus) (Nadeem {Aus}) for third place and four points. Castellano put a positive ride on Curling Luxury (NZ) (O’Reilly {NZ}) in the third race of the sequence, also a C4 over the 1650m, and nearly stole the race at odds of 12-1, but Vincent Ho, a graduate of the Hong Kong Jockey School, came charging late to take it in a blanket finish (video) De Sousa could have clinched the IJC, but his favoured mount All You Know (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) could do no better than a close third after a rails rally inside the final 100 metres. De Sousa and trainer John Moore will team up in Sunday’s G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase with Siu Pak Kwan’s in-form Eagle Way (Aus) (More Than Ready). Experto Crede (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}), trained by Moore for Edmond Siu, sealed the deal in the series finale, sneaking up the fence to post a 20-1 upset from market leader Bank On Red (Hat Trick {Jpn}) (video). Ho and Castellano finished on 12 points, but the former was awarded third place on the strength of his riding victory in race three. Castellano entered the final leg with a remote chance of victory in the series, but would have needed a victory and help from others. “I have to pinch myself that it all went so smoothly tonight, you can’t buy moments like this,” said de Sousa. “The atmosphere was amazing, and you could hear the crowd cheering behind you. Obviously you need luck on a night like this, but to beat jockeys of the quality in this field is something really special.” Announced attendance on the evening was 30,174 and betting turnover on the nine-race program was HK$1.348 billion (£135.4m/€152.1m/A$237.3m/US$172.6m). View the full article

Silvestre de Sousa put on a clinic for Happy Valley’s night of nights to trounce some of the world’s best riders, setting a record as he claimed the Longines International Jockeys’ Championship. After finishing second last year, Britain’s champion rider went one better with a performance as close to flawless as you can get in one of these contests where horses are allocated randomly. The Brazilian struck early and often, collecting points in all four legs, winning on the... View the full article

South African jockey Callan Murray put his name up in lights at an important time in his fledging Hong Kong career on Wednesday night, kicking home a winner with his only ride. While a host of star jockeys from all over the globe may have had their attention fixed firmly on the Longines International Jockeys’ Championship, the 22-year-old’s victory was a significant moment in his riding career nonetheless, especially with the eyes of the world watching. Murray faced a fight to... View the full article

In a career that started in 2003 and has featured more than 2,300 victories, jockey Frankie Pennington savored every moment of his biggest win. View the full article

Lester Piggott, widely regarded as the greatest ever flat race jockey, has been admitted to hospital although his family say it is for purely precautionary reasons. The 83-year-old, who rode 30 British Classic winners including a record nine Epsom Derbies, has suffered from heart issues in the past. “He’ll be in for a few more days but was taken in as a precautionary measure,” Piggott’s daughter, Maureen Haggas, told the Racing Post after visiting him in hospital. Known... View the full article

On paper, the Longines Hong Kong Cup (2,000m) looks to be the weakest of Sunday’s four Group Ones, but bad luck has probably played as big a role in that as anything. The past two Hong Kong Derby winners – Rapper Dragon and Ping Hai Star – would most likely have lined up the HK$28 million feature and it would have taken the race to the next level. Unfortunately, Ping Hai Star fractured a sesamoid at trackwork in October after an eye-catching first-up run and is out of action... View the full article

13:35 Lingfield Sometimes the obvious and easy option is the only option and it’s hard to see anything but a victory for Cantiniere. A decent win at Wolverhampton in a more competitive race should stand her in good stead for this less competitive affair. The price won’t earn punters a fortune I’m sure but this promising filly looks a certain winner or at least as certain as one can be in this game. Of the five rivals, it’s going to be tricky to find which one will come home in second place but if push came to shove the Eve Johnson Houghton trained Frank Rogers looks to have promise and can build on the 6th placed effort he put in at Kempton. CANTINIERE (WIN) – NAP 20:15 Newcastle The final race on the card up at Newcastle looks ultra competitive and trainer Ruth Carr is double-handed with two entries. Of the two it seems that Cardaw Lily has flown somewhat under the radar. A very encouraging 3rd placed effort at this venue was followed up by a close 5th at Wolverhampton. A return to this venue and with less weight to carry are positives that should see her go close once again. Course and distance winners Another Angel and Marseille deserve a tonne of respect with the latter looking the most likely threat. Of the rest, Mininggold could be an outsider with a lively chance of finishing inside the money. CARDAW LILY (E/W) Haydock: 12:20 – Quri (WIN) 12:50 – Halloween Harry (WIN) 13:20 – Mr Whipped (WIN) 13:55 – The Big Bite (WIN) 14:25 – Idilico (E/W) 15:00 – Voie Dans Voie (E/W) 15:30 – Chuffy Chuffnell (WIN) Kempton: 15:55 – Turquoise Friendly (WIN) 16:30 – Meghan Spakle (E/W) 17:00 – Reticent Angel (WIN) 17:30 – Sun Hat (WIN) 18:00 – Atletico (E/W) 18:30 – Architecture (WIN) 19:00 – Magic Mirror (E/W) 19:30 – Viola Park (WIN) Lingfield: 11:30 – In The Red (WIN) 12:00 – Jewel Of The Sea (E/W) 12:30 – Silca Mistress (WIN) 13:00 – Toast Of New York (WIN) 13:35 – Cantiniere (WIN) – NAP 14:05 – Wally’s Wisdom (E/W) 14:40 – Singular Quest (E/W) 15:10 – Planetoid (WIN) Ludlow: 12:10 – Field Exhibition (WIN) 12:40 – Nomination Game (E/W) 13:10 – Floral Bouquet (WIN) 13:45 – Dauphine Ereine (WIN) 14:15 – Coup De Pinceau (WIN) 14:50 – Dark Invader (WIN) 15:20 – Misty Whisky (WIN) Newcastle: 17:15 – Pecheurs De Perles (E/W) 17:45 – Almashriq (WIN) 18:15 – Lucky Robin (E/W) 18:45 – Makeofitahatyouwill (WIN) 19:15 – Final Frontier (E/W) 19:45 – Dandy Highwayman (WIN) 20:15 – Cardaw Lily (E/W)* The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Wednesday 5th December appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article