Wandering Eyes

Globetrotting Mendelssohn will add another stamp to his passport with a visit to Aqueduct Racetrack Dec. 1 for the $750,000 Cigar Mile Handicap (G1). View the full article

Seven juveniles seeking their first stakes win are set to line up in the gate Dec. 1 to contest the $250,000 Remsen Stakes (G2) over 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct Racetrack. View the full article

Manfred and Penny Conrad are having a hard time believing that in less than 10 years since entering the Thoroughbred world, they have produced a Breeders’ Cup winner, a horse that raced in the GI Kentucky Derby and Queen’s Plate in the same year, and have sold two broodmares at auction collectively for more than $1 million. The Canadian-based husband and wife, who collectively run as Conrad Farms, have proven that you can do some amazing things with a modest operation. The couple won the Nov. 3 GI Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint with Shamrock Rose (First Dude), who scored a last-to-first victory at more than 25-1 odds. It was her fourth consecutive stakes win, positioning her as a strong contender for an Eclipse Award in the female sprinter category. Subsequent to their Breeders’ Cup win, the Conrads sold Theogony (Curlin) and Jennifer Lynnette (Elusive Quality) for a total of $1,075,000 at the Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton November Sales, respectively. “It’s an awfully expensive business, so at the end of the year, if we break even we feel very fortunate,” said Penny Conrad. “That’s the goal, to run it as a business.” “Maybe you can make a lot of money, but you have to have winnings in order to pay your expenses,” Manfred added. “That’s a given.” After Shamrock Rose won Keeneland’s GII Lexus Raven Run S., trainer Mark Casse suggested to the Conrads they consider taking the winning purse and running the filly in the Breeders’ Cup. Shamrock Rose had not been nominated and it would cost $130,000 to enter. The Conrads gambled and won. Considering some owners can race their entire lives and never win a Breeders’ Cup race, the Conrads consider themselves exceptionally lucky. “We didn’t aspire to get there or the Derby, but somehow we managed to get through,” Penny said. “We decided to [put up the money], which was a risk, but she’d earned the right to be there. “Mark had mentioned she might have a chance [to win an Eclipse Award] and this is all mind-boggling for us. We’re a very small [operation] with very few horses, and here we are experiencing all these things. That was another reason Manfred said, ‘Let’s go into the Breeders’ Cup for the experience.’ How can we be fortunate enough to have all these experiences?” The couple live just outside of Kitchener, Ontario, where Manfred, a German native who came to Canada in 1963 at age 18 with “a background in nothing” and little money in his pocket, and a business partner became prominent as property builders under the name The Cora Group. When Conrad and his partner decided to sell six office buildings and their property management business in June, 2008, he and Penny entered the Thoroughbred breeding/racing business. Penny, who was born in England and came to Canada at the age of 20, had an interest in horses because she rode them growing up and continued to do so with Quarter Horses. “We had more time, so I thought breeding would be something I’d really like to do,” Penny said. “We had the farm and the space, so let’s put some horses in there and breed. In the beginning we tried to sell our best. We only bred a few. It was always under a handful.” The late breeder/owner Patricia Martin, who had been a neighbor of the Conrads, helped Penny in the early stages. She was a 20-year client of veteran horseman Andrew Smith, who helped the Conrads build a horse farm and advised them on broodmare purchases at the Keeneland November Sale. During their initial foray into the sales realm, Penny said the pedigree information in the yearling sales catalogues was “like a foreign language.” “She could get at least her bachelor degree in that now,” Manfred joked. “She studies it every night, trust me.” The couple works in seemingly perfect harmony, with Manfred’s study of conformation serving as a compliment to Penny’s pedigree knowledge. “When we buy a horse, I want to see it walk,” Manfred said. “I may be totally off because I’m not a horse person, but I think I have a good feel for it–because sometimes when I like something, Mark seems to like it, too. But I could never really pick a horse, obviously.” Theogony was among the Conrads’ first yearling purchase, selling for more than $200,000, at the 2011 Keeneland September Sale. At the time, it was a “huge” amount of money for the Conrads. “Andrew convinced us we needed better stock to succeed,” Manfred said. “These horses looked like there was promise that they could become good horses.” Theogony, named for a story of the Greek gods, captured two Black Type stakes and placed in a pair of graded stakes in a 19-race career that saw her bank more than $400,000. The combination of Theogony’s winnings and her recent sale for $500,000 in foal to Quality Road at Keeneland November allowed the Conrads to recoup their overall initial investment in yearlings. Jennifer Lynnette (Elusive Quality), who the Conrads acquired for $110,000 as a Keeneland September yearling and recently sold for $575,000 at Fasig-Tipton November, won the 2017 GIII Royal North S. Because Manfred operates Conrad Farms like a business, the decision was made to sell the two mares. The Conrads have held on to the first foal out of Theogony–a colt by Uncle Mo. “One thing I learned is you cannot hang on to things that probably don’t work out anymore,” Manfred said. That said, the Conrads have retired their homebred State Of Honor (To Honor and Serve), who bowed a tendon running in the 2017 Prince Of Wales. Rather than give the colt time to recuperate and bring him back to the races, the Conrads decided to geld and retire him. State Of Honor gave the Conrads their first big thrill running in the Derby (finishing 19th) and then the Plate (finishing eighth). Regardless of the outcomes, the couple agreed it was the experience alone that made him so special. “State Of Honor is our pet now,” Manfred said. “He’s going to outlive us both. I’m not saying you have to give the horses away. You can keep them, but there is a point where you say if I want to be in that business [long term], I need new blood…Right now our big horse is Shamrock, but we have to aim for more Shamrocks.” Casse, who took over as the Conrads’ trainer in 2014, said he is on board with their plan. “They just wanted to win races and do it at Woodbine,” Casse said. “For the most part it was for Canadian-breds. They wanted to run and win and have a good time. That’s all they told me and we got lucky. For a small stable they’ve done extremely well. “Yes, we were a long shot in the Breeders’ Cup, but they were okay with that. Not every owner would run a Shamrock Rose in the Breeders’ Cup. They put up a lot of money. Your average owner wouldn’t do what they did. But they truly enjoy their life and are wonderful people. It’s nice to win, but it’s even more rewarding when you win for good people.” According to the Conrads, their success at the World Championships was simply an ideal blend of good business and good fortune. “That was the thrill of a lifetime, the Breeders’ Cup–a dream come true,” Penny concluded. View the full article

Ransom the Moon (Malibu Moon-Count to Three, by Red Ransom), a two-time winner of Del Mar’s GI Bing Crosby S., will stand his first season at stud at Calumet Farm for $7,500 LFSN in 2019. “He is beautiful, and if he replicates himself, we are set,” Calumet Farm’s Jak Knelman said. “He is about 16.2 [hands] and has a beautiful neck and topline with a strong hip and hind leg. Looking at his profile, he looks like a Classic, distance horse, but he has the speed to win at six furlongs.” Ransom the Moon joins the Calumet roster headlined by perennial leading sire English Channel, who will command a $30,000 fee in 2019. Calumet’s 2019 roster is rounded out by: Keen Ice ($20,000), Oxbow ($15,000), Bal a Bali (Brz) ($15,000), Big Blue Kitten ($10,000), Aikenite ($5,000), Mr. Z ($5,000), Optimizer ($5,000), Raison d’Etat ($5,000), Slumber (GB) ($5,000), War Correspondent ($5,000). View the full article

Courtesy, Gulfstream Park Todd Pletcher has clearly taken the Championship Meet to a new level. The seven-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer has distinguished himself as the undisputed champion of Gulfstream Park’s Championship Meet for 15 consecutive years. Pletcher will begin a campaign for an unprecedented 16th straight training title during the 2018-19 Championship Meet that will get underway Saturday, Dec. 1 and run through Mar. 30. “Gulfstream’s been a great meet for us for a number of years,” Pletcher said. “I think Gulfstream’s program fits our program well. It emphasizes 2-year-old and 3-year-old races if you include the December part and especially the 3-year-old part in January, February and March. It seems to be a racetrack that suits our program but it also seems to suit our training style.” Pletcher-trained horses have been dominant in Gulfstream Park’s 3-year-old program during his championship reign. The Dallas, Texas native has saddled a record five winners of the GI Florida Derby. Audible (Into Mischief), winner of the 2018 Florida Derby and also third in the GI Kentucky Derby, is being aimed at the $9-million GI Pegasus World Cup Jan. 26. “I always look at each meet as a different challenge,” Pletcher said. “You kind of have the streak in the back of your mind. You’d like to keep it going but at some point it’s going to end. We’re looking forward to the Gulfstream meet but also respect how challenging it is to win races there. We certainly don’t take anything for granted.” View the full article

The Maryland Jockey Club will reward generous-minded fans as part of its ‘Give a Gift, Get a Gift’ program Saturday, Dec. 1 at Laurel Park. Everyone that drops off a new, unwrapped toy or makes a cash donation at the gift exchange table will receive a special gift from the MJC. All proceeds will benefit the Maryland Horsemen’s Assistance Foundation. Fans are asked not to bring stuffed animals. Laurel will open its doors at 11 a.m. and the exchange will take place from noon to 4 p.m. in the grandstand entrance. Laurel will host a full card of live racing Saturday beginning at 12:30 p.m. View the full article

Things will doubtless get better—and just as well. Certainly the opening day of the December Foal Sale at Tattersalls did not unfold in a fashion likely to gladden many hearts. The ageing year was in a grasping mood, meanly rationing the daylight in quality and quantity alike; and entry into the brightly lit ring could not relieve many weanlings of a melancholy air, as the auctioneer implored bidders to stir from their apathy. If that felt poignant, given the charming and vulnerable aspect of animals only now entering their first winter, it was not terribly surprising. This is always a low-key session, after all. And the fragile nature of the present market, exposed to improvident support of unproven sires by plain-bred mares, is by now as familiar as it is inevitable—not least to those who had proceeded here from a fitful sale at Goffs last week. All bull runs, such as the one sustained by the elite yearling market in recent years, tend to contain the seeds of their own demise by stimulating oversupply. True, this catalogue has been kept to a very similar size, compared with last year. But that cannot reflect very promisingly on those it could not accommodate, or the median quality in those members of this crop bred in the hope of making the fastest possible buck. One way or another, it was certainly dispiriting to see one foal after another either unsold or discarded for a fraction of the covering fee that brought him or her into the world. The sluggish trade brought a slump in year-on-year indices for the session. From a virtually identical offering, only 154 lots sold out of 254 offered for an aggregate of 1,614,850gns—down 44% from the 2,889,500gns realised on the opening day in 2017 from 191 sales (of 252 offered). That produced corresponding drops in median and average, to 6,000gns and 10,486gns from 10,000gns and 15,128gns, respectively. The clearance rate subsided from 76% to 61%. No Stopping Never Even so becalmed a session, however, could not resist the swelling tide behind No Nay Never. His flying start on the track, as Europe’s premier new sire by virtually all measures, drove strong demand for the Coolmore sire at the yearling sales—and a giddy fee increase to six figures for 2019. That enabled Justin Casse, after signing an 80,000gns docket for lot 403, to remark, “I still paid less than what the stud fee is!” The American agent was unsurprisingly attuned to No Nay Never’s eligibility as an heir to his lamented sire Scat Daddy. “She’ll go to America, to race,” Casse explained of a filly consigned by Voute Sales. “Obviously she’s by the sire of the moment, and I’ve already bought four of them, all but one to re-sell. With the Scat Daddy factor, No Nay Never needs no explanation over there. But it’s easier for an owner to buy a foal, to race, provided he’s willing to show enough patience. And, while it’s a bit of the way down the page, it’s one of the all-time female families.” That’s because the second dam is a Zafonic half-sister to none other than the great miler Goldikova (Ire) (Anabaa), with her various stakes-winning relatives. That should guarantee a residual value to this daughter of Velvet Moon (Ire) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}), who had been disappointing in a light career at Ballydoyle. New Dawn for Adaay The foal sales, of course, represent the first market test of the latest intake of sires. And Adaay (Ire) boosted his commercial credentials—relative to a £5,000 cover—when his brisk-looking son, lot 298, reaped a handsome dividend for Overbury Stud at 55,000gns. He was purchased by breeze-up specialist John Cullinan, who recalled the sire making his first splash at the Craven Breeze-Up Sale here in 2014, before proceeding to dual Group 2 success. “I wasn’t particularly looking for first-season sires, but I did like this one and a couple of other Adaays today and tomorrow,” Cullinan said. “They seem to be racy, athletic types and Whitbsury Manor are on a roll with Showcasing (GB), so hopefully he can be the next one. He has to have a chance: son of Kodiac (GB), a good runner, a good breezer. This is a very nice individual and the mare has already produced a proper horse.” The mare in question is the Grade II-placed Lamentation (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}), whose 3-year-old son Elegiac (GB) (Farhh {GB}) has worked his way up to a mark of 104 in a productive campaign for Mark Johnston. The third dam is 1000 Guineas third Crystal Gazing (El Gran Senor). Adaay had a busy day, moving on 11 out of 16 lots at a solid average—for those that did sell—of 22,364gns. Other newcomers to go well included Twilight Son (GB), whose top price reflected the faith of the farm that stands him, Chris Richardson of Cheveley Park signing for lot 401 at 37,000gns; as well as for lot 281 at 30,000gns. In all Twilight Son shifted eight of 11 lots offered, at an average of 21,688gns. And The Last Lion (Ire) raised 40,000gns from Littleton Stud for lot 407, a colt from the family of Inchinor (GB), Poet’s Word (Ire) and company. Better Late Than Never Adaay’s home farm, as John Cullinan noted, has been making hay with Showcasing—whose fee for 2019 duly surpasses even one of the day’s higher prices, the 40,000gns given by James Fleming of Awbeg Stud just before the close of proceedings for lot 475, a filly by the sire of Advertise (GB) presented by Natton House Thoroughbreds. “She’s a lovely, sweet filly, with a really good walk,” Fleming said. “She’d be for re-sale, hopefully here in Book 2. We did well with a Showcasing filly pinhooked from this sale last year, getting up to 65,000gns from 26,000gns. She is a May foal, but the sire is what he is.” As he spoke the embers of the session were stoked up by its highest opening bid, one of 20,000gns for lot 477, a son of Kodi Bear (Ire)—a reminder that Adaay is not the only new son of Kodiac in town. The colt, offered by McCraken Farms, was ultimately secured for twice that sum by Matt Houldsworth, acting for a syndicate put together with Geoffrey Howson. “I’ve seen a few Kodi Bears and a couple that were nice, particularly one at Goffs last week,” he said. “To us he was the real standout today, a quality horse from a good farm. He looks a real horse for Doncaster next year, a real early 2-year-old type.” An Authorized Diamond The first animal to stoke a bit of life into the sale had been lot 254, a February colt by Authorized (Ire)—the only representative in the catalogue for the Haras Du Logis sire, and bred at Blue Diamond Stud by the men whose silks he carried to win the 2007 Derby, Saleh Al Homaizi and Imad Al Sagar. “He’ll come back here next year, when I suspect Book 2 will be the aim,” said Troy Steve after signing a 43,000gns docket. “My client is a big fan of the sire, having done quite well with one this year, and this is a lovely colt. He has size and scope and looks a straightforward type, so fingers crossed the sire can be rolling next year before we come back.” The colt, offered through Jamie Railton, is the second foal of a winning half-sister to the stakes-winning sprinter Justineo (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}). The sale resumes on Thursday at 10 a.m. local time. View the full article

The annual Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Foundation weekend of giving will return at Aqueduct Racetrack on Cigar Mile Day, Saturday, Dec. 1 and Sunday, Dec. 2. A holiday tradition at Aqueduct, Toys for Tots will collect new, unwrapped toys, cash contributions, and checks made payable to Toys for Tots, with donation boxes located at the main Clubhouse entrance and the Turf and Field entrance. “It’s a privilege for the New York Racing Association to partner with the Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots Foundation to brighten the holidays for so many children throughout New York City and across Long Island,” said Lynn LaRocca, NYRA Senior Vice President and Chief Experience Officer. “Our fans and employees have generously supported Toys for Tots each and every year, and we are pleased to encourage that giving spirit again in 2018.” View the full article

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Thursday’s Insights features a half-brother to G1SW Shakeel (Fr) (Dalakhani {Ire}). 2.25 Deauville, Mdn, €27,000, unraced 2yo, c/g, 9 1/2f (AWT) Jaber Abdullah’s JUNGLE DREAM (IRE) (Oasis Dream {GB}), who debuts for Eoghan O’Neill, is a hitherto unraced half-brother to last term’s G1 Grand Prix de Paris-winning sire Shakeel (Fr) (Dalakhani {Ire}). His rivals include Al Shaqab Racing homebred Alarfaj (GB) (Olympic Glory {Ire}), who is a gelded son of GI Las Virgenes S. heroine Eden’s Moon (Malibu Moon), from the Philippe Decouz stable. View the full article

Arnold Hyde, the acting chief executive of South Africa’s National Horseracing Authority, certainly has his opinions on whether or not whipping horses is cruel. He also realizes his viewpoint isn’t what matters. What does is the public’s viewpoint on a thorny issue with which racing throughout the world is struggling. Hyde’s fear is that, especially among younger South Africans, the whipping issue is something that could cause irreparable harm to the industry. So he decided to do something about it. On Nov. 3, while the U.S. racing audience was focused on the Breeders’ Cup, South Africa conducted an experimental race, a seven-furlong maiden event at Turffontein, where the jockeys were not allowed to carry whips. “The idea was born at a meeting I had with stakeholders in our industry,” Hyde said. “We had a riders’ representative, a trainers’ representative and a representative from the Turf Club. We were having a discussion about getting new people involved in the industry and how we could attract the younger set into the industry. What might be the obstacle that might put off people from our great sport of horse racing? There was a consensus amongst the attendees that the use of the whip seemed to be a definite impediment when it comes to why people didn’t want to get involved in horse racing. There was a definite negative connotation to the use of the crop. We thought we should be proactive and send a message out that would make a difference and a statement that we take horse welfare very seriously.” That the South African race came on Breeders’ Cup Day added a twist to the controversy that shed light on how the U.S. racing industry’s views on whipping are not always in line with the rest of the world. Reviews of Christophe Soumillon’s ride on Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic were scathing because of the persistent use of the whip. “Thunder Snow was said to be unharmed by his experience of running third in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, in which the severe use of the whip by Christophe Soumillon shocked sections of the audience in Britain,” Chris Cook wrote in The Guardian. Cook went on to say that under British racing rules, Soumillon would have been banned for three to four weeks for his whip use and fined. Soumillon’s ride attracted virtually no attention in the U.S. and he was not fined or suspended by the Churchill Downs stewards. “There has been enormous criticism of Christophe’s ride in the Classic where he went pretty hard at it, and of course, in Europe, he’d have been in big trouble,” trainer John Gosden said. “It was strange to a lot of people watching from Europe that the stewards in Kentucky had nothing to say about it.” Whips have long been banned in Norway. The Australian harness racing industry announced that whips would be prohibited starting in September of 2017, but, due to complaints from drivers, dropped the ban. It was replaced by strict restrictions allowing only limited use of the whip. “This is likely to mean that only an extremely limited wrist action will be allowed in racing,” Harness Racing Australia Chairman Geoff Want told the Sydney Morning Herald. “That would make the use of the whip in Australian harness racing among the most controlled in the world, and we will impose some of the heaviest penalties for misuse.” The Australian Thoroughbred industry does not follow the same guidelines and has more lenient rules related to whipping. In England, an innovative new series called Championship Horse Racing (CHR), which will involve team competition based on Formula One auto racing, will begin next year. The jockeys will be allowed to carry whips but cannot lift them up and strike the horse. They will only be allowed to tap the horse on the neck if they feel that is necessary for steering or corrective measures. Series founder Jeremy Wray admits the main reasons he went with these rules was because he knew how difficult it would be to get companies to sponsor teams if traditional whipping were to be allowed. The controversy over Soumillon’s ride is exactly the sort of thing South African authorities want to avoid in the future. Hyde and other industry leaders said they realized that an immediate ban of the whip was too radical an idea. Instead, they would begin a series of experiments. The idea behind them is to show that the sport is intent on changing its ways and to see what set of rules work best when it comes to finding solutions that ease the public’s apparent distaste for whipping. There will likely be several races conducted that involve anything from strict restrictions on the use of the whip to, again, not allowing jockeys to carry them. “The modern day whips are a lot friendlier than the older whips, but there is still that perception that when a horse is being struck that it is possibly being abused in the eyes of the people outside the industry,” Hyde said. “Those people may not understand the industry, but if we are going to attract new blood we need to take this very seriously. “The next race has not been scheduled yet. There is a lot left to discuss. We have to take into consideration very seriously that there was the opinion presented by some jockeys that the crop is an important tool in their repertoire. We need to be mindful of that and come to a decision that involves all of the stakeholders and not make a decision unilaterally from the regulator’s side. We also need to consider the confidence of the betting public. We need to consult all the participants and get to the best possible outcome. It is a work in progress and we will have more meetings on this particular matter to get to the best approach that suits everyone.” The race itself was completed without any incidents. It was won by the Michael de Kock trained first-time starter Hawwaam (SAf) (Silvano {Ger}). “This was a good initiative and we got some good mileage out of it,” De Kock told the Racing Post. “In any case, the whip rule needs to be looked at. They [jockeys] are better off without sticks – more of them get beaten with them than they would without them.” Veteran South African jockey Piere Strydom both rode in the race and took part in the initial meeting where the concept was developed. He said that his horse, a 28-1 shot who finished 14th out of 15, likely would have performed better had he been able to use a whip. “I’m a jockey and I don’t believe that the whip should be used that much,” he said. “So, I was happy to try it. But I must be honest, I don’t think we can get away with no whips at all. I tried to get the horse to concentrate but he was taking no interest in the race. You try to jump out of the stalls and get into the race. He wasn’t willing to do anything and the same thing happened down the straight–when I wanted the horse to respond, he gave me no interest. After the race my feeling was I still don’t want to whip a horse but you need a whip on the side by the reins that at least you can give the horse a tap and encourage the horse to do something. I’m still not for the whip but you need something to get the horse interested, so that it knows that it is racing and he has a job to do and needs to get on with it.” Hyde said he heard similar feedback from other jockeys, but believes there’s a possibility that the horses involved were so used to being whipped that they didn’t know how to respond when being hand-ridden and that the horses, just like the jockeys, will need to adjust if rules are changed. Despite his feelings that his horses didn’t try his hardest in the whip-free race, Strydom remains an advocate of change. He says that when he talks to people who are not involved in the sport, the first question they usually ask him is why are the jockeys allowed to whip the horses. “A lot of jockeys are going to want to shoot me for saying this, but I feel we need to think forward and get away from the whip, but I don’t believe you can away from it all together,” he said. It was De Kock who presented the challenges the whip was causing the English-run Championship Horse Racing Series to Hyde and other South African industry leaders. CHR’s Wray wanted to try something bold and different that might attract an entirely new audience to the sport. The whip, he knew, was a problem. Championship Horse Racing will be made up of 12 teams, all sponsored by a major brand. Each team will include 40 horses that compete at the higher handicap levels and four jockeys. A team could be composed of horses from a single trainer or several trainers. Each race will be worth at least £100,000 and points will be awarded for every horse that finishes first through 10th. The winner will receive 25 points and the 10th-place finisher one point. The team that accrues the most points through the series will be named champion and earn additional prize money. There will be 48 races and they will be contested at tracks throughout the U.K. The races will be run under rules the British Horse Racing Authority has already established for amateur races and for apprentice-only races called “hands and heels” rules. Jockeys will be allowed to carry a whip but they cannot raise it up to strike a horse. It can only be used for taps on the neck if the jockey feels a need to help steer a horse or correct something it may be doing wrong. Wray said he believed that he would never land major sponsors if traditional whipping rules were allowed. He explained that name brands shy away from horse racing in the UK because they are wary of being associated with gambling and because of whipping. Obviously, there will be betting on the series races but Wray will attempt to distance it from gambling by prohibiting bookmakers from sponsoring teams. Bookmaking firms are among the biggest sponsors of racing in the UK. “We can now go talk to new brands and say we have listened to them and that their two biggest concerns have been addressed,” he said. “I had a meeting this morning with a leading ‘telco,’ one of the biggest in the world, and if we hadn’t dealt with these two issues we never would have had that meeting. There are huge sponsorship dollars potentially out there for racing but these companies just draw a line through racing because of those two factors, gambling and whipping. I understand this is about perception, but it’s a perception you have to listen to. Racing needs to stop saying these whips are air cushioned, the horses can’t even feel it. That’s not the argument. It’s about the perceptions people outside the sport have. I’m not going to argue with a big brand who says I have the choice of sponsoring this sport or that sport and I’m not going to sponsor your sport because you hit your animals and our customers don’t like that. I’m not going to tell them they’re wrong.” Wray said one leading U.K. trainer said to him, “Jeremy, you don’t understand. We whip horses to frighten them to go faster.” Wray says he would like to eventually bring his concept to the U.S., but if he does, he’s likely to meet more resistance from American-based riders than he has from European jockeys. With some states enacting rules that limit the use of the whip or require jockeys to take a pause between strikes, the U.S. racing industry can’t be accused of being blind to the issue. The whips now being used are also said to be gentler on the horse than whips from previous eras. But, as is the case with so many issues that horse racing grapples with, the sport has moved at a slow pace on the whipping problem and the new rules are, for the most part, not very strict and include only minor penalties to those who cross the new lines. Unlike in South Africa, there doesn’t appear to be any serious movement here toward solving what is clearly a dilemma for the sport. “Absolutely not,” Hall of Fame jockey and Jockeys’ Guild Chairman John Velazquez replied when asked if he could see the day when U.S. racing went whip-free. “I think it would be totally wrong if they ever tried to do something like that. I don’t think the race can be run without the whip. There are horses here and there that don’t like the whip but you still carry it to make sure that you can tap them on the shoulder and keep their mind on running. You need the whip to encourage them, to get them to run their best. We have changed the poppers on the whip to make them smaller and it doesn’t really hurt the horses or break the skin. It’s more to encourage the horses, to let them know when you need it that they need to run to their best. Its like being in the wild. A lot of horses don’t want to pass other horses. They are followers and if you don’t encourage them to do something they’re not going to pass horses. It’s part of nature. It’s a very complicated situation, but I just don’t see it coming to the states any time soon.” As for Soumillon’s ride on Thunder Snow in the Classic, he struck the horse 18 times in the stretch, each one a sharp right-handed crack, many of them coming in rapid succession. Barbara Borden, the chief steward for the Kentucky Racing Commission, said she found nothing wrong with Soumillon’s ride. “The stewards review every race and pay attention to every aspect of the race,” Borden said. “There was nothing about his ride that sparked our interest concerning his use of the whip. There was nothing that he did that violated any of the regulations we have.” While the man-on-the-street might likely be appalled by the sight of Soumillon beating away at Thunder Snow, Borden is not wrong. Her job is to enforce the rules and there is nothing among Kentucky racing regulations that Soumillon violated. The rules that cover what a jockey can and cannot do in Kentucky regarding whipping include these: Section 15. Use of Riding Crops. (1) Although the use of a riding crop is not required, a jockey who uses a riding crop during a race shall do so only in a manner consistent with exerting his or her best efforts to win. (5) A riding crop shall only be used for safety, correction and encouragement. There is nothing that covers how many times a rider can hit a horse, when they can hit a horse or whether or not they need to give a horse a chance to recover after being hit. Should a jockey be allowed to forcefully strike a horse with a whip 18 times within the matter of 30 seconds or so? In Kentucky, as well as many other states, the answer, currently at least, is yes. There are not many within the South African racing industry who would agree with that. “I wouldn’t rule it out,” Hyde said when asked if someday South Africa would join Norway as the only countries banning all use of the whip. “I’d be quite hesitant to give a timeline on something like that. I’m looking now at how whip use is being considered internationally and the direction that it is taking. There is definitely a trend that is being followed. If it doesn’t happen that we have completely whipless races, I certainly think you will see more restrictions and stricter control of the whip. I don’t think that’s even debatable. Internationally, that is the way that the movement is going.” View the full article

Jesse Ullery has joined Fasig-Tipton as an account executive and sales announcer. He will be actively involved in the recruitment of both sellers and buyers for all Fasig-Tipton sales. Ullery has served as Director of Racing at Fair Meadows and Will Rogers Downs, and worked in auction sales at the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society, Heritage Place, and Keeneland. “Jesse will be a tremendous addition to our team at Fasig-Tipton,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. “Our customers will appreciate his expertise and enthusiasm.” Ullery will announce his first sale for Fasig-Tipton at the upcoming Midlantic December Mixed and Horses of Racing Age Sale in Timonium, Maryland Dec. 4. View the full article

The Aga Khan’s Eziyra (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) continues on her international travels in next weekend’s G1 Hong Kong Vase, and while the chestnut will be a dark horse to visit the Sha Tin winner’s enclosure, trainer Dermot Weld said he maintains his faith in the 4-year-old filly. After making a late start to her 2018 campaign, Eziyra made up for lost time by posting wins in the G3 Ballyroan S. in August and the G2 Blandford S. in mid September, which bookended a third behind Sea Of Class (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the G1 Yorkshire Oaks. She was sixth, beaten six lengths by Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}), in the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf on Nov. 3. “We are pleased with Eziyra,” Weld said. “She has come out of her race in America very well and is all set to run in the Vase. She may be one of the lowest-rated in the race, but she is a very consistent filly and a very good filly who has won five group races and is multiple Group 1-placed. She was beaten by Enable in the Irish Oaks in 2017 and ran an excellent race to be third in the Yorkshire Oaks this year. She is adaptable, and I think she will represent us well at the Hong Kong International Races.” Eziyra will meet another Breeders’ Cup also-ran in the Vase: the Andre Fabre-trained Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), who was fifth behind Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf. The 4-year-old, who was fourth also behind Enable in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, won three group races in France over the summer culminating in the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. “I was a bit disappointed with him in America, where he ran a bit flat and didn’t quicken as usual,” Fabre said. “But now he has recovered really well, and he will enjoy Sha Tin racecourse and the fast ground.” Fabre will also saddle Godolphin’s Inns Of Court (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) in the G1 Hong Kong Mile. The triple Group 3 winner was second, beaten a short head, in the G1 Prix de la Foret on Oct. 7 and fourth most recently in the G3 Prix de Seine-et-Oise on Oct. 31 on very soft ground. “He needed a race in between–and remember, he was carrying a penalty last time,” said Fabre. “He ran alright, considering the ground, and he has already shown he can perform well over a mile in the Marois. He should get a good pace to run at in Hong Kong–and while obviously it’s a very good race, he is a horse that is very consistent and always runs well.” View the full article

Talented jockey Chad Schofield collected his first-ever Happy Valley treble to provide the highlight of an otherwise subdued Wednesday night card. The flat atmosphere was completely understandable given the events of Sunday’s meeting with the uncertainty over the welfare of jockey Tye Angland after a horror fall at Sha Tin. The 29-year-old remains in the Prince of Wales Hospital in a serious but stable condition, however his presence was certainly felt 15km away at the city track. While... View the full article

6th-FG, $38,000, Msw, 2yo, f, 7 1/2fT, post time: 3:54 p.m. ET Coffeepot Stables and Phillips Racing Partnership’s well-pedigreed WINTER SUNSET (Tapit) makes her debut here for the Wayne Catalano barn. The grey is the second foal out of brilliant MGISW turfer Winter Memories (El Prado {Ire}), who won her juvenile debut before amassing $1.268 million from eight total wins, including two at the highest level. Bred by Darby Dan’s Phillips Racing Partnership, Winter Sunset was a $900,000 Keeneland September RNA. Her second dam is MGISW Memories of Silver (Silver Hawk), who also produced the likes of GSW La Cloche (Ghostzapper) (in turn the dam of a MSW daughter of Tapit); and the dam of ‘TDN Rising Star’ and this year’s GII Penn Mile winner Hawkish (Artie Schiller). TJCIS PPs View the full article

There were two seemingly opposing views to take about the champion’s forthcoming stud career when Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) brought down the curtain on his sublime racing career by sauntering home in the G1 QIPCO Champion S. on Oct. 20, 2012. He was taking his record to 14 from 14, leaving the tens of thousands of misty-eyed worshippers who had made the pilgrimage to Ascot to bid their hero farewell convinced that they would never see such a paragon again. On the one hand the rhetorical question: ‘How could a horse this great fail to become a great stallion?’ On the other, the down-to-earth reality check: ‘The only certainty is that he will never sire a horse as good as himself.’ In fact, both points are entirely valid. It is almost certain that Frankel will never sire a horse as great as he was. Nor, indeed, will any other stallion. Galileo has sired one, and only one, horse of Frankel’s class, but it would be hoping for lightning to strike twice for him to do so again. But, at the same time, the benchmark of a successful stud career is far lower than the ability to sire the best horse anyone has ever seen. Galileo would still be an all-time great sire even if Frankel had never been born. And, as we know now that we have the accumulated evidence of three seasons of form on which to base our verdict, Frankel is indeed shaping up as a great stallion. There is both entertainment and education to be had every season in keeping an eye out each day for runners by first-season sires. During the 2016 season, such scrutiny became an obsession for many of Frankel’s fans, who would scan the entries each day to find horses not by first-season sires in general, but by one in particular. Running tallies were kept, and nobody was disappointed: when the first Frankel 2-year-olds starting running, they started winning. And that has been the norm ever since then. All eyes were on Cunco (Ire) when the John Gosden-trained colt lined up at Newbury on May 13, 2016. He didn’t let his father down. Cunco then went to Royal Ascot the following month, finishing third to subsequent dual Classic winner Churchill (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the Chesham S. Another of Frankel’s early winners, Fair Eva (GB), scored on debut at Haydock on June 8 and then became her father’s first stakes winner by taking the G3 Princess Margaret S. over six furlongs at Ascot on July 23. Queen Kindly (GB) started off in similar vein, winning easily on debut over five furlongs at Catterick on June 3 before finishing a close third at Royal Ascot in the G3 Albany S. She subsequently became Frankel’s second group winner when taking the G2 Lowther S. at York’s Ebor Meeting, beating Roly Poly (War Front) with Fair Eva in third. Further stakes winners followed as summer turned to autumn. Frankuus (Ire) had scored on debut at Haydock Park on June 9 before going on to take the Ascendant S. at the same course and the G3 Prix de Conde at Chantilly. Toulifaut (Ire) took her record to three-from-three when taking the G3 Prix d’Aumale at Chantilly. In Japan, Mi Suerte (Jpn) landed the G3 KBS Kyoto Sho Fantasy S. before Soul Stirring (Jpn) became Frankel’s first Group 1 winner when taking the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies S. in December. This was all very promising. How, though, would his stock fare as they got older? Well, it didn’t take long before we knew. Eminent (Ire), successful in a maiden race at Newmarket on his only appearance at two, landed the G3 Craven S. over the Rowley Mile at Newmarket’s first meeting of 2017. Eight days later Cunco showed that he had progressed from two to three when winning the G3 Classic Trial at Sandown. The following month Soul Stirring became Frankel’s first Classic winner by taking the G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) in Tokyo. Cracksman (GB), a winner on debut at Newmarket as a 2-year-old and successful as a spring 3-year-old in the Investec Derby Trial S. at Epsom, nearly followed Soul Stirring’s example in Europe, finishing third in the Derby and second (beaten a neck) in the Irish Derby. Eminent won the very valuable G2 Prix Guillaume d’Ornano over 2000m at Deauville after having finished fourth in the Derby. Frankuus and Queen Kindly both won black-type races. Cracksman enjoyed a stellar autumn, taking the G2 Great Voltigeur S. over 12 furlongs at York by six lengths, the G2 Prix Niel over 2400m at Chantilly by 3.5 lengths and the G1 QIPCO Champion S. over 10 furlongs at Ascot by seven lengths, slamming the multiple Group 1 winners Poet’s Word (Ire) (Poet’s Voice {GB}), Highland Reel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Recoletos (Fr) (Whipper). At the same time, Frankel’s second batch of juveniles were making a similarly good impression, including G2 Futurity S. winner Rostropovich (Ire), G3 Champions Juvenile S. winner Nelson (Ire) and G3 Somerville Tattersall S. winner Elarqam (GB). The first two of those won Classic trials this spring, while Elarqam finished a close fourth in the 2,000 Guineas. Cracksman continued to embellish his record through 2018, landing the G1 Prix Ganay (by four lengths) and the G1 Coronation Cup in the spring before signing off with a second G1 QIPCO Champion S. (by six lengths) in the autumn, taking a record of 11 wins and three minor placings from 14 starts with him to Dalham Hall Stud. Two days after Cracksman’s Coronation Cup victory, the Frankel 4-year-old Mozu Ascot became the stallion’s second Japanese Group 1 winner by taking the Yasuda Kinen over 1600m in Tokyo. Later in June, Frankel was the leading sire at Royal Ascot where the 3-year-old miler Without Parole (GB) took the G1 St. James’s Palace S. and Monarchs Glen (GB) recorded his third black-type triumph by landing the Wolferton S. Another Frankel 4-year-old to thrive through the summer was Mirage Dancer, winner of the G3 Glorious S. at Glorious Goodwood. He could add further laurels to Frankel’s crown at next month’s Hong Kong International Meeting at Sha Tin. Finche (GB), too, has continued to thrive as a 4-year-old. Winner last year of the G2 Prix Eugene Adam over 2000m at Maisons-Laffitte, he took the G3 Prix de Reux over 2500m at Deauville this August and most recently finished an excellent fourth in the G1 Lexus Melbourne Cup in Australia. Another Frankel 4-year-old stayer, Call The Wind (GB), took the G1 Prix du Cadran at Longchamp in the autumn; while Fashion Business (GB) took the GII Del Mar H. in August. It is now clear that Frankel is the complete stallion, producing high-class horses all the way across the distance spectrum who often show both precocity and the ability to progress further as they mature. Obviously he has had the assistance of full books of very good mares, but plenty of top-class racehorses have been bountifully patronised at stud without taking advantage to anything like the extent that Frankel has done. His achievements to date are astounding for a horse with only three years of runners behind him, particularly a horse who has never shuttled. It should, incidentally, be pointed out that Frankel has covered sizeable books of mares to Southern Hemisphere time, the most notable product to date being this season’s G2 Tea Rose S. winner Miss Fabulass (Aus), a daughter of the 2008 VRC Oaks heroine Samantha Miss (Aus) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}). Frankel has sired winners in at least 12 different countries, with group/graded winners in six of those. Having reached the milestone of 20 Northern Hemisphere group/graded winners faster than any other European stallion in the history of the pattern, he has to date been represented by 25 individual group/graded winners, five of whom have scored at Group 1 level. His progeny tally of Group 1 victories stands at nine, backed up by nine Group 2 triumphs and 19 Group 3 wins. He is currently sitting on the mind-bogglingly good ratio of 27% black-type performers/runners. Furthermore, he seems compatible with a wide range of mares, these 25 group/graded winners coming from the daughters of 23 different stallions, with only Pivotal (GB) and Kingmambo featuring as the dams of two such horses. An abnormally talented racehorse who displayed brilliant speed despite having a pedigree replete with stamina–as typified by his granddam Rainbow Lake (GB) (Rainbow Quest) who won the G3 Lancashire Oaks by seven lengths–Frankel was Europe’s best 2-year-old in 2010. As a 3-year-old he was even better, and at four he was out of this world. He has now demonstrated that he is capable of passing on his own precocity and his own progressiveness, of passing on both speed and stamina; and he is doing so with almost metronomic regularity. View the full article

Racing at Maisons-Laffitte will cease after its 24 fixtures in 2019, with France Galop revealing plans on Wednesday to focus on and restructure the town’s training centre. The decision is part of a transformation plan drawn up by France Galop in an effort to turn around a €119-million deficit recorded between 2014 and 2017. The organization recognizes the challenges presented by falling wagering on racing; since 2011, the amount gambled on racing has dropped €1.9-billion, and betting revenue accounts for 90% of French racing’s financial resources. France Galop plans to rescale and modernise the Maisons-Laffitte Training Centre with a €1.5-million investment. The training centre is designed to house 1500 horses, but is currently home to fewer than 500. France Galop said in a statement that an increase in the number of horses up to its capacity would lead to a reduction in operating costs. The closing of the racecourse will lead to the loss of 31 jobs, and France Galop said the closure would be implemented through an Employment Protection Plan and that measures to support affected employees will be discussed with social partners. View the full article

RACING POST NAP 17:30 Wolverhampton The final race of a packed 8 race card is where we’ll find our best selection this afternoon. We’re presented with a horse who has a trainer and jockey combination that have a 100% strike rate when they combine. Joey Haynes and John Butler don’t team up all that often but when they do they seem to be a lethal combination. They’re set to saddle and ride three year old course and distance victor Tiger Lyon. He’s been very disappointing on the turf this season and has shown nothing in his last four runs but a return to this venue is definitely a positive. He seems to act much better on an artificial surface and now comes back to Wolverhampton with 2lbs less weight to carry than when successful here previously. All the evidence points to a big run and hopefully we can capitalise on an improved effort this time around. With a couple of course and distance winners also set to lineup it’s hard to discount the majority of the field but Secret Potion and Mezyan look the most likely threats to our selection. TIGER LYON (WIN) – NAP RACEBETS ALTERNATIVE BET 13:50 Wetherby These lightly raced youngsters don’t have an abundance of form to go off but it’s very difficult to ignore the two runs that The Very Thing has put in to date. A return to action saw him finish a credible third and the yard of Olly Murphy have their horses going well of late. There’s no doubt that the horse will improve for his most recent outing and today’s race looks a much easier task and as such should take all the beating. A horse that looks worth noting is yet to enter the national hunt sphere but managed to claim a shock victory on the flat earlier this month. If Lopes Dancer can transfer his flat form to races over obstacles he could potentially be a dark horse that flies under the radar. Of the remainder you can’t ignore any horse that’s trained by Dan Skelton so Up The Drive is also likely to be a player. THE VERY THING (WIN) Wetherby: 12:15 – Alexanderthegreat (WIN) 12:45 – Whin Park (WIN) 13:15 – Lord Yeats (E/W) 13:50 – The Very Thing (WIN)* 14:20 – Fair Loch (E/W) 14:50 – Always Resolute (E/W) 15:25 – Anightinlambourn (WIN) Punchestown: 12:25 – Acronym (WIN) 12:55 – School Boy Hours (WIN) 13:25 – Stucker Hill (E/W) 13:55 – Mengli Khan (WIN) 14:30 – Shady Operator (WIN) 15:00 – Cresus De Grissay (E/W) 15:35 – Peres Et Fils (E/W) Hereford: 12:35 – Destined To Shine (WIN) 13:05 – Dr Sanderson (WIN) 13:35 – Briac (E/W) 14:05 – Danny Whizzbang (WIN) 14:35 – Everlanes (E/W) 15:05 – Corner Creek (E/W) 15:40 – Leaving Home (WIN) Wolverhampton: 13:45 – Micronize (WIN) 14:15 – Red Hot (E/W) 14:45 – Frisella (WIN) 15:20 – Global Goddess (E/W) 15:55 – Stand N Deliver (WIN) 16:30 – Graffiti Master (WIN) 17:00 – Tan Arabiq (E/W) 17:30 – Tiger Lyon (WIN) – NAP Newcastle: 15:15 – Muatadel (E/W) 15:45 – Revolutionise (E/W) 16:15 – Daarik (WIN) 16:45 – Clipsham Tiger (E/W) 17:15 – Helen Sherbert (E/W) 17:45 – Let Right Be Done (E/W) 18:15 – Reconcile (WIN) 18:45 – Rock Of Estonia (E/W) The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Wednesday 28th November appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

See who's on Ouzo this weekend View the full article

The Belmont Cafe was packed to overflowing with the trainer's family, friends, employees, clients, and colleagues, who shared memories of a man who was a force in Thoroughbred racing virtually until the day he died Oct. 21 at age 65. View the full article

They called her Constellation because of the sprinkling of silver Birdcatcher spots in her coat. But while she had shone as brightly as any, during the giddy opening phase of the LNJ Foxwoods adventure, her $3.15 million sale to Don Alberto Corp. at Fasig-Tipton earlier this month was only a point of reference in a much bigger picture. For just as a constellation only exists as a function of the human imagination, so does the navigation of an enterprise as ambitious as LNJ depend on the kind of eye that can see where each investment fits with the rest. Because the sale of Constellation confirmed that LNJ cannot be pigeonholed: they’re breeding, they’re buying, they’re selling, they’re racing. Step forward Jason Litt, along with agency partner Alex Solis II, advisors to the Roth family (Larry, Nanci and daughter Jaime) since the inception of LNJ six years ago. Or, rather, spring forward-such being the vigour exuded by this Californian sunbeam, the words tumbling out, barely able to keep up with his ideas. “At the end of the day, we are opportunistic players of the market,” Litt says. “We do a bit of everything, and LNJ are tremendous to work for because they understand how opportunities sporadically present themselves.” And that, in turn, heightens the dynamism suffusing the project. “You always have to debate if you’re keeping a horse for sentimental reasons, or because you think it’s exactly what you need,” says Litt. “Or, do you take advantage of the fact that the market is very strong and you have what people want? Because in this market, you’ll be rewarded if you have the right horse.” Last year, that meant cashing in Nickname (Scat Daddy) for $3 million: LNJ’s first Grade I winner, picked out by Solis/Litt as a yearling for $350,000. It was a taller order, however, to turn a profit on Constellation, whose $800,000 tag as a daughter of Bellamy Road had raised eyebrows at OBS. “When we started with the Roths, the plan was to build a broodmare band,” Litt explains. “But the inherent problem with that is that it just takes time. You do a mating, it’s a year later before you get a foal; it’s two years before they get going; then there might be setbacks, what have you. So we needed to get some action. We’d had good success at the 2-year-old sales, so the idea was: ‘All right, let’s go and try and get the best filly at the sale.’ “And it turns out that the best one, to us, is by a sire since shipped to New York. But she breezed 9.4, and beautifully, her ears pricked, just class, you knew she’d be expensive-but what was that? Four? Five? So we’re bidding, and it’s heated, we’re at 775 and they’re asking for eight and Alex and I are looking at each other, thinking: ‘This is either going to go really, really good-or really, really bad!’ So the hammer drops and everyone is like, holy cow. Including us.” So the pressure was on when Constellation was given her debut at Saratoga during sales week. Everyone in town, a loaded field. She won by four and a half lengths, and a month later had a Grade I placing in the Spinaway. She did miss much of her sophomore year but resurfaced to win the GI La Brea S. and was only thwarted by a neck in the GI Madison at Keeneland at four. On retirement, she was covered by Curlin and all set to complete the original agenda. But then Litt and Solis fell head over heels for her Tapit half-sister at Saratoga, adding her to the stable for $750,000. With a foothold in the family, they reasoned it would be worth letting the market value Constellation. There is, then, action on every front for LNJ-reflecting the cosmopolitan strategy recommended by Litt and Solis on taking up their brief. “The question is: can you breed better than you can buy?” Litt explains. “Because if you can, and keep going, maybe you can get stallions too. The Roths came and said we’re in this for the long term. And filly prices were down, and we were willing to travel-to see how other markets work, how they value different stuff. If you can cherry-pick the best of what every country brings to the table, maybe you might get lucky.” And, as the old axiom has it: the harder they worked, the luckier they got. They picked up Gold Round (Ire) (Caerleon), a half-sister to Goldikova (Anabaa) for €520,000 at Arqana December in 2012-carrying not only a filly, but a filly who would go on to win at Group level. They found an Unbridled’s Song half-sister to Shamardal in Australia, hardly her optimal market. (Her name is Diamond Necklace and her mating with War Front makes Dogtag, a Saratoga stakes winner for LNJ this summer, a quite ingenious name.) Closer to home, they bought Life Happened (Stravinsky) while her daughter Tepin (Bernstein) was still only a Grade III winner. It was purely as a fan that Litt originally got interested, his dad having claimed a few around Golden Gate Fields or Bay Meadows. So he was a relatively late starter in bloodstock, already in his late twenties when he first visited the sales at Keeneland. “And it was just crazy, the energy of the whole thing,” he recalls. “And I thought how cool it would be one day to be able to look at a horse and say, ‘this is a good one’ and be right.” He earned his stripes thereafter, notably by a seven-year stint at Three Chimneys. Having started out with $2,000 yearlings, his first big gamble, a $150,000 yearling, proved to be Grade I winner Cry And Catch Me (Street Cry {Ire}). And while the budget kept going up as he hooked up with Solis-along with the quality, through the likes of Mizdirection (Mizzen Mast) and Shared Belief (Candy Ride {Arg})-he has never lost sight of the abiding principle: you’re trying to find a runner. “I used to be a swimmer,” Litt says. “You trained, you were timed, and if you were faster than someone by half a second you knew what that meant. There was nothing subjective to it. And that’s the beauty of this game, too. There’s a moment of objective reckoning. All this stuff [at the sales] gets puts aside. They race, and they tell you how good they are, no hiding place.” So the rewards of the game are earned. Though he feels himself to be working with the best of them all in Solis, raving about his “freakish” talents, Litt feels as though they are rummaging through a flea market against dozens of antique experts. In the meantime, the abiding priority is that the Roths enjoy the ride. “We’re trying to provide owners an experience that is unique, one they can’t get by just visiting a place,” Litt says. “But to go to Deauville, France when Gold Round’s daughter, Golden Valentine, won a Group 3, at the finish we were all just dumbfounded. That’s a phenomenal experience. “It’s interesting to have an operation not only geared towards racing but that recognises the market. How to handle the play of the emotion and practicality-that’s the nuance of the game. “You need people who understand, and the Roths are spectacular. We have a lot of pieces moving. They know it doesn’t always work out, but that every now and then it will. So to come full circle with a lovely mare like Constellation is tremendously gratifying.” View the full article

W. S. Farish homebred Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB}) will skip an intended start in Saturday’s GII Remsen S. at Aqueduct after a breeze his Hall of Fame trainer and rider felt was subpar, conditioner Shug McGaughey said Tuesday. The chestnut breezed a best-of-20 five furlongs in 1:01.55 over the Belmont training track under John Velazquez Monday morning. “I am not going to run Code of Honor in the Remsen,” McGaughey told the TDN by phone. “The horse is fine and his breeze yesterday was fine, but Johnny and I thought it was not his best, so I decided to wait on the race. He will run next at Gulfstream after the first of January.” A debut winner at Saratoga Aug. 18, Code of Honor made an impressive late rally to be second after stumbling hard at the break of the Oct. 6 GI Champagne S. and trailing the field early. He was one of the talking horses of the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, but was a late scratch after spiking a fever. View the full article

It isn’t likely that George Strawbridge, Jr. will be anywhere near Sha Tin Racecourse when the Longines Hong Kong International Races take place Dec. 9, but his worldwide breeding operation will be represented by a couple of prominent runners in two of the afternoon’s seven-figure events. Beauty Generation (NZ) will be one of the day’s bankers in the eyes of many in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile and his sire Road to Rock (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}) descends from a family under the second dam that was nurtured by Strawbridge. Winner of the G1 Lexus Queen Elizabeth S. (2000m) when under the care of Anthony Cummings–who ironically conditioned Beauty Generation to a runner-up effort in the G1 Rosehill Guineas prior to his export to Hong Kong–the A$1.2-million earner Road to Rock is out of Trewornan (GB) (Midyan), a maiden winner at second asking in England for David Elsworth and later trained by John Dunlop. A 32,000gns Tattersalls October yearling purchase by Charlie Gordon-Watson, Trewornan was a full-sister to Central City (GB), a Group 3 winner in France who was acquired by Strawbridge when the racing empire of the prodigious owner Tony Budge came to a crashing halt in late 1992. Transferred to Strawbridge’s main U.S. trainer, Hall of Famer Jonathan Sheppard, Central City was stakes placed in seven starts before joining the Augustin broodmare band in early 1994. She produced four winners from as many to race for Strawbridge, including Petronilla, stakes-placed in France for Jonathan Pease, and the popular American stayer Rochester (Green Dancer), whose career included 11 wins on the flat–three at the graded level–and a pair over jumps over the course of nine seasons for earnings in excess of $1.2 million. With Fervour (Dayjur) is the dam of reigning G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint hero Mr Stunning (Aus) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}), who will race second-up and may well go favoured in defence of his title next Sunday. A May foal, With Fervour is a daughter of 1985 GI Kentucky Oaks winner Fran’s Valentine (Relaunch), who was acquired by Strawbridge after she was led out unsold on a bid of $290,000 at the 1992 Barretts Mixed Sale. She was offered in foal to Dayjur as part of the dispersal of owner Earl Scheib. The first two homebred foals out of Fran’s Valentine became stakes horses; With Fervour’s older full-sister With Fascination was a Group 3 winner and twice Group 1-placed in France, while With Fire (Gulch), foaled in 1994, was Group 3-placed in France. With Anticipation (Relaunch) became Fran’s Valentine’s most prolific runner while under Sheppard’s care, with 15 wins from his 48 career appearances, five at Grade I level, including the GI Sword Dancer Invitational H. and the GI Man O’War S. in both 2001 and 2002. The popular gray also annexed the GI United Nations S. and was second to High Chaparral (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells) in the 2002 GI Breeders’ Cup Turf at Arlington Park. He retired with earnings in excess of $2.66 million. With Fervour, who was bought back on a bid of $160,000 out of the Derry Meeting Farm draft at the 1998 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, was winless in her 11 career starts for Strawbridge and was purchased by Australia-based John Foote Bloodstock for 65,000gns in foal to Diktat (GB) at Tattersalls December in 2003. Having produced two minor winners from her first four to race Down Under, she was sold for just A$6,000 in foal to Purrealist (Aus) at the Inglis Easter Broodmare Sale in 2013. Two months later, Mr Stunning fetched A$110,000 as a weanling at the Inglis Great Southern Sale before maturing into an NZ$250,000 NZB Premier Yearling the following January. View the full article

Trainer Luis Carvajal Jr. said the $100,000 Pelican Stakes Feb. 16 at Tampa Bay Downs could be Imperial Hint's prep race for the March 30 Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1). View the full article

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Wednesday’s Insights features a full-sister to GSW & MGISP Filimbi. 12.27 Deauville, Mdn, €27,000, unraced 2yo, f, 7 1/2f (AWT) OBOE (Mizzen Mast), one of two nominees for Khalid Abdullah, is a Pascal Bary-trained daughter of GI Kentucky Oaks and GI Alabama S. heroine Flute (Seattle Slew) and thus a full-sister to GSW GI First Lady S., GI Jenny Wiley S., GI Just a Game S. and GI Matriarch S. placegetter Filimbi. Her opposition includes Gerard Augustin-Normand’s La Bloutiere (Fr) (Dansili {GB}), who is out of MSW G1 Prix Jean Prat third La Hoguette (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), representing Jean-Claude Rouget. 2.15 Wolverhampton, Cond, £5,800, 2yo, f, 8f 142y (AWT) Godolphin’s OPHELIA’S DREAM (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is a daughter of G1 Fillies’ Mile and GI Yellow Ribbon S. victress Hibaayeb (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}) and thus a homebred full-sister to G1 Prix Marcel Boussac and GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf heroine Wuheida (GB). The Charlie Appleby-conditioned newcomer’s rivals include Jaber Abdullah’s unraced Queen of Mayfair (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who is homebred full-sister to G1 Hong Kong Cup-winning sire Akeed Mofeed (GB), from the John Gosden stable; and Saeed Manana’s Social Network (Ire) (Australia {GB}), who is a James Tate-trained daughter of G1 Coronation S. G1 Irish Oaks and G1 Prix de l’Opera placegetter Mona Lisa (GB) (Giant’s Causeway). View the full article

Abel Tasman (Quality Road–Vargas Girl, by Deputy Minister), last year’s Eclipse champion 3-year-old filly, will be offered as a broodmare prospect at the upcoming Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale through the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment. The filly will sell as hip 288 during the auction’s opening session Jan. 7. “What can I say? Abel Tasman is a rare collector’s item,” said Mark Taylor, Taylor Made’s Vice President of Marketing and Public Sales Operations. “She is a future first ballot Hall of Fame inductee. We are privileged to have the opportunity to present her to the best breeders from around the globe.” Racing for China Horse Club International and her breeder Clearsky Farms, Abel Tasman won six Grade I races, including the 2017 GI Kentucky Oaks. As a juvenile, she won the GI Starlet S., while her championship 3-year-old season also included wins in the GI Acorn S. and GI Coaching Club American Oaks, as well as a runner-up finish in the GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff. In 2018, the Bob Baffert trainee captured the GI Ogden Phipps S. and GI Personal Ensign S. “Abel Tasman provided China Horse Club with some of its greatest highlights and an introduction to U.S. racing,” said Michael Wallace, head of bloodstock for China Horse Club. “We were very privileged to race our champion mare with Clearsky Farms. I’ll remember her as extremely talented, brave and very sound. We look forward to someone else now taking on her breeding career.” On the board in 12 of 16 starts, Abel Tasman won eight times and earned $2,793,385. “Abel Tasman had the same qualities a lot of great racehorses seem to have, but what really stood out to me was her grit, courage and determination,” said breeder and co-owner Bernard Cleary of Clearsky Farms. “The Personal Ensign especially was a race where she really showed her heart and refused to be beaten. It’s bittersweet to see her move to another home, but hopefully her new owner will enjoy her as much as we have.” Out of Vargas Girl (Deputy Minister), Abel Tasman is a half-sister to graded stakes winner Sky Girl (Sky Mesa) and stakes placed Moonlight Sky (Sky Mesa). The four-session Keeneland January sale runs from Jan. 7 through Jan. 10. View the full article