Wandering Eyes

Chris Luoni, the driving force behind the establishment of the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame, is stepping down as Chairman after serving seven years in the post but will continue as a director. “Chris was the catalyst behind establishing the Racing Hall of Fame,” past Chairman and director Gerald Fell said. “I was the first Chairman of the Hall of Fame and between us we drove the development of it. “I retired and Chris took over, and it has just got stronger and stronger.” The biann... View the full article

Vibrato shook off his rivals at Rotorua on Wednesday to score a comfortable victory in the At Cook Contraction 2YO (1230m). The son of Sacred Falls led from the jump under a steady ride from Jonathan Riddell and strode away from his only challenger, Elliot Power, to win by two and a half lengths. The Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained Vibrato was having his second career start, with Forsman saying the conditions at Ellerslie earlier this month did not suit the two-year-old gelding. “He di... View the full article

Central Districts jockey Robert Hannam hasn’t let a delay to his New Zealand racing season hinder him from setting a record tally of stakes wins this term. The likeable hoop spent the early part of this season in India, where he was finishing off a four-month contract, which was halted in 2017 after he sustained a broken ankle after a starting gate incident. He returned to New Zealand in October and wasted no time in getting on the board, recording five stakes wins to date this season, an all-... View the full article

Pencarrow Stud’s decision to bring a broodmare out of retirement has been spectacularly rewarded by the dual black-type winner Sleeping Beauty. The Rip Van Winkle six-year-old mastered the gruelling conditions for a dominant victory in Saturday’s Listed Ultimate Ford and Mazda Tauranga Classic (1400m), having also taken out the Gr.3 Rotorua Stakes (1400m) at her previous start. Sleeping Beauty is the tenth and final foal out of the Danehill mare Kailey Princess. “She was quite an old mare ... View the full article

Sacred Croix has Stewards' Cup and Derby in crosshairs View the full article

Dragon steers Nimble into new direction View the full article

... View the full article

The newly approved legislation would allow the CHRB to immediately call an emergency meeting and take action, if it determines the health and safety of horses or riders is at risk, then review the suspension of the license within 10 calendar days. View the full article

The Saratoga Hilton’s 2018 “Breakfast with Santa” raised $8,185 to benefit ACTT Naturally, a local organization dedicated to transitioning retired Thoroughbreds into new careers. “The Saratoga Hilton is committed to supporting organizations doing good work within our local community and the greater Saratoga County,” the hotel’s general manager Thomas Olsen said. “Horse racing is such an integral part of our lifestyle here, and we are truly proud to contribute to the good work ACTT Naturally is doing to rehabilitate and rehome these prized racehorses.” The post Saratoga Hilton Donates More Than $8,000 in Support of Aftercare appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. 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 daughter of Triple Crown hero American Pharoah out of the Group 1 winning Damson (Ire). 5.50 Kempton, Novice, £9,000, 2yo, f, 7f (AWT) QUEEN OF THE SEA (IRE) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), who cost 400,000gns as a Tattersalls October Book 1 graduate, is a half-sister to the G3 Prix Thomas Bryon winner Sacred Life (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) and the recent G2 Prix Hocquart third Khagan (Ire) (Le Havre {Ire}). In a fascinating encounter, John Gosden saddles Daily Times (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}), Allan Belshaw’s half-sister to Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) who was fourth to TDN Rising Star Visinari (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}) at Newmarket last month. 6.0 Naas, Mdn, €16,500, 2yo, f, 6fT HOLY ROMAN EMPRESS (IRE) (American Pharoah) is a Coolmore homebred daughter of the Triple Crown hero and the G1 Phoenix S. winner Damson (Ire) (Entrepreneur {GB}). Therefore a half-sister to the talented sprinter and sire Requinto (Ire) (Dansili {GB}), the March-foaled bay is joined by another Ballydoyle newcomer in Darkest (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), a 325,000gns Tattersalls October Book 1 purchase who is a full-sister to the classy Sovereign Debt (Ire). The post Observations: Wednesday, June 26, 2019 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Following the unanimous passing of Senate Bill 469 by California legislature Monday, the California Horse Racing Board can now suspend racing without a 10-day public notice period. The bill is expected to be signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Thirty horses died during racing or training at the recently concluded six-month Santa Anita meeting. Jerry Hollendorfer was banished from the Arcadia racetrack after a fourth of the Hall of Famer’s horses broke down and was euthanized Saturday. The California Horse Racing Board had requested that Santa Anita suspend the final seven days of the meeting earlier this month, but officials of the track denied the request. “We must take action now to protect horses and jockeys, ensuring safety is always paramount in California horse racing,” the bill’s co-sponsor Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa) told Los Angeles Times. “Because clearly, there is a problem here, and we can’t sit back and do nothing. I appreciate my colleagues in the Legislature for coming together to pass this important safety measure, and I look forward to Gov. Newsom signing it into law.” The post Bill Unanimously Approved to Grant CHRB Authority to Suspend Racing appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman's 4-year-old McKinzie (250 votes) has retained the No. 1 position following the third week of voting in the Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings. View the full article

After picking up his second graded stakes score in the June 22 Ohio Derby (G3) at JACK Thistledown Racino, Rupp Racing's Owendale will step back up to grade 1 company for his next outing. View the full article

An additional enhancement of $2.375 million in funds for the 2019 Thoroughbred Improvement Program (TIP) as part of the $10 million of Horse Improvement Program funds designated for the horse racing industry by the Ontario government was announced by Ontario Racing Tuesday. An enriched TIP will now offer the additional funds through a new rewards program in which a $2,500 bonus will be distributed to the winning owner and breeder of a registered Ontario-bred in an ‘overnight’ race at Woodbine, split evenly. At Fort Erie, $1,250 will be also split evenly between the winning owner and breeder of an overnight race. When coupled with the existing TIP program, there is over $16 million available for Thoroughbred horsepeople through TIP in 2019, including $2 million from the original Enhanced TIP program earmarked for Thoroughbred breeders. “This is an historic day for Ontario’s Thoroughbred owners and breeders,” said John Hayes, Independent Chair, Ontario Racing. “A strong and impactful TIP program is paramount in supporting the horsepeople within our industry. It is equally important to pave the way for new owners and breeders to discover our sport, as well as ensuring the health and welfare of our horses through the equine research program. Ontario Racing continues to work closely with our horsepeople and stakeholders to see horse racing flourish throughout the province.” The post Ontario Racing Announces New $2.375 Million Ontario-Bred Bonus Program appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Owner Malter hopes to campaign stallion's progeny in the United Kingdom. View the full article

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club has entered a multi-year arrangement with San Diego’s foremost casino, Sycuan Casino Resort. The partnership will take effect this year with the opening of Del Mar’s 80th racing season Wednesday, July 17. The pairing will include signage and branding at the racetrack for the Sycuan interests–now the track’s official and exclusive partner–and access to the extensive casino and resort facilities for Del Mar patrons. “We see this as a natural marriage between a natural pair,” said DMTC’s director of sponsorships and digital media Walker McBride. “We believe Sycuan is the ultimate destination in San Diego for those seeking the casino experience and we see ourselves in a similar light when it comes to a premier day at the races.” The post Del Mar Partners with Sycuan, San Diego’s Leading Casino appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Owner Malter hopes to campaign stallion's progeny in the United Kingdom View the full article

Bluegrass Cat has been sold to Nimet Arif Kurtel to stand at his Karacabey Boarding Stud near Izmit, Turkey, where he will join Victory Gallop, Lion Heart and Corinthian. He is scheduled to depart Ballena Vista Farm in California in late June for Sancal Racing at Elmendorf Farm in Kentucky prior to shipping overseas. Trained by Todd Pletcher for owner/breeder Winstar Farm, Bluegrass Cat won the 2006 GI Haskell Invitational and also was second in that term’s GI Kentucky Derby. From 10 crops of racing age, Bluegrass Cat has sired 33 stakes winners and the earners of more than $42 million. “Mr. Nimet Arif Kurtel will support him with his own mares and with plans to race the offspring,” Ballena Vista Farm Manager Mike Jimenez said. “He will also have available a few limited seasons to other breeders. Bluegrass Cat will be missed not only by us at Ballena Vista Farm but the California breeders who supported him.” The post Bluegrass Cat Sold to Turkey appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The newly approved legislation would allow CHRB to immediately call an emergency meeting and take action, if it determines the health and safety of horses or riders is at risk, and then review the suspension of the license within 10 calendar days. View the full article

Racehorses that get named after famous athletes sometimes have trouble living up to the hype. On the other hand, Tuggle (Point of Entry), a 2-year-old who broke his maiden at first asking at Belmont Park June 21, is named after John Tuggle, a pro football player who was so obscure he was given the nickname “Mr. Irrelevant” when he played one season for the New York Giants in 1983. Yet Bill Parcells, who was the rookie coach of the Giants during that otherwise humdrum 3-12-1 season, will never forget the charismatic, ultra-confident running back who made the team against long odds after being selected as the very last player in that year’s NFL draft, then was diagnosed with a rare form of blood vessel cancer that took his life by age 25. Even after 36 years, Parcells still gets a twinge of emotion in his voice when he speaks about how motivated and determined John Tuggle was, and how he still resonates as one of the most inspirational players he ever coached. “He was a brave young man, and I had a very, very high regard for him,” Parcells told TDN in a phone interview after Tuggle’s equine namesake wired a MSW off-the-turf sprint last Friday as the 6-5 favorite. “I’m just happy that he continues to get a little recognition.” Tuggle grew up in San Jose, and in the 1970s he was a multi-sport star in high school. Football was his true passion, and it earned him a full scholarship to California, where he set a record for most passes caught by a running back and was MVP of the 1980 Big Game against Stanford. A leap to the pros was questionable because Tuggle was borderline for speed and size, yet the Giants took a chance on him anyway, figuring they had nothing to lose with the very last pick in the draft. The NFL, at the time, was just beginning to make a big deal about the annual “honor” of being drafted last, and Tuggle accepted the Lowsman Trophy—the satirical opposite of the Heisman Trophy—with good humor and vowed to overachieve on the field. In his very first exhibition game, Tuggle made a spectacular special teams tackle. Parcells called him over to the sideline and told him, “Son, you can play for my team any time.” That season Tuggle rushed for only 49 yards with one touchdown, but he was named the special teams player of the year for the Giants. Parcells had high expectations for him entering 1984. Then, as Parcells tells it, “He just got this awful news. He was a young player. Came back for training camp the second year, and he was full of anticipation. It’s hard to explain it—we just did our routine physical tests one morning, and he was getting ready to practice. And my team doctor came in and told me ‘Tuggle isn’t going to be able to practice. He’s got a very rare form of cancer.’ I couldn’t believe it.” According to a 1986 New York Times article, Tuggle sat in silence for about five minutes, then asked himself, “Well, am I gonna sit around and cry about this or am I gonna take this as day one of beating it?'” Despite undergoing surgeries and chemotherapy, he tried to stay in as best shape as he could to eventually rejoin the team. His teammates couldn’t believe what a monster Tuggle remained in the weight room despite the debilitating illness. Tuggle insisted that his cancer was in remission, but doctors believed otherwise. The Giants kept him under contract so he would not lose his health insurance, but advised him not to report to the 1985 training camp. Tuggle showed up one day anyway. He asked to see Parcells in his office, and entered clutching a brown paper bag. A bottle of champagne was inside. “Coach, let’s sit down and have a drink,” Tuggle said. Tuggle then explained how he had come to terms with not being able to play football, and wanted to celebrate his brief career as a pro athlete and thank his coach for taking a gamble on him. In an ESPN “30 for 30” documentary about Tuggle that was nominated for a sports Emmy Award in 2014, Parcells had tears in his eyes when he recalled that moment. “This guy’s determination and will…those are things just walking around you don’t gain an appreciation for that,” Parcells said. “It has to be gained under duress, during times of pain, where we all have to go to those dark places and respond…. He had those attributes you couldn’t see. He was an inspiration to me. You always wonder if you’d do what he did, endure all that, and still have this ‘Let’s have a drink’ [attitude]. I don’t know the answer to whether I could or not. But he inspired me.” Tuggle died in his sleep Aug. 30, 1986, while undergoing treatments at a cancer clinic in Mexico. When the Giants won the Super Bowl that year, they honored Tuggle by wearing his number 38 on their helmets. Parcells, who currently has 13 horses in training under the stable name August Dawn Farm, said he first got the idea to name a Thoroughbred after Tuggle when it was suggested to him by trainer Chad Brown, who had been inspired by the ESPN documentary. “I bought him at the Saratoga sale [FTSAUG for $160,000] sale from consignor Jim Herbener,” Parcells said. “I had bought a couple of horses from him before, and he just happened to have this Point of Entry colt. I’m pretty good friends with Shug McGaughey, and he of course trained Point of Entry. And his assistant, Robbie Medina, we’re pretty close. So I consult with those guys on quite a few things, and that’s how we wound up with this horse.” Parcells said plans are undecided on a next start, but he added it will likely be at Saratoga Race Course. Tuggle’s sire, five-time Grade I turf victor Point of Entry, suggests turf prowess, but Parcells said he’s leaving the next-race choice up to the colt’s trainer, Jeremiah Englehart. “I’m just glad the horse started off well, to honor Tuggle,” Parcells said. The post With Horse Name, Coach Parcells Honors Player He’ll Never Forget appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Bloodstock professionals have to accept an inherent, historic vulnerability of all markets. Capitalism is predicated on growth; but growth cannot be perennial. (If you find an exception to this rule, let me know. But it won’t have four legs.) In order to renew a cycle of growth, from time to time you have to endure a lapse in values. Until that point, however, it is hard to resist the illusion that the momentum will never let up. On the face of it, the bull run has certainly been sustained by the juvenile market this year. In fact, turnover at the principal North American 2-year-old sales, aggregated in the accompanying table, achieved a historic breakthrough in passing $200 million for the first time. Moreover the purity of an 8.5 percent gain on the equivalent auctions in 2018 can be measured by a freakish consistency in the volume of business. After withdrawals, virtually commensurate catalogues of 3,924 hips (3,909 last year) were reduced to 2,740 animals into the ring, just one fewer than in 2018. With the clearance rate also virtually identical, at 77 percent and change, 2,121 animals changed hands at an average just under $96,000. North American 2-year-old sales: summary 2014-19 Catalogued Withdrawn % w/d Offered Sold Clearance Aggregate Average 2019 3924 1184 30.17 2740 2121 77.4 203,206,700 95,807 2018 3909 1168 29.87 2741 2113 77.08 187,023,200 88,510 2017 3775 1241 32.87 2534 2026 79.95 195,244,000 96,369 2016 4235 1243 29.35 2992 2227 74.43 175,841,800 78,959 2015 4172 1188 28.47 2984 2269 76.03 188,123,800 82,910 2014 3956 1050 26.54 2906 2266 77.97 175,632,700 77,507 An exceptionally valid statistical jump, then, on the $88,510 average achieved last year. (Also working out, naturally, at an 8.5 percent rise.) While the average is actually restored only to a level just shy of the record set in 2017, the underlying curve continues to climb steeply. This reflects two combined energies, one generic and one specific: a surge in the overall value of bloodstock, during the quantitative easing era; and trust in the maturity of this particular sector as a source of high-class runners. Pinhookers have committed profitably to quality over quantity in recent years, albeit partly reflecting the decline in crop sizes since the financial crisis of 2008. In 2007, over 4,000 2-year-olds were catalogued for sale; over the past decade, even 3,000 has only been topped once. That narrower base has proved solid. The R.N.A. ratio, around one-in-three in 2007, has been one-in-four or better through the last five years. And while it took until 2013 to overtake the 2007 average (and 2015 to surpass the record turnover set that year), an ongoing boom since 2014 has elevated the average by 28.9 percent. But that’s not all gravy, by any means. This record 2-year-old market was required in order to retain anything like the same margins out of a giddy yearling market. That 8.5 percent gain in the average 2-year-old transaction is all very well. But the pinhooker, with overheads also going up, must pay nearly 30 percent more for the average yearling than was the case two years ago. It is not just the stakes that have been raised. So, too, have temperatures in the debate over the degree to which consignors feel obliged to satisfy a market obsession with “bullet” times. It’s a hard area on which to get any kind of statistical handle. The small sample below is taken from three premier sales–O.B.S. March and April, and Fasig-Tipton’s boutique auction at Gulfstream–over the past three years but is offered only on the most tentative basis. Qualification for “bullet” status is highly subjective, and varies according to track and other prevailing conditions. However ludicrous a difference can be made by a fifth of a second, to the value of a horse, then it could certainly be matched in these definitions. With that caveat, then, you can take or leave the inferences available from the “fact” that the ratio of top lots ($500,000 or more) to have emerged from the top rungs of the timing ladder was 24 percent in 2017, and 37 percent this year. The identified “bullets” to make $500,000 or more, however, remained pretty stable (basically one-in-three) and at least implies some attention to other criteria. Values of top times at three leading auctions 2017-19 Total ‘bullets’ Total $500k+ hips No of ‘bullets’ $500k+ bullets’ as pc of $500k+ hips pc of ‘bullets’ to make $500k+ 2019 56 49 18 36.7 32.1 2018 44 50 14 28 31.8 2017 42 58 14 24.1 33.3 As a rule, certainly, a 9:4/5 breeze by the son of a regional sire is not going to get him past a Tapit who goes 10:1/5. But the dividends achieved by sires at the 2-year-old sales seldom feel terribly instructive. The samples tend to be small–War Front doesn’t even appear on the list this year, after none of his handful into the ring sold–and too easily distorted by a game-changing sale-topper, which any top stallion might pull out of his hat from one year to the next. This next table shows the top ten sires by average this year, excluding rookie American Pharoah who broke into the elite at No 4 but obviously had no comparable data from previous years, and their rankings in the 2-year-old sales over the previous three years; plus, in brackets, the ranking they had achieved with the same crop as yearlings the previous fall. Leading established sires at 2019 2-y-o sales with past and yearling rankings 2019 2018 2017 2016 Curlin 1 (5) 36 (6) 6 (6) 3 (9) Tapit 2 (3) 2 (1) 3 (1) 1 (1) Medaglia d’Oro 3 (2) 1 (3) 2 (3) 4 (4) Into Mischief 5 (10) 9 (14) 15 (20) 31 (34) Ghostzapper 6 (11) 78 (10) 11 (10) 20 (23) Bernardini 7 (20) 17 (16) 10 (11) 16 (6) Quality Road 8 (8) 12 (19) 27 (26) 24 (29) Uncle Mo 9 (7) 8 (8) 17 (9) 6 (30) Speightstown 10 (12) 14 (7) 37 (4) 11 (10) Pioneerof The Nile 11 (6) 7 (4) 9 (7) 30 (15) The sector’s most productive sire this year, Curlin, showed the volatility of the sample when only 36th last year. As a rule, however, the bottom line is that the name of the sire tends to determine how much you should expect to pay for a knockout under-tack show. These days you can set your clock by heavy hitters like Tapit and Medaglia d’Oro at any type of sale. Younger sires, equally, have tended to express broader trends in their performance. Quality Road, for instance, has elevated his yearling and 2-year-old rankings more or less in tandem. And it’s not hard to see exactly when Nyquist put Uncle Mo’s name in lights, winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Kentucky Derby between the end of the big yearling sales and through the 2-year-old auction calendar: hence the exceptional disparity between his 2015 yearlings rank (30) and 2016 juvenile rank (six). Perhaps the only compliment we might coherently extend is to Into Mischief, whose giddy rise has been somewhat anticipated, year-on-year, by his performance in this sector. He is the only sire of these ten (themselves, remember, only taken as a snapshot of fluctuating standings) to have surpassed his yearling rank four years running. This market, of course, is driven by pinhookers operating in a relatively brief window-too brief, as a rule, to register emerging economic trends. To a degree, then, they are insulated from market morale; certainly relative to someone who paid a stallion fee this January, with a view to selling the resulting foal at the 2021 yearling sales. But while pinhookers of 2-year-olds can duly ride the current wave with confidence–or as much confidence as you can ever feel, with your fortunes contingent on a 10-second piece of theatre–we have already noted that both buying and selling in a bull market means that their raw materials are costing a lot more. The yearling vendor, in turn, will often have experienced parallel pressure in pinhooking out of an equally fierce market for weanlings. For traders, then, these headline values can be illusory. They still have to pay their wages and feed and all the rest of it out of a margin that may be largely unchanged, but leaves them exposed to more risk at a higher level of the market. Presumably the 2019-20 cycle will remain no less of a highwire. Rewinding to where we started, everyone who starts prospecting the next crop of yearlings at Fasig-Tipton’s July Sale knows that the current market can’t last forever. Nor, equally, can we know when those fissures perennially identified by the bears will finally break open a slowdown in the wider economy. For what it may be worth, a gauge of U.S. business conditions compiled by Morgan Stanley has just dipped to its lowest point since 2008; while seven-in-10 chief financial officers in a recent survey predicted a downturn by the end of 2020. Trade wars, renewed instability in the Middle East and rising debt are among the unnerving shifts in the environment. And while tax breaks for the wealthy have especially nourished the value of Thoroughbreds, the fact is that the monetary instruments used to tackle an emergency in 2008 were never put away for the next rainy day. In the words of John F. Kennedy, the time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining. As it is, the affluent have been playing up their winnings under Trump, driving stocks up around 50 percent. The bloodstock market, however, is just as sensitive to economic pain while considerably slower to respond to stimulus. Our final table shows cycles of recovery since a downturn in 2001. After interest rates were slashed from 6 percent, the Dow Jones index made its big rally in 2003; the overall U.S. bloodstock market followed through in 2004. The difference in response proved to be far more marked, however, after 2008. Performance of American bloodstock market against GDP, stocks and interest rates US GDP Dow Jones Bloodstock Fed interest 2018 2.9 -5.6 7.9 2.5 2017 2.2 25.1 9.7 1.5 2016 1.6 13.4 -3.4 0.75 2015 2.9 -2.2 -0.1 0.5 2014 2.5 7.5 2.6 0.25 2013 1.8 26.5 27.9 0.25 2012 2.2 7.3 -1.5 0.25 2011 1.6 5.5 18.2 0.25 2010 2.6 11 -6.5 0.25 2009 -2.5 18.8 -32.2 0.25 2008 -0.1 -33.8 -21.2 0.25 2007 1.9 6.4 2.5 4.25 2006 2.9 16.3 11.2 5.25 2005 3.5 -0.6 8 4.25 2004 3.8 3.2 23.3 2.25 2003 2.9 25.3 11.2 1 2002 1.7 -16.8 -9 1.25 2001 1 -7.1 -22.5 1.75 The Dow Jones lost a third of its value that year, but retrieved 18.8 percent in 2009 and has essentially maintained the same vigour as G.D.P. ever since. Bloodstock, in contrast, shed 21.2 percent in 2008 and haemorrhaged another 32.2 percent in 2009. It was still losing ground in 2010, and only began to share the recovery with an 18.2 percent gain the following year. Its biggest single gain, since the recession, came in 2013-and even its spectacular gains then were more or less matched by the Dow Jones, which had already mustered four years of growth. Bloodstock then remained very stable for the next three years, before renewing momentum in 2017 and 2018 even as interest rates began to creep up. Both the delayed recovery and the consolidation before renewed growth indicate, unsurprisingly, that bloodstock rides on the back of liquidities won in primary economic activity. As a result, those who treat the young Thoroughbred as an investment vehicle must remember that they are ultimately trading in luxury goods. Such, at any rate, is how racehorses are perceived by most end users, no matter how many of us depend for a professional livelihood on the industrial process of getting these animals into their hands. So all you pinhookers and consignors, all you breakers and breeders: remember that when the end user finally recoils, it’s not just a long way down. It’s a longer way back. The post $200 Million Juvenile Market Requires Head for Heights appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

A Galileo (Ire) half-sister to Grade I winner Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}) and last month’s G1 Prix du Jockey Club victor Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) is among the 338 yearlings catalogued for Arqana’s August yearling sale on Aug. 17 to 19, for which the catalogue was released on Tuesday. Lot 21, consigned by Ecurie des Monceaux, is also a half-sister to Group 3 winner My Sister Nat (Fr) (Acclamation {GB}). Also among nine Galileos catalogued is Haras d’Etreham’s colt out of dual Group 3 winner and dual Group 1-placed Steip Amach (Ire) (Vocalised) (lot 23). Also from Etreham is an American Pharoah filly out of a daughter of dual Classic winner and Group 1 producer Imagine (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells) (lot 38). Lope de Vega (Ire) is having a banner season, and he is the sire of Ballylinch Stud’s lot 34, a full-sister to G3 Prestige S. winner Antonia de Vega (Ire), as well as lot 60, a full-brother to exciting juvenile Lope Y Fernandez (Fr) and a half to G2 Vintage S. winner Dark Vision (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}). The well-related progeny of Le Havre (Ire) set for sale include lot 5, who is out of a half-sister to The Fugue (GB) (Dansili {GB}); and lot 29, a filly out of multiple Group 3 winner Top Toss (Ire) (Linamix {Fr}) and therefore a half-sister to dual Group 3 winner Lesstalk In Paris (Fr) (Cape Cross {Ire}). Lot 54 is a filly by Olympic Glory (Ire), who recently enjoyed a career-best winner at Royal Ascot courtesy of Watch Me (Fr) in the G1 Coronation S. Lot 54 is also a half-sister to Fleeting (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), who was second in the Royal meeting’s G2 Ribblesdale S. A Dubawi (Ire) colt out of Giofra (GB) topped the 2017 edition of this sale when bringing €1.55-million from Phoenix Thoroughbreds, and the G1 Falmouth S. winner has a full-brother to that one to go through this year (lot 88). Invincible Spirit’s representatives include a full-brother to G1 Cheveley Park S. winner Rosdhu Queen (Ire) lot 91. Also set to go through the ring are the progeny of half-sisters to Treve (Fr) and Danedream (Ger). The catalogue can be accessed here. In addition to Sottsass and Fleeting, the August Sale’s representatives on the track in 2019 include last week’s G2 Coventry S. winner Arizona (Ire) (No Nay Never {Ire}), who has a close relative to go through the ring this year in the form of lot 157, a half-brother to champion 2-year-old Dabirsim (Fr) by Intello (Ger). The first two days of the sale comprise Part I, where 70% of the lots catalogued are out of black-type performers or producers. The third and final day of the sale is Part II. The post Arqana Releases August Catalogue appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Ontario Racing today announced an additional enhancement of $2.375 million in funds for the 2019 Thoroughbred Improvement Program as part of the $10 million of Horse Improvement Program funds. View the full article

Despite this Saturday’s G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby being a fully domestic affair it will still bring together several of the main protagonists of the G1 Investec Derby where Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) edged out Madhmoon (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) by half a length with just three quarters of a length covering the first five home. The two above are among 10 horses that were left in the race on Tuesday afternoon and, while the absence of any international challengers coupled with the majority of runners coming from the same team is a slightly regrettable scenario, the race could still serve up a fairytale result should Kevin Prendergast’s Madhmoon get off the mark for the season after three commendable efforts so far. “My best chance to ever win the Epsom Derby has probably just passed me by so, hopefully, we can gain compensation by winning the Irish Derby,” Prendergast, who is two weeks shy of his 87th birthday, said at a press briefing at The Curragh on Tuesday. Prendergast’s father, the legendary Paddy ‘Darkie’ Prendergast who was champion trainer in Britain on three occasions while based in Ireland, won the Irish Derby four times and while Prendergast junior has tasted Classic success on numerous occasions–initially in 1972 and most recently with Awtaad (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) in the G1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas in 2016–a win on Saturday would crown a fantastic career and would possibly be the result the majority of those in attendance at The Curragh would be rooting for. “Madhmoon has a battalion to beat on Saturday but he has a good chance and if he repeats his Epsom performance we could hopefully get a result,” he said. “He has been bombing since Epsom, I’m not saying he is any better but he is in great form. Aidan’s [O’Brien] team will be very hard to beat, there is very little between our horse and a few of his so if my lad gets a bit of luck in running, he should be thereabouts at the end.” Having operated effectively around Epsom, Prendergast has little concern over Madhmoon’s first run over the Curragh turf, with all his Irish starts so far having come at Leopardstown. “The Curragh is such a fair track, it generally gives every type of horse a chance, compared to Epsom with its twists and turns where horses are going up hills and down dales.” Those undulations may or may not have been a factor in Madhmoon stumbling four furlongs from home at Epsom, something Prendergast certainly feels did not aid his chance, considering the narrow margins involved. “When he stumbled it just cost him momentum and he grabbed hold of the bridle a bit sooner than I would have liked. That meant he got to the front just a shade too soon, but who knows, maybe it didn’t make any difference in the end. I imagine Chris [Hayes] will try and delay his challenge a bit more this time. Madhmoon is a strong traveller, it doesn’t matter to him if they go a strong or steady gallop. I imagine the Ballydoyle horses will dictate the gallop and we will follow along as dutiful people do.” Not surprisingly Anthony Van Dyck is favourite to do the Epsom/Curragh double and provide Aidan O’Brien with a 13th victory in the race from 23 attempts. O’Brien revealed that Ryan Moore will take over from Seamie Heffernan aboard the Epsom victor which suggests all has been well with his preparations since then. However, one would be foolish to ignore the prospects of stablemate Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}), who ran a fantastic race to finish fourth at Epsom under the trainer’s son Donnacha who will presumably be in the saddle again on Saturday. “Both horses have come out of Epsom fine, the ground was lovely over there and there have been no issues since,” O’Brien said. “The Curragh is probably a stiffer mile and half than Epsom, but I don’t think that will affect either Anthony Van Dyck or Broome in any way. It’s probably the fairest mile and a half in the world and there are usually no excuses.” O’Brien has also left in Norway (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Sovereign (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Il Paradiso (Galileo {Ire}) and Western Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}) as he bids to re-establish his dominance on the race having been relegated to the runner up position last year by his son Joseph’s Latrobe (Ire) (Camelot {GB}). “The Irish Derby is very important to us,” he said. “Epsom is the first time the top 3-year-olds come together over a mile and a half and while the demands of Epsom can sometimes have a bearing on the result, when they come back to The Curragh that is usually where the best horse wins.” Last year’s winning connections of Joseph O’Brien and Lloyd Williams could be represented by Buckhurst (Ire) (Australia {GB}), but the younger O’Brien–speaking like his father earlier via phone-in–said the horse was uncertain to take his chance with other options available over the weekend. One respected member of the media informed those present that this was the first Irish Derby where Ireland’s elder statesmen of Kevin Prendergast, Jim Bolger and Dermot Weld each fielded a runner and while Prendergast’s horse’s credentials are clear, Bolger’s Guaranteed (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) and Weld’s Rakan (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) both need to find improvement to figure. No matter who wins, this year’s Irish Derby will most likely be won by a horse that goes on to prove an influential figure in racing and breeding; think Montjeu (Ire), Galileo (Ire), High Chaparral (Ire), Sinndar (Ire), Australia (GB) and Camelot (GB). But there is no doubt from a human interest point of view victory for a trainer the wrong side of 85 would transcend the sports pages. Prendergast’s neighbour Johnny Murtagh is one of his many admirers and insists the trainer’s positive mindset is one of his greatest attributes. “Kevin doesn’t realise he is 87, he thinks he’s 57,” Murtagh said. “You see him on the gallops in the morning and he sprints by you and tells you what you’re doing wrong with your horses or if your jockey went too soon on one. He misses nothing either, my string were going up the other morning and one in particular went quite well and he asked, ‘What’s that?’ I told him it was just an unraced 2-year-old. But I met him two days later and he said ‘I found out that lad’s name and he isn’t an unraced 2-year-old’. Kevin is the King of The Curragh and I hope Saturday is his day.” The post Ageless Prendergast Gunning for Local Victory appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

What is the fastest horse breed? This question has been asked and debated by many down through the years and with over 300 breeds across the world for so many different purposes there can be arguments made for many of them. That being said some are made for speed over shorter distances, the thoroughbreds and […] The post How Fast Is The Racehorse? appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article