Wandering Eyes

Happy Valley specialist Caspar Fownes concedes he was worried about the future of his stable newcomer Champion Supreme before a simple gear change proved pivotal. The Australian three-year-old arrived in Fownes’ yard earlier this year and was struggling to make an impression before the trainer instigated a change in fortune by putting blinkers on the gelding. Champion Supreme then flew home for an eye-catching fifth on debut. “He wasn’t showing much early days until I smacked... View the full article

John Size’s exciting duo of Red Warrior and Country Star will prove hard to beat again on Wednesday night, according to the master trainer. They have both won two from three starts in their Hong Kong careers to date and have been the stand-out performers at Happy Valley this season. Size expects the two three-year-olds to continue moving through the grades before a possible four-year-old series tilt for Red Warrior if his promising trajectory continues. While the 10-time champion trainer... View the full article

Summer Wind Equine's Chasing Yesterday brought her record to three wins from four starts in the $100,000 Desi Arnaz Stakes Nov. 12 at Del Mar. View the full article

A weanling colt by Dialed In topped all returns during Monday’s eighth session of the Keeneland November breeding stock sale. The first of two Book 5 sessions saw 234 offerings change hands for gross receipts of $5,197,600. The average was $22,212 and median was $14,500. The RNA rate was 21.48%. Hip 2767, the aforementioned session topper, sold to Brookstone Farm for $145,000. He was consigned by Brendan and Olive Gallagher’s Frankfort Park Farm, which had purchased him in utero for $35,000 at this sale 12 months ago. The Mar. 2 foal hails from the extended female family of Grade I/Group 1 winners Elusive City, Coup de Fusil and Lukes Alley, but got a more immediate pedigree boost when 2-year-old half-sister Belle Laura (Mucho Macho Man) finished third in Keeneland’s GII J.P. Morgan Chase Jessamine S. last month before competing in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Click for Thorostride Video Inspection. The second-priciest purchase of the day was racing or stallion prospect War Chest (War Front), who was picked up by Meah/Lloyd Bloodstock on behalf of BG Stables and D Meah Racing from the Lane’s End consignment as hip 3135. Out of MGSW Wine Princess (Ghostzapper), herself a daughter of Horse of the Year Azeri (Jade Hunter), the $500,000 KEESEP yearling was a Belmont Park maiden special weight winner on debut last September and has since hit the board in a pair of optional claimers on the NYRA circuit. Agent David Meah purchased recent GI Shadwell Turf Mile S. hero Next Shares (Archarcharch) at this same auction 12 months earlier. “We got him under budget, and we are happy,” Meah said of War Chest. “He is the one horse of the day we wanted. If he wins [allowance races in Southern California], he will make his money back in two races. If we get super lucky and get some black-type, we have a chance to do things in the future [with him at stud]. BG Stables stands stallions in California.” Meah’s wife Anna will train the current 3-year-old. The session’s top mare was Holidays Saratoga (Harlan’s Holiday) (hip 2873), who sold as property of Fairlawn for $85,000 to ERJ Racing LLC. The winning daughter of MSW Saratoga Humor (Distorted Humor) and half to MGSW Heart Stealer (Speightstown) was carrying her first foal by Will Take Charge. Keeneland November continues Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Visit www.keeneland.com for more information. View the full article

Kuah defers Forever Young's comeback race View the full article

Big lead gone, but Duric ready for last stretch View the full article

MG1SW Shalaa (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who will have his first yearlings in 2019, anchors Al Shaqab’s Haras de Bouquetot roster at €22,000 next year. MG1SWs Toronado (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}) (€12,000) who has 22 winners so far and Olympic Glory (Ire) (Choisir {Aus}) (€8,000), who has 18 scorers led by the recent listed heroine Watch Me (Fr), will both have 3-year-olds next term. Four Bouquetot residents are expecting their first foals in 2019: G1SW Al Wukair (Ire) (Dream Ahead) at €8,000, G1 Prix Jean Prat winner Zelzal (Fr) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) is also priced at that fee, dual Classic scorer Brametot (Ire) (Rajsaman {Fr}) will stand for €6,000 and Ectot (GB) (Hurricane Run {GB}) is set at €5,000. Classic hero Style Vendome (Fr) (Anabaa) will also command €5,000, as will new recruit and G1 Prix d’Ispahan victor Mekhtaal (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). View the full article

The Kentucky HPBA’s foundation is holding a raffle for one 40-inch television and two 32-inch televisions with all proceeds going to the family of exercise rider Odanis Acuna, who was tragically killed in an accident at Churchill Downs on Saturday. Raffle tickets are $10 each and can be purchased at the Kentucky HBPA office, 3729 S. Fourth Street in Louisville across from the track’s backstretch, Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. ET; or from Julio Rubio, the HBPA’s backstretch services coordinator and Hispanic liaison, on the Churchill Downs backside. The drawing will be held Tuesday, Nov. 27 at noon. Winners need not be present. Checks can be made payable to the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Foundation. View the full article

Trainers Tom Amoss and Genaro Garcia concluded Indiana Grand’s 120-day run Nov. 7 with 45 wins a piece, sharing the title of co-leading trainers of the 2018 season. Garcia earned his second straight title at Indiana Grand, also picking up the honor in 2017. A native of Mexico, Garcia had 297 starters and maintained a 41 percent in the money average. Horses from the Garcia Stable earned in excess of $905,580. “I’m really happy to have won the title this year and I want to say thank you to the owners and Indiana Grand,” said Garcia. “All of my two-year-olds did really well this year, and I was so glad to see that. It was exciting to see how they went through the whole process from breaking them to seeing them get to the track and race so well this year.” Joining Garcia atop the trainer standings is Amoss, who picked up his sixth leading trainer title in the past eight years. A native of Louisiana, Amoss won titles from 2011-2014 and was back on top of the standings in 2016. Horses from his barn in 2018 were tough, winning 45 of 136 starts for a 33 percent win average and a 61 percent top three average. “Winning a title is an honor for the stable and a reflection on all the people who work with us, especially the owners who entrust us with their horses,” said Amoss. “I’m not there as often as I’d like, but every time I go, the casual fans are so nice and enthusiastic. Indiana Grand is always a breath of fresh air when I visit.” View the full article

Cheveley Park Stud announced their eight-strong roster and fees for 2019 on Monday. The roster is led by the venerable Pivotal (GB) (Polar Falcon), responsible for 146 stakes winners and 28 Group 1 winners, at a private fee. Young Group 1 sire Intello (Ger) (Galileo {Ire}) is also doing his part with his first top flight winner, Intellogent (Ire) in the G1 Prix Jean Prat and will command £20,000. MG1SW Ulysses (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) has been priced at £17,500 and is expecting his first foals in 2019. New to the Cheveley Park fold is Group 1 winning juvenile Unfortunately (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}) at £7,500. G1 Diamond Jubilee S. and G1 Sprint Cup victor Twilight Son (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}) has his first weanlings going to the sales and will stand for £8,000. Mayson (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), at £6,000, Lethal Force (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) at £4,500 and Garswood (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) at £3,500 round out the roster. View the full article

Keeneland and Cross Gate Gallery of Lexington announced Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has donated items belonging to Triple Crown winners American Pharoah and Justify to the 2018 Sporting Art Auction, with 100 percent of the proceeds benefitting the Ann Hanley Parkinson’s Research Fund. The Sporting Art Auction will be held Nov. 18 at 2 p.m. ET in the Keeneland Sales Pavilion. Baffert donated a halter worn by 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify and horseshoes worn by both Justify and 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. The horseshoes are framed with two Sports Illustrated magazines featuring American Pharoah and Justify that are signed by Baffert and Triple Crown-winning jockeys Victor Espinoza and Mike Smith. Letters of authenticity from Baffert accompany the halter and horseshoes. “Jill and I are happy to have this unique opportunity to share a bit of racing history with fans of American Pharoah and Justify, and in doing so benefit Ann and her efforts to find a cure for Parkinson’s disease,” Baffert said. “The dual horseshoe arrangement is one of a kind. Before we have donated individual or sets of shoes from either Pharoah or Justify, but never together. This will definitely be a piece of memorabilia that no one else has.” Ann Hanley, wife of WinStar Farm General Manager David Hanley who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at the age of 49, founded the Ann Hanley Parkinson’s Research Fund in 2016 to underwrite research into an experimental treatment available only at the University of Kentucky. “I am honored and wowed how Bob and Jill Baffert, Keeneland and the Thoroughbred community continue to support this unique and worthy cause,” Hanley said. “I can safely say that without their support, this clinical trial could not be as far along as it is. I am blessed to be part of this community knowing that the Thoroughbred industry is working to make a difference in so many people’s lives. Because this procedure taps into the body’s own repair mechanism without the use of drugs, funding is not readily available. The clock is ticking for people with Parkinson’s disease and the only way we can slow the ticking is to have many groups working together to bring their talents to end this dreadful disease.” Keeneland Association donated $25,000 in support of the Ann Hanley Parkinson’s Research Fund on opening Saturday of the 2018 Fall Meet. “The Sporting Art Auction provides another meaningful way for Keeneland to support worthy causes in the community and horse industry,” Keeneland President and CEO Bill Thomason said. “We thank Bob for this generous donation of Triple Crown memorabilia, which is certain to create excitement among racing fans and support Ann and her fight against Parkinson’s disease.” View the full article

Coulsty (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}–Hazium {Ire}, by In the Wings {GB}), who won the G3 Prix de Meautry Lucien Barriere, has relocated to Norman Court Stud in England after beginning at Rathasker Stud in Ireland. The stallion, who has his first foals on the ground this year, will stand for £4,000. “Coulsty is a typical son of Kodiac in that he was talented and precocious, and like his father he only sires bay foals,” said Rathasker’s Maurice Burns. “Rathasker have a number of very good foals by Coulsty that will be going to all the major yearling sales in 2019. I think this horse will really suit British breeders.” Added Norman Court Stud’s Tina Dawson, “We’re thrilled Maurice approached us about standing this horse. I’ve always liked him, he’s a typical gutsy, genuine, honest sprinter and at £4,000 he represents real value.” Norman Court is also home to veteran sire Sixties Icon (GB) (Galileo {Ire}–Love Divine {GB}, by Diesis {GB}) who will command £6,000 (Oct. 1 SLF). From his 11 black-type winners, the G1 St. Leger hero has already sired Group 1 winners Sixties Song (Arg) and Crazy Icon (Arg). View the full article

CHASING YESTERDAY (f, 2, Tapit–Littleprincessemma, by Yankee Gentleman) was bet down to 1-2 favoritism in the Monday feature at Del Mar and delivered the goods in a scratch-reduced three-horse field. A ‘TDN Rising Star’ half-sister to 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, the chestnut was pinched back a bit at the start and settled in last as It’sjustanillusion (Uncle Mo) and Boujie Girl (Flashback) sparred past the quarter-mile mark. Moving three wide at will, the regally bred filly ranged up to challenge for the lead in midstretch and gradually edged clear to score by 1 1/2 lengths over It’sjustanillusion. Chasing Yesterday captured her 5 1/2-furlong debut at the seaside oval July 28 and subsequently was unable to replicate that performance when seventh after a slow start as the 17-10 favorite in the GI Spinaway S. at Saratoga Sept. 1. She rebounded from that effort with a hard-fought score in the Anoakia S. traveling six furlongs at Santa Anita Oct. 14. 2015 U.S. Broodmare of the Year Littleprincessemma was purchased for $2.1 million by Jane Lyon’s Summer Wind Farm at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton November Sale and subsequently bred to Tapit, producing Chasing Yesterday in 2016. In addition to American Pharoah, Chasing Yesterday is a half to GI Del Mar Debutante S. runner-up American Cleopatra (Pioneerof the Nile), as well as St. Patrick’s Day (Pioneerof the Nile), who ran second in the G3 Rennaissance S. in Ireland. “I can’t explain what she means to me,’ said Lyon in the aftermath of the Desi Arnaz. “We’re so proud of her today. I was almost afraid to watch.” Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-0, $144,250. O/B-Summer Wind Equine (KY). T-Bob Baffert. View the full article

“Fair warning–are you sure madam? Last time then. Sold on the telephone for £860,000.” A Galileo (Ire) yearling? No–Girl With Balloon, a spray paint and acrylic on canvas, mounted on board, in the artist’s frame. The highest price ever achieved for a work by the famed, if anonymous, graffiti artist Banksy, at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Auction last month. What can horse racing learn from the booming global art market which reached record sales of $63.7 billion in 2017 (up 12% from 2016), a figure that is set to be surpassed in 2018? If you’re investing in art, as we saw in our 2018 yearling market–if you want a return, invest in quality. In 2017, dealers with a turnover below $500,000 saw an average 4% decline in sales, the second year of losses in this segment, while for dealers at the very highest end (sales over $50 million), sales growth was strongest at 10%. No matter the market it seems, the luxury buyers we need to attract want quality trophy assets and that’s where returns are made for investors. We don’t have to look far for an example. Modigliani may never have risen to Group 1 heights when racing in John Magnier’s colours but little did we know, Modigliani still had a win in him for John. John Magnier bought his masterpiece Nu Couché (Sur Le Côté Gauche) for $26.9 million in 2003, stared lovingly at it on his wall for 15 years, and then sold it this year for $157.2 million. Even No Nay Never’s stud fee has not appreciated as much. Who knew that the best pinhook of 2018 actually took place in Sotheby’s? In uncertain times for racing, what art can teach us is where to go to attract further global demand for our luxury product. Unsurprisingly, for fresh investment to drive growth, we need to go east. In 2006, Asia made up less than 5% of global buyers. Today, Sotheby’s report that Asian buyers account for more than 35% of their global sales by value, and the amount they spend has increased by 50% in the past five years alone. Think of the opportunity that presents for our industry. A concerted effort to attract just some of these investors would have a transformative effect on the limited buying bench in racing at present. Tattersalls Book 1 had just 21 buyers pay over £1m aggregate for horses. Traditionally, the portability of art is an inherent advantage to attracting Asian investors–it’s quite nice to view a Ai Weiwei sculpture in your hometown of Shanghai or Singapore if you’re considering paying £50m for it in London or New York next month. A quick glance at the Sotheby’s or Christies YouTube channels shows auctions in multiple languages and cities across the globe with the same painting–imagine having the chance to bring Lady Aurelia to Sha Tin and Flemington and more before her sale. We now have the tools to make geographical boundaries irrelevant–like art, let’s start to use them. It’s long overdue that horses at premier sales should have videos or at least standardised photographs as part of the cataloguing process. If we spend millions on X-rays each year, what is one professional shot to advertise the horse to a global marketplace? The physical of a horse will in most cases always trump the pedigree and yet we still use the opaque process of a trusted agent relaying on hastily scribbled notes and perhaps a photo to convey the physique of an investment to an absent and often inexperienced buyer. This doesn’t allow the industry to have the transparency it needs to attract new first-time horse buyers. We need to use digital tools readily available to encourage further trade. However, we are making tentative steps in the right direction. Tattersalls used Sirecam for each lot in Book 1 and has added extra camera angles at most sales, transforming the viewing experience for those online. Inglis having high quality video footage of selling The Autumn Sun as a yearling gave them a wonderful ready-made ad to use right after the Caulfield Guineas. At the recent Goffs Orby yearling sale, our own farm, Tinnakill House, had a bidder in Kuwait vet the horse in fevered anticipation as he liked what he saw on a video tweeted by Goffs thousands of miles away. In a period of relentless international growth, a key factor for the art world has been its ability to utilise persuasive technology to influence human behaviour. Through consistent investment in fan engagement, art has become such a beloved subject on Instagram that #art was the fifth most popular hashtag on the app last year. Dealers increasingly report making sales to collectors whose interest has been piqued by seeing work on the app. As Marta Gnyp, art historian, has reasoned “the cross-pollination of celebrity culture, fashion and glamour has given contemporary art events in general, and art events in particular, a promise of enjoyment, excitement and the promise of exclusivity.” That sounds like a demand our sport can satisfy doesn’t it? This cross-pollination has pushed art into the realm of a must-have for the super wealthy in the US. A survey of high net worth individuals in the US by UBS and Arts Economics in 2017 revealed that 35% were active in the art and collectibles market–supporting art at all levels. If you don’t have a Basquiat on your wall, did you even make a billion dollars last year? Perhaps one day we can make a Snitzel racing at the Dubai Carnival a similar aspiration too for tomorrow’s bourgeoisie. While admittedly a horse doesn’t have the longevity of a painting we’ve got advantages we should shout more about–the art market should look jealousy at the incredible feat of authentication our general stud books provide through our established families trees over centuries and the value of the provenance that comes from the breeding track record of our best studs that is publicly available to all in a brief look at who is breeding our champions. We need to understand and promote the intoxicating cocktail our sport can provide to the super wealthy and then the pie can be grown to help racing professionals at all levels. We can’t just stare wondrously at the masterpieces, concentrating on the million-dollar yearling windfalls and forgetting the problem of the five grand RNAs. Damien Hirst had his assistants produce countless copies of his famous “spot paintings” in order to meet perceived demand of a overheating marketplace. As of 2017, these pieces numbered 1,435 (even the Return of Mares can’t match that) and have plummeted in value due to overproduction. Luxury products don’t survive overproduction, just ask the buyer of our Banksy. The mercurial artist had secretly installed a shredder within the ornate frame. Upon the gavel falling, it was switched on and the £1-million plus price piece (as a result of a hefty buyer commission at art auctions) was shredded. The shredding was a symbolic message by the artist to a market that had lost touch with reality and become obsessed with selling overproduced “fast art” to satisfy greed for profit not love of the craft. This year’s sales provide a reminder of what we’re doing right–breeding elite quality Thoroughbreds which are serving an increasing growing global demand. If we learn from the similar art industry, using the technology available to us, we have a chance to grow that even further. The art industry can also serve as a reminder of where our downfall lies–overproduction and a product that doesn’t have sufficient demand to meet it. Girl With Balloon captures a girl letting a balloon slip through her hands, let’s not let our industry slip through ours through inaction. What do you think? Get in touch: Jack@tinnakill.com or @JackCantillon View the full article

Churchill Downs announced the opening of a public auction for 19 runners to race each other over the iconic strip to raise awareness and money for the American Heart Association- Louisville (AHA). The winner of “Heart Race at the Track” will win two tickets to the 145th Kentucky Derby in May 2019. All proceeds will benefit the American Heart Association-Louisville. The race, which will take place Nov. 21 at 11 a.m, will begin at the starting gate and run the Kentucky Derby’s 1 1/4-mile distance to the finish line. The public can bid to gain a berth or check on the 19 runners who have made the cut Nov. 19 at www.KentuckyDerby.com/HeartRace . The race is part of AHA’s new Queen of Hearts campaign, highlighted by the Heart Ball, the AHA’s annual fundraising event, which nominates community leaders who exemplify a healthier Kentuckiana to be Queen of Hearts candidates to help raise money and awareness to reduce heart disease and stroke. Each Queen of Hearts candidate has committed to raising a minimum of $10,000 to support AHA’s mission. The candidate who raises the most money will be crowned the Queen of Hearts at the 27th annual Heart Ball Feb. 9, 2019. Churchill Downs’ Vice President of Partnerships Kristin Warfield is a Queen of Hearts candidate who helped organize the “Heart Race at the Track” to raise money and awareness for AHA. She will fill the 20th spot in the race but is not eligible for the winning prize of two Derby tickets. “I’m extremely honored to be a Queen of Hearts candidate,” Warfield said. “Helping people live healthier lives and understand the importance of heart health are issues that are important to me personally. I’ve made many changes in my diet and exercise during the past year to live healthier and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than support the American Heart Association through Heart Race at the Track.” View the full article

MG1SW Nathaniel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire})–Magnificent Style, by Silver Hawk), who just sired his second Group 1 winner with God Given (GB), will stand for an increased fee of £25,000 at Newsells Park Stud in 2019. The dual-Group 1 winner and English/Irish highweight’s masterpiece is the dual G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe heroine Enable (GB), who became the first horse to capture the Arc and GI Breeders’ Cup Turf in the same year earlier in the month. A half-brother to two Group 1 winners, Nathaniel has 12 black-type winners to his credit, among them group winners Pilaster (GB), Chasedown (Ire), Highgarden (GB) and Precious Ramotswe (GB). “Breeders’ Cup weekend was the final confirmation that Nathaniel is one of Europe’s leading stallions,” said Newsells Park Stud’s General Manager Julian Dollar. “His daughter Enable secured her place as one of the great champion racemares of all time. On the same weekend, God Given became the second Group 1 winner from Nathaniel’s first crop landing the Premio Lydia Tesio over 10 furlongs.” Veteran sire Equiano (Fr) (Acclamation {GB}–Entente Cordiale {Ire}, by Ela-Mana-Mou {Ire}) will also hold court at Newsells for a reduced fee of £6,000. The dual G1 King’s Stand S. hero has sired a baker’s dozen of black-type winners so far, with the best being The Tin Man (GB), successful three times at the Group 1 level including the 2018 G1 32Red Sprint Cup S. View the full article

Three Chimneys Farm’s Grade I winner Love and Pride (A.P. Indy) will be among the horses featured on the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame’s Foal Patrol Season 2, which is scheduled to debut online at www.foalpatrol.com next month. Campaigned by Green Hills Farm and campaigned by trainer Todd Pletcher, the $380,000 KEEAPR juvenile won seven of 17 starts, including the GI Personal Ensign H. and GI Zenyatta S. before retiring with $985,760 in career earnings. Purchased for $4.9 million at the Fasig-Tipton sale in November, the dark bay mare produced a 2015 colt by War Front, who realized $1.3 million in the Keeneland sale’s ring in 2016. For season 2, the 10-year-old mare joins Comme Chez Soi at Old Tavern Farm and Hot City Girl, who resides at Edition Farm. The first season of Foal Patrol had over 1.6 million views from December 2017 through September 2018. View the full article

Group 3 winner Swiss Spirit (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}–Swiss Lake, by Indian Ridge {Ire}), who was also runner-up twice at the Group 2 level, will stand at Batsford Stud in Gloucestershire in 2019 for a fee of £3,000 (Oct. 1 Special Live Foal). Previously a resident of Whitsbury Manor Stud, Swiss Spirit is now owned solely by Lordship Stud after they bought out partner Whitsbury Manor Stud. The half-brother to MGSW Swiss Diva (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) has sired 43% winners-to-runners from his first crop, and he has 80 yearlings and 87 weanlings to go to war with in the future. “We are delighted that Swiss Spirit will be standing in Britain at such a well regarded stud, and we will continue to support him,” said owner/breeders Trevor and Elizabeth Harris. “With proven speed, precocity and soundness, we believe he represents great value for smaller breeders.” “I have always wanted to stand an out-and-out sprinter and Swiss Spirit certainly ticks all the boxes,” said Batsford Stud’s Alan Varey. “He is very correct horse with plenty of bone. We have had a long standing relationship with Trevor and Elizabeth Harris as, of course, we stand Native Ruler on their behalf.” View the full article

From a stallion viewpoint, the results at the recent Breeders’ Cup were remarkably even-handed, with the 14 Breeders’ Cup contests falling to the progeny of 14 different stallions. Several of these stallions have built enviably good records at the Breeders’ Cup contests, none better than the evergreen More Than Ready. His son Roy H’s repeat victory in the GI Sprint was the stallion’s sixth success, the other four all having come on turf. More Than Ready is one win ahead of Galileo (Ire), who had been responsible for four winners of the GI Turf–Red Rocks (Ire), Magician (Ire), Found (Ire) and Highland Reel (Ire)–before Line of Duty (Ire) broke new ground in landing this year’s GI Juvenile Turf. City Zip may no longer be around, but he made sure he isn’t going to be forgotten in a hurry, with his son Bulletin following Dayatthespa, Work All Week, Catch A Glimpse and Finest City as his fifth Breeders’ Cup winner. We also saw Quality Road justify the increase in his fee from $70,000 to $150,000 when City of Light followed Hootenanny and Caledonia Road as his third Breeders’ Cup winner from only five crops of racing age. Then there’s Game Winner’s sire Candy Ride (Arg), who had previously taken the 2017 GI Classic with Gun Runner. Also on the two-winner mark is the 24-year-old Stormy Atlantic, thanks to Stormy Liberal’s repeat success in the Turf Sprint. The remaining eight stallions–Acclamation (GB), Cross Traffic, First Dude, Lookin At Lucky, Lope de Vega (Ire), Myboycharlie (Ire), Nathaniel (Ire) and Tapizar–were all achieving their maiden Breeders’ Cup victory, with some of them underlining the fact that a huge budget isn’t always essential for Breeders’ Cup success. Shamrock Rose, the Pennsylvania-bred winner of the GI Filly & Mare Sprint, was conceived in Florida, where her sire First Dude was priced at $7,500. Sistercharlie (Ire), the ex-French winner of the GI Filly & Mare Turf, is by the well-travelled Myboycharlie, who stood the 2013 season at only €6,500. Even Tapizar’s rarely defeated daughter Monomoy Girl, whose earnings fall little short of $3 million, is the product of a $15,000 service fee. The one I am singling out, though, is Jaywalk, who inflicted a 5 1/2-length defeat on the ‘TDN Rising Star’ Restless Rider (Distorted Humor) to take the GI Juvenile Fillies. In doing so, she turned the spotlight onto her first-crop sire Cross Traffic, who began his stallion career at Spendthrift at $12,500 but was soon down to $7,500. Needless to say, the fact that he now holds a clear lead on the first-crop sires’ table has earned him a sizeable increase, up to $25,000. Five of Cross Traffic’s 37 starters have become black-type winners. Although some of these black-type successes have been gained in Canada, Minnesota and Puerto Rico, there is nothing provincial about Jaywalk’s recent achievements, which also include a decisive win in the GI Frizette S. In winning the Juvenile Fillies, she followed in the footsteps of such stars as Songbird, Beholder, Silverbulletday, Go For Wand and Open Mind, all of whom went on to add the Eclipse Award for 3-year-old filly to their 2-year-old award. There is nothing in Jaywalk’s pedigree to suggest that this progressive filly won’t also develop into a leading contender for the top fillies’ prizes at three, apart from the issues which kept Cross Traffic from racing at the ages of two, three and five. I delved into the TDN archive to remind myself of the Unbridled’s Song colt’s 4-year-old campaign, which began with a pair of stylish successes at Gulfstream. These were followed by impressive Beyer figures of 116 and 110 when Cross Traffic suffered narrow defeats in the GIII Westchester S. and GI Metropolitan H. The GoldMark Farm colt was then rewarded with victory in the GI Whitney H. when upped to a mile and an eighth. After the Whitney, GoldMark’s Todd Quast explained to the TDN that “He was just a big, strapping colt, but I just thought he was a bit immature at two. We got him to the track at three and he was close to running–he worked a bullet at Belmont in May [5f in :59.41]–but came up with a shin problem. We just gave him the time and that was it. Knowing that sire and the family, we just decided to take our time. “It’s really kind of phenomenal the progress he’s made. It’s a testament to taking time with him, because we always thought he was a quality colt.” The 4-year-old stumbled badly at the start when only seventh of eight in the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup. A shin injury was diagnosed and he didn’t make it back to the races as a 5-year-old. Jaywalk could be said to have been bred for Breeders’ Cup success, as her grandsires are Unbridled’s Song, who landed the 1995 Juvenile at Belmont Park; and Orientate, who sealed the title of 2002’s champion sprinter when he landed the Sprint at Arlington Park. Unbridled’s Song has played a sizeable part in the success of Jaywalk’s family. It was another of his sons, Dunkirk, who sired the Grade III-placed Danzatrice from her once-raced dam Lady Pewitt. Unbridled’s Song was directly responsible for Mission Impazible, a half-brother to Jaywalk’s unraced second dam Spin Room. Mission Impazible shone at the Fair Grounds, where he landed the GII Louisiana Derby at three and the GII New Orleans H. at four, in the process becoming the third graded stakes winner produced by La Paz. Lady Pewitt’s 2018 filly is by Empire Maker, another son of Unbridled, and she was bred back to him. Cross Traffic is the seventh son of Unbridled’s Song to sire a Grade I winner, following Old Fashioned, Dunkirk, Value Plus, First Defence, Even the Score and Rockport Harbor, with each of the last three siring a pair of Grade I winners. To my mind, this doesn’t make Unbridled’s Song a successful sire of sires–yet–as several of these stallions failed to cement their place in Kentucky. There were also several Grade I-winning sons, such as Zensational, Buddha, Midshipman and Songandaprayer, which so far haven’t enjoyed Grade I success as stallions. Don’t despair, though, as there is still time for Unbridled’s Song to come up with a top-class stallion. According to Racing Post ratings, the top five sons of Unbridled’s Song include Arrogate (136), Will Take Charge (126), Cross Traffic (125) and Liam’s Map (124). Will Take Charge, like Cross Traffic, will have his first 3-year-olds racing in 2019, when Liam’s Map’s first 2-year-olds reach the races (they averaged more than $160,000, off a $25,000 fee). And Arrogate, who was head and shoulders above these other sons on the track, is well placed to prove that Unbridled’s Song has been saving the best till last. View the full article

Tom Amoss and Genaro Garcia each ended the season with 45 wins to be named 2018 Leading Trainer at Indiana Grand. View the full article

The Jockeys’ Guild Annual Assembly, sponsored by Betfair USA, will be held Dec. 10-11 at Top Golf, located adjacent to the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The gathering of the nation’s Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse riders will focus on current issues of importance including health, safety and insurance updates as well as other industry issues pertaining to jockeys. “All Guild members should make it a priority to attend the Assembly,” Chairman of the Jockeys’ Guild John Velazquez said. “It is the one time of year that all of us have the opportunity to discuss and exchange ideas to improve conditions for jockeys.” In addition to Monday’s sessions, the Guild will host a welcome cocktail party that evening. The annual awards luncheon, which will be held Tuesday, will feature the Eddie Arcaro Award, Laffit Pincay Award, Jacky Martin Award and the Ron Turcotte Award. “The attendance and involvement of all of our members is essential in the ongoing efforts to improve safety conditions,” added G.R. Carter, Vice Chairman of the Guild. We come from various backgrounds and can share our experiences and learn from them.” The election of the 2019-2020 Board of Directors from the newly elected Senate will also take place. “We need all members to make an effort to participate in this year’s Assembly, said Terry Meyocks, National Manager of the Jockeys’ Guild. “It is important to have the riders there to provide input on the current issues and what they would like the Guild to focus on in the future.” A full agenda will be released in the coming weeks. View the full article

Alpha to omega, A to Z: few men can have achieved as exhaustive a grasp as David Ingordo of what turns an unbroken Thoroughbred into a champion. Or make that Z to A. For in Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}) and now Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky), an agent who is still only 42 can be credited with finding two Breeders’ Cup Classic winners as yearlings in nine years. Zenyatta he famously picked out for just $60,000; Accelerate, also at the Keeneland September Sale, for $380,000. Anyone familiar with this intense and driven figure, his eyes burning into the raw animal before him, will acknowledge the professionalism that yielded these discoveries. But that does not alter the fact that both were made for people he views more or less as family–and whose joy duly compounded Ingordo’s sense of fulfilment, in business or career terms, with a highly personal satisfaction. Zenyatta was trained by his stepfather John Shirreffs for Jerry and Ann Moss, whose stable is managed by Ingordo’s mother Dottie. And John Sadler, who trains Accelerate for Hronis Racing, he considers virtually an uncle. Funnily enough, Sadler’s barren record at the Breeders’ Cup had become as much of an albatross as had once been the case with the late Bobby Frankel, a cherished mentor to the young Ingordo. (His mother had served Frankel as bookkeeper and business manager.) And when Catalina Cruiser (Union Rags) disappointed as hot favourite for the Dirt Mile, and Catapult (Kitten’s Joy) was collared late in the turf equivalent, the team could have been forgiven for wondering if some malign destiny was against them at Churchill 10 days ago. But that’s the thing about Accelerate: he just soaks up whatever you throw at him. The span of his career can be judged from the fact that he shared the podium with none other than Arrogate (Unbridled’s Song) when both contrived to be beaten first time out in a Los Alamitos maiden. “In a lot of ways he’s a throwback,” Ingordo reflects. “Even down to the weight he’s carried, something people don’t tend to think about anymore; and even down to how he looks. He’s not a real speedball type, he looks like a Classic racehorse and that’s the way he runs as well. But he does it on the bridle, he’s not coming out from way back. Everybody was amazed when he went to Lane’s End the next day, he was in such good nick. For a horse that had just run his eyeballs out to have such good coat, such good flesh, is a testament to his constitution. That’s why he has done what he has, and why we hope he’ll be a good stallion.” The horse’s destination, moreover, means that Ingordo’s involvement really has been alpha-to-omega: a yearling purchase broken by his regular collaborators at Mayberry Farm, and now set to stand at Lane’s End, one of his key patrons of recent years. Not that Ingordo claims any such diamond can be spotted without the help of fate; without the sun coming out from behind a cloud, just as you walk by; the momentary glint that makes you stop and look again. In the case of Accelerate, that glint had been a son of Scat Daddy on whom Ingordo had been outbid at a 2-year-old sale in Florida. The following year, Ingordo took care not let his yearling brother slip through his grasp at Keeneland and, as Daddy D T, he made the podium in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf for Sadler and Hronis Racing. So naturally they were interested in the next foal out of the mare–and that was Accelerate. It had taken a similarly lateral journey to introduce Ingordo to Kosta Hronis. He had bought a War Front filly as a weanling pinhook at the 2011 Keeneland November Sale, and it turned out that she had a Scat Daddy half-sister about to run in a maiden at Churchill. She got up on the wire, and Ingordo jumped in a car to size her up. Who to call? Sadler, of course. Ingordo knew he had his complete trust. When he told Sadler he had found a filly to buy, he knew exactly what the response would be. “No problem, David, go get it done.” “She’s 200.” “Great.” “I mean, so, who do I get the money from?” “Bill it to this man, he’s a new guy I got.” That man was Hronis; and the filly was Lady Of Shamrock, subsequently a dual Grade 1 winner sold for $2 milllion. And even better was to come: Stellar Wind (Curlin), likewise bought after breaking her maiden, was sold for $6 million after six Grade 1 wins. “I try to play the stallions like a stock,” Ingordo explains. “When I think one’s going to get hot, I try to buy before the market gets too high; and when he gets too high for me, I drop down. Curlin wasn’t a household name yet. My mother deserves a lot of credit, she said you need as many of those Curlins as you can get.” He saw the video of this one winning at Laurel in December, and took a flight to Baltimore the next day. It was five degrees when he arrived on the backstretch in the morning. Friends ran into him: “What you doing here, man?” But if Ingordo must often be a man in a hurry, it becomes a very different story once the deal is done. “With Accelerate, Mr. Hronis was so good, giving John the time,” he stresses. “So many things we see happen to horses are down to trainers doing the wrong thing because they feel pressure, in today’s world, to perform immediately. Accelerate was very forward mentally: he could have been a 2-year-old in any program, if they’d wanted. But he’d have been a one-and-done.” Ingordo had admired exactly the same circumspection in the case of Zenyatta. “You don’t have to be horsemen to understand that the people working for you are doing the best for the horse, and that rewards them in spades,” he says. “My wife [Cherie DeVaux] is a young trainer starting out. I told her: ‘You’re not going starve, we’re okay; do right by these horses and don’t feel any pressure, the horse will pay you back.’ Quite frankly, if anyone but John Sherriffs had Zenyatta, she would have been lost to history as the ugly mare that brought 60 grand. He never forced her to do anything; he let her be her own person.” But nor has Ingordo ever lost sight of the ultimate purpose of these animals. And that reflects his immersion, through his formative years, in the track environment. (Besides his mother’s work for Frankel, his late father Jerry was agent to a string of top jockeys.) Think about it: how many other agents look through a prism first shaped by walking hots at 14? How many of them even like to wager on races, as Ingordo does, on the basis of what he sees in the paddock? The bloodstock market is so focused on monetising stages of development, between cover fees and weanling and yearling and juvenile values, that it often overlooks the abiding priority of producing a runner. “My greatest advantage was having worked at the racetrack,” Ingordo agrees. “I had to have a special licence to work as a child. I remember talking to Charlie Whittingham when I was little, remember things he said to this day. The day we got the first Juddmonte horses, I went with three other guys and picked them up and walked them over to Bobby’s barn. And then seeing horses my mother was involved with, with Mr. Moss. So I’m always waiting to see that horse again. “I have the mindset of a trainer, I love to watch trackwork. You have to know what a horse should look like that wins races. Certain flaws I think give you a higher percentage of failure. I see people, intelligent people, buy horses with things I could never live with. I don’t give on the physical too much. They’re not all perfect, don’t get me wrong, but they’ve got to have the structural components, the presence. We’re starting out with the raw product, we’re picking a horse on the phenotype, if you will; a horse that’s designed to win races.” Sure enough, the people with whom he likes to work share a knack similarly developed on the track. Jeanne Mayberry’s late husband Brian trained a Kentucky Oaks winner, Sardula in 1994; while their daughter April was an assistant to Bob Baffert. Frankel himself never even went to the sales. One of Ingordo’s great regrets is that Frankel asked him to come back and work for him just as his illness brought him into the home stretch. As it was, a valuable stint with Juddmonte having run its course, he instead hooked up with Lane’s End. Ingordo stresses his debt to Juddmonte manager Garrett O’Rourke. “I’d never seen a foal in my life until I went to Juddmonte from college,” he says with a grin. “I thought horses were born out of the back of the airplane.” Having gained some experience there while still a student at the University of Kentucky, Ingordo had gone back to Juddmonte full-time after a spell at Walmac. Young as he remained, he already felt an affinity to the farm. As an adolescent, after all, he had worked with Toussaud, the dam of a promising juvenile named Empire Maker. “She was smarter than most people,” Ingordo remembers. “Around the barn she was a sweetheart, but she just had her things. We used to train her backwards. Some of these mega-trainers today could never have had a Toussaud: they would have given up, it would have been too much. That’s why Bobby so respected the work John did with Zenyatta. John was one of the last people Bobby talked to. They were great friends in the end.” This whole business of sensing when a horse needs time and space is vividly distilled by Ingordo’s recollection of a call from Jeanne Mayberry as early as the Thanksgiving after breaking in Zenyatta. “David, you need to get down here.” “What’s happened?” “That black filly.” “Is she okay, what’s wrong? Look, she cost $60,000. She’s insured.” “No, no, you got to come see her yourself. We never had anything like this. Ever. She’s broken 60 days. And she takes one stride to everyone else’s two. We either have a superstar or everything else sucks.” Ingordo went down around Christmas and, even though it was just an easy breeze, he too was blown away. “I was like, holy cow!” he recalls. “So I called my mother and said: ‘I don’t know what to tell you but you better give this one a good name.’ I thought this could be a 2-year-old champion: big, does everything easy, just gallop everyone to death. We were right about the championship part. It just took a long time.” In securing Zenyatta for around a quarter of the ballpark minimum he had anticipated with his mother and Jerry Moss, Ingordo had momentarily feared that he had bought the wrong horse. “The hammer falls at 60 and in my mind I’m like, yesterday a Hall of Fame trainer bought the wrong horse for half a million dollars–did I just do that!?” Ingordo remembers. “So I cut across the back, where the horses come down, and the guy with the ticket is chasing me! But I see it’s her. Phew. And have to explain I wasn’t doing a runner; that, uh, I was just so excited…” Zenyatta’s breeder, the late Eric Kronfeld, had been underbidder at his reserve. Ingordo subsequently became a good friend, but it was a while before he dared admit what the budget had been. “It was just one of those things where you work hard, everyone does their thing, and it ended up it was meant to be,” Ingordo says. “Her final start, I’ve only watched that race one time since and, quite frankly, that was enough. But it’s maybe the one time you could lose and still win. It was the best race she ever ran, and if a legend can double or triple, she did it in that race. But when she won the Classic [the year before], there has never ever been a day like it at the racetrack: not American Pharoah, not Justify, not anything. It takes a lot to get me wound up, but that was the most amazing thing I have ever seen I my life.” Zenyatta is now at Lane’s End herself, of course. And Ingordo feels no less at home there. Honor Code arrived soon after he came aboard, and he helped set up the highly successful Woodford partnerships. “Though I’m kind of a loner by nature, I do like to work on a team,” he says. “So it has been great for me that way.” In fact, Ingordo has been working with some people for nearly half his life. Some have their own clients, and he has several different ones himself. But everyone is on the same wavelength. “Whether they’ve trained me, or I’ve trained them, I don’t know which it is,” he says. “But we have a very good way of looking at it, from a horsemanship standpoint. Because we can’t put a saddle on a piece of paper. Everyone who works with me understands that we’re looking for the athlete first. Then we try to get as much pedigree as we can, for whatever the need is for our client. And then it’s nothing but boots on the ground, going through every barn, pulling out every horse. Remember what we do is an art, not a science. And my mother always says it’s a game of nuances and glances. “Between working at the racetrack my whole childhood, and now doing this on an everyday basis; and by putting up my own money and having clients who have faith in me; and then seeing the results on the track-you get a pretty good idea of what works. And the biggest component is: you have to get lucky. Everything else doesn’t matter. You have to get lucky.” That said, he could come away from Louisville echoing its most famous son, Muhammad Ali: “It’s not bragging if you can back it up.” But there will be no resting on laurels; quite the reverse, in fact. As he notes, ours is a sport where the equivalent of winning the Super Bowl brings no guarantees, no enhanced or extended contract. You all go back and start from scratch to find the next champion. So he was determined–having been too young fully to appreciate the 2005 Kentucky Derby success of the Mosses’ homebred Giacomo (Holy Bull); and too stressed by the hype surrounding Zenyatta–that this time he would enjoy the moment. “I really took it in,” he says. “I knew what the race meant personally and professionally but I watched it as a fan. And, yes, I enjoyed the victory lap round the sales the next day, because everybody out there is trying to do what we’ve done. I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished and know that to have these things on the resume, they can’t take that away from me. “But I am more motivated, after this, than ever before; hungry to continue pushing forward. I’m very cognisant of how difficult it is, and how lucky I am. But I’m very keen to go out and do it again. Going to the races that day, I said to my wife: ‘If this doesn’t motivate me, doesn’t leave me more energised, then I need to quit.’ And obviously I left nitrogen-fuelled. “Look, there’s a big element of luck in this–but it’s cool. And I’m thinking I’d like to do it one more time. I set that goal for myself now, to get a third one.” View the full article

Frankie Lor Fu-chuen will being “trying his best” to outdo former boss John Size when two of his horses step into the path of a pair of the master trainer’s promising three-year-olds on Wednesday night. Lor only takes three horses to Happy Valley and the best two of those must overcome Size gallopers in red-hot form – Turin Redstar meets Red Warrior in the Class Two Tokyo Handicap (1,650m) and Flash Famous runs into Country Star in the Class Three Japan Racing... View the full article

With an above average Monday for this point in the season including a big money Graduation Chase at Carlise the Picks From The Paddock deliver their best bet of the day and a tip for every race! Bet Of The Day 13:15 Kempton Kupatana beat two next-time out winners when winning a point-to-point with ease, before moving to Nicky Henderson and winning two hurdles races from four runs, both under today’s jockey. Today’s trip is probably on the short side but her trainer has an impressive record with his runners over fences at the course and arrives with his stable in excellent form so his runner Kupatana is taken to get the better of her rivals and begin her chase career with victory. Railroad Junkie had five runs with limited success over hurdles but switched to fences last time out and won first time up. He’s gone up 8lbs on official ratings and steps up an extra couple of furlongs for today’s race, but with that victory under his belt he could be capable of more. Minella For Me hasn’t been seen since May but signed off for the season with a decent victory at Southwell, his first run since having a wind op. He usually needs his first run of the season but would have place chances based on his run when last seen. Kupatana (WIN) Carlisle 12:55 – Clondaw Anchor (WIN) 13:30 – Vinndication (WIN) 14:05 – Versifier (WIN) 14:35 – Nuts Well (WIN) 15:10 – Sudski Star (E/W) 15:40 – Weakfield (WIN) Kempton 12:45 – Epatante (WIN) 13:15 – Kupatana (WIN) 13:50 – Before Midnight (WIN) 14:25 – Reigning Supreme (WIN) 14:55 – Haul Away (WIN) 15:30 – Marienstar (WIN) 16:00 – Telegraph Place (E/W) Southwell 12:05 – Shearian (E/W) 12:35 – Weld Al Emarat (WIN) 13:05 – Piazon (E/W) 13:40 – Home Before Dusk (WIN) 14:15 – Virnon (E/W) 14:45 – Roaring Rory (WIN) 15:20 – Amazing Michele (E/W) 15:50 – Point Zero (WIN) Thurles 12:50 – Mighty Stowaway (WIN) 13:20 – Bellgrove (WIN) 13:55 – Load Up Time (WIN) 14:30 – Leave Your Mark (WIN) 15:00 – Fintown Boy (WIN) 15:35 – Thisonesforollie (WIN) 16:05 – Miss Shoe City (WIN) The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Monday 12th November appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Addressing your thoughts, questions and statements about Hong Kong racing. Have something to say? Send a tweet to @SCMPRacingPost Didn’t quite get there [on Saturday] but I love the way Little Giant runs its last 300m – @JohnI995 Trainer David Hall summed up Little Giant’s effort succinctly: “It was a winning performance that didn’t get paid”. Having his first start in Class One, the six-year-old showed he is more than up to the grade, coming from the near... View the full article