Wandering Eyes

With a stalk-and-pounce, half-length victory in the nightcap at Golden Gate Fields Nov. 11, Stewball Stable, Gary Oetman, and Scott Silvestri's Big Ceas became the first winner for his sire, Northern Causeway. View the full article

The winning margin was wide enough in the $100,000 Betty Grable Stakes Nov. 11, jockey Flavien Prat probably could have waited a little longer to make his move aboard Dare To Dream Stable's Spiced Perfection. View the full article

Channel 10 is reportedly going to great lengths to ensure TV icon Bruce McAvaney doesn’t draw any eyeballs away from its Melbourne Cup coverage in 2019 and beyond. View the full article

LEXINGTON, KY – The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale entered its second week after a workmanlike session Sunday, which concluded the auction’s two-day Book 4 section. Bloodstock agent Jason Litt made the day’s priciest purchase, going to $300,000 to acquire the broodmare Ducru (Broken Vow) on behalf of Grandview, LLP from the Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales Agency consignment. Hill ‘n’ Dale also sold the second-highest priced offering of the session when Dixon Enterprises purchased the racing/broodmare prospect Princessof the Nyl (Pioneerof the Nile) for $200,000. A colt by Kantharos (hip 2380), consigned by Hunter Valley Farm, had the day’s highest weanling price tag when selling for $180,000 to Magnolia Farm. In all 14 horses sold for six figures Sunday, bringing the two-day Book 4 total to reach that threshold to 26. Sunday’s session saw 256 head sell for $7,733,100. The session average was $30,207 and the median was $18,000. The buy-back rate was 20.99%. During the two-day Book 4, Keeneland sold 479 horses for a total of $14,969,500. The average was $31,252 and the median was $19,000. Last year’s Book 4 section saw 562 horses gross 19,486,400. The average was $34,673 and the median was $25,000. The section’s top price was $440,000 and there were 34 horses to sell for six figures. Keeneland will offer horses of racing age during its Monday and Tuesday sessions of the November sale. The auction runs through Friday with sessions beginning at 10 a.m. Magic Result for Ducru Ducru (Broken Vow), who sold for $150,000 at the Keeneland January sale last winter, returned to the ring at Keeneland Sunday in foal to Violence and sold for $300,000 to bloodstock agent Jason Litt. “We have clients who have shares in Good Magic, so we bought her to breed to Good Magic,” Litt explained. “She was a standout here. She’s absolutely beautiful and from a very precocious family. We think it’s a really perfect mating for him. He is a beautiful horse and talented and all we need to do is to find something that won’t get in his way. And she is the right type.” The 4-year-old mare (hip 2430) is out of stakes-placed Union City (Dixie Union) and is a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Unified (Candy Ride {Arg}). She was consigned by Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales Agency. Bloodstock agents Nick Sallusto and Hanzly Albina signed the ticket on the mare at the Keeneland January sale on behalf of Steven Marshall of Black Rock Thoroughbreds. Sallusto was the first over to congratulate Litt on the purchase. “Our plan was to do exactly this,” Sallusto said. “We wanted to buy her potentially for Violence because [Marshall] owns many shares in him. So we were looking for mares who would be compatible to use our seasons. We wanted to use them and not sell the seasons. The plan was to offer her and, if she brought what we felt was acceptable money, to sell her.” Of Sunday’s result, Sallusto added, “We’re very happy with that. It’s hard to double your money in any market in that short amount of time.” Waters Parts With the Nyl Mike Waters purchased a bay filly by Pioneerof the Nile for $35,000 at the 2017 Pegasus sale, named her Princessof the Nyl and watched as she carried the colors of his Muddy Waters Stables to an eight-length victory in this year’s Washington Oaks. Waters decided to test the market with his stakes-winning filly Sunday at Keeneland and was rewarded when the 3-year-old (hip 2613) sold for $200,000 to Dixon Enterprises. “We had had a lot of interest in her,” Waters said of his decision to offer Princessof the Nyl at the November sale. “People were calling about possibly buying her. She ran really well for us as a 3-year-old and we thought we’d try to sell out and she what she’d sell for. She sold for a good number, so we decided to let her go.” Asked if he was tempted to breed the filly, Waters said, “I just race them.” He added with a laugh, “That is a bad enough addiction as it is.” Princessof the Nyl is out of Arabisini (Bernardini), a daughter of stakes winner Arabis (Deputy Minister) and from the family of Atelier, Althea and Aldiza. Fred Seitz signed the ticket on Princessof the Nyl on behalf of a partnership and he said it remained to be seen if the racing/broodmare prospect would race again. “We’re actually not sure if she’ll race again, but it’s more likely she won’t,” Seitz said. “But, it’s not positive yet.” Of the filly’s appeal, Seitz said, “Number one, she has probably one of the best pedigrees you can buy, in my opinion. And number two, she’s just a really pretty mare. Everybody wants a really good-looking horse and I’m just like everybody else in that. To me, she was really pretty.” View the full article

Chester and Mary Broman's grade 2 winner and grade 1-placed Highway Star was back in the winner's circle Nov. 11, after the Staten Island Division of the $125,000 New York Stallion Series Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack. View the full article

Horses' test result November 10 View the full article

Lys Gracieux (Jpn) (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}) pounced inside the final 50 metres and earned her first Group 1 tally in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Kyoto on Sunday. The Carrot Farm runner was sent off as the 9-2 third choice after being placed at the top level four times earlier in her career. The pacesetting Crocosmia (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}) clung stubbornly to second a neck behind, while last year’s winner, Mozu Katchan (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) was three lengths back in third. The dark bay settled in midpack two off the fence and was content to bide her time behind splits of :23.5, :49.1, and 1:13.90 set by Crocosmia. Tenth rounding the final bend in the 2200-metre feature, the 4-year-old improved a spot 400 metres from home and was absolutely flying late under Joao Moreira. She surged past Crocosmia close home and was always holding the game frontrunner. “Today was her day,” said Moreira, who was winning the first Group 1 of his short-term license and had just marked his 100th JRA winner earlier on the card. “We were in a good position, two off the fence, and she had plenty left in the tank after angling out at the last turn. Under pressure, she responded very well and I had every confidence from the 300-meter point that we were going to win. She’s a real champion.” The Yoshito Yahagi trainee kicked off her year with a win in the G3 Tokyo Shimbun Hai in February, and ran a solid third to Miss Panthere (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) in the G2 Sankeisports Hai Hanshin Himba S. at Hanshin on Apr. 7. She went one better in the G1 Victoria Mile-her fourth placing at the Group 1 level in her career on May 13. Only eighth in Tokyo’s G1 Yasuda Kinen at the beginning of June, Lys Gracieux was off just over four months, but returned to play bridesmaid in the G2 Ireland Trophy Fuchu Himba S. on Oct. 13 before Sunday’s score. Pedigree Notes… Lys Gracieux is the ninth Group 1 winner by Heart’s Cry (Jpn), who has celebrated a pair of Grade I wins this term by his son Yoshida (Jpn) in the GI Turf Classic S. and the GI Woodward S. Out of the three-time French listed heroine Liliside (Fr) (American Post {GB}), Lys Gracieux is followed by half-sister Satono Comet (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn), who has won twice to date and a 2-year-old filly by Orfevre (Jpn). Liliside is a half-sister to the dam of GSW Ming Zhi Cosmos (Fr) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}) and SW Melodyman (Fr) (Green Tune). Italian highweight and G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud victor Robin of Navan (Fr) (American Post {GB}) is also under the second dam. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Sunday, Kyoto, Japan QUEEN ELIZABETH II CUP-G1, ¥204,660,000 (US$1,798,635/£1,392,185/€1,588,785), Kyoto, 11-11, 3yo/up, f, 2200mT, 2:13.10, fm. 1–LYS GRACIEUX (JPN), 123, f, 4, by Heart’s Cry (Jpn) 1st Dam: Liliside (Fr) (MSW-Fr, $144,882), by American Post (GB) 2nd Dam: Miller’s Lily (Fr), by Miller’s Mate (GB) 3rd Dam: Lymara (Fr), by Lyphard 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Carrot Farm; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); T-Yoshito Yahagi; J-Joao Moreira; ¥108,612,000. Lifetime Record: 16-4-6-3. Werk Nick Rating: F. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. 2–Crocosmia (Jpn), 123, m, 5, by Stay Gold (Jpn) 1st Dam: Developpe (Jpn), by Boston Harbor 2nd Dam: Shoei Mizuki (Jpn), by Nashwan 3rd Dam: Arvola (GB), by Sadler’s Wells O-Ryoichi Otsuka; B-Kojima Farm (Jpn); ¥43,032,000. 3–Mozu Katchan (Jpn), 123, f, 4, by Harbinger (GB) 1st Dam: Site Dealer (Jpn), by King Kamehameha (Jpn) 2nd Dam: Best Boot, by Storm Boot 3rd Dam: Bright Tiara, by Chief’s Crown O-Capital System; B-Meguro Farm (Jpn); ¥26,516,000. Margins: NK, 3, NK. Odds: 3.70, 40.80, 2.60. Also Ran: Red Genova (Jpn), Normcore (Jpn), Cantabile (Jpn), Frontier Queen (Jpn), Corcovado (Jpn), Smart Layer (Jpn), Vafuram (Jpn), One Breath Away (Jpn), Miss Panthere (Jpn), Reiho Romance (Jpn), Admire Lead (Jpn), Eterna Minoru (Jpn), Happy Yunibansu (Jpn), Primera Azul (Jpn). Click for the Racing Post chart. JRA Video. View the full article

Nine 2-year-old fillies fought it out on the turf in the $100,000 Stewart Manor Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack Nov. 11, with a photo finish won by Paul Pompa Jr.'s Regal Glory. View the full article

Two-year-old fillies fought it out on the turf in the $100,000 Stewart Manor Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack Nov. 11, with a photo finish won by Paul Pompa Jr.'s Regal Glory. View the full article

The Week in Review An unraced horse named Coliseum (Tapit) worked four furlongs in :47 2/5 yesterday morning at Santa Anita. It was his fourth recorded public workout, and the word is out. The off-shore bookmaker Bovada has the horse at 20-1 in its latest winterbook wagering for the Kentucky Derby. It should come as no surprise that the colt is trained by Bob Baffert, but when it comes to the owner it’s not one of Baffert’s usual suspects. The horse is owned by and was bred by Godolphn. Godolphin only recently became a client of Baffert’s. The trainer explained that he is now getting horses from them because they are appreciative of his on-going support of the Dubai World Cup races and they want to win the GI Kentucky Derby. With Godolphin having just won its first G1 Melbourne Cup with Cross Counter (GB) Teofilo {Ire}), the Derby remains of one of the few iconic races on the globe that the stable has not won. “They’re counting on me,” Baffert said. “They’ve won everything there is to win but the Kentucky Derby. I think they’re saying, ‘Ok, it’s up to you now, Bob, to get it done.’ They sent me a couple of 2-year-olds, but this one (Coliseum) is definitely the best one.” Before you rush off to Las Vegas to bet on Coliseum to win the Derby, you might want to note that Baffert also said,” I don’t have any American Pharoahs (Pioneerof the Nile) or Justifys (Scat Daddy) in my barn this year.” But he does believe that Coliseum is a horse with a lot of upside. “He’s a nice horse, but he’s a Tapit and has a lot of typical Tapit issues,” Baffert said. “He can be a head case. In the middle of his works he just wants to take off. But his work (Sunday) was definitely his best so far.” Courtesy of XBTV, here’s a video of Coliseum working Sept. 21. Baffert is planning to debut Coliseum in a six-furlong maiden race next Saturday at Del Mar. He said the horse will probably be at his best when he gets a chance to go around two turns. It’s easy to see why Godolphin has put its Derby eggs in the basket of Baffert. He has won the race five times and over the last four years has produced two Triple Crown winners. If Coliseum does not pan out, Baffert should still have plenty of firepower for the 2019 Derby. His 2-year-old contingent is led by GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner and champion in waiting in Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}). He’s looking forward to the return of Roadster (Quality Road), who finished third in the GI Del Mar Futurity in his last start. “He’s a very good horse,” Baffert said. “He had to have throat surgery, but should come back strong.” Some believe that Improbable (City Zip) could be Baffert’s best Derby prospect. On the same day as the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Improbable was an impressive winner of the Street Sense S. at Churchill. He will go next in the GI Los Alamitos Futurity On Dec. 8 “He’s really good. He’s the real deal,” Baffert said. “He looks like a smaller version of Justify; a 50% version of Justify. He’s the same color and has the same markings on his face.” The Latest from The Thoroughbred Idea Foundation The Thoroughbred Idea Foundation released its second white paper last week, calling for North American racing to switch its rules when it comes to disqualifications. The TIF would like to see racing go to the Category 1 system, which is used most elsewhere in the world. Under that system, a horse is not disqualified unless the stewards feel the horse it bothered would have otherwise finished in front of the horse causing the foul. The U.S. uses the Category 2 system, whereby a horse can be taken down if it causes another horse to finish further back than it would have without the infraction. Going to have to respectfully disagree with the TIF on this one. If a horse is clearly bothered and would have finished, say, third, instead of fourth if not being interfered with, the horse causing the problems should come down. To do otherwise, is unfair to the owners of the bothered horse, which lost purse money due to the interference, and to bettors who might have, in this particular instance, used the horse in trifectas or bet it to show. There is, however, one thing that definitely needs to change when it comes to DQ’s. Can anybody explain why the stewards still discuss the race with the jockeys after it’s over? What do they expect, that a jockey is going to say, “You know what judge, I almost put that horse over the rail, you need to take me down.” In no other sport do officials talk to the participants when adjudicating an infraction. Imagine how ridiculous it would seem if an NFL referee spoke with the wide receiver and the cornerback before deciding on a possible pass interference call. Election Day, 2018 While most of the country was fixated Tuesday on which party would take control of Congress, there were two ballot initiatives that were pertinent to racing. With the passing of Amendment 13, Florida joined the New England states in banning dog racing. No track can continue racing following the end of 2020. That means there will be thousands of greyhounds looking for homes. If you’d like to help a good website to visit is Adopt-a-Greyhound.org. The greyhound industry has all but been wiped out. Eleven of the 17 remaining dog tracks in the U.S. are in Florida. It was a major win for animal rights activists, but that’s not what should alarm the racing industry. Even the most strident PETA types have never compared Thoroughbred racing to dog racing or made any serious calls for a ban of horse racing. What’s worrisome is that the tracks will be allowed to stay open and offer whatever forms of alternative gaming they current have. Any dog track owner that might have called for the end of the sport for humane reasons is likely a hypocrite. This was more about “decoupling.” The on-going effort by casino companies to drop whatever form of racing they offer and still keep their casinos. It worked, and don’t think for a minute that it won’t inspire some Thoroughbred/casino track owners to up their efforts to find ways to decouple in their states. In Arkansas, voters approved an initiative that allows for four casinos in Arkansas. Two of the licenses will go to Oaklawn and a greyhound track in West Memphis. Those two tracks already have casinos, but ones that are limited so far as what forms of games they can offer. But with Oaklawn’s casino doing so well, it’s doubtful that track owners are happy to trade an upgraded casino when the cost was added competition. The two new casinos will be built in Jefferson and Pope Counties. Pine Bluff, the largest city in Jefferson County, is just 84 miles from Hot Springs. Could this be a problem for Oaklawn? Stay tuned. View the full article

Animal Kingdom–Mary’s Follies, by More Than Ready), named a ‘TDN Rising Star‘ for a super impressive 5 1/2-length debut romp at Belmont Oct. 6, made good on even-money favoritism in Sunday afternoon’s Stewart Manor S. at Aqueduct–though she did have to work for it. Off a beat slowly from the rail, the Paul Pompa homebred rushed up to sit third as Introduced (El Padrino) applied a bit of pressure to Guacamole (Flat Out) through a :46.07 half. Regal Glory was swung out for clear sailing by Jose Ortiz into the stretch, and had Introduced squarely in her sights as that one seemed to be drifting out slightly. Undeterred, Regal Glory fought on to take a narrow advantage, and while Introduced punched back got a good bob at the wire, Regal Glory kept a whisker in front to stay unbeaten. The final time was 1:10.94. Guacamole held third. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0. O/B-Paul Pompa, Jr. T-Chad Brown. View the full article

Let us not take anything away from Accelerate’s smashing victory in the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic–he was a worthy and basically easy winner. Yet there was a horse missing from the starting gate who might have had some kind of impact on the event because he could have outrun the early leaders and then maintained the kind of momentum he exhibited over the past year to dare Accelerate to catch him. That would be the New York-bred Diversify, the front-running fool of an East Coast gelding whose speed figures around two turns were equal or close to those piled up by Accelerate on the West Coast. That would have been a match with regional flavor requiring super strategic moves. But in a denouement of sadness, it did not happen because Diversify came out of his dull GI Jockey Club Gold Cup effort worse for wear, and then his trainer, Rick Violette, passed away. However, there is another reason we were shortchanged by this set of circumstances, and that was a chance to see a piece of a puzzle that is evolving regarding Diversify’s heritage, specifically that of his great-great-grandsire, Danzig. Yes, Diversify is a Danzig-line runner and would not be spotted as such by most experts unless they were quite familiar with his sire, Bellamy Road. That’s because like most of Bellamy Road’s offspring that we have analyzed over the years, Diversify is a virtual clone in appearance, size and biomechanics, indicating that this branch of the Danzig sire line has evolved from what could be referred to as a Danzig-type to something that has become (sorry, we cannot resist) more diversified. To wit: See Danzig to Bellamy Road Phenotype Target. To the eye, Bellamy Road is as atypical of his sire, Concerto, his grandsire Chief’s Crown, and Danzig as one could imagine-the latter was a superbly balanced individual who in his early years sired a host of excellent colts in North America who were all over the aptitude and phenotype map. They included Chief’s Crown, who was very similar to his sire but carried a little more weight which did not prevent him from winning the first GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile but might have brought him up short in all three Triple Crown races. Danzig also flooded the North American racing landscape with Classic performers and two-turn gallopers such as Danzig Connection, Pine Bluff, Polish Navy, Polish Numbers, and Sea Salute, as well as outright speedballs like Belong to Me. Most of these were good one-generation sires but the only North American-based sire to carry on a branch was Chief’s Crown, and he did that only through Concerto. A winner of Grade II and Grade III events, Concerto was a good middle-distance performer whose broodmare sire In Reality may have helped him tilt the branch toward power, but not dramatically. Concerto sired some nice runners while based in Florida and after his export to Panama was a major success in Central American and Caribbean venues. Bellamy Road, who won the GI Wood Memorial by a stunning 17 lengths, was by far his best runner, somewhat lightly made but able to settle quickly and get into a powerful rhythm and keep on going. His broodmare sire, GI Preakness S. winner Deputed Testamony, may have helped. As one can see from Diversify’s position on the Target, the line continues to move away from its center. Now we get to a series of ironies that may tickle your fancy or cross your eyes. The first irony is that as Diversify got really, really good, the chief noise-maker of the Danzig line in North America was sending out carbon copies of his own self, including more than half a dozen of which have already entered stud. That, of course, is War Front. (We are not overlooking Hard Spun and the late Exchange Rate, who are doing quite well on their own in getting quality horses but have no serious sons at stud yet. Nor, are we overlooking Big Brown, who bears more of a resemblance to Bellamy Road than to his own sire, Boundary, who is much like War Front. That Bellamy Road has just moved to the same barn as Big Brown at Irish Acres Farm in Saratoga Springs may be Irony One). Now for Irony Squared: Take a look at the War Front Sire Line Phenotype Target and note where he is positioned. Yup, he is virtually identical phenotypically to Bellamy Road though one would be hard pressed to gather that from looking at them. (Indeed, to many observers War Front may appear to be closer in looks to Danzig as well as the latter’s two most overall successful sons, Danehill and Green Desert, whose influence on international racing from their European and Australian bases is breathtaking; but that’s another story.) More interestingly and importantly, War Front’s first sons at stud are clustered around him in such a way as to indicate that he might be able to pass on siring consistencies to some of them. This “clustering” is not often seen in our programs and it will be interesting to follow this crowd, and those that follow. And now for Irony Cubed: It did not escape attention that War Front’s son Declaration of War, who will stand in Japan this coming season, had a very good Breeders’ Cup weekend during which his juvenile son Empire of War won the Awad S. at Aqueduct the day after his son Uncle Benny was second in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, pipping out the pacesetter of that race, Somelikeithotbrown, who happens to be by Big Brown. Ah, diversification! There you go. (Bob Fierro is a partner with Jay Kilgore and Frank Mitchell in DataTrack International, biomechanical consultants and developers of BreezeFigs. He can be reached at bbfq@earthlink.net). View the full article

When ‘TDN Rising Star’ Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) stormed to her third successive dominant win in the Nov. 2 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf, she ensured that her connections’ experiment to import yearlings purchased at Tattersalls to race in the U.S. would go down as a resounding success. That part of the story has been well-documented. It is also worth reflecting on what this experiment means as a microcosm for the undeniable growth of grass racing in America. Owner Seth Klarman and trainer Chad Brown didn’t need to go to Europe to find good racehorses. Klarman, under his Klaravich Stables moniker, has raced Grade I winners like Cloud Computing (Maclean’s Music) and Practical Joke (Into Mischief), both trained by Brown. Brown is, of course, one of the preeminent trainers in the U.S. and the dominant top-level turf trainer. Brown’s best horses have included both American-breds and European imports sent to him with form. But these are both men who see opportunity and grab it; they didn’t reach the top of their respective professions by resting in their comfort zones. There is nothing new about importing European horses to America (and vice versa) and winning races. But during a time when high quality turf racing in the U.S. is growing sharply, the fact that a pair of dyed-in-the-wool Americans considered it worthwhile to put the time, effort and expense into selecting and shipping a handful of yearlings from Newmarket to the U.S. when they were having plenty of success otherwise should be considered significant. Brown said minutes after Newspaperofrecord’s Breeders’ Cup win, “We decided to go over [to Tattersalls] and try a new market because we’re always looking to change our model a little bit, and studying the races over here-yes, I’ve had success in this race before with the American-bred horses, but I also have a division of my stable where I get a lot of imported horses that we try to buy or owners just send to me from Europe.” “Just thinking forwardly, I said to Seth, ‘would you be open to buying some yearlings [in Europe]?’ If we want to have some of these European-bred horses that I feel on the average just have better blood for running on turf courses-like this today and at a high level all over the world-then we’re going to have to go in and buy some unraced ones. He said, ‘sure, we’ll go over there and try it.'” Another of the vital cogs in the experiment was bloodstock agent Mike Ryan, who helped Klaravich Stables pick out six yearlings at Tattersalls last year and 10 this year. The Irish-born Ryan has been living in America for the better part of 40 years. “It began through Chad,” Ryan said. “Chad and I have been friends for seven or eight years now and we began to work together five or six years ago. I had some horses with him and I sent him some owners like Bill Warren and Bob Edwards. Our relationship has grown over the years and we have a great mutual respect. I think he’s an incredible trainer, and he sought out my help to help him pick yearlings at the sales and it’s worked very well.” “Seth [Klarman] likes to have a balanced stable,” Ryan continued. “He loves racing, period, and he particularly loves Saratoga; he races primarily in New York. Having Chad as his trainer, Chad is equally adept at dirt and grass horses and the grass program is fantastic in the States and it’s getting better and better. Almost half of our Breeders’ Cup races are grass races. It was a natural progression for Seth and when Chad brought up the idea of going to Newmarket, Seth was fully on board with it and very supportive of the concept.” Ryan has laid his eyes on enough good horses to know one when he sees one-he even worked at Windfields Farm in Canada during the Northern Dancer glory days-and he said when selecting European yearlings to race in the U.S. he looks for a leaner horse with the potential for a strong finishing kick. “Personally I don’t like horses that are too heavy,” he said. “I think the best grass horses are a bit on the leaner side. They have to have a good turn of foot. Turf racing is a bit different to dirt; dirt is fast from the gate to the wire but with turf racing a lot of horses cruise around there then kick on from the quarter pole to the wire and finish the last quarter in :22 and change. I like leaner horses, not heavy horses and ones that can use themselves very well and are agile and not cumbersome. In this country we have good to firm turf most of the year so we’re looking for horses that can handle fast ground.” During a time when speed is king in Europe, Ryan noted that the Klaravich team is looking specifically for two-turn horses to take advantage of good purses in that realm on the grass in the U.S. They have also done all their shopping at Tattersalls in the middle market; Newspaperofrecord’s group averaged 219,167gns, while this year’s haul averaged 213,500gns. “We’re not particularly looking at sprinters; we’re looking at horses that can go anywhere from a mile to a mile and a quarter because there is huge purse money in the longer races here,” Ryan explained. “It’s very difficult to compete on the very high end against the Middle East money, the Maktoum family and Coolmore. Although we did buy a Dubawi in 2017, the Dubawis and the Galileos we kind of leave alone and look underneath that. We’re looking for the next best quality, sires like Lope de Vega, Sea the Stars and Kingman.” “They have the best turf horses in the world in England and Ireland, and the Newmarket sales are a melting pot of the best of England, Ireland and France, so you have great quality of stallions and the broodmares are very strong. It’s a terrific catalogue and we work it very hard; we look at 350, 400 horses and try to be smart about knowing where we can buy and where we can’t buy.” While Newspaperofrecord is the lone horse of the Klaravich Tattersalls experiment to yet start, Ryan said others have given them reason to believe there will be more headlines made in 2019 and beyond. “There were others that were ready to run and they came up with little issues that have cost us time, but there will be a strong group of 3-year-olds next year and a strong oncoming group of 2-year-olds,” he said. View the full article

An off-the-turf running of the $100,000 Atlantic Beach Stakes at Acqueduct Racetrack Nov. 10 proved to be a non-issue for Gatsas Stables' Backtohisroots, who sailed home to his first stakes win by 5 3/4 lengths. View the full article

LEXINGTON, KY – The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale continued to churn out steady results as the auction’s Book 4 section opened Saturday in Lexington. Brad and Misty Grady made the day’s highest bid when going to $235,000 for the 4-year-old broodmare K J Warrior (Tapit). The gray mare was consigned by Francis and Barbara Vanlangendonck’s Summerfield on behalf of Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings. Summerfield and Stonestreet teamed up to sell two of the 12 six-figure offerings Saturday. A filly by Kitten’s Joy brought the top weanling price of the day, selling for $145,000 to En Fuego Stables from the Perrone Sales consignment. During Saturday’s session, 223 horses sold for $7,236,400. The session average was $32,450 and the median was $20,000. The buy-back rate on the day was 31.60%. Through six sessions, Keeneland has sold 1,316 head for $165,074,900. The cumulative average is $125,437 and the median is $67,000. After six sessions of the 2017 auction, 1,172 horses had grossed $174,295,500 for an average of $148,716 and a median of $80,000. The Keeneland November sale continues through Friday with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m. Gradys Stay Busy Supporting Girvin Brad and Misty Grady have been busy all week at Keeneland, buying mares to support their recently retired Grade I winner Girvin, who stands his first season at stud next year at Ocala Stud. Before heading home to Texas Saturday, the couple made their biggest purchase of the auction when paying a session-topping $235,000 for K J Warrior (Tapit) (hip 2123). Consigned by Francis and Barbara Vanlangendonck’s Summerfield on behalf of Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, the 4-year-old mare sold in foal to Kantharos. She is a daughter of J Z Warrior (Harlan’s Holiday), a half-sister to Grade I placed A Z Warrior (Bernardini) and graded stakes winners Jojo Warrior (Pioneerof the Nile) and E Z Warrior (Exploit). “She has a fast family and we think she’ll fit well with Girvin,” Grady said after signing for the mare while seated in the pavilion with his wife and bloodstock agents Bobby Dodd and Jacob West. “My wife and I are really going to support Girvin–that’s who all these mares are for.” The Gradys purchased 12 mares through six sessions of the November sale for a total of $1,214,000 and an average of $101,167. In addition to K J Warrior, the couple purchased Brandenburg (Dunkirk) (hip 305) and Ten Demerits (Into Mischief) (hip 1022), both for $190,000. “I have Jacob West doing a lot of the pedigree work,” Grady said. “We are trying to find mares with speed and obviously as pretty and correct as we can buy. We are putting Classic pedigrees to him, too. We don’t know what’s going to work, so we’re trying a little variety.” He continued, “I’ve got Bobby Dodd here with me, he’s my bloodstock agent through and through, and when you buy the horses that fit Bobby’s criteria and Jacob’s criteria, they are going to be at the upper echelon of the prices.” In horse racing only since 2009, the Gradys got their first taste of racing at the highest level with Girvin, who was originally purchased as a pinhooking prospect but who carried Grady’s colors to victory in the 2017 GI Haskell Invitational, GII Louisiana Derby and GII Risen Star S. “My wife has always liked the breeding operation,” Grady, who estimated they would be sending 30 mares to Girvin next season, said. “That’s more her love than mine. I don’t mind it, but she likes the horses. So, happy wife, happy life. I love the racing and I love the pinhooking, too. I like fast stuff, the breeding, that’s her deal.” Girvin (Tale of Ekati–Catch the Moon, by Malibu Moon) will stand his first season for $7,500. “Girvin is a beautiful horse,” Grady said. “He was a precocious 2-year-old, won as a 2-year-old first time out going :10 1/5. He won several graded stakes and he was pretty versatile. Beau Lane has really got me pumped up on the horse’s pedigree–going back to the 1800s to Domino–and he’s educated my wife and I on the pedigrees. We’ve been buying some mares that are Beau Lane recommended, too. Beau Lane will get you really excited and willing to spend a lot of money on pedigrees.” As for plans for Girvin’s first foals, “We’ll do a little bit of both, [selling and racing],” Grady said. “The bulk of them, we’ll run ourselves.” Asked if he planned on continuing his buying spree at the November sale, Grady said, “My wife and I are going home this afternoon. We have young kids and we can only keep my wife away from the kids for so long. Jacob will still be here shopping the sale for us.” I’m Pretty Strong Heading Down Under I’m Pretty Strong (Street Cry {Ire}) will be heading to Australia where she may continue her racing career before becoming a broodmare after Boomer Bloodstock’s Craig Rounsefell signed the ticket at $220,000 for the dark bay filly (hip 2099) from the Upson Downs Farm consignment. “She’s been purchased for clients in Australia,” Rounsefell said. “We think that, with her residual value as a broodmare prospect, she’s extremely exciting. Street Cry has been very much a proven stallion all over the world and particularly in Australia and she’s out of a champion turf mare.” I’m Pretty Strong is a daughter of Shared Account (Pleasantly Perfect), who won the 2010 GI Breeders’ Cup F/M Turf in the colors of Sagamore Farm. Bred and raced by Sagamore, I’m Pretty Strong won two of seven starts for trainer Horacio DePaz. “This filly has shown a lot of ability on the track,” Rounsefell said. “With seven starts to date, she is one that we think, physically is still immature. We think there is improvement in her physically. She is going to really develop and let down. But we have time until the breeding season next year, so we will probably put her in training and, if she is measuring up down there, we’ll keep it going because we think she has a lot of ability on the track. She might race in Australia, but predominantly she’s been bought as a broodmare.” Australian buyers have been active all week at Keeneland and Rounsefell said the success of the progeny of mares imported from America have made the move a popular one in the country. “The statistics don’t lie,” he said. “American mares have done very well in Australia. They’ve over achieved percentage wise. There is a small number of them there and they have done really well. They’ve produced top-quality horses. The gene pool in Australia is getting very condensed down the Danehill line, so there are people here looking to expand their bloodlines and to bring in the American speed. The market has been very strong in Australia and people are looking to replenish their broodmare bands and this is the best place to do it.” Of the market at Keeneland this week, Rounsefell said, “We’ve followed quite a few up and the two that we really wanted we walked away with. We tried on a number of others up to a point, but I think the market is very strong, like it is all around the world, for anything that is commercial. There are plenty of breeders who made money at the yearling sales and are looking to continue their Kitten’s Joy Filly a Starr Jim Perrone sold four horses on behalf of Jon Starr during Saturday’s session of the Keeneland November sale, but it was a daughter of Kitten’s Joy who was the obvious standout. The weanling sold for $145,000–highest foal price of the day–to En Fuego Stables. Starr purchased the mare Sunday Sport (Honour and Glory), with the filly in utero, for $20,000 at last year’s Keeneland November sale. “Every day, she was nothing but class,” Perrone said of the weanling (hip 2268). “She came in from Oklahoma and she went over to Polo Green Stable, to Nobu Araki. He made her beautiful. The horse did it herself. She was correct, had a big walk, and looked good and showed class. As the sale went on, she was one of the better horses of the day. We intentionally put her on this day because of that.” Starr served as mayor of Hot Springs, Arkansas in the 1980s, and his success Saturday proved popular with the auctioneers at Keeneland. “He owned the Thoroughbred sale company in Arkansas,” Perrone explained. “I think he started half of these auctioneers when they were young. He gave them their first jobs.” Araki added, “Everyone [from the auction stand] came out high fiving after she sold.” Sunday Sport, who also produced stakes placed Norma’s Charm (Creative Cause) and Touchdown Kitten (Kitten’s Joy), was already 19 when Starr purchased her last year. “Jon is very good at that,” Perrone said. “He can pick out those older mares who have some quality to them. That’s what he does. He keeps some mares in Oklahoma. He foals them in Oklahoma and has someone raise them for him there. Then he ships them to Nobu for a couple months to refine them and get them ready for the sale.” The weanling impressed Araki right from the start. “She was one of my favorites,” he said. “As soon as she stepped off the van, she was my favorite. She is the most correct Kitten’s Joy I’ve ever seen.” Of his results for the day, Perrone said, “I sold four for Jon today. The other three we just brought down and found new homes for. This one was the home run.” Kerbers Adding Grammar Iowans Jeff and Robin Kerber added to their fledgling broodmare band with the $130,000 purchase of Good Grammar (Exchange Rate) (hip 2073) Saturday at Keeneland. Consigned by Darby Dan Farm, the 4-year-old mare sold carrying a foal from the first crop of Grade I winner Klimt (Quality Road). “She is young and comes from a good family,” Jeff Kerber, who did his bidding out back with bloodstock agent Mike McMahon, said. “Klimt is a sire we wanted to get–that Quality Road line is so hot,” McMahon added. The Kerbers were quickly back in action Saturday, again paying $130,000 to secure the broodmare prospect Pray for Leslie (Bernardini) (hip 2206) from the Lane’s End consignment. The 3-year-old mare is out of multiple graded stakes placed C J’s Leelee (Mizzen Mast), a half-sister to Grade I winner Capo Bastone. The Kerbers are building a commercial broodmare band which currently numbers five head. Kerber admitted it’s been tough bidding at Keeneland this week. “We were tired of losing,” he said with a chuckle. “It’s been very difficult.” McMahon added, “We’re pretty picky and the ones we like have been popular.” The Kerbers have been involved in racing for several years, but have decided to up their participation in the game after selling the family’s livestock-based Kerber Companies earlier this year. 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