Wandering Eyes

Trainer John Gosden and jockey Frankie Dettori stand on the cusp of history in the quest for an unprecedented group/grade 1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe-Breeders' Cup double. View the full article

Considering the slim margin of error in turf sprints, last year's Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) winner Stormy Liberal finds a way more often than not. View the full article

While Breeders’ Cup Friday will put some of the world’s most accomplished juveniles on full display as part of its “Future Stars” theme, Aqueduct will play host to a 2-year-old stake of its own, with the GIII Tempted S. headlining the track’s opening day card. Godolphin homebred Enliven (Ghostzapper), a daughter of three-time Grade I winner It’s Tricky (Mineshaft) and a half-sister to MGSW/GISP Enticed (Medaglia d’Oro), graduated from the maiden ranks convincingly at Belmont Sept. 30 and shortens up a sixteenth of a mile for her graded stakes debut. The bay has worked twice for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin at Godolphin’s Greentree Training Center in the interim. William Ferrone’s Brucia La Terra (El Padrino) has already proven to be a bargain buy for $20,000 out of last October’s Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Fall Yearlings Sale, having captured her career debut at Saratoga Aug. 12 before closing stoutly to finish second behind GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies hopeful Jaywalk (Cross Traffic) in the one-mile GI Frizette S. at Belmont Oct. 7. The New York-bred Surge of Pride (Kantharos) is also proven at the one-mile trip, having won the restricted Maid of the Mist S. at Belmont Oct. 30 for trainer Linda Rice. View the full article

Dramatic Queen (Kitten’s Joy) may have been out for a 2 3/4-length handicap stroll going 2400 metres at Kempton just the evening before, but that proved no hindrance for the 3-year-old filly in Thursday’s 2600 metre Listed River Eden Fillies’ S. at Lingfield, and she recorded a remarkable double when coming in an easy one-length winner as the 11/4 favourite (video). Dramatic Queen is trained by William Haggas for Sheikh Juma Dalmook Al Maktoum. After winning on her second of two starts last year at two, she had shown decent form earlier this year with her high-class stablemate Sea Of Class (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), finishing fourth, 5 1/4 lengths off that dual Oaks winner and Arc runner-up in listed company at Newbury in June. Three-quarters of a length ahead of her that day was the third-placed Princess Yaiza (Ire) (Casamento {Ire}), who takes on this weekend’s GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf. Dramatic Queen had run just twice more in the interim, and Haggas said the highly unusual decision to run twice in 24 hours was prompted by the likelihood that she will now be put away for the year. “She was always going to the stakes race today, and she had an entry in yesterday’s race,” Haggas explained. “I hadn’t planned to run her in yesterday’s race but the race was re-opened as they were looking for more runners, so we put her in and she won that easily [Wednesday] night so we decided to back her up today.” “She’s had a very light campaign, with just three runs until Wednesday so we thought, as she’s a big strong filly by Kitten’s Joy, she could take two races provided the first one went right, which it did.” Asked if he has ever attempted such a feat before, Haggas said, “Not with an animal of her quality. It’s not something we normally do, but I think on this occasion the owner and I discussed it at length and we felt that she’s going to stay in training next year, she probably won’t run again for five months, so we thought, clearly it’s a risk, but all the markers were correct with her. She looked well, seemed well and had eaten all her food. Everything as far as we were concerned was good. She stayed the night [Wednesday] night in Kempton and then we brought her over [Thursday] morning to Lingfield; it’s only a short way away.” “She’s a big, strong girl and she’s tough. We’ll check her over tomorrow morning but I’ll be surprised if she hasn’t eaten; she’s tough.” Bred by Gary Chervenell, Dramatic Queen is the second foal out of the stakes-placed Midnight Music (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). She was born and raised at Brookdale Farm and bought by Blandford Bloodstock for $150,000 at Keeneland September in 2016. In another amazing twist to an already scarcely believable story, the mare’s 2-year-old, Music Major (Street Sense), retained by Chervenell and trained by Roger Attfield, also won on debut at Woodbine on Wednesday night. “In the space of 18 hours, the mare had three winners from two runners,” said Brookdale’s Joe Seitz. Of Dramatic Queen, he said, “It’s surreal, I can’t get my mind around it. I don’t know how a horse can have that kind of resilience.” “She was really nice,” Seitz recalled of Dramatic Queen. “She was pretty substantial-the mare is not really big, so the filly was bigger than what we expected from the mare, and she was very athletic. So it’s not surprising that she runs well because she was quite an athlete. But who would know she’d go on and do something like this?” Midnight Music is still at Brookdale. She has a yearling filly by Animal Kingdom that sold for $35,000 at Keeneland September this year, and unfortunately after producing a dead foal by Palace Malice last year she did not get in foal this year when returned to Kitten’s Joy. Chervenell is a small breeder with three mares at Brookdale and a small handful of mares and racehorses in Europe, Seitz said. Three wins within 24 hours sure isn’t bad, then. View the full article

The fifth Thoroughbred Owner Conference, held in Louisville in conjunction with Breeders’ Cup week at Churchill Downs, concluded Thursday with presentations on the state of the Thoroughbred industry, aftercare, a panel of Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup-winning jockeys, and resources for owners. Topics covered during the first two days of the conference included business planning, sales, veterinary issues, sports wagering, and state incentive programs. Approximately 250 people attended the three-day event, including both longtime horse owners and new or prospective owners. The event’s keynote address was delivered by Jon Miller, the president of programming for NBC Sports. “NBC Sports’ legacy is in storytelling,” Miller said. “There is nothing more iconic in sports than horse racing. It opens itself up to stories, and we have great storytellers.” The conference coincided with many of the main events on Breeders’ Cup week, including the post position draw. “We were thrilled to bring this year’s Owner Conference to historic Churchill Downs and enable our attendees to learn about ownership at the site of one of the most famous racetracks in the world,” said Gary Falter, project manager for OwnerView, which co-hosts the event. “We appreciate the support of Churchill Downs and Breeders’ Cup and hope that one of our new owners will one day end up in the Churchill Downs’ winner’s circle on Derby or Breeders’ Cup day.” A video replay of all panels at the conference will be available at ownerview.com within the next week. View the full article

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Today’s Observations features two sons of Group 1-winning mares. 12.30 Newmarket, Novice, £8,000, 2yo, c/g, 7fT BATTLE FOR GLORY (War Front) debuts in the Susan Magnier silks for the John Gosden stable representing a partnership between Coolmore and his breeder Merribelle Stable. The latter bought the G1 Coronation S. and G1 Prix Jacques le Marois heroine Immortal Verse (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) for 4.7-million gns at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale and this February-foaled bay is her second foal. He is joined by stablemate Fightwithme (Ire) (Shamardal), Jaber Abdullah’s similarly-unraced son of the G1 Falmouth S. winner Music Show (Ire) (Noverre). View the full article

The connections of 47 Breeders’ Cup contenders have pledged their support to racehorse aftercare by participating in the New Vocations Breeders’ Cup Pledge. Now in its ninth year, the Pledge has raised over $480,000, with 100% of funds raised supporting the program’s rehabilitation, retraining and rehoming efforts. “New Vocations is a program the LNJ Foxwoods team believes in,” said Jaime Roth of LNJ Foxwoods. “Their mission to give horses a brighter future through love, compassion and belief in them is what aftercare is all about. We choose to make a difference by supporting the Breeders’ Cup Pledge. Best of luck to all Breeders’ Cup horses, but most importantly a safe trip to all.” New Vocations will continue to seek pledges from additional owners and trainers until Nov. 2. Complete pledge information, including a full list of participants, can be found at newvocations.org. View the full article

Lane’s End Farm has debuted an all-new website, LanesEnd.com, updated with new features highlighting its stallion roster, sales, boarding and bloodstock services. Included in the new look are industry-first 360-degree conformation photos of select Lane’s End’s stallions. These interactive photos allow potential breeders to view stallions from all sides, providing a more comprehensive and detailed view of each stallion. The feature is currently available for five of Lane’s End’s stallions: Connect, Honor Code, Liam’s Map, Tonalist and Unified. The new site also includes a “Submit a Mare” page, new information on sales services and records, bloodstock services, as well as news from the farm and a look back at the storied property’s history. View the full article

Churchill Downs the home of the Kentucky Derby welcomes the Breeders’ Cup this weekend where thousands of people, will watch hundreds of horses do battle for an extraordinary $30 million over this two-day extravaganza. This is one horse racing’s greatest events and justifiably attracts leading equine talent from all over the world. It also marks the end of the flat season with the last big race after this being the Melbourne Cup. Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Game Winner heads the market for this Grade 1 contest and in truth, he looks the most likely winner having won on debut by nearly six lengths and then followed this up with a brace of Group Ones, on what was just his second and third career starts. The son of Candy Ride has looked very impressive on each occasion and should take all the beating under Joel Rosario. The biggest threat may come from one of the outsiders Gunmetal Gray, who proved no match for the favourite when the pair met in the Grade 1 American Pharoah at Santa Anita. That being said, Gunmetal Gray was only having his second career start on that occasion and there could be more improvement to come from the son of Exchange Rate. Another horse worth mentioning is Complexity who has won both his starts in fast times and has done some from the front. The Chad Brown-trained colt was an impressive winner of the Group 1 Champagne Stakes when beating Code Of Honor by three lengths. He will be looking to extend his unbeaten record. Selection: Game Winner Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Bellafina tops the market and she was an $800,000 purchase from the sales and she has won all three career starts, two of which came in Grade 1 company. She looks like the filly to beat but it’s unlikely that she will get an easy lead on the front. Simon Callaghan’s two-year-old filly looks like a potential superstar and is one to keep on the right side of. The Thomas Amoss trained filly Serengeti Empress has been incredibly impressive looking in winning her last two starts by a combined 33 lengths. On paper, she looks the part but on further inspection, these might not have been the strongest races and the winning times were on the slow side. Restless Rider is the final filly I like in this, firstly she’s unbeaten on the track, she was an impressive winner of a Grade 1 at Keenland last month and she is versatile in terms of tactics, which can be very important in a race of this nature. Selection: Restless Rider Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf This race has been farmed by Chad Brown in recent years with Rushing Fall making it four wins in the last ten years in 2017. Newspaperofrecord flies the flag for the yard this season and is a leading fancy for the race. The daughter of Lope De Vega has romped home on both career starts and looks best suited by the forecasted wet conditions having won both these starts with “juice” in the ground. Aidan relies on Just Wonderful to continue his incredible record this year and she looks worthy of this faith considering she was a very snug winner of the Rockfel when last seen in action. It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for the daughter Dansilli, she found it all happening too fast around her when trailing in a disappointing favourite in the Albany at Royal Ascot and she let her supporters down in the Moyglare behind the progressive Skitter Scatter. That being said she is a dual Group winner this season and Aidan knows what it takes to win at the Breeders’ Cup. French-raider Lily’s Candle would appreciate the rain staying away, given that she won the Prix Marcel Boussac on a sound surface. Although she has won on soft ground, I think she is best with “Good” in the going description. The British trio of East, Le Pelosa and The Mackem Bullet all hold chances but it would be a surprise if they have the quality required to take this. Selection: Newspaperofrecord Anthony Van DyckBreeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf There are a few key stats to bear in mind when trying to pick the winner of this; eight of the last ten winners were trained in Europe, Aidan O’Brien has won four of the last seven renewals and three of the last six winners ran in the Dewhurst. The horse that ticks all these boxes in Anthony Van Dyck who hails from the Ballydoyle stable and was third in this season’s Dewhurst behind Too Darn Hot. Prior to this, he had finished second in the National Stakes at the Curragh behind Quorto. This should give Charlie Appleby a good line of form as he trains Quorto and Line Of Duty who runs in this. Line Of Duty took three runs to break his maiden but has been impressive in two starts since then including a Group 3 event at Chantilly. A stat that Charlie will be proud of is that he’s trained two winners from three runners at the Breeders’ Cup and he’ll be hoping Line Of Duty can add to this enviable record. Current could be the surprise package in the race having only been beaten once and that was behind a next time Grade 1 winner. Todd Pletcher is a dab hand with his two-year-olds and he looks like a big each-way play. Selection: Anthony Van Dyck Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint This is the inaugural running of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf sprint so there are not much stats to go on, so a decision will have to be made based on the bare form on offer. Unsurprisingly European raiders top the market, with the Archie Watson trained Soldier’s Call likely to start favourite. Victories in the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Flying Childers were followed by a fine third place finish in the Prix de l’Abbaye against the seasoned sprinters at Longchamp when last seen. This run should be good enough to take this contest. The l’Abbaye can sometimes produce funny results so I would take the form with a pinch of salt. Aidan O’Brien runs two but it’s the filly So Perfect that makes the most appeal following good runs in a brace of Group Ones on her last two starts. She looks like a decent price to hit the frame. Wesley Ward prides himself on producing precious talent and has become a regular at the Royal meeting in recent times. He left with another win under his belt when Shang Shang Shang had too much for her rivals in the Norfolk Stakes. We haven’t seen her since this win but Wesley knows how to ready a horse for the big day and if she reproduces her Norfolk form then she must go close. Selection: So Perfect The post Breeders’ Cup Preview – November 2nd appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

5th-TOK, ¥13,400,000 ($119k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1300m EVACUANT (c, 2, Street Boss–Ever So, by Medaglia d’Oro) fetched $130K as a Fasig-Tipton October yearling, then was purchased for $200K post-RNA after breezing an eighth of a mile in :10 flat at this year’s OBS April Sale. A May 5 foal, the bay is out of a half-sister to Grade 1-winning sprinter Yes It’s True (Is It True) and to MSW Honest Deceiver (Is It True). B-Godolphin (KY) 5th-KYO, ¥13,400,000 ($119k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1400mT DERMA KATRINA (f, 2, Ghostzapper–Ruthian, by Rahy), a $100K Keeneland September acquisition, is a daughter of the stakes-winning Ruthian, who has far exceeded her racetrack accomplishments in the breeding shed. Now 22, Ruthian is the dam of Rutherienne (Pulpit), winner of the 2007 GI Del Mar Oaks, as well as her Grade III-winning full-sister Ruthenia. Both were convincing debut winners over a distance of ground. B-Payson Stud Inc (KY) 11th-TOK, Keio Hai Nisai S.-G2, ¥72m ($639k), 2yo, 1400mT ASTER PEGASUS (c, 2, Giant’s Causeway–R Heat Lightning, by Trippi), the first foal to make the races out of his Grade I-winning dam-who was also runner-up in the 2011 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies-puts his perfect career record on the line here. A $150K KEESEP grad, the chestnut debuted with a smooth victory going 1200m at Hakodate June 24 and doubled up with a narrow success in that track’s G2 Hakodate Nisai S. July 22 (video, gate 6). R Heat Lightning was purchased by Stonestreet for $1.6 million in foal to Bernardini at KEENOV in 2013. B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY) View the full article

When Susan Forrester first got into the business of selling Thoroughbreds, she dreamt of presenting a full shedrow at the Kentucky sales. However, she soon realized that did not fit with her very hands-on approach and shifted gears to offer consignments that, while small in number, were laden with quality. The lifelong horsewoman brings just that to the Fasig-Tipton November sale with five weanlings in her consignment that she calls the “best of the bunch.” “When I first started I did have a few great, big consignments, but that was short lived,” Forrester said. “I brought 10 to Fasig October and I have five for November. That is a number I am more comfortable with. I can manage them better and I can give my clients 110%.” She continued, “I am very hands on. I exercise all my yearlings myself. I watch every weanling walk in the mornings when they are getting ready for a sale. If I have to clean stalls, I clean stalls. If I have to groom horses, I groom horses.” Forrester raised each one of the five weanlings in her consignment at her Glenridge Farm outside of Midway, Kentucky, which was the birthplace of dual Classic winner Real Quiet. “I went through and picked the best of the bunch,” Forrester said. “They are all very, very nice or I wouldn’t have put them in that sale. Hopefully the market will support them and we can cash in on the fact that they are nice individuals.” One of her more popular weanlings is likely to be Hip 65, a full-brother to GIII Schuylerville S. heroine Catherinethegreat (Uncaptured). A $170,000 OBSOCT yearling purchase by John Oxley, Catherinethegreat romped by 10 1/4 lengths second out at Gulfstream June 23 and scored a decisive victory in Saratoga’s Schuylerville July 20. With that success, she became the first graded winner for her freshman sire (by Lion Heart), who was quite popular at this year’s 2-year-old sales. Their dam Classy City Lady (Carson City) was also scheduled to sell Sunday evening, but was a late scratch. “The breeders decided to put the full-brother to Catherinethegreat in the sale and see if they could benefit from that filly’s success,” Forrester said of the colt, who was bred in Florida by Wendy Christ and Kathy Haines. “The colt is extremely nice. He’s a big colt with a lot of body and a lot of leg. He is just a really nice individual. He is a nice weanling and he is going to be a dynamite yearling. We are going in very positive.” She added, “I think the fact that Uncaptured has been successful at stud will help, but Catherinethegreat’s success is probably going to help more than anything.” Forrester also offers a colt from the first crop of GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf victor Hit It a Bomb (War Front). Bred by Forrester in partnership with JLC Horses, Hip 49 is out of the MSP Smart Strike mare Whiletheiron’shot, a half-sister to MSW and GI Kentucky Oaks-third Sneaky Quiet (Seeking the Gold). “He has been a nice baby since day one,” Forrester said. “Spendthrift did come out and photograph him and he was in their early advertisements of [Hit It a Bomb]. He’s nice, he’s correct, he’s big. I hope he is what the people are looking for when we take him over there in November. He would make you want to breed back to that horse.” Another standout in Forrester’s group is a colt from the second crop of Grade I winner Strong Mandate, who also proved popular in the sales ring this year. Bred by Forrester and Equus Farm, Hip 96 is out of I’m Fantabulous (Forestry). “The Strong Mandate is to die for,” Forrester said. “He is big and I don’t have words for his body, it’s so nice. There is a lot of horse there. He is nice.” A pair of fillies round out the consignment, Hip 54, a Bodemeister filly out of SP You’re Kidding (Lemon Drop Kid); and Hip 60, a daughter of Munnings who is the first foal out of Brandyafterdinner (Afleet Alex). While Forrester has spent the last few decades in the Thoroughbred business, she got her start with saddle horses. “I started out with saddle horses in Georgia,” she explained. “I had a friend that lived up here in Kentucky and I came to visit. We were in saddle horses together. I ended up staying. I was in the saddle horse business a little bit up here, but ended up changing over to Thoroughbreds. I started when I was about 20-years-old and I’m a bit older now. It’s been quite a while.” Forrester foals about 30 to 40 mares a year at her farm, half of those mares belong to hers and the other half belong to clients. “I probably have a few more horses than I need to have, but it is a mix of clients, my own and partnership horses,” Forrester said. “It is a nursery, I foal, I breed. I used to sell primarily weanlings and made an extremely good living. When the bottom started falling out of the market, I tried to regroup and go to yearlings because the weanling market wasn’t quite as strong. Now I am getting back into selling weanlings. I really enjoy it and I do well in it. I’d rather get my money there and hopefully somebody makes a little bit of money off me and comes back to the well and we keep going around like that.” The Fasig Tipton November Sale gets underway Sunday at 3 p.m. at Newtown Paddocks. View the full article

Trainer John Gosden and jockey Frankie Dettori stand on the cusp of history in the quest for an unprecedented group/grade 1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe-Breeders' Cup double. View the full article

Ashbrook Farm and BBN Racing's Concrete Rose will contest the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs. View the full article

NEWMARKET, UK–Frequent rain around Park Paddocks on Thursday tested the resolution of all those remaining for the final session of the 2018 Tattersalls Autumn Horses In Training Sale, but it would certainly be incorrect to describe the event itself as a damp squib. At the close of four days’ trade, there were 1,181 lots offered, compared with 1,255 last year and the aggregate was a healthy 26,853,500gns, just 3% down on the record 27,282,200gns set 12 months ago. The clearance rate was a respectable 89% across the four-day extravaganza, which included purchases by a raft of cosmopolitan visitors, compared with 85% in 2017, with the median up 9% at 12,000gns. The average was virtually unchanged at 25,599gns against 25,617gns, also comparing favourably with the records since the turn of the century. The final day is the lowest-key of the sessions by a considerable margin, and there had not looked to be anything listed in the catalogue which was likely to threaten those in the top 10 overall, which would have required a bid of upwards of 240,000gns. Furthermore, it would have required a new record in this sale’s history again, after the 1-million gns bid from Newsells Park Stud on Wednesday night for Aljazzi (GB) (Shamardal) shattered the previous highest mark by 300,000gns. Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony said: “While the new record price of 1-million gns was the obvious highlight, it is the huge number of overseas buyers we have welcomed this week that has been the standout feature of another successful sale at Tattersalls. There is truly no other sale quite like the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale and it continues to attract buyers from all corners of the world for whom the sale is an unmissable annual event. We have regular buyers at this sale who attend only one bloodstock sale a year and it is the diversity of the buyers which sets it apart from any other sale of this type.” Whilst Aljazzi is set for retirement, the four-highest priced lots beneath her are heading for warmer climes, with Corrosive (Uncle Mo) bound for Saudi Arabia for 450,000gns along with Archetype (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire} (335,000gns). Lucius Tiberius (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), who was sold for 320,000gns, and Fawzi Nass’s 400,000gns purchase Euginio (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) are likely to be seen next at the Dubai Carnival. Mahony continued: “The top of the market has been as strong, if not stronger, than ever and the sale-topping filly Aljazzi is a tribute to the quality broodmare band assembled at Blue Diamond Stud by Tony Nerses on behalf of Saleh Al Homaizi and Imad Al Sagar, much of which will be offered for sale at the forthcoming Tattersalls December Sale. It is only the second time we have had three lots sell for 400,000gns or more at this sale and with the buyers of the top 20 lots coming from England, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Dubai, Kuwait, Hong Kong, Australia and the USA, it is clear that the demand for quality European bloodstock continues to thrive. The beauty of the Autumn Horses in Training Sale is that there are numerous buyers, both domestic and international, competing in all sectors of the market. British and Irish Flat and National Hunt trainers always make a massive contribution to this fixture and alongside the vast number of buyers from the Gulf region, we have also had notable participation from Greece, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Spain.” “In the course of every year we try, alongside our overseas representatives, to explore as many overseas markets as possible, and the success of this week’s sale provides encouragement as we approach the equally international Tattersalls December Sale.” Kingwood Filly Bound For America There were still orders to be filled from far-flung places around the world on Thursday, especially from those without unlimited resources as proceedings drew to a close, and a filly from the Kingwood Stud operation of Mehmet Kurt topped the final session. Space Talk (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}), who was with Harry Dunlop, had added a win on the Lingfield Polytrack to her page since the catalogue was published and arrived early in the programme at lot 1269. Kingwood in Lambourn, also the home of the owner’s innovative Kurtsystem for pre-training, consigned a few yearlings at Book 3 and Book 4 and has also raced a few with a handful of local trainers. She attracted a handful of interested bidders before Stuart Boman of Blandford Bloodstock made the decisive move for 80,000gns. “She is a consistent filly with form on faster ground and she put in some good sectionals the other day,” Boman explained. “She’s going to America and she will suit the racing programme there.” Dunlop’s words provided a commendation for the Kurtsystem, the mechanised track upon which horses are not ridden but loosely harnessed to cabins which monitor them. Kurt, a Turkish businessman, believes it reduces the injury rate both in the present and the future. It opened for public use last year and although not widely in the consciousness of the wider racing community, small success stories such as this will do it no harm. “This filly was bred at the stud and she also did some pre-training on [the Kurtsystem],” he said. “I trained her for the majority of the summer and she was very consistent, placing three times. She won in quite a tough race at Lingfield and we were thrilled with the price. I’m sure there’s some lucrative money to be won with her.” Baker Getting In The Spirit George Baker was in an upbeat mood after selling his 125-1 surprise Goodwood winner Feel Glorious (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) for 130,000 gns earlier in the week. The Chiddingfold-based trainer dipped his toe back in the water as he gave 55,000gns for Cristal Spirit (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire} (lot 1336), a winner over a mile and a half for William Haggas at Kempton just over a week ago. “He was bought for a gang who were looking for a fun, dual-purpose horse and we’ve had a few Nathaniels already,” Baker said. “It’s unlikely we’ll be improving him from his former trainer but we got him for a good price.” Reflecting on Feel Glorious, Baker said: “I got left with her after buying her and ended up leasing her to the Turf Club. We managed to get her listed placed in Hannover just before the sale and it looks as if she’s going to be continuing her career in America.” Two others are bound for hurdling careers in exactly the same direction. Colm Sharkey signed firstly for lot 1502 from Joe Murphy’s Highfort Stables, the twice-raced Made For You (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) for 34,000gns. The ink wasn’t dry before he had collected his stablemate, Redemptorist (Ire) (Frozen Power {Ire}) (lot 1503) for 24,000gns. “They are both going jumping for Olly Murphy,” said Sharkey. “We had a bit of luck with Compatriot from the same yard last year.” Another of the more interesting lots was number 1252, Hidden Pearl (GB) (Dunaden {Fr}), whose pedigree had appealed to SackvilleDonald and trainer Ed Walker, who picked the chestnut up for 48,000gns. Overbury’s Melbourne Cup-winning stallion is quietly making a bit of an impression and his daughter, who had some speed on the dam’s side, had been spotted by Walker in one of her two maidens. She is also eligible for Dunaden owners’ premiums offered by the stallion’s owner Sheikh Fahad. “She finished a good fourth behind Ginistrelli, whom we think a lot of, in a Newmarket maiden,” he said. Al Malki Makes His Mark Quite a few hardy Middle-Eastern souls saw out the week or left instructions to their agents to secure some of the final available horses. Conrad Allen was on the phone to Qatar in order to seal the deal for 3-year-old Zamandas (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) (lot 1353), a lightly-raced Hesmonds Stud homebred from the stable of Roger Varian with two recent all-weather wins to his name. “He’s been bought by Ibrahim Al Malki,” said Allen of the 55,000gns purchase. “We just thought he was progressive and he vetted well.” Alex Elliott had only just taken another of the Varian draft from Carlburg Stables (lot 1352) in the similarly unexposed Noble Expression (GB) (Sir Percy {GB}) for 40,000gns. “He’s for Kuwait,” said Elliott, who signed for Nader Al Afraji. “The client saw him yesterday and left instructions.” Qatari owner Abdulatif Hussain Al-Emadi, who bought Juddmonte’s Jewel House (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) for 215,000gns the summer before last, picked up the promising 2-year-old Shape Of Water (Ire) (Charm Spirit {Ire}) for 50,000gns as lot 1581. “She is for fillies and mares races in Qatar,” explained his associate Abdulatif Hussain Al-Emadi. Houldsworth Shows His Power Good things come to those who wait and it was evident that a few shrewd faces were waiting around until the last knockings. It was clearly for lot 1601, Heart Power (GB) (Poet’s Voice {GB}), a granddaughter of Hascombe And Valiant Studs’ mighty Rebecca Sharp (GB) by way of Miss Pinkerton (GB) (Danehill). Matt Houldsworth’s persistence paid off when he landed her for Howson & Houldsworth Bloodstock for 72,000gns “She’s got one of the most alive pedigrees going,” he said, revealing she was for “an undisclosed Irish client.” He added: “I think the dam has four foals who are already breeding. I went to see her last week to make an offer – she was the one I wanted.” View the full article

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint – First inclination was to avoid this race, as it seems pretty impossible, but have to have a few bucks on #11 QUEEN OF BERMUDA (IRE) (20-1). She seems most likely to relish the soft conditions given her impressive score over heavy ground three back. She hasn’t been far at all behind a few of these, and will be a much bigger price than them. GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf – It’s hard to love the post, and Newspaperofrecord might just be too good, but #14 EAST (GB) (20-1) is sneaky talented and will offer excellent value close to her morning line. The Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale record setter is just a gorgeous mover and was extremely impressive overcoming trouble to score last time in the G3 Prix Thomas Bryon. How she’ll handle the ground is a bit of a question mark, but she’s pretty compact, so she should get over it well enough. GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf – #2 UNCLE BENNY (15-1) might be one of the best bets of the weekend. He’s won his first two starts on pure talent at distances shorter than what he’ll be best at. His pedigree top and bottom screams more ground, and he certainly gives that impression in the flesh–he’s a big, scopey, good-looking horse whose coat couldn’t have looked better when out on the track earlier this week. Line of Duty seems like the Euro you want, so will be aggressive here and only use those two. GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile – #8 STANDARD DEVIATION (12-1) looks a little slow on Beyers, but he actually earned a huge number for his debut on Thoromanger. He obviously had no chance given dynamics last time, and the blinkers should help keep him more within striking range behind an honest pace. He’s got some shades of Good Magic. His 4-year-old Lonhro half-sister was claimed for $16K at Gulfstream in September, so it looks like someone will be rooting hard for him. View the full article

Sea The Stars (Ire), whose standout progeny in 2018 have included dual Oaks winner Sea Of Class (Ire) and champion stayer in-waiting Stradivarius (Ire), will remain at a fee of €135,000 at the Aga Khan’s Gilltown Stud in 2018. Sea The Stars stands next to his dual Derby-winning son Harzand (Ire), whose first foals were born this year and who will be available for €10,000. Heading the Aga Khan’s French roster at Haras de Bonneval is Siyouni (Fr), who is priced at €100,000. Four-time Group 1 winner Laurens (Fr) is one of 24 stakes horses for Siyouni this year. Dariyan (Fr), whose first foals arrived this year, will be stand for €8,000, and Zarak (Fr) completes the Gilltown roster at €12,000. View the full article

Gary and Mary West’s hot pink and black diamond silks will be flown by two high-profile colts in the Breeders’ Cup races at Churchill Downs this weekend. Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}), undefeated in three starts, a multiple Grade l winner, and the pro tem leader of his division, will be favored in the Gl Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Friday; and West Coast (Flatter), the champion 3-year-old colt last year, will be the likely second choice after Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) in the Gl Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday. The Wests are in an enviable position to sweep the two most prestigious Breeders’ Cup races for stud prospects, with millions in breeding values and purse monies at stake over the next two days, not to mention an Eclipse Award for Game Winner, but Gary and Mary West are pragmatic owners who have raced horses for nearly 40 years and know better than most that anything can and will happen in a horse race. They’re confident going in but are not taking anything for granted. As for the millions on the table? Well, they’re self-made billionaires in second careers as hard-core philanthropists who have given away more than $200 million to date through their Gary and Mary West Foundation, primarily to help reduce healthcare costs and improve quality of life for the low-income elderly. [Full disclosure: The Wests and their racing manager Ben Glass are retained clients of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc.] The Wests, both 72 and married for 50 years this year, now live in tony Rancho Santa Fe in San Diego but are straight out of a Horatio Alger story that began for them in the backwater of 1960s Omaha. “I was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, but our family, when I was about four or five years, moved to a little town, a little farming community called Harlan, Iowa,” Gary West said. “That’s about 50 miles away from Omaha. My dad owned a four-lane bowling alley. We grew up poor-to-lower middle class. Both of us came from poor-to-lower-middle-class families, so we learned early in life what it was like to struggle, and that was a good thing.” Mary West was born in Miami and moved to Omaha with her family when she was a teenager, and that’s where Gary West met and later married her when they were 22, in 1968. Their improbable rise to the heights began when they started a business together. “Our families could not afford to send us to college. So neither one of us were formally educated with a college degree. We’ve done okay in spite of that. Would I have liked to have gone to college and got a high-powered education like other people? Sure, but it was one of those things that wasn’t even possible. So we kind of scuffled around and ended up finding a real business opportunity that, uh, just exploded, and we rode that wave for 20 or 25 years, and it was a company that kept growing and growing and growing, but I kept getting older and older and older and I knew that at some point in time we had to have a liquidity event, i.e., selling the business or part of the business to do some of the philanthropic stuff that my wife and I both swore to do some day because we had been so lucky.” In 2006, Forbes listed West at #354 on the list of the 400 richest Americans with a net worth of $1.1 billion and noted that the couple was to receive $1.6 billion and 20% of the new company after their publicly traded West Corp., an audio and video conferencing company, went private through a leveraged buyout with Thomas H. Lee Partners and Quadrangle Group. The following year, Mary West, co-founder of West Corp., was ranked #95 by Forbes among the 100 most powerful women. The Gary and Mary West Foundation was established in 2006 and has been the couple’s main focus since, except for the horses. “Mary thoroughly enjoys watching our horses run. I enjoy watching anyone’s horses run. I’m a racing fanatic, and it is really the only hobby that I have. I still work about 100 hours a week in terms of being the chairman of the board and the founder of our philanthropic organizations,” West said. Compassion for people and horses The Wests were inspired to concentrate their philanthropic efforts on helping seniors because they had first-hand experience caring for their own aging parents and saw that government attention to this at-risk segment of the population was minimal. “We love elderly people and had a special compassion for them, and so we are pretty much devoting our life now to them. We’re out of the money-making stage of life, and with the wealth that we’ve accumulated we’re helping the poor, elderly population with their medical needs and their social service needs or anything like that, and that just gives us warm, warm, warm feelings. It’s kind of like winning a Breeders’ Cup race, when we get up every day and know that we’ve helped tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people have a better life later in life when nobody else is there for them,” West said. “We don’t have any children, so when we pass away, 100% of everything that we have is going to go into our endowment and foundation. And the good work that our staffs are doing will continue for years as a result of that.” Horses became their passion in 1980, a few years after they’d started one of their first businesses, WATS Telemarketing, in 1978. They claimed a 3-year-old named Joe Blow (Son Ange), who was trained by Ben Glass at the now-defunct Ak-Sar-Ben in Omaha. Joe Blow never got claimed again, though he raced for the Wests until he was eight and retired with 21 wins from 118 starts and $145,784 in earnings in 1985. “Benny was out in a small town just north of Omaha. And at that time he and his dad had a horse farm, and so he was the only person in the area that we knew of that had a horse farm, and we went out and visited him, and I liked Benny from the minute I met him. He was a good, honest person, which is not always the case in the horse business,” West said. They’ve been together ever since. The West stable started to grow and improve. It went from claimers to allowance horses and then to national-level stakes runners like Rockamundo, winner of the Gll Arkansas Derby in 1993 for Glass and the Wests. After training for them for 13 years, Glass became the couple’s racing manager, a position he’s held now for 25 years. With Omaha-based veterinarian Dr. Doug Brunk in tow, he’s a regular at the Keeneland September sale shopping for the Wests, who’ve been among the sale’s leading buyers for most of the last decade. They eschew turf types and concentrate on buying only dirt horses bred for the Classic distances. West Coast was a $425,000 purchase in 2015 and Game Winner was a relative bargain at $110,000 in 2017. “He had a few issues, but we thought he could run through them,” Glass said of Game Winner. “Nobody else liked him. I was the only one that scoped him.” Together, the Wests and Glass have experienced the highs and the lows of the game over four decades, from hardscrabble claimers in the early years to elite graded winners nowadays. It’s that longtime experience with dirt horses from the bottom up that has formed West’s opinions on Lasix. He views the use of the controversial drug as a therapeutic necessity for the compassionate treatment of racehorses. “For me, it’s a humane thing,” West said. “Here’s the way I look at it: If I had a son or daughter, and the doctor told me that if they go out and run cross country, they’re going to bleed in their lungs. Alternatively, they could take a water pill and they wouldn’t bleed in their lungs. What would I do if it was my kid? Because horses are like kids to us. We really care about the animal. Everybody’s entitled to their opinion, and I’m not the god of racing, but I just don’t understand why people think it’s okay to let horses do something that you know every time they do it, they will bleed.” West estimates that he’s scoped his horses more than 3,000 times over the course of nearly 40 years and has his own bank of data on which to base his opinion. “People who say that very few horses bleed just haven’t scoped all that many horses or they’re getting their information from a source that’s not really reliable,” he says. “Just because blood isn’t gushing out of the nose doesn’t mean a horse didn’t bleed [in the lungs or trachea]. A lot of horses even bleed a little bit with Lasix. But if it prevents the worst bleeding, you know, you minimize it to a real significant degree.” Game Winner and West Coast Game Winner and West Coast, like all the West yearlings, were broken in Ocala by Jeff Kirk, a longtime member of the team. The Wests’ burgeoning broodmare band is boarded at Dell Ridge Farm in Lexington under the auspices of manager Des Ryan, another valuable cog in the operation as the homebreeding part of the equation increases, with more colts going to stud. “Des does an absolutely outstanding job for us,” West said, “and Jeff has been breaking our yearlings for 25 years. We have never had a trainer who has not said, ‘Gary, the 2-year-olds that you send us, we don’t consistently get any better, well-behaved, well-schooled, well-trained horses from anywhere than we do from your guy.'” Bob Baffert, of course, trains Game Winner and West Coast, as he has most of the Wests’ recent California-based graded stakes winners, and he fits their programs on several fronts. For one, he’s based in the same state as them and it’s a convenient trip to see their horses run, especially at Del Mar, which is four miles away from the couple’s residence. And he’s primarily a dirt trainer, a natural fit for the Wests’ program. He’s developed all of their recent stallion prospects, such as Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner New Year’s Day (Street Cry {Ire}), Grade l winner Power Broker (Pulpit), and Grade ll winner Flashback (Tapit)–all of which all started off at Hill ‘n’ Dale, and Grade lll winner American Freedom (Pulpit), who’s at Airdrie. West Coast will stand at Lane’s End next year after he’s retired, and the offers are coming in strong for Game Winner, said West, who plans on supporting his best stallions with his best mares as a commercial-breeding enterprise. “We will sell at auction in the future some of our best yearlings from our best mares in order to promote and make our stallions,” he said. As a dirt man, West’s bucket list is made up of four Grade l races: the Kentucky Derby, Travers, Breeders’ Cup Classic, and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He’s won two of the four already and will shoot for the Classic on Saturday and, hopefully, the Derby next spring. He’s cautiously optimistic for the weekend. He noted that West Coast was only “70 to 75%” ready for his last start and should improve, and that Game Winner is “push-button and will do whatever the rider asks,” but West’s main hope is that his– everyone else’s–horses come back okay. “People can believe this or not–and they may think this is bullshit–but the first thing I say is a prayer for everybody’s horse to come back safe after the race. Okay. That’s my number one thought. Then number two, I want our horse to win the race, and if he doesn’t win the race, I want him to do as good as he can do. I’ve been on the bad end of horse problems in races, and I know that gut-wrenching feeling it is for people who love their horses so much, and I don’t wish that on anybody.” Those are the refreshing words of someone who has the welfare of others on his mind, even in the heat of battle, and they define both Gary and Mary West. Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks. View the full article

Confidently backed into 8-13 favouritism for his debut in Thursday’s mile novice contest at Newcastle, Khalid Abdullah’s Headman (GB) (Kingman {GB}) was waited with last of the quintet early as Kieran Shoemark had the anchor down. Cruising into contention with mininal effort approaching the final quarter mile, the homebred was shaken up to take command from the long-time leader Repaupo (Quality Road) a furlong later. Drawing away impressively, the March-foaled bay was eased down late to register an emphatic 3 3/4-length success. Mutasaamy (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}), the son of the G1 Epsom Oaks heroine Eswarah (GB) (Unfuwain), was 12-1 at the off and showed little on his racecourse bow in fourth. The winner is a half-brother to the GII Baltimore/Washington International Turf Cup winner Projected (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), GSW-US & MSP-Fr, $582,001, and to the G3 Prix Chloe runner-up Delivery (GB) (Rail Link {GB}). The dam, who was a winner over 10 furlongs for Andre Fabre, is a daughter of Dance Routine (GB) (Sadler’s Wells) who captured the G2 Prix de Royallieu and was second in the G1 Prix de Diane before producing the stable’s stalwart Flintshire (GB) (Dansili {GB}). Successful in the G1 Grand Prix de Paris and twice runner-up in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, he went on to take the G1 Hong Kong Vase and achieve champion grass horse status as the hero of the GI Sword Dancer S. twice and the GI Manhattan S. Dance Routine’s full-sister Concentric (GB) (Sadler’s Wells) was responsible for another of the operation’s finest standard-bearers in Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), who also won by the same margin over the same trip at the same track in the same month as Headman when a juvenile. Now a dual Arc heroine, she also captured the G1 English and Irish Oaks, G1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth S. and G1 Yorkshire Oaks en route. Deliberate’s yearling colt is by Oasis Dream (GB). 2nd-Newcastle, £8,550, Novice, 11-1, 2yo, 8f 5y (AWT), 1:39.00, st. HEADMAN (GB), c, 2, by Kingman (GB) 1st Dam: Deliberate (GB), by King’s Best 2nd Dam: Dance Routine (GB), by Sadler’s Wells 3rd Dam: Apogee (GB), by Shirley Heights (GB) Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $7,028. O-Khalid Abdullah; B-Juddmonte Farms (East) Ltd (GB); T-Roger Charlton. Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. View the full article

Breeders’ Cup regular Obviously (Ire) (Choisir {Aus}) is a perfect example of the maxim, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” The front-running miler possessed the class and consistency to compete in five consecutive Breeders’ Cups (2012-2016) resulting in a third, two fifths, a ninth and a first divided between four consecutive GI Breeders’ Cup Miles 2012-2015) and the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in 2016. It was the two-time GI Shoemaker Mile S. hero’s gutsy display at Santa Anita in his final Breeders’ Cup appearance that is my fondest memory of the determined gelding. Trained initially Stateside by Mike Mitchell and later on, by Mitchell’s former assistant Phil D’Amato, the Anthony Fanticola and Joseph Scardino colourbearer had been nabbed at the wire in a pair of Grade IIs early in 2016. A win in Belmont’s GIII Poker S. in June proved the competitive spirit still burned in the 8-year-old, but back in California, he ran out of steam in the GII City Of Hope Mile S. after setting the opening half-mile in :43.97 in October. I had noted with interest that Obviously would be cutting back in trip in the Breeders’ Cup and with his record of first or second-place finishes in three downhill starts, thought this was just what the doctor ordered. (Unsurprisingly, this was a commonly held sentiment by the betting public and he duly started favourite at 7-2.) Obviously was hustled up in between horses by Flavien Prat and took up his customary position on the engine. The first quarter sped by in :21.41, the half in :43.08 and it appeared that only Pure Sensation (Zensational) was a threat inside the final 100 yards. I had missed, however, the late surge of Om (Munnings) who was still sixth in midstretch. Fortunately, despite Om’s determined dive, a nostril still separated the duo at the wire and Obviously became the second-oldest horse to win a Breeders’ Cup race (video). View the full article

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky–So who will it be? Who will go out onto that soggy track on Friday and, with apologies to Louis XV, pronounce: “Apres le deluge, moi!” For while the downpour has moved the goalposts for those Europeans who targeted the 35th Breeders’ Cup in the expectation of a test of pure speed, the opening programme– being dedicated to juveniles-remains all about the coronation of young pretenders. Even before the introduction of extra attrition to the turf events, of course, the vagaries of racing mean that the laurels won today will remain contentious. The important thing is that any submission is made with honour. At Del Mar last year, for instance, a future Epsom Derby winner merited only a footnote of sympathy for the traffic he encountered in the Juvenile Turf. But a look back at that form shows just how triumphantly this race has matured since its inauguration in 2007. Besides Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) in sixth, the winner Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy) and fourth Catholic Boy (More Than Ready) have legitimate shots at the Classic itself on tomorrow’s main card. Sands Of Mali (Fr) (Panis) did not get home in ninth but a few days ago won a Group 1 sprint at Ascot, while the next home James Garfield (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) was beaten just half a length at that level at Deauville in the summer. Several in the field have more or less disappeared, an inevitable hazard of the game, but others who were out of the money–such as subsequent Kentucky Derby fifth My Boy Jack (Creative Cause)–have managed supporting roles at the top level. True, the incorporation of juvenile turf racing has virtually ended European participation in the equivalent dirt races. That seems a dreadful shame when you reflect on those spectacular rolls of the dice with Arazi (Blushing Groom) in 1991 and–in what has proved a historic moment for the breed, granted the influence of his son Scat Daddy–Johannesburg (Hennessy) 10 years later; never mind the longshot wins of Wilko (Awesome Again) and Vale Of York (Ire) (Invincible Spirirt {Ire}), which showed the rewards available to those of sufficient adventure. But those who have convened from across the ocean have done so with an abundance of that spirit. They have, for instance, produced half the runners for the new Juvenile Turf Sprint, where success for Pocket Dynamo (Dialed In) would be fitting reward for Robert Cowell’s enterprise and imagination in dredging Hip 2934 out of the September Yearling Sale at Keeneland last year for $35,000. Arguably, however, none of the raiders have required more initiative against the odds than Brian Ellison. Here is a man to show how horsemanship can dismantle social and geographical barriers. True, in common with so many other talented trainers in Yorkshire, he might as well be galloping his horses on the moon as regards those owners, managers and agents who, even if they are prepared to place a horse outside Newmarket, will never do so beyond their own social background. Ellison’s father, in contrast, was a fitter in the Tyneside shipyards and his mother a shop assistant. None of Ellison’s seven siblings have shared his vocation for the Turf: they work in factories, classrooms, and so forth. He himself left school at 15, however, rode a winner within 18 months of sitting on a horse for the first time and, after a journeyman riding career, took out a training licence in 1989 with just three horses. And if he has long since established himself as one of the most accomplished dual-licence trainers in Britain, with over 1,000 winners, the fact remains that he has had to find his way to the Breeders’ Cup with a filly purchased for just £9,000. The Mackem Bullet (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}), it hardly needs stating, will not be among the favourites for the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf. But she, like her trainer, is making a habit of confounding the odds. She was 25-1 when going down by just a nose to Fairyland (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) in the G2 Lowther S. at York in August, with apprentice partner Ben Robinson unable to use his claim. When the two fillies lined up for the G1 Cheveley Park S. at Newmarket next time, however, Fairyland started second favourite and The Mackem Bullet under Oisin Murphy was again 25-1. Nonetheless the pair repeated their 1-2 finish, virtually to the pound. One person who had recognised the merit of The Mackem Bullet’s York performance had been Katsumi Yoshida, who bought her in between the two races. That locked in a good profit for Brian Robe, who had found her at the Goffs UK Doncaster Silver Sale and sent her to Ellison after trying him out with a gelding named Little Jo (GB) (Major Cadeaux {GB}). Having arrived in Ellison’s yard this time last year with a rating of 50, Little Jo has since won four handicaps in six starts, most recently beaten half a length in the Silver Cambridgeshire, and lines up at Newmarket on Friday off 81. Little wonder if Robe, whose allegiance to Sunderland is evinced by the name he gave this filly, is prepared to entrust his horses to a diehard supporter of his club’s great rivals, Newcastle United. For it is only in his financial resources that anyone can condescend to describe Ellison as David against Goliath. Yes, it seems incongruous to run into this tough, squat bulldog of a Geordie outside the quarantine barn on the Churchill back stretch. But he has long since proved that his skills are equal to any environment. And while bad luck has repeatedly thwarted his best horses, some day it is all going to fall into place. “Latalomne (Zilzal) only cost £8,000 and fell in front at the second last two years running in the Champion Chase,” Ellison recalls. “Carte Diamond (Theatrical {Ire}) was third favourite for the Melbourne Cup after his run in the Caulfield Cup, and he was bouncing. Then when we took him down to Flemington, the week before the race, the jockey fell off and he went through the rail.” Definitly Red (Ire) (Definite Article {GB}) was one of the favourites for the 2017 Grand National when brought to a standstill by a faller at Becher’s Brook. But the race Ellison has notoriously craved all his career is the Northumberland Plate, part of the folklore in the unprivileged neighbourhood where he was raised. “Especially because I was born on Plate day,” he says. “The chance I had was with Seamour (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}) when he went clear and got caught [in 2016]. Now that they’ve put it on the all-weather I’d say it’ll be very hard to win. I’d rather win a Breeders’ Cup anyway.” Two extra furlongs on changing ground would seem the obvious impediment to The Mackem Bullet, but her progress has been so steep that nobody can know where it might end. “She came in late, in fact she was the last of all my yearlings to come in,” Ellison explains. “I don’t like my horses knocked about on their first run, I want them to enjoy it, but Ben came in and said this is definitely a nice filly. On her next start, at Musselburgh, she should probably have won but it was a good race anyway, the second came out and won a big sales race at York. And then she absolutely hosed up at Carlisle. Every run, she’s improved.” Murphy rode The Mackem Bullet into third in her stakes debut in the G3 Keeneland Princess Margaret S. at Ascot. “And Oisin thought they should have been second, they were drawn on the outside and saw too much daylight,” Ellison says. “But he also said she wants further. And Ben said the same at York, she was just touched off but after the line he couldn’t pull her up. There are horses in the family that got a mile and one, a mile and two [furlongs].” Robinson, joining his boss outside the barn, admits that the filly has been somewhat lit up by the novelty of her environment. In principle, however, he reckons that her progress in form has been matched in terms of temperament. “She’s a bit buzzy here so it’s just a case of trying to keep a lid on her,” says Robinson, who again cedes the mount to the more seasoned Murphy today. “But when I think back to her first three races, she buried me in the parade ring every time. Now she’s getting used to it all, and with that she has really been coming to herself.” Robinson plans to preserve his 3lbs claim for next year by a winter riding work in Dubai, but it will soon be back to basics for Ellison. “I’ll be at Hexham next week,” the trainer says. “We’ve a couple of nice jumpers to run there. They’re all horses. Obviously the jumpers have a lot of long steady work to start with, but as they get into it they will still breeze six furlongs too. I started off as a jumps trainer, and if doing both is mainly financial-you’ve got your staff to keep-I enjoy [the year-round action] anyway, absolutely love it. I’ve been in the game 51 years, and the only thing I’d want to change is just to have better horses. “It’s very hard to buy one: anything that’s for sale, and any good, people like me can’t afford to buy them. Malton is great place to train, with some really good trainers, but it’s like football. It’s hard to get the good players to Newcastle, because they all think the world stops at London or Manchester, and owners probably think the same way about Newmarket. “But our horses, they get treated out of this world. I’d think very hard about paying 50 quid for a pair of shoes, if I can get a pair for £20. But I wouldn’t think for a moment about spending a hundred-and-odd pounds for a rug for a horse. We make do with a snack here, a snack there. Whereas they get the best of feed, the best of hay, the best of everything.” Win, lose or draw, Ellison is at least aiming his Bullet to make the most of limited ammunition. In his riding days, he used to keep fit by sparring in the boxing gym and was suitably riveted by a visit to the museum honouring Louisville’s most famous son, Muhammad Ali. And nobody could be surprised if Ellison yet again ends up punching above his weight. View the full article

With jumping superstars on show at Down Royal including the possible second coming Samcro, Pick From The Paddock give us their Best Bet Of The Day and one for every race! Bet of the day 19.45 Kempton A tricky looking handicap contest on the face of it with a number of closely matched horses with very little to choose between them, but the answer may lie with an unexposed type and handicap debutant in the form of James Fanshawe trained, Cuillin. The horse showed a marked improvement when third in a novices event at Chelmsford and showed a likeable attitude that day to stay on well and she was doing her best work near the finish so today’s extra two furlongs should suit and with improvement expected for the step up in trip and a first foray into handicap company, George Wood’s mount can land the spoils here. Fellow handicap debutant Follow Intello would rate as the main danger with similar improvement expected for the Chris Wall team and he has the assistance of the talented Hollie Doyle. CUILLIN (WIN) Kempton: 17:45 – Flowing Clarets (WIN) 18:15 – Milly Monroe (E/W) 18:45 – Silverturnstogold (WIN) 19:15 – Cuillin (WIN) 19:45 – Super Kid (E/W) 20:15 – Diocles of Rome (E/W) 20:45 – The Lacemaker (WIN) 21:15 – Kraka (WIN) Newmarket: 12:30 – Fightwithme (WIN) 13:05 – Madkhal (WIN) 13:40 – Lady Aria (WIN) 14:15 – Livvys Dream (E/W) 14:50 – Alfredo (E/W) 15:25 – Winston C (WIN) 16:00 – Sawwaah (WIN) Uttoxeter: 12:55 – Wenceslaus (WIN) 13:30 – Executive Capilano (E/W) 14:05 – Mystical Clouds (WIN) 14:40 – Claimantakinforgan (WIN) 15:15 – Frozen Flame (E/W) 15:50 – Dawnieriver (WIN) 16:20 – Majestic Lord (E/W) Wetherby: 13:20 – Askari (WIN) 13:55 – Poetic Rhythm (WIN) 14:30 – Chief Justice (WIN) 15:05 – Born Survivor (E/W) 15:40 – Dino Velvet (WIN) 16:10 – Mayohill (E/W) Down Royal: 12:40 – First Approach (E/W) 13:10 – Don’t Hesitate (WIN) 13:45 – Samcro (WIN) 14:20 – Brosna George (E/W) 14:55 – Delta Work (WIN) 15:30 – Monbeg Chit Chat (E/W) 16:05 – Castletown Quarry (WIN) Dundalk: 17:30 – Captainofthebounty (WIN) 18:00 – Evies Wish (E/W) 18:30 – Reckless Lad (E/W) 19:00 – Joe the Crow (E/W) 19:30 – Palmetto Bay (WIN) 20:00 – Face Off (E/W) 20:30 – Geological (WIN) 21:00 – New Direction (WIN) The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Friday 2nd November appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

After being pre-entered but not cracking the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) field, Al Shaqab Racing's Toast of New York will start in the $200,000 Marathon Stakes (G2) Friday, Nov. 2, at Churchill Downs. View the full article

Gary and Mary West hope to notch their second Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) win with Game Winner, following New Year's Day's score in 2013. View the full article

After going through the most brutal of hardships, Corey Lanerie has come to the Nov. 2 Tito's Handmade Vodka Juvenile Fillies (G1) with a chance to earn a victory that would leave few beneath the Twin Spires without a dry eye. View the full article

The Churchill Downs that will host its ninth Breeders' Cup boasts millions of dollars of improvements since the world championship races last were held under the Twin Spires in 2011. View the full article