Wandering Eyes

Neptune's Storm captured back-to-back stakes wins at Santa Anita Park June 2 when he held off the competition to win the $150,000 Cinema Stakes for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles on the turf. View the full article

Racing for the first time as a gelding, Michael Dubb and Bethlehem Stables' Bronzed earned a hard-fought first stakes victory, battling through the stretch and to the wire to win the $75,000 Lookin At Lucky Stakes by a nose June 2 at Monmouth Park. View the full article

Gary and Mary West’s Maximum Security (New Year’s Day), last seen crossing the wire first before being disqualified to 17th in the GI Kentucky Derby, breezed at Monmouth Park Sunday morning, his second significant bit of activity since the Derby. In the typical fashion of his trainer Jason Servis’s works, the activity was more of a two-minute luck than a standard breeze and went unpublished on the worktab. “He looked great,” said Servis. “He went a mile in 1:58 and galloped out a mile and an eighth in 2:10. He wasn’t blowing at all and he seemed to cool out good.” Servis added that Maximum Security’s next start is up in the air, but will come at the seaside track, either in the TVG.com Pegasus S. June 16 or the GI Haskell Invitational July 20. “I haven’t made a decision yet [on the horse’s next start],” he said. “We’ll take it race by race, whether it’s the Pegasus or the Haskell. I probably won’t make a decision until his next breeze. We’ll probably send him out again in seven, eight or nine days.” The post Maximum Security Breezes; Next Start Still Uncertain appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

With a name like his, it was only fitting that newcomer Super Comet (Super Saver–Sky Dreamer, by Sky Mesa) be named a ‘TDN Rising Star’ for his auspicious debut under the Twin Spires Sunday afternoon. Let go at 9-1 facing a number of foes with solid established form, the Mark Casse-trained John Oxley homebred was one of the slowest away but rushed his way up through horses to sit fourth out wide down the backstretch behind a :22.80 opening quarter. He mounted a four-wide bid into a :45.92 half, and was one of four in with a chance as noses pointed for home. He hit the front leaving the eighth pole, and from there found another gear to widen his advantage to 4 3/4 lengths at the finish. Young Philip (Gemologist), who was third in the Santa Anita slop on debut Feb. 2 before going one better on GI Kentucky Derby day May 4, was second. The winner is a half to Kimbear (Temple City), GSW-UAE & GSP-U.S., $542,267 and a 2-year-old filly by Hard Spun. Under second dam To Dream About (Monarchos) is Oxley’s GISW Dream Dancing (Tapit) and recent GIII Pat Day Mile S. third and fellow Churchill debut winner and ‘Rising Star’ Dream Maker (Tapit). Super Comet’s third dam is none other than MGISW and champion older mare Beautiful Pleasure (Maudlin). 10th-Churchill Downs, $97,187, Msw, 6-2, 3yo/up, 7f, 1:22.85, ft. SUPER COMET, c, 3, Super Saver 1st Dam: Sky Dreamer (GSP, $176,065), by Sky Mesa 2nd Dam: To Dream About, by Monarchos 3rd Dam: Beautiful Pleasure, by Maudlin Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $54,848. Click for the Equibase.com chart or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. O/B-John C. Oxley (KY); T-Mark E. Casse. The post Super Saver’s Super Comet ‘Stars’ Under Twin Spires appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Mr. Amore Stable's Gin and Platonic became freshman sire Medal Count's first winner, taking a June 2 maiden special weight on debut at Monmouth Park. View the full article

Whitham Thoroughbreds homebred With Dignity (Declaration of War–Ivory Empress, by Seeking the Gold) followed in big brother McCraken (Ghostzapper)’s hoofsteps Sunday to garner the ‘TDN Rising Star’ nod. The sophomore filly belied 17-1 odds and her conditioner’s notorious patience to rally and graduate at 17-1 odds sprinting here May 11. Backed at 3-5 odds on the stretch-out and having worked a bullet breeze in the interim, she turned in another extremely impressive showing under the Twin Spires despite a less-than-ideal trip. Awkward into stride, the dark bay was taken back after being hung wide around the first turn. She was forced to tap on the breaks heading down the backside and was relegated to last. Starting to inch clear but still with plenty of work to do behind a half in :48.96 and six panels in 1:13.42, she was forced to wait for a seam at the head of the lane. Pilot Julien Leparoux worked her out into the clear by midstrech, and from there With Dignity exploded, gobbling up rivals down the center of the track under hands and heels to post the head-turning 3 1/4-length tally. Jo Marie (Elusive Quality) completed the exacta. In addition to being half to McCraken, MGSW & GISP, $869,728–who was a five-time Churchill winner himself and who is finishing up his first year at stud at Airdrie–With Dignity is half to Bondurant (War Front), MGSP, $250,379. Her GSP dam, a daughter herself of GSW Madame Pandit (Wild Again) and a half to GISW Mea Domina (Dance Brightly), has an unraced 2-year-old filly named Four Graces (Majesticperfection) and a yearling colt by Into Mischief. She most recently visited Empire Maker. With the win on With Dignity, Leparoux becomes the seventh jockey to ride 900 winners under the Twin Spires. “It was great to win number 900 for [trainer] Ian Wilkes,” Leparoux said. “He’s supported me a lot in my career and this filly is very nice. I think we’re going to have a lot of fun with her in stakes company down the road.” 8th-Churchill Downs, $96,178, Alw (NW1X)/Opt. Clm ($75,000), 6-2, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:45.03, ft. WITH DIGNITY, f, 3, Declaration of War 1st Dam: Ivory Empress, by Seeking the Gold 2nd Dam: Madame Pandit, by Wild Again 3rd Dam: Tuesday Evening, by Nodouble Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $104,496. Click for the Equibase.com chart or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. O/B-Whitham Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-Ian R. Wilkes. The post McCraken Half Sis Named ‘Rising Star’ Like Big Bro appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Demarchelier was in good shape the morning of June 2, the day after his Pennine Ridge Stakes (G3T) victory at Belmont Park, Chad Brown reported. The 3-year-old is on course to make his next appearance in the Belmont Derby Invitational (G1T) July 6. View the full article

Jean-Claude Rouget proved himself to be a modern master for the Chantilly classics once again as Sottsass flew home under supersub Cristian Demuro June 2 to defeat red-hot favorite Persian King in record-breaking time. 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 a sibling to a recent Classic winner. 5.05 Gowran Park, Mdn, €12,500, 3yo/up, c/g, 9f 100yT UP HELLY AA (IRE) (Galileo {Ire}) bids to build on a highly encouraging debut at Cork where he lost out only to TDN Rising Star Brogue (GB) (Frankel {GB}) last month. The Niarchos homebred, a son of the fellow Willie McCreery-trained G1 Matron S. heroine Fiesolana (Ire) (Aussie Rules), will be a warm order to go one better in weaker company here. 6.00 Windsor, Novice, £8,000, 2yo, 6f 12yT ETON COLLEGE (IRE) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) debuts for Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum and Mark Johnston three weeks after his half-sister Castle Lady (Ire) (Shamardal) captured the G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches. Also a half to the useful Top Score (GB) (Hard Spun) from the family of Raven’s Pass, the May-foaled bay faces a dozen rivals, four of which already have vital experience. 6.15 Wolverhampton, Novice, £5,800, 2yo, 6f 20y (AWT) YALATA (GB) (Fast Company {Ire}) is a half-brother to the G1 Flying Five winner Havana Grey (GB) (Havana Gold {Ire}) who debuts for Godolphin’s Charlie Appleby stable. Grey like that consistent sprinter, he meets six rivals on the Polytrack. The post Observations: June 3, 2019 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Juddmonte Farms homebred Tacitus, with Jose Ortiz up for trainer Bill Mott, breezed five furlongs in 1:00.42 over Big Sandy the morning of June 2 in preparation for the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets (G1) at Belmont Park. View the full article

Juddmonte Farms’ homebred Tacitus (Tapit), with Jose Ortiz up for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, breezed a bullet five furlongs in 1:00.42 (1/16) Sunday morning at Belmont in preparation for Saturday’s GI Belmont S. Working in company with Juddmonte maiden Tide of the Sea (English Channel), the third finisher in the GI Kentucky Derby galloped out well in front of his workmate. “He was moving very good, very level and very even. He went along in ’12s’ every furlong and went out strong enough,” said Mott. “It was very similar to last week. Once he gets in his rhythm he moves very nicely.” The post Tacitus Records Bullet in Final Belmont Tune-Up appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival kicks off June 6 with three feature races, the $200,000 Intercontinental Stakes (G3T), $200,000 Wonder Again Stakes (G3T), and $150,000 Astoria Stakes, for fillies and mares at Belmont Park. View the full article

The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival kicks off June 6 with three feature races—the $200,000 Intercontinental Stakes (G3T), $200,000 Wonder Again Stakes (G3T), and $150,000 Astoria Stakes—for fillies and mares at Belmont Park. View the full article

On Monday, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein called for a moratorium on horse racing at Santa Anita, as well as the need for a “thorough investigation of practices and conditions” in the sport. The Democratic Senator from California does not have the power to close racing at Santa Anita, but her voice is a powerful and influential one and her latest statement further tightened the noose around Santa Anita’s neck. Not that everyone, be they a politician, an animal rights activist, an owner, trainer, even a $2 bettor, should not want horse racing to be as safe as possible for the equine athletes, but the timing of her assault on the sport was not fair. It was also a sign that this issue is just not going to go away easily. Not when Santa Anita has done so much to turn the corner and so few horses have broken down since the initial rash of fatalities. And at least one of the accusations she leveled was preposterous. She implied that the over-racing of horses may be part of the problem. Someone on her staff should have told her that in the long history of the sport, horses have, as a whole, never raced so infrequently. Under the leadership of The Stronach Group, Santa Anita has taken strides to make the sport as safe as possible that are unprecedented. After many of the steps were implemented following the deaths of 23 horses, Santa Anita went six weeks without a single fatality, during which time some 50,000 horses either raced, worked or trained at the Southern California track. Just as the furor was starting to die down, three more horses died within a recent nine-day period. Feinstein had already called for racing to be suspended in April during the height of the hysteria over the 23 fatal breakdowns that began with the start of the meet. She reacted again after the three latest deaths and PETA followed up with a press release calling for the suspension of racing nationwide “until every racing jurisdiction matches or surpasses what California has done.” PETA also chose to go after New York, claiming that 15 horses had died at New York tracks so far this year. The period during which the 23 horses died was among the ugliest in racing history, and, to this date, no one has really put their finger on just what caused this to happen. The best guess is that an unusually rainy period caused havoc with the track and made it unsafe. Santa Anita management did the right thing and has said that should there ever again be a situation where the amount of rain is comparable to what it was last winter, it will simply close until the track has had a chance to right itself. That’s why this Santa Anita meet has to be looked at as two separate meets, the before and the after. The before period covers opening day, Dec. 26 until Mar. 8. Afterward, Santa Anita shut down for 21 days and management did everything within its power to correct the problem. The after period began Mar. 29 when Santa Anita re-opened. Since, three horses have broken down, and two of the three fatalities occurred due to problems that were out of the ordinary–not ones related to a horse breaking a leg during training and racing. That means that over a 55-day period, three horses have died at Santa Anita. Unfortunately, that number is not at all out of the ordinary. In a sport where fatalities are unavoidable, since Mar. 29 Santa Anita, by any measure, simply has not been an unsafe racetrack. All of which begs the question: What do PETA and other animal rights activists want? If it is for racing to follow, or even go beyond the protocols, that The Stronach Group has implemented and racing follows suit, then a cease fire is possible. But everyone in racing should be worried that even that won’t be enough. You can bring back synthetic tracks, ban every drug under the sun, get rid of whips, kick out every trainer who doesn’t give their horses the very best care possible or is believed to use performance-enhancing drugs and still horses will die. That’s the cold, harsh reality of horse racing. Can the animal rights community accept that? Is one death one too many, and, to them, reason why horse racing should be banned nationwide? If so, racing may well be mired in a fight it cannot win. People in horse racing love to hate PETA, and PETA often gives them good reason to do so (e.g. blaming jockey Gabriel Saez for the breakdown of Eight Belles in the GI Kentucky Derby). But for a group that so many have labeled as out-of-control radicals, its reaction to the Santa Anita situation has been somewhat subdued. I asked PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo what her organization does and does not find tolerable and this was her answer: “That’s a complicated question. I don’t accept, first of all, that it’s proven that horses will die no matter what. First of all, horses die, humans die, all animals die, I get that and that’s going to happen in any endeavor where horses are used. But I don’t think that nearly enough has been done to know whether or not we can get that fatality rate down to zero. At the very least, everybody should be trying to get there and doing everything possible.” And what if every track in the U.S. got as serious about safety issues as Santa Anita has? “I look at what Santa Anita has done, they had that six weeks after they implemented the first rules,” she said. “We felt those rules were fantastic but not strong enough. We think there is more that can be done and we’re working with them on that right now and with the California Horse Racing Board. So, I think more can be done. They had those six weeks with no problems, and then they had some odd things that came up. They weren’t really odd, it’s just that the rules weren’t yet strong enough to deal with those things that had happened, so they strengthened the rules again.” But does the number have to be zero? “I want to see racing try to get to zero, and then we’ll see,” Guillermo said. “We’ll see how close they get. That’s certainly our goal and it should be that. If it can’t be done, then we’ll look at what the situation is then, but we aren’t anywhere near that now.” That is a cryptically uncomfortable answer. But, at the very least, Guillermo has said that PETA’s primary focus right now is only on getting all tracks to adopt the strictest safety standards and protocols possible. The good news is that PETA, itself, does not intend to get a measure on the California ballot to ban horse racing. “It’s 600,000 signatures to get something on a ballot initiative in California, which is possible,” she said. “You can get the 600,000 signatures, but it is a tremendous effort to do a ballot initiative. It’s extremely expensive. It’s not what PETA does. We work very little on legislation.” Yet, Guillermo said that there are other animal rights forces out there that might just be inclined to get a racing ban on the ballot. Does she hear any rumblings that outside groups with deep-pocketed donors might be interested in this ballot initiative? “The reason it keeps coming up is that the organization we’ve been working with on the legislative end is a group called Social Compassion and Legislation,” she said. “They work on animal issues in the California legislation mostly to do with burn testing and things like that. They became involved in the horse racing issue because they have donors who are billionaires who are concerned. So, there are people who float this idea who might do it. I do hear rumblings [regarding a ballot initiative]. I do hear that all the time. I haven’t heard that anyone has a plan under way right now. There is a wait-and-see, what-is-going-to-happen next attitude.” What is going to happen next? This is a sport that has a U.S. Senator (Feinstein), a U.S. Congresswomen (Judy Chu), the Governor of California (Gavin Newsom) and the entire animal rights community on its back and watching its every move. To ignore them and their demands for serious reform would be foolish, if not suicidal. The Santa Anita meet does not end until June 23. The sport would have to be very lucky for there not to be at least one more fatality at that track between now and closing day. Let’s hope it doesn’t happen, but what if it does? What happens if there are three or four? Will the “other side” realize that is a sad and unfortunate part of a sport that is steeped in history, is an economic engine that provides tens of thousands of jobs across the country and that the vast majority of racehorses are pampered and beloved by their owners and trainers? Will it accept that if serious efforts to make the sport as safe as possible are undertaken, racing has earned the right to carry on and vow to continue to make the sport as safe as possible? Or will it say no sport in which any animals die for the pleasure and economic benefit of human beings is acceptable? And will the voting public agree? That question is inevitably going to be answered. Hold your breath. The post The Week in Review: So, What Would It Take to Appease Animal Rights Activists? appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

GIN AND PLATONIC (c, 2, Medal Count–Blue Samurai, by Orientate), 2-1 while bidding to become the first winner for his freshman sire (by Dynaformer), dueled and dug in to prevail Sunday at the shore. Breaking from the rail, the :10 flat breezer was quickest from the gate and immediately opened up a clear advantage. Longshot Shield of Faith (King Puma) soon rushed up to challenge, and that pair engaged in a stretch-long battle that saw Gin and Platonic edge away by a half-length. He stopped the clock in :52.75. Sales history: $2,500 Ylg ’18 FTKFEB; $3200 RNA Ylg ’18 OBSOCT; $45,000 2yo ’19 OBSMAR. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0. O-Mr. Amore Stable. B-Allen Poindexter, Kevin Welsh & Deann Baer (Ky). T-Kelly Breen. The post Medal Count Gets First Winner at Monmouth appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

When a horseman as seasoned as Bill Landes ventures the possibility that Mitole may be the fastest Thoroughbred ever raised at Hermitage Farm, it is time to hang onto our hats. Hermitage, after all, first sent up a yearling to auction in 1937; and Landes himself has been there since 1977. The man who hired him, Warner L. Jones Jr., had bred Dark Star, the only horse ever to beat Native Dancer; while in his own time Landes, named Ted Bates Farm Manager of the Year in 2017, has handled animals as resonant as Woodman, Northern Trick, world-record yearling Seattle Dancer and, more recently, West Coast (Flatter). Those of us fearing that we might be getting carried away by Mitole, then, can be grateful for an authentic depth of perspective from Landes as the horse prepares for the GI Met Mile on Belmont Stakes Day. But Landes can also furnish a different kind of balance, our recent examination of Mitole’s Grade I breakthrough on the Derby undercard having largely focused on the premature exile to Japan of his sire, Eskendereya (Giant’s Causeway). For Mitole’s rise actually evokes a far more grievous loss, in the death only this spring of a man saluted by Landes as the pre-eminent small breeder in America. Again, Landes makes that judgement advisedly. Yet little of the evidence available in its support was summoned by reports of the passing of Edward A. Cox Jr. in March. The giddy progress of a colt Cox sold for just $20,000, as a yearling, provides a happy cue to redress that omission. Let’s start at the end; at the dispersal of his stock, starting at Keeneland last September. Because that brought with it a memory Landes will always hold dear. Maybe a year ago now Cox had called him, and told him he was a sick man. He needed to get everything straight, for his extremely large and loving family. His longstanding associate Seth Hancock would handle the dispersal. So Landes and his team performed their last, poignant service for Cox with all their usual professionalism, prepping the weanlings and mares before sending them over to the sales team at Claiborne for November. “And Ed flew down from Chicago, with his brother John and son John, and took his usual seat at the absolute back of the pavilion,” Landes recalls of Cox’s final visit to the sales, in September. “That was his spot for years, he called it the gunfighter’s position. Nobody could come up behind and, as it’s in the dark, nobody could know when he was bidding. So he set up there and, during the course of that afternoon he had us all come by for a chat and a picture.” Bill Harrigan, Anthony Stroud, Landes: each knew Cox’s exacting standards, and his fidelity. Then, in November, they watched as 20 head of horse realised $3.7 million, headlined by the $725,000 given for a Pulpit half-sister to Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}), in foal to Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie). “It was sad, because we knew how this was going to end,” Landes says. “But we still we had one weanling left over. He’d just been a little behind, a little immature. Christmas time, January, Ed still sounded pretty good. But he said: ‘Landes, get him sold.’ Because he wanted to clean things up for his family. Of all things, an Oxbow colt out of Indian Miss.” Indian Miss. Time to wind back the clock. Because this was actually this was the second time Cox had broken up his stable. The seeds of his Turf career had been sown on honeymoon, in 1960, when Cox and his young wife Rose stopped in Louisville. Landes believes that it was there and then that their paths crossed with Warner Jones. “Ed was a dealer in commodities,” explains Landes. “And these guys are gamblers. They’re gambling on rain, they’re gambling on drought. Ed told me one day how his college professor had taught him the most valuable lesson of his life: that purchasing one bushel of corn can control 10 bushels of corn, through the options process. “And all those guys on the Chicago Board of Trade, when they weren’t trading soya beans, they were running horses against each other. People like Gene Cashman, who owned Elocutionist [winner of the 1973 Preakness]. That’s when Arlington was really something. Mr. Jones used to train in Chicago himself, so he hooked Ed up with one of the old-time trainers up there, Joe Bollero, and they had a lot of success.” Cox joined a glittering roster of Hermitage boarding clients in the 1980s, with the likes of Joe Allen, John Schiff, Craig Singer and David Reynolds; and Jones steered his matings towards Claiborne, having learned the trade alongside Bull Hancock when both were sent to Europe as young men. As Jones did not want to be responsible for the sale of yearling boarders, he also introduced Cox to the father of the sales prep business, Lee Eaton. So the Hermitage team would get the weanlings through the winter, and in springtime van them over to Eaton. Landes remembers in 1987 loading up a Danzig colt Cox had bred from a mare by Hoist The Flag. “We had these old trailers,” recalls Landes. “And there was about a six- or eight-inch gap to the ramp. And of course this colt had to pop his foot right in there. I just about died. I think the van companies have changed their alignment since that day.” Luckily the colt was patched up okay for the July Sale, where Sheikh Mohammed bought him for $900,000. As Shaadi, he proceeded to become one of the best milers of his generation in Europe. That same spring, Cox’s next crop had included a Conquistador Cielo colt, the first foal of a Vice Regent mare he had bought from E.P. Taylor. “Her name was Regent’s Walk, and I’ll never forget the day she came off the van,” Landes says. “It was a cold winter day but that might have been the most stunning horse I ever saw. I just thought, ‘Wow!’ Big, rangy, there wasn’t a whole lot of femininity about her. And that first foal, he taped out at 130, 140 lbs. It’s a very inexact science, I know, but ever since that has always been my standard. Because when you weigh a new foal out at that level, chances are good things follow.” They certainly did in his case. After starting his racing career in England, Marquetry returned to win Grade Is at four, five and six. Danzig and Conquistador Cielo, as covers, typified the relationship Cox had developed with Claiborne; and indeed in 1984 he had partnered with the farm–along with Peter Brant and William Haggin Perry–in its tragic homebred champion Swale (Seattle Slew). But it was with Jones that Cox co-bred perhaps his most significant horse, in Woodman. Out of the Buckpasser mare Playmate, a sister to Numbered Account purchased from Ogden Phipps, Woodman made $3 million as a yearling at the 1984 July Sale. He showed enough brilliance in a brief career to ride the crest of the commercial wave for his sire Mr Prospector and, despite champion runners either side of the ocean, perhaps achieved his most lasting impact as broodmare sire of More Than Ready. Though he had his brains trust–Seth Hancock, and Stroud, and Harrigan who broke the young horses, and of course Landes himself–Cox knew his mind. “I think most of those guys on the Chicago Board of Trade, back in the day, were their own man!” says Landes with a laugh. “Make no mistake, Ed picked his mares out. When it came to buying into families, that was him. He had an affinity and great respect for Phipps mares, though in retrospect he didn’t buy that many; whereas he did buy quite a few from Windfields. And while Anthony [Stroud] had influence, with the stallions, Ed made all his own mating decisions. “He’d love to get me and Anthony to his hotel during the September Sale and have a back-and-forth. He’d love to get us engaged, and he would defer to us on conformation. But Ed would make his own opinion. For every 10 stallions I would identify for him, he would maybe bite on one or two. My ‘attaboy’ was when he said: ‘You got that one right, Bill.’ And that was rare!” In 1998–and Landes never really figured out why–Cox “pretty well got the heck out” of the business. Even Classy Cathy (Private Account) went, a triple Grade I winner, for $725,000. (She turns up as fourth dam of GI Florida Derby winner Audible (Into Mischief).) And that appeared to be that. Landes had meanwhile stayed on at Hermitage to manage the farm for Carl Pollard, following the death of Jones in 1994. And one day in late 2006, Cox telephoned out of the blue. Hermitage’s neighbours at Longfield had just failed to sell a couple of mares at Keeneland November, and Cox had bought them privately. “He just couldn’t stand not being part of the action,” says Landes affectionately. “And there he was on the phone, saying, ‘I bought these mares next door, will you go over and get them?’ And I said, ‘Well, hell yeah.'” The Cox revival was highlighted by his purchase, for $350,000 at Keeneland in November 2008, of a weanling half-sister by Giant’s Causeway to Medaglia d’Oro, whose first crop had just set out and would produce the next Horse of the Year in Rachel Alexandra. Naples Bay went on to render herself still more valuable with two graded stakes wins for Christophe Clement, and made $3.6 million from M.V. Magnier when sold in foal to War Front in 2014. A less conspicuous chapter in the renascence had seen Cox send Landes to the 2008 January Sale, for Glacken’s Gal (Smoke Glacken), winner of her only two starts. She was out of a Silver Deputy mare named Lady Diplomat, whose yearling daughter Cox had bought the previous September. Cox sent Glacken’s Girl to Indian Charlie, and the resulting filly to veteran Chicago trainer James DeVito. “She ran a couple of times and showed a little bit of talent, but then developed a chip in her knee,” Landes says. “So Ed retired her, and she was there for the taking at $10,000. But the best bid he could get was $5,000, there was a bunch of agents who wouldn’t come up with the money. So he kept her.” Mitole is her second foal. Buried in the September Sale as Hip 2520, he was picked out by Chestnut Valley Farm for $20,000-even though Glacken’s Girl has since produced GII winner Live Lively (Medaglia d’Oro)–and was pinhooked through Grassroots Training & Sales for $140,000 to William and Corinne Heiligbrodt’s East Hickman Bloodstock at OBS April. Like so many good ones, Mitole never really drew attention to himself on the farm. “He was not spectacular but there was just never anything wrong with him,” recalls Landes. “One day he was with his mother in a 40-acre field, with about eight other mares and their foals, and by the fence. And I just stood back and looked at him and I said, ‘You know, there is nothing wrong with this horse.’ But Ed had enough horses he needed to sell, and didn’t like to keep colts.” The ongoing bloom of Mitole is obviously all the more poignant, given the subsequent dispersal of the stable and then Cox’s passing days before the birth of his 39th grandchild. “His kids came down to Churchill to see Mitole’s race,” Landes says. “They shed a tear, and took great pride. Their dad, oh my God, he would not brag. He was very quiet, would just take personal satisfaction in what he produced. And whenever he said to me, ‘Landes, you raised a good horse,’ that meant more to me than anything. Because he’d also let you know when you screwed up!” Landes admits that he was surprised when Cox declared that Indian Miss would go to Eskendereya. “But like I said, he was his own man,” he reflects. “He was very loyal: with Anthony, with Hermitage. When he made his comeback, he could have gone to 100 different farms. But he was a demanding person, too. Not in any kind of negative way. Just that there were very few bases on balls, to use a baseball phrase he favoured. You gave him your word, and you did the best you could for him. And when he was playful, there never was a more fun person I’d rather talk to. The phrases he had. He would call me up at the end of the day, when I was tired and done, and he’d say, ‘Landes, you sound lower than whales**t in the ocean!'” Landes did his very best to maximize the dispersal, pushing the boat out to get Indian Miss to Into Mischief, albeit on a very late cover. As such, she turns out to have been extremely well bought by WinStar at $240,000. And that last remnant of the stable, sold as a short yearling? The Oxbow colt out of Indian Miss? He made $17,000 to Erickson Equine. “Bob Feld ended up buying him from Jim Herbener’s consignment at Fasig-Tipton February,” Landes says. “And I think that little bugger’s going to turn out. When we took him over the sale grounds, you could see he was heading the right way. The Felds made a very astute purchase, and now they have a half to a Grade I winner. “I’m proud of Mitole, as another Grade I winner for our farm, with 30 or 40 foals a year. But for him to have been bred by Ed Cox, shoot, that means a lot to me. So I’d love for him to go and be all he can be.” The post Mitole: A Memento to Ed Cox appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Master Fencer will resurface June 8 in New York for the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) with hopes of becoming the first Japanese horse to capture an American Triple Crown race. View the full article

Master Fencer will re-surface June 8 in New York for the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) with hopes of becoming the first Japanese horse to capture an American Triple Crown race. View the full article

1st-Listowel, €17,000, Mdn, 6-2, 2yo, 6f 60yT, 1:22.06, yl. BETWEEN HILLS (IRE) (f, 2, Hot Streak {Ire}–Breedj {Ire} {SP-Eng}, by Acclamation {GB}), who shaped with a degree of promise in her Apr. 28 debut third at Navan last time, broke well to race in a prominent third, but was shuffled back to sixth after clipping the fence approaching halfway. Coming under pressure rounding the home turn, the 4-1 third choice went third passing the furlong marker and was driven out to deny Erlking (Ire) (Starspanglebanner {Aus}) by a neck nearing the line, becoming the first winner for her Tweenhills Stud-based freshman sire (by Iffraaj {GB}). “She did very well to win as she hit the rail after about two furlongs and I went from being in a great position to being in a terrible position,” explained rider Shane Foley. “She’s not short of gears, but I think she will stay seven furlongs. She was unlucky at Navan and it was nice to see her put her head in front here. Mrs [Jessica] Harrington has some lovely 2-year-olds and it’s great that a few of them are starting to win now.” Half-sister to a yearling filly by The Last Lion (Ire), the bay becomes the third scorer for Listed Marygate Fillies’ S. runner-up Breedj (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), herself out of an unraced half to stakes-winning G3 Vintage S. third Shaard (Ire) (Anabaa), from a family featuring GI Hollywood Futurity-winning sire Stormello (Stormy Atlantic). Sales history: €88,000 Ylg ’18 GOFOR. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-1, $13,371. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. O-Mrs P K Cooper, Russell B Jones Jr, Susan Prichard-Jones & Jessica Harrington; B-Mrs Brid Cosgrove (IRE); T-Jessica Harrington. The post Freshman Sire Hot Streak Off the Mark at Listowel appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The Classic double was not to be on Sunday as the G1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains hero Persian King (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) succumbed to White Birch Farm’s Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) in the G1 QIPCO Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly. So impressive when scoring by 6 1/2 lengths in testing ground in the 10-furlong Listed Prix de Suresnes here May 2, Sottsass was settled in mid-division by Cristian Demuro and had dead aim on Persian King as that 9-5 favourite took over with two furlongs remaining. Swamping him almost a furlong later, the 13-1 chance powered away to score by two lengths in course-record time, with Motamarris (Ire) (Le Havre {Ire}) the same margin away in third. The winning time was an astounding 2:02.90, the fastest Jockey Club by almost three seconds since it was chopped to this trip from a mile and a half in 2005 and the fastest ever race run at this track over this distance by more than a second. Jean-Bernard Roth, the long-time assistant to Rouget, revealed that the absent trainer had suffered a minor stroke on Saturday night and watched the race from his hospital bed. “This is a long-term job and we always believed in the horse who was well-chosen at the sales and has been improving regularly,” he said. “This is really a great moment and a great team effort and everyone has to be congratulated. The jockey did a superb job and also the track management who have provided us with a superb course for the day. It was a great performance and I know he beat the track record, but sometimes this is something that we don’t like to hear too much because then there is talk about long recovery or problems, so we will have to wait and see how he comes out of the race. M. Rouget will decide his future.” Sunday, Chantilly, France QIPCO PRIX DU JOCKEY CLUB-G1, €1,500,000, Chantilly, 6-2, 3yo, c/f, 10 1/2fT, 2:02.90 (NTR), gd. 1–SOTTSASS (FR), 128, c, 3, by Siyouni (Fr) 1st Dam: Starlet’s Sister (Ire), by Galileo (Ire) 2nd Dam: Premiere Creation (Fr), by Green Tune 3rd Dam: Allwaki, by Miswaki 1ST GROUP WIN; 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (€340,000 Ylg ’17 ARAUG). O-White Birch Farm; B-Ecurie des Monceaux (FR); T-Jean-Claude Rouget; J-Cristian Demuro. €857,100. Lifetime Record: 5-3-0-0, €904,800. *1/2 to Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}), Ch. Turf Female-US, MGISW-US, GSW & G1SP-Fr, $2,575,603; and My Sister Nat (Fr) (Acclamation {GB}), GSW-Fr, $104,972. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. 2–Persian King (Ire), 128, c, 3, Kingman (GB)–Pretty Please (Ire), by Dylan Thomas (Ire). O-Godolphin & Ballymore Thoroughbred Ltd; B-Dayton Investments (Breeding) Ltd (IRE); T-Andre Fabre. €342,900. 3–Motamarris (Ire), 128, c, 3, Le Havre (Ire)–Thamarat (GB), by Anabaa. O-Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum; B-Shadwell Estate Company Ltd (IRE); T-Freddy Head. €171,450. Margins: 2, 2, 3/4. Odds: 13.60, 1.80, 8.80. Also Ran: Cape of Good Hope (Ire), Roman Candle (GB), Rockemperor (Ire), Mohawk (Ire), Surfman (GB), Kick On (GB), Raise You (Ire), Joe Francais (Fr), Slalom (Fr), Zarkallani (Fr), Blenheim Palace (Ire), Starmaniac (GB). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. The post Siyouni’s Sottsass Downs Persian King In the Jockey Club appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Juddmonte’s Obligate (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who led throughout when securing a Nov. 9 newcomers’ heat going 7 1/2 furlongs at Saint-Cloud, mirrored those tactics to earn a first stakes rosette with a 3 1/2-length triumph in Chantilly’s May 6 Listed Prix des Lilas on seasonal return last time and didn’t waiver from her tried and tested method to deny familiar rival Pure Zen (Fr) (Zoffany {Ire}) in Sunday’s G2 Prix de Sandringham back over the same one-mile trip at Chantilly. Sharply away from the outside stall to set a solid pace two lengths clear on the front end until turning for home, the 9-10 favourite was allowed a breather in the straight before stirring into action when threatened by closest pursuer Pure Zen with 300 metres remaining and kept on resolutely under a late drive to bravely hold that persistent challenger by a head in race-record time. “She’s a very talented filly, but is not easy to train as she has a tendency to be quite keen,” explained trainer Pascal Bary. “She shows it going to post and again in her races, but she makes good use of her early speed and big stride. Besides having class, she has a huge heart and gives everything she has in every race. That was a hard race for her so we’ll see how she comes out of it before making any plans. I think she has the speed for seven furlongs so the [July 7 G1] Prix Jean Prat [at Deauville] could be a possibility for her next race.” Obligate is the first foal produced by the unraced Responsible (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and the homebred bay is a full-sister to the hitherto unraced 2-year-old colt Indigo Lake (GB) and a yearling filly. Her dam, a daughter of Listed Prix des Sablonnets victress and storied blue hen Hasili (Ire) (Kahyasi {Ire}), is kin to top-level performers Intercontinental (GB) (Danehill), Heat Haze (GB) (Green Desert), Deluxe (Storm Cat), Cacique (Ire) (Danehill), Champs Elysees (GB) (Danehill), Dansili (GB) (Danehill) and Banks Hill (GB) (Danehill). The latter is the dam of G1 Prix Jean Romanet heroine Romantica (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) and MSW sire Ideal World (Kingmambo) while Heat Haze (GB) produced G3 Glorious S. winner Mirage Dancer (GB) (Frankel {GB}), GI Maker’s Mile S. third Forge (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Listed Michael Seely Memorial Fillies’ S. runner-up Radiator (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). Sunday, Chantilly, France PRIX DE SANDRINGHAM-G2, €130,000, Chantilly, 6-2, 3yo, f, 8fT, 1:34.59 (NSR), gd. 1–OBLIGATE (GB), 123, f, 3, by Frankel (GB) 1st Dam: Responsible (GB), by Oasis Dream (GB) 2nd Dam: Hasili (Ire), by Kahyasi (Ire) 3rd Dam: Kerali (GB), by High Line (GB) 1ST GROUP WIN. O-Khalid Abdullah; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd (GB); T-Pascal Bary; J-Pierre-Charles Boudot. €74,100. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, €115,100. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. 2–Pure Zen (Fr), 123, f, 3, Zoffany (Ire)–Dolce Attesa (GB), by Dr Fong. O/B-Scuderia Micolo SNC (FR); T-Gianluca Bietolini. €28,600. 3–Glance (GB), 123, f, 3, Dansili (GB)–Look So (GB), by Efisio (GB). O-J H Richmond-Watson; B-Lawn Stud (GB); T-Ralph Beckett. €13,650. Margins: HD, 1 1/4, NK. Odds: 0.90, 14.00, 19.00. Also Ran: Hidden Message, Matematica (Ger), Olympe (Fr), Rocques (Fr). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. The post Frankel Filly Stays Perfect in the Sandringham appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

John Moore insists he has no regrets about not travelling to Japan with Beauty Generation after watching Almond Eye go under in the Yasuda Kinen, but he believes his superstar would have been in the finish.After much deliberation, Moore and connections opted to stay at home with the reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year instead of taking on the likes of Almond Eye and Danon Premium in Tokyo, so he watched the race with interest on Sunday.Nothing went right for the two big guns – they were… View the full article

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You could be forgiven for thinking there is little left to say about Zac Purton’s dominance but the champion Australian again raised the bar at Sha Tin on Sunday.By collecting his second six-timer in eight days, Purton smashed Joao Moreira’s record for prize money in a season of HK$207,249,727 and raced past his previous personal best win total of 136 with 11 meetings remaining.He now has 140 winners for the term, his mounts have won HK$211,793,265 and while the accolades have been coming thick… View the full article

John Oxley's Moon Colony planted his victory flag June 1, taking the $500,000 Penn Mile (G2T) at Penn National Race Course with a late-running charge down the inside rail. View the full article