Wandering Eyes

We had a good start to the week with Ontthefrontfoot making it 2-2 over hurdles at Cartmel on Monday. He was a point to point winner in Ireland and seems to be progressing nicely. It’s going to be a quiet weekend with just the two runners on Saturday. My thoughts on both their chances can […] The post Donald McCain Blog – Weekend Runners appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

I LOVE Epsom and it holds many happy memories for me as I was fortunate enough to win the Oaks four times and the Derby three times during my career. There is going to be some excellent action over the next couple of days and hopefully I can point you in the direction of a […] The post Kieren Fallon Epsom Blog appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the late owner of Leicester City, also dreamed of success on the racetrack and on Saturday tears could flow if he wins English racing’s blue-riband event of the turf, the Epsom Derby, with the Silvestre de Sousa-ridden Bangkok.A helicopter crash last October outside Leicester’s stadium killed Vichai and provoked an outpouring of grief in the city, where he invested about £30 million (HK$297 million) in 60 horses in recent years.Vichai enjoyed some success – he had two… View the full article

The Tony and Lyn Prendergast-trained Who Dares Wins recorded a hat-trick of wins at Riccarton on Friday when taking out the Christchurch Casino Open (1600m). The six-year-old son of Iffraaj recorded stakes victories in the Listed Easter Cup (1600m) and Gr.3 Canterbury Gold Cup (2000m) in April and punters duly installed him as a $3.40 favourite for Friday’s contest. He did not disappoint, winning by a neck over the fast-finishing Owen Patrick, with a further three-quarters of a length back to ... View the full article

Trainer Mike Moroney is pleased with the progress of his three runners at Doomben on Saturday, with the trio set to improve markedly from their first runs straight off the plane from New Zealand. Tough-as-teak filly Pinmedown will represent the stable in the Gr.1 Queensland Oaks (2200m) for which she is a $31 chance. The Group Two winner finished 12th in the Gr.2 The Roses (2000m) at Doomben three weeks’ ago and Moroney believes the flight over took its toll. “I think she was just a little... View the full article

Fulife King scores in a thriller View the full article

Jason Lim off the mark with West North Hill View the full article

From the wilderness to hitting his Straps View the full article

Surpass Natural scores impressively on debut View the full article

Horses' body weights May 31 View the full article

Track conditions and course scratchings May 31 View the full article

Former Kranji trainer John Meagher inducted into Australian Racing Hall of Fame View the full article

After emphatically ending a seven-race skid in her previous outing, HS Stable and Martin and Pam Wygod's Paradise Woods will try to build on that success June 1 in the $200,000 Santa Maria Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park. View the full article

Multiple stakes winner Yorkton looks to rebound off an off-key effort as the Chiefswood Stables' homebred takes to the turf in the $175,000 Connaught Cup Stakes (G2T) June 1 at Woodbine. View the full article

A noticeable change in attitude is giving Hastings trainer John Bary optimism for a bold showing from Dalghar filly Cinzento in Saturday's Listed John Turkington Forestry Castletown Stakes (1200m) at Wanganui. Bary describes Cinzento's demeanour as far more mellow as she prepares for the first two-year-old stakes race of winter. "She's a grey and she's a Dalghar so we're hoping that's the right combination to pull off a winter feature," Bary said. "She's done a bit wrong so far and beaten hersel... View the full article

Three-time Group Two winner Ocean Emperor has been retired from racing and is about to embark on a stud career. “He’s not going to race again, and now I’m looking for a home for him to stand at stud,” trainer and part-owner Gary Hennessy said. By Zabeel out of the Group One-placed Pins mare Tootsie, Ocean Emperor was a $450,000 yearling purchase at Karaka. He was raced by Hennessy in partnership with Andrew Wong and Stephen Yan – the same team that owned the Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m... View the full article

Any number of “Best Racehorses In History” lists could be made, with each one different and that’s the beauty of our sport. Some people love horses for some strange reason and their favourite horse might not even win a race. I have taken a look back at some of the greats that have graced the […] The post Best Racehorses In History appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Daddy's Boo, a "horse for the course," appears to be the one to catch in the $100,000 Arlington Matron Stakes (G3) June 1 on the Arlington International Racecourse all-weather track. View the full article

Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Center in Georgetown, Ky, is introducing a new fan-based membership initiative, “The Hoof Patrol,” which will serve to educate members and aid with equine retirees facing costly and ongoing hoof-related issues. Members who join the The Hoof Patrol will be able to choose from different levels of support, and their contribution will supply a continuous funding stream to for Old Friends retirees that have short and long-term ailments–everything from common abscesses to serious issues such as Laminitis. All Hoof Patrol memberships will include a gift of an official key chain, a full year of email updates and information, including spotlight horse case-studies, videos & photos, “Talk to the Hoof” Q & A’s, and photo opportunities with Old Friends Hoof Patrol horses when visiting the farm. The post Old Friends Launches New Membership Program appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Katsumi Yoshizawa’s homebred Master Fencer (Jpn) (Just a Way {Jpn}), a rallying seventh in the GI Kentucky Derby, remains on schedule for the GI Belmont S. He stumbled slightly in the stretch during his five-furlong breeze in 1:01.48 Wednesday morning under training assistant Yosuke Kono. As a precaution, an X-ray was taken of Master Fencer’s front ankles, which did not show any issues. Kono, via translator Mitsuoki Numamoto, said that Master Fencer was sound and in good order. “He got a little inflammation because of the breezing, which is normal,” said Kono. “The X-rays came back totally fine. The vet is not concerned about anything.” Kono said that Master Fencer followed his regular schedule on Thursday morning, which included an opportunity to stretch his legs on the walking path in the back paddock of their barn. “Today, he walked for an hour, which is normal for us the day after a breeze,” said Kono. “Tomorrow, we will go to the paddock for paddock schooling first and then to the main track for a light jog.” Julien Leparoux will retain the mount on Master Fencer for the third leg of the Triple Crown. The post Master Fencer Sound After Stumbling During Wednesday’s Breeze appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

“Back in the early 1970s, you’d see horses bleeding from the nostrils more commonly than you do now,” said trainer Barclay Tagg, who took out his license in 1971. “I had a horse back then that came back after a race, and he was being washed up and suddenly he starts gushing blood from the nostrils. You barely see them bleed from the nostrils now, and that’s because of Lasix.” Tagg said he was a proponent for the use of the diuretic Lasix to combat exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage, or EIPH, a condition that results in bleeding in the lungs from exercise and racing. Its extreme manifestation is epistaxis, or bleeding through the nostrils, and this condition has existed for as long as Thoroughbred history has been recorded over the last 300-plus years. That’s a point that gets forgotten when partisans debate Lasix usage. Lasix officially entered the racing landscape in Maryland in the mid-1970s as a therapeutic treatment to reduce the effects of EIPH and is now used almost exclusively on most racehorses in this country on race days, though race-day Lasix is prohibited abroad. As a diuretic, Lasix lowers blood pressure, and this is thought to mitigate bleeding by relieving pressure on capillaries in the lungs that burst during stress. It was known and used by some trainers at least a decade before it was officially sanctioned, and Northern Dancer was reportedly administered the drug by Dr. Alex Harthill for the 1964 Kentucky Derby. “I was good friends with Dr. Harthill, and I can confirm that. He told me personally that he gave it to Northern Dancer,” Tagg said. Lasix usage has been controversial for a long time and is even more so nowadays with the mainstream publicity surrounding the fatalities at Santa Anita, which have somehow been publicly linked to the drug–without the evidence of science. For example, one of the first reforms instituted during the eye of the storm by The Stronach Group (TSG), owner of Santa Anita, was a reduction in the race-day dosage of Lasix, which had the effect of implying to the public that larger doses may have played a part in the breakdowns. Joe Drape in the New York Times was more direct, writing: “[Lasix] is also thought to increase the chance of catastrophic injury to a horse’s thin legs.” I’ve read as many legitimate peer-reviewed scientific papers and studies on Lasix dating back to the 1980s as anyone else, and I’ve yet to come across one that states what Drape did, in one of the most prestigious newspapers in the country no less. TSG’s stance on Lasix is more understandable as a reflexive PR maneuver and a deflection from its racing surface, especially as a Jockey Club-led medication reform federal bill that would ban race-day Lasix was introduced in Congress during this period of tumult at Santa Anita. All of this has unfortunately fudged the lines between cause and effect for legislators like Senator Dianne Feinstein, who has called for a suspension of racing at Santa Anita and a review of medication policies, and journalists like Drape and others reporting on the deaths in mainstream media. Aside from the black eye of the current fatalities at Santa Anita, racing’s image hasn’t been helped over the last five or so years by partisan debates over earlier versions of the current bill in Congress. A lot of the damage is specifically from the chorus of some of the bill’s supporters in the media equating Lasix with illegal “drugging” despite that Lasix is legal and sanctioned by every racing jurisdiction in this country. This confusion has only added to governmental and public perception outside racing circles that the sport and industry is riddled with chronic drug and animal abuse, and it’s brought to the fore groups like the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which was– surprisingly–invited by TSG to the Santa Anita discussions. PETA is now calling for the suspension of racing nationwide until reforms like those instituted at Santa Anita are applied to all tracks in the country, even though the reforms at Santa Anita haven’t completely stopped the fatalities. The net effect is that the industry is under siege from the outside, and within it there’s a chasm between a cadre of wealthy owners and breeders who are against the use of race-day Lasix and who back The Jockey Club’s federal initiative, and trainers and smaller owners on the other side who don’t support the proposed legislation. “Sure, I’d be for getting rid of Lasix,” Tagg said, “if they found another way to treat bleeders that works. Lasix, if used properly, is not as debilitating as people think, either. If they are treated right the next few days after a race and get plenty of fresh water, an electrolyte jug the day after, and get some grazing, they rebound quickly.” Deconstructing this entanglement the industry finds itself in first and foremost requires admitting publicly that EIPH is a real disorder and needs to be addressed and treated one way or another if race-day Lasix is ultimately held as the scapegoat for industry ills and is banned. “Before Lasix, horses were taken off water and food 12 to 24 hours before races,” Tagg said. “You’d feel bad for the poor horses.” Dehydrating them in this manner had the effect of lowering blood pressure, but not as effectively or as humanely as Lasix does. “There was other stuff people would give them, too. Everyone had their potions,” Tagg said, implying that water, hay, and oats alone is a quaint notion. Dallas Stewart came up as a trainer during the Lasix era and said it’s the most inexpensive and efficient way to treat EIPH. “Sure, there are guys that will give them a bunch of stuff, but that’s expensive versus a $20 or $25 shot of Lasix,” he noted. The cost of treating a bleeder for a small owner or trainer would skyrocket without Lasix, and this is another line of demarcation between the two warring sides. And one other thought that no one seems to have addressed while pinning the tail on the donkey that is Lasix: if the diuretic leads to “catastrophic injuries,” as Drape wrote, why would it still be allowed for training? Most bleeders use Lasix far more often in morning workouts than they do in the afternoons. A horse that made 15 lifetime starts on Lasix, for example, might have used it five times as much while training in between starts. EIPH and the Breed… Depending on the study, it’s estimated that between 55% to 95% of racehorses experience some level of EIPH, though between only 1% (lower in some studies) to 4% exhibit epistaxis. Bleeding through the nostrils was the obvious indicator of EIPH until the development of the endoscope and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) allowed for the detection of various levels of blood in the lungs and trachea. Most studies indicate that EIPH becomes more prevalent and acute with age and racing mileage, and one study has suggested that EIPH is heritable and that bleeders should be removed from the breeding population, something that’s been put into practice in Germany, where horses that raced on Lasix are not allowed as breeding stock. One thing is for certain, though: bleeders have been around since the beginning, and many bleeders or descendants of bleeders have had a profound impact on the breed. Bartlett’s Childers (1716), a son of the Darley Arabian–one of the three founding stallions of the Thoroughbred, along with The Byerley Turk and the Godolphin Arabian–was unraced because he was a bleeder (he was also known as Bleeding Childers) but nonetheless became a champion sire and was the great-grandsire of the top racehorse and pivotal stallion Eclipse (1764), to whom most racehorses now trace. Herod (1758) was a contemporary of Eclipse and a descendant of The Byerley Turk. He, too, has been recorded as a bad bleeder–and keep in mind that these horses were known as bleeders only because they exhibited epistaxis. Herod led the sire list for eight consecutive years, and his son Highflyer led the list 13 times. Today this line is all but extinct but has some representation in modern pedigrees primarily through Ahonoora (1975). Hermit (1864), a male-line descendant of Eclipse, was another well-known bleeder. He won the Epsom Derby and led the British sire list seven years straight. One of his daughters produced Gallinule (1884), a stakes-winning 2-year-old colt whose subsequent career was marred by EIPH. He led the British sire list in 1904 and sired the outstanding filly Pretty Polly (1901), who founded an influential family whose impact is still felt today. There are far too many cases of these types to list here, but here’s one more, a contemporary example. Claiborne’s Special (1969) was a talented filly who was unable to race because she was prone to bleeding. Retained as a broodmare, she produced champions Fairy Bridge (1975) and Nureyev (1977), who between them made a total of five starts. Nureyev, a son of Northern Dancer, became an outstanding sire, and Fairy Bridge produced the top racehorse and iconic sire Sadler’s Wells (1981), also a son of Northern Dancer. Sadler’s Wells is, of course, the sire of Galileo (1998), one of the all-time greats. Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks. The post Taking Stock: Beneath Lasix, EIPH Is Real appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

1st-BEL, $80k, 3yo/up, 6fT, 1:30 EST Out of a half-sister to G2 U.A.E Derby S. winner Daddy Long Legs (Scat Daddy), WHISKEY VICTOR (Scat Daddy) aims to replicate that $1.3 million earner’s success as he goes to the post first time out in Saturday’s opener at Belmont. The Breeze Easy- owned colt, a $500,000 KEESEP purchase, has turned in several snappy works in the past month for trainer Wesley Ward at Keeneland, including a May 8 five-eighths in 1.01 (2/22) and a bullet five furlongs out of the gate May 1 in :59 4/5 (1/17). Whiskey Victory was produced by the multiple stakes winning mare Tres Dream (Chester House), the mother of the unraced juvenile colt Spinning Dreams (Hard Spun). TJCIS PPS 4th-SA, $65k, 3yo, 6f, 6:30 EST Godolphin’s COMICAL GHOST (Ghostzapper) appears to be a formidable contender when he makes his debut in the 4th at Santa Anita on Saturday. Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, who has won at whopping 48% with his first-time starters since 2018, the colt has been lighting up the work tab in the mornings, including a May 15 bullet half-mile in :47 (1/14) from the gate at Los Alamitos. Comical Ghost is out of the GISW Hystericalady (Distorted Humor), who was purchased by Godolphin for $3 million at the 2008 KEENOV sale. The 16-year old mare begat last year’s GII Glens Falls S. winner Lady Montdore (Medaglia d’Oro). She currently has a yearling filly by Godolphin stallion Frosted. TJCIS PPS 7th-CD, $95k, 3yo/up, f/m, 7f, 9:05 EST The expectations will be high for Charles Fipke’s homebred filly LEMON’S MEDAGLIA (Medaglia d’Oro) as she enters the starting gate for the first time in the 7th race at Churchill on Saturday. Out of the GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Lemons Forever (Lemon Drop Kid), she is a half-sister to Ch. Older Female and GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Forever Unbidled (Unbridled’s Song) and GISW Unbridled Forever (Unbridled’s Song), both of whom were bred and raced by Fipke. Lemons Forever has produced a yearling full sister to Lemon’s Medaglia. TJCIS PPS The post June 1 Insights: Three Promising Sophomores Debut at Belmont, Churchill, Santa Anita appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The California Governor, Gavin Newsom, has weighed into the ongoing saga embattling the racing industry in the state by throwing his support behind a bill designed to give the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) unilateral authority to immediately suspend racetrack operating licenses—authority the board currently doesn’t have. The bill is making its way through the state legislature. “The recent horse fatalities in California are unacceptable,” said Governor Newsom, in Thursday’s announcement. “We must hold the horse racing industry to account. If we can regulate horse race meets, we should have the authority to suspend licenses when animal or human welfare is at risk.” Newsom’s remarks follow on the heels of renewed calls for racing at Santa Anita to be suspended, as a result of three recent equine fatalities within the space of nine days. Before those fatalities, Santa Anita went nearly seven weeks without a single catastrophic injury during training and racing–a period in which at least 50,000 horses exercised. On top of that, 698 horse raced on the main track and 651 raced on the turf, according to The Stronach Group (TSG) figures. On Monday, California senator Diane Feinstein called for a moratorium on horse racing at Santa Anita, as well as the need for a “thorough investigation of practices and conditions.” On Wednesday, the LA Times editorial board mirrored Feinstein’s remarks, calling for Santa Anita to “end its season and stop racing” until it can produce an explanation for the 26 equine deaths at the track since racing resumed there last December. In a written statement, California Thoroughbred Trainers (CTT) executive director, Alan Balch, didn’t address Newsom’s announcement, but emphasized that “we have a zero tolerance for any accident that we determine, in the aftermath, could have been mitigated or prevented.” As such, suspending racing at Santa Anita at this point could set a “perceived precedent” that racing has to stop “in the aftermath of any accident of any nature,” he warned. “We need to investigate and learn from any accident that occurs, because there are some, and some aspects of them, that are simply beyond our control,” he said. “Racing should not be an exception to the fundamental facts of life,” Balch added. In response to Feinstein’s Monday remarks, California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) chairman Chuck Winner previously told the TDN that he and the board’s executive director, Rick Baedeker, are in communication with California senator Dianne Feinstein’s office as they try to organize a call with the senator “at her convenience” as part of an ongoing dialogue with the influential lawmaker. TSG wrote in an email that “our new practices must be followed by all stakeholders with a zero tolerance approach, and anyone who doesn’t comply will no longer be able to race at any Stronach Group track. Suspending racing at the track now will not advance these efforts, as we will continually strive to improve horse safety at our track now and for years to come.” The post California Governor Newsom Announces Support to Suspend Racetrack Operating Licenses appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The Tattersalls Cheltenham sale season drew to a close on Thursday with the firm’s May Sale, which saw 72% of the lots offered change hands. Five horses made £100,000 or more and an aggregate of £2,341,000 was accrued. The average was £50,891, and the median £45,500. The top lot was Newlands Stables’ 4-year-old gelding Largy Fix (Ire) (Notnowcato {GB}) (lot 39), the four-length winner of a point-to-point on May 18. He was secured by Margaret O’Toole for £170,000. Tattersalls Ireland’s Director of Horses in Training Sales, Richard Pugh, said, “Today at Cheltenham the curtain came down on another successful sales season. Undoubtedly it was the best season to date on the track; history was made with graduate Tiger Roll winning back-to-back Grand Nationals, Envoi Allen declared himself one of the most exciting National Hunt prospects when winning the Grade 1 Champion Bumper at The Festival and an impressive 50 black-type races won by our graduates in the 2018/19 season. In the sales ring, the Festival Sale produced its best-ever set of results and provided the highest priced point-to-point mare on record when My Whirlwind sold for £400,000. “As we break for the season here at Cheltenham, we would like to extend a thank you to our loyal vendors and purchasers and look forward to welcoming you back to this unique venue for the Tattersalls Cheltenham November Sale.” The post Tattersalls Cheltenham Season Closes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Five of the eight horses in Saturday’s GIII Pennine Ridge S. at Belmont are either stakes winners or stakes placed, but it’s possible that two of the other three will be the public’s top two choices, as a pair of British-born, Chad Brown-trained ‘TDN Rising Stars’ try to take center stage. Drawing the rail, a key slot in the nine-furlong test that starts just before the first turn, is Klaravich Stables’ Value Proposition (GB) (Dansili {GB}). The 400,000gns Tattersalls October buy and half-brother to French MG1SW Speedy Boarding (GB) (Sharmadal) was pounded down to 3-4 on debut Apr. 27 at Belmont and did not disappoint. Making a big, sweeping move to the lead on the far turn, the gray stonewalled a challenge in mid-stretch and re-broke to score by 4 1/4 lengths before galloping out far in front with ears pricked, easily good enough for ‘Rising Star’ honors. He shows three local breezes in the interim, capped by a five-furlong turf move around dogs in 1:01 1/5 (2/6) May 25. Two gates to his right will be Peter Brant’s Demarchelier (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). The most expensive of Brown’s blockbuster maiden Tatts haul at 425,000gns–$592,486 U.S.–he finished like a good thing on debut Nov. 21 at Aqueduct to earn a head victory and his ‘Rising Star’ badge. The bay followed that up with a resolute allowance score Apr. 12 at Keeneland and worked heads up with Value Proposition in that aforementioned May 25 breeze (video). A trio of more established rivals figures to make the Brown pair earn it at the very least, however. The Elkstone Group’s Social Paranoia (Street Boss), third in the GIII Pilgrim S. as a juvenile, received a field-best 95 Beyer when breaking his maiden by eight lengths off a six-month layoff Mar. 30 at Gulfstream. The dark bay then checked in third, beaten less than a length in the GII American Turf S. May 4 at Churchill. One spot behind him was Juddmonte Farm’s Seismic Wave (Tapit). Second to Demarchelier in that Nov. 21 heat, the homebred broke his maiden Feb. 16 at Gulfstream and flew through a narrow rail opening late to capture the Cutler Bay S. there Mar. 30. Not normally a quick worker in the mornings, he turned it up with a half-mile bullet in :48 1/5 (1/26) on the Oklahoma at Saratoga May 17. St. Elias Stable’s improving Clint Maroon (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) goes for his fourth straight victory. Earning cap and gown Feb. 6 in Hallandale, he repeated in an optional claimer there Mar. 10 and stepped into stakes company with aplomb when conquering the Woodhaven S. by four lengths Apr. 20 at Aqueduct. The gray gelding took advantage of a lack of resistance on the front end that day, and appears on paper to have a similar pace advantage here. The post Brown Euro Rising Stars Try to Crash Pennine Ridge Party appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article