Wandering Eyes

Sandown host their annual evening meeting featuring the G3 Matchbook Brigadier Gerard S. on Thursday, with Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum’s Matterhorn (Ire) (Raven’s Pass) looking to confirm his aptitude for grass after a fine second in the May 10 G2 Huxley S. Soft ground at Chester took the shine off the impressive Apr. 19 Easter Classic winner on his switch from the all-weather on which he has thrived and connections will get a much truer gauge as to his level on this surface after this test. “You would expect the testing conditions at Chester not to play to his strengths, so back on a quicker surface will be a help,” trainer Mark Johnston’s son and assistant Charlie said. “I know we are biased, but we felt if you ran the race again at Chester things would have panned out differently and he quite possibly could have won. He was just in the wrong place as the race was developing. Forest Ranger got first run on him and he was making ground all the way to the line. It was a good run and a nice run, in that it confirmed the horse is a group-class horse on turf as well as on the all-weather.” In-form Sir Michael Stoute holds the record of winners in the Brigadier Gerard and looks for an 11th renewal with Cheveley Park Stud’s Regal Reality (GB) (Intello {Ger}). Third in the Apr. 26 G2 Sandown Mile, the homebred who captured the G3 Thoroughbred S. at Goodwood in August tries this 10-furlong trip for the first time, while David Menuisier saddles Australian Bloodstock and Clive Washbourn’s Apr. 10 Listed Prix Jacques Laffitte winner Danceteria (Fr) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}). He beat Godolphin’s well-regarded Mer et Nuages (Fr) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) in that nine-furlong test and that form brings him into the reckoning. “He will be racing for new connections–it’s very exciting,” his trainer said. “The horse is in very good form and I thought he did something very special at Maisons-Laffitte. He won his race over about 50 yards and I know Mr Fabre really fancied the second, so that looked a very good race. We’ve always thought a lot of this horse and he has been training well since.” The card’s G3 Matchbook VIP Henry II S. for the stayers features another Hamdan bin Mohammed-Mark Johnston project in Dee Ex Bee (GB) (Farhh {GB}) who proved so dynamic in the G3 Sagaro S. at Ascot last time on May 1. Last year’s G1 Epsom Derby runner-up has a penalty as he is joined by the stable’s Chester Cup hero Making Miracles (Pivotal {GB}), but if he is to challenge Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) in the June 20 G1 Gold Cup he will need to defy it with comfort. “We were very pleased with him at Ascot and there was a case for going straight to the Gold Cup on the back of that,” Charlie Johnston commented. “He’s a horse that took his racing well last year and we felt going the best part of seven weeks between the Sagaro and the Gold Cup wouldn’t be an ideal preparation and another race would benefit him. All of dad’s three Gold Cup winners ran in this race on the way there. That was probably a determining factor in the back of his mind.” ‘TDN Rising Star’ Sangarius (GB) (Kingman {GB}) reappears in the Listed Matchbook Low Commission Exchange Heron S. with expectations high that he can make a splash this term. Having beaten the subsequent G3 Sandown Classic Trial winner Bangkok (Ire) (Australia {GB}) on debut at Newmarket in August, Juddmonte’s grandson of Banks Hill (GB) (Danehill) took the Listed Flying Scotsman S. at Doncaster in September before running fourth in the G1 Dewhurst S. on the Rowley Mile back in Newmarket in October. Stacked full of promise as usual, this “prep” for the G1 St James’s Palace S. also features another ‘TDN Rising Star’ in Lady Bamford’s King of Comedy (Ire) (Kingman {GB}), who scored on his 3-year-old bow at Yarmouth Apr. 23. Andrew Balding’s Kingsclere establishment could not be in better form and they are represented by another son of Kingman in Fitri Hay’s surprise seven-furlong Newmarket novice debut scorer Bell Rock (GB). “We are really looking forward to this horse coming back,” Balding said. “He is a horse that I think is still very smart. He did have a setback and had to miss a chunk of work. We have to start him off somewhere and this will give us an idea of where we can go with him in the future. His work has been to a good level and the mile should be no problem for him.” Two-year-olds get the chance to shine in the Listed Matchbook Betting Podcast National S., where Kingman is again making his considerable presence felt via his son Full Authority (Ire), who spreadeagled his peers at Chester May 9. Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah’s sharp bay meets another Mark Johnston rival in Jm Jackson (Ire) (No Nay Never) who was runner-up to the subsequent Ascot scorer Ventura Rebel (Ire) (Pastoral Pursuits {GB}) in a Thirsk maiden Apr. 13. “She’s always been a filly we’ve held in high regard and at the time we left Thirsk quite disappointed she hadn’t made a winning debut,” Charlie Johnston explained. “But obviously the subsequent form of the winner means there are plenty of positives to take out of that. The draw [in seven] is not ideal on the straight course at Sandown.” Earlier in the day, Goodwood starts its old Derby and Oaks trial meeting which used to have late preps for those Classics in the Lupe and Predominate but which is now more a pointer to Royal Ascot. The Listed Height of Fashion S., which has taken over from the Lupe, sees the Duke of Devonshire and Duke of Roxburghe’s Shambolic (GB) (Shamardal) provide a clue as to the merit of Shadwell’s Maqsad (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), who beat her five lengths in the Listed Pretty Polly S. at Newmarket May 5. Trainer John Gosden also saddles 5 Hertford Street Racing Club’s Muchly (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}), who beat the subsequent Listed Newbury Fillies’ Trial S. scorer Queen Power (Ire) (Shamardal) in a mile conditions race at Ascot May 1. “Frankie Dettori rode a marvellous race at Ascot and it was the plan to go for this race, to step her up in trip and see where we are at,” the syndicate’s racing manager Harry Herbert said of the latter. “Goodwood is very different to Ascot, but hopefully she will be fine. She has always been held in some regard by John and it will be very interesting to see if the step up in trip takes her to the next level.” Kirsten Rausing’s May 3 10-furlong Chepstow novice winner Aloe Vera (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) takes aim in the Height of Fashion from the Ralph Beckett yard and she hails from the same remarkable family of the owner-breeder’s top-class acts of recent years. “I’m not going to say she surprised us winning first time out at Chepstow, but she surprised us in the manner she did it, having to come from so far back, as it was not really the plan to be that far back,” her trainer said. “This is a big step up, but she has worked well since Chepstow and I think she is worth rolling the dice with in a race like this. She was just very immature last year and she had a few issues and I was not able to train her in quite the manner I would have liked to. Her sister Alyssa (GB) (Sir Percy {GB}) took time to get there, but she ended up winning a Park Hill for us.” The post Brigadier Gerard Takes Centre Stage appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Caesars Entertainment Corporation has launched Empire of Hope, a new program designed to help raise awareness and funding for the care of horses after their racing careers are over. “Empire of Hope is a direct reflection of the appreciation and pride we have for the horses that participate in Caesars’ racing program,” said Rick Moore, Vice President and General Manager of Racing at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. “Our equine athletes are the stars of our sport and we want to ensure that when they retire, they are placed in productive and loving environments to live out a long and healthy life.” Through Empire of Hope, Caesars will provide funding and support to accredited non-profit racehorse aftercare organizations, including Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance and Standardbred Transition Alliance. “Thanks to the support of our industry stakeholders, the TAA and our accredited organizations are making a difference in the lives of thousands of retired Thoroughbreds,” said TAA president Mike Meuser. “With the launch of the Empire of Hope program, Caesars is helping us make sure that these horses receive the specialized and dedicated care they need to live healthy, happy lives after they retire from racing.” Empire of Hope will be launched at four of Caesars’ racing properties: Louisiana Downs, Indiana Grand, Hoosier Park and Harrah’s Philadelphia. With a goal to raise $30,000, Empire of Hope activities will range from food and drink specials to entertainment and promotional activities. Each property has designed numerous ways to accept donations and raise funds during the weekend of July 20 and July 21. “The Standardbred Transition Alliance (STA) is so pleased that Caesars has embraced this initiative of recognizing and bringing awareness to horses that are now moving into different careers after racing,” said David Reid, president of STA. “We are hopeful this will ignite more racing and casino companies like Caesars to see this example and follow suit in our joint effort as an industry to assist our equine athletes as they proceed into new careers after racing.” To learn more about this program, click here. The post Caesars Launches Empire of Hope appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Editor’s Note: The below editorial originally appeared in the Toronto Star on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 and is being republished here with the author’s permission. Does the racing of horses carelessly force them into a danger zone? No. Horses love to run and compete. They do it naturally. From the day they are born thoroughbreds run in fields. When the foals are weaned and grouped, they race each other naturally, to see who is better at what they do best. It is what they love to do. It is what they are bred to do. It’s the whole reason they exist. As they grow and develop, they move up the performance ladder, like a hockey player does. The best ones achieve the high-profile racing venues. Spend a day on a breeding farm and you will see mares, foals and yearlings getting daily attention to their every need. Spend a morning in the barn area at the track and you will see horses receiving specialized care from passionate horse-loving people, who spend long hours each day grooming their horses, preparing their stalls, and feeding them treats. All of this is to enable them to do what they love to do and do it impeccably. Undeniable passion for the well-being of horses permeates throughout the industry as well as the public. It’s this passion that led to significant safety improvements long before the publicity the industry has faced recently. In 2006, the first annual Safety and Welfare Summit was held, and it has consistently led to safety innovations, such as the Equine Injury Database. Developed by The Jockey Club, the EID records data for research directed at improving safety and preventing injuries. Since they started collecting data for North America, there has been a 16 per cent drop in injury rates across all surfaces, an 11 per cent drop on dirt, a 38 per cent drop on turf, and a 17 per cent drop on synthetic surfaces. A couple of years later, the Safety and Integrity Alliance was launched, which focuses on everything from injury reporting and prevention to safety equipment to medication and testing to aftercare for horses. Some other important changes include progress toward uniformed medication rules and testing standards, race cancellation policies for inclement weather and consistent management of racing surfaces aimed at limiting injuries. The industry is always looking for way s to improve safety. Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto has a good story to tell. It is one of the operators that has worked with its regulators to ban race day medications (other than the commissioned use of Lasix). Woodbine has been accredited by the Safety and Integrity Alliance since 2010. They have invested millions of dollars in the statistically safest surfaces in horse racing: synthetic and turf. This has resulted in one of the lowest rates of catastrophic injuries of any track in North America. In 2018, the combined average for Woodbine’s all-weather (synthetic) Tapeta track and turf course was less than 1/10th of 1 per cent of race day starters, almost half of the North American 17/100th of 1 per cent injury rate. All these changes and investments by industry stakeholders have made racing even safer for horses. In the recent Preakness Stakes in Baltimore a horse lost its rider at the start of the race. He didn’t turn and go to the barn. He raced with his fellow competitors, beating a couple of them to the finish line. Horse racing is also a highly competitive sport and when you’re dealing with any type of high-performance athlete, there are going to be injuries. What’s most important is that the industry has the safety measures and protocols in place, as well as the endless commitment to be safer tomorrow than we are today. The Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation spends over $1 million a year researching horse health, much of it going toward injury prevention. I have performed surgeries on thoroughbreds for 40 years, due to injuries that happen in competition and in the field. I can say with the highest degree of confidence that we’re not forcing racehorses into danger at the track, we are simply privileged to be participating in something they absolutely love to do. But in exchange for that privilege, we all carry the responsibility of making it as safe as possible for them when we watch. The industry accepts that responsibility and makes it the highest of priorities. Woodbine is a good example of the stewardship of that accountability. *Dr. Larry Bramlage is an internationally recognized and decorated equine orthopedic surgeon in Kentucky. He has dedicated his life to ensuring the health and safety of horses and has won several awards of the highest honour in his field, including the Jockey Club Gold Medal for Contributions to Thoroughbred Racing. Dr. Bramlage is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Kansas Veterinary Medical Association, Kentucky Veterinary Medicine Association, and the past president of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons and the American Association of Equine Practitioners. The post Op/Ed: Are Race Horses Being Put in Danger? appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Katsumi Yoshizawa homebred Master Fencer (Jpn) (Just a Way {Jpn}) worked a half-mile in :52 flat (31/32) at Keeneland Wednesday in preparation for the June 8 GI Belmont S. (video). The colt is scheduled to fly to New York Friday. Master Fencer has been at Keeneland since finishing sixth in the GI Kentucky Derby May 4. With exercise rider Yosuke Kono aboard for trainer Koichi Tsunoda, the 3-year-old jogged about two laps on the training track before heading to the main track to breeze. “(Kono) did a stop and go, so he can see how (Master Fencer would) respond for the (start of the race),” said representative Mitsuoki Numamoto, who translated for Kono. “He did that twice, and he responded well. The breeze, he did the Japanese way. We start really slowly for maybe two furlongs but then have a strong finish.” Kono said he is satisfied with how Master Fencer has progressed during his time at Keeneland. “He’s been getting better all the time,” he told Numamoto. “He eats well, and he trains well.” A two-time winner in his native Japan, Master Fencer finished second in the Mar. 31 Fukuryu S. prior to his effort in the Derby. The post Master Fencer Puts in Final Keeneland Work for Belmont appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Brad Cox edged Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen to claim the top prize in the Maryland Jockey Club’s $100,000 bonus program offered to trainers for their participation in stakes races over Preakness weekend at Pimlico Race Course. Cox led the way with 36 points, three more than two-time defending champion Asmussen, to earn a $50,000 bonus. In his Triple Crown race debut, Cox ran third and fourth, respectively, with Owendale (Into Mischief) and Warrior’s Charge (Munnings). On the May 17 Black-Eyed Susan Day card, Cox won the GIII Adena Springs Miss Preakness S. with Covfefe (Into Mischief) in six-furlong track-record time of 1:07.70, captured the GIII Allaire duPont Distaff with Mylady Curlin (Curlin), and was second with Ulele (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the GII Xpressbet Black-Eyed Susan S. Asmussen’s 33 points earned him a $25,000 bonus for second. He picked up wins in the GIII Pimlico Special S. May 17 with Tenfold (Curlin) and GIII Maryland Sprint S. with New York Central (Tapit) May 18. Graham Motion was third with 32 points, earning a bonus of $12,000. The other top finishers were Todd Pletcher (29 points, $7,000), Arnaud Delacour (24 points, $4,000) and Mike Trombetta (nine points, $2,000). To be eligible, trainers had to run a minimum of five horses in 16 stakes races during Preakness weekend. Points were accumulated for finishing first (10 points), second (seven), third (five), fourth (three) and having a starter (one) among the 16 stakes, nine graded, worth $3.95 million in purses. Bonus money totaling $50,000 was also offered for trainers having the most points in non-stakes races during Preakness weekend, with points accumulated in similar fashion. Ron Moquett finished first with 20 points, earning the top bonus of $25,000. Also winning bonus money were Motion (18 points, $10,000), Jeremiah O’Dwyer (17 points, $7,500), Jeremiah Englehart (16 points, $4,000), Pletcher (15 points, $2,500) and Damon Dilodovico (11 points, $1,000). The post Cox Wins Preakness Weekend Trainer Bonus appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Javier Castellano is the 2019 recipient of the Mike Venezia Award, which is awarded to jockeys who exemplify extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship. The Venezia Award will be presented to Castellano May 27 in a ceremony at Belmont Park. Established in 1989, the award is named in honor of jockey Mike Venezia, who died as a result of injuries he suffered in a spill in 1988 at Belmont Park. Venezia, a Brooklyn native, won more than 2,300 races during his 25-year career. Castellano, 41 was selected as the 2019 winner through an online fan vote hosted on NYRA.com that closed May 20. The field of candidates included brothers Irad Ortiz, Jr. and Jose Ortiz, Florent Geroux, and Ricardo Santana, Jr. The Hall of Famer won four consecutive Eclipse Awards from 2013-16 and has won 12 riding titles on the NYRA circuit. In addition to his accomplishments on the track, Castellano also does a lot charity work with associations like the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, the Anna House and the Ronald McDonald House. The first Venezia Award was awarded posthumously to Venezia in 1989. Previous winners of the award include Joe Bravo (2018), Kendrick Carmouche (2017), Mario Pino (2016), Jon Court (2015), Hall of Famer John Velazquez (2014) and Hall of Famer Ramon Dominguez (2013). The post Castellano Wins 2019 Venezia Award appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Earlier this month, The Stronach Group announced the arrival later this year at Santa Anita of the Longmile Positron Emission Tomography (MILE-PET) Scan machine-a technology currently under development at California’s UC Davis, that could revolutionize the diagnosis of emerging lower limb injuries that could deteriorate into something catastrophic. But Santa Anita’s new PET scan machine might not be the only important development at the track. According to CHRB equine medical director Rick Arthur, efforts are afoot to possibly bring a standing MRI to Santa Anita. The MRI machine’s possible arrival raises some interesting tensions between the two diagnostic modalities. Indeed, proponents of both technologies argue passionately about their individual merits in early injury detection. But what isn’t up for debate is how they both present a win for the horse. “It’ll help complement the diagnostics we offer here to our horses at Santa Anita,” said Ryan Carpenter, a Santa Anita-based private veterinarian. “And it will help us make better choices from a rehabilitation standpoint.” What’s all the PET scan fanfare about? PET scans, of course, are already widely used on humans. The basic working principle can be boiled down to the following: a radiotracer–a compound used to hunt chemical reactions–is injected into the body. This radiotracer then works its way around the body’s blood vessels, seeking out areas of unusual chemical activity–in other words, injured sites the body is trying to heal. The radiotracer accumulates at the injured spot, and, under the eye of a PET scan machine, the troublesome area lights up. The brighter and larger the illuminated spot, the greater the potential problem. Where an area lights up on a horse’s skeleton, this means there’s an unusual amount of bone turnover and bone remodeling occurring, said Mathieu Spriet, associate professor of Surgical and Radiological Sciences at UC Davis, and a driving force behind the institution’s new PET technology. “It’s telling us that at the molecular level, there’s something happening,” he added. “It’s like taking a highlighter and saying, ‘look here, look here,'” he said. Researchers at UC Davis today have collaborated on a machine that looks like a futuristic basketball hoop hovering just above the ground, called the MILE-PET. The hoop, which contains the detectors, opens and closes using magnets around the leg, quickly releasing if necessary. This scanner will be put through its final paces this summer before it’s shipped to Santa Anita later this fall. And what then? The Benefits When it comes to catastrophic breakdowns, “we know that a lot of these injuries don’t happen just like that,” said Spriet. Indeed, in between 85-90% of catastrophic breakdowns, a pre-existing injury like a lesion is present at the breakdown site. The trick is to identify those lesions before something catastrophic occurs. Current diagnostic technologies like scintigraphy, computed tomography (CT) and X-rays, however, don’t reliably pick up on these lesions, especially the more subtle ones, Spriet said, and as a result, veterinarians “don’t always recognize the horses who are at risk of breakdowns.” The early results with PET suggest that “we have a tool more powerful.” To date, more than 120 horses have been imaged using PET at UC Davis. According to Spriet, “the spots that light up on PET corresponds to these areas where the fractures tend to occur, suggesting that we’re looking at these early changes before fracture.” In this regard, diagnosticians found better clinical correlation with PET than CT, said Spriet. Brave New World Nevertheless, because the technology is so new, it’s still a Brave New World when it comes to how, when, and for what the machine is used. What would be useful, said Spriet, would be a long-term study of horses throughout their racing careers, scanning them periodically with PET to observe how their bones respond to varying degrees of training. “It would be helpful to find out what’s normal for horses at the track, comparing 2-year-olds who start training versus an older horse who has been there longer,” he said. For example, Spriet has observed through PET how some stress-related bone lesions can disappear within six to 12 weeks, while lesions that are a result of bone degeneration are more permanent. “We know that racehorses are putting their joints under a lot of stress, and so it’s likely we are going to see some changes,” said Spriet. “The question will be being able to make the difference between the ones who do have changes but who can keep training, and the ones who should not keep training with the changes, because of the risk of breakdown.” One big advantage that PET has over some other modalities is its ability to quantify changes in the bone. This change is valued using a measurement called Standardized Uptake Value (SUV). Normal bone activity has an SUV of approximately five. Spriet then showed me a PET scan image with an area lit up to an SUV of 25. “So, it means that, in this location, the bone turn-over is five times higher than what it is in normal location,” he said. “That’s very unique of PET. MRI cannot reliably do quantification,” Spriet said. “The PET alone provides all the information we need for screening horses. The ability to quantify it, gauge severity, then get some data how they’re doing over time. That’s what makes this tool more powerful.” The Case for MRI Not so fast, said John Peloso, veterinary surgeon and owner of the Equine Medical Center in Ocala, Florida. “PET scan is a brand-new idea,” he said, explaining how new technologies lack a track record of results. “It might be a Learjet. It might not be.” Veterinary medicine tends to be 15 years behind human medicine, he added. “Do we want to wait 15 years, or do we want to use something that is shown in human and equine medicine to be all that we need?” That something, said Peloso, is the MRI machine–a diagnostic tool that has been used to examine racehorses since the mid-aughts. “When you’ve got a $15-million draft pick and he’s hurt, what do they do to him to figure out if he can compete or not? They do an MRI.” The MRI uses the body’s natural magnetic properties, capturing slices of tissue and bone which are then synthesized into a full image. There are two types of MRI: the standing MRI, for which a horse must be sedated, and the more powerful closed-magnet unit, for which a horse must be under general anesthesia. The standing MRI–the one potentially coming to Santa Anita–resembles a large enclosed storage unit, its dimensions 10′ x 10′ x 30′. “All you do is bring it to the racetrack, plug it in, and then you start to use Nobel-winning science on elite athletes,” said Peloso. Studied Peloso argues that the MRI is proven at detecting problems in the lower limb early, before they worsen in potentially catastrophic ways. “Disease takes a while to develop,” Peloso said. “For the fetlock, in my opinion, standing MRI is the answer,” he added. “Standing MRI does an excellent job at identifying horses that are on this disease continuum that’s going to get them in trouble.” The research, he said, supports his claims. For example, this review study found that MRI was the “most sensitive” and “most specific” imaging test for diagnosing stress fractures of the lower limb of humans, when compared to scintigraphy, X-rays, CT and ultrasound. This study out of Newmarket looked at the fetlock joints in 131 Thoroughbred racehorses, and found that in nearly 40% of cases, the MRI detected problems “consistent with fracture pathology” which didn’t show up under X-ray. “I can show you some cases of horses where you’d go, ‘oh my god, were we a breeze away from that thing coming apart?'” he said, highlighting how, in many cases, the outward warning signs like visible lameness can be very subtle or even non-existent. “Most everybody says they have no idea.” In engineering, the failure of more than 80% of all structural materials is linked to cyclic fatigue and bone is no different, he said, which explains why the progression of the disease is married to the “cycle” of the fetlock-in other words, the number of times that fetlock goes up and down. “We’re good if the pace of healing is faster than the pace of damage and we’re in trouble if the pace of healing is slower than the pace of damage.” Peloso theorizes that the cycle reaches critical mass around the time horses have their first few races. “It’s my opinion that we haven’t cycled that ankle enough unless we are looking for a race, or they’ve raced a time or two. That’s about the time when condylar fractures become apparent,” he said. Certain race meets, he added, tend to attract larger populations of horses that fall within that criteria. “I feel like Del Mar and Saratoga are unduly punished because they get the population of racehorses around that time, of the appropriate number of cycles that have happened,” Peloso said. Different styles of racing and training precipitate different fetlock injuries, he said. For example, in the U.S., there are approximately two sesamoid fractures to every one condylar fracture, he said. In the UK, it’s almost exclusively condylar fractures, he said, adding that in Japan, “they get almost five sesamoid bone fractures for each condylar fracture.” “The key is to change the way you cycle the ankle, to give the healing bone a chance to catch up,” Peloso said. “It’s not about the racetrack–it’s about cycling bone. It’s a bone-disease process. The racetrack doesn’t create anything–the racetrack is just what’s there when we’re cycling the ankle.” Identifying Problems The MRI machine, therefore, could be used in preventative fashion, targeting horses that fall within that window. “That’s fertile hunting ground,” Peloso said. “If we could have this machine up at Saratoga, I 100% believe we would identify horses and prevent severe injury.” Using the MRI before that window, he said, is something of a wasted endeavor. “When someone asks me to do an MRI on a 2-year-old-in-training, I try to discourage it because I really want to give them something when I’m done,” he said. “If the ankle hasn’t cycled enough, I feel like they’re going to spend their money and not be happy.” The question, therefore, is why isn’t MRI used more prevalently? “It’s a slow melt,” Peloso replied. “You know how it is with this industry–different ideas are not always immediately welcome.” Peloso has been using the standing MRI since 2008, but he estimates that he has only scanned the fetlocks of about 50 Thoroughbreds in training. Indeed, there are between 60-65 standing MRI’s found around the world, for use in all equine disciplines, not just horse racing. Costs Part of the reason the MRI hasn’t been more fully embraced is the cost. It takes roughly 45 minutes to an hour to scan both fetlocks, and it costs roughly $2000 to image two areas, said Peloso. In comparison, Spriet estimates that the PET scan can image six areas–four fetlocks and two knees, for example–during the time it takes the MRI to image two. The costs are up in the air still, but Spriet said that the faster scan time contributes to making PET more affordable than MRI. Nevertheless, Santa Anita veterinarian Carpenter cautions, as does Peloso, that PET scanners “are still a research modality today, and they have not made the jump into clinical practice.” There are two equine clinics in Los Angeles with MRI machines, and Carpenter said that his clients have been largely reluctant to use them due to the logistics involved with travel, and time spent away from the barn. “I believe when you get PET scan and MRI equipment on site, so that all they have to do is walk over and back, and they can be there and back to the barn in a couple hours, I think the sky’s the limit,” he said. “It’s going to be ground-breaking, and I’m really excited to see what diagnostic imaging in the Thoroughbred fetlock looks like in two years from now.” The post PET and MRI: A Brave New Diagnostic World appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Brad Cox edged Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen to claim the top prize in the Maryland Jockey Club's $100,000 bonus program offered to trainers for their participation in stakes races over Preakness Weekend at Pimlico Race Course. View the full article

The European season has barely begun and there is no escaping the bright start made by Shamardal, who has posted six group winners so far, two more than his closest pursuer, Dubawi (Ire). Recent Group 2 winner, the progressive Morgan Le Faye (GB), is one of eight European stakes winners for her sire this year, the others featuring Castle Lady (Ire) winner of the G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, plus Skardu (GB) and Shaman (Ire), both of whom have placed in Classics. Now in their 11th year at the races, Shamardal’s stock have always been held in high regard. He retired to Kildangan Stud the same year as Dubawi covered his first mares at Dalham Hall, the pair switching locations for their third season at stud. Though he hasn’t quite matched Dubawi’s exploits, Shamardal can be considered among the top 10 sires in Europe over the past 25 years on two important scores. First, the rate at which he produces stakes winners (currently 11.5%) puts him behind only Frankel (GB) (17.2%), Galileo (Ire) (16.7%), Dubawi (15.8%) and Dansili (GB) (11.7%) among British and Irish sires in the past 20 years. Moreover, the quality of his 109 Northern Hemisphere-foaled group and listed winners are also of the highest order. Those that have gone under the Timeform microscope have an average Timeform rating of 114, which again marks him down as a top-notch stallion. Only the stakes winners by Galileo and Dubawi are as highly rated. Interestingly, Shamardal adds speed to his mares; he has a stamina index pf 8.0 furlongs from mares whose stock normally produce an average winning distance of 9.0 furlongs. His very best runner according to Timeform is the 129-rated sprinter Blue Point (Ire), already a G1 winner in Dubai this year, but his next 11 highest-rated G1 winners have all won at up to a mile-and-a-quarter. The post Shamardal A Sire of the Highest Class appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Here’s a hunch, even a wager if you care to stick around long enough. Because I wouldn’t be at all surprised should we someday notice the damsire of a new champion and remember, with a smile, the splendid Jump Start. Pennsylvanian breeders won’t need telling what a dynamo among stallions they lost on Sunday. I don’t know how many of them will remember Ecliptical, a son of Exclusive Native who arrived there in 2000 at a fee of $750. But if one of Ecliptical’s five stakes winners could become the second dam of American Pharoah, then how much more eligibly might daughters of Jump Start show that Pennsylvania, especially in the slots era, is no kind of blind alley for a pedigree? Because this was no Ecliptical; no hybrid curio. Jump Start was one of those rare migrants from Kentucky who not only became a big fish in a smaller pond, but a sizeable pike even by Bluegrass standards. How many other regional sires have maintained their Kentucky fees the way Jump Start did, holding out at $10,000 through a decade since his arrival? In the meantime he has been the state champion sire five times, runner-up four times; and he’s making the early running for a first posthumous title too. Between 2015 and 2017 he was champion Mid-Atlantic sire, while a handful of winter holidays in Argentina yielded a local Horse of the Year among three South American champions. According to TDN statistics, on lifetime earnings per named foal, he slots between English Channel and Kantharos at $65,341; and his 99 black-type performers represent precisely the same 11.16% of named foals as Uncle Mo, at a superior clip to Candy Ride (Arg), Tiznow, Street Sense, Bernardini and Empire Maker, to name a random sample of stallions too classy to be embarrassed by the comparison. So this was a highly respectable achiever by any measure, never mind as one so long confined to provincial mares. And while his own star burned as briefly as it did brightly on the track, it’s not hard to see why he should have been able to produce stock that was not only talented but also, by modern standards, extremely resilient. Prayer For Relief, for instance, broke his maiden at two yet proceeded to be graded stakes-placed (at least) in each of the next six years. Rail Trip, a Grade I winner at four, was second in the GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at seven. Pants On Fire, though sadly reported to be racing again at 11 in Saudi Arabia last winter, had won (up to Grade II level) in each of six American campaigns. These old school virtues trace to the seamless, top-to-bottom quality of a pedigree that conspicuously entitles Jump Start’s daughters to emerge as broodmare gold. Never mind the familiar duplication you get from any cross of A.P. Indy with a Storm Cat mare, both being out of famous daughters of Secretariat in Weekend Surprise and Terlingua. In the mating that produced Jump Start, between A.P. Indy and GII Adirondack S. runner-up Steady Cat, the second dam of both was an equally celebrated daughter of another broodmare sire legend, in Buckpasser. One of these is Weekend Surprise’s mother Lassie Dear; the other is Hopespringseternal, who produced Miswaki as well as his full-sister Hopespringsforever (Mr. Prospector), the dam of Steady Cat. Miswaki, of course, includes Urban Sea herself–ubiquitous in elite European pedigrees–among his accomplishments as a broodmare sire. Icing on the cake, for those of us who will always go looking for him, is the fact that Hopespringseternal was out of a Princequillo mare. Princequillo’s influence duly spreads right across the page, as he is sire of Secretariat’s dam Somethingroyal, whose son Sir Gaylord also sired Lassie Dear’s dam Gay Missile. With all that distaff power behind him–and most people would happily settle for his first three dams being by Storm Cat, Mr. P and Buckpasser–Jump Start’s story seems unlikely to reach an end in the grieving, this week, of those who tended him so well (into his 20th year) at Northview Stallion Station. Somewhere out there, perhaps even embryonically among the 36 selected mares Jump Start had covered this spring, is a daughter or two who will surely give a fresh dimension to the legacy of his breeder W.T. Young. Obviously broodmare sires need time to show their hand. Of those to have exceeded his three black-type winners so far this year, however, only Hard Spun (2004), Bernardini (2003), Tapit (2001), Empire Maker (2000) and Ghostzapper (2000) were born after Jump Start. And on Derby Day, to pull one straw out of the wind, Amy’s Challenge (Artie Schiller) gained her second consecutive Grade I placing in the Humana Distaff S., as a $20,000 yearling out of one of his daughters. Incidentally, if you have only clocked the strength of Jump Start’s page now that it’s too late, you could still give Claiborne a call. Their young stallion Mastery (Candy Ride {Arg}) is out of a three-parts sister to Jump Start, by A.P. Indy’s son Old Trieste out of Steady Cat. Like Jump Start, of course, Mastery hit the buffers too soon in a track breakdown. Jump Start’s own career ended in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, so his GII Saratoga Special turned out to be as good as it got. As we’ve seen, however, this family nonetheless seems to produce toughness as well as class. And if grass is nowhere quite as blue as at Claiborne, then that’s a measure of what Jump Start took with him from Overbrook to Pennsylvania. Had it not been for the death of his breeder, he might never have left Kentucky. As it was, he proved as equal as any regional sire to the opportunities arising from the slots-driven decentralisation of the purses needed to make a racing stable viable. And nor, I’ll bet, have we heard the last of him. The post This Side Up: Daughters May Spark Jump Start’s Legacy appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

GSW Breaking Lucky (Lookin At Lucky–Shooting Party, by Sky Classic) has been retired from racing and will stand stud at Blue Star Racing in Louisiana. His fee will be announced at a later date. “This is an opportunity for the breeders in our area to tap into a sire line that is red hot in Lookin At Lucky. You also are tapping into a very deep female family as well,” said Blue Star Racing owner Dex Comardelle. Initially campaigned by Gunpowder Farms and trainer Reade Baker, Breaking Lucky defeated MGISW Shaman Ghost (Ghostzapper) in Woodbine’s 2015 Prince of Wales S. and won the 2016 GIII Seagram Cup S. Second to future Horse of the Year Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}) in that year’s GI Clark H., the chestnut was bought into by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, R.A. Hill Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and Eric Young to run in the inaugural GI Pegasus World Cup. Breaking Lucky was third to Gun Runner in both the 2017 GI Stephen Foster H. and GI Whitney S. Transferred to George Weaver for 2018, he won a Gulfstream optional claimer in December and was second in this year’s GIII Fred W. Hooper S. The 7-year-old retires with a record of 27-4-6-6 and earnings of $1,196,376. Bred in Ontario by Christine Hayden, the $100,000 KEENOV buy is a half-brother to the dam of GI Kentucky Derby winner Country House (Lookin At Lucky) and last weekend’s GIII Gallorette S. winner Mitchell Road (English Channel). The post Breaking Lucky Retired to Louisiana appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Jimmy Ting Koon-ho’s patience with his young horses is starting to pay off and the first-season trainer looks to have a genuine stable star on his hands in Yee Cheong Baby.Last month, Yee Cheong Baby gave Ting his first victory with a horse he imported himself – rather than acquired via a stable transfer – and the three-year-old made it two from two at Happy Valley on Wednesday night, while Takingufurther also got in on the act with his first win at start number four.“I didn’t rush the young… View the full article

After being acquired by the AccorHotel group, the 21c Museum Hotel chain, including its properties in Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky, now offer the Le Club Accor Loyalty program. The eight-hotel 21c Group of hotels joined Accor’s MGallery collection of boutique offerings in the U.S. Travelers can sign up for the Accor program at no charge by visiting www.leclubaccorhotels.com. Rewards start as soon as 10 nights spent at the hotel, and include room upgrades, a welcome drink, late checkout, early check-in, and more. All members receive free internet, hotel discounts, and pre-sale access to exclusive rates at the 21c Hotels, along with Accor’s 50 partner travel groups. Accor’s luxury brands include Fairmont, Sofitel and Swissotel, as well as the Pullman, Novotel, Ibis groups and more. Co-founders Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson, also the owners of Hermitage Farm, have retained a 15% stake in the 21c brand. The post 21c Now Offers Le Club Accor Loyalty Program appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The Meadowlands Racetrack, home of harness racing’s crown jewel, The Hambletonian, and a venue for Thoroughbred racing, is moving to follow the example set by the Stronach Group in California in banning Lasix. The track has released the following statement: “In light of the recent circumstances in Thoroughbred racing surrounding the welfare of the horses, all of horse racing has come under increased scrutiny. While the rate of catastrophic breakdowns in Standardbred racing is but a fraction of what it is with the Thoroughbreds, the public does not make that distinction. The health and welfare of our horses has been a top priority throughout President and CEO Jeff Gural’s tenure at The Meadowlands and a great deal of time and money has been spent in efforts to eradicate Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) from Standardbred racing. Over the past few months in response to questions on the use of the diuretic Lasix as a PED, a consortium of Thoroughbred tracks are taking steps to reduce or eliminate the use of Lasix on race day. It is the intention of The Meadowlands as the flagship track of the Standardbred industry to join that movement and proceed in such a way as to insure the best interests of our equine athletes. A proposal to address the use of Lasix as a race day medication at The Meadowlands has been submitted to the New Jersey Racing Commission (NJRC). The submitted proposal states that beginning in 2020, no 2-year-old Standardbred will be permitted to use Lasix when racing at The Meadowlands. Further, in 2021 the track’s signature stakes race, The Meadowlands Pace, will become Lasix free. It is noteworthy that the marquee stake in all of Standardbred racing, the Hambletonian at The Meadowlands, has not permitted the use of Lasix throughout its 93 year history. In discussion with several Standardbred trainers, the consensus was that 2-year-old horses should not race with Lasix and should instead be given time away from the track to recover if they are indeed diagnosed with Exercise Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage (EIPH). Over the entire 2018 season at The Meadowlands, only seven 2-year-olds raced with Lasix . At the end of the 2021 racing season we will review these changes, consider any revisions to the practice in Thoroughbred racing and adjust as necessary. While we recognize the therapeutic benefits of Lasix, our concern is with the optics and feel it is important to show that we take the health and safety of our horses very seriously. We believe this is the best approach while we observe how even stricter measures work for the Thoroughbred industry.” The post Meadowlands Moves to Follow The Stronach Group with Lasix Ban appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Godolphin's dual Dubai World Cup (G1) winner Thunder Snow (IRE) will bypass Royal Ascot and instead run in the June 8 Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap (G1) at Belmont Park, trainer Saeed Bin Suroor announced May 19. View the full article

A half-brother to former Japanese Horse of the Year Gentildonna (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) is among 226 foals catalogued alongside 246 yearlings for the JRHA Sale at Northern Horse Park on July 8 and 9. The weanling by Kitasan Black (Jpn) out of the G1 Cheveley Park S. winner Donna Blini (GB) (Bertolini) is just one highlight in a catalogue replete with the offspring of well-credentialed and internationally campaigned mares. The foal section includes a Duramente (Jpn) colt out of European champion sprinter Fleeting Spirit (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), along with a filly from G1 American Oaks winner Ticker Tape (GB) (Royal Applause {GB}) by Lord Kanaloa (Jpn), the sire of the record-breaking Japan Cup winner Almond Eye (Jpn) who is represented by 16 foals and 20 yearlings in the catalogue. Among the yearlings is a Deep Impact half-brother to Qatar Racing’s Group 1 winner Lightening Pearl (Ire) (Marju {Ire}), as well as a Frankel (GB) colt out of the G1 Nunthorpe S. winner Margot Did (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) and a full-brother to champion Japanese filly Mikki Queen (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}). Japan’s champion sire Deep Impact, who was responsible for two European Classic winners last season, was stood down from covering duties in early April with a neck injury but his name looms large in the sale, with 20 yearlings and nine foals entered. His daughter Loves Only You (Jpn), winner last weekend of the Yushun Himba (Japan Oaks) in a time beating the previous record set by Gentildonna, is the latest high-profile graduate of the sale which attracts buyers from across the globe. A sister to fellow Group 1 winner Real Steel (Jpn), she was bought by the DMM syndicate for ¥160 million (£1.14 million/$1.45 million) at the 2017 sale. A full list of yearlings and foals catalogued can be found on the JRHA website. The post Gentildonna Brother To Sell At JRHA Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Throughout the history of horse racing, the industry has constantly developed to serve the horse and improve the breed. New developments in feed and healthcare, stricter welfare rules and modern technology all add to the top-class care Thoroughbreds enjoy to make sure they are always at their very best. It is, then, rather amazing that it is only in recent years that the focus has turned to the human athletes who partner them across the line. It is something that Wayne Middleton, Fitness And Conditioning Coach at RACE (Racing Academy and Centre Of Education), is all too aware of. “We’re so up-to-date on how to prepare the horses,” he says. “So much energy and research is done on conditioning horses, but then for years, it was just a case of making sure the jockey was at the races on time and made the weight. There was no care of what happened before or after that. But that’s changing now.” Middleton has been integral to the changes made at RACE since he joined the team four years ago. He grew up on The Curragh, surrounded by horse racing, but his current role is his first position within the industry, as he explains, “I’ve always been involved in strength and conditioning but before this, I worked with sports teams in football and rugby, and I’ve always been interested in how we can make athletes better.” He, like his work, is never a complete project. He adds, “I finished my degree late, in 2017, and I’m starting a Masters in St. Mary’s in London in September. I’ll be there for two and a half years and I’ll be very surprised if anyone there has ever worked with jockeys.” For 10 months of the year, Middleton works with the Trainee Jockey Course, training aspiring jockeys in the gym twice a week, as well as teaching classes on subjects such as anatomy, physiology and lifestyle. There is much more to the course than simply shaping young jockeys, as he explains, “You’re trying to build good people, as opposed to fantastic jockeys. That’s because the stats would say, that of every class that leaves here, maybe one in five might actually have a career as a jockey, but then how many of them will be successful is more difficult to gauge.” As well as preparing these youngsters mentally, Middleton teaches them the skills to lead a physically healthy life and break away from a history of jockeys losing weight in an unhealthy fashion. “Yes, they’re going to have to manage their weight,” he admits. “There’s no getting around that. Yes, they’re going to speak to jockeys who sit in saunas and waste. You want to give them the tools so that they make the weight in a healthier way.” One of the first issues Middleton addressed was diet. “It’s my fourth year here and when I first came, the food at RACE was really bad,” he says. “Culture is a huge thing and changing a culture in any sport takes a lot of time. You come into an environment here where everything is fried food, chips, etc., it’s very difficult to come in and tell them right, throw everything out the window. It doesn’t work like that. The same goes for any sport.” You can sense the pride in Middleton’s voice when he outlines the current situation at RACE. He says, “If you look at the menu now compared to what it was 10 years ago, it has changed radically. The trainees come in here now and have an array of healthy options. There’s no fried food here anymore, there’s no deep-fat fryer. If there are any chips, they are hand-cut chips cooked in the oven. John, the chef here, is fantastic.” The fast food culture affects the general population, though, and is what Midleton sees as the driving factor. He says, “Quite a large percentage of 14-, 15- and 16-year-old kids these days are eating really bad food on a regular basis. I put a plate of salmon, broccoli and carrots in front of them and they ask where’s the ketchup. There a lot of issues there: there are social issues, parental issues, but I don’t focus on that at all.” A major issue is that jockeys often manage both to eat junk food and meet their desired weight, and trying to convince them that this is wrong often proves difficult. The logic is very simple, according to Middleton, who says, “If you look at the science of any weight loss, if you eat less, you will end up losing weight. So, technically, you can eat McDonalds every day and lose weight, which is actually what tends to happen with a lot of the guys in the industry. They don’t eat all day and after racing, they stop off on the way home and eat something unhealthy. But because they haven’t eaten all day, that might only add up to 600 or 700 calories for that day.” This feast or famine attitude can have a detrimental affect on their health and this is the real concern for Middleton, as he explains, “They’re feeding themselves with empty calories, which can potentially leads to bone health issues. We have huge research going on here at the moment. Arthur is doing research on bone health through the IHRB, where he has dexus-scanned 160 jockeys and over the next 18 months to two years, he will rescan them. It will be phenomenal research in revealing how healthy, hopefully, or unhealthy, jockeys are from a bone point of view, ranging in age from 16 to 38.” Bone health is particularly important for jockeys, who face the risk of falling every time they sit on a horse, and this is part of what drives Middleton’s work. “A huge part of what I do is trying to reduce the risk of injury,” he says. “You can’t prevent an injury, you can’t stop someone falling, but research shows that if you’re stronger, your recovery can be quicker. If you do weight-bearing exercise, your bones become stronger, so the likelihood of breaking bones is reduced if you do fall.” As well as looking at the health of jockeys, research is being done to help improve training techniques. Middleton explains, “There isn’t a huge amount of research out there on how we should train jockeys. Mikey Keighley has tested 10 National Hunt jockeys on their fitness and blood lactates, and will do the same with 10 Flat jockeys. We then hope to learn how fit they are and how we should train them specifically for their sport.” With the general population itself changing all the time, so too does the shape and size of hopeful young jockeys, which is another subject being examined. “We went down to the Dingle races and did simple research on the height and weight of the teenagers riding there,” says Middleton. “We measured 20 to 24 jockeys over the few days and the average height was 5 foot 8 inches and the average weight was close to nine stone. That’s at about 14 years of age and there was one guy who measured five foot 11 inches.” Height is not always a barrier to success as a jockey and one of Middleton’s clients is a perfect example. “Billy Lee is 5ft 8 and walks around at nine stone,” says Middleton. “He’s in the gym twice a week and is one of the best guys when it comes to preparing himself. If he’s cutting weight on a certain day, he’ll still eat, and he’s a fantastic role models for young kids coming through.” Not that the young always seek to emulate their elders, something that Middleton finds frustrating. He says, “I remember one morning we were in the gym and Shane Foley was one of seven or eight there. A couple of apprentices walked in and through the window, saw a Group 1-winning jockey working his ass off in the gym, but they continued into the simulator room. Another night, they did the same thing. If that was me, and I saw one of our best jockeys training hard with everyone else, I’d go join them. For me, that’s the culture at the moment.” Changing a widespread mindset is the greatest challenge Middleton and others with the same goal face. “Culture shift is difficult and it takes a lot of time,” says Middleton, “Even when it comes to training in the gym, or any aspect of physical training, there is a particular culture already there. They didn’t go to the gym before, because they were afraid they’d gain weight by building muscle. So they didn’t go, and they told others to do the same, and so it continued.” It’s clear that when Middleton shares his beliefs, he’s realistic that they will not be embraced by everyone immediately and his approach reflects this. “You’re trying to tell them it’s good for them,” he says. “But I’m not going to drag them kicking and screaming if they don’t want to go. There are a lot of high-profile jockeys who don’t go to the gym and are fantastically successful.” But times are changing and there has also been an important change made recently made to the Trainee Jockey Course which is welcomed by Middleton. He says, “For the first time this year, at the pre-licence stage, there are mandatory workshops that apprentices must do, where they spend two days here doing fitness-testing, a session with the sports psychologist and with the dietician.” Undoubtedly, the most important introduction to the industry in recent years is the Jockey Pathway. Established in September 2017 and funded by Horse Racing Ireland, the programme offers free access to services with RACE’s dietician, sports psychologist, on-site physiotherapist and fitness training coach, Wayne Middleton. The services were immediately popular, which came as no surprise to Middleton, who says, “The Pathway is fantastic because you have similar services in the UK, but jockeys have to pay a fee there, whereas it’s completely free here. One of the great things about the Jockey Pathway is that you’ll have young apprentices working alongside Group 1 jockeys. They all get along and work hard together–I find that fascinating.” He adds, “I think it’s the most unique sport in the world from that point of view. They’re all trying to beat each other when they’re on a horse, but when they come back into the weigh-room, they just start chatting. They go to each other’s weddings, they socialise together, they go on holidays together. They all have each other’s back, but then they’d cut your throat to win a race. They might be at loggerheads over a race, but then they’d share a car on the way home.” The post A Holistic Approach To Jockey Coaching appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Joe Behan has been named Stud Manager of Derrinstown Stud, with Jimmy Lenehan set to retire at the end of the month. Behan worked at Broguestown, Swordlestown and Ardoon studs before joining Derrinstown in 2007. “Joe has worked with horses all his life,” said Derrinstown’s General Manager Stephen Collins. “He’s been with us a long time now and knows the horses, the staff, the systems, the clients and most importantly Sheikh Hamdan, so his appointment will ensure that the handover is as seamless as possible. He’s very experienced and knowledgeable, but equally importantly for his new role, he is particularly good with people.” Paying tribute to the retiring Lenehan, Collins said, “Jimmy joined us in 2003 and has done a remarkable job over the years. He will be a hard act to follow and we wish him a long, healthy and happy retirement.” The post Behan Named Derrinstown Stud Manager appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Staying filly Savigne has boosted her chances of sneaking into the Queensland Oaks field after beating older horses at Canterbury. Needing a win to improve her precarious place in the ballot order for an Oaks start, Savigne, a daughter of Ocean Park, overcame difficulties to claim the Canterbury League Club Handicap. The three-year-old settled in an ideal midfield position off a genuine tempo but there was a moment of concern for her jockey Kerrin McEvoy approaching the straight. Savigne, ... View the full article

Tony Noonan is hopeful Manolo Blahniq can strike winning form again ahead of a trip north for a Group One assignment in Brisbane. Manolo Blahniq lines up in Saturday's Listed Straight Six at Flemington as a lead-in to the Stradbroke Handicap at Eagle Farm on June 8. Noonan struggled to find a suitable 1200m race ahead of the 1400m of the Stradbroke with Manolo Blahniq having not raced since finishing second in the Victoria Handicap at Caulfield on April 20. A week in the paddock after his last s... View the full article

Cambridge trainer Tony Pike might be enjoying a purple patch across the Tasman, but on Wednesday he unearthed a filly on the home-front that looks destined to go to the upper grades. Two-year-old filly Loire relished the Dead4 track presented at Hawke’s Bay and closed from well-back in the field to win the Nufarm 2YO (1200m) impressively under a hold in the hands of jockey Michael McNab. The daughter of Redoute’s Choice is a half-sister to Group One winner A Touch Of Ruby and finished sevent... View the full article

Last start Group Three winner Vigor Winner will be vying for more stakes success when he tackles the Gr.3 Fred Best Classic (1400m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday. The Lauren Brennan-trained galloper has been consistent in his four career starts, recording three victories and a runner-up performance in the Gr.2 Wellington Guineas (1400m). “He’s a very smart horse and very talented. He probably should have won that race (Wellington Guineas), he just got held up at the top of the turn,” Brennan s... View the full article

Trainer Stephen Marsh is Melbourne-bound in search of a golden ticket. The Cambridge trainer will saddle progressive stayer Felaar in the Listed Andrew Ramsden Stakes (2800m) at Flemington on Saturday, with the winner guaranteed a start in the Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) at the same course on the first Tuesday in November. Felaar won the Listed Hawke’s Bay Cup (2200m) last month before his two preparation runs in Melbourne ahead of Saturday’s assignment, finishing a luckless 11th at Flemingt... View the full article

Jockey Neil Callan can make up for a disappointing season with a last-ditch Group One victory on Eagle Way in Sunday’s Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2,400m) at Sha Tin.The affable Irishman has struggled this term with just 14 winners to his name but is hoping to emulate Tommy Berry’s feats from 2017-18 when he put a slow season behind him with a win on Pakistan Star in the last Group One of the Hong Kong season.It has been a case of so close, yet so far for the 40-year-old who has… View the full article

Cambridge Stud principals Brendan and Jo Lindsay have had a fantastic run with the progeny of their foundation mare J’Adane and they are hoping that will continue when Avadane contests the Listed Piazza D’Oro Auckland Futurity Stakes (1400m) at Ellerslie on Saturday. The two-year-old daughter of Savabeel could become her dam’s fourth-individual stakes winner alongside Von Tunzelman, Prince Jabeel and Sherrif. “There’s a little bit more pressure on from the owners,” trainer Lance Nobl... View the full article