Wandering Eyes

Immediately after suffering the first defeat of his career when second to Telecaster (GB) (New Approach {GB}) in the G2 Dante S. at York last week, Too Darn Hot (GB) (Dubawi {Ire})’s trainer John Gosden’s first thoughts were to aim the Lloyd Webber’s colt at the G1 St James’s Palace S. at Royal Ascot. However connections are now mulling over letting Too Darn Hot take his chance in the G1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas on Saturday, setting up a potentially exciting clash with Newmarket’s G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas winner Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). “John just felt we’d keep him in at this stage and then make a decision later in the week as to whether or not he’s actually going to run,” explained Simon Marsh, racing manager to Lord and Lady Lloyd Webber. “He’s come out of the race very well and is absolutely fine. I think York was a case of stamina – the way the race was run and I think at this stage in his career, he’s obviously going to be better over a mile. But I have no doubt that later on he will stay a mile and a quarter. Frankie [Dettori] was at pains to stress how keen and fresh he was.” Too Darn Hot is one of 16 horses to stand their ground for Saturday’s race with Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) another intriguing contender. The Charlie Hills trained colt was last seen finishing a head second to Magna Grecia in the G1 Vertem Futurity at Doncaster last October. The post Too Darn Hot Still A Curragh Possible appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The burgeoning reputation of Coolmore stallion Australia (GB) has been a feature of the European scene since the beginning of the flat season and it appears the stallion’s growing influence has not been lost on some shrewd American bloodstock speculators either. When the Fozzy Stack trained Mohican Heights (Ire) became Australia’s first 2-year-old winner in Ireland this year when making a successful debut at Leopardstown last week, he did so in the silks of American bloodstock agent Deuce Greathouse II who owns the colt along with Canadian Jules Sigler. Greathouse wasn’t present for the win but that didn’t stop him deriving great excitement from the occasion. “He is the first horse I bought to keep for myself and run in Ireland so yes it was very exciting and it’s always fun when a maiden wins impressively first time out,” Greathouse said. That seven furlong 2-year-old maiden at Leopardstown last Friday looked a strong contest on paper with Ballydoyle represented by Galileo (Ire) and War Front half-siblings to the likes of MG1SWs Canford Cliffs (Ire) (Tagula {Ire}) and Excelebration (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) but nothing could get past Mohican Heights who lead from flag fall and fought off all challengers to make a perfect start to his career. “Fozzy had been pointing towards that race for a while as he has always been an early type of horse which I guess is a bit of a surprise given his pedigree, which suggests he would want to go a mile and a quarter. When you have a horse with speed that can carry it for a bit of distance that gives you hope that he could develop into a smart horse,” Greathouse said. Mohican Heights was bred by Kevin Molloy out of Mohican Princess (GB) (Shirley Heights {GB}) whose progeny have operated successfully up to two miles .These include the former Aidan O’Brien trained Eye Of The Storm (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who, despite having only one eye, won the G3 Ballyroan S. at Leopardstown in 2014 and is still going strong at the age of nine, winning last Monday at Leicester. Molloy, who operates a chain of liquor stores in Dublin sells his stock through Paddy Kelly’s Ballybin Stud and Mohican Heights, the mare’s last reported foal sold for €100,000 through Ballybin at the Goffs Orby Sale last October. Recalling the sequence of events that lead him to signing the buyer’s docket Greathouse explained, “I was impressed that Australia’s 2-year-olds had done as well as they had at that stage and I was at Arqana in August when a Godolphin filly [Beyond Reason (Ire)] won a group stake and I just had it in my head that if I found an Australia I liked I wanted to buy one, so I went to Goffs and it just worked out. I don’t mind buying a horse out of an older mare if I like the individual. He was a good sized, nice looking athletic colt with good balance and nice walk. For a while it seemed like the market didn’t really pick up on Australia and this horse was also very late in the sale and maybe a lot of people had already filled their orders but I was very happy to get him for what we paid.” Explaining the horse’s subsequent route to the Stack’s Thomastown Castle Stables in Tipperary Greathouse continued, “Fozzy and I met at the sales a few years ago and we’ve just kind of been buddies to have a drink with since then. We tried to buy a racehorse at Tattersalls a few years ago but got outbid and he does a good job so I thought why not just leave the horse with him. It’s certainly worked out well so far.” The words ‘Royal Ascot’ tend to crop up soon after any horse wins a maiden impressively at this time of year and it comes as no surprise that connections are also thinking along those lines. “The plan is to run him in the [Listed] Chesham S. at Royal Ascot, then we’ll make a plan depending on how he fares there. I would like to think he would have strong chance based on his debut performance.” The Royal Meeting evokes happy memories for Greathouse as the Kentucky native, whose family own and operate Glencrest Farm, was an integral part of the team that orchestrated a famous victory for the mighty mare Tepin (Bernstein) in the 2016 G1 Queen Anne S. Greathouse advised her owner Robert Masterson to part with $140,000 to secure her as a yearling at Fasig-Tipton in 2012 and after a glorious career that netted six top level wins including the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile for trainer Mark Casse, she was then sold to MV Magnier for $8-million back at Fasig-Tipton in 2017. “I’ll certainly be at Royal Ascot this year. I came over with Robert Masterson a few years ago and it was obviously a great experience. I didn’t expect to get there so soon the first time and to have a reason to return so soon again is fantastic. So hopefully this horse stays happy and healthy and gets there in one piece.” Plans for the future will obviously be dictated by how Mohican Heights handles a jump in class but if things progress how Greathouse hopes, there are no shortage of options, either side of the Atlantic. “If he continues to improve and if we still own him as a 3-year-old the new Turf Triple Crown would be a very tempting option next year but we will take it one step at a time. We’ll hopefully get to enjoy Ascot first and then take it from there,” he added. The post Greathouse Hopes Mohican Can Scale The Heights appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Promising three-year-old fillies to the fore again after a slow start It has been a tough start to the season for Ralph Beckett. Early performances showed the trainer the horses, while healthy, were not quite ready, so he took the wise course of giving them more time, which has meant fewer runners than expected in […] The post Ralph Beckett Stable Tour appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Epsom hosted their Breakfast With The Stars morning on Tuesday and despite the absence of any major equine stars the G1 Investec Derby picture became a bit clearer with the news there is a strong chance that ante-post favourite Sir Dragonet (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) will feature among the mob handed Ballydoyle challenge for the race. The super impressive winner of the G3 MBNA Chester Vase and ‘TDN Rising Star‘ is not currently entered in the Derby and would have to be supplemented at a cost of £85,000 and despite recent speculation that he could be rerouted to Chantilly for the G1 Prix du Jockey Club, O’Brien confirmed Epsom is the favoured option. “Epsom is always where we want to be – the lads would prefer Sir Dragonet went to Epsom rather than France,” he said. “We don’t have to make our mind up until the supplementary stage but we are favouring Epsom. John [Magnier] has always considered Epsom to be the holy grail.” O’Brien has won nearly every Derby trial this year bar the G2 Dante S. at York and as a result it will be no surprise to see a similar situation June 1 to 2017 when Wings Of Eagles (Fr) (Pour Moi {Ire}) was one of six to represent the trainer. The likes of Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}), Circus Maximus (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Anthony Van Dyke (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Cape Of Good Hope (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) have all impressed in their trials and summing up O’Brien said, “The lads will decide how many to run but there will be a good crew there.” The post O’Brien Outlines Epsom Plans appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Of course it was lovely to have all the plaudits after my retirement, along with various articles and appearing on TV shows, but I wouldn’t have had the profile I have now without Dermot Weld. As I said previously, Dermot, Stan Cosgrove and Mr Haefner gave me the opportunity to ride good horses and our relationship grew over the years. I’d like to think it was one of the most successful partnerships in Irish racing that there has been for a long time, and I think one of my proudest achievements was holding down the job for the number of years that I did. The first couple of years were tough in that I was obviously trying to fill Michael Kinane’s boots which was never going to be achievable, but obviously I made as much of an effort as I could to try to do that. I think after a number of years I settled into the role with Dermot and understood what he wanted. He’s not shy about letting you know how he wants his horses to be ridden. He’s very much a tactician and doesn’t take kindly when a race has been lost that you should have won. He has always been a fierce competitor and still is to this day. I realised that very quickly and I think that made me a better jockey. I had to be very much tactically aware of what was happening around me and a lot of that came from Dermot’s tuition throughout the early years. He was very good amateur rider himself and understood when something went wrong, but when mistakes were made he didn’t take kindly to it at all. He was a pioneer for international racing and it was fascinating to sit down and speak to him about the logistics of getting Vintage Crop (GB) to the Melbourne Cup back in 1993. It was just so difficult that most people would have given up, but he wanted to get there to try to win that race and he’s the type of person who just keeps persevering. As a result he ended up making history. What has always struck me is how Dermot knows the families of the horses he is training inside out, which is obviously important when you’re training for major owner-breeders. He has a big string of horses but he never carries a sheet of paper in his hand. He knows every horse, every rider, and exactly how he wants each piece of work to be ridden. He pairs off the horses from his mind, there was never a list in his hand, and I think that shows the sort of brain he has. I’m sure he would have been successful in any role he had chosen if he wasn’t training racehorses. Aside from Harzand (Ire) winning the Derby, I think one of my favourite moments was when Rite Of Passage (GB) won the Ascot Gold Cup. People don’t realise how difficult he was to keep sound. He was a very upright horse, straight in front, and he was plagued with leg injuries all his life. I think that was where Dermot came into his own in nursing horses to their races. I don’t think that horse would have achieved anything like what he did if he was trained by anybody else. The amount of care and attention he received in coming back to win the Long Distance Cup on Champions Day after more than 500 days off the track was unbelievable. It was extraordinary to have a horse prepared to win on a day like that after such a long time off. Dermot was great in coaxing longevity out of horses. Famous Name (GB) springs to mind: he had six straight seasons of competing consistently in stakes class. He was just short of Group 1 level but he won all those listed races and up to Group 2 level, year in and year out. He wasn’t an easy horse to keep sound either; he had to have a lot of physiotherapy and he struggled a little bit with arthritis towards the end, but Dermot got the best out of him and I think he enjoyed doing so. He’s a vet, as we all know, and he has a huge understanding of his horses. Galway was always such a big week for the stable. In a way it was a little bit frustrating for me in that Glorious Goodwood takes place during the same week and I was always wondering why we weren’t targeting those races rather than going to Galway. But it’s a meeting with which he has a long association going back to his childhood, and he just loves the place. We took a lot of good horses there to win maidens and there was a bit of method to his madness in that Galway is a very undulating and tricky race track. A lot of maidens that he takes there learn plenty by running there first or second time out. It brings them forward and I think Dermot likes that aspect to it. He’s been hugely successful at the meeting I think I once rode 12 winners there in the week. It’s a unique racetrack and he specialises in getting horses there at their peak. Of course every great trainer relies on having a good team behind him or her. The late Joe Malone was a huge help to Dermot over a number of years. He was an old-school horseman and I learnt a lot from him over the years. When Dermot was off sourcing owners from all around the world, Joe kept the show on the road. He was just one of those great horsemen—they don’t make them like him any more. Every time we had two horses running in a race and I was a bit confused as to which one I would ride I always consulted Joe, and nine times out of ten he was spot on. He is sadly missed. There’s a number of staff that have been there for years and years, the likes of Raymond Carroll, and Dave Phillips, who looked after Vintage Crop and travelled him to Australia to win the Melbourne Cup, and then Media Puzzle (Ire) and Vinnie Roe (Ire) after him. Dermot has great staff to travel horses and he could let them go off around the world in confidence that the job would be done to the standard that he wanted. I think that’s testament to Dermot as well, the fact that there’s no great turnover of staff. He was a great trainer before I ever joined him and it was an enormous pleasure to ride for him for more than 20 years. Crowley Spot On Looking back on last weekend’s action, I thought that the Lockinge was a little bit of a messy race. Laurens (Fr) ran superbly and was up on the pace as is the norm for her, but she was perhaps a little bit fresh and gassy with PJ McDonald and there’s no question she’s going to improve from the run. Jim Crowley gave Mustashry (GB) a beautiful ride. He had the run of the race in my opinion; he just sat off the pace, relaxed, and came through and maybe caught Laurens as she was getting a little bit tired. That’s not to take anything away from Mustashry, who looks a typical Sir Michael Stoute improver at the age of six. Le Brivido (Fr) was at the back of the field and there was no pace, and I have a feeling that he is a horse who will jump forward again for that run when he gets to Royal Ascot. The race itself was a little bit inconclusive. Wishing William Well I’d like to wish William Buick all the best this week with his upcoming tests. It’s a worrying time for himself and his family but hopefully it’s nothing too serious. I hope all the tests go very well for him and that we see him back on the racecourse very soon. The post The Pat Smullen Column: Reflections On A Master Trainer appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Chad Schofield says he has learned from previous mistakes while riding run-on specialist Super Turbo as he looks to harness his booming finish at Happy Valley on Wednesday night.Schofield has ridden the David Hall-trained six-year-old three times this year but believes the horse will be aided by a strong tempo in the Class Two Suffolk Handicap (1,200m) as he looks for his first win of the season.After attempting to ride him closer to the speed previously, Schofield said he has learnt to utilise… View the full article

Ballarat trainer Simon Morrish cannot remember the last time he has had two runners nominated for a stakes race. That is the case at Flemington on Saturday with Chouxting The Mob and Mental Telepathy entered for the Listed Andrew Ramsden (2800m) which guarantees the winner a start in the Melbourne Cup. Chouxting The Mob is safely in Saturday's line-up if connections elect to start while Mental Telepathy arrives from New Zealand on Wednesday night and will need to please Morrish to start. "I coul... View the full article

Three-year-old colt Keep On Fly continued a stellar run for Windsor Park Stud stallion Rip Van Winkle, producing a powerful run from the rear of the field to win the 136th running of the Italian Derby in Rome at the weekend. A 10 length winner at his previous start, Keep On Fly took the step up to elite company in his stride to beat Italian 2000 Guineas winner Mission Boy and provide his sire Rip Van Winkle with his 28th individual stakes winner. Keep On Fly is out of the Duke Of Marmalade... View the full article

Leading local jockey Vincent Ho Chak-yiu is set to continue his career-best season abroad and ride in England once the Hong Kong season finishes in July.Ho has enjoyed a breakout term at home, racking up 46 winners and gaining the trust of some of the top trainers, but says he is not prepared to rest on his laurels.Visa pending, Ho will return to the United Kingdom to ride for top trainer Mark Johnston, who he teamed up with over the same period last year.The pair combined for a winner with Ho… View the full article

Star New Zealand jumps jockey turned trainer, Craig Thornton, is relishing his time in China. The experienced horseman is doing his bit to upskill participants in the emerging racing nation as he oversees a stable of 32 horses at the impressive Yulong racetrack, located in the county of Youyu, south of Inner Mongolia. Thornton is four months into a year-long contract as a private trainer and the hands-on horseman said the experience is a positive one, despite a few teething problems. “I was ... View the full article

Star New Zealand jumps jockey turned trainer, Craig Thornton, is relishing his time in China. The experienced horseman is doing his bit to upskill participants in the emerging racing nation as he oversees a stable of 32 horses at the impressive Yulong racetrack, located in the county of Youyu, south of Inner Mongolia. Thornton is four months into a year-long contract as a private trainer and the hands-on horseman said the experience is a positive one, despite a few teething problems. “I was ... View the full article

Talented O’Reilly mare Campari will continue her preparation aimed towards the Listed The Ultimate Ford and Mazda Tauranga Classic (1400m) next month when she contests the Race Images 1400m at Ellerslie on Saturday. The Stephen Marsh-trained four-year-old had a successful campaign in Australia late last year winning two races, including a record breaking performance at Randwick on Melbourne Cup day. “She broke a class record at Randwick that day – 1.21.33 seconds over 1400m. To... View the full article

Roger James is keen to welcome Sherrif back into his stable after the talented Cambridge galloper underwent a knee operation late last year. “He had a chip taken out of his knee and he’s had a long time off,’’ James said. ‘’He’s due back next month and I’m looking forward to having him back. He’s a very good horse.’’ Owned and bred by Brendan and Jo Lindsay, Sherrif won the Gr.3 Manawatu Classic (2000m) at Awapuni in just his third start and had only four starts last campa... View the full article

... View the full article

The 2018/19 season will live long in the memory of leading New Zealand jockey Opie Bosson. The talented hoop went on to win six Group One races, taking his tally to 65, surpassing Hall of Fame jockey Lance O’Sullivan’s previous record of 62 Group One victories. “It wasn’t a goal initially, but when I found out I was pretty close to it I was hungry to get it. I thought it was a great achievement to knock him off because he was a freak,” Bosson said. “When Lance broke his leg I ended u... View the full article

Frequent Kranji flyer Fownes heads down South again View the full article

Satoshi Yonekura to ride at Kranji Mile meeting View the full article

Kranji Mile tracknotes Tuesday May 21 View the full article

Updates on stewards' follow-ups to Friday and Sunday meetings View the full article

TIMONIUM, MD–The two-day Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale kicked off in Timonium Monday with a strong session punctuated by competitive bidding from a broad buying bench. Trainer Ken McPeek made the day’s highest bid, going to $500,000 to secure a colt by Street Sense (hip 156) from the Top Line Sales consignment. In all, 156 juveniles sold Monday for a total of $11,402,500. The average of $73,093 ticked up 4.2% from last year’s opening session and the median rose 19.4% to $43,000. The buy-back rate was 25.7%. It was 22.9% a year ago. Eleven horses sold for $200,000 or more during the session, compared to 13 a year ago. “It was a solid start to the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. “Statistically, it was very similar to last year. It was pretty much the market that we have seen throughout the 2-year-old sales season of 2019 and it was about as expected.” A traditional strength of the Midlantic sale is its diverse buying bench, which was on full display Monday, according to Browning. “We feed a number of racing jurisdictions and you see buyers from literally all over the United States, from California to the Southwest and obviously a lot of Eastern trainers and some Midwestern support,” Browning said. “There was activity from Korea and some folks from Dubai. It’s a very broad-based buying bench that participated in this sale.” The day’s top 10 lots were all purchased by unique buying interests. The Midlantic sale continues Tuesday and Browning is looking for another strong session. “I think we probably have some more top-end horses tomorrow, based on the chatter on the sales grounds amongst both consignors and buyers,” he said. “So we should hopefully have some fireworks tomorrow, but it was certainly a good, solid consistent marketplace at a variety of levels today, which was encouraging.” The Midlantic sale’s final session begins at 11 a.m. Tuesday. Colt Makes Sense for McPeek Ken McPeek made good use of his time in Baltimore. While in town to saddle Signalman (General Quarters) in Saturday’s GI Preakness S., the trainer went through the Fasig Midlantic sales barns and came up with a colt by Street Sense. McPeek purchased the bay on behalf of Reebok founder Paul Fireman for $500,000 Monday in Timonium. “I thought he was a real standout here,” McPeek said. “Obviously the sire is a Derby winner and the bottom line is speed. He looked great breezing and presented himself well out back. He had an injection of Deputy Minister on the bottom line, too, in the second dam, which I am always fond of. I have had a lot of luck with that line.” The juvenile (hip 156) is out of Forest Fashion (Forest Wildcat), who is a daughter of Fashion Editor (Deputy Minister) and she is a half-sister to graded stakes placed Luxembourg (Wild Rush). The 75-year-old Fireman, who races as Fern Circle Stables, was represented in this year’s GI Kentucky Oaks by Restless Rider (Distorted Humor). “Paul Fireman, the principal on this one, is always looking for a really good horse,” McPeek said. “We had Restless Rider in the Oaks this year, so we’ve sort of sniffed around at some top-end stuff and that is what he is after. And this is certainly a high-class colt.” The colt worked over a challenging surface during last week’s first session of the under-tack preview and turned in the fastest quarter-mile time of the day, covering the distance in :21 4/5. “He showed a turn of foot that you need to win big races,” McPeek said of the work. He added, “Because I was here for the Preakness with Signalman, I looked at every horse myself. I had some time to kill going into the race. I trained in the morning and then I had the afternoon [to look at horses]. So I looked at every horse by Sunday and narrowed it down. This was a horse who made the short list and he certainly deserved to be on it.” The colt was consigned by Top Line Sales, as agent for Carlo Vaccarezza who purchased him for $280,000 at last year’s Keeneland September sale. Vaccarezza has enjoyed a string of successful pinhooking scores this spring. At the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale, he sold a colt by American Pharoah for $775,000. He had purchased the youngster for $235,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale. Hip 156 was originally also slated to go to the Gulfstream sale, according to Top Line’s Torie Gladwell. “This colt just took a little bit longer to get ready,” Gladwell said. “We actually had him entered in the Miami sale and he was just a big and little heavier horse and we opted to scratch him out of Miami and just keep training him and getting him a little fitter. We knew he would be a big fish up here. And he did everything right. He breezed two ticks faster than anything else on the first day. The first day was pretty tough and we actually sent him in the last set, hoping the track would dry out a little bit. He breezed really well and he looked good doing it. He looked like he was galloping in his breeze. I’m happy for Carlo, he’s having a good year.” Patience Pays for Uncle Mo Colt Consignor Eddie Woods admitted it had taken some time for his colt by Uncle Mo to come to hand, but the juvenile did it handsomely in Timonium this week before ultimately selling for $475,000 to Martin Schwartz. Woods’s Quarter Pole Enterprise partnership purchased the dark bay for $225,000 at last year’s Keeneland September sale. “He is a lovely horse,” Woods said. “He is just very immature and very backward. It took a long time for him to come around. We never took him to another sale. We had him entered in [OBS] March and he just wasn’t ready for it. His butt is still up in the air, way above his withers. We could just never get him to balance out and in March he looked awkward. But we just gave him the time. This is sort of the last place to come with a horse. I had a partner who wanted to sell here and I said, ‘Okay.’ It went really well.” Hip 236 is out of the unraced Lady Godiva (Unbridled’s Song) and is a half-brother to Grade I winner Leofric (Candy Ride {Arg}). Lady Godiva, in foal to Candy Ride, sold for $600,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton November sale. The juvenile worked a furlong last week in :10 2/5. “He breezed great,” Woods said. “He had a beautiful video because he’s a beautiful-moving horse. He struggled with the turn a little bit, he was going a bit quick and he kind of blew the turn and went into the middle of the track a little bit and then drifted back in and cost himself a tick.” As the juvenile sales season winds down, Woods observed of the Timonium market, “We are getting horses sold. This is one of the last events. Some of the pinhooking has gone quite well, so we’re just moving horses along here.” He continued, “This was the lightest that we had seen for the showing here. Usually Sunday, we are swamped. And we were busy in spots this year, but we weren’t swamped. So I was a little concerned, especially for the bottom-end horses, but we got a lot of them sold just due to setting very realistic reserves and people wanting to move them on.” Carlisle Strikes for Ghostzapper Filly A filly by Ghostzapper will be joining the Tom Amoss barn after bloodstock agent Lauren Carlisle went to $400,000 to secure hip 205 on behalf of owner Temple Webber. “She is beautiful,” Carlisle said after signing the ticket on the youngster. “I loved her top line and her breeze was very impressive. She had a great shoulder and hip to match, so all the angles were there.” The dark bay is out of stakes winner I’m Mom’s Favorite (Indian Charlie) and her third dam is multiple Grade I winner Tout Charmant (Slewvescent). She worked a furlong during last week’s under-tack show in :10 2/5. “That was my last bid,” Carlisle admitted. “I was lucky to get her, but we stretched.” That was a refrain Carlisle has found common all season long at the juvenile sales. “It’s hard to buy the ones you want,” she said. “Everybody is on the same ones, so you’ve got to pray when you go to bid that you’re going to be able to get what you want. The good ones sell.” The dark bay filly was consigned to the Timonium sale by Pelican State Thoroughbreds. “She is just beautiful,” Pelican State Thoroughbreds’ Terry Gabriel said. “Just about everybody in the place was interested in her.” Gabriel purchased the filly on behalf of David Fennelly’s Mountmellick Farm for $185,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October sale. “We just thought she had a lot of potential in front of her,” Gabriel explained. “She was sort of a late foal [Apr. 28]. She was a big, gawky-looking filly that wasn’t really put together back in October. We hoped that she would arrive here today looking like she did and she did. You’ll read about her again. She is special.” An Irish native, Fennelly worked as a groom at Spendthrift when he first came to the U.S. and he is now building his own commercial broodmare band at his 600-acre Mountmellick Farm in Georgetown. Of Fennelly’s pinhooking venture, Gabriel explained, “He basically does that because of me. Anything that I sort of want to do, he’ll let me do. It’s been enjoyable for us.” The filly’s final price tag was a career mark for Gabriel. “It was right up there,” he said. “I can’t recall the numbers at this point, but it’s at least as strong as I’ve ever sold one for. I don’t do that many pinhooks–I have just two today. But I was so excited. I just loved her. It was easy for me to promote her because I could stand in front of her and tell people you can send her to the track tomorrow and she is going to be that for you, day in and day out. She has it all in front of her.” Wilkes Busy Shopping for Lothenbach Trainer Ian Wilkes kept busy during Monday’s first session of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale, purchasing four juveniles on behalf of owner Bob Lothenbach. Leading the way was a filly by Uncle Mo (hip 90), who sold for $350,000. “She is a nice filly,” Wilkes said after signing the ticket on the bay filly. “Bob has her half-brother, Elusive Mischief, who is a nice horse who won a race for him.” Hip 90 was consigned by Top Line Sales on behalf of Zayat Stables, which purchased her for $160,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October sale. She is out of Claire’s Song (Unbridled’s Song), a half-sister to the dam of Canadian champion Wonder Gadot (Medaglia d’Oro). Lothenbach purchased Elusive Mischief (Into Mischief) for $92,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Horses of Racing Age sale. The 4-year-old won the Punch Line S. at Laurel for Lothenbach last September. Also on behalf of Lothenbach, Wilkes purchased a colt by Pioneerof the Nile (hip 76) for $195,000, a Street Sense filly (hip 58) for $150,000, and a Speightstown filly (hip 56) for $135,000. “He’s looking for the Oaks or the Derby-type horse,” Wilkes said of Lothenbach. “That’s his main thing. That’s what he is looking for–that nice two-turn type horse.” Bernardini Filly to Speedway Stable Peter Fluor sat alongside Marette Farrell as the bloodstock agent went to $335,000 to secure a filly by Bernardini for his Speedway Stable. While immediate plans are to race the filly in the Speedway colors of Fluor and K.C. Weiner, long-term plans might include adding her to the operation’s fledgling broodmare band to support Grade I winner Collected (City Zip), as well as possibly GI Santa Anita Derby winner Roadster (Quality Road). “They have now started keeping a couple of fillies as broodmares because we have Collected as a stallion,” Farrell said. “We are very hopeful that Roadster is going to come back big in the later part of this year. So we want fillies with proper pedigrees. Which she has.” Hip 85 is out of the unraced Christmas Lass (Lemon Drop Kid), a full-sister to Grade I winner Christmas Kid. “We loved the bottom line and Bernardini speaks for himself,” Fluor said of the filly’s appeal. “So we are buying athletes, but secondarily, looking for Collected and possibly Roadster.” Speedway currently has a broodmare band of some 15 head, with plans to build a commercial breeding operation. “Thanks to Marette, we have been into breeding for three years,” Fluor said. “But we are still very early on in the process. We will race the filly and then we will breed and sell the offspring. It’s a commercial breeding operation, rather than having people wonder why are you selling this one–because it’s a business.” The filly, who worked a quarter last week in :22 1/5, was consigned by Ciaran Dunne’s Wavertree Stables on behalf of Ron Fein. Fein’s Superfine Farms purchased the filly for $137,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October sale. “She has a great pedigree, a great body and she was a nice mover,” Fein said of the filly’s appeal last Fall. “Ciaran loved her–that’s all that counts.” Fein, who said he aims to pinhook five or six a year, had his first million-dollar sale at last month’s OBS April sale, when he sold a colt by Liam’s Map for $1.2 million. The juvenile had been purchased for just $50,000 at last year’s Keeneland September sale. “It’s been a great year,” Fein said of his 2019 sales season. “With a lot of thanks to Ciaran Dunne.” Grassroots Training and Sales Cleans Up Grassroots Training and Sales enjoyed a string of big pinhooking successes during Monday’s opening session of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale, topped off by a son of Wicked Strong (hip 131) who sold for $240,000 to Manganaro Bloodstock. The dark bay colt was a $27,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October yearling purchase by the Ocala-based operation. “We bought the Wicked Strong colt at Fasig Tipton in October and he was a very nice colt up there,” explained Grassroot’s David McKathan. “He had injured himself and he had some cuts behind which took a lot of buyers off of him, but they were superficial. We took a chance and he turned out to be a nice colt, so we got lucky.” Earlier in the session, Grassroots sold a colt (hip 99) from the first crop of multiple graded stakes winner Golden Lad, who stands in Maryland, for $175,000 to Gary Young, as agent for Michael Dubb. That chestnut was purchased for $20,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Yearling sale. “The Golden Lad was by a young sire who people weren’t familiar with,” McKathan said of the bargain purchase. “He’s a good-looking colt. We saw a possible opportunity when we saw him. We buy a lot of possible opportunities that don’t work out, but he did.” During last Tuesday’s first session of the under-tack preview of the Midlantic sale, Grassroots sent out two of the furlong :10 1/5 bullet workers and both sold well Monday. A filly by Weigelia (hip 118), purchased for $23,000 at the Midlantic fall sale, brought $120,000 from Patti Miller and a filly by Competitive Edge (hip 106), purchased by $13,000 at the OBS October sale, attracted a final bid of $110,000 from West Bloodstock. “When we target this market, we try to stay with state-breds for the area, Pennsylvania-breds and Maryland-breds,” McKathan said. “We try to buy good individuals. And sometimes it works.” Strong Timonium Debut for Hemingway Michelle Hemingway brought her first consignment to Timonium and made an immediate impression in the Midlantic sales ring Monday. Hemingway sold a colt by Pioneerof the Nile (hip 76) for $195,000 to Bob Lothenbach. The Virginia native, daughter of former Mid-Atlantic trainer Clarke Whitaker, purchased the youngster for $12,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October sale. “He had the most beautiful walk of any horse I’d ever seen,” Hemingway said of the colt’s appeal as a yearling. “I was shocked [to get him for that]. I have to give a lot of credit to Mark Taylor and Alex Payne. They had him with Taylor Made and they’ve been really good to me this year. They showed him to me, he was completely under-prepped and overweight, but he had a great walk. So I was very fortunate to get him for what I got him for.” Of the colt’s progression since last fall, Hemingway said, “He is a totally different horse. He’s a real jewel now. I couldn’t have been happier.” Hemingway, based in Ocala since 2008, started Hemingway Racing and Training in 2014. Of her decision to sell horses in Timonium this year, she explained, “[Fasig-Tipton President] Boyd Browning has been super to me. He’s really helped in getting me started and I really wanted to support this sale. I’m from the Virginia area–I grew up riding show horses in Virginia and Maryland and New Jersey. I thought, it was time to go home for a while. And so far, it’s been so good.” The post Strong Opener to Fasig Midlantic Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Nominations for the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA) open Tuesday, May 21, and will close Monday, July 15. A new award category, the Administration Award, is being added in 2019, which brings the total number of categories to seven and total prize money to $128,000. The awards will be held Friday, Oct. 11 at Keeneland. “Keeneland is honored to host the 4th annual Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards,” said Keeneland President and CEO Bill Thomason. “These individuals are the backbone of our industry and it is a privilege to celebrate their contributions to our sport.” For more information and to nominate online, please go to godolphinusawards.com. The post TIEA Nominations Open appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The celebrations for trainer Mark Casse's barn continued May 20 when Live Oak Plantation's homebred Souper Tapit returned to Woodbine, the site of his first graded score, and came out on top of a photo finish in the $175,000 Eclipse Stakes (G2). View the full article

The Stronach Group has invested little to no money in upkeep at Pimlico, heightening calls for the race to be moved somewhere more suitable for crowds of more than 130,000 people. View the full article

For the third time in the last five renewals, a colt by Deep Impact (Jpn) proved the top seller at the annual Chiba Thoroughbred Sale held Friday, May 17, at Funabashi Racecourse outside of Tokyo. A total of 60 horses were sent through the ring during the single-session auction, and the Shadai-bred lot 41 led the proceedings, attracting a final bid of ¥74,520,000 (£523,434/€606,740/US$677,608). The Feb. 15 foal is a son of Mrs. Lindsay (Theatrical {Ire}), who carried the silks of Bettina Jenney to an upset victory in the G1 Prix Vermeille and to a defeat of Canadian Horse of the Year Sealy Hill (Point Given) as the favourite in course-record time in the GI E. P. Taylor S. in 2007. Trained by Francois Rohaut, the chestnut was victorious in that year’s G3 Prix Penelope and finished runner-up in the G1 Prix de Diane. Mrs. Lindsay, a half-sister to US Grade I winner Dame Dorothy (Bernardini), has proved equally proficient in her second career, having produced MSW and G1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains third-placegetter Mr. Owen (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) prior to being acquired privately by Shadai ahead of the 2013 breeding season. Mrs. Lindsay did not produce a foal in 2018 and was most recently covered by two-time G1 Tenno Sho (Spring) winner and 2012 G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) second Fenomeno (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}). The session’s top-selling filly was lot 25, a daughter of boom sire Lord Kanaloa (Jpn)–Artemis Heart (Jpn), by Heart’s Cry (Jpn), whose second dam Moonlady (Ger) (Platini {Ger}) was a multiple group winner in Germany and also annexed the GII Long Island H. in the US before producing 2010 Tokyo Yushun hero Eishin Flash (Jpn) (King’s Best). A Feb. 7 foal, the bay was hammered down for ¥52,920,000 (£523,434/€430,707/US$480,953). The post Deep Impact Colt Tops Chiba Thoroughbred Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

As a 850,000gns Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up topper, Godolphin’s Divine Spirit (GB) (Kingman {GB}) was on a hiding to nothing making her debut at the same Windsor track as her dam Shyrl (GB) (Acclamation {GB}) who was third in 2008 prior to going within a neck of breaking her maiden in the G2 Queen Mary S. days later. Hard to contain going down to post for the five-furlong fillies’ novice on Monday evening, the 8-11 favourite was settled perfectly under cover in the contest tracking the pace set by fellow Craven breezer Pink Sands (Ire) (No Nay Never). Getting a gap on the rail a furlong out, the bay was through and to the front with over a half-furlong remaining and hit the line strong with 1 3/4 lengths to spare over that rival. Jockey James Doyle was impressed with the winner, who had been withdrawn from her intended debut at Ascot 10 days earlier due to soft ground won by the operation’s fellow TDN Rising Star Final Song (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}). “She set off going to post and scooted a bit, but the bit had slipped to one side of her mouth and I didn’t have much control–she didn’t go that quick, but in the race she was perfect,” he commented. “She was a little bit ring rusty and a little bit green, but clicked into it at halfway. I liked the way she did take her time to pick up, so learnt on the job and then powered away nicely. There’s a bit of stamina there and she’s not an out-an-out five-furlong filly, but looking at her she’s not overly big and very precocious and racy. She’s ready to rock and roll now, so I’m sure Royal Ascot will be on the agenda.” By Juddmonte’s sire sensation Kingman, the winner is a half-sister to Raucous (GB) (Dream Ahead) who was a smart juvenile himself when third in the G2 Gimcrack S. and G2 Mill Reef S. and who was later also in that position in the G3 Hackwood S. and G3 Bengough S. The third dam is Benicia (Ire) (Lyphard), who captured the Prix de Flore and was third in the Prix Saint Alary. 5th-Royal Windsor, £7,400, Novice, 5-20, 2yo, f, 5f 21yT, :59.56, gd. DIVINE SPIRIT (GB), f, 2, by Kingman (GB) 1st Dam: Shyrl (GB) (GSP-Eng), by Acclamation (GB) 2nd Dam: Finicia, by Miswaki 3rd Dam: Benicia (Ire), by Lyphard Sales history: 92,000gns Ylg ’18 TATDEY; 850,000gns 2yo ’19 TATBRE. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $6,085. O-Godolphin; B-Saleh Al Homaizi & Imad Al Sagar (GB); T-Charlie Appleby. Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. The post Kingman’s Divine Spirit a New Rising Star At Windsor appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article