Wandering Eyes

Typhoon Mangkhut did not stop Lucky Bubbles from making the trip to Japan but now his assault on the Group One Sprinters Stakes is set to be affected by Typhoon Trami. The seven-year-old endured the No 10 signal from Typhoon Mangkhut in his Sha Tin stable before flying to Tokyo last week, and while the race meeting at Nakayama is not in an real danger of being called off, heavy rain is forecast with Typhoon Trami on a path to strike southern Japan on Sunday. Whether that will improve or hinder... View the full article

Hong Kong’s most admired horse Pakistan Star has fired a warning shot to any potential rivals this season, blitzing a quality field in a Sha Tin trial this morning. The reigning Group One QE II Cup and Champions Cup winner showed no signs he had slowed up over the off season, returning to the track in fantastic order and comfortably going past fellow dual Group One winner Time Warp. The eye-catching trial saw jockey Karis Teetan to draw comparisons to Hong Kong’s former favourite... View the full article

Red-hot Rodd one win shy of Pinnacle after one-week blitz View the full article

Anghiari finally breaks his duck View the full article

Yusoff Fadzli opens Kranji account on Taro San View the full article

Horses' body weights September 28 View the full article

Centenary Diamond sparkles at third Kranji outing View the full article

Track conditions and course scratchings September 28 View the full article

Early scratchings September 28 View the full article

Flax enjoying life in Zimbabwe View the full article

The California Horse Racing Board discussed and considered a proposal Sept. 27 that would require the final odds of any race in the state to be displayed "within five seconds of the close of wagering." View the full article

Convento Viejo’s Robert Bruce (Chi) (Fast Company {Ire}) more than proved his mettle in his native land last year, winning all six of his starts ranging from distances between six furlongs and 1 1/2 miles, including four Group 1 scores. That earned him a move to the United States and Chad Brown’s barn, where he has continued his winning ways, with one exception. He’ll return to the site of that one defeat as the favorite in Saturday’s GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational at Belmont Park. Making his American debut at Big Sandy May 5, the 4-year-old rallied to capture the GIII Fort Marcy S. before finishing sixth, albeit beaten just one length, in the GI Manhattan S. June 9. Shipped west for the GI Arlington Million Aug. 11, he was a half-length victor over stablemate Almanaar (Dubawi {Ire}) to run his record to eight wins in nine starts. The dark bay has drilled five times in the interim, capped by a five-furlong spin over the local turf in 1:01 flat (2/10) Sept. 23. The second through sixth finishers in the Aug. 25 GI Sword Dancer Invitational return to challenge the rested favorite. Runner-up Channel Maker (English Channel) dead-heated for the win in the GII Bowling Green S. prior to that, while third finisher Spring Quality (Quality Road) pulled off an 18-1 upset in the aforementioned Manhattan in his previous try. A pair of wild cards inject some intrigue into the party of mostly familiar faces in the older-male turf division. Carrick (Giant’s Causeway) was available for $40,000 debuting at this oval on debut May 12, he repeated in a local starter allowance June 21 before running third in the GIII Kent S. July 14 at Delaware. Sent to Arlington, the chestnut pulled off a 38-1 stunner in the GI Secretariat S. last out on the Million undercard. Teodoro (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) ships in from Great Britain for the Thomas Dascombe barn. Adding Lasix after a 16th-place run in the Sky Bet Ebor Handicap S. last out Aug. 25 at York, the gelding is competitive off of his race two back, a 3 1/4-length upset in the G3 Smarkets Rose of Lancaster S. at Haydock. He acclimated to his surroundings with a bullet five-furlong work on the local main track in 1:00 2/5 (1/4) Sept. 27. View the full article

Down the backside of the GIII With Anticipation S. Aug. 29 at Saratoga, Opry (Declaration of War) looked to be fairly hopeless. Traveling greenly while still able to see them all at the five-sixteenths pole, he still appeared to be figuring things out in the stretch drive, but produced a huge stretch kick to strike the front and score going away. A repeat of that effort would likely make him tough in Saturday’s GIII Pilgrim S. at Belmont, but any positive development in the interim could have the fat lady signing for his competition well before they hit the wire. Debuting in an off-the-turf event Aug. 11 at the Spa, Opry showed some late interest to be third, beaten less than a length. The form of that race has since been validated, as winner Cairo Cat (Cairo Prince) returned to capture the GIII Iroquois S. at Churchill Downs two Saturdays ago. But Opry was clearly meant for grass, a preference he proved emphatically when entered as a maiden in the With Anticipation. The $180,000 Keeneland September graduate shows a bullet half-mile in :48 4/5 (1/21) over the Saratoga training turf Sept. 21 in preparation for this. “Initially, the plan was to run him on the turf and he drew the also-eligible,” said trainer Todd Pletcher. “When that race came off the turf we decided not to run even though we could’ve drawn in. We entered him back and the race came off the turf again, so I figured he trained well enough on the dirt that we needed to get him started. He ran a respectable race that day and I’d been impressed enough with his turf works to think it wasn’t crazy to enter him in the With Anticipation. Since then he’s continued to develop and certainly has earned his way into running here.” Somelikeithotbrown (Big Brown), runner-up to Opry last out, returns to re-engage. Prior to that, the bay was an eight-length victor in the infamous wrong-distance race run at Saratoga Aug. 8. August Dawn Farm’s Forty Under (Uncle Mo) was 20-1 when he upset turf maidens on the Travers undercard Aug. 25, and he’ll likely be a much shorter price trying to repeat here. Rhythm With Soul (Kitten’s Joy) took a good deal of money debuting in a Spa turf sprint Sept. 2 and, similarly to Opry, looked without a chance on the backstretch before sweeping from last to get up on the wire. View the full article

Heading into last October’s GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, Lauren and Ralph Evans’s ‘TDN Rising Star’ Diversify (Bellamy Road) was a relative unknown on the national racing scene. He took care of that with a game, wire-to-wire victory in the annual Belmont Fall Championship meet centerpiece, and a little less than a year later, he returns to defend his title as one of the leaders in the handicap division. Passing on a start in the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic after his Belmont heroics, the gelding threw in uncharacteristic clunkers in back-to-back races, finishing fourth at 7-5 in the GI Clark H. and last at 6-5 in the GII Charles Town Classic in his seasonal debut Apr. 21. He bounced back with a narrow victory in the New York-bred Commentator S. May 28, but proved he was back in true top form with a 6 1/2-length tour de force in the track-and-trip GII Suburban S. July 7. Entered last-minute in the GI Whitney S. Aug. 4 at Saratoga, the bay produced another convincing tally by 3 1/2 lengths. Off since then, he returns to the track where he boasts six wins and two seconds in eight starts with a pair of identical :58 4/5 bullet five-furlong breezes Sept. 14 and 21. “The Whitney was a last-minute decision, no question, but we went there because he was doing so well and everything was exceptional going into it,” said trainer Rick Violette. “Skipping the Woodward basically gave us another couple weeks to let him chill a little bit, refuel his tank. It gave us extra time to not really rest, but feel out the horse and get us back to our best race. There’s a lot of marbles on the table. A big race is a big race and there’s some nice horses in there.” The more intriguing challenger is Coolmore’s Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy). Romping by 18 1/2 lengths in the G2 UAE Derby Mar. 31 at Meydan, the $3-million Keeneland September buy finished last in the GI Kentucky Derby and third as the favorite in the GIII Dwyer S. before bouncing back with a good second at 13-1 in the GI Runhappy Travers S. last out Aug. 25. Another UAE Derby champion who came up empty in the Kentucky Derby who will try his luck against Diversify is Godolphin Racing’s Thunder Snow (Helmet {Aus}). Kept overseas after bucking at the start of the Run for the Roses last May, the bay produced a stunningly dominant performance this spring when cruising in the G1 Dubai World Cup by 5 3/4 lengths. Eighth in the G1 Juddmonte International S. last out Aug. 22 at York, he returns to his preferred surface here, but will have to navigate the tricky outside post in a race that begins on the clubhouse turn, as well as avoid an early pace duel with the favorite. Phoenix Thoroughbred III’s Gronkowski (Lonhro {Aus}) returns to the scene of a near-upset of Justify (Scat Daddy)’s Triple Crown bid. Riding a four-race winning streak into his North American debut in that final jewel, he was far out of it early, but parlayed a ground-saving trip into a runner-up finish to the undefeated and since-retired chestnut. Expected to build on that effort in the Travers, Gronkowski disappointed, making no impact when a distant eighth. View the full article

In a pair of unanimous 5-0 votes at Thursday’s monthly meeting, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) solidified the 2019 race dates calendars for both the southern and northern circuits in the state. Although the dates templates are not radically different from previous seasons, the most noticeable change was that the highly contentious, drawn-out annual squabbling among tracks and fairs venues in Northern California was averted because those associations came together earlier this week to present a mostly unified calendar before the CHRB had to impose its own version of compromise dates. The allocation of southern California dates has not been a problem in recent years because those entities are in the third year of a three-year negotiated “rollover” agreement that calls for a more-or-less static calendar to be approved on an annual basis by the board. “This is what we ask every year,” said CHRB chairman Chuck Winner. “We ask Northern California to do something similar to Southern California in trying to work out the dates agreements and the stabling agreements amongst themselves so it doesn’t have to be done by regulators. It’s far better if the stakeholders do it themselves. I know everybody had to sacrifice–and I know everybody did–to make this come together.” The northern tracks were not entirely unified. Jim Morgan, an attorney representing Humboldt County Fair at Ferndale, which for 2018 had been granted a non-overlapping race week without competition from Golden Gate Fields, expressed dismay that Ferndale in 2019 would have to revert to racing head to head against a commercial track, plus no access to revenue from having host-track status. Morgan noted that in the absence of an overlap for one week this summer, Ferndale had more horses on its grounds, had an uptick in on-track attendance, “and our handle was through the roof,” posting a 125% overall gain. Beyond those numbers, Morgan also said that the fairgrounds has upgraded its stables over the past year, installed a new inner rail, “and for the second year in a row we had no breakdowns on our improved track.” Commissioner Madeline Auerbach took an opposing view in explaining why the CHRB needed to give commercial licensees precedence over the fairs tracks when it comes to dates allocations and other potential subsidies. “When we talk about Golden Gate Fields, we’re talking about people who are in the business of racing. That is their business,” Auerbach said. “They don’t have fairs going on. One of the items that disturbed me was the notion that it was the responsibility of Golden Gate Fields to provide ongoing support to keep the fairs whole, and I’ll tell you why: Because the fairs are an adjunct to racing, not vice versa.” Auerbach continued: “Our job is to protect racing in this state, and while we love the fairs and want to see them do well…it is not our job to have a situation where we direct [a commercial track] to put money into the fairs circuit. And I just want to make it clear that the notion that, ‘Oh my gosh, look how much money Golden Gate made, and therefore you’re not treating us fairly,’ is not, in my view, a proper way” to bring about change in dates allocations. “Golden Gate is a concern whose business is racing,” Auerbach summed up. “And the fairs, you also take racing seriously, and we appreciate and understand that. But to make determinations based first on what’s good for the fairs is not necessarily what’s good for racing.” Morgan countered that the CHRB also has a mandate to support racing everywhere in the state, not just at commercial venues. “If we keep that dangerous precedent, then only Golden Gate Fields, Santa Anita and Del Mar will be left,” Morgan said. “And although that may ultimately happen, I think it’s a disservice to communities such as Humboldt and the other fair communities.” Auerbach pointed out to Morgan that last year, when the CHRB established its 2018 calendar with no overlap against Ferndale for one week, board members had underscored that such a scenario was a one-year deal that should not be considered binding for future years. “We’re trying very hard to balance everybody’s concerns,” Auerbach said. “We know how vital it is to the fairs that Golden Gate be healthy. Because without a healthy Golden Gate, we don’t have a fairs circuit.” Commissioner Fred Maas declared that the entire NorCal dates-awarding process was “an imperfect situation” in which all negotiating tracks “accepted three-quarters of a loaf” to align in a workable agreement. “It was a reasonably elegant solution in which everyone got as much of the loaf as could have been expected,” he said. The 2019 SoCal schedule (in blocks of dates, not actual race days) will be as follows: Santa Anita: Dec. 26, 2018-June 25, 2019 Los Alamitos: June 26-July 16 Del Mar: July 17-Sep. 3 Los Alamitos: Sep. 4-24 Santa Anita: Sep. 25-Nov. 5 Del Mar: Nov. 6-Dec. 3 Los Alamitos: Dec. 4-Dec. 17 The 2019 NorCal schedule will be as follows: Golden Gate: Dec. 26, 2018-June 9, 2019 Pleasanton: June 13-July 7 Sacramento (Cal Expo): July 12-28 Santa Rosa: Aug. 1-11 GGF: Aug. 15-Sep. 29 Ferndale: Aug. 16-25 Fresno: Oct. 4-14 GGF: Oct. 17-Dec. 14 New Joint Injection and Gelding Rules Now in Effect in California Separate rules involving intra-articular injections and the reporting of gelded horses went into effect Thursday following two unanimous votes by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) at its scheduled monthly meeting. In a summary of the full rule as posted on the Sep. 27 agenda, an amendment to CHRB Rule 1588 (Horse Ineligible to Start in a Race) now states that “a horse that receives an intra-articular injection (glucocorticosteriod/cortisone) is ineligible to race for five (5) days (120 hours) after the treatment.” In addition, a summary of CHRB Rule 1842.1 (Additional Report for Intra-Articular Treatments) states that “veterinarians administering medication or treatment into an articular structure of a horse located within the inclosure to provide an intra-articular treatment record to the trainer who shall maintain the records for a period of one year, and make the records available to the examining veterinarian for the purpose of assisting with pre-race veterinary examinations and other examinations as required by the Board.” Regarding geldings, a summary of CHRB Rule 1865 (Altering of Sex of Horse) now requires that “if the public is not notified of the true of sex of the horse prior to the opening of wagering, the stewards shall declare the horse from the race.” The CHRB has been dealing with the issue of unannounced and/or unreported geldings for several years now. The previous version of this rule, last amended in 2017, stated that any trainer who failed to report to the racing office the gelding of a horse be fined a mandatory minimum of $1,000. However, a loophole existed whereby the trainer might report the gelding properly, but racing officials, for whatever reason, might fail to communicate this change to the public, thus depriving them of pertinent betting information. In April, when this issue first came up for a preliminary vote, the CHRB clarified that the new version of the rule wouldn’t apply to first-time starters (because first-timers have no established statistical form that could be affected). Although the previous $1,000 fine has been amended out of the new version, a new amendment states that “the responsible party may be sanctioned by the stewards.” There was no discussion by the CHRB prior to voting on either issue, although both rule changes had been substantially debated at previous meetings. The new rules, in their entirety, can be viewed here. Final Odds Within 5 Seconds a No-go? CHRB Says ‘Figure it Out’ In an effort to quell perceptions of past-posting, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) wants final odds to be displayed on all race video feeds within five seconds after the close of betting. But David Payton, the vice president of sales for AmTote International, testified at Thursday’s monthly CHRB meeting that even though his firm is endeavoring to slice down the amount of time so that odds aren’t changing as the horses storm into the stretch, five seconds just isn’t feasible. In response, CHRB members–given the volume of complaints they receive about odds dropping on a winning horse just before the finish–essentially told the tote company and racetracks to find a way to do it anyway. By a 5-0 unanimous vote, they advanced a new rule to a 45-day public comment period requiring that the technology be figured out and implemented to report final odds with five seconds. But in discussing the matter, CHRB members also acknowledged they are willing to listen to arguments about the practical limitations of their proposal. Because of the way California’s 45-day public-comment law usually works, it is often the case that many CHRB initiatives often take months to go from proposal to official rule. So the CHRB left open the possibility that they could amend the five-second mandate if stakeholders demonstrate they are making a good-faith effort to help cut down the delays. Payton said over the last few months, AmTote has been trying to find the “optimum time” frames for displaying odds changes, experimenting with different cycles at New York and Maryland tracks. Traditionally, Payton said, the AmTote system updates odds every 30-60 seconds until the final three minutes to post, when the system then switches to 20-second tote board refreshings. Recently, AmTote has cut those final-three-minutes odds updates to once every 10 seconds, and he said the switch has made a “tremendous difference” that’s “smoothed out the changes in the increments of the odds so you don’t see as much of an impact.” And at Santa Anita’s meet that begins Friday, Payton said the odds updates within the final three minutes of a race will experiment with refreshing every seven seconds. But even that progress, he added, might not carry over into five-second final odds transmissions. “We still have to wait for the final odds for all the money to come in,” Payton said. “So five seconds after the bell won’t be practical, because we have to wait for ‘double hops’ and whatnot. There’s technology out there that slows us down from actually getting the ‘final final.’ But that money has been proven to be a very, very small amount of handle. So the odds won’t change from any dramatic way that we’ve seen.” Payton continued: “We would suggest that a 10-second number would be appropriate in intermediate cycles at three minutes to post. But I wouldn’t put a hard number on the actual final [odds]. Five seconds on the final just wouldn’t work.” CHRB executive director Rick Baedeker countered by stating, “You can explain all the double hops in the world to the customer, but they saw what they saw,” when it comes to odds still changing on TV screens while a race is in progress. An additional problem, Baedeker said, is that tote companies might be able to eventually deliver final odds within five seconds after a race goes off, but that time frame gets additionally delayed because a track’s TV graphics software still has to translate the data into what gets shown on the broadcast. “So you might get that [tote] delay down as close as you can get it. But unless that [TV graphics] delay is also fixed, we’re still going to have the problem,” Baedeker said. Elizabeth Morey, the director of racing and northern California operations for the Thoroughbred Owners of California, said her group did not support the proposed rule “because the technology is not available to meet its target, and we believe it will have a serious [negative] impact on handle.” But, Baedeker said, “There are ways to meet the time frame. Such as: Betting stops with the first nose into the gate.” Baedeker added that stakeholders often “panic” when proposals get floated to cut off betting earlier out of fears that odds-conscious customers won’t like it. But in all practicality, he said, players don’t respect traditional “one minute to post” warnings anyway because of blatant post-time “drag” delays that have become the norm at many tracks nationwide. “One suggestion is to have a countdown clock–30 seconds left, or whatever–and then the big players can get their bets in on time,” Baedeker said. “In that event, there’s no doubt that all of the odds would be posted probably as the horses broke, or maybe even before they broke.” View the full article

After running second to champion Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}) to begin the year in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational to follow up a championship season of his own, it appeared that Gary and Mary West’s West Coast (Flatter) was at the top of the older male division. But after disappointing next out and being shelved for the entire summer, he returns Saturday to face the actual leader of the group, Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky), in the GI Awesome Again S. at Santa Anita. Steadily developing as a sophomore, West Coast broke through with a wire-to-wire victory in the GI Travers S. last August, and followed that up with a 7 1/4-length romp in the GI Pennsylvania Derby. Sewing up his Eclipse Award with a good third in the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic, he was the only horse to get within a pole of Gun Runner in the Pegasus, but finished a distant second in the G1 Dubai World Cup and hasn’t been seen since. He resurfaces with a strong series of local works, capped by a half-mile bullet in :48 flat (1/32) Sept. 25, but will have his hooves full with the current favorite for champion older male. Hronis Racing’s Accelerate, unlike his rival, disappointed in last year’s Breeders’ Cup when ninth in the Dirt Mile, but has been a force in 2018, going a neck from being unbeaten in five starts and racking up three powerful Grade I wins. The last of which was easily a career-best effort and one of the most impressive top-level victories in years when the chestnut crushed the GI Pacific Classic field by 12 1/2 lengths. With the other four runners in the Awesome Again appearing too slow, it sets up for an intriguing match race between the king of the hill and the champion trying to regain his perch. View the full article

Vasilika (Skipshot), claimed for $40,000 out of a win in February, has won six of her seven starts since and missed by a neck in the other one. She stepped up to graded company last time with aplomb and will look to continue her ascent as the heavy favorite in Saturday’s GI Rodeo Drive S. at Santa Anita. Taken by All Schlaich Stables and Gatto Racing and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer from Drawing Away Stable and Rob Falcone, Jr. here Feb. 11, the chestnut feasted on allowance and starter handicap company through the spring and early summer before taking a shot in the GII John C. Mabee S. last out Sept. 1 at Del Mar. She had no issue with the stiffer competition, rallying to a 1 1/2-length score over the most accomplished Cambodia (War Front). That mare re-opposes after Vasilika got the jump on her in San Diego. Prior to that, she captured the GII Yellow Ribbon H. Aug. 4, her fourth graded stakes tally. Despite starting six times at Del Mar, this will be the Winter Quarter Farm colorbearer’s first try at Santa Anita. Paved (Quality Road) appeared on her way to a big second half after a dominant victory in the local GII Honeymoon S. June 9, but finished eighth next out in the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational and disappointed when sixth in the GI Del Mar Oaks when last seen Aug. 18. View the full article

Anchored by the $400,000 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby, to be contested Saturday, Mar. 9, 2019, the 2018-2019 stakes schedule at Tampa Bay Downs features 28 added-money events worth a record $3.74 million. The graded portion of the schedule kicks off with the $250,000 GIII Sam F. Davis S., a points race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, and shares top billing on the Feb. 9 program with the GIII Tampa Bay S. and GIII Lambholm South Endeavour S., the latter two events on the turf. Derby Day also features the GIII Florida Oaks for sophomore fillies on the grass and the GII Hillsborough S. for older turf distaffers. Purses for the each of the track’s six Florida Cup races Mar. 31 have been raised by 15% to $115,000, accounting for the $90,000 increase in purse money from last season. “We’re excited to offer a stakes program of such outstanding quality to our horsemen and fans, featuring tremendous races for horses of both sexes and all ages on both our main dirt track and turf course,” said Tampa Bay Vice-President and General Manager Peter Berube. Stall applications for the upcoming season are due Friday, Sept. 28–an application may be downloaded at www.tampabaydowns.com. A 91-day meet begins at Tampa Bay Downs Saturday, Nov. 24 and runs through Sunday, May 5 with an additional day of racing June 30. View the full article

With the 10-furlong Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), Dirt Mile (G1), and six-furlong Twinspires Sprint (G1) all in play to gain Mind Your Biscuits' presence, trainer Chad Summers is sending his charge out for a trial run of sorts this weekend. View the full article

The Florida HBPA has filed a lawsuit questioning the validity of a permit a state regulator issued to Calder Race Course that would allow the Churchill Downs Inc. track to conduct summer jai alai and abandon its commitment to Thoroughbred racing. View the full article

Grade 1 winner Finley'sluckycharm will be offered at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale, her connections announced Sept. 27. View the full article

Ready to host the $700,000 Clasico Internacional del Caribe for the second straight year, Gulfstream Park is looking to make an even bigger splash when it comes to holding top international races usually run elsewhere in the world. Tim Ritvo, the Stronach Group’s COO, told the TDN that the track is in negotiations to host the GI Gran Premio Latinoamericano and is optimistic the race will be run in South Florida in 2021. The race is traditionally held in March. While the Clasico Internacional del Caribe is for horses from Carribean countries like Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Panama, the Gran Premio Latinoamericano is restricted to horses from countries which are members of the Asociacion Latinoamericana de Jockey Clubes e Hipodromos and, with a purse of $500,000, is the richest race run in South America. On its racing-related website, its sponsor, Longines, calls it the most important event in Latin American racing. “It looks like we will be getting the Latinoamericano in a few years,” Ritvo said. “This is a really important race to us. It is a really, really good race. It’s huge and it’s never been held outside a South American country. It is sponsored by Longines and they’ve signed off on this because they have veto rights.” Ritvo said the Clasico Internacional del Caribe was used as a trial run with bringing the South American race to Gulfstream in mind. “The Clasico Caribe was the first step,” he said. “We learned how to get horses through quarantine and everything else that it took. We pulled it off. The next step was to reach out to the racing people in South America. Races like these are important to us because Gulfstream is such a multi-cultural, international place. We get fans from all over the world, including many from the Carribean and South American countries.” The race was first run in 1981 and will be held this year in Chile. It was held in Uruguay last year and won by Roman Rosso (Arg) (Roman Ruler). After winning the race, he joined the Bob Baffert barn and made his next start in the GI Pacific Classic, where he finished a well-beaten fourth. The race has been run on both the turf and dirt and is usually held at a mile and a quarter. Ritvo said the Gulfstream race will be on the turf. Gulfstream management is also linking the GIII McKnight Handicap to the Gran Premio Latinoamericano. Whoever wins the race this year, will be granted an automatic invite into the Latin American race next year and Gulfstream will cover all expenses involved. Brazil leads all countries in Latinoamericano wins with 10, followed by Peru (9), Chile (8), Argentina (6) and Uruguay (1). View the full article

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Friday’s Insights features a full-sister to MG1SW Winter (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). 4.10 Newmarket, Mdn, £10,000, 2yo, 7fT VELORUM (IRE) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) is one of two newcomers from the Charlie Appleby stable and one of a trio of Godolphin representatives in total. The 425,000gns Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up graduate, a son of the group winner and G1 Matron S. runner-up Lily’s Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), encounters Khalid Abdullah’s Tempus (GB) (Kingman {GB}), a Roger Charlton-trained son of the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud scorer Passage of Time (GB) (Dansili {GB}) who is therefore a half to the former stable luminary Time Test (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). 5.30 Dundalk, Mdn, €15,000, 2yo, f, 7f (AWT) FROSTY (IRE) (Galileo {Ire}) is one of two Aidan O’Brien debutantes and three from the stable in all, but as a full-sister to the star Winter (Ire), is potentially the most significant. The other visiting the races for the first time is Happen (War Front), a daughter of the G1 English, Irish and Yorkshire Oaks heroine Alexandrova (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells). View the full article

Carl R. Moore’s Finley’sluckycharm (Twirling Candy), winner of 11 of her 18 career trips to the post including this year’s GI Madison S. at Keeneland, will be offered as a broodmare prospect at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale. A stakes winner and runner-up in the 2016 GI La Brea S., was a treble graded-stakes winner in 2017. Runner-up in her lone turf try to date in the Feb. 13 Mardi Gras S. in New Orleans, the 5-year-old fought on bravely for a nose success in the Madison and added a 2 1/4-length success in Saratoga’s GII Honorable Miss H. July 25. Finley’sluckycharm has three runner-up efforts to go with her double-digit wins and earnings of $918,068. “Finley has taken us to some of the highest levels in racing, and brought so much joy and excitement to our family,” Moore said of the emotional decision to offer the mare at auction. “She’s done plenty for us and it’s time to let a breeder take the reins.” Finley’sluckycharm is scheduled to make her final career appearance in the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Churchill Downs, where she is six-for-seven lifetime, her only loss coming in the GI Humana Distaff S. earlier this year over a rain-affected surface. View the full article

Bill Thomason, who serves the Keeneland Association as its current president and chief executive officer, has been elected the Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA). The announcement came Thursday following the organization’s regularly scheduled third-quarter Board Meeting. He has been a member of the NTRA’s Board of Directors since 2012. Additionally, Craig Fravel, President and CEO of Breeders’ Cup Limited, was elected to the position of vice chair of the NTRA. Thomason and Fravel will serve as chair and vice chair, respectively, of a newly established executive committee of the Board which will also include Greg Avioli, president and CEO of the Thoroughbred Owners of California; Alan Foreman, chairman and CEO of the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association; and Mike Ziegler, director of racing at Churchill Downs Inc. “The NTRA remains one of the most important national organizations in horse racing,” Thomason said. “The entire industry has realized the benefits of the NTRA’s legislative advocacy efforts in Washington, D.C. Likewise, programs like the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance are leading the way toward establishing a safer and fairer racing environment for all participants in our sport. I look forward to working on behalf of the NTRA with our board and many industry partners who share our commitment to Thoroughbred racing.” NTRA also announced the addition to the Board of Glen Berman, representing the Florida HBPA; Jim Gagliano, president and COO of The Jockey Club, who is replacing longtime board member Robert Clay; Del Mar President Josh Rubenstein, replacing Craig Dado; and Ziegler, who is replacing William Mudd as the board representative for Churchill Downs Inc. “We welcome each of the new members to the NTRA Board of Directors and thank each of the outgoing board members for their commitment to the NTRA, especially Robert Clay for almost 20 years of faithful service to the organization,” said NTRA President and Chief Executive Officer Alex Waldrop. The Board received updates on the NTRA’s various federal legislative activities, including the impacts of new regulations modernizing withholding and reporting of pari-mutuel winnings, and also received updates from the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance, the National Horseplayers’ Championship and the Eclipse Awards. View the full article