Wandering Eyes

Domeyer to miss Raffles Cup meeting View the full article

After nearly eight months away, Speedway Stable's Collected is scheduled to be back in the starting gate Sept. 22 against eight challengers in the $150,000 Pa Derby Champion Stakes going 1 1/16 miles at Parx Racing. View the full article

Jockey Perry Ouzts got his first victory in Ohio back in 1973 and won the 7,000th race of his career in the Buckeye State Sept. 21. View the full article

After a banner day at the races Thursday with two impressive new winners, young sire Mucho Macho Man had a good day at the sales Friday with a $170,000 filly from his second crop topping the single-session Book 5 of Keeneland September. A total of 287 yearlings changed hands Friday for a gross of $5,313,000, an average of $18,512 and a median of $11,000. There were 54 youngsters who failed to meet their reserves for an RNA rate of 15.8%. Friday’s session was the 11th of 13 for the marathon auction, which has sold 2,546 yearlings thus far for $373,577,600. The average currently stands at $146,731 with a median of $70,000. A total of 793 horses were led from the ring unsold for an RNA rate of 23.7%. Friday’s topper (Hip 3745) was purchased by Dean and Patti Reeves’s Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, which campaigned the filly’s GI Breeders’ Cup Classic-winning sire Mucho Macho Man (Macho Uno). The freshman sire was represented by his fourth and fifth winners Thursday when Mucho Gusto was named a ‘TDN Rising Star’ after an ultra-impressive debut at Los Alamitos and Belle Laura powered home to a decisive score on the grass at Churchill Downs. Consigned by Eaton Sales, Hip 3745 is out of the Awesome Again mare Carolina Sunrise and is a half-sister to SW & GISP Reveron (Songandaprayer) and MSP Carolina Mist (Mr. Greeley). The session’s top colt was Hip 3804, a yearling from the first crop of Secret Circle, who brought $140,000 from SBM. Consigned by Select Sales, the dark bay is out of Fantasy Slam (Smoke Glacken). Gainesway was the day’s top consignor with 18 yearlings selling for $567,000. Keeneland September continues through Sunday with sessions beginning at 10a.m. View the full article

Melmich, a 7-year-old son of Wilko, can hit the $1 million mark in earnings with a repeat win in the $125,000 Durham Cup Stakes (G3), one of two stakes slated for Sept. 23 at Woodbine. View the full article

Multiple grade 1 winner Mind Your Biscuits turned in his final breeze in preparation for his expected start in the Sept. 29 Lukas Classic (G3) with a five-furlong work in 1:02 at Churchill Downs Sept. 21. View the full article

Nearly six months after surgery to repair fractures in two sesamoid bones in his right front leg, The Player was released Sept. 20 and arrived at trainer Buff Bradley's farm the following afternoon. View the full article

After nearly eight months away, Speedway Stable's Collected is scheduled to be back in the starting gate Sept. 22 against eight challengers in the $150,000 Pa Derby Champion Stakes going 1 1/16 miles at Parx Racing. View the full article

Santa Anita will offer two new items on its wagering menu–the 20-cent Rainbow Pick Six and The Stronach Five–during the fall meet, which begins Sept. 28. The 20-cent Rainbow Pick Six will be offered daily and The Stronach Five will be available on Fridays with a 12% takeout wager and 50-cent minimum. The Stronach Five will offer fans a quintet of races from four Stronach Group properties: Gulfstream Park, Laurel Park, Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields. The 20-cent Rainbow Pick Six is paid on a daily basis to those tickets with the highest number of winning horses. Thirty percent of the pool is then carried over to a jackpot pool, less takeout. View the full article

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Today’s Observations features the debut of a Moyglare blueblood. 1.15 Newbury, Cond, £8,550, 2yo, 7fT LONDON EYE (Australia {GB}) is a notable Michael Tabor newcomer from the Sir Michael Stoute stable, being a half-brother to the sire Circular Quay (Thunder Gulch), who famously beat Scat Daddy in the 2006 GI Hopeful S. He takes on 15 in this race won in recent times by the subsequent G1 St Leger hero Kingston Hill (GB) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) and in which Emaraaty (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) earned ‘TDN Rising Star’ status 12 months ago. 1.35 Gowran Park, Mdn, €16,500, 2yo, f, 8fT MIA MARIA (IRE) (Dansili {GB}) is a Moyglare Stud homebred with significance, being a full-sister to the dual group winner Carla Bianca (Ire) and a half to two other smart types in True Solitaire (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and Joailliere (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). Dermot Weld introduces the February-foaled grey, who is also connected to the operation’s high-class Profound Beauty (Ire) (Danehill), Irresistible Jewel (Ire) (Danehill) and Royal Diamond (Ire) (King’s Best) et al against Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith and Susan Magnier’s newcomer The Tooth Fairy (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a daughter of Red Evie (Ire) (Intikhab) and therefore a full-sister to the Arc heroine Found (Ire) who scored on her debut. 1.40 Chelmsford, Cond, £13,200, 2yo, 7fT GLOBAL HEAT (IRE) (Toronado {Ire}) was his sire’s top-priced horse sold at auction when making 325,000gns at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 1. Godolphin’s newcomer, a half-brother to the G3 Geoffrey Freer S. winner and G1 Irish St Leger runner-up Agent Murphy (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) is introduced by Saeed bin Suroor on the Polytrack. 2.10 Newmarket, Cond, £8,000, 2yo, f, 8fT EVER CHANGING (Tapit) sports the famed George Strawbridge silks on this debut which were given even greater credibility by the illustrious dam Rainbow View (Dynaformer). Fitted with a hood for her debut by John Gosden, the March-foaled grey is the second foal out of the G1 Fillies’ Mile and G1 Matron S. winner. View the full article

Thunder Snow, Godolphin's Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1) winner, has settled into the Belmont Park quarantine barn for his bid in the Sept. 29 Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1). View the full article

The 3-year-old son of Poseidon's Warrior turns back to six furlongs after a third-place finish going seven furlongs in the Aug. 25 H. Allen Jerkens Stakes Presented by Runhappy (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. View the full article

Woodbine was forced to cancel the final five races of its nine-race card Sept. 21 because of high winds. View the full article

Team Valor International has acquired recent G3 Prix La Rochette winner The Black Album (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and will point him to the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Nov. 2. It was the juvenile’s third win in four starts. “This colt is just the right size for American racing, with tremendous athleticism,” Team Valor CEO Barry Irwin said. “He has the ability to lay handy, pounce instantly when asked and moxie to hold off all challengers the length of the stretch. What’s so darn exciting about this guy is that he has top form already. In fact in all the years we’ve been doing this, we have never bought a European colt that was so highly ranked or accomplished as a juvenile.” The Black Album will be considered for one final race in France, the G3 Prix Thomas Bryon Oct. 4 at Saint-Cloud, but it is possible that he will train straight up to the Breeders’ Cup. His current trainer Jane Soubagne will saddle The Black Album for the Breeders’ Cup and then turn the colt over to Kentucky-based trainer Rodolphe Brisset. View the full article

Shirley Day Smith, who spent more than 60 years as the administrative assistant in the press office for the New York Racing Association and its predecessors, died Sept. 20 after a brief illness at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, NY. She was 99-years-old. Smith had retired from NYRA in the mid-1990’s. “Shirley was loved by everybody,” former NYRA publicity director Glen Mathes said. “And I’d venture to say she helped more people than anyone in the history of horse racing. That was certainly true when it came to members of the media. She was a great worker and an even better person.” Smith, who lived in Lido Beach, NY, was a popular figure among media from throughout the country. She was honored as a Kentucky Colonel and she was a recipient of the National Turf Writers Association’s Joe Palmer Award for meritorious service to racing. The New York Press Photographers Association presented her with a “Good Gal Award” in 1987 for cooperation and assistance to the media. A funeral is planned for Monday, Sept. 24 at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church in Point Lookout, NY, with the burial afterward at the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. View the full article

The 3-year-old son of Poseidon's Warrior turns back to six furlongs after a third-place finish going seven furlongs in the Aug. 25 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. View the full article

Multiple grade 1 winner Mind Your Biscuits turned in his final breeze in preparation for his expected start in the Sept. 29 Lukas Classic (G3), with a five-furlongs work in 1:02 at Churchill Downs Sept. 21. View the full article

After nearly eight months away, Speedway Stable's Collected is scheduled to be back in the starting gate Sept. 22 against eight challengers in the $150,000 Pa Derby Champion Stakes going 1 1/16-miles at Parx Racing. View the full article

Over 34 years and hundreds of races, the Breeders’ Cup has provided many a thrill and many a great race. But virtually everyone agrees that one race stands alone–the 1988 Distaff won by Personal Ensign. It may have been the greatest Breeders’ Cup race ever run. This year marks the 30th anniversary of that race. In the latest Thoroughbred Daily News podcast, brought to you by Taylor Made, we looked back at this great race with trainer Shug McGaughey and jockey Randy Romero. Excerpts from that podcast are below: TDN: Shug, not only had you already beaten Winning Colors in the Maskette, but Winning Colors’ prep in the Spinster was not very good. It looked at the time that perhaps she was not coming into the race in her best form. What did you think of her as a competitor coming into the race? SM: I agree with you. We’d beat her pretty fair and square going a mile here doing what she wanted to do and then she went to the Spinster and threw a real dud in. [D.] Wayne [Lukas]’s always had a way of having horses bouncing back and, obviously, she liked the sloppy track at Churchill. She was pretty much at home there. She ran an outstanding race, but I don’t think going into it that I was really that … I mean I was concerned, but I wasn’t overly concerned really because we beat her and then she had run such a bad race in the Spinster. I think there were some others that maybe had my eye a little bit more than her, including Goodbye Halo. TDN: So let’s get into the race itself. They’re about half way down the back stretch. Winning Colors is going easily on the lead and Personal Ensign? Well, she seemed to be spinning her wheels. At that point, were you worried? Were you worried before then? What did you think as Winning Colors was three, four lengths in front and seemingly going comfortably down the backstretch? SM: I was never really comfortable because she got back farther than she usually does even though she came from back. Then we got to the half-mile pole and nothing was happening. She used to start picking up her horses then. And then at the 3/8-pole I was standing with a friend of mine and he kind of looked at me and I kind of looked at him and I said ‘it doesn’t look like it today.’ Then all of a sudden she started making that run, but Winning Colors was still comfortably in front. I didn’t think she was going to be able to catch her, I just wanted to make a good account of herself. Then BAM! She did catch her, but Randy told me it was never in doubt. TDN: Randy, of the millions of people watching the race you may have been the only person who believed she was going to win, even when it looked impossible. What did you know? RR: Because I rode Winning Colors when she broke her maiden. I always knew she came up late. The way the track was, Gary [Stevens] had opened up a lot of lengths on the field. The field was spreading so I knew I was going pretty fast. The timing wasn’t fast, but the track was muddy, but it was still going fast. I had rode her in that race and she’d get late at the end, so I just never gave up on my filly. I could see when I switched my stick to my left hand at the 3/8-pole or the 5/16-pole that she got on a hard surface and she started picking up horses. The last sixteenth of a mile, I could feel her accelerating to get to that filly. I passed by Goodbye Halo and she thought it was over. But when she looked over to the other side, she saw Winning Colors. She was brilliant this filly, this mare. She looked over and saw her. She dug in again. I used to ride Quarter Horses. In those races you win by inches and feet. So when you ride Quarter Horses you know when you can win and not. It’s something you sense. TDN: As you mentioned earlier, at about the 3/8-pole or so, maybe a little closer to the quarter-pole, you were down on the inside. Then you shifted out to about the five or six path. That really seemed to be the pivotal moment in that race. What was going through your mind? Why did you make that decision to get off the rail and go to the middle of the track? RR: Some instinct made me do it. I don’t know why I did it. It’s just an instinct that I had to do something because I wasn’t getting anywhere where I was. So something in my mind just made me switch sticks and hit her left handed and then when I did, she adjusted out. It was just like an act of God that it happened. I don’t know why I did it. People ask me that all the time. It’s just an instinct that I had to do something and there was nothing I was doing that was correct. So it just came to my mind to do it. I wasn’t gaining any ground and I needed to get after her and get ground picked up. That was a pivotal move. And that’s what made her win the race. TDN: So you believe if you stayed on the inside she would not have won. RR: No, no. Absolutely not TDN: Shug, after the race was over and to no one’s surprise, you told the NBC commentators that you thought she was ‘hopelessly beaten.’ Did you underestimate her determination? Did she have an even bigger heart and an even bigger will to win than even her trainer knew? SM: I think so. When you see something like that, for her to run down the [GI Kentucky] Derby winner and the [GI Kentucky] Oaks winner to win…I mean, I don’t know that you ever know that they’ve got that much determination because really, in most all of her other races, she was kind of winning fairly easy. So it’s hard to measure that kind of heart unless they showed it to you and she obviously showed it that day. TDN: Shug, you’ve won plenty of big races. Many Breeders’ Cups, you won a Kentucky Derby, you won the Belmont S. The overall career of Personal Ensign and how you guided her through a surgery, 13 races, undefeated, pulling off the impossible in the Breeders’ Cup, something nobody thought could be done at the 1/8-pole, at the 3/16-pole. Where do you rank this whole story so far as your top achievements as a trainer? SM: At the top. Like you said, she was the first champion to be retired undefeated in 80 some-odd years. I don’t think there has been one since. It would have been a shame if she would have gotten beat that day after all she’d done. But to be able to have a filly and be able to participate in those types of races and have her win as many of them as she did, in all of them, was something that’s a career maker. I think that a lot of the awards that I’ve gotten have been because of her career. It’s very satisfying to me to look back on it and think that we all went through that together. Joe Hirsch, years ago, gave me a poster that I’ve got framed in my office of all the 13 races. I will sometimes walk up there and look at it and just kind of look at the charts and see who she ran against. It’s still exciting for me. I never have watched the replay that much. The next summer we were at Saratoga and every time you turned the TV on they’d show the finish of the race. But as for me sitting down watching the rerun that much, I haven’t because it’s still kind of scary to relive. View the full article

The 3-year-old son of Poseidon's Warrior turns back to six furlongs after a third-place finish going seven in the Aug. 25 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. View the full article

France will add another son of Scat Daddy to its stallion ranks next year when the G2 Champagne S. winner Seahenge (Scat Daddy-Fools In Love, by Not For Love) joins the roster at Haras de la Haie Neuve. American Grade III winner Seabhac (Scat Daddy) also enters stud in France next year at Haras de Saint-Arnoult. Seahenge will stand alongside fellow former Ballydoyle runners Pedro The Great (Henrythenavigator) and Whitecliffsofdover (War Front) at Haie Neuve. Seahenge was a $750,000 Keeneland September yearling who won the Champagne at two before finishing third behind U S Navy Flag (War Front) in the G1 Dewhurst S. He has made five starts this year, his best finish being a third in the Listed Patton S. Seahenge is out of the stakes-winning Fools In Love, who is a sister to three stakes winners including three-time graded winner International Star (Fusaichi Pegasus). Fools In Love has produced two other stakes-placed winners. View the full article

Saturday’s action features Newbury’s G2 Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef S., where the in-form Karl Burke stable bids for a third renewal with True Mason (GB) (Mayson {GB}). He races in the Derby-winning colours of Khalifa Dasmal, whose newcomer Raakib Alhawa (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) took Friday’s Haynes, Hanson & Clark Conditions S. at the track and who has proven himself a smart performer in two French forays. Building on a third in the 5 1/2-furlong G2 Prix Robert Papin at Maisons-Laffitte July 22, he was again in that position when the first colt home in the G1 Prix Morny at Deauville Aug. 19 and his trainer is confident. “I think he goes there with a great chance,” he said. “It will be the first time he’s had his ground since he ran at Leicester on his debut. It was heavy that day, but I shouldn’t have run him as he was only half-fit. We had a great weekend last weekend and hopefully we can bag another group race on Saturday.” John Gosden saddles the Sept. 8 G3 Sirenia S. winner Kessaar (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), while Jeremy Noseda puts forward Susan Roy’s impressive Aug. 31 Newcastle novice stakes winner Garrus (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}). Also at Newbury, the G3 Dubai Duty Free Legacy Cup sees Juddmonte’s impressive Aug. 3 G3 Glorious S. winner Mirage Dancer (GB) (Frankel {GB}) confronted by the returning 3-year-old Young Rascal (Fr) (Intello {Ger}). Not seen since finishing down the field in the June 2 G1 Epsom Derby, Bernard Kantor’s May 9 G3 Chester Vase winner is yet to convince trainer William Haggas that he is back at a peak. “He wants a bit of dig in the ground and we’ll start him on Saturday and take it from there,” he said. “He never raced in the Derby and fell apart afterwards. I’m not convinced we’ve got him back yet and we may not get him back this year, but he’s ready to go and it’s time he ran.” Teddy Grimthorpe said of Mirage Dancer, “We were delighted with him at Goodwood and clearly this is another important race for him on Saturday. We hope he’s progressive and how he performs this weekend is going to tell us a lot about where we’re heading, I think. We’ve always felt he’s potentially better than a Group 3 horse, we still do feel that, and there are various options for him before the end of the season at home and abroad.” Possibly the day’s most intriguing affair happens at ParisLongchamp, with Charlie Appleby re-introducing the G3 Autumn S. winner Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the G3 Prix du Prince d’Orange. The trainer, who also saddles last year’s G3 Prix des Chenes winner Stage Magic (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), said he is keen to see the imposing €1.1-million Goffs November graduate back in action. “Ghaiyyath met with a setback in the spring, but his preparation going into this race has gone well,” he said. “We are looking forward to getting him back on track, although he will come forward for whatever he does this weekend.” Another pricey colt in the line-up is Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum’s 1.9-million gns Tattersalls February acquisition Willie John (GB) (Dansili {GB}), who scored by five lengths in a conditions race at Doncaster on his belated seasonal bow Aug. 4. “Willie John won in good style at Doncaster and I have been very pleased with his home work since,” trainer Roger Varian commented. “This looks a strong but select field, although we feel he is ready for the step up in grade.” View the full article

Australia’s Aquis Farm has bought into Qatar Racing’s G1 Melbourne Cup hopeful Count Octave (GB) (Frankel {GB}), and the 4-year-old entire will be transferred to Chris Waller when he arrives Down Under and will campaign for the partnership on the first Tuesday in November. Count Octave was third in Royal Ascot’s Queen Alexandra S. in June, and was most recently second to Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in York’s G2 Lonsdale Cup on Aug. 24. Lord and Lady Lloyd Webber have also bought into Count Octave. “It’s an exciting partnership, we already have association with them already with [Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner] Sunlight, so speaking to David Redvers last night, they are excited about the horse,” Aquis CEO Shane McGrath told Sky Sports Radio. For more, read TDN AusNZ. View the full article

Locally based trainer Satish Seemar struck for a total of six horses, including the co-topping pair at AED400,000 (£83,266/€92,683/US$108,918), at Thursday’s Racing In Dubai sale at Meydan Racecourse. Lot 20, the 2-year-old gelding Leading Spirit (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}), was the first to reach the top price. The first foal from the French stakes-winning Inspiriter (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), the bay broke his maiden with a facile success for Godolphin and Charlie Appleby at Newbury July 26. He hails from the extended female family of MGSW & MG1SP Carlton House (Street Cry {Ire}). Seemar hung around until the last of the 45 horses entered the ring and struck for George Villiers (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). The 3-year-old colt is a son of Comic (Ire) (Be My Guest), making him a half-brother to multiple Hong Kong champion, MG1SW and Horse of the Year Viva Pataca (Ire) (Marju {Ire}) as well as MG1SW Laughing (Ire) (Dansili {GB}). A 750,000gns Tattersalls October yearling purchase, George Villiers was trained by John Gosden on behalf of Princess Haya and won twice from seven starts, including a Newmarket handicap over a mile July 20. According to the conditions of the sale, each of the horses sold must remain in the UAE for the next 18 months. View the full article

Shirley Day Smith, who worked as an administrative assistant in the New York Racing Association press office for more than 60 years, died Sept. 20. She was 99. View the full article