Wandering Eyes

Earning ‘TDN Rising Star’ status on debut at Newmarket Aug. 24, Khalid Abdullah’s Sangarius (GB) (Kingman {GB}) was able to double his tally with relative ease in Friday’s Listed Weatherbys Global Stallions App Flying Scotsman S. at Doncaster. Keen early enjoying a lead, the 11-10 favourite was coaxed to the front by Ryan Moore 1 1/2 furlongs down and drew away despite running green to beat Dubai Dominion (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) by 2 1/4 lengths. Friday, Doncaster, Britain WEATHERBYS GLOBAL STALLIONS APP FLYING SCOTSMAN S.-Listed, £30,000, Doncaster, 9-14, 2yo, 7f 6yT, 1:26.55, g/s. 1–SANGARIUS (GB), 126, c, 2, by Kingman (GB) 1st Dam: Trojan Queen, by Empire Maker 2nd Dam: Banks Hill (GB), by Danehill 3rd Dam: Hasili (Ire), by Kahyasi (Ire) 1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. O-Khalid Abdullah; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd (GB); T-Sir Michael Stoute; J-Ryan Moore. £17,013. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $28,934. *1/2 to Emergent (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), GSP-Ire. 2–Dubai Dominion (GB), 126, c, 2, Pivotal (GB)–Hoodna (Ire), by Invincible Spirit (Ire). (€26,000 Ylg ’17 TIRSEP; £140,000 2yo ’18 GOFBRE). O-Phoenix Thoroughbred Ltd. £6,450. 3–Pogo (Ire), 126, c, 2, Zebedee (GB)–Cute (GB), by Diktat (GB). (€10,500 Wlg ’16 GOFNOV; £32,000 Ylg ’17 GOUKPR). O-Gary & Linnet Woodward. £3,228. Margins: 2 1/4, 1 1/4, HF. Odds: 1.10, 6.00, 20.00. Also Ran: You Never Can Tell (Ire), Jonah Jones (Ire), Athmad (Ire), Chynna (GB), Loch Ness Monster (Ire). Scratched: Commanding Officer (GB). Click for the Racing Post result. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. View the full article

Kentucky Downs, which features low takeout compared with other tracks, smashed its handle record for the sixth straight year, with a total of $36,421,722 wagered on the five-date meet. View the full article

Luke Harvey runs us through a huge day of racing in the UK with the final Classic of the season, The St Leger looking set to be a cracker. Elsewhere on the Doncaster card we have the Champagne Stakes which has thrown up future Group 1 winners in recent years including Toronado and Rivet, could Too Darn Hot do likewise? With hot handicaps, possible future champions and the worlds oldest Classic, get Luke’s best best exclusively here! Get involved in our big offer on the St Leger. Simply stake £10 and you’ll get a £5 free bet for both the Irish and German St leger. Full details here The post Harveys Horses – Luke Harvey on St Leger Day appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Two major autumn tests await the dynamic Soldier’s Call (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) after the diminutive sprinter dominated Friday’s G2 Wainwrights Flying Childers S. at Doncaster. Sent straight to the lead by Danny Tudhope, the June 23 Listed Windsor Castle S. and Sept. 1 G3 Prix d’Arenberg scorer had all rivals on the stretch inside the final quarter mile and galloped relentlessly to a 2 1/4-length verdict over Well Done Fox (GB) (Acclamation {GB}) as the 4-1 second favourite. “He’s got to go for a group 1 now and it’s a choice of either the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye or Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint or both,” trainer Archie Watson said. “He recorded a faster time than Marsha when she won the Abbaye over the same trip at Chantilly last time and he’d be getting a load of weight from the older horses in the Abbaye. When he gets a good break he’s impossible to catch and on this track he could really stretch out. We ran Corinthia Knight in the Breeders Cup race on the undercard last year and we’d be delighted to go back–the 5 1/2 furlongs around a turn would suit the European 5-furlong horses.” View the full article

WINX returns to Randwick for her second start of the spring in the Group One George Main Stakes over the mile. View the full article

GROUP One racing returns to Flemington this Saturday with the running of the $750,000 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at WFA level. View the full article

The eagerly anticipated Irish Champions Weekend kicks off at Leopardstown on Saturday with some star-studded action on the eight-race card. There is a total prize fund of €2.45 million, with a total of five Group races. The Matron Stakes is the first Group 1 of the weekend and it’s for the fillies and mares. Three-year-olds have won the last three runnings and it will be much of the same this time around with this year’s star horse Alpha Centauri seeking her fifth straight Group 1. If the ground stays on the sound side then there is no reason Jessica Harrington’s filly won’t win again. Last season’s Group 1 Fillies Mile winner, Laurens may give Alpha Centauro the most to think about having already won two Group 1’s in France and finishing runner-up in the 1000 Guineas earlier in the season. Karl Burkes stable star ran far too free in the Yorkshire Oaks behind Sea Of Class last time out and if she settles better then she may prove next best. Aidan O’Brien runs three in this with Magical possibly looking to be his best chance. The well-bred daughter of Galileo has only been seen twice this season but was an impressive winner of a Group 2 at the Curragh when last seen and she may be on an upward curve. She was beaten by stablemate Happily twice last season who re-opposes here but that filly has yet to get her head in front this year following fine runs in defeat in both the Irish and English 1000 Guineas. The final Ballydoyle representative is Clemmie who won the Group 1 Cheveley Park as a two-year-old last season but has been well-beaten by Alpha Centauri on all three runs this seasons and I see no reason why she will reverse the form. Selection: Alpha Centauri KenyaThe Group 2 Boomerang Stakes is the appetizer to the Champion Stakes and the one-mile contest has attracted eleven runners. Recent runaway Irish Cambridgeshire winner Kenya tops the market and he was also a Group 3 winner over the course as a two-year-old. Stable jockey Ryan Moore is booked to ride stablemate I Can Fly but Seamie steered Kenya to victory last time and should go close again. Dermot Weld’s Making Light has won twice this season including a listed victory at Cork on her last start. The Moyglare stud owned four-year-old is improving all the time but may just come up short against some more talented rivals. Zhiba looked like a very smart colt when winning his first three starts for Fozzy Stack but that all fell apart in the Irish 2000 Guineas when he finished well down the field. The Al Shaqab owned colt then sought compensation in a Group 3 over course and distance but again disappointment greeted connections. He is on a retrieval mission here but will need to rediscover the form he showed earlier in the season to feature. Others to consider include recent wide-margin winner Prepare For Battle, the consistent Pincheck and Psychedelic Funk. Selection: Kenya The Irish Champion Stakes is the feature race on Saturday and this 1 mile 2 furlongs Group 1 contest has been used as a prep race for some of the remaining big targets in the season including the Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe. In fact, five horses have gone on to win the Arc in the same season having won the Irish Champion Stakes Triptych(1987), Indian Skimmer(1988), Pilsudski(1997), New Approach(2008) and Almanzour(2016). All of the last six runnings of the race have been won by foreign raiders with the last home trained winner being the Aidan O’Brien trained So You Think who himself wasn’t exactly “Irish”. It’s an English trained horse that heads the market this year, Roaring Lion has been a revelation on her last two starts when winning the Eclipse and Juddmonte International. Oisin Murphy’s mount was incredibly impressive when beating Poet’s Word in the Juddmonte and if he runs up to this form again then he’ll prove very difficult to beat. Chief among the home resistance is Saxon Warrior who was spoke about as being a possible “Triple Crown” winner early in the season after winning the 2000 Guineas. It hasn’t quite worked out for Aidan O’Brien’s charge since then with defeats on all four starts since but they have all been in Group 1 contests. The son of Deep Impact should run well but it’s hard to see him reversing two recent defeats at the hands of Roaring Lion. Study Of Man won the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly in June but was well beaten by Knight To Behold in a Group 2 at Deauville in August. I think Pascal Bary’s three-year-old is better when he can get his toe in, which is entirely possible given the Irish climate. He’s also only raced five times and is open to improvement so it will be very interesting to see how he runs. Selection: Roaring Lion The post Irish Champions Weekend Preview – Saturday appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

The Goffs Champions Sale will be the curtain-raising event of Irish Champions Weekend when the nine-horse showcase takes place in the parade ring at Leopardstown on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The horses will be available for viewing from 12 p.m. in the saddling boxes next to the parade ring, and vet reports and x-rays are available for all lots. One of the highlight offerings will be Angelic Light (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) (lot 2), a 5 1/2-length maiden winner at The Curragh on Aug. 31 who is offered by owner/trainer Michael O’Callaghan with an entry in Sunday’s G1 Moyglare Stud S. Mary Salome (Ire) (Zebedee {GB}), runner-up to Angelic Light on Aug. 31, is also offered as lot 6. O’Callaghan offers three total, and those also include 2-year-olds Carbon Fibre (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}) (lot 5), who is twice placed including behind Ten Sovereigns (Ire) (No Nay Never) last time; and the gelded Dark Pursuit (GB) (Pastoral Pursuits {GB}) (lot 8), a winner on debut at Down Royal last week. Jim Bolger’s Glebe House Stables offers 3-year-old filly Cimeara (Ire) (Vocalised) (lot 4), winner of the G3 Stanterra S. and Listed Vinnie Roe S. in her last two outings. View the full article

English St Leger On the fourth and final day of the Doncaster meeting, the track welcomes the oldest of Britain’s five Classics, the St Leger. Ran over one-mile, six furlongs and 115 yards, the Group 1 contest is open to both fillies and colts of three years of age. A field of twelve horses are set to go to post in what is set to be a thrilling racing spectacle. John Gosden-trained Lah Ti Dar is the filly people will be eager to keep an eye on. Until her confirmation to run in the St. Leger on Wednesday, racing fans were very curious as to the plan for the three-year-old. The Lord Lloyd-Webber owned filly may have only raced three times but has won on every occasion. Connections of the daughter of Dubawi will be hoping that the filly will make it four consecutive wins and after her last impressive outing at York last month, she will be a very hard to beat. Although she has a slight step up in trip the filly is yet to be truly be given a challenge on the track. Aidan O’Brien will be all systems go to record his sixth win in the St. Leger since 2001. His Grand Prix de Paris winner Kew Gardens is a vying for favouritism with Lah Ti Dar. The high-class son of Galileo finished third on his last outing in the competitive Group 2 Voltigeur Stakes at York last month on the back of two wins previous to this, at Longchamp Racecourse and Ascot. William Buick takes the ride on Godolphin-owned Old Persian. Trained by Charlie Appleby, the son of Dubawi may not have the most consistent form but he is coming off the back of an impressive win at York making him a real contender. He won the Group 2 Voltigeur Stakes at York beating Kew Gardens and so may prove as worthy competition to Aidan O’Brien’s favourite. The Newmarket-based trainer also runs Loxley who James Doyle will be riding. Mark Johnston’s Dee Ex Bee is another worthy contender, but he may just be slightly too unexposed to make any real difference and could struggle to stay. Silvestre De Sousa is set to be in the saddle and the connections of the son of Farhh will be hopeful for a continuation of his improving and consistent form. The king of Ballydoyle is strongly represented with five runners going to post to include, Southern France who will be steered by Seamie Heffernan, Wayne Lordan takes the ride aboard The Pentagon, Michael Hussey is set to be partnered with Nelson, and 100/1 Zambriskie will be ridden by Jim Crowley. Raymond Tusk, Maid Up and Proschema complete the line-up. Selection: Kew Gardens Holemswood (On The Left)Portland Handicap The last day of racing kicks off at 1.50pm where the Portland Handicap goes to post. The five and a half furlongs is open to horses’ three-year-olds and over and hosts a full field of twenty-two runners. With a large field of runners and the going good, it can be sometimes difficult to read the betting market. However, there are certainly some stand out names. Michael Dods’ Holmeswood is set to be steered by Brazilian jockey Silvestre De Sousa and is one to watch on the betting market. The four-year-old son of Mayson finished third in the hot Symphony Group Handicap at York last month and connections will be eager from further improvement following on from this. Dods is double-handed for the handicap and runs Dakota Gold under Connor Beasley. The four-year-old has been consistent recently and performed well at Thirsk on his last outing where he was partnered again by Beasley and ran on strongly in the final furlong. Another strong contender and one sure to put on a spirited performance. Tis Marvellous is set to be ridden by Ryan Moore. The son of Harbour Watch is certainly one to keep a close eye on in the betting market. His two best runs this year have come at Ascot with him winning the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Dash handicap with ease and connections will be hopeful he can return to this impressive form. This will be his first time returning to the Doncaster track since 2016. Ian Jardine-trained Marnie James may be dissed as unexposed but the three-year-old is having a great season. Although he did not run on Wednesday due to a vet’s certificate he is now set to run in the competitive handicap and this very recent incident may be cause for concern. Prior to this, his form was good and he finished third in a strong apprentice handicap last month. Selection: Marnie James D’bai (Farside)Park Stakes The Group 2 Park Stakes is the second race on the Doncaster card and is set to be televised at 2.25pm on ITV Racing. With just nine runners going to post, it is set to be an interesting and strong competition which will be run over seven furlongs. Sir Michael Stoute’s stable star Mustashry is the favourite and rightly so with an impressive form. The five-year-old is dropping to this trip for the first time but has a big chance at claiming the title in this Group 2 contest. Set to be partnered by Jim Crowley, it will be interesting to watch the Hamdan Al Maktoum-owned gelding stride out to make his mark on the results after his last outing where he finished second at York. Charlie Appleby-trained D’bai will be making all the running to challenge the favourite. The Godolphin-owned four-year-old has previously peaked at this distance and so connections will be confident of a repeat of this. His last win was in a Group 3 at Haydock last June and has not raced at the seven furlongs distance since. David Simcock runs Breton Rock in the Group 2 contest and partners the eight-year-old with David Probert. The son of Bahamian Bounty has recent consistent form and as one of the older horses in the race, his experience may just do him the justice he needs to return to the winner’s enclosure. Others to keep an eye on include: Charles Hill’s Dutch Connection, David Barron-trained Above The Rest and Karl Burke’s Unfortunately who is set to be ridden by Italian jockey Frankie Dettori. Selection: D’bai Dark VisionChampagne Stakes The Group 2 Champagne Stakes is set to be another cracking display of Group racing and hosts a field of six runners. It may be questioned will it be a one-horse race as John Gosden’s Too Darn Hot is the clear favourite, but horse racing is an unpredictable sport! This Group 2 contest is open to horses who are two years of age and is run over seven furlongs. Too Darn Hot is set to be ridden by Frankie Dettori. The son of Dubawi has only run twice on the track to date but has set a high standard for himself as he won on both occasions. His last outing was at the start of the month at Sandown, where he won a Group 3 and stormed home with ease. Certainly will be the one to beat and a name to watch for the future. Mark Johnson’s Dark Vision is another strong runner, has slightly more experience on the track and the Godolphin-owned colt has a very impressive form to date. This will be the son of Dream Ahead’s second time running in Group company and connections will be hoping he can repeat his last outing where he won the Group 2 Qatar Vintage Stakes at Goodwood last July. Other names to keep an eye on are James Doyle’s mount Phoenix Of Spain who is trained by Charles Hills who has won on his last two outings, the latter being in Group 3 company at York and Doncaster will be the son of Lope De Vega’s first time racing in a Group 2 contest. Selection: Dark Vision The post Doncaster Festival Preview Day 4: Lah Ti Dar and Kew Gardens set for St Leger battle appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

This Flat season has been as much about a new generation of jockeys making their mark at the top of the sport as it has been the horses. Leading the way are Godolphin duo James Doyle and William Buick, along with Oisin Murphy, retained rider for Qatar Racing and increasingly the ‘go-to’ jockey for connections in big races. So it proved again when he partnered The Tin Man to victory in the Sprint Cup at Haydock, and Murphy is hoping to make another big splash on Irish Champions Weekend. How do you feel the season has gone for you so far? I’ve been very lucky of late to find some really class horses to give me such big days. Getting the chances to ride the likes of Lightning Spear, Roaring Lion, Benbatl, Signora Cabello and The Tin Man means I’m very lucky. There’s still plenty of the season left and lots of big days to go, so I want to keep kicking until the end of the year. Connections of The Tin Man opted for you in the Sprint Cup last week as they felt you are ‘on fire’. Do you feel your confidence is sky-high at the moment? The stables I’ve been riding for have been in very good form and when you’re riding winners you’re going to get confidence from that. As a jockey you’re relying on the four legs beneath you as well and ultimately fast horses make good jockeys – that’s the bottom line. The Tin Man and Oisin Murphy wins The Sprint Cup StakesDo you feel you have improved as a rider as this season has gone on? People of late have been saying I’m riding better than ever, which is very kind and that may well be the case, but a lot of that has to do with the fact I’m on better horses than I’ve ever been. Hopefully I can keep making it count and continue to get good rides as that’s what it’s all about. Roaring Lion has been one of your stars this season and is favourite for the Irish Champion Stakes (6.35) at Leopardstown. How are things with him? I’m very excited to be riding him again. I don’t really ride him at home, that’s done by Kieran O’Neill, and they’re very happy with him. I thought his performance at York was outstanding so everyone can’t wait to see what he can do at the weekend. He’s a hugely talented horse. ROARING LION with Oisin Murphy wins Juddmonte International StakesRoaring Lion seems to have got better and better this year. What do you put that down to? Physically he’s a very big horse and he was always going to get stronger. But [trainer] John Gosden and the team have really fine tuned the horse’s brain and he’s becoming very easy to ride in races. He’s stepped up with every run this year and his last run was his best. Hopefully there’s still more to come from him. Sheikh Fahad, who owns Roaring Lion, described the Juddmonte International as one his best days. How important is this horse to everyone involved with Qatar Racing? He’s ignited a hunger in all of us to go out and try and find more horses to compete at the very top level. They’re extremely difficult to get your hands on but hopefully there are plenty more good days with this fella first. He’s a special horse to all of us. Also on Saturday, you start off by riding Mia Mento in the Ingabelle Stakes (3.20). What do you make of her prospects? She won her maiden nicely and then I thought she ran a good race when she was fourth at the Curragh last time in the Round Tower Stakes. It’s a big field for this race and it’s going to potentially be quite rough, so I’m quite glad to be drawn wide as that should help give me a good run round. We’ll be aiming to get some black type with her. You ride Limini for Willie Mullins in the Petingo Handicap (3.50). How do you think she will get on? Willie’s an unbelievable trainer under both codes so it’s going to be a pleasure to ride for him. I’m not quite sure where Limini stands in the stable pecking order for this race, but she’s a talented filly and you’d have to think a mile and a half around Leopardstown would be right up her street. Limini and Kevin Manning head to post before the Guinness Handicap.Burnt Sugar goes for back-to-back wins in the Sovereign Path Handicap (7.10). Do you think he can do it? He’s a smashing horse. He’s a course-and-distance winner and he’s been in fantastic form this year – better than ever you could argue. We’re drawn in stall one so we’re going to need a bit of luck, but in this sort of race I’d rather be drawn low and save as much ground and hope for luck. And, finally, where are you riding on Sunday? I’m riding in Canada on Sunday for Qatar Racing. I ride Federal Law in the Grade 1 Summer Stakes and Chica Amigas in the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes. They’re big fields and we’re not entirely sure what we’re up against, but we’ll give it everything we have and try and get top-level black type if we can as it’s very important. Chicas Amigas wins the Mongey Communications RaceThe post Oisin Murphy talks Roaring Lion, Irish Champions Weekend & Canada Grade 1’s appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

A top class Flying Childers for the 2 year old sprinters and a treat for the fans of stayers with the Doncaster Cup provide the highlights for another cracking day of the St Leger Festival. RaceBets ambassador Luke Harvey marks your card in what looks to follow yesterday’s trend of competitive open action! Thomas Hobson leads the Willie Mullins atach on the Doncaster Cup and if Thomas Hobson wins we’ll refund all losing bets as a free bet up to £10! For more info, click here Open to all customers from UK, IRE, MAU & IN. Applies to first single fixed odds bet only. Applies to win or win part of Each Way. Free bet expires in 24 hours. Maximum £/€10 free bet. Full terms apply. +18. BeGambleAware.org The post Harveys Horses – Luke Harvey on Day 3 of the St Leger Meeting appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

It is all systems go for Lucky Bubbles’ trip to Japan after the Group One winner took out a barrier trial at Sha Tin on Friday morning. The Francis Lui Kin-wai-trained seven-year-old looked a different horse compared to his hit-out 10 days ago, bouncing strongly from the gates and holding off dirt specialist Pick Number One in the run to the line. Lucky Bubbles looked sluggish in his first trial of the season on September 4, putting some doubt over his assault on the Group One Sprinters... View the full article

Tricky Escape has shown she can run well on all kinds of surfaces, so it wasn't much of a surprise when the mare battled to the wire to win the $400,000 Ramsey Farm Stakes Sept. 13 over the unique course at Kentucky Downs. View the full article

by Jessica Martini, Christie DeBernardis & Brian DiDonato LEXINGTON, KY – The four-session Book 1 of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale concluded Thursday evening in Lexington with a further six yearlings attracting seven-figure prices, led by a pair of Medaglia d’Oro colts bred by Stonestreet. Phoenix Thoroughbreds paid a session-topping $2.1 million for a son of Medaglia d’Oro (hip 899) consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, while Godolphin went to $1.6 million to acquire a son of the Darley stallion (hip 823) from the Gainesway consignment. Through four days, Keeneland has sold 596 yearlings for a total of $216,813,000. The average was $363,780 and the median was $300,000. The first week of last year’s September sale, which included a one-session Book 1 followed by a three- session Book 2, saw 681 yearlings gross $196,645,000 for an average of $288,759 and a median of $200,000. “The new format worked very well,” Keeneland’s Director of Sales Operations Geoffrey Russell said. “Our goal going in was to reduce the number of horses in Book 1 to give buyers a chance to get around to look at them all and to be able to show them in a less crowded area than last year.” “I think it worked very well from start to finish. We sold fewer horses for more money, more average, more median and fewer not sold. So all indicators are very positive.” Thursday’s six yearlings brought the Book 1 total of million-dollar sales to 26. That number was 13 for the entire 2017 auction. “There is a hunger for top-quality horses,” Russell said. “People are looking for the Saturday horse. That’s what our business is founded on. At the moment, I think we have a good, strong group of top-end buyers who are willing to pay top price for these horses. I heard more complaints from people not being able to buy what they wanted to buy and they were surprised by how much they brought.” Taylor Made was Book 1’s leading consignor by gross, with 89 head selling for $31,854,000, while Godolphin topped all buyers with 22 yearlings purchased for $18,940,000. Medaglia d’Oro was the top sire by gross over the four days with 31 sold for $19,395,000. Runnymede Farm had its second seven-figure sale of the auction when Godolphin paid $1 million for a daughter of Medaglia d’Oro Thursday and owner Catesby Clay was one of many impressed by the strength of the market this week at Keeneland. “I can’t say that I’ve seen it stronger,” Clay said of the market. “But, when you’re selling well, it always feels strong, doesn’t it? For the right horses, there are people willing to pay for them. For horses that, two years ago, you might have gotten $300,000 or $400,000, you might get seven figures now.” Gainesway’s Michael Hernon continued to see selectivity in the market, but is optimistic that Saturday’s first Book 2 session will continue to be strong. “Quality is what the market wants to buy, the good physical, the horse that can endure the process and the vet report is critical,” Hernon said. “There is a lot of money here and it is coming from various quarters. I think you are going to see people take a breath now, with [Friday] being the dark day. We were very busy [showing] at Barn 4 [Thursday]. I think we will see fresh faces in town and very strong trade when we start selling on Saturday.” After a dark day Friday, the Keeneland September sale resumes at 10 a.m. Saturday. Phoenix Stays Strong for Medaglia Colt Phoenix Thoroughbreds made its biggest splash of the Keeneland September sale when going to $2.1 million to acquire a colt by Medaglia d’Oro Thursday in Lexington. The yearling (hip 899) is out of Exotic Bloom (Montbrook) and is a half-brother to GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Stopchargingmaria (Tale of the Cat). He was consigned by Taylor Made Sales on behalf of Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet. “This is a tough game,” said Tom Ludt, head of U.S. operations for Phoenix. “We do the work, we work really hard, and the ultimate answer and the compliment at this stage comes from who we were competing against. It’s just comes down to how much you’re willing to stretch. I know Jacob [West] was on him and I know Donato [Lanni] was on him and Chad Brown was on him. So we knew going in it was going to be tough. It’s a tough game with the yearlings and those are great people to compete against and ultimately you make a decision. This man to my left really wanted him and I know Baffert loved him and obviously Bob gets a lot of our nice horses. So it’s a tough decision, but sometimes you have to make it.” The man to Ludt’s left was Phoenix principal Amer Abdulaziz “It’s been a very strong market,” Abdulaziz said. “We missed out on a lot of hips as well. This time, we liked this colt enough, so we decided to go for it.” Of the yearling’s appeal, Ludt said, “He is beautiful. He’s got everything. He looks like he has a big engine on him and he looks like he’s going to be fast. He’s got all the right parts. So we’ll hope for the best.” Phoenix has purchased 13 yearlings so far at the September sale for a total of $6,695,000. In addition to the $2.1-million Medaglia d’Oro colt, the operation also purchased a son of Empire Maker (hip 388) for $1.35 million. Medaglia d’Oro continued to be a major presence in the sales ring. The Darley stallion has had five yearlings bring seven figures this week at Keeneland. In all, he has had 31 yearlings sell this week for $19,395,000 and an average of $625,645. Medaglia d’Oro had three million-dollar sales at last month’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale. While his 2018 auction results have also included the $1.2 million co-topper at the FasigTipton Gulfstream Sale and the $1.2-million topper at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic. He was on the top of the leader board again at OBS April when a filly sold for $1.1 million. His 6-year-old daughter Mrs McDougal started the year off with a bang when topping the Keeneland January sale at $1.6 million. @JessMartiniTDN Stonestreet-Breds in Demand The stellar broodmare band at Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet provided much of the fireworks during Thursday’s fourth session of the Keeneland September sale, with a colt by Medaglia d’Oro (hip 899) leading the way when selling for $2.1 million to Phoenix Thoroughbreds and bringing the farm’s seven-figure sales for the week to three. The session topper is out of Exotic Bloom (Montbrook), a mare Stonestreet purchased for $500,000 at the 2013 Fasig-Tipton November sale. “He was a beautiful horse,” Stonestreet’s John Moynihan said. “He’s been beautiful from day one. We’ve absolutely just loved the horse. I hope he goes on and does great things because, literally every week that went by, we liked him more than the week before. Usually those horses turn out to do great things.” Also Thursday, the farm sold a Medaglia d’Oro colt (hip 823) for $1.6 million to Godolphin. The yearling is the second foal out of champion Dayatthespa (City Zip), who was purchased by Stonestreet for $2.1 million at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton November sale. Stonestreet’s trio of seven-figure yearlings was completed by a colt by Curlin (hip 211) who sold to Larry Best for $1.8 million Monday. “It’s gratifying,” Moynihan said of the results. “It’s kind of our program coming full circle. We try to buy the best mares we can find and breed them to the best stallions we can find. And then raise them the right way. It’s the fruition of all that.” Stonestreet, which offers its complete foal crop at auction every year, sold 15 yearlings during Book 1 for a total of $11,610,000 and an average of $774,000. “We bring everything to market,” Moynihan said. “Absolutely everything. The only thing we don’t bring to market is something that has a significant vet issue that we can’t move in the market.” Moynihan credited the entire team at Stonestreet with the organization’s success. “Barbara is very happy, the team is very happy,” Moynihan said. “Robert Turner, who does our yearlings, has done a fantastic job, as well as Louie [Logan], who manages the mares and foals. Everybody has done a super job with them. And this is the result of that. Barbara has put a great team together and everybody works for a common goal. There is not a day that we each don’t come in and try to do the best job we can.” Stonestreet made a splash on the buying side of the ledger when purchasing a filly by Ghostzapper (hip 740) for $1.025 million late in Wednesday’s third session of the sale. The operation also purchased a filly by Curlin (hip 311) for $350,000. “As good a sale as we’ve had selling, we’ve had a very, very difficult time trying to buy horses,” Moynihan said of the market. “They are just bringing so much money, that it’s tough. Unless you partner up for them, they are very difficult to get.” @JessMartiniTDN Godolphin Hits Their Thursday Target It took some time to get there, but a Medaglia d’Oro colt out of champion Dayatthespa (City Zip) climbed all the way up to $1.6 million during Thursday’s final Book 1 session of the Keeneland September sale. Consigned as hip 823 by Gainesway on behalf of Stonestreet Bred & Raisedhttp://apps.keeneland.com/sales/Sep18/pdfs/823.pdf, the Mar. 17 foal was the latest purchase from Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin. “We liked everything about him,” trainer John Gosden said after signing the ticket. “Obviously, he’s by Medaglia, who’s on the farm. He was very much the horse we wanted today. He was stuck at $900,000 and then they made the speech–we thought we had him at $900,000. Anyway, he was the one horse we wanted today and we were keen to get him. He’s out of a great broodmare, from a great farm, among the best yearlings they thought they had this year. We very much wanted him, and so did someone else.” Given Dayatthespa’s prowess on the grass, Gosden said he expected that hip 823 would make his way to Europe. Godolphin is the sale’s leading buyer with $18,940,000 spent on 22 horses, plus another four acquisitions for its Japanese arm for a combined $670,000. Last year, it spent $8,065,000 on 17 head. Seven of Godolphin’s buys this year were by Jonabell resident Medaglia d’Oro and totaled $6,525,000. Sheikh Mohammed’s standout runners by the sire include last year’s GI Breeders’ Cup Turf hero Talismanic (GB) and local GI Coolmore Jenny Wiley S. victoress Dickinson. Stonestreet paid $2.1 million for Dayatthespa at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton November sale just two days after the plucky New York-bred ran away with the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf en route to Eclipse Award honors. She was a $50,000 yearling purchase by agent Pete Bradley, who co-campaigned her. “It’s kind of like being the proud papa in some ways,” Bradley said after watching his former star’s foal sell from the back ring. “She was so good to us, and to see that clip of her on the screen was something else. That colt, he was fancy, and what a sale this has been this week. I think [Keeneland announcer] John [Henderson] said it best–when you’ve got a sire who won $5 million and she won more than $2 million, that’s some racing royalty right there.” —@BDiDonatoTDN Best Gets Into More Mischief Larry Best often refers to his high-dollar purchases as “bets,” and he pushed a few more chips in on sire Into Mischief Thursday. The OXO Equine principal went all the way to $1.2 million to land a flashy-looking son of the Spendthrift stallion consigned by Noel Murphy’s Castle Park Farm as hip 948. Best campaigns brilliant GII Best Pal S. winner and ‘TDN Rising Star‘ Instagrand (Into Mischief)–a $1.2-million Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream purchase this March–as well as GI Del Mar Futurity runner-up Rowayton (Into Mischief), a $320,000 Fasig Saratoga grad. He bought a $950,000 filly by the son of Harlan’s Holiday from the Better Than Honour family at this year’s Saratoga sale. “Into Mischief has been very good to me,” Best said. “I bought two last year–I’m two-for-two. I love the power of him. This horse looks the part. He needs a little work, but I think with some training he’ll develop into a nice prospect. He’s got a great pedigree, and he’s by a sire who’s been good to me so far… I’ve got four of them now, three colts and a filly.” Best said he wasn’t surprised by the price. “I was told there was like 27 scopes on the horse, and that’s unusual,” he said. “I also became aware that the people who own the sire wanted the horse, so I knew we’d have to pick it up, but here we are. I’m quite comfortable with the price.” Best signed for three yearlings during Book 1–he also bought the $1.8-million Curlin–Molly Morgan colt (hip 211) and the $1.4-million American Pharoah–Bsharpsonata colt (hip 729). He leads all buyers by average price ($1,466,667). Hip 948 is out of an unraced Distorted Humor half-sister to MGSW/MGISP Munnings (Speightstown), himself a highly regarded sire. Grade I-winning third dam La Gueriere (Lord At War) was responsible talented highest-level winner Icon Project (Empire Maker). Dam Gaudete was already represented by British and U.A.E. GSP Snowboarder (Raven’s Pass) when Garrett O’Rourke’s Breffni Farm purchased her for $160,000 in foal to Super Saver at the 2015 Keeneland November sale. The colt she was carrying, now named Allegiance and in training at Keeneland, was an $87,000 KEEJAN short yearling. Gaudete produced a full-brother to hip 948 Mar. 10 before being bred back to Twirling Candy. “She’s the sweetest mare we have on the farm–my daughter can handle her,” said O’Rourke’s wife and the farm’s veterinarian, Rhonda. “She’s lovely to work with. She’s the pet of the farm, for sure. That price well exceeded expectations, obviously. We had no idea she’d make that much. We’re happy to see him go to a good home.” —@BDiDonatoTDN Dame Dorothy’s Daughter Proves Popular The first foal out of Grade I winner Dame Dorothy (Bernardini), a filly by Curlin (Hip 814), sparked early fireworks at Keeneland Thursday, becoming the first yearling of the day to hit seven figures when hammering for $1.05 million to Jacob West. The bloodstock agent was acting on behalf of Robert and Lawana Low, who campaigned last year’s GI Arkansas Derby hero and ‘TDN Rising Star’ Magnum Moon (Malibu Moon), also purchased by West. “They have made an effort to get some two-turn dirt horses and that is exactly what this filly made me think that she was,” said West. “She is by Curlin out of a Grade I winner, who was very fast. She is going to go to Todd Pletcher, who trained the mother and he told me Dame Dorothy was probably one of his best 2-year-olds. She had a little set back, but he said that filly was very, very fast.” He added, “She didn’t look like a first foal. She actually, to me, looked like a colt. She was big, strong, good-boned. She had everything you look for [in good colts]. She just happened to have ovaries. We just hope she goes on and maybe goes into the broodmare band.” Dame Dorothy raced in the colors of celebrity chef and longtime owner/breeder Bobby Flay, who purchased her for $390,000 as a yearling at the 2012 edition of this sale. Winner of the 2015 GI Humana Distaff, the ‘TDN Rising Star’ also won that year’s GIII Bed o’ Roses H. and the prior season’s GIII Turnback the Alarm H. en route to earnings of $749,740. She is a half-sister to French Group 1 winner Mrs. Lindsay (Theatrical {Ire}), who produced MSW & G1SP Mr. Owen (Invincible Spirit). “There is limited downside with that pedigree,” West said. “Mr. Flay owned her and I know it was hard for him to sell her because of his ties to the family. It’s a tip of the cap to him. You have to turn these horses into cash sometimes.” He continued, “To be by Curlin out of a Grade I winner, we kind of figured that was going to be the price and we got it done. We are happy to own her. Mr. and Mrs. Low are ecstatic. She is a filly they turned the page down on and the physical matched up.” The Hancock family’s historic Stone Farm raised Hip 814 and sold her on Flay’s behalf. “She is a lovely filly and you can’t keep a good horse hidden,” said Arthur Hancock, III. “There are so many good judges up here. They bred a wonderful filly. She reminded me of a filly my dad used to have called Mocassin and I told people that. She was Horse of the Year as a 2-year-old. She looked just like her, big chestnut. If you saw her, you would say, ‘My golly, that’s her sister.’ Good people got her and good people tried to get her. We are very grateful.” The horseman continued, “What a start. This is [Dame Dorothy’s] first foal. My daughter Lynn did a great job out here selling and Kyle and all the guys at the farm. It makes my job easy. All I have to do is worry.” Flay was not in attendance at Keeneland Thursday as he was on vacation in Italy, but he did watch the sale online. “She was very popular, and we had a good sense that she would do well in the ring,” Flay said. “I’m not surprised by the number, but you don’t get to cash a ticket like that ’til they actually put it up there. I’m thrilled. We bought Dame Dorothy as a yearling at Keeneland for $390,000 and she was one of two Grade I winners that I’ve had. She comes from a really good family of fillies, interestingly enough. All the fillies in the family can run. It’s crazy. [Dame Dorothy] was one of them and now I’m hoping that he first foal continues the trend.” —@CDeBernardisTDN Tonalist Filly a Hit for Gallaghers Brendan and Olive Gallagher, who have enjoyed success with a filly by a son of Tapit as co-breeders of likely champion 3-year-old filly Monomoy Girl (Tapizar), hit a pinhooking homerun with the daughter of another son of Gainesway’s super sire when a filly from the first crop of Tonalist sold for $410,000 at Keeneland Thursday. The Gallaghers’ Frankfort Park Farm had purchased the youngster for $100,000 at last year’s Keeneland November sale. When Manganaro Bloodstock made the final bid on the filly (hip 761), she became the most expensive offspring of the 2014 GI Belmont S. winner to sell at auction. “I like Tonalist,” Brendan Gallagher said. “He is not a typical son of Tapit in that he is out of a Pleasant Colony mare and he looks more like a Pleasant Colony type of horse. And this particular filly being out of a mare by Bluegrass Cat, Storm Cat will put a bit of speed back into her.” Hip 761 is out of the unraced Chausie (Bluegrass Cat) and is a half-sister to graded stakes winner Thatlookonyerface (Summer Bird). “I thought this filly had an awful lot of quality,” Gallagher said. “She matured well and I think she is the most expensive Tonalist by a long way. I looked at all the Tonalists in Saratoga and I was happy that we had the best one. And I think she’s a runner.” While Frankfort Park Farm doesn’t usually race, Gallagher said he was willing to make an exception for this yearling. “We had a $249,000 reserve on her,” he said. “We don’t race them, but if we hadn’t gotten that, we would have probably put her in training ourselves.” In addition to Monomoy Girl’s outstanding season on the track this year, Frankfort Park Farm also enjoyed success in the sales ring, including a filly by Take Charge Indy purchased for $6,000 at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton February Sale who sold for $200,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton October sale. “It’s great,” Gallagher said of the farm’s success. “We’ve been here for eight years. It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s paying off.” @JessMartiniTDN Dugan Strikes Again for Well-Related Filly Shawn Dugan made headlines early in Tuesday’s session when scooping up a Hard Spun filly (Hip 268) for $950,000 and she made her presence known again late in Thursday’s session, fending off all comers to take home a $1.05 million Pioneerof the Nile filly from a very productive family. She was acting on behalf of an undisclosed client. “There is one word for this filly: everything,” Dugan said when asked what she liked about Hip 977. “She is one of the top physicals. I know everyone says that about a horse they just bought for that kind of money, but I promise you, she was a wow.” As for the price, Dugan said, “We were reaching. We reach very far when it’s that kind of money. We are just delighted to participate. We are very, very, very happy we were able to get her.” Out of GSW Graeme Six (Graeme Hall), the bay filly is a full-sister to graded winner Delightful Joy, who sold to International Equities Holdings for $700,000 at the 2017 Keeneland January Sale. Hip 977 is a half-sister to Grade III winner Cali Star (Street Cry {Ire}) and stakes winner Seymourdini (Bernardini), a $900,000 OBS April purchase by Linda Rice on behalf of Iris Smith. Graeme Six’s 2-year-old filly by Strong Mandate, now named Royal Mandate, summoned $825,000 from Live Oak at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale. “There is great residual with a filly and this filly has everything going for her,” said Dugan, who bought a total of five horses in Book 1 topped by Hip 977. “The mare has a Tapit foal on the ground, who [Gainesway’s] Michael Hernon tells me is absolutely stunning, and she is in foal to Tapit. We know Tapit is one of the best stallions in America.” “She has been here a week,” Hernon said. “She has maintained her energy and enthusiasm. She is a really top physical. The mare has an excellent [colt] by Tapit and is back in foal to Tapit. After selling her to Shawn, she handed me the ticket back, so [the filly] will come back [to Gainesway]. Shawn knows where she is going and ultimately [the filly] will move on in a month or so.” Antony Beck’s Gainesway and Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm went to $950,000 to buy Graeme Hall with this filly in utero at the 2016 Keeneland November Sale. When asked if the mare was bought with the intention of taking her back to Tapit, Hernon said, “We always consider him. He is the main guy, but we have to be realistic too. She gets a great foal. Seymourdini is a beautiful horse and this is a great-looking filly. She is a bit special. She rose to the occasion. Some horses rise to the top. It’s been a great market and long may it last.” —@CDeBernardisTDN Another Home Run For Runnymede Brutus Clay’s Runnymede Farm and Nicholas de Chambure’s Haras d’Etreham went to $500,000 for an unraced broodmare prospect named Espirit de Vie (Street Cry {Ire}) at the 2015 Keeneland November Sale. Her first foal, a filly by Medaglia d’Oro (Hip 893), repaid that purchase price and then some Thursday when selling for $1 million to Godolphin, which stands her very popular sire. “We were quite pleased with her,” said Clay, who bred the filly in partnership with de Chambure, Peter Callahan and Ecurie des Charmes. “For a first foal, she certainly looks the part of a horse that can go on and be quite professional on the track. We couldn’t be more delighted for our partners, Ecurie des Charmes, Nicholas de Chambure and Peter Callahan, and our farm team, who have done an extraordinary job. [Runnymede Vice President and Manager] Romain Malhouitre has done an extraordinary job for us over the past five years. This being our second horse to sell for over a million dollars in one sale [following a $1.1 million Uncle Mo filly Wednesday (Hip 703)] has been a long time coming. I think the last time was 2004. We are absolutely delighted. A lot goes to our team and our partners.” When asked his thoughts on the farm’s re-emergence at the top of the market, Clay said, “The market is tremendous right now. It is strong. That has a lot to do with it. A lot of work has gone into it as well. Also, getting the right mares and breeding them right has had a large impact.” Out of Irish Highweight Irresistible Jewel (Ire) (Danehill), Espirit De Vie is a full-sister to GSW & G1SP Princess Highway and a half-sister to Group 1 winners Royal Diamond (King’s Best) and Mad About You (ire) (Indian Ridge). “We thought it was worth the price to spend half a million on an empty mare to get into that family,” Clay said. “I joked to Nicholas, saying, ‘Did I ever tell you about the first time I bought a mare?’ He was like, ‘No.’ And I was like, ‘Well, you’re looking at her.’ She was the first one I actively chose and was part of that process. Thank God for such a wonderful outcome. It was a lot of fun.” —@CDeBernardisTDN Spendthrift Picks Up Two Pricey Colts B. Wayne Hughes’s Spendthrift Farm was active towards the top of the market on Thursday. First it picked up an Uncle Mo colt (hip 822) for $850,000 in partnership with Albaugh Family Stable, and it took home a son of red-hot Quality Road (hip 881) solo soon after for $800,000. The former, consigned by Paramount Sales, Agent LX, is one of two purchases thus far at KEESEP for the Spendthrift and Albaugh partnership, the other being a $1 million Pioneerofthenile–Pomereys Pistol colt (hip 297) bought on Tuesday. Spendthrift stands MGISW Albaugh colorbearer Brody’s Cause (Giant’s Causeway) at its Kentucky nursery. “It was hard to fault him,” said Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey of hip 822. “Obviously, we like Uncle Mo–we bred [four-time champion] Beholder (Henny Hughes) to him [for her first mating last year]. That horse was just as good-looking as they make horses, so we were happy to get him.” The Uncle Mo colt hails from the extended female family of champion 2-year-old filly Countess Diana. He was bred by Gabriel Duignan and Crosshaven Bloodstock. His winning Unbridled’s Song dam Dawn Chorus was a $220,000 KEENOV ’12 purchase in foal to More Than Ready. The resulting colt was a $485,000 graduate of this sale in 2014. A War Front filly sold a year later for $180,000, and her now 2-year-old daughter Blue Moonrise (Malibu Moon) went to Kerri Radcliffe Bloodstock for $500,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale. That unraced filly most recently breezed a bullet five furlongs at Los Alamitos on Monday. Hip 881 was mentioned in TDN‘s coverage of Wednesday’s session (see Conway’s Big Week Continues). The Gainesway consignee was bred by Tom Conway and Charlie Moore’s Waymore LLC out of multiple stakes-placed Emma Darling (Hennessy). “Obviously, Quality Road’s a hot sire and this is a really good-looking horse,” Toffey said. “He looks like he’ll be precocious. There’s really nothing not to like about him. The mare had pretty good talent, and he’s just a gorgeous animal.” Spendthrift fended off Hall of Famer Bob Baffert for the Quality Road colt. “His qualities floated him to the top of buyers’ shopping lists,” said Gainesway’s Michael Hernon. “He has balance, power and motion combined with a great temperament. We wish Spendthrift the very best with him, and appreciate Bob Baffert’s strong pursuit of the colt through the bidding process.” —@BDiDonatoTDN View the full article

Lim's Lightning bolts up at comeback View the full article

Bold Thruster thrashes them again, maybe Garden City next View the full article

Lim's Revent scores easily first-up View the full article

All Fun and Gain for Gray's newcomer View the full article

Horses' body weights September 14 View the full article

Track conditions and course scratchings September 14 View the full article

Jason Mccutchen has been doing his best to watch the yearlings go through the ring at the Keeneland sale, but he’s also riveted to The Weather Channel. Mccutchen is the co-owner of Mccutchen Training Center in Kingstree, South Carolina, about 30 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. His training center figures to get pelted by Hurricane Florence. The actual landfall, or when the center of the eye reaches land, is expected to be Friday afternoon. Of the several farms and training centers in South Carolina, none is closer to the ocean than Mccutchen’s. “It’s a 24-7 process watching it and monitoring it,” he said. “They don’t have an exact idea how bad it is going to be until it gets close to you, but my van companies I work with know to be ready in case I need to get horses out of there.” With Hurricanes Hugo (1989) and Matthew (2016) having caused extensive damage over the last 29 years, South Carolinians are used to dealing with such things. They know the drill–make sure you have plenty of water, that all your generators are operating and, for the horse people, bring in plenty of hay and feed in advance. Mccutchen said the biggest fears are excessive rain and high winds. He believes his barns have been built to hold up to severe conditions. “When we built our facility, it was built with the idea that it needed to withstand hurricanes,” he said. “It’s on higher ground and everything is strapped down from a construction standpoint. If it stays around a category 2 or 3 we’d feel comfortable. If it gets higher than that, we’d usually try to evacuate.” Authorities are warning people in the area that the most serious problem will be flooding. Florence is said to be a very slow-moving storm and the longer it hovers over South Carolina, the more rain there will be. CNN said Florence may produce “historic rainfall far inland.” For Mccutchen, Hurricane Matthew was a disaster, not for his training center but for his home. “I lost my home, personally,” he said. “I live in the town and not at the training center. Where the training center is is on higher ground and we didn’t have any major issues. I lost my home to flooding and didn’t have flood insurance. Never even thought about it. Once you’ve been through flooding like that, it’s always something you worry about. But it would take 20 plus inches of rain to cause really bad problems. Cary Frommer, the president of the Aiken Training Center, canceled her trip to the Keeneland sale because of the hurricane, but her worries have lessened in recent days. “With all these horses and considering what they were predicting, I just couldn’t see leaving town,” she said. “Right now I’m sitting here watching TV and I’m thinking we’re going to get a lot of rain, 8 to 10 inches. That’s a lot better than what we were hearing before, which was 20 inches. I think we’ll just get a tip of one of the outer bands. I don’t think we’ll be in dire straits. We’re just enough west, so it’s not quite getting to us, at the least the worst of it.” The Webb Carroll Training Center is about halfway between Aiken and Mccutchen’s place, about 140 miles from the coast. Owner Travis Durr is another who is not overly concerned. “As far as us, we’re kind of in the middle of the state, so, hopefully, it will just be a tropical depression before it gets to us,” Durr said. “It sounds like there will be wind, but mainly a lot of rain. We’re getting the generators ready, waiting it out and seeing what happens. I’m not shipping any horses out or anything like that. We’ll keep them in the stalls and bed them down and keep a close eye on them. We’re far enough inland that we’re usually not hit that hard.” Durr said the one thing he doesn’t have to worry about is the horses themselves. “From the horses’ standpoint, they don’t really know the difference,” he said. “It’s business as usual for them, as long as we don’t get too much flooding.” The Elloree Training Center is also far enough away from the coast that owner Goree Smith believes catastrophe can be averted. “The biggest thing is the rain, he said. “Fifteen inches is possible. It just depends how long it sits over us. They’re talking about how it’s going to slow down some and that won’t help. We have a pretty good-sized operation and our barns are built to where we can batten them down pretty good. We went through Hugo, so we learned a lot of good lessons. You get a category 4 hurricane, nothing can withstand that. But now they’re saying it’s going to be a 2.” View the full article

Hip 977, a Pioneerof the Nile filly out of Graeme Six (Graeme Hall), brought $1.05 million from bloodstock agent Shawn Dugan late in Thursday’s session at Keeneland September. Graeme Six, GSW & GISP, $338,854, is already the dam of graded winners Cali Star (Street Cry {Ire}) and Delightful Joy (Tapit), and the stakes winner Seymourdini (Bernardini). Gainesway and Whisper Hill Farm went to $950,000 to purchase Graeme Six carrying this filly at the 2016 KEENOV Sale. Hip 977, bred in Kentucky by Gainesway Thoroughbreds and Whisper Hill Farm, was consigned by Gainesway, Agent VII. View the full article

In this continuing series, Alan Carasso takes a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this Japanese holiday weekend running at Hanshin and Nakayama Racecourses: Saturday, September 15, 2018 6th-NKY, ¥13,400,000 ($120k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1200m LISA OF THE NILE (f, 2, Pioneerof the Nile–Lisa T., by Awesome Again), a $350K graduate of last year’s Keeneland September sale, is out of a multiple stakes-placed daughter of Supercharger (A.P. Indy), the dam of 2010 GI Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver (Maria’s Mon) and GSWs Cyrus Alexander (Medaglia d’Oro) and Brethren (Distorted Humor). The filly’s third dam includes Grade I winners Imagining (Giant’s Causeway), Girolamo (A.P. Indy), Got Lucky (A.P. Indy) and Bluegrass Cat (Storm Cat). Her yearling full-sister was purchased by Tommy Town Thoroughbreds for $185,000 this past Monday at the Keeneland September sale. B-WinStar Farm LLC (KY) Sunday, September 16, 2018 3rd-NAK, ¥9,550,000 ($85k), Maiden, 2yo, 1600mT SPOKANE TESORO (f, 2, Scat Daddy–Nimue, by Speightstown), a $275K buyback out of the 2016 Keeneland November sale and $340K Fasig-Tipton Saratoga grad, is a half-sister to the SP Isomer (Cape Blanco {Ire}) and is out of a winning half-sister to Go Rockin Robin (Distorted Humor). The January foal exits an improved third-place effort at Sapporo Aug. 19 (video, gate 4). A yearling half-brother by The Factor sells next week as hip 1915 at KEESEP. B-Summerhill Farm (KY) 12th-NKY, ¥14,250,000 ($127k), Allowance, 3yo/up, 1200m OPERA GLOVES (f, 3, Speightstown–Funny Moon, by Malibu Moon) made a single trip to the races last season at two, coming from just offf the speed to graduate by a head last September (video, gate 5). A $180K KEESEP yearling, Opera Gloves is out of the 2009 GI CCA Oaks winner who was purchased by Len Riggio’s My Meadowview Stable for $2.3 million at FTKNOV in 2011. A Curlin half-sister to Opera Gloves was sold to Gayle Van Leer, agent, for $135K at Keeneland Thursday afternoon. B-My Meadowview LLC (KY) Monday, September 17, 2018 12th-HSN, ¥14,250,000 ($127k), Allowance, 3yo/up, 1200m TSUBURANA HITOMI (c, 3, More Than Ready–Always Auditioning, by Mizzen Mast) posted two seconds and a victory in his first three tries on dirt, including a maiden-breaking score at Hanshin in February. A full-brother to GSW Ready to Act, he’s been well-beaten in his last two, but both were over rain-affected tracks he may not have liked. Tsuburana Hitomi, produced by a full-sister to GISW Mast Track, was RNAd for $300K at KEESEP in 2016 and made $200K as an OBSAPR juvenile. B-Fred W Hertrich III (KY) –@EquinealTDN View the full article

An Into Mischief colt out of an unraced half-sister to the talented Munnings (Speightstown) brought $1.2 million from Larry Best’s Oxo Equine LLC at KEESEP Thursday. His dam Gaudete (Distorted Humor) has also produced the MGSP Snowboarder (Raven’s Pass). Hip 948, consigned by Castle Park Farm LLC (Noel Murphy), Agent IX, was bred in Kentucky by Breffni Farm. Gaudete, in foal to Super Saver, brought $160,000 from Breffni Farm, at the 2015 KEENOV Sale. View the full article

2018 has already been a year of achievement for Kelly Rubley, winning her first graded stakes race since she became a full-time trainer four years ago, and she is hoping to add to that with her first Grade I victory and possibly securing her first entry into a Breeders’ Cup race. On Saturday Rubley will saddle Gunpowder Farms’s Divisidero (Kitten’s Joy) in the $1 million GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile–a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the World Championships to be held at Churchill Downs in early November. Back in July, Divisidero won the GIII Arlington H., his first win since joining Rubley’s barn at Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland this year after three seasons under the care of Buff Bradley. Bradley saddled Divisidero to back-to-back wins in the GI Woodford Reserve Turf Classic in 2016 and 2017. When he started to go off form after the latter victory, owners Tom Keithley and Ericka DiVinney, who race as Gunpowder Farms, decided the horse would benefit in a sprawling training center as opposed to the confines of a racetrack. So they moved Divisidero to Fair Hill, where Rubley is based. Keithley and DiVinney live about five miles from Rubley and have most of their horses with her. The relationship began in 2015. Rubley said it’s been exciting to train Divisidero, a horse that has now eclipsed the $1-million mark in earnings. “It’s been exciting to train him,” Rubley said. “He’s a very classy horse. I think he’d fit in anywhere. It’s been a pleasure to have him in our barn. He’s fit into our program very nicely. He loves his turnout time. He gets to gallop in the fields on a regular basis, which he enjoys greatly. Having all of these other options for him I think has been successful in keeping him a happy horse, which is what we need.” The race at Woodbine will be Divisidero’s 20th career start and fifth going a mile-a distance he has yet to win at, although he has notched a runner-up finish, two thirds and a fourth from five tries. Most recently contesting the GI Fourstardave H. over a two-turn mile and soft ground at Saratoga, he finished third beaten 2 1/4 lengths by the front-running Voodoo Song (English Channel). “His closing fractions were quite impressive in my opinion,” Rubley said of Divisdero’s Saratoga effort. “I’m excited to see how he handles the Woodbine course. I think the one-turn mile with the big, long stretch should work in our favor and we’re hopeful that comes true. I think he’s proven the mile and an eighth is his best distance. I was very happy to see him win at a mile and three-sixteenths at Arlington. It’s a question of whether we want to go longer or shorter.” Because the Woodbine Mile is a “Win and You’re In” qualifying race, a victory would give Rubley her first Breeders’ Cup horse. Her only experience racing on Breeders’ Cup day came on the undercard of the 2015 edition at Keeneland with Argentina-bred Desvelo (Arg) (Sunray Spirit), who ran in the G2 Marathon S. and placed eighth. “He wasn’t successful, but it was definitely an experience to be at the Breeders’ Cup and participate,” she said. “It would mean everything to have a horse of Breeders’ Cup quality. I try not to think about it. At this point we need to get through this race and see where we’re at.” She said winning her first graded stakes this year meant something special to her. “I’ve been trying for years,” she said jokingly. “I’ve only been training for four years, but I’ve been trying.” Much has been written about Rubley’s past before she decided to make training a full-time career, having earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and Chemistry, a Master’s Degree in Secondary Education and Administration. She used those credentials to pursue a career as a teacher/administrator. However, it was her love of riding horses and competing in eventing that ultimately led her to pursue a full-time career training Thoroughbreds. She worked for Barclay Tagg and Jimmy Toner before going out on her own. Rubley’s training record on an annual basis is impressive, resembling a rising stock. In 2014, she won five of 26 races and posted $204,513 in earnings. Last year, she won 35 races in 229 starts and more than $1.2 million in purses. She has 29 wins in 197 starts as of September 11 and more than $1.1 million in earnings. “We’ve expanded each year, as you can see by the number of starts, and continued to improve on the horses we have in the barn all the time,” she said. “I have wonderful ownership that are supportive. A lot of them are breeders. Certainly the goal is to continually improve each year and incorporate more stakes horses into the program. I think we’re doing that slowly but surely. We have multiple allowance and maiden special weight-level horses and a few stakes horses. I don’t know that there is an exact goal (for purse earnings), but certainly improving every start is very important.” Keithley, who said he met Rubley through a mutual friend, said the annual increase in wins and earnings is a direct result of the way she manages her horses. “She’s very involved with the horses personally,” he said. “She knows where every horse is at every day. We’ve seen with the big operations, sometimes your horse can get lost. They fall through the cracks and that costs you time and money. She didn’t really aspire to have a huge barn. She just wanted to be a trainer and work with horses. It was a good fit philosophically. If she had a lot of experience, she probably would have had a bigger barn and it probably would have been a different situation, but that’s what we liked about it. We could be involved because it’s close. It’s only 10 minutes away. She was very hands on and personally involved with the horses.” Rubley said that what she has done to date has accelerated what her expectations were when she began. “I’m a very driven person, so I’d like to think this is what it’s meant to be,” she said. Keithley added it was special to him and his wife when Rubley won her first graded race and underlined their trust in her to train the horse. “We could have been successful with either path,” Keithley said. “It validated Kelly, I think, a little bit as a trainer capable of getting at top horse to perform. We believed she could and it absolutely affirmed for us that she could win at that level. “The horse is really in a comeback mode. He’s had some nice wins and he’s a wonderful horse. He definitely had a string of losses and definitely was not perceived at the top of his form, so we were excited for the horse and obviously for Kelly, too.” View the full article