Wandering Eyes

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

Phoenix Thoroughbreds continued its KEESEP shopping spree with a $2.1-million Medaglia d’Oro colt Thursday afternoon. The dark bay or brown colt, a son of the stakes winning and graded placed Exotic Bloom (Montbrook), is a half-brother to GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff heroine Stopchargingmaria (Tale of the Cat). Exotic Bloom, in foal to Quality Road, brought $500,000 from Stonestreet at the 2013 FTKNOV Sale. Hip 899, bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent for Stonestreet Bred & Raised. View the full article

A Medaglia d’Oro filly brought $1 million from Godolphin at KEESEP Thursday. The bay is out of the unraced Street Cry (Ire) mare Esprit de Vie, a daughter of Irish champion Irresistible Jewel (Ire) (Danehill). Esprit de Vie brought $500,000 from Runnymede Farm & Haras d’Etreham at the 2015 KEENOV Sale. Hip 893, bred in Kentucky by Runnymede Farm, Peter J. Callahan, Haras d’Etreham, and Ecurie des Charmes, was consigned by Runnymede Farm, Inc., agent. View the full article

Twelve months ago the late-blooming gelding Johnny Bear found himself at the center of some high-level drama for all the right reasons. 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 one of King Power’s high-priced yearling purchases of 2017. 4.00 Salisbury, Cond, £7,400, 2yo, c/g, 6fT JASH (IRE) (Kodiac {GB}) bids to build on an impressive 4 1/2-length debut success at Newmarket last month with a potential G1 Middle Park S. bid in the offing. Simon Crisford has opted to give Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s 185,000gns purchase more experience and he joins King Power Racing’s Andrew Balding-trained 625,000gns TATOCT graduate Happy Power (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in shouldering a six-pound penalty. 4.40 Doncaster, Cond, £15,000, 2yo, 7f 6yT TURGENEV (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is the first foal out of Godolphin’s ultra-consistent triple group winner Tasaday (Nayef) who debuts for Princess Haya of Jordan and John Gosden in a potentially informative Town Moor contest. Among his rivals is the similarly unraced colt Monsieur Noir (GB) (Shamardal), a 500,000gns TATOCT half-brother to the classy duo of Bonfire (GB) (Manduro {Ger}) and Joviality (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) who represents the Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum-Roger Varian axis. View the full article

Australia's superstar mare Winx is in "picture perfect condition," according to her trainer Chris Waller, as she bids to register a record 27th consecutive win in the Sept. 15 Colgate Optic White Stakes over 1,600 meters at Randwick. View the full article

Dual grade 1 winner New Money Honey goes into the 1 1/8-mile Canadian Stakes Presented by the Japan Racing Association (G2T) on the Sept. 15 Ricoh Woodbine Mile (G1T) undercard with the understanding that her connections are taking her lead. View the full article

Godolphin’s KEESEP yearling shopping spree continued with a $1.6-million Medaglia d’Oro colt out of GI Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf heroine Dayatthespa (City Zip). Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings purchased Dayatthespa for $2.1 million at the 2014 FTKNOV Sale. Barbara Banke’s operation bred the Medaglia d’Oro colt, who was consigned as Hip 823 by Gainesway, agent for Stonestreet Bred & Raised. View the full article

BLOCKBUSTER (c, 2, Medaglia d’Oro–Elusive Jackpot, by Elusive Quality) went for $450,000 to John C. Oxley after breezing a quarter-mile in :21 3/5 at Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream and took the bulk of late money to be the 13-5 favorite debuting Thursday at Kentucky Downs. Off about a length slowly, the dark bay showed no speed and dropped well back to travel second-last for the first three furlongs. Advancing suddenly heading into the bottom half of the sweeping turn, he continued chipping away at the leaders while carrying all the ground, ending up seven wide by the time heads pointed for home. Closing relentlessly in the center of the course, he flattened a bit in the final sixteenth, but still had enough to edge out well-bet firster Jersey Agenda (Jersey Town) by a half-length in an auspicious unveiling. Blockbuster has a common second dam, dual champion Silverbulletday (Silver Deputy), with GISW and freshman sire Shakin It Up (Midnight Lute). This is also the female family of GISW Forest Secrets (Forest Wildcat) and Rumor Has It (Awesome Again), who pulled off a 59-1 shocker in the GIII Kentucky Cup Turf S. at this venue in 2008. His dam, a $375,000 KEEJAN purchase for his breeder in 2015, foaled a colt by Hard Spun Jan. 29 before visiting Honor Code. Sales History: $210,000 Ylg ’17 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $78,000. O-John C. Oxley; B-River Bend Farm Inc. (KY); T-Mark E. Casse. View the full article

A filly by Curlin out of GISW Dame Dorothy (Bernardini) brought $1.05 million from Robert and Lawana Low at Keeneland September Thursday. Dame Dorothy, a $390,000 KEESEP graduate herself and a half-sister to GI E.P. Taylor S./G1 Prix Vermeille Lucien Barriere heroine Mrs. Lindsday (Theatrical {Ire}), was campaigned by Bobby Flay. Flay bred the Curlin filly, who was consigned as Hip 814 by Stone Farm. View the full article

Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) has maintained her position atop the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings with a rating of 130. Unbeaten in her last 26 outings, the 7-year-old mare made the first start of her spring campaign when taking the race named in her honour, the G1 Winx S., at Randwick on Aug. 18. Just off Winx on a mark of 129 are last year’s American Horse of the Year Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}) and G1 Prince of Wales’s S. and G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. winner Poet’s Word (Ire) (Poet’s Voice {GB}). G2 Hardwicke S. winner Crystal Ocean (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), runner-up to his stablemate Poet’s Word in the King George, is ranked fourth at 128 while Roaring Lion (Kitten’s Joy) breaks into the top five for the 127 mark he earned winning the G1 Juddmonte International. A trio of Europeans are tied on 125: Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), who made up for a long absence with a dominating win in the G3 September S. on Sept. 8. View the full article

Doncaster’s card on Thursday features three group races, with the centrepiece being the G2 Doncaster Cup over the demanding trip of 2 1/4 miles. There is no stand-out this year, with Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) resting up after his wearying road to the million and Willie Mullins is amply represented with a trio including last year’s runner-up Thomas Hobson (GB) (Halling). Last seen finishing fifth in the G3 Irish St Leger Trial S. over 14 furlongs at The Curragh Aug. 25, the pick of the Rich Ricci trio has the assistance of Ryan Moore. “We know Thomas Hobson acts on the track, as he has run well on it before. I suppose he is our best chance and he has Ryan Moore on board, but they are three good horses on their day,” Assistant trainer Patrick Mullins said. If there is one unexposed at the trip it is Kirsten Rausing’s July 14 G2 Prix Maurice de Nieuil runner-up Algometer (GB) (Archipenko), who was fourth in a decent renewal of the G3 Geoffrey Freer S. at Newbury last time Aug. 18. If he still possesses the class he demonstrated when beating Dartmouth (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the 2016 G3 Dubai Duty Free Legacy Cup over 11 furlongs at Newbury in September 2016 he must enter the reckoning. In the G2 Wainwrights Flying Childers S., the impressive G3 Molecomb S. winner Rumble Inthejungle (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {GB}) looks to provide Cheveley Park Stud with a quick return on their recent investment. Trainer Richard Spencer is convinced the best is yet to come despite his success in Goodwood’s test of precocity. “He is in good shape and I couldn’t have him any better,” he said. “We’ve got to respect all the other runners, but we are just concentrating on our lad really. He is just getting more professional. He is very professional in his home work and has shown that on track. He is very straightforward and his work in between Goodwood and now has been good, so hopefully he can translate that to the track.” Third in the Molecomb, the Listed Windsor Castle S. winner Soldier’s Call (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) has since captured Chantilly’s G3 Prix d’Arenberg with all the dynamism he showed at Royal Ascot and he is back in action 13 days after that effort. “Things didn’t go his way in the Molecomb and there was a bit of scratching of heads afterwards, but I don’t think he particularly enjoyed the downhill part of the track,” trainer Archie Watson said. “It was good to get back on track in France and I’ve been very happy with him since.” Qatar Racing’s ‘TDN Rising Star’ Legends of War (Scat Daddy) is dropped to five furlongs after his latest second in the G2 Gimcrack S. at York Aug. 24, while Zhang Yuesheng’s Indigo Balance (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) is an intriguing contender coming off a defeat of Gossamer Wings (Scat Daddy) in the Aug. 25 Listed Curragh S. The day kicks off with the G3 Japan Racing Association Sceptre S. in which Godolphin’s Laugh Aloud (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) bids to build on her return fourth in the G3 Atalanta S. over a mile at Sandown Sept. 1. Last year’s impressive G3 Princess Elizabeth S. scorer has the pace for this drop in trip and trainer John Gosden commented, “I was pleased with Laugh Aloud’s run at Sandown and she will appreciate the ground at Doncaster.” Anna Nerium (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) may be the pick of the 3-year-olds following her latest success in the G3 Supreme S. at Goodwood Aug. 26. Perhaps the most intriguing runner of the day is ‘TDN Rising Star’ Sangarius (GB) (Kingman {GB}), who takes in the Listed Weatherbys Global Stallions App Flying Scotsman S. having impressed on his winning debut in the Juddmonte silks in a seven-furlong Newmarket novice contest Aug. 24. View the full article

The New York Racing Association will team up with Woodbine Saturday to offer a Cross Country Pick 4, highlighted by the Grade I, $800,000 Ricoh Woodbine Mile. The latest in NYRA’s Fall series of Cross Country Pick 4s, Saturday’s edition will include three graded stakes between Belmont Park and Woodbine, with live coverage and analysis of each leg provided on Belmont Park Live. The multi-race wager, hosted by NYRA and featuring a 50-cent minimum, will start with the Woodbine Mile, carded as Race 8, at 4:48 p.m. ET, followed by Race 8 from Belmont Park with a scheduled post time of 5:18 p.m. The third leg of the Pick 4 sequence is the Grade II, $250,000 Canadian S., carded as Race 9 from Woodbine with an approximate post time of 5:27 p.m. The Grade II, $400,000 Sands Point S. will be the anchor leg of Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 4 as Race 9 from Belmont, with an approximate post time of 5:53 p.m. View the full article

Jeffrey Hobby was placed in a similar position to many other owners when weighing up whether to add Maid Up (GB) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) to tomorrow’s G1 William Hill St Leger S. A £50,000 supplementary fee is not exactly loose change, with a decision having to be made as to whether the Andrew Balding-trained filly might be capable of earning it back at Doncaster. There was also money in the pot courtesy of her exploits this season, which include the G3 March S. at Goodwood among four wins and a lucrative second in the G2 Lillie Langtry S. The clincher for Hobby, though, are the future benefits it might have for her page when she finally returns to his Brightwalton Stud in Berkshire. “It’s what owner-breeders want to do isn’t it?” he says. “Andrew recommended it. The jockey [Rob Hornby] is very keen. She’s a filly that just does enough every time and has hardly ever won by more than half a length, other than against the two colts in the March S., whether off a mark of 69 or in a Group 3. Because she just does the job and that’s all, it’s hard to judge quite how good she is. A filly like Lah Ti Dar (GB) can go and give 10 lengths to the next horse, you can see what they’ve got. I don’t know how good mine is, I don’t know if she’s good enough. She’d have been second favourite for the G2 Park Hill S. but you only get one chance to run in the Leger, don’t you? We can go back to the Park Hill next year. We discussed it all, I thought she’d earned the money, so we thought we’d give it a go.” Maid Up is the standout performer from the foals of Complexion (GB) (Hurricane Run {Ire}), the Juddmonte-bred broodmare that Hobby bought for 125,000gns at Tattersalls six years ago. His idea to visit Mastercraftsman is one he wishes had come to him earlier. “It was the first time I’d used him. I think he’s a lovely horse and we’re always trying to pick good sires who are affordable. Quite why I didn’t use a Danehill sire before–when the mare’s good half-brother is Zacinto (GB), who is by Dansili (GB)–I don’t know, I should have gone to Dansili before. I bought her in foal to Dream Ahead and finally got myself organised and used a Danehill-line sire, and got [Maid Up],” he says. “I was reading about Alpha Centauri (Ire) the other day, another Mastercraftsman filly. What they were saying about her would be describing my filly exactly: they just switch off, idle around and are as cool as a cucumber in the pre-amble and during the race, and when you ask them they pick it up and give you their heart. That’s obviously a Mastercraftsman trait.” Hobby was born into the bloodstock world and grew up at nearby Hillwood Stud. After a spell doing a “sensible job” in property, he returned to the fold and founded Brightwalton with wife Phoebe about a decade ago. It is essentially a private enterprise with between 15 and 20 mares. “We started with a bit of a rag-bag bunch of mares to see how the land worked and get a grip on it,” he said. “Complexion is one of the first proper mares I bought. I remember my wife saying I’d spent too much when I bought her but it turned out to be a good gamble because I sold the first foal she was carrying at the time for about twice what I paid for her. We’re trying to buy quality mares and you do have to pay for them.” He adds, “It was just a blank bit of ground, it had had sheep on it for 15 years. We had to build it all from scratch; houses, posts, railings, hedges. It took a while to get it to where we wanted it to be. We’re always ambitious but it’s a very nice farm now.” Hobby sold Maid Up’s Kodiac (GB) half-brother for £55,000 at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale and the mare is in foal to Showcasing (GB) again after losing her last foal by the same sire. Unlike the last few years, Brightwalton is not listed as consigning at the Tattersalls October sale, but it will be selling five through Barton Stud as there have been a few recent staff changes. “There’s a nice Lope De Vega (Ire) filly (lot 181) in Book 1 out of Vesnina (GB)(Sea The Stars {Ire}), which is from the very good Cheveley Park Russian Rhythm family. She’s the only filly from the family they don’t own. It was quite a lucky buy before the family took off with the likes of Zonderland (GB) and Marenko (GB). She’s the first foal out of the mare. We’ve got a very nice Tamayuz (GB) first foal filly in Book 2 (lot 747) and an Australia (GB) colt out of a half-sister to Vazaribad (Fr) (lot 828) in Book 2.” For now, all eyes are trained on Maid Up as she bids to follow in the footsteps of others to carry the Hobby family’s two-tone blue silks, which included future jumps stallion Torus (GB) (Ribero {GB}) and Argon Laser (GB) (Kris {GB}), the dam of stallion Dr Massini (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells). Hobby says, “It’s probably a bit bonkers, but you don’t know unless you try,” he said. “Our form is hard to judge and if we get a Group 1 Classic place with a filly we’ll be very happy.” View the full article

Canada's Horse of the Year Pink Lloyd will try for a third straight stakes win when he faces an expected nine rivals in the $125,000 Bold Venture Stakes (G3) Sept. 15 at Woodbine. View the full article

If racing was given a time machine for some inspirational travel, where should we go? After a pit stop to buy Northern Dancer from E.P. Taylor for his reserve of $25,000 at the 1962 yearling sales, I’d suggest an unlikely destination–Edinburgh, 1947. The flux capacitor would transport us to meet eight uninvited theatre companies who decided to defy organisers of the newly created Edinburgh International Festival and turn up anyway. Not being part of the official programme of the International Festival didn’t stop these intrepid entrepreneurs; they just went ahead and staged their shows on the fringe of the Festival anyway. The idea spread, a space for artistic expression, unshackled from the constraints of an actual invitation and criteria compliant act. Today, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, a festival still on the fringe of another festival, is the largest arts festival in the world with last month 56,796 performances over 27 days in 317 venues. Those eight chancers created an event that is now second only to the Olympic Games in terms of attendees. The Edinburgh Fringe is a lesson in bringing those in the margins into the tent and opening art to the masses. That’s why racing needs our own fringe movement. It’s where trainers’ new potential owners linger undiscovered. It’s where racecourses’ big new sponsors lurk with their sponsorship unspent. Simply, the fringes are where we’ve got to go to grow our sport on any metric. Ahead of Irish Champions Weekend, we should be proud of the impact of our own festivals, from the Melbourne Spring Carnival to Royal Ascot and Saratoga. A recurring theme in our most successful events is their ability to embed themselves in the wider community and capture the imagination of the public usually on the fringes of our own sport. When you think about those events it’s not racing authorities that create the experience. It’s the picnics at Royal Ascot. It’s the syndicate buying one and dreaming of Flemington. It’s the family basing themselves in the fun of Saratoga for their summer vacation. Too often people in racing look to the powers-that-be, asking what they can do to help them, awaiting that invitation from the higher power to do something. When they do step forward, those attempted fringe events that are created to enliven the action can seem like a broken record. What is the point of a bigger best-dressed prize or race card draw to reward those who perhaps haven’t watched a single race? I don’t want to be part of a sport that is scared of celebrating the sport itself. When a nation is stopped each November, Australia does not wait with bated breath for the result of the most fascinating fascinator. Racing, if it wants to become embedded in the mind of the wider public, needs to start, always, with racing itself. Embedding racing into our wider communities doesn’t begin and end at the racecourse. As we compete with other demands on time, we need to look at ways of doing what we do differently and grow interest in racing exponentially. In 2010, a meet-up for 400 or so of the local technology community was convened in a lecture hall in Dublin. The organisers then had a brainwave about how to redefine a conference experience, and set about in their words “engineering serendipity.” Instead of the usual endless talks, they created speed networking using data to match those who would get most out of meeting each other; they held custom digital pub crawls and offered data-based applications which gave attendees the power to get exactly what they wanted from the experience. Eight years later, Web Summit is the world’s largest tech conference, attracting 70,000 of the most powerful power brokers in tech to their new home in Lisbon. That kind of vision of a different way of doing things is what racing needs. Where should we start to capture those on the fringe? With enough ambition, racing can be the perfect backdrop for pioneering globally minded events. The world’s biggest collection of global leaders, the World Economic Forum in Davos, was founded by 444 executives coming together for a week of skiing. We need to consider what more we can do to make racing a platform for business communities to come together over the perfect icebreaker, like skiing, of a racing festival and engineer our own serendipity through the magic of our own sport. Society as a whole is pivoting towards an activity- based spend of their disposable dollar away from the purchase of goods. We need to deliver a better digital experience that allows racegoers to embrace the local community whether it’s by letting you know that the Sydney Arms is the place to go after Royal Ascot or Le Drakkar after Deauville. We need to capture these newcomers thoughts for our trainers and empower them with data points of what newcomers want from the ownership experience and where they can be found. We need our authorities to understand that by celebrating the horse, our most passionate fans, no longer alienated by the most fascinating fascinator, will become our secret weapon as that is what they love about the sport too. We need to think how racing can become part of the educational experience for local schools in teaching them about their country’s relationship with the land and the horse. We have to scrutinize how we can implant racing in the city centre be it through street performances, digital displays or when a big event emerges to compete with us like the World Cup, we collaborate with that event, not capitulate. We need to look beyond the usual and embrace the unusual. Seventy-one years on, the Edinburgh Fringe still thrives as it understands that with the right tools, if they build it the people will come and in doing so open their art to everyone. We need to understand our success doesn’t come from more numbers through the gates, money in the pools or foals being produced. I believe success for racing is rooted, like the fringe bringing us closer to art, in opening the wider public to closer contact with the animal we love. That’s why aftercare to deepen the impact the horse, our greatest ambassadors, can have in society is so important. That’s why explaining the sport and making it accessible is so important. That’s why we have to relentlessly explore what we haven’t considered before and turn our own festivals into the greatest opportunities they can be for our industry. It is, and always should be, about the horse. Racing’s greatest vulnerability is being an inward-looking sport home to only those in our own echo chamber. Don’t wait for that invitation–you’ll do better without it. Let’s be fearless and head to the fringes. View the full article

Again picked off late from the front when third in Deauville’s G2 Prix de Pomone Aug. 19, St Albans Bloodstock’s God Given (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) benefitted from a switch to hold-up tactics as she registered a career-best success in Thursday’s G2 DFS Park Hill S. at Doncaster. Ridden with considerable restraint by Jamie Spencer despite the slow pace up ahead, the 5-1 shot was travelling best in early straight and after joining battle with her G2 Lancashire Oaks conqueror Horseplay (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) got the better of her in the last half furlong to score by a neck, with the same margin back to the G2 Lillie Langtry S. winner Pilaster (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}). 1–GOD GIVEN (GB), 131, f, 4, by Nathaniel (Ire) 1st Dam: Ever Rigg (GB), by Dubai Destination 2nd Dam: Bianca Nera (GB), by Salse 3rd Dam: Birch Creek (GB), by Carwhite (Ire) O/B-St Albans Bloodstock LLP (GB); T-Luca Cumani; J-Jamie Spencer. £56,710. Lifetime Record: GSW-Fr, 13-5-2-3, £204,254. *1/2 to Postponed (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Hwt. Older Horse-Eur at 9.5-11f, MG1SW-Eng, 2x Hwt. Older Horse-Eng at 11-14f, Hwt. Older Horse-UAE at 11-14f, G1SW-UAE, GSW-Fr & G1SP-Ire, $7,226,764. View the full article

Atholl Duncan, senior independent director of the British Horseracing Authority, has been named interim BHA chairman, a role he will assume when Steve Harman steps down on Nov. 12. An experienced non-executive director in sports organisations, Duncan was a senior executive at the BBC for many years. He spent four years as director of corporate affairs with Scottish Water and since 2011 was executive director of ICAS, the professional body of chartered accountants. Duncan joined the BHA Board in December 2014. Duncan was also a non-executive director of Sportscotland for nine years, sat on the Scottish Sports Council Trust and the Hibernian Football Club Community Foundation. He has been a regular racegoer for nearly 40 years, is a trustee of the Caledonian Racing Society and has been an owner in several syndicates. He has horses in training with Lucinda Russell. “It is a great honour for me to be appointed as chair of the BHA,” said Duncan. “My immediate focus will be to continue to work closely with everyone across horse racing to shape the right improvements we need to meet the many challenges facing our sport. I also look forward to supporting and constructively challenging the BHA executive and the highly dedicated teams across the country who we rely on every day to ensure the smooth running, integrity and welfare of racing.” View the full article