Wandering Eyes

Horses' body weights September 9 View the full article

Track conditions and course scratchings September 9 View the full article

Nowyousee him, now you don't as Titanium ace clears out for first Freedman win View the full article

Maximus eighth in the Keeneland Korea Cup View the full article

Despite being sent off the turf due to rainy track conditions, Divine Miss Grey took the sloppy track in stride and coasted home to win the $200,000 Dr. James Penny Memorial Stakes over 1 1/16 miles Sept. 8 at Parx Racing. View the full article

Barry Schwartz's La Fuerza shipped in to Finger Lakes Sept. 8 and impressively won the $112,850 Aspirant Stakes to score his second stakes victory in the fourth start of his career. View the full article

MOONLIGHT ROMANCE (f, 2, Liaison–Envious Moon, by Malibu Moon) stalked the pace and ran away in the stretch to take the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Turf Sprint S. Saturday. Runner-up on debut to barnmate and subsequent Ascot heroine Shang Shang Shang (Shanghai Bobby) Apr. 26 at Keeneland, the $42,000 Keeneland September buy graduated powerfully on the Belmont lawn May 24 and finished 13th in the Windsor Castle S. at the Royal Meeting June 23. Made the 8-5 in this Stateside return, the dark bay came away well and pressed the speed of longshot Sovereign Impact (Munnings) through the first half-mile. Taking over in early stretch, she kicked clear into the final furlong and came home a convincing four-length winner. Life Mission (Noble Mission {GB}), making her North American debut, was second-best. Lifetime Record: 4-2-1-0, $362,000. O-Kenneth L. & Sarah K. Ramsey; B-Spendthrift Farm LLC (KY); T-Wesley A. Ward. View the full article

Japanese-based dirt horses have proven too tough in the first two runnings of the 1-billion Keeneland Korea Cup, with Chrysolite (Jpn) (Gold Allure {Jpn}) leading home his compatriot Kurino Star O (Jpn) (Admire Boss {Jpn}) in 2016 before filling the runner-up spot behind London Town (Jpn) (Kane Hekili {Jpn}) in the race 12 months ago. While the latter is back to defend his title, Cheongdam Dokki (To Honor and Serve) will spearhead the Korean challenge and will be well-backed to become the first locally based winner of the 1800-metre event. A $20,000 Keeneland September graduate, the 4-year-old gelding amassed a record of 5-3-0 from nine runs in 2017, winning by a combined 42 lengths, good enough to take home honors as champion 3-year-old. Undefeated, albeit less dominant in four races this season, he most recently made the long trip down to Busan and overcame gate 13 to defeat Cheonji Storm (Kor) (Admire Don {Jpn}) for a first black-type victory in the Busan Mayor’s Cup (1800m) July 1. Cheongdam Dokki drew 13 Sunday, just to the inside of last year’s winner and the outposted 15-time winner Clean Up Joy (Purge). Dolkong (Afleet Alex) won his final four starts of 2017, including a victory at a dime on the dollar at ths track last October, but went missing for 10 months with an injury. He resumed with an eight-length victory in an Aug. 11 Class 1 handicap over course and distance and can be a factor, though winning rider Manoel Nunes deserts for Cheongdam Dokki. WATCH: Cheongdam Dokki winning the Mayor’s Cup at Busan July 1 Japan’s Graceful Leap (Jpn) (Gold Allure {Jpn}) proved too tough in last year’s Keeneland Korea Sprint, and the Land of the Rising Sun looks well-represented here by Moanin (Henny Hughes). By the sire of the phenomenally talented multiple US champion Beholder, the New York-bred is a previous winner of the G1 February S., setting a Tokyo track record in the process, and broke an 11-race skid with a stakes tally in March. Doraonpogyeongseon (Kantharos), third in last year’s Sprint was named champion sprinter in Korea last season and will cut back to six furlongs off a victory in the 1600-metre Busan Owners’ Cup July 29. Chublicious (Hey Chub) stepped out of New Jersey-bred company to cause a 10-1 upset in last year’s GIII Frank DeFrancis Memorial Dash and was victorious in the Mr. Prospector S. at Monmouth Park in his penultimate appearance June 17. Ron Faucheux saddles the Brittlyn Stable colorbearer. View the full article

There is a good reason pinhookers gravitate to the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. For the most part, horses bought out of the marathon auction have proven profitable for speculators buying yearlings to resell as 2-year-olds in training. View the full article

The New Vocations All-Thoroughbred Charity Horse Show at the Kentucky Horse Park completed its first day of competition Friday evening, with nearly 350 contestants from across North America competing in hunter, jumper, pleasure and dressage disciplines. All proceeds from the event sponsored by The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.), go directly to support New Vocations efforts to rehab, retrain and rehome retired racehorses. Competition will resume Saturday, Sept. 8, with jumper, equitation, dressage, western dressage, pleasure and western pleasure competition. The all-Thoroughbred horse show will conclude competition with The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program Championships, which will be held Sunday, Sept. 9. View the full article

Heavy favorite Harry Angel fails to fire, finishes sixth out of 12 in 32red Sprint Cup Stakes (G1). View the full article

There is a good reason pinhookers gravitate to the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. For the most part, horses bought out of the marathon auction have proven profitable for speculators buying yearlings to re-sell as 2-year-olds in training. View the full article

Five-time group 1-winning filly scored by 3 1/2 lengths over Crystal Ocean in the 188bet September Stakes (G3) at Kempton Park. View the full article

So let’s hear it for Hip 4538. A chestnut filly by Hampton Court (Aus) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}). Not a bad page, actually: she’s out of a half-sister to the dual Grade 2-winning dam of a Breeders’ Cup runner-up. You’ll find her with the Vinery consignment, Barns 9 & 10. Whether you will still have soles to your shoes, by that stage, remains to be seen; never mind whether you have somehow kept body and soul together. But whatever her future holds, on the track, she deserves at least this fleeting notice now. Because there may not be ink enough, never mind a residue of coherence, for the press to record the aspirations of her purchaser. He will literally be the last man standing. When the gavel comes down on this filly, it will conclude the 13th session of what might—with due apologies to Man o’ War, a Saratoga graduate after all—be termed the “mostest” horse sale in the world. Book 1 has again been tweaked, from a single evening last year to four days this time, but the point of the Keeneland September Sale is that it covers the whole spectrum. It isn’t a snapshot or a sample of the market, like other sales: it is the market. There’s something for everybody. And the sheer volume of equine traffic virtually guarantees that some golden nuggets are going to fall through the cracks. The uniform aspect of the six catalogs reflects that democratic opportunity: each in the same dark green livery, with four identical squares front and back framing a sale graduate. The eight on Book 1 inevitably include Justify (Scat Daddy), the mould-breaking Triple Crown winner, as well as Monomoy Girl (Tapizar), Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) and Good Magic (Curlin). Justify raised $500,000 as Hip 50 two years ago, but remember that Monomoy Girl entered the ring only as Hip 1611, and that the fillies who followed her home in the Kentucky Oaks were even later: Wonder Gadot (Medaglia d’Oro) as Hip 2121, and Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute), unsold for $19,000, as Hip 4015. So the rewards are there, if your hard work is matched by equal luck. Because the big shots will have left town long before that Hampton Court filly leaves a lonely back ring. To most of us, the sale will sooner take its tone from the very first lot: another filly, foaled six days after the one by Hampton Court—but a galaxy away in terms of expectation. For Hip 1 is the first of a staggering 66 yearlings by American Pharoah (Pioneerof The Nile) accommodated in Book 1, with another 15 listed later. That is no less a presence than anticipated by those who paid a $200,000 covering fee for the first Triple Crown winner since the 1970s. So far he has processed 15 yearlings, from 17 offered to date at Saratoga and elsewhere, at a clip of $643,605. (Even the two who went home stalled at $800,000 and $495,000, respectively.) But to maintain those kind of returns, in such concentration, looks a lot to ask; certainly those who think they can afford one should not have to go home empty-handed. However he gets on, American Pharoah has already altered the dynamic at the top end of the market. While the proof of the pudding naturally awaits, on the racetrack, for now he has barged his way straight into the midst of the supersires who increasingly dominate the bloodstock economy. At Fasig-Tipton’s Select Sale in Saratoga, for instance, American Pharoah had a filly and colt join three yearlings by Medaglia d’Oro (El Prado) in carving up the five seven-figure lots. Medaglia d’Oro, of course, has long since earned his stripes in his second career, seven individual Grade 1 winners last year spiking his fee—at the age of 19—from $150,000 to $250,000. He must make do with 48 Book 1 hips. As proven big hitters of that ilk gain in stature, of course, so they tend to be used by more of the top owner-breeders. Perhaps that contributed to the defections and RNAs that brought down Tapit (Pulpit) sales to 17 last year, from 31 in 2016. Nonetheless only 51 yearlings from the final crop of Scat Daddy (Johannesburg) were sufficient to deny Tapit top gross of the sale, and he was clear even of War Front (Danzig)—whose books, still more carefully managed, will always see him major in quality rather than quantity—at the head of the averages. The rise of Tapit has, in fact, been coterminous with an era of growing commitment to the elite cadre. Back in 2010, when his first runners had consecutively raised his fee from $12,500 to $35,000 and then $50,000, the Gainesway sire ranked #18 by gross here, shifting 29 yearlings at $126,310. Just behind, in 20th, was Medaglia d’Oro who sold the same number at $108,172. For most buyers, that proved to be the last train out of town. The following year, Medaglia d’Oro (with 14 more sales) just edged out Tapit at the top of the list; but it has since been Tapit nearly all the way, #1 five years running until his clear second to Scat Daddy, with mitigation already noted, in 2017. Take out War Front, and Tapit’s average more than doubled any other sire at the last two editions of this sale. In 2014, his $21,725,000 personal turnover exceeded the combined sales of the next two in the list, Unbridled’s Song (Unbridled) and Bernardini (A.P. Indy). In fact, Tapit’s aggregate here since 2011, now past $112.5 million, represents 6 percent of all September business in that period. As such, he has done much to intensify the market’s devotion to the same few sires. As this table shows, since he became a perennial presence in the top two, the top six sires at each September Sale (by gross) have consistently accounted for around a quarter of overall business, creeping up towards 27 percent in the last two years from 22.6 percent in 2012. But the transactions required, to do so, have diminished in the same period from 9.1 percent of hips sold to 7.5 percent. And there has been a corresponding increase in the average docket, for a top six sire, relative to the overall sale average—up, last year, to a factor of 3.56 from 2.73 in 2011. This is a trend that might have faltered with the disappearance of Scat Daddy, but the farm that lost him is trusting American Pharoah to step straight into the breach. And we can still expect a strong play from all the other usual suspects, with those bubbling under including Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie)—likely to prove a big factor with a crop produced from 256 covers. He edges out even American Pharoah with 67 in Book 1, with another 38 to follow thereafter. It is also easy to picture Uncle Mo’s replacement as the nation’s busiest sire, Into Mischief (Harlan’s Holiday), reaching yet another milestone with a first $1-million yearling. The Spendthrift phenomenon got within a bid at Saratoga, with a $950,000 filly, and has 39 listed in Book 1 (and four dozen to follow). Even off his lower fees, Into Mischief has moved on more September stock than any other sire over the past two years, 105 changing hands. Given the appealing group of freshmen flanking American Pharoah, notably the ticks-all-boxes Honor Code (A.P. Indy) with 41 Book 1 hips, overall it looks like a sale well equipped to deal with the loss of its premier sire last year. And, of course, it has a following wind. With wealth still lavishly sustained by fiscal instruments originally deployed to relieve an economic emergency, the bloodstock market continues to make hay: Fasig-Tipton’s collective turnover on yearlings this summer, between the July Sale and the two at Saratoga, climbed 18.4 percent year-on-year. It was interesting, admittedly, that the elite spenders were prioritising fillies at the Select Sale. As observed at the time, that was possibly just a coincidence—but it might equally indicate that those who have profited from a decade of quantitative easing, observing a political environment somewhat less stable than the economic one, are pondering more sustainable commercial options for their Turf investment in the medium term. It should also be noted that expanded catalogs led to a slippage in clearance at Fasig-Tipton, to below 60 percent collectively. But how reliable a weathervane are its summer sales for Keeneland September anyway? After all, a major contributor to their growth has been the New York sale, which has mirrored a local boom nourished by gaming, not to mention a vintage summer on the track. Nonetheless let’s compare the two houses’ year-on-year performance in the post-crash yearling market. It is noticeable that each made its big recovery two years apart—exactly mirroring the way they first absorbed the financial crisis of 2008. Keeneland September collapsed through the floor in 2009, from a $328,194,100 gross in 2008 to $191,859,200. Yet Fasig (buoyed by a recent change of ownership) pulled off its second highest Select Sale ever in 2009, and mustered $77,731,000 of business across the three sales—only to plunge to $54,605,000 in 2010. As you can see from this table, however, Keeneland September in turn staged its rally two years ahead, posting a 27.7 percent gain in gross for 2013; Fasig’s big jump, at 30.3 percent, came in 2015. (Both firms anticipated the direction of traffic with expanded catalogs, but it will be noted that growth considerably outstripped that impetus.) On that basis, the post-crash landscape can only be said to have settled evenly between the two over the past two years—and the market has behaved very similarly in both. Fasig’s summer average dipped 5.3 percent in 2016, for instance, and September’s by 4.7 percent; Fasig’s gross climbed 13.8 percent in 2017, September’s by 12.1 percent. If that trend is to continue, then the giddy numbers achieved by Fasig-Tipton yearlings this summer would have to be matched by some fairly historic activity at Keeneland this week. Somehow—not least in view of the much queasier start to the European sales season, especially in Keeneland “week two” territory—that seems a tallish order. Down in the cellar, after all, interest rates are stirring. A couple of emerging markets have rapidly turned into submerging ones. And investors of any political shade may feel unnerved that prosperity should be harnessed, globally, to those erratic, runaway ponies: nationalism and populism. Like the stock market one, the bloodstock bull run can’t go on forever. And if the breathless tempo of Fasig-Tipton’s summer happens not to be maintained this week, then it wouldn’t be the only time Keeneland’s barometer has been first to reflect a change in the weather. View the full article

Eclipse Award winner Lady Eli (Divine Park–Sacre Coeur, by Saint Ballado), a Grade I winner each year from age two to five and described by Chad Brown as “the best turf horse I’ve ever trained,” will be offered in foal to War Front by John Sikura’s Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm at this year’s Keeneland Breeding Stock November Sale, it was announced Saturday. Bred in Kentucky by Catesby W. Clay and Runnymede Farm Inc., Lady Eli–also a graduate of Keeneland’s September and April 2-Year-Old sales–was perfect in three starts as a juvenile, including the 2014 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf, and tacked on three consecutive victories as a 3-year-old, capped by a rousing success in the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational. On her way back to the barn following the latter effort, Lady Eli stepped on a nail, but bravely fought and overcame a bout with laminitis to return to the races in the second half of 2016, winning the GI Flower Bowl S. before just being outfinished by a nose in the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf. Allowed to train on in 2017, Lady Eli atoned for a narrow defeat in Keeneland’s GI Jenny Wiley S. with scores in the GI Gamely S., the GI Diana S. and the GII Ballston Spa S. and was retired with a record of 14-10-3-0 and earnings of $2,959,800. “I can’t say enough about this horse,” said Brown. “She has the heart of a champion. She is equine perfection. She is the personification of world-class talent, courage, precocity, soundness and, above all, the will to win. Lady Eli always brought her best game. She didn’t need a race track, a condition, a position in the race or a distance, and she certainly never needed an excuse. It’s unlikely I will ever have another one like her.” Sol Kumin of Sheep Pond Partners added, “She is an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime animal. She gave me, my family, my partners and, just as importantly, racing fans around the world the most memorable performances, which will live within me forever.” “Lady Eli was the ultimate champion,” said Sikura. “She was an elite performer every year and won Grade I races on both coasts, including the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. Ultra-consistent in delivering elite performances, she is the rarest of champions with a will to win and tenacity to match her matchless talent. “Lady Eli was an extraordinary race mare who will be a highly sought-after jewel for breeders, especially offered in foal to leading sire War Front,” Keeneland Vice President of Racing and Sales Bob Elliston said. “Keeneland is honored to have the opportunity to offer such a brilliant champion, who will undoubtedly attract interest from buyers around the world.” View the full article

Fort Wadsworth (Verrazano) gave his freshman sire (by More Than Ready) his third winner with a determined victory Saturday in the opening race on the card at Hanshin. Switching to the dirt for the first time off a promising debut fourth on the turf June 17, the $110,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase was hammered into 2-5 favoritism beneath Mirco Demuro, but was off only fairly and settled about fourth-last into the first corner. He improved his position while very wide on the turn, raced four off the inside into the lane and wore down Ontario-bred Smart Drake (Distorted Humor) to score by a length. Fort Wadsworth is the second foal out of an unraced daughter of Eclipse Award and GI Belmont S. winner Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy), a half-sister to fellow Belmont hero Jazil (Seeking the Gold), GII Peter Pan S. hero Casino Drive (Mineshaft)–who was also Group 1-placed in Japan–and to Breeders’ Cup Marathon winner Man of Iron (Giant’s Causeway). Opulence is the dam of a yearling colt by American Pharoah and was most recently bred to the Triple Crown winner. Fort Wadsworth, c, 2, Verrazano–Opulence, by Giant’s Causeway. Hanshin, 9-8, Maiden ($86k), 1400m, 1:25.3. B-Chelston (KY). View the full article

Now that Lightning Spear (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) has been able to impose himself at the highest level, Qatar Racing’s stalwart has a live chance of doubling his tally in that sphere in Sunday’s G1 Prix du Moulin at ParisLongchamp. There was no hint of fluke about the 7-year-old’s G1 Sussex S. triumph at Goodwood Aug. 1 and the operation’s racing manager David Redvers is full of hope ahead of his latest test. “From my point of view he looks amazing and I believe David [Simcock] and everyone at home is delighted with him,” he said. “The thinking was that he’d only have two more runs. He was to run in either the Moulin or the Prix de la Foret, and then either the QEII at Ascot or the Breeders’ Cup Mile.” Runner-up in the Sussex, Khalid Abdullah’s Expert Eye (GB) (Acclamation {GB}) renews rivalry off a straightforward success in the G3 City of York S. Aug. 25 and Juddmonte’s Teddy Grimthorpe said, “He’s been in good form since York and is stepping back up to a mile again. The ground should suit him, by all reports, and we’re looking forward to it. It looks a strong and competitive race, but I think he certainly deserves to be there. I definitely feel he is a group one horse, but he’s got to go and prove it.” John and Tanya Gunther’s Without Parole (GB) (Frankel {GB}) is on a retrieval mission after finishing seventh in the Sussex and sixth in the G1 Juddmonte International trying an extended 10-furlong trip at York Aug. 22. While the form of the June 19 G1 St James’s Palace S. has taken several subsequent knocks, there was a sense at Royal Ascot that the homebred had plenty more to offer. “He’s in good form. He got a bit squeezed out of it at York, but we’ve been happy with him since,” trainer John Gosden said. “I believe they’ve got quick ground and it’s dry and sunny out there and this horse does horse does want top-of-the-ground.” SARL Darpat’s May 27 G1 Prix d’Ispahan scorer Recoletos (Fr) (Whipper) and the July 8 G1 Prix Jean Prat hero Intellogent (Ire) (Intello {Ger}) are the chief domestic hopefuls with the former holding stronger claims having finished closest to Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville Aug. 12. Godolphin Filly On Familiar Path… Fillies and colts of the juvenile division warm up for their major autumn tests in the G3 Prix d’Aumale and G3 Prix des Chenes respectively. In the former race, Charlie Appleby saddles the July 27 Ascot novice scorer Ceratonia (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), a half-sister to Wild Illusion (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) who was third in this last year before going on to win the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac. “Ceratonia won nicely on her only start to date and we feel that the step up to a mile is going to suit. This will help us to see where we are with her and the race should hopefully be a nice stepping stone for the future,” her trainer said. Runner-up to the Appleby trainee Beyond Reason (Ire) (Australia {GB}) in Deauville’s G3 Prix Six Perfections over seven furlongs July 28, Team Valor’s Devant (Fr) (Showcasing {GB}) warrants respect along with the unbeaten July 30 Clairefontaine conditions scorer Rocques (Fr) (Lawman {Fr}). In the Chenes, Jean-Louis Bouchard’s purchase Anodor (Fr) (Anodin {Ire}) bids to justify his new owner’s investment and back up the promise of his debut success over 7 1/2 furlongs at Deauville Aug. 7. Appleby is present here also with the Sept. 1 Chelmsford novice winner Court Poet (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and he said of him, “Court Poet only won last week, but came out of the race very well and we felt that this was a nice opportunity to step up to Group company.” View the full article

The subject of a jockey change in mid-week, The Tin Man (GB) (Equiano {Fr}) came in for the Oisin Murphy treatment and duly produced some magic to come out on top in a rain-affected G1 32Red Sprint Cup at Haydock. Staying on into third in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest over 6 1/2 furlongs at Deauville last time Aug. 5, the 7-1 shot had more in front than behind early as Hey Jonesy (Ire) (Excelebration {Ire}) refused to give the free-running defending champion Harry Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) a moment’s peace on the front end. Slicing between rivals in his inimitable style, The Tin Man struck the front approaching the furlong pole and held off Brando (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) and Gustav Klimt (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) by a half length and a neck. “I’m absolutely thrilled, as he’s run some great races without winning this year,” trainer James Fanshawe said of the 6-year-old who was recording a third success at this level after the 2016 G1 Qipco British Champions Sprint S. and last year’s G1 Diamond Jubilee S. under the substituted Tom Queally. “I was worried about the ground, but I always had it in the back of my mind that the rest of the family loved it. He’s been a great servant and hats off to him.” Murphy, who was registering a fifth group 1 win since early July, added, “He’s very laid-back and an easy ride. No horse enjoys this kind of ground, but he’s by Equiano and they usually do. The team have done a wonderful job with the horse and I was just lucky enough to ride him today. He didn’t travel and I got him going a bit sooner than ideal in hindsight, but he won anyway.” The returning 6-4 favourite Harry Angel was again upset in the stalls and faded out of contention to be sixth, with jockey Adam Kirby blaming the testing ground for the disappointment. THE TIN MAN (GB), 129, g, 6, by Equiano (Fr) 1st Dam: Persario (GB), by Bishop of Cashel (GB) 2nd Dam: Barford Lady (GB), by Stanford 3rd Dam: Grace Poole (GB), by Sallust (GB) (80,000gns Ylg ’13 TAOCT). O-Fred Archer Racing – Ormonde; B-Mrs Elizabeth Grundy (GB); T-James Fanshawe; J-Oisin Murphy. £184,421. Lifetime Record: G1SP-Fr, 20-9-1-2, £1,180,676. *1/2 to Deacon Blues (GB) (Compton Place {GB}), Hwt. Older Horse-Eng & Ire at 5-7f, G1SW-Eng & GSW-Ire, $520,715. View the full article

There was drama away from the racing front at Haydock on Saturday when a plane carrying Richard Hannon, his apprentice Gary Mahon, Anna Lisa Balding and Hannon’s twin brother Henry skidded on landing at the racecourse airfield and collided with a stationary aircraft. Nobody was injured in the incident which caused significant damage to the plane’s wing but the passengers were understandably left shaken by the experience. “It was horrible,” Richard Hannon told Racing Post. “The runway wasn’t suitable – we slipped and skidded. But we’re all okay and that’s the most important thing. I don’t think the planes are in very good nick now. I feel sorry for the pilot [Brian Hamilton] as he’s a very good pilot who doesn’t take chances. We’ve been using him for years and he’s top class,” the trainer said. Summing up the incident Haydock’s clerk of the course Kirkland Tellright added, “The bigger plane coming in skidded on landing, apparently spun and clipped the smaller plane. No one was hurt, but neither plane will be flying today.” There was a further postscript to events when Frankie Dettori and George Scott, who were supposed to fly by Helicopter from Kempton to Haydock for Dettori to partner Scott’s James Garfield (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) in the G1 Sprint Cup, were unable to land at Haydock resulting in Richard Kingscote deputising for Dettori aboard Bill and Tim Gredley’s colt. View the full article

Khalid Abdullah’s Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) was itching for a return to action having spent the entire season in the shadows and she exhibited all her customary exuberance as she put Crystal Ocean (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) firmly in his place in Kempton’s G3 188Bet September S. on Saturday. Sent off the 8-15 favourite, last year’s G1 English, Irish and Yorkshire Oaks and G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe heroine enjoyed an easy lead under Frankie Dettori with Crsytal Ocean sat no more than two lengths adrift. As she went up through the gears in the straight, the G2 Hardwicke S. winner and G1 King George runner-up could not match her and at the line she had stretched the margin to 3 1/2 lengths. She is Arc-bound now, while the runner-up’s trainer Sir Michael Stoute said, “There is nothing that can beat that filly on those terms,” he said regarding the eight pounds that Crystal Ocean was giving the Juddmonte ace. “There are lots of options for him, the Arc, the Champion Stakes, the Canadian International and the Breeders’ Cup.” ENABLE (GB), 128, f, 4, by Nathaniel (Ire) 1st Dam: Concentric (GB) (SW & GSP-Fr, $117,776), by Sadler’s Wells 2nd Dam: Apogee (GB), by Shirley Heights (GB) 3rd Dam: Bourbon Girl, by Ile de Bourbon O-Khalid Abdullah; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd (GB); T-John Gosden; J-Lanfranco Dettori. £39,697. Lifetime Record: Hwt. 3yo-Eur at 11-14f, MG1SW-Eng & G1SW-Fr & Ire, 9-8-0-1, £3,849,077. *1/2 to Contribution (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}), MGSP-Fr. View the full article

Derek Leung Ka-chun has left no stone unturned as he tries to conquer Seoul’s sandy surface when Fight Hero represents Hong Kong in the Korea Sprint on Sunday. The Korean Racing Authority instituted the international event two years ago and the success of the Sha Tin raiders has been mixed – with Super Jockey scoring a dominant win in 2016 and Lucky Year coming second-last in 2017. While the Hong Kong horses have an edge in class, the key to winning and losing is being able to... View the full article

Jolly Banner took out the Class One Kwangtung Handicap Cup (1,400m) last year and jockey Chad Schofield is hopeful he can make it back-to-back wins at Sha Tin on Sunday. The Ricky Yiu Poon-fai-trained gelding beat Winner’s Way and Horse Of Fortune in last season’s renewal but faces just four opponents this time around. Schofield has ridden the seven-year-old in three gallops ahead of this contest and is bullish about his chances. “He’s going very well – we know how... View the full article

He has hit the ground running in his first full season as a senior rider and Jack Wong Ho-nam is exuding an air of confidence that suggests he feels he belongs among Hong Kong’s top jockeys. With an opening-day victory aboard Winning Controller under his belt, Wong says he is “very confident” as he looks to add to that tally on Sunday. Wong is eager to put his three-pound local jockey’s claim to effect and knows it was crucial to start the season well in an environment... View the full article

Azhar, Placais, Zaki, Noh, Yusoff, Kok suspended View the full article

The thing I admired most about my late father was that, in spite of a difficult childhood and lack of any sort of formal education, he proudly provided for his family by working for the same Chicago-based insurance company for over three decades, the only career he ever knew. I’ve got another 10 or more years to go and I’ve had a few more starts and stops than he had, but today, I’d like to think my dad would be proud as I mark 20 years on the job here at the Thoroughbred Daily News. To say things have changed during that time would be an understatement of titanic proportions. Upstairs at the old TDN offices in Fair Haven were about five desks and like three fax machines on the back wall. Because, after all, that was the means to disseminate the TDN, as a good many of you would recall. The end of the night with the fax machines was always a bit of a crapshoot, as different groups went on different machines and you closed your eyes and said a silent prayer that the 20-page fax didn’t get stuck 18 pages through. It did, frequently enough. The paper wasn’t exactly a thing of beauty, aesthetically speaking. Black-and-white (since it had to go over the fax, you know), a handful of very rudimentary ads on a handful of pages. Here is the TDN from September 9, 1998. As I went into the archives to download it, there was no paper for September 8, a Tuesday. It occurs to me now that the TDN didn’t publish an edition because the prior day was a holiday. Today, the TDN is closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day only. That’s no knock or a complaint, just a function of the world we live in. Those were the days of dial-up internet back then, that all-too-familiar dial tone, then screeching as you connected to AOL at a snail’s pace. Back then, one of the editorial staffers was tasked with stopping at the local 7-11 or Monmouth Park if it made sense so we’d at least have some past performances to deal with. Absent that, it was a slow-ish interface with the Bloodstock Research database to pull up whatever form they offered. Another of the staffers would be asked to compose–by hand–the list of races from whatever tracks were running. It wasn’t easy to watch live racing either, nor were race replays readily accessible. Most of the race reporting we did was based on the charts. Today’s far-more-automated (but not necessarily less labor-intensive)TDN is read by 15,000 or so industry professionals and the more casual racing fan in all corners of the globe, illustrated in living color, with a variety of color ads from loyal clients, race replays from home and abroad and captivating features put together by a group of TDNers and contributors I am pleased to call colleagues–and friends. I arrived in New Jersey very green, but with passion in abundance–that had to be the reason I was hired, because I really didn’t know anything about anything (except German, right Mr. DeCaspers?). But I gradually accumulated knowledge. One of the best things about this business is that there is always something to learn, there are always new faces to interview, new breeding patterns to study. In my two decades here, I have been blessed to gain first-hand knowledge of the sales scene, having made my first trip to Barretts in 2000 (I think, where there was a memorable exchange with the late Prince Ahmed Salman I’ll never forget). There have been many trips to Fasig-Tipton Kentucky and Saratoga and and countless trips to Keeneland, where reporting at the beginning did not involve a laptop or any writing, but rather a phone call back to the office to relay quotes from the corridor at Newtown Paddocks or from one of the phone areas in the Keeneland sales pavilion. I cherish the professional and personal relationships I have established and maintained with sales company personnel and with those men and women who I used to sit alongside in those press boxes. As time has gone on, I have cast my net further afield to become familiar with racing in–well, wherever racing takes place, really. Those of you who know me are well aware that Hong Kong racing is near and dear to me, despite that first trip over in 2000 that went Newark, halfway to Chicago, back to Newark, to San Francisco, to an hour west of Alaska, then back to Anchorage and finally–three days later–to Hong Kong. Pretty sure I was on the ground for fewer than 72 hours before returning. Sunline and Fairy King Prawn made it worth the trip. Working for this publication has afforded me that opportunity, as well as a trip to places like Singapore, and while I haven’t been to South Africa or Australia or South America, my work here has made it feel like I have, even as a Queen’s Plate or a Melbourne Cup or an Estrellas remain on my bucket list. I’m not one who really relishes passage-of-time occasions, just ask my kids. I am the ultimate sap. But, from a professional standpoint, it would be impossible for me to be more content with my station in life. To ‘work’ at the TDN has been very much a dream come true. So, to Barry and to Sue, I offer a heartfelt thank you for bringing me into the fold way back when. Time really has flown, but there are more chapters yet to be written. View the full article