Wandering Eyes

Jupiter Gold wins first-up ahead of Raffles Cup View the full article

Back-in-form Sir Isaac lays down the law View the full article

Horses' body weights September 7 View the full article

Track conditions and course scratchings September 7 View the full article

Polytrack ace back to atone from bungled start View the full article

Duric booked for Elite Invincible's Triple Crown campaign View the full article

Early scratchings September 7 View the full article

Aidan O'Brien believes his two William Hill St Leger Stakes (G1) favorites, Kew Gardens and Flag Of Honour, can kick-start a strong autumn, with Ireland's champion trainer targeting victory in the final two classics of the season Sept. 15 and 16. View the full article

Gulfstream Park's successful run for six years as host of the Claiming Crown has been rewarded with an extension to host the Breeders' Cup-like event for claiming horses through 2021. View the full article

“Give me your tired, your poor / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” wrote the poet Emma Lazarus. Those words from a sonnet were later inscribed on the Statue of Liberty and are synonymous with the ethos of the United States of America. They are applicable to racing here as well. The U.S. is still the only major racing country that allows race-day Lasix, a diuretic that helps control exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH), or bleeding in the lungs and airways. As a result, bleeders from abroad frequently find second opportunities here, and one of them, Glorious Empire (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), recently won the Gl Sword Dancer S. at Saratoga after a circuitous journey from Europe to Hong Kong and back to Europe and then, finally, to the U.S. It was the 7-year-old gelding’s first win at the highest level, and the race was also the first Grade l win for owner Matt Schera and trainer James “Chuck” Lawrence ll. Europe and Hong Kong By Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) from Humble and Proud (Ire), by Pivotal (GB), Glorious Empire first bled in Hong Kong after he was sold to trainer Caspar Fownes and the powerful Siu family from Ed Walker’s yard in the U.K., where he’d won four of six starts at six, seven, and eight furlongs at ages 2 and 3 and was “progressing nicely,” according to Walker. The trainer said he was a big, “gorgeous, and massively talented” horse with “untapped potential” who’d been brought along slowly and gently with a view to the future. “It’s a pretty sad story, really, from my point of view,” Walker said. “The guy who sold him to the Sius is still a great client and a friend of mine, and he felt it was good business to sell to the Sius, which introduced me to the Sius, who are now my biggest owners–so every cloud has a silver lining–but at the time I was suicidal at him leaving the yard.” Glorious Empire last ran for Walker in mid-August of 2014. Renamed Quaternion Eagle in Hong Kong, the gelding made his debut for Fownes at Sha Tin in April of 2015, in a 12-runner sprint at 1200 meters that he won by a neck. Trouble Lurking In December of 2014, long before his Hong Kong debut, Quaternion Eagle had bled from both nostrils in a barrier trial. Hong Kong has a strict policy against bleeders and an even stricter zero tolerance for race-day medications, so when the gelding bled from both nostrils on his second start in the territory, in May of 2015, he was retired. “He had a really bad, really bad double hemorrhage,” Fownes recalled. “We have in Hong Kong, basically, a two-strike penalty and there’s automatic retirement. They changed that to three [strikes] but there’s not many that go on with it. Normally, when they bleed a second time, the vets recommend that they be retired. We don’t have Lasix over here. We’re not allowed to work our horses or race on Lasix as they do in the States. We’re pretty limited to what we can treat them with.” Treatment options are essentially supplements, “a shot of Dex[amethasone] five clear days out,” and keeping water away from the horse on race day to dehydrate him, Fownes said. Fownes said the Siu family is “among the top two” owners in Hong Kong. “Mr. Siu. He’s got his daughter owning horses, his two sons own horses, he himself owns. They’d have 20-plus horses between the family. They don’t mess around. They buy the cream and they spend big bucks. And they’re very nice people. Very good owners.” Ed Walker said the Sius asked him whether he’d take the horse back and try him again in the U.K. “At the time, we just assumed it was an environmental problem, with the climate and everything in Hong Kong. Some horses don’t acclimatize and adapt,” Walker said. Glorious Empire–as he was again known as–was given plenty of time to readjust to life in Britain again, but Walker said he noticed some personality changes. “Caspar’s a great trainer, so we just felt it was an environmental thing and we might get through his problems. We trained him on Lasix and we managed everything and he was working the house down, and we were very excited about it, but he was slightly scarred mentally and was very, very keen and on edge, worrying about life a bit.” A year and two months after being repatriated, Walker confidently entered him in the Bunbury Cup, a valuable seven-furlong handicap at Newmarket, in July of 2016. Unfortunately, Glorious Empire was pulled up during the running after another bout of bleeding. “I just said to the Sius, ‘I’m afraid there’s nothing else I can do from here. The only chance he’s got for a future as a racehorse is in the States,'” Walker said, because of the permitted use of race-day Lasix. Walker started Glorious Empire one more time, this time in Canada, in the listed Ontario Jockey Club S. at six furlongs on the all-weather at Woodbine in September, two months after the Bunbury Cup, and the gelding finished fifth of seven. Walker then transferred him to the care of his New York-based friend, Tom Morley, who took over the training of the Siu gelding and raced him three more times before the end of the year. His best effort was a third as the longest shot on the board in an allowance optional claimer on turf at Aqueduct. Schera and Lawrence At this juncture, it looked like Glorious Empire was destined, at best, to be an optional claimer for the remainder of his days, because Lasix and Morley’s horsemanship were allowing him to race regularly and productively. And that was how Glorious Empire began 2017 at age six, with two decent third-place finishes in turf optional claimers at Fair Grounds in February and March, at distances of about a mile and a sixteenth and at about a mile. Then in May, Morley entered him in another optional claimer at Belmont at seven furlongs on the turf, but this time for a tag of $62,500. Perhaps the Sius were finally ready to cut their ties and move on. Matt Schera, a commodities trader, had entered the game at around the time Glorious Empire was being developed by Ed Walker in the U.K., and Schera had experienced a bit of success in the ensuing years while the gelding’s career was on the downturn, racing such graded winners as Race Day (Tapit), Syntax (Ire) (Haatef), Farhaan (Jazil), and Isotherm (Lonhro {Aus}). When Schera saw that Glorious Empire was entered for a tag, he did his due diligence. “I watched all his replays in the U.S. and I really liked what I saw,” he said. “He was always dropping to the back at Fair Grounds with Tom Morley and he had this really powerful intra-race run where he was sweeping up and it looked like he was going to win and then he just tailed off at the end. The sheet numbers looked really good on him for a claiming horse because he was losing all the ground when he was rallying wide, and he was just losing by a couple of lengths” to some good horses. Trainer Carlos Martin had been instructed by Schera to drop the claim on his behalf. Schera was away from the track and watching the race on TV that day when he heard an announcement that the horse had left the paddock early. He said he “had a bad feeling” and called Martin to cancel, but it was too late. Glorious Empire finished last in the race while bleeding through the Lasix. Schera sent his new horse to Bruce Jackson’s Fair Hill Equine Therapy Center for some time off, a change of scenery, and for hyperbaric oxygen therapy, a procedure that delivers 100% oxygen to a horse in a chamber–an expensive therapy that has helped a number of well-known bleeders. After a break of two-and-a-half months, Schera and Martin dropped Glorious Empire into a $50,000 turf claimer at a mile and a sixteenth at Saratoga, a race he won wire-to-wire by 7 1/2 lengths. It was his first win in over two years, since his debut in Hong Kong. Glorious Empire had earned some massive speed figures in the race at Saratoga, so Schera and Martin took their chances in the Gll Bernard Baruch H. at Saratoga in early September at a mile and a sixteenth on turf. Schera said Glorious Empire had a “weird trip and went way wide” while chasing the speed, and he excused his last-place finish in the race as bad luck. They tried again in late September in the Grade ll Baltimore/Washington International Turf Cup S. at a mile at Laurel, a race in which the horse was eased after bleeding again through both nostrils. “At that point, I’m, like, I’m just going to retire this horse. I couldn’t bear to see it happen to him again,” Schera said. His then-racing manager convinced him to give the horse one last chance, so Schera sent him for rest and relaxation over the winter to South Carolina after more hyperbaric chamber treatments with Jackson at Fair Hill. Then he handed Glorious Empire over to Chuck Lawrence, who also trains out of Fair Hill. Lawrence is an ex-steeplechase rider and trainer and his forte is turf racing–especially over a distance of ground. Previously he’d trained Schera’s Perfect Title (Perfect Soul {Ire}) to win two turf races at Saratoga in 2015, as well as to a nose second in the listed 12-furlong Laurel Turf Cup S. later that season. Lawrence’s only graded stakes win on the flat prior to the Sword Dancer was with Da Dean in the 12-furlong Glll Lawrence Realization at Belmont in 1996. Lawrence is a big believer in osteopathy and had an osteopath, John Beachel, work extensively on Glorious Empire. Beachel “trained in Germany and Texas. And I’ve had amazing results with him with several horses. I think that’s a big part of it. And you can see the horse liking what the man’s doing,” Lawrence said. He also said that Glorious Empire continues the hyperbaric treatments. “After a work, we’ll go in there for a couple of treatments. He may have been in there five or six times this year. He’s not allowed to be in there 10 days out in New York.” Lawrence trains Glorious Empire with an emphasis on endurance instead of speed and said that he’ll work him seven furlongs and gallop out the mile instead of breezing him five-eighths, for example. Lawrence also gallops the horse a strong mile the morning of his races and will have him warmed up vigorously on the way to the starting gate because he feels that “warming a horse’s vascular system up, in my opinion, getting the veins to have elasticity to ’em, is important, and it certainly calms them down more.” Fair Hill’s tranquil setting has helped to relax Glorious Empire, Lawrence said. Lawrence’s horsemanship and the patience of Schera, along with the use of Lasix, has turned around the career of Glorious Empire, who’s won three of his four starts this year, including his last three races consecutively at distances of nine (allowance optional claimer in which he was in for a $65,000 tag), 11 (Gll Bowling Green H.), and 12 furlongs (GI Sword Dancer). Ironically, the gradual step up in distances happened organically, Schera said. The horse had never been farther than a mile and a sixteenth until this year with anyone who’d trained him in the past, though his pedigree was suited well enough for the Sword Dancer trip. His Coolmore-based sire, a son of Danehill, gets runners from sprint to classic distances and is responsible for such as Designs On Rome (Ire) (G1 winner in HK at 2000m), Morandi (Fr) (G1 winner in France at 2000m), Well Timed (Ger) (G1 German Oaks at 2200m), and Mongolian Khan (NZ) (G1 NZ Derby at 2400m); his third dam Casey (GB) won the 14-furlong G2 Park Hill S.; and his broodmare sire Pivotal is also the sire of the dams of top 12-furlong winners Cracksman (GB) and Main Sequence, among others. The big takeaway from all this, however, is that Glorious Empire’s career would have ended years ago and he would not be a Grade I winner at the age of seven if he hadn’t been able to race here on Lasix. That’s why this is the land of opportunity–for the moment, anyway. Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks. View the full article

Sports betting programming on Sundays is coming to TVG in time for this weekend’s opening slate of National Football League games. TVG, which broadcasts horse races to some 40 million United States homes on two networks, announced Sep. 6 that the 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern slot Sundays will now be filled by both a syndicated show and exclusive TVG-produced content that aims to blend sports wagering, fantasy gaming, and horse betting. International horse races that are traditionally shown on TVG during that Sunday morning time slot will now shift to TVG2. Although the immediate effect on racing coverage seems minimal, the programming move begs the long-range question of what the future programming balance on TVG will look like as sports betting continues to become legalized across the country. TVG is an affiliate of FanDuel Group, one of the largest online gaming companies in the United States. Legal betting on sports nationwide is soon expected to dwarf the Thoroughbred industry’s roughly $10 billion annual American handle as more and more states sanction sports wagering. Will TVG’s programming follow the money? Kip Levin, CEO of TVG Network and COO of FanDuel Group, underscored to TDN in a Thursday phone interview that racing coverage “is not going to change dramatically” in the near future. He acknowledged that the network faces a tough balancing act in trying to please existing racing customers while also branching out into new and potentially lucrative ventures. “Racing remains our core focus,” Levin said. “We view this as step one into trying to wrap other sports-betting programming around [racing content] to bring a new, younger audience to TVG and horse racing.” Beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern this Sunday, TVG will debut “The Barstool Sports Advisors,” a syndicated 30-minute show that will examine Sunday pro football games “in a way that only Barstool Sports can deliver,” according to a TVG press release. That show will be followed by a separate 30-minute show exclusive to TVG titled “The Barstool Sports Advisors After Show.” Those programs will be hosted by Barstool Sports personalities Daniel “Big Cat” Katz, Stu “The Source” Feiner, the pseudonymous “PFT Commenter,” and Dave Portnoy, who founded Barstool. The Barstool programming will lead into a new TVG-produced two-hour studio show dubbed “More Ways to Win,” whose aim will be to “prepare viewers for Sunday’s games and races with a mix of football news, sports betting information, fantasy news, and live data integration [to] translate the news of the day into actionable items for sports betting and fantasy consumers,” according to TVG. “More Ways to Win” will be hosted by former ESPN and SportsCenter anchor Lisa Kerney and will feature live reports from the FanDuel Sportsbook at the Meadowlands Racetrack provided by veteran TVG host Dave Weaver. Jason McIntyre of FOX Sports will give sports betting analysis, and Brandon Funston of The Athletic will provide sports fantasy gaming insights. “We didn’t want to create pre-game programming that looks like all the other pre-game programming that was out there,” Levin said. “Some of the other networks are going to delve into a little bit more about betting. But we’ve always been 100% about betting. And the strategy, from day one, will be to introduce the sports betting audience to horse racing” The Barstool partnership is a bit of a gamble for TVG because Barstool occupies a popular, but controversial niche within sports media. Barstool produces comedy/sports content via broadcasts, podcast and blog postings, and its brand of humor tilts toward debauchery and is often delivered with an un-politically correct slant and an inflammatory emphasis. In October 2017, ESPN, citing a need to distance itself from Barstool’s “offensive and inappropriate” comments about women, abruptly cancelled a programming partnership with the company after just one airing of a 1:00 a.m. show called “Barstool Van Talk.” Levin said TVG was well aware of Barstool’s polarizing reputation before inking the deal. “They’ve got a massive audience. They’ve got a unique platform that has been built up over the years,” Levin said. “We’ve done marketing partnerships with them before. Their founder, Dave Portnoy, owns horses and is into racing. And I think he’s done some work over the last couple of years to introduce racing to his massive audience. We think this just takes that a step further.” Levin continued: “They’ve been pretty consistent with their content since the day they were founded. In the process, they’ve built a massive audience, so I think that was our primary motivation [for partnering with them]. We’re doing this a view toward ‘Can we bring in a new audience?'” By contrast, the TVG-produced “More Ways to Win” will allow the network to set the tone for the blending of sports betting and horse racing in this newly evolving programming landscape, and Levin said he is looking forward to the work-in-progress challenge of getting the right mix. “It’s going to be kind of a Bloomberg or CNBC styled NFL preview show,” Levin said. “And what we’re really excited about from a racing perspective is that within the last 30 minutes of that show, we’ll go back and forth between NFL game previews and racing as it starts on the East Coast. We will mix it in, and we’re going to introduce this new audience that we’ve brought in to racing.” View the full article

The annual Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ & Owners’ Association Florida -bred Stakes & Purse Enhancement Agreement for 2019 was signed by The Stronach Group’s Gulfstream Park and the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association in August, it was announced Thursday. A release from the FTBOA said, “The August signature date is significant as well as symbolic as to the renewed spirit of cooperation and Thoroughbred industry teamwork that has been demonstrated by and practiced amongst the three leading entities. Prior to the newly announced agreement between the three parties, past negotiations of the annual Florida-bred racing agreement would frustratingly drag on as late as December or even January (which was the case with the 2017 agreement).” The 2019 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes Series will offer $1.4 million in 2-year-old stakes purses alone. The FTBOA funded $1-million Florida Breeder Incentive Fund, introduced in 2018, will return again next year with purse subsidies for Florida-breds in overnight races. The FTBOA and Gulfstream have also agreed to a sponsorship package that will provide additional Florida-bred and Florida-sired purse enhancements, including $100,000 for Florida sire 2-year-old maiden special weight win bonuses, a $100,000 Florida sire GI Florida Derby win bonus and $25,000 Florida sire GII Gulfstream Park Oaks win bonus. View the full article

Cate Johnson has been named acting director of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Formerly the Museum’s director of development, she takes over for Cathy Marino, the Museum’s director since 2016. Marino will continue to work for the Museum as project leader of the upcoming Hall of Fame Education Experience, which will open in July 2020. Prior to working for the Musuem, Johnson worked for Kiaran McLaughlin Racing Stable and Ed Lewi Associates. View the full article

The Claiming Crown, which has been held at Gulfstream Park for the past five years, will remain there through 2021 after an agreement was reached by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA), National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) and Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (FHBPA). The $1.1-million, nine-race event–which serves as a championship, Breeders’ Cup-style day for claiming horses–will take place at the Hallandale Beach oval Saturday, Dec. 1. “We’re delighted to have the Claiming Crown back at Gulfstream through 2021,” said Gulfstream’s General Manager Bill Badgett. “The Claiming Crown has grown into an exciting event at Gulfstream and our fans look forward to kicking off the Championship Meet with this great series featuring many of the most popular horses in the country. We will continue growing this event along with our great partners from the National HBPA, Florida HBPA and TOBA.” View the full article

Girvin (Tale of Ekati–Catch the Moon, by Malibu Moon) has been retired from racing and will take up stud duties next year at Ocala Stud, it was announced Thursday. He will stand as property of Brad and Misty Grady’s Grand Oaks Farm in partnership with Kentucky’s Airdrie Stud in a deal brokered by West Bloodstock. A $130,000 Fasig-Tipton October grad, Girvin was a debut winner late in his juvenile season for trainer Joe Sharp before annexing the GII Risen Star S. and GII Louisiana Derby early in his sophomore year. His signature win came that July in Monmouth’s GI Betfair.com Haskell Invitational S., and he was most recently second in the GIII Steve Sexton Mile S. at Lone Star in May. Girvin retires with a record of 10-4-3-0 and earnings of $1,624,392. “We’ve been big fans of Mr. Grady’s horse for a long time and are hugely appreciative of the opportunity he’s given us to partner on his stallion career,” said Brereton Jones of Airdrie. “Girvin was a tremendously talented racehorse that was versatile enough to out-sprint his rivals at two and stretch out to win the Louisiana Derby and Haskell at three, and he’s as gorgeous as he is gifted. Between the Grady family, the O’Farrell family and Airdrie Stud, there will not be a better-supported horse standing in Florida this season. We wholeheartedly believe Girvin’s going to reward us for it.” Bred in Kentucky by Bob Austin and John Witte, Girvin is a half-brother to GSW Cocked and Loaded (Colonel John). His stakes-winning second dam is responsible for stakes-winning juvenile What a Catch (Justin Phillip) and MSP Dubini (Gio Ponti). “Physically, Girvin is a handsome, grand-looking horse who was precocious and became one of the best and most accomplished 3-year-olds of his generation,” said Ocala Stud’s David O’Farrell. “We are excited about having the opportunity to stand Girvin and to work with the Gradys and Airdrie Stud.” View the full article

An agreement approved months ahead of schedule by Gulfstream Park and Florida's leading horsemen's and owner/breeder organizations includes new bonuses for the Florida Derby (G1) and Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2). View the full article

Oaklawn announced Sept. 6 the hiring of Jerome "Jed" Doro as Director of Racing. View the full article

Wednesday was a big day for Victor Espinoza. For the first time since July 22 he was able to get a haircut, shave and change his clothes. For the jockey who was briefly paralyzed in a training accident at Del Mar, it was a meaningful step forward toward once again living a normal life. He was able to clean up because the doctors removed the neck brace he had been wearing since the spill. “I looked like I was homeless,” he said. “My hair is so long and so is my beard. With the brace and because I was on a blood thinner, I couldn’t shave or cut my hair. I’m excited that I can look normal again. For six weeks, I wore the same thing every day. It’s hard to take on and off shirts. I had a short sleeve shirt with buttons and that’s it. I wore it every day. Almost two months wearing the same thing and every day I looked in mirror and I looked worse and worse.” That he was able to make jokes about his looks was another indicator that he is healing not just physically but mentally. He was aboard Bobby Abu Dhabi (Macho Uno) for a morning workout at Del Mar when the horse went down, the result of an apparent heart attack, and his rider was thrown violently to the ground. For some 30 minutes, Espinoza faced what most jockeys fear most–that he was paralyzed. “When I couldn’t move my legs I thought I was paralyzed,” he said. “That was the worst thing. The first thing I could move was my right leg. That was a half hour, maybe 40 minutes after the spill. Think about it, I had 40 minutes to think that I was paralyzed. That 40 minutes felt like one year. “I’m not scared of dying. If I die I wouldn’t feel anything and I’d just be gone. My biggest fear at that moment was that I thought I was paralyzed. It was so bad I can’t even think about it. The second thing is that I could have had a stroke. That would have been horrible, too.” Though Espinoza, 46, was not paralyzed, he was seriously hurt. The jockey suffered a fracture his C-3 vertebrae and would require intensive physical therapy. He was so beaten up by the accident that, initially, he required a 24-hour caregiver to help him with what for most of us are the simplest tasks, like bathing and getting dressed. The stress and the difficulty of his life had become so hard on him that he admits there are times when he would cry. Now, his biggest problem–and the biggest impediment to his comeback–is his left hand. The doctors also want to see some continued healing of his neck. “Sometimes, my left hand is very sensitive,” he said. “That’s been one of the biggest problems since the beginning. When I fell off the horse, I could not move my left hand at all. I couldn’t move my fingers either. It’s recovering but is still a little weak. At times it is very sensitive. I can’t even grab anything. It is weird. I never had an experience in my life going through something like this. This accident was a very serious accident.” When Espinoza met with his doctors Wednesday, they told him they wanted to continue to see him regularly for another month before they are able to make any predictions about his riding future. Not only have they not told him when he will be ready to ride again, they have yet to guarantee that he can resume his career. But Espinoza is confident he will ride again. He knows his body, he sees how much progress he has made since the spill and he believes his will is so strong that it can overcome any physical problems he might have. “Now that I’m recovering and I can walk, I feel like I’m the luckiest guy,” he said. “I’m walking, I’m laughing, I’m talking to you. I feel like I won the Triple Crown all over again.” He has good reason for wanting to return for the Breeders’ Cup. Before the spill he was the regular rider of Accelerate (Lookin at Lucky), currently the ante-post favorite for the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. Espinoza rode Accelerate to victory in the GI Gold Cup at Santa Anita, but missed the GI Pacific Classic due to the injury. Joel Rosario picked up the mount. Accelerate will prep for the Classic in the Sept. 29 GI Awesome Again S. at Santa Anita, a race Espinoza has already told trainer John Sadler he will not be able to make. When asked who he would ride if Espinoza were ready for the Breeders’ Cup, trainer John Sadler said, “All I’m focused on right now is the Awesome Again. To be honest, I haven’t even begun to think about the Classic yet.” “How long will I be out? I don’t know, it will be up to my body,” Espinoza said. “I believe my body is capable of doing it. I will train even harder than I did before to be 100% fit and be a champion again, I won’t come back half way.” In the seven some weeks since he’s been injured, he’s had plenty of time to think about his life and his future, how he worked so hard to become a jockey and drove a bus in his native Mexico to pay the tuition for jockey school. He has won dozens of important races, most notably his sweep of the 2015 Triple Crown aboard American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile). But he now understands none of those accomplishments mean anything if you don’t have your health. Yes, he wants to ride in the Breeders’ Cup, but more than anything else he just wants to have a normal life again. He’s getting there. View the full article

Dual Grade I winner Ransom the Moon (Malibu Moon–Count to Three, by Red Ransom) will stand the 2019 breeding season at Calumet Farm. Conditioned by Phil D’Amato on behalf of Agave Racing Stable and Jeffry Wilke, the Sam-Son Farm bred 6-year-old annexed last year’s GI Bing Crosby S., and most recently defended his title in that event at Del Mar July 28. “As the only Grade I-winning sprinting son of Malibu Moon to go to stud, Ransom the Moon offers breeders with a dirt-speed option on an incredible sire line,” said Calumet Farm’s Director of Stallions Jak Knelman. “Since a surface change to the dirt, Ransom the Moon has gone on to win two Grade I races in California, including the 2018 Bing Crosby at Del Mar.” Knelman added, “To win sprinting in California you have to be fast, and to defeat the likes of champion sprinter Roy H in Grade I competition in both 2017 and 2018 you have to be very good.” Ransom the Moon is scheduled to make two more career starts, culminating in the GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs Nov. 4. He will be available for inspection at Calumet in Lexington after the World Championships. “Ransom the Moon possesses speed, an immense turn of foot, and class above all else,” D’Amato said. “Those are the qualities I look for in a top-class racehorse. He’s one of the most talented horses that I have ever trained.” Agave Stable’s Mark Martinez added, “It’s been an exciting journey these past two years watching Ransom showcase his speed on the dirt, but we are incredibly excited to watch him write the next chapter in his book while standing stud at the storied Calumet Farm.” Ransom the Moon is out of stakes-winning and graded stakes-placed Count to Three (Red Ransom), who in turn is out of Grade I winner Countus In (Dancing Court). “He is beautiful, and if he replicates himself we are set,” Knelman said. “He is about 16.2 and has a beautiful neck and top line with a strong hip and hind leg. Looking at his profile, He looks like a Classic-distance horse, but he has the speed to win at six furlongs.” View the full article

The consistent Dream Awhile will try for her second graded stakes score of 2018 when she faces an expected five other fillies and mares in the $200,000 Dr. James Penny Memorial Stakes (G3T) Sept. 8 at Parx Racing. View the full article

Enable will face a stern assignment on her return to the track at Kempton Sept. 8 after Sir Michael Stoute decided to run King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes runner-up Crystal Ocean against the superstar filly in the September Stakes (G3). View the full article

Hastings will have another thoroughbred trainer joining the ranks from the beginning of next month.Successful Cambridge trainer Lee Somervell will be re-locating to Hastings from October 1, bringing with him a team of 12 horses.Somervell... View the full article

The consistent Dream Awhile will try to for her second graded stakes score of 2018 when she faces an expected five other fillies and mares in the $200,000 Dr. James Penny Memorial Stakes (G3T) Sept. 8 at Parx Racing. View the full article

Harry Angel will face 11 opponents when he bids to become only the second two-time winner of the 32red Sprint Cup (G1) at Haydock. View the full article

‘TDN Rising Star‘ Lady Aurelia (Scat Daddy), who twice conquered Royal Ascot for trainer Wesley Ward and owners Stonestreet Stables and Peter Leidel, will sell at Fasig-Tipton’s November sale, it was announced Thursday. Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales Agency will consign the 4-year-old at the one-day auction, scheduled for Nov. 4 in Lexington. “Lady Aurelia is the embodiment of Stonestreet’s breeding program,” said Stonestreet’s Barbara Banke. “A brilliant filly out of a champion, she took on all comers across the globe at the pinnacle of our sport. The first American-trained Cartier winner when she was named 2-year-old filly of the year, her talent and raw speed were breathtaking.” Like so many Ward trainees, Lady Aurelia broke her maiden in a 2-year-old dirt race in the spring meet at Keeneland in 2016. Ward promptly sent her to Royal Ascot, where she won the G2 Queen Mary S. and went from there to Deauville to win the G1 Darley Prix Morny. That was enough for her to be awarded a Cartier Award as Europe’s top 2-year-old filly. “What made her so special? She was fast, extremely fast,” Ward said. “She was equally as good on the dirt as grass, but I just felt as if five furlongs was her game.” After winning last April’s Giant’s Causeway S. at Keeneland, her lone stakes win in the U.S., she went back to Royal Ascot and scored the most significant win of her career. Facing older males, the then 3-year-old filly took the prestigious G1 King’s Stand S. “Once she learned to harness and control her speed then it really got to be where she was dangerous,” Ward said. “As a 3-year-old when we taught her to rate a little bit then she got to be where she was a superstar. She could use that explosiveness and not just to go to the front, but she could sit back and use that big punch that she had. She was visually impressive at Royal Ascot at two. But when she ran at Royal Ascot as a 3-year-old, that race she ran against older horses. That just doesn’t happen.” Second by the narrowest of margins in York’s G1 Coolmore Nunthorpe S. that August, Lady Aurelia finished 10th as the 9-10 favorite in the 2017 GI Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint and then went winless in two outings this year. Her last race was a seventh-place finish in the 2018 King’s Stand. Though there was nothing seriously wrong with her and Ward believed she could win this year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, Lady Aurelia’s owners decided to retire her. “She was always a really relaxed filly,” Ward said. “You’d never know how great she was if you saw her around the barn. She was kind of a smallish type filly. She was never a bother and an easy filly to train. You just couldn’t train her too hard because she was on the small side. When you led her over there were no antics. She was a true champion.” A winner in three countries–the U.S., England, and France, Lady Aurelia won five of 10 career starts and earned $834,945. “Lady Aurelia is the embodiment of equine royalty,” said Hill ‘n’ Dale’s John Sikura. “Her performances were historic and her wins emphatic at the highest levels of racing. She is a grand physical specimen and Scat Daddy is arguably the most successful international sire we have seen in more than a decade. She is the rarest of champions and we are honored to represent her this November.” Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning added, “Lady Aurelia is a truly special offering based upon her accomplishments around the world, highlighted by two wins at Royal Ascot. She has the potential to become a broodmare of historic proportions.” Stonestreet paid $1 million for Lady Aurelia’s Grade II-winning and Puerto Rican champion dam D’ Wildcat Speed, and later sold Lady Aurelia for $350,00 as a yearling before buying back into her. “The racetrack successes of the horses we breed and raise are both our reputation and legacy,” said Banke. “We are a commercial breeder and were lucky enough to stay in after her sale as a yearling and enjoy her success with our partners. We remain involved in the family through her dam and a half-sister, and I look forward to watching Lady Aurelia take her many talents to her broodmare career.” View the full article