Wandering Eyes

After providing the Casse barn a win in the July 20 Schuylerville Stakes (G3) on opening day at the Spa, John Oxley's Catherinethegreat will aim to record another high note for her team against 11 others in the Sept. 1 Spinaway Stakes (G1). View the full article

To Russia with love from China Horse Club View the full article

McGregor shows his wares at home View the full article

Zyrul brings Dutrow home for Baertschiger View the full article

No chance to sleep on the job for Matsuribayashi View the full article

When Harry meets better luck with Iffragal View the full article

Horses' body weights August 31 View the full article

Track conditions and course scratchings August 31 View the full article

Early scratching August 31 View the full article

Dream Tree comes off nearly a seven-month layoff after being taken off the Road to the Kentucky Oaks with an unspecified issue, and will return in graded company in the $250,000 Prioress Stakes (G2) Sept. 2 at Saratoga Race Course. View the full article

Churchill Downs, Inc. has obtained a permit to conduct jai alai matches at Calder Race Course, which could allow them to end racing at the Miami track while still keeping its license to have slot machines. The story was first reported by Daily Racing Form. The Form obtained documents in which Churchill asked the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering how many jai alai programs it would be required to hold in order to keep the slots license. They said they would like to conduct no more than 88 programs and also are seeking to discontinue horse racing. Phone calls to Churchill Downs seeking comment were not returned. Churchill has already knocked down the Calder grandstand and has leased its racing meet to Gulfstream, which operates at Calder under the name of Gulfstream Park West. Calder/Gulfstream Park West is currently required to run 40 days of racing in order to retain its slot license. They are running the minimum 40-day meet in the fall, prior to the opening of Gulfstream’s championship meet. Churchill’s moves with Calder have made it obvious that they would like to get out of the horse racing business in Florida, but they have yet to find a way to end racing while still keeping its slots room open. However, with the jai alai permit, they may have found a loophole that could end racing. In Florida, there is a distinct jai alai permit called a “summer jai alai permit.” It was created decades ago when jai alai was a popular and profitable sport and the main frontons wanted to keep the winter dates to themselves. Smaller facilities were able to conduct jai alai in the offseason under the summer permits. “They’ve been trying to get rid of racing for several years now by backing the decoupling effort,” said Glen Berman, the executive director of the Florida HBPA. “So the underlying effort to end racing is not surprising. That they found this avenue as a means to try to do it, we think it is illegal and we are challenging it, but it doesn’t surprise me.” In order for a jai alai fronton to have a slots permit, it must hold a minimum of 150 cards. Before Calder can stop racing, it must get permission from the Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering to replace it with jai alai and permission to conduct only 88 programs. Its efforts could also be stalled by legal maneuvers initiated by those who don’t want to see racing at Calder stopped. The Florida HBPA has filed a lawsuit and Gulfstream, the Ocala Breeders’ Sales and the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association have also joined in the legal effort to stop Churchill. “We have filed a motion to intervene to get in the middle of the questions Calder has asked,” said OBS President Tom Ventura. “They petitioned for a declaratory statement that asked two questions: can we substitute jai alai performances and not run Thoroughbred races, and the other one is can we reduce the number of jai alai performances from 150 to 88? They not only want to stop running Thoroughbreds, they don’t even want to conduct a full schedule of jai alai performances. They are looking for the exit any way they can come up with it.” Calder is obligated to contribute a portion of its slot profits to purses, an amount that is about $10 million annually. The Florida HBPA has an existing contract with Churchill that doesn’t expire until December 2020, so there doesn’t appear to be any way they can get out of their obligation to continue to pay into the purse fund. However, once that contract expires, it appears highly unlikely that Calder will keep racing, no matter what the outcome is concerning its efforts to convert to jai alai. It might seem that, since Calder has to pay the purse money for the next 28 months, it would have nothing to gain by getting out of the racing business, but Berman said that isn’t the case. “That land is valuable and a lot of space is being taken up by the racetrack and barns,” Berman said. “They’ve sold off a lot of land already and I’m sure they’d like to sell off more if it. A jai alai fronton takes up a lot less space than a racetrack and barn area.” Though Calder is down to just 40 days of racing, it still plays an important role in the South Florida industry because it allows Gulfstream to take a needed break. “Year-round racing is very desirable to the horsemen here,” Berman said. “They want a place to race all year long and the racetrack at Gulfstream, particularly the turf course, wouldn’t hold up so well if they tried to race 12 months a year.” Gulfstream General Manager Billy Badgett said he remained confident that there would be racing at Calder in 2019, but said the Stronach team has already had some discussions as to what it would do if Calder were not available. He said a meet at Hialeah or at the Palm Meadows Training Center are options. “From our end, we are very opposed to what they are attempting to do,” Ventura said. “It’s not surprising, but it’s very disappointing to see the extremes Churchill Downs will go to to remove themselves from the horse business in Florida. We hope we can put a stop to this. The reason why they were granted a slots license in the first place was to support the horse racing industry and now they’re just looking for a way to exit and still benefit from the slot money that they got that was supposed to help this sport.” View the full article

DOGTAG (f, 2, War Front–Diamond Necklace, by Unbridled’s Song) was hammered down to even-money–from a 6-1 morning-line quote–as a maiden in this black-type bow and ran to her odds, spurting clear late to win the P.G. Johnson S. at Saratoga. Crossing the wire on debut in an off-the-turf test going seven panels here Aug. 5, she was promoted to third after the original third-place finisher was disqualified for bumping Dogtag in the stretch. Away well from her rail draw, the gray kept a close eye on the leaders from a ground-saving third as Road Tiger (Quality Road) clocked an opening quarter in :24.20 and a half in :49.42. Joined by Chocolate Kisses (Candy Ride {Arg}) on the backstretch run, Dogtag charged through on the fence to take control in the lane and swiftly rolled clear to earn her diploma in a final time of 1:45.82. Fellow maiden and 13-1 shot Varenka (Ghostzapper) came flying late to cut the margin down to a length at the line and Chocolate Kisses completed the trifecta. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-1. O/B-LNJ Foxwoods (KY)’ T-Chad Brown. View the full article

Harry Angel, brilliant winner of the 32red Sprint Cup (G1) at Haydock in September of 2017, is firmly on course to defend his group 1 title Sept. 1, a week after recovering from the injury he suffered in the starting stalls at Royal Ascot. View the full article

POPPY’S DESTINY (c, 2, Orb–Plethora, by First Samurai), a $175,000 KEESEP yearling turned $300,000 OBSMAR 2yo after breezing in :9 4/5, was sent off at 5-1 in this unveiling against fellow Empire-breds. Battling Six Brothers (Bustin Stones) through a sharp first quarter in :22.96, the bay shook free of that foe as they hit the half in :46.80 and looked like he had it in the bag from there. However, True Gold (Frost Giant) had a little more left in the tank and surged to meet the pacesetter in the final strides, but Poppy’s Destiny came out on top in a tight photo. The final time was 1:05.52 for the 39th winner for second crop sire Orb (Malibu Moon). The winner is a son of Canadian stakes winner Plethora (First Samurai), a half-sister to MSP juvenile Congo (Johannesburg). The deeper female family includes European Group 3 winner Long Lashes (Rock Hard Ten). Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0. O-Lobdell Family Stables; B-SF Racing Group Inc (NY); T-Linda Rice. 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 a first foal of a Coolmore Classic winner. 2.40 Sandown, Mdn, £7,000, 2yo, 7fT FOREST OF DEAN (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}) was a 450,000gns TATOCT graduate whose dam is a half to the G1 Racing Post Trophy hero Crowded House (GB) (Rainbow Quest). John Gosden introduces Princess Haya of Jordan’s unraced colt, who faces another in The Queen’s Sovereign Grant (GB) (Kingman {GB}), a Sir Michael Stoute-trained son of the listed winner Momentary (GB) (Nayef). 4.20 Curragh, Mdn, €17,500, 2yo, f, 6fT CAREFULLY (War Front) is one of a trio from Ballydoyle and makes her debut. The first foal out of the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas winner Marvellous (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the January-foaled bay is therefore connected to Gleneagles (Ire), Happily (Ire) and Giant’s Causeway. View the full article

Champion Good Magic will be sent to Stonestreet Farm for some time off in the days following the end of the Saratoga Race Course meet, trainer Chad Brown said the morning of Aug. 30. View the full article

Having provided the Casse barn a win in the July 20 Schuylerville Stakes (G3) on opening day at the Spa, John Oxley's Catherinethegreat will aim to record another high note for her team against 11 others in the Sept. 1 Spinaway Stakes (G1). View the full article

Champion Good Magic will be sent to Stonestreet Farm for some time off in the days following the end of the Saratoga Race Course meet, trainer Chad Brown said the morning of Aug. 30. View the full article

Having provided the Casse barn a win in the Schuylerville Stakes (G3) on opening day July 20, John Oxley's Catherinethegreat will aim to record another high note for her team against 11 others in the Spinaway Stakes (G1) Sept. 1. View the full article

MONKEYS UNCLE (f, 2, Uncle Mo–Humor Section, by After Market) was a $180,000 FTKJUL yearling turned $300,000 OBSMAR buy after breezing :10 2/5. Hammered down to 4-5 favoritism for this career bow, the dark bay pressed from a close-up second through an opening quarter in :23 3/5 and a half in :48 flat. Sticking her head in front on the backstretch run, the juvenile charged clear in the lane and held off a late surge from Tula (Hat Trick {Jpn}) to win by a half-length in 1:42 flat. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0. O-Lael Stables; B-Parrish Hill Farm & Ashford Stud (KY); T-Arnaud Delacour. View the full article

Emerging from Goodwood’s G3 Oak Tree S. with much credit when fourth there from a tough draw, Lael Stable’s One Master (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) had things fall right in Thursday’s G3 Coolmore Stud Fairy Bridge S. and duly annexed the Tipperary contest for a first pattern-race win. It is a measure of the regard in which the homebred is held by William Haggas that she was favourite when fourth in Lingfield’s G3 Chartwell Fillies’ S. over seven furlongs May 12 and when third in the G3 Ballyogan S. over six at The Curragh June 8, but she was 14-1 when coming from stall 17 at the Goodwood festival Aug. 3. Shown respect as the 9-2 second favourite here, the bay was habitually keen in mid-division for Colm O’Donoghue but when produced was able to draw in compatriot Dan’s Dream (GB) (Cityscape {GB}) 100 yards from the line and assert for a half-length verdict. “I spoke to James Doyle and Ryan Moore and they were very complimentary of the filly,” O’Donoghue explained. “They said to ride her cold as she’d finish off the race good and ground and trip wasn’t a problem. She hit the line strong.” Pedigree Notes… One Master, who had also captured the Listed October S. at Ascot as a 3-year-old, is a daughter of the talented Enticing (Ire), (Pivotal {GB}) who captured the G3 King George S. and G3 Molecomb S. for the same connections. Her dam Superstar Leo (Ire) (College Chapel {GB}) was purchased by Maureen Haggas for a mere 3,400gns at Tattersalls in 1999 and far exceeded expectations by winning the G2 Flying Childers S. and G3 Norfolk S. and finishing runner-up in the G1 Phoenix S. and G1 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp. She also produced the listed-winning and G3 Jersey S. runner-up Sentaril (GB) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) and is a half-sister to Starship (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), whose son Rivet (Ire), also by Fastnet Rock, captured the G1 Racing Post Trophy and G2 Champagne S. in 2016. This is the family of the G1 2000 Guineas-winning sire Footstepsinthesand (GB), G1 Irish 2000 Guineas-winning sire Power (GB) and December Draw (Ire) (Medecis {GB}), who captured the G1 Turnbull S. Enticing has an as-yet unraced 2-year-old colt by Bated Breath (GB) and a yearling colt and filly foal by Kodiac (GB). Thursday, Tipperary, Ireland COOLMORE STUD FAIRY BRIDGE S.-G3, €65,000, Tipperary, 8-30, 3yo/up, f/m, 7f 100yT, 1:34.60, g/y. 1–ONE MASTER (GB), 131, f, 4, by Fastnet Rock (Aus) 1st Dam: Enticing (Ire), by Pivotal (GB) 2nd Dam: Superstar Leo (Ire), by College Chapel (GB) 3rd Dam: Council Rock (GB), by General Assembly 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O-Lael Stable; B-Lael Stables (GB); T-William Haggas; J-Colm O’Donoghue. €38,350. Lifetime Record: SW-Eng, 7-3-0-2, $96,596. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. 2–Dan’s Dream (GB), 129, f, 3, Cityscape (GB)–Royal Ffanci (GB), by Royal Applause (GB). O-Hunscote, Watt, Peckham, Botham & Edwards; B-Hunscote Stud (GB); T-Mick Channon. €12,350. 3–Ship of Dreams (Ire), 126, f, 3, Lope de Vega (Ire)–Oh Sedulous (Ire), by Lawman (Fr). (€58,000 Wlg ’15 GOFNOV; 85,000gns Ylg ’16 TAOCT). O-Qatar Racing Limited; B-Dubois Holdings Ltd (IRE); T-Joseph O’Brien. €5,850. Margins: HF, 1 3/4, NK. Odds: 4.50, 10.00, 16.00. Also Ran: Yulong Gold Fairy (GB), I Can Fly (GB), Damselfly (Ire), Vivianite (Ire), Sometimesadiamond (Ire), Petticoat (GB), Lightening Quick (GB), Surrounding (Ire), Sorelle Delle Rose (Ire), Could It Be Love. Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. View the full article

When Jim Stone’s Stoneway Farm sold a son of Into Mischief out of its young mare Assets of War (Lawyer Ron) at last year’s Fasig-Tipton July sale, Stone’s racing manager and partner Terri Burch admitted she was happy with the result. Since then, Instagrand has lit up the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale when bringing a co-topping final bid of $1.2 million, went on to be ‘TDN Rising Star’, romped to victory in the GII Best Pal S. (video) and is the favorite in the future wager for the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Stoneway will offer a half-brother to the speedy juvenile during Wednesday’s third session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. By freshman sire Cairo Prince, hip 663 will be consigned by Paramount Sales. Stoneway’s association with Instagrand’s family dates back to one of Stone’s earliest Thoroughbred purchases, Added Time (Gilded Time–Added Elegance), who was acquired for $170,000 at the 1999 Keeneland April Sale. “Added Time was the first racehorse that Jim and I had purchased together,” Burch recalled. “We had really good success with racing and selling out of her–we sold a Grade I winner out of her.” That Grade I winner was 2007 GI Spinaway S. winner Irish Smoke (Smoke Glacken), but when Added Time produced a series of colts, Burch started looking for another way to get back into the family. She found her answer with Assets of War, a granddaughter of Added Elegance. Stone purchased the filly for $165,000 at the 2011 Fasig-Tipton July Sale. “She was very balanced and stretchy and with a nice family,” Burch recalled of the filly’s appeal as a yearling. “And I just loved the family–it was a really deep family. There are a lot of good fillies in the family who had gone on to produce horses. So that’s something that we wanted to bring back to the farm. We had sold Added Time’s first three fillies and then she only had colts after that. We kept trying to get fillies. So we needed to get back into the family. ” Assets of War won once in 13 starts before retiring to the Stoneway broodmare band in La Grange, Kentucky. Her first foal is stakes-placed Aerial Assets (Into Mischief), who races for Stoneway and is trained by Kelly Breen. Instagrand is the mare’s second foal and Burch admits she has only one regret about him. “I loved him,” she said. “And I hated that he was a colt. I was trying for a filly and I got a colt, but I really liked him. He was really mature at a young age and he had a wonderful hip. We mostly race fillies, so I was severely disappointed that he was a colt. We are really happy for all the connections that have him now and we get just as excited as if he was our own. We’re really having a good time watching him, but had he been a filly, she’d be in Stoneway colors.” When Instagrand sold to Quarter Pole Enterprises for $190,000 at last year’s Fasig July Sale, Burch thought it was a good result. “We were happy with that result,” she said. “The sale market is pretty funny, but the stud fee at the time was really reasonable, it was $30,000 or $35,000. So we made enough money off of him. To me, he looked like a sprint horse and not really a two-turn horse. Sometimes we will keep a colt to race it, not very often, but sometimes we do and he just looked to me like he was going to be fast as lightning and I didn’t think he would go two turns. The way he gallops out now makes me think maybe I was wrong.” Instagrand worked a furlong in :10 flat before selling to Larry Best’s OXO Equine for $1.2 million at the Gulfstream sale. “We were just absolutely thrilled,” Burch said of the result. “He had a beautiful breeze, his stride length was really lovely and he got over the ground just really wonderfully. That helps our family, so we are really thrilled that he brought all that money.” Stoneway will have its first chance to see what impact Instagrand’s success will have on his siblings in the sales ring when Assets of War’s Cairo Prince yearling goes through the ring at Keeneland Sept. 12. “We wanted speed and Cairo had speed, but he could also carry it over a distance,” Burch explained of the mating decision. “We loved Cairo. He’s very handsome. His babies that are on the ground, he stamps them really well and that’s something else we were looking for. Because usually that’s a sign of a quality sire. So we thought it was a lovely match. We’d had two Into Mischiefs that we were really happy with and we wanted to go in a little bit different direction with her.” The yearling might just have all the best qualities of his older half-siblings. “We really like him,” Burch said of the colt. “He’s got a really big hip. He’s a little bit longer than Instagrand at this time–he’s a little bit more stretchy and he has a little bit of a longer neck. He’s probably in between what Aerial [Assets] looks like and what Instagrand looks like. She’s a little bit longer and definitely looks like a two-turn horse, where Instagrand looked really sprinty. This one looks right in the middle of them.” Burch is already looking forward to Assets of War’s weanling colt by Noble Mission (GB). “When I first saw him, I said, ‘We’re keeping him. We’re going to race him,'” Burch said of the weanling. “He looks so fast. But he may end up going to the sale because he may be too expensive for us to keep.” Assets of War is currently in foal to Creative Cause and is expected to visit Into Mischief next spring. Stone, who is president of the Louisville-based trucking company Mercer Transportation, began his breeding operation in La Grange in 1998. With the recent retirement of graded stakes winner Song of Spring (Spring at Last) and multiple stakes winner Pretty Perfection (Majesticperfection), the farm currently has a broodmare band of 22 head, but that number could drop this fall. “We brought Pretty Perfection and Song of Spring home from the track this year and they will join our broodmare band, so that will pump us up to 22,” Burch said of the broodmare band. “I think we are going to cull maybe three, which is hard for us because so many of our mares are so young, we really don’t know what they are going to do. But 22 babies would be a little strain on the way our farm is set up and having enough paddocks for everybody. So we are going to cull a few in November.” She continued, “We are breeding to sell. We would probably keep a replacement filly from a family so we could continue the family and then we would sell.” In addition to hoping for the occasional filly to keep and race, Burch admitted she also has one more plan for the broodmare band. “I try, and this is silly, but … I’m going for gray fillies,” she said with a laugh. “Gray horses have been really good to Stoneway. Not that we haven’t had graded stakes horses that were other colors, but the majority of our graded horses are gray. Maybe that’s just because we have a propensity for grays.” One gray in particular that Stoneway has had success with is Stonetastic (Mizzen Mast), winner of the 2014 GII Prioress S. The 7-year-old retired to the Stoneway broodmare band in 2017 after earning over $850,000 on the racetrack. She produced her first foal this year and is clearly reading Burch’s script. “She has a beautiful gray filly by Candy Ride (Arg),” Burch said of Stonetastic. “I call her Mini Me-tastic because she is a clone of Stonetastic, except she is going to be more of a red roan than a blue roan like Stonetastic.” Burch, who also serves as the interim director of the University of Louisville’s Equine Industry Program, had no hesitation about plans for that weanling. “I’m keeping her,” she said. “She’s the first one and she’s a gray, it was meant to be.” The Keeneland September sale begins with the first of four Book 1 sessions Monday, Sept. 10. Book 1 sessions begin at 11 a.m. After a dark day Friday, the sale resumes Saturday at 10 a.m. View the full article

Peter Brant's Raging Bull, who bested Maraud by a nose in the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes (G2T), will face his rival again in the $300,000 Saranac Stakes (G3T) Sept. 1 at Saratoga Race Course. View the full article

Harry Angel, brilliant winner of the 32Red Sprint Cup (G1) at Haydock in September of 2017, is firmly on course to defend his group 1 title Sept. 1, a week after recovering from the injury he suffered in the starting stalls at Royal Ascot. View the full article

The New York Racing Association announced Thursday that it will formally break ground on the 1863 Club at Saratoga Tuesday, Sept. 4, one day after the conclusion of the 2018 summer racing season. The 1863 Club is the official name of the new permanent building to be located at the site of the current At the Rail tent at Saratoga. The name recognizes the year of the first organized Thoroughbred race meeting in Saratoga, which took place over the course of four days in August 1863. “Following this year’s introduction of The Stretch in the Grandstand, we are excited to announce plans for the 1863 Club which will be located at the end of the Clubhouse and will add another chapter to the enhanced guest experience at Saratoga,” said NYRA CEO and president Chris Kay. “The three-story, air-conditioned building will provide new and different options for guests, including a banquet area on the first floor and a bar and dining club on the second level, which will be connected to the Clubhouse via a walkway. The third floor will feature true luxury boxes offering outstanding sight lines of the entire track. The 1863 Club, named after our first racing meet in Saratoga, continues our commitment to providing racing fans with upgraded amenities while honoring the look and feel of this historic venue.” View the full article