Wandering Eyes

Royal Easter disqualified from win on 16 September 2016 View the full article

Gallant Kiss Your Song scores by a lip View the full article

Early Dash pays off for quirky customer View the full article

Upturn in Fortunes for Tan ahead of Korea View the full article

Horses' body weights August 24 View the full article

Track conditions and course scratchings August 24 View the full article

The California Horse Racing Board unanimously decided Aug. 23 to move forward on a proposal that would require veterinary records of joint injections to be transferred to the new connections of a claimed horse. View the full article

Winner of the Malibu Stakes (G1) and Triple Bend Stakes (G1), both at the Forego's seven-furlong distance, the 4-year-old colt dials back in distance from 1 1/4 miles off a third in the May 26 running of The Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes (G1). View the full article

The latest big prize Abel Tasman is looking to add to her collection comes Aug. 25 when the 2017 champion 3-year-old filly takes on rival Elate and four other challengers in the $700,000 Personal Ensign Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. View the full article

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith will take his first trip to Kentucky Downs Thursday, Sept. 6 and while he won’t be riding, he will be raising money for three charities: Old Friends equine retirement facility, the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and The Giving Circle, an all-volunteer non-profit organization founded in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita that seeks out communities in need to connect them with the resources to help. Smith will sign limited edition 18×24-inch Coady Photography prints of Justify’s Kentucky Derby victory for a suggested $10 donation from 1-3 p.m. CT. The autograph session, from which the proceeds will be split among the three charities, will take place near the Finish Line Pavilion. “We should take advantage of the opportunity to raise some money for some wonderful causes,” Smith said. “If I have the time, I certainly want and look forward to doing them. I’ve been blessed to have done a couple already and they raised quite a bit of money for the PDJF. Why not try to raise all I can?” View the full article

If it wasn’t obvious before, it should be now. Since appearing on the scene four-plus years ago, Sol Kumin’s various racing partnerships–notably Head of Plains Partners, Madaket Stables, Monomoy Stables, and Sheep Pond Partners–have become ubiquitous on weekends and astonishingly successful at the highest levels. All told, the Kumin entities have won 38 Grade l races to date. This year has been particularly fruitful, with 10 individual winners of 16 Grade I races, including the Triple Crown, Kentucky Oaks, and Coaching Club American Oaks, with plenty of racing still to come. Last year there was some controversy surrounding Kumin and the Eclipse Award for leading owner. A letter to voters from one of his associates making a case for Kumin left a bad taste for some; others pled ignorance that they didn’t know about Kumin’s accomplishments; and more belittled him for his fractional interests in many horses under various noms-de-course instead of full ownership under one name. Partnerships, however, are standard fare these days–even racetracks are forming them as “clubs”–so pleading ignorance in 2018 won’t cut it given the year Kumin’s having. Kumin is a smart guy who attended the exclusive St. Paul’s School in Concorde, N.H., before college at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. Now in his early 40s and based in Boston, Kumin has had a successful career in the hedge fund world and most recently headed Folger Hill Asset Management, which was sold a few months ago to Schonfeld Strategic Advisors. After Labor Day, Kumin will begin work at another firm, Leucadia Asset Management, as its chief strategic officer, he said when I reached him by phone this week in Lake George, where he was spending some downtime with his kids. “Yeah, we basically just sold [Folger Hill],” Kumin continued. “We did a deal with Schonfeld. Leucadia was my partner, and they owned basically half of my business with me, and we merged the firm into a bigger firm where they are going to own 60% and we’re going to own 40%, and then they’ll run it and I’m going to work as the head of strategy.” Strategy Kumin’s strategy in racing is to buy, merge, or hedge with other partners or principals, and then sell, a philosophy that has been cultivated and honed from his background in hedge funds and equity markets, where bottom-line returns drive growth. This is essential to his partnerships, and he follows a strict and analytical business plan and calls the shots to keep partnerships profitable–which they have been, he said. But this isn’t mutually exclusive from the thrills he gets from participating in racing, a sport that he thoroughly embraces and enjoys, which is evident to anyone who’s seen him at a racetrack with his wife, kids, partners, and friends. From afar, he’s the ebullient guy in the crowd, and why not? He wins an awful lot of stakes races–more than 100 over the last few years, according to Brad Weisbord of BSW Bloodstock, which manages Kumin’s operation. His various partnerships–formed “mostly with the same two or three good friends”–own interests in about 100 horses at any given time, of which 70 to 75% are fillies, he said. “We try to stay at around 100, that’s our number. We’re at 102 right now. Remember, 100 for us is really 50, because we own about an average of half the horse. So the way we sort of look at it from a business standpoint, if we have about 100, then we have bills on about 50, which is kind of $2.5 million in purses a year [required to cover operating costs]. We’ve done much better than that, but that’s just the kind of top-down quick math that we do when we think about it.” The strategy of buying fillies is straightforward: add black type to their resumes while picking up purse monies and then cash out at the sales when they are finished racing. Young black-type fillies off the track, especially the graded winners, are particularly sought after in the auction marketplace, as are the graded winners carrying their first foals. Grade l winner Lady Eli (Divine Park), named after Kumin’s wife, got the ball rolling for Sheep Pond and later became an emotional attachment for her owner during her well-publicized bout with laminitis. She stands to become a massive score after she goes through the ring this fall in foal to War Front. “We bought 100% of Lady Eli for $160,000 [at the 2014 Keeneland April 2-Year-Olds-In-Training sale], and then she made whatever it was, $3 million at the track, and she’s going to sell in November in foal to War Front for what? I don’t know, $5 million, $6 million, $7 million, right?” Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) is another home run, this time for Monomoy Stables, which owns her with three other entities. Like Lady Eli, she was bought at auction, as a yearling for $100,000 at the Keeneland September sale in 2016. The leading 3-year-old filly of her crop, Monomoy Girl has won eight of nine starts, earning $1,660,750 to date. Among her four Grade l wins are the Kentucky Oaks and the Coaching Club American Oaks. When Monomoy Girl is eventually sold at auction, she will bring a premium, and even more if she has an Eclipse Award on her resume. Kumin said that about 30% of the stock he buys is “unproven” like Lady Eli and Monomoy Girl, but he has strict limits on what he will spend on a yearling or 2-year-old, and that figure boils down to an average price of $100,000 per horse. For auction purchases, Kumin said he principally now uses Liz Crow of BSW Bloodstock, who signed for Monomoy Girl; Gatewood Bell; and Keith Desormeaux. He noted that My Boy Jack (Creative Cause), winner of the GIII Southwest S. at Oaklawn, the GIII Lexington S. at Keeneland, and fifth in the Kentucky Derby, was purchased at the same 2016 Keeneland September sale as Monomoy Girl, for a bargain $20,000. He has earned $729,445 so far–the bulk of that for Monomoy and Don’t Tell My Wife Stables before a 30% interest in the colt was sold at a premium to West Point Stables leading up to the Kentucky Derby. Made horses and making trainers Kumin, who doesn’t have a background in the game, spends hours a day studying past performances, speed figures, and both domestic and foreign race replays because he sources mostly made horses from around the world, but he said that of his 38 Grade I wins divided among 21 individual horses, none was a top-level winner when he bought it. In fact, the only GI winner he’s bought into is 3-year-old filly Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute), a rival of Monomoy Girl, but she’s yet to win at the highest level for him. Some of his GI winners have been available in plain sight for relatively cheap money. He noted as an example the 7-year-old horse Long On Value (Value Plus), a GI-placed stakes winner who was purchased at the Keeneland November sale last year from Weisbord’s ELiTE consignment for $100,000. Racing for Head of Plains Partners and two other ownership entities, the horse won the GI Highlander S. at Woodbine at the end of June for trainer Brad Cox, who won his first career Grade I race earlier this spring with Monomoy Girl in the Ashland at Keeneland. “I told the guy I would buy him his first Grade I winner this year,” Kumin said of Cox, who now has five Grade I wins, four with the filly and one with Long On Value. That’s something that makes Kumin proud, and there’s some basis for it that stems from outside of racing. Kumin was an athlete at both St. Paul’s School and Johns Hopkins, and in 2010 he and his wife established an endowment, “The Sol and Elizabeth Kumin Fund in Honor of Great Coaches,” at St. Paul’s specifically to “support coaches in their professional development and to assist coaches in their recruiting efforts.” Kumin’s doing that in racing. He’s been supporting talented young trainers like Cox; Leonard Powell, trainer of GI Del Mar Oaks winner Fatale Bere (Fr) (Pedro the Great) for Head of Plains Partners and three other owners; and Jonathan Thomas, who has GI winner Catholic Boy (More Than Ready) entered in this weekend’s Travers S. for Madaket Stables and three separate owners. “One of the things I’m most proud of is that we won a Grade I with Leonard Powell in California last weekend. First Grade I he’s ever won. To be part of that is special. Jonathan Thomas with Catholic Boy [in the GI Belmont Derby]. First Grade I win for a young trainer. To be part of that was special. There’s nothing better than to be a part of a horse with some of these trainers that had never won that first Grade I. Seeing Brad cry after the Ashland. Giving Jonathan Thomas a hug. Those are things I’ll never forget. Honestly, it’s better than winning the Triple Crown. Sounds crazy, but it is.” The Triple Crown In 2016, Head of Plains Partners was a co-owner of Preakness winner Exaggerator (Curlin), an experience that whetted Kumin’s appetite for the classics, which is all about the pomp and pageantry of the sport–something that’s appealing to Kumin and his pals in his partnerships. In the case of Exaggerator, the financial rewards weren’t bad, either. “Exaggerator, we sold for $10 million, that was big,” Kumin said. He owns one share in the stallion and did use it this year on a mare that his son is attached to, but breeding in general is not a part of Kumin’s portfolio, though he does own several shares in Central Kentucky stallions, including Violence (Medaglia d’Oro) and Creative Cause (Giant’s Causeway), as investment vehicles. Creative Cause, of course, is the sire of My Boy Jack, and that colt’s run through the Triple Crown trail prompted Kumin and Weisbord to speculatively acquire 10 shares in the stallion for Kumin and Weisbord’s clients. In 2018, Kumin bought into several Classics contenders, including eventual Triple Crown winner Justify after his maiden win. He is, however, pragmatic in his approach to buying into colts for the Classics. “We’re buying mostly fillies, [but] every year we’re going to take a shot or a few shots at a Derby horse where we know, okay, if we lose ‘x,’ that’s what we’re willing to lose within our portfolio to kind of have the action,” he said. “But we’re pretty analytical about it. This year, for example, we took basically three shots; we really wanted to take two. We loved Justify before he ran. We went to do the deal and they would only do the deal if we bought Audible with him. We didn’t love Audible and we turned out to be probably wrong. He was better than we thought, and we won the Florida Derby. The other bet we made was Catholic Boy. He turned out not to work for the Derby but he’s running in the Travers.” Head of Plains Partners purchased a minority interest in the racing rights of Justify and Audible. Kumin said the deal was a financial success, but he also noted that the historic experience of being a part of a Triple Crown winner would have been worth the cost of participation even had he lost money on the deal. Kumin’s bottom line is black because he and his team, which includes a phalanx of trainers, including some of the top names in the game, are sharp evaluators, developers, and managers of talent who know where to source talent and where best to run horses for maximum effect. Moreover, Kumin’s understanding of buy and sell price points and financial management gives his partnership entities a discipline rarely seen in racing, which makes his operation quite significant. The Grade I wins are proof of this, and he should be acknowledged for it. Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks. View the full article

George Mahoney Jr. is one of those rare owners who says that winning isn’t everything. And he means it. But Mahoney, who owns Rosbrian Farm in Maryland with wife Mandy, has been winning a lot of late. Rosbrian currently leads the National Steeplechase Association owner standings by earnings and has the year’s leading earner, Zanjabeel (GB) (Aussie Rules), now resting up for the fall championship season, and in particular, the Far Hills Races’ G1 Grand National Oct. 20. Rosbrian has another major contender for year-end honors after Optimus Prime (Fr) (Deportivo {GB}) provided plenty of reason for optimism with a highly professional victory in Saratoga Race Course’s G1 New York Turf Writers Cup H. Thursday. Saratoga’s premier steeplechase race, the New York Turf Writers opens the competition at longer distances, and Optimus Prime made easy work of the Saratoga race’s 2 3/8 miles, winning by 1 1/4 lengths with another well-timed move under Ross Geraghty, who collected his 100th American victory. With two Irish newcomers from Gordon Elliott’s stable in the race, Optimus Prime got away at a price, 7.20-1, despite a good recent racing record for Dan Skelton in England. In 2017-2018, he had three straight novice steeplechase victories and a second in a rich novice steeplechase in Ireland. After a start in May, he was turned out, but his regular jockey, Noel Fehily, recommended him to trainer Ricky Hendriks, who in turn touted him to the Mahoneys. That was enough for the Mahoneys, who gave the thumbs up to the private purchase. With 54 days to Optimus Prime’s Saratoga target race, Hendriks, assistant Eve Ledyard, and the barn’s staff worked seven days a week to get him ready. And was he ever ready. Hendriks worked him against the top horses in training for the summer races. “He has demolished all the horses we have at home,” he said. That included Wendy Hendriks’ Surprising Soul (Perfect Soul {Ire}), who won Saratoga’s Michael G. Walsh Novice Stakes for Hendriks and Geraghty a day earlier. Top-level competition is another matter, of course, but Optimus Prime was in prime condition for the test. Clarcam (Fr) (Califet {Fr}), one of Elliott’s pair and now owned by Rosbrian and Ben and Wendy Griswold, kept company with Hudson River Farms’ four-year-old Iranistan (Einstein {Brz}) through the New York Turf Writers’ initial 1 1/2 miles. Optimus Prime loped along comfortably right behind the leaders. Iranistan, most recently second in Saratoga’s G1 A. P. Smithwick Memorial H. and favored at 9-5, had the lead to himself when Clarcam stumbled after the third from last fence and lost all chance. Trainer Jonathan Sheppard’s promising youngster led by a length at the last fence, located at the end of Saratoga’s backstretch run, but Geraghty was ready to make his move. He tipped Optimus Prime to the outside, gained ground on the turn, took the lead early in the stretch, and maintained his advantage to the finish line. Optimus Prime “just came with a run and did it easy at the end,” Geraghty said. “He’s the real deal, that horse.” Armata Stables’ New Member (Ire) (Alhaarth {Ire}), a Saratoga novice stakes winner in July, made a solid sustained move to be second under Willie McCarthy. Iranistan finished third, 3 1/4 lengths farther back. Hendriks, who moved into the top spot in the trainer standings with his second win of the week, said Optimus Prime probably will be pointed toward Belmont Park’s G1 Lonesome Glory H. Sept. 20. View the full article

Purchased with Saratoga's signature steeplechase race in mind, Optimus Prime was among those making their U.S. debuts in the Aug. 23 New York Turf Writers Cup Handicap (NSA-1). View the full article

The mandatory disclosure of any intra-articular injections that a horse has had within 60 days might soon be a requirement when a horse changes hands via a claim in California. The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) advanced this proposed new rule at its monthly meeting on Thursday by a unanimous 4-0 vote. The measure will now be open for a 45-day public comment period before the board can again take a vote on its full adoption. Under the supervision of the official CHRB veterinarian, the attending veterinarian who previously treated the claimed horse will be provided the proper paperwork, which then must be completed and passed along to the veterinarian retained by the horse’s new owner. The reporting of this injection info must be completed within five days of the claim. The proposed rule is an offshoot from an April CHRB agenda item that initially pertained to the transfer of “all existing veterinary medical records” for claimed horses. But after hearing input from trainers and veterinarians at that meeting, and later tweaking the idea via amendments within a July 20 Medication and Track Safety Committee meeting, the board on Thursday opted to move forward with a streamlined initiative that includes only the records of joint injections. The information that a vet must provide would include line items for the date, location, structure (joint), and the names of any combo or single medications injected. Prior to Thursday’s vote, one proposed version of the form also had an “optional” section in which a vet could list immunizations and the horse’s history of surgeries, de-wormings, tie-ups, colic, and bleeding. But CHRB equine medical director Rick Arthur, DVM, advised against including that section because if a vet provided that info without first asking permission from the horse’s owner, Arthur said it could be considered a violation of veterinary confidentiality. “Maybe we’ll revisit it at another time once people get comfortable with [the new paperwork],” Arthur added. In separate CHRB business, chairman Chuck Winner updated board members on progress by the Race Dates Committee toward finalizing the 2019 schedule for the state. That committee, Winner said, agreed to recommend to the full CHRB board a southern California schedule that would be “very similar to the dates this year.” That’s because the SoCal racks have already agreed to a “three-year rollover to be approved on an annual basis by the board.” The only minor difference, Winner said, would involve Del Mar Thoroughbred Club moving one week of its 2019 November/December meet to accommodate the running of the Nov. 1-2 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita Park. “As far as northern California–as usual–there is not agreement,” Winner said. “There are a few issues that are outstanding with respect to northern California race dates. Most of them are similar to issues that have occurred in prior years.” NorCal stabling conflicts and squabbling over the length and timing of individual meets have been significant sticking points among the region’s commercial track operators and fairs licensees in recent years. “We hope to get those resolved, as usual,” Winner said. “I always encourage the various stakeholders to work together to see if they can resolve the issues so that the board doesn’t have to make those changes by mandate.” View the full article

Last year, Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) took a walk on the wild side before a renewal of the G1 Coolmore Nunthorpe S. that he was expected to play a major hand in, but Shadwell’s lightning rod is back a year older and wiser for the York sprint feature on Friday. Paying for his preliminary antics when finishing behind Marsha (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), Lady Aurelia (Scat Daddy) and even stablemate Cotai Glory (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) 12 months ago, he has been deadly elsewhere when capturing the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye at Chantilly and two renewals of Goodwood’s G2 King George S. In the most recent edition of the latter speed test Aug. 4, he was able to draw comparison with Dayjur who carried these silks to sprinting immortality here in 1990. “He’s drawn 14, which is fine, and we’ve been very pleased with him since Goodwood. He was impressive that day and did it really well,” commented trainer Charlie Hills, who has special measures in place to avoid a repeat of last year’s issues. “I think we’ll saddle him in the stables and then take him across the track on the horsebox,” he explained. “He’s had plenty of racing since last year and he’s generally behaved well. He had his last breeze on Tuesday morning and we were very happy with him.” There is only one who has beaten Battaash without any excuses and that is ‘TDN Rising Star’ Blue Point (Ire) (Shamardal), who managed to do so at his beloved Ascot in the G1 King’s Stand S. at the Royal meeting June 19. Subsequently seventh in the G1 July Cup at Newmarket July 14, he returns to the scene of his impressive success in the 2016 G2 Gimcrack S. but is running over a faster five than he enjoyed at Ascot. “We’re in stall 16 and Battaash is in 14, so it’s not like we’re on the opposite side to him, which is good,” trainer Charlie Appleby commented. “We’re very happy with our horse going into the race. His preparation has gone well. Obviously we hope the rain stays away as he’s definitely better on quicker ground. We’ve all got Battaash to beat over this trip, on this track.” Away from this pair, David Armstrong’s Mabs Cross (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) represents the Michael Dods stable which conjured back-to-back renewals of the race with Mecca’s Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in 2015 and 2016 and she was a close-up third in the King’s Stand before finishing third to the 3-year-old Havana Grey (GB) (Havana Gold {Ire}) in The Curragh’s G2 Sapphire S. July 22. “If the same Battaash that turned up at Goodwood turns up on Friday, I think there’s only one winner,” her trainer said. “There’s no doubt that he’s the best sprinter around over five furlongs, but he did boil over before this race last year and you can’t be sure which Battaash will turn up. If he isn’t at his best, then it opens up the race to the rest of us. We’re very happy with our filly. We wouldn’t mind a bit of rain, just to slow the speed horses down.” A Million Awaits… At the other end of the distance spectrum, Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) bids to seal the deal in the race for the Stayers’ Million available to him only if he can cross the final hurdle successfully in the two-mile G2 Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup. Bjorn Nielsen’s diminutive chestnut has gone through his first three tests of the May 18 G2 Yorkshire Cup, G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot June 21 and July 31 G1 Goodwood Cup with a degree of panache and there is nothing in this field to trouble him if he remains at that level. That is the question, however, and John Gosden is well aware of the pitfalls of counting the money in advance. “It’s not been the be-all and end-all of his year. It’s just happened those races have fitted him well and he has come out on top in all of them, so we’ll see,” he said of the bonus. “Nothing is simple as it seems; certainly not that with horses running in races. But we’re happy with him at the moment. He has won nicely at York this year, so it’s a track he likes.” The G2 Al Basti Equiworld Gimcrack S. is the meeting’s key juvenile race and Ballydoyle’s The Irish Rover (Ire) (No Nay Never) puts the form of the Aug. 12 G1 Phoenix S. under the microscope having been a close third in that Curragh feature, while last year’s winning trainer Richard Fahey saddles an unbeaten colt with considerable room to progress in Space Traveller (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}). Clipper Logistics’ relative of Crystal Music (Nureyev) took an uncompetitive five-furlong novice contest at Hamilton July 19 with ease and is certain to relish this extra distance. “He’s done everything right at home. We’re pleased with him,” Fahey said. “This is a huge step up and we’ll find out where we are with him.” One lurking is Ahmad Abdulla Al Shaikh’s promising Emaraaty Ana (GB) (Shamardal), who took a Windsor novice stakes Apr. 30 before finishing third in Newbury’s Listed Rose Bowl S. July 20. View the full article

For better or worse where his challengers are concerned, there has been no getting rid of Bravazo when it comes to the division's top-level races this year. View the full article

Two-time Grade I winner City of Light (Quality Road) gets back to business in Saturday’s GI Forego S., a ‘Win and You’re In’ for the GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Churchill Downs. The bay had a three-race winning streak snapped when third as the 6-5 favorite in the 1 1/4-miles GI Gold Cup at Santa Anita May 26. The GI Malibu S. and GI Triple Bend S. winner has been working bullets at Del Mar for his return since mid-July. City of Light also boasts a narrow decision over leading handicap horse Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) in the GII Oaklawn H. Apr. 14. “After [he was third in] the Gold Cup, we had circled the Whitney, as [owner] Mr. [William K.] Warren has been wanting to bring him east,” trainer Michael McCarthy said. “He started the Del Mar meet off with a bit of a foot bruise, and we didn’t want to rush things with him. With two Grade I wins at seven furlongs, the Forego looked like an ideal spot.” City of Light will join his sire at Lane’s End Farm upon the conclusion of his racing career, it was announced earlier this month. Limousine Liberal (Successful Appeal), a narrow winner of this term’s GII Churchill Downs S. May 5 and GII Belmont Sprint Championship S. last time July 7, breaks from the rail with Jose Ortiz. No Dozing (Union Rags) kickstarted his 4-year-old campaign in style with a sharp win over this course and distance in an optional claimer July 21. He was sixth in last term’s GI H. Allen Jerkens S. on this same card. View the full article

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.–John Fielding has been a force to be reckoned with on the harness racing circuit for decades, owning some of the best in the industry such as Pinkman, Father Patrick, Shake It Cerry, Maven and this year’s Hambletonian Oaks winner Manchego. One fateful day in the late nineties, Fielding met Standardbred and Thoroughbred breeder Fred Hertrich at a Standardbred sale at Woodbine and the rest, as they say, is history. “He and I, as he always likes to say, were sharing a Lebatt Blue, sitting on a bale of straw and shooting the breeze,” Fielding recalled. “We became friends very, very quickly and have become best friends over the years. We have never had a disagreement as partners. He is one of the smartest men I have ever met in my life, bar none.” Together, they have bred some great Thoroughbreds, such as MG1SW sire Shamardal, and the duo have had a particularly eventful Saratoga meet. Fielding and Hertrich bred their first GI Whitney S. winner in Diversify (Bellamy Road); Rushing Fall (More Than Ready) captured the GII Lake Placid S.; and Saturday they hope to be able to say they have bred a GI Travers S. victor should Catholic Boy (More Than Ready) cross the wire first. “I had the two big Standardbred wins [in the Hambletonian Oaks and Peter Houghton Memorial] and the Whitney in one day [Aug. 4],” Fielding said. “Then Rushing Fall won last week, which was great, and now hopefully we have a good result with Catholic Boy Saturday.” Fielding was introduced to harness racing by his father and owned his first Standardbred at just 16. It was Hertrich that introduced him to the world of Thoroughbred breeding. “I’ve been going [to Thoroughbred races] since I was a kid and always loved it,” Fielding said. “Fred and I bought our first mare with the late [Dr.] Phil McCarthy, who was a great friend of Fred’s and mine. We were also partners with the Taylor boys [of Taylor Made farm] in that first mare. That was in 1998 or ’99 and we have been partners ever since. Fred does have some mares on his own, but most of them we have in partnership.” The pair now have 100 mares together at Hertrich’s Watercress Farm in Kentucky. “Our partnership in the horses is kind of unique. As [Fred] likes to say, he is in charge of handling all of the details and, I would say, between him and Rob Tribbett, almost all of the work,” Fielding said. “I pitch in where I can, but he says I’m mainly there for the luck because I’m very lucky.” The Toronto resident added, “I am very lucky to have Fred as a partner. He is just a super guy, integrity driven and just a really good person. Rob works exhaustively for Fred doing all the pedigree stuff. He also runs the Standardbred operation, so he is a busy guy.” In addition to foaling mares at Watercress, Fielding and his partner also drop some foals in New York to take advantage of the state’s incentive program. One example of that is their new Empire-bred Whitney winner Diversify, who won last year’s GI Jockey Club Gold Cup and romped in the GII Suburban H. prior to his Saratoga score. “He has been really devastating in his last couple of starts, so I am excited to see where he will go next,” Fielding said. “I think it is really, really great for the New York breeding program as well, so that’s good. We are more and more involved in the New York program as we go forward. We are starting to drop a few in Canada as well, so they are Ontario-bred.” The founder of Array, the world’s largest manufacturer of cosmetic advertising, continued, “I’ve been on the board at Woodbine entertainment since 2004. I’ve always had some Ontario-bred or sired horses with breeder Dave Anderson, who is a good friend of mine and Fred’s, and trainer Catherine Day-Phillips. We have started dropping some foals here and the Ontario-bred racing program is fantastic.” Fielding and Hertrich have enjoyed plenty of success at the sales, as well. In 2004, they sold Shamardal’s dam Helsinki (GB) for $3.9 million in foal to Cherokee Run and sold her weanling filly by Unbridled’s Song for $1.9 million. More recently, the friends sold a Medaglia d’Oro colt out of the well-bred Poof Too (Distorted Humor)–now named Big Muddy–to Todd Pletcher for $850,000 at the 2015 Keeneland September. “We are a commercial breeders, so we try to sell most everything,” Fielding said. “We are selling around 54 yearlings at Keeneland this year and we will sell some later developing yearlings in October. Sometimes we will keep a filly from a family we want to continue or if a horse fails to meet its reserve, we might race it ourselves. We have a horse racing [Thursday] actually out of a mare that died giving birth this year. The horse is named Grandma’s Favorite (Denman {Aus}) and is in the last race at Saratoga.” Fielding and his longtime partner only have about six horses in training currently, but are planning on expanding that side of their business going forward. “I think Fred has the same yearn [to race more],” Fielding said. “I think as we go along here, we will get more involved in the racing side. It is gratifying to breed champions, but owning a stallion is the ultimate goal. As you get older, I think you want to chase that other dream to win a Breeders’ Cup or Kentucky Derby as an owner. Commercially, to own a stallion like Justify or American Pharoah would be the ultimate dream.” Fielding has won 21 Breeders’ Crown races, which are the Standardbred equivalent of the Breeders’ Cup, and he and Hertrich, who is the Breeders’ Cup Chairman, scored their first win as breeders in the Thoroughbred World Championships last year when ‘TDN Rising Star’ Rushing Fall won the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. “I think the key is to breed a really good horse to win the Breeders’ Cup,” Fielding said. “We had our first last year with Rushing Fall and Catholic Boy ran great. He finished fourth [in the GI Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf].” Winner of the GIII Saranac S. on the Saratoga lawn last year, Catholic Boy successfully switched to the dirt last fall, romping in the GII Remsen S. Getting back on the turf this summer, he won the GIII Pennine Ridge S. June 2 and followed suit with a win in the GI Belmont Derby July 7. “I am very excited for this weekend,” Fielding said. “That would be our first Travers winner. He is already a Grade I winner on turf and not many horses are Grade I winners on both surfaces.” He continued, “We got our first Whitney winner and I think Rushing Fall is headed to a Grade I next. Then we have to see what 2-year-olds pop up and what is headed to the Breeders’ Cup.” It takes more than luck to have the kind of racing success Fielding has had with both Standardbreds and Thoroughbreds. With his business savvy and his shrewd partner, it is likely that this recent string of top-level victories is a sign of even bigger things to come for Fielding and Hertrich. View the full article

2.05 Newmarket, Cond, £8,000, 2yo, f, 7fT IMPERIAL CHARM (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) debuts for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum who enjoyed a Group 1-winning day courtesy of this filly’s half-sister Ajman Princess (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) in the 2017 Prix Jean Romanet. Also a half to Ostilio (GB) (New Approach {Ire}), she hails from that Britannia H. winner and G3 Thoroughbred S. runner-up’s Simon Crisford stable and meets fellow newcomer Mot Juste (Distorted Humor), one of two to carry the famed Barnett silks and a Roger Varian-trained daughter of the G2 Prix de Malleret winner Time On (GB) (Sadler’s Wells). 3.15 Newmarket, Cond, £8,000, 2yo, c/g, 7fT SANGARIUS (GB) (Kingman {GB}) is a notable Juddmonte newcomer, being out of a half to the G1 Prix Jean Romanet heroine Romantica (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) who herself is a daughter of the brilliant Banks Hill (GB) (Danehill). Coming to his debut with a strong word behind him, the May-foaled homebred encounters King Power Racing’s Andrew Balding-trained Bangkok (Ire) (Australia {GB}), a 500,000gns TATOCT purchase related to Ribchester (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}). View the full article

Promises Fulfilled (Shackleford) and Firenze Fire (Poseidon’s Warrior) are set to square off after posting a pair of jaw-dropping victories earlier this summer in Saturday’s GI H. Allen Jerkens S. at the Spa. The rail-drawn Promises Fulfilled has turned back in distance with two impressive attempts since finishing 15th in the GI Kentucky Derby–a third-place finish behind Still Having Fun (Old Fashioned) after setting a scorching pace in the GII Woody Stephens June 9 and a powerful win in the GIII Amsterdam S. at Saratoga last time July 28. He earned a 108 Beyer Speed Figure in the latter. “This race is going to be a little bit tougher [than the Amsterdam], but that was a pretty awesome performance,” trainer Dale Romans said. “He’s done nothing wrong since and he’s trained well every day, so I think we’ll see another big effort out of him.” Firenze Fire, winner of the GIII Sanford S. over this course last summer, followed an 11th-place finish in the Derby with a jaw-dropping, nine-length tally in Belmont’s one-turn mile GIII Dwyer S. July 7, good for a 107 Beyer. “Everything’s going good,” trainer Jason Servis said of the 2017 GI Champagne S. hero. “He worked OK the other day, he got a good freshening after the Derby, and it showed in the Dwyer. We’ve been wanting to shorten him up.” ‘TDN Rising Star’ Gidu (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), sixth in the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot June 22, makes his dirt debut after tiring to fourth in the GII National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame S. Aug. 3. Fellow ‘Rising Star’ Telekinesis (Ghostzapper), a painful second in the GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. at Keeneland this spring, returns to dirt and cuts back in distance after finishing fifth in the Queen’s Plate S. at Woodbine June 30. View the full article

In this continuing series, Alan Carasso takes a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Niigata and Sapporo Racecourses: Saturday, August 25, 2018 9th-NII, ¥28,600,000 ($257k), Allowance, 3yo/up, 1800m VIEL SPASS (c, 3, Kitten’s Joy–Mighty Renee, by Maria’s Mon) graduated at second asking (see below, gate 8) and was listed-placed last season, but is looking for his first top-three finish this term. A $180K Keeneland September acquisition by the Maeda family’s North Hills Co., the chestnut is a half-brother to MSW Cyclogenesis (Stormy Atlantic), GSW Mighty Caroline (Stormy Atlantic) and SW Renee’s Queen (After Market). Third dam is 1987 GI Spinaway S. winner Over All (Mr. Prospector). North Hills also campaign’s Kitten’s Joy’s GSW & G1SP son Gendarme. B-Sierra Farm (KY) Sunday, August 26, 2018 9th-SAP, ¥19,950,000 ($179k), Allowance, 3yo/up, 1500mT DELTA BAROWS (c, 3, Into Mischief–Sweet Seventeen, by Hard Spun) was an impressive debut winner over soft Tokyo turf last October (see below, gate 5) and was a very game third in Group 2 company in early April (video, gate 2). Joao Moreira has been on fire of late and has the call on the maternal grandson of SW & MGSP Play Ballado (Saint Ballado), a $200K FTSAUG yearling and $200K FTFMAR breezer. B-John C Oxley (KY) –@EquinealTDN View the full article

An outstanding field of 11 3-year-olds, including one filly, are set for the 1 1/4 mile, $1.25 million Travers Stakes this Saturday, Aug. 25 at 4:00 p.m. ET on the live NBC broadcast from historic Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. View the full article

In a downtown ceremony Thursday morning, featuring Mayor Greg Fischer and other city officials and business community leaders, the Louisville Breeders’ Cup Festival officially announced their lineup of events for Breeders’ Cup week. The Festival is a week-long community-wide celebration of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Churchill Downs Nov. 2-3, and it features enjoyable events and activities for residents and visitors alike. In conjunction with this announcement, the Festival also launched its official website, which includes a comprehensive listing of all Festival activities. Since 2015, the Breeders’ Cup Festival has provided activities for local consumers and international horse racing fans to enjoy the special nature of the host city. Organized by the Louisville Host Committee, the Festival is a large factor in the $95 million in local economic impact that is generated by the Breeders’ Cup, which will be held at Churchill Downs for the ninth time. Fans can view the Breeders’ Cup Festival events, taking place from Oct. 28-Nov. 10, and purchase tickets for selected activities at www.breederscupfestival.com. “Louisville is thrilled to welcome the Breeders’ Cup and all the fans enjoying the community-wide festival accompanying this premier sporting event,” said Fischer. “We’re excited to showcase our city’s transformation, including all the new hotels, restaurants and bourbon tourism destinations, since we last hosted the Breeders Cup in 2011.” View the full article

Thoroughbred Charities of America has appointed Davant Latham, Sheila Rosenblum and Lesley Campion to its Board of Directors, the nonprofit announced Thursday. Latham, a native of Memphis, Tenn., owns and operates Davant Latham Bloodstock and Insurance, a full-service bloodstock and insurance agency in Midway, Ky. Prior to starting his own company, Latham worked at Darby Dan Farm and as general manager of Vinery Stud. He is a past president and director of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers Club, a past president and director of the High Hope Steeplechase, and a past director of the American Heart Association of Central Kentucky. Rosenblum began her journey into horse racing in 2009 and currently owns and manages nearly 45 Thoroughbreds through her Lady Sheila Stable, its sister syndicates, and other partnerships. She also serves on the board of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and the March of Dimes. Campion, a native of Ireland, and moved to Lexington after completing her bachelor’s degree at the University of Limerick. She worked for Coolmore’s Creekview Farm and as a veterinary technician at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute before joining Paramount Sales ten years ago. She and her husband Ted own and operate Dundrum Farm in Versailles, Ky. “I’m excited to welcome our new board members,” said TCA president Mike McMahon. “They are high energy and results-driven people. TCA and our grant recipients will benefit from their involvement.” The three join current board members Bob Beck (secretary), Bing Bush, Claire Novak Crosby, Bob Devlin, Terry Finley, Lesley Howard (treasurer), Nathan McCauley (vice president), Mike McMahon (president), Graham Motion, Lonny Powell, J. David Richardson, Jaime Roth, Anna Seitz, and Bo Smith. Gretchen Jackson, Ellen Moelis, and Herb Moelis are directors emeriti. View the full article

What to make of Mendelssohn is one of the main queries with regards to the $1.25 million Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) Aug. 25 considering there are a couple different versions of the son of Scat Daddy that could show up in the 1 1/4-mile test. View the full article