Wandering Eyes

Trainer Robertino Diodoro earned his 2,000th training victory Aug. 20 at Saratoga Race Course when Benefactor won the day's opening race by a half-length for owners Sanford J. Goldfarb, Malvern and Janet Burroughs, Ira Davis, and Jack Hochman. View the full article

Trainer Mark Casse reported Aug. 20 that Saratoga Race Course's current meet-leading rider Irad Ortiz Jr. will have the mount aboard Gary Barber's Wonder Gadot in the $1.25 million Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) Aug. 25. View the full article

An array of acclaimed celebrity chefs will curate signature food experiences for the 2018 Breeders’ Cup World Championships Nov. 2 and 3 at Churchill Downs, Breeders’ Cup announced Monday. The eight globally-recognized chefs, including Masaharu Morimoto, Marc Forgione, Amanda Freitag and Jose Garces, will have their signature cuisine served throughout Churchill Downs and within many of the venue’s luxury seating areas. “Breeders’ Cup is dedicated to providing a first-class entertainment event, and food and beverage is a significant part of that experience,” said Craig Fravel, President and CEO of the Breeders’ Cup. “Now in our 35th year, our commitment to evolving the event’s culinary program is stronger than ever, and we are proud to present this star-studded list of guest chefs who share our passion for creating unparalleled experiences.” Photos and other information on the Guest Chefs are available here. View the full article

Coming off his third grade 1 win of the year in the TVG Pacific Classic Aug. 18 at Del Mar, the nation's top older dirt horse, Accelerate, knocked Triple Crown hero Justify out of the lead spot in this week's NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll. View the full article

A look at radio, television,and streaming planned for Travers Week. View the full article

DEAUVILLE, France—During a sometimes lacklustre final session of Arqana’s August Sale, Godolphin buyer Anthony Stroud provided a late highlight when going to €380,000 for a full-brother to G3 Prix Eclipse winner Souvenir Delondres (Fr). The son of Siyouni (Fr) was one of three yearlings by the same sire in the top five lots of the day. Consigned by Hubert Honoré for breeder Chris Wright of British-based Stratford Place Stud, the colt is a son of the Almutawakel mare Dilag, a half-sister to GII Schuylerville S. winner Distinct Habit (Distinctive Pro) and the producer thus far of six winners from her eight foals of racing age. While Stroud opined that the colt by the popular Aga Khan Studs resident was of a quality to compare most favourably to yearlings on offer during Part 1 of the sale, Wright, who had flown in for the day, was delighted to have had an obvious standout during Monday’s session. “He’s a nice horse by a very good stallion who is a full-brother to a very fast horse. It’s hard to know if he’s have sold for more over the weekend but I’m very happy with this result. Hubert has done a fantastic job with him,” said Wright. The breeder divulged that Dilag has visited another young Aga Khan stallion, Dariyan (Fr), by whom she has a foal on the ground, and she is now in foal to Kodiac (GB). Souvenir Delondres is also now in the Stratford Place Stud broodmare band and has a Muhaarar (GB) yearling filly which has been retained to race, as well as a colt foal by Frankel (GB). Another graduate of the farm to have been making headlines this year is leading first-season sire Bungle Inthejungle (GB), a dual Group 3 winner for Wright and Emily Asprey before retiring to Rathasker Stud. Wright added, “I’m thrilled to see how well ‘Bungle’ is doing and it’s great for the stud as he’s out of a daughter of our foundation mare [Crime Of Passion]. I have a 2-year-old by him in training in France, Jungle Speed (Fr). He’s been second twice and we feel he’s a black-type horse.” Not Quite Deja Vu There was a slightly odd sense at Arqana over the last three days of everything remaining virtually the same but feeling decidedly different. Anecdotally, a number of vendors felt the sale was a struggle in parts, but the figures were pretty close to being a mirror image of those posted 12 months earlier. For Part 2 in isolation, 114 yearlings sold—a reduced clearance rate of 72% from 76%—for an aggregate of €9,427,000, which was less than a percentage point up from 2017. The day’s average dipped by 3% to €89,693 but the median was up to €70,000 from €65,000. For the August Sale as a whole, the record median of €110,000 set in 2016 has now been matched in three consecutive years. The same number of horses, 231, was sold this year as last but the 2018 catalogue had returned to its more regular size following a downturn last year so the clearance rate was down to 73% from 76%. The overall turnover was also slightly reduced, by 2%, to €37,796,000. Familiar faces from the Ecurie des Monceaux team filled the leading vendor role, with 32 yearlings sold for €9,325,000, but special mention must go to Ballylinch Stud, which enjoyed a particularly good day on Sunday and sold six of its select draft of seven for an average price of €355,000 The leading buyer by aggregate was Coolmore with five horses secured for €2,650,000, but Al Shaqab Racing has the most new recruits—17 for a total of €2,387,000. Eleven individual buyers spent more than €1 million. Menuisier Strikes For Washbourn David Menuisier has been enjoying a banner season thanks largely to his stable star Thundering Blue (Exchange Rate) but the French-born, British-based trainer played a starring role himself back in his native country when signing for the day’s second-top lot (246), a son of the progressive young stallion Intello (Ger), at €290,000. Consignor Hubert Honoré was also responsible for this colt who was bred by Chantilly trainer Nicolas Clément. The half-brother to three winners, including the black-type pair of Street Fashion (Street Sense) and Flower Fashion (Flower Alley), was also on the list of Amanda Skiffington and Fiona Carmichael, who bought Intello’s Group 1 winner Intellogent (Fr) in Deauville last August but this time had to settle for the role of underbidders. “I thought he was the best colt in the sale by the sire and I feel very lucky to have an owner who will invest in top-quality horses,” said Menuisier, who confirmed that his purchase was on behalf of Thundering Blue’s owner Clive Washbourn. He added, “I am a fan of the sire and there’s bags of speed on the dam’s side.” Thundering Blue became the first Group winner for Menuisier when winning the G2 York S. in July and he returns to the same track tomorrow [Wednesday] having been supplemented for the G1 Juddmonte International. “He’s in great form,” the trainer reported of the 5-year-old who has won five of his 18 starts. “It’s going to be tough but we have nothing to lose and the pressure is very much on the others. Thundering Blue is typical of the type of horse I have in the stable. He’s progressive and I like to buy horses who look like they will be 3- or 4-year-olds rather than precocious types.” Siyouni Fillies Home and Away The popularity of Siyouni is spreading stateside and Justin Casse stepped in at €240,000 to buy lot 185, the leading filly of the day, for an undisclosed client in America. ” My client is not awake yet so I can’t name her,” said Casse. “But I can confirm that the filly will be trained in America.” Consigned by Haras d’Etreham, the first foal of Perle Rare (Distorted Humor) hails from a family that has served the Wildensteins well. Her grandam Peinture Rare (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells) won the G2 Prix de Pomone and is a half-sister to the treble Group 1 winner Peintre Celebre (Nureyev). Staying closer to home is lot 178, a filly by Siyouni out of the dual winner Orion Best (Fr) (King’s Best), bought by Jean-Claude Rouget for €200,000. The trainer confirmed that the Haras du Chevotel-consigned filly will race for Jean-Louis Tepper. Redvers Heads To Australia It’s not hard to be convinced by the long-term broodmare prospects of a filly by a superbly bred dual Classic-winning young sire out of a half-sister to the great five-time Group 1 winner Danedream (Ger) (Lomitas {GB}). David Redvers came to the conclusion that the daughter of Australia (GB) (lot 313) was also an extremely attractive physical specimen and went to €220,000 to secure the Ecurie des Monceaux consignee for Sheikh Fahad Al Thani. “I thought she was the standout of today’s sale,” he said. “We were looking for a Classic type and she walks beautifully and looks a picture. The stallion has made a really promising start and I’m sure there’s more to come, and this filly is from the family of one of the best fillies we’ve seen in a long time.” The family also includes the dam’s G3 Chester Vase-winning half-brother Venice Beach (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), while the fourth dam is G1 Prix Royal-Oak victrix Lady Berry (Fr). More Stars For Tsui and Haggas The Tsui family’s success with Urban Sea (Miswaki) and her son Sea The Stars (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) is now the stuff of racing legend and their six-time Group 1-winning stallion continues to provide the team behind Sunderland Holdings with many happy days on the racecourse. Having bought this year’s G1 Darley Irish Oaks winner Sea Of Class (Ire) as a yearling, Ling Tsui entrusted Nicolas de Watrigant to find her another Sea The Stars filly to add to the string and the agent, in company with Urban Sea’s former trainer Jean Lesbordes, went to €200,000 to buy lot 188 from Thierry de la Heronniere’s Haras d’Ellon. “She is a super filly and I felt the price was very reasonable considering the quality of her page,” said de Watrigant of the grand-daughter of the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest winner Porlezza (Fr) (Sicyos {Fr}). “She is very like her sire and very relaxed, which is always a good sign.” Like Sea Of Class, the filly will be exported to England to be trained by William Haggas. There is one final day of trade in Deauville this month with Arqana’s increasingly popular V.2 Sale taking place today. View the full article

James Doyle has labeled Poet’s Word (Ire) (Poet’s Voice {GB}) as one of the “toughest horses he has ridden” ahead of a high-class eight-horse G1 Juddmonte International S. at York on Wednesday. Sir Michael Stoute’s stable star, who has already won the G1 Prince of Wales’s S. and the G1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth S. this season will be facing six other Group 1 winners, among them Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor-trained duo in recent German Group 1 victor Benbatl (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and G1 Dubai World Cup hero Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}). “He’s a worthy favourite coming off the back of successive Group 1 wins in tough races and, as you can imagine, I’m excited about riding him in the top race of week,” said Doyle. “He’s as tough a horse as I’ve ever ridden–he doesn’t shirk the issue. He really put his head and neck down in the King George and stretched all the way to the line. He was very brave.” Doyle does not see the issue of dropping back down in trip causing a problem, either and added, “He’s versatile and showed a good kick in the Prince of Wales’s. He’s got plenty of other good form over a mile and quarter, too, such as when beaten a neck in the [G1] Irish Champion S.” John Gosden has opted to keep MG1SW Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the yard as the ground continues to dry out, but does field G1 Eclipse S. hero Roaring Lion (Kitten’s Joy) and G1 St. James’s Palace S. winner and Without Parole (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Aidan O’Brien’s G1 English 2000 Guineas hero Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) returns off a second in the July 7 Eclipse. O’Brien’s son Joseph is also represented by the 2018 G1 Irish Derby scorer Latrobe (Ire) (Camelot {GB}). Thundering Blue (Exchange Rate), winner of the G2 York S. on July 28, completes the octet after being supplemented. View the full article

A race-worn shoe from Secretariat’s record-setting GI Kentucky Derby win in 1973 has sold for $80,736 in a Lelands.com sports memorabilia auction that ended late Friday night. The auction opened July 15 and continued for a month with almost 6,400 views and 18 separate bids. “We anticipated a high level of interest in Secretariat’s Derby shoe,” said Mike Heffner, president of Lelands.com. “We suspect this impressive price will attract more interest from sports memorabilia collectors to any original Secretariat-related artifact as well as to the sport of racing in general.” The Secretariat Summer Auction on Secretariat.com, which features other “Big Red” keepsakes, is currently open for bidding through Aug. 26. Proceeds will benefit the Secretariat Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization owned by the horse’s late owner, Penny Chenery, to assist the Thoroughbred industry in the areas of research, rehabilitation and recognition. View the full article

I’m not sure exactly what a stallion needs to achieve to merit the title “sire of sires,” but surely the two-time champion sire Smart Strike already qualifies. We’ve seen his son Curlin do so well that his fee has risen to $150,000, with the escalation being fuelled by the Grade I successes of Exaggerator, Palace Malice, Stellar Wind, Keen Ice, Curlina, Off The Tracks, Connect and Good Magic. The last-named has added this year’s GI Haskell Invitational to his GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile victory. Then there’s the underrated English Channel, who stood the latest season at $25,000, even though his total of Grade I winners now stands at seven, just one short of Curlin’s figure. The bias against him no doubt stems from the fact that turf has been the preferred surface for so many of his best winners, including The Pizza Man and this year’s Grade I scorers Heart To Heart and Voodoo Song. Another with a Grade I winner to his credit is the California-based Square Eddie, whose stallion career has been unconventional in that he won as a 5-year-old in 2011, having covered his first mares in 2010. That hasn’t stopped him siring the GI Hopeful S. winner Ralis and a healthy percentage of black-type winners from his early crops, none of which numbered more than 32 named foals. With his fee raised to $25,000 in 2016, there must be a good chance that Square Eddie’s 2017 crop is not only his biggest (at 44 live foals) but also his best. Last weekend also showed Smart Strike’s stallion sons in a good light, with two of them scoring a top-level double in California and France. Firstly we saw Lookin At Lucky’s son Accelerate add the GI Pacific Classic to his earlier Grade I wins in the Santa Anita H. and the Gold Cup At Santa Anita (in which he was chased home by Dr Dorr, another of Lookin At Lucky’s sons). Accelerate’s wide-margin win at Del Mar earned him a Racing Post rating of 128, the best achieved by a dirt horse this year–and that includes Gun Runner (127), Justify (126) and Thunder Snow (123). With his only setback in five races this year being a narrow defeat under top weight in the Oaklawn H. back in April, Accelerate is very much the poster boy for his sire. While Lookin At Lucky now commands a fee of $17,500–half his original price–it may not be too late for this champion 2-year-old and GI Preakness S. winner to become as reliable at stud as he was on the racetrack. He is also having an excellent time with his Chilean progeny, such as Dafonda, El Picaro and Wow Cat. Accelerate’s victory in the Pacific Classic was widely expected, at odds of 2-5, but anyone who backed Zanzibari’s progressive daughter Nonza in the G1 Prix Jean Romanet was rewarded at odds of 11-1. Zanzibari isn’t a familiar name outside France, but he was a talented member of the same 2007 crop by Smart Strike as Lookin At Lucky. If anything, Zanzibari was even more precocious than Lookin At Lucky. Andre Fabre had him ready to make his debut in late-May, when he won a five-furlong newcomers’ event at Maisons-Laffitte in the colors of Sheikh Mohammed. Narrowly beaten next time out, Zanzibari graduated to group company on his third appearance, when he stayed on well to take the G3 Prix de Cabourg at Deauville. Although he had only four opponents, the fillies which finished second and third both went on to become Group 3 winners. The next step for Zanzibari was the G1 Prix Morny–a particularly hot edition which featured the future Classic winners Special Duty and Canford Cliffs. Although Zanzibari finished last of five, he was beaten only a length, so was far from disgraced. The possibility exists that all was not well with him, as he never raced again, and he was priced at only €1,000 when he began his stallion career at Haras du Mesnil in 2011. The Devin family’s Haras du Mesnil had established its reputation by standing the break-out stallion Kaldounevees. Although Kaldounevees never won anything more important than a pair of Group 3 events over a mile, he was a very creditable second at Group 1 level in Germany and the U.S. (in the Man o’War S.). His lack of a Group 1 success was reflected in his modest fee of 15,000 francs when he retired to Henri and Antonia Devin’s stud. Even so, his first five crops were small but that began to change thanks to two of the Devins’ homebreds. Kaldounevees’s first crop was headed by Terre A Terre, a tough filly who improved with age. A listed winner at three, she hit a rich vein of form in the second half of her 4-year-old season, notably winning the G1 Prix de l’Opera over a mile and a quarter prior to being beaten only a head and a neck against the males in the G1 Hong Kong Vase. She then defeated the very smart Noverre to take the G1 Dubai Duty Free over a distance just short of a mile and an eighth at Nad Al Sheba on her only appearance at five. Sadly Terre A Terre was to die as a 7-year-old after producing just one foal–the group-placed Terra Incognito. Kaldounevees second crop also contained a star in the Devin-bred Ange Gabriel. Another who improved with age, Ange Gabriel shone as a 4-year-old, when he won the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and G1 Hong Kong Vase. Three more Group successes followed at five, including a repeat win in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. Ange Gabriel retired to Haras du Mesnil but failed to replicate Kaldounevees’s success. Fortunately that wasn’t the end of the Devins’ successful association with Kaldounevees’s progeny. Terre A Terre’s dam, the six-furlong winner Toujours Juste, produced a total of seven foals by Kaldounevees, of which Terre A Terre was the first and the best. Six of them were fillies, the only male being Kachgai, a talented and versatile performer who won in France and the UAE. Terre A Terre’s sister Terra Alta showed only a little ability in two starts but she has made ample amends by producing Nonza as her second foal. With a May birthday, Nonza has been given plenty of time by her connections. Unraced at two, she made a winning debut at Chateaubriant. It wasn’t until her third start as a 4-year-old that she was promoted to black-type company and she graduated in good style, winning a listed race at Maisons-Laffitte to maintain her unbeaten record as a 4-year-old. Now she has become a Group 1 winner at the first attempt and has won five of her seven starts. Nonza follows the Group 3 winner Baghadur as only the second group winner from the first five crops by Zanzibari. Baghadur went on to show smart form at Group 1 level in Hong Kong under the name Joyful Trinity. Now resident at Haras de Grandcamp, Zanzibari has been busier in recent years, for example covering 96 mares in 2016. He is still only an 11-year-old, so could easily add further to Smart Strike’s story as a sire of sires. View the full article

The New York Racing Association, Churchill Downs Inc. and The Stronach Group are set to host three brand-new “NHC Super Qualifiers” in the coming months, offering dozens of berths to the February’s NTRA National Horseplayers Championship in Las Vegas. The live-money contest will be held Sept. 29 at Belmont Park, Dec. 22 at Fair Grounds and Jan. 5 at Santa Anita. Players can also participate in the Santa Anita qualifier on Xpressbet.com. Each on-track Super Qualifier will award one NHC berth for every 15 entries. Registration for each contest costs $1,500, with $1,000 going to the player’s starting bankroll, $200 to a cash prize pool for the contest and $300 to the NHC purse and travel. The format will consist of 10 mandatory $50 win/place wagers. Players will keep 100% of their winnings and the leaders will share in the cash prize pool, with the number of winners and amounts determined on a sliding scale by the number of entries. Each winning prize package includes NHC entry, four nights at Treasure Island, and airfare reimbursement up to $400. As added incentive, a $500,000 bonus will be up for grabs in Las Vegas for any of the three on-track Super Qualifier winners who go on to win NHC19. View the full article

Kentucky Downs has donated $25,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of Franklin-Simpson for the organization’s mission of helping youths “reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens,” the track announced Monday. “Kentucky Downs is where excitement meets fun and luck, where dreams can come true,” said Valerie Strafe, Kentucky Downs’ vice president of operations. “A lot of kids are at risk of being left behind before they ever get started. We want to help put them on a path to where they also have a chance to realize their dreams.” The donation will be used toward back-to-school supplies; developing a program at the Boys & Girls Club’s new Teen Center where participants are the main creators, designers and bloggers for the club’s website and social media; buying a requested Christmas gift for all the kids and staging a holiday lunch or dinner for the kids and their parents; as well as money to assist in general expenses, supplies and expansion. View the full article

When Canterbury Park started its racing club in 2009, its goal was just to educate racing fans in Minnesota about ownership. But in the near decade since it was formed, the club has proven to be an industry-changing idea with racetracks across the country following its model. “It never crossed my mind that other racetracks would be paying attention to what we were up to in Shakopee, Minnesota,” said Jeff Maday, Canterbury Park’s media relations manager. “It is very gratifying to see what has happened with racing clubs at other tracks. So many have taken the idea in their own direction, adding unique variations, and have had tremendous success. We have many dedicated people in this industry that want racing to succeed and want to expose fans to ownership.” Racing Clubs across the country have seen a good response from both fans and horsemen with spots filling quickly. Accepting their first 200 members in 2016, Churchill Downs sold out their first Club within 24 hours with a second club that year selling out within four days. With Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas training the horses, new owners in the first club were allowed near instant success when Club horse Warrior’s Club (Warrior’s Reward) won the Spendthrift Stallion S. at Churchill Down in October of his 2-year-old year. Since then, the colt has gone on to win a graded stakes and help Churchill fill new clubs. “Warrior’s Club has been just a crazy unbelievable story, and that has allowed us to have seven or eight more horses and seven or eight more clubs since then,” said Gary Palmisano, Manager of the Churchill Downs Racing Club. “It’s really snowballed, we now have people telling friends and co-workers and family members, so they’re getting into the subsequent clubs because of the foundation that Warrior’s Club laid.” For New York Thoroughbred Horseman’s Association board member Robert Masiello, racing clubs allow fans to get involved in ownership without immediately having the high costs associated with a racehorse. This is one of the major reasons NYTHA is launching a Racing Club later this year. “Even the lower end syndicates claiming a horse is expensive,” Masiello said. “If you have a horse in training, you’re probably paying $110 date rate plus vet bills you might be in for $4,000 per month per horse. There needed to be that step in between not owning a horse and even doing a syndicate where it’s still thousands of dollars in upkeep. One of the things too is I really think it’s important to keep getting the message out, keep people engaged in the sport so I think a Racing Club is good happy medium for doing that without being too overly expensive.” Many clubs allow members are privy to all the bills paid on their horses so they know the costs associated with owning a horse. While owners in the Emerald Downs Racing Club only pay $500 up front and never see another bill, the club’s racing manager Vince Bruun makes sure they know exactly how much is spent on their horse every month. “I certainly make them aware of the bills they would see,” Bruun said. “I get billed at the end of the month and I will pass on an itemized list. For [trainer Larry Ross] it’s $62 a day for training but then if a horse needs new shoes or needs its teeth done or goes in a race, there’s another fee. So [members] can go in with their eyes if they do become owners. They’re prepared for what it involves.” Most of the Clubs who have been running for a few years have seen their members buying into syndicate horses or even partner with each other. Palmisano says that over 50 members from the Churchill Downs and Fair Grounds Racing Clubs have bought their own horses, which was a major goal for the tracks when they started the clubs. An added bonus to some club is also the charity aspect toward the industry. Lone Star Park’s Racing Club just started this year but they have pledged any extra funds they get from selling a horse to the Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund. “The PDJF is a great organization and was the first charity that came to mind when we started to discuss the options out there,” said Diantha Brazzell, Lone Star Park Racing Club’s Manager. “Though we never thought that we were going to be able to donate over $7,000 to them at the time. When we were putting the club together we thought we would be lucky just to break even. It turned out to be a great bonus for us that we are getting to make such a sizable donation to a terrific charity that supports the human athletes of our sport.” While Jeff Maday never imagined the Canterbury Racing Club would be industry changing, he is excited by how the idea has grown. “In the end, the goal is to get more owners into the sport and that will benefit everyone.” View the full article

He’s developing a likely champion in Monomoy Girl (Tapizar), is third in the nation in wins and sixth in earnings and won this year’s training title at the Fair Grounds and finished second at Churchill. But Brad Cox isn’t satisfied. There’s driven and then there’s Cox. He’s obsessive, obsessive to the point where satisfaction is a foreign concept. “I’m not content,” the trainer said. “I’m not content at all. I am happy with what we have accomplished as a team, but by no means am I content.” If he would take a deep breath, step back and relax for moment–he won’t–Cox might just realize how that statement is almost laughable. Just 38 and not far removed from being a claiming trainer who was down to three horses in 2012, his accomplishments over the last few years are remarkable. More than 650 winners since 2016, training titles at Ellis, Churchill and the Fair Grounds and, this year, four Grade I wins with Monomoy Girl. He now has over 100 horses and has recently attracted owners like Juddmonte Farm, Calumet, Don Alberto and, of course, Sol Kumin, the principal owner of Monomoy Girl. But he is not the No. 1 trainer in the sport. Nor No. 2 or 3, and that eats at him. He says he will do whatever it takes to get there and says it with such conviction that it is hard to imagine him not reaching his goals. “The goal is to have graded stakes horses,” he said. “We want to win the [GI] Kentucky Derby. I’m sure if we win it once we’ll want to win it again. I idolize guys like Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas and what they’ve accomplished in their careers and are still accomplishing. These are the guys I look up to. I go on Equibase and look up how many Grade I’s they’ve won and how many Triple Crown races. Those are the goals I am after and chasing. Hopefully, someday we can get there.” {"id":3,"instanceName":"Articles No Playlist","videos":[{"videoType":"HTML5","title":"Brad Cox","description":"","info":"","thumbImg":"","mp4":"https://player.vimeo.com/external/285660511.sd.mp4?s=de0c52fb754ca3cffb04e6bf7b95eb10c51dec92&profile_id=165","enable_mp4_download":"no","prerollAD":"yes","prerollGotoLink":"prerollGotoLink","preroll_mp4_title":"preroll_mp4_title","preroll_mp4":"https://player.vimeo.com/external/279154669.sd.mp4?s=b81c2b2450b4df753cbdb5731c6a53347c230397&profile_id=165","prerollSkipTimer":"5","midrollAD":"no","midrollAD_displayTime":"midrollAD_displayTime","midrollGotoLink":"midrollGotoLink","midroll_mp4":"midroll_mp4","midrollSkipTimer":"midrollSkipTimer","postrollAD":"no","postrollGotoLink":"postrollGotoLink","postroll_mp4":"postroll_mp4","postrollSkipTimer":"postrollSkipTimer","popupAdShow":"no","popupImg":"popupImg","popupAdStartTime":"popupAdStartTime","popupAdEndTime":"popupAdEndTime","popupAdGoToLink":"popupAdGoToLink"}],"instanceTheme":"light","playerLayout":"fitToContainer","videoPlayerWidth":720,"videoPlayerHeight":405,"videoRatio":1.7777777777778,"videoRatioStretch":true,"videoPlayerShadow":"effect1","colorAccent":"#000000","posterImg":"","posterImgOnVideoFinish":"","logoShow":"No","logoPath":"","logoPosition":"bottom-right","logoClickable":"No","logoGoToLink":"","allowSkipAd":true,"advertisementTitle":"Ad","skipAdvertisementText":"Skip Ad","skipAdText":"You can skip this ad in","playBtnTooltipTxt":"Play","pauseBtnTooltipTxt":"Pause","rewindBtnTooltipTxt":"Rewind","downloadVideoBtnTooltipTxt":"Download video","qualityBtnOpenedTooltipTxt":"Close settings","qualityBtnClosedTooltipTxt":"Settings","muteBtnTooltipTxt":"Mute","unmuteBtnTooltipTxt":"Unmute","fullscreenBtnTooltipTxt":"Fullscreen","exitFullscreenBtnTooltipTxt":"Exit fullscreen","infoBtnTooltipTxt":"Show info","embedBtnTooltipTxt":"Embed","shareBtnTooltipTxt":"Share","volumeTooltipTxt":"Volume","playlistBtnClosedTooltipTxt":"Show playlist","playlistBtnOpenedTooltipTxt":"Hide playlist","facebookBtnTooltipTxt":"Share on Facebook","twitterBtnTooltipTxt":"Share on Twitter","googlePlusBtnTooltipTxt":"Share on Google+","lastBtnTooltipTxt":"Go to last video","firstBtnTooltipTxt":"Go to first video","nextBtnTooltipTxt":"Play next video","previousBtnTooltipTxt":"Play previous video","shuffleBtnOnTooltipTxt":"Shuffle on","shuffleBtnOffTooltipTxt":"Shuffle off","nowPlayingTooltipTxt":"NOW PLAYING","embedWindowTitle1":"SHARE THIS PLAYER:","embedWindowTitle2":"EMBED THIS VIDEO IN YOUR SITE:","embedWindowTitle3":"SHARE LINK TO THIS PLAYER:","lightBox":false,"lightBoxAutoplay":false,"lightBoxThumbnail":"","lightBoxThumbnailWidth":400,"lightBoxThumbnailHeight":220,"lightBoxCloseOnOutsideClick":true,"onFinish":"Play next video","autoplay":false,"loadRandomVideoOnStart":"No","shuffle":"No","playlist":"Off","playlistBehaviourOnPageload":"opened (default)","playlistScrollType":"light","preloadSelfHosted":"none","hideVideoSource":true,"showAllControls":true,"rightClickMenu":true,"autohideControls":2,"hideControlsOnMouseOut":"No","nowPlayingText":"Yes","infoShow":"No","shareShow":"No","facebookShow":"No","twitterShow":"No","mailShow":"No","facebookShareName":"","facebookShareLink":"","facebookShareDescription":"","facebookSharePicture":"","twitterText":"","twitterLink":"","twitterHashtags":"","twitterVia":"","googlePlus":"","embedShow":"No","embedCodeSrc":"","embedCodeW":720,"embedCodeH":405,"embedShareLink":"","youtubeControls":"custom controls","youtubeSkin":"dark","youtubeColor":"red","youtubeQuality":"default","youtubeShowRelatedVideos":"Yes","vimeoColor":"00adef","showGlobalPrerollAds":false,"globalPrerollAds":"url1;url2;url3;url4;url5","globalPrerollAdsSkipTimer":5,"globalPrerollAdsGotoLink":"","videoType":"HTML5 (self-hosted)","submit":"Save Changes","rootFolder":"http:\/\/wp.tdn.pmadv.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/Elite-video-player\/"} Cox is clearly among the fastest rising stars in the sport, but that was not always the case. Cox grew up in Louisville and as soon as he was old enough, went to work on the Churchill backstretch. He won his first race in 2004 when he was just 24. But for several years, he wasn’t making any headway toward achieving his lofty goals. In 2009, training mainly claimers, he won just 18 races. A year later, he got what he considered at the time to be the biggest break of his career. Rich and Karen Papiese, who operate Midwest Thoroughbreds, hired him. With the powerful Midwest outfit behind him, he won 54 races in 2012 and had a 30% win rate. Apparently, that wasn’t good enough for the Papieses, who fired him, leaving Cox with three horses. They did him a favor. Midwest is a claiming outfit and Cox had been typecast as a claiming trainer. With his dismissal, he was able to reinvent himself. “When I lost the Midwest horses, I made a goal that I wanted to pick up one additional horse a week,” he said. “About nine weeks later, I had 12 horses and I could see that this was going to work. I was recruiting horses and owners and there was a snowball effect. It just kept rolling and it’s still rolling.” He won his first graded stakes race in 2014 when Carve (First Samurai) won the GIII Prairie Meadows Cornhusker H. He believes a horse named Chocolate Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) was the first horse he trained who caused people to take notice of what he could do. He broke through with a win in the 2015 GIII Fair Grounds H. “I claimed that horse for $40,000 and he wound up winning four graded stakes races over the next year, year and a half,” Cox said. “I think people really took notice of that. They started thinking this guy can win graded races. After that we started getting a little better quality of horse.” He won seven graded stakes in 2016 and seven more in 2017. This year, he has taken everything to another level. Through Aug. 7, he had won 13 graded stakes and 28 overall. Yet, entering this year, he had never won a Grade I stakes. Monomoy Girl took care of that, beginning her streak of Grade I wins in the Apr. 7 Ashland at Keeneland. She, more than any horse he has ever trained, has put Cox into the spotlight. “She’s the best thing we’ve ever had so far as a quality Grade I filly,” he said. “Day in, day out, she’s been very good to us. She’s done a lot for our business. People take notice when you’re able to win Grade Is with quality horses. Hopefully, it’s something that will last and continue a while.” With Cox having had little success with stakes horses at the time, he was far from an obvious choice when it came to choosing a trainer for Monomoy Girl after she was purchased at the Keeneland September yearling sale. But he had trained a few horses for the Kumin team before that and they believed he deserved the chance. “I was introduced to Brad a few years before through my association with Ten Strike Racing, who he was training some horses for,” said Liz Crow, who picked Monomoy Girl out at the sales. “I had never heard of him before that. I was really impressed with the job he did and his knowledge. So, for Sol, we sent him a few horses and he again did a great job. When we bought some yearlings [in 2016], he was someone we wanted to give a chance. She was also a $100,000 purchase and wasn’t by Tapit or someone like that, so there was less pressure to give her to someone like a Todd Pletcher.” Monomoy Girl has won four Grade Is, but Cox won’t be happy until she wins five. If she wins five, the first thing he’ll start thinking about is a sixth. It’s never good enough, but he believes that’s the sort of philosophy you have to have if you want to be the next Baffert, Lukas, Chad Brown or Todd Pletcher. “I want to try to be competitive every time I run a horse,” he said. “In order to do that, you have to try to stay on top of everything going on. You have to talk to every assistant every day, collect information and process it. If you take any days off, you definitely fall behind. You have to stay at it and stay on top of everything.” You can’t be a good trainer unless you do all that and more. But Cox wants to be great, even the best in the sport. Then will he be satisfied? Maybe. View the full article

It was a battle of the fillies this weekend at the Deauville track as Pretty Pollyanna enhanced her status as spectators were given a showdown between the Michael Bell-trained filly and Queen Mary winner Signora Cabello with Pretty Pollyanna coming out on top to put on a stellar performance. The daughter of Oasis Dream was steered to victory by Silvestre De Sousa who celebrated his eighth Group 1 success but for the first in three years. The Brazilian jockey allowed his mount to stride on and it looked to be a plain sailing win for the pair until Frankie Dettori and Signora Cabello burst out to lay down a challenge to the winners. However, Pretty Pollyanna performed to her Group 1 form and drew clear in the final furlong to put on an impressive show and take the title of the Prix Morny. Trainer Bell stated: “She really toughed it out in the last furlong and what pleased me for the future was her last furlong was her best furlong.” Bell, who will be hoping to add Newmarket Classic glory to his Derby and Oaks triumphs at Epsom, added: “She has a very good temperament, eats and sleeps and is very easy to train. She’s from a very good staying family which includes User Friendly, who won three versions of the Oaks for Mr Gredley. “I hope she’ll get a mile. She’s in the Moyglare and Cheveley Park so we’ll talk together and decide.” Trainer John Quinn was also very impressed with his filly Signora Cabello’s performance. She certainly challenged Pretty Pollyanna and will be one to keep a close eye on in the future. Quinn stated: “I thought she might have done enough and she showed a great turn of foot to run the other one down in the first place.” When quizzed on plans for the future be said: “We have always believed in her but she was beaten by a better filly so we’re happy to finish second. Frankie gave her a good ride and we’ll target the Cheveley Park, where hopefully we’ll meet the winner again.” Karl Burke’s True Mason took connections by surprise to finish in the third position. The son of Mayson ran a cracking race to keep on to the same pace but was just not a match for the two fillies. Priced at 25/1 he was clearly the best of the rest of the field and trainer Burke has said it will certainly not be the end of the road for the colts Group 1 career. Alexis Badel and Nonza winning the Prix Jean RomanetThe Prix Jean Romanet title was awarded to Henri-Francois Devin’s Nonza who was steered to victory by Alexis Badel. The pair has been waiting on a partnership to take a Group 1 title and finally, that dream was achieved at the Deauville track. Son of Haras du Mesnil, Nonza is a homebred product of the Devin family. The four-year-old has only won a Listed Race prior to this Group 1 victory, which was on her previous start. Devin only took out his training licence in 2013 but has quickly made a name for himself in the racing industry. He took time to praise his winning jockey after his impressive riding aboard Nonza. He said: “Alexis is a fantastic jockey and I’m so happy for him,” said Devin. “He’s been riding for so long and it seems amazing to me that this is his first Group 1 win. See what he achieved in such a short time in Hong Kong. If he’d stayed he would be one of the top guys.” Urban Fox under the guidance of James Doyle and trained by William Haggas finished in second place. It seemed a challenge for the daughter of Foxwedge who began to labour in the last 100 yards but persevered to put up a great performance to fight off any real challenge from the rest of the field. Urban Fox now has a Group 1 form of 122 since joining William Haggas. The Newmarket trainer remarked on her performance: “He’s just got done close home but she’s run a very solid race again. I think this is her trip, and faster ground – James said the ground felt a bit dead on her – would suit her better. “I’ll be definitely be looking abroad with her. We’ve got to make a plan, both short term and long term.” Navaro Girl came from a long way back to finish third. On par with Aidan O’Brien’s trained Rhododendron who Ryan Moore eased up as he appeared to be struck into early in the straight. The favourite on the field Francis Graffard-trained Bateel finished in the sixth position and seemed to not pick up on the straight as expected. The six-year-old was ridden by Olivier Peslier. Trainer Francis Graffard said: “She didn’t really breathe properly during the race and the ground has gone a bit quick for her on what was her first run since May.” The post Weekend Review: Pretty Pollyanna showdown at Deauville appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Giant galloper Julius is set to miss the first group one challenge of the New Zealand racing season even as he looked set to sneak into the Tarzino Trophy at Hastings on Saturday week.The mammoth with a motor lies 20th in order... View the full article

Giant galloper Julius is set to miss the first group one challenge of the New Zealand racing season even as he looked set to sneak into the Tarzino Trophy at Hastings on Saturday week.The mammoth with a motor lies 20th in order... View the full article

Corey Lanerie completed his sweep of Ellis Park's 2-year-old stakes by guiding Tobacco Road from eighth to victory over Whiskey Echo in the $75,000 Ellis Park Juvenile. View the full article

They didn't do all of their winning together, but the $200,000 Del Mar Mile Handicap (G2T) Aug. 19 put an exclamation point on quite a weekend for trainer John Sadler and jockey Drayden Van Dyke. View the full article

After a disappointing fourth-place finish in Saratoga Race Course's Schuylerville Stakes (G3), the daughter of Alternation rolled to a 13 1/2-length laugher over the late-running Include Edition in the $75,000 Ellis Park Debutante. View the full article

It was a banner day at Woodbine for trainer Graham Motion, who took home his third straight renewal of the $175,000 Sky Classic Stakes (G2T) when Utmost cruised past his four competitors to cross the wire in 2:17.61. View the full article

Lerner making hay in Germany as Kranji stint looms View the full article

War Affair seventh at comeback race in New Zealand View the full article

Saifudin, CK Ng suspended, Placais, CC Wong cleared View the full article

To the surprise of no one, the Breeders’ Cup announced last week that the next three tracks in line in the rotation to hold racing’s championship day are Santa Anita (2019), Keeneland (2020) and Del Mar (2021). With Churchill also a regular stop on the Breeders’ Cup tour, it would appear that the list of racetracks being considered for the series includes only four locations. For now, that may be the case, but Breeders’ Cup CEO and President Craig Fravel insists that New York has not been forgotten. It only seems that way. The last time a Breeders’ Cup was held in New York was in 2005 and the next possible time it come could come back there is 2022. That’s a 17-year hiatus for Belmont–one of the sport’s most iconic tracks and one that happens to be located just outside the border of the most important city in America. Fravel said NYRA management did not apply for a Breeders’ Cup when bids went out for 2019 through 2021 and they probably wouldn’t have been chosen if they had. The problem comes down to the facility. Mainly, it’s not a very good place to hold an event in November in the northeast, as Belmont has no heat. “Although we haven’t done any formal studies on the situation there in a while, both of us, the Breeders’ Cup and NYRA, believe that there is a lot that needs to be done to do it right and do it well there,” Fravel said. “Back when I started in 2011, we were looking at Belmont and there was a lot that needed to be done so far as infrastructure and temporary improvements that were needed just to sort of weather-proof it for cold weather. What needed to be done was extensive. If anything, seven years later, the plant probably needs more work than it did then.” NYRA executives have spoken about a significant renovation project at Belmont, which would likely include downsizing the facility and, perhaps, making it suitable for year-round racing. However, they have yet to reveal any specific plans or put forth a timetable for when the track might undergo the type of changes it needs to be a suitable Breeders’ Cup host site. Fravel said another problem is that the Belmont Park parking lots are not lit, and with the Breeders’ Cup preferring to run the Classic as late in the day as possible, there would be the problem of sending people into darkened lots after the end of the races. “Pending the redevelopment effort at Belmont, NYRA has asked not to be considered [to host a Breeders’ Cup],” Fravel said. “We have had regular conversations with them about the status of that effort and what work will be done. I am very hopeful that some time in the near future there will be some definitive time frame on those improvements. They know more about that particular element than I do. You can do anything, but it would be so much more fun to have a Breeders’ Cup there after they have done their renovations.” Another factor that makes Belmont a less-than-perfect site for the Breeders’ Cup is that it is held the same weekend as the New York Marathon, which makes finding hotel rooms difficult. Fravel said that is an issue, but one he feels can be dealt with. Accelerate Trounces ‘Em For whatever reason, Accelerate (Lookin at Lucky) never seemed to excite anyone. Having already won two Grade Is on the year, including the Santa Anita H., that didn’t make a lot of sense. But the story changed Saturday when he not only won the GI Pacific Classic–he won it by 12/12 lengths under substitute rider Joel Rosario. Granted, there have been better Pacific Classics, but it takes a very good horse to win any Grade I race by 12 1/2 lengths. The runner-up, Pavel (Creative Cause), is himself a Grade I winner. He’s clearly the best older horse in the country and, right now, is the horse to beat in the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill, where his trainer is likely going to feel major pressure to get the job done. Sadler is 0-for-41 lifetime in the Breeders’ Cup. His woes continued last year when Accelerate finished ninth in the GI Dirt Mile and Stellar Wind (Curlin) was eighth as the second choice in the Distaff. After the Pacific Classic, Accelerate’s connections were campaigning for Horse of the Year, saying that if Accelerate wins the GI Awesome Again and the Breeders’ Cup Classic he deserves to be considered a serious rival to Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy) for the title. In any other year, Accelerate might be a lock for Horse of the Year, but the power of the Triple Crown is such that there’s nothing any horse can do to unseat Justify. How about bringing him back next year and hoping that Bob Baffert doesn’t have still another Triple Crown winner in his ridiculously loaded arsenal? This Trainer Will Never Fire His Jockey Veteran jockey Luis Rivera Jr. pulled off a rare feat Saturday at Monmouth when he both rode and trained a winner. Rivera is the trainer and jockey of Strawberry Red (Regal Ransom), who won the day’s first race, an $8,000 claimer. It was his first mount this year, his third start as a trainer and his first career win as a trainer. Rivera, 51, has won 1,559 races as a jockey. “I like to keep busy,” said Rivera. “I’ve been around horses my whole life. I like doing everything with them. I’m at the track at 5:30 every morning to gallop horses, then I check in on this one and then I ride whenever and wherever I can. It gets tougher to get mounts when you get older and I wanted to do more with my time so I decided to take out my training license and see what happens.” Rivera is also the answer to a trivia question-Who was the first jockey to ride Holy Bull? In an Aug. 14, 1993 maiden race at Monmouth, Rivera guided Holy Bull to a 2 1/2-length win. Mike Smith rode him in each of his subsequent 15 career starts. No Turf, No Problem for Chad The only thing that could possibly slow down Chad Brown as this year’s Saratoga meet was supposed to be bad weather. Brown has long ago proven that he’s more than just a grass trainer, but turf horses remain the strength of his barn. Conventional wisdom was that he could have, for him, a subpar meet if a lot of races came off the turf. It’s been one of the rainiest Saratoga meets in memory and, through yesterday’s card, 43 races had come off the turf. Yet Mother Nature has proved to be no match for Brown. He won two more races yesterday at Saratoga, giving him 31 on the meet and 15 more than his chief rival and the runner-up in the standings, Todd Pletcher. Imagine the meet he’d be having if all the races had stayed on the grass. View the full article

TOBACCO ROAD (c, 2, Quality Road–Isobel Baillie {GB}, by Lomitas {GB}) uncorked an impressive turn move and kept on coming to run down stablemate Whiskey Echo (Tiznow) in the Ellis Park Juvenile S. Sunday afternoon. The winner, who RNA’d for just $35,000 at last year’s Keeneland September sale, crossed the line 3/4 of a length in front of GIII Sanford S. third Whiskey Echo. Fifth on debut at Churchill June 28, he returned over this same track and trip July 29 to don cap and gown by three lengths. He was the 9-5 favorite for his stakes debut. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-0. O-L and N Racing LLC. B-Flaxman Holdings Limited & Airlie Stud (Ky). T-Steven M Asmussen. View the full article